E 392 
 Cooy I 
 
 REV. MR. VANARSDALE'S DISCOURSES 
 
 OF 
 
 PRESIDENT HARRISON, 
 
 NATIONAL FAST. 
 
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 LESSONS OF WISDOM FOR A MOURNING PEOPLE. 
 
 k' fe^ 
 
 A DISCOURSE 
 
 THE DEATH 
 
 / 7 
 
 IPISSSIEIDMKfl^ HAMIEHS© 
 
 PRONOUNCED ON THE EVENING OF 
 
 APRIL 20, 1841, 
 
 THE DAY OF PUBLIC FUNERAL SOLEMNITIES. 
 
 CORNELIUS C. VANARSDALE, 
 
 Pastor of the First Reformed Dutch Church, Pliiladelphia. 
 
 (published by request.) 
 
 — r^f^d^J^^^ ^^^^^4^^'i*^ r' — I — j-> 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN C. CLARK, GO DOCK STREET. 
 
 1841. 
 
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The following Discourses were intended only for the Congregation 
 before whom they were pronounced, without the thought of their ever 
 appearing in print. In complying, therefore, with the request of those 
 who have asked them for the press, that they may be read and retained 
 by them, the author is influenced only by the desire to gratify their 
 wishes, and will be happy, if, in any degree, he thereby promotes their 
 pleasure or their welfare. 
 
DISCOURSE. 
 
 1 Sam. xi. 5. 
 " What aileth the people that they weep ■?" 
 
 To those who are truly kind and benevolent, every 
 indication of human sorrow is an object of interest. 
 The sob of grief from the lowliest dwelling falls not on 
 their ears without striking corresponding chords in their 
 hearts, and awakening emotions of generous sympathy. 
 Even the tear which trembles on the cheek of the little 
 wanderer, passing along with lonely and sad steps 
 through our thronged streets, is not unmarked by such; 
 and, prompted by the workings of a noble spirit, the 
 question is heard — " what aileth thee, child, that thou 
 dost weep?" If such is the effect of the comparatively 
 trifling and every-day scenes of life — if the grief which 
 presses upon a single family, or a single heart, inspires 
 such interest, what must be the effect on a benevolent 
 mind, of beholding vast multitudes clothed in the gar- 
 ments of mourning, and of hearing, from a mighty na- 
 tion, the bursting forth of a deep and universal sorrow? 
 Where is the generous heart then, which hath not been 
 warmed with the most tender sympathy by the scenes 
 which have lately passed before us — by the evidences 
 of a nation's wo, with which we arc even now sur- 
 rounded ! 
 
What fearful calamity has occurred, that those mourn- 
 ful lamentations are heard in the very Capitol of our 
 great republic ? Why is it, as those flying messengers 
 start forth in all directions from the seat of government, 
 that they spread such consternation and sorrow in their 
 path? What are those gloomy tidings which they bear 
 with heavy hearts, and speak with trembling lips? — and 
 as soon as they arc heard " what aileth the people that 
 they weep ?" What means that mournful knell, which, 
 Hke the keenest woes of the inmost spirit, with suppress- 
 ed and reluctant sound flows forth from ten thousand 
 spires? What means the sad and sullen roar of that 
 minute gun, as for hours and for days it rolls over our 
 hills and dies away in our valleys ? Why is that star- 
 spangled banner, which hath ever floated with lofty 
 bearing in the presence of its foes, lowered from its 
 proud place, and arrayed in mourning? "What aileth 
 the people that they weep?" Why have the multitudes 
 of our active and enterprising merchants shut their 
 doors against the business of the world? Why does the 
 artist, and the mechanic, and the farmer, pause in the 
 midst of his pursuit, and, dropping the implement of his 
 avocation, go with a sad step to mingle his sorrows with 
 the weeping throng? Why is it, that from the learned 
 and the isnorant — the high and the low — the rich and 
 the poor, throughout the wide extent of our whole coun- 
 try, from both sexes, and all classes, and all ages, the 
 voice of lamentation is heard? What mean these large 
 and solemn processions, as with badges of grief, and 
 measured step, they are marching slowly and sadly to 
 the sanctuaries of the Lord ? Why does that deep sigh 
 break from the breast of the hardy sailor— and that tear 
 
of sorrow tremble on the cheek of the brave 'i Why 
 are our rooms of state — our classic halls — and even the 
 temples of the Lord, hung with these emblems of wo? 
 "What aileth the people that they weep?" 
 
 Your hearts, my fellow mourners, require no reply, 
 for, upon them has Patriotism inscribed the epitaph of 
 him for whom we weep. These are the lamentations of 
 a nation of Freemen as they gather around the corpse 
 of one, whom they themselves had called to occupy the 
 highest office in their power to give — of one, who, not 
 by royal descent or blind inheritance, (which presents no 
 claim to the gratitude of the ruler, or the confidence of 
 the ruled,) but by the free and cheerful voice of his fel- 
 low citizens, as President of these United States, was 
 placed in that honoured seat once occupied by their 
 immortal Washington. These are the expressions of 
 that universal grief, which shows how strong are the 
 national ties that are freely formed, and how rich and 
 lasting are the honours which are nobly won. A free 
 and enlightened nation is weeping over her chosen and 
 venerated Chief, torn suddenly and unexpectedly from 
 her arms, and numbered with the dead. 
 
 Nor are our sorrows under this painful event an evi- 
 dence only of the respect and the affection which, as a 
 country, we cherish for our common head. As our 
 hearts are softened and subdued, how do all little differ- 
 ences of opinion vanish from our minds, and as fellow 
 citizens we feel ourselves drawn towards each other in 
 tender affection. So the members of a family, when 
 blessed with unclouded prosperity may become uncon- 
 scious of the degree of affection which they bear towards 
 each other, and, for a time, may even appear indifferent 
 
8 
 
 to each other's peace — yet, when a Unk is broken from 
 that golden chain — when they gather around a dying, or 
 a dead father — then they learn not only how warmly 
 that father was beloved, but how tender are the mutual 
 ties that unite them. And as their tears flow over the 
 same dear form, or fall on the same hallowed tomb, then 
 their love for each other glows in all its warmth, and 
 they feel that they are members of one family still. Is 
 it not so with us as a nation in this common grief? 
 Here all party distinctions are forgotten. Even those 
 of opposite principles, who earnestly endeavoured to 
 place another in our Presidential Chair, as in a free 
 government they had a right to do, with a magnanimity 
 and patriotism as honourable to themselves, as it is just 
 to our republican principles, mingle their tears with 
 those of their weeping country. Here, while bending 
 over the corpse of our honoured Chief, we become con- 
 scious of our love for each other, we feel that we have 
 one home, that we are members of one family, and that 
 we are united by ties the most intimate and enduring. 
 
 Addressing you, as I do, my hearers, in this spirit, I 
 fear not the injustice of a suspicion that I am seeking to 
 advance, from this sacred desk, the principles of any 
 party. I address you as Americans, the highest earth- 
 ly distinction which you can bear, and as fellow- 
 mourners, grieving under a bereavement which all de- 
 plore. 
 
 That our late President, William Henry Harrison, 
 possessed great excellence of character none deny. Of 
 his private virtues, the ardour of the domestic affections 
 which he inspired, and the warm and constant friend- 
 ships which he awakened, aflbrd sufficient evidence. 
 
Those who knew him best lament him most. Of his 
 pub^c services it is also admitted by all, that in the va- 
 rious stations which he was called to occupy, both mili- 
 tary and civil, from his first appointment, when a stu- 
 dent of medicine in this city, as ensign in the American 
 army, by General Washington, at the early age of nine- 
 teen years, till the day of his death as President of the 
 United States, he performed his duties with a high de- 
 gree of ability, and a uniform faithfulness and honesty 
 which could not be surpassed. As a Patriot and a Sol- 
 dier, the privations he endured — the dangers he encoun- 
 tered — and the battles he fought in deadly conflict with 
 savage foes, are nobly attested by his companions in 
 arms, and they are recorded on the pages of his coun- 
 try's history. And to aflbrd an illustrious evidence — a 
 conclusive proof of his disinterested patriotism — to hold 
 up before his successors in all coming ages, an example 
 worthy of their imitation — to show the proud monarchs 
 of other lands, with what intense affection the ruler of 
 a free people may be devoted to the good of those over 
 whom he is placed, when from his country he had re- 
 ceived the highest honour he could ask or she bestow, 
 the last words which that country is permitted to hear 
 from his dying lips, are not of himself, nor for himself, 
 but of her and for her welfare. 
 
 Nor is this his highest praise. Without moral excel- 
 lence, what an empty shadow is all human greatness? 
 And where the influence of our, so called, great men is 
 rather adverse than favourable to that religion which 
 "exalteth a nation," whatever may be the services 
 which they render, how absurd is it to pronounce them 
 patriots or public benefactors? Admitting the Moral 
 
10 
 
 and Providential government of God, which, as sound 
 reasoners, we cannot deny ; admitting that the religion 
 of the gospel demands integrity, frugality, sobriety and 
 charity, and that it enforces these demands by the most 
 solemn sanctions which human thought can conceive, 
 can we doubt that he who is the best friend to that reli- 
 gion, is also the best friend to his country; and that he 
 whose heart is a stranger to its power, and whose in- 
 fluence is hostile to its control, however he may pre- 
 tend to be a friend, is in reality a foe to the state? To 
 our departed President attaches no such reproach. He 
 was most regular and devout in his attendance on the 
 public worship of God. His Bible was his constant 
 companion and his councillor, and we have reason to 
 believe that he never forgot the teachings of his pious 
 mother, who, as he himself declared, led him in early 
 life to the seclusion of her closet, and there, night and 
 morning, kneeling down by his side, taught him to pray 
 "Our Father who art in heaven." 
 
 By the members of his household we are informed, 
 that during the busiest days of his life, when oppressed 
 and worn down by the cares and labours of his office, 
 he never omitted his seasons of retired and daily devo- 
 tion. And in a letter addressed to his excellent lady, 
 shortly after his induction into the office of President, 
 he states that on assuming the high and solemn respon- 
 sibilities of his charge, he embraced the first moments 
 which he could seize, to retire from the crowd, and, 
 casting himself upon his knees before God, blessed Him 
 for all His goodness in times past, and implored the aid 
 of His wisdom and grace for the future. He had not, 
 it is true, connected himself by public profession with 
 
11 
 
 any Christian Church, but we are credibly informed 
 that he would have done so some years since, had it 
 not been for the apprehension, that in the strife of po- 
 litical conflict, his motives would have been ques- 
 tioned. When the ground for such fears was removed, 
 and he became the President of the United States, we 
 are told by the clergyman whose ministrations he at- 
 tended, that it was his intention, on the next communion 
 of the Lord's Supper, to unite himself with the Church 
 of Christ by an open avowal of his faith in Him. But, 
 although it was a source of painful regret to him, and 
 must be so to every Christian mind, that this had not 
 been done before, yet had he not in one sense, and per- 
 haps under circumstances more trying to human pride, 
 publicly declared his faith in the religion of Christ? 
 When, in compliance to the call of his country, he was 
 broutrht forth from his comparatively humble and re- 
 tired life — when he stood before an assembled multitude 
 — there, when receiving the highest honours which the 
 world could give — when surrounded by the pomp and 
 pageantry of earth, and in the presence of the highest 
 dignitaries both of our own and foreign lands, he fear- 
 lessly yet humbly avowed himself the friend and advo- 
 cate of that religion which the world regards not, and 
 which the proud despise. Remembering the presence, 
 and the place in which it was by him pronounced, allow 
 me to repeat to you a single sentence from his inaugu- 
 ral address. "I deem the present occasion," said he, 
 " sufficiently important and solemn to justify me in ex- 
 pressing, to my fellow citizens, a profound reverence for 
 the Christian Religion, and a thorough conviction that 
 sound morals, religious liberty, and a just sense of reli- 
 
12 
 
 gioiis responsibility, are essentially connected with all 
 true and lasting happiness; and to that good Being who 
 has blessed us by the gifts of civil and religious freedom, 
 who watched over and prospered the labours of our fa- 
 thers, and has hitherto preserved to us institutions far 
 exceeding in excellence those of any other people, let us 
 unite in fervently commending every interest of our be- 
 loved country in all future time." From such declara- 
 tions, in such a place and at such a time, coming as we 
 cannot doubt from a sincere and honest heart, viewed 
 in connection with his public virtues and his private 
 habits, and with his known intention to unite himself to 
 the church of Christ, may we not cherish the hope that 
 the disembodied spirit of our beloved President is now 
 living and rejoicing in the society of the blest ! How- 
 ever we may weep under our painful bereavement, may 
 we not hope that the cloud which was so dark to us, 
 was gilded with heaven's own light to him; that he 
 only laid aside the flowers of earth, though they were 
 blooming in their fairest beauty, and had but just been 
 gathered, for those which are infinitely brighter and 
 which shall never fade; and that the hand which re- 
 moved from his brow the diadem with which a nation 
 of freemen had adorned it, has placed there a crown of 
 more sparkling glory, even a crown of everlasting life. 
 
 Having left us reasons for such a hope, the name of 
 William Henry Harrison may justly be added to those 
 of our illustrious dead; his very grave will be a hallowed 
 spot, and his unsullied memory, associated with all that 
 is good and great, will be sacredly cherished by his 
 country in all time to come, and will be an incentive 
 
13 
 
 and encouragement to the Patriot and the Christian in 
 future ages. 
 
 God grant that so it may be! 
 
 " Still may his memory bloom our vales among, 
 Hallow'd by Freedom and enshrin'd in song ! 
 Still may his pure and patriot spirit dwell, 
 Bright on the land which loved his name so well. 
 E'en as an angel, with presiding care, 
 To wake and guard his own high virtues there." 
 
 But let us turn from the contemplation of our painful 
 loss as a nation, to meditate upon those momentous les- 
 sons which God is teaching us in this unexpected and 
 afflictive providence. 
 
 The outward exhibitions of grief which we every 
 where behold, are, we doubt not, the demonstrations of 
 a heart-felt sorrow. They are manly and honourable 
 in the living, because they are just to the services, the 
 relation, and the virtues of the dead. But if our re- 
 spect for the memory of our lamented President extends 
 not beyond this — if, in a few days or weeks, the solemn 
 impressions of these scenes are suffered to pass away — 
 if our improvement of this melancholy event terminates 
 in merely public and transient expressions of grief, then 
 are our sorrows but a vain mockery, a passing show! 
 then are his virtues and his noblest deeds all lost to 
 us, and his death is a calamity indeed, the depth of 
 which shall be felt, not only in this life, but in the end- 
 less life to come. 
 
 We cannot but believe that He who has revealed 
 himself not only as the Supreme Ruler of the universe, 
 but also as our Father in Heaven, in a dispensation so 
 
14 
 
 startling and afflictive, designs the accomplishment of 
 benevolent and blessed purposes. He delights not in 
 the death of his creatures, nor in the infliction of sorrow 
 upon nations. The peace and the life of him whose de- 
 parture we mourn, were far more precious in the sight of 
 God, than they could possibly be in ours. In this event, 
 therefore, we behold Him, as it were, with vast expense, 
 purchasing lessons of wisdom for the living. And it is 
 wise in us to mark and improve such lessons in propor- 
 tion to their cost. If this is done — if they are received 
 into the heart of the community, then will the death of 
 our lamented President prove a richer blessing than all 
 the temporal advantages which could have been impart- 
 ed by his life, and it will be of greater service to the 
 people whom he loved, than all the labours he ever per- 
 formed, or the victories he ever won. 
 
 If we truly honour his memory, and seek to improve 
 the lessons which his death affords, then must our public 
 men, and our fellow citizens. 
 
 Cultivate his virtues in their own hearts, and, in 
 
 ALL that was worthy OF IMITATION, REFLECT THE LIGHT 
 OF HIS EXAMPLE IN THEIR OWN LIVES. 
 
 However some may object to his views of national 
 policy, it must be admitted by all, that our late President 
 was an lionest patriot^ and a high-ininded and honourable 
 man. He meant to do right. It is evident from his 
 course of life, and his public declarations, that no one 
 more sincerely deprecated and frowned upon that vio- 
 lence of party spirit which has too long raged among 
 us, corrupting the morals, and shaking the very institu- 
 tions of the country, by arraying those of one political 
 
15 
 
 party in personal hostility against those who hold oppo- 
 site opinions. A well authenticated anecdote may illus- 
 trate this excellence in his character perhaps more clear- 
 ly than volumes. " During the heat of the late political 
 contest," says a highly respectable clergyman, " in which 
 General Harrison and Mr. Van Buren were competitors 
 for the presidential chair, I was one day in company 
 with the former, when a gentleman addressing him made 
 some remark of a personal nature against Mr. Van Bu- 
 ren. General Harrison immediately said, ' Sir, Mr. Van 
 Buren is my friend; we have always been on terms of 
 the kindest friendship, and I cannot listen to a word 
 against his character, nor would he permit it in reference 
 to myself without rebuke.' " It is evident from this in- 
 cident, and from his uniform manliness of spirit, that 
 while he had his own views of policy, he was perfectly 
 willing that others should have theirs, and that he would 
 not descend to the little and contemptible means of ad- 
 vancing his influence, as is too common among the in- 
 ferior advocates of all parties, by personal detraction 
 and abuse. 
 
 It must also be admitted, that he was not only a high- 
 minded and honourable man, but that he had a generous 
 and benevolent spirit. With a liberal charity he employed 
 the means in his power to extend peace and happiness 
 to all around him. He was truly the poor man's friend, 
 as well by his private beneficence as by his pubhc and 
 official efforts. A frank and an honest republican, hav- 
 ing received his earliest impressions from the example 
 of Washington, he was true to the principles of his 
 country, and a foe to the empty pride of aristocracy. 
 The most lowly might approach him without fear, and 
 
16 
 
 merit, however obscure or despised by others, always 
 found a friend and companion in him. 
 
 There is one other excellence to which, in this con- 
 nexion, I must again briefly refer, because it is the most 
 important, and the most rare, as well as the most wor- 
 thy of universal imitation. I refer to Ids publicly avowed 
 veneration for the blessed religion of the gospel^ and to 
 those traits of Christian character which now constitute 
 the chief sources of support to his mourning friends, and 
 the only foundations of our hope for his present and 
 eternal peace. It is very evident that, unlike the ma- 
 jority of men, when he was most honoured by the 
 world he was most humble in spirit, and when he was 
 surrounded by the allurements and the pride of life, he 
 was sufficiently brave in moral courage to express his 
 homage for the truth of God, and to acknowledge Him 
 as Lord over all. He seems to have entered upon the 
 duties of his high office, determined to exert an influence 
 favourable to true piety, and cherishing the impression 
 of his own accountability to God. In this respect how 
 worthy of imitation is the example which he has placed 
 before his successors in office, and all those who may 
 be called to occupy stations of solemn trust! And how 
 strikingly do they behold the value of such a spirit ex- 
 hibited in this dispensation, by which, from the midst of 
 his earthly honours, he has been so unexpectedly sum- 
 moned before the Judge of all, there to give up his ac- 
 count. How changed are now the objects of his inte- 
 rest and the sources of his joy ! In looking back over 
 the scenes of the past, now irrecoverable for ever, how 
 insignificant and worthless are the shouts of human ap- 
 plause, the trophies of victory, and the pomp and splen- 
 
17 
 
 dour of the world! How has the glory of it all vanished 
 away, while every eftbrt of faith, every emotion of holy 
 love, every deed of Christian charity, though unseen and 
 unpraised by men, now constitute the only imperishable 
 gems of the past, his only honours for eternity. 
 
 And this suggests another lesson, which, in a manner 
 most impressive, God is teaching us by this afflictive 
 providence. It is 
 
 The insufficiency of all earthly things. 
 
 It is true that we behold this exemplified not only in the 
 death of the distinguished, but also in that of the obscure. 
 Death in every case is a visible illustration of the vanity 
 of all worldly possessions, and the frailty of all earthly 
 ties. No matter how warmly the objects of time may 
 have engaged the interest of years that are past, they 
 fade away before the sight of the dying, and at length 
 the eyes close on them forever. No matter what earthly 
 hopes or glowing affections the heart may have cherish- 
 ed, its ties give way at the touch of death, and at length 
 it ceases to beat. The body must return to dust, and 
 the immortal spirit must enter eternity. Of this every 
 passing funeral, every badge of mourning, every memo- 
 rial of the dead admonishes us. It tells us of parting 
 sighs which have been heard, and of parting tears which 
 have been shed. It tells us that another deathless spirit 
 has bid a last adieu to all the things of time, and stood 
 before the bar of its holy Judge. It tells us that in bliss 
 or in wo the destiny of another soul is unchangeably 
 fixed for eternity, and it bids us remember that soon we 
 also must say to all the world, farewell, farewell forever! 
 Not an eye closes in death which does not exhibit this 
 
18 
 
 truth to the hving: not a heart ceases to beat, which, 
 in that very stillness, does not address this lesson to 
 those that are yet throbbing with life. But how impres- 
 sively is it proclaimed by that mournful event which has 
 assembled us this evening! Here we behold one ele- 
 vated to the highest office in the gift of a free and mighty 
 people, and on that lofty eminence attracting the gaze 
 of millions both in our own and in foreign lands; we be- 
 hold him clothed with the proudest honours which the 
 world can give, and surrounded by the most imposing 
 scenes of pomp and power which the world can exhibit. 
 But, as our eyes are fixed upon him, what do we see? 
 A deadly paleness is stealing over that venerable brow; 
 that brave arm falls nerveless at his side; those com- 
 manding lips lose the power of utterance, and that eye, 
 so long beaming with benevolence and hope, grows dim 
 to all earthly objects — a faint sigh, a last struggle — now 
 all is hushed, and behold the image of Death is seated in 
 our Chair of State! Is not God speaking to us, by this 
 act, as with a voice from heaven, and saying, "Behold, 
 O man, the vanity of the world ?" Is he not seeking to 
 make us pause in our blind and infatuated pursuit after 
 the empty shadows of time, and striving to turn our 
 thoughts to those substantial realities which alone are 
 satisfying and enduring? 
 
 But this providence not only exhibits the insufficiency 
 of earthly things, it also teaches us 
 
 Their insecurity. 
 
 We can scarcely conceive an example better adapted 
 to impress this conviction on the heart of our country. 
 
19 
 
 than that which, in this event, God has held up before 
 us. 
 
 We cannot but suppose that the thought of being ele- 
 vated to the high office of chief magistrate of this popu- 
 lous and powerful nation was a subject of the deepest 
 interest to our departed President for months and years 
 before it was attained. The prospect of such distinguish- 
 ed honour, and we may believe the hope of rendering still 
 more signal services to his country, doubtless occupied 
 much of his thought and kindled his ambition. With 
 the multitudes of his friends and partisans (we admit 
 from honest and patriotic motives) the object appears to 
 have been one of yet more ardent desire, and of united, 
 energetic, and persevering effort. At length their wishes 
 are fulfilled. The venerable patriot, the undaunted sol- 
 dier, and the sound statesman, is brought forth from the 
 quiet of retired life, and hailed as the chosen chieftain 
 of the land. The day which is to behold him crowned 
 with a nation's honours has dawned. The bells of the 
 Capitol are sending forth their joyous peals, and the 
 roaring cannon proclaims the jubilee of the people; and 
 there, surrounded by immense throngs of his admiring 
 countrymen, while plumes are waving and banners are 
 floating in the air, and gladsome music thrills on every 
 ear — there, in the midst of that proud array, we behold 
 the man on whom all eyes are resting, and in whose 
 elevation the hearts of that vast assemblage are glowing 
 with delight. Grand and imposing is the pageantry, and 
 the breast of that honoured chief is swelling with high 
 emotions, and his eyes are sparkling with the fire of ear- 
 lier days. But scarcely has that joyous shout died away, 
 and the pomp of that imposing scene ceased, before the 
 
20 
 
 tolling bells of the Capitol are again heard — another 
 throng has assembled, and another procession is seen — 
 but, alas! it is the knell of death which now floats 
 mournfully upon the breeze; the triumphal chariot is 
 changed for the sable hearse, the proud banner for the 
 winding sheet, the gladsome music for the solemn fune- 
 real dirge — and they are bearing that form, pale, and 
 cold, and lifeless, to its last long home in the dust. 
 
 " Ye weep, and it is well ! 
 For tears befit earth's partings ! Yesterday, 
 Song was upon the lips of this pale clay, 
 
 And sunshine seemed to dwell 
 Where'er he moved — the welcome and the blest ! 
 Now gaze — and bear the silent to his rest." 
 
 Is this a dream, or is it reality? May the brightest 
 visions of earth vanish so soon, so suddenly? May the 
 eyes grow dim in the very moment when they are beam- 
 ing with delight, and the arrow of death pierce the heart 
 in the very moment when it is throbbing with joy and 
 glowing with hope? Great God! is our hold on all that 
 is dear upon earth so weak, so insecure? and may we 
 thus in an instant be summoned to thine awful bar? Yes, 
 these weeds of mourning answer, yes! — The knell of 
 death which has this day fallen upon our ears, in every 
 tone has answered, yes! — The very presence of this sor- 
 rowing assembly answers, yes! 
 
 O dying man! are you prepared to meet your God? 
 Have you treasures which death cannot touch? Have 
 you honours which the grave cannot cover? Child of 
 dust and yet heir of immortality, hast thou joys which 
 no change can destroy? Hast thou hopes which the dark- 
 
21 
 
 ness of the tomb cannot quench? If not, is not thy de- 
 lay madness, and thy pleasures delusion? Listen then 
 to the voice of this providence as addressing thee; it 
 exclaims, "Prepare to meet thy God!" — "prepare to 
 meet thy God!" Look upon the silent dust of him who 
 was so lately adorned in the honours of the world. Go 
 and stand beside his lonely grave ; and do you not hear 
 a voice from those cold lips saying, " Seek ye the Lord 
 while he may be found?" But I cannot leave you, my 
 fellow sinner, at the grave of our departed President. 
 There is another, and a more sacred sepulchre to which, 
 in closing this address, I would fain conduct you. Turn 
 then from the tomb in which moulder the remains of a 
 nation's chief, to that in which slept the Son of God, the 
 Saviour of the lost. In the one you have seen the in- 
 sufficiency of all earthly treasures, and the insecurity of 
 all earthly hopes; through the darkness of the other you 
 behold the dawning of a cloudless day, and life and im- 
 mortality are brought to light. The one you have seen 
 closed upon all the pleasures of sense, and the honours 
 of the world; but behold from the other the stone is 
 rolled away, the door of the sepulchre is opened, and, as 
 he steps forth in majesty and strength, listen to the voice 
 of the living Redeemer — " He that believeth in me, 
 though he were dead yet shall he live; and whosoever 
 liveth and believeth in me shall never die." Hear those 
 words with glad and grateful hearts. Believe, obey, and 
 take eternal life. Amen. 
 
A NATION'S GLORY AND STRENGTH. 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 PRONOUNCED 
 
 IN THE FIRST REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH, 
 PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 DAY OF THE NATIONAL FAST. 
 
 CORNELIUS C, VANARSDALE, 
 
 Pastor of the Church. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REaUEST. 
 
 May 14, 1841. 
 
 •~><A^A»^ffiWO'^^^>>v~ 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN C. CLARK, 60 DOCK STREET. 
 
 1841. 
 
DISCOURSE 
 
 Prov. xiv. 13. 
 "Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." 
 
 The religion of the Bible is intended and adapted to 
 promote the glory of God, in the rescue, the elevation, 
 and the happiness of man. Its primary aim is to purify 
 him from the stain, and deliver him from the dominion 
 of sin, and prepare him for an eternal inheritance with 
 the "saints in light." In the accomplishment of this glo- 
 rious purpose, it reveals to him, as a sinner, a compas- 
 sionate and an all-sufficient Saviour, in and through 
 whom, by true penitence and humble trust, he may find 
 forgiveness and acceptance with God, be restored to His 
 favour, and made to rejoice in His love. Thus it is only 
 by faith in Christ that the soul which has sinned, even 
 in thought, can be justified before God, and clothed with 
 a righteousness which shall enable it to stand uncon- 
 founded and enraptured in the very presence of the 
 HOLY ONE. This, in the highest and most spiritual 
 sense, is the definition which the Scripture itself gives 
 of the term "righteousness" as it is there used. "He 
 shall be called," says an inspired prophet, "the Lord our 
 RIGHTEOUSNESS." And SO au apostle declares, that the 
 only sufficient righteousness for the soul before God, is 
 "the righteousness which is by faith in Christ." While 
 
26 
 
 this imputed righteousness, however — this oneness with 
 Christ, and being "in Him," is our only ground of hope 
 before God, and the source of our highest spiritual joy 
 on earth, we are also taught from the word of God, 
 that its inseparable fruit will be " righteousness of life." 
 By which we are to understand an inward and an exter- 
 nal conformity to the will of God as unfolded in his 
 holy word. The same divine spirit which leads the 
 soul to Christ, inspires its ardent desires to promote his 
 glory, and to keep his law, and where there is no obe- 
 dience to that law there is no genuine and saving faith. 
 Christ is not "the minister of sin," but the Saviour from 
 it, both from its curse and its dominion. The recover- 
 ing process, therefore, which the Bible reveals for man, 
 in its application and effects, is to be commenced on 
 earth. It is not only to provide for him a complete 
 righteousness in Christ, but it is to work in him a per- 
 sonal righteousness, both of heart and of life. Hence, 
 we are warned against cherishing any confidence in a 
 dead and inoperative faith. "Be not deceived, he that 
 doeth righteousness is righteous." 
 
 Such then, in the strict and Scriptural sense of the 
 word, is that " righteousness" which is spoken of in the 
 text. It stands placed, as you perceive, in opposition 
 to all sin, and must therefore be understood as express- 
 ing a genuine, devout and practical religion, leading 
 its possessor to the faithful performance of those duties 
 which we owe to God — to ourselves — and our fellow 
 men. 
 
 Now, in the passage before us, the wisest of men, in- 
 spired also with the wisdom of God, declares that this 
 righteousness, besides accomplishing, as its great object. 
 
27 
 
 the salvation of those who possess it, is also attended 
 with innumerable advantages and the richest blessings, 
 both to individuals and nations, wherever it prevails. 
 It not only prepares man for an eternal life in heaven, 
 but it opens prospects, implants principles, furnishes 
 motives, and prescribes laws, which fit him to answer 
 the high purposes of the present life. It not only lights 
 up with joy the mansions of the blest, but causes the 
 barren deserts of this world "to bud and blossom as the 
 rose;" and diffuses peace, and happiness, and prosperi- 
 ty through every community and country, where it is 
 truly understood and possessed. "Righteousness exalt- 
 eth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." 
 
 To the illustration of this truth, I now invite your at- 
 tention; and as it discovers the source of all the ca- 
 lamities which we have suffered as a nation, and the 
 ground of far greater inflictions, which, from our sins, 
 we have reason to apprehend; so it points out the only 
 way in which the sorrows of the past may be sanctified, 
 and the judgments of the future averted. 
 
 Righteousness then must tend to exalt a nation, be- 
 cause IT RECOGNISES THAT GREAT TRUTH, THAT GoD IS 
 
 UPON THE THRONE REPOSES ITS CONFIDENCE SUPREMELY 
 
 UPON Him and has his PR03IISE for the support of HIS 
 
 ARM, AND the BLESSINGS OF HIS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 Whatever may be the wisdom of our institutions — 
 the extent of our commerce — the sources of our wealth — 
 the degree of our intelligence, and the power and bravery 
 of our armies, still, the declaration from heaven is in- 
 scribed above them all, corroborated by reason, and con- 
 firmed by experience, "The Lord, the Lord God Omni- 
 potent reigneth." By a word of his mouth, He can over- 
 
28 
 
 throw all human institutions, confound all human wisdom, 
 prostrate all human strength, and send upon us poverty, 
 desolation and death as the messengers of his wrath. 
 He who presides over second causes, and is the First 
 Great Cause of all, directs and controls them at his will, 
 "and none can stay his hand, or say what doest thou." 
 He reigns supreme, absolute, alone. But his govern- 
 ment, while it is supreme, is neither capricious nor un- 
 just. As He demands nothing but what is right and 
 benevolent, therefore, he declares, "the nation that will 
 not serve me shall perish." So, on the contrary, to those 
 who truly acknowledge His supremacy, and, looking 
 above the wisdom of man, or "an arm of flesh," in the 
 spirit of loving and child-like confidence, put their trust 
 in Him, he has given his word, that, in his own time and 
 way, he will deliver them out of all their troubles, crown 
 them with victory over all their foes, and cover them 
 with prosperity and renown. 
 
 From the very nature of its practical duties, it 
 
 MAY further be SHOWN THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A 
 NATION, WHILE SIN IS A REPROACH TO ANY PEOPLE. 
 
 As we have already remarked, righteousness, in the 
 Scriptural sense of the term, includes a conformity to 
 the will of God, as it is unfolded in his word. In that 
 word He has laid down rules of conduct for his rational 
 and accountable creatures, which extend to all the rela- 
 tions and circumstances of life. Its first demand is 
 upon the supreme love of the heart, which is the main- 
 spring of all the outward conduct. This it calls forth 
 and requires to be placed upon the infinite and most 
 
29 
 
 adorable God himself, who is holy, just and good. The 
 second requirement is, "thou shalt love thy neighbour 
 as thyself." Now, is it not evident that the tendency of 
 obedience to these divine commands must be to pro- 
 mote peace and prosperity among men? Can it for a 
 moment be questioned, that if the excellent precepts of 
 Jesus Christ were universally obeyed, his own meek and 
 gentle spirit cherished, and his pure and benevolent life 
 made the pattern of imitation, many of the greatest evils 
 which we cruelly inflict upon ourselves and each other, 
 would vanish from the world, and its welfare and its 
 peace would be secured ? Such is the righteousness 
 spoken of in the text, and such, therefore, is its tenden- 
 cy. In sin, as its opposite, we have hearts hostile to 
 God, and absorbed in sensuality. Intemperance, Op- 
 pression, Fraud, Avarice, Pride, Envy, Uncharitableness, 
 and Revenge, are all included in its train of evils. 
 Which then tends to exalt, and which to debase man- 
 kind? Let even the Atheist, the Infidel answer — which? 
 This must be still more apparent, if we regard men in 
 their associated relations under civil government. In 
 the present state of things, there is a necessity that 
 some form of government should be adopted, whereby 
 individual rights may be defined and protected, and laws 
 for the pubhc good devised and enforced. But on what 
 principles can we depend, to what motives can we ap- 
 peal, by what directions can we act, cither in framino-, 
 or enforcing, or obeying the laws of the land, better 
 than those which are inspired and furnished by the reli- 
 gion of the Bible? It is true that we, as a nation, have 
 endeavoured to separate civil from religious govern- 
 ment, and, to a certain extent, it has been accomplished. 
 
30 
 
 That is, we allow "every man to worship God accord- 
 ing to the dictates of his own conscience." But, to a 
 certain and a happy degree, they are still connected, be- 
 cause, unless we returned to a savage or a heathen 
 state, it was impossible wholly to divide them. Our 
 laws still profess to be drawn from the laws of God, or 
 appeal to them for their high and solemn sanctions. 
 Above, and superadded to their penalties and rewards, 
 therefore, we acknowledge and point to those of the law 
 of God. In devising them, our legislators are to be 
 guided by what the word of God approves or condemns. 
 In executing them, those who are entrusted with this 
 high authority, even up to the Chief Magistrate of the 
 Union, are bound by the solemnities of an oath upon 
 the word of God, faithfully to fulfil their duties. In 
 our courts of justice, without which the law would be a 
 mockery and government could not exist, the judges on 
 their bench, the jurors, the counsellors and the wit- 
 nesses are all and each of them also bound by their oath 
 to fidelity and truth. It is the belief, therefore, that 
 there is a higher tribunal before which we must all ap- 
 pear, that there is a God who approves righteousness 
 and abhors and will punish sin, that gives to this solemn 
 appeal to Him all its force, and constitutes the very 
 bond of our union, and the ground of our security. 
 Now, let the sense of moral obligation and accountabili- 
 ty be weakened or removed, and what is to become of 
 us as a nation? Are not the very foundations of our 
 government up-raised and destroyed? What will be 
 the force of an oath to your Presidents — your Judges — 
 your Jurors — your Witnesses, and the various public offi- 
 cers who receive their trusts under its sanction ? On what 
 
31 
 
 principle can you depend, or what sufficient substitute can 
 you supply ? The fact is, though to all useful purposes 
 we have no "union between church and state," yet, our 
 government acknowledges its dependence on the reli- 
 gion of the Bible, and there is no government upon 
 earth which is as much so in reality. It does look up 
 to God for support, and so intimately are the truths of 
 His word interwoven with the principles of our institu- 
 tions and the spirit of our laws, that to separate them is 
 to rend the whole fabric into shreds, and to scatter its 
 atoms on the wings of the wind. He, therefore, who, 
 in our country, denies or disregards the religion of the 
 Bible, he whose mind and whose influence are in favour 
 of that "sin" which "is a reproach to any people," is 
 guilty of treason against the nation, as well as impiety 
 towards God. He is a rebel against the government of 
 his country, as well as against the laws of the Almighty. 
 
 The truth declared in the text may be further 
 illustrated by striking examples in the history of 
 
 NATIONS. 
 
 If we turn to the sacred page itself, and examine the 
 history of God's ancient and chosen people, as con- 
 firmed by their own historian, and by facts which, in 
 the present day, are before our eyes, we shall find that 
 the experiment has been made, and the answer of the 
 actual result is, " righteousness exalteth a nation, but 
 sin is a reproach to any people." 
 
 In the word of inspiration, we find the destruction of 
 the Jewish nation foretold and described centuries be- 
 fore it occurred. But we also find that the causes of 
 
32 
 
 that destruction were as clearly pointed out. It was 
 positively declared, as a reference to the scriptures will 
 show, that if they continued faithful to their God, he 
 would continue to bless them. All the subsequent de- 
 feats and sufferings, therefore, through which they 
 passed, they brought upon themselves by their sins. 
 In their many wars with the Canaanites, for example, 
 how plainly is this truth exhibited. It was only when 
 they sinned, that God gave them up to their foes. It 
 was not till they first deserted Him, that God forsook 
 them, and permitted them to be conquered and spoiled 
 by their enemies. This was still more apparent in their 
 final abandonment, when they rejected the Lord of 
 Glory, and tortured him to death upon the cross. It 
 was not until the life of all pure religion had left them ; 
 not until they abandoned the Almighty, and by repeated 
 and aggravated crimes vexed his Holy Spirit, that the 
 Shekinah departed from the holy place, and with it de- 
 parted also their national glory and defence. At the 
 time of our Saviour's crucifixion, the Jewish people 
 seem to have reached the very depth of profligacy and 
 corruption. Josephus, one of their own historians, in- 
 forms us, that those who were highest in public esteem, 
 were those who were most flagitious and immoral in 
 their lives. "In short," says he, "they were univer- 
 sally corrupt. They vied which should exceed the other 
 in impiety towards God, and injustice towards man." 
 This is evident, also, from the simple statement of facts 
 which is given to us by the inspired writers of the time, 
 in their account of the trial and crucifixion of our Lord. 
 He was dragged before the bar of pretended justice by 
 an infuriated mob. The very judge who presided. 
 
33 
 
 though aware that through envy and malice they ac- 
 cused him, and though convinced of his innocence, con- 
 demned him to death. Here we see in what manner 
 pubhc justice was administered — a corrupt magistracy 
 influenced more by a desire to gratify the people, and re- 
 tain their favour, than by the fear of God or the hope of 
 his favour. And then, too, when in the wild impetuosity 
 of their rage, we hear the people crying out, "his blood 
 be on us and on our children," we see how the most 
 tender and endeared relations of life had withered under 
 the influence of vice. As we pursue this account ; as 
 we see them leading away their innocent victim, mock- 
 ing, scourging, and reviling him, and even their chief 
 priests, and scribes, and elders, leading on this savage 
 outrage against the pure, and spotless, and benevolent 
 Jesus; as we see them nailing him to a cross, and 
 sporting with his bitter agonies and dying groans, a 
 bare glance at such a scene of horror chills our blood, 
 and we cannot doubt that, as a nation, they were aw- 
 fully corrupt, for this is one instance from which we 
 may learn their general character. And now, what 
 was the result? Let their subsequent history answer. 
 It was, as you know, only a few years after this ap- 
 palling crime, when the fearful and just retribution de- 
 scended on their land. The destruction of Jerusalem is 
 one of the most awful events recorded in the history of 
 the world. Army after army was subdued and slaugh- 
 tered by the Roman sword. Beaten and pursued, they 
 were at length driven within their city, where they were 
 closely besieged by their mighty foes. Thousands upon 
 thousands were taken captives, and crucified before the 
 city walls. Nor was this all. While they were thus 
 
34 
 
 guarded and slaughtered by their enemies without the 
 city, famine and rapine, and bloody factions, were 
 rasfing within. With all the malice and the madness 
 of fiends, they turned on one another, and drenched 
 their hands in each other's blood. In this manner, in 
 the short space of six months, more than a million of 
 these wretched beings perished. Their name was blot- 
 ted out from among the nations ; their proud city was 
 utterly destroyed; their lofty temple was prostrated in 
 the dust, and the spot where it stood was ploughed up 
 by the Roman soldiers. The remnant of the inhabit- 
 ants were taken captives and sold as slaves, until, as 
 declared in prophecy, there was literally "none to buy." 
 And to this day, as a people, are they not, in many por- 
 tions of the earth, despised and abused as dogs: are 
 they not scattered through all nations without a coun- 
 try and without a name ; both by their past history and 
 their present state declaring to all the w orld — " righ- 
 teousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any 
 people." 
 
 Has not this truth been strikingly illustrated, also, in 
 the history of France ? 
 
 Whatever may be said of the oppressions under 
 which the people of that nation laboured, from the false 
 and cruel exactions of a corrupt priesthood; of the 
 gross ignorance in which they were kept by being de- 
 nied the privilege of religious inquiry, and impiously 
 forbidden to read God's holy word; yet it was not a 
 reformation in reliojion which the more intellioent anions' 
 them, their infidel leaders, sought, or which the body of 
 the people desired. It was to banish even the faint 
 glimmering of religious light, which still flickered over 
 
35 
 
 their guilty land, and to exhibit to the world a specimen 
 of the happier results, and the brighter prosperity which 
 would rest upon the nation where God was not acknow 
 ledged, and from which his word was exiled. The great 
 experiment which they wished to make, M^as that of a 
 country without any religion. It was made. The idea 
 of moral obligation was publicly and fearlessly re- 
 nounced. The legislature declared void the law of 
 God. Death was asserted, by an act of the govern- 
 ment, to be an eternal sleep. All religion was pro- 
 nounced delusion. The Sabbath was abolished; the 
 existence of God was declared to be a fable ; and the 
 churches, which had been erected for his worship, were 
 converted into temples of idols. Atheism and infidelity 
 reigned in their councils, and triumphed through the 
 land. And what was the result ? Profligacy and vice, 
 in all their forms and most shocking aspects, every 
 where spread terror and desolation. And notwith- 
 standing her serene sky and her luxuriant soil; not- 
 withstanding the distinction which she had previously 
 enjoyed as the favourite abode of science and the arts, 
 the land where literature and genius flourished, and 
 where the most polished manners and refined taste 
 seemed to have accomplished all which nature had left 
 undone to form an earthly paradise — France, " la belle 
 France P'' — was converted into one vast field of carnage 
 and of crime, and made the theatre of the most appal- 
 ling scenes of horror and of blood which the world has 
 ever witnessed. In short, it has been well said, that 
 " the whole kingdom appeared to be changed into one 
 great prison, and the inhabitants into felons. To con- 
 templative men it seemed, for a season, as if the knell 
 
36 
 
 of the whole nation was tolled, and the world sum- 
 moned to the funeral." Within the short space of ten 
 years, not less than three millions of human beings are 
 supposed to have perished in that single country, 
 through the influence of atheism and irreligion. These 
 are their triumphs. Such is the actual result of this 
 great experiment, "Righteousness exalteth a nation, 
 but sin is a reproach to any people." 
 
 Perhaps I have dwelt too long upon this part of the 
 subject before us, but these are illustrations of the mo- 
 mentous and immutable truth declared in the text. 
 These are wrecks which are left along the stream of 
 time, as beacons to warn all nations, in all coming ages, 
 to beware of the rocks on which they split. The same 
 causes will produce the same effects, not only in Judea 
 and in France, but in America. "Righteousness exalteth 
 a nation." Let this righteousness, in its purity and power, 
 be cherished and exhibited among us — let the influence of 
 its heaven-inspired and heaven-directed affections be felt, 
 and its heaven-approved precepts be obeyed, and we 
 shall be blessed and protected of God; even our sorrows 
 shall be turned into blessings, and no earthly power — 
 no foreign invasion, nor internal commotion will ever 
 wrest from us our liberties, or destroy our peace. It is 
 to this that we are to look for our safety and our hope, 
 and it is this which constitutes the true glory and lasting 
 strength of a nation. But "sin is a reproach to any 
 people." If we, therefore, forget or renounce the so- 
 vereignty of God — if his word is neglected, or closed, 
 or disobeyed — if the love of God reigns not in our 
 hearts, and faith in his blessed Son enlists not our sin- 
 cere affections and devout services — if sin prevails and 
 
37 
 
 vice and iniquity abound, and the religion of the Bible 
 is treated with indifference or scorn, the same fearful 
 results will attend the same experiment, wrought out by 
 Judea and France. God will visit us with his chastise- 
 ments, at first, perhaps, comparatively light, that by 
 some act of his hand which strikes our senses, we may 
 be obliged to mark, and led to acknowledge, his su- 
 preme control. If these are still disregarded, or pro- 
 duce not their intended effects, some severer blow will 
 follow, till at length the thick cloud of his vengeance 
 will gather over us; our closing history will be a fear- 
 ful tale of defeat and slaughter or of anarchy and blood; 
 our proud banner will be smitten by the lightnings of 
 heaven from its lofty place, and the Star of our Free- 
 dom will fade away forever. Can it be, my hearers, 
 that this process has already commenced? 
 
 When we peruse the history of our country, we can- 
 not but be struck with the signal marks of the Divine 
 favour towards us in years that are past. That He 
 crowned the httle band of our revolutionary heroes with 
 victory over mighty armies and wise and brave com- 
 manders, none can deny. That he has conferred upon 
 us privileges which no other nation possesses, and that 
 he has thus far continued them to us, is equally evident. 
 Notwithstanding the ingratitude, and disobedience, and 
 disregard towards Him, which have prevailed among us 
 as a nation, he has still borne with us, and continued to 
 shower down upon us his mercies in such richness and 
 profusion, that we may well suppose he has been striving 
 by His goodness to win our love and inspire our de- 
 votion. Can it be that He is now about to visit us with 
 his judgments? Are there not reasons for such an ap- 
 
38 
 
 prehension? Has He not recently sent forth the desola- 
 ting flames in many portions of our country, and espe- 
 ally in our large cities, spreading consternation and ruin 
 in their course? Has He not, with a frequency un- 
 known before, clothed himself in terror on the mighty 
 deep, sending abroad the howling tempest, and causing 
 the ocean to swallow up our treasures ; while from its 
 raging waves the shriek — the cry — the dying groan of 
 our friends and fellow citizens comes back to us as they 
 sink forever from our sight? Have not our beautiful 
 bays and rivers been called to witness scenes of agony, 
 which no pencil can picture and no tongue describe ? 
 Are not the hearts of thousands among us, at this mo- 
 ment bleeding with the wounds which disaster and 
 death have made? Has He not sent his messenger into 
 our very Capitol, and show^n us that He only is upon the 
 throne, by numbering our Chief Magistrate with the 
 dead; thus, by a single act, prostrating the hopes of mil- 
 lions, and making us a nation of mourners? And is He 
 not at this moment, by withholding the wonted rays of 
 the sun and the balmy air of spring, from a wide extent 
 of our country, and by shrouding the skies in darkness, 
 and sending upon our land cold and protracted rains, 
 holding his rod of terror over us, and threatening to 
 withhold from us the comforts of life and the necessary 
 means of its support? 
 
 May we not account for these inflictions, and disco- 
 ver additional grounds of apprehension, if we consider 
 our sins? 
 
 See, for example, how the very bounties of God, in- 
 stead of calling forth our gratitude and love to Him, 
 have been made to nourish a spirit of pride and sinful 
 
39 
 
 ambition. Though it is our boast and our joy that we 
 are descended from those, who in casting ofl^ the yoke 
 of bondage to foreign oppression, cast off with it the 
 empty titles and vain pomp of foreign nations, despising 
 their vices and renouncing their debasing luxuries; 
 though we dehght to regard them as examples of honest 
 simplicity themselves, and as the founders of a govern- 
 ment in which the people should be formed into a com- 
 mon brotherhood, from which pride, and ostentation, 
 and aristocracy should be excluded; yet, alas! where 
 can we now find that spirit in their sons! Where is 
 that simplicity, and frugality, and industry, which 
 adorned their characters and which blessed their lives? 
 Nor is this degeneracy confined to their sons, it extends 
 to their daughters also. How rarely do we behold in 
 them, that sweet simplicity of manners — that economy 
 in dress — that love of home, and those habits of indus- 
 try, which were the cherished virtues and the fairest 
 charms of our maternal ancestry, and which were so 
 illustriously exemplified even in "Mary, the mother of 
 Washington." We have departed from these bright ex- 
 amples, and from the very spirit of our institutions. We 
 are already imitating the manners, and striving to put 
 on the fashions, to equal and exceed the vain splendour 
 of old and corrupt monarchies, and to revel in the same 
 luxuries, and dash into the same polished vices. 
 
 What a sad and humiliating evidence of this truth is 
 aflforded by the multitudes of both sexes, who are seen, 
 night after night, thronging to theatres, those nurseries 
 of sin and death; and especially when a woman, who is 
 unworthy of the name, of the most abandoned character, 
 on her approach to our shores from a Ibreign land, is 
 
40 
 
 hailed by thousands with a tumult of joy, and for the 
 immodest performance of a single evening, in minister- 
 ino- to a corrui)t taste, is permitted to bear away over 
 three thousand dollars of the nation's wealth; and to a 
 still more alarming extent to debase the nation's morals, 
 and disgrace its name. It cannot be doubted that if we 
 had adhered to the example of our honoured progeni- 
 tors — had we cherished the spirit of our republican prin- 
 ciples — had we avoided the extravagance, and luxury, 
 and fashionable vices, which have so extensively pre- 
 vailed among us, the painful embarrassments into which 
 we have been thrown, would, in a great measure, if not 
 entirely, have been avoided also, and we should have 
 been at this moment, a prosperous and happy people. 
 These were the conquerors of ancient Greece and 
 Rome, and let us beware lest we also become their vic- 
 tims. 
 
 Again, the very bounties of Providence, instead of 
 inspiring gratitude and contentment, have been made to 
 nourish a spirit of covetousness, and an impious grasp- 
 ing after more. 
 
 Where is there upon earth a nation which has so 
 much cause to be grateful to God for his distinguishing 
 favours ? Since the moment when she first broke away 
 from her cruel and oppressive parent, the growth and 
 prosperity of our country have been without a parallel. 
 With an exuberant soil, yielding every variety of pro- 
 duce, and, in extent, far beyond what we have power to 
 cultivate; possessing within our own borders the means 
 of supplying every comfort, and gratifying every rea- 
 sonable wish, what is there to prevent us from being a 
 contented and a happy people? Surely nothing but 
 
41 
 
 the madness of our own hearts, which seem bent upon 
 making us miserable in defiance of the favours of hea- 
 ven. So far from beholding us either grateful to Him, 
 or contented with our generous allotment, what has 
 been the spectacle which the pure eyes of God have, 
 for months and years, looked down upon in this coun- 
 try? A nation of idolaters! Such his own word pro- 
 nounces us, when it declares that " covetousness is 
 idolatry." Not satisfied with an abundant competency, 
 and regardless of Him who gave it, what multitudes 
 among us have been struggling after excessive wealth, 
 and making it their God? It is this idolatry of riches, 
 which has brought honest industry into disrepute among 
 us, which has impelled such numbers to dash into gam- 
 bling speculations, in which many, who had nothing of 
 their own to stake, have ventured the property, and per- 
 haps the all, of others. And to such an extent has this 
 system been carried, that incorporated bodies, with their 
 charters from the states, have only used this high au- 
 thority as a surer bait ; and then the lonely widow and 
 the helpless orphan, who have entrusted to them their 
 mite, are turned homeless and penniless upon the world, 
 while they roll on in splendour as before, and only smile 
 at the ruin they have made. 
 
 We also acknowledge that our political privileges 
 are great national blessings. We feel the happiness of 
 being enabled to exclaim with Paul — 'I was free born." 
 From our very birth we have breathed the pure air of 
 liberty, and enjoyed, in a greater degree than any other 
 nation under heaven, its most favourable tendency to 
 inspire free and manly thought, and its opportunities 
 for lofty, virtuous, and patriotic action. Have we im- 
 
 F 
 
42 
 
 proved it to these ends? or have we employed it in se- 
 curing selfish and sensual purposes? We also rejoice 
 in the representative nature of our government. Every 
 citizen has equal rights in choosing his rulers ; and, by 
 a free suffrage, is permitted to select those who are 
 most likely to fulfil the duties of their trust, and pro- 
 mote the public good. It is evident, that if our privi- 
 leges were rightly improved, we would, in this respect, 
 be a favoured and a happy people. But have they been 
 so improved? Have we not reason to fear that multi- 
 tudes have never made it a subject of conscientious 
 inquiry, independent of selfish motives, for whom their 
 votes should be given? And then, too, while in cases 
 of flagrant error or evident mal-administration we have 
 a right to express our objections against candidates for 
 office, or to exhibit the faults of our rulers, have we not 
 abused this privilege also? By the indulgence of vio- 
 lent party spirit; by regarding and speaking of those 
 who held opinions diflferent from our own, as enemies, 
 by wanton and reckless attacks upon their character, 
 especially when they were candidates for public office ; 
 by exaggerating the errors of our rulers; by casting 
 censure upon them in cases where it was not deserved; 
 by assailing them with unreserved and often unmerited 
 reproach, and indecent and dishonourable insinuations; 
 have we not been fostering alienations among ourselves, 
 forgetting the proper respect which is due to those in 
 authority, and violating the express injunctions of God's 
 holy word? 
 
 Are there not other, and yet more alarming sins, 
 which are also still more extensively prevalent among 
 us, and justly expose us, as a nation, to the severer 
 
43 
 
 judgments of Heaven? See how Intemperance yet 
 pours its streams of iniquity, desolation and wo, through 
 every portion of our guilty land. See what frequent 
 and appalling accounts are daily brought to our ears, of 
 robberies and murders, and every form of crime, un- 
 paralleled both in number and atrocity. See how the 
 word of God is neglected and despised by thousands and 
 by millions in our midst — how his sanctuary is forsaken, 
 his sabbath desecrated, his providence disregarded — 
 his government denied, and his holy law trampled under 
 foot. See by what multitudes the striving of his Spirit 
 is resisted, the pleadings of his mercy rejected, and the 
 entreaties of his crucified Son are poured forth in vain. 
 In short, who can look over our favoured land, and con- 
 template our many and our precious blessings, and our 
 many and appalling sins, without being obliged to admit 
 that we are indeed an ungrateful and guilty people, and 
 have abundant reason to apprehend the fierce vengeance 
 of our God. 
 
 But, I remember with joy and with hope, that we are 
 this day assembled, with millions of our fellow-citizens 
 in every part of the country, by the advice of our pre- 
 sent Chief Magistrate, and of the Church of Christ to 
 which we belong, to prostrate our hearts before the 
 throne of divine compassion, and in humility and peni- 
 tence to confess our sins, and implore His forgiveness 
 and His grace. We are this day, as a nation, in the 
 position of the returning prodigal, again seeking our 
 Father's face, and imploring his pardon and his love. 
 We are acknowledging that He is upon the throne, 
 and bowing before Him, who has promised a free for- 
 
44 
 
 giveness to the truly penitent, and a favourable audience 
 to the prayer of faith. 
 
 If the solemn purposes of this day, therefore, are an- 
 swered in us, and the blessings which we implore from 
 heaven are to be enjoyed by us, we must, with sincerity 
 of spirit, humble ourselves before God. 
 
 We are in danger, on occasions like this, of casting 
 our eyes around us and fixing them on the gross and 
 prevailing sins of the land, or the faults and the iniquities 
 of others, without turning them inward upon our own 
 hearts, and to the character of our own lives. But 
 however this may form a part of our present duty, that 
 in Christian charity we may remember our fellow sinners 
 in fervent supplications at the throne of grace, yet our 
 first and most important work is with ourselves. Let 
 us inquire, then, whether we have not borne a part, at 
 least, in some of the offences which expose us, as a na- 
 tion, to the displeasure of God, and which have led Him 
 already, in some measure, to visit us with stripes. 
 Have we not participated in some, at least, of the few 
 sins which have been specified? Have we not, by our 
 example, exerted an influence adverse to that righteous- 
 ness which exalteth a nation, and have we not withheld 
 our personal efforts, and our sincere and persevering 
 prayers, from those around us, and from our common 
 country ? Have we, to the extent of our means and ob- 
 hgations, been as " the light of the world and the salt of 
 the earth V Are we not, therefore, both by sins com- 
 mitted and duties neglected, personally guilty before 
 God ? Truly, then, if we would ofl!er acceptable prayer 
 this day, either for ourselves or our country, it becomes 
 us to humble ourselves in the dust before the searching 
 
45 
 
 eyes of God, to acknowledge and mourn over our sins, 
 and in the spirit of true penitence to renounce them, 
 imploring divine aid that we may henceforth live more 
 useful and holy lives. 
 
 It becomes us, also, here in the immediate presence 
 of our God, if sincerely humble and penitent, to deter- 
 mine, in reliance upon his grace, hereafter to be more 
 faithful and diligent in the employment of all the means 
 with which .He has entrusted us, to extend the know- 
 ledge of His truth and promote the cause of righteous- 
 ness throughout our land. 
 
 These services are intended, and if truly rendered, 
 are adapted to produce a happy and permanent in- 
 fluence. Whenever we approach God in prayer, it is 
 not merely that we may, for the time, enjoy the sweet 
 comforts of communion with Him, but that we may 
 also obtain his guidance and protection; and that with 
 a wisdom and strength drawn down from the skies, we 
 may go forth to the various trials and duties of life. 
 The sincerity of our present services, therefore, is to 
 be measured, not so much by our present feelings, as by 
 their spiritual and future effects. If, when months have 
 elapsed, you find yourselves more heavenly-minded and 
 more faithful in the service of God, then may you con- 
 clude that your approach to Him, this day, was sincere, 
 and that He hath fulfilled his promise, in " giving grace 
 to the humble," and in reviving the hearts of the con- 
 trite. 
 
 If we would truly observe this day, it becomes us also 
 devoutly to offer our prayers to God for our rulers, and 
 for the peace and welfare of our beloved land. 
 
 While we are permitted to rejoice in our humiliation, 
 
46 
 
 by beholding the nation that we love bowing, as with 
 one heart and voice, before her long neglected God, let 
 us not lose sight of our own individual relation to this 
 vast multitude, or allow our own responsibility to be 
 forgotten in the imposing and sublime scene which we 
 behold. Rather should it inspire in us, individually, a 
 spirit of more earnest and persevering supplication, and 
 a deep solicitude that our hearts may be in harmony 
 with these services, and that our petitions, going up 
 with the millions that are now ascending, may be of- 
 fered in humble faith, and accepted in heaven. Should 
 this spirit prevail in all our assembhes, and this genuine 
 devotion reign in every heart, who can tell what judg- 
 ments may be averted from us by the services of this 
 day, or what rich and overflowing blessings the prayers 
 which shall ascend from our country to heaven, may 
 call down in return from heaven upon our country. It 
 is a question which the light of eternity only can settle, 
 whether we are more indebted for the liberties we en- 
 joy to those deeds of valour achieved by our immortal 
 Washington in the field of conflict, or to those fervent 
 prayers which ascended from his honest heart in the 
 solitude of the forest. May God grant, my hearers, 
 that if there is deficiency any where this day at a throne 
 of grace, it may not be found in any of you. And if 
 humble, fervent, and effectual prayers, shall this day 
 prevail, and bring down blessings on our land and on 
 the world, may God grant that those prayers shall as- 
 cend from your hearts ; and may that righteousness 
 which not only exalteth a nation, but, above all, which 
 purifies and elevates the immortal soul, shine forth in 
 your lives on earth, and adorn your spirits in heaven ! 
 
 LEJa12