:i)94 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 012 026 273 7 Hollinger pH8.5 Mill Run F3'1955 ' SEE NEXT PAGE FOR I.IST OF BACK NUMBERS. I F 458 ''^^'^'^^^^^^ *" No. 23 Serial. Price, 10 Cents. .1 _ -• - - .B94 Copy 1 '^"^ PULPIT AFD ROSTRUM. ANDREW J. GRAHAM and CHARLES B. COLLAR, REPORTERS AND EDITORS. PROVIDENCE IN WAR; A THANKSCIVINC DISCOURSE Rev. S. D. BURCHARD, D. D., SKUVERED AT THt; THIRTEENTH STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 28th, 18G1. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY E. D BARKER, 13 6 G U A N i.) ST K E 1 : T . December 15th, 1:861. THE PULPIT AND ROSTRUM, AN ELEGANT PAMPHLET SERIAL. SERMONS, LECTURES, ORATIONS, Etc. MBREW J. GRAHAM and CHARLES B. COLLAR, Reporters. Twelve Numbers, $1.00, in advance; Single Number, 10 cents. The special object in tho publication of this Serial is, to preserve in couvcuieut form the bi-^l thoughts of our most gifted men,.jwst as they come from their lips ; thus retaining their freshness :iud pereonality. Great favor has already been shown the work, and its continuance is certain. TUe Buccessive numbers will be issued as often as Discourses worthy a i)laco in the Serial can be found ; »ut <>f the many reported, we hope to elect twelve each year. MUMBERS ALREADY PUBLISHED. No. 1.— CHRISTIAN RECREATION AND UNCHRISTIAN AMUSEMENT, Sermon by Rev. T L. Cutler. No. 2.— MENTAL CULTURE FOR WOMEN, Addresses by Rer. H. W. Beecher and Hon. Jas. T. Brady. No. 3.— GRANDEURS OF ASTRONOMY, Discourse by Prof. O. M. Mitchell. No. 4.— PROGRESS AND DEMANDS OF CHRISTIANITY, Sermon by Rev. Wm. H. MiLBURN. No. 5.— JESUS AND THE RESURRECTION, Sermon by Rev. A. Kingman Non. No. 6.— TRIBUTE TO HUMBOLDT, Addresses by Hon. Geo. B.vNCROrr. Rev. Dr. Thompson, Prol's. Agassiz, Libber, Bache and Guyot. No. 7.— COMING TO CHRIST, Sermon by Rev. Henry M. Scudder, 1). D., M. D. No. 8.— DANIEL WEBSTER, Oration by Hon. Edward EvERErr, at the luaugiir- ation of the statue of Webster, at Boston, Sept. 17th, 1859. No. 9.— A CHEERFUL TEMPER, a Thanksgiving Discourse, by Rev. W.m. Adams, D. D. No. 10.— DEATH OF WASHINGTON IRVING, Address by Hon. Edward Everett and Sermon by Rev. Jno. A. Todd. No. 11.— GEORGE WASHINGTON, Oration by Hon. Tiios. ^-. Bocock, at the Inauguration of the statue of Washington, in the city uf \Vusliiiiyton, February 22d, 1860. No. 12.~TRAYEL, ITS PLEASURES, ADVANT^AGES AND REQUIREMEN'J'S, Lecture by J. H. Siddons. No. 13.— ITALIAN INDEPENDENCE, Addresses by Rev. Henry Ward Beecuei! . Rev. Henry W. Bellows, D. D., Rev. Jos. P. Thompson, D. D., and Prof. O. -M. Mitchell. Delivered in New York, Feb. 17th, 1860. No. 14.— SUCCESS OF OUR REPUBLIC, Oration by Hon. Edward Evehrti, in Boston, July 4th, 1860 Nos. ■'^- *' 1ft— /TW^rr. i,i nn.^ '^0 rpiitw 1 WEBSTER'S SPEECH, in the Unite.! States J Carolina in 18G3. Nos. 17 & 18.- (Two in one, 20 cents.) WEBSTER'S REPLY 'J'O HAYNE No. 19.— LAFAYEITE, Oration by Hon. Charles Sumner, delivered in .xcv.' York and Philadelphia, Dec, i860 No. 20.— THE CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, a paper contributed o the London Times, by J. Lothrop Motley. Nos. 21 & 22, "THE QUESTIONS OF THE DAY." The great oration of Edward Everett, delivered at the Academy of Music, July 4, 1861. Hack or current uumbiMS are promptly mailed from the ofHce, on receipt of the price. 15 & 16 —(Two in one, 20 cents.j WEBSTER'S SPEECH, in the ITuite,! Senate, bn the FORCE BILL, and JACKSON'S PROCLAMATION to South :S I'ROVIDENCE IN THE WAR A Thanksgiving Sermon hj the Rev. S. D. Burchard, D.D., delivered in Ihc Thirteenth Street rreshyterian Church, New York, Nov. 28, 1861. " Then .1 lord on whose hand the king- leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord wonld make Avindows in heaven, might this thing Le ? And he said. Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes." 2 Kings vii. 2, AVi: have met to-day, in accordance with a time-honored and excellent custom of our fathers, who, in the simjilicity and fervor of their piety, wero wont to acknowledge the hand of God in all their worldly affairs. In adversity and trial, they hmnbled themselves under the almighty hand of God ; but in prosperity, they restrahied not praise, hut poured forth their hearts in sublime and devout thanks- giving. We have met to-day imder circumstances of the most extraordinary character — circumstances so mixed and pecu- liar, and so intimately connected with ourselves as to strike home to the bosoms of us all Avith great and unerring force. If our circumstances are mixed, so are the emotions which they naturally engender. And in the sight of God, to wdiose penetrating gaze every thought and intention are laid bare, we present at this moment, in this His house, the 292 PROVIDENCE IN THE AVAR. strango spectacle of a people filled witli gi'atitiide and tliaukfulness for manifold and seasonable blessings ; yet, in tlie same instant, bowed down by the weight of a huge calaniity, and with a painful sense of our need for His sus- taining grace and i>rotecting mercy. Such, indeed, is our situation, that while we praise the Lord that He hath given to us the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine, with the same bi-eath we are compelled to exclaim : " Let God arise, let His enemies bo scattered; let them also that hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so dri\'e them away ; as Avax melteth before the fire, so let tlie wicked perish at the presence of God." We live in times at once the most api)alliiig and the most sublime — times in which a country, springing from a people whose fathers have enriched the scroll of fame by names that shall never perish, written there with pencils dipped in the blood of patriotic martyrdom, once an experiment, but long since an acknowledged foct — times in which the degeneracy of a portion of the nation, recreant to honor and of suicidal intent, must be met by the stern determi- nation of men who dare to do and who dare to die for the land that gave them birth. A patriot, all the world over, lives everywhere and forever in the minds of the good and the true. Amid other sources of knowledge, the history of the past is wliat a wise and a prudent j^eo^jle can never l)ass over in safety. A people neglectful of historic teach- ing is a people without a literature and Avithout civiliza- tion ; for history is the double finger-post in the world, ■whence we gain intelligence to improve the jjassing day. Of history there are two kinds — profime and sacred. Pro- fane history is the record of men and events, either in their PUOVIDENCE IN THE WAR. 293 progress or de];)ression, without ostensibly regarding a Divine interposition. If spreads before us the past and acquaints us witli the present. National observation cen- tered here induces a firni and wise precaution ; it marks crimes, for their extirpation ; faihires, to avoid their repe- tition ; and takes hold of the last and highest point of ad- vancement to link it to pursuits in which we are engaged. Sacred history is the history of God's dealings with man, and their effect ; and of man himself as the instrument of executing' the decrees of Heaven. To overrate the im- portance of sacred history is beyond our power. From the relief of individual want and danger, the inspired rec- ord advances to the protection of armies and the safety of peoples. A knowledge of tl>e history of the world, and of God's own history in the world, in reality, enables a man to live twice, for he joins yesterday with to-day. The l^ast is but a series of yesterdays, running back to the birth of time; and by their junction to the now of busy activity and turmoil, we behold again the mighty deeds that have been; and if of the household of faith, our confidence iu Infinite wisdom is supported by the i^rofound conviction that wrong^ however plausible, overbearing, and extended, can never prosper ; but that rigJit, with the might of God behind it, and its sincere and earnest prosecution, shall in the end most gloriously triumph. Thus has it ever been, and thus will it ever be. I shall now endeavor to prove, from the circmnstances of the text, that all events wliich occur in this world are under the Divine control ; that there is an overruling Providence ceaselessly watchful, bountiful, and working, from whom we derive abundance for the sower and the eater, the fruitfuhiess of hibor, and the products for com- 294 PROVIDENCE IN THE WAR. merce ; that that same Providence can alone give jjeace to a people, or regulate the surging billows of ruthless Avar ; that He beholds the oppressed batthng for self-preserva- tion, and controls the contests and convulsions of mighty nations ; and that if a national sin has been the cause of national convulsion, His operations will be aimed at its de- struction. But if the j)reservation of the sin be the sole object of the strife, He may permit the integrity of the ruin to be just as complete, though the ruin be delayed, " Jehoram, the son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria. And he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord; but not Uke his father and mother ; nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin." Here we have the unimpeachable history of a people pro- fessing to be separate from the errors of others — to be the people of God, and receiving of His mercy great and sig- nal blessings — led by their rulers into adulterating the true religion, the doctrme of God, so pure, so holy, so unselfish. Calves of gold had been introduced as objects of divine worship. Yet these were better than their predecessors ; for tliey had forsaken the grosser adoration of Baal and its attendant inicpiities ; but forasmucli as they had withdrawn their worship, though only in part, from tlie true God, to that extent unquestionably had they forsaken Him, and for- saken Him, their help in time of need, to devote regard to a golden image. Elisha, the prophet, dwelt in Israel, upon which kingdom Ben-hadad, king of Syria, was disposed to make Avar. The preparations for Avar, then as ?^o?/', were sought to be en- shrouded in mystery ; but Elisha AA'as cognizant of every counsel the king of Syria took ; and so completely aAvare Avas he of all his proceedings, that it Avas said to the king: rr.oviDKXcE in tiik "w^ra. 295 " Elisha, the propliet tliat is in Israel, telletli llic king of Israel the Avords that thou speakest in the hedchanil)er." This information was obtained through Divine revelation. The Syrian king desired the person of the prophet, and having ascertained where he was, sent, vinder cover of the night, horses and chariots, and a great host, and compassed the city about. The servant of the man of God rose early in the morning, and made this portentous, this alarming discovery, and in a state of trepidation said to Elisha: " Alas ! my master, what shall we do ?" Elisha, unmoved by alarm and unawed by danger, instantly replied, with he- roic firmness : " Fear not ; for they that be with us are greater than tliey that be with them.'''' Such a reply, in their then condition, seemed to have no foundation in fact, and moreover bore tlie appearance of beuig contrary to the truth. Two men were unarmed and helpless, and sur- rounded by enemies who sought their destruction. And yet one of them could say, and say with consistency, that he had friends for his protection, immediately available, who were stronger than this army, tei-rible with banners, when not a single being was visible to render them aid and comfort. Elisha was right. Oh ! the sublimity of flxith, and its mighty power! Oh! the grasp it takes of the strength of God, to transform weakness into certain and irrefragable sccui'ity ! lie saw more than sufficient to jus- tify the assertion he had made. Elisha then prayed that the Lord would open the eyes of his minister; and he, too, saw, his gaze resting on a spectacle which, for bewildering grandeur and for rapturous beauty, can only be reahzed when God is pleased to unvail His majesty and to display His glory — a vision which can never more be repeated till the blood-washed soul, borne on the wings of angels, shall 200 PKOVIDENCE IN THE WAE. pass the bright gate of Paradise, to sit with Jesus upon the eternal throne. "The mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Elisha." This was God's pro- tection — grand, eiFective, unsurpassed, impassable ! " The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Ilim, and delivereth them." Thus, we repeat, is it ever in the world, and ever will be. His shield is spread, though it be unseen by imbelief, and becomes a bulwark that can not be sundered. The Syrian soldiery, smitten with blind- ness, were taken captive, and could have been destroyed. But God was merciful, and, with restored sight, Ihey were permitted to return home. Still the king of Syria was dissatisfied. He thirsted for the conquest of the king of Israel, and commenced the at- tack by besieging Samaria. Prior to this, and even simul- taneously, the horn of plenty had been emptied into the lap of the Israehtes. The treasure of the people was great. The arts of peace were cultivated, and commerce supplied abundantly the nation's wants. But war disturl^ed their quiet pursuits, and let loose gaunt want to ravage and de- stroy. The famuie was so sore, that an ass's head sold for four-score pieces of silver. As the king of Israel passed by on the wall, a woman cried, " Help, my lord, O king!" to which he rephed: "If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I?" Prevailing misery led him outwardly to humble himself m the sight of God ; but the sackcloth on his flesh was no index of the heart — he yet rendered divided hom- age to Jehovah. The errors of ages and of men long pass- ed into eternity have not in all instances passed with them. Men of unstable faith, for their own interest, purposely pervert their judgment in tracing effects to causes. And, like the king who threw the blame of the disorders in his V^ I'ROVIDEN'CE IN THE WAK. 297 kingdom on Elislm, they are willing to attribute disasfev to any source but the right one. Ii5rael Avas in the presence of an enemy remorselessly clamoring for empire. Com- merce Iiad ceased, the people suffered, and a surreiidei^ would involve destruction. His army, coope within the city, were held at bay by an imjjlacable foe actively Avatching a favorable oppoutunify to strike a decisive blow. His position would soon be mitenablc ; and humanly speak- ing, both himself and his kingdom must perish. With this crushing weight upon him, Ave are not surprised that he said, " If the Lord do not help, Avhence shall I ?" But we are surprised he uttered these Avords without feeling their import. They inA'ohed the real issue. For unless Divine assistance came, the Avhole country Avould be overrun, and ruthless ruin Avould follow the footsteps of the mad- dened despot as he stamped his blood-red heel u]»on the liberties of a stricken and a prostrate nation. Faithless stood the ruler, Avith the AVords of eternal truth in his mouth, feebly hoping in Jehovah, but clinging strongly to liis golden idols, tohich sin had given rise to the Syrian in- vasion. In his excess of Avickedness, his blame of Elisha was in etfect laying his sin to the charge of God ; and the man of God Avho stood betAveen him and death Avas im- piously doomed as a sacrifice. "But Elisha sat in his house," calmly reading events as they progressed, and sol- emnly beholding the hand of the Ahnighty. With the arrival of the messenger of murder and of the king, the liour arrived for the prophet to make the happy but unex- pected announcement — " Hear ye the Avord of the Lord. Thus saith the Loid, To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two meas- ures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria." For 298 rEOYIDENCE IN THE WAE. this to take place, the contest must be at an end. It im- plied that there should no longer be an enemy in front of the city; that peace once more sliould dwell within their boi'ders ; in fine, it implied an entire reversal of things now in active and relentless conflict. Where raging war had devastated and was still devastating ; where all Avas gloom, and sorrow, and darkness ; where a stricken people writhed within the meshes of an iron despair, there should succeed a restoration to former prosperity, and a re-visita- tion of quietude to a distracted land. And all this within the passage of less than four-and-twenty hours. Xever was a nation so close upon defeat. Never had humanity drifted nearer to its uttermost extremity. But that moment so nearly an overthrow — yet not an overthrow — proved the Almighty's season of deliverance. The morrow came, and with it war gave way to peace, sorrow to joy, and danger to security. Such an illustrious act of Divine interposition, so speedy, so well timed, so thoroughly efficient, may well stag- ger the mind of the unbeliever in the goodness and provi- dence of God. It did the lord on whose hand the king leaned ; who, having heard the words of the man of God, said, " Be- hold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be ?"' To which Elisha replied, " Thou shalt see it with thine eyes." He did see it with his eyes, and he saw that what was im2)ossible with man is eminently possible with God. God wrought out this great work after his own fashion. The Syrians, alarmed at the noise of what ap- peared the approach of a great host, and imagining rein- forcements were coming down upon them, fled in the twilight in confusion and dismay, leaving their tents and their horses, and strewing the road to the river Jordan with garments and vessels thrown away in their haste. rr.OVIDENCE IN THE WAR. 299 All the food in the camp became the property of tlie Is- raelite?. And. so a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and the same price was paid for two measures of barley. The man of God and the nation were saved, as the Lord had promised. AYith such a history as this, who can be unthankful for mercies promised and for mercies granted ? Who can be an unbeliever in the j^rovidence of God — a j^rovidence so minute, numbering the hairs of the head — a providence so extensive as to embrace the government of every nation of the earth ? The record of what God has done once is given to intimate He is able to do again. And if it be true that history, in the course of years, repeats itself, and if it be true that God hath treasured up mercy for all generations. He, who is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, when He sees a nation convulsed by intestine strife, and shaken to its center by the evil passions of men, and striving to maintain its existence in undiminished independence, in advancing freedom, and in unru2:)tured unity — if the heart of that nation repose its confidence in Ilim, lie Avill not be an idle spectator. But when His help is needed — without which it is impossible to cohere — and when His help is asked by the mingled voice of men — many myriads, who feel deeply and who love fervently, His help will be manifest. His justice will search out and probe the cause of conflict, His mercy will tone down the bitterness and acerbity of faction, and His wisdom will devise and develop the means to be adopted to establish a genuine reconciliation — a reconciliation which shall bo honest, because it is just; which shall be binding, be- cause it is sincere; which shall be lasting, because it is brotherly. 300 PROVIDENCE IN THE WAH. " If the Lord would make windows in heaven." Hear the word of tlie Lord ; His eye seeth every j^recious thing ; for He looketh to tlie ends of the earth, and seeth inider the whole heaven. Of our country it may he said, even now, though in such perplexity : " God turneth the wildei-ncss into a standing water, and diy ground into water-springs." Our fields have Avhitened unto harvest ; full sheaves of golden corn have gladdened the sower ; our vineyards have been prosperous ; our cattle have suffered no decrease. And for His profound mercies in causing the earth to bring forth its fruits and to yield abundance, we call upon all that is within us to praise and magnify His name. We praise Him for the inestimable advantages we enjoy for the education of the people — advantages to be found in no other country on the face of the globe. We have faith iu the rising generation — that when called to take their place and to succeed us in the various dejiartinents of life, they will be found indoctrinated in those principles which dignify a people — principles of virtue and honor and truth — principles capable of frowning dowji the igno- ble and unworthy, and of sufficient strength to maintain themselves unshackled and free. We praise Him for the providential freedom of our institutions, built up by the infusion of His wisdom into the minds of our fathers. Subserving the interests of public morals, while they conduce to liberty, they are not Avithout the imposition of restraints. A wise and equitable admixture of both, tending to the elevation of the masses, is a proof of their adaptation to our common nature, and of their beneficial influence on p, great and growing popu- lation. I'KOVIDENCK IN TIIK WAU. 301 We praise Iliin for an upright judiciary — the glory of the land of the free. When judges decree judgment Avithout fear and favor, upon llie intrinsic merits of the case; when they scorn the bribe of the corrujtt, and inter- pose the shield of their integrity to protect the weak against the strong; when they administer justice as in the sight of God, and with a view of standing before the Judge of all the earth to be judged themselves — a country self-gOA'erned as our own has reason to feel secure. We praise Ilini for the ability we have to supply, through the medium of commerce, the Avants of other nations. We believe God has intended this great country to be the granary of the world. Kivers and railroads are the internal highways for carrying our cereal products. Every harbor is a resting-place for trade ; every delta an em])orium ; every station of importance a depot for accu- mulation. Throw down the map of the two hemisi)heres, cast your eye i;pon the intricate winding of the lakes — the keels of the slii})s of America are familiar there. Trace the tracks of a vessel engaged in circumnavigation — they are the recorded pathway on the charts for the guidance of future mariners of an adventurous fellow-countryman, now rendered more fimous for his capture of the rebel ambassadors. And wheresoever language is the exponent of thought and desire, our sails will be found to whiten the seas, and the Flag of our Union to float on the winds. We praise Ilini for the advancement of science, which has lent its aid to overcome geographic cliflftculties our fuhers may have sighed over, but never dreamed of accomplishing. This vast continent is spanned to its utmost extremity by wires running through forests, over 302 PKOVIDESC'E IN TIIK WAK. mouiitaiiis, and across the broad and rolling prairies, along ■vvhicli tlie subtile fluid courses with a swiftness defying time. The agile Indian may well Avonder that that iron thread, piercing the atmosphere and buoyed on poles not five times higher than himself, can hold conununication Avith a people separated by thousands of miles. Words can travel to the golden regions of California, and to that anomalous community of Utah, while we are traveling the length of our own Broadway. The means of our personal locomotion have improved in the same ratio. From the day that Fulton asked his scoffing passengers to suspend their condemnation for twenty minutes, while he examined his stopped engine, contending Avith the stream of our noble Hudson, to the present, steam navigation has im- mensely advanced. The hand of genius has built a shorter bi'idge across the boisterous Atlantic, on arches no mathe- matic eye can scan, and Avith buttresses no time can wear aAvay, by the construction of larger and SAvifter vessels ; and ere long I predict the voyage tp the mother country will not exceed a Aveek. It is instructive to Avatch the course of this mighty leveler, steam, and the influence it is silently but securely exerting over all the old habits of life here and everywhere. " 'i'ramp, tramp, across the land — Tramp, tramp, across the sea — " goes the iron horse. In high })laces, in Ioav places, its power is equally felt — felt by the prince and the peasant — by the farmer and the citizen. The solid gain the Avorld derives from its introduction is the increased value ])ut ii2:)0n the flying hour, and its aggressive invasion of the PROVIDENCE IN THE WAK. 3()3 region of first ideas — rousing, quickening, and exciting those sluggish minds whicli else might liave shimLered for the ages future, as they had slumbered in the ages past. The engine never tires, but speeds its way through densely populated districts, or along a road ^Ahere the foot of civilization had never trodden — where wild herds of cattle roamed imchecked, or where unsocial and ferocious beasts of prey found shelter or made lairs in caverns of the rocks or ground. In another form, but on the same principle, iron and steam have entered the domain of human labor, and abridged its toil. The application of steam to print- ing has aided more to preserve the first law of Heaven among men, and true progression, than all the standing armies, and all the navies, and all the monarchies that have existed, or ever will exist, however huge their numbers or formidable their armaments, or aspiring their intention, or benevolent their design. "What interpretation could Mil- ton, with all his learning — or Locke, with all his under- standing — or Samuel Jolnison, with all his lexicograj^hic acumen — or Benjamin Franklin, with his scientific attain- ments — or Priestley, or Jonathan Edwards, or George Whitefield, with all their riches of eloquence and scholar- ship ; what interpretation could they give to the Avords, " STEAMrPowKU FOR IIiKE," adapted as a motor ibr the pohiting of a needle ; for the construction of the delicate machinery of a Avatch ; or to the rapid raising of a hanuner of ten tons weight, and easily manageable in the hands of a child ? What the future will develo}:) we know not. It is more than probable steam may be superseded. But this we know — there is a growing tendency to spare the hands and eyes of artisans, both male and female, and throw the unfelt drudgery of heavy work upon some un- ^04: niOVIUENCE IN THE WAE. complaining machine, whicli asks only cave in return for what it may produce. Our literature has kejit pace with our science. The j)ress is the handmaid to a purer morality — a higher ci\ilization — a more exalted piety. Popular attention, directed to proper subjects, and popular sentiment based upon instinctive right, are both led onward by those noble minds A\ho are the chief adornment of our era. Nay, they are bej'ond the era. In addition to wliat is, they see what should be, and are making preparation for its attain- ment. In all such eiForts they scatter blessings, and dig- nify their callhig. True authorship is the lever of Archi- medes, and universal mind the fulcrum whereon it must rest to uplift the world. Other minds there are— sharp, keen, gloAving as Damascus steel — minds that seize upon the passing thought, strike it, and malleate it into form and substance — minds who, though not cleric, esteem the world their parish ; and in their daily addresses, silent, invaluable, Avell-studied sermons on the topics touched, they teach the people the value of an honorable self- reliance, the importance of independent thinking, and the manliness of manly action. No noisome jiestilence, begotten in darkness, amid the abodes of want and wretchedness and crime, hath stalked among us, like a foul specter, to smite with death. No epidemic engendered on foreign shores, and brought hither in the holds of ships, or borne on the wings of the wind, hath decimated our villages, cities, or towns. Othjer nations have been visited with these calamities, mowing down sentinels at their posts, and depoiDulating vast tracts of territory. For this escape, and the mercy through which it comes, we can not refrain from oflering to our PUOVIDENCE IN THE WxVR. 3Q5 heavenly Father the sacrifice of our devout and grateful tliauksgiving. But, above all, we praise Ilim for the freedom with which we may worship. No legal restraints, save those of decency, are intei'posed. We assemble beneath our own vine and fig-tree, none daring to make us afraid. A free people, at liberty to worship according to our con- science — the complete severance of the Church from the State, so powerful an engine in other countries to sus- tain a sect, but not to advance the kingdom of the Re- deemer — has presented so attractive an aspect, through grace, that the absence of religious jirofession would seem to be the exception rather than the rule. Men are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ — the highest dignitaries in the land setting the example. Nor do men forget or forsake the assemblies of the saints. When the sanctity of the Sabbath has passed, and we enter upon the turmoil of the world, we are invited to sing anthems of joy as we journey to business in the morning; or to seek, by prayer, the presence of the Ee- deemcr and His blessings upon our undertakings, when the rays of the noonday sun are shining in the windows of our homes. The state of our churches, generally, though not all that the warm and ardent heart of the Christian and the Christian pastor could desire, is such that we have ground for jjraise. Some have been fa- vored with revivals, Avhich show the arm of the Lord made bare ; and angels have rejoiced over many who have been made wise unto salvation, and who now bear the cross to wear the crown. And yet this great, this hitherto prosperous, this highly f ivored country — ranking inferior to none in the fimily of 30G rKOVIDENCE IN THE WAR. nations, and at peace with all tlie nations of earth, is plun- ged into reLellion — the most wanton, the most wicked, the most causeless rebellion. Never in the history of the world's great crimes, and none greater will be found on record, was rebellion so merciless, so ferocious, so ensan- guined. Taking advantage of their position, and the weak and feeble, if not most criminal, hands that held the reins of government, designing men, men who had nothing to lose but everything to gain by success, stirred up revolt first in a single State, with the avowed purpose of disrn])t- ing the Union, bled for and established by our fathers. Was the then Executive ignorant of the facts ? He knew all, and more than all, for he knew what was going to be done. In the message sent to the State Legislature of South Carolina by Governor Pickens, in the early part of this pres- ent month, November, he says: "On the l7th of De- cember, the day after I was inaugurated, I sent a confede- rate agent to the President of the United States, demanding Fort Sumter. On the 20th December the President sent General Gushing, a distinguished citizen of Massachusetts, to me with a letter. I had but a short interview wath him, and told him I would return no reply to the President's letter, except to say, very candidly, that there was no hope for the Union, and that, as fxr as I was concerned, I intend- ed to maintain the separate independence of South Carolina, and from this purpose neither temptation nor danger should for a moment deter me." Of course this treasonable reso- lution was detailed to the President, who did nothing, ab- solutely nothing, though possessed of all jiower. Governor Pickens had previously informed mankind that he Avas "born insensible to fear" — truly a most glorious heritage. But brave men rarely boast their courage ; they are mod- PROVIDENCE IN THE WAK. 3O7 est ; they do not seek to attract puWic regard by bombas- tic and baseless self-gratulation ; and he had forgotten, if he ever kncAV, that the bravest are those "who turn. pale with fear at the commission of wrong^ but are bold as jien, and lion-hearted in the performance of right. (Governor Pickens is a living testimony of the frightful perversion, tlie wretched delusion to vi^hich a deliberate course of wrong-doing subjects the Avrong-doer. What I am about to tell you is history, from the very purest of sources, though derived from its originator, who is fearless only in regard to shame. In the same official message he says : " The cadets of the Citadel Academy at Charleston, under the immediate command of the scientific officer then at the head of that institution, were the first corps I directed to occupy a new battery on the channel, loith positive orders to open the fire. * * * On the 9th of January last they drew the lanyard of the very first cannon that was ever fired into a vessel bearing the flag of the old Union, and triumphantly drove her back, filled as she Avas with armed men to invade our soil, and sailing under special orders. It was this cannon which opened fire upon the Star of the West." The haiid that penned this record never trembled ; the cheek of the writer never blanched ; the heart that gave vitality to the hand never smote him for this stupen- dous infamy. To turn the cannon of his country against a ship of his country ; to command the y®ung and inexpe- rienced to apply the fuse which sent a death-intended mis- sile, which might have sent hundreds to a watery grave ; to trail the flag under which his own father fought and perished in the dust is the perfection of iniquity, requiring something more than human, and not angelic, to equal or surpass. In keeping with these monstrous proceedings is 30S PROVIDENCE IN THE "WAR. Ins audacious appeal to posterity : " Circumstances placed us ill the van in this march to independence. We claim no exclusive merit, but, under severe censure and the most trying circumstances, A\e only endeavored to do our duty, faillifally and hravely. Events have since vindicated the wisdom and })atriotism of our course ; and I conlidently appeal to the future with the proud consciousness that pos- terity will exulting-ly point to every page of history as tab- lets on whose marble surface shall be engraved the record of our honor unstained, and of our integrity without a blemish." The i^emesis of history never sleeps. Governor Pickens, and the State of which he is the head, wiU liave their due reward. And if the wide-spread sentiments of the jieople can infljience now, and influence a generation who must derive their knowledge from ourselves, the crimes of the present population of South Carolina, with their penalty, will be read in a page like this : " Charleston, once the chief city of South Carolina, by reason of its atrocious treason, in endeavoring to compass the disruption of the United States, now lies in a mass of ruins. It never did advance as other cities, and hastened more speedily to de- cay. The providence of the Almighty has been peculiarly severe — as severe as ^^■ith Sod(5m and Gomorrah — and a keen remembrance of its iniquity still prevails, so much so that its examjile is held up to the minds of our children to execrate and avoid. Its commerce is diverted and given to another. For years no shi^is have visited its port. The few inhabitants that remain realize the abomination of des- olation. A curse rests upon it, and even the names of its ])rominent men are distasteful and despised. The busy hum of congregated merchants has long being sUent. The business of her streets has gone, and the grass grows in the rrwOVIDENCE IN TUE WAR. oqq roads. Houses, once the residences of families, Avbose ar- rangements would denote both wealtli and comfort — the roo-ms of which, if walls could speak, would tell of converse gay and blasted hopes; houses now roofless, falling, the abodes of unclean birds. The State-house and the legisla- tive hall still remahi, but the only sound that sti-ikos the car is the flapping of the wings of bats. Of tiie gardens, once radiant with flowers, not a vestige remains. A sliape- less mass of tangled Aveeds — with ivy rimning ujj the truidcs of trees with destructive luxuriance and tenacity — suckhig their life-sap — of which the sere and yellow leaf is too. sad an indication, meets the gaze in every direction. The winds sigh through the branches, and the screech owl sends forth her sharp and bitter sorrow." Does such a rec- ord appall ? Yet who would regret it ? The first insti- gators of treason should feel individually the accumulated woes of those who have felt the loss of property, the loss of fathers, the loss of husbands, the loss of sons ; and, more, they should be made to feel — who draw the sword — a blood- red hand yet wields a sword, to thrust it to tlie hilt in the (piick. War is at all times to be deprecated ; but civil war, internecine strife, is the most relentless when the cause is least. History has revealed to us that an entire genera- tion has passed away since the inception of the idea of secession. Southern men, who despise the appellation of American, by their violent and unchecked language have sown discord among the masses ; and appealing to the very worst judges — their passions and their interests — they have declared their property in human flesh and blood, and bone and muscle, was not only in jeopardy, but could never be extended. Southern literature has been 310 PROVIDENCE IN THE WAE. either bold for separation, or tinctured deeply with allu- sions to secession, and the blessings consequent to the in- dependence of the Confederate States. To this end reck- less ambition and disnpjiointed hope have been at work with an ardor worth a better cause. Our mints, our arsenals, our arms, our navy-yards, our ships, our officers — trained to the art of war at the public expense — were stolen and taken from iis. And the North and the South are arrayed against each other with an army of hundreds of thousands on either side. The South threw down the gauntlet wath a sneer, thinking the North too timid to take it up. Do you ask the cause ? Do not be misled by believing it a question of free trade or protection. The truth is this, and it can not be concealed : An empire is sought to be established, whose foundations shall be slavery — hourly, daily, yearly, eternal bondage. The Northern mind — the mind imbued with the religion of Jesus — at once the praise, the honor, the savior of the land, abhors the perpetration of involuntary servitude, be- cause it trembles at what God abhors. " He that stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, ho sliall surely be put to death" — is the expression of God's abhorrence of slavery ; and the severity of the penalty is a proof of the greatness of the crime. When the present Executive was elected to office he swore to uphold the laws and maintain the Constitution. In the face of Heaven that was his oath ; and the Northern army gathered around him on the banks of the Potomac, in Western Virginia, in Missouri, and other places ; and the vast navy, afloat and operating, part of which has struck a vital blow at rebellion on the very soil of those who brought about our troubles, and hope to escape their righteous retribu- PKOVIDENCE IN THE WAR. 311 tion — are intended to demonstrate his sincerity and liis determination, at all hazards, to restore the integrity of the Union. But what is the integrity of the Union? Why are Ave at war ? Surely not for an idea, but for a stern fact. In the hands of God, do we not esteem war as a punishment ? And if there be punishment, something must exist for which we are punished. National sins pro- voke God to anger, and when His fury is kindled He per- mits war and desolation to come upon a people. This is our punishment — but that is not all. The object of punish- ment is reformation. We punish crime that we may repress it or prevent it. If, then, slavery be a sin, con- taining in itself the absolute total of every abomination known upon the earth, from murder downward — and that it is a sin, millions hold here in common Avith all Christen- dom — the restoration of the integrity of the Union must mean the restoration of the rebellious States Avith that erad- icated which caused the rupture. Upon this hypothesis, and this alone, can we secure the smile of God. Then this war Avill purify, and Avith its incAdtable but tremen- dous evils it Avill produce incalculable good. Already arguments are canvassed as to the disposition of slaves at the termination of the Avar. The huge confiscations by the South of Xorthern property aauU demand consideration in the settlement. But Avill the handing over of the human property of traitors, fighting against their country, to loyal Southerners, Avho have sacrificed all for their loyalty, meet the case ? No — a thousand times, no ! It Avould be but a distinction Avithout a difierence, and leave the matter more complicated than it now stands We OAve a d^bt of gratitude to our brave and noble army — both officers and men — Avho have gone forth to do 312 rPvOVIDENCE IN THE WAG. battle for the Union, to preserve our liberties intact and our country from division. Let us bear tbem in our prayers at the throne of grace, that the God of battles — ■ the sword's great Arbiter — woiild support them in this righteous conflict, and protect them amid the dull cannon's roar, the murderous burst of shell, the hail of bullets, and the clash of steel. The hosts who have rushed to the rescue at the call of danger, and who have measui'cd weapons Avith the enemy, are fired with the ancient patriotism which changed those colonies into this republic. Those who wait to join the fray are 2)atriots too, whose martial lionor is as bright as ever glowed within human bosoms. From the North, and the East, and the West have they come, in all the vigor, and strength, and steadfastness of lusty manhood. The flower of the people are the nation's defenders. Perilous days, undoubtedly, are those that are passing now. They are trying men's souls. But piety is enduring, and is cer- tain to conquer. Faith lifts the vail that hides the seen fr(;m tlie unseen, and beholds, with Elisha, the horses and the cliariots of fire. Engagements have been fought, and still will be. In the moment of the deadliest struggle, when the serried ranks of our troops shall press hard upon a desperate enemy — though portions of that foe shall lurk in ambusli, in hope of dealing death to others, without ex- posure to themselves — God is present on the battle-field. And who tliat put their trust in Ilini did ever so in vain? God is in the midst of the sea — in the calm, and the storm, aii