aass_LliA. 
 Book SAA. 
 
/ 
 
 * 
 THE CHRISTIAN PATRIOT ENCOURAGED. 
 
 DISCOURSE, 
 
 J££± 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 FIRST PARISH IN HINGHAM, 
 
 ON 
 
 FAST DAY, 
 
 April 8, 1813. 
 
 BY JOSEPH RK HARDSON, A.M. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY JOSHUA BELCHER. 
 
 1813. 
 
3^4 
 
 ir^a 
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 This discourse was not originally designed for the press, and 
 is submitted for publication as it was delivered. 
 
 
FAST DISCOURSE. 
 
 Isaiah liv. 17. 
 
 " No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper ; and 
 every tongue that shall rise against thee m judgment ihou shalt 
 condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and 
 their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." 
 
 We have assembled this day to pay a voluntary 
 tribute of fasting, humiliation, and prayer. As we 
 revere the memory and the good old paths of our 
 ancestors, we take sacred pleasure in conforming to 
 their custom of observing a day of fasting. Would 
 to heaven we may appear this day before the holy 
 altar with hearts glowing with the same zeal lor the 
 cause of our country. The love of true liberty con- 
 stituted an essential part of their religion. 
 
 A voluntary consecration of a day to God for pur- 
 poses of religious homage by the citizens of a State 
 is always interesting to the pious mind. No offer- 
 ings can be so grateful to the sight of heaven, as 
 those of a free and volunlarv heart. 
 
The present state of our country makes this occa- 
 sion unspeakably more interesting and solemn than 
 usual. We are constrained by motives, the most 
 powerful that mi>rtals can feel, to refer our cause to 
 God, and to ask counsel from on high. 
 
 But may we not apply to ourselves these consoling 
 words of thine, O God, to thy chosen people ? " For 
 a small moment have I forsaken thee ; but with srreat 
 mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid 
 my face from thee for a moment ; but with everlast- 
 ing kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the 
 Lord thy Redeemer." 
 
 In the midst of our fasting and humiliation, these 
 consoling words of the text revive our hearts ; " No 
 weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper ; 
 and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judg- 
 ment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of 
 the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is 
 of me, saith the Lord." 
 
 This promise to the ancient people of God was in 
 a general sense fulfilled. It had more perfect refer- 
 ence to their cause, than to them as a community. 
 The people as a community, although favorites of 
 heaven, were visited with many reverses and afBic- 
 tions. Their enemies distressed them, but did not 
 so far prosper as to accomplish their designs. 
 
 " Why," saith David referring to the same point, 
 " why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine 
 a vain thing ? The kings of the earth set themselves, 
 
and the rulers take counsel to.t^^cthcr against the 
 Lord, and ap^ainst his anointed, saying. Ltt us break 
 their bands asunder, and cast away their cords irom 
 us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh ; the 
 Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he 
 speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his 
 sore displeasure." 
 
 The enemies of a righteous cause will sometimes 
 seem to make progress. But they rise as the maniac 
 climbs the summit of some stupendous precipice, and 
 casts himself down in anguish and despair b^low the 
 reach of hope. Their glittering weapons will appear 
 so formed as to menace destruction ; but in a mo- 
 ment they are broken small as the dust. And even 
 the tongue that rose against the righteous cause, 
 divine justice will condemn. The heritage of the 
 servants of the Lord will be maintained as sacred, 
 shielded by the arm of Omnipotence, because their 
 righteousness is according to his pleasure. 
 
 The principal object of this discourse will be 
 to bring into view the causes we have for humiliation, 
 and to shew that no weapon formed against us has 
 prospered, and that there are many reasons to believe 
 that God is on the side of our country. 
 
 Ina general view we everhave cause to humble our- 
 selves under the mighty hand of God. The ingrati- 
 tude, the neglect, the disobedience, of which we are 
 frequently guilty, cannot recur to the ingenuous mind 
 without piercing the heart with many painful retlec- 
 
tions. That omniscient eye thiit has never lost sight 
 of us, for a single instant of our existence, must have 
 marked unnumbered frailties and sins, which, if re- 
 collection should bring them clearly into view, in all 
 their turpitude, would draw tears of remorse from 
 the most unfeeling heart. 
 
 This day, we trust, God waits upon us to listen 
 to our confessions, and to accept our contrition. 
 May our humiliation before his throne, receive 
 some reviving token of grace, which like a band 
 of love shall bind our heart to the honour of his 
 cause, and be remembered with everlasting gratitude. 
 
 In the course of the last year our State has been 
 visited with some tokens of a frowning providence. 
 There has not been so great complaint on account 
 of the scarcity of bread for many years. This judg- 
 ment has fallen upon our State with great weight. 
 This judgment must be for some other cause than 
 for having taken an active part in the war in which 
 the country is engaged. As a State, no one in the 
 Union has more cautiously avoided all participation 
 in the war, yet this State lies under a heavy judg- 
 ment, more severe than has been, by an immediate 
 providence, inflicted on any other. 
 
 Some parts of this State have been visited by a 
 very alarming and mortal sickness. Has this taken 
 place on account of prosecuting the war, or for our 
 strange love of w hat is called peace "? These to my 
 
mind are very solemn tokens, uliir.li require the 
 consideration of an honest conseicnce. 
 
 I beHeve there is no State in the Union more dis- 
 tracted and afflicted with pohiical and religious dis- 
 sensions. An extremely rancorous and bitter spirit 
 prevails, that causes great unhappincss, as it commits 
 many wrongs. We have many institutions of pro- 
 fessed piety and charity. But I fear their influence, 
 as they are employed in many instances, serves more 
 to destroy than promote the interests of true virtue 
 and religion. 
 
 It is a cause of deep regret to every friend to his 
 country that a spirit of disunion and of opposition to 
 the general government has brought already so much 
 ill success and disgrace. It emboldens the traitor 
 when he sees a numerous class of his fellow-citizens 
 ready to welcome him to their bosoms. The sol- 
 dier's bravery sinks, when discountenanced and 
 betrayed by his own countrymen. 
 
 The people constitute the nerves and the strong 
 arms of the government. The strongest arm of the 
 Union is palsied by disaffection or turned to fight 
 even against its own body. Our enemy and the 
 savage tribes are combined in a common league, and 
 had caused American i^lood to flow, long before the 
 declaration of war. The prospect of taking advan- 
 tage of our divisions has raised the courage and 
 roused the malice of our adversaries. Our country 
 is engaged with a foe who abandons humanity, and 
 
8 
 
 the most sacred laws of war among civilized nations. 
 That such depravity reii^ns in the hearts of human 
 beings, and even in those who boast of being civil- 
 ized and christianized, is a most humiliating and 
 melancholy thought. 
 
 It is a subject of deepest humiliation to every 
 heart that loves the cause of Christ, that a nation of 
 high boasted pretensions to religion, should counte- 
 nance every species of injustice, oppression, and 
 crucltv. Such conduct does not in fact injure or 
 destroy the real merits of Christianity, but it is taken, 
 by those who reason superficially, as an occasion to 
 reproach religion. That kind of religion which 
 wears on its front the emblems of malignant and 
 haughty pride, of deception and piracy, of wanton 
 barbarity, and of every crime that can blacken the 
 catalogue of human depravity ; that kind of religion 
 is to be execrated unspeakably more than avowed 
 infidelity. Hypocrisy, and not Christianity, is charge- 
 able with this enormous guilt, whose countenance 
 bears all the marks that can excite horror. But this 
 character belongs rather to the government than to 
 the people of Gre:.t Britain, because the government 
 tolerate or do not punish the crimes I have mention- 
 ed. Yet there is no other wav to correct the gov- 
 crnment of that nation than by chastising its subjects. 
 
 Great exertions have been made to alienate the 
 people of this country from their government by in- 
 culcating the idea that there is no jusliiiablc cause 
 
for the present war. If I believed this I should 
 deeply deplore the war, and blame those who had 
 waged it. The question is very important to the 
 country and to every individual, especially to those 
 who are in stations of responsibility. If I could have 
 any doubts upon the subject, I would say nothing 
 about it. But impressed as I am that the welfare of 
 the country is at stake, that my own safety and hap- 
 piness are as much concerned as those of any other 
 man, and that I am equally bouwd with others to 
 maintain the rights that God has been i)leased to 
 grant me, I am impelled by a sense of duty to ex- 
 press my mind on this occasion. I therefore justify 
 my country in the war, for the following reasons. 
 
 We have, as a nation, suffered great wrong from 
 the enemy for a number of years, and have with 
 great patience and forbearance laboured to persuade 
 the enemy to cease from violating our rights. Rut 
 instead of yielding to our entreaties and remon- 
 strances, they have multiplied their aggressions, 
 until no prospect of their termination remained. 
 
 The wrongs they have committed have been the 
 most outrageous. To persist in taking unjustly 
 from a nation their property, is universally allowed 
 to be justifiable cause of war. But to tear the citi- 
 zens from their peaceable employment, and to carry 
 tJicm into captivity and slavery, to groan under the* 
 lash of tyrants, to be subject to every species of cru- 
 elty to force them to abandon tluii- own country, U) 
 2 
 
10 
 
 be compelled to fight against tlieir brethren, and to 
 be liable to suffer death to avoid a service to which 
 they never freely consented, and which, being born 
 free, they can never cease to hate, these are enormi- 
 ties which I cannot consent that my fellow-citizens 
 should suffer. 
 
 As christians, as friends to the rights of mankind, 
 of humanity, and of every thing sacred, we cannot 
 endure such things. 
 
 The conduct of many speaks this language ; that 
 the rights of seamen are not worth contending for. 
 How came they to be doomed to a lower and more 
 wretched grade than the rest of the human race ? 
 Upon what principles of religion and humanity are 
 they to be abandoned by their country, to fall sacri- 
 fices to the rapacity of foreign nations ? All christians, 
 and christian ministers especially, ought to be friends 
 to the rights of every class of the people. I will 
 plead for those who are now in slavery, whose bond- 
 age prevents them from visiting their native shores 
 to lay their complaints before their friends and the 
 government who owes them emancipation. In their 
 present situation they have no hopes either for this 
 world or for the world to come. They are beyond 
 the reach of all consolation, unless God is pleased in 
 his mercy to ^vrest them by death from the chains of 
 their oj^pressors. 
 
 How can we be christians or friends of humanity, 
 and not plead and contend for their cause ? I am 
 
11 
 
 ready to say in the words of Christ on another occa- 
 sion, '''He that hath no swordy let him sell his garment 
 and buy one.''' 
 
 It is cause for deep humiliation that so many 
 thousands who have as much right to protection as 
 ourselves, have been forced into slavery and hopeless 
 ruin, and that there are so many who are consenting 
 to the sin. Had we been united in support of the 
 government, these evils would not have existed. 
 Foreign nations ever were and will be ready to take 
 advantage of our divisions. They will try every 
 machination to kindle among us a civil war, and to 
 establish here their own power. Finding that a great 
 portion of the people will not sacrifice their present 
 private interests for the cause of justice, for the rights 
 of a class of our citizens, they will persist in their 
 wicked practises, and the evils of which we complain 
 will be likely to be prolonged and aggravated. 
 These are judgments which threaten us for our di- 
 vided state as u nation. 
 
 Though we have some causes for humiliation this 
 day, we are in the possession and enjoyment of nu- 
 merous blessinn-s which call us to adore eternal 
 Providence. There arc very few if any in our 
 country who cannot obtain a comfortable subsistence. 
 There are none whose blessings do not very far ex- 
 ceed their duties. As a Nation, as a State, as indi- 
 viduals, we have heretofore been generally blest with 
 an uncommon share of prosperity. Wc have enjoyed 
 
12 
 
 a licritii[(e eminently worthy to be called the heritage 
 of the servants of the Lord. We have been fed with 
 l)rcad, and with every kind of luxury to the full. 
 We have had eminent advantages to acquire knowl- 
 edge for a number of years ; we have had the aid of 
 rcliji-ious institutions; our liberties at home and our 
 rights of conscience have been exercised with great 
 freedom. 
 
 And may it not be a serious question whether our 
 prosperity has not been too great to be continued, 
 lest we should be led into such excesses as are in- 
 consistent with the political health of the nation, and 
 are dangerous to all the obligations of piety and vir- 
 tue ? We have reason to lament the propensity of our 
 nature to degeneracy, which forbids the enjoyment 
 of the unbounded goodness of God. Let us this 
 day review our conduct as individuals, and consider 
 wherem we have erred in using the blessings of 
 providence, and the advantages and liberties with 
 which wc have been favored. This is a favorable 
 opportunitv to commence a reformation, that will be 
 unspeakably happy to our friends and glorious to 
 ourselves. 
 
 Let us this day review our conduct as citizens, 
 and consider the principles on which wc have acted, 
 lias it been our motive to maintain the rights of 
 those citizens who arc held in slavery and to procure 
 their redemption, and to cause the riglus of property 
 to be respected on the ocean, or have wc been gov- 
 erned bv selfishness, by the cravings of avarice? 
 
13 
 
 That must l)e a hard and wretched heart that will 
 voluntarily consent to the slavery of thousands of his 
 fellow-citizens, and to the ruin of the property of 
 ten times as many more, rather than bear the reduc- 
 tion of his own gains for a few years. The people 
 to whom I have the happiness to speak, with joy I 
 trust are not of this description. 
 
 If such unanimity pervaded the whole nation, soon 
 would the wretched enslaved Americans escape from 
 their bondage, and again embrace those friends, 
 from whom they were torn by unrelenting cruelty. 
 To your patriotic and virtuous exertions, my hearers, 
 add your fervent prayers to heaven for your country's 
 salvation, honor, and happiness. Let the brave 
 kindle the latent fire of patriotism derived from their 
 ancestors, and say one to another, *' Be of good 
 courage, and let us play the men, for our people and 
 for the cities of our God ; and the Lord do that 
 which seemeth him good." 
 
 *' No weapon that is formed against thee shall pros- 
 per, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in 
 judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage 
 of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness 
 is of me, saith the Lord." 
 
 This is not to be considered as a promise of God 
 to his people that they should meet no misfortunes, 
 that their enemies should not in any meabure injure 
 and afflict them. Such uninterrupted prosperity and 
 undisturbed enjoyment of civil rights and liberties are 
 
u 
 
 not to be expected in our present imperfect state. 
 But the extent of the promise of the text is, No wea- 
 pon that is formed against you shall so far prosper as 
 to defeat the cause you maintain, and essentially de- 
 stroy the object of your hopes. 
 
 Although our country has experienced some ad- 
 verse events, in a general view her cause stands un- 
 moved. In one instance it appears that the govern- 
 ment were deceived, and had misplaced their confi- 
 dence in a commander of an important station. J5ut 
 there has been no evidence of want of bravery in the 
 troops. The government have not had the means 
 afforded them to raise an army sufficient to accom- 
 plish any important object. The resources of the 
 country have not yet been called into action. The 
 strength of the nation has not yet been tried. It ap- 
 pears to have been the general expectation, till lately, 
 especially of the government, that our greatest exer- 
 tions would be unnecessary, and they have still been 
 proposing measures of peace. On the land, the wea- 
 pon formed against us has given the country some 
 mortifying wounds, but perhaps no more than was 
 necessary to rouse the spirit of the people into its 
 native majesty. 
 
 On the sea, the success of our cause has exceed- 
 ed the highest expectations of the most sanguine. 
 
 The heroes of the most splendid fame seldom if 
 ever won prouder laurels. Whilst they have dealt 
 destruction on the enemy, Omnipotence has 
 
15 
 
 been their shield. The weapon of the enemy has not 
 been permitted to prosper. 
 
 Some of our defenceless citizens have met the ca- 
 lamities unavoidably incident to a state of war ; but 
 the advantage is greatly on the side of our country, 
 as it relates to the maratime warfare. Providence 
 has displayed very signal and remarkable interposi- 
 tions in oar favor, where they were generally least 
 expected. No defeats could have been so humili- 
 ating to the enemy as those they have met on the 
 ocean. Their power there is the dread of nations, 
 and the scourge of the world. Their proudest 
 weapon has been repeatedly broken. " The right 
 hand of the Lord is exalted ; the right hand of the 
 Lord doeth valiantly." " They compass us about 
 like bees ; they shall be quenched as the fire of 
 thorns : for in the name of the Lord we will destroy 
 them.*" 
 
 From the nature of the cause in which the nation 
 is engaged, I have confidence that no weapon formed 
 against us will be permitted to prosper. The gov- 
 ernment have lately provided means to prosecute 
 measures, which I trust will be severely felt by the 
 enemy, or will convince them, that the contested 
 point will not be yielded. It being not for an in- 
 crease of power, not to oppress mankind, but to 
 secure the rights and liberties of oue 
 
 BEETHREN ON THE OCEAN, that WC COntCnd, 
 
 • Psalm cxTiii. 12. 
 
16 
 
 we have much reason to hope that heaven will pros- 
 per our cause. It is in the defence of essential 
 rights that we are engaged, or in vain should we 
 look for success. 
 
 But success is not to be expected without duty. 
 The government must be faithful to theirs, and the 
 citizens must be faithful to theirs. They must act 
 in concert, or the hopes of both are lost. 
 
 Can we better improve a few moments than in 
 inquiring what duties the state of our public affairs 
 demands of the people ? If the cause, in which the 
 nation is engaged, be a righteous cause, success is 
 not to be expected, unless the citizens are faithful 
 to their dutv. 
 
 No government can succeed well without the 
 support of the citizens. The administration of gov- 
 ernment requires great talents, great industry and 
 fidelity in a time of peace. But it is much more 
 arduous in a time of war. Let those who find fault 
 with the government consider the embarrassments 
 arising from opposition. Let heads of families con- 
 sidor the difficulty of managing their affliirs well, 
 when they are perplexed with refractory members. 
 Can the house builder succeed well, when his em- 
 ployer docs not afford necessary materials, and when 
 he is continually thwarting his plans, and obstructing 
 the work in its progress ? What artificer can execute 
 a work well, when unfaithful and disaffected persons 
 arc continually disobeying his directions? Who 
 
17 
 
 can iiuvigalc a ship across the tempestuous ocean, 
 unless liis orders are punctually obeyed by the crew ? 
 Who can administer tlie government with tlie best 
 success, when its laws are continually violated, and 
 its plans are frustrated ? Let all the citizens aid the 
 measures of the general government, and let the cor- 
 rectness of them be proved i)y experiment. If then 
 they fail, place others at the helm. Those who act 
 in opposition to the general government not only 
 embarrass the rulers, but they act against their own 
 interest, because all obstructions are prolonging the 
 contest. I think this nation never will yield the great 
 point for which they arc now contending. If some 
 of the States are arrayed in opposition to the gov- 
 ernment, this will only cause greater delay, expense, 
 and misfortune to a considerable portion of the citi- 
 zens, and not ultimately answer any valuable purpose 
 to the country. 
 
 Therefore the duty of the good citizen seems to 
 be this. Thouf2:h the £r<-'iieral administration be not 
 of his choice, he observes all the laws, he aids in the 
 execution of their plans, to try the virtue of them, 
 and if ihey prove erroneous, he has a constitutional 
 remedy. This appears to me the only course that a 
 truly cliristian patriot can eonsistendy pursue. It is 
 mv firm belli, f that it is the dutv of every ijood citi- 
 zen to yield to the will of the people, us decided by 
 a majority throughout the Union, so far as relates to 
 o 
 
J8 
 
 the complete execution of all the laws made by their 
 Representatives. 
 
 The providence of God has kindly placed us 
 imder a government far the happiest in the world. 
 We know nothing about the public calamities which 
 other nations experience. We are not crowned with 
 so many great and precious blessings without owing 
 correspondent duties towards God and our country. 
 The promise that no weapon formed against us shall 
 prosper, cannot be considered applicable to us any 
 further than we are faithful to the principles and 
 conditions on which it was granted. No great at- 
 t:;inment is to be expected without duty and perhaps 
 great sacrifices. 
 
 All classes of honest people with whom I am ac- 
 quainted ardently desire an honorable peace. But 
 how is this to be obtained ? By opposition to the 
 general government ? If they are defeated in their 
 exertions, we must take such a peace as the enemy 
 with the savage tribes are pleased to give us. Must 
 we abandon the essential principles of justice to ob- 
 tain peace ? Yielding in one or two points will not 
 satisfy our enemies. There will be no end to their 
 demands until we have made an unconditional sur- 
 render of all that we hold dear and sacred. iNIore 
 nations than one Mill be claiming a share in tlic spoils, 
 and our doom must be wretched beyond all con- 
 ception. No, I trust the general principles and at- 
 
19 
 
 tachments of tlic people of this country are not yet 
 become so degenerate, so lost to all sacred obliga- 
 tions, as to abandon her cause. 
 
 The claims of the government are so just and 
 reasonable, that I cannot resist the hope that they 
 will be allowed, and that a termination of hostilities 
 is not far distant. Such an era would be happy, and 
 would be an occasion for the most thankful acknowl- 
 edgments to the supreme Arbiter of events. Should 
 not this hope be soon realized, I think we have much 
 reason to believe that for a year to come the conflict 
 will be very severe. In this last alternative may wc 
 strengthen each other's hands and encourage each 
 other's hearts. 
 
 Surely if we look back to the means which this 
 people possessed in the revolution, to defend and 
 maintain their rights, and are faithful to ourselves, 
 we cannot doubt as to the result, unless we are 
 abandoned of heaven for our wickedness. There is 
 no want in this country of resources of strength, of 
 talents, or of bravery, to defeat our enemies. There 
 is no want, but of virtue and patriotism. 
 
 There is one class of people whose thirst is so 
 great to get the reins of power into their own hands, 
 that they inwardly rejoice in every calamity that 
 tends to produce a change of public opinion in their 
 favor. This class is numerous, and their influencr 
 is great. They deceive many. 
 
20 
 
 There is anoihcr class who are so much devoted 
 to the god of avarice, that they are impatient under 
 any state of things that interferes with their imme- 
 diate interest. Had the generation who are now 
 principally gone oft' the stage of action, been of this 
 description, this country would now have been in- 
 volved in ail the wars and calamities of Europe. 
 The true and honest patriot will be reiidy to sacrifice 
 his personal interest for the security of the rights of 
 liis country and of his posierity. Our lathers were 
 careful and faithful to see that we should be born 
 free, and if we have not sufficient virtue to maintain 
 our birth- right, no ignominy can be too great for us. 
 
 There is another class of people who do not think 
 for themselves, but give themselves toTthe guidance 
 of those who will make merchandize of them. If 
 there were any of these classes within the reach of 
 my voice, I would conjure them by all that is sacred, 
 to lay aside, as far as possible, all private interests 
 and motives of ambition, for the good of their 
 country, for the benefit of posterity. 
 
 There is still another class of peojile opposed t^' 
 the war, because they consider it a great calamity ; 
 and from benevolent feelings they dread the conse- 
 quences. But I would ask them to extend their 
 benevolent feelings towards the many thousands who 
 have been for years past, and still arc in a condition 
 the most deplorable. If they are not rescued, and 
 the evil is not removed, many thousands more must 
 
meet the same fate. Many liavc lost their heahh, 
 tlielr limbs, and their lives. Many have been dis- 
 abled and reduced, and then abandoned to despair. 
 Many are robbed of their service durin^; a number 
 of the best years of life, and their families are left to 
 bewail their unhappy doom. 
 
 We have no right for the sake of peace to leave 
 them to such sufferings of injustice and cruelty. It 
 is inhumanity ; it is cruelty the most deliberate. If 
 we consent to the violence done to our fellow-citi- 
 zens, when we have power to hnmn; their oppressors 
 to justice, we become partakers in the guilt of man- 
 stealing, and merit the execration of the unhappy- 
 sufferers, and the indignation of the Almighty. 
 
 When the "Byrians and Zidonians had aljused the 
 liberties of the Jews, when they had disposed of them 
 by lot, when they had given a Jewish boy for the hire 
 of a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might 
 drink to excess, God declared against them by the 
 prophet Joel the most tremendous judgments. 
 These wrongs were afterwards avenged against the 
 Tivrians, for Alexander sold thirty thousand of them 
 for slaves. Not only the nations who abuse our cit- 
 izens and enslave them will be punislied, but they 
 who justify them will partake of the awful retribution 
 of God. Therefore may we not be accessory, in 
 any wa)', to continue or to justify the wrongs which 
 are committed upon our own citizens. 
 
 Finally, Let it oe our hearts desire and prayer to 
 God "that He would preserve us, in the course of 
 
22 
 
 the ensuing- year, from domestic violence and foreign 
 invasion ; from scarcity of bread ; from coniagious 
 sickness and untimely death — That He would pros- 
 per the means of education, and that His eyes may 
 be upon us for good from the beginning to the end 
 of the year — That the Heavens may give their dew, 
 and the earth yield her increase ; and that God, even 
 our God, may bless us." 
 
 May you steadily pursue such a course of con- 
 duct, in your several callings as will best serve the 
 cause of your common country. Do not be carried 
 away from your duty by the slight and cunning 
 craftiness of men, but with unprejudiced minds in- 
 quire devoutly before God, What is right ? 
 
 On this occasion I felt it to be my duty to 
 express my sentiments on some important points 
 widi plainness, that you may not err through 
 the want of honesty and fidelity on my part. My 
 most earnest concern is to strengthen and confirm 
 your resolutions to do your duty towards God, your 
 country, your families, and yourselves. But what- 
 ever sentiments you entertain, indulge no bitterness, 
 and deny not to others the right of opinion. Be 
 strong in understanding, and firm in heart, but not 
 malicious or unfair. Should any of you be called to 
 take a more active part in the cause of your country, 
 go not in your own strength alone, but in the power 
 of the Lord of hosts. *'Be strong and of a good 
 courage. And the Lord, he it is that doth go before 
 
!83 
 
 you ; he will be with you, he will not fail you, 
 neither forsake you : fear not neither be dismayed." 
 
 If the blessings of peace should be denied us, may 
 not the blessings of plenty be withheld. Let us be 
 faithful and humble in our duty, and may the joyful 
 hopes of salvation through the Redeemer, support 
 us in every trial, which infinite wisdom sees fit to 
 appoint, until the season of our probation be passed 
 away, and our spirits may be permitted to join the 
 choir of celestial beings in raptures of everlasting 
 love and praise. May our prayers this day for the 
 salvation of our beloved country be answered with 
 the blessings of honorable peace and perpetual pros- 
 perity. 
 
 But if the hearts of our enemies should continue 
 to be hardened, to be filled with the gall of bitterness, 
 and to glory in the bonds of iniquity, I exhort you 
 by the blood of those immortal patriots who sacri- 
 ficed their lives on the altar of their country to pur- 
 chase your liberty, and whom heaven, we trust, has 
 crowned with glory for their fidelity, to be true to 
 the same principles. 
 
 If the cause be lost in which the country is now 
 engaged, this rising nation with the fairest, brightest 
 prospects, I fear will become the ignominious prey of 
 foreigners, the contempt of the world, and the out- 
 cast of heaven. Let us deplore that weakness, that 
 insUibility, that depravity of the human character 
 
24 
 
 through which men are enticed by corrupt influence, 
 by forci|jn partialities of any kind to sacrifice their 
 country's lionor and felicity. 
 
 Let your patriotism be founded in an unshaken love 
 and confidence towards the great, the immutable 
 Jehovak, and in the principles of divine rectitude; 
 and may your conduct in the present contest for your 
 country's independence be worthy to be held in cver- 
 lastinj:^ remembrance. 
 
 '^^ 
 
 % ^ ^