The Election Sermon

DELIVERED BEFORE THE scntise antr f i egislatfoc Department OF THE GOYEKNMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS, AT THE ANNUAL ELECTION, WEDNESDAY, Jan. 3, 1866. By Rev, ALONZO II. QUINT. BOSTON: WRIGHT & POTTER, STATE PRINTERS, No. 4 Spring Lane. dDamnumtoaltlj of Uassat&imtts. House of Representatives, Boston, January 9, 18G6. Rev. A. H. Quint: Dear Sir, — Agreeably to an Order, which was unanimously adopted, the under¬ signed were appointed a Committee to present to you the thanks of the House of Representatives for your appropriate and excellent Discourse, delivered before the Executive and Legislative branches of the Government of the Commonwealth on the 3d inst., and to request a copy of the same for the press. Trusting that it will be agreeable to you to comply with the request at your earliest convenience, We remain, Very kindly and truly yours, SAM’L M. WORCESTER, TIMOTHY F. CLARY, * T. E. St. JOHN, JESSE A. LOCKE, I. H. COE, Committee. New Bedford, Mass., January 20, 1866. Rev. S. M. Worcester, D. D., and others, Committee of House: Dear Sirs, — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communica¬ tion asking a copy of the Election Sermon preached on the first Wednesday of this month, and to forward the manuscript. I am, very respectfully yours, ALONZO II. QUINT. tomflitimltl! of ltamQ»sdts. House of Representatives, January 24, 186G. Ordered, That four thousand copies of < the Discourse delivered before the Executive and Legislative branches of the Government by Rev. A. H. Quint, be printed for the use of the Legislature. « W. S. ROBINSON, Clerk. SERMON. Deuteronomy, iv. 33. DID EVER PEOPLE HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD SPEAKING OUT OF THE MIDST OF THE FIRE, AS THOU HAST HEARD, AND LIVE? There is no People, except in a republic or a theocracy. At the first, the father of the family was its ruler, and remained such when the family grew into a great group. As families multiplied, and by emigration became distinct, the head of ■ each was still its absolute ruler. As grandchildren multiplied, and great-grandchildren, and kinsfolk, and servants, and persons were added who wanted sustenance and protection, the patriarch became the ruler of a nation; — the sheik of the eastern tribe and the chief of the western clan, alike the head of the family, and the ruler whose single will was law and disposed of life and person. There was no People; there were children. In the very words which used to style the king THE TRIAL OF DEMOCRACY. of France w sire,” and do style the autocrat of the Bussias ” father,” are the lingering traditions of primeval empire. When tribes grew large, and multiplicity of interests came in, and kinship grew faint, one man could not see and do all. Subordinates grew to be principal men; and, while they Ihnited the power of the ruler, ruled, each in his own domain. An aristocracy bounded despotic rule, but it was with a circle of smaller despots. The daimios of the East, the old barons of England, the great lords of France, weakened the ruler, but were themselves his imitators. There were serfs, but there was yet no People. In the broadening and deepening of civilization and the progress of education, it was inevitable that the voice *of the masses should make itself heard. It was so even in Pome, when the tri¬ bunes held some sway. Where concession had to be made, it was so shaped as to divide. Parlia¬ ments, states-general, cortes , became partial expo¬ nents of the popular existence. But they recog¬ nize no People as entitled to rule. They allow only a fragment, — neutralized by hereditary legis¬ lators, and overtopped by a line of kings deriving their only claim from the accident of a birth, — to THE TRIAL OF DEMOCRACY. quiet the instinctive demands of the popular heart. In the best, a mere fraction of the lower ranks has any utterance for their will; there are subjects, but no People; even Victoria reigns ” by the grace of God.” All monarchical theory proceeds, when con¬ sistent, and so far as consistent, on the assumption that the people are to be controlled, guided, and made to walk in the way which certain superiors mark out. It is the paternal theory, but it treats men as always to be children. Government is to do all the thinking, all the planning, all the acting; and the subjects are clay.

Our country was the first to recognize the prin- ✓ ciple that to all men belong the interests of the State. Saying that ” all men are created equal ” it necessarily rejected hereditary rulers and denied kingly claims. It saw no reason why any particu¬ lar men should govern because their fathers did; and with this, it saw no rightful claim in any man or any set of men to exclude other men or other classes of men from a share in the Commonwealth. Though government is ordained of God, the form of government is decided by the people; and in that decision all men are equal. Rulers shall be chosen by the people ; laws shall be made by the THE TRIAL OF DEMOCRACY. people’s agents. There never was a People until 1776. There were before, the mob, the masses, the lower classes ; but never a People. It is inter¬ esting to notice, but no time to develop the fact, how phraseology changed, in the times pre¬ liminary to the Revolution. The significant term " the People,” in State papers and public speeches was driving out the word " subjects.” When times were ripe, the Declaration embodied the word in all its vigorous significance. And the theory of that Declaration says that the people want no special class to take care of their interests; no government to provide workshops; no mechanical education of their children; no edicts to take the place of a manly self-reliance; no State church to tell them what is the only way of saving their souls. The people will develop their own interests; train up their own children; make their own laws; and find, by the help of God, their own way to heaven. They restrict government to the prevention of ossences against the State, or against individuals ; the securing of justice to all persons; the removal of obstacles to healthy progress; and they expect that, with the least weight consistent with the necessary strength of its silken bonds, it shall THE TRIAL OF DEMOCRACY. leave unrestricted and untrammelled the self¬ development of the people. We bless God for this heritage from our fathers. We praise His holy name for continuing to us the priceless blessings of this liberty. We glorify His goodness in preserving the embodied exponent of the sublime recognition of the dignity of man. We reverence Him who says now, as He anciently said of those who should be His people, ” Their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them.”