Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1859-07-16


lions upon millions Of our people die in their
sins, and 60 down in dispair. Though thous-
ands upon thousands among us perish through
vice and crime, still 'cc are happy people
When we look at the rest Of the wOrlJ,-at all
the vast multitudes in the nations Of Asia, at
all Of Africa-at much of Europe, and South
America, and see the distress, the ignorance,
the degradation, the moral darkness, the op-
preston, the pOllutiOns, the bnrbaritica, the
heathcnisnI in them oil, then VIC can realize
that He are q hdiPy people, greatly diStin-
guiShed and greatly blessed.
And now still further, VIC are thus happy in
oil these our privileges, and opportunities, and
in all this light and knowledge, and greatness,
6ecauSe the Lord is our God. 1t is lie thnt
causes us to differ. II is because lie IL our
God that we arc not still the wild barbarians
our fathers were centuries ago, or that we arc
unlike all unchristi0n nations. Ms impress
is upon every part Of our national being-and
on all its history. five have one sinew OF
strength it is the Lord that has made it strong.
five have a single rosy blush Of health and
comcliness it is because lie is and has been
our God. lie is in all our greatness, and in
all our beauty. Our very constitution rccog-
nizcs Him as our God, and was founded OH the
principles Of Ills revelation. Our entire civil
structure is built upon christian foundation.
Our laws are based upon christian ethics, and
an obligation to obey them is cnjoncd and
made sacred by the fact that the Lord is our
God. Their very spirit and principles lie
tdUght US. And in His name and on Ills word
we are made to take oath. In fact eterythtHO
in our county tells us that the Lord is our God.
So Enthusiastically is this the case, that ma
ton Of Mohamedands would never think of
forming such laws and institutions as ours,
nor could they live under them, and still be
MOhamedandS. Our entire government and
society were never constituted or made for the
pagan, the TIindoo, the MusscmaIi, the fol-
lowers Of Confucius or Zorastcr, or for the pco-
pie Of any other religion than the christian
They were never made for the iniilel or the
atheist. They are untitled for them. They
were iDadc only for those whose God Is the
Lord. No other people would be at home
under them. They arc suited to no others
We ourselves would never have had such a
constitution, or such pure cnactmcnts, had not
the Lord been our God, and We are great aud
happy in this respect because he is our God.
Said the great Webster: "Thcrc is nothing
that we look for with more certainty than this
principle, that christianity is part of the law
Of the land, every thing declares it, the gcner-
atoms which have gone before speak of it,
and pronounce it from the tomb. We feel it,
all, all, proclaim that christianity, general
tolerant christianity, independent Of sects and
parties, that christianity to which tho sword
and the fagot are unknown, general, tolerant
christianity, is the law Of tho land" Such
werc the words Of Webster. The same senti-
ment has been repeatedly uttered by our high
est tribunals. 1t is the emphatic declaration
that our civilization rests upon our religion,
and that that really Is christianity.
And our religion not only underlies our con-
stitutiOn and laws, but it pcrvades our entire
social organism. We are moulded as a people
by our belief in Him and by what lie has
taught US. We bear Him on the standards of
our society. Our literature, our poetry is full
Of Him. Traces Of Him are in all our institu-
tiOnS, and he dwclls in our thoughts. lie is
on the minds Of our people from day to day,
and lie is in their cOnscienccs. We do right
or wrong as under His eye. In ten thousand
ways we own His being and Ills presencc--as
much (thOugh less cOnspicuOusly) al we do
the sun that shines upon us, and gives uS
light Take God from among us as . true and
living presence, and il would bc but few years
before we would revert to hcathenism. At
the best we would become but q mighty Greece
or Rome, great powers Of darkness, full of might
oppression and corruption. Our greatness, our
happiness would crumblc, as q palace whose
stones were turning to dust. Take away our
churches, take away the bible and soon pagan
darkness would OvcrshadOw US. Our liberties
would DC no more. Our christian rights
would cease to be served. Power would rule
in blindness and bigotry MS it docs among
other people. Our millions of enlightened
frcemcn would soon grope as do the millions
Of other lands Without christianity We
would never have become what wc are, and
so without it We would soon cease to DC what
we arc. Without it we would 60 back to dcs-
pOtism, to crime, to confusion and to prevail
ing ignorance. Our intelligence, our peculiar
patriotism, our devotion to principles, the no
biity and freedom Of our sentiments, our 10y
atty to open truth, all our bulwarks of strength,
have come more or less directly from christi
anity, and should It altogether cease from
among us, 80 would they. Like other people
VIC would not dare to think and act for our
selves. 1t is, the truths and principles Of our
religion, that have enlightened the minds of
our people, that have led us in the way we
have gone, and that have conducted us to all
our happiness. Such light and knowledge,
and privileges and liberty, and progress, and
greatness arc but the legitimate fruits of tho
christian religion. They are its natural con.
sequences. 1t is only adapted to produce
such results. 1t makes people intelligent,
thoughtful, yirtu0us and capable of self gov
crnment. It elcvates their minds, gives them
high aims and inspires them with hopes far
seeing and grand. The more of it's spirit there
is among people the sOunder, stronger, and
happier they will be. The better thcy will
thrive. The more refinement and virtue they
will have. 1t is sure consequence. And
besides all this the Lord is God who has al
ways favored and always will favor his people.
He has been with Ns, and watched over us
since our earliest days. lie has brought US
glOriously through oil our struggles and trials
lie has giVeG US Victory, and prosperity and
happiness without measure. The blessings Of
His grace has descended upon us rs upon no
other land. He has even made US q power to
dittuse His light and knowledge over the earth.
Thus VIC lnay say with David, and in spirit
Of true thankfulness, "happy is that people,
that is in such . case yea, happy is that peO-
pie whose God is the Lord" We consider
the question demonstrated without charging
upon it.
! There aro now several infcrcnccs for us to
draw from the truth that We have considered.
Our first inference is thH. Ths chief care
Of every people is its religion. This is so, not
merely with individuals but with nations. On
their religion as we have seen, their happiness,
their pOsitiOn-their growth-their charac.
ter-thcir entire developmsnt chiefly depend.
Their welfare ID more intimately connected
with II than with nnvfl,inU aluo Tha;r r-~D,,