Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1861-12-18

| trace tue early history OF this Republic Of
! the new world, without perceiving the hand
OF God, distinctly marked, in It's formation
| ana It's establishment as one Of the posoers Of
J earth. To no other source can we attribute
| the wonderful preservation of our pjlcrim
fathers when they threw themselves on These
desert shores, amid savages wild as the will.
dernesS through which they roamed the very
elements OF nature conspirng with these bar.
| oarous hordes, to crush that germ from which
| the nation sprang. So also in the war Of the
| revolution, when mere handful of colonists
| were called to meet in death gFapple their
! powerful oppressoFs. How did the God Of
nations then vindicate the cause of Justice
! and right, and turn tie scale in favor Of our
! freedom And no less in the construction Of
! our civil fabric, the framing of our great ma
tonal charter, whose matchless wisdom sur
| passes all that had ever been elaborated in
| the whols history of the world
| Ii. We have reason to thank God, for the
unexampied progress ana prosperity attained,
under his kind and benignant providence-
j NO nation OF earth ever experienced such
| rapid growth In every material element of
! true greatness and because no other nation
| Excepting perhaps, the coVenanted dascen-
/ dants OF Abraham) has ever experienced
! richer results from the interference of Divine
! agency; becoming the richest, tire happ;,gt
/ and mlghteSt power on the face Of the globe.
| NO other nation was ever furnished with such
! &ttFHt5tc resources; in the vastueSs Of terri.
I tory eZhauStcss fertility Of soil friendii-
! ness OF climate; incalcuiahle mineral wealth.
! na'iSab!e waters inventive genius iatciit-
/ ge''e, enterprise, and energy of it's popU!a
! non: All! wlthai free in her institutions:
! matches IN her religious privileges; sublime
/ Ia tie march OF ITS progress. AMI iustrous in
/ he t,3r, = t-,.
! the nap OF the world the most magnificent
/ dwelling place for man the world has aver
{ seen. No sIch heritage a this, has the
almighty Governor Of the Universe ever giyen
/ t' any her people
/ Iuis is 12s faint and l.ru,s sketch CT
I what cur country lca&, before treason raised
/ IT'S serpent head, ana struck its deadly fangs
! at the very vitalS Of the nation But may
we not find matter of Thanksgiving, even
/ amid the terrible scenes Of war through
which We are passing? And
FIRST, IN the very onset Of the rebellion
with treason in the Cabinet; the deadly
| bright taking possession Of it, with one or
two honorable exceptiOnS-trcasJui in the na
tional Congress boasting under the verv
dome Of the Capitol u purpose to divide the
Union; and "while they spoke, thcy plotted"
treason IN the ulAay and Haey: $50 that the
men who constituted our national buivarks
by sea ard land. deserted their p0sts, or faced
/ about atd became assailants and siAyers ot
/ those whom they were set to defend. Thus
I Cabinet hcerS, national Law gIyers, soldiers
and sailors, by " words ana swords Of trea-
: son, took their way through the South, and
with fiery persuasion and iron coercion, soon
produced whole States of traitors :" with
whom t2yaIiy to the governmeut-under
which they had been born, and CROWN great,
prosperous, and hapPy-quicliy became
cft1te, the " stars and stripes" badge OF
dIshonor, our = national songs baje4 d.scoIds,
the constitution an - 'accUrscR jtytiuDteitf,'
and the Declaration of Independence II NAL
icI-uS slaudcr. And then, n ustU admInstra-
ton just coming into power aad taking hold
of the helm Of our nations affairs amid all
this colnuotlon; with pluniersd aud al
most bankrupt treasury with arms and mu-
nltlons OF war in the hands Of the rebels !;
AMI the army and navy both scattered and de-
morailzed. Never vas there a people 50 trea-
son pervaded, treason surrounded, and trca-
s1n-riiQen in the whole history Of nations
Across the Atlantic, proud despots rcjoiced
in (wbat they supposed the downfall Of Re-
publican instItutIOns-the failure Of free gov
ernment. To oHrSefres it was day Of dark
ness and gloom. What solicitude was felt
for the fate of our national Metropolis -
teers who rushed forward to its deience
Now, with all this in The veyy onset is it
not surprising that the nation SurUioed at all?
And to what can we attribute It's preservation,
but to an oceJTuting Porjdeacc2 For this
then, we may thank God.
,. Another ground for Thanksgiving is
found in the cordial SaEp~.i Of the govern
mcEt, in the hour of its peril by men If all
parties by words and deeds: Ev money 10 re-
plenish exhausted treasury; by recruits for
the army and nary; by volunteers from every
pursuit of life, numbering tens md hundreds
OF thousands aud stretching from the mouth
of the Chesapeake to the great \ alley of the
Mississippi. Indeed the sudden uprising of
the people: at the call of the Executive, when
the first mercless attack was made on a smait
starving garrison in the walls Of Fort Sum
ter; was really sublme-a thing unezampied
| in the history of nations. And bur for this
extraordinary rushing to arms, it can scarce
ly be doubted, that the ignoble Tag of treason
would have 'ioated from the dome of the Cap
itof-as was boasted in Moutgomery-an
Washington and Maryland both been in the
| hands of the rebels and thus ths whole issue
of the war materially changed And nlay we
not rightfully regard that mighty impulse !;
which stirred and moved the whole North, as
by the power ef an earthquaks. arousing the
lion from his lair; as the looytiag Of Pr0Ui
dence? In this also We may see the hand Of
God.
3. Another ground for thanksgiving is
found in the fact, that thus far the scene Of
lCarfare has been confined within the limits
of the disloyat StGtes-disloyal in whole or in
; part Maryland has escaped, through the no.
BILE stand of her loyal Executive, aud the
strong arm Of the Federal Government. Ken.
tucky and Missouri chose neutrality, and came
not up to the help of the government in the
hour of it's peril and both have Suffered, and
still suffer. from their Oqnt of decision and
/ patriotic co operation. And while they have