~*f?tijL= 
 
 
 Jf^W 
 
# LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. # 
 
 # . # 
 
 J UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, f 
 
 m 
 
®l)e ?]I)ut2 of tlje Citizen in tijese ®imes : 
 
 A S E E M N 
 
 PREACHED IN THE 
 
 CHURCH OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS, ALBANY, 
 
 SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 21, 1861, 
 
 ./ 
 
 BY THE REV. SYLYANUS REED. 
 
 KECTOR OF THE CHURCH. 
 

 ALBANY : 
 
 MUNSELL & ROWLAND, 
 
 PKINTERS 
 
SERMON. 
 
 " Suhmit yotirselves to every ordinance of man for the LoreVs 
 sake." — 1 St. Peter, ii, 13. 
 
 The injunctions upon the civil duties of Christian 
 citizens, which occur in the Epistle appointed for 
 this Sunday,* will have struck your minds as very 
 seasonable. The Apostle addressing himself to 
 the scattered people of God, in regard, of course, 
 mainly to the great truths of the Gosj)el, and the 
 great requirements of faith and obedience, takes 
 occasion also, to speak to them of the necessity 
 and the duty of so conducting themselves among 
 the unbelievers who surrounded them, as to give 
 no cause of offence. He cautions them not to mis- 
 apprehend the character of that religious system 
 which they had embraced, nor to suppose that it 
 did not design to recognize, and to allow, and to 
 sanction those principles of order, and those con- 
 
 * The Third Sunday after Easter. 
 
sequent duties wliicli ate plainly fundamental to the 
 very existence of civil society and of human govern- 
 ment. Christians were, indeed, in that age pecu- 
 liarly called out of, and separated from the world 
 about them : and within the church they were in 
 a peculiar manner associated together in close re- 
 lations, and were constituted a new society, a 
 spiritual kingdom, a kingdom which was not of 
 this world, and which had by itself no relations to 
 the political or social systems under which they 
 were living. In this situation they might perhaps 
 have imagined that they were even detached from 
 the interests of the state, and from the obligation 
 of the duties which devolved upon subjects and 
 citizens of the state, under the laws and govern- 
 ment of which they lived. The Apostle therefore 
 would seem to design to teach them, that they 
 were not to regard themselves as exonerated from 
 the obligations which rested upon others, toward 
 that temporal government of which they were sub- 
 jects, and to warn them against everything of a 
 factious and insubordinate character; and to ad- 
 monish them emphatically to be obedient to those 
 who in the Providence of God were set to rule over 
 them ; and so to be conformed to that civil con- 
 dition of things in which they were living, by the 
 ready discliarge of the duties of citizens and sub- 
 jects. The Apostle did not write his Epistle for 
 the purpose of instructing the followers of Christ 
 in regard to their political rights, or their civil 
 
duties ; but he finds occasion to recognize, and to 
 express the authority of the great social and po- 
 litical obligations of men, obligations inherent in 
 the nature of society, and sanctioned by that Laio 
 which emanated originally from the very Throne 
 of God, and proceeded from His word. " Submit 
 yourselves to every ordinance of man forthe Lord's 
 sake." 
 
 Without going beyond the text, two things we 
 shall have here to remark : 1st. The recognition of 
 an inherent and general obligation on the part of 
 the members of a civil community, to sul^mission 
 and obedience. 2d. The holy Apostle adds the 
 express sanction of Divine authority to that obli- 
 gation, and enforces the duty of subordination and 
 loyalty and obedience, by that name which is above 
 every name. "Submit yourselves to every ordi- 
 nance of man for the Lord's sake." 
 
 But this instruction of St. Peter is far from 
 standing alone on the sacred page. The example 
 and the precept of our blessed Saviour, on the oc- 
 casion of the question about the tribute money, 
 teach His followers the duty of obedience. " Ren- 
 der to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to 
 God the things that are God's." Consider also the 
 emphatic injunction which St. Paul addressed to 
 the Church of Rome, at that time exposed to the 
 tyranny of Nero : " Let every soul be subject 
 unto the higher powers. For there is no power 
 but of God : the powers that be are ordained of 
 
6 
 
 God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power^ 
 resisteth the ordmance of God, and they that resist 
 shall receive to themselves damnation."* The prin- 
 ciple is broadly laid down, of a Divine right and 
 anthority in the supreme ruler of the state, which 
 attaches also to those whom he sends to execute 
 his commands. And the duty is as broadly and 
 strongly prescribed of submission and obedience. 
 " To honor and ohey the civil autlu)rity ,'' is exhibited 
 as a primary religious obligation resting upon all 
 men, and required by the Law of God. 
 
 The form of the government under wdiich the 
 Christian citizen lives, does not affect the great 
 principle laid down in the Word of God, nor the 
 duty which that word enjoins. It is the same in a 
 monarchy and in a republic. Wherever there is 
 the rule of Law, the Ruler may be called by what- 
 ever title men choose : the modes in which govern- 
 ment may be administered may vary widely ; but 
 the relations of the people, as sulijects or citizens, 
 are essentially unaffected, and the duties which 
 they owe to the Ordinance of Government are those 
 which are thus described ; and the Christian citizen 
 is required l)y the authority of religion to discharge 
 those duties in the spirit of loyalty, as reverencing 
 Him in whose august name the sword is borne. 
 
 I am far from saying that this principle is an 
 unlimited one ; or that these duties never can have 
 
 * Rom. xiii, 1, 2. 
 
their proper exception. The history of our mother 
 country would afford several instances of such lim- 
 itations and exceptions, as probably none could re- 
 fuse to admit. The very origin of our ovm govern- 
 ment, which was established upon the basis of a 
 successful Revolution, is an example of the truth, 
 that subjects litwe rights as iDell as duties, and that 
 riders have duties as well as paivers. No one per- 
 haps can satisfactorily solve the problem, or explain 
 the paradox, and say precisely where the duty of 
 obedience ends, and where the right of resistance 
 to oppression, to the exaggeration of the powers of 
 rule, begins. In the case of our own Revolution it 
 was, as is clear to my mind, no seditious and un- 
 principled rebellion ; but a struggle for conceded 
 and constitutional rights, violently wrested from the 
 people of a great land. But the principle of the 
 text is unsubverted, and the duty which it enjoins 
 is incumbent on every citizen. 
 
 It is not my purpose, however, to discuss the 
 principles involved in this subject, but rather to 
 invoke the authority of the precepts of God's word 
 in supjDort of the great duty of loyalty to the go- 
 vernment and the law, wdiich stand invested with 
 sacred sanctions, and requiring of every Christian 
 citizen a faithful submission and ol:>edience. Loyalty 
 to the Country, the Constitution, and the Union, 
 as represented impersonally to our minds ; whoever 
 may administer the government ; this is the prin- 
 ciple, and the feeling which impels us to dutj', as 
 
8 
 
 truly and as imperatively as tho' the object of our 
 allegiance sat throned, crowned, and sceptred, to 
 receive the tokens of our reverence, and our service. 
 It is a sad and evil day, which, long threatening, 
 has settled down upon us at last in horrible discord 
 and intestine strife. After half a centuiy of peace, 
 the trumpet of war sounds over our land, an internal 
 and sectional war, between the citizens of this 
 hitherto united and happy country. For the first 
 time in the whole history of this great Republic 
 the bonds of unity and concord are broken among 
 us, and the people of one half are arrayed in arms 
 against the people of the other half The same 
 men, and the children of the same men, who to- 
 gether confronted the foreign foe, each ready to 
 sacrifice life for the other, and both ready to die for 
 the whole country, now face each other with the 
 drawn sword, and all the fearful instruments of 
 battle. From tlie North to South, and from East 
 to West, the country is convulsed with that direst 
 form of evil, CIVIL WAR; a war not of races, nor 
 of creeds, but of brothers, and fellow citizens, and 
 friends. It is an amazing and a terrific spectacle 
 which we present to the eye of Heaven, and to the 
 civilized world. The catastrophe which we have 
 been for months hoping and praying to have in 
 some way averted, has come, the cloud long and 
 darkly rolling up from the gloomy horizon, has 
 ])urst at length above our heads. Misguided and 
 presumptuous men, the people of the entire South, 
 
9 
 
 dragging with them perhaps half the States of 
 our glorious and prosperous Union, have risen up 
 in armed rebellion against the National Rulers, 
 have claimed to be absolved from the authority of 
 the Federal Executive, and are at this moment 
 pressing forward furiously in all the array of war, 
 to the overthrow and destruction of our general 
 Government. Already they have presumed to as- 
 sault a fortress guarded by the troops, and protected 
 by the flag of the United States, and have com- 
 pelled its brave commander, by an overwhelmmg 
 force, to evacuate it. Already the power of this 
 insurrection has reached the most imposing magni- 
 tude, and the supremacy of rebellion, or of law, 
 must perhaps be put to the issue of battle. Already 
 the whole country is turned into a camp, and the 
 one absorbing topic in every quarter is the prepa- 
 ration which is being made for the dreadful struggle, 
 the arming and the passage of troops, the progress 
 of the strife, the probable issues of the contest, 
 the danger or safety of the Capitol. Alas, my 
 country ! It is the darkest hour of its history, the 
 saddest period it has ever seen, not only for the 
 prospect of the terrors of war and carnage ; not 
 only for the bloody battle field, and the tears of 
 widows and orphans; not for cities sacked and 
 burnt, and smiling fields ravished and desolate ; 
 not for those things common to all war, and which 
 our fathers and our grandfathers have seen in their 
 time, but for what they were not compelled to see, 
 
10 
 
 this horrid rupture of the bonds which have united 
 us, this deadly contest between fellow citizens of 
 the same once happy country, this fratricidal war 
 rasrina; like wildfire on our common soil ! Great 
 God, what a visitation is this which has come upon 
 us ! Why hast Thou sent a spirit of division among 
 the tribes of Israel ! Why is Thy wrath so hot 
 against the sheep of Thy pasture ! 
 
 Nevertheless, clear as the sun in the unclouded 
 noonday, is the righteousness of our cause, and the 
 duty of rallying one and all, with heart and with 
 hand, to the support of the Government, to the 
 protection of our Flag, to the maintenance of that 
 principle of order and civil authority which is 
 fundamental to our very existence as a community, 
 and which is now assailed and imperiled by this 
 audacious rebellion. That government represents 
 to the citizen the majesty of Heaven, and the au- 
 thority of sacred Law, the very palladium of every 
 natural and political right which we possess ; and 
 no hand must be raised against it with impunity. 
 That flag symbolizes the Country, the Union, and 
 the Constitution, as the objects of our reverence 
 and our aflection ; and it must be kept floating 
 freely oxer our whole land. To defend the govern- 
 ment and to uphold that flag, is the imperative duty 
 of every Christian citizen of the Republic, under 
 the requirement of the highest obligations. The 
 duty of the Patriot, the impulses of that love of 
 country which is deep and strong in every true 
 
11 
 
 heart, receive a higher sanction and a more solemn 
 enforcement from the Word of God. " Submit 
 yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's 
 sake." Terrible as is the event of war, and as are 
 the eifects of all war, and aggravated as is the 
 character of this species of war which has been 
 forced upon us, there is but one way open to us as 
 citizens, as men, as Christians. The call of duty 
 is stern and fearful, but it is clear and authoritative, 
 and we must respond to it ; we have responded to 
 it, promptly and with determination. If we claim 
 the protection of the laws, if we make our home 
 in this land, if we enjoy the benefits of the insti- 
 tutions under which we live, then, whether this be 
 our native soil or not, our duty is to be prepared to 
 venture everything in its service at its need. Com- 
 plicated as the disastrous subject, which has been 
 the main cause of this strife, may be, it is now a 
 simple and distinct question, or rather no question, 
 but a plain dictate of the way in which every citi- 
 zen must act, if he would not be recreant to the 
 obligations which lie upon him, whatever it may 
 cost him. This is a crisis in the affairs of the 
 country which calls for the services of men ready 
 to brave death in her cause, to protect the govern- 
 ment, to maintain the supremacy of lawful rule, to 
 repel the treasonable assault of the foes, whoever 
 they may be, who dare to violate the authority of 
 the Union, and to attack our flag. The ordinary 
 duty of quietness and order is now resolved into 
 
12 
 
 that of active, determined defence of the govern- 
 ment, assailed by violent and wicked hands ; 
 for now, in the day of peril and of need, alle- 
 giance and loyalty, submission and obedience to 
 the supreme authority, patriotism, and even pru- 
 dence and interest, concur, to bid us unsheath 
 the sword, and to wield it manfully. 
 
 And the appeal which the countrj^ has made to 
 the duty of her children, is answered far and near 
 by thousands and tens of thousands who are 
 gathering for her service. It is as if that procla- 
 mation which occurs so remarkably in the first 
 lesson this morning had been sounded from hill to 
 vale, thro' our northern borders. " Prepare war, 
 wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war 
 draw near, let them come up. Beat your plow- 
 shares into swords, and your pruning hooks into 
 spears. Let the weak say, I am strong."* The 
 love of country burns with ardor in the bosoms of 
 our citizens, and the principles of duty, which im- 
 pel men to array themselves for the protection of 
 the civil authority, are always to be relied upon in 
 any such emergency. Since force must be used to 
 repel force, since we must try the issue of battle in 
 order to the maintenance of rule, in the hands of 
 those whom God has invested therewith, it is a 
 source of pride to see the spirit and the courage 
 with which thousands of the young men, the flower 
 
 *Joel iii, 9, 10. 
 
13 
 
 of the country, have offered themselves for the 
 mihtaiy service which they are needed for. Tliere 
 should be no want of soldiers in a time like this, 
 when our flag is imperiled, when insurrection is 
 raising its wild crest, and the very citadel of the 
 Union is threatened ; and there will be no lack of 
 soldiers as indomitable in courage as their cause is 
 just, and their duty clear, and sanctioned by the 
 Word of God. No nobler use can be made of life 
 than to give it in the discharge of duty for the ser- 
 vice of our country, to strengthen the arm of our 
 rulers in the time of danger, and thus to defend 
 and protect the dearest of all earthly interests; 
 What memorable examples of patriotic devotion 
 are inscribed on the most resplendent pages of His- 
 tory, making our hearts leap as we read the record? 
 What instances of that heroic spirit have the an- 
 nals of our own national struggles made familiar to 
 our minds ? Now is our time to show that those 
 lessons of duty and courage have not been given us 
 in vain, and to emulate the men of the Revolution. 
 Onward, ye brave youth and veterans, and prove 
 that you respond to that saying of old, " Dulce et 
 decorum est," &c. : It is sweet and glorious to die 
 for our country ! 
 
 Yet, while I would thus exhibit the path of duty 
 at this hour, and thus plead the cause of patriotism^ 
 and incite all who can aid in the defence of the 
 government to give themselves promptly for its 
 
14 
 
 service and in every way to aid it, I must for myself 
 protest against any supposition that I would lift my 
 voice to appeal to mere sectional feelings, or to 
 support a war of partisan objects. I cry shame 
 on those men, who by the press, or the pulpit, 
 would pervert this fearful catastrophe, this sad 
 strife, to advance the ends of their wretched fanati- 
 cism, the men who desire to see the Union de-- 
 stroyed and the country divided, irreconcilably, and 
 who rejoice in this conflict, for such reasons. We 
 fight for the Union and the Constitution, and the 
 whole country and its people. That is the only 
 cause that can rally all, with united front, and 
 with one heart, to the struggle. 
 
 And in this hour, there are many whose hearts 
 must be strong in the sense of duty, besides those 
 who march beneath the flag of the Union, to battle, 
 to all the hardships and all the perils of war. There 
 are parents, and wives, and sisters, and daughters, 
 who must part with those they love, and send them 
 forth for the service of their God and their country, 
 in the hot haste of the moment, and surrender them 
 to the risks which they may encounter. Heaven 
 help them in this their time of need. While the 
 soldier, in the bustle of the camp, in the furious 
 excitement of the strife, in the incessant occupation 
 of the work which he is performing, can perhaps 
 forget the grief of parting ; those who stay at home 
 are left to the endurance of anxieties and appre- 
 
15 
 
 liensions, which may have but too sorrowful a ful- 
 fiUment. Let the honors of patriotism be shared 
 BETWEEN THEM, and may tlieir prayers be heard, and 
 answered, by Hun who is mighty to save ! And 
 let them remember, that the safety of those they 
 love would be dearly purchased at the expense of 
 honor, and of manly courage and of duty. 
 
 But what a fearful judgment is this which has 
 at last come upon us ! We want language to ex- 
 press the extent and the character of this unpar- 
 alleled calamity, the horrible nature of this intes- 
 tine strife which threatens to sweep its bloody wave 
 over our fair land. Must this strife go on ? Must 
 the sword devour forever? While we send our 
 armies forth to fight for the right, and to uphold 
 those whom God has placed in tlie seats of power, 
 as it is our duty, let us humble ourselves before 
 God, and implore him speedily to withdraw from 
 us this scourge, and in the abundance of His good- 
 ness to spare us, and give peace in our time. We 
 wait for Thy loving kindness, Lord, in the midst 
 of Thy Temple ! 
 

 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 012 026 286 5 
 
 i- 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 J*^\ 
 
 _>^w--' 
 
 ''"f-^Jr, 
 
 -Wm^^^'';^ 
 
 i>Vr^J^; 
 
 Sftif^^^ 
 
 :«smK^fcr'. 
 
 >»/v>>rY*»iJ*i6r*?.^- »»» ji t !'..•■', r. <» I !-