, 1862-07-11

OUR NATIONAL PERIL,
A SERMON FOR THE TIMES


| A SERMON FOR THE TIMES
By Rey, Robert ColIyer, at Churtl Of the Unity
July G, 1852.
I'VE gire place to tie following sermon at til,
request Of large number Of citizens, not tb
paIisaoners Of Mr. Collyer. His views are his
tor1c, striking and eound, and should command
the attention Of the reader:l
ESTHER, 18th chap, 18th verse" N-bo 1-no,ott
time as this:'' ~S'1N ~" SN'4'
This being the Sunday next to our orea,
natlonM holiday, propose to speak to yoU
mainly on our national affairs, and I wis6 r.
begin IN the line Of the text, which is that b
question as Jet unanswered, but admittinn
Of an answer IN accordance with certain i;nai
ct conduct. This is how the text came abont
Esther was the tdyotite wife OF one of the
kings Of Persia. She was Jewess, and hel
na'lon was IN extreme danger. A decree had
Which every traee OF the distinctive Jewish
li1c was to be blotted out IN sort OF Persian
St, Bartholomew On certain dav thn stuh.
born old fire ki0dled By the fathers and eI,ard
ed by tue prophets for so many years, should
20 CUT forever. This man who speaks TO E=-
ther can ste how she can save her people. nj
deadly risk to hc1se:f, to BIZ sure, but she can IN
only hope to save the people-the 7,a{fou17i},,-
at THIS cost. But thvn, he cannot tell whether
she viii lake this risk; whether there is
enough OF her to do it. I suppose be sees
some canse to fear that tlcra Is rot +. Is =
Given Z great suul, and it viii g-t done. n"
great sou' can only Il ISL cut iu The great <|-:.d
so Then he has set the whole thing 5ctore ,cr.
Ee can only trust, and wat, :tad say, F" WHO
kncWeth whether thou ars cone to tic king
dom }or such tine as this?''
nItin111If%. in urI Ior3 L.
cut. That is lAc first thing to say to yau
this morning. Tie reasous Why yc :hal1 ~
be- great distinctive people froaa this time
are stronger than they ever have been l,:for,;
-e1ronEer than they we're year ago, t!.ink.
anu LIZ tlHesilon OF E2'ion cr Nd ration is
70" 1iort; than ever grave Question; ta. So
!ctl2n OF the problem depends eventually IN
der God upon ourselves The sIuest;.,n, Z
sEali put to you, aud by consequence to nv
sti, &c plain questions, and they admit Of Il
l'I3en answer. Ioey ere not .ny questions I
only como here as the word. G,d hins..]f has
Put thy Questions, and whether they ar. mad;
vocal III the oratiuns Of FRIDAY or NOT. they
ars. vocal IN events, and they must be answer
ei; and as God shall put them one by one If
NJ say age, We say salvation if no ruin.
THE NATIONAL ENTITY.
-, And frst Of all, have VIC made up our minds
fAat We will preserve to Our children what has
come down to Is from the f.. hcrs-l co;ui1act
St:Ha' sl1erlc''l nationality, one AID i1divis-
pc. arc We so bound to this thrt. like
f1s!4cr Ancs, ": 1lcan to teach it to our c;liI-
oien, II need be, i'll tArir cltcchi5u, 4; one
OF ire ccep essential 1ir6t tlinrs If IiG.- +,
N2:s:ss them with tue conviction that tho s1!1,
NJ! not Shine, nor th: corn grow for body or
soul as It ought to, when tAis glory departs
from Us; That this loss, ii il come tr3m :.nv
81 sIn IN us Or them, is the unpardolablc sin,
that Is, it tales solid quantity cl.all ont al
our beng that can never bc restored iu earth
Or He;tycn. This, to me, is the first question
1nat comes up in the uncertainties Of tic time,
1ne question ':hcther the States OF America
once IN tic Union shall or shall not be held in
as the counties are held into the kingdom OF
England, OF the departments into the French
empire. Iae Russians say holy Russi1. Tuey
lne.tn whole Russia-Russia whole by the
grace of God. The EnglishGau cries old
Ifglana; t5;5 ue means that England, old in
ness-the tat!1e cry Of len hundred
Years, the one thing that never lid d.
Vide, 1h'ugh Saxon and Norman. and
klng and baron, and white rose and
'cd, aud north and south, and Puritan
anu cavalier, ard JAeobin and uanoyeri1n,
and a1istocrat ard chartist, shout Ielau:e
and meet in most deadly hatred on hundred
battle -tields. This one cry is common to
shem all; this one lit OF pure white ire never
goes out. Men say 70 Dlakc, "IIow can you
hght u for the usurper who has slain our kiug.5'
Biakc replies. II fight for England.'' The
npgl,sh ~ a't i ssors, at inc mutiny Of the Noire
Inc harbors; We IRE oppressed beyond nle,:-
ule; We tt1laEl justice; NC will not tiz:t
until we get it.'' But 4 ru1uor spreads tar.;u:r1
iht fleet that thc French have been heard oi,
they cry out as Que man, :. We are not in r.
uell1on against England; We will defend En-
man in lis place.
Trance was sore besct once. Europe was
II arms against 1rr; treason against tie STATE
aho tor tue king was IN arms against her in
some OF the PROVINCES; on all siu.s, in ali
places, frelchlnan, Englishman and ssrian,
anu ut las! Russian, tiled to break France to
PIECES. France scraped the floors OF Ler sep
ulchres Tor sa!tpctcr, and melted the cotiln5 Of
ner kings 1or lead, and tore down her bells fur
cannon, and confronted Europe, and gave
every Young man size had to save Fr;lnce, and
cltVc down every Frcnchman who wanted to
save something else at the expense OF France.
and ii you ask today what great thing Fiaucc
brought gut Of the Revolution, a.s :cer, she
brought France out Russia turns to Mo:row
rs the Mabo,uctan turns to Mecca; it IS her
holy city its very stones are sacred to her; 1t
Is enshI1ued IN the memories Of d thou sand
Years: 1t is the rcstingplace of her prophets
and kinEs. Russia is in danger Of bling bro
ken ~ the Invasion Of tho mos potent c5icns
and the foremost captains III the world; and
the untold wealth Of her MERCHANTS. tht. hnIis
est Places OF ler church, tue n,cst inspirias
monuments OF her state, everything sh:: had
IN her toly OF holies, was cast into the 1irc.
Shc would hurn .Ac best things she hal il
kussia, hut she must By all means save Rus.
sia. Did peasant, forsctful os this most sa-
cred o1 ili thiras, sell a COW, or point out i
Fafh, or 10 aught that could be proven to
pc hclp TO this encuty that sought to break
her to pieces. You found hin Ecxt day stark
de ad' ard :; pa;'er on Ills breast that told you
Ae was traitor to Russia. have notuiug to
say to tlis. God did not make MT a Iud.t
aad diyilcr. stand here to-day 1irs. Of al
for f1ic solution Of this problem by thr lirh,s
OF history aid Providence. ask Of England
and France a:d Russia, a7t thou, aud ihon,
and thou, co1uc unto the kingdom for such a
lime i as this, and they point each one to the
lime Whcn they stood j.. like peril, ard po;nt
10 ttelr ttjll undivided Inheritance, and the
question is answered. They we're equal to the
time. And friends, thes, atlirmatioas Of other
nations are tstions to u, this Is the hiyiI-
M line. This is The most sacred aud essen
tlai thing; On that side the great purpose is
10 break th., state to pieces, on this 10 pre-
serve it. Ho~cver We may diiIcr OF other
points, This is trne that they fight for diyi-
dtd, and we for united America say every
State oEce in the Union is as essentially prt
Ut US as tue province III Russia, the depart
me ment IN France or the county in England. #
We art ready to affirm this, and to stand to it
whatever comes, if TO yindicate and maintain
this, We are readyto grind Washington aud
Charleston, and Nca Orleans, and NrW York.
aud Chicago, and Richmond to powder. to
neli ur tie cotfins Of Washington aud ,Jcticr-
Eon tor bullets, and the Old state house bell in
Illiadt1.'hi! ior cannon if il is needed. Then
50 Tar VIC answer the question in the ltlir.na-
tlVc, We have come to the kingdom for such Il
!!!.lt as tins, aud every ilan VINO SINS ave is :;
nlnn man bound to preserve the Unio1., cost
what it may in blood aud treasure.
CONSEQUENCES OF l1srS1oS.
The :,.ore study this question, the nore
clearly see the fatal result of the broken
trust, national ideas arc more than armies,
Let tAost ideas be broken in orr nation by tlr
alSiainS AneS of new nationality, and the
mann strength has gone out Of her heart. She
IS from That Tine i'll the rank Of Hungary or
Ioland, or Turkey, 1 cripple begging al tue
door ot kings, or Il sick man aed lien with
heirs cNpcctant waiting tor his dissolution to
tear the property to pieces. And my fear when
consider this problem is, that the men on
tie right side nlay not be set in the detrrmina-
tion 1c keep the whole nation at every cost
within the Union, On that first Of ali rests
cur tu'n IRE, and the NAE who would consent
to divide while ever We can llolp together is
at TIC best ignorant Of one Of the deepest
principles Of 4 commanding national life.
and at the worst If he will examine his
heart faithfully, Though he may thiuk it
says Union, he will fsd the uudertones
whispering cowardice, or treason. We cannot
afford to be Indifferent, or uncertain. If We
are not for America VIC are araiust her.