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Hollinger 
 
 pH8.5 
 
 Mill Run F3-1955 
 
THE 
 
 Duty of the Hour 
 
 KEY. SAMUEL T. SPEAR, D.D., 
 
 PASTOR OF TUB SOUTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF BROOKLYN. 
 
 KEVS^-YORK: 
 
 ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH, 683 BROADWAY. 
 
 1863. 
 
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 In JiiXOiiange 
 
 2 1907 
 
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 THE DUTY OF THE HOUE. 
 
 Esther 4 ; 14. 
 "And who knowctli whether thou art come to the kmgdom for such a time as this 1" 
 
 These words were addressed by Mordecai to Esther, the wife of Ahas- 
 uerus, the Persian monarch. Est'her was by birth a Jewess, by condition 
 a captive, by marriage a queen, by her mission the elect of Providence to 
 save her people from destruction. An awful crisis had arrived in the his- 
 tory of the Jews ; by a royal decree they were doomed to general exter- 
 mination ; and Mordecai, wishing to secure her interposition in their behalf, 
 suggests that perhaps she had " come to the kingdom for such a time as 
 this." Constrained by the argument, she gave herself to the service, and 
 was the means of saving her people. Great crises in human aftairs often, 
 yea generally, either create or find the agency suited to their demands.^ 
 
 Thus, on the twenty-second day of February, in the year 1732, just 
 one hundred and thirty-one years ago to-day, was born a man whom God 
 gave to the world, and especially to this country, as one of the richest 
 legacies of his Providence. He was forty-four years of age when our fore- 
 fathers proclaimed their independence of the British Crown. He was 
 chosen as the commander-in-chief of the army during that memorable 
 struggle which finally ended in victory, and made us a free and independ- 
 ent people. He was twice elected to the Presidency of the United States. 
 Having served his country in the field, and in the highest civil station 
 known to the laws of this land, he died on the fourteenth of December, 
 1799, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. He was a patriot and a Christ- 
 ian, a great and good man, heroic on the battle-field and wise as a states- 
 man. We speak of him as the Father of our country. The American 
 people have been accustomed to hail the anniversary of his birthday, which 
 this year falls on the Sabbath, with special marks of respect to his memory. 
 I need not say to you that George Washington is the person of whom I am 
 speaking. In his age he was the man for the times. In the midst of great 
 difficulties, in the face of severe opposition, often assailed by party jealousy, 
 sometimes almost supplanted in his position, always resisted by the Tories, 
 he nevertheless held firmly to his course, and guided the Revolutionary 
 struggle to victory and success. Humanly speaking, the efifort must have 
 failed without Washington. Just as he was completing his last term of 
 Presidential service, he issued his "Farewell Address" to the American 
 people, Avarning them against the spirit of party, and urging upon them 
 the great importance of the Union for their common prosperity. 
 
 Having nobly done his work, alike as the soldier and the statesman, 
 Washington has been sleeping in his grave for more than half a century. 
 
The country to whose good he devoted his hfc, has advanced in all the 
 elements of national greatness. The Constitution and the Government 
 which he helped to frame, have until recently been the watchwords, the 
 glory and pride of all the people. The Union has proved its wisdom by 
 its great blessings. We have rejoiced in it, and supposed it to be perma- 
 nent. 
 
 Where are we now ? What is the present state of our country ? It is 
 a little more than two years since South-Carolina began the work of seces- 
 sion. She was soon followed by other States. Soon these seceding States 
 were organized into a Confederate Government ; and soon thereafter the 
 nation's Hag was assailed at Fort Sumter. War then commenced — a civil 
 war — a war between the Government of the United States and a portion of 
 its rebellious citizens — a war on the part of the Government to preserve 
 the Union, and on tbe part of the rebels to destroy it — a war for which the 
 loj'al people were almost wholly unprepared — a war that has swollen into 
 vast dimensions — I may add, a war which, though not always decisive in 
 particular combats, and certainly not yet ended, has been one of very 
 decided progress to the Federal arms, securing on the side of the Govern- 
 ment great advantages, and giving good promise of final victory. 
 
 In the commencement, which was the moment of patriotic passion rather 
 than of mature and long-sighted reflection, there seemed to be a very great 
 unanimity of opinion and feeling among the Northern people in respect to 
 this war. Public sentiment was so near a unit that the exceptions were 
 comparatively rare. The language of sympathy with treason was not heard 
 on many lips ; and, when heard, provoked the contempt which it always 
 deserves. Newspapers that had hitherto shown strong tendencies to favor 
 the secessionists, were suddenly converted to the doctrines of loyalty. The 
 truth is, the war was popular, so much so, that it swept all opposition 
 before it. 
 
 Since that period, and during the progress of the struggle, various causes 
 have arisen to agitate and disturb the public mind, to set men to thinking, 
 and to call out diversities and conflicts of opinion. The same things 
 existed in the war of the Revolution, and in that of 1812; and they are 
 likely to exist in any war conducted by a free people. They can be 
 avoided only by an absolute despotism, that crushes freedom of thought 
 and freedom of speech. War is a tremendously exciting business ; it pre- 
 sents a vast many questions ; and hence it need be no matter of surprise 
 if the people do not all see alike. The ftict should frighten no one, and 
 stir no man's passions to unreasonable violence. 
 
 We have all shared in some degree of disappointment, mainly, as I 
 think, because our expectations in the outset were entirely unreasonable. 
 AYe expected to finish this work with a rush, and in a short time. The 
 popular idea of war is that of speedy victory followed by peace, without 
 any due consideration of what war means, or what are its difficulties ; and 
 hence, when this result is not at once gained, the public heart is very likely 
 to yield to " unmanly depression," and vent its passions upon the Govern- 
 ment. Under such circumstances we must have something to find fault 
 with ; and the most tangible object is the Government. Every man wants 
 
to be the Government ; and if the result be not what he expected, then, in 
 his judgment, it is because his policy was not adopted. 
 
 Some of us, too, have, at times, felt some degree of despondency as to 
 the final result ; and if we have talked as we have felt, we have communi- 
 cated this feeling to each other. War, especially such as the one in Avhich 
 we are engaged, tries men's hearts ; it tries their power of hope ; it tries 
 their patience ; and there are some men who are not able to bear this trial. 
 They break down under it. If they are not positive croakers themselves 
 the}^ are in a very good condition to listen to this mode of talking, and to 
 be seriously affected by it. 
 
 There is also among the people an honest dissatisfactionysMh the method 
 in which the Government has conducted this war. The people are not 
 agi'eed as to the method ; and since we are all generals, and would be glad 
 to be Presidents, there must, of course, be some collision here. Some do 
 not like the Proclamation, and others do like it. Some complain of mili- 
 tary arrests, and others think them perfectly justifiable. To the eyes of 
 some there is an unusual amount of corruption at Washington, while others 
 of equal capacity, equal candor, and equal opportunities to judge, see no 
 evidence of any such thing. There is no use in ignoring the fact, that 
 honest men, good citizens, persons who mean to be faithful to their country, 
 do not agree as to the method in which this war has been conducted ; and 
 the same fact would exist under any policy which it is possible for the 
 Government to adopt. It need surprise nobody ; and if we are a reasona- 
 ble and a true people, it ought not to harm any body. We may make it the 
 source of a tremendous evil ; 3^et I hope better things of the American 
 people. 
 
 There is again a class of persons scattered through the loyal States, 
 small as compared with the whole body of the people, of whom one hates 
 to think. They are out-and-out traitors, clearly such in feeling, and, so 
 far as they dare to be so, such in ^jrac?/ce. They have no sympathy with 
 the Government in this struggle for life. They rejoice " when the rebels 
 are successful," and are "cast down when victory attends the Federal 
 arms." Some of them are in ofBcial positions, and some of them are edi- 
 tors of newspapers. If they were at the South, they would be rebels 
 themselves. They are such in feeling. Their sympathies lie wholly with 
 the enemy. The conduct of such persons is indeed a great trial to the 
 patience of patriotic feeling. It is no slander to call them traitors, since 
 this is their proper title. 
 
 In addition to this, Ave have in the loyal States a somewhat violent dis- 
 play of imrty spirit, ■ instigated and conducted by political leaders, who 
 simply want the places of power, and make the war an occasion for gain- 
 ing this end. They must, of course, attack the Government. They must 
 denounce its policy. They must do what they can to impair the confi- 
 dence of the people in our present national rulers. All this is necessary 
 as belonging to the machinery of party tactics. These men, I shall do 
 them the justice to believe, do not actually mean to ruin the country. 
 What they mean, is to place the political power of the country in their 
 own hands. They are partisans when they ought to be patriots. 
 
6 
 
 I have thus set before you some of the causes of the present agitation 
 and conflicts in the pubhc mind. Our present position as a people is a 
 state of war with a very formidable foe, somewhat comphcated by these 
 causes. We are not to-day as harmonious in the prosecution of this war 
 as we seemed to be twelve months ago. Such is the plain matter of fact. 
 
 Now, looking the facts squarely in the face, I wish to state to you the 
 positive and absolute necessity of our position. The enemy with whom we 
 are contending, will make no peace with this Government that is not based 
 on disunion. The evidence on this point is so abundant that I do not see 
 how any one can doubt it. You can not propose any other terms of peace 
 with the rebel authorities at Richmond which they will consider for even a 
 moment So they explicitly say, and so all their actions prove. I believe 
 this to be a fixed fact. I hence come to the conclusion that the Govern- 
 ment must actually crush this rebellion by force of arms, and thus con- 
 quer a peace, and in this way preserve the Union, or that we must consent 
 to disunion. This is what I mean by the necessity of our position ; and 
 let me tell you that I see no possible escape from it. We may regret it ; 
 we may deplore the terrible evils of war ; we may differ as to the causes 
 of this bloody contest ; we may complain of this or that measure of the 
 Government ; we may contend among ourselves, and thus divide our 
 strength ; but here we are as a whole people, driven right up to this neces- 
 sity, in a state of war with an armed rebellion which we must conquer, or 
 by which we must be conquered. We must succeed or fail. If we fail, 
 we shall all go down together, Democrats and Republicans, the supporters 
 and the opponents of the war, the politicians and the common people, pro- 
 slavery men and anti-slavery men, saints and sinners. " We shall all be 
 saved together, or all lost together." We are all in this ship of State, and 
 if it founders we shall all founder with it. Those who can not see the 
 hopeless destruction of the Union by the defeat of the Government in this 
 struggle, seem to me strangely infatuated. Those who suppose that their 
 political enemies are to be the only sufferers in the event of such a disaster 
 are greatly mistaken. We are one people, living under a common govern- 
 ment ; and as such we must share together in the common prosperity and 
 glory, or the common disgrace and ruin of our common nationality. In 
 the national sense, we shall die together, or live together. 
 
 Having thus stated the case, as I have desired to do, with plainness and 
 candor, I come now to inquire into the great and urgent duty of the hour. 
 What ought we to do, as a people, in "such a time as this ?" The answer 
 which I shall give to this question, and earnestly commend to your consid- 
 eration, is this : We ought by every means in our power to sustain thk 
 Govekn'mbst op TiiESB United States fn the prosecution of this war. 
 Tliis I hold to be the cardinal duty of the hour. Let me in a word explain 
 its meaning. 
 
 By the Government I mean the agency for which the Constitution has 
 provided, and which the people, acting under this Constitution, have cre- 
 ated for the enactment and enforcement of national laws. This is the 
 Government ; and of this Government Abraham Lincoln is now the Consti- 
 tutional Executive. He is also the "Commander-in-Chief" of the Army 
 
and Navy. Not long since I saw in one of the New-York papers this 
 phrase : " The Government, as it is called:' What did the editor mean by 
 the clause '' as it is called''? I will not answer the question; yet any 
 man of common-sense will readily detect the spirit of the clause. I am 
 of opinion that Abraham Lincoln is the President of these United States, 
 bound by the duties of his office, and entitled to all that respect which the 
 laws of God confer upon the civil ruler. Dr. Hodge, of Princeton, in a 
 recent article on the war, remarks : "That the government to which our 
 alleeiance is due is the National Government at Washington, of which 
 \braham Lincoln is the constitutional head." The Administration is now 
 the Executive Government, and will be during the period of its constitu- 
 tional service. There is no other ; and you can have no other without a 
 revolution. This Administration, for at least two years to come, must 
 conduct this war; and during this period the salvation of the nation will 
 be in its hands. If this rebellion is to be crushed by force, please to 
 remember that this can only be done through the constituted authorities at 
 
 Washington. ^ u ^A 
 
 By supporting this Government, I do not mean that the people should 
 surrender the right of private judgment, or decline in a proper way to ex- 
 press their opinions of its policy. But I do mean that the people ^lould so 
 exercise this right as not to aluse it, and bring themselves mto conflict with 
 the duties they owe to the national authority. They ought not o s nnder 
 their own Government. They ought not to speak disrespectfully of their 
 civil rulers They ought to sustain the financial credit of the nation, i hey 
 ought to obey the laws, and sustain those who are engaged in their execu- 
 tim. They ought cheerfully to bear the burdens which are imposed upon 
 them In the time of war, especially such a war as the present, they ought 
 to adjourn all minor questions, to frown upon all factious opposition to lay 
 ...side the collisions of party strife, and unite as one man in supporting the 
 national authority. They surely ought not to cripple and break down the 
 very authority which is their only defense and safety, at the veiy momen 
 in which the enemy is upon them. The Government should be wise ; i 
 sh uld be efficient;^t should remember that the people are thinkers; but 
 when the Government, in such a crisis, taking counsel of its own wisdon, 
 Tnd all the wisdom it can bring to its aid, has enacted its laws and fixed^ 
 policy then the people must sustain it, or civil society is a failure. I know 
 S t Ihere are extreme cases of conscience, and enormous oppressions justi- 
 fy t a popular revolution, that qualify these statements ; but no man of 
 cailr .'u pretend that in the loyal States we have reached any such ex- 
 ^mHies Parties are quite apt to see such extremities where they do no 
 eTt traitors always see them ; yet I think this is a time when the people 
 should !ol allow either pohticians or traitors to spread confusion and discord 
 
 ^%ta:eTus"stted as clearly as I can what I mean by the Government, 
 
 and a so wh" I mean by supporting it. The Government intends to prose- 
 
 :,- 11 to final victory; such is its public declaration to the word ; 
 
 Imu'ryouCverUVearnestand hearty support for the following 
 
 reasons ; 
 
•8 
 
 The first is the fact that it is a government, not one so " called," but 
 ONE in fact as well AS RIGHT. Allegiance of both sentiment and practice 
 to government is a religious obligation. The Bible makes it such. " Gov- 
 ernment is a divine institution." Obedience to the powers that be is a moral 
 duty. Disloyalty is both a crime against the State and a sin against the 
 God of Heaven. Traitors, whether Northern or Southern, pro-slavery or 
 anti-slavery, Democratic or Republican, editorial or political, traitors in pub- 
 lic or private life, are sinners against God ; they break the law of Heaven ; 
 and those who countenance or aid them, designing to do so, are partakers 
 with them in this guilt. Have we a Government in this time of war — a 
 legislative, executive, and judicial authority still existing in this nation? 
 "We certainly have ; the action of this authority, moreover, is the supreme 
 law of the land, and by the laws of God we are required to obey it. There 
 is not a man in this whole land, whose property or services the Government 
 may not command for the purpose of conducting this war. Some people 
 talk about resistance, if this or that measure should be adopted, if conscrip- 
 tion should be resorted to as the means of filling up the ranks of the army. 
 Let me tell you that this means anarchy, and that anarchy means perdition. 
 Let there be an anti-war party in the loyal States, forcibly resisting the na- 
 tional authoritjr, or undertaking to do any thing of a compulsory nature in 
 opposition to that authority, and you will have two civil wars instead of one. 
 The national authority is the interpreter of its own rights and duties, as it 
 must be if it be the supreme Government of the land ; and no action of indi- 
 viduals, no resolutions of State Legislatures, no Conventions of Commission- 
 ers, must forcibly cross its path. You may at the proper time change the 
 persons who wield this authority ; but you must not touch the authority 
 itself This is sacred by the laws of God. To this, you and I, and all the 
 people, owe the duty of loyalty ; and by this I mean " the allegiance and 
 service which the law requires of a citizen to his country, or of a subject to 
 his sovereign." I have always been a law and order man. I am so to-day. 
 For this reason I denounce treason as an atrocious crime. I believe it to be 
 such. I can have no sympathy with men who make light of the sanctity of 
 law. My Bible teaches me that the civil ruler is the minister of God. 
 
 The second reason which I offer for supporting the Government, con- 
 sists IN THE FACT THAT THE NATION IS IN A STATE OF WAR. I do HOt nOW de- 
 cide what kind of a war it is, or whether it be just or not. I simply declare 
 it to be a state of war. We have armies in the field, that have gone forth at 
 the call of the Government, to fight the battles of their country. They are 
 facing the enemy, and the enem.y facing them. They are to win victories or 
 suffer defeats. Now, what will you do in such a state of things ? Will you 
 desert the Government and army of your country in the presence of an armed 
 foe, break down the one and starve the other, and thus force a peace upon 
 the nation that will be its disgrace, and perhaps its ruin ? Will you be in- 
 different to a struggle in which your own country is involved ? Are you 
 going to act the part of traitors yourselves by giving aid and comfort to the 
 enemy? Surely not. I think better of you. I think better of the people 
 of the loyal States. There is a pi'inciple of patriotism involved, which must 
 have inlluence witli every noble and generous mind. It is for this reason 
 
that an anti-war party, that in the time of war seeks to embarrass and per- 
 plex the Government, when it comes to be fairly understood by the people, 
 Is quite sure to seal its own fate. The Hartford Convention was so regarded 
 in the war of 1812, I think undeservedly, j-et it was so regarded; and the 
 very name has ever since been a stench in the nostrils of the nation. War 
 is an hour of peril ; it is an hour of trial and suffering ; it is an hour when 
 the powers of a nation are put to the test ; it is an hour when the national 
 honor and safety are at stake ; and hence I insist that the state of war gives 
 special emphasis to the doctrine of allegiance. This surely is not the time 
 for the people to desert their own flag, and seek to embarrass the Govern- 
 ment which aflfords them protection. Then, if ever, a man should stand up 
 for his country, and give to its public authorities his earnest support. He 
 may desire peace ; he should do so ; but until the Government can safely 
 make a peace, patriotism requires him to sustain it in prosecuting the war. 
 This is always the surest road to a safe peace. Peace purchased at the price 
 of dishonor, especially the inglorious prostration and ruin of one's country, 
 is always too dearly bought. It is a greater evil than war. " I am amazed,'' 
 says General Rosecrans, in a recent letter to the Legislature of Ohio, " that 
 any one could think of 'peace on any terms.' He who entertains the senti- 
 ment is fit only to be a slave. He who utters it at this time is moreover a 
 traitor to his country, who deserves the scorn and contempt of all honorable 
 men." These are earnest words. They come from one who has a right to 
 speak to the people, and urge them to support the Government in this terri- 
 ble contest. In times likes these every man ought to uphold the national 
 authority. This is our only safety. 
 
 As A THIRD REASON FOR SUSTAINING THE GOVERNMENT, I NASIE THE OBJECT 
 
 OF THIS WAR. By Object, I mean the declared purpose of the Government in 
 its prosecution. Upon this question there ought to be no mistake in the 
 public mind. There surely is no occasion for it, since this purpose has been 
 proclaimed in the most distinct and complete manner. Both houses of Con- 
 gress have said to the people and said to the world, that the sole and only 
 object of the war is to suppress the rebellion and restore the Union. In his 
 Inaugural Message the President declared that it would be his purpose to 
 execute the laws, with paternal tenderness beseeching the Southern people 
 to return to their allegiance. In his Messages to Congress the President has 
 announced the same purpose. The diplomacy of the Government with for- 
 eign nations bears the same stamp. In his Proclamation of September last, 
 the President declares "that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prose- 
 cuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation be- 
 tween the United States and the people thereof, in such States as that rela- 
 tion is or may be disturbed." It is easy to say, for political and party pur- 
 poses, that the war has become an Abolition war, a war to put down slavery 
 a war for the negro, and not for the Union ; this is the cuiTent slang of 
 many newspapers ; yet, so for as the Government is concerned, there is not 
 the first word of truth in the statement. The declared purposes of the Gov- 
 ernment prove it to be absolutely false. Those who make the statement 
 have the means of knowing it to be false. The position at first taken by the 
 Government, is the one maintained to-day. I can not tell what God means 
 
10 
 
 by this war, but I think that no reasonable and candid man can be in doubt 
 as to the purpose of the Government. Those who misrepresent this purpose 
 do not state the truth, and some of them are justly chargeable with a willful 
 falsehood. 
 
 But has not the Government regorted to the principle of emancipation in 
 application to rebels, as one of the measures of this war ? It has done so, 
 and on the same theory that it has raised an army and built a navy. It has 
 done so for the purpose of breaking down the rebellion, and restoring the 
 Union. This is the express and only doctrine of the President. You may 
 think it unwise; you may doubt its constitutionality; as individuals, we are 
 of course entitled to our own opinions ; but let us not forget that the Consti- 
 tution makes the President the judge on both points. His judgment is final ; 
 certainly so until some competent court shall pronounce it unconstitutional. 
 "We had better leave military matters" and military necessities "in the 
 hands of those to whom they belong." Above all, we had better not make 
 our individual opinions, without the means of an enlarged judgment, the rule 
 of either supporting or opposing the Government, in this dreadful struggle 
 for national life. We had better not let our pro-slavery or our anti-slavery 
 afBnities, whether gratified or not, become the law of our allegiance or the 
 measure of our devotion to the public authority, in this hour of peril. I for 
 one do not like the prevalent idea of the recent speeches of Wendell Phillips. 
 I am an anti-slavcrj^ man through and through ; I want to see slavery re- 
 moved from this land, and wil' do all that I can righteously do to secure this 
 end. But I am for the Union, slavery or no slavery ; and this I do not un- 
 derstand to be the position of Mr. Phillips. I hope that I do not misrepre- 
 sent him. I think I do not. I want to add that I have as little sympathy 
 with those men whose only god is slavery, who would rather see the Union 
 perish than saved if slavery is to be touched, who shout abolition from sun- 
 rise to sunset, as if the word itself were the end of all argument, and who 
 clamor against the Government and seek to weaken the confidence of the 
 public in it, because it has adopted emancipation as a war measure. Who 
 are these men, and what are their antecedents ? Some of them are unmis- 
 takably in sympathy with the rebels ; and some of them use language abso- 
 lutely treasonable — language which, if they were at the South and applied 
 the same to the rebel authorities at Richmond, would cost them their lives. 
 Claiming the right of free speech, they most sadly aiuse it to their country's 
 peril. I am sorry to say such things ; I do not charge them upon any one 
 of my hearers ; yet the hour has come for plain talking. There is no dis- 
 guising the fact that we have traitors at the North — men who are heart and 
 soul with the rebellion. The fact is so, and we may £ks well say it. 
 
 Has not the Government, by military arrests and confinement, interfered 
 with the liberty of some of the people in the loyal States ? It has done so ; 
 and perhaps in this it has made a mistake, and perhaps it has not. At any 
 rate, the object was to prevent traitors from ruining the coantry. The thing 
 was done when the land was heaving with the spirit of revolution, and the 
 fate of the nation hanging upon a hair ; and moreover, when it was done 
 public sentiment approved of it as a just and necessary measure to save the 
 nation. Now I will suppose that the Government misjudged as to these 
 
11 
 
 militar}'- arrests, either as to the entire principle itself, or in some cases as to 
 the persons arrested ; and then I respectfully ask, are we going to be so 
 foolish, so narrow-minded, so blind to our duties, and so insensible of our 
 perils, as for this reason to decline giving to the Government our earnest 
 support in the prosecution of this war for the conquest of the rebellion and 
 the restoration of the Union ? Are we going to divide and contend among 
 ourselves, and thus destroy our own power, with the enemy before us and 
 the life of the nation committed to our charge ? Are we going to paralyze 
 the energies of the Government, and practically desert the army in the field 
 while we stop to debate the undecided question whether the President has 
 or has not the right to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in a time of rebel- 
 lion ? Xo, my hearers, I do not think we shall. I think the sober second 
 thoughts of the American people, if not their first thoughts, will lead to bet- 
 ter counsels. 
 
 I appeal to 3'ou as the lovers of the Union ; such I believe you honestly 
 to be ; and if I had the ear of the nation, I would appeal to that ; and I 
 would say to every man who loves the Union, that the object of this war, as 
 declared by the Government, is to save the Union, and for this reason I 
 would ask every man to put his shoulder to the wheel, whatever may be his 
 private opinions about this or that measure. This argument, I know, will 
 find a response in all loyal hearts. I do not expect that it will have weight 
 with those who are willing to make peace on any terms, even at the price of 
 disunion. 
 
 I URGE YOU, IN THE FOURTn PLACE, TO SUPPOUT THE GOVERNMEXT, BEC.4.USE 
 
 SUCCESS ON OUR PART IS OUR ONLY NATIONAL SALVATION. I have always be- 
 lieved that we can succeed. I believe so now. Give us time enough — the 
 question of time is a large element in war ; and we can certainly triumph in 
 the end. We can solve the problems of finance and the problems of the 
 battle-field, and at last exhaust the foe and bring him to terms. We have 
 the power. All we want is the will and the endurance. 
 
 How shall we succeed ? I need not tell you that it must be through the 
 public authorities at Washington, and that these authorities are absolutely 
 powerless unless sustained by the people. I need not tell you that we must 
 conquer a peace, or surrender to the enemy. Peace on any other basis i<^ 
 now utterly out of the question. Successful war is now the only peace- 
 maker. Anglo-Saxon blood is pitted against Anglo-Saxon blood, and one or 
 the other party must at last yield. If we yield, the nation is lost. If we 
 persevere, as we can, the rebellion is crushed, and the nation saved. There 
 is before us no other way of salvation. We arc absolutely shut up to suc- 
 cessful war, or disunion. To make any terms with an armed rebellion till 
 it either submits or achieves its own triumph, is positively fatal. Mr. Barnes 
 well remarks : " God treats with men in rebellion only wli-en they submit to 
 authority and law ; and a government that recognizes a conspiracy and a 
 rebellion, and which treats with it as such, is already at an end." Those 
 who want the Government to treat with the rebels, are very wide of the 
 mark. In the first place, they will not treat with us on any ba.sis but dis- 
 union ; and in the second place, if they would, we can not treat with them 
 till they lay down their arms. We must fight them, and that, too, success- 
 
12 
 
 fully, or die. It is a question of life or death on their part, and equally so 
 on our part. 
 
 "What, then, will you do ? Will you stand back and simply look on ? 
 Will you spend your breath in criticising the Government ? Will you be 
 mainly occupied in la3ing plans for the next Presidential election ? Will 
 you foster the spirit of faction ? Will you plot in secret places to distract 
 the public mind ? Will you encourage the rebels to hold on in this strug- 
 gle ? Are you going to give countenance and comfort to those who are doing 
 all that they can to weaken the energies of the Government ? In such an 
 hour, in such a crisis, is it possible that newspapers and politicians will 
 " persist, at all hazards, in spreading discord, bitterness, and strife among 
 the people and in the army" ? Is it possible that the people themselves 
 will consent to be made the victims of such an awful folly ? Let the peo- 
 ple take this course, and the nation is ruined. Our destruction is sure. 
 Fate is then at our very doors ; and unless we arouse ourselves, and cor- 
 rect so great a mistake, the angel of death will pierce the very soul of our 
 national life, I can not think — no, I can not think, that the great body of 
 the people in the loyal States can be persuaded to deliver themselves up to 
 such evil counsels. They are patriots ; they love their country ; and they 
 will fight for it to the very death. They will not, they can not, consent to 
 the dismemberment of this nation ; and since success in war is the only 
 method of averting this result, they will fight it through to the end. The 
 peace men on any terms, the anti-war men, those who would sell out their 
 country, the sympathizers with rebellion, those who spend a large part of 
 their time in croaking, those who vilify and slander the Government, will 
 either change their position or lose all influence over the public mind. There 
 is intelligence in this country ; there is virtue here ; and, as I believe, enough 
 of both to save the nation, notwithstanding the clouds that now darken the 
 sky. Let England or France forcibly intervene, and let the President call 
 the nation to arms, and you would soon see of what stuff the American 
 people are made. You would see an exhibition of the character that is in 
 them, and which being in them, will, with the blessing of God, carry them 
 victoriously through this struggle. They are bound to go through. They 
 can not avoid it if they would, and they would not if they could. The 
 necessity is upon them. And this is true, whether the Government at 
 Washington be Republican or Democratic. No party can administer this 
 Government, or terminate this war, against the overwhelming sentiment of 
 the people, that the nation must and shall be preserved. We may be de- 
 layed by our divisions on minor questions ; we may prolong the war ; we 
 may, by the contests of partj^, put our country to great trial and even jeop- 
 ardy ; but we shall come to this at last. This is the position of the North- 
 ern people ; and they never will forsake it, because in the very nature of 
 things they can not. On this point I advise you to be of good cheer, and 
 look hopefully into the future. Stand by the Government of your country, 
 which is now your only salvation ; and all things will come out right. 
 
 As to the fanatics and political lunatics, who look at this war exclusively 
 from the anti-slavery stand-point, you need not trouble yourselves. They 
 are not the Government, and never will be. 
 
13 
 
 As to Northern traitors, I advise you not to be deceived by their treache- 
 ry, or frightened by their bhister. Some of them are bankrupt politicians ; 
 and some of them never knew what the word honesty means. Some of them 
 shout Hberty when they mean slavery. All of them are the enemies of their 
 country. Their creed consists in opposing every thing done by the Govern- 
 ment to conquer the rebellion. Do yourselves the justice to understand 
 them, and them the justice to despise them, and then have the candor to 
 tell them so. " Such persons," says Dr. Hodge, of Princeton, " should at 
 least be marked and avoided. All political support or encouragement should 
 be withheld from them." I think they will be marked. In the public 
 esteem they will at last go to their own place, and then they will stay there. 
 True men, honest men, i-eal patriots, men that have not played into the 
 hands of the rebels, men who have devoted themselves to the salvation of 
 their country, are the men whom the people will delight to honor. They 
 will have a place in history, while the traitors will either be forgotten or re- 
 membered only to be detested. 
 
 I ASK YOU, IJt THE LAST PLACE, TO SUSTAIN THE GOVERNMENT IN THE PROSE- 
 CUTION OF TniS WAR, AS A DUTY WHICH YOU OWE TO THE LOYAL PEOPLE OF THE 
 
 Southern States. There are some loyal people in these States ; and they 
 have suffered, and ai-e sufiering, at the hands of the rebel authorities at 
 Richmond, to an extent that is perfectly appalling. They have been driven 
 from their homes. They have been persecuted. They have been impris- 
 oned. They have been murdered by hundreds. They have been forced 
 by thousands into the rebel army. They have been hunted in the moun- 
 tains, and dragged from their hiding-places, and compelled to fight against 
 the flag of their country. A more atrocious despotism than that which 
 Jefferson Davis now wields against Union men in the South, never disgraced 
 any age. It is unpitying and remorseless. It is no injustice to say that it 
 is set on fire of hell. We had supposed, that, at least in this country, the 
 age of martyrdom was passed ; but it seems that we were mistaken. There 
 have been martyrs at the South — men who by ruthless and wicked hands 
 have gone up to glory and to God, guilty of no other crime than allegiance 
 to the supreme Government of this land. When the inside history of this 
 rebellion shall be fully written, as in due time it will be, the civilized world 
 will see what slavery is, and how it is fatal alike to the liberties of the white 
 man and the black. Read the recently published volume of the Rev. Mr. 
 Aughey, a Southern minister, entitled The Iron Furnace, giving an ac- 
 count of the sufferings and outrages inflicted upon Union men in Northern 
 Mississippi ; and your spirits will burn with unwonted fires. Other equally 
 credible witnesses have testified to similar facts in other parts of the South. 
 In one of the prisons of North-Carolina, according to a statement recently 
 made, there are between three and four hundred Southern men shut up, 
 simply because they believe in the old flag. This is their only crime. East- 
 Tennessee has been ravaged, and her faithful sons persecuted to death. She 
 has implored the Federal troops to come to her help. A gentleman last 
 week returned to this city from one of the prisons in Richmond, about one 
 hundred feet in length and thirt3'-five feet in width, and containing in a 
 single room some two hundred and thirty men, some of them Federal pri- 
 
14 
 
 soners, and some of them Union Southern men. The prisoners are furnished 
 with no beds or blankets, and live on a pint of soup salted with saltpetre 
 and a small piece of bread, supplied twice a day. The prison is literally 
 alive M'ith vermin. Every man has to lie down among them, and to be al- 
 most eaten up by them. This gentleman upon whose authority I make 
 these statements, narrates the case of a Baptist minister from East-Tennes- 
 see, sixty years of age, who has been in this prison for more than a year. 
 He was suspected of not being in sympathy with the rebellion ; and to test 
 him he was required to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederate Gov" 
 ernment ; and this he would not do, and because he would not, ho was in- 
 stantly arrested, and has ever since been incarcerated in Richmond. He 
 states many other cases of a like nature. One man was dragged from his 
 home in Virginia, without his coat on, without his boots on, without the 
 permission to go into his own house and bid farewell to his family. Another, 
 a comparatively young man, has been repeatedly visited by his brother, and 
 urged to take the oath of allegiance. But he will not. He is determined 
 to rot there rather than violate his conscience. 
 
 Such facts stir my blood. They arouse my indignation against this wicked 
 rebellion, and against the men who are its leaders. I have no rose-water 
 diction for such things. I pity these martyrs. I honor them. History 
 will honor them. They are among the very truest men in this land. They 
 know what the rebellion is ; and this is the reason why the}^ speak of it so 
 strongly. Thinking of them and feeling for them, I see one reason why I , 
 should earnestly support the Government of the United States. I want to 
 see that great Moloch of death crushed, which crushes them ; and this, I 
 know, can only be done by successful war conducted by the national authori- 
 ties. 
 
 What say you, my friends, in regard to this point? Are we at the 
 North, who have had no such bitter experience, the men to look on with 
 indifi'erence ? Are we going to divide our strength in useless debate, when 
 our friends and brethren bleeding at the South are beseeching heaven and 
 earth that we should be united ? Have we lost our souls, our reason, our 
 moral natures, our patriotism, in one general wreck of all that makes a 
 man, pitching and diving upon the angry seas of party politics, the sport of 
 our own selfish passions, and that, too, when the groans and shrieks of 
 suffering patriots are calling us to the rescue ? Shame on the man ! Eter- 
 nal shame upon the man who in such a crisis is unfoithful to his country 
 and to the Government which is its only protection ! Who seeks not to 
 strengthen, but to weaken the national arm! Whose policy, plans, and 
 words palpably betray his sympathies with the rebellion ! AVho has no 
 earnest words of cheer for the soldier ! Who would demoralize the army, 
 if he could ! Who would destroy its confidence in the Government ! Who 
 riots in the divisions of public sentiment ! Who makes it his business to 
 sow discord ! Who under the deceptive cry of feace^ is ready to welcome 
 the dishonor and even the death of the nation ! That man is my enemy, 
 and 3'our enemy — the enemy of the country as truly as was Benedict 
 Arnold. He is no patriot ; and to denounce him as a traitor is simply to 
 speak justly of him. It is a virtue to abhor him. 
 
15 
 
 I am done, my brethren, with this subject for the present. I have 
 spoken plainly, I trust not oifensively to your ears. I bring no railing 
 accusation against this congregation, or against any member of it. I am 
 conscious of no unhallowed bitterness of spirit ; yet I am entirely in earnest. 
 It is no time for men or ministers to avoid responsibilities. I will not. I 
 shall not ask the newspapers or the politicians what I may say in this 
 place. The newspapers and the politicians, yea, this church that has so 
 long honored me with its confidence, and every man in it, and myself into 
 the bargain, are to me lighter than a feather, in comparison with the 
 interests of this nation at the present moment. I would disown my father 
 and my mother, yea, I would disown every being in this world, sooner than 
 be untrue to the flag of my country in this hour of peril. I care not tcho 
 administers the Government. I care not whether the Administration be 
 Democratic or Republican. When the proper time comes for me to vote, I 
 shall vote according to my best judgment, and you will do the same ; but 
 until that time I shall in this death-struggle support the present Govern- 
 ment, and that, too, whether all its measures exactly suit my notions or 
 not. I shall do so because it is the Government, the 07ily Government 
 through which this nation can now be saved. I do not find fault with 
 friendly criticism of its, measures for the purpose of making them bettor ; I 
 do not complain of the newspaper press for seeking to guide as well as 
 reflect public sentiment ; this is all right and proper, especially in a land 
 like ours ; but a malignant and concerted attack, with the plain intention of 
 breaking down the Government, and undermining it in the confidence of the 
 people,— misrepresenting its policy,— seizing upon every possible occasion 
 to damage it,— loading it with opprobrious epithets,— speaking disrespect- 
 fully of our national rulers,— styling it " the Government, as it is called" 
 —all this, let me tell you, is a very different thing, and springs from a very 
 different motive. It is not according to the laws of human decency, or 
 those of God at any time; and at such "a time as this," when our rulers 
 need the utmost sympathy and support on the part of the people, when 
 they are bearing as heavy burdens as ever rested on the shoulders of 
 mortal men, when according to their best wisdom they are doing all that 
 they can to conquer the rebellion and save the nation, at such a time it is 
 positively wicked. This thing I mean to rebuke. It deserves rebuke. 
 The country is agitated with it to its very serious danger.. Its tendency is 
 evil, and only evil, and that continually. Such agitators, if they do not 
 actually mean treason, are nevertheless serving the cause of treason as 
 effectually as if they meant it. Their course is positively infamous. 
 
 Before pausing I want to say a word in respect to those unprincipbd 
 factionists, who are seeking to create the impression that New-England is 
 the responsible source of all our difficulties, and that if the Yankees of New- 
 England— in the elegant diction of these genilemen— were " left out in tho 
 cold," then the Middle and Western States might very easily patch up a 
 compromise with their Southern brethren. I am glad they say it, since it 
 is in their hearts to say it. Saying it shows the men, and equally what 
 they mean. New-England, however, need not, I presume will not, trouble 
 herself with their sneers. She needs not my defense. There she is on the 
 
||||{||llllllllllllliiiiiniiii>iini»i..» ' A 13 
 
 012 027 000 fl 9 
 
 page of history. You can read her. New-England is the land of the Puri 
 tans, of the men who brought the principles of civil liberty to this country. 
 The movement which made us a free and independent people was born in 
 New-England. The war of the Revolution received its largest support from 
 New-England. Massachusetts contributed eighty-three thousand and nine- 
 ty-two soldiers to the Revolutionary army, and the States of Delaware, 
 Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina, and Georgia, all put 
 together, contributed only seventy-one thousand one hundred and thirty, 
 or eleven thousand nine hundred and sixty-two soldiers less than the 
 single State of Massachusetts. Bunker Hill is in New-England. Concord 
 and Lexington are there, and some other places known to fame. They 
 have school-houses there and churches, and no slavery. In New-England 
 they recognize the dignity of labor. They have free speech there. They 
 keep the Sabbath there. I believe there are some colleges in New-England. 
 If I mistake not, Daniel Webster hailed from New-England. In New- 
 England the people read, and write, and think. They have, to a good 
 degree, " sound political information," quite as good as that of those who 
 never heard of Webster's Dictionary, and were never guilty of looking into 
 a spelling-book. New-England repudiates secession, and means to fight 
 treason to the death. New-England believes in the doctrine of Govern- 
 ment. She believes that this nation is a nation, and not a rope of sand. 
 A few of her sons and daughters are in the West, indeed quite a number of t 
 
 them ; some of them have gone as for as Kansas, and others even to Cali- 
 fornia. New-England ideas, like New-England shoes and New-England ^ 
 plows, are quite a common article in this country. I think they will 
 remain so. Somehow ideas after all rule the world, and New-England is 
 the land of ideas. " Leave New-England out in the cold ! " I think you 
 will be mistaken. Let me tell you that New-England means to stay in the 
 Union ; she belongs to it and it belongs to her ; she means, too, that the 
 Union shall be preserved ; and when you attempt to put her out, you will 
 hear the crack of her Springfield rifles and the thunder of her cannon in 
 a way well calculated to instruct traitors and cowards. I am amazed and 
 indignant at this graceless and wicked slang upon New-England. If there 
 is any lower deep this side of the bottomless pit, to which mortal man can 
 descend, then I frankly confess that I do not know what or where it is. 
 No, my hearers, New-England will stand by the country, and the country 
 will stand by New-England ; in this struggle the East and the West will be 
 a unit ; and with the blessing of God the nation will be saved and traitors 
 will be disappointed. 
 
HoUinger 
 
 pH8.5 
 
 Mill Run F3.1955 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 Hollinger 
 
 pH8.5 
 
 Mill Run F3-1955