UBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 Hollinger 
 
 pH8.5 
 
 Mill Run F3.1955 
 
I 458 
 .5 
 
 .B36 
 Copy 
 
 >-^ 
 
 FAST-DAY 
 
 
 B E R ]M O ]Nr , 
 
 DELIVERED BEFOKE THE UNITED 
 
 COEREGATIONAL AP BAPTIST SOCIETIES, 
 
 ^ 
 
 %! 
 
 REV. EDWIN S. BEARD 
 
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 AVarreii, >re.. A.pril SO, l«Oo. 
 
 rUBLISHED BY JiEQVEST. 
 
 
 R O C K L A N D : 
 JOHN rORTKK & CO., PRINTER?!, 
 
 3€^?>r>" 
 
 
FAST-DAY 
 
 © E R m: O N 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE UNITED 
 
 CONGREGATIONAL AND BAPTIST SOCIETIES, 
 
 BT 
 
 REV. EDWIN S. BEARD. 
 
 AT 
 
 "Warren, 9Xe., ^prll SO, 1866. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST, 
 
 ROCKLAND : 
 
 JOHN POETEK & CO., PRINTERS, 
 
 1866. 
 

FAST-DAY SERMON. 
 
 Text— 1 Chron. 29 chap., 11 to 13th verses inclusive : "Thine, O Lord, is the gre&t- 
 n«ss, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty, for all that is in 
 heaven and in the earth are thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted 
 as head above all. Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou reignest over all; 
 and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now, therefore, 
 our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name." 
 
 I will not explain my text ; its mere announcement is its own 
 elucidation. I will come right to the heart of my subject, and 
 mention the causes, we, as citizens of this nation, have for 
 thanksgiving to God to-day. And, in the first place, we ought 
 to thank God that we have a government. A large and power- 
 ful host of our own fellow-citizens rose up against us, for the 
 purpose of destroying our institutions, or at the least, of per- 
 petuating and establishing those of their own, foreign to tfte 
 genius and spirit of our National union. This design was one 
 that was cherished for a generation of men, and in furtherance 
 of it, plans were matured, and studied preparations made in 
 secret. This plot to ruin a country, whose policy they could 
 not control, was so adroitly concealed, that it was not discov- 
 ered till it was wholly perfected. This want of discernment on 
 the part of the American people, was not owing to stupidity. 
 It was not thought possible, that men could be found in this 
 enlightened age, infamous enough to seek to destroy the wisest 
 and most beneficent government on which the sun shone, and 
 neither our rulers, chief men, or the masses of the people 
 would have entertained for a moment the suspicion, that those 
 of our own flesh and blood would betray and slay us. What 
 was unsuspected was unprovided for. Arrangements for thg 
 dissolution of the Union were fully completed, before the people 
 were aware that the first step had been taken. Those, on whom 
 were bestowed the highest honors, in the gift of the people, 
 took advantage of the confidence reposed in them, by scheming 
 for the extinction of the nation's life. Under the cover of a 
 purpose of guarding more firmly the bulwarks of our laud, they 
 
gecurcd the possession and control of our arsenals and forts, in 
 order that they might inaugurate their contemplated rebellion 
 with the fairest promises of success. Tell it not in Gath, pub- 
 lish it not in Ascalon, lest the lost spirits of despair should tri- 
 umph. Yes, children nursed with tenderest care, snatch the 
 assassin's knife to pierce the heart of the mother ! It is a high 
 compliment to the genius of our Christianity, that the vast 
 body of the people were so pervaded with that charity, which 
 thinketh no evil, that they could not conceive traitorous senti- 
 ments possible to any considerable number of American citi- 
 zens, especially those of broadest culture and intellect. The 
 public, unprepared in mind for such developments, had erect- 
 ed no safeguards against their outward manifestations. — 
 The war was commenced on the part of our opponents, 
 with most decided auguries of victory. They had an organized 
 army. We had none. Ammunition and arms were with them, 
 and those of the best quality. They had a military character 
 as a natural inheritance, vastly improved by a training which 
 superior leisure allowed them in diverse ways. They had, also, 
 the advantage of fighting on their own ground ; in their own 
 territory, which placed them in the attitude of defence, with all 
 interior lines of communication at command. Though ostensi- 
 bly the war was waged for self-protection, its real intent and 
 purpose was to dethrone the established law and order of things 
 and substitute in their place a Confederation of States, whose 
 magisterial influence should be given to the support of an aris- 
 tocracy. With all these prestiges of success, they have miser- 
 ably failed. Thank God for this. The government which our 
 Fathers founded, still stands, — its foundations all the stronger 
 for this test of its strength. The Sun of the Union still stands, 
 full-orbed, in mid-heavens, there to remain, and only the 
 brighter to shine till the day of doom. Not a star is erased 
 from the National banner, not ii stripe is polluted. Glory to 
 God for this ! Hallelujah ! hallujah ! Amen ! Amen ! Blessed 
 be thou, Lord God of battles, forever and ever! Thine, O 
 Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the 
 victory, and the majesty, for all that is in the heaven and in the 
 earth are thine ; thine is the kingdom, Lord, and thou art 
 
exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of thee, 
 and thou reignest over all ; and in thine hand is power and 
 might ; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give 
 strength unto all. Now, therefore, our God, we thank thee, 
 and praise thy glorious name. But, to be more specific, we 
 thank God for the vindication of the nation's honor, in the 
 establishment of constitutional liberty. And, in order that the 
 motives for gratitude may press with greatest weight upon us, 
 let us attempt some analysis of it. Institutional self-govern- 
 ments are of modern origin. Previous to the establishment of 
 ours, all had failed. Our wise and great men, searching out 
 the hidden causes of their decline and decay, and perceiving 
 that the ruin of these republics could not be rightly attributed 
 to unsoundness of principle ; but to defects in the character of 
 the people, were incited to lay again on these old foundations, 
 with a thoughtful provision incorporating on the body politic 
 institutions which should secure that individual development, 
 the lack of which had made free government hitherto impossible. 
 Constitutional monarchies secured all the main checks and 
 guarantees of personal freedom ; but the Puritans sought to 
 infuse elements in American liberty yet unattained. The trial 
 by jury, the representative government, the common law, self- 
 taxation, the submission of the army to the legislature, were all 
 features of English liberty. To American liberty there was 
 added the features of a federal republic, separation of Church 
 and State, more individual responsibility, greater freedom of 
 action. To secure this bi'oader personal liberty, our Fathers 
 formed the Constitution of the United States. This Constitu- 
 tion, embodying our common sentiments respecting the rights 
 and liberties of man, was the bond of the federal Union. To 
 renounce allegiance to this, from the very nature of the case, 
 was disorganizing, and if persisted in, would end in its dissolu- 
 tion. And what did dissolution of the Union imply ? Here we 
 were, substantially one people, exulting in the name, American 
 —prouder of that than of any other designation. "We were a 
 happy family of States, with local self-governments, yet revolv- 
 ing around our national, representative government as one com- 
 mon centre. This consolidation of power gave security to our 
 
commerce, protectiou to all those employments that ennoble and 
 dignify man, permanence to our institutions of learning, free- 
 dom from . national bankruptcy, facilit}^ of communication 
 between different sections, means of defence against foreign 
 foes. All the arts that enrich and beautify life were fostered 
 and encouraged ; the light of science cast its illumination over 
 the land, making its beneficent influence felt in the cottages of 
 the poor, as well as the mansions of the rich. The amplest op- 
 portunity w^as offered to the humblest to aspire to all of which 
 humanity was capable, or should be. Upon all this busy indus- 
 try and raried pursuit, religion poured its mellowing and chast- 
 ening light, linking us in the bonds of an universal brother- 
 hood. 
 
 I, as giving expression to your feelings, would rejoice that 
 this prosperous scene, for a brief interregnum interrupted, is to 
 be continued ; j^es, more than this, there are to be added touches 
 of beauty by the Great Limner's hand. The fate of civilization, 
 of humanity, of religion, were all involved in the preservation of 
 the Union. Not only were the hopes and liberties of the Amer- 
 ican nation at stake, but those of all mankind. Here was the 
 question being settled — whether men were capable of self-gov- 
 ernment, and yet be subject to government. The question was 
 being decided w^hether government was a boon to the people, or 
 a boon granted by the people ; whether the people were made 
 for the government, or the government for the people. To state 
 the issue tersely, and all comprehensively — whether man is man 
 however low in the social scale, entrusted by God with destinies 
 and responsibilities, both for this world, and the world to come, 
 for the fulfilment of which the law of his nature teaches him 
 there shall be no interferance on the part of the government, or 
 any class with select privileges, or the masses of the people. 
 
 According to the ancient idea of liberty in republics, the 
 highest idea of humanity was reached in citizenship. But in 
 the broad light of Christianity, a man reaches his full develop- 
 ment, only when he stands erect in the majesty of a complete 
 manhood. Such a glorious result cannot be reached, except one 
 is untrammelled and unshackled in every course of action to 
 which his taste and genius incline, and his God invites him. 
 
For the attainment of this, Government is but the means to an 
 end. Every man should be free to act well his part in life ; be 
 summoned to all the privileges and immunities of political life, 
 and be held in equal honor with every other man. It is a narrow 
 view of this contest, to consider it, simply as deciding whether 
 African slavery should live and reign, or die on this continent. 
 The grand conflict of the past four years has been a contest 
 between aristocracy and democracy. Shall the governing body 
 be a few men, who, by birth and fortune, judge themselves the 
 best men in the State to control its affairs, or shall all who are 
 governed have equal responsibility and share in the government ? 
 This was the issue proposed by our opponents. Speaking 
 loosely, we may with somewhat of propriety, designate the 
 struggle as one between freedom and slavery. Nevertheless, 
 the fact that the South were slaveholders, was a merely incidental 
 truth in the struggle. But as an aristocracy could not maintain 
 itself in this country without the ownership of human beings as 
 a basis, the contest of aristocracy or no aristocracy became, 
 under the guiding hand of Providence, (who led us in a way we 
 knew not,) a contention on the part of the southern portion of 
 the country for the establishment and perpetuation of the slave 
 system. On the part of the North, it was a struggle for the 
 self-preservation of the nation. And here again, the salvation 
 of the Union was the life of freedom. God has so over-ruled 
 affairs, as to bring about the highest wishes of the philanthro- 
 pist. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good 
 will to men ! 
 
 I am now prepared for my second cause of rejoicing — which, 
 no doubt, you have already anticipated — viz : the removal of 
 the curse of slavery from our fair land ; but on this topic, my 
 friends, I find the emotions swelling the heart too big for utter- 
 ance. Words are tame expressions of the bounding feelings of 
 joy. For this result, for long and weary years, I have prayed. 
 In early youth my daily 'prayer was "How long shall the 
 oppressor triumph." How did my little heart burst with 
 indignation at him who could take pleasure in binding a man in 
 chains. My generous impulses, when yet a boy, drew my heart 
 out in sympathy with that hated and despised, but now univers- 
 
8 
 
 ally honored class, the Abolitionists. When I heard men rise 
 up to the noble independence to declare that they would not vote 
 for a slaveholder, I longed to be a man, that I might rise to the 
 sublimity of such moral heroism. My moral instincts were 
 pure, as God gave them. The moral sense of every child is 
 shocked and outraged at the idea of slavery. I felt for the slave 
 whose back was imaged forth before me, stained with scars and 
 blood. I wept over him. As I saw, in imagination, families 
 sundered, fathers from children, husband from wife, brothers 
 from sisters, my sympathies were stretched to the intensest 
 bearing. As I beheld pure and lovely woman with no crime but 
 a skin not colored like her master's, dragged beneath the chariot 
 wheels of lust, I cried unto God for vengeance and recompense. 
 As I drank in the light of knowledge as free as air, and saw it 
 falling on all around with saving, cheering power, how sad- 
 dened became the soul as the eye wandered down the Southern 
 horizon, to see the night of ignorance settling down on four 
 millions of human beings, endowed with the same rights and 
 liberties as myself, and heirs with me of the same immortal 
 destiny. To see a man a mere beast of burden, his mind all 
 undeveloped, uncared for, and every attempt at self-improvement 
 met with the lash, even the light of everlasting truth shut out 
 from it, (which would have made his burdensome life tolerable, 
 inasmuch as it would have revealed the land where the prisoners 
 rest together, and hear not the voice of the oppressor, and 
 where the servant is free from his master,) was a pitiable sight 
 indeed. "With the culture of the intellect deemed a crime, the 
 reading of God's word a fault to be severely punished, what 
 could the life of the slave be but a living death? My heart 
 yearned toward the outcast, and him that had no helper ; and I 
 cried, great and terrible God, who executest righteousness and 
 judgment, thou surely givest thy people tears to drink in great 
 measure ; will thou cast them off forever ? How long will thou 
 be angry at the cry of the bondman ? I thank God that this 
 stain on our national honor is to be erased ; that the nation, or 
 rather the God of nations, is decreeing that no sinner, bloody 
 with the guilt of human oppression, shall be unmolested ; but 
 if persisting in his purpose, shall feel the strong arm of the 
 
law, and the stronger power of a public sentiment, which shall 
 make his very name execrable in the view of every honest citi- 
 zen. I thank God, to use the words of the immortal Webster, 
 for the prospect that no more in any northern city "shall we 
 hear the sound of the hammer, or see the smoke of the furnaces 
 where manacles and chains are forged for human limbs." I 
 praise God for the reason I have to hope that I have witnessed 
 the last national public humiliation of a northern army sustained 
 by northern sentiment, (yet under protest for virtue shocked and 
 justice outraged,) in the rendering back to bondage a slave so 
 fortunate as to escape. No more fugitive slave laws ! Thank God 
 that slavery is dead ! It has been the source and fountain of 
 barbarism, inhumanity, and irreligion. And to secure the 
 wiping out of the last vestige of it there has been in the prov- 
 idence of God such a revelation of its true spirit and animus, 
 as to create against it a unanimous public sentiment. God has 
 permitted it to reach its culmination in the heaven-daring crime 
 of taking the life of the head of the nation, thus thrusting the 
 knife of the assassin at the heart of thirty millions of people. 
 
 I thank God for imparting to our soldiers the patience, forti- 
 tude, and self-sacrifice which have been necessary to ensure this 
 victory. God put it into their hearts to leave homes of peace 
 and luxury, and the embrace of dear ones, to sleep in the hard 
 barrack, to tramp on the weary march, to lay in trenches beneath 
 'the peltings of the storm, to fall on the battle-field, to die a 
 living death in prisons. These were men — noble, high-minded 
 men. How insensible to hardship, how impervious to pain ; 
 how jubilant in suffering, singing even in the stern hour, halle- 
 lujahs, that they were worthy to suffer for their country. There 
 is scarcely a household where there is not some one dead, and a 
 light in a happy home gone out forever. But what comfort have 
 weeping friends ! Weep not for me ! is the echo from the new- 
 made grave ; but for yourselves, that you have been but idle 
 spectators in a struggle so fruitful in honor and glory. We died 
 for the salvation of our native land — for the freedom of mankind. 
 And when this nation shall come out of its stern disasters, 
 regenerated and redeemed, it will be a consolation for j'ou to 
 know that you have given up so costly an offering for your 
 
10 
 
 country's weal ; and not only that, but a world's happiness. The 
 gift of freedom is so great a blessing that hardly any sacrifice 
 can be too great to achieve the inestimable treasure. We, the 
 survivors of this contest, will hold in grateful remembrance all 
 these toils, privations, dangers, and teach our children to 
 reverence your memory as sacred. You shall live as long as the 
 American Union shall stand, in the enduring characters which 
 your deeds of self-denial and acts of self-forgetfulness have 
 written on our hearts. 
 
 Again, I would thank God for the freedom of the white man, 
 wrought ^out by the recent victories. Slavery, with that dom- 
 ineering spirit so peculiar to itself, has exercised such a tyranny 
 over public opinion, that whosoever dare open his lips in 
 disapprobation of it, must be straightway hung, drawn and 
 quartered. And where it did not control State laws, by its 
 threatening aspect, it so governed the sentiment of the nation, 
 that a man's very bread depended on the silence he might 
 maintain respecting this institution. The commerce of our 
 Northern cities was largely interested in its gains. Our public 
 men, dependant for promotion on the favor of the merchant 
 princes, become eager compromisors between the conflicting 
 interests. The press relying on public patronage was muzzled. 
 Every pressure was brought to bear on the pulpit, through tlie 
 threatened withdrawal of support, to give its solemn sanction to 
 the iniquity and be false to its trust. Wherever a preacher was 
 found bold enough to utter the thunders of God's violated law 
 against the sin, he was accused of stepping out of his sphere 
 and preaching politics. The right of the pulpit to apply the 
 truths of the Gospel to the sphere of morality was stoutly 
 denied. Christ, and him crucified, must be its only theme. In 
 too many instances, it is to be feared, that the ministers of God 
 quit their high station, and truckled to their vicious opinions. 
 So debauched and vitiated had public sentiment become, that 
 those who occupied the sacred desk, and were true to a high 
 Christian morality, found no response in the pews ; but a hearty 
 and indignant dissent. 
 
 This withholding of unshaken moral convictions on the part 
 of the ministry, sapped the very foundation of manly character 
 
11 
 
 and made them the mere tools of their congregation. And 
 when a man's manhood has gone, he might as well be under the 
 sod as above it. I thank God that this victory of freedom over 
 slaver}^ has given freedom to the white man. Men will not 
 pray and speak hereafter, with studied circumlocution, watching 
 well the door of their lips lest a word about the rights of the 
 slave should be hinted at. And not only will speakers be true 
 to their nation and their God, but the people will appreciate 
 their sentiments of justice, humanity and religion. Thank God 
 for a regenerated pulpit. Its eloquence and strength is in its 
 independence. My tone thus far has been one of rejoicing. 
 
 So rapid is the succession of public events, that a proclama- 
 tion for a fast, dated three weeks before its observance, loses 
 very much of its pertinency, because before we fasted and 
 humbled ourselves, God heard our prayers. If it be said that 
 we need a fast to prepare us for the great and solemn duties 
 before us, it is well said. But a true fast implies thankfulness, 
 and thankfulness, penitence. The goodness of God is the 
 most powerful influence, leading men to repentance. For this 
 reason, m}' friends, I have adopted the jubilant strain that I 
 have. But I could not fail to notice, that the cup of rejoicing 
 is mingled with drops of sorrow. And not a note of gladness 
 that swells the heart to-day will there be, which will not be 
 chastened with a strain of sadness. The President of our 
 republic is no more ! He, on whom we leaned to guide our 
 ship of State, over swelling billows of adversity, to the port of 
 rest and securit}'-, has gone down to his grave, and he shall 
 never return to us. Having escaped the rocks and quicksands 
 of the troublous ocean, as a nation, through his guiding hand 
 under Divine Providence, and just in full view of the haven, 
 and tuning our lips to sing — safe, safe at last, our pilot while at 
 the helm is dislodged from his position by a topmost wave, 
 higher than any before, and he is engulphed in the dark waters. 
 We trusted in him as the only one who could redeem our 
 beloved nation. He had always done the right thing, in just 
 the right time. A people before jubilant and exultant with 
 heart and tongue, filled with rejoicing, sink to a depression of 
 spirits as correspondiDgly low as their previous hopefulness had 
 
12 
 
 made them confident. But in this affliction we may rejoice. 
 We are commanded to rejoice in tribulation. God is nearer to 
 a nation in trial's hour, than at any other time. It is then he 
 clothes them with garments of praise. Even now, we seem to 
 get a glimpse of God's merciful designs — a little light behind 
 the cloud — giving reason to us to be thankful to the Lord God, 
 and bless his name. Though apparently our dangers were past, 
 as a nation, in reality they were just at hand. There was a 
 wisdom, firmness, and courage to be displayed in the recon- 
 struction of our national Union, which even the stern necessi- 
 ties of war have not demanded. Though Mr. Lincoln, thus far, 
 as our leader, had performed his part admirabl}^, it may, with 
 somewhat of reason, be questioned whether he would have been 
 equal to future emergencies ; aud if unequal, may not his 
 departure have been in mercy to himself, and for the redemp- 
 tion of a nation. The care of his position had already made 
 his life a personal burden, and he longed to fly away and be at 
 rest. He had a presentiment that he should not outlive the 
 rebellion ; but for the nation's sake he desired to assume for the 
 second time, the high trust of leadership of the American peo- 
 ple. He stands now on the heights of glory and honor above, 
 amid the effulgence of eternal da}-. No sound shall awake him 
 to glory again. There the wicked cease from troubling, and 
 the haggard and care-worn are at rest. No venomous tongue 
 of slander shall reach him there. His kind heart, we have rea- 
 son to believe, would have led him to err on the side of mag- 
 nanimity, in his future policy as au executive, and that element 
 of character for which we honor him as au individual, might 
 have proved the nation's weakness. At any rate, I believe that 
 God has taken him away, and he has done it for his good, and 
 the good of the nation. Though personally, I feel that I have 
 lost a friend, the nation a father, and the oppressed a bene- 
 factor, 3'et will I rejoice in God to-da3^ 
 
 And yet again, we may congratulate ourselves on the proba- 
 ble future of our country. The sun of liberty is to rise upon 
 us, and never set. Our people have risen in their great might 
 and their chains have dropped off. States belligerent and dis- 
 cordant are to be at peace. Physically, face to face, as we 
 
13 
 
 have always been, lake linking lake, and ocean, ocean, we are 
 now to be united in a more intimate relation than those of geo- 
 graphical bonds. "We are to be united heart to heart, and hand 
 to hand, as never before, America's noble band of brothers. 
 The wastes of war shall be repaired ; white-winged commerce 
 shall float over every sea, without any to dispute its sway ; the 
 husbandman shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, reaping 
 the full fruit of his toil ; the mechanic lay aside his musket and 
 sword, and hie to his busy workshop, and task his genius to 
 save men's lives rather than to destroy them ; the lawyer every- 
 where plead for the things that are just and equal ; the physi- 
 cian minister only to those who go down gently into the dark 
 valley ; the man of God plead with hearts unsullied by the 
 vices of the camp. I see fields of smiling harvests, bending 
 under the reaper's hand, every mart of business filled with 
 traffic, the thronging crowds of men, pressed with remunerative 
 work, homes of beauty and luxury everywhere dotting the hori- 
 zon, our oxen strong to labor, no breaking in, or going out, no 
 complaining in our streets. But a far happier sight than this I 
 'see. It is brothers fighting again, yes, fighting again — do not 
 fear what I may say — fighting not with sword, but with the pen 
 winning victory. Yes, all alike inspired with the love of lib- 
 erty, and battling for it with the tongue. 
 
 Trusting in the God of might, 
 Turning not their backs for flight, 
 But, soldiers for the right 
 
 Facing the coward foe. 
 Hurling error from its throne. 
 Truth's bright banner waving o'er them : 
 • Putting ignorance to shame, 
 Striving with a heaven-ward aim 
 
 For the good of man. 
 
 Our sons North, South, East and West, grown up as plants ; 
 our daughters, as corner stones polished after the similitude of 
 a palace. I see the nation arise from its baptism of blood, 
 clothed in the garments of a regenerated humanity. I see the 
 oppressed and down- trodden of all nations, crowding their tem- 
 ple gates of liberty ; or else lighting their torch at our lamp. 
 My soul kindles with rapture at the sight. I see all mankind 
 
u 
 
 debtors to us, and with joyful acclaim greeting us, I see that 
 flag, that dear old flag, standing in mid-heavens, pure and se- 
 rene, unstained by bloody scars, "stripes and bars," bearing 
 justice as its symbol, binding no man in chains, rising higher 
 and higher, over hill and vale, waving the motto of the free. 
 Union and Liberty. Gird 3'ou, christian men and women, that 
 you may be counted worthy of such a citizenship. Be much in 
 prayer ; rejoice, with trust in God ; be thankful unto him and 
 bless his name. With four millions of brothers added to our 
 number, let us rally round the flag once again, shouting the 
 battle cry of civilization, humanity and religion. 
 
18 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRtbi. 
 
 012 047 396 7 # 
 
HoUing 
 
 pH8.f 
 
 Mill Run F2 
 
, .oRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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 Hollinger 
 
 pH8.5 
 
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