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DISCOURSE 
 
 ON OCCASION OF 
 
 THE ANNUAL THANKSGIVING, 
 
 MDCCCLXI. 
 

dllorifjjiug 601) ill tijc ^fkfs. 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 DKLIVERED IN THE 
 
 SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ALBANY, 
 
 NOVEMBER 28, 1861, THE DAY OF 
 
 THE ANNUAL THANKSGIVING, 
 
 IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 
 
 BY WILLIAM B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE YOUNG MEN OF THE CONGREGATION. 
 
 ALBANY: 
 
 PRINTED BY C. VAN BENTHUYSEN. 
 1861. 
 

 A few sentences have been added since the delivery. 
 
MAJOR GENERAL M^CLELLAN, 
 
 COMMANDER IN CHIEF 
 OF THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 THIS DISCOURSE 
 
 IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 
 
 WITH PROFOUND ADMIRATION 
 
 FOR THE UNSURPASSED ABILITY 
 
 AND HEROIC DEVOTION TO 
 
 THE INTERESTS OF HIS COUNTRY, 
 
 WITH WHICH HE IS CONDUCTING 
 
 THE GRANDEST MILITARY ENTERPRISE 
 
 OF THE AGE. 
 
DISCOURSE. 
 
 ISAIAH XXiy, 15 — Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in 
 
 THE FIRES. 
 
 The character we bear and the position we 
 occupy, form, jointly, an unmistakable index 
 to our duty. We are offenders against God, 
 and we belong to a race of offenders; and 
 hence we are bound to humble ourselves, and 
 to endeavour to reclaim others. We are always 
 liable to suffer, and the world in which we live 
 is full of suffering; and hence a reason why 
 we should cultivate a spirit of patience and 
 trust, of sympathy and benevolence. We live 
 under the government of an infinitely good and 
 gracious God, and there is not an hour, even 
 in the darkest night of adversity, when we 
 are not sharing the tokens of his bounty ; and 
 this feature of our condition surely demands our 
 unceasing gratitude and praise. These several 
 dispositions, forming the leading elements of 
 Christian character, are not to be cultivated 
 as if each was an insulated quality, independent 
 
6 
 
 of the rest, — but in harmonious combination ; 
 while yet the circumstances in which we are 
 placed, must determine which of them, at any 
 given time, is to be brought more immediately 
 into exercise. 
 
 The general truth which I have here stated, 
 has, if I mistake not, a striking illustration in 
 the present condition of our country ; and I 
 might, Avith equal ease, and equal propriety, 
 derive from it an argument for the cultivation 
 of any of those inward feelings, or the perform- 
 ance of any of those outward acts, to which 
 I have referred. I might ver}^ reasonably call 
 upon you, as a part of this great nation, to 
 humble yourselves before God for that crimson 
 guilt which has so long been challenging the 
 Divine justice, and has now brought us into 
 circumstances of such fearful jeopardy. Or I 
 might address myself more immediately to 
 your benevolent feelings — I might invoke your 
 sympathy and prayers for the multitudes, 
 North and South, who are weeping bitterly 
 to-day in their desolate homes, because those 
 whom they loved most have fallen in battle ; 
 or I might invoke your charity in aid of the 
 brave soldiers who have gone to do our work. 
 
and who will soon be encountering the blasts 
 of winter, and some of whom, I may add, are 
 already suffering from diseases or wounds ; or I 
 might invoke the exercise of a considerate and 
 forgiving spirit towards our brethren with 
 whom we are in conflict, — the mass of whom 
 we believe to be acting under an honest 
 delusion. But the circumstances in which we 
 are assembled, while they do not exclude any 
 of these subjects from our contemplation, but 
 rather bring them before us, at least indirectly, 
 yet point our thoughts mainly in the direction 
 of mercies received. And this is in full 
 accordance with the Proclamation of our 
 honoured Chief Magistrate, which I have just 
 read to you. 
 
 To glorify God is to use our faculties in 
 obedience to his will, and in honour of his 
 perfections. To glorify God in the fires is to 
 cherish the right dispositions, and perform the 
 fitting actions, in the time of trouble. We 
 glorify Him when we bow quietly, patiently, 
 trustingly, before his righteous hand. We 
 glorify Him when our spirits grow familiar with 
 Heaven, as we take fresh lessons in the furnace. 
 We glorify Him by using the means, which 
 
affliction may bring with it, of doing good to 
 those around us. And, finally, we glorify Him 
 in a thankful acknowledgement of the mercies 
 which mingle with our afflictions, and qualify 
 their severity, and of the benevolent ends, in 
 respect to both ourselves and others, which 
 we can see, in the distance, as having been 
 accomplished through our suffering. Hence 
 the propriety of keeping a Day of Thanks- 
 giving now, when the political heavens are 
 giving forth nothing but storm and hail ; when 
 the whole nation is writhing and struggling 
 because the iron is piercing her heart. 
 
 The return of this anniversary, as has been 
 very properly intimated in the Proclamation, 
 finds us in quiet possession of a large part of 
 our accustomed blessings. We, especially, who 
 live at a distance from the scene of conflict, 
 are hardly sensible of any diminution of our 
 means of enjoyment, except as we necessarily 
 share the suspense and agitation incident to our 
 near relation to those events which are electri- 
 fying the whole world. If we look into our 
 dwellings, we find our tables as bounteously 
 spread, and our domestic relations fraught with 
 as manifold blessings, as ever. If we extend 
 
our views into the community to which we 
 more immediately belong, we witness the 
 general prevalence of peace, and health, and 
 industry, and mutual confidence. If we think 
 of our religious privileges, we find that they 
 are in no wise diminished ; and if we send our 
 thoughts abroad, where the missionaries were 
 doing their Lord's work on the last Thanks- 
 giving Day, we shall see them engaged still, as 
 busily, and cheerfully, and successfully, as 
 ever. These are all blessings which may now, 
 and at any time, very properly come up in 
 thankful remembrance before God ; but, in this 
 discourse, I am going to take you into the very 
 midst of the fires, to find the material for your 
 gratitude to work upon; and I shall hope to 
 show you that it is a benevolent as well as a 
 just God who is moving in all this darkness ; 
 that in the events we deplore, there is some- 
 thing besides bitterness, and terror, and death; 
 and that it becometh us to wait, in thankful 
 expectation, for that jubilee which shall crown 
 the lifting away of the cloud. Let me then 
 suggest several grounds of thanksgiving con- 
 nected with that general state of things, which 
 we so earnestly deprecated in the prospect, and 
 
10 
 
 which is so deeply fraught with present 
 calamity. 
 
 I. The conflict in which we are engaged, has 
 brought into vigorous, unquestionable exercise 
 that spirit of lofty patriotism, which had slum- 
 bered so long that its very existence had 
 begun to be doubted. It is a law of human 
 nature that we come gradually to undervalue 
 those blessings which we never see put in 
 jeopardy. These goodly institutions, under 
 whose shadow we have reposed so long, had 
 their foundation in the labours, the sacrifices, 
 the very blood, of our fathers ; and the world 
 never saw a purer, nobler patriotism than that 
 by which they were animated. These men, as 
 long as they lived, kept the fire glowing, not 
 only in their own bosoms, but in their children's 
 also ; but since nearly all of them have passed 
 away, and our memories are no longer refreshed 
 by the personal recital of their heroic sufterings 
 and exploits, there is reason to fear that our 
 appreciation of the inheritance they have 
 bequeathed to us has lost somewhat both of 
 vividness and of gratitude. And there has 
 been yet another adverse influence at work, — 
 that of political partisanship — men of dit- 
 
1] 
 
 ferent factions, in their regard for minor, 
 perhaps personal, interests, — possibly for the 
 mere indulgence of passion or the triumph of 
 self-will, have suggested, originated, or sanc- 
 tioned measures of dangerous, if not fatal, 
 bearing upon our national prosperity. The 
 result of all this has been, as might be expected, 
 that the public mind has become darkened ; 
 the public conscience defiled ; the public heart 
 hardened ; and whether or not the spirit of 
 true patriotism must not suffer from such a 
 process as this, judge ye. It has suffered, — 
 insomuch that many wise and good men have 
 believed that they were walking over its grave. 
 It was not dead after all ; and yet it required 
 an almost miraculous energy to revivify and 
 re-establish it, and put it once more to its 
 appropriate work. One year ago, when we 
 assembled on the occasion of this anniversary, 
 we felt that the general warring of the political 
 elements among ourselves cast a dark shadow 
 over us — the harsh murmurs of joarty spirit 
 grated upon our ear ; and it seemed as if the 
 altar was preparing on which our national 
 liberty was to be offered up. To-daj^, we do 
 not indeed see all the political parties merged 
 
12 ' 
 
 in a common mass, — and I do not believe that 
 would be a thing even to be desired ; — for men 
 are most likely to do right when they know 
 that there are some Avatching to see if they do 
 wrong — but in regard to the question whether 
 the great political fabric which our fathers 
 built, shall stand or fall ; whether we shall 
 make an inglorious surrender of all that we 
 hold dear as a nation, or cling to it at the 
 sacrifice of our blood ; — I am sure that if there 
 are any who even falter at this point, they take 
 care to give utterance to their views in the 
 night, and then speak only in whispers. And 
 it is refreshing to mark the history of the 
 revival of the patriotic spirit. It slept, or at 
 best was in doubtful exercise, amidst the plot- 
 tings and even the ravings of party, for several 
 months after the terrible engine, designed to 
 crush our liberties, began to show itself; and 
 even those who were ready to stand by their 
 country, in any emergency, and at any hazard, 
 were obliged to look at that instrument of 
 destruction for a long time before they could be 
 persuaded that their eyes were in contact with 
 an actual reality. But the bombardment of 
 Fort Sumter, followed by the bloody scenes in 
 
13 
 
 the streets of Baltimore, cured us all of our 
 incredulity in respect to the doom to which a 
 portion of our countrymen had adjudged us. 
 We saw, we felt, then, for the first time, that 
 we had certainly reached a point of imminent 
 peril ; and that the question we had to settle 
 was whether the nation should live or die. 
 And then it was that the patriotic fires burst 
 forth on every side of us ; in high places 
 and in low places; from the bosoms of men 
 of opposite parties ; — constituting a glorious 
 pledge that all minor questions 'of policy should 
 be postponed until the one great question, 
 involving our national existence, should be 
 determined. 
 
 But was not this the mere efiect of a surprise ; 
 an effervescence of feeling, which would die 
 away with the occasion that immediately pro- 
 duced it ? Perhaps, in view of the acknowledged 
 elasticity of our national character, we should 
 have had no reason to complain if such a ques- 
 tion had been asked when the great impulse 
 to the public mind was first communicated ; but 
 it is too late to ask it now; for history has 
 already anticipated the answer. That universal 
 involuntary movement, that formed the august 
 
14 , 
 
 response to the barbarous attack on Sumter, 
 inaugurated a new and better condition of the 
 public mind: the intense excitement, thus 
 originated, gradually settled into a calm and 
 earnest purpose ; and the whole loyal heart of 
 the country pledged itself for the preservation 
 of our Union. The President, by his Proclama- 
 tion, convened Congress — and a nobly patriotic 
 body it was — a few indeed, by their treasonable 
 deliverances, sought to produce discord in the 
 otherwise harmonious deliberations, thus fixing 
 upon themselves a mark of infamy that will 
 last when every other memorial of them has 
 perished. But, with these humiliating excep- 
 tions. Congress, — though still consisting of two 
 parties which had been sternly arrayed against 
 each other, — yet moved on in the majesty of 
 a substantially united body, responding to the 
 calls of the President with a promptness and 
 an alacrity that all posterity will honour. They 
 authorized the raising of an army fully adequate 
 to the emergency; and they provided, as far 
 as they could provide, the requisite pecuniary 
 means for prosecuting the war; and then it 
 only remained for the people to say whether 
 they should be met in hearty and vigorous 
 
15 
 
 co-operation. The process of voluntary enlist- 
 ment began at once in all the loyal States, and 
 has been going on ever since ; the mere 
 stripling, and the man of gray hairs, has each 
 claimed it as a right to fight for his country ; 
 and now, after the lapse of a little more than 
 seven months, more than six hundred thousand 
 men are actually in the field, or are ready to 
 enter it. And, as for money, not only were the 
 treasures of Wall Street proffered to the Govern- 
 ment with a freedom which knew no limit, but 
 many of the more prominent monied institu- 
 tions in our large cities offered themselves as 
 auxiliaries for carrying on the war. We should 
 have expected, beforehand, that, in a majority 
 of cases at least, parental or conjugal or filial 
 love would have sighed over, if it had not 
 actually protested against, the departure of the 
 nearest kindred on an errand of so much 
 uncertainty and peril ; but, instead of that, 
 we hear, on every side, of mothers and wives 
 and daughters, bidding good cheer to those 
 most dear to them, even when they cannot 
 resist the impression that they may be parting 
 to meet no more. And I may say, in this 
 connection, that the very nobility of patriotism 
 
16 
 
 is constantly displayed by our women. The 
 newspapers are, almost every week, reporting 
 to us the presentation, by ladies of the highest 
 rank, of splendid banners to military com- 
 panies ; — banners on which the Stars and 
 Stripes, gloriously displayed, bear witness that, 
 even if the men should falter, the female heart 
 of the nation would still be all right. And 
 there is yet another testimony, of the same 
 import, in the use to which the sewing machine 
 is put, in man}^ a dwelling, for providing our 
 brave soldiers with comfortable garments, and 
 especially in those truly honourable gatherings, 
 in which the high and the low, the rich and 
 the poor, work together, and then blend the 
 fruits of their labour in one common patriotic 
 offering. And as I have spoken of the women, I 
 will speak of the children also — for the military 
 air and badges with which they appear, march- 
 ing about the streets, is significant — it shows 
 that Patriotism has become domesticated in 
 our dwellings, so as to give complexion to the 
 sports and diversions even of our little ones. 
 
 I should be unjust to my own sense of duty, 
 if I were not, in connection with what I am 
 now saying, to render a distinct tribute to some 
 
17 
 
 of the illustrious men, whose names are most 
 
 closely and most honourably interwoven with 
 
 the pending enterprise. There is already a 
 
 pretty long list of martyrs to this cause; 
 
 prominent among whom are Ellsworth, and 
 
 WiNTHROP, and Greble, and Ward, and Lyon, 
 
 and Baker — these and many others, who have 
 
 poured out their blood as a free-will offering to 
 
 their country, deserve a lasting memorial ; and, 
 
 as sure as there is gratitude in the American 
 
 heart, they shall have it. The memory of 
 
 Douglass, too. Patriotism will ever cherish ; 
 
 for though he died not on the battle field, and 
 
 lived not to witness any thing beyond the 
 
 earliest stage of the conflict, yet the utterances 
 
 even of his death-bed were a lesson to the 
 
 nation, on the great duty of self-preservation, 
 
 which she has already embalmed in her inmost 
 
 heart. And then to come to the living — I 
 
 will say nothing of those who occupy the 
 
 highest places in the government, except that 
 
 the party who would gladly have prevented 
 
 their being placed there, are now not only 
 
 generally tolerant of their measures, but 
 
 actually meet them in a spirit of generous 
 
 confidence and co-operation — and more or 
 3 
 
18 
 
 better than this I could not wish to say. 
 Among those whose patriotic eloquence has 
 most effectually enlightened and thrilled the 
 masses in different parts of our country, are 
 Holt, and Everett, and Dickinson ; each of 
 whom has hereby established a fresh claim 
 upon the gratitude and admiration of posterity. 
 McClellan and Wool, Anderson, Dixand Sher- 
 man, may very well represent the great spirits 
 of our Army ; and Dupont and Wilkes, of 
 our Navy — yes, Wilkes, even though we were 
 to admit, as we do not, that the legality of the 
 act that has immortalized him, is still an open 
 question. Some of our Ex-Presidents, it is 
 well known, have their hearts fully in the great 
 national movement, and, in their dignified re- 
 tirement, are counselling to energetic and deci- 
 sive measures ; and one of them, an honoured 
 inhabitant of our own State, ^ does not disdain 
 to appear weekly in a soldier's uniform, and 
 drill a military company. Crittenden, too, 
 Kentucky's venerable statesman, who laboured 
 so long, so honestly, and yet so ineffectually, 
 for compromise, instead of showing a pitiful 
 resentment that his counsels were not heeded, 
 by refusing all co-operation with those from 
 
 *Mr. Fillmore. 
 
19 
 
 whom he differed, has shown himself as mag- 
 nanimous as he is patriotic — his great mind 
 and great heart are both fully enlisted in the 
 service of his country ; and his noble son, with 
 sword in hand, represents him on the field. 
 And if I were to undertake to add to this list 
 the names of those who have been, and still are, 
 serving their country, by means of the pen, I 
 should present to you a host, made up of not a 
 small portion of our most gifted minds — I 
 should repeat a multitude of honoured names, 
 which are as household words in the walks of 
 American literature; and among them the 
 name of Parson Brownlow would certainly have 
 a place, though, if the latest accounts may be re- 
 lied on, it seems doubtful whether his pen or his 
 sword is to win for him his brightest honours. 
 In short, Patriotism has had her well trained 
 agents in all the various spheres of public activ- 
 ity. She directs the thoughts and purposes of 
 those who fill our stations of influence and 
 honour. She moves among the masses, like a 
 good angel in white robes. She breathes light 
 and hope into the darkness of the hour. And 
 who will not say that her presence is to be ac- 
 knowledged as a blessing from on high ? Should 
 
20 
 
 we not greatly come short of the aj)propriate du- 
 ties of this day, if we should fail to give God 
 thanks that Patriotism has no longer a dubious 
 existence here, but is displaying herself in de- 
 cisive, far-reaching, mighty manifestations ? 
 
 II. Another ground of thanksgiving, in con- 
 nection with the events of the day is, that we 
 are permitted to live in a period of such surpassing 
 interest. But I hear you ask whether the exact 
 opposite of this is not true ; and whether the 
 sentiment I am now putting forth, does not 
 contradict the whole tenor of a discourse, in 
 which, not long since, I endeavoured to show 
 you that the great and good spirits, wlio were 
 then passing away, were mercifully taken 
 from the evil to come. I answer, the state- 
 ment in that discourse, and the position which 
 I now assume, are in perfect harmony. The 
 explanation of the apparent discrepancy is, 
 that it is a mixed state of things with which 
 we have to do; that bright events have their 
 dark side, and dark events have their bright 
 side ; and that the same event, in different 
 aspects, may be fraught with both calamity and 
 blessing. The war now in progress brings 
 with it terrible scenes of distress and desola- 
 
21 
 
 tion ; and we cannot but pronounce those highly 
 favoured who have escaped them by being 
 called up to Heaven ; but it is no less true that 
 the war is a great school which God Himself 
 has opened for the improvement of the living — 
 there are lessons given here, in relation not 
 only to the deep things of the human heart, 
 but the great principles of the Divine govern- 
 ment, fitted to enlarge our views and exalt our 
 characters, and which ought, therefore, to be 
 received with thankfulness and praise. 
 
 If the scenes through which we are passing 
 be contemplated as a mere matter of curiosity, 
 (and this is the least important view we can 
 take of them,) we shall find that they possess 
 an interest not often paralleled in human expe- 
 rience. Curiosity, or the desire of knowledge, 
 is among the original principles of our nature ; 
 and wherever you find human beings, there 
 you see its operation. How men will cross 
 oceans, and climb mountains, and traverse 
 deserts, and imperil their lives, merely to be- 
 hold the wonders of nature, or, as the case 
 may be, to stand on the spot rendered memo- 
 rable by some signal event in history ! What 
 an oracle every living relic of the Revolution 
 
99 
 
 is at this day ! How eagerly we question him 
 in respect to all that he saw, and heard, and 
 felt, during that dark period ; and how his very 
 presence renders more impressive the events 
 that are perfectly familiar to us ! And Avhen, 
 aided by' the light of history, w^e go back a lit- 
 tle farther ; when we pause amidst the stirring 
 scenes of the old French and Indian wars, or 
 amidst the fearful perils and trials that attended 
 the first settlement of our country ; Or when 
 we penetrate yet deeper into the past, and read 
 of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, 
 and its more ancient destruction by the Chal- 
 deans, and of the circumstances which attended, 
 and the consequences that followed, the siege, in 
 each case, are we not half inclined to wish that 
 we might have seen with our own eyes these sig- 
 nal wonders that history has reported to us ? 
 We are thankful for the record ; but we cannot 
 help feeling how much more minute would have 
 been our knowledge, and how much more im- 
 pressive the facts, if we could have actually 
 witnessed what we now receive only on testi- 
 mony. I do not say that the events, now 
 taking place among ourselves, will ever rank 
 in the same category with those just referred 
 
23 
 
 to, as marking the grand epochs of Jewish his- 
 tory ; and I do not say that they will not ; for 
 there is some reason to believe that they are 
 introductory to a new stage in human affairs — 
 but certainly here is a field in which the most 
 intense curiosity finds itself gratified and re- 
 warded ; in which the most inveterate lovers 
 of the marvellous and the startling may expa- 
 tiate indefinitely, and yet be finding some fresh 
 wonder every day. Will not our children, 
 whose memories are taking in these grand and 
 terrible occurrences, if they should live three- 
 score or fourscore years, think it a privilege 
 to have been the witnesses of what is now pass- 
 ing ; and will not the generation that succeeds 
 them, sit reverently in their presence, to hear 
 of the great things of which they will then be 
 the only living depositaries ? 
 
 It is not, however, merely or chiefly the 
 gratification of curiosity that constitutes the 
 advantage of living at this period ; but, as I 
 have just intimated, Providence is now most 
 impressively urging upon our consideration 
 certain great moral truths, having res23ect to 
 our danger and our duty, to man and to God, 
 which are eminently adapted to improve and 
 
24 ' 
 
 elevate our characters. Let me hint at a few 
 of them. 
 
 I say, then, the great rebellion, now in pro- 
 gress, furnishes, in the conduct of its leaders^ 
 a striking illustration of the madness of human 
 ambition. When the first demonstration of 
 revolt was made, I confess I believed, and I 
 presume most of us believed, that it was an 
 honest, though sadly unjustifiable, measure of 
 retaliation for what we were generally willing 
 to acknowledge was an unreasonable interfe- 
 rence, on the part of certain Northern men, 
 with the peculiar institution of the South ; or 
 that, if the evil complained of was more exten- 
 sive than this, it was a supposed general dis- 
 eased state of the Northern mind in relation to 
 the same subject. But a speech from a distin- 
 guished member of Congress from Pennsylva- 
 nia,* which has since been substantially repro- 
 duced in various public documents, convinced 
 me, as I doubt not it did many others, that the 
 rebellion which had then been formally pro- 
 claimed, had another and a deeper cause than 
 Northern Abolitionism. That speech proved, 
 beyond a peradventure, that it was no unpre- 
 meditated movement that Carolina was then 
 
 * Hon. Edward McPherson. 
 
25 
 
 making ; that it was the carrying out of a care- 
 fully matured plan ; — a plan having for its object 
 nothing less than the dissolution of the Union, 
 which their and our fathers had constituted, 
 and the establishment of a new empire, proba- 
 bly after some transatlantic model. It was 
 clearly because these men were disgusted with 
 the levelling workings of our republican system, 
 and wanted something more congenial with the 
 tastes and habits of Aristocracy, that they ven- 
 tured on the desperate experiment now in pro- 
 gress. It was this that made them repudiate 
 the obligations of a most solemn compact ; that 
 lifted the State into an attitude of defiance 
 against her whole loyal sisterhood ; that spread 
 the spirit of revolt from State to State, till it 
 seemed as if the little leaven would leaven the 
 whole lump ; and that has now changed what 
 was intended to be the theatre of its own tri- 
 umph into a terrible field of devastation and 
 slaughter. Did ever ambition accomplish for 
 itself a more hateful, a more profitless, a more 
 fatal work ? Does not every deserted village, 
 every threatened city, every booming cannon, 
 every soldier's grave, charge madness upon 
 
 those whose unholy aspirations for power have 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 thus turned beauty into deformity, prosperity 
 into calamity, life into death ? 
 
 Again : This rebellion, so far as respects the 
 masses, is a wonderful instance of the workings 
 of an extended popular delusion. Sadly do they 
 misunderstand the actual state of things, who 
 believe that the people of the South, as a body, 
 are false to their own convictions, in engaging 
 in this conflict. They have been trained to 
 believe that nearly the whole North are bit- 
 terly hostile to them, and are resolved that 
 their slaves shall be set free, even though it 
 be at the expense of a re-enactment of the 
 bloody scenes of St. Domingo. And is it 
 strange that, with such impressions, they should 
 cheerfully follow the bidding of their leaders, 
 in vindication of what they believe to be their 
 own rights ? Is it strange that, in the faith of 
 such a Proclamation as Beauregard made at 
 Manassas, they should address themselves with 
 lion-like courage, even with tiger-like ferocity, 
 to the bloody work of retaliation ? Are you 
 quite sure that, if you were to change places 
 with them, and to have the veil over your 
 eyes as it is over theirs, you would not follow in 
 their footsteps, even to the work of death ? A 
 
27 
 
 large part of all the evil committed in the 
 world is to be referred to the influence of delu- 
 sion. Men have only to put darkness for 
 light, — to work themselves into the belief of a 
 lie, and then carry out their own honest con- 
 victions, to render themselves the scourges of 
 society, — as the case may be, to spread desola- 
 tion over a Continent. We can pity the vic- 
 tims of popular delusion, but the authors of it 
 the whole world view with abhorrence. 
 
 Again : In the startling events of the day 
 we may see luhat a mighty energy there is in the 
 human will, especially when viewed in connec- 
 tion with a widely extended sympathy and co- 
 operation. All great achievements, so far as 
 they are the result of human agency, have 
 brought into vigorous exercise the mind's power 
 of determination ; not excepting even those 
 cases in which the Providence of God interpo- 
 ses to bring about a different end from that 
 which the projectors of the enterprise had con- 
 templated. One year ago, though there were 
 indeed dark clouds visible in our political hori- 
 zon, yet those who profess to be wise in such 
 matters, told us that they were mere flying, 
 harmless clouds, that would quickly disappear. 
 
28 
 
 We knew that many of our Southern brethren 
 had been alienated from us, and most of us 
 were willing to acknowledge that some of their 
 complaints were not without cause ; but we felt 
 that the tie which bound them and us together, 
 was too sacred not to be indissoluble. Then 
 we had no army that deserved the name. The 
 few ships we had, which were only an apology 
 for a navy, had nearly all gone off, strangely 
 enough, into distant oceans. Our citizens were 
 quietly pursuing their respective vocations, 
 without molestation and without apprehension. 
 The intercourse between the North and the 
 South was constant and unembarrassed. And 
 so firmly were we convinced of the substantial 
 unity of the nation, that when decisive signs 
 of disruption began to appear, we were slow to 
 admit even the testimony of our senses. But, 
 since that period, eleven States have abjured 
 their allegiance to the Government, and boldly 
 set up for themselves. More than a million of 
 men have abandoned their accustomed occupa- 
 tions, and rushed exultingly to the perils of a 
 soldier's life. Our few scattered ships have 
 been recalled for domestic service, and have 
 proved the nucleus of an already efficient navy. 
 
29 
 
 Terrible battles have been fought, — victories 
 have been won, and defeats encountered, on 
 both sides. And the history of the world may 
 be challenged for a grander, more imposing, 
 more appalling picture than our country pre- 
 sents to-day. And all this has been accom- 
 plished within much less than a year, by the 
 energy of the human will ! May not this very 
 reasonably exalt our conceptions of the dignity 
 of our nature ? Who will not bow reverently 
 before his own spirit, in consideration of its 
 possessing an attribute that lifts it into such 
 immediate alliance with Divinity ? 
 
 Again : It would be difficult to find a 
 more striking illustration than this rebellion 
 presents, of the well-nigh boundless capabilities of 
 human depravity. What an oJBfence against God 
 and man was involved in that first thought 
 in which the rebellion had its origin ; in the 
 maturing of the thought into a plan ; in the 
 development of the plan into open and horrible 
 acts ! Herein God's command to be subject to 
 the powers that be was trampled upon ; while 
 the highest obligations of truth and justice 
 towards man were outraged in the attempt to 
 overthrow a government, which promised more 
 
30 
 
 of blessing to the world thcaii any other. Such 
 a plan as this, we should know, beforehand, 
 could be accomplished only by means of the 
 foulest treachery — and now that the mists in 
 which the plan was conceived and carried for- 
 ward, are cleared away, we are met with the 
 revolting revelation that it has been nursed by 
 men who sat in our halls of National Legisla- 
 tion, and in the high places of our Govern- 
 ment, and who were meanly receiving from the 
 United States' treasury, from eight to twenty- 
 one dollars a day, for grinding the axe by 
 which they expected that the fair fabric of our 
 Union was to be hewed in pieces. And the 
 conflict which was begun in treachery, has 
 been marked, in its progress, by barbarity, un- 
 equalled in the annals of civilized warfare. 
 Witness the deliberate torturing to death of 
 some of the poor captives at Manassas ; and 
 the perfectly fiend-like demonstration by which 
 our troops were butchered in the village of 
 Guyandotte ; and, more recently, the officially 
 proclaimed threat that, if the law in relation to 
 piracy, which we have in common Avith all 
 civilized nations, is suffered to take its course, 
 then one of our brave officers whom they hold 
 
31 
 
 in captivity, and have already immured in a 
 felon's cell, shall expiate the crime of the Gov- 
 ernment, and wipe out the dishonour done to the 
 Chivalry, amidst the horrors of the gallows. 
 And last of all, Carolina, boasting and would- 
 be bloody Carolina, is gravely, or rather madly, 
 proposing to set the black flag, that terrible 
 emblem of unsparing slaughter, waving in all 
 her borders. Verily, these demonstrations, 
 though coming only in the form of threats, 
 must curdle the blood of the whole civilized 
 world ! 
 
 I say, these are terrible exhibitions of hu- 
 man depravity ; but truth and fairness require 
 me to add that much of guilt also, in connec- 
 tion with the prosecution of this war, lies at 
 our door. One crime that is patent to the 
 whole world is falsehood. So unscrupulous is 
 the Telegraph, which represents, I fear, but 
 too faithfully, the state of the public conscience, 
 that, when good tidings come, we have learned 
 to suppress our joy, and when bad tidings come, 
 we have learned to keep down our grief, until 
 some two or three confirmatory messages have 
 reached us. Not only is this a great evil in 
 itself, — a gross ofience against both God and 
 
32 ' 
 
 man, but it has already been productive of 
 much positive disaster to the country, besides 
 strengthening the hands of evil doers, and gen- 
 erating a vast amount of needless apprehension. 
 I may mention also the reckless disregard of 
 private rights and private property, which has 
 been manifested, here and there, by our sol- 
 diers; though these wayward and destructive 
 tendencies have, I believe, generally met with 
 a stern rebuke from the proper military autho- 
 rities. And there is yet another form which 
 our iniquity has assumed, — I mean that of 
 gross dishonesty in public contracts, — speculat- 
 ing on the woes of the country, — giving to the 
 poor soldiers, who are imperilling every thing 
 for us, wooden-soled shoes, and flimsy, half- 
 made garments, instead of the substantial arti- 
 cles that were bargained for. Such conduct 
 has in it the elements of meanness and cruelty 
 as well as perfidy. They who are chargeable 
 with it, had better leave it to others to expa- 
 tiate upon the guilt, and determine the deserts, 
 of traitors. 
 
 I say then, my friends, whether you look at 
 the North or the South, you see that this war 
 is uncovering and rendering palpable the very 
 
33 
 
 depths of human depravity. It is indeed a 
 shocking spectacle to contemplate, and one 
 which calls us to the deepest humiliation ; but 
 it suggests counsel, warning, instruction, which 
 cannot but do us good, if we lay it suitably to 
 heart, and which may very properly, therefore, 
 come into our remembrance on a Thanksgiving 
 Day. 
 
 Again : The rebellion furnishes a striking 
 illustration of the silent growth of evil. That 
 gigantic evil, with which the nation is now 
 struggling, I may safely say, had a small begin- 
 ning — possibly it began in deep silence, and 
 amidst doubts, and conflicts, and gloomy fore- 
 bodings, which it took much time and much 
 hard dealing with the conscience to get rid of. 
 I suppose it is generally admitted that the 
 terrible movement was inaugurated, more than 
 thirty years ago, by a great Southern politi- 
 cian ; — a man of comprehensive and powerful 
 intellect, of fine social qualities, and every way 
 unexceptionable in private life, but still pos- 
 sessing insatiable ambition and boundless obsti- 
 nacy. His first demonstrations in favour of 
 disunion were met by a spirit and a hand that 
 
 awed the treasonable policy, not indeed out of 
 5 
 
34 
 
 existence, but into comparative silence. I do 
 not wish to utter harsh words over any man's 
 grave, or to heap odium on the memories of 
 those who have gone to render their account — 
 I cannot tell in what false lights that great 
 man of whom I speak may have looked at his 
 favourite project, and, as the result, fancied 
 that he could justify it to his conscience ; but 
 I do say that, if tradition deals justly with 
 him, it was in his bosom that that serpent, 
 whose deadly fangs have now struck into the 
 very heart of our republic, was generated. At 
 first, it was insensible, impalpable, unacknow- 
 ledged ; but still there was life in it, — a life 
 that was essentially venomous ; and it kept 
 gradually gaining strength until the creature 
 began to move. And, as the years passed 
 away, it gathered nourishment from other 
 hearts than that in which it was born; and 
 a spirit of officious ultraism at the North 
 contributed mterially to its growth; until, at 
 length, the day came when it worked its way 
 fully out of its hiding place, and stretched 
 itself, to the full extent of its dimensions, 
 across the land, — a huge monster, combining 
 the poison of the viper with the boa-constric- 
 
tor's crushing jDOwer. And now, for months, 
 it has been showing us its tongue of fire, and 
 hissing out its bitter threats, and making 
 a desperate effort to infold the whole nation in 
 its deadly coils. I trust in God there is a 
 spirit awake, before which, with all its viru- 
 lence and strength, it will be obliged to quail ; 
 but, meanwhile, it shows more impressively 
 than words can do, not only how the spirit of 
 evil chooses the darkness as its appropriate 
 element, but how it sometimes accomplishes 
 wonders before its existence even has been 
 fairly detected. What a lesson of warning is 
 here to note vigilantly the signs of the times, 
 and to keep ourselves in an attitude for resist- 
 ing evil, whenever, wherever, or however, it 
 may manifest itself! 
 
 I only add, under this branch of my subject, 
 that the current events are bringing out the 
 character of God, in some of its aspects, no less 
 clearly than the character of man. God rules 
 the world by fixed laws; and the danger is 
 that the uniformity of their operation will 
 make men oblivious of both his agency and his 
 presence. Hence it is that, though these laws 
 are always in force, working out their proper 
 
36 
 
 results, yet to rebuke the tendencies to prac- 
 tical atheism, which exist in many minds, God 
 is pleased, sometimes, in the administration of 
 his government, to come forth from the hiding- 
 place of his power, clothed in unwonted 
 majesty and terror. How manifest is it that, 
 in the scenes through which we are now pass- 
 ing, He is turning towards us some of the more 
 awful aspects of his character ! Do we not 
 feel that we are in contact with the retribu- 
 tive justice of God ; that, though He has borne 
 with us long, He has at length come out in 
 judgment against us for our iniquities, while 
 yet He tempers judgment with mercy ? That 
 such a fearful conflict as this should have 
 arisen, when we had begun to look out for the 
 dawn of the millenial age, — and arisen here, 
 on ground which had been consecrated by the 
 presence of a pure Christianity for more than 
 two centuries ; that this nation, after attaining 
 a glorious manhood, should stand forth before the 
 world as a house divided against itself, exhibit- 
 ing the strangely revolting spectacle of men 
 thirsting, even to desperation, for the blood of 
 brothers;~that such a state of things should exist, 
 I say, is a testimony, visible, palpable, that clouds 
 
37 
 
 and darkness are round about Jehovah's Throne. 
 Events have already occurred, too, in the pro- 
 gress of the war, which have shown that it is 
 God's province, not only to bring light out of 
 darkness, but to render evil the minister of 
 good. I doubt not that we have far more to 
 be thankful for to-day, than we should have 
 had but for some things that have made our 
 hearts burn with indignation, or bleed with 
 bitter grief. When, too, we bear in mind that 
 this vast and complicated machinery, which is 
 now at work, all over this land, with such 
 mighty power, is all directed by Him who sit- 
 teth in the Heavens, for the accomplishment 
 of purposes which his own infinite wisdom has 
 devised, can we forbear to exclaim, in the ful- 
 ness of an humble and reverential spirit, — 
 " Who is so great a God as our God !" 
 
 Has not enough been said to justify my 
 position that there are certain aspects of this 
 dark day that make it a privilege to live in it ? 
 Is it not a day when God's utterances to this 
 nation are louder and more impressive than 
 they ever were before ? Is it not a desirable 
 thing to live when there are such unprece- 
 dented advantages for studying the human 
 
38 
 
 heart ; when God comes so near to us that we 
 cannot but feel his terrible, and yet gracious, 
 presence ; when the lessons He inculcates are 
 at once identified with, and enforced by, the 
 discipline He inflicts, and both are on a scale 
 so grand and awful as to overawe every thought- 
 ful and reverent spirit ? Truly, we do not 
 mistake in reckoning this among the legitimate 
 subjects of our thanksgiving. 
 
 III. As another ground for thankfulness to- 
 day, I may mention the fact — and I appeal to 
 you to say whether it is not a fact — that, while 
 we are constrained to regard a large portion of 
 our Southern brethren, at present, as enemies, 
 there is no prevailing hostility towards them in the 
 North — if I understand the feeling, it is a strong 
 sense of the criminality of the leaders, but a 
 disposition to make large allowance for the 
 masses, on the ground that they have been de- 
 ceived by false representations ; while we 
 would gladly welcome them all back to their 
 allegiance, without asking for any humiliating 
 concessions, or seeking to add to the burdens 
 which they have so recklessly assumed. It 
 certainly cannot be denied that we are accus- 
 tomed to speak of their hostile demonstrations 
 
39 
 
 in terms of strong disapproval ; particularly that 
 some of our newspapers, in making their deliv- 
 erances concerning them, are not over-careful 
 to choose out the softest words — it could not 
 be otherwise, unless the legitimate workings of 
 human nature, even as it exists in good men, 
 were suspended — ^nevertheless, I greatlj^ mis- 
 take, if the general tone of Northern feeling 
 towards the South is even allied to malignity 
 or revenge. We will not indeed be so kind- 
 hearted as to look on coolly, and make no re- 
 sistance, while they are rushing forward in 
 their present mad career — the very graves of 
 our fathers would reproach us if we should re- 
 fuse the sacrifice even of our blood, for the 
 maintainance of those institutions which it 
 cost their blood to establish. But we require 
 nothing at their hands, but that they fall back 
 into the position in which they were placed by 
 that sacred league which they cannot violate, 
 without insulting the memories of a galaxy of 
 illustrious patriots, whose names constitute the 
 pride of their own history. I know there are 
 a few among us, who would violate the Consti- 
 tution in one way, as they would violate it in 
 another ; that is, who would move for an in- 
 
40 ' 
 
 stantaneous and universal emancipation of their 
 slaves, regardless of the fearful consequences 
 that must ensue. But no such fanatical delu- 
 sion as this has got possession of the Northern 
 mind. Whatever rights the Constitution 
 accords to them, we hold ourselves bound to 
 respect, except in so far as the necessities 
 of the war into which they have plunged us, 
 may require that they should be infringed. 
 Most of us have friends scattered through the 
 South, and some of us, in nearly every disloy- 
 al State, — who, either from conviction, or from 
 the pressure of circumstances, are following 
 the multitude : much as we regret their posi- 
 tion, we have kind and grateful thoughts of 
 them still ; and, if there should be an opportu- 
 nity for the renewal of our intercourse with 
 them, I am sure they would be as welcome to 
 the hospitalities of our dwellings, and to any 
 good services we could render them, as if no 
 disruption had occurred. Such I verily believe 
 to be the pervading tone of Northern feeling 
 at this stage of the conflict ; and I leave it to 
 you to decide whether this is not one of the 
 things that ought to come into remembrance 
 on this Thanksgiving Day. 
 
41 
 
 IV. In the review of what has been already 
 accomplished, looking towards our ultimate success 
 in this great struggle, we find another cause of 
 thankfulness to our Divine Benefactor. 
 
 We cannot estimate this consideration aright, 
 without taking"' into view the actual state of 
 things, when the rebellion began to take on a 
 palpable form. Had there been any prepara- 
 tion made by our Government for holding her 
 property against the ruthless hand of domestic 
 invasion ? Had she taken care to husband her 
 resources with prudent reference to being 
 ready for an attack ; and, when the tocsin of 
 war was sounded, had she nothing to do but to 
 respond, by her hundreds of thousands of well 
 armed men, ready to take the field ? So far 
 from it, her own energies and resources had 
 been perverted to prepare for making the 
 attack, instead of acting on the defence ; and, 
 when her traitorous agents threw off the mask, 
 they evidently felt bold and strong in the con- 
 viction that they had little else to do than to 
 appropriate and enjoy the fruits of their perfi- 
 dious labours. Their successors in ofiice were 
 slow to believe even what their eyes saw ; and 
 the measure of their indulgence, honourable as 
 G 
 
42 
 
 it may have been to their generous feel- 
 ings, had well-nigh overtaxed the patience 
 of the nation. But, at length, the fearful 
 emergency glared upon them, so that they 
 were not only convinced of the obligation, but 
 shut up to the necessity, of vigorous effort ; and 
 from that period may be said to date the com- 
 mencement of a course of preparation for the 
 conflict, which, for its rapidity, and extent, and 
 thoroughness, may be safely pronounced to be 
 without parallel in the history of the world. 
 What it is I need not attempt to tell you — suffice 
 it to say, it is a prodigious military and naval 
 power, that is ready to be called into exercise 
 whenever and wherever there is an exigency 
 to require it. And more than that, — this 
 power is constantly increasing; and still 
 more, — the fountain from which it flows is 
 inexhaustible. 
 
 But it is not merely the fact that our Gov- 
 ernment has made such formidable prepara- 
 tions for attack and defence in so short a time, 
 and that, too, against all the obstacles which 
 Treason had been able to set up, — that calls 
 for our gratitude ; but it is the additional fact 
 that she has entered vigorously upon her work 
 
43 
 
 of crushing the power that has set her authority 
 at defiance. I should only recite the current 
 events of the day, if I were to go into details on 
 this subject; but it will occur to you, at once, 
 that there are one or two strongholds, within the 
 bounds of the self-styled Confederacy, which 
 have never passed into their possession, whose 
 terrible frown falls upon the whole surround- 
 ing country like the shadow of death. You 
 will remember, too, how nobly Maryland — to 
 say nothing of Kentucky — has already been 
 saved to the Union ; and that because the brave 
 and patriotic Dix knew how to strangle Trea- 
 son as well as to direct the use of artillery. 
 You will think how manfully Western Vir- 
 'ginia has withstood the storm that was pelting 
 her, declaring her allegiance to the Nation 
 at the expense of dissolving her connection 
 with the State ; and now we have tidings that 
 some of the Eastern counties, upon which the 
 light of the admirable Proclamation from Fort 
 McHenry has fallen, are moving in the same 
 track. You will think of the victory at 
 Hatteras Inlet, by which a ball was set in 
 motion, that has rolled so fast and so far 
 already, that the Stars and Stripes are floating 
 
44 
 
 over large portions of North Carolina. And 
 the yet later, and far paore important victory, 
 at Port Royal, will, I am sure, come gratefully 
 into your thoughts ; — a victory that has planted 
 our National Flag on ground where it was dis- 
 honoured first ; which secures greater advan- 
 tages to our cause than could have been gained 
 at almost any other point, and which must be 
 like a dark sign in the heavens to those who 
 are watching to see the American Eagle die. 
 And last of all, I am sure you will not fail to 
 remember (for it must have been in your 
 thoughts ever since it occurred) that heroic 
 adventure of the Naval Commander Wilkes, 
 by which two rebel emissaries were waylaid, 
 on their mission to foreign lands, and brought 
 to breathe the air, and behold the faces, which 
 they hated most ; thus defeating purposes of 
 mischief, and making it perhaps a little more 
 difficult to carry out the bloody threat in re- 
 spect to Corcoran, and his brave associates in 
 captivity. I only hint at these main facts, 
 and leave it to your memory to supply the 
 rest ; but I am sure you will agree with me 
 that a sober review of the history of the last 
 seven months brings before us many tokens of 
 
45 
 
 the Divine favour, in our actual success, which 
 it becomes us gratefully to acknowledge. 
 
 But I hear some one say that this is but a 
 one-sided representation of our case — it is 
 alleged that these are only a few bright spots 
 in a generally dark picture ; or, at best, that 
 we have had too many disheartening reverses, 
 mortifying defeats, to justify any great exulta- 
 tion in view of our success. My first reply to 
 this unpatriotic suggestion is, that war must 
 always have its chances ; that, as it is con- 
 ducted by imperfect men, however sagacious 
 or brave they may be, there can be no security 
 against occasional mistakes, that may seem 
 temporarily to jeopard even the best cause. 
 Then again, who does not perceive that the 
 great disadvantage, on our part, under which 
 the war was entered upon, was almost sure, in 
 its earlier stages, to put to a severe test our 
 faith in the ultimate triumph of our cause ? 
 And, finally, while the defeats and embarrass- 
 ments which we have actually encountered, 
 have been no greater than we had a right to 
 expect, they have only helped to strengthen 
 the nation's heart ; and we have causes for 
 thanksgiving this morning, which we should 
 
46 
 
 not have had but for that dark and bloody day, 
 which a portion of our army spent at Manassas. 
 That there may have been errors of judgment 
 in the conduct of the war, nobody will ques- 
 tion ; but I submit to you whether, considering 
 the vastness of the enterprise, the variety and 
 complication of the interests involved, the 
 fearful odds against which Treason and Re- 
 bellion had to be met, we have not far more 
 reason to testify of mercy than of judgment; 
 of success than of defeat. 
 
 y. Once more : If the past furnishes ground 
 for thanksgiving, not less, surely, does the pros- 
 pect that opens upon us. I say this in full view 
 of the fact that the future is, to a great extent, 
 hid in the bosom of Omniscience ; and that 
 events which, by reason of our shortsightedness, 
 we call contingencies, sometimes, temporarily 
 at least, give a different direction to the gene- 
 ral course of affairs from what we had desired 
 and expected. Hence we are not to be disap- 
 pointed if, in the progress of the conflict, there 
 should be other reverses still in store for us, 
 that will make even the most hopeful and 
 jubilant feel, for the moment, like hanging 
 their harps upon the willows. But, after mak- 
 
47 
 
 ing all due allowance for the uncertainty that 
 necessarily pertains to the future, I cannot but 
 think that the signs of the times are so deci- 
 dedly auspicious as to forbid all doubt that the 
 contest will finally issue in the full re-estab- 
 lishment of our Union. On the question, how 
 soon this grand result may be reached, or how 
 many cities may be sacked, or how many fields 
 drenched in blood, before it shall be reached, 
 the most far-seeing may well suppress even 
 their conjectures ; but that our struggle is to 
 find its end in this, seems to me scarcely less 
 certain than that the order of nature will pro- 
 ceed. 
 
 If I mistake not, there were many of us 
 who had grown so tired of the clamour of the 
 South against the North and the North against 
 the South, who had become so sick of read- 
 ing Congressional Speeches steeped in gall, 
 and especially of reading of such horrible 
 facts as the raid of John Brown and his asso- 
 ciates, and the doom which so speedily over- 
 took them, that we were ready to say even, — - 
 "Let the quarrel be terminated by a peaceful 
 division of the Union." But, if we said 
 this, as I know some of us did, it was an im- 
 
48 
 
 patient and hasty judgment which a little 
 reflection corrected. For we saw at once that 
 the geographical position of the country for- 
 bade a division ; that the very mountains and 
 rivers lifted up their voice against it ; that the 
 immense tract between the Atlantic and Pacific 
 Oceans, between our great Lakes and the Gulf 
 of Mexico,' had been determined, by Him w^ho 
 fixes the bounds of our habitation, to be the 
 natural home of one vast united people. And 
 it is equally obvious that, while no limit can 
 be fixed to the amount of blessing which such 
 a nation, united, can procure for itself, and dif- 
 fuse through the world, its division could be 
 the harbinger of nothing but evil ; — evil to it- 
 self, inasmuch as the separate States or Dis- 
 tricts into which it would fall, would exhaust 
 their energies in mutual jealousies leading to 
 bitter conflicts ; evil to the rest of the world, 
 as it would extinguish the last hope of a Repub- 
 lican Government, and put more iron into the 
 heart and the arm of every despot under heav- 
 en. In view of these considerations, the loyal 
 States have decided, — calmly and solemnly 
 decided, that the Union shall not be broken ; 
 that, by God's blessing, the machinations of 
 
49 
 
 those who are plotting to bring about this 
 mighty evil, shall be defeated. This purpose 
 is declared in the sudden fading out, in a great 
 measure, of party lines ; in the alacrity, the 
 magnanimity, with which men, great men, of 
 different political creeds, are seen rushing to 
 the common rescue. And the purpose will be 
 carried out ; — yes, carried out to the very let- 
 ter; — for the spirit that has decreed it, you 
 may chain when you can chain the rushing 
 tempest ; or you may bribe, when you can 
 bribe the angel that watches about you. What 
 meaneth this vast army that has been brought 
 together under an almost magical impulse ; 
 while it has left behind the material for an- 
 other, and yet another, army like it, — equally 
 brave, equally patriotic, equally powerful; 
 which it would require only the announcement 
 of the exigency, to mould into form, and bring 
 into the field ? What meaneth it that, when the 
 veteran and venerable Commander-in-Chief 
 retired, bearing with him the laurels he had 
 been gathering for more than half a century, 
 there was found among us a youthful hero, 
 whom Providence had schooled to receive his 
 mantle and take his place ; — a man as thought- 
 
50 
 
 ful, and far-seeing, and modest withal, as he is 
 brave ; — a man who had scarcely taken his mil- 
 itary position before he threw up a grand en- 
 trenchment around the Holy Sabbath, and who 
 mingles with his wisely adjusted and thoroughly 
 matured plans, devout acknowledgements of 
 his dependence on a Higher Power ; and, I may 
 add, a man who commands the perfect confi- 
 dence, not only of the army and the country at 
 large, but — what is certainly remarkable — of 
 his own senior associates in high military office ? 
 What mearieth it that the coffers of the rich 
 are thrown open, and the earnings of the poor 
 eagerly proffered, and money has come to be 
 valued chiefly as an auxiliary to the successful 
 issue of our struggle, and the restoration of our 
 national prosperity ? I ask, what mean all 
 these things, if not that the nation is as strong 
 as she feels herself to be ; that the fact that 
 her having determined that the Union shall 
 not be dissolved, conveys to us all the assur- 
 ance we need that, by God's blessing, it will 
 not be dissolved ? Especially, may I not say 
 this in view of the fact that the effort that is 
 now making to destroy our Government, is an 
 offence against the cherished memories of the 
 
51 
 
 mighty dead; against the well-being of all 
 coming generations ; and, not least, against the 
 righteousness and goodness of God ? Yes, my 
 friends, it is no presumption to believe that 
 the Lord is on our side, and therefore our cause 
 will certainly prosper. 
 
 But this conflict contemplates, in its issue, 
 something more than the mere preservation of 
 our Union, — the perpetuation of our institutions 
 on their old basis. It looks towards progress. 
 We have reason to believe that it is destined 
 to originate a cure for some of our great national 
 evils, as well as to otherwise greatly improve 
 and exalt our national character. The greatest 
 evil that, as a nation, we have had to 
 encounter, — certainly the greatest, if measured 
 by the amount of calamity which it has brought 
 upon the country at large, — is Slavery. Scarcely 
 a generation has passed away since the verdict 
 of our Southern friends upon this institution 
 was just what ours is now ; — that is, they saw 
 in it an evil of appalling dimensions, from 
 which the mass of them would gladly have 
 been free, if a door of deliverance had been 
 open ; but, since that time, the earth has been 
 bringing forth a plant that has acted so 
 
strangely on their moral and mental vision, that 
 that which they used to deprecate as a pro- 
 lific source of evil, is now exalted into the 
 rank of the highest positive blessings. None 
 of us, even those who are most tolerant of the 
 institution, believe that the light of the 
 millenial day will dawn upon any husbands 
 and wives, any parents and children, standing 
 up like cattle to be examined by the traders 
 in immortality, and then to hear the auctioneer's 
 iron voice, revealing to them the fixctthat they 
 are looking upon each others' faces for the last 
 time. An institution which includes this 
 among its provisions, all the generous instincts 
 of our nature, to say nothing of the teachings 
 of God's word, brand as a high offence against 
 humanity. Nevertheless, this institution actu- 
 ally exists ; aye, and exists under the shadow 
 of the Constitution of the United States. 
 Though the heart of a large part of the 
 American people has bewailed this feature in 
 our national condition, no one knew where to 
 look for relief, so long as the Constitution 
 should remain unchanged ; and hence those 
 convulsive spasms in favour of stealthy or 
 forcible emancipation, into which a certain 
 
53 
 
 party at the North have been wrought, at the 
 expense of showing themselves recreant to the 
 laws of the land. But, if I mistake not, some 
 beams of light begin now to penetrate this 
 darkness. Not that you or I believe that we 
 are sending armies to the South on any 
 other mission than to maintain our Govern- 
 ment, by putting down the rebellion that 
 has assailed it; but there may be incidental 
 results from this struggle, in which the death- 
 warrant of the institution shall be writ- 
 ten, — aye, and written by the very hands 
 that were pledged to do their part in bearing 
 it triumphantly onward to the end of time. 
 It seems evident that the movement of our 
 armies into the Southern country has already 
 put new thoughts into the minds of many of 
 the slaves ; and it would not be strange if it had 
 also awakened fresh aspirations for freedom — 
 and who can say that these aspirations may not 
 gradually ripen into purposes, and finally, 
 (which may Heaven forbid,) into forcible and 
 terrible acts ? We hear of them also, in large 
 numbers, actually coming within our lines ; 
 and I submit it to you whether the doctrine 
 lately proclaimed by a distinguished military 
 
54 
 
 oflBcer, and publicly sanctioned by the Secre- 
 tary of War, and more recently by two other 
 of our eminent citizens who have been marked 
 for their conservatism, — that the slaves of rebel 
 masters may be legitimately used for doing 
 loyal work, is not a doctrine according to 
 reason and justice. If it be said that the 
 Constitution for which we are fighting makes 
 no provision for our appropriating the labour of 
 the slaves under any circumstances, I answer, 
 the Constitution never contemplated the anom- 
 alous crisis that has overtaken us. War is a 
 mighty, absolute potentate, that recognizes a 
 law in its own necessities, and deals summarily 
 with any code that interferes with that " higher 
 law." What ultimate advantage to the cause of 
 freedom, if any, shall result from this tempo- 
 rary interference with the workings of the 
 institution, it must be left to Providence to 
 determine. But the great fact, in the presence 
 of which Slavery trembles most, is, that Eng- 
 land, and the other European countries, are 
 already looking to other parts of the w^orld for 
 a supply of the article to which the dreams of 
 our Southern friends had given an almost 
 omnipotent control ; but the moment the 
 
55 
 
 sceptre departs from the hands of that flimsy 
 king, the motive that has hitherto existed for 
 the extension of Slavery, will give place to an 
 equally powerful motive for its curtailment, if 
 not its absolute extinction. We need not fear 
 to leave the whole matter with Divine Provi- 
 dence — what we have to do is to prosecute the 
 war for the end for which it has been inaugu- 
 rated; and if, as an incidental consequence, 
 Slavery should be shorn of a part or the whole 
 of its strength, we shall none of us feel called 
 upon to go into mourning. 
 
 But, whatever may be the effect of this war 
 upon Slavery, we cannot doubt that it is to 
 exert a mighty influence, in other ways, to 
 elevate the character and destiny of our nation. 
 Our long continued national prosperity had 
 well-nigh dispossessed us of all that manly 
 moral strength, that heroic love of country, 
 which we had inherited from our fathers: it 
 had made us idolaters of silver and gold ; and, 
 in worshipping at that ignoble shrine, all the 
 finer, grander national qualities had become 
 absolutely dwarfed. But the benefits of this 
 fiery trial are already becoming apparent. 
 Patriotism, which had become so weak and 
 
sickly as to be scarcely recognized, has renewed 
 her strength, and is abroad, fulfilling her 
 sublime mission wherever there are subjects to 
 act upon, — no matter whether in the crowded 
 city or the retired hamlet. The spirit of 
 inglorious ease is dying out every where, and 
 the spirit of noble self-sacrifice is coming in its 
 place. Our young men are leaping for joy, 
 to leave the blandishments of a pleasant home, 
 that they may encounter the perils and 
 sacrifices incident to the camp and battle 
 field. Our old men are beginning to feel the 
 beatings of young hearts again, and some of 
 them are actually carrying muskets upon 
 shoulders that have been bearing burdens for 
 more than threescore years. Our matrons and 
 maidens have found out that their country is 
 something to them; and they are making it 
 manifest that they are determined to be some- 
 thing to their country. By the discipline of 
 his providence, God is teaching us lessons ot 
 the highest wisdom, — especially to acknow- 
 ledge our supreme allegiance to Him, and to 
 identify all hopes of national prosperity with 
 the enjoyment of his favour. Is not our 
 country then, in this baptism of fire, under- 
 
5Y 
 
 going a process of purification in every part of 
 the intellectual and moral material that com- 
 poses it ? Have we not a right to expect that 
 our future will be brighter because of the 
 darkness of the present ; that out of this 
 passing scene that seems so wild and chaotic, 
 there will rise a new creation, that will make 
 us, in a fxr hioher sense than we have ever 
 been before, the joy and praise of the whole 
 earth ? 
 
 Yes, my friends, it is no vision, — it is a 
 sublime reality, that we are contemplating. Do 
 you not know how the literal furnace not only 
 tries but purifies the precious metal that is cast 
 into it ? Do you not know how the furnace of 
 affliction separates the gold from Ihe dross, 
 in the case of the individual Christian, — throw- 
 ing into a clear strong light those graces which 
 had before seemed dubious, and lifting him 
 into a far nobler specimen of the Divine work- 
 manship than he had ever been before ? Believe 
 me, in these transforming processes is strik- 
 ingly represented the glorious change that is 
 now going forward amidst these deep shadows 
 in which our land is embosomed. It is indeed 
 a bloody storm that is raging. The watchman, 
 
58 
 
 who is inquired of concerning the night, reports 
 no signs of the morning yet. But things are 
 all the time working, and the result will ere 
 long be manifest. I wait a little, and the cloud 
 begins to move, and presently I am gazing upon 
 a clear bright sky. I see my country once 
 more a unit; — all the wandering stars brought 
 back into their spheres, and constituting a gal- 
 axy that even the angels love to gaze upon. I 
 behold all the States bound together, not only 
 in the bonds of a common sisterhood, but in a 
 goodly ministration of blessing to each other 
 and to the world. I see the great work of 
 moral renovation advancing apace, until, by 
 and by, a flood of millenial glory comes pour- 
 ing in. And now begins the Jubilee, the great 
 Thanksgiving Day, of the world. Oh, if my 
 poor, bleeding country could, by the vision of 
 faith, take in this grand prospect, sure I am 
 that she would have no eye for the darkness of 
 the present ; no tongue but to make the moun- 
 tains, and the vallies, and the forests, as well 
 as the temples of the living God, echo to her 
 grateful notes of praise ! 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 011 933 341 6 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 011 933 341 6