^5S Z Class __L4_Li Book /Ti yatu » r JuHipg :' 3.i'Jiiiji'i? > ' ft»i»Ci»@»wfc ' A SERMON IN MEMORY F I ! THE HEROIC DEAD, WHO HAVE FALLEN IN THK BATTLES OF FREEDOM DE1JVERED IN THK CONG 11 K (UTIONA L C H U It C II . AT LAKE < IT), MINNESOTA, JUNE i*r, 18 f> A SERMON IN MEMORY OF ifS THE PATRIOT BEAD. PREACHED IN THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, AT LAKE CITY, JUNE 1st, 1$6&, K? ^ — , BY THE PASTOR. Tixt. — Ps. 72, 14. And precious shall their blood be in His sight. I design to apply this inspired sentiment to the heroic men who have laid down their lives in defence of the Country and its Free Institutions, against Rebellion and Treason. When I turn over the pages of the past of Earth's history I am no p longer surprised at the strength of that sentimei.t which has taken possession of the more moral and intelligent of human minds, that war, all war, is necessari- ly wrong — is absolutely wicked. How olten does that history show us a world convuls- ed in blood, aud lighted in flames kin- dled by the torch of unholy war! How are we compelled to believe that men in almost all the ages of the Past have delighted in the carnage of War, and made it their chief business! What blood-thirsty monsters loom up on all those pages of old, monsters bloat- ed with ambition, 3red with the most dia- bolic passions, driving the plow-share of de- struction through Earth's fairest scenes, gloating in the blood of her millions, and sending terror to every human heart. Just think of some of those battle fields with their two, three, and even four hun- dred thousand victims lying mangled in their gore; and then think of twenty billions of human being? — twentv times the Earth's present population — destroyed in war, and call up the motives, the objects of those wars — the immoralities, the crimes, the suffer- ings, the horrors incident thereto, and what a revolting, what an awful picture you have! None but a fiend can gaze upon it without the most sickening horror! Is it wonderful then that the intelligent, moral, refined and sensitive soul turns away with a loathing and a horror, that drives it to the opposite extreme and impels it to say with O'Connell — that not a human right or an earthly good is worth the shedding of one drop of human blood? And yet this sentiment is wrong, as wholly so as that which has inspired those monsters who have made the shedding of blood their chiefest pastime, and who never allowed terms of etiquette, or qualms of con- science to come between them and their Sa- tanic pleasures. Is the shedding of blood — the taking of human life in war, under any and all circum. stances wicked? Happily for us we have the word of God to aid in solving the ques tion; and to this question that Word gives an emphatic negative. With this Book in our hands, and the light of the ages stream- ing down upon us, we are prepared to en- dorse the words of the scholarly Lieber, when he sav- — "Rlood is the cement bv which evcfy great principle and right has been built up in the world. Nothing from the past worth the having has come to us with- out blood. Christianity was cemented by the blood of the martyrs. Religious liberty and civil and constitutional freedom have been built up by the mysterious potency of this precious cement. Let us not, who in- harit what the blood of the past has built, grow squeamish at the mention of war. If the institutions of freedom, order and right- eousness, cemented for us by the blood of the Fathers, are assaulted and shaken, let us not withhold that which can alone cement them anew. The blood is not worth the hav- ing which is not worth the spending." This language is none too strong, it but expresses the simple truth. But the Bible gives a significance to the p.hedding ot blood, such as no human history ever did or ever will. It reveals to us the Christ — th" annointed of the Father, pouring out his blood for the ransom of our race. It teaches us that we are redeemed, not with Silver and Geld — but with this precious blood of Christ; thus showing that God's richest gift's to man — Eternal Life and Im- mortal bliss — are the fruits of the shedding of blood. And, truly, without shedding of blood, there could come to man no remission of sins, no blessing, no good forever and ever. The shedding of blood in war, terriole and awful as it is, is sometimes not only justifia- ble, but absolutely demanded by the Almighty at the hand? of human beings. They are sometimes placed in circumstances where wot to make war, not to shed blood, would be criminally and exceedingly wicked in ciple of the Government, and inaugurating tyranny and despotism — for a Nation under such circumstances to refuse to put down the rebellion, because it would involve civil Avar, would be a monstrous crime against both man and God. Thus of old, God not only commanded his chosen people to make war upon the corrupt dwellers in Canaan, but in one instance at least, when a certain city refused to help in the conflict, the angel of the Lord, by whom we understand is meant the Lord Christ him- self. pronounced a leas ful curse upon the place — •' 'Curse ye Meroz, curse ye the inhab- itants thereof bitterly, saith the angel of the Lord, because he came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." And never after do we hear of that city. Doubtless it was swept from the earth with the besom of destruction. — And why? Beer use they refused to come out to oattle against the enemies of right^- eousness. I repeat it then— human beings arc some- times placed in circumstances where xot to make war is not merely a simple misdemean- or as in the sight of Heaven, but it is a high crime against humanity, and High Treason against Jehovah ! Such precisely, is the condition of out* country to-day. A gigantic rebellion has lifted its unholy hand to stab to death the dearest and most sacred interests of human- ity; not simply of the American people, but of all people, of universal humanity. It were easy to show that the assassin's dagger is aimed, not at the Government only, or at its every recognizance and principle ot jus- God's sight. Thus: for a man to stand by j tice, but at the sacred bosom of Liberty her- and see his household murdered, and refuse, ] self, and at the very vitals of Christianity as altho' in his power, to defend them.even tho' i well Who does not know that Slavery he must, in so doing, tike the life o! the as- \ cannot co-exist with Justice, with Liberty, aassin— this would be most wicked in the ' or with a pure Chirstianity? It is, as every- night of God. And so, for a Nation to stand body knows, the avowed object of this re- hj and allow a rebellion like this in our ; bellion to extend and perpetuate Slavery — country to break forth and overrun the la^d, ' to found an Empire whose chief corner stone •weeping away every just and righteous prin- ' shall be human ehattelism. Every rebel in the hind avows this. But to accomplish this hellish end, Justice, Liberty and Christiani- ty must each and all be crucified. This ac- complished, what is there left to humanity worth livingfpr? Nothing — absolutely noth- ing. Thus then, all the dearest and most sacred rights and possessions of humanity — all that's worth living fur, are sought to be destroyed by this most infamous rebellion. Andnow, how shall the man who stands by, and consents to this horrible crime — this crime of all crimes — on the plea that he may not engage in war, be innocent before Sigh Heaven? Every man — every government under Heaven, is chargod with the keeping of these holiest interests of humanity; and never to count tieasure, or life, or aught else too dear to be sacrificed in their de- fence. It is one of the fundamental de- mauds of Christianity, everywhere enforced by Christ and his disciples, that a man shall never hesitate to lay down his life in defence ' of righteousness, or for the good of his fel low man Now in the light of these mani- fest truths, neither the words quoted as our text, nor those of Lieber used, 6cem at all strange or st- rtling. All the great princi- ples of right — everything from the past worth having — have been the purchase of blood, the best that ever flowed ii. mortal veins, the best that ever flowed in Heaven ! Who does not know that the choicest blood of our Fathers was the purchase price of the Free Government under which we have grown and prospered far beyond any precedent in the history of man? Ours is indeed a woiuU/ous nation, having a glorious ancestry chosen out of the Nations of the Earth and wafted across the ocean to Plymouth Rock and Jamestown, by the same Almighty mind and hand that led Israel through the Red Sea and the Arabian Des- ert to the land of promise. Under that same "guiding hand by which our Fathers crossed the pathless sea" we have spread and pros- pered until our greatness and prestige and power have astonished, not only the nations, but ourselves. But all suddenly, in the midst of our pros- perity and our growing greatness, our sky i» overspread with clouds of pitchy darkr°ss and a most terrific storm sweeps the land. — The bands of the Union are strained to their utmost tension, and the cables by which ire seek to anchor our Ship of State beyond the fearful breakers, quiver under the tension and j moan amid the howling storm! The hoary despotisms of Europe declare us already de- stroyed, and the voices of the people from over the sea, ory out that the great Ameri- can Nation is annihilated, while not a few traitors on this side echo this cry. And we are indeed experiencing a terrific shock, which we may expect will either kill us, or develope us into a real life of liberty and righteousness, bitty thousand of our no- blest sons and brothers have already fallen in this conflict, while hundreds of thousands more stand with bosoms bared to the shafts of the murderous foe. Countless hearts are bleeding for the already fallen, and the hearts of millions more are throbbing with most anxious solicitude for dear ones, far off on the embattled field, surrounded with all the terrible enginery of war. Nor tongue, nor pen can depict the s:!fferirgs already begot- ten of this mqst u.nholy rebellion, no eye sees yet the end, no mortal hand holds * line long enough to fathom its fearful depths, none can tell what shall be, only that more blood — rivers of it, must in all probability be shed before Peace shall spread her wing* again over our distracted land. There are many reasons why the blood of those who fall in this conflict, on the side of Freedom, is precious in the eyes of God, and should be in ours. I can name but a few. It is precious because shed in behalf of the best Government that ever existed under Heaven. Our God-honoring ancestors, wis- est legislators the world has seen since the days when the great Egyptian Emancipator established a commonwealth of fugitives^ whose institutions and laws were derived di- rect from heaven — our Fathers taking that government for their model established thft best, the wisest, theHreest government the world ever had. Who ever had just cause to complain of it? I mean of its normal, legiti- mate workings, and excepting always its countenance of human oppression. We may safely affirm that, no man or woman ever had just grounds of complaint against it. Under its broad shield the largest liberty was enjoy- ed, every man's rights were sacred, the aven- ues to knowledge, to competency and to hap- piness, were open to all. With the single exception I have named, it seems to me, that God must feel a profound interest in this glorious Government of ours. Government is of God, ordained by Him for the best and highest good of his creatures. That is open infidelity which asserts that governments derive all thoirjust powers from the consent of the governed, thus deny- ing that man has received from God the right to rule, and the only right he has to rule. When men insist that, in then- selves resides the only rightful source of civil power — that sovereignty belongs to them alone — that the will of man should determine the quality, and measure the life of every statute, what is this but sheer atheism? No — all the just rights and powers of human governments are de- rived from almighty God. "The powers that be, are crdained of God." This don't mean, and never did, that all the existing forms of human government — all the ordinances of such governments— are of God. Not at all, but only and simply that all the power, all the right men have to set up government, is derived from God — that God has ordained it — that He requires men to institute gov- ernments — that he requires that they shall have laws and rulers — that their rulers shall be invested with authority, so they shall not bear the sword in vain — that they shall be a terror to evil doers. Were it proper it would be an easy task to i show what tbis world would be without gov- j ernmer.t, and hence, that a good God would ; rrmrli fr.inn just powers — not from the consent of the governed as affirmed by the atheists of France and so often re-echoed by the atheistic, and the thoughtless of our land — but deriving all their just, their lawful powers from God him- self— the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hence God's profound interest in human governments. When I affirm that our Gov- ernment is the best, the most benign and blessed under heaven, T do not mean to say that I regard it as absolutely perfect. It is. not — it has its defects. Our Constitution has its faults. I do not however regard it as some affect to do — "a covenant with death and hell." I t^ank God for the benefits it has secured to us and to the w^orld. With all its faults I iove it still. It is a noble in- strument, even with its imperfections. On© of its saddest defects is its non-recognition of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. It knows no God — it recognizes not the Lord of all. Strange that such men should so soon have forgotten their Great Deliverer. The fact that they had suffered under a State Church, and that they were opposed to any Union of Church and State, is not a suf- ficient apology for such an irreverant pro- ccdute. Perhaps it was as Hamilton said, when remonstrated with for this neglect, "We forgot it." Another most grievous error in onr Con- stitution is its connivance at the oppression of the poor. True, its framers would not al- low the word slave to stain the parchment on which Patriot pens engrossed the National Constitution. Then, — more than 80 years ago this whole Nation had a conscience that cried out against oppression, and so our Fathers hoping, praying and believing that Slavery must soon die, allowed, with a singular fatal- ity, the hateful thing a place in our organic law, though tl ey refused it a name. Sad, fatal, concession was that. Dark and fearful I not forget the extenuating circumstances?. Our Father's had just emerged from the smoke and heat of battle — weakened and bankrupted by a seven years bloody war; they were not agreed about this matter of Slavery -they could not think of dividing and so becoming a prey to their enemy — and hence it was not so strange, after all, that they took such a course. Still the Constitution and the Govern- ment, with all their faults, are the best on Earth. They come the nearest of all to the requirements of (rod, and hence He must feel a deep interest in the welfare ot this govern- ment. And doubtless, so far as His hand is concerned in this conflict, it is disciplinary, designing not to destroy, but to purge out our errors and our wrongs. I know that, in the main, our government is right — its great principles are in accordance with God's will. They were Heaven-born — God-given. It would be an easy task to show how the hand of God was concerned in the settlement of this country — in its seperations from the despotisms of the Old World — in the achiev- ment of its Independence; and all along, down the track of its history. It forma one of the most interesting chapters in the his- tory of Divine Providence a< related to our world. God's hand has been as conspicuous in our history as it ever was in Jewish story. Indeed we have enjoyed a greater measure of Divine care and mercy in our longer contin ued and greater prosperity, than ancient Is- rael ever enjoyed, so that we may truly say, 4i IIe has not dealt so with any other Nation on earth." Our organic law — fairly inter- pretod^-is better than that of God's ancient people (with the one exception before alluded to) — r ; om* Union, thronged by millions, rep- resenting all nations, enjoying equal rights, is something nobler than the compact of the twelve tribes of Israel; — to the Patriot's eye our flag of Red, White and Blue is not less suggestive than the Hhckinah which flamed above the ark of the covenant. Ours is a fairer, broader land, than that over which Pavid and, Solomon reigned. Physically, it 'a the noblest land the sunshines on to day. Its majestic, sea-like Lakes white with com- merce — its noble rivers winding their way through the length and breadth of the land, bearing on their bosoms the subsistence of the world-— its mighty forests, the grandest ofEirth — its boundless prairies — its lofty mountain ranges with their mines of wealth untold— its vast, rich, undeveloped area — these — with its word of welcome ringing round the world to all of human kind — form a sublime picture— -the admiration of all men; while the whole is stamped with a positivo unity by God's own hand, who gave us a Ful- ton with his steam, and a Franklin with his electric wire to bind together, in indissolu- ble Union, the shores of the Pacific and the Atlantic and thus to consolidate into one great and glorious whole, this, the fairest and the grant est heritage of human kind. But while my vision takes in all the splen- dor and magnificence of my country's phys- ical greatness, and while my heart cherishes an undying attachment thereto, I must never forget that Jehovah's object in planting this Nation, was something other and grander than mere material splendor and prosperity that it was mainly for the development of a higher style of freedom, and a truer type of raanhood. Tins grand object of the Pivino mind shines out conspicuously in all human history, but especially in our own. For ages, until the world was hoary in years, until the experiment had been tried, and had failed in all other lands — until God, by a most won- drous process, had sowed, deep in the hearts of our remote, praying, God-honoring ances-. tors, the seedd of Liberty and Righteousness^ this land was hidden from the eyes of civiliz- ed man. It was reserved for a last, grand experiment, for the development of a true type of humanity and of genuine liberty; foa the rearing of Freedom's magnificent temple, whose foundations were to rest on the gran- ite .of immutable justice, whose pillars should stand on the rock of inalienable, universal right, and whose grand dome should rise to Heaven itself, Most manifest) v such wery 6 God's designs in planting our nation. Des- pite, then, all its faults, its short-comings, its errors, mistakes and wrongs, I love this dear native land of mine. I love it for these purposes of my God; I love it for its noble, God-fearing ancestry. Hove it for its strange and wondrous history. I love it for God's peculiar cave of it. I lore it as God's final choice for these noble ends. I love it as the home of Liberty, that child of the skies. 1 love it as the land sanctified by prayer, and consecrated with the tears and the blood of my Fathers, to Freedom, to manhood, and to God. I love it for its free homes, free schools, free churches, free presses and free men; for all its precious agencies and glori- ous instrumentalities for developing the high- est style of man. Now, if these views of our Government, of our History, and of God's hand in them, and His purposes, be correct, how can it be other- wise than that the blood poured out in their defence, without stint or fear, should be pre- cious in the sight cf the Great King. Those who give their lives in this cause, die in de- fence of God-given rights — in behalf of a God-loved land. They die to accomplish God's plans and purposes; and though thky may not see or realize all this, and though wk may see but the faintest part of these vast and glorious purposes of God concerning our Nation, yet, He sees all and He can and does justly estimate the noble sacrifice. Was God, think you, pleased with Abra- ham's offering his Son on the mount? How much less do you suppose is he pleased with those Fathers and Mothers who have laid their sons, without stint, some one, some two, some three, some their only — their all — upon this bloody altar of sacrifice? How precious mnst such blood be in his sight! As precious, as dear, as sacred as his own eternal purposes in regard to man! I do not belong to that class of personswho affect to believe, and who teach, that, so be we are fit for Heaven, by God's grace, it mat- ters not what are our conditions in this life —that it makes no difference whether a man be a Freeman or a Slave— whether he iive under a despotism or a republic — whether he be enshrouded in intellectual and moral midnight, or rejoice in the clear noon-light of science and revelation — whether he be the victim of abject poverty, or of a smiling prosperity. Were I of this class, why, I never could take these views of my noble, beautiful, free and prosperous country. — True it is, the tilings that, are seen are tem- poral, and the things that are unseen that pertain to our future are eternal, and far outweigh all that is now seen. But even tins is no reason why we should despise, or lightly esteem the things that are seen. — These constitute our initiatory to the unseen. These form the vestibule of the Eternal, the preparatory department of the unseen. Aud though a man may reach Immortal blessed- ness from the direst circumstances possible to him — even from that deepest, darkest hea- thenism the sun ever shone upon, or Heav- en, in its God-like and angelic pity ever looked down upon — Ameiiean Slavery— though no circumstances, or combination of circumstances can arbitrarily or absolutely shut a man out of Heaven, yet is it supreme* !y idle to affirm that it matters not what are the conditions, in this world of human be- ings. It makes all difference; and the aspi- rations of man after the better in govern- ment, in knowledge, in comforts — all these are God-given, Divine endowments of the human mind. They are right. Man would be false to his Nature, false" to the Heaven-in- spired instincts and sentiments of his soul were he xot thus to aspire. I never hear a man say (as I have many times,) that It mat ters not whether a man be a freeman or a slave, if so be he is a christian but my soul pities his intellectual darkness, or loathes his shameless hypocrisy and subserviency to the baldest selfishness that ever existed on earth! Shame on a being — man or devil, minister or sinner, who can so debase his soul, and stoop so low as to utter such a transparent falsehood! Mv friends, whatever else we have done-" good o: bad, right or wrong — wo have never half appreciated the worth, the excellence of our Government; we have never begun to prize duly our privileges, our blessings and our liberties flowing to us from the hand of God, through our free, our blood-bought Gov- ernment. It happens with these as with blessings generally — they are nofappreeia- ted until jeoparded or lost. True it is, we have talked and boasted a great deal of our "glorious Union," our broad possessions, our varied climate, fruitful soil, vast and growing wealth, our prowess, our freedom and free institutions; but with all our boasting there has been but little real appreciation of que liberties and the bless- ings consequent thereupon. Under some Fourth of July oration, or other special in- fluence we may have had glimpses, and spas. medic flashes of these blessings, but'not those solid, abiding convictions which their real greatness should command. We have had no such appreciation of the peace, the pro- tection, the prosperity conferred by our Government as Parson Brownlow and other refugees in the Mountains of Tennessee, have had. To make this goodly, glorious heritage of ours just what it should be — to purify it of its errors and wrongs, is not only worth liv- ing and toiling for, but it is worth dying for — dying for on the field of battle. If this rebellion can't be put down, and the great iniquity that gave it birth cannot be blotted out only as they go^down in a sea of blood, then who may, who will refuse to spil! his blood to swell that tide that shaft- blot them out! If to perfect our Government, and make it all it can be of good to man, and all it ought to be to honor God; it needs my blood, or the blood of my son, shall I with- hold it? God forbid! How should I be a child of His and do so? How a disciple of Him who poured out his blood to save me, and who declares, "Greater love hath no man than this — that a man lay down his life for his friend?" How should I be a worthy son of the heroes whose footsteps were oft imprinted in blood upon the frozen snows, and who counted not their lives dear to them so they might win for their posterity the glorious boon of civil and religious free- dom? He who lays down his life for such a Gov- ernment as ours, gives it to a holy cause. — Who dies so, lives forever. He dies for all mankind. Life is not to be withheld an in- stant when such interests call for it. Fifty thousand of our young men have already fallen in this great struggle. Rivers of tears are flowing for those heroic sons and broth- ers but let us never forget in how holy a cause they have fallen. Who can tell how immense would be the loss to us, and to all future generations the world over, to have our Government blotted out, and to have, established on its ruins, a despotism more oppressive than ever cursed our world be* fore? Again, blood shed in this cause is pre- cious in God's sight, because shed in defence of liberty and against oppression; and be- cause every drop of it goes to seal the doom of Slavery and to ensure the everlasting tri- umph of freedom. He must be a blind man who, standing in our midst to-day, does not see and know this. He must be blind and deaf both, who does not comprehend that this, after all, is the one great, real issue be- fore us. It is no less — no other question which is about to be settled between the embattled hosts gathering for the field of blood, than this, whether Liberty or Slavery, shall live in this broad land of ours, to bless or curse us, as the case shall be settled, and, this being so, who can reasonably doubt Heaven's profund interest in this matter? This fearful question — Liberty or Slavery — which is now about to receive its great and final settlement in the world, is no new question. It is not now for the first time agitating the world. It is, par excellence, the conflict of ages, almost from the dawn- ing hour of our race — down the entire track of time we may trace it, every now and then up- heaving the foundations of society, redden- & ing the earth with the gore of man, and blotting from the pages of existence the grandest nations of antiquity, as it now threatens the fairest of modern times. — From the days of Cain to this very hour this conflict has been going on. Men have been frying, all these ages, not so much to sub- due the earth, as to subdue and subject their fellows. Long anterior to the days of the Patriarchs, Slavery and Freedom had begun the fight. Hailing down the tide of time a little way we reach the first grand Empire known to history — and there in the bosom of that land of wonders and of early civiliza- I tlon and culture, we find the struggle going ! on, on a scale of the broadest magnitude. — The first Slave insurrection of which we , have any account is progressing amid the brick yards of the land of the Pharoahs. — The haughty monarch and the nobles of that land became possessed with the same idea I that has maddened ttcir modern roprescnta tives — that slavery is the chief corner .-tone of civilization, especially of its highest style. And behold 2.} million cf slaves are in re- volt, refusing to work, and demanding their personal liberty. It is not a revolt instiga- : jted by Moses or Aaron, but by Almighty God himself; it is an outbursting o! the cle- , ment of freedom innate in the sou! of man. — With hand and arm outstretched-with mightv ' signs and wonders, Jehovah led them out, and degraded and ignorant as four hundred years of Slavery had made them, he established them in absolute freedom. That whole his- i tory shows — in its signs and wonders in the land of the oppressor, in the signal over- throw of Pharoah and his hosts, in that grand anthem which Israel sang, on which \ side the conflict Jehovah stands. Rem em- i ber that conflict in Egypt was part of the I couflict to-day in America. Onward the I tide of time bears us to the c ays of Greece j and Rome, those grandest Nations of the past. They, too, re-enacted the terrible wrong of oppression on their fellows, in- creasing the numbers and the burdens of their slaves as they increased in wealth and greatness, and power, until, hopelessly cor- rupted and debased, a righteous God gave them up to destruction. Through all their history the great conflict went on — servile insurrections every now and then breaking out and thrilling the nation with horror. — The people whom they conquered and en- slaved made bondmen not easy to manage. The}' thirsted for vengeance on their op- pressors, and stimulated likewise with an ir- repressible desire for freedom they kept their oppressors in continual alarm; till at length, proud, philosophic, classic Greece, with her heart all eaten out bj luxury and op- pression was groundto powder beneath the arm of the Roman. And Rome — what of her? Her hour came too, hoary with this wrong of wrongs, enervated and corrupted by this system which made labor and honesty and justice despicable in her eyes — her hour of doom came on, and she fell befbre the arm of uplifted vengeance. Substantially the same, is the history of all the great Nations of antiquity. lie is but a poor scholar in history who has not learned that Slavery more than anything else, was the great cor- rupting and destroying force of those migh- ty, those polished nations, each of which in its turn, deemed itself indestructible by any power — each of which fancied itself the n is- tress of earth. They ignored — as a thing to be feared — the worm that gnawed at their roots, and which finally destroyed them.-™- The shores of time are strown with their wrecks — beacon warnings to all who will observe. Down through the middle ages you may trace the grand struggle going forward, deepening and widening until the Magna Chart a of England dealt oppression in Eu- rope, and throughout the Old World, a blow, from which it never recovered, A few years roll on and this conflict of ages is transferred to the Western woild, here to find its graudest battle-ground and its final and eternal defeat. Its history here we need not trace. Starting with a handful of stolen Africans in 1620 it has increased the. ■naibera of Ui rictims to lour millions o? more. Barelj tolerated ta the commence mcnt, and even so lite as the adoption of the Federal Constitution, it has grown to be the all-overshadowing influence Of the land. It has become the one great all absorbing question of our times, and ha? plunged us into a civil war of the most tremendous pro- portions, calling into the field the mightiest armies that have ever gathered on the bat- tle-field in modern ages, and involving the greatest outlay of treasure of any war the world has ever seen, or man has ever waged. Freedom has girded on her armor, tried in the long struggle and strengthened by many a victory, and renewed the battle for a fi- nal triumph; and to-day the "irrepressible conflict" i* raging as it never raged before. Conscious that this is their final struggle, these grand antagonisms are throwing their full weight into the scale, and breast to breast and foot to foot are dealing their deadliest blows. Can we doubt which shall triumph! Suth doubts are unworthy a peo- ple believing in a just God — a God loving humanity and guarding its rights. For this is not a trivial, a mere sectional, or a political question as bc-twi en the North and the South — but it is the grandest, the broad- est question of the ages, affecting all man- kind in their dearest and most sacred rights and interests. It is not simply a question be- tween a handful of Slaveholders and a few Northern fanatics', as abolitionists are so of- ten styled. It is a question rather between God and the oppressor — between Him and all oppressors; and if men fail or refuse to Kee it as such, He will hold the conflict open until all men shall 6ee it in this, its true light. It i« in short the question of human rights as derived from God, and it involves the question of His Sovereignty. It is the question whether Man — God's own image on earth, shall possess the rights bestowed upon him by bis maker, or not; whether he shall be God's freeman, or- his fellow's slave. It is the question whether he has the right to ho'd and use, to develope and educate, the bis maker has given him — or wheth- er those powers, those capabilities and tht possibilities of humanity, shall be made the property of other men — their goods and chattels, their stock in trade, to be bought and sold at the auction block; struck off by the brutal auctioneer to the highest bidder. It is the question between advancing light and truth, and a system of bondage and des- potism and selfishness before which the Serf- dom of the middle ages, and the Slavery of Greece and Rome pale to insignificance! It is the great question of human brotherhood, once for all, to be settled! It is the great question whether God or Satan shall be su- preme on earth! This — this is the conflict in which our sons and brothers are falling. It is surely a con- flict of the highest significance and of the grandest consequences. So God estimates it — and so should we. And when you shall look at it in its true light, and conceive of it in its real significance, you will see, I think, that those who fall on the side of freedom, fall in the grandest cause possible for a man to die in, They certainly die at the post of duty where die so few of human kind. — Poets ha \ i' sung, and men have talked of the glory of war, and sensitive natures, and Christian hearts especially, have shrunk with horror fromsuchan idea. But there is a glory in dying for the right in this war. — It is as truly martyrdom for Christ and his truth aa was ever endured in any age of tha church or the world. It is indeed God-like to lay down one's life in defence of such principles, and injsuch a cause. Christ laid down his life in vindica- tion of the Divine Government, and to save others. And how emphatically he teaches us that "Greater love hath no man than this — that a man should lay down his life for another." The 600,000 men who have vol- unteered their services in this war, have of- fered up their lives on the Altar of their Country. They have gone forth willing to make this sacrifice, counting not their lives dear unto themselves so they may deliver the 10 Ration from the power of the Conspirators who are in arms against it. They forsake all the endearments of home and it's comforts; they forsake the peaceful halls of learning — they sacrifice all their long cherished plans, and their quiet pursuits, and go and throw themselves into the breach, braving the sill-denials, the toils, the hardships of" the camp and the march, and death itself, at the cannon's mouth, with scarce the faintest hope of ever beholding beloved friends or home again — and what for? The masses surely, arc moved by the noblest senti- ment- — love of country — its principles, its free institutions. They go to defend — to pie if need be — for these. They go to do and to die that others may enjoy the fruits of their self sacrifice. Now when one goes thus into this conflict, actuated by such considerations, if there be not something noble, something great and Cod like where can you find true nobleness, greatness and God — likeness? ''Greater love hath no man — says Christ — than this — this very thing — the laying down his life for another.'" This is what every Patriot soldier, falling on the field of battle in this conflict, does. It is emphatically jtruc of hum that he has laid down his life for another — aye, and for all others of human .kind. I speak now, of course, of thos., who are actuated by a true Patriotism. Un- doubtedly there are some mercenary, selfish, ■il spirits who go into this conflict from a lower class of motives. But it is a sig- nificant fact that our armies are filled up mainly by the intelligent — the moral — the religious classes. Never before, in the his- tory or the world, were great armies made up of such material. Never went there forth armies with so much prayer in their midst There's scarce a Regiment that has not its regular prayer meetings. When and where have you read in history of such ar mies? Such men are Patriots. Such, men fight and die for principles. I believe there is more pure patriotism — more intelligence — more morality — more religion — a .thox'saxp times more — than was ever embodied in an army before since the world began! Every man knov s what he is fighting and dying for; and I have, time and again, been struck with the last words of our dying soldiers. In how many instances, as they have lain in the arms of some comrade, dying, the light of life fast fading from the glazing eye — the lips growing pale and stiff in death — in how many such cases has the dying hero with his expiring breath, whispered — "Tell my par- ents — tell my wife — that I die happy!" The consciousness of having fallen in such a holy c use seems to fill the expiring hero with sweetest peace. "Who dares to say that this is not the peace of Heaven! Such a death — I repeat it — is noble, is grand, is God-like. Nor can I, nor will I doubt that thousands who fall on the bloody field find that mercy, then and there, which before they had quite neglected. Such a death is far different fronj all ordinary ones. I cannot doubt that God's compassions — ever deep, gush forth in unwonted power, free- nessand fulness over freedom's dying friends and that it is the consciousness of mercy, and the presence of some sweet angel from the courts of glory, bringing the assurance of mercy to the soul, that lights the eye and the soul of the dying soldier, and fills him with that peace of which he wculd assure his friends with his last expiring breath. Dying in such a conflict, is a vastly different thing fiom dying on the battle field in any ordinal y war, where there is wanting — utterly want- ing any adequate, any reasonable or God-like motive for the conflict. Remarks : T -"We must not falter in the fiery ordeal through which we are passing. Gladly would God have spared us this trial, but we would not let Him. For forty years He has been calling this Nation to put away the sin of Slavery. I mean in a special man- ner. At times it has seemed as though the Nation would arise under this moral suasion and break the fetters of its bondmen. But during the past few years there has been a 11 reaction in the public mind — a letting down of enthusiasm in the cause of the oppressed. A period had come when a more decided policy touching the Slavery question, must be taken; and doubtless God saw that the Nation was, through political corruption, about to be committed wholly into the in- terests of Slavery. Then He shaped events which resulted in this War. .And I have not a doubt the war is essential to our salva- tion, the only thing that could save us from utter corruption and ruin. The Conspira- tors intend it for our ruin, God intends by it our preservation The conflict is upon us in all its gigantic magnitude, and we may nut, nubt not fiint. Tremendous responsibili- ties are devolved upon us, the most weighty and solemn that ever rested on a nation un- der Heaven. We are put in charge of the dearest interests of Humanity, and of the name and honor of God. Sacred trusts! We must never betray them. They should be far dearer to us than life. Having at- tained the purest form of Government, the highest style of civilization, the best type of the christian religion— we are made of God, the guardians of all these precious jewels. To our custody God has committed these sacred gifts; and for their preservation their safety, He will hold us responsible And above all, He has furnished us with an opportunity, and charged us with the exe- cution, of a sacred act of justice towards the down-trodden of this land, who for two hundred and forty years have been crying to Heaven for deliverance, and longing for the day which their hope and simple faith now tells them is surely dawning. Let their faith bean assurance tors of final victory. "We have been praying a long time to God and we knew He could not turn away our cries — we knew He would come. We expected you in answer to our prayers. The day of our deliverance haS'COir.e." Such is their testimony wherever they are met, wherever our armies go. And it should be to us and to the Nation, as the voice of God assuring us that His hand is in the conflict; yea, that it is pre-eminently of God, and especially m tended for the deliverance of the Slave; and hence that we are now solemnly charged with this duty. And voe be to this nation if she shall fail to recognize this day of di- vine tis'tation, if she fails in this favoring hour to deal justly with her oppressed.— - Plainly then, there being committed to us these most weighty responsibilities, we must not falter till the work is done. We must assume the solf-denial, however great, ac- cept the struggle, however long, endure the toil, however arduous, and make the sacri^ fices, however great, demanded of us by Divine Providence; and we mnst do it cheer- fully, without any st'!'i-li regr¥ts or eom- plaints — do i f . as for God. We may with- hold nothing — neither money, nor luxuries, nor comforts, nor friends, nor life itself. — We must curtail our expenses, adopt a rigid economy and devote everything to the glo- rious cause. We must lay our Sons and all our dear ones on the altar, and as they haste to the gory field, let us lilt our aching, anx- ious hearts to Heaven for its prdtt ction over iheni, and hold ourselves in readiness to take their places should they fall. Let us bear in mind that this is a conflict hastened and consecrated by prayer — a ccn- flict in which God's hand is most conspicu- ous and in which His glory is concerned — a conflict in which is involved all the highest hopes of the world's progress — all the dear- est hopes of humanity. A cause, in itself so grand — fraught with such vast and immor- tal interests, sustaining such clear relations to prayer, to eternal justice and right, to all the higher and grander interests of humani- ty — a cause having so mnch of God in it, and so essentially righteous ought to secure our rrost unqualified support. So sublime a confh'ct it was never given to man to en- gage in before. And with such principles to guide us — with such motives to impel ns onward — and with such glorious results to secure, we need not, we will not fear the is- sue. Never since time began was there so holy, so just, so righteous a conflict. Never 12 could a people go forward so confident of God'B approval — so sustained by a con- sciousness of being right. Why then should not our hopes be large, and our faith strong? There is no ground for faltering none for fear. We are not only fighting the battles of freedom, but we are fighting the battles of the Lord. We have not only the "God-speed" of the true and the noble of ev- ery land, but we have the favor, the approv- al and blessing of Him who sits on the throne, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and whose smile is worth more than all the armies of the world. We have not only the prayers of the down -trodden slave, but we have the prayers of every true christian the world over. There's no ground for despair, none for doubt. The cause cannot fail. It bears a charm- ed life — aye more — it is God's own cause, and into it he has infused an element as im- mortal as his own existence. He must be blind indeed who cannot see that God, in answer to prayer, has undertaken the cause of the oppressed in our land. He has heard, and He has now come down to avenge the cry of the long crushed, abused and outrag- ed slave; and having begun this work He will roll on the chariot of retributive justice on the one hand, and of salvation on the oth- er, till it be consummated, God never gives up a work he undertakes. And now, if we will be true to Him — true to humanity — true to ourselves — true to the great principles of civil and religious liberty bequeathed us by our Fathers, baptized in their blood, and hallowed by those long years of suffering and self-denial — victory final and glorious shall sureiy be ours. We shall come forth from the furnace as gold purified seven times, with all our free, our glorious principles shining but the brighter in the eyes of the Nations, and before *he eye of Heaven. With a God like, majestic courage — with a sublime faith in our cause and in our God — with a purpose begotten by our allegiance to Heaven, and our love to human kind, let us go forward, nothing fearing, nothing doubt- ing, fainting at no disaster, discouraged by no defeat, taking no backward step, making no compromise, and the victory shall be ours. The heritage of our Fathers shall be saved in all its greatness and its glory — our free, our glorious institutions preserved, the last ves- tige of oppression be blotted from our land no longer to cloud its glory, no more to en- cumber the footsteps of Liberty in her on- ward march to universal enthronement over the nations of the Earth. LAKE CITY: Weekly Times" Print, Washington 1862. Street. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 012 028 259 1 Q