t I would
inculcate, and I therefore insert it. The Indian inquires of the white
man what religion he professes. The white man replies, "_Not any._"
"_Not any?_" says the Indian, in astonishment; "then you are _just like
my dog_; he's got no religion." We have _men_ enough like the Indian's
dog, without teaching our _children_ to be like him.

The French, in the days of the Revolution, voted God from his throne.
They abolished the Sabbath, and declared that Christianity was a
nullity. They set apart one day in ten, not for religion, but for
idleness and licentiousness. History informs us that the goddess of
Reason, personified by a naked prostitute, was drawn in triumph through
the streets of Paris, and that the municipal officers of the city, and
the members of the National Convention of France, joined publicly in the
impious parade. We need not wonder, then, that even the forms of
religion were destroyed, and that licentiousness and profligacy walked
forth unveiled. How unlike this is the state of things in these United
States! We are professedly a Christian nation. We recognize the
existence of a superior and superintending power in all our
institutions.

The New World was early sought by a Christian people, that fled from
oppression in order to find a home where they might worship God
unmolested, and bequeath to posterity the same inestimable privilege and
inalienable right. In the days of the Revolution, Washington and his
coadjutors were accustomed to invoke the blessing of the God of battles;
and without His favor, they looked not for victory. In the Congress of
this Great Nation, and in our State Legislatures, we are accustomed to
acknowledge our dependence upon God in employing chaplains with whom we
unite in daily devotions.

The Constitution of the United States requires that all legislative,
executive, and judicial officers in the United States, and in the
several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support the
Constitution. The Constitution of each of the several states requires a
similar oath or affirmation; and some of them further provide that, in
addition to the oath of office, all persons appointed to places of
profit or trust shall, before entering upon the same, subscribe a
declaration of their faith in the Christian religion.

In our Penitentiaries even, we employ chaplains for the social, moral,
and religious improvement of criminals confined within them; for our
object is, not me