AN ADDRESS

UPON THE

STATE OF THE COUNTRY,

DELIVERED IN THE

METHODIST EPISOOPAL CHURCH, AT WIGONISGO, PA.,

011 Tuesday Evening, Sept. 29, 1863,
BY

REV. JOHN C. GREGG,

or man PHILADELPHIA coiwmnmxcn, AND LATE CHAPLAIN on‘ THE 127m
REGIMENT PENNA. voLs.

Published by Unanimous Bequest of the Audience.

PHILADELPHIA:
C. SHERMAN, ‘SON & C0,, PRINTERS.
186a  

THE ADDRESS.

7?;

MR. PRESIDENT AND Fnrmvns or our. AFFLICTED COUNTRY:

In compliance with the request of many of my fellovwcitizens,
I appear before you to deliver an address upon the state of the
country. ,

In the history of the past nations of the earth, in times of re-
bellion against rightful authority, We read of certain parties of
men who, for the Want of patriotism and moral courage, endea-
vored to occupy a neutral position, thereby embarrassing the
friends of the Government, and giving aid and comfort to the
enemy. I I

I am sorry, Mr. President, that such weak-lineed patriots do
not live only in the history of the past. But, sir, it is with deep
feelings of regret that I am compelled to say that there are many
such men to be found, not only in the Border States, but also in
our midst; who, professing to be our loyal friends, at the same
time seek opportunity togive aid and comfort to the insurgents
in arms against our Grovernment. They rejoice when the brave
defenders of bur ﬂag are defeated, and not one Word of joy or
hope is heard from them in the midst of the general gloom. May
God save us all from putting any conﬁdence in these deceitful,
hypocritical, and disloyal enemies of our beloved country. For,
sir, these are times when every man should be compelled to show
his colors for or against those glorious principles for which We
are battling. I conceive, sir, that by our kind treatment toward
these men, we have done our cause much harm. For, sir, I think
that all such men ought to be compelled to unite their efforts with
ours in putting down this Rebellion, or else be driven beyond our
lines, at the point of the bayonet if necessary; for these neutrals,

4

as they call themselves, have been equally as unfaithful and dis—
loyal to our cause as old England, who, despite of her ostenta-
tious professions of neutrality, has been busily giving aid and
comfort to therebels.

Now, sir, by the blessing of the God of our T/Vashinyton, we
will crush out this ungodly Rebellion; that done, we will settle
accounts with France and England too, if needs be, at the point
of the bayonet. For, sir, as a free and independent people we
will vindicate the supremacy of our glorious banner; emblem of
a nation unconquerable in its hatred of treason; its love of
liberty, and its heroic sacriﬁces to hand unsullied down to pos-
terity the boon and birthright of a country “one and indivi-
sible.” What we want is for the friends of the country to stand
ﬁrm, and do all in their power to assist the Government in put-—
ting down this most wicked Rebellion. Now, sir, I am happy to
say, from the signs of the times, that true loyalty is on the en-
erectse all over the eonntr , while thousands of our fellow-citizens
are yet blinded by the wicked infatuation and folly of their
abominable Southern-rights’ ideas.

I. Now, Mr. President, I further desire to call the attention of
this large and intelligent audience to a further description of the
e/mrcteter of th2's Rebellion cznol thott of its frtencls.

1. I shall prove it to be 03 contseless Rebellion. The election of
Mr. Lincoln was no cause whatever for its inauguration. N o
constitutional provision was violated by his election; nor can it
be truthfully said that his inaugural address furnished a just
cause, for in that address he most positively declared that he
would not interfere with the constitutional rights of the States.
Did Mr. Lincoln, before, at the time of, or after his inauguration,
transcend his constitutional authority before the introduction of
this Rebellion? I answer, N o!

This Rebellion was introduced without one shadow of aggression
upon the rights of the Cotton States. All that was done had
been repeatedly done before.

This is the ﬁrst attempt upon the part of men to destroy a
government when no man being engaged in that attempt was able,
when it commenced, or has been at any time since, to name one
single particular in which either his life, liberty, or property had
been put in jeopardy. N 0 one has been able to understand how,

v 5

y in a single regard, those who so madly attempted to overthrow

the Government of this country had been in the slightest degree
injured; therefore, this Rebellion is a causeless Rebellion. In
proof of this position, I beg leave to read an extract from the
speech of the Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, delivered in the
Georgia Convention, called to determine Whether that State should
secede or not, ,viz.: I

“What have We to gain by this proposed change of our rela-
tion to the General Government? We have always had control
of it, and can yet if We remain in it, and are as united as We have
been. For we have had sixty years of Southern Presidents to
their tWenty—four, thus controlling the Executive Department.
We have had eighteen judges of the Supreme Court to their
eleven. In choosing the presiding Presidents (pro tem.) of the
Senate, We have had twenty-four to their eleven. Speakers of the
House we have had twenty-three and they twelve. We have so
generally secured the Speaker because he, to a great extent,
shapes and controls the legislation ofthe country.» Attorney-
Generals We have had fourteen, While they have had but ﬁve.
Foreign ministers We have had eighty—six, and they but ﬁfty-four.
Equally so of clerks, auditors, and comptrollers, ﬁlling the E:;ecu—-
tiﬁe Departments. The records show for the last ﬁfty years that of
the three thousand thus employed, We have had more than
two-thirds of the same, while We have had but one-third of
the White population of the Republic. In the Slave States the
transportation of the mail was $314,716,000, while the revenue
from the same was $8,001,026, leaving a deﬁcit of $6,115,735 to be
supplied by the North for our accommodation, and without it We
must have been entirely out off from this most essential branch of
government.”

Now, my friends, this extract We have just read was delivered
by one of the ablest of Southern statesmen, in which he opposes
Secession upon the very ground of its causelessness.

2. I pronounce this Rebellzerz, euicicecl beccmse of its ccmselessnese.
Other rebellions that have taken place were occasioned by the
oppression and intolerance of tyrannical rulers. N 0 such cause
can be assigned by the perpetrators of this unholy rebellion. If
political parties have differed in their opinions, and at times may
have become irritated with each other’s course of conduct, the

6

Government is not,“hoWever, to be held responsible for what these .

political parties may have done; nor is this Grovernment to be
made responsible for What a few of its friends may do in an un—
oﬁcial capacity. -

N ow, Mr. President, let me call your attention to the character
of the friemls of this Rebellion.

1. They are the clespotic and wicked slaveholclers of the South,
many of whom have long been opposed to our republican form of
government, and haters of our free institutions. They have long
cherished the hope of seeing an aristocratic, if not a despotic form
of government established over slave territory, in order in their
opinion to give a greater permanency to their favorite institution,
Slavery.

S3. The disappointed politicians of the South are its best frieozols.
These are the men who to a great extent have governed this
country for the last twenty-ﬁve and more years, and they, follow-—
ing their exemplar, John C. Calhoun, deprived of the privilege of
ruling, determined upon ruin, and set about breaking up this
beneﬁcent Government, adding injury to insult.

3. The olisocppoiutecl oﬁice—holclers of the South, who had been
devouring the leaves and ﬁshes of this Government for the last
forty or fifty years. It not only insulted their dignity, but had
a depleting inﬂuence upon their pockets, to be thus turned out of
oiﬁce by the will of this free people, the majority of Whom, in
their opinion, were mudsills of the North. The above is a true
description of the character of the leaders of this the most Wicked
rebellion the earth was ever cursed with. v

4. The ignorant and the low of the South are among its friends,
nine-tenths of whom are our enemies because of their ignorance
of our true character and institutions. In proof of this, I have
but to remind you of the surprise that they have expressed upon
coming in contact with our gentlemanly and intelligent soldiers,
whom they had been taught to believe were a Wicked, selﬁsh,
ignorant, and inferior race of beings, not knowing that the people
of the North are an intelligent, humane, and Christian people,
and that the South, to a great extent, is indebted to the North for
much of the intelligence it possesses. Now, sir, nine-tenths of
the soldiers of the South are composed of just such material, led
on by their bad and unscrupulous leaders in the road to ruin.

7

Now, Mr. President, permit me to call your"attention to a short
description of the character of the enemies of our country in the
North, who are the aiders and abettors of rebellion.

1. Disappointed politicians, who love their party more than they
do their torn and bleeding country. These are the men that want
to rule, when they should be doing all in their power to save.
These very men pronounce every constitutional means used by the
Government for the suppression of this rebellion unconstitutional.
Nothing is constitutional with them but the right to subvert the
Constitution. Shame ! shame! “ Oh consistency, thou art a
jewel.” These miserable sympathizers forcibly call to mind our
Saviour’s description of some who lived in his day, “who strained
at a gnat, and swallowed a camel.” These fault-ﬁnders are the
men who embarrass the Government, give aid to the Rebellion,
complainers, troublers of the peace, always ready to ﬁnd fault,
but never ready to put forth honest efforts to crush the infernal

G Rebellion. These are the-men who do the most eﬁiciertt service for

oar coetntrgfs enemies. Such men are continually ﬁnding fault
with the National Government in her constitutional efforts to save
the.Constitution and the Union. But not one word of rebuke or
condemnation is ever heard from them against the miserable,
lblack-hearted, thieving, traitorous, Constitution-breakers of the
South. These men should lay aside their political proclivities
like patriots, and come out like true men, and support the Go—-
vernment, for if their boasted patriotism is not bogus, and their
love of country a lie, let them show it by rallying to the rescue
‘until the Rebellion is put down, and cease to agitate the question
of politics, that has done us so much harm already, by influencing
corrupt passions and prejudices detrimental to the national cause,
and when peace is restored throughout our borders, at the constitu-
tional time, the good sense of the people will select and elect a
President.

2. Disappointed oﬁice-holders of the North feel just as their dis—-
appointed friends of i the South feel. Chided ambition and
depleted pockets operate with them just as it does with their trai-
torous brethren of the South. These disloyal beings are unworthy
"of the high and proud name of American citizens. So long as
the Government will give them a good office, with fat salary,
they are true Unionists. Such men are always in the market,

8

and can be bought by the highest bidder; ‘they are very loyal so
long as they can make it pay.

8. The ignorant and the low, as a general thing, are to be
found in the ranks of that party of men in the North who are
our enemies. Some of them are native born, but the majority of
them are from Europe, as nine—-tenths of the New York rioters
were men of such character. These ignorant creatures were
urged on to insubordination and wickedness by enlightened but
corrupt-hearted politicians, who were very careful to keep out of
danger themselves; and I think. that the cloven-foot gentleman
spoken of in the Scriptures will certainly have the pleasure of
punishing such men, if they do not repent. Among them, Mr.
President, I beg leave to mention the name of J. C. Breckin—
ridge, who, during the past few weeks, no doubt, has had some of
our brave men shot down who voted for him for the Presidency,
and also Burnett, whom I have heard misrepresent our Govern-
ment upon the ﬂoor of Congress. I am compelled to give these
men credit for having had the manliness to go South, with this
remark, that I hope that other prominent politicians of the North
who are sympathizers with the Rebellion will soon follow their
example, with this understanding, that their room is better than
their company. For all traitors are following the example of the
first traitor we have any knowledge of in the same road to ruin.

II. Now, Mr. President, I wish to call the attention of the
audience to a description of the character of the frzemls of our
cozmtrg.

1. The great .s*tateslme7z of the North, among whom I beg leave
to mention the names of our excellent President, Hon. Abraham
Lincoln, I-Ion. William H. Seward, I-Ion. Secretary Chase, I-Ion.
Joseph I-Iolt, Judge Agnew, EX—Governor VVright, EX~Governor
Hicks, Governor Cannon, Governor Andrew, Governor Todd,
Governor Andrew Johnson, Governor Sprague, and our own ex-
cellent Governor, Andrew G. Curtin, whom we may all pronounce
to be a gentleman, a statesman, patriot, and a hero, who has done
more than any other Governor in this nation to put down this
Wicked Rebellion.

2. Our great Generals, among whom I take pleasure in men-
tioning the names of Lieutenant-General Scott, Major“-Generals
Grant, Banks, Meade, l3utler, Sigel, Iloward, Gillmore, Burnside,

9

Rosecrans, Hooker, and Foster. Not only are the great ma-
jority of our major and brigadier-generals, colonels, captains,
and lieutenants, true to the cause of our country, but also our
brave soldiers in the ranks, and the great men of our navy, have
proven loyal to our cause, thank God!

8. The wealthy and inﬂuential. The Wealthy have done much
towards sustaining the credit of our Government, by loaning her
millions upon millions of dollars.

The inﬂuential of our land deserve great credit for having
taken such a decided stand in favor of our country and its insti-
tutions. .

4. Nearly all the m2'm'sters of the Gospel are true friends of their
country. This fact argues the justice of our cause; for it is to
be supposed that they are biblical students, and as such they not
only have a correct knowledge of man’s duty to his God, but
also to his country. This fact the enemies of our country in our
midst cannot comprehend. Why, Mr. President, these men of
God know Well that they cannot follow a loyal Saviour acceptably,
and at the same time be disloyal themselves. These intelligent
ministers know that treason against the Government is treachery
against God; that to disobey the one is to denounce the other.

5. Nearly all the ])7’Ctyl?%g men of the Nortlz are true to the ﬂag
of their country. Hear it, sympathizers and traitors I

6. Among the great multitude of frz'e9zds of our country I must
not forget to mention the ladies. While the intelligent and
Christian ladies of the North have proven themselves to be true
friends of their country, the traitorous Women of the South have
proven themselves to be our Worst enemies. The true—hearted
ladies of theNorth have done much by their mighty inﬂuence
towards putting down this Rebellion; for a true vvoman’s frowns,
in is many cases, nullify the strongest argument for truth, While
her Winning smiles may render argument for the truth super-
ﬂuous. She controls society to a great extent by her inﬂuence;

and as the mighty oak is held up erect by the depth of its roots, :

so man is kept in the path of virtue and right by Woman’s inﬂu-
ence. The mothers and daughters of the Revolution did much
to encourage our forefathers in their struggle for national inde-

_, pendence; so the ladies of this country to—day are doing much

10

,_ for the perpetuation of that independence purchased at so great
«a cost. . .

III. N ovv, Mr. President, I call the attention of all present to
the means I conceive ought to be used for the suppression of this
most wicked Rebellion.

1. Earnest and faithful prayer.

2. Give the country our true sympathy.

3. Give the country our best wishes.

4. The use of our property.

5. Our money; for some people are very loyal so long as it
does not cost them anything. .

6. Our lives; for We had better die in defence of the right
than to live slaves.

7. Sustain the President and his aoZ~ministra.tion. I did not vote
for Mr. Lincoln; but as he, in the providence of God, is our chief
executive, it is the duty of us all to sustain him in the exercise
of those powers that the Constitution and Congress have con-
ferred upon him. What does the Constitution say that Congress
shall have power to do?

1 “ The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes,
duties, imposts, and excises, to pay debts, and provide for the
common defence and general Welfare of the United States.

“ To deﬁne and punish piracies and felonies committed on the
high seas, and offences against the law of nations. '

“To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and
make rules concerning captures on land and Water.

“ To raise and support armies.

“ To provide and maintain a navy.

“ To make rules for the government and regulation of the
land and naval forces.

“ To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws cf
the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.

“ To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the
‘militia, and for governing such parts of them as may be employed
in the service of the United States. i

“ To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for
«carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all powers
vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United
States, or in any department or officer thereof.”

11

Now, Mr. President, I deny that Congress has, since the intro-
duction of this Rebellion, transcended its constitutional authority;
for the powers conferred upon Congress are limited only by th.e
common dangers and the public necessity, and the requirements
of national justice. The people are authorized by the Constitu~
tion, through their representatives, to enact such laws as are
“necessary and proper” for self—preservation. The Constitution
authorizes that all means placed at our command are to be used
by us to save the life of the nation.

Hear what the Hon. Alexander Hamilton says upon the sub-—
ject. “The circumstances which endanger the safety of nations
are indeﬁnite,—-for this reason, no constitutional shackles can
wisely be imposed on the power to which the care of it is com-
mitted.” N ow, sir, if this great and good man was living to—day,
he would not say that Congress has since this Rebellion trans-
cended its constitutional authority. Mr. Madison, speaking in
«the same spirit and by the approval of the whole people, declared,
“ It is in vain to oppose constitutional barriers to the impulses of
self—preservation.” I call the attention of all opposers of our
Government to the evidence that we have just presented above,
which proves conclusively that Congress, or the Administration,
under the circumstances, have not transcended their constitutional
authority in their efforts to save the life of this nation. I call
upon you all to sustain the present Administration. You may
inquire, what do you mean by the Administration? I answer,
the laws of the land, and the Constitution as it is to—day. The
laws and regulations of the different States in their totality form
the Government; the men who administer these laws are the Ad-
ministration; and not only the President and his Cabinet belong
to the Administration, but all civil and military officers down to
the policeman and soldier form a part of it. You cannot set aside
or destroy this political machine and the army, without destroying
yourselves and the Government with it. Yes, but you object to
sustaining the Administration, because Mr. Lincoln has issued a
proclamation freeing all the slaves of traitors. I do not believe
that even in this act, as a military necessity, he transcended his
constitutional authority, for all intelligent men must admit, that
Slavery is the sustaining element of the Rebellion ; therefore, by
removing this sustaining element, it will weaken our enemy, which

12

is necessary to make this Rebellion short—lived. You say this is a
War for the beneﬁt of the negro. I deny this, by saying that this
War is waged to protect the Constitution, enforce the laws, and
perpetuate the union of these States ; and the history of the means
used will prove this to be true ; for they have been constitutional,
notwithstanding all the groundless assertions of our enemies to
the contrary. You object, by saying the Government has armed
the negro. I answer, that We have a better right to employ them

in the defence of this Grovernment, than the rebels have to destroy

it, for they have used more than a half million of them ever since
the War commenced in doing military duty; and the poor slave
who comes in the hour of trial to rescue his country that forgot
him in bonds, is surely entitled to a higher consideration than the
traitor Who, While he enslaves him, strikes; also at the liberty and
life of his country; Hear What ex-President Madison said upon
the subject in 1788.

“The question is answered at once by recurring to the absolute
necessity of the case, to the great principle of self—preserv-ation,
to the transcendent law of nature and nature’s God, which declares
that the safety and happiness of society are the objects at which
all political institutions aim, and to which all such institutions
must be sacriﬁced.” For he as Well as many great statesmen in
the past, as Well as many in the present, believe that Slavery is
the sustaining element of the South, and we think that the slaves
in chains are the strength of the Rebellion. Mr. Madison believed
that they were capable of rendering faithful service to their coun-

‘ try in times of danger and peril. Our immortal and loved Wash-

ington deemed these enslaved men ﬁt to ﬁght the battles of the
Revolution; Jackson deemed them ﬁt to ﬁght in our second War
for independence ; and Why not, in the name of reason and patriot-
ism, use them to ﬁght for a perpetuation of that independence
for which they shed their blood ? Therefore, lay aside your gi'ou:nd-
less objections to the constitutionality of the means used by the
Administration, for it is the duty of us all to sustain the President
and his Administration. ‘  
8. Let the P~resz'cZe7zt stop the publécat-ioin at once of all dislog/cal

'7tezospape7*s, and allow no editor to publish anything against the

Government calculated to weaken the conﬁdence of the people in
the Government, and give aid and comfort to our enemies; for

13

if the editors of the South had been as disloyal to their bause as
certain editors in the North have been to ours, they would have
been hung long ago by the authorities of the South. If men in
the North wish to preach treason through the press, let them go
South and have their articles published in the “Riclunond En-
quirer,” or some other lying Southern penny sheet. I do not
think that men ought to be allowed to preach treason all over the
North under the cloak of politics, for while we have a strong army
in front ﬁghting the enemies of our good cause, the Government
should see to it that no man or set of men be allowed to sow dis-
cord among our friends at home, for we should take good care of
our hypocritical, deceitful, and disloyal enemies in our rear.

9. N ct only leave the Writ of Haheas Corpus ens-_pen.cled until
the Rebellion is over, but if necessary to preserve our national
unity and sacred liberties from our enemies in our midst, and
from the bloody hands of traitors in the South, let the President
declare martial law throughout the United States, and leave it in
full force until this Rebellion lives onlyin the history of the past.

10. Let the President remove from all oﬁiees of trust and proﬁt
all persons who cannot give unmistakable evidence of their loyalty
to this, the best Government the sun of heaven ever shone upon.

11. Let the President direct the Secretary of War to remove
from oﬁiee in the Army; and Naevy, all major-generals, brigadier-
generals, colonels, captains, and lieutenants whose loyalty is
not like “C2esar’s wife,” above suspicion; for disloyal officers
have been the occasion of defeating our armies on more than one
occasion. I am sorry that jealousy exists among our officers to
such a degree that they have refused to assist each other in times
of great danger and peril, and by this act on their part defeated

., our armies. All such oﬁicers ought to be imprisoned, and receive

their trial when the war is over.

12. We want a oigoronsgaroseemion of the war, for I am certain
if the friends of our country would have been as much in earnest
to save the country as the rebels have been to destroy it, this Re-
bellion would have been over today; for I am opposed to half-
way measures, and a milk-and-water policy. Then let us have a
vigorous prosecution of this war for the following reasons.

1. We desire to perpetuate the Union of these States.

2. The blood of the dead demands it at the hands of our rulers.

R14

3. The groans of the sick and wounded soldiers call loudly for a
vigorous prosecution of this war.

4. The great multitude of heart-broken widows and orphans
that this war has occasioned, cry to us for a vigorous prosecution
of this war, for they know by prolonging this war that their num-
ber will be greatly increased.

5. The Free North, clothed in the habiliments of mourning for
the brave and fallen, cries for a vigorous prosecution of the war.

6. Religion, humanity, and our country demand it.

7. Prosecute the war with vigor, and it will stimulate and
strengthen the weak-kneed patriots in our midst. .

8. It will cause the soldiers in the ﬁeld to have more faith in
the ability of the Government to put down the Rebellion. It will
cause them to ﬁght with greater courage than ever.

9. It will cause the Union men of the South to take fresh cour-
uge and assert their rights, at least in some sections, at the point
of the bayonet. '

10. The only hope of a permanent-peace lies in the vigorous
prosecution of this war to the suppression of the Rebellion.

A word to our enemies in our midst. The time will come when
you will deeply regret your present wicked and disloyal course;
for this Government will put down this Rebellion and punish you

severely in case of necessity. I warn you, then, to cease your

efforts to overthrow it, for this Government will live and flourish
long after you are dead and forgotten, for our enemies everywhere
will be compelled to respect our nationality in the future as they
have been compelled to do in the past. Why will you then con-
tinue to strive to break up this Union, and trample upon both
Divine and human laws? Why are you trying to trample beneath
your feet the old, time-honored ﬂag of our country? That ﬂag,
which was christened by the blood of our Revolutionary fathers,
baptized in the blood of our brothers in our present struggle,
which we believe has been favorably recognized by the God of
nations!

In conclusion, I wish to say a few words to the friends of our
country. This cruel and unnatural war is waged by these con-
spirators against the people neither for the redress of a wrong nor
the vindication of a right. The Government of the country
which they seek to overthrow has neither denied nor violated any

15

right of theirs. These traitors of the South have waged this war
with a cruelty and perﬁdy scarcely paralleled in the history of the
most barbaric ages. These avowed conspirators, in prosecuting
their work of treason, have robbed, imprisoned, banished, and
murdered peaceable citizens solely because of their ﬁdelity to their
country and its laws. N ow then, we say, under the providence
of God, that our country is in the hands of its friends, and the
hour has arrived when you must decide, by additional sacriﬁces of
treasure and blood, the dread issue forced upon us. Shall the
Republic live or perish? The eyes of the civilized world are
looking upon us. Let us acquit ourselves like men who know
their rights and dare maintain them. Let there be an uprising of
the people in support of the National authority, and to one and
all I would say, Cheer up, and stand ﬁrm in the defence of the
right and our insulted ﬂag. And I know that you cannot consent
that your country shall cease to maintain the right and avenge
the wrong. You cannot consent that this Government, reared by
our fathers, whom God taught to build for glory and beauty, shall
be overthrown by mean, black-hearted, and ambitious traitors.
You cannot consent that your heritage shall be partitioned; that
America, the youngest born and the hope of the world, shall be
blotted from the map of nations. I think I hear millions upon
millions of freemen cry, Never will we give our consent for the

division of these States. We must live “one and indivisible.”

Let it then be the ﬁxed purpose of all present, relying upon the
Divine protection, that Whatever may be the sacriﬁces in treasure
and blood, the Constitution shall be maintained, and the ﬂag of
our country shall wave in triumph over every foot of American
soil, if in so doing it must wave over the graves of traitors.
Our prospects are bright, and growing brighter every hour.
Then, I say, push on the forces, until this Rebellion shall be sup-
pressed, quiet restored, and the sweet music of peace be heard
upon every hill-top and in every valley, and the Republic shall
live; and this, our glorious temple of freedom, shall be preserved
and handed down to the latest posterity.

PATRIOTIC SERMON,

PREACHED BEFORE THE

CONGREGATION IN THE M. E. CHURCH

AT

NHDNUK}OBIEfFYEKQCUERELJRAA
July 5, 1863,

BY REV. JOHN G. GREGG,

OF THE PHILADELPEIIA comrmmxcn, AND LATE OHAPLAIN OF THE 127'I‘1';I
REGIMENT PENNA. VOLS.

NOTE.--At the close of the delivery of the Sermon, the congregation unanimously re-
quested za. copy for publication. I acceded to their request, although the Sermon was not
prepared with a View to its publication. As the printer at Lensdale, Pm, made 9. great num-
ber of typographical and other mistakes in the first edition, the issue of this second edition
isvnccessary to meet the wishes of my friends.

PHILADELPHIA:
C. SHERMAN, SON & CO., PRINTERS.
1863.

SERMON.

“ Render unto Caesar the things that are Gaesar’s.”-—-—-M.arr. 22 : 21.

THE following question asked by our Saviour, gave rise to the
language of our text: “Whose is this image and superscription?”
They say unto him, “Caesar’s.” Then sayeth he unto them,
“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” Dr. Clarke
says the answer is full of consummate wisdom. It establishes
the limits, regulates the rights, and distinguishes the jurisdiction
of the two empires, Heaven and Earth.‘ “ The image of princes
stamped on their coin denotes that temporal things belong to
their Government. But While the country is agitated and dis-
tracted with the question of political rights and Wrongs, the
reader Will naturally ask, Wliat does a man owe to Caesar, 2'. 
the civil Government under which he lives? Our Lord has an-
swered the question,-—-that which is Caesar’s. What is it?

1. Honor.

2. Obedience.

3. Tribute.

I do not believe that the question was asked to obtain informa-
tion upon the subject of loyalty to the Government; their object
was to entrap him by inﬂuencing him, if possible, to say some-
thing against the Government ; but our blessed Saviour, who, 
one sent of God, was strictly loyal, and was always ready to
answer their questions to their own condemnation, commanded
them, in the language of our text, to “Render unto Caesar the
things that are Caesar’s.”

I. THE OBLIGATION WE ARE UNDER TO SUPPORT THE GOVERN-
MENT. A '

As regards ministers of the Gospel, I believe it to be their

20

duty to support the Grovernment. But you may say, What right
have th.ey to interfere with the politics of th.e day? I answer,
that the ministers who are strictly loyal to the Grovernment under
which they live do not interfere with politics. Tl1e1'efo1'e, I throw
the charge brought against them right back, as unjust and very
wicked. I believe it to be as much the minister’s duty to preach
the doctrine that We are to support the Government, under the
circumstances, as to preach any other doctrine taught in the
Bible. I am no politician, and never have been one. But I am
a patriot. Iwas born one; my father was a true, loyal maxi, and
did, during our last war with England, put his inventive fac-
ulties into play, and, as a result, invented, and obtained a patent
right for iron-clad War-ships, on the 19th day of March, in the
year 1814.

Why did he study so hard, and spend so much time and money
to have his invention ‘fairly tested ? I z,1.nsWer, his love of country!
His genius led him ﬁfty years in advance of the age in which he
lived. He often told his children that if he did not live to see
the Government use his invention, that they would; and this
Government to—day is reaping the fruits of my fatl1er’s genius.
My brother Thomas bled and died upon the soil of Mexico, in
defence of the right under the star." and stripes, and I would be
unworthy of the family name if I was not a true, loyal man.
Another reason Why I love my native country  this,——-the Church
of which I have the honor to be a Inember has taug'l1t me in her
“Articles of Religion” to love and obey constituted authority;
that Church has taught me, by her noble example in sending
more men to War than any other Church in the North, to be true
to my Grovernment. Again, by her great liberality in giving of
her means to support the Grovernment, she has influenced me to
take a decided stand in favor of the right. By that Church, I
mean the Methodist Episcopal Church. And I tlianlr. God that
I can state that many other Churches have done nobly in sup-
porting the Grovernment.

But all ministers of the Gospel should be loyal in the strictest
sense of the term, because of the ezmniple of Christ and his
Apostles. You are their honored representatives upon earth, and
you should follow their loyal example. You ought not to fail to
do your duty because a few mean, dough-faced politicians may

21

call you political preachers._ They are men of light heads and
corrupt hearts, and they Would, probably, have brought the
same groundless charge against Christ and his Apostles. These
are the men that want to rule, when they should he clomg all in
their power to save. These miserable traitors, and sympathizers
with traitors in arms against our Government, are Willing to sac-
riﬁce the life of the nation to accomplish their political ends.
They rejoice when the brave defenders of our flag are defeated,
and not one Word of joy or hope is heard from them in the midst
of the general gloom. These fault-ﬁnders take great pleasure in
agitating the question of politics, that has done us so much harin
already. They cry out, “ Give us generals of our party,” instead
of laying aside their political proclivities like patriots should, and
come out like true men, calling upon the people to take up arms
against our insolent foe and Wicked invaders. I would say to all
such, that you know that you are in the Wrong in objecting to
the minister praying for his poor, bleeding country. Every min-
ister should support the Government, Without stopping to consult
such traitors as you are, and as a source of eiicoiirageineiit to
you, I would say that while there is shczrnze there is hope of ;/0m'
7”eC0“Ue7°;2/, and as an act of kindness for your special enlighten-
ment, I request you to read carefully the following letter from
the C’092gregcttz’o7mZ2'st, headed “Politics and Religion.”

rnn eosrm. AND POLITICS.

It is a favorite idea with many that the Gospel has nothing to
do ‘Wltl’1]90ZiZit08, and that if they enter at all into pieaching it is
going outside the Gospel. That is, because men do not understand
the Gospel in its Wider applications. They are very apt to call
those things strictly “ politics” which come Within the line of re-
ligion. Tyrants are glad to call their tyranny politics, but poli-
tics is so related to religion that the preaching of the Gospel in
its fullest sense is a preaching down of tyranny. The adherents
of James II called the preaching of the ministers against the acts
which interfered with their labors, “political preaching ;” but they
should not have preached the Gospel if they had not given their
solemn testimony against his persecutions. The Georgians called
it preaching politics when the ministers exclaimed against the

22

horrible barbarities to the Indians within their borders, which the
nation seemed to uphold; but they vvould not have preached the
Gospel that the Great Spirit has given, if they had not covered
his red children with it.

Thousands of men called it preaching politics when the idea Was
Widely proclaimed that Slavery ought not to spread itself over all
the future territory of ‘the United States, and so cease to be
limited to its present unfortunate home. But it Would not have
been preaching the Gospel if a measure, so seemingly ﬁlled with

_ physical and moral desolation, had been suffered to  witl:1.out

rebuke. Many men may call it preaching politics when we speak
against a Confederacy purposely designed to make bondage per-
petual; against a Rebellion the most unjust and unwise the World
has ever seen; in support of a War the most reasonable that has
ever been waged, and in favor of a Republican Government that
is the hope of the oppressed all over the World. But Christ will
call it the preaching of the Gospel, and bid the men who have no
Gospel that bears upon the times remember that they are but
tithing “mint, anise, and cummin,” while they neglect the
“weightier matters of the law.” Many call it politics when a
Protestant Christianity is insisted on as that in which a republican
land should be interested in distinction from the Papacy, but the
Reformers would think it a strange kind of Gospel which did not
paint the “mother of harlots” in all her abominations, and check,
as far as possible, her interference with free republican institu-
tions.

Ah! "what a mistake people make when they think that under
the name “politics” all shades of corruption may lurk, and es-
cape the ﬁery force of the Gospel. Do they not know that poli-
tics frequently runs into religion, as the shade of darkness runs
into the lines of light? Do they not know how the Lord Jesus
preached against those who sat in Moses’ seat and governed
Judea? Do they not know how the Reformers preached against
all corruptions that were protected by political forms? , Do they
not know how earnestly the divines of the Revolution preached
against England, her ﬂeets, and armies, because the Gospel was
opposed to her tyrannical movements? The fact is, that in this
ruined World politics do so many things under the cloak of reli-
gion, that the Gospel which did not touch politics, would hardly

23

touch religion. The ministers of such a Gospel 1night be liable
to the equivocal praise which was given to a somewhat noted
clergyman by one of his hearers, who was asked how he liked
him. “ Like him I” said he, “ I like him beyond what I can tell,
for his sermons never meddle with politics or religion.”

Again, we should all support this Government. Because God
once organized a government and gave it his fostering care and
protection. The fact of government he has both ordered and en»
forced. The prophets, seers, scribes, and apostles delivered the
stern announcement that treason against the government is
treachery against God; to disobey the one was to denounce the
other. And I would inform the traitors and sympathizers with
which the North is cursed at this time, that this doctrine is taught
in their much-neglected Bible. _

I am very sorry that I am so unfortunate as to be acquainted
with some ministers of the Gospel, if ministers they are, who
seldom or ever pray for their country, and never say one word to
their congregation in favor of supporting the Grovernment. I
thank God that such ministers are few in number, and I never
associate with such men for fear I should become contaminated
thereby; for I have no conﬁdence in the religion of any man
Who refuses to support his country in this the hour of her great
trial. We should support the Government, because insubordina-
tion and unfaithfulness always bring ruin upon a nation. It is
essential to the well-being of society. And rebellion against the
rights of government leads to rebellion against individual rights.
And we do say that every one of us should sustain our system of
government, because it is the best the world ever saw. And all
our enemies everywhere would be compelled to admit this fact, if
they would permit reason to have its proper channel, and decide
according to the principles of justice. Then let me say to one
and all, for these great and glorious reasons, sustain your Grovern-
ment. And as another reason why you should at once rally to
the rescue and fall into the ranks, and show the great importance
of our struggle for national life in which we are engaged, I re-
quest you to read the following letter from John Bright, of Eng-
land, and the commentsupon said letter, by the editor of the
Evening Bulletin, headed

24

THE BATTLE OF THE WORLD.

In considering the conflict going on in this country, we Ameri-
cans, the most loyal as Well as the most lukewarm, take a narrow
and selﬁsh View of it. We look at it Wholly as a struggle for the
preservation of our Government, and do not consider how its re-
sults are to affect the World at large. But Wise and liberal states-
men in other countries View it differently. That noble champion
of the rights of man, John Bright, lately Wrote a private note to
an American gentleman now in Paris, a copy of which has come
into our hands, With permission to make it public. John Bright
looks on the American struggle from the highest stand-point, the
View from which embraces all the World. The note is as follows:

“House or Connors, LONDON,
June 18th, 1863.
“ DEAR SIR: '

“ It is very kind of you to send me your little Volume. I read.
it all last night with interest and pleasure. ‘

“ We are anxiously looking for news from your country, and I
need not tell you how much I Wish it maybe favorable to the
cause of freedom. The battle of the world 2'8 being fought on j/our
c0m‘:z'9tent, and the whole w07'ZcZ 2'8 spectator of the eomfest.

“With many thanks for your friendly sentiments towards me,

“ I am, with great respect,
“Yours,
“ J OHN Bnienrr.”

The sentence We have italicised is the one to which We would
direct the attention of our readers. The American civil war is
“ the battle of the world.” It is not merely a War for the Union,
but it is a War for civilization, freedom, and the rights of man
everywhere. If the American republic should be destroyed, ciVi—
lization and freedom would be set back at least a century. Erect
upon a part of its ruins a government, the chief corner-stone and
only hope of which is Slavery, and the World will see the dark-
ness, the barbarisni, and the despotism of the Middle Ages estab-
lished on the American continent; not established With the ex»
pectation that they may be removed by an enlightening process,

25

but as absolute and essential elements of the Government, which
must be maintained and perpetuated.

The nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa, as Well ag those of
America, are interested in the results of our great struggle. The
people are interested in our success, the despots and the aristocrats
are interested in our failure. It is “the battle of the World,”
and the World is spectator. I-Ieretofore We have carried on the
conflict from motives of patriotism and self-preservation as a na-
tion. It should nerve us to higher efforts, when We think of the

, grander issues involved. Each victory to the Union cause is a

victory to the cause of humanity and freedom everywhere. Liberal
men in Europe, who have the manliness to speak their thoughts
as John Bright has, appreciate the momentous nature of the
struggle. He sees in every Union soldier, one of the World’s
champions of freedom. If the soldiers could all be told What he
and such as he think of the war, they would ﬁght with even greater
bravery and determination than ever.
II. VVLEIAT ARE WE TO nnnnnn UNTO THE GOVERNMENT.
'1. Our prayers. The Government should receive the beneﬁt
resulting from our faithful and earnest prayers in her behalf. I
am sorry that some professors of religion clislike to hear their
ministers pray for their torn and bleeding country. May the
good Lord pity all such, for they are doing very Wrong. They
displease all good loyal men, and the eternal God, while they thus
please the first traitor We have any knowleclge of,--——I mean the
Devil. And all such professors, not possessors of reZ2'g2'07z, may
console themselves with this thought, that his Satanic majesty
thinks and feels as they do upon the subject of truth and loyalty.
. Dear friends, permit me in the fear of God to urge you to con-
tinue to pray for your country. You may each adopt the lan-
guage of the poet, and say,

“ Lord, while for all mankind we pray,
Of every clime and coast,
0 hear us for our native land,
The land we love the most.

“ O guard our shores from every foe,
With peace our borders bless ;
Our cities with prosperity,
Our ﬁelds with plenteousness.

26

“Unite us in the sacred love
Of knowledge, truth, andthee,
And let our hills and valleys shout,
t The songs of liberty.

“ Lord of the nations, thus to thee,
Our country We commend;
Be thou her refuge and her trust,
Her everlasting friend.”

2. Our sg/mgycttizg/. The man that has not a heart to sympathize
With his country at this time is not Worthy of the name of a man,
and he ought to be driven out of society, With this understanding,
that his room is better than his company.

3. 0m" best wisiaes. If you cannot go to War yourself, or have
no one to send, and no money to give to support the C~‘x-overnment,
you can each give her your best Wishes. The cold reception given
to the careworn and Weather-beaten soldiers of the Army of the
Potomac by certain disloyal men of our own State,-—--for after

long and weary marches the brave men of that army reached our

State in order to drive the rebels from our soil; and to receive
such a reception from men Whose homes and ﬁresides they came
to protect, was almost enough to make angels Weep. The poor
soldiers at once pronounced it heart-sickening. One mean, dis-
loyal Pennsylvania farmer requested the commander of a division
of the army to make out for him the necessary papers, that he
might present his claim to the Government for pay for ﬁfteen or
twenty rails the Union soldiers burnt in cooking their coffee, &c.
All such mean disloyal people of the North should be treated as
their conduct deserves. When our troops Went up into Cumber-
land Valley last fall to drive away the invading foe, one farmer
refused to let the Union soldiers have one stick of Wood to cook
their rations With. Since that time the rebels paid their old farmer
friend a visit, and they stole all his horses and cattle and burned
his fences and plundered his house, and they served the old traitor
right. I want all the people to hear 2'25: that all men who treat
the Union soldiers as this old farmer treated our brave men, de-
serve to be treated in the same Way in which he was treated by
his supposed friends, the traitors of the South.

27

4. Render olaeclicnce to the laws ourselves, and do all in our
power to inﬂuence others to do so.

5. Our property. You say you love your country, and yet you
are unWilli.11g to give your property to support her. Very loyal,
so long as the Groverninent does not interfere with your property.
"What Will your broad acres be Worth, and all your movable pro-
perty, if you, on account of your rneanness, permit the Govern-
ment to be overthrown.

6. Your ’)72:07Z(3;2j. Some people are very, Very loyal—so long as
it does not cost them anything; so long as they can keep all they
have got and get as much more as they can, it rnatters not l.1OW.
Others are very loyal so l.o1ig as they can rnalsze it pay; so long‘
as the Groverninent will give them offices with a liigh salary.
Again, others are loyal so long  the Government will give them
good contracts, and thereby an opportunity to defraucl her out
of thousands of dollars. Since the connnenceinent of this War our
Groverninent has found no diﬂiculty in ﬁnding true friends, so
long as they paid them well. I do not know whether the people
are correct in their jlltlglillellt or not, but many of them l3l1lI1l{ that
if the oﬁicers’ and other l.’1lQ,;l.'1 officials’ salary was reduced to that
of the privates, thirteen dollars a mont.l1, that the war would soon
close by the overthrow of the Rebellsison. Perhaps these changes
would niake this war sl1ort—-il,ived. Give, give your money to sup-
port the Grovernment, for wl’1.:1.t will your ggreenbaclts be worth if,
by the Want of liberality and patriotism on your part, Uncle Sam
should lose his credit and ability to redeem his promises. There-
fore, if you Want to live secure as regards your property and
money in the future, support your Government. Many have been
very liberal in S11p1i)C)1‘tl.1”.l§‘ the Groverninent, thank God.

7. Our Zzhee cmol those of our feZZo2.o—c2't'2T:ae7zs. We should be
Willing to sacriﬁce the last drop of our hezrrts’ blood upon the
altar of our country; for We had better die freenien, in the defence
of the right, than to live slaves. Go, then, father, and yolir chil-
dren and your chil.dren’s cl1il.<.lren. will rise up and call you blessed.
Parents, send your sons, with the proud consciousness that it is your
duty. Wives, give up your husbands for a season; he like the
patriotic Wife out West, Whose husband had returned home from
the War on a furlougli. He asked his Wife if he should return to
his post in his regiment or remain at home. She said, “Return to

 

28

your duty, for I would rather live a Widow of a brave man than
the wife of a coward.”

Yozmg ladies, follow the noble example of those of Logans-
port, Indiana; for they, at the introduction of this War, met  a
body, and resolved that they would not allow any young man to
enjoy their smiles or live in their hearts, who was not brave enough
to battle for the right. Yes, young ladies, the young man who
is not Willing to support his Government at this time is unworthy
of your conﬁdence and love; for if he has not courage enough to
defend his own home and ﬁreside, he has not enough to defend you.

Sisters, encourage your brothers to go, and While they are
away upon the battle-ﬁeld you can comfort your parents, and it
will make your hearts glad to hear and read of the noble deeds
performed by them upon the battle—ﬁeld; and 0 how proud you will
feel, when you see those brothers return as conquerors all covered
over with glory, as the sons of the noble and brave sires of "T6.
I say to one and all,-M-to arms, to arms .’

III. Fen VVIIAT Ann vvn AT WAR? .

1. Our lives and those of our fellow citizens. Self—preservation
is the first law of nature. The traitors of the South. have been
murdering our fellow citizens for many years past. 0 Lord, how
many of our innocent number have they hung many long years
before the introduction of this hell-born I-tebellion, and how many
thousands of our pickets, at the midnight hour, have they de-
liberately murdered since this ungodly War was introduced by
them! Hundreds and thousands of our fellow citizens have
been hung and shot by them premeditatedly since this War was
forced upon us by the friends of his Satanic majesty, who was
the first traitor, and they following in the same road to ruin.
If you had seen, as I have, my dear brethren, the great number
of wounded, dying, and dead of your fellow citizens upon the battle-
ﬁelds in the South, and in our hospitals, you would as a body, I
thinlc, rise in obedience to the groans of the wounded and dying,
and the cry of the blood of the dead, and shoulder your arms,
and turn your faces soutlivvard, keeping step to the music of the
Union, with the full determination that you will punish the cut-
throats, robbers, and Constitution-breakers of the South. If you
had gained a knowledge of these things by sight, somzol, feeling, cmd
ertperierzce, as I did in our army While Cliaplain of the 127th

29

Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, you, I doubt not, would
begin at once thus to act.

2. Our homes. Many, many of our fellow citizens have been
driven from their homes in the South, just because they loved the
good and the Wholesome laws of these United States. Since this
War commenced, and during the last few clays, hundreds in our
State have fled from their once peaceful homes, Where quietness
abounded, for their lives, and  there are over seventy thousand
armed Rebels upon the soil of your own State, you see your homes
are in danger. Arise then at once, and comply with the Governor’s
call by falling into the ranks.

3. Our properzfy, both public and private.

They have already destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars
Worth of private property, and millions upon millions of dollars
Worth of public property. They have taken our forts, arsenals,
and mints,———and for the last two years liave been trying to take
our capital, which bears the name of the Father of his C‘ountry.

Yes,‘ Washington--«named after him who in his very heart of hearts

despised treason and its friends.   _

4. We areﬁglztzhig to saustcmt this Govermnernt in the exercise of
our constitutional rights. After a fair election was held through-
out the United States, the people by their own free will and accord
gave M1‘. Lincoln a majority of their votes, and thus declared or
constituted him their legal President. It is the duty of us all to
sustain him as such in the exercise of his constitutiorial authority.
Immediately after his election, notwithstanding the South had suc-
ceeded in almost every case in electing a President of their own
choice for the last twenty—five years, they at once refused to ac-«
knowledge him as their chief executive. We, like true men and
patriots, submitted to be governed principally by Presidents of their
choice, for over twenty-ﬁve years. They, like traitors, or rather
being such, refused to be governed by a President thus elected to
serve for four years, while Mr. Lincoln solemnly declared in his
inaugural address that he would not interfere With their Constitu-
tional rights.

T/its war has been forced 2193092 its 2t72.Znm2fuZZ_i/, for the Rebels had
no legal excuse for inaugurating it.

Against ]3cttr~z'otism. Because those who introduced it were our

30

brothers, born upon the same soil, and lived and ﬂourished so long
under our good and wholesome laws, and our glorious Constitution.

Forced upon as against reason. Were the provisions of the Con-
stitution violated before the introduction of this war by the party
in power ? No. Let all the people hear it. N o I Has anew one
been substituted for the old one ? No. Were its provisions treated
with disrespect by Mr. Lincoln after the election, before the intro-
duction of this Rebellion? N 0. Men, if they will speak the truth
throughout time must answer, No. And the Devil and demons
damned in hell no doubt will haunt and harass the traitors that go
from this land with the assertion that the Rebellion they introduced
was introduced without cause; and they may laugh and rejoice in
their own way over their great victory, which they gained over loy-
alty and right, by the industry and success that attended the efforts
of their agents, the traitors of this so-called Southern Confederacy.
This wicked Rebellion was introduced without one shadow of aggres-
sion upon the rights of the Cotton States. All that was done had

. repeatedly been done before.

A ccmselcss rebellion. The traitors concluded that if they could
not rule they would ruin, addinginsult to injury. We are contend-
ing for our sacred liberties. We are not willing for one—third to
govern two-thirds. Some say, Give us peace. It is not a question
of war or peace, but war or anarchy. War, or the destruction of
every right of both civil and religious liberty. Are you willing
for traitors to rule over you? You answer, N 0! Well, then you
must ﬁght. If you are willing to degrade the free labor of the North
to a level with the slave labor of the South, you may have peace.
I mean short-lived peace. If you are willing to reject the princi-
ples of our Washington and Jefferson, and adopt those of Calhoun,
Jeff. Davis, and other bad men, you may have peace. If you are
willing for these States to be divided, and have a continued border
war, you may have peace. But from such peace may the good
Lord save us!

We are ﬁghting for our insulted ﬂag. Not the black rattle-

snake ﬂag of Secession, but the Star-spangled Banner. That ﬂag ‘

which was carried in triumph over so many battle-ﬁelds in our
successful revolutionary struggle for our national independence.
The flag that waved triumphantly during our last war with Eng-
land. The ﬂag that was carried in triumph over the soil of

31

Mexico. That ﬂag, which is the passport of our sailors upon the
high seas and in every foreign port. We are like the old man
who was one of the managers at a camp meeting. One evening,
this old gentleman’s nephew was very disorderly, which caused his
uncle to seize him by the throat, and while dragging him from the
ground, the nephew cried at every step, “Uncle, don’t you know
me ?” “ Know you! no, I don’t want to know you.” \

Well, that is our feeling. We do not want to know any other
flag except the Star-spangled Banner. “Long may it wave over
the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Let us each
then, as brave men, ﬁrmly resolve, relying upon the God of our
revolutionary fathers, that if the ballot-box is not respected, that
we will make the bullet cause it to be respected, and by a vigorous
use of all the means that earth and heaven have placed at our com-
mand, let us teach traitors that their destiny is in our hands, and
not ours in theirs. g

For these great and holy principles we are battling; let us each
then rally to the rescue. ' ”

And in conclusion, permit me to speak for a few moments of our
resources and prospects. We have plenty of mean. yet to spare to
send to the War. ~

Plenty of money. When has there been a time in the past when
money was so plenty ?

P7"om'sz'09ts enough to carry on the war for many years if God
will continue to favor us with good crops, and there will be enough
left to feed old Ireland in case the potato crop should fail.

Our prospects are good, and growing brighter every day. God
has at last raised up a man to the command of the Army of the
Potomac, General Meade, that we all hope will ever be able to lead
them on tovictory, so long as treason and its friends curse our
soil. He has defeated General Lee’s army, thank God. General

Grant has captured Vicksburg. We have a General Banks who ,

is digging down the banks of Port Hudson. And I say, push on
the Union forces, until the ﬂag of our country shall wave over every
foot of American soil, if in so doing it must wave over the graves
of traitors,--—-for conquer we must, our cause is just, and in God is
our trust ; for I expect to liveto see the friends of this Rebellion
in as helpless a condition as I once saw an Irishman while I was
chaplain in the army. As I was riding cut one day, I saw twe

32

soldiers ﬁghting. I galloped up to the scene of conflict, and
learned that a sober soldier had knocked a drunken Irishman
down, and was giving him fast and heavy blows. As the poor
Irishman lay ﬂat on his back, receiving the hard blows, With his
face all bleeding, I cried out, “ Soldiers, you must cease this ﬁght-
ing.” The poor Irishman cried out to me, “ General! General l
I am Willing to quit ﬁghting just out of respect for you.” N ow,
sir, We expect to get our national foot upon the neck of the Rebel-
lion, and its friends will be compelled to cry out, “ Uncle Sam, We
are Willing to quit ﬁghting just out of respect for the Constitution,
and lay down our arms and return home, and let one of the best
systems of government which the world ever saw, still live.” May
God hasten the time.

N ow to convince you all that I am Willing to practice what I
preach, I now propose to lead twenty-ﬁve or more of the members
of this congregation on in the defence of your invaded State. Will
you go with me? for I have carried a inusket upon the ﬁeld of
battle before, and I am willing to do so again. I appeal to your
sense of 72,on0r,pcttrz'otz'sm, and love of country,- for after nine months’
experience in the service, I feel fully competent to lead you on to
victory. I say again, will you go with me? At the close of my
term of service, I was unanimously recommended by the com-—
missioned officers of the regiment for a reappointment. There-
fore, will you go? I make this proposition to show you all that I
am Willing to do my Whole duty, and that I love my country next
to my God.