5, 1 i ^1 cv jP^ -ill.'-. > v^ .■•°- ^ -.-^^. Z^''".. 'MIP^S y % "'>^^^?" .t:^' -^o '.'^ A '^^ COURAGE IN A GOOD CAUSE; §hc fniuful and (JfounifieouH %ht of the ^luord A. SEJ^IVtOiSr GEORGE DUFFIELD, Jr.., PASTOR OF COATES STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. DELIVERED APRIL 21, 1861. LIBEHTAS ET ANI5IA NOSTRA IX DUBIO ES T. — C A T O. PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. T. B. PUGII, STATIONER, N. W. COR. SIXTH &. CHESTNUT STS. ' » 2)85 IIE.N'KY B. ASHMEAD, BOOK ASD JOB PRISTER, No3. 1102 and 1104 Sansom Street. PniLADELPUiA, April 12, 1861. Rev. George Ditffield, Jr., Rev. and Dear Sir, — We, the undersign- ed, believing that your Sermon, on Sabbath evening the 21st inst., would be highly appreciated by the community, and your own people be grati- fied to possess it, respectfully request that you will furnish us with a copy for the purpose of its immediate pul)lication. Very respectfully and truly yours, James Morrell, J. P. White, Joseph Aitken, G. W. Grice, S. L. Kirk, A, Deverill, R, S. Bower, S. Bradbury, AVm. Bald, Wm. Elliott, AVm. Seeley, 11. Aitkin, Charles C. Aitkex, John Lyle, John T. Smith, Wm. Stewart, and others. PiiiLADELriiiA, April 23, 18G1. Messrs. James Morrell, Joseph Aitken, S. L. Kirk, R. S. Bower, and others. Gentlemen, — The MS. is at your ser- vice. At such a time as this, every church should shoAV its colors, and while I am happy to recognize among the names appended to your re- quest, the representatives of all varieties of political opinions, now har- moniously blended into one, I note with especial interest the fact, that among these names are three of the descendants of the enterprising and patriotic publisher of the old Congress Bible. The title of the Sermon is borrowed from a discourse delivered in my native county, the year before the Declaration of Independence, viz.: " Courage in a Good Cause: or. The Lawful and Courageous Use of the Sword. A Sermon preached near Shippensburg, Cumberland Co., on the 31st of August, 1775, to a large audience, in which were under arms, several companies of Col. Montgomery's battalion, and published at their request. By the Rev. Robert Cooper, A.M. Jehovah nissi, i.e.. The Lord ray banner. Exodus svii. 15. Lancaster, printed by Francis Bailey, 1775." pp. 30. The test is, "When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than tlwu, bo not afraid of them : for the Lord thy God is -with thee, ^yhieh Ijrought thee up out of the land of Egj-pt." Deut. xx. i. Let me quote a single sentence. " If our souls are possessed of the fear of the Lord, v^e need not fear them who can only kill the body. A .soul prepared for heaven, will as easily and joyfully, [perhaps I may say, more so,) find its way thither from a field of battle, as from a bed of down ; will as cheerfully ascend from amidst roaring cannon as weeping friends. As God is with his people in danger, so also in death, which is an end to them of all danger. Can, then, any thing so effectually inspire a soldier with true courage, as that which raises him above the fear of death ; nay, makes death itself appear a desirable event? For blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, since they rest from their labours and their works do follow them." Perhaps it may be p^roj^er for me to add, that as the best practical ap- plication of my discourse, I have this daj' offered my services to the Governor of Pennsylvania as Chaplain of one of the Philadelphia regi- ments. For God and for our Country, Respectfully and sincerely, Your friend and pastor, GEOllGE DUFFIELD. Jr. SERMON. "And this kxow, that if the (ioomiAX ok the hov.se had kxown what HOUR THE THIEF WOULD COME, HE WOULD HAVE WATCHED, AXD XOT HAVE SUFFERED HIS HOUSE TO EE BROKEX THROUGH." LuKE xii. 39. "But xow he that hath xo sword, let him sell his c.armext, axd buy oxE." — Luke xxii. 3G. The object of this discourse, is, to respond to the recent Proclamation of the President of these United States, and cordially and entirely to endorse the action of his Cabinet, in raising from this and other portions of om* Commonwealth, a sufficient number of soldiers to oppose the further progress of rebellion, and secure the exist- ence and efficiency of our General Government. I invite jouv serious and candid attention to this sub- ject, mainly in the following order. I. The duty of a minister of the Gospel to preach on such an occasion as the present. IT. The lawfulness of defensive war, both according to the Law of Nature and the Law of God. III. That the war in which our Government is now engaged is a defensive Avar, and as such, a lawful one. IV. That a war such as God approves, he considers as his own cause, and to help it by all proper means, is to COME UP TO THE HELP OF THE LORD. G I. The duty of a minister of the Gospel to preach on such an occasion as the present. Knowing tliat the Sacred Scriptures are intended to teach not only what man is " to helieve concerning God, but also what didjj God requires of man," it is obvious that in their proper time and place, duties are as much to be preached as doctrines. If civil or political duties are among those wdiich God requires of man, and for the discharge of which he holds every man accountable, then politics, in the true sense of that much abused word, is a part of the word of God, and mud be included in the instruction of the pulpit. It is not optional for the preacher to preach any or every truth that may suit his own convenience, and the ordinary opinions of his hearers. If he would not handle the word of God deceitfull3% he must be careful to explain and enforce those that are more particularly, and it may be, imperatively/ demanded by the exigencies of the times. The prophet of Bethel must cry against the altar of Samaria, even Avhile the king is standing by it to offer incense. Elijah must denounce the " God of Ekron," though Ahab and Jezebel join together to slay him. John the Baptist must reprove Herod for his profligacy, though at the end of his discourse, the imperial mandate is issued to bring the faithful preacher's head in a charger. So Peter before the Sanhedrim, and Paul at Ephesus, and Stephen at Jerusalem ; the message must be delivered, whatever becomes of the messenger. Let " the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and certain of Cilicia and Asia," say what they will to resist the truth, yet the truth must be spoken — even though it be followed immediately on its utterance by a volley of stones. To all time-serving Amaziahs, either in the ministry or out of it, who on this or anv similar occasion, woukl prohibit ns from touching on any topics pertaining to the common welfare, we would commend the indignant reply of Amos. " Go," said Amaziah, '' ! thou seer, flee thee away unto the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and pro- phesy there ;" /. c, prophesy against idolatry in Judah, where there is no idolatry ; " but prophesy not any more at Bethel, for it is the king's chapel and the king's court," politely intimating that Amos might get himself into trouble if he should preach against idolatr}', where there was a special call for such kind of preachiny. '•' Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son, but I was an herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me. Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. Now, therefore, hear thou the word of the Lord." (Amos vii. 12-16.) The man who is wanting, either in the natural or moral courage, to declare the word of the Lord, whatever may be the consequence to himself, personally or rela- tively, in carrying out his words into individual action, will look in vain to find his name either in letter or in spirit, in that bright scroll of high characters (Hebrews xi.), vvith those who, "through faith, subdued kingdoms, stopped the mouths of lions, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." It w^ill not be with Moses, and Joshua, and David, in ancient times; Avith Zwingle, and Calvin, and Knox, in the days of the Reformation ; with Mayhew of Boston, Rogers of New York, Caldwell of Elizabethtown, and Bishop White and Dr. Duffield of Philadelphia, in the days of the Ameri- can Revolution. 8 Away with all objections to the winds that would en- deavor to prevent us, this night, from endeavoring to the full extent of our feeble ability to imitate their example ! We owe it alike to the cause of the Christian religion, and that of American liberty, to show that the last of ALL PLACES IN THE UNIVERSE, BEHIND WHICH FOU COWARDICE TO SKULK OR FIND REFUGE, IS THE HOLY BiBLE.* This VCry copy that I now hold in my hand, is one of the rare edi- tion published by authority of the old Continental Con- gress in 1781, the first edition of the Bible in the Eng- lish language ever printed in North America. Strange, indeed, would it be, if that book which was the chief support of our Fathers in achieving the existence of our nation, were not of equal value in enabling us to PRESERVE it, now that it is in such imminent peril. We open then this holy volume and read as follows : '' And this know, that if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through." These are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, of the truth of whose words, either as a man, or a Chris- tian citizen, or a Christian minister, I have never yet seen any reason whatever to be ashamed. To illustrate spiritual things by temporal, he supposes the case of a father of a fomily, whose house is in danger from rob- bers ; his duty is twofold — first, to guard against sur- prise ; secondly, in case of attack to defend his family and property to the last extremity. * " Be not ye afraid of your adversaries," said Nehemiah ; '• remember the Lord which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your houses." iv. 14. Similar was the lan- guage of Judas Maccabeus, a true disciple of the patriotic Nehemiah: "It is better for us to die in battle than to behold the calamities of our people and our sanctuary. Nevertheless, as the will of God is, so let him do.' — 1 Mac. iii. 59. 9 The illustration seems to have been suggested by a well known law of Moses, which is found in Exodus xxii. 2. ^' If a thief be found breaking into a dwelling" (in the dead of night,) " and he be smitten that he die, there shall be no blood shed for hwiJ' By that very act of the robber in making himself like a wild beast rather than a human being, and assaulting the life of another, he has forfeited his life, and his ])lood is upon his own head. Tracing this law of Moses back to its origin, we find it in that which has been justly called the primary law of nature, viz. self-defence. According to the common consent of men, in every age, it requires no argument to prove, that if a man be attacked in his own person or property, or in the person of his wife or children, " it is lawful for him to repel force b}^ force ; and the breach of the peace which happens is chargeable upon him only who began the fraj^" Blackstone, Lib. III. ch. i. " The great natural right of self-preservation, (says Dr. South, vol. iv. 273) which is equally full in par- ticular persons and in public bodies, is the very first- born of all the rudiments of nature ; and the very ground and reason of its actions ; not instilled by precept, but suggested by instinct. A man is no more instructed to this, than he is to be hungry or thirsty when nature wants its due refreshment. In this particular, the Rights OF Nature are not abridged by the Christian Religion." The simple truth is, that the religion of Christ every where establishes the doctrine of natural rights ; tells a man what these rights are, and bids every man to defend them for himself and others to the full extent of his ability. Thus by a very easy and natural argument we arrive at the conclusion, that as an act of self-defence. 10 war in certain cases is equally permitted by tlie law of Nature and the law of God. Aggressive war, such as is now waged against us by the Anarchists of the South, is nothing but a complication of robbery and murder. Defensive war is merely the united efforts of several persons to defend themselves against a common inroad and enemy. It is, therefore, equally Icmful ivitli self- defence in an individival ; and this we are prepared to prove, alike from the word and conduct of Christ, from the teaching and example of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, and from the almost uniform and well estab- lished practice of Christian citizens, in every age of the Church and in every quarter of the world. In the days of the Millennium even this defensive form of warfare shall not exist, for when " there shall be naught to hurt or to destroy in all God's holy mountain," there will be no occasion for it, The sword shall indeed be beaten into a plough-share, the spear into a pruning- hook, and the "chariot burned with fire." No longer hosts encountering hosts Their millions slain deplore, They hang the trumpet in the hall, And study war no more. But SO long as the present disposition of mankind pre- dominates, so long as men will attack and destroy the life, liberty and property of their fellow men, there is just the same kind of demand for an army, as for a body of police in a city. Defensive war is absolutely neces- sary and absolutely lawful.* A nation which should adopt the contrary doctrine would be undone. Just as this very Commonwealth of Pennsylvania came near being undone by the prevalence * Instar omnium. See Grotius de Jure belli ac pads. 11 of this doctrine in the House of Representatives, when her western borders were invaded by the French and Indians. Nox-resistanoe may sound well enough in theory, and find many specious reasons to defend it, but most lamentably does it fail in practice. AVhen Philadelphia was young, and the magistracy was in the hands of the Friends, its port could only l)oast a single sloop. A band of pirates coming up the river, carried off the sloop, and by the judicious display of guns, pikes and other slaughter-weapons, thus laughed the owners of the sloop to scorn. What did the Society do? They issued commissions, raised up an armed band, retook their sloop "as magistrates!" and made the banditti prisoners. And they did right. Just as Wil- liam Penn did right, when, A.D., 1701, in his speech to the Assembly of this State, he exhorted them to take measures for their defence ; when he laid before them the King's letter, demanding money to aid in carrying on the war against the Indians of New York, and recom- mended that the sum be granted by the Assembl}^ Just as Samuel Wetherill, and other of the "•' Free or Fighting Quakers" did right in the course they pursued in the War of Independence, " deeming the love of truth of greater concernment to them than what is called uni- formity." '■' The argument of Samuel Chew, Esq., (who had '^'been educated amongst, and. always professed himself to be of the Society of the people called Quakers,") denouncing the ?f«lawfulness of self-defence to Christians, as '"'a most capital error, as dangerous to society in general, and in- * " We have been disowned, for no other cause than a faithful discharge of these duties we owe to our country." — Address, 2-lth of the 4th month, 1781, Pliiladeiphia. 12 consistent with the very nature of civil communities/' is as good now as in 1741, and we would like to see the man who can readily pick a flaw in it. " I lay it down/' says he, " as a ground work, that God intended our hap- piness in our creation, and that government and political society are absolutely essential to human happiness; that the preservation of government is equally essential ; that force is necessary to that preservation, and conse- quently that war is allowable under the law of nature. I also think it so apparent from what has been said, that the Scripture cannot be justly impeached with altering the law of nature in this point, or of having taken aw^ay man's natural right to seek that happiness which God originally designed him, by forbidding Christians to de- fend their lives and properties when they are unjustly invaded, that no intelligent man who examines it with an impartial, unprejudiced mind, can have the least doubt about it."* But from all arguments and opinions of men, let us now turn " to the law and to the testimony." On this point, as on every other, we are to search the Scriptures, whether these things be so or not, and by their deci- sion, as the only perfect and infallible rule of faith, we are in all cases to abide. From the words of our text, we have seen already that he who by becoming man, identified himself with universal humanity, so far from taking away the natural rights of man, only still more firmly established those rights. In the case of the centurion, Mat. viii., 10, of whom he said, that " he had not found so great faith, no, not in * Speech of Samuel Chew, Esq., Phila. Printed and sold by B. Franklin, 1741. 13 Israel,"' we are left to infer, that like Jolin the Baptist, he considered the life and employment of a soldier, at least within certain limits, absolutely lawful. If he "did violence to no man," if he "accused no one falsely," if he "was content with his wages," (Luke iii. 24,) he might remain as conscientiously in that calling as any other. Had his kingdom been of this world; had it been like any other, a merely temporal kingdom, it would have been as much the duty of his subjects to fight for him, as for any other king. (John xviii. 30.) But as the King of Truth, he had no need either of embattled legions of men or of angels. The weapons of this war- fjire, from the very nature of the case itself, were not carnal but spiritual. The sword that Peter carried by his side, and which he drew with so much haste and so little discretion, on behalf of his master, as to receive his severe rebuke ; in other times and circumstances might have found its appropriate use, but not just then and there in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was about to lay down his life voluntarily, and with this single object in view, " he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." But while he thus renounced the right of self-defence in his own case, he was careful to intimate that his disciples were not to interpret his conduct too strictly, or literally, as an example for them- selves. Hence that previous scene, as described by Luke, xxii. 35-38, concluding with the injunction, "He that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one." The sword here spoken of is as literal as the purse and garment. The Saviour intimates to his disci- 14 pies that they would soon be in great ^^ersonal clanger; that they must go forth as travellers in the midst of " perils by robbers," and " perils by their own country- men;" that they must therefore provide themselves with the first necessity of a traveller in those days, a sword; that so far from not employing earthly means of pro- tection and defence, they must do it ; for their personal protection of the life that belongs to the service of Christ, in certain circumstances and times of more intense dan- ger, they must even have recourse to the equipment of the sword.''' According to Josephus, even the peaceful " Essenes" were accustomed to travel armed, and wath the " Gali- leans" to be provided with a sword was a matter of course. The sword was a symbol of defence, and in telhng his disciples to possess themselves of one at almost any cost, they had the plainest warrant that they could have for standing up in their own defence. The Maccabees, the Bohemians, the Waldenses, the Ger- man Protestants, the Hollanders, the French Huguenots, the Poles, the Scottish Reformers, the English Puritans, and our own Christian Fathers in the Revolution, were not mistaken in the view they took from the lan- guage of Christ, of their natural rights of self-defence. Christian communities and Christian nations have their RIGHTS, and when these are invaded, as they now are in our own persons as Christians and American citizens, a war of defence, so far from being a matter of expediency, becomes, in fact, one of the most sacred obhgations that a man is ever called upon to perform ! Blame me as much as some of you no doubt w^ill, in times like these, for putting myself under the protection * See Steier's Words of Jesus, " Concerning the sword." 15 of the sword, and iiidiieing others to the full extent of my ability to do the same, I have this consolation at least, that if your argument is good for anything against me, it is er^uall}" valid against the Apostle Paul. Not only was his doctrine clear and unmistakable, that a ruler or a government, who would be '' a terror to evil doers, as a revenger to execute wrath ujion him that doeth evil, must not bear the sword in vain ' (Rom. xiii. 3, 4), but such was his practice also. When notified in the castle at Jerusalem, by his nephew, that some forty of the Jews had made a conspiracy to slay him, Paul immediately acquainted the commander of the Roman garrison with it. (Acts XX. 3.) When the commander sent two centu- rions, two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen, to accompany him to Cesarea, did he refuse the proffered escort ? Did he in the least insinu- ate, either to the centurions or the soldiers, that it was immoral to repel force by force ? Not at all, but he availed himself of the protection of the sword, without the least hesitation. Suppose some of '' the lewd fellows of Jerusalem, of the baser sort," had fallen on the squad- ron, and attacked them as the ''' Plug Ugiies " of Balti- more on Friday last attacked our unarmed Pennsylva- nians, and the noble regiment of Massachusetts ; and suppose as the result of such an attack, that some of his enemies had been slain by the Roman soldiers, would Paul have thought himself guilty of their blood ? I trow not. And if it was nothing derogatory to the faith or character of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, to pro- vide himself with a strong guard of armed soldiers for his defence, why should there be any hesitation what- ever on our part, at least on the score of our religion, in imitating his example ? Only then when we are better 16 men than the Apostle Paul, can we safely venture to im- prove upon that example. I am well aware that at this point in the argument, I shall be referred to the fact that great multitudes of the primitive Christians refused to become soldiers under any circumstances, even though their refusal might cost them life itself. So they did. But for what reason did they refuse ? Because they believed that war in all cases was essentially sinful ? No, there is abundance of evidence direct!}^ to the contrary. Because soldiers were reckoned in the same category as stage-players and gla- diators, and cattle-dealers for idol sacrifices, or others exercising similar professions not warranted by the law of God ? Not at all. We have every reason to believe that Cornelius the centurion, and the " devout soldier" who waited on him, and Sergius Paulus, and others, con- tinued in precisely the same relation to the army after their conversion as before. There is a much easier and better way to account for the reluctance of Christians to enter the army, than to leap to the hasty and unwarranted conclusion, that in all cases war is entirely unjustifiable. What the primitive Christian did really and conscientiously object to was, that in order to enter the army, he must take a heathen oath ; and once in the army, he must burn incense to idols, wear on certain occasions an idolatrous crown,* and * '' The soldiers came as was usual, crowned with laurel, to receive their share of the donation ; and there was one amongst them, who appeared with his head bare, holding his crown in his hand. The rest, who were far distant, pointed at him, and scoffed ; and those who were near, raged with indignation. The Tribune, hearing of the noise, asked him why he wasn't like the rest ? " It is not lawful for me," said he, "because I am a Christian !" Then they consulted about the matter, and he was sent back to the pra?fects of the camp. There he was degraded, and stripped of his coat, his buskius, and his sword ; he was put into prison. Several blamed him as having exposed himself rashly, what was especially obnoxious to them, must assist in the persecution of their brethren. These disabilities removed, and they were as ready, other things being equal, to fight for their country as any other class of men. The man who advocates the doc- trine of non-resistance, and thus, of necessity, causes himself and his nation to be " devoured and annihilated," does not do so because he knows more of the New Tes- tament, and more of ecclesiastical history, than those whom he so vehemently opposes, but because he knows less. If he will only look at this matter aright, he will find that " morality and piety are essentially the same in every age of the world;" ''that principles founded on permanent relations are unalterable;" that if ^Y(iv was, in and of itself, an act essentially sinful, like theft, or lying, or adultery, a just God and a holy, would never have commanded it at all in any in- stance ; never have encouraged it by a double promise of blessing and success ; never have rebuked with ve- hement indignation, all luxurious Reubenites, all lethar- gic Issachars,'^' all cowardly inhabitants of Meroz, who refuse to maintain a just cause, by jeopardizing their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.f Or, and endangered the peace which the church had long enjoyed, maintaining, besides, that this crown was an ornament that was indifterent. Tertullian, on the contrary, in his book concerning the soldiers' crown, asserts that it was a mark of idolatrj-, and accordingly defends the soldier. — " Fleury's Ec. Hist., as quoted in Gilbert Tennent's Defensive War Defended," p. 147. Philadel- phia, B. Franklin, 1748. All honor to this noble soldier, the first of the Puritans ! worthy to be classed with the bold Telemachus — whose martyr death abolished forever the combat of the gladiators, and the human sacrifices of the amphitheatre. (Gib- bon ii. 223.) Worthy of equal honor with Bishop Hooper — burning at the stake rather than wear the surplice — "as tending more to superstition than otherwise." — Fox's Martyrs, page 148. Lon. 1811. * Gen. xiv. 49. f Judges v. 19-23. o 18 what is still stronger oven than rei^roof, never have pro- nounced the language of positive curse, on the cowardly and inactive. " Cursed is he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully ; and cursed is he that keepeth back his sword from blood."* (Jer. xlviii. 10.) So fiiir from man being more a Christian because through natural cowardice, or latent selfishness, or con- venient and preconceived opinion, his conscience is only partially enlightened as to his duty ; a man is just, to this very extent, less a Christian than he might have been, less a lover of his country ; in the highest and truest sense of that word, less a lover of his race. As I read the word of God, and the Providence of God, never was Col. Gardiner more a Christian than when on the break- ing out of a rebellion under a "pretender" king, as we have now among the Anarchists, a "pretender" Presi- dent, he earnestly desired, that " if it were the will of God, he might liave some honorable call to sacrifice his life in defence of religion and the liberties of his courvtry." Never was General Havelock more a Christian, than when marching with his Christian regiment ("Havelock's Saints," as they were fiimiliarly called in the army,) to the relief of Lucknow; as our newly-enlisted soldiers may find it necessary in a few hours to march to the relief of Washington. Never was Hedley Vicars, (alike the Captain and the Chaplain of his regiment in the Crimea,) more a Christian, than when with a bayonet wound in his breast, he leaped the parapet that he had so well defended, and charging the enemy down the ravine, exclaimed, with his dying breath, " This way, * See Pres. Davies' sermon on this text, "The Curse of Cowardice," "preached to the militia of Hanover County, in Virginia, at a general muster, May 8, 1758, with a view to raise a company for Capt. Samuel Meredith." — iii. p. 84, N. Y. 1841. 19 97th !"' Never was the immortal Zwingle'^' more a Chris- tian than when according to the usage of his country, attending his flock to a battle in which their rehgion and liberties were all at stake, he said to his weeping friends, on receiving his mortal wound from a bullet, " Ecquid hoe mfortuniir "Is this to be reckoned a misfortune," to die for God and our Country ! Possibly it may be because I am somewhat partial to the history of Scotland in this respect, but I confess that there are few names in the history of any land brighter to me than that of Richard Cameron, '' who fell at Airsmoss, A. D. 1680, while defending as a Christian hero, the religion and liberties of his country against the tyranny of the Bishops, and the royal house of Stuart. " There," said Robert Murray, w^ho cut off the head and hands of Mr. Cameron, and presented them to the King's council, '" There are the head and hands that lived praying and preaching, and died praijing and fighting^ The tyrannical council in the refinement of cruelty, ordered them to be shown to his worthy father, theu in prison for the same cause. He was asked if he knew them. The good man took them in his hands, kissed them, and said, " / hiovj them, they are my mns, my dear son's ; good is the will of tJte Lord, tvho cannot tvrong me or mine.'' Leaving all the vice, crime, and evils almost innumer- ble, ^civil, social, political and financial, that so undeni- ably pertain to war chiefly to those wdio by treason and robber}', and open violence, have been the guilty origi- nators of it ; admitting as I do, that the crimes of a single campaign are equal often to those of fifty years of * The study of ^vhose life, by the way, first showed us the fallacy of nou- rcslstance. 20 peace : yet in view of all that has now been said, I con- sider myself safely warranted by right reason and the Avord of God, in aflfirining that there are times and cir- cumstances in which we may be fully justified in using the language of David, " Blessed be the Lord, my strength, which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight, so that a bow of steel is broken by my arms ;" and when like our own Armstrong at the battle of Kitanning,* " The high praises of God may be in our mouth, and a two-edged sword in our hand, to execute upon the adversaries the judgment that is written ;" " the thoughts of the Lord that they know not, his counsels that they do not understand, that he shall gather them as sheaves into the floor, for the threshing T (Micah iv. 12.) III. The nature of the war in which we are now ENGAGED. "With good advico, make war." (Prov. xx. 18.) While the right in the abstract to make war, is here expressly recognized in just so many words, we are always to remember that it is coupled with this most important condition, viz., it must be undertaken with " good advice." Of this sort of wisdom, we have a fine * " Col. Armstrong was one of the most remarkable men of his time. To fearless intrepidity of the highest cast, there was united in his character a strong sense of religious responsibility that rarely blends with military senti- ment. He belonged to that singular race of men, the Scottish Covenanters, in whom austerity was a virtue of high price, and who, in the conflicts to which persecution trained them, never drew the sword, or struck a mortal blow, without the confidence which enthusiasm seemed to give them, that agencies higher and stronger than human means were battling in their behalf, and that their swoi-d, whether bloodless or bloody, was always ' The sword of the Lord.' Educated in these sentiments, John Armstrong never swerved from them. He was foremost in his country's ranks, whether her cause was defence against a foreign foe or revolt against oppression — in the colonial conflicts as well as in the war of the revolution. He was always known to kneel in humble devotion and earnest prayer before he went into battle, and never seemed to doubt, in the midst of the battle's fury, that the work of blood was sanctified to some high purpose." — Reed's Eulogy on Mercer, p. 12. 21 illustration in the ancient Romans, of whom it is said, that they were particularly cautious never to attack their neighbors nor to appear the aggressors, but always to let the world see that they took arms in their own defence. "You Romans," said the Deputies of the Rhodians, on one occasion, " profess to believe that the success of your arms is happy because they are just, and you glory, not so much in the victory that deter- mines them, as in the beginnings, or because you did not undertake them without reason." Hence it is said, they came to no decision of this kind, no open declaration of w\ar, without the most mature deliberation. It was a common maxim with them, that the courage of a soldier rises or falls according to the excellence of his cause.'-' Another maxim was, " When you engage in any good action, entertain hopes of success, being assured that God favors a just enterprise." Pompey encouraged his soldiers, before a battle, with the consideration : " For favor of the gods, Our heller cause enjoins us still to hope." Who does not know that a consciousness of justice in a cause is of greater force than an hundred cannon, (especially, if they are stolen!) and that sound opinions and principles are worth more than a thousand bayonets? " Thrice is he armed, who hath his quarrel just." The question then for us now to determine is : What is the character of the present war ? 1. It is not an aggressive war on our part. War exists by no act of the lawful government to w^ hich we are * "When our cause is good," says Mathesius, the friend of Luther, "the heart expands, and gives courage and energy to the evangelist and the sol- dier." — D'Aubigae, ii. 28. 52 now in allegiance. As President Lincoln well said on receiving the news of the infamons bombardment of Fort Sumter. " The knot is cut at last. The Seceded States have made war upon the United States." 2. It is not a war into which we have been ready to enter for a trivial matter, such as the few millions of dollars, due us by Mexico, or the 54° 40' boundary line, between us and Great Britain in Oregon. 3. It is not a war into which we have entered hastily, or without exhausting every constitutional measure in endeavoring to avoid it. The thief had been in our National house a long time before the '' good man of the house" began to bestir him- self. First, the Treasury door is shrewdly left ajar, and he throws out milhons of gold and silver to his confede- rates. Next, the Army door is thrown v.ide open, and he distributes through its convenient portals an indefi- nite amount of arms and ammunition. Then the Navy door is heard to creak slyly on its hinges, and, as far as possible, the same sort of iniquity is repeated there. Lasf, and worst of all, in some respects, the iron door of the "Interior" is opened, and the bread is once more stolen out of the mouths of the poor Indians. All this while, the good man of the house slept on. Nothing seemed to rouse him from his imbecility, until he found that the thief, in default of any further propert}^ on which to lay his hands, had determined to turn the good man out of the house ; to steal the very house itself, and enter into full possession of all the appurtenances thereof by right of theft ! Therefore, 4. I remark, that this war, on the part of those of us who still, according to our conscience and the word of God, adhere to " the powers that be," is purely a defen- sive one. War is offensive, on the part of the power that com- mits the first act of violence ; it is (Mensiye, on the part of him who receiA'es and resists the first act of violence. When and where the first blow was inflicted, is too no- torious to admit the shadow of a doubt. It was not the Government at Washington that fired the first gun, or ordered it to be fired, but the pseudo-Government at Montgomery. 5. The present "svar for the entire interests of the entire Union, i. e., to preserve the Union in its integrity, is a just war. War being simply that state in which a nation defends and prosecutes its rights by force, the only question is, what ivc these rights wliich may thus be prosecuted and recovered ? One of these rights is jiirisdiciiou. This has been re- pudiated — -judicial, military, and executive. Another is, the right of citizenship, to which all under the Con- stitution are equally entitled in common. This also, as w^e showed at length in a recent sermon, has, for some years past, been violated with perfect impunity. A third is, the right of p-opcrtij ; but our mints, and forts, and vessels, have been stolen before our very eyes, in open day. A fourth is, the natural and indestructible right of national existence ; but even now^ the life of the presiding officer of the nation is threatened at the seat of the Federal government ; and we are vauntingly as- sured that the Southern Pretender will soon be at Wash- ington, and the reptile flag float over the capitol instead of the stars and stripes. Rather than such a desecra- tion as this should occur, let that magnificent edifice be reduced to a heap of ruins, and not one stone remain upon another ! " Thirty years," we are told, this worse than Catiline 24 conspiracy lias been in progress, and now it is about to be "triumphant." Soldiers of the sister, and ever- honored State of Massachusetts, obeying the call of their country, and marching with our own troops under the national flag to her relief, are stoned and spit upon,'^' and murderously shot down in a State still pretending to be in the Union, and denied the right of transit across her territory to the rescue of the Federal city, and our law- fully constituted rulers — thereby initiating a political crime, hitherto unknown and without a name ; a crime which, if its name should be as hideous as its nature and its origin, should henceforth be denominated Plug- ugly ism ! Infamy upon infamy, the same men who, but a few weeks since, once more legalized the accursed slave trade, that the entire civilized world has repudiated as the worst of barbarism, within a few days past, have attempted to legalize piracy in the same way, under the form of letters of marque and of reprisal ! In all history, ancient or modern, sacred or profane, I candidly confess that I can think of but a single rebel- lion that will furnish any adequate parallel to the pre- sent rebellion of the Cotton States of this country in 1861, and that is, the rebellion of the proud, luxurious, lascivious, unprincipled, murderous Absalom, against his noble, unsuspecting, too affectionate, and over-indulgent father, David. Notice briefly, in passing, the following as only a few of the particulars into which the parallel might be extended indefinitely, and the historical refer- ences to which are too fresh in your minds to call for any repetition. 1. The conspiracy of Absalom took place in Israel, ■^" Literally so : we have it from eye-witnesses. 25 when it was supposed that the empire was at the highest point of her national greatness and security. 2. It cuhninated where, of all other places, it must have been least suspected, at the seat of government, and in the very household of David. 3. The more immediate, though utterly unfounded pretext for it was, the lack of public justice in the ad- justment of individual rights. 4. This conspiracy was carried forward under the convenient cloak and color of religion.* 5. Many innocent men were designedly entangled and involved in the conspiracy, who went out like multitudes of our Southern friends, I doubt not, '' only in their sim- plicity." 6. The rebelhon of Absalom was avowedly "precipi- tated" into the proportions of a "revolution," by an overt act as uncalled for and outrageous as the bombardment of Fort Sumter on the part of South Carolina. (Sam. xvi. 20-22.) 7. While the rebellion was in progress, the grossest personal indignities and abuse Avere heaped upon the lawful head of the government, without stint or measure. 8. For a time the rebellion was, apparently, a success- ful one, as all rebellions in school and elsewhere are, at the beginning. A sad sight, indeed (God forbid we should ever rea- lize it in our own history !) that ascent of Mount Olivet, when David w^ent up, weeping as he w^ent, with his head covered, and his feet barefoot, — wdien the people that was w ith him covered every man his head, as they went up, weeping as they went, and wdien all the country * "The Bible defends slavery — wc defend the Bible," is the maxim of the conspirators. " Noa tali auxilio !'' 26 wept with a loud voice : Absalom, the traitor and the ingrate at Jerusalem — David, the lawful monarch and father, an outcast and a fugitive. 9. The rebellion of Absalom speedily came to an end. The Joabs, and Abishais, and Ittais, with their valor; the Zadoks and Abiathars with their religion ; the Hushais with their counsel ; the young Jonathans and Ahimaazes with their activity and enthusiasm ; the Zibas, and Shobis and Machirs, and Barzillais, that " brought beds, and cups, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse, and hone}^, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that w^ere with him, to eat : for they said. The people is hungry, and weary, and thirst}^, in the wilderness," (2 Sam. xvii. 28, 29) ; all these rallying to the rescue, not forgetting the essential and most admirable service rendered by the woman of Bahurim, soon the tide of re- bellion begins to turn. Ahithophel kills himself. A battle takes place in the wood of Ephraim — the traitors are routed — twenty thousand of them slain — and the last we see of Absalom, the traitor and usurper, he is hanging in an oak, with three arrows surely and most deservedly lodged in his ungrateful and rebellious heart. So perish all traitors (" Amen," said a brother, at this point) ; and for the good of the country, and the honor of humanity, and the glory of God, the sooner they perish the better! and let all the people say, Ameu!'^' APPLICATION. The application of the subject, as thus presented, is a very obvious and practical one. We are just as much * And they all did say it ! 27 bound to " render to Ciesar the things that are Cresars," as ''to God the things that are God's." As, in the days of David, it was the duty of all Israel to unite, and grant all their aid and help against Absalom the usurper ; every tribe, city, town, and family, belonging to the nation, bound together by the same national compact, liable to the same opjDression from the enemy — reaping mutual benefit in case of victory — their duty to come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty — so is it now the duty of our whole nation, the duty of every State, every city, every town, every f^xmily, and person in this nation, directly or indirectly, to unite all their wisdom, all their wealth, all their power, all their energies, all their enthusiasm, in the w^ar into which we have been so treacherously forced, for the defence of our just and violated rights. '^■" All further hypocrisy about compromises, and adjustments, and re- constructions, and peaceable secession, completely at an end — the mask is boldly torn aside, and treason and usurpation stand as truly revealed this moment before the American people, in the pei'son of Jefferson Davis, as ever they did to the horror and astonishment of ancient Israel, in the person of Absalom. War is now u})on us by no act of our own, and like men we must meet it — meet it promptly — meet it deter- minedly — meet it triumphantly. As Cato said to the Homans, " Divine assistance and protection in such an hour as this, are not to be obtained by timorous prayers, and weeping supplications. To succeed, we must join vigilant counsel and courageous action. "f Do, as until * See " Duty of Union in a Just War;" A discourse by J. II. Stevens, Stone- ham, Mass. 1813. N. Y. :!a cd., 1830. f This passngo, ^vhleh was a very f\\vorite one with our lathers in the days 28 very recently our enemies have deliberately calculated, as an indispensable element of their success, that we would do : be divided among ourselves, niggardly as to our money, cowardly as to our lives, careless as to our honor, indifferent as to who or what principles are in power at Washington, if Market street only flourishes, and manu- factures are revived, and money is easy and plentiful; and we dare not presume to ask God to avert from us a calamity, we will not use all proper means to avert from ourselves. Now to exhibit effeminacy and cowardice, will only be to provoke Him to raise up his indignation against us, and to cast us off as a nation utterly and for- ever ! On the other hand, let us rally as one man to the de- fence of our country, as our fathers did in the mighty struggle of the Revolution, and with the blessing of God upon our united efforts, failure is impossible. The reso- lution with which our fathers entered into that conflict to achieve our liberties, be it the full determination of every heart now present, in order to preserve these liber- ties. Here it is, in this precious manuscript of a ser- of the Revolution, and esijecially with Benjamin Franklin, is worthy of being quoted at length : " Capta urbe, nihil sit reliqui victis, sed, per Deos immortales, vos ego ap- pello, qui semper domos, villas, signa, tabulas vestras, tantaj estimationis fecistis, si ista, cujus cumque modi sint, quae amplexamini, retinere, si volup- tatibus vestris otium pr^bere vultis ; expergis cimini aliquando, et capessite republieam. Non agitur nunc de sociorum injuriis ; Libertas et Anima nostra in dubio est. Dux hostium cum exercitu supra caput est. Vos cunctamini etiam nunc, et dubitatis quid faciatis? Scilicet, res ipsa aspera est, sed vos non timetis earn. Imo vero maxime ; sed inertia et mollitia animi, alius alium expectantes, cunctamini ; videlicet, Diis immortalibus confisi, qui banc rem- publicam in maximis periculis servavere. Nox votis xeque suppliciis mulie- RiBus, AuxiLiA Deorom parantur ; vigilando, agendo, bene consulendo, pros- pere omnia cedunt. Ubi socordia tete atque ignavite tradideris nequicquam Deos implores, irati, infestique sunt." — JI. For. Cato in Salust. 29 mon, delivered in old Pine Street Presbyterian Church, of this city, on the thanksgiving day appointed for the peace, 1783 : '"' The establishment of America in the peaceable pos- session of her rights, stands an instance of the divine favor unexamj)led in the records of time. W/io docs not remember the general language when the ivar commenced, CHEERFULLY TO PAY ONE-HALF OF OUR PROPERTY TO SECURE OUR RIGHTS? But cvcn half of this has not been re- quired. Taken on a national scale, the price of our peace, when compared with the advantages gained, scarce deserves the name !'"•' That was the spirit which achieved our liberties. That is the spirit which alone under God can preserve them. Thank God, that the best blood of the Revolution has not yet become wholly corrupt and degenerate, and that it still lives in such men as Slemmer, and Anderson, and Scott. The fact that such men are still left to us, in connection with the new baptism of patriotism that has come down upon us, we cannot doubt, from the Lord of Hosts himself, is a token for good of speed}^ victory ; that the thief will be expelled from our national house — our national property recovered, and our American family once more restored to peace. * Since the delivery of this sermon, I have found a MS. of Dr. DufEeld more precious still ; for which, see Appendix. APPENDIX. At Pino Street Presbyterian Cluircli, Philadelphia, March 17, 1776, by Rev. George Duffield, D.D,, Pastor. Isaiah xxi. 11, 12. " The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night ? Watchman, what of the night ? The watchman said. The morning cometh, and also the night : if ye will inquire, inquire ye : return, come." :^ y;'^ ^ :^ ^ ^^ ^ :^ The instruction afforded in these words is as follows : I. That it is the duty of a people, under a pressure of trouble and distress, to be earnest in applying to God respecting their affairs. II. That such a people have encouragement to expect God will answer them, and with the affliction administer comfort to them. I. What is implied in applying to God in such circumstances ? 1. A generous concern for the public good. Idumea's watchman, representing all those of the inhabitants of that country suitably exercised in that day of trial (and every true patriot in our day), seems to have abandoned every meaner consideration — to have lost every thought of private concern for himself or his own peculiar interest, in an ardent glow of zeal for the good of the common cause, by which, while others indulge in repose, his eyes slumber not ; he watches for his countrj'-'s good ; his thoughts are all on this ; and his busy laboring mind is consulting, planning, and inquiring for its good. View him a moment on his watch-tower on Mount Seir ; his looks are the picture of deep concern ; anxious care dwells seated on his brow ; painful study for his country's good has emaciated his frame ; spread a solemn composure over his countenance, and hastened his age faster far than hurrying time itself would roll away his years ! Such a patriot was good Hezekiah, who lived only to serve his country — whose days Avere measured by diligence for its good, and planning for its greatest benefit ; and whose consti- tution was so enfeebled bv unremitting care, that ere he had ni reached liis fortieth year, he had sunk before the first attack of disease, had not a miracle interposed for his deliverance. Such patriots of old were Samuel and Ezra, and, in the field, the brave Uriah. Such may thy councils, America, and such thine armies ever contain. (" Hiatus valde dejlciidus .'") 2. A sense of the overrulinjr 2:overnment of God determininfr; the affan's of men. Without this, the Idumean patriot had never called with such ardor, to the watchman God had appointed to observe and de- clare his will. So intimately is a reverence for God, connected with the proper discharge of every duty we owe to our fellow- men, as individuals, or the community at large ; both proceeding from the same good principle within ; that never can there be a proper and sincere discharge of the latter where the former is neglected. True patriotism is founded in true religion; and where the latter is not, there is great danger of the former being bought or bribed by an adequate jjrice, or in some way blasted, like the seed sown in stony ground, that perished through want of root. 3. A diligent attention to the use of means. God has so determined, in the ordinary course of his provi- dential dispensations, that the blessings he designs to bestow, are yet to be sought after and obtained in the use of the proper means. Eden itself was not to nourish Adam without dress- ing. The same God that fed Elijah by the brook, could have commanded the ravens to feed the family of Jacob, but they must travel to Egypt for bread. Canaan was given to Israel, but they must march, and fight, and toil, to subdue and possess it. Paul was assured that the ship's crew would all be saved, but the mariners must stay aboard, and ply their endeavors, or not a soul Avould be safe. And who that considers the en- gagedness of this earnest Edomite, "calling from Seir," can doubt his diligence in every measure adapted to obtain the end. 4. The true patriot must be earnestly engaged in prayer. In the common affairs of life, as Avell as in religion, we may adopt the language of the Apostle, and whether Paul plant or Apollos water, it is God must give the increase. This is the Psalmist's idea. Ps. cxxvii. 1. ^ Except the Lord build the house, they labor in A'ain that build it," &c. It is this blessing that makes prosperous as well as rich, &c. To Him, therefore, with great propriety does the pious Idumean look, and ardently pray in our text ; and it will generally be found that Avhen God is about to bestow any remarkable favor on a person or people. he previously pours upon tliat people or person a spirit of ear- nest supplication to God for his favor. That it is the incumbent duty of a people, and especially •ftdien involved in calamitous circumstances, thus to pray ; con- sider 1. God has commanded it, and to his injunction added great encouragement. Ps. 1. 15. " Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Ps. xxxvii. 5. " Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him ; and he shall bring it to pass." Joel ii. 32. "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be delivered ; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said." Hence, 2. Prayer is one of the most probable means of obtaining deliverance from trouble. As the calamities of a people are the chastening of God for their sins, and one end designed therein is to bring them back to him from whom they have departed, the more they are brought to a sense of their dependence on God, and engaged in returning and making their supplication to him, the greater is their prospect not only of being delivered, but of having their calamities converted into blessings. Micah iv. G. And " I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted, and 1 will make her that was cast off a strong nation." 3. Prayer brings down the perfections of God to the as- sistance of those who are thus exercised. Ps. xvi. 1. "Pre- serve me, God, for in thee do I put my trust." Ps. cxviii. 5-12. " I called upon the Lord in distress : the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side ; I will not fear : what can man do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me : therefore shall I see my de- sire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. All nations compassed me about : but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them. They compassed me about ; yea, they compassed me about ; but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. They compassed me about like bees ; they are quenched as the fire of thorns : for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them." II. Let us now consider the answer, and point out some signs that promise a morning of deliverance to a people af- flicted. Known unto God are all his ways from the beginning, and from the perfections of Deity we may safely assert that all moral and natural evil will finally be rendered subservient to the perfection of the divine plan ; but in u'hat manner this shall be done surpasses the contracted power of the feeble mind of man to determine, and rests perhaps among the mysteries of heaven that Gabriel himself has not explained, but waits for the finishing scene to explain the mysterious drama. Yet so it is. As day and night succeed each other in the natural, so both the natural and the moral world have their nights and their days in successive interesting periods, since the memorable hour when Adam forsook his God, and introduced moral evil, and its inseparable attendant, natural evil, into this small province of the Great Creator's kingdom. The whole world throughout is as of the Jews in our text, " The morning cometh, and also the night," and so shall continue until night and day be blended no more. Eternal day and eternal night will possess their eternally- separated regions, and separate the inhabitants in endless hap- piness and joy, or everlasting horror and despair. The particular time of the Jewish state, designed in our text by the morning and the night here mentioned, may be hard to determine ; but it will with great propriety apply to various periods. It was, at the time of the prophecy, a night of sore impend- ing distress from Sennacherib the Assyrian King. A morning of deliverance came in the destruction of Rabshakeh's army. 2 Kings, xix. The troubled state of affairs for a series of years before and through the Babylonish captivity, was a season of night. A morning came in the return imder Cyrus ! It was a long night, in respect of religion, through the whole of their ceremonial service — this was still darker before the coming of Christ, but in him arose a bright morning. " A dayspring from on high visited them, to give light to those that were in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide their feet into the way of peace." Luke i. 78, 79. Night came on them in the destruction of their city and na- tion, and has continued now 1700 years ; but the prophets and the apostle Paul (Rom. xi. 15, 26) promise them a glorious morning in the latter days of the world. The Christian Church has had its nights and its mornings. And the like has been the case with every nation in a mea- sure. But it more especially concerns us to attend to the improve- ment of this doctrine, both with respect to individuals and to the present state of our own public affairs. Im'provement. — 1. In the way of comfort to the people of God, for (a.) All tlieir affairs are ordered by God, who is their God, and to Avhom they have a right to go as their God and inquire. (b.) Though they have a night, there is an eternal morning in reserve. But 2. Our subject is full of gloom to sinners out of Christ. Now, they have a night of spiritual darkness and death — an eternal night of dreadful misery and despair awaits you — very shortly — hereafter. 3. The improvement of our subject naturally leads our thoughts to the state of our public affairs. It is at present a night scene over this vast northern part of the New World. God, to chastise us for our offences, and for wise and important purposes, has suffered dark clouds to enve- lope our sky. It becomes every one, who wishes his own or his country's good, to inquire — "Watchman, what of the night?" It is a time for earnest prayer, joined with diligent endeavor. There is in store an answer of mercy ! There is a morning in reserve, though the night may continue some time. Reasons to expect a Morning. — 1. God never has cast off and destroyed a nation so soon, as it would be to deliver America now to ruin. Look at the ante-diluvian world — the Amorites, and other nations of Canaan — the Jews, &c. 2. This western world appears to have been retained for that purpose, and designed by an ordinance of heaven as an ASYLUM for Liberty, civil and religious. Our forefathers, who first inhabited yonder eastern shores, fled from the iron rod and heavy hand of tyranny. This it was, and no love of earthly gain or prospect of temporal grandeur, urged them, like Ab- raham of old, to leave their native soil and tender connections behind, to struggle through winds and waves, and seek a peace- ful retreat in a then howling wilderness, where they might rear the banner of liberty and dwell contented under its propitious shade, esteeming this more than all the treasures of a British Egypt, from whence they were driven forth. Methinks, I see them on the inhospitable shore they were hastening to leave, and hear them adopt the sentiment of the Psalmist Iv. 6, 7, to give it in the expressive language of Watts, with a small varia- tion : were I like a feathered dove, And innocence had wings ; I'd fly, and make a far remove. From perseciifimj Icings .' Nor was it the fostering care of Britain produced the rapid populating of these Colonies, but the tyranny and oppression, both civil and ecclesiastical, of that and other nations, con- 35 strained multitudes to resign every other earthly comfort, and leave their country and their friends, to enjoy in peace the fair possession of freedom in this western world. It is this has reared our cities, and turned the wilderness, so far and w'ide, into a fruitful field. America's sons, very few excepted, were all refugees; the chosen spirits of various nations that could not, like Issachar, bow doivn between the two burdens of the ac- cursed cruelty of tyranny in church and state. And can it be supposed that the Lord has so far forgot to be gracious, or shut up his tender mercies in his wrath, to favor the arms of op- pression, and to deliver up this asylum to slavery and bondage 't Can it be supposed that the God who made man free, and en- graved in indefeasible characters the love of liberty in his mind, should for])id freedom, already exiled from Asia, Africa, and under sentence of banishment from Europe — that he should for- bid her to erect her banner here, and constrain her to abandon the earth ? As soon shall he reverse creation, and forbid yon- der sun to shine ! To the Jews he preserved their cities of refuge ; and whilst sun and moon endure, America shall re- main a CITY OF KEFUGE FOR THE WHOLE EARTH ; until she her- self shall play the tyrant, disgrace her freedom, and 'provoke her God ! When that day shall come, if ever, then, and not till then, shall she also fall, " slain with those that go down to the pit !" 3. The spirit and ardent love of liberty that has possessed these colonies so wide and far, is a strong evidence of a morn- ing, a bright morning hastening on. It is the same spirit that inspired our forefathers' breasts, when first they left their native shores, and embarked for this then howling desert. Their mortal part has mingled with the dust, but the surviving spirit has triumphed over death and the grave, and descended to their sons ; and it is this spirit, beating high in the veins of their offspring, has roused them so unanimous and determined in the present struggle. 'Tis this spirit has formed our exten- sive Union, and inspired our councils with that magnanimity and lustre that astonishes half the world. 'Tis this spirit has enrolled your congresses and conventions in the annals of im- mortal fame. 'Tis this spirit has enabled your dear, sufiering brethren, in yonder once flourishing city,* now almost a ruinous heap, to endure joyfully the spoiling of their goods ; glorying to be accounted Avorthy to sufi'er in the honorable cause ! 'Twas this spirit that ranked a Warren, a Montgomery and others, upon the list of proto-martyrs for American liberty. And this same spirit has led you forth, ye patriot bands, associated in * Boston. 36 your country's cause, and will, I trust, still urge you on to noble deeds, and bravely to prefer a glorious death to slavery and chains ! And this — what shall I call it less than a divine afflatus so generally prevailing through all ranks, in the cabinet and in the field — is an argument from heaven that America shall rise triumphant over the proud waves and raging billows that now threaten her ruin ! When a nation is to be destroyed, she is, as described by Hosea vii. 11, " like a silly dove without heart ;" but when [here, again, the enthusiasm of the writer becomes too great for words, and we have another hiatus. May we ven- ture to complete it?] but when this divine afflatus comes upon a nation, and it is refreshed, like a giant with new wine, the omen is sure and the victory inevitable ! 4. There is great reason to believe that the Church of Christ is yet to have a glorious day in America. Religion, like the sun, rose in the east, and has continued its progress in a western direction. Once it flourished in Asia. Now it is almost total darkness there. From thence, it came to Europe, and there shone bright for a season ; but scenes of persecution harassed it, and the shadov/s of a dark evening have long been gathering round it. America seems to have been prepared as the wilderness to which the woman should fly from the face of the dragon, and be nourished for a long series of time. Rev. xii. 6. God has here planted his church — he has hedged it round, and made it to flourish ; and though there have been some few, some very few remains of a mistaken zeal for piety, in attempting to fetter the minds of men with pains and penalties, yet it may with great justice be said, in no part of the earth does religious liberty equally prevail, and just sen- timents of the rights of conscience obtain, as in this land. Here has pure and undefiled religion lengthened her cords and strengthened her stakes. Yonder to-day are the praises of God singing, and the word of his grace proclaimed, Avhere but a few years back his name was not known, nor anything heard but the yells of savage beasts, or poor indarkened Indian tribes, equally ignorant of the true God as the beasts themselves. How large an addition to the kingdom of Christ has been made in this land ! The king of glory has here indeed gone forth, with his sword on his thigh, riding prosperously in state, conquering and to conquer ! The progress of this kingdom is still continued with a rapid career ; and shall his foes tear the laurels from the brow of the great Redeemer ? and deliver his victory and glorious prospects into slavery and thraldom ! For- bid it, Jesus, from thy throne ! It shall not take place ! The 37 church shall flourish here and hold on her "way triumphant, in spite of Kings, Lord, Commons, and Devils, until yonder vast unexplored western regions shall all resound the praises of God, and the unenlightened tribes of the wilderness shall know and adore our Immanuel. And as civil and religious liberty live or languish together, so shall the civil liberty of America hold pace with the triumphs of the Gospel throughout this ex- tensive land. Though we are wicked enough, God knows, and have much need of repentance and returning to our God, as we would wish and hope for his favor, yet we are not arrived to that degree of impiety, or that so generally prevailing as is usually, and, I may say, always the case before God gives up and de- livers a land into the hand of their enemies; and this is an argument why Ave may yet hope for a morning and a further day. G. The peculiar hand of Providence that has evidently led us hitherto, and the remarkable smiles of heaven on our at- tempts thus far for our defence, and his frowns upon those that have risen up against us, afford also a pleasing prospect. "Had not the Lord," now may America say, ''had not the Lord been on our side * * the proud waters had gone over our soul." " Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm cxxiv. In all these things I have mentioned, to which more might be added, God speaks clearly in his providence, as on Sinai out of the cloud ; and to us is the watchman's reply. The morning COMETH, though a space of night may intervene. How long before it may arise, or in what manner the clouds shall break before it, or Avhat connection America then shall have with any other nation (Britain going down to the deep !) or whether with any at all, that God who directs her counsels will determine !" If the old Pine street Pastor was wont to preach such ser- mons as this, we arc not at all surprised at the continual out- bursts against him of Tory malice, of which let the following extract from "The Word of Congress," by Rev. (?) Jonathan Odell (1779) suffice : "A saint of old, as learned monks have said, Preached to the fish, the fish his voice obeyed : The same good man convened the grunting herd, "Who bowed obedient to his powerful word ; Such energy had truth in days of yore. Falsehood and nonsense in our days have more : Dufiield avers them to be all in all. And mounts or quits the pulpit at their call. 38 In vain " New Light" displays her heavenly shine, In vain attract him oracles divine ; Chaplain of Congress give him to become, Light may be dark and oracles be dumb. It pleased Saint Anthony to preach to brutes, To preach to Devils best with Duffield suits." The Congress of 1776 Devils ! The verdict of posterity is somewhat diflferent. So, truly, says the poet : Multa renascentur quae jam cecidere, cadentquc, Qui^ nunc sunt in honore ! * W6( *<^ <'^*'°"'%«' V^^\<^ ^.^^^^o* . -> v^^\/ %-^-^/ V-^# V '6 . -> v^^ |*^•;^^\ 4^°.-^i>- .A:^.\ /. «. » ' ^^ •^0 ' • '^^^ ♦^ *A§f A^ "^^.P / **^*^'- '^ K* 1y^ ^^ -^^V IP's 3^ «"-••. •^c ^'. -* .^:^°'*' ,^^' ;^- >?-n* :-> ^"' ^^^/Oi!' ^0• J^"-*^ /% '°Si \r ''^ BOOKBINDING C'an'.ille Pd March ;of,i 198?