* • -^j^^mfs^ ^^/' ''■ "/" '^%' ' ' ° ''■/ '■•" V ''■ "'J" .^-^."V • • o ■ a T • o. o • » v^^ "^S- ;♦ V > -.'V^^V'/ O.V -^. V . . Adams. I have the honour to be. Sir, Very respectfully, yours, R. C. WEIGHTMAN, Chairman of the Committer Washingtobt, July 18th, 182S. 1 have received your communication, as Chairman of the Commit- tee, appointed at the late Town meetings in Washington. I thank, Sir, yourself and the Committee, for your condescending regard to the Ser- mon which I delivered at the Capitol, the last Sabbath morning, a copy of which, is wholly at their service. 1 beg of you to tender to the Com- mittee, assurances of my most respectful consideration, and to be per suaded, that, with the highest esteem for your character and talents, I am your obedient servant, WILLIAM STAUGHTOK )firuw^Di o 2 Samuel i. 23. LOVELY AND PLEASANT were they IN THEIR LIVES— IN THEin DEATH THlilf WERK NOT DIVIDED; THET WERE SWIFTER THAN EAGLES, TilEY WERE STRONGER THAN LIONS. Toll the knell— still louder toll it. Convey, ye winds, the funereal sound, from the forests of Maine, (o the Savannahs of Florida; from the Western Ocean to the Eastern. Jefferson and Adams are no more ! No ordinary circumstances have induced us to as- semble in our Capitol this morning. Death may glory in the spoils, which on the fourth of the present month he acquired ; but, there is a political as well as an evangelic import in the triumph. " Death is swallowed up in victory." Twelve millions of our citizens have received, or are receiving, the intelligence that two of the greatest Statesmen, the world ever knew, died both '^ on the same day" and that was the day, on which the trumpet of our Jubilee was sounding. This interesting fact will become incor- porated with the history of our Union and excite the astonishment of future ages. It would seem, by this unparalleled Providence, as if Jehovah were saying to the American, as to the Hebrew nation^ "Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year." To recommend the virtues, and propose the ex- amples, of the illustrious dead, was the constant practice of the ancient Egyptians, of the Greeks, and of the Romans. The primitive fathers of the Christ- ian Church adopted the measure, and it appears, at an early period, to have been in use among the pious Jews. The passage we have read, as the basis of our morning's meditations, is selected from the first formal elegy which the volume of revelation contains. The occasion was exceedingly calamitous. " The Philistines," the hereditary and inexorable enemies of Israel, " fought against" them. " The men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell down slain in Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines follow- ed hard upon Saul and upon his sons ; and the Phi- listines slew Jonathan and Abinadab and Melchi- shua, Saul's sons." Wounded sorely by the ar- chers, Saul requested his araiour- bearer to slay him, but he would not, on which " Saul took a sword and fell upon it." His faithful amour-bearer imitated the melancholy example of his master, for »'* he fell likewise upon his sword and died with him." Oil receiving the intelligence, in a strain of pecu- liar beauty, which no translation can fully convey, David requests that the melancholy disclosure should not be made inGath or Askelon, "lest the daughter!* of the Philistines rejoice; lest the daughters of the uncircuracised triumph.'' He asks that on the de- graded mountains of Gjlboa, no dew nor rain may de- scend; no fields of oiFering may be seen. He directs the daughters of Israel to weep, exclaiming thrice in the course of his short, but beautiful effusion, ^- How are the mighty fallen. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided ; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions." Far different, indeed, was the dissolution of the eminent statesmen, whose loss we. are convened, this day, to improve. They expired on their couches, surrounded with those gentle and solicitous attentions which filial affection and faithful friendship could supply. When the chief magistrate of our country heard of the deep affliction of his beloved parent, he hastened, with all rapidity, that he might, like Joseph in reference to Jacob, pay the last tribute of filial af_ fection — but, he could not command the chariot of the lightning, or the wing of the whirlwind. He arrived too late ; not indeed to receive a father's blessing, for that had been already bequeathed. But if in nothing else the slaughtered heroes of Israel and the deceased patriots of America can be found to correspond, in this they resemble each other » ^ *^ lovely and pleasant were they in their lives, and in their death they were not divided." To impart order to meditations, which the strong feelings excited in our bosoms, are well calculated to interrupt, — Let us exhibit that tenour of conduct which it be- comes all men, and especially such as are moving in the higher circles of life, to maintain. It should b& " lovely and j)leasant." Let us reflect that the most amiable career of hu- man deportment must be succeeded by death. And Let us observe, that somer.mes the dissolution of man is marked with circumstances of unusual interest. " In their death they were not divided." It cannot be concealed that there were some traces in the history of Saul, which were far from being charming or courteous. Of these none could be more sensible than the writer of our text. But who can cease to admire the man, who, after repeated provocation and injury, could speak as David speaks? His wisdom discovered the source of the jealousies of his adversary — his familiarity with the imperfec- tions of the human heart awakened his compassion — and the eminence of his piety forgave them all ; especially when he recollected that the shield of Saul which had been vilely cast away, was the shield of one that had been ^^ anointed with oil." The sweetness of disposition and deportment which our text supposes, is to be obtained only by a constant and careful cultivation of the best affections of the heart. They are finely exemplified in the language of Joseph, who, on seeing the chief butler and the chief baker of Pharaoh, to whose charge they were committed, deeply dejected, generously and humanely asks, "wherefore look ye so sadly to- day ?" The recommendation of Paul, the Apostle, is full of the ideas before us. " Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, what- soever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things which ye have both learned and heard and seen in me, do, and the God of peace shall be with you." The same divine writer offers a prayer on behalf of the Church at Colosse, embracing a rare hut delightful association of duties, " That ye walk worthy of God unto all well pleasing." The loveliness and pleasantness we contemplate, are discoverable in that sense of justice which ren- ders to every man his due ; in that solemn respect for truth which disdains the artifices of duplicity, and in that regard for the character of our neighbour which ever frowns on false representation. They are seen in that temperance which disclaims the ine- 8 briating draught, and in that forgiving passioti, at whose feet, anger and revenge expire. Behold them in that domestic circle where parents and children, and relatives and friends dwell together in unity; where fragrance is found, precious as the ointment of Aaron, and refreshful as the dew that descend- ed upon the mountains of Zion. How amiable the conduct of that master who ever conducts himself towards his domestics with rectitude and kindness. I find in the life of Mr. Jefferson, in the work pub- lished by Mr. Delaplaine, the following passage. — "His oldest servants never saw him angry, or even fretful. He points out their faults in the tone of a father and convinces them of the consequences, with the mildness of a tender preceptor. These facts are derived from a gentleman who received them from the lips of the faithful domestics themselves, wliile their full eyes confirmed the account they were giv- ing of their blesspd mwiter^ for such was the appel- lation their love and gratitude bestowed upon him.'^ ¥rom the best authority, I am well assured, that the same condescending attentions, beautified the life of Mr. Adams. How lovely that charity which de- lights to diminish the mass of human misery, and after the example of the Lord Jesus, to communicate "the oil of joy for mourning, and the garments of praise for tlie spirit of lieaviness.'^ 9 When man is a little elevated above his fellow man, his heart, too frequently, becomes turgid ^ He seems almost to have forgotten that his origin is dust, and his elevation, vapour. But, O. there is an unut- terable charm in that merit, that power, that station, that influence, that nobleness of intellect which re- verences the precept, ^^ mind not high things, but con- descend to men of low estate." I venerate that great- ness, which, while it stands like a towering mountain on the margin of the ocean, finds its chief delight in the idea, that it can serve as a director to the mariner in distress ; that greatness, which, though it shines like the sun, rejoices not in its own splendours, but in the kind influences it communicates How much an unasuming temper governed the lives of our de- ceased friends, let the easy and unceremonious hos- pitality of Quincy and Monticello testify. But to impart to moral excellence its full and real character, we are taught, in the divine word, that *^ the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost," are indispensable. The highest motives to every good word and work are to be de- duced from the history of holy men of God, and es- pecially from the character of the Lord Jesus — 'from the offices which he sustains, and from the example which he has left. Nothing conduces so effectually to wither thp- "} 10 energies and destroy the usefulness of man as habits of vice. When the Israelites siuned against Jeho- vah, '* the hearts of the people melted and became as water" This idea is forcibly exhibited in the writings of Moses. " Upon them that are left alive of you, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies ; and the sound of a sha- ken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword ; and they shall fall when no man pursueth." The history of such unprincipled despots as Herod and !Nero illustrate the fact. On the contrary, virtue produces ah intrepidity beyond what was ever felt by the arm of the warriour. It is this which makes men swiftpr than eagles, strong- er than lions. A heathen could say of a man, righteous and tenacious of honourable purposes, that not the ardour of citizens commanding injustice, not the features of a pressing tyrant, can affect him. Were the world, shattered into pieces, to fall, its fragments would strike him undismayed. The vol- ume of inspiration abounds with examples of this moral courage. Moses led out the oppressed Israel- ites from Egypt, not fearing the vvrath of the King. To the request offered to Nehemiah to secrete him- self from the plots of his adversaries, he replied, " Should such a man as I flee, and who is there that being as I am would go into the temple to save his ii life. I will not go in" ! <^ In the Lord," said David; '^ put I my trust, how say ye to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain." Instead of confirming this sentiment by selections from Ancient History, I will refer you to one circum- stance in our own. A body of wiser and more vir- tuous men were never collected than those which composed our first Congress. They were raised up by Heaven for the especial purpose of emancipating the colonies ; but their panoply was their rectitude. Mailed in this, they could smile at the menaces of indignant royalty — at the stratagems of disappoint^ cd politicians — at the clangour of furious arms — at the prospect of an opening grave. See the Committee, of whom Mr. JhFFEiisoN and Mr. xIdams were prominent members, present to their fellow patriots, the immortal instrument which determined the inde- pendence of these States. On every countenance sit calmness, dignity, decision, courage ; because every bosom is under the sway of moral pre-eminence, liook at the boldness of the signatures, fac-similes of which are spread through our Union and through the world. If in one instance paralysis forbade the dash, that the love of country would have given, it should be remembered that the rock is unshaken, though the aspen tremble on its side. But, there is a power that will shake us all. 1:3 '•The most amiable career of human deportment must be succeeded bv death." We all dwell in taberna- cles of clay, and our foundation is in the dust. " All jlesh is grass and all the goodliness of man is as the flower of the field : the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it," Our present joys and afflictions, together with our occupations and projects, will shortly be termi- nated. The season for imparting blessings to socie- ty, for cautioning by our instructions, and animating by our example, must cease. The intercourse of the purest friendships must be interrupted ; the body must become the victim of corruption, and the spirit ascend to the God who gave it. Where are the pa- triarchs, the statesmen, the philosophers, the poets, the warriours, in whose train myriads have fought, and have fallen? Where the millions on millions, that have preceeded us in the procession of time? The Earth saitli they are in me ! the Sea saith they are in me ! — Our monthly bills of mortality instruct us that we are inhabitants of a dying world, and the diseases to which our systems are incessantly exposed, premon- ish us of their ultimate demolition. The solemn decree of Heaven against offt^nding man, ^^Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return," will suffer fko reverse until "the trumpet shall sound and the 13 dead shall be raised." Yet a little while and the eye shall lose its brilliancy and tl e ear its capacity of welcoming the varieties of sound ; *• the keepers of the house shall tremble and the strong men bow themselves ;'' " because man goeth unto his long home and the mourners go about the streets." Im- mortality on earth is sought in vain. It is, indeed, totally inconsistent Avith the economy of things around us. The wise man and the foolish man, the ciiild and the sire, the weak and the powerful, the timid and the daring, will alike be prostrated by the ar- rows of death. In this sense, we may employ the lan- guage of Solomon, " All things come alike to all : there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked ; to the good and clean, and to the unclean ; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not ; as is the good, so is the sinner, and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.'' Could talents the most splendid, patriotism the most pure, the most sage experience and the most impassioned solicitude for their country's welfare, have presented an obstructive to the advance of death, Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson had not died. In general, men die because of the irruptions of disease, the special visitations of Heaven, the deso- lations of ambition, or the increase of years. Some- times, however, the dissolution of man is marked 14 with circumstances of peculiar interest! In some cases, death approaches with the slowness of vegeta- ble decay; in others, with the suddenness of the lightning's flash. Sometimes dying is as excruciating as suspension on the rack ; sometimes easy as the softest slumbers of infancy. But our text refers more peculiarly to coincidence of period. " In their death, they were not divided.'' The blood of the father and the son, on the same day, and in the same conflict, irrigated the same hapless mountain. Yet correspondencies of this character are by no means uncommon. Disasters may be expected to be mutual, where dangers are so. But, in the circumstances of the decease of Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams, our whole nation discovers a concurrence at which she stands astonished. She weeps, she adores — fain "would she inter|)ret, but she knows not how. She rises, and borrowing her language from the skies, exclaims, ^* Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name.'' Nations have gratified themselves in fixing- on synchronous events. The Macedonians regarded it as something singular and impressive, that Alexan- der the Great should have been born, on the very night that the magnificent temple of Ephesus was 15 burned to the ground. It was the boast of the Gre- cians, thai, according to the testimony of Herodotus, the grand victory of Salamin was achieved, on the same day, on which the tremendous army of the Carthagenians, consisting of 300,000 men, was to- tally defeated by Gelon. The English regard the circumstances as most impressing, that the Spanisli invasion was frustrated in 1588, and that in 1688, the Revolution was eifected, and William ascended the throne ; and, also, that on November the 5th, the gun-powder plot was detected, and on November the 5th, this hero landed on the British shores. One of their divinest bards, referring to these propitious oc- currencies, says — The happy day and happy year Both in one new salvation meet ; The day that qucnch'd the burning snare. The year that burnt th' invading fleet. I could multiply citations of this description, but, they are unnecessary, and the more so, because they are not infrequent. But, 0, what a scene presses on the vision of every American. Here are two great men, not great, indeed, as was Washington on the embattled field ; this was not the element in which the God of nations had destined them to move ; birt great like him, in the council chamber and in the Senate. Here are two great men, profound in learn- ing, powerful in intellect, self-consecrated to their 16 country ; the one the elegant and forceful writer, the other the judicious and invincible defender, of our Charter of Independence. Here are two great men, both elevated to the successive Presidency of these rising States, and both retiring into every thing that is '^ lovely and pleasant" in private life, as the waters of the immense lakes and sublime cataract of the Northern bounds of our country sink into the hum- ble stream of the St. Lawrence. But they die — be astonished O earth ! they die — on the very day that consummated the jubilee of America's freedom ; one at the hour at which the Declaration of Independence was presented to Congress, the other at the hour at which it was announced to the People. Search the histories of the world, from the days of our common progenitor, to the present hour ; in vain will you at- tempt to find so surprising a coincidence. Thanks be to the God of mercy, he suffered not time to bear against and throw down these venerable pillars of the dome of our Republic, until he had provided other columns to supply their absence. Possibly on some minds the fact may excite less interest than on my own, were I to state that on the 4th of July, the t)bservant astronomer saw two of the most beautiful planets in the solar round descend, nearly at the same period, into the western sky. In the departure of these illustrious men^ who dis- 17 covers not the hand of the Lord? They were re- moved, for their work was finished. The obstruc- tions to their most affectionate intercourse had long vanished like the mists of the morning, and their de- cease offers a suggestion to all, who, amid the festivi- ties of our annual celebrations, remember not their re- sponsibilities — ^* Man, in his best estate, is lighter than vanity." May it never be said of any of our citizens, "The harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands." Mr. Jefferson expressed his wish to live until the day of our Jubilee ; his desire was granted him. Mr. Adams, on hearing the voice of cannon, and be- ing informed that it announced the Jubilee of our In- dependence, said, " IT IS A GREAT, A GLORIOUS DAY ;" and spake no more. " Father of Day," cried a heathen sovereign, " thou resplendent Sun, 1 give thee thanks, that before I leave the world, I have been so happy as to see Cornelius Scipio in my dominions, and in my palace. — I have now lived as long as I could desire." With what greater propriety might our de- ceased Statesmen have exclaimed, " Father of Lights, thou giver of every good and perfect gift, we jhave lived to see the Fiftieth year of the Indepeu-' 18 denre of our Union. We leave her in full glory and prosperity — and, as to our country, we ask no more." To attempt a detail of the lives, or a delineation of the character, of these distinguished men, would be to intrude on the circles of the Orator and the Histo- rian. And yet, entire silence on these sul)jects would proliahly disappoint the anticipations of this assembly. Let me then briefly observe, that Mr. Thomas Jef- FE!>soN, who was first on the wave of eternity, was born in Chesterfield county, Va., on the 2d of April, 1743. His family were among the first emigrants to that State. He received his education at the Col- lege of William and Mary; and, on the completion of his classic course, proceeded to the study of the law, under the celebrated civilian, George Wythe. His practice was very successful ; but this is the less sur- prising, as it is said to have been his invariable rule to engage in no cause, of the entire justice of which, after severe examination, he was not wholly sat- isfied. The talents of M r. J effr rson were too promi- nent to be concealed ; he rose like the etherial sun. His country solicited their employment in her favour, and his patriotism promptly presented them. Sa early as the year 1769, he was a respectable meir ber of the Virginia Legislature; in which capacity, his penetrative genius was led to a careful investiga- tion of the principles of Government. In 177^; ht 19 appepred as au author. The elegance of his peri- ods, the boldness of his conceptions, and his zeal for ViS country, commanded universal admiration- Af- ter remonstrating with Lord North, on the mischiefs he was desirous of practising on the Colonies, he says, " What, then, remains to be doneP-^That we com- mit our injuries to the even-handed justice of that Being who doth no wrong 5 earnestly beseeching Him to illuminate the counsels, and prosper the en- deavours, of those to whom America hath confided her hopes." If, as has been said, the conducting of the Revo- lution rested on the counsels of a few, Mr. Jlffbr- soN was one of those few. In 1779? he was elected Governor of the State, successor to the celebrated Patrick Henry. For the " impartial, upright, and attentive" administration of the duties of his office, he received the thanks of his countrymen. In the midst of the commotions of 17^1, his active and powerful mind found leisure to compose his memorable work, the "Notes on Virginia." His reading, observation, and industry, had supplied the elements of such a production, so that it remained for him only to give them shape and beauty. In July, 1784, he sailed for Kurope. In every measure which he pursued in the different Courts there, his eye was constantly fix- ed on the honour and happiness of America. He re- ^0 turned to New York in 1790, which Avas, at that pe* riod, the seat of the Public Government. Here he filled the office of Secretary of State, until the com- mencement of January, 179'i» after which, at his own request, he, for a while, retired to his favourite man- sion in Virginia, enjoying the consolations of domes- tic intercourse, devising plans for the general good, and prosecuting those philosophical studies with which his ample mind was ever entertained. In 1797? lic> was elected Vice-President of the Union, and in ISUl, was elected to the highest Chair of Magistracy, to which his country could conduct him, and from which, in 1S09, he retired. Omitting a thousand circumstances, which future eloquence will record, there is one, which, on a solemnity like the present, we cannot neglect to mention. Mr. Jef- FEKSON was a decided enemy to religious intolerance —a champion for the inviolable rights of conscience. His correct feelings on this subject, revolted at the idea of the incorporation of Religion with Civil Gov- ernment. The practice of ancient heathen affords no argument, in favour of a system which reduces their Mythology to the ground, and lays it low in the dust. Christianity is spiritual. She has sanc- tions infinitely more rational and more effective than any which human establishments can adduce. Her voice is — Render to Caesar, the things that are Cse- Si Sar's, and to God, the things that are God's. Th'e views of this Master-Lei;;tslator cannot be more fully expressed, than in his own words. '^ The attack on the establishment of a dominant religion was first made by myself. It could be carried, at first, only by a suspension of salaries for one year ; by battling it again, at the next session, or another year, and so from year to year, until the public mind was ripen- ed for the bill, for establishing religious freedom, which I had prepared for the Revised Code also. This was at length established permanently, and by the efforts chiefly of Mr. Madison, being myself in Europe, at the time that work was brought forward." The last years of the life of Mr. Jeffkkson were filled with projecting a grand State University, which he hoped might minister blessings to the whole Union. This most promising establishment he had the honour of seeing brought into full operation. At length, on the fourth of July last, on the venerable tree, which had afforded shade and fruit to thousands, descended a gentle breeze of Heaven — its age and weakness needed no more — and it has fallen. Braintree, in Massachusetts, so early as the lyth of October, 1735, gave birth to Mr. Joh-\ Adams. His ancestry is traced to one of the earliest and most respectable families, by which, in the year I6d0, the Colony of Massachusetts Bay was founded. When as his classical education at Cambridge was completed, his attention Was directed to the study of the law. In this, by the purity of his principles, the profound- ness of his information, and the suavity and force of his elocution, he excelled. But his comprehensive mind was not to be restricted with the circle of a court of judicature. lie searched deeply into the principles of the administration of public alfairs — ac- curately compared one system w^ith another, and thus became, in a manner, self-educated for the great ser- vices which Providence had destined him to fulfil. Mr. Adams' mind was constitutionally intrepid. To what conscience dictated as duty, without deviation, he adhered. Of this we have a striking example, in his manly and successful vindication of Capt. Pres- ton, on account of conduct alleged to be sanguinary. He conducted the cause with that wisdom and dis- cretion, which, in a young man of thirty-five, could scarcely have been expected. In i77% he was elect- ed a member of the first Congress. In 177^? bim- self and Mr. Jefferson constituted the sub-committee to prepare that immortal instrument to which we have already referred. The great design of the sep- aratidu of the Colonies from Great Britain, appears to have been projected by himself. Other public agents, at his instance, brought the motion forward, but Mr. Adams was its grand sustainer. He was in 23 Congress, the same as was Washington in the field, the soul that animated every adventure. The like- ness of a statesman is rarely drawn in its full pro- portions, while he is yet living. The artist stands too near the pedestal. Another Jubilee will present Mr. Adams with all that imposing correctness which his immense services in our Revolution demand. Passions more sincerely mingled with the love of country, could find a place in no human bosom. When almost every heart was appalled, he could say, in language almost prophetic, ''Through all the gloom, I can see a ray of light and glory." On the proclamation of peace, he paid successive visits to Europe, vested with power to assist at conferences, to negotiate loans, and in any other way to exercise-. a plenipotentiary capacity for advancing the interests of his beloved country. During the whole period of the Presidency of Washington, Adams was Vice- President ; and, when the Father of our Union re- signed his office, he was, in the year 1790, chosen his successor. At the close of the period of his ad- ministration, he retired to his paternal estate at Quin- cy, where, amid the friendships of the virtuous, the consolations of domestic amiableness, the conscious- ness of the best endeavours to serve his generation, and the high approbation of encircling citizens, he passed his hours in joyous tranquillity. But, it is the SI tlestiuy of iiaiuic to {lecline. He bad lived to see a beloved son raised to a seat of bonour, wbich bini- self bad antecedently occupied, and he asked no more. Tbe venerable tower bad for more than ninety years endured, witb much firmness, the decaying power of time; but the roar of the thunders of our Jubilee were too much for it to resist — it shook — it fell. From a general view of the events we are con- templarmg, let us, this day offer up to tbe Everlasting God, the God of the nations of the whole earth, our loftiest, our most solemn, our most grateful hymns of praise ! Alleluia, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and he shall reign for ever and ever ! Have there been a Periclean age, an Augustan age, the age of tbe Medici, tbe age of Anne and Elizabeth, in which men, profound in science, vigorous in genius, and delicate in taste, have poured forth on society tbe rich streams of their bigli invention ? Have there been periods in which prophets and apostles, emper- ors and reformers, have been raised up for chasing away the ignorance, subduing tbe transgressions, and exciting tbe consolations of man, by tbe pure ex- hibition of the character of tbe Lord Jesus, and of the path to immortality through his sacred name ? There have been seasons, too, in which he has visited bis creatures by training up among them, for the hour at which they were peculiarly wanted, statesmen to il- lustrate their natural rights, and military men to maintain them. Is the land of Egypt to be preserved from the desolations of famine ; mark the providences which elevated Joseph to its regency ! Or, is Egypt to be chastised for her oppressions ; contemplate the mysterious, the admirable process, by which the in- fant boy, from the bulrush-ark, is introduced into the court of Pharoah, made familiar with the wisdom of the only refined nation upon the earth, until at length, *' mighty in words and deeds," he receives his com- mission from the flaming bush to accomplish wonders in the land of Ham, and lead forth Joseph as a flock. Is Palestine to be vanquished ? Jehovah presents his people with Joshua for their general. Is a Goliath to be subdued ? The shepherd boy is la the camp. Is Judah to be rescued from Baby- lonian servitude ? Not only at the appointed moment are conductors, and heroes, and architects, and priests at hand, but Cyrus is raised up and girded, and the first becomes the most illustrious year of his reign. There was a time when America wanted a Washington, an Adams, a Jefferson, a Lafay- ette, a Fkanklin, and others, who like them, were great in council, or great in arms, and thanks be to God, he gave them us at the requisite hour. '' Whose S6 is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the fear of the Lord." The talents of Jeffkkson and Adams are now not imperiously de- manded ; a luxuriant undergrowth has supplied their place, and he who will hereafter fold up the heavens and lay them aside as a garment, when, for the ex- ecution of his sublime purposes, he shall no longer require them ; lias gently said to each of our deceased patriots, '' I have no need of thee." I might expatiate on the advantages which moder- ation in aliment secures, in the extension of life to its remotest limits. I might insist on the unquestion- able superiority of the favoured climate of these United States, as well in the northern as in the mid- dle, I had almost said, and in the southern regions, for producing instances of longevity ; and exemplify these truths, by requesting the world to read the epi- taphs which the faitliful marble, that shall rise over the graves of these our departed Presidents, must confirm. But passing by such ideas, let me press on your minds a consideration of the most encouraging character. Manifestations of the kindness of the Lord, in trials that are past, should inspire our confidence in his Holy Name, that he will make " bare his arm," in our favour in difficulties that yet may approach. Our states are. happy among themselves, and, I trust, this 27 happiness will be coeval with the harmony of the spheres. But it were folly to throw the idea into shade, that the powers of Ihe earth have in relation to us their jealousies and their aversions. Our po- litical institutions^ free, wise and honourable, are at entire variance with theirs. Their 'people are be- ginning to see, but like the heath in the desert, they see not when good cometh. What combinations they may form, what navies they may associate, what armies they may transport, we know not ; and if our trust be in the living God, who made heaven and earth, in the spirit of humility, we may subjoin, we care not. For, " if God be for us, who can be against us?" It was tiie habit of the holy prophets of Israel to encourage the people by calling up to their recollection what God had already wrought. Take, for example, the language of Isaiah ; " awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the Lord ; awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab and wounded the dragon ? Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep, that hath made the depths of the sea, a way for the ransomed to pass over ? Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion !" Let our nation lay her hand on the altar, and implore celestial assistance, and she may confidently believe that God »8 will provide some future Washington, some future Adams, some future Jefferson, who will lead her sons to victory, and by their wisdom, spread peace, like a river, through all her regions. If, on the face of the earth, there exist a people Under peculiar obligations to obey the precepts of Heaven, we are that people. His goodness should lead us to repentance for our offences, and ever in- fluence us to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with him. Let temples every where rise in honour of his name, and let them be crouded with grateful, adoring, and holy worshippers. It is an instructive truth, asserted by the judicious Rollin, and attested by the whole history of our species, that nations have risen into a state of grandeur, or de- scended into ruin and infamy, in proportion as they have been governed by, or have neglected, mora,! principle. It is righteousness that exalteth a nation. It is righteousness, which so finely harmonizes with the equality of a Republick ; which suppresses the rising of animosity, by instructing us that what- soever we would that men sliould do unto us, we also do unto them ; it is this which spreads content- ment through all the walks of life. It is this which inspires the merchant, the mechanick, the agricul- turalist and the man of science, to prosecute his course w^ith success and honour. What sound more S9 charming to the ear than the voice of the individual, high in the service of his country, who can stand and in presence of his fellow citizens exclaim, as did the patriarch, " I put on righteousness and it clothed me. My judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and the cause which I knew not, I searched out : and I brake the jaws of tlie wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth." But if we sin against Heaven, and in His sight, the sa- gacity and moral worth of no statesmen can deliver us. The vessel of our commonwealth will be found in an eddy too powerful to escape the tremendous vortex. Our eagle, divested of its pinions, will drop to the earth. The folly of Rehoboam was the im- mediate cause of that disruption between Israel and Judah, which, like a deadly wound, refused to be healed ; but the real excitement is to be traced to the vices of his father, during the latter periods of his reign, and to the immoral condition of the people. Does Babylon put on the garments of pride, of in- humanity and of impiety ; a prophet is directed to say, " Babylon the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God over- threw Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be in- habited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation — wild beasts of the desert shall lie 30 there, and their houses shall be full of doleful crea. tures — her time is near to come and her days shall not be prolonged.'^ Did Tyre abandon herself to avarice, voluptuousness and oppression ; is her sov- reign heard crying, '^ I am a God, 1 sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas ?" Jehovah says, " I am against thee, 0, Tyre ! 1 will cause many nations to come up against thee as the sea causeth his waves to come up. I will send a fire on thy wall that shall devour thy palaces. Thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall. Thou never shalt be any more.'' What procured the desolation ■of Jerusalem ? In the expostulation of the Saviour, we have an answer, ^' O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her brood Under wings — and ye would not — Behold your house is left unto you desolate.'' Rome, once the mistress of nations, while practising the sterner virtues, was in- vincible ; but she fell beneath the pressure of her inordinate self- valuation, her ambition and her luxu- ry. The Divine Majesty may bear, as he has borne, with offending nations. He may say, " the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full :'' but as assuredly as his throne is immutable — as that throne is established in righteousness, persevering transgression will be 31 succeeded by ultimate overthrow. I rank our mis- sionary Institutions, our Bible Societies, and our Sun- day Schools among the bulwarks of brass which pro- mise our safety. One of the Captains of Charles V requested the favour of a discharge from public service. The Emperor demanded the reason. The thoughtful of- ficer replied, " There ought to be a pause between the tumult of life and the day of death." It is said this circumstance had a powerful effect in inducing Charles to abandon his throne, and retire to a con- vent. That pause, we entreat you, at least, this sa- cred Sabbath, to make. The decease of our venera- ble and beloved frieuds addresses us in tones the most solemn. " We must needs die, and are as wa- ter spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up. again, neither dotli God respect any person '' " Sure- ly every man walketh in a vain shew, surely they are disquieted in vain.'' " Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be ac- counted of." *^ All nations before him are as noth- ing, and they are accounted to him, less than nothing, and vanity." We have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God. In the language of Job, we may say, " Drought and heat consume the snow wa- ters, so doth the grave, those that have sinned." Protracted age is no security against the invasions of 32 I death. Adam, the common parent of us all, lived 1)30 years, and yet—he died. Who of us can hope to ' surmount his ninetieth, his eightieth year? Existence ' so far prolonged, is the privilege of few— very few. On the bridge of human life-to use an allusion of f 1 Mr. Addison's elegant Vision of Mirza— on the ' bridge of human life, which we are now crossing, are innumerable trap-doors that lie concealed, through ^\ which the passengers drop into the tide below, and disappear. No one in this assembly is warranted to use the language of David to Jonathan—" Truly, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death." There may be ma- ny steps, there may be but one : but since each step is the step of jeopardy, how much is it the wisdom and duty of every man, to be well prepared for the final plunge? While on earth we are permitted to continue, let us have our eye continually fixed on the duties of our respective stations ; whether the niche allotted us in the temple of society, be depressed or exalted. 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