SERMON 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE 
 
 / 
 
 )\s (ferdlmcg ffljm |jL Clifford 
 
 GOVERNOR, 
 
 HIS HONOR ELISHA HUNTINGTON, 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GOVEllNOR, 
 
 ®|n JjonoraUe Cffutuil, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE LEGISLATURE OF'M ASS A CIIU SETTS, 
 
 AT 
 
 THE ANNUAL ELECTION, 
 
 WEDNESDAY, Jan. 4, 1854. 
 
 BY REY. MINER RAYMOND, 
 
 PRINCIPAL OF THE WESLEYAN ACADEMY, WILBRAHAM. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 WILLIAM WHITE, PRINTER TO THE STATE. 
 
 1854 . 
 
 J 
 
A 
 
 SERMON 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE 
 
 HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN H. CLIFFORD, 
 
 GOVERNOR, 
 
 HIS HONOR ELISHA HUNTINGTON, 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GOVEKNOK, 
 
 THE HONORABLE COUNCIL, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS, 
 
 THE ANNUAL ELECTION, 
 
 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 1854. 
 
 BY KEY. MINER RAYMOND, 
 
 PRINCIPAL OF THE WESLEYAN ACADEMY, WILBRAHAM. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 WILLIAM WHITE, PRINTER TO THE STATE, 
 
 1854 . 
 
Z SZ-t 
 
 f<L^-Uu 
 
 i 
 
 (Eommonlucaltlj of iUassacfjusrtts. 
 
 House of Representatives, Jan. 10, 1854. 
 
 Ordered, That Messrs. Fitch, of Hopkinton, Russell, of Boston, and Whit- 
 ney, of Conway, be a Committee to present the thanks of the House to the 
 Rev. Miner Raymond, for his Sermon delivered before the Government of 
 
 the Commonwealth, on Wednesday, the fourth instant, and request a copy 
 
 * 
 
 thereof for the press. 
 
 WILLIAM STOWE, Clerk. 
 

 
 
 I 
 
 
 V 
 
 I 
 
 
 % 
 
SERMON 
 
 « 
 
 Psalms, xxxiii. 12. 
 
 BLESSED IS THE NATION WHOSE GOD IS THE LORD. 
 
 The term, “ whose God is the Lord,” is frequently 
 employed by the sacred writers as a summary descrip¬ 
 tion of the true religion — including its theory, its 
 practices, and its privileges — the true religion, as dis¬ 
 tinguished from the idolatry of paganism, the specula¬ 
 tions of unsanctified philosophy, and the superstitions 
 of fanaticism and formality. The people “ whose God 
 is the Lord,” believe the doctrines of the true faith, 
 they obey its commandments, and experience a fulfil¬ 
 ment of its promises. 
 
 The assertion that such a nation is “blessed,” is a 
 declaration that virtue and happiness are universally 
 coexistent — that the former is promotive of the latter 
 — that they sustain to each other the relation of cause 
 and effect — that virtue is the invariable and necessary 
 antecedent of happiness. 
 
 It is manifest, from the nature of the case, that right- 
 
6 
 
 eousness is its own reward — a mind conscious to itself 
 of right, has, in that consciousness, an unfailing source 
 of satisfactory enjoyment; and a very cursory observa¬ 
 tion of human society must convince any one that it 
 also tends to promote all those subordinate interests by 
 which human happiness is incidentally affected; — such 
 as wealth, intelligence, refinement, good society, civil 
 immunities, and political privileges. 
 
 These truths are so obvious that most men readily 
 admit them; they agree, without controversy, that 
 holiness and happiness, sin and misery, are inseparably 
 joined together; the strong language of the Scriptures 
 is frequently employed to express the common sent), 
 ment on this subject. Such passages as the following, 
 are quoted as axioms : " the w T ay of the transgressor is 
 hard,” “ there is no peace to the wicked,” " wisdom’s 
 ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are 
 peace.” But when the abstract ideas of “ wisdom,” 
 " virtue,” “ holiness,” are passed; when we speak defi¬ 
 nitely of religion — of its peculiar duties, its ordi¬ 
 nances, its solemn services, and especially of the higher 
 forms of its inner life — of its faith, its hopes, its holy 
 fellowship and spiritual communion; and when we de¬ 
 clare that this renders the individual and the nation 
 blessed — that “ godliness is profitable unto all things 
 having promise of the life that now is and of that 
 which is to come ” — that " our light affliction which is 
 but for a moment,” and a fortiori all «the events of life, 
 "work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
 
 i 
 
7 
 
 of glory, while we look not at the things that are seen 
 but at the things that are not seen ” — when we declare 
 that it is the highest wisdom “to do whatsoever we do’* 
 with a constant reference to eternal retribution, not 
 merely because eternity is longer than time, because 
 the soul is of more value than the body, but because 
 whatever course of conduct promotes man’s interests in 
 the world to come, must also subserve his interests in 
 this life — when we declare these things, all men hesi¬ 
 tate, most men doubt, many men practically deny. 
 Their conduct evinces that, to their minds, religion is, 
 in every sense, really, as well as apparently, a system 
 of sacrifice and self-denial; in their judgment, the 
 attention given to their eternal well-being, is subtracted 
 from their worldly welfare; devoted to the pursuit of 
 gain or of honor, or to the enjoyment of pleasure, they 
 have no time for the worship of God, or the care of 
 their souls. Not unfrequently men seem to have per¬ 
 suaded themselves that duty itself requires an omission 
 of the obligations of religion. Having purchased a 
 farm, they must needs go and see it; domestic arrange¬ 
 ments demand attention, and therefore, without con¬ 
 troversy, they are exonerated from all the duties of 
 devotion. The statesman is charged with momentous 
 concerns ; the prosperity of the State is dependent upon 
 his fidelity, and therefore it is necessary that his atten¬ 
 tion be wholly absorbed in these things. The student, 
 the philosopher, all classes of citizens, find in what to 
 them are the duties of life, an interest opposed to the 
 
8 
 
 \ 
 
 obligations of religion; — as though the demands of 
 piety were a tax on their pleasures; as though the com¬ 
 mands of God required an abridgment of their joys. 
 Most men turn away from religion, and look to wealth, 
 
 to intelligence, to social position, to government, to com- 
 
 ' 
 
 merce, to science, to literature, as the sources of individ¬ 
 ual and national prosperity. 
 
 It is our purpose, in this discourse, to consider, the 
 hearing of religion on human happiness . 
 
 We speak of religion as we learn it from the instruc¬ 
 tions of the sacred Scriptures —- as it is held and taught 
 by the prevailing churches of this Commonwealth and 
 country. 
 
 We contemplate man in two regards, first as an indi¬ 
 vidual, second as a member of society; and purpose to 
 consider the influence of religion on his happiness in 
 these two respects. 
 
 I. Man is a subject of moral government, a subject 
 of law. This is evinced to him, by every perception of 
 right and wrong, by every emotion impelling to virtue 
 or restraining from vice, and by every sentiment of ap¬ 
 proval when he does well, or of condemnation when he 
 does ill. But moral government, without rewards for 
 obedience and punishments for disobedience, is imper¬ 
 fect ; a precept without a penalty is mere advice, not 
 a law; its author, in its issue, assumes the character of 
 an instructor, not of a legislator. Man being, therefore, 
 conscious of moral and religious obligations having the 
 
9 
 
 binding force of law, and there being no question but 
 that he has frequently violated those obligations, feels 
 himself exposed to threatened penalties and is in con¬ 
 stant fear of their execution. It is in view of this sense 
 of condemnation, and this apprehension of the future 
 consequences of crime, that the Scriptures declare, “ there 
 is no peace to the wicked,” “ they are like the troubled 
 sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and 
 dirt ” A sense of condemnation is a perfect bar to all 
 happiness, — a mind conscious of crime is ever ill at 
 ease; it cannot be happy. Within the compass of its 
 own resources, there is no alleviation, there is no coun¬ 
 terpoise ;—the bustle of business, the acclamation of 
 the multitude, the noisy round of pleasure, cannot hush 
 the voice of conscience; present and future reformation 
 can make no amends for past deficiencies — the tears of 
 penitence even cannot wash away the stains of sin — the 
 sorrow of the culprit cannot restore life to his murdered 
 victim ; for guilt there is no remedy, in all the provisions 
 of the universe, but pardon . As the hungry require 
 food, and as nothing but food will supply their demand, 
 so do the guilty require pardon, and nothing but pardon 
 will satisfy their wants. Hence the problem of a sinner’s 
 justification at the bar of inflexible justice is the great 
 problem of human happiness. For its solution, reason 
 and philosophy are incompetent; the prescriptions of the 
 moralist, the theory of the theist, the doctrines of all 
 false religions, leave the mind unquieted. It may be 
 easy for the culprit to believe that the judge takes no 
 
 2 
 
 j 
 
10 
 
 pleasure in pronouncing the sentence of the law against 
 him; and that the executive would take no pleasure in 
 executing it. It may he easy to believe that the chief 
 magistrate is personally kindly disposed towards him; 
 but to see how, as administrator of the government, the 
 chief magistrate can consistently affix his signature to the 
 culprit’s pardon, is, in every light save the light of reli¬ 
 gion, an insurmountable difficulty. Men may cry peace 
 when the Lord hath not said it; they may rest, for a 
 time, in an assumed security, or in carelessness and in¬ 
 difference ; but they never receive the assurance of sins 
 forgiven — the joys of pardon — till they receive the 
 Lord as their God; till religion brings the Spirit’s testi¬ 
 mony, bearing witness, with their spirit, that they are 
 the children of God — then 
 
 “ Faith lends a realizing light, 
 
 The clouds disperse, the shadows fly.” 
 
 “ Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and 
 whose sins are covered.” u Blessed is the man to whom 
 the Lord will not impute sin.” 
 
 Again, the touch of sin is contaminating. The trans¬ 
 gressor finds, not only that his relations to law, to God, 
 and other intelligent moral beings are changed from 
 those of an innocent subject to those of a guilty 
 rebel; but he also finds that there is a change in 
 himself. Sin has induced new habits and trains of 
 thought, new emotions and volitions • former capacities 
 and susceptibilities have escaped him ; he is conscious 
 
11 
 
 of a degradation in character. As sin is universal, 
 these consequences are also universal; accordingly we 
 find the common condition of mankind a condition of 
 imperfections, infirmities, and depravities. The physi¬ 
 cal nature is illy adapted to the exigencies of life — in 
 infancy and old age, it is helpless and dependent, through 
 feebleness; at all times subject to weariness, pain, dis¬ 
 ease and death; and sooner or later, it yields itself a 
 victim to the grave. The intellectual is scarcely less 
 defective than the physical —perception, judgment, 
 memory, reason, and imagination are all degraded by 
 connection with gross mortality; obstructed and enfee¬ 
 bled by dependence upon a shattered organism; biased 
 by a disgraceful subserviency to base passions and un¬ 
 worthy prejudices; and voluntarily yielded, for the 
 most part of life, to the service and slavery of sin. The 
 will, the active energy in man, that endowment, by 
 which, more than any other, man is an image of his 
 Maker, whose freedom constitutes the basis of human 
 liberty and moral responsibility, is itself a slave; “ the good 
 that it would, it does not; ” “ it is carnal sold under sin.” 
 The conscience also fails to perform any of its functions 
 perfectly. In discriminating, impelling, restraining, ap¬ 
 proving, or condemning, it is inefficient; and is frequent¬ 
 ly vanquished and totally driven from the field of contest, 
 by the basest and most ignoble of all human impulses. 
 The heart , created and adapted to love God supremely, 
 and all other existences, according to their real and rel¬ 
 ative merits, designed for the exercise of universal 
 
12 
 
 benevolence, supreme love to God, and goo^l will to all 
 mankind, has become the fountain of all evil — “ out of 
 it proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, 
 thefts, false witness, blasphemies,” in a word, selfishness 
 in all its forms of meanness and malignity. It is in 
 view of this condition of depravity that the Apostle ex¬ 
 claims, 0, wretched man that I am ! Who shall de¬ 
 liver me from the body of this death ? ” By natural 
 law, any loss of this kind is irreparable; if a limb be 
 amputated, the evil may be mitigated by artificial appli¬ 
 ances, but cannot be remedied. If a young man waste 
 the time for the establishment of industrious and moral 
 habits, the development of mind, the acquisition of 
 knowledge, and the accumulation of wealth; if at forty 
 he be a vagabond, reformation will improve his condition, 
 
 i 
 
 but it cannot make him what he would have been, had 
 he never wandered from the path of virtue; nature can¬ 
 not restore a fallen spirit to the condition from which it 
 fell, — grace only is competent for such a miracle, — it 
 only can assuage, mitigate, control, and finally conquer 
 the evils of a depraved nature. It only “ enlightens the 
 eyes of the understanding,” 66 creates a clean heart, re¬ 
 news a right spirit,” “ sanctifies the soul, body, and spirit, 
 and preserves them blameless unto the coming of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ.” 
 
 That we may hasten to that branch of our subject, 
 probably regarded by most as more appropriate to the 
 occasion, we pass, with a slight notice, the obstacles to 
 human happiness found in our relation to circumstances. 
 
13 
 
 Sin has induced a change, not only in our moral rela¬ 
 tions , not only in our character , hut also in our condition . 
 
 The very earth itself is cursed for man’s sake, impos¬ 
 ing the necessity of gaining bread by the sweat of the 
 brow — whether by the direct curse of God, for the 
 purpose of rendering the earth a place more suitable 
 for the discipline of a race needing correction, the soil 
 has been made less fertile than in the original creation; 
 or whether the curse of the earth consists in the multi¬ 
 plication of human wants; or whether both of these 
 causes conduce to this end — of the fact there can be 
 no doubt, that necessities of labor are now imposed 
 upon the human family in forms inconsistent with per¬ 
 fection of condition. The family circle, that best earthly 
 emblem of the family above, is frequently disturbed by 
 jealousies, by strifes, and contentions. 
 
 “ Domestic happiness, thou only bliss 
 Of Paradise, that has survived the fall! 
 
 Though few now taste thee unimpaired and pure, 
 
 Or, tasting, long enjoy thee ! too infirm 
 Or too incautious, to preserve thy sweets 
 Unmixed with drops of bitter, which neglect 
 Or temper sheds into thy crystal cup : 
 
 Forsaking thee, what shipwrecks have we seen 
 Of honor, dignity, and fair renown.” 
 
 The pleasures of social life, enjoyed in the kindly 
 intercourse of pure society, where neighbor with his 
 neighbor interchanges the mutual sympathies of kin¬ 
 dred spirits, are not unfrequently banished or forever 
 
14 
 
 buried in bitter broils: — mutual crimination, and re¬ 
 crimination, slander, detraction, all imaginable social 
 evils from a large part of the bitter experience of 
 many; alas ! how many . In the civil relation, how often 
 man’s history is blotted by the record of oppression, 
 tyranny, slavery, war, and its innumerable attendant 
 evils. But let a veil be drawn over these dark shades 
 in the picture of human woes. In view of them, inspi¬ 
 ration has declared that “the whole creation groaneth 
 and travaileth together in pain until now; ” and be¬ 
 cause of them there swells in every human hope “ an 
 earnest expectation ” of a better state of things. This 
 derangement of condition causes in the mind of man a 
 perpetual restlessness, an ever-abiding dissatisfaction 
 with present possessions, and an unceasing enterprise 
 for improvement. What, but assurance that Omnipo¬ 
 tence will make the wrath of man to praise Him — will 
 cause these evils to work together for our good, can be 
 competent to sustain the soul while enduring such afflic¬ 
 tions ? and how can such assurance be gained but by 
 receiving the Lord as our God, and acknowledging Him 
 in all our ways ? 
 
 In the less aggravating, but yet more deeply afflicting 
 sorrows of life, such as the loss of health or property, 
 the sickness and death of friends, how essential to hu¬ 
 man happiness are the hopes of the Christian ? And 
 then, in man’s last hours, when he stands upon the 
 verge of life, not knowing whether his uplifted foot shall 
 fall on the shores of time, or out into the unfathomed 
 
 t 
 
15 
 
 voids of eternity — when there are about him heights 
 without a summit, depths without a bottom, lengths and 
 breadths without limits of extension; when nature whis¬ 
 pers “’t is a dread, an awful thing to die; ” when recol¬ 
 lections of a life ill spent at best cast darkness o’er his 
 prospects, and thoughts of avenging justice alarm his 
 guilty fears, 0 ! in that awful moment when, with a 
 deathless spirit, time ends, and eternity begins, what 
 but Omnipotence is sufficient strength ? what but 
 boundless love a source of hope ? what provisions com¬ 
 mensurate with the soul’s high claims but the atoning 
 merits of an incarnate God ? 
 
 We have endeavored to show that religion is essential 
 to individual happiness, but need we multiply words 
 on such a subject? What is happiness, but the gratifi¬ 
 cation of desire, the enjoyment of what we love ? — and 
 what desires has man comparable with those which only 
 religion can satisfy ? What is religion ? It is pardon 
 for the guilty, regeneration for the depraved, comfort 
 for the sorrowful, knowledge for the ignorant, liberty for 
 the enslaved, strength for the weak, it is immortality for 
 the dying, it is God in the human soul, spiritual life be¬ 
 gun on earth and consummated anfid eternal glories. 
 The Christian, if faithful to his high profession, enjoys a 
 pleasing consciousness of holy thoughts, pure affections, 
 and pious motives; a sweet satisfaction in the goodly 
 fellowship of the saints ; an unutterable joy in commu¬ 
 nion with God, and an earnest of an eternal inheritance 
 among the sanctified — an inheritance C( where the wick- 
 
16 
 
 ed cease from troubling, and tlie weary are at rest ” — 
 an inheritance in the 66 presence of God, where there is 
 fulness of joy, and at His right hand, where there are 
 pleasures for evermore.” 
 
 II. We pass to consider the influence of religion upon 
 society. 
 
 The family, the school, the state, and the church, the 
 most important institutions of society, have each their 
 separate sphere of action and mode of operation; but are 
 mutually dependent, and all conspire to the same great 
 end, the happiness of the people. It will therefore be 
 sufficient for our purpose, to consider, the influence of re¬ 
 ligion in promoting the ends of civil government . 
 
 Civil government is organized for the protection of 
 life, liberty, property, and reputation: — it may use its 
 power to aid in the acquisition of wealth, and in the dif¬ 
 fusion of knowledge, and to ameliorate the condition of 
 
 9 
 
 the suffering. 
 
 Let us look at government as an agent for protection. 
 The means employed for this purpose are essential to 
 its accomplishment. Without wise legislation, without 
 a pure judiciary, without an efficient executive, without 
 an army and a navy, in a word, without the usual appli¬ 
 ances of civil power, no man could feel safe, for a mo¬ 
 ment, in the enjoyment of his rights and privileges; 
 life, liberty, property, and reputation, would be in 
 perpetual jeopardy. And yet, the enactments of the 
 legislature, the decisions of the judiciary, the weapons 
 
17 
 
 of the executive — the sword, the cannon, the fortress 
 and the tower, prisons and penitentiaries, forts and fortifi¬ 
 cations, before the rushings of an excited, vicious popu¬ 
 lace, are as chaff before the wind. The blessings of a 
 good government are impossibilities among a populace 
 unchecked by moral restraints. What is a single sheriff 
 to a county ? and what would be the force of any “ posse 
 comitatus” he might command among a people, the 
 mass of whom were excited to insubordination ? When 
 a letter is deposited in the post office, enclosing a 
 valuable remittance, what is the security that it will 
 reach its destination in a distant city ? Is it the vigilance 
 of the department, or the honesty of its agents ? When 
 we lay us down at night, what is our security that ere 
 the morning our property will not be plundered by the 
 midnight robber, or our lives taken by some blood-thirsty 
 assassin ? Is it that a military guard protects our door ? 
 that a police patrols our streets ? or is it that we reside in 
 a virtuous community ? When I journey in the country, 
 what prevents the first man I meet from taking all I 
 have, and leaving my body by the way side, a lifeless 
 corpse ? Is it his fear of the civil power, or his regard 
 for my rights ? The effectual protection of the individ¬ 
 ual is found in the moral sense of the people — in the 
 state of mind which religion is specially designed and 
 adapted to induce. A public sentiment, created by the 
 frequent repetition of precepts — such a repetition as is 
 witnessed in the Sabbath services of the church — of 
 
 V. 
 
 precepts, applicable to all the relations of life, intelligible 
 
 . 3 
 
18 
 
 to the most ordinary intellect, sanctioned by divine 
 authority and the penalties of an infinite law, a public 
 sentiment, widely diffused in all classes of society, pres¬ 
 ent in all the localities of the Commonwealth, and enli¬ 
 vened by the impressive associations of the solemn 
 sanctuary services, must be a more effectual protection 
 than are bayonets, bolts, or bars of iron — as much more 
 effectual, as the mental transcends the muscular; as the 
 spiritual is more powerful than the physical; — as' much 
 more as the commands, " thou shalt not kill,” " thou 
 shaft not steal,” "thou shalt not bear false witness,” 
 “ thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” coming from 
 the mouth of God amid the thunderings of Sinai, or from 
 the lips of the Savior amid the agonies of the garden, 
 or the affecting scenes of the cross, are more authorita¬ 
 tive than the edicts of a frail mortal man. 
 
 We next consider government as an arrangement for 
 pecuniary accumulations, and for the diffusion of know¬ 
 ledge. 
 
 Government may devise prudent schemes of political 
 economy, incorporate manufacturing and banking 
 companies, improve harbors, construct railroads, levy 
 protective duties, and offer bounties, and yet, without 
 an industrious people; industrious from the influence of 
 suitable and sufficient motives, the nation will suffer all 
 the evils of poverty, and multitudes will die of starvation. 
 If this life be the whole of human existence, the differ¬ 
 ence between savage life and civilization, the difference 
 between wealth and poverty, does not furnish sufficient 
 
19 
 
 motive to induce the habit of hard-handed toil. To nerve 
 the arm of industry with sufficient strength for the pur¬ 
 poses of good society, requires a sense of duty, a con¬ 
 sciousness of moral obligation, and the hope of promoting 
 the interests of a future life. Why has it come to pass 
 that, in the whole history of Christian missions, every 
 effort to civilize, as preparatory to Christianity, has been 
 a failure; and that the prosperity of every successful 
 mission has commenced with a direct appeal to the 
 moral sense and religious hopes of the heathen ? Man¬ 
 ifestly, as it seems to me, because mere civilization does 
 not present a sufficient motive to stir the inactive mind 
 of a savage. 
 
 If this be so, then religion, by furnishing a motive to 
 industry drawn from moral obligations, which are sus¬ 
 tained and sanctioned by the hopes and fears of a future 
 retribution, must greatly enhance the national wealth. 
 
 It also furthers the same end by retrenching expenses 
 and establishing habits of economy. The costs of crime 
 are incalculable; the annual expenditure of the nation 
 
 t 
 
 for what, in the light of religion, are unlawful indul¬ 
 gences — for what is impoverishing and injurious, would 
 banish poverty from even the lowest walks of life ; encir¬ 
 cle every hearth-stone with contentment, and invest 
 every habitation with beauty. 
 
 A good government wisely provides for the diffusion 
 of knowledge. It does so for several reasons. The ba¬ 
 sis of free institutions must lie in the intelligence of the 
 people ) curiosity is inherent in our nature, and must 
 
20 
 
 be gratified, or the development of character is imperfect, 
 and the popular mind is either stupidly inactive, or in¬ 
 ordinately and injuriously restless; to know, to feel, to 
 act, describes the whole of mental phenomena; sensi¬ 
 bility and volition are dependant upon knowledge, both 
 for their existence and degree of intensity; the knowl¬ 
 edge of God is the life of the soul; ignorance is de¬ 
 structive to every thing dear to humanity. Wisely, 
 therefore, did our pilgrim fathers make provision for the 
 education of the mass of the people; and wisely have 
 their descendants followed their example. Popular 
 education is not only one of the best ends of government, 
 but also one of its most efficient means . The school is 
 more powerful for good than the senate chamber or the 
 court of justice; a better defence than forts and fortifica¬ 
 tions ; a greater preventive of evil than prisons and peni¬ 
 tentiaries ; a surer protection than armies and navies. 
 Machinery, lines of railroad, and fleets of commerce, with 
 all the appliances of the arts, do not more for the accumu¬ 
 lation of wealth and the enjoyment of its accumulations, 
 than do the schools and seminaries of learning. But all 
 history testifies that, other things being equal, the intelli¬ 
 gence of any people is in proportion to their virtue; and 
 the philosophy of the fact is explained by the nature of 
 the case. 
 
 The employment of the mental powers in meditating 
 upon such truths as religion reveals, cannot fail to 
 strengthen the intellectual faculties. Some just appre¬ 
 hension of the greatest idea in the universe, the idea of 
 
21 
 
 God, is fundamental to religion; without it, there is no 
 religion. Immortality, the relation of intelligent beings 
 to an infinite lawgiver and judge, the mystery of God 
 manifest in the flesh for the redemption of the world, 
 and kindred topics, are, to the pious, common themes of 
 thought. The investigation of such topics must give 
 strength; a strength which, when applied to questions 
 of government, of political economy, and of civil juris¬ 
 prudence, must evince itself by decisions of wisdom and 
 prudence, greatly to the advantage of the state. Reli¬ 
 gion, as an educator of the public mind, hath this further 
 advantage, that it appeals to the interests of all classes 
 alike; other themes of thought are interesting only to 
 certain localities or classes: but religion addresses the 
 high and low, the rich and poor, the learned and un¬ 
 learned, with appeals to their personal well-being; and 
 all are impelled, by their regard for their present and 
 eternal welfare, to pay some attention to its claims. 
 Again, the momentous importance of theological truths 
 awakens an interest in the mind of the investigator, 
 which other subjects are incompetent to awaken even 
 in the minds of those most interested in them. This 
 interest becomes a thirst for universal knowledge, and 
 the Bible student is driven, by internal impulses, to sup¬ 
 ply his library with volumes of science explanatory of 
 the sacred text. 
 
 The connection of religion with science Is still more 
 intimate, and the importance of the former to the latter 
 greater than we have as yet intimated. We venture 
 
22 
 
 the assertion that religious sentiment is the basis of all 
 true philosophy. For illustration, take the question of 
 the certitude of knowledge, so perplexing to infidel 
 philosophers. How can I be certain that things are, in 
 realities, as the original sources of knowledge report 
 them ? When I look upon a landscape, how do I know 
 that the range of mountains, the wide spread plain, the 
 rolling river, the parts and the whole of the scene before 
 me, are as they seem to be, or that they have any exist¬ 
 ence external to my own mind ? IIow do I know but the 
 whole material universe is merely ideal, that matter is 
 chimerical ? What certainty is there that the scenes 
 and events of past time iverc as memory reports them, or 
 that the deductions of reason correspond with real exist¬ 
 ences ? The only intelligent answer, in any common 
 sense philosophy, to all questions of this nature, is, that 
 I am so constituted that I 6annot disbelieve what percep¬ 
 tion, intuition, and reason reveal to me. What is this, but 
 saying, I could not have been so made that my whole 
 being were a source of deception; and what is this, but 
 confidence in God, and the integrity of His character ? 
 Take another illustration in the doctrines of intuition, 
 the basis of all ratiocination, and the primary laws of hu¬ 
 man thought. Mind and its powers, God and His attri¬ 
 butes, immortality and its retributions, the perception 
 of right and wrong, space, duration, succession, mathe¬ 
 matical axioms, and the relations of quantity. How 
 came the mind in possession of these ideas, and whence 
 the confidence it instinctively exercises, in the truth 
 
23 
 
 and reality of these things ? These are all founded on 
 the same confidence in God, who has made us, and 
 established all the laws of our being, and among 
 them the laws of thought, in accordance with truth. 
 Without this reference to God, made consciously or un¬ 
 consciously, if it be supposable that the mind can divest 
 itself of it, the first step in the progress of knowledge 
 or any other progress, would be an impossibility; 
 even personal existence would be doubtful, if we could 
 doubt whether the laws of mind were constituted in per¬ 
 fect accordance with the truth of things. 
 
 Of the cooperation of the church with the state in 
 works of benevolence, I scarcely need to speak. The 
 state erects its hospitals for the insane, provides for the 
 comfort and instruction of the deaf and blind, levies taxes 
 for the support of the poor, because it is a Christian state. 
 Benevolence is an essential element in religion: nay, 
 it is religion itself. “ Love is the fulfilling of the law,” 
 — “ pure religion and undefiled before God and the 
 Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their 
 afflictions ; ” and in the final account the King shall say 
 
 4 
 
 to those on His right hand, u Come, ye blessed of my 
 Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the 
 foundation of the world; for I was an hungered, and 
 ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; 
 I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye 
 clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in 
 prison, and ye came unto me.” 
 
24 
 
 III. From the principles we have advocated, profit¬ 
 able inferences may be deduced. 
 
 1. If religion be promotive of national prosperity, 
 and essential to individual happiness, then is it of the 
 highest importance, that the prevailing religion be as 
 
 pure as possible. 
 
 The religious education of our citizens forbids the 
 prevalence of open Infidelity; the common intelligence 
 is a sufficient check to the absurdities of Atheism; — 
 and yet errors are extant among us ; errors detrimental 
 to the public weal; and there are strong and alarming 
 tendencies in the popular mind to embrace these errors. 
 
 A very cursory observation of the signs of the times 
 will detect, especially among young men — the honor 
 and the hope of the Commonwealth—a strong inclination 
 to substitute for the religion of their fathers, mere Theism. 
 
 Theism, acknowledges the being and attributes of 
 God — moral distinctions — human responsibility and 
 future retribution. But none of these, or all of them 
 combined, though powerful in their influence, and bene¬ 
 ficial in their results, can, of themselves, form a suffi¬ 
 cient foundation for eminence in virtue. They are 
 truths written in the very constitution of the human 
 mind ; so that no man, whose attention has been called 
 to their consideration, can reject them, except by a pro¬ 
 cess of self-deception leading to a moral insanity, for 
 which he is responsible and culpable. 
 
 I know it has been said that the idea of God is 
 
25 
 
 derived from revelation, and is therefore the result of 
 education. But the Scriptures teach that, “ that which 
 may he known of God is manifest in them” — the 
 heathen world — “for God hath shown it unto them, for 
 the invisible things of Him from the creation of the 
 world are clearly seen, being understood by the things 
 that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so 
 that they are without excuse ” for their idolatry — that 
 is, interpreting the passage by the philosophy of the 
 mind, the mental constitution is such, that when devel¬ 
 oped by the study of the material universe, it of its 
 own inherent force gives rise to the idea of a great 
 First Cause . 
 
 It has also been said that moral distinctions are the 
 result of education. But it never has been shown, nor 
 can it be, that a mind can be so educated, as to believe 
 that it deserves the approbation of God and of good 
 men for intending to do unto others the reverse of what 
 we would that they should do unto us; the human 
 mind cannot be so educated, as to believe it deserves 
 the disapprobation of others and of itself, for intending 
 to do a kindness. The great outlines of right and 
 wrong, guilt and innocence, merit and demerit, are 
 written in ineffaceable characters on the tablets of the 
 soul: “ they that have not the law, are a law unto them, 
 selves, their consciences meanwhile accusing or else 
 excusing.” The doctrine of human responsibility has 
 the same basis. No process of early and continued 
 training, no force of logic, no power of rhetoric, can 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 convince or persuade a mind suffering the compunctions 
 of a guilty conscience for wrong doing, but that it 
 might have done otherwise — but that it was free, abso¬ 
 lutely free, and responsible in every supposable sense 
 of responsibility. 
 
 The same things may be said of immortality and 
 future retribution. That they are not the results of 
 instruction, is manifest from the manner in which they 
 are referred to by the sacred writers. Nowhere are 
 they spoken of as subjects of discovery or demonstra¬ 
 tion, but as doctrines known and believed. If it be 
 objected, that life and immortality are said to be 
 
 * 
 
 brought to light by the gospel ; we reply, brought to 
 light in the sense of illustration, not in the sense of 
 discovery or demonstration ; for this would be asserting 
 that the ancient worthies who wrought righteousness 
 and subdued kingdoms through faith, had no respect 
 unto the recompense of reward — did not plainly seek a 
 better country, that is, an heavenly — but were heroic 
 through mere worldly mindedness, or at best were very 
 doubtful respecting the rewards of the future life. But 
 it is asked, is not the conviction of immortality a result 
 of reasoning ? Did not Plato, Socrates, and Cicero, dem¬ 
 onstrate the doctrine, and believe it because of their 
 demonstrations ? They reasoned well, — as well as the 
 nature of the subject and the knowledge of the times 
 admitted; but unfortunately their arguments are soph¬ 
 isms. All reasonings on such a subject, that attempt 
 any thing above illustration, must of necessity contain 
 
27 
 
 
 fallacies; for reasoning consists in inferring an unknown, 
 truth from its comparison with two or m ore known truths 
 there being always between the three intuitive and im¬ 
 mutable relations. Now there are no truths within the 
 compass of human knowledge more certain than immor¬ 
 tality itself, and sustaining to it the required relations 
 with which it may be so compared. The subject does 
 not admit of demonstration. That man is an immortal 
 being, is a proposition that his nature will not allow him 
 to disbelieve. 
 
 If these things be so; if all the doctrines of Theism be 
 incorporated in the mental constitution, and be therefore 
 common to the race; if man’s belief in them be irresisti¬ 
 ble, — then certainly mere Theism cannot be a charac¬ 
 teristic by which one nation is distinguished from 
 another, nor can it, in any case, constitute an antece¬ 
 dent to the reception of conditional blessings. In its 
 natural tendencies, it is promotive of happiness, because 
 it forms a part of truth; but it cannot make one people 
 more happy than another; it cannot cause the differ¬ 
 ences between the civilized and the barbarous. The 
 professed patriotism of the Theist may be sincere, but it 
 is essentially defective, and is wholly incompetent for 
 the purposes of permanent public benefit. 
 
 We have spoken of a tendency in the minds of the 
 young to Theism; we pass to remark, that there is, in 
 minds inclined to metaphysical speculations, a tendency 
 to what is sometimes called transcendental Christianity 
 — the modernly so called transcendental philosophy ap¬ 
 plied to matters of religion. 
 
28 
 
 In this creed, the Bible, in an important sense, is a 
 revelation from God; Christ is the Saviour of the world. 
 In a word, the important truths of religion are admit¬ 
 ted, but the interpretation annihilates the doctrine — 
 makes it an unintelligible abstraction — reduces it to a 
 nonentity; or if not so, it renders the doctrine wholly 
 inoperative, entirely useless, for any purpose of experi¬ 
 mental or practical godliness. God is an object of faith 
 — Ilis attributes are confessed — He is eternal and 
 infinite, omnipotent and omnipresent; but the definition, 
 the explanation, the illustration, in a word, the philoso¬ 
 phy of this faith and confession, leads one to think, not 
 that God is eternal, but that eternity is God; not that 
 He is infinite, but that He is infinity; not that He en¬ 
 dures, but that He is duration; not that He is present, 
 but that He is space. It is not truthful to think of God 
 otherwise than omnipresent; but when our philosophy 
 insists so strongly that an attribute is a part of the 
 thing itself, as to make omnipresence a part of God, as 
 to confine thought to this single meditation, or as to 
 deny personality and locality in the Deity, it deprives 
 that attribute of all power to awaken emotion, and 
 renders its contemplation ineffectual for any purpose of 
 piety. Our Saviour has taught us to say, “ Our Father 
 who art in heaven,” and we submit that He has done so, 
 not only because God is a Being who possesses ail the 
 attributes of personality, and may be truthfully addressed 
 as having local habitation; but also because the constitu¬ 
 tion of the human mind is such that pious emotions cannot 
 
29 
 
 be awakened, and holy practices induced, by any view 
 of the Divine Being which does not recognize Ilis indi¬ 
 viduality. 
 
 Again, prayer is regarded as a Christian duty and 
 privilege; but the philosophy of which we are speaking 
 insists so strongly on the immutability of God, that it 
 will not allow any utility in prayer, beyond its natural 
 reflex influence upon the person who prays — beyond 
 that desirable state of mind which prayer implies and 
 induces. Thus the strong motive to prayer and encour¬ 
 agement to fervency in devotion is entirely removed. 
 As we understand the teachings of the Bible on this 
 subject, prayer is to be regarded in the light of a stated 
 antecedent to certain results. As prayer is voluntary, 
 and therefore contingent, so must those results be con¬ 
 tingent ; and yet God governs the universe by immuta¬ 
 ble laws. The inference is, that God has made such 
 arrangements and provisions in the economy of His 
 administration, that, without variableness, He can answer 
 prayer — that it is one of the immutable laws of His 
 government that He will do for a man that prays, what 
 He will not do for him, if he does not pray. 
 
 Again, in the creed of that philosophy of which we 
 speak, Christ is the Saviour of the world — but Christ is 
 an ideal standard of human perfectibility, more perfectly 
 represented, perhaps, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth 
 than in any other, but very w T cll represented in very 
 many of the great and good. That such a faith is not 
 a proper basis for Christian character, is so obvious, that 
 comment is unnecessary. 
 
30 
 
 In another class of minds, (their description is not 
 important.) there is a tendency, in some instances, to 
 fanaticism , in others, to formality . 
 
 The chief errors of the fanatic and the formalist have 
 respect to what are termed the institutions and ordi¬ 
 nances of the church; the former regarding them as 
 mostly of mere human origin and authority, forming no 
 part of the divine economy, and therefore either useless 
 or injurious; and the latter, ascribing to them an inhe¬ 
 rent efficiency adequate to the designs of religion. The 
 fanatic finds revelation, religious instruction, in dreams, 
 in visions, in ecstacies, in emotional impulses, in mes¬ 
 meric developments, in spirit rappings, table tippings, 
 in all mysterious phenomena; and these being revela¬ 
 tions, are superior to written records. One risen from 
 the dead is more reliable than Moses and the prophets; 
 hence they have no need of Sabbath services, of minis¬ 
 terial instruction, of the sacred Scriptures, calmly and 
 patiently studied, of forms, ceremonies, and observances 
 — they have a more sure word of prophecy; and to it 
 they give such heed as to neglect the prescribed means 
 of knowledge and holiness. 
 
 The formalist is baptized, because the service itself is 
 regeneration; he partakes of the bread in the holy 
 sacrament, because it has become the bread which came 
 down from heaven; and the eating thereof is receiving 
 eternal life. To him, the Christian minister has become, 
 by imposition of consecrated hands, vicegerent of God^ 
 authoritative interpreter, and absolute executive of God’s 
 
31 
 
 holy will; mitres, bands, and surplices, are crowns of 
 virtue, ornaments of piety, robes of righteousness ; 
 genuflections are humility, organ notes are praise, 
 costly churches and splendid equipage are manifestations 
 of divine glory; and long prayers, demonstrations of 
 immaculate purity. The fanatic and formalist are not, 
 however, of necessity, very troublesome citizens ; aside 
 from their peculiar errors, they may be guided by the 
 best of principles; they may love their country and do 
 much to promote the common welfare; their religion , 
 even, erroneous as it is, is better for the Commonwealth 
 than utter Atheism. 
 
 The institutions and ordinances of religion are of di¬ 
 vine appointment. We may hence infer that they have 
 in themselves an adaptation to religious ends; since In¬ 
 finite Wisdom must be supposed always to select means 
 the most appropriate to the accomplishment of its 
 purposes. 
 
 He who neglects to observe the sanctity of the holy 
 Sabbath, to attend the ministrations of the gospel, to 
 read the sacred Scriptures, and to pray, thereby deprives 
 himself of those blessings of which these means are the 
 appointed and essential conditions; but he who attends 
 to religious services relying upon their inherent power 
 to work his salvation, will be disappointed in his 
 expectations; because the great Head of the Church 
 has ordained religious services only as instruments of 
 
 i 
 
 holiness ; His agency is requisite to render them 
 efficient. 
 
 
32 
 
 2. Our second inference from the bearing of religion 
 upon the prosperity of the state, is, that an immoral man 
 is not a consistent patriot, and should never be intrusted 
 with the momentous concerns of the government. 
 
 Shall he, who is to enact or execute laws for the pro¬ 
 tection of life, embrue his hands in the blood of his 
 brother ? 
 
 Can any law of honor, any obligation of high life, 
 exonerate the duellist from the guilt of murder ? And 
 shall murderers walk the senate chamber, or sit with the 
 rulers of the city ? Shall he , that saith “ thou shalt not 
 steal,” embezzle the public funds, or trespass upon pri¬ 
 vate rights ? Shall the debauchee be appointed to enact 
 or execute laws against adultery ? Shall the wine bibber 
 be intrusted with the means of public defence against 
 the evils of intemperance ? Shall he teach the people 
 sobriety who himself lives in luxury and indulges in 
 intoxication ? 
 
 "When the righteous are in authority, the people 
 rejoice; but when the wicked beareth rule, the people 
 mourn ” 
 
 The true patriot and statesman, irrespective of all 
 personal consequences, keeps a steady eye to the proper 
 ends of government — he does that, and that only, which 
 in his conscientious judgment is for the greatest good of 
 the greatest number. 
 
 When legislative authority or political influence is 
 invoked for the promotion of morals, for the defence of 
 rights, for the suppression of crime, for the prohibition 
 
33 
 
 of injustice; when prohibitory laws for the suppression 
 of intemperance; when official influence for the freedom 
 of the slave, is invoked; the true patriot and honest 
 statesman asks not what will he the influence of his 
 course upon his personal prospects, or upon the prospects 
 of his party, hut what is right ? what does duty demand ? 
 what does the public good require ? When an officer of 
 the government employs the power of his official posi¬ 
 tion, for the promotion of selfish, sectional, or party 
 interests, he dishonors himself and injures the state. 
 And may we he allowed to say, that as it seems to us, 
 the exercise of the appointing power forms no exception 
 to this remark. The necessity of general harmony 
 among the officers of the administration, justifies, to 
 some extent, the common custom of “ dividing the spoils ” 
 among the adherents of the successful party; but the 
 use of this power beyond what is necessary for general 
 harmony and executive efficiency, is in all cases a great 
 impropriety; and when done solely for selfish, or for 
 party purposes, it is a gross immorality. When threats 
 of its exercise, to punish an independent use of the elec¬ 
 tive franchise, are issued in anticipation, with a view to 
 determine the issues of an election, no skill in casuistry 
 is required to see that a sacred trust has been betrayed; 
 no indignation of an aggrieved public can be a sufficient 
 retribution for the perpetrator of such an enormity. 
 
 3. Our third inference is, that mere morality is not 
 the best qualification for the responsibilities of office. 
 
 5 
 
34 
 
 The moralist acknowledges obligations of duty to 
 God, but contends that all the obligations of piety, are 
 included in those of morality; in bis creed the second 
 commandment is not only like the first, and inseparable 
 from it, but it is also identical with it; bis whole duty 
 is performed when be has done bis duty to his fellow 
 men. The defect of this system is found in its imprac¬ 
 ticability. No man ever did do bis whole duty to bis 
 fellow man who did not first consecrate himself to God. 
 This system is objectionable, because it ignores man’s 
 highest obligations, and thereby offers insult to the 
 Deity. 
 
 The moralist is by profession eminently devoted to 
 all the purposes of a good government. His patriotism 
 may be sincere — it may be highly advantageous to 
 the state; but it is defective, it is wanting in the 
 essential element of vitality. He was ne’er true friend 
 to man who did not love bis God. 
 
 In a word, we know of no standard of pure patriot¬ 
 ism and perfect statesmanship, short of the Bible stand¬ 
 ard of Christian character. 
 
 Not that we maintain that it is the duty of the citizen 
 to withhold his suffrage from all except such as make 
 professions of piety; for this would be offering a reward 
 for hypocrisy, and as all history abundantly testifies, 
 would be destructive to the interests of both church and 
 state: but that it is the duty of the citizen to withhold his 
 vote from a man notoriously immoral; and the duty of 
 all who are elevated to posts of honor and office, to seek, 
 
35 
 
 as an indispensable qualification for the responsibilities 
 of their position, the “ wisdom that cometh from above,” 
 the strength of grace, the blessing of that man 66 whose 
 God is the Lord.” 
 
 4. Another inference on which we remark is, that it 
 may be expected of a Christian legislature, that it would 
 abstain from the enactment of such laws as an intelli¬ 
 gent people cannot conscientiously obey. 
 
 Not by any means, that the conscience of the people 
 is the standard of legislation; but that it may be 
 expected that Christian lawgivers will so regard their 
 moral and religious obligations, and will so guide them¬ 
 selves by the dictates of an enlightened conscience, 
 that their enactments will be consistent with the reli¬ 
 gious duties of their constituents, and will be in har¬ 
 mony with the law of God, and subordinate to it. 
 
 But it is asked suppose the contrary occur, what does 
 Christian obligation require ? We answer. 
 
 Civil power is limited ; it is ordained of God for 
 specific purposes. When exercised within its appro¬ 
 priate limits, for the specified purposes, obedience is 
 enjoined by divine command; when it transcends its 
 authority, its edicts are nullities. It may be expedient 
 to submit to its dictation, even though its acts are 
 unauthorized, provided no higher obligation is thereby 
 violated. But when “the powers that be,” command 
 what God has forbidden, disobedience is a solemn duty. 
 
 The law now among the statutes of this nation, which 
 
36 
 
 forbids a Christian man to shelter a fugitive from bond¬ 
 age, and requires his assistance in binding and return¬ 
 ing to his master one that had escaped, is regarded by 
 very many as clearly belonging to the category of un¬ 
 lawful enactments ; and the religious duty of the 
 citizens of this Commonwealth is too deeply involved 
 in this question to allow us to avoid its discussion* 
 With the exception of a few ultraists, (none of whom 
 we hope are to be found in our latitude,) who profess 
 to regard the institution of Slavery as the comer stone 
 of this Christian Republic, as of divine right, and sanc¬ 
 tioned by the Bible; with this exception, none, it is 
 presumed, will pretend, that the provisions of the fugi¬ 
 tive slave bill are founded on any religious obligation 
 not involved in the duty of obedience to civil rulers* 
 The only pleas for this bill worthy of notice, that have 
 come to our knowledge, are first, that it is required by 
 the Constitution of the Federal Union —that that doc¬ 
 ument is of the nature of a contract, and that we are 
 therefore under covenant obligations to return the fugi¬ 
 tive ; and second, that unless the North fulfil its part 
 of the contract in this particular, the South will secede, 
 and all the evil consequences of dissolution will ensue. 
 
 Those, who regard the relation of slaves to their mas¬ 
 ters the same as that of children to their parents 
 during minority, or of apprentices to their masters dur¬ 
 ing the time of apprenticeship, will of course regard a 
 refusal to cooperate in the rendition of a slave, as har¬ 
 boring a runaway, as an act of injustice to the master j 
 
37 
 
 ancl they will feel in conscience bound to support the so- 
 called “ compromise.” But those who regard the insti¬ 
 tution of Slavery as directly opposed to the natural 
 relation which God lias established between man and 
 man, must, to be consistent, consider the act of binding 
 and returning a fugitive slave to his master, as a viola¬ 
 tion of that command which requires one “ to do unto 
 others as he would that they should do unto him.” 
 
 If the institution of Slavery as it exists in the South¬ 
 ern States of this Union be wrong in itself, a sin per se , 
 then is the express command recorded in Deut. xxiii. 
 15, 16, applicable in the case of a fugitive from it. 
 “ Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant 
 which is escaped from his master unto thee : He shall 
 dwell with thee, even among you in that place which 
 he shall choose in one of thy gates where it liketh 
 him best; thou shalt not oppress him.” 
 
 How, that the institution of Slavery does of necessity 
 involve a violation of man’s natural rights; that it is 
 contrary to the will of God, is, in this discussion, taken 
 as granted ; for with the light now shining upon the 
 subject, it is- extremely difficult to conceive how the 
 truth of this proposition can be doubted by any honest 
 mind. 
 
 Hence, in determining what is duty in reference to 
 the fugitive* slave bill, the questions, whether it be, or 
 be not constitutional ; whether it will contribute to the 
 harmony of the state • whether it be essential to the 
 permanency of the federal compact, are superseded by 
 
38 
 
 the moral relations of the subject. The sinfulness of 
 the institution determines that the act by which it is 
 supported is an immorality . In this case, all secondary 
 questions are settled by the decision of the primary. 
 God has forbidden obedience to oppressive enactments; 
 the fugitive slave bill is oppressive, therefore compli¬ 
 ance with its requirements is sinful. The religious 
 obligations of a man believing in the sinfulness of 
 Slavery, bind him to abstain from all acts by which the 
 institution is perpetuated, and especially so when such 
 acts are in violation of natural rights . 
 
 But it is asked does religion require a man to violate 
 his contracts ? is it not characteristic of the good man 
 that 66 he swears to his hurt and changes not ” ? Law¬ 
 ful contracts, however disadvantageous, are binding; 
 when a good man swears to his own hurt he changes 
 not; but when he swears to his BBOTIIER’S hurt, he 
 is bound to violate his oath. Covenants and contracts 
 for the commission of crime, are nullities ; if the making 
 of the covenant be a cause of evil, then are the con¬ 
 tracting parties responsible for the evil, and are bound 
 to make restitution; but are never bound to the com¬ 
 mission of the crime. 
 
 If there be in the Constitution of these States a 
 contract, binding the Northern citizen to return the 
 fugitive slave, the citizen and not the slave made that 
 contract; and the evil consequences thereof belong to 
 the citizen, and not to the slave. Hence, instead of 
 keeping the contract and thereby injuring the fugitive, 
 
39 
 
 we are bound to violate it and take the consequences 
 to ourselves. This, on the supposition that the Consti¬ 
 tution requires such a service as the fugitive slave hill 
 demands. But it must be remembered that great and 
 good men assert that the Constitution does not require 
 it; that at most it no more than permits it; and 
 authority deserving of the highest consideration may 
 be quoted in favor of the position, that that palladium 
 of our liberties absolutely forbids it. 
 
 But again, it is urged, that the Union of these States 
 is in danger; and it is asked, is not the Union of more 
 value than many slaves ? 
 
 The difficulty here suggested is founded on the sup¬ 
 position, that, in the minds of Southerners, the Union is 
 not of as much value as their slaves ; and that unless 
 slavery can be secured to them by the action of the 
 federal government, and the cooperation of Northern 
 citizens, they will secede. Without this supposition the 
 objection is of no force. Now if this be so ; if this 
 Union be valuable chiefly as an instrument for the re¬ 
 covery of fugitives, and that object cannot be secured 
 by it, then can the South afford to secede, and then is 
 the connection of the North with slavery, and its respon¬ 
 sibility for it, greater than we have been w T ont to think, 
 and such that the North can afford to let them. 
 
 But if this Union be of more value than many slaves, 
 then can those who enjoy its benefits afford to secure its 
 perpetuity, by the abolition of slavery. Let then those 
 who enjoy the benefits of this federal government, the 
 
40 
 
 citizens of the republic both North and South, unite to 
 pay the price set to our much cherished Union, by the 
 relinquishment of slavery — not by the sacrifice of the 
 slave. Let not poor Africa be compelled, by its bond- 
 age, to pay the price of American liberty . 
 
 The friends of the slave, with very few and inconsid¬ 
 erable exceptions, do not require our Southern brethren 
 to remove this bone of contention wholly at their own 
 expense. It is confidently believed that a sincere and 
 honest love of the Union, a desire at any reasonable 
 expense to bind it by indissoluble bonds, would speedily' 
 adjust the difficulties of this perplexing controversy. If 
 attachment to the Union and mercy to the slave could 
 coexist in the minds of all parties, feasible measures 
 would soon be devised and executed; the slave would 
 be liberated; and the Union, by such an act of justice 
 and benevolence, would be cemented in bonds of har¬ 
 mony, of brotherly love, and mutual confidence, hitherto 
 unknown. 
 
 But may we not hope that the cry of dissolution is a 
 false alarm ? Should it come to this, that slavery must 
 be abolished, or the Union dissolved, will wise and good 
 men hesitate which to choose ? In any event, however, 
 appearances seem to indicate that two things are cer¬ 
 tain ; the rendition of fugitives will not be submitted 
 to; the agitation of the general question cannot be 
 stopped. It has already come to pass, that no political 
 action can be had, either in national, or state, and scarce¬ 
 ly in municipal affairs, without reference to this ques- 
 
41 
 
 tion. Representatives of the nation, gathered in solemn 
 assembly, may pass resolves of “ finality; ” great men 
 may cry peace; thousands may combine to hush the 
 multitude to silence; hut all is in vain: facts demon¬ 
 strate that no power can stay the progress of this agita¬ 
 tion. The sun of liberty has risen above the horizon, 
 and is doubtless destined to “ shine more and more unto 
 the perfect day.” Mighty minds are at work, strong 
 sympathies are awakened, resistless energies are enlisted 
 in this cause; there is no alternative, the question must 
 be met; ministers and people, rulers and subjects, great 
 men and small, all, must think, must speak, must act, 
 till the wrongs of the slave are redressed; till every 
 yoke is broken, and the oppressed go free. 
 
 5. We remark upon still another inference. A wise 
 and patriotic legislature, legislating for a virtuous peo¬ 
 ple, will be careful to do all that can be done within the 
 limits of constitutional authority, for the 'promotion of 
 morals , and the protection of religion . 
 
 The necessity of a piofound sense of the importance 
 of moral questions, and their superiority over all party 
 interests, personal preferences, and private friendships, 
 has been fully illustrated in the history of legislation for 
 the suppression of intemperance. 
 
 With what clamors have our senate chambers and 
 representative halls been beset! The craft has been in 
 danger, and as of old the whole city of Ephesus, have 
 joined to cry out, “ great is Diana of the Ephesians.” 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 The profits of the trade, and the gnawings of depraved 
 appetite, have raised a tide of influence against which 
 nothing can withstand, save the sternest moral integrity. 
 
 The right of prohibitory legislation, in respect to the 
 manufacture and sale of intoxicating drinks, must be, 
 to any unprejudiced mind, as manifest as the right of 
 self-preservation. Discussion, on such a subject, cannot 
 be called for ; the woes of widows, the sighs of orphans, 
 the desolation of a thousand hearth-stones, the crimes, 
 the cruel deaths, in a word the innumerable evils of 
 intemperance, are more eloquent than arguments. It is 
 most devoutly desired, that the statute of the Common¬ 
 wealth relating to this subject, whatever modification 
 may be found necessary for its ready and efficient exe¬ 
 cution, may retain the principle of prohibition . 
 
 But it is objected, such a law cannot be executed. 
 We answer, if the law be equitable, let it be tried. Let 
 not the highest court of the Commonwealth, either for 
 fear or favor, bring upon itself and the state it repre¬ 
 sents, the woe pronounced upon him “ that giveth his 
 neighbor drink, that putteth the bottle to him and 
 maketh him drunken also.” 
 
 But we inquire, why cannot the law be executed ? Is 
 it because riot will ensue ? Must we, because men infu¬ 
 riated by intoxication, and driven on by interested 
 dealers, can burn our barns and cut down our fruit trees, 
 must we therefore supinely submit to the ruin of our 
 sons and daughters ? Must rum and riot rule the state ? 
 Whatever response others may give to such interroga- 
 
43 
 
 tories, let every lover of morality, every true friend to 
 his country, say, from the tyranny of intoxication, “ give 
 me liberty , or give me death ” The cowardice of this 
 plea betrays the littleness of its origin, and its futility 
 renders the sincerity of its authors suspicious. Let the 
 friends of temperance, whether in public or in private 
 life, be true to their trust; let wise, prudent, and concil¬ 
 iatory, but stem and uncompromising measures be 
 adopted, and the day will dawn when politicians will 
 cease to compromise moral questions for party purposes, 
 to barter their consciences for the votes of the populace: 
 when the police will inquire, not what the law demands 
 of them, but what it permits them to do; when the 
 courts will interpret the technicalities of the law, and 
 overrule the quibbles of the lawyers — not for the ben¬ 
 efit of transgressors, but for the promotion of temper¬ 
 ance. If these things are impracticabilities, then is the 
 execution of any law upon the subject an impracticabil- 
 ity; and the nation is doomed to suffer all the evils of 
 intemperance without the possibility of a remedy. To 
 him that hath faith in the power and ultimate triumph 
 of truth, the execution of a law prohibiting the manu¬ 
 facture and sale of intoxicating drinks, is a matter of 
 prophetic certainty. True philanthropists, armed in the 
 holy cause of temperance, are invincible to any force 
 that can be brought against them. The conflict may be 
 severe, victory may linger, but the time will come when 
 not a vestige of this iniquitous traffic shall remain to 
 trouble us; when thousands that were ready to perish 
 
44 
 
 shall crown the cause with their blessings, and the na¬ 
 tion rejoice in the benefits of universal sobriety. 
 
 6. The necessity of governmental influence and pa¬ 
 tronage for the purposes of general education, and the 
 intimate connection between science and religion, ren¬ 
 ders education one of the most appropriate topics of 
 the occasion; and it has been so accepted by very many 
 of my predecessors in this service. That a Christian 
 legislature should foster the interests of education, is a 
 very natural inference from the views we have taken, 
 and it is therefore fitting that we indulge some remarks 
 upon the subject. 
 
 An atheistical education, in a Christian community, 
 must be regarded as an enormity: but the difficulty of 
 introducing religious instructions into schools sustained 
 by state patronage, without dissatisfaction, suggests the 
 propriety of the middle course heretofore mostly adopted 
 by this Commonwealth. The primary and high schools, 
 composed as they are mostly of children and youth who 
 are at home, enjoying the benefits of parental instruc¬ 
 tion, and receiving such religious training as their pa¬ 
 rents choose for them, may be properly sustained and 
 controlled by the state. But the academies, colleges, 
 and higher seminaries, being composed mostly of stu¬ 
 dents away from their homes, should be under some form 
 of religious supervision: and it seems to us almost axio¬ 
 matical, that these institutions will be more efficient in 
 their religious instructions, and flourish better every 
 
45 
 
 way, if left to the control of the different sects who may 
 please to establish and sustain them, than if left to the 
 state. It seems to me that the so called state university, 
 if left wholly to the control, and thrown entirely upon 
 the responsibility of the influential and deservedly hon¬ 
 ored church into whose hands it has fallen, and by whom 
 it has been mostly managed, would be more powerful 
 for good than it now is, or will be, should the state as¬ 
 sume a more immediate supervision of its concerns. Let 
 it and all similar institutions cease to be, in any sense, 
 state institutions; let the state extend its patronage to 
 such seminaries as merit that patronage, leaving the 
 control of its donations with those to whom it commits 
 them; let a generous competition and a sense of indi¬ 
 vidual responsibility be brought to the field of educa¬ 
 tional enterprise, and the cause of liberal learning, under 
 the hallowing influences of religious instruction, will 
 prosper more abundantly, as we believe, than by any 
 system of governmental agency. Perhaps Normal 
 schools, because of their immediate connection with the 
 common school, are an exception; yet we doubt, yea> 
 doubt very strongly. It is important that teachers, more 
 than those of any other profession be themselves edu¬ 
 cated under strong moral and religious influences. 
 Normal schools should be eminently distinguished by a 
 marked religious character. The natural and necessary 
 difficulties in maintaining a religious influence through 
 the character, examples, and instructions of teachers and 
 professors, without also supporting sectarianism, are as 
 
46 
 
 applicable to Normal schools as to others, yea even more 
 so. But it is said, the necessity of these schools for an 
 adequate supply of teachers, and the economy of this 
 method of qualifying teachers, are more than a counter¬ 
 poise for all these difficulties. We deny the necessity, 
 and question the economy. We submit, whether the 
 funds expended for these institutions, if given to col¬ 
 leges and academies, to sustain Normal departments, 
 would not be even more beneficial to the cause of com¬ 
 mon education than they now are. 
 
 From the last Annual Report of the Board of Educa¬ 
 tion, we find that the amount paid for the current 
 expenses of three Normal schools was $ 8,500. The 
 average attendance of students at two of these institu¬ 
 tions not being given, we are obliged to speak only of 
 the other. At that, the average attendance was 64, and 
 the current expenses amounted to $ 2,287; or $ 35 per 
 annum for each scholar. If we add the usual per cent- 
 age on the amount there invested in real estate and 
 appurtenances, the annual expense will not be less than 
 $ 3,500; or $ 54 per annum for each scholar. Now the 
 usual prices for tuition in the Academies of the Com¬ 
 monwealth does not exceed an average of more than 
 $ 20 per annum. If these statistics be correct, it follows 
 that these institutions offer to furnish instruction for 
 less than half the sum paid by the state for the support 
 of Normal schools. In reference to the question whether 
 there are superior advantages sufficient to compensate 
 for this extra expenditure, the following considerations 
 
47 
 
 are suggested. The Normal schools employ three teach¬ 
 ers, the Academies from six to ten. It is desirable that 
 teachers be thoroughly trained in all the branches of 
 the usual academic course: when three persons attempt 
 to give instruction in all these branches, their time is 
 necessarily so divided that they must possess very rare 
 tact in teaching to give full and adequate instruction: 
 manifestly a faculty of ten is better than one of three. 
 Again, the science of teaching is learned more by ob¬ 
 serving the manner of skilful teachers than by any 
 other means. Every instructor has a method peculiar 
 to himself; hence the science will be gathered more 
 fully and more perfectly from several examples than 
 from a few. 
 
 If, therefore, the state judge it necessary to qualify 
 its teachers gratuitously, it will do this more economi¬ 
 cally by paying their tuition in well established Acade¬ 
 mies than by supporting separate schools. But we 
 think there is a more excellent way than either. The 
 system of gratuitous tuition, as a means of qualifying 
 teachers for common schools, should be abandoned. It 
 is objectionable for several reasons: chiefly because it is 
 inviting drones to enter the profession. A young man 
 who cannot secure an academic education at his own 
 expense, at the prices for which such an education can 
 be obtained, ought never to assume the character of a 
 teacher; for he must be deficient in an essential qualifi¬ 
 cation — namely, business tact and executive efficiency. 
 A Normal department should be endowed from state 
 
48 
 
 funds in every college and academy in the Common¬ 
 wealth whose foundation and internal arrangements are 
 such that it can make a profitable use of such endow¬ 
 ment, on condition that it furnish adequate instruction 
 at a price which any enterprising young man, though 
 poor, can pay. In a word, competent qualifications 
 should he made attainable by all classes of candidates 
 for the teacher’s office, and yet such qualifications should 
 he encompassed with some degree of difficulty, so that 
 none hut persons of enterprising and industrious habits 
 can reach them. 
 
 It is believed that such a system would stimulate 
 aspirants to the profession to make suitable preparations; 
 that, being fully qualified for their duties, their ser¬ 
 vices could not be obtained without an equitable reward; 
 that the people being compelled by their real merits 
 to appreciate their worth, would readily pay them lib¬ 
 eral salaries and award them the respect naturally due 
 the dignity of their office ; and as a result of the whole, 
 our common school system would accomplish the pur¬ 
 poses for which it was established. 
 
 i 
 
 7. In conclusion, we infer that the individual citizen, 
 either in public or private life, having reasonable evi¬ 
 dence that his nation is one “ whose God is the Lord, ” 
 is under high obligations of gratitude to God and of love 
 
 9 
 
 to his country . 
 
 It is unseemly for any people to boast of their piety; 
 but as citizens of this ancient and honored Common- 
 
49 
 
 wealth, we may speak boldly, and ought to speak grate¬ 
 fully, of high and distinguished privileges; accruing, 
 perhaps, not so much from our own virtues as from the 
 religious character of our ancestor. But whatever may 
 be the reasons for which the Author and Giver of every 
 good and perfect gift has been pleased to bestow bless¬ 
 ings upon us, we cannot fail to see that ours is a very 
 goodly heritage, “ our lines have fallen to us in very 
 pleasant places. ” Our outward prosperity is matter of 
 universal remark among all observers. To use the lan¬ 
 guage of another: * “ You see the signs of it, nay the 
 thing itself, wherever you turn — on the seaboard and 
 inland, by the waterfalls in the very gorges of the 
 mountains, in the shop of the mechanic and the field of 
 the husbandman, in the stately structures of the city, in 
 the elegance of our villages, in the magnificence that 
 betokens individual wealth, and in the air of comfort 
 that invests the humblest conditions of society. Indus¬ 
 try, steady, unwearied, universal, pursued with a sa¬ 
 gacity, a thrift, a persistency and success never and 
 nowhere surpassed, has wrought great results already, 
 and has established for itself a vantage-ground, from 
 which, to all human foresight, its power is to achieve 
 yet greater attainments.” It may be reasonably inferred 
 that a prosperity so marked, so prominent, accompanied 
 as it is everywhere by so many evidences of quietness, 
 of contentment, of domestic pleasures, of social joys, of 
 public peace, springs from no remote, uncertain, and 
 
 7 
 
 * Dr. Putnam. 
 
50 
 
 circumstantial source, but from its only legitimate cause, 
 the intelligence and virtue of the people. Evidences 
 are abundant that there are, in the public mind, deep, 
 ever prevalent, and powerful moral and religious senti¬ 
 ments, impressing the very thoughts and intents of the 
 heart, forming the character of individuals and of society, 
 modifying institutions, controlling social actions, and, 
 like the occult forces of nature, which silently and un¬ 
 seen wheel worlds in fixed orbits, and maintain the har¬ 
 mony of the universe, are executing the designs of the 
 Creator, carrying forward the benignant purposes of an 
 overruling Providence, and exhibiting, in human society, 
 the wisdom, the power, and the benevolence of the 
 Lord our God. 
 
 Let us then, fellow citizens, cherish the spirit of grate¬ 
 ful praise —- praise for the inspiring associations of our 
 family altars, for the solemn silence and hallowing influ¬ 
 ences of our New England Sabbaths, for the saving 
 instructions of the Holy Bible, for the pious teachings, 
 holy examples, and generous sympathies of a conse¬ 
 crated ministry. To these, through the Divine bless¬ 
 ing, we are indebted for the amiableness of our social 
 circles, for the equity of our commercial exchanges, 
 for the protection of our persons and the security of our 
 rights, for the light of science and the refinements of 
 literature, for righteous rulers, for civil liberty, and for 
 personal salvation. Let us never forget that what we 
 are, we owe, under God, to our country and its immuni¬ 
 ties ; and let us never forget that the only suitable 
 
51 
 
 return, the most appropriate manifestation of our grati¬ 
 tude to the Bestower of these blessings, is to cherish 
 religious sensibility, to cherish a pious patriotism, to 
 cultivate every good principle and every good habit, 
 and endeavor by virtue, by morality, by religion, to 
 preserve these blessings, to diffuse them, and to trans¬ 
 mit them, unimpaired, to the generations that shall 
 follow us. 
 
 To His Excellency the Governor, we offer the saluta¬ 
 tions of the occasion. For the office you hold, Sir, as 
 “ the minister of God, for the punishment of evil doers 
 and a praise to them that do well,” every Christian will 
 entertain sentiments of the most profound respect. To 
 have been chief magistrate of a Commonwealth present¬ 
 ing so many cheering evidences that it is “a nation 
 whose God is the Lord, and a people whom He hath 
 chosen for His own inheritance,” and to have so admin¬ 
 istered the affairs of the government as to command 
 approbation, most cordial and universal, must be a 
 source of pleasant remembrances through the remainder 
 of life. Accept, Sir, our congratulations on your past 
 success, and our best wishes for your future prosperity. 
 
 To His Honor the Lieutenant Governor, and to the 
 Honorable Council, I tender most respectful greetings. 
 A conviction of having faithfully and conscientiously 
 discharged the duties of official stations is always a very 
 valuable compensation for the toils and anxieties inci- 
 
52 
 
 / 
 
 dent to all high responsibilities. Strengthened and en¬ 
 couraged by such a conviction, each successive duty is 
 less difficult than the former. May your future experi¬ 
 ence, to the last hour of life, he abundantly fraught with 
 illustrations of these truths* and in whatever relation 
 you may honor the State by your services, may you 
 enjoy the rich rewards of a life eminently useful. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Rep¬ 
 resentatives : — 
 
 Elevated, as you are, to your present posts of honor 
 and of office, by the suffrages of a virtuous constituency, 
 called to legislate for a community “ whose God is the 
 Lord,” I confidently trust that the general sentiments 
 of this Discourse, at least so far as pure and undefiled 
 religion is commended, meet your most cordial approba¬ 
 tion. They are commended to your attention, in the 
 spirit of unwavering confidence in their truthfulness; 
 and though your duties will require more immediate 
 attention to material concerns, we as confidently believe 
 the views we have taken to he worthy your regard. 
 
 A deep solicitude for the moral and religious condi¬ 
 tion of the Commonwealth, and a constant regard to 
 that condition, in all the deliberations of the Senate, of 
 the House, or of the Committee, will guide those delib¬ 
 erations more unerringly to the discovery of truth; will 
 smooth the asperities of debate; will contribute to the 
 harmonies of the session, place its issues on broader, 
 better bases, and leave, for the remembrances of after 
 life, more numerous topics of pleasing recollections. 
 
KO 
 
 yO 
 
 In conclusion of these solemnities, allow me, gentle¬ 
 men, to remind you of human frailties, of our constant 
 need of Divine Aid and Guidance, and of our entire 
 dependence on the Providence of our Heavenly Father; 
 and though your unaided wisdom were competent for 
 ail the exigencies of the session; competent for an en¬ 
 tire acquittal at the bar of public opinion, allow me to 
 remind you of an accountability to a higher tribunal; 
 and that, at that bar, your justification will depend not 
 so much upon what you have done, or upon the result of 
 your labors, however beneficial to your constituents, as 
 upon the motives and spirit with which you have done it. 
 Let not, then, this solemn, this time-honored convoca¬ 
 tion with which you commence your official duties,— let 
 not the daily devotions of your assemblies, be mere 
 forms , mere compliments to the name of religion, and the 
 memory of the fathers, but the serious services of devout 
 hearts, seasons of solemn audience with the King of 
 kings and Lord of lords. 
 
 “ May grace, mercy, and truth, from God our Father^ 
 and the Lord Jesus Christ, be with you.” 
 
 And “ now, unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible ? 
 the only wise God, be honor and glory, forever and 
 ever. Amen.” 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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