A Sermon Delivered on the Day of General Election

A SERMON, DELIVERED ON THE DAY OF GENERAL BLECTION, AT MONTPELIER, OCTOBER 14, 1824. BEFORE THE HONORABLE \ BY AMARIAH CHANDLER, A. B. MINISTER OF THE-GOSPEL IN WAITSFIELD. MONTPELIER, Vt. © PRINTED BY E. P. WALTON, urative, but the idea i ig very analy cpa ‘ 4 ¥ Lae The PURPOSES OF Gop ARE EFFECTED IN A rs UAL MANNER. ‘ f As the morning in its progress advances thr all gradations of light and shade, from the fai dawn to the full and perfect day, so the purpos our Heavenly Father are advancing in regul r gress to the full developement of his slorious pl beneficence and grace. i We propose in our remarks to exhibit a bri ‘ef of some of the revealed purposes of God, » res our world. | : ’ "lo show that his purposes will be accompli “a gradual manner. And, gradual method, instead of effecting his des et once, by a single exertion of his power. ’ a From the oracles of truth we have the fullest assu “ance thata brighter day is destined to adorn a bless our apostate world. God has revealed it as determinate purpose to raise and ennoble tt | man mind, by imparting toit true wisdom. “er a e ie of the Lord, this is wisdom.” . . Y . . ’ yt rye And this “wisdom, which is from above,” is, 1 ‘ ws DARUON, a Most deeply, my beloved friends, do I participate in your regret for the afflictive dispensation,* which has deprived you of the expected labors ofabler hands, and has drawn me from an obscurity,equally appropriate and beloved, to officiate on so public and so interesting an occasion. But, not to shrink from a duty, which Providence has clearly indicated, I would in_ yite your attention to that passage of the word of God found in HOSEA, VI. 3. -HIS GOING FORTH IS PREPARED AS THE MORNING. Man in his present state, being a creature of sense, has no immediate communication with things of a Spiritual nature. This doubtless is the reason, why the most important truths relative to the invisible _ world, are communicated to us in figurative language ; _ or by a reference to things, with which sense and exee __ * Referring to the lamented illness of the Rey. Danier H: ASKELL, President of the University of Vermout, who was expected to have preached on the occasion, r partiality and without hypocrisy.” A knowledge of this yi operation, é‘first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to ntreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without principle of purity and peace is to become so universal, "that men shall not need to teach every one hisneighbour, saying, know the Lord, for all shall know him; and its operation is to become so powerful, as completely torevolutionize the character and condition of our race. [mpiety must cease, the rights of man are to be understood, acknowledged and universally respected. The chain is to be loosed from the captive. ‘The slave is to be eased from the pressure of his burden, and from the terror of the scourge. Error is to be abolished. ‘The sentiment of false honour is to cease fo arm individuals for private murder, or to whelm the nations in blood. Heresy, hypocrisy and intolerance are to cease from the church. Persecution must extinguish her torch, and war pul up his sword.— National animosilies abolished, and local prejudices subsiding, men of evrey tongue shall acknowledge one Lord, one Father, and the bond of brotherhood shall encircle and bind together the hearts of the human race. Such is the glowing picture exhibited ia prophesy. How unlike to that which appears on the blotted page of History ! No wonder that the infidel should sneer at all this as an idle dream; or that _ heaving a sigh, and breathing a wish, he should settle his countenance in despair of realizing the vision.— But you, my brethren, who by faith in Christ have certainly fulfil. : This great revolution in the moral and’ s¢ ald of man is to be brought about ina eradual m: Upon this idea we scarcely need to dwell. were to be suddenly effected, it would bear no a to the other operations of Deity. All the ro tions of nature are brought forward in a erad 1 al n ner. Not a spire of grass, nor a stalk of corn spr to perfection at once, but is “first the blade, the ear, then the full corn in the ear.” The oak, the ; and the pine must feel the ardor of many a sun sun, and the ruthless scourging of many a win storm, before they become the grace of the’ valle the mountain’s pride. By what slow aoe " the sciences and arts risen to their present s improvement. How slow and gradual is the Bro of man himself, from tender infancy to the “a y his strength. Even the world, which we inha bi (2 ceived its present form and constitution in a § manner. ‘ihe earth was without form and y pid, at darkness was upon the face of the deep.” | : Maker called the Sun, and though the sun wa he came, and it was light, Then were the wate vided, a part to roll in the ocean, anda aa ny in the clouds. Next, at the Creator’s word, the tel df i) ae pit on their green, and the groves their blossoms and tb sir frait. ‘Then the deeps began to boil with the ” am . of the Leviathon ; and the shallows to ripple ithe gambols of the smaller fr y- The birds and the acts follow in due order, and at last, in the image fhis Maker, man appears, and creation is done. ret anil . “¥ Sarsinte, iben, all the other purposes of God, so far as | rs. …