free the Americans"* Beyond a doubt, the providence of God alone will explain this infatuation, this judicial blind- ·

ness.

How clearly we mark the hand of God in the patience which delayed this act of formal separation until every fact and principle it involved had been examined over and over in the most searching discussions, and the whole nation had been penetrated by a conviction of its high justice and inevitable necessity! Had a few rash leaders brought on this contest prematurely, or a few headstrong men enacted and proclaimed the overt act of independence, the selfrespect and caution of the American people would have rejected it, and assisted in bringing its authors to condign punishment. What sovereign control there must have been over all resentments, restraining all angry passions, and preventing all rashness, until the time for action had fully come, until the catalogue of grievances, such as no people under heaven had ever suffered, was completely full, and the vindication of the declaration was beyond the reach of a doubt!

What majestic minds rose up, under God, to take the lead; to show, by the calmest, clearest statesmanship, that not a single step was taken but as the result of a necessity forced upon the people by the arbitrary acts of the British. government; to be of the people, and yet the leaders of the people in the midst of the storm; to define the rights of the American people, not as demanded by accident or passion, but as based upon immutable principles; and coolly advance, step by step, in the way to independence, amid the provocations of tyranny and the carnage of war, only as Providence clearly opened the way! God makes great men for great occasions. He gave to suffering, bleeding America her Adams and Jefferson, her Lee and Rutledge, her Jay and Franklin, her Marion and Washington, with their compeers in patriotism and wisdom; raising them far

*Bancroft, viii. 385.

above the ordinary level of even great men in all the high qualities which prepared them to grapple with the problems of their times.

And the principles of the great Declaration had been slowly evolved from the chaos of anarchy and despotism, during a period of more than three hundred years, under the same great Providence. So distinctly had they been written upon the current history of civil governments and religion, that plain people saw them, and rendered them into their own. dialect. When, in May, 1776, Virginia was in her transition state from dependence to independence, and her people were electing and instructing the delegates to her assembly of freemen, these strange words came from the people of Buckingham County, and fell upon the ears of its delegates, Charles Patterson and John Cahill: "We instruct you to cause a total separation from Great Britain to take place as soon as possible; and a constitution to be established, with a full representation, and free and frequent elections. As America is the last country of the world which has contended for her liberty, so she may be the most free and happy, taking the advantage of her situation and strength, and having the experience of all before to profit by. The Supreme Being hath left it in our power to choose what government we please for our civil and religious happiness: good government, and the prosperity of mankind, can alone be in the divine intention. We pray, therefore, that, under the superintending providence of the Ruler of the universe a government may be established in America, the most free, happy, and permanent that human wisdom can contrive and the perfection of man maintain." Let the reader look at this profound Christian revelation of the philosophy of freedom and government: "The Supreme Being hath left it in our power to choose what government we please for our civil and religious happiness; good government, and the prosperity of mankind, can alone be in the divine intention:" and prayer to "the Supreme Ruler of the universe" for the superintend

ing care is indispensable to the formation and maintenance of good government. Oh, this is splendid! How devoutly we adore the Spirit above and around and through all, who gave to the minds of this new providential nation so clear and divine an idea of the advanced position now to be assumed in the development of human destiny.

It is delightful to read from the pen of the great civil commander of the forces of independence, John Adams, as his heart glowed over the great irrevocable resolution of the 2d of July, "It is the will of Heaven that the two countries should be sundered forever. It may be the will of Heaven that America shall suffer calamities still more wasting, and distresses yet more dreadful. If this is to be the case, the furnace of affliction produces refinement in States, as well as individuals; but I submit all my hopes and fears to an overruling Providence, in which, unfashionable as the faith may be, I firmly believe."

Thus the great wisdom, which alone could so order the new Republic as to render its cause successful, is seen by the American people to be from above; and the extraordinary character of our great charter of liberty is clearly explained. When, for our separate and equal station among the nations of the earth, our patriotic fathers refer to "Nature and to Nature's God," and they say, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,"-we are led, by light from the celestial world, into the very depths of civil and political wisdom, and are put in possession of the profoundest principles of right and freedom ever known to man, a power which would ultimately destroy all the forms of oppression and injustice which the infirmities of men, or the capital wrongs of our future constitution, might leave amongst us. Well

might these sages of the great Revolution, when they were about to pledge their lives, their fortunes, and sacred honor "for the support of this Declaration," solemnly appeal to "the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of their intentions," and assume their high and sacred responsibilities "with a firm reliance on the protection of DIVINE PROVIDENCE." Thus have we ascertained that the Declaration reveals a national life, independent of Great Britain, but humbly reliant upon the arm of God.

How utterly unlike the tendencies of despotism, away from God, and hence, of necessity, away from political wisdom! How clearly does the rule of a divine Sovereign exalt the thoughts of a free people to firm faith in his direction, and the ultimate triumph of the right!

The breadth and reach of the great "Declaration" can be distinctly seen from this stand-point alone. It was by inspiration from Heaven that "Jefferson poured the soul of the continent into the monumental act of independence."

CHAPTER VI.

DISCIPLINE INSURES A VIGOROUS NATIONAL LIFE.

"These adventurous worthies, animated by sublimer prospects, dearly purchased this land: they and their posterity have defended it with unknown cost, in continual jeopardy of their lives, and with their blood."- SAMUEL COOKe.

WE value that most which costs us most. Whatever comes to us without a struggle, without trials, we are likely to part with without regrets. But blessings gained by years of toil and suffering we hold as inexpressibly valuable to us, and would make great sacrifices to retain. Hence it was that American liberties were so dear to the brave men of the Revolution. They knew their cost, and clung to them with the utmost tenacity. Hence the immensely higher estimate we place upon our noble institutions since our recent deathstruggle to defend them. American history ought to explain to all men, with sufficient distinctness, the reasons for the depth and glow of American patriotism.

Discipline is strength. The unused muscle is without power; but the arm of the blacksmith is vigorous and able. The neglected mind is feeble, and an object of pity; but the mental vigor of the scholar commands our respect and admiration. The heart unaccustomed to virtue or piety is easily captivated by vice; but the practised Christian is a moral hero in the conflicts of temptation and sin.

So the life of a nation springing up by sudden and successful revolution is effeminate and temporary; but the life which passes with severe trials from generation to generation, which wears for agonizing years its galling chains, and battles its way out of inthralment amid the sufferings of blood,