Year: 1876




with certain inalienable
rights, among which are life. liberty
and the pursuit of happiness " This
doctrinal principle, though fettered
by law and practice. steadily advanc-
ed in the public mind till the blow
was given that struck off the last
shackle lettering human haLds. The
only friends whom the Son of God ev-
er gained were attracted to him by
the charms Of His spiritual life and
the principles of merit inherent in
His nature.


Such Is the spirit Of our government.
The fields of commerce, literature,
science, all the trades and professions,
and the esteem of as many citizens as
any man can win by merit, become
part of his stock In trade for business
life. The infant rocked in trough
may attain greater distinction than he
whose crib Is of garnished mahogany.


The Englishman, Irishman, Germ
an, French, African. and American
born, sit side by side in the councils
of our nation.


The New Testament doctrine pos
sesses fiexibility as broad as the
range of human thought and capacity,
having one centralized point of unity,
that is, obedience unto Heavens laws
and the recognition of its author as
the one living. supreme and true God.


So Is the spirit of our government
liberal, granting to every member of
tine great union the right to act In its
own name and for its own interest,
provided no enactment shall come in
con fiict with the head of government
lodged in the legislative, judicial and
executive. In these constitutional
facts we behold the wisdom of ages
beneath which are the fundamental
doctrines of. the God of everlasting
covenants. In the spirit of national
pride We may quote the triplet of the
worlds celebrated bard:


"Breathes there a man with soul so dead


Who never to himself hath said


This is my own, my native land?"


III. The spirit of our government
is the spirit of assimilation, molding
other forms of civilization into its own
likeness.


The kingdom of Heaven IL two-fold
in its bearing. 1t is an inner life to
every disciple, and an external life by
example. The New Testament econ
omy began with little community of
men, having but one distinguishing
feature in common from the great
mass of mankind, that is, the revela-
tion Of the spirit. But as this COM
munity was gradually TO prevail even
over the mass of mankind through
the power of the indwelling spirit, it
was not always to remain entirely in
ward aud hidden, but TO send forth,
more and more q renew
ing influence


1t was to be She salt, the leaven Of
humanity, the city set upon hill,
the candle which when once lighted
should never be extinguished. And
Christ was gradually through this
community, His organ, and His royal
dwelling place to establish his king
dom as zeal one, more and more
widely among men and thus subdue
the world to His dominion. In this
sense were those who shared in His
communion to obtain and exercise,
even upon earth, a real world dOmin-
ion. 1t Is the aim and end Of history
that christianity shall more and more
become the world governing princi-
pie. In this wayr by kindness and
love, by preaching and she sent mis-
siOnary. are societies, tribes aud ma
tions to be made more and more like
the kingdom of Heaven, until the
world IS purified and transformed,
and becomes the seat of His universal
empire.


Such is the spirit Of our govern ment.
Having begun its existence in the
midst eff the national glory of the
crowned heads of the world, some of
whom, like the Roman empire at the
time our text was spoken, were grey
and palsied with age and their own
weight. Unlike their boasting spirit,
our fathers began in the vale of hu-
mility. clad In homespun and princi-
Piles of righteousness, they bore the
ship of State direct through the great
problems of government, proving at
every step by their integrity and pros
perity, that Happy is that people
whose God is the Lord" Some of the
wise heads of empires and Kingdoms
of Europe pred icted that our nation
would not survive the throes of the
late civil convulsion from 1860 to 1865,
but when the old ship came up from
the last wav5 with her masts all in
place, her rigging untOrn. her sail set
at full head, her hull above crest wave,
her prov toward the west whence the
star of empire takes its way, and her
oolors famed by the breeZes of heav-
en-, with not a star fallen, then public
opinion said she will be too much ela-
led to anchor within the dock in safe
y. But she anchored in safety, and
10 sure was she of her real strength |
hat she speedily said: Amnesty to
he fallen foe, franchise to the freed
nan, and civil right sto all. Such an
influence has been wonderful, and has
struck terror to the iron hand of king
Y authority. During the past few
months the nations of the world have
,ome to our nation doing homage with
ich gifts. For six months they have
,een observing our laws and customs,
nd l predict that one hundred years
renee, and history will record the
eavening influence upon the world.
)ur Centennial Commissioners, am