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of this great conflict, in its broad moral and religious aspects, are upon us, and thus we need, for our encouragement and consolation, to understand the nature of the antagonism, and to discern the certain prospects of the issue.

But the significance of this truth is increased immensely, in our apprehension, by the magnitude of the crisis to which this nation. has been brought, by the mysterious providence of God.

One of the boldest and most striking developments of this great antagonism which the world has ever witnessed, is right upon us. By agencies and occurrences apparently beyond the control of the great mass of the people of the land, we are brought face to face with the most stern and awful aspect of moral conflict-that in which armies are gathered to the standard of the right or are arrayed against it-and WAR, with all its wild accompaniments, with all its sacrifice of treasure, tears, and blood, is the immediate result. When one considers the peculiar import of this nation's life, and the tendency of our institutions hitherto, this result seems the more mysterious, shall I not say the more appalling?

For we have dwelt so long and so securely beneath the free institutions which our fathers founded; it has been so much our custom to settle our disputes by the decision of the majority; our conflicts have been so harmoniously adjusted by the tribunal of public opinion and established law; our armor has been so wisely and benignantly composed of argument and appeal to reason, that now, when at last we are brought face to face with the appeal to arms and martial prowess-it is not strange that Christian and reflecting minds are startled by the unusual summons, and shudder even while they prepare for the stern and awful struggle. It is important, therefore, in the highest and most Christian sense, to recognize the great element of moral conflict which runs through human history and is expressed every where in the word of God, as we survey this great antagonism which now shakes our land and moves the world.

Permit me, then, to speak to you of the SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS CRISIS IN ITS OBVIOUS NATIONAL AND MORAL ASPECTS; to present the CHRISTIAN DUTY OF THE HOUR, and THE STRONG GROUNDS WHICH SUSTAIN US IN SAYING: "Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them."

I call your attention to this subject, deeming it no departure from the legitimate and Christian service of the sanctuary. For this is a reality that presses directly upon every one of us. It takes hold of our dearest ties and fairest prospects. It enters into business circles, hindering all the movements of trade and finance; into domestic life, torturing the hearts of those who have sent sons and brothers to the field of strife; into our secret thoughts, disturbing our composure and almost shaking the foundations of our religious trust. It behooves us to understand this reality, and to

have faith in God concerning it, or its present and coming terrors will either drive our minds to madness or turn our hearts to stone. 1st. We speak of the moral significance of this great conflict, and the magnitude of the crisis which is upon us. Several points

will here suggest themselves.

Most obviously, in this conflict, the UNION is at stake, and its integrity depends upon the issue. A compact and solid nation was constructed, by the wisdom of our fathers, out of the various elements of civil life which combined in the war of independence no mere confederacy, no former league of diverse tribes, but a strong nation, occupying territory that must be united in political union, speaking one language, choosing one form of government, establishing an identity of interests. It was intended to be perpetual; it was accepted with that understanding; it was ratified by the most solemn oath and covenant, and thus introduced to its own place among the nations of the earth. Under this Union we have been the happiest and most favored people in the world. It has secured us peace among ourselves, and a strength which made us respected by every foreign power. It has given us prosperity. without a parallel, so that the area of our territory has been extended by honest purchase and by healthful emigration, and the sails of our commerce have whitened every sea. It has given us position and prestige throughout the world; beneath our honored ensign the traveler has been as safe as when dwelling in his own. habitation, the merchantman has pursued his traffic without disturbance, and our institutions have commanded respect and honor in cabinets and courts beyond the seas. It is this Union, with its dear blessings of peace, prosperity, and power, which is at stake

in this tremendous crisis.

But, further, the conflict now upon us might be settled peaceably, if this were all. Were it merely a question of the nation's boundaries and the relations of its people, it might be practicable for the conflicting sections to part in peace; the great North saying to the South, as Abram said to Lot when a strife sprang up between their herdmen: "Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, for we are brethren."

But not only is the Union put in peril, but the very idea and fact and force of government, as a divine institution, are imperiled in this struggle. Let the principles concerning government, which have been advanced in justification of this rebellion, be generally sustained and applied, and there is no form of law existing that could survive a year. Anarchy is the immediate and dire result. And this is so upon whatever ground it is attempted to justify the assault upon the Government. If on the ground of SECESSION as a right, then clearly it is false in fact, for no such right is conferred by the letter of the Constitution; and false in philosophy or in principle, for the right to secede from one established govern

ment at will involves the right to sunder the ties of every government, and to take refuge in individual and universal license. But if, on the other hand, this attempt be justified under the plea of the RIGHT OF REVOLUTION, the defense is just as weak; for revolution, with the woes and horrors of civil war, can righteously be the result only when all proper constitutional modes of seeking the redress of wrongs have failed. It is worthy of notice that the word of God does not recognize the right of revolution in any cause. Its principle, as expressed in the 13th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, is that of entire and hearty and perpetual loyalty to an established government; but it has generally been conceded by writers upon civil ethics that this mode of redressing grievances may be attempted when three conditions coëxist: (1.) When the people's wrong and grievance have become visibly and manifestly unbearable; (2.) When there exists a reasonable prospect of securing speedy deliverance; and (3.) When the evils connected with the abuses complained of are clearly less that those involved in desperate conflict. These three conditions must be certain to justify a revolution. They were so clear in the great struggle for constitutional liberty in England in the 17th century, and so clear in our own revolution of the 18th century, that no one could gainsay them. But it is the hight of misrepresentation and folly to affirm that under our benignant Government, administered according to the Constitution, with modes of redress prescribed and open to the use of all, revolution is a righteous appeal as a refuge against anticipated evils and wrongs that, in the nature of the case, could never be inflicted. It is therefore manifest that, in meeting this appeal to violence by the force conferred by God upon the established government, by resisting it to the last expense of treasure and of men, there is only the discharge of solemn obligation, and a resolve to continue in the exercise of that right for which government is ordained of God and approved by

In a government which recognizes the liberty of the subject under law, there is no event so dreadful as the dishonor of the law, and no tendency so perilous as the tendency towards anarchy and license. Next to the authority of God over the heart and conscience, the majesty of constitutional law is the most sovereign, the most glorious thing upon the earth. The men who struggle in such a cause are patriots in the highest sense-the men who die for it are martyrs, and they who contend against it make war upon the best interests of humanity and the awful decree of God. But, further, it is to be understood that in this struggle our own peculiar mode of government is equally imperiled. The interests of free institutions are at stake at this time of conflict. This crisis has a significance in this republic such as would be involved in the destinies of no other land. It was a new event in the world's history when our system of government was first estab

lished. Men had for ages been the tools of despots, the many had been governed in the interest of the few, the world had groaned under the tyranny of courts and kings. But our fathers found their Magna Charta in the people's heart. The government they founded was in a wonderful accordance with the pattern of civil institutions which God showed to Moses in the mount. was the wonder of the world. Such universal liberty under the supremest law-such equity combined with power-such harmonious consent amid diverse opinions; nothing like it had been ever seen. It was not strange that the thoughts of oppressed nations turned to it with a benediction for its influence and its example. It was not strange that the great tide of emigration rolled across the broad Atlantic, and poured itself upon our shores. It was not strange that the renown of this unparalleled achievement was an impulse to all men who struggled to be free. And now, after all this, we hear the verdict of opinion from the representative of European journalism, who is seeking to portray the aspect of affairs among us: "The great Republic is gone.' The glory has departed from it. Its existence has not attained the limit of one century. The dream of enthusiasts, the fair illusion of the people, is a manifest and entire failure." Not so, thank God! but it is at stake. The great Republic, with all its precious freight of history, example, influence, and aid for struggling nations, is the prize for which the might of battle is enlisted. Oh! if it is worth a struggle to sustain the rights of man-to hold open wide the doors of refuge for the weary and oppressed-to stand forth in glorious example of free government before the admiring world, then it is imperative on us to be true to the traditions of our history, and meet this conflict in the strength of truth, of justice, and eternal right.

The last position in this view of the magnitude of this crisis is reached when we consider that this is a contest for the world and for all future ages. There are races and nations whose internal conflicts, or whose destruction from the earth, would have but little relation to the great hopes of the world. In their seclusion and littleness they may rise and fall, affecting by their various fortunes only their own territorial connections. But this can never be the case with this Republic. Its origin was so peculiar, its position is so central, its political institutions are so benignant, its religious privileges are so preeminent, that its decline and fall must send a thrill and shudder through every useful human institution, and the ruins of its glory must bar the path of progress for centuries to come. Especially let it be remembered that it is as the exponents of a fresh Christian civilization that this nation has acted on the world. A leavening influence has gone from it into the darkest regions, and the Gospel of the Son of God has moved on in its glorious course under the peculiar impulse which

came from the Christian missions of this land. It is no exaggeration to affirm that, all things considered, the world's best interests and highest hopes depend more on the future of America than on any other earthly influence. These interests are being settled, in a large degree, by the results of this conflict, for our institutions and our nation's life. If Napoleon could say to his soldiers, as they fought beneath the Egyptian pyramids, "Soldiers, from those summits forty centuries look down upon you," with more emphasis and more truth can we say: "Unto this field of strife, to which the might of a continent is marshaled, all living nations and all coming ages are looking." If we fail in this struggle-if the Government is broken and crushed-if barbarism and anarchy usurp the dominion-if treason and disloyalty succeed in their dreadful designs, the shock of our fall will be to the world what the fall of the sons of the morning was to the thrones and dominions of heaven-a result to be deplored through all coming ages, a beginning of woes which no tongue can describe and no thought can fathom. Well may men sing in solemn cadence:

"We are living, we are dwelling in a grand and awful time."

We turn from this view of the crisis to consider

2d. The Christian duty of the hour. To this point especially should the servant of God direct his speech, that all thoughts may be impelled towards it, to be aroused, not to angry passion, but to a calm and holy purpose which conscience may commend and God may visibly and gloriously bless. The inquiry, What are the duties of the hour? may be summed up in these points:

Firm loyalty to the Government is the first and most urgent obligation. No good citizen, no Christian man can be neutral in such an hour. We are to prove by our individual and united action, that this people can be as true to their constitutional rulers as other nations are to an anointed king. We are to prove that hosts of freemen, rallying at the call of government, can sustain it and defend it better than it can be defended by a standing army. We are to prove ourselves worthy of our institutions, of our lineage, of our sacred cause, by making sacrifice with cheerfulness, by rendering due reverence to those whom God has placed in stations of authority, by remaining true to the great interests which are at stake, amid all risks of life or treasure, through all disasters and opposition unto the end. Again

Another of the duties of the hour is, that we take especial pains to purge our hearts from the spirit of bitterness and wicked wrath while engaged in this most righteous struggle. Loyalty is not revenge. True courage does not revel in excesses and wanton violence. A holy cause should be sustained in righteous resolution. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." I beseech you, brethren, frown upon and denounce every where the

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