In Memoriam.

CAPT. JAMES MADISON USHER.

Born in Medford, Mass., Nov. 19, 1855. Elected a Member of the Company, May 16, 1892. Elected Second Sergeant of Infantry, June, 1896. Elected Second Lieutenant, June, 1898. Elected First Lieutenant, June, 1902.

Elected Captain, June, 1904.

Died in Boston, Nov. 21, 1905.

A SERMON

PREACHED AT THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH

ON THE

267th ANNIVERSARY

OF THE

Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company

JUNE 5th, 1905

BY

Rev. ALAN HUDSON, D.D.

OF BROCKTON, MASS.

THE SERMON.

THE PURPOSE OF GOD IN THE HISTORY OF NATIONS.

TEXT: Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs xiv. 34.

In the city of Boston today the oldest military organization in America observes its 267th anniversary. Since 1638 this famous Company has been annually reviewed by the highest officials of the state, and its officers commissioned by the Governor of the Commonwealth. The historic custom of other years will be followed today.

This Company was founded by Robert Keayne, a man of faith and prayer. The first members were men of Puritan stock, who believed in the providence of God in history. This thought suggests the subject of the sermon for today :-"The Purpose of God in the History of Nations." We have been able to trace his providence in the unfolding of scripture, in the laws of nature, and in the operations of mind; shall we now strive to get a brief glimpse of his purpose in the history of nat ions? The great English poet of the nineteenth century saw God perfecting his plan in the nations and wrote,

"Yet I doubt not through the ages

One increasing purpose runs."

What are some of these purposes?

First. God's purpose in the history of nations requires that righteousness be the foundation of government, for without it a nation will perish. Nothing lives but truth. Nations decay that forget and fail to practice the right. They may have a proud history, they may have wealth and power, but all of these are vain, if righteousness is not incorporated in their laws and institutions.

Look at the history of several extinct nations. Three thousand years ago the Jews possessed the proudest kingdom of the world. They could boast of great prophets, powerful kings, and invincible armies. They could claim a Solomon, in whose glittering courts wisdom and greatness gathered for instruction. But where is now the Jewish nation? Where her Davids, her Elijahs, her Daniels? Where is that kingdom of the prophets, once the glory of Palestine? It is buried amid the decaying ruins of the past, and its ancient strength is but a memory; and why? Because it rejected the counsels of God, and discarded the laws of righteousness.