Morning journal and courier., 1889-04-29


 ruin" said delegate in the Hartford conven- tlon at that time. The country was impov- ! erished; financial standards were in utter | confusion, as glance at the advertisements l in the papers of those days in which men, tion IS made of the different notes and cur | reneies tben in vogue, is sufficient to show. | The government was powerless, and patriot | ism itself might well nigh have deepaired of | the future. Benjamin Franklin in that | gloomy period put forth pamphlet of "Con- l vigorate his ceuntrymen with his own in- ! domitable common sense. Yet in that Spring time when Washington rode to his | inauguration in great doubt of his abilities to meet the critical duties of the new era in his country's history, even nature herself seemed to hesitate, and to hold back the promise of her seasons. For under the date of May 4th of that year is found in the same faithful diary this entry; "Cold melancholy weather; vegitation very backward; no grass; hay generally short, great complaints throughout the country; the grasshoppers in profusion devouring the young springing grass; no blossoms on fruit-trees. May 27.
 Vegitation generally very backward. Distress es in Vermont for Bread and fodder" In January of the previous year the Presbyter- ian Synod had appointed fast for the pur- pose, among other objects, of imploring God "to put stop to the progress of the de- vouring insect which is cutting off the fruits of the earth in the middlestates." Wash ington found poverty and distress enough in the country at large, and no embarrassment called to lead the people through the gates into what prosperity, such as we now behold, no man then could have pr0phicied.
 Some three years and half ago of6ci. ated at the funeral of an aged member of this church who was the widow of an officer in General Weshington's army. Only, ore life. ! thought, stretching between those mighty men of old and ds. Only one life- time lying between those men who saw a distressed but free country turn toward it's future and it's separate states taken upon themselves the new covenant of liberty, and us who walk beneath these full-grown and quiet elms, fellow-citizens of country of vast extent and multitudinous plenty. Be- tween then and now only the eyes of one woman, once lifted in youthful love to the face of man who had bravely fought for the independence of these colonies, and closing at last upon scenes of national pros perity beyond the dreams of those hardy soldiers of Washington in camp at Valley Forge. Yet this miracle of the century God hath wrought. The fathers stood at the gates singing the new songs of a country's promise; and we return, bringing the sheaves with us from the century's harvest, which God has multiplied. Two hundred and more years ago one of the first books printed in these colonies wes an account of | the Working Providence of Zion's ! Saviour in New England'; one hundred years ago the people of those thirteen states, ! from Washington to the humblest soldier I who had left his home with the blessings of God-fearing parents upon him to fight for I tha liberty of his country, recognized the hand of God in 'he events through which ! their independence had been achieved and the constitution established
 On Oct. IF, 1789, in this city, -so I find from the newspapers of that Washing ton used these memorable words in his reply to the Address of the Connections legislature: q was but the agent of favouring Heaven, whose benign influence was so often manifested in our be- half, and to whom the praise of victory alone is due." Benjamin Franklin in the federal convention had solemnly said: 'We have been answered in the Sacred Scriptures, that except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it. firmly believe this; that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel" And Thomas Jefferson when he took upon him. self the supreme obligation of the presidency felt likewise the deeper religious conscious ness of the life of the people for he said; 1T shall need the favor of that Being in whose hands we all are. to whose good ness ask you to join in supplications with me-" The religious faith of the people of this community in the providence of God in their history was uttered ana eCnOeQ by Ezra Stiles in his famous election sermon in 17S3. Speaking of Washington he remarked: "Posterity, I apprehend, and the world it- self, inconsiderate and incredulous as they may be of the dominion of heaven, will yet do so much justice to the divine moral gov sEn as mS. ta thss ths Ame5 that our warfare is ended, do thou, O man of God, greatly beloved of the most High, per nit humble minister of the blessed Jesus, uhn ak viui t1u companisd thee through every stage of thy military progress, has watched thine every movement with heartfelt anxiety and solic- itude; and who, with the most sincere and ferVent wishes for thy safety and success, has not ceased day nor night to pray for thee, and to commend thee and thine army to God;-condescend to permit him to ex- | press his most cordial congratulations, and \ to share in the triumphs of thy bosom, on I this great and joyful occasion. We thank I to see his desire upon his enemies. and peace l on Israel" "Who," asked Dr. Dana in his ! review of the past century from this pulpit, ! "Who guided our councils in the senate and | in the feld9 Who girded us with strength | and brake the bows of the mightya Was it I & name superior to what any other age or nation can boasta-the only man, perhaps, who could have been our shield in war, and | our counsellor in peace. Who inspired the | framers of cur national constitutionl-the Il best system of human wisdom which the I world ever sawi Who turned the heart of \ the whole nation, as the heart of one man, \ to fix in the chair, once and again, the best patriot and best statesman that was ever at N the head of any governmentr
 The files of the weekly papers which were printed during those formative days, and in which the life of the people is still faithfully mirrored, contain such sentences as this, the only one which I can now cite, from communication dated January IS, 1758, and signed 'fConnecticut Farmer"
 ''The wonderful interpretations of divine providence in our favor from our first oppo- sition to Great Britain are too numerous to be reckoned up; but, appears to me, the hand of God was visible in our behalf as 1t wal. in the bringing of the children of Is- rael out of Egypt through the Red Sea and wilderness of Canaan" Such was the popu- lar consciousness, the conviction of tine people that God had delivered and that God shall rule this country; and in this profound be- lief in the divine providence and righteous ness our fathers, one hundred years ago, entered through the gates into the new era of law and liberty. The signs and notes of Gods leadership in the history of this country have not grown less during the eventful years of this cent ury, but have become clear and command ing as trumpet-calls, in the mighty conflict of constitutional liberty through which we
 
 al triumph which has been achieved, and in the peace which the God of battles has left ! as a new blessing upon the whole land. The higher law, at which in ignoble times of timid sslf-intsrest and compromise poli ticians scoffed, has proved itself to be the higher power also in the history of this country. The manifest destiny of the na- tion is moulded to some divine purpose and for the providential ends of universal his- tory. Our whole national existence has been and is one continued and great ar- gument for the existence of God in Is- rael. As this week we look back over this fin ished period of constitutional history, we perceive that some questions of good govern ment have been settled for us forever. Pres. Stiles, referring in the election sermon already cited, to the views of those who had entertained ideas of monarchy or the partition of the United States into three or four separate confedera- ciss remarked that "they may at length be satisfied, that the die is already cast and the policy has taken its complexion for ages to come" A hundred years of national hiss tory has proved the justice of that predic-