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are prepared to go farther than the original Republicans were prepared to go. We are prepared to demand not only that the whole territory of the United States shall not be made slave, but that the General Government of the American people shall do one of two things,-and it appears to me that there is nothing else that can be done,—either to use the whole power of the Government, both the war power and the peace power, to put slavery as nearly as possible back where it was,for, although that would be a fearful state of society, it is better than anarchy; or else, to use the whole power of the Government, both of war and peace, and all the practical power that the people of the United States will give them, TO EXTERMINATE AND EXTINGUISH SLAVERY. I have no hesitation in saying for myself, that if I were a proslavery man, if I believed this institution was an ordinance of God, and was given to man, I would unhesitatingly join those who demand that the Government should be put back where it was. But I am not a proslavery man-I never was; I unite myself with those who believe that it is contrary to the highest interests of all men and of all Government, contrary to the spirit of the Christian religion, and incompatible with the natural rights of man; I join myself with those who say, Away with it forever and I fervently pray God that the day may come, when, throughout the whole land, every man may be as free as you are, and as capable of enjoying regulated liberty.

Such are the sentiments of leading men in the Border and more Southern Slave States. They believe the time fully come when that institution which underlies the strife now raging throughout this nation, should cease in the land forever. This, we doubt not, will be found to be a sentiment which will extend, as the war goes on, to the entire people, so far as they are truly loyal to their country.

THE SUM OF PROVIDENTIAL INDICATIONS.

We have now given a bare summary of the reasons which lead us to the conclusion, that it is the design of God, in His providence, to make use of the rebellion to terminate forever the institution of slavery in the United States, and thus cause the wrath of man to praise Him.

THE SUM OF PROVIDENTIAL INDICATIONS.

361

We have already said that considerable time may elapse before the end is reached; that it may be, not till some subsequent Congress shall take that necessary step for an amendment of the Constitution, which, when ratified by the people, will give the finishing stroke to the work; and that then it may require, for a time, a military force to make even that measure practically effective. But that that end will be reached before we can have permanent peace, we believe to be as certain as that God reigns.

It is said that revolutions never go backwards. The truth of the aphorism depends on its application. The South apply it to the treasonable work in which they are engaged, and faith in the sentiment nerves their courage. It is, however, our own conviction, that that revolution will be rolled back and entirely fail. But another revolution is in progress among the loyal people. The change in their sentiments regarding slavery, in some of the developments made since the rebellion began, is remarkable. The advance which has been made by the Government respecting the institution, beginning with what it was at first supposed the Government might and might not do with it, of right, in putting down the rebellion; proceeding to what seemed to be a necessity, and carrying out its intentions by Congressional and Executive acts, and by military orders and power; the sentiments of the people, at first of such a character as probably would have produced a revolution at the North, if certain steps had been taken earlier; their present approval or acquiescence; the extensive belief that the destruction of slavery is now a necessity of our national existence, on a basis of permanent peace; the remarkable change in the Border States, not only among leading individuals, but among the people, as evinced in the voluntary action of these States, looking to the speedy removal of Slavery; the legislation of Con

gress, bearing upon its termination, to the whole extent to which it has direct civil jurisdiction; these, every one of which has grown out of the rebellion,—are among the well-known indications of a revolution in the ideas of the Government and people. Considering the mere lapse of time, the extent of this change is remarkable; though, under the causes which have impelled it, the change is natural. This is one of those revolutions which we believe will not go backwards. It is one of those mighty movings in the hearts of a great people, in the right direction, which will have no rest until its glorious and ultimate goal shall be reached.

How can any believer in God's providence, which extends to all things, in whose hand are the hearts of all people, -fail to see in these events the inevitable designs of God? How can he fail to read in them the doom of slavery?

We had intended to consider other designs of God's providence in the rebellion, but the extent of this chapter compels us to desist. If slavery is purged from the land, the only serious element of our national strife is removed. We can then become a homogeneous and truly united people. It may take time to remove the alienation and bitterness which the war has engendered, but the great cause being extinct, we may at length become ONE in a sense otherwise impossible of attainment. Then, by the favor of God, we may have before us a career of true prosperity; then, our land may indeed be the asylum for the oppressed of all lands; then, as a people, we may be prepared to fulfil our mission to the world! May God speed the day-and to Him be the glory!

THREE PERIODS OF OPINION HISTORICALLY. 363

CHAPTER X.

THE CHURCH AND SLAVERY.

THE relation of the Church of God in the United States to American slavery as an institution, and the sentiments of ecclesiastical bodies and leading divines upon its character, as entertained formerly and at the present time in different sections of the country, and the bearing of the whole upon the rebellion, are matters of vast moment. Some of these things have a connection as cause and effect, either directly and immediately or more or less remotely, which it may be interesting and instructive to

trace.

The subject naturally presents itself under three aspects: the sentiments which generally prevailed in the early period and during the greater portion of our history, both North and South; their subsequent modification at the North, and total revolution in almost the whole of the extreme South; and the general state of the public mind at present in both sections, consequent upon the rebellion. We do not propose in this chapter to go over the ground presented in each of these periods, but it is well to note the fact in this place which a full examination would verify, that a survey of the whole field properly presents the subject under this three-fold aspect.

THREE PERIODS OF OPINION HISTORICALLY.

The first of these periods, though not separated from the second so palpably that its termination can be fixed at a precise point of time, begins at a very early day or near the dawn of our history as a people, and comes down to

about the year 1835, during which the antislavery sentiment was generally prevalent. That the common opinion of the whole country in the early days of the Republic, both before and after the Revolution, and down to a comparatively recent day, was against the institution on grounds of policy and principle, is undeniable. Statesmen, divines, ecclesiastical bodies, the people at large, both North and So th, with rare exceptions, regarded slavery as founded in wrong, condemned it as an institution, and desired and expected, and to some extent labored for, its removal. These are propositions so clear and certain, and so well known to all men, that it is superfluous to attempt to add any thing to make the case plainer.

It is equally true and well known, illustrating a second period of opinion, that a change occurred in the South, beginning indeed before, but becoming more marked at about the time indicated, and finally developing into the sentiment of sanctioning slavery in the highest and fullest sense, and on every ground, social, economical, political, moral and religious; and that, during this same period, while a small fraction of the Northern people, the “abolitionists proper," as they have been termed, took extreme, and, to the South, offensive ground and action, and while another portion maintained the original antislavery sentiments which prevailed from the first, still another and a very large portion of the Northern people, embracing many who were still not friendly to slavery, practically abandoned the early prevalent sentiments, became intensely "conservative," and took such a course of action, illustrated by the writings and speeches of men both in Church and State, as gave the modern Southern views a direct and intended, or a quasi-practical sanction and encourageThese phases of sentiment, and their consequences, are susceptible of the clearest proof.

ment.

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