jE 458 
 
 i.S76 
 Copy 2 
 
 ibe iutjf 0f f u^talmtig tft^ ^^ov^vnm^irt. 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 PREACHED IN 
 
 €l}t f rabBUrian C^nr^ at CalJftotll, 1. 1., 
 
 On Sunday, May 19, 1861, 
 
 BY KEY. I. N. SPRAOUE, 
 
 PASTOR OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 NEWARK, K J.: 
 
 PRINTED AT THE DAILY ADVERTISER OFFICE. 
 
 1861. 
 
THE DUTY OF SUSTAINING THE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 PREACHED IN 
 
 ^t Ir^'hteriaii Cljnrcl] at dMuW, f. |., 
 
 Ox Sunday, May 19, 1861, 
 
 BY REV. I?^ N." SPRAGUE, 
 
 PASTOR OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 I 
 
 NEWARK, N. J.: 
 
 PKINTED AT THE DAIF.Y ADVERTLSELl OFFICE. 
 
 1861. 
 
 c- 
 
^^ 
 
 
Caldwell, May 20, 1861. 
 
 Rev. I. N. SPRAGUE, 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 At the request of a number of your 
 
 Congregation, who feel that the publication of the Sermon delivered by you 
 
 yesterday, will be of permanent advantage to the cause of civil and religious 
 
 liberty, we ask that you will allow the same to be published, and thus oblige 
 
 your numerous patriotic parishioners. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 LEWIS C. GROVER, 
 A. C. GOULD, 
 N. O. BALDWIN, 
 RUFUS F. HARRISON, 
 
 and others. 
 
 LEWIS C. GROVER, Esq., 
 
 and others, 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 The sermon is at your service, 
 
 though written in haste and with less than the usual time of j)reparing a 
 
 written discourse, and perhaps for that very reason the better. 
 
 Yours, &c., 
 
 I. N. SPRAGUE. 
 Caldwell, May 31, 1861. 
 
SERMON 
 
 '" Let every soul be subject unto the biglier powers ; for there is no power but of 
 God : the powers that be are ordained of God." — Romans xiii: 1. 
 
 I have chosen this passage as my text, that I might call your 
 attention to a sermon on the subject of the present stirring 
 times. Never, since the days of the Eevolution, have the pnl- 
 pits of onr land sounded out with such clear notes of patriot- 
 ism, without any reference to party politics, as within a few 
 weeks past. Nor has this outspoken patriotism been confined 
 to the limits of any sect or denomination in religion, nor to 
 any shade of party in politics. The puljDits of the entire 
 North have uttered but one sound, and that has been clear and 
 unmistakable, urging upon all to sustain the Government and 
 Constitution and Laws,- as the paramount duty of the times. 
 
 I would not be behind my brethren in the ministry in my 
 love and zeal for my Country, or in my willingness to use my 
 sacred office in all appropriate efforts to sustain law and order 
 in opposition to misrule and rebellion. And I am happy that 
 I can do so on this occasion, without meddling at all with the 
 peculiar sentiments and doctrines of any political party. 
 What I have to say will and must, I think, commend itself to 
 the judgment and conscience of every one who loves his coun- 
 try, and who wishes to retain and enjoy the blessings of an 
 orderly government and a peaceful home. 
 
 Within a few months past, God has been rolling up mighty 
 events in our country. The most peace-loving nation on earth? 
 we are suddenly convulsed with revolutions and wars. From 
 the highest state of security, we are suddenly thrown into the 
 deepest peril. The quiet pursuits of industry are laid aside 
 and the nation is rushing to arms. These are unusual events 
 
6 
 
 in sucli a country as ours. They may well startle and alarm 
 and electrify and fill every patriotic bosom with thrilling 
 anxieties. 
 
 In such a state of things there are lessons of Providence, 
 which it becomes us to study well ; lessons of duty which ap- 
 peal strongly to every heart that is religious or patriotic. 
 
 The general sentiment contained in the text is, That human 
 governments are an ordinance of God^ and^ as such, are to he re- 
 s_pected and sustained. 
 
 Without following the special line of thought which the 
 Apostle starts in the text, I call your attention to a few con- 
 siderations connected with the stirring events of the times. 
 
 1. The Goveenment of these United States is evidently 
 
 THE best GOVEENMENT ON THE FACE OF THE EAETH. 
 
 I hardly need stop to gather the proofs of such a proposition, 
 to an audience enlightened on the subject of the forms and 
 fruits of different governments. We have lived so quietly and 
 happily under our Government — we have enjoyed its blessings 
 and benefits so much as a matter of course — that we are in 
 great danger of undervaluing that, which is the source and 
 fountain of all the peculiar advantages which we enjoy. Go 
 and dwell abroad for any length of time ; study well the fruits 
 of other governments, in the morals of the people, in the con- 
 ditions of society, and especially in the moral and social state 
 of the masses, and you would be sure to come home deeply 
 impressed with the superior character, and more excellent 
 workings of your own government. In some countries, claim- 
 ing to be enlightened and christian, you must read your Bible 
 by stealth, and hold a social prayer meeting of half a dozen 
 persons in some out of the way, concealed place, lest, for this 
 act of conscientious worship, you should be arrested and thrown 
 into prison. In others, you cannot speak your free thoughts 
 above your breath, for fear of armed spies at your very elbow? 
 who are the minions and tools of some despot who can retain 
 Ms power only as he represses thought and speech. In others, 
 
you see a Eoyal family and a titled nobility, squandering in 
 luxurious idleness untold millions of money wliich they never 
 earned ; carefully keeping up all those lines of caste in society 
 •which kill ambition and hope and enterprise in the masses. 
 
 In our country every man is a sovereign, and the equal of 
 his fellow. AH are citizens, standing on the same level of 
 equality. Every man is what he makes himself, rising to emi- 
 nence by the mere force of his own energies, or plodding in 
 the lowlier pursuits of life for the want of those energies. 
 Every man can be the owner and lord of the soil on which he 
 lives ; he can sit down under Ms own vine and fig-tree as secure 
 in his rights as if he were the despot of an empire. He can 
 command the means of his own enlightenment and progress, 
 and he can leave to his children all the advantages of wealth 
 and cultivation which he can gather. Every man is clothed 
 with the privilege of helping to choose his rulers and make the 
 government, and if that government goes wrong, at the bidding 
 of the sovereign masses, it can be changed and put into other 
 hands. No government on earth pours so many blessings 
 upon the people as ours. Education, religion, and all social 
 privileges are enjoyed by all, in a degree not equalled by any 
 other people on the face of the globe. What security to life ? 
 We all go unarmed. What security to property ? The law 
 takes care of the thief and the swindler. If, in the progress of 
 time and changes, our government is found to be defective, 
 there is an element within the Constitution that makes pro- 
 vision for its own improvement. See what a nation has grown 
 up under this government in a little more than eighty years ; 
 grand and noble in its elements as well as in its achievements. 
 Never, so much, as within a few weeks, have I known how to 
 value and prize a good government, and especially such a gov- 
 ernment as ours. 
 
 2. There exists, in our land, a deep-laid conspiracy 
 to break up and destroy this government 
 
 Whoever looks at this Southern rebellion as having arisen 
 only from recent causes, and as aiming only at a peaceful di- 
 
8 
 
 vision of our country into two governments, that could live 
 side by side in harmony, takes onl}^ a narrow and partial view 
 of the subject. When this rupture first burst upon us, the cry 
 rang through the land, that Abolition had done this — that the 
 South had been denied their equal rights — and that their rights 
 even had been denied, hy a, refusal on the part of the North to de- 
 liver up their fugitive chattels when demaiided. Upon these 
 grave charges, all honest men at the North began to look 
 about them and inquire, What had we done inconsistent with 
 that law of love and good neighborhood, which requires us to 
 do to others as we would that they should do unto us ? But 
 the South soon relieved us of these grave charges, by coming 
 forward of their own accord and telling us that their plan of 
 an independent confedecracy had been a long meditated 
 scheme, dating back to a period before technical abolitionism 
 had a beginning. It was quite evident that they only made 
 these charges a pretence, that they might have some plausible 
 pretext for their action, and some ground on which to ask the 
 sympathy and aid of others, to help them carry out their 
 plans. The South, from the beginning, has been like a petted 
 child in the family of States. With only one-third of the 
 population, she has had more than one-half of the Presidents, 
 and near, if not quite, two-thirds of all the offices in the gen- 
 eral government, in the army and navy, and as representatives 
 at foreign courts. For every fugitive slave who has been 
 rescued out of the hands of his master by a Northern mob, 
 there have been ten Northern men, (according to a record kept 
 by one minister,) ten Northern men that have been lynched, 
 and tarred and feathered, or hung by a Southern mob, without 
 any just cause. These things on both sides, have been wrong. 
 But if outrage should be properly balanced against outrage, 
 and the number were to be counted, the South, I apprehend, 
 should be the last to complain. 
 
 I have said that by their own confession this conspiracy 
 against our Government dates back to a period beyond the 
 influence of recent causes. To understand it, we must look 
 
9 
 
 over some of tlie facts in our national history. Previous to 
 the Eevolution, the thirteen States, which then existed, were 
 colonies of Great Britain, and each one independent of the 
 other. For the purpose of gaining their independence of the 
 mother government, they entered into a confederacy, in which 
 they agreed to join together for their mutual defence and sup- 
 port. In that confederacy there was a general Congress, but 
 there was also independent State sovereignty. Each State 
 had the right, in its own sovereignty, to receive or reject any 
 act of Congress. The general government had no power to 
 enforce its laws in any State, if that State objected. This 
 confederacy continued for eleven years after the Declaration 
 of Independence, and until 1787. The country had the expe- 
 rience of it for four years after the war of the Revolution 
 closed. It worked well in time of war, when there was a 
 common interest to unite, and a common enemy to repel ; but 
 it was found not to be so well adapted to times of peace. 
 There was too much clashing of the State governments with 
 the general government. In 1787, Virginia was the first to 
 propose a general convention, to revise the articles of the con- 
 federation, and settle the government on a more permanent 
 basis. That Convention met in Philadelphia. It consisted of 
 fifty-five delegates from the different States, each State being 
 represented, except Rhode Island. These delegates were pat- 
 riots and statesmen of no mean rank, and they went to their 
 work, with Washington their presiding ofl&cer, as delegate 
 from Yirginia. History tells us that they first attempted to 
 revise and amend the old confederate system ; but becoming 
 convinced of its unfitness for the purposes of a consolidated 
 general government, they concluded to frame a constitution 
 for a permanent, national government, in which Congress 
 should be supreme and the States subordinate. Several 
 months were spent in calm, wise, and prayerful deliberation. 
 The result was our National Constitution, forming a consolidated 
 government, instead of a confederacy. Of course no State 
 was compelled to adopt this constitution; but when, by a 
 
10 
 
 regular Convention, any State did adopt it, slie was bound bj 
 it. All the States did, ultimately, adopt it, and so has every 
 State that has since been added to the Union. 
 
 Among the things which are explicitly named as being sur- 
 rendered by the different States to the general government 
 are the following, in the ninth section of the first article of the 
 Constitution, ''^that no State shall enter into any treaty, alliance^ 
 or confederation; grant letters of ma.r que or rei^risalf ^Uhat 7io 
 State shallj without the consent of Congress^ enter into any agree- 
 ment or compact ivith another State^ or ivith a foreign power ^ In 
 subscribing to this section of the constitution, each State dis" 
 tinctly surrendered its sovereignty in these particulars ; and 
 of course any act of any State to do these things named, is in 
 violation of the constitution, and against the very life of the 
 general government. 
 
 But, as if to settle this matter of the subordination of State 
 sovereignty to Congress, the sixth article of the constitution is 
 still more explicit. The middle section of it is as follows : 
 " This co7istitution, and the laws of the United States which shall 
 he made in pursuance thereof^ and all treaties made^ or which shall 
 he made under the authority of the United States, SHALL BE THE 
 SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND ; and the judges in every StatP 
 shall he hound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any 
 State to the contrary notwithstanding T Now whether this clause 
 of the constitution, so plain and clear and full, leaves any 
 margin whatever for the doctrine of State sovereignty, which 
 is the grand pretence of this Southern movement, judge ye. 
 Of course any one can see that such a doctrine can be nothing- 
 else than treasonable, and if carried out, fatal to the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Now it appears that this doctrine of State subordination to 
 the general government has not been pleasing to some of the 
 leaders of the Southern section of the Union ; and more than 
 thirty years ago they began the work of undermining the gen- 
 eral government, by preaching and getting adherents to the 
 doctrine of State rights. Here began the doctrine of seces- 
 
11 
 
 sion — a doctrine wliich, under tlie circumstances, contains the 
 very essence of treason and rebellion. 
 
 A practical trial of the truth and strength of the doctrine 
 was made in 1832, in which South Carolina undertook to 
 assert and maintain her State sovereignty over the general 
 government, in setting aside and refusing to obey a law of 
 Congress. If we had had in the Presidential chair, at that 
 time, a man of a weak hand and faint heart, that act of South 
 Carolina would have ripened into a full rebellion. But the 
 prompt action of the government strangled the coiling rattle- 
 snake, (fit emblem for a State that then and ever since has 
 been reeking with the poison of treachery.) The seeds of re- 
 bellion then begun to be sown have been scattered abroad, 
 and taking root in the Southern soil from that day to this. 
 
 During the progress of years, there have been many things 
 that have been calculated to irritate and provoke and strengthen 
 the South, in their determination to put themselves in an atti- 
 tude of hostility. The North has increased rapidly in popula- 
 tion, and grown rapidly in wealth ; while the South has made 
 very slow progress. Laws have been made to encourage the 
 free industry and manufactures of the North, which could not 
 be of equal benefit to the South. And, more than all, there 
 has arisen, in the North and all over the Christian world, a dis- 
 position to enquire into the character and workings of certain 
 peculiar domestic institutions ; as to their bearing on morals, 
 on religion, on politics and on national prosperity. All these 
 things have had their effect upon the quick, mercurial tempers 
 of the South, and served to ripen the seeds of dissatisfaction 
 into the spirit of rank rebellion. The South were willing to 
 remain with us as long as they could make the government 
 work to their advantage ; but when they could no longer rule 
 they seem determined to ruin. They evidently saw a time 
 coming which would be a favorable one for their purposes- 
 They had so much of the general government in their hands, 
 that they could make large preparations for determined action. 
 Never did the world look upon men more deeply infamous, 
 
12 
 
 and more foully perjured, tlian tliose officers of our govern- 
 ment, who liad deliberately sworn to support the Constitution 
 and Laws of the United States, and who were plotting, all the 
 while, to overthrow the very government which they had 
 sworn to support. How Southern arsenals were filled with 
 arms and then seized, with forts and mints and moneys ; and 
 how the government was held back by these perjured office- 
 holders, from putting any check upon these lawless proceed- 
 ings, you all know. 
 
 But had they not a right to secede, say you ? Yes ; just as 
 much as the Devil, the first secessionist, had a right to secede 
 from the government of God ; just as much as Adam had a 
 right to eat the forbidden fruit in Eden ; just as much as this 
 town has a right to say, they will throw off the laws of the 
 State and make laws for themselves. Just this right had the 
 South to secede, and no more. 
 
 But why not let them go ? The reasons why we cannot let 
 them go, are many and strong. They are a part of our coun- 
 try and government. They are solemnly bound up with us in 
 the same Constitution and laws. Two governments can not 
 and must not be allowed to exist on this soil, under circum- 
 stances which would evidently bring us into constant collision. 
 United we stand ; divided we fall. The very foundation of their 
 new " Confederacy" is laid in injustice and oppression, — an 
 intsitution, against which the civilized world is rising up in 
 judgment ; which God winked at, and allowed, in the days of 
 semi-barbarism, as he did Polygamy, but which is now seen 
 and known to be against every principle of natural justice and 
 religious benevolence. Such a government, founded upon the 
 principle of fundamental wrong, and following out the legiti- 
 mate laws of its own formation, would not be long in calling 
 down upon itself the execrations of the civilized world ; for 
 they would become like the children of Esau, their hands 
 against every man, and every man's hand against them. Inter- 
 linked as all parts of this country are, by natural boundaries 
 and navigable streams, it would be fatal to the interests of this. 
 
13 
 
 continent, to allow tlie existence of such a government. And 
 more than all, to allow the principle of voluntary secession, 
 would be suicidal to our own government. The inevitable 
 effect would be, to admit to our bosom a viper that would be 
 sure to sting us to death. I tried hard to think that it might 
 be best to allow secession, and dismiss our Southern brethren 
 with a blessing, and let them do the best they could ; but the 
 more I thought, the clearer I saw that it could not be done 
 without the risk, if not the certainty, of scattering our own 
 government to the winds. 
 
 Sometimes iniquity brings on its own punishment, and de- 
 feats itself, and works its own ruin, in its own natural fruits. I 
 think it would have been so in this case, if it had been safe 
 to allow our Southern brethren to have gone on a few months 
 longer. Their " Confederacy" would have shown itself a rope 
 of sand, and the members of it would soon have been fighting 
 and clashing among themselves. But they were stealing so 
 enormously, and carrying on their iniquitous proceedings "^ith 
 such a high hand and such a boastful impudence, that soon we 
 should have been without a Capitol, and the sinews of our 
 strength would have been cut, one after another, and they 
 would have extended their pall of death and ruin over us alL 
 This they intended and boasted that they would do, and they 
 supposed that they would have so much sympathy and help 
 from the North, as to enable them to do it. They attributed 
 the masterly inactivity of the Government to weakness, and 
 a spirit of co-operation with themselves, and they reckoned 
 upon it as a certain pledge of their success. Forbearance was 
 exercised full long enough : it was carried to its farthest limit. 
 
 There is a time for all things ; and the time did come^ when 
 the Government arose in its majesty and power, and began to 
 take strong measures, and call things by their right names. 
 The war that is upon us, could not have been avoided. No 
 compromise was possible, that could have saved the Govern- 
 ment and the nation. A partial compromise might have made 
 peace for a time ; but war would have been sure to come in the 
 
14 
 
 end. It is found to be a fact in history, that a compromised 
 peace is likely to be short-lived ; while a conquered peace is 
 much more likely to be enduring and permanent. 
 I remark — 
 
 8. That it is now the clear duty of all patriotic 
 
 CITIZENS to rally FOR THE STRONG AND VIGOROUS 
 SUPPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 The South have acted long enough in this matter of secession 
 to show their true colors, and their earnest intentions. They 
 know, as well as we, that no two governments like theirs and 
 ours can exist side by side. They know that their existence 
 depends on our overthrow and subjection. As long as they 
 could make progress, and gain treasure and territory, by steal) 
 ing, they would rather have peace than war ; and so they stole 
 and violated their solemn oaths to the government, and filled 
 up the Southern arsenals, and robbed the public treasury, and 
 comikitted open acts of treason, and still cried for peace. They 
 were all for peace. "All we want," says their President 
 " is to be let alone." And that is all the thief or the mur- 
 derer want : they want the privilege of committing their 
 crimes, and then to be let alone. But this could not be. 
 Even God's forbearance has a limit ; if too long abused, 
 it gives place to judgment and justice. Had any foreign 
 power committed against us the hundredth part of the out- 
 rage which has been committed by the South against the 
 government, we should have been at war long ago. Forbear- 
 ance is a blessed virtue, and I am not sorry that it has been ex- 
 ercised to its fullest extent ; though if it had ended long before, 
 it would probably have saved us thousands of lives and mil- 
 lions of money. Exercised as long as it was, the effect has 
 been to secure great unity of sentiment and harmony of action 
 at the North. When the government said to the South, " You 
 have gone far enough, you must now bring back what you 
 have taken treasonably," the whole North responded Amen. 
 And then such a rising of the people was never witnessed since 
 
15 
 
 the world began. The lines of party dropped instantly, like 
 the cords from Sampson's arms, when he rose in his strength. 
 Neighbor grasped his neighbor's hand, and asked, "Shall we 
 have a government ? or shall we yield to anarchy and despot- 
 ism?" This simultaneous uprising of the people ; this obliter- 
 ation of party lines ; this rushing together for the common de- 
 fence of the best government on the globe, will be recorded in 
 history as one of the most sublime and majestic movements 
 that ever occurred on earth. This great and wonderful move- 
 ment is evidently of God. 
 
 I have said that war is upon us. What we all dreaded, and 
 hoped would never come in this land, is actually upon us ; a 
 civil war in the same country, and between brethren of a com- 
 mon origin and religion. And to use the language of one of 
 the most conservative and learned divines, in his speech be- 
 fore the American Tract Society— "It is," said he, "a holy 
 war ; a holier war never drove a saint to his knees or a mar- 
 tyr to the stake." I believe this most heartily, and most 
 heartily can I pray that God would give it success. 
 
 It is not an aggressive war — a war of conquest — a war to 
 add territory to us that belonged to others. Then it would 
 
 be wicked. 
 
 It is not a war for retaliation and revenge, to gratify hate 
 and malice, and take vengeance. In this case, too, it would 
 
 be wrong. 
 
 It is not a war of section against section. The North does 
 not hate the South ; and when the contrary assertion is made 
 and spread broadcast over the South, in party newspapers, it is 
 a base libel. No doubt the ignorant masses at the South believe 
 that the North hates them, and they are made to beUeve it by 
 party demagogues, for their own selfish ends. All intelhgent 
 people at the South know that this is not true. 
 
 Nor is this a war between freedom and slavery. It is true, 
 that if there had been no slavery in our country tliis war could 
 never have come ; and it is true, also, that on the part of the 
 South the whole movement of secession has originated, according 
 to their own confession, in the one motive to sustain, and extend, 
 
16 
 
 and perpetuate slavery, for there has arisen among them a per- 
 fect fury of pro-slavery fanaticism. Yet, on the part of the North, 
 slavery has had nothing to do with their motives in carrying on 
 this war. What will be the result of the war upon this institu- 
 tion no man can tell. Should the South submit in time, and 
 deliver uj) their traitor leaders, they will save this darling domes- 
 tic institution of theirs ; or should they succeed in conquering us, 
 and bring in their government in the place of ours, then they 
 will spread this institution over all the land. But should they 
 take such a course as to protract the war and make it desperate, 
 they run a great risk of losing all their hold npon slavery in 
 more ways than one. At present, much as the changes have 
 been rung 'a\:>on abolition, I do not believe that there could be 
 found five hundred men in all the North, of any respectable 
 standing, who would do the South one single act of injustice in 
 regard to their slaves. This war on the part of the North has 
 no reference to the subject of slavery. 
 
 It is a war for preservation — for self-defence — for our very ex- 
 istence; a war to decide whether we have a government — 
 whether we have a country ; whether we shall have the protection 
 of a constitution and laws, or whether our constitution and laws 
 shall be stricken down and trodden under foot, and our govern- 
 ment torn to fragments. An able writer has said that there are, 
 in this Southern movement, but three natural steps — Secession, 
 Anarchy, Despotism. If we could afford to let the South alone 
 for a while, they would evince the truth of this natural progress. 
 There is a reign of terror there now, and thousands are leaving 
 all, and fleeing for their lives. 
 
 This war is for our liberties, our firesides, our homes ; for our 
 freedom of thought and speech ; for our schools, our churches, 
 and our very citizenship. We have a thousand times more at 
 stake than we had in the war of the Revolution. Then, it was 
 virtually a three-penny tax on tea ; and now, it is whether we 
 shall have a free government or a despotism — order or anarchy. 
 Never in all my life have I looked upon a strong, stable, free 
 government, as so great a blessing, as since that government has 
 been threatened with being overthrown. Said one eminent di- 
 vine to me last week, one who spent a recent winter in the South, 
 
17 
 
 and who well understands Southern Society, " We can well afford 
 to lose one hundred thousand lives, and expend five hundred mil- 
 lion dollars, if we can only establish our government on a firm, 
 permanent basis ; it may ruin this generation, but the govern- 
 ment will be preserved as a blessing for future generations." 
 
 It has been said of wars, that they are never inaugurated with- 
 out reasons, nor are they carried on for mere abstractions ; there 
 are always great principles, great ideas, at the end of the bay- 
 onet. This war has great principles, great ideas, connected with 
 it. It is not a war for conquest, nor for revenge, nor for triumph 
 of section over section, nor for the destruction of Southern insti- 
 tutions. But it is a war of order against anarchy, of law against 
 mobs, of government against lawlessness, of patriotism against 
 rebellion, of loyalty against treason, of Union against confede- 
 racy, of nationality against disintegration. Setting aside the 
 causes, in which there have been too many on both sides, there 
 never was a war in which the truth and right and justice were 
 more completely on one side. I think we shall see, as it pro- 
 gresses, and the character of it and the principles involved come 
 to be more clearly understood, that all Christian governments 
 and the whole Christian world will justify the North and condemn 
 the South. 
 
 How clear, then, the duty of every friend of order and law 
 and of the public welfare, to rally to the support of the govern- 
 ment ! During the last month there has been witnessed one of 
 the most sublime spectacles the world ever saw, in the triumph 
 of patriotic principle over party feeling. The present Adminis- 
 tration was put into power by a party, but if it were now sus- 
 tained only by that party, and the opposite party were to with- 
 hold their influence, or throw that influence in favor of Southern 
 rebellion, as the South confidently expected, then would the ruin 
 of the country and the Government be complete. But when the 
 crisis canie, and men were called in Providence to take sides, that 
 very party that were not in favor of the Administration came for- 
 ward promptly and nobly to its support. Patriotism triumphed 
 over party feehng and preferences. Party lines were abolished 
 — party criminations were laid aside. Among the strongest and 
 most able supporters of the Government at this moment, are the 
 
18 
 
 very men who made the strongest opposition to the election of 
 the men who now compose that Government. I never saw the 
 hand of God more clearly, or the Divine approbation of our great 
 national unity more manifest, than in this general movement to 
 abjure all party politics for the sake of the common welfare. 
 Indeed this movement is so general that it is only now and then 
 that you hear the low mutterings of some unpatriotic soul, keep- 
 ing up the ribaldry of party slang, and suggesting to every one 
 the painful inquiry, "Wouldn't that man be a traitor if he 
 dared ?" All such I pity as well as blame, for they will be sure 
 to inherit a name and a reputation not very odorous of honors. 
 
 Such a cause as that which our Government is now contending 
 for, every true patriot can heartily sustain, and every true Chris- 
 tian can heartily pray for. We have now in the Presidential 
 chair the only man in that office, (save the good Washington,) 
 who, though not a professing Christian himself, yet publicly asked 
 the prayers of all the people that he might be gifted with wisdom 
 in his difficult position. We can pray, too, heartily for such a 
 soldiery as we have in the field. It has been said that such an 
 army, with so many praying men among them, from churches 
 and Sabbath School teachers and Bible classes, has never been in 
 the field since Cromwell's days, A large number of these regi- 
 ments have carried not only their Bibles and hymn-books, but 
 their chaplains and their prayer-meetings with them. Such an 
 army will strive to get victorious without much bloodshed — will 
 commit very few lawless acts of violence — will be sure to treat 
 the vanquished with kindness and generosity, while they will see 
 the perfect justice of hanging the traitorous leaders of this rebel- 
 lion. When they have conquered a peace, as I trust in God they 
 will, they will return to the peaceful pursuits of their former in- 
 dustry, with the blessings of the nation and of future generations 
 resting on their heads. And as time moves on, and the nation 
 prospers, and the arts and sciences flourish, the scenes and inci- 
 dents that are now occurring will be woven into tales of fact and 
 fiction and romance, recalling to our children and our children's 
 children a very critical period in American history — the stirring 
 times of the Southern rebellion. 
 
 But I have said enough ; though not enough to exhaust the sub- 
 
19 
 
 ject, and not more than enough to satisfy the demands of the 
 patriotic spirit of the day. I could well occupy the time of a 
 whole discourse in looking into the moral character of this rebel- 
 lious movement, over which our Southern brethren are making 
 their boasts, and praying, with such mistaken views of the 
 righteousness of their cause, and of the Divine approbation. A 
 movement, having its origin in a settled determination to prop up 
 and perpetuate an institution, abhorrent to every principle of 
 justice, and humanity and religion ; a movement whose leaders 
 are men who have violated their sacred oaths, and robbed the 
 public treasury, and stolen the public property, and who are now 
 encouraging the whole South to repudiate their private Northern 
 debts, that they may have more money to carry on their rebel- 
 lion ; a movement, in which the masses of the people are wheedled 
 and deceived and hampered, and deprived ol the privilege of free 
 voting ; a movement, in which free citizens, union-men, are driven 
 from the country in scores and hundreds and thousands, that the 
 rebels may have everything their own way ; so that it is said that 
 more free white citizens have been driven from the South, in the 
 two months past, than the South ever lost in runaway slaves since 
 the 2:overnment beoran ; and all that remain at the South are 
 obliged to vote one way, or suffer the loss of all things. Such a 
 movement never has had, and never can have the Divine appro- 
 bation. God must alter in his own moral character before He can 
 approve such a movement. Even if the movement should succeed 
 it would be, to me, no evidence of the Divine approbation. It 
 would be one of those triumphs of the wicked, which God might 
 allow for a time, but which he would be sure to overrule for ulti- 
 mate good. To the true patriot and christian there is but one 
 side to this question, and I want myself, and I want you, all of 
 you, to be on the side of truth and justice, and constitution 
 and government, against meanness and falsehood and ti'eason. 
 
 Before I close, allow me to address a few words to the ladies. 
 I need not state how much you have at stake, in this contention 
 of government against anarchy. If there is anything that you 
 can do, with willing hearts and ready hands you should become 
 volunteers, for the whole period of the war. I have an idea that 
 there will not be very much bloodshed. The old hero, who is the 
 
20 
 
 leader of our armies in this conflict, never lost a battle, and never 
 needlessly threw away men's lives. It is said of him, that his 
 tread will be slow, but it will be the tread of a giant. And yet 
 your services, ladies, will be just as much needed, as if you were 
 called upon to become nurses around the sick and wounded and 
 dving. You will be needed to act vigorously and promptly 
 thouo-h it may be at home. Let it be yours to look well after the 
 support and comfort of the families of our soldiers in the field. 
 All honor to the men, to the married men, to the fathers, who 
 have gone at their country's call, to the exposures of the camp 
 and the battle field. I prophesy, that they will be recorded 
 heroes in history, and our children will rise up and call them 
 blessed. Let their families be cared for by our patriotic ladies, 
 callino" in, as they shall need it, the aid of the patriotic men. Who 
 can fully enter into the feelings of the soldier-husband in the 
 camp, and the soldier's wife, left desolate at home ? I take off 
 my hat to that soldier as the guardian and defender of my liber- 
 ties. I would cheerfully divide my pittance with his wife and 
 family. We have, I believe, but two soldiers gone from among 
 us who have families ; I wish we had more. One of them was 
 met on his way by one of our citizens, who saw a tear start into 
 that soldier's eye at the mention of leaving his family. That 
 citizen gave him the assurance that his family should be cared for 
 if they should want. Let that pledge be redeemed. Ladies, let 
 this work be yours, and you may be sure that you will have the 
 hearty co-operation of every patriotic and christian man. 
 
 Let us all remember that our town bears an honored name — 
 the name of a man*, who was an active patriot, as well as a most 
 worthy chaplain of Revolutionary times, who, with his not less 
 noble wife, laid their lives and poured out their blood upon the 
 altar of freedom. Such a town, bearing a name so redolent of 
 blessed memories, ought not to have any other than the true pat- 
 riotic ring, 
 
 * Key. Mr. Caldwell, of Elizabeth Town. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 011 933 340 4 
 
 \ 
 
 w-