ALTHOUGH it be our unspeakable felicity, as a civilized and Christian peo­ple, to have in our hands the New Tes­tament—the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST—that fullness of divine light and knowledge and love, to which no addition is expected or promised to be made in our present mor­tal state; yet we are to adore that Provi­dence which hath given us the Old Testa­ment also, containing the law and the pro­phets—the dealings of the Almighty with his own people, the JEWS, under a govern­ment erected by himself; and from whose history, lessons are to be derived highly in­structive to mankind, in all ages and con­ditions of society.

[Page 2] The various changes in the fortune of that people, who were alternately lifted up and cast down in the hands of Jehovah, are recorded for our learning, by the sovereign will of him, who is not the God of the JEWS only, but also of the GENTILES; and are "profitable (as all Scriptures are) for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness."

In the chapter from which our rapturous text is taken, the sublime and evangelical Prophet congratulates his nation, not only upon a recent deliverance from many tem­poral evils, a restoration from a cruel captivi­ty, and a succeeding happy change of their condition as a people; but, borne trium­phantly forward, by the Spirit which rested upon him, to future shining periods of Freedom and Happiness under the Gospel, he holds forth to them, and to the whole world with them, the glorious prospect of a double deliverance and salvation (which should take place, to the very "ends of the earth,") as well from all temporal evil and bondage, as from spiritual evil and the cruel bondage of sin!

"Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Sion! put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem; for henceforth there shall no more come unto thee, the uncircumcised and the unclean. My people shall know my name; [Page 3] they shall know, in that day, that I am he that doth speak: Behold it is I!"

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tid­ings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that faith unto Zion, thy God reigneth! Break forth into joy, sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Je­rusalem."

"The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH shall see the SALVA­TION of our GOD!"

How divinely luminous, how sweetly evangelical, how richly instructive, and how triumphantly accordant to the solem­nities of this day, are our Text and Con­text! To no period under the LAW, to no former period under the GOSPEL, can we look for the full explanation, or near ac­complishment, of the Prophecy before us! To the present AERA, and to the happy cir­cumstances under which we are now assem­bled, we are called to turn our meditations, and to seek for a more ample commentary upon this prophecy; wherein there is a two­fold WORK of the Lord to be considered—for which, He hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations—

[Page 4] I. "To deliver a people who were op­pressed, to restore and comfort them, and to make their waste places sing for joy."

II "To accompany this deliverance with tidings of good things," the universal overtures of PEACE and SALVATION; till the happy land shall become the last and most glorious stage and theatre of gospel knowledge.

Here then, in this divine work for which the Lord hath made bare his holy arm, in the eyes of all the nations, even to "the ends of the earth," the inhabitants of these American States appear to be brought into the midst of the great Drama. They mourned under "oppression" and wrong; but now they are "restored and comforted." Their land was desolated; but now "their waste places sing for joy." They have heard "the tidings of good things." The gospel is preached unto them. They rejoice in this preaching. They exult and cry out in the words of our prophecy, as quoted by St. Paul—

"How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things;" that publish peace and salvation, and say unto Zion, thy God reigneth!"

BUT our Prophet further explains him­self, on this last diffusion of the Gospel, by [Page 5] connecting with it the greatest temporal fe­licity, in strains further applicable to our present circumstances, and worthy of our most earnest attention.

"The Lord himself shall be an ever­lasting light unto the world. They who follow that light shall become a righteous people, and inherit the land for ever, as a branch of his planting, whereby he may be glorified. A LITTLE ONE (among such a people) shall become a THOUSAND, and A SMALL ONE A GREAT NATION!" This he hath promised, and this he will perform; "he will hasten it;" yea, he is now has­tening it in his own blessed way! a little one is becoming a thousand, and small ones are becoming great nations. The auspici­ous AEra is at hand, and its blessings almost within our grasp! The anticipation of them ought to fill us with a holy fervor, and be as a portion of divine fire to animate us in the remaining duties of this day, which (as hath been already stated) regard a temporal as well as spiritual SALVATION.

Although, to commemorate a temporal deliverance and salvation, on each annual re­turn of this day, be the principal design of the illustrious band of Citizens, Soldiers, and Patriots, by whose appointment I stand here; yet I have their authority to say, that they join with every sincere Christian, in this great and respectable assembly, in con­sidering [Page 6] it as their indispensible duty, never to separate the commemoration of temporal, from that of spiritual, blessings and deliver­ances. They are indeed inseparable in their nature; and these Patriots and Sol­diers appear in this sacred place to manifest to the world, that in their consideration, the Joy of this day, as often as it shall re­turn, ought not to be a noisy and tumultuous joy, shouts of triumph, a display of the spoils of enemies, trophies of victory, the mere glare and parade of external shew, illumi­nations, feastings and the like, (which, as emblems and remembrancers, may on pro­per occasions be allowable and fit); But it should be a religious JOY, the joy of the heart before the LORD, mixed with a holy and reverential fear; rejoicing indeed, but our rejoicing should be with "trembling;" lest we follow the example of Israel, who, when they saw the great work which the Lord did for them upon the Egyptians, feared the Lord and Moses, and comme­morated their deliverance with songs of joy, saying, "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, amongst the Gods; glorious in majesty, doing wonders?" Yet soon did they forget their deliverer; and, for the punishment of their ingratitude, were scattered among the nations which knew not GOD.

THAT these UNITED STATES might [Page 7] never fall into the like forgetfulness of the great work which the Lord hath done for them, in their establishment as a FREE and INDEPENDENT NATION, nor incur the pu­nishment due to such ingratitude; to per­petuate those Friendships, which, as the strong arm of a Giant, had contributed so much to the mighty Atchievment; and to unite more closely in offices of Love and Charity to distressed brethren—were the great objects for which the SOCIETY OF CIN­CINNATI was established. But the account of their Institution can be given, in no lan­guage superior to their own.

‘Having lived, say they, in the strictest habits of amity through the various sta­ges of a war, unparalleled in many of its circumstances—in the moment of tri­umph and separation, when we were a­bout to act the last pleasing, melancho­ly, scene in our MILITARY DRAMA—pleasing, because we were to leave our country possessed of INDEPENDENCE and PEACE; melancholy, because we were to part, perhaps, never to meet again; it was impossible not to wish such friend­ships to be CONTINUED—it was impossi­ble to forget the dangers by which they were cemented—’ it was impossible not to indulge a desire to convey to their posterity, a perpetual memorial of the [Page 8] blessings procured by their happy labours, and to make provision for alleviating the distresses of such of their brethren as had suf­fered more immediately and eminently in the general cause.

Under those impressions, "when it pleased the Supreme Governor of the uni­verse to give success to their arms, and fi­nally to establish the UNITED STATES, free and independent, the SOCIETY of CINCIN­NATI was instituted; gratefully to com­memorate the important event; to inculcate, to the latest ages, the duty of laying down, in PEACE, the arms assumed for public de­fence, by forming an institution which re­cognizes that most important principle; to continue the mutual friendships which com­menced under the pressure of common dan­ger; and to effectuate the acts of bene­ficence, dictated by the spirit of brotherly kindness, towards those officers and their families who might be under the necessity of receiving them."

With these principles, retiring into the shade of private life, holding up the cha­racter of that illustrious Roman, LUCIUS QUINTIUS CINCINNATUS for their exam­ple and model, they assumed his NAME, ha­ving "PATRIOTISM, FRIENDSHIP and CHARITY," as the basis of their INSTITU­TION and ORDER; a foundation more ho­nourable, [Page 9] than could be derived from all the wealth and grandeur of the proudest Monarchs.

Against an Institution, founded on such pure and patriotic principles, why should even a suspicion have ever arisen, as if it had been intended to "destroy that Equality of rank in Society, to attain which its Found­ers had suffered every hardship of WAR and WANT; freely relinquishing the ARMS which were in their hands, and retiring in­to private life unrewarded, and wholly de­pendent on the justice and liberality of their country?"

With a noble spirit, gentlemen, you have ascribed those suspicions, although wholly unjust, to that holy Jealousy which freemen ever ought to maintain for the preservation of their rights; and you condescended to re­form the Constitution of your society by a re­moval of amendment of every article which could continue the least ground of such jea­lousy; thereby gaining a Victory over your­selves (if possible), more heroic and mag­nanimous, than all the former examples of your heroism and magnanimity.

In the institution of your Order, as well as in all your conduct during the war, you have so far adorned the character which I had long since conceived of the good SOLDIER and PATRICT, that I am al­most [Page 10] most tempted (you will forgive the vanity) of assuming to myself some part of the me­rit—at least of hinting the foundation of the Order of the CINCINNATI.

From a sermon delivered in this place, in the midst of the late war, (viz. on the Feast of St John the Evangelist 1778,) before your illustrious General and President, now the President, of the United States, you will give me leave to quote a Passage, viz.

Thus far on that occasion—And now gentlemen, having said all that seems neces­sary to your as a distinct body, and respec­ting your honorable claim to the title of [Page 13] CINCINNATI, I trust that I shall obtain an equal attention from you to my second head of discourse; in which you and every member of the community here assembled are alike interested. Nay, as examples, to lead the attention of others to that SPIRITUAL SAL­VATION, which remains to be more fully treated of, perhaps you are more interested than others; and more may be expected from you, as you have nobly avowed the principle—That the SOLDIER'S glory cannot be completed, without acting well the part of the GOOD CITIZEN and GOOD CHRISTIAN!

But, before I proceed further—It having been declared, that the great design of the Cincinnati on this day is to commemorate the blessings of religious and civil Liberty; and the Churches in this city, having for some years past, made use of a particular Ser­vice composed for that purpose; it may seem strange that the said service hath been omitted on the present occasion. To this I am instructed, by the Right Rev. Bishop and Pastor of this Church, to answer—That, although such a service was, with a pure, a pious, and patriotic design, proposed by a Con­vention of our Church some years ago, yet it was never received into general use; nor did it appear that any other religious de­nomination of Christians in the Union, were disposed to follow the example, or to [Page 14] make a similar provision for commemorat­ing the day. This, however, would have had but little weight with us, if it had been considered by the members of our Church as a religious rather than a political institution. But being convinced by the remarkable scarcity of worshippers, which attended the Service, on former returns of this day, that the multitude were too much drawn off, by the external parade of shews and rejoicings, from an attention to religious duties (except when the day fell on Sunday)—What was originally introduced as a proposal, is now omitted in an authoritative Liturgy establish­ed by the late general Convention of our Church. The religious observation of the day, however, will always be encouraged, as it is on the present occasion, when a simi­lar disposition shall call for it.

I proceed now to consider more fully that spiritual Salvation, which Almighty God, after "having made bare his holy arm," to rescue us from temporal calamity, hath promised to extend "to all the ends of the earth."

By this Salvation, as mentioned in our text, I need scarcely observe to a christian audience, that we are to understand the knowledge and practice of the blessed Gos­pel of Jesus Christ; to which is annexed not only the promises of temporal happiness in [Page 15] this life, but the rich reward of eternal hap­piness in the life to come. To be convin­ced of the sufficiency of the blessed Gospel, for the great purposes of this mighty salva­tion, is the chief wisdom of man. For therein is contained that wisdom, which is of God; that true knowledge, without which all else, that is called knowledge, is nugatory and vain! The further we carry our enquiries into the works of Nature and Providence, the more we are convinced of their greatness, and our own insufficiency to comprehend them: the length, the breadth, and the depth, far out measure our scanty line, without deriving help from on high. We find many things of the utmost impor­tance for us to know, which yet baffle all our efforts, and elude our most eager re­searches.

The creation and various revolutions of the world which we inhabit, the fall and redemption of man, the last judgment and an eternal world to come—these are grand and interesting concerns, in which no wis­dom of our own could instruct us, unless the Lord had been pleased to reveal himself concerning them.

Can we, then, neglect or despise that hea­venly system of truth, by which he hath made himself known to us in those great points? Shall we not rather take it to our [Page 16] bosoms, search into its depths, and reverence it as containing the words of eternal life; as being the richest legacy which heaven could give or man receive?

In all the majesty of truth, and beauties of holiness, the blessed Gospel delivers to us those laws, by which we are to live here, and be judged hereafter. Containing doctrines the most rational and sublime, precepts the most benevolent and salutary, a stile the most rich and powerful, in all the variety of language and colouring, and sharper than a two-edged sword—this heavenly book was given to purify the heart and affecti­ons; to enlighten and exalt the understand­ing; to awaken and guide the conscience; to confirm our hopes and remove our fears; to banish ignorance and superstition; to cast down the idols of the nations; to mitigate or destroy lawless power; to check the rage of barbarism; to humanize the hearts of men, and call them off from a vain depen­dence upon external worship and ceremo­nies, to a trust in the living God; obedi­ence to his moral laws and the voice of con­science within; repentance from past offen­ces; an acceptable, rational and elevated devotion of heart, a longing after immortali­ty; an exaltation to the life of angels, the joy of God, and happiness unspeakable and full of glory!

[Page 17] All our other Knowledge, all that is cal­led Philosophy, will avail us but little, with­out the divine finishing of this wisdom of the Spirit of God, which teacheth all things.

"For whether there be tongues they shall cease, or whether there be [human] know­ledge it shall vanish away." But the sub­lime knowledge of the gospel will be for ever new. It will lead us to that Salvation of God, promised in our text. It will be the endless subject of our enquiries and of our praises, and will constitute a Philosophy, the Marvellous of which Eternity cannot exhaust, nor the longest periods of duration bring to decay.

Such, then, being, the nature and end of the gospel of Christ, how triumphant is the assurance given in our text, that "the Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations" of this immense continent, and that his promise hath gone forth "to these ends of the earth," that they "shall see the salvation of GOD," and exult in the full blaze of Gospel-day!

The prospect opens, it extends itself up­on us; and the whole Analogy of things aids the interpretation of Prophecy. Turning our thoughts to the ways of Providence, as re­corded in sacred as well profane History, and pondering upon the fate of Christian States and Empires—how they have, in their turns, [Page 18] enjoyed the pure Light of the Gospel and all its blessed concomitants—true Liberty, equal Laws, security of Property, Wisdom, Magnanimity, Arts and Sciences, and what­ever can adorn or exalt human nature—how they have flourished or decayed, accord­ing to the due use or corrupt abtuse of those mighty blessings; marking the progress of Religion and Civilization through the Old World, and impartially examining the pro­phecies which relate to the coming in of "the fulness of the Gentiles," and extend­ing "their glory, like a flowing stream," to the ends of the earth, compared with the circumstances in which we now stand—sure­ly, on such a review, we are justified in che­rishing a strong Hope, a well-grounded Per­suasion, that the day hath already dawned, (nay that its meridian is near at hand) when "all the ends of the earth" shall, with Us, behold the Salvation of our GOD.

With the Sun, those mighty blessings still pursued a Western Course, till they reached the utmost verge of the old world—that Ultima Thule, from whence many of us and our fathers sprang. Long did they il­lumine that favoured land, and while they shone in noon-tide glory there—(O memo­ry, why starts the involuntary tear!) while they shone in noon-tide glory there—at the time ordained by God, our Fathers crossed [Page 19] the vast Ocean. They brought the Bible, the blessed charter of their Salvation, in their hands, and therewith the rudiments of learn­ing and science, dispelling the long, long, night of darkness in which these American Regions were involved; and laying the foun­dation of a New and glorious AEra in the Gospel progress, onwards towards the set­ting sun. A radiant morn of light and happi­ness then dawned upon this benighted land, yielding the joyous earnest of a future re­splendent day. That dawn was, however, overcast; the morning loured and our Sun was hid in clouds for a while; but, blessed be God, he was not commanded, for our unworthiness, to revert from his destined course, and measure back his former way. The clouds were dispersed, our Sun broke forth with renewed vigor, sending forward his bright beams to the farthest West, and calling all the "the Ends of the Earth" to behold the salvation of our God.

To speak without further metaphor, the goodness of the Almighty, supporting the inhabitants of these United States, not on­ly through former trials and perils, but now blessing us with peace, liberty, and safety in all our borders—appears to call upon us, and to have preserved us, as chosen instru­ments for planting and disseminating a "new empire of sound Religion and Liber­ty, [Page 20] Wisdom, Virtue, Arts and Sciences, to the outmost ends of the New World; at a time when they are drooping or dead in most countries of the Old World, which once enjoyed their brightest splendor.

The prosecution of this great design—the diffusing of heavenly Knowledge, and Li­berty, and Arts and Sciences, unto the ex­tremest bounds of America, I have ever considered as the first and greatest work for which we were sent into it, and for which the Almighty hath hitherto prospered us; making the "wilderness and the solitary places glad through us, and the desart to re­joice and blossom as the rose." To look for­ward to that glorious AEra, when heavenly Wisdom and Virtue, and all that can civilize, adorn, and bless mankind, shall cover this whole continent, as the waters cover the sea—to attend to the times and the seasons, and to dwell upon the many prophecies which predict its near approach—to contri­bute my share towards the advancement of it, and to possess the minds of the rising generations of youth, who are to be princi­pal actors in the work, with the great the animating Idea, that Heaven hath yet mighty blessings in store for the inhabitants of this land, of every clime and every co­lour—this hath been my joy, and this my la­bour from my earliest years. The contem­plation [Page 21] of the subject hath often filled my soul with raptures, approaching almost to enthusiasm, some sparks of which I feel even yet working in my bosom; and oh! that I could now strike them forth into an enlivening flame upon this auspicious occa­sion, perhaps the last of the kind which I can ever embrace, to declare once more, my full persuasion, that unless we are zealously in­strumental in this great work of Civiliza­tion, all our other works and blessings—the happiness of climate and fruitfulness of soil, our zeal and struggles for liberty, our best plans of civil government, our most absolute national independence, all will be of little effect—for still we Depend on the living God, who hath set eternal bounds between Right and Wrong, and whose Al­mighty arm holds the fate of empires and nations, suspended in the balance.

Should we, as a people, neglect the call which is given us, for contributing our ut­most endeavours to render this land, a land of Knowledge and Virtue as well as of Free­dom; should we imagine that we were sent into it only to eat the fruits thereof, to wrest from the former lords of the soil, by us call­ed Savages, the possessions which they held from age to age, without seeking to im­prove their condition as well as our own; should we refuse to "undo the heavy bur­den. [Page 22] to break every yoke, and let the op­pressed go free"—justly might we fear that the good providence of God would punish us for our unworthiness, and raise up other instruments for the accomplishment of his of his own eternal purposes of love, for Ci­vilizing as well as Christianizing this im­mense continent.

You call this day a Jubile, in every year, to rejoice before the Lord, and return thanks for the blessings of Freedom. Re­member the command givenby him to the Jews, in the like case. When they caused the trumpet of the jubile to sound, "they were to loose the bands of wickedness, to proclaim Liberty through out the land to all the inhabitants thereof; not to Oppress one another, but to fear the Lord and do his statutes, and keep his judgments;" and then they had the gracious promise, "that the land should yield her fruit, and they should eat their fill, and dwell therein in safety."

Certain it is, that the neglect of God's mercies, and counteracting the gracious purposes of his providence, are offences grievous in his sight. Certain it is, that National sins are the causes of National mi­sery, and that the corruption of the mem­bers leads to a dissolution of the whole body.

Where are now the Nations and Empires [Page 23] of ancient renown? Where is the Jewish na­tion, which is more immediately ad­dressed in our text? Where the Assyrian, the Macedonian, the Grecian, the Roman, once so celebrated among mankind, at whose voice the surrounding nations trembled? Alas! are they not fallen—fallen—fallen!—sunk into that abyss of shame and mise­ry, where the ghosts of departed empires stalk about in sad lamentation of their former glory! Their desolation and ruin followed their departure from the path of virtue and honour; and, of what they once were, on­ly the imperfect memorial remains!

Be wise, then, be instructed, ye rising American States! Let it be your glorious contention which of you shall stand fore­most in making liberal provisions for the advancement and support of Freedom and Virtue; without which, neither the Ordi­nances of Religion, nor the Laws can be du­ly administered; nor the civil Duties of life fulfilled; nor the Manners of a people im­proved; nor their happiness for any length of time secured. But by wise establish­ments for the Instruction of Youth, the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences, the encouragement of Industry, and the main­tenance of religion and morality—this shall become a great and happy land!

Transported at the thought, I am borne [Page 24] forward to days of distant renown! In my expanded view, these United States rise, in all their ripened glory, before me. I look, through, and beyond, every yet peopled regi­on of the New World, and behold period still brightening upon period. Where one conti­nuous depth of gloomy wilderness now shuts out even the beams of day, I see new States and Empires, new Seats of Wisdom and Knowledge, new Religious Domes, spreading around ^*. In places now untrod by any but Savage beasts, or Men as savage as they, I hear the voice of happy labor, and behold towery cities growing into the skies!

Lo! in this happy picture I behold the native Indian, exulting in the works of Peace and Civilization! His bloody Hatchet he buries deep under ground, and his murderous Knife, he turns into a Pruning Hook, to lop the tender vine and teach the luxuriant shoot to grow. No more does he form to himself a heaven after death, (according to the poet) in company with his faithful dog, behind the cloud-topt hill, to enjoy solita­ry quiet, far from the haunts of faithless men; but, better instructed by Christianity, he views his everlasting inheritance, a house [Page 25] not made with hands, eternal in the hea­vens.

Instead of recounting to his offspring, round the blazing fire, the bloody exploits of their ancestors, and wars of savage death, shewing barbarous exultation over every Deed of Woe, methinks, I hear him pour­ing forth his Eulogies of praise to the me­mory of those who were the instruments of Heaven, in raising his tribes from darkness to light; in giving them freedom and civili­zation, and converting them from Violence and Blood, to Meekness and Love!

Amongst those who shall be celebrated as the instruments of this great work, I hear the names of every good Citizen and Christian, who is a friend to mankind, and to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and especi­ally, methinks, I hear your names, ye il­lustrious Patriots, who, having asserted your Own and your Country's Rights, cheerfully join in every laudable endeavour for con­veying those Rights to Posterity, and bring­ing "the utmost Ends of the Earth to see the Salvation of our GOD."

Hasten, O Almighty Father, hasten this blessed period of thy Son's Kingdom, which we believe, shall come; and the praise and glory shall be to thy name, for ever and ever. AMEN.