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Characteristics of tlje Qlge:

DELIVERED IN THE

]jpW£*g

IFIRflDY, Ho ¥.
ON THANKSGIVING DAY,
December 13, 1§50,
II NATHAN- 8. S. BStfAN, &. &.

C*J,w

TROY, K Y.:
YOUJSTG AND HARTT, 216 RIVER STREET.
1851.

CHARACTERISTICS OE THE AGE:

A DISCOURSE

DELIVERED

IN THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,

TROY, N. Y.,

ON THANKSGIVING DAY,

DECEMBER 12, 1850,

BY NATHAN S. S. BEMAN, D. H

TROY, N. Y.: ¦
YOUNG AND HARTT, 216 RIVER STREET
1851.

TROY DAILY WHIG PRINT.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Troy, December 13, 1850.
Rev. If. S. S. Beman, D. J). :
Dear Sir, We are earnestly solicited by many of
our fellow-citizens to request ©f you, for publication, a copy of your Thanks
giving Discourse. Its comprehensive, patriotic, and law-abiding sentiments
demand a wide diffusion, and lead us cordially to unite in the wish generally
expressed by your intelligent auditors, to publish the same.
Very respectfully, Tour obedient servants,
Stephen Wickes, Pliny A. Moore, )
John Freeman, Benj. Hatch, \ Trustees, the.
David Cowee, James H. Howe, )
A similar request has been made, in a respectful Letter addressed to me, by
the following gentlemen : Hiram Slocum, Wm. F. Sage, Job S. Olin, A. F.
"Wheeler, J. Van Schoonhoven, L. Fairbanks, Jr., G. Robertson, Jr., Giles
B. Kellogg, Martin I. Townsend, and F. S. Thayer, Esquires.

To the Trustees, and other Gentlemen .- Permit me, in one word, to say I
cannot but be highly gratified by your request for a copy of my Discourse for
the press. The manuscript is at your disposal. Most truly yours, N. S. S. BEMAN.
Troy, December 14, 1850.

CHARACTERISTICS OE THE AGE.

"For verily I say unto you, tbat many prophets and righteous men have
desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them ; and to hear
those things which ye hear, and have not heard them." — Mat. xm. 17.
We have assembled this morning in compliance with one
of the time-honored customs of our own country. The
practice of observing a day of annual Thanksgiving, origin
ated in New England, among the early colonists, who have
generally been denominated Puritans. They rejected all tra
ditions and all human authority in matters of religion, and
professed to take the Scriptures as their only and sufficient
guide. In carrying out this principle, they refused to
observe those numerous Festivals, called "Holy Days,"
which had been introduced by the Roman hierarchy, and
perpetuated by the various church-establishments of Europe,
and which had been enjoined on the people, by human legis
lation, as a part of the religion of Jesus Christ and his
apostles, taught in the gospel.
But notwithstanding this disregard of many of the popu
lar forms of Christianity, which they believed were really the
inventions of men, no people in the world were more scru
pulous in their regard for the externals of religion. The

Sabbath and Sanctuary were embalmed in their hearts.
The whole population seemed to feel their heavenly influ
ence. With them religion was an inward principle and an
outward life. In conformity with this character, they early
set apart, by conventional agreement, and not by ecclesias
tical authority, nor as a matter of church order, two days in
the year, as convenience, from time to time, might dictate,
for the voluntary offerings of a people in the full enjoyment
of religious liberty. In the Spring, when the rugged features
of winter began to relax into genial smiles, and the earth
was unbound from its icy fetters, and invited the husband
man forth with his plow and spade, as preparatory to the
seed-corn now to be deposited in hope, they sought the bles
sing of God in public " humiliation, fasting and prayer ; "
and in the Autumn, when the ripe fruits were gathered into
their barns, garners, and other storehouses, they proclaimed
and observed a day of public " Thanksgiving," in grateful
remembrance of the goodness of God which had crowned
the year. This custom has been gradually gaining ground
in our republic, and seems destined ultimately to find a
place in the religious sympathies of all the States of the
Union. Topics of discussion, without number, present themselves
on such an occasion, and solicit our attention. I might
remind you of your rank among the creatures of God,
" made a little lower than the angels," — of your birth-right
as Americans, occupying the fairest portion of God's uni
versal heritage, — of the institutions of Government and
learning which distinguish our country, in many respects,
from all others, — of our entire religious freedom, having
nothing to fear from the BuHs of Popes, or the decrees of
Councils, or the legislation of political religionists, — of the

peculiar success of an untrammelled gospel among our own
people,-^-of christian churches, scattered over our own land,
having, with a few rare exceptions, no tendency towards the
mother of abominations,i=H)f the extent, resources, prosper
ity and growing intelligence of our own Empire State, — of
the triumph of principle in favor of popular education, in
the late vote sustaining the Free-School system, — of our
peculiar exemption from the blue scourge of pestilence,
during the last year, — of the luxuriant productions of our
harvest-fields, — of the blessings of sweet peace which per
vade all our borders, — of the preservation of the union of
the States, amid the conflicts of sectional interests and the
storms of heated passion, — of the national strength and glory
which we may hope for in the future, — of our individual
benefactions from heaven, which every man can recount
for himself, — of God's gift of the Bible which we hold in our
hands, — and of the hope of future glory which we may
cherish through Jesus Christ : and in recounting these bene
factions, I might emphatically caU upon each individual
before me to adopt the language of the Psalmist ; — " Bless
the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits." But
I shall pass by aU these, though quite natural, and appropri
ate to the occasion, to consider a single one suggested by the
words of my text. "For verily I say unto you, that many
prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things
which ye see, and have not seen them ; and to hear those
things which ye hear, and have not heard them."
The sentiment here expressed, is this, — that the disciples
whom Christ addressed should be thankful for what they
were permitted to see and hear. Many had desired these
blessings, but had not enjoyed them. Other ages had
been characterized by promise and expectation ; in that age,

S
promise was fulfilled, and expectation gratified. The par
ticular event referred to was the consummation of prophesy,
in the Mission of Christ That result they witnessed, and
they might weU be thankful that they were permitted to live
in that age.
So it may be said of ourselves. We live in an age of
grand results. These have been anticipated, and looked for,
and longed for, — but many generations have " died without
the sight. " 'Our eyes see, and our ears hear.' Our age is
full of magnificent events ; and we should be thankful that
we live in such an era. " For verily I say unto you, that
many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those
things which ye see, and have not seen them ; and to hear
those things which ye hear, and have not heard them." My
subject, is, the characteristics of the age in which we live.
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRESENT AGE.
1. Our age is characterized by the practical results of
science. The day in which we five is more distinguished for inven
tions than discoveries. Indeed, this is the usual order of
human progress. Discoveries are prior in their existence to
inventions, because the former may be considered, in some
sense, the parents of the latter. A discovery consists in
bringing to light some hidden fact or principle which has had
a previous existence, and which has not been before observed
or known by men. An invention is the application of this
discovery to some new, and, generally, to some useful purpose.
The polarity of the magnet has always existed as a fact of
nature, but the knowledge of this fact was an important
discovery which resulted from human research. The appli
cation of this newly developed principle of nature to the

mariner's compass — by the aid of which, unknown and track'
less seas are traversed, and the globe we inhabit circumnavi
gated with almost unerring exactitude — is an invention of
human genius, by which the whole face of our world has
been changed.
Our age is one of utility. Principles which have long
since been discovered and investigated, by minds of deep
research, and which have been taught and contemplated
only in theory and speculation, are now eagerly seized upon
and applied to the practical purposes of life. The elasticity
of steam has been observed and experimented upon by sci
entific men, with a view to its employment as a useful agent,
for two centuries and a half ; but it was reserved for our day
to witness the application of this power to a greater variety
of important practical purposes, perhaps, than any other
agent in nature. In the successive appropriations of this
old and long-dormant power, we have seen the beautiful and
majestic steamer gliding with celerity along our navigable
rivers, against wind and stream and tide ; and then the
ocean-ship, under the same impulse, holding on her stately
and steady course, in defiance of the stiff breeze and adverse
currents, and in conscious fearlessness of the warring elements
which upturn the mighty deep and commingle seas and skies.
These are some of the achievements of this agent upon the
waters. At a subsequent period, we behold the iron-horse,
whose feed is fire, outstripping the winds, as he glides over
his mysterious foot-path and bids defiance to any competitor
yet in existence. His neigh has waked up all the former
solitudes of civilized lands, and created a universal stir among
the people. He drags a hundred peace-chariots over the
fruitful plains, along the river sides, on the edge of fearful
precipices, over broad and navigable streams, and through
3,

10
deep ravines and mountain-passes. These are among the-
sublimer and more imposing achievements of this agent ; but
there are others, of humbler pretensions, which are not less
honorable to the present age and not less profitable to man.
We can only glance at these.
It cannot escape the notice of any one, that steam has al
ready displaced many agents which have been employed, for
ages, in the mechanical operations of our world. Horse'
power and water-power have been both modified and dimu>
ished in their uses for the abridgment of human labor. This
process is likely to go on to a still greater extent. Saw-mills,
planing machines, flouring- miHs, iron-works of various kinds,
cotton-mills, printing presses, and a hundred other not less
useful and necessary establishments, are dependent on this
agent alone for their propelling power. In the construction
of all kinds of machinery, and indeed in manufactures gen
erally, it has become almost indispensable — so that its ban
ishment from the civilized world would " bring again the
shadow" on " the sun dial" of time, " ten degrees backward."
This power, as it is now applied, is the great Anakim of
mechanics ; and whether it shall ever be surpassed in giant
strength and giant speed, may depend on the successful re
sults of some future electro-magnetic experiments. At any
rate, we cannot go back. The aid of steam is now so associ
ated with all our comforts, and so interwoven with all our
executions, that we wonder how the world could have crept
along, in a sort of snail-speed, for sixty centuries, without
some impulse from its accelerating power.
But the achievements of science, in the application of its
discoveries to useful purposes, are not confined to mechanical
forces. Chemistry has done wonders in our day. While
original research, successfully begun long ago, has been

11
pushed into every department of nature, established results,
more than formerly, have been made available in the practi
cal business of life. Agriculture and the arts have derived
new aids from this science, in our time, which have greatly
changed the mode of many operations, simplified and facili
tated many laborious and complicated processes, and made
the culture of the soil and the products of the factory
much more a matter of mind than formerly. Agriculture
and manufactures maj now be placed among the learned
professions. But the great achievement of our day is the electro-mag
netic telegraph. This consists in the application of a known
chemical agent to a new and valuable purpose. Nothing has
been discovered but what was already a matter of science,
•and had been set down, •" in extenso," in books ; but inven
tion has here had her perfect work. It has been said that
¦" Franklin tamed the lightning." This he did when he
drew down this subtle element from the skies and shut it up
in a Leyden jar, or taught it to course harmlessly along the
metallic rod, sparing our dwellings from conflagration and
their inmates from instant death. But it remained for
Morse to give this etherial captive a good English education,
and prepare him to become the ambassador of thought from
man to man, annihilating both time and space in the execu
tion of his office.
But I must not consume time by going into further detail.
This is a practical age ; and one of its most marked and
prominent features is, to convert knowledge to some use.
Every learned profession — every branch of active business —
every projected enterprise which spreads itself out in mag
nificence and grandeur and glory before the eyes of the
world, — has felt the power of the feature of mind which pre-

12
Vails in our day. The very " fragments" of former thought
are now carefully "gathered up" and put into modern
" baskets,'' " that nothing be lost." These shall become the
aliment of mind hereafter.
2. This is an age of increased international communication!
The position and feelings of the nations of our globe toward
each other, are matters too well known to need many
words on this occasion. Different portions of our race have
been dissociated and repelled from each other, by causes al
most numberless ; and among these, language, religion,
forms of government, social customs, national employments,
ancestral stock or origin, degrees of barbarism and civiliza
tion, the color of the skin, ignorance of one another, ambition,
fear and jealousy, and the memory or tradition of ancient
feuds and wrongs, may be set down among the most promi
nent and powerful.
The original dispersion of our race, and their division into
national organizations, after the deluge, was an act of God.
It was effected by a miracle. At this period, there was one
language and one people. They intended to continue one.
For this purpose they began to build a central city and a
magnificent tower ; but God cut short their ambitious pro
jects, because they stood in the way of his purpose, that man
should " replenish the earth, and subdue it." This original
design of Heaven could be brought about in no way more
effectually, or more speedily, than it was by the confusion of
tongues which God sent upon Babel. Besides, our race, in
that period of the world, were not prepared to dwell together
in fraternal bonds as one people, nor to maintain the more
remote brotherhood of nations between different and seques
tered portions of the globe. Nor must we forget, that the
Very animosities which immediately sprang up between dif-

13
ferent tribes and tongues,served at least one valuable purpose
— that of cementing the bonds of union more closely among
those who had common interests to protect, and who must
provide for their common defence. They promoted home
interests. Pressure from without consolidated the body poli
tic within.
But another day has come ; and one that " many prophets
and righteous men have desired," — a day in which the
nations of the earth are becoming acquainted with one
another. The dispension has answered its purpose, and
God, in his providence, is bringing about still more benefi-
cient results ; and these are secured by that knowledge
which attends the progress of the race. The world will now
bear this intercommunication without neuteralizing her good
by evil, or extinguishing her light in total darkness. —
Among the intelligent and most active portions of mankind,
civilization is entrenched in her strong holds, and Christi
anity has thrust down her roots deep into the soil, and
'" sent out her boughs unto the sea and her branches unto
the river."
The causes and the effects of an increased intercourse
between the various nations of our globe, must be contem
plated with great interest by the philosopher, the statesman,
the philanthropist, and the christian. The fact of which I
am speaking will not be denied. The age in which We live
is making the world the subject of knowledge, and bringing
its various portions together. Nations begin to study na
tions. We know more of India now than we did of conti
nental Europe a few years ago. And our intercourse with
the former now is greater than it was with the latter then.
The causes of this change may be easily discovered.
They belong to our age. They are the natural and sponta-

14
neous developements of knowledge, ever accumulating
from age to age, and assuming more and more a practical
form, — of hoary-headed experience, — and of the more gen
eral diffusion of the word of God. Day-light is not more
sure to follow the sun, than these effects are their causes.—
Men have learned, at last, that a foreigner is not necessarily
an enemy, that the best way to secure good from others is to
do good to them, and that the reciprocation of kindness may
exist between nations, as well as individuals. The world
has learned more than formerly, though the lesson is not yet
perfectly mastered, that the blessings of peace are above all
price ; and that wars, as they generally exist, with all their
nodding plumes, and gorgeous epaulets, and shining buttons,
and flashing blades, and golden hilts, and martial music, are
only a fashionable mode of scarlet butchery, — -and generally
not less suicidal than murderous. This relic of barbarism
will one day find its proper level. The holy scriptures
which teach, that God "hath made of one blood all nations of
men, for to dwell on aH the face of the earth," have, in our
day, produced in many minds a more kindly feeling towards
universal man than has prevailed in ages gone by. The
world begins to be looked upon as a theatre of benevolent, as
well as commercial enterprise. Nations are now on speaking
terms, and visiting terms. Nor do they address one another
as they once did with the breath of fire and brimstone, and
in the harsh accents of grape shot and cannon balls, and
with the punctuation of sharp pointed swords and bayonets!
This better spirit is partly the effect of increased interna
tional communication, and the same spirit is destined to
multiply visits between the inteUigent and good of every
land, tiU aU nations shall form one great family circle, ex
tending round the globe.

15
The effects of this intercourse upon the present comforts,
and the ultimate destinies of our world, can hardly be over
rated. Intelligence, liberty, and the word of life, shall be
scattered broad-cast in its pathway. Let the oppressed por
tions of our race, whether they groan under the exactions of
kings or priests, — whether they are crushed down by the
sceptered hand or the mitered head, — understand the condi
tion of the people of this country, with our free press, our
free gospel, and our free schools, — how long, think youx
could the Grand Sultan of Turkey enforce his edicts, or the
spiritual despotism of Italy brood, with raven wing, over the
seven eternal hills, or the pseudo-republic of France wear
its hypocritical guise 1 The fact is, ignorance and tyranny
seek obscurity and concealment. They fear the light. The
late Pope of Rome was no fool, — what ever we may think of
his viritable holiness now restored to the throne, — who refu
sed to let a railway pass through his dominions. He knew
that intelligence first kindled the fires of the locomotive,
that a blaze of light attends his progress, and that sparks
are often scattered along his track, which might set some
materials in a flame that he, with all his holy water, could
not easily extinguish.
The facilities for intercourse with all parts of the world,
are such as the spirit of the age demands ; and these will be
used more and more : and the effect of this intercourse,
predicted by the prophet Daniel, shalljbe seen and felt the
world over : " Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge
shall be increased."
3. Our age is characterized by the spirit of freedom-
The noblest strife of man, is that war which he wages
against moral evil ; and the highest freedom is that which

16
Jesus Christ bestows through the gospel. The christian
warrior is a grand " spectacle to angels. "
" Ask him indeed what trophies he has raised,
" Or what achievements of immortal fame
" He purposes, and he shall answer — None.
" His warfare is within. There unfatigued
" His fervant spirit labors. There he fights,
" And there obtains fresh triumphs o'er himself.
" And never withering wreaths, compared with which,
"The laurels that a Caesar reaps are weeds.''
Next to this, in the sublimity of its spirit, and in the
length and breadth and compass and duration of its conse
quences, is the struggle for personal and national liberty. —
God made man free, — tyrants alone make Mm a slaves. It is
not necessary, before the Anglo Saxon race, to enter into a
formal defence of the principles of liberty, or to paint the
deep curse of servitude. With us the love of the former
and the abhorrence of the latter, are innate and living prin
ciples. They are a part of our being. They are our life-
blood, the centre and mainspring of vitality. The following
sentiments uttered by our own sages, will find a hearty and
eloquent response from every American bosom. " Where
liberty dwells, there is my country," — " Sink or swim, live
or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and heart to this
vote," — " Independence now, and independence forever," —
"Give me liberty, or give me death."
These sentiments which made our revolution, and lie at
the basis of our government, have begun to produce their
effects on mind almost every where ; and hence the fearful
strifes of those antagonisms which have entered the field
against each other, in our day. Every man should hail this
conflict as an omen of good. Nothing is more to be dreaded
than a dead calm where human rights are at stake. A peo
ple borne down by the exactions of a government which

17
does little more than rob and pillage them, and making them
a lawful prey, and who are, at the same time, regardless of
their condition and their rights, are " twice dead, plucked
up by the roots." Such, we have most of us supposed, was
the condition of the greater part of the population of conti
nental Europe. But recent events have taught us another
lesson. We had examined the exterior of things only, while
we had not studied the deep philosophy within. Mount
Vesuvius is as quiet in ordinary times, as other mountains.
but an underground process is going on, all the while ; the
lava factories are in full operation, the liquid mass accumu
lates, and rises higher and higher till the burning surface
reaches the summit, and then all the imprisoned fires within
find vent, and an ocean of flame consumes all that it meets in
its progress. So it was in France, and so it was in Italy, and
so it was in some parts of Germany. And so it will be again,
at no distant period, in all these, and among other nations
too. The people of most countries have too much light now
to remain quiet under forms and administrations of govern
ment, which rob them of the essential attributes of human
ity, — whieh repress the noble aspirings of thought, — which
extinguish the kindling flame of independence, — and which
strip the very body of its comforts to fatten and adorn the
pride of the oppressor. Governments are designed for the
good of the people, and they must all come to this at last.
This is the true democratic principle. The conflict may be
long, it certainly will be desperate ; but I have no doubt,
that the example of this country will yet give a free consti-.
tution to every nation in the civilized world, yea, to every
people under the broad heavens.
Now is it possible, in such a day as this, when nations are
brought into proximity with each other by steam-power, and

18
the world is comprised in a nut-shell, and the people of dif
ferent, and once far distant, lands, mingle like kindred
streams, to keep any portion of mankind ignorant of what
is going on among the remainder 1 Increased knowledge
must be the effect, and that knowledge will produce changes
which will modify old governments, or overturn them and
give freedom to man. Liberty and human rights, volunta
rily conceded, or revolutions, most fearful and portentiousr
must come ; and let those who are . most deeply concerned,
prepare for the modification, or the catastrophy ! The mil
lions of Russia cannot always be crushed down by the paw
of the Northern Bear : nor such a prince as employs and re
wards such a tool as Haynau, have a place in the hearts of a
generous people ; nor such a tyranny as has despoiled the
papal states of their ancient glory, — a tyranny deep, ponder
ous, crushing, abomniable, damning, — which has converted
an Eden into a wilderness, the garden of the Lord into
a desert, long stand amid the light and conflicts and glory of
the present day. I would pray for peaceful reformations,.
and were I an actor in such scenes, I would labor for such
ends ; but if the crash must come, let it come, for God will
be in it, and humanity shall be the gainer. Halleujahs shall
be lifted up in heaven, when the last chain shaH fall from
the divine frame-work and the God-like spirit of man.
But we need not cross the Atlantic and visit the other
continent, in order to witness the conflicts between freedom
and oppression of which I am speaking. Never since the
revolution, and, in some respects, not even then, has the
spirit of liberty spoken out, in manly tones, as in our day.
Not that I would interfere with the institutious of the South.
If they want slavery, let them have it. It is their own busi
ness, and not mine. But I have a right to think and say,

19
that I believe it the deepest curse entailed upon the colonies
by Great Britain, that it was most improvident and unfor
tunate, that the fathers of the Republic did not devise an
early plan for its abolition ; that, but for slavery, the South
would have been the Eden of this continent, but she must
now be supplanted by the great and free West ; that as a
government, we ought, for the love of God, and the love of
country, and the love of man, to say to this blighting evil,
"" Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further ; and here shall
ihy proud waves be stayed." This we may feel and say
«.s northern men.
In relation to the Compromise, as it is called, I may be
-expected, in this connection, to say something. Take it all
in all, I go for it. Let it not be disturbed, even by any mod
ification, for the present. To be sure it contains some bitter
pills, and they are not sugar-coated either ! It is a little hu
miliating, that the United States — that is, we — have given
Texas ten millions of dollars for a part of the lands which
belonged to ourselves and not to her, and left in her hands
twenty-five thousand square miles of our own territory, as a
bribe or bonus, in order to make the ten millions go down
with a better relish. But let Texas have it all, money and
lands, for she is poor; and this settles the encroachments of
slavery in our republic for ever. Call it a dower to our
feeble young sister, if you please.
As to the Fugitive Slave Bill, I wish to speak plainly
and advisedly, for I am aware that I speak with many eyes
upon me, and many ears open to what I say. It is certain
that the Constitution makes provision for the return from the
Free States to the Slave States of fugitives from service.
This Constitution is the only admitted bond of union between
the States. Repudiate or nullify this, and the Union is bro-

20
ken up. While we continue one people, we must stand by
this compact. We must observe good faith in carrying out
its provisions, as a whole, and in all its parts. If one man,
or one portion of the republic, may disregard or trample
down one provision, another man, or another portion of the
republic, may disregard or trample down another, and we
shall have no Constitution left. The law in question aims to
carry out a constitutional provision upon which the South
have a right, by that instrument, to insist. I say nothing of
the wisdom of making such a stipulation, but there it is ; —
" it is so nominated in the bond," — and we should keep it
till we are prepared to surrender the whole system and break
up the government. Whether the law is constitutional or
not, I have had my doubts, as President Fillmore had his,
before he asked the opinion of the Attorney General ; and
mine have continued even since I have read that opinion.
But we have a tribunal to settle such questions, and the pop
ular wiU is not that tribunal. It is the Supreme Court of the
United States.
But whatever may be said of the constitutionality of the
law, it is certainly very unfortunate and very ugly in many
of its features. The process is altogether too summary — the
investigation is purely ex parte, giving the arraigned not a
moment to show who he is, or what he is ; — men are permit
ted, contrary to the first principles of jurisprudence, to swear
property into their own hands ; — it erects an anomalous tri
bunal, and then offers a bribe to the judge by giving him
twice the amount of fees for sending a man into slavery, that
it does for pronouncing him free ; — and, if language means
anything and is intelligible, it suspends the writ of " habeas
corpus" where it could be of any use, when a man's liberty is
at issue in the free State ; and if it permits him to use this

21
writ at all, it is after he has been carried back into a slave
State, where it would avail him just about as much asPopish
masses would avail the soul of a poor sinner in making his
escape from purgatory, if there were any such place. It
might serve, as in the other case, to put money into profes
sional pockets, but the poor victim would be left to grind in
his prison-house, without hope.
But while these are my views of the law, I am sorry to see
any portion of the North imitating that peevish sister of the
South, who has always made more disturbance in the family
circle than aH the other members put together. But we
should make some allowance for her, — for she inhabits a bil-
lious climate, and drinks in the beams of a fiery sun, and
inherits a rickety constitution, which makes up the frame
work of her being — having a much larger proportion of blacks
than of whites, and even this minor class must be put into
two antagonistic categories : pauperism, and a self-styled
aristocracy. But in the free, educated bone and muscle of
the North, there is no excuse for nullification. We have
been, and Heaven grant that we may continue to be, a law-
abiding people. We have a Constitution, and we should
preserve it inviolate, and carry out aU its stipulations, in
good faith, till we are prepared to ' tie a mill-stone around its
neck and send it down to the bottom of the sea.' This
ground I have always occupied. If we expect the protection
of law, we must protect law, and see that its provisions are
carried out. These were my views when General Jackson
effectually rebuked the insurrectionary spirit of South Caro
lina ; nor did I fail to express these same views when a
majority of the General Assembly dismembered one of the
largest and most efficient Churches on this continent, by cut
ting off sixty thousand communicants, without a trial, while

22
they acknowledged that the proposition to do it was " un
constitutional and revolutionary." I quote the language of
some of their prominent speakers, " unconstitutional and rev
olutionary." And it is my glory, this day, that I am a
"constitutional Presbyterian." And what I am in the
Church, I am in the State.
I have one word more on this law. Let the South execute
it, if they please, and let no one throw a straw in their way.
But if it is executed, it will render slavery double-dyed in
the deep popular execration of the free States, and especiahy
if it be executed upon those who have long been in the enjoy
ment of the rights of humanity, and have families grown up
around them. Or let the South take back the many thousands
of fugitives who, they allege, are among us — many of whom
are now intelligent and honorable men — and they would be
so many torch-lights of freedom blazing, with prophetic rays,
upon the dark midnight of slavery. The South better sac
rifice ten times the amount of money at which they value
these fugitives, than to admit such a corps of missionaries
among them. If the North will keep still, and leave this law
to itself and the South, all will be well in the end.
But I must allude to one point more. It appears marvel
lous to me, that while the members of Congress, North and
South, are disposed to unite in carrying out the article of the
Constitution for the return of fugitives, which has been eva
ded, as it is alleged, in the free States, other articles of the
same great compact which are openly violated at the South,
and that too under the sanction of State or municipal regula
tions, should not be thought of, or, at leastj not provided for.
The Constitution declares, that " the citizens of each State
shall be entitled to aU the privileges and immunities of citi
zens in the several States." And yet the free colored citizen

23
of Massachusetts, regularly employed on board of a vessel
belonging to that State, and his name entered according to
the laws of the United States, is taken from that vessel when
she enters the port of Charleston, South Carolina, and locked
up in prison till the vessel departs. This is refusing citizen
ship to the person when the Constitution has given it to him.
Besides, this imprisonment violates the fourth article of the
" Amendments to the Constitution," which provides that
" the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated." And yet there is nothing in the
Compromise to carry out these articles of the national compact.
When I have seen the great expounder of constitutional law
— the second Daniel — stand by the original compact, when
Northern feeling and Northern prejudice were all against
him, I have admired his magnanimity ; but when I have
seen this same champion insisting on the return of fugitive
slaves, and leaving his own fellow-citizens uneared for in
Southern prisons, I have said, with David, " Lord, what is
man 1n How easy it is to make the colored race scape-goats
or sacrifices when cupidity or ambition may require it \
This last remark should not be restricted to an individual.
4. This is an age in which systems of religion are tested.
Every man should keep up with the moral and spiritual
history of our world. He that does not know what is going
on under the different forms and names of religion, must be
ignorant of many things which go to make up a well finished
mind. He cannot be a thoroughly educated man. To
say nothing of the relations of this study to the panoply of
the christian, it should form a part of the mental furniture
of every intellectual and moral philosopher, of every politi
cal economist, and every man of literary and scientific leis-

24
ure. If other history is interesting, and often thrilling in
its details, that of religion is much more so, for it embodies
the doings both of God and man. And inquiries of this
nature were never so exciting as they are in our day.
Changes have been so sudden and so great, and some of them
so unlooked for, that an air of novelty, and, not unfrequently
of romance, seems to be thrown around them. We ought
to thank God that we may witness these occurrences.
" Many prophets and righteous men " would have done it,
with acclamations which would have made the heavens vocal,
if they had stood on the summit to which our feet have been
conducted. They have prepared anthems for such occasions,
though they were permitted to see these events only by the
eye of faith, and as they were dimly sketched in prophetic
vision ; and yet we have little more to do in the expression
of our thankfulness, than to sing over the songs which they
have indited for us.
The last forty years have witnessed greater changes in the
religious aspects of our world than have occurred during the
whole period which has elapsed since the glorious reforma
tion that commenced with Martin Luther. Many of the
old religions of our world have become as a threadbare gar-
ment, and the people are disposed to cast them off, or " fold
them up " and lay them aside. Look at paganism where it
has come more particularly under our inspection, and you
wiU see that it has had its day, and has nearly run its race.
The Sandwich Islanders had tried a fair experiment with
their gods, and finding from their own examination of the
subject, that their whole system of worship was a mere
human figment, they converted their deities into fuel for
cooking their food. Since that period they have received the
gospel, and under the instruction of missionaries, they have

25
Tisen more rapidly in letters, and piety, and morals, than any
other people of whom we have a minute and critical account.
The transformation • is almost miraculous. Go to the popu
lous East, and the same facts wdl meet you on every side.
Idolatry, though the national and popular religion, — and
indeed the only religion they know, — is loosing its hold on
the human mind. And this is often the case where mission
ary labors have either not been enjoyed at all, or have not
been directly blessed in the conversion of men to Christ.
Their false schemesof theology are wearing out and loosing
their former attractions. In Calcutta alone, it may be esti
mated that from ten to fifteen thousand who were born and
trained in paganism, have renounced that system, and may
be said to be without any religion at all. The most ingeni
ous, complicated, and magnificent schemes of idol-worship,
which cover most of the eastern world, and embrace four or
five hundred millions of devotees would be likely to die
out for the want of inherent vitality, even if the gospel were
to cease from its aggressive movements. The symptoms of
that crisis, we are permitted to witness. They have super
vened in our day.
Mohamedanism, too, has lost most of its ancient zeal, and
its glory has departed, since it has had few or no opportu
nities of making converts upon the field of blood. Its days
are nearly numbered, and its destiny is sealed on the earth,
as it is in heaven.
But the greatest changes, in our day, have occurred in the
papal world. They are such as many men, deeply read in
the prophetic books, have anticipated, and have been look
ing for. They have now come. When I speak of the papal
world I mean the church and state, for they are as vitally
united as the Siamese twins : if one lives they both live,

26
—if one dies, the other dies also. I mean in their present-
organizations. The sceptered hand protects the mitred
head, and the mitred head works out the problems of op
pression for the sceptered hand to enforce. The causes of
all the insurrectionary movements of France, Austria, Hun
gary and Rome, have been created as much by the church
as the state. Indeed, without the papal power, Europe
would never have worn the chains which have been rivited
upon many parts of it, for ages past. This is especially true
of the papal see. The people had been kept in ignorance,
by a false gospel, administered by ghostly hands, and robbed
of their dearest rights, till endurance was no longer a virtue.
The struggle for a free constitution, in the land of the
Romans, was one of the noblest that was ever undertaken,
and failed of success among men. And had it not been for
French troops and French bayonets, it would have achieved
its object. And let it not be forgotten, that this war was
waged against spiritual and political tyranny ; and Republi
can France fought for the tyrant.
The letter of that noble spirit Mazzini, late one of the
Triumvirs of Rome, addressed to the Priests of Italy, reveals
both the nature and the causes of the popular movements in
that ill-fated land. I shall give you a few sentences from
this masterly production.
" For a long time, a divorce has existed between the Cath
olic Church and humanity." " I now warn you that the im
portant hour is about to strike. Through your misconduct —
through your obstinacy in propping up a rotten edifice, and
in maintaining the Popish church, notwithstanding its hatred
to, and its ignorance of the inevitable progress of mankind —
men's consciences are now in doubt. Religion is banished
from men's hearts." ¦ " In the name of God, and for the love

27
we bear our country, we ask you of what creed you are 1
Whether you understand the scriptures 1 Whether the word
of Christ be to you a dead letter 1 Whether, in chosing
between the word of God and the Bulls of the Pope, you be
absolutely determined to stand by the latter without examin
ation—without an appeal to your consciences 1 In a word,
we ask you whether you be christians, or idolators ¦? "
" What are the demands of the people 1 Nationality-
Freedom — the general good of mankind ; Liberty of speech
and of conscience ; protection of just laws, instead of the
arbitrary caprice of a usurpation. We will select our own
rulers from those most conspicuous for their virtues and
intelligence. We will have education for all : Food for the
mind — bread for the body ; that the will of God be done on
earth as it is in heaven."
Now these are American sentiments. We inhaled them
with our earliest breathings ; and we shall live by them and
die by them ; and then leave them as a legacy to other gen
erations. And yet these sentiments were anathematized and
banished by the present pope, his cardinals and priests.
Yes, butcheries without number were perpetrated, by the
aid of a foreign power, in order to drive them from the land.
And notwithstanding this, we are told, in a late Lecture by
Bishop Hughes that this country is yet to share the same
fate, and come under the same despotic Prince and church.
" Every body should know," says he, " that we have for our
mission to convert the world,— including the inhabitants of
the United States,— the people of the cities, and the people of
the country, the officers of the navy and the marines, con>
manders of the army, the legislatures, the senate, the Cabi
net, the President, and all." Nor, according to this modest
arch-bishop, is this papal conquest to end here. « The ob-

28
ject we hope to accomplish in time," says he, " is to convert
aU pagan nations, and all protestant nations, even England
and her proud Parliament and Imperial Sovereign."
When I look at this pompous waste of words, in connec
tion with what his papal master has lately done in Queen
Victoria's dominions, dividing her kingdom into Romish
jurisdictions, I am inclined to consider it all a mere " ruse" to
divert attention from the state of things in Italy — from a
tottering throne, from a beggarly and hated priesthood, from
the only half-stifled demands of the people for the right of
private judgment and political reform, from the successful
distribution of Bibles and Tracts, and from daily efforts for
the conversion of the subjects of his holiness, under the very
shadow of St. Peter's. It is a mere < whistle to keep the
courage up.'
What ! this country to become papal, and receive all the
dogmas of the Romish Church ! Will the American mind,
accustomed to think for itself, and irradiated by human-
learning and the Bible, ever subscribe to her articles of faith
and submit to her dictation in matters of religion 1 No,
never, while the sun shines, and the sweet stars are in
heaven. Merer, while the earth is green, and Mercy is on
the throne ! We are not the people to swallow transubr
stantiation, the infaUibihty of the Pope, the right of the
Church to supercede private judgment and the dictates of
conscience, by imposing a creed that every man must be
lieve, auricular confession, priestly absolution, extreme
unction, prayers to a host of dead men *and women, the
doctrine of purgatory, masses for departed souls, the efficacy
of penance and pilgrimages, and the puerile stories of modern
miracles. But we ask no acts of Congress, or decrees of
synods or conventions, to defend us from the predictions or

29
the encroachments of the Bishop. This would be, as Daniel
Webster said, in a far more doubtful case, " re-enacting the
laws of God." Our shield is common sense and the Bible,
both of which God has given us, and which neither Pope nor
prelate shall ever take away. Let the Bishop vapor to his
heart's content ; it may gratify him — it will certainly do us-
no harm.
The case may be very different in England. I say nothing.
of Episcopacy here ; but I do say, that the established Church
of England was never thoroughly Protestant. A State reli
gion, whether Lutheran, Episcopal or Presbyterian, has a
fibre of Romanism in it, and especially if it have a temporal
prince or potentate at its head. The English Reformation
was partly, at least, a contest between the king of Italy and
the king of England — the pope of Rome and pope Henry the
VIII. The late defections from the Anglican church to the
Roman Catholic, over which Bishop Hughes glories so ex-
ultingly, and by which the Pope seems to have been moved
as by a gentle invitation to come over and take possession of
his own, confirm the position I have taken : that the Church
establishment of England has always had a fibre of the root
of the Papacy in it. I say nothing against an evangelical
Protestant Episcopalian. I hail him as a brother. But to
say nothing of those who have already arrived in Rome, J
have no fellowship with that flank of the army which has
wheeled towards the eternal city, are marching for the Vati
can and Saint Peter's, and some of whom have travelled " as
far as the Appii Forum and the Three Taverns." The re
buke, administered to suoh, by Lord John Russell, is both
timely and scorching. "Clergymen of our own Church,"
says h|s Lordship, " who have subscribed the thirty-nine ar
ticles, and acknowledged, in explicit terms, the Queen's

30
supremacy, have been the most forward in leading their
flocks, 'step by step, to the very verge of the precipice.'—
The honor paid to saints, the claim of infallibility for the
church, the superstitious use of the sign of the cross, the
muttering of the liturgy, so as to disguise the language in
which it is written, the recommendation of auricular con
fession, and the administration of penance and absolution —
all these things are pointed out by clergymen of the Church
of England as worthy of adoption."
" What, then, is the danger to be apprehended from a for
eign prince of no greater power, compared to the danger
within the gates, from the unworthy sons of the Church of.
England herself 1"
There must be some deep-seated and latent cause for these
frequent defections.
5. This is an age of practical benevolence.
Many of the facts and principles which I have already
named, as belonging to this age, and forming the outlines of
its character, have had a good practical effect upon the mind
and heart and acts of men. This world, peopled with immor
tal beings, and these beings, our fellows, 'bone of our bones,
and flesh of our flesh,' the subjects of suffering, crime, and
death, has never before excited as deep an interest as now.
I would not overdraw this picture, because I know the fea
tures I am delineating are but imperfectly developed as yet.
We have only seen a few sparks, instead of the kindlings of
the bright, warm fire. But that fire will burn in the human
bosom, and much of the dross of our corrupt passions shall
be consumed, and the pure gold of humanity and of grace
shall flow in liquid streams from the furnace; and those
streams shall enrich the world. It is not too much to an*
ticipate that the time will come, when man will desire to live

31
only to make the world smile around him, — to mittigate its
woes and multiply its blessings.
Christianity is a scheme of heaven-born benificence. Its
heart is love. If I had time I should like to present a faint
sketch, — I could do no more, — of its deeds of mercy accom-
complished in our world. How, like its divine master,
when enshrined in the soul of man, — another spirit within
the spirit, — has it gone about doing good ! I would point
you to its monuments, — some of them moss-grown and hoary
with age, and others in all the freshness of smiling infancy.
I would tell you of its Hospitals, Poor-houses, Orphan Assy-
lums, Widdows' houses, and Infirmaries for the aged and
the indigent, with a hundred other homes for disease and
want and wo, which have never grown upon the soil of our
globe where it was not first watered by the dews of the gos
pel. . But I forbear, because my object now is a different
one. It is not to recount the victories of light and love, but
to speak of the growing spirit of our day. Man begins to
study man, not for the purpose of circumventing him — of
robbing h\m — of making merchandize of him — of assassin
ating him, but that he may give him a frank and generous
right hand, and press him to his warm heart, as a brother.
This spirit is to set this world erect again, and lift its eye to
Heaven, and chain its destinies to the throne of God.
The noblest expression of the spirit of which I am speak
ing, in modern times, may be seen in Christian missions. —
The field is the world ; the object to be achieved is the re
demption of immortal man- The agency is the Truth ; the
efficiency is God the Spirit. Should not this be called a
scheme of charity and beneficence 1 Certainly it should be
so called. By the side of it, most other enterprises are strip
ped of their grandeur and lose their interest. Others, after

32
a temporary popularity, sink into neglect and are forgotten.
But this, never. The Gospel has a mission to perform — a
destiny to accomplish, which the good and active of all evan
gelical churches begin to believe and appreciate. This spirit
already kindled, will become stronger, and more heavenly
and Christ-like, in its pulsations and pantings for the earth's
redemption. This world must be regenerated. God has so
purposed. The inspired bards have thus sung, and the
Church of God rests upon the promise. Hence the increased
activities of all evangelical denominations in Christendom.
There is a new spirit in redeemed man, and this spirit has
created new and enlarged efforts for the redemption of uni
versal man. It will never sleep again. It shall never grow
faint or weary, till its purposed work is done. With God's
help, it shall conquer every antagonism. Wars shall be
known only in history. Sword-blades shall be plowshares,
and sharp-pointed spears shall be pruning-hooks. The
" olive branch," sweet emblem of peace, shall be held out
from nation to nation, under the whole heavens, and the
golden chain of brotherhood shall be thrown around the
earth, and bind its peopled islands and continents together.
But this " consummation, so devoutly to be wished," can
be secured only by the religion of mind — the religion of
thought. Dogmas, taught by authority, and enforced by
fire and fagot and inquisitorial tortures, can never make one
heart better, nor fit one soul for Heaven. The Bible, the
whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, must be the system ;
and this must be administered in simplicity, and received in
meekness and faith, and the work will be done. While stars
shall sparkle in the crown of those who turn many to right
eousness, the glory, both on earth and in heaven, shall be
ascribed to God alone : and let all the people say, Amen I