[SECOND EDITION.] TWO DISCOURSES ON THE OCCASION OF THE GREAT FIRE IN CHARLESTON, ON FRIDAY NIGHT, APRIL 27th, 1838. DELIVERED IN THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ON Sabbath, May 6, 1838. BY THE REV. THOMAS SMYTH. WITH AN APPENDIX. CHARLESTON : PUBLISHED BY JOHN P. BEILE, BOOKSELLER, 1838. PREFATORY. SOME apology might be thought necessary for the publication of these discourses; but the occasion and the subject remove any such necessity. It is the duty of every citizen, at this awful crisis, to do his best to restore to the city, not only its material property, but its moral courage-to rouse it from the lethargic stupor of despair, and stimulate it to that healthful action which will resuscitate its fallen fortunes. To this end these discourses will, it is hoped, in some degree contribute. They may also constitute a memorial of the dreadful event. They may lead to profitable reflections. They may guide the willing, to the sure promises of heavenly rewards. And as the Author had occasion to speak through the public press, not long since, on a similar occasion, and not wholly in vain, he commends these discourses to an afflicted, but withal a spirited and christian community-a community which, on that occasion, and on the present, has fully redeemed its character for patriotism and humanity. |