.1 M Is-i pH8^ E 458 .1 .M157 Copy 1 -^r\. THANKS-GIVING SERMON, r> JL 3): :<: % AV.aLEX'iilOlCELVEY, jpa.stoi:1 of FIRST RiFORMEl) DUTCH CHURCH, i*«,toi*soxx, i>ar- J- PUBLISHED BY THE CONST » 4« • PATEIU^B / DR^BRCE, 123 MAIN' STREET. ' A. MEAD, PRINTER, REGISTER^BtICE, 123 MAIN STREET 18 6 1 ,/ Paterson, Dec. 4, 1861, Rev. Alkx'r. McKelvey, Dear Sir: — A very general desire having been expressed for a more inti- mate acquaintance with your discourse, delivered on the day of Thauksgiving, Nov. 28th, on Political Culture, the Consistory take the liberty of requesting its publication. They are persuaded, that its circulation Avould be instrumental of good in tliis day of national calamity, and believe that this is the time when its doc- trines should be understood and practiced. By order of Consistory of First RePd. Dutch Church, Paterson, N. J. D. MILLAR, Secretary. Paterson, Dec. 5, 1861. Consistory of First Ref'p. Dutch Chirch, Paterson, Dear Brethren : — Although the sermon which you ask for publication was designed only for those who heard it, I freely yield to your request. That it may accomplish that which you please, and prosper in the thing whereto you send it, since allusions to certain acts and individuals, historical- ly connected with the last administration, may give it a party aspect, I would say, that, as a patriotic citizen, mv design is to stand on a purely national ba- sis; and to have no reference to parties, as parties. Hoping that I may not be misunderstood, and that historical fiicts and allu- sions may not be mistaken for partisan reflections, I am your servant for Christ's sake. ALEX'R. McKELVEY. SEEMON. Deut. IV: 1. "Xow therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgements, Avhich I teach you, for to do them, tliat ye may live and go in and possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers giveth unto you." In these times of national trial, to those who are prone to look on the dark side of the picture, a day for thanksgiving may seem a strange appointment. Perhaps some may think it more meet, that we, until the apparent calamity passes by, elothe ourselves in sack-cloth and ashes. We freely confess, that we are not of that number. We heartily rejoiced at the "proclamation" of our worthj'jgovern- or. In the midst of well deserved wrath, God has remember- ed us in great mercy. "He hath not dealt with lis after our sins ; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities." Looking at the darkest side of our unhappy condition, in our great national affliction, we see abundant cause for thanks- giving. Over our national sins, which have provoked the chastisements of eternal love, we should deeply mourn ; but should we not rejoice, also, that our heavenly Father has thought us worthy to suffer? How much more direful the ca- lamity, had God let us alone in our sins, and suffered us to work out our own ruin ! In our present troubles, we have, likewise, a cause for thanks- givmg, in the national riders which God has given us. What would have been our condition, had he given us national lead- ers, who, if not united in treason, were unaccountably power- less? What would have been our condition, liad he given us leaders, in whose moral integrity few had confidence ; and for whom scarcely any, but their colleagues in crime, preserved any cherished remembrances ? Instead of such, we seem to have virtuous, patriotic, coura- geous and prudent men at the hehn of state. Through their wise and far reaching poUcy, guided by the divine Providence, they waited for the proper time, and the propitious circum- stances to awake the donnant patriotism of an overindul- gent and credulous people ; and the7i struck that master-blow, which astonished the enemies of our government, converted thousands in a day, and welded and cemented a hitherto dis- cordant people. Immediately, the crimiblhig of party difteren- ces, the snapping of those deceptive ties which had leagued ma- ny hearts with a destructive treason, the marshalling of trooi)s, the clang of arms, and the speedy rush of armies, all said — what should have been said months before — " The Union muxt and shall he preserved^ In the language of another, "And now we began to hear the thunder of great armies on the inarch. * * * Wherever the banner of freedom waved, there were her sons in arms. One rallying cry was in every mouth, 'The city of Washington, the heart of the nation is in peril, and must be defended.' One spirit animated all hearts. [t was the sentiment of loyalty ; it was the sacred tire of patri- c>tism ; it was the instinct of a common nationality, now threat- ened with destruction." Brethren, whence this union of feeling, and concert of ac- tion ? Was not God there who turneth the hearts of kings, as the rivers of water are turned ? For this should we not re- turn thanks ? Since then, have we not been the recipients of many nation- al blessings ? Reverses have been overruled to our real pro- fit ; and gradually, where hope had almost vanished, step by step, law, order and liberty have been gaining the acsenden- cy. The most eloquent hopes of reasonable men have been more than realized ; and when, from a storm of almost terrific power, our noble fleet emerged almost in safety, and planted the flag we love on the hot-beds of traitordom, did not every pious heart own the hand of God and say : "The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad ?" But scarcely had these notes died away, Avhen news of great- er importance, if possible, rendered November 1861, a time to be remembered. And now, instead of being pained with the misrepresentations of two arch-rebels in the metropolises of England and France, Ave can almost hear the waihngs of in- carcerated disappointment. Mason and Slidell were "on "the high seas;" but now they are — in London and Paris, solving the seeds of international difficulties? — no. but in Fort War- i^.11. co«ii«(in '■^'contrabands of war,^' roapmg some of llic first fruits of perjury and treason. Lo<»k, likewise, how jK'culiArly God has watched over the physical health -of the nation. No destructive cj)ideniies linvc visited our c«>asts, or dociniat^'d our annies in their vSouthern homes. Few suninters have been so tree t'noni sieknessos, as that thrwii^h which wc hav<" passed. Again, we aix? at peace with fbixMLju po\\~ers ; and, rvt home, there is a degree of jtrosperity, whirh, uTider ^^xisting circuiu- stances, could scarcely have been expected. For all these, and many other blessings, to sx)me of wliich we may again allude, nationally, we should praise (iod. Hut, since gratitude should accompany praise, ought we iiot> ^tlso, as citizens of a great nation, to enolitical trainhig, generally, may be obtained by selfcul- tui-e. There are instances, where self-educated men, as in oth- er relations, have deservedly occupied high stations in politcal life. But these are the excej)tions. They, like'the sturdy monarch of the woods, which, despite the burdening rahis, the cold frosts and the sweeping hurricanes, fights it way heaven- ward, while the timid, weakly vhie nuist receive a helping hand to lead it upward, despite the selfish workings of their own hearts and the political u])turnings of mad ambition, have l)uilt up for themselves, without a previous ground-work, a vii-tuous ]»olitical life, while young men, generally, must have a helm and compass to guide them through the political world. Still further, while we believe, that, to be good citizens, we must, generally, be well trained in the first principles of citi- zenship ; yet a true political education does not teach us to walk in the stocks, to take our fathers as a kind of federal re))resentatives to "the third and fourth generation," to be slaves to any party or prejudice, so that, if one party says, "Shibboleth," for tribal distinction, we must certainly say "Sibboleth." Since "governments are ordained of God," a true political education is not that which teaches us, like a vine, to go to this, or that side for sup})ort; but which teaches us to grow right up from the root of a well grounded moral principle. For this, looking to God as the Governor of the nations and the sujjreme Ruler of our own free and beloved Republic, the Henry Clay principle — "I Avould rather be right than Presi- dent" — is the foundation stone. Leading us to this, our an- nual thanksgiving is an important link in the chain of true po- litical culture. An atheist, in keephig thanksgiving, proves himself worse than a fool- He has nothing to thank, nothing to })raise ! But in it, we, as a (-hristian nation, acknoAvledge, that there is a God, and a ^Mediator, between a holy God and sinful man, ns tlie uvoniu' ofbk'ssinjj^s; jind that, '*Tlnis iar tlic Lord Iiatli k'd lis on." All political culture, which dose not lead our thouijfhts to (iod, as our orcat IJulcr and ever watch- ful J iiduc, lacks the most important element; and robs our lives of their imchanyoable responsibilities. Sensible of an ov- orrulinti: Providence, the ''■Piliirim Fathers," leavino- home and kindred, looked to an ever liviiiLC <'od ami I'rotector; and oil that iced)ound PlyuKtuth rock, the fii-sf Hay-, which Hutter- t'd in the breezes, was the gracefully curlinti- volume of grate- ful prayer and praise. So far as their authority and influence reached, they, too, laid the constitution of their colonial u'ov- ernment deep, deep in the tear of (iod; and, as an index t)fthc character of that national culture, which they deemed most necessary, the church and the school-house s))run<; up toiiclh- er. This is an important part of political education, to be taught, that God rules, and has the right to veto, and the power to overrule, all political actions. But we must come a little closer to the indiA idual man. A consciousness, that we are ]>ersonably responsible to God for every political act, is another important attainment to be sought after. The cultivation of a true ]»olitieal conscience is of vast moment. Unless they are out of the range of intellig- ent action, and men should act as though they Avere automatons having some great leader or class of leaders as the main-s])ring. in politics, as in other matters, we arc accountable to (iod for every thouglit, word and deed. In the great, and in the small, we are accountable to "the Judge of all the earth" for the vote which we cast, and the direct, or indirect iniluence which w c exert, to exalt anyone to office. Having dwelt, at some length, on the character of true po- litical culture, in its relations and responsibilities to God, let us next view^ it, more particularly, as related to the wants of our country. Here our space will permit us to deal only in generalities, and will contine us to those aspects which arc more intimately related to our present circumstances. The tirst genei'al idea, which we advance, is, that eveiy citi- zen should have, or should be taught to have, some adequate notion of what a nation and a cfovermnent are. Of thes(\ in the savage state, there are no proper ideas. Disintegration — or the separation of races and geographical unities into fami- lies, or small bands and tribes — is the process of a selfish state of darkness. Convenient and natural unions, into one grand whole, are the tendencies of a Christian civilization. The his- torvofthe world is an abundant confirmation of this idea. VVfien the Lord wouM educate a people for himself, he consol iifatf,^ them. He called one family from the isolated families of the earth, aiid then sntfered them tO' develope in nominally indej^eiident tribes having a real union. But when the time came, that he would separate thera into a *^cnliar people," he formally united tbem under on^ leader. The progress of the Christian church, mid ''evangelical alli- ances" illustrate the same principle. At first, there seemed to he almost perfect isolation among the spiritual hosts of the Lord. But m late years, there has been a visible coming to- gether. Spiritually, if ntrt ecclesiastically, the church of Je- sus Christ is progressing toward a perfeet union, when all shall be united under one Head. The historical struggles of our own counti'y are illustrative of this same idea. The battles, which are now l>eing fought^ are only the repetition of what have gone before. On the one hand, there is the struggle to prove, that our nation is form- ed of petty, independent tribes ; on the other, there is the as- sertion of an experienced and Christsin civilization, that Ave are a ttnit. From this idea of the national oneness^ Avith which the true citizen should be imbued, arises another which Ave should endeavor to comprehend — viz : the tt'tie relations of the sev~ I ml parts to the ichole. From not considering, that all lan- guage is relative, Ave are often led into fatal errors. Thus the idea of liberty often dAvindles into political licentiousness ; and "state sovereignity" is exalted into absolute sell-gOA^em- nient. Whereas, a state is sovereign only in its »tate capaci- ty^ and so far as it does not conflict Avith the decrees of the national unity — the people of the United States, and not of any one State. In that consolidating article — the Constitu- tion of the United States — the individual states, as States, neither give, nor retain any state rights. The people of the irNiTED States retain certain national rights, and give other certain ones to the individual States. "The people of the Ignited States, by ordaining and establishing our present Con- stitution in conventions appointed by their primary assemblies, and clothed with their original and common soA-ereignty, did withdraw, and prohibit forever to their state governments, all tlie principals, rights and powers of sovereignty, and did vest them in a national organization, which they ordained should bear the purse, and wield the sword, and be supreme in all its legitimate functions over both individuals and states. This supreme government, proceeding from the united people, 9 acts immediately over all the individuals or persons over whom it extends, to exact allei;ianee, and, if need be, to en- force submission and obedience, indei)endently of, and even in opposition to, state intervention." — (Princ. Rev,, Oct. 1861.) Growing out of our national miity, and the subordinate re- lation of tlie se^■eral i)arts to the whole, are the duties of the citizen and of the official, relative to the nation and the State. From }>resent perplexities, amid sujtposed conflicts of duties, this would a]>[>ear to be an important point in true political knowledge, — what are my relative duties to the State and to the national government? It would seem un(piestionaV)le, that the higher, whicli supervises the Avhole, has the prior claim. These relations and duties may be illustrated by our bodies. In them "tliere are many members, but yet one bo- dy." They are all to act in unison, not for the distinct l)ene- fit of any one, but for the (/eneral good. The head is the rul- ing member, which gives life and ])ower to all the others, and they act under its control, and in obedience to its dictates. To this general statement, there is but one legitimate excei)tion. When the u^lll becomes so corrupt, that the general good of our members is unheeded, and the design of our creation per, verted ; then the refusal of our limbs, to move in the ways of sin and general destruction, l)ecomes la'wful. So of civil gov- ernment. When the national unit perverts its design, and olitical actions. This is of im- mense practical importance. Were we under a desjxitic gov- ernment ; were jtolitical intelligence and a jiolitical conscience like some pieces of choice furniture, which may be looked at, but never used ; on all that makes man a man, were there written, "•hands oii';'' or were our boasted privileges nu-re ideals, then we might neglect that political training, which leads men to act in the fear of God. But as we are — a con- stitutional government of the people — moral ignorance and forgetfulness of our everlasting responsibilities are stains upon our nationality — ai'e suicidal. We are now reaping the sad fruits of our moral obliquity in politics, and of our forgetful- ness of our responsibility to God. In speaking of what gave rise to our present difficulties, the reviewer, some of whose language we have already quoted, having mentioned several, says : ''There was still another cause, without which all these would have been com|)aratively }>owerless. This was a pro- digious political corruption. Office and power had now come to be sought by the most coi rupt machinations, for purposes of plunder. The astonishing, exhaustless wealth of the coun- try enabled the swarms of officials to acquire vast riches, for which party oi-ganization was the hulispensible means. Hence it followed, that partisanship superseded patriotism ; corrupt adherence to party ties and interests took the place of loyalty to the government. The great political ])arties became fac- tions, aiul each came to stand to its partisans in place of the nation. The events of the past year, — but above all, that master stroke, the seizure of the telegraph, have revealed such 11 Sjrounds for the confidence of the South that there could be no forcible ojipositiou to their (k^sitriis — without which they t-ould not have taken tlie iirst step in rebclHon— as fully to ex- plain those 'l^ursts of lauu'hter' with which the Pi-esident's first call for troops was <);reeted in the Montt;;onierv convention." Ascertained facts have ))roved such to be the first fruits of partisanshi]). Such have been some of the fruits of a lack of conscience in politics. Citizens and rulers did not remember that (Tod reiyns in righteousness and judgement, and would justly bring upon them the fruits of their own doings. On the other hand, a true political culture Avould make each an individual, conscientious man. Hundreds and thousands would not lose their individuality, as moral freemen, and be- come slaves ro irresponsible jtarties. It wouKl lead each one to act under the solenm conviction, that, for all these things, God will call him into jutlgement. A true political education would, likewise, insure political ■prof/ress. In the arts and sciences, in literature, in mechanical inventions, and in international improvements and external national })ower, we are adAancing. But, in anational capacity^ are we progressing internally 'i Has the onward march of three-tourths of a century left us better legislators, and more able and viituous rulers y Let tlie past and the jiresent an swer. Bring uj) from the dead those patriotic lieroes, who put their hands and their hearts to, and jdedged their lives and their sacred honors in defence of, the "Declaration of In- dependence" — our protoscript of freedom, which, like a mighty bell, awoke the energies of an incipient nation, struggling for existence, and tolled the death-knell of departing despotism. Come down further, in our history, and call up the framers of the Constitution — that potent main-spring, which then di- rected the movements of thirteen, and now ot^ — how many? — independent watchmen iipon the tower of freedom. Ask them of our political progression. We do not deny, that there may be now, and probably are, as good men and as virtuous citizens, as ever lived. But we ask, have sterling men been brought out into political life ? Are we progressing in politics? Are weadvancnig, national- ly, in the science of government ? To answer these questicms truthfully, from compared facts, let us take a practical glance at the historic struggles of this nation, since the promulgation of the declaration of independence. For twelve long and self-consuming years, the States labor- ed along, imder the principles of the old Confederacy. Tha 12 individual States claiming all the rights of indei:endent fover eignties, tlie Congress hecaine a mere advisary ])OAver. It might pass laws, but there A\as no nnity of bonds to insure obedience. The nominal rei)resentatiA'es of the, so-called, na- tional government might issue certain protectives to tlie na- tion, but, unless these suited the interests of the individual States, they were not deemed binding. Confederate debts might be incurred, bnt the several states considered repudia- tion, or payment, a matter of choice. Thns struggling for ex- istence, confederate treaties with foreign powers being violat- ed, the confidence of friends shaken, and the respect of other nations unobtainable, the Confedei-acy became, almost, a total wreck. "The sun of our national life and glory which, in the Declaration of Independence, had burst from the horrizon in full-oi'bed splendor, Avas already obscured by the ominous clouds of state sovereignty, and seemed about to set forever amid the nameless horrors of universal anarchy." However, necessity came to the rescue ; and, after many hard struggles, a more perfect union Avas formed, and a firm ??«^/o«(r^ govern- ment Avas established. Against the consummation of this great Avork, there Avas another obstacle, one Avhich bears upon the present time, and which Avas of more pOAver than that of "state sovereignty:" It Avas the territorial clahns of individual states, together Avith a feared predominence, Avhich such claims might give, over smaller states having a very limited territory. Necessity here, likewise, overcame opposition ; and those large states, Avhich OAvned, or laid claim to, extended territories, gave them over to the United States, Avith the express conditions, that they (the United States) should govern them, and, upon the accu- miilation of a certain ])Opulation, Avould organize them into states, having poAvers equal to those of the other states. Tlius, many minute obstacles, Avhich Ave need not men- tion, beingovercome, our nationality Avas established, our E pluribus Unum" Avas perfected, national authority became aupreme, and, until about 1812, Avhen she came to a temporary anchorage, the ship of state, encoimtering comparatively fcAv, snd only Acry local storms, rode nobly over the sea of time. With the difficulties betAveen England and France, our country became distantly associated; the general government, as a retaliatory act for the injuries inflicted on neutral poAvers, ])roliibited all commercial and other intercourse Avith either nation ; great suffering foUoAved ; state sovereignty revived and he right of "secession" was loudly talked of. IS This passofl over, until, a little latiT, in tlie war with Eni>laii(l, tliesame rebellious ideas manifested themselves at the "Hart- ford Convention." As our sjxvoe will not ])ennit too many j^articulars, we shall omit the mention of minor ditficulties with other states, and sim|)lycall attention to the nullitication in South Carolina, where we aLjain see l)nl)])le uj) the muddy waters of the old ("onfeilei a cy. With thehistory of that atlair you are, doubtless, all familial-. We have made these brief allusions to certain facts in our his- tory, simply to show, that we are not progressing ))olitically ; that we are tighthio; the same battles agahist state soveregnty, for the upholding of a })erfeet unity, and for the national voice over the territories, uttererinciples of state sovereignty as those claimed by South Carolina in tlie days of Calhoun, broke out, wliere were tliere a Daniel Webster in the Senate, and a Jack- son at the executive head of our government ? Instead, treason Aaunted in the very capital. There the mighty thunderljolts, which hurled star after star from our united family, Avere con- structed. There traitors seemed to have no checks. Cons))i- i-ators against our government had, as we believe, split the party with which they ]iap])ened to stand connected, that it might l)e defeated ; and', remaining in the capital for the i)erfect- ingoftheir plans, and drawing pay from the ])ublic treasury, they sheltered their iiendish jilot, to dismember our nation, l)e- hind the pretext of a constitutional election, in the consununa- tion of which they had been eminently instrumental. In violation of their constitutional oaths, they drained the treasury, corrupt- ed the army, and scattered the navy to the four (piarters of the globe. The national power temporarily i)aralyzed, the "hue andcrie"ofa sectional admhiist ration credulously believed 1)y their constituents, the nation embroiled in ]»reconcerted ])arty strifes, many of which, we fear, have not yet died away, and the treasonable "sophistry, the unconstitutionality of "coercion,"— 34 sliowing that prejudice could attach much to a name— souudiui;: \n tlie ears of a too easily beguiled people and laying firm hold ot'a carefully cultivated party prejudice, the plot was complete, ;uid all now necessary, was the promulgation of state ordinan- ces of secession. As ])art of the great plan, these, in succession, quii'kly followed. The sacred union was iirst violated by South Carolina; and state after state madly "phmged into the outer darkness of a hideous rebellion.'" What a reign of terror, and season of horror! How dreai'v those tedious months between November and the fourth of March ! Moral and physical dark- ness brooded over the natioii. We looked to Washingtoii for strength, but lo, the most abject effeminacy! With hopeful expectations, we waited for the authoritatiA'e utterances, that order must be restored and goverumex\tal authority respected and enforced. But thick darkness became darker still ! We looked for judgement, but there was none ; for salvation, but it was far from us. With a pusillanimity, if not worse, for Avhich a king would have lost his crown and his head with it, the Pres- ident of the United States wrote oiie of the darkest and most unmeaning sentences in our national history : "^'Tlie states have no right to secede, but nobody has any right to prevent them ! !" From the comparison of the present with the past which we have endeavored, candidly to institute, Ave think it almost self-evident, that we, nationally, if any distinction should be made, have not been ])rogressing either in politics, or morals. Even in relation to that "vexed question" which has been made the pretext for the present rebellion, we have seemed to be retrogradhig. The cloud of human bondage, which will never stand the brother-loving light of the millennial sun, has seemed to grow thicker and heavier. Relative to the negro and his ultimate freedom, in the 18th century, during the rev- olution, Alex. Hamilton writes : "The dictates of humanity and true policy equally interest me in favor of this unfortunate class of ("chattels," did he say ? no, but of) men." In the 1 9th century, the fetters are fastened by a supposed "divine right !" Brethren, have we, in the truth telling light of histo- ry, been advancing? Now we believe, that a true political education — an educa- tion which aims to reach the heart and conscience, as well as the head — would insure pohtical progress. It Avould bring up the light of the past; and under the fear of God, it would promote the choice of virtuous and nationally intelligent men — men Avho M'ould not be imder the influence of selfish, party, or sectional prejudices ; who would not be making and break- 15 ni^ laws ami ooinprornises, and, for an ideal dvean), 1)lasting tilt' liopos of a nation ; wlio would not legislate, like too many of */// parties, for tlie interests of any o?ie district, any o//*' county, any one state, or any ov/c section of our hmd ; but who, like Ilim who loved a sinful vorUI^ and gave his Hon fower ! how little understiwd — Entrusted to the mother's mind alone. To fashion genius, form the mind for good. Inspire a West, or train a Washuigton." (Mrs. Hale.) Here we, generally, make sad failures. Too many children are taught to feel,'that, wlien they enter the world of active duties, self nnist l)e first, last and supreme. Years are spent in teaching to Ibllow mannnon, and bow gracefully and suc- cessfully before his altars ; for the minutes, that are spent in cultivating their souls, and teaching them to bow before the throne of love, grace and mercy. How many parents train their children, as though they were mere animal ])roducts, to live and enjoy here, and then