Excerpt from The Sword Sheathed; Or, the Service of the Sanctuary the Security of the State: A Discourse Delivered at the Centennial Celebration of the Adoption of the Name and Constitution of the State, Windsor, Vt;, July 8, 1877

Patriotism is a virtue. In the ancient Jewish state it was enforced as an obligation. It was love of country, raised to a religious principle, that caused the Psalmist to exclaim, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning; if I do not remember thee, let ray tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth: if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy."

Nor can it be accounted an irreverence to say that our Lord himself was influenced by the patriotic sentiment. He was a Jew; and He must have felt a sense of personal dishonor in the odium that had accumulated upon His nation in its wasting and melancholy decline. He was "the man Christ Jesus;" and a patriotic, as well as a divine, emotion that must have stirred His heart in the pathetic cry, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"

In apostolic history, a form of christian life was enjoined everywhere so comprehensive as to embrace the well-being and prosperity of the state. "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience's sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also. Render therefore to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor."

Loyalty is a part of piety.

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