which, as a mediator, they may, as soon and as often as occasion offers, do all in their power to restore peace and Union, if that be possible; and in the third place, to preserve themselves and their State from the horrors of a conflict which they did all they could to prevent, which they cannot engage in with a good will, and which, in the divided state of opinion amongst her people, and by reason of her geographical position, would probably be ruinous to the State, by means of her becoming actively engaged in

it.

7. Such we believe to be the existing state of opinion and affairs in Kentucky. With regard to it, we will make but two general remarks. The first is, that in our judgment, the state of opinion in Kentucky is chiefly characterized by the public mind being torn by conflicting principles and passions, often working even in the same mind, in opposite directions, and, as the general result, begetting a decided popular reluctance to any violent measures, or any extreme courses, or any irrecoverable step; but that the tendency of opinion has been constant and rapid, in favor of the Union; and that, at every period, and especially at present, the number of persons who would vote to take Kentucky out of the Union, is a comparatively small portion of the people-made dangerous by their violence, their activity, their organization, their being extensively armed, their good understanding with the secession leaders and military officers, and their sympathy with the chief executive and military authorities in the Commonwealth. The second remark we have to make is, that the same wise and lofty forbearance manifested by the general Government towards Maryland, and we will add towards Missouri will be manifested, there is every reason to believe, towards Kentucky, in the high but unusual position she has felt it to be her duty to assume. In the case of Kentucky- and we may add Missouri- this conduct of the President, which those States certainly should applaud, and which would give them peace at once, if it were imitated by the Confederate Government, is extremely significant; as it seems to indicate that, in his opinion, the neutral and yet loyal position of these two great central States, may, in certain highly probable events of the war, be turned to great advantage, in that complete restoration of the

Union, which the loyal citizens of both of those States ardently desire.

VII. General Conclusion.

There remain many topics of great importance and significance, concerning which we have said nothing. And yet the number and the magnitude of those we have attempted to elucidate, compared with the narrowness of the space they occupy, might indicate that our error may rather be in attempting too much, than in not attempting more. The whole subject is one, of which we never think seriously, without profound astonishment and anguish; about which we have never written a line without attempting to exercise the severest rectitude, as if we were speaking in the face of another generation. This civil war is a terrible portent. All civilized nations regard it with horror; and posterity will be obliged to pronounce it an inconceivable outrage upon the freedom, the morality, and the civilization of the present age. To what ends God, in his adorable Providence, has allowed it, and will conduct it, and use it-it behooves every one, who acknowledges there is a God, to ponder deeply and every one, who professes to serve God, to search diligently.

A few great truths seem to us transparently clear-and amongst them not one is more impressive, at the present moment, than that which we have attempted to illustrate in this paper. The American Nation ought to be preserved, and the American Union ought to be restored. This war ought to be conducted by the Nation-under the impression of that solemn necessitywhich, as far as we can judge, is shown to be attainable, alike by the indications of Divine Providence, and by all the circumstances upon which enlightened human judgments can be formed. If in these things we err, nothing will remain, but for the nation to bow its august head reverently before the known will of God, and the irresistible force of destiny. It has already redeemed itself from the ignominious fate to which the last Federal Administration had consigned it. Let its destruction bear some just proportion to the glory of its past life.

It is in circumstances, my friends, of terrible solemnity, that this great nation presents herself in an attitude of humiliation before the Lord God of Hosts; in circumstances of great solemnity, that she stands before the bar of all surrounding nations, under that universal public opinion which gives fame or stamps with infamy; and hardly less solemn than both, is her attitude at the bar of distant ages and especially our own posterity, that awful tribunal whose decrees can be reversed only by the decree of God. It is the first of these three aspects, either passing by in silence or touching very slightly the other two, that I am to consider before you now. And what I shall chiefly attempt to show is, that our duties can never be made subordinate to our passions without involving us in ruin, and that our rights can never be set above our interests without destroying both.

In taking this direction, let us bear in mind that the proclamation of the Chief Magistate of the Republic which calls us to this service, asserts, in the first place, that ruin is impending over our national institutions; and asserts, in the second place, that so far as appears to him no human resources remain that are adequate to save them; and, in the third place, that the whole nation, according to his judgment, ought

to prostrate itself before God and cry to him for deliverance. -Upon this I have to say, in the great name of God, and by the authority of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, these two things: First, that national judgments never come except by reason of national sins; nor are they ever turned aside except upon condition of repentance for the sins which produced them: and, Secondly, that repentance for sin, as it is the absolute and universal, so it is the infallible condition of divine pardon and acceptance, not only in the case of individuals, but more obviously still and more immediately in the case of nations, since nations, as such, have no existence in a future life. Wherefore, if we are in the way of fearful evils, we are also in the way of clear duty, and therein we may hope for assured deliverance in the degree, first, that every one will go before another in earnest endeavors to rectify in himself all that is abominable to God; and, secondly, that every one will evince towards others the forbearance which he desires that God should extend towards him. Wherefore, also, we may boldly say that the remedy from God to us need not be expected to manifest itself by means of political parties, or by means of combinations of political leaders, or by means of new political compacts, or by means of additional legal enactments, or by means of more explicit constitutional provisions; but that it must come from God to us, and be made manifest through a profound movement in the source of all power in free governments, namely, first, in the hearts of individuals, men turning from their sins, their follies, and their madness; and, secondly, in the uprising of an irresistible impulse thus created, which over the length and breadth of the land shall array itself in the power of God, against every endeavor to bring upon us the evils which we are imploring God to avert.

The first and greatest of these evils that we beseech God to avert, and that we should strive with all our might to prevent, is the annihilation of the nation itself, by tearing it into fragments. Men may talk of rights perpetually and out

rageously violated-they may talk of injuries that are obliged to be redressed-they may talk about guarantees without which they can submit to no further peace-and there is doubtless much that has force and much more that is captivating to ardent minds in such expositions of our sad condition. For what problem half so terrible was ever agitated upon which it was not easy to advance much on every side of it? I will not consume the short time allowed to me in examining such views. What I assert, in answer to them all is, that we have overwhelming duties and incalculable interests which dictate a special line of conduct, the chief aim of which should be the preservation of the American Union, and therein of the American nation.

To be more explicit, it seems to me that there are inestimable blessings connected with the preservation of our National Union; and that there are intolerable evils involved in its destruction. For the blessings: there is the blessing of peace amongst ourselves, there is the blessing of freedom to ourselves and to our posterity, there is the blessing of internal prosperity secured by that peace, and freedom, never before excelled, if attained, by any people; there is the blessing of national independence secured by our invincible strength, against all the powers of the earth combined; there is the blessing of our glorious example to all nations and to all ages; there is the blessing of irresistible power to do good to all peoples, and to prevent evil over the face of the whole earth: there is the blessing of an unfettered Gospel and an open Bible and a divine Saviour, more and more manifested in our whole national life as that life deepens and spreads, subduing and possessing the widest and the noblest inheritance ever given to any people, and overflowing and fructifying all peoples besides. It is the problem sought to be solved from the beginning of time, and, to say, the least, the nearest approximation made to its solution, namely, the complete possession of freedom united with irresistible national force, and all directed to the glory of God and to the good of man. And this is that glorious estate VOL. I. - NO. 2.

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