Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1853-03-01

ZION. ne private tditivh utllS austO, tue du-
thor, we are told, kindly permitted second edition
30 be printed; and the sermon before the pub
lie
Sermons, as a branch Of English literature, are
generally very poor affairs. They have gone down
in quality since the days OF Dwight ana Edwards
unt they have become soporfcs.
This sermon Of DR. Adams does not, in our opin-
ION form an exception the general rule and as an
intellectual production, would have passed unnoced
Bot the special occasion on which it was preached
and the spirit and tendency Of its teaching give it
an interest which its intrinsic merits are far from en-
iiting it TO.
The death Of Daniel Webster vas the occasion
on which DR. Adams delivered this address; and in
order to show in what light this Boston Rabbi view
ed the man and the event, we quote few words
from the Introductory part of the sermon.
This man was made ''the subject Of an interest
which falls short of idolatry by less degree than
that awakened by the decease Of any, excepting Mo-
ses and Samuel, and The few since their day, in the
history of the old natons and the very few of this
young republic"
"This great is above praise in all that made
him truly great' sour nation has not lost great
err benefactor since the death Of Its iounders.''-
'Posterty will adJudge him te have been disinter-
ested and patriotic in his compromise with
relation tie slavery in the United States Posterity
will not look at those acts as we do in near connec-
ton with an elevation TO the chief magisracy."
DR.. Adams, after eulogzing Mr.. Webster, speaks
his services He utterly repuGates the idea
of selfinterest influencing him public
He ,Vas uovarnad nr Adams hv ism
and pure love, in his advocacy of the "Fugi,ve
Slave Law He was the instrument Of God in
ing the Union of these States. ssAnd now,
sail away together says the learned Doctor, Gin
our national bark, from the grit tomb Of our p
lot, o, that might all agree, North, South, East,
and West,to throw into the waves, a sacr6ce,Our
unkind feeIingsour bitter words on the subject OF
American slavery, Let the land have Sabbath,
and let that Sabbath be the long, long days of our
mourning for this great patriot, our counirys
friend.''
'sHe loved the Christian religion. He loved and
cherished the Christian ministry, and the Clergy
througout this Christian world indebted to him
for his feelings and expressions with regard to them.
They. in their turn, have loved and revered him in
exceeded by their feelings towards any
cotemporary.'
i'Remember the testimony which this man has
given, that the Fear OF the Loud Is the beginning Of
wisdom.'
We win quote any Of this sermon, aud
we know our rea ier4 wdl appreciate epuguance
to do so, from the FACT that Da,iel Webster is the
subject Of those eoIoges We do not cri,cise this
from enmiiy the dead but because we have
ri g. m I;v;,,
alude the life Of Daniel ebster, except hen
are compelled 10 do so b; such men as Dir. Adams.
When a man dscends The pulpit in the name Of
Christ, and under the shadow of his sacredotal
robes breaches falsehood the people, we are com
PEELED that in the face ofthe people, and
exp 'se his falsehood. Ii is for the sake of the
young, the good the true, aud the trusting that we
venture to open up this sepulchre over which
De-. Adams and his many 'brethren'' have attempt
ed to throw the seamless garment Of Christ.
Was Daniel Webster great! He was-according
to two standards-those of the savage and the scho
last. He majestic in his person. He was
powerful in speech. He would have been prince
among the Choctaws, aud dux in almost any senatus
cOnsaltU Of the schools But the standard Of great
ness, in our days, and in Our nation, is neither
physical intellectual standard; it is Christian
Goodness is the basal element OF true greatness; and
inasmuch as Daniel Webster was not truly good, he
was not truly great. He was not chasie, and he
was not temperate. Without temperance and chas.
tiiy, there can be no greatness.
Posterity cannot adjudge Nj Webster TO have been
dsinerested in his advocacy of the Fugitive Slave
Law. Posterity will be compelled to judge by the
law and the evidence. Aud the law, which is truth.
will condemn him of mercenary motives, and person.
al ambition. Fifty thousand dollars and the Pres.
idency were The inducements which Mr. Webster
had, to become alder and abetror of Slavery
History will gather up the evidence Of these facts
and bring them, with inexorabe hand, against
memory which posterity will be obliged to pity and
despise.
Daniel Webster loved Christianity! What is Chris.
tianty, DR. Adams? Is il mere institution, CON-
posed Of cergymen, deacons, meeting houses pews,
Sunday services, and periodical ceremonies?-or is
il not life Of virtue and goodness according to the
will OF God9 IL Christianity means the former, then
Daniel Webster attached TO that sort Of Chris
tianiiy, because it exacled nothing from him, and
gave him political influence and power. But If
Christianity means the latter, the clergyman who
could say that Daniel Webster loved it, has, in our
opinion, less regard for the approval Of his God,
than Of the fashionable world.
Let Mr. Webster alone, ye busy bodies, who ex-
pee. to gain little eclat, by joining in the fashona-
able pIa that have been uttered his grave
Mr. Websier's speeches are all that men care to
know about bin, and even they want the immortal
attribute Of earnestness. His life is not such as
father would love TO point bic to. an example.
His conduct ia not such mother would love her
re-souled daughter to contemplate with respect.
We depore the effects Of Mr. Websier's political
apostacy; but still depIore the evils which
such pernicious euloges that Of DR. Adams are
calculated TO bring upon country. When grave
and learned elergymen can giorfy character des
tiInte Of The essential Christian viriaes as Daniel
WebsIei's was. how can we expect the young, 70