hurled,
And now a bubble-burst, and now a world."

"Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."
All attempts to correct the depravity of man, to stay the headlong
propensity to vice, to abate the madness of ambition, will be found
deplorably inefficient, unless we apply the restrictions and the
tremendous sanctions of religion. A profound regard and deference for
religion, a constant recognition of our dependence upon God, and of our
obligation and accountability to Him; an ever-present, ever-pressing
sense of His universal and all-controlling providence, this, and only
this, can give energy to the arm of law, cool the raging fever of the
passions, and abate the lofty pretensions of mad ambition. In
prosperity, let us bring out our thank-offering, and present it with
cheerful hearts in orderly, virtuous, and religious conduct. In
adversity, let us consider, confess our sins, and abase ourselves before
the throne of God. In danger, let us go to Him, whose prerogative it is
to deliver; let us go to Him, with the humility and confidence which a
deep conviction that the battle is not to the strong nor the race to the
swift, is calculated to inspire.

Fellow citizens! we stand now on ground never occupied by a people
before. However insignificant we may regard ourselves, the eyes of
Europe and America are upon us, as a germ, destined to burst from its
enclosure in the earth, unfold its petals to the genial air, rise to the
height and swell to the dimensions of the full-grown tree, or
(inglorious fate) to shrivel, to die, and to be buried in oblivion.
Rise, fellow citizens, rise to a clear and full perception of your
tremendous responsibilities! Upon you, rely upon it, depends in a
measure you can hardly conceive the future destiny of your race.
You--you are to give the answer, whether the African race is doomed to
unterminable degradation, a hideous blot on the fair face of Creation, a
libel upon the dignity of human nature, or whether it is capable to take
an honorable rank amongst the great family of nations! The friends of
the colony are trembling: The enemies of the colored man are hoping.
Say, fellow citizens, will you palsy the hands of your friends and
sicken their hearts, and gladden the souls of your enemies, by a base
refusal to enter upon a career of glory which is now opening so
propitiously before you? The genius of universal emancipation, bending
from her lofty seat, invites you