The leader fallen: a sermon preached in the Rutgers-street church, New-york, on Sabbath morning, April 11th, 1841

E

0 32.

copy

' yijC..^.

/

-A.

BBBa

THE LEADER FALLEN:

gl Sermon ««*»

ON THK DEATH OF THE PBE81DKNT OF THE CNITED STATES.

BY JOHN M. KREBS,

Putor of the Prerf>ytari»B Church in ButgejMlieet, Mew-Toik.

NEW-YORK

1 8 4*1.

C3I

"J-.

THE LEADER FALLEN:

3?»

Sl^sermon lid

PREACHED IN THE RUTGERS-STREET CnHRCH, NEW-YORK, ON SABBATH
MORNING, APRIL IItH, 1841, ON OCCASION OF THE DEATH OF

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON,

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

/

BY JOHN M. KREBS,

II

PASTOR OF THE CHaRCH.

" A nation's sighs,
A nation's tears went with thine obsequies."

PRINTED BY REQUEST.

N E W,Y 0 RK:

HARPER & BROTHERS, 82 CLIFF-STREET.

1841.

Cop^ 2,

■K9Z

'1 /

»

Kew-York, April 15, 1841 .
Reverend Sir,
In behalf of many of your congregation, and without any formal organization
for the proceeding, we would respectfully ask of you for publication a copy of
the impressive and highly-interesting sermon you delivered on the last Sab-
bath morning, upon the occasion of the lamented death of our late chief ma-
gistrate.

We most heartily join with our brethren in this request, and esteem it a
privilege, as well as a pleasure, to be the organ of communicating to you this
expression of their gratification ; and we indulge the hope that you may find
it compatible with your views and convenience to favour their wishes.
We remain, dear sir, with great consideration.
Your friends,
LATHROP L. STURGES,
GILBERT HOPKINS,
EBENEZER PLATT,
JOHN W. C. LEVERIDGE,
JAMES M'GULLOUGH,
CALEB BARSTOW,
SAMUEL L. MITCHILL.
HENRY GRINNELL.
THOMPSON PRICE.
IRED HAWLEY.
REV. JOHN M. KREBS,
Pastor of the Rutgers-street

5S, )

Church. S

To Messrs. Lathrop L. Sturoes, Gilbert Hopkins, &c.

My respected Friends ;

In consenting to your request for a copy of the annexed discourse, I felt
it to be due to you to gratify the desire which, in so kind a manner, you ex-
pressed for yourselves, and have assured me is the desire of my people, to pos-
sess it in a printed form. I was also willing to offer it as an humble contribu-
tion to the very solemn occasion, which I doubted not would be improved and
honoured by all my brethren.

The delay in sending you the manuscript has been caused by the necessity
of writing it out entirely from the few brief and hastily-prepared notes from
which it was first preached. To do this, I have been obliged to confine my-
self to such intervals as were allowed by many other engagements. I trust
that I have succeeded in reproducing the substance of what was spoken, and
that you will be able to recognise, what I have endeavoured to preserve as
nearly as possible, the very language. But, notwithstanding this endeavour, I
have not refrained from expanding some of the thoughts which were but rap-
idly touched in preaching. The result has been to make the whole somewhat
longer than I ventured to make it in the pulpit, even on such a special occa-
sion. The reader, however, will have this compensating advantage, that if, as
a hearer, he were too well bred to leave the preacher in the midst of his dis-
course, he can lay down the author at pleasure.

I am, very truly.

Yours, &c.,

JOHN M. KREB&

New-York, Ajml 27th, 1841.

■■r
/ •

■ y:

In'

SERMON.

" Moses my servant is dead." — Joshua, i., 2.

These are the words of God. They are not, indeed, the
first announcement of the event to which they refer. Not
only had it been foretold to Moses and to the people that he
should not live to conduct them into the Promised Land«
They knew that he had gone up into the mountain to die
there, and that he had been buried by the hand of the Lord,
away from their presence and from their knowledge of his
grave ; and now, after thirty days of weeping and mourning
for him, the camp of Israel had concluded those funeral ob-
sequies, which were suggested alike by their affection for
his memory and by their respect for his official station.

They are the formal announcement of the event, or, if
they may be so called, the official declaration, addressed to
Joshua, " Moses' minister" and successor, and, through him,
to all the people of Israel. They are coupled with a com-
mand to Joshua, now publicly recognised as the ordained
leader and chief magistrate of the chosen people, to carry
forward to its completion the great enterprise which had
been begun by Moses : " Moses my servant is dead ; now,
therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this peo-

: • 8

pie, unto the land which I do give to thenn, even to the
children of Israel."

The death of Moses was an event of great solemnity and
importance to himself, to Joshua, and to Israel.

Death is to every man a most solemn and affecting thing.
To him that suffers death, it is the end of all earthly joys
and plans. It is the end of his probation, of all those emo-
tions and actions which stamp the character for eternity, and
for which the great, decisive, unending destinies of the su-
preme tribunal are adjusted. The soul passes away from
the very midst of busy care, of suffering, and of expecta-
tion, and, it may be, from the very midst of persisted, and
unrepented, and unpardoned sin, to test all its hopes and
fears ; to confront the judgment of a holy God, and to meet
its instant doom ; to inherit " glory, and honour, and immor-
tality, and eternal life ;" or to inherit " indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish." For with whatsoever character
men are found by death, and they depart into eternity, they
are also found at the bar of God ; and their character and
their doom, accurately harmonizing, remain unaltered for-
ever. " He that is unjust, let him be unjust still ; and he
which is filthy, let him be filthy still ; and he that is right-
eous, let him be righteous still ; and he that is holy, let him
be holy still." " And these" (the wicked) " shall go away
into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life

eternal." ' • '

But, apart from this consideration, the death of Moses
occurred at a time which, if it had been left to his selection

V.--.. ••

ft

X

«•

or to ours, would have been, of all others, perhaps, the most
unlikely to be chosen.

Born in an era of persecution especially directed against
the infants of the Hebrews in Egypt, he had been wonder-
fully preserved by the daughter of their oppressor, and was
educated under her fostering care, within the very precincts
of the tyrant's palace. But, though bred amid the corrup-
tions of an idolatrous court, he escaped all its allurements.
Courted by ambition, a sacred patriotism was too firmly
planted in his bosom to be overcome by the temptations
that assailed him ; and he preferred to be a willing partaker
of the afflictions of his countrymen. Learned in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians, a sublimer science taught him to
choose the service of the God of Israel, and to " esteem the
reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt." He was a man " mighty in works and deeds."
When, at forty years of age, he went forth to visit his
brethren, and he looked on their burdens, seeing one of them
suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him that was op-
pressed and slew the Egyptian taskmaster. For he sup-
posed his brethren of the children of Israel would have un-
derstood how that God by his hand would deliver them ; but
they understood not. The rude and perverse speech of
one of his stiff-necked countrymen, with whom he expostu-
lated for offering wrong to his neighbour, alarmed him, lest
his own slaying of the Egyptian, the day before, should be
known to Pharaoh ; and he fled into the land of Midian,
where he dwelt for forty years, amid the secluded and
peaceful employments of pastoral hfe. At the end of that

B

1 0

period, having led his flock to Mount Horeb, he received a
comnciission from the Lord speaking fronn the burning bush :
" I have seen, I have seen the affliction of nay people which
is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come
down to deliver them. This Moses, whom they refused
(saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge ?), ihe same did
God send to be a ruler and a deliverer." Moses obeyed the
call, returned to Egypt, confronted Pharaoh, and led out Is-
rael, " after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of
Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness, forty
years." During the time of their wanderings, he shared all
the vicissitudes of their journey ; gave them counsel; estab-
lished their political institutions and religious rites ; publish-
ed the law which he received from Sinai ; aided them in
their wars with the nations that opposed their progress ;
saved them by his intercessions from the wrath of the Lord ;
and, with one fatal exception, sufTered meekly their turbu-
lence and reproaches. And when, of the generation of
them that came out of Egypt, they who were twenty years
old and upward were denounced, and sentenced to wander
in the wilderness and to die, and he also received the sen-
tence of death in his own body, he still manifested the same
anxious solicitude for their prosperity, and to the last em-
ployed himself, with patriotic and religious zeal, in providing
for the comfortable establishment of their children in the
Promised Land.

The people were now encamped in the plains of Moab, in
the vicinity of the mountains of Abarim, on the eastern side
of the Jordan, in the inheritance that was assigned to the tribe

1 1

of Reuben. Often doubtless, during their long and painful
pilgrimage, had Moses looked forward to the day when he
should see the inheritance promised to the fathers, in the
possession of their children, and their enjoyment of those in-
stitutions of religion and government, in the arrangement of
which he himself had borne so important a part in the trans-
actions of Sinai, where God ordained and published his laws
for Israel.

But, as far as he himself was personally concerned, these
high hopes were blasted. For their sin, the adult generation
that came out of Egypt fell in the wilderness ; and for his
own sin, albeit it was provoked by their petulance and re-
bellion, he is not permitted to set foot in that goodly land.
When Joshua was publicly ordained as his successor, sub-
mitting to the dispensation of God in his own decease,
Moses entreated but for permission to go over Jordan and
survey the country ere he should die. In his valedictory
charges and admonitions to Israel, he recites in a most af-
fecting manner his petition and its answer. " I besought
the Lord at that time, saying, 0 Lord God, thou hast begun
to show thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand ; for
what God is thei'e in heaven or in earth that can do accord-
ing to thy works, and according to thy might? I pray thee,
let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan,
that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. But the Lord was
wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me ; and
the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee ; speak no more
unto me of this matter. Get thee up into the top of Pisgah,
and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and south-

1 2

ward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes : for thou
shalt not go over this Jordan. But charge Joshua, and en-
courage him and strengthen him : for he shall go over be-
fore this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land
which thou shalt see." Fearful rebuke to Israel for their
impiety and folly and insensibihty to their peculiar mer-
cies ; and severe the lesson taught in the sentence pronounced
even upon Moses, the servant of God; whose, life is forfeit-
ed, and at such a juncture, for his solitary act of rash and in-
temperate forgetfulness to honour the God of Israel in the
eyes of the people. Though he were eminent, useful, and
godly, yet must he meet the penalty. And, humanly judg-
ing, it could hardly be severer.

For now, when they stood upon the borders of the prom-
ised land ; when their perils and wandering in the wilderness
were past ; when they had already won a foothold in the
country, and its entire conquest was pledged ; when its
goodliness had been actually surveyed and described by
trusty messengers ; and when Israel was just about to enter
upon its possession ; at such a juncture, Moses must transfer
his authority to other hands. How hard, methinks, it must
have been ! Grace and patience are exercised under disap-
pointments ; they do not render us insensible to pain ; else
were there no patience and submission. " No chastisement,
for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous." In-
stead of being permitted to lead the people into Canaan, to
take possession, and to share with them the triumph and the
joy, he must bid farewell to Israel, toil up the mountain's
side alone, and from its summit, cast one comprehensive, one

1 3

first and last look over the broad and beautiful expanse, and
then close his eyes upon that charming scene forever.

Before him was spread out, as upon a map, the length and
breadth of that land for which his heart had panted with
patriot affection and pious zeal. From the high peak on
which he stood, in the centre of Reuben, his eye took in the
distant view from the southern border of Judah to the far
limits of Naphtali and Asher ; and traversing the country
from the city of palm-trees and the lovely vale of Jericho to
Ephraim and to Dan, it surveyed, where this extensive and
beautiful panorama was only bounded beyond the wide ex-
panse by the waves of the Mediterranean. Now looking
north from Nebo across Gilead ; now glancing from " the
glory of Lebanon" to " the excellency of Carmel" or of
" Sharon ;" now resting on that " goodly mountain" where
the sanctuary should stand, his eye beheld a country not,
as now, extensively desolate, barren, and neglected, but
stately in the grandeur of mountain, forest, and flood; it was
rich and lovely in its scenery, and fertile in its soil ; " a
land flowing with milk and honey," and capable of sustain-
ing a vast population. Verdant plains, and eminences
crowned with woods, fat valleys, luxuriant pastures, shady
groves, refreshing streams, gushing fountains, and murm.ur-
ing cascades, and ample lakes, and cities and villages stud-
ding the land, everywhere diversified the face of the country.

There, spread before his very eye, was the land which
was to be the glory of all lands. There his fathers had
dwelt ; and there Israel should dwell again. There was
the object and the reward of all their toils. There God

1 4

should be honoured in the midst of his own nation, his rites
observed, his worship free, his mercies distilled " as the
dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the
mountains of Zion." There, in forms and under influences
unknown to other nations, should flourish the arts of civil-
ized life ; there " patriot truth" convey her " noble precepts"
and animate to lofty heroism ; and there the sacred pledges
of " religion, liberty, and law" should forever abide.

And he who surveyed this scene, while prophetic inspira-
tions filled up the visions of the future, he was the mighty
and the honoured chief of that people destined to be as the
stars for multitude ; he was one of themselves ; he was
raised up to be an inheritor with them of the toil and the
glory together ; and to him it had been assigned to declare
and execute their laws of Divine enactment ; to rule over
them for their own advantage ; and to defend, preserve, and
guide the destinies of that young but rising and important
commonwealth — the only model of a true republic which the
ancient world ever saw, for it was founded by God himself,
and He gave to all the people the sacred charter of their
franchises, their liberty, and their independence.

Was it in the heart of a descendant of Abraham, of a pa-
triot, and of a good man, to look upon such a scene, and not
feel at least a momentary pang at the thought that his part
in it had ended forever !

His days, indeed, were already greatly prolonged. He
was a hundred and twenty years old. But, although he him-
self had spoken of the decay of three score years and ten,
and of the labour and sorrow that weaken the strength of

1 5

four score, (Psalm xc. 10) yet in his own person there were
no traces of the infirmity of age. He was already four score
when he assumed the command of Israel and achieved their
deliverance ; and now, after forty years more of toils and
dangers, " his eye was not dim, neither was his natural force
abated." He was still qualified to control the public af-
fairs ; and with Joshua associated with him in the adminis-
tration, and with the Sanhedrim which he had appointed, it
would seem as if, for many years to come, his hand might
safely, peacefully, and honourably maintain the reins of gov-
ernment.

Such was the prospect. And yet, in such an hour, comes
the command to relinquish all his hopes and expectations of
so sublime a career. " The Lord said unto him, This is the
land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto
Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed : I have caused
thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over
thither. So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in
the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord ; and he
buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against
Beth-peor ; but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this
day."

But while Moses was removed from earth, he departed
not unblest. His heart beat with the ardour of patriotism ;
and, though not his was the continued administration of the
affairs of Israel, no mean jealousies nor malignant envies
agitated his breast. At his oWn request a successor had
been appointed. Joshua, who was his companion in the
conferences of Sinai, and was close in his confidence, was

« •

16

selected by the Lord ; upon him the hand of Moses was
laid ; upon him he put his own honour, that the children of
Israel might be obedient ; he presented him to the people,
and caused him to be ordained by Eleazer the priest, and
gave him a public charge, with ample directions for admin-
istering the government. Afterwards, he made an address,
in which he reviewed the history of Israel's deliverance, their
sins and the rebukes of the Lord. Giving them injunctions
respecting their future behaviour, he repeated his commend-
ations of Joshua, and gave to him his valedictory charge.
Then, blessing his countrymen, indulging his glowing fancy
with the hopes and visions of their prosperity, and employ-
ing his last thoughts of earth for the welfare of his people,
he burst forth in the numbers of that sublime song, which
may not be excelled for poetic diction, for captivating ima-
gery, for pathetic reminiscences, for glowing anticipations,
nor for pious confidence in that covenanted God, in whose
hands, in concluding, he thus left the seed of Israel : "There
is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who ridelh upon
the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the ev-
erlasting arms : and he shall thrust out the enemy from be-
fore thee, and shall say. Destroy them'. Israel then shall
dwell in safety alone : the fountain of Jacob shall be upon
a land of corn and wine ; also his heavens shall drop down
dew. Happy art thou, O Israel ; who is like unto thee, O
people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who
is the sword of thy excellency ! and thine enemies shall be

1 7

found liars unto thee : and thou shall tread upon their high
places."

And while his departing hours were thus cheered in re-
spect to his countrymen ; while he thus triumphed in advan-
tages and victories already gained, and in Divine pledges
that ensured the completion of the great enterprise for which
God raised him up ; and while he felt such deep anxiety for
the rights and honour of God among that people, he was
equally favoured in respect to the personal, eternal issues
of his decease. He died when his work was accomplished,
and not before. He "died in the faith." He died cheered
with the presence of his covenant and pardoning God. He
had bade farewell to Israel, and stood alone ; but his Re-
deemer was with him, and spake to him and blessed him. He
looked upon the goodliness of the earthly Canaan, to part
with its sight and its enjoyment forever ; but he looked up-
ward also, and saw there a better country, that is, an heaven-
ly, which he yet more desired. And God, not ashamed to be
called his God, kissed away his breath, and carried him to
the land which is afar off, and to the city which was prepared
for him by the God who called him in Horeb ; the God of
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, his fathers ; the God, not of
the dead, but of them that are alive with Him in the heaven-
ly Canaan.

But the death of Moses was not less solemn and interest-
ing to the people of Israel, and to Joshua, his associate and
successor.

It was the characteristic of that people to be ever too
mindful of themselves, and of their mere temporal advantage.

C

1 8

Looking too fondly to their earthly prosperity, they were
vain and boastful, while they trusted in themselves and in
men, and did not trust to the superintending providence of
God. Ever murmuring against Moses for leading them into
difficulties, and not caring for their degradation while they
longed but for the flesh-pots of Egypt, they spoke contemp-
tuously even of the power of God, as if, in obeying him, they
had but gone out into the wilderness to die : " Can God furnish
a table in the wilderness ?" Their unbelief cost them dear.
Alternately rebelling and repenting, when their turbulence
was rebuked, and thousands of them were smitten down,
they sought the Lord ; but they flattered him and lied unto
him, and tempted and provoked him, until the whole of the
adult generation that came out of Egypt, save Joshua and
Caleb, were destroyed, not one of them being permitted to
enter the promised land.

But the host that was now assembled on the east side of
the Jordan, although generally acknowledged to be one of
the best generations of the Jewish people, were not essen-
tially unlike their fathers. Many of them were satisfied
with the country in which they were now encamped, and
they discouraged those of their brethren who were inclined
to pass over Jordan. There were battles yet to be fought,
and powerful enemies yet to be subdued. And now, when
Moses was taken away, and they must go over and possess
the land, how natural was it for them to magnify the dangers
before them, while they felt as if the right arm of their
strength had been cut off. They felt his value when they
were punished by his death, and too little was their trust in

1 9

God while they relied on human power. Not only grieving
for the death of one so worthy of their affection, they were
filled with apprehension for the results of that death to them-
selves. No longer shall they hear that voice give command
to go forward ; no more shall his venerable form appear at
their head ; nor his majestic countenance, which once shone
with a glory that men might not behold, be turned to still the
rebellious into awe, or to assure the good ; nor those hands
be ever lifted again to bless them, which, when wearied, had
but to be held up by Aaron and Hur, and they prevailed to
the discomfiture of Amalek. And as for Joshua, he had,
indeed, been tried during the life of Moses; the Lord, too,
had ordained him for this contingency, and they themselves
had approved the appointment. But though they knew the
spirit of the man, his honourable principles, his true-hearted
patriotism, and the valour which he had formerly shown in
their cause, yet, when they were just suffering their grief and
the solemn rebuke administered by the death of his prede-
cessor from whom they had hoped so much, it was not un-
natural that they should entertain some apprehension of dis-
aster and disappointment, when he was taken away and
Joshua was promoted to his place at this most critical junc-
ture of their affairs. How could they go forward without
Moses 1 and how will Joshua demean himself in the day of
trial, when the authority of Moses has ceased, and the su-
preme authority is transferred to his sole, unrestrained hand ?
And will he be as Moses, and prove himself his disciple ?
And will he lead the people to farther victories and success,
and establish them in the land? These were questions

20

which arose in many nninds. Doubtless ihey arose even in
the minds of the Canaanites, who feared to be dispossessed
by the farther progress of this hitherto triumphant host. On
all hands the accession of Joshua to the supreme authority
could not be viewed but with deep and solemn anxiety.

But while others might be thus speculating, the occasion
must have awakened a very anxious solicitude in the breast
of Joshua himself. The emergency, for which he had been
appointed, now existed in all its solemnity. Moses is dead.
But the work must be carried on. And the voice of the
Lord announces to him his position and his immediate duty.
It was* a post of deep responsibility. His is the office of
actually leading the people into the promised land, of sub-
duing it, and of establishing Israel in peace and honour.
" Moses my servant is dead ; now therefore arise, go over
this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which
I do give to them, even to the children of Israel." This
was a trial of his faith, and he needed encouragement. At
the very outset of his course he might be met with the dif-
ficulty, that he had no visible means of transporting his
forces across the river, which at that season overflowed its
banks and presented a formidable obstacle in its wide, deep,
and rapid current. But he remembered the passage of the
Red Sea, and the past successful encounters with a series
of appalling dangers and embarrassments. And with the
command and the promise of the Lord, he knew that he
might be strong and of a good courage, and dismiss every
fear, for he was to be sustained by the purposes and by the
strength of the God of Israel. He instantly entered upon

2 1

the duties of his station ; he displayed at once the wisdom,
firmness, piety, and valour which the emergency demanded,
and proved his fitness for the station he occupied. The
confidence reposed in him was justified. He led the people
over Jordan dry-shod ; the Lord caused a great fear of Is-
rael to precede them ; the Amorites were overcome ; Jeri-
cho was invested, taken by miracle, and destroyed ; the tem-
porary discomfiture that rebuked the conquerors for the sin
of Achan's rapacity for the spoils of victory, was repaired
through the prudence and piety, and inflexible justice of
Joshua ; the country was subdued and divided among the
tribes ; the tabernacle was set up at Shiloh, and the worship
of God was regularly established ; and finally, after an ad-
ministration of singular fidelity and success, leaving his
country great, prosperous, and happy, and full of years, of
honours, and of grace, Joshua died, and was gathered unto
his fathers.

It must be already evident to you, my friends, that I have
selected this interesting incident of the death of Moses out
of the sacred history, as well because of the striking resem-
blances which it furnishes, as for the appropriate instructions
which it suggests, for the very melancholy and solemn event
which has deprived this nation of its illustrious and honoured
chief magistrate.

In common with our fellow-citizens, we united yesterday
in rendering those public honours to his memory, which
seemed appropriate, under the circumstances of our actual
distance, both as to time and place, from the scene of his
death and interment. And it is gratifying to know that,

2 2

however earnestly and honestly men may have differed with
respect to his merits as a candidate for their suffrages, yet
all parties have united in their manifestations of regret for
a departed patriot and honest man, and of respect for his
distinguished station ; while they all feel a common inter-
est in the probable or possible consequences of this nation-
al bereavement.

There is to us, my friends, in this bereavement, a voice
of Providence as clear and distinct as was that word which
the Lord spake to Joshua, the son of Nun, saying, " Moses
my servant is dead." -

I have spoken of resemblances between these events —
the death of the chief magistrate of the tribes of Israel, and
the death of the chief magistrate of these United Slates.

Consider the juncture at which this latter event occurred.
It is not only remarkable as the first instance in the history
of our country of a president dying in the actual exercise of
his office, but it is yet more remarkable as to the time and
circumstances of his death. , • r .

After a period of great political excitement, which agita-
ted this country from one end of it to the other, the people
of the United States, with the highest enthusiasm, had ele-
vated this illustrious man, unscathed by a most fiery ordeal,
to the first post of the nation. It was not merely as a re-
ward for past services. I repudiate the idea,; and long may
it be ere the sentiment shall generally prevail, that any of-
fice, instead of being a trust for the public benefit, is confer-
red as a reward for any service whatever, in any other sense
than as honour and emolument are the incidental results of

2 3

the public esteem thus manifested, and are identified with
the appropriate fruits of the service in which the incumbent
is actually employed. Offices are not sinecures nor pen-
sions. He was elected because the people believed that the
qualities he had previously evinced in the field, in the le-
gislative hall, in the cabinet, were just grounds of confi-
dence for the future, and eminently fitted him for the high
station to which they called him.

It is not to be denied that he was elected president in the
hope that, under his administration, many of the difficulties
and embarrassments under which the country labours would
be removed. And, under this persuasion, he was elected
almost by acclamation.

At the constitutional period he was inaugurated, and im-
mediately entered upon the arduous duties of his office.
The imposing ceremony took place at the capital of the
country, under the brightest auspices. The sun shone in
noontide splendour on the scene ; he was surrounded by the
legislators and judges of the land, and by a brilliant assem-
blage of spectators ; he uttered, in a clear and manly voice'
that was heard by every ear in that vast audience, the noble
and patriotic sentiments which he announced as the princi-
ples of his administration; looking upward to heaven, he
confessed his reliance, not upon that unknown God whom
the piety of mere Deism acknowledges, and who is too often
invoked by the public men of a Christian country, but upon
the God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ; and then, with this sublime testimo-
ny of his faith in our holy religion, laying his hand upon the

24

pages of its revelation, he swore by that God whom it pro-
claimed as the Governor of the world and the Judge of na-
tions and of men, that he would be faithful to the constitu-
tion of his country. The oath was recorded in heaven.
And the satisfaction and joy of his countrymen, and their
confidence in his sincerity, were represented and proclaimed
in the mighty shout of congratulation that went up from the
lips of the fifty thousand freemen who were witnesses of
that solemn appeal.

And now before him was a career of glory. His plans
for the prosperity of the country might indeed fail ; and there
might be honest differences in the bosoms of the people in
respect to what are some of the elements of national pros-
perity, or as to the appropriate means for its attainment; and
faction might assail and hinder. But, with the support of
able counsellors, of a Congress between whom and himself
existed mutual confidence, and of a nation whose wishes
were not faintly indicated, of whose wishes he was the rep-
resentative, and whose wishes and will, legitimately express-
ed by the legislature, he was pledged to execute ; with his
sagacious mind and honest heart and firm soul ; and, above
all, with his beautifully manifested trust in our God, we
had reasonable grounds to believe that he would administer
the government for the best interests of the republic, and
that God would be with him and give him good success.

He entered upon his labours with a mind furnished with
the accomplishments of elegant literature and inured to pa-
tient thought ; with a tried reputation for incorruptible in-
tegrity ; and with a body trained to hardships in the tented

2 5

field, and made healthy by the invigorating employments of
agricultural life. Though verging upon three score years
and ten, yet his eye was not dim, neither was his natural
force abated.

But, in rebuke to a nation that trusted too much in man
and too little in God, he is suddenly smitten, amid almost
overwhelming labours, by disease, which lays the most vigo-
rous men prostrate. The command went forth from Heaven,
as to the patriarch upon Nebo ; and upon the very verge of his
highest earthly usefulness and prosperity, within thirty days
from his inauguration to be our president for four years, he
is struck down from his eminent station, and his body is
laid among the dead.

Did he die too soon ? No more than Moses. Neither for
the nation nor for himself. He was not permitted to wait
until he should have fulfilled the trust which his country had
committed to him, nor to receive their verdict upon its ex-
ercise. But he fulfilled his course. He was the instrument
of securing ultimately what his country required from him,
and he was the imbodiment, not of a mere party's success,
but of the people's success in his personal elevation. He
accomplished also the work which God had appointed him
to do. And, in the midst of his fame, a fame that he would
not have sullied had he lived ; in the arms of a confiding
country, like many a hero in the arms of victory ; ere yet
the discontents of the unreasonable, or the ravings of mere
faction, or, it might be, the mortification of unsuccess, had
time to grieve his patriotic heart, he sinks away ; and in
his death he overcomes even the lingering hostility of par-

D

26

tisan opposition, that, living, felt itself at liberty to hinder his
elevation ; and now — a nation assembles to weep at his la-
mented tomb.

Xo ; he died not too soon for himself. After such a ca-
reer of usefulness, of prosperity, and of honour ; after as-
sisting to launch the vessel of state under its new officers,
and to send it forth upon its new voyage ; with no bitter re-
grets, and with a truer spirit of resignation than that which
has been ascribed to the disgraced favourite* of the English
tyrant,

"He gave his honours to the world again,
His better part to Heaven, and sleeps in peace."

We have had cheering and cumulative testimony of his
reverence of the Christian religion ; of his habit, at least in
later years, of searching the Scriptures, of meditation and of
prayer ; of his veneration for the Sabbath ; of his attendance
upon public worship ; of his care to make the Bible a con-
spicuous part of the furniture of the presidential residence ;t
of his desire to be in the communion of the Christian
Church, a desire perhaps too fastidiously postponed, lest
his motives might be impugned ; and of all the influences
of a pious mother's training and example.

We heard his singular and impressive acknowledgment
of the religion and authority of the Gospel when he was in-
augurated. And we have the testimony of a respected min-

* Wolsey.

t This fact has come to the knowledge of the author since this sermon was
preached ; but it is thought to be appropriate to incorporate it in this memorial.

2 7

ister of the Episcopal Church who was with him in his last
hours, that he died in the Christian's faith. But he has
gone to the judgment of his God ; and we leave him wiih
Him who searcheth the hearts, while we rejoice that men in
high stations can feel their dependance upon His throne,
and that our lamented chief was not only not ashamed to
avow, but afforded so cheering evidences that he reposed on
the grace of the crucified Saviour.

Nor can we forget to revere the memory of one who,
when sinking into death, when the strong mind failed, and
the thoughts ran on unrestrained bv the will, showed the
patriotic emotions of his heart, and the love of country
strong in death. For as Moses, at his departure, " gave
Joshua, the son of Tsun, a charge, and said, Be strong and
of a good couracre : for thou shalt brinor the children of Is-
rael which I [the Lord] sware unto them ; and I will be
with thee;" so, it is said, that this venerable patriot, when
just about to yield up his spirit, imagining himself to be at-
tended by his constitutional successor, the then vice-presi-
dent, he thus addressed him : " Sir, I wish tou to rNDER-

STAXD THE TRLE PRINCIPLES OF THE GOVERNMENT. I WISH

THEM CARRIED OUT. I ASK NO MORE." Let these words be
engraven on his tomb. Let them be registered among the
choice savin2;s of our worthiest statesmen. Let them be
remembered and followed by the rulers of the land.

To his country and to his successor, the announcement
of this death, wiih these dying injunctions, is full of solemn
and anxious interest.

By the peculiar structure of our government, and the ar-

2 8

rangements under which his successor was elected, that
successor enters without delay or obstruction upon his high
duties. He is supposed to entertain the same general views
of public policy which were held by President Harrison.
Indeed, he was elected because his character and sentiments
were well known ; and he was called by the same vote that
elected his predecessor, and for the same purpose, that, in
the contingency which has occurred, the will of the country
might still be carried into effect. But, although no general
change is to be apprehended, often the more to be dreaded
on account of the confusion and revolution incidental to a
change of rulers and of public policy in a government like
ours, yet it is not to be concealed that, mingled with the
solemn feelings produced with this event, speculation is al-
ready rife, and a very deep anxiety pervades the public
mind, in relation to the particular lines and details of the
policy, and of the probable influence upon the public pros-
perity, of the course that may be pursued by the present
chief magistrate of the nation.*

But as Moses died, and neither did Israel suffer, nor Jo.sh-
ua prove himself unworthy nor incompetent to be their lead-
er, such, we trust, may be the results in our case. Do we
not know the man whom we elected for this conjuncture ?
Are his principles to be investigated and discovered at this
late day ? Is not his public career known ? Has he not
hitherto sufficiently evinced his wisdom, his integrity, his
firmness, and his conscientious self-denial for the sake of

* When this was preached, the proclamation of President Tyler had not
yet reached this city.

t»

29

principle ? And although these are all better grounds of con-
fidence than any specific pledges manufactured for the occa-
sion, there have been no faint nor unintelligible intimations ut-
tered during the previous canvassing, which satisfied the peo-
ple that they were as safe as men can be when they must trust
in men ; that the late and the present president were equal-
ly worthy of their confidence ; and that they were equally
ready to justify the reasonable expectations which had been
formed of the discretion, republicanism, and integrity of the
new administration, and of the leading characteristics of
their policy. Divided and rebuked as were the Israelites
while Moses was alive, they were all united under Joshua.
Though a part preferred the eastern shores of the Jordan for
their inheritance, yet went they all together to possess the
country that was promised beyond the river ; and the gener-
ation that entered and subdued Canaan were singularly
prosperous and singularly united in their attachment to each
other, and to their religious and political institutions. " And
the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, that
they might know, that as He was with Moses, so would He
be with Joshua ; and they feared him, as they feared Moses,
all the days of his life." And may it not be that, under the
influence of this solemn rebuke of Divine Providence, an in-
fluence already so great in moderating the asperity of party
strife, and in bringing our people together as brothers to la-
ment their common loss, the nation may humble itself be-
fore the throne of Heaven and confess its common trans-
gressions ; may acknowledge that there is a God that judg-
eth in the earth ; may learn the evil and sinful nature of

30

mere faction. And now that those who were the prominent
occasions of their nautual hostihly are rentioved out of their
way, and one of them is buried out of their sight, they may
mingle — -would that they were resolved to mingle — as patri-
ots and as Christians, as men humbling themselves to walk
with God and to fear his name, and as men to whom is
given " One country, one constitution, and one desti-
ny !" Uniting, not against each other, but with each other ;
not as contending parties, but as countrymen and brethren ;
uniting, to make it the interest of those who administer the
government to administer public affairs only for the public
good, and to honour the God of our fathers ; uniting, to el-
evate to office and to sustain in office only such men as shall
be wise, and honest, and good, a terror to evil-doers and a
praise to them that do well. Happy for our country ex-
alted in righteousness; happy for our public men to rule
over a united, patriotic, and affectionate people ;

" To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land,
And read their history in a nation's eyes."

"Happy is that people that is in such a case ; yea, happy
is that people whose God is the Lord."

I speak all these things to-day without fear of being mis-
interpreted. I speak, indeed, to a congregation which, re-
spectively preferring different candidates for their suffrages,
is composed both of those who voted against, and of those
who voted for the illustrious citizen, whose death, as our
ruler, we mourn as a common loss. I speak to a congrega-
tion which has ever desired me to utter the sentiments of

3 1

my heart ; which, without the mean jealousy too often felt,
has ever desired that here, without descending into the arena
of mere party strife or to mere party advocacy, the pulpit
should speak out its great salutary principles ; which has
ever approved, when exercising the rights of a freeman and
the duties of a minister of religion, I choose anywhere and
everywhere to speak or to act for what I deem to be the
true welfare of my country. Yea, I need not to-day this
semblance of an apology. We stand to-day by the sepul-
chre. In it are buried the remains of opposition. A gen-
erous people wars not with the dead. In such an hour, too,
partisans feel that they are brethren, while they mourn as
for a father. And in this tribute, I do but respond to and
express the feelings which your own hearts have borne hith-
er to-day.

And while it seemed proper to take this notice of a great
public bereavement, it may be that, from the analogies that
have often suggested themselves to my mind and to yours,
as we have meditated together on the passage of Scripture
history on which this discourse is founded, we may not un-
aptly derive instruction as to our interests, and hopes, and
duties.

See how absolutely all human affairs are under the con-
trol of God.

" He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven,
and among the inhabitants of the earth : and none can stay
his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou ?" Such was
the confession extorted by experience from the heart of a
proud heathen king. Manifold are the instruments of Je-

3 2

hovah's will. All moral causes and all physical causes ex-
ecute his pleasure, whether it be for the prosperity or the
adversity of men and of nations. " He watereth the hills
from his chambers, and he causeth the grass to grow for the
cattle, and herb for the service of man." And again " He
turneth a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of
them that dwell therein." "Fire, and hail, and stormy va-
pour fulfil his word." " The Lord bringeth the counsel of
the heathen to naught ; he maketh the devices of the people
of none effect." " By him kings reign, and princes decree
justice." " He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthrow-
eth the mighty. He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and
maketh the judges fools. He removeth away the speech of
the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them ; he enlar-
geth the nations, and straiteneth them again. He taketh
away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and
causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no
way. They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh
them to stagger like a drunken man."

Death is an agent of the Almighty ; and it is employed to
go forth among men, that he may make known among them
the sovereignty of God. And he approaches often to exe-
cute the Divine will in a form and in an hour that men think
not of. Men lay their plans as if they would certainly suc-
ceed ; and their success, too, is in a great measure depend-
ant upon their living to execute them. They perplex them-
selves with abundant cares and various enterprises ; but
they think that in a little while they shall easily conduct

3 3

them, and they shall have arranged all things to their satis-
faction, and they shall have leisure and enjoyment. Tell
them that they may be disappointed. Tell them that death
is coming on, they know^ not how soon, and that they ought
to set their houses in order, and to prepare also for the judg-
ment. But they reply, or they virtually reply by their busy
devotion to earthly concerns, " We cannot now disentangle
ourselves, and we must prosecute these plans to the end.
Neither can we die until such and such projects are accom-
plished ; if we were to be called away now, everything
would be left in confusion — everything would go to ruin."
Their lives are indeed important, both to themselves and to
their connexions. But whether men will or will not number
their days to apply their hearts unto wisdom, their " days
are determined ; the number of their months is with God ;
he has appointed their bounds that they cannot pass ;" and
no matter how important their affairs, or necessary their lives
to make their provision for earth and for eternity, death shall
come at the appointed hour, the unexpected hour, the frus-
trating and the blighting hour ; and neither unpreparedness,
nor business, nor tender relations, nor official eminence, nor
even national cares and duties on which the safety of an em-
pire depends, can exempt man from the untimely stroke.

Moses was the servant of God, in high honour, and faith-
ful to his trust. The eyes of all Israel looked upon him,
and the hearts of all Israel anxiously depended upon his
guidance. But though they might say he could illy be
spared, God said unto him, " Get thee up into this mountain
and die." He is not tied to instruments.

E

3 4

Death is an agent of the Almighty not sufficiently ac-
counted of. We look at many other contingencies, but we
do not look at this one. The great anxiety of the friends of
the late president was to elect him. It was defeat they
dreaded — and not his death. And when they had succeed-
ed, and saw him invested with that power which he was to
wield for the extrication of the country, and to advance its
prosperity, who dreamed of the sudden nearness of his
death ? " There are many devices in men's hearts ; never-
theless, the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand." Jealous
of the corrupting influence of power, they proposed meas-
ures to prevent their favourite from being ambitious. He
should not be tempted to selfishness ; nor should he fall a
prey to sycophants, and flatterers, and partisan spoilers.
They would guard him and make him the patriot president
of the whole people. They would limit him to one term of
four years. But God had fixed upon a briefer limit. Within
thirty days He stepped forth from his place, and settled the
question as to this man's continued integrity. And an agen-
cy which kings and presidents cannot resist, strikes down
from his lofty seat the envied possessor of power, and renders
forever impossible his becoming a tyrant and a despot.

" Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the
west, nor from the south ; but God is the judge ; he putteth
down one and setteth up another." Here is the hand of
God. Who cannot see it ? The people made themselves
one ruler, and proud were they of their power. But God
has given them another ere yet the shout of congratulation
ceased to echo through the land.

35

And now, are we not rebuked by the voice of the Lord 1
We have trusted in an arm of flesh ; we are yet trusting
in an arm of flesh. Our rebuke is for a sin like that of Ju-
dah. " The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord,
was taken in their pits ; of whom we said, Under his shadow
we shall live among the heathen." If I mistake not, here is
one great and characteristic fault of the American people.
Endowed with so vast an inheritance, and with such vast
franchises, we are naturally jealous of our rights, and our
love of freedom degenerates into the abuse of it. While
vigilantly guarding our immunities, we trespass upon the
rights of God. Bent on national prosperity, we mistake its
elements and forget the arm on which it depends. We
have cast off fear and restrained prayer. Oh ! how little
dependance has there been on God. And even now, when
the rebuke is upon us, we are still looking to men, and fe-
licitating ourselves, not so much with acknowledgments for
the mercy, or with prayer for its continuance, that we have
such a constitution, and such a ruler in the stead of him
that has been taken away ; and we are still pleasing our-
selves with the fond expectations which we have hitherto
cherished, and still our dependance is upon men ! But one
is gone, and another may disappoint us or may be taken
away. Our leaders may be powerful in our own sight.
But they have no power without God ; and they have none
against Him. They may be very important in our estima-
tion ; but they may not be so in His. He can carry on his
purposes without them. Yea, he may turn their counsels
into foolishness, and through their folly or ambition, He may

36

vex us in His hot displeasure. Through them he can
scourge us with factious strifes, with party spohations, with
wasteful extravagance, with wars and defeats, with general
corruptions and wide-spread desolations. And might He not
thus contend with us ? " Hear, O heavens ; and give ear, O
earth ; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken ; I have nour-
ished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against
me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's
crib ; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of
evil-doers, children that are corrupters ! they have forsaken
the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to an-
ger, they are gone away backward" [they are alienated].
Thus degenerated Israel, And have we preserved the vir-
tue and the piety of our fathers ? How remarkable and how
kind has been the Providence of God towards this land.
Before us the heathen have been cast out. We have tri-
umphed in war. Our name is great in the earth. Our ter-
ritory is vast ; our population rapidly multiplying ; our riches
are increased ; our institutions are our own boast and the ad-
miration of mankind. But did we get them by our own
might ? Is their tenure in the breath of men ? Are we inde-
pendent of God ? Was Israel independent of Him ? Her
sceptre is gone ; and her land has been trodden down by the
oppressor for thousands of years. And is America more ne-
cessary or dearer to Him than was Israel ? " The nation
and kingdom that will not serve him shall utterly perish."
"What is the vine-tree more than any tree, or than a
branch which is among the trees of the forest ? Thus saith

37

the Lord God, As the vine-tree among the trees of the
forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give
the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will set my face
against them ; and they shall go out from one fire, and an-
other fire shall devour them ; and ye shall know that I am
the Lord when I set my face against them."

Or is the mere stability of our country and its institutions,
even if they could survive amid the decay of virtue and pi-
ety, the last and best blessing that we need from his throne ?
It was much to be a dweller in the goodly heritages of Ca-
naan. But it was far more to be a " fellow-citizen with the
saints and of the household of God." And it is ruin, to be
an " alien from the commonwealth of God's spiritual Israel
and a stranger from the covenants of promise." Our civil
and political advantages and our temporal blessings are not
the end ; they are but the means of higher blessings ; and
even they can be secured to us only by the arm and the fa-
vour of the covenanted Jehovah, " the Lord our God." The
Jews boasted of their free descent from Abraham, while
they were the tributaries of Rome and the slaves of their own
lusts. " If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free in-
deed." We are rich, and wise, and prosperous, and free,
only as we possess the glorious liberty of the children of
God ; only as we become reconciled unto Him, and we
serve Him with our whole heart; only as we become the
heirs of His grace through Jesus Christ.

And now, shall we not hear the rod and Him that ap-
pointed it? Shall we not return unto the Lord our God,
who have been rebuked for our iniquity ? Shall we not lake

38

with us words, and turn unto the Lord ; and say unto Him,
Take away all iniquit}^ and receive us graciously : so will
we render the calves of our lips. Assur shall not save us :
we will not ride upon horses; neither will we say any more
to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods : for in thee the
fatherless findeth mercy.

" I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely : for
mine anger is turned away from him."

But His rebukes are tempered with mercies.

"Death is come up into our windows, and is entered into
our palaces." The voice of God to us is, " My servant is
dead." And He means that we shall listen to His voice, and
learn wisdom, and obey His kind advice. The princes die,
and shall not the living lay it to heart 1 " Put not your
trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no
help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth ; in
that very day his thoughts perish." " Cease ye from man,
whose breath is in his nostrils ; for wherein is he to be ac-
counted of?" We may be thankful that, in carrying on His
designs. He can raise up and qualify men to fill the places
of those that are taken away; that when a Moses dies, a
Joshua is already ordained to accede to the vacant magis-
tracy. It is an earnest of good. It is mercy mingled with
judgment. He has not requited us according to our trans-
gressions. He has not yet profaned our princes, nor given
us over to a curse, nor His nation to reproaches. Let His
goodness lead us to humble repentance. Let us pray for
our rulers, that God would preserve their integrity, bless
their plans, and keep them alive for us, and that we may

^ .

39

lead a quiet .and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
Let us obey His voice, for " thus saith the Lord, Let not the
wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man
glory in his might ; let not the rich man glory in riches. But
let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeih and
knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which exercise loving
kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth ; for in
these things I delight, saith the Lord."

Let our rulers be admonished of their responsibility to
God.

Government is an ordinance of Divine appointment. The
notion of a social compact, formed in some unknown age
and undiscovered country, to be the basis of all civil author-
ity, is but the baseless fabric of visionaries, and is adapted,
at best, to round the periods of political declamation. No
historian has registered its birth. No man can "declare its
generation." There are no witnesses of this talisman's po-
tent influence. " The powers that be are ordained of God."
However absurd the abuse of this scripture doctrine, when
it is perverted to sanction tyranny, and to invest with awful
and mysterious terrors " the Divine right of kings" to op-
press their subjects, this doctrine itself is the only theory
which explains to us the secret of the law's authority, and
the majesty of its influence over the public conscience. I
am speaking of government, not of its forms, nor of kings
nor presidents. But the abuse of the doctrine has been
gradually giving way before the light of Divine truth, the
advancing intelligence of the age, and the progress of hu-
man liberty and the assertion of the sacred rights of man.

4 0

It is understood, in our own country at least, that govern-
ment is instituted, not for tiie sake of its incumbents, but for
the sake of the commonwealth. And, under our constitu-
tions, the rulers of the country owe their personal elevation
to authority, to the favour and confidence of the people, to
whom they are directly responsible. Hence it occurs that
men in power " study to show themselves approved unto"
— their constituents. Upon their success here, depend their
continuance in elective offices, and much of their enjoyment
when they shall have retired with honour from their public
functions. With many, it is to be feared, this is their
greatest concern, that they may give to the people from
whom their trust was derived, such an account as will ob-
tain their favourable verdict.

But see here what the Providence of God teaches, by
his taking away our president at such a time. He waited
not upon him, nor suffered him to wait until he might ren-
der to the people, after four years, an account of his public
trust. He took him away from the very threshold of his
authority, to render his account at a higher bar than that of
public opinion. We must all appear before the judgment-
seat of Christ.

Think, then, of this momentous fact. For all our personal
conduct in private life ; for all our deportment in our domes-
tic and social relations; for our fidelity, also, in our exer-
cise of public authority ; for each, and for all, we must give
account to God. Think of this, ye living men; think of it,
ye that are in official stations ; think of it, ye that sit upon
the high places of the earth. It is much to gain the suf-

4 1

frages of your fellow-men. No man ought to be indifferent
to the good opinion of the good and of the wise ; and who
can but admire him

" Who sinks to rest,
With all his country's wishes blest V

But it is more than all the universe to obtain the approving
verdict of God, when He shall say, " Well done, thou good
and faithful servant ; thou hast been faithful over a few
things, I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter
thou into the joy of thy Lord."

It does not follow, because men are great and famous in
the earth, or because their fellow-men admire and approve
them, that they have no need of the pardon of sin, and no
need of the favour of God ; nor does it follow that they are
certain of His approbation and eternal joy, when He shall
judge the secrets of all hearts.

You must stand at His bar. The small and the great
must stand there, to be judged for all the deeds done in the
body. And what shall be their doom that have not made
their peace with God, through the blood of the Lamb ?
Whither shall they — even the kings of the earth, and the
great men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and
every bondman and every freeman — whither shall they, that
made not Christ their Advocate with God — -whither shall
they flee to hide themselves from the face of Him tliat sit-
teth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb ?

" Be wise noiv, therefore, O ye kings ; be instructed, ye
judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice

F

42

with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye
perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."

See here the transitory and uncertain tenure hy which
men hold the joys and honours of this xoorld.

Set not your affection on the things that are in the earth.
The things which are seen are temporal. They fall from
our nerveless grasp ; they fade before our vision ; they fly
away ; or we ourselves are hurried away from them.

Come hither and learn a lesson from Death.

Behold this picture. On the mountain-tops and in the
valleys, in the cities and in the fields, there is a gathering
of the people. In all parts of the land they assemble with
mighty enthusiasm. See upon their faces the flush of high
excitement ; listen to the tongue of the eloquent orator ;
hear the resolves in which they loudly proclaim their in-
domitable purpose. They intend to call from his peaceful
abode, yonder Cincinnatus, approved in arms, approved in
statesmanship, approved in integrity. And see, they have
succeeded against all opposition. They have placed him,
not upon a kingly throne, but upon a seat that is higher than
the highest throne on earth — the chosen ruler of a free peo-
ple— enshrined in the hearts of a nation of freemen. Myri-
ads surround him to swell the imposing pomp of that high
inauguration, where he stands among them, proudly eminent
with native and official dignities.

But now let one little moon have barely time to wax and
wane. The gates of that princely mansion, which so lately
opened to receive him, who went thither in his state, as the

■:■ ^

43

representative of the people's sovereignty, are again opened
amid silence and gloom. From the portal issues a mourn-
ful procession. It is lengthened out by the continual in-
crease of the multitudes that gather there again. Silent,
awe-struck, amazed — so sudden and so unexpected was the
summons — they move with slow and solemn step. The
only sound that falls upon the ear of that deep silence, in
measured intervals, is the sound from a funeral gun. They
have reached a tomb. And there, among the dead, they
have laid that patriot descendant of a line illustrious in the
archives and contests of freedom — that warrior, scholar,
statesman, ruler — to lie in the dust of the earth !

And shall men, frail and dying men, in spite of such af-
fecting lessons, still dwell so fondly on the things that per-
ish, while they neglect the things that are unseen and eter-
nal. Oh ! remember that you must die. You love to for-
get it. You postpone the needful preparation. But soon,
ah soon, approaching death will stand before you. Sud-
denly he may come. He may surprise you in the midst of
your pleasures and sins. And when he comes, he will show
no pity, he makes no difference in his prey. Not only the
hoary head is rapidly and rudely levelled in the dust by him,
but he lays his hand also upon the cheek of youth and beau-
ty ; and while yet the bloom of health and the smile of hope
are dancing in defiance there, they fade and wither at the
touch of his breath.

Repent, then ; repent timely ; repent now. Live unto
God. Go unto him through Christ the Mediator. Greater
shall be your riches, joys, and honours, than if you inherit-

^'%

44

ed the earth. Jesus is our Joshua to lead to the higher
Canaan. " For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
He will be nigh thee in the swellings of Jordan. He shall
lead thee to victory over death. He will establish thee in
the " inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled, and that
fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for them that are kept
by the power of God, through faith unto salvation, ready to
be revealed in the last lime."

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only
wise God, he honour and glory forever and ever. Amen,

LBJa'l2

r

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

0 011 895 551