CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY CORNELL UNIVERSITY UBRARY 924 104 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924104014562 SERMON, ADDRESSED TO THE LEGISLATURE OF THE ST^TE OP CONNECTICUT, AT THE IN NE>f-HAVEN, MAY 1st, 1822. BY THOMAS CHURCH BROWNELL, D.D. LL.D. Biihop «f the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Dioceu of Conneetieat* J^EW^AVEJ^: PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE LEGISLATURE. I. Barber, printer. 1822. AT a General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, holden at New- Haven, in said State, on the first Wednesday of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hunared and twenty-two. ORDERED, That the Hon. William Moseley and Ralph I. Ingersoll, Esq. be a Committee to present the thanks of this As- sembly to the Right Reverend THOMAS C. BROWNELL, for his Sermon deUvered before this Assembly, at the opening thereof, and to request a copy of the same, that it may be printed. A true Copy of Record, Examined by THOMAS DAY, Swretary. SERMON. PSALM 97th, Verse 1st. THE LORDREIGJVETH; LET THE EARTH REJQICE." X HE Providence and government of God extend to all the affairs of men. All his dispensations are administered with un- erring wisdom and justice, and dictated by unbounded goodness. These ideas should be impressed upon the minds of all men ; and both nations and individuals should embrace them as the grounds of their dependence and their trust. Our religious ancestors cultivated a deep sense of the superin- tending Provlclence of God ; and were accustomed to recognize it in all the great transactions of state, not less than in the private concerns of Ufe. It is in pursuance of a pious custom derived from them, that the supreme Magistrate, and the Legislators of this Commonwealth, have now assembled to solemnize their election to office, and to seek the direction and blessing of God, in the exercise of their high responsibilities. It will accord, then, with the occasion on which we have met, not less than with the import of the text I have chosen, that we should devote our thoughts to that directing and controlling Providence which the Supreme Being exercises in the affairs of the world ; and establish our hearts by meditating on the perfect righteousness, wisdom, and goodness, with which its dispensations are administer- ed. — " The Lord reigneth ; let the earth rejoice." I. Man, in the pride and presumption of his heart, is fond of ac- counting for every thing through the agency of second causes. Limiting his views to these, he disregards the unseen Ruler of the 6 Universe, who gives to these causes their impulse and dir&^'ao;^. Speculating upon national wars, he traces their origin to the aiHlSi- tion of princes, and the intrigues of politicians. CivU commotions, where the citizen is armed against the citizen, and where the brother's hand is raised against the brother ; — ^these he regards as arising from the machinations of demagogues, working on the passions of the turbulent, and on the ignorance and prejudices of the weak. Dearth and famine, he attributes to unpropitious sea- sons ; and the " pestilence, which walketh in darkness," he ascribes to noxious vapours, and a tainted atmosphere. These he beholds as regular effects, constantly flowing from the same causes, and he looks no further. He imagines himself prepared to explain and to decide, with perfect confidence and self complacency. He sees not, nor recognizes Him who regulates the course of nature, by laws es- tablished in infinite wisdom, and who over-rules the passions and the counsels of men to his own purposes : Him, who, " when he giveth quietness, none can make trouble :" Him, who can " make the heaven that is over our head brass, and the earth that is under our feet iron :" Who can send forth the " pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the destruction that wasteth at noon-day :" Who can turn " a friiitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein." But let not the daring atheist think in his heart, which says there is no God, that these events are fortuitous. Let not the presump- tuous speculatist ascribe them merely to the disordspris of the el^J^ ments, and the conflicts of human passions, in opposition to the plain dictates of revelation. Reason itself, no less than revelation, declares that amidst all these disorders of nature, and the confusion of nations, there is still a presiding and controlling Intelligence, se- cretly bringing light from the darkness: a Divine Spirit which moves over the troubled " face of the waters," and harmonizes the chaos of the moral world, as it did originally that of nature. If the order and beauty, the contrivance ar-d design, which we observe in the works of nature, evince • 'l and even " numbers the very hairs of our heads." In the material world, the Providence of God is absolute, and in- dependent of any concurrence or co-operation. Tlje springs of nature are in his hahd,'and he moves them as he pleases. When her wheels roll on silently and harmoniously ; when the rains from heaven moisten and refresh the earth, and the breezes fan the air with health, we seldom look .beyond these second causes. It is when the waters descend in a deluge upon the land, and when the hurricane sweeps it with desolation,' that we recognize the' hand of Providence. And it is especially when we read in the sacred rec- ords of the course of nature suspended, or subverted ; when v/e read of the sun arrested in the midst of his career, or of a drjr path- way made through the midst of the sea, the waters forming: a wall upon the right hand and upon the left, that we are compelled to ac- knowledge the existence, and^ control of a power above nature, ' whose fiat every thing in heaven and in earth must obey. Towards his intelligent creatures, the Providence of God is exer- cised in concurrence with their own free-agency, and iii consistency with their accountability. Having endowed them with the under- standing to discern, and the will to choose, he does not subvert their rational powers ; but his administration over them is exercised in a way which, however incomprehensible it may be to us, is still con- formable to the capacities he has given them. We can not, indeed, perceive the divine influence on our minds. We have no sense to convey to us an impression of it. It is not cognizable by our con- sciousness ; and our knowledge of the nature and intercourse of spirits, is too imperfect to enable us to comprehend the manner, or the- degree, in which it is exerted. We can not understand the con- nexion between our mental faculties and our bodily orgai^, nordis- cover in what manner the voUtions of our souls produce the corres- ponding movements of oiu: bodies. How then shall we trace the connexion between the sovereign government of God, and the fred- agency of man ; or illustrate that obscure region, Where they meet and blend together ? " Such knowledge is too excellent for us ; we . 9 cannot attain unto it." Of this, however, we may be assured, that " though the heart of man deviseth his WayS, yet the Lord directeth his steps ;" and that having made man a rational and accountable cresttiire, he governs and directs hirti in some way conformable to his nature, and compatible with the free exercise of his moral pow- ers. The divine influence must, therefore, coalesce with our own free-agency. Its operations must combine with the voluntary ope- rations of om* own minds, though we are unable to distinguish or to separate them, or even to comprehend the manner in which they are exerted. But perhaps we may properly make a distinction between God's government of men, when considered as moral agents, and in thek relation to himself, and in his government over them in their rela- tions to society, and as the instruments of his providence, in the general government of the world. As a inoral being, it seems to be the province of the divine gov- ernment, to give laws to man for the regulation of his conduct ; to annex to them the proper rewards of obediience, and the punish- ment* of disobedience ; and to bestow upon him such iilward sup- plies of grace, as may counterbalance the weakness and corruption of jiis fallen nature : and thus, leaving him to his frfei^dom, to re- ward or punish him as he shall deserve. But when we consider men as members of society, the consequen- ces of their actions extend beyond themselves, and affect the Condi- tion of others. Under such circumstances, it should seem that the Providence of Trod must be coiieemed so to control and direct their actions, as may best serve the purposes of his government in the world, and conform to the deserts of those who may be affected by their conduct. It can not comport with the economy of diviile Providence to make an individual good or bad ; virtuous, or vicifitis,-by irresistible force. But it may well accord mth its dispensations, \.o induce men, by an unlfelt influence, to do the good which th^y otherwise would riot, and to abstain from the evil which they might be inclined to do. There will thus be a difference between the disjtenSatioh of Grace Mid that of Providence. The dispensation of Grace, lookiiig chiefs ly to a future existence, will have for its object to anieliorate the nature of man, and make him virtuous arid good, that he riiay bfe happy in another world. It can therefore adriiit of no ^eatei" farCe than is consistent with the free exercise of his moral powers; Bv^ 2 10 there are general dispensations of Providence, which relate to the temporal condition of men and of nations ; to the happiness or misery which may be awarded to them in the present world, ^ for their own discipline and improvement, and to manifest the divine retributions. For such purposes, since it does not affect their future accountability, God may make individuals or nations, the mere in- struments of his Providence, and the agents by which he will ac- complish the wise counsels of his judgment or mercy to mankind. In whatever unknown ways, then, the Providence of God may be exercised, in these truths we may rest : It will not destroy the free- dom or accountability of his intelligent creatures : It will be ad- ministered in righteousness and mercy ; and it will surely effect the great ends of his government in the world. The moral as well as the physical agent is in his hands, and he knows how to make both subservient to his gracious purposes, although both may be alike unconscious of the wonderful ministration in which they are em- ployed. Such seem to be the reflections suggested by th^ first proposi- tion of our text — ^" The Lord reigneth." The text also contains another proposition, which may be considered as a consequence of the first — " let the earth rejoice." n. The earth may rejoice in the government of God, because it is exercised in righteousness and mercy. Let us then proceed to a more minute consideration of the rules by which the Providence and government of God are administered. It is a general rule, with respect to individuals', that the Provi- dence of God is manifested in rewarding the right exercise of their moral faculties, and in punishing the abuse of them ; and that men are made happy or miserable, according as they are virtuous or vi- cious. For the tremsgression of our first parents, pain, and disease, and death, were inflicted on the whole human race ; as a standing' monument of God's displeasure against sin, and as a perpetual me- mento to mankind, of its awful consequences. If we look round upon society, we shall perceive that almost all the evils which it suffers, are the direct consequences of disobedience to the divine commands. Were each individual to " do to others as he would have others do to him," the most perfect equity would become * imiversal, and it would be impossible that any one should suffer wrong. And were every man to " love his neighbour as himself," •the most perfect benevolence would prevail throughout the world. Instead of those malignant passions which destroy the harmony of 11 social intercourse, every heart would be inspired with peace and ■ love : and instead of those bitter contentions which self-interest and ambition create, the only emulation among men would be, who should contribute most to the diffusion of an universal charity. Thus the obedience and virtue of individuals, would ensure their own happiness and that of the community. But since men will not obey the salutary laws of God, and since the present world is a state of disciphne and probation, the economy of Providence has ordained pain and misery as the consequences of guilt ; in order to check the devices of the wicked, and to deter the good man from transgression. Yet while it is the general dis- pensation of Providence, that happiness shall be the concomitant of a life of righteousness, while misery is attendant on guUt, the rule is not so universal as to destroy human liberty. It does not al- ways make a man's virtue and piety the exact measure of his tem- poral-happiness — much less that of his worldly prosperity. The ungodly sometimes " prosper in the world, and increase in riches," while the righteous man appears to have " cleansed his heart in vain." Yet we need not distrust the righteous Providence of God. We need not become " envious at the foolish," nor " stumble at the prosperity of the wicked." When we take a more enlarged view of the divine government, and come to " understand their end," we shaU find that they ever " stand on slippery places," and that they are often " brought to sudden desolation." And even in these deviations from the general law of Providence, we shall discern the traces of that more perfect dispensation which will take place in another world. We shall read in them the intimations of that great day of final retribution, appointed by the Judge of " quick and dead," when "for the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find, according to his ways." It is, therefore, by connecting the dispensations of both worlds together, that we learn rightly to estimate the awards of Provi- dence. Thus we shall learn, that though wickedness may lor a time triumph, while goodness lies prostrate, and is trampled upon, yet there is, in the end, an indissoluble connexion between virtue and happiness — ^between vice and misery; and that justice is ever the great rule of the divine government. The Providence of God with respect to nations, differs in one important particular, from the measure of its dispensations with regard to individuals. Its rewards and punishments extend not beyond the present state. In th^ir national capacity they must re- ceive the award of theirdeserts. They can not await the retribu* tion of the genjeijal judgment. Human laws punish the individual, to preserve the peace of socie- ty. A nation stands in the same relation to the aggregate of man- kind, that an individual does to the community ; and if it violate the laws which the Supreme Being has imposed to secure the peace ^nd happiness of the world, the good of the great society of na- tions requii^s that it should receive the penalties of its guilt. For national transgressions, therefore, God inflicts national punish- ments. He chastises sinful nations with the scourge of war. He sends upon them the WigKt, and the mildew ; famine and pestilence ; and he takes from them the blessings which they have abused or despised. "Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen!" Why? " Because their tongue and their doings were against the Lord." — "Her staff and her stay is talten away from her, and the man of war, and the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancietit, and the honourable men, and the counsellor — for she cast away the fciw of the Lord of Hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.'? But though there be this difference in the dispensations of Provi- dence to individuals, and towards nations, yet the rule of the divine government is ever the same, and the same great law is extended to both :^The practice of virtue and religion is rewarded with the bles»ngs of Heaven, while wickedness and impiety as surely bring down the divine punishments upon the guilty. ■ So manifest has been the economy of Providence, in this re- spect, that it has not escaped the observation even of the Heathen. Such nations have always esteemed it necessary to be just and good^ not merely from a sense of present advantage, but' from a firm conviction that it was required of them by the gods. And if' we thtce the history of these nations, we shall find the brightest peri- ods of their glory, to have been when this sentiment was the most deeply impressed'on thepublic mind, and- when the bonds of civil life were sanctified by a feeling of their dependence upon Heaven. The illustrious nation, which of all others most interests the youthful imagination ; — the nation which for so long a period occu- pied the attention of the world, and which fiUs so large a space in the pages of history ^'H-of this nation it has been well remarked, that "if in many things the Romans were inferior to others, in ^ty to the gods they were superior to all." Whether contending fw thek national safety^ or warriiig for victory and conquest, it was 13 the first care both of their senate and the people, to propitiate the deities, who were supposed to be the protebtors of Rome : and notliing could inspire confidence in their generals, or their armies, if any of the prescribed rites had been neglected. When their eagles were sent forth to battle, they were first consecrated to the gods. And if disaster or defeat attended them, these were supposed to be the consequence of some neglected rite, or of the prevalence of national vice and impiety. These superstitions, however absurd or extravagant they may appear, seem yet to be the result of some impre^siop of the retributive justice of Heaven, derived from an observation of the course of human afiairs, or stamped originally on the creature man, by the Creator himself: — A sentiment, however, v/hich causes the most ignorant tribes to strive to propitiate the favour of their deities, and deprecate then- displeasure, through a thousand erring ways. But if the natural powers of reason and observation, or the re- mains of some original light, still shedding its feeble ray over the moral world, enabled the very heathen nations to perceive (though " through a glass dsirkly") that there must be some Superior Power which presided over the world ; — a power on which they were de- pendent, smd to which they were accountable ; — which rewarded their virtue and their piety with blessings, and sent down its pun- ishments for their vice and irrehgion ; how manifest must all these truths appear under the clear light of revelation ? In the pages of the Holy Scriptures, we are every where instruct- ed in the great truth that " righteousness exalteth a nation," but tliat " sin is a reproach to any people." This lesson is inculcated by direct precept, and by historical instruction; and above all, by the dispensations of Providence towards that distinguished nation — so long the " pecuhar people" of God. By his servant Moses, he " set before them blessing and cursing ;" — the rewards of righteous- ness, and the penalties of sin. By his prophets, he expostulated with them for their disobedience, and warned them of his impend- ing judgments. When they kept his laws, and sought the Lord in righteousness, he enlarged their borders, and blessed them with pros-- perity. When they rebelled, and worshipped other gods, he chas- tised them with famine and with pestilence, . with the sword and with captivity. And notwithstanding aU their perverseness, and incorrigible wickedness, it was not till they had filled up the meas- ure of their guilt, by the rejection and crucifixion of his beloved Son, that the arm of divine justice fell upon their land, annihilated 14 their national existence, and scattered the remnant of the inhabi- tants among all people that dwell upon the face of the earth. If we except the Jewish nation, we shall find no portion of the world where the hand of divine Providence has been so clearly discernible, or where its dispensations have been marked with such distinguished mercies, as in our own happy country. When we look back upon the history of two short centuries, and trace the progress of the little bands of pUgrims which first landed on our shores ; — when we see them rapidly converting the savage wilderness into fertile fields ; while the tide of population spreads along the coasts, and swells beyond the western mpuntains ; — when we see this people successfully sus- taining the arduous struggle of the war of Independence, and ad- vancing in the patli of national greatness, till they have become a mighty Republic of fi-eeraen, with the noblest literary and religious institutions, and with the most perfect government under heaven, we can not fail to perceive, that if ever a nation experienced the peculiar favour of Providence, we are that people. And adopting the language of the Legislator of Israel, we may say, " What na- tion is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is, in all that we call upon him for ? And what nation is there so great, that hath 'statutes and judgments so righteous ?" Let these distinguished na,tional blessings, excite in us a corres- ponding national gratitude ; and let us cherish the confederation, that the destinies of our country are still in the hands of the same superintending Providence. And while we tR'us 'discharge the first of duties which reUgion enjoins, we shall also be laying the founda- tion of the most exalted patriotism. We shall learn to love our country, not merely on account of the selfish inteijests which bind MS to it, but because it is the favoured" place appointep* by the Al- mighty for the developement of our physical and intellectual fac- ulties, and for the range of our moral affections ; and because we can find no worthier resting-place for these affections, except in that better country, reserved for the righteous, in the heavens. Such a patriotism connects in one view, both the present and the future world, and combines its influence with that of religion, to in- duce us to act our parts well here, with a reference to the rewards of eternity. According to the principles which have now been advanced, and if the divine government be administered in conformity to the rules which have been stated, it follows, that whether.we consider our- selves as individuals, as members of the community, or as Legisla- 15 tors, we have all of us important duties to perform. — If the superiii- iiitending Providence of God, be exercised in a way compatible with our freedom and accountability, it becomes our duty to concur and co-operate with its gracious designs, and to act in conformity to the righteous laws of its administration. As individuals, it becomes our duty to live " soberly, righteously, and godly, in the present world ;" to render a faithful and willing obedience to all th^ divine commands, and cordially to embrace that way of salvation, through the righteousness and atonement of a crucified Redeemer, which is revealed in the Gospel ; — and then, submissively and confidingly, to await the issue of the divine coun- sels. Such a life, if it do not bring to us all that temporal happi- ness which the general economy of Providence allows us to hope for, will still be attended with the richest consolations ; and in that future world, where the righteous dispensations of Providence shall be consummated, it will insure to us everlasting felicity. As members of the communitj', and as Legislators, it becomes our duty to promote the principles of equity and justice, to cherish the public morals, and to cultivate a fervent and enlightened na- tional piety ; as forming, acccording to the order of Providence, the only siu-e basis of national prosperity. The first principles of our private and our public duties are, therefore, the same. They coincide in their elements, and are alike connected with the cultivation of morality and religion. And if the blessedness of individuals is the reward of a life of righteous- ness, so also the liberty, the prosperity^ and the stability of nations, are founded on the moral and religious character of the individuals who compose them. — If our country is now free, prosperous, and happy, it is the award of Providence for the piety and the virtues of our forefathers. The blessings can only be preserved and perpet- uated by the virtues and the piety of their descendants. In revolving the history of past times, we perceive that the most distinguished nations have had their periods of prosperity and de- cline. Many of the greatest empires which have excited the ad- miration of the world, are now annihilated, and nothing remains of them but their name. Some have fallen the victims of civil dis- sensions ; others have been swept away by the tide of conquest ; and some have dwindled into insignificance, by the natural prog- ress of luxury and effeminacy. In the same pages which relate the decline and dissolution of these nations, we read of the general corruption of public morals, and the degeneracy of national char- 16 acter, which preceded their fall. It is the order of Providence, that in the moral, as well as in the natural world, the same causes ■ Shall produce the same effects. So long as the principles of a pure morality, and an enlightened religion, are cherished by individuals^ and diffused throughout a nation, tliat nation will remain free, pros- perous and happy. But whenever the peopS^become dissolute and licentious ; when the sanctuaries of legisktioa and of justice shall become venal and corrupt, and the temples of religion' shall be neg- lected, or polluted by infidelity, the degradation and fiJtal overthrow • of such a people, will be sure to mark the impartial justice of the divine administration. While Heaven protects and blesses our country, then, let us bear it impressed on our minds, that the rewards of righteousness, will not be continued to the ungrateful, the vicious, or the profane. Let us carefully practice ourselves, and strive to diffuse throughout the community, 'Uie principles of a sound morsJity ; let us cherish in our hearts,' and profess before the altars of our God, the doctrines of his pure and undefiled religion ; and let us appropriate to our- selves, and conscientiously observe, the exhortation of Jehovah to the leader of his ancient people ; — " Only observe to do according to all the law which I command thee ; turn not from it to the right hcmd or to the left ; — so shaft thou make thy way prosperous, and so shalt thou have good success."