The One Lawgiver

• * m or THE GOVERNMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS, AT THE ANNUAL ELECTION, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 1879. BY ALEXANDER MCKENZIE. m BOSTON : ftanti, 2U>etg, # <&*., printers to tfje dommontocaltfj, 117 Fbanki^n Street. 1879. \ ) r , \ 2-^ 7- ST, ^^ Ju »>w>iiX4^o t (ftommonfotalijj of Igtaaaacfwaette. Senate, Jan. 13, 1879. Ordered, That a special committee of three be appointed to present the thanks of the Senate to Rev. Alexander McKenzie of Cambridge for his able discourse before the Government of the Commonwealth, and request a copy for publication. Adopted ; and Messrs. Stockwell, Bancroft, and Osborn appointed the committee. S. N. GIFFORD, Clerk. n <$ ommonfocalifr of l£)tess&tfpx**itg. Senate Chamber, Jan. 14, 1879. Reverend Sir, — The Honorable Senate, in its session, Jan. 13, 1879, directed that we, its committee duly appointed, do present to you the thanks of that body for the able discourse delivered before the Government of this Commonwealth, and request a copy for publi- cation. JAMES W. STOCKWELL, E. DANA BANCROFT, WEAVER OSBORN, Committee of the Senate, To Rev. Alexander McKenzie, Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge, 14th January, 1879. Gentlemen, — I thank the Honorable Senate for the kind terms in which it is pleased to speak of the discourse delivered by its ap- pointment before the Government of the Commonwealth, and very cheerfully comply with the request for a copy of the sermon for publi- cation. I am, gentlemen, Your obedient servant, ALEXANDER McKENZIE. To Hon. James W. Stockwell, Hon. E. Dana Bancroft, Hon. Weaver Osborn, Committee of the Senate of Massachusetts. SERMON. " There is one Lawgiver." — James iv. 12. In this fact is the warrant for this service. The State takes counsel with the Church, the minister of religion addresses the ministers of legislation, be- cause over us all and over all things is the same government, reaching from plant to planet, from bread to breath, from man in his commonest work and lowliest thought to man in his noblest deeds and highest aspirations. We acknowledge one law and one Lawgiver, whose dominion reaches through all worlds, and stretches through all ages. It is clear, therefore, that there is an entire har- mony between the well-being of the Church and of the State. There should be a good understanding, a mutual respect, a common allegiance to the King. The ends which both are seeking are in agreement. Legislation may find its province especially in those 8 The One Lawgiver. interests which lie about us here. Religion may have regard to these, and reach beyond into another world. Legislation may concern itself chiefly with men's acts. Religion, while giving good heed to them, may seek to order the motives and purposes which belong with action. Legislation may oftenest say man, and religion oftenest God : yet God and man must always be in the thoughts of both; and both must find their work, and their reason for being, in the supreme will which comprehends and declares all duty, in the supreme beneficence which embraces all honor and success. An organic union of Church and State could be for the advantage of neither, but on all accounts as undesirable as it is impossible. History and reasoning give the same judgment. But there is a union which you have recognized, which at every session you affirm, which might well be more apparent and more effective. The preacher speaks to-day, at your bidding, in this sanctuary which has opened its doors at your desire, that he may utter the mind of God as touching our life under the one Lawgiver. In asking your generous attention to some features of this common life, I name, — I. As the first element in it, the present and per- The One Lawgiver. 9 manent thought of God. Upon this the Church rests. The Church of God is our descriptive phrase. For the reasons which make this just, there should be another corresponding to it, — the State of God. In both God is to be acknowledged and remembered. Praise and thanksgiving are to be made to him as the Author of life and its rightful Governor. His favor is to be sought in prayer and godly living. Codes of duty and of practice are to be framed with the mind and heart fixed on him.

This is not a matter of sentiment, or of piety merely, but the instinct of the right man, the dic- tate of right reason and good sense, the demand of the ordinary principles of propriety. The necessity of knowing God lies at the beginning and end of knowledge. From him, for him, all things are. What are the knowledge and wisdom which know not that? We cannot claim to have an adequate understanding of any thing till we have found its origin. We trace all things back to Him at whose word light flashed into the primeval dark, order supplanted chaos, life assumed its place. All things consist by his might, and serve the end which he has predetermined and appointed. The cause, the reason, the end of things, wise men muist know. 10 The One Lawgiver. That which we were taught in our childhood re- mains the wisdom of our maturity. God made us and all things. Science, with its diligence and dar- ing, with an enterprise which deserves the bounty of the State and the blessing of the Church, reaches the frontiers of being to find no other origin for life. The unknown God reveals himself to man, and we know whence we are, and why we are. To know this is indeed to know. In all our knowledge of the lily springing in regal splendor at the roadside, of the wheat on the broad fields lifting its myriad heads, dancing and frolicking in the sunshine, there is no other point so interesting and valuable as the fact, that after his own will, and for his own purposes, God made them. …