Then the preacher came to the great American question
itself. It was often supposed that in New England there had always been
an upward tendency. It was not so. It had been downward until the
"great revival" about the year 1740. The dangers to which society in
the South and "Far West" is now exposed were powerfully described. The
remedies were then pointed out.
"First of all, we must not despair." "And what next? We must get rid,
if possible, of slavery." "'We must have peace.'". Also "Railways and
telegraphs." "Education, too, we must favour and promote." "Above all,
provide a talented and educated body of Christian teachers, and keep
them pressing into the wilderness as far as emigration itself can go."
The conclusion of this great sermon was so remarkable that I cannot but
give it in the Doctor's own words.
"And now, Jehovah God, thou who, by long ages of watch and discipline,
didst make of thy servant Abraham a people, be thou the God also of
this great nation. Remember still its holy beginnings, and for the
fathers' sakes still cherish and sanctify it. Fill it with thy Light
and thy Potent Influence, till the glory of thy Son breaks out on the
Western sea as now upon the Eastern, and these uttermost parts, given
to Christ for his possession, become the bounds of a new Christian
empire, whose name the believing and the good of all people shall hail
as a name of hope and blessing.
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