Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1862-10-07
Beecher on the Presidents Proclamation.

HENRY W ARD bEhCHER delivered discourse
at his church. the evening Of the 2Slh inst, the
concluding part Of which is thus reported in the
New York papers
In conclusion, he said that the Lord God Al
mighty was nov walking forth IN clouds and
thunder. and for Il people to refuse to believe
that God rewarded liberty and punished slavery
a.aIue their education. nlstJut deas-agalnst
all the tauons Of then political structure and
il the sympathies Of the human heart, was
monslrous lnfdelity. We were about to move
with gigantic force in one way Or the other, and
it was necessary that We shOnld fall back upon
some great principle and take our direction, not
from the mutabe councils Of cunning men, not
from those weaving politicians tfat had emeshed
us in times past, until we struck some great and
Immutable principle OF GOD. What then, he
asked, is to be our policy for the future what
are we to do There is one class OF men that
say the remedy for all these evils Is to gather
twenty secesslonists and twenty aboltionists
and lang them. If hanging twenty men would
root out that cancer | would be those twenty
men if God would give me power to multiply
all nv life again ! would stand under the gal
lows twenty times, and be hanged twenty times
If it would cure slavery. I'll tell you what
hanging twenty a5oli,onists will DO 1t will
do what it would DO in a ship in which terri
Die disease had broken out when the crew rose
against the doctors and kicked the medicine
chest after them. The disease would stay on
board, and uuly Jhe cme would GO overheard
You may rage as much as you please, but the
men that STAND 10 bring back the voice Of the
founders Of ,hls uation--th3 men whose faith
touches the original principles Of Gods word
th. men that are in sympathy with Luther-thc
men that yet breathe the breath that famed the
fame OF the Rey0luuon-the men that walked
IN the spirit OF the old Purtans-t the men that
ale Ike .e Ll founders Ui these model repub-
les-they are the men, il there be any medicine
yet 10y whose hand God Will send cure Hang
them That was the medicine the Jews bad
when obey cruclfed Christ. The Lord Of Glory
was put upon az ignomlnIous lree ana the,
thought they would have peace in Jerusalem
Where is Jerusalem and where are the Jews
4 tyword and Kissing TO the earth You, the
children Of men, that come here Tor liberty
you that heard nothing but the doctrines Of lib
erty from your mothers lips and drank it with
her mllk-you, IN whose making every threau
ana very fiber was spun from the golden fleece
OF liberty, can you stand in any doubt as %
what is the remedy or sach times as these? 1t
is 10 repent and break away from the past it
is 10 call God to witness that in time TO come
We viii ccnsecratc. individually ana nationally,
every energy to repair the mischief OF slavery
10 DO it away utterly and TO establish The reign
of universal liberty That is the path OF safety,
and blessed be God he has sent the porter He
has Jpened the door by the hand Of the Pres-
dent. He has lifted the silver trumpet of libor-
". and the blast is blown that rolls through
the forest, AND goes along the mountain side and
spreads wide over the pralries. 1t IS known on
tie kither and ON the thither ocean the waves
Of the Pacific and the waves OF thc Atlantic lit
themselves up and sound together notes of glad
ness, because that policy Is enunciated that can
not be taken back
As long as It was a question whether the
President meant to declare as COmmanderln. /
'hei of the army and navy OF the United States,
as a military necessity, universal emancipation
--dS long as 1t was a matter oil doubt-the
North was III danger OF being divided into two
one attempting to make him pro-
claim liberty, and the other attempting to make
him stand up for slavery He has taken his
choice, There can be only two paries-one for
liberty and the President, and the other Tor the
South and slavery. manifestations OF applause
followed the utteranUe oil this sentenee.) The
foundation OF all opposition is knocked out |
know it is said that lho President is not the
COVE nment ; that the constitution is the govern
ment What shoopskin parchment gov
eminent? | should think it was a very tit one
il. 4
" hat Is government in our country? 1t is a
body Of living men ordained by the people to
public Affairs according to laws that
are written in a constitution and IN the statute
books, and the government is the living men
that are administering IN certain method the
otiairs OF the nation. 1t is not dry writing
or d book President Lincoln his Cabinet the
heads OF the executive departments, are the
government, and men have got to take their
choice whether they will go against their gov
eminent or 90 with them. tell you that the
traitors will pretend TO 20 with the
government while they are undermining it, and
all honest men will support it-and you know
that the honest men OF the North are yet large
majority. thank God the lines are drawn.
There is nothing so demoralizing as equivocal
ht hbc maui kiuuhu
and since the administration is fixed on the side
Of liberty, the old original spirit of our const
tuition and the doctrine OF oul fathers, we are
going to have the Union as it never was, but as
il was meant TO be.
The UplCn as it was meant to be, and not the
L niou as 1t was, is to be our doctrine because
the Union as it was, was monslrous outrage on
your rights and mine, The Union as it was
guaranteed men the right of speech, and paid
for that right by my lie in Virginia, the Caro-
linas. Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas
and Missouri. should not have gone there
and spoken words that have spoken here to-
nigh, without prasing God tomorrow in an
other world. (Laughier.) Am to celebrate
the Union as il was, that was u violation, prac-
tcally, OF the great canons of the constitution,
the great principles Of the bill of rights, and
the grea, doctrines OF the Declaration OF indie
pendence Slavery had corrupted it to be
practically an abominable thing in many of its
lsages but the Union that was to be would
stand exactly plumb to the lines OF the consti-