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J ^ IT '•,«*■,'. : , , .i,,.^;i..-f ,-4#-"- •!i,,-^»*i : --if-S#* ! ---n'^ "f V- >' ■ N ,- iK A'v. , ,s?p V ' ■ '^ j ,' '■ J ' - il' , ;^-<> I /-ij* Ttu^ .^LV' i •■■■ ^■.,'! , ■■#;•£;£■» ? m ^* ** li ■y'l- THE BESIEGERS' PRAYER; OB, C|ristmn ^aW s TO HlB GOD OF BATTLES, roB SUCCESS IN THE RIGHTEOUS WAR: A SERMON, BY THE REVEREND JOHN CARROLL, * WttUpan itttntfltcr, Preached in St. Jolini Canada Eait. on th«> oceaiiinn oftbc "Gcucral Fait," April die 18tb, A. D. 18«S. PUBLISHED BT BEQUEST. * f0r0ttt0: PRINTED BY JOrtN DONOGH, AT THKCHBISTUN GUARDIAN OFFICE, NO. 9, WKIXINGTON BUILDINGS, KINO STREET- 1855. Price Seven Pence Half-penny. '^1 speciAL coLLecnoNS idouqLas LibRAKy AT klNQSrON kiNQSTON ONTARIO CANADA St # PreacI PWNTED THE BESIEGERS' PRAYER; OR, TO THI GOD OF BATTLES, FOR SUCCESS IN THE RIGHTEOUS WAR : ' A SERMON, g| BY THE REVEREND JOHN CARROLL, IDeaUpan itttniftrr, Preached in St. Jolins Canada East, on thn occasion of the " General Fast," April tha 18th, A. D. 1865. PCBLISHBD BY BEQUEST. PRimrRD AT THE GUARDIAN OFFICE, NO. 9, WRLLIXOTON BUILDWQS, KIMO STRICT 1855. Price Seven Pence Half-penny. J. DONOGH, PRINTER .,. _., .,, nar inl (V( 1 , cap citi on yor THE BESIEGERS' PEAYEll. Who will bring mo into the Strong- City ? Who will lead me into Edom. Wilt not thou, O God, which htith ciist us ofF? and thou, God, which didst not go out with our tirmies ? Give us help from trouble : for vain id the help of man. Tlirough God wo shall do valiantly : for he it is that Bhall tread dowu our enemies. — Fsalra Ix. 9 — 12. This psalm, my christian brethren, relates to that period of sacred history which intervened between the accession of David to the throne of united Israel, after the death of Ishbosheth, and the establishment of his ascendency over the surrounding nations, which he subdued and rendered tributary. It em- bodies the prayerful solicitude of his heart, it would seem under some partial and temporary reverses, ^hile he was contending with " Syria," " Moab," " the children of Ammon," " the Philistines," "Ama- lek," and " Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zoba:" (2. Samuel viii. 12.) a solicitude which was dis- sipated by victory; for it is said, " David ^.it him a name when he returned from smiting the Syrians in the Valley of Salt, being eighteen thousand^' — (Verse 13.) The text appears to refer to the siege of Bozra, the "^ capital of Idumea, and to have been e:j^pressive of soli- citude and prayer for Divine countenance and help on the very eve of storming " the strong city." Be- yond this observation we shall not pretend to 4 THE BESIEGERS* PRAYER. examine its literal moaning further ; but simply remark, that these words an? adapted to express our own solicitude under the present circumstances of the nation, and therefore appropriate as a foundation for our present meditations. In connection with two other European powers we have been drawn into a war with one of the mightiest and most extended empires on the face of the globe. This war has been raging for a year past. It has at length concentrated itself at one particular point, towards which all eyes are now turned. That point is the city and fortress of Sebastopol in the Crimea, the fall of which is con- sidered essential to the success of the allied cause, and a guarantee for the peace and safety of Europe, if not of the civilized world : for " the existence of the great fortified works of Sebastopol is the basis of the preponderance of Kussia, not only in the Black Sea, but over the East." It was fondl|^ thought that the city would have fallen long ago, but it has proved much stronger than was antici- pated. It is defended by multitudes of soldiers and the most formidable artillery, within and with- out ; and abundantly supplied with provisions and munitions of war. Besides which, our armies have had to endure the rigours of a Russian winter, to which they we -e of course,unused, and for which they were very indifferently equipped. Nay, God, in some ' sense, seems to have "cast us off,' and tohave refused to " go forth with our armies." The elements have warred with our otherwise invincible war ships, and I lit simply xpress our stances of oundation m powers >ne of the the face of for a year elf at one ! are now brtress of ch is con- ied cause, af Europe, istence of the basis ly in the IS fondj|^ long ago, IS antici- soldiers md with- sions and lies have dnter, to hich they in some ' e refused nts have lips, and THE BESIEGERS* PRAYER. 5 sunk tlie precious frci«>ht of our transports " in the depth of the sea." Tlie " pestilence," also, " which walketh in darkness" has swept away more of our brave defenders than even " the destruction that wasted at noon-day." By consciiuonce, we are deeply in " trouble" — in trouble from which man would vainly attempt to deliver us. How urgently then do we need to urge the prayer of the Psalmist : " Give us help from trouble, for vain is the help of man !" It is matter of gratitude that these calamities have brought the nation at length to a proper sense of its dependence on the Great Supreme ; and have led to humiliation before Him against whom we have sinned, and to seek " help" (or Salvation, as the word signifies) of the Omnipotent. The people of the parent country have been " weeping before the Lord," and this day (April 18th 1855.) is wisely ap- pointed by authority in our own Province, " as a day OF General Fasting and Humiliation and of Prayer to Almighty God for the success of our Armies in the said war." Now if we can biit succeed in averting God's an- ger and in obtaining his " help" and his preseftce with " our armies," it will be well indeed, " Through God Ave shall do valiantly, for he it is that shall tread down our enemies." But have we any reason to expect, or any right to seek the Divine interposition in such an enterprise ? This question I make bold to answer in the affimia- THK OKSIEGERS' PUAY£R. I I tivc; or to say, wk iiavk a rkjiit to sekk His aid, AND WE SHALL SUC'CEEl), IF WK SEEK IT AIUGHT. Ill ordor toostablisli tlii.s position, liowcvcr, I sliuU liavc to consider and determine tlns of our e the con- clusion to some, after patient deliberation I am com- ix' Med to answer the (piestion hi th(^ (iff\rmativc — that siicli an appeal to ar»ns is sometimes ri^ht. We arrive at this coiiclusiou from the followin<>[ con- siderations : — 1. (iod has invested the dvil rulers tite magistrate^ irith the p')wct' of injlictiiins [indi- tial mur- utation of le control ^articular a word, aAvful for 3 injuries 1 of such orce and • hat war it of its lis argu. himself, and tli(5 Aj ostles, judged the employment of a soldier lawful, then war is lawful. The conse- quence is apparent ; for every employment is lawful or unlawful, according to the lawfulness or unlav/- fulness of the actions to which it is designed : an employment being indeed nothing else but a constant engaging of a man's self in such a way of action." This argument is thus amplified by Dr. Paley: " When the soldiers demanded of John the Baptist what they should do, he said unto them, " Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and and bc*content with your wages." (Luke iii, 14.) In which answer we do not find that, to prepare themselves for the reception of the kingdom of God, it was required of soldiers to relinquish their profes- sion, but only to beware of the vices of which that profession was accused. The precept which follows, " Be content with your wages," supposes them to continue in their situation. It was of a Eoman cen- turion (a ^military captain of an hundred men) that Christ pronounced that memorable eulogy, " I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel." (Luke vii, 9.) The first Gentile convert who was received into the Christian Church, to whom the Gospel was imported by the immediate and special direction of Heaven, held the same situation. (Acts x. 1.) : and in the historv of this transaction we discern not the smallest intimation, that Cornelius, upon becom- ing a Christian, quitted the service of the Itoman legion ; and that his profession was objected to, or x^^r^. P 12 THE BflSIEGERS' PRAYER. I'l! his continuance in it considered as in any wise inconsistent with his new character." And in confirmation of the above, we find from Dr. Cave's "Primitive Christianity, that in the carhest and purest days of the Christian church Christians * " bore arms" — " fought fi)r the Emperor, while they continued in prayer for him" — held com- missions — and sometimes composed whole legions, therefore, called " Christian Legions." It is true, they would not fight in what they thought to be a cause of cruelty and injustice. Mark the language of the " Theban legion" to the Emperor Maxi- mianus ; " We offer our hands against any*enemy, but count it unlawful to imbrue them in the blood of the innocent : our swords know how to strike a rebel or an enemy, but not to wound those who are citizens and guiltless ; we remember that we took up arms for, not against friends and fellow-citizens : we have always fought for justice and piety, and for the safety of the innocent : these have been hitherto the price of those dangers we have run upon ; we have fought for fidelity, Avhich, how shall we be able keep to you, if we do not first keep it to our God." — Might we also ask, have not some of the holiest men oH modern times followed the profession of arms, and some of them died exulting in the Saviour's love on the field of battle? Let the history of a Ilaime, of a Burgess ; of Captains Webb, Scott, and IlaAvtry ; of the Haldanes ; and of Col. Gardner, * See Vol. 1, pp. 37, 39, GO, G6, 80, 82. who ||quest Bi tand, fbearii 1* not icheel to re< |ourse fans X enem direc Scrip only I upon f^mana ? the V occas I show I; repud law, man, hand betw whic % mitt( mag I it wj i to re Si ■| reve I and THE besiegers' PRAYER. 13 any wise 'Who fell at the battle of Preston-pans, answer the question. 3 find from at in the an church e Emperor, -held com- mie leg^ions. It is true, i^ht to be a ; language iror Maxi- [iy*enemy, the blood to strike a e who are ; we took -citizens : y, and for n hitherto ipon; we e be able • God."— e holiest I of arms, Saviour's ory of a cott, and Gardner, But it has been objected to the lawfulness of war, and, of course, the lawfulness of a christian man bearing arms, " If we are expressly commanded * not to resist qyil, but being smitten on the right cheek, to turn the other also,' as in Matt, v, 39 ; and to recompense no man evil for evil, nor to * revenge )urselves, but rather give place to wrath,' ac in Rom- ms xii, 17, 19. If also, we are commanded to love our enemies,' as in Matt v, then war, which is the direct contrary, is utterly unlawfid." To these Scriptures we answer, that they are to be understood only of private revenge inflicted by one individual I upon another, and not of a public chastisement > managed by the authority of the magistrate. That ; the words are so to be understood is clear, ail*the occasion upon which those in Matt, v, were uttered 'i shows : for the object of Christ was evidently to ■ repudiate the corrupt gloss of the Pharisees upon the law, who taught that it Avas lawful for any private man, to right and revenge himself with his own hands ; provided he did not exceed a just proportion between the punishment inflicted and the evil which had been suffered : whereas Moses com- ; mitted the execution of this law of retaliation to the magistrate ordy. Hereupon Christ tells them, that it was the duty of private men not to resist evil, nor to revenge themselves. But that the prohibition of revenge, inKom. xii, 19, concerns only private men, and not absolutely condemns all punitive acts 14 THE BESiEGFUS' PRAYER. i » when enacted by public authority is manifest ; for only in the beginning of the next chapter the Apostle is so far from denying this to the magistrate, that he shows that it is the express design of his office, viz. " a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." — As for the injunction to " love our enemies," we may remark, (f.) It is directed by Christ to individual persons, not public bodies or whole nations. (2.) But admitting that it ex- tends to these also, yet I assume that the love here comjiiandcd is not properly a love of friendship, but a love, of charity ; which consists in a freedom from any malice to, or hatred of, our enemies' persons : and this may continue to be maintained, even while a man, either in the defence or vindication of his country, kills his adversary in the field. For I suppose a judge may be in charity with a malefac- factor while he condemns him ; and the sheriff or executioner have no design or hatred to him whom, by the duty of his office, he makes a sacrifice to common justice. The case is the same in war ; where, when a man kills another, it 'need not be because he has not a love of charity to his person, but because he is bound to love his prince and his country with a greater love. Having in this manner disposed of the first problem, I proceed to the second, viz: — II. Is THE PRESENT WaR, ON OUR PART, JUSTIFIED BY THE Circumstances of the Case ? This inquiry also, after careful deliberation, we answer in the affirmative — We say yes. « ^ f every Comji ^ niaitii ; prope « interc V dicat< • this r I whic] f Nothi iThe it pre va I pacifi I past 1 cert a J whic' T semb mm mifeet; for ;hapter the ma<^istrato, dgn of his I upon him II to " love is directed blie bodies that it ex- e love here ridship, but edoin from s' persons : ined, even idieation of eld. For I a malefac- sheriff or irn whom, sacrifice to le in war ; ed not be lis person, ce and his the first JUSTIFIED ration, we # THE UESIEGEKS' rUAYEll. 15 Dft. Paley has remarked, in his " JMoral and Political Philosophy," that " the justifying causes j of war, are, deliberate invasion of right, and the necessity of maintaining such a balance of power amongst neighbouring nations, as that no single State, or confederacy of States, be strong enough to t overwhelm the rest. The objects of a just war are, precaution, defence, and reparation. In a larger ^ sense, every just war is a defensive war, inasmuch as every just war supposes an injury perpetrated, attempted, or fOared." If the above position is correct, and we conceive that few will be prepared to dispute it, then the war of Great Britain with liussia is justified in I every point of light in which it can be viewed. Compassion for the ivcak and injured ; an honorable maintenance of treaties aiidjideliti/ to allies ; and a proper regard for the civil, social, and religious interests of the civilized world, all conspire to vin- dicate the conduct of the British Government in this matter :^s these constituted the motives by which it was actuated in commencing hostilities. Nothing else would have aroused the British nation. ^^ The state of her commercial interests, and the ' prevalence of christian principles had originated a i pacific policy which had obtained for many years past a marked character. A policy which, in ; certain quarters, Avas esteemed poltroonery, to I which, in some cases, we confess, it bore a stronar '^ ' . . J semblance. During the whole of this time how Idilierent has been the conduct of Russia. The 16 THE BESIEGERS PRAYEIl. policy of this empire, since the days of Peter the Great, en one unueviating course grasping onward ambition. Especially has she had an envious eye on the Sultan's European possessions, — the way of access to the Mediterranean by means of the Bosphorus, and to Constantinople as the capital of her empire. In this last instance, she began, — after vainly tampering with England and France to induce them to give some countenance to the infamous project of seizing the " sick man's" possessions — by insolently demanding a protectorate over the Christian sub- jects of the Ottoman empire, equal to the Sovereignty of nearly four-fifths of the entire population ! The rejection of this unreasonable demand on the part of Turkey, which reached St. Petersburgh on the 26th of June, 1853, and on the same day the Emperor Nicholas issued a manifesto, announcing his intention of occupying the Danubian Principa- lities, Moldavia and Wallachia, as a " material guarantee" for the submission of Turkey to his requirements. On the 2nd of July a Russian army Corps, under General Dannenberg, crossed the Pruth, near Jassy, and entered Moldavia, thus effectually commencing warlike operations without formally declaring it. Still England did not go beyond expostulation, and even Omar Pasha, the most renowned of the Turkish generals, though he had an army at his command amounting to 120,000 awaited the expiration of the guaranteed eight dayst which had been accorded to Russia to set herself om ( THE besiegers' PRAYER. 17 )f Peter the of onward tie had an isessions, — L by means >ple as the fter vainly idiice them s project of r insolently istian sub- lovereignty on ! land on the rsburgh on e day the nnouncing 1 Principa- " material fey to his isian army ossed the avia, thus IS without id not go asha, the though he to 120,000 ight days, set herself ight with that power. During this period of |ritain*s hesitation, Russia, having command of the flack Sea, perpetrated the dastardly and murderous lassacre of Sinope, and occupied the Principalities the banks of the Danube, the mouths of which le obstructed. Nearly a year passed between her frst aggressive movement, before Britain declared rar, which declaration was formally made so late is the 28th of March, 1854, little more than a year \go. And after this declaration how slow and )rbearing were her movements. The allies may be (aid to have rendered no effectual assistance in \\e stupendous achievement of worsting the Rus- (ians in every battle, and, finally of driving them, liingle handed, out of the Principal itiesc Though dispatched in the Spring, their troops did not engage tfhe enemy till Autumn. And what generosity and Ifiirbearance marked their course, after hostilities Commenced. Although they destroyed the batteries, Inagazines, and vessels, in the harbour of Odessa, ley studiously spared the town. In view of all lese facts, could England have shown more aver- >ion to war ? Could she have resorted to any more pacific expedients than those to which she did fesort, before she drew the sword ? And what, I l^^ould ask, would have been the effect on the free- dom of Europe, on its civilization and religious iprovement, had the allies — had England — tood passively by, and suffered an absolute, semi- ^arberous, and grossly superstitious, fanatical, and itolerant power to work out her schemes [of con- IS THE besiegers' PRAYER. quest and aggrandisement ? These consequences are well set forth in a speech delivered in Glasgow, by Sir Archibald Allison, the eminent historian, \diile it further vindicates the equity and necessity of the struggle in which we are now engaged : — " While we are engaged in a contest with one of the greatest and most powerful empires in the world, we have the satisfaction of thinking that we avoided the contest as long as it could be done with safety — that we did not draw the sword till it was evident it could not be kept in the scabbard without dis- honour. If we had allowed that great Power which already overshadows all the east of Europe, to go on for another quarter of a century as it has for the last century and a half, swallowing up kingdom after kingdom, province after province, harbour after harbour, fortress after fortress, it is easy to see that the time is not far distant when the danger would roll to our own shores, when our independence and liberty would be menaced, not as now, by an enemy of seventy millions, but an enemy of seventy mil- lions having alliances of one hundred and forty millions ; and ere long we would be compelled to fight in defence of our homes and hearths on our own shores, and possibly the fate which is now befalling Sebastopol would be our own, and we would be seeing our streets obstructed by dead bodies unburied, as well as the air tainted with the corpses around us." Such was the necessity of the war into which we have been reluctantly driven by the magnitude of the danger which threatened, not lesi A the in A\ etlec ■IT % THE BESFEOERS' PRAYEIC. 19 uces grow, •nan, ;ssity 3d:— ne of ^orld, roided fety— vidcnt it dis- Avhich ?, to go for the ingdom ►ur after see that • would nee and L enemy Lty mil- id forty »eUed to less our national independence, than the fortune and happiness of every individual ill tlie community. An objection has been made calculated to damp the ardour of the piously disposed in the enterprise in Avhich our country is engaged, and that is to tliis etiect : — that we are siding with a Heathen nation against a christian. Supposing we are, we are sid- ing with the heathen nation in a matter in which it is righti and the professedly christian nation is tvrong. Besides, we are bound to the former by solemn treaty. Did Israel refuse to fulfil her pro- mises to Gibeon against the confederate Kings, because she was heathen? Certainly not. But, alas, how little of true Christianity there is in Russia. Nay, there is very little, if any more, of true religion in the tenets and practices of the Greek church, which is its established religion, than there is in Mohamedanism itself; and the Russian govern- ment is vastly more intolerant of the circulation of the Holy Scriptures and the labours of Protestant Missionaries, than the Turkish Divan. Further, the dependence of the Porte on the allies, and the inter- course of his subjects with British christians, are calculated to subserve, in a variety of ways, the interests of her christian population, besides the gradual weakening and firml extension of Mos- lemism itself. And should the allies wrest the Crimea from the government of Russia, that in- teresting country would furnish an additional and delightful field for evangelical efl(:>rt. It is a war, therefore, about which no good man 20 THE BEIEOSERS PRAYER. need feel any scruples, and for the success of which he ought to pray devoutly ami earnestly. These observations will conduct us to the (hird inquiry, viz. : — III. Have we any reason to believe that an HUMBLE AND PENITENT APPLICATION TO THE AL- MIGHTY WILL PROPITIATE HiS FAVOUR AND OBTAIN His HELP ? We have. Is he not the watchful superintender and disposer of all events ? Is he not " a God who heareth pray- er" ? who has appointed that we must " ask if v/c would receive ?" and who has assured us that ' li we ask, we shall receive ?" yea, he has said, " Call upon me in the day of trouble, and 1 will deliver you." " Man's extremity," is indeed, " IJis oppor- tunity." He often suffers us to be involved in difli- culties, that we may be brought to feel and acknow- ledge our dependence on him for help. Nor does he suffer us to vry in vain. How many instances does history, both sacred and profane, record of na- tional deliverances in answer to humble prayer to God. Some of these may be referred to : — Were not fasting and humiliation with prayer be- fore God, on the part of Israel, as recorded in the twentieth of Judges, the means of turning back the tide of battle on the offending, \>\ii for a time, suc- cessful Benjamites ? What wr.s tl».; i ^ i:e of r j'lous Hezekiah*s tearful spreading oi the impending calamity before God in the temple, but the frustra- tion of the objects of the boasting Sennacharib's inva- jejon but the putting a hook in his jtiws by which e ing t didfet THE BKHlRfJERN* PRAVER. 21 Uich ihird lT an Al- JTAIN iposer pray- if \vc Lit ■' if " Call leliver oppo I'- ll difli- kuow- (locs tanccs of na- Liyer to ycr be- lli the Lck the le, s\ic- [ending Ifriistra- rs inva- which e lie was turned 1>{|( k }>y the way by which he ooni<>, leavin^r 85,00(» of liis urinv d«>ad behind bini ? How many sijj^nal dcUv* ninres, inaiiKwer to prayer, as recorded by .lost n)ius, wvtc wrought for ihe Jews in the time of the IVhu'cjibees, out of th«' liands ol the kin, carrying 2,850 guns, and having on board 20,000 troops, and 8,000 sailors, beside 2,000 volunteers ol Ihe most distinguished families — a force which was to have been augmented by 34,000 men, assembled in the neighbourhood of Dunkirk : while the Engli.>h Navy at that time consisted of only 30 ships of wa;. But the loss of the Sprfliish Admiral, a violent t-mpest the day after they sailed, — contrary winds, — the adroit and successful attack of the British Admiral, and, finally, another serious storm, off the Orkneys, whither they had been driven by adverse winds, not only prevented their landing, but so discornlitted and vscattered them, that only a miserable remnant returned to Spain. With what propriety, therelbre, did Elizabeth cause a medal to be struck, represent- ing their disasters, with the inscription: — "Thou didst blow ijpon them, and the sea covered them." 22 THE BESIEGERS^ PRAYER. fi >< Similar interventions on a smaller scale might be mentioned, in connection with the Irish Eebellion, in 1798, — instance New Ross and Ilackettstown ; and during the threatened invasion of England by France in 1803, during which impending calamity, united prayer was offered to their Divine Protector; nor was it offered in vain. During the present war tilt ; has appeared a stiildng connection between prayer and victory. It was something more than a mere coincidence, that the memorable Sunday on which the battle of Inkermann Avas fought, when fourteen or Jif teen thousand Allies pushed nearly sirtf/ tJiousand Russians off the field of battle, leav- ing 15,000 dead behind them, that the evangelical christians of Constantinople spent the day in special intercession to the God of battles in behalf of these forces in the Crimea. The above instances consti- tute abundant encouragement to united, earnest, and believing prayer in this emergency. But there are motives connected with humanity and a regard for the interests of morality and re- ligion, which should induce us to pray, not only now but to continue praying till the object is gain- ed, for a speedy and successful termination of this struggle. For the sooner the victory is won, though it may involve severe measures, the greater the amount of evil prevented in the end. And surely the miseries and evils of war, how necessary so-ever it may sometimes be, are of a character to excite the wish for its speedy termination. "To perish in a moment, to ]>e hurried instantaneously, without THE besiegers' prayer. 23 preparation and Avithoiit warning into the presence of the snpreme Judge, has something inexpressibly awfiil and atfecting." Since the commencement of these hostilities not less than 200,000 human beings in one Avay and another, have perished. Yes, 200,000 human beings, to whom life was as dear as it is to us, have been prematurely swept into the grave ; each of whose death has wrung the heart of a mother, a wife, a sister ; or the hearts of a large circle of friends. And so numerous have been these' scenes of complicated distress that there are doubt- less some parts of Europe in which scarcely a family is exempt. Th(?n look at the richness of the spoils of death in time of war. Under other circumstances, the victims of death are usually the feeble and the aged, who according to appearances or the course of nature, cannot expect to live long. But it is otherwise in war. The young, the healthy, and the active are struck down. Some one has said, " In peace children bury their parents, but in war parents bury their children." Nor is the difference small. There is much to moderate the sorrow of a young person on losing an aged parent, however revered ; but for such a parent to be bereaved of his children is to lose his only earthly consolation. How affect- ing are the circumstances of a widowed mother, while she " weeps for her children and will *not be comforted, because they are not." . , " What a scene must a battle-field present, where thousands are left without assistance and without pity, with their wounds exposed 1o the piercing air, 24 THE BESIEGERS PRAYER. while the hlood, freezing as it flows, binds them to the earth, amidst the trampling of horses and the in- sults of an enraged foe." " Far from their native home, no tender association of friendship, no well known voice, no wife, or mother, or sister, is near to sooth their sorrows, relieve their thirst, or close their eyes in di>i*th." But look at the situation of the countries which are tlie theatre of hostilities — the trampling of har- vest fields, the burning of cottages, the flight of helpless women and children, the destruction of prop rty, and the carnage, violation, and ruin at- tendant on the capture and sacking of towns and cities. The commercial evils of war are much to be de- precated. It drains a country of the most active of its population —exhausts its wealth in the equipment of fleets and armies —discourages pri- vate industry — augments the price of all the necessaries of life — and often induces famine and desolation in the worst of forms. Religion languishes when war prevails. Mr. Wesley remarks, " When a land is visited with famine, plague, or earthquake, the people com- monly see and acknowledge the hand of God. But when war breaks out, God is forgotten, if he be not openly defied. What a glorious work of God was at Cambushlang and Kilsythc, from 1740 to 1744; but the war that followed tore it all up by the roots, and left scarce any trace of it behind ; in-so- much that when I diligently inquired, a few years THE BESIEGERS^ PRAYER. 25 afterwards, I could not find one that retained the life of God." We have said enough to lead to humiliation be- fore God for the sins, personal and national, which have brought down the calamities of war upon our nation ; to lead us to offer up most earnest and con- tinued prayer for a speedy and successful issue cut of it ; and to awaken our sympathies for the imme- diate sufferers in our own nation, the widows and the orphans of the generous and martyred defenders of our country, and to lead us to the discharge of a most sacred debit by a liberal contribution to the Patriotic Fund* Let it be of a character to make the heroic men who fight our battles, feel that if they fall in the conflict, they leave their " widows and fatherless children" to the kind and paternal care of a grateful country. I add no more. Errata. — A few typographical errors which escaped the notice of the proof-reader, and which remained until a few impressions of the first sheet were printed, were afterwards corrected. — Ed.