free, and man to be personally accountable to God alone for the honest fulfilment of religious obligation.

Just in proportion as the freedom of discussion in this fair field should work out the Popish element of coercion in religion, and give ascendency to the pure forms of experimental and practical Christianity, it would become a power in the new nation. It would, moreover, exert a vast influence upon the thinking and convictions of statesmen and educators, in the exaltation of justice and every form of public virtue. It would slowly but powerfully mould the laws and administrative government of the country. Private and public men would be imperceptibly controlled by its holy teachings, sin would be discountenanced as a reproach to any people, and righteousness invoked, which alone exalteth a nation. Far from being always ostensible and outwardly exacting, this humble, quiet spirit would silently permeate all public bodies, and powerfully control all public functionaries.

All this became historical in America. For though pure religion was far from being universal in the period of independence, and though for ages to come great public wrongs would assert their right to place amid the institutions of American freedom, they kept their position against the energetic protest of divine Christianity; and one after another yielded to the vigor of a force which they could in no wise withstand. Men and manners, institutions and administrations, practically acknowledged the presence of a silent influence which had, from the beginning, asserted its right to be the dominant power of the nation.

This at length may be claimed to be the most sacred faith of the people: The Bible, freely read, and interpreted according to the best judgment of the individual, is the great standard of right and justice, the guide to purity on earth, and happiness in heaven; God is the great Sovereign of nations; no law, no usage, however venerable in precedent or high in authority, to be considered legitimate or

permanent, if at war with the will of God; the most fearless condemnation of sin, the most complete recognition of the brotherhood of the race, the most humble trust in the Redeemer, and the most thorough forms of gospel evangelism, are the most acceptable to the people. This is the religion of the Great Republic.

THE RELIGION OF THE NATION IN OFFICIAL ACTS AND PUBLIC MEN.

Let us now see the action of this great public force through the representatives of the people.

On the 16th of March, 1776, Mr. William Livingston, pursuant to leave granted, brought in a resolution for appointing a fast; which, being taken into consideration, was agreed to as follows: "In times of impending calamity and distress, when the liberties of America are eminently endangered by the secret machinations of a vindictive administration, it becomes the duty of these hitherto free and happy colonies, with true penitence of heart and the most reverent devotion, publicly to acknowledge the overruling providence of God; to confess and deplore our offences against him; and to supplicate his interposition for averting the threatened danger, and prospering our strenuous efforts in the cause of freedom, virtue, and prosperity. The Congress, therefore, considering the warlike preparations of the British ministry to subvert our invaluable rights and privileges, and reduce us by fire and sword, by the savages of the wilderness, and our own domestics, to the most abject and ignominious bondage; desirous, at the same time, to have people of all ranks and degrees duly impressed with a solemn sense of God's superintending providence, and of their duty devoutly to rely, in all their lawful enterprises, on his aid and direction,-do earnestly recommend that Friday, the seventeenth day of May next, be observed by the said colonies as a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, that we may, with united hearts, confess and bewail our manifold

sins and transgressions, and by a sincere repentance, and amendment of life, appease his righteous displeasure, and, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, obtain his pardon and forgiveness; humbly imploring his assistance to frustrate the cruel purposes of our unnatural enemies, and, by inclining their hearts to justice and benevolence, prevent the further effusion of kindred blood. But if, continuing deaf to the voice of reason and humanity, and inflexibly bent on desolation and war, they constrain us to repel their hostile invasions by open resistance, that it may please the Lord of hosts and the God of armies to animate our officers and soldiers with invincible fortitude, to guard and protect them in the day of battle, and to crown the continental arms, by sea and land, with victory and success; earnestly beseeching him to bless our civil rulers, and the representatives of the people, in their several assemblies and conventions; to preserve and strengthen their Union; to inspire them with an ardent, disinterested love of their country; to give wisdom and stability to their counsels, and direct them to the more efficacious measures for establishing the rights of America on the most honorable and permanent basis; that he would be graciously pleased to bless all his people in these colonies with health and plenty, and grant that a spirit of incorruptible patriotism, and of pure undefiled religion, may universally prevail, and this continent be speedily restored to the blessings of peace and liberty, and enabled to transmit them inviolate to the latest posterity. And it is recommended to Christians of all denominations to assemble for public worship, and abstain from all servile labor, on said day."

This was the statesmanship of the Revolution, - - a clear, calm recognition of God, and " the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ," as our only hope of "pardon," and the "assistance" which our struggle for liberty required. And let it not be supposed that this was a sudden ebullition of fear. It was so often repeated, and these holy principles were

asserted in such a variety of forms, in language and acts of such deep solemnity, as to show clearly a firm, unalterable faith in the attributes and promises of God, in the efficacy of Christ's mediation, and in the power of prayer.

On the eleventh day of December of the same year, we find these noble representatives of struggling freedom adopting a report from a committee, consisting of Mr. Witherspoon, Mr. R. H. Lee, and Mr. Adams, couched in the following language: "Whereas, The war in which the United States are engaged with Great Britain has not only been prolonged, but is likely to be carried to the greatest extremity; and whereas it becomes all public bodies, as well as private persons, to reverence the providence of God, and look up to him as the supreme Disposer of all events and the arbiter of the fate of nations: therefore

"Resolved, That it is recommended to all the United States, as soon as possible, to appoint a day of solemn fasting and humiliation, to implore of Almighty God the forgiveness of the many sins prevailing among all ranks, and to beg the continuance and assistance of his providence in the prosecution of the present just and necessary war. The Congress do also, in the most earnest manner, recommend to all the members of the United States, and particularly the officers, civil and military, under them, the exercise of repentance and reformation; and further require of them the strict observation of the articles of war, and particularly that part of the said articles which forbids profane swearing and all immorality, of which all such officers are desired to take notice."

These grave and formal recognitions of fundamental, evangelical truth are truly national, promulgated in language of deepest solemnity by the highest authority of the people, corresponding precisely with the tone and expressions of that immortal document, the Declaration of Independence, which in this place we present again: "We therefore, the representatives of the United States of America in General Con

gress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions; . . . and for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of DIVINE PROVIDENCE, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." Before such appeals, tyrants must have stood awe-struck and trembling, as in the presence of inevitable doom.

When the storm of war was still raging, and it would seem that nothing could divert for a moment the attention of these wonderful men from the immediate preparation which the contest required, on the 11th of September, 1777, we find them gravely considering and adopting the report of a committee on a memorial of Dr. Allison and others, asking for means for a supply of the Holy Scriptures. And what do they say? Sceptically, "We attend to the exigencies of the war: we have neither time nor disposition to consider questions of religion; we leave them to clergymen and enthusiasts"? No. They say, "That the use of the Bible is so universal, and its importance so great, that your committee refer the above to the consideration of Congress; and, if Congress shall not think it expedient to order the importation of types and paper, the committee recommend that Congress will order the Committee of Commerce to import TWENTY THOUSAND BIBLES from Holland, Scotland, or elsewhere, into the different ports of the States of the Union." "Wherefore it was moved and carried, That the Committee of Commerce be directed to import twenty thousand copies of the Bible." The embargo prevented the carrying-out of this worthy enterprise; and in 1782 we find another "National Act in behalf of the Bible." Mr. Robert Aitkin of Philadelphia proposed to Congress to print an edition of the Scriptures. The matter was given to a committee, who, with the chaplains, thoroughly examined the copy he submitted, and reported in favor of the measure: whereupon it was

"Resolved, That the United States, in Congress assembled,