V » 1 * - ^. *'T7T* A - ^> .^V-'-. z^.,^. ^ : '-^^0^ i ^0^ . « • . '^ o *^7VV» A V : .-; o^ »: ^^^ •0 » . O > "^C DISCOURSE, OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OP IHON. DANIEL WEBSTER, I PREACHED IN iNEWBURYPORT, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 81, 1852. K-td; BY REV. W. W. EELLS, TASTOH OF THE »ECO>D PRESBTTKlilAN CH|!KCM. NEWBURYPORT: MOSES H SARGENT, PUBLISHER. 1852. ^^^^^"^JS. D. taiKEJV, PRINTER, No, 19 St«t« Street, Nc« bnvyport. DISCOURSE, OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OF HON. DANIEL WEBSTER, PREACHED IN NEWBURYPOET, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1852. BY REV. w/w/eELLS, rASTOR OF THli SECOm) FEESB¥TKIaA^' CliUKCM. KKWBURYPORT: MOSES II. SAiJGENT, FUBLISHKK, NEWBUEYPORT: E. D. GREEN, PRINTER, No. 19 State Street. 7 Neivluryijortj Nov. 15, 1852. Rev. Wm. W. Eells, Dear Sir — The undersigned would respectfully so- licit, for publication,a copy of your recent Sermon, occa- sioned by the death of Hon. Daniel Webster. Very truly, your obedient servants, W. B. Banister, Henry Frothingham, Parker Roberts, Amos Tappan, Isaac H. Boaedman, Stephen W, Marston. j\IosES Hale, P. K. Hills, R. E. Mosely. To Messrs W. B. Banister, Henry Frothingham, and others, Gentlemen, — I have received your note, requesting a copy of my Sermon, in reference to the death of Hon. Daniel Webster, for publication. Thanking you for the compliment, which I feel belongs more to the subject than to myself, I cheerfully yield to your wish, and place the Sermon at your disposal. Very Respectfully Yours, W. W. Eells. Neivhuryvort, Nov. 18, 1852. Judges II, 8, 9, 10. — And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the lord, died, being a hundred AND TEN YEARS OLD. AnD THEY BURIED HIM IN THE BORDERS OF HIS INHERITANCE IN TiMNATH-HERES, IN THE MOUNT OF EpHRAIM, ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE HILL Gaash. And also all that generation WERE GATHERED UNTO THEIR FATHERS: AND THERE AROSE ANOTHER GENERATION AFTER THEM, WHICH KNEW NOT THE LORD, NOR YET THE WORKS WHICH HE HAD DONE FOR ISRAEL. Death claims all men as its lawful captives. Neither station, nor honor, nor influence, nor usefulness, not even in the church of God, confer any exemption from his inexorable demands. With equal foot he treads alike the halls of Kings and the cottages of the poor. The mighty and the lowly bow down together before his sway. The claims of the family — the apparent welfare of the church— nor the weal of empires, can offer any plea to stay his uplifted hand, or hold back the stroke, when God, the mighty Creator, speaks the word, commanding this dust back to its kindred dust. The sad record of every man, at the end of all his greatness, and all 6 Iiis power, and all his grandeur, is "and he died." However much the Lord may have used his in- strumentality for good in church or state — how- ever important, nay, indispensable in human view, that instrumentality may seem, yet in his own time God sends the messenger, and " the silver cord is loosed and the golden bowl is broken ; — the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel is broken at the cistern." In the midst of his years, and in the glory of his priesthood, Aaron must ascend Mount Hor, and putting off his robes of office, give up his honors to another, and lie down and die there in the sight of all Israel. Though the eye, that had looked on the burning bush, and had seen the glory of God in the Mount, was not yet dim, nor the vigor of his body, nor the strength of his mind at all abated, yet Moses, the servant of God, faithful in all his house — the ever calm, mild, prudent, loving, King of Israel must go up into Mount Nebo, and die there, by the word of God, and be buried, when most of all, Israel needed his guidance. And now again, when Joshua has brought the people over Jordan, and has given them possession in part of the land of promise ; — just in the very year that he is so far settled as to fulfil the dying request of his great ancestor Joseph, and bring his bones to Shechem to lay them there to sleep till the morning of the resur- rection, he too must lie down to die. His funeral sermon over the remains of Joseph is his own farewell discourse. All his great merits as the leader of Israel — his faithlul walking in the foot- steps of his.predecessor Moses— all the need which yet remained to Israel that his eye should w^atch over them, and his pious wisdom guide them, and his word of authority restrain them, all these kept not back the stroke of death. This faithlul servant of the Lord died. And mourning Israel followed him to his quiet grave in the border of his own inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the Mount of Ephraim. Eleazer, the Hi^-h Priest, the son of Aaron, is taken away also the same year, and goes to sleep with the fathers. And one by one, all that generation, who had seen the glories of the Lord in the \^ilderness, were gath- ered unto their fathers ; and there arose another generation after them, entering into their labors, and enjoying all their blessings, but who knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. This peculiar position of Joshua gives a mourn- ful prominence to his loss to Israel, beyond even the splendid and sterling qualities of the man himself. He was the last survivor of those who had come out of Egypt at full age. He and the elders that were with him, who soon followed him to the grave, formed the connecting link be- tween the first times of Israel as a nation, and their present establishment in the goodly land of promise. Their eyes had seen all the wondrous goodness of God in the wilderness. They had been schooled in the law of the Lord, and in the principles of righteousness, under the teachings 8 of Moses. Tliey knew the terrors of the Lord, as well as his mercy. And they had seen also how much their prosperity rested upon the favor of God, and a strict obedience to his commands. With power, therefore, and out of the convictions of their own hearts, they could instruct and lead the people in those ways, upon which the blessing of God had rested at first: which alone could se- cure the enjoyment of that blessing in time to come. And so Israel served the Lord and was prospered all their days. But alter them, of necessity, there could come none like them. Those to whom they had handed the torch of life, and the reins of government, had only the hearing of the ear for all these works of God. And amidst the multitude of the gifts they forgot the giver. The very abundance of their blessings shut out God from their view. And the children of those, whom God, in his abounding mercy, had deUvered from Egyptian bondage, and had led through the Red Sea, and by the Vv^ay of the waste howling wilderness, and over Jordan, — to v/hom he had spoken in Sinai, and before whom he drave out all the inhabitants of the land, giving them a goodly inheritance — even these lapsed into ignorance of their God, They worshipped Baalim, and provoked the Lord Je- hovah, until he delivered them into the hands of the spoiler, and sold them to their enemies round about, so that they could not stand before their enemies. I have chosen this subject for our present medi- tations, and have gone into this detail because of its analogy with our present circumstances as a nation, and as affording a suitable and profitable subject to direct our thoughts, when we, with all the people of this land, stand in awe before the Sovereign God, and are called by the, voice of his providence to consider our ways and be wise. It is not often that I turn aside from the direct words of faith and repentance; but when the Lord is thus manifestly smiting us, striking down the tall ce- dars of Lebanon in the midst of their glory, that we may sit no more under their shadow, nor re- joice in their protection, it becomes us to hear the rod, and who hath appointed it. If the fathers of the Revolution, whom God raised up in our weakness, and upon whom he laid the burden of our low estate, were to us as Moses and Aaron, under his protecting care, to lead us to the borders of the promised land, then indeed the great lights that have lately been ex- tinguished, and have gone down forever beneath our horizon, were our Joshuas. In the spirit of the fathers, they have gone forward in their steps, and have established us in the full possession of the blessings designed for us of Heaven. They have walked before us, having seen the works of God in former times. And by the good hand of the Lord, in wisdom and in might they have guided us in the way of prosperity. Wisely have we confided in them, and leaned upon them, and followed them. Accordiuii; to the measure which 10 God bountifully gave to them, have they dispen- sed to us, writing their own character for good upon the people. And now they are all gone. The last grave has closed upon the mightiest of them all — our own loved, cherished, honored, revered, lamented Webster ! How often, in the hour of our need, has the finger of the nation pointed to him; and its voice, with a single sound, called upon him; and its heart relied upon him with security ! How often has the tumultous pulse of this people been quieted and calmed by the clear and mighty words of his wisdom and his prudence ! How often, by the blessing of our God, has he quelled intestine com- motions, and repelled foreign aggressions ;--sooth- ing the waters of strife at home, saying to the angry contenders, "Be at peace, for are ye not brethren ?" and shedding an honor and a dignity upon us, in the eyes of the nations, by his upright, manly, magnanimous conduct of our relations abroad ! How was the heart of the people con- firmed in hope, and how were their fears hushed, even in regard to the most important matter, when it was committed to his guidance ! When he set up his standard, in the hour of darkness, good men of all parties rallied around it. For they knew that it was a standard of justice and of truth — of constitutional right — of equal regard for the well being of all. When he spake on the great questions of the rights and destinies of na- tions, it was as some Judge giving sentence from a high court of appeals, beyond which there was 11 no recourse. And his words are the richest treasures of libert}' and right, and philosophic, practical wisdom. With a heart ever alive to the true interests of this nation, and throbbing ever in unison with its true sympathies, he gave to them a dignity of expression and of aim, that el- evated while it encouraged, — which taught to look upward, as well as to look forward. Who can calculate the influence of such a man, at such a time, upon such a people ? Such a man ! — at least, the first among his equals ; — of in- tellect capable of grasping all subjects, — revelling with delight in the beautiful and the great, — soar- ing on the wings of imagination to the highest spheres, and condescending to the minutest details of the homely and the useful — treasuring up the recorded learning of all time, and yet turning all into daily practice in this every day working world. An eminendy learned man, and yet the embodi- ment of plain, practical, common sense. With mighty power of thought — with sound judgment to regulate the decisions of intellect, with unsur- passed power of communicating his thoughts to others, — of compelling other minds to follow in the train of his reasonings, to come to his con- clusions ; — with mighty power to cause all hearts to throb in sympathy with his own noble heart. Thus was he a born leader of men ; such an one as the old heathen would have deified and wor- shipped as a second Jupiter. And God gave us such a man at a peculiar time in our history. His work was to strengthen 12 the institutions of the fathers — to build up that of which they had laid the foundation. It is one thing to break away from old associations — to set up a new political household, and to start upon a new course. And it is another to guide the vessel of state on this untried course, — to provide for unforseen emergencies, — to avoid the dangers of an unknown channel, and b}^ a timely observation to provide a chart for the use of coming times. There were many things in the working of the machinery, set in operation by our fathers, that they could not forsee, — for which it was not their calling to provide. They must do their duty in their day and generation, and devoutly trust God to raise up and qualify others for these coming exigencies, when they should arrive. And this succeeding work is no less important than that w^hich went before. Joshua is as indispensable, in the purposes of God towards Israel, as was Moses. To this work was he, whom we now mourn, appointed of our God. I will not at all disparage his illustrious compeers and fellow patriots, who labored Aviih him, and w^ho are mostly gone before him. Nor will I dwell upon the various occasions upon which he has stood for the constitution, and the whole country, when endangered by factious men, both South and North ; and w'hen he has raised his voice for our right and honor as a nation, as called in question by other peoples. These things are for other places. They are parts of our history. The record of his life is the history of 13 this nation,as it has increased in vigor and strengtli; — as if has arisen in compact firmness to the power of manhood at home ; — as it has burst forth in full orbed splendor upon the nations — a terror to all tyrants — a hope and a joy to all the oppressed. In this forming time, when our national character was slowly moulding, and we were gaining a name and a station among the kingdoms of the earth, these men, whom God sent us, and of them all, none more than he, have labored to mould that character aright at home, and to exalt our name and honor abroad. If there be aught of good and of stability in our institutions at home, has not his power at some time been exerted, and his voice raised in their defence, or in the promotion of their wise and worthy ends ? If there be aught of which we may be proud in view of other lands, this comes up to us, crowned with the fragrant memory of his name. Yea, is it not true, that we can call to mind some occasions, when we were compelled to say, that, under God, were it not for these men, not to say this man, with whose power and wisdom God has blessed us, since it was in his heart to do us good, we should have lost all our blessings at home, and have attained to ignomi- ny abroad 1 But God, in his goodness, sent his Joshuas to lead us ; and we will hold the instru- ments in honor, while we look above them and acknowledge his hand and bless his holy name. And again, upon what a people has this influ- ence been exerted ! There is first, the character 14 of the people, as susceptible of impressions be- yond any other nation of earth. Here the prescript tion of prejudice, of authority, and of old habit has but little force. Everything must stand upon its own reasonableness, or that which seems to be such. Every usage and every thought must submit to be questioned, and that most rigorous- ly. The mass of old opinions is rudely tossed away. And while we were as a people gathering a new store for ourselves, and vt^hile the multi- tude, as ever, were ready to rush forward too hastily, God sent us one, linked by the chain of sympathy to every American breast, who was enriched with all old wisdom, and who had the power and the will to digest it all, and eliminate therefrom those eternal elements of truth, which are ever new. To him, the people have given ear. And wisely has he set the current to the right channels, and in the way that leads to firm and stable greatness. And then, there is the destiny of this people, We are destined to be the greatest blessing or the greatest curse of all the nations. The feeble one has already become a mighty nation. But what arithmetic can compute the future, when from ocean to ocean, all this fair land shall be crowded with hundreds of millions of free inhabi- itants, with all that unwearied energy and un- daunted zeal, which is the offspring of our free institutions, and our open bible, and Protestant faith ? The mind shrinks back, wearied with the thought. But this is the epitome of it all ; — 15 the world will be what we make it. — The whole habitable globe will be influenced by our iclgas, and formed by onr opinions. And he, that has laid his plastic hand upon the head of this nation in its infancy, has sent down his transforming power through all these masses — over all these hills — through all these fair valleys — yea, upon every mountain top, and into every secluded glen of all this globe. When my mind contemplates this vast future, when the shadowy troops of the millions yet to be, pass before me, and I know, that their tempo- ral well beinof is connected with that enlightened liberty which we enjoy, and their eternal welfare depends upon an unsealed Bible, and an intelli- gent faith ; I devoutly thank God for the great and illustrious men, whom he has made the nursing fathers of this infant nation ; — I devout- ly thank God for these whom he has given as the guides of her youth : — and especially do I thank God for him, who on the 24th of October ceased to be mortal : who in all ways sought to inculcate a deep reverence for God and for his holy word. We are too near the hills to see their lofty tops, and to behold how high they pierce into the clouds. We see too much of the ruo-cred inequality, that marks their surface— the moral blots and deformities, that everywhere show the stain of sin upon our poor fallen nature. But the time is coming when it will be said of these times, "there w'ere giants in those days." The 16 names, that we have heard bandied about bj siii/ill politicians and narrow minded fanatics, and aspirants to power, will be pronounced with honor beyond all Greek or Roman fame. These were the formers of the destinies of nations. These the men, that spake words of power, w^hich will thrill through every thoughtful heart, so long as liberty and justice and right have a name on earth, or a home in the humblest bosom. They have gone ! they are all passed away. Oiu- Moses and Aaron, the founders of our Re- public — the leaders of the olden time of oiu* his- tory in the wilderness, have long since slept with their fathers. And our Joshuas are also gath- ered unto them. And he that w^as greatest of them, rests quietly in that newly made grave ; to wake again, only when the heavens shall be no more. There lies that honored frame, which moved about but yesterday.as a king among men; now as helpless as the infant of days by its side. Come ye sons of mortality, and behold the end of earth. The humblest and the most il- lustrious meet together there. There, all dis- tinctions cease. There, all mortal honors end, What now is the greatness of earth ? — what now its dignities 1 — its high stations 1 — its ap- plause? There they lie, beyond the voice of men, each in the borders of his inheritance, those men of might, whose least spoken word, a short time ago, was a word of powder to every hamlet on this vast continent. Their might could not save them. Their high intellectual 17 endowments could not save them. Their plans and purposes could not save them. The interests of their country could not stay the hand of the des- troyer. They must go when God calls, and leave all things, even those which they best could ac- complish, in the hands of others. Learn, frail man, thy mortality. Learn that sin has brought death upon all. Learn that naught but that which is washed in atonmg blood, which is acceptable to God through Christ Jesus, and is made to par- take of his blessedness, will survive the grave in honor, and appear in glory at the last day. But another voice comes up to us from their dying beds. Faults had these men ; — who has not ? — faults blazoned with a trumpet tongue throughout the land: — faults which all could see, though they could not see that power of an early instructed conscience, which was in them, working ever, and calling them into judg- ment before the mighty truths of revealed religi- on, which they had learned in childhood, and which they had never ceased outwardly to re- spect. And God, in his abounding mercy towards them, and in his abounding mercy towards us, as a nation, that whatever of evil was in their influence might be neutrahsed; and he be honored also, in the honor which he bestowed upon them, —in their latter days inchned the thoughts of their hearts towards himself. Calhoun, Clay, Web- ster, the illustrious trio of the second period of our history, aud Andrew Jackson, a man of 18 might, "howbeit he attained not unto the first three," all turned themselves, as their day wore^ unto the evening, and yet ere darkness had fallen upon their powers, unto the light of the sun of{ righteousness. They brought all their honors to the feet of the crucified Redeemer, and casting ; them all away, they presented themselves as sin- ners, and without merit, to a merciful God, seek- ing forgiveness through the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. O, that wherever their influ- ence goes, this testimony to the power, and the necessity of revealed rehgion, — of an interest by faith in the blood of Christ, — of a washing of re- generation, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, may go with it. This is the brightest part of all their history, and that which now they remember with the most pleasure ; which now they would wish published the most loudly. The great and the humble alike need the righteousness of the Re- deemer, in which to stand before our holy Judge. Now, shall our history be that of Israel after the death of Joshua ? The affairs of this nation will fall into new hands, and those of a new genera- tion. Those, in whom we confided, shall help us no more. But our God is still above us. He who sent Joshua to follow Moses, can yet raise up other servants to guide us in blessing. But we must seek to him. We must honor him. We must preserve his word of truth and his ordinan- ces with jealous care. O, let us be mindful, with gratitude, of the wonders that he has wrought in former time. And let us wait upon him, and put our trust in him for the future. And then the sun of our prosperity will ever stand still in mid heavens, until it is lost in the splendor an eternal day. 8& ■^0* ^K * ■ o V '^o^ ^o^ \ ^oV* » .*" . " ^^o^ t • .^''- ^ ^ ■o ^}< • ^'^. -: wo ^ o « o » ^^ *A^ -%. .c,'^'^ y^^\ '^^ .^^ *^ • '^^^ ♦'^ *ii » » • * '♦ "^