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p. 4

loftiest strains of Christian praise, it is not unfitting to
bid them presently give back the animating notes of free-
dom's songs.

No Christian could fail to sympathize with the speaker in
his positions, that ours is a government intended for
Christian people, not for Mormons and Atheists, and that
beneath all law must lay the great foundation of public
virtue and the fear of God. None could fail to catch some-
what of his enthusiasm, as he not so much borasted, as
confessed with words and gestures of humblest gratitude, the
benign and conservative influence which the Church, whose
vows are upon us, has always exercised in our land; as he
spoke of the work to be done in this nation, and of the
members of the Protestant Episcopal Church as the men to do
it.

Thus far the flag hung idly from its staff; but when the
Bishop began to speak of our country and the love all good
men bear it, a breeze came to stir the Stars and Stripes;
and still, as he proceeded to denounce the thought, that
we would come with holy words upon our lips to plot mischief
against our brethren, the flag waved more proudly that
before, seeking the person of the speaker, and causing his
words to come as it were from the midst of its folds. As
the oration progressed, warm tears filled many an eye, and