Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-06-06


A more momentous crisis never came up
on nations counsels. Questions Of mer
policy are unspee tably inferior. The great
est, deepest moss conscientious and sacre,
interests Of the social state are involved
Most reasonably have ell party jealousie
and divisions retired. u is very far iron
anything like enmity 10 our brethren Of tn
seeding States, or desire TO interior
with the protection which the constitution
has thrown around their peculiar institu
tion, which they united in enscting, an'
with which they have protessed TO be sat
is6sd II is not under any angry excite
ment, or spirit Of violence or desire to Wis
II any part Of the land with the oalamitiel
Of war that this mighty uprising all ovei
the North and East and West, 10 every towE
and village, and on every farm, has occur
red but Il is simply out Of loyalty 70 thai
constitution and the Union under it. and al
its rights and securities, for all II is out Of 0
conscientious determination TO stand by that
constitution as our dearest earthly heritage
under which all sections Of the country
have prospered, and which has been faith.
fully observed for all. 1t Is that same spirit
which little while ago out Of the love oi
peace, was bearing in such singular pa
tience and calmness with proVocations Of
the most exasperating nature, till to the
authors Of them and TO foreign nations, il
seemed spirit Of submissive timidity, pre-
ferring the selfish wages Of uninterrupted
trade to the costly assertion Of great prin-
oiples and right 1t is q spirit which in
accepting the necessity Of war, will en-
deayor as much as possible to limit its eYils,
and instead of encouraging depredatiOns
on private property, or the security Of
peaceful Inhabitants, will visit no enemy
with such penalty as the man, on its Cwn
side, who dares make aggression on per-
sons or interests which the humanity of
civilized warfare protects.
In thus expressing my views, on such an
occasion, am happy to find support, and not
only as to the views, but also the propriety Of
expressing them in our church assemblies, in
the words of ebelOved brother in the Episco-
pate, whose calm and sound Judgment, under
the influence of an elevated piety, is held
among US in the highest esteem. There is
none whom I would more willingly allow to
speak for me on such a subject than Bishop
Lee of the Diocese of Delaware. IN a ser
mon delivered in Wilmington, DelawJr
on the 2lst of April, on /" The Christians
duty in the present crisis +" a sermon the
more important because delivered by the
Bishop of a Diocese in Ia slave State, he
says The question is not now one Of
names, or Of men, or of parties. 1t is one
of country, of liberty, Of national existence.
of life, or death. The Chief Magistrate of
the great American Republic represents in
his person the majesty Of the laWA she is
the nations head, and blow aimed at him
is a oaFa OF The CCnetifuLinr and tho
Pile, at every home and every bosom
Ali the dearest rights and most precious IN
terests of the citizen, all that makes govern-
ment desirable, or civil association blessing,
is now jeoparded. And therefore | say, in
circumstances SO startling and mOmentOus, it
IS the duty of every good citizen to stand by
those who are in authority, and to give them
bis hearty and efficient support. This is
alike the dictate of selfinterest of social obii-
cation, of patriotism, and as l read the Scrip
tures of religion"
Ny dear brethren, you well know with
what painful thoughts of the opposite views
and position of beloved brethren in the
church and its ministry, I utter these con-
victions. There are those vii whom new
er differed before; with whom l have been
identified many, many years, in all those
common labors for the Gospel, and those af-
fectionate sympathies of christian brethren,
which bind the heart so tenderly and yet so
strongly. They are on the othsr side Of
this conflict. They see right where l can
see nothing but wrong. They see grIevous
sin when I only see solemn duty.
The guilt between us in this respect, is wide
indeed. | love them, nevertheless, with
undiminished affection, as most dear brethren
in Christ with whom | hope to have my
inheritance forever in the kingdom of our
common Lord and Saviour; and between
whom and all with whom they stand, and
US, long and pray that peace, honorable,
and full OF blessings to both, may soon be
established.
But let us not forget what need there is,
that we carefully watch our hearts in such
times; and you brethren in the ministry,
that you direct your exhortations faithfully
againstthe ineOmingan nourishing of those
suspicious that spirit of bitterness, rancor,
malice, resentment, which a state of war is
so likely to engender, especially such a wa
as this. Family feuds are the deadliest. We
serve and seek the blessings of the "God of
Peace" "the God of all Consolation" al ct
brOtFerly lore continue" is acommand of His,
which no excitement or demand of war
have any right to suspend or modify.
When our brethren in the church and our
brethren in the less abiding bonds of neigh
borhood in the human family, are arrayed
against as the command remains as strong
as ever: Let brothsrly lore continue ~
Another injunction accompanies it. "Let all
bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor
and evil speaking, be put away from you with
all malice, and be kind one to oanother, tender
forgiving one another, even as God for Christs
sake hath forgiven you" Be it remembered
that this last injunction comes, in the Scrip
lures, Immediately after these solemn words,
"Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby
ye are sealed unto the day of redemption"
Just so far as spirit of bitterness towards
those now opposed to US shall obtain prevs
lence among us, however good our cause,
we shall depart from Him on whose bless
ing its success depends; we shall be cher
ishing frame of mind the precise opposite
of that spirit of acceptable prayer in which
we should order our cause before them we
shall be cutting off those supplies 'fof the
spirit of Grace" so essential to the religious
prosperity of our Churches we shall be
promoting a calamity, which, however little
appreciated in the world, the true christian
most eernesty deprecates-a general spirit
ual declension; we shall be growing a root
of evil in the depths of our social state,
which, when the wide breach IN our civil
relations shall be healed, will long contin-
ue its fruits # bitterness to the affiiction
of coming generations. .-----
It's no excuse for departure from the duty
enioined, that the quarrel Is not personal,
but national. So much the stronger the
current we have to stem in holding our
anchorage as christians; so much the wider
and more evil the influence of cur example,
If we yield to the pressure. fWho is my
neighbor," is question to be put again, and
often, in such times as these. And the words
of our Lord, expounding the second of the
two great Commandments OF the law, should
now te well considered "If ye love them
that love you, what reward hare ye ?" They
that would be children of Him "whosmakes
the sun to rise on the just and The unjust,
must love their enemies and dogood tothose
that hate them 1000
That there will be an evil spirit in some
classes of mind, we must expect, War
sweeps in its train many helpers whom it
could we'll dispense with, and is only dis
graced by. That some Of the newspapers
on our side indulge in language Of