Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Sermon,
said , Blessed be . thou , Lord God of Israel , our Father , for ever and ever . Thine , O Lord , is the greatness , and the power , and the victory , and the majesty : for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine ; thine is the kingdom , O Lord , and thou art exalted as head above ali . Both riches and honour come of thee , and thou reignest over all , and in thine hand is power and might , and in thine hand it is to make greatand to ive strength unto all . Nowthereforeour Godwe
, g , , , thank thee , and praise thy glorious name . " * ' Amongst many cruises of thankfulness peculiar to this enlightened age , may be reckoned the improvements which have taken place in Chose elegant and useful works of art , that embellish and adorn human life . Our fore-fathers were contented with few attainments , and endured a variety of inconveniencies which they knew not how to
remedy . In some ages , their minds were obscured by ignorance ; in others , they were clouded by superstition . In some , they had not learned ; in others , they were not able to accomplish what a superior understanding occasionally produced for their advantage . The progress , indeed , of every art and science , from its first rude and undigested conception in the mind , to the final period of its perfection ,
( if such a period can be found ) is a speculation worthy of the abilities of the philosopher , the reason of the man , the contemplation of the divine . And let not the subject be thought foreign to this sacred place , or this solemn assembly ; for every step we take towards perfection , brings us nearer roGod . We may add , too , that the further our researches reach in the study of nature , and in the refinements of art , the greater progress we may reasonably be expected to make in religion .
' If it be objected to the truth of this observation , that the present history of the world exhibits a melancholy instance to the contrary , let it be rembered , that in the eye of the great Maker of the universe time and space are without bounds , that a thousand years are with him as one day , and that whatever may be the appearance of a particular sera , neither his mercy nor his promises will fail . If we examine the history of the human mindwe shall find , thatat the
, , dawning of reason , the first notices which it receives are few . It is only by the assistance of some acquired advantages that it can in any manner develops the suggestions of nature . Man , left to himself , would range a savage in the desert ; at least , the degrees of his improvement would be so slow , that the allotted period of his exi-fence would hardly add one convenience to the ori ginal necessities of life .
But study and reflection , society and a reciprocal communication of good offices , call forth all the latent powers of the mind , and improve those inestimable gifts of nature . The mere instinct of animal life in the brute creation , however admirable in itself , rises no higher than its first appearance . Having attained the necessary perfection , it stops . A succession of generations makes no improvement or variation in its plan ; for it is instinct , not reason , by which the Author of their being directs them . But , in the history of man , the progress of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Sermon,
said , Blessed be . thou , Lord God of Israel , our Father , for ever and ever . Thine , O Lord , is the greatness , and the power , and the victory , and the majesty : for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine ; thine is the kingdom , O Lord , and thou art exalted as head above ali . Both riches and honour come of thee , and thou reignest over all , and in thine hand is power and might , and in thine hand it is to make greatand to ive strength unto all . Nowthereforeour Godwe
, g , , , thank thee , and praise thy glorious name . " * ' Amongst many cruises of thankfulness peculiar to this enlightened age , may be reckoned the improvements which have taken place in Chose elegant and useful works of art , that embellish and adorn human life . Our fore-fathers were contented with few attainments , and endured a variety of inconveniencies which they knew not how to
remedy . In some ages , their minds were obscured by ignorance ; in others , they were clouded by superstition . In some , they had not learned ; in others , they were not able to accomplish what a superior understanding occasionally produced for their advantage . The progress , indeed , of every art and science , from its first rude and undigested conception in the mind , to the final period of its perfection ,
( if such a period can be found ) is a speculation worthy of the abilities of the philosopher , the reason of the man , the contemplation of the divine . And let not the subject be thought foreign to this sacred place , or this solemn assembly ; for every step we take towards perfection , brings us nearer roGod . We may add , too , that the further our researches reach in the study of nature , and in the refinements of art , the greater progress we may reasonably be expected to make in religion .
' If it be objected to the truth of this observation , that the present history of the world exhibits a melancholy instance to the contrary , let it be rembered , that in the eye of the great Maker of the universe time and space are without bounds , that a thousand years are with him as one day , and that whatever may be the appearance of a particular sera , neither his mercy nor his promises will fail . If we examine the history of the human mindwe shall find , thatat the
, , dawning of reason , the first notices which it receives are few . It is only by the assistance of some acquired advantages that it can in any manner develops the suggestions of nature . Man , left to himself , would range a savage in the desert ; at least , the degrees of his improvement would be so slow , that the allotted period of his exi-fence would hardly add one convenience to the ori ginal necessities of life .
But study and reflection , society and a reciprocal communication of good offices , call forth all the latent powers of the mind , and improve those inestimable gifts of nature . The mere instinct of animal life in the brute creation , however admirable in itself , rises no higher than its first appearance . Having attained the necessary perfection , it stops . A succession of generations makes no improvement or variation in its plan ; for it is instinct , not reason , by which the Author of their being directs them . But , in the history of man , the progress of