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PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION..
.Page 303-362

Slavery to be terminated, 305; Manner of its termination, 306; Action in certain

Border States, 308; Signs of its termination-the Loyal States, 310; Fugitive

Slave Law repealed, 311; Slaves freed by the War, 312; All traceable to the Ré-

bellion, 313; Termination of Slavery in the Rebel States, 314; Slavery doomed,

though Disunion triumph, 316; Internal causes of its destruction, 317; Illustra-

tive incident-Colonel Dahlgren, 318; Facts and their Lesson, 319; War educa-

ting Slaves for Freedom, 320; External causes of its destruction, 321; Environed

by enemies, 322; Cotton Dreams, 323; Slavery doomed and the Union main-

tained, 324; Reasons for this position, 826; Strength of the parties in Soldiers,

827; Negro Soldiers-their number unlimited, 829; White Soldiers sufficient,

830; National Resources and Credit, $31; The Result, 382; Governmental de-

termination confronted, 332; Opposition to Slavery fighting against God, 384;

The Government vindicated in destroying Slavery, 335; Its right of self-preser-

vation, 336; Destruction of Slavery a lawful means to this end, 338; Forbear-

ance of the Government with Slavery, 340; Emancipation Proclamation, 342;

Its final determination justified, 343; Sustained by the Laws of War, 344; Sus-

tained by examples of several Nations-Great Britain, France, 346; Spain, Co-

lombia, United States, 847; Illustrated by cases in the United States-Generals

Jesup, Taylor, Gaines, Presidents Van Buren, Tyler, and Congress, 847; An-

other case between Great Britain and the United States-decision of the Rus-

sian Emperor Alexander, 349; Opinions of eminent Statesmen-Jefferson, J. Q.

Adams, Hamilton, Jay, Madison, 350; Vindication complete against idle decla-

mation, 854; Sustained against the Rebel Congress, 354; Sustained by Southern

men, 356; The sum of Providential indications, 360.

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THE CHURCH AND THE REBELLION.

CHAPTER I.

CHARACTER OF THE REBELLION.

THE rebellion against the Government of the United States, now in the fourth year of its progress, is among the most extraordinary phenomena in the annals of mankind. It is so remarkable in its objects, so determined in its spirit, and has brought into action, upon one side and the other, material and moral forces of such gigantic magnitude, that the world stands appalled at the spectacle it presents.

In any proper consideration of the subject, the logical order brings us first to look at the character of the rebellion. It has certain palpable features which might profitably admit of an extended examination. Our plan will allow us to give them only a passing notice.

AGAINST POPULAR GOVERNMENT.

1. The primal characteristic it exhibits is that of a violent demonstration against the life-principle of Popular Government.

The ultimate sovereignty and true source of all political power, under God, are in the people, for whose benefit civil society has been ordained. In God's providence, mankind are distributed into nations, in which political power is to be exercised through the modes which the people of each

may devise. To establish government, and to alter its form or character, so as to meet the varying wants of society, are among the inherent rights of every people. These are very generally conceded as fundamental principles in political science. They are denied by those who contend for the divine right of kings, and who hold that the many were created for the few; but the ablest writers acknowledge these rights as belonging primarily to the people, and of which they cannot be justly divested.

In regard to changing the government which exists over a people, either in its form or in matters of substance, the modes are various. In a monarchy, a people may wish to go no farther than to demand and receive concessions from the sovereign, leaving the form and structure of the government intact. Under a despotism, tyranny may become so oppressive as to be unendurable, with no hope of relief from the ruling power. Then, revolution may become a duty. This remedy is deemed justifiable in extreme cases, and a right which a people can never surrender. The propriety of resorting to it must, for the most part, be determined by the circumstances of each case.

In a popular government, however, republican or democratical, whose form and structure have sprung from the free consent of the whole people, and where the rulers, from the highest to the lowest, are chosen and frequently changed by their common suffrages, the right of violent revolution would seem to be well-nigh or quite excluded. All abuses of power are subject to that peaceful remedy · which the people always have in their hands. Any branch of the government, executive, legislative, or judicial, which usurps authority, may be speedily reached and the corrective applied, as, for example, in the United States,-by impeachment, or by the ballot. If the remedy belong directly to the people, the determination is with the major

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