649 o ^15 Bnnk . S S ( .^ THANKSGIVING SEMON. DELIVEIJED IN WHITEHALL, ILLIN()I^^. Thui'sday, December 7tli, !??:(>. 3 i;y Kev. m. l. scehnck. r.-Ai.MS 120 : ;>— Tlie Loi'ii printed. " M. L. SCHENCK, Pastor of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. White Hall, Illinois. THANKSGIYING SERMON. Psalms 126: 3 — The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. During the past five years the position o£ the minister of the gospel, on occasions like the present, has been one o(: trial and much difficulty. The public mind has been deeply moved and excited by affairs of national interest; the people he served liivided into political parties, each party intensified by love of country, yet alarmed lest the other would sacrifice some prin- ciple and thus endanger the stability of our Union, until crim- ination and recrimination became the order, and political parties assumed the attitude of beligerents. Each watched the other with suspicious jealousy, and feelings became like highly combustible matter that needed but a spark to pro- duce a conflagration. Under such circumstances, and working for the benefit of all, the preacher must ply his office, while he was careful never to forget that the kingdom he sought to build up was not of this world, and that he had nothing to do with the mere politics and policies in the administration of human affairs. Yet it is an essential branch of the ministe- rial office, to explain and inculcate all the duties which God has enjoined, upon all persons, of every age, relation and con- .nection of life, .\mong these we are required to " put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey mag- istrates." Alas! how wide spread and prevalent was the imagination that there is no moral evil in violating the lavrs of their country. Against this the minister must lift up his voice. " We must submit ourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake," " There is no power but of God; the powers that be, are ordained of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation." We are under 4 THANKSGIVING SERMON. moral obligations to obey the rulers of the land. To teach thus does not call us into the field of politics. Yet our efforts in this behalf are too often stigmatized as political preach- ing, as though there was no religion in politics. I confess I have often trembled during the last fe^v years when called to discuss national questions ; not because I stood in doubt of my duty, or that I hesitated to perform it, but lest I should be misunderstood, and should provoke a prejudice in some minds, and thus alienate from my ministry those whose souls were precious. But it is no slight grounds of thanksgiving to God that I entertain no such fears to-day. The storm-cloud has spent its fury and passed over ; the atmosphere, no longer charged with electricity, is purified. We meet once more a united people under our so recently blood stained flag, in peace unity and fraternity, to praise and bless our God. "Our mouth is filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing, for the Lord hath done great things for us ; whereof we arc glad." I. Let us thank God that we are American citizens and live under a good governmenL Cast your eye over all the gov- ernments of the earth, view the foundation, principles, origin, mode of succession, of administration, and the practical work- ings of each. And when you have made a full and careful survey, you turn to your own ; with consciousness of superior- ity, you exclaim, this is my own, my native land. A govern- ment too rigid and absolute culminates in Tyranny, invested in the hands of one or very few, granting exclusive rights and hereditary honors and distinctions, while the great mass are but as the chess men on the board in the hands of the play- ers. A government too weak and lax, degenerates inco an- archy, where brute force levels all distinctions, authority ceases, and fortune, ability, character, worth, gire no supe- riority. Between these extremes, our government is happily balanced. It is not a monarchy, with all civil power in one THANKSGIVING SERMON. 5 man's hand. It is not an aristocraci/, which commits power to a nobility or a few rich great men. It is not a democracy, where all civil power is lodged in a popular assembly ; but it is a mixed government, duly balanced, composed of three branches, the executive, the judiciary, the legislative, all di- rected by a well digested and written constitution. Here is governmental power to shield us from anarchy, for in its practical workings it is independent of the people. Here, too, are the checks and balances to keep us from Tyranny. All its provisions are made to combine the interests of high and low, of rich and poor, of rulers and subjects ; in a word, to promote the good of the whole community. Yet again, governmental power comes not to us by hereditary descent ; nor yet by usurpation, where might makes right, but by popular election. But why should I occupy your time to prove what every loyal heart admits. We have a good government, for which every heart gives thanks. II. fVe thank God to-day that the ivicked Rehellioii that so recently sought to subvert and overthrow our good Government has been crushed and its power destroyed. All rebellion is not wicked. All revolutions in which the people triumph over and change their rulers, must commence in rebellion. We have a right, in certain cases, to refuse sub- mission to those in authority. "Children should obey their parents ; yet there are cases in which they may refuse obedi- ence unto parents, and resist unto blood. Servants should obey their masters ; yet there are cases in which servants and slaves justly refuse obedience unto masters, and resist their authority. So between ruler and subject ; all submission to human authority is limited. This truth is recognized in our o\Yn Declaration of Independence. But fearful is the exer- cise of this right, for they who do so must assume accounta- bility to God as moral agents for such resistance, and con- front the power against which they rebel. " If servants re- sist their master without reasjn, they deserve to be punished. If children resist their parents without reason, they deserve to be punished. If subjects rise in opposition to government without reason, they deserve to suffer as criminals." 6 THANKSGIVING SERMON. Try our late rebellion by these principles, and before God and their country they, i. e., the instigators, are not patriots, but rebels, and upon their guilty heads rests all the blood that has been shed for the last four years. They would rule or ruin. In seeking to be masters, they pretended to be Demo- crats. That party failing them, they abjure their relation thereto, divide its councils, secure its defeat at the polls, and celebrate the election of Lincoln, the opposition crodidate, with bonfires and rejoicing at Charleston, while they make it a pretence of grievance. Yea, while they were in power, and held the reigns of the General Government, they used its patron- age, its armament, its treasury, to foment the spirit of rebel- lion, to secure the ordinances of secession, and arm their ad- herents for the subversion of that Government whose patronage had given them power, whose gentleness had made them great. They would convert the temple of Liberty into a m t for Slaves — make the roll-call of Slavery at the monument of Jiunker Hill, the very cradle of Human Liberty. For two years they presented a front exceeding formida- ble; nay, they secured victories which made the heart of every lover of his country to be filled with apprehensions. Cast yourselves back to the 4th of July, 1863. Rebellion was then a portentious cloud, a horoscope of fearful auguries. The Mississippi was in her hands. We had not learned to confide in Gen, Grant, who was then bombarding Vicksburgh. To the long list of Generals of the Eastern army, McDowell, McClel- lan, Pope and Burnside, who had been successively entrusted with the chief command and relieved, was now added that of Gen, Hooker, General Lee, with a large force, was devasta- ting Maryland and Pennsylvania, threatening Harrisburg and Philadelphiha, and Gen. Meade, able but untried, was ap- pointed to command. Upon him, as he gave pursuit, the des- tiny of the nation seemed to hang. These armies were near- ing each other at Gettysburgh. This was all we knew when, ^ith heavy hearts, we went up to celebrate the 4th of July. I confess to the sad misgiving that the then memorial day might be the last ; that ere another year our constellation of clustered stars might cease to illume the political heavens, and u«urpa- THANKSGIVING SERMON. 1 tion forge for us and clasp upon us the manacles of the slave. While many hearts were thus musing upon the raven with the sable wing, how were we electrified and made jubilant in the praises by the welcome news that Lee was retreating rapidly before the victorious arras of Meade. And when, in a few- days, the surrender of Vicksburg was announced, our joy knew no bounds. God had again put a double honor upon the day. And it has been ours to honor these noble chieftains, Grant and Meade, who have from that day stood side by side, labor- ing without rivalr}^ in a common cause, until they unite with us in rendering praise to God for a conqured peace, a rebellion subdued — a Union and, we trust, fraternity restored. If the glad song of praise ascended to God for the united victories of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, how much more, when to these are added the Peninsular campaign — the victories cf Thomas and of Sheridan — the triumphant march of Sherman — the capture of Petersburg — the evacuation of Richmond — the surrender of Lee and all the armies of the Confederacy. Truly, while we see our nation come up out of the darkness, chastened by her trials, yet triumphant in victory, we exclaim : " God has done great things for us, whereof we are glad." Gladly would I pause here to wreath a chaplet for our citi- zen soldiery — the guard, the honor of our land. The path they trod shall hereafter become claasic ground, traversed by the historian, the novelist and the poet, who will embalm their heait of loyalty, and cause many gems of heroism, intelligent love of country, and true devotion, to live forever in the hearts of a grateful people. We bless God for them. How many died that the living might enjoy civil and religious liberty 1 Let it be part, of our thanksgiving to visit with our sympathies and benefactions, those thus made widows and fatherless, in their afilictions. And our noble soldiery who return to civil life again to enjoy the fruit of their victories, we bless you in the name of the Lord. May no future act of your life ever tarnish the dis- tinguished honor that you were members of the armies of the Union. While to our able Generals and to our soldiery we Grant 8 THANKSGIVING SERMON. the Meade of praise cheerfully and joyously, let us not forget to render a grateful and hearty tribute to one whose character shines with a lustre worthy of the best days of the Republic. As the days of the Revolution made historic a long list of worthies, but its crowning glory was to produce a Wash- ington, so now the central jewel, the polished diamond, whicli shines with a brightness all its own, around whom the great- ness of others are as gems in the setting, is the character of Abraham Lincoln. Illinois gave him to the nation. God had brought him to the kingdom for such a time as this — enabled him to appreciate his position, and to be equal to every exi- gency as it arose. With more than Roman firmness he pur- sued the path of duty, without the rashness of enthusiasm or fanaticism ; without the hesitancy of doubt or fear. Without policy, and despising intrigue, he counseled only of right, and pursued the path of integrity. What could policy accomplish when sailing amid breakers upon an unknown sea? How soon would fanaticism, by dividing the North, have wrecked us upon the very rocks we strove to shun ? or hesitation and de- lay have stranded us upon an unfriendly shore ? Then bis cool and intrepid magnanimity raised him above the excite- ment of angry and impetuous passion. Faithful and uncom- promising to the Union and the Constitution, yet was his heart all tenderness, to which revengeful feeling was a stranger. It was his joy to see the second week of April, 1865 ; to enter the evacuated capital of Rebellion ; to know and approve of the generous terms of surrender which Lieutenant General Grant had dictated to General Lee. He knew what that sur- render meant — the end of the rebellion, the end of civil war, the end of slavery, and the re-establishment o£ government and law all over the land. It was to him the happiest week of his life. For nearly one hundred years these United States have stood a national example of human liberty, of free and repre- sentative government by the people. In it the oppressed have found a home, the persecuted exile an asylum. God gave our Union to the world as hang in the political heavens a chande- lier of stars. With His blessing, they grew in number and THANKSGIVING SERMON. 9 brilliancj : under the watchful eye of a loval people and the care of our successive Presidents, the original thirteen became thirty-four, increasing in brightness and magnitude until they ■were counted as fixed stars. Still, for there are spots upon the sun, under the folds of our flag was found the institution of human slavery, whose light is as the darkness. This, it was hoped, would be mollified, and in time cease ; but, alas I it was to Liberty as the deadly Upas tree. Under it, and the ambition of its defenders, the stars upon our Southern arm began to pale. As one after another went out by the ordi- nance of secession, the monarchies of t'-ie old world became jubilant, expecting the whole constellation to go out m dark- ness. And every lover of Liberty trembled to see the sad eclipse. At such an hour Lincoln is called by the people, pledged by solemn oath to maintain the Union and the Consti- tution. Trusting in God he enters upon the task. Those wandering stars can only be recalled to their orbit by the strong arm of power. He invokes the sword, and terribly it fulfills its office. We may not know the restless solicitude, the weight and responsibility that pressed upon his mind and heart during the four long years of struggle. That he was honest and true, no one can doubt. Patient, persevering, watchful, he lived to see success to crown his eff"orts, slavery to struggle and perish under his deadly wounds, each star re- stored to its place, the nation to start again in its career of greatness, and the whole galaxy to shine with unclouded, nay, with tenfold brilliancy in the cause of Human Liberty, to illumine and gladden the down-trodden nations of the earth- There may they abide until, like Bethlehem's star, they become the harbinger of the millenial reign of the Prince of Peace. • When that success was reached on the surrender of the Confederate forces, "how great was the joy ; the people almost ran wild with excitement, men embraced each other in public places, and with uncovered heads reverently acknowledged the hand of God." Yet how terrible was the revulsion of feeling when " the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people," as the heavy tidings rolled over the land, that Abraham Lincoln had perished by the hand of an assassin. i'O THANKSGIVING SERMON. He lived to accomplish bis life's great mission. He died at the zenith of this glorj, and by the hand ot an enemy for whom he was preparing a Proclamation of Amnesty. While we laourn his death, we bless Uod for the lesson it teaches. Our form of Government had been tested by many years of pros- perity, until we have nothing to fear from the recklessness of: liberty. Then followed years of adversity, when treason and rebellion tested her defenses by assailing the unity and exis- tence of the nation. She bides the proof. And now in the death of our Chief Magistrate such are her provisions for suc- cession in office that President Johnson is our leader, and no function of Government suffers by the change. God has taught us to trust not in man whose breath is in his nostrils ; to look beyond the instrumentality to the Lord of Hosts. Where are now all those fears that harassed us on the death of Lincoln? Let us learn to have faith in the living God, and remember in hours of deepest gloom " that behind the clouds the heavens are full of stars." Let us, by prayer ar.d supplication, with thanksgiving, remember before God our Chief Magistrate, whose proclamation has called us together this day ; that God may give him wisdom to reap the rich harvest that has ripened to us by the war. That he may so act as to reconstruct on right principles, to deepen our attach- ment to good Government, and make rebellion odious in time to come. Let us remember that he holds not the sword in vain, but is God's minister to execute wrath upon them that