diff options
Diffstat (limited to '10517-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 10517-h/10517-h.htm | 770 |
1 files changed, 770 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/10517-h/10517-h.htm b/10517-h/10517-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9deb4e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/10517-h/10517-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,770 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> + +<html> + +<head> +<title>Government and Rebellion, by Rev. E. E. Adams</title> + + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- +body { + margin .5em; + font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4 { + text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; + font-variant: small-caps +} + +.smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + +a { text-decoration: none; } + +a:hover { background-color: #ffffcc } + +ol { + list-style-type: decimal; +} + --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10517 ***</div> + +<h1 class="title">Government and Rebellion.</h1> + +<h2 class="subtitle">A sermon delivered in the<br /> North Broad Street Presbyterian Church,<br /> +Sunday Morning, April 28 1861,</h2> + +<p align="center" class="smallcaps">By</p> + +<h2 class="author">Rev. E. E. Adams.</h2> + +<h3>Published by Request.</h3> + +<h4>1861.</h4> + + + + +<h1>Government and Rebellion.</h1> + + +<blockquote><p> An evil man seeketh only rebellion; therefore a cruel messenger shall be + sent against him.--Prov. xvii. 11.</p></blockquote> + + +<p>We have in these words this plain announcement--that Rebellion is a crime, +and shall be visited with terrible judgment. Solomon here speaks his own +convictions; God declares his thought, and utters his sanction of law. +This is also the expression of natural conscience,--vindicating in our +breast the Divine procedure, when the majesty of insulted government is +asserted, and penalty applied.</p> + +<p>God never overlooks rebellion against his throne--never pardons the rebel +until he repent and submit. God does not command us to forgive our +offending fellow-men, unless they repent. "If thy brother trespass against +thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn to thee, saying, +I repent, thou shalt forgive him." God is in a forgiving attitude; so +ought we to be. But he does not <i>express</i> forgiveness until the rebel +expresses penitence; neither are we under obligation to <i>pronounce</i> an +enemy forgiven until he signify his compunction and sorrow, and desist +from his injurious conduct. If my child rebel against my law and my +rightful discipline, I am not allowed by the spirit of love to pursue him +with vengeance; neither am I bound by the law of God to release him from +the penalty of his sin, until he shall have exhibited signs of submission, +of sorrow, and of obedience. I may pity him, and cherish toward him the +<i>spirit</i> of forgiveness; but for his own sake, for the order of the +household, and on account of my innate sense of justice, I must not +pronounce his acquittal, nor declare the controversy ended, until he shall +have satisfied my governmental authority, and the sentiment of justice +which both his own conscience and mine, constitutionally, and therefore by +necessity, cherish. And I do not see that Government can safely pardon a +rebel against its statutes, its honor and its common brotherhood, until +his rebellion cease; until he bow to law, confess his crime, and signify +his sorrow. I speak not of oppressive government, of iniquitous law; but +of <i>good</i> government, of statutes healthful, humane, equal. Although in +the former case rebellion cannot be justified until every constitutional +measure has been resorted to for redress,--then, if redress be not given, +the voice of the people in all representative governments may legally +change oppressive for just laws, and oppressors for rulers who shall +regard the popular will. And in despotisms, when the people have the +<i>power</i> to redress their wrongs, and to enter on a career of development +in mind and morals, in the arts of civilization,--when every other course +fails--"resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!" Man was not <i>made</i> for +tyranny. He was not made for any form of government that crushes out his +intellect and his religious capabilities. He was made to be governed +morally; to be under righteous law; law which, while it restrains passion, +selfishness and crime, gives a man all the freedom that he is able and +willing to <i>use</i> safely for himself, and for the commonwealth; all that is +consistent with individual development and the national good.</p> + +<p>I am not one of those who believe that the voice of the people is, without +exception, the voice of God. It was not so at the Deluge, but quite the +reverse. It was not so when Israel clamored for a king--not in mercy but +in anger, God gave them their request. It was not so when Absalom stole +the hearts of the people, and stirred up rebellion against his father. And +yet, when a nation, independent of party, free from the excitements of +momentary interest, without the influence of ambitious leaders, under the +calm guidance of reason, history, and the spirit of the age,--rises +spontaneously against oppression, against iniquity, and <i>demands</i> just +laws; rights for all; free thought, free speech, free labor, free worship; +when compacts are not violated; when moderation is maintained; when the +spirit of humanity is preserved,--<i>then</i>, I believe, "the voice of the +people <i>is</i> the voice of God." I have no question that, in the great +principle, Cromwell and his puritan hosts were right in their +revolutionary action. I could never doubt that our fathers did a noble, +glorious, and Christian deed in throwing off the yoke of Britain, and +proclaiming a new government for themselves and their posterity. It was +right to contend and bleed for equal representation, for freedom of +conscience, and for an independent nationality in which these high ends +could be secured.</p> + +<p>The first government of which we have account was a Theocracy--that is, +"the government of God." <i>He</i> was the only King. He revealed the law, +appointed leaders, gave rules for worship, instruction and warfare. Thus +in the outset did he set up his claims among men. He established the great +precedent, which men ought to have followed, which the world has ignored; +but to which the thoughts and the will of the race shall ultimately +return. It is true <i>now</i> that government, as such, is ordained of God. All +government, in its elemental authority, is a theocracy. All power is of +God; he ordains law. He originates the idea of civil compact. While, +therefore, the principles of governments among men may be defective, and +the administration wrong and hurtful, the great <i>fact</i> of government is a +<i>Divine fact. Good</i> government is <i>emphatically God's</i> government--intended +to suppress evil, to promote holiness and happiness. "The powers that be +are ordained of God." "Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth +the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves +damnation." Despisers of government are enumerated by the Apostle as among +the most flagitious of men. There are <i>statutes</i> in almost every government +which may not be absolutely right; some which may be oppressive. These are +to be distinguished from the principles, from the general bearing of a +government, and endured for the good therein, or be rid of by +constitutional and safe methods. It is a duty of each subject and citizen +to surrender some of his desires and preferences--some of his convictions +possibly--for the <i>general</i> sentiment--the comprehensive good; while he has +the privilege of convincing by fair argument all others, and winning them +to his views and measures if possible, without violence, without +infringement of law. It is not to be expected that every man should be +absolutely satisfied with any government. If he is called to yield only +his share of personal interest and preference, for the sake of all the +protection and blessing in which he participates in common with the state, +his reason, his conscience, his patriotism will joyfully acquiesce; he will +freely make so much sacrifice for the interests of the whole, knowing very +well that every other citizen is likely to be under an equal sacrifice. +Natural, individual liberty, without law, is only barbarism. Where every +man is free to do whatever his worst passions prompt, there is in fact no +freedom; there is tyranny; for the strong will subdue the weak, bone and +muscle will govern mind and conscience. In laws and governments men have +their best thoughts; human <i>law</i> is likely to be better than human +nature. Men feel the need of restraint--are convinced of the necessity of +law. They therefore make laws in self-defence; if thereby they would <i>not</i> +restrain their own selfishness, they <i>would</i> restrain the selfishness +of others; but that which is made a barrier to <i>one</i> bad subject is +also a defence against all;--thus men do restrain themselves by their +defences against others. Thus it is that, with healthful convictions, men +may control diseased passion; with a right <i>ideal</i> is intimately +joined a safe actuality; with good law, a comparatively good condition. +Even in the worst administration, and when the public mind is most +demoralized, there may remain the purity of law; the sublime thought. +If the mind finds itself sinking into lawlessness and disorganism, and +borne away by the pressure of evil, it can look upward, and, catching new +energy from the unquenched light--</p> + +<blockquote><p> "Spring into the realm of the ideal."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Our destiny is ideal. We are on our way to the Unseen. The ideal draws us +upward,--<i>real</i> now, to the spirits of just men made perfect--to be real +to us when we are perfect--<i>once</i> ideal to them, as now to us. We must +keep above us the model of life and of law which we have not yet attained. +Let it never be dim. It is a star shining through time's night! A banner +waving from the throne of God. It tells us of the goal. It points out our +futurity--the altitude of our virtue, our exaltation, our bliss.</p> + +<p>Our subject is <span class="smallcaps">Government and Man</span>. We proceed to consider it in a +three-fold aspect, inquiring</p> +<ol> + <li><a href="#ch-01"><i>What is good government?</i></a></li> + <li><a href="#ch-02"><i>What constitutes rebellion against such government?</i></a></li> + <li><a href="#ch-03"><i>What is the duty of each citizen when rebellion exists?</i></a></li> +</ol> + + + +<h2 id="ch-01">I. <i>What is a good government?</i></h2> + + + +<p>No citizen looks for an absolutely perfect form of nationality--of law. +But we have a right to ask for good government. We have been accustomed to +think that it depends more on administration than on principle; and the +line of the poet, "That which is best administered, is best," is a +proverb, to the sentiment of which we too freely yield. No doubt a +government with bad statutes and wrong laws, may be so administered as to +produce a tolerable degree of national comfort and development for a +season; while a Constitution perfect in its theories and principles, may +be so maladministered as to corrupt and distract, impoverish and +demoralize, a people. And yet, I agree with an old patriot of the past +century who said, "There is no foundation to imagine that the goodness or +badness of any government depends solely upon its administration. It must +be allowed that the ultimate design of government is to restrain the +corruptions of human nature; and, since human nature is the same at all +times and in all places, the same form of government which is best for one +nation is best for all nations, if they would <i>only agree to adopt</i> it."</p> + +<p>There is a deep thought in this remark. We often say, for example, "France +is not fit for a republican form of government," and it is true; but that +is <i>not</i> to say, "A republican form of government is not fit for France," +if the population would agree to adopt and preserve it. Man, in his +fallen state, is not fit for the holy government of God; but that holy +government is, nevertheless, the <i>only</i> one that is fit for man as a moral +being; and it is man's ignorance and folly, his guilt and ruin, that he +does not adopt it. It is owing to the ignorance and wickedness of the +world that it is not fit for a representative government; and that all do +not choose Christ to be their King. + +Were a score of the professional politicians of our land to frame a +Constitution for us in full accordance with their own schemes and choice, +we would soon find ourselves under an oligarchy of schemers, who cared for +the Republic only so far as to secure from it their own fame and +emolument. Were as many brokers or merchants to make and administer our +laws, without regard to other industrial interests, we should have an +oligarchy of trade. Were as many husbandmen, or mechanics, or lawyers, to +have full control of our legislation and government, we would have one +interest towering above all others, and true equalization, true +brotherhood, just representation, healthful nationality would be +impossible. Or, were we dependent on officers in the army or navy for our +government, legislative and administrative, we would be likely to have +many of our rights circumscribed. Were as many clergymen to frame a +Constitution, and administer laws, we might be under a crushing +priesthood. A government of mere scholars, poets or orators, would be only +a sublime dream. A Constitution of philosophies alone, would glitter with +abstractions beautiful, cold, grand as the snow-capt Alps, and as distant, +too, from the actualities of men! A government of mere gentlemen who have +nothing to do but think for slaves, to enjoy the chase and the +race-ground, to extol their pedigree, and traduce labor, and lead +retainers to war--would be a government for the few over the many, an +aristocracy of blood and privilege, of curled moustache and taper fingers; +but not a republic of patriots, of self-made men, of equal privilege and +just laws. It would be a return to semi-barbarism, to the age of Louis +XIV., or even of Charles I.</p> + +<p>This is now the strong tendency in the Rebel States: even along our free +border, but below it, such is the system of representation, that a county +containing only about 3,000 inhabitants, sends as many representatives to +the legislature as another county of 30,000, and a single proprietor casts +as many votes as a whole commune. So much liberty of citizens is already +sacrificed to the chevalier, to the system of forced service.</p> + +<p>But were a select number of experienced men, of true statesmen, embracing +different pursuits and professions, educated in different parts of the +world, and drawn together by grand national events,--statesmen born in the +age when liberty had its first grand revival, and was guarded by soberness +of thought, and tried by every variety and extent of sacrifice--by men who +had no professional, exclusive interest to provide for, but who expected +to fight and die for their convictions, who sought only to lay the +foundation of a nationality for future generations, and for the world; who +aimed at a healthful union of all popular interests, both among poor and +rich, among masters and dependents; who provided for freedom of action +under law; of worship and education, of commerce, agriculture, and the +arts; for the easy and equitable support of government,--for its +perpetuity indeed, infusing into it elements that appeal powerfully, both +to the self-interest and the patriotism of the citizens,--I say, were such +men, with such ends in view, by such sacrifice, to frame such a +government, containing the most delicate balance of interests, with strong +checks against the encroachment of any branch, either the legislative, +executive or judicial, giving all trades and professions, and all men, an +equal chance for excellence, influence, and honor; you would not hesitate +to pronounce that a good government, even though you might find slight +exception to some of its terms, though you might not interpret as others +do, all its constitutional phrases.</p> + +<p>In view of the protection which such a constitution affords, especially if +it had been tested, for a period of eighty years, by all the inward strain +of domestic evils, and all the outward pressure of invasion; by the +influence of foreign envy, of intrigue, of hostility; by the debasing +power of disloyalty, the incompetency of rulers, and the general +degeneracy of human nature; I say, in view of all these untoward +influences, the government which could still retain its majesty and power, +still stretch its Aegis over every national and individual right--you +would pronounce the best, both for ruler and people, that ever blessed a +nation. And you would not hesitate to declare <i>that</i> man a <i>traitor</i>, who +should attempt <i>to weaken</i> and destroy it!</p> + +<p>Now we pretend to say that <i>our</i> government was thus formed by the +choicest wisdom and patriotism of the world, with the largest liberty in +view, under the restraint of law, giving equitable privilege to all its +citizens, and so balancing its different departments that they are +mutually a defence. We pretend to claim for our government the loftiest +purpose, the most comprehensive views, and the best practical results. We +claim for it justice, equality, and power. It does not stand out--a thing +distinct from the people and the states. It is not an objective power +only, but subjective; it is in every State and in every freeman. It is not +in machinery, which can be set in motion and work out certain results, as +if every part of it were iron or steel, and put into action by applied +heat; but in <i>men</i>, in minds, in hearts, in the family circle, in the +church, in every throb of patriotism, in every fibre of the husbandman and +the artizan, in the pastor's prayers, and the student's living thoughts. +It is in the <i>nation</i> like latent fire, like a hidden life--evoked in time +of peril, and flashing along the telegraph, breathed in song, uttered in +oratory, thundered from the cannon's mouth, hung out in streaming banners +whose "every hue was born in heaven," felt in firm resolve, illustrated in +response to the call of country and of law. Where is our government? Not +at Washington alone. That is but its symbol. It is throughout all our +Loyal States. It is enthroned on the granite hills of New Hampshire, sends +its voice along the Alleghanies, and on the swelling floods of the +Mississippi, and spreads its wing over the children of the West, even to +the shores of Oregon. It lives in every cottage, and every mansion, and +has a throne in every true, free, noble, Christian heart.</p> + +<p>That it is a <i>good</i> government, you have only in imagination to blot from +the face of the earth whatever has grown up under its protection and +encouragement, by the will and the blessing of the Almighty, during the +fourscore years of its existence; level all the cities, sink the commerce, +prostrate the schools and churches, obliterate all the science, history +and thought it has fostered, quench the light of oratory, turn back the +wheel of improvement, and leave us at the opening of 1776; estimate all +the freedom of act, of utterance, of industry; reckon the sum of human +comforts, even of luxuries, it has brought to our hand. Look at all our +ships, our mechanism, our homes, our sanctuaries, our institutions of +morality, of mercy and of religion; our wealth, intelligence, order, +power; consider the elevation given to millions in the worst form of +civilization in the land, showing that such is the vitalizing force of our +national life, that even slavery here, bad as it is--and we know of +nothing worse as a system--lifts men above the natural license of savage +existence. Consider all this, and much more, that I may not stop to utter, +and you cannot--you <i>do</i> not--no sane mind <i>can</i> question the supreme +excellence--I had almost said the <i>divine</i> excellence--of our +government. And if there were need of other proof, we have only to remind +you with what promptness the call of our noble Chief Magistrate was +answered from every free State--from the city and the hamlet; from the +bank, the bar, the press and the pulpit; from the workshop and the soil; +from the calm and comfort of home and ease and affluence, and from the +cottage of the poor, as if the pulse of the government were beating in +every vein, and the will of the Cabinet had its home in every bosom! +Strong men, young men, aged men, men of leisure, Christian men--all ready +to march under the stars and stripes, or to pour out their treasure for +others. Mothers and wives and sisters, with breaking hearts and tremulous +benedictions, bidding the heroes go--offering them on their country's +altar. Oh, it would not be thus but for the true manhood which our +government infuses into loyal citizens. It would not be so, but for the +Christianity it protects without dictation, and acknowledges without +ostentation.</p> + + + +<h2 id="ch-02">II. We come now to the question, <i>What constitutes rebellion against good +government?</i></h2> + + +<p>There may be criminal rebellion even against a wicked and oppressive +government. The people may take the law into their own hands, and put to +death, or imprison their rulers, without <i>first</i> having tried +constitutional methods of redress. But I speak of rebellion against <i>good</i> +government--such as we have already had in review. There is a difference +between insurrection and rebellion. The former is an act of a people or +population against a single statute, or against a portion of the +legislative enactments, without necessarily growing into warfare, or +revolt against the whole constitution and the laws. This may become +rebellion. There is also a difference between rebellion and revolution. +The latter, in a political sense, is a change, either wholly or in part, +of the constitution. This may be effected by argument and a peaceful +vote--by abdication, by a change of national policy in view of some new +relation, and by general consent, or by warfare. "The revolution in +England in 1688, was occasioned by the abdication of James II., the +establishment of the House of Orange on the throne, and the restoring of +the constitution to its primitive state."</p> + +<p>Our revolution of '76, and onward, was not a rebellion; it was resistance +of oppression, of burdensome taxation without equal representation, and it +resulted in our distinct nationality.</p> + +<p>The revolutions of France have been of a similar character; they have +sprung from oppression of the most severe and unnatural kind. This was the +fact, at least, in 1797 and in 1830. In 1848, when it was my lot to be in +the midst of it, the revolution arose from the selfish conduct of Louis +Philippe, who enriched himself and his family out of the national +treasury, and encouraged his sons in a course which was at war with +national precedent, with the commercial interests and democratic +individualism of the French; for with their imperial prestiges and tastes +they are extreme in their personal democracy.</p> + +<p>But all these revolutions resulted in good to the people. Education, +public spirit, enterprise, labor, all the arts of civilization, and even +evangelical Christianity received a new impulse. Mind was opened and +enlarged; the people thought for themselves, and sighed for knowledge and +a better faith.</p> + +<p>Revolution is going on silently, from year to year, in England. The +nobility yield by slow, almost imperceptible degrees, to the demands of +the people. It is by this process that the Government avoids the shocks +which startle Austria, France and Italy.</p> + +<p>Such is the variety of honest opinion among men on all subjects; so +different are the degrees of information, and the opportunities of judging +with regard to the best measures of government; such a diversity exists in +the interests and abilities of a people,--that they may be good citizens +without being satisfied altogether with the constitution, or with those +who administer its laws. There will be different political parties. It is +the glory of a government that the people are allowed to think and vote as +they please, and to express their honest opinions. Perhaps with us, +expression is too free, especially in regard to public men and measures. +We may have diverse views and convictions, and yet feel and act loyally. +But men who endeavor by any influence or means to lessen the loyalty of +others, to alienate the love of the people from the government, and who +signify their own aversion, not by condemning a single statute and seeking +its lawful repeal, but by heaping abuse on the constitution and on those +who are chosen to administer the laws, by avowing their hostility to the +government and its policy, or their purpose to resist and war against +it,--are in a posture of rebellion. Those who, being in office, commanding +the arms and other property of the government, cause them to be removed so +as to weaken its power and strengthen those in actual rebellion, or who +are threatening the same; those who aid and comfort a population or +soldiery who are in a state of actual resistance, and finally, those who +do openly and avowedly renounce the authority of the government to which +they have sworn allegiance, or take up arms to attack its strongholds, +seize or destroy its property, or injure the soldiers and citizens who are +sent to protect it,--are in a state of rebellion against its laws and +against the commonwealth over which it holds the shield of its authority.</p> + +<p>Korah was a rebel and a traitor, who having, by intrigue, inspired some +other leaders with the spirit of sedition, succeeded in drawing from their +allegiance to Moses and Aaron, a large number of the people, who came +together in a mob to demand a different administration. They were invited +to refer the matter to the Divine decision, but they stoutly refused, +accusing Moses of assumption, thus endeavoring to destroy his authority +over the nation. That was rebellion. Again, in the reign of David, his son +Absalom drew the people from their allegiance, then seized the reins of +government and pursued his father with an army. That was rebellion against +wholesome law, against the will of God.</p> + +<p>Now we have the painful fact before us, that rebellion has sprung up +against our good government. Men in many quarters have secretly plotted, +and openly avowed hostility to our Federal Union. Eight of our States have +passed the Ordinance of Secession, four or five others are assuming an +attitude of hostility to the General Government, or refusing to comply +with the Executive, who calls on them to aid in the defence of the +Capital. This state of things has been preceded by acts of treachery on +the part of leading men in the States, by seizure of arms, money, and +public defences,--the property of the government. A new Confederacy is +formed, contrary to oaths and compacts, for the purpose of destroying our +Union, and giving perpetuity to slavery. It has attacked our forts, +adulterated our coin, stolen our arms, proclaimed piracy against our +commerce, set a price on the head of our Chief Magistrate, threatened our +Capital, and raised armies to exterminate, if possible, our nationality. +And all this it has done without one act of the Government to provoke such +procedure; without any oppression; without any threat; but in the face of +every honorable proposal on our part, after long and patient endurance of +their encroachment and plunders; even until foreign journals deride us for +our forbearance, and the rebels themselves insult our delay.</p> + +<p>There are those who have compared this rebellion with our revolution of +'76. There could hardly be a wider distinction, both in principle and in +fact, than between these two movements. The Colonies, had been oppressed +by "navigation laws," intended by the British Parliament to crush out +their commerce for a whole century, from 1660 to 1775. Their weakness +during that period did not allow of resistance. They were taxed +oppressively, while they were not allowed a representation. This was in +violation of Magna Charta; for the government of Great Britain was +representative. Having been aided by the Colonists during the Seven Years' +War, in the subjugation of Canada, the Parent Government--without asking +taxation through the regular action of the Colonial Government--assumed +the right to tax our expanding commerce, and commenced a vigorous +enforcement of revenue laws. "Writs of Assistance" were issued, whereby +officers of the king were allowed to break open any citizen's store or +dwelling, to search for, and seize foreign merchandise; sheriffs also were +compelled to assist in the work. The sanctions of private life might, by +this act be invaded at any time by hirelings; and bad as it was in itself, +it was liable to more monstrous abuse. Then came the "<i>sugar bill</i>," +imposing enormous duties on various articles of merchandise from the West +Indies, and greatly crippling Colonial commerce: then the infamous Stamp +Act, by which every legal instrument, in order to validity, must have the +seal of the British Government--deeds, diplomas, &c., costing from +thirty-six cents to ten dollars apiece: then the duty on tea; and, +finally, the quartering of soldiers on our citizens in time of peace, for +the express purpose of subjugating our industry and energy to the selfish +purposes of the crown.</p> + +<p>It is enough to say, that the rebels against our Government have suffered +no oppression. They do not set forth any legal ground of Secession. The +government has done nothing to call out their indignation, or to inflict +on them a wrong. They have had more than their share of public office; +they have had a larger representation, in proportion to their free +citizens, than we have; they have been protected in their claims, even +against the convictions of the North; we yielding, as a political demand, +what we do not wholly admit as a Christian duty. We have assisted them by +enactments, by money, and by arms, in the preservation of a system at war +with our conscience, and with our liberties. We have paid for lands which +they occupy; and after all their indignities and taunts, and attacks on +our citizens, their plunders, and their warlike demonstrations, we have +been patient; and are even now imposing on ourselves restraint from the +execution of that chastisement, which many of their sober and awed +citizens acknowledge to be just, and which, if the call were made by the +Executive, would at once be hurled on the rebels by an indignant people, +like the rush of destiny.</p> + +<p>Now, I grant, for I do not wish to make the matter worse than it is +against them, that in the North, individuals have demanded more than the +South were able, at once, to give. Some have pushed reform faster than it +would bear, faster than the laws of Providence would allow; but it was +honestly and conscientiously done. We have sometimes in our warmth, +uttered irritating words; but all this has been returned by blows, and by +savage vindictiveness. We have shown a willingness, of late, to yield some +things; to abide by the sense of the whole people; but these States are, +by their rulers, declared <i>out of the Union</i>, without appeal to the +people; they have commenced the war, and now they are regarded by the +whole world as in a state of rebellion, not of justifiable revolution. +They would submit to no method of adjustment that we could honorably +allow. They desired war, as they have been for years preparing for it, at +the expense of the Government, and in its service and trust, drawing their +life from the bosom which they now sting; and because freedom will no +longer bow, as it has done for a whole generation, to their will, they +rebel, proclaim a system of piracy, and threaten the subjugation of the +whole American people. It is a deep, and long determined treason, running +into the whole national life, and is become to ourselves a question of +<i>personal</i> liberty.</p> + + + + +<h3 id="ch-03">III. What then, we ask, <i>is the duty of all citizens when good government +is assailed by rebellion?</i></h3> + + +<p>Doubtless, <i>one</i> duty is to inquire whether they have in any way +contributed criminally to the occasion or the causes of such rebellion; +whether they have demanded too much of the disaffected, or encouraged a +wrong spirit in them by coinciding with views leading to their present +attitude; whether they have participated in any way with a policy +calculated to irritate, to defy, to provoke honest minds to anger? Whether +as individuals, as Christians, they have been bitter and harsh, and +vengeful, or are so now; and if they find any such spirit, it becomes them +to repent, and school themselves into Christian charity and moderation. +But, notwithstanding any possible error in the past, the Christian citizen +must consecrate himself to the defence of the government and its <i>policy</i>; +for however, there is a distinction ordinarily between the two; in a +crisis that involves a nation's life, the policy which would save it, is +the spirit of government and order.</p> + +<p>The true Christian will pray, and speak, and write, and labor, and die for +its success! Will give assurance of his sympathy and support, and refuse +to do any act that can be construed into <i>comfort</i> to the rebels. He will +encourage troops called to support the government, and its policy, giving +them food, clothing, advice, BIBLES AND ARMS. He will rouse their +patriotism, and call down on them the benediction of heaven. This is the +duty of ministers, and magistrates, of churches and individual Christians. +And if the rebellion continue, it is their duty to advocate and help to +form armies of sufficient numbers and power to utterly subjugate the +rebels, and, if they cannot otherwise be brought to submit, put an end to +their existence. That is what God did by the hand of Israel, to Korah and +Absalom; and it is the legitimate issue, if needs be, of all successful +resistance,--of all defensive warfare. To deny it, is to deny the right of +self-defence. It is to put a man in a position where he must love his +enemy better than himself and children, which even Christianity does not +demand, though it does enjoin forbearance, charity, and sacrifice. To deny +this is to condemn the principles of our Revolution, and to sanction the +plunder and destruction of national property and being.</p> + +<p>What, therefore, is our duty, now that rebellion actually rages against +our mild, equal, good Government--the best, on the whole, that the world +ever saw? rebellion without cause; with no legitimate ground of offence; +rebellion for the sake of a dark and demoralizing system, that has robbed +half the nation of its conscience, and cursed it with an inveterate +idolatry. What is our duty? What is mine as a citizen, a Christian, a +minister of God--as a man? What is yours? Plainly to ask, What have +I--either by demanding too much, not in abstract right, but in the light +of present possibility--contributed towards this fearful condition? What +by my love of money, my sanction of oppression, my apologies for wrong, my +complaint against government, my support of wrong principles, my neglect +to vote and pray for the right, my boast of national greatness, my worship +of power and neglect of goodness, my forgetfulness of God? What by all +these, and more that I do not think of, have I done palpably, possibly, +toward bringing on this terrible crime against justice, humanity and law? +Then it is my duty to repent of all this and deplore it. It is also my +duty to strive against personal hatred and revenge, and to pray for my +country's enemies just as I would for my own, and <i>because</i> they are my +own--not that they prosper in their rebellion, but that they repent and +find mercy, and acknowledge the authority against which they are at war. +It is our duty specially to pity and pray for the multitudes of good +citizens and their families, who cannot escape from among the rebels, and +who are in great jeopardy; men who love law and the Constitution, and the +whole country; who are either resisting, under the greatest pressure, the +evil that is upon them, or yielding through fear and force. We feel for +them; we call them our brothers. But it is also my duty and yours to +support our government--our administration; to pray for and sympathize +with our President and his Cabinet in their most trying posture, in the +midst of such perils, and with so meagre means for the moment, of +establishing order, and setting the nationality in permanent security. It +is our duty to report traitors to the police, that they may be lawfully +cared for; to help our militia and volunteers with every comfort and +defence; to hold up the arm of government so long as rebels remain.</p> + +<p>This is <i>our</i> country, bought with blood. It is second only to the +redemption which Christ purchased for us! And if we are called to contend +with principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places, +for the safety of our souls, surely we may contend with flesh and blood, +with rebels and traitors, to save this glorious inheritance from the gulf +of anarchy and the bonds of a lasting servitude. <i>War is terrible</i>, but +slavery and plunder and the silent gangrene of national dishonor, bribery +and perverted conscience are worse. The burst of a thunder cloud may break +down a forest of lofty pines, but the slow delving of the mole may +undermine a thousand habitations. The secret corrosions of the ship-worm +will sink a fleet.</p> + +<p>This deep-working, inward ruin is appearing on the face of society. The +stupendous fact is, that from Baltimore, onward throughout the disaffected +States, the population is under the guidance of mad leaders, and exposed +to mob power. Thousands of good citizens are flying to us for protection; +thousands more forced into the war against the country, and other +thousands sighing and praying in secret that God will give success to our +arms and rescue themselves and their families from ruin. For these, as +well as for our liberties and honors are we summoned to war; it were a +crime to be inactive. The Bible is militant. Christianity is a warfare +with sin. Life is militant,--a perpetual fight with death. If our +blessings are worth praying for and praising for, they are worth +<i>fighting</i> for, and if not to be otherwise secured, <i>must be fought for</i>.</p> + +<p>I want this country to live! I want my children to grow up under its +shield! I want to see constitutional liberty mount above the obstacles of +ages, and rise higher and higher here, I want Italy to look toward us now +with hope! I cannot bear to hear the cry of shame that will come over the +Atlantic from the vineyards of France, from the glaciers of Switzerland, +and from the steppes of Russia, if we permit the walls of our blood-bought +inheritance to be broken down. For the sake of God, liberty, religion, all +over the earth, I want our flag to be honored abroad.</p> + +<p>In the French revolution of '48, a deputation came to me to demand the +American church at Havre, for the purpose of holding a political meeting, +I refused. They intimated that it would be torn down. I had only to assure +them that I would plant our flag on it, and if they touched it with rude +hands, they would have to answer to our government. That was the last of +the matter. This power we must have still; and to secure this the whole +North and West must awake, and act--for the multitudes who in the Border +States demand our aid; for the thousands of laboring, suffering poor who +tremble beneath the glance of the proud chevalier; for the sake of our +education, our lands, our homes, our Christianity. We are sure that +success on our part now will demonstrate to the world the inherent power +of our nation. They cannot behold the united action and offering of +<i>nineteen millions</i> in the free States--all animated with the spirit of +liberty, religion and law, and resolved to crush treason and rebellion at +any cost--without a deeper conviction of our real might, without a new +impression of the majesty that reposes in a people's will! All Europe +approves of this war; and struggling nationalities look with anxious +expectancy for the issue.</p> + +<p>It is a war for government, for order. It is against the power and rage of +the mob, led on by ambitious men who are mad at the loss of power. There +is nothing more sublime than law; holding unseen the hearts and interests +of millions, protecting their rights, and giving them full, happy +development. Our flag represents law, liberty, sublime sacrifice, national +life. It is therefore right even for the Christian to fight for its +perpetuity. If I may defend myself and family, the nation is greater than +my family and myself; and calls more powerfully for my service. And this +war, entered on by necessity, and with the grand purpose of protecting +order and law, and rescuing a whole population from ruin, is inspiring in +its motive, and therefore elevating in its influence. We are consciously +better, nobler, in proportion as we forget ourselves in the sublime idea +of our nationality, and all that this nationality can do. When men fight +for plunder, or victory alone, they labor downward, they become brutish; +but a war for true liberty, for national life, for our homes and our +inheritance, and for the oppressed, is elevating, purifying. War is +terrible in itself, and in some of its consequences, but there is a bow on +the cloud. When the bolt has spent itself in the pestiferous air, all +nature is bright and glorious. With true discipline, soldiers are made +vigorous in body; they are also quickened in mind by the tactics and +incitements of warfare, they are ennobled by high motives, and may leave +the campaign better than when they entered it. Courage is awakened; love +of liberty and order inspired; benevolence increased; and loyalty exalted +by this war. What men bleed for they value. I have been delighted with the +eagerness with which many soldiers whom I have visited, listened to +Christian address, and received the word of God. It is a matter of +gratulation that but few arrests are made in our city in these days, not +because the police are less watchful, but because the debased portion of +the population are inspired with a better thought. It is also hopeful to +find, that many who entered our city as volunteers, or as drafted +soldiers, are actually being reformed from their evil habits, under the +greater strictness of camp discipline.</p> + +<p>We are cheered also by the fact that the people generally are more earnest +than formerly in their attendance on divine worship; more solemn, and full +of feeling, and disposed to study the Bible, They need God. They look to +God. We all feel the Bible to be more than ever precious. Its solemn +prophecies are swelling into fulfillment. The day of God is approaching, +and the kingdoms of the earth are giving way for the coming of the Great +King!</p> + +<p>The feeling is, and ought to be, intense for the conflict. Let the +question be decided. Let half a million of freemen be called, when the +time shall indicate, to form a line of fire along the boundary that +separates Secession from loyalty. Let them take up their mighty march +through the revolted territory, if it will not otherwise submit, and +proclaim as they go, "Liberty throughout the land!" Let the flag that +waved over the suffering heroes of Valley Forge, and the conquerors of +Yorktown, wave forever on the Capitol, and over every village and subject +in the land! Nay, it must be so. We must bow, if we do not conquer. They +have proclaimed it. Come down, then, from the Northern mountains, and out +from the forests and the fields, ye sons of the Pilgrims, with your firm +force of will, and your achieving arms! Come up from the marts of +commerce, ye daring children of the Empire State, and ye firm hearts of +New Jersey and of Delaware! Come forth from the echoes of Erie, and the +shores of Michigan and Superior! Come from the free air of Western +Virginia and Ohio, from the loyal districts of Maryland, Kentucky, and +Tennessee! Come forth from the great West! and with them, go, ye strong +and true of my adopted State and City, who listened even in your cradles, +to the bell which gives out its tones over the birth-place of our +liberties! Go forth, and live the epic that future ages shall sing: be +yours the glory of <i>rooting this treason out</i>! And as they go, bless them, +aged fathers with tremulous voice! and mothers, bid them God speed! wives +and sisters and Christian hearts, load them with your gifts and your +prayers! And when they are gone, remember them at the home altar, and +bless God that your country does not want defenders; and when your tears +are dried up, and your cause is proclaimed triumphant, weep again tears of +joy as you clasp the returning heroes to your arms! Or, if they shall be +borne home to you wounded and worn in their country's service, be grateful +that your eye can watch over them, and your hand minister to their +necessities and griefs. Or finally, should they fall in battle, you will +have the consolation of knowing that they saved your country; that they +did something to consolidate its strength, and illustrate its glory +before the world. For we are destined to conquer,--and after this trial +the nation will come forth as gold. We need to suffer that we may value +our liberties. From the valley of tears arise notes of victory and +hallelujahs. Nations as well as saints, come up out of great tribulation.</p> + +<blockquote><p> "None die in vain<br /> +Upon their country's war-fields! Every drop<br /> +Of blood, thus poured for faith and freedom, hath<br /> +A tone, which from the night of ages, from the gulf<br /> +Of death, shall burst, and make its high appeal<br /> +Sound unto earth and heaven."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The motto now is--"No compromise! <i>Submission</i>! Give up the leaders of +rebellion! Bow to law! Nay, more--no longer <i>ask</i> us to protect your dark +system!"</p> + +<p>But it is possible that, while we stir ourselves up to a fierce +belligerency against rebellion, and rush into hot condemnation of those +whom we once called "<i>brethren," we</i> are rebels against God! Some of you +who are equipping for the war, and ready to take the field in defence of +your country and her laws, are in heart at war with holiness and God! You +may see in the fever of our whole population what men think of treason +against a good earthly government! See also in the commands of God, in the +life and death of Jesus, in the declared interest and anxious watchfulness +of angels, in the whole glorified army that shall attend the Great King +when he comes to set up his final assize,--what the Principalities and +Powers in Heaven think of your treason against the holy government of +Jehovah! Behold in the uplifted arm of Justice--hear in the voice of the +Judge, what shall be done to him who will not repent! Now the offers of +pardon are made through the death and sacrifice of Jesus. Repent; forsake +your sin; lay down your arms; retire from your rebellious attitude; and +from the throne of Mercy shall the fact be proclaimed, that <i>you</i> are +pardoned and restored!</p> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10517 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |