The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-09-02
WHY WE SHOULD REsouCE.

WHY WE SHOULD REJOICE.
a Discourse deliuered at Freedom, Portage
County, Ohio, 4xg. 5th, 1868, By Rev. d.
a. Grosue'aor, Of Medina, on, the occasion Of
10 the National Thanksgiving. appointed By tie
President of the United States. t...-
PsALM2: 11.-Rgioice NTH Trembling.
We meet to-day at the call of the Chief
Magistrate of the nation, and in accordance
with the fayoring providenees of God We
meet to join in mutual expressions of thanks
giving and praise, for signal victories, won, of
late, by our gallant army and navy, in the
present., great national conflict. These victo
ries have been such, the last six weeks; as. to
fill every loyal heart with Joy, and all union
loving lips, with praise. 1t is fit then, that
our offerings, this day, Should be as common,
and as public, as the occasion that calls for
them. Our high congratulations however,
should be tempered with moderation d" Re-
.joice with trembling.'' Various, and affecting
considerations render this caution worthy. of
our special regard As yet, we see not the
end of our national strife. Much remains to
be done, and suffered, before the country can
already cost us much treasure and blood
Indeed, heaven seems to have so ordered it
in general, that our choicest blessings shall
come to us, through the tolls and sutferings of
Others. Our own natural and spiritual life
are not exempt from this. manifest law. Our
offerings of joy are presented, with countless
suferings, at home, and abroad. The camp,
the battle field, the hospital and countless
dwellings of private families, saddened by the
tears and agonies of bereaved widows and Or
phans, .admonsh us to moderate the excess of
our joy. Moreover, the chastisements of the
Lord are UPON US, for our sins. 1t is fit, there
fore, that we should give good heed to the
timely, divine injunction To serve the Lord
with fear and rejoice with trembling,' -.,a.l
1t may be well for us, at our leisure. to
mark the context Of this inspired injunction,
and notice in what similar Circumstances of
civil commotion, in the nation of Israel, it
was given. 1t was intended, both as solemn
caution, and an incitement to Joy. Let us
then enter into the very letter and spirit of
our theme, as expressive of our tkankf
on this occasion. We feel that we have real.
abundant occasion of joy and. rejoicing. .si.sa7
1t is now more than two years, that we
have been involved in a most cruel. bloody.
unnatural, fratricidal. civil war. This war
has arisen out of the conflicting elements, en-
bodied in the two colonies of Plymouth and
jamestown. These colonies were settled,
with the elements of two opposite states of
society-the one republican, the other aristo-
cratic, oligarchal, monarchical. These differ
ent elements struggled together for the mas
terry, before the birth of the federal eoustitu-
tion. The struggle has continued ever since,
with various aspects. The aristocracy of the
South is state of society, of which slavery
is an all peryading element This element
has ever been at variance withsthe staunch.
republican elements of the Plymouth colony,
These elements have ever been acting, and re-
acting, all along the line of our national his.
tory. The proofs of this position are abun-
dant Did the occasion admit We should like
to advert to these proofs. As one source of
proof, look at the angry debates in Congress,
ahdat the origin, and progress, and shameful
Developments, of the wars with Texas, Flor
ida and Mexico. ,,-z. .,,s,.,-r..alf MIS- <. 7
8 For the last thirty years, this element at
the South, has been waxing stronger and
stronger. For more than thirty years, the
keeh-sighted politicians of the South have
been calculating on a rupture with the North,
and preparing for it when, in 1861, it culmi-
mated in the present rebellion. The prepara-
tlOn to meet the coming exigency, was cun-
ming, and extensive And when the exigen-
cy came, how weak and powerless was the
North, into whose hands the administration
of the government had legitimately fallen -
So weak and powerless was the, government.
at the time of the election of President Lin
coin, that single we'll organized, and well
armed regiment, of one thousand men, could
have marched upon Washington, the capitol
of the nation, and taken it, and DESTROYED all
its public buildings, with all their contents,
and broken up the government. ,.,
How came the government in this dilem-
ma? Whyl it had beemresting in the right
eousness of its cause, and contending only,
and legitimately, at the ballot-box.l The
North thought nothing of an appeal to arms
In November, 1860, the speaker delivered a
thanksgiving discourse, in which, he took oc-
casion to speak of tine prospects of an alarm
ing crisis near, portending civil war; Three
weeks after, was met, by one of the most
intelligent hearers of the congregation, earn
estly engaged in the election Of Mr.. Lincoln,
when the following, short conversation trans
pired. "Mr. G." said he, "you are a very
good theologian, and a very good preacher,
but very poor politician. You have warned
us againsta dangerous crisis, at hand. Moth
ing is more absurd The country was never
farther from any such crisis, than now" 1t
was replied. i"Mr. @. we read politics as well
as you, wait six mopths.'' In less than six
months from that time, six of the Confederate
States had raised the standard of revolt and
voted themselves out Of the Union. And
this measure was NO novelty In pursuance
Of their intentions, they had been making
preparations for separation, for more than a
quarter of century. And in the line of that
preparation, you know what they did. You
knowihow they plotted, and maneuvred, to
get all our armed vessels sent abroad, so that
the strong arms of the navy, might be pow
erless, and so twas. You know how they
managed to have all our arms in northern
forts, and arsenals,s sent South, so they could
be at their grasp, and command. And so it
was done, against loud protests to, the meas
ure, in several instances. And when the war,
all eoncocted--and all matured, as it was,
burst upon the,country, itscame like thun-
derbolt from cloudless sky. No -immediate
danger was seen, none was seriously felt, by
the law-abidihg North But the thunderbolt
of war, hurled against the walls of Sumpter,
broke the spell, and the North awoke, as one
man. --'-7. = - -
Have we forgotten the naughty boastings
of those southern leaders How they would
take Washington, Philadelphia, New York,
and Boston; and call over the. roll Of their
victorious legions, on Bunker Hill, July 4th,
1851 July 4th, 1863, has just past, and
Bunker Hill has had no such surprise visit
Or that very day, on the Contrary, her noble
granite column looked down, as maiestically,
as ever, upon the indisturbed cities at its base.
at once, the ensign of freemen, aud a. silent
monitor to the oppressor.
On that day, the anxious thoughts of the
nation were in different direction. On that
very daya the sfrllnohnld of the onfederac1s