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 THANKSGIVING SERMON, 
 
 iL 
 
 PREACHED BEFORE 
 
 THE UNITED RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES 
 
 OF 
 
 FISHERVILLE, N. H., 
 
 Nov. S6, 1863, 
 
 Bt J. H. GILMORE, 
 
 Pastor of the Baptist Church. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 
 
 CONCORD: 
 
 p. B. COGSWELL, PRINTER. 
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" fitflt »« fmotten to W (Smm»." 
 
 THANKSGIVING SERMON, 
 
 PREACHED BEFORE 
 
 THE UNITED RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES 
 
 OF 
 
 FISHERYILLE, N. H., 
 
 Nov. S6, 1863, 
 
 By J. H. (^ILMOEE, 
 
 Pastor of the Baptist Church. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 
 
 CONCORD : 
 
 P. B. COGSWELL, PRINTEE, 
 1864. 
 
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 IN EXTRA Wai 
 
 Bos. ^^Trf, 
 
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DISCOURSE. 
 
 "Hath God forgotten to be Gracious?" — Ps. 77: 9. 
 
 The psalmist, in putting the question of my text, did not 
 dream that any one would seriously answer it in the affirmative. 
 In the very next verse he reproves himself for having even 
 dared to hint that God had " in anger shut up his tender mer- 
 cies." Whenever, in the centuries which have rolled away 
 since this psalm was written, unblushing infidelity has ventured 
 the assertion that our Father had " forgotten to be gracious," 
 the prompt and emphatic denial of the church, the solemn and 
 impressive silence of the world have borne witness to his mercy 
 and love. In our own land especially the recognition of God's 
 goodness has from time immemorial been spontaneous and 
 hearty. But a change has come over the spirit of the Chris- 
 tian world. It is no uncommon thing now, when the rulers of 
 our State or Nation set apart a day for solemn thanksgiving 
 to Almighty God, to hear his professed children even, more 
 than insinuate that we have very little to be thankful for. So 
 many utterances of this nature have grated upon my ears that I 
 have thought I might render an acceptable service to these 
 united congregations by suggesting some proofs that God has 
 not " forgotten to be gracious " to our country during the past 
 year. 
 
 Before I enter on my theme, let me say that no man feels 
 more keenly than I the bitterness and the gloom of this terrible 
 struggle in which the nation is involved. It is a fearful thing 
 to see brother arrayed against brother in deadly strife ; to 
 think of the empty seats by the fire-side on this festive day ; to 
 
summon up the wasted forms of those who, in the hospital, or 
 amid the horrors of a Southern prison, sigh for the cool, fresh 
 breezes of their New England home. Oh ! yes, civil war is a 
 great and terrible evil ; but there are greater evils than civil 
 war. The thunder-storm which darkens the summer sky and 
 hurls its forked terrors on our defenceless heads is a terrific 
 scourge. But the thunder-storm is not so deadly as the steady, 
 dry, oppressive heat which flees before it. It was a terrible 
 scene when the demon which Christ cast out threw his poor 
 victim foaming and screaming to the ground and tore him in 
 his rage before he left him. But what should we think of him 
 who v,'ould let the suiFerer live and die in the clutches of Satan 
 rather than see him suffer thus severely ? And what of him 
 who pities the poor demon, compelled to loose his hold on his 
 victim, more than the man released from thraldom ? 
 
 What heart can fail to be oppressed with sadness while the 
 gloomy, gigantic shadow of Death, stealing onward to new 
 scenes of carnage, falls athwart our fair land — while the mar- 
 tial tramp of the tens of thousands who are marching down into 
 the dark valley, sounds in our ears ? Yet, if we are the chil- 
 dren of the Highest, groping through the darkness, we can touch 
 God's hand and feel that all is well. It may be better with us 
 as a people to-day — despite all our sacrifices and sufferings — 
 than ever before in our national history. We know not into 
 what newness of life God has purposed that we shall rise from 
 our baptism of blood. 
 
 " God works no otherwise. No mighty birth 
 But comes by throes of mortal agony ; 
 No man-child among nations of the earth 
 But findeth baptism in a stormy sea." 
 
 Unquestionably " clouds and darkness are round about him ;" 
 but it is equally beyond all question that " righteousness and 
 judgment are the habitation of his throne." And righteousness 
 and judgment ever bring peace and joy in their train. If I 
 can point you to-day to any evidence that God has not " forgot- 
 ten to be gracious " to our country — that he has not " cast oflF 
 forever ; " may we not hope that in his sovereign purposes He 
 
is more merciful than we in our weakness can understand ? 
 We can see plainly enough that judgment is tempered with 
 mercy in his dealings with this people. May it not be that, in 
 the counsels of infinite wisdom, judgment is mercy and every 
 trial but a blessing in disguise ? May we not soon discern in 
 the dark spot which for a few hours dims the brightness of the 
 sunshine and saddens our fair land by its baleful eclipse, the 
 full-orbed moon riding clear and serene in the unclouded 
 heavens ? 
 
 Let us remember that in this world we must not hope for 
 unmingled good. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and 
 scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." In heaven only is 
 there perfect freedom from sorrow, because there only do we 
 cease from sin. Yet even in the fiery furnace of our affliction 
 how often can the eye of faith discern a form like that of the 
 Son of Man. God, during the past year, has thrown the pail 
 of death oftener than ever before over this little village. Again 
 and again has He entered our households and taken from us 
 those who were dearer than life itself. But how sweetly has 
 the morning- star of consolation beamed forth from the night 
 of gloom ! How blessed the thought that more have passed 
 from death unto life among us during the twelve-month than 
 they who have passed from life unto death. As we recall the 
 wonderful displays of God's saving power ; as we think of the 
 ransomed ones who have gone from us to keep their thanksgiv- 
 ing in the presence of God ; dare we say — we who have been 
 afiiicted even — that God has not blessed us in the year that is 
 gone ? Shall the husbandman as he surveys his bursting barns, 
 the laborer as he receives wages such as were never told out to 
 him before, the tradesman as he wonders at a prosperity such 
 as no other people has ever known in time of war — murmur at 
 God's dealings with us ? Shall we complain because the clear, 
 bright sunshine has been flecked with clouds ; because the 
 sky has been overcast ; because the rain even has poured 
 down upon us, with such proofs that back of drifting cloud and 
 driving rain the sun still shines as glorious as ever ? 
 
 But I already weary your patience. Let me, as I promised, 
 
point you to some indications that God has not " forgotten to 
 be gracious " to our country during the year that is past. In 
 this service I propose to use plain words and call things by 
 their right names. 
 
 I. I mention first the continued and hearty response 
 
 WHICH THE PEOPLE OP THE NORTH HAVE MADE TO THE CLAIMS 
 
 OF THEIR GOVERNMENT. When this great rebellion first broke 
 out, when the Southern chivalry, a hundred to one, assailed the 
 worn and starving garrison of Fort Sumter, we were amazed at 
 the readiness with which the freemen of the North, forgetting 
 their local prejudices and political preferences, sprang to arms 
 to avenge the insult ofiered to the dear old flag. We felt that 
 none but God could have thus fused the varying and discordant 
 masses of the North into the molten lava of a fervent patriot- 
 ism. The Uprising of the North will be cited by the historian 
 of distant ages as a token of God's presence in our national 
 history. And is God's presence less clearly seen in that won- 
 derful unanimity with which the people of the free States, after 
 three years of untold hardships, have shown at the ballot-box 
 that they are still loyal ? Every inducement which man could 
 devise to bend them from their purpose was tried. Hope de- 
 ferred had made the heart sick. Almost every household in 
 the land mourned some loved one lost in this great struggle. 
 Twelve hundred thousand of the noblest of our sons had already 
 been sent into the field. Twelve hundred milhons of dollars 
 bad been expended. Fresh calls for men and means hung over 
 the country. The war had assumed an aspect which no man at 
 the outset dared to anticipate. And yet by majorities which 
 must be counted by tens of thousands, the people of the North 
 have buried the peace party in dishonorable graves — to await 
 the second resurrection. For almost the first time in our na- 
 tional history does the President of the United States find 
 himself sustained by a popular majority during his entire term 
 of office. I do not misinterpret the voice of the people. I do 
 not think they thought much about party poUtics in the late 
 elections. The simple question with them Avas : War or a dis- 
 
honorable peace. I do not understand them to say that the 
 man who fills the presidential chair is perfect, that he is their 
 first choice even for that high and sacred position. But they 
 have said in tones of thunder which echoed from the wild At- 
 lantic to the far Pacific that they will stand by him to the last 
 man and the last dollar. In their simplicity they have not been 
 able to discriminate between the Government and its constituted 
 authorities. They have been willing to overlook grave blunders, 
 serious faults that they might set the seal of their approval to 
 sincere purpose and honest endeavor. God only could have 
 wrought them to this matchless patriotism. 
 
 An evidence still more striking of the popular devotion (and 
 of His power who turneth even the king's heart " whithersoever 
 he will") is found in the alacrity with which the North has 
 responded to the pecuniary demands of its Government. When 
 men's pockets are emptied into the national treasury, when 
 patriotism gets into Wall street then you may be sure that the 
 heart of the people beats sound and true. What have we seen 
 during the past year ? Three hundred and thirty milhons of 
 government bonds taken at par by our own people in six 
 months. Search the pages of history in vain for a similar ex- 
 ample of confident devotion. But, you say, this immense debt 
 will bankrupt the nation. Is England bankrupt ? Her debt 
 to-day is four times that of the Northern States, while her re- 
 sources are vastly inferior to our own. A national debt, held 
 not by foreign capitalists but by the people of a nation is not a 
 curse but a blessing. It is a bond of indissoluble union. Louis 
 Napoleon understood that when, in the first flush of his popu- 
 larity, he called not on the bankers of Europe but on the people 
 of France for the millions which he needed. Every man who 
 responded to that call has given bonds for the security of the 
 imperial throne. So long as the interest on his money is 
 promptly paid and without excessive taxation, he will not venture 
 his all in any rash, revolutionary scheme. So it is in our own 
 case. You will not find men and women with " Five-twenties '» 
 in their pockets plotting treason or voting for a man who 
 
 " Left his country for his country's good." 
 
8 
 
 God, in stirring up the hearts of rich and poor alike to pour 
 their savings into the coffers of government has bound them 
 by the strongest ties to stand by the country to the very last. 
 
 But, you say, this immense debt will never be paid. I do not 
 believe it. The day will come when every Government bond, 
 every tattered green-back, every greasy bit of postal currency 
 will command its full value in gold. Till then we have in our 
 debt not only a new bond of union, but a new and safe and 
 needed field for the investment of our earnings. And what if 
 our currency should depreciate until like that of the Revolution 
 it is utterly worthless ? The loss would be far less, considering 
 our numbers and our resources, than that which our Fathers 
 bore. They bore it cheerfully, though tories croaked then as 
 traitors croak now. It was a part of the price which they paid 
 for freedom. Shall we be less willing than they to make 
 sacrifices and endure hardships for our country ? Our Country ! 
 Ah, back of all forms and parchments and men rises her dear 
 and sacred image to bo loved and guarded like the memory of 
 the mother at whose knee we lisped our childish prayers. Shall 
 we prostitute her to ignoble treason for paltry gold ? God 
 forbid. 
 
 II. Again, I can see evidences of Divine favor in the 
 
 CONTINUED SUCCESS OF THE NATIONAL AKMS. Those who 
 
 expected to over-run the South with 75,000 three months' men 
 may be excused for still mourning the poor success of our 
 armies. But, my friends, from the first hour of the rebellion to 
 the present time the eagles of the Republic have steadily pressed 
 onward towards the goal which now rises clear and distinct 
 before us. We have met with reverses. We should have 
 expected them. Taking us even by surprise, we have shown 
 ourselves equal to the emergency. The doubt and despair 
 which one year ago seemed to be settling upon us have given 
 way to a steady determination which knows no defeat. The 
 victorious banners of our loyal hosts press month by month 
 closer to the scene of their final triumph. Within the twelve- 
 month past the last rebel invasion has been met and its leader, 
 
9 
 
 smarting beneath the loss of -vvell-mgh 50,000 men, driven back 
 beneath the very walls of his starving capital. The Mississippi 
 has been opened to commerce from its source to its mouth. 
 The heart of the Southern Confederacy has been pierced at 
 Chattanooga. Help has been borne to the oppressed loyaUsts 
 of Tennessee. The banks of the Rio Grande have trembled 
 beneath the tread of a loyal army. Before the very cradle of 
 the rebellion we have met with such success as renders the fate 
 of that doomed city (to borrow the language of " The 
 Thunderer") only a question of time. The Neiv York 
 Merald estimates the territory of the Southern Confederacy 
 at the outbreak of this rebellion at 838,206 square miles. 
 Six months ago three-fourths of its fair proportions had 
 been shorn from it, leaving only 238,000 miles subject to 
 rebel control ; and its losses in battle for a single year were 
 estimated by the same authority — none too favorable to the 
 loyal cause — at 100,000 men. The Richmond Enquirer 
 asks in dismay : " What nation ever before in three years of 
 war lowered its flag eleven times in surrender ? " And the 
 same sheet waxing merry over its miseries tells us that in 
 Richmond they -carry their money to market in a basket and 
 bring their meat home in their pocket-books. I take the 
 terrible sufferings of our soldiers in the Libby prison as an 
 evidence of ^e straits to which our " paper blockade " has 
 reduced the masses of the South. Nor do I pity the Southern 
 people any more than I pity the lost soul who might have 
 salvation for the asking. Is it not evident on which side the 
 power of God is enlisted in this terrible struggle ? Shall we 
 despair of success with such names as Gettysburg, Vicksburg 
 and Port Hudson freshly inscribed upon our banners ? 
 
 And as if this were not enough, as if God would honor our 
 National festival with fresh tokens of his favor — even while I 
 speak the lightnings of heaven are bearing us tidings of new 
 and yet more glorious victories. The paper which I hold in 
 my hand (this morning's Journal,^ brings the official intelli- 
 gence that Lookout Mountain is ours with more than 6000 
 rebel prisoners and 50 pieces of cannon and Bragg's army in 
 
10 
 
 disorderly retreat before our victorious forces. " Unto thee, 
 God, do we give thanks ; unto thee do we give thanks, for 
 that thy name is near thy wonderous works declare." 
 
 in. Let me point again as evidence of the divine favor to 
 
 THE IMPROVED ASPECT OF OUR FOREIGN RELATIONS. A year 
 
 ago war with England and France seemed inevitable. But the 
 British Lion has learned now to " roar as gently as a sucking 
 dove ; " and the Gallic Fox, much as he loves fat poultry, 
 stands in deadly awe of the farmer's cudgel. And both British 
 Lion and Gallic Fox look with some little distrust on the Russian 
 Bear who proposes for once to hibernate in our hospitable ports. 
 England and France at the outbreak of the rebellion underrated 
 our National strength. They felt that they might safely 
 interfere to crush this rising power which dared to dispute their 
 supremacy among the nations. They expected the great 
 Republic to topple to pieces in a night. Plence their horrible 
 alacrity to recognize as belligerents those pirates who plunder 
 and burn on the trackless ocean. What has changed their 
 feelings toward us ? The fact that our iron-clad fleet surpasses 
 in numbers and efficiency (I quote again from the London 
 Times,') all similar squadrons of the world combined. The fact 
 that we are to succeed in our endeavors to maintain the integrity 
 of the Union, for the rulers of the old World fall down and 
 worship Success. The fact that the momentous issues of this 
 terrible conflict have come to be understood abroad. The hearts 
 of the people are with us in our struggle ; and kings and 
 emperors dare not resist the impulsive sympathy of the masses 
 which surge around their thrones. We have taught the old 
 world something in this year of grace 1863. The seizure of 
 the Confederate rams, the prompt disclosure of the projected 
 Canadian invasion bear evidence to that. We have saved 
 ourselves, by one sharp, quick, energetic effort from years of 
 foreign complication and strife. It will be a long day before 
 Old Europe will seek occasion to lay hands on Young America. 
 
 IV. And we ourselves have learned as well as taught others. 
 
11 
 
 I count it as not the least of the blessings ■which flow from these 
 terrible struggles that we have come to have A better 
 
 UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHARACTER AND POWERS OP OUR 
 
 GOVERNMENT. So mild had been the rule of the general 
 government, so few the symbols of its power that we hardly 
 knew we were a nation rather than a community of States. 
 But a government which can levy taxes, enforce conscriptions, 
 put down insurrections and carry to a successful issue civil 
 war — has shown that it is a power and nob a mere name. And 
 our government has not only shown its power but it has gained 
 in power since the war began. The people of the West and 
 the East, the North and the South have come to better 
 understand each other's character. The people of the loyal 
 States have learned that their interests are identical — that if 
 " one member suffer, all the members suffer wath it." One 
 year ago, when the Ninth Army Corps went into the depart- 
 ment of the West they were greeted with the cry " We don't 
 want you Yankees here. We can fight our own battles." But 
 that feeling has passed away. It was knocked out of our 
 Western brethren before Vicksburg and Port Hudson. 
 On God's anvil and 
 
 " By his great hammar, blow on blow," 
 
 we are fast being welded into one people. The work ia not 
 accomplished yet ; but in God's good time it will be. Yes, the 
 day will come when loyahst and rebel will be mentioned only in 
 history — when Northerner and Southerner shall be merged in 
 the more glorious name of American — when one united people, 
 faithful to each other because true to God, shall fill each smiling 
 valley and cluster on the towering slopes of every hill from the 
 Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 
 God has done all this for other nations. England, 200 
 years ago, was convulsed by civil war. -For three years 
 the best blood of her children was poured out like water. 
 The contest was brought home to every man's door — 
 nay, into many a family. Such battle-fields as Naseby and 
 Marston Moor — such scenes as the execution of King Charles 
 attest the fierceness of the struggle. But to-day England is a 
 
12 
 
 united and happy people. The names of Cavalier and Round- 
 head are forgotten. The fierce thunder-storm has passed away 
 and left the gentle hush of balmy summer. Thus may it be — 
 thus will it be with our own loved land. 
 
 V. Lastly, I can but see evidence that God has not " for- 
 gotten to be gracious " to this people in the fact that he is 
 
 FAST RIDDING OUR LAND OF THAT GIGANTIC EVIL WHICH HAS 
 BEEN THE FRUITFUL CAUSE OF ALL OUR MISERIES. We did 
 
 not contemplate this glorious result when the rebellion burst 
 upon us. We thought only of a constitution trampled in the 
 dust, a solemn union causelessly broken, a flag insulted, a 
 nation of freemen wronged. But God " remembered those in 
 bonds as bound with them." He has compelled us as a means 
 for the maintenance of " The Union, the Constitution and the 
 Enforcement of the Laws " to utter the righteous word which 
 lets the oppressed go free. In his Providence, mailed treason 
 has freed us from those constitutional obligations which forbade 
 us to interfere with the peculiar institutions of the sovereign 
 States. Disaster and defeat have compelled us to seize the 
 golden opportunity and " proclaim liberty throughout the land 
 to all the inhabitants thereof." God has cut loose the mill- 
 stone which was weighing this nation down. We have no 
 longer reason (1 borrow the words of Thomas Jefferson) to 
 " tremble for our country when we remember that God is just." 
 We have had evidence of the truth which that great statesman 
 uttered that " God has no attribute which can take sides with 
 the advocates of slavery in such a contest " as that in which we 
 are now involved. 
 
 My friends, Ave have always agreed in regard to the nature 
 and influence of this terrible evil. The most heartless conser- 
 vative has prayed that God " in his own time and his own 
 way " would banish it from our midst. God has taken us at 
 our word. At a time when we thought not, in a way that we 
 little dreamed He has compelled us to " do unto others as we 
 would have others do to us." He has given efficacy to the 
 words which our rulers have spoken. The Emancipation 
 
13 
 
 Proclamation is not, as many expected, a dead letter. There 
 are one million freedmen in our land to-daj. They stand side 
 by side with your own sons in our armies. You sit here in 
 peace to-day because 200 negro soldiers garrison the forts at 
 the mouth of the Piscataqua. These men have shown that they 
 were worthy to be free. Recall that colored standard-bearer 
 whose breast was torn open by a bursting shell in the deadly 
 assault on Wagner. Passing the banner of his country — yes, 
 thank God! his country — to his comrades he cried : "Take 
 her, boys, she hain't touched the ground yet." That standard 
 did not touch the ground. Is it not cause of thanksgiving that 
 God has raised up men with black faces even to take the place 
 of men with blacker hearts who cower and turn pale before the 
 tidings of a- union victory ? Is there one Christian here who 
 does not accjuiesce in the will of God towards our down-trodden 
 brethren, who does not rejoice that the poor slave can clasp the 
 Bible to his heart and give account of himself to the Almighty ? 
 I hope not. 
 
 In conclusion, let me urge upon you two practical duties. 
 First, let us be swift to recognize God's hand in our national 
 history. He is constraining us to do so. This war has raised 
 up for us no great leaders. It has given us, as yet, no presi- 
 dents. The Revolutionary War gave us Washington ; the War 
 of 1812, Jackson ; our Indian troubles, Harrison ; the Mexican 
 War, Taylor and Scott and Pierce. But what general to-day 
 has even the ghost of a chance to fill the Presidential chair? 
 God is taking all . the glory to himself. The Lord of Hosts is 
 our leader and in his name do we set up our banners. ! how 
 often has he interfered to save us when the arm of man grew 
 faint. How many scenes are recorded in our national history 
 like that when the little Monitor steamed into the mouth of the 
 Potomac and went forth, like David against Goliah to do instant 
 battle against the haughty monster which prostituted to ignoble 
 treason the name of our noble river. Lest we should worship 
 that vessel, she lies fathom-deep at the bottom of the sea. But 
 Jehovah still lives. " The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is 
 
14 
 
 his name." Shall we not cry aloud, in reverent submission to 
 His will, " Not unto us, Lord, not unto us ; but to thy name 
 give glory." 
 
 Once more, and very briefly, let us be true to our Country in 
 this hour of her peril. Let us be careful that we do not, by 
 act or word or thought even, weaken the hands of those brave 
 men who stand between us and the foe. Let us beware of 
 yielding to despondency when reverses come upon us. Let us 
 turn a deaf ear to the demon of captious criticism. Let us 
 subordinate the claims of self and party to the more sacred 
 demands of the Fatherland. Never yet was nation engaged in 
 a holier cause than ours. An impious and causeless rebeUion, 
 a rebellion which, to borrow the words of the Vice President of 
 the Southern Confederacy, " is the height of madness, folly and 
 wickedness," assails the best government which the world has 
 ever known. Inscribed upon the banners which we have 
 unfurled in its defence is the glorious legend : " Liberty and 
 Union — now and forever — one and inseparable." In such a 
 struggle we must succeed. Every attribute of the Almighty is 
 pledged to the triumph of our arms. Each moon that waxes 
 and wanes brings fresh tokens that he has not " forgotten to be 
 gracious." Trusting in his strength, let us go forward 
 conquering and to conquer. 
 
 " O ! countrymen, God's day is not yet done, 
 He leaveth not his people utterly, 
 Count it a covenant that he leads us on, 
 Beneath the cloud and throush the crimson sea.** 
 
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