011 782 700 8 
 
 HoUinger 
 
 pH8.5 
 
 Mill Run F3.1 955 
 
E 286 
 .B195 
 1852 
 Mc 
 Copy 1 
 
 GOD'S FOOTSTEPS. 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 DELIVERED IN 
 
 ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH, BALTIMORE, 
 
 ^ Ittln 4tl), 1S52 
 
 The Snnday succeeding the Death of the Hon. Henry Clay. 
 
 By Rey. J: fr MUILTON, D. D. ^ 
 
 -^^ U.S. A, "')) 
 
 BALTIMORE: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY G. W. MAGERS. 
 JOHN W. WOODS, PRINTER 
 
 1852. 
 

 Baltimore, July 6, 1852. 
 
 Dear Sir : The undersigned take much pleasure in informing you that the 
 congregation worshipping at St. Stephens on last Sunday, the anniversary of 
 American Independence, were greatly delighted with the beautiful and eloquent 
 discourse delivered by you on that occasion ; and believing that it will be read 
 with interest and pleasure by many of your friends who had not opportunity of 
 hearing it, they respectfully request a copy for publication. 
 
 There can be no doubt that much good may be accomplished by a proper 
 use of the events connected with the day. The deeply interesting occurrence 
 of the Sabbath day of our National freedom on the Holy Sabbath day of the 
 Lord, in connection with the death of an eminent statesman, renders the season 
 a proper one for solemn meditation upon our National blessings and responsi- 
 bilities, and if properly improved may be the means of doing much good. With 
 these views and feelings we respectfully request that you will comply with our 
 desire and allow the sermon to be published. With high respect, 
 
 JOHN ADDISON, N. H. THAYER, 
 
 WM. WILMOT HALL, CHAS. A. LEAS, 
 
 JOHN JAMES VICKERS, L. WARREN, 
 
 HENRY DUVALL, E. W. EDWARDS, 
 
 GEORGE WITMAN, G. ALFRED MITCHELL, 
 
 JOHN R. W. DUNBAR, WM. S. TAYLOR. 
 
 To Rev'd Jno. N. M'Jilton, D. D., 
 Rector of St. Stephens. 
 
 Rectory of St. Stephens, Baltimore, July 6, 1852. 
 GENTLEMEhf : I have just received your letter and send the sermon as you 
 desire. I imagine, however, that when divested of the solemnities that attended 
 its delivery you will find many evidences of its necessarily hasty preparation. 
 
 Affectionately, 
 
 J. N. M'JILTON. 
 To John Addison, M. D., Wm. Wilmot Hall, Esq., John James Vickers, 
 Esq., Henry Duvall, Esq., George Witman, Esq., John R. W. Dunbar, 
 M. D., N. H. Thayer, A. M., L. Warren, Esq., E. W. Edwards, M. D., G. 
 Alfred Mitchell, Esq., WM. S. TAYLOR, Esq. 
 
< 
 
 * 
 
 SERMON. 
 
 Psalm LxxYii, 19. 
 
 Thy way is in the sea ; 
 
 Thy path in the great waters ; 
 
 Thy footsteps are not known. 
 
 The stately ship pursues its way in beauty upon the 
 sea. It disturbs the tranquil waters to make itself a 
 passage. Its wake of foam Hngers but a moment. It 
 wastes away, and the sea is as smooth and still as if no 
 freight of men nor merchandise had moved upon its 
 bosom. 
 
 The monarch of the deep — the mighty leviathan 
 plays upon the billows. He dashes the waters aside to 
 open a way for his massive form, and rises in sportive 
 pastime upon the mountain surge that himself hath 
 made to swell. Wearied with his sport upon the sur- 
 face, leviathan dives into the depths. The waters 
 return to their place and appear as placidly as if no 
 giant form had interrupted their repose — as if no mil- 
 lions of living beings were hidden in their caves. 
 
 The spirit of the storm in mystery spreads his wings 
 upon the deep. He lays his hand upon the ocean's 
 mane. He drags the billows from the depths, and 
 dashes them aloft against the air. He moves the winds 
 
and waves that madly rush in the terrific strife. Navies 
 strand amid the swellfng surges. Fleets, and freight, 
 and men go down to become as nothingness in the cav- 
 erns of the sea. Cities are overwhelmed by the tumul- 
 tuous waves, and lie in wreck and ruin far beneath the 
 elemental war that buried them forever. His work of 
 dread and danger done, the spirit of the tempest folds 
 his wings. The hand that grasped the ocean's mane 
 and made the sleeping billows roll, is withdrawn, and 
 the rolling billows are allowed to lull themselves to 
 sleep. Old ocean retires for repose, and in his hour 
 of rest is tranquil — subdued and peaceful as the rest of 
 sleeping infancy. In his repose of calm and quiet 
 beauty, none may tell how fiercely ocean rolled — how 
 terribly the tempest's deed of mystery was wrought. 
 
 These figures, suggested by the beautiful declaration 
 of the inspired psalmist, are but feebly expressive of 
 the movements of the great Jehovah among the crea- 
 tures of his vast — illimitable creation. The eye of 
 inspiration was permitted to look upon those move- 
 ments. But the sight was too powerful — too sublime 
 to be properly expressed in human language, or evolved 
 inhuman thought. He did all that man inspired could 
 do when he gave utterance to the text. The way of 
 the Great Divinity is as a passage over the sea. It is 
 as a path in the great waters. It is enveloped in mys- 
 tery. His footsteps cannot be known. How grand 
 must have been the idea that trembled in the thought 
 of the minstrel prophet ? How glorious ? How ma- 
 jestic.'' And yet how beautiful? How full of simpli- 
 city ? How redolent of life is the figure, and yet to 
 human vision how thoroughly to nothingness it fades.? 
 In its grandeur and glory, and majesty and beauty, and 
 
simplicity, it is the way of God — the path of the Great 
 Omnipotent. In the utter nothingness to which it 
 fades, it is the view of man. 
 
 The footsteps of the Great Divinity are impressed 
 upon the wide-spread universe of his creation, and 
 upon the infinity which only his own sovereign mind 
 can fathom. Like a way in the sea, or a path in the 
 great waters, those footsteps are unseen — they are in- 
 visible. They can be known only to himself. They 
 are the footsteps of the Great Eternal, and their way 
 is upon his own eternity. Darkness is his pavilion. 
 (Ps. xxxiii, 7.) The clouds are his chariot. Hewalk- 
 eth upon the wings of the winds. (Ps. civ, 3.) 
 
 And as well as upon the universe of his creation, the 
 footsteps of the Eternal Majesty- are impressed upon 
 this orb that we inhabit. His way of wonder — His 
 path of power is among the nations. He raiseth up, 
 and he casteth down. It is he only that createth. It 
 is he only that can destroy. He moves in his mighty 
 purpose, alike, in the empire that spreads from sea to 
 sea, and in the little kingdom that nestles upon the 
 side of a mountain.* In the fulfilment of that purpose, 
 he hath legibly recorded his name and character among 
 the nations of the earth. They are written alike in 
 blood and in blessing. In blood among the wicked — 
 the rebellious — the disobedient. In blessing as well 
 among these as among the comparatively good — the 
 loyal — the obedient. 
 
 The events of life among nations, communities, and 
 with individual men, are wisely, though sometimes to 
 
 •The Kingdom of Israel has been destroyed and the people scattered to the 
 four winds. Babylon, Thebes, and Baalbec are no more, and for more than 
 thirteen hundred years the little republic of San Marino has been preserved. 
 
 1* 
 
human observation, strangely ordered. The wisdom 
 and the mystery appear in the purpose of God. He 
 hath a way — a path. It is a way — a path of wisdom. 
 He impresseth his footsteps. It is done in mystery. 
 They are unseen. They are unknown. They are 
 like the way of the ship upon the sea — the path of the 
 leviathan upon the deep. They are like the way — the 
 path of the storm upon the ocean. They have their 
 passage. But the waters disclose it not — the winds do 
 not retain it. Nor can it be traced visibly upon the 
 solid earth. But it is a passage — the passage of the 
 Great God, and his footsteps are everywhere. The 
 effects of their tread of wonder and power are seen — 
 they are felt — they are known. The empire arises — 
 it flourishes — it falls. The waves of time close over 
 it, and its memorial is all that preserves its name and 
 history from being buried in oblivion's sea. So He the 
 empires of the past. They have been upon the sea, 
 and they have passed away. 
 
 Time's restless waves have proudly passed them o'er, 
 And then those waves have roll'd as they had roU'd before. 
 
 When the Israelites entered the territory of the Ca- 
 naanitish nations they found the impress of Divinity. 
 But it was found in the fetters of a dark and gloomy and 
 bloody idolatry. The days of their iniquity were num- 
 bered, and the power of Heaven was wisely and strange- 
 ly manifested in their extermination, and in rearing up 
 in their stead and upon their soil a people for the honor 
 and worship of the true — the everliving God. As 
 strangely as they were led through the wilderness to 
 the land that was promised them were they protected, 
 and governed in the home that had so providentially 
 
been prepared for them. Many and familiar are the 
 waymarks of God's providence that are recorded 
 among his ancient and most highly favored people. 
 Their history is a continuous exhibition of the wonder- 
 ful intervention of his power. It is the impress of in- 
 spiration that history bears, and the way of God in 
 working it out is seen in a lengthened chain of mystery 
 and miracle. No other nation of the globe can show upon 
 the records of its history the marks so distinctly and 
 clearly impressed of Heaven's inspiration. To them 
 were committed the oracles of God. In the possession 
 of these, they appear as a peculiar people — a people of 
 inspiration. But other nations bear the marks as dis- 
 tinctly impressed and as plainly seen of God's providen- 
 tial interference. In some instances the evidences of 
 his providence among other nations are almost as mys- 
 terious as were the marks of inspiration among the 
 people of Israel. The footsteps of his Awful Majesty 
 have marked his way among the nations and kindreds 
 of the earth. Those footsteps have moved upon the 
 the sea — upon the winds — upon the soil. But neither 
 the waves, the winds, nor the soil have retained the 
 visible impression of his presence and his power. No 
 voice of inspiration proclaims the purpose as it did of 
 old. But the movements of his providence are as 
 clearly marked, and may be as distinctly traced. 
 
 When, like the Israelites among the nations of Ca- 
 naan, the little bands of European adventurers sought a 
 home upon the wild American shores, they found the 
 impress of Divinity. The footsteps of God had been 
 there. They had left their marks amid the gloom of a 
 savage wilderness. Amid ignorance, barbarism and 
 idolatry the idea of a Great Supreme was fixed in the 
 
8 
 
 savage mind. They worshipped. But they worshipped 
 they knew not what. They hved — they cared not 
 hoWj so their sensual desires were satisfied and the in- 
 dulgence of their lawless propensities undisturbed. 
 Like the nations of ancient Canaan, they quarrelled — 
 they fought — they ate each other's flesh — they drank 
 each other's blood. Doubtless the measure of their 
 base impieties was full, when the adventurers of Europe 
 placed their feet upon their shores. Doubtless those 
 adventurers were providentially directed in their un- 
 certain journey. No voice of inspiration audibly pro- 
 claimed a promise of success, but the finger of an 
 Omniscient Providence pointed to the western world, 
 and the strong arm of the Mightiest led them to its coasts. 
 The wanderers hewed themselves a home amid the 
 dark wild forest, and commenced the cultivation of the 
 arts of peace and the worship of the true God. It was 
 the march of civilization. It was the march of Chris- 
 tianity. It turned the wilderness into a garden of 
 flowers, and upon the hunting ground of the savage 
 reared the splendid city. It fulfilled the declaration of 
 ancient prophecy in causing the desert to blossom as 
 the rose. It recorded the name of God in his worship 
 upon the hills and plains. It was the deed by which 
 they were "graven with a pen of iron and lead in the 
 rock forever." (Job, xix, 24.) 
 
 The land of the savages of the western wilderness, 
 like that of the nations of Canaan, has become the land 
 of civilization. It has become more. It has become 
 the land of Christianity — the land of the people of God 
 under the new and better dispensation of his church. 
 In the change is seen the footsteps of Divinity. It has 
 been like the way of God in the sea — like his path in 
 
the great waters. It was effected by men, and appar- 
 ently by human means. But the finger of the Omnis- 
 cient pointed the way. The arm of the Omnipotent 
 directed its accomplishment. Like the barbarians of 
 Canaan, the savages of this western land, have wasted 
 "by little and little," fExod. xxiii, 30,) until, as a race, 
 they have almost become extinct. In the few that are 
 left, the American christian reads the purpose of Heaven 
 in the distribution of His blessings among the inhabitants 
 of the earth, and in the use of its territory for the accom- 
 plishment of his wonderful designs. They remain as 
 did the Ammonite and Moabite near the people of 
 Israel, to remind us as they were reminded of the favors 
 received from God, and as a warning of duty on the 
 part of his subjects to love and faithfully serve him. 
 
 Our land of wealth and beauty is but another land 
 of promise, and in its gift we trace the footsteps of our 
 heavenly Benefactor in the working of his Sovereign 
 will. As it was His pleasure to give no king to Israel, 
 but to be the king Himself of his favored people, so 
 hath it pleased Him that no king but Himself should 
 rule over this land. The freedom enjoyed by the 
 American people is the gift of God. Mind in its en- 
 lightenment becomes impatient in the restraints of 
 civil oppression. It pants for liberty. It struggles to 
 be free. So panted, and so struggled the early settlers 
 of this continent. The free winds of the American 
 wilderness fanned the brows that had been fevered in 
 the restraints of monarchical rule. The cooling draught 
 was grateful to their feelings and like those winds they 
 would be free. How they struggled with their oppres- 
 sor. How they snapped asunder the yoke that he 
 placed upon their necks. How they resisted. How 
 
10 
 
 they fought and bled, and prayed and triumphed, their 
 history will tell to the latest generation. 
 
 This day — the Fourth of July is a sign and seal 
 of freedom to the American patriot. It is a memorial 
 of the trials and triumphs of the American fathers in 
 the days of the Revolution. It tells that in the face of 
 tyranny they had courage to proclaim their wrongs. 
 It tells that when they demanded redress and it was 
 refused they dared to proclaim to their oppressors and 
 to the world their determination to be free. It tells 
 how they bound themselves, and the colonies they re- 
 presented in a bond of Union which neither tyranny, 
 nor trial, nor persecution, nor human power — which 
 nothing but death could dissolve. It tells how they 
 endured — how they suffered — how they labored and 
 how they persevered until victory hovered over their 
 standard, and their banner of the stripes and stars waved 
 over a free people. It tells of the peace — the pros- 
 perity — the plenty and the happiness the people of this 
 land have possessed and enjoyed since the year 1776 
 it proclaimed them to the world a free and independent 
 nation. All this is told by the day of festivity and joy. 
 And more than all this it tells. It tells that the tri- 
 umph of free principles is keeping pace with the pro- 
 gress of mental enlightenment. It tells that as the 
 nations emerge from barbarism to civilization, and to 
 enlightenment, and to religion, they become more free 
 and more capable of the possession of the treasure and 
 consequently more happy. And more than this it tells. 
 It tells that if the descendants of the men of the Revo- 
 lution would preserve their inheritance of freedom, like 
 those men they must be pure, self-sacrificing patriots — 
 Christian men whom no fear can intimidate, but the fear 
 
11 
 
 of offending God, and who acknowledge no allegiance 
 that does not recognize him as the centre of its unity 
 and the circumscribing limit of its authority. And 
 more than this it tells. It tells that as the men of the 
 Revolution were so entirely a unit in their purpose of 
 giving freedom to their country that a traitor could not 
 remain among them, but had to fly for protection to a 
 foreign hostile government, so are the successors of 
 those men to be one and indivisible in their determina- 
 tion to preserve their heritage of freedom in its unity 
 and purity, and that if one, either for his opinion, or his 
 price should betray his trust, the moral force of the 
 people would bear him down to his level and cause him 
 to hide his diminished head in shame. All this and 
 more, this day of freedom tells. It tells that the foot- 
 steps of Him whose way is in the sea and whose path is 
 in the great waters have touched it, and left upon it 
 the marksof their mysterious tread. It is wonderful — 
 it is providential that John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, 
 and James Monroe, three Presidents of the Republic to 
 which it gave existence — that was declared free on the 
 Fourth day of July, should have been taken from their 
 labors to their reward on its anniversary. And the 
 wonder is increased and the providence rendered more 
 mysterious in the fact that two of them — Adams and 
 Jefferson, the principal authors of the Declaration of 
 Independence, were taken on the same day, and that 
 the fiftieth — the jubilaticyear of the independence, for 
 the securing of which they periled their fortunes and 
 lives, and pledged their sacred honor. Surely these 
 strangely coincident events could not have occurred by 
 mere accident. They must have been providential. 
 And as providential coincidences in relation to the an- 
 
12 
 
 niversary of American freedom, they call upon the 
 patriots of this land to consider them in connection with 
 their duties to their country — to their countrymen — to 
 their God. If they are the footsteps of the Most High, 
 they are intended for use. They are for admonition — 
 for reproof of wrong — for encouragement of right — for 
 direction in seeking our own and our country's good in 
 His hallowed service. 
 
 We celebrate to-day the Seventy-fifth anniversary 
 of our day of freedom. It is a day in which a nation's 
 heart is thrilled with grateful joy. It falls upon the 
 Sabbath — the holy day of God, and from the sacred 
 desk a legion voices proclaim, and millions of swelling- 
 hearts respond to the proclamation of a nation's gratitude 
 to Heaven for the hand of mercy which is over us, and 
 for the rich blessings it is ever pouring upon us. But 
 while this universal offering of grateful praise is rising 
 from a nation's lips, a nation's heart is bleeding, and a 
 nation's tears are flowing from its depths. A mourn- 
 ful pageant is now passing through this land and the 
 drapery of death is waving upon its winds of freedom. 
 The American flag is unfurled and spreads its folds in 
 beauty upon the breeze, but it bears aloft the badge of 
 sorrow. The footsteps of the Great God have but just 
 passed by us, and with them has passed away from 
 earth and earthly toil forever, the spirit of one who was 
 as proudly eminent in the councils of the nation as he 
 is now profoundly venerated in the affections of the 
 people. With the lamented dead, and with the great 
 that have gone to their reward is now associated the 
 name of Henry Clay — the patriot — the statesman — 
 the devoted friend of American liberty. On this day 
 of proud memorial, how often has his voice been heard 
 
13 
 
 expressing his admiration of the characters and deeds 
 of the revolutionary patriots? How often repeated 
 have been his efforts to render their work of freedom 
 perpetual by embalming it more deeply in the affections 
 of his countrymen. And now that he sleeps in death, 
 on this day so dear to the American heart, how many 
 voices are speaking his eulogy — how many tongues are 
 telling over the deeds that have made his memory im- 
 mortal ? 
 
 On this occasion, memorable as a festival both of the 
 Church and the State — memorable alike ingrief and joy, 
 it is meet and right that a passing notice should be given 
 to the character and deeds of the departed statesman 
 and patriot. For more than half a century the name 
 of Henry Clay has been identified with the National 
 Council of his country. He has been a prominent actor 
 in the most important events that have occupied the 
 attention of the statesmen of his day. The feature that 
 stands out most strongly marked in his political charac- 
 ter, is his devotion to the Union of the States. Closely 
 connected with this feature is that of the honor of the 
 National American character. Since the question of 
 States Rights was introduced, which a number of the 
 most eminent of his compeers have been mistaken in 
 advocating, doubtless without being aware of it, against 
 some of the most important interests of the General 
 Government, he has most eminently distinguished him- 
 self as an advocate for the Union. He has never for 
 a moment tolerated the idea that any right possessed by 
 a State, nor anything whatever, should be allowed to 
 interpose itself between a State and the Union. He 
 has openly and repeatedly proclaimed himself the enemy 
 of whatever might be presented in opposition to the 
 2 
 
14 
 
 great confederacy that binds the States of North Amer- 
 ica in one General Government. When he first enter- 
 ed the House of Representatives, seventeen States com- 
 posed the American confederacy. He has been enga- 
 ged in the admission into the Union of the additional 
 fourteen, nearly half of the present number, and his great 
 purpose has ever been to allow no state to be associa- 
 ted with the rest in the acknowledgment of -any right 
 that might conflict with the rights of the whole. In 
 maintaining this principle, he has been obhged to meet 
 in opposition some of the ablest minds of the country. 
 But he has never faltered in his purpose in relation to 
 the Union, nor failed in its accomplishment. Other 
 great minds, with some of which he differed upon other 
 points of policy, have been associated with him in the 
 various contests, and they have always prevailed. 
 Many events might be alluded to, were this the time 
 and the place, to show his love for the Union — his fear 
 that it might receive injury at the hands of its friends — 
 and his laborious services in sustaining it. 
 
 Not less prominent in his history than his devotion 
 to the Union, does his estimate of the honor of the 
 American character appear. One of the most import- 
 ant and perhaps valuable acts of his life, in which this 
 estimate is seen, is connected with the war of 1812. 
 Of that war, under the circumstances that caused its de- 
 claration, he was a zealous advocate. He regarded the 
 honor of the American confederacy as tarnished in a 
 tame submission to the outrages that caused the rup- 
 ture between our Government and that of England. 
 The search of American vessels upon the high seas, 
 and the impressment of American seamen into a foreign 
 service, were received as an insult to which the Amer- 
 
16 
 
 ican flag could not be allowed to submit. With this 
 view, which he held in common with a number of the dis- 
 tinguished statesmen of the day, and for the support of 
 the war of 1812, he resigned his seat in the Senate, and 
 was elected by the people of his district in Kentucky 
 to the House of Representatives. Both in and out of 
 Congress he had to oppose such men as John Quincy 
 Adams, James Bayard, Albert Gallatin and others. But, 
 notwithstanding their opposition, the party was success- 
 ful that was determined to redress the wrong the country 
 had sustained, and remove the stain the national es- 
 cutcheon had received in the search of American ves- 
 sels and the impressment of American seamen. The 
 war was declared, and Mr. Clay did his utmost to have 
 it vigorously pursued, and to bring it to an honorable 
 termination. Dissatisfaction having been expressed in 
 relation to the commission appointed to negotiate the 
 terms of peace with England, Mr. Clay and Jonathan 
 Russell of the war party were associated with it. The 
 commission as at first composed, consisted of Messrs. 
 Adams, Bayard and Gallatin, and the opinion of Mr. 
 Clay and others was, that as they were all of the peace 
 party, those of the opposite view should be represent- 
 ed in a matter in which they were so much concerned. 
 Hence his appointment with Mr. Russell by President 
 Madison to aid in effecting the treaty. When these 
 gentlemen arrived in Europe they found that the terms 
 of the treaty had been agreed upon, but as they were 
 not satisfactory to them, they demanded that the nego- 
 tiation should be re-opened. For nearly five months 
 the subject was discussed by the parties, during which 
 Messrs. Clay and Russell insisted that the obnoxious 
 feature of search and impressment should be reproba- 
 
16 
 
 ted by the treaty. Although but partially successful, 
 the celebrated treaty of Ghent owes some of its most 
 prominent features, which are honorable to American 
 liberty, to those gentlemen. 
 
 The last political act in the life of Mr. Clay was the 
 presentation to the Senate of his Compromise resolu- 
 tions upon the widely agitated and difficult subject of 
 slavery. In relation to these resolutions a most aston- 
 ishing coincidence has occurred. But a few days be- 
 fore the death of Mr. Clay, the conventions of the two 
 opposing parties for the nomination of candidates for the 
 Presidency of the United States met in this city. And 
 widely as those parties had differed in policy, and bit- 
 terly as they had opposed each other for years, both 
 adopted the compromise of the great statesman as a 
 basis upon which to rest their political platforms. 
 How gratifying it must have been to the dying patriot 
 that both parties should thus have adopted his Compro- 
 mise. It must have been a high source of pleasure to him 
 that the violence of party feeling had so far subsided, that 
 the contest for political principle was likely to be carried 
 on in a more friendly spirit than it had been for many 
 years. But a few days after this satisfactory and grati- 
 fying event he bowed peacefully, and without a mur- 
 mur, to the mandate of Heaven, and resigned his spirit 
 to the God who gave it. His work is done. The 
 measure of his years and honors is full. He has been 
 gathered to his reward. 
 
 It was but a few years ago that Mr. Clay formally 
 and openly entered upon the responsibilities and duties 
 of religion. He was baptized in the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church and became at once a communicant at her 
 altar. Since that time he has been earnestly devoted 
 
17 
 
 to his religious duties. Upon his death-bed he had a 
 Jong season for reflection, and was thankful that he was 
 spared to consider his spiritual condition and hold a 
 lengthened communion with his God. In meekness 
 and without reserve he surrendered himself to the 
 keeping of his Heavenly Master. There is a volume 
 of interest in the declaration of his behef and confidence 
 in the christian faith, made to a brother Senator a short 
 time previous to his death. "/ am not afraid to die, I 
 have hope^ faith, and some confidence. I do not think 
 any man can be entirely certain in regard to his 
 future state, but I have an abiding trust in the merits 
 and mediation of the Saviour. ^^ 
 
 How childlike in its simplicity and trust was the faith 
 of this great man ? His own words in view of death 
 show how utterly worthless he regarded all human 
 things in comparison with the treasures of eternity, and 
 hov^r devotedly and confidently he reposed his trust in 
 Christ. His own character and deeds and the plaudits 
 and benedictions of his countrymen that he had been 
 receiving for half a century were all forgotten, and 
 the prospect of Heaven was to him the portion of rich- 
 est blessing. A receding world was nothing in his view 
 vi^hen the unalterable realities of a future state were open- 
 ing before his spiritual vision. His testimony is that of a 
 great mind to the truth of the Christian faith and the con- 
 solations of the Gospel. In the reception of the emblems 
 of the Broken Body and Shed Blood of his Lord and 
 Saviour, he confessed, in deeds, as he had done in words, 
 his entire reliance upon His merits and mediation for the 
 cleansing of his soul, and for the joys of salvation, which 
 he hoped to realize in Heaven. Brethren of the Com- 
 munion, we shall soon assemble at the Table of the Lord 
 
18 
 
 to testify, as did the departed statesman, our faith in 
 Christ, and our hope in the merits of His death. Like 
 him, in view of death and the eternal future, let us 
 divest our thoughts of earthly considerations, and our 
 affections of earthly hopes, and let us commune in 
 spirit with the vast household of our common faith — 
 in the surrender of self — in the forgetfulness of all that 
 is earthly and sensual — in the knowledge only of Christ 
 and Him crucified. 
 
 We mourn the departed, and it is well that we should 
 do so. Humanity, in its affliction, finds rehef in tears. 
 But it is not to our profit that so much of our thoughts 
 should be given to the dead as amass of lifeless flesh — 
 a cold and wasting tenant of the cemetery. The form 
 we follow to the tomb is but the remnant of the depart- 
 ed — the least valuable part of the once living man — the 
 loved and valued friend. Around that form hopes may 
 have clustered — affections entwined, and it may have 
 become dear to us. But it was the spirit that looked 
 and spake from the frame work of flesh that attracted 
 our notice and drew out our affections. And that spirit 
 dies not with the dissolving body. It passes from it, 
 and from this world to another state of being. It still 
 lives. It still loves. It is still capable of enjoyment. 
 So has passed from earth and from the form it inhabit- 
 ed, the spirit of the great statesman and patriot whose 
 memorial we mingle with our devotions to-day. He 
 has gone to the reward of his faith, and while his dead 
 body shall waste in the sepulchre, we doubt not that 
 his living spirit shall pursue its way of peace in the pre- 
 sence of its God. There is a place into which the 
 spirit passes when it leaves its earthly dwelling. There 
 it waits the resurrection, when it shall be reunited to 
 
19 
 
 the body to be separated no more, but to dwell in union 
 during the endless years of Heaven. It is encouraging 
 to the christian heart — the heart of Faith, to beheve, 
 that although all that is valuable, and lovely, and attrac- 
 tive of this world must fade, and fall, and crumble into 
 the nothingness of decay — although 
 
 "Love and hope, and beauty's bloom, 
 Seem trophies only for the tomb," 
 
 there is a world of the future in which all shall be re- 
 covered. There is a dwelling place of immortality, 
 where the light shines forever, and the glory is not dim- 
 med by even a passing shadow. It is the home of the 
 faithful and the dead in Christ possess it, and enjoy it 
 forever. To the soul of Faith it is joy that it may look 
 away from life's calamities and cares ; and in its view of 
 Heaven it grieves not that with the Psalmist it must say 
 of God— 
 
 "Thy way is in the sea, 
 Thy path in the great waters, 
 Thy footsteps are not known." 
 
 Although to human view, under the tread of the Al 
 mighty's footsteps, life passes like a ship upon the sea, 
 or like leviathan over the deep, or like the storm upon 
 the ocean. It sinks amid the waves of time to rise no 
 more upon them. Yet in the view of Faith, under the 
 eye and arm of Providence, its fall is but its transit to 
 another and an eternal state. It is by Faith so slighted 
 by the worldly, and sometimes so neglected by the wise, 
 that we follow the Great Divinity in his purpose, and 
 behold the movements of his power in raising up the 
 faithful dead for the perpetual enjoyment of the Hfe of 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 20 
 
 011 782 700 8 
 
 Heaven. Although we may not with our eyes of flesh, 
 nor in our mental view, behold the way in which he 
 walks, the path upon which He treads. His footsteps 
 may not thus be known to us, yet are we satisfied 
 that they are the footsteps of the Highest— the Holiest ; 
 and that they mark His way of might and mercy — of 
 power and peace. The soul's rest is upon its Faith — 
 the mind assents — hope springs from the word of God's 
 revealment, and man — the tossed, the troubled, on the 
 sea of life, feels that he is safe. What then though 
 all must die ? What then though the greatr and the 
 humble go down together to the dust? What then 
 though the wise and the simple slumber side by 
 side in the narrow dwelling of the dead? Faith, which 
 is the gift of God, and may be possessed by all, illumes 
 the dreary waste of death and assures us of a better life — 
 the life of immortality in Heaven, where the good and 
 the great of earth shall assemble to follow the unknown 
 footsteps of God forever. Men of mortality, awake to 
 your better interests ! Seek your place in Providence 
 as children of Faith. Then may you rejoice as you 
 look upward from a decaying world, for you shall — 
 
 See Truth, Love and Mercy in triumph descending, 
 And Nature all glowing in Eden's first bloom, 
 On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending, 
 And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb. 
 
011 782 701 
 
 HoUinger 
 pH8.5 
 Mill Run F3'19£ 
 
 r 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 011 782 700 8 
 
 HoUinger 
 
 pH8.5 
 
 Mill Run F3.1955