"And he said to the judges take heed what ye do, for ye judge not for man but for the Lord."

2 CHRONICLES, 19-6.

"Sceptre-bearing King unto whom Jove entrusted power and government."

HOMER, ILIAD, 1-279.

"God reveals himself under a two-fold character, as a Creator and Governor--as Creator he has acted in all things according to his own sovereign will, but as Governor he acts as an impartial judge, guided in all things by invariable justice."

JOHN WESLEY, v. 9, 472-3.

CUSTOM asks you to make a bow before you speak. At the conclusion of the delivery of this sermon, one of the auditors remarked to the writer--"That was a sound Democratic discourse"--another said to him--"That is Republican sentiment" The statement of these diverse opinions is deemed all sufficient for a Preface, since it is an illustration of the truth, that where extremes meet dispute ceases.

Deuteronomy, viii. c., 10-20 vs.--"When thou heist eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy GOD for the good land which he path given thee," etc., etc.

IF in the course of the remarks which I shall make this evening, I should speak of subjects which do not come under the head of topics which are usually considered as belonging to the pulpit, the only apology I have to make is that the circumstances under which we as a people in this country are placed, seem to me to call upon the clergy to speak. As ministers of good to the people, it is their duty to warn them of danger, and to exhort them to render "unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's," as well as to "render unto God the things that are God's." As a minister of God, and a lover of my country, I would lift up my voice in these perilous times in which we find ourselves, and point out the reason--the underlying cause why the dark clouds hang so threateningly over our political horizon, and ask you with me to pray that the storm of conflicting opinions, which seems as if it were about to overthrow the beautiful fabric, whose foundation was laid by our forefathers in 1776, may pass over without doing any essential harm.

The government of the Jews was originally a Theocracy, a word derived from two Greek words, signifying "God," and "to govern." Choosing them from among the nations of the earth, he directed their ways and took the immediate supervision of their affairs. The laws by which they were [5/6] governed were given to them by God through Moses and Aaron. They were administered by judges who were considered as holy persons, and who, in their official capacity, stood before the people in the place of God. They were taken mostly from the tribe of Levi, because they devoted their time to the study of the law, and so were more expert in it than others. Over all the judges was the High Priest, who was the chief expounder of the Law. In the most difficult cases, however, in civil matters, and especially in regard to war, in which they were frequently engaged, they had recource to the Urim and the Thummim. Often times, too, God spake by the mouth of His prophets, to whom, in such cases, the people were bound to listen and pay deferential obedience. In this way Jehovah, through the ministers of his own appointment, ruled his people. He was their King. One important object in this method of government, viz: the separation of the Israelites from the surrounding nations, was thus attained. These nations were mostly idolaters, and the readiness with which, on numerous occasions, the Jews had yielded to the Pagan and idolatrous worship around them, rendered a strict surveillance necessary to keep them from contamination, and to preserve uncorrupted their obedience to the law as given through Moses. On the death of this Prophet and Lawgiver, the command devolved upon Joshua, his chief minister. He subdued the land of Canaan after their entrance into it, and divided it agreeably to the Divine injunctions. After the death of this pious prince and his counsellors, there was a short interregnum. The people did not immediately choose any one as successor. Finding that things did not proceed prosperously in this partial state of anarchy, certain supreme magistrates were entrusted with the management of affairs. These magistrates were invested with authority equal to [6/7] that of the kings who succeeded them in executive and judicial capacities. They had, however, no power to enact new laws. These were already given by God. Their chief duty was to enforce the laws. They compelled obedience to the national religion, avenged any departure therefrom, and especially idolatry, which was considered to be treason against Jehovah, their sovereign. At length, after a period of about three hundred and forty years, getting weary of having God as their king, they desired that he would give them an earthly monarch to judge them, like all the other nations. God granted their request; and so was fulfilled the purpose of the Arbiter of events that the Saviour of mankind should be born of royal seed. He gave them first Saul, then David, then Solomon, and made the regal government hereditary in David's family. Each one who succeeded to the throne was to have God's approval. One of the laws left by Moses was, that they should never set them a king over them whom the Lord their God should not choose. Disregarding, however, the injunctions left them by this holy seer, they disobeyed both the moral and civil codes. The displeasure of the Almighty, of which they had been forewarned, fell upon them. He who would have guided and directed them as He did through the wilderness and fulfilled the promises he had made to Abraham, to unending generations, left them to the ambition and cruelty of the monarchs of their own choosing. Contentions within and without, distracted and divided, they easily became a prey to their numerous enemies; and now after captivities and returns, and recaptivities for nearly two thousand years have they been without a local habitation, and almost without a name. Such is the outline of the history of that people whom Moses is addressing in the text.

He is giving an exhortation to obedience in regard to [7/8] God's dealings with them both past and future. It is such an exhortation as is fitting to be presented to any nation who desires to be a God loving and God serving people, and especially to us who are, or who at least profess to be, a christian people--a people who seek in Christ that law of love and holiness which was but dimly typified to the Jewish mind in the Mosaic code.

While we have but one inspired history of the dealings of God with the nations of the earth, and that confined mostly to one people, WE MAY LEARN FROM IT HOW HIS BLESSINGS ARE BESTOWED, AND HIS PUNISHMENTS INFLICTED IN ACCORDANCE TO THE OBEDIENCE RENDERED TO HIS LAWS. The sacred narrative of the Jewish nation is hence the most important historical document that has come down to us from antiquity, or that was ever written of any people. How different in this respect the Scriptures from profane history; they both record facts and then comment upon them, but still how dissimilar. While profane history records facts, it also frequently mingles fable with its narrations, and in its comments upon these facts gives us the conclusions and the reasonings of the human mind. How different the case with the sacred record. It narrates no events but such as did actually take place. We are assured of the truth of its history. Besides, it gives us the commentaries of the Divine mind upon the events it records. From these commentaries we learn why and wherefore God dealt with the Jewish nation after the remarkable manner described in the sacred history. Had uninspired writers penned the history of the Jews, how different would have been the reasons given of the causes of the events recorded, and their relation to other events before and after them, from those we now have. Hence we are enabled to see in the Scriptures not only the outward and visible [8/9] procession of events, but are enabled to understand their interior spirit and life, their hidden causes, and that controlling power to which they were subject. All other histories, while they may be generally accurate as to the outward and visible coarse of events, the narration of facts, can give us no guarantee of the accuracy of the conclusions drawn from them--their writers cannot with their little lead and line fathom the deep and hidden counsels of the Omniscient and Omnipotent Deity. While philosophic historians and historic philosophers have looked upon the great and marked events in the world's history as the results of natural causes and the workings of the human mind in its various relations, and in its action and reflex action from individuals upon public bodies, and from public bodies back upon individuals, the divine commentaries would show, were they written, that there was a divine element at work as well as a human, and that the great Creator and Sustainer of the Universe dealt with nations as well as individuals after their respective characters in relation to Him and His government. For illustration, I have selected three instances from the sacred writings--the first is that of the destruction of seventy thousand of the children of Israel by a deadly pestilence, as mentioned in the twentyfirst chapter of the first book of Chronicles. It began suddenly, and without any previous warning to the people; it lasted three days, and then as suddenly disappeared. Now, human philosophers would have referred this [9/10] sudden calamity and destruction of life, perhaps, to some noxious miasma, or to some peculiar state of the food eaten. It would at any rate have been referred to some physical cause merely. But the word of God teaches differently. It refers it to an immediate interposition of a good and gracious Father, whose mercies had been slighted [9/10] and whose just commandments had been broken. David and the rulers in their pride had caused the people to be numbered. The sacred text informs us that "God was displeased with this thing: therefore he smote Israel."

The second instance is that of Nebuchadnessar, King of Babylon, who for a long time refused to live as he had been wont, and went forth into the open Heaven and was wet by its dews and showers till the hairs upon his head became like birds' feathers and his nails like their claws. Now, human philosophy in giving us the history of this strange conduct of the Persian prince, would, according to its own reasonings, have easily found an adequate cause therefor. It would have referred it merely to some aberration of the mind, to some disorganization of the brain, or perhaps to some hypocondraic affection; but not so the sacred record. It tells us that it was the infliction of punishment from the Almighty upon this wicked and haughty monarch to humble his pride--that its design was to show him that there was a God in Heaven who was King, and who disposed of kingdoms and empires as seemed to Him good--that he held the sceptre of government only so lung as God permitted. The punishment had its designed effect. It did humble the proud monarch. It brought him to the confession that the LORD is GOD.

The third instance is that of the proud Herod, who sickened and died with a most loathsome disease--the worms in his flesh devouring him while yet alive. Human philosophy would have attributed this peculiar affliction to some nose's logical cause, and have made it but the result of some imprudence on the part of the wicked king, some unlawful indulgence of a pampered appetite, or after a learned disquisition have left tine matter in doubt. Bat the Scriptures show that it was the infliction of just punishment from an [10/11] offended God, who could not allow the gross and unprecedented cruelty of which he had been guilty to go unrewarded. These instances I have not selected as the most striking ones in the sacred history of this great truth of the continual intervention of Providence in the affairs of men, but because they are isolated and so can be briefly narrated. In almost every one of the historical books many like the above and equally to the point could be given were cumulative evidence necessary. But these suffice.

Leaving the history of the Jews, let us turn to the history of some of the other nations of the East, as for example: to classic Greece and Rome; to beautiful sunny France; to Papal down-trodden Italy--note the remarkable events which have checkered the whole course of their political existence. When the manners of the people were simple, their habits pure, and their legislation uncorrupted, we read that they increased in numbers and in power; but when luxury, and licentiousness, and corrupt legislation came in, then troubles began. There arose wars without, and what was worse, contentions within. Greece and Rome have passed away. They only live on the pages of literature. Papal Italy is fast receding from the view, and sunny France is trembling on an uncertain foundation. Had the history of these unfortunate nations been written as was the Jewish, and commented upon by the divine mind, we should discover in the revolutions, civil and political, and in the wars, defeats, and victories which have marked their rise, progress, and fall, not only statesmen and political demagogues at work, but the hand of Him who setteth up one people and putteth down another. We should behold in these changes results sometimes primary, and sometimes secondary, of causes which were the operations of the omnipotent God to bring about, in his own way, his wise [11/12] designs, to punish and to bless according as the characters of the individuals or nations deserved his displeasure. Let us for a moment look at the history of the past sixty years, a period within the memory of some here present, and cast a bird's eye glance over the revolutions and counter-revolutions which, like the advancing and receding waves upon the sea-shore, have rolled over the nations since the year 1800. What a cluster of startling scenes fill the panorama. In the distance, as the century opens down to the foreground of the present, what a combination of inexplicable movements. There in France we see first a kingdom, then a soi-distant republic then a consulate, then an empire; again a republic, again a consulate, and now again an empire. There, close by, in slow plodding Germany, again and again have been made unsuccessful attempts at political revolutions. And in the religions world there is now beheld the dying flame of the revolution of that godly man who translated the Bible, while in prison, for the benefit of his countrymen, and feared not to go to the city where was to be held his inquisitorial trial for exposing the errors of a corrupt religious system, even though, to use his own language, "he should find as many devils as there were tiles upon the roofs of the houses." The cheering light of Luther's reformation was succeeded by a neological scepticism, and that was followed by a practical as well as a theoretical atheism, and herein may be seen the cause why her people are to-day groaning under the yoke of tyranny and starving under the compulsory support of a score or more of petty princes. Joining the map of Germany we behold bleeding Poland, dismembered and devoured by surrounding wolves. In her last struggles for life we hear the voice of her Kosciusco wafted even to our own shores, calling in vain upon the nations for deliverance. Next there is exhibited, in [12/13] close proximity, Hungary, with a like struggle and a like fate, and though the exiled Maygar and his compatriots sounded loud and long from east to west the notes of woe, proclaiming the burdens and sufferings of their countrymen, they have as yet succeeded in obtaining only words of sympathy, equally loud and long, indeed, yet as meaningless as the whistling wind. Passing south to the peninsula of the Old Roman Empire, we behold sitting high upon a throne of united civil and ecclesiastical power, the would-be Christ's vice-gerent upon earth, swaying a sceptre of unlimited despotism over millions of benighted, down-trodden and bigoted subjects. We look again, and the unerring and immoveable successor of Peter has fled from the blinded devotees of a power which in some way they have discovered to be after all only human. But look again. The unrestrained crowd finding despotism preferable to anarchy, have chosen the lesser of two evils, and so again have submitted to be bound hand and foot under the two-fold cord of an aristocratic politico-ecclesiastical government. But look still again. The wretched, priest-ridden descendants of the stern old Romans can no longer endure their chains. They are making one last struggle to obtain the rights of men, and the guns of Garibaldi sounding along the plains of Campagnia, are reverberated from Mount Vesuvius to Etna, and echoing back again along the western shores of Italy even to the Vatican, remind the Pope that Gaeta is safer than his Episcopal palace. Crossing over the Adriatic and AEgaean seas, we will let the eye rest a moment upon Turkey. Weak, and growing weaker, the Russian Bear would make her his prey. But the nations of Western Europe, jealous of his fast increasing power, unite to oppose his progress. The money expended and blood spilt to capture and defend Sevastopol, would build and populate a [13/14] city. The only result, as far as we can see, but yet not the only result, has been, to merely prolong a national existence whose life-blood is fast ebbing out. The crescent will have to yield to the cross--Islamism must bow to Christianity--when, God knows.

Casting the eye to the far East, to the Celestial empire, we may witness mighty struggles in that government of renowned stability and antiquity, between liberty and oppression. If our telegraphic dispatches may be relied upon, they are now heaving it from centre to circumference; and not far away, riding in the harbors of the Japanese Islands, until recently inaccessible to foreigners, may be seen some of our own proud vessels, whose snowy sails were unfurled in our own bay to carry the knowledge of God and Christ to those isolated Atheists.

Such are some of the changes and upheavings in the religious and political world since the beginning of the nineteenth century. How many long years shall intervene, what shall be the succession of events between the present and the time when the golden age shall again, with healing wings, oerspread the people of different climates and different tongues, the Bing of Kings and Lord of Lords can only tell. God grant that the present upheavings may be the dawn of a new era, of a glorious day, brighter far than has yet shone upon this earth.

But, let us pass, as the occasion calls us to our own beloved Union.

We see an infant republic growing with increasing strength and progressing with no important draw-back, year by year, till it has come to be the powerful nation of the earth." [This is not said in the boastful spirit of Young America, but is the opinion of the writer formed from the consideration of the elements which constitute a nation's strength. England has indeed a more numerous fleet than the United States--China has a more numerous population--Russia has a greater extent of territory--but a nation's strength is not to be judged by its fleet, or population, or territory, or all combined. They are necessary elements, it is true, but there are others equally as necessary. That nation is the most powerful where the general average is the greatest, and in our opinion that is found among the people of the United States.]

[15] The course of empire has gone westward till, as predicted by the poet, it has rested upon these United States, and here we believe--we may be wrong in expressing our belief for we can judge only after human judgment--here we believe it will remain, if we continue true to those principles of truth and virtue which in the beginning gained for us our liberty, and have since so graciously prospered our growth. From thirteen States, along the shores of the Atlantic, for the most part wild and uncultivated, and numbering scarce three millions of people, we have now stretched from ocean to ocean and from the frigid North to the burning South, numbering thirty-three States with as many millions of inhabitants. Two large and rapidly growing States have been founded upon the shores of the Pacific, where a few years since naught but the Indians' whoop and the noise of wild beasts disturbed the silence of aboriginal forests. The golden sands discovered along the plains and by the banks of their numerous rivers have equalled the amounts mentioned in the tales of Arabian dreamers. Our Western shore is the El-Dorado of the globe. Thousands have been attracted thither by the unquenchable desire for gain from all parts of the globe, from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Islands of the Sea. Hundreds of our own hardy and enterprising sons in their adventurous spirit have gone thither and taken up their abode, so that [15/16] in a day, almost, has sprung up two flourishing States. Soon the tide of continuing emigration and our own fast increasing population will, if our present prosperity continues, fill up the space between; and commercial interests likewise increasing, many years will not have passed ere we shall have by means of railroad and telegraph, easy and frequent communication between the cities upon the Atlantic and Pacific shores. When that time shall have arrived, China and Japan, and Eastern India will shake hands with Europe across our continent. It will be the great highway for the commerce of the nations of the earth. Bringing their commodities here and exchanging them through us, we, as the channel of the exchange, will be the gainers. New York City appears to be destined to be the great metropolis of the world--its great heart and centre whence shall proceed the laws to direct the commerce and polity of the whole. Such is the picture of the future of this Republic which our past and present prosperity foreshadows. But, my friends, let us not flatter ourselves on this prospective greatness, or cherish the pleasing idea that our energy and industry, and perserverance, and peculiar national characteristics are the causes, the underlying causes of our present prosperity, or will lead us on to greater glory. They must be elements in it indeed, i.e. as proximate causes; but if we ever become so great and powerful, it will be because the ruler of the Universe designs we shall be in carrying out His great and wise purposes; and they, as far as we are concerned in our relation to their final accomplishment, shall be determined for us according to our national character. So it was with the children of Israel. From His covenants with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we learn that God designed to make them the great people of the earth; but his promise rested upon conditions as we learn from the language of the text: [16/17] "If thou do at all forget the Lord thy God and walk after other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish." (v, 19). They did forget and disobey, and as a people they perished, and were not numbered among the nations. We, as a people, have many sins; and though warnings and threatenings have not been given to us in the same manner as to the Jews, yet we have their history, and are bound to learn from the misfortunes which followed their errors, to avoid a similar fate, or if not the same, yet equally disastrous punishments. There are at work among us many elements, which if fully developed, will be as sure ruin to us as they proved to be to the Jews, and Greeks, and Romans.

We hear a great deal about the Union, and the indissoluable Confederacy. Many talk and act as though they thought that word Union had a magic power in it, and trusting in its potency, seem to fear nothing. But let us not deceive ourselves. The events of the past few days seem to indicate that the integrity of the Union will not long be preserved. It' the Union should be divided, then farewell to the hopes of that greatness and glory which have stimulated the nation's heart--for in union only is there strength. Without it the members would be comparatively weak to the accomplishment of those ends, and the fulfillment of those principles for which this Republic was founded. But how can we hope for Union when there are discordant and dissolving principles at work, and already deeply seated in the hearts of opposing factions? Palsied be that arm which may be lifted to give the fratricidal blow and cut off that hand which would sever the bond which holds these States together. I am one of those whose very instincts are to love their country--it is a part of my religion--it is a part of my duty as a minister to teach you to [17/18] love your country and obey her laws, as did my Master, when he told the wily Pharisees to "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesars." I shall do, in my humble sphere--every man has his influence--and exhort you to do in yours, all that can legitimately be done to preserve the Union, the whole Union. I hear some men say they go for the Union, and then add, that not even for the Union would they compromise the principles of truth and justice, and never will allow expediency to step between them and right. Now, all this is very well, but then we do not like to hear this qualification to the Union-loving sentiment. It sounds as if their patriotism was neither very broad nor deep--as if it was sectional in its extent, and laid on the surface only of their affection. Now is the time for conciliation, for smoothing off the sharp points of difference, for mutual yielding, for mutual concession.

There are men, both at the North and the South, who run about from place to place haranguing crowds, "out of whose heart proceeds all manner of iniquity," and "on whose tongue is the poison of asps." Like their father, the devil, one of their chief delights is in setting men into contention with their fellow-men. Now it is the duty of all good citizens to set their faces against these disorganizing demagogues--these inflammatory speech-makers--these itinerating, flatulent orators--these traitors to their country. It cannot be expected that men living in the different latitudes of Maine and Florida will, in regard to local polity, think in all things alike; that the inhabitants of Northern Michigan and Southern Texas will have precisely the same views in everything--difference of climate and soil render it impossible. On these points it should be allowed to each to hold their respective views. They should agree to differ, and these differences should never be made a cause for the dissolution of the federative Union.

[19] There are many sins of which we are guilty--sins which are at the same time a violation of the laws of God, and in themselves destructive of the Nation's prosperity. It may be that the contentions, so loud and bitter, which now agitate the country from one end to the other, are permitted by the Disposer of events; that he allows the arch enemy of all good to infuse into the hearts of the people the violent spirit of strife, and in this way punishes us for our sins.

Would you see luxury in its fullness, its beauties, and its deformities l Go to our principal cities, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and New Orleans. For its attractive exterior pass through the principal thoroughfares. Behold the splendid equipages that move to and fro, the costly costumes that are exhibited on the persons of the proud wearers; the gilded saloons, the princely mansions, and the marble palaces. Go within and mark the lavish expenditure of wealth; note the array of costly furniture, fabricated by the hands of the poor and the wretched of low degree; see the tables laden with dainties to pamper the appetites of those whose life consists in eating, and drinking, and sleeping and being merry--who never perhaps in their lives thought that they were included in the class of beings whom God designed to earn their own living when he said, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou cat thy bread,"--and you see a thousand other things the product of others' art and industry, and which human ingenuity has labored to devsie to give delight and happiness--to afford ease and indulgence to the effeminate sons of pleasure. But there is another side to this picture. Turn you down the by streets leading from these avenues of fashion and wealth. In the squalid filth and wretchedness which meet your eye, you have evidence of the manifold ills of which in its undue gratification luxury is the parent.

[20] Again, would you see corruption? Go to our legislative halls. From the Senate House at Washington, all the way through the State Legislatures down to the pettiest municipal authority, it every where obtrudes its hydra-head, crying like the horse-leach, give, give. Briberies and usuries and breaches of trust, and, in an infinite variety of ways, the violation of that golden rule of doing unto others as you would they should do unto you, stain the national escutchon. The magnificent frauds that within a few months have startled honest citizens on both the Atlantic and Pacific shores of our Republic, are sufficient evidence of the deep corruption that every where prevails.

If we do not free ourselves from these curses, and others which might be mentioned, we shall, I fear, lose our place and name among the nations, as did the Jews, as did the Greek and Roman Republics. Our beloved Washington, in one of his public speeches said, "There can be no national safety without national morality." His own course was a proof that he believed what he said. Let the history of his winter-quarters at Valley Forge during the Revolution be the witness.

Notwithstanding the truth which is taught in almost every book of the sacred record, that God deals with the nations of the earth according to the obedience they render to his laws, still it has been often overlooked by astute historians. A great deal has been said and written about the cause of the revolutions which have marked the history of the world, and of the moving power that has operated in the rise and progress and fall of empires. Their history has been compared and contrasted by some modern authors with the rise and progress and remarkable events in the history of this Republic. But, say they, different elements have here been at work, and it was founded upon a different [20/21] basis. It has a constitution and laws peculiar to itself, patterned and fashioned after none other; it is, therefore, say these self-satisfied reasoners, not subject to the calamities which have overthrown other nations. So long as the Constitution is abided by and the laws in general are obeyed, so long will we be safe. How fatal this self-security. How itself is the beginning of ruin. Obedience to the Constitution and laws is indeed necessary to national safety. But it is not the only thing necessary. The laws may be obeyed and yet the national heart corrupt and sinful before God. Political economists work for a nation's prosperity in extending agriculture, manufactures, and commerce; but the history of the world shows that strength and perpetuity is not herein solely found. It appears strange to me that men of wisdom and research so generally overlook the hand of the omnipresent omnipotent God, and determine the course of events by their own feeble reason.

We are, as I said, already a great people. We have a good Constitution and laws; but will they save us? Are they the only support of a nation, the sole conservators of the Union? Unless we keep all the commandments which God bids us do and observe, we shall not, as our text says, "increase and multiply," we shall not become as great as we hope. It almost appears, when looking upon our past and present prosperity and the circumstances which appear to concur to help us on to increased prosperity, that this very chapter from which we have taken the theme of our discourse was written for this very nation. "Beware," says the sacred text, "that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes which I command thee this day, lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks [21/22] multiply and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God, and say in thine heart, my power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me in this wealth.

If we do so forget our heavenly Father, our benefactor and our preserver, then shall the denunciation which follows rest upon us, "And it shall be if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other Gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish, as the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish, because you would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God." May this calamity never befall these United States of America. That it may not, let us individually as well as collectively remember who it is that bath given "us a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and figs, and pomegranets, wherein is bread without scarceness, and there is no lack in it." Let us remember that it is He, the great Creator and Redeemer that giveth power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant with us.

May we always discern the great Omnipotent God of Heaven in the history of the nations, and especially in our own history; and may our government widen and increase under the favor of Heaven, until these United States become the United States of the World, until our Metropolis shall become the centre of the one Universal Republic, around which shall gather all commerce, and whence shall emanate to mankind those laws of equity and peace which have "their seat in Heaven, and whose throne is the bosom of God."

If, indeed, we keep his commandments to do them, and obey his laws which he has set before us, we may increase to this extent, and still the Union be safe--and when ages upon ages shall have rolled into eternity, should time [22/23] continue, and our mouldering bodies placed in the tomb shall have mingled with the surrounding elements, and our children and children's children to numberless generations in like manner shall have gone the way of all the earth, this, our beloved Republic, will remain firm and united, and her millions of sons and daughters be of one sentiment and one heart with each other, and in the love and fear of God.

And to the ever blessed TRINITY--FATHER, SON, and HOLY GHOST--be all the honor and glory now and forever, AMEN.

Project Canterbury