V (MmjL/, L ^v\ 
 
 L 
 
 
BookXL4-- 
 
■■■■ V 
 
 / 
 
 Political Lessons of the Rebellion. 
 
 A SEEMON' 
 
 
 DELIVERED AT FARMINGTON, CONNECTICUT, 
 
 ON 
 
 FAST DAY, APRIL 18, 1862. 
 
 BY REY. LEYI L. PAINE. 
 
 FARMINGTON : 
 PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL S. COWLES. 
 
 MDCCCLXII. 
 
. 2 
 
 U\(ol 
 
Rev. Levi L. Paine, 
 
 Dear Sir : — The undersigned, having been interested in the Sermon 
 preached by you on the occasion of our recent Annual Fast, desiring to 
 possess it in a permanent form, and believing that its circulation and peru- 
 sal will conduce to more extended reflection upon the truths it contains, and 
 promote a reverence for law, order, and good government, respectfully re- 
 quest a copy of the same for publication. 
 
 JOHN S. RICE, 
 
 E. L. HART, 
 
 C. ROWE, 
 
 TIMOTHY C. LEWIS, 
 
 WM. L. COOKE, 
 
 WM. GAY, 
 HENRY MYGATT, 
 THOMAS COWLES, 
 FRANK WHEELER, 
 AUG. WARD, 
 
 and others. 
 
 Farmington, Ct., April 28th, 1862. 
 
 Messrs. John S. Rice, E. L. Hart, C. Rowe, and others. 
 
 Dear Sirs : — If the publication of the sermon to which you kindly allude, 
 will serve in any way to promote tlie objects suggested in your note, — espe- 
 cially if it may be the means of inciting any of our citizens to reflection on 
 the topics presented, — I willingly place the manuscript at your disposal. 
 
 Yours Respectfully, 
 
 L. L. PAINE. 
 
 Farmington, April 28th, 1862. 
 
SERMON. 
 
 Deuteronomy xxxii : 45-47. And Moses maile an end of speaking all these 
 words to all Israel: and he said unto them, set your hearts unto all the words which 
 I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to 
 do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your 
 life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land whither ye go 
 over Jordan to jjossess it. 
 
 Joshua vii: 13. Up, sanctity the people and say, sanctify yourselves against 
 to-morrow: for "thus saith the Lord God of Israel, there is an accursed thing in the 
 midst of thee, Israel 1 thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye lake 
 away the accursed thhig from among you. 
 
 Nehemiah ix : 33. Howbeit, thou art just in all that is brought upon us ; for thou 
 hast done right, but we have done wickedly. 
 
 The thrilling events now transpiring in our country are 
 adding fresh illustration and clearness to the teachings of the 
 Old Testament. In times of long-continued peace and public 
 tranquillity, the precepts of the New Testament seem more 
 in accordance with true Christian feeling and experience. 
 To Christians thus tenderly and peacefully educated, the 
 fierce warfare waged by Joshua against the Canaanites, the 
 warlike hymns of David, and the terrible denunciations of 
 Isaiah and Ezekiel, appear to exhibit little of the spirit of true 
 religion, and less of the spirit of Christianity. But the stern 
 necessities imposed upon our nation by a wicked and powerful 
 rebellion, have done much to change the current of Christian 
 devotion, and have shed a new light and interest on the deal- 
 ings of God with his chosen people, Israel. Christians begin 
 to understand how the wars of Joshua and the imprecatory 
 psalms of David can properly belong to the Bible. They 
 are beginning to learn experimentally the meaning of a 
 righteous indignation, and the necessity of righteous pun- 
 
6 
 
 ishment. And so the style of Christian thinking and conver- 
 sation and devotion is receiving an Old Testament coloring. 
 Pious men feel called upon now to pray in good Old Testa- 
 ment fashion. They are ceasing to be Johns and growing to 
 be Davids. 
 
 We have the authority of Christ's own words in proof of 
 the fact that there is no inconsistency between the Old Tes- 
 tament and the New. But there is this difference between 
 them. The New Testament contains the history of a person 
 who was himself the model and example for all his followers, 
 and whose precepts were intended for the guidance of Chris- 
 tians in their private and personal relations. The Old Tes- 
 tament on the other hand is the history of a nation, and its 
 lessons are especially applicable to men in their civil and 
 public relations, as bound together by national ties and sub- 
 ject to a common law. Hence it is that the Old Testament 
 now possesses for us a new and peculiar interest. It con- 
 tains a history of God's dealings with a nation through a 
 long course of years ; and in this record we have an illustra- 
 tion of the method of God's dealings with all the nations of 
 the earth. 
 
 The great and impressive lesson of Hebrew and Jewish 
 history is this, that Jehovah reigns over all earthly kingdoms 
 and rulers, and that in national as well as individual history, 
 his sovereign hand is to be seen working all things after the 
 counsel of his own will, and in accordance with the righteous 
 principles of his government. These Old Testament records 
 were written and preserved to be a historical example to all 
 the nations that should flourish afterward, of the manner in 
 whicli God would deal with them in the way of punishment 
 as well as of blessing. Nations like individuals are subject 
 to God's righteous commands, and are accordingly treated 
 
in his providential arrangements, as moral and responsible 
 persons. 
 
 The three passages of Old Testament scripture which I 
 have selected as the basis of remark at this time, are con- 
 nected with tliree very interesting incidents in Hebrew his- 
 tory. The first passage contains the last words of Moses to 
 the children of Israel, uttered on the very day that he went 
 up into Mount Nebo to die. These last words are the real 
 conclusion of the book of Deuteronomy ; which is a recapitu- 
 lation by Moses, in the presence of all the people, of their 
 history and laws. The speech was concluded by a song, in 
 which Moses set forth God's mercy and vengeance. And 
 when the song was ended, before he turned his face 
 toward Mount Nebo, Moses added as his public farewell to 
 the people, the words of the text, " Set your hearts unto all 
 the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall 
 command your children to observe to do, all the words of 
 this law. For it is not a vain thing for you, because it is 
 your life, and through this thing ye shall prolong your days 
 in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it." 
 
 The second passage is connected with a signal and unex- 
 pected disaster which befell the forces of Joshua in the con- 
 quest of Canaan. Jericho had just been taken, and all its 
 treasures of gold and silver, brass and iron, had been conse- 
 crated to the Lord. But Achan had coveted and stolen a 
 portion of the spoils, and the punishment of his crime was 
 visited upon the nation. WJien a portion of the armies of 
 Israel went up against Ai, they were utterly defeated. And 
 when Joshua inquired of the Lord concerning this unex- 
 pected reverse, the Lord replied, " Up, sanctify the people, 
 and say, sanctify yourselves against to-morrow ; for thus 
 saith the Lord God of Israel, there is an accursed thing in 
 the midst of thee, Israel ; thou canst not stand before thine 
 
8 
 
 enemies until yo take away the accursed thing from among 
 you." 
 
 The last passage of our text is a part of the prayer offered 
 by the Levites in l)chalf of all the children of Israel, on a day 
 of public fasting. Many years and even centuries had now 
 elapsed since Israel listened to the last admonition of 
 Moses, and since Joshua led them into the promised land. 
 During this long period the nation had gathered multiplied 
 proofs of the truth of what Moses had said. To keep all the 
 words of God's law had been found in very truth to be their 
 life, while disobedience had been the source of all their 
 national misfortunes. They were now a miserable remnant 
 of that powerful nation over which David ruled, and were 
 just returned, ft-om seventy years of exile, to their own father- 
 land. The walls of Jerusalem, so long desolate, were again 
 built up in the midst of many hardships and obstacles. And 
 then the people gathered themselves together to hear the 
 book of the law of Moses read and expounded. A large por- 
 tion of them had never listened to the reading of that law be- 
 fore, so completely had the worship of God been abandoned ; 
 and when they heard it, they wept. The reading of the law 
 was followed by the feast of tabernacles — a religious festival 
 which was intended to remind them of the deliverance of 
 tlicir fathers from Egyptian bondage, and which must have 
 also forcibly reminded them of their own fresh deliverance 
 from Assyrian captivity. Then a solemn fast was proclaimed ; 
 and when they were assembled " with sackcloth and earth 
 upon them," the Levites offered a public prayer, in which 
 they recounted the manifold mercies of God toward his cov- 
 enant people, and ascribed all their national calamities to 
 their own rebellious and perverse conduct. '' Howbeit, thou 
 art just in all that is brought upon us ; for thou hast done 
 right, but we have done wickedly." 
 
9 
 
 These extracts from Old Testament history convey several 
 political lessons so obvions that it will only be necessary to 
 state them. One lesson is, — that God's favor gained through 
 obedience to his righteous laws, is essential to national pros- 
 perity. The keeping of God's law is a nation's life. Another 
 lesson is this, — the crimes of individual citizens may bring 
 Divine judgments on the nation. When the land is full of 
 Achans, it is surely ripe for the righteous vengeance of God. 
 A third lesson is, — every national disaster illustrates the jus- 
 tice of God and the wickedness of men. And there is one 
 more lesson which may be drawn, being virtually implied in 
 those already stated, namely ; that God's agency is at work 
 in all national history and life, and that no people can there- 
 fore safely forget God, or his will and purposes, in their 
 political policy and action. Let us, in the light of these 
 plain biblical truths, consider the present condition of our 
 country, and gather the instruction appropriate to this day 
 and hour. 
 
 Our nation is now engaged in a life and death struggle 
 with rebellion. A year has been spent in preparation for 
 conflict, and the great conflict itself has now fairly commen- 
 ced. The year of preparation has cost the nation enormous 
 expenditures and labors; and the terrible struggle as it 
 progresses, is involving the sacrifice of many lives, and the 
 destruction of a vast amount of property. We are indeed 
 cheered with the intelligence of victory after victory achieved 
 by the national arms. Already our armies and navies have 
 penetrated to the very heart of the rebel territory, and the 
 prospect seems to brighten, that the contest, though severe, 
 will not be long. Yes, we are thankful for every fresh tri- 
 umph that crowns the efforts of our patriotic and brave sol- 
 diers, and we gladly join in the general thanksgiving. But 
 what does victory even mean':' How much does it cost? 
 
10 
 
 What is the sad message which our last victory sends to us ? 
 What mourning- must be mingled with our joy, as we think 
 of the thousands of generous and devoted volunteers who 
 have purchased victory for the nation, l)y the sacrifice of 
 their own lives? Is not that which was s])okcn by Jeremy 
 the prophet, again being fulfdled in some portions of our 
 land — "In Ramah was there a voice heard, lamentation and 
 weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her chil- 
 dren and Avould not ))e comforted, because they are not." 
 
 But the story of our present condition is not yet all told. 
 Who are our foes in this war? Are they not our fellow 
 citizens? Is not the South a part of our country ? A sketch 
 of our national calamities must therefore include the losses 
 and sufferings of the enemy. Every battle, whatever be its 
 issue, must in some sense be a national disaster. Every life 
 lost, on either side, is the life of a fellow citizen. Every ship 
 sunk, every town destroyed, every field desolated, belongs to 
 our country, and involves a national sacrifice. This war is 
 not against a foreign foe ; it is a conflict in which citizen is 
 arrayed against citizen. The United States present to the 
 world, to-day, the spectacle of a nation divided against itself. 
 
 Now who does not see that such a state of things must 
 prove the existence of political evils and defects somewhere 
 in our national policy or history. This stupendous rebellion 
 is the natural fruit of wrong political action somewhere. 
 
 I wish at this time to speak of two facts which I think lie 
 at the foundation of our present national troubles, and which 
 should be subjects of most anxious solicitude to every true 
 patriot. In my discussion of these topics, I shall be led to 
 speak freely, yet, I trust, candidly and without prejudice, of 
 political events, measures and parties. 
 
 I. The first fact to which I call your attention is, the great 
 want of reverence and regard for supreme laiv and authority. 
 
11 
 
 There has never been in this country, from the period of its 
 settlement to the present time, a deep and religious rever- 
 ence for the national government. Our citizens have usually 
 been law-abiding, but they have always obeyed laws 
 which were self-imposed and necessary to their safety and 
 prosperity. They have never learned to revere the name 
 and authority of law, as issuing from a higher source than 
 themselves and demanding their allegiance, without regard 
 to individual opinions and prejudices. Law, vested hi a 
 supreme power, has always been a burden and restraint to 
 our citizens, and subordination has been practiced, rather 
 from interest than from religious principle. The watchword 
 of our nation has ever been, political liberty. Its boast has 
 been, that it offered the largest freedom consistent with 
 national and personal safety. And the tendency with us 
 has been to limit more and more the powers, and to impair 
 the efficiency of the central government, and in this way to 
 widen the range of individual liberty and influence. 
 
 Let me support these statements by an appeal to our his- 
 tory. The first settlers of our country were fugitives from 
 political oppression. It was natural therefore that, at the 
 outset, the early colonists should have been jealous of the 
 authority of the mother country, and should have been care- 
 ful, in the establishment of new political institutions, to 
 place sure safe-guards around personal rights and privi- 
 leges. The American Revolution was a war waged by the 
 American colonies in defense of the principle embodied 
 in their Declaration of Independence, — " that all men are 
 created equal, and are endowed with certain unalienable 
 rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of 
 happiness." The Confederation, which united the colonies 
 during the continuance of the war for purposes of mutual 
 assistance, was not a new government, extending over all the 
 
12 
 
 people, but was simply an alliance of several governments. 
 When the war was ended, the alliance dissolved of itself, for 
 the simple reason that the bond of union, namely, common 
 safety, no longer existed. But new political necessities soon 
 led to the adoption of the present Constitution. That Con- 
 stitution must certainly be regarded as one of the wisest pro- 
 ductions of combined patriotism and statesmanship which 
 the world has seen. It was established, not by the colonies 
 in their sovereign capacities, but, as its preamble announces, 
 by the people of all the states; and its great object Avas set 
 forth to be, to secure the blessings of liberty to themselves 
 and their posterity. And this object was steadily kept in 
 view in the formation of the Constitution. The same jeal- 
 ousy which the colonists had felt toward the English gov- 
 ernment, was immediately conceived toward the new federal 
 government. The supreme power vested in it was limited to 
 certain distinct functions, and these were guarded by strong 
 checks within and without. The purpose uppermost in the 
 minds of the framcrs was to delegate to the general govern- 
 ment the fewest jjowers consistent with its successful and 
 efficient operation. 
 
 No sooner did the Constitution become the supreme law of 
 the land than the question at once arose, how shall the lan- 
 guage of the Constitution be construed. The powers vested 
 in the new government were often described in general terms, 
 evidently designed to include many minor particulars, which 
 could not be enumerated at length in such a document, and 
 some of which could not even be tiiought of before unfore- 
 seen events should call them forth. Should these general 
 terms be allowed their full latitude, and the government 
 be thus strengthened, or should tlicy be construed strictly 
 as giving no power not expressly described, and the gov- 
 ernment be thus weakened and conhncd in its operations. 
 
13 
 
 as it assuredly would be, if this construction of the Con- 
 stitution wore adopted? Here began the war of parties. 
 This was the issue first presented to the people, — and 
 though in our subsequent party history the ostensible issue 
 has often been changed, yet the deep under-current of polit- 
 ical strife between the great parties of the country has ever 
 circled around the question of the nature and extent of the 
 powers vested by the Constitution in the federal government. 
 And the dominant party — the party which has controlled the 
 government during two-thirds of the entire period of our 
 national existence — has from the first held as its cardinal doc- 
 trine, such a construction of the Constitution as would limit 
 and weaken the central government as far as possible. 
 
 The lirst champion of this party was Thomas Jefferson. 
 His favorite motto, which afterward became the shibboleth of 
 his party, contains the essence of all his political principles, — 
 " that is the best government which governs least," — and 
 this has been the the ruling idea among the masses, in our 
 country, down to the present time. The majority of the 
 people have ever been distrustful of the federal power, and 
 jealous of its enlargement. They have been fearful of 
 increasing centralization, but never of license and anarchy ; 
 and the party which appealed most strongly to this distrust 
 and fear has generally succeeded. Every great political con- 
 flict in our history bears witness to the jealousy with which 
 the people have guarded their state and municipal privileges 
 against the fancied encroachments of the central government. 
 The National Bank became odious to the nation, not because 
 it was a financial failure, but because it was thought that the 
 government would use it to increase its power and influence. 
 The right of the federal government to superintend internal 
 improvements in the different states, was denied on the same 
 ground. So, too, the question of a protective tariff was long 
 
14 
 
 made to hinge on its constitutionality, which was by its 
 opposers denied, I would not intimate that our people have 
 been wanting in pul)lic sjjirit, or in })atriotisni, or in self-con- 
 trol. They have taken great pride in our national prosperity, 
 and have in a good measure appreciated their political privi- 
 leges. But the circumstances of our national growth, and 
 of our political education, have been such as to train the 
 people to a tixed distrust of a strong centralized government. 
 And the consequence has been that instead of sustaining and 
 fostering our federal Union, and bracing it with powers to 
 meet every emergency, the people have rather watched the 
 government with a jealous eye, and have sometimes treated 
 it more as an enemy than as a friend and protector. 
 
 From this conduct two manifest evils have resulted ; one, 
 in regard to the theory of our federal Union, the other, 
 an evil of practical legislation. Out of this feeling enter- 
 tained by the people in respect to the general government, 
 there has grown up the idea that our nation is after all 
 simply a confederation of states — that every state is supreme, 
 and that there can ])e no sovereignty above its own ; that any 
 state therefore may go out of the Union when it sees lit, and 
 should not be called to account by the central power; in fine, 
 that the great repository of law and sovereignty in our repub- 
 lic, does not reside in the federal head of the nation, but in 
 the several states that compose it, and hence that our citizens 
 owe their first allegiance to the different states in which they 
 dwell, and not to the federal Union. And to-day a portion 
 of our fellow citizens are in arms for the defense of this 
 theory — a theory which would not only destroy our own 
 national existence, but would l)ring a similar catastrophe 
 upon those who are striving to put it in practice. Thus the 
 principle enunciated by Jefferson — "that is the best govern- 
 ment which governs least," — has at last brought forth its 
 
15 
 
 bitter fruits in this iinparalleled rebellion. Am I not right? 
 Was not Calhoun a disciple of Jefferson ? Is not Davis to- 
 day a disciple of Jefferson ? * 
 
 The other evil of practical legislation is this: the federal 
 government has not been allowed to strengthen itself and 
 keep pace with the growing power of the nation, Init it has 
 rather been weakened and crippled, and thus rendered almost 
 powerless against sudden opposition or attack, on the part of 
 its subjects. What a spectacle of weakness was exhibited by 
 our government when this rebellion broke forth. It had the 
 people indeed to fall back upon, provided they were willing 
 to come to the rescue; but by itself, without external aid, it 
 was not a match for the state of Virginia. It was without 
 troops, without a navy, and without arms. Tlnnk of the vet- 
 eran Scott marshaling his few hundreds of soldiers, and post- 
 ing them at the entrances of the capital, to defend if possi- 
 ble the archives of the nation against the coming foe, and 
 then ask yourselves if that was a government worthy of these 
 United States of America ! 
 
 Thus, if I have read our history aright, one prime cause of 
 our present national troubles is to be found in a want of rev- 
 
 *A word more in regard to Thomas Jefferson. He was a statesman and patriot. 
 He thought our political dangers laj' in the direction of a strong central power. 
 Upon this fear his political principles were based. Could he have foreseen their 
 actual results, when made to guide our public policy, I believe he would have 
 become a staunch Federalist. Little did he imagine that the system of Slavery 
 which he, in common with all the leading statesmen of that period, deplored, 
 would ever take advantage of the legitimate working of his principles, to attempt 
 the dismemberment of this Union. The spirit of Jefferson cries out, fi-om his 
 tomb at Monticello, as loudly as does that of Washington from Mount Vernon, 
 against such an unhallowed act. 
 
 Nor do I attribute less of patriotism to the party which espoused the pi-inciples 
 of Jefferson than to the parties which have been ranged against it. But history, 
 that tests all creeds, is pronouncing its impartial judgment on Jefferson's political 
 faith and on the influence which he has exercised over our national affairs. The 
 two most popular and influential {'residents we have had were Thomas Jefferson 
 and Andrew Jackson. No other two, I venture to say, have done half so much 
 to bring the nation into its present condition. 
 
16 
 
 ereiice and love for the supreme law of the land, as represen- 
 ted in our federal government. Had the Constitution been 
 cordially sustained, and had its provisions l)cen interpreted 
 so as to give tlie government j)roper scope for the use of the 
 powers committed to it, and had the Constitution, thus inter- 
 preted, and the government, thus fortified, been supported 
 by the sympathies and affections and religious reverence of 
 the citizens who lived under its protection, no theory, that 
 the sovereignty of a state is superior to the sovereignty of 
 the federal Constitution, would ever have taken root in our 
 land, nor would self-willed and ambitious demagogues ever 
 have dared to lift the standard of rebellion afjainst the flau- 
 of the republic. God is teaching our nation, through the 
 fires of civil war, that there is something to love and admire 
 besides political liberty ; that there is something to regard in 
 political action besides present safety and expediency ; that 
 government is something more than a social compact, to be 
 dissolved at pleasure. He is teaching us that reverence for 
 law, not merely as a code of human enactments, but as the 
 symbol and representative of the Divine law, is in truth a 
 nation'' s life. He is teaching us to love subordination as well 
 as Uberty ; to regard in our political relations, duty as well 
 as security and peace ; and above all, to see in the federal 
 Constitution something more than a safeguard for personal 
 rights and liberties — to see on it the seal of tlie Almigiity 
 Ruler, requiring obedience to its provisions, not simply 
 because of the benefits it confers, but because it is the 
 supreme laiv of the land. 
 
 n. I come now to speak briefly of the second fact which 
 seems intimately connected with our i)resent disasters and 
 whicli casts a dark shadow towards the future. I refer to 
 the wide spread corruption which has infected our public 
 men and officials, and which has extended its baneful infiu- 
 
17 
 
 ence to our popular electious, to our political caucuses, and 
 to the ballot box itself. The gloomiest feature of this civil 
 war to me, both as an exhibit of our present political condi- 
 tion, and as a picture of what the past must have been, is the 
 vast swarm of Achans which it has brought to the light. 
 The mercenary spirit which the war has developed, must fill 
 every patriot with shame and forebodings. And has it come 
 to this, that even a rebellion which threatens our national 
 existence, has fallen into the hands of speculators and stock- 
 jobbers, and has been sold to the highest bidder? So it 
 seemed at one time. I exempt our noble soldiers from such 
 a charge. The heroes of Donnelson and Pittsburg and Pea 
 Ridge and Newborn, and those who are to he the heroes of 
 Yorktown, have not gone forth to fight the battles of Ameri- 
 can nationality /or />a^. But there are Achans in the camp, 
 at our national capital and all over our land, who are, in 
 this period of public trial, busily engaged in laying up for 
 themselves a good store against the time of peace. May God 
 in his mercy save us from the further judgments which 
 such crimes deserve. 
 
 But this outbreak of selfish cupidity is most significant as 
 an indication of the spirit which has heretofore pervaded our 
 country. I will not attempt to describe tlie corruption which 
 centered at the capital before the commencement of the war. 
 Nor can I more than allude now to the corrupting influences 
 which have been at work in the administration of our public 
 affairs. The great sin of our politics has been greed. The 
 time has been, and I fear it has not yet passed by, when 
 votes could be bought in our legislative assemblies and in the 
 National Congress. Slavery, which has played so prominent 
 a part in our political history, was supported by its advocates 
 and tolerated by all, not because it was right, but because it 
 
 was found profitable. And the slave power retained its 
 3 
 
18 
 
 inliucnce for so long a time in the national councils, not by 
 force of argument or principle, but by the far more potent 
 eloquence of gold. 
 
 "What a lesson too may we gather from the history of our 
 elections during the last twenty or twenty-five years. How 
 difficult it has been to elect good and true men to offices of 
 trust and power ; and how much more difficult to keep 
 such men in office, if peradventure once elected. I do not 
 com})lain of our system of caucuses and conventions. I 
 know very little of their management. But how is it, that 
 the succession of political aspirants has been kept so long 
 unbroken ? Is it not true, that our most influential citizens 
 kec}) themselves too much aloof from these primary elections, 
 and leave them to be managed by young and ambitious men, 
 who labor for themselves or for each other, and think far too 
 little of the public good ? Certain it is that our wisest and 
 best citizens are not now so frequently selected to fill the 
 most responsible posts, as they were in the earlier years of the 
 rejjublic. We no longer have a class of men that we can call 
 by eminence, statesmen. Every year or two brings a new set 
 upon the political stage, inexperienced in legislation and in 
 executive duties. There are indeed a choice few who can 
 justly aspire to the royal honors of political wisdom. But 
 even the illustrious statesman of New York would hardly 
 have retained his position in public life so long, had he not 
 been as keen in the arts of the politician as he is wise and 
 far-sighted in statesmanship. 
 
 But is it not time that the era of demagogues and traitors 
 and corrupt politicians, sb.ould pass away. As God has 
 brought tliis civil war upon us in token of liis displeasure at 
 our corruptions, may we not hope that this sore chastisement 
 will purify the i)olitical atmos})here, and so be the harbinger 
 of brighter and happier days. Are not good omens to be 
 
19 
 
 gathered even from those elections which hastened on the 
 present crisis? Has not tlie work of purification ah-eady 
 begun auspiciously in the cajntal? Let us thank God for 
 the hopeful signs. For there is stern work to be done ere 
 long in those halls of legislation. The decisive battle in 
 behalf of human rights and Divine law, will not be fought at 
 Yorktown or Richmond or New Orleans, but on the floor of 
 the American Congress. Those momentous questions which 
 are pushing themselves forward with resistless appeal before 
 the tribunal of the American people, and which are fraught 
 with the destiny of millions of men for ages of time, will soon 
 find utterance there, and ivill be heard. I turn away from 
 the bloody strife of armed hosts, and look forward to this 
 sublime moral conflict with mingled hope and fear. God 
 grant that the nation and its rulers may, in that day, clearly 
 understand the nature and magnitude of the mighty issue, 
 and may be prepared to meet it. Then indeed shall we need 
 men like one for whom the patriot-poet of England prayed, — 
 
 " All God, for a man with heart, head, hand, 
 
 Like some of the simple great ones, gone 
 
 Forever and ever by. 
 
 One still strong man in a blatant land, 
 
 Whatever they call him, what care I, 
 
 Aristocrat, democrat, autocrat — one 
 
 Who can rule, and dare not lie." 
 
 Meanwhile it will be good for us and for all our people to 
 draw near unto God, for '• this kind goeth not out but by 
 prayer and fasting."