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overturn it, until He come whose right it is, and he will give it him.

From the view we have taken of the political state of the world, and more particularly of the recent revolution in France, we may be led to several reflections appropriate to the occasion upon which we have assembled.

It is a day of grateful acknowledgment to Heaven for the innumerable blessings, both temporal and spiritual, which we enjoy. What reason have we for deep and heartfelt gratitude to Almighty God, for our civil and religious freedom-that, while other nations are now passing through, and have yet to pass through revolutionary scenes, which, in their mildest forms, are attended with many difficulties, and not a little shedding of blood; we have accomplished our freedom, and can now sit under our own vine and fig-trees, having none to molest us and make us afraid. Let us then learn to cherish our invaluable institutions-the price of the blood of many revolutionary heroes, who struggled and expired in the cause of liberty-and let us be careful to hand them down, improved by the wisdom of experience, to our children's children. And while we cherish sentiments of lively grati

tude for our own civil and religious freedom, let us sympathize with other nations in their joy, in having recently attained the object of their desires, in the establishment of free institutions. And let us not fail to implore the guidance and blessing of Infinite Wisdom, to preserve them from abusing the privileges for which they have struggled, and to teach them moderation in the use of power, especially in the exercise of it towards those who have rendered themselves obnoxious to their displeasure, by a system of policy, opposite from their own.

And now we leave these themes, which we trust have not been altogether inappropriate to the duties of this day, and turn to the usual congratulations of this festive occasion. We are happy once more to meet you in the house of God on the return of this ancient festival. Many, since the last anniversary, have gone to the world of spirits; and those of them who have slept in Jesus, to spend an eternal thanksgiving in an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Let us be followers of them, who, through faith and patience, now inherit the promises.

Finally, when surrounding our own festive

boards, and tasting the rich pleasures that flow from social and domestic life, let us remember those who are destitute of the blessings we enjoy-let us not be unmindful to send portions to the poor and the needy-that while we taste so richly of the bounties of God's providence, we may cause the widow's heart to sing for joy, and the children of want to eat and be satisfied.

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SERMON XI.

THE FAITH OF THE PILGRIMS.

HEBREWS xi. 8.

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he

went.

THE Occasion, upon which I have been invited to address you, is exceeded by none of our public anniversaries in deep and absorbing interest. It compares with none, indeed, but that, which recognizes our standing among the nations of the earth, as a free and independent empire; a day, rescued, as long as the sun and moon shall endure, from oblivion, alike by the great event which it commemorates, and the astonishing and providential coincidences by which it has since

een distinguished. But to that part of this great nation, who people the shores of New England, and whose descendants have planted themselves in almost every part of this western continent, no anniversary can be more interesting than that which we are this day called to celebrate. It is the anniversary, not, it is true, of our nation's manhood, when she sought and obtained deliverance from parentage, that had become unnatural, oppressive and tyrannical, and took her proper place among the nations of the earth,—but it is the anniversary of her infancy, and its return will ever be hailed with emotions of holy gratitude and fervent praise by the sons of the Pilgrims in every part of the land.

That the occasion has ever been esteemed one of no ordinary interest, is evident from the respect that has attended its observance for a series of years. The ministers of the altar, and the most distinguished of our public orators, have successively employed their talents and their eloquence in perpetuating the memory of those devoted men, who left the land of their fathers, braved the boisterous deep, and encountered the dangers of a savage wilderness, for the sake of worshipping God according to the dictates of their consciences. While there is so much occasion for

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