QO ceiai;®. 
 
 SERMON 
 
 ON THE 
 
 OPEEATIONS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE 
 
 AS SEEK IN THE 
 
 TO THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 
 
 PREACHED AT 
 
 JOY STREET CHURCH, xVPRIL 10, 1870, 
 
 Key. ALEXANDER 'ELLIS. 
 
 PRINTED BY DAVID CL 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 APP & SON :m WASHINGTON ST. 
 
^ SERMON 
 
 OPERATIONS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE: 
 
 AS SEEN IN THK 
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY, AND IN THE ENACTMENT AND 
 
 RATIFICATION OF THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT 
 
 TO THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 
 
 PREACHED AT 
 
 JOY STREET CHURCH, APRIL 10, 1870, 
 
 BY 
 
 Rev. ALEXANDER ELLIS, 
 
 J 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY DAVID CLAPP & SON 334 WASHINGTON ST. 
 
 18^0. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 
 
 ALEXANDER ELLIS, 
 
 In the Clerk's Oflace for the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 ■«v>:. 
 
 5t- 
 
SERMO N 
 
 The operations of Divine Providence: as seen in the 
 Abolition op Slavery and in the Ratification of the 
 Fifteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. 
 
 Num. xxiii. 23. 
 
 " According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What 
 hath God wrought ! " 
 
 Whatever may have been the fault of Balaam on the 
 ground of covetousness, he is at least entitled to our respect 
 and esteem, on the score of candor. He told Balak frankly, 
 at the outset, tliat he had no power to utter anything, be- 
 yond what God should dictate to him, hence the dignity and 
 sublimity of his prophecy. None of the old prophets have 
 recorded any thing more lofty and hopeful for Israel than 
 Balaam. 
 
 The circumstance which gave rise to the words of 
 the text. 
 
 The point of time at which these words were uttered, was 
 towards the close of the wanderings of the children of Israel 
 in their way from Egypt to the land of Canaan. 
 
 They have now reached Kadesh,in the wilderness of Zin; 
 where they also tarry for a season. An advance, however, 
 is again ordered, and they have thus before them an imme- 
 diate prospect of entering upon their long-coveted possession. 
 
 But between Kadesh and Canaan several powerful nations 
 are located, whose attitude towards Israel will necessarily 
 affect their onward progress, and who must therefore, be either 
 propitiated, avoided, or subdued. The first of these nations 
 with whom thev have to deal is Edom. Their nearest route 
 
to Canaan lies right through the Edomitish countr}'. Now 
 Edom was the brother of Israel — the one being descended 
 from Esau, and the other from Jacob. And it miglit have 
 been supposed that a frank and brotherly appeal from Israel 
 to Edom, would have been met with a hearty and brotherly 
 response. Such an appeal, therefore, does Moses now ad- 
 dress to the King of Edom. Reminding him of the relations 
 existing between the two nations ; and reciting the afflictions 
 of the Israelites, both in Egypt and the Wilderness, he asks 
 permission to pass through the countr3^ And that Edom 
 might be no loser by the passage of the people through the 
 land, Moses voluntarily promises that they shall not pass 
 through the fields, or through the vineyards, or drink of the 
 water of the wells ; but that they shall go by the king's high- 
 way, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, till 
 they have passed the borders of the land. Nothing could 
 be more conciliatory than his tone — nothing more reasonable 
 than his proposition. The King of Edom, however, is in- 
 exorable. Not only does he refuse the Israelites a passage 
 through his territory, but threatens to come out against them 
 with the sword, if they should attempt to pass througii his land. 
 
 Now the Israelites had been strictly forbidden to meddle 
 with the Edomites, because they were their brethren. Re- 
 fused a passage, therefore, through the country of Edom, and 
 equally forbidden, by the law of God, to force one, they make 
 a circuit, and attem})t an entrance into Canaan by another 
 line of march. 
 
 This new route brought them in conflict with Arad, the 
 Canaanite, who came out against them, and even so far pre- 
 vailed against them, as to take some of them prisoners. 
 Nevertheless, they cried unto the Lord in their distress, and 
 He delivered the Canaanites into their hands. A considera- 
 ble advance is thus secured. Step by step, with various in- 
 cidents by the way, they jouruc}' forward to the Promised 
 Land. 
 
 ' At lengtli, their peaceful progress is again ai'rested, by the 
 liostile altitude of Siiion, king of tlie Amorites. To him 
 Israel made the same overtures, as had been formerly made 
 to Edom. Sihon refused to listen to these propositions; but 
 
gathering his forces together, went out against Israel and 
 fought against him. The Israelites, however, utterly dis- 
 comfited the Amorites, and took possession of their territory. 
 
 By tills conquest they were now advanced to the border of 
 the Amorites. But at this point they were compelled again 
 to halt for a while ; for the border of the children of Amraon 
 was strong, and their disposition warlike. Moreover, with 
 the Amorites (as with the Edomitcs) the children of Israel 
 were forbidden to wage war. ¥br Amnion also was related 
 to Israel by their descent from Lot, the nephew of Abraliam. 
 
 With Amnion was still farther associated Moab, the half 
 brother of Amnion, Now Moab had been, at one time, a 
 very prosperous and powerful nation, but had, of late, suffer- 
 ed great reverses at the hands of the Amorites, who had 
 vanquished them in war, and stripped them of their posses- 
 sions. When therefore, Moab saw what Israel had done to 
 the Amorites, they, not unnaturally, began to fear what 
 might further befal them at the hands of so formidable a 
 neighbor. But their fears were uncalled for, because like 
 Edom and Amraon, Moab was protected from hostility on 
 the part of Israel, by a special injunction from Jehovah. 
 
 In these fears also shared another tribe residing in that 
 neighborhood — the tribe of Midian, descended from Abra- 
 ham, through Keturah, his second wife. 
 
 With these three nations, then, together, had Israel now 
 to deal : the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the Midianites. 
 And it was just as Israel was meditating a further advance 
 that these three nations, bound together by a certain com- 
 munity of interest, as well as of relationship, conspired to 
 offer them the stoutest resistance. It had already been 
 shown, however, how hopeless it was for any nation to con- 
 tend with Israel in arms. The strongest nations had proved 
 themselves utterly unable to withstand their victorious career. 
 A more subtle plan of dealing with this mighty people, there- 
 fore, suggested itself to the allied conspirators. 
 
 Far northward, in the land of Mesopotamia, dwelt a 
 famous soothsayer and diviner, named Balaam. This man 
 had won himself a great renown, by the successful practice 
 of his art; and it was commonly believed that either his 
 
blessing or his malediction would work its own result on 
 whomsoever it might be pronounced. Balak, the king of 
 Moab, only reflected the popular belief concerning liioi; when 
 he said, " I wot (I know) that he whom thou blessest is bless- 
 ed and he whom thou cursest is cursed." 
 
 To enlist the influence of Balaam, then, against the host of 
 Israel seemed the most feasible way of overcoming them. 
 Perhaps, where material v/eapons had failed, spiritual wea- 
 pons might succeed. Moab therefore taking the lead in 
 tlie matter — the Midianites heartily and actively co-operating 
 in the scheme, and the Ammonites at least assenting to the 
 same — an important embassy is despatched to Balaam, the 
 son of Beor, to Pethor, in the land of Mesopotamia, entreat- 
 ing him to come to the plains of Moab, to curse the Israel- 
 ites ; the ambassadors bearing the rewards of divination in 
 their hand. And this is the flattering message that they 
 carried to him from Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab : 
 "Behold there is a people come out from Egypt: behold 
 they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against 
 me. Come now, therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people ; 
 for they are too mighty for me : peradventurc I shall pre- 
 vail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out 
 of tlie land : for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, 
 and he whom thou cursest is cursed." 
 
 Truly it might be said of Israel, that " the heathen did 
 ' rage,' and the people did imagine vain things ; the kings of 
 the earth set themselves, and the rulers took counsel together 
 against the Lord, ojid against His Anointed." But He who 
 sitteth in the heavens laughed them to scorn, and overruled 
 their conspiracy to further the very cause they attempted to 
 destroy. Balaam disappointed Balak, and instead of cursing 
 the Israelites, he blessed them. Enraged at this Balak bids 
 him neither to curse nor bless them at all ; and supposing 
 that a change of locality might elTect a corresponding change 
 in the prophet's conduct, he now takes him to a place where 
 but a part of Israel can be seen — and here God compels 
 him to pronounce the blessing more abundantly than before : 
 " Surely," says he, " there is no enchantment against Jacob, 
 neither is there any divination against Israel ; according to 
 
this time it sliall l)e said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath 
 God wrought ! Behold the people shall rise up as a great 
 lion, and lift up himself as a young lion ; he shall not lie 
 down until he eat of the prey and drink of the blood of the 
 slain." 
 
 Analogy between the History of the Iseaelites of this 
 
 PERIOD AND that OF THE FrEEDMEN OP AMERICA. 
 
 My brethren, the History of the Jews, at the time when the 
 words of the text were first uttered, is precisely like ours of 
 to-day. Our history thus far has been one of vexed conflicts 
 and hardships. Like Israel, we were conducted, in the year 
 1G20, into base and cruel bondage. Then our little band, 
 of outraged humanity, consisted of but nineteen souls. But 
 in the order of time that little band became a gigantic host 
 of four millions. 
 
 The History of Slavery is written in blood. Its pages 
 are yet soiled with the tears of many, whose groans are for- 
 ever reverberating on the ears of callous-hearted Oppression. 
 It is true that in 1787, Jefferson proclaimed, in terms of 
 awful solemnity, that "all men are created equal, and en- 
 dowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights, 
 among which are liberty, &c.," but his resolution was soon 
 rejected. It is true that from a sense of justice, Washington 
 emancipated his slaves by testament; while Franklin wrote 
 against slavery, and Jay with others said Amen ; but fearing 
 lest the bond of federation should be broken, none of them 
 insisted on the destructiou of the then existing monster. It 
 is true that in 1794 the Congress of the Nation prohibited 
 the slave trade; and that in 1814 and 1842 treaties were 
 made between England and the United States to that eflFect, 
 but the latter denying the right of search, the whole thing 
 became a farce ; for where negroes could not be clandestinely 
 obtained, they were raised like horses, and then sold. And 
 so this state of things continued during the whole of the first 
 epoch of American slavery. 
 
 The next epoch finds the country convulsed, on account of 
 the " Missouri Compromise." Then it was a question whether 
 Missouri was entitled to admission to the sisterhood of 
 
States, she having, in her Constitution, permitted tlie exist- 
 ence of slavery within her borders. Twice the House re- 
 fused to admit her ; twice the Senate voted for her admission. 
 It was a vexed question. At length i\Ir. Cla}' offered a pro- 
 position which was agreed to by Congress, accepted by the 
 South and confirmed by the North. Thus Slavery lengthen- 
 ed its borders. 
 
 Next came the annexation of Texas, in 1845, affording 
 another arena for the sacrifice of human blood. lu 1850, 
 the immortal, yet infamous Fugitive Slave Law was passed. 
 Thenceforward everyso called master could pursue and seize 
 the fugitive slaves in the free States, IMassachusetts not ex- 
 cepted. Thus Anthony Burns and William Craft were both 
 pursued to the very heart of Boston ; happily however, the 
 one was taken, but the other not. 
 
 In 1854 Kansas was organized into a Territory; the fol- 
 lowing year found it with a Legislature, from which emana- 
 ted the edict that no one could be sworn without affirming 
 the rightfulnes of slaver^^, and that to maintain the contrar}^ 
 involved the penalty of two years of hard labor. Nor was 
 this all. It further decreed, that if any one should print 
 or circulate any writing against slavery, he should be im- 
 prisoned four years ; if any one gave shelter to a fugitive 
 slave, the same punishment was to be inflicted on him ; if a 
 person afforded aid or concealment to him, it was death ; if 
 he stirred up slaves to insurrection it was death, and if he 
 refused to swear to support the Fugitive Slave Law, he was 
 to be disfranchized. 
 
 It was these as well as other barbarities on God's people, 
 that so much raised the just indignation of the illustrious 
 Sumner, and made him pour forth these words of caustic 
 eloquence — " In truth, we are all included in the common 
 title of men, as spaniels, lapdogs, mastiffs, and bloodhounds, 
 are included in the common name of dogs.'' It is true that 
 two days afterwards, he suffered, at the hand of Brooks, for 
 this speech. Yet to-day he must feel in his soul that God 
 has rewarded him for his " works of faith and labors of love." 
 
 Slavery had now attained to its zenith. Acts of violence 
 were rampant. Murders passed with impunity. The " Di- 
 
vine Institution of Slavery " was the question of the day. 
 Party spirit had taken the place of "justice before the Law." 
 It then became a question, as to who shall rule ? Shall the 
 friends of Slavery be masters, or shall the Abolitionists ? 
 Unfortunately the former had the better chance. In 1857 
 Buchanan was elected President. He being neither cold nor 
 hot, said to the Slave States, " Keep your Slaves, the Consti- 
 tution permits it;" and to the Free States, "Don't meddle 
 with the Slaves, the Constitution forbids it;" and to the 
 New States, " Vote as you please, I confide in the ballot-box, 
 the American remedy, ahvays sure to redress all wrongs." 
 Guided by these principles, President Buchanan remained in 
 the White House during his term of four years, and neither 
 upheld the dignity of the North, nor yet interfered with the 
 " domestic institution of the Southy 
 
 In 1860, Lincoln was elected President, and on the 20th 
 of December following the election, Gov. Pickens, of South 
 Carolina, issued his famous (rather infamous) proclamation 
 of secession from the Federal Union. This was the begin- 
 ning of the war, over whose results we are now rejoicing. 
 Upon the installation of President Lincoln in 1861, he em- 
 phatically said in his inaugural address, " I have no design 
 for interfering, either directly or indirectly, with the institu- 
 tion of Slavery in the States where it exists. I believe that 
 I have no right, and I feel no wish to do so." But God had 
 already determined to destroy Slavery, and so before he did 
 so. He first infatuated the Slaveholders. Had South Caro- 
 lina not declared the civil war, had Grant not taken com- 
 mand of the Union Army, and had Sumner not worried 
 the very life of Lincoln out of him, it is a question whether 
 the sons of Ham to-day, would be able to sing, 
 
 " My country, 'tis of thee, 
 Sweet land of liberty, 
 Of thee I sing," &c. 
 
 But God has brought order out of confusion. Freedom 
 has succeeded slavery ; and now, not only are four millions 
 of men and women — who once were down-trodden and op- 
 pressed under the iron foot of the monster, who were forced 
 to fields of unrequited tasks, like beasts of burden, and flogged 
 
10 
 
 and tortured with relentless cruelty, on the most frivolous 
 pretences — but the whole world have to gaze with wonder, 
 at the operations of Divine Providence. But ten years ago, 
 the Negro had no rights which a white man was bound to 
 respect; to-day our Government can say, as Cowper said 
 of England : 
 
 " Slaves cannot breathe in England — if their lungs 
 Receive our air, that moment they are free ; 
 They touch our country, and their shackles fall." 
 
 Magnitude of the Work accomplished. 
 
 Not only is the Abolition of Slavery a cause for wonder, 
 but the change which has since that time come over society, 
 may well make us exclaim, " What hath God wrought ! " 
 Ten years ago the South, as a whole, was the Sodom of the 
 United States. All classes were addicted to the most shame- 
 ful profligacy. Marriage was not respected ; and in some 
 cases it was not known. But how great the change which 
 has come over that part of the land. Now concubinage and 
 miscegenation may not be practised without mutual agree- 
 ment ; these acts have now become dishonorable, while mar- 
 riage holds its place among the ancient " honorables," and 
 family ties, and hallowed associations, are esteemed as bless- 
 ings which no man may put asunder. 
 
 Ten years ago the masses of the people were sunk in the 
 grossest superstition, and enveloped in the densest mental 
 darkness. They had no Bibles, no Sabbath schools, and some 
 of the professed ministers of religion among them were the 
 most obdurate-hearted Neroes of modern times. 
 
 How changed is the state of things to-day ! We have 
 superstition, and ignorance and profligacy still, it is true, 
 but may we not say, thank God ! we have no longer a com- 
 munit}', a part of which cannot read the Bible, freehj and 
 openly ! Too many profane God's holy day in idleness, and 
 sloth, and dissipation, but this may not be so ; we are not 
 under any obligation now, to labor on Sundays. America is 
 not a paradise ; its pco})lc arc not angels ; iniquity still 
 abounds ; the love of many has waxen cold ; and many walk, 
 of whom we tell you often that they are the enemies of the 
 
11 
 
 cross of Christ, But we bless God America is no longer 
 what she once was — a slave-cursed spot. Truly, brethren, 
 in the review of the past ten years, we may wonderingly ex- 
 claim, " What hath God wrought ! " And as gratefully add, 
 " The Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are 
 glad. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good ; for 
 his mercy endureth forever." 
 
 How Slavery teas aholisJwd. True philanthropy is actu- 
 ated by the same compassionate feelings of Him who " was 
 sent to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the 
 captives, to set at liberty them that are bound." Wherever 
 it exists, like the Gospel, it becomes the foe of every kind of 
 bondage. Wheresoever it comes, it seeks to emancipate from 
 every yoke. It has a natural and an implacable antipathy to 
 oppression, and cannot live in the same atmosphere with 
 slavery. No sooner does it find a place in the heart of man 
 than the conflict begins. A struggle is inevitable. The doom 
 of slavery is sealed, for the war will never cease, till slavery 
 receives its death-blow, and lies prostrate at the feet of its 
 glorious conqueror. So it was in America. Little did 
 Garrison and his colleagues think, when they initiated the 
 Anti-Slavery movements within these very walls,"^ that they 
 were then commencing an attack, which first of all would so 
 provoke slavery to hostility and arms, that a battle must be 
 commenced in Boston. Little did John Brown know that 
 the movement for which he paid dear with his life, would 
 wax hotter and hotter until Slavery was no more — until the 
 fell monster, with its whips and chains, its manacles and 
 bloodhounds, and every other instrument of torture was 
 buried, never, jievcr, never to rise again. No not even at 
 the resurrection ! Ah ! little did Wendell Phillips think 
 that the very crowd, which caused him to slip through the 
 back alley of this Church, would, in less than ten years, ask 
 concerning this people, once oppressed, hit now free forever — 
 " What hath God wrousrht ! " 
 
 * The Anti-Slavery movement in Boston was first started in Joy Street 
 Church, then known as the African Church. 
 
12 
 
 Grand Problems worked out. 
 
 Slavery abolished, many of its kindred abominations began 
 at once to give way. Ostracism and prejudice began to be 
 regarded as relics of the past. Railroads and Steamboats, 
 and Stage coaches, began to throw open their doors to every 
 passenger who desires an entrance ; and ever since the fall 
 of Richmond, the work of Reform and Reconstruction has 
 moved with quick, yet steady step ; until recently it has cul- 
 minated in the passage, ratification, and proclamation of the 
 Fifteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. 
 
 What it Recognizes. 
 
 It simply renders nugatory all those State laws, which 
 have for their object the fostering and perpetuation of dis- 
 tinctions among men, " on account of race, color, or previous 
 condition of servitude." It puts a check upon that sove- 
 reignty of State, which alloAvs each State to order its own 
 affairs, after its own fashion. It converts four millions of 
 men into legal voters, against the wishes of many who hate 
 the idea of " having all things common," with negroes. It is 
 the most gigantic blow, yet dealt, to the offsprings of slavery. 
 It is the most practical way of assenting to what Jefferson 
 affirmed in 1787, viz. : that " all men are created equal," &c. 
 It is the noblest enactment, yet placed in the Statute Book 
 of any nation, past or present. Hitherto the world has had 
 but seven wonders, according to the popular saying, but 
 henceforth this shall take its place among the wonders of 
 the world. " It is centralization, consolidation, what you 
 will, triumphant ; and it is the noblest assertion of the doc- 
 trine of human equality, of the rights of man, that has ever 
 been made among men." Well has the President, in his 
 communication to Congress, observed that, " The measure 
 which makes at once four millions of the people voters, who 
 were heretofore declared, by the highest tribunal in the 
 land, not citizens of the United States, nor eligible to become 
 so, with the assertion that, at the time of the Declaration of 
 Independence, the opinion was fixed and universal among 
 the civilized portion of the wliitc race, and regarded as an 
 
13 
 
 axiom in morals as well as in politics, that black men had 
 no rio-hts which white men were bomid to respect, is nideed 
 a measure of grander importance than any other act ot the 
 kind, from the foundation of our free Government to the 
 present time." 
 
 Manhood of the Negro. 
 
 Ten years ago it was a problem, strange and ignorant as 
 it may seem to us now, with many of the (so-called) wise 
 men of the country, whether the Negro were a man? In the 
 proo-ress of the work of Freedom and Reconstruction God 
 has not only vindicated the manhood of his people but has 
 raised some of his once oppressed anddown trodden ones 
 to an equality of social and political rights with the most 
 favored of the sons of the land. To-day, a Revels occupies 
 not onlv the same position with Sumner, but sits in the very 
 seat of Jeff. Davis, whom God destroyed, having first iniatu- 
 ated him. "What shall we then say to these things, my 
 brethren '? " If God be for us, who can be against us I i He 
 avenues to political honors and social distinction are now 
 open: and now we and ours can rejoice at the glorious 
 prospects that lie before us. Henceforth no man may expect 
 to be elected to of&ce because of the accidence of color, nor 
 shall any be kept therefrom on account of previous condition 
 of servitude. The flaming sword wlii^^h hitherto has guarded 
 the entrance to the citadel of West Point has been sheathed, 
 no more shall it leap forth, to obstruct the sons of sable hue, 
 in their attempt to enter there. - Tlhat hath God wrought! 
 
 Safety of Emancipation. 
 Before the War it used to be said that Negroes were not 
 fit for freedom; and that the result of Emancii3ation would 
 be bloodshed ind anarchy. The behavior of /he ^oloi^d 
 people generally, since their freedom, has placed these 
 Affirmations in the volume of errors and ""f "thi.dness. No 
 people outlawed and wronged as we have been, ^ou d have 
 been so ready and willing to exercise forgiveness towaids 
 thei^' enen.ies, in so short a time ; we have been patient in 
 
14 
 
 tribulation; we have been given to hospitality; we have 
 blessed them which persecuted us; we have recompensed to 
 r.o man evil for evil ; we have endeavored, by every possi- 
 bility of means, to live peaceably with all men ; we have not 
 avenged ourselves, but rather given place to wrath ; we have 
 committed the taking of vengeance on our enemies to the 
 Lord ; we have fed our enemies ; we have given them drink; 
 we have already heaped coals of fire on their heads, by not 
 being overcome of evil, but by overcoming evil with good. 
 We have shown by our industry and honesty that we are 
 men and not monkeys, and by the millions of dollars we have 
 already deposited in the Freedmen's National Bank at 
 Washington, as well as by our gradual acquisition of pro- 
 perty, we can now defy our traducers to prove our unfitness 
 for the enjoyment of freedom, and the rights of citizens. 
 We do not desire to boast, yet we say, without fear of con- 
 tradiction, that we are the most docile, and peaceful, the 
 most humble and merciful — yea, the very best people God ever 
 made. 
 
 Capability of the Negro for Education. 
 
 It used to be said that it was impossible to educate the 
 Negro ; that it was useless to seek his social elevation and 
 intellectual improvement ; that he was incapable of attaining 
 to the refinement and civilization of the Anglo-Saxon race. 
 The work of social reform and progress, we admit, is only 
 in its first and incipient stage ; and much, very much, re- 
 mains to be accomplished. But the Negro has been educa- 
 ted ; he has been taken from some of the lowest positions in 
 the social scale, and lifted up, at least, to positions of honor 
 and respectability. And now let him who can gainsay this, 
 henceforth speak of the Negro's incapability to exercise those 
 social and political rights, which the Fifteenth Amendment 
 confers upon him as an American citizen ; but if he cannot 
 do this, then let \\\v[\ forever hold his peace. 
 
 Brethren, we are now a people. Our manhood is recogniz- 
 ed, our freedom won, our rights acknowledged. We are a 
 peo[)le advancing in the accpiisition of material wealth, pos- 
 sessing land, and house?, and all the comforts of this life. 
 
15 
 
 We are a people living under Gospel institutions, blessed 
 " with every spiritual blessing in heavenly things in Christ 
 Jesus." Yea, more, some of us ore the ycople of God, chosen 
 and called in Christ Jesus ; once afar off, but now made 
 nigh by the blood of Christ ; once strangers and foreigners, 
 but now fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household 
 of God. Truly, the Lord of hosts is wonderful in counsel, 
 and excellent in working. " The Lord executeth righteous- 
 ness and judgment for all that are oppressed." " give 
 thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his 
 deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto 
 Him; talk ye of all his wondrous works I" "Remember his 
 marvellous works that He hath done, his wonders, and the 
 judgments of his mouth." 
 
 Our Indebtedness to God. 
 
 But again, are we not forcibly reminded of this fact, that 
 our present blessings are owing neither to our own merits, 
 nor to the might of our own hands ? How solemnly was 
 this lesson enjoined on the Israelites ! " Speak not thou in 
 thine heart, saying, ' For my righteousness the Lord hath 
 brought me in to possess this land,' understand that the 
 Lord giveth thee not this land to possess it for thy right- 
 eousness ; for thou art a stiff-necked people." And so again, 
 when the Psalmist commemorated the entrance of Israel on 
 their promised inheritance, he sings, " They got not the land 
 in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm 
 save them ; but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light 
 of thy countenance, because thou hadst favor unto them." 
 
 All blessings are of Grace ! Brethren, it is not by works 
 of righteousness which we have done, but according to his 
 mercy hath God saved us. This is the fundamental principle 
 of all the bestowments of his grace. And the same princi- 
 ple lies at the basis of all the beneficent arrangements and 
 operations of his Providence. And what of merit or of 
 miglit can we plead, for either the personal liberty, or the 
 social and political rights, or the gospel privileges which we 
 this day enjoy? Did our forefathers come to these shores 
 of their own free will and accord ? Nay ! They were brought 
 
16 
 
 here by force, bound hand and foot with fetters of iron. 
 Was it by any inclination of theirs, that our Sumners, our 
 Phillipses, our Garrisons, our Grants and our martyred 
 hosts gained us these privileges ? Assuredly not ! These 
 friends of humanity — angels of mercy — arose to the duties 
 of the moment, from the conviction created on their minds, 
 by the Spirit of God, as to their relations to mankind. Was 
 it in any sense by his own might that our valiant General 
 led his army against that of the Confederacy, and eventually 
 gained us that victory, than which a greater has never been 
 achieved ? No, brethren, no ! " Thine Lord is the great- 
 ness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory ! " The 
 Abolition of Slavery, and the enactment of the Fifteenth 
 Amendment, are the operations of Divine Providence. Talk 
 no more of merit therefore. Plead this no longer as a 
 ground for the bestowment and enjoyment of these or any 
 other blessings ! What merit ! In poor, helpless, down- 
 trodden, and oppressed men and women ! Merit, in poor, 
 miserable offenders ! Blot the word out of your dictionary, 
 Christians ! No, brethren, no, we have neither might nor 
 merit to plead, and ascribing all glory to God, and to his 
 grace, with Moses and Israel, let us sing, " Thou in thy 
 mercy hast led forth thy people which thou hast redeemed ; 
 Thou hast guided them in thy strength, unto thy holy habi- 
 tation." 
 
 God's Cause stronger than its Foes. 
 For many years the friends of Freedom were persecuted 
 and marked. Once Garrison barely escaped, with his life 
 in hand. John Brown was murdered at Harper's Ferry ; 
 Sumner's blood was spilled, and Lincoln assassinated, be- 
 cause of their interest in the work of Emancipation. Every 
 thing that could be done by our enemies, to keep us in 
 degradation was done ; and all who sympathized with us, 
 became, and arc to this day, objects of hatred and malignity. 
 Were it possible to have banished these men, it would have 
 been done. But God was on our side. No sooner did the 
 crisis of the conflict come, than room was no longer left to 
 doubt wliich would conquer — right or wrong, light or dark- 
 
17 
 
 ness, Christ or Belial. From that moment the doom of 
 Slavery was sealed. And though the blood of martyrs has 
 been shed, yet God gave us the victory at length; and 
 to-day our very enemies are exclaiming, " What hath God 
 wrought ! " And so must it ever be ; for " Christ must reign 
 till He hath put all enemies under his feet." 
 
 The Work before us. 
 
 And how encouraging is this in its application to the work 
 yet before us. There is land in the South to be possessed 
 and cultivated. In some parts of it superstition is yet ram- 
 pant. The work of educating our people is just begun. 
 Reactionary influences have followed the sweet impulses of 
 Emancipation. A disposition is seen, now and again, to 
 blend with Christianity the absurdities of heathenism ; and 
 the Revival (so-culled) has been perverted by the Devil, into 
 practices, which substitute animal excitement, and nocturnal 
 orgies, for the religion of Jesus, and which often run into 
 the wildest extravagances of licentious fanaticism. And 
 just as there remained in Canaan many of the old fogies, to 
 be thorns in the side of Israel, and as a scourge to afflict 
 them, so many of the social evils of slavery and ignorance 
 still remain amongst us, to afflict and grieve us, and to hinder 
 and oppose our efforts for the moral and spiritual progress 
 of the people. The devil is not dead. And though the char- 
 acters and tactics of the warfare are changed, the conflict 
 with evil has yet to be maintained. In the present warfare, 
 moreover, there is none of the romance and excitement of 
 the past ; and in some respects it is confessedly more ardu- 
 ous and discouraging. Yet, brethren, let us remember that 
 we have the same Almighty power on our side — that the 
 war we wage against sin and ignorance, and in favor of 
 truth and righteousness, is a continuance of the very contest 
 in which God and Christ have proved victorious — and there- 
 fore that future triumph is not less certain than past con- 
 quest. 
 
 Let us never be discouraged ; let us be strong in faith, 
 giving glory to God. Let us be grateful to the giver of 
 
 3 
 
every good and perfect gift. Let us strive to live lives of 
 devotedness to God. Let us this day consecrate ourselves 
 anew to Jesus. 
 
 Oh, let me speak to those of you, who have lived till now, 
 without God and without hope in Jesus. Let this season 
 of jubilation witness the dedication of yourselves to God ! 
 How much have you received from Him. What have you 
 that you do not owe to Him? Oh! think how basely wicked 
 will be your ingratitude if you remain alienated, and at a 
 distance from Him. Acquaint yourselves with God. Be 
 reconciled to Him, by the death of his Son, and now come 
 present your bodies unto God, " a living sacrifice, holy, accep- 
 table, which is your reasonable service." 
 
 And how stirring is the appeal made to those of you who 
 profess to be the followers of Christ ! 
 
 Li the History of the Primitive Church, we read that 
 when for a season the persecutions of the Roman Empire 
 against the Christians were stayed, one of the melancholy 
 effects of the tranquillity enjoyed was a general and spiritual 
 declension. And what has been the effect on the Church, 
 during the last six years ? Oh ! how many seem to have 
 lost their first love ! In how many does the spirit of the 
 world seem to have taken the place of the Spirit of Christ ! 
 Where is our self sacrificing love to Christ ? Whither has 
 our self-denying liberality taken its flight ? Where is our 
 love to the means of grace, and the ordinances of religion, 
 which used to impel us to the prayer-meeting and fill the 
 house of God to overflowing with earnest worshippers? 
 Where is that zeal for Christ and for the conversion of sin- 
 ners, which characterized our fathers, when, in the dead of 
 night, they walked from house to house, hailing men to the 
 cross ? Oh ! brethren, amidst all our mercies there is much 
 to mourn over. Repent, and do your first works. Renew 
 your consecration to God. Sanctify afresh the Lord God 
 in your hearts ; and so shall you show your gratitude for 
 the mercies with which you are so bountifully blessed. 
 
 Brethren, bear with me, if I speak too plainly. Let us 
 remember, that while our friends are to-day looking with 
 
19 
 
 pleasure on our past, they are also looking with anxiety to 
 the future. What if Young America should disappoint the 
 expectations of their friends ? What if liberty should be 
 abused into licentiousness ? What if our young men, in- 
 stead of acting with the suavity and manliness of freemen 
 should put on the conceited and intolerable airs of the cox- 
 comb, and make dress tlie gentleman and the scholar, and 
 leave the reputation and the intellect to a mere chance of 
 fate ? What if our young women, instead of cultivating that 
 modesty, which becomcth women, should delight to bedeck 
 themselves in gay and flaunting attire, even beyond their 
 hard-earned means ? What if the Sabbath, instead of ]3cincr 
 regarded as holy to the Lord and honorable, should be pro°- 
 faned in idleness and dissipation ? What if the Bible, God's 
 holy word, instead of being bowed to and obeyed, as an 
 mfalli^ble guide and authority, should be forsaken for the 
 cunning fables of designing men ? Oh ! brethren, this would 
 be indeed to abuse our past mercies and present privileges 
 —this would be base ingratitude. It is rigjiteousuess that 
 has exalted you, but such a sin would be a reproach to you 
 and It would be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah 
 in the day of judgment, than for this generation. 
 
 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of vou, though 
 we thus speak J and we earnestly beseech you to' show your 
 gratitude for past and present mercies, by being "diligent in 
 business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." And° while 
 we are rejoicing over our present achievements, let us not 
 forget poor, benighted Cuba. While we are enjoying gos- 
 pel privileges, and hailing with gratitude the gloriotis'^act 
 which secures to us the right of citizens'; while we are inhaling 
 the salubrious atmosphere of a free government, possessed 
 of every facility for advancing in the scale of civilization, 
 poor Cuba, 
 
 " Where every prospect pleases 
 And only man is vile," 
 
 is groaning and bleeding in her wretchedness. The very 
 
 people whose blood flows in our veins— who in a special 
 
 and peculiar sense are bone of our bone and flesh of our 
 
 ^esh— this venj jjeople are not only sitting in darkness, but 
 
 are ground down to the dust on the one hand, by idolatrous 
 
20 
 
 Rome, and on the otlier hand are the victims still of the ac- 
 cursed slave trade. Their case was once yours, and but for 
 the mercy of God would be so still. Oh pity them. Pray 
 for them ! Pray to God that he would give them the 
 victory over their oppressors. Show your gratitude by 
 manifesting sympathy with the Cubans. Oh may the day 
 soon dawn, when of Cuba as of America, it shall be said : — 
 
 " Black, white, and bond and free, 
 
 Castes and proscriptions cease ! 
 The Neo;ro wakes to liberty, 
 
 The Negro sleeps in peace ! 
 Head the great charter on his brow, 
 
 ' I am a man, a brother now.' " 
 
 Brethren, take courage, take heart, look onward and up- 
 ward. The road is yet rough, the cross is still heavy ; the 
 wound is still sore ; the brunt may yet be hard, the battle 
 may be more bloody ; the enemy doubly strong ; but the path 
 shall soon grow smoother; the yoke shall soon become 
 easier ; the wound shall soon be healed with the balm of 
 Gilead ; the brunt shall soon be relieved as the tug of war 
 veers round in your favor ; the enemy shall ere long take to 
 flight. It will soon be day-light. 
 
 " The morning light is breaking, 
 The darkness disappears." 
 
 Fight on ; hold on ; push on ; stand by the Ensign ; keep 
 behind the shield ; wield well the sword ; " let no man take 
 your crown." 
 
 A little longer. Christians, and the path shall glitter with 
 jewels, and every briar bear a rose of immortality. A little 
 longer and the myrtle groves shall welcome you with their fra- 
 grance ; and the white robed host shall cheer you with their 
 songs. And in their soul-cheering society, will you truly 
 exclaim; " What hath God wrought ! " 
 
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