"And the woman said unto the serpent,
'We may eat of the fruit of the trees of
the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, 'ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest
ye die.'" Genesis 3:2-3.
This day, fellow-citizens, completes twenty four years since our country
emerged from a state of dependence upon a foreign power, and assumed a rank
among the nations of the earth, as a free, and independent republic....
I beg leave to call your serious
attention to the present state of things. I see this my duty, both as a
fellow-citizen... and as a
spiritual watchman... to
hold up to your view, the dangers which threaten our country... and point to the means of deliverance and safety....
A restless, factious spirit constantly impelling to innovation and
change is both unreasonable in its nature, and fatally pernicious in its
effects. Or in other words... when mankind, either as individuals or nations,
abandon those principles, and depart from that line of conduct, which God
hath prescribed and by his word or providence clearly pointed out as the
path of duty and happiness, they do it at their utmost peril. Evil inevitably
ensues, and certain destruction is the end....
The text in Genesis, refers to the original constitution under which man was
placed, and points directly to the fruitful source of all the evils and miseries, which have ever embittered and poisoned the cup of humanity. Our first
parents then composed the whole family of man.... God
their Creator, was their Governor and King. He had made the most ample provision
for the supply of all their wants, and the gratification of every reasonable
desire.....
[Happiness depended] upon their obedience to the divine law — their continued
conformity to the rules of righteousness and justice—abstaining from the taste, or touch of the forbidden fruit....
Can any subsequent event of the like nature be brought as a parallel? Truly,
I know of none unless it be the present, prevailing unreasonable dissatisfaction
and implacable opposition of Americans towards the administration of
constitutional authority and the operation of the government of their
choice: one of all human governments the most mild, benign and equal upon which
the sun ever shone....
Let us further inquire, what were the immediate cause, or causes, which
actually led to this first grand apostasy of mankind, and effected this awful
revolution in the nation of Eden. This...inquiry... will afford the
most sure ground of argument, in reasoning by analogy....
The Tempter's Trick
The moment we look at it, we see that the
essential, immediately influential,
and proximate cause, which led to the very first act of... degradation and misery... was
infidelity. "Ye shall not surely die." This was the new god
... which impelled and supported the hand of Eve, while she
plucked the fruit of that forbidden tree...
The better to insure the success of his wicked
enterprise, the villain chose
not to appear in his true character, but assumed the form of a serpent....
With much show of disinterested friendship and generosity, mixed with an air of wonder and surprise, he asks, "...has
God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Is it possible that
you should be thus unreasonably restricted? thus deprived of the essential
rights of men and citizens?
Eve answers in an honest statement
of facts, as expressed in the
text:
"And the woman said unto the serpent,
'We may eat of the fruit of the trees of
the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest
ye die.'" Genesis 3:2-3.
He then throws off the mask, and comes out open and bold in the principles of
infidelity, and his blasphemous assertions of the divine tyranny.
"And the serpent said unto the woman,
'ye shall not surely die. For God
doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil.'"
Here is the origin, and the very quintessence of
Jacobinism. Never was a
truer copy of an original drawn, than that which is marked out by the tongues, the pens, and the swords of the modern illuminators of mankind — the
champions of Liberty [from God's Word] and Equality
[for those who submitted to Robespierre], Health and Fraternity
[without God].
Their whole system is
a perfect paraphrase upon this text [in Genesis 3]. They have even refined upon the cunning of
Satan, and outdone him in his own art. He contented himself with denying God's truth, and calling in question his
goodness—while his followers have the superior effrontery of coming to the same
thing in a shorter way—by denying his existence....
America's Temptations
We live in a land that may justly be styled the Eden of the world; and of
all the trees of the garden we may freely and safely eat — one only excepted, the
tree of licentiousness and sedition, which alas is growing in the midst of the
garden....
We are forbidden only to mingle bitter with our sweets. Our means of every
national and political blessing are abundantly liberal, and nothing forbidden,
but the mad privilege of self destruction, for which however, many are
contending, with a zeal equaled only by their malice and intrigue.
In the blessings of religion and government and all their happy fruits, our
country appears to symbolize with the nation of Eden.... But like the former we
are fast yielding to the artful suggestions of the tempter, aspiring to
be gods knowing good and evil, and reaching forth after the forbidden fruit....
In the midst of our national garden, stands the tree of knowledge of
political good and evil. This we are now more particularly to examine by the fruits it bears, and the effects of those fruits. This tree, to the disgrace
of our country, is in the midst of our political garden. It grows and flourishes only in the soil of human depravity. Its trunk is Infidelity.
As it extends upward, it soon divides into two large main branches, and these
are Atheism and Anarchy. These branches, however, the worshippers of the tree
distinguish by different and more specious names—the former they call the Age
of Reason, and the latter, the Rights of Man; while with a very
imposing air, they fondly call the body of the tree Liberty and
Equality.
From these main branches aforementioned shoot
out innumerable other smaller limbs and twigs. A few of which are such as the
following: Political regeneration, private
[character] assassinations [lies, slander?],
Revolutions, Forced loan, Foreign robbery, Public debauchery, Private
and national perfidy, Terrorism, Revenge, Government (tyranny), Universal
domination....
If this evil actually exist in our
country, similar causes will produce similar effects.... When our first parents
[Adam and Eve] yielded to the
arts of the tempter, impelled by conscious guilt,
they hid themselves among the trees of the garden.
Just so the disciples of
Jacobinism -- as soon
as they have eaten of the forbidden fruit -- immediately
skulk, and mingling themselves with the mass
of good citizens, endeavor to hide themselves, and
carry on all their nefarious operations in the darkness
and secrecy of intrigue.
Nearly allied to this is another circumstance. Adam and Eve knew that they were naked and
sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And what are the aprons of
Jacobins by
which they strive to conceal the nakedness and deformity
of their real views and intentions? ...flimsy, but
specious pretexts of zeal for the public good — high
sounding attachment to the principles of the constitution —
a patriotic concern for the liberties of their country, and ranting declamation
against unconstitutional measures.
Mindless Deceptions
They are willfully blind...
dead in every principle and practice of political error
and mischiefs. The means of persuasion addressed
to them are thrown away. The most powerful
arguments are vain; and the knowledge of facts before their eyes makes not the least impression.
I much doubt, whether among all that class of citizens,
a single instance of political conversion can
be produced.
A few of the principal fruits of the Jacobinic
tree, I shall now briefly mention....
1st
Fruit: ...no distinction between liberty
and licentiousness....
2nd
Fruit: ...a total want of conscience in civil rulers.... A
man chosen to civil office, however fair and unimpeachable his character
before his election, yet commences the downright villain and the
faithless tyrant as soon as ever he begins to act in his public
character.... The constituted authorities are not the organs of the public
will....
3rd Fruit: That
religion and government have no
connection. Government is not to be influenced or guided by the
principles of religion.... No matter what his creed—if he be an infidel or Atheist, so much the better,
provided he be thoroughly imbued with the principles of
Jacobinism.... Ministers of the gospel
cannot teach their people how to conduct themselves
as peaceable good subjects...and warn them to shun the rocks which
threaten the destruction of their country....
4th
Fruit: ...a
blind...admiration of the government of France, in all its vertiginous
motions, windings, revolutions, and abominations....
6th Fruit. ...all the arts of
insinuation, secret
intrigue, personal invective, and the shameless abuse, of open lying
defamation, through the medium of tongues, pens, books and newspapers are
the worthiest means employed....
But strange and unaccountable as it
is, this Jacobinic sedition is now prevailing in our country, and even
assuming the air of triumph. Both in conversation and newspapers, marks of
exultation are discoverable ; and the certainty of a Jacobinic
administration, as the fruit of the next election, is avowed by every mouth,
and scattered through every state....
Not all
the foreign powers on earth combined against us,
can effect our ruin, without our own aid. If America fall, and add another example to the long melancholy list of departed Republics, she will owe
her destruction to her own hands.
The present day, therefore, is a day
for action and alarm, and not for security and sloth. It is a day which
tries men's souls.... "He
that is not with us, is against us, and he that gathereth
not with us, scattereth abroad."...
We
must cleave to the God of our fathers, and not sacrifice
to those new gods, that have come newly up,
whom our fathers feared not.... We must faithfully instruct
our children in the principles of true religion, and
true liberty. We must observe God's Sabbaths.... We must preserve the fountains of public honors and offices, pure and
unsullied...
And to every insinuation of the tempter let us
make this determined reply:
"We may
eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the
tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, 'ye shall not
eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.'" Genesis 3:2-3
Home
Articles
Quotes Topical
Index of Scriptures
