E 458 .1 .D37 Copy 1 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 012 026 260 9 HolUnger Corp. pH8.5 ^B^>^ rZS A SEIUION n PREACHED I\ TliK SF.rONn REFOliMEI) niTTCH CHITROH HACKENSACK, N. J,, ^iT\ ^. C ON THANKSGIVING MORNING, NOV. 28. 1861. REV. JAMES DEMAREftT, JR., PASTOR. l'u1>li.--.lnHl l>y Recjiiest. I HACKENSACK : nUNTEl) AT TIT!: OFFICK, 01'' THE BKRGEX COUNTV PATRIOT. 1 8 (> 1 * ^fK2^,- 'y o' ■^=^^e^ iiuiJi| J^efiB0« A SERMON PREACHED IN TtlK SECOND REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH HACKENSACK, N. J., ON THANKSGIVING MORNING, NOV. 28, 1861. REV. JAMES DEMAREST, JR., PASTOR. Pablislied Yty Request. HACKENSACK: PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE BERGEN COUNTY PATRIOT. 1861 S E KM ON " Tn everything give thanks." 1 Thes. v. 18. The annual Thanksgiving has again come round, and wc are gathered here, as is our wont, to recount the mercies of the year. On the threshold of this exercise, as we commission memory to do its work, an unusual feeling surprises us — so strange, so un- like that of formel' years when engaging in this pleasant duty, tliat we are for the moment bewildered. Like one just waking from some strange, exciting dream, and in the confusion of the moment scarcely knowing whether fanc}' or reality has conjured up the images of which his mind is full, conscious only of a strange and startling impression, which is yet all a mystery ; so we are to-day confused and bewildered as the events of the year rush in upon our minds in all their chaotic mystery, startling us with their strangeness, and their swift and varied movements, and confounding us with their improbability even while existing .before our eyes. Especially as the events of the year are contemplated witli reference to tliankfulness, are we bewildered by them. What is their meaning in this view ? Shall we be thankful, or refrain from gratitude ? Are tlie defection of States from their politi- cal allegiance, the stagnation of trade, the suspension of industry in many of its forms, the devastation and blood of civil war — are these fit subjects of gratitude ? Is their harsii touch to call forth praise ? I liope to make it appear, in tlio progress of my discourse, that the apostle's exhortation requires no limitation by reason of present circumstances ; that even the adversities of this present time, both in themselves and in man}' of their accompanying- circumstances, are fitted to make us thankful. But first let me ask you to reflect on your immediate sur- roundings. Take note of the many providential blessings which the season just closing lias witnessed, and the fruits of which you are now enjoying. God has given the former and the lat- ter rain, the sunshine and the dew, and to-day our garners are full, affording all manner of store. No pestilence has walked among us in darkness, but through our frames the rosy current of health has tingled, as we have gone out and in in pursuit of our usual avocations. The alarms of war have indeed reached our ears, and thrilled through our souls, coming nearer home than ever before to this generation ; but the devastations of war, while they have been rioting over other parts of the land, have left us unscathed. Our houses have not been plundered, nor our fields pillaged, nor our towns burnt, nor have we been com- pelled to flee before hostile forces. As citizens of New Jersey we have been at peace, enjoying the comforts and cultivating the arts of peace. We have still been permitted, a? in former years, to breathe the atmosphere of a Christian sentiment, produced by the influence of gospel truth pervading and leavening society in this land of bibles and Sabbaths. The sublime consolations of our holy religion have still been extended to us, to soothe our personal troubles and strengthen us for the future of life's ex- periences. All this is, without question, matter for devout gratitude ; while many other reasons of thankfulness will read- ily occur to the mind as memory runs over the past and gathers them up, or as reflection dwells on the present, and attempts to count the separate drops that fill up the cup of blessing which to-day is pressed to our lips. It would be a pleasant employ- ment for me to assist this exercise by suggesting more in detail the many considerations which, as individuals, and as a com- munity, impel us to gratitude. But the occasion demands a more enlarged view. We have interests extending far beyond the bounds of our little State— we are, indeed, citizens of the great American nation more than of New Jersey ; and the vast and wide-spreading interests and influences of this noble citizen- ship touch our personality more nearly, and penetrate it more keenly and deeply, than the interests and influences pertaining to any other political relationship. Extending our view thus involuntarily and instinctively over our wide-spread country, we are saddened and sickened by the spectacle presented. How changed in one short year ! as if the wand of some evil magician had waved over the land, and sud- denly conjured up a host of woes. A year ago there were symp- toms of disease in the body politic, signs of a coming storm in our political firmament ; but who of us suspected the extent or malignity of the disease, as revealed by after developments ? Who of us Avas not filled with amazement at seeing the rapidly gathering storm presently burst in fury over the land? I freely confess that I for one was taken by surprise. The course of events was not as I expected. I was startled at the secession rage, sweeping State after State, as fire sweeps the great prai- ries of the West. I was unprepared for the disclosure of trai- torous schemes adroitly executed in the Cabinet at Washington. And even after the defection of seven States was complete, and had taken on the form of organized rebellion, although the gloomiest forebodings would sometimes claim attention, I still hoped for a peaceful settlement, and never ceased hoping until the guns of Charleston harbor shot away the flag of Sumter. This, I suppose, was the experience of the great mass of the people of the loyal States. The successive phases of the great rebellion, marked by perpetrations of baseness, utterly con- founded the loyal mind of the country. The forcible seizure and appropriation of arsenals, fortifications, stores and money be- longing to the national Government, the ousting of patients from a Government hospital for the purpose of securing the property, the repudiation of debts owed to Northern creditors, contracted in good faith in the ordinary course of commercial dealing— the wholesale robbery, in short, both of public and private property, by which the rebellious confederation secured its stock in trade, and set itself up in business, shocked the moral sense of the nation at every repetition in its diversified forms. But even then conciliation was attempted. It Avas felt that some allowance might be made for a feeling, nci matter Avhethcr true or false, of having been Avrongcd, wrought up by the excitement G of" the Lour to a- pitclj of uiireayoniDg' I'liry. But wheu all these attempts, in wliatever way devised, resulted in failure, then the whole irravity of the case became but too plainly apparent. The gigantic treason was the fruit of thirty years' growth, not the sudden mushroom of a single presidential election ; the dissolu- tion of the Union, and the consequent destruction of the national Government, was the sober and unalterable determination ; and the several acts of violence and fraud were but the execution of the long-devised plot by appropriate means. When at last there was no longer a motive for any disguise, the mask was per- mitted to full entirely off, and the insolent and defiant front of rebellion was disclosed in all its hideous ugliness. The emblem of our nationality, quietly floating over a national fortress, had long been a stench in the nostrils of secession, and could no longer be endured. The calm courage and patriotic constancy of Anderson and his little garrison, administering from day to day a galling though silent rebuke, were no longer tolerable. The stars and stripes must come down, the fortress must be yielded up and evacuated by those v/ho alone liad the right to hold it. Arguments of iron, thundered out from rifled cannon, enforced this unrighteous conclusion ; and thus was lit the now wide-spread conflagration of civil war. Up to this point the forbearance of the loyal North was ex- treme — it Avas more than just, it was grandly charitable — suffering long, unwilling to think evil, hoping all things, bear- ing all things ; but beyond this point forbearance ceased to be a virtue. Insult and outrage toward the common foster-motlier might be forgiven, in case of after amendment ; but when trea- son raised its arm to strike the death-blow at that mother's heart, it only 3'emained to rush to lier rescue from the violence of unnatural clilldren — to seize the arm raised with nnn-derous intent, and disable it for the meditated wickedness. And nobly was this duty performed. In obedience to the call of a patriotic President, issued in pursuance of his oalh to maintain the Con- stitution, and enforce the laws, multitudes rushed to arms. The lion of loyalty, suddenly wakened by the noise of the bombard- ment of Sumter, started np from his too lengthy lethargy, shook from his mane the dew of tiie night, and with a roar of soverignty that startled the continent, rushed to the defense of his domain. You all remember that mighty, spontaneous uprising of the people in behalf of the Union of these States, and the preserva- tion of our free Government— that sudden welling up of a patriotic tide from the fountains of national feeling, which, with irresistible force, swept everything before it, and swiftly bore the legions of hardy freemen to the defense of their capital. This sudden and mighty uprising of a great nation is one of the grandest events that ever fell to the lot of history to record. Tt is full of sublimity. To see a free people, the moment the intent of a foul treason is understood, lifting itself up in its mightiness, with the noble indignation of outraged patriotism, to deal tlie death-blow to that treason, shaking itself loose from the shackles of party prejudice, and old party association, intent only on one high purpose, and moved by one controlling in- spiration, — this is a spectacle worthy of freedom, worthy of patriotism, a spectacle on which the future histoiian will dwell with admiration, and from which future ages will learn the lesson of heroic devotion to a great principle. And is there nothing to be thankful for in this? Regarding the great uprising simply as a splendid evidence of vital energy in the nation, it is matter for gratitude. "The God of our fathers has watched "over the national life, guarding its flame from extinction amid the unwholesome damps of luxury and avarice by which it has been surrounded, and maintaining its spirit in so much strength beneath the strifes of partisans lip, and the mercenary motives of private interests, that when the severe test was applied of a rebellion made formidable by enlisting on its side the strength of party prejudice, and selfish interests, it was yet not overpowered, but burned with an un- wonted glow by reason of the very blast tliat was directed against it. There is a national life, as well as an individual life. There was reason, perhaps, to fear that, as excesses in youth drain the sources of vitality in the individual, so our na- tional vitality might have become prematurely exhausted by living too fast. We liavc grown rapidly in weo,lth and position among the nations, and liave been engaged for some years past in sowing wild oats on a large scale. Finding ourselves sud- denly rich, we have— so perverse is human nature, whether singly or in the aggregate — abused our prosperity to our own detriment. We have plunged into excesses. We liave allowed bribery and peculation, and corruption of all sorts to enter into our politics, and thoroughly pervade them. Worse than this, the idea and purpose of money-mcaking have become so thoroughly imbedded in the mind and character of the na- tion, tliat the whole community has looked on with the approba- tion at least of silence, virtually confessing thereby that the chief end of existence was being attained, and so never mind the means — we will wait to question them until something can be made out of it. Now the tendency of all this, not to speak here of its being a sin against God, has been to demoralize the national conscience, to vitiate the national character, to emas- culate the national spirit. It was not without reason, therefore, that during the dark days between November and April, good men feared for the Republic. Self-interest had often in smaller matters thrown the public good overboard- -how would it be now ? Thank God, Ave are vigorous as well as young. Yes, my friends, thank God that througli the gigantic energy of the old national spirit, political complications, inwoven Avith ambi- tion and avarice, making a cord trebly strong, were broken like a thread. The bewitcliing Delilah of material prosperity has not yet shorn us of our strength. At the cry, " The Philis- tines be upontliee!" the national spirit sprang, like another Samson, from luxurious unconsciousness upon her lap, and astonished with its might alike the patriot and the traitor. But if deep gratitude is elicited by the discovery of the strength of the national spirit — the vigor of the national life — for its own sake, a still deeper gratitude is fitting when we reflect on the mo- mentous consequences involved in the manifestation of this spirit, at this particular time. I shudder to think of the consequences of the failure of such a manifestation in this great emergency. One of two things Avould have been the result : cither, war would by tliis time have been raging in all parts of our broad land, in its most cruel and revolting aspect, — neighbor becoming tlie assassin of neighbor, and friend of friend, midnight conflagrations start- ling sleeping villages and towns with sudden and Avide-spread destruction, armed bands >harrassing each other, and roving hither and thither to Ppillage and rob ; or, the constitution which our fathers laid as the foundation of our nationality, Avith tempered mortar, uiid of stoncf^ quarried out of the mines oi' freedom, would have been violently wrenched asunder, and the whole fabric of our nationality would have tumbled into ruins — to be reared again on a constitution embodying principles which our fathers never knew. How deeply grateful the;: should wo be to-day for that wonderful imanimity which made the loyal North as one in the determination to maintain the constitution of our fathers, and to crush the treason that would supplnnt it — which in a moment obliterated party distinctions, and rallied millions of freemen to one high endeavor. For do you not dis- cover here the finger of God ? To me it seems like a new crea- tion, or a national resurrection, recpiiring a Divine power. I cannot but reii'ard it as the result of tiic movement of the Spirit of God on the popular mass, as in creation He moved on the face of the waters and caused a world to appear. For, be it remembered, this was a great i)opular uprising. It was not the work of political leaders. Rather it was in spite of political leaders. Left to them, the country would have been ruined. Many of them, in the midst of the crisis, knew nothing but partisanship. But the great popular swell soon overtook and submerged them in its current, so that they were lost to view, or catching them u}), bore them, however uuAvillingly, to the goal of the popular purpose. Yes, it was the people who, moved by an inspiration from on high, rose up to defend their ancient liberties, their free government, as the fathers gave it to them : " Tliroiighout the land there goes a cry, A siiddeu splendor fills the sky : From every hill the banners hurst, Like buds by April breezes nurst : In every hamlet, home, and mart, The fire-beat of a single heart Keeps time to strains whose pulses mix Our blood with that of Seventy six !" Nor was this outburst of national enthusiasm the display of a mei-e evanescent emotion, to be consumed presently by the heat of its own energy. Witness the steadfastness of this patriotic loyal- ty, through long and weary months of preparation, and through periods of disaster to the national cause. It is stronger to-day than 10 ever, notwithstanding Bull Kun, and Lexington, and Leesburg ; notwithstanding the mourning that has filled the land for Ells- worth, and Lyon, and Baker. It has made treason, in the few places and spheres where it still retains a footing, assume a dis- guise, which it wears most ungraciously. and awkwardly, but which it yet feels constrained to wear. It has marshaled an army of half a million men, without conscription — a splendid proof of its depth and heartiness. And, to crown all, perhaps I should say, it has supplied the government with all the money that is needed for the enormous expenditure necessary in carrying on the war. And here the patriotism of the banR managers of New York deserves special mention. The great city and money cen- tre of the continent, whose co-operation cither actively or pas- sively the rebellion reckoned on, has unlocked its money vaults and poured their contents into the treasury of the nation. Perhaps it is not too much to say that adverse action on the ])art of tho New- York banks would have been fatal to the national cause. Here then do we again witness the good hand of our God upon us ; first, in wonderfully increasing our silver and our gold by the marvelous prosperity of the past, and then in moving the minds of our capitalists to place the wealth of the land at the disposal of the government. And so to day we occupy the proud position of independence of other nations in the means of sustaining our vastly increased expenditure. A kind, fore- seeing Providence has taxed the resources of the world to en- rich us, by means of a commerce that has penetrated every clime under the whole heaven ; and now that we need money, thanks to this watchful Providence, we've got it, and it's available too. English toricsnced not be uneasv. Washinu:ton will not trouble London, with New York so near at hand. And here I am reminded of the attitude of the great powers of Europe towards us in this struggle. We shall I think find cause for gratitude even on this head. \Vc were quite chagrined at the course of the English government, last Spring, followed by the Continental powers, in according belligerent rights to those who had taken up arms against the government of this Union. We felt almost inclined to resent, as an outrage, tliis being placed on the same footing with rebels. We thought we had de- served better of Eiifjland. We remembered our sympathy with 11 her when in similar straits, on more than one occasion, and our abundant and cordial hospitality to licr prince royal less than a year before ; and wo felt hurt and aggrieved. But, leaving the equity of the thing undecided one way or tlie other, it has event uated in good. We!-e it not for the belligerent status of tlio rebellious confederacy in the eyes of European powers, there would be no obligation on their part to respect the blockade of our Southern coast ; and self-interest tempting them to raise it, forcibly, we might by this time have become involved in a foreign war. Their own action, in the issuing of their procla- mations of neutrality as between belligerents, and that alone, binds them to respect the blockade, and thus they have volun- tarily raised around us p, barrier for our defense. In the mat" ter, too, of the recent arrest of the rebel envoys on board a British ship, the belligerent status given to our government puts it out of the power of England to complain. Our justification of this act depends on our recognized belligerent status. Aside from this it cannot be justified ; it becomes a grievous trespass, for which ample reparation is due. So I read public law. As it is, however. Fort Warren can hold its inmates, and Great Britain has made herself impotent to demand their release. Here then do we again see the good hand of our God upon us. in causing that which we at first resented as disconrtcous and unjust, to redound to our signal advantage. But it has been thought that notwithstanding neutrality pro- clamations, there is great danger of a foreign war. As cotton is a prime necessity for England, may she not compel a supply from Southern store houses, calculating that with so much work on our hands at home, we should be able to do but little against a foreign armament. The tone of a large portion of the Eng- lish press has given color to such surmises, and rendered them not improbable of realization. But here again Providence has singularly guarded our cause. The crops in Europe, the past season, have been a failure, almost universally ; while here, in addition to this year's plentiful harvest, a vast surplus of the produce of former plentiful yeai'S is stored in the great granary of our land, the West. England and France, therefore, having short crops at home, and being cut off from European supplies. 12 are, iu the arrangement of Providence, dependent upon us for bread. If England needs Southern cotton, she needs Northern grain more. If the French monarch has ambitious designs on this country, the pressing necessity of securing his imperial seat at home from being swept away by the toruadct of an uprising of the masses demanding '' bread ! " " bread ! ■' requires his first and most serious attention. His throne, strong as-it is, could hard- ly withstand the onset of a Parisian mob made desperate by hunger. He is at least too Avise to run the risk. The question of a foreign war therefore seems to be settled for at least a good many months to come. Neither England nor France will cut herself off from the prime necessity of states, no less than of individuals. Thus He who controls the processes of nature, who, in the language of the prophet Amos, causes it to rain up- on one city, and not to rain upon another city, by giving here, and by withholding there, has hedged-about our cause from foreign interference, leaving our full strength available for the single purpose of maintaining our nationality. Thus it seems we have many and weighty reasons for thank- fulness in the course of events attending our great struggle. It may be asked, however, is there anything to be thankful for in war? Is not war unmixed evil? To this general question, I unhesitatingly answer No : war is not necessarily umitigated evil. Sometimes it is, when waged in the interest of ambition, or resentment, or conquest ; but Avhen waged as this war is on the part of the loyal States in the interest of freedom, and a noble God-given nationality, the recognized bulwark of free- dom, it is not unmixed evil. 1 grant you that terrible evils do attach to every war, however just. War is to-day the scourge of our land. Heaven's instrument of deserved chastisement ; and as such, it becomes us to be humble while we are thankful — to lift our faces to Heaven with gratitude chastened and subdued by a vail of penitential tears. But look at the spirit in which this struggle was undertaken, a id which has marked the whole con- duct of the war, and decided its character. It was not a spirit of vindictiveness, but of reluctant yielding to a dire necessity. And severe self-denial was involved in this. Acquiescence in the foul schemes and violent dcaliuQ-s of the rebellion would 13 have been ignominious, but it would have secured peace. It would have saved tlio l)usiness interests of the country the great shock which they received at the beginning of tlie war. It would have kept open the ordinary channels of trade, and obviated bankruptcies. But these perfectly understood conse- quences of war were not allowed to weigh down the scale against the justice of waging it. The righteousness of the great cause was of far weightier moment than the sordid considera- tions of private gain. Self-interest was thrown overboard, and self-denial taken up in its stead. And this is the influence which to-day is moulding the national character anew. The mind of the nation is impressed with the conviction that a re- sponsibility is devolved on this generation only less grave than that which was rested on the founders of the Republic ; and to meet this responsibility it is gathering up all its moral ener- gies, which in turn become strengthened by means of the weight which they are summoned to sustain. Thus through the just- ness of our cause the moral sentiment of the nation is becoming ennobled and strengthened, while through the wholesome dis- cipline of self-denial, exercised in behalf of a just cause, a na- tional character is being developed, which shall by-and-by fit us for the noblest achievements of peace. Nations need adver- sities no less than individuals. Our great prosperity was bidding fair to be our ruin, before it was checked and counterbalanced by this great national trial. If through the plow and the harrow of adversity, our public vices become uprooted, and the soil of pub- lic morality becomes cultured for the growth of virtue ; if the weeds of corruption are destroyed, and all that is noble and enduring in national character is strengthened and developed, the price paid in blood and treasure will yield its full equiva- lent. It seems, then, that in the peculiar character and influence of this war, there is matter for gratitude. If it serves the pur- pose of a much-needed discipline, it will turn out to be a positive blessing. Shall we then modify the apostolic exhortation, so as to except war ? Shall we be thankful for every thing except the war ? No ! my friends. With a faith in God that shall recog- nize Him as chastening whom He lovetli. let us be thankful 14 that he has been mindful of us, in our forge tfulness of Him — in our absorbing worldliness, and idolatory of mammon, — and is now by disaster calling us back to the forgotten source of our past prosperity and greatness, and to that righteousness which alone can exalt a nation. And when we reflect on the great ci'isis that is upon us, and feel overwhelmed at the thought of its magnitude, yet let us not lose heart and despair. " Faint not when thou art rebuked of Him." Adversity brings with it special duties : and ours is, most unmistakably, to gird our loins for the race with trea- son in its unholy career, that we be not distanced by it ; to buckle on our armor for the foe within our borders. Let the plowshare be beaten into a sword, and the pruning hook into a spear. "Wake up the mighty men ; let all the men of war draw near ; let them come up ! " Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision : for the day of the Lord is near in tlie val- ley of decision." Yes, out of the sky I hear God's clarion mustering to the battle. The armed hosts are meeting for the great decision, and God will give it ! By the result of this war He will push forward His most high and holy purposes. They are ripening fast, " unfolding every hour," and it only requires the shock of battle to shake them down on the nation and the world. Oh how grand are the possibilities of the future ! Shall we not find, in the end, that God has solved for us the great problems that for years liave baffled our statesmanship ? that through the throes of a new birth He has given us deliverance from the old evils of whicli the national system could not otherwise bo purged, but wliich in the system would be the canker-worm to eat out finally the nation's heart of liberty ? If, in addition to the benefits already indicated, God will, by means of this war, developc for us a plan by which to secure the emancipation of the long-enslaved African, He will renew for us our youth, and open for us a grander career than even in our own grand past. The current of the national life will then flow in unobstructed channels ; the perpetually disturbing force of an influence foreign to its nature will no longer draw it aside from its normal path. One thing seems pretty certain : that our free government will 15 never again be made to belie its nature, by being administered in the interest of slavery. As for emancipation, it seems has- tening on ; but by what processes it will be accomplished, God only knows. Perhaps the way to it may be strewn with woes. Perhaps the noise that fills the land is the sound of God's foot- steps coming near to judgment — to save the meek of the earth, and to cast down the haughty. Perhaps the torch and axe of servile insurrection are to cleave the way back to freedom, through desolated homes and murdered households. But God, in His mercy, forbid this ! and lift gently up the heavy incubus of this black iniquity ! Let us hope, and let us pray that He will. He is wonderful in counsel, He is excellent in working. Let us, then, penitently leave to Him the full solution of our gravest problem. Meanwhile let us look hopefully at the future. But lately the continent has been spanned from west to east. The nerves of the nation thrill in one uninterrupted course from the Atlan- tic to the Pacific. And shall the great artery that flows with ever-increasing volume down the great central valley of the continent, gathering its tributaries on cither hand in its course from north to south, be cut in twain by suicidal hands ? Shall the mountains that stretch in the same direction over our fair heritage break asunder like old bones ? Shall this Union be dissolved ? Shall we be rent in twain ? Forbid it, shades of our fathers ! Forbid it, memories of the past ! Forbid it, hopes of the future ! Forbid it, longings of the oppressed in all lands ! Forbid it, patriotism ! Forbid it, liberty ! Forbid it, God I I have seen the sun rise in beauty, and climb the heavens in constantly increasing splendor, until, by and by, the dark shadow of an eclipse crept slowly over its disc, blotting out in part its brightness. And as I watched the struggle between light and darkness, the darkness gained for awhile. But pre- sently the tide was turned from flood to ebb — it began to roll back into the realm of blackness, and the 'beautiful light, in the gladness of its triumph, shone forth with a clearer radiance than before the conflict. So our country's sun rose in beauty, and climbing higher and higher in the firmament, gladdened the world with the promise of a bright day of freedom. But by 16 and by an eclipse crept over it — the heavens gathered black- ness, and the earth became dark with fearful forebodings. You can divine the rest ; — tlie shadow shall roll back into the dark- ness out of which it came, the light shall shine forth again in superior splendor, and through the heaven of its destiny this sun shall ride on, amid the shouts of glad humanity, to the zenith of a perfect day ! LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 012 026 260 9 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 012 026 260 9