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 BRECKINRIDGE'S 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 NATIONAL FAST. 
 
 
 
TO THE LADIES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LOUISVILLE PROVIDENT SOCIETY. 
 
 The following discourse was prepared very hastily, in 
 a feeble stale of health, under the pressure of onerous du- 
 ties, and without the slightest expectation that it would ever 
 assume any other form. But such wishes, as it would not 
 be proper to resist, have been expressed for its publication. 
 I beg permission to put it forth under the sanction of your 
 name. It may save it from a scrutiny, which, I am con- 
 scious its execution cannot bear, although I think its 
 sentiments may all be defended. It is proper too, that the 
 pecuniary avails of such labors should be placed at your 
 disposal, since the Fast, which God has chosen, implies "that 
 thou deal thy bread to the hungry, when thou seest the naked 
 that thou cover him, and that thou bring the poor that are 
 cast out to thy house." 
 
 W. L. B. 
 
** that purpose : to the end that, on that day, we may 
 " all, with one accord, join in humble and reverential ap- 
 " proach to Him, in whose hands we are, invoking Him to 
 " inspire us with a proper spirit and temper of heart and 
 " mind, under these frowns of His Providence, and still to 
 "bestow his gracious benedictions upon our Government 
 " and our country. " 
 
 There is something not only impressive, but I think truly 
 great, in the conception of national grief — a whole people 
 mourning. The tears of a single individual are affecting. 
 We cannot witness, without deep emotion, the sorrow of a 
 family, ail its members mingling their sighs and tears to- 
 gether. The heart could scarce bear to behold the grief 
 of a whole city, and hear the lamentations of every citizen 
 and every family rising in one groan to Heaven. But when 
 these swell into the wailings of a nation, the sound is like 
 the voice of God's thunder. The tenderness of the impres- 
 sion is, in a measure, lost in its grandeur. That giddy, 
 weakening, heartsick anguish, with which we heard of the 
 nation's loss, is, in some sense, forgotten. The hearts of the 
 people are still sad, and long they will be so — but the very 
 conception of this great nation giving utterance with one 
 voice to that sadness, is a mighty sluice to let it off. It is 
 a great outlet, while it is a sublime expression, of the nation's 
 grief. And it shows a great spirit in our Chief Magistrate 
 and his immediate advisers, and a just and noble confidence 
 in the greatness of the national heart, that they have called 
 the people to the exercises of this day. I speak not now 
 of piety. But they take large views of men and of things 
 and they presume that the people do, or we had received no 
 
such recommendation, as that which has convened us this 
 morning. I trust that no one here will deem me to be 
 treading on forbidden ground, or advancing an improper 
 sentiment, when I say that this is an auspicious omen of a 
 generous, wise and prosperous administration of our affairs 
 — for they only are worthy or fit to guide the interests of 
 a great people, wlio can themselves take large views, and 
 who are not afraid to trust the people to respond to them. 
 Although so much has been said, within the last few 
 weeks, both in the public prints, and in every private circle, 
 of the character of our late honored Chief Magistrate, and 
 of the events which may spring from his death, these themes 
 are too full of interest to have become at all tedious to you. 
 On this account merely you would not forbid me to speak 
 of them to-day. But upon higher considerations, they are 
 excluded from the place and the occasion. I am not the 
 person, nor is this the time, to pronounce his eulogy, and, 
 although under other circumstances, you would delight to 
 hear it, its utterance is needless. His name, a name for 
 two centuries sacred to liberty,* identified in both hemis- 
 
 * "And truly it is a name strongly linked with liberty, and with some of ther 
 grandest movements of mankind. To us, the two public documents, (after 
 Magna Charta,) that most illustriously exhibit the sovereignty of right, are 
 the warrant for the execution of Charles Stuart, the first king of England of 
 his name, and the Declaration of Independence, against George Guelph, the 
 .third of his name. The former embodies the sentiments of a great, just and 
 free people, vindicating their recovered liberty by the judicial condemnation 
 of a bloody and perfidious tyrai>t — the latter sets forth, in a unanimous legis- 
 lative rejection of another tyrant by a people resolved to be free, the clear 
 and elevaXed principle on which the independence of states reposes. Ther* 
 
s 
 
 pheres with its noblest struggles, is engraved upon the hearts 
 of his countrymen. His memory needs no other monument 
 — 'tis embalmed in the bosoms of men, and will live till the 
 history and institutions of his country are forgotten. 
 
 Nor must I speak of political events and prospects, es- 
 pecially as connected with the interests and schemes of par- 
 ties. We are ail Americans. To-day, at least, we must 
 all be brothers. If it became me to discuss such subjects 
 on any occasion, it could not on this. If I understood them 
 ever so well, to-day my tongue would refuse the office. We 
 have higher objects before us. The concussion of parties, 
 even the purest aims of patriots, and the best principles of 
 statesmen, do not reach us here. We come to worship 
 God, and, while we stand in awe of his power, and tremble 
 before his judgments, to preach the gospel of his grace and 
 love. 
 
 . But first there are two sentiments which I cannot repress. 
 If you do not approve them, you will, at least, pardon the 
 freedom with which I utter them. I know not how it strikes 
 other minds, hut for myself, I cannot bear, that the Presi- 
 dent's dust should be taken from the capitol. The seat of 
 our national government has been consecrated oftentimes, 
 and abundantly, thank God, by noble eiforts of genius, wis- 
 
 is but one nmne commo7i to these two glorious instruments. It IS THE NAM^ 
 OF Harrison! Harrison, the regicide, — and Harrison, the signer of the De* 
 claration of Independence, — and Harrison, the leader of the remarkable polit- 
 ical revolution of our own day. It is the same name, the same fami'ly from 
 •father to son in direct descent, the same remarkable and unique association 
 with the vast movements of the people, the vast ideas of generations!"— 
 BalL Lit. 4- Rel. Mag. 
 
\ 
 
 9 
 
 doiii and patriotism, but never before by the work of death, 
 the very act of God, upon the person of the Chief Magis- 
 ti*ate. These ashes are ours — they belong to all the peo- 
 ples '■ The spirit has gone to its great account, I trust to a 
 blessed recompense. It is God's. But what remains is ours. 
 That, too, God will one day claim, and if the soul be now 
 with Him, He will, in the end, clothe the body too with the 
 brightness of light ; for you know, my brethren, that of each 
 one of the saints it is promised, that He shall " change our 
 vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious 
 body, according to the working whereby he is able even to 
 subdue all things unto himself." But, in the mean time, let it 
 rest where his countrymen have laid it with so many sighs 
 and tears. It v/ill breathe a fragrance around the spot that 
 will doubly hallov/ it. It will help to purify and elevate the 
 patriotism of all who go up thither as true friends of the 
 country, and, I think, it would almost keep ofi the foot of 
 the intruder, who would dare to go up as an enemy. Let us 
 tell his immediate kindred, that we are all his children. Let 
 the nation go with a kind, respectful, but earnest importu- 
 nity, which cannot be denied, and tell his widow and his 
 children, that their loss is ours too ; that he was our friend 
 and father, and that the great family begs the privilege 
 of watching his grave, even in the people's burial place, 
 where God has already placed his ashes. I am sure such 
 a suit could not be denied, and I think it would mingle 
 well with the services of this day, if all the people were to 
 solemnize. it farther by signing one great national petition to 
 
 the familv for the boon, and thus affording to that house 
 9" 
 
10 
 
 another opportunity of laying the whole country under ob- 
 ligations to it. 
 
 There is another subject, which I would like- to urge, if I 
 had the voice, upon all my countrymen to-day. This day 
 — -which God has sent us so beautiful from Heaven^ as if 
 He would chase away by its brightness the gloom which 
 the public calamity has thrown over our minds — I would 
 have signalized by another move of the nation. I would 
 have another great paper signed by all the people to-day. 
 But it should be in the tone of sovereigns speaking to their 
 public servants. It should say that the nation will admin- 
 ister upon the President's estate, and deem itself highly 
 favored in being permitted to assume all its obligations, and 
 make up all its losses, and this, in a manner commensurate 
 to the greatness and glory of the state. Not as if we were 
 conferring a cold, grudging charity — not as if we were trying 
 to pay a debt, which is beyond all price, and which can 
 never be paid with money — but in the spirit of a just, gene- 
 rous, great people, seeking to render a tribute of respectful 
 and affectionate homage, as honorable to the nation which 
 offers it, as to the house which shall receive it, in the name 
 of its illustrious head now gone. Nor should it be done in 
 any stinted measure, limiting it to the poor meanness of 
 one year's salary. Has this nation grown niggardly ? Once, 
 the representatives of the people, going directly from their 
 bosom, could order the national ships across the ocean for 
 the accommodation of the "Nation's Guest." Nay, as a tri- 
 bute of personal respect, and an expression of public grati- 
 tude for his services in the early struggle for liberty by the 
 
11 
 
 colonies, Congress assumed the obligations of our fathers, 
 and voted him, in the name of the people, a princely domain 
 of lands, and eight years' salary of a President in money. 
 La Fayette was an early and steady friend of the country, 
 and as such deserved its gratitude : and, if I remember right- 
 ly, but one voice in Congress, and hardly another among all 
 the people was raised against this expression of public re- 
 gard. But what did the people owe to that gallant friend of 
 liberty, more than their debt to him who has now left us ? 
 and what has resulted from the precedent, but national 
 glory ? and who does not to-day regard it as a proud exam- 
 ple ? I am ashamed of the press, when I read its pitiful 
 propositions on this subject. It is one of the most prominent 
 characteristics of the American people that they are capable 
 of forming great conceptions. They are quick to appreciate 
 them, and ever ready to carry them out. It makes me re- 
 joice in my country, and thank God that it is mine. 
 
 But I have already pursued these reflections farther, per- 
 haps, than is proper, in view of the important services which 
 are before us. Our Chief Magistrate has invited all the 
 people to spend this day in religious exercises, and those 
 of a peculiarly grave and solemn kind. We are here to pur- 
 sue them. In view of such a recommendation to such ser- 
 vices, I have thought of no Scripture which could more ap- 
 propriately engage our attention, than that which you will 
 find recorded in, 
 
12 
 
 John, 18 chap. 11 v. The cup which my father hath 
 
 GIVEN ME, shall I NOT DRINK IT? 
 
 These are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, in which, 
 besides what we shall presently notice, he expresses his 
 disapprobation of Peter's vehement impatience. Simon Pe- 
 ter, as he was one of the earnest, so he was one of the most 
 attached friends and disciples of the Saviour. A man, as I 
 suppose, of superior hitellect — certainly, of a generous dis- 
 position — if unsteady, yet noble and ardent — too much in- 
 fluenced by sudden impulses, and often betrayed into serious 
 indiscretions, as men of his general cast of character are 
 apt to be — of which we frequently observe examples among 
 ourselves. Indeed, so much do the people of this country 
 partake of such a disposition, that a reproof of Peter's too 
 hasty, though generous temerity, is peculiarly appropriate to 
 many of ourselves. Would that we had his honest and sin- 
 cere attachment to his Lord I For, although he once denied 
 him, and once, in later times, dissembled, he was an honest 
 man, and truly loved his master. 
 
 On the occasion before us, a band of ofiicers and men 
 from the Chief Priests and Pharisees, led by the traitor 
 Judas — who had already sold his Lord, and was now come 
 to betray him with a kiss — had followed Jesus to the garden, 
 v/here he was accustomed to resort with his disciples. Thith- 
 er, as to a retired spot, where he might be seized without a 
 tumult of the people, they came to lay their bloody hands 
 upon him. Tiiis was their hour, and the power of dark- 
 ness ; and Jesus was ready to be led away to the M'ork 
 
13 
 
 which he had come from Heaven to do. But, as if he would 
 at once explain that work in its nature and design, he stood 
 forth before his followers, representing in their small but 
 honored band, the countless multitude of those, who in all 
 coming time were to believe on his name through their word, 
 and said, "I have told ye that I am he. If, therefore, ye 
 seek me, let these go their way." "That the saying, says 
 the Evangelist, might be fulfilled which he spake, of them 
 which thou gavest me have I lost none." What a clear, 
 beautiful, unchangeable illustration is this, my brethren, of 
 the blessed doctrine of the gospel, that Jesus took the place 
 of his people, and suffered in their stead, so that none can 
 ever lay any thing to the charge of God's elect. 
 
 It was, perhaps, the tender concern for his disciples, thus 
 expressed by Jesus, and as to its full meaning, imperfectly 
 understood by them, that robbed Peter of all self-command. 
 His generous bosom had already swelled with feelings which 
 he could scarce suppress, v/hen he saw the fierce, yet tremb- 
 ling band of ruffians — for it is said that when they saw Jesus, 
 they went backward and fell to the ground — and when he 
 looked upon Judas, as he tried to smile through the cloud, 
 which his base sentiments, and the beginnings of his re- 
 morse had already spread over his features. But when Je- 
 sus laid bare his own bosom for the stroke, that his disci- 
 ples might go safe, I think it was then that Peter could bear 
 no more. His heart was full of emotions which could not be 
 repressed. And I am almost ready to believe that half the 
 men in this vast assembly, if they had been there, with no 
 more than Peter's knowledge, and all Peter's love, would 
 have felt a.^ he did, and perhaps have acted just so too. 
 
14 
 
 Unhappily, he had a sword — he was scarce conscious that 
 he laid his hand upon it — he had hardly touched it, till the 
 hasty weapon started from its scabbard. It was the very 
 scene, if misunderstood as to its great designs, to rouse 
 every indignant feeling of the bosom, and make even the 
 Bwords spring forth ! 
 
 But Peter was all wrong. He ought to have understood 
 his master better. And Jesus, to set him right, having 
 doubtless by his unseen power kept him from the deed of 
 murder, healed by a touch the person whom he had wound- 
 ed, and said, '*Put up thy sword into the sheath. The cup 
 which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? " 
 
 You perceive that much is suggested by this Scripture 
 which we cannot examine to-day, even if it all suited the 
 occasion, This, however, stands out from the passage, our 
 Saviour's most beautiful a\d sublime example of pa- 
 tient SUBMISSION to the WHOLE WILL OF GoD. 
 
 The dispensations of Divine Providence, whether kind or 
 severe, towards nations, no less than individuals, are spoken 
 of in Scripture under the figure of a cup, which God pours 
 out for men, and gives to them to drink. As (Ps. 23, 5,) 
 "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine 
 enemies, thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth 
 over." (Ps. 75, 7 — 8,) "But God is the judge. He putteth 
 down one, and setteth up another. For in the hand of the 
 Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red ; it is full of mix- 
 ture, and he poureth out of the same, but the dregs thereof, 
 all the wicked of the e^irth shall wring them out and drink 
 them." (Isai. 57, 17,) "Awake, awake, stand up, oh Jeru- 
 ??5lew, which hast drunk .it the hand of the Lord the cup of 
 
15 
 
 his fury — thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of ti'emb- 
 ling, and wrung them out." And so frequently through the 
 Scriptures. Thus, in our text, our Lord speaks of the sor- 
 rows which were laid upon him, under the same figure, 
 while he disclaims with horror the idea that, however bitter, 
 the trial was not to be borne with patient and pious submis- 
 mission to the Divine wilL 
 
 Whence, in attempting a little farther to elucidate this 
 Scripture, and apply it to our present circumstances I remark, 
 
 I. That every event is from God. 
 
 Not merely are our enjoyments and richest blessings de- 
 rived from his gracious hand, but no calamity comes without 
 his bidding. The occurrences of human life are the dispen- 
 sations of Divine Providence. And this suggests one of the 
 most obviouis points of difference between him that believeth 
 and an infidel. Even a speculative believer in Christianity 
 as divine, and in the Bible, therefore, as from God, holds it 
 to be a fact that the Almighty orders all events. While the 
 true, evangelical, believer devoutly recognizes God's hand i^ 
 every dispensation, and in view of all, looks up to Him, and 
 says with the Saviour, "Even so Father, for so it seem.ed 
 good in thy sight." Thus referring every thing to the Di- 
 vine sovereignty. 
 
 That events ought to be so referred, the Scriptures expli- 
 citly declare. As (Amos 3, 6,) "Shall there be evil in a city 
 and the Lord hath not done it?" So again, (Isai. 45, 17,) 
 "I form the hghf, I create darkness, I makepeace, and create 
 evil. I the Lord do all these things." You remember how 
 Job spake under his multiplied and extraordinary calamities, 
 some of them immediately induced by the hand of man, and 
 
IG 
 
 not all of them, therefore, to be referred directly to the act 
 of God. His philosophy was as sound, as his piety was ele- 
 vated — indeed piety deserves the name only when it is ra- 
 tional — "The Lord gave," he said, "and the Lord hath taken 
 away." And a clear recognition of this principle it was 
 M^hich enabled him, under the influence of the Holy Spirf'; 
 to add, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." 
 
 In like manner we have the testimony of our Lord, not 
 only to the pledge of Divine protection to his people, so 
 that the very hairs of their heads are numbered ; but also to 
 that careful supervision of all affairs, which does not sufTer 
 even a sparrov*^ to fail to the ground without our Father's 
 knowledge. 
 
 And this testimony is confirmed, if that w^ere possible, by 
 the general opinions of men. Even in the minds of the ob- 
 durate, who have least sense of religion, and of those who 
 afford no practical evidence of its influence over their feel- 
 ings and behaviour, there is something that responds to the 
 voice-of God when he speaks through his Providence. So 
 that, in some instances, all men are obliged to be still, and 
 say that God has done it, for the conscience will admit no 
 tDther solution. It is related — I do not vouch for the accura- 
 cy of the statement, but I have so heard it related as to 
 credit the story, that when the Asiatic cholera was travelling 
 on in its desolating march through the old world, an American 
 physician met it in a city of Europe, where it prevailed with 
 less than its accustomed violence, and upon his return to 
 America, undertook, with great confidence and precision, to 
 assert its causes, and to teach the method of its cure — de- 
 claring that it was impossible for the disease to prevail in 
 
17 
 
 region where he Uved — the causes not operating there, and 
 that if it should appear, it would be in so mild a form and 
 so easily manageable, that he would pledge a limb from his 
 own person, for every instance of its mortality in his town. 
 Presently it reached our shores, and gliding on in its silent, 
 terrific, irresistible progress, it sought out the abode of our 
 traveller. In that very town it swept away nearly one-tenth 
 of the people, and in the general consternation, and his own 
 manifest impotence, he was compelled to give it up. Con- 
 fessing that he could do nothing with it, for it began — where 
 other diseases closed — with death ! while all men said, of a 
 truth the hand of God is in it ! 
 
 But it is not only on such appalling occasions, that God 
 vindicates his matchless power, and universal control, as He 
 wrings from the wicked their reluctant homage. There is, 
 if I . do not greatly err, something in the reason and con- 
 science of every man that makes him see the hand of God in 
 ev^ents, until powerful influences of sin have blinded his 
 eyes, and seared his conscience as with a hot iron. 
 
 I am rejoiced to be able, as it is in point here, to remark, 
 and as you all have doubtless observed with high gratification, 
 that the cabinet officers of the government, in announcing 
 to the country the death of the Chief Magistrate, recog- 
 nized in the most distinct manner, that melancholy event, as 
 an act of "an All-wise Providence." So his successor in 
 assuming the reigns of government, in like speech, calls it 
 "the dispensation of an All-wise Providence," and assures 
 the people, that for a just and happy administration of their 
 affairs, he confides in the "care of an everwatchful and over- 
 ruling Providence ;" while all the people speak of these 
 3 
 
18 
 
 events, as the dispensations of God. There is the nation's 
 testimony to the particular dispensations of Divine Provi- 
 vidence! 
 
 Nations, then, no less than individuals, are subject to His 
 dispensations. Nay, I may add, especially so, because men's 
 national relations are dissolved in the grave. Men will go 
 up to the judgment, each in his solitary accountability. In 
 their great associated relations they are confined to this 
 v^^orld, and in that capacity, receive their awards only on 
 earth. 
 
 Nor does the universal and irresistible control of events 
 by the Almighty make him, in any sense, a partner in the 
 crimes of men. For says the Apostle Peter upon this very 
 subject, (Acts 2, 23,) "Him" — referring to Jesus Christ, who 
 had just been cruelly murdered, — "Him, being delivered by 
 the determinate counsel, and foreknowledge of God, ye have 
 taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain," — thus 
 asserting distinctly and with the utmost positiveness this 
 proposition, that God may appoint a certain end by an abso- 
 lute and irresistible decree, and yet men may greatly offend 
 Him, by the inferior agency which they employ for its ac- 
 complishment. Here is a clear assertion, therefore, of the 
 Divine sovereignty, in the control and ordering of events 
 which human hands work out — and an assertion, no less 
 clear, of the unrestrained freedom, and the deep responsibili- 
 ty of human agency, in the very events which God had pur- 
 posed. 
 
 Then God is a great king over all his creatures, each 
 one of whom according to its intelligence is accountable to 
 Him. And for men, it is clear, that the rule of conduct and 
 
19 
 
 of accountability is not the secret purpose or decree of God, 
 but his law written upon the heart, and still more clearly in his 
 word. And hence, though a man's conduct were tending in 
 its influence to a result both desirable and necessary as or- 
 dained of God, it might be extremely wicked. When Cy- 
 rus, as we read in the prophets, was achieving by his valor, 
 and his skill, the great events, which God's righteous Provi- 
 dence had ordered, it was as a servant, who knew not the 
 master in Heaven — and none can tell what varied and ex- 
 treme wickedness may have been all the time at work in his 
 heart, nor how many improper acts may have obscured the 
 glory of his remarkable career. 
 
 We can all perceive that the just judgments of God 
 may come down on any wicked people, and be God's just 
 judgments still, although contrived, as far as man contrived 
 them, in perfidy and ambition, and executed amid the cruel 
 and fierce display of the worst passions of our nature. And 
 so, in the best gifts that God bestows on men, the same base 
 passions may rankle in the bosoms, and even burst forth in 
 the lives of those, whom he has made the almoners of his 
 blessings. God is holy in all his ways, whatever man may 
 be, even when he is helping, as an instrument in the Divine 
 hand, to accelerate God's "bright designs, and work his 
 sovereign will." If it had pleased God, that his servant, 
 whose death we mourn, had fallen in his high place by an 
 assassin's hand, rather than by disease, no man, in his senses, 
 would have said, that it was any the less a dispensation of 
 Divine Providence — nor that God was less holy, for the 
 wickedness of the murderer whom he permitted to shed 
 such honored blood — nor that the murderer was less wicked, 
 
20 
 
 and less deserved the extremity of punishment. The sov- 
 ereignty of God does not affect, much less destroy, the free 
 agency of man, or his strict accountability. 
 
 II. In the second place, I observe that, the dispensa- 
 tions OF Providence, no matter how trying, are to be 
 
 BORNE with patient AND RESIGNED SUBMISSION TO THE 
 
 sovereign will of God. 
 
 This is the very meaning and aim of our religious exer- 
 cises to-day. To what do our services tend, if, while we 
 acknowledge God's powerful, wise and righteous govern- 
 ment of the universe, we do not consent to his will? What 
 avails it that we confess our sins, that we deprecate his 
 well merited displeasure, that we implore his protection, his 
 forgiveness, and his grace, if yet we be unwilhng that He 
 should do what seemeth him good? Why, my brethren, 
 however we may appear to each other in these services, they 
 are stamped with the ineffaceable mark of hypocrisy before 
 God, if we do not bow with rational and devout submission 
 to His holy will. I do not speak of a cold insensibility — I 
 do not mean a stoical indifference — nor that frigid philoso- 
 phy, with which some men try to brace up their minds to en- 
 dure the destiny, to which fate consigns them, as they madly 
 call it. Nor do I mean that heroic and invincible fortitude, 
 so noble in its place, with which the brave do sometimes 
 bear the ills of life. But I mean that sentiment — sent to us 
 from Heaven — which Jesus breathed — which none have 
 known who are not taught of God — that which enables its 
 possessor, from the heart and in all things to say, the will of 
 the Lord be done ! 
 
21 
 
 Such a spirit, it has been intimated, is peculiarly appro- 
 priate to us to-day — met as we are for the solemn expression 
 of our sense of calamity and sin. As a nation and as indi- 
 viduals, we are fasting before God — humbling ourselves un- 
 der his hand laid upon us in this public stroke. The very 
 spirit that we should cherish is that of profound submission 
 to the expressions of God's will in the solemn acts of His 
 providence. 
 
 xln argument for the earnest cultivation of such a spirit — 
 for I speak to those who demand and can appreciate a rea- 
 son — may be derived, 
 
 1. From what has been already insisted on, that all events^ 
 even our heaviest calamities, are to he regarded as the dispensa- 
 tions of God, They could not have occurred without his 
 permission. And all that enables us to perceive of any event, 
 that God has ordered it, compels us also to say, "The Lord 
 is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works" — "Just 
 and true are thy ways, oh thou King of Saints." "I was 
 dumb," says David, "I opened not my mouth because thou 
 didst it." If the Lord be God, a God of wisdom, benevo- 
 lence, justice, holiness and truth, then men ought so to stand 
 in awe of Him, as to praise Him for what he does, no less 
 than for what He is ; and no voice of complaint against any 
 of His acts, nor even the feeblest sighing of the spirit, in the 
 way of murmuring against Him, ought ever to be heard. 
 
 2. Men ought to he silent and submissive hefore God, un- 
 der' their severest afflictions induced hy his hand, because they 
 have been well deserved. 
 
 Who of us can this day lay his hand on his heart, and, 
 with an honest and clear conscience, say that he has not de- 
 
22 
 
 served the chastisements with which he has been visited! 
 No matter of what kind, no matter how frequent, or severe, 
 they have been hghter than we deserved! 
 
 And what has this nation merited at the hand of God ? 
 Are there no national sins, no national wrongs, oppression, 
 injustice? "If thou seest, saith the wise man, (Eccles. 5, 
 8,) the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of 
 judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter, 
 for He that is higher than the highest regardeth, and there 
 be that are higher than they." God has declared that He will 
 vindicate the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Does 
 nothing in our history, although we are the professed friends 
 of justice and liberty among all people, prove us as a nation 
 to be guilty of oppression, before the Judge of all the earth? 
 Can the people of this land appeal to God for the righteous- 
 ness of their course towards those whom our Fathers found 
 the possessors of the soil before them — or those whom the 
 cupidity and inhuman cruelty of men have forced hither into 
 bondage from other climes ? I pray God to spare us! For I 
 fear it is a great account, which we have yet to settle with 
 Him, for our conduct to the red man and the black — neither 
 of whom we have treated as our brethren, although God has 
 declared, that He made "of one blood all nations of men to 
 dwell on all the face of the earth." 'Twas one of our most dis- 
 tinguished countrymen, I believe — himself no Christian, nor 
 even a friend to Christianity — whom men love to call the apos- 
 tle of liberty — who said in allusion to these subjects, "I trem- 
 ble for my country, when I reflect that God is just." Can the 
 eye of infinite purity behold, v/ithout offence, the madness 
 of party spirit, and the furious asperities of pubhc feeling, in 
 
23 
 
 our political contests ? Such that it has has been truly said, 
 if half the things that partisans say of each other be true, 
 they are ail villains. Is our unparrelled worldliness no sin? 
 Does the tide of intemperance, of legalized vice and mur- 
 der, that roils over our land, send up no sound to Heaven 
 that God will hear ? Have we no account to settle with 
 him, for our perpetual violation of his holy Sabbath ? And 
 how much of our glory have we ascribed to God ? We 
 praise our fathers — we laud ourselves — we boast of our in- 
 stitutions of government and our progress in science, and 
 the arts. But how little do we praise God ! 'Twould be a 
 long list, if all were spread out — but in view of only these, 
 surely we have reason to fear that God will deem us worthy 
 of his rebuke, and will say of us, as He said of those be- 
 fore us, "Shall I not visit for these things, shall not my soul 
 be avenged on such a nation as this? " So our Chief Magis- 
 trate seems to think, if we may judge from the terms of his 
 appeal to the people to humble themselves before God, and 
 confess their sins to-day. Well, therefore, as I conceive, 
 does it become us to be submissive before God, when He 
 lays his hand upon us, seeing that we have deserved so much, 
 3. Our submission ought to he deepened, and our humiliation 
 rendered still more devout and patient, as our gratitude ought to 
 abound, when we remember the mercies with which God has fol- 
 lowed us as a people. I think the bosom of this nation ought 
 to swell to-day, and the lips of all the people ought to break 
 forth into singing, because of the manifold goodness of God. 
 Notwithstanding all, that in the judgment of any, may dis- 
 tress the country and cloud our prospects, what rich national 
 blessings do we enjoy — wide spread dominion — the respect 
 
24 
 
 of nations— peace with all — untrammeled liberty — the diffu- 
 sion of knowledge — the true religion ! And these are but 
 items in the catalogue of blessings. Even with this late na- 
 tional bereavement how many mercies mingle ! To mention 
 but one of a political nature — how perfect and hence how 
 glorious and full of promise, the tranquilhty with which our 
 pubhc affairs have been conducted in this new trial of the 
 system ! The present Chief Magistrate has succeeded as 
 quietly to office as if he had only left the chair of state, to 
 resume it after an hour's absence ! Not a jar — ^not a mur- 
 mur! The only semblance of agitation is the noise of the 
 the sighs of people, as they breathe them over the grave of 
 one President, and the shouts of their triumph as they salute 
 another ! He, I am bold to say, is no patriot, who does not 
 rejoice in this token of the strength of the government, and 
 the permanency of its institutions. 
 
 But I cannot forbear to congratulate you on another mercy 
 here. I refer to the clear, abundant and doubtless sincere, 
 and heartfelt testimony, which our rulers have borne to the 
 true religion. First, there is that in the Inaugural Address 
 of the late President. I am yet to learn that any of our 
 former rulers has borne just such an one — penned too, it is 
 said, by a most remarkable and touching coincidence in the 
 very chamber where he was born — where his pious mother 
 had often, in his childhood, retired with him for prayer — and 
 laying her hand upon his young head commended him to 
 God — and thus, it may be, fixed in his mind impressions of 
 religion that he never wholly lost, and which, after so many 
 years of absence returning to that hallowed spot, he there 
 prepared to announce to all mankind. I am ready to believe 
 
25 
 
 that God's holy angels, who used to attend his pious parent 
 when she led him there for prayer — who had hovered around 
 his path through life, and guarded him from danger on the 
 field of battle — met him again in that sweet, sacred cham- 
 ber, and catching the sentiment, as it arose in his heart, be- 
 fore yet his pen could trace its lines, flew away with the tid- 
 ings to the skies! And yet, perhaps, little did even they 
 think that day, that God would send them down so soon to 
 bear to his presence the spirit of his servant! It was upon 
 that solemn day, when he stood up, as it vv^ere, in the face of 
 the world, to assume the government of this greatest of re- 
 publics, and to take, therefore, the most august station among 
 men, that he said, 
 
 " I deem the present occasion sufficiently important and 
 " solemn to justify me in expressing to my fellow-citizens a 
 " profound reverence for the Christian Rehgion, and a tho- 
 " rough conviction that sound morals, rehgious liberty, and a 
 " just sense of religious responsibility, are essentially con- 
 " nected with all true and lasting happiness : and to that 
 " good Being who has blessed us by the gifts of civil and 
 " religious freedom, who watched over and prospered the 
 " labors of our fathers, and has hitherto preserved to us in- 
 " stitutions far exceeding in excellence those of any other 
 " people, let us unite in fervently commending every interest 
 " of our beloved country in all future time." 
 
 It has been stated, on such authority as I do not hesitate 
 
 to credit, a statement which under other circumstances it 
 
 would be improper to disclose, but since he has gone from 
 
 us, the fact, like his character is public property, and when 
 
 authenticated becomes an important testimony — that on the 
 4 
 
26 
 
 day of his inaagu ration both before and after tliat event, he 
 sought the retirement of his chamber, and there implored the 
 Divine blessing under his great cares, and besought that wis- 
 dom which Cometh down from above. 
 
 One of his earliest acts thereafter,- was to purchase with 
 the public funds, and to be kept in the executive mansion, as 
 the property of the people, a copy of the word of God — de- 
 claring it to be hi^ sense of propriety in the case, that the 
 Bible ought to be a part of the furniture of the President's 
 house, put into his hands, as it were by the people them- 
 selves, to be his guide in administering their afiairs! 
 
 I remember to have read some weeks ago, with equal 
 gratification and surprise, accompanying the annunciation of 
 his arrival at the seat of government, a distinct apology for 
 its occurrence on the holy Sabbath, the editor stating that it 
 was a necessity arising from some casuality and deeply pain- 
 ful to the President elect. The public statement was proba- 
 bly made without his knovvledge, but no discreet gentleman 
 would have made it, without a very distinct acquaintance 
 with his views on that subject. It was such a testimony to 
 the sacredness of the day of rest, and the value of the reli- 
 gion which enjoins it, as ought to be as gratifying to alt 
 Christians, as it is rare among our public men. 
 
 The late President was not a member of the Church, by 
 public profession of his faith in Christ — and his testimony to 
 religion is in some respects the more interestrng and remark- 
 able on that account. It is understood, however, that he 
 was on the eve of making such a profession, when the op- 
 portunity v/as lost to him by death. It is farther stated upon 
 unquestionable authority, derived indeed from his own lips, 
 
27 
 
 that lor beveral years past he had groaliy desired to have a 
 visible place among tlie people of God ; and that he was de- 
 terred from becoming a member of the Church only by con- 
 siderations drawn from his position before the country. In 
 this, doubtless, he erred. It had been better for him to con- 
 less Christ before men, and leave them to impugn his mo- 
 tives as they might see lit, than from any such considerations 
 to neglect a command so tender, solemn and universal, as 
 that which requires the friends of the Son of God to com- 
 memorate his dying love. But every one can perceive how 
 easy it was for a purely honest and delicate mind to be mis- 
 led on this subject in his circumstances. And justice, not to 
 say charity, but that simple justice, which all are wilhng to 
 render to the dead at least, requires us to suppose that he 
 was prompted, by reverence for religion and the fear of im- 
 pairing its credit among men through their misconstruction 
 of his motives, to deny himself so long the privilege of a 
 public connection with the Church of our Divine Lord, 
 '^E^en the failing leaned to virtue's side." And the whole 
 matter furnishes a strong expression of his sense of the pu- 
 rity and value of true religion. 
 
 Reference has already been made to the early declaration 
 of his successsor that he relied upon God alone for ability 
 to administer the government aright, I have also read in 
 your hearing his recommendation to the people to observe 
 this National Fast, You have not only been struck with the 
 fact, so unusual in our history, of the appointment of such a 
 day — but you have admired the terms in which the request 
 has been preferred. It breathes no sentiments that are not as 
 just and devout, as they are patriotic. I know not whether 
 
28 
 
 ihe President professes to be a Christian in tlie evangelical 
 sense. But I see, and I thank God for it, that he is not 
 ashamed to be known to revere the gospel. He has a strong 
 sense of religion, and a conscience that has felt the powerful 
 impressions of truth, or else he has formed a large estimate 
 of the hold of religion on the hearts of the people. If he 
 have not the holy fear of God before his own eyes, he be- 
 lieves that his fellow-citizens have before theirs. If he do 
 not love the Saviour himself, he is sure that multitudes of 
 the people do. And in either case, it is a testimony to reli- 
 gion worthy cf public and grateful acknowledgment this day. 
 Our honored Chief Magistrate has proclaimed us, to all men, 
 a Christian people. There is more than that vague and 
 heartless recognition of the Almighty, to which the nation 
 has been accustomed in its rulers, but which has touched no 
 heart. We have nov^^ an example set us of acknowledging 
 the Lord to be our God, in a manner that is rational, scrip- 
 tural and perfectly intelligible. We are bidden to come be- 
 fore God, as a Christian people should, and heartily to con- 
 fess our sins, while we mourn over our national calamity. I 
 declare that I can scarce mourn over any thing that brings 
 forth, and apparently so cordially, such a tribute to the re- 
 ligion that Jesus gave the world. No one in this country 
 desires to see any form of religion established by law. But 
 all ought to rejoice in every thing that may impress a sense 
 of religious obligation on the minds of the people : and reve- 
 rence for the true religion, and distinct recognition of the 
 Providence of God, thus solemnly expressed by our rulers, 
 may help to impress the public mind on these great subjects, 
 while they show that there are already no little religious 
 
29 
 
 feeling and influence in ihe country. The appointment of 
 this National Fast is of itself an interesting tribute to 
 our holy religion. I think that alone, and especially con- 
 nected with its associated events, it furnishes a reason this 
 day for patient submission to the will of God, because this is 
 a great mercy which has accompanied our national visitation. 
 If our calamity be heavy, we cannot deny that much kind- 
 ness follows it. Our Lord said, "The cup which my Father 
 hath given me, shall I not drink it? " 'Tis mixed in our case 
 too, and offered by our Father's hand, and that is reason 
 enough why we should drink it. 
 
 These reflections apply with equal force to individuals in 
 their private afliictions. If, then, there be one broken-heart- 
 ed child of sorrow here to-day, let such an one be comforted 
 by the divine example before us. Let such an one contem- 
 plate his trials, as ordered by God, who tempers the wind to 
 the shorn lamb, who will not lay on his children more than 
 they can bear, nor give them a cup too bitter for them to 
 drink, but will make even their afflictions to work out for 
 them an exceeding weight of glory. Let such an one come 
 to Jesus, who is both the example and the sacrifice for his 
 people; and relying upon his atonement, and endeavoring to 
 imitate his example, and catch his spirit, let him lift up his 
 head, and dry up his tears, and say with the ancient servan 
 of God, "Why art thou cast down, oh my soul, and why art 
 thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet 
 praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my 
 God." 
 
30 
 
 (While these sheets were passing through the press, tiie 
 ibllowing was observed in the newspapers, and seems to be 
 sufficiently interesting on many accounts to justify its use in 
 filUng up the space which would otherwise be left unoccu- 
 pied.) 
 
 Death of President Harrison — Meeting of Americans 
 
 IN London. 
 
 At a numerous meeting of the citizens of the United States 
 in London, at the residence of the American Minister, on 
 Saturday, the 1st day of May, 1841, in consequence of the 
 recent intelligence received of the death of the late President 
 of the United States, the following proceedings took place : 
 
 On motion, the American Minister was requested to pre- 
 side, and the American Consul, Col. Thomas Aspinwall, to 
 act as Secretary. 
 
 On taking the chair, Mr. Stevenson stated very briefly the 
 object of the meeting. He had assembled his countrymen, 
 he said, for the purpose of performing a solemn and impres- 
 sive duty, which he was quite sure could not fail to be grati- 
 fying to every American heart. It was to express their deep 
 sympathy and regret for the loss which their country had 
 sustained in the death of its Chief Magistrate, and to pay the 
 only tribute of respect to his memory, which it was in their 
 power to offer. That whilst tlioir whn]^' counlrv were in- 
 
31 
 
 dulging, with one liccord, their feelings of grief and respect 
 under this national bereavement, it was due to themselves, as 
 American citizens in a foreign country, to add the liomnge of 
 their respect, and mingle their sympathies with those of their 
 common country. No where, probably, could this with more 
 propriety be done than in the house of the representative of 
 the American people. The occasion, Mr. Stevenson said, 
 was one which forbade every thing like studied eulogy. It 
 belonged less to discussion than to feeling, and he should, 
 therefore, not attempt to express by w^ords what he was very 
 confident the hearts of all present would much better supply. 
 When they reflected, however, upon the peculiar circum- 
 stances under which this death had taken place ; that it was 
 the first instance in the history of their country in which its 
 Chief Magistrate had died during the period of service ; that 
 he had been cut oft' in the first moment of his elevation to 
 power, and in a manner so sudden and unexpected, it was 
 indeed calculated to increase the force of their sympathy, 
 and to mark with a deep sense the uncertainty of human life 
 and the instability of all human pursuits. It was a striking- 
 instance of Providential interference in the affairs of man, 
 full of moral and relip-ious instruction, and well calculated to 
 reach the hearts of all. 
 
 The following resolutions were then submitted by him to 
 the meeting: 
 
 1. Resolved, That the citizens of the United States now- 
 present have received with feelings of deep sensibility, the 
 painful inteUigence of the sudden death of William Henry 
 Harrison, President of the United States, which took place 
 on the 4th of April, at the seat of the Federal Government. 
 
32 
 
 2 Resohed, That, as a mark of re.pect for the memory of 
 ,he deceased, we wU wear badges of mounring for three 
 months, and that it be recommended to our countrymen abroad 
 
 to do the same. 
 
 3 Resolved, That copies of these resolutions and pro- 
 ceedings be transmitted to Mrs. Harrison, with our sincere 
 condolence in the late afflictmg bereavement by Divine Pro- 
 vidence. 
 
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