National Character | Page 6

science;--this is requisite for the welfare of nations.
It would easily follow from this mutual dependence of nations, even if
it did not come to us in a more direct way, that the intercommunion of
nations should be guided and governed by religious principles, and for
the end of highest mutual spiritual benefit. Nay, the statement may be
made thus, in reference 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?"
* * * * *
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