Glass. 
 Book, 
 
m^^ 
 
 ^^& 
 
 REV. DR. WAYLAND'S 
 
 THANKSGIVING DISCOURSE. 
 
 JULY 21, 184 2. 
 
 ^econtJ Stritiou. 
 
 e8^& 
 
DISCOURSE 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, 
 
 PROVIDENCE, R, I. 
 
 THE DAY OF 
 
 PUBLIC THANKSGIVING, 
 
 swiLtT? ^a^ a®^g,3 
 
 y 
 
 BY FRANCIS Vi^AYLAND 
 
 <Seconti 35tJit(on. 
 
 PROVIDENCE: 
 PRINTED BY H. H. BROWN 
 
 1842. 
 
^ S3 
 
 •i 
 
 Providence, July 25, 1842. 
 To THE Rev. Dr. Wayland, 
 SIR, 
 
 At a special meeting of the Charitable Baptist Society, held this day, 
 it was unanimously " Resolved, That the thanks of this Society be pre- 
 sented to the Rev. Dr. Wayland, for his interesting and instructive 
 Discoui'se, delivered before said Society on Thursday last, being the 
 day appointed by the Governor of this State, by virtue of a resolution 
 of the General Assembly, to be obsei"ved by its citizens as a day of 
 public Thanksgiving and Praise to God, 'for the signal interposition of 
 his kind and fatherly love, so recently and strikingly manifested in 
 rescuing them from the horroi's of civil war, anarchy and death,' and 
 that he be requested to furnish a copy of the same for the press." 
 And it was also "Resolved, That the undersigned be a Committee to 
 communicate to you the above resolutions, and to carry the same into 
 effect." 
 
 We are, very respectfully. Sir, 
 Your obedient servants, 
 
 PARDON MILLER, 
 
 ASA PIERCE, 
 
 GAMALIEL LYMAN DWIGHT, 
 
 JAMES H. READ. 
 
 Providence, July 26, 1842. 
 Gentlemen, 
 I thank you for the notice which you liave been pleased to take of 
 the Sermon delivei-ed on the late day of Thanksgiving, and agreeably 
 to your wishes, submit the copy to your disposal. 
 I have thfi honor to be, 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 Your ob't servant, 
 
 F. WAYLAND, 
 Messrs. 
 Pardon Miller, 
 Asa Pierce, 
 
 Gamaliel Lyman Dwight, 
 James H. Read, Esquires. 
 CommHtee. Sfc 
 
A DISCOURSE. 
 
 PSALM cxvi. 12, 13, 14. 
 
 What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits 
 toward me? i will take the cup of salvation and calf, 
 upon the name of the lord ; i will pay my vows unto the 
 Lord, now, in the presence of all his people 
 
 The offering of thanksgiving to God, my breth- 
 ren, is one of the most pleasing duties of a pioiLs 
 soul. The daily mercies which, as individuals, we 
 receive, call for those daily acknowledgments which 
 every good man loves to breathe out in the retire- 
 ment of the closet. The blessings which we enjoy 
 as families, we dehght to acknowledge around the 
 domestic altar. And when a nation, which is only 
 a more extended family, has experienced special and 
 peculiar deliverance, it is seemly that it should col- 
 lect together its multitude of people, and that all 
 who profess or call themselves Christians, in their 
 several temples should reverently bow the knee be- 
 fore the Father of mercies, while with grateful hearts 
 they utter the memory of his great goodness. 
 
 Such are the circumstances in which we are as- 
 sembled on the present occasion. Almighty Cod 
 has, in a signal manner, appeared for us in deliver- 
 ing this community from the horrors of civil war. 
 The instances of his interposition have been so fre- 
 quent and so manifest, that 1 have not seen an indi 
 vidual who has not humblv acknowledged them. 
 
No sooner was the immediate danger passed away, 
 than the sentiment, 'Let us give thanks to God,' arose 
 spontaneously from every bosom. The intrepidity 
 of our citizens, the skill of our commanders, the pa- 
 triotism of our people, were all forgotten, and every 
 one thought, first of all, of God, who had carried us 
 unharmed through so serious a peril. The procla- 
 mation which invited us to set apart this day for the 
 purposes of grateful acknowledgment, was but the 
 utterance of that feeling which pervaded every spir- 
 it. 1 give thanks unto God that it is so. It is be- 
 coming a people loving justice and hating wrong. 
 It is meet, that after rising as one man to vindicate 
 the claims of liberty and law, to defend our country 
 from anarchy, and our hearths from violation, we 
 should first, and above all, render the praise of our 
 deliverance unto God. 
 
 Permit me in the commencement of this discourse, 
 briefly to review the facts which have given occasion 
 to the solemn assembling of ourselves together to-day. 
 
 At the time when I last addressed you, we had 
 just escaped the dangers of a previous insurrection- 
 ary movement with which this city had been threaten- 
 ed. The peace for which we then called you to 
 thankfulness, proved, however, to be but of short 
 duration. It soon became apparent that another 
 attempt to overthrow the government of this State, 
 of a more formidable character, was in contempla- 
 tion. Secret meetings were known to be held, in 
 various places ; and the public mind was very gen- 
 erally agitated by (he threats of another outbreak. 
 
 The General Assembly of this State met by ad- 
 
journment at Newport, on Monday the 20th ol 
 June last. The great business of this meeting was 
 well understood to be the adoption of some measure 
 for calling a convention, on such a basis as would 
 restore to this distracted community its wonted tran- 
 quillity. At this very time it was first announced that 
 a body of armed men had assembled in Chepachet. 
 Soon we were informed that they had thrown up an 
 entrenchment on a commanding position. Cannon, 
 which had been privately taken from various parts 
 of tlie State, were placed in battery. Gunpowder 
 and other munitions of war, to a large amount, had 
 been stolen by night from individual proprietors, and 
 conveyed to the insurgents' camp. A large number 
 of persons, from this and the surrounding States, had 
 already assembled, and it was reported that great ad- 
 ditions were daily expected from the city of N. York. 
 The force at the close of the week is said to have 
 amounted to more than a thousand men ; and their 
 avowed intention was to march to this city and seize 
 by violence upon the Government of this State. 
 
 In the mean time, the General Assembly, unmoved 
 by fear and unruffled by irritation, dehberately ac- 
 complished the object for which they had been called 
 together. They passed an act for the calling of a 
 convention, so liberal in its provisions and so equi- 
 table in its apportionment, that the warmest friends 
 of suffrage gave it at once their cordial support. So 
 universal was the agreement in this measure, that it 
 met but one negative in the House, and was passed 
 unanunously in the Senate. It was a noble act. 
 it was a glorious moral victor}. Every true citizen 
 
of Rliode-lslaiid tlicn felt that the State had done 
 her duty ; that no provocation, however galling, 
 could deter her from granting to every citizen all 
 I hat with any show of reason he could ask ; and 
 that, whatever might have been her original im- 
 munities, she would never press them to the wrong, 
 or even to the reasonable disquiet, of any of her cit- 
 izens. The passage of this act will ever remain one 
 of the most glorious deeds by which her history is 
 emblazoned. Henceforward, either in success or in 
 failure, she could not be otherwise than illustrious ; 
 for, under circumstances of the severest trial, she 
 had acted virtuously. 
 
 With this act, all of our citizens who honestly de- 
 sired an extension of suffrage, were, so far as I know, 
 entirely satisfied. Many of them took immediate 
 occasion to avow this sentiment in the public papers, 
 and nobly to declare their readiness to enter the 
 ranks in defence of the established authorities of the 
 State. Still the encampment continued at Chepa- 
 chet — its designs remained unaltered — it was report- 
 ed to be increasing in numbers — and gross violations 
 of law were perpetrated by the insurgents. Under 
 these circumstances, his Excellency the Governor 
 ordered inio active service the whole military force 
 of the State. 
 
 Of the manner in which this call was responded 
 to, it is but the simple verily to say, that nothing simi- 
 lar to it has been seen in this country, since the days 
 of the Revolution. As the order flew from town to 
 town, the yeomanry of Rhode-Island arose with one 
 simultaneous impulse. The farmer left his hoe in 
 
the field and his scythe in the meadow ; the me 
 chanic dropped his hammer on the anvil and his 
 plane on the bench ; the manufacturer closed his 
 mill and the lawyer laid aside his brief, and in many 
 cases without even changing his dress, every one, on 
 the instant, was on the line of march for the city of 
 Providence. Those who were not enrolled in the 
 regular militia, formed themselves into volunteer 
 companies, and proffered their services to the Exec- 
 utive. In some places the orders were received at 
 midnight, and hundreds who retired to rest without 
 the idea of danger, before the day-light broke were 
 already on their way to what all expected would be 
 the scene of conflict. In the same platoon might 
 be seen fathers and sons and grand-sons, pressing on, 
 shoulder to shoulder, in defence of liberty and law. 
 The youth of sixteen and the revolutionary pensioner 
 of eighty were moving side by side, all animated 
 by the same spirit. The distinctions of wealth, the 
 differences of occupation, the ordinary exemptions 
 from the liability to bear arms, seem not to have 
 entered the minds of men. No one asked who is 
 obliged to go ; the only question was, who is obliged 
 to remain at home ? Town and country were equally 
 prompt in the discharge of this, the highest duty of 
 freemen. In this city, for several days, all ordinary 
 business was laid aside, and no man either thouglit 
 or acted, but for the public weal. More than a 
 thousand men, of all ages, of all professions, and of 
 every diversity of political opinion, the greater part 
 of whom had never before borne arms, had enrolled 
 themselves for the public defence, and were rapidly 
 
8 
 
 accniiring the discipline of regulars ; while our char- 
 tered companies, eager to distinguish themselves in 
 the support of constitutional freedom, claimed as 
 their right the privilege of veterans, that of perform- 
 ing the most arduous services, and standing in the 
 front rank in the moment of peril. It was a univer- 
 sal rising of the people of Rhode-Island. Nor was 
 it a mere gathering of soldiery for a hohday parade. 
 Every one knew that he was engaged in serious bu- 
 siness. No one expected that all would return alive. 
 As the steamer received the citizen soldiers from 
 Newport, Bristol and Warren, and the wharves were 
 covered with wives and mothers and sisters, anxious 
 to snatch a parting embrace, and to wave what many 
 feared might be a last adieu, spectators whose eyes 
 for half a century had never been moistened with a 
 tear, were Utterly Unmanned, and before they were 
 aware, found themselves weeping like children. It 
 was then that every one became sensible of the in- 
 iquity of this transaction. 
 
 Nor was this a mere rising of popular sentiment, 
 without any definite or well comprehended object. 
 These citizens of Rhode-Island knew well for what 
 purpose they were assembling. I have conversed 
 with many of them, from various parts of the State, 
 and they perfectly understood the nature of the ques- 
 tion. I never heard from one of them a single sen- 
 timent of vindictiveness or mahce. They were, hke 
 all peaceful and virtuous men, exceedingly averse to 
 the shedding of blood. All hoped that this difficulty 
 might pass away without the occurrence of such a 
 necessity. But they were conscious that the As- 
 
scnibly had done all that honorable men could ask, 
 and that now, in order to maintain the righteous au- 
 thority of law, and deliver this State from the mise- 
 ries of anarchy, the only resort left them was the ap- 
 peal to arms. It was the question whether we should 
 be governed by constitutional law, or by brute force ; 
 force not merely of our own misguided citizens, but 
 of men from other States, allured hither by the hope 
 of plunder, or the demon-like love of mischief. Nor 
 did they rest here. They knew that if this prece- 
 dent could be established in Rhode-Island, the exam- 
 ple would be follow^ed in other States, and this whole 
 country be delivered over to the horrors of a civil 
 war. They met the issue as it becomes a patriot to 
 meet it. Men of purer hearts, of sounder sense, or 
 of more resolute purposes, it has never been my for- 
 tune to know. This whole country and republican 
 institutions throughout the world, owe them a debt 
 of gratitude which should never be forgotten so long 
 as a man remains on earth who believes that a nation 
 is capable of governing itself. 
 
 The plan of the campaign was arranged with 
 promptitude and skill. On Monday, the troops were 
 put in motion by different routes, for the neighbor- 
 hood of Chepachet; and at an early hour on Tues- 
 day, the camp of the insurgents would have been 
 enclosed on every side. On Monday evening, how- 
 ever, the leader of the insurgents fled, and in the 
 course of the night, a large part of his troops had 
 followed his example. The advanced guard of one 
 of the columns pressed on during the night, amidst 
 2 
 
10 
 
 a violent storm of rain, to the scene of action, and af 
 six o'clock in the morning, were in possession of the 
 entrenchment. Being without leaders, no resistance 
 Avas ofiered by the few who remained. A number 
 were taken prisoners. Arms and ammunition and 
 weapons of every description were found to a large 
 amount in the encampment. Thus, without the loss 
 of a single life in battle,* by the simple manifestation 
 of the spirit of the yeomanry of Rhode-Island, this 
 insurrection was quelled in an instant, and this whole 
 State restored to the blessings of liberty and the pro- 
 tection of law. 
 
 What evils we have escaped by the happy termi- 
 nation of this act of insubordination, it is scarcely 
 possible to declare. It is sufficient to know, that 
 every means had been taken to arouse the worst 
 passions of the human heart ; that had the insurrec- 
 tionists obtained possession of this city, there was 
 nothing among themselves to control the action of 
 those passions ; and it needs no prophet to inform 
 us what must have been the result. Nor would the 
 consequences have been confined to this State. If 
 such a government as this could have been thus 
 overturned, what government, either State or Gen- 
 eral, could remain long unmoved.^ I see not how 
 tranquility and order could have been again estab- 
 lished upon any firm foundation, but by an almost 
 
 * But two lives, I believe, were lost in the whole progress of this 
 transaction. Lieut. Gonld^ of the Middletown Volunteers, was shot 
 on tlio march, by a near relative, in a inoment of su(klon den-ange- 
 ment ; and a person in I'awtuck<n was kiUed by tlio Kentisli Ouards, 
 wlio were obliged to fire in soU-defonce, wlien attacked liy a mob 
 wlio Iiad A\ ounded two of iheir number seriously, with clubs ami stones. 
 
11 
 
 universal civil war. Where this would have ended, 
 no human wisdom can predict. 
 
 It is not, therefore, merely as citizens of Rhode 
 Island, that we have cause for thanksgiving. God 
 has, in this transaction, revealed to us the firm and 
 unalterable attachment of this people to tlie cause of 
 constitutional law. We all believed that this attach- 
 ment existed, but never before has it been put to so 
 stern and actual a trial. We have thus been taught, 
 that in a country like ours, free, intelligent, and vir- 
 tuous, where property is so universally divided, and 
 every man has something at stake, the vast majority 
 of the people are, and must be, determined to live 
 under a government of law ; and that while they all 
 believe that the foundation of all government is the 
 will of the people, they as firmly believe that that 
 will must be expressed, not by mass meetings and 
 party resolutions, but according to the forms pre- 
 scribed by the constitution. All men here are of 
 the same class, for all have the same interests ; and 
 hence a war of classes is impossible. So long as 
 these sentiments prevail, our liberties stand on an im 
 moveable basis. Political agitation may excite tem- 
 porary alarm, the weakness or the wickedness oi 
 rulers may awaken a momentary distrust, but, if, 
 when a great constitutional principle is in peril, this 
 whole people come forward as one man to vindicate 
 it, we know that this republic is safe. 
 
 It is for all this that we render unto God thanks- 
 giving. It is his Spirit which breathed the love of 
 liberty, and the resolution to maintain it into the 
 hearts of our citizens. His wisdom has guided the 
 
12 
 
 counsels of our rulers, and presided over those 
 measures which have led to so happy a result. It 
 is God who has poured confusion upon the counsels 
 of injurious men, and scattered those that delight in 
 war. His compassion has prevented the effusion of 
 blood, and caused this great constitutional victory to 
 be achieved without the loss of a single life in conflict. 
 It is He that has restored to us our present tranquil- 
 lity, and permitted us, without fear or molestation, to 
 assemble in this house of prayer, with songs of 
 thanksgiving, and offer our heartfelt praises to his 
 adorable name. I believe that all this has been 
 done in ansv/er to prayer. I believe that through- 
 out this eventful period, thousands in the spirit oi" 
 Christian charity, have besought Him not only to 
 grant us dehverance, but bloodless deliverance from 
 this calamity; and I beheve that this prayer has 
 been most graciously accepted. We, therefore, in 
 behalf of all men, of all parties, render to God our 
 grateful acknowledgments. To Him we ascribe the 
 praise of the freedom and peace v/hich we now en- 
 joy, and of the bloodless means by which He has so 
 mercifully granted it to us. And yet more, while we 
 thank Him for his mercies, we acknowledge the in- 
 creasing obhgatioos under which this interposition 
 has placed us. It is not for any good thing in us, 
 that he has thus dehvered us. It is all the work of 
 His own infinite mercy. Let us then learn, as indi- 
 viduals and as a community, to serve Him more 
 laitlifully, to amend whatever is wrong in the midst 
 of us, and thus to manifest our gratitude by holier, 
 humbler, and more charitable lives. 
 
13 
 
 Such are the sentiments of gratitude a})pro|)riato 
 to the present occasion ; but I cannot leave the sub- 
 ject here. We may also learn from the scenes 
 through which we have passed, a lesson of humility 
 and penitence. 
 
 As happily as this transaction has terminated, it 
 cannot be forgotten that it has inflicted a heavy blow 
 upon the rising prosperity of this community. For 
 several months past almost every kind of active busi- 
 ness has been either diminished or suspended. 1 
 know that this evil has been the result in part of the 
 general commercial embarrassment which has be- 
 fallen us. This of itself would have been distress- 
 ing, but it has been rendered doubly severe by the 
 civil dissensions with which we have been visited. 
 Confidence in our resources could not exist abroad, 
 when threats of insurrection and civil war were in 
 daily circulation at home. Trade in every depart- 
 ment has declined, and neither the manufacturer nor 
 the merchant could find employment, either for cap- 
 ital or labor. The amount thus lost cannot be esti- 
 mated. The direct expenses of this agitation cannot 
 be inconsiderable, and must subject us all to heavy 
 taxation, at a time when we are by no means in the 
 best condition to bear it. But this is a light evil, in 
 comparison with the universal mental pain which has 
 been inflicted upon this people. For weeks togeth- 
 er it seemed as though the foundations on which the 
 social fabric stood, were trembling. The very prin- 
 ciples, by the admission of which, liberty can alone 
 exist, and all that man holds dear be rendered invio- 
 late, were denied, and the only course by which they 
 
14 
 
 could be vindicutcd, seemed the resort to arms. It 
 was inexpressibly painl'ul to believe that there were 
 men whom we had never been conscious of injuring, 
 and to whom we bore no evil intention, who were 
 nevertheless willing to wage war upon a peaceful 
 community, and surrender all that renders life a bles- 
 sinii, to the will of lawless violence. And if this 
 could be ever pleaded as a precedent, every one 
 asked himself where in this continent would there be 
 a refuge for liberty, innocence, and peace. All who 
 have passed through this crisis, will agree with me 
 in saying that every other evil is light in comparison 
 with the mental agony which was suffered by every 
 citizen, when he looked down into the chasm on the 
 very verge of which we for some time seemed to be 
 standing. 
 
 Now all this surely is of the nature of a calamity. 
 It becomes us seriously to inquire, what are the laws 
 which we have violated, and why has this chastise- 
 ment been inflicted upon us by our Heavenly Father? 
 
 In answer to this question, I would remark ; in the 
 first place, 1 think that we have suffered a just rebuke 
 for our national arrogance and forgetfulness of God. 
 [We have boasted of our institutions until our na- 
 tional pride has, with some semblance of justice, 
 exposed us to ridicule. We have claimed to ourselves 
 the praise of being the freest and most enlightened 
 j)eople on the face of the earth. This might be 
 borne. But we have gone farther. We have held 
 the institutions of all other nations in contempt, and 
 have believed that here alone die evils of the human 
 heart, unchecked by outward force, could never lead 
 
15 
 
 to social agitation. But tliis is not all. We have 
 done this without in any suitable manner acknow- 
 ledging the goodness of God, from whom alone 
 all our mercies have been received. We have praised 
 our forefathers, the Puritans ; we have venerated the 
 sages of our revolution ; we have idolized our form 
 of government ; but that God, who, through these 
 intermediate agencies, was bestowing upon us all our 
 unexampled prosperity, we have not glorified. We 
 have seemed, practically, to feel that our constitu- 
 tions were so perfect and our Government so free, 
 that severed from the guidance of Almighty wisdom, 
 they would go on perfectly well of themselves. God 
 has been pleased thus to rebuke our arrogance and 
 impiety. He has shown us that we are liable, if not 
 to the same, yet to as serious evils as any other peo- 
 ple, and that therefore we should think of our bles- 
 sings with devout and cautious humility. He has 
 taught us, that although we are in no fear of op- 
 pression from Government, yet we have not escaped 
 the dangers which arise from the sliding of liberty 
 into licentiousness ; and finally, he has reminded us, 
 that how free soever may be our social institutions^ 
 and how wisely constructed our forms of Government^ 
 yet that the destiny of this as well as of every other 
 nation, is in his hands. He alone is the author of all 
 peace and tranquillity. At his frown, all our institu- 
 tions would crumble to anarchy, only to form the 
 elements of a military despotism. Nothing but his 
 favor can ensure to us prosperity. If the events 
 which have just transpired should teach us this les- 
 son, and lead us as a people devoutly to recognize- 
 
16 
 
 his pnrenlal care, it will be well that we have suffer- 
 ed ; for our sufferings will have taught us wisdom, 
 and tlie conviction of our fallibility will have cultivat- 
 ed in us a spirit of dependence. 
 
 2. Secondly, prosperity has insensibly made us 
 selfish. While every one of us has been peacefully 
 enjoying, from year to year, in his own domestic cir- 
 cle, the fruits of his labor, our views have gradually 
 contracted, and we have not been sufficiently aware 
 of the duties which we owe to the community around 
 us. Every man has too much felt that every other 
 man could and would, sufficiently well, take care of 
 himself. Hence, throughout this country, we have 
 not been sufficiently careful of the intellectual and 
 moral cultivation of the whole community. No one 
 has felt that he had a personal interest in the well- 
 being of every fellow-citizen of the State and of the 
 Union. Hence, we have been negligent of our com- 
 mon scho:)ls. or the blame of this neglect, this State 
 must bear its share. It is not until within a few 
 years, that we have made any provision for the in- 
 struction of the whole people. And since that pro- 
 vision has been made, it has not been considered the 
 duty of the whole community to carry the blessings 
 of education and of good education to every district 
 and to every family within our borders. We have 
 suffered the results of our own faults. This late dis- 
 aster has, in a great degree, arisen from a misconcep - 
 tion of the simplest principles of social order. 
 
 Who does not see, that, by becoming citizens of this 
 State and of the United States, we have bound our- 
 selves, one JUid all, to submit every question of right. 
 
17 
 
 first to the judicial tribunal of the State in which wc 
 live, and ultimately to the highest judicial tribunal of 
 the United States ; and that to these decisions w« 
 have all bound ourselves to yield obedience ? Every 
 tnan expects this of his neighbor, and his neighbor 
 may therefore justly expect it of him. Who does 
 not see that if any portion of this nation may right- 
 fully take up arms to I'edress a supposed or even a 
 l^eal grievance, all government is at an end ; consti- 
 tutions and laws are nothing better than a contract 
 signed by neither party, by which neither party is 
 bound ; and there is no rule of action acknowledged, 
 but the will of the strongest ? This is, as every one 
 knows, the most appalling form of despotism. Who 
 does not see that the idea of equalization of property 
 is as absurd as it is wicked ? It would deprive the 
 poor as well as the rich of all the benefits of virtue 
 and industry, and subject honest men to the slavery 
 of working for knaves. How has it happened that 
 in siich a country as this, any portion of our citizens 
 should have mistaken the principles of the French 
 Revolution, for the principles of constitutional liber- 
 ty ?* That such errors should have been with the 
 
 * I am happy to be able to quote, in tliis connexion, the invaluable 
 remai'ks of a writer, who, more than any other in this country, desei-ves 
 to be heard on such a subject as this : — 
 
 " By democracy we understand, that a people governs itself; and 
 the priiiiary, fundamental act required of a people is, that it shall lay 
 such restraints on its own powers, na will give the best security against 
 their abuse. This is the highest puq)ose of a popular constitution. 
 A constitution is not merely a machinery tor ascertaining and expres- 
 "siug a people's will, but much more a provision for keeping that will 
 within righteous bounds. It is the act of a people imposing limits on 
 jtself, setting guard on its own passions, and throwing obstructions in 
 tlie way of legislation, so as to compel itsell to j>ause, to deliberate, to 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 least success promulgated, is a sufficient proof that 
 wo have neglected the obvious duty of cultivating to 
 he highest possible degree, the whole of the public 
 mind. Had we labored in this cause with the zeal 
 and patriotism and benevolence that becomes us, the 
 evils which we have suffered, would never have be- 
 fallen us. 
 
 But this is not all. The cultivation of the intel- 
 lect will be of but little value, without the cultivation 
 of the heai't. Unless the soul be purified, education 
 itself mny prove a curse instead of a blessing. There 
 exists in the heart of man a fountain of depravity, 
 from which, continually, have issued, in all ages, the 
 waters of malice, envy, and all uncharitableness. 
 The passions of men are, at the present moment, the 
 same as they have ever been. Civilization by pre- 
 
 hear all remonstrances, to weigh all rights and interests, before it 
 acts. A coustitutioai not framed on these principles, must fail of its 
 end. Now at the present moment, these sound maxims have lost 
 much of their autliority. The people, flattered into blindness, have 
 forgotten their passionateness, and proneness to abuse power. The 
 wholesome restraints laid by the present Constitution on popular im- 
 pulse are losing their force, and we have reason to fear that new con- 
 stitutions formed at tlie present moment ^vould want, more than our 
 present national charter, the checks and balances on which safety 
 depends. 
 
 " This language will not win me the name of Democrat. But I am 
 not anxious to bear any name, into whicli Government enters as the 
 great idea. I want as little government as consists with safety to the 
 rights of all. I wish the peojile to govern no farther than they must. 
 I wish them to place all checks on the legislature which consist with 
 its efficiency. I honor the passion for power and rule as little in the 
 people as in a king. It is a vicious principle, exist where it may. If 
 by democracy be meant the exei-cise of sovereignty by tlie people un- 
 der all those provisions and self-imposed restraints, which tend most 
 to secure equal laws, and the rights of each and all, then I shall be 
 proud to bear its name. But flic unfettered multitude is not dearer to 
 me than the unfettered king. And yet, at the jtresent moment, there 
 is a tendency to remove tlie restraints on wliicli the wise and righte- 
 ous exertion of tlie people's power depends." — Dr. Channing on the 
 Duty of the Free States. Second part, pp. 05 and 69. 
 
19 
 
 senting new objects of desire, has only whetted to 
 a keener edge the appetite of cupidity, and universal 
 information, by opening to all men every avenue to 
 distinction, has only fanned to intenser fury the de- 
 mon-like love of power. Such are the elements 
 with which, under any social system, we must of ne- 
 cessity contend. It is apparent that no mere form of 
 social organization has any power to resist their in- 
 fluence. Our only hope tor freedom is in that Gos- 
 pel which is able to subdue those lusts which nestle 
 in the heart of individual man. Modify your govern- 
 ment as you will, while these remain unchanged, the 
 foundation is insecure, and the fabric will sooner or 
 later fall to ruin. It is on the religion of Jesus 
 Christ alone, that the freedom and security and per- 
 manency of every form of social organization must 
 ultimately depend. If this be true in general, it is 
 specially true of institutions like our own, where all 
 the ancient barriers are removed, and constitutions 
 and laws emanate so directly from the will of the 
 people. Let us never then lose sight of the truth, 
 that the only stable foundation of such a government 
 as ours, is the moral principle of the people ; and let 
 us remember at the same time that the moral prin- 
 ciple of a people can never be relied upon under 
 strong temptations, unless it be sustained and upheld 
 and vitalized by the precepts and hopes and sanc- 
 tions of revealed religion. 
 
 And let us bear equally in mind another important 
 truth, which has been still more universally forgot- 
 ten. God has seen fit to render charity, active, ex- 
 pansive, universal benevolence, one of the most pres- 
 
sing duties of our present state. At the decisions of 
 the last day, He has represented it as the great test 
 of human character. He has enforced this duty by 
 the gravest sanctions, arising not only from the hopes 
 of the future, but also from the exigencies of the 
 present life. Among the latter, are those which 
 emanate from our social condition. Intertwined as 
 are the destinies of men with each other, in the pro- 
 gress of advancing civilization, our fellow men cannot 
 be ignorant or vicious, or unhappy without materially 
 affecting us in our most vital interests. The only 
 way in which we can be permanently virtuous and 
 happy ourselves, is by striving to render our fellow 
 men virtuous and happy. Active benevolence al- 
 lays the irritation which arises from difference in so- 
 cial position. It gives to every man an interest in good 
 order, and, what is more, it unites all men to each oth- 
 er by the strong tie of mutual affection. By spread- 
 ing abroad in the community the light of intelligence, 
 it gives to truth its natural preponderance over error. 
 By the cultivation of moral principle, it controls the pas- 
 sions of men, and thus eradicates the desire of wrong 
 doing. And it is not enough for us to allow our fellow- 
 men in this free country to take care of themselves, 
 God has made it our duty to take care of them ; and 
 unless we obey his laws, we must sooner or later suffer 
 the consequences of our transgression. Here, then, 
 let us begin to testify our gratitude. In this manner 
 let us learn wisdom by the result of our errors. Let 
 us begin by sending the means of sound and exten- 
 sive information to every part and portion of our com- 
 munity. If men do not sec the importance of know- 
 
21 
 
 ledge, let us set it before them. If they are not 
 willing to pay for it, let us provide it for their chil- 
 dren. Let us sow broad-cast the seed of eternal 
 truth, and by the pulpit and the press and the Sab- 
 bath school, bring the gospel, with its glorious hopes 
 and its solemn sanctions, to the fireside and the bo- 
 som of every man and woman and child among us. 
 Then, and not till then, will our nation be exalted 
 by righteousness ; then will the Lord be a wall of 
 fire round about us, when he is the glory in the midst 
 of us. 
 
 But, Thirdly. It will be in vain for us to cultivate 
 the moral principles of men by means of revealed 
 religion, unless we unfold the lessons of divine truth 
 precisely as they have been delivered to us. I fear 
 that we have failed to do this. I therefore am oblig- 
 ed to confess that the pulpit must be responsible, in 
 part at least, for much of the error which has vitiated 
 the public mind. 
 
 The design of the public ministrations of Religion 
 is to persuade men to discharge their duties to God 
 and to each other. The evidence of religious char- 
 acter is found not merely in sentiments of devotion, 
 but also in a life of piety, charity, justice, innocence 
 and truth. If we may beheve the New Testament, 
 aside from this practical development, professions of 
 religion are vain and hypocritical. Now I am con- 
 strained to confess, that both in our preaching and in 
 our other religious teaching, the inculcation of those 
 tempers of heart and of that corresponding practice 
 which the gospel requires, has been greatly neglect- 
 ed. We have insisted on the necessity of certain 
 
/ 
 
 spiritual exercises, while the necessity of a holy and 
 virtuous life, as the fruit of those exercises, and the 
 proof of their existence, has been suffered to fade 
 from our recollection. When our Saviour was ask- 
 ed which was the great commandment in the law, 
 he answered, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy soul and mind and strength ;" but he im- 
 mediately added, " The second is like unto it, thou 
 shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Let a man read 
 the New Testament, and he cannot fail to observe 
 the earnestness and solemnity with which the sacred 
 writers inculcate the truth that without the love and 
 the practice of universal justice and charity and truth 
 and purity, no other offering can be acceptable to 
 God. Let him reflect upon the particularity with 
 which we are instructed in the duties which we owe 
 to each other as parents and children, as husbands 
 and wives, as buyers and sellers, as masters and ser- 
 vants, as magistrates and citizens, and he cannot fail 
 to remark that the preaching of inspiration and the 
 preaching of the present day, are, in this respect, 
 widely dissimilar. And hence it has sometimes come 
 to be believed that moral and religious character, 
 having no principles in common, may be divorced 
 from each other. One man asserts that his religion 
 has nothing to do with the regulation of his passions, 
 another that it has nothing to do with his business, 
 and another that it has nothing to do with his poli- 
 tics. Thus while the man professes a religion which 
 obhges him to serve God in every thing, he declares 
 that whenever obedience would interfere with his 
 cherished vices, he will not serve God at all And 
 
23 
 
 I grieve to say that the pulpit has failed to meet such 
 sentiments at the very threshhold, with its stern and 
 uncompromising rebuke. From fear of the re- 
 proaches of men falsely professing godliness, it has 
 been silent when it ouglit to have spoken out plain- 
 ly. A man may be mean or even dishonest in his deal- 
 ings, or he may be reckless about his word ; or he 
 may indulge in unhallowed passions, or he may pur- 
 sue a thousand courses which are at variance with 
 the Christian character, and yet if he have occa- 
 sional seasons of devotion, and hold firmly to the 
 doctrines which are professed by his church, he may 
 attend the sanctuary Sabbath after Sabbath, and toa 
 frequently hear of nothing which shall arouse him 
 from his spiritual delusion. Men are told how they 
 must feel, but they are not told how they must act, 
 and the result, in many cases ensues, that a man's 
 belief has but a transient and uncertain effect upon 
 his practice. 
 
 Now the evils arising from this partial declaration 
 of the doctrines of revelation, are manifold. The 
 standard of moral character among professors of re- 
 ligion, may thus even sink below the level of the 
 community around them. They cease to be the 
 light of the world. Nay more ; their actions are 
 pleaded as an apology for wickedness of other men. 
 Hence the Ught that is in them becomes darkness. 
 And again, the moral effect of the religion of Christ 
 is the great evidence to mankind of its divine au- 
 thority. If no such effect be produced, men, with 
 much apparent reason, deny its claims to such aii- 
 
^4 
 
 thority. Thus even tliat portion of its truth which 
 is preached, is held by them to be no better than a 
 fable. Thus by neglecting to dehver the truth as 
 Christ has delivered it to us, we at once debase the 
 tharacter of the Christian church, depress the stand- 
 ard of public morals, and we deprive even the truth 
 which we deliver of all authority over the conscien- 
 ces of men. 
 
 I fear that this has been the error to no inconsid- 
 (erable degree of the pulpit in this country. It has 
 failed to set before men their duties as the New 
 Testament sets them forth; Hence in the midst of 
 this Christian land, in the very home of the Puritans^ 
 We find men so ill-instructed in the obhgations 
 which they owe both to God and to each other, so 
 utterly unaware of the duties which Christianity en- 
 joins upon parents and children, upon husbands and 
 wives, upon buyers and sellers, upon employers and 
 enrtployed, and upon mogistrates and citizens. If this 
 be so, I say the pulpit is grievously in fault, and 
 until this fault be amended, the ministers of the Gos- 
 pel will not be held guiltless before God. 
 
 Such are some of the causes for humiliation of 
 Which we are reminded on the present occasion. 
 In what manner, let us inquire, under our present cir- 
 cumstances, shall our gratitude and humility be made 
 evident ? 
 
 I answer, we are specially called to the exercise 
 of forgiveness and conciliation. 
 
 Does any one of you, my brethren, believe that 
 his fellow-citizens intended to injure him, that the 
 measures for which they have rendered themselves 
 
26 
 
 Responsible, would have ended in the most disastrous 
 consequences to this State and this nation ; and that 
 nothing but the gracious interposition of God, has 
 saved us from a most deplorable calamity? Suppose all 
 this to be true, what then as a man and a Christian^ 
 is your most imperative duty ? It is manifestly the ' 
 duty of forgiveness and charity. The man who has 
 erred, is your fellow-citizen and your brother. Both 
 of you are ahke fallible, and both stand in equal 
 need of forgiveness from your Father in Heaven. 
 Had you been in his circumstances, are you sure! 
 that you would not have acted as he has done ?! 
 Nay, are you not in some degree answerable for his 
 error, since, had you been faithful to him, he might 
 not in this case, have mistaken his duty. Again,' 
 many of our fellow-citizens were first committed to 
 this undertaking, by the belief that they were con-| 
 tending for a right. And though this belief were ! 
 erroneous, and the action to which it led unlawful, 
 yet the love of right is one of the highest impulses 
 of a human soul. And let us ever remember that 
 the suffering of injury confers upon us the power of 
 performing the noblest act of virtue, the recom- 
 pensing of evil by good. These are the principles 
 of that religion which we profess, and on which alone 
 we rest our hopes for immortality. The present is 
 a fitting tune to put them into practice. Let every 
 man, then, strive to obliterate from his mind every 
 trace of vindictiveness and every recollection of vic- 
 tory, and cultivate no other sentiments than those of 
 torgivencss and good will, and speciaJlv of respect 
 4 
 
26 
 
 for the feelings of those with whom he has come 
 mto colhsion. Let whatever is painful in the past, 
 be henceforward forgotten, so that we may all re- 
 turn to the relations which existed before these dis- 
 asters commenced. 
 
 I think that every one must perceive that forgive- 
 ness and charity are the tempers of mind which now 
 particularly become us, and that they are among the 
 noblest that ever find a place within a human bosom. 
 If any other can compare with them in nobleness, it 
 is the frank and manly confession of our faults. That 
 there has been wrong somewhere, I think every one 
 of us must believe. After all that we have suffered in 
 the loss of labor, and capital — after all that we have 
 endured in anguish of spirit — we are but too happy 
 in finding ourselves where we might have been a year 
 ago, without a threat of violence, or even a word of 
 unkindness. This gratuitous misery cannot have 
 been innocently inflicted upon this community. Upon 
 a calm review of the past all men will, I doubt not, 
 see cause to confess, that they, or those with whom 
 they have acted, have in some respects erred. Let 
 every one, then, frankly and honestly confess his 
 faults. Who of us is so weak as to claim for himself 
 or for his associates, unerring wisdom or spotless in- 
 tegrity ? Let every one, then, hear with candor the 
 explanations of those who have differed from him- 
 So soon as this is done, I believe that good men of all 
 parties will unite in regretting that a single measure 
 should have been taken to disturb the peace of the 
 people of Rhode-Island. Nothing so firmly estab- 
 
27 
 
 lishes confidence among men, or restores it after it 
 has been impaired, as the frank and manly confes- 
 sion of our errors. Let each one, then, irrespective of 
 party and party alliances, speak out the honest con- 
 victions of his heart, and I am confident that with 
 good men among us, there will remain but few, and 
 those unimportant, points of difference. 
 
 While, however, I say this. I am bound as an honest 
 man to go farther. It is not to be concealed, that an at- 
 tempt has been made to commit a revolting crime a- 
 gainst the peace of this community. The lives and the 
 property of this people have been put in peril. The 
 wealth of this State has been consumed, and its power 
 of accumulation paralized. And yet more, had this 
 insurrection been successful, it must have been at the 
 cost of wholesale pillage and murder. And yet more, 
 abandoned men from other States were invited to 
 perpetrate these crimes upon the people of llhode- 
 Island. Lives there a man with a Rhode-Island 
 heart in his bosom, who can pretend to justify such 
 enormities ? Let every man, then, who is liable to 
 the least imputation of having abetted them, come 
 forward and disavow them. He owes it to himself, 
 to his family, to his country, and his God ; nay, he 
 owes it to the cause of free institutions, which this 
 transaction has grievously scandalized. And if any 
 of our citizens, in a moment of misguided excitement, 
 have aided or participated in this unhallowed cause, 
 I am confident that now, when the time for calm re- 
 flection has arrived, they must look upon the past 
 with sincere regret. Let every such man honestly and 
 
28 
 
 nobly confess his error, nnd unite with his fellow-citi- 
 zens in the support of constitutional law. This is 
 what he would expect from another, and it is what 
 his fellow-citizens may rightfully expect from him. 
 Let him do this, and that man is little to be envied 
 who would not extend to him the warm hand of 
 generous forgiveness and fraternal patriotism. 
 
 But the present occasion calls us to the more than 
 common exercise of charity. We are enduring the 
 evils of unusual commercial and financial embar- 
 rassment. It is not peculiar to this country. It exists 
 throughout the world. For a series of years, owing 
 to an unwise expansion of the currency, prices have 
 been unreasonably high and labor has been abund- 
 antly rewarded. There has followed of necessity a 
 corresponding contraction of the currency, and 
 what is worse, in some parts of our country, a total 
 destruction of the circulating medium. A want of 
 confidence has ensued, and all operations of credit 
 have been sus})cndcd. Business of every kind lan- 
 guishes. The manufacturer, after sustaining himself 
 to the utmost of his power, has been obliged in many 
 cases to close his mill ; and, because he can employ 
 them no longer, to dismiss his workmen. A large 
 portion of the most worthy of our citizens are at this 
 moment out of employment, and no one knows when 
 the change for the better will occur. Now I say 
 that this crisis calls upon us for the exercise of un- 
 i usual and self-denying charity. Let us wisely and 
 with one consent look around us, and see what can 
 be done to relieve the distresses which accm to be 
 
29 
 
 approaching. Can we do nothing to provide em- 
 ployment for those who are from necessity idle ? Are 
 there no pubUc works which might be undertaken, 
 by which the industrious might be furnished with the 
 means of subsistence ? And besides this, should the 
 present embarrassments continue until the winter, 
 there will be an unusual demand upon our individual 
 and public benevolence. Let us meet this demand 
 hke patriots and like Christians. Let us curtail 
 every expense, that we may have the more to give 
 to him that needeth. Let us deny ourselves of our 
 ordinary conveniences, that we may minister to oth- 
 er men's necessities. What we would not surrender at 
 the demand of violence, let us cheerfully offer up upon 
 the altar of charity. All classes must learn to live upon 
 more limited means. The merchant and manufac- 
 turer must be satisfied with lower profits, and the 
 laborer with lower wages ; and thus by frugality and 
 labor and self-denial and benevolence, we shall be 
 enabled to meet this exigency with the least possible 
 suffering. 
 
 In one respect we have great reason for encour- 
 agement. It has pleased God to give us the pro- 
 mise of an abundant harvest. I do not remember 
 a year in which the appearance of the crops of every 
 kind has been so universally flattering. The means 
 of subsistence, therefore, will, we hope, be as great 
 as could be desired. This must, of course, quicken 
 the demand for manufactures, and call labor again 
 into request, while it will render the necessaries of 
 fife cheap, probably, beyond any recent precedent. 
 
30 
 
 How unwise and ungrateful soever we may have 
 been, the goodness of God endureth continually. 
 Let us tlien look to Him with cheering confidence 
 ibr the future. Let us, with kindness to each other 
 and piety to Him, prepare ourselves for whatever 
 He may a])point for us, ever remembering that the 
 severest trials may be alleviated by charity and for- 
 bearance and respect for law ; while the blessings of 
 Cod themselves may be turned into bitterness, by 
 hatred, vindictiveness, disorder and anarchy. 
 
 And lastly, allow me to suggest a single remark 
 In respect to the duty which is about to devolve up- 
 on this community. We are soon to take measures 
 for the formation of a constitution under which wc 
 and our children are hereafter to live. This is a mo- 
 mentous period in our history. Upon our action at 
 this time, the prosperity and happiness of this State 
 for many years, will certainly depend. Suffer me, 
 then, to remind you that the object at which we all 
 should aim, is to establish such a form of government 
 as shall best secure to every man, from the highest to 
 the lowest, the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the 
 pursuit of happiness ; or the right to do whatever 
 he will, provided he interfere with the rights of no 
 other man. But this liberty can only be attained 
 by imposing restraints upon ourselves. The glory 
 of a re})ublican government consists in this, that 
 every thing is subject to law ; that the highest and 
 the lowest, the many and the few, bow down with 
 one accord to her authority. Let all men and all 
 Qlasses of men, from the heart, abjure the love of 
 
s\ 
 
 power, the most contemptible, as well as the most 
 hellish of all the forms of lust ; and each seek with 
 generous patriotism, the good of the whole. And 
 let us all, with pious confidence, beseech the Giver 
 of every good and perfect gift, that He will grant 
 wisdom to those of our fellow-citizens who may meet 
 in the approaching convention, so that by their la- 
 bors, we may live peaceable lives in all godliness 
 and honesty. And I entreat you, my brethren, who 
 have so often during the late difficulties commended 
 this community to the parental care of our Father 
 who is in Heaven, cease not to pray for its future 
 welfare. I cannot but believe that your prayers have, 
 in a most remarkable manner, been answered. Cast 
 not away, therefore, your confidence in God, which 
 hath great recompence of reward. Thus may the 
 Lord bless us and cause His face to shine upon us ; 
 that His way may be known upon earth, His saving 
 health among all nations. 
 

 9?