BISHOP MADISON'S PRAYER.
O God! Parent Almighty, who, though unseen, upholdest this ponderous
ball, and, breathing through the immensity of space, fillest with stupendous
life all which it inhabit; Spirit invisible, God of our forefathers, to thee
we raise the voice of praise and thanksgiving; oh, hear us, and deign to
accept this our imperfect homage. Thou great and glorious Being, who,
according to the plans of thy wisdom, didst first inspire our forefathers
with the elevated idea of seeking an asylum for man in this Western world;
thou, who badest the terrors of death to retire from their hearts, the remorseless
billows of the deep to be at rest, and the horrors of the howling
wilderness no longer to alarm, oh, hear, and, on this eventful day, suffer us
to pour forth, from the fulness of our souls, the tide of reverential affection,
of joy, and of gratitude; suffer us, the descendants and the heirs of
those mighty men whose footsteps, under thy gracious providence, here
were first impressed to approach thy divine Majesty, to declare the wondrous
things which thou hast done for us, and to implore thy continued
protection.
Assembled in thy sight, we now prostrate ourselves before thee, upon
that ground which thou, O God, didst choose whereupon to rest the
wearied feet of our progenitors. Twice one hundred times hath this earth,
in obedience to thy command, performed its faithful revolution around the
fountain of light, since thy providential goodness was here testified by our
ancestors with heartfelt songs of gratitude and praise. The stream of
time hath swept before thee the generations which since have arisen and
passed away; but we, upon whom this day hath fallen, will rejoice in thy
presence, and, with a sincere and ardent gratitude, will recall to vivid
memory thy former and thy present mercies.
Hallowed be the place where thou didst particularly manifest thy goodness
to our forefathers, and where the heavenly plan for spreading wide
the blessings of social rights first beamed forth. It was here, O God, it
was on this chosen ground, that thou didst first lay the sure foundations of
political happiness. Here didst thou say to our forefathers, who, under
thy guidance, had defied the perils of an untried ocean, "Here fix your
abode; here shall the great work of political salvation commence; here
I will strike deep the roots of an everlasting empire, where justice and
liberty and peace shall flourish in immortal vigour, to the glory of my
name and the happiness of man. Here ye shall sleep; but your sons and
your daughters shall possess the land which stretcheth wide before you;
shall convert the wilderness and solitary place into fields smiling with
plenty; shall, in ages yet to come, exceed the sands upon the sea-shore in
number; shall, when two hundred years are accomplished, here resort,
here recall to mind your valour and your sufferings, and here, touched
with a lively sense of the blessings vouchsafed to them, they shall exalt
and adore my name, and acknowledge that the mightiness of my arm
and the overshadowing of my Spirit hath done those great and excellent
things for them."
Such, O God, was thy will. To thy servants now before thee has
been given the high boon of living to see the light of that day, and of
acknowledging that thy promises are as steadfast as the everlasting hills.
To us has been given the triumph which this day affords. It was thy
providence which reared the tender plant that here took root, and which
nourished it with the dews of heaven until its branches have cast their
shade from ocean to ocean. It was thy providence, gracious Benefactor
of man, which awoke in our breasts a just sense of the inappreciable value
of our rights, and infused that indomitable spirit which effected a revolution
the most important in the annals of time, and which led to the
establishment of civil governments throughout this rising empire upon the
broad and firm basis of equal laws. It was thy providence which inspired
that wisdom which hath guarded us against the horrors of war, and
which, amidst the dread convulsions that agitate the Old World, hath still
irradiated this thy chosen land with the blessings of peace. To thee, O
God, we ascribe, as is most due, that never-ceasing current of national
prosperity which has daily increased, and which, under thy auspices, we
trust, will continue to increase, until its waters, spreading throughout
every region of the earth, shall gladden, with their salubrious streams,
nations which are now the victims of ambition, and thence diffuse peace
and good-will among the whole family of mankind.
Continue, gracious Benefactor, thy mercies toward us. Oh, teach us
ever to love and to reverence thy name; teach us that the God of virtue
can love only virtue; teach us that it is thou only, the first Source of
happiness, who can secure it to the human race. Impress upon our hearts
an ardent love for thy holy religion: may its pure and sublime morality
be to us the rule of all duties: may it guard us against the debasing in
fluence of licentiousness and vice, and inspire the people of these United
States with those inflexible virtues which republics demand: may the
love of our country and obedience to law be the dignified characteristic
of citizens: may they never forget that, without religion, morality dies;
and that, without morality, republics are swept from before thee with the
besom of destruction.
Bless all the constituted authorities, and so rule their hearts and
strengthen their hands that they may drive from among us all manner
of vice.
Give prosperity to the different seminaries of learning; increase true
knowledge, and infix upon the hearts of the rising generation a just sense
of the duties which they owe to themselves, to their fellow-creatures, and
to their God.
Finally, O God, pardon our offences, and deign to hear our imperfect
prayer, for the sake of thy Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.[3]
The prayer being over, the citizens repaired to a lawn in front of the
principal house on the peninsula, for the purpose of hearing the orations
and poems prepared for the day. Mr. B. G. Baldwin, from Winchester,
then a student at William and Mary,—afterward Judge Baldwin, of
Staunton,—spoke first. He was followed by Mr. John Madison, also a
student from the upper country. The speeches were creditable to the
patriotism and talents of these young men. Then followed two odes, by
Mr. C. B. Blanchard, of Norfolk, and Mr. Le Roy Anderson, of Williamsburg,
which were interesting to the assembly.
Two days and nights were spent in these and other exercises of a different
character. After feasting and mirth on the island, which continued
two days and nights, the scene was transferred to Williamsburg,
where another day and night was spent in like manner,—very unlike the
manner of the first days of our forefathers on the island, whose first act
was the solemn celebration of the Lord's Supper.
