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a. toe Lora.‘:- .. . . -THEv NATIOK’3 great triumph.DISCOUSSB IW -TS2 ' -wTBW-STKKRT LUTHBBAN \OHUBOH, BT RByVb..W, HtfTTEB,In toe New-streefc Lutheran OhnMh, last evening, a large and appreciative audience had assembled to listen to a discourse from (be paster, Rev-15. W. Hutter.The text was—“ This is the Lord’s doing, and- it is marvellous in our e^es.’’—Matthew xxiM 42.■ These precise words had been uttered centuries before, by the Royal Psalmist, and were elicited by a review of the wonderful deliverances of God’s chosen people from the enemies who had threatened their destruction. As a firm believer in that general and special superintending providence without whose ministration not a sparrow falls to the earth, the Psalmist does not ascribe these deliverances to Israel’s horses, or Israel’s chariots, or Israel’s armies, but to Israel’s God.It is now more than four years, the most eventful quadrennial division of time in our historic annals, since a few ambitious and designing leaders of Southern opinion undertook to overthrow and destroy the institutions founded by the valor and patriotism, the treasure and Mood, of . 'their and our fathers.Revolutions in Government are mostly the; off-. spring of grievous and unendurable oppression. Rut these men combined to overthrow a Government that had not only never harmed them, but of whose honors and emoluments,-from the first, they had enjoyed almost a monopoly. With less than a third of the free population of the country, and less than a third of its wealth, they had eleven Presidents out of sixteen; seventeen Judges of the Supreme Court out of twenty*eight; fourteen Attorney Generals out of nineteen *, sixty-one presidents Uftte out .ftf,,fjBy^gty-goven; twenty-onesr*Of the House of R^f^SoSrannt of cubttoongl lutoeo^of tke CHawwi Govern-Sr their ben**' che revenues of the Government were annron^^ almost without stint or measure. For lheVsion of coast and inland defences, for the suppression of hostile Indian tribes, for the removal of obstructions from their inland seas and rivers, and for their territorial aggrandizement, the treasures of the nation were emptied lavishly Into their lap. The entire policy of the Government, indeed, from its organization down, had been shapedfor their benefit. . . .And yet, against such a Government—the PJ*d®and model of the world—the ultimate centre of attraction for all tho down-trodden an4 oppressed of earth—ffieir own constant and bounteous patron-^ala those Kultty conspirators lift up tU© liceli aau 0ssay Sampson-like, to run away with its gate-posts I The Athenian legislator, who objected to toe introduction Into tho penal code of his country of the extreme penalty against the sin of parricide, on theground that it was a crime too monstrous ever to be committed, evidently had but a very imperfect con-oeptlon of the deep depravities of the humau heart.And if the rebellion was diabolical In ita crmoe^tion, it lost nothing In its chaise,_i:___________.B^lmSy8®$»®«MlWteoession as Ittfilrbe exercJsed I Clearly the . constituent power should be the . .the ’ Sovereign people themselves—and the right should only be exercised with prayerful solemnity, under the tie of conscience, binding the dissolving party to the retributive justice of heaven.But, was the assumed right of withdrawal exercised in this solemn way ? Let thdusfcory of toe past four years answer.And what a revolting spectacle the forcible seizure of toe property of the Government to which they had sworn allegiance—Its mints, post offices, eustom houses, forts, arsenals—their burning of the navy yard at Gosport, and their repudiation of millions of debt due to Northern merchants, much ofit purposely contracted with a view to Its subsequent repudiation!And, oh, what a horrible chapter these inhumanities practised upon our poor, defenceless prisoners— their systematic and wholesale starvation of them, with plenty of food almost within arm’s length— •their exposure of them to drenching rains and burning suss, and their deliberate subjection to toe very refinements of cruelty IStarvation of prisoners a crime so atrocious that by no oonoelvable combination of circumstances can It be palliated or excused. It is simply murder in its moBt revolting forms, and It is in no spirit of Phariseeism that we raise our hearts iu thankfulness to Almighty God that, by His preventing grace, we have it in our power to say that we have in all our holders no Libby, no Belle Island, no Andersonville, no Salisbury!- But how now stands toe ease with the rebellion*? Watchman, what of the night ? Blessed be Goa, an A toe Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, after many a bloody siege and conflict—after a long and bitter agony'of suspense and trial—after a baptism of blood and a martyrdom of fire, without a parallel in the world’s historic annals, the eagle of victorytorches upon our consecrated standards, and the eavy burthen of anxiety is lifted from toe hearts of our people! Now is too winter of our agony giving way to glorious summer ! Now, we discern, in toe illumined horizon, if not the actual end, its near and speedy approach I The night isfar spent,the day is at hand I ’TIs done! The long agpnv is nearly over I We breathe more freely ana deeply ! The rebellion Is in toe throes of dissolution. Oar torn, lacerated land will soon again repoBe in toe lap of ice* The chief of too conspirators is a fugitive, last Lord’s Bay, whilst sitting in the house ofpeace* The chief of too conspirators is a fugitive. Chi last Lord’s Bay, whilst sittiug In the house of God, and whilst tens of thousands were in the veryact of prayer for his overthrow, the message came to him quickly to hide himself from God’s avacglag angel, then in swift pursuit. And lo, without waiting for the parting benediction of the -preacher, he bade a last, a long farewell to the scenes of his past greatness, and, carpet-bag In hand, hied away to partB unknown! His cabinet ministers, the sharers in nls infamy, went and did likewise, for lo ” Othello’s occupation’s gone!” The army, most of them tom bv despotic force from their homes, and marched off in hordea to the altar of impious and Insatiable ambition, has scattered before the Invincible hosts of toe Republic as chaff before the iude blasts of the tempests. The Congress, so reoently brooding over gigantic schemes of conquest, prepared with deep and dark Intrigue, hae dissolved, as a frame-work of frost before a summer’s sun, its component parts never again to be brought together. The capital of the Old Dominion, once trodden by the feet tof men of renown, is no longer the home of {treason, but echoes to other footsteps, and re* (joioes in other counsels, And over the towers and battlements of Richmond alone waves toe holy flag of fireedom. It floats majestically, too, over Vicksburg, and Memphis, and Nashville, and New Orleans, and Norfolk, and Wilmington, and Goldsboro, and Savannah, and, last but not least, over Charleston, toe cradle of rebellion. And, on next Friday, (God willing.) the gallant Anderson, In the presence of exultant multitudes, is to raise over Fort Sumpter toe identical bunting which, on that day four years previous, under toe fierce assaults of the enemy, he was compelled to lower! Oh, say, is not all this the Lord’s doing? and is it not marvellous, t?ery marvellous, in our eyes 1 And now who among us longer doubts that tho Southern Confederacy, (so styled,} after a four years’ rickety and. miserable existence—or, rather, struggle for existence—has hopelessly and forever passed away into the receptacle of things lost upon the earth? Who questions that “ Icfcabod” Is written upon its door-posts ?And now, over this blessed, thrice-blessed oon-summation, do we commit a wrong to rejoice? To the sanctities of God’s holy day and God's holy house do we offer violence by lifting intoe tabernacles of toe righteous our hearts and -voices to the Supreme Disposer of events, in thankfulness that He has heard our prayers, and has vouchsafed. to us these graofouB deliverances ? Most sincerely, fervently, earnestly, have we all desired that our free institutions should be perpetuated—the unity or the States maintained intact—toe honor of the flag vindicated, and the rebellion crushed. And now that God has heard and answered our prayers—now that our noble chieftains, Grant and Sherman, Sheridan And Thomas, Meade and Ord, Hancock and Bar-. tranft, Porter and Farragut, and all tho otoer mighty men of valor, have led their dauntless hosts, over mountains and preoiplces, and through, mires and swamps, and rivers and seas, to.vlqfiory—oh, shall we not render thanks ? Shall we not call upon our souls, and all that is within us, not to forget God and all Hla benefits ?But the cypress is Interwoven with toe laurel. Thousands of heroic martyrs, the very strength and pride of toe land, sleep the sleep of death. Oyer toeir graves a nation bends in sorrow, and drops bitter and scalding tears. To the last , syllable of recorded time shall their memories be held dear on earth. And whilst we thank God with heartfelt sincerity for their heroic and self-sacrificing daring, oh, may , our hearts bo ever enlarged with sentiments of benevolence towards their widows and orphans I These are the bequest of God to the nation. Shame upon us all if a solitary one goes begging bread I Towards . these, from every heart, and house, and hand In this great nation may a perennial stream of charity s Issue, like unto the ohrystal water that gushed from thqrcck of Horob! And now may God laollaethe hearts of our entire people to justice, to righteousness, to truth, to mercy, and to penitence! The sum cfthe general guilt let us all seek to diminish by toe diminution of our own. From the heights, well as out of the depths, let. us cry unto toeord, that He maygraoloualy av^- i from us another h calamity, with our hearts fixed on Him ' doing good, let ub “rejoice with trembling,” prepared for whatever He, In the plenitude wisdom, shH see fit to appoint.REV. D, L, GEAR.~ First Congregational Church, Frnkford foad and Montgomery *avenue, was filled to its nt» most capacity lent evening to hear a discourse on our natiOB*l t hanksgiving for victory, by the pastor toe ohurch, Rev. D. L. Gear. He chose for the ijeet of hiATCtnfks the following text:«nfiuel took a stone and set U between:l1**
Newspaper Details
Philadelphia Press
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Mon, Apr 10, 1865
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Daniel E.
FL, USA 23 Nov 2020
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