s »
PERILS
■' f
• m
*
OF A
DISSOLUTION OF THE IffllON;
A
<•
DISCOURSE,'
* i
DELIVERED IN THE
PRESBYTERIAN CH-URCH, OI^OSWELL,
r
pay »! |guiilir ^jjattfexgifriitg,
NOVEMBER 20, 1856,
BY HEV. N. A. PRATT, D. B.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA:
C. R- HANLEITBR Sc CO., PRINTERS.
1 8 5 G .
DISCOURSE.
"Fear not, oh Land, be glad and rejoice, for the Lord will do groat things."
Joel, Chap, ii., yerse 21.
It is highly becoming in a Christian people to recoguise the
Providence of God in their civil, as well as in their ecclesias¬
tical, affairs. Kay, to withhold such recognition, and consider
the political concerns of a nation as under tlie dominion of
Chance or Fate, is worse than Paganism; for even Pagans
consider the world as under the government of the gods.
ISTor is it only becoming; it is the positive, commanded'duty
of God, that intelligent creatures, especially those illumined
by the brilliant light of revelation, to commit their public, as
well as their private, cases to Him " who ruleth in the heavens
and doeth his pleasure among men."
How many examples have we on Scripture record, of God's
inflictions of exemplary punishment on His own people, for
this setting Him aside from His own prerogative of governing
in His own kingdom ? How many nations in their prosperity,
have "waxed fat," and kicked at an overruling Providence?
Bj^Iis favor, they have risen from feeble beginnings, enlarged
their territory, extended their population, built and enriched
their cities, multiplied the monuments of their industry and
wealth, and adorned their institutions with the productions of
their art and skill, but, forgetting God, and proudly exalting
themselves, like the King of Assyria, when he said, " Is not
this Great Babylon that I have builded, for the house of the
kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my
majesty," he hath left them to their own wisdom and strength,
and "Ichabod is written upon their walls." Babylon, and
Egypt, and Ninevah, and Greece, and Tyre, and the proud,
corrupt, overgrown, but splendid Roman Empire, are impres¬
sive illustrations of the fact I have stated. I regard the scrip¬
tural axiom as fully borne out by the facts of universal history,
" The nation that will not serve Thee shall perish." They may
rise, increase, and flourish for a time, but rejecting God, their
daring impiety will increase in proportion to their prosperity—
6
will generate luxury, and pride, and oppression, and every evil
work, until they are crushed by the weight of their own cor¬
ruptions. God will vindicate His own Word, and show, ulti¬
mately, to the universe, that He governs in His own world ;
and when the retribution comes, that is, the punishment of
these crimes, it comes as the wrork of the Sovereign Ruler of
Nations, " and the curse causeless doth not come."
Brethren, wre are called, to-day, by the Chief Magistrate of
our State, and by the Providence of God, in company with
some twenty-two States of this Union, to thanksgiving and
prayer. As a Nation, as a State, as a Community, these exer¬
cises do well .become us. As a Nation, we are again at rest,
after a most fearful and unprecedented internal convulsion,
and are still prosperous beyond all others ; as a State, our cities
and villages have been exempt from the ravages of disease,
and our fields have yielded_.their increase ; and as a Commu¬
nity, God hath continued peace in our borders, and health in
our dwellings; He hath replenished our storehouses, if not so
liberally as in some former years, yet sufficiently for our main-
tainance and comfort, and far beyond our deserts; and in re¬
gard to the aspect of our political affairs, I believe the nation
feels to-day, that a fresh demand is made upon its gratitude to
Almighty God, whose providence seems to say, " Fear not, oh
land, be glad and rejoice, for the Lord will do great things*'
There may be an exception to this, in that large, and as we
think, infatuated minority, which would stake our political
salvation on the issues of a fearful experiment, that would, in
all human probability, result in the dissolution of this Union,
and the destruction of the happiest, freest, and most prosper¬
ous country in the world.
From this evil, which is the evil most to be deprecated by the
citizens of this country, God has, at least for a time, delivered
us. To Him be our hearty thanksgivings to-day, for the issue.
To Him be our prayers, that ere the next administration shall
close, wiser counsels may prevail in the bosoms of defeated
partizans, and that the nation may now have rest from politi¬
cal strife; that those professed ministers of peace who have
descended from their high vocation, to mingle in political war;
who haveturned away from a charity—teaching gospel, to in¬
flame the minds, and stir up the prejudice and hostility of one
7
section of tlie Union against the other, may return to feet!
their hungry Hocks, and escape the woe of those " Pastors who
destroy and scatter the sheep and that every name and even-
party may submissively yield to the providence of God, so
strikingly expressed in the recent voice of the sovereign people.
As an incentive to gratitude, it may not be inappropriate, 011
the present occasion, to dwell briefly upon the evil which has
threatened us.
The probable reason why God hath placed it so prominently
before us;
And the course of conduct becoming us in the present crisis.
C The evil, is, the threatened dismemberment of these confed¬
erated States of America. That this would be an evil, I pre¬
sume few will deny, when they call to mind the blessings
which have resulted from our confederation, and the calami¬
ties which must necessarily arise, from the rupturing of the
tie which has bound them for nearly seventy years. JSTo one
can for a moment suppose, that this country would have been
what it now is, had the original thirteen States remained per¬
fectly distinct from each other. "With their exposure to the
invasions of foreign foes, to the cruelties of the blood-thirsty
Indian tribes, with an almost boundless territory stretching
on three sides of them, tempting the cupidity, and inviting
tfie industry of settlements, having no sympathy for each other,
and no common interests; who can doubt that they would
have been subject to constant foreign aggressions, to internal
dissentions, to unceasing border difficulties, and harrassing, ex¬
terminating civil wars ?
The wisdom of our Patriot Fathers, after long deliberation,
and encountering almost insurmountable obstacles, adopted
the plan of confederation, in which, the States, though con¬
tinuing free, sovereign and independent, became, in such a
sense, One, that the most pure, and unrestricted, social inter¬
course and free trade exist; and we are able to carry on, from
State to State, every kind of internal improvement, by which
that trade and improvement may be made more profitable
and easy. It is this Union that has imparted to the American
people the strength and influence of a great nation, and made
their voice powerful among the nations of the Earth. It is
by Union only, that we are enabled to bid defiance to all for-
8
eign aggression, no matter from whence it comes. Other na¬
tions, not indifferent to the advantages of our Commerce, do
not lightly challenge the hostile fleet and armies of these
States, united.
I consider that it is the Union of these States, under God,
that has secured, undisturbed, internal peace to this great peo¬
ple—that has conferred unexampled prosperity on the inhabi¬
tants of the United States—that has extended their limits from
the Blue Ridge to the Pacific Ocean—that has increased the
number of their States from thirteen to thirty-one; and given
the same language, religion, literature and law, to the swarm¬
ing thousands which are rapidly filling up their almost bound¬
less territory.
"What a spectacle is here presented ? a perfect anomaly in
the history of the world. A nation larger in extent than all
Europe ; with a population of at least twenty-seven millions,
enjoying, within themselves, perfect freeedom of intercourse
and trade, no duties, no passports, no hindrances of any kind.
"Every man goes just where he pleases, sells and buys what
he pleases," fixes his family, locates his farm, builds his store,
erects his factory, in any State of the thirty-one, with all the
privileges and rights of a native citizen of each State, without
the smallest interference of Police or Spy, or of Eastern home
regulation. I say, nothing like it exists, or has ever existed?
on the face of the Earth.
It is said, that, on the frontiers of every State in Europe, the
traveler is arrested in his journey, his baggage must be ran¬
sacked, and his passports examined. In every petty princi¬
pality he is exposed to the insolence and exactions of govern¬
ment officials. New duties on goods, new examinations of
person, new difficulties of every sort, are met with, at every
step. What a contrast this, to the unrestrained liberty of in¬
tercourse, to the unlimited freedom of trade, which this Union
of States, and this Union alone, secures to every American
citizen, throughout his immense country."—Grayson.
(How could there be such unexampled peace and prosperity,
if the States stood single and alone? The States, as a unit,
embrace every variety of climate and soil. Bordered on their
eastern and western coasts, by the Oceans which divide the
world; embosoming immense resources, and as yet but partially
9
explored—intersected by majestic and navigable rivers, which
bear upon their bosom the products of inland States, which
find no other outlet to the ocean. By means of the Telegraph,
the Canal, the Railroad, the most distant States arc brought
into close proximity to each other; and the most rapid and unre¬
stricted exchange of their respective commodities, has greatly
contributed to the general prosperity, and that prosperity our
country highly enjoys. Even in her early manhood, she has rival¬
ed the improvements of the old world, and is daily adding
new inventions of her own. Her cities and villages vie in
elegance, and beauty and wealth, with those of other countries,
and greatly surpass them in their rapidly increasing prosperity.
From her farms and manufactories, she annually rolls into
them the products and fabrics of trade, to the amount, in
value, of perhaps a hundred and fifty millions, " yet leaving
the granaries of the farmer full, and permitting, as does no
other nation, the laborer to retain enough in his possession
to furnish himself and his household with the necessaries and
luxuries of life." She sends forth her unrivaled ships and
magnificent steamers on every sea, and to every port, to col¬
lect, and bear back, the treasures of both sea and land, until
her tonnage exceeds that of the boasted " mistress of the seas,"
and her ISTavy rivals hers. "And she collects a revenue,
which for the lightness of its burden, and its ampleness for
all the purposes Government, may well render her the envy
of nations, perplexed with enormous expenditure and impov¬
erished with oppressive taxation." Now, it seems to me that
very much of this internal peace and prosperity, result from
the Union of these States.
I need not dwell upon our literary and religious privileges.
Our literature is, by no means, to be despised: already it is
assuming a position along-side of the older institutions of
Europe ; and, while we cannot boast a supremacy over them,
with their age and experience, their immense libraries and
their vast apparatus for scientific experiment and research,
yet, our happy country can boast a far wider diffusion of the
privileges of Education, than most of the countries of Europe.
Every State in the Union can boast of its University or Col¬
lege, and some, of their two or three. Our schools of a lower
order, and Sabbath schools, for both sexes, are scattered like-
10
so many fountains throughout our county; and their con¬
stantly issuing streams, beautify and refresh the intellectual
and moral face of the land. Our presses groan, and our mails
are burdened with countless hundreds of newspapers and mag¬
azines, which bring the means of knowledge to every village,
and to the doors of almost every dwelling in the country.
Travelers from other countries look with surprise upon this
happy diffusion of intelligence, and acknowledge that the
peasantry of their orm lands are shut out from all access to
learning, and are as ignorant of what is passing in the world
around them, as the cattle that graze upon their hills.
Here, too, is exhibited the only perfect specimen of liberty of
Conscience in the world. Freed from the fetters of ecclesiastical
domination, and unshackeled by any State associations, Reli¬
gion has flourished in this air of freedom. In no other coun¬
try in the world, is man, unawed by civil and ecclesiastical
penalties, permitted to worship God according to the direction
of his own conscience. If the lovers of liberty in the abstract,
therefore, have reason to bless God for giving them a free con¬
stitution, they, who estimate liberty of conscience higher than
even life itself, have infinitely greater reason to be glad and
rejoice, and hold it in grateful recollection.
ISTow, though these latter privileges are not the direct results
of the Union of the States, yet, who can deny, that the bles¬
sings of education have been thus generally diffused, and the
doctrines of religion far more widely known in this, and in
heathen lands, by reason of the free, unrestricted intercourse
between the benevolent and the pious in every part of the
Union ? Now, in all these respects, contrast our condition
with that of the South-American States—with the ignorance
and corruption of the masses—with the absence of any long
continued internal tranquility and happiness. Who can reckon
the number of their wars since they threw off the Spanish
yoke ? How many military despots have risen, and flourished
long enough to fatten the soil with the blood of its people,
and fallen, to give place to others as cruel and rapacious as
themselves ?
I do^most religiously believe, that nothing but the Union of
these States, under God, has preserved us from similar evils ;
and our country, at the present moment, under all our causes
11
of uneasiness and complaint, stands forth to the admiring and
envying gaze of mankind, the freest, the happiest, and by far
the most prosperous nation 011 the face of the globe.
But this Union, productive of these incomparable privileges,
is in danger of being broken. Although the Father of his
Country lifted his voice of warning against the first approaches
of sectional hostility that might lead to such a disastrous re¬
sult, many men, both North and South, have come to talk
of " letting the Union slide," with as little feeling as they talk
of the failure of a bank or the defalcation of a government
official. One State is for separate, independent action, and
others for the organization of a Southern confederacy. Either
of which would be the letting go of the choicest blessings and
privileges ever vouchsafed to any country—blessings made
sure to us by the character of our government, and the guar¬
anties of the constitution—for, to say the very least, the fan¬
cied, anticipated good of separate State action, or a Southern
confederation.
On these two points, allow me to use the language of two
gentlemen of South Carolina. The first, Mr. Poinsett asks—
" Is the right of secession to be found in the Constitution ?
It existed, I grant, under the old confederacy, for that was a
league. But, the constitution was framed, and adopted, after
solemn deliberation, to form a more perfect union of the States.
The first we ever heard of the right of secession, was during
the proceedings of the Hartford Convention, and, at that period,
no people received the doctrine with more indignation and
contempt, than ourselves. In fact, if any State possessed the
power to secede from the Union, whenever it thought proper
to do so, our Constitution would be a mockery, and our boasted
strength, as a great and powerful nation, would be despised
by all foreign powers."
The other, Mr. Grayson, remarks, in reference to a Southern
Confederacy—" That it would be exceedingly difficult of or¬
ganization, even if we were separate from the North. "What
States would it include ? Certainly not Delaware and Mary¬
land. Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee and
Louisiana, would hesitate, and deliberate long, before they
came into such a compact; and would, probably, utterly refuse.
Suppose all were willing to meet in convention to consult—
12
would there be no difference of opinion ? No antagonist in¬
terests ? Will not the same obstacles which delayed, and
almost defeated the adoption of the present Confederacy, beset
the proposed Southern Confederation ? There is scarcely a
State in which there are not opposing interests in its own
limits—up-country and low-country. Property and population
have each their staunch and bitter advocates.
" Think of the hot and uncompromising disputes between
West and East, in the last Virginia convention—and, can any
one believe, that in a convention of Southern States there
will be nothing but the milk and honey of mutual concession
of forbearance ? No conflicting interests, no impracticable,
obstinate and unyielding minds ? He, who thinks so, knows
little of men, or ot public bodies. For my part, I believe,
that the present confederacy is the first and last which this
country will ever see. If that be destroyed, there is forever
an end to confederacy in North-America. This is my solemn
conviction, and I forewarn my fellow-citizens of this truth.
And the reasons are obvious. No future confederacy can be
sanctified like the present, by the memories of the past—by
associations with the great men, and great events of the grand
epoch of American history—by the wisdom and virtue of the
Father of his Country. If this Union cannot stand, there is
no hope for the continuance of any other. The spirit of im¬
patience to confederate rifle, which our example will sanction
and establish, will prevail forever. The smallest real or sup¬
posed injury or inconvenience, inflicted on any one member
of any future supposed union of States, will be enough to in¬
duce that member to abandon it, to secede, to break up, with¬
out scruple or remorse."
There is great weight in these remarks. Take the very in¬
stitution which is the cause of all the strife between the North
and the South—is it certain that there will be no difierence of
opinion, even in the South itself? Was there none in the
Virginia convention ? None in the Kentucky convention ?
" So long as the question on this subject is between
North and South, we may count on unanimity of opinion and
feeling in the Southern States, however much they may differ
as to the mode of vindicating their rights, or redressing their
wrongs. But when the question becomes purely Southern, are
V6
we quite sure that the like unanimity will prevail ? Will the
mountain region agree with the coast ? Will West Virginia,
East Tennessee, the west of the Carolinas, and North-western
Georgia consent to enjoy 110 greater political weight, than
the working population of the rice and cotton fields ? Most
surely they will not. They would demand the white basis, as
the basis of representation. The slav6holding population
would be governed by those who hold no slaves, and the line
between them would be drawn, clear, strong and indefaceable
with a fixed majority in the hands of the latter."
I advert to these things to show that there will be abundant
causes of difference and disagreement in the South itself; and
that the hope that all will be easy and smooth in the formation
of a Southern union, is a delusion and a snare. It will not be
easy. Once break up the present union, and the principle of
voluntary cohesion is gone forever. In this, as in every other
movement of change or revolution, men never go back. The
principle of voluntary association among the States will cease
to exist. It will be followed by confusion and disorder, first,
and last, by the forced combinations brought about by tempo¬
rary interests, or military power. In this disorder and ruin,
the great pursuits of peace, civilization and refinement, will
be trodden under foot by rapacious and ambitious dema¬
gogues, who begin by being courtiers to the people, and end
with being their tyrants."—Grayson's letter to Gov. Seabrook.
But suppose, at length, the organization complete—compri¬
sing all the States I have named—many of those States lie on
the southern frontier of the vast regions of the north-west—
how long would the inhabitants of those regions endure the
privations they must suffer, if their ingress and egress were in
the hands of foreigners ? Would they allow Louisiana to hold
the key, and thus be able to harrass the internal commerce of
the great Mississippi valley ? I think not. No line can be
drawn that will not involve questions of boundary and right,
only to be settled by the last appeal. We may, by secession,
or a dissolution of the Union, draw the line where we may,
on the other side of it the people will have their institutions
and we ours. It is not to be expected, that their views and
feelings will change in regard to ours, any more than our own.
And how long can we live side by side, without some provision
14
by compact, to meet this case. The Southern Confederacy,
composed of the States mentioned, will have a thousand miles
frontier border, with nothing but a river between. Along the
whole line, with 110 compact to help us, every temptation and
allurement will be held out to move our property across the
line ; and when across, special care will be taken that it
never returns. Said confederacy will have, at least, two thou¬
sand miles sea coast, every foot of which, will be open to the
introduction of arms and ammunition, disguised emissaries,
whose object it will be, to foster discontent and open insur¬
rection. How long, I ask again, could we live in peace, side
by side ? If a dissolution of the Union could be effected in
■peace, which is extremely doubtful, I do not believe that the
end of two years, would find the two governments in harmo¬
nious operation. Let me point you to one or two instructive
historical facts.
" As early as 1643, when the country was 'a wilderness, and
the movement of persons from one part to another unfrequent
and exceedingly difficult, the Colonies of Massachusetts and
Plymouth, Connecticut and New-Haven, found it necessary,
even in that primitive and imperfect union, which they founded,
to stay themselves against destruction, to insert an article like
the following:
" That if any servant run away from his master into any of
the confederate jurisdictions, that in such a case, upon certifi¬
cate of one magistrate, in the jurisdiction out o± which the
servant fled, or upon other due proof, he shall be, either deliv¬
ered to his master, or any other, that pursues and brings such
certificate of proof."
Again, the Government of the United States had not been
in operation two years, when the necessity of some such pro¬
vision, in some form, to preserve the peace of bordering inde¬
pendent States, was clearly proved.
" In 1789 Florida belonged to Spain, and stretched along the
Southern border of Georgia. General Washington had not been
in office two years when the people of Southern Georgia became
so uneasy, on account of the escape of so many of their servants
across the borders into Florida, as to make very urgent repre¬
sentations, to the national government, demanding redress, and
thereupon orders were obtained from the Spanish Court to ar
15
rest the further reception of fugitives, and to make restitu¬
tion."—Curtis.
The expectation, then, that two independent nations, with
institutions directly antagonistic to each, and who have bro¬
ken a long standing league between them, on account of these
very institutions, with a thousand miles frontier, and one with
two thousand miles sea-coast, offering an inviting field for the
navy, and smaller vessels of the other, should continue long
in the bonds of amity and brotherhood, is, in the highest de¬
gree chimerical, and ought not, for a moment, to be sustained.
Emissaries are sent among us now—much more will they be
then. They will be tried and executed. This will gender
more violent ill-will, retaliation and eventual war. And while
our young men are away, .defending our frontier borders, or
repelling invasions on the coast, a thundering volcano, may at
any time burst in our midst, and roll its burning lava over our
homes.
It is the voice of passion, and not of sound judgment,
which says, " Let the contest come, we are ready for it; let
the blood of the slaughtered be on the heads of'those who are
in the wrong."
My friends, when I look over the happy homes in Georgia,
and see a people happy, and free to do anything but evil—in¬
dustrious, enterprising and religious, and just beginning to
develop their resources; when I think that all these gifts flow
from the liberal hand of that Awful Being, who holds people
and nations in the hollow of His hand, I am afraid to say, we
should not be in the wrong, to put all these in jeopardy for
the doubtful remedy of secession from, or dissolution of, the
Union.
I do not profess to be a political man—other things occupy
me. I have never given more than eight votes, in the politi¬
cal matters of the State, during my more than thirty years
residence in it. But I deem it my duty to inform myself,
somewhat, of the political occurrences of the day; and I
must say, that according to the attention I have given to the
subject, I am not convinced that the Government of our coun¬
try has given occasion to any of the States to resort to revo¬
lutionary measures.
But, it is said, even admitting this, there are other reasons.
16
sufficiently cogent, to justify tlie people of the South in draw¬
ing off, from the harrassing and mortifying connection. It is
said, that the " resolutions passed by Northern Legislatures—
the hostile language of Northern members of Congress—the
abuse of Southern institutions and character by the Northern
press—the societies formed to assail our rights, and rob us of
our property, and the determined and persevering effort of
the North to defraud us of our just rights in the Territories,
leave us 110 alternative but to withdraw.
These justly excite indignation, and are well calculated to
produce, between the North and South, mutual dislike and
permanent animosity. I have not language to express my ab¬
horrence of the doctrines and sentiments published to the
world by some professedly religious men, in professedly reli¬
gious papers, and by some professed ministers of the Gospel.
In their mad phrenzy, they have given currency to doctrines,
as diametrically opposite to the letter and spirit of the Bible,
and as subversive of all . sound morality, as the worst ravings of
Infidelity.
But these are not the acts of Government. These are not
the faults of the Constitution. If Vermont and Massachusetts
cannot abide by, and live under the Constitution, as would
seem probable by some of their legislative acts, let them
go out from under it, and seek a better. We have the van¬
tage-ground, let us not abandon this charter of our safety.
This guaranties to us our privileges—"to suppress insurrec¬
tions and repel invasions."
The difficulty is not in the Government, nor in the Consti¬
tution—but in the state of Northern Society. The remedy, is
not in a dissolution of the Union, on our part. Then, we
lose all. If a few Northern States do not like the Consti¬
tution, and refuse to carry out its provisions, let them withdraw.
We cannot help it. If they refuse to withdraw, then let us
apply a social remedy—"Let us withdraw from all commer¬
cial intercourse, with the offending States. Let us cease to
waste our incomes in Northern cities. Let us no longer trade
in Northern Ports, where, as one says, our merchants now
buy goods sent from the South, where they could have pur¬
chased the same article, at a lower rate. Let us discourage
the purchase of Northern Manufactures. Let us no longer
17
send our sons to Northern Colleges, to the neglect of oar own;
or employ Northern vessels, discouraging Ship-wrights and
Masters in our own ports." I do not say this would be wise
and judicious, even at the present crisis. But it would be in¬
finitely better than a dissolution of the Union, and the risk of
all the horrors of a civil war.
It is not every injustice, nay, it is not every grievous injus¬
tice, that can justify, or even palliate so fearful an alternative.
The catastrophe would be the prolific source of evils to all
the States, East, West, North and South, and, in my judgment,
especially to the South.
I trust, therefore, we shall never forfeit the innumerable
blessings of the Union, and subject the country, and the lov¬
ers of national freedom throughout the world, to the most
astounding political calamity that has ever befallen the hu¬
man family.
But why, in the midst of so many mercies, has God allowed
this threatening cloud to darken over us? We have been a
faithless and unthankful people. In our early history we were
distinguished for that "righteousness which exalteth a na¬
tion." But " sin, which is the reproach of any people," has
rolled its blighting tide over us. If the prosperity of the
Kingdom of Judea, under the reign of Solomon, has ever
been surpassed, it has been by the people of the United States.
We have a fertile soil, a healthful climate, and a beautiful
land. "We have the means of education, and the best govern¬
ment in the world, if the people have wisdom and virtue
enough to improve it. ,
And God has interposed for us, in times of National dan¬
ger, when no human arm could help us. When the Savages
of the Wilderness, lifted the scalping knife over the slum¬
bers of the cradle, and kindled the flames of the thatched
hovels, where our mothers slept, God was our aid, and turned
back the foe. When, afterward, the French, with their hired
red-men of the forest, invaded us from the North and West,
and their vessels of war spread destruction along our coasts,
God again was our aid. By this war, he prepared us for a
more terrible conflict, and raised us up a Washington to be the
future deliverer of his country.
And when, at length, the floating batteries of England, the
3
18
very country that gave us birth, thundered on our coast, and
poured their hard-hearted veterans upon our shores, and our
mothers gave up their sons to the deadly strife, and they and their
fathers marched seven long years with their toils and blood,
God was our shield and strength, and established our charac¬
ter among the Xations, and by the fierceness and bitterness of
that terrible conflict, would have us prize the Union, which,
under His blessing, accomplished our freedom-
Had I not already detained you too long, I might remind
you of other mercies, individual and social. God has guard¬
ed our lives from danger. In the midst of a thousand snares
we have been kept. "Why have not we been numbered with
the millions, which have fallen by the sweeps of death, or the
thousands now in the agonies of dying?
God has not only spared, but has rendered us comfortable
and happy. " lie hath fed us with the finest of the wheat, and with
honey old of the rock satisfied us." We have look forth from our
peaceful homes, and seen the harvests ripening in our fields,
while other homes have been mantled in the drapery of death,
and other fields have been fattened with human gore. And
I feel, that we may adopt with great propriety, as peculiarly
appropriate to us, the last blessing of Moses, to the posterity
of Joseph, "Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the pre¬
cious things of Heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that
couchetli beneath ; And for the precious fruits brought forth by
the Sun ; And for the precious things put forth by the Moon ;
And for the chief things of the ancient mountains; And
for the precious things of the lasting hills; And for the
precious things of the Earth, and fullness thereof, and for
the good will of Him that dwelt in the Bush." And the
crowning glory of our mercies, is, that God still continues to
offer us eternal life, through His Son.
But notwithstanding all, we are a rebellious nation, a sinful
people, and God brings us under the discipline of the Rod.
God command's all, to pray with "all prayer and supplica¬
tion." But there are, perhaps, two millions of families in
these States, in which there is no more recognition of depen¬
dence on God than in the families of China or Japan. In
many families there is no parental government. Children
are left to bring up themselves. Hence they grow up in in-
19
subordination, prove scourges to society, and live to cumber
the ground.
In the days of our fathers, the Sabbath was generally re.
garded by the American people ; then, the mariner moored his
vessel to the wharf until the hours of the Sabbath were gone
—the traveler delayed his journey, and the young their worldly
pleasures. But now, the waterman begins his voyage on the
Sabbath, the traveler his journey, and the young their pas¬
times, with the Heaven-insulting plea, that " the better the day,
the better the deed."
Because of " swearing, too, the land mourneth." In high
places, and in low, this Heaven-daring crime, prevails to a
fearful extent. In many places, the child, who has just began
to speak, is taught to swear ; and the evening streets profanely
echo with names of God. " The Lord will not hold him guilt¬
less that taketh His name in vain."
Notwithstanding all the efforts of the wise and good, to ar¬
rest the evil, Intemperance is still the unenviable destruction of
our land—thousands on thousands are annually swept to the
grave, and numberless families rendered penniless and
wretched, by this unnatural iniquity. Even the Halls of Con¬
gress are frequently disgraced by drunkenness on the floor;
and more frequently by the midnight carousals of the druken
representatives of the sovereign people.
There is much iniquity, likewise, in the operations of the
great political 'parties of the country. The means often adopted
by unscrupulous partisans to gain the ascendancy, prove us
a degenerate people. I cannot specify. But one accuses the
other of designing the ruin of its country—of being prompted
by ambitious motives, and for personal views. Now, as one
has quaintly said, " if both parties speak the truth, then we are
all an abandoned people, and no wonder God afflicts us." If
one party only speak the truth, then the other is false, and
unworthy of confidence; and if neither keep the truth,
then " all men are liars." Take either ground, and we are
a wicked people, and by these means the press is corrupted.
It is almost impossible to learn truth from partizan gazettes.
Facts are discolored by party zeal, and an honest man does not
confide in what he reads.
Now, brethren, I cannot forbear the conviction, that it is for
20
our ingratitude to God for sucli signal mercies, and our bold
iniquity in spite of them, that God has allowed this evil to
threaten us—an evil which causes the hearts of the best men
in the land to quake with apprehension.
What is our duty in the present crisis? Doubtless, gladness
and thanksgiving become us this day, that God has apparently
averted this calamity, at least for the present—that the voice
of the country has spoken so decisively in favor of the Uniony
and that the indications of His Providence do inspire the hope
that He designs to do still greater things for us.
But humiliation and penitence for our sins, become as no.
less than joy and thanksgiving. If, as a people, we do not
"humble ourselves under His mighty hand," how can we
doubt that He will treat us as He has treated other wicked na¬
tions ? If He forsake us, we can be trodden down by any foe
that He may commission ; but, "if God be for us, who can be
against us ?"
Let these thoughts quicken you to prayer, as well as thanks¬
giving. Pray that the machinations of evil men, JSTortli or
South, may, like the counsels of Ahithophel, be " turned to
foolishness"—pray for a united people—for a united country—
pray that your rulers may be good men and trite—pray that the
Holy Ghost may descend and inspire with wisdom our public
councils, and the people with calm circumspection and cau¬
tious deliberations, in the fearful crisis through which our
country seems to be passing.
I close, in the eloquent language of the Rev. Mr. Butler,
" The manifold and fearful evils of a dissolution of this Union
I need not attempt to portray. How it would retard industry,
check education, destroy religion, consume the resources of
the country, multiply swarms of idle and greedy officials, cor¬
rupt the morals, and destroy the prosperity of every State, your¬
selves at once can see.
"When Israel and Judah separated, each State maintained
an army double the number previously maintained by both
united ; and from that period, each kingdom was engaged in
destructive wars, and both hastened with rival speed to ruin.
" However it may have been with us, in times past, it is cer¬
tain that with our now seemingly conflicting interests, our
condition without union would be one of active war, or of
21
armed, suspicious truce. And war between the different por¬
tions of this confederacy, would be one of the most saddening
and dismal pages of the history of this earth. It would send
a personal sorrow into every household—it would gather a
vast, national woe all over the country—it would loose wild
ruin, to stride and trample with ferocious footsteps over all
the fair fields and peaceful dwellings of the land.
" Never were a people so interwoven by the nearest and ten-
derest relationships, as we are, over all this broad continent.
And in this warfare, there would be more illustrious victims
than ever before strewed a battle-field. There would fall
such a national prosperity and happiness, as the Sun never
shone upon before. There would fall, shrieking, the hopes of
millions of struggling victims of oppression in every land.
There would fall the fair and venerable forms of Liberty, Jus¬
tice, Security, Morality and Religion, and over their unhonored
graves, military despotisms would plant their bloody banners,
and lead on their abject myrmidons to new contests, and still
desolating victories. If we can, let us cherish the Union, and
pray God to preserve it. She was born in an hour of peril
and darkness. She was cradled in an open field of battle and
of blood. Storms and tempests beat upon her unsheltered
and homeless childhood. She grew up into benignant loveli¬
ness, under no gentle nurture. For nearly seventy years, she
has been the guardian angel of the Republic."