LESSONS FROM AN ANCIENT FAST. 
 
 A DISCOURSE 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE 
 
 CITADEL SQUARE CHURCH 
 
 CHARLESTON, S. C, 
 
 (On the occasion of the (hen era I tfsst 
 
 Thursday, June 13, 1861, 
 
 REV. J. R. K KM) RICK 
 
 CHARLESTON: 
 
 STRAM-rOWBD PRESSES OP EVANS 4 COGSWELL. 
 No. 3 Broad and 103 East Bay Streets. 
 
 1861 
 
LESSONS FROM AN ANCIENT FAST. 
 
 A DISCOURSE 
 
 DKI.IVKUKIl IN THE 
 
 CITADEL SQUARE CHURCH, 
 
 CHARLESTON, S. C, 
 
 <©n the orrasion o|j the (!) en oral $ast, 
 Thursday, June 13, 1861, 
 
 BV 
 
 R EV. .1. R. K EE DEICK. 
 
 CHARLESTON: 
 
 BTKAV-FOWBR PRESSES OF EVANS Jl C C S \V E I. L . 
 
 N<>. .". Broad and 103 East Day Streets. 
 
 1801. 
 

Charleston, Jutu II. i SCI. 
 Rev. J. R. Kkndhick. 
 
 Dear Sir — At a meeting of the congregation of the Citadel Square Church, 
 held on Thursday last, the 13th instant, the undersigned were appointed a Com- 
 mittee to solicit of you a copy of your Sermon, delivered on the occasion of the day 
 set apart by the President of the Confederate States of America, as a day of 
 Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, which the undersigned request you to furnish 
 at your earliest convenience, with a view of having the same published for gon- 
 eral distribution. 
 • Very respectfully. 
 
 JAMES L. GANTT, 
 S. WYATT, 
 GEO. W. OLNEY, 
 
 Committet . 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/lessonsfromancieOOkend 
 
DISCOURSE. 
 
 "Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Abava, that we might afflict our- 
 selves hefore our God, to seek of Him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and 
 for all our substance. For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers 
 and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken 
 unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him; 
 but His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him. So we fasted 
 and besought our God for this, and He was entreated of us." — Ezra viii, 21— .1. 
 
 The successive ages, in their histories, are much like 
 concentric circles, ever increasing in number, ever ex- 
 panding, but ever preserving a fixed resemblance to each 
 other. The last is like the first, only larger, bolder and 
 more imposing; the first is like the last, the model and 
 prophecy of all that come after. The movements and des- 
 tinies of insignificant peoples and societies in the world's 
 infancy, proceeded upon principles and were def eloped in 
 accordance with laws which govern the grander move- 
 ments and destinies of the mighty nations existing at this 
 hour. The whole future oak is said to be contained in the 
 acorn, and the first little commonwealth was not merely 
 the germ of all future States and Empires, but their actual 
 type and miniature representative. The statesman is, and 
 must be, a student of history; for there he learns in ad- 
 vance, by tracing in their practical operations and visible 
 results, what are the hidden laws which control human 
 affairs, and to which he should conform his own plans and 
 measures. History has been described as philosophy teach- 
 ing by examples; it is more exactly, I think, examples 
 2 
 
6 
 
 teaching as, if we have the discerning mind, the true 
 philosophy. Especially should the statesman, as well as 
 the humblest citizen, be a diligent student of Biblical 
 history, even though it treal of a people as comparatively 
 small and unimportant as the ancient Jews; for in their 
 annals what is mosl real, vital ami permanent in political 
 organizations, appears in sharp contrasl with what is acci- 
 dental, factitious ami fleeting. The eternal principles that 
 must underlie and support all vigorous, enduring national 
 life, are there developed, not simply in actual results, but 
 in results sanctioned by divine approval and authenticated 
 by divine inspiration. 
 
 Thus the fast of Ezra on the hanks of the Ahava. with 
 his little colony of Jewish captives, observed four centuries 
 and a half before Christ's coming, rises into the dignity of 
 an august precedent, to be studied and imitated by our 
 nation, figuring in the Latter part of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, with its nine or ten millions of inhabitants, and 
 sustaining vast and complicated relations to the great 
 centres of civilization. The verses describing this fast 
 indicate, if L mistake not, what should he the end, the prin- 
 ciples "nil the spiritual exercises of this day's solemnity — a 
 solemnity the most momentous, by far, to which the people 
 comprising these Confederate States were ever summoned. 
 
 1. Tin' end or <ihii of Ezra's fast is stated in words which 
 happily and forcibly express the purposes contemplated by 
 the present religious service — "to seek of God a right way for 
 us, and for our little ours, and for all our substance." And this 
 becomes the more apparent and interesting when we re< all 
 
 the somewhat striking resemblance between Ezra'-s situa- 
 tion ami our own. He was, you are aware, one of those 
 predestined agents, employed in restoring the captives to 
 Jerusalem, and in rebuilding there the dismantled and 
 prostrate Jewish commonwealth. He had heen preceded 
 in this service by several distinguished Laborers, in par- 
 ticular by Prince Kerubbabel and the High Priest Joshua, 
 who had conducted fifty thousand colonists to their ances- 
 tral seats, and had already completed the second temple. 
 
Much had been clone; but much remained to do. The 
 settlers at Jerusalem were environed with enemies and 
 exposed to the most serious perils from without, while 
 their internal affairs were in a most disordered and unsatis- 
 factory condition. Ezra, a priest and man of learning, was 
 now on the eve of leading to them an auxiliary force of 
 colonists, with the hope of strengthening their hands, re- 
 forming abuses and re-establishing their ancient constitu- 
 tion and laws on a firm basis. It was a critical moment in 
 Jewish history, and it is not extravagant to say that all the 
 future in the destiny of that people might depend on the 
 results of this expedition. 
 
 Much like this is our position to-day. We are engaged 
 in aii enterprise no less solemn and momentous than the 
 settlement of a reformed and purified Government — the 
 confirmation of our ancient rights and franchises under 
 new guards and guarantees — the assertion of our name 
 and place in the great family of nations, "the Federation 
 of the world." Much has already been done. As in the 
 case of Ezra, the preliminary steps have all been taken; 
 the new Government has been organized under a Constitu- 
 tion regarded as a great improvement on the old and 
 broken one; and we are now displaying all the signs and 
 discharging all the functions of a vigorous national life. 
 But much remains to do; in one view, everything. AVe 
 have to hold and make good our high position against a 
 hostile and determined power, denying our eveiw claim, 
 and contesting our every step. The decisive hour, the 
 hour of destiny, seems close at hand. 
 
 It was at such a moment that Ezra and his associates, 
 already girded for the inarch, proclaimed their fast, afflict- 
 ed their souls, and mingled their penitential tears with the 
 waters of the Ahava. It is at such a moment that we, 
 pausing a little before the conclusive onset, are summoned 
 to abase ourselves before God in all the decent and devout 
 services of this solemn occasion. 
 
 As already stated, words could scarcely be framed to 
 convey more exactly what should be the precise pur- 
 
8 
 
 pose of this service, than do those of Ezra — "to seek 
 of God a right way for as, and for our little ones, and 
 for all our substance." All these interests are involved 
 in the crisis which faces us, and the enterprise in which 
 we arc engaged. Ourselves, our little ones, and all our sub- 
 stana — and what i> there dear and valuable to the heart, 
 which, cither expressly <>r by necessary implication, this 
 pregnant catalogue does not embrace? — arc staked upon 
 the issues of this tremendous contest. As the controversy 
 lias turned and now shapes itself, it seems not improbable 
 that it is destined to become a controversy over the rights 
 of property, the altars of religion, the very safety and 
 sanctity of home. 
 
 I would have you note in particular, my brethren, what 
 appears to be the central word in Ezra's description of the 
 purpose of his fast. His object was to seek a "right way" 
 upou this occasion. 
 
 A "right" way — that is, most obviously, and according 
 to the common signification and use of this word, a right- 
 eous way. the way of right, truth and justice. We ought 
 to desire, and I trust do desire, from the President of the 
 Confederacy down to the humblest citizen, to discover and 
 tread the high and open path of honor and rectitude. 
 We should wish to avoid false and crooked ways, dark and 
 Machiavellian policies, the diplomacy that cheats and lies, 
 and the statecraft that spurns integrity, and crawls to its 
 ends through the subtleties of fraud and the foulness of 
 dishonor. I have ever shrunk from the sentiment: "Our 
 country, always right; but, right or wrong, always our 
 country." I will not deny, indeed, that it may be a man's 
 duty to cling to his country when she is wrong; but this 
 maxim, as it has commonly been paraded and employed, 
 tends to confuse and obliterate moral distinctions as related 
 to the acts of government, to educate the popular mind to 
 indifference respecting political measures, to deify the Hag 
 as the symbol of national greatness, and to blind the eye to 
 all the stains that may deface and degrade it. Let us be 
 deeply solicitous that our country, in one view just born 
 
9 
 
 just entering upon its career of destiny, may start in the 
 right way and always keep it. It is not success only that 
 we ought to desire in the present contest, but success upon 
 just principles, in the employment of honorable expedi- 
 ents, and in the adoption of a policy on which the scru- 
 tiny of the Searcher of hearts can honestly be invoked. 
 It is very encouraging, on referring to the Presidential 
 proclamation which has invited us to this service, to read 
 there words almost identical witli those which the Jewish 
 leader used in connection with his act of humiliation. The 
 Chief Magistrate requests us to "implore the Lord of 
 Hosts to guide and direct our policy in the paths of right, 
 duty, justice, and mercy." ISTo request, surely, should be 
 more consonant with the views and feelings of a Christian 
 people. Ob, that lie who loves righteousness and hates 
 iniquity, may enable our President, our Cabinet, our Con- 
 gress, and all our people, to discern and choose truth and 
 justice amidst all our temptations and provocations to err, 
 and all the fierce passions and blinding prejudices which 
 the hour is apt to excite ! Oh, that He may direct us in 
 the way illuminated with the smile of His own approval ! 
 
 A "right way" — evidently, in this connexion, a safe and 
 successful way. This was clearly the wish uppermost in the 
 mind of Ezra, in the use of this word. He was about 
 entering upon a long and weary march across the sands of 
 (lie desert, where dangers of every sort awaited him, and 
 where bands of freebooting desperadoes might suddenly 
 sweep down upon him, dooming his expedition to a disas- 
 trous termination and blighting the hopes or shading the 
 prospects of the feeble colony at Jerusalem. He naturally 
 ■wished to be defended from enemies, to escape calamities, 
 and without any misadventure to finish his journey in 
 complete success. Beyond question this is the great, com- 
 mon desire, the passionate longing, filling the hearts of the 
 millions of the Confederacy to-day. They wish to touch 
 speedily the goal which they have in view — to avoid the 
 further effusion of blood and obtain a prompt peace — to be 
 successful in battle, if this stern arbitrament must be 
 
10 
 
 accepted — to obtain the recognition of their independent 
 nationality — to reach a condition in which they -hall be 
 permitted, without Le1 or hindrance, to rear, strengthen 
 and adorn the fabric of their government on the founda- 
 tion which has been Laid — a condition in winch they shall 
 enjoy, fairly and fully, the natural advantages pf their soil, 
 climate and system of labor, pul in practice, as far as may 
 be, their traditional and favorite notions respecting free- 
 dom of trade, develop their own peculiar form of civiliza- 
 tion, and work out their own destiny. They wish to 
 establish on these western shores another republic which, 
 though perhaps not distinctly anticipated by the patriot 
 sires of the Revolution, shall still realize their hopes and 
 play its grand part in multiplying the triumphs of com- 
 merce, diffusing the blessings of Christianity and promot- 
 ing tin' great interests of civilization. Undoubtedly, the 
 primary object of this solemnity is to implore heaven to be 
 propitious to our cause, to pronounce its benediction on our 
 gigantic enterprize, to enlighten our rulers with a wisdom 
 that shall enable them to baffle the counsels of the enemy, 
 and inspire our armies with a courage that shall make their 
 progress a march to victory. 
 
 2. Such is the great aim of this solemnity as described 
 in the incident which is guiding our reflections. But OUT 
 text also happily suggests to our consideration some of 
 those 'principles which underlie our present service, and 
 which we must distinctly apprehend in order that it may 
 be fruitful in good consequences. 
 
 Ezra recognized, for example, his dependence on God as to 
 the results of his expedition. This is a statement too 
 obviously just to require argument' or illustration on its 
 behalf, lie was a firm believer in Divine Providence, and 
 calmly committed his enterprize to that custody and direc- 
 tion. Such must we be; so must we do. Our fast pro- 
 ceeds upon the supposition that God's hand is in human 
 affairs, and without this conviction on our part, it will 
 prove a grave and insulting mockery which He may resent 
 with the tokens of His displeasure. If this day, to any 
 
11 
 
 general extent, is regarded as a merely politic appointment, 
 intended to impress men simply, and to stimulate confi- 
 dence by seeming to invest our enterprize with the sanc- 
 tions of religion and give it the prestige of divine approval, 
 I need scarcely tell you, my brethren, that our fast is in 
 danger of turning to a curse. I dwell on this point for a 
 moment because, though a rudimental one in religion, and 
 too obvious, in this view, to require elaboration, it is still a 
 perpetual stumbling-stone to a certain class of cultivated 
 thinkers, who cannot conceal the sceptical disdain or indif- 
 ference with which they regard it. That most brilliant 
 and popular of solid writers, that greatest master perhaps 
 of the English tongue, Macaulay, was a representative of 
 this class, and he always alluded to this vital doctrine of 
 Christian faith in a cold and sneering tone. In speaking 
 of the voyage of William to the British shores, he uses the 
 following language: "The weather had indeed served the 
 Protestant cause so well that some men of more piety than 
 judgment fully believed the ordinary laws of nature to 
 have been suspended for the preservation of the liberty 
 and religion of England. Exactly a hundred years before, 
 they said, the Armada, invincible by man, had been scat- 
 tered by the wrath of God. Civil freedom and divine 
 truth were again in jeopardy; and again the obedient ele- 
 ments had fought for the good cause. The wind had 
 blown strong from the east while the Prince wished to 
 sail down the channel, had turned to the south when he 
 wished to enter Torbay, had sunk to a calm during the 
 disembarkation, and, as soon as the disembarkation was 
 completed, had risen to a storm and had met the pursuers 
 in the face." It is impossible to mistake the purport of 
 this passage, especially when taken in connection with 
 many of a similar character in this great author's works. 
 While caricaturing the doctrine of Providence as held by 
 intelligent believers, its effect is to bring that precious 
 article of our faith into suspicion and discredit, to ridicule 
 the idea that "the obedient elements may fight for the 
 good cause," and that "the wrath of God" may justly be 
 
12 
 
 relied on to scatter fleets "invincible by man." It is to be 
 hoped that the subtle poison of this pernicious scepticism 
 does not circulate widely among our people. The very 
 foundation principle on which this solemnity rests is the 
 control of Jehovah over human affairs, and the assurance 
 that the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to 
 the Btrong. 
 
 It is also instructive to notice that Ezra in his last and 
 contemplated expedition, had an eye to Qu glory of God. 
 It appears, from the narrative before us, that in certain 
 interviews with Bang Artaxerxes in which they had con- 
 versed concerning the affairs of his people, and of his 
 hopes and reliances, the pious Jew had expressed the most 
 implicit confidence in the God of Israel ; and now, as he 
 was about to set forth upon his perilous journey, he was 
 ashamed to ask the monarch for an escort of "soldiers 
 and horsemen" lest it might be construed as indicating 
 distrust of Jehovah. He preferred to brave the terrors of 
 the desert with his feeble company, rather than compro- 
 mise in the least the honor of his God, by invoking the 
 protection of heathen spears. It is plain that Ezra's pro- 
 clamation of a fast originated, in no small degree, from his 
 sensitive and jealous regard for the divine honor, so far as 
 it might be affected by his own conduct, I trust that this 
 sentiment, so well calculated to exalt the Jewish leader in 
 our esteem, mingles largely in the emotions and exercises 
 of this solemnity. I rejoice, in particular, in the convic- 
 tion that the honor of God as related to the condition of 
 four millions of the descendants of Ham, whose lot has 
 been east in this Southern land, has had much to do in 
 bracing many a heart to meet this crisis. Multitudes of 
 devout souls have longed for opportunities and facilities in 
 laboring for the spiritual improvement of this class, which 
 have hitherto been denied or abridged by reason of the 
 impertinent and malicious intermeddlings of those who are 
 strangers to their real character and condition. Multitudes 
 of such souls are looking forward with hope to the recog- 
 nized independence of the new Confederacy, as an event 
 
13 
 
 which will enable them to devote increased attention to the 
 religions instruction of our servants, unimpeded by those 
 natural suspicions and fears which now, in many places, 
 greatly embarrass this service. Not with the ambitious 
 wishes and aims of the proud builders of Babel, not to rear 
 a political structure whose "top may reach unto heaven," 
 and to "make a name " whose renown shall till the ages, 
 should the independence of the South be sought; but 
 rather with the lofty purpose and desire of promoting 
 God's glory, while securing our own rights and happiness. 
 In connection with these views and principles was 
 another conviction which prompted and controlled the last 
 of Ezra; this was the cheering assurance that " the hand of 
 Qod was upon him for good." He had expressed this con- 
 viction to the Persian monarch in the following siu>-<>-estive 
 formula: "The hand of our God is upon all them for 
 good that seek Him; but His power and His wrath is 
 against all them that forsake Him." He ventured to believe 
 that he and his people were among those who sought and 
 served the Lord, and who might thus appeal to Him for 
 succor and protection in the hour of need. This encour- 
 aged him to proclaim his fast and engage in special ser- 
 vices for obtaining the divine guidance. It is manifest, on 
 the slightest reflection, that the persuasion that the hand of 
 God is upon us for good, that, upon the whole, He is dis- 
 posed to regard us with favor, is essential to cheer our 
 religious solemnities with the reasonable prospect of happy 
 consequences. This persuasion, humbly and unpresump- 
 tuously cherished I hope, animates the people of the Con- 
 federate States to-day. With nothing, certainly, in their 
 history to justify pride and self-complacency, certainly 
 with very much to cause them shame and confusion of 
 face, they still venture to think that, judged by fair stan- 
 dards, they are at least as much entitled to regard them- 
 selves as having ''sought the Lord," and been true to 
 Him, as their former political associates. The}' venture to 
 believe, in particular, that, in the present, controversy which 
 is convulsing the land and hurling the two sections against 
 
14 
 
 each other in the shock of battle, they have right on their 
 side, and may therefore trusi thai the hand of God will be 
 upon them for good. This conviction is probably aa deep, 
 as clear, as prevalent, as any which ever moved and united 
 a people i" accepl the hazards of a revolution, I suppose 
 it musl be confessed, that a contrary persuasion is Dearly aa 
 stnni-- on the other side. In such a strange case, where 
 two Christian peoples are solemnly appealing to heaven to 
 witness the rectitude of their motives and the justice of 
 their cause, God mnst and will judge betwixt them. 
 
 For my own part, in pronouncing the presenl war waged 
 against the South most iniquitous and erne], and in vindi- 
 cating the defiant attitude of the Confederate Stale.-. I do 
 not go far back for arguments and reasons. J have no 
 occasion to review the long conflict which lias raged be- 
 tween the North and South while united under a common 
 Government, to rehearse the wrongs and aggressions of the 
 former, which at length culminated in the overwhelming 
 predominance of a party animated by a declared hostility 
 to southern institutions. I have no occasion to discuss the 
 constitutional right of secession. The great, patent, mon- 
 strous fact is enough for me, that the attempt to hold 
 sovereign States together against their will, and Coerce 
 them into union by a war of invasion, is utterly opposed 
 to the genius of our institutions ami to all the traditions 
 and maxims in which we have been educated touching a 
 people's right to self-government. Common sense should 
 dictate that when the interests of States, united under a 
 voluntary compact, have become irreconcilably variant and 
 clashing — when an unanticipated territorial expansion has 
 been attained, so vast as almost, of itself, to forbid cohe- 
 rence and necessitate disintegration — when strifes and bick- 
 erings through long years have engendered mutual fear 
 and hate — when the spirit of confidence and fraternity has 
 wholly departed — especially when myriads on the one side 
 charge the other with a sin which is an intolerable burden 
 to their consciences — under such circumstances, I say, com- 
 mon sense should dictate that the aggrieved and dissatis- 
 
15 
 
 fied States should be allowed to depart in peace. Had this 
 been done at the right moment, I cannot doubt that many 
 of the benefits of union would still have been mutually 
 en/joved, while its causes of irritation and annoyance would 
 have been avoided. But under the inscrutable permissions 
 of Providence it has been ordered otherwise; the unnatu- 
 ral, fratricidal, parricidal strife has begun, and the God of 
 battles is appealed to in its decision. With full confidence 
 in the justice of her cause, in the cheerful hope that the 
 hand of God is on her for good, the Confederacy holds this 
 fast and sends her sons to the red fields o[' war. 
 
 Perhaps I do not speak strongly enough to satisfy your 
 tastes and wishes. Perhaps you would have me recite, in 
 words hot with burning indignation, the alleged outrages 
 and barbarities of the invader, and kindle your souls to a 
 fury against him. Perhaps you long to hear sentences that 
 would stir your spirits like the blast of a trumpet, until, 
 transported with martial ardor, you should pant for the 
 strife and thirst for blood, "Were I competent to perform 
 this service — and it is far from a difficult one — there are 
 several considerations that would restrain me. In the first 
 place, it would be a superfluous task: you do not need this 
 sort of address to stimulate your patriotic devotion and 
 excite you to defend and maintain your rights. In the 
 second place. I serioftsly question whether it would be ap- 
 propriate to the pulpit, especially on an occasion which 
 contemplates self-abasement, penitence and humiliation. 
 In the third place, all other considerations aside, I candidly 
 avow that I do not think this service would be comely and 
 modest as performed by me. I cannot forget — an intelligent 
 and generous people would not respect me if I could for- 
 get — the hills that stand round about the scene of my birth 
 and still cast their long shadows over the graves of my 
 ancestors and kindred. I cannot forget those who, bone of 
 my bone and flesh of my flesh, are arrayed on the other 
 side of this most strange and appalling controversy. In 
 one thus reared and circumstanced, you will be content, I 
 am sure, with an honest, loyal disposition and determina- 
 
16 
 
 tion to do his duty in every situation in which he may be 
 placed, without expecting the fiery enthusiasm which cries 
 "havoc," which fans and exasperates the strife, which is 
 noisy, forward and pretentious. In one thus circumstanc'edj 
 Buch a zeal might justly excite a suspicion of* Unsoundness 
 cither in his head or his heart. 
 
 The conviction, it lias been said, which underlie- this 
 service, and without whieh we could scarcely engage ill it 
 with real honesty, is the conviction that righl is on our 
 side in the presenl contest, and that we enjoy the divine 
 
 favor. This persuasion derives Btrong supporl and confir- 
 mation from observing tin' history of events since the inau- 
 guration of the Southern movement. Very marked and 
 wonderful have been the ordering and oVerrulings of 
 Providence, by which the threatened isolation of South 
 Carolina was prevented, and State after State was brought 
 to link their destinies with hers. Singular, and such cer- 
 tainly as he did not anticipate, was the effect of the removal 
 of Major Anderson from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter; 
 singular was the scattering l>y storm of the fleet that was 
 intended for the relief of Fort Sumter, and the detention 
 of the vessel that was to essay the desperate passage up the 
 channel to that beleagurecj fortress; alone among battles, 
 ■without precedent or parallel, was the battle of Fort Sum- 
 ter, with its bloodless victory ; unexpected to himself pro- 
 bably, as it was to us, was the result of Mr. Lincoln's call 
 for seventy-five thousand volunteers, in pushing yet other 
 and reluctant State's into the Confederate league. And 
 now when it was proposed to paralyze and reduce to star- 
 vation and submission the "rebellious" provinces by the 
 severities of a rigid blockade, the earth gives promise of 
 harvests more generous than she has yielded for years. 
 The ripening and already garnered grain dispels anxious 
 fear, and justifies the hope that want will be a stranger to 
 our borders. England, whose sympathies and moral sup- 
 port, at least, the North counted on with entire confidence, 
 shows strong signs of favor to our de facto Government. 
 Unquestionably these and many similar tokens of Provi- 
 
17 
 
 denee in our behalf, have been signal, and are eminently 
 adapted to deepen the impression that God seconds onr 
 designs with the resistless fiat of His will. The "obedient 
 elements" have helped the Southern cause; the stars in 
 their courses have fought for it; the winds and the waves 
 have borne it onward ; the propitious heavens have shod 
 upon it their sweet and fertilizing influences. AVhile I 
 shrink from any confident and dogmatic interpretation of 
 Providence, while we cannot read the purposes of Jehovah 
 clearly until the end is reached and the result declared, 
 still it does seem that all the signs prophesy distinctly the 
 ultimate establishment of these Confederate States in a 
 condition of recognized independence and nationality. 
 
 3. Besides happily directing our attention to the true 
 end and principles of the present solemnity, the fast of 
 Ezra also intimates to us the exercises that should distin- 
 guish it. He tells us that on this occasion he and his 
 fellow colonists " afflicted themselves before God." These 
 words depict, with graphic simplicity, the service and disci- 
 pline appropriate to this day. It is not a day of thanks- 
 giving, though of course grateful sentiments and utterances 
 are not to be suppressed. It is a day of fasting, devoted 
 especially to self-examination, confession of sin, self-chas- 
 tisement, and all the spiritual exercises which constitute 
 the signs and cultivate the temper of humiliation before 
 God. By rending our hearts rather than our garments, by 
 acknowledging, bewailing and renouncing our iniquities, 
 let us contribute what we may toward averting the dis- 
 pleasure of God and propitiating His more marked favor. 
 Though final success may come, it will come with more or 
 less of judgment, disaster, and bitter dregs of sorrow, 
 according to the genuineness and prevalence of religious 
 sentiments among us. However right we may be in the 
 great issue now made up for conclusive determination, no 
 properly instructed mind will think of denying that our 
 sins are sufficiently numerous and aggravated to justify the 
 apprehension of divine displeasure. It is a striking obser- 
 vation of Lamartine that, "the misfortunes of a people do 
 
18 
 
 not always proceed from the Crimea of their enemies; they 
 arc more frequently the punishment of their own.'* Lei us 
 avoid the dangerous temptation of dwelling upon the ini- 
 quities of our foes, until we shall deny or forget our own- 
 Lei us trample od the pride of bur hearts. Let us put 
 away vaporing and bravado. Let us guard against despis- 
 ing the enemy, and indulging an treasonable ©fnfidei i 
 in our own superior prowess and virtue. The otter Bide 
 vaunt their numbers and riches; lei us nol imitate their 
 follv by vaunting our valor and chivalry. It is good to 
 afflicl ourselves. God hates pride and the arrogance of 
 self-sufficiency, but loves those whose cpntrite hearts 
 "tremble at His word." lie shortens His arm and doses 
 His ear toward those who exalt themselves, but lifts up 
 those who east themselves down. Tlie punishment of the 
 flesh* by the denial of innocent appetites, is do farther ser- 
 viceable than as it contributes to chasten the soul and 
 reduce it to a frame of penitence and humility. It will be 
 vain to Btarve the body, unless at the same time the devils 
 are starved out of the heart. And remember, my breth- 
 ren, that the aggregate of good accomplished by this 
 solemnity will depend, not so much upon the energy with 
 which you recount and deplore what are called ••national 
 sins," as upon the fidelity with which each one of you 
 deals with his own transgressions, and afflicts his own soul. 
 Ezra also informs us that he "besought" God for this. 
 He joined his companions in earnest supplications that 
 His good hand might abide upon them, and direct them in 
 a "right way" to Jerusalem. Doubtless, there were oar- 
 nest wrestlings in prayer that day on the banks of the 
 Ahava, with strong cryings and flowing tears. This 
 should be a day of much prayer with us — prayer poured 
 forth in the solemn assembly and in the privacy of retire- 
 ment — prayer in the camp and in the cabinet — prayer by 
 thousands of ministers, crying, between the porch and the 
 altar, "Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine her- 
 itage to reproach," and by tens of thousands of respon- 
 sive hearts taking up the petition and sending it toward 
 
19 
 
 heaven with an energy of desire and faith that cannot be 
 denied. 
 
 Ezra closes his account of the transactions of that memo- 
 rable day with the precious record — "and He was entreated 
 of us." His special religious service compassed the desired 
 end; he prevailed with God and obtained a right way. 
 May this momentous day. pregnant with the destinies of 
 distant generations, prove equally auspicious in the annals 
 of the Confederacy, and issue in the same grand result, "a 
 right way for ourselves, and for our little ones, and for all 
 our Bubstance." 
 
 There are those whose sanguine temperament and cheer- 
 ful confidence cause them to see success already grasped, 
 and a series of brilliant victories terminating in a speedy 
 and glorious peace. I regret that I am not aide to share 
 these pleasing anticipations. I would not give a needless 
 pang or anxiety to any heart; I would not be a gloomy 
 nrophet, croaking of. evil and disaster; but I deem it my 
 duty to risk acquiring such a reputation by warning you 
 that it is not wise to indulge these bright visions. lb' is 
 not the most judicious and kindest friend who, by flatter- 
 ing our hopes and wishes, exposes us to the anguish of a 
 bitter disappointment. A severe and protracted struggle 
 is proliably before us. destined to be checkered by the vi- 
 cissitudes which are apt to mark the fortunes of war. Let 
 us make up our minds to this, and then a sudden and 
 happy termination of the contest may bring us disappoint- 
 ment, but it will be a disappointment delightful to hear. 
 But while I deem it the part of prudence to utter these 
 admonitions and cautions, you will join me. I am sure, 
 with all the carncsl ness of your souls, in the prayer that 
 God may prove kinder to us than our reasonable tears sug- 
 gest — that peace may soon be proclaimed — that tranquility 
 may succeed our long disquietude and painful agitations — 
 thai confidence may revisit our troubled bosoms — that the 
 bustle and din of revived commerce and trade may till and 
 gladden our streets and places of business — that spiritual 
 prosperity may he vouchsafed to our languishing churches 
 
20 
 
 — that n„r plaintive- last-lay songs n.av speedily swell and 
 bur* int.. the anthems of thanksgiving, and our spirit of 
 heaviness a.,-1 exercises of humility Ik- exchanged for the 
 festal garments and joyful service of praise! Amen and 
 
 amen