blackened, and the woe-fraught clouds stretched over our heads; while our citizens, some in trembling, and others in sullen suspense, were expecting their fate, God-for surely it was the work of no created wisdom or power --God sent help from his holy hill. The arm of vengeance, raised to hurl its wrathful bolt, he suddenly arrested. Through the opening gloom, the light of his deliverance beamed; and so brilliant was the interposition, that nothing but, atheistic impiety could forbear exclaiming, This salvation is from the Lord! Towards other nations he hath exercised less patience. Their sin, in itself, was no greater than our own; their means of knowledge were inferior; nor were they so often admonished with solemn and pointed rebuke; yet they have perished by the frown of the Eternal, and their memorial is blotted from under heaven. But we are spared, are protected, are prospered! Americans, the lenity is divine! Because the Lord delighteth to do us good, is he thus indulgent. He prevents us with his mercies. He surrounds us with his compassions he loads us with his benefits. "Nay," said his reprieving sentence, “slay them not. Let grace be magnified in their preservation. Though they have richly merited the punishment which hangs over them, and merited a

thousandfold more, though they have hitherto set at naught my instruction, let the dispensation of love heap coals of fire upon their heads." My brethren, that heart which is not, in any degree, melted by such goodness, must lie under the curse of triple hardness; and if it have no influence in leading to repentance, every possible excuse will be taken from us; and when God arises to judgment, we will stand, without an extenuating plea, before the bar of righteousness.

Finally, by the continuance of peace, numbers have access to the privileges of the gospel, who, otherwise, would not only have been deprived of them, but would have fallen a sacrifice to the sword of war: and this is a display of the mercy of God, which, on the present occasion, we may not overlook.

A sinner receives a boon for which he cannot be sufficiently thankful, when he is permitted to have a nail in God's holy place, and to attend on the ministrations of life: when his days are lengthened out in the enjoyment of those precious means by which pardon is communicated to the guilty, and purity infused into the vile: by which the slaves of Satan are made Christ's free men; and felons of the pit, constituted citizens of heaven, and heirs of God. Had the removal of providential re

straint left us as ready to wage war, as the intemperance of some and the wickedness of others were to urge it, many who now worship in the house of prayer would have been numbered with the dead. Many, to whom the redemption of the blessed Jesus and all the glories of his covenant all freely offered, would have been this day writhing in the place of torment. Unprepared to die, multitudes would have gone to death, and in one hour been swept by hundreds, into the world of spirits; all their hopes of mercy blasted, and their immortal souls undone forever.

And now, my brethren, since the Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad, how shall we express our gratitude? What shall we render to him for all his benefits? Taking that cup of salvation, which his own hand hath tendered to us, let us call upon his name. This, beyond controversy, is an immediate and essential part of our duty, to pay him explicit and public homage: to recognize by devout and marked acknowledgment, our dependence in his favor, and the blessings we have reaped from his protection.

There is a religion of society, as such, a tribute of reverence which it owes to the living God. Formed under his auspices, and nurtured by his care, preserved by his power,

and replenished with his bounty, he requires from it, on these accounts, social worship and the social vow. The honor of his sovereign rule he cannot relinquish, and the confession of it we may not withhold. It is true, that our excellent chief magistrate, in those critical circumstances into which he was thrown, by the danger of foreign war, and the madness of insurrection among ourselves, displayed, in a conspicuous manner, those governmental virtues which are at once the duty and the glory of his official pre-eminence. The other magistrates, who acted in concert with him, imbibed the spirit of their station, and showed themselves a terror to evil-doers. The citizens, by whose military co-operation, their patriotic efforts were carried into complete effect, brought into splendid action the principles of men, who enjoy true liberty, and know how to value and defend it. They have all deserved well of their country; but their exertions, sublime and heroic as they were, would have been utterly fruitless without the countenance of HIM, who is the governor among the natrons. Let us not, therefore, rest in second causes, nor limit our praise to human instruments. Let us not disregard them, but look beyond them. Let us make our boast in God, who, in the day of trouble, covered us with

the shield of his omnipotence. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Americans say, if it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD who made heaven and earth. Therefore, Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts. worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness; fear before him, all the earth!

Another becoming expression of our gratitude to God, for the goodness which we are met to commemorate, is to keep at a cautious distance from the "arrogance of prosperity."

If we are elevated to a dignified rank among the nations of the earth; if our goodly heritage contains a larger proportion of freedom and happiness, than has fallen to the lot of others: if our privileges, civil, religious, and political, secured under the shadow of the Almighty, have