To call to mind the virtues of those who have gone before us, to impress more deeply upon the heart a sense of the exalted privileges we enjoy, and, above all, to fill and expand our soul with grateful emotions to him from whom all good comes, is, I apprehend, the laudable object of our meeting here, to-day, to celebrate this second centennial anniversary of the settlement of this town.

How admirable are the operations of Divine Providence! In how delightful, and yet how astonishing a manner, does God often accomplish the purposes he wisely and graciously determines! Infinite in holiness, he proposes the best ends, and, infinite in wisdom, he attains these ends in the best manner; often by means even which seem to have a most contrary tendency. It is God's high prerogative to bring good out of evil, and, with untarnished purity and inscrutable wisdom, to make the wrath of man even to accomplish his purposes of mercy, and erect monuments of praise to his name.

Empire, learning, and religion, in ages gone by, have been moving onward from east to west, and this continent is their last western stage; the vast Pacific, which bounds our country towards the setting sun, will bound their further progress in this direction. Here, in this extensive territory, on this broad and elevated stage, had God doubtless designed to exhibit a wonderful display of his wisdom, power, and truth, through the agency of a people raised up for that very purpose. But by what instrumentality was this mighty work to be commenced? It was through the mysterious instrumentality of persecution! Yes, it was the crushing, grinding influence of the persecutor's hand, both in church and state, which was made instrumental, in the wonder-work

ing providence of God, in peopling this our land with godly and learned men, and of rearing our goodly fabrics of freedom, piety, and literature, the blessings of which are to descend to countless myriads yet unborn, both here and in distant regions of the earth.

As the settlement of this town was made by those who fled hither from the privations and persecutions experienced at home; especially as the church was here organized, and the gospel ministry here commenced, by the Puritans, and sustained, for a long time, by those directly descended from the Puritan fathers, there surely will be a propriety, on this occasion, in briefly tracing the events which led them from privileges, kindred, and home, to seek an asylum in this then inhospitable and solitary region.

The church of Christ, as established by the inspired Apostles, was as pure as the materials of which it was constituted would permit. But, through the perverseness of human nature, it eventually became deeply corrupted, both in faith and practice. This corruption, in the fourteenth century after Christ, was great indeed; but at the close of the fifteenth, and in the commencement of the sixteenth, it became extreme and intolerable. The Pope had not only assumed the authority in spiritual matters belonging to God alone, but, in worldly matters also, had declared himself the sovereign of the whole earth, and endeavoured to sustain his pretensions by measures the most presumptuous, absurd, oppressive, and cruel. John Wickliffe, of England, as early as 1360, and soon after, his martyred pupils in Bohemia, Jerome of Prague and John Huss, seem first to have arisen against the dominant usurpations of the Romish church, sowing the seeds of the subsequent reformation,

and thus preparing the way for future reformers. But, in 1517, the undaunted Martin Luther, of Germany, and, about the same time, Zuinglius, of Switzerland, and the celebrated Melancthon, made a vigorous and successful onset upon the extravagant superstitions then prevalent. This, with what followed by men of like feelings, as Calvin, Knox, Cranmer, and others, aroused the dormant energies of the palsied world, opened the way for complete emancipation from the shackles of popish domination, and led to the establishment of the church in the order and purity of the gospel. This was the commencement of what is called, by way of eminence, the Reformation. But this was opposed, as it appeared in England, by Henry the Eighth, then king, with all the influence he possessed. In 1547, he was succeeded by his son, the amiable, sagacious, and virtuous Edward the Sixth, a firm friend and efficient supporter of the Reformation. He had just put in operation the wisest plans to eradicate from his dominions the sordid fictions of popery, and establish, in their place, the pure doctrines and practices of Christianity, when death removed him, after a reign of but six years. Mary, the sister of Edward, succeeded him. Her natural temper was tyrannical and cruel, almost beyond conception; and she was madly zealous for the Romish cause. Persecution, in its most barbarous and horrid forms, was employed against all who acceded not to her wishes, or attempted in the least to favor the Reformation. It was under her cruel reign, that the eminent John Rogers, the first of many who suffered death at the stake for their adherence to truth and duty, was burnt at Smithfield. Many of the reformers were driven to the continent, and took refuge in France, Flanders, Germany, and Switzerland.

But this reign of terror, blood, and death was short, having continued but about five years, being happily ended, in 1558, by the death of Mary, and the accession of her half-sister, Elizabeth, to the throne. But Elizabeth, though more mild in her natural temperament, as well as in the exercise of her authority, having delivered her people from the thraldom of Rome, and established that form of religious doctrine and ecclesiastical government, which now exists in England, was still disposed to adhere to many of the tenets of popery, and many of its superstitious and idolatrous forms. Having the supreme power over all ecclesiastical and spiritual matters by an act of Parliament, and obtained a law to enforce an uniformity of doctrines and ceremonies throughout the realm, and established the High Court of Commission for the punishing of all who refused to comply with the act of conformity, it is easy to perceive to what wretched straits the friends of pure religion were now subjected, under her reign even. On the accession of this queen to the throne, many of those who had been exiles in foreign lands, from the cruelties of Mary, returned to their native country; and, bringing back with them enlarged views of ecclesiastical discipline and divine worship, became very zealous, with others of like sentiments, for a more perfect reformation in the Church of England, and for disburdening the services of religion from all the innovations and impositions of popery. Hence, by way of reproach, they were denominated Puritans; and hence, also, many were summoned before the Court of Commission, and questioned, reproved, threatened, and commanded to comply with the ceremonies appointed by law. But the Puritans uniformly declared, that, in their sincerest belief, a compliance would be a violation of

their duty to God, and begged to remain unmolestedwh ile they disturbed not the public peace. But no favor was shown them. A large number of ministers, many of them of the most learned, pious, and popular, were deprived of their functions, separated from their families, confined in common prisons, and subjected to privations and penalties which reduced them to poverty.

Under King James the First, who came to the British throne in 1603, and who was educated in the Reformed Church of Scotland, the Puritans expected relief from oppression. But in this they were disappointed. James embraced, and rigorously adhered to, the same principles which had been adopted by Elizabeth, and resorted to the same cruel methods to support them. The only considerable favor the Puritans could obtain of him was a translation of the Bible, which is now in use, and which was done in 1611; a copy of which, bearing that date, is now in possession of the descendants of the first settlers of this town, and was brought here by them from their native land.

No light beaming upon the Puritans from any quarter, they began to conceive the design, of seeking abroad that religious freedom which they could not have at home. At first, individuals and single families emigrated to Holland; but, as the numbers increased, government interposed, and prohibited, by proclamation, all departures. But the Puritans were not longer to be confined by the chains of tyranny; through privations, and toils, and sufferings unparalleled, they urged their way; and, eventually, a Mr. John Robinson, with his people, secured a retreat in Holland. There they remained, with others that joined them, about eleven years; when, by the desire to be freed from many in