In the LL of the House of Representatives of the United ... · , for He hath triumphed glo riously the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and

S E R M O N .

By the President of the Un ited S tates of A merica

A PR O C L A MA T I O N .

Whereas i t has pleas ed A lmigh ty God , duringthe year wh ich i s n ow coming to an end

,to

reli eve our bel oved c ountry from the fearful

scourge of civi l war,and to permi t u s to s ecure

the blessings o f p eace,un i ty and harmony

,

with a great enlargemen t of civi l lib er tyAnd whereas our Heavenly Fa ther has al s o

,

during the year,graciou sly averted from us th e

calami ties of foreign war, pestilence and famine ,wh ile our granarie s are full of the fru i ts of' an

abundan t season

And whereas righ teousness exalte th a nation,

while s in i s a reproach to any peopl e

N ow,therefore

,be i t known that I

,Andrew

Johnson , President o f the U nited S tates , do

hereby recommend to th e people there of th at

they do set apart and observe th e‘

first Thursdayof D ecember next as a day of national thanks

giving to the Creator of the universe for’

t h ese

grea t d el iveran ces and bles sings .

And I do further recommend that o n that

o cca si on the whole people make confessi on of

our na tional s in s agains t H is infinite go odness ,and with on e heart and one mind impfore the

D iv ine guidance in th e ways of national v irtue

and holiness .

In te stimony whereof, I have hereunto se t my

hand and caused the s eal of the U nited S tates

to b e affixed .

D on e at the c ity of Wash ingto n thi s twenty

eighth day of O ctober, in th e year of our

"S E A L ] Lord on e thousand eight hundred andsixty-five

,and of the Independence of the

U nited S ta te s the nine tieth .

A N D R EW JO H N S O N .

By the Presiden tW IL L I A M H . S E WA R D ,

S ecretary of S tate.

In pursuance of the above proclamation,a very

large ass emblage convened in th e Hall o f th eHouse of R epresen ta tive s t o commemorate th eday . The Speaker of th e H ous e

,S ecre tary o f

the In teri or, Members of C ongress , offi cials o fth e Government, repre s entati ves of the militaryand naval departments

,citiz en s of Washingto n

and from the various S ta tes,were present.

R ev . Charl es B . Boynton , D . D .

,chap lain o f

the H ouse and pa sto r of the F irs t Congregati onalchurch of Washington , assis ted by R ev . B . F .

Morris , o f C i ncinnati , O h io , conducted th e services .

The divi ne blessing was invoked,and th e

choir and congregation united in s inging th e

and impres sive anthem

Be i‘

ore Jehovah’s awful throne,

Ye nations b ow with sacred joy ;K now that th e L ord is G od aloneH e n create

,and H e de stroy .

H is soj’re ign power , without our aid ,Made us of clay , and form’a

‘

us men ;A nd when l ike wand’ring sheep we s tray’d,H e brought us to H is fo ld aga in.

W e’ll crowd T hy gates with th ank ful songs ,High as th e heavens our voice s ra is e

A nd earth , w ith h er ten thousand tongues ,S hal l fill Thy courts with sounding praise .

W ide as th e world is T hy commandV ast as e tern ity Thy love

F irm as a rock T hy truth shall stand,Wh en rol l ing years shal l cease to move .

R ev . Mr. Morris read apprO priate s electionsfrom th e S crip tures

,of the O ld and New Tes t

aments,from an imperia lquarto pulp i t B ible ,

presented to Congre ss in May,1 85 6 , by th e

American B ible So ciety, a national i nstitu ti on ,for use i n public worsh ip at the Capitol

,which

was acknowledged with thanks o n behalf of

Congress by the President of th e S enate and th eSpeaker of the Hou se

, wi tn tne expre ssed hop e" that the grea t truth s contained in that sacred

record may be impres sed upon all our minds

and hearts .

” Th e Scrip tura l l ess on s were as

fol lows

Then sang Moses and the children of Israel

th i s song unto the Lord,and spake

,saying

,I wi l l

s ing unto the Lord , for H e hath triumphed gloriously the h orse and his rider ha th He throwninto the sea . The Lord i s my s trength and s ong

,

and H e i s become my salvation : H e is my

God,and I will prepare H im a habitation ; my

fa ther’s God,and I will exal t Him .

”- E x. xv,

1 2

And ye shal l hallow the fiftie th year , and

pr oclaim l iberty throughout all th e land , unto

all th e inh abi tants thereo f : i t sh al l b e a jubile e

unto you .

” —L e . xxv,1 0 .

And i t shall come to pass , if th ou shal thearken dil i gen tly unto th e voic e of the L ord

thy God,to obs erve and d o all H is command

ments whi ch I command the e this day that th e

Lord thy G ad will se t th ee on high above all

n a ti on s o f the earth ; A nd all thes e bles si ngs

shal l come on thee , and over take th e e , if thousha l t h earken unto th e voic e of th e Lord thy

God . B les sed shal t th en be in the ci ty,and

blessed shal t thou be in the field . Bles sed shall

b e th e frui t of thy body , and the fru i t of thy

ground,a nd th e frui t of thy ca t tl e , th e in creas eof thy k i n e , and the flock s of thy sheep . Bless ed

shal l b e thy baske t and thy store . B lessed shal t

th ou be when th ou comes t in , and bles sed shal t

th ou be when thou goes t ou t . The L ord shallcau s e th ine en emies that ri s e up agai ns t thee tobe smitten before thy face : they shall c ome out

again s t thee one way ; and fl e e before thee seven

ways . T h e Lord shal l command the bles singupon thee in thy s tore-houses

,and i n all that

thou s e t tes t th in e hand unto : and H e shall ble ss

thee in the land wh ich the Lord thy God give ththee . T h e Lord shal l es tablish thee an holy

peopl e unto H imself, a s H e hath sworn un tothee

,i f th ou shalt keep th e commandments of

the Lord thy G od,and walk i n H is ways . And

all the people of th e e arth shal l s ee that thou

art call ed by the name of the Lord ; and theys ha ll b e afraid of th ee . And th e Lord shal l

make thee plen teous in goods in the frui t of thyb ody, and in th e fru i t of thy cattl e, and in th e

fruit of t hy ground , in th e lan d which th e L ord

aware unto thy fa thers to give the e .

~

The Lords hall open unto -the eHi s good treasure

,the heaven

t o giveh

-th.e,ra in unto thy land i n h is seaso n

,

and to bles s all the work o f th ine hand : and th ous halt lend un toma ny nations, and thou shal t no t

4

borrow . And the Lord shall make thee th e head,

and no t the tail : and th ou shalt be above on ly ,and thou shalt no t b e b eneath ; if that thou

hearken unto th e commandments o f th e Lord thyGod

,which I c ommand th ee th is day to observe

and to do them ; And thou shalt n o t go as ide from

any of the words which I command thee thi sday , to the righ t hand or to the left, to go afteroth er gods to s erve them .

” —D eu t . xxvi i i 1—14 .

God is our refuge and strength,a very present

help i n trouble ; therefore will no t we fear , th ough

th e earth b e removed,and though the moun tain s

be carried away into th e mids t of the sea ; th ough

the waters thereo f roar and be troubled ;though th e mounta ins shake w i th th e swelling

thereof. Selah . There i s a river , th e s treamswhereo f shall make g lad the c ity of G od, the HolyPlace o f the tabernacles of the Mos t High . God

is in th e mids t of her ; she shall no t be mo vedGod shall help -her , and tha t right early . T h e

hea th en raged , th e kingdoms were mo ved : Heu ttered H is voice

,the earth mel ted . The Lord

of h o s ts is wi th us ; th e God of Jacob is our

refuge . S elah . Come , behold the works of the

Lord , what desolations H e hath made in th e

earth . He make th wars to cease un to the endof th e earth ; He breake th th e bow and cutteth

the spear in sunder ; He burneth the chario t i n

the fire . Be s till , and know tha t I am Go d : I

will b e exalted among th e heathen,I will be

exalted in the earth . The Lord of ho s ts is withus ; the God of Jacob is our refuge . Selah .

—Psalms , xnvr.

"Make us glad according to the days wherein

Thou hast afflicted us , and the years wherein weh ave seen ev il. Le t Thy work appear unto Thy

servants , and Thy glory unto their ch ildren.

And l e t the beauty of th e Lord our God be uponus and e stablish Thou the work of our handsup on u s yea , the work of our hands , e stablish

Thou i t . ” Psalms,xc , 1 5 - 1 7 .

" Beh o ld , h ow good and how pleasan t it i s for

bre thren to dwell together in uni ty . I t i s l ike the

preci ous o intmen t upon the head,that ran d own

upon th e beard, even A aron’s beard ; that wen t

d own to the skirts of h is garments ; as the dew

of H ermon , and as th e dew that descended upon

the mountains of "i on for there the Lord commanded th e ble ss ing , even life forevermore .

”

Psa lm,cxxxu r.

God tha t made the world and all th ings there

in , seeing that He is Lord of heaven an d earth,

dwelleth n ot in temples made wi th hands nei

ther i s worsh ipped with men’s hands,as though

— fl .* h ._fi -m — fl

h e needed anything , see ing he give th to al l l ife ,and health , and all things ; and bath made of

on e blood all nations o f men for to dwell on all

the face of the earth , and hath determined thetimes before appointed , and the bounds of theirhabitation .

”—Acts, xvu , 24

- 26 .

" Now unto H im that is able to do exceeding

abundantly above all that we ask or think,ac

cording to the power that worketh in us,unto

H im be glory in the Church,by Chri s t Jesus ,

through out all ages , world w ithout end . Amen .

”

- E ph .

,I I I

, 20- 2 1 .

D r. Boynton addressed th e throne o f Grace,

offering thanksgivings to God for allH is mercies

to us as a nation,espec ially fo r the blessing of

peace and the preservation o f our unity and na

t ionality ; and implored the guidanc e of God

to al l in au tho ri ty,H is continued benedictions

upon th e pe ople and nation , and H is supporting

care and comfort to the brave and disabled h e

roes who a ided to fight the battles and win the

victori es in the recent great confli ct.

The choir and congregation,at the clo se of

the prayer, un ited in s inging the hymn de scriptive of the p rov idence and power of God , i n war

and in peace,which clo sed with the following

s tanz as :

Thou good and wise and right eous L ord ,A ll move subservien t to thy wi l l

A nd peace and war awai t thy word,A nd thy sublime decre es fu lfi l l .

After which D r. BOYN T O N delivered the followmg

D I S C O U R S E

o dus xv, 1 , 2 .—" Then san g Mose s and th e chi ldren of

I srae l th is song un to th e L ord , and spak e , saying : I wi l ls ing unto th e L ord, for H e hath triumphed gloriously ; th ehorse and h is rider hath H e thrown in to th e sea .

" T h e L ord is my strength and song , and H e is become

my salvation .

”

This i s a par t of a song of national thanks

giving,a hymn of praise which swelled over th e

sea and ove r the desert, on the morning after thatnight of wonders and terror, when Israel was

del ivered and the power of Egyp t was broken .

In that awful go rge o f the se a, the wav es

dash ing to their s ide on ei ther hand , the roar of

the pursuing army behind , and that great cry ,the funeral wai l of Egypt , ris ing in land , a new

nation was b orn .

A herd of slave s had been changed into a

peopl e by that terrific midnight bapti sm , and

were consecrated t o the great work which was

to end in the world’s redemption .

Far along the beach lay the long lines of the

Egyptian dead,the h orse and h is rider

,and yet

Moses and hi s people,s tanding amid the corps es

of that annihilated army,and knowing— for G od

had sa id it— that one lay dead also in everyhouse in Egypt

,though t only of triumph and

thanksgiv ing,and the j oy of the timbre l and

dance .

Nor was this because Mose s h ad the harden ed

heart o f a savage,unmoved by the slaugh ter

which God h ad wrough t,o r the cry of Egyp t’s

agony, but all sorrow over the dead was over

borne by a feeling s ti ll more noble—j oy over a

great ac t of public j us tic e done j oy that Go dhad risen to crush the oppressor , and v indica tethe righ t ; joy that a na ti on was born ; j oy thatGod h ad given peace to Israel , no t by pardoning

Egypt,but by her publ ic execu ti on , i n order

that the na ti ons migh t b e warned , and law and

j us tic e b e h onored .

We,to o

,have come to a similar h our . We

stand thi s day on the shore of deliv erance , bu t

we have pas sed through a sea redder,far

, th an

tha t of Egypt—a sea of real blo od and tears .

No t for a few hours , but fo r four years , we

have been march ing t hrough , splashed with th eblo od of our braves t and the tears o f true

h earted and broken hear ted thousands and today this American people

,s tanding amid five

hundred thousand graves,with million s of

mourn ers and thousands of maime d and crip

pled men,the relic s of the fight, rise s above the

greatness of i ts sorrow,and ra i se s to God i ts

thanks and its praises,that a great wrong has

b een trampled down ; that the righ t h as beenvindicated towards God and man

,and tha t we

stand b efore the world to-day a new born , free ,American nation

,ov er which fl oats the o ld flag,

dearer n ow than ever,no t one s tar eclipsed

,and

i ts glorious beau ty to b e sta ined no more with

th e blo od and tears of a slave .

Should thi s day be obs erved acc ording to themost appropriate recommendation of our Chief

Magistrate,i t will b e on e of the mos t i llustrious

days of our n ational life,a luminous point in

American his tory . We have h ad nationa l

thanksgivings befo re,so general ly obs erved tha t

the voice of song and pra ise,rising in th e

morning by the shore of the A tlantic,followed

the sunb eams across the c ontinen t with an nu

broken melody,till the las t hymn s of the day

floated out from the sea sti ll wes tward fromCalifornia and O regon .

Many times has God granted us great and

peculiar mercie s,saving us alike from our own

folly and the power of our foes,but never be

fore h as thi s nation , nor , as i t se ems tome , anyo ther peopl e

,receive d at - once so many righ t

royal gifts as tho se which we acknowledg e today.

Successful on every line o f effor t , and all

these tending towards one poi nt, we have reached

the grand result,we have rec eive d for all effort s

th e crowning me rcy ; God places to -day on the

head of th is new n ati on a coronal o f blessings ,spark ling with such gifts of l o ve as are wor thy

of th e power,the weal th , the liberali ty of Chri s t

Jesus the Lord . When men w ish to c onvey the

highes t p oss ible c oncep tion of th e value of a

gift,they say i t i s an imperia l pres ent, but we

ris e far ab ove th is th ough t,an d say , ours are

Chri s t-like mercies .

I prop ose to dwell s eparately upon some of

the most important of th es e go o d gifts of God .

T he firs t point to which the Presiden t direc ts our

a tten tion, and to wh ich all na turally turn , is

tha t G od has gran ted us once more th e blessings

of p eace .

The manner in whi ch peace re turned is "

o ne

o f th e marvel s of h is tory .

A few weeks s ince th e continen t bris tl ed wi th

the arms of nearly a mi llio n and a half o f s o ldiers

,shaking the so lid land wi th the tramp of

their march and the shock o f th eir battle . O ver

the land and along the sea,lay th e h eavy battle

cloud,reddening with the ar ti llery’s flame

,and

fain ter flash of musketry, whil e every dis

charge made gaps in the fam ily circle and laidon living hearts a weigh t h eavier than the cl odso n the grave .

H owquick ly, as if some S pell-word of more

than human power had b een spoken , this tragedy of death was ended" O ver allt h e wide b at

tle-fields there was sudden s ilence,the armie s

mingled and exchanged friendly gre e tings , and

in a few day s all th es e weapon s were s tanding

harmles s in arsenals or p rivate homes , the

t hundering ship s were moored and s ilen t in

p eaceful harbors , and a mill ion of m en had

mingled wi th and become a part of the general

ma ss of soc iety, as gen tly as s o many‘

wa ter

drop s would have melted in to the o cean .

The value of th i s bless ing of p eace mus t b emeasured by the greatness o f th e previous bat

tle,the interest which i t involved and th e per

ils which i t brought. If we can measure th es e

we can also e s timate this gift of peac e , for whichthe thanks of a nation are b eing offered to -day~

L e t us th ink , then , for a moment, upon th e magnitude of this war. Such battle lines as we

stretch ed across a continen t, the world nev ers aw

before . They reached that double line o f menan d horses , and gleaming s teel , and hosti le banners , and b atteries , and forts

,and deadly rifle

pi t s,f rom Gettysburg far beyond the Mississipp i.

Follow them from P enn sy lvan ia through We s t

ern V irgin ia , through K entucky to the Missis

s ippi , an d th en westward to where Lyon fell , a

thousand mile s of battle ; trace it then up and

down th e Missi s sipp i to N ew O rlean s , up the

Cumberland and T enness ee t o the V irgini a line ;trace i t along th e Po tomac , along the coast , and

on the s ea thre e thou sand miles,to F lorida

,to

Texas , to the R io Grande‘

; almost one l in e o f

flashing guns . Follow i t down from Louis villeto Chattanooga

,C h ic amauga , Mi ss ion R idge ;

trace i t o n to Atl anta,from A tlanta

'

to Savannah ,from Savannah eastward to Nor th Carolina ;th en

,lastly , begin at this ci ty and follow along

tha t highway of death and shame that Mc C lel

lan marched over,and then trace the b lo ody

track along where Grant proposed to figh t i t

out , and did fight i t ou t,an d fight i t down .

Think h ow, on all these lines of battle , th eland , th e r iver s , th e ocean have been crim

soned with th e blo od of Americans . Thinkof the crowded grave -yards around every hospital ; think o f the s ix ty-four thousand mur

dered , s tarved, po is oned in tho s e Southern

pris ons ; th ink of those h orro rs at which thesavage i s amaz ed

,by which human naturewas

disgraced , and by which devils c onfess them

selves out -done . S ixty-four thou sand murdered

Think o f them,s tarved into idi ocy

,staring at

you w ith their rayles s eyes ; look at them,

an army of skele tons , and bark to the cry

of blo od , th e cry for j us tice ris ing from the ir

graves . What have we to an swer" W e have

hung one p oo r,miserable sub ordi nate

,whose

death produced no more moral influence than

the crush ing of a fly would have done, while

every leader an d in s tigator of thes e h orrors

walks a s ye t unharmed,and sixty thousand

graves of the brave,true-hearted are crying

out against us in th e ear of God . I do not thank

God for th is .

Again , i n o rder to value peace as we ought ,we must consider the effect p roduced upon a

great nation by suddenly arres ting on all s ides

the usua l pursu its of life , and directing all the

energies of the Government,the capital

,the

mechanical sk ill,the producing and thinking

p ower of th e nation , to organiz e and carry o n

s o great and so fierce a war.

From every rank and every cbndit ion: of li fe

we dre'

w out our workers and thinkers,th e

s trong in body,"

th e clear-headed,brave - hearted

men , and sen t them b y the hundred thousandto the camp and the battle . N orth and Sou th

,

we probab ly drew out two millions such , andWhatever power these millio ns rep resented was

withdrawn from the i ndustry of the country .

Nor was this by any mean s all . Thousandsof ourmos t sk i lful wo rkers , all ‘

over th e coun

t ry, were'

obliged t o abandon th eir usual pur

suits ; and in‘

orde‘

r to mee t the demands o fwar, th e capi tal and mach inery and th e skilledlabor tha t had be en producing th e wealth ofth e nati on

,w ere turned to the manufacture of

muskets and cannon andwar sh ips , and all theterrib le engin ery of

"

battle,and probably five

th ousand millions of'

th eweal th o f the land wascon s ume d in the fiery strife .

This w ill enable us to estima te more trulythan we o therwi s e could

,th e b le ss ings of the

power wh iéh res tores the capita l of th e land to

i ts proper uses , and brings ba ck our mechanics

and our mu lti tudino us machinery to the "pro

ductions of peace ; which b rings from th e

camps and battle fields a million of men to add .

thei r energie s to our productive indu stry ; which

c alls home our merch ant ste amers from th e

figh t and th e b lo ckade,and re—convert s them

into th e agents of a peaceful commerce .

W ith th e re turn of p eace,time

,the heal er

and res torer,i s so ftening away th e horro rs o f

the fight . The blo od s tains have vanished fromth e field and from the sl ippery deck ; the skelet ons have mouldered away or been buried out

of sigh t ; the bare and harsh repul s iveness of

o ur heroe s’graves i s smoothed away , and earth

is busy,with gentle care

,i n fi ll ing up and heal

ing th e gashes which the trenche s and rifle -pits

made in her b osom ; and over the mounds of

th e for tifications, and over the graves,she i s

weaving the covering gra sses and decking themwith flowers . The mo urne rs are wiping the ir

t ears away, and time and d istance have veiled

a lready somewhat the terrib lene ss of the death

s cenes and of the firs t hours of bereavement,

and the sorrow of the nati on serves now onlyto chasten and ennoble . Thus we may measure

the worth of this peace which God h as given by

the magnitude and slaughter o f the prev ious

battle, and by th e pe ril whic h i t brought to

every g reat interest of the land— a danger s o

great that Englan d and Franc e rej o iced as if

the ruin of th e R epubli c were already wrought ;and even in our own eyes the l ife o f the nat i o n

was'

for a time hang ing in doub t.

— n-n — y—o

‘

In view of this great del iverance,this sav ing

alik e'

from our own mi stake s and follies,as wel l

as from th e wrath of tra i to rs,th is natio n may

well excla im,

" B less th e Lord , 0 my soul , and

all that is within me,bless H i s holy name .

”

A ga in : We should thank G od tha t the nation,

instead of being weakened and corrup ted, has

come forthfrom the war stronger, nobler, morehero ic than befo re.

The war has left the South al ike a materialru in and amoral wre ck . The ghastly empt i

ness , the black de solatio n of their land , fi lled

only wi th scorched ruins,and graves

,and dead

men’s bones , fi tly represent th e general s tate o f

th e S outh ern mind and heart .

The Sou th entered into th e war as if there were

no God and no eternal principle s o f righ t o r

wrong , as if greatn ess had no c onn ec tion with

th e righ t and true . She did n o t know th at

no great and noble th ing ever was,or will b e ,

or can be done, 1n defence of a l ll and ev identwrong . She went into th e battle to mainta ininiqui ty , and she fought under the in spiration

of passi on ins tead of principle . Those South

ern leaders seemed to think th at they could kin

dle every evi l passi on ; that they could , as theApostl e says , se t the s oul o n fire of hell

,and

yet the soul no t be consumed . They thought

they c ould scalp a Yankee and drink ou t of his

skull,and make trinkets of h i s bones , and no t

be come savages themselves ; they thought theycou ld murder and tor ture an d starve defenceles s

prisoners , an d set abou t generally a devil’s work

,

and not become devils themselves .

T h ey have , through an inev i table moral law,

reaped the frui t of the ir doings . They have

paid th e p enal ty of one of th e mos t fearfu l

crimes of earth . They to ok rel igion and public faith and honor

,and all the force s of socie ty

,

and all the energies of the individual , and

press ed them by forc e in to the service of a fou l

iniquity , and , as God could not be safely defi edno r the soul H e has made b e ou traged with im

punity, th e S outh ern characte r h as co llapsed ,and there remains only the ruin s of humanity

,

souls burned up wi th passion— the ashes and

cinders of the extinc t volcano .

For the present,th e South must remain incapa

ble of an heroic actio n or a great idea . "Th e statesman may reconstruc t the forms of

u

th e S tate ,but to rec onstruc t a ruined s oul is beyond hisart . Th e South has committed suicide upon

her moral nature , and she must abide the res ult.

8

So l ong as th e S outh feels n o repentan ce fo r

her crime,and only regrets that she did no t su-c

ce ed ; so long as her chief though t is to glorifyand p lace in offic e thos e who have been leadersi n this bloody iniquity , s he cannot b e recovered,she will sink lower and lower. She may pro

duce cun nin g intriguers , wire -working p oli ti

s ian s , or a fresh brood of conspirators , but with

all th is sh e wil l remain incapable of a noble

th ing ; she will have n o recove ring life -power ,no true manhood, because she rej ec ts the rightand the true

,and obstina tely clings to evil ; and

if sh e persis ts she will certainly perish and disappear

,and th at beautiful land w il l b e recov

ered by the power of the North ern l ife. Th e

on ly cho ice wh ich God h as left th e Sou th is,to re

pent or perish . The N orth , on the c ontrary , hasb een made purer , s tronger, nobl

‘

er by th e war.We

,to o

,were in imminen t danger at the outset

,

of b eing ruined for the lack of moral principle .

When our leaders were " trying all poss ible meth

ods of c onc il iati‘

ng tra i tors ; when they se t th emere poli tical U nion above jus tice , ab ove human

righ ts,and even the L aw of God , we s to od

’

on

th e verge of. des tructi on , because we were sap

p ing th e moral power of the nation,and be

cause without an underly ing moral princip le

and a susta ining moral forc e , no cause can be

great or suc cessful . We were s ink ing into the

i naction and torp or which mark the decay ofmoral p ower and spiri tual life , when God inmercy s tarted the whol e na tion with th e thunderof th e can on at. Sumter. It seems to me t h atthe magnificen t ou tburs t of ho ly wrath , that

sp iri tual lightn ing flash of patrio tic fire which

followed th e attack,was an in sp iration from

Heaven . T h e North s eemed‘ to awa ke as under

th e breath of th e Almigh ty . Th e first thrill of

th at n ew life went through all'

true hearts,and

start ing wi th i ts fir s t throb , the Nor th awoke to anew exi s tenc e . She b ecame capable of a great

war and a grea t succe s s . Sh e put on strength

from G od. As the conte s t went on , thre e greatideas gradual l y were reveal ed to the Northern

mind The idea of delivering American Chri s

t ianity from all complic ity with our national

sin s th e idea of l ifting four milli ons among us

from bruteh ood to manhood ; and‘ the idea of

one great, free , American nation cons ecrated toGod and humani ty .

T h e moment the North acc ep ted thes e ideas asthe elements o f the fight

,sh e was irre sis tib le .

S h e was armed with the might of God"

,and suc

ces s was sure . Her armies fough t not alone

under the s tripe s and stars but under th e barn"

nor of C h rist . Al l that was bes t in human char

acter was quickened under this insp iration of'

th e. righ t ; t ime ,'

money, life , all h oly effor t, all

n oble sacrifice , were at the se rv ic e of the G ove rnment

, and while th e miserable traitor wrig

gled up and struck at th e patr io t’s h eel,he

bruised to de ath th e head of th e S outhern dragon .

I t was a noble vi ctory for C hrist and humanity, and such a figh t and such a vic tory havefi lled us wi th grander thoughts a nd nobler as

p irat i ons , and we stand this day mighty among

the mighti es t , wi th more power of great conc ep tion , with mor e abili ty to dare and do , thanany o th e r nation of earth . Le t us thank Godth at our war was fough t for prin ciple , , for right

e ousness and truth,for th e rights of man and

th e glory of God .

T he na tion should come to C hris t our K ing with

thank ofi erings to-day, because H e brough t us

into s tra it p laces, and through failures and d,

feat forced up on us the conviction that we mus t

deliver" the slaves or p erish ourselves .

I t i s th ought by many th at this is an ob solete

subj ect , bel on ging to th e pas t alone , having no

connection w i th any l iving issue of the times .This i s c ontrary to th e phi lo s ophy of th e R i v

b le . Moses,and the prophets after h im, took

fre quent o ccas ion in publi c to go over th e his

tory of th e pas t,and to remind th e p eople of

th eir s ins of former years , and the punishment

infl ic ted,th at they migh t b e hum bl e and fear

th e judgments of th e Lord . Th is nation has

b een convi cted of a great mil itary neces s i ty,but we ar e no t, as a whole , c onvinced of th e

s in of s lavery.

W e were compelled to do an ac t which h as

made our age and country h is toric and il lustrio us . W e to ok four mill i ons whos e names h adbeen striken off from the rol l

’

of our race , and

reinves ted th em with a legal human i ty . T h ey

had been changed by the infernal s orcery of

wicked law in to th ings,into brute s . H elples s

and tormented,th ey groane d in vain

,ti ll Abra o

ham Lincoln,insp ire d o f G od for th is great

deed,and compelled by the peril s of the h our,

uttere d that counter-spell of del iverance , bywhich th is herd of human cattle we re disen

chanted,and they arose and stood among us in

th e si’

mili tude of‘

men .

I say in th e s imii i‘

tncle of men because as yet .

we refuse them the righ ts and privileges,th e

position,th e respec t

,and the C hri st- like cher

ish ingwhich are due to our common humanity

9

W e c anno t rid ours elves of thi s ques tion ofsl avery because to save ourse lves from ruin

,we

granted a dead form of freedom to the blacks

i t w il l confront us,a living is sue

,fraugh t wi th

the o ld p eril s,until we have granted to th e no

gro that measure of righ ts which shall satisfy

th e infini te j us tice of G od.

The negroe s h ave toiled for us two hundred

years , producing a large p orti on of our weal th ,and have b een refused al l adequate compensa

t i on ; they have proved faithful when all around

were traitors ; they rendered all po ssib le l oving ,brave

,true -hearted servic e to our s oldiers

,and

their loyal blood,freely shed

,was a part of th e

price o f our safety, and thes e claims are al l

fi l ed again s t u s in that High C ourt where He

presides wh o i s Judge over all the earth . In

that court C hri s t i s th e negroes’Advocate , andG od th e Judge ; and that cause wil l never be

dismissed unti l the deb t is paid , even to the

uttermost farth ing.

lF_A pplause . ]

"The Speaker , when th e appl ause had subsid ed

,remarke d that h owever grat ifying such

tokens of approval wer e , th ey seemed to himsomewhat inappropriate upon such an o ccasion ,and that th e audience would confer a favor uponhim by refraining from any applause ]Unle ss God was wrong in reminding th e Is

raeli tes of th eir pas t s ins in order that h i s for

giving mercy migh t b e seen , it would be wellfor us t o cons ider a moment our gre at s in , that

the grace of God in sparing us may increaseour gra t i tude and love .There were four mill ion s of God’s creatures

upon whom he had se t h is own seal as evidence

that they wer e men,and we refus ed to recogniz e

the sign-manual of Jehovah , we denied their

manhood and expunged them from th e records

of the rac e .We v iolated , i n regard to th em ,

every com

mandment of C hri s t , their K ing and our K ing ,and we subverted for them every c iv il righ t andevery soci al i ns ti tution . Think of four mi ll ions

of men and women to wh om we refused all

wages for severes t to il four mill ions wh o had

no t one dollar of legal property , nor a prop erfamily

,nor a true h ome , nor a wife th at the

man could cal l h is own , nor a l awful ch ild , n or

a husband that could be pro tected in hi s rights—a mere h erd of human brute s in the eye of

th e law,without even a family n ame , known

only as Pomp or C aesar , as dogs and cattle are.

W hen we think that the eye of a j ust and a

pure G od l ooked over th i s shocking outrage

upon humani ty , that H e saw the scourgings and

the torturings,th e blood and the tears , and

that nigh t and day the h eart-broken wail of

thes e mill i ons smo te on th e ear of Jesus , i s i tsurprising that a j us t God should demand our

tears,and our blood

,and our treasure Is it

surprising that He should shake , in H i s wrath ,politic al s tructures th at sheltered such iniquity

and has not G od magnifi ed the r iches of H is

grace that we are no t consumed , but s tand today w i th thanksgivings for this peace"

We have given the slave the form of freedom .

Wi l l w e give to that form a reality and a life "

W il l we treat th e delivered slave as a man‘" I

thank God for every indication that th e nationis preparing itself fo r th i s pro of of i ts noble

nes s ; and when we are ready to re invest th e

black man w ith every right and privi lege thatbelongs to a proper manhood , then—but also

no t ti ll then—will God’s controversy with th i snation b e ended

,and we shall have peace indeed .

The future of th e nation h inges on th e onequestion

,whether we wil l abol ish , not only

slavery,but every trace of serfdom , and declare

all men equal in right and privi lege before th e

l aw and God .

We should be thankful to G od because H e bafited

the p lot which was formed agains t us in E urop e.

Wi th the evidence now before us , no candidman can doubt that the conspiracy agains t ourR epubl ic exteg

‘

led to Europe , and that th e for

e ign branch { t h l‘i was more formidable th anthat on our own so i l . The plo t was prepare d

w ith as much care in France and England as inth e S outh ern S tate s . The Europ ean part of i t

was re ady quite as soon as their ac complice s

here . Wh en the moment arrived , France andEngland

,by proclamation

,and according to

previous agreem ent , l ifted the trai tors to th eposi tion of lawful belligerents . France s tarted

for Mexic o to re ins tate the Latin p ower on thi s

continent,S pain undertook to rec over her Amer

ican po ssess ions,and England was on hand to

aid in cripp ling a c ommerc ial and manufacturingrival

,and gratify her j ealousy of the Unite d

S tates , and get ready her A labamas , and swift

s teamers to run th e blockade . N oth ing s ave d

us at the outse t from more active interference ,but th e perfect confidence of France and Eng

land that our rui n was sure through what had

been done already. They watched and waite dfor our destruction in vain ; but they thought i t

certain . They were ready to s trike , but though t

the blow not needed .

G od was preparing, unseen , such a change in

10

"th e aspec t ‘of the figh t‘

as no human sagaci ty

could foresee . The p roudest hour the traitors

ever 'satv - th e bl‘

ackes t night that ev er fel l upon

our cause—was when th e irOn mons te r c rushed

up‘

th e C umberl and‘

and C ongres s as i f they

were e ggsh ells , and then passed unharmed toher h arbo r, ready to complete , i n the morning,th e ruin of Our flee t.

"

Through ith ose sad night

watch‘

es God guarded -and guided the c ourse of a

s trange "avenger . The 5Lord’s del ivere r'

was

pu’

nc tual'

to t he hour . In th e morning thi s non

descr ipt i ron strip ling went ‘forth to attack th e

iron G ol iath of the"

sea. It ‘Was On e’

o f tho segreat occ as ions wh i

'

ch‘

clo'

s e u‘

p eras and change

th e'

aspec ts of th e world . Wh en the fi ifez

h ours’

"

figh t‘

was o ver,an d th e beaten gi ant retreated

di sabl ed , th e naval'

supre‘

macy of France and

England"was annihil ated ; their vas t wooden

navies could no f-lon'

ger"command ‘

th e Se as . The

Bri ti sh"

navy consisted of but four

ships— he r i’

rons cl‘

ads . Thequ estion of i nter

v en tion was settled ; for n either E ngland norF rance h ad then a ship th at they

‘

v

'

vou'

ld dare

ma tch agains t t h e little ‘

M‘oni tor .In that l i ttle ves s e l was the germ of th os e

formidable sh ip s ic on-s tructed since , which are

an o vermatch"

for anything which Europe can

bring to our shores , and to these fresh creationsof A merican genius, to

'

th e new and formidablecharacter of ourguns , to th e

‘

navy, as a who l e ,we owe our freedom frominter

‘ Va ti on hi therto

,

and oursecurity for the as th e pro

phet dec lares, the Lord has taugh t man h ow to‘

plow and sow an

'

d'

thre'

sh h is grain ,may we no tbelieve that th e ideas ou t of which our nationaldefences h ave sprung were an inspirati o n fromH im

,and de signed to save us from our foes"

I c annot but th ink'

that the N orthern mi nd

hasworked during th e war under the spec iald ire ction of G od

,and in no th ing more cl early

than in th e American navy , which presents today a barr ier to Europe wh ich all her fleets

canno t penetrate .

We may be t hankful tha t the true spirit and a ims ofthe S outh have been revea led before they had

fully regained the ir p olitica l p ower.

At th e beginning of the reb el lion we wer e

brough t to the ve rge of m in,b ec ause , i n sp i te

of every kind of the mos t p osi tiv e evidence , were fused to be l ieve that the S outhern leaderswe re real ly trai tors

,bent on separation and war .

And now we were about to p ut i n imminentperil al l for which we paid thi s fe arful price o fblood , and tears

,and treasure, because men

were determined to believe that th e S outh was

n o t only b eaten,but c onvinced

'

of,

’

and ‘

penite ntfor , her wrong,

’

and‘w

'

ould now adop t the principle s

'

and ins ti tutions of the N orth . But God ,who h as saved us so o ften in sp i te

"

of ours elves,has in terposed once more. T h e

'

h and of the

Lord h as drawn th e vei l ‘

aside,and no one now

need mis take the S piri t"

or th e aims of'

the'

South

I t 15 with so rrow and di sappointment th at weare forced to bel ieve that, wi th so few exceptions as not to affec t the general re sul t, th esp iri t of th e S outh to

’

-day i s what i t was duringth e

'

war,'

but intens ified_by th e mor tifidation of

defeat . And this b i tter feel ing is cherished notonly toward th e conquering N orth , but t owardsthe almost defence l es s b lacks , who no t onlyescap ed from their grasp

,butwhose loyal hearts

and desperate fi gh ting c ontributed so largely totheir overthrow. Whoever hasmarked ‘

th e'

fe

roc ious pass ion wi th which th e war on their

part was conducted,'

will see that i t would re~quire a greater miracle than was ever wroughton human thought and feeling to produce s o

suddenly any friendly feel ing toward s tho se

whom they have hated and sc orned s o long , andby whom they we re conquered at las t. W e re

gre t that such i s th e spiri t of th e S outh , but

we must deal wi th fac ts as they are .

Again,no one need mistake the purpo ses of

th e S ou th . They are will ing to abolish thename and form of slavery if they c an retain the

control of the blacks through thei r l o cal l aws,because they gain some twelve membersof C ongress by this nominal freedom , while the degra

dation of the blacks will be as comple te as be

fore. There i s nowhere an indication of wil l

luguesa to y i eld to the black race the rights andprivileges of a prope i manhood . If the great

es tates are re s tored to the rebe l owners , the

landed aris tocracy will hold bo th black and

white l ab orers in the condition o f serfs , whileth ey w i ll gain l argely in p olitic al p ower bygranting the worthless forms of fre edom to theslave.

The original theory o f S tate sovereignty is

held as"fi rmly as ever, n or 13 the main purpose

of the reb ell ion abandoned .

With the aid of th ei r N orth ern all ie s , and the

added twelve new members of the ir own, theyexpe ct to w in on the po litical field what theylo s t by the appeal to arms.

By this reveal ing of the S outhern sp iri t weare brough t face to face with some mos t solemnquestions

,and we should thank God that th ey

are rais ed in time to enab le us to decide themaright.

1 1

C an we afford , by th e wholesal e pardon of

th ese plo tters and leaders of sedition,by the

res tora tion of th eir prop erty and their politic al

righ ts , to declare , virtually, th at they h ave done

noth ing wor thy of punishment, and thus admi tthei r plea that they owed allegianc e to their

S tates , and of cours e s ecess ion was nei th er

treason nor rebellion

There is n o o ther ground whatever "in whichp ardon , as the rule , can be j ustified .

I t i s said that a great and vic torious peop lecan afford to be magnanimous

,and forgive even

treaso n .

But n o state , however powerful , can afford to

bring pub lic l aw into contemp t,to ' s e t aside th e

penalty of crime,and ab oli sh the di stinc ti on

b etwe en righ t and wrong,and thus subver t th e

very foundation on which s oc iety r es ts .Much les s can a state afford to reward an Open

iniqui ty, s o that even. rebell ion shall c ommand a

p r emium .

The mercy of G od i s infinite . H i s compassions

fail no t . Love is th e sum and essence of hi scharacter .

'

G od i s leve . Ye t,in al l th e hi story

of the universe,th ere is n o t an instance where

mercy in terfered with jus tice there i s no t a

c as e of forgiveness unles s in some manner th e

law was firs t vindicated . He could no t forgive

a s ingle s inner until the law was honored by th ethe death of C hris t . C hris t 'se ts forth in the mostsol emn manner the invi olab ility of law when hesays

,"Heaven and earth shal l p ass away s ooner

than one j o t o r tittl e o f the law shal l fail .”

G od could create a universe w it h a word , butshould one s tain of inj usti ce fasten on H is

throne,by one ac t of forgiveness over-riding jus

tice,even Infini te Power and Infinite W i sdom

c ould not repair the wrong .

S uppose that God should pardon , i n vi o lati on

of l aw,the fallen angels , re s tore to them their

former power i nd rank and privilege , and shouldthen refuse to the loyal ange ls the ir proper re

ward and honor : i t would annihilate the moral

basis of H is throne .

C an we afford, then , or will we dare , to putpardons in the hands that yet drip with the

b lood of our s l ain ; sh all we give b ack to th eunrepentant reb els proper ty, power and honor,while we deny all proper righ t and pp

ivilege to

tho se whose s teadfas t hearts were true in all

our hours of darkness and strife, and who , bythe terrible o rdeal of battle , have proved , bo th

their loyalty and their manhood , and have fairly

purchased th e rights of c itizenship with theprice of b lood" Dare w e present ourselves be

fore ei ther God or the nations after having com‘

mi tted an outrage against God by rej e c ting‘

th e

principle s upon which He declares H is universe

shall b e governed,in claiming that traitors may

strike at the life of a nation,throw into confa

sion the whole order of soci ety, endanger all

the interests of thirty mill ions of peopl e ,slaughter in the battle and by every other horridform of death ne arly a million of men , til l a

wail l ike that o f smi tte n Egypt went up from

al l th e l and,and yet no crime be committed that

demands a punishment— that such acts , uponwhich God himself has se t damnation’s seal ,are even worthy of reward"C ould we face th e wrath of G od or th e scorn

of th e world if we prove in any degree fals e toth e sp iri t and inten t of the promise s by which

we secured the aid of the blacks and changedth e =aspec t of th e war"We know ful l wel l that

the pro clamation of freedom and the urgent ln

vita tion to j o in our armies , by every rul e of

honorable" dealing and fair interpre tati on , car

ried with them the promise and the obligation tobestow every righ t of c iti z ensh ip . N ow, after

we have rece ived the price , paid , as i t was ,i n blood

,sh al l w e dare repudiate the promise

recorded alike in th e B ook o f God and in th e

memory of man, and not only withhold the

essential rights of freemen , but res tore t o therebel master property and place and power, andth en hand back th e slave

,whom we swore to

del iver,to b e the vic tim of that master’s p as

sionate r evenge"

,W e c ann o t do this with out c orrupting the

h eart of th e nat ion . We canno t do it wi thoutbringing upon

‘

us th e scorn and execration cf

th e world . W e canno t do i t wi thout compelling

God to avenge th e o utrage .

It"

would be to perpetuate a wrong , blacker,fouler

,more cowardly than slavery itself. It

Would prove us unworthy to be a nation . We

should forfei t our right to b e .

We should thank G od that h e has p ut ourfree in

s titutions on trial before the world, and brough t

tha t trial to such a glorious is sue .

Mus t we not believe that i t was w i th a gre at

purpo s e in view,reach ing far beyond ourselves ,

that H e drew upon us the attention of the nations

,s o that they became deeply intere sted

spec tators of th e manner inwhich the G reatR epubl ic c ould bear the terrible ordeal"

The j oy which thrilled through the leadingp owers of West ern Europe when they though tour destruc ti on sure

,shows th e extent of our

influence,and how

,

important i t was that th e

1 2

questi on of our s tabil i ty should be se ttled s o

that none c ould doub t .

Therefore i t was that God subj ecte d u s to theperi l and s train of the mos t dangerous c on

Spiracy and the mos t formidable civil war the

world had known . He increased our p eril and

our difficul tie s by p ermitting thousands of tra itors in our very mids t , who , by every poss ibl emethod, were giving aid and comfort to th eS outh , and He brough t al l this upon us

'

when wewere s tripped and disarmed, w i th no army or

n avy , or'

mon ey or cred it. H e called the nat ions

tol o ok at what they though t a dissolvingUnion ,th e broken fragments of a nation , and then H e

suddenly revealed the astonis hing life -power of

our free institutions .

The Union was no t sundere d. I t w as an insurrection confronted by the regular Govern

ment. Instead of disso lving into a mob w e

were compac ted into a nation . A peaceful and

peace- loving peopl e were transformed into the

foremos t military power on e arth . Instead

of any distrus t or de ser tion of the Governmen t,th ere was a steady enthusias tic l oyalty whi ch

over-awed the traitors at home , and astoni shedall our foes .

W e rai sed such an army as the world had not

se en ; we created a navy equal to th e foremos t ;we furni shed three thousand million s to carry

on the war ; we fed , and clo thed , and armed oursoldie rs and sailors in a manner h ith erto un

known ; we followed them with the teach ings

and consolati ons of religinfi'

; w e sent to camp

and field the comforts and ch eri sh ing sympa

thie s of home. Ins tead of national pover ty and

univers al bankrup tcy, th e G overnment'

prov ided

a nation a l currency adequate t o our want s , an d

w ith wh ich the people are satisfi ed . We have

kept every department of our indus try movingprosperously on

,and we fough t the b attle

through,and fough t down th e rebell ion , and

showed to the nations our one national flag float

ing again over every foo t of our terri to ry. W e

sh owed them four mill ions of slaves transformedinto freemen and as if all

'

thi s'

was not enough ,G od permitted our loved and honored ch ief to

be foully murdered , to show that a free republicc ould endure

'

even th at . W e s orrowe d as no

nation ever grieved b efore ; bu t w e turned calmly and trustingly to p lac e th e

'

p ower in the

hands of h is worthy succe ssor . The loyalty ,th e sympathie s

,th e hop es , th e prayers of the

nation were centred upon h im , and with no

pause , or j ar, or fear, we moved on as s teadilyas before to accomplish our mission.

I t was the grandest v indicatio n of free insti

tution s , th e re sis tless migh t of free intell igence ,th e world h as s een . God meant i t to b e that

,

and E urop e i s a hundred years nearer del iver

ance than when our war b egun .

We should thank G od tha t a new na tion has been

born— a na tion that embodies now the sp irit ofthe G osp el.

Befo re the war we h ad no definite and wellcompacted p olitical s tructure . Inste ad of onegrand nati onali ty , there was a l oose aggrega

tion of S tate s , scarce ly uni ted by the tie of an

indefini te General Government . Instead of one

migh ty nati onal life,th ere was only an associa

ti on o f weak S tate l ive s , j ealous of, and con

tending w i th,each other .

It i s far o therwise now . We are a nation , w i thgreat national asp iration s

,hopes

,and powers .

We h ave been fused into an inseparable unity by

th e fierce heat of battl e,and c onsecrated to our

national work by th e bap tism of bl oo d and tears .

The guns at S umter awoke in us a natio nalspiri t

,we rall ied to a national flag we exalted

th e nation al au thori ty we creat ed an -army and

n avy no t of the S tates , but of th e n ation ; w ehave now a national hi story

,a national name

and standing ; we are capabl e now of nationalart and a n ational l i teratur e

,and henceforth w e

shall l iv e a national l ife .

B efor e th e war the United S tates , as a pol itic al organization

,had no definite rel igious char

acter‘

or purpose . But now th e power whi ch

move s us and through which we have conqueredi s a religiou s s entimen t

,and that has al s o as

sumed a defini te fo rm . I refer now to what

s eems to be the dominant, l eading religious sen

timent of th e land . I t i s a C hristianity which

recognize s th e manho od of al l men , which demands for all men equality of righ t before G od

and the law,-and a fair field in which every on e

may work out for himself a s oci al s tanding ao

cording to the facul ty whi ch i s in him .

This is now th e central idea of th e living ag

gressive American C hristianity , and the nation

stands committed to its prop agatio n and defence .

The term Prote s tantism do es not correc tly des

cribe th is form of C hristianity . I t i s more than

Protestantism ; i t‘i s a step in advance .

It embraces and h olds fast all th e great Protes tant doctrines ; but i t also do es more than

this . The power of the R eformation c o nsistedi n pres en ting anew s ome of the cardin al doctrines of th e ancient faith . American C hristi

suity accep ts all the se , and th en goes beyon

13

and embodie s th e principle s of the Gospel in‘

fre e popular ins ti tutions, and in th e very spiri t

o f C h ris t ,propo se s to ennoble the whole hu

mani ty .

Th e American nation then occupies a posi tionnever held by any people before . I t s tands the

representa tive and champion of a true C hris tian

democrac y in C hurch and State , and demands

this continen t,and no thing le ss , as the the atre

of i ts life . I t o pens a new era in the progress

of humanity .

If th ese v iews are correc t,th en we may look

for th e future s afety of our c ountry in this new

born and intenser C hristian life , embodied now

in national institutions ; s o th at al though therew ill b e no S tate re ligion , no C hurch in al liancew ith civil government

,th ere will be an Ameri

c an C hr isti an ity, which w ill c ont rol our national

pol icy as the spiri t does the body . As the spir i t

is present in every member and fibre of the

b ody,s o let us hope th at American C hristiani ty

wi l l p ervad e the whole bo dy of our ins titutions ,

and shap e every ac t of our policy . In the pres

ence o f such a Ch r i s tiani ty, living, active and appl ied as God’s rul e of action to all of l ife , private

o r public , i ndividual or social , no great iniquity

c an flouri sh,n o great wr ong can perpetuate

its elf. Before the bar of publi c opinion thus

formed,four milli ons c ould no t long plead in

vain for just and blood -b ough t rights ; and on

such a n ati o n th e b ap tism of God’s blessing

would descend as brightly as the s unbeams and

g ent ly as th e dews .

We s tand b e fore the world on the thresho ld

of th is n ew era th e migh ties t C hris tian nation

of earth ; no t th rough our army and navy , pow

e rful' as th ey are , but through the th ink ing

power which is create d by general education ; by

the might of freedom which expands humanity

to i ts proper proportions ; by th e l iving energies

o f a free Gospel , th rough which th e life-power

i s working ; migh ty thr ough th e s tern teach

i ngs of war and th e holier di scipline of sorrow,

w i th a n ation al l ife s trong enough to c ontrol a

c on tine nt, and which wil l brook no fetter or

d ictation from a fore ign power . I canno t but

think that the very form of o ur N orth American

c ontinent i s i ndicative of th e d esign of God in’

our nationa l mission. If we s tudy i ts map , and

follow i ts boundarie s nor thward from the Isth

mus along ei ther ocean to the polar snows ; i f

we observe its mountain chains,i ts rivers and

akes,and its cen tral valleys , and then th e adj a

c en t islands , we see th at unity is s tamped onevery feature .

It seems to have been constructed,no t t o b e

o ccupied by several independent S tates , but tobe the theatre of on e und ivided national p ower .N o th ing new i s more cer tain than that the cen

tral , dominant life of th e continent w il l absorball el se .

Thus far, it h as crushed whatever Opposed i t,and i t wi ll no t be rolled back

, nor even checked

now by a throne brough t over from Europe and

placed across th e l ine of i ts march .

In its vigorous exp ansion i t will carry its i h

s titution s and-

i ts au thority to th e utmost bound

of th e continent . Is i t n ot,th en

,our national

mission to fi l l thi s continent wi th the churches

and schools , th e activ i ty and intelligence , and

blessings'

of a civiliz ation which is a true expression of the Go sp el

,and then

,mak ing no

aggress ion,and p ermi tting none from o thers

,

aid as we may in regenerating Europe by th e

ex ample o f a nation wh ich h onors C hrist,and

also honors humanity because redeemed and

elevated in H im—the example of a C hris ti an

C ontinenta l R epublic

After the dis cours e , which was re ceived with

marked approbation , R ev. Mr. Morris offered

the closing prayer , in wh ich thanks were rendered to God for the great del iveranc e Which had

been,through the wonderful Providence of G od

,

wrough t o ut for the nat ion,and s uppl icati ons

offered for the re constructi on of th e S tates upon

the basi s of impartial j ustice and l iber ty , and

for national fraternity and love among al l section s o f the consolidated Union.

The doxology

Praise G od , from wh om all b less ings flow ;Pra ise H im ,

all c reatures h ere be low ;Praise H im above , ye h eav e n ly h os tPrai se F ath e r, Son , and H oly G h ost.

was then sung,and the b enedic tion pronounced .

A t th e conclusi on of the services,Hon . James

M . Ashley,Member of C ongress from O hio , who ,

as leader, h ad so succes sfully carried through

the H ouse of R epresenta tive s on th e 3 lst of Jan

uary,186 5 , th e C onst i tutional Amendment abo l

ish ing s lavery forever in every par t of the United

S tates , "which amendment has be en ratified already by twenty-seven S tates

,and so becomes an

organic l aw,"ro se and moved that Dr . B oynton

be requested to furnish a C opy of h is disc o so

for publication,which was unanimously s inged .

1 4

Eigh t thousand c O pies of th e discourse, and

services Of Than ksgiving Day in the C apitol ,were subscribed for by members O f C ongress and

oth ers and one O f the leading journal s o f Wash

ington c i ty , and another in C inc inn ati , publi sh ed

the sermon in full .

Thi s was th e firs t Thanksgiving servic e ever

held in th e H all s of C ongress , and i ts C hri stian

and nati onal character was in harmony with the

precedents and prac tices o f the Fathers Of th e

R epublic , and with the genius and precepts of

th e C hri s tian religi on on which the nation wasfounded

,and by which it h as grown to i ts pre

sent prosperity and greatness .

R E F E R E N C E S T 0 N A T I O N A L T H A N K S G I V I N G S :

The first N ational Thanksgiving was appointedby the C ontinental C ongres s on Thursday , th e

18th of December , 1 7 77 , th at prayer and prai se

migh t b e Offered that under the providenc e of

Almigh ty G od th es e Uni ted S tates may receiveth e greates t of all blessings— independence and

peace,&c .

” —Journals of C ongress , 1 7 7 7 .

The second was celebrate d on W ednesday,th e

3oth Of December,1 7 78 , to . render thanks th at

i t had pleased God " to suppor t us in a j us t and

necessary war for th e defence of out rights and

liberti es , &c .

” —Journals of C ongress , 1 7 78.

The third was cel ebra ted on Thursday , the9 th day Of December , 1 7 79 , " for God’s favor

and pro tec tion to th ese Uni ted S tate s , and to

pray that he would es tablish their independence .

upon the b asis of r eligi on and virtue, &c .

”

J ournals of C ongress, 1 7 79 .

Th e four th was appointed on Thursday,th e

7 th day of Decemb er, 1 780," that God would

favor our joint council s and ex ertions for thees tablishment of speedy and p ermanent peace

,

and cause the bless ings of C hri stianity to spread

over the earth ,” dim— J ournals of C ongress , 1 780 .

The fifth was observed on the 13 th day Of

December , 1 781, and praye r O dered th at

God " would favor the exertions Of the United

S tates for the speedy es tablishment O f a safe,

honorable and l as ting peace .

”- Journals of C on

gress , 1 78 1 .

The sixth was c el ebrated on Thursday,the

28th day O f N ovember,1 782 ,

" for the many ih

stanc es O f Divine goodness to thes e S tate s

in the c ourse of the important c onflic t in which

th ey'

have b een so l ong engaged ; and that

all ranks may testify their gratitude to God for

h is goodness by a cheerful obedience to his l aws ,

s t i ty and nati onal h appines s,

” St a — Journals of .

C ongress , 1 782 .

T h e seventh was Observed on th e second

T hursday O f December, 1 783 ; with grateful

h earts " th at G od hath been pleased to c onduct

us in safety - through all th e vic i ss itudes of thewar and that he hath given us unanimity and

r esoluti on to adhe re to our j us t rights ; th at inthe cours e of the present ye ar hos ti l itie s h ave

cease d,and we are left in th e undisputed p o s

s ess i on O f our liber ty and indep endence ,” &c .

J ournals of C ongress , 1 7 83 .

The eigh th was c elebrated on Tuesday, the

19 th day of O c tober,1 787

,for the exchange of

th e in s truments of ratification Of th e d efini te

treaty O f p eace between th e Uni ted S tates of

America and hi s Bri tanni c Maj es ty, and th e

happy comple tion Of the great work O f i nde

pendence , freedom and peac e t o the Uni ted

S tates,

” &c .-J ournals of C ongress , 1 787 .

The ninth was appointed after th e adop tion O f

the pres en t C ons ti tution , by Pres ident Wash

ington ,at th e reques t of C ongres s , to bo

'

ob

s erved on Thursday,th e 26 th day of N ovember

,

1 789,in s ol emn acts of prayer and prais e " for

th e s ignal and great merc i es o f God,and th e

favorab le interp os i ti ons of H i s providence , in

th e course and conclusion Of th e late war fo r

the peaceabl e and national manner in which

we have been enabled to es tabli sh cons ti tuti ons

of governments for our-

safety and happiness ,and parti cularly th e natio nal one

‘

now late lyins ti tuted .

”- J ournals of C ongress , 1 7 89 .

The tenth was appointed by. President Wash

ington , wi th out special auth ori ty from C ongress ,to b e observed on Thursday

,the 1 9 th O f Feb

ruary , 1 79 5 ," by sincere and hear ty thanks to

th e great R ul er of the Univers e for th e mani

fold and signal merc ies which dis tinguish our

1 5O

l o t as a,nat ion ; p articularly for the_possession of

constitutions of gov ernmen t which unite and,by

their union,es tablish liberty with order ; for the

seasonable control wh ich has been given to a sp iri t

of disorder in the supp ression of the la te insurrec

tion ,”

go.

Th e eleventh was app o inted on T hursday, th e 3dof April , 1815 , on account of

'

th e'

c on clus ion of

peace between the United S t ates and Great Bri t

ain . Th e j oint resoluti on . was passed on th e

same day.

on wh ich the offi cial no tification of

p eace was received by C ongress,and . Pre sident

Madis on i s sued hi s proclamation on the 4 th of

March,181 5 , in which h e re commends " th e

people of the Uni ted S tates to obs erve th e daywi th religious s ol emni ty

,and by devout ao

knowledgmen ts to_A lmigh ty G od for H i s great

go o dness , man ife sted in restoring to them th e

bless ings of p eace . ” —Journals of C ongress,

1815 .

The twelfth was appointed by Presiden t

Lincoln , withou t speci al au th ori ty from C on

gress,to be obs erved on Thursday

,the 6 ib of

Augus t,1863 ,

" th at i t h ad p l eas ed Almigh ty

God t o hearken unto th e supplic ation s and

p rayers o f an afilic ted people , and to vouchsafe

t o th e army and navy of th e United S tates vi c

tori e s on th e land and on th e s ea,s o signal and

s o effective as to furni sh reasonable grounds

for augmented confidence th at the Union of these

S tate s will be maintained , th eir c ons ti tuti ons

preserved,and their peace and prosperity

'

p er

man ently re s tored ,” &c .

Presiden t Linco ln,after th e fal l of R i chmond

and th e surrender of the principal army of th e

rebe lli ous S tate s , sai d t o h i s assembled country

men,met on the evening of th e 1 1 th of April ,

186 5 , before th e Executive mansion , a call

for a nati onal Thanksg iving i s b eing pre pared ,and will be duly promulgated .

” H is assass i

natio n on th e ev en ing of th e 1 4 th of Apri l ,preven te d th e consummation of his purpos e .

-Pres den t John son,wi th out a special reque st

from C ongress , appo inted the thirteenth national

Thanksgiving, on Thursday , th e 7 th day of De

c emb er,1 865

,and his proclamation i s among

th e records of th e servi ce s i n the C api to l on

that day .

Days for fasting and prayer were appointed

by C ongress during the revolution , as fol l ows ,

viz : Thursday,July 26 , 1 7 7 5 , by res olu t i on of

June 1 2 ; Friday , May 1 7,

by reso lution

of March 1 6 ; December 1 1 , 1 7 7 6 , day to be

fixed by the s everal S tate s ; Wednesday, Apri l

22,1 7 78, by resolution of :March 26 ; Wednes

day, Apri l 22 , 1 780 , by resolution of March ll ;Thursday , May 3, 1 781 , by resolution of March20 ; Thursday, April 25 , by, re solution .

of March

1 9 .

Under the elder A dams’Administration, with

ou t speci al authority from C ongress,a fast

day was appointed on May 9,1 798, by a pro‘c

lamat ion dated March 28,1 7 98 ; and a second

fas t day, under the same ,

adminis tration, was

appointed , without special auth ori ty from C on

gress,on Thursday, the 28 th of Apri l

,1 7 99

,by

procl amation,dated March 6 , 1 7 99 .

President John Tyler i ssued a recommendaq

tion , dated April 13, 1841 , to the p eople of.

the United S tate s , to observe Friday,May 14

,

184 1,as a day of fasting and prayer

,on ac

count of the death of, W i lliam Henry H arrison,

the late Pres ident of the United S tates , whodied March 7 , 1841 .

President Taylor,without authori ty from

C ongress,i ssu ed a " recommendation” for a

national fast,tobe observed on the firs t Friday

in August, 1849 , on account of th e providenc e

o f God,which had manifested its el f in

‘

th e

visi tation of a fearful pe s tilence ,” the As iatic

cholera .

President Buchanan , with out authori ty from

C ongress , i ssued h is proclamation , December

1 4 , 186 1 , appointing Friday , 4 th of January,

186 1,

" to be kept as a sol emn fas t,” in v iew o f

the pre sent distracted and dangerous condition

of th e country.

President Lin coln,by speci al reque s t from

C ongress,appo inted the last Thursday of S ep

tember,186 1 ,

" as a day of humiliation,fas ting

and prayer fo r all th e people of th e nation ,and said

,

" i t i s peculiarly fi t fo r us to rec og

niz e the hand of God in the visitat ion of civil

war , and in sorrowful remembrances of our own

faults and crimes as a nation , and as individual s

to humble ours elves before H im,and to pray for

H is mercy,” &c .

President Lincoln,als o , by special reques t of

a concurrent resolution of C ongress , passed

July 2,1864, appointed the first Thursday of

August,1 864

,to pray " th at if consi s tent with

God’s wi ll,th e exis ting rebellion may b e speedi

ly su ppressed, and th e supremacy of the C on

s t itu t ion and l aws of the Uni ted S tates may be

established throughou t all the S tates ; to im

piore Him as the S upreme R ule r o f the Uni

vers e,not to de s troy us as a peopl e , nor suffer

us to b e des troyed by the wo rk ings or cons to

L IBRQRY O F C O NG RE S S I

16

vance of other nations , or by obstinate adhe

s ion to our own counsel s wh ich may be in con

flic t wi th H is eternal purposes , an d to impl ore

Him to enligh ten the mind of the nation to know

and do H is will ,” &c .

Pres ident Andrew Johnson,who succeeded

to th e Pre siden cy on th e death of PresidentLincoln

,appointed T hursday

,th e 25 th day of

May,1865 , as a day of humili ation and mourn

ing before Almighty G od , i n orde r that th e b e

reavem en t may be s anc tified to the nation ; and" that all may be occupi ed at th e s ame time in

c ontemplati on of th e vir tu es of th e late‘

Pre si

dent,and in s orrow for his sudden and viole nt

death .

”

C olonial Thank sgiv ings and Fasts were fre

quently ob s erved by the N ew England and o ther

C o lo nie s e n important occasions, and mos t of the

S l ates —i n T U B u n i mx w m -

mg

of a century have cel ebrated annual ly by oilic ial au thority

, th e fe s tival of Thanksgiving.

They originated i n th e piety and fai th of th e

Puri tans , and , through th em ,h ave become S tate

and national i n thei r ch aracter,and bel ong p e

culiarly to American ideas and insti tutions .

They were cel ebrated for th e ingath ering of the

fruits of th e e arth,and for s oci al and civil

b l e ssings conferred by th e favoring providenc e

of G od. Their observance exerts a b en ificen t

influence on th e cul tur e of th e ' b es t afi’

ections

of the human heart,and on th e thre e great or

gan ic insti tu ti ons of God— th e Family,the

C hurch and the S tate— and the official papers of

th eir appointmen ts c onsti tute a r ich‘

and impor

tant p art of the C hri s tian and p oli tical annal s

of our natio nal and S tat e governments .