laws and liberty; and, but yesterday, her cargo safely landed upon the wharf, she slipped her moorings and playfully unbent her sails for an hour's enjoyment. But, alas! there were rocks, hidden rocks, in the way,rocks not laid down upon any chart except the chart of Satan. She struck; and tears filled our eyes as we saw the noble vessel that had done her duty so well, lying there, the victim of a mischief that could not have been foreseen. So is it with our country to-day. 11 AT ST. PAUL'S CHURCH. The Rev. Dr. Nicholson spoke as follows: My Brethren, in the extraordinary circumstances in which we meet together this morning, I feel unwilling to begin our joyous Easter services without a brief word of introduction. I am sure you will pardon me for this one moment's digression from our usual course. Easter is the synonyme of joy and triumph, and Easter-day has come. How sweetly its blessed light has dawned upon us this morning. And yet it has brought with it the saddest tidings, yes, in an important sense, the saddest tidings, which have ever concerned us since we were a people. To-day, our whole land is filled with sorrow and mourning; not only so, but with the keenest sense of national shame and mortification. It is a dreadful public calamity, in every point of view a dreadful public calamity; and certainly it is God's call to us for a yet deeper selfhumiliation. The instinct of my heart would be to observe this, the first Sunday after so grievous an affliction, with such outward expressions of sorrow in our public worship as might befit a worshipping congregation. Were it another Sunday, the irrepressible grief of 11* (125) |