Chapter 9

State

Live

WISE and good men are God's workmen in laying the foundations and in completing the structures of human society. Every great and important era in history has been distinguished by the providential appearance and the successful labors of superior men, whose minds have been illuminated and whose steps have been guided by divine wisdom, and who have given progress to the interests of liberty and religion. As representative men, - men of God, ordained and prepared for their special mission, - contemplate Moses, the man of Providence, whose wisdom and genius have moulded the civil and religious institutions of all Christian nations; Paul, whose Christian faith, inspired writings, and heroic life have kindled the fires of freedom and truth among the nations of the earth, and exerted a boundless influence upon the intellectual and spiritual elevation and regeneration of the world; Luther, who by his masterly intellect and genius, his invincible Christian faith, iron will, indomitable energy, richness of learning, and earnest devotion to truth, has liberated the human intellect from the shackles of ecclesiastical and civil despotism, and put into ceaseless activity agencies and influences which are working out the emancipation of nations and the moral regeneration of the world; Calvin, the profound thinker and theologian, "who," says Bancroft, "infused enduring elements into the institutions of Geneva, and made it for the modern world the impregnable fortress of popular freedom, the fertile seed-plot of democracy. He spread the fires of freedom in Scotland and carried the seeds of civil liberty and revolution to New England;" Wickliffe, the Oxford professor, and the translator of the Bible into the English language, who planted the seeds of the English Reformation, and started influences that resulted in Puritan emigration and the founding of a Christian nation on the American continent; Wesley, who by his practical wisdom and piety, and his sanctified genius, revived "Christianity in earnest," and put into intense and benevolent activity Christian and educational forces which are working effectually among the nations for their deliverance from error, ignorance, and despotism; Washington, - the defender of his country, the founder of a Christian republic, whose fame and influence are as boundless as the world, and whose great example, illustrious life, profound practical wisdom, and unaffected piety have made him the ornament of the race and the benefactor of the world. These men were men of God, and divinely endowed and prepared for their great Christian work in giving the blessings of civil and religious liberty to nations.

"The affairs of men," says Lord Brougham, "the interests and history of nations, the relative value of institutions as discovered by their actual working, the merit of different systems of policy as tried by their effects, are all very imperfectly examined without a thorough knowledge of the individuals who administered the systems and presided over the management of public concerns. The history of empires is indeed the history of men, - not only of the nominal rulers of the people, but of the leading persons who exerted a sensible influence over the destinies of their fellow-creatures, whether the traces of that influence resided in themselves, or, as in the case of lesser minds, their power was confined to their own times."

The men of the Revolution had been, under the providence of God, trained and qualified for their great work. The Christian conflicts in Europe antecedent to American colonization, their Christian ancestors who had established their civil and social institutions on the Bible, the Christian schools in which they had been educated, and the purity and manly vigor of the Christian faith which had formed their character and directed their conduct, these agencies had been at work to qualify the men who wrought the American Revolution and instituted our present forms of civil government. An outline sketch of the faith and declarations of the men who founded our civil institutions, in relation to the Christian religion and its necessity to civil government, will be recorded in the present chapter.

1) JAMES OTIS,

Of Massachusetts, was among the first and foremost champions of freedom. He was educated, under Christian influences, by Rev. Jonathan Russell, minister of his parish, and in this Christian school caught the indomitable spirit of resistance to despotism. "Otis," said John Adams,"is a flame of fire," - referring to a speech he made in Boston, in 1761, against the oppression of the British Government. "With a promptitude of classical allusions, a depth of research, a rapid summary of historical events and dates, a profusion of legal authorities, a prophetic glance of his eyes into futurity, and a rapid torrent of impetuous eloquence, he hurried all before him. American independence was then and there born. The seeds of patriots and heroes to defend the vigorous youth were there and then sown. In fifteen years - i.e. in 1776 - he grew up to manhood and declared himself free."

"There can be," said Otis, "no prescriptions old enough to supersede the law of nature, and the grant of Almighty God, who has given all men a right to be free. Government springs from the necessities of our nature, and has an everlasting foundation in the unchangeable will of God. The first principle and great end of government being to provide for the best good of all the people, this can be done only by a supreme legislature and executive, ultimately in the people, or the whole community, where God has placed it.

"The right of every man to his life, his liberty, no created being can rightfully contest. They are rights derived from the Author of nature, inherent, inalienable, and indefeasible by any law, compacts, contracts, covenants, or stipulations which man can devise. God made all men naturally equal."

2) JOSEPH WARREN

Was as eminent for his virtues as for his intense patriotism. He fell a martyr to liberty at Bunker Hill, the 17th of June, 1775. He combined in a remarkable degree the qualities requisite for excellence in civil pursuits, with a strong taste for the military. He was educated at Cambridge University, and had in high perfection the gift of eloquence. His fine accomplishments as an orator, a patriot, and a professional and literary man were crowned with the virtues of religion. "There is hardly one," says Sparks, "whose example exercised a more inspiring and elevating influence upon his countrymen and the world than that of the brave, blooming, generous, self-devoted martyr of Bunker Hill. Such a character is the noblest spectacle which the moral world affords. It is declared by a poet to be a spectacle worthy of the gods. The friends of liberty, from all countries and throughout all time, as they kneel upon the spot that was moistened by the blood of Warren, will find their better feelings strengthened by the influence of the place, and will gather from it a virtue in some degree allied to his own."

On the morning of the battle of Bunker Hill, at a meeting of the Committee of Safety, Elbridge Gerry earnestly requested him not to expose his person. "I am aware of the danger," replied Warren; "but I should die with shame if I were to remain at home in safety while my friends and fellow-citizens are shedding their blood and hazarding their lives in the cause." "Your ardent temper," replied Gerry, "will carry you forward into the midst of peril, and you will probably fall." "I know that I may fall," replied Warren; "but where is the man who does not think it glorious and beautiful to die for his country?"

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori."

"In the private walks of life," said an orator who pronounced a eulogy on Warren in Boston, April 8, 1776, at the reinterment of his remains, "he was a pattern for mankind. In public life, the sole object of his ambition was to acquire the conscience of virtuous enterprises: amor patriæ was the spring of his actions, and mens conscia recti was his guide. And on this security he was, on every occasion, ready to sacrifice his health, his interest, and his ease to the calls of his country. When the liberties of his country were attacked, he appeared an early champion in the contest; and though his knowledge and abilities would have insured riches and preferment (could he have stooped to prostitution), yet he nobly withstood the fascinating charm, tossed fortune back her plume, and pursued the inflexible purpose of his soul in guiltless competence. The greatness of his soul shone even in the moment of death. In fine, to complete the great character, like Harrington he wrote, like Cicero he spoke, and like Wolfe he died. The name and the virtues of Warren shall remain immortal."

In an oration delivered in Boston, March 5, 1772, Warren, after discussing the principles of liberty, closes as follows: -

"If you with united zeal and fortitude oppose the torrent of oppression; if you feel the true fire of patriotism burning in your breasts; if you from your souls despise the most gaudy dress that slavery can wear; if you really prefer the lonely cottage (whilst blest with liberty) to gilded palaces surrounded with the ensigns of slavery, you may have the fullest assurances that tyranny, with her whole accursed train, will hide their hideous heads in confusion, shame, and despair. If you perform your part, you must have the strongest confidence that THE SAME ALMIGHTY BEING who protected your venerable and pious fore-fathers, who enabled them to turn a barren wilderness into a fruitful field, who so often made bare his arm for their salvation, will be still mindful of you, their offspring.

"May this ALMIGHTY BEING graciously preside in all our councils. May he direct us to such measures as he himself will approve and be pleased to bless. May we ever be a people favored of God. May our land be a land of liberty, the seat of virtue, the asylum of the oppressed, a name and a praise in the whole earth, until the last shock of time shall bury the empires of the world in one common undistinguished ruin."

3) SAMUEL ADAMS,

A true Christian statesman and hero, wise, ardent, fearless, and influential, was "a member of the church, and in a rigid community was an example of morals and the scrupulous observance of every ordinance. Evening and morning his house was a house of prayer; and no one more revered the Christian Sabbath." He was among the foremost patriots of the Revolution, and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. After that act had been passed, he stood on the steps of the Continental State-House, on the 1st of August, 1776, in Philadelphia, and, before thousands of patriots, delivered an oration, in which are the following passages: -

"The time at which this attempt on our liberties was made, when we were ripened into maturity, had acquired a knowledge of war, and were free from intestine enemies, - the gradual advances of our oppressors, enabling us to prepare for our defence, - the unusual fertility of our lands, - the success which at first attends our feeble arms, producing unanimity among our friends and reducing our internal foes to acquiescence, these are strong and palpable assurances that Providence is yet gracious unto our Zion, that it will turn away our captivity.

"These are instances of, I would say, an almost astonishing providence in our favor; so that we may truly say that it is not our arm that has saved us. The hand of Heaven appears to have led us on to be, perhaps, humble instruments and means in the great providential dispensation which is completing. Brethren and fellow-countrymen, if it was ever granted to mortals to trace the designs of Providence and interpret its manifestations in favor of its cause, we may, with humility of soul, cry out, 'Not unto us, not unto us, but to thy name be the praise.'

"My countrymen, from the day on which an accommodation takes place between England and America on any other terms than as independent states, I shall date the ruin of this country. We are now, to the astonishment of the world, three millions of souls united in one common cause. This day we are called on to give a glorious example of what the wisest and best of men were rejoiced to view only in speculation. This day presents the world with the most august spectacle that it's annals ever unfolded, millions of freemen voluntarily and deliberately forming themselves into a society for the common defence and common happiness. Immortal spirits of Hampden, Locke, and Sidney! will it not add to your benevolent joys to behold your posterity rising to the dignity of men, and evincing to the world the reality and expediency of your systems, and in the actual enjoyment of that equal liberty which you were happy, when on earth, in delineating and recommending to mankind!"

4) PATRICK HENRY,

The passionate and eloquent orator of liberty and the Revolution, was a profound believer in the divinity of Christianity, and declared its necessity to nations and governments as well as to the salvation and happiness of the soul. In April, 1775, he uttered the following Christian sentiments: -

"He had no doubt that that God who, in former ages, had hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he might show his power and glory in the redemption of his chosen people, for similar purposes had permitted the flagrant outrages which had occurred throughout the continent. It was for them now to determine whether they were worthy of divine interference, - whether they would accept the high boon now held out to them by Heaven; - that, if they would, though it might lead them through a sea of blood, they were to remember that the same God whose power divided the Red Sea for the deliverance of Israel still reigned in all his glory, unchanged and unchangeable, was still the enemy of the oppressor and the friend of the oppressed, - that he would cover them from their enemies by a pillar of cloud by day, and guide them through the night by a pillar of fire."

In an impassioned burst of patriotism, he exclaimed, "We must fight. I repeat it, sir, we must fight. An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. Nor shall we fight our battles alone. That God who presides over the destinies of nations will raise up friends for us."

In reference to resolutions against the scheme of taxing the colonies, passed by the Virginia legislature in 1765, he stated, "Whether they will prove a blessing or a curse will depend on the use which our people make of the blessings which a gracious God hath bestowed on us. If they are wise, they will be great and happy. If they are of a contrary character, they will be miserable. Righteousness alone can exalt them as a nation." Reader, whoever thou art, remember this, and in thy sphere practise virtue thyself, and encourage it in others.

"He was," says Wirt, his biographer, "a sincere Christian. His favorite religious works were Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, Butler's Analogy of Religion Natural and Revealed, and Jenyns's Views of the Internal Evidences of the Christian Religion." "Here," said he to a friend (holding up the Bible), "is a book worth more than all other books that were ever printed."

His last will bears this testimony, to his children and his countrymen, to the truth and importance of religion: - "I have now disposed of all my worldly property to my family: there is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is the Christian religion. If they had this, and I had not given them one shilling, they would be rich; and if they had it not, and I had given them all the world, they would be poor."

5) JOHN HANCOCK,

The son of a clergyman of Braintree, Massachusetts, was distinguished for his patriotism, piety, and benevolence. His great wealth and eminent talents were consecrated to his country. He was President of the Congress of 1776, and his name, in a bold, broad hand, stands first on the Declaration of Independence. Early in the struggle for independence and freedom he inspired his patriot companions with such stirring Christian words as these: -

"I have the most animating confidence that the present noble struggle for liberty will terminate gloriously for America. And let us play the men for our God, and for the cities of our God: while we are using the means in our power, let us humbly commit our righteous cause to the great Lord of the Universe, who loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity. And, having secured the approbation of our hearts by a faithful and unwearied discharge of our duty to our country, let us joyfully leave our concerns in the hands of Him who raiseth up and putteth down the empires and kingdoms of the earth as he pleaseth, and, with cheerful submission to his sovereign will, devoutly say, 'Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stall: yet we will rejoice in the Lord, we will joy in the God of our salvation.' "

6) JOHN ADAMS,

The orator of the Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, the first Vice-President and second President of the United States, was a firm believer in Christianity. He was early trained in its heavenly lessons, being the son of a deacon of the Congregational Church, of which he himself became a member. "His faith and soul clung to the Christian religion as the hope of himself and his country." In every position, he exerted his great powers to extend its beneficent reign. He was a faithful attendant on the public worship of God at home and when attending to his public duties abroad. Jefferson said of Adams that "a man more perfectly honest never came from the hands of the Creator."

"The Christian religion," Adams said, "as I understand it, is the brightness of the glory and the express portrait of the character of the eternal, self-existent, independent, benevolent, all-powerful, and all-merciful Creator, Preserver and Father of the universe, the first good, the first perfect, and the first fair. It will last as long as the world. Neither savage nor civilized man, without a revelation, could have discovered or invented it." "Religion and virtue are the only foundations, not only of republicanism and of all free governments, but of social felicity under all governments and in all the combinations of human society. Science, liberty, and religion are the choicest blessings of humanity: without their joint influence no society can be great, flourishing, or happy."

Mr. Adams was the first minister to England after peace was established. On the 9th of June, 1785, he was presented to the court of Great Britain, and made to the Queen of England the following address: -

"Permit me, madam, to recommend to your majesty's royal goodness a rising empire and an infant virgin world. Another Europe, madam, is rising in America. To a philosophical mind like your majesty's, there cannot be a more pleasing contemplation than the prospect of doubling the human species and augmenting at the same time their prosperity and happiness. It will in future ages be the glory of these kingdoms to have planted that country and to have sown there those seeds of science, of liberty, of virtue, and, permit me, madam, to add, of PIETY, which alone constitute the prosperity of nations and the happiness of the human race."

When the Declaration of Independence was passed, Adams wrote to his wife as follows: -

"The fourth day of July, 1776, will be a memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverence, by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever.

"You will think me transported with an enthusiasm; but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this declaration and support and defend these States; yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means, and that posterity will triumph, although you and I may rue it, which I hope we shall not."

7) ROBERT TREAT PAINE,

A signer of the Declaration of Independence, had studied prayerfully and thoroughly the whole range of theology before he entered upon the study of law. He was for a short time chaplain in the army, and preached occasionally in Boston. "He was a decided, firm believer in the Christian revelation, and was fully convinced of its divine origin. He received it as a system of moral truth and righteousness given by God for the instruction, consolation, and happiness of man. His intellectual, moral, and religious character was strongly marked with integrity."

8) ELBRIDGE GERRY,

Also a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Vice-President of the United States, was a statesman who recognized the providence of God in human affairs, and had faith in the divinity of Christianity. In a letter to Samuel Adams, December 13, 1775, he says, "History can hardly produce such a series of events as has taken place in favor of American opposition. The hand of Heaven seems to have directed every occurrence. Had such an event as lately occurred at Essex happened to Cromwell, he would have published it as a miracle in his favor, and excited his soldiers to enthusiasm and bravery." "It is the duty of every citizen," he said, "though he had but one day to live, to devote that day to the service of his country." "May that Omnipotent Being," (in addressing the Senate in 1814,) "who with infinite wisdom and justice presides over the destinies of nations, confirm the heroic patriotism which has glowed in the breasts of the national rulers, and convince the enemy that, whilst a disposition to peace on honorable and equitable terms will ever prevail in their public councils, one spirit, animated by the love of country, will inspire every department of the national government."

9) MATTHEW THORNTON,

A native of Ireland, was distinguished in the cause of liberty. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the disciple and friend of Washington. "No man was more deeply impressed with a belief in the existence and bounties of an over-ruling Providence, which he strongly manifested by a practical application of the strongest and wisest injunctions of the Christian religion. A believer in the divine mission of our Savior, he followed the great principles of his doctrines."

10) STEPHEN HOPKINS

Was a pure-minded patriot and Christian statesman. He signed the Declaration of Independence, and bore a distinguished part in securing our liberties and forming our free institutions. He was a Quaker, and took an active interest in their church-affairs, and opened his house for their religious worship. He was well acquainted with the evidences of Christianity, and was frequently heard to confound the cavils of infidels and to establish the divinity of the Christian religion.

11) WILLIAM ELLERY,

An ardent patriot, active and influential in Congress, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a Christian statesman. "He studied the Scriptures with reverence and diligence; feeling their value, seeking for the truth, and aiming at the obedience they require." He had firm faith in the justice and goodness of God. In the most gloomy periods of the Revolution, he always ended his cheering addresses by saying," Let us be hopeful and trusting; for 'the Lord reigneth.' "

12) ROGER SHERMAN

Was a wise legislator, an ardent and incorruptible patriot, and a ripe Christian statesman. He had the unbounded confidence of Congress, and was on the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. In Congress he advocated the Christian duty and propriety of appointing days of fasting and prayer and thanksgiving to Almighty God, and was the author of several of those eminently Christian state papers. He had great influence in imbuing the public and legislative transactions of the country with a scriptural sense of the need of God's presence and blessing. Washington esteemed and revered him as an eminent Christian and as a wise statesman. Adams said, "He was one of the soundest and strongest pillars of the Revolution." In early youth he made a public profession of religion, and for more than a half-century he defended its doctrines and illustrated its virtues. He applied Christian principles to every department of society, and considered all governments sadly defective that were not based on the moral teachings and principles of the Bible.

At his funeral it was said by his pastor, Jonathan Edwards, Jun., D.D., that, "whether we consider him as a politician or a Christian, he was a great and good man. The words of David concerning Abner may with great truth be applied on this occasion: - 'Know ye not that there is a great man fallen this day in Israel?' He ever adorned the profession of Christianity which he made in youth, was distinguished through life for public usefulness, and died in prospect of a blessed immortality."

The predominant traits in Mr. Sherman's character were his practical wisdom and his strong common sense. Mr. Jefferson, on one occasion, when pointing out the various members of Congress to a friend, said, "That is Mr. Sherman, of Connecticut, a man who never said a foolish thing in his life." He possessed a singular power of penetrating into the characters and motives of men, while the rectitude and integrity of his own nature enabled him to acquire an extraordinary influence. "Though a man naturally of strong passions, he obtained a complete control over them, by means of his deep religious spirit, and became habitually calm, sedate, and self-possessed."

13) SAMUEL HUNTINGTON

Acted a prominent part in achieving our independence, and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. "He was a firm friend of order and religion, a member of the Christian Church, and punctual in his devotions of the family. He was, ocсаsionally, the people's mouth to God when destitute of preaching. As a professor of Christianity and a supporter of its institutions, he was exemplary and devout."

14) WILLIAM WILLIAMS

Was the son of Rev. Solomon Williams, who for fifty-four years was the pastor of the Congregational church of Lebanon, Connecticut. "He was a man of piety, and from his early youth a member of the church. In all relations and transactions of life he preserved an unblemished Christian character." His high Christian character won for him the distinction of an honest politician. He signed the Declaration of Independence, and aided in forming our free institutions.

15) OLIVER WOLCOTT

Has an honorable record in the annals of freedom. He was a Christian statesman, and signed the charter of our independence. "His integrity was inflexible, his morals were strictly pure, and his faith that of an humble Christian, untainted by bigotry or intolerance."

16) PHILIP LIVINGSTON

Belonged to a family of eminent Christian celebrity. He was a statesman of the highest order, consecrated himself to the cause of his country, and exercised great influence in forming our free institutions. He was a firm believer in the Christian religion, and an humble follower of our Divine Redeemer.

17) RICHARD STOCKTON

Was a true patriot, a ripe statesman, an eloquent orator, a profound jurist, and an honor to the Christian Church. He signed the Declaration of Independence, and aided greatly in our struggle for freedom. His will attests his views of the truth and importance of the Christian religion, in these words: - "As my children will have frequent occasion of perusing this instrument, and may be particularly impressed with the last words of their father, I think proper here not only to subscribe to my entire belief in the great leading doctrines of the Christian religion, such as the being of a God, and the universal defection and depravity of human nature, the divinity of the PERSON and the completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed Saviour, the necessity of the operations of the Divine Spirit, of divine faith accompanied with an habitual virtuous life, and the universality of the Divine Providence, but also, in the bowels of a father's affection, to charge and exhort them to remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

18) JOHN WITHERSPOON

Was a Christian patriot, and a learned minister of the gospel. He was from Scotland, the land of learning and of liberty, and a descendant of John Knox, the Reformer. His great learning attracted the attention of the friends of education, and he was called to the presidency of Princeton College. Soon after his arrival the scenes of the Revolution opened, and the college was suspended. "Under his auspices," says Dr. Rogers, a contemporary, 1 "have been formed a large proportion of the clergy of the Presbyterian Church, and to his instructions America owes many of her most distinguished patriots and legislators. In the civil councils of his adopted country he shone with equal lustre, and his talents as a legislator and senator showed the extent and the variety of the powers of his mind. His distinguished abilities pointed him out to the citizens of New Jersey as one of the most proper delegates to the convention which formed their republican Constitution. In this assembly he appeared to all the professors of law as profound a civilian as he had before been known to be a philosopher and divine. Early in the year 1776 he was sent, as a representative of the people of New Jersey, to the Congress of the United States. He was seven years a member of that illustrious body, which, under Providence, in the face of innumerable difficulties and dangers, led us on to the establishment of our independence. He was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. While he was thus engaged in serving his country in the character of a civilian, he did not lay aside his ministry." He advocated the cause of the country, with admirable simplicity, by his pen; exalting it in the pulpit by associating the interests of civil and religious liberty, and zealously co-operating in its active vindication in Congress. He was an eminent Christian statesman, as well as a pious and learned divine. "If the pulpit of America," says Headley, "had given only this one man to the Revolution, it would deserve to be held in everlasting remembrance for the service it rendered the country."

A sermon which Dr. Witherspoon preached at Princeton, on the 17th of May, 1776, being the general fast appointed by the Congress through the United Colonies, entitled "The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men," was rich in profound thought, and eloquent and just in its views of civil and religious liberty. His object in the discourse was to show that public calamities and commotions, the ambition of mistaken princes, and the passions and wickedness of men, are under the dominion of God, and will be overruled for the advancement and establishment of religion and liberty. The passage on which he based this noble discourse was, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." - (Psalm lxxvi. 10.) The following extracts are given: -

"There is no part of Divine Providence in which a greater beauty and majesty appears, than when the Almighty Ruler turns the councils of wicked men into confusion, and makes them militate against themselves." This he illustrates by many marked events in sacred and profane history. And, applying the doctrine of the discourse to the condition of the colonies struggling for liberty, he says, "You may perceive what ground there is to give praise to God for his favors already bestowed on us respecting the public cause. It would be a criminal inattention not to observe the singular interposition of Providence hitherto in behalf of the American colonies. How many discoveries have been made of the designs of the enemy in Britain and among ourselves, in a manner as unexpected to us as to them, and in such season as to prevent their effect! What surprising success has attended our encounters in almost every instance! Has not the boasted discipline of regular and veteran soldiers been turned into confusion and dismay before the new and maiden courage of freemen in defence of their property and rights? In what great mercy has blood been spared on the side of this injured country! Some important victories have been gained in the South, with so little loss that enemies will probably think it dissembled. The signal advantage we have gained by the evacuation of Boston, and the shameful flight of the army and navy of Britain, was brought on without the loss of a man. To all this we may add, that the counsels of our enemies have been visibly confounded, so that I believe I may say with truth that there is hardly any step which they have taken but it has operated strongly against themselves, and been more in our favor than if they had followed a contrary course.

"While we give praise to God, the supreme disposer of all events, for his interposition in our behalf, let us guard against the dangerous error of trusting in or boasting of an arm of flesh. I could earnestly wish that, while our arms are crowned with success, we might content ourselves with a modest ascription of it to the power of the Highest. The Holy Scriptures in general, and the truths of the glorious gospel in particular, and the whole course of Providence, seem intended to abase the pride of man and lay the vain-glorious in the dust. The truth is, that, through the whole frame of nature and the whole system of human life, that which promises most performs the least. The flowers of finest colors seldom have the sweetest fragrance. The trees of greatest growth or fairest form are seldom of the greatest value or duration. Deep waters run with the least noise. Men who think most are seldom talkative. And I think it holds as much in war as in any thing, that every boaster is a coward. I look upon ostentation and confidence to be a sort of outrage upon Providence; and when it becomes general and infuses itself into the spirit of a people, it is the forerunner of destruction.

"From what has been said you may learn what encouragement you have to put your trust in God, and hope for his assistance in the present important conflict. He is the Lord of Hosts, great in might and strong in battle. Whoever has his countenance and approbation shall have the best at last. If your cause is just, you may look with confidence to the Lord and entreat him to plead it as his own. I would neither have you to trust in an arm of flesh, nor to sit with folded hands and expect that miracles shall be wrought in your defence. In opposition to it, I would exhort as Joab did the host of Israel, who in this instance spoke like a prudent general and a pious man: - 'Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God; and the Lord do that which is good in his sight." (2 Sam. x. 12.)

"He is the best friend to American liberty who is the most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind. Whoever is an avowed enemy to God, I scruple not to call him an enemy to his country. It is your duty in this important and critical season to exert yourselves, every one in his proper sphere, to stem the tide of prevailing vice, to promote the knowledge of God, the reverence of his name and worship, and obedience to his laws. Your duty to God, to your country, to your families, and to yourselves, is the same. True religion is nothing else but an inward temper and outward conduct suited to your state and circumstances in Providence at any time. And as peace with God and conformity to him add to the sweetness of created comforts while we possess them, so in times of difficulty and trial it is the man of piety and inward principle that we may expect to find the uncorrupted patriot, the useful citizen, and the invincible soldier. God grant that in America true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable, and that the unjust attempts to destroy the one may in the issue tend to the support and establishment of both."

In affixing his name to the Declaration of Independence, he rose in that illustrious body of men and uttered the following thrilling words: -

"Mr. President: - That noble instrument on your table, which insures immortality to its author, should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in the House. He who will not respond to its accents, and strain every nerve to carry into effect its provisions, is unworthy the name of freeman. Although these gray hairs must descend into the sepulchre, I would infinitely rather they should descend thither by the hand of the executioner, than desert at this crisis the sacred cause of my country."

The appeal was electric. Every member rose and affixed his name to that immortal Declaration.

In a discourse he preached at a public thanksgiving, after peace, from the text, "Salvation belongeth unto the Lord," in which he showed "what the United States of America owed to Divine Providence in the course of the present war," he closed with the following remarks: -

"Those who are vested with civil authority ought also with much care to promote religion and good morals among all under their government. If we give credit to the Holy Scriptures, he that ruleth must be just, ruling in the fear of God. Those who wish well to a state ought to choose, to places of trust, men of inward principle, justified by exemplary conversation. Those who pay no regard to religion and sobriety, in the persons whom they send to the legislature of any state, will soon pay dear for their folly. Let a man's zeal, profession, or even principles, as to political measures, be what they will, if he is without personal integrity and private virtue as a man, he is not to be trusted. I think we have had some instances of men who have roared for liberty in taverns, and were most noisy in public meetings, who yet have turned traitors in a little while. If the people in general ought to have regard to the moral character of those whom they invest with authority, either in the legislative, executive, or judicial branches, such as are so promoted may perceive what is and will be expected of them. They are under the strongest obligations to promote religion, sobriety, industry, and even social virtue, among those who are committed to their care. If you ask me what are the means which civil rulers are bound to use for attaining these ends, further than the impartial support and faithful guardianship of the rights of conscience, I answer, that example itself is none of the least. Those who are in high stations and authority are exposed to continual observation; and therefore their example is better seen and hath greater influence than that of persons of inferior rank. Reverence for the name of God, a punctual attendance on the public and private duties of religion, as well as sobriety and purity of conversation, are especially incumbent on those who are honored with places of power and trust. But I cannot content myself with this. It is certainly the duty of magistrates to be a terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well."

"Let us cherish a love of piety, order, industry, purity. Let us check every disposition to luxury, effeminacy, and the pleasures of a dissipated life. Let us in public measures put honor upon modesty and self-denial, which is the index of real merit. And in our families let us do the best, by religious instruction, to sow the seeds which may bear fruit in the next generation. Whatever state among us shall continue to make piety and virtue the standard of public honor will enjoy the greatest inward peace, the greatest national happiness, and in every conflict will discover the greatest constitutional strength."

19) BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,

The civilian, the philosopher, the patriot, the wise and virtuous statesman, and signer of the Declaration of Independence, had a profound reverence for the Christian religion and faith in its divinity. He was, in his childhood and youth, trained in the school of Puritan piety, and the foundation of his character and eminent usefulness was formed by the teachings of a Christian minister. In early life, he read Dr. Cotton Mather's little book, entitled "Essays to Do Good," and in his old age he said, "All the good I have ever done to my country or my fellow-creatures must be ascribed to the impressions produced on my mind by perusing that little work in my youth."

In writing, in 1790, to Dr. Stiles, President of Yale College, Dr. Franklin said, -

"You desire to know something of my religion. Here is my creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe. That he governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render him is in doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion. As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals, and his religion, as he left them to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see. I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes; and I have, with most of the present dissenters in England, some doubt as to his divinity, though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I soon will have an opportunity of knowing the truth, with less trouble. I see no harm, however, in its being believed, if that belief has the good consequence, as probably it has, of making his doctrines more respected and observed, especially as I do not perceive that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the believers in his government of the world with any peculiar marks of his displeasure. I shall only add, respecting myself, that, having experienced the goodness of that Being in conducting me prosperously through a long life, I have no doubt of its continuance in the next, though without the smallest conceit of meriting such goodness. My sentiments on this subject you will see in the copy of an old letter enclosed, which I wrote in answer to one from an old religionist (Whitefield) whom I had relieved in a paralytic case by electricity, and who, being afraid I should grow proud upon it, sent me his serious though rather impertinent caution.

"With great and sincere esteem and affection, I am, &c.,

"BENJAMIN FRANKLIN."

19.1) LETTER FROM DR. FRANKLIN TO REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD.

PHILADELPHIA, June 6, 1753.

DEAR SIR: -

I received your kind letter of the 2d inst., and am glad to hear that you increase in strength: I hope you will continue mending until you recover your former health and firmness. Let me know whether you still use the cold bath, and what effect it has. As to the kindness you mention, I wish it could have been of more serious service to you; but if it had, the only thanks that I should desire are, that you would always be ready to serve any other person that may need your assistance; and so let offices go round, for mankind are all of a family. For my own part, when I am employed in serving others, I do not look upon myself as conferring favors, but as paying debts. In my travels, and since my settlement, I have received much kindness from men to whom I shall never have an opportunity of making the least direct return, and numberless mercies from God, who is infinitely above being benefited by our services. These kindnesses from men I can, therefore, only return to their fellow-men; and I can only show my gratitude to God by a readiness to help his other children and my brethren; for I do not think that thanks and compliments, though repeated weekly, can dis- charge our real obligation to each other, and much less to our Creator.

You will see, in this my notion of good works, that I am far from expecting to merit heaven by them. By heaven we understand a state of happiness infinite in degree and eternal in duration. I can do nothing to deserve such a reward. He that, for giving a draught of water to a thirsty person, should expect to be paid with a good plantation, would be modest in his demands, compared with those who think they deserve heaven for the little good they do on earth. Even the mixed imperfect pleasures we enjoy in this world are rather from God's goodness than our merit: how much more so the happiness of heaven! For my part, I have not the vanity to think I deserve it, the folly to expect, or the ambition to desire it, but content myself in submitting to the disposal of that God who made me, who has hitherto preserved and blessed me, and in whose fatherly goodness I may well confide that he will never make me miserable, and that the affliction I may at any time suffer may tend to my benefit.

The faith you mention has, doubtless, its uses in the world. I do not desire to lessen it in any man, but I wish it were more productive of good works than I have generally seen it. I mean real good works, — works of kindness, charity, mercy, and public spirit; not in holyday-keeping, sermon hearing or reading, performing church ceremonies, or making long prayers, filled with flatteries and compliments, despised even by wise men, and much less capable of pleasing the Deity.

The worship of God is a duty; the hearing and reading may be useful; but if men rest in hearing and praying - as too many do - it is as if the tree should value itself on being watered and putting forth leaves, though it never produced any fruit.

Your good Master thought less of these outward appearances than many of his modern disciples. He preferred the doers of the word to the hearers; the son that seemingly refused to obey his father and yet performed his commands, to him that professed his readiness but neglected the work; the heretical but charitable Samaritan, to the uncharitable and orthodox priest and sanctified Levite; and those who gave food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, and raiment to the naked, entertainment to the stranger, and never heard of his name, he declares, shall, in the last day, be accepted, when those who cry, Lord, Lord, who value themselves on their faith, though great enough to perform miracles, but having neglected good works, shall be rejected.

Being your friend and servant,

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

Thomas Paine wrote a little volume entitled "The Age of Reason." He sent the manuscript to Dr. Franklin, and received the following reply: -

DEAR SIR: -

I have read your manuscript with some attention. By the argument which it contains against a particular Providence, though you allow a general Providence, you strike at the foundations of all religion. For, without the belief of a Providence that takes cognizance of, guards and guides, and may favor particular persons, there is no motive to worship a Deity, to fear its displeasure, or to pray for its protection. I will not enter into any discussion of your principles, though you seem to desire it.

At present I shall only give you my opinion that, though your reasonings are subtle, and may prevail with some readers, you will not succeed so as to change the general sentiments of mankind on that subject ; and the consequence of printing this piece will be, a great deal of odium drawn upon yourself, mischief to you, and no benefit to others. He that spits against the wind spits in his own face. But were you to succeed, do you imagine any good will be done by it? You yourself may find it easy to live a virtuous life without the assistance afforded by religion, you having a clear perception of the advantages of virtue and the disadvantages of vice, and possessing a strength of resolution sufficient to enable you to resist common temptations. But think how great a portion of mankind consists of ignorant men and women and of inexperienced, inconsiderate youth of both sexes, who have need of the motives of religion to restrain them from vice, support their virtue, and retain them in the practice of it till it becomes habitual, which is the great point for its security. And perhaps you are indebted to her originally, that is, to your religious education, for the habits of virtue upon which you now justly value yourself.

You might easily display your excellent talents of reasoning upon a less hazardous subject, and thereby obtain a rank with our most distinguished authors. For among us it is not necessary, as among the Hottentots, that a youth, to be raised into the company of men, should prove his manhood by beating his mother.

I would advise you, therefore, not to attempt unchaining the tiger, but to burn this piece before it is seen by any other person; whereby you will save yourself a great deal of mortification from the enemies it may raise against you, and perhaps a good deal of regret and repentance. If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be without it? I intend this letter itself as a proof of my friendship, and there fore add no professions to it, but subscribe simply,

Yours, B. FRANKLIN.

19.2) A LECTURE ON THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD.

19.2.1) BY BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

I propose at this time to discourse on the providence of God in the government of the world. It might be judged an affront should I go about to prove this first principle, the existence of a Deity, and that he is the creator of the universe, for that all mankind, in all ages, have agreed in. I shall, therefore, proceed to observe that he must be a being of infinite wisdom, as appears in his admirable order and disposition of things, whether we consider the heavenly bodies, the stars and planets, and their wonderful regular motions; or this earth, compounded of such an excellent mixture of all elements; or the admirable structure of animate bodies, of such infinite variety, and yet every one adapted to its nature and way of life it is to be placed in, whether on earth, in the air, or in the water, and so exactly that the highest and most exquisite human reason cannot find a fault and say that this would have been better so, or in such a manner; which whoever considers attentively and thoroughly will be astonished and swallowed up in admiration.

That the Deity is a being of great goodness, appears in his giving life to so many creatures, each of which acknowledges it a benefit by their unwillingness to leave it; in his providing plentiful sustenance for them all, and making those things most useful most common and easy to be had; such as water, necessary for almost every creature to drink; air, without which few could subsist; the inexpressible benefits of light and sunshine to almost all animals in general; and to men the most useful vegetables, such as corn, the most useful of metals, as iron, &c., the most useful of animals, as horses, oxen, and sheep, he has made the easiest to raise or procure in quantity or numbers; each of which particulars, if considered seriously and carefully, would fill us with the highest love and affection.

That he is a being of infinite power, appears in his being able to form and compound such vast masses of matter as this earth, the sun, and innumerable stars and planets, and give them such prodigious motion; and yet so to govern them in their greatest velocity as that they shall not fly out of their appointed bounds, nor dash one against another for their mutual destruction. But 'tis easy to conceive of his power when we are convinced of his infinite knowledge and wisdom; for if weak and foolish creatures as we are, by knowing the nature of a few things, can produce such wonderful effects, such as, for instance, by knowing the nature only of nitre and sea-salt mixed we can make a water which will dissolve the hardest iron, and by adding one ingredient more can make another water which will dissolve gold and make the most solid bodies fluid; and by knowing the nature of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal, those mean ingredients mixed, we can shake the air in the most terrible manner, destroy ships,houses, and men at a distance, and in an instant overthrow cities, and rend rocks into a thousand pieces, and level the highest mountains; what power must He possess who not only knows the nature of every thing in the universe, but can make things of new natures with the greatest ease at his pleasure?

Agreeing, then, that the world was at first made by a being of infinite wisdom, goodness, and power, which being we call God, the state of things existing at this time must be in one of these four following manners, viz.: -

1. Either he unchangeably decreed and appointed every thing that comes to pass, and left nothing to the course of nature, nor allowed any creature free agency.

2. Without decreeing any thing, he left all to general nature and the events of free agency in his creatures, which he never alters or interrupts; or,

3. He decreed some things unchangeably, and left others to general nature and the events of free agency, which also he never alters or interrupts; or,

4. He sometimes interferes by his particular providence, and sets aside the effects which would otherwise have been produced by any of the above causes.

I shall endeavor to show the first three suppositions to be inconsistent with the common light of reason, and that the fourth is most agreeable to it, and therefore most probably true.

In the first place: If you say he has in the beginning unchangeably decreed all things, and left nothing to nature or free agency, three strange conclusions will necessarily follow. 1. That he is now no more a God. It is true, indeed, before he made such unchangeable decrees, he was a being of power almighty; but now, having determined every thing, he has divested himself of all further power; he has done, and has no more to do; he has tied up his hands, and has no greater power than an idol of wood or stone; nor can there be any more reason for praying to him or worshipping of him than of such an idol, for the worshippers can never be better for such a worship. Then, 2. He has decreed some things contrary to the very notion of a wise and good being; such as that some of his creatures or children shall do all manner of injury to others, and bring every kind of evil upon them without cause; and that some of them shall even blaspheme their Creator in the most horrible manner; and, which is still more highly absurd, that he has decreed that the greatest part of mankind shall in all ages put up their earnest prayers to him both in private and publicly in great assemblies, when all the while he had so determined their fate that he could not possibly grant them any benefits on that account, nor could such prayers be in any way available. Why then should he ordain them to make such prayers? It cannot be imagined that they are of any services to him. Surely it is not more difficult to believe that the world was made by a God of wood or stone than that the God who made the world should be such a God as this.

In the second place, if you say he has decreed nothing, but left all things to general nature and the events of free agency, which he never alters or interrupts, then these conclusions will follow he must either utterly hide himself from the works of his own hands, and take no notice at all of their proceedings natural or moral, or he must be, as undoubtedly he is, a spectator of every thing, for there can be no reason or ground to suppose the first. I say there can be no reason to imagine he would make so glorious a universe merely to abandon it. In this case imagine the Deity looking on and beholding the ways of his creatures. Some heroes in virtue he sees incessantly endeavoring the good of others; they labor through vast difficulties, they suffer incredible hardships and miseries to accomplish this end, in hopes to please a good God, and attain his favors, which they earnestly pray for. What answer can he make, then, within Himself but this? Take the reward chance may give you: I do not intermeddle in these affairs. He sees others doing all manner of evil, and bringing by their actions misery and destruction among mankind: what can he say here, but this? If chance rewards, I shall not punish you. I am not to be concerned. He sees the just, the innocent, and the beneficent in the hands of the wicked and violent oppressor, and when the good are on the brink of destruction they pray to him, Thou, O God, art mighty and powerful to save: help us, we beseech thee! He answers, I cannot help you; it is none of my business, nor do I at all regard those things. How is it possible to believe a wise and infinitely good being can be delighted in this circumstance, and be utterly unconcerned what becomes of the beings and things he has created? for thus, we must believe him idle and inactive, and that his glorious attributes of power, wisdom, and goodness are no more to be made use of.

In the third place. If you say he has decreed some things and left others to the events of nature and free agency, which he never alters nor interrupts, you un-God him, if I may be allowed the expression: he has nothing to do; he can cause us neither good nor harm; he is no more to be regarded than a lifeless image, than Dagon or Baal, or Bel and the Dragon, and, as in both the other suppositions foregoing, that being which from its power is most able to act, from its wisdom knows best how to act, and from its goodness would always certainly act best, is in this opinion supposed to become the most inactive of all beings, and remain everlastingly idle, an absurdity which, when considered, or but barely seen, cannot be swallowed without doing the greatest violence to common reason and all the faculties of the understanding.

We are then necessarily driven to the fourth supposition, that the Deity sometimes interferes by his particular providence, and sets aside the events which would otherwise have been produced by the course of nature or by free agency of men; and this is perfectly agreeable with what we can know of his attributes and perfections. But, as some may doubt whether it is possible there should be such a thing as free agency in creatures, I shall just offer one short argument on that account, and proceed to show how the duty of religion necessarily follows a belief of a Providence. You acknowledge that God is infinitely powerful, wise, and good, and also a free agent, and you will not deny that he has communicated to us a part of his wisdom, power, and goodness, that is, he has made us in some degree wise, potent, and good. And is it then impossible for him to communicate any part of his freedom, and make us also in some degree free? Is even his infinite power sufficient for this? I should be glad to hear what reason any man can give for thinking in that manner. It is sufficient for me to show that it is not impossible, and no man, I think, can show it is improbable. Much more might be offered to demonstrate clearly that men are free agents and accountable for their actions.

Lastly. If God does not sometimes interfere by his providence, it is either because he cannot or because he will not. Which of these positions will you choose? There is a righteous nation grievously oppressed by a cruel tyrant: they earnestly entreat God to deliver them. If you say he cannot, you deny his infinite power, which you at first acknowledged. If you say he will not, you must directly deny his infinite goodness. You are of necessity obliged to allow that it is highly reasonable to believe a Providence, because it is highly absurd to believe otherwise.

Now, if it is unreasonable to suppose it out of the power of the Deity to help and favor us particularly, or that we are out of his hearing and notice, or that good actions do not procure more of his favor than ill ones, then I conclude that believing a Providence, we have the foundation of all true religion; for we should love and revere that Deity for his goodness, and thank him for his benefits; we should adore him for his wisdom, fear him for his power, and pray to him for his favor and protection. And this religion will be a powerful regulator of our actions, give us peace and tranquillity in our own minds, and render us benevolent, useful, and beneficial to others.

The following maxim of Franklin's is characteristic of the man, and reveals, in brief words, the whole genius and theory of giving stability and progress to free governments and to the diffusion of liberty: -

"A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district, - all studied and appreciated as they merit,-are the principal supports of virtue, morality, and civil liberty."

20) THOMAS JEFFERSON

Was the penman of the Declaration of Independence, and his great abilities, genius, and ripe statesmanship have exerted a moulding influence on the civil and political affairs of the nation. "He poured the soul of the continent," said Dr. Stiles, in 1782, "into the monumental act of Independence." His views of the Christian religion have occasioned much discussion among the Christian public, and he has generally been regarded as an unbeliever in the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. The following facts and statements will shed light on his views on this subject.

"I shall need" (he remarked, in his first message as President,) "the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our fathers, as Israel of old, from their native land, and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with his providence, and our riper years with his wisdom and power; and to whose goodness I ask you to join with me in supplications that he will so enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their counsels, and prosper their measures, that whatsoever they do shall result in your good and shall secure to you the friendship and approbation of all nations."

"Can the liberties of a nation," said he, "be thought secure, when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gifts of God? — that they are not to be violated except with his wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that his justice cannot sleep forever."

"Never," says a writer in the "National Magazine," "were a man's religious sentiments more grossly misrepresented than Jefferson's. He was not an atheist. He believed in God the Creator of all things, in his overruling providence, infinite wisdom, goodness, justice, and mercy. He believed that God hears and answers prayer, and that human trust in him is never misplaced nor disregarded. He believed in a future state of rewards and punishments. He believed in the Bible precepts and moralities. No man in Washington ever gave so much to build so many churches as Jefferson. He respected and cherished the friendship of truly pious men. He never wrote, for the public eye, one word against Christianity. Religiously, Jefferson would now be classed with the liberal Unitarians."

Mr. Jefferson, in a letter of condolence to John Adams on the death of his wife, in 1818, expressed his views of a future life as follows: - "It is some comfort to us both that the term is not very distant at which we are to deposit in the same cerement our sorrowing and suffering bodies, and to ascend in essence to an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have loved and lost, and whom we shall still love and never lose again. God bless you and support you under your heavy affliction."

"Mr. Jefferson," says Randall, "was a public professor of his belief in the Christian religion. In all his most important early state papers, such as his Summary View of the Rights of British America, his portion of the Declaration made by Congress on the causes of taking up arms, the Declaration of Independence, the draft of a Constitution for Virginia, &c., there are more or less pointed recognitions of God and Providence. In his two inaugural addresses as President of the United States, and in many of his annual messages, he makes the same recognitions, clothes them on several occasions in the most explicit language, substantially avows the God of his faith to be the God of revelation, declares his belief in the efficacy of prayer and the duty of ascriptions of praise to the Author of all mercies, and speaks of the Christian religion, as professed in his country, as a benign religion, evincing the favor of Heaven.

"Had his wishes been consulted, the symbol borne on the national seal would have contained our public profession of Christianity as a nation.

"He contributed freely to the erection of Christian churches, gave money to Bible societies and other religious objects, and was a liberal and regular contributor to the support of the clergy. He attended church with as much regularity as most members of the congregation, sometimes going alone on horseback when his family remained at home. He generally attended the Episcopal church, and, when he did so, always carried his prayer-book and joined in the responses and prayers of the congregation."

The establishment of the University of Virginia occupied the closing years of Jefferson's life. His wish was to make the institution rival the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England, and afford opportunities for young men to become thoroughly accomplished in every branch of learning. A part of his plan was a theological seminary in connection with the university. Rev. Mr. Tucker, of Virginia, in the Presbyterian synod, met in 1859, said that "the establishment of a theological seminary near the University of Virginia was carrying out the original idea of Mr. Jefferson. He had seen in Mr. Jefferson's own handwriting, the pains-taking style of the olden time, a sketch of his plan. The University of Virginia was the crowning glory of that great man's life, and he felt it his duty to vindicate his memory, as he had it in his power to do, from any intention to exclude religious influences from the institution. He had invited all denominations to establish theological schools around the university, so that all might have the literary advantages of the institution, without making it subservient to one denomination."

21) GEORGE MASON,

Of Virginia, was one of the purest and ablest of the men who conducted the important events of the Revolution to a fortunate and triumphant issue. He was a man endowed by nature with a vigorous understanding, which had been well cultivated by a liberal education. In temperament he was like the younger Cato, constitutionally stern, firm, and honest. His profound legal learning, and his political views and public duties, as well as his private life and character, were all under the guidance of virtue and religion, which gave him an illustrious and influential position in the cause of liberty and independence.

He was among the earliest and most distinguished of all the champions of freedom and an independent constitutional government; and no man exerted a greater influence on the fortunes of the country. He was a member of the Convention of Virginia which, on the 15th of May, 1776, declared that State independent, and formed a State constitution; and to him belongs the honor of having drafted the first declaration of rights ever adopted in America. It was made a part of the Constitution of Virginia, where it yet remains. In this declaration of Mason's, man seems to stand erect in all the majesty of his nature, - to assert the inalienable rights and equality with which he has been endowed by his Creator, and to declare the fundamental principles by which all rulers should be governed and on which all governments should rest. Three of the fundamental articles are here inserted.

"1. That all men are created equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural rights, of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and procuring property and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

" 2. That all power is by God and nature vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them.

" 3. That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community.

"15. That no free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be insured to any people, but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.

" 16. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force and violence, and, therefore, that all men should enjoy the fullest toleration in the exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience, unpunished and unrestrained by the magistrate; unless under color of religion any man disturb the peace or the safety of society; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each."

"If I can only live to see," said Mason, "the American Union firmly fixed, and free government well established in our Western world, and can leave to my children but a crust of bread and liberty, I shall die satisfied, and say, with the Psalmist, 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.' "

The following extract from Mr. Mason's last will and testament attests his passionate patriotism, and presents his view of public life: -

"I recommend it to my sons, from my own experience in life, to prefer the happiness of independence and a private station to the troubles and vexations of public business; but, if their own inclinations or the necessity of the times should engage them in public affairs, I charge them, on a father's blessing, never to let the motives of private interest or ambition induce them to betray, nor the terrors of poverty and disgrace, or the fear of danger and death, deter them from asserting, the liberty of their country, and endeavoring to transmit to their posterity those sacred rights to which themselves were born."

This great man, whose soul was ever inflamed with liberty, and whose masterly intellect illuminated the grand era of the Revolution with its clear and steady light, died in a ripe old age, chastened and sanctified by providential afflictions in his family, leaving a legacy of glory and virtue to his country.

22) GOUVERNEUR MORRIS,

Of New York, was an eminent statesman of the Revolution, and exerted a prominent influence in the formation of our republican institutions. He was for many years in Congress and an ambassador to France. During the terrific reign of atheism in that country, he drew up a constitution for France, one article of which was as follows: -

"Religion is the solid basis of good morals: therefore education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man towards God. These duties are-internally, love and adoration; externally, devotion and obedience: therefore provision should be made for maintaining divine worship as well as education. But each has a right to entire liberty as to religious opinions, for religion is the relation between God and man: therefore it is not within the reach of human authority."

"The education of young citizens," another article declared, "ought to form them to good manners, to accustom them to labor, to inspire them with a love of order, and to impress them with respect for lawful authority."

To a nobleman of France, Mr. Morris wrote, in June, 1792, "I believe that religion is the only solid basis of morals, and that morals are the only possible support of free governments."

In 1816, Mr. Morris was elected the first president of the New York Historical Society. In his inaugural address he presented his views of Christianity as follows: -

"The reflection and experience of many years have led me to consider the holy writings not only as most authentic and instructive in themselves, but as the clue to all other history. They tell us what man is, and they alone tell us what he is. All of private and of public life is there displayed. From the same pure fountain of wisdom we learn that vice destroys freedom, that arbitrary power is founded on public immorality, and that misconduct in those who rule a republic, the necessary consequence of general licentiousness, so disgusts and degrades that, dead to generous sentiment, they become willing slaves.

"There must be religion. When that ligament is torn, society is disjointed, and its members perish. The nation is exposed to foreign violence and domestic convulsion. Vicious rulers, chosen by a vicious people, turn back the current of corruption to its source. Placed in a situation where they can exercise authority for their own emolument, they betray their trust. They take bribes. They sell statutes and decrees. They sell honor and office. They sell conscience. They sell their country. By this vile practice they become odious and contemptible.

"The most important of all lessons from the Scriptures is the denunciation of the rulers of every state that rejects the precepts of religion. Those nations are doomed to death who bury in the corruption of criminal desire the awful sense of an existing God, cast off the consoling hope of immortality, and seek refuge from despair in the dreariness of annihilation. Terrible, irrevocable doom, - loudly pronounced, repeatedly, strongly exemplified in the sacred writings, and fully confirmed by the long record of time! It is the clue which leads through the intricacies of universal history. It is the principle of all sound political science.

"Hail! Columbia! child of science, parent of useful arts, dear country, hail! Be it thine to ameliorate the condition of man. Too many thrones have been reared by arms, cemented by blood, and reduced again to dust by sanguinary conflict of arms. Let mankind enjoy at last the consolatory spectacle of thy throne, built of industry on the basis of peace, and sheltered under the wings of justice. May it be secured by a pious obedience to the divine will, which prescribes the moral orbit of the empire with the same precision that his wisdom and power have displayed in the wheeling millions of planets round millions of suns, through the vastness of infinite space."

23) CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY

Was a distinguished Revolutionary officer of South Carolina, and among the most brilliant lawyers of his age. His eminent abilities and virtues induced Washington to proffer him several of the highest places of trust in the Government, - Judge of the Supreme Court, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State, - all of which he declined from private considerations. He was a member of the convention which framed the Constitution of the United States. He was profoundly read in legal learning, and in his practice liberal and benevolent, never taking a fee from the widow and orphan. His great talents and attainments were sanctified and directed by the Christian religion, and his character adorned by its virtues. He had practical faith in the divinity of the Bible and its essential need to a republican government, and for more than fifteen years before his death he acted as President of the Bible Society in Charleston, an office to which he was elected with unanimity by Christians of every sect.

24) BENJAMIN RUSH,

An eminent physician and philanthropist, and one of the immortal men who signed the Declaration of Independence, was as eminent as a Christian as he was distinguished for his influence in the councils of the country. John Adams declared him to be "one of the greatest and best of Christians." He delighted in acts of Christian charities, and "esteemed the poor his best patients; for God," said he, "is their paymaster. He was an earnest advocate of introducing and reading the Bible, daily, as a common-school book, in all public schools and in every seminary of learning. He wrote as follows on this important subject: -

24.1) "The Bible as a School-Book.

"Before I state my arguments in favor of teaching children to read by means of the Bible, I shall assume the five following propositions: -

"I. That Christianity is the only true and perfect religion, and that in proportion as mankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts, they will be wise and happy.

"II. That a better knowledge of this religion is to be acquired by reading the Bible than in any other way.

"III. That the Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world.

"IV. That knowledge is most durable, and religious instruction most useful, when imparted in early life.

"V. That the Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life.

"My arguments in favor of the use of the Bible as a school-book are founded, first, in the constitution of the human mind. The memory is the first faculty which opens in the minds of children. Of how much consequence, then, must it be to impress it with the great truths of Christianity before it is preoccupied with less interesting subjects! There is also a peculiar aptitude in the minds of children for religious knowledge. I have constantly found them, in the first six or seven years of their lives, more inquisitive upon religious subjects than upon any others; and an ingenious instructor of youth has informed me that he has found young children more capable of receiving just ideas upon the most difficult tenets of religion than upon the most simple branches of human knowledge.

"There is a wonderful property in the memory, which enables it, in old age, to recover the knowledge it had acquired in early life, after it had been apparently forgotten for forty or fifty years. Of how much consequence, then, must it be to fill the mind with that species of knowledge, in childhood and youth, which, when recalled in the decline of life, will support the soul under the infirmities of age and smooth the avenues of approaching death! The Bible is the only book which is capable of affording this support to old age; and it is for this reason that we find it resorted to with so much diligence and pleasure by such old people as have read it in early life. I can recollect many instances of this kind, in persons who discovered no attachment to the Bible in the meridian of their lives, who have, notwithstanding, spent the evening of them in reading no other book.

"My second argument in favor of the use of the Bible in schools, is founded upon an implied command of God, and upon the practice of several of the wisest nations of the world. In the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy we find the following words, which are directly to my purpose: - 'And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.'

"I have heard it proposed that a portion of the Bible should be read every day by the master, as a means of instructing children in it. But this is a poor substitute for obliging children to read it as a school-book; for by this means we insensibly engrave, as it were, its contents upon their minds; and it has been remarked that children instructed in this way in the Scriptures seldom forget any part of them. They have the same advantage over those persons who have only heard the Scriptures read by a master, that a man who has worked with the tools of a mechanical employment for several years has over the man who has only stood a few hours in the workshop and seen the same business carried on by other people."

Dr. Rush was an active friend of every philanthropic and Christian reform. He was an earnest advocate of temperance, and wielded his pen powerfully in its defence.

In an address to the people of the United States, in 1787, Dr. Rush said, -

"There is nothing more common than to confound the terms of the American Revolution with those of the late American War. The American War is over; but this is far from being the case with the American Revolution. On the contrary, nothing but the first act of the great drama is closed. It remains yet to establish and perfect our new forms of government, and to prepare the principles, morals, and manners of our citizens for these forms of government, after they are established and brought to perfection.

"To conform the principles, morals, and manners of our citizens to our republican forms of government, it is absolutely necessary that knowledge of every kind should be disseminated through every part of the United States.

"For this purpose let Congress found a federal university. In this university let every thing connected with government - such as history, the law of nature and nations, the civil law, the municipal laws of our country, and the principles of commerce - be taught by competent professors. Let masters be employed likewise to teach gunnery, fortification, and every thing connected with defensive and offensive war. Above all, let a professor of, what is called in the European universities, economy, be established in this federal seminary. His business should be to unfold the principles and practice of agriculture and manufactures of all kinds; and, to make his lectures more extensively useful, Congress should support a travelling correspondent for him, who should visit all the nations of Europe, and transmit to him, from time to time, all the discoveries and improvements that are made in agriculture and manufactures.

"Let every man exert himself in promoting virtue and knowledge in our country, and we shall soon become good republicans. Every man in a republic is public property. His time and talents, his youth and manhood, his old age, nay, more, his life, his all, belong to his country."

25) FISHER AMES,

A distinguished lawyer, a pure patriot, a fascinating orator, and an eminent Christian statesman, was active and influential in giving form and direction to the civil government of the United States. As a representative in the legislature of Massachusetts, he advocated the adoption of the Federal Constitution, and during eight years, the whole of Washington's administration, was a member of Congress from that State. His character as a patriot rests on the highest grounds. He loved his country with equal purity and fervor. This affection was the spring of all his efforts to promote her welfare. The glory of being a benefactor to a great people he justly valued. In the character of Mr. Ames the circle of the virtues seemed to be complete, and each virtue in its proper place.

"The objects of religion presented themselves with a strong interest to his mind. The relation of the world to its Author, and of this life to a retributory scene in another, could not be contemplated by him without the greatest solemnity. The religious sense was, in his view, essential in the constitution of man. He placed a full reliance on the divine origin of Christianity. He felt it his duty and interest to inquire, and discovered on the side of faith a fulness of evidence little short of demonstration. At about thirty-five he made a public profession of his belief in the Christian religion, and was a regular attendant on its services. In regard to articles of belief, his conviction was confined to those leading principles about which Christians have little diversity of opinion. He loved to view religion on the practical side, as designed to operate by a few simple and grand truths on the affections, actions, and habits of men. He cherished the sentiment and experience of religion, careful to ascertain the genuineness and value of impressions and feelings by their moral tendency. His conversation and behavior evinced the sincerity of his religious impressions. No levity upon these subjects ever escaped his lips; but his manner of recurring to them in conversation indicated reverence and feeling. The sublime, the affecting character of Christ he never mentioned without emotion."

This distinguished orator, in all his writings and speeches, imbued them with the pure and lofty sentiments of religion. In an article, written in 1801 for a periodical in Boston, on the subject of books for children, he thus speaks of the Bible, as adapted to the tender years and opening minds of children: -

"Why, then, should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a school-book? Its morals are pure, its examples captivating and noble. The reverence for the sacred book, that is thus early impressed, lasts long, and probably, if not impressed in infancy, never takes firm hold of the mind. One consideration more is important. In no book is there so good English, so pure, and so elegant; and by teaching all the same book, they will speak alike, and the Bible will justly remain the standard of language as well as of faith."

26) JOHN HART,

A signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a fearless patriot, was a munificent benefactor of the Baptist Church, and always known as a sincere but unostentatious Christian.

27) JAMES SMITH

Was educated by Rev. Dr. Alison, and was an ardent and active patriot, and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. "He ever retained a veneration for religion and its ministers, as well as his regular attention to public worship."

28) ROBERT MORRIS

Was the great financier of the Revolution, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a member of the convention that framed the Constitution of the United States. It may be truly said of him, as it was of the Roman Curtius, that he sacrificed himself for the safety of the commonwealth. He was a great and good man. "The Americans owed, and still owe, as much acknowledgment to the financial operations of Robert Morris as to the negotiations of Benjamin Franklin, or even to the arms of George Washington."

29) ALEXANDER HAMILTON,

The intimate friend and companion of Washington, was a statesman of the highest order, and had pre-eminent influence in forming the national Constitution and the present government. He was educated by Rev. Hugh Knox, a Presbyterian minister, to whom Hamilton was greatly attached. The fervent piety of this gentleman gave a strong religious bias to his feelings. When Hamilton was appointed aid-de-camp and secretary to Washington, Knox wrote him as follows: -

"We rejoice in your good character and advancement, which is indeed the only just reward of merit. May you still live to deserve more and more of America, and justify the choice and merit the approbation of the great and good Washington, a name dear to the friends of the liberties of mankind! Mark this: you must be the annalist and biographer, as well as the aid-de-camp, of General Washington, and the historiographer of the American war. I aver, few men will be so well qualified to write the history of the present glorious struggle. God only knows how it will terminate. But, however that will be, it will be an interesting story."

"Hamilton was stamped by the Divine hand with the impress of genius. He had indeed a mind of immense grasp and unlimited original resources." He uttered such views of moral government as follows: -

"The Supreme Intelligence who rules the world has constituted an eternal law,which is obligatory upon all mankind, prior to any human institution whatever. He gave existence to man, together with the means of preserving and beautifying that existence, and invested him with an inviolable right to pursue liberty and personal safety. Natural liberty is the gift of the Creator to the whole human race. Civil liberty is only natural liberty modified and secured by the sanctions of civil society. It is not dependent on human caprice, but it is conformable to the constitution of man, as well as necessary to the well-being of society. The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of Divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by human power. This is what is called the law of nature, which, being coeval with mankind and dictated by God himself, is, of course, superior in obligation to any other. No human laws are of any validity if contrary to this. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times."

In reference to the death of Washington,Hamilton said, "If virtue can secure happiness in another world, he is happy. This seal is now upon his glory. It is no longer in jeopardy by the fickleness of fortune."

"It is difficult," says Fisher Ames, speaking of Hamilton, after his death, "in the midst of such varied excellences, to say in what particular the effect of his greatness was most manifest. No man more promptly discerned truth; no man more clearly displayed it: it was not merely made visible; it seemed to come bright with illumination from his lips. He thirsted only for that fame which virtue would not blush to confer, nor time to convey to the end of his course. Alas! the great man who was at all times the ornament of our country is withdrawn to a purer and more tranquil region. May Heaven, the guardian of our liberty, grant that our country may be fruitful of HAMILTONS and faithful to their glory."

30) CHARLES CARROLL,

The last survivor of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and distinguished for his Christian patriotism and virtues. Lord Brougham says, "He was among the foremost to sign the celebrated Declaration of Independence. As he set his hand to the instrument, some one said, 'There go some millions of property;' but, as there were many of the same name, he was told he might get clear. 'They will never know which to take.' 'Not so,' he replied, and instantly added - 'of Carrollton.' He was universally respected for his patriotism and virtues. He had talents and acquirements which enabled him effectually to help the cause he espoused. His knowledge was various, and his eloquence was of a high order. It was like his character, mild and pleasant,-like his deportment, correct and faultless.”

In the year 1826, after all save one of the band of patriots whose signatures are on the Declaration of Independence had descended to the tomb, and the venerable Carroll alone remained among the living, the government of the city of New York deputed a committee to wait on the illustrious survivor, and obtain from him, for deposit in a public hall of the city, a copy of the Declaration of 1776, graced and authenticated anew with his sign-manual. The aged patriot yielded to the request, and affixed with his own hand to a copy of the instrument the grateful, solemn, and pious supplementary declaration which follows: -

"Grateful to Almighty God for the blessings which, through Jesus Christ our Lord, he has conferred on my beloved country in her emancipation, and in permitting me, under circumstances of mercy, to live to the age of eighty-nine years, and to survive the fiftieth year of American Independence, adopted by Congress on the 4th of July, 1776, which I originally subscribed on the 2d day of August of the same year, and of which I am now the last surviving signer, I do hereby recommend to the present and future generations the principles of that important document as the best inheritance their ancestors could bequeath to them, and pray that the civil and religious liberties they have secured to my country may be perpetuated to remotest poste- rity and extended to the whole family of man.

" CHAS. CARROLL, of Carrollton.

"August 2, 1826."

31) CHARLES THOMSON

Was the Secretary of the Continental Congress, a Quaker by birth and education, and a man of distinguished virtue and integrity of character. He possessed in an eminent degree the confidence of Congress, and was the active and steadfast friend of the Christian religion. His selection as secretary has a historic interest and singularity.

The Continental Congress first sat in the building then called Carpenter's Hall, up the court of that name in Chestnut Street. On the morning of the day that they first convened, their future secretary, Charles Thomson, who resided at that time in the Northern Liberties, and who afterwards so materially assisted to launch our first-rate republic, had ridden into the city and alighted in Chestnut Street. He was immediately accosted by a messenger from Congress; they desired to speak with him. He followed the messenger, and, entering the building, he said he was struck with awe upon viewing the aspects of so many great and good men impressed with the weight and responsibility of their situation, on the perilous edge of which they then were advancing. He walked up the aisle, and, bowing to the president, desired to know their pleasure. "Congress request your services, sir, as their secretary." He took his seat at the desk, and never looked back until the vessel was securely anchored in the haven of independence.

32) GEORGE WYTHE

Was a statesman and a jurist of the highest accomplishments, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. "His virtues were of the purest kind, his integrity inflexible, and his justice exact. It was his daily endeavor to live a Christian life; and he effectually succeeded."

33) JAMES WILSON,

A signer of the Declaration of Independence, and an eminent jurist and judge, was educated under Christian auspices by Dr. Isaac Watts and Dr. Robert Blair. He was an ornament to the American nation, and in public and private life maintained the faith and diffused the spirit and the principles of Christianity.

34) SAMUEL CHASE

Was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a member of Congress, and a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. "Among his virtues may be included a heartfelt piety and a firm belief in the great truths of Christianity. He partook of the sacrament but a short time before his death, and said he was at peace with all mankind."

35) RICHARD HENRY LEE

Was an accomplished orator of the Revolution, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a Christian statesman. "In the vigor of his mind, amid the honors of the world and its enjoyments, he publicly declared his belief in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of men.

36) FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE,

The brother of Richard Henry, was an upright and virtuous politician. He lived and died a Christian.

37) JOHN JAY,

As a Christian legislator, statesman, and judge, exerted a large and active influence in the Revolution, and in founding and administering the civil government of the United States. In private and public life he was an eminent Christian. His recognition of God and belief in the Christian religion were striking elements of his character.

"Whoever," said he, "compares our present with our former constitution will find abundant reasons to rejoice in the exchange, and readily admit that all the calamities incident to this war will be amply compensated by the many blessings flowing from this revolution.

"We should always remember that the many remarkable and unexpected means and events by which our wants have been supplied and our enemies repelled or restrained are such strong and striking proofs of the interposition of Heaven, that our having been hitherto delivered from the threatened bondage of Britain ought to be forever ascribed to its true cause (the favor of God), and, instead of swelling our breasts with arrogant ideas of our prowess and importance, kindle in them a flame of gratitude and piety which may consume all remains of vice and irreligion."

During a most gloomy period of the Revolution, when New York was in the hands of the British, and Washington was retreating through New Jersey, with an almost naked army, and the country desponding, Jay animated his countrymen with such stirring words as the following: -

"Under the auspices of divine Providence your forefathers removed to the wilds and wilderness of America. By their industry they made it a fruitful, and by their virtues a happy, country; and we should still have enjoyed the blessings of peace and plenty, if we had not forgotten the source from which these blessings flowed, and permitted our country to be contaminated by the many shameful vices which have prevailed among us. It is a well-known fact that no virtuous people were ever oppressed, and it is also true that a scourge was never wanting to those of an opposite character. Even the Jews, those favorites of Heaven, met with the frowns whenever they forgot the smiles of their benevolent Creator. They for their wickedness were permitted to be scourged; and we for our wickedness are scourged by tyrants as cruel and implacable as theirs. If we turn from our sins, God will turn from his anger. Then will our arms be crowned with success, and the pride and power of our enemies, like the pride and arrogance of Nebuchadnezzar, will vanish away.

"Let a general reformation of manners take place; let universal charity, public spirit, and private virtue be inculcated, encouraged, and practised. Unite in preparing for a vigorous defence of your country as if all depended on you. And when you have done all these things, then rely on the good providence of Almighty God for success, in full confidence that without his blessing all our efforts will inevitably fail.

"Rouse, then, brave citizens! Do your duty like men, and be persuaded that Divine Providence will not let this Western World be involved in the horrors of slavery. Consider that from the earliest ages of the world religious liberty and reason have been bending their course towards the setting sun. The holy gospels are yet to be preached to these western regions; and we have the highest reason to believe that the Almighty will not suffer slavery and the gospel to go hand in hand. It cannot, it will not be."

In September, 1777, Jay, as Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of New York, delivered a charge to the Grand Jury of Ulster county, on the political condition of the country. It was given at a time when the Assembly and Senate were convening, and the whole system of government, established by the Constitution of New York, about being put in motion. The grand inquest was composed of the most respectable characters in the county. In that charge are found the following Christian passages: -

"GENTLEMEN: - It affords me very sensible pleasure to congratulate you on the dawn of that free, mild, and equal government which now begins to rise and break from amidst those clouds of anarchy, confusion, and licentiousness which the arbitrary and violent domination of the King of Great Britain had spread throughout this and the other American States. This is one of those signal instances in which Divine Providence has made the tyranny of princes instrumental in breaking the chains of their subjects, and rendering the most inhuman designs productive of the best consequences to those against whom they were intended, - a revolution which, in the whole course of its rise and progress, is distinguished by so many marks of the divine favor and interposition that no doubt can remain of its being finally accomplished. It was begun, and has been supported, in a manner so singular and, I may say, miraculous, that when future ages shall read its history they will be tempted to consider great part of it as fabulous. Will it not appear extra-ordinary that thirteen colonies, divided by a variety of governments and manners, should immediately become one people, and, though without funds, without magazines, without disciplined troops, in the face of their enemies, unanimously determine to be free, and, undaunted by the power of Great Britain, refer their cause to the justice of the Almighty, and resolve to repel force by force, thereby presenting to the world an illustrious example of magnanimity and virtue scarcely to be paralleled? However incredible these things may in future appear, we know them to be true, and we should always remember that the many remarkable and unexpected means and events by which our wants have been supplied and our enemies repelled or restrained are such strong and striking proofs of the interposition of Heaven, that our having been hitherto delivered from the threatened bondage of Britain ought, like the emancipation of the Jews from Egyptian servitude, to be forever ascribed to its TRUE CAUSE, and, instead of swelling our breasts with arrogant ideas of our own prowess and importance, kindle in them a flame of gratitude and piety which may consume all remains of vice and irreligion.

"The Americans are the first people whom Heaven has favored with an opportunity of deliberating upon and choosing the forms of government under which they should live. While you possess wisdom to discern and virtue to appoint men of worth and abilities to fill the offices of the state, you will be happy at home and respected abroad. Your life, your liberties, your property, will be at the disposal only of your Creator and yourselves.

"Security under our Constitution is given to the rights of conscience and private judgment. They are by nature subject to no control but that of Deity, and in that free situation they are now left. Every man is permitted to consider, to adore, and to worship his Creator in the manner most agreeable to his conscience. No opinions are dictated, no rules of faith are prescribed, no preference given to one sect to the prejudice of others. The Constitution, however, has wisely declared that the 'liberty of conscience, thereby granted, shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of the state.' In a word, the convention by whom that Constitution was formed were of opinion that the gospel of CHRIST, like the ark of God, would not fall, though unsupported by the arm of flesh; and happy would it be for mankind if that opinion prevailed more generally.

"But let it be remembered that whatever marks of wisdom, experience, and patriotism there may be in the Constitution, yet, like the beautiful symmetry, the just proportions, and elegant forms of our first parents before their Maker breathed into them the breath of life, it is yet to be animated, and, till then, may indeed excite admiration, but will be of no use. From the people it must receive its spirit, and by them be quickened. Let virtue, honor, the love of liberty and science, be and remain the soul of the Constitution, and it will become the source of great and extreme happiness to this and future generations. Vice, ignorance, and want of vigilance will be the only enemies that can destroy it. Against these provide, and of these be forever jealous. Every citizen ought diligently to read and study the Constitution of his country, and teach the rising generation to be free."

"Providence," said he, "has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."

Mr. Jay, from 1822 till his death in 1827, was President of the Bible Society, and at each annual meeting delivered an address. He demonstrated the divinity of the Bible, showed its relations and results to civil government and human society, and urged its universal circulation as the means to illumine and regenerate the world. He was an active and devout member of the Episcopal Church, but eminently liberal and charitable in his Christian views. His life was a beautiful exhibition of Christian faith, and his public career a noble illustration of the value of Christianity in forming the character and acts of a Christian statesman. Webster said of this eminent Christian jurist, that "when the ermine fell on him it touched nothing less pure than itself."

He was eminently a man of prayer, and drew up a form, full of spirituality and of Christian truths, as an extract will show:

- "Enable me, merciful Father, to understand thy holy gospels, and to distinguish the doctrines thereof from erroneous expositions of them; and bless me with that fear of offending thee, which is the beginning of wisdom. Let thy Holy Spirit purify and unite me to my Saviour forever; and enable me to cleave unto him as unto my very life, as indeed he is. Perfect and confirm my faith, my trust, my hope of salvation in him, and in him only.

"Give me grace to love and obey, and be thankful unto thee, with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, and with all my strength, and to worship and to serve thee in humility of spirit, and in truth. Give me grace also to love my neighbor as myself, and wisely and diligently to do the duties incumbent on me according to thy holy will, and not from worldly consideration. Condescend, merciful Father, to grant, as far as proper, these imperfect petitions, these inadequate thanksgivings, and to pardon whatever of sin hath mingled in them, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour, unto whom, with thee and the blessed Spirit, even one God, be rendered all honor and glory, now and forever."

In his dying hour, he was asked if he had any farewell counsels to leave his children. His reply was, "THEY HAVE THE BOOK."

38) ELIAS BOUDINOT

Acted a prominent part in the scenes of the Revolution, and was an able and active member of the Continental Congress. He was a brilliant lawyer, an upright judge, a wise legislator, and a true Christian statesman. His Christian feelings thus found utterance on the propriety of observing the memory of American independence: -

"The history of the world, as well sacred as profane, bears witness to the use and importance of setting apart a day as a memorial of great events, whether of a religious or a political nature. No sooner had the great Creator of the heavens and the earth finished his almighty work, and pronounced all very good, but he set apart (not as anniversary, or one day in a year, but) one day in seven, for the commemoration of his inimitable power in producing all things out of nothing.

"The deliverance of the children of Israel from a state of bondage to an unreasonable tyrant was perpetuated by eating the paschal lamb, and enjoining it to their posterity as an annual festival forever, with a 'remember this day, in which ye came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.'

"The resurrection of the Saviour of mankind is commemorated by keeping the first day of the week, not only as a certain memorial of his first coming in a state of humiliation, but the positive evidence of his future coming in glory.

"Let us, my friends and fellow-citizens, unite all our endeavors this day to remember with reverential gratitude to our Supreme Benefactor all the wonderful things he has done for us, in a miraculous deliverance from a second Egypt, - another house of bondage. 'And thou shalt show thy son, on this day, saying, This day is kept as a day of joy and gladness, because of the great things the Lord has done for us, when we were delivered from the threatening power of an invading foe. And it shall be a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand hast thou been delivered from thine enemies. Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance, in its season, from year to year forever.'

"Who knows but the country for which we have fought and bled may hereafter become a theatre of greater events than have yet been known to mankind? May these invigorating prospects lead us to the exercise of every virtue, religious, moral, and political. And may these great principles, in the end, become instrumental in bringing about that happy state of the world when from every human breast, joined by the grand chorus of the skies, shall arise, with the profoundest reverence, that divinely celestial anthem of universal praise,'Glory to God in the highest; peace on earth; good will towards men.' "

In 1816, Mr. Boudinot was elected the first President of the American Bible Society. In accepting, he said, "I am not ashamed to confess that I accept the appointment of President of the American Bible Society as the greatest honor that could be conferred on me this side of the grave." He served, also, from 1812 till his death in 1821, as a member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. His great wealth was consecrated to objects of Christian benevolence. He gave a liberal sum to the New Jersey Bible Society, to purchase spectacles for the aged poor to enable them to read the Bible.

39) JAMES MADISON

Was an eminent statesman and civilian of the Revolution, and was called the "Father of the Constitution." He was educated at Princeton College, under Dr. John Witherspoon, the eminent Christian scholar and patriot, who delighted to bear testimony to "the excellency of his character." He remarked to Mr. Jefferson, when they were colleagues in the Continental Congress, that in the whole course of Mr. Madison's career at college "he never knew him to say or do an indiscreet thing."

He was a friend to universal toleration in religious matters, and objected to the word "toleration" in our constitutions, because it implied an established religion. He labored to remove the legal disabilities from the Baptists in Virginia, and demonstrated that all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion according to the dictates of conscience.

The following paragraphs from his messages exhibit his views on God as the Governor of nations: -

"We have all been encouraged to feel the guardianship and guidance of that almighty Being whose power regulates the destinies of nations, whose blessings have been so conspicuously displayed to this rising republic, and to whom we are bound to address our devout gratitude for the past, as well as our fervent supplications and best hopes for the future."

"Recollecting always that, for every advantage which may contribute to distinguish our lot from that to which others are doomed by the unhappy spirit of the times, we are indebted to that Divine Providence whose goodness has been so remarkably extended to this rising nation, it becomes us to cherish a devout gratitude, and to implore from the same omnipotent source a blessing on the consultations and measures about to be undertaken for the welfare of our beloved country."

"Invoking the blessings of Heaven on our beloved country, and on all the means that may be employed in vindicating its rights and advancing its welfare."

Again, in 1812, after the war, he says, "The appeal was made, in a just cause, to the just and all-powerful Being who holds in his hands the chain of events and the destiny of nations." The war "is stamped with that justice which invites the smiles of Heaven on the means of conducting it to a successful termination." "We are under sacred obligation to transmit entire to future generations that precious patrimony of national rights and independence, which is held in trust by the present from the goodness of Providence." "We may humbly repose our trust in the smiles of Heaven on so righteous a cause."

In closing his last message, Madison says, "May I not be allowed to add to this gratifying spectacle, that the destined career of my country will exhibit a government pursuing the public good as its sole object, and regulating its means by those great principles consecrated in its charter, and by those moral principles to which they are so well allied? - a government, in a word, whose conduct within and without may bespeak the most. noble of all ambitions, - that of promoting peace on earth, and good will to men.'

40) JAMES MONROE

Was an active patriot and statesman of Revolutionary and of more modern times, taking a leading part in the political affairs of the nation, and was twice elected President. He has left but little in reference to his views on the subject of religion. The following sentences occur in his messages: -

“I enter on the trust with my fervent prayers to the Almighty, that he will be graciously pleased to continue to us that protection which he has already so conspicuously displayed in our favor."

"The fruits of the earth have been unusually abundant, commerce has flourished, the revenue has exceeded the most favorable anticipations, and peace and amity are preserved with foreign nations on conditions just and honorable to our country. For these inestimable blessings we cannot be too grateful to that Providence which watches over the destinies of nations."

"When we view the great blessings with which our country has been favored, those which we now enjoy, and the means which we possess of handing them down unimpaired to our latest posterity, our attention is irresistibly drawn to the source from whence they flow. Let us, then, unite in offering our most grateful acknowledgment for these blessings to the Divine Author of all good."

"With a firm reliance on the protection of Almighty God, I shall forthwith commence the duties of the high trust to which you have called me."

"Deeply impressed with the blessings which we enjoy, and of which we have such manifold proofs, my mind is irresistibly drawn to that Almighty Being, the great source from whence they proceed, and to whom our most grateful acknowledgments are due."

41) OLIVER ELLSWORTH

Was an eminent statesman of the Revolution, and by Washington appointed Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was designed for the ministry, and studied theology under Dr. Bellamy, an eminent divine of Connecticut. In this Christian school his principles were received and his character formed. "Amiable and exemplary in all the relations of the domestic and social life and Christian character, pre-eminently useful in all the offices he sustained; whose great talents, under the guidance of inflexible integrity, consummate wisdom, and enlightened zeal, placed him among the first of the illustrious statesmen who achieved our independence and established the constitution of the American republic. In all the public stations which he ever filled he evinced an inflexible integrity, the purest morality, and the most unshaken firmness and independence."

42) WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON,

Of South Carolina, an eminent jurist and statesman, who devoted his great learning and abilities to achieve our independence and to form our free institutions, in April, 1776, gave utterance, in an official paper, to the following sentiments: -

"I think it my duty to declare, in the awful seat of justice and before Almighty God, that, in my opinion, the Americans can have no safety but by the Divine favor, their own virtue, and their being so prudent as not to leave it in the power of British rulers to injure them. The Almighty created America to be independent of Britain: let us beware of the impiety of being backward to act as instruments in the Almighty's hand, now extended to accomplish his purpose, and by the completion of which alone America can be secure against the craft and insidious designs of HER ENEMIES, WHO THINK HER PROSPERITY AND POWER ALREADY BY FAR TOO GREAT."

"In a word, our piety and political safety are so blended, that to refuse our labors in this divine work is to refuse to be a great, a free, a pious, and a happy people! And now, having left the important alternative, political happiness or wretchedness, under God, in a great degree in your hands, I pray the Supreme Arbiter of the affairs of men so to direct your judgment as that you may act agreeably to what seems to be his will, revealed in his miraculous works in behalf of America bleeding at the altar of liberty."

43) MAJOR-GENERAL GREENE,

Of Revolutionary renown, was eminently distinguished in the military service of his country, and was the confidential companion of Washington. He was as eminent for his virtues as for his patriotism and devotion to his country. Alexander Hamilton, in an eulogium on him, pronounced July 4, 1789, before the Society of Cincinnati, says of him, -

"The name of Greene will at once awaken in your minds the image of whatever is noble and estimable in human nature. As a man, the virtues of Greene are admitted; as a patriot, he held a place in the foremost rank; as a statesman, he is praised; as a soldier, he is admired.

"But where, alas! is now this consummate general, this brave soldier, this discerning statesman, this steady patriot, this virtuous citizen, this amiable man? Why could not so many talents, so many virtues, so many bright and useful qualities shield him from a premature grave? It is not for us to scan, but to submit to, the dispensations of Heaven."

"He was a great and good man," was the comprehensive eulogy passed upon him by Washington, when he heard the news of General Greene's death. "Thus," says Washington, "some of the pillars of the Revolution fall. Others are mouldering by insensible degrees. May our country never want props to support the glorious fabric."

44) HENRY KNOX,

Major-general in the American army during the Revolutionary War, was the right hand of Washington, and one whose resources for the emergencies of the war were infinite. His parents were of Scottish descent, and educated him in that piety which has ever distinguished the people of that country. He possessed a taste for literary pursuits, which he retained through life; and this, in union with his fine military genius and personal qualities, constituted him an accomplished gentleman and an able officer in the army and in the War Department, to which he was appointed by Congress before the adoption of the Constitution, and, after the government was organized, by Washington to the same office.

"The amiable virtues of the citizen and the man were as conspicuous in the character of General Knox as the more brilliant and commanding talents of the hero and statesman. The afflicted and destitute were sure to share of his compassion and charity. 'His heart was made of tenderness.' Mildness ever beamed in his countenance; 'on his tongue were the words of kindness. The poor he never oppressed; the most obscure citizen could never complain of injustice at his hands.'

"To these amiable qualities and moral excellencies of General Knox we may justly add his prevailing disposition to piety. With much of the manners of the gay world, and opposed as he was to all superstition and bigotry, he might not appear, to those ignorant of his better feelings, to possess religion and devout affections. He was a firm believer in the natural and moral attributes of the Deity and his overruling and all-prevailing providence."

45) GILBERT MOTHIER LAFAYETTE

Deserves an eminent place among American heroes, as the champion of freedom and the friend of humanity. His chivalrous and heroic devotion in the American cause constitutes a romantic chapter in the history of the Revolution. He was a member of the Catholic Church, a friend of Christianity, and his sentiments and life were of a high moral tone. His inspirations of liberty, his just and rational views of the rights of all men, and his devotion to humanity and a Christian civilization, entitle Lafayette to be enrolled among the Christian champions of freedom. In reference to American slavery he said that if he had supposed he was fighting to perpetuate the system, he never would have unsheathed his sword for American liberty in our Revolutionary struggle.

John Quincy Adams, in his eulogy on Lafayette, prepared at the request of Congress, in 1834, says,

"The self-devotion of Lafayette in the cause of America was twofold. First, to the maintaining a bold and seemingly desperate struggle against oppression and for national existence. Secondly and chiefly, to the principles of their declaration, which then first unfurled before his eyes the consecrated standard of human rights.

"To the moral principle of political action, the sacrifices of no other man were comparable to his. Youth, health, fortune, the favor of the king, the enjoyment of ease and pleasure, even the choicest blessings of domestic felicity, he gave them all for toil and danger in a distant land, and an almost hopeless cause; but it was the cause of justice, and of the rights of human kind."

Mr. Clarkson, of England, describes Lafayette "as a man who desired the happiness of the human race in consistence with strict subservience to the cause of truth and the honor of God."

At the close of the Revolution, Congress appointed a committee to receive and, in the name of Congress, to take leave of Lafayette, and to express to him their grateful and admiring sense of his services. A memorable sentence of his reply is as follows: -

"May this immense temple of freedom ever stand a lesson to oppressors, an example to the oppressed, a sanctuary for the rights of mankind! And may these happy United States attain that complete splendor and prosperity which will illustrate the blessings of their Government, and for ages to come rejoice the departed souls of its founders."

46) WILLIAM LIVINGSTON

Was a Christian lawyer of New York, and afterwards distinguished as a Christian statesman and Governor of New Jersey. In the earliest conflicts of the Revolution he said, -

"Courage, Americans! liberty, religion, and science are on the wing to these shores. The finger of God points out a mighty empire to your sons. The savages of the wilderness were never expelled to make room for idolaters and slaves. The land we possess is the gift of Heaven to our fathers, and Divine Providence seems to have decreed it to our latest posterity. So legible is this munificent and celestial deed in past events, that we need not be discouraged by the bickerings between us and the parent country. The angry cloud will soon be dispersed, and America advance to felicity and glory with redoubled activity and vigor. The day dawns in which the foundation of this mighty empire is to be laid by the establishment of a regular American Constitution.

"Let us, both by precept and example, encourage a spirit of economy, industry, and patriotism, and that public integrity which cannot fail to exalt a nation, - setting our faces at the same time like a flint against that dissoluteness of manners and political corruption which will ever be the reproach of any people. May the foundation of our infant state be laid in virtue and the fear of God, and the superstructure will rise gloriously and endure for ages. Then we may humbly expect the blessing of the Most High, who divides to nations their inheritance and separates the sons of Adam. While we are applauded by the whole world for demolishing the old fabric, rotten and ruinous as it was, let us unitedly strive to approve ourselves master-builders, by giving beauty, strength, and stability to the new. May we, in all our deliberations and proceedings, be influenced by the great Arbiter of the fate of nations, by whom empires rise and fall, and who will not always suffer the sceptre of the wicked to rest on the lot of the righteous, but in due time avenge an injured people on their unfeeling-oppressor and his bloody instruments."

Governor Livingston, in 1778, published the following views on the liberty of conscience in matters of religion: -

"If in our estimate of things we ought to be regulated by their importance, doubtless every encroachment upon religion, of all things the most important, ought to be considered as the greatest imposition, and the unmolested exercise of it a proportionate blessing.

"By religion I mean an inward habitual reverence for, and devotedness to, the Deity, with such external homage, either public or private, as the worshipper believes most acceptable to him. According to this definition, it is impossible for human laws to regulate religion without destroying it; for they cannot compel inward religious reverence, that being altogether mental and of a spiritual nature; nor can they enforce outward religious homage, because all such homage is either a man's own choice, and then it is not compelled, or it is repugnant to it, and then it cannot be religion.

"The laws of England, indeed, do not peremptorily inhibit a man from worshipping God according to the dictates of his own conscience, nor positively constrain him to violate it, by conforming to the religion of the state. But they punish him for doing the former, or, what amounts to the same thing, for omitting the latter, and, consequently, punish him for his religion. For what are the civil disqualifications and the privation of certain privileges he thereby incurs, but so many punishments? And what else is the punishment for not embracing the religion of others but a punishment for practising one's own? With how little propriety a nation can boast of its freedom under such restraints of religious liberty, requires no great sagacity to determine. They affect, it is true, to abhor the imputation of intolerance, and applaud themselves for their pretended toleration and lenity. As contra-distinguished, indeed, from actual prohibition, a permission may doubtless be called a toleration; for if a man is permitted to enjoy his religion under whatever penalties or forfeitures, he is certainly tolerated to enjoy it. But as far as he pays for such enjoyment by suffering those penalties and forfeitures, he as certainly does not enjoy it freely. On the contrary, he is persecuted in the proportion that his privilege is so regulated and qualified. I call it persecution, because it is harassing mankind for their principles; and I deny that such punishments derive any sanction from law, because the consciences of men are not the objects of human legislation. And to trace this stupendous insult on the dignity of reason to any other source than the abominable combinations of KING CRAFT and PRIESTCRAFT (in everlasting indissoluble league to extirpate liberty and to erect on its ruin boundless and universal despotism) would, I believe, puzzle the most assiduous inquirer. For what business, in the name of common sense, has the magistrate (distinctly and singly appointed for our political and temporal happiness) with our religion, which is to secure our happiness spiritual and eternal? And, indeed, among all the absurdities chargeable upon human nature, it never yet entered into the thoughts of any one to confer such authority upon any other.

"In reality, such delegation of power, had it ever been made, would be a mere nullity, and the compact by which it was ceded altogether nugatory, the rights of conscience being immutably personal and absolutely inalienable; nor can the state or the community, as such, have any concern in the matter. For in what manner doth it affect society what are the principles we entertain in our minds, or in what outward form we think it best to pay our adoration to God?

"But, to set the absurdity of the magistrate's authority to interfere in matters of religion in the strongest light, I would fain know what religion it is that he has the authority to establish? Has he a right to establish only the true religion? or is any religion true because he does establish it? If the former, his trouble is as vain as it is arrogant, because the true religion, being not of this world, wants not the princes of this world to support it, but has, in fact, either languished or been adulterated wherever they meddled with it.

"If the supreme magistrate, as such, has authority to establish any religion he thinks to be true, and the religion so established is therefore right and ought to be embraced, it follows, since all supreme magistrates have the same authority, that all established religions are equally right and ought to be embraced. The Emperor of China, therefore, as supreme magistrate in his empire, has the same right to establish the precepts of Confucius, and the Sultan in his the imposture of Mahomet, as hath the King of Great Britain the doctrine of Christ in his dominion. It results from these principles that the religions of Confucius and Mahomet are equally true with the doctrine of our Saviour and his apostles, and equally obligatory upon the respective subjects of China and Turkey as Christianity is on those within the British realm, - a position which, I presume, the most zealous advocate for ecclesiastical domination would think it blasphemy to avow.

"The English ecclesiastical government, therefore, is, and all the RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE WORLD are manifest violations of the rights of private judgment in matters of religion. They are impudent outrages on common sense, in arrogating a power of controlling the devotional operations of the mind and external acts of divine homage not cognizable by any human tribunal, and for which we are accountable only to the great Searcher of hearts, whose prerogative it is to judge them.

"In contrast with this spiritual tyranny, how beautiful appears our catholic constitution in disclaiming all jurisdiction over the souls of men, and securing, by a never-to-be-repealed section, the voluntary, unchecked, moral suasion of every individual, and by his own self-directed intercourse with the Father of spirits, either by devout retirement or public worship of his own election! How amiable the plan of intrenching with the sanctions of an ordinance, immutable and irrevocable, the sacred rights of conscience, and renouncing all discrimination between men on account of their sentiments about the various modes of church government or the different articles of their faith!"

47) JONATHAN TRUMBULL

Was, says Sparks, "one of the firmest of patriots and best of men." He was Governor of Connecticut nearly twenty years, - elected with great unanimity, and continuing till the close of the Revolution. His services were of very great importance throughout the whole war, not only in regulating the civil affairs of Connecticut, but in keeping alive a military ardor among the people. General Washington leaned on him as one of his main pillars of support. The following extracts from Governor Trumbull's letter to Washington will show the spirit prevailing at that day, as well as the religious cast of his mind: -

"Suffer me to congratulate you on your appointment to be general and commander-in-chief of the troops raised, or to be raised, for the defence of American liberty. Men who have tasted of freedom, and who have felt their personal rights, are not easily taught to bear with encroachments on either, or brought to submit to oppression. Virtue ought always to be made the object of government; justice is firm and permanent.

"The honorable Congress have, with one united voice, appointed you to the high station you possess. The Supreme Director of all events has caused a wonderful union of hearts and counsels to subsist amongst us. Now, therefore, be strong and very courageous. May the God of the armies of Israel shower down the blessings of his divine providence on you, give you wisdom and fortitude, cover your head in the day of battle and danger, and, by giving success, convince our enemies of their mistaken measures, and that all their attempts to deprive the colonies of their inestimable constitutional rights and liberties are injurious and vain."

Washington replied as follows: -

CAMBRIDGE, 18 July, 1775.

Allow me to return you my sincere thanks for the kind wishes and favorable sentiments expressed in yours of the 13th instant. As the cause of our common country calls us both to active and dangerous duty, I trust that Divine Providence, which wisely orders the affairs of men, will enable us both to discharge it with fidelity and success. The uncorrupted choice of a brave and free people has raised you to deserved eminence.

Dr. Ezra Stiles, President of Yale College, in a sermon, entitled "THE UNITED STATES ELEVATED TO GLORY AND HONOR," preached, May 7, 1783, before Governor Trumbull and the General Assembly of Connecticut, paid the highest tribute of praise to this pure patriot and exalted Christian statesman. He said, -

"Endowed with a singular strength of the mental powers, with a vivid and clear perception, with a penetrating and comprehensive judgment, embellished with the acquisition of academical, theological, and political erudition, your excellency became qualified for a very singular variety of usefulness in life. We adore the God of our fathers, the God and Father of the spirits of all flesh, that he hath raised you up for such a time as this, and that he hath put into your heart a wisdom which I cannot describe without adulation, a patriotism and intrepid resolution, a noble and independent spirit, an unconquerable love of liberty, religion, and our country, and that grace by which you have been carried through the arduous duties of a high office, never before acquired by an American governor. Our enemies revere the names of Trumbull and Washington."

48) GEORGE WASHINGTON,

"First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," was also first as a Christian hero and statesman. His Christian faith and sentiments pervaded his life, formed his character, guided all his private and public acts, and were repeated and recorded in every variety of form in all his state papers. He regarded Christianity not only as a divine system, worthy of the confidence of all men, and essential to man's happiness here and hereafter, but he profoundly felt, and everywhere taught, that all good government must be founded and administered in conformity to its benign and heavenly precepts. It is a suggestive fact that Washington, who led the armies of the Revolution to final victory, who presided in the council that formed the old Articles of Confederation, who was president of the convention that formed the Constitution, and who was the first President elected to administer the government, was a devout Christian. He has had more to do in shaping the destinies of the American Government and nation than all others combined, and in every official act he diffused the spirit and proclaimed, directly or indirectly, the principles of religion. This historical fact is unprecedented in the annals of the world, and displays the guiding hand of God in raising up and qualifying such a Christian leader for the American nation. Washington opened and closed his administration with the following sentiments: -

"It is impossible," said he, "to govern the universe without the aid of a Supreme Being. Let us, therefore, unite in imploring the Supreme Ruler of nations to spread his holy protection over these United States; to stop the machinations of the wicked; to confirm our Constitution; to enable us, at all times, to suppress internal sedition and put invasion to flight; to perpetuate to our country that prosperity which his goodness has already conferred, and to verify the anticipations of this government's being a safeguard to human rights."

"The situation in which I now stand, for the last time, in the midst of the representatives of the people of the United States, naturally recalls the period when the administration of the present form of government commenced; and I cannot omit the occasion to congratulate you and my country on the success of the experiment, nor to repeat my fervent supplications to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe and Sovereign Arbiter of nations, that his providential care may still be extended to the United States; that the virtue and happiness of the people may be preserved; and that the government which they have instituted for the protection of their liberties may be perpetual."

An appeal to the God of the Bible and of providence, from such Christian statesmen, would be expected, on all suitable and solemn occasions, in their state papers. These solemn appeals are as follow: -

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to defend these rights government was instituted. We, therefore, the Representatives in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Ruler of the World for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

"Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal resources are great, and, if necessary, foreign assistance is undoubtedly at hand. We gratefully acknowledge, as signal instances of the Divine favor towards us, that his providence would not permit us to be called into this severe controversy until we had grown up to our present strength, had previously been exercised in warlike operations, and possessed of the means of defending ourselves. With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, BEFORE GOD and the world, declare that, exerting the utmost energies of those powers which our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed on us, the arms we have been compelled to assume we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverance, employ for the preservation of our liberties; being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than live slaves.

"With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and impartial Judge and Ruler of the Universe, we most devoutly implore his divine goodness to protect us happily through this great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to reconciliation on reasonable terms, and thereby to relieve the empire from the calamities of civil war."

A manifesto by Congress, in 1778, closes as follows: -

"We appeal to that God who searcheth the hearts of men for the rectitude of our intentions, and in his holy presence declare, as we are not moved by any light or hasty suggestions of anger or revenge, so through every possible change of fortune we will adhere to this our determination."

"Appealing to the Being who searches thoroughly the heart," says a petition to the king in 1774, "we solemnly profess that our councils have been influenced by no other motives than a dread of impending destruction. We doubt not the purity of our intention and the integrity of our conduct will justify us at that grand tribunal before which all mankind must submit to judgment."

"Appealing to Heaven for the justice of our cause, we determine to die or be free."

"If it were possible for men, who exercise their reason, to believe that the Divine Author of our existence intended a part of the human race to hold an absolute property in and an unbounded power over others, marked out by his infinite goodness and wisdom as the objects of a legal domination never rightfully resistible, however severe and oppressive, the inhabitants of these colonies might at least require from the Parliament of Great Britain some evidence that this dreadful authority over them had been granted to that body."

"The Bills of Rights of the colonies sparkle with sentiments of humanity, of right, of liberty. The papers and resolves of the old colonial legislatures had in them that which fed the deep love of liberty in the human soul. The remonstrances addressed to the throne, the letters of eminent men, the declarations of Congress, were all aglow with a divine enthusiasm."

All the state papers emanating from these Christian men were not only replete with political wisdom, but were, in spirit and sentiment, Christian. Lord Chatham, in the British Parliament, says of them, -

"When your lordships look at the papers transmitted from America, when you consider their decency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect their cause and wish to make it your own. For myself, I must declare and avow that in all my reading and observation, and it has been my favorite study, - I have read Thucydides, and have studied and admired the master states of the world, - that for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under such a complication of difficult circumstances, no nation or body of men can stand in preference to the General Congress in Philadelphia. I trust it is obvious to your lordships that all attempts to impose servitude upon such men, to establish despotism over such a mighty continental nation, must be vain, must be fatal."

Mr. Webster said he never could read this splendid eulogy on the men and state papers of the Revolutionary era without weeping.

Webster also said,

"At that day there could not be found convened on the surface of the globe an equal number of men possessing such enlightened views of government or animated by a higher and a more patriotic motive. They were men full of the spirit of the occasion, imbued deeply with the general sentiment of the country, of large comprehension, long foresight, and of few words. They made no speeches for ostentation; they sat with closed doors, and their great maxim was, 'faire sans dire.'

"They knew the history of the past, and were alive to all the difficulties and all the duties of the present, and they acted from the first as if the future was all open before them. In such a constellation it would be invidious to point out bright particular stars. Let me only say, what none will consider injustice to others, that George Washington was one of that number.

"The proceedings of this assembly were introduced by religious observances and devout supplications to the throne of grace for the inspirations of wisdom and the spirit of good counsel."

Regarding the public characters who presided over our affairs during the stormy period of the war, and those on whom was devolved the yet more difficult and even more important duty of creating a system of government for the republic they have conducted to independence, we cannot refrain from a conviction that they were specially called to their high mission by a wise and an all-beneficent Providence. The extraordinary intelligence and virtue displayed in the Continental Congress were recognized by sagacious and dispassionate observers throughout the world. Mirabeau, the great French statesman, spoke of it as a company of demi-gods."

These great and good men, inspired with the sentiments of religion and liberty, felt the incompatibility of human slavery with the civil institutions which they founded, and on all suitable occasions declared it to be their first and fervent desire and purpose to have it removed and destroyed.

The first General Congress assembled in 1774, two years before the Declaration of Independence. Their first and main work was the formation of the "Association" which formed a bond of union between the colonies. The articles of the association contain the following declarations on the subject of slavery: -

"We do, for ourselves and the inhabitants of the several colonies whom we represent, firmly agree and associate, under the sacred ties of virtue, honor, and love of our country, as follows: -

"2. That we will neither import nor purchase any slave after the first day of December next, after which time we will wholly discontinue the SLAVE-TRADE, and will neither be concerned in it ourselves, nor will we hire our vessels nor sell our commodities or manufactures to those who are concerned in it.

"11. That a committee be chosen in every county, city, and town, by those who are qualified to vote for representatives in the legislature, whose business it shall be attentively to observe the conduct of all persons touching the Association; and when it shall be made to appear, to the satisfaction of a majority of any such committee, that any person within the limits of their appointment has violated this Association, that such majority do forthwith cause the truth of the case to be published in the Gazette, to the end that all such FOES to the rights of British America may be publicly known, and universally contemned as the ENEMIES OF AMERICAN LIBERTIES, and thenceforth we respectively will break off all dealings with him or her.

"14. And we do further agree and resolve that we will have no trade, commerce, dealings, or intercourse whatever with any colony or province in North America which shall not accede to, or which shall hereafter molest, this Association, but will hold. 171 them as UNWORTHY OF THE RIGHTS OF FREEMEN, and as inimical to the liberties of this country.

"The foregoing Association, being determined upon by the Congress, was ordered to be subscribed by the several members thereof; and, therefore, we have hereunto set our respective names accordingly.

"In Congress, Philadelphia, October 20, 1774.

"PEYTON RANDOLPH, President.

"NEW HAMPSHIRE. - John Sullivan, Nathaniel Folsom.

“MASSACHUSETTS BAY. - Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine.

"RHODE ISLAND. - Stephen Hopkins, Samuel Ward.

"CONNECTICUT. - Eliphalet Dyer, Roger Sherman, Silas Deane.

"NEW YORK. - Isaac Low, John Alsop, John Jay, James Duane, Philip Livingston, William Floyd, Henry Wisner, Simon Boerum.

"NEW JERSEY. - James Kinsey, William Livingston, Stephen Crane, Richard Smith, John D. Hart.

"PENNSYLVANIA. - Joseph Galloway, John Dickinson, Charles Humphreys, Thomas Mifflin, Edward Biddle, John Morton, George Ross.

"THE LOWER COUNTIES, NEWCASTLE, &c. - Cæsar Rodney, Thomas McKean, George Read.

"MARYLAND. - Matthew Tilghman, Thomas Johnson, Jr., William Paca, Samuel Chase.

"VIRGINIA. Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Jr., Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, Edmund Pendleton.

"NORTH CAROLINA. - William Hooper, Joseph Hawes, Richard Caswell.

"SOUTH CAROLINA. - Henry Middleton, Thomas Lynch, Christopher Gadsden, John Rutledge, Edward Rutledge."

Societies having in view the abolition of slavery were formed in a number of States, in the early period of the republic, including Virginia and Maryland; and in 1794 a general convention of delegates from all the abolition societies in the United States was held in Philadelphia, to consult measures for the removal of slavery; and this general convention met annually for twelve years. To the first convention Dr. Rush was a delegate, and chairman of a committee to draft an address to the people of the United States, which contained the following condemnation of slavery: -

"Many reasons concur in persuading us to abolish domestic slavery in our country.

"It is inconsistent with the safety of the liberties of the United States.

"Freedom and slavery cannot long exist together. An unlimited power over the time, labor, and posterity of our fellow-creatures necessarily unfits men for discharging the public and private duties of citizens of a republic.

"It is inconsistent with sound policy, in exposing the states which permit it to all those evils which insurrections and the most resentful war have introduced into one of the richest islands in the West Indies.

"It is unfriendly to the present exertions of the inhabitants of Europe in favor of liberty. What people will advocate freedom with a zeal proportioned to its blessings, while they view the purest republic in the world tolerating in its bosom a body of slaves ?

"In vain has the tyranny of kings been rejected while we permit in our country a domestic despotism which involves in its nature most of the vices and miseries that we have endeavored to avoid.

"It is degrading to our rank as men in the scale of being. Let us use our reason and social affections for the purposes for which they were given, or cease to boast a pre-eminence over animals that are unpolluted with our crimes.

"But higher motives to justice and humanity towards our fellow-creatures remain yet to be mentioned.

"Domestic slavery is repugnant to the principles of Christianity. It prostrates every benevolent and just principle of action in the human heart. It is rebellion against the authority of a common Father. It is a practical denial of the extent and efficacy of the death of a common Saviour. It is a usurpation of the prerogatives of the great Sovereign of the universe, who has solemnly claimed an exclusive property in the souls of men.

"But, if this view of the enormity of domestic slavery should not affect us, there is one consideration more, which ought to alarm and impress us, especially at the present juncture.

"It is a violation of a divine precept of universal justice, which has in no case escaped with impunity."

Congress gave countenance and encouragement to these abolition societies, formed in various States of the Union, and as late as 1809 the Speaker of the House of Representatives, by a resolution, was directed to return a letter of thanks to an abolition convention for a gift of Clarkson's "History of Slavery," which was ordered to be placed in the Congressional library.

The patriot and statesman, the philanthropist and Christian, the politician and divine, the guardians of public liberty and morality, were all united to exterminate this moral and political evil from the republic. They deemed it a duty to imbue their schools, colleges, churches, legislatures, and domestic circles with the belief that slavery was a national crime, offensive to God, and destructive to the safety, happiness, and prosperity of the people.

Washington said,

"There is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery; but there is only one proper and effectual mode by which it can be accomplished, and that is by legislative authority; and this, so far as my suffrages will go, shall not be wanting." Letter to Robert Morris, April 12, 1786.

"I never mean, unless some particular circumstance should compel me to it, to possess another slave by purchase, - it being among the first wishes of my heart to see some plan adopted by which slavery in this country may be abolished by law." — Letter to John H. Mercer, 1786.

"There are in Pennsylvania laws for the gradual abolition of slavery, which neither Virginia nor Maryland have at present, but which nothing is more certain than that they must have, and at a period not remote." -Letter to John Sinclair.

Washington wrote to Lafayette as follows: -

"The benevolence of your heart, my dear marquis, is so conspicuous on all occasions that I never wonder at fresh proofs of it; but your late purchase of an estate in the colony of Cayenne with a view of emancipating the slaves, is a generous and noble proof of your humanity. Would to God a like spirit might diffuse itself generally into the minds of the people of this country!"

Jefferson, the great apostle of democracy, declared,

"The way, I hope, is preparing, under the auspices of Heaven, for a total emancipation. The hour of emancipation is advancing in the march of time. This enterprise is for the young, for those who can follow it up and bear it through to its consummation. It shall have all my prayers; and these are the only weapons of an old man. What execrations should the statesman be loaded with who, permitting one half the citizens thus to trample on the rights of the other, transforms the one into despots and the other into enemies, destroying the morals of one part and the amor patriæ of the other! And can the liberties of a nation be thought secured, when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that their liberties are the gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that justice cannot sleep forever. The Almighty has no attribute that can take sides with us in such a contest."

Jefferson, writing from Paris, February, 1788, said, -

"We must wait with patience the workings of an overruling Providence, and hope that that is preparing the deliverance of these [slaves] our suffering brethren. When the measure of their tears shall be full, when their tears shall involve heaven itself in darkness, doubtless a God of justice will awaken to their distress, and, by diffusing light and liberty among their oppressors, or at length by his exterminating thunder, manifest his attention to things of this world, and that they are not left to the guidance of blind fatality.

"I am very sensible of the honor you propose to me, of becoming a member of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave-Trade. You know that nobody wishes more ardently to see an abolition, not only of the trade, but of the condition of the slave; and certainly nobody will be more willing to encounter every sacrifice for that object."

Jefferson wrote to Edward Coles, of Illinois, August 25, 1814, as follows: -

"The love of justice and love of country plead equally the cause of these people; and it is a moral reproach to us that they should have pleaded so long in vain, and should have produced not a single effort - nay, I fear, not much serious willingness to relieve them and ourselves from our present condition of moral and political reprobation. It is an encouraging observation that no good measure was ever proposed which, if duly pursued, failed to prevail in the end. We have proof of this in the history of the endeavors in the British Parliament to suppress that very trade which brought this evil upon us. And you will be supported by the religious precept, 'Be not weary in well-doing.' "

Lafayette said, "While I am indulging in my views of American prospects and American liberty, it is mortifying to be told that in that very country a large portion of the people are slaves! It is a dark spot on the face of the nation. Such a state of things cannot always exist.

"I see in the papers that there is a plan for the gradual abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. I would be doubly happy of it for the measure in itself, and because a sense of American pride makes me recoil at the observations of diplomatists, and other foreigners, who gladly improve the unfortunate existing circumstances into a general objection to our republican and, saving that deplorable evil, our matchless system."

"I never," said Lafayette, on another occasion, "would have drawn my sword in the cause of America, if I could have conceived that thereby I was founding a land of slavery."

John Jay said, in 1780, "An excellent law might be made out of the Pennsylvania one for the gradual abolition of slavery. Till America comes into this measure, her prayers to Heaven will be impious. This is a strong expression, but it is just. I believe God governs the world, and I believe it to be a maxim in his as in our court, that those who ask for equity should grant it."

"The word slaves," he said, "was avoided, probably on account of the existing toleration of slavery, and its discordancy with the principles of the Revolution, and from a consciousness of its being repugnant to some of the positions in the Declaration of Independence."

Monroe, in a speech in the Virginia Convention, said, "We have found that this evil has preyed upon the very vitals of the Union, and has been prejudicial to all the States in which it has existed."

Henry Laurens, of South Carolina, for two years President of the Continental Congress, wrote to his son, the 14th of August, 1776, as follows: -

"You know, my dear son, I abhor slavery. I was born in a country where slavery had been established by British kings and Parliaments, as well as by the laws of that country, ages before my existence. I found the Christian religion and slavery growing together under the same authority and cultivation. I nevertheless disliked it. In former days there was no combating the prejudices of men supported by interest. The day, I hope, is approaching when, from principles of gratitude, as well as justice, every man will strive to be foremost in showing his readiness to comply with the Golden Rule."

Patrick Henry, the impassioned orator of the Revolution, affirmed, "Slavery is detested; we feel its fatal effects; we deplore it with all the pity of humanity. It would rejoice my very soul to know that every one of my fellow-beings was emancipated. I believe the time will come when an opportunity will be offered to abolish this lamentable evil."

"Believe me, I honor the Quakers for their noble efforts to abolish slavery. It is a debt we owe to the purity of our religion to show that it is at variance with that law that warrants slavery."

In the Convention of Virginia, met to ratify the Constitution of the United States, Patrick Henry argued "the power of Congress, under the United States Constitution, to abolish slavery in the States."

Randolph, in the Convention of Virginia, met to ratify the Federal Constitution, said, "I hope that there are none here who, considering the subject in the calm light of philanthropy, will advance an objection dishonorable to Virginia, that, at the moment they are securing the rights of their citizens, there is a spark of hope that those unfortunate men now held in BONDAGE may, by the operation of the General Government, be made FREE."

John Marshall, the friend and biographer of Washington, a distinguished member of Congress under the administrations of Washington and Adams, and for forty years Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, saw with prophetic sagacity the evils of slavery and its future results. In an interview Harriet Martineau had with this venerable Christian judge in 1835, he made the following statement, published in a British magazine of that year. Marshall and Madison were then the only surviving representatives of the old ideas of Virginia on the subject of slavery. Miss Martineau says, -

"When I knew the chief-justice, he was eighty-three, - as bright-eyed and warm-hearted as ever, while as dignified a judge as ever filled the highest seat in the highest court of any country. He said he had seen Virginia the leading State for half his life; he had seen her become the second, and sink to be (I think) the fifth. Worse than this, there was no arresting her decline, if her citizens did not put an end to slavery; and he saw no signs of any intention to do so, east of the mountains at least. He had seen whole groups of estates, populous in his time, lapse into waste. He had seen agriculture exchanged for human stock-breeding; and he keenly felt the degradation. The forest was returning over the fine old estates, and the wild creatures which had not been seen for generations were reappearing; numbers and wealth were declining, and education and manners were degenerating. It would not have surprised him to be told that on that soil would the main battles be fought when the critical day should come which he foresaw."

Madison, the father of the Constitution, "thought it wrong to admit in the Constitution the idea that there could be property in man." "I object to the word slave appearing in a Constitution which I trust is to be the charter of freedom to unborn millions; nor would I willingly perpetuate the memory of the fact that slavery ever existed in our country. It is a great evil, and, under the providence of God, I look forward to some scheme of emancipation which shall free us from it. Do not, therefore, let us appear as if we regarded it perpetual, by using in our free Constitution an odious word opposed to every sentiment of liberty."

After the Constitution went into operation, Madison in Congress said, on the question of abolishing the slave-trade, -

"The dictates of humanity, the principles of the people, the national safety and happiness, and prudent policy, require it of It is to be hoped that by expressing a national disapprobation of the trade we may destroy it, and save our country from us. reproaches, and our posterity from the imbecility ever attendant on a country filled with slaves."

Harriet Martineau in 1835 spent some days with Madison at his residence in Virginia. She thus relates the opinions of Madison on the subject of slavery: -

"To Mr. Madison despair was not easy. He had a cheerful and sanguine temper, and if there was one thing rather than another which he had learned to consider secure, it was the Constitution which he had so large a share in making. Yet he told me that he was nearly in despair, and that he had been quite so till the Colonization Society arose. Rather than admit to himself that the South must be laid waste by a servile war, or the whole country by a civil war, he strove to believe that millions of negroes could be carried to Africa and so got rid of. I need not speak of the weakness of such a hope. What concerns us now is that he saw and described to me, when I was his guest, the dangers and horrors of the state of society in which he was living. He talked more of slavery than of all other subjects together, returning to it morning, noon, and night. He said that the clergy perverted the Bible, because it was altogether against slavery; that the colored population was increasing faster than the white; and that the state of morals was such as barely permitted society to exist. Of the issue of the conflict, whenever it should occur, there could, he said, be no doubt. A society burdened with a slave system could make no permanent resistance to an unencumbered enemy; and he was astonished at the fanaticism which blinded some Southern men to so clear a certainty.

"Such was Mr. Madison's opinion in 1835."

James Wilson, a leading member of the convention that formed the Constitution of the United States, and in the ratification convention of his State, speaking of the clause relating to the power of Congress over the slave-trade, said, -

"I regard this clause as laying the foundation for banishing slavery out of this country. The new States which are to be formed will be under the control of Congress in this particular, and slavery will never be introduced among them. It presents us with the pleasing prospect that the rights of mankind will be acknowledged and established throughout the Union. If there was no other feature in the Constitution but this one, it would diffuse a beauty over its whole countenance. Yet the lapse of a few years, and Congress will have power to exterminate slavery from within our borders."

Dr. Benjamin Franklin was the unwearied friend of emancipation. He was President of the Pennsylvania Society for promoting the ABOLITION of slavery, and addressed the following memorial to Congress on the subject, on behalf of the society: -

Your memorialists, particularly engaged in attending to the distresses arising from SLAVERY, believe it to be their indispensable duty to present this subject to your notice. They have observed with real satisfaction that many important and salutary powers are vested in you, for promoting the welfare and securing the blessings of liberty to the people of the United States; and as they conceive that these blessings ought cheerfully to be administered, WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF COLOR, to all descriptions of people, so they indulge themselves in the pleasing expectation that nothing which can be done for the relief of the unhappy objects of their care will be omitted or delayed.

From a persuasion that equal liberty was originally the portion of, and is still the birthright of, all men, and influenced by the strong ties of humanity and the principles of their institutions, your memorialists conceive themselves bound to use all justifiable endeavors to LOOSEN THE BONDS OF SLAVERY and promote a general enjoyment of the blessings of freedom. Under these impressions, they earnestly entreat your attention to the subject of slavery; that you will be pleased to countenance the RESTORATION TO LIBERTY of those unhappy men who alone, in this land of freedom, are degraded into perpetual bondage, and who, amid the general joy of surrounding freemen, are groaning in servile subjection; THAT YOU WILL DEVISE MEANS OF REMOVING THIS INCONSISTENCY OF CHARACTER FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE; that you will promote mercy and justice towards this distressed race; and that you will step to the very verge of the power vested in you for discouraging every species of traffic in the persons of our fellow-men.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, President.

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 3, 1790.

Dr. Franklin was the personal friend of Granville Sharpe, who was a member of the British Parliament, and devoted his life to abolishing the slave-trade and to the promotion of universal freedom. The following letter of this distinguished philanthropist to Dr. Franklin is a rare and interesting paper touching the subject of slavery as affected by the Constitution: -

48.1) TO HIS EXCELLENCY DR. FRANKLIN, PRESIDENT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY.

LEADENHALL STREET, LONDON, 10th Jan'y, 1788.

DEAR SIR: -

I ought long ago to have acknowledged the deep sense which I entertain of my obligations to the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, for the honor they have been pleased to confer upon me by inserting my name in the number of their corresponding members, as signified in your Excellency's letter of the 9th of July last.

I read with particular satisfaction their excellent remonstrance against slavery, addressed to the convention. If our most solemn and unanswerable appeals to the consciences of men in behalf of humanity and common justice are disregarded, the crimes of slavery and slave-dealing become crying sins, which presumptuously invite the divine retribution; so that it must be highly dangerous to the political existence of any state, that is duly warned against injustice, to afford the least sanction to such enormities by their legislative authority.

Having been always zealous of your government, I am the more sincerely grieved to see the new Federal Constitution stained by the insertion of two most exceptionable clauses of the kind above mentioned; the one in direct opposition to a most humane article ordained by the first American Congress to be perpetually observed, and the other in equal opposition to the express command of the Almighty not to deliver up the servant that had escaped to his master; and both clauses of the 9th Section of the 1st Article and the latter part of the 2d Section of the 3d Article are so clearly null and void by their iniquity, that it would be even a crime to regard them as law.

Though I have, indeed, too plainly proven myself a very unworthy and dilatory correspondent, through the unavoidable impediments of a variety of affairs and trusts which have been devolved upon me, yet I must request your Excellency to inform the Pennsylvania Society that I have never knowingly omitted any favorable opportunity of promoting the great objects of their institution, and trust in God I never shall.

With true esteem and respect, dear sir,

Yours, &c.,

GRANVILLE SHARPE.

This testimony of the fathers and founders of our civil institutions, as briefly put on record in this volume, confirms the declarations of Mr. Leigh in the convention of Virginia, in 1832, who said, -

"I thought, till very lately, that it was known to everybody that during the Revolution, and for many years after, the abolition of slavery was a favorite topic with many of our ablest statesmen, who entertained with respect all the schemes which wisdom or ingenuity could suggest for its accomplishment."

Salmon P. Chase, in the Senate of the United States, in February, 1854, declared the same fact in reference to the faith and policy of the statesmen of the Revolution. He designated that as the "era of enfranchisement," and said, -

"It commenced with the earliest struggles for independence. The spirit which inspired it animated the hearts and prompted the efforts of Washington, of Jefferson, of Patrick Henry, of Wythe, of Adams, of Jay, of Hamilton, of Morris, - in short, of all the great men of our early history. All these hoped, all these labored, all these believed in the final deliverance of the country from the curse of slavery. That spirit burned in the Declaration of Independence, and inspired the provisions of the Constitution and of the Ordinance of 1787. 181 Under its influence, when in full vigor, State after State provided for the emancipation of slaves within their limits, prior to the adoption of the Constitution."

In these notices of the men of the Revolution and their views on the Christian religion, it is appropriate in this volume to record the faith and declarations of four other eminent men, born during the Revolutionary struggle, and who have exerted a commanding influence on the legislation and politics of this country.

49) JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,

The sixth President of the United States, was an eminent statesman and politician. Fifty years of his active life were spent in the service of his country, with dignity, honor, and usefulness. "The fear of God," says Edward Everett, "was the last great dominant principle of his life and character. There was the hiding of his power. Offices, and affairs, and honors, and studies, left room in his soul for faith. No man laid hold with a firmer grasp of the realities of life, and no man dwelt more steadily on the mysterious realities beyond life. He entertained a profound reverence for sacred things. He attended the public offices of social worship with a constancy seldom witnessed in this busy and philosophic age. The daily and systematic perusal of the BIBLE was an occupation with which no other duty was allowed to interfere. The daily entry of his journal, for the latter part of his life, begins with a passage extracted from Scripture, followed with his own meditations and commentary; and, thus commencing the day, there is little doubt that of his habitual reflections as large a portion was thrown forward to the world of spirits as was retained by the passing scenes. In all the private and public positions he occupied, he displayed the principles of the Christian religion."

His inaugural address as President of the United States says, -

" 'Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.' With fervent supplications for his favor, to his over-ruling providence I commit, with humble but fearless confidence, my own fate and the future destinies of my country.' "

His first message declares that "In taking a survey of the concerns of our beloved country with reference to subjects interesting to the common welfare, the first sentiment which impresses itself upon the mind is of gratitude to the Omnipotent Dispenser of all good, for the continuance of the signal blessings of his providence, and especially for that health which to an unusual extent has prevailed within our borders, and for that abundance which, in the vicissitudes of the seasons, has been scattered with profusion over our land. Nor ought we less to ascribe to him the glory that we are permitted to enjoy the bounties of his hand in peace and tranquillity, - peace with all the other nations of the earth, in tranquillity among ourselves.”

In the year 1809, Mr. Adams was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to the court of St. Petersburg. During his residence there he addressed to his eldest son, who was then ten years old, a series of letters on the study of the Bible. Extracts from these letters are here given embodying the views of this statesman on the Bible and its influence. The letters were written during the years 1811 and 1813. The extracts are given without reference to their dates.

"So great is my veneration for the Bible, and so strong my belief that, when duly read and meditated upon, it is of all books in the world that which contributes to make men good, wise, and happy, that the earlier my children begin to read it, and the more steadily they pursue the practice of reading it through-out their lives, the more lively and confident will be my hopes that they will prove useful citizens to their country, respectable members of society, and a real blessing to their parents.

"I have, myself, for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year. My custom is to read four or five chapters every morning, immediately after rising from bed. It employs about an hour of my time, and seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day.

"You know the difference between right and wrong. You know some of your duties, and the obligation you are under of becoming acquainted with them all. It is in the Bible you must learn them, and from the Bible how to practise them. Those duties are to God, to your fellow-creatures, to yourself. 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself.' On these two commandments (Jesus Christ expressly says) 'hang all the law and the prophets.' That is to say that the whole purpose of divine revelation is to inculcate them efficaciously upon the minds of men.

"Let us, then, search the Scriptures. The Bible contains the revelation of the will of God; it contains the history of the creation of the world and of mankind. It contains a system of religion and morality which we may examine upon its own merits, independent of the sanction it receives from being the word of God. In what light soever we regard it, whether with reference to revelation, to history, to morality, or to literature, it is an inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue.

"The first words of the Bible are, 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.' This blessed and sublime idea of God, the Creator of the universe, this source of all human virtue and all human happiness, for which all the sages and philosophers of Greece and Rome groped in darkness and never found, is revealed in the first verse of the book of Genesis. I call this the source of all human virtue and happiness.

"Here, then, is the foundation of all morality, - the source of all our obligations as accountable creatures. This idea of the transcendent power of the Supreme Being is essentially connected with that by which the whole duty of man is summed up in obedience to his will."

" 'And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.' This verse only exhibits one of the effects of that transcendent power which the first verse discloses in announcing God as the Creator of the world. The true sublimity is in the idea given us of God. To such a God, piety is but a reasonable service.

"The moral character of the Old Testament, then, is that piety to God is the foundation of all virtue, and that virtue is inseparable from it, but that piety without the practice of virtue is itself a crime and an aggravation of all iniquity. All the virtues which were recognized by the heathens are inculcated not only with more authority, but with more energy of argument and more eloquent persuasion, in the Bible, than in all the writings of the ancient moralists.

"The sum of Christian morality, then, consists in piety to God, and benevolence to man, - piety manifested not by formal solemnities and sacrifices of burnt-offerings, but by repentance, by obedience, by submission, by humility, by the worship of the heart; and benevolence not founded upon selfish motives, but superior even to the sense of wrong or the resentment of injuries.

"The whole system of Christian morality appears to have been set forth by its Divine Author in the Sermon on the Mount. What I would impress upon your mind as infinitely important to the happiness and virtue of your life is the general spirit of Christianity, and the duties which result from it.

"The true Christian is the 'justum et tenacem propositi virum' of Horace. The combination of these qualities, so essential to the heroic character, with those of meekness, lowliness of heart, and brotherly love, is what constitutes that moral perfection of which Christ gave an example in his own life, and to which he commended his disciples to aspire. Endeavor to discipline your own heart and to govern your conduct through life by these principles thus combined. Be meek, be gentle, be kind, be affectionate to all mankind, not excepting your enemies, but never tame or abject. Never give way to the wishes of impudence, or show yourself yielding or complying to prejudices, wrong-headedness, or intractability, which would lead or draw you astray from the dictates of your conscience and your sense of right. 'Till you die, let not your integrity de- part from you.' Build your house upon the Rock; and then let the rain descend, and the floods come, and the winds blow, and beat upon that house: it shall not fall, for it will be founded upon a Rock. So promises your blessed Lord and Master."

"By admitting the Bible as a divine revelation, we have hopes of future felicity inspired, together with a conviction of our present wretchedness. The blood of the Redeemer has washed out the pollution of our original sin, and the certainty of eternal happiness in a future life is again secured to us in the primitive condition of obedience to the will of God.

"Jesus Christ came into the world to preach repentance and remission of sins, to proclaim glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to man, and, finally, to bring life and immortality to light in the gospel; and all this is clear if we consider the Bible as a divine revelation.

"Let us conclude by resuming the duties to God, to our fellow-creatures, and to ourselves, which are derived as immediate consequences from the admission of the Bible as divine revelation. 1. Piety. From the first chapter of the Old Testament to the last of the New, obedience to the will of God is inculcated as including the whole duty of man. 2. Benevolence. The love of our neighbor was forcibly taught in the Old Testament; but to teach it more effectually was the special object of Christ's mission upon earth. 'Love,' says St. Paul, 'is the fulfilling of the law. But Christ says, 'A NEW commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.' 3. Humility. The profound sense of our infirmities which must follow from the doctrine of original sin, and of its punishment inflicted upon all human kind, necessarily inspires meekness and lowliness of spirit. These two are commanded expressly by Jesus Christ; and, as principles of morality, they are not only different from the maxims of every other known system of ethics, but in direct opposition to them.

"Of the ten commandments, emphatically so called for the extraordinary and miraculous distinction with which they were promulgated, the first four are religious laws. The fifth and tenth are properly and peculiarly moral, and the other four are of the criminal department of municipal law. The unity of the Godhead, the prohibition of making graven images for worship, that of taking 'in vain' the name of the Deity, and the injunction to observe the Sabbath as a day sanctified and set apart for his worship, were all intended to inculcate that reverence for the one only and true God, that profound and penetrating sentiment of piety, which is the great and only immediate foundation of all human virtue.

"Next to the duties towards the Creator, that of honoring the earthly parents is enjoined. It is to them that every individual owes the greatest obligations, and to them he is consequently bound by the first and strongest of earthly ties. The following commands are negative, and require all to abstain from wrong-doing - 1. In their persons; 2. In their property; 3. In their conjugal rights; and 4. In their good name. The tenth and closing commandment goes to the very source of all human action, the heart, and positively forbids all those desires which first prompt and lead to every transgression upon the property and rights of our fellow- creatures. Vain indeed would be the search among all the writings of profane antiquity - not merely of that remote antiquity, but even in the most refined and most philosophic ages of Greece and Rome - to find so broad, so complete, so solid a basis for morality as this decalogue lays down."

As the life of Mr. Adams was closing, he was called to preside at the anniversary of the Bible Society of the city of Washington. On taking the chair, he said, -

"Fellow-citizens and members of the Bible Society: In taking the chair as the oldest Vice-President of the Society, I deem myself fortunate in having the opportunity, at this stage of a long life drawing rapidly to its close, to bear at this place, the capital of our National Union, my solemn testimonial of reverence and gratitude to that Book of books, the Holy Bible."

Mr. Adams died in the Capitol of the nation, on the 23d of February, 1848, exclaiming, "This is the last of earth: I am content."

50) ANDREW JACKSON,

The admired military hero and popular President, was a thorough believer in the Christian religion and its evangelical doctrines. He embraced the system of the gospel with a cordial and a warm-hearted faith. He had a pious Presbyterian mother, who in her earliest years planted the seeds of divine truth which in later life germinated into a practical faith and bore the fruits of genuine piety.

In his public life at Washington, as President, he bore unvarying testimony to the divinity of the Bible, as a book essential to civil government and to the salvation of the soul. During his eight years' residence at Washington as President, he was regular in his attendance on the public worship of God, and had a pew in the First Presbyterian Church. The Bible was a book which had a prominent place in the Presidential mansion during his administration, and its perusal was his constant habit and delight.

It was a long-cherished desire of his heart to make a public profession of his faith in Christ and join himself to a Christian church, but he was deterred, like most of our political and public men, by the fear his motives would be misunderstood and impugned. The following letter will explain his feelings on this point. It was written to a friend in Boston.

HERMITAGE, August 24, 1838.

DEAR SIR: - I thank you kindly for the perusal of your pious uncle's letter, which you were good enough to enclose for my perusal. Should you live to see this pious divine, your uncle, present him my kind regards, with my prayers for a long-continued life of usefulness and a happy immortality. Say to him I would long since have made this solemn public dedication to Almighty God, but knowing the wretchedness of this world, and how prone many are to evil, and that the scoffer of religion would have cried out, 'Hypocrisy! he has joined the Church for political effect,' - I thought it best to postpone this public act until my retirement to the shades of private life, when no false imputations could be made that might be injurious to religion. Please say to him I well remember the pleasure I had of taking him by the hand and receiving his kind benediction, for which I was grateful. It would give me pleasure now in retirement to receive and shake him by the hand. Present our kind regards to your amiable family, and receive for yourself our best wishes.

I remain, very respectfully, yours, etc.,

ANDREW JACKSON.

P.S.- I am so much debilitated that I can scarcely wield my pen.

A. J.

TO DR. LAWRENCE.

His faith in an overruling Providence was expressed to Congress and the country in these words, which were in substance repeated in all his messages: -

His second inaugural address says, -

"It is my fervent prayer to that Almighty Being before whom I now stand, and who has kept us in his hands from the infancy of our republic to the present day, that he will so overrule all my intentions and actions, and inspire the hearts of my fellow-citizens, that we may be preserved from dangers of all kinds, and continue forever a UNITED AND HAPPY PEOPLE."

His message of 1835 says, "Never in any former period of our history have we had greater reason than we now have to be thankful to Divine Providence for the blessings of health and general prosperity."

His message of 1836: - "Our gratitude is due to the Supreme Ruler of the universe; and I invite you to unite with me in offering to him fervent supplication that his providential care may ever be extended to those who follow us.... I shall not cease to invoke that beneficent Being to whose providence we are already so signally indebted, for the continuance of his blessings on our beloved country."

"For relief and deliverance, let us firmly rely on that kind Providence which, I am sure, watches with peculiar care over the destinies of our republic, and on the intelligence and wisdom of our countrymen. Through His abundant goodness and their patriotic devotion, our liberty and Union will be preserved."

"May the Great Ruler of nations grant that the signal blessings with which he has favored us may not, by the madness of party or personal ambition, be lost; and may his wise providence bring those who have produced this crisis to see their folly before they feel the misery of civil strife, and inspire a returning veneration for the Union, which, if we may dare to penetrate his designs, he has chosen as the only means of attaining the high destinies to which we may reasonably aspire."

Commodore Elliott brought from Asia a sarcophagus, which was presented, through the National Institute, to General Jackson. His answer is as follows: -

HERMITAGE, March 27, 1845.

DEAR SIR: -

Your letter of the 18th instant, together with a copy of the proceedings of the National Institute, have been received. With the warmest sensations that can inspire a grateful heart, I must decline accepting the honor intended to be conferred. I cannot consent that my mortal body shall be laid in a repository prepared for an emperor or a king. My republican feelings and principles forbid it; the simplicity of our system of government forbids it. Every monument erected to perpetuate the memory of our heroes and statesmen ought to bear evidence of the economy and simplicity of our republican institutions and the plainness of our republican citizens, who are the sovereigns of our glorious Union and whose virtue is to perpetuate it. True virtue cannot exist where pomp and parade are the governing passions: it can only dwell with the people, - the great laboring and producing classes, that form the bone and sinew of our confederacy.

For these reasons, I cannot accept the honor you and the president and directors of the National Institute intended to bestow. I cannot permit my remains to be the first in these United States to be deposited in a sarcophagus made for an emperor or a king. I have prepared an humble depository for my mortal body beside that wherein lies my beloved wife, where, without any pomp or parade, I have requested, when my God calls me to sleep with my fathers, to be laid, - for both of us there to remain until the last trumpet sounds to call the dead to judgment, when we, I hope, shall rise together, clothed with that heavenly body promised to all who believe in our glorious Redeemer, who died for us that we might live, and by whose atonement I hope for a blessed immortality.

ANDREW JACKSON.

The sublime system of divinity so clearly taught in the Holy Scriptures was the joy and rejoicing of his heart. He had a firm faith in the providential government of God over nations, men, and events. When rehearsing facts that had occurred in his military or political life, he would pause and say, "It was the hand of God: Divine Providence ordered it so." "Such an officer was cut down: he was a noble man. I felt his loss much; but it was the hand and counsel of God." In an address at a dinner given in Georgetown, in honor of the hero of the battle of New Orleans, he closed by saying, "But to HEAVEN and to the bravery of our soldiers were we indebted for the victory; to HEAVEN and them let it be ascribed."

The following sketch of the religious feelings and dying scenes of Andrew Jackson was written by the Rev. John S. C. Abbott: -

"One Sunday morning in the year 1827, as General Jackson and his wife were walking towards the little Hermitage church, she entreated him to take a decided stand as a Christian and to unite with the Church. He replied, -

" 'My dear, if I were to do that now, it would be said all over the country that I had done it for the sake of political effect. My enemies would all say so. I cannot do it now; but I promise you that when once more I am clear of politics I will join the Church.'

"On the 23d of December, 1828, Mrs. Jackson died. It was a terrible blow to her husband, who loved her with singular fervor and constancy. He never quite recovered from the shock. His spirit became very much subdued, and he gave up entirely the use of profane language, to which he had been awfully addicted in his younger days.

"Mr. Nicholas P. Trist, of Virginia, was the private secretary of President Jackson. On one occasion it seemed necessary for him to enter the President's apartment after he had retired for the night. He found the President in his night-dress, sitting at a table with his wife's miniature propped up against some books before him, and between him and the miniature lay his wife's well-worn prayer-book, from which, according to his invariable custom, he was reading a prayer before he slept.

"About this time there was a season of special religious interest in Washington. The pastor of the church which the President attended, and from whom the writer has the anecdote, called at the White House and entered into conversation with the President upon the subject of personal religion. He replied, 'No man respects religion more than I do, or feels more deeply its importance. I promised my wife that I would attend to the salvation of my soul as soon as the election was over; but now the cares which engross me are so overwhelming, and my cabinet in such a divided state, that I have not a moment's time to think of any thing but the urgencies of the passing hour. But I am resolved, so soon as I leave the Presidential chair and retire to the seclusion of the Hermitage, to take up in earnest the subject of religion.'

"It was the old excuse: Go thy way for this time, till I have a convenient season. The hour of retirement came, and still the general did not keep his promise. To one who addressed him upon the subject, he wrote, in August, 1838, 'I would long since have made this solemn dedication to Almighty God, but, knowing the wretchedness of this world, and how prone many are to evil, and that the scoffer of religion would have cried out, "Hypocrisy! he has joined the Church for political effect," I thought it best to postpone this public act until my retirement to the shades of private life, when no false imputations could be made that might be injurious to religion.'

"About a year from this time, in 1839, there was a protracted meeting at the Hermitage. General Jackson attended all the services with deep solemnity. He was deeply impressed by the last sermon, and urged the preacher, Rev. Dr. Edgar, of Nashville, to go home with him. An engagement prevented this. General Jackson, a sin-convicted man, with his eyes open to his true condition, passed the evening and most of the night in reading the Bible and in meditation and prayer. The anguish and tears of that night eternity alone can reveal. With the light of the morning peace dawned upon his soul. It was communion Sabbath at the little Hermitage church. That very day the general made a public profession of his faith in Christ. The church was crowded to its utmost capacity, the very windows being darkened with eager faces. As in great infirmity he leaned upon his staff, giving his assent to the creed and covenant of the Church, tears trickled freely down his furrowed cheeks, and all were overcome with emotion.

"From this time until his death he spent most of his time reading the Bible. Scott's Family Bible he read through twice, and daily conducted family prayers, summoning all the house-hold servants. On the 8th of June, 1845, the summons came for the weary pilgrim, then seventy-eight years of age, to appear before his final Judge. As he lay upon his dying bed, after a severe spasm, he swooned away, and all for a few moments thought him dead. But he revived, and, raising his eyes, said, -

" 'My dear children, do not grieve for me. It is true, I am going to leave you. I am well aware of my situation. I have suffered much bodily pain; but my sufferings are but as nothing compared with that which our blessed Saviour endured upon that accursed cross, that we might all be saved who put our trust in him.'

"He then took an affectionate leave of each one of his family, taking them one by one by the hand and addressing to each a few words of counsel. 'He then,' writes Dr. Efselman, who was present, 'delivered one of the most impressive lectures upon the subject of religion that I have ever heard. He spoke for nearly half an hour, and apparently with the power of inspiration; for he spoke with calmness, with strength, and even with animation. In conclusion, he said, "My dear children and friends and servants, I hope and trust to meet you in heaven, both white and black." The last sentence he repeated, "both white and black." '

"All present were in tears. 'Oh, do not cry,' said the general: 'be good children, and we will all meet in heaven.' These were his last words. He ceased to breathe, and died without a struggle or a pang. 'Major Lewis,' writes the biographer, 'removed the pillows, drew down the body upon the bed, and closed the eyes. Upon looking again upon the face, he observed that the expression of pain which it had worn so long had passed away. Death had restored it to naturalness and serenity. The aged warrior slept.' "

During his last illness, to a friend he pointed to the family Bible on the stand, and said, -

"That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests. It is the bulwark of our free institutions."

51) HENRY CLAY,

As an American statesman and a leading politician, wielded a masterly and moulding influence in shaping the legislative and political policy of his country. "His public life," says Dr. Robert C. Breckenridge, in an oration on the occasion of laying the corner-stone of a monument to Mr. Clay, " from the commencement of the practice of the law till his death, lasted about fifty-five years, a public life hardly matched in its duration and splendor by any other in our annals. He lived over seventy-five years: three-quarters of a century more fruitful in events or more decisive in their influence upon society had hardly ever occurred in the history of mankind. It was about eight months after the Continental Congress had issued from the city of Philadelphia the immortal Declaration of Independence, in the name of the people of the United States, that the pious wife of a faithful and laborious Baptist minister, far off in Virginia, gave birth to Henry Clay. The language which he learned to speak was replenished with the divine truth which pervades a Christian household. The first words which he understood were words which sunk into his heart forever, - COUNTRY, LIBERTY, INDEPENDENCE. The first names he heard beyond his father's household were names that will live forever, - the name of his neighbor HENRY, the prince of orators and patriots, the name of his fellow-Virginian, WASHINGTON, the first of mortals.

"God had bestowed on him a personal presence and bearing as impressive as any mortal ever possessed. The basis of his moral character was akin to that which lies at the foundation of supreme moral excellence, - integrity and love of truth. His was a high, fair, brave, upright nature. His intellectual character, by which he will be chiefly known to posterity, was, as all men acknowledge, of the highest order, clear, powerful, and comprehensive: no subject seemed to be difficult under its steady insight, and it embraced with equal readiness every department of human knowledge to which it became his duty to attend. No genius was ever capable of a wider diversity of use than his. And the vast and searching common sense which was the most striking characteristic of his mind revealed the purity, the truth, and the force with which the ultimate elements of our rational nature dwelt and acted in his noble understanding.

"Mr. Clay was the child of Christian parents, all the more likely to be jealous of the heritage of God's love to their boy, as they had little else to bestow upon him. His own repeated declarations, made in the most public and solemn manner at every period of his life, that he cherished the highest veneration for the Christian religion, and the most profound conviction of the divine mission of the Saviour of sinners, fully justify the importance which I have attached to this element of his destiny, even if he had not attested in his latter years the sincerity of his life-long convictions, by openly professing his faith in the Son of God and uniting himself with his professed followers. He lived some years, and closed his days, in the communion of the Protestant Episcopal Church, to which his venerable wife had long been attached. It was my fortune to have personal knowledge, under circumstances which do not admit of any doubt in my own mind, that, according to the measure of the light he had, he was during a few years immediately preceding his death a penitent and believing follower of the divine Redeemer. It maybe well allowed that the frank and habitual avowal even of speculative faith in the Christian religion, by a man of his character and position, was not without its value, and was not free from reproach, during that terrible season of unbelief which marked the close of the last century and stretched forward upon the first quarter of the present. And that the crowning efforts of his life were sustained by a sense of Christian duty, and its last sufferings assuaged by the consolations of Christian hope, are facts too important, as they relate to him, and too significant in their own nature, to be omitted in any estimate of him. It is not, however, on account of such considerations as these that I reiterate with so much emphasis the undeniable fact that Mr. Clay never was an infidel, that he was always an avowed believer in true religion. But it is because such is my sense of the shallowness, the emptiness, and the baseness of that state of the human soul in which it can deny the God who created it and the Saviour who redeemed it, and can empty itself of its own highest impulses and disallow its own sublimest necessities, that I have no conception how such a soul could be what this man was, or do what he did. It is because I do understand with perfect distinctness that belief in God, and belief in a mission given to us by him, and to be executed with success only by means of his blessing upon our efforts, must be a conviction, at once profound and enduring, in every soul that is great in itself, or that can accomplish any thing great. Wonderful as Mr. Clay's career was, it would be a hundredfold more wonderful to suppose that such a career was possible to a scoffer and a skeptic."

Mr. Clay died in the city of Washington, on the 29th of June, 1852. Rev. Dr. Butler, chaplain of the Senate, delivered, in the Senate-Chamber, a funeral sermon in the presence of the President and Congress of the United States, in which he gave the following just views of the character and principles of an American statesman, and the views of Mr. Clay on the subject of the Christian religion: -

"A great mind, a great heart, a great orator, a great career, have been consigned to history. I feel, as a man, the grandeur of this career. But as an immortal, with this broken wreck of mortality before me, with this scene as the 'end-all' of human glory, I feel that no career is truly great but that of him who, whether he be illustrious or obscure, lives to the future in the present, and, linking himself to the spiritual world, draws from God the life, the rule, the motive, and the reward of all his labor. So would that great spirit which has departed say to us, could headdress us now. So did he realize, in the calm and meditative close of life. I feel that I but utter the lessons which, living, were his last and best convictions, and which, dead, would be, could he speak to us, his solemn admonitions, when I say that statesmanship is then only glorious when it is Christian, and that man is then only safe and true to his duty and his soul, when the life which he lives in the flesh is the life of faith in the Son of God. Great, indeed, is the privilege, and most honorable and useful is the career, of a Christian American statesman. He perceives that civil liberty came from the freedom wherewith Christ made its early martyrs and defenders free. He recognizes it as one of the twelve manner of fruits on the tree of life, which, while its lower branches furnish the best nutriment of earth, hangs on its topmost boughs, which wave in heaven, fruits that exhilarate the immortals. Recognizing the state as God's institution, he will perceive that his own ministry is divine. Living consciously under the eye and in the love and fear of God, 'redeemed by the blood of Jesus,' sanctified by his Spirit, 'loving his law,' he will give himself, in private and in public, to the service of his Saviour. He will not admit that he may act on less lofty principles in public than in private life, and that he must be careful of his moral influence in the small sphere of home and neighborhood, but need take no heed of it when it stretches over continents and crosses seas. He will know that his moral responsibility cannot be divided and distributed among others. When he is told that adherence to the strictest moral and religious principles is incompatible with a successful and eminent career, he will denounce the assertion as a libel on the venerated fathers of the republic, a libel on the honored living and the illustrious dead, a libel against a great and Christian nation, a libel against God himself, who has declared and made 'godliness profitable for the life that now is.' He will strive to make laws the transcripts of the character, and institutions illustrations of the providence, of God. He will scan with admiration and awe the purposes of God in the future history of the world, in throwing open this continent, from sea to sea, as the abode of freedom, intelligence, plenty, prosperity, and peace, and feel that in giving his energies with a patriot's love to the welfare of his country he is consecrating himself, with a Christian zeal, to the extension and establishment of the Redeemer's kingdom. Compared with a career like this, which is equally open to those whose public sphere is large or small, how paltry are the trades in patriotism, the tricks of statesmanship, the rewards of successful baseness! This hour, this scene, the venerated dead, the country, the world, the present, the future, God, duty, heaven, hell, speak trumpet-tongued to all in the service of their country, to beware how they lay polluted or unhallowed hands

'upon the ark
Of her magnificent and awful cause.'

"Such is the character of that statesmanship which alone would have met the full approval of the venerated dead. For the religion which always had a place in the convictions of his mind had also, within a recent period, entered into his experience and seated itself in his heart. Twenty years since, he wrote, 'I am a member of no religious sect, and I am not a professor of religion. I regret that I am not. I wish that I was, and trust that I shall be. I have, and always have had, a profound regard for Christianity, the religion of my fathers, and for its rites, its usages and observances.' That feeling proved that the seed sown by pious parents was not dead, though stifled. A few years since, its dormant life was reawakened. He was baptized in the communion of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and during his sojourn in this city he was in full communion with Trinity Parish. He avowed his full faith in the great leading doctrines of the gospel, the fall and sinfulness of man, the divinity of Christ, the reality and necessity of the atonement, the need of being born again by the Spirit, and salvation through faith in a crucified Redeemer. He said, with much feeling, that he endeavored to, and trusted that he did, repose his salvation upon Christ; that it was too late for him to look at Christianity in the light of speculation, - that he had never doubted of its truth, and that he now wished to throw himself upon it as a practical and blessed remedy. Very soon after this I administered to him the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. It was a scene long to be remembered. There, in that still chamber, at a weekday noon, the tides of life flowing all around us, three disciples of the Saviour - the minister of God, the dying statesman, and his servant, a partaker of the like precious faith - commemorated their Saviour's dying love. He grew in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Among the books which, in connection with the word of God, he read most, were Jay's ' Morning and Evening Exercises,' the 'Life of Dr. Chalmers,' and 'The Christian Philosopher Triumphant in Death.' "

Mr. Cass, an eminent Christian statesman, whose life, private and public, has illustrated the virtues of the Christian religion, and who in his official positions and public addresses has unfolded its benign relations and influence on society and civil states, was a co-Senator with Mr. Clay, and, in his remarks in the Senate, on his character and death, said, -

"I was often with him during his last illness, when the world and the things of this world were fast fading away before him. After his duty to his Creator and his anxiety for his family, his first care was for his country, and his first wish for the preservation and perpetuation of the Constitution and Union, dear to him in the hour of death as they had ever been in the vigor of life, of the Constitution and Union, whose defence in the last and greatest crisis of their peril had called forth all his energies, and stimulated those memorable and powerful exertions which he who witnessed can never forget, and which no doubt hastened the final catastrophe a nation now deplores with a sincerity and unanimity not less honorable to themselves than to the memory of the object of their affections. And when we shall enter that narrow valley, through which he has passed before us, and which leads to the judgment-seat of God, may we be able to say, through faith in his Son our Saviour, and in the beautiful language of the hymn of the dying Christian, dying, but ever living and triumphant, -

'The world recedes, it disappears!

Heaven opens on my eyes! my ears

With sounds seraphic ring:

Lend, lend your wings! I mount - I fly!

O Grave! where is thy victory?

O Death where is thy sting?"

"Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his."

52) DANIEL WEBSTER'S

Genius and influence on the political and legislative history of the American republic has been, and is, pre-eminently pure and powerful. As an American Senator, he was unequalled in his profound views of the genius of our civil institutions, and won for himself the title of the Great Expounder of the Constitution. For forty years he occupied the highest eminence in Congress and in the politics of the country, and acquired a fame that will be enduring and historic. As a lawyer, a statesman, a politician, an expounder of the Constitution, and a scholar, Mr. Webster had no equal among modern statesmen. His works constitute the richest treasures of the civil and political literature of the republic, and are distinguished as profound expositions of the genius of our institutions, and for their classic beauty, eloquence, and purity. In the Senate of the United States, before the Supreme Court of the United States, and on political, literary, and commemorative occasions, he vindicated the divinity of the Christian religion, and unfolded its relations to civil society and government and to the present and eternal well-being of man. The following declarations in reference to the Christian religion will present his views on this important subject.

In 1844, Mr. Webster made an elaborate argument before the Supreme Court of the United States against the validity of the will of Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia. Mr. Girard had, by his immense wealth, founded an institution of learning for the education of orphan children. A provision in the will contained the following restriction: -

"Secondly, I enjoin and require that no ecclesiastic, missionary, or minister of any sect whatever shall ever hold or exercise any station or duty whatever in the said College; nor shall any such person ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a visitor, within the premises appropriated to the purposes of the said College.

"My desire is, that all the instructors and teachers in the College shall take pains to instil into the minds of the scholars the purest morality, so that on their entrance into active life they may, from inclination and habit, evince benevolence towards their fellow-creatures, and a love of truth, sobriety, and industry, adopting at the same time such religious tenets as their matured reason may enable them to prefer."

The heirs-at-law of Stephen Girard tried the question of the validity of the will. Mr. Webster was their lawyer, and made a masterly argument against it and in favor of the Christian religion. The speech produced a deep impression on the public mind, and led to a meeting of the citizens of Washington, belonging to different denominations, who passed the following resolution: -

"1st. That, in the opinion of this meeting, the powerful and eloquent argument of Mr. Webster, on the before-mentioned clause of Mr. Girard's will, demonstrates the vital importance of Christianity to the success of our free institutions, and its necessity as the basis of all useful moral education; and that a general diffusion of that argument among the people of the United States is a matter of deep public interest."

The speech was published and widely circulated. The extracts in this volume touch upon various fundamental features of the Christian religion.

On the Christian ministry Mr. Webster said, -

"Now, I suppose there is nothing in the New Testament more clearly established by the Author of Christianity than the appointment of a Christian ministry. The world was to be evangelized, was to be brought out of darkness into light, by the influences of the Christian religion spread and propagated by the instrumentality of man. A Christian ministry was, therefore, appointed by the Author of the Christian religion himself, and it stands on the same authority as any other part of religion. And after his resurrection, in the appointment of the great mission to the whole human race, the Author of Christianity commanded his disciples that they should 'go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.' This was one of his last commands; and one of his last promises । was the assurance, 'Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.' I say, therefore, there is nothing set forth more authentically in the New Testament than the appointment of a Christian ministry; and he who does not believe this does not and cannot believe the rest."

Why should we shut our eyes to the whole history of Christianity? Is it not the preaching of the minister of the gospel that has evangelized the more civilized part of the world? Why do we at this day enjoy the rights and benefits of Christianity ourselves? Do we not owe it to the instrumentality of the Christian ministry? And where was Christianity ever received, where were its truths ever poured into the human heart, where did its waters, springing up into everlasting life, ever burst forth, - except in the track of the Christian ministry? Do we not all know that wherever Christianity has been carried and wherever it has been taught by human agency, that agency was the agency of Christian ministers?"

On the Christian Sabbath Mr. Webster said, -

"What becomes of the Christian Sabbath in a school thus established? The observance of the Sabbath is a part of Christianity in all its forms. All Christians admit the observance of the Sabbath. There can be no Sabbath in this college, there can be no religious observance of the Lord's day; for there are no means of attaining that end. Where can these little children go to learn the truth, to reverence the Sabbath? They are just as far from the ordinary observance of the Sabbath as if there was no Sabbath day at all. And where there is no observance of the Christian Sabbath, there will, of course, be no public worship of God.

"As a part of my argument, I will read an extract from an address of a large convention of clergymen and laymen, held recently in Columbus, Ohio, to lead the public mind to a more particular observance of the Sabbath, and which bears with peculiar force upon this case: -

" 'It is alike obvious that the Sabbath exerts its salutary power by making the population acquainted with the being, perfections, and laws of God, with our relations to him as his creatures, and our obligations to him as rational and accountable subjects, and with our characters as sinners, for whom his mercy has provided a Saviour, under whose government we live to be restrained from sin and reconciled to God, and fitted by his word and Spirit for the inheritance above.

" 'It is by the reiterated instruction and impression which the Sabbath imparts to the population of a nation, by the moral principle which it forms, by the conscience which it maintains, by the habits of method, cleanliness, and industry it creates, by the rest and renovated vigor it bestows on exhausted human nature, by the lengthened life and higher health it affords, by the holiness it inspires, and cheering hopes of heaven and the protection and favor of God which its observance insures, that the Sabbath is rendered the moral conservator of nations.

" 'The omnipresent influence which the Sabbath exerts, however, is by no secret charm or compendious action, upon masses of unthinking minds; but it arrests the stream of worldly thoughts, interests, and affections, stopping the din of business, unlading the mind of its cares and responsibilities and the body of its burdens, while God speaks to men, and they attend, and hear, and fear, and learn to do his will.

" 'You might as well put out the sun and think to enlighten the world with tapers, destroy the attraction of gravity and think to wield the universe by human powers, as to extinguish the moral illumination of the Sabbath, and break this glorious mainspring of the moral government of God.' "

On the relation of the Christian religion to morality, Mr. Webster said, "This scheme of education is derogatory to Christianity, because it proceeds upon the assumption that the Christian religion is not the only true foundation, or any necessary foundation, of morals. The ground taken is that religion is not necessary to morality, that benevolence may be insured by habit, and that all the virtues may flourish, and be safely left to the chance of flourishing, without touching the waters of the living spring of religious responsibility. With him who thinks thus, what can be the value of the Christian revelation? So the Christian world has not thought; for by that Christian world, throughout its broadest extent, it has been, and is, held as a fundamental truth that religion is the only solid basis of morals, and that moral instruction not resting on this basis is only building upon sand."

On the importance of early religious instruction, Mr. Webster said, -

"This first great commandment teaches man that there is one, and only one, great First Cause, - one, and only one, proper object of human worship. This is the great, the ever fresh, the overflowing fountain of all revealed truth. Without it, human life is a desert, of no known termination on any side, but shut in on all sides by a dark and impenetrable horizon. Without the light of this truth, man knows nothing of his origin and nothing of his end. And when the Decalogue was delivered to the Jews, with this great announcement and command at its head, what said the inspired lawgiver? That it should be kept from children? - that it should be revered as a communication fit only for mature age? Far, far otherwise. 'And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.'

"There is an authority still more inspiring and awful. When little children were brought into the presence of God, his disciples proposed to send them away; but he said, 'Suffer little children to come unto me.' Unto me: he did not send them first to learn the lessons in morals to the schools of the Pharisees or to the unbelieving Sadducees, nor to read the precepts and lessons phylacterized on the garments of the Jewish priesthood; he said nothing of different creeds or clashing doctrines; but he opened at once to the youthful mind the everlasting fountain of living waters, the only source of eternal truths: - 'Suffer little children to come unto me.' And that injunction is of perpetual obligation. It addresses itself today with the same earnestness and the same authority which attended its first utterance to the Christian world. It is of force everywhere and at all times. It extends to the ends of the earth, it will reach to the end of time, always and everywhere sounding in the ears of men, with an emphasis which no repetition can weaken, and with an authority which nothing can supersede, 'Suffer little children to come unto me.' And not only my heart and my judgment, my belief and my conscience, instruct me that this great precept should be obeyed, but the idea is so sacred, the solemn thoughts connected with it so crowd upon me, it is so utterly at variance with this system of philosophical morality which we have heard advocated, that I stand and speak here in fear of being influenced by my feelings to exceed the proper line of my professional duty."

On the nature and purpose of true charity and its union with the Christian religion, Mr. Webster said, -

"There is nothing in the history of the Christian religion, there is nothing in the history of English law, either before or after the conquest; there can be found no such thing as a school of instruction in a Christian land, from which the Christian religion has been, of intent and purpose, rigorously and opprobriously excluded, and yet such a school regarded as a charitable trust or foundation. A school of instruction for children, from which the Christian religion and Christian teachers are excluded, there is no such thing in the history of religion, there is no such thing in the history of human laws, as a charity school of instruction for children, from which the Christian religion and Christian teachers are excluded, as unsafe and unworthy intruders. There can be no charity in that man of education that opposes Christianity.

"I maintain that in any institution for the instruction of youth, where the authority of God is disowned, and the duties of Christianity derided and despised, and its ministers shut out from all participation in its proceedings, there can no more charity, true charity exist, than evil can spring out of the Bible, error out of truth, or hatred and animosity come forth from the bosom of perfect love. No, sir! No, sir! If charity denies its birth and parentage, - if it turns infidel to the great doctrines of the Christian religion, if it turns unbeliever, it is no longer charity. This is no longer charity, either in a Christian sense, or in the sense of jurisprudence; for it separates itself from the fountain of its own creation."

The faith of the Christian religion, which Mr. Webster had through his whole public career maintained with such masterly eloquence, was his stay in the last scenes of life. He died at Marshfield, Massachusetts, October 24, 1852. On that day he said, "All that is mortal of Daniel Webster will soon be no more." He then prayed, in his full, clear, and strong voice, ending with the petition, "Heavenly Father, forgive my sins, and receive me to thyself, through Christ Jesus."

His physician repeated to him, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

Mr. Webster instantly rejoined "The fact! the fact! That is what I want! Thy rod! thy rod! Thy staff! thy staff!" His last words were, "I still live."

A few days before his death he drew up and signed the following declaration of his religious faith, which was by his direction inscribed on his tomb: -

"Lord, I believe: help thou mine unbelief. Philosophical argument, especially that drawn from the vastness of the universe in comparison with the insignificance of this globe, has sometimes shaken my reason for the faith which is in me; but my heart has always assured and reassured me that the gospel of Jesus Christ must be a divine reality. The Sermon on the Mount cannot be a merely human production. This belief enters into the very depth of my conscience. The whole history of man proves it.

"DANIEL WEBSTER."

Lamartine, a French statesman and writer, presents the following view of infidel and Christian influences, contrasted, on men and nations: -

"I know I sigh when I think of it - that hitherto the French people have been the least religious of all the nations of Europe. Is it because the idea of God which arises from all the evidences of nature and from the depths of reflection - being the profoundest and weightiest idea of which human intelligence is capable, and the French mind being the most rapid, but the most superficial, the lightest, the most unreflective of all European races, this mind has not the force and severity necessary to carry far and long the greatest conception of the human understanding?

"Is it because our Governments have always taken upon themselves to think for us, to believe for us, and to pray for us? Is it because we are, and have been, a military people, a soldier nation, led by kings, heroes, ambitious men, from battle-field to battle-field, making conquests and never keeping them, ravaging, dazzling, charming, and corrupting Europe, and bringing home the manners, vices, bravery, lightness, and impiety of the camp to the fireside of the people?

"I know not; but certain it is that the nation has an immense progress to make in serious thought if she wishes to remain free. If we look at the characters, compared as regards religious sentiments, of the great nations of Europe,America, even Asia, the advantage is not for us. The great men of other countries live and die on the scene of history, looking up to heaven; our great men appear to live and die, forgetting completely the only idea for which it is worth living and dying: they live and die looking at the spectator, or, at most, at posterity.

"Open the history of America, the history of England, and the history of France; read the great lives, the great deaths, the great martyrdoms, the great words at the hour when the ruling thought of life reveals itself in the last words of the dying; and compare.

Washington and Franklin fought, spoke, suffered, always in the name of God, for whom they acted; and the Liberator of America died, confiding to God the liberty of the people and his own soul.

"Sidney, the young martyr of a patriotism guilty of nothing but impatience, and who died to expiate his country's dream of liberty, said to his jailer, 'I rejoice that I die innocent towards the king, but a victim resigned to the King on high, to whom all life is due.'

"The Republicans of Cromwell only sought the way of God even in the blood of battles. Their politics were their faith; their reign, a prayer; their death, a psalm. One hears, sees, feels, that God was in all the movements of these great people.

"But cross the sea, traverse the Channel, come to our times, open our annals, and listen to the great words of the great political actors of the drama of our liberty. One would think that God was eclipsed from the soul, that his name was unknown in the language. History will have the air of an atheist when she recounts to posterity these annihilations rather than deaths of celebrated men in the greatest year of France! The victims only have a God; the tribune and lictors have none.

"Look at Mirabeau on the bed of death. 'Crown me with flowers,' said he; 'intoxicate me with perfumes; let me die to the sound of delicious music.' Not a word of God, or of his soul. Sensual philosopher, he desired only supreme sensualism, a last voluptuousness in his agony.

"Contemplate Madame Roland, the strong-hearted woman of the Revolution, on the cart that conveyed her to death. She looked contemptuously on the besotted people who killed their prophets and sibyls. Not a glance towards heaven! Only one word for the earth she was quitting: - 'O Liberty!'

"Approach the dungeon-door of the Girondins. Their last night is a banquet; the only hymn, the Marseillaise!

"Follow Camille Desmoulins to his execution. A cool and indecent pleasantry at the trial, and a long imprecation on the road to the guillotine, were the two last thoughts of this dying man on his way to the last tribunal.

"Hear Danton on the platform of the scaffold, at the distance of a line from God and eternity. 'I have a good time of it: let me go to sleep.' Then to the executioner, 'You will show my head to the people: it is worth the trouble.' His faith, annihilation; his last sigh, vanity! Behold the Frenchman of this latter age!

"What must one think of the religious sentiment of a free people whose great figures seem thus to march in procession to annihilation, and to whom that terrible minister, death itself, recal's neither the threatenings nor promises of God?

"The republic of these men without a God has quickly been stranded. The liberty won by so much heroism and so much genius has not found in France a conscience to shelter it, a God to avenge it, a people to defend it against that atheism which has been called glory. All ended in a soldier and some apostate republicans travestied into courtiers. An atheistic republicanism cannot be heroic. When you terrify it, it bends; when you would buy it, it sells itself. It would be very foolish to immolate itself. Who would take any heed? The people ungrateful, and God non-existent! So finish atheistic revolutions!"

1
original text says "cotemporary" which i assumed to be a typo.

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