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 AN 
 COMMEMORATIVE OF 
 
 AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE; 
 
 DELIVERED JULY 5, 1824, 
 
 IN THE BOWEEY CHURCH, 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 J^lrfnitui 
 
 CITY OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 BY MOOJPER'CUMMIJVG^ JD. U). 
 
 PASTOR OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN VANDEWATER-ST. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OP THE DELEGATES COMPOSING THE 
 firemen's COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 NEW-YORK: "■* . \ 
 
 PRINTED BY E. CONRAD, 
 
 NO. 4, FRANKFORT-STREET, 
 AND SOLD BY THE PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLERS IN THIS CITY. 
 
 0::;/=' COPY-RIGHT secured. 
 1824. 
 

 ,^ 
 
Firemen's Hall, July 7, 1824. 
 
 At a meeting of the Delegates composing the Firemen's 
 Committee of Arrangements, for celebrating the 48th Anni- 
 versary of American Independence — it was unanimously 
 " Resolved, That the thanks of the Fire Department be 
 " presented to the Rev. Dr. Hooper Gumming, for the very 
 " able and eloquent Oration delivered by him, before the 
 " Firemen of the city of New- York, in the Bowery Church, 
 «* on the 5th inst. and that a copy of the same be respectfully 
 " requested for publication." 
 
 Extract from the Minutes, ^ . 
 
 NIEL GRAY, Secretlpy.' 
 
 Lispenard-street, July 8, 1824. 
 
 NIEL GRAY, Esq. Secretary of the Delegates composing 
 the Firemen's Committee of Arrangements, for celebrat- 
 ing the 48th Anniversary of American Independence : 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I feel under obligations to the " Fire Department," 
 for the complimentary style of their Communication through 
 you. Enclosed you have the Oration. Although prepared 
 in great haste, and amidst a variety of pressing avocations, it 
 is committed to the same candour with which it was received, 
 by the most important and respectable Association in our City. 
 
 With the highest consideration, 
 
 Your Obedient Servant, 
 
 HOOPER GUMMING. 
 
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 « 
 
 Auspicious Morn ! which witnessed the noblest 
 declaration that ever issued from the hps of patriotism. 
 Auspicious morn ! which gilded the manlj brows, and 
 dilated the benevolent bosoms, and strung the sturdy 
 nerves of Jefferson, and Adams, and Franklin, and 
 Sherman, and Livingston. Auspicious morn ! which 
 heard three millions of freemen exclaim, " The sword 
 of the Lord and of Washington." Oh ! it is good to 
 be here. I congratulate you. I rejoice with you. I 
 can without misgivings, call you brethren. 
 
 The day that commemorates the birth of a nation, is 
 altogether interesting. The philanthropist regards it 
 with infinitely grateful emotions : the patriot's bosom 
 expands with joy : the christian's heart ascends to hea- 
 ven, amid the incense of ten thousand praises. 
 
 In tracing the causes which originated the formation 
 of a people into a systematick government, and exalted 
 them to the dignity of a great republick, contempla- 
 tions are awakened of paramount importance. Here, 
 
we behold the developeraent of principles which will 
 influence the welfare of unborn millions, which will 
 have a lasting and decisive operation upon all the di- 
 versified relations of man, and for ages will improve or 
 debase his moral character. 
 
 On the present joyous occasion, it were needless for- 
 mally to recapitulate the great events which establish- 
 ed our independence, and gave us an exalted station 
 amongst the governments of the earth. You have 
 from your infancy delighted to dwell upon their history. 
 You have often listened to the war-worn veteran, who 
 in tears of grateful memory, recounted the alternate 
 triumphs and defeats of those memorable times which 
 tested, with severe scrutiny, the sincerity of patriotism. 
 You heard him with exultation. Every incident was 
 cherished by you : for it was the story oi^ your birth- 
 right. " Here," would he say, " our little army of 
 heroes advanced ! The proud legions of oppression 
 before us ! All that sensibility made dear, to urge us — 
 the altars of our devotion — the fire-side of our children 
 — the sepulchres of our fathers, had been invaded 
 and insulted by unprincipled bands of foreign soldiery. 
 In front of these sacred pledges, we planted our stand- 
 ard. Our motto was short and simple : but it was 
 full of energy. It was the motto of our hearts : and 
 Liberty or Death, waved in sight of our foemen, — 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 They felt its meaning. They learned with fearful con- 
 viction the appalling lesson, that the shrine of Liberty 
 was defended by a courage, that was nurtured by 
 principle, and sustained by conscience. We taught 
 them, that the thunders of their cannon, and " all the 
 dread pomp and circumstance of war," sent no terrours 
 to the heart of an honest soldier. He fouo^ht not for 
 the blood-stained laurel. The mercenary rewards of 
 the hireling imparted no vigour to his bravery. It was 
 home, and wife, and children, and country, that nerved 
 his arm. It was liberty of thought and action — the 
 noble privilege of governing ourselves, for which we 
 contended. The struggle was long and arduous : but 
 it was successful. Yes ! honoured be the memory of 
 that band of worthies ! This day with all its blessino-s : 
 the enjoyments arising from a well-organized s^overn- 
 ment : the inestimable rights of conscience : the certain 
 results of industry and enterprize — secured by the ad- 
 ministration of our own laws, challeno^e our warmest 
 gratitude, and will forever embalm, with the richest 
 praises, the* names of those who bled for their country.'' 
 
 You have heard all this ! and your pulse beat in uni- 
 son with every throb and fibre of his heart. But, 
 when he pointed you to the Plero of his story: when, 
 with the native eloquence of a soul that disdained the 
 arts and ornaments of fancy, he presented to you the 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 name of Washington, and all his virtues, how did his 
 relation brighten in interest, and your attention fasten 
 with eager enthusiasm on all the proud recollections 
 which that name awakened. 
 
 In traversing; the woods and wilds of America, our 
 
 I 
 
 great Captain studied the severe and wholesome les- 
 sons which dangers and privations furnish. Here, he 
 
 learned the rudiments of his future orreatness. Hard- 
 
 I . ^ , 
 
 ships, adversities, vicissitudes, the perils of savage war- 
 fare had chastened and poised his mighty mind. Its 
 powers had been tasked. He had tried, and he knew 
 their strength. When our liberties were endangered — 
 when the ambitious ministry of Britain threatened to 
 extinguish the last spark of freedom, and forever colo- 
 nize our privileges — when our Fathers rose, and in the 
 strength of the God of battles, fixed their purpose with 
 unalterable firmness — when they determined that the 
 chain should be broken, and the oppressor over- 
 thrown Where, where was then the master spirit 
 
 that could "ride on the whirlwind and 'direct the 
 storm " — the master spirit that could lead on, and con- 
 summate this glorious resolve — the master spirit that 
 could animate the friends and intimidate and annihilate 
 the foes of freedom ? 
 
 Washington appeared ! He had been tutored and 
 ripened by the good Providence of God, for the very 
 
( 7 ) 
 object which now summoned him at the head of our ar- 
 mies. He saw with a prophetick vision, what Ameri- 
 ca might become, if her sons were virtuous, resolute, 
 brave, and persevering. And with an enthusiasm reg- 
 ulated by singular prudence, he directed all the ener- 
 gies of his enlightened and capacious mind, through a 
 long career of action, to attain the golden prize which 
 futurity held in prospect for his country. 
 
 There is an era in the history of our struggles, which 
 will never lose its interest, while memory retains her 
 power, or integrity her influence. Our finances were em- 
 barrassed. The sources of revenue which our scatter- 
 ed settlements, and our restricted and hazardous com- 
 merce yielded, were inadequate to meet the increasing 
 claims which beset an already exhausted treasury. 
 Our troops were deprived of their hard earned wages. 
 The spirit of revolt and disaflfection spread itself through- 
 out certain sections of the army. Discord raised her 
 pestilential crest, and there were not wanting talent and 
 influence to welcome her approach — to fan the flame 
 that had been kindled around the altar of freedom, and 
 was fast making its wasteful way to her very pillars. 
 Washington, the idol of the soldier — whose sword was 
 law — whose sentiments were sacred — whose persua- 
 sion was resistless — stood then the sentinel of our hopes. 
 But Liberty did not tremble. Had he who passed the 
 Rubicon been there, our history might have been the 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 tlegraded story of wrongs and bondage. But, the Fa- 
 ther of his country never paused. To tamper was to 
 imbibe contagion : to breathe in the air of mutiny, 
 was to inhale its poison. With a righteous indignation 
 of spirit, he rebuked the foul fiend who had dared to 
 whisper infidehty. He calmed the passions which in- 
 sidious arts had ruffled to mislead. He opened to view 
 the devouring gulph which was eager to destroy in its 
 vortex, all that seven long years of toil and suffering 
 had secured. The demon fled from our ranks. Or- 
 der returned. Our honest but misguided defenders 
 saw their danger, and shrunk with horrour from the 
 imagination of its consequences. And we live, my coun- 
 trymen, to admire his unconquered virtues, and to re- 
 joice this happy day, that under heaven, Washington 
 presided o'er our fortunes. 
 
 Long may his name live in the best affections of a people, 
 to whose happiness, his first and last days were consecrated. 
 May his counsels be engraven on the posts of our doors: and 
 may every heart emulate his worth ! Let mausolea tise in 
 every city, town, and village to his honour. And let New- 
 York, first in wealth, commercial enterprise, prospective 
 prosperity, intelligence and patriotism, in her park, or some 
 other appropriate square, erect a monumental statue of 
 such dimensions and such materials, that combining beauty 
 with stability, " longum perduret in oevum." 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 Conqueror of time, he has triumphed over mortality : Le- 
 gate of heaven, he has returned with the tidings of his mis- 
 sion : Father of his people, he has ascended to repose in the 
 bosom of the father of the spirits of all flesh. Solemn, "as 
 it were a pause in nature," was his transit to eternity; 
 thronged by the shades of heroes, his approach to the con- 
 fines of bliss ; pteaned by the song of angels, his journey 
 beyond the stars. 
 
 Born to direct the destiny of empires, his character was 
 as majestick, as the events to which it was attached, were 
 illustrious. In the delineation of its features, the vivid pen- 
 cil of genius cannot brighten a trait, nor the blighting breath 
 of calumny obscure. His principles were the result of 
 organic philosophy; his success of moral justice. His in- 
 tegrity assumed the port of command; his intelligence, the 
 aspect of inspiration- 
 Glory, to many impregnable, he obtained without ambi- 
 tion; popularity to all inconstant, he enjoyed without 
 jealousy. The one was his, from admiration: the other, 
 from gratitude. The former embellished, but could not re- 
 ward ; the latter followed, but could never lead him. The 
 robust vigour of his virtue, like the undazzled eye of the 
 eagle, was inaccessible to human weakness : and the unas- 
 piring temperament of his passions, like the regenerat- 
 ed ashes of the phenitx, gave new life to the greatness it 
 
 2 
 
( 10 ) 
 
 ^ could not extinguish. In the imperial dignity of his person. 
 was exhibited the august stature of his mind : 
 
 " See what a grace was seated on his brow, 
 An eye like Mars, the front of Jove himself, 
 A combination, and a form indeed, 
 Where every God did seem to set his seal. 
 To give the world assurance of a man !" 
 
 When his country became free, he was no longer a 
 General. Sublime spectacle ! more elevating to the pride 
 of virtue, than the sovereignty of the globe united to the 
 sceptre of ages ! Enthroned in the hearts of his country- 
 men, the gorgeous pageantry of prerogative was unworthy 
 4.he majesty of his dominion. That effulgence of military 
 character, which, in ancient states, has blasted the rights of 
 the people, whose renown it had brightened, was not here 
 permitted, by the hero, from whom it emanated, to shine 
 with so destructive a lustre. Its beams, though intensely 
 resplendent, did not wither the young blossoms of our inde- 
 pendence; and liberty like the burning bush, flourished, 
 unconsumed by the glory which surrounded it. 
 
 Fellow citizens ! I have dwelt the longer on his character, 
 because I have been taught from my cradle to revere him, 
 and the maturity of reflection, and the authenticity of his- 
 tory, and the soberness of realities, have confirmed and ren- 
 dered indelible the first impressions. 
 
( 11 ) 
 
 Yes! and I revere also, the character of his distinguished, 
 gallant, and disinterested coadjutor, whom we hope shortly 
 to welcome to our shores. I would rather shake hands 
 with La Fayette, than with any man on earth. He was 
 my father's fellow soldier and my father's friend : they stood 
 and fought side by side, at Brandywine, and Germantown, 
 at Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth, Yorktown. The only 
 surviving General officer of our revolutionary army, he de- 
 serves to be hailed among us, in the patriotick, emphatick, 
 and elegant language of our worthy Recorder, as " the guest 
 of the nation." And he will be so received. New- York will 
 not be outdone by any city in the union. Every vault and 
 every arch will echo and re-echo with his praises. Every 
 sanctuary will send up petitions for the protraction of his 
 useful life, and the happiness of his soul. Every domicile, 
 great or humble, will be ready to welcome his entrance, and 
 esteem itself most highly honoured. Every infant will be 
 taught to pronounce his name. Every patriot will delight 
 to do him homage. And it will be seen to the confusion of 
 the haughty Bourbons, and the deep mortification of every 
 branch and fibre of the unholy alliance, that Republicans 
 
 are grateful. 
 
 « 
 
 We hope, that he means to spend among us, all his re- 
 maining days. And when he shall descend into the sepul- 
 chre, the sighs of cotemporary gratitude'will attend the sub- 
 lime spirit to its paternal abode ; and the prayers of eman- 
 
( IS ) 
 
 cipated posterity will ascend in glowing remembrance of 
 their illustrious benefactor ! " The laurels, that droop, as 
 they shadow his tomb, with monumental glory, will be cul- 
 tivated by the tears of ages; and embalmed in the heart of 
 an admiring world, the temple erected to his memory, will 
 be more glorious than the pyramids, and as eternal as his 
 own imperishable virtues." 
 
 I cannot without injustice to my own feelings, as a man, 
 as a christian, as the warm friend of my country, pass on- 
 ward, without some notice, of another distinguished, and I 
 may add, with pecuhar emphasis, devoted patriot. He is 
 poor, but without spot. If in the councils of the nation, he 
 ever erred, it was unintentionally. When our country was 
 bleeding at every pore — its funds exhausted — its bravest 
 spirits desponding, he introduced into the Commissaries de- 
 partment, a system of economy, which saved us. Well 
 might he exclaim " hundreds and thousands have passed 
 through these hands, but not a cent has ever stuck to them. 
 My labours have ministered to my necessities." I speak 
 not as a politician, but as a philanthropist — not as a federal- 
 ist, nor a democrat, but as an American : not as the partizan 
 •of the secretary of the treasury, or the secretary of state, or 
 the secretary at war, or the speaker of the house of repre- 
 sentatives, or even the hero of Orleans. I am for them all. 
 Let the people select. And they will select. And no dan- 
 ger will follow, let their choice fail, on whomsoever it may. 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 Their intelligence will keep the president, always on the 
 alert, and in the path of duty. No despotism will sap the 
 foundation of their liberties. No war will be declared with- 
 out their consent. Their purse will not be picked. The 
 march of internal improvements will not be arrested. 
 Thank God! Jam a freeman, and therefore can speak boldly. 
 Myself, grossly traduced, I will advocate the innocent. 
 My life on it, no man deserves better of his country — my 
 life on it, no man will receive a warmer embrace from La 
 Fayette, than the venerable Timothy Pickering. 
 
 Assembled to celebrate this eventful epoch in American 
 history, we should by no means withhold our humble tribute 
 of gratitude and praise to the gracious author of all our mer- 
 cies. His providence guided our arms. When amidst 
 difficulties and dangers, a superior foe — superior in numbers 
 and the munitions of war : but not superior in courage and 
 devoted patriotism, threatened desolation to our cities and 
 villages : when our reduced, and retreating, and discouraged 
 forces almost despaired — In that dark hour, when the heart 
 of the virtuous patriot sunk within him, and in agony trem- 
 bled o'er his hopes — He who rules in the armies of heaven 
 was on our side. He encouraged the desponding warriour* 
 He infused new wisdom into our cabinet. He overruled the 
 , «vents of the appalling crisis. He blessed us with victory, 
 and peace, and freedom. 
 
t 1* ) 
 
 And eveiy returning year of our national existence 
 through each section of tliis vast continent, furnishes abund- 
 ant causes for gratitude and joy. Loudly as foreign pohti- 
 cians may have declaimed against a republican govern- 
 ment; forcibly as they may have endeavoured to pourtray 
 the weakness and the anarchy which will flow from its 
 forms: j'et, for forty-eight years, has it withstood the shocks 
 of time : and at this favoured hour, it presents in all its di- 
 versified operations, the spectacle of a free, a prosperous, 
 and an united people. Whilst the governments of the old 
 world have been shaken, and crushed, and overturned, 
 America, republican America, stands firm like the rock by 
 yonder ocean : and the collisions which have agitated its 
 citizens, have been only the convulsions of the waters that 
 died harmless at its base. It is now more firmly secure 
 than ever, by the safest of all palladiums — tJie hearts of the 
 ■people. This is a bulwark, my countrymen, which power 
 cannot claim : which the wealth of worlds cannot purchase. 
 America owns it. Survey the interesting scene. Fruitful 
 fields! Powerful cities ! Flourishing villages! Domestic 
 tranquility ! Universal harmony ! Friend can now meet 
 friend, without a bitter feeling. The prejudice of the heart 
 is removed. The jaundice of the eye is cured. No ban of 
 proscription now excludes from the social circle. No invi- 
 dious line of demarkation is run along through the relations 
 of society, which, with a strange magick hand, had the 
 awful power to divide the strongest cords of nature, to 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 poison the very milk of human kindness, and array a 
 brother in arms. My countrymen! my countrymen ! let us 
 here dig the grave, and bury forever in its bosom, all divi- 
 sions and animosities, which have only weakened our 
 government and distressed ourselves. 
 
 Distinguished by such inestimable blessings as those 
 which signalise our lot, our duties become solemnly res- 
 ponsible. Obligations reach every individual, however 
 humble his station, or limited his influence. The legacy 
 which our fathers secured by their labours and fortitude, 
 and sealed with their blood, is now confided to the care of 
 us their children. We rule ourselves. This is the essence 
 of republican government, and the plainest man among 
 you perceives in the very statement, that the rulers must 
 be virtuous, or the laws can neither be just nor good. Vice 
 is the reproach of any people : but it is the certain ruin of 
 a free people. Oh, my countrymen ! improve your privi- 
 leges ! They exalt you to the heavens ! 1 conjure you, be- 
 ware that they come not down in wrath ! Let each mem- 
 ber of this great family feel, that in a sense, and in a strong 
 sense too, the welfare of the whole is entrusted to himself. 
 The tenant of the humblest cottage can be useful. In the 
 steady pursuit of industrious habits — in repressing within 
 his sphere the inroads of vice — in adorning his lowly shed 
 with piety and virtue, he may, and often does exert an in- 
 fluence far, far more happy in itself, more honourable to 
 
( 16 ) 
 
 God, and more salutary to man, than the proud sons of 
 power ever could attain. Let the merchant, the husband- 
 man, the mechanic, the manufacturer, the bone of all our 
 strength, the true source of national prosperity, be urged 
 by the consideration of their vast importance, to active 
 perseverance in the cultivation of the arts of peace. Your 
 country's best hopes rest on you. When your hand slack- 
 ens, her vigour sleeps. If a single wanderer from among 
 your industrious ranks strays into the waj'ward paths of dis- 
 sipation and indolence, one pillar of her pride is gone. — 
 And for your encouragement, never forget, that true honour 
 is substantial, and that honest industry receives her praise. 
 In the estimation of human mei-it, he deserves most, who 
 fulfils the duties of his station with most fidelity : and no 
 matter where that station may be, on the scale of an use- 
 ful gradation, " Act well your part -, there all the honour 
 lies." Whilst you continue virtuous and faithful, nothing 
 will disturb our security. Time will only strengthen the 
 foundations of government. All the venom of the unholy 
 alliance cannot poison us. All the power of legitimacy, 
 falsely so called, (for there is no legitimacy but that which 
 originates in the people,) all the power of self-styled legiti- 
 macy cannot crush us. America, still republican, still 
 intelligent, still united, will be the land of the brave, and 
 the home of the free. But if that melancholy day should 
 ever arrive, when the busy hum of your manufacturing 
 establishments shall cease ; when the cheering sounds of 
 
( 17 ) 
 the anvil and the sledge, the hammer and the nail, the distafif 
 and the wheel, the shuttle and the loom, the axe, the hoe, and 
 the plough, shall be heard no more, then farewell liberty ! 
 for her strength and her nutriment will have fled forever. 
 
 May I be permitted to add, without incurring the charge 
 of too much gallantry, that to Columbia's fair daughters- 
 much of publick usefulness and honour is fairly to be traced. 
 The wise and good of all generations have regarded the 
 tender sex as the last refuge of virtue. Where woman is 
 degraded, man is a savage. The first gleam of light that 
 pervaded the darkness of the middle ages, was announced 
 by the homage paid to female worth : and as civilization 
 lias advanced, it has always been more highly appreciated. 
 At the fireside of female watchfulness, many a blessing to 
 these United States is fostered. If that love of truth and 
 righteousness — that ardent benevolence and expansive sym- 
 pathy, from which alone, the cause of humanity can hope 
 for support, are to be found on earth, in purity and sim- 
 plicity, it is in the bosom of the amiable, accomplished, 
 and intelligent female. Retiring and unobtrusive, her in- 
 fluence, in point of numbers, is not perhaps extensive : 
 but within the sphere of its operation, it is powerful, and 
 it is decisive. To her it belongs to unfold the powers of 
 the infantile mind — to instill the earliest precepts of virtue — 
 to impress the earliest feelings of humanity — to form at 
 once the understanding, the imagination, and the heart> 
 
 3 
 
( 18 > 
 
 Around the doniestick board and altar are inculcated the 
 first great principles which give impetus to the future cha- 
 racter. Here are elicited the first scintillations of those 
 luminaries of science, which shoot their rays into the re- 
 motest time. And here too, man finds a solace for his cares, 
 and a resting place for his wearied bosom. 
 
 " Domestick happiness ! thou only blis» 
 Of Paradise, that has survived the fall ! 
 Thou art the nurse of virtue ! In thine arms, 
 She smiles, appearing as in truth she is, 
 Heaven-born, and destined to the skies again!" 
 
 When 1 behold a pious mother inculcating on the sacred 
 pledges of her affection, the lessons of wisdom and virtue ; 
 directing the new born ideas of her children ; and fixing 
 upon the pliant mind the impress of truth ; tempering he- 
 roick fortitude with the gentleness of compassion, and manly 
 vigour of intellect with the tenderest affections of the heart, 
 I rejoice in this happy spectacle as the best safeguard of 
 my country's prosperity. 
 
 Firemen of the city of New- York ! It is an honour to 
 address you. You are, without a solitary exception, the 
 most useful and important class of our citizens ! our wives 
 and children, our property, ourselves, our insurance com- 
 panies, our banking institutions, and all our commercial 
 interests in all their bearings and relations, depend, under 
 
( 49 ) 
 
 God, on you for protection and preservation. You are be- 
 nevolent. The widow's furrowed brow is smoothed, and 
 the orphan's tears are wiped away by the hand of your be- 
 neficence. You cultivate among yourselves the spirit of 
 brotherly love. Always act in harmony. And every man 
 in this community, whose opinion is worth regarding, will 
 view you, and treat you as possessed of the highest res 
 pectability. You are exempted, it is true, in consequence 
 of yoiu- signal usefulness in other respects, from sitting on 
 a jury, and from enrolling yourselves on the catalogue of 
 the militia. Yet, by your personal influence, you may pro- 
 tect the purity of the laws. And I doubt not, for a mo- 
 ment, should a hostile invader pollute our soil, you would 
 cast away your privilege, fall into the ranks and spill your 
 blood. Yes ! and I will add, without arrogance or osten- 
 tation, that I am ready with a bible in one hand, and a 
 sword in other, to be your chaplain. A Bible ! yes, my 
 countrymen ! I can recommend nothing to be compared 
 with it. Its influence will be as lasting as time. Genera- 
 tions yet unknown, shall feel and venerate its power in all 
 the freshness of youthful vigour. Opposition to its free 
 course only sends deeper and deeper its expansive and out- 
 stretching roots, until they will grasp the globe we inhabit ; 
 and when it reels, this beauteous fabrick of things will fall 
 avith it, into the peaceful bosom of eternity. 
 
,-.( go ) 
 
 The Almighty has decreed it : and more rational would 
 be the sickly efforts of infatuated man to rule the boisterous 
 ocean, lashed by impending storms, than to resist the im- 
 mortal reign of his truth. Deism and Socinianism have 
 already done their utmost. Hume has pierced the sacred 
 word by the malignant exercise of a genius, acute in 
 thought, and pointed in reasoning. Gibbon, with insidi- 
 ous art, has levelled his keenest satire at its peculiarities. 
 Voltaire and Paine, Bolingbroke and Shaftsbury, have at 
 successive periods exhausted their venom, in lampooning 
 the oracles of our faith. Yet, like its author, the Bible has 
 never tasted of corruption, but has burst the bands of op- 
 pression, and arisen with new splendour from its attempted 
 humiliation. Like some huge, towering rock of the ocean, 
 the waves of opposition have for centuries broke against it, 
 but it still remains a friendly beacon to the wary, and a 
 well-known land mark in his voyage to an eternal haven. 
 But who is Hume ? And who is the baptized infidel, Uni- 
 tarian, improperly so denominated, of modern days ? Can 
 he compare with Newton ? Newton, who made the devi- 
 ous Comet his post-horse, and travelled through its excen- 
 trie orbit up to nature's God. Can sophistry outweigh the 
 testimony of him who heard the morning stars shout the 
 praises of the hand that arrayed them ? Can he compare 
 with Locke, with Bacon, who abandoning the delusions of 
 metaphysicks, investigated man as they found him ; and 
 through the wonderful combination of his mysterious facul- 
 
( SI ) 
 
 ties, traced out the mechanism of an all-wise hand ? Can 
 Hume, or Priestley, or a host of talents equally splendid, 
 overcome the pointed evidence of experience : experience, 
 which exhibits to us, the pillow of dealh, bereft of its thorns, 
 the freezing horrours of the grave, and the awful uncertain- 
 ties of an untried hereafter, met with composure — nay, em- 
 braced with ecstacy? 
 
 The Bible has withstood not only the iron tooth of time, 
 but all the physical and all the intellectual strength of man. 
 It has been assailed by weapons which would have de- 
 stroyed any other book : and yet it survives. The arsenals 
 of learning have been employed to arm her for the contest : 
 and in search of means to prosecute it with success, recourse 
 has been had, not only to remote ages, and distant lands, 
 but even to the bowels of the earth, and the region of the 
 stars. It has been ridiculed more bitterly, misrepresented 
 more grossly, opposed more rancorously, and burnt more 
 frequently than any other book, and perhaps, than all other 
 books combined : yet, it is so far from sinking under the 
 efforts of its foes, that the probability, nay, the certainty of 
 its surviving, until the final consummation of all things, is 
 now established. The rain has descended: The floods 
 have poured forth : The storm has beat upon it : but it falls 
 not; for it is founded on a rock. Like the burning bush, it 
 has ever been in the flames — yet, it is still unconsumed : a 
 
( 2S ) 
 
 proof, strong as its own holy writ, that he who dwelt in the 
 bush, the great God our Saviour, preserves the Bible. 
 
 Press it then closely, and yet more warmly to your hearts. 
 It will deliver you from the fury of the devouring element 
 which is eternal, after you have preserved others from that 
 which is temporal. 
 
 Permit me to add, that [ mourn sincerely with you, over 
 the recent loss which you have sustained, by the death of 
 one of your most amiable and worthy associates.* You are 
 called to-day to sing of judgment as well as mercy. We 
 sympathize with the afflicted widow. Our hearts bleed for 
 the orphan children. And oh ! is it inappropriate in a mi- 
 nister of Jesus Christ, affectionately to exhort you, to be 
 admonished by this premature and sudden departure, to 
 keep your lamps trimmed and burning, your loins girt, and to 
 be always ready for the coming of the Son of Man ? 
 
 Fellow Citizens! 
 Our circumstances are most auspicious. The late war 
 has made us eminently one people. Discrepancies of opin- 
 ion, on various points, will from the very conformation of the 
 
 * Mr. James Quick, one of the Committee of Arrangements, 
 who was in perfect health on the last Saturday of June, and a 
 corpse on the following Monday. 
 
( S3 ) 
 
 human intellect, exist. Yet, on all great national topickS; 
 on all that is vital; on all that is indentified with true repub- 
 licanism, and real Hberty, we are amalgamated. The gene- 
 rous, and hospitable, and frank, and eloquent son of Erin — 
 the honest, and reflecting, and brave Caledonian — the unso- 
 phisticated Welchman — the lineal descendants of the faith- 
 ful martyred Huguenots — the hardy and vigorous German — 
 the intrepid Hollander, distinguished for his patient perse- 
 verance, his personal integrity, his admirable adherence to 
 the unadulterated truths of revelation — these, these, blended 
 with the sons of the pilgrims, the adventurers (>f Oglethorpe, 
 the followers of Raleigh, the pacifick disciples of Penn, and 
 the Swedes of Jersey, together constitute a body of sound 
 thinking, and a column of patriotism, that, I trust, will never 
 be destroyed, until the mighty angel planting one foot on 
 the earth, and the other on the ocean, shall lift his hand to 
 heaven, and swear by him that liveth for ever and ever, that 
 time shall be no more. 
 
 " Mid the thunders of war, and the fury ofjlame 
 
 Rose Columbia's eagle in glory aspiring ! 
 And long shall he soar in the regions of flame, 
 Till earth is in ruins, and ocean retiring ! 
 Indpendent and free 
 Our motto shall be, 
 And death to the foe who saps Liberty'' s tree ! 
 For ne'er shall the lion of Europe regain 
 The empire /te lost o'er the land and the main.'^