It is impossible to reason, without arriving at a Supreme Being.

Religion is as necessary to reason, as reason is to religion. The one cannot exist, without the other. A reasoning being would lose his reason, in attempting to account for the great phenomena of nature, had he not a Supreme Being to refer to; and well has it been said, that if there had been no God, mankind would have been obliged to imagine one.

THE AUTHOR OF ALL GOOD.

That great and glorious Being is the Beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.

THE SOURCE OF ALL BLESSINGS.

The sentiments we have mutually expressed, of profound gratitude to the source of those numerous blessings, the Author of all good, are pledges of our obligations, to unite our sincere and zealous endeavors, as the instruments of Divine Providence, to preserve and perpetuate them.

1795.

THE DISPOSER OF EVENTS; ALL-POWERFUL, AND

ALL-WISE.

I feel now, as I conceive a wearied traveller must do, who, after treading many a painful step, with a heavy burden on his shoulders, is eased of the latter, having reached the haven to which all the former were directed; and from his house-top is looking back, and tracing, with an eager eye, the meanders, by which he escaped the quicksands and mires which lay in his way; and into which none but the All-powerful Guide and Dispenser of human events could have prevented his falling.

1784.

As the All-wise Disposer of events has hitherto watched over my steps, I trust, that, in the important one I may soon be called upon to take, he will mark the course so plainly, that I cannot mistake the

The determinations of Providence are always wise, often inscrutable; and, though its decrees appear to

bear hard upon us at times, they are nevertheless meant for gracious purposes.

DIVINE MUNIFICENCE.

When I contemplate the interposition of Providence, as it was manifested in guiding us through the Revolution, in preparing us for the reception of a General Government, and in conciliating the good will of the people of America towards one another, after its adoption, I feel myself oppressed, and almost overwhelmed, with a sense of the Divine Munificence.

1789.

I have made a tour through the Lakes George and Champlain, as far as Crown Point. Thence returning to Schenectady, I proceeded up the Mohawk River to Fort Schuyler, (formerly Fort Stanwix,) and crossed over to Wood Creek, which empties into the Oneida Lake, and affords the water communication with Ontario. I then traversed the country, to the head of the eastern branch of the Susquehanna, and viewed Lake Otsego, and the portage between that lake and the Mohawk River at Canajoharie.

Prompted by these actual observations, I could not help taking a more extensive view of the vast inland navigation of these United States, from maps, and the information of others; and could not but be struck with the immense extent and importance of it, and with the goodness of that Providence, which has dealt

its favors to us with so profuse a hand. Would to God, we may have wisdom enough to improve them.

GOD, OUR PRESERVER.

We may, with a kind of pious and grateful exultation, trace the finger of Providence through these dark and mysterious events, which first induced the States. to appoint a General Convention, and then led them, one after another, by such steps as were best calculated to effect the object, into the adoption of a system recommended by that General Convention; thereby, in all human probability, laying a lasting foundation for tranquillity and happiness, when we had but too much reason to fear, that confusion and misery were coming rapidly upon us.

That the same good Providence may still continue to protect us, and prevent us from dashing the cup of national felicity, just as it has been lifted to our lips, is my earnest prayer.

1788.

The Great Director of events has carried us through a variety of scenes, during this long and bloody contest, in which we have been, for seven campaigns, most nobly struggling.

1781.

15*

THE OMNIPOTENT, OUR GUARDIAN.

I earnestly pray, that the Omnipotent Being, who has not deserted the cause of America in the hour of its extreme hazard, may never yield so fair a heritage to anarchy or despotism.

1788.

Satisfied, that we have sincerely wished and endeavored to avert war, and exhausted, to the last drop, the cup of reconciliation, we can, with pure hearts, appeal to Heaven for the justice of our cause, and may confidently trust the final result to that kind Providence, which has hitherto, and so often, signally favored the people of the United States.

1798.

The Great Ruler of Events will not permit the happiness of so many millions to be destroyed.

1791.

THE DIVINE DELIVERER.

Our affairs are brought to a perilous crisis, that the hand of Providence, I trust, may be more conspicuous in our deliverance.

The many remarkable interpositions of the Divine Government, in the hours of our deepest distress and darkness, have been too luminous, to suffer me to doubt the happy issue of the present contest.

1781.