Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1861-06-12
A SERMON
DsIi,rrcd by Hcy, ~ H. n.sn,, M,,.sm,i, iSn" RIM.
Wny IJih, fs6s'

Wa, iJih, is0i,
- And | looked aud rose up and said nn-
to the nubles, aud to the rulers, AMI to The
rest OF the people lie not We AFRAID OF
them, remember the Lord, which Is great
and terrible, and fight for your brethren,
your sons and your daughters, your wives
and your houses, '-NEn, ivli.
| must aclSnowled that rise be-
fore YOU this morning, to address
YOU somewhat differently from my
usual course. My business has
been for the last thirty years,
to keep myself aloof as far as con
sistcnt with my profcssionr and t'a
interests | felt in common with 10y
al subjects of our governmcnh ,~ow
the strife of political parliesr 5r Oh.
contest for office orpoliticai suyuom-
acy in tho gift OF the pcollc.--
Whilst | have felt deep interest
for the peace and prospcrity Of our
country, and tho pcrpetuity ot 0ur
government, and have exercised
the common right of II freeman in
the elective franchise, yet, l have
felt that my profession and calling
had q different work TO perform to
the statesman or politician, and
when have awarded to him the
high trust committed to his care, l
have endeavorcd to apply myself to
the legitimate and appropriate Ia
bors of my profession, never med
ding, as public servant, in an
clcctionccring contest to control
public sentiment, but quietly de-
posting my vote in the ballot box
and retiring to my proper sphere.
And would to God, / could have,
consistent with my obligations and
the responsibilities resting upon
me, been relieved from tho fearful
duty ! now feel pressing upon me.
My voice has always been for peace,
| have cndcavorcd to practice and
preach it all through my past life,
and God knows there is nothing
that now more earnestly desire,
than that we as people, should
have an honorable peace. But a
crisis has arrived in the history of
our country, had hoped never to
see, and to remain silent, or sit still
is neither practical or safe, when
our country calls and our duty
urges us to speak out, and whatev-
er influence We may have, in pub
lie or private, in church or in State,
to use that influence in behalf Of
our rights, our institutions, civil
and religious, our fortunes, our
homes, and firesides, our wives and
our children, our servants and all
that is near and dear to us, rs we
are about to be involved in most
unrighteous, unholy, unjust, and
unnatural warfare. 1t is enough to
stir the soul of the most stupid and
thoughtlcss, excite the scorn of the
moro intelligent and reasonable,
and arouse the pious Indignation Of
the christian, to strike down tho
guilty offender who would thus pre-
sumo to invade our sacred rights,
molest our peace and prosperity,
and wrcst from us the palladium Of
our safety.
And what adds enormity to the
present disgraceful contest, is, that
it has been encouraged and pushed
forward by ministers and church
men, whose callings and profess
ions are toproclaim "peace on earth
and good will to men," and who
have been laboring with the church
in general, in the great enterprises
of bcnevolencc and enlightenment
which have distinguished the nine
tcenth century from all preceding,
and won for the cause Of christian
ity imperishable honors. Su ely
such advocates will stop and think,
if their christianity is any thing
more than q name, if their Bibles
are not dead letter, and their church
es solemn mockery. | confess be-
fore you, this morning, such depart
ures from what / conceive to be the
true landmarks of christianity,
shocks mo to contemplate them,
and shakes my confidence and faith
in the power and influence of our
holy religion, moro than all the az
guments that have been welded
against it by infidelity. And were
it not 1 know there is pure relig-
ion, which has God for its author,
and salvation for its end, l would
give up that all was lost, and set
down in despair. know that
churchmen in former times were en-
gagged in bloody revolutions, but
they lived in a dark age, public
spirit was nodded by different
spirit, pagan theology, heathen my,
thology, infdclity, despotism, and
all the cruel and unnatural infiu-
ences of the dark ages still reigned
unsubdued; they harnesscd the
warrior and statesmen for deeds OF
violence and murder, and the chris
tian descending from such an ances-
try, rocked in the cradle of revolu.
ton, was taught that the sword
was tho arbiter of nations; and to
call in question the orthodoxy of
the "powers that be-" either in re-
ligion or politics, was just cause for
imprisonment, banishment, and
death. But we have come up in a
different age, have been educated
by different teachers, imbibed diff
ferent principles, and profess to
be governed by a higher morality
and purer christianity. Can it be
possible, then, that we, as n chris
tian nation, and a christian people,
living under the meridian of gospel
light and truth, in the middle OF
the nineteenth century, will fall out
and murder each other like savage