»•• ^ ^ ' • • • ' ^" ^ " ''<« °o ^ 01 ^\*;f^*^^^. ^^.>: 4^' % ^5_ ' ^j v. # '^ >- ^oV' .y ' •'^i^\ \.,/ .•:«^_i'/(C-. *-^./ /^ ^^. my A NATIONAL DISCOURSE DELIVERED IN THE Central Presbyterian Church, WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, BY THE PASTOR, Rev. aff'. WISWELL, ON SABBATH MORNING, JULY 12, 1863. " Pe t^ut glomllj, ht ^m glorjt hi t^e ^ori>. WILMINGTON : HENKY KOKEL, PKINTEB, South East corner Fifth and Market Streets. 1863. DISCOURSE. He stood in the midst of the ground and defended it and slew the Pbilis- tines, and the Lord wrought a threat victory. " He that glorieth let him ^lory in the Lord " — 2d Sam. xxiii, 12. 2d Cor. x, 17. Under a Theocratic government, it was usual to refer all great and momeatous events to Grod. It was through Him that empires and kingdoms rose, flourished and declined. It was by Him that kings reigned and princes decreed justice. He crowned and he also uncrowned the heads of the monarch and the mighty ones. If the hosts went forth to battle and were wreathed with the laurel of victory, it was Jeliovah who wrought it, and if they were overwhelmed and vanquished, it was accounted for on the ground of His sore displeasure. My text occurs in the historical account cf the famous generals and chieftains who fought under David. The sacred historian goes over the catalogaie of these illustrious names, and you will no- ■tice that, however splendid their achievements, the honor is not in a single instance given to the man ; but it was the Lord who wrought by them, who is counted worthy of all praise. Now, I know of no change in the moral government of the world Tvhereby this order is reversed. Whether it be a Patriarchy,, a Monarchy or a Theocracy, an Autocracy or a Democracy, it is the same God who reigns and controls the destinies of men. Unseen, yet mighty and triumphant is the divine hand in all the great affairs of the world. He orders the grand procession of the nations. He marshals the royal and controlling forces of tlie world. " Thus saitU the Lord God, remove the diadem, take off the crown, exalt hiui that is low and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it shall be no more until he come whose right it is and I will give it him." What mighty and sententious utterances are these ? How like the utterances of a Supreme and Almighty Being, who can do what he will with his own. The God of glory sitteth upon the circle of the world, and all its thronging inhabit- ants are as nothing before him. The skillful and mighty com- mander of Israel stood defiant in the midst of the Philistine host to defend his land from their ravages and rapine ; but his arm was powerless, until Jehovah nerved it for the victorious blow ! Uut when He put forth his powerful hand and spake the word, all the fierce and terrible forces of wickedness trembled, and " at the breath of his nostrils they hasted away." This same God now reigns and does his will among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the world. To Him now as ever, all great events must be referred. To Him now, as ever, must the na- tions look and on his will must they wait. pros tor\-...v,.j ... K.^^..v.. j..iv;iii Luat jiuiiur lue i win nonor and they that despise me shall be h'ghtly esteemed." Here is the key ta national rise and national ruin. In the early history of this republic. the fathers habitually respected this great underlying principle of moral government. They habitually regarded the "fayor of God as ' necessary to national existence. In these later days of our history we have risked and perilled our national life, by losing sight of these divine landmarks. Happy day is that for us, which'' we trust has already dawned, when God shall be honored both in defeat and victory; when to him shall be referred our cause, from him sought all our successes ; when in the dark and saddened days of reverec and disaster, we shall humble ourselves under his mighty hand, and in the days of victory and exultant joy, we shall be"" ready, to ex-" claim from grateful and reverent hearts, "The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad I" I presume it is not difficult fur you to see the bearing of these re- marks taken in connection with my test, upon our present circum- stances and the condition of our own country at this time. It is but as yesterday since we were in a state of the most intense and pain- ful excitement at the prospect of immediate war at our very doors. The cry of invasion sounded through our streets, " jMen's hearts were failing them for fear of the things" that were coniiMo: sudden- ly upon them. "To Arms ! to Arms I" was the rallying c^ill every- where. The stillness of the day of God was broken, the sanctuaries were well nigh deserted. There were hurry ings to and Iro, and the tramp of armed men was heard, heavy and' rapid, throuah our hitherto peaceful city, in preparation for defence and protection against the expected assault ot an insolent and rebellious host. But a few miles towards the setting sun quiet villages were already bein"- pillaged and seemingly nothing opposed the conquering armies of a haughty and cruel slave-power bent upon establishing their barba- rous and brutalizing institutions over all the loyal territory of the i-epublic, at the point of the bayonet and sword. The noble army of the government so often defeated was, we knew not where. In the midst of all this confusion, as if to make the pall still darker that was so fast settling down upon the expiring nation, the com- mander of that army was removed and his place supplied by a man who, while true and brave, was yet untried and unskilled in the lead if a great body of men. At farthest but a few brief days or hours ttnd he must meet a large army of invasion, flushed with almost un- jhecked successes. How could the prospect be darker ? To what oore hopeless straits could we be reduced ? Our nation's natal day, uillowed by so many joyful remembrances through more than four- score years of peace and unexampled prosperity, dawned at leno-th ipon the smoke and storm of battle — the clash and shock and deaf- >ning roar of 200,000 brave men in deadly conflict. Who could predict the result ? VVe could not be joyful, we could not sliout victory and Inde- pendence, for we knew not but every uionicnt we sliould hear of dreadful and overwhehnhif^ defeat. The curtain had not yet been lifted from that scene. (iod held it with his own strong hand. It stretched over all the land from East to West. The wondrous events that were being enacted we must not yet behold. How very painful was that suspense ? The sun of hope was almost totally eclipsed. Who of us has ever before known such a national birth- day as that ? Great things were done for us that day, but we knew it not ! Until at last slowly the curtain was uplifted and through that storm and fire of battle the glorious word victory flamed out upon t1ie nation's sight. The invading and defiant "armies of the aliens" were discomfited and put topflight in the cast, and on that very day the stronges-t hold of rebellion in the west surrendered to our victorious arms. The- great artery of traffic, the father of waters, was unbound and once more flowed peacefully and freely by the wicked city where rebel cannon has for more than two years bid de- fiance to its mighty stream of commerce. Suddenly the pall is raised from the nation's heart, and unre- strained, the joy of victory breaks forth from millions of tongues. The fountains of humanity are broken up and grateful multitudes stretch forth tlie hand of relief and comfort to the thousands of our l^rave and suffering countrymen, who stood like a massive wall against the savage assaults of rebellion, and fought these desperate battles of the llepublic with such unprecedented bravery. And now the names of our heroic leaders, Grant and Meade and Rosecrans, are on every tongue and a loyal people do them willing honors. Everybody says in the same breath these were famous victories. The instincts of the people pronounce these last the greatest victo- ries of the war, and by them the National anniversary is doubly glorious forever. We are all, doubtless, ready to pronounce these victories which culminated on our nation's natal day great victories ; and if we look more closely, we shall, I think, find abundant reasons for this judgment : 1. Because they are victories over rebellion in the self-defence of a great nation. The fundamental idea of rebellion is that of crime. From the first rebellion against the supremacy of heaveu, down to the last rebellious act of man, it is evil, and only evil, and that continually. Authority — Government — is divine. Rebellion against such government and authority is human. The one is for man's safety and happiness, the other is sure to bring destruction and misery in its train. The one is sanctioned and approved of God for human welfare, the other is stamped with the curse of God as the destruction of order, safety and peace. The idea of civil government allows the possibility of rebellion and defiance to ite restraints. But for all this there is no excuse nor apology in the whole range of the divine economy. To speak of justifiable rebel- lion against legitimate government, is to reverse the entire order of Batnre— to subvert all the foundations of national safety — to turn order into chaos, and to mock the very names of virtue, order, har- mony and law. To deny the right of any government to put dowii rebellion against its authority, by every means and resource in its power, is to make oneself equally guilty with those who openly justi- fy the rebellious. To deny the right and duty of any government to overthrow rebellion and comperits subjects to respectlts authori- ty, IS equivalent to denying a nation's right to live. The inherent right to maintain its supremacy is involved in the primary idea of any government. Without this it is bat a name. Hence 'there never was, there never can be a justifiable rebellion against a legitimately constituted government while the world stands. Hence any victory of our government over rebellion against its life, is a ^■reat victorv and one over which every loyal and manly heart must rejoice. ' ' 2. The nature and ends of this rebellion justify the opinion that these are great victories. Look at the history of its inception, run- ning back through forty yeai-s of secret plotting and scheming on. the part of the leading conspirators, to destroy this government? At the celebration of the birth-day of the second President of th& United States, on the 13th of April, 1830, a leading politician of South Carolina,='=gave a toast in these words: "The Union next to our liberty, the most dear. May we all remember that it can only be preserved by respecting the rights of the States, and distributin..- equally the benefits and burthens of the Union."! Here was thinly veiled the doctrine of nullification and secession, which, nursed and ripened into 30_ years of vigorous life, at length brought upon this devoted nation its present sore calamities. All doubt that first existed in any minds that while these loyal States have been pursuing the arts and cnterprizes of peace, the ambitious states of the disloyal South have been busily preparing for war, have long since been dispelled. What could not be accomplished by open voting and bargain, has been wrought by force, treachery and deceit, until at last^'the 'fruit fully ripe, was ready to be plucked from its prolific stem. Look at the nature of the rebellion. As it is utterly unjustifiable, so ulsp It IS without a shadow of provocation. The more closely you examine into the facts of history, the more will you be convinced that this vile onslaught upon the Federal Government is without cause .or_ reason. No one can be better authority on this point than the Yice President of the so-called Confederacy, who says, when point- ing out the evils of secession : •Tause, I entreat you, and consider for a moment wbat rensons you can give that will even satisfy yourselves in calraer inomeuts— wLat reasons can you give to your fellow-sufferers in the cslamity that it will bring upon us ^ What reasons can you give to the nations of the earth to ju.«tify it > Xbey will be the calm and deliberate judges in the case ; and to what cau^'e or on« overt act cnu you n.ime or p oint, on which to rest the plea of justification ? * John C. Calhoun, f Benton's Thirty Years in the Senate— 148, Vol. I: Wlial right hsj (he North assaiUd? What inlfrest nf it. c!„„,i, i . vaJeJ > What justice h„ hoea ,l.„led 1 l",""t cla m ?,n '^ , '"" '"■ ''Whea we of the South demanrled the slave trade, or the irarortation'of Af rican. for the cultivation of our lands, did they not vield thP riJhf rnr* IZ years? When we asked a three fifths repre'^,en aCin CoSre f r^u^ ^r.tZTJr' ?''°'"'^ '"^^'^ "« ^''^'^ anddeLnded Uereurn of allLi no w!?°! ^T"'' '' '^' ''''"''' "' t'^''^^ P^'-^""^ owing labor or allegiance, was it not incorporated in the Constitution, and a-ain ratified and strengthened in the Fugitive Slave law of 1850 ' ° "But do you reply that in many instances they have violated this com lo 'clnau'nUi^rth""/"'';"' '' '""'''^ ^nga^ernen's ? As tndivtl^ s'^d Kcal conimun ties thej- have done so ; but not by the sanction of government for that has always been true to Southern interests * govern^oient, ,.nn!J!." ^^.^ overthrow of the American government, established by our founded on 'thT 'T""'"^. ""^ ^"■" "P ^-^ *^"''- «^^«t and blood.^nd BucS t1?, t H , '■°'? P»'°«'P'«« of Hiffkt, Justice and IIuniarMy ? And, aS other in,?sMot?r/"'^'';r*°^ Matesmen and patriots in this and -IZnZ,'- . -f 'i' •*''' ^'^'A/-'-^'^^/ ^o.«r,,m.«<_/Ae most equal in Us righu Z^Z\nV '^''''''''r'^' mo.;Z.„f.„, in its measures, and the Lit Thoneupon. ^"""^ '" ""' ''"'' '^ '"'"' '^"' '^' ^"" '^ ^'^'''^ ''>"' height of m«rr *°;"^"'P* to overthrow such a government as this, is the Ba7ction'normrvo\I/^^^ '^'^^ ""'^'"'^^^' to which I can neither le'nd n,y Look too, at the end proposerl by this rebellion. It is uothin- iTss tan tU destruction of JicpuMcau Libert^/ and free government on this vast continent. Makmo- occasion of the legitimate election of a ,.rLT'n''n" 'V'°f'.P'^^^'"^^^P"''^'P^^« and antecedents did not prec sely tally with their own, under the false assumption of fiohtino- tor their rights, their liberties, and their homes, they sou-ht to des- troy the last vestige of liberty, make war on the rights of universal uuuan nature, and desolate the homes of thirty millions of hitherto nappy ana prosperous people. None knew better than they how sweet the sound of the sacred name of liberfj/ to American ears.— ^lence they rang changes upon itwhile they were secretlyxisin.' every means to strangle and assassinate her in her last asyluni. ^ Whoso has read the utterances of Southern demaso-ues for the iast ten years can have no lingering doubt that their^ fixed and set- tled purpose has been to destroy a free republican government bv n.ajont.cs, and establish in its stead an oligarchy, wherein the con- trnlhng classes of a slave power should sway the sceptre over a sub- jugated and servile people. Hear a few of the utterances of Southern Statesmen. Says a Greorg.a Senator, ^^ on the floors of Congress : "Drive the 'black Republican' out of the Temple of Liberty, or pull down Its pillars and involve him in a common ruin I"* . ^ ^ *R. Toombs. 8 A South Carolina Representative* thug pronounces his deliberate judgment : «« We have the issue upon us now ; and how are we to meet it ? I tell joo. feUow citizens, from the bottom of my heart, that the only mode which I think availrtble for meeting it, is just to tear the Constitution of the United States, trample it under foot and form a Southern Confederacy, every State of which will be a slaveholding State. [Loud and prolonged cheers.] I believe it, as I stand in the fi»ce of my Maker; I believe it on my responsibility to yoa as your honored representative, that the only hope of the South is in the South, and that the only availnble means of making that hope effective is to cut asunder the bonds that tie us together, and take our separate position in the family of nations. 1 hese are my opinions. They have always J)een my opinions. I have been a dinmionist from the time I could think. * * * . "Now, fellow citizens, I bavn told you very frankly and undis^pruisedly, that I believe the only hope of the South is in dissolving the bonds which connect us with the Government — in separating the living bo rly from the dead carcass. If I was the eoramnnder of an army, I never loouldpost a sentinel who would not swear that slavery is right. ****** «'I speak on my iixlividiial responsibiiity r If Fremont be elected President of the United Slates, I am for the people in thei- majesty rising above the law and leaders taking the p"wer in their own hands, going by concert or not b'j con- cert, and lai/ing the strong arm of Southern freemen upon the treasury and ar- ehieves of the Government." [Applause] Mr. Clingman, of Norih Carolina, in a speech in relation to the proper cau^e for disunion, says : — "In my judgment, the election of the presidential candidate of the Black Republican p-irty will furnish that cau«e. * * * * ♦•No other 'overt acf can bo imperatively demand rosiatance on our part &9 the simple electiou of their candidate. Th€se representative declarations are quite sufficient to show the animus of this rebellion. But this is not all. The purpose and chief end of the rebellion is to establish a government that shall extend and perpetuate human slavery. It is' to establish a type of society, having tor its central clement, the principle that " all men are not created equal ;" that one class has a right to property in another, and this without any necessary reference or regard to color. That "Slavery is the natunil and norm; 1 condition of the laboring man, whether white or bl:ick."t In tlie columns of perhaps the most influential newspaper ot the S(auth,| the principle is thus boldly stated ; i'Until recently, the defence of slavery hai labored under great difficulties because its apologists took baff-wsy ground. They confined the defence of alftvery to mere negro slavery; thereby giving up the slavery princple, aa- mitting other forms of slavery to be wrong Tbe line of defe. ce. however, is now changed Tbe South mainta'ns that slavery is 7ight, iiatural and necet^sary, and does not depend upon d-fference of complezto7u^ The laws Ot the slave States justify the holding of wuitb men tn bondage. * Preston S. Brooks, f Charleston Mercury. % Bicbmond Examiner. In the same journal We bare seen, within a few weeks, this decla- ration of principle. "The establishment of the Confederacy is ft distinct reaction apninst the whole coursi of the inistakm cizilization of the age. And this is the true reaaoa why we have been left without the sympathy of the nations until we con- quered th it sympathy with the sharp edge of our sword. For lAberty, EqualHy, Fraternity,' we have deUheraiely substituted Slavery, Svhordination, and Government. Those social and political problems which rack and tor- ture modern society we have undertaken to solve for ourselves, in our own way, and wpon our own principles. That 'among equals equality is right:' amotig those who Ate naturally unequal, eqnality is chaos; that there are slave races born to serve, master races born to govern ; — such are the fundamental principles which we inherit from the ancient world, which we lift up in the face of a perverse generation that has forgotten the wisdom of its fathers : by whose principles we live, and in their defense we have shown ourselves ready to die Reverently we feel that our Confederacy is a God- sent missionary to the nations, zvith great truths to preach. We must speak them boldly ; and whoso hath ears to hear let him hear." I speak of these opinions as showincr the nature and ohjects of the rebellion which is now being so mercilessly waged agiiin.st our na- tional authority. It is against the progress of civil and religion.^ liberty — against the progress of enlightened philanthropy — against the progress of civilization and intellectual retinement — against the spirit of the christian religion — -advancement of social order and happiness — against all the springs and incentives to virtue and sound morality, and finally against the universal and dear- est interests of mankind.'"'' The oppressed of every land look upon it with shuddering horror, and the oppressor is glee- ful at the faintest prospect of its success. Can any victory over such a rebellion be other than a great victory ? Can any truly loyal heart be other than joyful in every substantial tritimph of the fede- ral armies over such a rebel host ? There was a time when the fear of invasion by France thrilled the h^art of all England. Then the pulpits of the land sounded the alarm, and the watchmen in Zion's towers cried out to the people to bestir themselves. And when at length this dreadful burden of fear was lifted from the popular heart, the relief was so great that no words of joy could express it. The land was filled with shouts and exultations not unlike those of the Hebrew Prophetess as she stood upon the Eastern shores of the Egyptian sea. But how much luore have we to joy, and rejoice over every sig- nal defeat of this rebellion that never had its equal in violence and *Hon. Lewis Summers, Judge of the General Court of Virgiuia, and a Blaveholder, said, in a speech before the Virgiuia L'.'gislature, in 1832 (see ''Richmond Whig " Jan. 15, 1832) : — •'A slave population exorcises the most pernicious influence upon the manners, habits, and character of those among whom it exists. Lisping infancy learns the vocabulary of abusive epithets, and struts the embri/o tyrant of its little domain. The conpciousuess ot superierr destiny takes possession of hi J mind at its earliest dawning, and love of power and rule 'grows with his growthjind strengthens with his strength.' Uole-^s enabled to rise above the operation of those powerful causes, he enters the world with miserable notions of self int' portance, and under the government of anu sb&idled temper." 10 ■wickedness since the annals of our race began. Verily tlie Lord wrought a great victory on that day. Our children and our chil- dren's children shall declare it. 3. It is a great victory because it hastens the time when multitudes through the disloyal South shall be set free from a forced allegiance to the slave power. From the first it has been evident that in many of the seceded States the larger portion of the people were unwillingly involved in this great crime against the govern- ment of their choice. . Nothing but the iron heel of a worse than Austrian despotism forced and has kept them in it. The history of this feature of the rebellion can never be written. The spirit of cruelty, vindictiveness and hate, shown towards the loyal people of the North has been unexampled. But who shall ever tell us of the unspeakable sufferings of the loyal thousands of the South whose every instinct revolted at this enormous crime against liberty and free government. I will not attempt to recount the ghastly record. Humanity and mercy shudder at it. We have been told much of the unity of the Southern people in this war of rebellion. Many have brought themselves to believe that they have acted as with one heart and one voice. But the true hi.-