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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 .
