As bishop Butler suggested, nations may get mad as well as individuals,

but in their wildest frenzy they usually produce works and speak

words superior to any thing attained by their predecessors. The most

authentic and binding record asserts that "God hath made of one blood

all nations who dwell upon the face of the earth;" and the obdurate who

dare not or will not believe this truth may find it verified when all

their gushing veins mingle in a common retribution. The great Father

never formed the limbs of his children to be chafed with fetters, nor

their faculties to wither in gloom. Action that is enforced regardless

of freedom, is like the relation of a brute to the fierce rider upon

his back, or the tingle of a lash to the skin of a slave. For all such,

the lowliest as well as the loftiest, was vouchsafed the intellectual

sun which illumines every man who comes into the world. It will never

descend beneath the horizon, neither can any clouds long obscure it,

but augment its effulgence rather. In the accumulated heritage which

each generation gathers from its precursors, nothing is accepted that

has not life. For this reason, the progress of society is continual,

however slow sometimes; and this progress, which comprises all the

conquests made by man through the principal branches of ameliorating

civilization, is in fact a succession of triumphs over ignorance, and

will end not merely in the gain of a battle but in the complete success

of the war.

Revolutions are the sudden explosions of slowly aggregated facts,

often brought about by some particular occasion, but seldom or never

premeditated by any one man, system, or party. They result from a

general and spontaneous feeling that liberty is not less necessary to

the moral, than to the political, perfection of a people.

Hence the prodigious shock that was given to the world, when the

colossus of American independence, rending from his limbs the chains

imposed by monarchical power, stood erect in the full possession

of inalienable rights, and went forth to emancipate mankind. As

heterogeneous metals dissolve and amalgamate anew in the white heat of

a furnace, so under the burning breath of colonial eloquence all the

settlements of the Atlantic coast blended in the aspirations of one

spirit, and contended for civil and religious freedom as a common boon.

The great hero whose name it is one of the numerous glories of the

present age to bear, was the visible destiny of his day, and invincible

in his genius, like the new ideas of which he was the champion.

Washington established firmly and forever that principle of

representation, which is the political glory of the Teutonic race; and

which was destined, under the brilliant skies of this newly discovered

continent, to create and control a republican confederacy, outrunning

all preceding empires, and, unlike them, not founded in the subjection

of particular classes, but on the enjoyment of equal and universal

rights. The structure of nature, and the conquests of truth together

indicate the direction and accelerated surety with which this sublime

purpose is becoming realized. All the historic lands of antiquity,

massed in a huge group of continents, barely extend through similar

climatic zones; while America alone traverses every clime of earth,

abounds in every variety of natural phenomena, and is most profuse

in all sorts of valuable productions. The plains of the Amazon and

of the Mississippi, compared with those of Siberia and Sahara, show

the natural contrast and indicate the divine design. God has made

the southern extremities of the two hemispheres little, pointed,

and barren, while they grow broader toward the north, and teem most

abundantly with material and mental wealth in the west.

As we have shown in respect to the occidental advancement of other

civilizing elements, it was appropriate that the first fountain of

philosophic wisdom among us should be opened in the oriental metropolis

of New England, and that all modifying theories for a while should

thence be derived. That wise people, like their fathers, until recently

seemed content with the metaphysics of the sensations, and were

accustomed to assume for fundamental principles, as a primary basis,

truths obtained only through the judgment, by means of the observation

of external phenomena. But philosophers have happily receded from

that narrow view, and are beginning to perceive that this species of

insight never ascends to the supreme order of truth necessary and

absolute. They are in fact only conclusions deduced from sensation,

and are capable of being or not being, according as the exterior

objects are presented under one aspect or another. But the generic and

immutable principles of freedom, art, science, and morals, in no sense

find their source in the deductions drawn from external objects and

attributes; they rest entirely on those primitive and necessary ideas

which form part of the soul, and originate anterior to all reflection

or comparison. This more spiritual philosophy spreads luminously with

expanding day, and promises to be perfected near the meridian of high

noon. As communications become facile, rapid, and extensive among

men, isolated causes decrease in influence and philosophic truths are

rapidly fortified. Individual action is less perceived, while the

masses swell and rise in importance. Opinions, like the sea, become

clear and constant in proportion to their depth and free action. In

no age or condition has human nature ever disinherited the faculties

originally given for justice, veracity, beauty, humanity and religion;

it never acts legitimately without cultivating these, by repelling the

passions and obstacles opposed to their growth.

The number of original thinkers constantly increases, and it is

this progress which mortifies presumption, while it justifies hope.

Philosophy does not dampen literary enthusiasm, nor clip the wings

of divine art, but follows in their flight, and measures both their

object and powers. It is the history of this mastership in the realms

of intellect which affords the light by which alone we can know and

comprehend all other histories; while its generalization contains not

merely the most important truths, but all that can be strictly called

truth. War may sometimes be inevitable, and is not to be regarded

as the greatest evil, since it conduces to that succession of ideas

which ministers to the perfection of human nature. Each victorious age

endures for a time, and then passes away, to give place to a mightier

and a better; but humanity is superior to all epochs, outlives all,

and is benefited by them. That society is already fatally sick which,

instead of anticipating in the future an improved succession of the

present, only fears its destruction. Under the direction of Providence,

great revolutions are more and better than the mere shifting of scenery

on a stage; not only do they give an electric shock to the spectators,

and quicken their intellectual energies for the hour, but they also

effect substantial good by creating an enduring change. But fortunately

the chief battles of our age are moral rather than martial. A spiritual

music prevails over the wildest tempests, crying Peace. Reason carries

a white flag which she will plant on the central mountains of America,

and bid it wave on free breezes as the banner and blessing of the world.

Popular education renders a people morally incapable of adopting any

other than republican institutions. The qualities which belong to high

culture, and which may be dangerous when confined to a few, are of

unspeakable advantage when dispersed among the many. Demagogues are

disarmed, when constituents are enlightened. The tendency, in every

thing connected with the knowledge or interests of man in our country

and age, is to derive light from every quarter, in one consistent and

comprehensive scheme of thought. The literature and philosophy of

the age now transpiring superabound in vast materials for progress,

accumulated in all past time, and which render it probable that we

are on the eve of an intellectual transition, similar to that of the

seventeenth century, but on a vastly higher and broader scale. Never

was there a combination of all human knowledge in a more complete and

systematic form; nor has any preceding epoch been so remarkable for

the manner in which it has contributed to investigate, define, and

establish the principles of philosophy as a science. And it is our

joy that the "finality" is not yet reached. Every to-day announces

some new victory, which is the sure forerunner of a better achievement

to-morrow. It was once said to the great Napoleon, "Sire, your son must

be brought up with the utmost care, in order to be able to replace

you." "Replace me!" he replied: "I could not replace myself; I am the

child of circumstances." He felt that the power lent him was for a

given purpose, up to an hour which he could neither hasten nor retard,

and that when his mission was accomplished it could never be repeated.

When a social transformation has become necessary, vitality abandons

the superseded and transports itself into a new vehicle of progress,

augmenting and fortifying that which is already a felt need, and

openly demanded by the enlarged wants of a more advanced age. A higher

sagacity requires then that we disregard the inferior offshoots of a

past growth, and apply ourselves only to second the perfect development

of that indestructible germ whose true worth is seen only in its

matured fruit. To restrain the future by the past, is to mingle death

with life; it is to violate all the laws of nature, and consequently

to create social misery just so far as mankind are thus diverted from

their legitimate career. If we transpose the order of Providence a

moment, and place the highest perfection in antiquity the most remote,

or allow that a greater good lies behind the present hour, all

philosophical laws are instantly inverted, and we can arrive at nothing

but chaos to support a supposition so absurd.

When Camillus besieged the city of Falerii, a schoolmaster offered

to betray the children of the people into his hands, and secure for

him the conquest of the city; and the magnanimous Roman caused the

miscreant to be scourged to his dwelling by the children he sought to

betray. Thank God, that is the spirit of our own Great West! Earth

never bore such mighty billows of patriotic intelligence as are now

bounding from the Atlantic to the Pacific shores. It is on this immense

area, and with enhanced glories near the now wilder regions, that the

grandest humanitary work of philosophic amelioration under heaven

will be performed. The hardy pioneer, free as the air he breathes,

and fervid as the flames he kindles to enlarge and render fruitful

the precincts of a happy home, feels that a vast difference exists

between himself and irrational creatures. The progress of a brute,

purely individual and limited within fixed bounds, never extends to

its species, they being immutably stationary; while the human race,

like the individual, perfects itself by a continuous development. In

this august privilege man has opened before him a career as vast as the

duration of time, and beyond that is presented the fullness of that

great end he was created to attain. Whenever human society arrives at

a condition wherein it can not perfect its progress, it must dissolve,

in order to renew and establish a fresh and firm foundation which no

longer reposes on the past. But no dissolution between the earlier

members of our confederacy is possible in the presence of the great

conservative energies latent in the newer States. Their numerical

preponderance is one guaranty of national perpetuity, but their

superior love of untrammeled thought is the greatest and best. It is in

the far West that mental heroes will arise, who, from a comprehensive

analysis of history, will elaborate the thread which is needful to

conduct us through the labyrinth of revolutions, systems, and schools.

Borne on the wings of divine inspiration, they will hover above all

the peculiarities of eras or sects, to comprise in one all harmonizing

generalization, not the actual merely, but the possible also, and the

manifestly designed, which embraces in one vast idea, God, man, the

universe, and universal amelioration.

We have said above that time is the first great requisite in

executing the high behests of humanity. Let it here be added that the

intervention of civil power, or arbitrary constraint in any form, so

far from expediting human improvement, will retard it indefinitely.

No reform is real and enduring, save as it is the fruit of profound

persuasion. It works a change, not in the relations of things, but

in the conditions of intelligence. Above the ruins of obsolete

civilization, then, let us elevate the sacred flambeau of immortal

truth so high, that it may shine upon all eyes, and diffuse its

effulgence through the mists of error everywhere, to reclaim wanderers

from their deceptive paths. This noble and pacific conquest through the

agency of divine philosophy, will, step by step, cause all nations to

assume the places assigned them by the Creator, in the most perfect of

cities, under the most perfect laws. The exalted enterprise, committed

by Jehovah to those of his people who possess the richest harvest of

his gifts, accumulated for our use in the instrumental salvation of

our race, will gather from the extremes of vassalage and ignorance a

sublime unity, at once the source and perfection of that wisest freedom

which is realized in the liberty of the children of God.

Every emancipation that is reasonable, and therefore enduring, implies

the previous acquisition of mental illumination and moral force

sufficient to render their possessor competent to enter the society of

the free. If this condition is neglected from personal considerations,

and with fanatical intent, the premature enterprise will end in the

destruction of its presumptuous leaders as its first victims. It is

the fable of Orpheus or Prometheus unhappily realized. The general

law of right is eternal and unchangeable; the particular claim to

the benefit thereof must be admitted as soon as there is a capacity

for its exercise. All laws, customs, and institutions which array

themselves against the genius of progressive improvement are fatal to

the people whose material energies they petrify, and whose spiritual

aspirations they destroy. Whatever in man becomes actually stationary,

begins that instant to decay, and the charnel-house presents the only

recommendation such conservatism can claim. Races and nations so

circumstanced speedily resemble those cities of the desert whose dusty

ruins serve only as the frightful lair of vermin the most ferocious and

abject. It is a great waste of cotton and sweet gums to embalm the

dead on this side the globe; we had much better spend those and other

like commodities in promoting the welfare of the living. It is equally

useless to resist the flow of waters, the budding of trees, and the

growth of plants in unfolding spring; in the name of winter to protest

against the fecundity of nature, while the sun is ascending, and moist

zephyrs re-open in her bosom all the sources of life.

The immense work of universal regeneration through the agency of

righteousness and love has already commenced, and must proceed. Until

its complete triumph, there will be no repose, because until that

consummation, humanity can not cease to suffer. But the inevitable day

hastens on, when the people will have but one will and one action, as

they are actuated by one interest only, and its dawn will be the advent

of universal joy. Let us not fear, but labor with cheerful courage,

since for the attainment of an end so magnificent, no exhausting toil

should be denied. What better employment for the few days allotted us

on earth? If sometimes we suffer lassitude in our repeated endeavors,

let us raise our eyes with our hearts, and contemplate at once the

omnipotent decree which insures final success, and the ennobled

generations who hail their benefactors from afar. After long ages of

servitude, be certain that the people will arise, brave and powerful

to sweep away the contracted boundaries within which they have been

so long packed, and will demand all those rights which have been

wrested from them by iniquitous laws. Then will open a new era to

abused humanity, when God will recognize and bless the noblest of

his creatures, man, for he will then have entered upon the way which

from eternity had been assigned. Equality and liberty, become for

the people a sacred dogma forever affirmed in the common reason and

conscience, will then effectively realize itself in the comprehensive

social organizations and philosophical perfection it will spontaneously

create.

CHAPTER V.

RELIGION.

Sacred literature constitutes the most vivid testimony one can consult

respecting the course of the human mind, its phases, progress,

eclipses and illuminations; the influence of moral systems, national

governments, and popular customs; the character of diversified races,

the knowledge of the past, and the hope of the future.

The sensibility of pagan antiquity was more powerfully impressed

with the perfectibility latent in creation than their intellect had

the ability to discriminate, or their conscience to realize. At the

best transition periods of literary and scientific excellence, in

the conclaves of their divinities, they represented each god holding

some musical instrument, thus denoting the exquisite and eternal

harmony which pervades the universe. But true religion is not the mere

enthusiasm of science which worships a great natural law, as one adores

an element frozen into a vast ice-idol; it is rectified intelligence

beholding the almighty Father, palpable in the glorious creation as

it beams all around, and sanctified affection especially exercised in

devotion to the incarnated, atoning, and interceding Son, through the

power and grace of the eternal Spirit. Montesquieu, in his Soul of

Law, has noticed the fact, that Christianity, in fitting us for the

felicity of the next life, creates the chief happiness of this. Such

exalted fruits are produced by divine redemption wherever its influence

is diffused. For instance, despite the grandeur of the empire and the

viciousness of the climate, it prevented the establishment of despotism

in Ethiopia, and bore into the midst of Africa the legislation and

refinements of Europe. Instead of such destruction as was wrought by

Timour and Gengis Kan, while they devastated the cities and tribes

of Asia, or the perpetual massacres executed by the chiefs of Greece

and Rome, the victories of the Cross leave to conquered nations such

grand donations as life, liberty, law, refinement, and a religion which

injures none but blesses all. Heavenly truth teaches man his duties by

unfolding to him his destiny. It does not leave him unaided in secular

academies, frigid universities, and pagan gymnasia, to vegetate in a

brutal ferocity a hundred times more venomous than the savage state.

Pure religion civilizes its subjects by nourishing them with truth, as

well as with bread; it ennobles them by aggrandizing the intellect and

renovating the heart, thus imparting to the feeblest pupil formed in

her school, more lofty and substantial philosophy than can be possessed

by the most erudite worldly sage. Its process is of another sort, and

directed to different ends than those contemplated by materialists

who undertake to perfect the education of a people through evolutions

rather than by instructions, placing in their hands a mute stone

to facilitate the increase of transient physical force, instead of

inculcating those high lessons which to the soul give eternal life.

The salvation of the social world depends upon personal and popular

allegiance to Christ, from whom mankind, as a depraved race, are

spiritually and politically detached. It is necessary by all means,

that public institutions should be constructed on Christian principles,

under that divine guidance which, blending things temporal with

things celestial, leads both to a common centre and explains how

coincident are authority and obedience, while it subordinates force

to reason, to righteousness, and the knowledge of infallible truth.

Until this end is attained, there can be neither peace nor content;

for if the legislator, deceived in his design, establishes a principle

different from that which is produced from the nature of things, the

state will not cease to be agitated until it is either destroyed or

changed, and invincible justice reclaims her original empire. When

the use of human faculties is controlled, but not confined, by the

doctrines of Christianity which contain all truth, by the precepts and

counsels which nourish every virtue, it tends incessantly toward the

development of that intelligence and those sentiments which constitute

moral perfection. It is thus that the heavenly influence acts without

interruption upon popular literatures, arts, sciences, philosophies,

laws; and this unfolding of native capacities, which is never long

arrested, forms the true progress of those civilizing powers in their

potent relation to Christian nations. If the divine preservative is

withdrawn from a people, they immediately sink into barbarism, and one

everywhere finds profoundly marked the traces of that true light which

once shined, though the candlestick be now removed. If primitive faith

is allowed to become adulterated, vague opinions will arise from the

bosom of doubt and indifference, like the sterile clouds which float in

a wintry sky, till night deepens and all is obscured.

Herein is a great difference which distinguished the Christian

religion from all anterior systems. In pagan antiquity, the master

could, without internal trouble, possess his slave; princes claimed

to belong to a divine race, and the patrician felt that he and his

plebeian neighbor were born far apart. This was revolted against

more than complained of, as the benighted were actuated by natural

indignation rather than by conscientious reason. But, under the

gospel, within the oppressor, as in the oppressed, a heavenly voice

evermore proclaimed the eternal fact that all are equal before God,

and that justice is a boon and bond for all. Despite this ennobling

principle, this sanctification of the human conscience, however, the

advancement of mankind remained subordinate to the same rules. It was

ever requisite that successive emancipations should be preceded by an

adequate development of intelligence, and a corresponding elevation of

moral sentiment. Freedom is a calamitous conquest to one not fitted to

enjoy it. But under the instruction of the gospel, and by virtue of

its power, the slave, the imbecile, the mendicant, and alien, become

equals and brothers in common with the master and citizen, however

unbounded may be his wealth and extensive his power. It is the second

moral creation of humanity. The natural conscience thereby receives,

as incontestable axioms, laws and obligations which in all preceding

experience it never discovered in itself. It is meant by this that the

application of these laws may become both easy and certain. The office

of the Gospel is not to found a state or impart a code. It is addressed

to man, whom it leaves in the exercise of free will. The light which

each one brings upon earth, by the celestial message becomes more

brilliant and divine; but it is, and ever must be, more or less

obscured by ignorance and perverted by passion. Absolute fraternity and

immaculate charity we should not expect to become the law of the state;

they would then cease to be virtues. Our duty and perfection consist

in causing them to control and diminish our imperfections. But in

proportion as the spirit of the gospel is comprehensively exemplified,

and obedience to its requirements is complete, earth, purified from

disorder, becomes the image of heaven, and is the sojourn of peace,

innocence, and holy joy. The true happiness of man and the healthful

tranquillity of states can be established and preserved only by the

sacred worship of that religion which, in the energetic language of

Tertullian, is "a second royalty." The same principle which places

order in society by creating social power, gives order to the family

by constituting domestic power. The two powers resemble each other,

because the family is society on a small scale; they are unequal,

since society at large is a grand family wherein all individuals

are a homogeneous aggregate. But both alike emanate from the power

of God from whose authority alone all fraternity is derived (Eph.

iii. 14, 15). In the same manner, then, as the paternal government

is identical with social power in the family, social power is the

paternal government of general society: it is herein that we may find

a reason for the immortality of power, and perceive why it is that

the religion of Jesus Christ, being the container and communicator

of all excellence, is the wisest and most beneficent civilizer on

earth. Jurists and statesmen are beginning to acknowledge that all

legitimate legislation comes from God, the Father of all just law, and

that our multifarious libraries of conflicting and impotent statutes,

born only of man, resemble a vast hospital of infant foundlings. A

piece of inscribed paper, called a constitution, can never long exist

and be of value, save as it is the exponent of intelligence, sound

morality, and spiritual religion, together with the matured capacity of

self-government based on these.

The word "democracy" was invented two thousand years ago, but for

many centuries the thing itself did not actually exist. It was in the

country of the greatest of great men, and, at the opening of the most

auspicious of the progressive ages, the country and age of Washington,

that real practical equality was established, and that mainly by the

power of reformed religion. A power was then inaugurated higher and

better than that which ruled when the Greek Plato, Phrygian Æsop, and

Roman Epictetus, were bought and sold as slaves. Preceding nations

and religions were in due time excelled, and the mighty successor,

in ascending the new throne of imperial equality, incorporated into

herself all the most enduring and salutary attributes which could be

derived from past civilizations, upon which a better progress, under

these brighter skies, has so happily supervened.

For the preparation of a race for such a destiny as is here enjoyed,

it was necessary that they should at the outset burst those chains

of political and ecclesiastical despotism, which priestcraft had

forged and fastened around the human soul; and how nobly did the

first colonists perform this duty! Bruce and Wallace at the head of

the Covenanters, in Scotland; Cromwell and Milton, Hampden and the

Puritans, in England; Washington and the war of American independence

constituted one continued struggle for civil and religious liberty.

Those fierce and fiery furnaces through which this selectest race

fearlessly passed, were intended to purify and qualify them for the

work of the latter days; and the result is, that at this moment

they are emancipated, and ready to continue the functions of their

Heaven-appointed office. The Bacons, Hookers, Miltons, Souths, Baxters,

Howes, Taylors, and Owens, of the mother country, contributed the

full aggregate of their best wisdom to enrich the commencement of our

theology, and are not wanting in worthy representatives and improved

disciples among us at the present day. Without losing their depth, our

age greatly excels theirs in breadth; and if the few are less erudite,

the masses are infinitely more enlightened. Diffusion, expansion,

universality, is the great principle of American knowledge; and it is

this which distinguishes us above all other lands.

Locke is sometimes represented as the first who asserted the doctrines

of religious freedom; but several preceding authors had expressed

substantially the same views. Such in particular were Sir Thomas More

in his Utopia; some of the earlier Independents, or Brownists; the

incomparable Cudworth; Jeremy Taylor in his Liberty of Prophesying,

published in 1647; Dr. John Owen in a piece on Toleration, annexed to

his Discourse before Parliament the day after the execution of Charles

the First; and Milton in his Treatise of Civil Power in Ecclesiastical

Causes. But these left the work very incomplete. The mediæval period

had been a progress, but it became an impediment not easily displaced

on the stage of its last and most formidable advancement. The English

revolution was the grand event which terminated the seventeenth

century, that heir of all foregoing epochs, and which superseded them

with a divine commission to finish their imperfect endeavors. The two

revolutions which arose in its bosom to close the historical career

of the middle age, were only partial and incomplete. Both movements,

the political and the religious, were local and, therefore, limited,

because their principle lacked generality. But the American revolution

opportunely broke forth to universalize the ameliorating germs which

anterior institutions had conserved, so that their unchecked growth,

and boundless propagation, became possible everywhere. The age of Leo

X. then succumbed, and the age of Washington became the dawn of supreme

freedom for the best good of universal man.

The prophet Ezekiel prefaces his predictions with a striking

delineation of human progress under divine guidance. A whirlwind and

a cloud appear in the north, illumined with a brightness as of fire,

out of which appears the likeness of four living creatures; each has

four faces, four wings, and hands under their wings; and the faces

are severally like those of a man, of a lion, of an ox, and an eagle.

Their wings are raised and joined one to another, and when they moved

it was "straight forward," and they turn not as they go. By the side of

these was a sphere, composed of a "wheel within a wheel," which also

had four faces, was connected with the living creatures, and moved

in perfect harmony with them; was full of eyes, and its operations,

though endlessly diversified, were harmonious in action, and one in

purpose, for all were guided by one great, controlling Agent. The

wheels had a perpetually onward movement, and so immense were they

in circumference, that their "height was dreadful." And such is the

providence of God, a scheme for executing destinies high as heaven,

and enduring as eternity, vast in conception, sublime in results, and,

like their Author, omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. Another

apt and beautiful emblem of the same sovereign disposal closes the

sacred writings. As mediatorial King, the Lord Jesus Christ unrolls

the mysterious scroll, radiant with the eternal purposes of Jehovah,

the controlling of all events, and the overruling of vicissitudes and

revolutions of human affairs. As Matthew was symbolized by the man,

Mark by the lion, and Luke by the ox, so he who was most intimate with

the earthly presence of the Messiah, and who was elected to portray the

final unfolding of the mighty redemption, bore the eagle as indicative

of his inspiration, and the foretokener of final supremacy. That bird

of power has lighted on the banner of our Union, and with it will

sail with supreme dominion in the highest azure, till all glorious

predictions are fulfilled.

Observe in what a remarkable manner the whole of North America was

transferred into Protestant hands. New England early became an object

of desire with France, and nothing seemed more probable at one time

than that she would be the sole possessor thereof. Bancroft records

how, in 1605, De Mont "explored and claimed for France the rivers, the

coasts, and bays of New England. But the decree had gone out that the

beast of Rome should never pollute this land of promise, and it could

not be revoked. The hostile savages first prevented their settlement;

yet they yield not their purpose. Thrice in the following year was the

attempt renewed, and twice were they driven back by adverse winds, and

the third time wrecked at sea. Again did Pourtrincourt attempt the

same enterprise, but was, in like manner, compelled to abandon the

project. It was not so written. This was the land of promise which God

would give to the people of his own choice. Hither he would transplant

the 'vine' which he had brought out of Egypt. Here it should take

root, and send out its boughs into the sea, and its branches unto the

river." At a still later period, a French armament of forty ships of

war sailed from Chebucto, in Nova Scotia, for the purpose of destroying

the nursery of that Puritanism which was destined to pervade this New

World. News of the attempt occasioned a day of fasting and prayer to

be observed in all the churches. While Mr. Prince was officiating in

Old South Church, Boston, on this occasion, and praying most fervently

that the dreaded calamity might be averted, a sudden gust of wind arose

(the day till then had been perfectly clear) so violently as to cause

the clattering of the windows. That was the waft of a tempest at sea,

in which the greater part of the French fleet was wrecked. The duke and

his principal general committed suicide, many of the subordinates died

with disease, and thousands were drowned. A small remnant returned to

France utterly confounded, and the enterprise of resisting Providence

in this direction was abandoned forever. Malignity was rebuked, as

the heathen had previously been driven out. A pestilence raged just

before the arrival of the pilgrims, which swept off vast numbers of

the Indians, and the newly arrived pioneers of universal cultivation

were preserved from absolute starvation by the very corn which savages

had buried for their winter's provisions. Moreover, it should be

here remarked that Lord Lenox and the Marquis of Buckingham were not

permitted to succeed in establishing the colony which they attempted at

New Plymouth. The hierarchy of England, as well as that of Rome, were

foiled before the Independents had arrived, to whom the Court of Heaven

had given the chief sway over this mighty empire of the prospective

church. The historian of those times well observes: "Had New England

been colonized immediately on the discovery of the American continent,

the old English institutions would have been planted under the powerful

influence of the Roman Catholic religion. Had the settlement been made

under Elizabeth, it would have been before the activity of the popular

mind in religion had conducted to a corresponding activity of mind

in politics. The Pilgrims were Englishmen, Protestants, exiles for

religion, men disciplined by misfortune, cultivated by opportunities

of extensive observation, equal in rank as in right, and bound by no

code but that which was imposed by religion, or might be created by the

public will. America opened as a field of adventure just at the time

when mind began to assume its independence, and religion its vitality."

For three centuries, the selectest materials were preparing for their

prepared work. From Wyckliffe proceeded a succession of dauntless

advocates for the emancipation of the human mind from the power of

despotism. The principles proclaimed by Luther and fortified by

Calvin, were adopted from Huss and Jerome, the pupils of the great

original hero of Oxford and Lutterworth. But as the "Morning Star

of the Reformation" arose in western England, so did the full day

dawn from a still remoter horizon, and Puritanism in eastern America

was the Reformation reformed. The sifted wheat of the old world

sowed the prepared soil of the new, whereon the best portion of the

best nation then extant, came to realize the fond expectation of

Columbus, concerning the continent he discovered, when, actuated by

the spirit of prophecy, his adventures westward were urged mainly

"by the hopes he cherished of extending here the kingdom of Christ."

Independency was supreme from the beginning in Massachusetts, and

the revolution hastened the spread of democracy in religion, as in

politics, throughout American society. In those commonwealths where

the aristocratic principle was still strong, as in Virginia, it was

boldly assailed and completely subdued. Entails disappeared, and the

church lost its official rank in the state. Men everywhere began to

feel that they must not longer be Jews of the ancient bondage to law,

but Christians under the new dispensation of grace; not apostles of the

past, but prophets of the future.

All the great theologians of the American church have originated near

where the first spiritual colony was planted, and have constantly

spread their influence toward the West. In this department of high

thought, as in every other professional walk, Europe often republishes

original masterpieces from America, many of which are acknowledged to

be the best ever produced. From New England, too, has emanated every

form of "liberal" doctrine, which has modified primitive sternness,

and tended, perhaps, to develop more fully the wealth of that gospel

which is full of grace and truth. Thus the seeds which Christianity

has sown during eighteen centuries are successively springing up;

liberty to the enthralled, human amity, divine mercy, and equality to

all. Its end is to spiritualize man, to animate all races toward the

highest attainments, and cause the will of God to be done on earth as

it is in heaven. In her mighty advance into the great heart of our

land, Religion recognizes and authenticates the right of human souls to

outstep the limits of the visible world, and to become regenerate and

refreshed in the ideal of eternity.

The immense immigration to our republic at the present time, is filling

another notable page in the providential history of America. Had such

infloodings of aliens occurred at any former period of our history,

they would probably have ruined us. This heterogeneous mass now amounts

to half a million annually, and would have been sufficient to crush our

free institutions in their incipient state. But what might overflow

a sapling, may only refresh the growth and mature the strength of a

sturdy oak. The power of assimilation has happily become more potent

than the influence of the most copious immigration. It was to this

end that the facilities for oceanic transit were restricted, till the

consequences of the greatest enlargement would not render their use

unsafe. How profoundly should we admire that divine wisdom which has

so graciously cast the lines of our heritage, and measured out to us

the responsibilities thereof! Millions of the papal world are wafted

to our shores, to be enlightened, elevated, Christianized, and taught

the prerogatives of freemen, to say nothing of the three millions of

instruments placed in our hands by unrighteous bondage, to "sharpen,

polish, and prepare for the subjugation of another continent to the

Prince of Peace."

From Adam to Augustus transpired the great process of preparation,

incarnation, and elementary diffusion of divine truth. While Japhet

was proceeding to people more than half the globe, his progeny,

Greeks, Romans, and English, successively advanced with accumulative

efficiency to redeem the degenerate descendants of Shem. At length the

predestined father of all ennobling civilization, in the persons of

his selected children, took possession of the continent of America,

and is now executing his most consummate work. To give the latest,

and therefore the best, Japhetic elements a fair opportunity for

undisturbed development here, God caused the preceding stock in western

Europe to turn its commercial ambition toward the East, where England

now wields the sceptre over two hundred millions of the Shemitic race.

Simultaneously with the growth of that gigantic secular power in

British India, a few sons of New England, mighty in faith, conceived a

still grander enterprise, and modern missions bore the blessed gospel

to the most ancient and benighted lands. Young Japhet Christianized in

republican America, and marching with irresistible progress westward

to join senior members of the civilizing household from the opposite

point, according to Gen. ix. 27, "shall enlarge himself, and he shall

dwell in the tents of Shem," taking Ham by the way.

It is not the aim of the Christian religion to stifle the germs of

individuality in man, but rather to disenthrall them from the crushing

burdens with which they are overlaid by the lusts of the flesh and the

vanities of life; as was at the first exemplified in the strongly

marked character of Peter and James, John and Paul. Individuals

so freed and fortified ever constitute the chief agents of wise

amelioration, and are the foremost heroes of comprehensive reforms.

They are the powerful living preachers and inspiring writers who are

full of the spirit of their own age, and yearn to subordinate it to the

reign of Christ. They are ready often to accept of changes, and are

always able to transform them into progress. Says the writer of the

epistle to the Hebrews, "That which has become antiquated and decrepid

with age, is nigh to its final disappearance." Then let us not cling to

the dotage which belongs to the superstitions of superannuated nations,

but press onward to achieve, without pause or encumbrance, our own more

exalted and ennobling destiny.

The uniform migration assigned to human progress, and the region of its

fondest aspirations, have always been in one direction. The Egyptians

styled their paradise the land, and their god Osiris, the lord of the

"West." The Atalantis, or "happy isles" of the Greeks were situated in

the western ocean. To the west lay, likewise, "the land of spirits"

of all our American savages. In fine, the great tree of humanity,

vouchsafed to overshadow the whole earth, was made by the Divine

Husbandman to germinate and send up its strong trunk in the ancient

land of Asia. Grafted with a noble stalk, it shot forth new branches,

and unfolded fairer blossoms in Europe; the best strength and sweetest

odor of which seem destined soon to appear in America, embodied in its

latest and richest fruit. Every thing here is happily arranged for

the full accomplishment of the gracious designs of Providence for the

triumph of the true, the just, and the good; so that if Christians are

but faithful to this destination, the whole world will soon appear as a

sublime concert of nations, blending their voices into a lofty harmony

in the Creator's praise.

The introduction of "the voluntary system" into national religion, was

a primary fruit of the American revolution. The scheme was entirely

new, and grew out of the great movement westward, and Providence-wise,

in the person and principles of Roger Williams. The Catholic church,

which had been mainly instrumental in building up our modern

civilization, became corrupt in consequence of the absolute supremacy

which it attained. To prevent the like corruption from vitiating

Christianity in this new land of her sojourn, the best mode was to

accord equality to all her disciples, and no evil has resulted from

the experiment. The support given to religion in the United States is

larger than in any European state, except Great Britain; the professors

of religion here are nearly as numerous as the electors, and public

morality is certainly as well preserved as in any other part of the

world. The ecclesiastical hierarchy of England costs as much as all the

states of continental Europe put together, and contributes least to the

promotion of vital religion among either people or clergy. About forty

millions of dollars are paid annually to the church establishment,

of which enormous sum not half a million is received by the four

thousand two hundred and fifty-four poor curates, who do nearly all the

professional work as deputies, dependent upon the absent state bishop,

or neighboring aristocrat. This abominable system of pluralities has

naturally introduced immorality and licentiousness among a large

proportion of the upper clerical ranks. The mere form of religion

is substituted in the place of spiritual power, and may be said to

constitute the system of modern indulgences, by which men purchase

for themselves a subterfuge from reproach. In America, the people

claim the interposition of their state governments, in securing the

freest secular education, while they deny the right or the utility of

interfering in any degree with religion. But by the rulers of England

the law is entirely reversed; they claim a strict superintendence

of religious interests by government, and are only willing to leave

every other department of instruction to the voluntary and unassisted

efforts of individuals. Fears are sometimes entertained lest the great

numbers of Catholic and other immigrants should exercise an inimical

influence upon our resident population. But we should remember that

the institutions indigenous to the United States are the most vigorous

protest against both religious and political superstition, and by their

own uncoerced influence will most effectively transform into their own

likeness all comers thereunto. Maryland was settled with Catholics,

yet it is certain that American Protestantism has exerted a much

more powerful influence upon them than foreign Catholicism. The most

conservative and zealous adherents to our civil and religious polity,

especially in the great new States, are those whose alien parents

recently landed on our free shores. We have convinced ourselves, and

will yet teach the world, that the policy of government consists in

permitting the utmost latitude of thought, and the fullest liberty of

conscience.

Christianity did not take full possession of civil society in mediæval

times, till the old races had been refreshed by the mixture of new men.

Before then, says Troplong, it had "rather negotiated and transacted

with the world than ruled with dominion." The new amalgam now forming

under the mild splendor of western skies, will aggregate within itself

the best results of all anterior religious discipline, and be made to

superabound with original glories through newly added spiritual worth.

Papacy may yet remain for a season, as a reminiscence of incipient

culture, and the waymark of that power and progress which a fuller

unfolding of Christianity will certainly surpass, as she proceeds

to the ulterior accomplishment of her all-embracing mission. There

will be no more pontiffs, when each child of humanity has become a

renovated citizen, divinely anointed and equipped for the functions of

acceptable worship. The great atonement, or sin-offering of mankind,

was consummated by Christ, in his own personal sacrifice; and the

great thank-offering of mankind became possible through Christ, by

means of the Spirit. Henceforth there can be no more human priesthood

or typical sacrifice between God and man, for the Mediator, the High

Priest, is himself the God Man. The mediatorial act of reconciled

humanity consists simply in unencumbered faith; trust in the love

of God revealed to the individual believer in Jesus Christ by the

Spirit, promised on that condition, and relying upon that Spirit to

renew his own heart, and the world. It is thus that one is made to

feel that the Christian religion is capable of an infinite expansion.

God, man, mankind, are the three great factors which divine grace

opens up in individual consciousness, utterly distinct from external

conventionalisms, the harmonious completeness of which will yet

realize the fullness of heavenly blessings on earth. In the beginning

of this dispensation, a supernatural impulse prompted one hundred and

twenty believers, men and women, natives and foreigners, assembled at

Jerusalem, with Pentecostal fervor to burst forth in praise of God, not

in the use of ritual formularies, nor in the extinct sacred language,

but in the living tongues of multifarious nations, which had then

become the organs of an inward divine life and adoration common to all.

But even that glorious outburst of spiritual freedom was local, and is

yet to be infinitely more gloriously universalized. Then will our holy

religion be seen in its wholeness, at once historical and ideal, human

and divine; capable equally of individual and general application, and

to be gratefully admired as well for its perpetual progress, as in its

final triumphs.

The Lutheran reformation was the dissolution of popery, which

constructed the church on false principles, rather than the restoration

of the church constructed on true principles. The system superseded at

the end of the Leoine age, had achieved the civilization of mankind,

but true Christianization it was not competent to attain. Milton felt

this when he wrote as follows: "Truth, indeed, once came into the world

with her divine Master, and was a perfect shape most glorious to look

on, but when he ascended, and his apostles after him were laid asleep,

then straight arose a wicked race of deceivers, who, as that story goes

of the Egyptian Typhon, with his conspirators, how they dealt with

the good Osiris, took the virgin Truth, hewed her lovely form into a

thousand pieces, and scattered them to the four winds. From that time,

ever since, the sad friends of Truth--such as durst appear--imitating

the careful search that Isis made for the mangled body of Osiris, went

up and down, gathering up limb by limb still as they could find them.

We have not yet found them all, lords and commons, nor ever shall do

till her Master's second coming. He shall bring together every joint

and member, and shall mold them into an immortal feature of loveliness

and perfection." Coincident with this cheering prophecy, and in the

region where it was uttered, arose the Moravian brethren, with their

disciples John Wesley and George Whitfield, to teach the despairing

world and the dissolute or impotent churches, what real Christianity

is, and to show reflecting Christians how little true power exists

in national establishments and their crippled machinery. Whitfield,

like the embodiment of seraphic zeal, fulmined from the interior of

Oxford to the outer borders of our young republic, and having poured

all the worth of his spirit into the fountain of religious life in

America, gave his body to our soil, and now sleeps near Pilgrim Rock.

Wesleyism did much to regenerate the effete theology under whose

ponderous impotency it originated, but is now fast losing its power

by an increased assimilation to the surrounding curse of universal

formalism. In the eastern portion of our own land, too, where her

first foothold was gained, and the grandest conquests in fervid

simplicity were secured, that communion is losing strength, we fear;

but in the great West, the billows of heavenly fire augment as they

advance, and millions of beautiful, as well as fruitful plants will

hereafter spring, in consequence of the yet wider and freer spreadings

of the celestial flames. Glory be to God, a westward fusion of races

has begun, an assimilation of nations is in progress; all arbitrary

frontiers are giving way; distances diminish; provincialisms disappear;

sects and forms of worships are brought into contact, and are modified

by every advantage flowing from salutary emulation, while they regard

each other on a closer view with less animosity or reserve. Partisans

whose views are short, and whose minds are narrow, may look with

regret upon the disappearance of the differences which characterize

absolute social systems. But fear not, men and brethren, we are

spectators of a delightful and auspicious exhibition. Let nationalities

disappear, and in their stead leave mankind free in the presence of

their heavenly Father! They have tried long enough to form themselves

into ameliorating leagues, and friendly alliances, under the sway of

legislative force; the best alliance is that of the family, the equally

free and unitedly loving family of Christ.

The heart of young America is not altogether in the past, but like the

youth of all progressive peoples, it fondly anticipates a millennium

to come. There is much new spiritual wine springing on our soil, and

no wise husbandman will attempt to conserve it in old bottles. In the

age which now is, has appeared an increased degree of independence and

self-help, a growing opinion that man should select his own credo,

construct his own opinions, pay no great deference to ancient usages,

nor venerate any thing save honorable worth. This doctrine set in with

the Sermon on the Mount, and no party or power on earth can arrest its

universal adoption. We envy not the formalisms of that worship which

vaunts itself amidst cathedral ostentation, where the organ and choir

perform their mountebank mouthings over ashes, bones, and dead marble;

gorgeous edifices, comparatively empty, which give back the sounds of

weekly mummery, while hundreds of thousands live unrecked of, and die

uncared for.

We want no chief priests to lounge in the senate, robed in purple and

fine linen, faring sumptuously every day, and ambitious of laying their

presumptuous hands on the advancing ark of truth only to retard it.

The men of sacred functions whom our age and country demand, are those

who hail the spirit of the times with joy, as the expanding soul of

humanity, with its lightnings striking down the throne of tyranny and

the altar of priestcraft. In fertilizing co-operation they waken arts

and sciences, and bid them advance to bless the people, by erecting

homes of comfort and culture amid prairies where the panther roamed,

or on heights where the eagle propagated his glorious strength. With

sanctified indignation they repel the arrogant claims of antique

bigotry, and cease not revising the laws of property, the creeds of

religion, the rights of the citizen; making the whole land a temple,

a university, a lecture-room, a congress. Originating opinions, they

render them free and prevalent as the national atmosphere; canceling

the indentures of hereditary governors and teachers, popularizing all

languages, with the richest treasures of each, exploring every ocean

and cave, analyzing all substances, ransacking all libraries, they tend

always and in every thing to discover and apply whatever is conducive

to the health, comfort, and freedom of man. These are not rapid and

speculative theorists, but the practical and beneficent workers for God

and man. Passing amid the agitated and destitute crowds, they recognize

in them the mighty woof of humanity, and teach each brother to throw

his shuttle across the loom of time, and with fraternal delight weave

the needful robe. A terrific power is indeed sleeping or waking in

the vast multitudes now gathering in the West, and that which of all

things is most requisite there and everywhere, is a high and pure moral

education. Give them that under the eye, and for the glory, of that

Father who overlooks the world, and with cheerful congratulations we

may greet the changes which wait upon each revolving year, and walk

unperturbed in presence of the sublime destinies of this mighty Union.

When Columbus sailed toward the new and boundless world, while mutiny

was in the vessel, and round him spread the wild and threatening

billows, muttering despair, we are told that flowers, weeds, and stray

leaves, floated near the ship, and resting on the mast-head came birds

of the most beautiful and gorgeous plumage, and as the sun gleamed on

their variegated wings, they seemed like the angels of hope beckoning

across the watery waste. So to us in the midst of occasional tempests,

and selfish cliques, appear the intimations of the promised land,

fruitful of all good, to which we are hastening; and we only need to

remind one another of these pleasant omens, which are too full of the

promised triumph to allow the spirit of the Cape to either depress or

destroy.

The education of "the Brigham girl," deaf, dumb, and blind, was a

characteristic achievement of New England enterprise. The "Maine Law,"

and other kindred efforts for the prevention as well as cure of evils

incident to fallen human nature, are worthy of the cause they serve,

and honor that merciful God by whom they are inspired. The "Ragged

School" has also traversed new shores of philanthropy and transformed

the "Old Brewery" into the school-house of intelligence, and the

temple of religion. In rooms where the master formerly taught young

proficients how adroitly to pick pockets, and precocious lusts rioted

in the most loathsome orgies, orphanage now practices the lessons of

honorable industry, and rescued penitents bow in virtuous prayer. By

hundreds the heirs of misfortune and involuntary victims of vice are

gathered from the purlieus of our great eastern cities, in the bosom

of judicious piety, and are instinctively borne to the far West as the

asylum which affords a home for the protection and healthful exercise

of each faculty and limb, be it young or old, feeble or strong. In the

East we have heard much of the refinement of the college, and are glad,

on a much broader and brighter scale, to see spreading the refinement

of the cottage. The schoolmaster of the masses is the great minister

for whom the mightiest generations wait. With increased effulgence they

will arise to reflect and augment the brightness they have received;

and, as in the Grecian race of old, they will cast onward the torch

from one to another, till spiritual gloom and vassalage shall no more

be found. Over all our vast western domain the rays of commingled

truth and righteousness will eventually fall, like blessed flakes of

beautiful light, penetrating, subduing, transforming into the image of

Christ. The spirit of Christianity is vital and mighty, because it

is the spirit of eternity, constituting that wholeness and heartiness

which the world most needs. Without measure, the spirit of man will yet

receive liberty, intelligence, religion, health; and to this end the

old forms in which the word and Spirit of God have been immured and

enshrined, as they move westward, will become increasingly unclasped,

so that permanent power, free from the transient robe and chain, may go

forth as the apostle of peace and herald of good tidings of great joy

which shall be to all people.

On the 14th of August, 1837, a statue to the memory of Guttenberg, the

inventor of printing, was opened to the public at Mayence. High mass

was performed by the bishop, and the first printed Bible was displayed.

What a suggestive incident! Amid the imposing pageantries of Romanism,

wherein popular worship is conducted in an unknown tongue, and by

which the revelation of God is in great part kept a sealed book, that

first printed copy was displayed, the germ of millions of Bibles which

have spread the light of Christianity throughout the habitable globe.

The two most influential eras of all authentic history stand most

intimately connected with a more fundamental view of this incident--the

diffusion of the Scriptures. The Septuagint version followed, and

arose out of, the culmination of the Periclean age; and the formation

of modern Bible Societies, was cotemporaneous with the inauguration

of Washington. The former coincided with the perfection of the Greek

language, then about to pervade the entire East, through the agency of

Alexander; and the latter arose simultaneously with English supremacy

in both hemispheres. All that is in the Bible will yet be in the

world, realized by and for progressive amelioration, and every omen

indicates that the ultimate fullness of knowledge and righteousness

will be attained by mankind through the medium of our mother tongue.

The free criticism of the sacred writings during the last fifty years

has done infinitely more to advance than to prevent the understanding

of the divine substance of them, not only in the New Testament, but

also in the Old. The dead rationalism of the eighteenth century bore

its own corpse to the grave, except where it has been preserved as

a mummy in state churches, and cherished as a dead household god by

effete hierarchies. But Christianity is the religion of the Spirit,

and "the Spirit is Truth." Life only proceeds from life, and a corpse

is none the more potent when wrapped in brilliant drapery. The pool

of Bethesda imparted its healing properties only when the waters were

moved. Earnest searching of the Scriptures, and repeated trials at a

more perfect rendering of their saving import can result in nothing but

good. Where life is, there is also spirit, a liberty which is enhanced

and controlled by the mightiest spiritual life; but where life is not,

there must be death, and by nothing can vitality be produced. Timid and

slavish fears may still protest against improved criticism, and against

this, as to all other religious progress, oppose that Medusa-head

called the danger of rationalistic interpretation. But it is too late

in the dawn of blessed experience and expectation to suffer ourselves

to be petrified. As the free personal sacrifice of Christ offered once

for all, was the central event of universal history, so is the full and

free unfolding of his word, under the broad and unobscured sky-light of

his Spirit, the central source of all sanctifying truth.

The great religious movement of our age is breaking up deeper and

deeper strata each succeeding year, and the upturning of a still

profounder and broader stratum is yet to come. Never before was

the future apprehended with such excited desire and hope as by the

present generation, for they most generally feel that a more radical

regeneration is possible which shall contain within itself the

fundamental element of a newer, better, and more durable social order.

Not that in these United States we are in danger of relapsing into a

Priest Church, or of becoming consolidated into a State Church, but

that it is our peculiar mission, under God, to organize the People's

Church, with Christ for our only legislator, teacher and judge. We

believe that this divine Master would have no successor of Caiaphas

to lord it over his flock, and no successor of Pontius Pilate or

Tiberius, whether professedly in or out of the discipleship. He, our

sympathizing friend, and merciful God, will have all men come to the

knowledge of the truth, and then he will himself come again without

sin unto salvation. If tyrants will not surrender their chains, and

bigots refuse to modify their creeds in timely preparation for that

final advent, the gigantic and flaming characters written on heaven

and earth, as foretokens of approaching fulfillment, may nevertheless

remain, that the obdurate may read them in the glare of retribution,

if they refuse to recognize their warning through the light of reason.

The heavenly ladder is revealed to weary humanity, even while

slumbering heavily at its feet on pillows of stone. But the hour is

near when with refreshed wakefulness, the blessing of triumphant

deliverance so long wrestled for will be obtained. A new civilization

has already been born, in which all the treasures of literature,

art, science, philosophy and religion, the richest heritage from

antecedent mind, will here blend in highest purity, to enjoy progress

amid constantly decreased impediments, and display ultimate splendors

without a spot. Charity will have fully combined with enthusiasm,

and that hope which is the attribute of republics, and which finds

its legitimate fortune wholly vested in the advance of its conscious

mission, will be most divinely realized in the universal sovereignty

of unadulterated faith. We are to remember, however, that the moral

progress of our planet is slow. But in this particular it only

resembles the general economy of the whole natural world, wherein the

law evidently obtains that, the higher the value and the more important

the nature of a given product, the slower is its march toward perfect

development. Not a few sad features at present mark the general view.

What boundless wastes of land are there without a temple or a school,

the region of the inaccessible jungle and tangled woodland, haunted by

savage beasts, and by nearly as savage men. What millions enter the

pagodas of cruelty and lust, and shrink from the blaze that glitters

along the marble, with strange emotions, or transfix themselves in the

agonizing postures which cruel devotion or blank superstition requires.

Coming to so-called civilized lands, what thousands lie confined in

cells, where despots incarcerate the brave, who wait for the relief

afforded by death, and leave behind them, with the memory of their

sufferings, a gleam to lighten posterity. What thousands, slaves of

cupidity, drive on the unheeding hour, and pray from the wretched

cottage and the famished heart, "How long, oh Lord, how long?" What

millions of lonely hunters pursue their way across the prairie and over

the mountain, clothed in the savage skin, with the weapons of war in

their hand for a defense. But all this only attests the youthfulness of

our civilization, and affords the highest encouragement to our hope.

The predestined and perpetual amelioration can not fail. Our sun, and

system over which he presides, is so moving from his present position

in space, that earth will one day be surrounded by skies whose nightly

brilliancy shall infinitely transcend our present firmament; and though

countless ages will pass away before the event fully transpires, yet,

by an inevitable law, it must come.

Nations speaking the English language seem to be the appointed

propagators of that Christian civilization upon which the future

destinies of mankind depend, and which, once spread and rooted,

will be everlasting. No other people have yet reached the degree of

intelligence, liberty, reason, and power requisite to the exalted

mission. Anglo-Americans have already attained the highest point of

excellence possible to imperfect progress, and prove their great

advance by the accurate test of superior invention. Thus occupying

the head of modern culture, they are an exemplar to all nations, and

the vanguard of humanity in its onward course. The deliberate but

sure aggression of constitutional liberty and moral improvement will

inevitably work out their beneficent consequences here and everywhere.

The symptoms of tranquil progress and established freedom multiply and

become more evident every day. There is good reason to believe that

leading minds in every calling increasingly appreciate the blessings

connected with the highest improvement, aware that the grandeur and

permanency of a nation depend wholly on a social state founded on true

religion, on a just and humane organization of industry, under the

auspices of rational freedom.

The great movement, in which all Christian people more or less

participate, and will henceforth participate to a much greater extent,

has its origin in causes over which man has no power. It proceeds

from Jehovah, who has willed that society at large should advance

perpetually toward a goal, not indeed to be actually attained on earth,

but which may be constantly approximated. Happy for us that our destiny

has for its indestructible principle that primary and fundamental law

by virtue of which humanity always tends to fortify its energies and

perfect its growth; so that, in proportion as intelligence is exalted

by Christianity, the juvenile man expands and develops himself into

all the maturity of age. What is true of the individual is true also

of the community in general; it is required to traverse all the phases

and successive conditions of life, in order to arrive in the unity

of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to the state of perfected

humanity (Eph. iv. 13), at that grand era which the apostle termed the

age of the fullness of Christ; and which, consummated through sublunary

discipline as far as is possible, will reinstate us in the possession

of those primitive rights and sacred liberties under the favor of which

we shall realize that regenerated nature which the divine Saviour came

to produce.

We have no occasion to despair of Providence. Having found God abundant

in goodness and mercy as it respects all that has preceded us, we may

expect that he will be found yet more manifest in what is to follow.

To use the expression of a great German poet, in judgment and heart,

"We are citizens of the time to come!" Firmly believing in the wise

disposal of all events by the great and only Sovereign, the faith

of confiding Christians survives the despair of the boldest secular

heroes, knowing that the stream as it passes only goes nearer to the

sea. The astronomer loses no confidence in a star at the time of an

eclipse. The destiny of man is often determined by the very passions

which seem designed to reverse it. Augustine went to Milan, intending

to teach rhetoric, but it was to be converted by Ambrose, and thus to

verify the saying of Anselm, that we are led "through vanity to truth."

But let us not forget that neither the holiness nor heroism of former

times will avail us and our posterity, if a lofty spirit, dignity,

and innocence be not transmitted; that vain and worthless will be

self-applause, and the most abundant material prosperity, if the grace

of that Being is forfeited, who can pull down the mighty, confound the

proud, and in the balance of unerring justice determine the fame and

destiny of nations.

The leaven may seem lost in the lump for a while, but it will come at

length in full force to the outer edge, and will be all the mightier

for the purification it has wrought within. The profounder the

renovation, the more protracted the time required. Truth stereotyped in

blood lasts longer, and is more impressively read than when published

by any other means. Fire burns brighter and wider when all the winds

are let loose upon it. If kindled by oppression, the ashes of martyrs

will sow the whole earth for a Cadmean harvest of indomitable heroes.

When the tongues of emancipating, and not destroying, flames sat in

splendid freedom upon the brows of primitive Christians, they were

equally crowned with a part of the sovereignty conquered by the great

Deliverer, and spake with power because they respired spontaneously the

free and vital air given to regenerate our fallen race. Such will be

the condition of the church in the end, as it was in the beginning. The

perfection of the social order depends upon the perfection of spiritual

adoration. A well organized society, based upon and imbued with true

religion, is the most beautiful temple that can be elevated to the

supreme Deity. Liberty, Law, Peace, these three words were engraved

upon the entrance to the chief shrine at Delphi; they will yet be

written along the entire circumference of our globe; and radiate with

the glory of Christ from pole to equator, and from equator to pole.

THE END.

A LIST OF NEW BOOKS,

PUBLISHED BY

HARPER & BROTHERS.

Squier's Central America.

Notes on Central America; particularly the States of Honduras and San

Salvador: their Geography, Topography, Climate, Population, Resources,

Productions, &c., &c., and the proposed Interoceanic Railway. By

E.G. Squier, formerly Chargé d'Affaires of the United States to the

Republics of Central America. With Original Maps and Illustrations.

8vo, Muslin, $2 00.

Napoleon at St. Helena;

Or, Interesting Anecdotes and Remarkable Conversations of the Emperor

during the Five and a Half Years of his Captivity. Collected from the

Memorials of Las Casas, O'Meara, Montholon, Antommarchi, and others. By

John S.C. Abbott. With Illustrations. 8vo, Muslin, $2 50.

Helps's Spanish Conquest.

The Spanish Conquest in America, and its Relation to the History of

Slavery, and to the Government of Colonies. By Arthur Helps. Large

12mo, Muslin. (_In press._)

Loomis's Arithmetic.

A Treatise on Arithmetic, Theoretical and Practical. By Elias Loomis,

LL.D. 12mo, Sheep.

Barton's Grammar.

An Outline of the General Principles of Grammar. With a Brief

Exposition of the Chief Idiomatic Peculiarities of the English

Language. To which Questions have been added. Edited and Enlarged by

the Rev. J. Graeff Barton, A.M., Professor of the English Language and

Literature in the New York Free Academy. 16mo, Muslin, 37-1/2 cents.

Ewbank's Brazil.

Life in Brazil; or, a Journal of a Visit to the Land of the Cocoa

and the Palm. With an Appendix, containing Illustrations of Ancient

South American Arts, in Recently Discovered Implements and Products of

Domestic Industry, and Works in Stone, Pottery, Gold, Silver, Bronze,

&c. By Thomas Ewbank. With over 100 Illustrations. 8vo, Muslin, $2 00.

Mexico and its Religion;

Or, Incidents of Travel in that Country during Parts of the Years

1851-52-53-54, with Historical Notices of Events connected with Places

Visited. By Robert A. Wilson. With Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin, $1 00.

Parisian Sights

and French Principles, seen through American Spectacles. By James

Jackson Jarves. Second Series. With Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin, $1 00.

Italian Sights

and Papal Principles, seen through American Spectacles. By James

Jackson Jarves. With Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin, $1 00.

Art-Hints.

Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting. By James Jackson Jarves. 12mo,

Muslin, $1 25.

Christian Theism:

The Testimony of Reason and Revelation to the Existence of the Supreme

Being. By Robert Anchor Thompson, M.A. (The First Burnett Prize of

$9000 was awarded to this Treatise.) 12mo, Muslin, $1 25.

A Child's History of the United States.

By John Bonner. 2 vols. 16mo, Muslin, $1 00. (Uniform with Dickens's

"Child's History of England.")

Lily.

A Novel. By the Author of "The Busy Moments of an Idle Woman." 12mo,

Muslin, $1 00.

James's Old Dominion.

The Old Dominion; or, the Southampton Massacre. By G.P. R. James, Esq.

8vo, Paper, 50 cents.

Miss Bunkley's Book.

The Testimony of an Escaped Novice from the Sisterhood of St. Joseph,

Emmettsburg, Maryland, the Mother-House of the Sisters of Charity in

the United States. By Josephine M. Bunkley. 12mo, Muslin, $1 00.

Learning to Talk;

Or, Entertaining and Instructive Lessons in the Use of Language. By

Jacob Abbott. Illustrated with 170 Engravings. Small 4to, Muslin, 50

cents.

BUNGENER'S COUNCIL OF TRENT.

History of the Council of Trent. From the French of L.F. Bungener,

Author of "The Priest and the Huguenot." Edited, from the Second

English Edition, by John M'Clintock, D.D. 12mo, Muslin, $1 00.

Most persons know that the Council of Trent was a product of the

Reformation, but comparatively few, we suspect, know much about its

history. Those who wish to know (and it is a matter worth knowing)

will find ample means of information in this volume. * * * He (the

author) is clear in statement, subtle and consecutive in his logic,

and steers as far from dullness as from sourness.--_Perthshire

Advertiser._

It is all that a history should be--perspicuous in language,

discriminating in detail, dignified and philosophical in manner,

candid and faithful in the narration of facts, and bears evident

traces of extensive reading and enlarged information.--_Caledonian

Mercury._

This history is invaluable.--_Christian Advocate._

Characterized by clearness, truthfulness, and vigor in the narrative,

acuteness and terseness in the reasoning, and a spirit of Christian

fidelity and charity.--_Watchman._

The work before us is undoubtedly one of the very best that has

appeared on the subject. The writer has abundant materials, and has

used them with fidelity, impartiality, and talent. His brilliant style

radiates in every department of the work.--_Philadelphia Evening

Bulletin._

A work of permanent interest, which should be well understood by the

ministry of our church and country.--_Christian Observer._

It is adapted for popular reading; while, as a true portraiture

of men and things in the Council, it is invaluable to the

theologian.--_Christian Intelligencer._

MEXICO AND ITS RELIGION;

Or, Incidents of Travel in that Country during Parts of the Years

1851-52-53-54, with Historical Notices of Events connected with Places

Visited. By Robert A. Wilson. With Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin, $1 00.

This is a record of recent travel in various parts of Mexico,

including full statistical details, historical reminiscences and

legends, and descriptions of society, manners, and scenery. A large

portion is devoted to the influence of the Catholic Church, and

relates many piquant narratives in illustration of the subject. The

author writes in a lively, graphic, and, sometimes, humorous style. He

gives a great deal of valuable information, and his travels can not

fail to find numerous readers and prove a most popular volume.

SEYMOUR'S JESUITS.

Mornings among the Jesuits at Rome. Being Notes of Conversations held

with certain Jesuits on the Subject of Religion in the City of Rome.

By Rev. M. Hobart Seymour, M.A. 12mo, Muslin, 75 cents.

INEZ,

A Tale of the Alamo. 12mo, Muslin, 75 cents.

We have to recommend the book to pious parents and guardians as written

under the influence of the strictest Protestant principles; and to

introduce it to young ladies in general, as containing some very nice

"love," seasoned pleasantly with just enough fighting to make the whole

story agreeable.--_Leader._

When the Texans threw off the Mexican yoke and entered into our

National Confederacy, no portion of her people felt the change more

keenly than her Romish priesthood, and especially the Jesuits. Their

counter and insidious duties of social and domestic life is the moral

of this story. The lady who wrote it has studied the Romish argument,

and has managed it with effect. It is not a book of the "Maria Monk"

stamp; it is a successful refutation and exposure, in popular form, of

some of the worst points of the Romish system.--_Church Review._

A most inviting story, the interest of which is sustained throughout

its narrative of stirring events and deep passions.--_Mobile

Register._

The descriptions of scenes of carnage, and the alarms and excitements

of war are graphic, while the polemics are not so spun out as to

be tedious. The portraiture of the Jesuit padre is any thing but

flattering to the Catholic priesthood, while her dissertations

upon the doctrines, traditions, practices, and superstitious

follies of the Holy Mother Church prove her to be no respecter of

its claims to infallibility, and no admirer of the disciples of

Loyola.--_Constitutionalist and Republic, Ga._

We have read this work with the liveliest pleasure, and we venture

to assert, that no one can take it up without going through with

it.--_Richmond Whig._

LE CURÉ MANQUÉ;

Or, Social and Religious Customs in France. By Eugene de Courcillon.

12mo, Muslin, 75 cents.

The autobiography of a young French peasant who was trained for the

Church. Its specific purpose is to give an account of the social and

rural life and superstitions of the peasants of Normandy, and to show

the relations existing between them and their priests. The author also

describes, in a very interesting manner, the routine and customs of the

French ecclesiastical seminaries.

"Le Curé Manqué is a curious work, for its pictures of French peasant

manners, its account of village priests, and its quiet but bitter

satire on the selfishness of the Romanist country clergy, and the

ignorance in which they leave their flocks. The filling up of the story

shows remarkable skill, for the easy natural way in which it carries

out the author's intention of exhibiting "social and religious customs"

in provincial France.--_London Spectator._

The strange state of society, with its French and Papal habits which

it portrays, will set new facts before the mind of even-traveled

readers.--_Presbyterian Banner._

Le Curé Manqué (the Unfinished Priest) is a title which very accurately

conveys an idea of what the book is. It lets the public behind the

scenes in a remarkable manner, and is one of the most readable books of

the season.--_N.Y. Daily Times._

A most agreeable and entertaining narrative, opening to most

American readers novel, strange, and (many of them) charming scenes.

Though the Church may be a loser (which is doubtful, however), the

world has certainly been a gainer by his apostacy from his sacred

calling.--_Savannah Journal._

The exposition of the Romish ceremonials, and of the subjecture of the

masses of the French people to priestcraft are peculiarly interesting.

We quote, "How a mass may be said for a pig, and refused for a

Protestant."--_N.Y. Commercial Advertiser._

HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

Each Number of the Magazine will contain 144 octavo pages, in double

columns, each year thus comprising nearly two thousand pages of the

choicest Miscellaneous Literature of the day. Every number will

contain numerous Pictorial Illustrations, accurate Plates of the

Fashions, a copious Chronicle of Current Events, and impartial Notices

of the important Books of the Month. The Volumes commence with the

Numbers for June and December; but Subscriptions may commence with any

number.

Terms.--The Magazine may be obtained of Booksellers, Periodical

Agents, or from the Publishers, at Three Dollars a year, or

Twenty-five Cents a Number. The Semi-Annual Volumes, as completed,

neatly bound in Cloth, are sold at Two Dollars each, and Muslin Covers

are furnished to those who wish to have their back Numbers uniformly

bound, at Twenty-five Cents each. Eleven Volumes are now ready, bound.

The Publishers will supply Specimen Numbers gratuitously to Agents

and Postmasters, and will make liberal arrangements with them for

circulating the Magazine. They will also supply Clubs, of two persons

at Five Dollars a year, or five persons at Ten Dollars. Clergymen

supplied at Two Dollars a year. Numbers from the commencement can now

be supplied.

The Magazine weighs over seven and not over eight ounces. The Postage

upon each Number, _which must be paid quarterly in advance_, is

Three Cents.

The Publishers would give notice that they have no Agents for whose

contracts they are responsible. Those ordering the Magazine from Agents

or Dealers must look to them for the supply of the Work.

Each month it gladdens us and our household, to say nothing of the

neighbors who enjoy it with us. Twenty-five cents buys it--the

cheapest, richest, and most lasting luxury for the money that we

know. Three dollars secures it for one year: and what three dollars

ever went so far? Put the same amount in clothes, eating, drinking,

furniture, and how much of a substantial thing is obtained? If ideas,

facts, and sentiments, have a monetary value--above all, if the

humor that refreshes, the pleasantries that bring a gentle smile,

and brighten the passage of a truth to your brain, and the happy

combination of the real and the imaginative, without which no one can

live a life above the animal, are to be put in the scale opposite

to dollars and cents, then you may be certain, that if Harper were

three or four times as dear, it would amply repay its price. It is a

Magazine proper, with the idea and purpose of a Magazine--not a book,

not a scientific periodical, nor yet a supplier of light gossip and

chatty anecdotes--but a Magazine that takes every form of interesting,

dignified, and attractive literature in its grasp.--_Southern

Times._

Its success was rapid, and has continued till the monthly issue

has reached the unprecedented number of 150,000. The volumes bound

constitute of themselves a library of miscellaneous reading, such as

can not be found in the same compass in any other publication that has

come under our notice. The contents of the Magazine are as "various as

the mind of man." In the immense amount of matter which it contains,

it would be strange, indeed, if there was not _something_ to

gratify every taste. The articles illustrating the natural history

and resources of our country are enough to entitle the Magazine to

a place in every family where there are children to be taught to

love their native land. The Editor's Table presents every month an

elaborately prepared essay on some topic intimately connected with

our politics, our morals, or our patriotism, while the Easy Chair and

the Drawer of the same responsible personage--doubtless a _plural

unit_--display gems of wit, humor, and fancy, in any quantity to

suit the temper of any reader.--_Boston Courier._

HARPER'S STORY BOOKS.

A Monthly Series of Narratives, Biographies, and Tales, for the

Instruction and Entertainment of the Young. By Jacob Abbott.

Embellished with numerous and beautiful Engravings.

Terms.--Each Number of "Harper's Story Books" will contain 160 pages

in small quarto form, very beautifully illustrated, and printed on

superfine calendered paper.

The Series may be obtained of Booksellers, Periodical Agents, and

Postmasters, or from the Publishers, at Three Dollars a year, or

Twenty-five Cents a Number in Paper, or Forty Cents a Number bound in

Cloth gilt. Subscriptions may commence with any Number. The Postage

upon "Harper's Story Books," which must be paid quarterly in advance,

is Two Cents. "Harper's Magazine" and "Harper's Story Books" will be

sent to one Address, for one year, for _Five Dollars_.

The Quarterly Volumes, as completed, neatly bound in Cloth gilt, are

sold at One Dollar each, and Muslin Covers are furnished to those who

wish to have their back Numbers uniformly bound, at Twenty-five Cents

each.

Vol. I. Contains the first three Numbers, "Bruno," "Willie,"

and "Strait Gate."--Vol. II. "The Little Louvre," "Prank," and

"Emma."--Vol. III. "Virginia," "Timboo and Joliba," and "Timboo and

Fanny."--Vol. IV. "The Harper Establishment," "Franklin," and "The

Studio."

They are the best children's books ever published. They wisely avoid

the introduction or discussion of religious topics, yet are such as

Christian parents may unhesitatingly place in their children's hands.

The price is marvelously low. Twenty-five cents a number makes it

about six pages of print and two excellent engravings for each cent

of the money. The engravings alone, without a line of letter-press,

would be cheap at the price. One good thing these Story Books will

certainly accomplish: henceforth inferior authorship and used-up, worn

out illustrations can not be palmed off on children. They have samples

here of what is best for them, and they are shrewd enough not to put

up with any thing of lower quality.--_N.Y. Daily Times._

We have heard so many fathers and mothers who recognize the pleasant

duty of guiding the minds of their children in the paths of knowledge

at home, speak in terms of the highest commendation of this series of

books for children, that we feel a desire to see them universally read

among children. They constitute the finest series of books for the

young that we have seen.--_Louisville Courier._

Who is better qualified than Jacob Abbott to prepare such a work?

He always seems to have an intuitive perception of just what

children want--just what will take with them, and so serve as the

medium of conveying instruction in the pleasantest form. He has

begun this new series admirably, and we almost envy the relish with

which our children will read it. Now for a suggestion to parents:

instead of buying your boy some trumpery toy, give him a _year's

subscription_ to this charming monthly. It will cost you _three

dollars_, indeed; but its excellent moral hints and influence, its

useful and entertaining knowledge, are worth all that, and much more.

If you think you can not afford it for _one_ child, take it for

your _children's home circle_, and let one read it aloud to the

others. You'll never regret it.--_Christian Inquirer._

WOMAN'S RECORD;

Or, Sketches of all Distinguished Women from the Creation to the

Present Time. Arranged in Four Eras. With Selections from Female

Writers of each Era. By Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale. Illustrated with 230

engraved Portraits. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. Royal 8vo,

Muslin, $3 50; Sheep, $4 00; Half Calf, $4 25.

"Many years have been devoted to the preparation of this comprehensive

work, which contains complete and accurate sketches of the most

distinguished women in all ages, and, in extent and thoroughness,

far surpasses every previous biographical collection with a similar

aim. Mrs. Hale has ransacked the treasures of history for information

in regard to the eminent women whom it commemorates; few, if any,

important names are omitted in her volumes, while the living

celebrities of the day are portrayed with justness and delicacy. The

picture of woman's life, as it has been developed from the times of

the earliest traditions to the present date, is here displayed in

vivid and impressive colors, and with a living sympathy which could

only flow from a feminine pen. A judicious selection from the writings

of women who have obtained distinction in the walks of literature

is presented, affording an opportunity for comparing the noblest

productions of the female mind, and embracing many exquisite gems

of fancy and feeling. The biographies are illustrated by a series

of highly-finished engravings, which form a gallery of portraits of

curious interest to the amateur, as well as of great historical value.

This massive volume furnishes an historical portrait gallery, in which

each age of this world had its appropriate representatives. Mrs. Hale

has succeeded admirably in her biographical sketches.--_Philadelphia

Presbyterian._

"Woman's Record" is, indeed, a noble study and noble

history. The sketches are all carefully and even elegantly

written.--_Philadelphia Evening Bulletin._

What lady, who takes a pride in her sex, would not desire to have this

volume on her centre-table? and what husband, lover, or brother would

leave such a wish ungratified.--_Washington Republic._

This superb monument of Mrs. Hale's indefatigable devotion to her

sex is illustrated by 230 portraits, engraved in that style of

excellence that has deservedly placed _Lossing_ at the head of

his profession.--_Philadelphia Saturday Courier._

We are pleased with the plan of the "Record," and with the manner in

which that plan is carried into execution. The book is a valuable

and permanent contribution to literature.--_New Orleans Baptist

Chronicle._

This work merits the warmest commendation.--_Sun._

This is a large and beautiful book, and covers the ground marked out

by the title more fully and satisfactorily than any other work extant.

It is a most valuable work.--_Southern Ladies' Companion._

Here we have placed before us a book that would do credit to any

author or compiler that ever lived, and, to the astonishment of some,

produced by the head, heart, and hand of a woman.--_N.Y. Daily

Times._

This is a very curious and very interesting work--a Biographical

Dictionary of all Distinguished Females--a work, we believe, quite

unique in the history of literature. We have only to say that

the work will be found both instructive, amusing, and generally

impartial.--_London Ladies' Messenger._

The comprehensiveness of the work renders it a valuable addition to

the library.--_London Ladies' Companion._

A Female Biographical Dictionary, which this volume really is, will

often be consulted as an authority; and the great extent of Mrs.

Hale's information as to the distinguished women of modern times,

supplies us with a number of facts which we knew not where to procure

elsewhere. It is clearly and simply written.--_London Guardian?._

LOSSING'S PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK

Of the Revolution; or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the

History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for

Independence. 2 vols. Royal 8vo, Muslin, $8 00; Sheep, $9 00; Half

Calf, $10 00; Full Morocco, $15 00.

A new and carefully revised edition of this magnificent work is just

completed in two imperial octavo volumes of equal size, containing

1500 pages and 1100 engravings. As the plan, scope, and beauty of the

work were originally developed, eminent literary men, and the leading

presses of the United States and Great Britain, pronounced it one of

the most valuable historical productions ever issued.

The preparation of this work occupied the author more than four

years, during which he traveled nearly ten thousand miles in order

to visit the prominent scenes of revolutionary history, gather up

local traditions, and explore records and histories. In the use of

his pencil he was governed by the determination to withhold nothing

of importance or interest. Being himself both artist and writer,

he has been able to combine the materials he had collected in both

departments into a work possessing perfect unity of purpose and

execution.

The object of the author in arranging his plan was to reproduce the

history of the American Revolution in such an attractive manner,

as to entice the youth of his country to read the wonderful story,

study its philosophy and teachings, and to become familiar with the

founders of our Republic and the value of their labors. In this he

has been eminently successful; for the young read the pages of the

"'Field-Book" with the same avidity as those of a romance; while the

abundant stores of information, and the careful manner in which it

has been arranged and set forth, render it no less attractive to the

general reader and the ripe scholar of more mature years.

Explanatory notes are profusely given upon every page in the volume,

and also a brief biographical sketch of every man distinguished in the

events of the Revolution, the history of whose life is known.

A Supplement of forty pages contains a history of the _Naval

Operations of the Revolution_; of the _Diplomacy_; of

the _Confederation_ and _Federal Constitution_; the

_Prisons_ and _Prison Ships of New York_; _Lives of the

Signers of the Declaration of Independence_, and other matters of

curious interest to the historical student.

A new and very elaborate analytical index has been prepared, to which

we call special attention. It embraces eighty-five closely printed

pages, and possesses rare value for every student of our revolutionary

history. It is in itself a complete synopsis of the history and

biography of that period, and will be found exceedingly useful for

reference by every reader.

As a whole, the work contains all the essential facts of the early

history of our Republic, which are scattered through scores of volumes

often inaccessible to the great mass of readers. The illustrations

make the whole subject of the American Revolution so clear to

the reader that, on rising from its perusal, he feels thoroughly

acquainted, not only with the history, but with every important

locality made memorable by the events of the war for Independence,

and it forms a complete Guide-Book to the tourist seeking for fields

consecrated by patriotism, which lie scattered over our broad land.

Nothing has been spared to make it complete, reliable, and eminently

useful to all classes of citizens. Upward of THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND

DOLLARS were expended in the publication of the first edition. The

exquisite wood-cuts, engraved under the immediate supervision of

the author, from his own drawings, in the highest style of the art,

required the greatest care in printing. To this end the efforts of

the publishers have been directed, and we take great pleasure in

presenting these volumes as the best specimen of typography ever

issued from the American press.

The publication of the work having been commenced in numbers before

its preparation was completed, the volumes of the first edition were

made quite unequal in size. That defect has been remedied, and the

work is now presented in two volumes of equal size, containing about

780 pages each.

Transcribers note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).