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SERMON

TiiEACIIED OX THE' DAY OK

THE ANNUAL THANKSGIVING.

NOVEMBER 20, \856,

BEFORE TIIE INITEP CONGREGATIONS 0! ALBION.

REV. I. T. COIT.
PASTOK OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHL'RCII,

JE>X7^X.iXSXXE:X3 laTT Xt.XtQXTEIS-X'.

ROCHESTER;
I-KE8S OF, A. STKONG Si CO., EAGLE BANK BLOCK.
1857.

SERMON

PEEACHED ON THE DAY OF

THE ANNUAL THANKSGIVING,

NOVEMBER 20, 1856,

BEFORE THE UNITED CONGREGATIONS OP ALBION,

BY
REV. I. T. COIT.
PASTOR OP THE PRE8BYTERIAV OBDRCE

Z>XT:^XjX8XX3E:X3 ^-X* Xt.XIQVJEIS'X'.

ROCHESTER:
FBESS or A, STEOKG lii CO., EAGLE BAHK BLOCK.
1857.

DISCOURSE.

"And it shall be, when the Lord thy Gtod shall have brought thee into the
land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to
give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildest not, and houses full of
all good things, which thou fiUedst not, and wells digged, which thou diggcdst
not ; vine yards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not ; when thou shalt
have eaten and be full ; then beware, lest thou forget the Lord, which brought
thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage,''
Dkutesosomt, vl; 10, 11, 12.
We are assembled, this day, in accordance with a time-hon
ored usage — and may I not also add, under the impulse and
guidance of grateful emotions — to recognize not only the
being, but the providential agency of Jehovah. It is an occa
sion which, in its religious aspects, bears a relation to the other
festivals of the church, like that existing between the anni
versary period of our country's freedom and the remaining
days of the civil calendar. At each annual return of the lat
ter, a nation lays aside its utensHs of labor, and indulges in
one spontaneous expression of joy, over its deliverance from
the dominion of a foreign power. So the recurrence of this
appointed season should be hailed with delight. It likewise
is a day of jubilee, when the Christian's heart, after recount
ing God's mercies, both temporal and spiritual, may and
should exult with rapturous praise over its freedom from the
bondage of error, superstition and sin, and regard with un
feigned thankfulness its heritage of life, of comforts, of un
numbered blessings.
It is in obedience to a call issued from the highest authority
of the State, that we, on this 20th day of November, have

4
turned from our secular avocations, and gathered ourselves in
the sanctuary, to give thanks to .Almighty God, the Giver of
all good. But, from a source more imperious than the decree
of man, from a throne whose sway is wider than that of the
mightiest Potentate of earth, from Jehovah of Hosts, the King
of all kings, there comes a proclamation, expressed in lan
guage as dictated by the Holy Ghost, and directed to every
citizen of his great and glorious commonwealth of grace.
" God is the King of all the earth ; sing ye praises with the
heart. In his hand is the soul of every living thing and the
breath of all mankind. He giveth us richly all things to
enjoy. Eender thanks unto him ; call upon his name. Let
every thing that hath breath praise him. Praise ye the Lord
from the heavens ; praise him in the heights. Praise ye him,
all his angels ; praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him,
sun and moon ; praise him, all ye stars of hght. Praise him,
ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the
heavens. Praise him, ye kings of the earth and all people ;
princes and all judges ; both young men and maidens ; old
men and children. Praise the name of the Lord, for his name
alone is excellent ; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
By the text, chosen for this occasion, our thoughts are sum
moned in a three-fold direction, as the sentiments, contained
therein, apply to the Jews to whom they were originally ad
dressed. In its adaptation to them, we are led to a remem
brance of their previous history, as that was marked by mani
fold interpositions of God for their good ; to a recognition of
present advantages and blessings ; and also to a consideration
of an earnest reproof, with respect to their conduct in the
future. The accompanying injunction throws, around the
passage, a peculiar sacredness, and invests it with an unques
tioned importance. " These words, which I command thee,
this day, shall be in thine heart ; and thou shalt teach them

diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them, when
thou sittest in thine house, and when thou' walkest by the
way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
A,nd thou shalt bind them, for a sign, upon thine hand, and
they shalt be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt
write them, upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates."
So obvious is the analogy between the position, career and
destiny of the Jewish nation and those of this highly favored
people, that we may easily and naturally transfer, to ourselves,
the application of these words. They furnish appropriate
thoughts for our contemplation, on this occasion of thanksgiv
ing, and if well pondered and duly prized and, according to
the divine command, laid away in the heart and handed down
with a pious care &om generation to generation, they may
shed a hallowing influence over us through the years that are
to come.
1. Let us turn our attention, in the first place, to the fact
that the providential agency of God has been especially exer
cised and made manifest in the settlement, preservation and
prosperity of our land.
We believe in a divine efBiciency throughout the length and
breadth of the universe ; over things spiritual and over things
material. Having created a world, by his own underived and
independent power, it cannot be supposed, that the Author of
all cast it off from his dominion, and suffered planets and men
alike to revolve in their appointed orbits, no longer subject to
his interference, nor in any way amenable to his executive
control. The majesty and glory of creation no more plainly
bespeak the reality of a divine origin, than do the harmonious
workings of antagonistic forces in the realm of morals and
matter, and the continued preservation of a world, amid all its
inherent tendencies to destruction, indicate most directly and
incontestably the government of some mind which overlooks
and controls all, and the operation of some power which can
be measured by nothing finite. While this is confessedly true,

6
with regard to an active providence in every petty transaction
of life, yet there are times when, and circumstances in which,
we are constrained to notice the divine hand more clearly, and
are accustomed to speak of it as more directly operative and
efficient. It sometimes happens that events occur contrary to
our expectation ; that deliverance from danger is effected,
when every- appearance and every circumstance justified the
utmost despair ; that an individual, by a certain strange com
mingling and conjunction of influences, is guided along, through
a succession of adversities, and at last conducted to a repose
of peace and joy. In the presence of such developments,
even the most thoughtless and irreverent cannot withhold
their acknowledgment of a special providence.
As with individuals, so with nations. Not unfrequently, do
their annals exhibit scenes transpiring, whose every feature
shows the impress of God's finger ; in which the designs of
men, conceived and prosecuted with \every thing favorable,
aind pursued, in accordance with the common rules and prin
ciples of successful action, have been wholly subverted. Any
one, familiar with history, . can recall such occasions. Upon
many of its pages, he may find instances, which betoken the
presence of some influence, acting in seeming contrariety to
the laws of nature and the combined efforts of man. It may
be, that the winds and the seas, the clouds and the rains lend
their favoring influences to aid the besieging foe. Possibly, an
army of countless numbers and of discipliaed strength, is
marshaled against a score of untrained troops, who are ignor
ant of the artifices of war, and anticipate only a speedy over
throw. And yet, in the onset, the many are routed, and the
few bear away the palms of victory. Can any man deny here
the presence and succor of Jehovah of Hosts ? Of this char
acter, was this conflict between the Jews under Gideon and
the nation of Midian. On the one side, there was a force of
but three hundred men, while the army of the latter is de
scribed, as "laying along in the valley," like' grasshoppers for

multitude, and their camels were without number, as the sand
by the sea-side." But success over their myriad foes was
given to weakened Israel. This miraculous result is ascribed
in Scripture to the unerring guidance and sustaiuing presence
of Jehovah. " The Spirit of the Lord God was upon Gideon."
Can we, in any parallel instance of astonishing and unexpect
ed success — though it be not a recorded fact of inspiration —
disown the all-prevailing hand of the God of battles ?
Look at the leading outlines of Jewish history, in compari
son with those of our own.
Joseph, under the persecutions of his brethren, was borne
away to a far-off land ; driven forth from the paternal roof,
and exiled from every endeared object of earth. But he de-
dares subsequently to them who were instrumental in his
banishment, " it was not you who sent me hither, but God."
Analogous to this, was the position of that band of pilgrims
who, under the enmity of James I,, were expelled from their
beloved homes, and, by his persecuting hand, sent forth with
an uncertain destiny. As they landed upon these shores and
first bent the knee upon the rock at Plymouth, one united
utterance rose from their lips, in recognition of that " wonder
working providence," which had brought them hither across
the trackless ocean. It was not the tyranny of a despot at
home ; it was not the intolerable exactions of an opposing and
dominant ecclesiastical power ; but it was God, who did it.
Not more truly and directly were the bitter and heavy
grievances, which the children of Jacob now enlarged to a na
tion were called to bear, through the years of their bondage,
ordered by Him, who declared aforetime that he would send
all these things upon them, than were the sad experiences,
which befell our ancestors during the period of their colonial
history, and while under subjection to the oppressor's yoke-
prepared -and apportioned by the same God of Israel.
If, to the one, a dehverer, in the person of Moses, was sent
and he could bear, in his hand, divine credentials in attestation

of his appointed duty, saying unto them, " The Lord God of
your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,
hath sent me unto you ; this is my name for ever, and this is
my memorial unto all generations." Why may we not, with
reason, be equally ready to recognize, in Washington, an inter
position of Jehovah, and behold written, upon his heart, a
heaven-derived commission, and regard him, as exalted by
Providence, to that position, which he occupied in the records
of history, our deliverer, our instructor, our champion.
And then, as, through all the forty years of wanderings and
deprivations, when the Jews roamed homeless in the wilder
ness ; through their seasons of gloom and sadness, their perils
of hungerings and thirstings, there was ever a guiding, a pre
serving, and a providing hand, so, in the not dissimilar scenes
of our precarious and fluctuajting career, during the eight years
of struggle with England, there were times, when the lead
ings of Providence were as apparent as though a column of
cloud and a pillar of fire pointed the way ; there were seasons
of suffering and want, when relief was afforded, like the. drop
ping of manna from heaven, or the opening of the rock at
Eephidim. In a word, that man is blind in judgment and obtuse in
heart, who, upon a review of American history, refuses to
perceive and acknowledge the constant presence of the Al
mighty's arm. Prom the earliest dawn of its rising, up to its
present zenith of grandeur and magnificence ; from its foun
dations of coarse fabric, eyen to the dome gilded with bright
est splendors, the name of the Lord our God may well be
written in ineffacable characters, for he was the designer and
builder. Among all the nations of antiquity, the Jews were
the elect and preeminently dear to God. It was because, from
them, should come forth Jesus, the Messiah, a light to illumine
the world. Where, among the people of modern times, can
be found one, sharing more richly the blessings of Jehovah
than ours? and perhaps, for a similar reason, Americans

being loved, not because kinsmen of God incarnate, but be
cause appointed to reflect the brightness of that true light over
the nations of the earth.
II. There is another view which those, addressed by Moses,
were directed to take — a view of their inheritance, their
present privileges and advantages. These are emunerated in
"great and goodly cities which they builded not, and houses,
full of aU good things, which they filled not, and wells dig
ged, which they digged not ; vine-yards and olive-trees, which
they planted not." What resources for comfort and enjoy
ment and prosperity have we ! what a heritage is ours !
We possess, at the outset, a territory of stupendous extent,
reaching from the rock, where, two centuries ago, the Pilgrims
greeted the morning sun, to the waters, called " peaceful,"
where it sets in glory, throwing back its last beams, through
" golden gates." Over an expanse of two thousand miles
square, the American roams as lordly proprietor.
Within these borders, consider the natural resources. For
agriculture, there are lands of paradisiac richness, either laden
with the luxuriant growth of nature's wUdness, or waving
heavUy with the products of man's sowing. For manufac
tures, where, within the province of one people, can be found
a similar variety and an equal abundance ? Its gold mines
pour forth their treasures with a prodigality, which may one
day depreciate their worth, throughout the world. Its copper
regions are unequalled, on the face of the earth, for extent
and value. While, of iron and coal — ^minerals, the most use
ful and efficient in advancing the refinements of civilization —
there is an abundance sufficient for the wants of the world ;
these, hke bullion heaped up in vaults, are laid away in the
caverns ofthe earth and in the clefts of the mountains, for the
ages to come.
Take a survey of the various channels of communication,
natural and artificial ; these lakes and rivers, scattered through-

10
out the continent as streets in a city, bearing, upon their sur
face, ships of wondrous size, engaged in exchanging and dis
tributing, over the land, the proceeds of prairie, forest and
mine ; and these supplemented by rail-ways and canals — of
the former of which thirty-eight thousand miles are in opera
tion and in process of construction, and of the latter more
than five thousand miles are in constant use.
Eeflect upon the spirit of enterprise and discovery which,
possessed by past generations, is transmitting its results to us,
and which, still active and successful in the labors of the
living, seems to be usheriug in the millenial day of earth's
glory. So rapid has been the subjugation of this vast terri
tory by the hand of the diligent laborer that, even in this our
day, the father, on the Atlantic coast, may relate a like expe
rience with the son from the distant West, and both speak of
stately and unbroken forests "budding and blossoming," be
fore their eye, " as the rose," and of the rude and unsightly
cabin, now supplanted by mansions of luxury and comfort.
Already, has the plough-share struck the base of the Eocky
Mountains, while the plough-man ascends its summits, to
behold the lands beyond. Already, have those wires, tremu
lous with thought and audible with voices, been stretched
from center to circumference, condensing space into a point
and abbreviating duration to a moment, transforming the body
politic into a body physical, whose nerves of sensation report
simultaneously, from the head to the foot, tidings of pleasure
or pain, of peace or of war, of prosperity or of adversity.
Already, have the various agencies of power, as existing in
nature, been grasped by man and made subservient to his use,
and tributary to his comfort. So wonderful are the appHances
and contrivances effected by human wisdom, that, as in the
original creation, we look back with adoring awe from man
the creature to God his Creator, because of this testimony to
TTip greatness and power. So may we also regard these stu
pendous results, which have been and are now being secured.

11
in the manifold departments of industry, as declaring the
greatness and glory of that people, whose handy work they
show forth.
If ever there were, on earth, a land furnished with the ele
ments of wealth, of prosperity and of influence, then, that
land is ours. If ever a nation partook largely and immeasur
ably of the bounties of heaven, and had, within themselves,
the resources for constituting a perfect independence of every
other nation, then is it ours. Like a planet in its complete
ness, in its fullness, in its sufficiency, America might move on,
with an isolated grandeur, among the separate kingdoms of
the earth, diffusing everywhere with a liberal hand, but asking
no return. Such is our inheritance. Such, the glory of our
land, our day, our generation.
III. But in satiety, there is danger, as well as in destitution;
in greatness and glory, equally as in dishonor and shame. It
was to the Jews, when they had " eaten and were full," that
admonitory language was addressed by the God of Abraham.
It is to us, having reached the almost perfect stature of our
mahhness, rioting in the midst of plenty, boasting of strength,
numbers, extent and prosperity, and, more than all, of a future
whose limits are undefined ; it is to ua that the God of our
Fathers also speaks, " Beware, lest thou forget the Lord,
which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the
house of bondage." And by this, may be understood, that
we are to continue in the possession of a reverential and pious
spirit, rendering, to Almighty God, the cheerful homage of
love and obedience. Or, still more pointedly, it is a command
to pursue a religious life and to bring forth the fruits of
righteousness. This is a duty. It is also a necessity, since our permanent
existence, as a great and prosperous people, rests upon it.
The statement, that a special obligation is laid upon us to
be a holy people, "whose God is the Lord," commends itself.

12
at once, to reason and to conscience. We draw a distinction
between the Jewish people and nations, whose existence was
cotemporary. While admitting it to be the duty of aU, by
whom .Jehovah was known, to honor and serve him, we un
hesitatingly recognize the fact that far heavier and more im
perative obligations rested upon the former, than upon any
other. And simply, for the reason that they were so distin
guished by divine blessings, and made, so conspicuously, the
recipients of richest mercies. It is, on account of the evident
presence of the same kind and generous hand, through all the
days that are past, guiding over the deep waters of trial ; de-
hvering in the midst of jeopardy ; instructing in times of
ignorance ; strengthening the weakness of juvenile years, and
then subsequently throwing open, to the enterprise of a free
people, a continent in extent with its hidden caverns enriched
and its soil highly fertihzed ; but above all, vouchsafing to us
religious blessings and privileges, such as the world had never
before known — that we owe an inconceivable debt of grati
tude to the Author and Giver of all — a gratitude which can
find its appropriate expression, only in a life surrendered to
his honor and glory. Such is the duty resting upon us, this
day, as constituent members of this great Eepubhc, as heirs of
the rich bequests of a laborious ancestry, as partakers of the
accumulated, and still ever augmenting mercies of a benignant
God. But I said also that a venerated esteem of the Holy Scrip
tures, and the cultivation and preservation of gospel virtues
were needful as the essential condition of attaining that hon
orable destiny, to which God, in his providences, points. It
is natural for man to regard these elements of distinction,
which I have named, as the sure pledges of a continued great
ness. He turns boastfully to the past history of our land, and
then to the present indications of vitality and vigor, aud re
cognizes in all this the germ of the future. The political eco
nomist will invite our thoughts to those physical advantaged

13
which serve to increase population, industry, wealth and mili
tary strength. The educationist will advert to the general in
telligence of the people, and exalt intellectual culture as the
conservator of our freedom and prosperity. While the in
flamed partizan, tvbsorbed in a favorite scheme of legislation
— wholly right and wise it may be — will make that, the pivot
of weal or woe. But believe them not. There may be some
degree of stability arising from a wide extended commerce ;
the independent and intelligent mind of the present and com
ing generations may encourage a hopeful feeling, while great
importance is ever to be attached, to humane and prudent legis
lation, yet, in none of these sources, can be found the guarantee
of future renown and influence. It is only in the careful
nursing of that tender plant, which was set in our midst by
the hand of the Pilgrims ; for this alone is the true Cedar of
Lebanon, which can grow up and spread its broad and pro
tecting branches over the entire land. This is the one ingre
dient in our cup of joy, which can permeate the whole mass,
and infuse an attribute of immortality. This alone of all the
wonderful agencies, which have occasioned our glory in the
days that are gone, is the potent influence, which can ensure
its constancy in the years that remain. It is not simply mo
rality, but Christian principle ; not an exterior vigor and ex
pansion, but an inward life ; not justice and equity between
man and man, but righteousness toward God ; not the success
of any particular national policy, nor the elevation of a fa
vorite candidate to the highest seat of honor, but the enthrone
ment of the great Jehovah over our country's interests in all
their length and breadth. It is the embrace and practice of
religion, as taught by Jesus its founder, that can alone estab
lish the base, on which this mighty fabric rests, that can con
solidate, at the center, every antagonistic interest, and cement,
in indissoluble bonds, the myriads within its pale. Do you
doubt it ? Look at history. This tells us, in mournful tones,
that they, who withdraw their reverence from the one true

14
God, and trust not in his almighty sovereignty with all their
boasted wisdom and strength and greatness, surely rush to
destruction. There stand the ruins of Babylon ; and echoing
still in its solitary chambers, are the words of its founder.
" Is not this great Babylon which I have built, by the might
of my power and for the honor of my majesty ? Wander
around Tyre, with the remembrance that she said to " gold,
thou art my hope, and to fine gold, thou art my confidence."
Pass through Egypt and read upon its walls, " Who is the
Lord that I should obey his voice?" These are they, who
abandoned the service of God. How, he laid upon them the
rod of his wrath ; how, his forbearance ceased and judgment
held its destructive sway, let the historian report and the tra
veler of to-day attest. I might point you to France iu the
days, when all reverence for God was openly and universally
disowned ; when the name and image of Christ were banished
from her temples of worship, and Eeason was lifted to the
highest pinnacle of esteem ; when the experiment was
fully and fairly tried, of cutting loose from every bond of
obligation to a God on high, and what is the testimony?
Alas ! it speaks of blood, of carnage, of social anarchy, of
universal vice, of superstition, of infidelity, of temporary
ruin. And, from these blended strains of sorrow, comes the
expostulation, which is in unison with all the sacred teachings,
"Beware! oh, beware ! lest thou forget the Lord thy God."
My hearers ! this is our only sure and trustworthy safeguard.
Without it, my eye, guided by the word of prophecy, and
confined, in its visions, by 1^e ruins of former empires, looks
down the vista of years, and beholds these thoroughfares, now
animate with life, silent as the grave ; these great and goodly
cities in our day, the centers of influence throughout the
world, depopulated and extinct ; their glory fled for ever ;
their temples fallen and crumbling to dust ; their senate cham
bers, mouldering heaps, desolate as the Coliseum at Eome.
The waters of these lakes and rivers roll idly on ; while a

15
solitary wilderness like that, which but a few years since was
cleared away, stretches once again along their shores.
But preserve and perpetuate through a rehgious education,
the principles of generations gone; cling, with an unyielding
grasp, to the doctrines of the revealed word ; worship and
love and obey the God of our fathers, the God, who brought
us up out of Egypt from the house of bondage ; and then,
what scenes of grandeur may be witnessed ! History cannot
inform us, for no nation was ever like this nation. Imagina
tion cannot define them, for they surpass fancy. Onward,
shall be our progress untH the end comes. Like the sun in
his central and overruling grandeur, our hght shall shine forth
through the length and breadth of earth, illuminating them
who sit in darkness, and re-producing itself in ever widening
circles, " till, like a sea of glory," its spirit of freedom, of in
telhgence, of enterprise, of philanthropy and piety, " shall
spread from pole to pole."

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