DR. RICHARD S. STORRS' ANNUAL ELECTION SERMON LIBRARY SERMON DELIVERED BEFORE HIS EXCELLENCY EDWARD EVERETT, GOVERNOR, HIS HONOR GEORGE HULL, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, THE HONORABLE COUNCIL, AND THE LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS, ON THE ANNIVERSARY ELECTION, JANUARY 3, 1838. BY RICHARD S. STORRS, D. D. Pastor of the First Church in Braintree. Boston: BUTTON AND WENTWORTH, PRINTERS TO THE STATE. - - ,.; iEommontocaltl) of HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES, JAN. 4, 1838. Ordered, That Messrs. THAYER, of Braintree, PHELPS, of Hadley, and WARD, of Middleborough, be a committee to wait on the Rev. RICHARD S.STORRS, and present him the thanks of this House, for his very interesting and appropriate dis- course, delivered yesterday before the members of the Legislature, and to request a copy thereof for the press. L. S. GUSHING, Clerk of House of Representatives. # % A few paragraphs of the following discourse were omitted in the deliv- ery for want of time. SERMON. IT was the spirit of piety and patriotism, that led the fathers of New England to recognize their de- pendance on God, for wisdom to guide, and firmness to sustain their legislators, in the execution of the high trust reposed in them ; and also to adopt the principle, that due reverence for Jehovah demanded the introduction of their fellow citizens to official stations, with the accompaniment of religious servi- ces. And nothing surely is more rational, and ap- propriate to the commencement of the. business of public legislation, than the devotement of an hour to earnest supplication, and solemn reflection on the reciprocal duties of the people and their rulers, as they are indicated by the Holy Spirit. But were it the duty of one who officiates on an occasion like this, to furnish an elaborate disquisi- tion on the science of government, or to develope, and illustrate the elements of political knowledge, *1 from the resources of philosophy and history the present speaker must have declined the service. It belongs to him however, only to refresh your minds on topics already familiar to you as members of a Christian community, and believers in the Oracles of God. You will therefore receive with candor, such expositions of divine truth, as seem to be called for, by a just regard to the welfare of our country, the prosperity of Zion, and the glory of our great Bene- factor. Romans xiii, 1. " LET EVERY SOUL BE SUBJECT UNTO THE HIGHER POWERS. FOR THERE IS NO POWER BUT OF GOD ; THE POWERS THAT BE, ARE ORDAINED OF GoD." This injunction is laid upon the Christian church, collectively and individually. It issues from su- preme authority, and involves a fundamental prin- ciple of Christian duty, no less broad and compre- hensive than all the social relations of man. It was called forth by the agitating spirit of the times in which it was uttered, and by the strong tendencies of the Jews, as a nation, to sedition and rebellion ; and is not less appropriately addressed to all com- munities of men now claiming allegiance to Heaven. The fact on which the injunction is founded admits of no limitation. " There is no power but of God ; the powers that be, are ordained of him." The reason of the injunction therefore, remains unchang- ed through all time, and sustains the universal gov- ernment of God. God is the fountain of all power. Human gov- ernments have their origin in his will. " Replen- ish the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth on the earth,'' is the original commission under which man as- sumes the control of the inferior tribes of animated nature ; and whether we deduce his right to the exercise of authority over his fellow-men, from the general principle developed in the fifth command of the decalogue, or from some law impressed on his original constitution it makes no difference ; the will of Heaven is, that man shall subsist in a social state, involving relations of mutual obligation and dependence that some, by their superior wisdom and energy, shall provide for the public security, and vindicate individual rights from aggression, while others shall defer to acknowledged law, and sustain the government which yields them protec- tion and peace. Not only is government essential to the prosperi- ty of a community, but to its very existence. The happiness of the smallest family requires a head. And any number of families, associated for purposes 8 mutually beneficial, must have somewhere, a foun- tain of authority spreading abroad streams of benign influence over the whole field of their common oc- cupations and interests. Nor is the form of govern- ment, essential to the validity of its claims to re- spect. God once condescended to place himself at the head of a particular nation to frame their laws, and direct their execution to create subordinate offices, and designate the individuals to fill them to reveal himself through the Shekinah, as their Su- preme Ruler, Lawgiver, and Judge. But when they desired a government like that of the sur- rounding nations, though he relinquished not the Supreme Authority, he gave them a king, and al- lowed a modification of laws and customs corres- ponding with the new organization. Hence it is evident, that although government itself is the ordi- nance of God, the forms of its administration are wholly circumstantial, depending on the disposi- tions, the habits, or the convenience of the several nations of the earth. That the powers of government are not lodged in some individuals, in preference to others, in vir- tue of any personal and inherent right to those powers, requires no proof. Hereditary dignity and authority, however existing in fact, are original chimeras, clothed in the vestments of reality, only by the spirit of pride and ambition. The choice, or the consent at least, of a community, can alone in- vest any man, or any body of men, with the right of framing and executing laws, bearing on the com- mon welfare. However this choice or consent may be ascertained the individual or individuals on whom it falls, are to be regarded as "ordained of God," to the discharge of the trust reposed in them ; and this is the strong foundation on which a lawful right to the exercise of the powers of gov- ernment rests. " By me, kings reign, and princes decree justice." These powers, obviously have limitations. There is a point beyond which man cannot go, in the ex- ercise of authority over his fellow-man a point, where God stands, and says to the proud waves of ambition "hitherto shall ye come, but no further." Beyond this, all authority is usurpation resistance to its claims becomes lawful, and imperative. Man has natural rights, with which no earthly power may interfere, till they are forfeited by crime. Such is his right to life, limbs, and liberty to the produce of his personal labor and enter- prise, and to the use of the common elements of nature. When the king of Israel, on the day of battle, forbids his people to refresh themselves with food provided for them by the hand of Heaven, and 10 proceeds to pass the sentence of death on the un- wary transgressor, he transcends his delegated powers, and is lawfully resisted. There are matters of conscience too, involving supreme personal obligations, and not affecting the interests of society, wherein all human interference is arbitrary and unjust. When observances are re- quired, or indulgences forbidden by the law of Heaven written on the heart, it is not competent to any earthly power to annul that law ; and well did the Apostles reply to the orders of the Jewish ru- lers, " whether it be right in the sight of God, to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." Equally beyond the cognizance of human rulers, lie all the great concerns of faith. " With the heart man believeth," and the heart, by whatever prin- ciples its movements may be regulated, comes not within the range of physical and coercive power ; nor are its actings ever to be controlled by other than a moral influence, until they encroach on the natural rights of community. But, it belongs not to man, to dictate to his fellow-man what he shall receive and what he shall reject, on the great sub- jects of faith ; and the infatuated ruler who attempts to enforce uniformity of religious belief throughout 11 his dominions, usurps an authority to which he has no right, and deserves a niche in the same temple of infamy, with the beast and the false prophet. The great objects of government, in whatever form administered, are well understood to be the preservation of social order the security of life, property, and liberty and the advancement of society in all those arts and sciences, which may contribute to its improvement and happiness. "Order is Heaven's first law." "Honor to whom honor, fear to whom fear." Distinctions are established by the providence of God, and sanctioned by his word, which are neither to be overlooked, nor condemned as invidious or unjust. Let the members of human society be classified and distinguished as they may, they form but one body ; and though all the members have not the same of- fice, yet they sustain those mutual relations, which involve each individual in obligation to consult and promote the happiness of the whole. Who hath given to some men five talents, and to others one ? Or who hath given largeness of heart, expansion of mind, and skilfulness of hand to some, and left to others the unenvied inheritance of physical or intel- lectual imbecility ? Is it not the Creator of all men 1 And, who shall complain of His ordinances, or accuse Him of partiality and injustice as though 12 he were a "respecter of persons" ? They are dis- tinctions, it must be confessed, which, like the infe- rior distinctions of property and station, not unfre- quently furnish the occasion of envy and discontent ; but where lies the blame of unhallowed passions like these, and the violent proceedings they some- times originate ? If not in the author of these dis- tinctions nor in the possessors of them, it will be found in the wide spread spirit of pride that ex- claims, " I know not the Lord, nor will I obey Him." The way to eminence is open to all : Of the va- rious difficulties that crowd its ascent, none are in- surmountable to patient industry, scrupulous integ- rity, and fixed resolution. The violence, that would strip the man of wealth of all the fruits of lawful enterprise, and scatter them promiscuously among the crowd of self-impoverished and self-de- graded citizens or turn the man of intellectual power from some dignified station, that the imbecile and witless demagogue might fill it or tarnish the fame and blast the prospects of the high-minded patriot, and devoted friend of rational liberty, that the libertine might riot on the spoils of office, and encourage the spirit of universal cupidity and licen- tiousness, is equally inconsistent with every obliga- tion that binds man to consult his own interest, the 13 happiness of his country, and the glory of his Maker. And hence, the duty of government, to defend alike the rights of all to protect the poor against the oppressions of the rich the rich against the groundless claims of the poor the weak against the encroachments of the mighty, and the mighty against the secret combinations and loud clamors of the weak. And when that social order which Heaven has established and recognized so distinctly, is steadily maintained, peace sheds her balmy influence over the individual mind, the family circle, the Common- wealth, the whole land. Every man sits quietly under his own vine and fig-tree gathers his chil- dren around him and rejoices in their smiles mingles with his neighbors, and sweetly sympathi- zes in all their joys and sorrows looks abroad upon his country, and thanks Heaven for its prosperity, while his patriotic heart exults in its glorious pros- pects. But to the production and diffusion of pleas- ures like these, laws founded in equity must be framed, and executed with firmness and imparti- ality. And equally cogent are the claims of the citizen on the government, for the preservation of peace with other nations. The precept of divine benevo- lence " if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, 2 14 live peaceably with all men," is not more obligato- ry on the private individual than upon the ruler ; for the expenditures of treasure, life, and moral vir- tue, involved in wars of ambition, conquest or re- venge are hardly more compatible with the genius of Christianity, than with the immediate interest of the State ; and the day when the noise of the battle and the warrior shall cease, is not more the delight- ful theme of prophetic annunciation, than the object of hope and fervent desire, to every friend of ration- al liberty. And while government refrains from too lofty pretensions, and from all injurious claims on foreign powers, and perseveres in holding high and honorable intercourse with them, based on the principles of truth and equity, an appeal to arms will rarely, perhaps never be found necessary, and differences when they arise, will be promptly, ad- justed by amicable negotiation. If war, as it is sometimes said, be the safety valve of a nation, let- ting off the redundant mass of turbulent passion or, if it be a necessary evil, like the volcano, giving vent to earth's internal fires, and heaving forth upon its surface the fountains of burning lava, that other- wise would convulse the world still it must be confessed, that it pours forth in all directions, streams of unmingled bitterness and woe, withering the hopes of families annihilating the accumulated resources of ages prematurely transferring thou- sands of immortals from scenes of privilege and hope, to the retributions of eternity. And is this a nation's safety valve ? What then I ask, is a na- tion's destruction ! Is man's depravity so deep, so dark, so furious too, that nothing can prevent its overflow to the world's ruin, except a license to "kill, plunder and destroy" his fellow-men at his pleasure ? And is this the strong argument that justifies the wholesale butchery of unoffending indi- viduals and the thousands of exterminating wars that stain the broad page of man's history ? Far better aim at the wider diffusion and the firmer es- tablishment of those principles of peace and frater- nal love, which strongly mark the gospel of Christ. Give to a nation the spirit that breathes "peace on earth and good will to men" throw abroad that all-penetrating moral influence which flows from the respect of rulers for the institutions of religion ; and discountenance infidelity, both in -high places and low, with the whole train of its legitimate offspring, ungoverned passion, reckless vice, and heaven daring crime, and we have security enough against all the evils for which war is the sovereign remedy. Let the Gospel triumph, and the scourge of legal- ized murder will be no longer necessary to keep the world in order. 16 It is the province of rulers to throw around hu- man life an effectual guardianship against treachery and violence, and to vindicate the majesty of the law of Heaven, which declares, that " whoso shed- deth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." It is difficult indeed to conceive how a beneficent government can be maintained at all, or at least how the great ends of it can be secured, without the infliction of the penalty, that God in his wisdom and goodness so early established, for the protection of society. The inhuman and barbarous modes of its execution, often adopted in the spirit of revenge, may admit neither of excuse nor apology but the sacrifice of " life for life" in the case of him who spills the blood of his fellow-man, is a duty clearly indicated by the fact, that "skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath, will he give for his life." And what citizen has not a right to the protec- tion of his property, whether acquired by personal industry and enterprise, or derived from his ances- tors, or thrown into his possession by any other providential arrangement ? Such protection is not more necessary to his individual prosperity, than to that increase of production demanded by the wants of a growing population, and to the securing of those conveniences of life, without which many of life's great ends would be unattained. Leave property 17 insecure, and incitements to industry and economy are removed idleness prevails, or extravagance abounds poverty follows, and tumults and blood- shed close the scene. Throw open to community the possessions of those whose frugality and toil have resulted in large accumulations, and that com- munity is soon reduced to abject pauperism ; for men who have neither the patience nor the wit to acquire property honestly in a land of freedom, clearly have not the discretion to expend the accu- mulations of others profitably. Hence the impolicy, not to say the injustice, of giving to those who have neither the skill nor the moral virtue necessary to the acquisition of property, the power of disposing of the property of others at their pleasure through the exercise of the elective franchise an impolicy scarcely less palpable, or less injurious in its ulti- mate effects on society, than that of surrendering all the rights of property into the hands of a Turkish Pasha, or his mercenary Aga. Nor less to be doubted is the right of every citi- zen to the enjoyment of personal liberty. What- ever his rank, property, education, complexion, or moral character even, he may justly claim from goy- ernment the protection of his liberty, as an original gift of Heaven. It is a natural right of which no power can deprive him to dispose of himself and 2* 18 of all that pertains to him, as he pleases. Upon this right, there is but one simple restriction he may not use his liberty to the injury of others a restriction essential to the very existence of govern- ment, and to which every good citizen cheerfully submits. The thief, the burglar, and the assassin forfeit their natural right into the hands of commu- nity, on the principle that the common interest is put in jeopardy by the unconfined range of the law- less aggressor. But even in this case, liberty is not destroyed, and is only placed under sufficient re- straint, to prevent its abuse, and hold in check its tendencies to disorganization and licentiousness. "Civil liberty," says Paley, "is the not being restrained by any law, but what conduces in a greater degree to the public welfare." Consistently with this, the criminal may be chained, and the ma- niac confined, without the violation of any natural right. How far the public good may require the in- carceration of the debtor, has been made a very grave question, and to the decision of it by past genera- tions, there are strong reasons for demur ; for if unavoidable misfortune, or mere weakness, whether physical or intellectual, have rendered him unable to meet the just demands made upon him, it must be a singular interpretation of the great law of love which calls for his confinement in the cell of the 19 criminal. But if by fraud, or premeditated villany he has wronged others of their just claims, he ranks no longer with the sons of misfortune, but with the perpetrators of crime and let no one stay him on the way to his own place. Far different from this, is the condition of those who are condemned for life to involuntary servitude, for no crime of their own or for none other than inheriting a skin of darker hue than their fellows or deriving their birth from an ancestry forced into bondage by the arm of arbi- trary power. What law of love or of justice sanc- tions the holding of the innocent under iron bonds or gives to man a property in his fellow-man or with- holds from one possessing the principle of immortal- ity, the rights and privileges inherent in our exalted nature ? Liberty ! it is man's birthright never to be wrested from him by the hand of the steel-clad despot, nor by the avarice of the boastful republican, without an invasion of those laws of Heaven, on whose maintenance depends the whole security of society. Its usurpation involves the denial of man's most perfect rights his right to the acquisition of property his right to the cultivation of his intel- lectual powers his right to the utmost improve- ment of his moral susceptibilities ; it cuts the sin- ews of honorable effort ; it lays the axe at the root of laudable emulation and enterprise ; it reduces 20 man, with all his noble powers and lofty aspirings, to a mere automaton or a machine whose springs and wheels move only at the touch of its capricious proprietor or else, it drives him, as the mighty king of Babylon was driven by the Almighty Sov- ereign, to graze with oxen, and participate in expo- sures and degradation too, with the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field ! " Liberty ! " Companion of religion ! where she came "There freedom came; where dwelt, there freedom dwelt, " Ruled where she ruled, expired where she expired." Among the subordinate duties pertaining to Chris- tian legislation, none stands forth more prominently, nor is more intimately connected with the welfare of society, than that of providing all requisite facili- ties for the wide diffusion of common and classical education. Plutarch tell us, that Lycurgus resolved the whole business of legislation into the bringing up of youth. And says a modern writer of distinc- tion " It is not the republican governments of Greece, nor the brief and fleeting period of Grecian liberty it is not the universal empire of Macedon, which was but of short duration it is not these which mark out the place that Greece occupies in the whole of universal history, nor the mighty and important part she has had in the civilization of man- 21 kind. The share allotted to her, was the light of science, in its most ample extent, and in all the clear brilliance of exposure, which it could derive from art. It is in this intellectual sphere only, that the Greeks have been gifted with extraordinary power, and have exerted a mighty influence on after ages.*" And it was scarcely a more admirable sen- timent, uttered by a late king of England, that every subject in his dominions must possess a bible, than that of the reigning prince of Prussia, that every child in his kingdom must be taught how to read : a wise and magnanimous policy, whether regarded in its bearings on individual welfare, or national honor and prosperity ! But, if adopted by those who talk of the divine right of kings, and who claim an hereditary right to power why should it ever be contemned by those who boast loudly of ra- tional liberty and equal rights ? Ignorance has no more claim to the maternity of order, peace, and civil liberty, than of devotion, and consists as little with the welfare of the State, as with the interests of religion. An absolute government, whose exis- tence depends on the unity and decision of its coun- sels, on the secrecy and despatch of its measures, or on military skill and energy, may prosper best, for aught that we can tell, amid the marshes of ig- * Schle-el. 22 \ norance, teeming with the miasma of servility, cor- ruption, and vice, and spreading contagion and death over all that is .elevated in moral sentiment, and noble in intellectual character, or dignified and tender in cultivated social affection. But in a re- public like our own, where talent, public spirit and virtuous enterprise form the main pillars of social prosperity, ignorance should meet no toleration ; it is an enemy to our institutions, that must be con- quered by the force of purified public sentiment, and driven into exile by legislative enactments. It was well said by William Penn, on the subject of the education of the young, "for their learning be liberal spare no cost ; for by parsimony here, all that is saved is lost." . Happy had it been for the State that bears his name, and for the country too, had this wise counsel been regarded. And it is not a boastful but a natural inquiry, what gives to New England and the few States that have drawn largely upon her population, their acknowledged preemi- nence in commercial enterprise and in public mor- als, among the great sisterhood of American Re- publics ? It is not the fertility of their soil, nor the abundance of their wealth, nor their superiority of talent, nor their excessive thirst for accumulation but the force of one simple principle cherished by our fathers and engraven on the hearts of their off- 23 spring, viz. : That education must be diffused co- extensively with the field of mind, and that the combined energies of the community are to be di- rected to its support as the main bulwark of vir- tuous sentiment and religious principle of free in- stitutions and enlightened administration of law. Blessed be the memory of the educated fathers of New England ! But if common schools demand the patronage of government, because of their powerful bearing on our great public interests, can our higher semina- ries of learning be denied it ? These are the living fountains that pour forth their fertilizing streams over the whole plain covered with the rising plants of genius, destined either to flourish or decay, to disappoint a thousand hopes, or bring forth fruit in rich luxuriance for the refreshment of future gener- ations, according to the culture they receive. Shall they become " as a spring shut up, a fountain sealed," for want of legislative encouragement ? If the Egyptian would irrigate his grounds, he not only prepares their surface, but digs his canals, and then watches the floating clouds as they are borne along toward the distant summits of Atlas, where they discharge their treasures, for the supply of the mighty river, whose waters convey fertility to the soil, with sustenance and gladness to its swarm- 24 ing population. And if the patriot would enrich the whole ground consecrated to liberty and religion, with common school instruction, let him not only prepare the surface of the wide field before him, and cut the channels through which the fertilizing streams may be conducted over it, but let him watch the sun-lit clouds of science as they float above him, and gather over the distant hills, thence to pour their treasures upon the vales below, through the channel of that mighty river which makes glad the city of our God. Our Col- leges form the Atlas of our intellectual world and from them alone can flow the pure waters that are necessary to replenish our smaller streams, and fill our cisterns, and mature our harvests, and realize the patriot's most ardent wishes. They are the fountains of public health of high moral influence and of universal improvement. Their power upon public sentiment is gentle and penetrating as that of " the dew on the tender herb, and the showers upon the grass." So far from being the miserly hoarders of knowledge, they are its cheerful almo- ners, supplying the means of wealth, honor and usefulness, not to a favored few, but to all without distinction who are willing to accept them. To them alone, can we look with confidence for those supplies of extended and well-adapted instruction, 25 which the necessities of the whole rising generation demand and in them alone is the power lodged, that can draw forth fully the resources of those young minds of special promise, whose develope- ments under primary instruction, evince their sus- ceptibility of an enlargement and polish, which will render them the lights of the world. And may they not justly claim so much 'encouragement from a high-minded government, as shall place them be- yond the reach of unfavorable contingencies, and enable them to present the strongest inducements to every young and aspiring mind to accept the boon of a liberal and thorough education ? But while dependant on resources derived from individ- ual benefactions resources of course inadequate to meet the enlarged expenditures required by the magnitude of their object, and while, for any cause, denied the aid which the public at large might easi- ly afford them the advantages they proffer to the acceptance of all, are actually enjoyed by few, ex- cept the sons of opulence, or the beneficiaries of some charitable institution. If it was little to the honor of James the First, that he left the instructor of his youth the most accomplished scholar and poet of his age, to die in penury, and be buried at the public charge sure we are, that the magnani- mous and patriotic citizens of this republic, will not 3 26 expose themselves to the dishonor of leaving those literary institutions which form the brightest glory of the land, the bulwarks of freedom, the hope of the world, to beg their bread from door to door, nor leave them to die, without even the poor chance of a decent burial at public charges. But if community has these fair claims on " the powers that are ordained of God," let it be remem- bered that correlative obligations rest on those who share the 'blessings of an equitable government, while exonerated from its toils and responsibilities. " Let every soul be subject unto the higher pow- ers." " Render to Cesar the things that are Ce- sar's." It is the will of God that rulers be HONORED. Respect is due to them as the representatives of Him by whose providence they are elevated to offi- cial station. Their deficiences may be many and obvious their political opinions may be false and in- jurious to the public interest and even their moral delinquencies may be numerous and startling ; yet I know not where the word of God permits us to " curse the ruler of the people," or pour upon him the contempt, to which as a private individual, he may be fairly entitled. In a free and popular gov- ernment like our own, there is no escape from the collisions of party ; and no man is so unblemished, 27 that in envy's eye, he may not appear deep scarred with some moral leprosy. The spirit of party, though powerless to convert stones into gold, can readily transmute virtue into vice, and patriotic de- votion into political delinquency ! A species of alchymy, worthy of the Prince of Sorcerers ! Under the influence of this spirit, no name is too illustrious to be tarnished, and no patriotism too pure to be covered with obloquy. It dooms Miltiades the hero of Marathon, to perish in prison of the wounds re- ceived in defence of his country's independence. It condemns Aristides the just, and Cimon the brave, to the ostracism. It consigns Herodotus and Thucydides men who will be honored for el- oquence and patriotism while the world stands, to an ignominious and fatal exile. Nor can Themisto- cles the Washington of Athens, escape the storm of popular fury, except by flight to a foreign court ; nor Socrates, the wisest and best of the Athenians, the warm-hearted friend of his country and of man avoid the poisoned chalice. There is no con- ceivable injustice that in one period of the world or another, has not fallen upon "the powers that were ordained of God," even when elevated by the voice of their fellow-citizens to rank and authority. The claims of rulers to confidence and esteem, are by no means to be put beyond the reach of fair 28 discussion ; yet they are to be canvassed in the spirit which sets down nought in malice. Virtue walks hand in hand with imperfection here, nor is unmingled excellence to be found on this side heaven. But, wherever strength of intellect, and love of country are combined with the fear of God, the grand elements of an efficient magistracy are not wanting. The reputation of rulers is to themselves, a gem of surpassing value, and forms the best inheritance they can bequeath to posterity. "That away, They are but loam, or painted clay." It is the property of the public too the heir- loom treasure of the country, descending from gen- eration to generation, acquiring fresh value, as years roll on, down to the end of time. And if there be any thing that can undermine the founda- tions of our government, and prostrate the whole superstructure, and scatter to the winds of heaven all the wise purposes and hallowed anticipations of our venerated fathers, leaving our country one wide spread desolation, as if the waters of a flood had passed over it, it is the unrestrained indulgence of that spirit, which assails the fair fame of the ruler, and aims to pluck from his brow every laurel which 29 divine Providence has twined around it. " The Lord knoweth how to reserve the unjust to the day of judgment, to be punished." It is also the will of God that rulers be OBEYED. " Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as su- preme, or unto governors that are sent by Him for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well." Even a heathen could say " next to the Gods, the highest reverence is due to parents and legislators ; and the laws and customs of our country, are to be religiously observed." It is not possible to frame laws for millions, which shall interfere with the imperfect rights of none, and conflict with no real or imaginary interests of individuals. It is enough that they are framed for the public good, that they harmonize in principle with the law of God, and operate happily on the in- terests of community at large. They then deserve universal acquiescence and obedience, unless it be contended, that the general welfare ought to be sacrificed on the altar of private interest. But shall intemperance, theatrical amusements, gaming, and other kindred vices, be sanctioned by law, in defer- ence to the imaginary interests of the few who have their wealth by them, when they threaten the whole land with moral desolation ? Shall the traffic in 3* the bone and muscle of immortal man be permitted, because its interdiction may involve temporary loss or embarrassment to individuals, and compel them to exchange an infamous for an honorable occupa- tion ? "I trow not." And, in a government like ours, dependent under God, on the sovereign will of the people, it may be a fair question, whether even the enactment of un- just laws, will justify opposition unto blood ? The eternal principles of justice are indeed to be main- tained ; but how ? by the sword or by an appeal to public conscience ? by open and revengeful re- bellion or by dispassionate argument, and the whole array of moral influences, within the reach of an intelligent people ? If I mistake not, the lan- guage of the persecuted David is in keeping with the spirit of Christianity and patriotism " the Lord forbid that I should do any thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed to stretch forth my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed." Nor is the wisdom of man sufficient to frame laws adapted to all the exigencies of the State. And the only remedy for a thousand evils in society, which lo\v cannot reach, is to be found in the indi- vidual application of those general principles of law, which are engraven on the heart, and pencilled in 31 sun-beams on the pages of inspiration. Here lies the strong safeguard of every community. But upon the principle that no law can claim obedience, which conflicts with individual opinion or interest, how can the evils of universal anarchy and confusion be avoided ? How can the lawless proceedings of an infuriated populace be stayed ? How shall the ruthless pillager of property, or the reckless incendiary, or the bloody assassin be re- strained ? If law, emanating from " the powers that be," be not acknowledged, and if every man may assume the prerogative of deciding for himself, whether it shall be obeyed, the pillars of govern- ment are shaken to their fall, and its sacred enclo- sures are thrown open to the entrance of licentious- ness, with all its attendant " plagues and torments dire." That such a spirit is abroad, looking con- tempt on law and demanding its prostration, cannot be denied. And its suppression is demanded by every consideration of religion and humanity. That suppression can be effected only by the indignant frowns of a virtuous and injured community the firm advocacy of the supremacy of law by every friend of his country the earnest inculcation of the duty of subjection to principalities and powers, and obedience to magistrates, by the ministers of our holy religion and the strong-handed exercise of authority by those to whom Heaven has committed the administration of justice, and the protection of the social interests. It is the will of God, that rulers be made the sub- jects of continual PRAYER. " I exhort, saith an Apostle, that supplications be made for kings, and for all that are in authority ;" why ? " That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty." Allowing them large measures of wisdom, virtue, and patriotism, they are still liable to error in judgment and in conduct, and need the direction of the eternal Spirit. The more elevated their station, and the more commanding their influ- ence, the greater is their exposure to the assaults of unworthy aspirants to the honors and emoluments of office, and the more pressing the dangers arising from their own imperfections. How shall prejudice and prepossession be barred out from the council chamber, or the legislative hall, how shall partiali- ty for some unworthy-policy, and for private and local interests, injuriously affecting the public welfare, be excluded from the deliberations of the most wise and patriotic rulers, so long as they partake of the common infirmities of our nature ? Their only se curity, is in the favor of God. " The king's heart is in his hand, and he turneth it as the rivers of water are turned." He hears prayer also. And 33 t; if any man lack wisdom" and by parity of reas- oning, if he lack any other important qualification of a good ruler " let him ask of God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not." If the wisest of the kings of Israel, on his accession to power, was im- pelled by conscious weakness to implore divine di- rection : If Washington was found on his knees while preparing for a battle that involved the dearest interests of his country ; and if the as- sembled sovereigns of Europe, on the eve of a con- flict, on which hung the destinies of the world, pros- trated themselves before the Majesty of Heaven it will not be regarded as unbecoming others of ele- vated station to imitate their example, nor unbe- coming those who have contributed to their eleva- tion, to offer prayers to God, without ceasing for them. Truly " this is good, and acceptable to God." Without exposure to the charge of vain boasting, it may safely be affirmed, that God has highly dis- tinguished us among the nations of the earth ! Be- hold the goodly land he hath given us the varied and propitious climate with which he hath blessed us the vast variety of production he hath furnished us the liberal government he hath set over us and the able men he hath raised up from time to time, to be our governors and judges ! We sit un- 34 der our own vines and fig-trees, having none to mo- lest nor make us afraid. Our social comforts, who can enumerate ! Our literary privileges can hardly be estimated too highly and our religious freedom is a treasure, which the topaz of Ethiopia nor the gold of Ophir can equal. Still, our government, however wisely balanced and happily adjusted, is not without its imperfec- tions. Though well guarded against the ascenden- cy of undisguised and individual despotism, it is not inaccessible to the presumptuous approaches of a more subtle and equally malign enemy. What if tyranny dare not expose the hideousness of its un- covered front to the indignant eye of millions of the free and the brave nor stalk abroad at noon to scatter the " firebrands, arrows and death" which fill its magazines may it not cloak itself under pro- fessions of subserviency to the popular will, and avail itself of existing ignorance, credulity and self- flattery, to reach the place of power, where firmly seated, it may throw off disguise, and revel in the sufferings and tears of an oppressed nation ? But the worst of all tyranny, is that of the multitude, broken loose from the restraints of law dead to a sense of moral obligation filled with infuriated pas- sion, and urged on to deeds of violence, for the avengement of imagined injuries, by the spirit of 35 desperation. Compared with this, the absolute au- thority of the Indian Archipelago Chief, or the Turkish Sultan is liberty itself. And has a govern- ment founded on the popular will, and extending it- self over a territory of two million square miles, and a heterogeneous population of fifteen millions, doub- ling every twenty-five or thirty years, any sufficient guarantee in the " wisdom and knowledge" of the people, for the permanency of its free institutions ? Our national character is yet unformed. Its ele- ments are in a state of chaos. Among them, indeed, are the spirit and the deeds of our puritan fathers ; but how small a portion of the crude mass of principles influencing our whole population, is of this Heaven- born origin ! And whether a pure and living Chris- tianity, or a dead and corrupted form of it or, whether Heaven-daring infidelity and atheism shall exert the preponderating influence in the formation of our embryo character, is a question yet to be set- tled. But even now, to use the language of a dis- tinguished civilian, " we see the time when hoary atheists and sprigs of infidelity dispose of the bible, of a future state, of the power and prerogatives, if not the very being of a God, with little difficulty when the fomenters of anarchy in the State, when the enemies of that faith on which alike rests the security of civil society here, and the hopes of indi- 36 vidual happiness hereafter, proceed from words to deeds." Yes ! we see it we feel it. Still, we may thank Heaven and the spirit of our pilgrim fathers, that to-day, we have a government of laws, and not of arbitrary power, either in the hands of the one, or the million. But I ask again where is our security for its continuance ? Are not our laws the simple results of public opinion ? And is not public opinion liable to changes without end? And when it shall give us a dictator, an emperor, or a despot who can tell ? Paper constitutions, courts of justice, legislative assemblies, and even proud na- vies and marshalled armies, before the breath of popular opinion, are but as the seared leaves of the forest before the autumnal blast. Individual and public virtue alone, can supply to government the sustaining and animating principle of all its move- ments for the public good that virtue which shall render every soul subject to the higher powers, for the reason, that " there is no power but of God, and the powers that be, are ordained of God." Moses was a patriot. He feared not the wrath of the king. Poverty and exile had no terrors for his large heart, when the welfare of his nation was at stake ; and from duty, not even their loudest murmerings and bitterest reproaches could make him shrink. And the time would fail me, to tell of 37 Gideon and Barak, and Sampson and Jeptha, of David also and Samuel, of Ezra and Nehemiah, and many others famed in sacred story, whose patriotism, sustained by the love of God, waxed va- liant in fight, subdued kingdoms, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Neither the glitter of wealth or fame, nor the stirrings of ambition, nor the lust of power impelled them to deeds of self-sacrificing heroism but it was that pure devo- tion to the sacred interests of their country, which is enkindled only at the altars of heaven. And when our own rulers walk in their steps, and by high example induce the great body of our fellow-citizens to follow them our country is safe ! But whence comes a spirit of patriotism thus strong and unquenchable ? Is it generated in the womb of man's fallen nature, teeming with fierce and selfish passions or, in the laboratories of boast- ed reason, whence with much that is lovely and of good report, all that is absurd and contradictory in morals and philosophy issues to agitate and con- vulse the world ? Not from either but from those revelations of God alone, which declare authorita- tively that no man liveth i. e. is made to live, for himself, but for his country, and the world, for Zion and for Heaven. Diffuse every where the hallow- ing atmosphere that surrounds the Bible, and give 4 free scope to the mild genius of Christianity, and there shall spring up on every side the spirit of pat- riotism, whose fires though lighted at distant points, shall commingle and ascend in one vast volume to their common centre, the throne of God, and bring down on the whole land blessings rich as heaven, and lasting as time. Revisit for a moment, in imagination, those re- publics of antiquity, whose fame has thrown its pale radiance, even over the distant times and regions we occupy. Where is now their pristine splendor ? Where the philosophy, the eloquence the in- domitable energy, that characterised the days of Thales, Socrates, and Plato ? Gone gone for- ever ! And wherefore ? Their boasted love of liberty degenerated into the spirit of faction the disinterestedness of their rulers gave way to the as- pirings of ambition and the patriotism of the peo- ple fell prostrate before the altars of licentiousness and crime. They scourged their slaves, and put them to death at pleasure. Debtors were delivered up by courts to be bound in chains, maimed, tor- tured, and sold into bondage by their creditors. Captives of war were doomed to perpetual bondage, and their children after them or else, murdered in cold blood, or reserved for the arena of the Gladia- tors. Parents might not know their children. 39 Children might destroy their parents ; and of all the ties of consanguinity and love, none were held too sacred to be sacrificed at the shrines of interest and concupiscence. Such is the testimony of un- doubted history. But whence this degeneracy ? Account for it who can on other principles than those of the Bi- ble. "They liked not to retain God in their knowl- edge," and boldly cut loose from their moorings among the few truths of the original revelation, written on the conscience, and committed themselves to the winds and the waves of licentious speculation, and were driven into the dark abyss of atheism. Men arose, claiming the dignity of philosophers, who maintained, that our own perceptions are the only criterion of truth that between virtue and vice there is no other distinction than what arises from custom, or civil institutions that all religious belief is worthy only of rejection and other sophisms of similar character to which the infatuated multitude gave ready cre- dence, for the relief it furnished them from the fear of the gods, and for the license it gave them, to in- dulge every base and guilty passion. The univer- sal decline of morals, was but the legitimate and unavoidable consequence of the diffusion of this free- thinking spirit. All human duty came to be settled on the sole ground of expediency, and it was soon 40 found expedient to throw off all restraint, to trample upon law to pay no respect to rulers, but to load them with infamy proportioned to their worth and reward them with ingratitude proportioned to their benefactions. To this, succeeded of course, the reign of lawless ambition when the spirit of con- quest seized alike the ruler and the subject when military glory presented resistless charms to the public eye when the greatest murderer of his spe- cies, became the greatest man of his country when all that noble energy which is demanded to alleviate human wretchedness was wasted on the battle-field and when, in the absence of foreign enemies, neighbor fought with neighbor, and brother spilled the blood of brother ! "It was" to use the strong language of a modern philosopher " it was as if the iron-footed god of war, Grandivus, actually be- strode the globe, and at every s.tep, struck out new torrents of blood ; or, as if the dark Pluto had emerged from the abyss of eternal night, escorted by all the vengeful spirits of the lower world, by all the furies of passion and insatiable cupidity, by the blood-thirsty demons of murder, to establish his vis- ible empire, and erect forever his throne on earth." Here, you have disclosed, both the proximate and the remoter causes of the downfal of the republics of ancient times. And all of them may be summed up 41 in that single fact, recorded by the Holy Spirit al- ready quoted, " they liked not to retain God in their knowledge." And what philanthropic heart is not sickened while looking abroad over the existing nations of the Pagan world living as they are amid all the terrors of despotic power, or the greater terrors of lawless liberty ! I pity the man, who can glanc e his eye across the map of Africa, and reflect with- out thrilling emotion, that from the piratical hordes swarming along the coasts of the Mediterranean, down the whole length of the continent, to the filthy kraal of the Hottentot, not only the princi- ples but the very names of philosophy, science, lit- erature, and civil liberty are unknown ; and then, if he will turn to Asia, he shall see, from Java on the south to Nova Zembla on the north, from Pal- estine on the west to the eastern verge of China, the outstretching shadows of a dreary night, be- neath which, tyranny grinds its hundreds of millions to the dust, and through which the strong lights of liberty and righteousness cannot penetrate. No where, throughout the world is the spirit of freedom cherished, and the grand principle of equity recog- nized in legislation, except in Christendom. No where else is truth honored and error disgraced virtue rewarded and vice punished as such power 4* 42 compelled to bow to right, and crime to shrink from public, gaze. Go where you will and if the gospel of Christ has not gone before you, you plunge into a wilderness of woes, where the refined pleasures of life are as rare as the well-grounded hopes of im- mortality where scarce one principle of improve- ment survives the wreck of humanity where cruel- ty and lust mock the powers of persuasion baffle the force of conscience, and riot on the miserable relics of those instinctive desires of happiness, which have survived man's original apostacy. Behold then the power the only power that can perpetuate the liberties of our country ensure the continuance of our free institutions preserve our posterity from the yoke of the solitary despot ex- tract the fangs from that hundred headed monster, anarchy, already prowling around our borders and give to all future generations, the priceless privile- ges wrested from ecclesiastical usurpation, and arbi- trary civil power, by the well nerved arms and fearless spirits of our puritan fathers. It is CHRISTIANITY that religion which has come from heaven to compassionate the woes, and heal the wounds of a bleeding world which makes no compromise with error and vice, and sooner bares its bosom to the point of an enemy's sword, than admits that enemy, unwash- ed and unclothed in heavenly robes, to its embraces. 43 In this alone lies the security of our present immu- nities, anji of all that brightens on the eye in future prospect. AncTof this mighty and beneficent pow- er, the Bible, the Sabbath, and the Sanctuary are the strong holds. Thence it goes abroad to scatter the blessings of peace to infuse the spirit of Heav- en into the individual mind and arouse the nations to deeds of mercy and of justice. And no sooner are these broken down by the machinations or vio- lence of an ungodly community, than the shield of Jehovah is withdrawn from them storms of indig- nation gather the blast of the Almighty comes over, and leaves amid the wreck of their privileges, scarce a fragment for posterity to gaze upon. In the sentiments thus freely advanced, I assure myself of the cordial concurrence of the great body of my fellow-citizens and especially of that por- tion of them here assembled, to consult on the de- mands of the public interest, and to frame laws for the security of individual rights, and the general wel- fare. And I gladly avail myself of the opportunity to mingle congratulations with those of thousands throughout the Commonwealth, that on the return of this auspicious day we are not only cheered by the recollection of the past favors of Heaven, but animated by the prospect of the continued adminis- tration of our government on the tried and approved 44 principles of years gone by. As we are not of those who view " human governments .as judicial punishments," but, in the fallen state of man, as or- dinances exhibiting most clearly the goodness of the Supreme Ruler of the world, we do rejoice, yea and will rejoice, when in divine Providence they are committed to the hands of men, who are a terror to evil doers, and a praise to them that do well. Such men, it is our happiness to believe, God has given us, to rule over us for the year to come. And may I not without presumption, address the CHIEF MAGISTRATE on this occasion, in the lan- guage not in the spirit of the Roman orator "Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this peo- ple by thy providence, we accept it always, and in all places, with all thankfulness." The clearness with which your Excellency apprehends the princi- ples of just legislation, and your firmness in main- taining them the support you have uniformly given to every laudable and patriotic effort for the ad- vancement of the true interests of the Common- wealth and the nation your industry and zeal in the promotion of intellectual and moral improvement and your habitual sacrifice of ease and the inciden- tal honors of official station, in the service of the people who delight to honor you, urge the strongest 45 claims to confidence and gratitude claims that are met with promptitude and pleasure, by the great body of your fellow-citizens. That your services may long be continued in some one of the elevated departments of state or national legislation, where exalted talents and pure patriotism have a wide field for appropriate action and that you may en- joy till the close of a long and useful life the unim- paired and increasing confidence of the wise and the good in every part of our favored land, is not more the fervent prayer of the humble individual now ad- dressing you, than of many thousands in the Amer- ican Israel. His Honor, the Lieutenant Governor, with the Council, the Senate, and the assembled Represen- tatives of the people, will accept our sincere con- gratulations to-day not so much that they are honored by the voice of their constituents, as that they are placed in those relations to our country which throw wide open the door to usefulness, and to a permanent rank among the benefactors of the world. God, by the voice of your fellow-citizens, calls you to occupy your present stations. And with his fear in your hearts, and the glory of your country in your eye, you will cheerfully task all your energies, and bring into effort all your wisdom 46 and zeal, to sustain the fundamental principles of order, liberty and peace. That all your delibera- tions may be distinguished by mutual courtesy by elevated views, and strongly marked sentiments of patriotism and philanthropy and that they may be followed by results, cheering to your hearts in the retrospect of life, and in the anticipations of their bearing on the interests of posterity and that all may redound to the prosperity of Zion, and the moral and political regeneration of a world lying in wickedness cannot be objects of more earnest de- sire to yourselves, than of hope and expectation to thousands, who will follow you with their prayers and grateful benedictions, throughout the whole pe- riod of your labors. And now, " The Lord bless you and keep you." " The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you." " The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace." F /IM/I LIBRARY X -