National Character | Page 6

to us who know what true religion is, and who are bound to go according to the light we possess, and not according to the darkness of others,--that the intercommunion of nations should be conducted on Christian principles, and for the end of the diffusion and establishment of the Gospel of Christ.
Blessed is the nation whose God being the Lord, who, as the first-born, and fullest-grown, and highest-favored, in the Lord's family of nations, becomes the loving instructor and helper of the younger brethren.
Looking this day upon the brotherhood of nations, we behold one sight which might excite our joyful hope, were it not for another closely connected with it, which must excite our astonishment and sorrow. We behold, on the one hand, the nations of the earth brought into close proximity and to the possibility of easy friendship, by the many physical improvements of the age. These improvements, as we see, are made and first used by enlightened and Christian nations,--and we are encouraged to ask, shall not these improvements be the channels and vehicles for conveying to all nations the influences of the gospel? In this bringing of the ends of the earth together, by those whose great glory is their possession of the knowledge of God's salvation, shall not "all the ends of the earth," through their agency, speedily be brought "to see the salvation of God?" But alas! The ardency of our hopes is quenched, when we behold this day the most enlightened and powerful and happy of the whole brotherhood of nations, whose great tie is that of natural and Christian love, and whose great duty is to strengthen the cords of love amongst all their brotherhood,--when we behold these nations, submitting themselves to the demon of national hatred and revenge, employing the agencies which should convey the gospel of peace to all mankind, in transporting the munitions of war, and then putting forth all their skill and energies in planning and executing, with the aids of the most matured science, and by means of the most ingenious and mighty enginery, the devilish work of national desolation and destruction.
Can we, my hearers, conceive of a higher and more horrid contradiction of the whole spirit of our religion than a national war? And can there be anything more discouraging to him who hopes for the speedy diffusion of the Gospel amidst the nations, than the contemplation of the present war,--a war not only waged by nations the most Christian, but a war involving no principle and devoid of all glory,--a war stamped in its every feature, and chargeable at its every step, with the attribute and the crime of murder.
O when shall war be recognized in its brutality and fiendishness and hellish horrors? When shall patriotism separate itself from a proud ambition and a cruel revenge, and become the loving handmaid of a pure philanthropy? When shall Christian nations become capable of a Christian transaction? Must "the sword devour forever?"
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III. We may not omit on such an occasion, and with such a subject before us, to speak of the destiny of our own nation.
It would seem from many considerations often presented, that God intends great things for us as a nation. The time and circumstances of the original settlement of our country, and the character of the original settlers, is regarded as one indication of promise. How long God kept this continent concealed from the view of the civilized world! And, when it was discovered, how long he kept back the nations from its successful settlement! Not until the Protestant Reformation had wrought its great results, and nations were prepared for the work under its tuition, did God begin to people this country;--and even then, it was a "winnowed seed" which he planted here. Men tried in the fires of persecution, and strong in the love of God and the desire of liberty, laid the foundations of our republic. Is not this peculiar beginning prophetic of a glorious consummation?
Our past experience and present condition seem to confirm the tokens of our auspicious beginning. Colonial dependence has given way to National independence. Thirteen States have increased to thirty-one. Three millions of people have increased to thirty. Immense forests have been subdued, and the soil yields supplies for the famishing of other lands. Great manufactories crowd our rivers and darken our towns. Our commerce whitens every sea and swarms in every port. Our people are intelligent, and virtuous, and happy beyond all example. Our government is strong and efficient. What is needed to make our destiny glorious, but just to go on in the way that we have come?
Then see the prospect which invites us on. Vast territories are still unoccupied. What shall prevent the flood of population from pouring westward and overflowing these