The Anniversary Election Sermon

DR. RICHARD S. STORRS' ANNUAL ELECTION SERMON SERMON DELIVERED BEFORE HIS EXCELLENCY EDWARD EVERETT, GOVERNOR, HIS HONOR GEORGE HULL, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, THE HONORABLE COUNCIL, THE LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS, ON THE ANNIVERSARY ELECTION, JANUARY 3, 1838. BY RICHARD S. STORRS, D. D. Pastor of the First Church in Braintree. Boston: BUTTON AND WENTWORTH, PRINTERS TO THE STATE. - - ,.; iEommontocaltl) of HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES, JAN. 4, 1838. Ordered, That Messrs. THAYER, of Braintree, PHELPS, of Hadley, and WARD, of Middleborough, be a committee to wait on the Rev. RICHARD S.STORRS, and present him the thanks of this House, for his very interesting and appropriate discourse, delivered yesterday before the members of the Legislature, and to request a copy thereof for the press. L. S. GUSHING, Clerk of House of Representatives. #% A few paragraphs of the following discourse were omitted in the delivery for want of time. SERMON. IT was the spirit of piety and patriotism, that led the fathers of New England to recognize their dependance on God, for wisdom to guide, and firmness to sustain their legislators, in the execution of the high trust reposed in them ; and also to adopt the principle, that due reverence for Jehovah demanded the introduction of their fellow citizens to official stations, with the accompaniment of religious services. And nothing surely is more rational, and appropriate to the commencement of the. business of public legislation, than the devotement of an hour to earnest supplication, and solemn reflection on the reciprocal duties of the people and their rulers, as they are indicated by the Holy Spirit. But were it the duty of one who officiates on an occasion like this, to furnish an elaborate disquisition on the science of government, or to develope, and illustrate the elements of political knowledge, *1 from the resources of philosophy and history — the present speaker must have declined the service. It belongs to him however, only to refresh your minds on topics already familiar to you as members of a Christian community, and believers in the Oracles of God. You will therefore receive with candor, such expositions of divine truth, as seem to be called for, by a just regard to the welfare of our country, the prosperity of Zion, and the glory of our great Benefactor.

Romans xiii, 1. " LET EVERY SOUL BE SUBJECT UNTO THE HIGHER POWERS. FOR THERE IS NO POWER BUT OF GOD ; THE POWERS THAT BE, ARE ORDAINED OF GoD." This injunction is laid upon the Christian church, collectively and individually. It issues from supreme authority, and involves a fundamental principle of Christian duty, no less broad and comprehensive than all the social relations of man. It was called forth by the agitating spirit of the times in which it was uttered, and by the strong tendencies of the Jews, as a nation, to sedition and rebellion ; and is not less appropriately addressed to all communities of men now claiming allegiance to Heaven. The fact on which the injunction is founded admits of no limitation. " There is no power but of God ; the powers that be, are ordained of him." The reason of the injunction therefore, remains unchanged through all time, and sustains the universal government of God. God is the fountain of all power. Human governments have their origin in his will. " Replenish the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth on the earth,'' is the original commission under which man assumes the control of the inferior tribes of animated nature ; and whether we deduce his right to the exercise of authority over his fellow-men, from the general principle developed in the fifth command of the decalogue, or from some law impressed on his original constitution — it makes no difference ; — the will of Heaven is, that man shall subsist in a social state, involving relations of mutual obligation and dependence — that some, by their superior wisdom and energy, shall provide for the public security, and vindicate individual rights from aggression, while others shall defer to acknowledged law, and sustain the government which yields them protection and peace. Not only is government essential to the prosperity of a community, but to its very existence. The happiness of the smallest family requires a head. And any number of families, associated for purposes mutually beneficial, must have somewhere, a fountain of authority spreading abroad streams of benign influence over the whole field of their common occupations and interests. Nor is the form of government, essential to the validity of its claims to respect. God once condescended to place himself at the head of a particular nation — to frame their laws, and direct their execution — to create subordinate offices, and designate the individuals to fill them — to reveal himself through the Shekinah, as their Supreme Ruler, Lawgiver, and Judge. But when they desired a government like that of the surrounding nations, though he relinquished not the Supreme Authority, he gave them a king, and allowed a modification of laws and customs corresponding with the new organization. Hence it is evident, that although government itself is the ordinance of God, the forms of its administration are wholly circumstantial, depending on the dispositions, the habits, or the convenience of the several nations of the earth. That the powers of government are not lodged in some individuals, in preference to others, in virtue of any personal and inherent right to those powers, requires no proof. Hereditary dignity and authority, however existing in fact, are original chimeras, clothed in the vestments of reality, only by the spirit of pride and ambition. The choice, or the consent at least, of a community, can alone invest any man, or any body of men, with the right of framing and executing laws, bearing on the common welfare. However this choice or consent may be ascertained — the individual or individuals on whom it falls, are to be regarded as "ordained of God," to the discharge of the trust reposed in them ; and this is the strong foundation on which a lawful right to the exercise of the powers of government rests. " By me, kings reign, and princes decree justice." These powers, obviously have limitations. There is a point beyond which man cannot go, in the exercise of authority over his fellow-man — a point, where God stands, and says to the proud waves of ambition — "hitherto shall ye come, but no further." Beyond this, all authority is usurpation — resistance to its claims becomes lawful, and imperative.