2. If a people who choose their own rulers have not good rulers, it must be owing to their own fault. If they choose their best men, there can be no doubt but their rulers will be good. And if they choose bad men, it must be because they are themselves corrupt, and wish for rulers whom they desire and expect will gratify their corrupt hearts and promote their corrupt designs. If they wish to have religion destroyed, they will choose those into office who they believe will use their influence to destroy it. If they wish the constitution of government should be weakened, they will put men into power who they expect will adopt and pursue measures to weaken or subvert it. But if a free people ever have bad instead of good rulers, it will be their own fault in abusing the inestimable privilege of election, and they will justly suffer the fatal consequences of their own choice.

3. A people who choose their own rulers, cannot reasonably expect to have better rulers than themselves. Rulers who are chosen by the general suffrage of the people, will always bear the moral complexion of those by whom they are chosen. This has always been found true among every people who have enjoyed and exercised the power of appointing their civil magistrates. While the Grecians were virtuous they chose virtuous rulers. While the Romans were virtuous they chose virtuous rulers. But when those nations became corrupt, they chose corrupt men to guide the affairs of state. The Jews, God's ancient people, conducted in the same manner. ten tribes would never have chosen Jeroboam the son of Nebat to reign over them, had they not become extremely corrupt. A corrupt people, who enjoy and exercise the power of election, have no ground to expect that their rulers will be better than themselves.

The

4. This subject directs us where to look for the origin of the political distresses and embarrassinents in which we have been, and still are, involved. They have originated from the abuse of the power of election. For more than a century before the revolution, all the states in the Union that enjoyed the privilege of choosing their own rulers, wisely and faithfully improved it, and of course committed the management of their public affairs to such men, as allowed them to live peaceable and quiet lives in all godliness and honesty. And when the federal government was carried into operation, the wisest and best men were placed at the head of the nation. And during twelve years of their administration, the nation enjoyed not only peace and liberty, but the most extraordinary prosperity and flattering prospects. Nor is there the least reason to doubt but that the same prosperity and happiness would have continued to this

day, if the people had not neglected and abused the precious privilege of choosing their own rulers from among their most meritorious citizens. But when they neglected their best men, and chose the worst, their glory departed and their calamities began. Against the solemn, warning voice of some of the best patriots in the Union, they committed the supreme power into the hands of Mr. Jefferson, who had publicly condemned the federal constitution. This they did with their eyes wide open. What an instance of astonishing infatuation! What could they expect but that he would govern according to his own political and religious principles? He fully answered the hopes of some, and the fears of others. He joined affinity with the nation from whence he derived his corrupt principles in religion and politics, and gave a fatal stab to the peace and prosperity of America. Ever since this deplorable crisis in our public affairs, the majority of the nation have uniformly put the chief offices of state into such men's hands, as adopted the measures of Jefferson; and these measures crippled our commerce, dried up the sources of wealth, and finally plunged us into an unnecessary war. which has wasted our property, corrupted the fountains of justice, accumulated our public debts, destroyed thousands of our fellow men, and constrained the government to make a disadvantageous and dishonorable peace. But dishonorable as it is, we had no reason to expect a better. We deserved to be punished, and our enemies have moderately punished us. Now when we look back upon this series of calamities, can we impute the original, procuring cause of them to any thing else than our neglect and abuse of our distinguishing privilege of choosing our own rulers? rulers were applauded while pursuing the steps which have brought our calamities upon us, and they are still applauded for the inglorious peace they have obtained. They have acted the part which many of their unwise and deluded electors desired and expected they would act.

5. This subject suggests to us the best, and perhaps the only possible way of alleviating present, and of preventing future calamities. The way is, wisely and faithfully to improve our important privilege of election, and commit the direction of our national concerns to greater and better men. There is no ground to expect that our erroneous rulers either can or will correct their own errors. If they are continued in power, we may justly fear, that instead of lessening they will increase our burdens, and instead of extricating us from, they will plunge us deeper into political embarrassments. Nothing short of a revolution in the administration of government can promote union, preserve peace, and prevent ruin. There is so much

liberty, so much political knowledge, so much patriotism, and so much physical strength, in the sound part of the nation, that they are able in a constitutional manner to displace oppressive and arbitrary rulers. It is to be hoped that the pleasing sound of peace, which brings no positive good, but only mitigates positive evil, will not prove an opiate to lull the people in stupidity and negligence, but serve to animate their exertions for the redress of intolerable burdens. If they sit down quiet now, and relax their efforts for a new and better administration, they may rivet chains which they will never hereafter be able to break. The peace has thrown the nation into the most critical situation that they ever saw. Their wisdom, their prudence, their patriotism and firmness, are put to the severest trial. There are men enough in the nation who possess talents and integrity sufficient to prevent the political ship from sinking, if the helm were only put into their hands. If the large, respectable and powerful minority will only act a wise, steady, dignified part, they may prevent the division and destruction of these once flourishing, but now distressed and impoverished states. Now is the time for the most vigorous and maghanimous exertions for the perpetuation of the present peace and future safety and prosperity of the country. As a few men first laid the foundation for our past and present calamities, so a few men of wisdom, firmness and perseverance, may lay a foundation to retrieve the losses we have sustained, and restore us to our former state of union, harmony, wealth, and rising importance among the nations of the world. Let these few best men be chosen in future to direct the weighty concerns of the nation, and we may confidently hope soon to see better times.

We are certainly under peculiar obligations to employ this, and every other wise and constitutional method, to extricate ourselves from our present embarrassments, and secure our future peace and prosperity.

In the first place, the past goodness of God lays us under indispensable obligation to exert ourselves vigorously for the preservation of the rights and privileges which he has so long bestowed upon us. The President with great propriety acknowledges that we have been, from the beginning of our national existence, the peculiar objects of the divine care and beneficence. It is a plain and pleasing truth, that we have enjoyed the greatest of all civil privileges, the privilege of choosing our own civil rulers. To a wise and vigilant exercise of this invaluable privilege, we may justly ascribe our virtues, our religious fasts and thanksgivings, our general information, our excellent laws, and all our correct customs and habits. By appointing

good rulers, who were qualified for their high stations, these distinguishing traits in our national character have been long preserved, and are not yet entirely lost. It has been owing, under God, to our wise, faithful and pious rulers, that we have been conducted through every stage of our national existence to the high rank which we lately held among the nations of the earth. No people have been from the beginning blessed with greater civil, religious and literary advantages than those which God has liberally bestowed upon us. These call for

our unfeigned gratitude to the Father of mercies, and the giver of every good and perfect gift which we have enjoyed, and do still enjoy. Nor can we discharge this great debt of gratitude, unless we use all proper means and exertions to transmit our civil and religious privileges to future generations.

In the next place, the present peace is a signal favor in itself considered. It has put a stop to the effusion of human blood and the calamities of war, and given us more opportunity to attend to our national dangers, and to use our best efforts to avert them. We shall be the most ungrateful, as well as unwise people, if we suffer ourselves to bear the most unjust burdens when it is completely in our own power to obtain justice. Our past success in maintaining our invaluable rights is an encouraging motive to meet every difficulty, and surmount every obstacle, in the way of attaining the freedom and happiness which never fail to flow from a good administration of a good government.

Finally, let us carry our case to God, and implore him to guide and assist us in all our efforts to secure the great objects of our desires, our hopes and pursuit. He can guide the people in the choice of their rulers, and guide the rulers in the choice of their public measures. He has the hearts of both rulers and subjects under his supreme control. He can remove the inveterate prejudice and infatuation which have so long blinded the minds and governed the conduct of well-meaning partisans. Let us therefore not only give thanks to him for the public and private, civil and religious, favors which he has so plentifully bestowed upon us in days past; but also offer up prayers, and supplications, and intercessions, for our President, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

A WISE man's heart is at his right hand. - ECCLES. x. 2.

SOLOMON had a clear and discriminating knowledge of all the powers and faculties of the human mind. He knew the distinction between the understanding and the heart; and it was his decided opinion, that the heart, and not the understanding, is the leading faculty of the soul. This appears from his own conduct. When he took the reins of government into his own hands, he most fervently prayed, that he might have “a wise and understanding heart." Though he had the best understanding of any man in the world, yet he durst not lean upon it, or confide in it, to direct him in duty. He knew the heart to be the governing principle of action, and that his own heart would have a greater practical influence upon him than his understanding. Accordingly, we find he lays more stress upon the heart than any other sacred writer. He divides the whole world into wise men and fools, and grounds the distinction, not on the understanding, but on the heart. He calls every person wise, who has a good heart; and every one a fool who has a bad heart. By a wise man he always means a good man; and by a fool he means a bad man. This may help us to understand the meaning of the text. "A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left." A wise man's heart means a good heart, and a foolish man's heart means a bad heart. As the left hand is unused to and unfit for action, so a bad heart is unused to and unfit for duty. But as the right hand is always ready and prompt for action, so a good