And who amongst us has not reason to bless God for such a constitution as this? Who is there that can injure the very meanest amongst us, without being amenable to the laws, and paying the penalty due to his transgression ? The peace and security which we of this happy land enjoy, under the dominion of the laws, are not exceeded by any people under heaven, and are equalled by very few. And this benefit depends not on the life of any individual : (the Israelites found a far different state of things under the government of Saul :) it is the consti- tution of the land : it is transmitted and perpetuated under every reign : and I trust it will continue the happy portion of this country to the latest generations !]
2. In our religious privileges —
[We have not one altar raised, in one favoured place ; but many, throughout the whole land ; so that, for the most part, they are accessible to all : and where the increase of popula- tion has required more, they have been erected, with great liberality, at the public expense. Nor is our worship so un- edifying or expensive as that at Ramah. No, truly; we have a Liturgy provided for us ; a Jjiturgy, in which all that was shadowed forth under the Jewish ceremonies is plainly
declared. The imposition of hands on a dying victim, the sprinkling of his blood upon the mercy-seat and on the offerer, and the consuming of his flesh upon the altar, were but faint emblems of what we are taught in express terms. We go as sinners rmto God: we bring before him that great Sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ : we implore mercy in the name of that adorable Saviour ; and declare our affiance in his all-atoning blood, which we sprinkle on our consciences for the remission of our sins. The king upon the throne, and the meanest sub- ject in the land, here meet upon a footing of equality ; all having equal access to God, and equal encouragement to expect mercy at his hands. Say, ye who are here assembled, whether ye do not feel your elevation in these respects, and congratulate yourselves that the golden sceptre of mercy is held forth equally to all ; and that, instead of having occasion to envy the great and mighty of the earth, you have reason rather to rejoice that " there is no respect of persons with God," or that, if there be, it is in your favour ; since God has " chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of his kingdom*^?" Truly the preaching of the Gospel, unre- strained as it is to time, or place, or party, calls for the devoutest gratitude from every person in the land.]
Learn ye then. Brethren,
1. How to appreciate the blessings ye enjoy — [We have seen how happy Israel was under the govern- ment of Samuel ; and what still richer pri\dleges we of this nation enjoy. But we are surprisingly slow to acknowledge the blessings which are thus richly bestowed upon us. Indeed, the commonness of these mercies is the very thing which hides them from our view. Could we but see what has been done by the Court of Inquisition in Popish countries, and what is still done wherever that tribunal exists ; could we see our own friends and relatives seized for some supposed crime, we know not what ; and carried, we know not whither ; and tried, by we know not whom ; and put to death by torments more cruel and lingering than we can conceive ; verily we should bless our God for our courts of law, for our trials by jury, for the publicity of all judicial acts, and for the high unimpeachable integrity of our judges. And if we could conceive the cruelties exercised on thousands on account of articles of faith, we should indeed adore our God for the liberty we enjoy, of wor- shipping God in conformity with our own judgment, and of ser\dng him according to the dictates of our own conscience. Religion, wdtli us, is a part of the national law ; and is upheld as sacred, against the efforts of all who would subvert it.