The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1841-04-29

A-1 NkNNllAtA 0AE uu4ArAns anu no &Attr-
tine discord has swept over cur land.
Here Is enjoyed rational liberty; he OPP
pressed have found an asylum, and he
poor fnendly home. Liberty or speech
and Of conscience are our birthrighi; and
under our own vine and az tree we can
sii, and there Is none 10 make Us afraid.
! Such has been the goodness Of God
towards us. Bur where is our gratitude!
Alssl.Ihe God who has blessed US Is for
gotienby this nation; his name is profan-
81, his goodness despised, end his laws
/ irampled under foot. The strong Ian
guase Of the prophet Isaiah % the people
Of Israel, i but TOO applicable 70 Us. /"
have nourished and brought up children,
and they have rebelled against me. The
OK knoweth his owner, and The ass his
masters crib, but Israel doth not know,
my people doth not consider" And may
ire not fear! Other nations in their pride
and falness have forgotten God, and he
has swept them away as with the bosom
Of destruction. LEI rs hfGr The rod.
2. Coyelousness is another national sin
Of which we are chargeable. The desire
Of gain has possessed our people. Every
thing has been prostituied TO this unhal-
lowed passion, and mammon has been the
God Of our idolairy. There has been
abroad restless spirit Of speculation,
unfriendly TO every thing good, and de-
structiye Of vital piety. And how have
our hopes been blasted! What distress
has come on the land! What perplexiiy
has seized the people, And what is the
meaning Of this! The inquiry Of our CO.
yetousness has come upon US. and we are
withered. This is the sin, and God has
sternly rebuked us for it.
3. | would mention as national sins
calling for humiliation and prayer, Sab
bath-breaking, intemperance, profane-
ness.
The Sabbath is well nigh obliterated.
Few reverence this sacred institution.
Most Of us for pleasure or for filthy lucre,
will without hesitation trample on this
day which God has claimed as his own.
Is this not true. Look at our public men,
our lawyers, judges, merchants, and alas
for il, even at the members, elders, and
ministers Of the church. Go to the great
thoroughfare of the nation, and you will
be constrained TO say, this is Sabbath.
breaking people.
j Survey the ruin caused by intempe.
rance in our land. Summon up before
Il YOU the crowd Of drunken husbands, o.
beggared children, Of withered hearts and
of blighted hopes; and then remember
that there are dens licensed by law to dc
this sad work; there are men, fathers
husbands, protested patriots, who can dc
this work, pocket the gains, and then
smile at the misery they cause. Oh! thi:
land mourncth by reason of drunkenness
II is the plague spot Of the nation. IL ha,
infected every family.
! And if these things are so, ought WI
. not to awake! God is a righteous Sove
reign, let us not imagine we are safe
+ He can turn upon us the fruits Of our ma
+ tional sins. There may be raised W
again ga scourge of God" who will de
solate this fair land, and liberty, peace
. happiness, will be crushed beneath al
iron despotism. Letus bear in mind tina
. virtue and intelligence are cur only safe
, guards, and where these are wanting w
may well tremble for the future. Th,
people that cannot be ruled by these, mus
: be kept down by Sc forest of bayonets;'
. and then our children, and our children:
!, children, will become the slaves of some
Il spawn of legitimacy, to be oppressed ant
afflicted by the grace Of God.
/ We summon The people to repentance
and confession. Let them come before
the throne of God, and seek his favour,
and then his wrath will be turned away,
!. and God, even our God, will bless us.
il There are various additional topics con.
] nectcd with this melancholy event, to
i which | must allude ere | close.
II L. This dispensation has in some de.
gree tested the strength Of our institu-
tons, and affords a presage Of the sta
bility of our government. The hand
that guided the ship of state has fallen
: nerveless from the helm, but no commo-
), ton has followed; the wheels of govern
/. ment move on with their accustomed re-
gularity. May we not cherish the hope
that our institutions will stand yet ruder
/ shocks, and that there is among the peo-
pie a healthy state of feeling which will
. render void, all the predictions of the ene-
mics of our free institutions.
9. There is one part of the character
of the deceased, on which as christian
minister may dwell a moment | refer
, to his religious character. You have all
, heard what he said in his inaugural. On
; his death bed he expressed his firm at
tachment to the christian religion, and we
, are informed by the clergyman on whose
+ ministrations he attended, that it was his
: design at an early date to unite himself
: publicly with the church of God. Alas,
J death interviewed to thwart all his plans,
: So death may step in between you and
/ your cherished plans. Then whatever