encies as a nation, but to remove the hateful, jarring,
and incongruous elements from the land; not to sustain an egregious
wrong, but to unite all our energies in the grand effort to remedy that
wrong.

I would invoke the spirit of patriotism, in the name of the law of
the living God, natural and revealed, and in the full belief that
"righteousness exalteth a nation, while sin is a reproach to any
people." "He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that
despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from the
holding of bribes, he shall dwell on high, his place of defense shall
be the munitions of rocks, bread shall be given him, his water shall be
sure."

We have not only heard much lately of patriotism, and of its aid being
invoked on the side of slavery and injustice, but the very prosperity of
this people has been called in to deafen them to the voice of duty, and
to lead them onward in the pathway of sin. Thus has the blessing of God
been converted into a curse. In the spirit of genuine patriotism, I warn
the American people, by all that is just and honorable, to BEWARE!

I warn them that, strong, proud, and prosperous though we be, there is
a power above us that can "bring down high looks; at the breath of whose
mouth our wealth may take wings; and before whom every knee shall bow;"
and who can tell how soon the avenging angel may pass over our land,
and the sable bondmen now in chains, may become the instruments of our
nation's chastisement! Without appealing to any higher feeling, I would
warn the American people, and the American government,{348} to be wise
in their day and generation. I exhort them to remember the history of
other nations; and I remind them that America cannot always sit "as a
queen," in peace and repose; that prouder and stronger governments than
this have been shattered by the bolts of a just God; that the time may
come when those they now despise and hate, may be needed; when those
whom they now compel by oppression to be enemies, may be wanted as
friends. What has been, may be again. There is a point beyond which
human endurance cannot go. The crushed worm may yet turn under the heel
of the oppressor. I warn them, then, with all solemnity, and in the name
of retributive justice, _to look to their ways;_ for in an evil hour,
those sable arms that have, for the last two centuries, been engaged in
cultivating and adorning the fair fields of our country, may yet
be