- 68 
 .E54 
 
Oass^Fil. 
 
 Book > E ^^ 
 
/ 
 
 SERMON, y^ 
 
 DELIVERED DEC. 31, 1820. 
 
 THE LAST lord's DAY IN TMK 
 
 it^Wf 
 
 3INCE OUR FOREFATHERS FIRST SETTLED 
 
 IN PLYMOUTH, 
 
 Pastor of the f burcn ia Tranklin. 
 
 BY NATHAN :\P:l ^WMONS, D. D. 
 
 DEDHAM : 
 
 FRIJITKD BT B. & W. B. MANN. 
 
 1821. 
 
^2 
 
 1 
 
 ;i 
 
 
r^i?frwTOTi|'^ OMUD 
 
 II SAMUEL, vii. S3. 
 
 And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, 
 ivhmn God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him 
 a name, and to do for you great things, and terrible, for thy landy 
 before thy people, which thou rcdccmedst td thee from Egypt, from 
 the nations and their gods 1 
 
 IT is the character of good men to be wise and 
 attentive observers of divine providence. They eye 
 the hand and heart of God in public as well as in 
 private favours. David having just been reflecting 
 on the signal blessings, which God had bestowed 
 upon himself, and which he had promised to bestow 
 upon his posterity, was naturally led to contemplate 
 and admire the more important and distinguishing 
 blessings, which he had from the beginning bestowed 
 upon his nation and kingdom. He was deeply im- 
 pressed with a grateful s.-.nse of God's extraordinary 
 and discriminating goodness to them, in their origin/ 
 destination, and their present national prosperity. 
 He devoutly appeals to God, whether he had not 
 done greater and better things for his people Israel, 
 
than for any oilier nation in the world. '^ What ono 
 nation in the earth is like thy people, even like 
 Israel, whom God went to redeem for a [leoplc to 
 himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you 
 great things, and terrible for thy land, before thy 
 people, which thou redeemcdst to thee from gvpt, 
 from the nations and their gods.'" This concise and 
 comprehensive representation of God's discrimina- 
 ting goodness to Israel is folly confirmed, by the in- 
 spired writers, who have given a particular history 
 of the divine conduct towards that iiighly favoured 
 people. They assure us, that God raised them up 
 from the pure stock of Abraham, delivered tliem from 
 their cruel bondage in Egypt, led them safely through 
 the dangers of the wilderness, drove out the idola- 
 trous nations to make room for them in the land of 
 promise, where he raised them to an extraordinary 
 height of national prosperity. And here it is no! too 
 much to say^ that God has treated us with similar 
 marks of his discriminating goodness, through every 
 period of our national existence. To make this ap- 
 pear, and to deduce the proper inferences from it, is 
 the leading object of the present discourse. 
 
 1 shall pass over the favours, which are common 
 to us and to mankind in general, and take notice of 
 those only, by which w^e have been highly distin- 
 guished among the nations of the earth. 
 
 1. Here it occurs, in the first place, that God rais- 
 ed us up from pious and excellent Ancestors. Almost 
 every other nation has risen from a base and degen- 
 erate origin. The ancient Romans sprang from a 
 mean and spurious brood of plunderers. The pres- 
 lint European nations were generally, if not univer- 
 s^lly, founded in ignorance, superstition:, and idolatry. 
 
9 
 
 But our nation, like the peculiar people of God, waff 
 planted a choice vine. Our Forefathers, instead of 
 being the off-scouring of all tilings, were men of whom 
 the world was not worthy. They were the glory and 
 ornament of the land from whence they came. Those, 
 who first came here with desires and hopes of making 
 great fortunes, were completely disappointed and de- 
 feated in their designs. Kut when others, who were 
 moved by the higher motives of religion, attempted 
 to plant a nation of Christians in this land of Pagan 
 darkness and Idolatry, the hand of providence guided 
 all their movements, and crowned their noble enter- 
 prize with desired success. '! he fathers of our nation 
 possessed every thing great and excellent in the eyes 
 of the world, except riches and honours, Vv'hich they 
 freely sacrificed for the attainment of more noble and 
 important objects. They were men of courage and 
 niagoanimity ; otherwise they would not have enga- 
 ged in such a great aad hazardous undertaking. 
 They were men of virtue and piety; otiservvise ihoy 
 would not have given uf) all their worldly possessions 
 and enjoyments for the sake of religion. They were 
 also men of superiour knowledge, wisdom, and saga- 
 city, and well established in some of the best princi- 
 ples both of religion and government; otherwise they 
 could not have devised and adopted so many wise 
 and useful Institutions in their infant state. These 
 principles many of them had acquired by deep erudi- 
 tion, as well as by long observation and experience. 
 They had felt the weight of both civil and religious 
 oppression. They had been denied the common 
 rights of humanity and religion. This led them to 
 examine these subjects with attention and acciiracy. 
 The result was a clear conviction of the truth aiu! 
 
6 
 
 importance of the pure principles which they brought 
 ^y\U^ iheni here, and upon which they uniformly ac- 
 ted in all their public and private concerns, whether 
 of a civil or religious nature. These principles ap- 
 peared to them in such an important light, that they 
 made the best provision in their power, to transmit 
 them pure and uncorrupt to their remotest posterity- 
 Such a choice vine, planted in a new and rich soil, 
 could not fail of producing excellent fruit It has 
 been the peculiar privilege and glory of our nation^ 
 as it was of the people of Israel, that when our pro- 
 genitors went after God in the wilderness, in a land 
 not sown, they were holiness unto the Lord, and the 
 first fruits of his increase. We are now sharing 
 largely in the happy effects of their wisdom, virtue, 
 piety, and paternal affection. What one nation now 
 on earth can trace their origin to such a pure and ex- 
 cellent source ! 
 
 3. It is a grept and distinguishing favour, that God 
 has given us so much liberty, and so many opportu- 
 nities, of forming our own civil and religious Institu- 
 tions. Civil and religious institutions in all countries, 
 except Ju iea, have generally been owing to chance, 
 or violence. The notion of an original compact be- 
 tween rulers and subjects, upon which some theories 
 of government have been built, appears to be alto- 
 gether visionary and unfounded. The truth is, na- 
 tions have commonly come together by chance, and 
 united by chance, without an ; explicit compact be- 
 tween the governors and the governed. And where 
 any people have not formed their civil and religious 
 institutions in this way, they have received their laws 
 and religion from their conquerors. This has been 
 the case with respect to the ancient nations of Europe, 
 
Asia, and Africa. Their civil and religious institu- 
 tions have been formed, overturned, and new-formed, 
 by those who from time to time gained an absolute 
 and arbitrary dominion over them. Rome heathen, 
 and Rome christian have had a hand in almost every 
 civil and religious establishment in three quarters of 
 the globe. Rome heathen, before the rise of the Pope, 
 was often very indulgent to the laws and religions of 
 their conquered countries. But after Rome became 
 christian, her bishops rapidly gained both civil and 
 ecclesiastical power, until the Pope usurped an abso- 
 lute civil and ecclesiastical Supremacy over a great- 
 er part of the churches and governments of the chris- 
 tian world, who have not thoroughly purged them- 
 selves from all his false doctrines, absurd ceremonies, 
 and tyrannical influence, to this day. It is a great 
 and distinguishing favour, that God has given us from 
 the beginning full liberty and fair opportunities of 
 forming our own civil and religious institutions. 
 AV'hen our forefathers fled from the reach and influ- 
 ence of their cruel persecutors, they found themselves 
 at perfect liberty to choose their own forms of religion 
 and government. Accordingly, they assumed their 
 own rights and exercised their own choice. They 
 had none to fear or to please but themselves, in their 
 civil and religious concerns. Every one had his 
 Voice, though not perhaps his choice, in all public 
 transactions. They employed the liberty and oppor- 
 tunity they enjoyed, in devising and adopting just 
 such a government as they considered the best ; and 
 agreed in just such religious principles and modes of 
 worship as they supposed to be most agreeable to the 
 word of God. They pnacted their own laws, and 
 elected their own rulers. They establisUed their »wn 
 
terms of admission into tho cliuvcli, and their own or- 
 <ler of ecclesiastical discipline. They chose their 
 own religious teachers, and fixed the modes and cer- 
 emonies in the administration of cliristian ordinances. 
 All these things they did, as soon as they resolved 
 upon a permanent settlement in this country. In 
 about a century and half after that period, we had 
 anotlier opportunity «f revising, altering, and new- 
 modeling our civil constitutions. In that state of na- 
 tional maturity, we employed all our learning, wis- 
 dom, and experience in framing a civil constitution, 
 which we deemed the best we could form, for such a 
 people as ourselves. And in matters of religion, we 
 left every one, where he ought to be left, in the exer- 
 cise of his own reason and conscience, without the 
 least restraint, or compulsion. Religion and govern- 
 ment must be allowed to be the greatest of all nation- 
 al concerns ; and to enjoy complete liberty in respect 
 to these important objects, is to enjoy the greatest ci- 
 vil and religious freedom, that any nation can possi- 
 bly possess. And in this respect, what nation is there 
 now on earth, whom God has so highly favoured and 
 distinguished as these American States? 
 
 3. God has remarkably smiled upon us, in respect 
 to our growth, protection, and outward prosperity. 
 The increase of our numbers has been rapid beyond 
 example. ^'Health has usually existed here, in a 
 degree, not often equalled, and perhaps never exceed- 
 ed. In some towns it appears, by long continued 
 resisters of births and deaths, that one out of four and 
 one out of five, extensively one out of six, and gen- 
 erally one out of seven, of those who are born, live to 
 seventy years of age ; and half of those who arc born, 
 live to twenty years, ^' This longevity, to whatever 
 
9 
 
 causes it may be ascribed, whether (he salubrity of 
 our climates, the industry of our people, or their fru- 
 ga,l and temperate modes of living, has greatly con- 
 tributed to increase our population. *'In the year 
 1700, there were one hundred and fifteen incorpora- 
 ted towns in New-England, and probably about 80, 
 000 inhabitants. There are now about eight hundred 
 and sixty towns, and probably 1,200,000 people.^' 
 Such a vast increase of population in the last hun- 
 dred years, notwithstanding the multitudes that have 
 been slain and perished in the cruel and bloody wars, 
 which have followed one another, in the course of 
 forty or fifty years past, is a signal display of divine 
 gooduess towards us. But the increase of our num- 
 bers is but a small thing, in comparison with the ma- 
 ny signal instances of divine mercy towards us, in 
 times of darkness and deep distress. We have al- 
 ways, till very lately, been imminently exposed to 
 national dangers. But God has carried us, as on 
 eagles' wings, through every period of our national 
 existence. When our forefathers first reached these 
 then inhospitable shores, they were exposed to the 
 severest sufferings from an inclement season, a sav- 
 age enemy, a threatening famine, and a raging pesti- 
 lence. But amidst all these dangers, He in whom 
 they trusted, provided a place of habitation, awaken- 
 ed the pity or alarmed the fears of the savages, and 
 prevented their utter extinction. The remntint that 
 survived gradually multiplied, and soon began to 
 penetrate further and farther into the country, to set- 
 tle towns, to plant churches, and to form several sep- 
 arate and large colonies, notwithstanding the wilder- 
 ness was full of subtile enemies, who were continual- 
 ly plotting to molest and destroy them. Yet God 
 
10' 
 
 caused their enemies gradually to retire or flee before 
 them ; or else gave them power to restrain or subdue 
 them. Divine providence wonderfully preserved and 
 supported them amidst these fiery trials and ardent 
 struggles for about one hundred and fifty years. 
 These wars with the natives of the country had hard- 
 ly ceased, before France exerted her power and long 
 practised policy, to bring us under her control and 
 dominion, by erecting a chain of forts on our north- 
 ern and western frontiers, which brought on a bloody 
 and expensive war. But God graciously supported 
 and succeeded us in that dangerous conflict. We 
 then fondly anticipated long peace and security. But 
 in a few years, we were awakened from our pleasing 
 dreams by our parent country, who employed all their 
 skill,, power, and wealth, to subject us to a state of 
 abject subordination and bondage. The combat was 
 very long, cruel, and in all respects distressing, but 
 happily terminated in our complete freedom and in- 
 dependence. 1 pass over without a single remark 
 on the origin and issue of our last contest with that 
 nation. Such have been the special interpositions of 
 providence in our favour, in the times of our greatest 
 dangers and calamities. AVhat nation is there in the 
 earth, who have been so wonderfully protected and 
 preserved as we have been, through the long period 
 of two hundred years ! We as well as Israel may say, 
 ''Had not the Lord been on our side, when men ros8 
 lip against us, we had been swallowed up, and the 
 v/aters had overwhelmed us.*^ These extraordinary 
 prcf^rvations have been attended and followed by a 
 national prosperity no less extraordinary. For near- 
 ly forty years, wealth has been poured in upon us, 
 like the waves of the sea ; which has disposed and 
 
11 
 
 enabled ns, to make great and rapid improvements 
 '•in literature, civilization, and every thing which can 
 ameliate the state of man. At the commencement of 
 the last century, there was but one college complete- 
 ly founded in New-England. Now there are six. 
 In all the colonies, now states, south of Connecticut, 
 there was then but one college, and now there are 
 fifteen or sixteen." If we look over the world, where 
 shall we find a spot on the face of the earth, where 
 the inhabitants have been so rapidly increased, so 
 signally preserved, and so highly prospered, as the 
 people of America? We ought still further toreflect^ 
 4. That God has graciously distinguished us by 
 spiritual, as well as temporal prosperity. The first 
 ministers, whom God disposed to visit and settle in 
 this country, were generally men of great learning, 
 great talents, and eminent piety. They were equal, 
 in all these respects, to the best of their brethren, 
 whom they left behind in the ministry. They were 
 profound theologians. They understood the distin- 
 guishing doctrines of the gospel, and taught thetn 
 with great plainness and pungency. They formed 
 and regulated churches according to the apostolic 
 pattern. Many were turned from darkness to light 
 by their faithful instructions and labours. The great- 
 er part of the people in general, for a considerable 
 time, were professors of religion, and apparently 
 jfious. They lived like pilgrims and strangers on 
 the earth, and declared by their conduct, that they 
 sought a country better than that they had left, or that 
 they had found. As their descendants spread over a 
 wider and wider extent of country, they lost some of 
 their religious advantages, and gradually declined in 
 the correctness of their sentiments and strictness of 
 
IS 
 
 their practice. But they continued to maintain the 
 character of a virtiKuis anil pious people, during the 
 first century to the beginning of the second, when re- 
 vivals of religion became more frequent. In 1733, 
 there was an unusual seriousness and attention to re- 
 ligion in several places in Xew-I^^nglaiul. After 
 this, in 17'!^ 1^ there was a much more general a .d 
 powerful effusion of the Divine Spirit through the 
 country, which produced the happiest effects. Among 
 these,, one was, that it led some of the divines in New- 
 England more thoroughly to investigate, more clear- 
 ly to understand, and more plainly to teach the pure 
 and distinguishing doctrines of the gospel. Besides 
 that great revival, there have been almost every yea? 
 since, particular revivals in particular churches and 
 congregations, which have kept religion generally in 
 a flourishing state. This religious prosperity is more 
 worthy of a grateful notice, because it has been gran- 
 ted while religious errours and declensions were vis- 
 ibly appearing among both ministers and people. 
 "Within this thirty years, Errorists have abounded. 
 Some have denied the inspiration of the Scriptures. 
 Some have denied that system of religious sentiments^ 
 which was believed and taught by our forefathers. 
 And some have broached doctrines too novel, too un- 
 scriptural, and visionary to be mentioned. But God 
 has gloriously triumphed over the united zeal and 
 exertions of bold and presumptuous corrupters. Some 
 have been brought to renounce their errours, comply 
 with the terms of the gospel, and enlist under the 
 banner of Christ ; while others have been constrained[ 
 to retreat in silence before the united exertions of the 
 friends of truth, to detect and refute their absurd and 
 dangerous sentiments. This has been God's usual 
 
13 
 
 conduct towards us. Whenever the enemy has ap- 
 peared to be coraing in upon us, he has raised up a 
 standard against him. He has blessed our churches 
 and religious societies with p:istors and teachers after 
 his own hearty who have fed them with knowledge 
 and understanding, and who have been the happy 
 instruments of forming a peculiar people for his name, 
 amidst the nations and the gods of America. 
 
 I shall conclude this interesting subject, with some 
 pertinent and useful remarks. 
 
 Thefiist remark that occurs is, that God has done 
 more for us, on the whole, to make us a holy and hap- 
 py people, than he has done for any other people in 
 the world. Every people enjoy some peculiar privi- 
 leges or advantages. Some enjoy a more temperate 
 climate, more salubrious air, a more rich and fertile 
 soil. Some are adorned with richer apparel, and 
 taste more delicious fruits. Some are able to exhibit 
 larger cities, m(»re beautiful gardens, mor6 superb 
 palaces, more elegant sculptuies and paintings, and. 
 some to live in greater ea.'^e. aMuence and splendor. 
 But what are ail these things, in point of real worth 
 and importance, cump.'ied wiih the diftiin.^uishing 
 blessings we enjoy? Knowledge, liberty, and relig- 
 ion, are worth more than all the raine«, and pearls, 
 and plants, and fruits, to be found in the bowels, or 
 on the surface of the earih, if vi e regard only the 
 present life. And if we regard the life to come, our 
 civil and religious privileges are ii. finitely more valu- 
 able, than those of the oldest, the richest, and great- 
 est nation on the globe. Who that has any proper 
 se.ise of the worth of the soul, and the blessings of a 
 happy immortality, would wish that any child of his 
 should be educated, live, and die in Britain, in France, 
 
44 
 
 i'u Spain, in Germany, in Persia, in China, or Peru? 
 Is there a more favourable spot on the earth than 
 America, in respect to temporal and spiritual privi- 
 leges? Could we have our choice, could vvc find a 
 place better adapted to make us holy and happy in 
 this life and in that which is to come ? The inhabi- 
 tants of New^-England enjoy complete civil and reli- 
 gious freedom, tlic best means of gaining every spe». 
 cies of useful knowledge, the. best opportunities of 
 receiving religious instruction, and the best advanta- 
 ges of living a useful and happy life. And what 
 more can we desire, that God should do for us, as ra^ 
 tional, immortal, and accountable creatures ? 
 
 In the next place, we ought to reflect, that since 
 God has done so much for us, we have much to do for 
 him. He does not raise up a people, and grant thcni 
 peculiar favours, for nothing. He has some impor- 
 tant purposes for them to promote. When he raised 
 up the children of Israel, and redeemed them from 
 Egypt, and the nations, and their gods, he intended 
 to form a people for himself, who should be the in- 
 struments of promoting his honour and interest in the 
 world. As he did more for tJiem, than any other 
 people ; so they had more to do for Him, than any 
 other people. They had to keep his sacred oracles j 
 to preserve the true religion ; and diffuse the knowl- 
 edge of his Being and Perfections through the earth. 
 They had to prepare the way for the coming of the 
 Messiah, and to spread the gosj)el of Christ among 
 those who had never enjoyed their great and distin- 
 guishing privileges. These great and important pur- 
 poses they fully answered, before they were disin- 
 herited and scattered over the face of the earth. And 
 no doubt God has given us this goodly heritage, and 
 
granted us s» many rich and peculiar privileges, to 
 answer some important designs of providence. 
 Though he intends that all other nations shall glori- 
 fy him^ yet they may glorify him in one way, and 
 we in another. They may glorify hira, by pulling 
 down the kingdom of Satan ; and we by building up 
 the kingdom of Christ. They may be objects upoa 
 which to display his justice^ and we the objects upon 
 which to display his mercy. J hey may be the occa- 
 sion, and we the cause of enlarging, purifying, and 
 adorning the christian Church Both the word and 
 providence of God lead us to expect, that the errours 
 and delusions of Pagans, Papists, Jews, and Mahom- 
 etans, are soon to be destroyed. But these errours 
 and delusions are so riveted in the minds, and so 
 connected with the manners and politicks of the na- 
 tions where they prevail, that they will sooner give 
 up their lives, than iht'iv false religions. Of course, 
 the destruction of their errours must prove the de- 
 struction of themselves. It must be supposed, there- 
 fore, that in less than two hundred years, great revo- 
 lutions and desolations will spread over the anti- 
 christian nations and their gods. But as we know, 
 that the gates of hell shall not ultimately prevail 
 against the Church ; so we may confidently expect, 
 that it will actually flourish in one part of the world, 
 if it he obstructed, or extinguished in another. The 
 falling of other kingdoms will be the rising of the 
 kingdom of Christ. And since the true religion has, 
 for a long time, been spreading from the Kast to the 
 West, there is reason to believe, that God has much 
 for us to do for him, in carrying into execution the 
 purposes of his grace, in building up Zion, iu this 
 large quarter of the globe. 
 
16 
 
 It must be remarketl, in the first place, and tlic re- 
 mark ought to make a deep impression on every mind, 
 that our great and peculiar privileges of a civil and 
 religious nature, have greatly aggravated the guilt of 
 our natix)nal declensions in virtue and piety. God 
 told his ancient people, that they were heiit to hack- 
 alidingf notwithstanding he had bound them to obe- 
 dience, by the strongest and most endearing motives ; 
 which extremely aggravated their national guilt. He 
 highly resented and sharply reproved their numerous 
 and aggravated transgressions. ''Hear, O heavens ; 
 and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken; I 
 have nourished and brought up children, and they 
 have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his own- 
 er, and the ass his master's crib ; but Israel doth not 
 know^, my people doth not consider. Ah ! sinful na- 
 tion ; a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil- 
 doers, children that are corrupters; they have forsa- 
 ken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of 
 Israel to anger, they are gone away backward.*' As 
 we have been distinguished with divine favours like 
 Israel, so our sins are aggravated like theirs. We 
 have sinned not only against the giver of all our mer- 
 cies, but against the examples, the labours, the suf- 
 ferings of our forefathers, and the benevolent exer- 
 tions and costly sacrifices of thousands of our co- 
 temporaries. All our possessions, privileges and ad- 
 vantages, have been dearly purchased. They are 
 the fruits of the privations, perils, blood, and treas- 
 ure of many generations. These circumstances are 
 peculiar aggravations of our disobedient and rebel- 
 lious conduct towards our God, and the God of our 
 fathers. 
 
 In particular^ our ingratitude for the bounties of 
 
i,rovl(!encC;, is a sin of the deepM'die. Tlie Hea. 
 theiis are accused of ingratitude "5' bul; Vvliat is the 
 criminality of tlieir ingratitude in comparison with 
 ours. They know not from whence their blessing*; 
 come; ?jut we know tliat every good gift an I evety 
 perfect gift conaes from the Father of mercies. They 
 know not, as we do, the worth of the blessings they 
 enjoy. They are ignorant, hut we are not, of the 
 solemn account to be given of the use that is made 
 of the favours, which God bestows upon his sinful 
 and ill-deserving creatures. They are ungrateful to 
 an unknown God, but we are ungrateful to a known 
 ' Creator and Benefactor, which extremely aggravates 
 our baseness and guilt. 
 
 The disbelief of the existence of God, and the t)i- 
 \ vine Inspiration of the Scriptures, is far more crirni- 
 I nal in this enlightened land, than in any other part 
 I of the world. Atheists and Deists have long existed, 
 ; and propagated their absurd and destructive opin- 
 ions, in various christian countries ; but such Infidel* 
 are of recent rise in New-England. They have not 
 presumed to avow their corrupt and demoralizing 
 sentiments till very lately, because they knew, that 
 the great majority of the people here, had been! early 
 taught to believe the Being and perfections of the 
 "" Beity, and the truth and divinity of his Holy Word. 
 And had it not been for the astonishing spread of in- 
 fidelity in Europe, infidels would still have been ^ ery 
 scarce among us. But now they are numerous, and 
 their profane and vain babblings diffuse the poison of 
 crrour and ungodliness far and wide, which eats as 4 
 canker the hearts of the learned and( unlearned. Onif 
 infidelity bears the black mark, and contains the ag- 
 gravated guilt of dpostdcy. 
 
 The gross Heresies, which have crept into our 
 chare hes and religious societies, are extremely crimi- 
 
18 
 
 ual ami otfensive to God, who has favoured us witk 
 better means and opportunities for relii;ious instruc- 
 tion, than he has granted to any other people. Our 
 fathers maintained able and faithful ministers to teach 
 and inculcate the peculiar doctrines of grace. They 
 constantly attended the public worship of God in his 
 house, and daily read his Word in their families. 
 They brought up their children and households in thft 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord, and obliged 
 them to remember the sabbath-day and keep it holy. 
 Neither the young nor the old, had any opportunity 
 or peculiar temptation to imbibe gross and dangerous 
 errours. These virtuous and religious habits were 
 transmitted from generation to generation, for nearly 
 an hnndred and fifty years. Nor are they entirely 
 erased from the minds of many to the present day.. 
 But amidst all the light and love which God has man- 
 ifested to us, many of the peculiar and important doc- 
 trines of the gospel have been misunderstood, perver- 
 ted, and totally denied. And both the perverters 
 and perverted have contracted aggravated guilt, and 
 have a solemn account to give for departing from the 
 faith once delivered to the saints, and firmly believed 
 and plainly taught by their pious forefathers 
 
 The neglect and contempt of divine ordinances, are 
 more criminal in us, than in any other people. God 
 has always given us full liberty to worship him 'm 
 public and private, agreeably to the dictates of our 
 own consciences. He has every sabbath, and at oth- 
 er times, opened the door of his house to us, and in- 
 vited and commanded us to enter in ; but how many 
 refuse ur neglect to tread his courts. "The ways of 
 Zion mourn, because few come to her solemn feasts !" 
 How many in our larger and smaller towns, deny the 
 sanctity and pervert the design of the holy sabbath ; 
 
19 
 
 ftnd instead of attending the worship of God, and th« 
 ordiiiai'.ces of the gospel on that day, spend it in idle- 
 ness, or sonic other way^ more agreeable to their cor- 
 rupt hearts. These are sins directly pointed against 
 God, and are sad marks of our deep declension and 
 aggravated guilt. 
 
 Prodigality has arisen to an exorbitant height 
 among this young and half-grown people. Europe- 
 ans have remarked our egregious folly and guilt, in 
 running into this most impoverishing and demoraliz- 
 ing vice, which has ruined so many great and opulent 
 nations. We have nearly exhausted our pecuniary 
 resources, by purchasing foreign fineries and luxu- 
 ries ; which have led us to renounce our indus- 
 try for indolence, and our republican virtues for every 
 species of vice and impiety. These deplorable ef- 
 fects of our prodigality mark our base degeneracy in 
 the view of the world, and our aggravated guilt in 
 the sight of God. 
 
 But this subject, on this day, leads us to remark, 
 in the last place, that we owe an immense debt of 
 gratitude to God, for raising us up from a very small 
 beginning, and forming us into a large, mighty, and 
 flourishing nation. The close of this day is the close 
 of this year, and the close of this year is the close of 
 the Second Century, since our Forefathers first plan- 
 ted a Christian Church in this uncivilized and un- 
 €hristianized country. Mr. Prince of Boston, Mr. 
 Dexter of Dedham, and Dr. Holmes of Cambridge 
 tell us, that our pious ancestors kept their first Sab- 
 bath in Plymouth, on the thirty-first day of Decem- 
 ber, 1720. Why the twenty-second, rather than the 
 thirty-first day of the month, has been so long cele- 
 brated as the Era of our national existence, 1 do not 
 learn from our best Chronologists. But this, howey- 
 
^0 
 
 er, seems to be the most proper ilay to commemorate 
 the birth of our nation, and recogtiize the wonders of 
 divine goodness towards us, from our infant to our 
 present state. We are infinitely indebted to God for 
 the great things, and terrible, which lie has done for 
 us, to make us a pious, virtuous, and happy peoph^ 
 Our gratitude and obedience ought to correspond to 
 the number, variety, and vast value of the blessings 
 wijich he has lavished upon us This indispensable 
 duty Christ beautifully illustrated in the parable of 
 the talents. Those who received them were express- 
 ly required to occupy and improve them in the ser- 
 vice of their benefactor ; and he that neglected to fiel 
 and fulfil his obligations of gratitu<»a and obedience, 
 was severely reproved and condemned. God sol- 
 emnly reminded his people^, whom he had most high- 
 ly favoured, what dutiful and grateful returns he had 
 expected from them. Speaking to them by the proph- 
 et under the similitude of a vineyard, he demands, 
 '^What could have been done more in my vineyard 
 that I have not done in it? Wherefore when I look- 
 ed that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth 
 "wild grapes.'' God justly expected, that his people 
 should have been peculiarly grateful and obedient, 
 because he had been peculiarly kind and beneficent. 
 And he may justly expect more love and obedience 
 from us, than from any people, on whom he has not 
 bestowed such singular privileges, advantages, and 
 opportunities of promoting his glory, and our own 
 temporal and eternal interests. He may justly ex- 
 pect, that his Churches here should be more pure and 
 uncorrupt, than other Churches ; that his Ministers 
 here should be more pious, more orthodox, more la- 
 borious, and more faithful than other Ministers ; that 
 His Rulers here should be more wise^ more just, aud 
 
more devoted to the public good, than other Rnlors ; 
 that his People here should be more religious, move 
 iiulustrious, more obedient, more temperate, and more 
 peaceable, than any other Christian People. In a 
 word, he may justly expect, that the great and nu- 
 merous blessings by which he has distinguished us, 
 should inspire us with an ardent zeal to promote the 
 important purposes, for which he has raised us up a 
 people to himself. God is opening to our view such 
 future scenes and objects, as ought to encourage and 
 animate us to employ all the means in our power, to 
 build up the na,tion in every thing that is great and 
 good. If God should continue to favour us in time to 
 come, as he has done in time past, the next century 
 may raise us to an elevated rank among the greatest 
 nations on earth. It is supposed, that we have usu- 
 ally doubled our numbers once in every twenty. five 
 years ; and should we continue to increase in this 
 ratio through the next century, it has been calculated, 
 that at the close of it we shall amount to ninety-six 
 millions of people. God has brought us into a broad 
 place, where he can not only raise up and support 
 such a great and mighty nation, but employ them all 
 as instruments of promoting his glory, and the happi- 
 ness of this miserable worUL And as our progeni- 
 tors have been the instruments of raising us up to our 
 present high and hippy state, so it properly devolves 
 upon us, as a grateful and ladisppuj^able duty, to em- 
 ploy all our civil, religious, and literary advantages 
 in promoting the civil, religious, and literary interests 
 of this rising empire. A very extensive field of la- 
 bour lies before us ; and though it affords promising 
 prospects, yet these prospects may often be involved 
 in the dark clouds of public calamities and severe 
 trials. This has been the course of divine providence 
 
towards us hitherto, and therefore we may expect^ 
 that we have not only much to do, but much to suffer, 
 in preserviug our liberties both civil and religious, 
 and ill extending our borders to the western ocean, 
 through avast wilderness filled with savages, who ar» 
 supported in their depredations upon us, by those who 
 are inimical to them as well as to us. To civilizo 
 those who need to be civilized; to gospelize those 
 who need to be gospelized ; to instruct those who 
 need to be instructed ; to reform those who need to 
 be reformed ; and to restrain those who need to be* 
 restrained in this growing and widely extended na- 
 tion, will require all the wisdom of the wise, all the 
 virtue of the virtuous, and all the courage, zeal, and 
 benevolence of the pious. You rejoice, and have rea- 
 son to rejoice in the present prosperity of the nation ; 
 but you have reason to rejoice with trembling, when 
 you reflect, that the continuance and increase of their 
 future prosperity, depends so much upon the short- 
 sighted wisdom, feeble virtue, and feebler piety of 
 those, who are now on the stage of action. Great 
 zeal and benevolence have been displayed and are 
 still displayed, in sending the gospel and the preach- 
 ers of the gospel to the ignorant and uncivilized sav- 
 ages on our borders. But there is a stronger inclina- 
 tion in the selfish and avaricious to destroy, than to 
 protect, enlighten, and save those poor, perishing 
 Pagans. And all such persons will do more to coun- 
 teract and obstruct, than to promote our benevolent 
 exertions. 
 
 We have the same kind of difficulties and obstacles 
 to meet and surmount, in order to christianize Amer- 
 ica, that our forefathers had to meet and surmount, 
 when they first fixed ther residence among the nations 
 and their gods in this country. They were pious an4 
 
I8S 
 
 patriotic ; they loved their own country, and deter- 
 mined to promote its spiritual as well as temporal 
 prosperity. And they were wise and good to labour 
 in liie iield where God had destined them to labour. 
 This country is the proper field for our principal la- 
 bours and benevolent exertions, to promote the cause 
 of riirist and the salvation of our fellow-men. If re- 
 ligion be essentially necessary to promote and secure 
 the blessings of civil government and civil society, as 
 our wisest statesmen tell us, then it is our imperious 
 duty, to diffuse the knowledge and spirit of the gos- 
 pel as far as possible through the United States, in 
 p order to secure and promote our highest temporal as 
 well as spiritual interests. These are interests which 
 God undoubtedly intended to promote, by giving us a 
 national existence ; and by the great and peculiar 
 privileges and blessings which he has already con- 
 ferred upon us. What he has done for us, is a pre- 
 sage of what he still intends to do for us in future. 
 We have good grounds to place an unshaken confi- 
 dence in his wisdom, power, and goodness. The 
 prayers of our pious ancestors and of their pious pos- 
 terity, have entered into the ears of Him, who is able 
 and ready to answer them. The burden of their fer- 
 vent petitions has been for the temporal and spiritual 
 prosperity of America. They have availed much, 
 and will avail much to draw down future blessings 
 upon this favorite land. We have the same encour- 
 agement to trust in God, that they had, and are bound 
 by the same obligations to do it. But our trust must 
 be accompanied with our best efforts, to make this 
 people both holy and happy. All our national inter- 
 ests are now lodged in our hands, and it depends upon 
 us, whether we will maintain or destroy them. If 
 we are faithful to God, to ourselves, and to our pos- 
 
24 
 
 terity, l&otl will never leave nor torgalce U3 ; nor suf- 
 fer us to leave and forsake liitn. 
 
 We have lived to see what none of ds will ever liv^ 
 to Se^ agaiti — the Close of a CenUinj. To-molrovf 
 we may see the bpginning of a neiv century ; hut^C! 
 have no ground to expect to see the evd of it \h- 
 fore that period arrives, we shall all follow one 
 another into that world, from whencfe we shall neret 
 return. In the course of the current year, there have 
 been nineteen Deaths among this people. We shall 
 not soon forget those who were near and dear to us. 
 Though one century be just as lung as another; not 
 gfo are th€ lives of men. The gravels without any 
 order. Let no man boast of to-morrow, for he know- 
 eth not what a day, and much less what a year, or a 
 century may bring forth. Wliat vast numbers of 
 mankind has the last hundred .years carried to their 
 long home; and how many will the next sweep off 
 from the face of the earth; how many more will live 
 and die, before that Great Duy shall come, when the 
 whole human race will find their flftal and nnchange- 
 able condition ! We must all appear before the judg- 
 lAent seat of Christ, where we shall be deeply and 
 eternally interested in the decisions of that Supreme 
 Judge. The celebration of the last century of time, 
 will be a joyful festival to some, but a day of dark- 
 ness and hopeless destruction toothers. If an. have 
 the witness in themselves, that they are prepared to 
 meet their Judge in peace, let them rejoice; but if 
 any are conscious to themselves, that they are not* 
 prepared ; let them mourn, repent, and return to God 
 upon the gracious terms of the gospel, before (heir 
 day of grace expires, and their feet stumble upon th<? 
 dark mountains of death. 
 
Words by the Eev. JAMES FLINT. 
 
 Music composed and sung by B, BROWJCf Es^, 
 At the celebration of the landing of the Forefathers, 1820. 
 
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 sought a home and freedom here, Two hundred years ago. 
 
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 ears ago, Two hundred years ago, And : 
 
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 sought a home and freedom here, Two hundred years ago. 
 
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 O, 'twas no earth-ljorn passion 
 
 That bade th' adventurers stray ; 
 The world and all its fashion 
 
 With them had passed away. 
 A voice from hpaven made them look 
 
 Above the things below, 
 When here they sought a resting place 
 
 Two hundred years ago. 
 
(t, dark the Keae and dreary, 
 
 When here thy sSt them down ; 
 Of itornis and billows weary, 
 
 And chilled with winters frown. 
 Deep moaned the forests of the wind, 
 
 Loud howled the savage foe, 
 While here there evening prayer arose 
 
 Two hundred years ago. 
 
 'Twould drown the heart in sorrow 
 
 To tell of all their woes ; 
 Nor respite could they borrow, 
 
 But from the grave's repose. 
 
 i If greatness be in daring, 
 
 I Our pilgnra sires were great ; 
 I Whose sojourn here unsparing, 
 5 Disease and famine wait ; 
 S And of their treach'rous foes combined 
 To lay the strangers low, 
 
 Wbile founding here their commonwealtb 
 Two hundred years ngo. 
 
 I Tho' seeming ovcrzealous 
 * In things by us deemed light, 
 i They were but duly jealous 
 I Of power usurping right. 
 Yet nought could daunt the pilgrim band ? They nobly chose to part with all 
 
 Or sink their courage low. 
 Who came to plant the gospel here 
 Two hundred years ago. 
 
 With humble prayfer and fasting 
 In every strait and grief. 
 
 They sought tbe Everlasting, 
 And found a sure relief. 
 
 ? Most dear to men below, 
 5 To worship here their God in peace 
 Two hundred years ago. 
 
 1 
 
 5 From seeds they sow'd with weeping 
 * Our richest harvest rise ; 
 J We still the fruits are reaping 
 I Of pilgrim enterprize. 
 There cov'nant God o'ershadow'd them, t Then grateful we to them will pay 
 
 Their shield from every foe. 
 And gave them here a dwelling place 
 Tiro hxindred years ago. 
 
 The debt of fame we owe, 
 Who planted here the tree of life 
 ; Two hundred years ago. 
 
 Of fair New-England's glory 
 
 They laid the corner stone; 
 This praise in deathless story 
 
 Their grateful sons shall own. 
 Prophetic they foresaw, in time, 
 
 A mijjhty state should grow 
 From them, a few faint pilgrims here, | Whe fixed the h.me of freedom here 
 
 Two huniied years ago. \ Two hundred years ago. 
 
 \ As comes this period yearly, 
 
 *i Around our cheerful fires, 
 
 i We'll think and tell how deariy 
 
 i Our comforts cost our sires. 
 
 I For them we'll wake the votive sonf 
 
 I And bid the canvas glow,