76/
















TIHE BIBLE
AND
CIVIL GOVERNMEN T,
IN A
COURSE OF LECTURES,
BY
J. 1MI, MATHEWS, D. D.
4' He that rnleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God."
2 Samuel, 23: 3.
NEW-YORK:
ROBERT CARTER & BROTHER1S,
85 BRO ADWAY.
1851.




ENTERED  according to  Act of Congress, in the  year of our Lord  1850, by  Rev.
J. it. MAUTIH-EwS, D. D. in  the  Clerk's  Office  of the  District Court for the
Southern  District of New-York...........................................
Printed and Stereotyped
BY  D. FANSHAW,
35 Ann, corner of Nassau-st............"........................<.




CONTENTS.
LECTURE I.
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
LECTURtE  II.
CIVIL GOVERNMENT, AS ORDAINED IN THE COMMONWEALTH
OF THE HEBREWS.
LECTURE III.
INFLUENCE OF EMIGRATION ON NATIONAL CHARACTER.
LECTURE IV.
GENERAL AND SOUND EDUCATION INDISPENSABLE TO CIVIL
FREEDOM.
LECTURE V.
AGIZCULTURE AS AN AUXILIARY TO CIVIL FREEDOM.








PREFACE.
IT was my original intention not to publish
the following Lectures until they should appear
as a part of the entire work on the connection between Science and Religion, which I
am engaged in preparing. But I have been
induced to change my purpose. They were
delivered at the city of Washington in the
early part of 1848, when the news reached this
country apprising us of the commotions in Europe which have since formed a topic of absorbing interest to all intelligent observers of the
times.  The views which I have endeavored to
illustrate on the relations of Civil Government
to the Holy Scriptures, are thought to have an
important bearing on the political revolutions
then and still in progress; and, out of deference to the request of many for whose judgment and wishes I feel a high respect, I have




6               1PRE E AC E,
decided to publish thern in a volume by themselves. The circumstance of their having been
delivered in the Capitol, before an audience
composed chiefly of those who occupied the
high places of authority in the land, may serve
to show why I have made so frequent a reference to the privileges and responsibilities of
our own country.
The publication of these Lectures in a
separate volume, has afforded the more space
for the notes which I have appended to them,
and which will be acceptable to readers who
may not have at hand all the authorities from
which they are selected. There is one class of
works to which I have referred, not only with
a frequency but with a confidence, which some
readers may be inclined to disapprove. I refer
to the leading Periodicals of the Press, as the
American and Foreign Quarterlies. On many
subjects, especially such as are of high interest to the public welfare at the present time,
there is no better authority extant. A new
era in authorship has arisen. The generations
of folios have in a great measure passed away.
These "sons of Anak" no longer weigh down
the shelves of libraries, or burden the arms of




PREFACE.                7
readers, as in former times. In their stead has
arisen a generation of duodecimos and octavos,
sometimes springing from the bowels of their
unwieldy ancestors, and again coming into life
and forming an entirely new race. Among
these, our periodicals take a high stand.
They are the channels through which the intellect of our day pours forth many of its
best treasures.  They are no longer mere
finger posts, pointing us to the stores of knowledge. They contain the mine in themselves.
The world is no loser by this change. There
are many able men who are masters of some
important questions whose knowledge would
die with them, if they had not an article in
some modern quarterly, or monthly, or weekly,
as a means of communication with the public.
The periodicals have -thus become enriched
with contributions to the stock of knowledge,
till there is no subject in divinity or philosophy,
ethics or politics, which they have not treated
with great ability, and on which they do not
form a valuable reference. The writers give
us not only their own views, but the views of
other men; and generally not diluted, but
rather distilled and condensed.




8               PREFACE.
Among the other authorities to which I
have referred, either in the body of the Lectures or in the Notes, and to wfrich I feel myself indebted, are, Selden De Synedriis et
Proefecturis Juridicis Veterum  EbroeorumLowman on the Hebrew Government -Adams'
Defence of the American Constitution-Paley's
Moral Philosophy-Dwight's Theology-Michaelis' Commentaries on the Laws of MosesJahn's Archaeology —Story on the Constitution of the United States-Kent's Commentaries
-Chateaubriand's Beauties of ChristianityDe Tocqueville's Democracy in America —
Brougham's Political Philosophy-Hallam's Introduction to the Literature of the Middle Ages
— Alison's History of Europe-and Macauley's
History of England. To these I will add the
name of Professor Wines. Although his lectures on the Hebrew Commonwealth have not
yet been given from the press, they have been
delivered in many of our principal cities, and
have been received with an attention which
was creditable to the public taste. I hope in
due time to have the pleasure of reading what
I have heard with profit and pleasure. The
lectures of Professor Wines would form  a




PREFACE                 9
valuable acquisition to the library of every man
who wishes to become well acquainted with
the Hebrew polity and the leading principles
of Hebrew legislation.
I have not always coincided with the views
embraced by some of. the writers to whom I
have referred; and I have been the more careful to express my dissent from Michaelis, in
order that my reference to his authority on
some questions might not be interpreted as an
indication that I embrace his sentiments on
others. He was a man not only of great learning, but of great pride in his learning. This
led him to take positions which cannot be
maintained, and also to treat the Bible itself
as if he felt himself authorized rather to show
what it ought to teach, than  to  explain
what it does teach. His works contain various
and valuable information, but he is an unsafe
commentator for those who will not take pains
to separate the chaff from the wheat.
I feel that I ought not to forego this opportunity of acknowledging the kindness of friends
by which I have been enabled' to pursue the
work to which for some time past I have devoted myself. Subject after subject has been pre1*:




10              PREFACE.
sented for consideration till I have been induc
ed to enter upon fields of inquiry far beyond
the limits originally contemplated; and of
course the more time is required to prepare
the whole work for the press. I am constantly reminded by those best qualified to judge,
that investigations professing to illustrate the
connection between science and religion ought
to be conducted with great care and deliberation. Nothing can be gained, and much may
be lost, by injudicious haste. It is not to be
denied that in the contest which Christianity
has been called to wage against "philosophy
falsely so called," truth has too often suffered
by arguments in its defence that were found in
the end to be superficial and inconclusive.
Some of our distinguished scholars and
divines revised and rewrote many of their
most useful sermons twelve or fourteen times
before publication; and if they were willing to
bestow such care and diligence on discourses
which treated the more familiar subjects of
Christianity, I ought not to be sparing of labor
and patience when pursuing investigations on
the harmony between those two great depart



PREFACE.                 11
ments of knowledge, the  Word  and  the
Works of God.
Sincerely do I wish that the work I have
before me was in abler hands than mine. I
derive satisfaction from the hope that I shall
be followed by those who will supply my deficiencies. "Every age," says a distinguished
writer, "as well as every individual, has its
specific duty; and the duty of the nineteenth
century is to bring science, in all its discoveries, to bear upon religion, and to corroborate,
if we may so speak, the Word  of God."
There seems to be a wide spread conviction
of this important truth among intelligent Christians. But although the attention of able
scientific men has been turned to the subject,
the adequate illustration of the Scriptures by
the discoveries of science is a work only just
begun. Much, much remains to be done before learning shall have paid the debt which
she owes to the volume of inspiration.  The
christian scholar should never rest satisfied till
every discovery in the world of nature is laid
at the foot of His altars, who is "the Way, the
Truth, and the Life."  Although I may be able
to do but little in carrying forward so impor



12                PREFACE.
tant a service, I should feel grateful if allowed
to have any part in it; nor do I know how I
could be more usefully employed, than in fulfilling the task which in this view I have prescribed to myself.




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
The capacity of nations for self-government is
one of the great questions of the age. Fresh discussions of it are prompted by events which follow
each other in such rapid succession as to resemble
the ever-varying figures and colors of the kaleidescope. Governments in the old world, which had
endured for centuries, have fallen into a state' of dilapidation; and, in some instances, their foundations
have been destroyed by convulsions, which required
but a single day for their entire overthrow. To an
extent seldom witnessed before, we have seen the
Scripture fulfilled-" Remove the diadem, and take
off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him
that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more,
until He come whose right it is; and I will give it




14         INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
Him." In the midst of this removal of diadems and
these wide-spreading revolutions, men very properly
inquire as to what must be the result when the people are thus aiming to take civil power into their
own hands, and claim to be governed under forms
and rulers of their own choice. As may be inferred
from the words of the prophet just quoted, the question is intimately connected, not only with the stability of just government, but with the spread of the
Gospel; and every one who is the friend of his race
and of Christianity, should be willing to contribute
his aid to illustrate its importance and defend it
from error and abuse. In all great changes which
affect social or political organizations of long standing, there is danger of rashness and excess; and in
breaking away from one set of evils, communities
sometimes rush into others of an opposite character,
but still more disastrous tendency.
Men always become vain in their imaginations
when they turn away from the word of God, and
neglect to hear it in relation to any subject on which
it condescends to give us instruction.  A distinguished author has of late entitled one of his best
Essays "The Bible the best guide to political skill
and foresight;" and it is to be viewed among
the redeeming signs of the times, that public men
and profound thinkers are turning increased attcen




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.            15
tion to the inspired volume, not only as a revelation
of mercy to fallen man, but as a record of the cardinal principles of wisdom and equity which should
enter into the government of nations. Happy will it
be for all lands when their rulers will take increasing
counsel from "the Father of Lights" "by whom
princes decree justice," both as to the source of their
authority over men, and the manner in which it
should be exercised. This would be another step towards the promised consummation, when "nation
shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war any more." Not a few of those who
are counted among our leading statesmen have become deeply impressed with these convictions; and
at their suggestion, I have endeavored in the following Lectures to illustrate
The connection between the Holy Scripturesgand
the Science of Civil Government.
I am far from supposing that I can do full justice
to the subject. I approach it as an expositor of
Scriptural truth, not as a statesman or a jurist; and
I shall feel rewarded if I may be the means of
leading the minds of abler and more accomplished
men to develope it at greater length and to more
perfection.
The tradition that Divine authority was requisite




I ~16     fN TIINTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
to establish laws, or a government of laws over a
people, was very general during the ages of antiquity. The belief also seems to have been most
widely diffused wherever civilization and refinement had made the greatest advancement. The laws
of Crete were said to have been given to Minos by inspiration from Jupiter. Apollo, we are told, revealed
the laws of Lacedeemon to Lycurgus; and to ensure
a just interpretation of them, the deity allowed himself to be consulted from time to time at the Oracle
of Delphos. Numa declared himself indebted to
Egeria for the statutes and ordinances m hich lay at
the foundation of Roman greatness and supremacy.
Referring to the general prevalence of such traditions, an able commentator on government has
remarked, " there is nothing in which mankind have
been more unanimous." But while we fully agree
with him as to the fact, we entirely dissent from him
when he adds, "yet nothing can be inferred from it,
but that the multitude have always been credulous,
and the few artful." The unanimity of the belief,
leads, as we think, to quite a different conclusion.
Sound philosophy has discovered, that in all such
traditions there is a mixture of truth with error;
that there is scarce a fable to be found in the mythologies of ancient times without a " moral," which
can be traced back to some revelation previously




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.            17
derived from the true God. Accordingly we consider these fictions or fables respecting the origin of
civil laws as another acknowledgment of the truth
so conspicuously repeated in the Scriptures, that
"there is no power but of God;" that "the powers
that be are ordained of God;" in other words, that
the obligation of the ruled to obey their rulers rests
upon the Divine will as its great and ultimate
reason.
But while there is a general concurrence among
moral and political writers in the doctrine that civil
government is founded on the will of God, they are
by no means so fully agreed respecting the extent
to which he has revealed his will on the subject.
And the object which we now propose to ourselves
is to inquire how far the Scriptures go, in revealing
the essential principles which enter into a just and
wise construction of the civil authority which man
may rightfully exercise over man. We turn " to the
law and to the testimony," and ask, Is government,
simply as government, all that we find there sanctioned as the ordinance of God; and have its different
forms been left to be elaborated by the sagacity of politicians and statesmen, all of them sharing alike in
the Divine approbation? Do the Autocrat of Russia,
and the Sultan of Turkey, inheriting thrones which
have been gained by violence and blood, hold their




18        INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
power by a tenure as scriptural as the chief Magistrates of these United States, who have been raised
to their office by the choice of those whom they
govern?
The Bible, if we do not mistake its meaning,
answers these inquiries in a way that may well
render it increasingly valuable in the eyes of every
one who desires the present and future happiness of
his race. As we follow its teachings, we find it goes
back into the antiquity of nations, and records their
origin and progress, with a clearness to which no
other volume can aspire. It shows that the form
of government first prevailing in the world was
the patriarchal. And while the earth was peopled
rather by families than by nations, dominion in the
hands of one man might not have been productive
of any oppressive wrongs. But when communities
had become widened into large kingdoms, ties of
kindred were lost in ambition for power; and tyranny, with its unsparing exactions, was soon felt as the
scourge of humanity. Then, as the Scriptures teach,
the Most High made known a remedy for this sore
evil. But it is not his manner to ordain mere abstractions when he gives ordinances for the benefit
of man. If government of any kind is to be rendered
intelligible or tangible, it must have some form or
embodiment; and as " at the beginning," he taught




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.           19
how the domestic relations were to be created and
sustained; so also, when nations " had begun to multiply on the earth," he revealed his will respecting
the origin and tenure of authority in a State, showing how the relations between rulers and ruled
should be formed and regulated. When he " brought
the Hebrews out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage," his first care was to give them
laws and ordinances by which he made known his
redeeming grace for lost man. But he did not forget
their temporal welfare as a Nation, while he guided
their faith as his Church. He formed them into a
Commonwealth under civil enactments, which embrace
all the essential features of national freedom, or of
a well-ordered Republic.
This religious aspect of the subject enhances
its claim upon our careful consideration. And is
it not fitting and seasonable that civil liberty should
be more fully rescued from the profanity with which
it has been too often treated?  Notwithstanding
what we view as an improved state of opinion
in some quarters, there is still much public impiety
with regard to this inestimable blessing; impiety
which pollutes our seats of learning, and profanes
our high places of authority. Our educated youth
are still taught to believe, and the people are still
told by many of our public men, that liberty was




20        INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
cradled in the states of Greece; and that the Solons
and Lycurguses of former days were the great fathers of freedom to our world. We believe in a different doctrine. We believe that we must look further back than either Athens or Sparta for the origin of a blessing most deeply interwoven with the
welfare of man; and that it was not the wisdom of
Greece in the halls of the Acropolis, but the wisdom
of God speaking from heaven through his servant
Moses, which first taught how the rights of a people
should be asserted and sustained.
While impiety is rebuked, unbelief may at the
same time be put to shame. There are Cassandras,
croaking prophets in our own country, who are always predicting the speedy overthrow of our free
institutions; and there are Catalines and Hotspurs
who would love to have it so, as it would open to
them the fields of treachery and blood in which they
delight. But there are men also of sober and reflecting minds, who look on the future both abroad.
and at home with much anxiety. "Upon the earth
there is distress of nations, with perplexity, men's
hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after
those things that are coming upon the earth." Far
and near we see a tumult of kingdoms, in which
"deep calleth unto deep;" and the responses are loud
and portentous. Great as the changes may be which




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.            21
we have seen taking place, they are pregnant with
others still greater which must soon follow., They
are only " the beginning of the end,' and there may
be many fluctuations between good and evil before
that end can be reached. The fates of empires seem
to be governed by new laws which baffle the wisdom
of the wise, and turn " the counsels of Ahithophels
into foolishness." Every institution that has sprung
from the ambition or the policy of man, seems tending
toward a general wreck; and the efforts of statesmen to prevent the catastrophe, seem only to accelerate it. The gigantic strength of the popular will is,
Samson-like, heaving at the pillars of a tyranny that
has long doomed men to blindness as well as to
bondage; but it too often threatens, in its maddened
violence, to bring ruin both on the oppressed and the
oppressors; while the "Lords of the Philistines"
infatuated with the love of power, and bewildered
by the dread of losing it, are running into measures
that must render their overthrow the more fearful
when the day of retribution comes. Nor are the
commotions and changes of our day confined to the
political world. The fountains of every great deep,
whether in church or state, are fast being broken up,
as if to issue in another deluge that shall overthrow
every thing that has been heretofore viewed as high
and stable. The corrupting alliances with worldly




22        INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
pomp and power, which have long burdened Christianity, are beginning to give way; but we fear
they must be wrenched by many a rude, if not
bloody hand, before they can be finally severed.
Gross superstitions% which have degraded Christianity down to the verge of Paganism, and the blind
idolatries of Paganism itself, are sinking into decrepitude and discredit. 3Mahomedanism can no longer
claim the Crescent as its emblem. Its moon is also
on the wane. But, although the forms of irreligion
and error are losing their sway, we must not believe
that they can be finally overthrown without further
struggle; and in the mean time the spirit of change
which at first may have been an ambition for healthful reform, too often degenerates into a blasphemous
impiety; and instead of a meretricious faith, embraces a licentious infidelity, that mocks at truth
and at the God of truth.
Nor should we in this brief review pass by in
silence disquieting  indications which we find at
home. We have here " the largest liberty for the
largest number;" but it is too often perverted and
abused by men who display a lawless and rabid
hostility against many of our best institutions, both
civil and religious. "' Deceiving and being deceived,
despising dominion, and speaking evil of dignities,"
they carry with them a hardened and unblushing




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.            23
ambition to pull down every thing which is built
up, to unsettle every thing that has been settled
either by the authority of God or the matured wisdom of man; and under the guise of a benevolence
that promises to render all men free and equal, they
would subvert every obligation of justice which
binds society together, and every sense of truth
and duty that should bind us all in reverence to
our Creator.
It should not be denied that these " signs of the
times," which are so widely spread, are the ominous
mutterings of a coming tempest. They are notes of
preparation for a war which, as we are told in the
Sriptures, is to convulse our world previous to the
millenial reign of Him who is Prince of Peace and
Saviour of our fallen race. In the language of prophecy, "the angel" seems to be "pouring out his
vial into the air" and it is followed by "voices, and
thunders, and lightnings." Opposing hosts are fast
becoming marshalled for what may well be called
"the battle of the great day," great in reference both
to the magnitude of the interests involved and the
forces engaged; and when infidelity may perhaps
be found in strange alliance with superstition and
tyranny against Christianity and freedom. It will
not be a strife for some portion of territory or
some conventional point of national honor; but




24        INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
for the unalienable rights that belong to man created in the image of his Maker. It will be a war
between the oppressors and the oppressed, between
the doers of wrong and the sufferers of wrong,
between the long established usages which bind
men to the chariot wheels of civil and ecclesiastical
domination, and their fresh born and holy purpose,
to see for themselves and act for themselves in the
momentous concerns' of the life which now is, and
of that which is to come."
With such a crisis impending, it is both natural and dutiful that we should set ourselves to
survey with care the tenure by which we, as a
people, hold the privileges which we enjoy, and
which are so soon to be put at stake. How far we
may be hereafter drawn into the coming struggle
time must show. But the subject at present comes
home to us in an aspect by no means equivocal.
The duty and the destiny of America seem to have
been written in a book that is yet but partially unsealed. Enough is known, however, to indicate that
she is to act no subordinate part in the great events
now " casting their shadowrs before them." It is obvious that there are two great powers which now
stand prominently before the world as the distinct
impersonations of despotism on the one hand, and of
liberty on the other. They are the Russian Empire




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.                     25
in the Old World, and the United States of America
in the New.  They  are both constantly widening
their borders, and augmenting  their resources, as
if gathering fresh accessions of strength for some
gigantic conflict.  Recent events too  are bringing
them  more fully upon the confines of each other;
and in these times remarkable for setting at deftance
the ordinary calculations of politicians, same collision of interests on our own continent may yet place
the two Powers in open hostility.*  But although
such an event may be counted amonlg bare possibi.
* It is now fifteen years since the follov-f:5  observations were
made by M. De Tocqueville in his woik entitled " Democracy
in America."  Events which have sinc  Lranspired tend to snow
how well he understood the position and character of tile two
countries.
"There are," he remarks," at the present time, two great nations
in the world, which seem to tend to wards the same end, although
they started from different points  I allude to the Russians and
Americans. Both of them have giown up unnoticed: and whilst
the attention of mankind was dir,:cted elsewhere, they have suddenly assumed a most prominent place amongst the nations; and
the world learned their greatness and existence at almost the
same time.
" All other nations seem to hatve nearly reached their natural
limits, and only to be charged with the maintenance of their power,
but these are still in the act of their growth: all the others are
stopped, or continue to advance with extreme difficulty; these are
proceeding with ease and with celerity along a path to which the
human eye can assign no term.-The Anglo-American relies upon
2




26          INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
lities, our country is considered by general consent as
the home and the citadel of civil freedom in a sense
peculiar to itself; and as such is viewed with ajealous
eye by many of the crowned heads of Europe. They
have long consoled themselves with the belief that
we would prove our own worst enemies, that our
experiment of self-government would end in anarchy
and blood; and every trifling outbreak between
neighbors has been hailed as an omen that these
sinister predictions were about to be fulfilled. There
is one sure ground of hope. " If God be for us, who
can be against us?" If we hold our free institutions
from God; and if, after the example of our fathers,*
we embalm them in our prayers as a gift from him,
and are faithful to the trust he has reposed in us,
then shall we still continue to possess them. They
shall be ours from generation to generation. But if
they come only from man, we have no such security.
They may pass from us as a dream, and come to
naught. May I not therefore hope to carry with me
personal interest to accomplish his ends, and gives free scope to
the unguided exertions and common sense of the citizens; the
Russians centre all the authority of society in a single arm: the
principle instrument of the former is freedom; of the latter servitude. Their starting-point is different, and their courses are not
the same; yet each of them seems to be marked out by the will of
Heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe."
* Note A.




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.            2T
the attention of rulers and ruled who hear me, while
I endeavor to show the Divine origin of civil freedom?
Before entering upon the argument taken immediately from the Scriptures themselves, I would ask
you to consider,
fIow fitly it corresponds with the uniform goodness
of God, that he should give to the world a distinct revelation of his will on this subject. "Thy commandment is exceeding broad," says the Psalmist. There
is an expansive power in the Bible which reaches
every want and condition in life. Sometimes as in
the Decalogue, and in the " Golden Rule," of " doing
to others as we would that others should do unto us,"
it states great general principles of duty in such
brief language that young and old may remember
them and carry them  about as household words.
But it does not stop here. It goes on to teach
how these comprehensive precepts should be applied to the various relations, whether domestic,
social or civil, which the well-being of society requires that men should sustain to each other. And
we may here add, that unless the relations of rulers
and of ruled are wisely regulated, men can have no
security in either their social or domestic enjoyments.
As tyranny existed in the world when the Hebrews
were brought out of Egypt, it had become the sorest
earthly curse that could afflict our race, and one




28        INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
from which they could devise no adequate means of
escape. If you would see how the despotism of that
day carried bitterness and death into families and
nations, let us take a survey of the cruelties then
occurring every hour under the sceptre of the Pharaohs. Among the people of the Hebrews every
"life was made bitter by hard bondage." But though
driven to "m ake bricks without straw," this was but
a small part of the suffering inflicted on them by
their unfeeling king. How wide and heart-rending
was the cry of anguish heard from every dwelling
where " a son is born." It was like the " voice in Ramah," " Rachel weeping for her children, and would
not be comforted because they were not." The royal
mandate had been issued, ordaining " every son that
is born of a Hebrew woman, ye shall cast into the
river;" and so rigidly was the command enforced
that the Nile became a vast sepulchre for new-born
babes; and the house of the bereaved mother was
converted into a home of sorrow and tears by the
cruel death of those whose lives would have rendered
it the abode of gladness and mirth. And this, be it
remembered, is but anl example of the oppression
and wrong which then afflicted all nations of the
earth. Every where, the lives, the happiness, and
the liberty of the subject, were at the will of the
one man who wore the crown; and who, drunk with




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.             29
the possession of irresponsible power, ruled over
men as over the beasts of the field. Surely there
was much in a degradation and wretchedness like
this, rendering it fit for Him whose " tender mercies
are over all his works," to show how a nation may
be governed so as best to guard against such grievous and consuming ills.
But farther: let us look at the influence of freedom on those higher faculties of man which reach
beyond his domestic enjoyments. The sentiment so
beautifully expressed,
"'Tis liberty alone that gives the flower
"Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume,"
is verified by the history of nations, whether ancient
or modern. History never misleads. It "is Philosophy teaching by example." Let, us turn to it, and
learn in what countries and under what kind of
government the intellectual and moral faculties
which adorn and dignify our nature have been
most happily developed.
Allow me here to quote from a work among the
most able in our language, and well known as a
most unbending advocate of royalty and rank for
perfecting the body politic. " Civilized democracy,"
it tells us, "is the great moving power in human
affairs; the source of the greatest efforts of human




30        INTRODUCTORY LECTU'RE.
genius; and when duly restrained from running into
excess, the grand instrument of human advancement. Its grand characteristic is energy, and energy
not rousing the exertions merely of a portion of society, but awakening the dormant strength of millions; not producing merely the chivalrous valor of
the high bred cavalier, but drawing forth the might
that slumbers in a peasant's arm. The greatest
achievements of genius, the noblest efforts of heroism that have illustrated the history of the species
have arisen from the influence of this principle.
Thence the fight of Marathon and the glories of Salamis-the genius of Greece and the conquests of
Rome —the heroism of Sempach and the devotion, of
Harlaem-the paintings of Raphael and the poetry
of Tasso-the energy that covered with a velvet
carpet the slopes of.the Alps, and the industry which
bridled the stormy seas of the German ocean. Why
are the' shores of the Mediterranean the scene to
which the pilgrim from every quarter of the globe
journeys to visit, at once, the cradles of civilization,
the birthplace of arts, of arms, of philosophy, of
poetry, and the scenes of their highest and most glorious achievements? Because freedom spread along
its smiling shores; because the ruins of Athens and
Sparta, of Rome and Carthage, of Tyre and Syracuse lie on its margin; because civilization advanc



INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.             31
ing with the white sails which glittered on its blue
expanse, pierced, as if impelled by central heat,
through the dark and barbarous regions of the Celtic
race who peopled its shores.-What gave Rome the
empire of the world, and brought the venerable ensigns, bearing the words, "Senatus populusque Romanus," (the senate and the people of Rome,) to the
wall of Antoninus, and the foot of the Atlas, the waters of the Euphrates and the Atlantic ocean? —Republican Rome colonized the world; republican
Greece spread the light of civilization along the
shores of the Mediterranean. But Imperial Rome
could never maintain the number of its own provinces; and the Grecian Empire slumbered on with
a declining population for eleven hundred years."*
Eloquent and glowing as these extracts may be
regarded, they are not exaggerated or fanciful.
They present a faithful picture of truth. There are
but few green spots in our fallen world where man
has ever made any great advancement in whatever
most elevates his nature and improves his happiness. Among these, as we shall hereafter showv, the
land of the Hebrews stands first among ancient nations. But whether it be Palestine, Greece or Rome,
* Blackwood, Jaluary, 1836. The article from which the extracts are taken is entitled " The Future," and will amply repay
a careful perusal.




82        INTRODUCTORY LECTURo.
of former ages; whether it be Genoa, Venice, Holland or England, of later times, the germ, at least,
of civil freedom, was found in them all; and though
its growth may at times have been retarded, and its
beauty marred by unnatural restraints and entanglements, yet just in proportion as these antagonist
forces were removed or overcome, did the struggling spirit of freedom impart a healthful activity to
the noblest powers and aspirations of man. W7hat an
impulse, for instance, was given to knowledge and
refinement in the free States of Italy, when they
were liberated from tyranny? There, it may be said,
learning and art first raised their heads, after their
fearful overthrow by the invasion of the northern
barbarians. What was Holland before she became
freed from both ecclesiastical and civil domination?
With few exceptions, the minds of her people were
as stagnant as the waters in her boundless marshes.
There was no nerve in the national arm to bridle
the waves of the ocean from overflowing her shores;
there were no fleets issuing from her ports to come
back enriching her with the wealth of the world;
no seminaries of learning teeming with a growth of
intellect that rendered the divines, the physicians,
the lawyers, the statesmen, the philosophers of 1Holland, the oracles of their day throughout the civilized
world. But soon as she acquired her national inde



INTRODUCTORY LECTURE,            33
pendence and freedom, she raised herself to a first
rank among nations in all these high attainments;
and has enabled her descendants among us to look
back upon her with high reverence for their " fatherland."
Or shall we look at another country to which, as
a people, we can trace a more general ancestry?
Mark the stages of progress made by England, as a
birthplace of knowledge, refinement and high enterprise for public good; and you will see that just
according as arbitrary power, whether in king or
nobles, has been checked and over-ruled by the
spirit of civil freedom in her people, her course has
been onward. What was she before her Magna
Charta was granted and signed as her first great
step of disenthralment from bondage? Her curfew
bell was rung every night, as if to proclaim the
darkness that covered the land, and to remind her
of the iron sceptre that controlled her every hour
and her best enjoyments. But what has she become
since that day of her first release; and especially
since the seeds of liberty took their deep root in her
soil during the commonwealth, and have become
developed and embodied in her far-famed Bill of
Rights? There she sits like a star in the lap of the
ocean. Her name and her power are known wherever the sun shines; and her achievements have
2*




34         INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
placed her first among the nations of Europe in all
that the wise most seek to know, or the good most
desire to do.
But let us turn at once to our own country.
H-ere, as all admit, freedom has a dwelling which
is "like a city set upon a hill, which cannot be hid."
Compare her as she is here, with what she was in
Greece or Rome. There she was defaced by deformities inseparable from the darkness of Paganism. Here she has acquired the symmetry and
beauty which could be derived only from the moulding power of Christianity. No such thing as genuine freedom can be enjoyed by a people who are divided from each other by those iron bands of caste
which are interwoven with the structure of society
in Pagan lands. Christianity alone has power to
melt down such instruments of cruelty and injustice.
It teaches the doctrine that " God hath made of one
blood all nations that dwell on the face of the earth,"
and lays its command on every man to "love his
neighhor as himself.". From these two cardinal principles it enforces that safe equality which preserves
the social fabric from dissolution, and at the same
time renders the rights of the weakest and strongest
equally secure. If it levels distinctions among men,
it levels upward, not downward; it elevates the low,
elevates them in mind and in conduct; and so far




INT ODUCTORY LECTURE.            35
as it brings down the high, it brings down nothing
but those "vain imaginations which exalt themselves against God." This is the equality which our
free institutions, imbued with the spirit of the Bible,
are designed to effect. The Roman patrician knew
nothing of it, nor did he act upon it. Had you told
him that he was sprung from the same dust as the
humble plebeian, he would have laughed you to scorn.
We might also compare freedom as she is here
with what we find her in Christian nations of modern times, but who weaken her influence by unnatural alliance. Here she is not overshadowed and
dwarfed in her growth by her proximity to towering
royalty. She: has the field to herself. She places
sovereignty in the hands of the people, and sends
them to the Bible, that they may learn how to wear
the crown.
And what has been the effect of her christianized
and untrammeled sway during little more than half
a century, on the condition of the nation?  Where
do you find intelligence, enterprise, industry, corlmpetency, and a respect for religion, if not acquaintance
with its power, so general as you find them here?
Where such a growth in whatsoever is most essential to public greatness? Every thing rests on the
diffusion of sound intelligence through the mass of
the people, on the cultivation of a just standard of




86         INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
right and wrong among all classes; and every where
we have the school and the church, the teacher and
the preacher, as the great fountains of light and
truth to the nation. The result of such training is
not to be questioned or overlooked. The observing
stranger has passed through our country, and describes it as "a land of wonders, in. which every
thing is in constant motion, and every movement
seems an improvement; a land where no natural
boundary seems to be set to the efforts of man; and
what is not yet done, is only what he has not yet
attempted to do." It is the mind of a whole nation
teeming with purposes for advancement in knowledge and in the power which knowledge gives. As
a people, activity is our element. Idlers find themselves alone. They can meet with neither company
nor countenance. The mind of every man is acting
on the mind of his neighbor, thus stimulating the
faculties of both to accomplish new objects and
make new discoveries in the still unexplored regions
of nature and of art. In illustration of this quickened and irrepressible activity, let us refer to one
or two of those inventions which, acting in correspondence with the spirit of our age, are destined to
work an entire change in the condition of nations,
whether " Barbarian or Scythian, bond or free."
It has been well observed that when great im



INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.            87
provements are about to be made in human affairs,
some powerful agency is provided adequate to the
end, and adapted to the occasion. Prior to the reformation came the art of printing; that being an era
in the history of the world, in which a new impulse
was to be given to the spread of knowledge among
civilized nations. We are now on the verge oif another era, in which "the field is to be the world;" in
which Christianity is to be carried over every sea
and through every land of the globe; in which,
to use the language of prophesy,' "many shall run to
and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." For the
accomplishment of this great end, we need some new
instrumentality for speeding communication between the various regions of the earth; and which,
for all moral purposes, shall bring the most distant
nations into close neighborhood one with another.
We see this wonder-working power in the recent
applications of steam and electricity, which are fast
annihilating both time and space. By means of the
one, our vessels move on the waters in the face of
the winds, and with a speed that outstrips them;
and our cars pass over the land with a swiftness that
leaves our vessels far behind them. By means of
the other, intelligence is sent to the terminus of the
railroad, though distant thousands of miles, giving
notice that the cars have just begun to move. It is




38         INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
through these newly discovered agencies, that seas
and lands, although hitherto unexplored, are soon to
become the pathways of truth and knowledge; and
the good news of "Glory to God in the highest, on
earth peace and good will towards men," are to be
borne "to the utmost borders of the earth." A new
longevity is bestowed on man, for the length of his life
is to be measured by his power of doing good; and he
can now accomplish in a day what formerly would
have cost the tedious labor of months. The lever is
prepared for human hands which is to do more than
the lever of Archimedes. It is not only to move the
world, but to transform and cover it with the light
of truth. And where were these inventions first
made available for the great purposes they are now
answering? Whatever may be said respecting the
claims of Ftolland to the credit of having invented the art of printing while cherishing the seeds of a
republic; it cannot be denied, that in our own land
of freedom, the Steamer and the Telegraph have
been nurtured into activity and usefulness; and the
work has been done mainly, not by men of any privileged class, but by those who sprung from the
multitude; and whose faculties, sharpened by a sense
of self-reliance, persevered against ridicule, wrong,
and even want, till their object was gained.
The same spirit of achievement is seen in other




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.            39
branches of knowledge, which has so happily displayed itself in the useful arts. The time has gone by
when even the mocker would dare to ask, Who reads
an American book? How rapidly our Bench and our
Bar have risen to eminence during the last half century; and how liberal have been their contributions
to the great store-house of legal knowledge, is acknowledged wherever jurisprudence is understood
and appreciated. If I may speak of my own profession, our divines, accordinig to their numbers, have
done their part to vindicate and illustrate the great
truths of the Gospel. But our distinguishing achievement in religion is that in which as a people we yet
stand alone. Nor is it to be traced simply to the
wisdom of our divines, or of any one profession or
class of our citizens. It is the result of public sentiment pervading the land. We have severed the
Church from the State. We have withdrawn and
secured religion, the holiest boon of heaven, from corrupting alliance with civil authority. We have discovered, if discovery it can be called, that religion
is best supported when self-supported. We have
brought to the proof of successful experiment, what
was long ridiculed as a dream, that those who enjoy
the blessings of Christianity, will best sustain her
worship and ordinances by their voluntary offerings.
We ask neither establishment nor toleration from the




40        INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
State. We require nothing but protection for all
worshippers, and in any form of worship which conscience approves, and which will not disturb the
peace and safety of others. I dwell on this subject
the more because it so well exemplifies the fearless
and truth-loving spirit of inquiry which belongs to
our nation. The belief that religion could be sustained only by the patronage of the State, was indurated by the rust of ages. It formed an article in
Protestant as well as Papal creeds. The Reformation, with all its power in dispelling delusions and
removing abuses, had failed to create a reformed
and scriptural faith on this important point, important both to the peace of the State, and the purity
and prosperity of the Church. In this country we
broke down ecclesiastical establishments when we
broke away from colonial dependence. We made
the Church independent of the State when we
wrought out the independence of the nation. We
have based the claims of religion for support on her
own excellence, as she herself reveals it to the hearts
of men; and now, having watched the working of
our system for more than half a century, we find
the result to be most propitious. We find it in the
liberality with which the ministry and ordinances
of the Gospel are sustained. In no land throughout
Protestant Christendom are the clergy, as a class,




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.             d1
placed in circumstances of a more happy cci-petency than in these United States. If none of them
are luxuriating in princely incomes, none of them
are left destitute of the necessaries of life. We find
it also in the spirit of mutual kindness and good will
which prevails among the various denominations of
Christians. " Judah does not vex Ephraim, nor does
Ephraim envy Judah." No one sect, because established by law, can look down upon others who do
not enjoy the same patronage. We all share equally
in the favor of the State, and must all depend equally on ourselves for favor among the people. We
find it also in the enlarged munificence and increased activity with which our churches act, for
the spread of the Gospel. Universal experience
shows, that it is those whose hearts are trained
to liberality by sustaining religion among themselves, who lead the way in voluntary offierings for
sending it to others.
Not to cite farther proofs showing the vigor
with which the minds of our people act, in new acquisitions of knowledge, and in correcting old and
long established errors and abuses; let me now ask.
what can it be that gives to the nation this elastic
spirit, this indomitable energy and perseverance!
What, that diffuses this character so widely as to
make it extend to every class, in every condition of




42        INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
life? No doubt we owe it to our wide spread Christianity as the first and great cause. But had Christianity been cramped and enfeebled by civil disabilities
and restraints, she would have been far from imparting this tone to the public mind. She has long
existed under these, counteracting influences in
lands where we find but little proof of such power
on the character of the people. No, it is only
where Christianity is allowed to act herself out; to
act in alliance with civil and religious freedom;
a freedom which she sanctions by her own high authority; that she can " have free course," reaching
all classes and imbuing a whole community with a
spirit which renders them alike blessed in themselves,
and the instrument of blessing to the world around
them.
Surely then, if freedom is thus interwoven with
the improvement and happiness of our race, it may
well be expected that whatever is essential to its
establishment should be revealed in a volume which
" has the promise of the life that now is, and of that
which is to come." The precious Book has assured
us that "the hairs of our head are all numbered;"
that our " bread shall be given us and our water
shall be sure;" and when we are taught that the
Most High governs with such care in the minutest
concerns of human life, can we suppose that he




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.           43
would fail to instruct men in the nature and importance of institutions by which every thing valuable in their personal, domestic, civil and Christian
welfare, is so deeply affected.
I would not close this Lecture without asking
you to reflect, that this desire for progress, this onward spirit which I have described as characteristic
of our nation, unless wisely regulated may lead into
errors of no ordinary magnitude. Let it not be supposed that we would have the elastic spring of the
bow destroyed, because owing to unskilful hands it
may sometimes send the arrow beyond the mark.
Wrong, oppression and injustice have been so
long prevalent in our fallen world, that inveterate
evils are not always to be eradicated, nor great
benefits acquired and secured by powers of action
that have been tamed down to what some would
call a safe mediocrity; and if the sultry and deadly
atmosphere can be purified by nothing short of the
breeze freshening into a gale; then let the wind
blow, and even, if need be, let the thunder roll,
though the trees of the forest be shaken, and some
of their branches be scattered in the storm. But
while we would not have the energy of our people
subdued or destroyed, we desire to see it wisely
governed, and their eyes opened to the dangers
which beset them.




44         INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
There is danger of their being carried away by a
spirit of recklessness and presumption. VWe have
seen this too often, and especially in the crowded
thoroughfares of business and of ambition, where
men, excited by emulation and collision with each
other, venture they know not where, until all is left
to the hazard of the die. This gambling, whether
for power or for wealth, is demoralizing. It blunts
every sensibility to that which is right and commendable, and opens a door to temptation in its
worst forms. " I, wisdom, dwell with prudence;" and
no prize, however splendid in appearance, is worth
the cost, if it is gained by disregarding the dictates
of either the one or the other.
We should also be on our guard against a spirit
of pride and self-sufficiency, which would undervalue
and repudiate much that is venerable from its age
and long-tricd worth. If our growth, as a people,
has been rapid, we are yet young. We have yet
much to gain before we can reach the grace and
symmetry of nations much older than ourselves. We
should be careful not to glide into the false notion
that every thing which is old is also worthless.
Many of the elements of our own happiness and
prosperity are derived from nations nowr venerable
for their years and time-honored institutions. While
we L" prove all things," we should be careful to " hold




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.           45
fast that which is good;" and of things which are
good, we should prize those most highly, the value
of which has been tested by the experience of past
ages, and which come down to us commended by
the judgment of the wise and the great, who are
now in their graves. Especially should we always
remember with a grateful regard the country from
which we have derived our language, our laws, and
much of what belongs to the very essence of our
civil freedom. If she once may have viewed us with
feelings that were both unnatural and unkind, they
have given place to a good will that is becoming
more generous and more just. The speedy and constant intercourse of the present day has already
corrected the mistakes of fbrmer years, and has led
the two countries to a more just appreciation of each
other. Let the daughter remember what the mother has done to challenge veneration and love; and
let the mother rejoice in the growing beauty and
strength of a daughter, who in her best deeds bestows a high commendation on her early training.
Let both remember that they equally belong to that
race of the human family by whose labors truth and
righteousness are soon to be spread through the
earth. The man is a poor interpreter of "the signs
of the times," who has not learnt that to England
and America, under God, belongs the foremost rank




46        INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
in the great service of regenerating the world. The
Governments of the two countries should keep this
consideration constantly before them, and every opportunity should be.improved to cherish the mutual
kindness and respect which befit the high work they
are called unitedly to fulfil. They should view it as
their mission, not to kindle the torch of war, but to
act as conservators of peace; and if they ever draw
the sword, it should not be against each other, but to
compel nations to sheathe it who have long bathed
it in blood. A war between England and America
would be the heaviest calamity in this eventful
age, which the pride, or vanity, or ambition of wild
politicians could inflict on the world.
There is also great danger lest in this rapid
course of prosperity and development, we should
fall into forgetfulness of God. "Beware that thou
forget not the Lord thy God,-but when thou hast
eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses
and dwelt therein; and when thy herds and thy
flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; then thy
heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God,
and say in thine heart, My power and the might of
my hand has gotten me this wealth." To no nation,
not even to Israel, prosperous as they were, could
this admonition be more applicable than to ourselves




INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.           47
as a people. Our prosperity has outstripped the
predictions of the most sanguine; but forgetfulness
of the Giver in his gifts, is already but too manifest
among us; and I dread the prevalence of it. Whenever prosperity and success, especially in objects of
public interest, crown the efforts of man, his proud
heart seems inclined to ask, " Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom
by the might of my power, and for the honor of my
majesty." True, it is a haughty monarch, glorying
in his uncontrolled and unlimited sovereignty, who
stands as the recorded example of such guilt and of
its consequences. But in a land where every one
feels that the sovereignty belongs to the people, and
that he is one of the people; and that whatever national greatness may be achieved, belongs to him
as a part of the nation; there is peculiar danger
that this boastful spirit may become a national and
easily besetting sin. And if our pride is pictured
in the example of the King of Babylon, ought we
not to fAar lest our doom should also be found
written in the tragical end of his kingdom? Pride
intoxicates while it also corrupts, making those
an easy prey who might otherwise be invincible.
It ruled the throne of Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar no longer reigned. It taught his son to
"lift up himself against the Lord of heaven;" and




48         INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
to abandon himself to scenes of revelry and pro.
fanity, leaving the gates of the city unguarded, until
they were entered by the victorious Medes and Persians. "The fingers of a man's hand," which wrote
his doom " on the plaster of the wall," have repeated
the warning ever since; and from the day when that
once proud and powerful empire, " the beauty of the
Chaldees' excellency, " hardened her mind in pride,"
and said, "I shall be a Lady for ever-I, and none
else besides me," the world has been filled with examples, both in princes and people, that " a haughty
spirit goeth before a fall." May God save our nation
from the sin, and then we shall be safe from its
penalty.




SECOND LECTURE.
In the opening Lecture of this series, we advanced the proposition that not only is Civil Government the ordinance of God, but that the essential
principles of civil freedom carry the seal of his authority; and that when nations " began to multiply
on the earth," he made a revelation of his will,
showing how the relation between rulers and ruled
should be formed and regulated. This revelation
was given when the Hebrews were brought out of
Egypt. While God instructed them as his church
in the great doctrines of redeeming grace, he did
not overlook their welfare as a nation; but distinguished and elevated them above the kingdoms of
that day, by forming them into a commonwealth under civil enactments, which embraced all the essential features of public freedom, or of a well-ordered
Republic.
Before entering on the argument, we replied to
the inquiry, whether civil liberty is such a blessing
as to render it a fit subject for the express revelation which we assigned to it. We showed that it is
in the fullest sense worthy of a revelation direct
o




50            SECOND LECTURE.
from God, because of its importance not only to the
physical and social welfare of man, but to the development of his intellectual and moral faculties; and,
because without it, Christianity itself is enfeebled
and fettered.  Indeed Christendom, far and near,
seems to be waking up to this great truth. That
honored class of men, the apostles of our day, the
missionaries now laboring in heathen lands, are constantly sending to the churches at home, entreaties
that we would pray for the spread of civil liberty, as
indispensable to the " free course " of the Gospel.
We now come to the direct proof of our proposition. We may begin by an argument taken from
The nature of the case. It has passed into a maxim
in the science of public morals, that men do not so
much make institutions, as that institutions make
men. This is one of the results which philosophy has
drawn from universal history. Nations do not rise
from degradation and barbarity of their own accord,
unaided by some external agency above and beyond
themselves. And what, let me ask, was the condition of the whole world when M[oses arose as the
inspired teacher and liberator of the Hebrews? Ignorance and bondage covered the human race as
with the pall of death. The dominion of rulers was
either acquired by the sword, or- transmitted by inheritance from father to son; the people having no




SECOND LECTURE.               51
voice in the choice of him who was over them, more
than if they had been the beasts of the field or the
clods of the valley. He had risen to power without
their will, and often against it. He was not of them,
was not responsible to them, and claimed authority
over them and over all that was theirs, unlimited
and uncontrolled. The nations indeed moaned beneath the tyranny of the despotic oppression, but it
was the'moan of despair. Or if in their agony a
hand was raised to resist cruelty and wrong, it was
soon crushed and riveted down by some new and
heavier chain. Few had the courage to struggle for
liberation, and even when the effort was made, it
was rather like the frantic writhings of a man goaded to madness, and beating himself against the walls
of his cell, than the wise and rational labors which
could obtain freedom, and secure it when obtained.
The gloom of the picture was increased by the
downward tendency of things from  age to age;
every change being only from bad to worse; and
this change affecting rulers as well as ruled, making the one more corrupt, as it made the other more
wretched. Indeed, such must always be the effect
of despotism on the despot himself. The possession
of power without responsibility might corrupt an
angel. It was their grasping after it that caused
angels to fall, and converted them into fiends. We




-            SECOND LECTURfE.
can then readily perceive what must have been its
effect on men born a fallen race, and " whose
feet 9'" from infancy had been " swift to shed blood."
Accordingly the thrones of that day became filled by
kings who were rather monsters than men, and who
sported with the lives and happiness of their subjects in the very wantonness of cruelty and injustice.
Now from what quarter, or by what power was
this sore evil which lay upon the earth to be either
checked or remedied? The principles of stable and
equitable government form one of the most complicated of human sciences. None but comprehensive
and enlightened minds can fully understand them.
The wise and great' men who were the fathers of
our Republic found the application of them to the
wants and welfare of our land, long after they had
been tried elsewhere, to be a work which tasked
their powers as statesmen to the utmost.
If then, in the midst of the darkness and degradation which were universal throughout the world
in the days of old, we find the nation of the Hebrews,
yesterday enslaved, feeble and rude, and still struggling with the privations and dangers of the wilderness, yet rising up to our view at once, and showing
themselves possessed of laws which secured to them
every blessing of civil freedom, which so combined
the various powers of the state as equally to secure




SECOND. LECTURE.             53
the rights of the weak and the strong, the poor
and the rich; the question arises,-How came this
favored people into the possession of enactments
ensuring to them a freedom so invaluable in itself,
so unknown before their day, and to which the nations around them were still utter strangers? Was
it "from heaven or of men?" Was it taught them
of God, or did it spring from the then dim wisdom
of earth? I ask the statesman, who knows what
government is, and the wisdom required to devise it.
I ask the historian, who has read history with the
eye of philosophy, and who knows what the events
of time should teach us. Both, I venture to say, will
answer, that such an achievement was as far beyond
the wisdom of that day, as the creation of a world
lay beyond its power.
Let us then turn at once to the Book in which
are recorded the ordinances given to the Hebrews
for their government as a nation; and let us see
how far it reveals the principles which are essential
to civil liberty as displayed in a wisely constructed
Republic. Essential, we say, for there are many
things in civil polity,:when wisely adjusted, which
should be left to be regulated by circumstances or
considerations of expediency. Such are the number of
offices which the laws may embrace; their relations
to each other, and the terms on which they are held.




54            SECOND LECTURE.
These may be different in one nation from what
they are in another, and yet the people themselves
may be equally free. In like manner also, a government may be varied so as to meet the various pursuits and interests of different nations, and yet preserve all that enters into a true perception of public
freedom. A community that is chiefly employed
in commerce, will require laws very different from
those adapted to the welfare of a people who expend their main strength in agriculture. But, notwithstanding these diversities in free States, still
these are great features which cannot be severed
from public liberty without either impairing or destroying it; and these, we say, are all to be found
divinely appointed, and brought more or less into
action in the commonwealth of the Hebrews. We
find here
Government by representation, the election of rulers
by the ruled, the public officer chosen by the public
voice.-" This," observes the celebrated Chateaubriand, "may be classed among three or four discoveries that have created another universe." The
question we would ask is, where, when, and among
whom was this great principle first introduced?
The great majority of nations are still ignorant of
it. There was a time, as we have seen; when it
was unknown to all. We ask, what people first




SECOND -LECTURE.            55
brought it into practice and enjoyed the freedom
that springs from it?
An accomplished historian of modern times,
thinks it can be traced to the early councils of the
Christian church.* We believe that a still higher
antiquity belongs to it, and that we first meet with
it among the Hebrews, when in the wilderness,
soon after they were brought out from the bondage,of Egypt.
The subject may be said to come before us, but
bearing a merely incipient shape, in the advice-of
Jethro to Moses, when "Israel was encamped at
the mount of God." Exodus, 18: 13-24. " It came.to
pass on the morrow," as we are told, " that Moses sat
to judge the people, and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening." When
Jethro had seen how constantly and laboriously
Moses was occupied in "judging between one and
another" of the people, "when they had a matter;"
he wisely said, "the thing that thou doest is not
good. Thou will surely wear away, both thou and
this people that is with thee; for this thing is too
heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now unto my voice, I will give
thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou
for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring
* Note B.




SECOND LECTURE.
the causes unto God: and thou shalt teach them
ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way
wherein they must walk, and the work that they
must do." But having thus advised Moses to restrict himself to the work which properly belonged
to him as the inspired teacher and leader of the people, Jethro proceeds with his counsel, saying, "M oreover thou shalt provide out of all the people, able
men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of
thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties,
and rulers of tens; and let them judge the people at
all seasons; and it shall be that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge. If thou shalt do this thing, and
God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to
endure, and all this people shall go to their place in
peace. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said."
It is to be observed that no reference is here
made to a choice of rulers by the people, either in
the advice given by Jethro, or in the action founded
upon it. Probably he did not contemplate such a
thing. It would seem that this counsel came from a
higher source. Jethro was both a wise man and a
worshipper of the true God; and feeling that the introduction of such a magistracy as he recommended




SECOND LECTURE.             57
was a measure of vast importance to the nation, he
referred Moses to God for a special intimation of the
Divine will, when he should proceed to act in the
matter. " If," says he, "thou shalt do this thing,
and God shall command thee so," or so authorize
and commission thee, as the Hebrew word properly
means, thus intimating that the thing was not to be
done unless God would command or authorize the
proceeding. No one who is acquainted with the
close and habitual intercourse which Moses maintained with God, in all that he did as the leader of
Israel, can doubt as to his having asked for the Divine direction which Jethro judged so indispensable. And what were the steps which he actually
took in order to provide rulers for the people after
he had sought instruction from God; he himself tells
us in the Book of Deuteronomy, where he recites the
whole transaction; and specifies both what the people did, and what he did on the memorable occasion.
We should remember that the name of " Deuteronomy" is given to this,Book of the Pentateuch,
because it contains a second or supplementary account of what was announced as the law or will of
God, on the subjects to which it refers. Let us then
look at what Moses here declares to have been done
when rulers were appointed; and observe the minuteness with which he pictures out the whole pro3*




563~8             $SECOND LECTURE.
ceedings from first to last. Deut. 1: 9-18.  " I spake
unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear
you myself alone: the Lord your God hath multiplied you, and behold, ye are this day as the stars of
heaven  for multitude.  How  can  I myself alone
bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your
strife?" Having thus alluded to the necessity which
called for the appointment of rulers, what does he
describe as the first step for the accomplishment of
the object?  It is " Take you (or select for yourselves)* wise men, and understanding, and known
among your tribes, and I will make them  rulers over
*    UJ   t5.'i   are the Hebrew words, and they are the
VT    T
same which are used by Joshua, (18: 4,) where having reproved
the children of Israel for allowing seven tribes still to remain
without "their inheritance in the land which the Lord God had
given them;" he directs, "Give out from among you," or select
for yourselves, " three men for each tribe: and I will send them,
and they shall rise and go through the land, and describe it into
seven parts." It was an important mission on which these men
were to be sent, and before they were authorized to proceed upon
it they were to be selected, or " given out " by the voice of the
people. Many other passages might be cited to show that this is
the meaning of the verb'qW2  The generic idea is to put forth,
to propose, or prefer for some given object: as in 2 Samuel,
11: 15. 1" Set ye," or put ye forth, " Uriah in the fore-front of the
hottest battle;" the post of honor, as it was the post of danger
for the brave soldier; and which no doubt Uriah would readily
take, little conscious as he was of the treachery by which he was
to be sacrificed.




SECOND LECT U RE.            5
you. And ye answered me, and said, The thing
which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. So I
took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known,
and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over
fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among
your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time,
saying, Hear the causes between your brethren,
and judge righteously between every man and his
brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall
not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear
the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid
of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and
the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me,
and I will hear it. And I commanded you at that
time all the things that you should do."'
There can be no doubt as to the object in view
throughout the transaction here described. It was
the creation of a civil magistracy in a form adapted
to the existing wants of the people. And we find in
the proceedings so carefully and distinctly recited
by Moses, the origin or the first precedent of elective civil government. It appears to have been
among the first things ordained for the Hebrew nation, after they were brought out from their bond.
age in Egypt, and were being formed into a State.
* Note C.




60            SECOND LECTURE.
It was also one of the great privileges that distinguished them from all other nations of the earth,
which still remained under the merciless tyranny
already described as the calamity of the human race
at that day. And observe, how fully the record covers every essential point in the case.
In the first place, the candidates for office were
not to be selected from any one privileged class.
They were taken " out of all the people." They must
be well known for their intellectual and moral worth,
and their fitness for the stations to which they were
chosen. They were to be, as it is here expressed,
" able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating
covetousness;" "wise men and understanding, and
known among the tribes;" and these qualifications
being not only all-important but all-sufficient, none
others were required.
In the second place, the voice of the people to be
ruled was the first step in the appointment of the
ruler. It was to " all Israel,". t-at the direction was
given, " Take you," or choose for yourselves, "wise
men," &c. and it was the people over whom the
magistrates were to act, who-answered Moses, say
ing, "The thing which thou hast spoken is good for
us to do."
In the third place, after the rulers were thus
chosen, they were inducted into office by an appro



SECOND  LECTURE.                      61
priate existing authority.  Moses, who had his commission direct from  Heaven, "made them  rulers," as
it is here termed; in  other words, invested them
with the authority to which the people had previously chosen them, and gave them a charge which
might well be adopted as a manual by every one
who is called to the exercise of civil magistracy."
Such it seems was the mode in which, by Divine
direction, office was conferred in the Hebrew  Commonwealth.  The  government was  in  every just
sense a government of the people. The magistrate
was chosen by the sunfrages of those among whom
he was to act; and at the same time well known integrity and competency were the only qualifications
* In a state of society so simple as that of the Hebrews, when
an organized magistracy was first given them, no disadvantage
could well arise from  having different offices filled by the same
man, to an extent that would not be wise or safe for a community in which interests have become more complicated and various.
In the passages quoted above we find men described as " Chiefs
of the tribes," as "Heads over the people," as " Rulers," as " Captains," as " Officers," and then addressed as " Judges."  This latter term, indeed, seems to have been of very extensive application
in the Hebrew Commonwealth. It is'sometimes applied to those
who were employed in the ordinary administration of justice; and
againa to such as Jepthah, Gideon and others, to whom, as chief
magistrates of the nation, were committed the supreme command
of the armies and other important trusts. A union of different
offices in the same man, or the same body of men, is a thing not
unknown in modern governments, our own among the number.




62             $ECOND LECTURE.
required for any station, from  the highest to the
lowest. For the same rule indeed seems to have
been applied not only to officers chosen for the regular discharge of duties in the Commonwealth,
but also to others selected for special occasions.
When twelve men were to be selected, to " search
out the land," and to point out the way in which the
tribes should go up to possess it, the voice of " all
Israel " was first heard.' When, seven tribes remaining without their inheritance, three men from each
tribe were to be deputed to "go through the land
and describe it, and divide it into seven parts;"
they were not sent on their mission till first chosen
by the people.t When Jepthah was called to take command in the war against the children of Ammon
and to be judge over Israel, he assumed no authority till " the people made him head and captain over
them."e And even when the nation, in their folly and
disobedience to God, insisted on having a king over
them; the crown, during the first and better ages of
the monarchy, seems not to have been worn till the
man was made king by the voice of the people, or
of their representatives acting in their names. From
these and other examples which might be given, it
would seem as if every proper occasion had been
embraced to give a full and repeated sanction to the
* Deut.: a 22.  f Josh. 18: 3,1   Jud. 11. 11




SECOND  LECTURE.                     63
great principle, that authority, whether ordinary or
extraordinary, should emanate from those on whose
behalf it was to be employed.  After what forms
elections may have been conducted; how nearly or
remotely resembling those adopted in modern elective
governments are inquiries of small moment. They
do not affect the position, that the officer held his
office from an acknowledged constituency, and that
his constituents were those over whom  and among
whom  his authority was exercised.*
ok In this connection we may properly advert to the legitimate
meaning of the term or phrase, " Congregation of Israel," so fiequently mentioned in the history of the Hebrews. No doubt it sometimes means all the people numerically considered; but in many
cases it evidently means an assembly acting as representatives of
the people. Acts and proceedings are often attributed to "the
Congregation," when from the nature of the occasion the whole
population could neither have acted nor have been present to act.
While on the way to Canaan, and at the time of their entrance
into the promised land, the whole population must have amounted.
to about 2,500,000. Can we suppose this vast multitude to have
been meant when it. was commanded respecting an offender, " Let
all the congregation stone himl" Few questions could arise
requiring more nice and careful discrimination than the right
of the man-slayer to protection, when he fled to the city of
refuge. Can we then suppose the whole people, old and young,
to be meant, when it is said, " Then the congregation shall judge
between the slayer and the revenger of blood, according to these
judgments; and the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of
the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled " It was




64                SECOND  LECTURE.
Another great element of civil freedom is a Judiciary which provides for the prompt and equal administration of justice between man and man. It has
been wisely observed, that " the best laws are those
which are best administered;" and if you turn to
the ordinances  given  by God to the Hebrews for
carrying the laws of the land into effect, you
will find them admirably adapted to their end,
giving equal security to the poor and to the rich
against violence and wrong.
Their courts of justice were of various grades;
some known as High Courts of Appeal; and others
so simple and multiplied as to carry the administration of'justice to every man's door, and effectually
to secure the parties against that ruinous evil, "the
law's delay." " Judges and officers shalt thou make
the " wise men," who alone were competent to act in cases of
such judicial delicacy and importance. " The Tabernacle of the
Congregation" was probably so called because it was the place
where the high authorities of the nation held their sittings and
deliberations. Such a conventional or technical use of the term
corresponds with the meaning which we attribute to words of
similar import, as Assembly, Congress, Convention, &c. When
we speak of' the Assembly of the State of New-York, or of the
Congloess of the United States, we do not mean the whole numerical population of thle State, or of the Nation; but their representatives, chosen to act on their behalf and in their name. The
remarks of Michaelis on this subject are so just that, I have made
an extract fiom them in Note D.




SECOND LECTURE.              65
thee in all thy gates," was the command; and to
what a minute subdivision this creation of tribunals
was carried out, you see in another ordinance already quoted, directing that there should be " rulers
over thousands, rulers over hundreds, rulers over
fifties, and rulers over tens, who should judge the
people at all seasons." With a judiciary constructed
and ramified after this manner, justice could be administered promptly and freely; and on the other
hand, a remedy was provided against the evils of
hasty decisions, which could not fail in the end to
discover and maintain the right of the case. The
different courts to which lay the power of appeal,
were so formed as to preclude undue bias, arising
from pre-judgment; and as a last or ultimate resort,
was the venerable Council of Seventy, who held
their sittings in the sanctuary, and combined the
choice wisdom of the nation, selected with special
reference to their high trust.y
Had I time, I would dwell on those great and
essential principles of law and equity, according to
which suits were conducted and decisions rendered
inr all these courts, whether higher or lower. Let me
simply add, that according to such profound jurists
and scholars as Sir Matthew Hale, Hooker, Blackstone, Sir William Jones, Goguet, Grotius, Michaelis,
* Note E.




66             SECOND LECTURE.
and our own Ames, Marshall,,Story and Kent, there
is not a civilized nation, of either ancient or modern
times, which has not borrowed from the laws of
Moses whatever is most essential to the administration of justice between man and man, or between
nation and nation. The rules of evidence in con —
ducting trials; the principles upon which verdicts
should be rendered, both in civil and criminal cases;
together with the great institution of Trial by Jury,
are all found in greater or less development in the
statutes and ordinances given from God to the Hebrews; and just in proportion as they are well understood and faithfully carried out, are a community
safe in their rights, whether of person or of property.
There is still another prominent feature of the
Hebrew commonwealth, which we will briefly notice. We here see different tribes so confederated as
to form  one nation. Such a confederacy, we are
told by accomplished statesmen, is of essential importance to the stability and strength of a republic
embracing either a numerous population or-an extensive territory. In the republics of Italy, as Venice
and others, we see the evils resulting from the want
of this federative bond; and we have examples of its
happy influence in the United Netherlands, and more
especially among ourselves in America. The original model for it, you find among the Hebrews.




SECOND LECTURE.               6
Among them, the twelve tribes might fitly be called
the Twelve United States, united under one general government, by a confederacy which rendered
the nation at large the, only legitimate authority for
purposes of general welfare. But on the other hand,
a careful examination of their polity and history
will show that the tribes were not so absorbed by the
national confederacy, as to lose their character of
distinct States or communities. They maintained
within themselves such an organization as furnished
the most effective safeguards against that'centralization of power, which has sometimes rendered civil
freedom an easy prey to a daring usurper, or cost
rivers of blood to defeat his purposes.
Here it should be added, that these great elements of freedom which we have enumerated, as ordained for the Hebrews, were embodied in a written
Constitution. No nation can expect to preserve its
civil privileges unless they are secured and perpetuated in a record which both rulers and ruled can
read, to which both can refer, and which is binding
on both. Accordingly it was enjoined on Joshua, and
others who succeeded him in authority, that they
should "observe to do according to all that was written in the Book of the Law." Had the enactments
promising liberty, safety and justice to the people,
been left to be handed down by oral tradition or tes



68            SECOND LECTURE.
timony, they would soon have become changed, as
the will of ambitious or designing rulers might have
dictated. But here they were rendered stable and
permanent in a code which might be called the
Magna Charta of the Hebrew State.
Such were the essential and leading principles
of civil freedom in the Hebrew commonwealth; and
their happy influence was felt in the nation during
the long period of four hundred years. The system,
as a distinct form of government, was introduced by
Moses at the Mount of Horeb, and lasted during his
life, the life of Joshua, and the lives of others, who
successively "judged Israel," until it was superseded
by the introduction of monarchy in the days of Saul.
During these four centuries events of paramount
importance transpired. The whole economy of Old
Testament worship was ordained and brought into
general observance, the people were led through the
wilderness and established in the land promised to
their fathers, and their name became feared and
respected by surrounding nations. A succession of
men were raised up so renowned that their names
are commemorated and embalmed in the New Testament, for their wisdom, their courage, and their
piety. "What shall I more say?" says Paul, " for
the time would fail me to tell you of Gideon, and of
Barak, and.of Samson, and of Jephthah, of David




SECOND LECTURE.                69
also, of Samuel and the prophets: who through faith
subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the
violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword; out
of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in
fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." The
condition of the nation during this period, is several times referred to in their subsequent history as
pre-eminently distinguished for the faithful respect
shown to the ordinances of religion, and for the
general prevalence of prosperity in the land. However great may have been the zeal and liberality of
Josiah for restoring and observing the passover after
it had been long neglected, the utmost that could be
said of the occasion was, "surely there was not
holden such a passover from the days of the judges
that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of
Israel, or of the kings of Judah." And when David
receives assurance of future prosperity to the nation,
it is described to be such as prevailed when God
" commanded judges to be over his people Israel."
The calamities that befel the commonwealth were
often occasioned by their neglect to maintain the
government in its entireness, which God had prescribed for them; and in every instance their suffering and degradation are shown to'be in consequence
of " their turning away from the Lord," in order to




'IQ           SECOND LECTURIE.
demonstrate by a repeated and convincing record,
that no people can have civil freedom without true
religion; and that where they cease to serve and honor
the Most High, they prepare the way for anarchy
within, and for defeat and oppression from without.
Indeed to impress that truth on the nations of the
earth, seems to have been one great end for which
the " Book of Judges" was written.'
From the view we have taken of the principles
embodied in the civil Constitution of the Hebrews,
we see
1. The error of supposing the Government to have
been a pure Theocracy. It was a Theocracy only in
a limited sense. Every reader of their history must
know that the Hebrews had, like other nations, their
civil rulers, men who exercised authority over other
men, and who were acknowledged throughout the
land as its rightful magistrates. While, then, we
admit that the Most High, on fitting occasions, claimed to be the lawgiver, judge and ruler of Israel,
in a sense peculiar to himself; we hold itto have
been a part of his divine legislation to frame the
enactments which show how civil authority of man
over man should be created, and how it should be
administered so as best to promote the welfare of a
people.
e Note F.




SECOND LECTURE.              71
2. Observe the wisdom displayed in the brevity,
simplicity, and comprehensiveness of the framework
here ordained for the government of the nation. The
three great principles which we have found in their
polity, are: (1,) Election of the rulers by the ruled:
(2.) A judiciary wisely constructed for the speedy
and safe administration of justice:'And, (3.) A union
of the tribes under a confederation, well adapted to
be a safeguard against usurpation from within, and
to afford protection against invasion from without.
The wisdom and mercy which fixed these great
landmarks of human rights and civil freedom, left it
to man to draw them out into different forms, and
with different applications, as the various wants and
circumstances of different nations might require. In
this way, indeed, all the elementary principles of law
and justice are revealed in the Bible. God never
legislates too much, or too little. He leaves scope
for the study and labors of the wise and the good;
and, at the same time, establishes by his express
authority, those great boundary lines of truth and
right which may hem in the mind from capital error.
3. We see what was the sin of the people in
"asking for a king," "that they might be like all the
nations, and that their king might judge them, and
go out before them and fight their battles." There
is no doubt that there was much sin in the demand.




'%2           SECOND LECTURE.
AW hile Samuel was told to comply with their wishes,
he was directed to do it under " solemn protest;" nor
was their first king well proclaimed till they themselves made the confession, "we have added to all
our sins this evil, to ask us a king." "I gave thee a
king in mine anger," said God to the nation; for in
his wise and mysterious providence he often makes
the gratification of a sinful desire a punishment for
having indulged it. But wherein lay the sinfulness
of the nation in demanding " a king to reign over
them?" Not in their having overturned the theocracy by their wilfulness. The theocracy remained
as entire under Saul and David, as it had been under
Moses or Joshua. Their guilt is described in the
words of God to Samuel: " They have not rejected
thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not
reign over them." To reject God, or to refuse to
have him reign over us, is the scriptural language
for rejecting or putting dishonor on his ordinances
and commandments; and the sin of asking for a
king, lay in their rejecting the government which
God had provided for them as a nation, which ensured to them the blessings of Civil Freedom; and in
choosing another which subjected them to the evils
that were the burden and calamity of the kingdoms
around them. Accordingly, Samuel is directed to
add to his protest against their choice, a description




SECOND LECTURE.               73
of "the manner of the king that should reign over
them," depicting the tyranny which they were about
to bring upon themselves, in true and faithful
colors. 66 He will take your sons," said the prophet,
"6 and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and
to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his
charidts. And he will appoint him captains over
thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set
them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and
to make his instruments of war, and instruments of
his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be
confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards,
and your olive-yards, even the best of them, and give
them to his servants." They were smitten with a
lust for the trappings and pomp of royalty; and they
persisted in their demand for it, though it would
result, as they were here told, in the wanton violation
of their domestic enjoyments and private rights, and
in the surrender of themselves, and of all that they
now called their own, to the will of the monarch;
while, in order to obtain their sinful wish, they threw
away a government simple in its form, imposing no
heavy burdens on the people for its support, and preserving that constant sympathy between the ruler
and the ruled which can result only from his being
one of themselves, and chosen by them to his autho4




74             SECOND LECTURE.
rity over them. True, the fatal reverse was not felt
all at once. Corruptions of justice, and the encroachments of tyranny are always gradually developed in
a nation. It requires time for them to grow. But
the root of the tree which produced such bitter fruit
was planted among the Hebrews when they asked
and obtained " a king to rule over them.'"
4. The theory we have been explaining serves to
show how, and on what principle resistance to rulers
becomes lawful and even dutiful. This is a question
which has excited earnest and bitter controversy
When civil liberty was making some of her most
important advances in England, "the right divine of
kings to govern wrong" was advocated with unblushing assurance.' Filmer wrote his Patriarcha
to show that no degree of injustice or oppression, on
the part of the throne, can justify resistance on the
part of the subject. Locke brought his powerful
mind to overthrow this preposterous -doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance; but in his Treatise on Civil Government he introduced his theory
of a Social Compact between rulers and ruled, in
which he would have the duty of obedience to rest
in a voluntary consent previously given. Later
writers have objected to this view of the case, because such a compact must be in a great degree
* Note G.




SECOND LECTURE.                75
imaginary. We avoid the difficulty, and can, at the
same time, learn how the subjects of a government
may lawfully withstand oppression, if we turn to
the Bible. It does not teach that the mere possession
of power so renders it the ordinance of God, that it
should in no case be resisted.~ On the contrary,
much as the sentiment may have been misrepresented,
resistance to tyrants is sometimes obedience to God.
By his ordinance, as we have seen, civil authority
is made a trust from the ruled to the rulers; a trust
committed to those who hold it, for a specified object, "for the punishment of evil doers, and the praise
of them that do well." Of course, authority being of
the nature of a trust, may be so perverted and abused
as to annul its own claims to submission. The best,
and the true mode of conveying this trust, is by the
election of their rulers by the people themselves. In
this way, they will generally retain in their own
hands the most effectual security against continued
wrong or oppression; for they can redress themselves
by a change of rulers, without recourse to violence.
But if, through folly or misfortune, a people are destitute of this advantage, still, civil authority is not
the less a trust, according to the appointment of
God. And if it becomes so abused as to effect the
injury and not the benefit of the ruled, in such case
* Note H.




76' SECOND LECTURES
the end of the Most High in. ordaining government,
is defeated by those who were entrusted with it;
and a people should feel it to be alike their privilege
and their duty to resist such oppression, and to obtain
redress by such means as may be in their power.
And here will arise a question that can always be
most safely decided when the occasion arrives that
calls for the decision. How far Government must
be perverted from  its legitimate object before it
ceases to have farther claims to allegiance, or at
what point of oppression resistance becomes either
wise or dutiful, forms an inquiry which must be left
to the exercise of a sound wisdom seeking direction, fi'om both the word and the providence of
God. There may be circumstances in which wisdom
and duty would lead us to endure rather than to
resist, long after civil government has become oppressive, and has lost all just claim to obedience.
Resistance without the rational prospect of relief
would only add to the evil instead of bringing redress. The fathers of our Republic justified their
revolt from the authority of the British crown, on the
principle that there should be no taxation without representation. To submit to the former, without possessing the latter, they considered as opening the door
to every species of unrighteous exaction. But when
they had settled the great point, that resistance was




SECOND LECTURE.              77
right in the sight of God, they also looked to their
means of resisting successfully. The result showed
the wisdom of their deliberations. Had they failed
to achieve our independence, their recourse to arms
would have been accounted treason, and they must
have paid the penalty with their lives. They prevailed; and the Revolution they effected has been
followed by the formation of a Republic which is
now a study for the nations of the earth.
5. From the view we have taken of the Hebrew
Government, we cannot fail to perceive its great
superiority over that of other ancient nations, however distinguished for their love of freedom. I would
be far from undervaluing the sages whose names
brighten the pages of Greek and Roman history.
According to the light they enjoyed, they did much
that redounds to their praise. They have left behind
them sentiments of lofty patriotism which should
never be forgotten. But they had not the knowledge
that could enable them to adjust the delicate framework of national government, so as to ensure efficiency and stability to the authorities, and yet secure
the rights of the people from violation. Perhaps no
one ever exceeded Milton in his relish for all that
belongs to the wisdom and refinement of Greece and
Rome; and yet, when he speaks of their wise men,
as legislators, he describes them as




78              SECOND LECTURE.
" Statists indeed;
And lovers of their country, as may seem;
But herein to our prophets, far beneath,
As men divinely taught, and better teaching
The solid rules of civil government,
In their majestic, unaffected style,
Than all the oratory of Greece and Rome.
In them is plainest taught, and easiest learnt,
What makes a nation happy, and keeps it so."
As we endeavor to show in another place, there
is nothing in which the Greeks and Romans were
distinguished from other Pagan nations, be it "in
science or in song," for which they are not more or
less indebted to the heaven-taught Hebrews; the
best achievements of the one being sometimes but
imperfect copies of models found with the other.
In nothing is this inferiority more plainly seen than
in their legislation and their laws for insuring equal
and just freedom to the whole people. At the very
time when Rome was boasting loudly of her liberty,
the people, who formed the great mass of the Commonwealth, were, as a class, studiously excluded
from the high places of power and emolument; such
privileges being reserved for those who could boast
of Patrician blood and Patrician wealth. Under the
Hebrew Constitution, the candidate for'office might
be rich or poor, descended from an ancestry either
known or unknown; if he was an " able man, loving




SECOND LECTURE.               79
truth, and hating covetousness, and known among
the tribes" to possess these qualifications, he might
aspire to the highest office in the State. In the right
of suffrage, there was as much difference as we find
in the qualifications of the candidates. Among the
Hebrews, those who shared in the public burdens
had a voice in the election of the public officer. In
Rome, those who bore the heaviest part of the burdens of the State had generally the least influence
in deciding who should administer the Government.
The tribunals for the administration of justice gave
farther evidence of the superiority of the Hebrew
Constitution. It provided every reasonable security
that " the small as well as the great might be heard,"
and equal justice awarded them. Under the Roman
Judiciary a wide door for corruption was left open,
rendering the poor and the weak easy victims to the
rich and the strong.
6. In this connection, I observe that a careful
examination of all Republics, whether ancient or
modern, will serve to show that none of them embrace so fully the great principles of Civil Freedom
revealed in the Bible as the United States of America. The Fathers of our Republic may not themselves have been aware of the close resemblance
between the cardinal features of the Constitution
whi.ch they framed for us, as a nation, and those




80            SECOND LECTURE.
which we have seen revealed through the Hebrew
lawgiver. If so, it is only another proof that the
destinies of our land have always been under auspices better and safer than could have sprung from
human wisdom and human power.
But as points like these which I have briefly
mentioned have been ably discussed by men who
have made the science of Government their special
study, I pass on to notice' another feature in the
laws of the Hebrew Commonwealth which seems
not to be so well understood.
In our day, we hear much concerning the empire
of public opinion. It is the best and safest of all
human empires. It is the empire of mind instead of
brute force, and will always prevail when intelligence is generally diffused, and thought is free and
untrammelled. Mere statute law is comparatively
powerless, if public opinion is against it. Civil
liberty, too, even if achieved to-day, may be lost tomorrow, unless there is accompanying it a sound
public opinion growing out of general intelligence,
and an elevated tone of moral sentiment among the
mass of a people. Hence the great importance of
those regulations in a community which tend to improve the standard of public sentiment. Perhaps
at the time when they are working out their effect
on the character of a nation, their influence may be




SECOND LECTURE.             81
so gradual and silent as not to be perceived. But
every wise observer must know that causes which
go to form public opinion, like the drops of rain,
though of small account when taken separately, yet
lead to immense results when acting in their aggregate power. In this view of them, you find the
wisdom of many laws given to the Hebrews, some
of which might otherwise appear strange, if not
ludicrous.
We should remember that previous to the time
of which we are now speaking, the Hebrews had
been an enslaved, and, in many respects, a degraded
people. To meet their case, and to promote their
improvement in mind and manners, the Most High
not only ordained for them a system of intellectual
training, which we will hereafter consider, but he
also gave them laws like the following:" If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the
way, in any tree or on the ground, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt
not take the dam with the young: but thou shalt
in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to
thee, that it may be well with thee, and that thou
mayest prolong thy days." It should be observed
that the reason annexed to this statute is the same
which we find added to the fifth command of the
Decalogue, "Honor thy father and thy mother."
4*




82            SECOND LECTUTRE.
The argument used to enforce both the precepts, is,
" that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days;" thus showing that there must
be some intimate connection between the two. And
if any of us have seen the distress of a bird, " the
dam," when her nest is rifled of her young, her maternal tenderness rendering her an easy prey as she
rushes within the grasp of the spoiler; you can see
the beautiful moral to be found in the law forbidding the Hebrew to take "the dam" when he is
carrying away her young from the nest; and how it
bears on the obedience to be rendered to the command, " Honor thy father and thy mother." It was
designed to cultivate a high regard for parental feeling. No advantage must be taken of it, says God;
it must always be treated with a tender respect,
though it be the maternal anxiety of a bird of the
air when distressed for her offspring.
A man who can sport with parental sympathy
gives sure proof of a hard and corrupted heart. We
can all remember how we have abhorred the tyrant
Gessler in the unnatural task which he laid on the
patriot William Tell. The hero was required as the
ransom for his own life, to place an apple on the
head of his son; and then standing at the utmost
distance of a bowshot, to cleave the apple in two
* Note I.




SECOND LECTUURE.:83
with an arrow. The feat was performed; and when
Gessler perceived that another arrow remained in the'hand of the father, and inquired for what purpose it
was intended, he was told, "Sir, the second arrow
was for your heart, if the first had even touched my
ldear boy." And had this been the issue, few would
have mourned the fate of the tyrant after he had
thus wantonly outraged the affection of a father.
There is a wrong mode of doing even that which
is right and which_ may convert it into a positive
evil. Charity is sometimes bestowed on the poor
with a manner that renders the gift not only offensive in the sight of God, but a source of more bitter
pain to the receiver than the pinchings of want. To
cherish a suitable and right spirit in deeds of bene-:volence, it was commanded, "When ye reap the
harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the,corn out of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the
gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean
thy vineyards, neither shalt thou gather every grape
of the vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor
and the stranger. I am the Lord your God." This
precept was to remind the Hebrews, that the poor
should be allowed to share in the comforts as well
as in the absolute necessaries of life, inasmuch as a
share in the produce of both the "vineyard" and
"field" must be allowed to them; and that, as po



84            SECOND LECTURE.
verty has its feelings of delicacy as well as wealthb
instead of obliging the destitute to come and confess
to us their need, and receive alms at our hands and
in our sight, they should be allowed the opportunity of gaining relief when no eye would be upon
them but the eye of God, and, in a way that seemed
to render it in part the reward of their own labor.
In close alliance with this, is another commandment. "No man shall take the upper or the nether
mill-stone to pledge; for he taketh a man's life to
pledge." Here the principle is established which is
recognized in all civilized and Christian nations, that
a man cannot be deprived of a necessary means of
sustaining life for himself and his family, by distraint
for debt. But see also what is added as to pledges
that might be taken for payment. "When thou
dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go
into his house to fetch his pledge; thou shalt stand
abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend, shall
bring out the pledge abroad unto thee." Want must
have been sorely felt before a man will pledge that
which properly belongs to, and forms a part of his
home. Hence the Hebrew was told, you must not
go into his house, to pain his feelings and the feelings of his family, by witnessing the tokens of their
destitution, or the distress they may suffer at parting
with some long possessed and much valued article




SECOND LECTURE.               85
of their furniture. No, said the law, you must stand
without, till the man bring abroad to thee whatever
is pledged, that the hardship may be as little felt as
the nature of the case will admit.
Again, it is ordained, "Thou shalt not oppress a
hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be
of thy brethren, or of the strangers that are within
thy gates. At his day thou shalt give him his hire,
neither shall the sun go down upon it, for he is poor
and setteth his heart upon it."  There is a principle
of mingled kindness and justice involved in this ordinance, which many masters in our day would do
well to remember. Too often are the feelings of
servants exasperated, and their interests made to suffer, not by ultimately wronging them out of their
wages, but by vexatious delays to pay them what
has been earned by their faithful labor. To induce
the master both to respect the anxieties, and satisfy
the just claims of his servant, it is here commanded,
" At his day thou shalt give him his hire, for he set.
teth his heart upon it."
To give a few more examples: it furnishes certain evidence of high moral sentiment, and is a most
efficient means of promoting it, when all classes in
a community evince due respect for age. Hence the
command, "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head,
and honor the face of the old man, and fear thy




86            SECOND LECTURE.
God." Not only justice, but kindness to a stranger,
showing both a sympathy for his feelings and a due
regard for his rights, is another of those proprieties
of life which denote the same cultivated spirit in a
people. Accordingly it was enjoined, " Ye shall neither vex a stranger nor oppress him; for ye know
the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in
the land of Egypt." A disposition to ridicule or take
advantage of those who are deformed, or labor under
some bodily infirmity, both shows and produces
coarseness of mind and hardness of heart. Hence
the command, " Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor
put a stumbling-block before the blind: but shalt
fear thy God." To be in the habit of approaching
falsehood, though not actually committing the crime,
must inevitably destroy a nice and proper sense of
truth, and in the end bring the mind to the actual
commission of what had thus become familiar to its
view. Accordingly it was commanded, " Thou shalt
not raise a false report-keep thee far from a false
matter."
These are some of the statutes by which the
national mind in the Hebrew Commonwealth was
trained to a high standard of public sentiment; imparting to all classes a sensibility to the proprieties
of life, and a spontaneous regard to its relative
duties, which, in- some degree, render a people a




SECOND LECTURE.              8t
law unto themselves. To produce and perpetuate
such a governing power, the power of opinion, is the
very essence of wise legislation; and in proportion
to its strength and prevelance among a people, will
the foundations of civil freedom be strong and
enduring.
In the view of our subject, thus spread before
you, we observe,
As the Bible contains the origin of civil liberty, by
the Bible alone can it be sustained. The law seems
to be of general application, that wherever we find
the source of existence, there also we find the aliment of growth and strength. It is so with the herb
of the field, with man himself, and with every blessing he enjoys, whether personal or social, civil or
religious. What we may infer from the analogy of
the case, we are taught by the evidence of facts —
ifacts of ancient and of modern times, gathered from
every quarter of the globe where freedom either
still holds her blessed sway, or, after struggling
for existence, has finally perished. It is the decree
of Him  who has ordained that light shall shine
from the sun, that liberty and the Bible shall always
be found united: -and "what God hath joined together let not man put asunder." There can be no
divorce from this union. If the Bible goes, liberty
follows. How was it in the land of the Hebrews?




88            SECOND LEnCTURE.
When the Most High gave them civil freedom; he
gave them also the Bible of that day with it; and
when they abandoned or neglected the one, they lost
the other also. In the language of their own history,
"It was when the law of the Lord was not found"
in the hands of magistrates and people that the sun
of their prosperity waned, and waned till it went
down in darkness and blood.
And how comes it, that in modern times, on our
own Continent, at our very doors, we have seen
Province after Province throwing off the yoke of
foreign dominion; and yet, in their efforts to acquire
civil freedom, they "sow to the wind, and reap the
whirlwind?" And why, still farther, has the experiment been so successful with us as a nation, which
has been so fruitless, or rather so disastrous with
them? It is because ours is a land of Bibles, and theirs
is not; because here the Holy Book is in the hands
of the high and the low, the rich and the poor, swaying, elevating and purifying public sentiment in
minds, even where it does not sanctify the heart;
and there its pages are sealed to the eyes of the
people, and they are left sunk in the pollution and
gloom from which no other power but this "light
shining in a dark place" can redeem them.
Let the Bible go through the world, as it is yet
to go, and it will show itself equally powerful to re.




SECOND LECTURE.               89
generate the hearts of sinful men, and the spirit of
degraded nations. Already, in this day of holy zeal
for its spread, it has been carried very far into the
regions of Pagan darkness; and in every place
where it has quickened into life souls that "were
dead in trespasses and sins," it has created also a
new dwelling-place for freedom; till the earth is
now bespangled with miniature republics, as the sky
with stars; and which are yet to spread and widen
till every form of tyranny shall crumble before them.
But, on the other hand, while this blessing shall be
sent to lands now destitute of it, if those who already
possess it allow the streams of corruption to spread
within their borders, which always follow the disbelief and neglect of the sacred volume, then is
their glory departed; and they too must be added to
the nations whose names are written in the dust.
"The wages of sin is death," says the oracle of God;
and it is equally true, whether it be the sin of a man,
or the sin of a people. Yout find the monuments of
the sad truth in every age, and in every region of
the world. For, go where you will, search where
you will on the face of this wide earth, you are
treading on the sepulchres not only of men but of
nations; nations that once were in their glory, but
now are numbered among the lost.
And what can be that worse than lethiferous




90            SECOND LECTURE.
wand that has destroyed, by its touch, empire after
empire, state after state, till the earth has become
thus filled and strewed with their fragments? Is it
time that has done it all? Time! what is time?
Time has no power of its own; and even with all
the aid it can gain from earth, air or sea to make
war upon man, or his works, it can spread no
ravages that man, if faithful to himself, is unable to
repair. No! no! It was not time that buried BabyIon and her proud towers so deep in the earth,
that scarce a remnant is left to show where once
she stood. It was not time that prostrated the lofty
columns, the triumphant arches, and vast temples
of Roman grandeur and power. Far, very far from
it. It was the moral corruption of the people; it
was the mocking guilt of man against the God
that made him, which has thus desolated kingdoms
and nations, till the strongest and mightiest have
passed away as "a dream when one awaketh."
The story of the cities of the plain is the story of
them all from that day onward. Their "iniquity
was pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness: neither did they strengthen the hand of the
poor and needy;" and " because their sin was very
grievous and the cry of it had gone up to Heaven,"
He rained down upon them a desolation that has
engulphed them in its abyss to this day. And whe



SECOND LECTURE.              91
ther it be kingdoms or commonwealths, in the
old world or in the new, if they become corrupt,
emptied of piety towards God and righteousness
towards man, they have in their hands "the cup of
trembling," which will in the end become to them
the cup of death. With every nation that turns
away from truth and from right the future is plain
to our eyes as the past.
My hearers: it then requires no "hand-writing
on the walls" of this Capitol to announce what lies
before our now privileged nation. It is revealed in
letters of light, and so plainly that "he who runs
may read." And what, let me ask, are "the signs of
the times" which are to be seen in the skies that
overspread our land? Are they portentous of evil,
or do they promise good? That clouds are visible, many will admit. But clouds are not always
the harbingers of harm. Do the clouds we see
rising, threaten a coming tempest that will spread
desolation; or do they bear in their bosom the refreshing shower, and when- passing away are they
to be followed by a new bow of promise? It all centers here. We can hope to be a happy nation, a free
nation, only so long as we are a Christian nation.
Let this Bible be abandoned by our people; especially let it be shut out from the hearts and counsels of our rulers; and if these noble halls are not




02            SECOND LECTURE.
profaned by the ruthless hand of some Vandal
conqueror, they may be stained by the blood of
civil strife, in which the hand of brother is turned
against brother. But so long as the Holy Book
shall be held in high honor in our Houses of Legislation, our Cabinet Councils, and our Courts of
Justice, the nation, with all that forms her real glory,
is safe; the ark of the covenant is still with her,
and she stands strong against every foe, for she
stands in the strength of God. In every crisis which
marks her history, she will be found to possess a
sustaining and redeeming power, that will carry her
triumphantly through; and whether the storms that
beat upon the towers of her strength may arise from
dissensions within or invasions from without, she
will find protection and peace " under the shadow
of his wings," who alike " stilleth the noise of the
seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the
people,"




THIRD  LECTURE.
"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in
the desert a highway for our God. Every valley
shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be
made low; and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together:
for the mouth- of the Lord hath spoken it." The spirit and beauty of the language well befit the importance of the truth it was designed to convey. Its primary reference is to the advent of the Redeemer, and
to the preparation which was made for his coming
and for his work, under the ministry of his forerunner John the Baptist.  But "to prepare his
way" so that his wisdom and goodness might be
clearly revealed in the preparation he makes, has
been a uniform rule of his procedure in all the great
revolutions which he produces in the affairs of men.
In the various works of his hands, he is a careful
observer of his own laws. He acts through means
adequate to their end. He does everything in its
season, calls it forth in its due order and connexion.




94            THIRD LECTURE.
He gives "first the blade, then the ear, then the
full corn in the ear."  Thus growth, as he -produces it, is healthful and enduring; whether it
be growth in man or in the mind of man; whether
growth in nations, or in any of those attainments
which add to their strength and prosperity. With
him, a wise preparation is the first step leading to a
happy consummation.
How widely different from this do we often find
the designs and efforts of men! They would have
the ripe corn, when they should scarcely expect the
blade. They demand the vigor and maturity of
manhood when there has not been time for a healthful growth from infancy to youth. Many an excellent object of benevolence has been defeated and
lost by bringing it forward out of season, and urging it beyond measure. New wine has been put into
old bottles, and the bottles have burst, and both have
been destroyed.  This inconsiderate haste, this
"plucking at the pear before it is ripe" is one of
the prevailing evils of our age, and involves inquiries which ought to be well examined both by " the
leaders of thought and the rulers of men." Unless correct and rational views are entertained
on the subject, every device for the amelioration
of our race, and especially for their political advantage or advancement, must be perpetually at




THIRD LECTURE.              95
fault. A nation, like an individual, needs education and time to prepare them for self-government.
Many old associations must be broken up, and
new associations formed; the popular mind must be
trained to new conceptions, new channels of thought,
and new standards of right, before men can appreciate the value, understand the responsibilities or
discharge the duties of civil freedom. If they grasp
after it without such a preparation for it, they are
grasping after a shadow, or what may be worse.
Their freedom "falsely so called," will degenerate
into anarchy and profligacy, from which they will
perhaps seek refuge by again submitting to a hardened despotism, as the least of two evils. Accordingly,
when God gave the Hebrews a revelation of his
will, which established a new platform for the action
of rulers and ruled, he prepared the nation for enjoying and preserving the privileges he bestowed on
them, by means to which we will now invite your
attention.
The first of these preparatory steps was to order
their migration to another country, their departure
from Egypt and their settlement in Palestine. Let
us look with some care at the importance which the
word and the providence of God assign to this point,
migration, or change of abode, when he is about to
elevate the moral and intellectual condition of a peo



THIRD LECTURE.
ple. We may here find a striking parallel betweec
the history of the Hebrew nation and of our own.
Enlightened physiologists very generally teach,
that, to a great extent, all the varieties of life, whether in the vegetable or animal wvorld, are improved
by a change of place, by being transferred to a new
region and a new atmosphere. Races or families of
plants have been known to become extinct from being kept too long in the same soil; the shepherd has
seen his flock pine away from the want of a new
pasture ground; and how the bodies of men are invigorated by like changes, is an every-day observation. But I would now speak more directly as to the
effect of migration on the moral and mental condition of a people.
We all know something as to the influence of
local associations. They not only shape our tastes
and desires, but they also have at times a most
controlling power to warp and pervert the mind.
We may have seen the plant or the tree taking root
in the cleft, or on the side of a rock. It is often
made to grow out of shape from the circumstances
of its situation. As it rises it is met by some projecting crag, or it is bent down by some overhanging, fragment, around which it grows, and thus is
distorted from its natural form and beauty. So is it
with the human mind. It is influenced and directed




THIRD LEC TURE.             97
by surrounding circumstances. Its opinions are often formed so as to accommodate themselves to long
existing evils; and, like the tree, grasping and adhering to the point of rock that had marred the beauty
of its growth; so also will the mind often embrace
and cling to the very errors and wrongs which had
deformed and depressed it.
WTould you remedy this, you must do with the
man as you would with the herb or the tree. You
must transplant them both to another soil. You must
break up old associations. You must free the man
from his familiar and habitual contact with long
existing abuses, and enable him to view them at
such a distance as to comprehend their magnitude
and deformity. Paths of thought can become so
beaten, and the mind so worn into them, that it can
see nothing beyond them; and if you would give
a man new and improved views, you must take
himn where he can overlook the barriers that once
confined his vision. The freshness, the vigor, the
elastic spring which are imparted by such a change
to the mind and the character, whether of a man
or a people, are the result of those great laws by
which the Most High governs life in all its forms.
Now observe how uniformly he respects this
principle in his most conspicuous movements for the
instruction and improvement of man as a rational
5




98'~THIRD LECTURE.
and immortal being. There are two great periods in
Old Testament times, Lwhen he was pleased to make
special revelations of his will for this end. The
first was at the call of Abraham, the commencement
of what is styled the Patriarchal dispensation; during which the oracles of God, and the ordinances of
his worship were known and preserved in the family
of that patriarch. And what was the first command
which God laid on Abraham when he was about to
elevate him in knowledge and religion above all
around him? It was, " Get thee out of thy country,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house,
unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make
of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and
make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing."
He had hitherto dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, a chief
seat of the idolatries and other evil practices of that
ancient people; and now when he was about to become a new man, and to acquire a new name, he is
directed at once to seek a new home. And to this
do we find Prophets and Apostles afterwards referring as the first step which led to his subsequent
greatness as "6the friend of God," and the "Father
of the Faithful."
When the M\osaic dispensation was made to succeed the Patriarchal, a still farther impulse was
given to the cause of knowledge and righteousness




THIRD LECTURE.               99
in the world by new revelations from GoD, showing
more clearly than ever, the way of salvation through
a Redeemer; and giving to the great principles of
moral law the form and extent which they retain to
this day. It was an era of vast magnitude in the
condition and history of the human race, when the
"two tables of stone," inscribed with the Decalogue,
were given from Sinai, followed by the institutions
which were "the example and shadow of heave-ily
things." From that day forward men began to enjoy'" a better hope" towards God, and to feel new responsibilities in all their relations to each other, whether domestic, civil or religious. Accordingly, when
God was about to render the Hebrews the depositaries
of this world-enriching and world-reforming knowledge, he led them, as he had before led Abraham,
from their former abode, and transferred them to a
new country; a country where all was new to them;
a new soil, new scenery, a new atmosphere; in one
sense, a new heaven and a new earth; where new
vigor might be imparted to both mind and body for
the more perfect discharge of their newly revealed
duties to God and to man.
Passing by other examples showing the influence
of migration, and which occur in the history of the
church and of the world, let us look more carefully
at the removal of the Hebrews into the land pro



100             THIRD LECTURE.
mised to their fathers, and we shall find still farther
designs of wisdom and mercy in it. It would have
been migration to a new home, had God led them
from Egypt to India or China.  Indeed there were
countries on every side, where all would have been
as new to them as in the land of Canaan. We ask
then, was there anything in the character or situation of this land, which rendered it better adapted
than others to display his designs of mercy to the
nation, and through them to the world at large?
We would naturally suppose there was some
good reason for the selection, if we reflect upon the
manner in which it was promised to Abraham  as
the future abode of his descendants, when they
should be mul-tiplied into a great nation. It seems
in that day to have been the Paradise of the world.
It is repeatedly named, as a " land flowing with milk
and honey," an expression describing not only extraordinary fertility, but also fertility in everything
which contributes to either the health or enjoyments
of man. " I am come down," says God, " to deliver
my people, and to bring them up out of the land. of
Egypt, into a good land, and a large, unto a land
flowing with milk and honey." We have a still
more full description of it, when Moses tells the people, then near the end of their journeyings in the
wialderness; "For the Lord thy God bringeth thee




THIRD LECTURE.              101
into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees,
and pomegranates; a land of oil olive and honey;
a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it; a land
whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou
mayest dig brass."
How far these promises of unparalleled fertility were realized, we learn from the teeming
millions of inhabitants which the land sustained
when the nation had full and undisturbed possession
of it. But multitudes are not always strength, and
we have but to glance at the descriptions given of
it, in order to see how peculiarly the distinguishing
features of the country were adapted to elicit those
powers and faculties of body and mind which are
the best strength and glory of a nation.
Productive labor, and especially labor which
draws from the earth her abundant stores, is not
only the great source of national wealth, but also a
great means of spreading physical and moral health
through the mass of a people. The land of the Hebrews yielded comparatively little as spontaneous
growth; but responded most bountifully to the labor
of industry, especially the industry of the husbandman. It was not like the plains of other climes where




102           THIRD LECTURE.
the earth of its own accord does so much that the
inhabitants need do nothing; and where every power of the man becomes torpid and feeble through inaction. But to render it fruitful, it was to be tilled
and cultivated, the abundance of its returns depending on the abundance and faithfulness of the labor
bestowed, a land best of all others adapted to impart
a spirit of activity, vigor, sagacity and independence
to the inhabitants.
Still more; no observer of human nature can
question the influence of surrounding scenery on the
intellect of a people, especially of the more intellectual classes. This was not overlooked by the
Most High when he removed the Hebrews to their
new home. It was then a part of his design to enlarge the boundaries of human knowledge, to give
new revelations of wisdom through his prophets;
and he kindled within them the soul of eloquence
and song, that the truths which they were sent to
teach might be clothed in the rich and glowing language, and illustrated by the splendid and expressive
imagery, which all future ages might feel and understand.  Accordingly he planted the Hebrews
amid scenery of such mingled beauty and sublimity
as might well impart a higher elevation and tone to
every faculty of the mind. Judging from the very
face of the chosen land, it was just the place in




THIRD LECTURE.               103
which the writers of the Bible ought to have lived;
for it furnished those materials of thought and
promptings of the heart that could have been found
no where else. Even when its palmy days were
past, a heathen writer calls it, "a land of charms
and graces;" and long as it has been trodden down
and defaced by Saracen and Turk, travellers tell us
that in its rich and varied beauties, though like
beauty in a shroud, it is still what the Prophet has
called it, "the glory of all lands."
As another advantage, we might allude to the
natural barriers which surrounded it as a protection
against hostile invasion. On every side it was enclosed by seas, by mountains, or by deserts. But
we hasten to look at
Its geographical position in reference to the
other countries of the whole eastern hemisphere,
and to observe how admirable were its local advantages for becoming the central point of illumination
to them all; a fountain whence streams of knowledge might flnow, with most ease and rapidity,
to a benighted world. "From the wilderness and
this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river
Euphrates, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast," says
God, when describing the boundaries of the Prormised Land.  Its western border was the head




104            THIRD LECTURE.
waters of the Mediterranean, furnishing access to
the whole southern coast of Europe, and the
whbole northern coast of Africa; on the eastern
border was the Euphrates, which emptied into the
Indian Ocean, and thus opened their way to the
whole southern coast of Asia. The design of the
Most High in giving the Hebrews this commanding
position, rendering them so like "' a city set upon a
hill," is perhaps too much overlooked. They were
far from being an insulated people, unknown and
unfelt by other kingdoms of the world. So widely
had their fame spread in the reign of Solomon, that
not only the Queen of Sheba, " with a very great
company," but "all the kings of the earth," as we
are told, "sought his presence to hear his wisdom"
and become instructed in the laws and ordinances
which he so prosperously administered. Jerusalem
was more than the Athens of its day. The richest
store-house of knowledge for the world was then in
the hands of the Hebrews, and from them other nations were ambitious to be learners. To accord with
this design respecting them, God fixed their abode.
As he set up their laws and institutions for the study
of other nations, he planted them in a country so
central, that all might have ready access to it, and
that the wisdom they possessed from him, might be
made to flow most readily to every people.




THIRD LECTURE.             105
Here also we should add that a time had now
come which rendered this influence most seasonable
and needful. There are periods in the history of the
world, when iniquity becomes so rife that earth can
no longer bear it, nor will Heaven consent longer to
behold it; and when it must either be wiped away
by the unsparing destruction of those who have thus
filled up the measure of their iniquity, as was done
at the time of the deluge; or there must be some
corrective applied which will lessen if not remedy
the prevalence of crime. When the Hebrews were
planted in Canaan, the iniquity of the Amorites " was
now full;" and so was it also with other kingdoms of
that davy. Corruption in every form reigned without
control. Wrong and cruelty among men, and ignorance and impiety towards God, were everywhere
spread abroad, until it might again have " repented
God that he had made man;" and had it not been
for the healing and restraining waters that went
forth from the Holy Land, another deluge might
have been sent to "destroy man from the face of
the earth," and all the inhabited globe been "made
like unto Sodom and Gomorrah."
In what forms, and to what extent this reforming
influence was felt among surrounding nations, both
in that, and in succeeding ages, we will hereafter
more fully show. I must, for the present, pass by




106            THIRD LECTURE.
these and other topics, that I may reserve more room
for an application of the subject as already explained,
and which every one will admit to be especially
seasonable.
The motto in our national ensign, " E Pluribus
Unum," seems to have a prophetic meaning perhaps
not contemplated by the venerable men who adopted
it. We are not only one commonwealth formed out
of many states, but we are one people gathered from
many nations. The sentiment pervades the civilized world, and we cannot change it if we would, that
here is the emigrant's home; that our western hemisphere, and especially our portion of it, is designed
to be an asylum for the oppressed of the eastern;
and that races of the human family which there
have become worn out and effete, are here to be
restored by a new growth. Such indeed seems to
be one of the purposes which we are appointed to
fulfil in the great drama of nations; and we believe
the time is at hand when we are to see a new and
farther development of it. Hitherto, the "sons of
the stranger" have come to us chiefly from the countries of Europe, landing on the shores of the Atlantic.
Only a few years more are to pass by, and our coast
on the Pacific will be alive with emigrants from the
over-peopled regions of China and Japan, led to seek
a new home where they can find more room and a




THIRD LECTURE.               107
bettered condition. But whether these crowds come
from the East or from the West, we do not share in
the melancholy forebodings which some feel as to
the result. The union of such masses into one people congregated from various countries, always produces an improved type of man; while nations that
"dwell alone and apart" fall back into imbecility
and insignificance.  An early vigor was given to
Greece by the fusion of the Phoenicians and Egyptians with the Hellenistic tribes; and it was the mixture of the Saxons and Danes with the ancient Britons, followed by the commingling of the Normans
with them all, that has led to English preponderance
in arts and in arms for so long a period, and through
so many regions of the globe. In this way conquest,
notwithstanding its barbarities, has sometimes been
overruled for the good of even the vanquished themselves.
But in this favored land, the commingling of races
and its happy results are not purchased at so bloody
a price. The invaders, if such they are to be called,
come not as enemies, but as friends; not to demand
possession of the country from its inhabitants, but to
ask the privilege of uniting their wisdom and strength
with ours, to give increased value to " much land
which yet remains to be possessed."  Nor should it
be forgotten in this connection, that the strangers




108            THIRD LECTUllEo
now coming in fresh crowds to dwell within our
gates, are not so often the refuse or the surplus, as
the bone and sinew of the countries from which the
rod of oppression has driven them to seek a home
where they can dwell in the enjoyment of freedom
and plenty. In all this we see only a continuance
of what has been the character and history of our
nation from its beginning. There is much poetic
beauty combined with important truth'in the observation made by one of the most distinguished among
our early divines, that " God sifted three nations for
seed to sow the virgin soil of America;" and we
need but to look at the leading characteristics of our
various ancestors to perceive how happily they combine to form a people distinguished for power and
greatness. It was the enduring strength and activity
of the Anglo-Saxon, united to the staid caution and
gravity of the Hollander, qualified by the elastic
spirit of the French Huguenot, forming one people,
and holding in the main to one religious faith, that
first peopled our land and spread over it the blessings
of Christianity and civilization. If they found it new
and ready for any impression they might give it,
they engraved on its face, features that no lapse of
time can obliterate. They came to it, to erect a new
empire, and to present to the world, government
both civil and religious, in new aspects. They un



THIRD LECTURE.              109
dertook a great work, and they laid the foundations
deep. They had faith to do what God commanded,
to go where his finger pointed; and He sent his
" pillar of fire by night, and of cloud by day," to lead
and to shelter them. Under difficulties and dangers
which surrounded them, and from which many
would have shrunk, he trained them  for achievements which but few can ever equal. "A waste
howling wilderness" lay before them; but "with
the axe in their hand, the Bible in their pocket, and
the encyclopedia at their side," they began their labors, and the wilderness became changed into a
fruitful field. And surveying the land to which he
brought them, in the vast length and breadth into
which it has now spread, how aptly does it seem described in the language of Moses, already quoted concerning the country of the Hebrews:-" It is a good
land and a large, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills,
a land of wheat and barley, of vines and honey: —a
land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills
thou mayest dig brass."
Except as to the larger scale on which everything
with us is laid out, there is a very striking parallel
between the land of Israel as here described, and our
own. What advantages had they which we have
not; whether contributing to their happiness andl




110             THIRD LE CT URE.
safety at home, or facilitating their influence for good
among nations abroad?
We have seen the abundance and variety in
which their land yielded its produce to the labors of
industry, and which distinguished it as " the glory of
all lands," in its day. Our own country is so new
that we have as yet examined only its surface. We
can scarce be said to have commenced the experiments for testing the fecundity of the soil, or for exploring and ascertaining the stores of mineral wealth
that lie hidden in its mines. And yet even at this
day when its resources are so imperfectly developed, compare it with England, France, Spain, or
any one country of modern times, and we must
see how greatly it surpasses them in the variety
and extent of its productions. Stretching through
climes of every temperature, it produces every grain,
plant, or fruit that can be desired for the sustenance of man, or the healthful gratification of his
appetite. It yields every material for clothing that
can minister to comfort or ornament, it has stored
within its bowels every mineral which most effectually ministers to the strength and safety of a
people; and then we -have to add, that all these rich
and various stores are gained only by the labor
which renders them twice a blessing. With us it




THIRD LECTURE.              1l1
is "6 the hand of the diligent that maketh rich:   and
nothing else, nothing less can do it.
We showed also, how the face of their country
and its associations, furnished excitement and cultivation to the intellectual faculties of the Hebrews.
With us also, mind in all its varieties has new
scope and ample nutriment. Thought, and communication of thought,. are free as the air. Intellect
is rendered alert and bounding by the vast and inviting fields that are yet to be explored and improved; while the taste and fancy of our artists
and poets and orators are heightened by the grandeur and beauty which are spread over the face of
the country, in its lofty mountains, its majestic
rivers, its wide plains and seas. The materials
and the excitement of thought are furnished by the
scenery that environs us throughout our borders.
As to security against invasion from foreign
foes; it was scarcely more true that " Israel dwelt
in safety and alone, and was not numbered among
the nations," than it is true of us as a people. The
wide ocean rolls between us and the kingdoms
which have long proved restless and dangerous
neighbors to each other; nor is there a moral possibility of a nation growing up at our side, with
strength to endanger our peace and our safety. On
the contrary, every few years sees our territory




112           THIRD LECTURE.
widened and making fresh accessions to the strength
of the nation; nor is this done by conquest, subjecting our neighbors to a colonial dependance, which
they would improve the first opportunity to throw
off. They come to us of their own will. They knock
at our doors for adoption, as members of the national household, promising allegiance to our authority,
while they ask for protection from our power.But there is still another point of the parallel
worthy of distinct notice. It lies in the local advantages possessed by this country for easy and speedy
access to all the most important nations of the earth.
In this respect, we sustain, in a remarkable degree,
the same relation to the world at large, in which, as
we have seen, the Hebrews stood to the Eastern
Hemisphere. Look at the extent of ocean which
washes our shores from North to South, furnishing
us with the readiest communication with every nation of our own continent. Look also at the broad
Atlantic, which carries us to the door of every great
nation in Western Europe. But still more, look in
a different direction, and to what, until lately, has
been less observed. Turn your eyes towards the vast
and populous Empires of China and India, which
have hitherto been reached both by Europeans and
ourselves, after long and circuitous voyages, over
* Note K.




THIRD LECTURE.              113
seas and around capes, that have been strewed with
wrecks, till they have been made frightful Golgothas,
for the mariners and merchandise of all civilized
nations. The highway of commerce to those rich
countries of the East, will not much longer be around
the southern point of Africa, or under the burning
Equator. A wiser and a safer way is fast revealing
itself to the sagacious observer of events and developments in the present generation. Steam has
now shown that it can be rendered quite as effective
for the navigation of oceans as of rivers; and the
wide Pacific, rolling between our western shores
and the nations of Eastern Asia, seems formed by
the Creator for the ocean steamer. Its numberless
islands, that give life and variety to its bosom, are
just the opportune resting places or depots to furnish what the vessel needs as she wings her way
across its broad expanse of waters; and we have only
to cast our eyes over the surface of our whole globe
and observe the points of distance which separate
both Europe and America from Eastern Asia, in
order to see how inevitably our country, with its
cities on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, must soon
become the great thoroughfare of wealth and knowledge travelled by the civilized world. I speak of a
change which neither war, nor violence, nor cunning
diplomacy, can be required to accomplish; but which




114            THIRD LECTURE.
will be accomplished all the sooner and better if
these unholy agencies will let it alone.  I speak
of what is the'manifest purpose of Him who hath
fixed bounds to the sea and the dry land; and hath
determined the courses of rivers and of mountains. I
speak of what is the natural course of events, and
which flow as a consequence from the works of His
hand, which neither the folly nor selfishness of man
can resist or defeat. But when our land shall thus
have become a central point to the whole world, on
the one side reaching China and the adjacent Archipelago, through the Pacific, studded with its coral
isles; and, on the other, reaching the most powerful
nations of Europe, through the long travelled Atlantic; who does not foresee the impulse which will
then be given to the spread of our religion, our laws
and institutions, and the influence which they must
thenceforward have on the destinies of the whole
habitable globe.
Allow me to notice one other point in this parallel. We have shown you how opportunely the
establishment of the Hebrew commonwealth was
adapted to prevent the utter ruin of the guilty nations whose iniquity was then full. Equally opportune was the settlement of this land and the rise
of our republic. When America first came to the
knowledge of Europe, so galling was the yoke of




'111_,-T     LECTUJRE,              11
civil and ecclesiastical tyranny, and such wvas the
determined spirit of resistance against it, that had
there not been in this country a place of escape for
the   wronged  and  oppr @ssd, an  expsosion  would
have been p-roduced, cmausin  g   blood to fls   in totr.
rents.  JTudue of it as tae K-i   s and Do.-L 0 5 o  Purope maTy, this veste-x-rn -'oworld is the sa'etyf sa..e to
which they ow;e their preservation -rom-   an earier
and utter ruin.  1Jad icjt not  been provided it- dcue
season, their thlro-nes  would have been hurled -'o the
dust by a spirit too fierce  and excit-ed  to discern'where justice  sholdd  end anud me-rcy sahould  e0iUn,
and whi ch in i's t-I   has t, mniobt have CO1n-founded
right wituh 1,1O010 Z,.. Lnd thi l   qt n 7    errn o  ell
was o-n the toint; o   eav ng' _,lnia-dn a-nd cemDbarbk.
ing fir Aneri a,  1hn h1e aias c pel1c o  re-min
by an. a oerbi — ay osroe  A- sou e iL9  an1d       co';equence to royai3 y    v /ll ]-o vm. f in thin0s nedw -vvol]d
his.aril- an manly Ns 1i1  iouid have' ad  inie
scople i01' t-e a-ccuI7,pi,3ishlen-i: of good, A ith-'t,0   t-he
irritc taic ho n f901  O   5 ion0 Sv~  a e             e:i
ofr n1sulrabe  wvrongs   wlhiclih dIrove hint,..
t1o deeds tnlhat every o-ne rnust condlLenl.ni  d. Oe1lIlore.
MIany  a noble 1 pa' i  O    o.r ic ld  oued have ev r t,
a, Crom I ve  ll,  r_' dti so,'  h3e c; m,9
comnpelled to ac hs pa1    t  under "Cr( - 0.." -
tions.  Chcaf, t  s  e  mindsi> of i en had become   in
the Old VWf'ocild,  by long cont-inured crueltyn  ad in-1,




l1B               TIHIRD LECTURI.o
justice, they required the cairn retirement of the
Nev,9 and its great distance from the scene of their
sufferings, to enable them  to judoge -wisely  and deliberately as to what'were l'e true remoediLes tors the
evils which they could no lon-ger endure.  -And no-wo
that their work is done, and institutions created by
the w-vise and deliberate counsels of the founders of
our'Republic, which are alikfe the happiness and
safety of our country; the  older nations of the
earth are derivingo no small benefit from the freedooim
ewhic  we cla-im  as our inheritance.     T he- remark
is just and. true, that Old England wouid not 1have
becoime what she is in ihe freedo'm  of her subjects,
if ~New  Engilanad hiad never sprung from her loins.
Her rulers have seen that nothing could save them
from  a revolution  but a spirit of wise and timely
concession to the rightful demands of the people;
and at this day we see her " conservatives" occupyinug and defendingl g'round where her adtvocates of
"reform," not nmangy years since, scarce ventured to
talke up thcir position. In act, there is not a nation
in Europe that has not felt, and does not now feel,
our influence in curbing and restraining tyranny, or
in keeping alive an ambition for fr;edomr in the
minds of the peopie.
I have but one concluding topic to urge. it relates to the high and responsible post which God




THIRD LECTURE.              117
has assigned to this country, in the great work of
evangelizing and civilizing the world. No nation
in Protestant Christendom stands so directly face to
face with Pagan nations`as ourselves. From  our
shores on the Pacific, we look immediately, not only
on the inhospitable wilds of Siberia, but upon the
vast and populous empire of China; upon Farther
India, and upon the islands of Japan and the Eastern
Archipelago; regions "where Satan's seat is," and
where his unclean and cruel dominion, as yet, has
been scarcely invaded. A new way of access to
them is now opened. We have shown you how the
ocean, which divides us from them, is soon to be
bridged by our flying steamers freighted with the
wealth of the world. While our merchants will be
actively employed in gathering golden harvests from
commerce with these dark and long inaccessible
countries, Christians among us should be equally
engaged in sending them "greater riches than the
treasures of Egypt." They present a field for Gospel
conquests that seems to have been reserved for the
American Churches; and we should consider it a duty
specially required of us to "go up and possess the
land," covering it with the blessings of Christian
truth and Christian freedom. No nation lies under
so heavy a responsibility in this thing as the United
States of America.




'118           THIRD LECTURE.
But we have a work to do at home as well as
abroad for Christianizing the world, which, in a
great degree, is peculiar to ourselves. I have alluded
to the prevalence of the Sentiment, that our country
is the home of the emigrant, and that to furnish an
asylum for the oppressed and destitute of other
lands, is one of the destinies which we are appointed
to fulfil. I have said, I do not share in the fears
which some entertain on this subject. I do not believe that our institutions are jeopardized by the
crowds seen flying to us from abroad. I entertain
the higher hopes of our country when I see it becoming a Bethesda, a house of mercy for the suffering; for it thus secures to itself the blessings of
them that were ready to perish. The nation has
possessed a character from the beginning too distinct
and enduring, too strong and determined, to be
changed by any exotic influence acting upon it at this
day of its maturing strength. Let wise legislation
and active Christian benevolence take care that
foreigners be made to understand and appreciate
our civil and religious privileges; and, so far from
having anything to fear, we have much to hope
both for ourselves and for them by their residence
in the midst of us. It is indeed true that they
bring with them lamentable displays of ignorance
and superstition. But we should look upon them




THIRD LECTURE.             119
as sent to us to be enlightened and relieved. We
should consider it as so much work brought to our
doors, that it may be done the more effectually.
They are sent to us that they may gain lessons of
wisdom, which they could not have learned so well,
nor would we so earnestly have taught them, had
they remained in their former homes. When they
become inhabitants of a country held in common by
them and ourselves, we feel that we are so shut up
to our duty that the penalty of our neglect must be
our own ruin; that we must give the truth to them,
or lose it ourselves; and thus are we stimulated in
our duty by the conviction that, while we are acting
for the good of others, we are also laboring for our
own welfare, and the welfare of our children in
future generations.
But the good which may thus be done among
"the strangers within our gates" is far from being
confined to those who may live and die among us.
Through them we are sowing a seed which is yet
to spring up and bear its most abundant fruit in the
countries from which they have come. There is an
incident in New Testament history which has a
pregnant meaning on this subject. When Jerusalem,
on the day of Pentecost, was made the radiating
point of "saving light " to the world, " there were
dwellers in the city out of every nation under




120           THIRD LECTURE.
neaven; Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and
tle dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and
Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Painphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libia about
Cyrene, strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Cretes and Arabians," who received the Gospel, and
" were baptized in the name of Christ." The time
had come when "repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in his name among all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem;" and here do we see the
all-wise God preparing the right means for accomplishing that great end. He shed down his
spirit, and brought into his church, men "of every
nation under heaven," while they were " dwellers" or
" sojourners " among his people, that they might be
constrained and the better qualified to carry his
Gospel into all the various lands. from which they
had come, and to which they belonged. The result
was soon made known in the speed and the power
with which his kingdom was spread in that day of
its glory.
We believe that by a similar instrumentality the
Gospel is again to be carried to distant and now
darkened regions of the earth; and that such a
service as was then rendered by "the dwellers at
Jerusalem from  every nation under heaven," will
again be performed-by "the sons of the stranger"




THIRD LECTURE.              121
now clustering to our shores from all quarters of
the globe. We view them as sent to us by the overruling providence of God, that they may here learn
our religion, our laws and institutions, and become
the means of carrying these privileges back to the
home of their fathers. In this way a new leaf is
to be opened up in the history of missions. Much
credit as may be due to the noble-hearted men who
have gone abroad from Christian lands as missionaries to the heathen, it is vain to expect that the
great mass of Pagan nations can be brought to
Christianity by their labors. They can but sow the
seed; "and herein is that saying true, one soweth
and another reapeth." The harvest must be gathered'
in by those who belong to the land where the seed
has taken root. No people can be so advantageously and universally instructed as where the
teachers and the taught speak the same vernacular
language, and sympathise with each other through
the countless cords of the heart, which a foreigner
cannot so happily touch. Native instructors must dG
the work, and they can never be so amply qualifi
ed for their task as by having lived in the midst
of a people, and mingled with a people, where they
have not only learned the truths of Christianity, but
have also seen its practical workings, and have
been witnesses of the blessings it bestows.
6




122            THIRD LECTURE.
Our age and our country have already furnished
a remarkable demonstration of this. Time has fully
shown how little can be done for Africa unless by
those who properly belong to her own race of the
human family. Long, painfully long, has she remained what she has often been called, "opprobrium
humani generis," the reproach of mankind, because
of her deep and unrelieved degradation. Notwithstanding the most persevering efforts made by some
of her best and most devoted friends, sad experience
has shown that she never can be elevated and enlightened by the labors of white men. They are
under the ban of her climate; and she has written
her stern decree for their exclusion all along her
coast, in the graves of those to whom it was allowed
only to die for the cause for which they had hoped
to live and labor. All now admit that if ever Africa
is redeemed from darkness it must be the work of
her own sons, and of their descendants, trained for
a successful entrance on the service by having
enjoyed the privileges of a Christian land. And
since the work has passed into their hands a success
has followed it that has silenced even the scoffer.
"Ethiopia is stretching out her hands unto God."
Regions on her coast, lately "filled with the habitations of cruelty," are blessed with the light of life.
A cordon of moral health begins to surround her, not




THIRD LECTURE.             123
to confine pestilence within, but to exclude pirates
from without, whose ruthless violence has long
soaked her sands in the tears and blood of her children. Liberia is a Christian and a free country; and,
like "a city set on a hill," is showing to the world
what Africans can become, and can accomplish,
when moulded under the power of the Gospel. It
was in America, and while dwelling in the midst of
us, that the men who have thus begun the work of
evangelizing the land of their fathers were trained
for their high enterprise; and our nation has enjoyed the opportunity of showing how successfully
colonies may be planted, without entailing on them
the evils of colonial dependence.
Let us also look at China. Missionary means
and labors have been expended there without interruption for many years, but with comparatively
small success. The land still continues walled in
from the approach of the Gospel, and the inhabitants
boast that its citadels of darkness remain impregnable, whether assailed by one denomination of
Christians or another. Their habitual jealousy and
studied contempt for foreigners seems to shut their
ears against the truth which its ablest advocate
may present to them; and their language is so intricate and perplexing that it costs him the labor of
years before he can either speak or write it with




124            THIRD LECTURE~
freedom and confidence.*  No argument can be required to show what an impulse would be given to
the spread of Christianity in China by the native
Chinaman, who, having witnessed and felt the power
of the Gospel in a Christian land, would then return
with a heart yearning for the salvation of his countrymen, "beseeching them, in Christ's stead, to be
reconciled unto God." But where, and how are the
proud jealous sons of that long secluded and wide
empire to be qualified for such an important service?
Not many years since it would have been scarce
possible to give an answer to the question. Recent events, already noticed, suggest a reply. The advance of our nation, with her institutions both ci
vil and religious, to the shores of the Pacific, was
an important step in the civilization of the world;
and now, when under the aegis of her protection, she
is bringing to light the rich resources of that long
neglected region, the dormant faculties of the various nations in Eastern Asia will soon be quickened
into new activity. The Celestial Empire already
begins to lose the spell which bound the Chinaman in
the belief that it contains within itself every thing
of value, and that every thing "on the outside " of
its confines is barbarous and worthless. The new,
but restless desire to learn the secret of our strength,
* Note L.




THIRD LECTURE.             125
when we have opened a new way to his doors,
will impel him to show himself among us. And
when the Chinaman comes he will soon be followed
by others. When our country shall have become, as
we have described, the great highway for the commercial wealth of the world as it passes from one
continent to another, it will call to our shores myriads from north, south, east and west, until every
language shall be spoken, and every tribe and kindred of the human family shall be seen among us.
The effect of such a state of things on the religious
interests of mankind was not overlooked by the
" Holy men of God, speaking as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost." A commerce which will bring
together countries now far distant from each other,
a commerce which forms that very branch of enterprise and industry in which our nation is fast
taking the lead, is distinctly described in prophetic
language, as yet to have a wide-felt influence in
turning the whole earth to the Lord. " Surely the
isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish
first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their
gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God,
and to the Holy One of Israel."
When I look forward to that day, a day of such
large, if not measureless means of doing good to
mankind, yet to be entrusted to the hands of this




12 6           THIRD LECTURE.
nation, I admit that I "rejoice with trembling." It
will bring with it a responsibility to God and to man
for which we should be anxious to be well prepared.
Many of our sainted fathers, as Edwards, Davies,
and others, "after they had served their generation,
by the will of God fell on sleep" cheered to their
dying hour with the conviction that from the
churches in America the Gospel will be first exhibited, with that light and power which will subdue
" every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people," to the obedience of faith. Events which they
could little foresee seem to be preparing the way
for the fulfilment of their expectations. Are Christians amongst us animated by a zeal which corresponds with these brightening indications of God's
holy providence?




FOURTH LECTURE.
In our last lecture, having alluded to the condition of the Hebrew nation while suffering their
bondage in Egypt, we observed that to have given
them the institutions of civil freedom, without first
preparing them for it, would not have been either
kindness or wisdom. The minds of the people needed to be trained to new associations, new conceptions and new standards of right, before they could
be entrusted with the privileges of self-government;
and we showed how this great object was promoted
by their migration to another country, by their removal from Egypt to the Land of Canaan.
We have now to contemplate another step in
the work of preparation, and which indeed forms a
prominent feature in the constitution by which they
were to be governed. I refer to the provision made
for the diffusion of knowledge throughout all classes
of the people.
It has been remarked, that "a well graduated




128-          FOURITH LECTURE.
commonwealth is like a pyramid; the common people are its base; and in communities, as in architecture, the destruction is greatest when it begins at
the foundation;" and it might have been added, that
the edifice can never be strong and enduring if the
foundation is not sound and well adapted to its
place. Hence the indispensable importance of rendering a free people an intelligent people-of securing to them a competent education for the discharge of their relative duties to God and to man.
Irrational animals may choose that which is best for
their own welfare if left to themselves. They can
follow their' instinct, and thus best answer the purpose of their creation. To eat and to drink, to live
and to die, is their beginning and their end, the sum
of their destiny. "Their. spirit goeth downward,"
says the Preacher. But, on the contrary, " the spirit
of man goeth upward."  He is formed for higher
things. He was made to rule the world around him,
and to make it the theatre of preparation for a
better. He has duties to perform to his Maker and
to his fellow-men, which demand inquiry, thought,
and reflection; which call for divine light from
above, to guide, and a right heart within, to follow
where his duty and happiness require him to go.
And yet see what he is when he comes into the
world, where he is to act so important a part both




FOURTH LECTURE.             129
to others and for himself. He is born, both in body
and mind, a feeble creature. As his physical frame
needs a mother's judicious care for its growth and
development, his moral and mental faculties would
remain feeble and become distorted if left to themselves; and if ever his powers are so drawn out as
to render him what he is capable of becoming, he
must be led to his duty, not driven to it. HIe is not
a mere machine, nor can he be governed as such.
You may, by mere force, prevent him from doing
what is wrong, but you cannot, by the same means,
constrain him to do what is right. You must help
him to understand his duty. You must use the means
which his Maker has appointed to free him from
the thraldom and degradation of ignorance, and
thus awaken him to a sense of the destiny before
him; and then, and only then, can you expect him
both to comprehend and fulfil his duties to his
Maker, to himself, and also to his neighbor.
Such being the case, it is very obvious that, over
and above the essential importance of instruction to
men viewed as immortal beings, if they are ever to
become the subjects of self-government as a nation,
they must be educated for it-educated to understand and appreciate their privileges and responsibilities, and the respective duties arising out of them.
Accordingly, let us see what God ordained on this




130           FOURTH LECTURE.
point for the nation of the Hebrews when he organized them as a commonwealth.
Strange as it may perhaps seem to some of us,
there has scarcely ever been a nation in which the
people were so universally taught to read. That
such was very generally the case in the time of
our Saviour, we would infer from the manner in
which he often appeals to the people, asking, " Have
ye not read what Moses saith," "Have ye not
read in the Scriptures," thus implying that his
hearers could and did read the writings of Moses
and the prophets. The same thing is plainly to be
inferred when we are told respecting the inscription
which Pilate placed over the head of the Redeemer
at his crucifixion, " This title then read many of the
Jews." But we have proof that may be viewed as
still niore conclusive. We may quote to you the law
which impliedly enjoins it on parents, as a solemn
duty, that the young should be taught to read and
to study the statutes and the ordinances which God
had revealed. "The words which I command thee
this day," he ordains, "shall be in thy heart, and
thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children."
But how was this diligent instruction to be given?
The command proceeds to say, " Thou shalt talk of
them when thou sittest in thine house, and when
thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and




FOURTH LECTURE.            131
when thou risest up." But was this oral instruction
all that they were bound to give? Was there no
other mode of teaching enjoined? See what is added: "And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon
thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between
thine eyes; and thou shalt write them upon the
posts of thine house, and on thy gates." It scarcely
needs to be observed that if parents were to instruct
their children in God's law, by thus writing it for
them; it follows that both parents and children must
have been able to read it when written, for otherwise the writing would have been comparatively
useless. And when you consider that in those days
the art of printing had not been discovered, and that
great time and labor were required in order to write
the contents of the inspired volume on the posts of
their doors and on their gates, you may learn the
importance which the Most High attributed to the
ability to read, as a means of preparing a people for
the intelligent and conscientious discharge of their
respective duties. Accordingly we find it to be the
uniform testimony of Jewish writers that the school
was to be found in every district throughout the
nation, and under the care of teachers who were
honored alike for their character and their station.
Nor was this all. As the divine command plainly
implies, and as intelligent Jewish commentators in



132           FOURTH, LECTURE.
terpret its meaning, it was not left to parents to
decide whether their children should or should not
be suitably educated.  This duty was viewed as
enjoined upon them by the authority of law; and up
to this point we believe that wise legislation should
come in every commonwealth. A parent should be
required to educate his children if he has the ability
to do it, and if not, the state should do it for him.
There is nothing in such a requirement which can
be accounted unjust or unreasonable. It implies no
violation of a parent's rightful authority over his
own family. Parental duty may be, and is enforced
by the laws of the land in other cases. If a parent
neglects to provide food and raiment for his children,
the civil authority compels him to do it if he has the
ability; and if not, it takes them out of his hands and
does it in his stead. And is the body of more value
than the mind; or the animal wants of a people of
more consequence to public welfare than the moral
and intellectual? Apart from the benefits which
such laws ensure to the young themselves, in securing them against the degradation of ignorance,
every well-ordered state should feel that, as it values
public safety, it must not allow its youth to grow
up within its own bosom in a condition of ignorance
that would render them incendiaries, and pests to all
its best interests.




FOURTH LECTURE.               133
Still farther, schools for the general education of
the people were not the only institutions of learning
among the Hebrews. To shed upon our earth the
full and various illumination which it needs, there
must be not only the lesser, but also the greater
lights in the firmament; and it is from the greater
that the lesser often derive their power to shine.
The same laws prevail in the world of learning
and of mind. The higher and greater seminaries
of education are indispensable to a sound state of
intellect in a people; were they to disappear, the
common school would soon be shorn of its brightness. They are both parts of the same system, and
they must exist and move together if the system is
harmonious and complete. Accordingly there were
higher institutions introduced and established among
the Hebrews, under the title of " Schools of the Prophets," by which are meant seminaries where were
taught, not only theology, but also other branches ot
knowledge which were reckoned among the pursuits:of learning in that day.*
These "Schools" were under the care of men
who stood high for their own intellectual attainments and their ability to impart knowledge to their
* The term "prophet" is sometimes used in Scripture not
only for one who fortells future events, but also for one who is
employed in giving instruction. Num. 11:25, 27. Also, 1 Co;r
14:1, 3 4.




134            FOURTH LECTURE.
pupils. Even Samuel, notwithstanding the abundance of his public cares, seems at times to have
sought the retirement which they afforded, to refresh
his mind with a review of what he had studied in
earlier life, and to take a part in teaching the young
scholarsx of the nation, who were in aftertimes to be
its leading men in both Church and State. The
result of such a regard for learning was what may
well be called the golden age of the Hebrews, in
which the nation rose to a high point of intellectual
distinction. Solomon and his court were in their
day the great centre of attraction for those of all
nations who loved and honored knowledge. "His
wisdom," we are told, "excelled all the wisdom of
the children of the East country, and all the wisdom
of Egypt. He spake. of trees, from the cedar in
Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of
the wall; he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and
of creeping things, and of fishes. His songs were a
thousand and five, and his proverbs three thousand."
And while he excelled in the wide fields of natural
science, poetry and ethics, the Temple, which still
bears his name, stood before the world a monument
of skill and taste, which rendered it in after ages
the original model of grace, majesty, and grandeur
in architecture.
Such gifted luminaries in the intellectual world




FOURTH  LECTURE.                     135
do not shine alone.  They usually belong to a constellation, and the king who sets such an example
is not likely to be without followers. There was
indeed  one cardinal feature in  the  Hebrew  polity which was pre-eminently favorable, at all times,
to the cultivation of knowledge. By divine appointment the whole tribe of Levi were set apart
for the service of religion and letters; and  while
many were employed before the altar and in the
temple, others were devoted to study; many of
whom, especially in the reign of Solomon, reached a high name both for their attainments in the
science of their age and the fidelity with which
they made their learning available for the benefit
of the people.* Thus was produced that happy conjunction in the history of knowledge, when learning
* Michaelis terms the Levites "a learned noblesse," and speaks
of them as " forming a counterpoise to the democracy of the nation." Considering his views of civil government, it is perhaps not
surprising that he should have been anxious to find something in
the Hebrew State as an offset against its plainly democratic spirit.
There was little of a "noblesse" among the Levites. While it
is true, as he says, that " they were not merely a spirituality, but
the literati of all the faculties," and were generally chosen to
offices of importance whether in church or state; this arose from
their superior knowledge and general worth of character. tHis
idea that they were not employed in teaching the people, is utterly
inadmissible. Moses declares expressly of the Levites, as such,
"They shall teach Jacob thy judgments and Israel thy law." To




136              FOURTH LECTURE.
bestowed honor on the learned, and the learned
brought honor to learning; when the highest attainments were deemed of value, not according as they
gave distinction to him who had reached them, but
according as they tended to improve and to bless
the whole family of man.  Among the Hebrews
there was no monopoly of knowledge by a favored
few. Intelligence was general in the degree and of
the kind adapted to the various duties and pursuits
of those among whom it was spread. The tongue
and the pen of even learned royalty were industriously employed in giving to knowledge that condensed and practical form  which might bring it
within the reach, and make it available for the
advantage of all, of the shepherd and vine-dresser,
as well as "the Sons of the Prophets."  When the
learned act with this generous and dutiful spirit,
they always reap according as they sow. The minds
have been "without a teaching priest " is described as the cause
of the general impiety and adversity which at times overtook the
nation; and the return of the Levites to their duty as teachers is
mote than once mentioned as among the first things enjoined by
rulers and kings who arose as reformers of prevailing abuses.
2 Chron. 15: 3. 17: 7-9. 30: 22. 35: 3. Nehemiah, 8:7,8. The
labors of the Levites may not have been precisely like those of our
parish clergymen; but whether it was in the school of higlher or
lower degree, or in the assembly of worship, the tribe of Levi
were ordinarily considered as the appropriate instructors.




FOURTH LECTURE.              137
of those who receive instruction will re-act upon the
minds of those who give it, imparting to them higher
aspirations, and leading them to greater acquisitions.
If, as geologists tell us, there are countries where
the whole land is constantly rising higher and higher
above the level of the sea, the mountains must rise
as well as the valleys; and in every wisely adjusted
system for the intellectual education of a nation,
when the mass of the people are improved in intelligence, the attainments of the more learned will be
advanced in a like proportion. All will rise together.
These provisions for the diffusion of knowledge
which we find among the Hebrews have been sanctioned by universal history as inseparably interwoven with national prosperity. No people can
rise from civil or social degradation without education; and no ruler deserves the reputation of a
public benefactor who would not give his unremitting care to this object, as of paramount importance.
The " good king Alfred," as he is often called, arose
at a time when nothing less than a spirit like his
could have saved his country from entire subversion.
He expressly attributes its worst evils to the prevalence of ignorance, and he began -his measures
of reform by inviting distinguished scholars from
abroad, by endowing literary institutions for the cultivation of learning, at the same time establishing




138           FOURTH LECTURE.
schools throughout the land for the education of the
people, requiring every parent to send his children
to be taught, and giving public employment only to
such as had made satisfactory proficiency in knowledge. He went farther still. He added the influence of his own example, not only as a diligent
and successful student, but in preparing, with his
own pen, books for the intellectual and moral improvement of all classes among his subjects. Before his death the whole face of affairs in the land
was changed: and in a work, said to be still extant,
he congratulates himself on the prosperity which
had sprung from general education.
The mantle of Alfred is often said to have fallen
upon Edward the Sixth. The wonderful mind of
that prince would have rendered him another "admirable Crichton," if he had been simply a scholar
and not a king. In wisdom he was as far beyond
his own years as he was before the age of the world
in which he lived. When he took counsel, as he
tells us, how he should most effectually benefit the
Commonwealth, he pronounced "good education,
first in order, and first in dignity and degree," and
declared his purpose to "show his device therein."
Alas! death cut him off in the midst of his plans for
the freedom and happiness of his people, removing
him from a world in which, at that day, he seems to




FOURTH LECTURE.             139
have been too wise and too good to find those who
would co-operate with him for the welfare of his
race. His death has been considered by many as
the greatest calamity with which England was ever
overtaken; and her philanthropists and statesmen
of late have been led to feel the importance of the
work he contemplated, and are making it the
"question of questions" how to diffuse suitable education among the mass of the people.
The service rendered to Scotland by her parish
schools is known to every one at all acquainted
with her history. So deep was her degradation before she introduced them, that one of her leading
patriots was led to propose the introduction of domestic servitude as a remedy for the vagrancy and
low crime which had overspread the country. Since
she gave her people education, she has produced
a race of men known through the world for their
shrewd intelligence and successful industry. If we
look at the enactments of Holland for educating the
children of that Republic, and which were enforced
by the authority of both Church and State, we can
see how she arose to the greatness that once distinguished her. To Prussia, however, belongs the
credit of having recently set an example that has
given a new impulse to the cause of popular education in Europe. The value of instruction de



140           FO URTHI LECTURE.
pends on the qualifications of the teacner; and with
a wise regard to this important principle, Prussia
created Normal Institutions for the education of
teachers, and also established schools in every district of the country, to which every parent is required by law to send his children, unless he gives satisfactory proof to the competent authority that he
is educating them  at home at his own expense.
The effect of these regulations is that every child
in the Prussian dominions receives, at a suitable
age, an education in such branches as are connected with the ordinary purposes of life. Within
a few years also a special ordinance has been passed
directing that a Bible be placed in the hands of every
teacher in the public schools, as an official acknowledgment of the truth of Christianity. The consequences which must flow from such a system of instruction can be easily foreseen. Neither civil nor
religious abuses can long endure when the mind of
the public becomes so effectually enlightened respecting the rights and duties of rulers and ruled.
We hazard little in the prediction that Prussia will
take the lead among the nations of Europe in many
of the reforms which are approaching.
But to the ancestors of our own country we may
turn for the best of proofs, showing the importance
of general education for the welfare of the people.




FOURTH LECTURE.               141
They were Bible men. In whatever they did for
themselves or for others, for private or for public
welfare, they acted on Bible principles. And whether
they were Hollanders, or Huguenots, or Pilgrims,
on this point they had but one mind, they adopted
but one rule as to the rising generation. It was,
that every child must be taught, at the charge of
its parents if they were able; at the charge of the
public if they were not. And from that, as the root,
has sprung the tree of our national prosperity, which
is spreading forth its branches so luxuriantly. If its
growth is not to be checked, and its beauty marred,
we, in our day, and our children after us, must carry
out this principle, which they esteemed so fundamental in both their civil and religious systems. It
furnishes no small gratification to both the patriot
and the Christian to see constant proofs that their
zeal for the blessings of education is fully alive in
the nation. Widely and rapidly as we are carrying
our free institutions into the wilderness, every new
Territory and State makes it a leading point in
her policy to set apart lands or other resources
for schools; and in the older States "the school
fund" is guarded with a jealously that shows how
universally public sentiment sympathises with the
education of the people. Every party in politics,
and every sect in religion, unite in the belief that




142           FOURTH LECTURE.
general ignorance would be certain ruin; and that
if we expect it "to be well with us and with our
children after us," the civil authorities should make
it a matter of imperative obligation that a child
should be educated, as much as that a child should
be fed and clothed. The curse of ignorance is worse
than the curse of nakedness and hunger. It is often the cause of both, and of still more ruinous
effects. "It is only," says a great statesman, "it
is only when every child can read its Bible, that
every family will have its meal." He told but a
part of the story. When every child can read its
Bible, every family will have something more than
its meal. Mere animal comforts will not be all that
a people thus educated will crave and will have.
They will have their meal, and with it the civil and
religious institutions which ensure elevation of mind
and of morals, and form the true glory and strength
of any nation.
These observations at once introduce a view of
the subject to which I wish to call especial attention. I mean the duty and expediency of maintaining
the use of the Bible in our schools. Did my limits
permit I would respectfully suggest the inquiry to
professors and lecturers in our higher seminaries of
learning, whether the Bible receives due attention as
a book abounding with classical beauties, when they




FOURTH LECTURE.            143
are instructing their students in belles lettres studies.
A heathen critic has referred to the words, "Let
there be light, and there was light," as the most
perfect specimen of the sublime which he could
quote from any writing extant in his day. It were
to be wished that a greater number of our instructors in criticism would follow his example, and draw
out more fully into view the striking illustrations of
grandeur and sublimity, grace and beauty, dignity
and simplicity, whether in history or poetry, which
are to be found in the Holy Scriptures. Had Blair'
and Kaimes, and others quoted, we will not say
less frequently from Demosthenes and Homer, from
Cicero and Virgil, from Addison and Shakspere,
but more frequently from Moses, David, Isaiah and
Paul, their illustrations might have been more perfect and convincing; and while the mind of the
pupil was taught to admire the casket, his heart
might have been led to realize the value of the
diamond it contains.
But my chief object at present is to assert the
importance of maintaining the use of the Bible in
our common schools as a book for the scholar who
is learning the elementary branches of education.
It has always been surprising to me that in a Christian land any question should ever have been raised
on the subject. The answer is so obviously dictated




144           FOURTH LECTURE.
by common sense, that, to a mind devoid of prejudice, there seems no room for doubt. The great
object of education is to form the taste, to elicit
the powers and habitudes of thought, and to give
purity and rectitude to the heart and life. If there
is any one book which has been proved by the
history of all time to be the best book for accomplishing these invaluable ends, that is the book
with which every learner should be made familiar. Let him learn from others in their respective places and according to their respective
claims; but let none of them displace this from its
priority. Let it stand upon its merits, and according
to its merits tried and proved by its fruits through
countless generations, let it be regarded. This is the
plain and common sense answer to the question, so
tortured and vexed in our day, of whether the Bible
should be read in our schools. If we can be furnished with any other book that promises more
effectually to improve the mind or the heart, and
which makes its lessons so plain and simple that
a child can understand and feel them, then we have
not a word to say. But if, for these invaluable purposes, and in these rare attributes, the Bible stands
peerless and alone, then have we every thing to say
in proof that learners should take their lessons from
its inspired pages.




FOURTH LECTURE.              145
What then are the facts, and what the judgment
of the wise and the good respecting the best book
for a learner? Would they give us the Bible, or
have they discovered something better? When the
subject came before the mind of that accomplished
scholar and jurist, Sir William Jones, he declared
that "The Scriptures contain, independently of their
divine original, more true sublimity, more exquisite
beauty, more important history, pure morality, and
finer strains both of poetry and eloquence than could
be collected within the same compass from all other
books that were ever composed in any age or in
any idiom." And we should add that, while his
judgment is confirmed by thle testimony of the
learned in all professions, it is in fullest accordance with the views of the best masters who have
devoted themselves to the business of education.
But there is something still further to be said
of the Bible as a book for learners in a country
like ours. Here the English language is the language of the nation; and not only is it fast rooting
out every other which has hitherto prevailed in different parts of the land, but it is yet to be the great
language of communication throughout the civilized
world. On these accounts it should be made a leading subject of study in our schools. But although
the essential beauties of the Bible, which are so for7




146            FOUF Pt H LE CTI U~E,
cibly and comprehennively  desribed in the words
we have just quoted, cannot be lost in any language
or dialect into which it is f-aith-flly rendered; yet
inlto no language has the rich meaning of the in
spired volume been so fully and happily conveyed
as our own; 9 and in no book  rwhich can be put into
the hands of a reader is there such a " well of English
undefiled" as in our English Bible. Both these
points are now matters of general consent. In the
words of Adam Clarke, "our translators have not
only made a standard translation, but they have
made their translation the standard of the language,
The English tongue in their day vwas not equal to
such a work; but God enabled them to stand as
upon Mount Sinai, and crane up their country's language to the dignity of the originals, so that after
the lapse of two hundred years the English Bible is,
with very few exceptions, the standard of purity
and excellence of the English tongue."
The classical and accomplished Dr. Beattie describes it as " a striking beauty in our English Bibles
that, though the language is always elegant and
nervous, and for the most part very harmonious, the
words are all plain and common, without affectation
of learned terms." 
"In no bookl," said the eloquent Fisher Ames,
"is there so good English, so pure and elegant; and




FOURTH  LECTUTRE.
by teaching all the same book, they will speak alike,
and the Bible will justly remain the standard of
language as well of faith."
"Indeed," says another high authority,  "'when
we reflect that the Bible has been regarded as a model of correct expression by the ablest critics, that it
has been more read than any other English book,
that the nature of its subjects and the character of
the people have given it, more than any other book,
a hold upon the imagination and the feelings, we do
not wonder at the extent to which its language has
become the basis both of prose and of verse, and
even, to some extent, of common conversation. The
Bible is not subject to the fluctuations of taste."
It surely will not be said that there is any other
book which even approaches the Bible in such testimony on its behalf, showing ict value to enrich
and discipline the mind, by furnishing it with both
the best materials and the best models for thought.
But education has done only a part of its work
when it enlightens the mind and refines the taste
of the scholar.  The affections and conduct must
* Biblical Repository and Theological Review: p. 185, vol. 8.
The quotation is from an interesting and valuable article, entitled,' The English Bible," and which contains several other testimonies
of a like import with those we have recited. The whole article is
replete with important facts and statements, presented with much
clearness and force.




T48           FOURTH LECTURE.
be reached as well as the understanding; and when
I ask for the best book to improve the heart and the
life of the learner-what shall it be? Can any one
say that, in. the whole range of writings, ancient
or modern' there is a book to compare with the
Bible for this great purpose? Go among the old
and young who exhibit a pure life, a right heart,
and a " conscience void of offence towards God and
towards man," and to what will they ascribe the
influence that has opened their eyes to see their
duty and inclined their hearts to pursue it? They
will all refer you to the Bible and the sacred truths
it contains. Trhen look at the opposite picture: Go
among them who are the foes of heaven, and the
plague of earth, who have become so hardened in
the long practice of deep iniquity that "their neck
is a sinew of - iron, and their brow brass," and
ask them what they know of the Bible. You find
them strangers to the very name. It has been to
them in youth and in years a book unknown, and
hence the hardened and hopeless obduracy of their
case. Or let us turn again to a still different class
of transgressors, to those who may have wandered
far from the paths of duty, but who in their early
days have been taught to read the Bible. Far as
they may have gone in evil, you always find in
their bosoms a chord that can be touched, a tender




FOURTH LECTURE.             149
point in the conscience which remains as a token
that there is hope in their case, and that, like the
prodigal of old, they may one day come to themselves. Let the mind in early life be Bible trained,
let it be brought into frequent and familiar contact with these inspired pages, and a seed is sown
that cannot die while the man lives; it may be
hidden by a long winter, but a season of spring
usually follows, when the bud and the blossom will
put themselves forth. -Now where is the book that
in these respects can dispute the palm with the
Bible? What its name, and who its author? By
what tests has it been tried, and what testimony
can it bring to vouch for its claims?
"Bring me the book," said the far-famed Sir
Walter Scott, when he felt that his last days were
approaching. And when he was asked, " What book
shall we bring?" he replied, " Oh! why ask me what
book. There is but one book; but one book in the
world that deserves the name, it is the Bible." This
was the testimony of a man who had perused countless volumes, and in all the most attractive departments of human knowledge; the productions of whose
own pen had fascinated myriads of old and young
through the civilized world. And yet his last and
truthful testimony to the value of all that had been
written, or could be read, was in the memorable




150            FOURTH LECTURE.
words, " There is but one book; but one book in the
world that deserves the name, it is the Bible."
There is still another viewv of the subject. It
relates to schools which share in the bounty of the
State. This public provision for the education of
the people, we have seen, is more or less interwoven
with the policy of several of the most enlightened
countries of Europe, and especially with that of our
own. On what principle is the measure to be justified? What makes it either the right or the duty
of government to employ the resources of a nation
for the purposes of education? The thing is both
justified and required, on the principle that the State
is bound to promote and secure the best means for
giving strength and stability to her own institutions,
for the prevention as well as the punishment of crime,
and for advancing the general welfare of the public.
It is simply because education is essential to these
great ends of government,that a State, as such, can
either claim t-he riht, or make it her duty to employ
the public property for the purposes of general instruction, or of diffusing the elements of knowledge.
Ignorance is the parent of crime and degradation,
and the Swate has the right to educate if she has the
right to punish, inasmuch as she is equally bound to
use all due means for the prevention of crime, and
to punish it when it has been committed.




FOURTH LECTUREE.             151
This being a position which few accomplished
statesmen would now think of either questioning or
denying, the important inquiry arises, what must
education be, and what must it include, if it is to
be made subservient to public welfare, so as to
justify the State in bestowing it or in giving her aid
to acquire it? It is not to be denied that there is
a kind of education which may render men more
dangerous enemies to the Commonwealth than if
they had remained in ignorance.  To elicit and
strengthen the understanding, without educating the
conscience and the affections, only increases the
powers of the man to do evil, without putting them
under the control of those faculties which were designed to regulate and direct them for the accomplishment of good. You educate but a part of the
man, and accordingly as you raise him from the
level of a brute, you convert him into the shape of
a fiend. The more power you give hirn, the more
mischief is he likely to produce. You act as if putfing weapons of death into the hands of a madman.
It is plain that in educating men after this manner
the State should have neither part nor lot. She should
be careful to have no share in, schooling men for
guilt, or transgression of her own laws. There are
schools, however, which lead directly to these results.
And where do we meet with them? The statistics




152            FOURTH LEi CTUR
of crime present us wvith an array of facts on this
point that neither infidelity nor sophistry can overlook or invalidate. It is found that crime, especially
crime against society or social institutions, spreads
among a people according as education becomes
general, if unaccompanied by the moral influences
which the Bible is the great means of producing on
the minds of old and young who are familiar with
its inspired pages." It then necessarily follows that
if the State bestows of her bounty for the purposes
of education, she abandons the only principle which
can justify the measure, she defeats her own ends
unless she connects moral with intellectual training.
Her schools may otherwise become nurseries of
criminals.
Besides, as a corrupt people can never remain
long a free people, this moral culture is not more
indispensable for the prevention of crime than for
the preservation of national liberty. There is nothing in that venerated record of human wisdom,
"the farewell address of Washington," which is
more valuable or memorable than his sentiments on
this very subject. " It is substantially true," he says,
"that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of
popular government. The rule indeed extends with
more or less force to every species of free govern* Note M.




FOURTH LECTURE.             153
ment." And that he might leave no doubt respecting the source of that morality which is so essential
to freedom, he uses the explicit language, " Let us
with caution indulge the supposition that morality
can be maintained without religion. Whatever may
be conceded to the influence of refined education on
minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience
both forbid us to expect that national morality can
prevail in exclusion of religious principles." Indeed,
there is neither hazard nor rashness in the declaration that civil freedom in its true meaning, and as
we enjoy it, never existed in a nation where the
religion which Washington acknowledged, the religion of the Bible, did not exist along with it; or
where the Bible itself was not read and believed by
the people. We may challenge contradiction of this
assertion. Let us be told, if it can be done, of a
single land in which you find a really free people
without the Bible in the hands of the people. We
have seen that the freedom of Pagan Greece and
Rome was rather tyranny in a modified form, than
the liberty and security combined, which equally
maintains the rights of rich and poor, strong and
weak. Abuses were tolerated and applauded by some
of their wisest men, which in our nation would
lead to revolution. Their academies and schools,
notwithstanding the taste and talent which they
P/ *k




154           FOURTH LECTURE.
combined for the purposes of instruction, availed
but little to create in the public mind the sound
views and right feelings, without which civil freedom is rather a shadow than a reality. Modern
times, toop are giving us frequent examples to teach
the same salutary lesson, and which, we may observe, the world seems slow to learn. Half a century since, France made her first effort to become
a free nation, and with all in her favor that could be
derived from "the influence of refined education."
She began by burning the Bible. The result was
soon seen. She escaped from chains which wore
the rust of ages, only to be fettered by others that
were steeped in her own blood. And I must here
add, that in the fierce and agonizing throes of nations in Europe, now struggling for freedom, I scarce
dare hope for a much better issue. I fear that with
some of them the Most High has a Bible controversy to plead; a controversy which will be seen to
have a most portentous meaning, and in which he
will vindicate the outraged honor of his own WVord,
by writing the sin of the offending nations in their
punishment. They have shed the blood of martyrs,
of martyrs " who were slain for the Word of God,
and for the testimony which they held."  They put
to death those " servants of the Most High," avowed.
ly because of their love to God's Word, their unyield



FOURTH  LECTURE.              155
ing purpose to possess it, to read it, and be governed
by it. In some of these nations who thus made war
upon the truth, the arm of the persecutor prevailed
till the light of the Bible w-as extinguished in the
blood of those who loved it too dearly to part with
it but Nwith their lives. With its expiring light the
last glimmerings of civil freedom expired also.'And
now, when these same nations, roused by a sense of
continued oppression and wrong, are struggling after
wvhat they can neither get nor keep without the
enlightening influence of the Bible on the minds of
the people, in righteous retribution, they may be
left to " weary themselves with the multitude of
their councils," until, having been made to feel that
they are " laboring in the fire," they will turn and
put merited, though long withheld honor, on that
holy Volume, which vas given both for the salvation of man and "for the healing of the nations."
Let them restore the Bible where it was, and send
it where perhaps it never yet has been, throughout all their borders, and then we may hope to see
them contending for a freedom  that deserves the
name, and their contest crowned with victory.
There is still another consideration in this conneetion which shows the deep interest of the State
in the moral culture of her people. Wherever an
enlightened and Bible Christianity has become the




1'56             FOURTH LECTURTE,
predominating sentiment of the public mind, it renl
ders a nation invincible in the defence of their civil
rights.  It makes courage and fortitude not only
matters of ambition, but matters of conscience. It
creates among all classes of the people a singleness
of object, a unity and sympathy of feeling that nothing but Christianity is adequate to produce; and
whenpthe mass of a nation are governed by such high
motives they have a power for self defence that defies every invader. When Spain made war upon the
freedom of the United Netherlands, her gigantic
strength had, in one sense, spread itself over both
hemispheres. She was animated by every motive
of pride and revenge that could render her strong
and determined in the conflict; but still she was
baffled and defeated after a long and bloody war in
which she poured forth her blood and treasure like
water; and the States of Holland showed to the
world that where a people, however inconsiderable
as to numbers, love their freedom, and are animated
by Christian principle in defence of it, they are not
to be subdued.*
* It may be thought that the late overthrow of Hungary is an
exception. Quite the reverse. If Hungary had been like Holland,
in the unanimity' of her people, and in the diffusion of Christian
intelligence and Christian principle, her liberty wonuld not have
been lost by the treachery or weakiness of any one man, nor could
even Russia and Austria combined have subdued her.




FOURTH LECTURE.             157
The same conclusion may be drawn from the
history of our own country. When she arose to
assert her freedom, her population amounted to
barely three millions, her resources for war were
limited and scanty, and yet she entered upon a conflict with an empire whose combined military and
naval power had then no equal among the nations
of the earth; and undismayed by the reverses which
at times met her arms during a struggle of seven
years, she came out of the contest with her rights
maintained and her independence achieved. The
Bible, which her statesmen and warriors had been
taught to read in her schools, they carried with them
into the camp and the councils of the Republic; and
the high moral sentiment which they had derived
from this fountain of wisdom carried them triumphantly through every peril and suffering.
Let it not be said in reply that under a government like ours, which views with equal favor all
denominations of Christians, there are insuperable objections against the introduction of religious culture
into schools that are patronized by the State. There
is no real difficulty in the case if properly presented.
In view of every great measure, involving moral duty, there are always men who " see a lion in the way,"
and with whom the wish is father to the thought.
The lion is in the way of those whose imaginations




158           FOURTH LECTURE.
are predisposed to conjure up- some formidable ob.
stacle as an apology for not going forward. There
would be difficulty in the case before us, if the Bible
could not be viewed as a separate book from the
distinguishing creeds and confessions of faith which
different denominations draw from it, while, at the
same time, they all unite in regarding it as the only
and infallible record of divine truth. However vat
luable may be these creeds or articles of belief, pre
pared by the hands of men as bonds of union for
those who embrace them; we do not admit that in
our schools, enjoying endowment from  the State,
religion should be taught in any or all of those dis
tinctive forms. But the Bible is the common pro-s
perty and common treasure of all who take the
ground of common Christianity; and we insist that
a high place be given to this book in training the
young, which corresponds with the precedence which
all agree in assigning to it as the supreme and unerring rule of faith and of practice, as the great and
primary fountain of that wisdom and righteousness
which are equally essential to the welfare of a nation and the happiness of man. It is one of the
peculiar attributes of the Bible that it can speak to
the heart and conscience, moulding them after its
own image, with a power that no other book either
contains within itself or can exercise on the minds




FOURTH LECTURE.              159
of its readers. And when we require that a place
may be assigned to it in our schools as a book for
learners, which shall belong to no others, we simply
require that it may be placed where it can have
occasion and opportunity for displaying this proof
of its own divinity, and for so influencing the minds
of its readers while " young and tender," " that our
sons may be as plants grown up in their youth, that
our daughters may be as corner stones polished after
the similitude of a palace."
And when I ask for this public acknowledgment
of the great charter of Christianity, I ask for nothing
more than is already incorporated in our laws as a
nation. Christianity, essential Christianity, not, be
it remembered, as any one sect may embrace it, but
essential Christianity as contained in the Bible, is
part and parcel of the common law of the land.*
We see this in every Sabbath observed as a day of
rest by our legislatures and by our civil authorities.
To what precept or command do our makers of law
and ministers of law yield obedience, in thus observing one day out of seven, if it is not the command of God speaking in his Bible? We see it in
the time-honored practice of opening our halls of
legislation with the solemnities of daily worship. We
see it in every day of public thanksgiving or humi* Note N.




160          FOURTH LECTURE.
fiation appointed or recommended by our rulers. In
these and other instances which we might quote, the
State acknowledges the Bible, or the religion of the
Bible, as interwoven with our social institutions.
Such too is the dictate of enlightened public opinion,
a power stronger than either the legislature or the
magistrate, and to which both are always constrained to bow. It ever has been, and we trust
ever will be, the wise decision of a vast majority in
our nation, to recognise and acknowledge Christianity in every due form, and on every proper occasion;
and the man who finds himself aggrieved by it must
not complain that he is deprived of his rightful
liberty. He has all the liberty which a man in a
minority can reasonably claim. He has the liberty
not to undo and unsettle every thing done and approved by the majority of those around him, but the
liberty to go where he can find institutions and
neighbors more to his mind. He has "the world
before him where to choose," but we must fear that
he has not " Providence his guide."
We have not forgotten the trite objection, that
the Bible is a sectarian book, which, as a matter of
conscience, some men cannot allow their children
to read. This is the mere cant of infidelity. The
Bible a sectarian book! As well might it be said
that the Most High is a sectarian God. The Bible




FOTURTHI LECTURE.            I61
is an emanation from himself. It has neither spirit
nor attribute which he does not acknowledge as
belonging to himself. And to talk of those who
cannot allow their children to read the Bible without a violation of conscience, is the same thing as to
say it violates the conscience of a parent to have his
child made acquainted with the God that made him.
The very worst of crimes have often sought shelter
under the perverted name of conscience. It has
been plead for burning martyrs at the stake, and for
setting at naught every thing sacred in faith, justice,
and mercy. If nothing is ever to be required or
enjoined by public authority, against which any
man may see fit to plead his conscience, the world
may as well stand still at once. Human society
cannot advance a single step. It cannot keep the
ground it has gained. It must fall back till every
obligation of civilized life is broken. It is against
the conscience of some men that one should possess
any property beyond the supply of his bodily wants,
while another is either hungry or unclothed. It
is against the conscience of others that the marriage covenant should still be held sacred, and that
the domestic relations should still be maintained and
enforced. A blind conscience, which has the opportunity of becoming enlightened and informed, and yet
remains in darkness, is equally guilty and inexcu



16:2          FOURTH LECTURE.
sable as a hard heart which has the means of being
softened and purified, and yet retains its obduracy.
Such is the conscience that would prevent a child
from learning the will of its Maker, as revealed in
the Bible. We can make no terms wnith it.
In conclusion, let it be remembered that the
whole responsibility of educating the young does not
lie on the State, however important may be her part
in the duty. There is much to be done for this object which, in a country like ours, cannot be done
in the Common School. Every parent may do much
in his own family, every pastor may do much
in his own church to " train up a child in the way
he should go." But in addition to all this, there is
a machinery now at work, and which is admirably
adapted to take up the work of instruction where
the Common School leaves it off. I refer to our
Sunday Schools: and but to name them is to praise
them. They are known by their fruits, their fruits
among teachers and taught. I view them as among
the first of the movements in our day for the prosperity and spread of religion in any land, but as
especially adapted to the condition and wants of
our owvn.
And here you see how beautifully our system of
government works. The Bible is the only standard
of divine truth known to the State, and as such she




FOURTH LECTURE.              163
can consistently place it in all her schools; and
when instruction is to be given in the distinctive
doctrines by which various denominations stand divided from each other, the State leaves this work
to he done by the families and churches to which
the youth respectively belong.  If any of them
choose to support schools in which their peculiar
creeds shall be taught, conjointly with the different
branches of general education, the State interposes
no objection. On the contrary, she guards the institution against injustice and wrong as carefully as if
it were fostered and sustained by her own bounty.
She simply declares that she confines her direct aid
to instruction in what the great mass of her people
unite in receiving as both according to truth and
conducive to the public welfare. And in this holy
duty of training the young in our land, let the
State fulfil her duty with a liberal hand; let parents
and churches be faithful in their respective spheres,
and how bright the prospect which opens before us!
With the mind of the nation unfettered, and buoyant
as our free institutions make it; with the Bible in
the hand of every youth as soon as he is able to
read it; and a sanctuary of worship and instruction
open to every inquirer, whether old or young, who
has the will to enter it; there is a healing and an enlightening influence abroad among the mass of the




164           FOURTH LECTURE.
people that in the end will dispel every delusion,
though, for a time, it may mislead and deceive.
Truth is thus left to do her own work with her own
weapons; and with us, as with every nation, it will
yet be found that, " Truth is great, and will prevail."




FIFTH LECTURE.
In our last two Lectures we have dwelt on the
principal means by which God prepared the Hebrew
nation for the privileges and responsibilities of civil
freedom. He removed them, as we showed you, to
a new country eminently adapted to the purposes
which he intended to fulfil, both towards them, and
through them, towards the nations of the earth. He
also distinguished them from every other people by
a wide diffusion of intelligence through all classes,
enabling them to understand and discharge their
duties as men, and members of the Commonwealth.
But while he thus made provision for cultivating
the mind of the nation, he did not overlook their
physical condition. Such a competency as will secure a people against hunger and nakedness, is quite
as important in its place as the spread of intelligence,
in order to render them contented and happy; nor
can free civil institutions exist any length of time in
a nation where the mass of the people are permitted
to sink into the degradation of poverty, and where
wealth rolls her streams only into the hands of a few.
The destruction which such a state of things would
have brought on the fair fabric of freedom which




I66            FIFTH LECTJURE.
God established among the Hebrews was foreseen
by his all-seeing eye; and to secure them against
the evils of degrading want on the one hand, and of
corrupting luxury on the other, he prescribed their
pursuits and condition in life with extraordinary care.
Nomadic life is always more or less allied to
barbarism, and to reclaim imen from the habits of
wandering hordes, and to give them a fixed dwelling
place, a residence around which shall cluster the
humanizing attachments of home, nmust always be
viewed as a first step in social improvement. It is
obvious that in order to effect this great end a man
must have property in land-he must be enabled to
look on some suitably defined portion of the earth as
his own. Rousseau's favorite saving, "the first man
who enclosed a field and called it mine is the author
of all the social ills that followed," is not only false,
but among the most glaring falsehoods which even
Rousseau ever uttered. This sentiment too, which
came from his pen nearly a century since, reminds us
that there is nothing new under the sun. The Socialists, or Communitists, or whatever be the name by
which they would be called, who, in our day, would
annul all rights of individual property, and would
have every thing belong to every man, and yet nothing to any man, are not entitled to claim originality




FIFTHI LECTURE.            167
in their views. They are but the followers of one
whose wild -notions on all subjects made it matter
of doubt whether he was most of the infidel or of
the madman.
To give a man the ownership of the soil on which
he dwells0 is the only effectual way to encourage and
secure the cultivation of it; and while the wealth of
a nation is thus promoted by his industry, both his
possessions and his occupation tend to create that
sense of independence and habit of sobriety and
endurance which form the distinguishing character
of a free people. Accordingly, when the Hebrews
were to become the depositaries of divine truth and
human rights, the Most High gave them laws which
were designed to render them generally both owners and cultivators of land, and to give agriculture
importance and honor in public estimation. As
these ordinances involve great principles which lie
at the very foundation of well organized society, let
us look at them with careg and see how the observance of them among the people tended to cherish
piety towards God, and both freedom and good government among themselves.
When the nation was planted in the land of
promise the tribes drew their various inheritances
by lot, according to a divine command. But when this
was done, the law next directed that a portion of




18            FIFT'H LECTURE,
land should be allotted to every Hebrew, which was
to be his for ever, which he was to cultivate during his life, and which his children after him were
to take as their heritage. Except the tribe of Levi,
for whom other provision was made as the ministers
of religion and knowledge, every Israelite, who was
the head of a family, was thus rendered a proprietor and tiller of the soil. But there was another
peculiar provision.  The land thus allotted to a
man might pass away from his possession through
his misfortune or improvidence, and his family be
thus reduced to poverty, their paternal inheritance
being irrecoverably lost. Such disasters we see occurring among ourselves every day. To secure the
Hebrews against this degradation, and to preserve
the equality which had been originally established,
no landed estate could be alienated for more than
fifty years. This was a leading ordinance in the
polity of the Hebrews, and created a marked distinction between them and other nations; a distinction too, as we will see hereafter, which was of essential importance in promoting both public and
private welfare. In Egypt, the country which they
had just left, the land throughout belonged to the
king; and the husbandmen, far from being proprietors of the fields on which they bestowed their la.
bor, were rather tenants, paying a permanent rent




FIFTH LECTURE.               169
into the royal treasury. So it long continued to be
in other kingdoms of the world. And so the Hebrews
were forewarned it would be with them  as a consequence of their folly in choosing to be under a
king. " He will take your fields," said Samuel, " and
your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best
of them, and give them to his servants. And he
will take the tenth of your seed, and the tenth of
your sheep, and ye shall be his servants."   Far
different was the condition of the people while they
were contented to live under the form of government
which the Most High gave them at their settlement
in the land of promise. Then every man was not
only acknowledged the owner of his land for ever
and unalienably, but he "sat under his vine and his
fig tree, and there was none to make him afraid."
The only estates which could be called entailed were
those belonging to the men who would both cultivate and occupy them, thus rendering the husbandman the only hereditary nobleman of the nation. For
it should be remembered, this law did not apply to
the ownership of houses in cities. They might pass
away from a man like his gold or silver; but his
* The manner in which Ahab sought Naboth's vineyard shows
how faithfully this picture was drawn, and how recklessly the
kings of Israel seized upon a landed inheritance, setting at
nought the rights of their subjects and the ordinance of God.
Q




170            FIFTH LECTURE.
property in land which he was to cultivate for the
sustenance of himself and his family, could never
be permanently alienated. Though for a few years
it might cease to be his, when the year of Jubilee came round, his inheritance was by law restored to him, and he was enabled to begin the
world anew. Indeed, a special law provided that
any one who had parted with his land might recover
it at any time, through himself or "his nearest of
kin," by paying to the holder whatever might be
esteemed as the reasonable profits from the property
until the coming Jubilee. These ordinances secured
the people against that feudal tyranny which has
overrun every eastern country at one time or another, and created a degrading bondage, at war with
the happiness, and too often with the innocence of
the many, who were held as vassals and serfs of
the few.@
Such being the fundamental laws of the State
as to agriculture, it naturally followed that the
occupation of the husbandman became general
among the people, and was held in high honor.
Their best and greatest men were more or less cultivators of the soil. Saul, when made king, was
found with his oxen. Elisha, when called to be a
prophet, was employed in following the plough; and
Note 0.




FIFTH LECTURE.              1l7
concerning Uzziah, one of the best kings of Judah,
we are told that "he loved husbandry."
Let it be observed, there is nothing in these
ordinances, or in the pursuits growing out of thbm,
which was either designed or calculated to discourage commerce and the arts. So far as they had any
bearing on these two great sources of national prosperity and high civilization, they were designed to
show that both arts and commerce must be sustained by the cultivation and products of the earth;
and that amidst all the branches of human industry,
a priority belongs to agriculture, in its influence on
the moral and physical welfare of man-a truth too
often overlooked. He would show himself equally a
novice in political economy and in true philanthropy,
who would array any one pursuit of human life
against the others. To give to the body politic the
symmetry which shall render it healthful and vigorous, all the branches of human industry must be nourished and protected -according to their respective
claims, and these will be found to vary according to
times and circumstances in the history of the world.
But whether it be the merchant, the mechanic, the
man of learning, or the agriculturist; every one who
surveys the relations which the various pursuits of
a prosperous nation have to each other, will turn to
the cultivation of the earth as that which forms the




172            FIFTH LECTURE,
basis of wealth and power to the state, and diffuses
moral and physical health most widely through a
whole community; and while he attributes to commerce, to the arts, and to learning their own honored places, in promoting not only agriculture itself,
but also intelligence, refinement, and good will
among men, he will hold that the mass of a people
must have the country for their home, and the pursuits of the country for their occupation, if they
would possess the leading characteristics which are
so essential to civil freedom.
To inculcate these important truths was a chief
design of the laws which gave to agriculture such a
prominence in the Hebrew nation; and the effect
of agricultural life Upon their character and condition must be known to every one acquainted with
their history. It produced among the people generally
a bodily strength and activity, and a power of endurance that tended to render them equally formidable in war and successful in the labors of industry
during times of peace. It made their whole country
throughout like one continued garden, the very rocks,
we are told, being covered with mould to produce
vegetation, and the hills being tilled to their highest
summits. The-landwas thus enabled to support a
population that might otherwise seem incredible;
and at the same time it furnished the means not




FIFTH LECTURE.             173
only for the active exchange of commodities, which
was usual at their principal festivals, but for that
extensive foreign commerce which, in the days of
Solomon, so enriched the nation that " gold was laid
up as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the
brooks." Nor was it until a spirit of cupidity, pride,
and luxury, generated by the gains of commerce,
had brought into neglect the labors of the husbandman, that the strong arm of the nation was palsied,
and she fell a prey to her invaders.
But there were still further advantages resulting
from these enactments, and which had an important
moral influence on the people.
They stripped poverty of its worst evils. "The
poor ye have always with you," saith our Saviour,
and the words are only another version of the declaration of Moses, " the poor shall not cease out of
the land." But although poverty cannot be entirely
prevented while sin and sorrow abound in the world,
its bitterest evils may be greatly alleviated. Its
sense of degradation may be removed. Its squalidness and despair may be cured. Its bitterest sufferings may be lightened by the hope of better days
either for the man himself or for his children. You
may save him from becoming the malignant enemy,
or the inert burden of his race. You may save him
from the heart-breaking pang of looking at the home




174           FIFTH LECTURE'
where his fathers dwelt, and he himself was born,
now in the hands of a stranger, and never again to
acknowledge him as its owner. Such was the effect
of the law which restored to every man his landed
inheritance on the year of Jubilee. It kept his heart
whole. It preserved within him a love of home.
It kept alive, even among the most destitute, a spirit
of hope, and a love of independence; for every one
could look forward to a day when the home of his
fathers, and the place of his own birth, would again
be in the possession of himself or of his children.
His flocks and herds might have been taken from
him, and have gone for ever. His best ornaments
might have been given up, never to be regained.
But the land on which he might dwell, and by
his industry recover his lost place among his brethren, was always there, and his claim upon it indefeasible.
Allied to this was another important public advantage growing principally out of the laws and
ordinances to be observed at the year of Jubilee. I
refer to their happy efect in preventing the evils of
accumulated debt. Oppressive indebtedness, whether
public or private, is one of the worst calamities that
can afflict a people. It often weakens the tone of
sound moral feeling, and "leads into temptation"
too strong to be resisted. There were several ordi



FIFTH LECTURE.                   175
nances in the Hebrew  Commonwealth bearing directly on this subject, and all of them  framed on
the- principles of obvious wisdom. Experience shows
that just so far as some men are willing to lend,
others will be desirous to borrow; in other words,
to whatever extent credit will be given, men can
be found desirous of taking it.  The consequence
is, that where the facilities for contracting debt are
unwisely multiplied, a just sense of obligations is
lessened, and fraudulent insolvencies generally follow.  It is not difficult to see how  such a train of
evils is to be prevented. No one can borrow if there
is no one to lend; and if one man has little motive
or inducement to lend, another will have little opportunity or ability to borrow. On this simple principle do we find those laws of the Hebrews constructed
which were designed to prevent them from contracting heavy debts. They had their " usury" law, but
it was entirely different from ours.' It expressly
* "Usury" means, properly, that which is paid for the use of
any thing, whether money, clothing, or whatever one man may
lend to another. In this sense it is to be understood in the
command, "Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother;
usury of money, usury of victuals, or usury of any thing that is
lent upon usury. Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury;
but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury." At present,
and among us, the word is used to denote exorbitant or unlawful
interest on loans of money, being one of many instances which
show how the meaning of words is changed with the lapse of time.




176           FIFTH LE CTURE.
forbade one Hebrew to take from another any hire
or consideration for the use of money, or other article
of value which he might lend. They had also their
statute of limitations. It took effect at every Jubilee,
when all debts, wherever or however contracted,
were cancelled; and then also came the all-important
release, which, on that memorable day, restored every
one to the landed inheritance of his fathers, freeing
it from every claim that any other occupant or cultivator may have previously asserted with regard to
it. These being settled and well-known laws respecting the validity of obligations, the creditor could
not complain. If he disregarded them the fault was
his own; and although in an extensively commercial
community such statutes would be deemed too stringent, yet they contain a lesson as to the evil of
running into debt, that all men in all pursuits would
do well to remember. Especially in an agricultural
community they were the life of the people; they
saved many an inheritance from being squandered,
many a family from being scattered, and many a
heart from being broken and driven to despair. And
I here take occasion to add that it must give every
true philanthropist pleasure to perceive that many
of those great principles of wisdom, equity, and
mercy, which were embodied in these ordinances of
the Hebrew Commonwealth, are becoming more




FIFTH LECTURE.             177
and more understood and brought into notice in our
day, though with a difference of form adapted to
the present condition of society. In times not long
past, creditors who would even act the part of Shylocks, had all in their own way. They could tempt
the necessitous into ruinous indebtedness, and then
exact the pound of flesh from their unhappy debtor, or doom him to a prison where the whole man
was wasted till he sank into the grave. We now
consider imprisonment for debt, and which often
placed the unfortunate on a level with the criminal,
as a remnant of barbarism. The principle involved
in the law among the Hebrews, protecting a landed
inheritance from perpetual alienation, also begins
to be appreciated. A statute has already been
adopted by one of our States, and is contemplated
by others, which is appropriately entitled " Exemption of the Homestead," as it exempts a man's dwelling from liability on account of his debts, in order
that his family may be protected from expulsion
and poverty, and that he may himself have a shelter
for his own head, while he summons his energies to
make further effort for them  and for himself. If
all our legislatures would adopt some provision like
this, which might both mitigate misfortune and hold
out encouragement for reformation, the country
might, in a great degree, be relieved from that




178            FIFTH LECTUE.
squalid destitution, and despairing helplessness
which, from the nature of the case, must be too
often encountered in our crowded cities."
This leads me to notice as another proof of the
propitious influence of agriculture upon civil freedom:
Its tendency to produce among a people a spirit
of equality and close sympathy one with another.
Extremes are prone to meet. In our cities we find
wealth and poverty, intelligence and ignorance, refinement and debasement, in immediate view  of
each other; and notwithstanding the philanthropic
labors which would bring the abundance of the rich
to the relief of the poor, destitution and degradation
must remain in painful contrast with luxury and
pride. It was an unerring hand that drew, in the
picture of Tyre, a description which applies more
or less to all our great marts of commerce.-" Thou
art a merchant of the people, and art situated at
the entry of the sea, and thou hast said I am of
perfect beauty. —By thy wisdom, and by thy traffic
thou hast increased thy riches, and thine heart is
lifted up because of thy riches."  Notwithstanding the indispensable importance of our cities for
carrying out the great purposes of civilized life, not
only as they form the centres of intercourse between
* Note P.




FIFTH LECTURE.             179
nations, but also give a tone and polish to manners,
brighten and invigorate the faculties by the close
contact of men with men in their daily pursuits;
yet must the great majority of the population, from
~the very nature of their pursuits, remain so divided from each other as to produce something like
a spirit of caste. Buying and selling, the giving
of wages and the receiving of wages, which are the
principal transactions of city life, place men in an
attitude of collision, and create an antagonism of
interests which tend to impair sympathy and eom.
munity of feeling. The prizes in commerce also are
comparatively few; while one man rises, other men
often sink; and thus is the distance perpetuated
which separates one class from another, and shuts
out that sentiment of equality which is essential to a
well-compacted Republic. For this equality, and
the sympathy which grows out of it, we must look
among those who are not dependant on the will of
another for the employment by which they subsist,
but who rely on the soil which they claim as their
own, for every thing needful to their comfort and
their welfare. The influence of such a position and
such occupation in imparting a spirit of independence and self-reliance is seen wherever agriculture
is pursued, and is held in merited honor. Though
a man cultivates or owns but his hundred, or his




180            FIFTH LECTURE.
fifty acres, he feels that he has rank, and fellowship
with his neighbor who may cultivate his thousands.
They are both drawn together by a community of
employment and of interests that leads them to
forget the difference which arises from the mere
amount of their respective possessions. Many who
now hear me have felt the truth of what I am saying. There are constant examples of it at those
annual and praiseworthy assemblages of our agriculturists, where they meet and bring together the
choicest productions of their respective fields; the
man of affluence, and the man of moderate competency standing side by side with mutual respect and.
goodwill; he who knows most of agriculture as a
science, imparting the fruit of his studies, and he
who is best versed in the practice, telling of his
experience; both acknowledging the bond that
unites them in the cultivation of the earth.
Agriculture also tends to strengthen the love of
a people to their own country. It must be obvious to
every one acquainted with the habits of living and
the tenure of property in our cities, that they are
not favorable to the growth of strong local attachments. The few square feet occupied by the inhabitant as a home, generally belongs to another, and
not to himself; and even where the occupant of a
house is its owner, his feelings cannot become bound




FIFTh  LECTURE.             181
to its walls by the ties which bind the heart of the
husbandman to his fields on which he bestows his
careful labor, and which respond to his industry by
clothing themselves in the rich beauties of spring,
summer and harvest. Especially will these attachments be strengthened if the land which he now possesses has come down to him as an inheritance from
his ancestors through generation after generation;
and is thus associated with all the feelings of love and
reverence with which he cherishes their memories.
There is still another point which should not be
overlooked in this connection: I refer to the healthful sobriety of mind which the occupations and scenes
of life in the country are calculated to cherish. There
is quite as much truth as poetry in the words,
"God made the country, man made the town."
And if any one will compare his own feelings when
he goes forth among the fields covered with the rich
gifts of a Creator's hand, and when again he treads
our streets, hemmed in by walls of human workmanship, he will be at no loss to tell in which of the two
his mind is rendered most conscious of the presence
and authority of the Most High. While Adam yet
bore the fresh and unsullied image of his Maker, he
was placed in Eden "to dress it and to keep it," as
an employment best suited to his state of innocence,




182            P FIFTH LE CT URE.
and as a means of preserving it. The contemplation of scenes in which "Nature leads up to Nature's God," always tends to impart a tone of moral
health, and to form a solidity of character which,
especially in a nation enjoying the privilege of selfgovernment, are all important as a balance to the
turbulent fervor often generated in our cities. It
is in such an atmosphere that the mind is generally
most unclouded, and can look beyond the things of
a day. Nor should it be forgotten that amidst such
scenes and occupations every free nation has found
many of her greatest patriots and statesmen.
We might dwell still farther on the effects of
agriculture, and of the divine laws respecting it,
given to the Hebrews; but enough has been said
to show how it was interwoven with their religion
as the people of God, and with their freedom as a
Commonwealth. Let us now consider how far this
feature in their polity and condition was designed
to look beyond their land, and to furnish instruction
to a nation like our own.
Great principles never change, although the
application of them must vary according to varying
times and circumstances; and unwise, if not impracticable, as it would be in modern times and
among modern nations to adopt the entire system of
Hebrew laws respecting the ownership and cultiva



FIFTH LECTURE.             183
tion of the earth, there is a very instructive lesson to
be learned from them respecting the place which
should be assigned to agriculture as a source of
national prosperity and power in every land. The
facilities peculiar to our own country, inviting the
mass of the people to this invigorating occupation,
have contributed largely to the establishment of her
freedom and her growth in power; and because we
do not think the merciful ordering of Divine Providence towards our nation in this respect is rightly
estimated, we invite your careful attention to it.
The boasted liberty of Greece and of Rome
was rather the liberty of a city than of a whole
country or nation. Strangers as they were to the
principle of representation, through which the sober
judgment cherished by a country life could have
been brought to keep in check the impetuous ardor
of their -political assemblies; every great public
measure took its direction from the populace who
dwelt in the capital. "Hence," as Alison has well
remarked, "'the violence, the anarchy, and the inconsistency by which their history was so often
distinguished, and which, though concealed amid
the blaze of ancient eloquence, the searching eye of
modern history has so fully illustrated." We could
scarcely hope that the liberties enjoyed by our Republic would outlast a single generation in our




184            FIFTH LECTURE.
cities, if they were severed from their political connexion with the country around them. It has often
been said, that Paris is France for every political
purpose, and this may be one great reason why all
their late attempts to acquire freedom have been so
abortive in the French nation. The land does not
possess an independent intelligent yeomanry to control and moderate the mercurial spirits of her metropolis; and we fully believe that, under God, much
of our safety from the evils that are supposed by
some to threaten us as a nation is found in the broad
expanse of territory which is yet to be improved by
the hand of husbandry, and in the growing desire
of our own citizens, and of the multitudes that flock
to us from abroad, to become owners and tillers of
our fruitful soil.
The illustrious Burke, "the unrivalled prophet of
politics," as he is sometimes called, described, many
years ago, a crowd of American Tartars, armed with
the pike and the sabre, pouring from the West over
the Alleghanies, and sweeping away the wealth and
population of our Eastern cities, grown indolent and
defenceless by the natural course of popular govern.
ment and profligate prosperity. True prophet as
that great statesman was when he foretold the results of the French revolution, his wisdom forsook
him when he looked towards America. We find m'>-Bee




FIFTH LECTURE.             185
truth and statesman-like sagacity in another distinguished writer, who, although a foreigner, better understood our position and prospects. We also quote
him with the more pleasure, for, though it is only
about a quarter of a century since he wrote, and his
predictions were then considered as uttered in language extravagantly figurative, they are already in
process of literal fulfilment. He speaks of "the electric agency of the Post and the Press." The electric
spark passing over the wires fulfils his prediction
as to the one; and we look for a time not far distant
when the same powerful agent will effect a similar
improvement in the other. Science has only just begun to discover the value of electricity in promoting
the purposes of human life and human improvement.
It has already shown that the most rapid movements
of the Post in former times were comparatively
sluggish. It has now to show that all our past improvements in the art of printing have left it a slow
process, when compared with its rapid working
after it shall have called to its aid the speed of
the lightning.
"The people of the United States," he writes,
"find themselves in a condition to devote their whole
energies to the cultivation of their vast natural resources. Undisturbed by wars, unburdened by oppressive taxes, unfettered by old prejudices and cor



186'           FIFTH LECTURE.
ruptions; enjoying'the united advantages of an
infant and a mature society, they are able to apply
the highly refined science and art of Europe to the
improvement of the virgin soil and unoccupied natural riches of America. They start unincumbered
by a thousand evils, political and moral, which weigh
down the energies of the old world. The volume
of our history lies before them; they may adopt
our improvements, avoid our errors, take warning
from our sufferings; and, with the combined lights
of our experience and their own, build up a more
perfect form of society! Even already they have
given some momentous and salutary truths to the
world. Their rapid growth has first developed the
astonishing results of the productive powers of
population. We can now calculate with much certainty that America, which yet presents to the eye,
generally, the aspect of an untrodden forest, will, in
the short space of one century, surpass Europe in
the number of its inhabitants. We even hazard
little in predicting that before the tide of civilization
has rolled back to its original seats, Assyria, Persia,
and Palestine, an intelligent population of two or
three hundred millions will have overspread the
New World, and extended the empire of knowledge
and of the arts from Cape Horn to Alaska. Among
the vast mass of civilized men, there will be but two




FIFTH LECTURE.             187
languages spoken. The effect of this single circumstance in accelerating the progress of society can
scarcely be foreseen. What a field will then be
opened to the man of science, the artist, the popular
writer who addresses a hundred millions of educated
persons! What a stimulus given to mental energy
and social improvement, when every useful discovery will be communicated instantaneously to so
great a mass of intelligent beings, by the electric
agency of the Post and Press! Imagination is lost
in attempting to estimate the effects of such accumulated means and powers. One result, however,
may be anticipated. America must then become
the centre of knowledge, civilization and power."
Comparing the views of these two distinguished
men, I am reminded of the judicious observation made
by a shrewd writer, " that it would have been well
for theology if commentators could have been content
to take, and not give a meaning, when professing to
expound the Sacred Scriptures." It is equally true
that it would have been well for the world if statesmen had contented themselves with taking, instead of
giving a meaning, when studying the history of nations. And perhaps there is no nation on the face of
the earth whose example and position have in this
respect been more misunderstood and misrepresented
than our own. We can readily account for it. The




188            FIFTH LECTURE.
great questions respecting Church and State, which
engage public attention and divide public opinion in
Europe, are, in America, brought to the decisive test
of experiment; but experiments in civil and ecclesiastical polity are not to be completed with the speedy
action of an electric battery. They require time and
careful deliberate examination. The causes which
are most effectual in producing the final results may,
for a long time, be acting with a latent power; and
during the process, appearances may be evolved that
will lead a hasty and superficial observer to conclusions directly at variance with what may be found
in the end to be truth and reality. Indeed, it is
generally seen that the most valuable results are
those which require the most time, and pass through
the greatest variety of changes, before they are fully
developed. When our fruit trees are in bloom, an
observer, who is a stranger to their nature, might
suppose that they were designed to answer the same
end with the violet, the rose and the lily, to produce
their flower and nothing more; but if he waits, he
will find that the blossom was only an incipient form
in which the life of the tree displayed itself, and in
which it made preparation for the growth and maturity of the nutricious fruit.
Much, if not the whole of this seems to be forgotten by several political economists abroad, who




FIFTH LECTURE.             189
take opposite sides on the questions which they seek
to determine by what is occurring in this country.
They act with the hot haste of the empiric who will
seize upon every new and imperfect result and try
to force it into the support of his own favorite theory.
This unphilosophic and selfish determination to bend
facts into a correspondence with foregone conclusions, instead of drawing conclusions from facts deliberately weighed after they have been fairly ascertained, has led many able men abroad into most
strange, if not ridiculous mistakes. They would
build for America with the square, and compass, and
plumb line of Europe; and when they find any divergence from their rules of beauty and stability, they
condemn the edifice as raised in ignorance and
doomed to early ruin. They forget that many of the
usages in both Church and State, which might have
been wise centuries ago, are now to be viewed as obsolete and behind the age. They seem as if they had
yet to learn. that there are sources of good working
their way in the New World which were never felt in
the Old; and that there are causes of suffering and
evil in the Old that have no existence in the New.
To refer to the predictions of Burke. We reply
to it, that the spirit of the Tartars has never emigrated to the Western Hemisphere. It cannot take
root in a region like this. The natural and constant




190           FIFTH LECTURE.
course of events with us is directly the reverse of
the aims and achievements of Tartar hordes rushing
down from their wilds to ravage states and cities
grown weak and effeminate by luxury and indo.
lence. Our elder states and cities do not grow
defenceless or weak, as he supposed, by the natural
course of popular government and long prosperity.
Our far west is not left to be a barren wild, occupied
only by barbarians, savage and untamed. On the
contrary, our own people from our Eastern States,
and thousands upon thousands from our Eastern
Hemisphere are pouring year after year into that
vast wilderness, and subduing the rich soil to the
purposes of civilization and refinement. There is
no war -waged upon the older states by marauders
pouring down from the Alleghanies, with pike and
sabre to plunder and pillage the wealth and luxuries
they could not find at home. But the invasion is
from the older States upon the new; and the only
war carried on, is with the wilderness, with the
forest, and with the unreclaimed prairie. Instead of
the invaders leaving behind them, and on their path,
desolation, such as marked the way of Tartars, Goths
or Vandals; their progress is known by " the wilderness becoming a fruitful field," and the evidences of
a wealth which they had not wrested from others,
but created for themselves.  They are opening and




FIFTH LECTURE.              191
widening the resources of new States, which, instead
of abstracting from the wealth and safety of the
old, afford them a prop and means of recovery, when
the convulsions of commerce may have shattered
their strength and impaired their resources.
It cannot fail to be seen that in these peculiar
features of our country the Great Disposer of events
has rendered agriculture a leading and prominent
employment in America, as he formerly made it in
Palestine. THERE he established this order of things
by express, laws. HERr he has done it by the decree
and the movements of his Providence. We cannot
change it if we would; and if we rightly understand
our own welfare as a free nation, we would not
change it if we could. The wisest and greatest of
philanthropists and statesmen abroad see its results,
and are now taking lessons of wisdom for themselves
from our experience. To quote once more from one
of them who may well be ranked among the most
able men of our age;"America," he has recently said, " America seems
to have been reserved as a land of experiment for
these latter times, a vast field in which all the lessons essential to the prosperity of Europe may be
exhibited to the eye of nations. The first lesson is
given in its agriculture. The husbandmen of America are shown to be the true strength of the country;




1 2              FIFTH LECTURE.
it is the culture of the earth that the State falls back
upon in all its difficulties. All the showy expedients
for fabricating wealth out of nothing, which are so
familiar in Europe, are there proved to be fallacies
on the largest scale of demonstration.  Trading
without capital, and currency without specie, are
the two grand charlatanries of the world. America
has tried them both, and again and again has seen
her thousands utterly ruined. Yet all this passes
by; the land again brings forth her produce; the
strong husbandman props up the shattered merchant
-the State, like a sickly patient, recovers by the
diet of the farm.  The country has such a mine of
wealth in the soil, such facilities for recovery in the
plough and the spade, such endless storehouses of
national wealth in the forest, the prairie, and the
mountain, that the commercial ruin is no more felt
than the peasant feels the mouldering of the leaves
which fell in the last autumn, and which are at the
moment preparing a new fertility for the soil."e
The picture can hardly be said to be too highly
colored. It recals to our minds occasions of commer* In some of the preceding paragraphs I have used the language of distinguished writers abroad, the more freely in order
to show that these views respecting the resources and prospects
of America are not confined to Americans. The estimate of our
country by statesmen in Europe has been greatly and justly
changed within the last few years.




FIFTH LECTURE.              193
cial distress which are of too frequent occurrence;
and when we look back to the times in which we
have seen fortunes wrecked, hearts broken; and
sometimes honesty violated, honor lost, and the
grave left as the only hiding place from the storm;
we would raise the voice of warning to the youth
of our country against the too prevalent desire for
rushing into the marts of commerce, and neglecting,
or undervaluing the noble occupation of tilling the
earth. Ardent haste is the attribute of youth, whether
it be in a young man or in a young nation; and the
"haste to become rich" by a successful adventure
that would accomplish all in a day, and nqt by the
patient labor of a life, is the besetting sin of many
in our youthful nation. It leads them too often to
look on the labors of husbandry as tame, spiritless
and unpromising; and to rush with inconsiderate
ambition into our large cities, which have often
proved a vast Maelstrom to the hopes and the lives
of those who would have met with a different end
had they called their energies into action in a different sphere.
As a remedy for this too prevalent tendency, let
us ask, have the public authorities of the land done
their duty to put honor on agriculture, and to render
it attractive as an employment leading to both profit
and distinction? Although we have a soil of such




194. FIFTH LECTU  RE, 
variety and richness, that. it might reward the hand
of industry with every product that can minister to
health or comfort, its fertility has never been fairly
tested. Our experiments are yet merely on the surface. The wealth that lies beneath remains to be
explored and developed; and to accomplish this
great end adequately and successfully, we need
something more than the industry of individuals.
We need instruction in agriculture as a profession.
We need agricultural schools or colleges, to teach
how science can be applied to develope and improve
the riches of the earth. Every State in the nation
should found and endow them either as independent
and separate institutions, or as distinct departments
of institutions already existing. They would scatter
their benefits broadcast over the land, adding to the
public wealth, and giving to the agriculturist his
share in the improved intelligence of our day. He
is now often left to work in the dark, to spend labor
in vain which adequate instruction would enable
him to render doubly available. It is due also to
science that she should now have an opportunity
both to vindicate her claims to public favor and to
redeem lost time. In former ages of the world she
confined herself to the cloister. She seemed to fear
that her dignity and delicacy would suffer by allowing the sweet air of the fields to breathe upon her




FIFTH LECTURE.              195
cheek, or by lending her aid to any of the practical
pursuits of life. She has become wearied of an existence both sickly and useless; and now comes forth
and goes about doing good, gaining strength and
brightness from her active labors. She has given
skill and success to the mechanic, the manufacturer,
and the mariner; and she waits to pour her wealth
of knowledge into the ear of the husbandman, to
lessen the weight of his toil, and yet give him a
richer harvest. Little as she has yet been allowed
to do for him, compared with her power and her
will to serve him, she has already so improved his
implements that he can accomplish in an hour an
amount of service that would once have consumed
whole days. She has discovered to him mines of
wealth in what he once considered as wastes and
blemishes on the earth. She has taught him that
the marsh once dreaded as a source of disease and
suffering to himself, may be converted into the
means of fertilizing his fields; and that much of what
he once labored to cast away as refuse and loss,
are his best sources of gain, the means which nature
provides for the restoration of her own exhausted
energies. Did we only understand the wise economy
of the Creator throughout the whole of his works,
we would see how carefully he has framed his laws
to gather up the "fragments that-nothing be lost."




19             FIFTH LECT1' URE,
One great end of modern discoveries is to show how
this may be done, how everything may be turned
to wise account in promoting the comfort and benefit of man. Let science do her appropriate work
for the husbandman, and the very desert would be
converted into a,fruitful field. The wilds that have
lain for ages as blots on the page of nature, are a
reproach to man, not to his Maker-a proof of our
want of knowledge, not of His want of wisdom and
mercy. His " goodness is over all His works," and
we owe it alike to EHim and to ourselves that we
should be enabled to appreciate the wise bounty of
his hand, and improve it for the benefit of our race.
And while this should be viewed as the duty of all
civilized nations, it becomes especially important
in a country like ours, where husbandry is not only
the great means of providing for the wants of life,
but is also interwoven with the preservation of our
civil freedom.
In drawing the whole subject to a conclusion,
we observe that, highly as we ought to value civil
freedom, we should be careful not to expect too
much from it. It is not a panacea for every ill of
life. "I have seen an end of all perfection," says
the Psalmist, and he had not to go far in order to




FIFTH  LECTURE.             197
find it. It would meet his eye in every thing which
belongs to earth and time. All government, whether
devised or administered by man, must have its imperfections; and the forgetfulness of this plain truth
creates in the minds of many a spirit of ingratitude
and discontent. They would treat our government
as the heathens treat some of their idols. When
every thing is bright and prosperous they exalt it
to the skies; but when public disasters or times of
trial come they turn round and revile what they had
previously idolized. In our fallen world evil is so
universally mingled with good that we have but a
choice between evils; and our wisdom is shown by
contentment with benefits in which the least amount
of evil is mingled with the greatest amount of good.
The history of all nations, whether ancient or modern, shows that there is no depositary of political
power where it is not liable to abuse; and the perfectioMa of wise statemanship is seen in placing it
where it may be more securely guarded, or where
abuse, if committed, may be so restricted as to be
least injurious to the people.
Our government proceeds on the principle that
power is best guarded when placed in the hands of
the people themselves, for if wrong is done they are
the first to feel it, and will be most anxious to remedy it. But if public measures are to be submitted




198           FIFTH LECTURE.
to the public voice, we must expect to see clamor
and strife when the freedom of public opinion and
public discussion have arrayed party against party.
If we are protected from the tyranny of power in
the hands of one or a few whose will is law, we
must exercise a constant vigilance over ourselves
and others, that the great principles of liberty and
equality suffer no violation. If we are safe from the
exactions to which the subject must submit to gratify the ambition or pride of royalty, we must also
be ready of our own accord at times to sacrifice
something of our own ease, perhaps also of our own
interests, in order to promote and preserve the good
of the Commonwealth. Such is the price which
must be paid for the enjoyment of civil freedom, and
they who think the price of more value than the
prize must seek relief where the people do not
bear rule.
In viewinog our condition as a Republic, we
should keep in mind that the government with us is
better or worse just according as "we, the people,"
choose to make it the one or the other; and it is
generally found that those who complain most, are
the very men who do the least to rectify the evils
from which they profess to be suffering. The ballotbox, the election of the rulers by the ruled, is our
great means of redress against public wrongs, our




FIFTH LECTURE.              199
great means of effecting whatever is most conducive to public good. It is an essential feature in the
structure of civil freedom, which gives vitality and
stability to the whole. But how many talk loudly
respecting the right of suffrage, who never seem to
have reflected on the duty of suffrage; and as an
excuse for their neglect, they will plead that they
wish to have nothing to do with politics? If by
this vague expression they mean that they will not
mingle in the bitter strifes of party, that they will
not join in measures foul and dishonest for hunting
down the reputation of an opposite candidate, that
they will enter into no corrupting combination to
delude the public mind-then, they are right in
having nothing to do with politics. But if they
mean by it that they will be at no pains to consult
with the wise and the good as to what may be for
the welfare of their country; that they will put themselves to no inconvenience in order to see that "able
men" are presented to the people for office; that
they will not spare time from their business to exercise their right of suffrage on behalf of such candidates when offered; then, if they will have nothing
to do with politics, the time may soon come when they
and their children can have nothing to do with freedom. Let sober and intelligent citizens indulge such
supineness, and the consequence is both plain and




200            FIFTH LECTUYRE.
inevitable. Our free institutions must fall into the
hands of the depraved and worthless, to be perverted to public injury, if not to public ruin.
We speak without reference to party. The faults
may be equally chargeable upon men of all parties
in the State. We allude to every member of the
Commonwealth who enjoys protection from the
government. It is a duty which he owes to himself,
to his country, and to his Maker, to inform himself
in matters of public interest, and to act according to
the best light he can gain.
Treason is not to be feared in a nation like ours
while the friends of freedom  and good order are
awake to their duty, and on the alert to fulfil it. It
was "while men slept that the enemy came and
sowed tares among the wheat."  And if men who
possess integrity and intelligence wtill not bring their
aid to the support and defence of the national privileges which they inherit from their fathers, they
will find, when too late, that they have sold their
birthright for a price more shameful than a mess of
pottage-for the indulgence of their own ease; and
that freedom may be lost by their own fault as irretrievably as if wrested from them  by the hand
of some overpowering usurper. Every man should
remember that his influence, whether in Church or
State, is felt for good or for evil. It is a talent,




FIFTH LECTURE.              201
however small he may esteem it, which he is not
at liberty to "keep laid up in a napkin;" and he is
one day to be called to account for its improvement.
There is still another concluding observation
which we would urge with much earnestness on the
minds of rulers and ruled. It is our great responsibility as a Republic. We hold our free institutions
as a trust from the Most High God, not only for the
benefit of ourselves and our children, but of all the
oppressed nations of the earth.
When the United Provinces of the Netherlands
had commenced their struggles for independence,
the first coin which they issued bore the emblem of
a vessel at sea struggling with the waves, without
either sail or oar, and with the motto, "Incertum
quo fata ferunt."  Complicated and appalling as
were the disadvantages with which Holland had to
struggle in her noble effort for freedom, and doubtful at the first as she deemed the result, had she
been overpowered in the end her fall would not
have closed the door of hope against other nations.
They might still have been encouraged to aspire
after freedom, when they could have unfurled her
banner under better auspices. But if free institutions cannot be maintained in this country, what is
left for others to expect? Maust they not conclude
that, after all, a republic is more of a name than a
9*a




202             FIFTH  LECTURE.
reality; rather a Utopian dream than a substantial
and practicable good? If with our advantages, as
we have described them, of geographical position,
of general intelligence and enlightened Christianity,
civil freedom is not to be preserved in our land, is
she not to be viewed like the dove of the patriarch,
as barely hovering over a world so covered with a
deluge of ruin and a strife of elements as to allow
her no resting place for the sole of her foot?
The nation should then view herself as " a city
set upon a hill, that cannot be hid." If the experiment of free government fails in our hands, our fall
brings down with it the hopes of the world. The
eyes of multitudes, who are suffering bondage and
oppression, are fixed upon us with the conviction
that the issue with us determines the future for them.
It is our destiny either to be the deep grave where
their hopes are to be entombed in darkness, or the
brightening pillar of- light that shall invite them
from bondage to liberty and peace.
Such a responsibility, although sublime and inspiriting, carries with it consequences that are exceedingly solemn. We feel that He " who ruleth over the
kingdoms of the-earth," has called us to bear it; and
the banner of the nation seems to remind us that th6
founders of our Republic assumed it deliberately, and
with high yet humble confidence as to the result.




FIFTHI LECTURE.             203
They chose as the national emblem, not a vessel
struggling with the waves, without sail or oar, but
the eagle on outspread wings ready either to face
the storm or soar above it, bearing in its beak the
motto, " E pluribus unum," as the foundation on
which, under God, they built their trust. And to
the Union, the integrity and perpetuity of the Union
among the States, rendering the confederacy "one
and indivisible, now and for ever," the statesmen who
wear their mantle still look as the source of our
strength and our prosperity.  The Union is to Liberty
like the fabled Cestus, or zone of Venus, giving symmetry, beauty, life, and finish to the whole form;
while without it, all is imperfection, disorder, and
exposure. It is the very point of public welfare
which the acknowledged Father of his country seems
to have touched with a tremulous hand in his last
farewell, as he brought to view the dangers that
might assail us when he should be in his grave. Indeed, in that memorable address, which breathes
throughout the anxieties of a parental regard, it
seems to have dwelt on his mind as a grateful and
hallowed recollection, that when he and his compatriots gave us freedom and independence as our
heritage, they gave us also " the United States " as
a name by which we should first be known. among
nations; trusting that, having borne it from infancy,




204             FIFTH LECTURE.
we would look upon every attempt to efface it
from the national escutcheon as both profanity and
treason. As we have received it thus solemnly consecrated to our keeping, were we now to throw it
away, or allow it to be lost, we would bring upon
ourselves not only a misfortune, but a guilt against
God -and man which might justly be punished in
torrents of blood, and in the end by a grinding despotism sought as the only relief from the sword of
civil war.
But notwithstanding the excitement of debate,
and the irritation arising from actual wrongs, we
cannot persuade ourselves that the nation is ever to
become so lost to her own welfare, and the welfare
of the world, as to allow her noble confederacy to
be rent asunder and destroyed. The union of the
United States in America does not depend, as did
the union of the tribes among the Hebrews, on the
wayward and unfeeling tyranny of a king refusing
all due concessions to- the demands of justice. It
was created in a spirit of compromise and concession among States equally sovereign, whether small
or great; it was prompted by a sense then deeply
felt of the danger to all if there was not a union
of all; and we fully believe that, with the blessing
of the Most High, which has hitherto followed us,
by a like spirit of moderation and good will, and




FIFTH LECTURE.              205
by a scrupulous care to preserve inviolate the ancient landmarks of the federacy, the Union will still
be maintained. Its strength has already, and more
than once, been tried by strong disturbing forces;
and prophets of evil have arisen, both at home and
abroad, who have foretold a disastrous issue. We
have outlived both them and their predictions. The
confederation is still unbroken, and general attachment to it is strengthened, rather than vweakened, by
every trial to which it has been subjected. Such
occasions turn the thoughts of the people to consider
anew its vast importance. The more carefully they
contemplate it, the more highly do they value it;
and as time rolls on, adding to its age, they regard
it with increased veneration. More than all, it is
sustained by a common religious faith, which of
itself would be a powerful restraint against the
commencement of a strife in which brother would
be required to turn his hand against brother. Then
also, the whole land is now feeling more and more
the moral power of the railroad and the telegraph,
which create throughout its most distant extremities
the sympathies of close neighborhood.
And here we think is found a great security
against the alarm which many have felt from the
enlargement of the national territory. No one can
suppose that we are less united because we have




2006           FIFTH LECTURE,
grown beyond "the old Thirteen," and embrace in
our Union the States lying in the wide valley of the
Mississippi and on the shores of our ocean-like
Western Lakes. The result of this growth, which
has added to the grandeur of the national edifice,
has increased instead of impairing its strength and
stability. Experience has thus far shown, that the
federative bond was formed to comprehend a great
nation; that it has a power of expansion and adaptation not fully understood in the early history of the
country. Diversified as the various States may have
become in climate, interests, and tastes; it leaves them
" ample room and verge enough " for free and independent action on whatever immediately concerns
themselves, while it unites and binds them under
one government only so far as is required for the
safety and welfare of the whole. Wise observers of our past progress, contemplating it from
abroad, have remarked, " The wider the dominion
of the federation spreads, the greater the number
of local interests and populations comprehended
within its boundary, the less appears to be the probability that any particular local interest can threaten
the general weal-that dissensions between particular sections are destined to endanger the security
of the Union." A cause of disturbance that might
lash into a foam the whole waters of a small lake,




FIFTH LECTURE.             207
would not be felt in the greater depths and wider
extent of an ocean.
And now, when of late the nation has spread
itself over a region so wide as might once have
rendered the people strangers to each other through
the vast distance between them, and thus have
prepared the way for their political severance; we
have, as a new gift from Heaven, sent just at the
right season for our wants, these new and rapid
means of communication which are destined to
create a new era in unity of sentiment and interest
between man and man, and which already are fast
tesselating our continent from shore to shore, and
binding its inhabitants together in a network of iron
and steel. Wide then as our country may spread,
even were "the whole continent ours," as to moral
and political purposes distance is annihilated. The
Atlantic and Pacific are now neighboring oceans.
The Hudson and the Columbia are as near to each
other as were the Hudson and the Delaware thirty
years ago.
We love to look at the workings of these new
agencies, and to see how they harmonize without
destroying that diversity of character among our
citizens which arises from difference of climate and
pursuit; and which we deem an essential element of
our rising greatness. If a body is complete in sym



208            FIFTH LECTURE.
metry and strength, all the members must not be
cast in the same mould. As Paul says in another
case, " The body is not one member, but many. If
the whole body were the eye, where were the hearing? If the whole body were the hearing, where
were the smelling?" The principle is the same in
all well-compacted bodies of men. An uniform
sameness in the materials of national character
renders it tame. The whole framework of the Commonwealth is invigorated and stands out in bolder
relief, when it brings into harmonious combination
those great and discriminating features which now
distinguish one section of her people from the others;
and were they obliterated, it would be her loss rather
than her gain. Nor in all the collisions which may
arise from a prevailing diversity of views, feelings,
and condition, do we see any thing which, under
the control of wise statesmen, cannot be merged in
national sympathies and efficient co-operation for
the general welfare.+
We have dwelt the more fully on the danger to
the Union, which is supposed by many to arise from
the extension of the national boundaries, because it
so occupies their minds as to divert their attention
from what we consider as the great source of apprehension. The delusion would be pregnant with
*Note 0




FIFTH LEOCTURE.             209
calamity to our country if she was either to believe
that she is secure against all harm, or to overlook
the danger which is most imminent and serious.
This fair tree may be spreading its branches over
the length and the breadth of the land, and yet there
may be a worm at the root. Our great danger is
from the spread of corruption among the -people —
among the people, I repeat —for if the people remain
sound and true to themselves; should rulers become
faithless to their trust, they would be hurled from
their places before their traitorous hand could touch
the life-spring of the Commonwealth. Our government is too safely guarded by checks and balances
to leave any scope for the ambitious designs of usurpation. If the nation is ever destroyed it must be
the work of self-destruction. If she falls it must be
by her own hand. If she stands she must be true to
herself, and to that allegiance to Heaven in which
she was trained by her founders when they raised
her to independence. Nothing but a high and pervading sense of moral obligation, such as can spring
only from an enlightened Christianity predominating
among, all ranks, and througoh all diversities of clime
and character, can preserve from generation to generation the blessings of such freedom as we enjoy.
It is our deep conviction of this truth which has led
us, in these Lectures, to present the leading principles




210             FIFTfH LECTURE.
of free civil government in a light which may
prove that the Bible, the Holy Bible, "known
and read of all men," is the last but sure hope of
America.
FIE END.




NOTES.
NOTE A.-LECTURE 1. p.26.
The Journal of Congress shows how  carefully the
founders of our Republic cherished a deep sense of their
dependance on God, and how highly they valued the Scrip.
tures and the ordinances of Christianity as essential to the
welfare of the nation.
During the Revolution there was a painful scarcity of
Bibles throughout the country. Few, if any, were imported,
and booksellers had not the capital and other means for
publishing an American edition. The subject was brought
before Congress, and was referred to a Committee, who gave
it their careful attention. On the 11th of September, 1777,
they reported to the House:
" That they have conferred fully with the printers, &c. in this
city, and are of opinion, that the proper types for printing the
Bible are not to be had in this country, and that the paper cannot
be procured, but with such difficulties, and subject to such casualties, as render aIny dependence on it altogether improper; that to
import types for the purpose of setting up an entire edition of the
Bible, and to strike off 30,000 copies, with paper, binding, &c.
will cost ~10,272 10s., which must be advanced by Congress,
to be reimbursed by the sale of the books; that, in the opinion
of the Committee, considerable difficulties will attend the procuring the types and paper; that afterwards the risk of importing
them will considerably enhance the cost, and that the calculations
are subject to such uncertainty in the present state of affairs, that
Congress cannot much rely on them; that the use of the Bible is
so universal, and its importance so great, that your Committee




212                       NOTES.
refer the above to the consideration of Congress, and if Congress
shall not think it expedient to order the importation of types and
paper, the Committee recommend that Congress will order the
Committee of Commerce to import 2-0,000 Bibles from Holland,
Scotland, or elsewhere, into the different States of the Union."
" Whereupon," adds the Journal, " it was moved, That the
Committee of Commerce be directed to import 20,000 copies of
the Bible; and it was resolved in the affirmative."
We may better understand the "great importance" which
Congress attached to the Bible, if we recollect that when
they passed this resolution appropriating funds for the proposed importation, they were greatly pressed by the want of
money in the Treasury for the support of their troops then
in the field.
This Christian spirit is also very clearly exhibited in the
frequency with which Congress appointed days of fasting,
humiliation and prayer, and also seasonable days of thanksgiving during the whole period of the Revolutionary struggle.
The language used in their various proclamations shows that
they were not ashamed or afraid to speak plainly on the
great truths of Christianity. When it was perceived in the
early part of the year 1776, that war was inevitable, they
issued the following recommendation:"In times of impending calamity and distress, when the liberties of America are imminently endlngered by the secret machinations and open assaults of an insidious and, vindictive administration, it becomes the indispensable duty of these hitherto free
and happy Colonies, with true penitence of heart, and the most
reverent devotion, publicly to acknowledge the over-ruling providence of God; to confess and deplore our offences against him,
and to supplicate his interposition for averting the threatened
dangerl, and prospering our strenuous efforts in the cause of fieedom, virtue and posterity.
"The Congress, therefore, considering the warlike preparations
of the British Ministry to subvert our invaluable rights and pri



NOTES.                        21l
vileges, and to reduce us by fire and sword, by the savages of the
wilderness and our own domestics, to the most abject and ignominious bondage; desirous, at the same time, to have people of
all ranks and degrees duly impressed with a solemn sense of God's
sup)erintending providence, and of their duty duly to rely in all
their lawful enterprises on his aid and direction, do earnestly recommend that Friday, the 17th day of May next, be observed by
the said Colonies as a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer, that
we may, with united hearts, confess and bewail our manifold sins
and transgressions, and by a sincere repentance and amendment of
life, appease His righteous displeasure, and through the mediation
of Jesus Christ, obtain his pardon and forgiveness, humbly imploring his assistance to frustrate the cruel purposes of our
unnatural enemies, and by inclining their hearts to justice and
benevolence, prevent the further effusion of kindred blood. But
if, continuing deaf to the voice of reason and humlanity, and inflexibly bent on desolation and war, they constrain us to repel
their hostile invasion by open resistance, that it may please the
Lord of tHosts, the God of Armies, to animate our officers and
soldiers with invincible fortitude, to guard and protect them in the
day of battle, and to crown the Continental Army, by sea and by
land, with victory and success; earnestly beseeching him to bless
our civil rulers and representatives of the people in their several
assemblies and conventions; to preserve and strengthen their
union, to give wisdom and stability to their councils, and direct
them to the most efficacious measures for establishing the rights
of America on the most honorable and permanent basis; that He
would be graciously pleased to bless all his people in these Colonies with health and plenty, and grant that a spirit of incorruptible
patriotism, and of pure, undefiled religion may universally prevail,
and this Continent be speedily restored to the blessings of peace
and liberty, and enabled to transmit them inviolate to the latest
posterity. And it is recommended to Christians of all denominations to assemble for public worship, and abstain from servile labor
on the said day."
We have not space to quote all the proclamations which
were issued during the war, appointing days either of humiliation or thanksgiving. But we will make room for the
two following; the first of which was adopted in October,




214                      NOTES.
1779, after several instances of success had attended the
American army, and is as follows:"W Whereas it becomes us humbly to approach the Throne of
Almighty God, with gratitude and praise for the wonders which
His goodness has wrought in conducting our forefathers to this
Western World; for his protection to them and to their posterity
amidst difficulties and dangers; for raising us, their children, from
deep distress to be numbered among the nations of the earth, and
for arming the hands of just and mighty princes in our deliverance; and especially for that He hath been pleased to grant us
the enjoyment of health, and so to order the revolving seasons
that the earth hath produced her increase in abundance, blessing
the labors of the husbandman and spreading plenty through the
land; that He hath prospered our arms and those of our ally;
been a shield to our troops in the hour of danger, pointed their
swords to victory, and led them in triumph over the bulwarks of
the foe; that He hath gone with those who went out into the
wilderness against the savage tribes; that He hath stayed the
hand of the spoiler, and turned back his meditated destruction;
that He hath prospered our commerce, and given success to those
who fought the enemy on the face of the deep; and, above all,
that he hath diffused the glorious light of the Gospel, whereby,
through the merits of our gracious Redeemer, we may become
the heirs of his eternal glory: therefore,
"Resolved, That it be recommended to the several States to
appoint Thursday, the 9th of December next, to be a day of public
and solemn thanksgiving to Almighty God for His mercies, and of
prayer for the continuance of tHis favor and protection to these
United States; to beseech Him that He would be graciously
pleased to influence our public councils, and bless them with wisdom from on high, with unanimity, firmness and success; that He
would go forth with our hosts and crown our armies with victory;
that He would grant to his church the plentiful effusion of divine
grace, and pour out his Holy Spirit on all ministers of the Gospel;
that He would bless and prosper the meanls of education, and
spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth; that He would smile upon the labors of His
people, and cause the earth to bring forth her fruits in abundance,
that we may with gratitude and gladness enjoy them; that He




NOTES.                        215
would take under His holy protection our illustrious ally, give
him victory over his enemies, and render him signally great as
the father of his people and the protector of the rights of mankind; that He would be graciously pleased to turn the hearts of
our enemies, and to dispense the blessings of peace to contending
nations; that he would in mercy look down upon us, pardon our
sins, and receive us into His flvor, and finally, that he would establish the independence of these United States upon the basis of
religion and virtue, and support and protect them in the enjoyment of peace, liberty and safety."
When intelligence was received that the British Army
had capitulated at Yorktown, it was immediately
6" Resolved, that Congress will at 2 o'clock this day go in procession to the Dutch Lutheran Church, and return thanks to
Almighfy God for crowning the allied arms of the United States
and France with success, by the surrender of the whole British
Army under the command of the Earl Cornwallis."
The same devout spirit had been manifested in the army
itself.  The day after the surrender, General Washington
issued an order which closes in the following words:"- Divine service shall be performed to-morrow in the different
brigades and divisions. The Commander-in-Chief. recommends
that all the troops that are not upon duty, do assist at it with a
serious deportment, and that sensibility of heart which the recollection of the surprising and particular interposition of Providence
in our favor claims."
The auspicious event was commended as a subject of
thankfulness to the whole nation in the following proclamation:" Whereas, it hath pleased Almighty God, the Father of Mercies, remarkably to assist and support the United States of America
in their important struggle for liberty, Patinst the long continued
efforts of a powerful nation, it is the sauty of all ranks to observe
and thankfullly to acknowledge the interposition of his providence
in their behalf. Through the whole of the contest, from its first




N OT  S.
rise to this time, the influence of Divine Providence may be
clearly perceived in many signal instances, of which we mention
but a few.
"In revealiClig the councils of our enemies, when the discoveries
were seasonable and importanlt and the means seemingly inadequate or fortuitous; in preserving and even improving the union
of the several States, on the breach of which our enemies place
their greatest dependence; in increasing the number and adding to
the zeal and attachment of the friends of liberty; in granting
remarkable deliverances, and blessing as with the most signal
success when affairs seemed to have the most discouraging appearance; in raising up for us a powerful and generous ally in one of
the first of the European powers; in confounding the councils of
our enemies, and suffering them to pursue such measures as have
most directly contributed to frustrate their own desires and expectations; above all, in making their extreme cruelty to the inhabitants of these States when in their power, and their savage
devastation of property, the very means of cementing our union,
and adding vigor to every effort in opposition to them.
"And as we cannot help leading the good people of these
States to a retrospect of the events which have taken place since
the beginning of the war, so we reco mmend in a particular manner
to their observation, the goodness of God in the year now drawing
to a conclusion; in which the confederation of the United States
has been completed; in which there has been so many instances
of prowess and success in our armies, particularly in the Southern
States, where, notwithsta-nding the difficulties with which they had
to struggle, they have recovered the whole country which the
enemy had overrun, leaving them  only a post or two on or near
the sea; in which we have been so powerfully and effectually
assisted by our allies, while in all the conjunct operations the
most perfect harmony has subsisted in the allied army; in which
there has been so plentiful a harvest and so great abundance of
the fruits of the earth of every kind, as not only enables us easily
to supply the wants of our army, but gives comfort and happiness
to the whole people; and, in which, after the success of our allies
by sea, a general of the first rank, with his whole army, has been
captured by the allied forces under the direction of our Commander-in-Chief.
"It is therefore recommended to the several States to set




NOTES.                        217
apart the 13th day of December next, to be religiously observed
as a day of thanksgiving and prayer; that all the people may
assemble on that day, with grateful hearts, to celebrate the praises
of our Gracious Benefactor; to confess our manifold sins; to offer
up our most fervent supplications to the God of all grace, that it
may please Him to pardon our offences, and incline our hearts for
the future to keep all his laws; to comfort and relieve all our
brethren who are in distress or captivity; to prosper our husbandmen, and give success to all engaged in lawful commerce; to
impart wisdom and integrity to our counsellors, judgment and
fortitude to our officers and soldiers; to protect and prosper our
illustrious ally, and favor our united exertions for the speedy
establishment of a safe, honorable and lasting peace; to bless all
seminaries of learning, and cause the knowledge of God to cover
the earth, as the waters cover the seas."
It is refreshing to the Christian patriot to find such sentiments avowed so fully and cordially by the fathers of our
Republic in their public acts and proceedings. They had no
relish for that diluted and meagre Christianity which is too
nearly allied to a refined Paganism; but they speak out the
truths of the Bible, and in the language of the Bible, as
men who believed in them and gloried in them.
NOTE  B.-LECTURlE 2. p. 59.
I refer to Alison.  In the introduction to his History of
Europe, having spoken of the overthrow of the Roman Empire, he proceeds to say: —,' But the conquests of the Northern nations led to one important consequence —tihe establishment of representative governments in the provinces of the empire. The liberty of antiquity
cradled in single cities, was confined to the citizens who were
present on the spot, and could take an active part in the publio
deliberations. Though the Romans, with unexampled wisdom,
10




218                     NOTES.
extended the rights of citizenship to the conquered provinces, yet
the idea of admitting them to a share of the representation never
occurred to their minds; and the more important privileges of a
citizen could only be exercised by actually repairing to the metropolis. The unavoidable consequence of this was, that the popu.
lace of the capital, in all the free states of antiquity, exercised the
principal powers of government; from  their passions the public
measures took their rise, and by their tumults revolutions in the
state were effected. Henee the violence, the anarchy, and the
inconstancy by which their history was so often distinguished, and
which, though concealed amid the blaze of ancient eloquence, the
searching eye of modern history has so fully illustrated.
"The northern nations on the other hand, who established
themselves on the ruins of the Roman Empire, were actuated by
different feelings and influenced by opposite habits. The liberty
which they brought with them from  their woods, or which had
sprung up amidst the independence of the desert, knew no locality,
and was confined to no district. The whole nation was originally
free, and that freedom was equally preserved and valued in the cultivated plain as in the desert wilds. * * * It was the discovery
of rich and cultivated districts, tenanted by a slkilful but unwarlike
people, which encouraged the rural settlement of the conquerors,
which rendered the protection of cities unnecessary and provided
a counterpoise to their allurenments; and by establishing the invaders in a permanent manner in the country, long preserved their
manners from corruption, and renderedthe servitude of the Roman
Empire one remote cause of the liberty of modern Europe.
"; On the first settlement of the victorious nations, the popular
assemblies of the soldiers were an actual convocation of the
military array of the kingdoms. William the Conqueror summoned his whole military followers to assemble at Winchester,
and sixty thousand men obeyed the mandate, the poorest of whom
held property adequate to the maintenance of a horseman and his
attendants.  The meetings of the Chanmps-de-Mai were less a
deputation from the followers of Clovis, than an actual congrega
tion of their numbers in one vast assembly. But, in process of
time, the burden of travelling from a distance was severely felt,
and the prevalence of sedentary habits rendered the landed proprietors unwilling to undertake the risk or expense of personal
attendance on the great council of the state. Hence the introduc



NOTES.                        219
tion of Parliaments or Representative Legislatures, the greatest
addition to the cause of liberty which modern times has afforded;
which combine the energy of a democratic with the caution of an
aristocratic government; which temper the turbulence and allay
the fervor of cities by the slowness and tenacity of country life,
and which, when the balance is duly preserved in the composition
of the assembly, provide in the variety of its interests and habits,
a permanent check upon the violence or injustice of a part of its
members.
"It is doubtful, however, whether these causes, powerful as
they are, would have led to the introduction of that great and
hitherto unknown change in government which the representative
system introduced, had not a model existed for imitation, in which
for a series of ages, it had been fully established. The councils
of the church had so early as the sixth century introduced over all
christendom the most perfect system of representation. Delegates
from the most remote dioceses in Europe and Asia had there assembled to deliberate on the concerns of the faithful, and every Christian priest, in the humblest station, had some share in the formation of those great assemblies, by whom the general affairs of the
church.were to be regulated.  The formation of parliaments,
under the representative system, took place in all the European
States in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The industry of
antiquarians may carry the ~Wittenagemot or actual Assembly of
leading men a few generations further back; but six centuries before, the Councils of Nice and Antioch had exhibited perfect
models of an universal system of representation, embracing a wider
sphere than the whole extent of the Roman Empire. There can
be no doubt that it was this example, so generally known, and of
such powerful authority, which determined the imitation of the
other members of the community, where they had any common
concerns which required deliberation, and thus to the other blessings which civilization owes to Christianity are to be added those
inestimable advantages -~which have flowed from the establishment
of the representative system."
Brougham, in his valuable work entitled  "Political
Philosophy," claims "the representative principle as the
great invention of modern times;" but admits that the
"Commonwealths of antiquity made so near an approach to




220                   NOTES.
it, as leaves us in some wonder how they never should have
made that important step in the art of government." He
refers to the Republics of Greece and others, in which the
choice of rulers was often submitted to the blind hazard of
the lot, and not to the intelligent and deliberate action of
the people.  Had he turned to the Commonwealth of the
Hebrews, he might have there found everything that he
has defined as essential to Representation.  It is not a little
strange that such men as Alison, Brougham and others, in
their extensive researches on such subjects, should so entirely overlook what is contained in the Bible respecting the
great principles which enter into the constitution of civil
government.
NOTE C. —LCTURE 2, p. 59
From the various Commentaries which show how the
passages in Exodus and Deuteronomy are to be reconciled,
I will quote the Exposition by Graves, cited in the Comprehensive Commentary. He observes, on the narrative in Deuteronomy:" There is a great and striking difference betwixt this statement and that of Exodus, 18: 17-22, but no contradiction.
Jethro suggested to Moses the appointment.  He, probably
after consulting God, as Jethro intimates —' If God shall command thee so,' Exodus, 18: 23, referred the matter to the people,
and assigned the choice of the individuals to them; the persons
thus selected he admitted to share his authority, as subordinate
judges. Thus the two statements are perfectly consistent. But
this is not all: their difference is most natural. In first recording
the event, it was natural for Moses to dwell on the first cause
which led to it, and pass by the appeal to the people as a suborn




NOTES.                      221
dinate and less material part of the transaction; but in addressing
the people, it was natural to notice the part they themselves had
in the selection of those judges, in order to conciliate their regard
and obedience. How naturally, also, does this pious legislator, in
his public address, dwell on every circumstance which could
improve his hearers in piety and virtue! The multitude of the
people was the cause of the appointment of the Judges. How
beautifully is this increase of the nation turned to an argument
of gratitude to God! How admirably does he take occasion, fiom
mentioning the Judges, to inculcate the eternal principles of justice
and piety which should control their decisions! How remote is
all this fiom art, forgery, imposture! Surely here, if anywhere,
we can trace the dictates of nature, truth, and piety."
NOTE D.-LECTURE 2, p. 64.
"From  various passages of the Pentateuch, we find that
Moses, at making known any laws, had to convene the whole
congregation of Israel (5,p or,'7i); and, in like manner, in the
Book of Joshua, we see, that when Diets were held, the whole
congregation were assembled. If on such occasions every individual had to give his vote, everything would certainly have been
democratic in the highest degree; but it is scarcely conceivable
how, without any particular regulations made for the purpose,
(which, however, we nowhere find,) order could have been preserved in an assembly of 600,000 men, their votes accurately
numbered, and acts of violence prevented. If, however, we consider that, while Moses is said to have spoken to the whole congregation, he could not possibly be heard by 600,000 people, (for
what human voice could be sufficiently strong to be so?) all our
fears and difficulties will vanish; for this circumstance alone must
convince any one that Moses could only have addressed himself
to a certain number of persons deputed to represent the rest of
the Israelites. Accordingly, in Numbers, 1: 16, we find mention
made of such persons. In contradiction to the common Israelites,
they are there denominated Kerfie Haeda (,-1   ~3),  that is,
those wont to be called to the convention. In the 16th chapter
of the same book, verse 2, they are styled Nesie Eda Keriie Moed




222                        NOTES.
(flash~ 9Xzpl,n0 a,) that is, chiefs of the community, that
are called to the convention. I notice this passage particularly,
because it appears from  it that 250 persons of this description,
who rose up against Moses, became to him objects of extreme
terror; which they could not have been, if their voices had not
been, at the same time, the voices of their families and tribes.
Still more explicit, and to this point, is the passage Deut. 29: 10,
where Moses, in a speech to the whole people, says,' Ye stand
this day, all of you, before the Lord your God; your captains of
your tribes, (that is, chiefs of tribes,) your elders and your officers,
with all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and thy
stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the
drawer of thy water.' Now, as Moses could not possibly speak
loud enough to be heard by two millions and a half of people, (for
to so many did the Israelites amount, women and children ineluded,) it must be manifest that the first-named persons represented the people, to whom they again repeated the words of
Moses.
"Whether these representatives were on every occasion obliged
to collect and declare the sense of their constituents, or whether,
like the members of the English House of Commons, they acted
in the plenitude of their own power for the general good, without
taking instructions from their constituents, I find nowhere expressly
determined; but methinks, from a perusal of the Bible, I can
scarcely doubt that the latter was the case."
We presume few can have any doubt in the matter; and,
as Jahn remarks in his Archeology, we do not find the people discovering any inclination to interfere in the deliberations
of their representatives by dictating the course to be pursued. But, as he adds, important measures were often laid
before the people for their consent or ratification; and this
was done whenever the rulers or representatives thought it
expedient to have the views of the whole nation so expressed.




NOTES.                       223
NOTE E.-LECTURE 2, p. 65.
The account which I have given respecting the organization of the Courts of Justice, and the Confederation of the
Tribes, is fully sustained by proofs which are stated with
much detail by Michaelis in his Commentaries, and by Jahn in
his Archceology.   But while I refer to these authors as
valuable expositors on these subjects, I cannot but differ
from  them with regard to the Council of Seventy, or the
Sanhedrim, as it is often called.  Jahn's views are very
much taken from Michaelis', and I will quote only the words
of the latter:"Moses established in the Wilderness another institution,
which has been commonly held to be of a judicial nature; and,
under the name of Sanhedrim or Synedrium, much spoken of both
by Jews and Christians, although it probably was not of long
continuance. We have the account of its establishment in Numbers, 11; and if we read the passage impartially and without prejudice, we shall probably entertain an opinion of the Synedrium
different from  that generally. received, which exalt it into a
supreme College of Justice that was to endure for ever.
" A rebellion that arose among the Israelites distressed Moses
exceedingly. In order to alleviate the weight of the burden that
oppressed him, he chose, from the twelve tribes collectively, a
council of seventy persons, to assist him. These, however, could
hardly have been judges; for, of them the people already had
between sixty and seventy thousand. Besides, of what use could
seventy new judges, or a Supreme Court of Appeal, have been in
crushing a rebellion. It seems much more likely that this selection
was intended for a Supreme Senate, to take a share with Moses in
the Government: and as it consisted of persons of respectability,
either in point of family or merit, it would serve materially to
support his power and influence among the people in general. By
a mixture of aristocracy, it would moderate the monarchical
appearance'which the constitution must have assumed, from Moses
giving his laws by command of God: and it would unite a number




224                     iN rOTES.
of powerful families together, fiom their being all associated with
Moses in the Government.,"It is commonly supposed that this Synedrium continued permanent; but this I doubt. For, in the whole period from the
death of Moses to the Babylonish captivity, we find not the least
mention of it in the Bible; and this silence, rnethinks, is decisive;
for in the time of the judges, but particularly on those occasions
when, according to the expression of the Book of Judges,' There
was neither king nor judge in Israel;' and again, during those
great political revolutions, when David by degree became king
over all the tribes, and when the ten tribes revolted from his
grandson Rehoboam; and lastly, under the tyrannical reigns of
some of the subsequent kings-such a supreme council of seventy
persons, if it had been in existence, must have made a conspicuous
figure in the history; and yet we find not the least trace of it; so
that it merely appears to have been a temporary council, instituted
by Moses for his personal service and security; and as he did not
fill up the vacancies occasioned in it by deaths, it must have died
out altogether in the Wilderness.
" No doubt the Jews, after their return from the Babylonish
captivity, did institute a Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, of which frequent mention is made, not only in the New Testament, but also
in Jewish writings. But this is merely an imitation of the ancient
Mosaic Synedrium, with the nature of whose constitution the lat.
ter Jews were no longer acquainted; for they had indeed become
ignorant of almost all the customs of their ancestors. The detail
of this second Sanhedrim established by the latter Jews, belong not
to our present work, but to their history after the Babylonish
captivity."
In reference to the "ignorance of all the customs of
their ancestors," which is here charged upon the Jews after
the Captivity in Babylon, I remark that we should be very
slow to believe such a charge against Ezra, Nehemiah, and
others, under whose direction the restoration of the Jews
and of their ordinances is described to us as having taken
place. Such men well understood the "nature of the constitution of the Mosaic Synedrium," when, as Michaelis admits,
they introduced what they considered "an imitation of it."




NOTES.                     225
As to his main argument, to show that the Council of
Seventy was a mere temporary arrangement-viz. that we
find no mention of it from the time of Moses until the
Babylonish Captivity; I do not admit the fact to be so; and
even if it was so, I would not admit the inference which hi,
draws from the supposed silence.  We do not infer thai
circumcision was discontinued among the Hebrews for cen.
turies after the days of Joshua because there is no express
mention of its observance; nor that a Sabbath was not
observed among the Patriarchs because the Scriptures are
silent respecting it.
The Council, or Senate of Seventy, seems to be mentioned on just such occasions after the death of Moses as
most fitly calls for it. It is of small consequence whether we may or may not find the name, if we find the
thing. Our first inquiry, then, should be: What was this
Council of Seventy. what were'its rank, its authority, and
duties? These, we may learn from the circumstances undet
which it was formed, and the occasion which gave rise to it,
as we find them, Numbers, 11.
It has been observed (I believe by M'Intosh) that " institutions grow, and are not made." This is generally true; and
the institution of the Seventy Elders seems to have grown
out of the accumulation of business which arose from the
increasing number and interests of the Hebrews on. their way
to Canaan.
An open rebellion had broken out among the people, in
which they expressly avowed their desire to return to Egypt,
and put designed contempt on the mercies which GOD had
shown to them. The occurrence afflicted and displeased
Moses exceedingly, and led him to ask for death rather than
the continuance of a life which was harassed and burdened




226                  xNOTES.
by the care of so wayward and ungrateful a people. He felt
that notwithstanding the relief which he had gained from
the appointment of rulers to aid him, as described, Deuteronomy, 1: 9-18, yet there was an oppressive amount of care
and responsibility still resting upon him.  " Small matters "
were decided by them; but every "great matter," every
"hard cause," the people were still allowed to bring to him;
and such were the constantly multiplying concerns of the
people, that, as he here says, it had become too heavy for
him to act "alone" as the highest authority for the judgment of "hard causes" or "great matters."   He needed
men for his aid to whom  should be given "the Spirit"
which had been given to him, a Spirit qualifying them to
judge in matters which he alone had heretofore held under
his jurisdiction. Accordingly he was told that the needful
relief should be given: " The Lord said unto Moses, Gather
unto you seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou
knowest to be the elders of the people and officers over
them, and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.  And I will
come down and talk with thee there; and I will take of the
Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them, and
they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that
thou bear it not thyself alone." Now, observe how these
seventy are to be selected for this high office.
1. They were to be taken out of the Elders or Senators
of Israel-must be men who had held the office and knew
its duties. Elders or Senators, I say; for, as all scholars
know, these terms are of similar import. Both of them
originally refer to qualifications of age, but in time became
terms of office, properly of such offices as could be best
filled by men who had reached maturity of years.




OTES.                        22 7
2.  They must have acquired acknowledged charactel
and distinction among the elders —" Whom thou knowest
to be elders."  And then, besides this,
3. They must also have reputation as officers tvzi=
over the people. This is a title generally denoting preeminence or superior influence and authority, for whatever purpose the office was held. It is applied, for instance, to the
commander-in-chief of an army.
4. They are described also, verse 26, as 1" those that
were written;" implying that their names had been enrolled
on a distinctive record, perhaps in this way to be submitted
to some constituency for an election.
5. The number, seventy, of which the council was composed, is worthy of note. "Seven"' and "seventy " are often called the sacred numbers, or numbers of perfection, in
Scripture language; and with reference to this general idea,
the Sanhedrim  was made to consist of seventy, the more
fully to denote its high rank.
Such were the origin, rank, and character of the Sanhedrim or Senate of Seventy, created by Divine appointment
in the Hebrew Commonwealth. It seems, in some respects,
to have been like an Upper House, as the Senate in our own
Government; or, in other respects, like a High Court of
Appeal, whose decisions and ordinances were final, and
whose character for wisdom and integrity would give weight
to their proceedings and their acts.  So far from such a
Senate being of no use in crushing a rebellion, as Michaelis
intimates, its influence must have been most effective, not
only in quelling rebellions that might arise, but in preventing
those which might be threatened. Especially was it of use
for this purpose at the time of its creation, when God gave
his sanctions to its decisions by such a marked bestowment




228                   NOTES.
of His Spirit on its members as made itself obvious to all
the people. Whether assembled at "the tabernacle of the
congregation," or whether "6 remaining at the camp," we are
told, " they prophesied and did not cease."
As to future mention of this distinguished or higher
body of elders or senators, it may be found on several occasions in the history of the nation. In Joshua, 9: 13-21,
when the treaty was made with the Gibeonites, which created
much murmuring among the people, we find a body of men
acting with Joshua as his council, who were called " Princes "
or "Principal men of the Congregation," whose rank or
authority evidently corresponded with that of the Senate or
Council of Seventy, as described on the occasion of their
original appointment. It is the same body of men who
seem to have been referred to, Judges, 21: 16, under the
title, "Elders of the Congregation," who gave their judgment on the great national question of preventing  "a tribe
from being destroyed out of Israel." It is not unlikely that
this Senate was at times of defection from God, both "in
the days of the Judges" and during the times of the Kings,
allowed to fall into neglect. And if we look carefully at the
reforms accomplished by Jehoshaphat, as described, Second
Chronicles, 29: 8-11, we may learn that one of his chief
measures was the restoration of this very Council to its
rightful place and authority. That Ezra acted with it and
through it in his administration, seems to be admitted on all
hands. It is to these Judges or Senators he is supposed to
refer, Ezra, 10: 8.




NOTES.                      229
NOTE F.-LECTURE 2, p. 70.
A cursory perusal of the Book of Judges may have led
some readers to a different conclusion, respecting the condition of the nation, while "the Judges ruled over Israel,"
from what I have described. The references, however, to
this period of history which I have quoted from subsequent
parts of the Bible, are decisive on the point. It should be
remembered that this Book, short as it is, spreads over a
period of about three hundred years; and, as a venerable
commentator remarks, in a history so succinct, historians
generally select the startling events of wickedness and violence, while they pass by in silence the more unobtrusive
occurrences, which are the fruits of piety towards God and
righteousness towards man.  "And the land had rest fourscore years," is the brief language in which is described a
period of unbroken peace and prosperity which lasted for
nearly three generations, as we would term it. Besides, the
crimes that stain these brief pages are exceeded by those
which were committed after "the time of the Judges."
Amidst the worst extremities of guilt and suffering to which
reference is here made, there is nothing so atrocious and
revolting as parents devouring their own children, or offering
them in sacrifice to Moloch, which are recorded as sins
committed during the reign of the Kings. It is true that
during the reign of Solomon the nation acquired wealth,
refinement, and distinction, never known till that day.  But
this arose chiefly from the unparalleled wisdom of the man
who then wore the crown; and the disasters which followed
Solomon's death soon showed how very unstable are the
power and prosperity of a nation if it rests on thA wisdom



230                    ISNOTES.
and virtue of any one man, rather than on the intelligence
and integrity of the people themselves.
But whatever else may be left in uncertainty as to the
comparative welfare of the people, under the two respective
governments, one thing is certain —the union of the nation
was preserved during the four hundred, or rather four hundred and fifty (see Acts, 13:20) years of the Republic;
whereas, but one hundred and twenty years had passed under
the government of the Kings, till the nation was rent in
twain by a breach that never was healed, and which led to
bloody and disastrous wars. It is also to be observed, that
the greatest evils which transpired during the Commonwealth are described as springing from the want of a supreme
Government over the entire nation. In connection with the
disorders that resulted in the fatal war with the tribe of
Benjamin, it is said: "In those days there was no King in
Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes."
Commentators, very much with one consent, interpret these
words, not as referring to the want of a monarch with royal
power and prerogatives, but to the want of that supreme
authority over the whole people, which God had taught themn
how to provide and to perpetuate; which, after the days
of Moses, is described as vested in Joshua and the Elders or
Senators who were his contemporaries, and during whose
administration Israel obeyed the Lord and "dwelt safely."
That such is a just interpretation of the word "King," may
be seen by referring to several passages, as Deut. 33: 5,
where Moses is said to have been " king in Jeshurun."




NOTrES.                      231
NOTE G. LECTURE 2, p. 74.
This irrational and unscriptural doctrine, usually termed
"the Divine right," may be said to have been first openly
avowed under the sanction of James I, who had a strange
faculty of giving the most offensive form to the most extravagant opinions, and who valued himself highly on his skill
in kingcraft.  It was not long before the University of Oxford threw all her weight in his favor; and to what length
she carried her doctrines, may be seen from the following
incident, to which others of a like character might be
added by any one who is familiar with the events of
that day.
"In 1662 the Rev. Mr. Knight, of Pembroke College, Oxford,
delivered a sermon before the University, in which he contended
that subordinate magistrates might lawfully use force against the
chief magistrate in the following cases: 1. When the chief magistrate becomes a tyrant; 2. When he forces his subjects to blasphemy or idolatry; 3. When intolerable burdens or pressures are
laid upon them; 4. When resistance is the only expedient to
secure their lives, their fortunes, and the liberty of their consciences.
I" Such heresy was not to be allowed. The preacher was sent
for to court, and was required to give his authority for the doctrine
above stated. He referred to the Commentary of Parseus on the
thirteenth chapter of Romans, but relied upon King James himself as his chief authority, as the King was then assisting the oppressed inhabitants of Rochelle in opposing their Prince.
"The result of this reply was two-fold. The preacher was
committed to prison, and Paroeus' book was ordered to be burned
at Oxford, Cambridge and London.
" The authorities of the University of Oxford then assembled,
and condemned the preacher's assertions, and passed the following
decree:' That it is not lawful to resist the Sovereign, by force of
arms, either offensively or defensively, upon any pretence whatever;
that all doctors, masters of arts, &c., within the University, shall
subscribe to these decrees and censures; and that whosoever takes




232                     NOTES.
any degree, shall take his oath, that he doth from his heart not
only condemn the said doctrine of Pareeus, but that he will neither
preach, teach, nor maintain the same, or any of them, at any time
in future.' "
Not long afterwards, a similar conflagration took place
at Oxford. In the reign of Charles, and on the very day,
as we are told, on which Russell was put to death, the University, by a public act, adopted in their fullest extent the
doctrines of Filmer, and ordered the political works of
Buchanan, Milton and Baxter to be burnt in the courts of
the schools.
Mr. Knight is far from being the only English clergyman
who has resisted and exposed these Oxford tenets. Dr.
Paley has remarked, in his own terse style, that the Divine
right of kings is like the Divine right of constables; neither
of them having any right to authority, except so far as they
are useful in maintaining government and good order. It is
said, however, that the boldness and strength" of Paley's
reasoning on Civil Government, so far from being honored,
was never forgiven by the dominant party of his day.
NOTE H. —LECTURE 2, p. 75.
As this is a question which has been debated with much
earnestness, and is now viewed with fresh interest, as it has
a close application to the events of our day, I here quote the
views of two very distinguished men, who contemplated the
subject from different points of observation. The first is well
known as a divine and a casuist, the other as a statesman
and an historian.
President Dwight in his " Theology," having described the
duty of subjects to their rulers, proceeds to sUT,




NOTES.                       233
"The observations already made concerning this general
subject, will prepare the way for settling our opinions concerning
a particular question involved in it, which is of high importance to
mankind.  It is this: Whether a nation is warranted to resist
rulers, when seriously encroaching on its liberties? It is my
intention to confine the answer, which will now be given to this
question, to the lawfulness of such resistance.  The expediency of it
I shall suppose to be granted, so far as the safety and success of
the resistance is concerned. In other words, I shall suppose the
people immediately interested in the question, to have as fair an
opportunity as can be reasonably expected of preserving or
acquiring political liberty, and of establishing, after the contest is
ended, a free and happy government. In this case, the resistance
in question is, in my own view, warranted by the Law of God. It
is well known that this opinion has been adopted by some wise
and good men, and denied by others. But the reasons alleged by
both classes for their respective doctrines have, so far as they have
fallen under my observation, been less satisfactory than I wished.
"A nation already free ought, whenever encroachments upon
its freedom are begun, to reason in some such manner as the
following:
"Despotism, according to the universal and uniform experience
of man, has regularly been fatal to every human interest. It has
attacked private happiness, and invaded public prosperity. It has
multiplied sufferings without number and beyond degree. It has
visited, regularly, the nation, the neighborhood, and the fireside,
and carried with it public sorrow and private anguish. Personal
liberty has withered at its touch; and national safety, peace, and
prosperity have faded at its approach. Enjoyment has fled before
it, life expired, and hope vanished. Evils of this magnitude have
all been suffered, also, merely to gratify the caprice, the pride, the
ambition, the avarice, the resentment, or the voluptuousness of
one, or a few individuals; each of whose interests is of the same
value in the sight of God, and no more than those of every other
individual belonging to the nation. Can there be a reason-do
the Scriptures furnish one?-why the millions of the present
generation, and the numerous millions of succeeding generations,
should suffer these evils merely to gratify the lusts of ten, twenty,
or one hundred of their fellow men?
" If an affirmative answer should be given to this question, let it




234                       NOTES.
be remembered that the same despotic power has, with equal regularity, cut off from subjects the means of usefulness and duty. Mankind are sent into the world to serve God and do good to each
other. If these things are not done, we live in vain, and worse
than in vain. If the means of doing them are taken away, we are
prevented, just so far, from answering the end of our creation. In
vain is mental and bodily energy, in vain are talents, opportunities,
and privileges bestowed by our Creator, if they are to be wrested
from us by our fellow men, or the means of creating them taken
away. In vain are we constituted parents, if we are precluded
from procuring the comfortable sustenance, providing for the education, and promoting the piety and salvation of our offspring. In
vain are we made children, if we are forbidden to perform the
filial duties. In vain are we placed in other relations of life, if we
are prohibited from performing the duties to which they give
birth. Take away usefulness from man, and there is nothing left
which is good, but everything which is bad. This good, however,
despots have in a dreadful manner either prevented or destroyed.
They have shrunk the talents, and palsied the energy of the mind
-have shut the door of knowledge and blocked up the path of
virtue-have wilted the human race into sloth and imbecility, and
lowered the powers of man almost to the level of brutism. The
little spot of Greece exhibited more energy and more specimens of
mental greatness, in one hundred and fifty years, than the Chinesian
World has exhibited in two thousand.'" But this is not all. Despotic Rulers have exercised a most
malignant influence upon the virtue of mankind. They have
assumed the prerogative of Heaven, and prescribed, as the will of
God, ai system of religious doctrines and duties to their subjects.
This system has invariably been absurd, gross, and monstrous.
The morality which it enjoins has been chiefly a code of crimes,
fitter for the regulation of banditti than of sober men. The religion which it has taught has been a scheme of impiety. Yet this
system they have enforced by the most terrible penalties-by the
loss of property, liberty, and life-by the jail and the gibbet, the
wheel and the rack, the faggot and the cross. Blood has stained
the sceptre; martyrs have surrounded the throne.
"Even this is not all. Despots, bad men themselves, must be
served by bad men. The baleful and deleterious influence of the
head and members united, has extended everywhere, even to tho




NOTES.                        235
corner and the cottage, and, like the deadly damp of the cavern,
has imperceptibly and silently extinguished light and life wherever
it has spread. Virtue has fallen amid the exhalation, unobserved
and unknown. In its place has arisen and flourished a train of
monstrous coriuptions, which, with continually increasing strength,
have finally gained entire possession of the land. Degenerated
beyond recall, and polluted beyond hope, a people under this
influence has sunk into remediless ruin, and only continued to
exist until Mercy was wearied out by their profligacy, and reluctantly gave the sign for Vengeance to sweep them  away. One
regular and complete example of all these evils is given us by the
voice of God himself in the kingdom of Israel. Profane history
records a multitude. Is there any principle, either scriptural or
natural, which demands of any nation such a sacrifice?
" But were we to admit that such a sacrifice might lawfully be
made, so far as ourselves only are concerned, it is further to be
remembered, that we are entrusted with all the possessions, privileges, blessings, and hopes of our offspring, through every succeeding
generation.  Guardians appointed by God himself, how can we
fail of discharging punctiliously this sacred trust. The deposit is
of value, literally immense. It involves the education, the comfort,
the safety, the usefulness, the religious system, the morals, the
piety, and the eternal life of millions, which can neither be known
nor calculated. This is a trust which cannot lawfully be given
up, unless in obedience to a known and unequivocal command of
God; and no such command can be pleaded. Equally important
is it that we prevent (for, under God, none but we can prevent)
the contrary innumerable and immeasurable evils.
" At the same time, it is ever to be remembered that, under a
free government, all the blessings which I have mentioned, so far
as they are found in the present world, live and prosper, Such a
government is the soil and the climate, the rain and the sunshine,
of human good. Despotism, on the contrary, is the combined
drought and sterility of Nubia, the frost and darkness of Zembla,
amid which virtue, comfort, and safety can never spring.
"With these considerations in view, it is unquestionably evident to me that nations are bound, so far as it is possible, to maintain their freedom, and to resist every serious encroachment upon
it, with such efforts as are necessary for its preservation."
Macaulay, in his recent " History of England," describes




23b                    NOTES.
the change which took place on this subject in the minds of
many, when they saw how James II was overturning the
civil and religious liberties of the realm:"The greatest Anglican doctors of that age had maintained
that no breach of law or contract, no excess of cruelty, rapacity,
or licentiousness, on the part of a rightful king, could justify his
people in Withstanding him by force. Some of them had delighted
to exhibit the doctrine of non-resistance in a form so exaggerated
as to shock common sense and humanity. They frequently and
emphatically remarked, that Nero was at the head of the Roman
Government when St. Paul inculcated the duty of obeying magistrates. The inference which they drew was, that if an English
king should, without any law but his own pleasure, persecute his
subjects for not worshipping idols-should fling them to the lions
in the Tower-should wrap them up in pitched cloth, and set them
on fire to light up St. James's Park-and should go on with these
massacres till whole towns and shires were left without one inhabitant, the survivors would still be bound meekly to submit, and
to be torn in pieces or roasted alive without a struggle. The
arguments in favor of this proposition were futile indeed: but the
place of sound argument was amply supplied by the omnipotent
sophistry of interest and of passion."
Having remarked that " the system of Filmer might have
survived the attacks of Locke, but never recovered the
deadly blows given by James," he goes on to show how the
truth now presented itself to those who formerly shut their
eyes against it:" The ethical parts of Scripture were not to be construed like
Acts of Parliament, or like the casuistical treatises of the schoolmen. What Christian really turned the left cheek to the ruffian
who had smitten the right? What Christian really gave his cloak
to the thieves who had taken his coat away? Both in the Old and
the New Testaments, general rules were perpetually laid down
unaccompanied by the exceptions. Thus there was a general command not to kill, unaccompanied by any reservation in favor of
the warrior who kills in defence of his king and country. There
was a general command not to swear, unaccompanied by any




NOTES.                       237
reservation in favor of the witness who swears to speak the truth
before a judge. Yet the lawfulness of defensive war, and of judicial oaths, was disputed only by a few obscure sectaries, and was
positively affirmed in the articles of the Church of England. All
the arguments which showed that the Quaker, who refused to
bear arms or to kiss the Gospels, was unreasonable and perverse,
might be turned against those who denied to subjects the right
of resisting tyranny by force. If it was contended that the texts
which prohibited homicide, and the texts which prohibited swearing, though generally expressed, must be construed in subordination to the great commandment by which every man is enjoined to
promote the welfare of his neighbors, and would, when so construed, be found not to apply to cases in which homicide or swearing might be absolutely necessary to protect the dearest interests
of society, it was not easy to deny that the texts which prohibited
resistance ought to be construed in the same manner. If the ancient people of God had been directed sometimes to destroy human
life., and sometimes to bind themselves by oaths, they had also
been directed sometimes to resist wicked princes. If early Fathers
of the Church had occasionally used language which seemed to
imply that they disapproved of all resistance, they had also occasionally used language which seemed to imply that they disapproved
of all war and of all oaths. In truth, the doctrine of passive obedience, as taught at Oxford in the reign of Charles II, can be deduced from the Bible only by a mode of interpretation which would
irresistibly lead us to the conclusions of Barclay and of Penn.
"It was not merely by arguments drawn from the letter of
Scripture, that the Anglican theologians had, during the years
which immediately followed the Restoration, labored to prove
their favorite tenet. They had attempted to show that, even if
Revelation had been silent, reason would have taught wise men
the folly and wickedness of all resistance to established government. It was universally admitted that such resistance was, except
in extreme cases, unjustifiable. And who would undertake to draw
the line between extreme cases and ordinary cases? Was there
any government in the world under which there were not to be
found some discontented and factious men who would say, and
perhaps think, that their grievances constituted an extreme case?
If, indeed, it were possible to lay down a clear and accurate rule,
which might forbid men to rebel against Trajan, and yet leave them




238                       NOTE S.
at liberty to rebel against Caligula, such a rule might be highly
beneficial. But no such rule had ever been, or ever would be,
framed. To say that rebellion was lawful under some circumstances, without accurately defining those circumstances, was to
say that every man might rebel whenever he thought fit; and a
society in which every man rebelled whenever he thought fit,
would be more miserable than a society governed by the most
cruel and licentious despot.  It was therefore necessary to
maintain the great principle of non-resistance in all its integrity.
Particular cases might doubtless be put in which resistance would
benefit a community; but it was, on the whole, better that the
people should patiently endure a bad government, than that they
should relieve themselves by violating a law on which the security
of all government depended.
"'; Such reasoning easily convinced a dominant and prosperous
party, but could ill bear the scrutiny of minds strongly excited by
royal injustice and ingratitude. It is true that, to trace the exact
boundary between rightful and wrongful resistance, is impossible;
bult this impossibility arises from the nature of right and wrong,
and is found in almost every part of ethical science. A good action
is not distinguished from a bad action by marks so plain as those
which distinguish a hexagon from a square. There is a frontier
where virtue and vice fade into each other. Who has ever been
able to define the exact boundary between courage and rashness,
between prudence and cowardice, between frugality and avarice,
between liberality and prodigality? Who has ever been able to
say how far mercy to offenders ought to be carried, and where it
ceases to deserve the name of mercy and becomes a pernicious
wealiness?  What casuist, what lawgiver, has ever been able
nicely to mark the limits of the right of self-defence? All our
jurists hold that a certain quantity of risk to life or limb justifies a
man in shooting or stabbing an assailant; but they have long
given up, in despair, the attempt to describe, in precise words, that
quantity of risk. They only say that it must be, not a slight risk,
but a risk such as would cause serious apprehension to a man of
firm mind; and who will undertake to say what is the precise
amount of apprehension which deserves to be' called serious, or
what is the precise texture of mind which deserves to be called
firm? It is doubtless to be regretted that the nature of words and
the nature of things do not admit of more accurate legislation;




NOTES.                         239
nor can it be denied that wrong will often be done when men are
judges in their own cause, and proceed instantly to execute their
own judgment.  Yet who would, on that account, interdict all
self-defence? The right which a people has to resist a bad government bears a close analogy to the right which an individual, in
the absence of legal protection, has to slay an assailant. In both
cases the evil must be grave.  In both cases all regular and
peaceable modes of defence must be exhausted before the
aggrieved party resorts to extremities. In both cases an awful
responsibility is incurred. In both cases the burden of the proof lies
on him who has ventured on so desperate an expedient; and, if
lie fails to vindicate himself, he is justly liable to the severest
penalties.  But in neither case can we absolutely deny the existence of the right. A man beset by assassins is not bound to let
himself be tortured and butchered without using his weapons because nobody has ever been able precisely to define the amount of
danger which justifies homicide. Nor is a society bound to endure
passively all that tyranny can inflict because nobody has ever been
able precisely to define the amount of misgovernment which justifies rebellion.
"But could the resistance of Englishmen to such a prince as
James be properly called rebellion? The thorough-paced disciples
of Filmer, indeed, maintained that there was no difference whatever between the polity of our country and that of Turkey; and
that, if the King did not confiscate the contents of all the tills in
Lombard-street, and send mutes with bow-strings to Sancroft and
Halifax, this was only because his Majesty was too gracious to use
the whole power which he derived from Heaven. But the great
body of Tories-though, in the heat of conflict, they might occasionally use language which seemed to indicate that they approved
of these extravagant doctrines-heartily abhorred despotism. The
English Government was, in their view, a limited monarchy.  Yet
how can a monarchy be said to be limited if force is never to be
employed, even in the last resort, for the purpose of maintaining
the limitations? In Muscovy, where the sovereign was, by the
constitution of the state, absolute, it might perhaps be with some
color of truth contended that, whatever excesses he might commit,
he was still entitled to demand, on Christian principles, the obedience of his subjects. But here prince and people were alike
bound by the laws. It was therefore James who incurred the




240                       NOTE  S.
woe denounced against those who insult the powers that be. It
was James who was resisting the ordinance of God, who was mutinying against that legitimate authority to which he ought to have
been subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake, and
who was, in the true sense of the words of Jesus, withholding
from Caesar the things which were Caesar's."
NOTE 1.-LECTURE 2, p. 82.
Although Michaelis at first rather denies what in the
end he seems to admit as the great moral duty enforced in
this command, yet as his remarks contain several curious and
interesting facts, I have made the following extracts from
them:"It is the command of Moses, that if a person find a bird's
nest in the way, whether on a tree or on the ground, though hemay take the eggs or the young, he shall not take the mother, but
always allow her to escape. It is clear that he here speaks, not
of those birds which nestle upon people's property-in other
words, that he does not, for instance, prohibit an Israelite from
totally destroying a sparrow's or a swallow's nest that might hap.
pen to be troublesome to him, or to extirpate, to the utmost of
his power, the birds that infested his field or vineyard.  He
merely enjoins what one was to do on finding such nests on the
way-that is, without one's property; thus guarding against the
utter extinction, or too great diminution, of any species of bird in.
digenous to the country. And this, in some countries, is still,
with respect to partridges, an established rule; which, without
a special law, is observed by every real sportsman, and the breach
of which subjects him to the reproaches of his brethren."
It is a singular fancy in Michaelis, that he should interpret the words, "in the way," to mean," without one's property." Birds have no partiality for building their nests on
the public road or on the wayside.  On the contrary, they
seek retirement, and build their nests where secrecy gives
them  most security from  discovery and violation.  When




NOTE SE                       241
Moses speaks of a " bird's nest that may chance to be before
us in the way," he refers to a nest that a man might find in
his way wherever he might chance to be going, whether in
the fields or in the woods. Besides, as Moses is here speaking of birds and fowls generally, why should a man be told
to take only the eggs or young, which may be valuable for
food, if found on the wayside, implying that he must not
touch them if found on his own premises? Or, if we suppose Moses to be here speaking of birds that may be an injury to the fields if greatly multiplied, why is he so careful
to teach that the young or the eggs must be destroyed, if
found without a man's premises, making no reference to
those found within his enclosures? Such birds especially,
have no great regard for the landmarks which define
property.-Michaelis proceeds:' Nor would any further illustration be necessary if Moses
spoke only of edible birds, and as if merely concerned for their
preservation. But this is not the case. His expression is so general, that we must needs understand it of all birds whatever, even
those that are most destructive, besides what are properly birds of
prey. And here many readers may think it strange, that Moses
should be represented as providing for the preservation of noxious
birds; yet, in fact, nothing can be more conformable to legislative
wisdom, especially on the introduction of colonies into a new
country. To extirpate, or even to persecute to too great an ex.
tent, any species of birds in such a country, from an idea, often too
hastily entertained, of its being hostile to the interests of the inhabitants, is a measure of very doubtful policy. It ought, in general, to be considered as la part of Nature's bounty, bestowed for
some important puipose; but what that is, we certainly discover
too late, when it has been extirpated, and the evil consequences of
that measure are begun to be felt.
" In this matter the legislator should take a lesson from the
naturalist. Linneus, -whom all will allow to be a perfect master
in the science of Natural History, has made the above remark in
his dissertation, entitled' Historia Naturalis cui Bono?' and gives
11




242:NOTES.
two remarkable examples to confirm it; the one in the case of the
Little Crow of Virginia, extirpated at great expense on account
of its supposed destructive effects, and which the inhabitants would
soon gladly have re-introduced at double expense. The account
of the circumstance is given in the' Hanover Magazine' for the
year 1767, as follows: —' In the English colonies of North America, it was remarked that a certain sort of crow frequented the
peas fields; and in order to put a stop to its ravages for ever,
its utter extirpation was resolved on. But this was no sooner
effected, than an insect of the beetle kind, which had always been
knowen also to do some mischief to the peas, multiplied to such a
degree that very few peas were left. An intelligent naturalist
thought this occurrence worth investigation, and found that the
crows were not in quest of peas, but only devouring these beetles; and, of course, that had they not been extirpated, these insects
could not have increased so much, and the crops of peas would
have been more abundant.  At somewhat less expense the same
truth was, some time ago, confirmed in Sweden.  The common
crow was thought to be too fond of the young roots of grass, being
observed sometimes to pick them out and lay them bare. Orders
were therefore given to the people to be at all pains to extirpate
them, till some person, more judicious, opposed this, and showed
that it was not the roots of the grass, but the destructive catelpillars of certain insects which fed on them, that the crows searched
for and devoured.' Every one knows what vexation sparrows occasion to the owners of gardens and cora fields. In the year 1745
fields were not unfrequently to be seen so completely destroyed,
that scarcely the seed remained; and in the gardens which they
haunt, they pick the peas, when they spring out of the earth, with
such avidity that a crop cannot be raised. Their excessive multiplication, therefore, ought certainly to be prevented; and it is the
right and interest of every householder to extirpate them on his
property. As the mischief they did, about thirty years ago, was
so very great, particularly in Prussia, where the laws take more
concernin matters of economy than in other countries, there took
place, if I rightly remember, at the instigation of a person whose
name was Kretschmar, such a violent persecution of the sparrows
in Prussia, as if their utter extirpation had been determined on.
This persecution was just, but it was carried too far, for Kretschmar was too great an enemy to the sparrows; being, indeed, a




NOTES.                        243
good economist, as far as a good head, without study, could make
him so, but then quite unacquainted with Natural History. And
the effects of his ignorance soon appeared; for caterpillars multiplied to such a pitch, that it was found necessary to put a stop to
the persecution, that the sparrows might destroy them.
"It is quite a well-known circumstance, that in the year 1761,
after the conclusion of the war, when the sparrows in this corner
withdrew far from the city into the fields, because among the great
quantity of spilled corn they found superabundance of food, it was
impossible to protect the gardens about Gottingen from the depredations of the caterpillar.
"In North America another evil has been found to result from
destroying too many of these birds. The gnats increased to such
a degree, especially in moist places, that the people and cattle were
harassed by them much more than formerly.  These examples
serve pretty strongly to show, that in respect at least to birds, we
ought to place as much confidence in the wisdom and kindness of
Nature, as not rashly to extirpate any species which she has established in a country as a great and perhaps indispensable blessing.
" That Moses should have affixed no punishment to the viola.
tion of this game law, (for such, in my opinion, is its most proper
name,) but merely promised, and that almost in the language of
the fifth commandment, blessings from heaven to those who observed it, for their compassion to animals and the mothers of animals, will not appear strange to any man that has any ideas of
legislative policy. The blessing of God to the keepers of a law
so important to Palestine, Moses certainly could promise with
much more propriety than any of our legislators, because he spoke
as a prophet, and as a legislator sent from God, and because the
Israelitish Government had the form of a theocracy. But to' none
other, than a divinely-inspired legislator, is it competent to denounce curses, or promise blessings, in the name of the Most
High.'" It is singular, after all, that the very blessing of the fifth commandment is annexed to this law. In following out the idea, we
are almost tempted to believe that Moses had designed to connect
this law for the preservation of birds, with that commandment;
and to represent the mothers even of beasts as objects (of our
veneration, shall I say?  No, that were too much, but) of our
dutiful regards; so that parents, even those of inferior animals,




244                     NoTE S
deserve to be viewed with emotions of tenderness and gratitude,
in recompense, as it were, for their care in the propagation of
their species."
These facts in natural history serve to show how little we
understand of the wisdom and mercy with which the Most
High has adapted one part of creation to meet the wants or
condition of another. The wisest of men have yet much to
learn on this subject. " O! Lord," says David, " how manifold are thy works; in wisdom hast thou made them all; the
earth is full of thy riches."  Every thing in the multiplied
and manifold works of God is made to answer some purpose
of perfect wisdom and rich goodness; and man in his ignorance often complains of that very thing as a tormenting
evil, which is in reality an indispensable good.
NOTE K.-LEcTurta 3, p. 112.
Just after the delivery of these Lectures the treaty was
made with Mexico, ceding to us New Mexico and California.
Though this accession of territory may be said in one sense
to have been gained by conquest, yet it results in the voluntary and anxious application of the people for admission into
the tnion.  Our victory is far from reducing them  to the
condition of Colonies. It exalts them to an equality with
ourselves in privileges, which they were desirous to enjoy;
and severs them from a political connection which they had
previously, and for years, been desirous to break.
This cession forms another link. in the chain of events
which men, "having knowledge of the times," have foretold during the last fifty years. It has now become the
general opinion of those who study and understand the




NOTES.                     245
progress of nations, that the territory of the United States
will ultimately embrace the whole of North America. The
spirit of expansion and colonization which distinguish the
Anglo-Saxon race, will necessarily either crowd off, or incorporate with themselves, the more indolent and effete
races that now occupy regions capable of being turned to
much better account, if in better hands. It should be our
constant care that nothing be done for this object which
would be a violation of our honor and regard for justice
as a Christian nation.  Events are ripening spontaneously
to give us increased territory quite as rapidly as we are
ready to receive it, and to give it homogeneousness of character and spirit with our institutions. In former enlargements of the national boundaries the policy of the government has been eminently just and pacific. Louisiana became
ours by purchase; Florida by friendly negociation with the
parent State; and Texas by voluntary annexation. The
origin of the war with Mexico involves questions on which
it is not my province to pronounce; but it has led in the
end, as all admit, to the payment of just debts long due to
our citizens, and to the discovery of mineral wealth which
will soon effect a great revolution in the commerce of the
world, and which might have remained hidden and untouched for centuries had the country containing it, remained
under its former rulers.
How soon other applications for incorporation into the
Union may reach us, and whether they are to come from
the North or the South, or simultaneously from both, time
will show. But the public mind should become familiarized
with the subject, for every intelligent observer of passing
events must perceive that before long the nation will be
called to act on the question.




246                     NOTES-.
NOTE L. —LECTURE 3, p. 124.
The great difficulty  of conveying Christian truth in
Pagan languages has been felt by Missionaries in all Pagan
countries.  But the peculiarities of the Chinese spoken language enhance the difficulty to an extent that is but little
understood. The subject is happily and briefly illustrated
in the following extracts taken from the Fortieth Annual
Report of the American Board of Commission for Foreign
Missions. Speaking of China, they say," In the opinion of the missionaries here, their future success
i preaching will depend very much on their success in acquiring
the tones and aspirates of the Chinese language, to which they
are giving earnest attention. The written language may be understood without a knowledge of the tones; but in speaking, a
correct use of them is indispensable. Without it, the speaker will
be intelligible only to those who, being well acquainted with him,
or with other unlearned foreigners like him, understand his ignorance, and can mentally correct his blunders as he proceeds.
" It is difficult to make this subject plain to the English reader.
In our own language, the verb lead, and the noun lead, are written
alike, but each has a different pronunciation and meaning from the
other. Here, however, the vowel sounds in the two words are
different. But in the Chinese spoken language, many words,
having the same consonant and vowel sounds, and represented by
the same written character, yet differing in signification, are distinguished by some peculiarity in the mode of pronunciation.
These different spoken words, however, are usually spoken as
the same word under different tones. Perhaps the word there
affords the best illustration in our language. In the phrase, "and
there died of the people seventy thousand men," it is a mere ex.
pletive without any distinct meaning. In the phrase, "and David
built there an altar," it is an adverb of place. If it should be
uttered in the first of these examples as in the last, it would
change the meaning from a mere statement of the number that
died, into an assertion that so many died in some specified place.
On strict examination, probably, something of the same principle




NOTES.                       247
might be detected il most languages, but in no others is it known
to be so important as in the Chinese. In the dialect spoken at
Fuh-Chan, in many cases, the same written word may represent
eight or ten spoken words, differing from each other in tone,
aspiration, and meaning. Nor is it yet found that the ten or less
different tones of the same written word have any natural or logical relation to each other. For example, the same Chinese
character, the consonant and vowel sounds of which are represented by the same Roman letters, pang, represents ten distinct
words in the spoken language, differing in tone and aspiration,
and signifying, 1, to help; 2, a bee; 3, to bind; 4, to spin; 5, to
let go; 6, corpulent; 7, a room; 8, a sail; 9, a club; 10, a seam.
And yet these ten spoken words are readily distinguished by the
Chinese ear; and whoever utters the written word pang, must of
necessity utter it in some one of these ten ways, so as to express
some one of these ideas to the exclusion of the rest."
NOTE M.-LECTURE 4, p. 152.
I am aware that efforts have been made to discredit
these tables of moral statistics.  But facts and figures are
stubborn things. Although the conclusions from the statements may have been carried somewhat too far, as is
generally the case in all new modes of reasoning, they will
be found substantially correct. Many of the tables have.
been prepared with indefatigable industry and great caution;
and although the conclusions to which they lead tell with
singular power in favor of Christianity as essential to the
welfare of a people generally educated, the facts and figures
leading to the conclusion were generally prepared by men
who cannot be suspected of any partiality either for Christianity or the Bible which reveals it.  Indeed, they admit
in some cases that their investigations led to results which
they were reluctant to embrace.  M. d'Angeville, in his




248                     NO'TES.
Essay on the Moral and Intellectual Statistics of France,
expressly declares that his mind had long combatted the
evidence of facts on this subject, before his own investigations forced him to the conclusion that in France crime
generally keeps pace with primary education.
The complicated action and reaction of various causes
on the social and moral condition of a people should teach
us to be cautious in the adoption of any specific theory.
But there are some general conclusions so supported by an
array of evidence that they cannot be denied. Readers who
have not time to examine different authors on the subject,
will find the whole question respecting the value of statistical information on crime and its causes happily presented
in the -Edinburgh Review, vol. 69, p. 47-74, where d'Angeville's work is reviewed, and such reference made to
Quetelet and others as may enable the reader to become
acquainted with the more important features belonging to
the question.
NOTE N. —LECTURE 4, p. 159.
There are several judicial decisions which might be quoted
on this subject, but I shall confine myself to a case recently
decided by the Court of Errors in the State of South Carolina.
It was that of a man who was prosecuted by the City Council
of Charleston for selling goods on the Lord's day, or the
Christian Sabbath. The decision was given against him, and
in pronouncing the judgment of the Court, Judge O'Neall
held the following language:"Crimes are classed into Mala in se and Mala prohibita.
What gives them that character? We cannot answer, as the




NOTES.                       249
Israelites would do, by pointing to iMount Sinai, and say the Lord
God commanded us, saying,' thou shalt not kill,'" thou shalt not
steal.' The authority of these divine precepts comes to us through
Christianity. We are'the wild olive tree grafted,' in place of the
broken branches of the original tree, Israel. And hence the law
delivered at Mount Sinai may be by us appealed to, as pointing
out that which is' evil in itself.'
" Again, our law declares all contracts contra bonos mores as
illegal and void. What constitutes the standard of good morals?
Is it not Christianity? There certainly is none other. Say that
cannot be appealed to, and I don't know what would be good
morals. The day of moral virtue in which we live, would in an
instant, if that standard were abolished, lapse into the dark and
murky night of Pagan immorality. In this State the marriage tie
is indissoluble. Whence do we take that maxim? It is firom the
teaching of the New Testament alone.
" In the courts over which we preside, we daily acknowledge
Christianity as the most solemn part of our administration. A
Christian witness, having no religious scruples against placing his
hand upon the book, is sworn upon the holy Evangelists, the
books of the New Testament, which testify of our Saviour's birth,
life, death and resurrection. This is so common a matter, that it
is little thought of as affording any evidence of the part which
Christianity has in the common law.
"All blasphemous publications, carrying upon their face that
irreverent rejection of God and his holy religion, which makes
them dangerous to the community, have always been held to be
libels, and punishable at common law. Here they would also be
plain acts of licentiousness, having no warrant of protection whatever in our constitution. This, however, never could extend to
free and manly discussion on these holy subjects. For I agree
with Mr. Jefferson, (Notes on Va. 235,)'Our rulers can have
authority over such natural rights only as we have submitted to
them. The rights of conscience we never submitted, we never
could submit. We are answerable for them to our God!' But I
should hesitate long in pushing the argument as far as he does
by saying, as he does, that in its exercise' it does me no injury
for my neighbor to say there are twenty Gods, or no God.' While
the argument rests only in words, it would be so evanescent that
it might be no injury. But when it comes to be put in print
1 1I




250                       NOTES.
to be read, like Paine's Age of Reason, by the young and the unwary, where is the parent who would say' It does me no injury.'
[ agree fully to what is beautifully and appropriately said in Updegraf v. Commonwealth (11 Serg. and Rawle, 394);' Christianity, general Christianity, is, and always has been, part of the
common law;' not Christianity founded on any particular religious
tenets; not Christianity with an established church, and tithes,
and spiritual courts' but Christianity with liberty of conscience
to all men.
" But I nave said all which need be said on this interesting
subject. It was not necessary for the decision of this case; it has
only been said to prevent silence from being interpreted into a
want of confidence in the proposition, that Christianity may be
justly appealed to as part of our common law."
NOTE O.-LECTURE 5, p. 170.
The oppression and gross inequalities of condition which
have arisen from the possession of vast landed estates, are
still very glaring in several of the nations in Europe. In
Russia, for instance, the land is so entirely in the hands of
the nobles as to keep the mass of the people in the most
degrading slavery; and even in England, as may be seen
from the following statement, much as she has done, and is
doing, on behalf of her people, the immense estates held by
the aristocracy are an insuperable bar against a general elevation of their condition. In a digest of Colman's recent
work on Europe, published in several papers, it appears
that
"Althorpe, the residence of Earl Spencer, consists of 10,000
acres,' all lying together in wood, meadow, pasture, gardens, parks,
and every thing in a style of superior beauty and order.' His
house contains sleeping rooms for seventy guests-the entries and
rooms are filled with pictures and statues. A gallery of pictures,
one hundred feet long, contains many of the works of the first




NOTE S                      251
masters. His library comprises more than 50,000 volumes, and
is said to be the finest private library in the world.
"The Duke of Richmond's home farm (Goodwood) consists
of 23,000 acres. His whole domain at Goodwood is 40,000 acres.
He has a summer retreat in Scotland of between 200,000 and
300,000 acres.' Of the beauty and magnificence of this establishment,' says Mr. Colman,'I cannot give you any adequate idea;
— extensive parks through which you ride for miles and milesherds of deer, sheep, and cattle. The Duke has more than forty
race horses, and sixty grooms and hostlers. His salmon fisheries
at the Gordon Castle used to be let for ~10,000, and now lets for
~7,000 per annum, or $35,000.
"The annual income of the Duke of Devonshire, the proprietor
of Chatsworth, is said to be ~200,000, or one million of dollars.
This is said to be the most splendid nobleman's seat in the kingdom. His arboretum, covering many acres, contains one or more
specimens of every tree that can be acclimated; the kitchen garden covers twelve acres; a conservatory, 387 feet long, 117 wide,
67 high, with a carriage-way. This conservatory is covered with
7,600 square feet of glass, and warmed with hot water, passing
through an extent of seven miles. The fountain at Chatsworth
throws the water to an height of 276 feet.
"Mr. Colman gives an account of several noblemen whose
annual income varied from ~100,000 to ~150,000; that is, from
$500,000 to $750,000. Speaking of Lord Yarborough, he says
that his Lordship' has an indefinite number of hunters, &c.' and
adds —' It was the custom at this place for his Lordship, (and his
guests were always invited to accompany him,) at nine o'clock
precisely, in the evening, to visit the stables where the hunting
and riding horses were kept, which were reached by a covered
passage way from the house. The stables presented all the neat.
ness of a house parlor, and the grooms were more than a dozen
in number, all drawn up in a line to receive the company.' Lord
Yarborough has more than 60,000 acres in his plantation; he has
600 tenants, and you can ride thirty miles in a direct line upon
his estate.' Many of the tenants of Lord Yarborough pay 1,000
and 1,400 guineas a year rent, and several of them live like
noblemen, keeping their dogs, horses, carriages, and servants in
livery.'
" After alluding to a court ball, at which one lady wore ~60,000




252                     N OTES.
or $300,000 worth of diamonds, Mr. C. remarks —' The Duchess
of Roxburgh, whom I do not know, appeared most splendidly;
and well she might, as the annual income of the Duke is stated
to be ~300,000."'
We might add several others to the vast estates which
he has enumerated. The property of the Dukes of Gordon,
for instance, in the counties of Banff, Moray, Aberdeen, and
Inverness, covers 422,000 acres; and if to this we add their
estates on the Dee, their whole possessions will exceed 550,000
acres. The large estates in landheld by proprietors inIreland
are a great obstacle in the way of the noble efforts which
are made to elevate and improve the condition of the overstocked population in that island.  We cannot too highly
commend, the efforts now made to remedy the evil, and to
put the waste lands under cultivation by men who will have
permanent interest in the soil.
NOTE P.-LEcTURE 5, 178.
Since the foregoing pages were in type, the Legislature
of the State of New-York has passed a law for the exemption of the Homestead.
There were some exceptions to the law restoring the
landed inheritance on the year of Jubilee, but not such as
to impair its general effect; while to prevent the exceptions
from being carried too far, they were defined with great care.
In Lev. 27: 16-21, it is enacted, that in case a man had
consecrated a field to God, he might redeem it on paying
the value of the crops till the coming Jubilee, and one fifth
more to the priests. Otherwise, at the Jubilee, the field,
instead of reverting to its former owner, became a part of the




NOTES.                      253
inheritance of the priesthood, as a thing devoted to the
Lord.
There is an interpretation often given to the law in Deut.
15: 1-11, which in this connection is deserving of attention.
The enactment is considered by some as cancelling all debts
due from one Hebrew to another every seventh year. Others
consider the privilege ensured to the debtor every seventh
year, as merely " a release " from  a claim for payment on
that year, in consequence of allowing his land to lie fallow,
as the law required. Michaelis, in his commentary on this
law, says:
"One privilege only did Moses concede to the debtors, and
among a nation of husbandmen it was, indeed, an indispensable
one. In the seventh year, during which all the land lay fallow,
no debt could be exacted from a poor man, because- then he had
no income whence to pay it. To debtors not poor, this privilege
did not apply; for the words immediately following in ver. 4 are,
save when he is not one of the poor arong you, 4cc. on which words
others have put this strange construction, as if Moses, in a law
enacted in favor of the poor, had promised there should be no
poor among the Israelites; but they thus get into an embamrrasment, in comparing one passage with another; since, in ver. 11
of -this very chapter, he says, that there should always be poor
persons among the Israelites. This law, besides, applied only to
the Israelites, and not to strangers who possessed no land, and
of course were not in the seventh year differently circumstanoed,
from what they were during the other six.  Them, therefore,
creditors might then sue for the payment of debt, with all rigor."
How far and how often the government of a country
should interfere or enact laws for the release of debtors, has
long been viewed as a very doubtful and difficult question of
political economy. It has repeatedly occupied the attention of statesmen in our own nation, and much diversity of
opinion respecting it prevails to this day. I will therefore




254                      NOTES.
make some further extracts from Michaelis, showing how a
man of his mind and learning viewed the subject. In his
commentary on the law above quoted, he adds:
" Many have been inclined so to understand this law, as if, in
the seventh year, all debts were to be cancelled; and the Talmud
has actually adopted this explanation, endeavoring withal to
guard against the evils of the year of release, by a11 manner of
moral considerations.
"That every seventh year all debts should be extinguished, is a
law so absurd, so unjust, and so destructive to the interests of all
classes of the community, that we are not warranted to ascribe it
to a legislator, nor even to a turbulent tribune of the people, unless he has enacted it in terms the most express, and such as
leave not the shadow of a doubt as to his meaning.
" There may, I grant, extraordinary eases occur, which render
the extinction of all debts necessary; particulaly when, by the
charge of immoderate and usurious interest, or by any other artifices of moneyed men, they have become so enormous as that
the state can no longer subsist under them. Thus among the
Romans, Nove Tabuoce were sometimes projected; a measure,
however, which, by reason of the great confusion which it must
have made in the commonwealth, was dreaded by every good
citizen, and even by those that were themselves debtors, as a very
great evil. I will farther admit, and therefore, I am here sufficiently liberal, that it may be a problem in politics, whether it
might not be expedient that all debts should be extinguished
every fifty or a hundred years; in order to avoid law-suits, which
extend to so long a period, to secure property more effectually,
and to prevent children and grandchildren from groaning under
the heavy burdens of the debts of their forefathers? Such a
periodical extinction of debts, in regard to which, however, to
make it just, we must presuppose an expeditious administration
of justice, in order to bring law-suits to an end before the year
of remission, would have a strong resemblance to legal prescription; nor should I have had anything to object to it, if Moses
(and thus Josephus explains him) had ordained the extinction of
-.debts only every fiftieth year. But a septennial extinction of




NOTES.                        255
debts with Novse Tabuilc, (a phrase which made the Roman state
to tremble, when a tribune of the people but uttered it,) how
great would be its injustice, and the misery it would occasion!
Under such a law, none would be so foolish as to lend; so that
those who stood in need of loans would only be in a worse predicament, through the mistaken clemency of the legislator. But
what, above all, would be the absurdity of the exhortation in ver.
9, 10, to lend to the poor, and not to entertain the base thought of
the near apiproach of the sevenzth year; but however near it were, to
let him have whatever he wanted, were all debts cancelled every
seventh year? Neither property nor honor could be secure, were
such an exhortation respected. The poor might then, in the sixth
year, impose the greatest hardships on the rich, and borrow from
them to any extent, without repaying a farthing.
* * * * * * * * e * *
"Of the injustice of such a law, I shall say nothing; for
of that every one will be sensible, who places himself in the.situation of a person aware that to-morrow all debts become
legally cancelled, to whom comes a poor man to-day, not asking
an alms at the good pleasure of the giver, but demanding a loan
determined in its magnitude by himself, and which, he is reminded, the law enjoins him not to be so hard-hearted and selfish as
to refuse. I only ask this question: What country could subsist under such a law? Who could have any inclination to industry, or the acquisition of riches, if every seventh year his
earnings lay at the mercy of every beggar? A country where
laws so unjust prevailed, every man of wealth would be either
compelled to leave, (and the sooner he did so the better;) or
else, as is necessary under tyrannical governments, where the
greedy despot seeks to lay hold of the property of his subjects,
under every possible pretext, he must affect poverty, and live
like a beggar. In either case, the poor, who most generally derive their subsistence from the rich, will be placed in circumstanstances truly deplorable.
"Has Moses, then, by the tenor of any of his other laws, deserved to have the reproach of such an absurdity cast upon him?
By no means, in my judgment; and therefore it would be but
fair to put upon his law concerning the seventh year, not an ir.
rational, but a rational construction. The word Schemitta (,y7




256                     NOTES.
employed by Moses, and which Luther renders Erloss, (Eng,
vers. release,) is, like many other terms of law, not so etymologically clear as could be wished. At the same time it includes
nothing that indicates a total remission of debt. By a comparison with the Syriac and Arabic languages, its original signification would appear to have been, suspend or letfall. —The complete
phrase, ver. 2, 3, means, the creditor shall not in the seventh year
letfall his hand (Shamot Jado), which is equivalent to saying, he
shall not seize the debtor, or as a Roman would have expressed
it, manum non injiciet: and if there should be any doubt how
Moses wished this to be understood, he himself explained it in
ver. 2, by saying, he shall not exact it of his debtor. Here follow
the words as I translate them, to a person who prefers having
them, though in bad German, yet more close to the Hebrew:
Nach Ablauf von sieben Jahren sollst du Schemitta machen. Schemintta aber est, dass jeder Glaubi'er der seinem Nachsten geborget
hat, seine hand fallen lasst; er soll seinem Nachsten und Bruder
nicht exequiren. In English: After the expiration of seven years,
thou shalt make a Schemilta; but a Schemitta is, that every creditor who has lent to his neighbor, let fall his hand; he shall not
have recourse to legal execution on his neighbor and brother.
Now, let every man judge for himself, which of these two things
Moses intended-whether,
" 1. In the seventh year, no debtors should be dunned, or debts
sued for; which was a very rational precept, because then the
Israelite derived no income fiom his land-or whether,
"2. In the seventh year all debts were to be completely and
for ever extinguished, and without the creditor having it in his
power to demand them either in the seventh or eighth or any
subsequent year;-a precept which has not the most remote rational connexion with the fallow of the seventh year, but would
have been altogether arbitrary and insulated."
NOTE Q. —LECTURE 5, P. 208.
As an illustration of the success with which conflicting
views have been reconciled in former times, I will refer to
an incident in the history of the Convention which framed




NOTE S.                       257
the Constitution of the United States; and I do it the more
readily as the occasion formed an important crisis in the
history of the nation, and we sometimes have accounts
of the proceedings which do not accord with the facts.  A
correspondent of the Tezw-York Observer has recently given
the following spirited description of the whole scene:
"Mu.ESSRS. EDITORs,-The following narrative, relating a
fine, not to say a sublime scene, in the Convention that framed the
Constitution of the United States, was originally derived from
Gen. Jonathan Dayton of Jersey. lie was the' Junior member'
that moved the' re-consideration' mentioned below. The account
is full of interest and instruction at the present time, when the
spirit of discord and selfishness is so rife in our national councils.
Wiould that a copy of it could be sent to every member of our National Legislature, and that it could be read by every Christian and
patriot throughout the land.
"I was (said General Dayton) a delegate from New Jersey in
the General Convention which assembled in Philadelphia, for the
purpose of digesting a Constitution for the United States, and I
believe I was the youngest member of that body. The great and
good Washington was then  our President, and Dr. Franklin,
among other great men, was a delegate from Pennsylvania. A
disposition was soon discovered in some members to display themselves in oratorical flourishes-but the good sense and discretion
of the majority put down all such attempts. We had convened to
deliberate upon, and if possible effect, a great national object —to
search for political wisdom and truth; these, we meant to pursue
with simplicity, and to avoid every thing which would have a tendency to divert our attention or perplex our scheme.
"A great variety of projects were proposed-all republican in
general outlines, but differing in their details. It was therefore
determined that certain elementary principles should at the first
be established in each branch of the intended Constitution,-and
afterwards the details should be debated and filled up.
"There was little or no difficulty in determining upon the
elementary principles-such as, for instance, that the government
should be a republican representative government-that it should
be divided into three branches, i. e. Legislative, Executive and




258                        NOTES.
Judical, &c. But when the organization of the Legislative branch
came under consideration, it was easy to be perceived that the
Eastern and Southern States had distinct interests, which it was
difficult to reconcile,-and that the larger States were disposed to
form a constitution in which the smaller States would be mere appendages and satellites to the larger ones. On the first of these
subjects much animated and somewhat angry debate had taken
place, when the ratio of representation in the lower house of Congress was before us —the Southern States claiming for themselves
the whole number of black population; while the Eastern States
Mwere for confining the elective franchise to freemen only, without
respect to color.
" As the different parties adhered pertinaciously to their different
positions, it was feared that this would prove an insurmountable
obstacle; but as the members were already generally satisfied that
no constitution could be formed, which would meet the views and
subserve the interests of each individual State, it was evident that
it must be a matter of compromise and mutual concession. Under
these impressions, and with these views, it was agreed at length
tihat each State should be entitled to one delegate in the House of
Representatives for every 30,000 of its inhabitants-in which number should be included three-fifths of the whole number of their
slaves.
c" When the details of the House of Representatives were disposed of, a more knotty point presented itself in the organization
of the Senate. The larger States contended that the same ratio
as to States should be common to both branches of the Legislature; or, in other words, that each State should be entitled to a
representation in the Senate, (whatever might be the number fixed
on,) in proportion to its population, as in the House of Representatives. The smaller States on the other hand contended, that
the House of Representatives might be considered as the guardian,of the liberties of the people, and therefore ought to have a just
proportion to their numbers; but that the Senate represented the
sovereignty of the States, and that as each State, whether great
or small, was equally an independent and sovereign State, it ought
in this branch of the Legislature to have equal weight and authority. Without this, they said, there would be no security for their
equal rights, and they would by such a distribution of power, be
merged and lost in the larger States.
" This reasoning, however plain and powerful, had but little in



NOTES.                        259
fluence on the minds of the delegates from the larger States; and
as they formed a large majority of the ConVention, the question,
after passing through the forms of debate, was decided that each
State should be represented in. the Senate in proportion to its po.
pulation.
"When the Convention had adjourned over to the next day, tne
delegates of the four smallest States, viz. Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and Deleware, convened to consult what course
was to be pursued in the important crisis at which we had arrived.
After serious investigation, it was solemnly determined to ask for
a reconsideration the next morning; and if it was not grantedor if, when granted, that offensive feature of the constitution could
not be expunged, and the smaller States put upon an equal footing
with the largest, we would secede fiom the Convention; and returning to our constituents, inform them that no compact could be
formed with the large States, but one which would sacrifice our
sovereignty and independence.
"I was deputed to be the organ through which this communication should be made. I know not why, unless it be that young
men are generally chosen to perform rash actions. Accordingly,
when the Convention had assembled, and as soon as the minutes
of the last sitting were read, I rose and stated the view we had
taken of the organization of the Senate, our desire to obtain a
reconsideration and suitable modification of that article, and in
failure thereof, our determination to secede from the Convention,
and return to our constituents.
" This disclosure, it may readily be supposed, produced an immediate and great excitement in every part of the house. Several
members were immediately on the floor to express their surprise
or indignation. They represented that the question had received
a full and fair investigation, and had been definitively settled by
a very large majority. That it was altogether unparliamentary
and unreasonable for one of the minority to propose a reconsideration at the moment their act had become a matter of record, and
without pretending that any new light could be thrown on the subjeet. That if such a precedent should be established, it would in
future be impossible to say when any one point was distinctly settled, as a small minority might at any moment, again and again,
move and obtain a reconsideration.  They therefore hoped the




260                       NOTES
Convention would express its decided disapprobation by passing
silently to the business before them.
" There was much warm and some acrimonious feeling exhibited by a number of the speakers; a rupture appeared almost inevitable, and the bosom of Washington seemed to labor with the
most anxious solicitude for its issue. Happily for the United
States, the Convention contained some individuals possessed of
talents and virtues of the highest order, whose hearts were
deeply interested in the establishment of a new and efficient form
of government, and whose penetrating minds had already deplored the evils which would spring up in our newly established republic, should the present attempt to consolidate it prove abortive.
Among these personages the most prominent was Dr. Franklin.
He was esteemed the Mentor of our body. To a mind naturally
strong and capacious, enriched by much reading and the experience of many years, he added a manner  of communicating
his thoughts peculiarly his own, in which simplicity, beauty, and
strength were equally conspicuous. As soon as the angry orators
who had preceded him had left him an opening, the Doctor rose,
evidently impressed with the Weight of the subject before them,
and the difficulty of managing it successfully.' We have arrived,
Mr. President,' said he,'at a very momentous and interesting
crisis in our deliberations. Hitherto our views have been as harmonious, and our progress as great, as could reasonably have been
expected. But now an unlooked for and formidable obstacle is
thrown in our way, which threatens to arrest our course, and, if
not skilfully removed, to render all our fond hopes of a Constitution abortive. The ground which has been taken by the delegates
of the four smallest States was as unexpected by me, and as repugnant to my feelings, as it can be to any other member of this
Convention. After what I thought a full and impartial investigation of the subject, I recorded my vote on the affirmative side of
the question, and I have not yet heard any thing which induces
me to change my opinion.  But I will not conclude it is impossible for me to be wrong. I will not say that those gentlemen
who differ from me are under a delusion-much less will I charge
them with an intention of needlessly embarrassing our deliberations. It is possible some change in our late proceedings ought
to take place upon principles of political justice; or that, all things
considered, the majority may see cause to recede from some of




NOTES.                         261
their just pretensions, as a matter of prudence and expedience.
For my own part, there is nothing I so much dread as a failure
to devise and establish some efficient and equal form of government for our infant republic. The present effort has been made
under the happiest auspices, and has promised the most favorable
results: but should this effort prove vain, it will be long ere another can be made with any prospect of success. Our strength
and our prosperity will depend on our unity; and the secession of
even four of the smallest States, interspersed as they are, would,
in my mind paralyze and render useless any plan which the majority could devise. I should therefore be grieved, Mr. President,
to see matters brought to the test which has been, perhaps too
rashly, threatened on the one hand, and which some of my honored
colleagues have treated too lightly on the other. I am convinced that it is a subject which should be approached with caution,
treated with tenderness, and decided on with candor and liberality.
It is, however, to be feared that the members of this Convention
are not in a temper, at this moment, to approach the subject on
which we differ, in a proper spirit. I would therefore propose,
Mr. President, that, without proceeding further in this business
at this time, the Convention should adjourn for three days; in order to let the present ferment pass off, and to afford time for a
more full and dispassionate investigation of the subject; and I
would earnestly recommend to the members of this Convention that
they spend the time of this recess, not in associating with their
own party, and devising new arguments to fortify themselves in
their own opinions, but that they mix with members of opposite
sentiments, lend a patient ear to their reasoning, and candidly
allow them all the weight to which they may be entitled; and
when we assemble'again, I hope it will be with a determination
to form a Constitution-if not such an one as we can individually, and in all respects, approve, yet the best which, under existing circumstances, can be obtained.' Here the countenance of
Washington brightened, and a cheering ray seemed to break in
upon the gloom which had recently covered our political horizon.
The Doctor continued: —Before I sit down, Mr. President, I will
suggest another matter; and I am really surprised that it has not
been proposed by some other member at an earlier period of our
deliberations. I will suggest, Mr. President, the propriety of nominating and appointing, before we separate, a chaplain to this
Convention, whose duty it shall be uniformly to assemble with




262                        NTOTES.
us, and introduce the business of each day by all address to the
Creator of the Universe, and the Governor of all nations, beseeching Him to preside in our councils, enlighten our minds
with a portion of heavenly wisdom, influence our hearts with
a love of truth and justice, and crown our labors with complete
and abundant success!'
" The Doctor sat down; and never did I behold a countenwance
at once. so dignified and delighted as was that of Washington, at
the close of his address. Nor were the members of this Conven.
tion, generally, less affected. The words of the venerable Franklin fell upon our ears with a weight and authority, even greater
than we may suppose an oracle to have had in a Roman Senate.
A silent admiration superseded, for a moment, the expression of
that assent and approbation which was strongly marked on almost every countenance; I say almost-for one man was found
in the Convention, Mr.., of ---—, who rose and said,
with regard to the first motion of the honorable gentleman, for
an adjournment, he would yield his consent; but he protested
against the second motion, for the appointment of a Chaplain.
He then commenced a high strained eulogium on the assemblage
of wisdom, talent, and experience, which the Convention embraced-declared the high sense he entertained of the honor
which his constituents had conferred upon him, in making him
a member of that respectable body; said he was confidently of
opinion that they were competent to transact the business
which had been entrusted to their care; that they were equal to
every exigence which might occur; and concluded by saying
that, therefore, he had not seen the necessity of calling in foreign aid.
" Washington fixed his eyes upon the speaker with a mixture
of surprise and indignation, while he uttered this impertinent and
impious speech, and then looked around to ascertain in what manner it affected others. They did not leave him a moment to
doubt-no one deigned to reply, or take the smallest notice of the
speaker, but the motion for appointing a Chaplain was instantly
seconded and carried; whether under the silent disapprobation of
Mr., or his solitary negative, I do not recollect. The motion for an adjournment was then put, and carried unanimously;
and the Convention adjourned accordingly.." The three days recess were spent in the manner advised by
Doctor Franklin; the opposite parties mixed with each other, and




orT ES.                      268
a free and frank interchange of sentiments took place. On the
fourth day we assembled again; and if great additional light had
not been thrown on the subject, every unfriendly feeling had
been expelled, and a spirit of conciliation had been cultivated
which promised at least a calm and dispassionate reconsideration
of the subject.
"As soon as the Chaplain had closed his prayer, and the minutes of the last sitting, were read, all eyes were turned to the
Doctor. He rose, and in a few words stated, that during the
recess he had listened attentively to all the arguments, pro and
con, which had been urged on both sides of the House; that he
had himself said much, and thought more on the subject; he saw
difficulties and objections which might be urged by individual
States against every scheme which had been proposed; and he
was now more than ever convinced that the Constitution which
they were about to form, in order to be just and equal, must be
founded on the basis of compromise and mutual concession.
With such views and feelings, he would now move a reconsideration of the vote last taken on the organization of the Senate.
The motion was seconded-the vote carried-the former vote rescinded-and by a successive motion and resolution, the Senate
was organized on the present plan."
Substantially the same account is given in Southwick's
letters on the duty of opening Legislative Assemblies with
prayer, as is now done in the National Legislature, and I
believe also generally in the Legislatures of the different
States. The custom is a testimony to Christianity, which I
hope will always be retained. But I am sorry to say that
the incident referred to in the history of the Convention
cannot be quoted as a precedent. The Observer is deservedly noted for its caution in stating facts. But in this
instance, its correspondent is under a mistake in one point.
The narrative must have undergone somewhat of a change
after it came from General Dayton. The good spirit of the
communication shows that if the author has been led into
error, he would be thankful to have it corrected. Truth
is always the best weapon in vindication of religion; and




2644                    NOTES.
I will state the facts as authentic records show them  to
have actually occurred.
" Veritas non verbs magister" was Madison's motto,
and we shall have occasion to refer to him as authority.
He was a leading member of that memorable Convention,
and kept a very minute record of all its deliberations and
proceedings, which is now published in the " Madison Papers." He describes the crisis in the Convention on the
subject of representation in the Senate, to have become
very alarming, and shows that the impending danger was
averted by a general spirit of concession and compromise
on both sides of the question. On these points he fully
agrees with the correspondent of the Observer. They also
agree as to the measures proposed by Dr. Franklin for an
adjournment, and also for the introduction of religious service by a chaplain. But although the Convention agreed
unanimously to the motion for an adjournment, that time
might be given for excitement to subside and conflicting
views to be reconciled; the motion for inviting a chaplain
to open the Convention with prayer was not carried. In
Franklin's works, we have his speech on the subject, to
which a note is appended-' by himself, stating that his
proposition failed; and in the "Madison Papers" we find
the history of the whole matter to have been as follows:
The proceedings referred to were on the 28th June;
and on that day the determination of the question before
the Convention "was put off till to-morrow, at the request of the Deputies from New-York," when Dr. Franklin arose, and said:
" MR. PRESIDENT,-The small progress we have fiade after
four or five weeks close attendance and continual reasonings
with each other-our different sentiments on almost every ques.




tion, several of the last producing as many noes as ayes-is,
methinks, a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the human
understanding. We, indeed, seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have been running about in search of it.
We have gone back to ancient history for models of government,
and examined the different forms of those republics which, having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution, now no
longer exist. And we have viewed modern states all round Europe, but find none of their constitutions suitable to our circumstances.
" In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in
the darkl to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it
when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have
not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father
of Lights to illuminate our understanding?  In the beginning
of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danu
ger, we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine protection.
Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they weore graciously answered.
All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed
frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor.
To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national
felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Oi
do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance?  I have
lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing
proofs I see of this truth-that God governs in the affairs of men.
And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is
it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have
been assured, sir, in the Sacred Writings, that' except the Lord
build the house, they labor in vain that build it.' I firmly believe
this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall
succeed in this political building no better than the builders of
Babel. We shall be divided by our little partial local interests;
our projects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become
a reproach and by-word down to future ages. And what is
worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance,
despair of establishing governments by human wisdom, and leave
it to chance, war, and conquest.
"I therefore beg leave to move-that, henceforth, prayers imnploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we pro-=




04 6 6                   NOTES.
ceed to business, and that one or-more of the clergy of this city
be requested to officiate in that service."
Mr. Sherman seconded the motion.
-Mr. Hamilton, and several others, expressed their apprehensions that, however proper such a resolution might have been at
the beginning of the Convention, it might at this late day, in the
first place, bring on it some disagreeable animadversions; and in
the second, lead the public to believe that the embarrassments
and dissensions within the Convention had suggested this measure. It was answered by Dr. Franklin,'Mr. Sherman, and
others, that the past omission of a duty could not justify a further omission; that the rejection of such a proposition would expose the Convention to more unpleasant animadversions than
the adoption of it; and that the alarm out of doors that might be
excited for the state of things within, would at least be as likely
to do good as ill.
iMr. Williamson observed, that the true cause of the omission
could not be mistaken. The Committee had no funds.
Mr. Randolph proposed, in order to give a favorable aspect to
the measure, that a se-nCmon be preached at the request of the
Convention, on the Fourth of July, the anniversary of Indcependence; and thenceforward, prayers, &c. to be read in the Convention every morning. After several unsuccessful attempts for silently postponing this matter by adjourning, the adjournment
was at length carried without any vote on the motioin."
From  this minute account, the accuracy of which no
one will question, it will be seen that, although the motion was not carried, it was not negatived.  The Convention disposed of it by adjournment. It will also be seen
that those who opposed the motion, did not argue against
the principle of having the Convention opened by prayer.
They argued from the inexpediency, as they deemed it, of
introducing religious services at that juncture in the proceedings of their body.  I regret that they should have
taken that view  of tile case.  The reply made to their
objection by Dr. Franklin and others, ought to have satisfied them.  But still there was nothing in their opposi



NOTES.                      267
tion that can be justly termed avowed irreligion or, wanton mockery of the Most High. ~ Had the wise proposition
been made- when the Convention'first assembled, in all
probability it would have been passed unanimously.
How  far the deliberations of the Convention might
have been aided, had Dr. Franklin's advice been taken, it
is not for man to say.: But admirable as our Federal
Constitution is, and unwise as it would be to disturb or
derange its great principles, time has shown that it was
not so. perfect when first formed as to preclude amendment.  The speeches' delivered on its adoption, prove that
some leading members of the Convention were not entirely satisfied with it themselves.  When Dr. Franklin
arose to move that it should be signed by the members,
he said: "I confess that there are several parts of the
Constitution which I do not at present approve, but T
am not sure I shall never approve them; the. opinions I
have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good.
Within these walls they were born, and here they shall
die." His hopes, however, seem to have brightened when
he saw the general unanimity that prevailed in the Convention before their final adjournment.  Mr. Madison relates that "while the last members were signing, &c.,
Franklin, looking towards the President's chair,'at the'back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few  members near him, that painters had
found it difficult to distinguish in their art, a rising from
a setting sun.  I have," said he, i" often and often, in the
course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes
and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or
setting;- but now, at length, I have the- ha ppiess to




2G 80 XOTE-S.
know, it is a rising, and not a setting sun."  And the
sun has been rising ever since. The clouds which at
times have obscured its face, have neither arrested nor
delayed its upward course.  The nation cannot be too
thankful to Him  "by whom princes decree justice," that,
the great bond of her Union, the Constitution as it now
stands, has led her to a growth in power and wealth which
has fully proved its wisdom and excellence; and if prayer
was not offered by the Convention who framed it, prayer
was offered for them, during  all their deliberations, by
thousands of Chriistians throughout the whole nation.
Although this note has already reached an unusual
length, [ may perhaps be excused if I extend it still farther,
There is a deep sentiment of reverence for the fathe rs
of the Replblic pervading the mind of the nation, which ai
to be counted among the best signs of our times'  a nd sr
the value of the Union cannot be too strongly utrged e.rsqy
cially at the present juncture of public,affairs, every friend
of his country will feel an interest in seeing how these venerable, wise and upright men felt and spoke on the subject
when it came before them in their deliberations. They were
statesmen of the right stamp, ornaments, not only of their
country, but of their age. They possessed enlarged minds,
capable of appreciating the influence of their deeds on the
destinies of their own nation and of the world.
A great object of the Federal Convention, as it is usually termed, was to perpetuate and strengthen an Union of the
States; so to combine their resources as to promote national prosperity and greatness.  The former Confederacy had
been found entirely inadequate to meet the wants of the
country; and as the Convention was called to meet a crisis
which involved the best interests of the nation, the several




States showed a studious care to select as their delegates
men of tried worth andi ability.  We find upon the roll not
only Washing'on, who \wIas unanimously called to preside
over its deliberations, but also such mnen as Rutledge and
the two Pieckneys, (Charles and Char~es Cotesworth,) from
South Carolina, Ria.ndolph and Madison from Virginia, Mar-.
tin and Carroll fronm  Maryland, Franklin with Robert and
Gouverneur Mor nis fci'-,:, Pennsylvan-ia, Patersonl and Livingston  from  Nenit   3-rse',     1-i milton and Lansing  from  NewYork, Shermatli lind EllSworth fr'om  Connecticut, King and
Gorham  friom  Miassachusetts, wvith others who had figured
conspicuously for their statesrmanship and patriotism.  Pesolutions, as the- basis of a Constitution, were laid before
thle house by Mr. Randolph; and "the object of the proper plan," to be considered, was declared by Mr. Madison
-"to be twofold;-first, to preserve the Union; secondly, to
provide a Governnent that will remedy thel evils felt by the
States both in their united and individual capacities."  In the
progress of the Convention, as already stated, the difficultyJ
of reconciling the conflicting claims of the smaller and larger
States was found to be almost insurmountable, and on several
occasions tn rupture seemed inevitable. Every thing was seen
to depend upon a spirit of' f'orbearance and concession; antd
a dissolution of the Union was deprecated, as an evil to be
avoided by evreiry s,:ieificc.!Let the union of the SItates be dissolved," said Mrl. M!adison,
i:lnd one of two consequences must lhappen.  Either the States
miust AreInain indivilually incdependent and sovereign; or two or
more cofe-lfderacies mnust be formed amonoig them."  *  *  *  *
"Either event," he alftoerwai dsi decla-red, v"would be truly deplorable; and tlho.;e who'nilght be accessory to either could never be
folg'iven by their couititry  or by themselves."
In view of such a contingency, Mr. Gorham  conceived



270                          NOTES,
" That a disruption of the Union would be an event unlhappy
for all; but surely the large States would be the least unable to
take care of themselves, and to make connections with one an.other.  The weak, therefore, were most interested in establishing
some general system for maintaining order.  If, among individuials composed partly of weak, alnd partly of strong, the former
most need the protection of law  and government, the case   is
exactly the same with weak and powerful states.  *  *   *  *
On the whole, hlc considered a union of the States as necessary
to their happiness, and a firm  General Government as necessanry
to their union.  He should consider it his duty, if his colleagIues
viewed the mnatter in the smne liglht as he did, to stay here as
lonr as any other State would remain with them, in order to
agree on some plan that could, with propriety, be reconlmmended
to the people."
Among o" the consequences of a dissolution of the Union"
Mr. Hamilton predicted,
"Alliances will immedi:a.tely be for med witlh differe-,t rival and
host-ile nationts of' Europe, who will foment, disturbances among
ourselves, and make us parties to all thein own quarrels.  Foreign
nations having Americtan dominioi   ar(te, and must be, jealous of
us.  Theilr reprosente ives betray tile uinost anxiety for our fate,
and for the result of this me-leteing,  which must have an essentiall
influence on it.  It hid. been said, that respectability in the eyes
of foreihgn nations w:i s not hie oblject at- whiich we animed; thtia
the proper object' of repuiic1an govelnrunieit Nwss don-lestic tran:mquillity and happiness. T:is w::s  -i' leal distinction.  No government could give us tranqullity and hlippiness at iomee, which
did not possess sufficient staobiiity and strength to nm:lke us respectable abroad.  This was the critical moment for foirming such a
governnment.  W;,e shlould Irun every risk in trusting  to future;amendments.  As yet we retain the ha:bits of union. V'e are
weak, and sensible of our weakness.  Henceforward the motioves
will become feebler, and the difficulties greater.  It is a miracle
that wre are neoiw here, exercising oum' tranquil aind fr'ee deliberations
on the sutject.  Itt would bte maidnessl-e, to, t to tut  t  ilte miracles.
A thousand enauses mlust obstruct a r:e-plroduction of i't)em."
Mr. Gouverneur Morris
" Wished it to be understood that he came.) th]~e Co1nvention




i TEt.                           271 
as a reprlelsenti c  cf Americ(a; hm e fluittered himself he came h]ere,
ill some degree, as,  reireseintaive of thle whole human race; for
the whole humian r:cee  ili'be iaffected by the proceedinygs of this
Convention.  HIe wishledl geltlellen to extend their views beyond
the present moment of time; beyond the niarrow  limits of the
place fronm which they derive tlieir political origin.  If he were to
believe some tlhins whiich lhe lhad hlearl, hie should suppose that
we were assembled to truik and brg iidn a )r our part.icular States.
lie cannot descend to think, that any gentlemen are really actuated by these viexws.  We imust look fo)rwlrd to the effects of
what we do.  Tl.ese alone ought to guide us."
The Constitutian lx.vingo been fiiltnly adopted in the Federal Convention, xwas yet to be sent down for ratification
to  the  several States, with  the provision as expressed  in
Article VII, that "tlhe  ratification of the  Conventions of
nine States shoultd be sufficient for the establishment of the
Constitution between the States, so ratifying   the samne." State
Conventions were accordingly brought' togctller to act upon
the subject.  The debates whic  01 took plalce in these several
bodies, together with  otlier documents of public interest,
have behn colleeted with much care by Elliott, andt publisihed In olur volumes.  His repoirts of wh;at occurred in som
of the  Convxentions are brief and imperfect, as hle hlad to
depen"d caliefly on cotemporalry publications.  But in other
cases his account is very  full and saltisfactory.  His report
of tle debiates in thle ConvenItion of Vilginia   fills his entire
thi  d L vo1lue. n    Wlt en the qucstion  was submitted to that
body, the decision   as atdmitteal  to be of paramcount imnportance,   as t.Ie Consttition  ihad ailieady  been rat-ified by
eio-ht diffelent SrtaLes; l'and ithe ratification by Virginiia would
be  eoncltli ie on its final -adoption for thle government of the
nation.,  Tlhe Convention itself was    mlach divided in sentimerin t.  Tlhle eloqtuenlcl Patrick Henry   led a powerful  opposition'  and it was not a little remaik:tble that the leader on




the other sile was Governor Edmund Randolph, who twas
one of the thfree that had declined  to sign the Constitution
when finally  adopted in the Federal Convention.  Subsequent reflection seems to have satisfied his mind that, the,
welfare of the country demanded the ratification of tlhe instrument as it then stoodf  and that amendments which he
and others thought desirable, should be left to be afterwards
introduced according to thee mode prescribed in the Constitution itself.
*'As with me," he s:lid,'"-the only question has ever been,
between previous and subsequent ainendments; so wvill I expres.
my apprehensions,r that the postponement of this Convention, to
so late a day, has extinguished the probability of the former without inevitable rain to the Union, an!d the Union is the anchor of
our political salviation; and I will assent -to the lopping of this
limb (meaning his airm) before I rassent to the dissolution of the
Union."
In tnie progres. s of the debtlAe we firnd him on one occamson declaring,
"' Were I convinced tha;t the accession of eigoht states did not
render our accession also necessary to preeirve the Union, 1
would not accede to it., till it, slhould be previously amended: but,
sir, I am convinced that the Uinion will be lostc by our rejection.'Massachusetts has adopted it;;sh-e lhas rccoi-enolded subseql-ent
amendments; her infiuence-  must be very considerable to obhtahfL
them.  I trust my countrymen have sufficient wisdom an.d virtueto entitle them to equal respect.  It, is urgedl,  that being wise' we
ought to prescribe amendments to the other states.  I have considered this subject deliberately, wesaried myself in endeavoring
to find a possibility of preserving  the Union without our unconditional ratification; but, sir, in vain.  I find no other means' * *
I have every reason for determniining within myself, that our rejection must dissolve thle Union; and ithat our dissolition would
destroy oar political happiness~"




NOTES,                           278
in the course of his arguments he observed,
"We  are now  inquiring particularly  whether Virginia, as
contra-distinguished from the other states, can exist without the
Uniorn.  A  hard question, perhaps, after what has been said.  I
will venture, however, to say, she cannot.  I shall not rest con.
tented with asserting-I shall endeavor to prov e."
In the conclusion of this powerfill speech, he said,
"I shall conclude with a few observations which come from
my heart.  I have labored for the continuance of the Union-the
rock of our salvation.  I believe that, aLs sure- -  there is a God
in, Heaven, our safety, our political happiness and existence depend on the union of the stattes;  and that wilhott this uniotrn, tlhe
people of this. and the other stiates, will midergo the unspeakable
eaiamities, which discord, fiction, turbulene,   wal, andl loodshed,
have produced itn other countrises.'he American spirit ought to
be nmixed with Americai  pride to see tohe Union magnificently
triumph. *  *  * *    Let Ait not be recorded of Americllns tha;t,
after having performled the most gallant exploits-after having
overcome thie  rmost.istolnislmin   diihiculties — and  after liaving'
gained the adlmiration ol- the woirld b0 their ulnconplarlable i-alor
arnd policy, they lost their acquired rt putation, their national  consequence and hlappiness,,by their own ind!isd(1cretimo. Let no future
historian inform  posterity that they wRanted wisdomn  ncl virtue to
concur in any regular efficient goveinment.  Should any writer,
doomed to so disagreeanble a task, feel the indignationr of an
honest historian, lie would reprehend and reriminate our folly,
with equal severity and justice.  Catlch  the present momenlt;
seize it with avidity and eagerness, for it m-a.y be lost, never to be
regained.  If the Union lbe now  lost, I fear it will remain so
for ever.'(.
Whllile the subject was under discussion,  and one gentlemi a-n,after another was called out, Mr. Corbin  declared,
"By Union alone can kwe exist; by no other meains can we be
happy.  Union must he the object of every gentlelDman here.  I
never yet have heard any gentleman so wild and firantic in his
opposition as to avow an attachment to partial Confederacies.




274                         NO'rTES.
By previous adoption, the Union will be preserved: by insisting
on alterations, previous to our adoption, the Union may be lost,
and our political lnppiness destroyed by internal dissensions."
When the deliberations were drawing towards a con~clusion, some gentleman in the opposition having hinted a
purpose to retire from  the Convention, and go home, Governor Randolph appealed to them,
~   "I beg to ma;ke a few remarks on the subject of secession.
If there be, in this house,- members who have in contemplation to
secede friom  the majority, let me conjure them  by all the ties of
honor and duty to consider what they are about to do. * * * *
Such an idea of refusing to submit to the decision of the majority
is destructive of every republican principle.  It will kindle a
civil war, and reduce everything to'anarchy and confusion."
Feeling  the responsibility  whichl  he had assnmed  in.urging the  adoption  of the Constitution,  although  ably
secondled by Madison, Mlarshall, Nicholas, Pendleton, Coribin and otlers s; at the close of the Debate, he pled,
iMr. Chllirmal, onie parting word I humbly supplicate: The
suffrage which I shall give in favor of the Constitution, will be
ascribed, by malice, to motives unknown to my breast.  *  *  *
Lest, however, some future annalist should, in the spirit of party
vengeance, deign to mention mny name let him recite these truths
-thaz I wenl to the i1'ederal Conrenition witl the strongest affection for the Union; that I acted there ill felll confolrmity   with
this afrection; tha I refuse -l to sebscri e, bcause I had. as I stil'
have, object i ns to th7e CnsStitution, and wished a. free inquiry into
its merits; and that the accession of eihllt states reduced our deli.
berations to the single question otf Union, or no Un7ion."
Although the Reports of the proeceedings and debates
in the other Conventions are, as we haive said, comparatively
brief, yet they are sufficient to show that the attachment to
the Union, so triumphant in Virgina, was also thle predominant feeling in the other States, and especially the States in




NOTES.                            275
the South. In the Convention of North Carolina, Mr. Iredell
was a leading man.  He urged the ratification of the Constitution, arguing,' By adopting it we shall be in the Union with ourl sister
states, which is the only foundation of our prosperity and safety.
We shall avoid the danger of a separation, a danger of which the
latent effects are unknown.  So far aim I convinced of the necessity of the Union, that I would give up many things against my
cowvn opinion to obtain it.  If we sacrificed it by a rejection of the
Constitution, or a refusal to adopt, (which amounts, I t.hink, nearly to the same thing,) the very  circumstance of disunion may
occasion animosity between us aind the inhabitants of the other
states, which may be the merans of severiDng us for ever."
In the Legislature o(f South  Carolina, the proposiition
to call a St.;te Coanventio1n  wTas xxarnily   opposed  by  MIi.
Lowxndes, and  szoine o-lors; blut it. wais supported by the.tutledges, tie  Pinc vneYs, annd suchl men as Pringle, Mathews, Bairnwell,  Realid  a-nd  Rnlmsay.  DLriiig the  discussion Mr. Chlarles Cotesx or th Pinckney said,;Without union wvit h the otler states-, South Carolina. must
soon fall.  Is there a.xny o-ne ainonmoo    us so muchl a Quixote as to
suppose that tl-is State could long maintain her independence, if
she stood alone, or wvas only connected with the Southern States?
I searcely believe there i3."
Hilaviing afterwLia,rds reafrlled to the Declaration of Tnd e
petdencice waith hl'igh eaeomiunm, he proceeded,
"Iri that, Decliaration the several states are not even enumenrs.ted; tbut atelr recitiing   in nervous language and with convincing
rtfrgum1-l'nt s, ouIr riihilt 16 inidependence, and the tyra-nny which coumpelled u:s to;ssert it, the Declar.ation is made in the following
"words:-' Vt, thetlrefor'e, the representaiLtives of the Unired States
of Anmerlica,   i,-n ceneral Congress assembled, appenlilng  to -the
Supremie Judcre of the world for th-e rectitule of ourl intentions,
do, in the name, and by the authority  of the good people of these
colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies




276                         NOTE S.
are, and of right ought to be, FREE AN1) INDEPENDENT STATES,'
The separate inldependence and individual sovereig nty of the several states were never thought of by the enlightened band of
patriots who framed this declaration; the several states are not
even mentioned by name in anly part of it. as if it was intended to
impress this maxim   on America, that our freedom  and independenee arose fiom our union, and that without it we could neither
be free nor independent.  Let us then eonlsidelr Ill- attempts to
wveaken this Urion, by maintaining that e.tch state is separalely
and inclividallly independent, as a species of political heresy
which can never benefit us, but may bringl on  the most serious
cistresses."
The Convention having been called; on the second clay
after it met, iMr. Charles Pinckney delivered a speech of
great power and eloquence, which seems indeed to ha7e precluded any considerable debate during the subsequent deliberations.  Alluding' to some of the leading features of the
Constitution, he szaid,
In their individncal capacities as citizens, the people are proportionably represented in the House of Representatives; here,
they who are to pay to support the expenses of government, have
the purse-strings in their hands; here the people hlold and feel
that they possess an. influence suficiently powerful to prevent
every undue attempt of tLe o'rlel branches, to maintain that
weigllt in the political sl:.e which, as the source of all authority,
thley should ever polass; s'  he-re, too, the sta8te::;s, whose exi-stence
as such we have  often heard predicted as precarious, will find
in the Senate the guards of their rights as political associationl.
"On themt. (I mtean the state systems,) rests thle general fabric:
on their foundation is this mra %nificent structure of freedom  erected, each depending upon, supporting, and protecting the other;
nor, so intimate is the connexion, can the one be removed without
prostrating the other in rtin: lile the lead and the body, separate
them and they die.
" Far be it fronr nle to suppose that such an attempt should
ever be made.  Thie good sense and virtue of our country forbid
the idea: to the Union we will look up, as to the temple of our




NOTES.                         277
freedom-a temple founded in the affections, and supported by
virtue of the people; here we will pour out our gratitude to the
Anuthor of all good, for suffering us to participate in the rights of
a people who govern themselves.
"Is there, at this moment, a nation upoIl earth that enjoys this
right, where the true principles of representation are understood
and practised, land where all authority flows fr'om, and returns at
stated periods to the people.?. I answer, there is not.  Can a
government be said to be free where these rights do not exist?
It cannot.  On what depends the enjoyment of these rare, these
inestimable privileges? On the firmness, on, the power of the
Union to protect and defend thenu.'"How  grateful, then, should we be, that, at this important
period-a period important, ilot to us alone, but to the general
rights of manlind-so much harmony and concession should
prevail through tlhe states —that the public opinion should be so
much actuated by candor and ani attention to their general interests-that disdaining to be governed by the narrow motives of
state policy, they have liberaily determined to dedicate a part of
their advantages to the sutlport- of thant government, from which
they received them. To firaud, to force, or accident, all the governments we know have owed their births.  To the philosophic
mind, how new and awfil an sltLanlce do the United Statoes, at
present, exhibit in the politicail world! They exhibit, sir, the first
instance of a people, who, being dissatisfied with their government-unattacked by foreign force, and undisturbed by domestic
uneasiness —coolly and deliberately resort to the virtue and good
sense of their country for a correction of their public errors.'"It must be obvious, that without a superintending government, it is impossible the liberties of this country can long be
secured.
" Single and unconneeted, how weak and contemptible are the
largest of our states! how unable to protect themselves from
internal or domestic insult! how incompetent to national purposes would even partial union be! how liable to intestine wars
and confusion! how little able to secure the blessings of peace?
" Let us, therefore, be careful in strengthening the Union-let
us remember that we are bounded by vigilant and attentive neighbors, who view with jealous eye our rise to empire."
These were the deliberate and enlightened views of the




z27s        ~      NOTES.
sages and patriots who'laid the foundations of our national
g...e.tness.  Being dead, they yet speak.  Their sepulchbrea
a're with us to this day; and in all periods of agitation
which put in jeopardy the Institutions they framed for us,
we should reverence their memories, and seek counsel from
their wisdom.  Especially should we turn to Him  wvith a
filial regard whom  we all delight to honour as "First in
war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countryinenl," and who has left us this memorable warning in his
Fa-rewell Address:
I: ft is of inflnite moment that you should properly estimate the immense vache of your national union' to your
collective and indivicutal happiness; that you should cherish
a cordial, chabitual, and immovable attachnmet to it; accus-.
tonZingy yourselves to think and speak of it as the paclladium
of,your political safery and pros2perity; watching for its
preservation with jealous anxiety; discounZtenancing  whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event,
be abandoned; and indignantly frowning  upo;a, Jthe JirsZ
dawning of every attempt to alienate any poortio   of 0our
country from  the rest, or to ernfeeble the sacred ties wti,,;r'  Ao
link together the various parts."
END OF NOTES,