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REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH

lStfnt(0t1too&,

ON THE THIRTEENTH OF DECEMBER, 18J2,

THK DAY APPOINTED BY THB eOYERNOB OF THIS STATB

FOA PUBLIC THANKSGIVING AND PBAI8A.

BTREV. D.,6USHING.

PUBI.ISHED BT REQUX9T.

KINDERHOOK:
Printed at tbe Office of tbe Columbia Sentinel
1S32.

A SERMON, &c.
Deuteronomy, XXVI. 5-9.

" Jlnd thou shalt speak, and say before the Lord thy Goi,
¦i Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into
Egypt, and sojourned there a few, and became there a nation,
ji-eat, mighty, and populous. Jlnd the Egyptians eml-entreated
IS, and afflicted us, and laid upon ns hard bondage, ,/ind when
oe crifd unto the Lord God qf our fathirs, the Lard heard our
^oice, and looked on ovr affliction, and our oppression. j3nd the
Lord brought vs forth out of Egypt vnth a mighty hand, and with
jn out-stretched arm, and tvith great terribleness, and with signs
md wonders. And hath brought us into this place, and hath gi-
oen us this land, a land that Jiowelh viith milk and honey."
Though God is chiefly engaged in the salvation of men, and
ippears to consider that as the principal object, yet he is not for
getful of their temporal interests. AU that involves their welfare,
ivvakens his solicitude, and inspires him with joy. When he chose
or himself a nation of favorites, he chose also a country of pecu-
iar fertility and beauty. He watched their growth with anxious
bndness ; nourished them with the breasts of queens ; kings spread
heir skirt over them, and stretched out their arm for their prolec-
ion. If nations frowned upon ihem, he reproved them, saying, —
' Touch not mine annointed, and do my prophets no harm." When
hey were invaded, he fought their battles, and put their feet upon
he necks of their enemies. If they were oppressed, he delivered
hem, and made them ride upon the high places ofthe earth. When
hey were hungry, ho opened tiie treasures of heaven, and gave them
Tianna to the tull. He made them suck honey outof the rock, and
)il out of the flinty rock. Their bread was the finest of wheat, they
vashcd tlieir steps in butter, and the pure blood of the grape was
heir drink. As a nation, he gave them laws of peculiar clemen-
;y and mildness, and blessed them with institutions surpassing in
visdom and propriety all the nations of the earth. He built for
limself a tabernacle, and dwelt in the midst of them. He was their
iing for counsel and defence ; their priest for peace and atone-
nent ; their oracle for wisdom, piety and salvation. Well might
fehovah say, " What more could I have done in my vineyard, that
have not done it .^ I have nourished, and brought up children, but
, hey have rebelled against rae. At this lam black, astonishment
lath taken hold upon me." The hand of God in their favour was
oo manifest to be unnoticed. All was not done at once ; ccntu-
•ios elapsed before liis councils of mercy and kindness were nccom-

plished. Yet enough was exhibited in each succeeding genen.
tion, to call forth the warmest gratitude of every feeling heart.
Gratitude is something, more than, a tribute of good will and
affection to a benefactor. It is an instrument of moral culture,—
bringing into exercise the best feelings of the renewed heart.—
While it teaches humility by the dependence witnessed, and ac
knowledged by the reception bf favors, it begets love, a:nda desire
to imitate the good qualities of the benefactor. In its purity, it is
directly opposed to every thing base, selfish, or ignoble. The charge
of ingratitude, carries to the one implicated, an accusation of a to
tal itliienation from every tiling honorable, honest and respectable;
aiii indulgence in all that is sinful, base, and degrading j a complete
estiangenaent from ever)' principle of relio^ion and morality ; in-
sensibiliity to every social and .frgtejrnal obligation ; a recklessnes!
of character, peace, and good orders and an entire ignorance and
indifference to all beyond the narrow shell of its own selfish interests.
To- prevent such a wastcof moral powers, and sa re mankind.
from the desolations of such a flood of iniquity, God dictated the
form, expressions, and time of Thainks-giving, and enjoined its
observance upon the Jews. This institution served to keep alive
the memoiy of past favors, and God's gracious dealings with them,
and also to attach them to the source of their greatest benefits,and
cherish in their hearts that religion which was. to blogs ai)d save
their souls. It distinguished tliem from all (lie nations with which
they were surrounded ; and kept them fromacknowled.ging (heir
gods as a source of blessing or protection. How could they ac-
acknowledge favor? where none had been received ; and how,when
they knew'God alone had delivered them from bondage, could they
say of the golden calf that Aaron made for them, " These be thj
Gods, 0 Israel, which have Ijrought thee up out of the land of
Egypt." Besides the use of this thankful confession, propriety deman
ded such thanksgiving. No nation ever forgot lo thank their gois,
even for far less favours; and that, when the grateful recipient knew
his blessings came not from a block of wood, or stone. Not to give
thanks for oenefits is to deny their reception ; and to deny their re
ception, is denying their origin ; and this, if Ihey came not from
men, is to say " No God." The bare enumeration of benefitSji!
not thankfulness ; neither will it beget gratitude, where the giver
is unacknowledged, unknown. Above all, the beauty of (his Jew
ish confession must not bo passed over in silence. Behold this har
dy son of the field in simple meekness, and pious docility, standing
beside the altar ofthe Lord his God. In one hand, the string that
binds the neck of the trembling lamb or kid which he leads Vfor
sacrifice, jn the other, the basket in which are fhe first fruits, of hii
labour, a token of his gratitude, anda present for the priesl.—
There is a cluster of grapes, and a flagon of wine; an ear of wheat,
and a wliite loaf; a handful of barley, and a brown cake ; an olive,
anrl a flask of oil. While he delivers the basket to fhe priest, with
the tears of gratiludcroirmg- down hi.s face brown with the toils of

5''
hafvfe'st, co^el-iilg his eyes' with his- harVds,' hear him express his ¦
thanks lo Godj and say before the Lord, " A Syrian ready to per
ish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, ¦ and sojourned ¦ ¦
there' ii few, and became there a nation, great; mighty, and popu- '
lous. Afid the 'Egyptiahs evil erltreated us, and aiHioted us^ and :
laid on us hard "^bondage. And when we'cried unto theLord God"
of 'our fathers', th^ Lord heardour voice, and looked on our-afflic-i
tioli, arfd oUflabors, and our oppressipn. And th^^^Lord bi'onghti
us forth out 'of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an out-Stretch
ed" arrii, and with great terribleness, and with signs,- and -with won
ders. And hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this '
land, even a land that flbweth with milk and honey.- And now be-
hdld, I have brought the first fruits ofthe land, which thou 0 Lord -
hast given me." Thus he sets down the basket, and' worships be
fore Sie Lord his God, " Look down from thy holy habitation from
heaven, and bless thy "people Israel, and the land which- thou hast '
given us, a land that floweth with milk and honey." This beauti-
tifaj confession ofthe- pious Jew embraces, emblematically, most
of the features of our national history which this day call forth
oar thanksgiving and praise. It hints at
I. Our national gekealogy;
n. Our emigkation to this country ;
III. Our rapid growth, and political importance;
IV. Our oppression from foreign, and domestic foes;
v. Our struggle, and deliverance ;
VI. Our coun try, AND THE institutions WE no WEN joy;
yil. The legitimate effect of these blessings;
I. Ournational genealogy. "A Syrian ready to perish'
was my father."
All nations, though descended from Noah, have an ancestry
sufficiently distinct to give a peculiar bias to their character. As
the son is the likeness and image of the father, so nations are an'
exemplification of the characteristics of the founder, or nation
from which they derived their political existence. " A Syrian
ready to perish was my faiher," .says theJew, and Abraham that
Syirian gave to his dsscen'aits his own peculiar characteristics. —
The Romans were the pupils of Komulus ; the Saracens are the le-J
gjtimate sons of Mohammed, the bloody prophet ; the Tartars, and
Turks, in their silent, sombre dignity, and inflexible vengeance,
are the complete spawn of Gengiskhan, and Tamerlane ; the Swiss
still exhibit the masculine force, and discreet energy of Tell ; the
Scotch; thbugh greatly tamed, will never forget the'headlong fuiy
of th(3 Picts. All nations receive the germ of their -character ffoiii
the parent that gives them birth ; and this original and native cha
racter never yields to collateral circumstances ; is never altered
by any storms that may shake their poliiical existence. Our coun
try, though peopled with emigrants from every .lation under heav
en, is the legitimate child of England. Notwithstanding some pa
triotic prejudices, look across fhe water and tell me, which of all
thenations'of the east you wniild havo chosen as the protector of
itsinfancy, and the tutor of its minority and pupilage. Would'it

have been Holland in the decline pf its power .'—France under the
galling dynasty ofthe Bourbons ?— Spain under the tyranny of its
Lords and gentry ?— or Italy under the superstition of the Pope i—
Is it not matter of thankfulness that England is our j^arent, the fre
est of the free, and bravest of the brave ? I say this, not because
ehe is nobly pre-eminent on the land, and on the rolling billow,
but because she only vvas in possession of those institutions which,
transplanted to our soil, have been the foundation of our liberty,
our prosperity, and our peace. This is not speculation, or a chi
mera ofthe brain. Look at South America, peopled, and subdued
by Spain ; ground down in servile vassalage to the mother country,
and bleeding beneath the lash ofa domineering and infuriated pa
rent. See them in homd anarchy for the first mree hundred years ;
ignorance like an impervious veil, covering the mind, and
the enthusiastic superstition of Popeiy, sitting like an incubus on
every heart. In their struggle fcr liberty, a monster is born, or it
weak, jaundiced, rickety child, that can never grow to manhood,
/Would you run the risk of a Spanish ancestiy, andthe fate ofthe
South ?. Is the North any better, settled by emigrants from France .'
The paw of the British Lion is on their heads, and the muzzle of
ths Papal tiger is in their necks, sucking their vital blood. .By des
cending from England, we received, though it may be from their
hasty oppression, those principles of liberty which made us free,
and escaped, under the shadow of their wing, that pollution of Po
pery which fetters the mind. An honest sense ofthe blessings we
enjoy, constrains me to give thanks and rejoice that as a nation
we descended from England.
U. Our -emigration to this cntntry. "A Syrian ready to
perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourn
ed there a few."
; Thus says the pious Israelite. But we say, A Brilon tos.?-
ed out by commotion was our father, and he fled to Ameriqa. Not
that America is the best of soils, neither is it the only country where
lands are wild, untenanted, and unpossessed. The large plains of
Asia are a Soil of far better mould. Tartary, and Central Africa
hava nothing but a sparse, wandering population, and in none of
these places is the right of soil in individual hands. But they all
open boundless fields, and noble market's for agriculture, and the
exercise of the arls. With the spirit which our fathers pos
sessed, they might have made for themselves a home in these savage
lands, risen to wealth and power, and cast a flood of light over those
benighted nations. But could they there have remained untaint-
ted"by superstitions, uninfluenced by contiguous governraents i-r-
Coqld they there have tried the political experiment of a govern
ment based on new principles, and doctrines opposed by all the old
worid ? When our fathers came out, they had no intention of teach
ing liberty to the worid ; but held themselves amenable to the pa
rent country. Had they gone elsewhere, they never could have
done it. By coming to this country, like the Jews in the desart,
they acted without local bias, without dictation, and without re-
<Ku'!!;' . L ,? ^^'^^ ^°"«. wi'l never be forgotten, even though
<his country should cease to be free. Its effects are being devef*-

ped in almost every nation of the globe. Our principles of liberty
raust finally triumph, though at the price of blood. May we not
be thankful that our fathers went not into Asia, Africa, or any oth
er country, but came to North America.
III. Our rapid growth and political importance. " And
became there a nation, great, mighty and populous."
Like the seventy-five Jews in Egypt, alone in the land of
Gdshen, our little number was left alone, unmolested on these wild
and inhospitable shores. Why the Indians did not raise the war-
whoop and swallow them up in a moment, is remarkable. Such a
peaceful beginning never attended the birth of any other nation..
Undoubtedly conhdence in their own streng'.h, and contempt of
our weakness was, in part, the cause. They of course tolerated an
evil which was not felt, and suspected no danger from the proxi
mity of such feeble, and apparently innocent neighbors. Had our
frowlh been no more rapid than their tardy suspicions, Ihey would
ave found but a feeble foe, when a sense of their danger aroused
them to arms for our destruction. While their fears were asleep,
a growth uncommonly rapid set us beyond the reach Of tlieir ut
most efforts at extermination. A people attached fo no govern
ment, as were the colonies, and in fact living in peaceful anarchy,
would in time excite interest among olher powers, and a question,
would arise who should give them laws, and claim Iheir loyalty.-.
But contempt of our little band kept Ihem asleep to our real value,
until our manly strength enabled us to put a curb upon their usur
pations, and dictate terms to those claiming our fidelity, and obe
dience. This stealing the march upon a slumbering and unsus
pecting world, is no contemptible item in our political history.
Having grown up without nursing, or encouragement, wc early
learner, to sustain ourselves without patronage. Having, withopt
the schooling of politicians, learned the art of self-government, aiid
previous to royal interference^, engraved these principles and habits
upon firm and immoveable hearts, the people stood like a rock,
proof against all injurious innovation. Growth had given Uieni
courage and strength to defend the positions they assumed. ife.d
not these little beginnings of liberty been covered by a rapid
growth, succeeding storms would have blasted the hopes ofa weep
ing world. IV. Our oppressionfrom foreign and domestic foes. "And
the Egyptians evil-entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon iis
hard bondage." So sweet is peace, that all nations choose rather to suffer,
while evils are tolerable, than right themselves at Ihe expense of
blood. The yoke must become galling, before the captive will
consent to break it. Not until the Egyptians evilrentrealed, afllict
ed, and laid hard bondage upon the Jews, would they consent-4v
leave that tyrannical country. And even when made free, how
often did they sigh for the flesh-pots of Egypt, though they knew
that they could enjoy them tinly by stealth, or wbue their task
masters held the rod over thein. God taw that they could not ha

his' people in' Egypt, butmustgodut.thence if they would serve
him. -Upon-Moses* proposition of liberty, they thrust.hira a'^yiXi ¦,
and in their hearts turned bajck agaiil into Egypt. .Then God left _
them to oppression, until they were weaned from that country, and
their unfteliftg masters, and "were willing to follow Mose«, and en
dure any thing in pursuit of liberty and peace.
Our'fathers, though driven from the old world, still looked
upon it as their home ; they had their local and patriotic attach-
meiits. They were partial to its laws, its manners, and its religion.
Tliere were the graves of their fathers,' and contention with them
woiild be war with their brethren,, would be fighting with their owii
blood. Had not the mother country been infatuafed to oppress be--
yOnd the power of sufferance, beyond former precedent, against
Immble supplication and remonstrance, against the counsels, war-
niiigs, and opposition of her wisest politicians, , and statesmen, the
cdlonies never would have been excited to draw the sword with
su'ch feeble hopes, or enter the field against such fearful odds. —
Their courage was that of despair, when between death and bon--"
dage there was left no choice. Then feeling themselves cast off,
and every tender tie dissolved, they vyere prepared to right their
own wrongs, and (|o that, on which the world gazed with wonder,
arid admiration, and upon vvhich they themselves looked back with '
pale astonishment. The oppression, instead of being a ground of
resentment, may reasonably be hailed as the moving cause of that-
glorious liberty for which we this day give thanks and rejoice.
V. Our struggle and deliverance. " And when we crie.d unto
the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked
upon oiirafflictiom, aiid our labor, and our oppression. Andthe
Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a niighty hand, and with
an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs
and with wonders."
The Conquest of Canaan would have been too easy to ensure
a thankful reception, had it not been for the fatiguins: journey of
the wilderness. A.ny blessing will be undervalued vvhen obtained
at trifling cost. Such a thing as national liberty cortiing suddenly
fipon any people, would find them unthankful for the blessiijg, un
prepared for its reception, and despising it as valueless. Liberty,'
to be permanent, must be highly prized. To teach its value, and
fit a nation for its reception— a struggle is necessary. The saluta
ry eflfect of difficulties in the way to emancipation, and indepen
dence, a-re seen in the check they impose upon hot-headed lovers
of change. A greater curse could not have happened to the Jews,
than a sudden expulsion from Egypt, upon their first.intiroafion of
'a desire to depai t. How fatal the consequences of unsought free-
¦flom to six'millions of people, thrust out from honle, and country,
and set adnft in noisy anarchy, without leader, withnut destina-
natipn, and without plan ! Seven years of difficulty, and foil,
IlflT' '""'o"!^' *?,?'» it cost fhe best blood of our fathers, to
t§4ch the va ue of that liberty which they coveted ; and which', if
coming suddehly would have found them undisciplined by adver
..ty and patience for its reception, and proved a cur e By break-

ing up old laws, they learned what new ones would supply their
places, in the hurry of war, they felt for'a time the; horrors of ati.-
archy ; they learned by their absence the necessity of laws, and -
froiji the sweets afforded by their protection, the duty of cheerful
obedience. It kept them from running into a hasty and undigested;
constitution, and at last produced one, not the child of party, hot
in the paroxysm of feverish excitement, but in mature deliberaT
tion ; a constitution adapted to our circumstances and country, and ,.
suited to our wants. Union and harmony were the fruits of com
mon danger, of common struggle and success. In no period since
that time could our present constitution have beenfo'rmed, aiid cer
tainly not adopted. In short, that struggle is none too hard vvhich
is tolerable, and none too long if cl-owned with ultimate success.
VI. The country and institutions which we now enjoy.
" And hath brought us into this place, and given us this land, even a
land that floweth with milk and honey."
Whatevermay be in possession, nothing is a blessing with-s
out a home in which to enjoy it. No nation ever had better laws,;
a better rBligion, better rulers, ora better priest, than the Jevys,,
in the Arabian desart. Yet it cannot be said that they had, no need ,
ofa country to complete their happiness.^ While they weresilenfly ;
growing in Egypt, God was preparing this. Abraham, Isaac,, and-
Jacob were not allowed to clear away the forest, and subdue the
soil; this, was left forthe servile Canaanite. When it was fully
prepared, houses built, and the excellency ofthe. soil fested,.>the>,.
Israelite came info it. Exuberant fertility of soil, generally begets
indiolence in the possessors of it ; and idlenes.s brings with it a
train, yes, an army of vices. This was one evil peculiar to Ca
naan. Another was the innocent blood, that from the ground crj^
ed to Heaven for vengeance. This, in the language of ScriplurPi
caused the land to spew out the inhabitants thereof. - We, without
boasting, may felicitate ourselves upon this happy distinction.; —
It 15 a fact worthy of reraark, that countries become sfained vvitlv
the crimes of their population ; these stains caii be washed avyay
by fhe blood only of succeeding generations. Canaan, Egypt, aivd.
Arabia are this day lying under the curse incurred by the iniquity
of their former occupants. No country ofthe East is free from,
this national stain. Had our father^ chosen any of them, they
must necssarily have taken upon ihemselves the doom of its expi
ation. The soil of France in one night ingorged the blood of.;
fifty thousand Protestants, Spain has irrigated-her whole soil by
the Inquisition. London stands on the ashes of Rogers., Ridley,.
and Latimer ; fhe country, from Europe to Jerusalem, is white
with the bones of the Crusaders ; from France to . Russia, wolves
have fed upon the unhappy soldiers of inhuman Bonaparte, whose ,
carcase? strew fhe road of his wild career. Ship loads of their ,
bones, from the field of Waterloo,have been ground up, and.sowf d
foi-manure to fatten English soil. We, by a peculiar and unqom-
mbn blessing, have been preserved from such foul contaminations.
In ihe bospm of a worid unknown, our country lay securely hid ;
uijtil WE found it in the wilderness and made it sroile. No tyrant j
fVer shook an iron sceptre over it — no enthusiastic ,bigot ever ii>-r

10
•ected it with his pestilential breath. From unknown ages it has
been preserved without fixed inhabitants, that it might be free from
innocent blood ; wilhout regular domain, that it might be clear
ofthe lumber of vicious institutions. It is clean of the blood of
early Christians, clean ofthe blood ofthe vagrant Jews ; revealed
only in these latter days, and furnishing from the ignorance, sia- .
very and superstition, that like a dark cloud had settled upon the
whole eastern world, a refuge for the saint and a home for tbe free.
VII. The legitimate effect of these blessings.
We who live in this happy land know, by svveet experience,
the peculiar blessings of our excellent institutions. It is not worth
tlie expense of a moment's brealh to bring them more fully lo fhe
notice of any. He that feels them not has a heart that cannot feel,
or is too ignorant of general history to make a legitimate compa
rison. The only bitter part is an apprehension of change. For
tliis we have one consoling reflection. Governments, like men, ac
quire habits which time or circumstances can never change. Eome,
under the tyranny of all the Cassars, kept alive the form of her Se
nate. England, under all her revolutions, (and nearly half her
kings have died by violence) has always returned to the spirit of
the Magna Charta of King John and the Bill of Rights. IfourGov-
ernment should change, what form would it take .? and if it assu
med a form better suited to the wants and happiness of the people,
node could object.
Lax or mal-administration may check or change the cur- ,
rent of general joy, but can never make the people relinquish their
claiiti to self-government, forget their birth-right, or give their
necks to the chain. Whatever party bears rule, believe that they
have patriotism as well as you ; and destroy if possible their preju
dices by a noble and generous confidence in their good intentions.
One President may differ in opinion from his predecessors, and
with the consent ofthe national council, change what they have
done. This is his pre-ogalive, for no ruler is infallible, and tho'
it may touch our favorite opinions, let us acquiesce and accuse no
President of high treason for exercising it. No administration haa
ever suited all, none ever will ; but as they successively pass a-
way, we come forth from under them the same free and indepen
dent people. Let us be thankful for what we possess and enjoy it,
and not disturb ourselves with the apprehension of evils vvhich we
may never see.
Our government is good, and though one administration may
cross the prejudices of sorae men, and suffer in comparison with
other administrations, viewing it as a whole are we sure of benefit
from change? Our soil is sufficiently fertile to reward our indus
try, while its sterility quickens our exertions, and keeps alive our
sense of dependence . Notwithstanding the fears ofthe Spring, our
crops have been good, and successful commerce gives a ready
market and fair prices for our surplus produce. True the pesti-
^r^ m.!iL K \", °"v '*"d, but the judgraent has been converted
mto mercy, by the lesson it has (a.ight, that sin is obnoxious to

11
jfninishment even in this life. But rriore than all, my friends^, v»'e
have cause for peculiar gratitude. We trembled as th« scourge
approached ; and well we might, for none deserved it more than
we. But it has passed, wilhout touching the hair of our heads.
1 take delight in this public expression of thanks, for the display
of so much mercy and kindness towards you, for whatever contri
butes, mv dear friends, to your happiness, fills me with joy.
Thus far, the name of the blessed God has scarcely found a
place in this discourse. I wished inthe first place to set before
you the naked blessings, and leave you to say from whence they
came. To whom do you owe that tribute of gratitude which you
have assembled to pay ? Is it to the concurrence of happy circum
stances which have been in your favor .' Is it mere chance that
you were de.scended from England? Was it the policy of raan
that inspired you with a desire ofa better home, and that pointed
you to this country ? Who kept your country secret frora the foun
dation of the world, and gave it, free from every stain, a rich lega
cy to you ? When you were oppressed, was it man that defended
you, and enabled you to bear until your hands had learned to war
imd your fingers to fight ? Who gave you success in battle, and
sustained you in the combat, until the British Lion and the Savage
Bear ran howling from your shores ? And, best of all, who gave
you the Bible, and all your Religious Institutions, and added a
Government and Rulers that allow you to read and practice its com
mands ? Is any one so blind as to overlook the hand of God in
all this ? Cannot all see that God has raised up this Nation for
purposes glorious to himself, and salutary to all mankind ? Dark
indeed must be that mind, perverse and hard that heart, which does
not ascribe all the glory to God alone. In all this we owe nothing
to man, neither thank we any nation, but vve thank sincerely the
God of Heaven. Is the ingrate here, who will say that this was
chance or that our hands have gotten it ? Let him enjoy his wick
edness alone ; but let us say God hath done great things for us, for
which we are glad. Let us offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay
Our vows unto the Most High. " For he found us in ac^sart land,
m a waste-howling wilderness ; he led us about, he instructed us,
and kept us as the apple of his eye." By receiving His favors and
acknowledging them, vve avoach the Lord to be our God. Of this
let us not be ashamed,but do it heartily, and take this glorious God
to be oursjfor lime and for eternity,and be grateful for the privilege,
" Look down from thy holy habitation from Heaven, and
bless thy people, and the land which thou hast given us, a land that
floweth with milk and honey. We avouch the Lord this day to be
our God, to walk in his ways, to keep his commandments, and his
judgments, and to hearken to his voice. Do thou avouch us to be
thy people, that we may keep all thy commandments. Make us
nigh above all the nations which thou hast made, in praise, in name,
and in honors, that we may be a holy people unto the Lord our God.V

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