Page:The collected works of Theodore Parker volume 8.djvu/136



THE EFFECT OF SLAVERY ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.—A SERMON PREACHED AT THE MUSIC HALL, BOSTON, ON SUNDAY, JULY 4, 1858.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”—What our fathers said in their Declaration.

“Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them.”—What Jesus said, in the seventh chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, the twelfth verse.

are three great events in American history. The first is the Discovery of the Continent; the second, the Landing of the Pilgrims in New England, who brought the Teutonic seed of a new form of civilization; the third, the Declaration of Independence, when new ideas of government were clearly set forth, destined to have a great influence on the development of mankind. This is not only the national anniversary: it is the birthday of whole families of republics that we know not of as yet; for it must have a future more glorious than the past or the present.

Let you and me make the highest religious use of this great day. Religion includes all duties, individual and social—the self-protection that I owe to my own person, the philanthropy due to my kind, and patriotism, the virtue I owe my nation. Each man has a human character, general elements common to mankind; an individual character, special elements peculiar to himself; and a national character not less. Patriotism is a great religious duty: it is philanthropy modified by the need of the hour, and