BY REV. DAVID DYER.

PASTOR OF THE VILLAGE CHURCH, DORCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

THE HAND OF GOD, AS EXHIBITED IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord, Psalms cvii. 43.

THE doctrine of a divine overruling and universal providence, is taught throughout the book of God. It meets us, in some one of its various forms, on almost every page. Here, it is taught by direct assertions; and there, by striking inferences. Here, by allimportant doctrines; and there, by most instructive facts. At one time, it is presented as relating to individuals or separate nations; and at another, as respecting the entire church and the world. But, in whatever way it may be urged, it invariably directs men's attention to him "in whom they live and move and have their being."

This doctrine is most warmly celebrated in the psalm from which the text is taken. The Psalmist commenced it with a grateful recognition of God's universal care and goodness, and then he specified some particular instances in which the divine sympathy and kindness are specially manifested.

Having shown how graciously God interposes in cases of individual and associated trials, whether they occur on the land or the sea, the pious Psalmist then spoke of the sovereign operations of divine Providence, on a more extended and national scale. He said, "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the water-springs into dry ground; a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into water-springs. And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; and sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease. Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction and sorrow. He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock. The righteous shall see it and rejoice; and all iniquity shall stop her mouth."

Here, those surprising changes which sometimes occur among the rulers and the nations of the earth, are directly attributed to God, and he is said to order or control them all. If the land is made barren, if the rivers are dried up, if princes are deposed, and the people are afflicted and diminished, his sovereign will directs it. Or if, on the other hand, the wilderness is turned into. a fruitful field, if the parched ground is watered by rain, if the fields and vineyards yield abundant fruit, if the land is made a gracious habitation for the hungry, and the poor are raised on high from distress, this also is the operation of divine wisdom and power. And it is affirmed, that "whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.” This has brought me to the particular subject on which I now design to dwell—a subject which concerns ourselves, as members of this great republic, and which is specially appropriate on this returning anniversary of the declaration of our national independence.*

*This Sermon was delivered July 4, 1847.

This subject is, the hand of God, as displayed in the American Revolution.

If I am not greatly mistaken; that Revolution may be properly regarded as an epoch in the divine government of our world. No event of equal importance and magnitude, had, for ages, previously occurred. It respected not the United States alone, but the whole world. It was one of those events, which, though it transpired in a particular locality, extended, in its influence, to the most distant nations, and will do so until the end of time. Jehovah, I doubt not, intended, by the establishment of this nation, to educe great moral principles, and to accomplish great moral objects of the highest importance to the human family.

These principles respected the true equality of mankind; their ability under the control of righteous views and dispositions for self-government; and the proper method for sustaining the institutions of his spiritual kingdom, which is, not by forced exactions, or taxes, such as tithes, or church rates, but by the free, voluntary contributions of an intelligent and religiously-disposed people. He also intended to show, that the separation of the church from the state, is essential to the full developement of its spiritual energies and beauty; that the truth of the Bible, when properly enforced, is amply sufficient to counteract the evil dispositions and principles of mankind, without the adventitious aid afforded by an established ecclesiastical hierachy, or any of its kindred institutions and forms; that religious equality is the birthright of all, and is best adapted to the progress of the gospel; and that civil and religious freedom can be possessed and preserved, without the licentiousness and mob tyranny which characterized the revolution, about fifty years ago in France. God also designed to provide here an asylum for the industrious poor of other countries, and for those, who, like the Pilgrims, seek an abode where they might worship him according to the dictates of their consciences; and he intended to raise up here a free and facile agency for the spreading of his gospel among the nations of the earth.

Now these principles could not be extensively educed, nor these objects secured in Europe. They were generally contrary to the views and habits of the people, and opposed to the genius of their institutions. The former were enslaved by prejudices and customs; and the latter, both civil and ecclesiastical, were of an exclusive and oppressive character. The adoption of these principles there,

must have produced strife and bloody revolutions, while, after all, they could only have been partially developed or fulfilled. God, therefore, discovered a new world for the theatre of this work, where, with social institutions and a people adapted to his designs, it should be displayed and achieved. It was a divine hand that directed the bark of Columbus to the Western Hemisphere. "He had in view the extension of commerce and science; but God had in view the discovery of a refuge to which his church might flee when she should be persecuted, the extension of human liberty, the subversion of thrones and dynasties, and the transfer of the seat of empire."

Perhaps the Pilgrims themselves little thought, at the time when, amidst prayers, and tears, and affectionate farewells, they tore themselves from their relations, their friends and home, that this was God's design in their expatriation from their native land, and their habitation of the wilderness. But so it was. He intended that out of their devotion to himself, and the cause of education and freedom, there should spring forth "new combinations of the political and social elements, which should test and establish the capacity of man for self-government; in which the glare of all adventitious distinctions should disappear before the rights and the worth of individual man; in which the great principle of equality-equality before God, through our Mediator, and equality before the eye of impartial law-should be established; and in which there should be an approximation in society more near than had been known before to that brotherhood of the race,-that state of equality and affection which is the only one suited to christian people, and which is indicated in that far reaching" assertion of his word, "and all ye are brethren."

This was God's all-comprehensive and gracious plan; and the perfection of the American Revolution was, to a happy extent, the consummation of that plan. To look at this great event, therefore, as has been too often done, as affording reason for self-glorification, for national boasting, and for reviving animosities towards that great nation from whom we all sprang, and with whom we have one common parentage, language and religion, is to indulge limited and carnal views; it is to overlook the hand of God that was so strikingly displayed in it; it is to disregard his great designs in the existence of this nation; and it is to unfit ourselves for the achievement of that high moral destiny, which he desires this re

public should attain. Rather let us contemplate his divine operation, and, catching an inspiration from above, go forth to the vigorous execution of our exalted mission.

The hand of God was displayed in the remarkable preparation made for that great event.

Here I shall principally speak of the Pilgrims and their successors; not because there were not other persons and agencies employed, but because these were specially prominent, and most extensively engaged. Their principles, dispositions and habits, show that they were divinely fitted to lay the foundation of this work. They were, both mentally and morally, distinguished men. They were generally men of deep piety, of profound learning, and of heroic devotion to principles. They were, in their views and plans, far in advance of all their contemporaries. They understood, appreciated, and loved the truth. They prayed and labored for its diffusion. They nurtured and exhibited the evangelical spirit and faith of the gospel. They were men who understood and highly valued both religious and civil freedom; who cheerfully suffered for its enjoyment; who were determined on its maintainance and promotion; and who zealously labored to prepare their children for its support and perpetuation.

It

When I think of their inflexible adherance, on all occasions, to truth; of their elevated, expansive, and practical views; of their keen sensibility to what was wrong and injurious; of their far-seeing and ever wakeful discernment; of their steadfast determination to secure what was just; of their vigilant guardianship of their inalienable rights; of their patient endurance for righteousness sake; and, above all, of their practical devotion to Jesus and his cause; I bless God who made them what they were, who led them to what they did, and who crowned their labors with success. was those men whom God employed to lay the foundation of our institutions; to place those institutions on an intelligent and righteous basis; to diffuse through the land a love of freedom, of education, and religion; to spread a veneration for the Sabbath, the Bible, and the ordinances of the gospel; and to establish, on wise and righteous principles, our systems of legislation and of justice. Their influence was powerful and extensive. It was a leaven which leavened the entire body. It penetrated to every part of the then existing colonies. It aroused the respect and defence of the whole. It created or quickened a universal spirit of enterprise