Qass. Book .G fc^ THE SIN OF REVILING, AND ITS WORK. FCNEEAL SEEMOS, i PRESIDENT LINCOLN. April 14th, 1865. W. R. GORDON, D.D., CASTOR OF TH£ RKF. PROT. DUTCH OHt!R<":H OF SOHRAA I.ENBERG, K. J. Preached on May 7, ISO.'i. PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF CONSISTORY. lleiD-fork: JOHN A. GRAY & GREEN, PRINTERS, 16 & 18 JACOB STREET. 1865. >C4/ \a ^ THE SIN OF REVILING, AND ITS WORK. FUNERAL SERMON, OCCASIONED BY THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, April 14th, 1865. BY W. E. GORDON, D.D., PASTOR OF THE KEF. PKOT. DUTCH CHUECH OF SCHKAALENBEEG, N. J. Preached on May 7, 1865. PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF CONSISTORY. JOHX A. GRAY & GREEX, PRINTERS, 16 & 18 JACOB STREET. 1865. .8 ' SERMON. Acts 23 : 5. It is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the Ruler of thy people. The connection of this text contributes mucli to make it emphatic. Paul had been rescued from the violence of a Jew- ish mob by a miltary force, whose captain had subsequently assembled the Sanhedrim to try his case. The High-Priest then presiding was bound to protect the prisoner in the right of making his defence, but he was guilty of the outrage of commandino; them that stood nearest to smite him on the mouth. Paul's instinctive indignation prompted him to re- turn this answer : " God shall smite thee, thou whited wall ; for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law ?" Horrified by this unexpected display of daring boldness, some of the members of that notable court thus remonstrated : " Kevilest thou God's high-priest ?" Paul, not recognizing his claim to that office illegally procured, or having been so long absent from Jerusalem that he was not aware of the change made in the incumbent, immediately said in extenuation of his haste : " I wist not, brethren, that he was the high-priest ; for it is written. Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people." This special prohibition is found in Ex. 22 : 28 : " Thou shalt not revile the judges, nor curse the ruler of thy people." God is the author of civil society. He has ordained laws for its protection and government, and a magistracy for their execution. He has also made special enactments, such as Paul quoted, for its safety in the execution of political trust, throwing around tlie office the solemn sanction of his author- ity. This was so well understood among the Jews, that how- ever obnoxious any jiarticular magistrate might become, his office was sure to protect him from wanton insult as well as from personal danger. Hence the exclamation, " Tievilest thou ?" Had not Paul explained, he would have been held guilty of a grave offence, since it was contrary to the law of Moses to sjieak ill of a magistrate, even in a clandestine man- ner. The highest office of government was especially held in reverence. Those who from neglect failed to render the ven- eration due to his character, liad given offence to the king, were liable to the infliction of capital punishment. Now there are many forms of evil-speaking, all of which are con- demned in the word of God, but the special form of the sin here spoken of, is that of keviling. But what is reviling ? It is treating a person with vile epithets of language, cursing him, wishing him harm, and loading his character with reproaches and railing accusation. WhocN'er did this among the Hebrews, respecting their Chief- Magistrate, though in private, subjected himself, upon discov- ery, to the penalty of death. How such revilers were regard- ed, and with what sentiments of abhorrence their sin was looked upon, we learn from scripture. The general law which should regulate i)ublic opinion on this point, is thus expressed by Solomon : " Curse not the king, no not in thy thoughts." A king is 6im]>ly the chief-magistrate in a mon- archy, and bears the same general relation to it that a presi- dent bears to a republic; and as the IJible is for all nations, it is evident that the law of God respecting magistracy is appli- cable to all forms of government among men. Keeping this in view, we shall readily understand that the teachings of Scripture must be supremely regarded by all Christian men, in the dischargi' <»f their cio'il as wi'll as religious duties. " My son, fear thou the Lord and the king ; and meddle not with them that are given t«> change." (Prov. 14 : 21.) " AVlios(X!vcr will not do the law of thy God and of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to coniiscatiou of goods, or to iniprisoiunont." (Ezra 7 *. 2(!.} " Let every soul be subject unto tbe higher powers, for 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 them- selves damnation." (Rom. 13 : 1, 2.) "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake ; whether it be to the king as supreme, or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punish- ment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men : as free, and not usma LIBEKTT FOR A CLOAK OF MALICIOUSNESS, but aS the SCrvautS of God. Fear God. Honor the king." (1 Peter 2 : 13-17.) " The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temp- tation, and to reserve the unjust unto the judgment-day to be punished ; but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise governments. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dig- nities ; whereas angels which are great in power and might bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord ; but these, as natural brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not ; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption." (2 Peter 2 : 8-12.) Paul thus enjoins the duty of political preaching upon ministers : " Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men." (Tit. 3:1,2.) Thus you will perceive, that God, having clothed magis- tracy with divine sanctions, has not only enforced obedience, but sternly denounced the sin of traducing those of high offi- cial character. The Thirty-seventh Article of Faith of the Eeformed Dutch Church accordinglv has this lanefuase : " It is the bounden duty of every one, of what state, quality, or condition soever he may be, to subject himself to the magis- trates ; to pay tribute, to show due honor and respect to them, and to obey them in all things which are not repugnant to the word of God ; to supplicate for them in their prayers. AVhere- 6 fore we detest the Anabaptists* and otlier seditious people, and in general all those who reject the higher powers and magistrates, and would sul)vert justice, and confound that de- cency and good order which God has established among men." From the authority quoted, we are warranted to make this seneral deduction : IIevilixg the President of the Untied States, is a crime against God, and against the Govern- ment. This we prove from two considerations. 1. The practice of reviling is an abuse of the faculty c»f speech, and altogether reprehensible. It discovers in the guilty a bitterness of spirit, an envious nature, a malicious dis- position, the indulgence of which is sure to recoil upon them- selves. It makes them injurious members of society, corrupt- ing in their influence, and dangerous to public morals. Hence? according to Paul, such persons are not to be tolerated in the Church of God. " I have now written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother, be a ' fornicator, or covetous, or an indolater, or a railer — with such an one, no not to eat." " For neither thieves, nor covetous, nor drunk- ards, nor revileks shall inherit the kingdom of God." This text puts such persons in the worst of company, because they work ini(piity in the most dangerous way, " using liberty for a cloak of maliciousness ;" or as the Psalmist expresses it, they " whet their tongues like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words." The rcviler labors to fabricate a public sentiment which shall ultimately injure the man against whom he speaks. This is his direct object. Sol- omon says, " Death and life are in the })owcr of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof;" that is, they tliat h)ve to use the power of the tongue, shall reap tlie fruit of their speech, according as it is inlhiential to tlie di'atli or life of the jtersoii of wiioni they speak, "for hy tliy wm-ds thou hhalt be justilied, and liy tliy words tliou >hah he con- demned." In the Serinon dn the Mnunl, o\ir Saviour tlius discourses: "Ye have heard that it was said hy tliem o\' old tinu'. Thou shalt not kill, and whosoi'ver shall kill, >hall he in danger of * A 8uditiou8 Sfcl of llie hixtcciitli iiiilurv. the judgment ; but I say imto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca " — a word of bitter contempt — " shall be in danger of the council : but whosoever shall say, Tnou fool, shall be in danger of hell- fire." The original of the term translated " thou fool," is a very different thing from that word as now commonly used among us_ It signifies all those bad qualities that make one an enemy of God and man. "We have no single term in our language that can translate it. It combines the ideas of impiety, apostas}^, tyranny, odiousness of character, and hell-desert. "Whosoever uses these expressions of reviling to brand with infamy the fair name of any man, according to the exposition of Christ, is a murderer in his heart, and in danger of hell-fire. Hence John says : " Whosoever hatetli his brother is a murderer." 2. Crimes are great or small in accordance with their issues, and the relative standing of those against whom they are com- mitted. The life of a man may be mainly valuable to himself, or beyond himself to a family, or beyond a family to a nation. Should he be murdered, the act is the same, whatever relations he may have held ; but the iniquity of the act must be gradu- ated by the value of the life, services, and position of the per- son thus felled by the hand of violence. This seems to have been always generally understood, for we find comparatively few instances in history of the assassination of men in high positions of political power. Julius Csesar was thus murdered in the Roman Senate, March fifteenth, forty-four years before Christ. "William, Prince of Orange, the founder of Dutch freedom, whose venerated name will ever be a blazing star in history, was assassinated at the instigation of the Jesuits, July tenth, A.D. 1584. Henry the Fourth, said to be the best king that ever occupied the throne of France, who granted to his Protestant subjects entire religious freedom by the Edict of Kantes, was also assassinated by the Jesuits, a.d. 1610. Our own noble Lincoln, the victim of an execrable conspiracy, was thus deprived of life, April fourteenth, a.d. 1865. Between each of these horrible tragedies there is, more or less, a long series of years ; and the inference is natural, that while assassins have been numerous, and murders multiplied 8 in every age, few have been found of courage sufficiently des- perate and despicable to strike at tbe lives of men in high official jiosition, notwithstanding greater exposure to the shafts of enmity. This has been owing, in a large measure, to the fact, that the common-sense of mankind has always been im- pressed with reverence for the office of chief ruler. lie who strikes at him who holds it, must fii'st strike at the office be- fore he can reach the officer ; and as a preparatory step, they who encourage the assassin by ^'cviling his victim, must be guilty of treasonable language against the government itself with whose interests the officer is intrusted. This is clear from the awful tragedy that has recently ovei'flowed our cup of affliction. IsTo one had any j)e7'sonal quarrel Avith Mr. Lin- coln, but as President, he was reviled ; as President, he was hated ; as President, he was murdered. No matter to what party our Chief-Magistrate may belong, no matter what policy he may adopt in the sworn execution of his trust, the simple facts of his election and assumption of the oath of office imply a corresponding obligation upon the part of the whole people whose common service he enters, to protect him from defamation as well as from danger. This principle lies at the basis of all law, fur however we may separate them in thought, government and its administration practifiilly are indivisi])le ; for one without the otlier is a mere altstractiun. A pohtical heresy is afloat, tliat the government and its administration are so entirely ditlerent, that the former shall not sutler, tliougli the hitter be assailed and hurled from its place. This is al^surd. You might as well say, life and the machinery of life are two diffi}rent things, therefore the ma- chinery may be disarranged without the life being endangered. Ko, the office, and the utlicer legally installed, must share the same protection. Now as reviling a rider and his official acts leads to wrath, and M'ratli to conspiracies, and conspiracies to personal danger, it is clear that this reviling is criminal, be- cause it is both incipient treason and the su])jiort (»f felons, who j)lead it in exteniiati»»n of their crimes. Moreover, as tresisunable words lead to treasonable deeds, even to the ex- tent of overt crime, as in the case of (tur late President, the guilt of the latter fearfully recoils uptrative policy is perfectly fair, and by no means inconsistent with the honor or duty of any citizen. Oh I if all men had followed the example of these jjolitical opponents who thought and spoke well of each other, our country would not now be draped in mourning for the death of her Chief, nor humbled by the crime of parricide. But the deed is done, and a nation's flow- ing tears and expensive testimonials are demonstrative of the fact that no ruler exalted to the highest seat of honor in the wide world, has ever been so lovingly clasped by millions of hearts whose aftections were drawn out by the attractions of his character. Our martyr patriot was providentially placed, from the very outset, in the midst of the strangest and most embar- rassing dillicultics tliat ever arose in our country, llis novel situation awoke the liveliest interest in his belialf, as well as great anxiety as to his iitness for the perilous exigencies of the hour. His enenues were multiplied by the revilings of the advei*se portion of the press, which had succeeded in I'xeiting some little fear :ini«>ng his friends; but the first thing that ixssured their confidence was his farewell address when he left • lion. Tlioiiiii- H. Iliir'm;'. 11 his Illinois home. In that speech, on Februaiy eleventh, 1861, he said : "A duty devolves upon me which is perhaps greater than that which has devolved npon any man since the days of Washington. He never would have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed, without the same divine aid which sustained him ; and on the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support, and I hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that divine assistance without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain," This earnest, touching appeal made its way directly to every Christian heart. It drew out the sympathy of the wise and the good of other lands besides our own, as the morning sun draws vapors from the earth ; and from that hour the breath of prayer has been burdened for him, until he reached the happy place where dangers no more cluster, where prayer is no more needed. It was not long before the private life of Abkaham Lestcoln became familiar to the people. Made to pass under the se- verest scrutiny of a merciless investigation, like the unfallen snow, it was found spotless, his enemies being judges. This result of their diligence ought to have operated in his favor, but it did not seem in the least to abate their rancor or revil-, ing. If not as bad as he might be, he must be made out worse than he was, purely as a political measure ! Though reviled, he reviled not again, but uncomplainingly and pa- tiently set to work to subdue a gigantic rebellion the like of which the world never saw. Fully impressed with the stu- pendous issues to be determined by this conflict, he rose to the dignity of the position, realized its vast responsibility, and with an unfaltering trust in God, pursued a steady course marked by wisdom, and revealing the patriotic purpose to re- store peace to our land preserved from the execution of the horrid design of the most desperate foe. How well he suc- ceeded, none need now be told. Whatever may have been said to the contrary, circumstances, purposes, plans carried out, conquests, and steady progress have proved that he was a man exactly adapted to the situation : of quick perception ; 12 of calm and sound judgment ; and of great intellectual and executive ability. Ilis integrity of heart, honesty of aim, truthfulness of nature, his gentleness in firmness, his thought- ful prudence, his loving-kindness and social turn, his subordi- nation of all to an incorruptible patriotism, and his hearty reliance on God for every thing needed to insure success, not only expressed publicly and in private, but manifested by daily expositions of conduct, formed the rarest assemblage of dignifying qualities that ever shone in human character, as a constellation in mid-heaven. Four years of hard trial only served to burnish the gold and remove the dross. The hearts of the people lodged full confidence in him, and this they proved to him by the im- mense majorities M'itli Avhicli he was carried into the second term ot ofiice. He was so devoid of ambition, so fully in love with the right, so bent upon doing his whole duty, so devoted to the best interests of his country, and yet so mercifully in- clined toward the rebels, that the people saw at once, by the light of the past, that he was the best one to trust for the fu- ture, until our calamities should vanish away. If any addi- tional pledge for this popular confidence was needed, it was given in his second inaugural, which, alas ! proved to be his farewell address. lie concluded it in these memorable words : " With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firm- ness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the Avork we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widows and his orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all natiuns." Shortly after tin's, he had the satisfaction to sec the rebel- lion broken down ; but O nwv niislortunc I Only one month aiul ten days elapsed, when the assassin reached and took his life : yet liis work was done, and well do\H\ and Ahuaham Lincoln, washed with tears, Avas end)almed in the inij>erisli- able love of a grateful pi'ople. That he was not oidy a good magistrate, but also a Christ- ian man, 1 must believe fn»m two facts. J lis sterling honesty was proverbial, and had become so inwrought in his nature by 13 long habit, that he never conlcl have been a successful hypo- crite, if he had tried ; therefore his uniform out-spoken faith in God's favoring providence, hope in his goodness, and trust in his mercy, must be accepted as proof of his Christianity. I^ever since my remembrance, and perhaps never, have we had a President so free from the common frailties of men top-mast in position, and so liberal of devout sentiment evi- dently real, in his public utterances. His pastor surely is a competent witness. " I speak," said he, " what I know, and testify what I have often heard him say, when I affii*m that God's guidance and mercy were the props on which he humbly and habitually leaned ; that they were the best hope he had for himself and for his country." " Never shall I forget the em- phasis and the deep emotion with which he said in this very room to a company of clergymen and others who called to pay him their respects in the darkest day of om' civil conflict : ' Gentlemen, my hope of success in this great and terrible struggle rests on that immutable foundation, the justness and goodness of God. And when events are very threatening, and prospects very dark, I still hope that in some way which man cannot see, all will be well in the end, because our cause is just, and God is on our side.' " But, it is said, Mr. Lincoln perished in a theatre. "We rea- dily grant that he ought not to have been there. "We regret it, because we believe the theatre to be the devil's school- house ; but at the same time we lament to say many profess- ing Christians have been there before him, by whose base ex- ample he might have been misled. "We do not excuse him ; but we must state in fairness to all concerned, that he was there, more from a desire not to disappoint an expectant audi- ence, than from any self-prompting. Passing this, we adduce, in further proof of his Christian character, this fact, as given by Rev. Mr. Carey, of Illinois : "A gentleman, having recently visited "Washington on business with the President, was, on leaving home, requested by a friend to ask Mr. Lincoln whether he loved Jesus. The business being completed, the question was kindly asked. The President buried his face in his handkerchief, turned away, and wept. He then turned, and said : ' "Wlien I left 14 liome to take tlie chair of state, I requested my countrymen to pray for me : I was not then a Christian. When my son died, the sorest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettyshurgh, and looked upon the graves oi our dead heroes, who had fallen in the defence of their coun- try, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. Ida love Jesus.^ " Such is the living character of this good man and honest ruler upon whom reviling tongues and pens huunded the as- sassin. As far as known, he never had a personal enemy until he undertook to save his dear Columbia from assassination, and when he had succeeded, and because he had succeeded, he was assassinated himself. Faithful Lincoln died ; Co- lumbia his passionate lover lives, and weeps upon his coffin. Henceforth, Mount Vernon and Oak Kidge Cemetery shall share her love, and be kept green by the watering of her tears. " In the God of battles trust ! Die we may — die wc must ; But oh ! where can dust to dust Be consigned so well, As where heaven its dews shall shed On the martyred patriot's bed, And the rocks shall raise their head Of his deeds to tell ?" Of all the distinguished rulers of the earth, no other one has ever been burne to the tomb amid such extensive prepara- tions to do him honor. His funeral procession may be said to have been iiiori' tlian one thousand miles long! On each side of the track over whicli the escort passed, mourning citi- zens did all that the ingenuity of aifection could devise, by (hiy and liy niglit, to testify their sense of the great loss sus- tained ; and in that portl^ni of it which streamed through the city of New-York, taking hours to pass a given point, none had a better right than the lowly company of blacks repre- senting tlie freednien, wlio regarded the President as their " good friend.'" They carrictl a plain white l)anner, bearing these touching mottoes: " ( )iir Kmaiiciiialor.'" " To thou- sands of l)on(bnen he gave lilicrty," \ cs, the poor tortured 15 slave never drew more largely upon any heart that ached for his relief. Mr. Lincoln believed in universal freedom to all God's creatures. He showed how deeply he felt, that " Fleecy locks and black complexion Cannot forfeit nature's claim ; Skins may differ, but affection Dwells in black and white the same." God rules, and most fearfully has he answered the prayers, and the groans, and the tears of millions in this land, who have lived and died the victims of heart-rending oppression. God has so combined circumstances in his wonder-working provi- dence, that the mad fanaticism of slavery insulting freedom should be the means of its own extinction amid the execra- tions of the world ; and the terrihU ret7'ihution comes by the hands of one elevated to honor and power from -among the most despised class of the Southern population ! History, in doing justice to our " Great Emancipator," will inscribe upon his tablet the sentiment of Cowper to Wilberforce : " Enjoy what thou hast won, esteem and love, From all the just on earth, and all the blest above." But it will no doubt be said, that superlative eulogy upon the departed must be expected from his admirers ; and while the late catastrophe will dispose all to silent acquiescence, yet the proper discount must not be forgotten in the due estimate of his character. To meet this in advance, we shall seek our justification in quotations from those very prints that have done the most for his defamation. A world-wide celebrated sheet, well known for the bitterness of its opposition to Mr. Lincoln when he was alive, upon the announcement of his tragic death put on mourning ; and, under the date of April seventeenth, thus soberly discoursed : " When the most experienced and reputable statesmen of the country came to opposite conclusions, it is creditable to the strength, solidity, and modesty of Mr. Lincoln's mind that he acted with a cautious and hesitating deliberation propor- tioned rather to a sense of his great responsibilities than to a 16 theatrical notion of political stage eflect." " If we look tor the elements of character which have contributed to the ex- traordinary and constantly growing popularity of Mr, Lin- coln, they are not far to seek. The kindly, companionable, jovial turn of his dispqsition, free from every taint of atfecta- tion, puerile vanity, or parvenu insolence, conveyed a strong impression of worth, sense, and solidity, as well as goodness of heart. lie never disclosed the slightest symptom that he was dazzled or elated by his great position, or that it was in- cumbent upon him to be any body but plain Abraham Lin- coln." " His freedom fi'om any such ujjstart atfectatiuns Avas one of the good points of his character ; it betokened his genuineness and sincerity." " The total abstinence from Mr. Lincoln's sentiments and bearing of any thing lofty or chival- ric, and the hesitating slowness of his decisions, did not de- note any feebleness of character. lie has given a signal proof of a strong and manly nature in the fact, that although he surrounded himself with the most considerable and experi- enced statesmen of his party, none of them were able to take advantage of his inexperience and gain any conspicuous as- cendency over him. All his chief decisions have l)een his own ; formed, indeed, after mucli anxious and brooding con- sultation, but in the final result, the fruit of his own inde- pendent volition." " The loss of such a man, in such a crisis ; of a man who possessed so large and growing a share of the public confidence, and whose administration has recently bor- rowed new lustre from the crowning acliievements of our ar- mies ; of a ruler whom victory was inspiring with the wise and paternal magnanimity which sought to make the concili- ation as cordial as the strife has been deadly : the loss of such a President, at such a conjuncture, is an afflicting disi^ensa- tion which bows a disapi)ointed and stricken nation in sorrow more deep, sincere, and universal tlian ever before su})}»licated the compassion of pitying Heaven.'* This is well saiarties are well enoui^h, so lonj; as thev serve as mutual checks ; Imt whatever party is in power, it is the solemn duly of its antagonist to protect it in the enjoyments of its rights, and iiid it in C(»mpassing the ends of good govcnniicnt and liiiin:in happiness. ]f errors of iidniinistration occur, reviling is nut tlic way t<> correct thciii ; iior In-ceding contusion the way of promoting the jiubiic inten'st. 2. It is the duty, inscparMble frtMii moral order, of every man to rt'lVain iVoni speaking e\il ><\' the Kulcr of his people. \ 21 The President of our country is placed in possession of an important trust, the honorable and conscientious discharge of which, so far as can he, is secured by his oath of office. ITow, when he takes this oath, every citizen comes under a corre- sponding obligation, underlying and implied in the privilege of citizenship, to obey in all things the requirements of law ; and this involves the further duty of rendering such a personal respect for his oifice's sake, that the President shall not be re- viled by tongue or pen ; because all such reviling contributes to the damage of his official character and to his personal danger. Had all our J^orthern people acted according to this ob"\i- ous duty, I believe Mr. Lincoln would not have met a violent death. Some may say that the immediate tools of the rebel- lion killed him ; but when we are horrified by many of the N^ortli feloniously clapping hands over his murder, how can we avoid the conclusion that much of the dreadful sentiment responsible for the bloody deed originated at the !Nortli ? May God forgive all his detractors, and wash away their murder- ous sin ! The safety of our institutions and the strength of our Gov- ernment depend upon the intelligence and moral honesty of the masses. ISTowhere has the Christian a better opportunity for doing good than in his political relations. Let him carry the influence of his religion into this great rolling sea of hu- man conflict. Let his agency be especially directed to allay the fierceness of party strife, and by his colloquial powers and meekness of deportment aim to quiet the turbulence of those whose intemperance of language and violence of action always exert an evil influence dangerous to the Government. This country is largely indebted for its political greatness to the Church of Christ. From the beginning, religious and civil freedom have gone hand in hand for mutual protection and the common welfare. And unless the spirit of the religion of Christ continue to shed its benignant influence in regulating and directing public opinion with regard to official stations, our republican government will soon find its grave in the an- archy of infidel recklessness and disregard of human rights. Conflicting opinions and rival ambitions, uncontrolled by a supreme regard to the authority of God and the majesty of 22 law, and directed by tlie unholy alms of tlie ill-designing, will bring down to the dust our political fabric, to tlie joy of all despots and the disgrace and ruin of the theory of democracy. Now there is nothing to prevent this but the diffusion of intelligence and the religious enlightenment of the public conscience. This is a sphere of action in which every Christ- ian and good citizen will find a large work for himself to do. Hitherto, the wonderful transmission of the Administration of this great Government from one party to another, by the quiet power of the ballot-box, without the intimidation of armed men, and bloody scenes enacted by lawless desperadoes, has been almost regarded as a miracle by the powers of Eu- rope. But now, for the first time in our history, the wild fury of party strife has brought upon us humiliation and dis- grace in the eyes of the world. Oh ! it is a fearful precedent ; and unless the needed reformation be at once begun, by those who stand at the head of public influence, and who so largely control public opinion, dift'iising by the press a spirit of loyalty or insubordination, as they see fit ; unless every well-meaning man does his duty toward the general Government, no matter what party administer it, we have the gloomy prospect that the reign of terror, by the agency of wickedness, will soon put the extinguisher upon republican freedom. Let, then, the sins of the reviling tongue be checked, and the dangers from the spirit of treason will be evaded. Let the pure principles of tlic Gospel more pervadlngly enter our political aftairs and economical arrangements, and our beautiful country shall out- ride the storm that has so fearfully endangered her existence. Hitherto she has i)roved a safe asylum for all wlio have come to her shores. lieliglous persecution may be almost said never to have disgraced our land. Liberty of conscience and civil rights we liave been always tauglit to respect, and the march of improvement has never been called to a halt. We there- fore owe it to (iod, wc owe it to ourselves, we owe it to the world, that every man be a sentinel upon the walls of free- dom, ever ready to do his whole duty to his country and her rulers. " As ye would tliat men shall do toyou, do ye even so to them." This slmi)le all-comi»rehenslve rule, is the best safe-guard of public and private rights; and if it bo deeply impressed upon 23 the public conscience, and made the basis of action in our po- litical duties, the smiles of heaven shall be our sunshine, and happiness and peace be domiciled in every habitation. In- voking the blessing and guidance of God upon all our rulers and our people, we close with this command and promise: " Loose the hands of wickedness^ undo the heavy hurdens^ let THE OPPEESSED GO FKEE, BEEAK EVEEY YOKE. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily ; and thy righteousness shall go before thee ; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward." (Is. 58 : 6, 8.) A EEMINISCENCE. The unhappy close of life to our beloved President, has given to the following poem an impressive interest, and has suggested the propriety of its appearance in the present con- nection. Mr. F. B. Carpenter, the artist, referring, in a letter to the Evening Post, to a certain occasion when Mr. Lincoln spoke feelingly of this poem observing that he would give a great deal to know who wrote it, says : " Then, half closing his eyes, he repeated to me the lines which I inclose to you. Greatly pleased and interested, I told him I would like, if ever an op- portunity occurred, to write them down from his lips. He said he would some time try to give them to me. A few days afterward he asked me to accompany him to the temporary studio of Mr. Swayne, the sculptor, who was making a bust of him at the Treasury Department. While he was sitting for the bust, I was suddenly reminded of the poem, and said to him that then would be a good time to dictate it to me. He complied, and sitting upon some books at his feet, as nearly as I can remember, I wrote the lines down, one by one, from his lips." OH ! WHY SHOULD THK SPIRIT OF MORTAL BE PROUD ? Oh ! why should the spirit of mortal be proud ? Like a swift, fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud, A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave, He passeth from life to his rest in the grave. The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade, Be scattered around and together be laid ; 24 And the young and the old, and the low and tlie high Shall moulder to dust, and together shall lie. The infant a mother attended and loved ; The mother that infont's affection who proved ; The husband that mother and infant who blessed — Each, all, are away to their dwellings of rest. The hand of the king that the sceptre hath borne ; The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn ; The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave. Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave. The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap ; The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep ; The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread, Have faded away like the grass that we tread. So the multitude goes, like the flower or the weed That withers away to let others succeed ; So the multitude comes, even those we behold, To repeat every tale that has often been told. For we are the same that our fathers have been ; We see the same sights our fathers have seen — ^Ve drink the same stream and view the same sun — And ran the same course our fathers have run. The thoughts we are thinking our fathers would think ; From the death wc are shrinking our fathers would shrink ; To the life we arc clinging they also would cling ; But it speeds for us all, like a bird on the wing. They loved, but the story we cannot unfold ; They scorned, but the heart of the haughty is cold; They grieved, but no wail from their slumber will come; They joyed, but the tongue of their gladness is dumb. They dieil, ay ! they died ; wc things that are now, Tliut walk on the turf that lies over their brow, And make in their dwellings a transient abode, Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road. Yea ! liope and despondency, pleasure and pain, We mingle together in sunshine and rain ; Ami the .Muile and tlie tear, the .song and tho dirge, Sti.i follow each other, like surge upon surge. 'Tis the wink of an eye, 'tis the draught of a breath ; From the l)lossom of health to tlie jialeness of death, IVoni till" gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud — Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud?