A DISCOURSE
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
^|i HappE inrnhj
OP THE
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA,
©it Smtfoaj), ifebniarg 22^, 1852.
BY W. T. BRANTLY,
Professor of Belles-Lettres and Oratory in the University.
ATHENS, GA.
PUBLISHED BY THE PHI KAPPA SOCIETY.
PRINTED AT THE FRANKLIN JOB OFFICE.
1852.
Athens, February 23, 1852.
Rev. Professor Brantly :
Dear Sir—"We have the honor of transmitting to you the
following resolution, unanimously passed at a recent meeting of the Phi
Kappa Society:
On motion of Bro. J. R. Respess,
"Resolved, That the most sincere thanks of the Society be presented to
our honorary brother, W.T. Brantly, for the very eloquent and appropri¬
ate address delivered by him upon the occasion of our Anniversary, and
that a copy of the same be requested for publication."
Hoping that the request 'will meet with your approbation, we re¬
spectfully subscribe ourselves
Your most obedient servants,
"Wm. Henry Waddell,
J. R. Respess,
James Marks.
A DISCOURSE.
Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holt.
Exodus, 20—8.
I appear before you this morning at the invitation
of the Phi Kappa Society of this College. The day
is interesting to the young gentlemen composing
this Society, as the 32cLaniversary of an associa¬
tion to which they are warmly attached. The re¬
spectable age which their organization^has reached;
the intellectual and moral benefits which it has con¬
ferred, and which it is still bestowing upon large
numbers, the friendships which it has created and
cherished; and the distinguished^ names which are
found upon its records; are considerations which,
at this time have doubtless suggested themselves to the
reflections of every member. Under ordinary cir¬
cumstances, it would be proper to take these thoughts
as the basis of the discourse which has been re¬
quested to-day.
But this is also the 22d of February—a day dear
to the heart of every American, as the 120th anni¬
versary of the birth of him to whom, under Provi¬
dence, we owe far more than to any other one man,
those triumphs which have made us an indepen¬
dent and powerful nation.
On the recurrence of this anniversary, it is natu¬
ral, and it is proper, to contemplate the life of Wash-
4 A DISCOURSE.
ington. True, it is a thrice told tale; " tlie world
knows his historyv by heart;" but until Americans
cease to appreciate their liberties and the last spark
of gratitude is extinguished in their bosoms, they
can never grow weary with the recital of his self-
denying, magnanimous, and patriotic achievements.
Identified as is the life of Washington with the
history of your country, I presume that it must
be more or less familiar to you all. Many of
you have dwelt with delighted interest upon every
portion of his precious biography; you have marked
him in childhood as the dutiful and affectionate son,
the boy of truth, the industrious gatherer of the
elements of knowledge from the rude schools of
the country : forming, at the tender age of 14 years,
a series of judicious maxims for the government
of his conduct—a code of rules, his biographer ob¬
serves, which had an influence upon his whole sub¬
sequent life.
You have watched him in the commencement of
his manhood, deputed by the Governor of Virgin¬
ia to demand of the French General why he had
invaded the King's Colonies. As you follow him
on his dangerous journey of 750 miles, more than
half the distance through an unbroken wilderness,
frequently across rivers and morasses, over moun¬
tains, through fearful gorges, and amid tribes of hos¬
tile Indians, you must be as much impressed with the
energy and courage of the youth of twenty-one as
with the special Providence which preserved his
life amidst such fearful exposures.
Two years subsequent to this period, you find him
A DISCOURSE. 5
in that well known contest under Gen. Braddock,
displaying such extraordinary valor as to challenge
universal admiration. It was in this battle that he
established that claim to courage and skill, which
has never been questioned. Horse after horse was
killed under him; four times was his coat perfora¬
ted by the bullets of the enemy; Braddock was
prostrated; his two aids were borne wounded from the
contest; three-fourths of his brother officers lay dead
or dying on the field; yet amid the thunder of the ar¬
tillery and the "wild war-whoop of the Indians, he con¬
tinued with the utmost self-composure and intrepid¬
ity to lead his men to the conflict. The army was de¬
feated, but it was a defeat in which Washington ac¬
quired enduring renown. Who is surprised that an
old Indian Chief, w ho in this engagement repeatedly
and deliberately fired upon him without success,
should subsequently come to pay homage to the
man who wras the particular favorite of Heaven and
who could never die in battle ? Who can repress
the conviction that an Omnipotent power was pre¬
serving and qualifying him for those important
scenes in which he was afterwards to act so conspic¬
uous a part ?
His military reputation established, Washington
in the following year at the age of 24 was honored
with the command of the Virginia troops. In this
distinguished post, he, abundantly sustained the
high expectations which had been formed of his
abilities: deporting himself in such a way as to call
forth the unanimous approbation of the Virginia
Legislature.
6 A DISCOURSE.
At the close of the Colonial wars you see him re¬
tiring to private life. But you presently hear of
him among the earliest and sternest opposers of
those wrongs which the mother country was striving
to inflict upon her transatlantic dependencies. How
deeply the subject had taken hold of his soul may
be inferred from a record in his diary, when the
House of Burgesses appointed a day of fasting and
prayer, in sympathy with their Boston brethren.
"I fasted" he writes, "all day?and went to church."
As a delegate to the first Congress in Philadelphia
in 1774, he proved himself as mighty in counsel as he
had been in battle. It was 110 less a judge than Patrick
Henry, who declared that in point of solid information
and sound judgment, Col. Washington was unques¬
tionably the greatest man in that remarkable body.
When the Revolutionary struggle was fully com¬
menced all eyes were directed to him as the man to be
invested with the chief command. And here, from
whatever point you contemplate him—whether as the
wise disciplinarian, reducing to order the rude recruits
which had been placed under his command, or as the
adroit tactician, expelling the British troops from Bos¬
ton without the loss of a single life ; whether inspir¬
ing his despairing soldiers with hope after the dis¬
astrous defeat at Brooklyn and the fearful flight
through the Jerseys; or by a masterly movement
retrieving his loss, and by a series of brilliant victo¬
ries near Princeton, reviving the confidence of his
countrymen, and startling even his enemies with
surprise; whether you find him on his knees, as at
Valley Forge, supplicating success of the God ot bat-
A DISCOURSE. 7
ties, or at Yorktown, dictating terms of surrender to
Cornwallis, in that memorable engagement wliich
consummated the American victory—he is, as has
been said of him, in another connection, " Washing¬
ton in all, " the brave—the wise—the great—the
good."
Independence achieved, you have seen this remar^
kable man called to preside over the people whom he
had led to victory. The same wisdom and energy
which had distinguished him in the camp, marked
his career in the cabinet. Diverse and formidable
as were the difficulties which he encountered, he
succeeded, with the co-operation of judicious advisers,
in removing them all and in arranging a government
which the world would do well to take as its model.
Notwithstanding the innumerable embarrassments
with which he was. surrounded, the nation was nev¬
er more prosperous than'when Washington was at
its head. After eight years of the most faithful
civil service, he retires laden with honors, to his
beloved Vernon; where a few years afterwards
he met the " king of terrors " with that compo¬
sure and courage which he had ever displayed up¬
on the battle-field.
It might be interesting, and on common occasions
it would be proper, to review more minutely the in¬
cidents to which I have now referred in the history
of him who has been for more than half a century
justly styled the " Father of his country." But I
have been asked to preach a sermon; and a ser¬
mon, if it be worthy of the name, must embrace top¬
ics far more important than those which have yet
8
A DISCOURSE.
been mentioned. Besides, we are convened on the
resurrection morning of a greater than Washington—
of him whose birth-place was indicated by the blaz¬
ing finger of God, and whose natal song was chanted
by angels, singing "glory to God in the highest and
on earth peace, good will toward men." This
great fact must throw into eclipse every other sub¬
ject, and indicate the matter suitable for our present
meditations. As this day is an instance in which
one of our national anniversaries concurs with the
Christian Sabbath, it has appeared to me that I
might at the present time, appropriately invite you
to consider the
CONNEXION OF A PROPER OBSERVANCE OE THE
CHRISTIAN SABBATH WITH OUR
NATIONAL PROSPERITY.
As this discussion hinges upon the question, what
is meant by a proper observance of the Lord's
day, it is desirable that this inquiry be distinctly
answered at the outset. The Sabbath, I reply,
then, is properly observed, when employed in ac¬
cordance with the design of the Being who gave it.
We read that "God hallowed the Sabbath day,"
and the text commands us to " keep' it holy." It is
plain, therefore, that no observance ot this day can
be proper which contemplates merely the secular
interests of man. They who suppose that the Sab¬
bath has been given merely as a day of rest from physi-
! cal and intellectual labor, and that it is legitimately
spent in seeking repose for their minds and bodies,
secularize and degrade the institution. Equally
A DISCOURSE. 9
gross is their perversion of the day, who devote it to
amusement and pleasure—surrendering its hours to
social visiting, convivial entertainments, balls, thea¬
tres, operas and similar employments. It is " kept
holy" only when it is a consecrated day. To re¬
ceive it as imposing an authoritative halt upon the
business of the world; as calling us from our tem¬
poral concerns, to consider our spiritual interests; as
a day in which we are to think and speak and act
for God, and in which we are to make that prepara¬
tion which is requisite for our entrance upon the
vastness and glory of the coming life ; this, and this
only, can be a proper observance of the Christian
Sabbath. No one, I presume, will charge Sir Wal¬
ter Scott with being an over strict religionist: yet
I am perfectly willing to take his solution of the in¬
quiry which is now before us. " If we believe,"
says this popular novelist "in the divine origin of
the commandment, we must believe that the Sab¬
bath is instituted for the express purposes of reli¬
gion. The time set apart is the 4 Sabbath of the
Lord;' a day in which we are not to work our own
works or even to think our own thoughts. The pre¬
cept is positive and the purpose clear. For our eter¬
nal benefit, a certain space of every week is appoint¬
ed, which, sacred from all other avocations, save
those imposed by necessity and mercy, is to be em¬
ployed in religious duties."
I. Such an observance of the day as that which I
have now mentioned, must have an important bear¬
ing upon our national prosperity, from the vast in¬
fluence which it exerts upon the popular intellect.
2
10
A DISCOURSE.
That ignorance is unfriendly to liberty and that an
enlightened people only can long be free, a re propo¬
sitions which, in our clay, have almost acquired the
force of self-evident truths. National prosperity is
so intimately connected with national intelligence,
that from the earliest days ofthe Republic, our wisest
statesmen have been busily engaged' in devising
schemes for the dissemination of learning. " Pro¬
mote then," says Washington, in that incomparable
document to which we are accustomed to refer on
this interesting aniversary, " as an object of primary
importance, institutions for the general diffusion of
knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a go¬
vernment gives force to public opinion, it is essential
that public opinion should be enlightened." This
exhortation of our first Chief Magistrate has been
repeated in the messages of nearly every succeeding
President down to the present day.
The argument in favor of universal knowledge
in a government like ours, may be stated within a very
brief compass. The people are their own governors,
and without information they are not competent to the
business. The ballot-box is the mighty engine by
which, the interests of our country are controlled ;
and unless this engine is directed by skilful hands, it
is in vain to hope for permanent national success.
From the remotest antiquity of which we have any
account, it has been judged necessary that monarclis,
charged with the interests of the State, should be per¬
sons of enlarged education. Philip of Macedon, who
procured the services of Aristotle, the most renown¬
ed philosopher of his day, as tutor to his son Alexan-
a discourse. 11
der, did what every wise king has done from the days
of the Grecian monarch to our own times. In Re¬
publics, every man, in a tqualified sense, is the sover¬
eign, and if knowledge be necessary for the sovereign,
let Republican sovereigns be enlightened.
N:av I wish you to consider in this connection,
that the Sabbath cannot be kept in accordance with
the design of llini whose resurrection it commemo¬
rates, "without contributing directly to the intellectual
improvement of the people. It has been remarked
with much truth, that "Jesus Christ originated, in
inseparable connection with this day, the first great
and permanent system of popular instruction, that the
world had ever known." When Nicodemus said to the
Saviour, " we know that thou art a teacher sent from
God," he was only referring to a character of Christ
which was sustained by abundant evidence. It was
impossible for any man to have attended upon his
teachings without experiencing a high degree of
mental enlargement, independent of any other ben¬
efits which he may have enjoyed. And when his
own instructions had been concluded on earth, we
hear him in that touching valedictory which he ad¬
dressed to his disciples, saying to them, " Go ye, there¬
fore, teach all nations," thus urging them with all the
solemnities of a farewell injunction to continue the
work which he had commenced. 1 he mission of
Christ and his Apostles was not indeed, to devise a
scheme for the intellectual illumination of the world;
they proposed objects infinitely more important than
the education of the human mind. They came to
" seek and to save that which was lost," to make men
12
A DISCOURSE.
better and happier; to raise them from the degrada¬
tion and ruin to which sin had reduced them, and to
invest them with the dignity of the children of God.
At the same time, this object implied, to a greater or
less extent the cultivation of the intellectual facul¬
ties ; they were to deal with men as thinking, intel¬
ligent beings; as able to examine evidence, and to con¬
sider motives; to lay down premises, and to deduce
consequences. The heralds of Salvation could not,
therefore, execute their legitimate vocation, without
educating, to a greater or less extent, the mental pow¬
ers. Those who listened to their teachings and em¬
braced their religion may have been destitute of all
other attainments; but they secured that knowledge
which must have roused and enlarged the intellect:
thus qualifying them for the better discharge of the
duties of this life, whilst they were animated with the
hope of blessedness in that life which is to come.
At this very hour, millions of our population
are doubtless receiving just that kind of instruc¬
tion of which I have now spoken. Thousands
of these are our independent voters; they are
brought together from various employments: some
from their farms, and some from their merchandize,
and others from their workshops. But from what¬
ever calling they may have come, all have dismissed,
for the time being, their secular avocations, and are
now giving earnest heed to discussions on important
subjects, conducted, in multitudes of instances, by
men of learning, eloquence, tfeal and piety. These
men are not dealing in barren declamation; for
the most part, they are presenting to their hearers
A DISCOURSE. 13
rational and well compacted arguments upon themes
of the most thrilling import. They are " reasoning
of righteousness, temperance and judgment to come."
It is hardly possible for thinking beings to listen to
such important discussions without experiencing
an intellectual elevation and expansion, though
there be no additional benefit. The Church is the
best free school in the world; and not a few of the
Professors who teach in it, are men who, to minds
well stored with human lore, have added that bet¬
ter knowledge which is supplied by the spirit of God.
Who can estimate the value of those instructions
which are dispe/sed by these gifted teachers upon
each returning Lord's day, considered as mere intel¬
lectual exercises? How must the faculties of the
mind be roused and invigorated under the thought-
inspiring representations of Holy Truth which are
heard from these ambassadors of Jesus ! Though
the instructions of the Christian Sabbath, as has
already been intimated, propose something infinitely
more important than the diffusion of knowledge
and the discipline of the mind, yet these incidental
results are invariably secured. The propagation of
Gospel Truth, by means of public teachers on days
prescribed for the purpose, seems of necessity to
imply the propagation of other truth and the bene¬
fits of general learning. That place in which the
very best provision is made for the instruction of
the masses, in which the' best schools are the free
schools, and in which the proportion of unlettered
persons to the population is less than in any other
country, is thevery place in which the Sabbath is most
14
A DlSCOUHPE.
scrupulously observed, and its teaching most gener¬
ally diffused. People thus instructed will appreci¬
ate the value of free institutions: they will under¬
stand their rights ; and understanding, u they will
dare maintain them."
II. The connexion of the Sabbath with our na¬
tional prosperity is seen, in the second place, irom its
influence upon the moral sense of the people. I
have spoken of the Sabbath as a means for quick¬
ening the intellect, but it is not enough that men
have learning. He who has failed to i'emark that
the most enlarged cultivation of the mind cannot su¬
persede the education of the moral nature, has read
history to but little purpose. As in a vessel, no
strength of timber nor skill of workmanship can
compensate the absence of the rudder, as without
this directory it must be the sport of the winds and
of the waves; so in a state, the most extensive ac¬
quisitions of knowledge will be useless, unless there
be a moral influence to Control them. The acts
of men, if they be right, must be the result of ex¬
ternal compulsion or of an inward principle impelling
them to truth and duty. In our country, there can be
no external violence : the people must do their duty
from a sense of moral obligation or it will never
be done. " Quid vante leges sine morions" is an
inquiry peculiarly applicable to our country. If
there be 110 such thing as the conscience of a peo¬
ple, taken collectively, or if the national conscience
be seared, it is utterly idle to talk of laws and con¬
stitutional stipulations. These instruments will not
be worth the parchments upon which they are
A DISCOURSE.
15
inscribed, unless there bo national principle to sus¬
tain tliem. I speak not now of that conscience
which in certain sections of our country, impudently
arrogating to itself the title of " higher law,1' re¬
quires every law, human or divine, to bow to its su¬
premacy ; but I sp<*ak of conscience informed by
revelation, and submitting itself in all things to the
authority of God. I speak of conscience so purified
and educated that it will keep a man true to his
word, that it will restrain him from all intentional
infractions ot the rights of others, that it will make
him a law-abiding and a law-supporting citizen, and
that will cause him to shrink from anything like
political infidelity, with as much sensitiveness as he
would shrink from applying the fire-brand to his
neighbor's dwelling.
' The greatest danger which we have to apprehend
for those institutions under which we have so long
lived and prospered, arises from th q corruption of the
■public conscience. We have nothing to apprehend
from without. The French usurper may flourish
before us the descendants of the heroes who conquer¬
ed at Marengo and Austerlitz and Lodi; England
limy tell us of the conquering legions of Waterloo,
and point us to a navy claiming to be the mistress
of the seas; the Czar of all the Itussias, who,
with more than Roman ambition, contemplates the
subjection of the world, may defile before us his
eighteen millions of miiitia, and his standing army
of a million disciplined warriors; he may boast of
dominions extending from the Baltic Sea across tne
whole breadth of Europe and of Asia to the very
16
A DISCOURSE.
confines of America, and /' from theeternal ices of the
northern pole to the sunny clime of the pomegranate
and the fig," and then tell us that the empire which
commands one-seventh of the inhabitable globe,
must ere long overspread the earth; but conscious
j of our own security their menaces pass us as the
< idle wind. If the rich legacy bequeathed to us by
Washington and his associates ever be impaired j if
■ the columns of the fair fabric reared by those mas-
. ter architects ever be broken, corruption at home
: must work out the catastrophe.
To enlighten the moral sense and to render it in
i the highest degree discriminating and sensitive, is
one grand object of the instructions of the Sabbath.
When the multitudes congregate on this day, chris¬
tian teachers are dealing mainly with their con-
, sciences. Every sermon implies that there is such
' a faculty in man and that it is susceptible of edu¬
cation. Truth, candor, honesty, integrity, every
virtue in short, which is essential to our own nation¬
al-stability is on this day urged upon the conscience
by the highest conceivable sanctions. Men are
taught that disobedience to the laws of their coun¬
try will be punished if persisted in, not alone by
■ human penalties, but with the everlasting displeas¬
ure of Almighty God. They are taught, that if
they would enter the kingdom of Heaven, they
I must be dutiful citizens, benevolent neighbors, for¬
giving men; in short, that they must cherish just
those virtues which, when universally practised,
constitute the most powerful bulwark of a free peo¬
ple. -I'know that men sometimes conjecture that
A DISCOURSE.
17
the sanctions of human laws would be sufficient to
restrain crime, and to secure order in community,
though the authority of religion were destroyed.
But, my hearers, universal history contradicts the
supposition. You might as well hope if the sun
were extinguished in the heavens, that human
torches could, illuminate, and human fires fertilize
the world. Without a sensitive public conscience,
our institutions cannot stand; and without divine
authority quickening and directing, there can be no
effective conscience; and without a day especially
consecrated to this high and holy discipline, all ex¬
perience attests that it will never be performed.
III. I argue, farther, the connexion between a
right keeping of the Sabbath and our national per¬
manence, from the fact that nations have prospered
or declined as they have sanctified or desecrated this
holy day. «
No one who has any knowledge of the people to
whom the text was originally addressed, can doubt
that their national prosperity depended upon their
regard for this day. If there be any truth taught
in Jewish history, it is this: Whilst they kept the
Sabbath day, they were prospered of heaven; when
they profaned this day, they were cursed of heaven.
Hear the prophet Jeremiah: (J.er. 17, 24, 25*)
" And it shall come to pass if ye diligently hearken
unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden
through the gates oi this city on the Sabbath day,
but hallow the Sabbath day to do no work therein;
then shall there enter into the gates of this city?
kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David,
s ■
18 A DISCOURSE.
riding in chariots and on horses, they and their
princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem; and this city shall'remain forever."
Here you perceive, that great civil blessings are dis¬
tinctly promised as the reward of fidelity in keep¬
ing the Sabbath. In order to impress this duty
still more earnestly upon their attention, the prophet
reverses the case and warns them that their disobe¬
dience in this particular, would be punished by the
most terrrible calamities. " But if ye will not hear¬
ken unto me, to hallow the Sabbath day and not
bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Je¬
rusalem on the Sabbath" day, then will I kindle a
fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the pal¬
aces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched."
Jer. vii. 27. How completely the rebellion of the
Jews drew down upon them this punishment, is well
known. Speaking of the profanation of this day,
says Nehemiah, (Neh. xiii. 17, 18.) "Then I con¬
tended with the nobles-of Judah and said unto
them, what evil thing is-this that ye do, and profane
the Sabbath day ? Did not your fathers thus, and did
not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon
this city ? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by
profaning the Sabbath." Here you perceive, that
Nehemiah is " contending with the nobles" for the
observance of the Sabbath, on account of the tempo¬
ral blessings secured by such faithfulness. In Eze-
kiel xx. 15, the prophet ^assigns their profanation
of the Sabbath, as one of the reasons why the Jews
were so sorely punished in the wilderness. " But
the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wil-
A DISCOURSE.
19
derness; they valued not my statutes, and they des¬
pised my judgments; and my Sabbaths they greatly
'polluted ; and then I said I would pour out my fury
upon them in the wilderness to consume them."
Let no man say that these laws, and promises,
and threatenings, were made for the people of a for¬
mer dispensation, and that they are not now in
force. No man who believes the Bible can question
that the command to keep the Sabbath is as binding
upon us as it was upon the Jews; and if this cannot
be questioned, then it must be admitted that the ac¬
companying rewards and punishments are yet in full
force. The Sabbath has a place in that moral law,
which will be binding upon us to the end of time.
" It stands enshrined among the moralities of a recti¬
tude which is immutable and everlasting." When a
man can innocently swear and lie, and steal, and
kill, then, and not until then, can he innocently pro¬
fane the Sabbath. And when lying, swearing, steal¬
ing and murdering, will contribute to national pros¬
perity, then may we expect to see a nation of Sab¬
bath-breakers prospered of heaven. Whilst the ap¬
pointment of God continues true, that righteousness
exalteth a nation, that people may expect prosper¬
ity, who " remember the Sabbath day, to keep it
holy."
The history of the world supplies us with no in¬
stance of political greatness achieved in so brief a
period, as that which is found in the history of our
own country. When we trace our progress through
the 64 years which have elapsed since the adoption of
our Federal Constitution, we are amazed at our own
20 A DISCOURSE.
growth. The kings and princes of the old world
have been looking on with consternation at our un¬
paralleled advance in commerce, in manufactures,
in population and in power. Most nations which
have reached eminence, have attained it by slow
and gradual progress; they have crawled up,
worm-like, to the summit of the pyramid. But we
seem to have disdained the crawling process; and
like our own eagle, to have stretched our wings, and
in a few bold and rapid circles, to have seized the
very apex. Where, it has been well asked, was the
Christian or politician, sufficiently sagacious to see
in that little tobacco plantation at Jamestown, two
hundred years ago, or in that little company which
was wafted across the wintry ocean in the May¬
flower, and landed upon the barren rock of Plymouth,
the germs of this colossal America of ours, which
now stands with her feetupon the tropics, her head
reposing upon the snows of Canada, stretching her
right hand to the Pacific and her left hand to the
Atlantic, in token of welcome and shelter to the
refugee and oppressed of all lands ?
Politicians may find in the freedom of our institu¬
tions, a satisfactory explanation of our success. But
what, I would ask, has sustained these institutions,
if it be not the support which they have derived from
the teachings of the Sabbath? If this prosperity be
the result of our liberal polity merely, why have
not other Republics beeif as prosperous as ours?
Why has every experiment of self-government which
the world has ever known anterior to our own times
proved abortive ? Why did the democratic institu-
A DISCOURSE.
21
tions of Greece and Rome 'lead to discord and con¬
fusion—followed by an-odious oligarchy? The
simple reason is that they lacked the conservative
power which we possess: they wanted salt, and the
mass soon went on to corruption. Our people have
generally respected the Sabbath. Multiplied as
may be the individual instances of profanation,
mournful as may be the desecration of this day in
particular localities, yet I question whether as a
whole, there be a nation on the face of the globe in
which so much respect is paid to the Sabbath, as
with us. The Puritan fathers, though they did
some things which I could wish that they had left
undone, nevertheless infused a very wholesome
leaven upon this subject. To this regard for the
day, and consequently for its instructions, I am con¬
strained to ascribe in no small degree, the success
which has distinguished -,us from all other experi¬
menters in the problem of liberal governments. It
has been under the fostering influence of religious
principle, that we have achieved such extraordinary
progress in all that contributes to national impor¬
tance and happiness. The far-seeing mind of
Washington perceived very clearly, the importance
of religion to the stability of those institutions which
were so dear to his heart. Accordingly, in that
memorable document, so replete with the profound-
est wisdom, that an eminent British statesman has
pronounced it the greatest production of any unin¬
spired mind, he urges this subject upon the most
serious attention of his countrymen. " Of all dis¬
positions," says Washington, "which lead to politic
22 A DISCOURSE.
cal prosperity, religion'and morality are indispen¬
sable supports. The mere politician, equally with
the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them.
A volume could not trace all their connexion with
public and private felicity. Let us with caution,
indulge the supposition that morality can be main¬
tained without religion. Whatever may be conced¬
ed to the influence of refined education on minds of
a peculiar structure, reason and experience both
forbid us to expect that national morality can pre¬
vail in exclusion of religious principles." Never
was there a truer sentiment expressed by man.
To that very religion declared by this illustrious
man, to be essential to such a result, do we owe our
prosperity. Happy will it be for us, if the coming
years of our history shall find us cherishing these
hallowed maxims.
IY. My last remark is; that if the Sabbath be not
observed in such a way as to contribute to the sta¬
bility of our institutions, it will be so desecrated as
to hasten their overthrow. Whether there shall be
one day distinguished in • & peculiar manner from
the other days of the week, or whether all shall be
indiscriminately used for business, or for pleasure, as
circumstances permit, are' inquiries not now in de¬
bate. Yielding to the demands of the animal econ¬
omy, and to the requisitions of the Bible, as well as to
universal usage, it has been determined in our coun¬
try, that the first day of the week be distinguished.
It has been determined " by custom, by the statutes
of the land, by the practices in courts and Legisla¬
tures, by universal understanding among tradesmen,
A DISCOURSE.
23
and farmers, and mechanics, by the established laws
arid habits in our colleges and schools," in short, by
a public opinion nearly unanimous, that the secular
pursuits in which the people are engaged, be sus¬
pended on this day. The Sabbath, it is plain then,
has been, and still continues to be, observed in some
way. If the multitudes* who are on this day releas¬
ed from the pursuits of industry are not directed to
some employment which may cultivate their moral
feelings, at the same time that it allows to nature her
needed repose, all history teaches us, that the va¬
cation will be pernicious in the highest degree.
Conceive, if you can, what would be the conse¬
quence, if without the restraints of the Sabbath or
without the restraints of religion—for the two are so in¬
separably connected, that if there be no Sabbath there
will soon be no religion—our whole population were
dismissed every seventh day in quest of pleasure and
excitement. How would depraved passion act upon
depraved passion, and corruption upon corruption,
until a terrible moral deterioration had been every
where effected. How certainly would such a day
unhinge everything like social order, disqualify men
for every sober pursuit, and in a short time ex¬
cite an uncontrollable desire for every species of
unhealthy and destructive stimulus. History fur¬
nishes us with at least one instance in which a civ¬
ilized nation has deliberately abolished the religious
observance of the Sabbath, substituting in its place
a day for relaxation and pleasure. The result of
that experiment will forever deter all sane nations
from venturing upon its repetition. The leaders in
24 A DISCOURSE.
this unhallowed procedure, infidels as they were,
soon saw that their holidays would prove their ut¬
ter ruin, and that the very existence of their govern¬
ment required the restoration of the Sabbath to its
proper place. Rome in her palmiest days, could
scarcely survive the effect of a single saturnalia in
a year. The injurious consequences of this dissipa¬
ted holiday, were distinctly felt through the whole
period intervening betwixt the anniversaries. If
Rome could not afford to have one day, or one week
in a 3-ear, a season of unbridled disorder, how could
we sustain the injury of one unsanctified holiday in
every week ? It requires 110 prophet to foresee that
very few such days would wrork out the destruction
of any government whose existence depended upon
the purity of its institutions, and the intelligence with
which they were administered.
It is reported in classic fable, that when Ilus was
building Ilium, the statute of Pallas fell down, (as
was supposed, from Heaven,) near his tent, and
that at the same time Ilus received an assurance
that Troy could not be taken whilst the Palladium
was preserved. When the Greeks beseiged Troy,
the statute was treacherously surrendered by one
of the sons of Priam, and the city was taken. The
Sabbath, with its teachings, is our true Palladium.
In no fablecl sense has itdecescended from Heaven;
for it was delivered on Mount Sinai by Almighty
God, Let this day with its sacred institutions be
faithfully observed, and the country is safe ; let it
be surrendered and the Republic is undone.
As disciples of a common faith, let us, my chris-
A DISCOURSE.
tian brethren, cherish. with a religious vigilance, the'
day which has been hallowed, by the resurrection
from the dead, of that Jesus upon whom are suspend¬
ed all our hopes of reconciliation with God, and of
immortal life. Though an evangelical alliance may
not now be practicable on all subjects, we can surely
be united in sustaining the sacredness of that day
upon whose proper observance depends the very ex¬
istence of our Christianity.
As citizens of the same country, as patriots, as
lovers of the liberty transmitted to us by illustrious
ancestors, let us honor the day which all reason and
experience prove to be one of the most powerful sup¬
porters of our national prosperity. Let us endeavor
to create that wholesome public sentiment which will
paralyze the influence of the men who desecrate the
Sabbath; and let us consider them, and them
only, as dutiful citizens and true patriots, who main¬
tain, at least an outward respect for the day so inti¬
mately connected with our country's weal,
And I beseech you young gentlemen, whose kind
request has suggested this 'discourse, now to form the
resolution to which you will adhere through life, of
sustaining with your manliness and intelligence, the
institution which is commended to your regards up¬
on divine authority. Your self-love and your patri¬
otism combine to urge this duty. No man who
maintains a due respect for this day, can become hope¬
lessly depraved. Upon "whatever excesses he may
rush during the secular days of the week, if he can
be persuaded to suspend on the Sabbath his pursuits
of folly and hearken to the teachings of the sacred
26
A DISCOURSE.
day, he may be reclaimed. Cherish the day not
merely for the temporal blessings which it secures,
but for those richer, better, holier blessings, which
flow from its observance. Believe with all your
hearts in the Jesus whose resurrection it commemo¬
rates. Take his precepts as the constant directory of
your conduct; they will introduce you to the path of
happiness and the path of safety; they will, when
humbly obeyed, prove the guarantee of success in ev¬
ery legitimate vocation on earth, and secure for you
at last, " an abundant entrance " to the kingdom of
glory on high. An affecting Providence has recently
reminded you of your own mortality. The badges
of mourning which I now see upon you, tell me that
death has made a chasm in your ranks. Young as
you are, the glow of youth may soon be exchanged
for the paleness of dissolution; and the limbs which
now exult in their strength and elasticity may soon
be palsied in the grave. But if you have exercised
the faith of the heart upon the atonement of Christ,
the gloom of the dying hour will be entirely dissi¬
pated. Forced though you may be to encounter
the "last enemy," victory will be yours. With a
triumphant faith you will exclaim: " Thanks be
unto God who giveth us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ."
Let the teachings of the Sabbath be observed, and
(I repeat it,) we may hope for the permanence of our
institutions. A faithful remembrance of the exhor¬
tations of the farewell address of Washington, join¬
ed with a becoming regard for the day which the
text commands us to keep holy, are the conditions
a discourse.
27
on which we are to expect civil and religious pros¬
perity. Whether these conditions will continue to
be complied with, is a question which I cannot solve.
But one thing is certain, the reputation of Washing¬
ton is safe. His life has created, and his death has
perfected it. In the language of a gifted statesman,
" The Republic may perish; the wide arch of our
ranged Union may fall; star by star its glories may
expire; stone by stone its columns and its capitol
may moulder and crumble; all other names which
adorn its annals may be forgotten; but as long as
human hearts shall anywhere pant, or human
tongues shall any where plead for a true, rational,
constitutional liberty, those hearts shall enshrine the
memory, and those tongues shall prolong the fame
of George Washington."