nts of most powerful operation upon the human
heart, and most highly honorable to the human character, are those of
veneration for our forefathers, and of love for our posterity. They form
the connecting links between the selfish and the social passions. By the
fundamental principle of Christianity, the happiness of the individual
is interwoven, by innumerable and imperceptible ties, with that of his
contemporaries. By the power of filial reverence and parental affection,
individual existence is extended beyond the limits of individual life,
and the happiness of every age is chained in mutual dependence upon that
of every other. Respect for his ancestors excites, in the breast of man,
interest in their history, attachment to their characters, concern for
their errors, involuntary pride in their virtues. Love for his posterity
spurs him to exertion for their support, stimulates him to virtue for
their example, and fills him with the tenderest solicitude for their
welfare. Man, therefore, was not made for himself alone. No, he was made
for his country, by the obligations of the social compact; he was made
for his species, by the Christian duties of universal charity; he
was made for all ages past, by the sentiment of reverence for his
forefathers; and he was made for all future times, by the impulse of
affection for his progeny. Under the influence of these principles,

"Existence sees him spurn her bounded reign."

They redeem his nature from the subjection of time and space; he is
no longer a "puny insect shivering at a breeze"; he is the glory of
creation, formed to occupy all time and all extent; bounded, during his
residence upon earth, only to the boundaries of the world, and destined
to life and immortality in brighter regions, when the fabric of nature
itself shall dissolve and perish.

The voice of history has not, in all its compass, a note but answers in
unison with these sentiments. The barbarian chieftain, who defended his
country against the Roman invasion, driven to the remotest extremity of
Britain, and stimulating his followers to battle by all that has power
of persuasion upon the human heart, concluded his persuasion by an
appeal to these irresistible feelings: "Think of your forefathers and of
your posterity." The Romans themselves, at the pinnacle of civilization,
were actuated by the same impressions, and celebrated, in anniversary
festivals, every great event which had signalized the annals of