Delaware State journal and statesman., 1863-02-13

is the most terrible aspect Of the great Grim,
which has already flied this land with mourning
Wben This wicked rebellion frst broke out, wheu
the first attacks we're made upon the government
and the first attempts were made to DESTROY IL,
thrill Of horror passed through the whole
land but now after two years Of successful
rebellion, how familiar have we grown with the
crime, 90 familiar that its virus threatens to 70
through the whole country, and it's enormity as
agreat sin and crime seems to have almost faded
out Of the apprehension Of men. Men have al
lowed themselves to palliate and excuse, have
called soft names, ill Rebellion is stripped of all
It's hideousness and the plunging Of once han.
py people in the horrors Of civil war is as
nothing in their sight. Nay, the same process
goes on here as in regard to the murderer, he is
sympathized with aud Ielted while his victim is
forgotten.
10 all this, il seems to me, there is that which
should make every thinking man stop and anx-
iously ponder. The foundations Of public
morality seem rocking as with q mighty earth
quake beneath our feet if they "be destroyed
hat shall the righteous do ?" In such a time
1t becomes all men aud especially every teacher
Of religion 10 be awake and earnest, 10 recall the
minds Of men to great rules of right, to exhibit
before them the claims and the sanctions Of law,
human and divine. II is in this ASPECT TINT we
ought to be anxious that this great crime OF
rebellion should be punished, that it should not
pe suoeessIu' IL u be successful, blow,
verify heheve, Will have been struck at law, at
morality, such as perhaps was never struck be-
lore. am, as man that loves my country,
anxious beyond measure that our government
! shall not be destroyed, but am, if know N.Y.
sell, as anxious that crimes so great should not
escape adequate punishment. In this, think
understand and can appreciate the scope and
meaning Of these Psalms, without one personal
OF vlnuicuye ieeling towards the guilty men who
have caused all the horrors of to day, yet long
that Justice, Gods justice not mans, should be
moted out TO them. l think | know myself
when say that would go as far 10 aid and
sucsor' to administer to the sulferngs Of these
enemies in their distress, perhaps much farther
than some who fault those who speak warmly Of
these criminals, yet their crime seems so great
aud the desirableness that law should be honor6d
and justice done, that desire with intensity Of
emotion that adequate punishment should come
upon the guilty authors of this rebellion. do
not have in my mind tue Door deuded and
deceived thousands. who are led to destruction
by designing men, but mean those who have In
clearest light and after gears of deliberation
voluntarily, gone through all the steps Of previ-
Gus perjury, falsehaod, theft, deep-laid treache-
ry, till their guilt has eliminated In q Wanton
commencing of war. These men have, believe,
been guilty of crime the like of which has
almost never been committed in this world be
iNies Az hAAtmpt ~ utttFOY hucl a government
which had never done them anything but good,
and pluck ruin down upon millions was enough
10 itself Of guilt, but when you count the new
made graves by the hundred thousand graves of
the young and strong who have perished in their
early manhood, when you think of all the suffer
Jugs, Of the millions of widows and orphans of
all the unknown woes, the tears and the groans
that make the land like Egypt on the night when
there was not house in which th, re was not one
IQan haR tha mill n.
Die, no words can describe or even characterize |
it. Thinking of all this, and then remembering
the claims of law, the unutterable desirableness
that crime uld not escape, you and every |
right minded man cannot but desire that punish |
ment such as shall illustrate end establish the |
mnJesty OF law and yindioate the justice of |
God, should come upon these men. In deepest !
sympathy with the teachings of Gods word |
which we have been dwelling upon. 80 you can
not but desire. With such solemn and clear
convictions, gave utterance months ago to the
desire that punishment adequate and to the full, |
might he theirs, and 80 with the same feelings |
repeat 1t to-day, and know that every thinking
right-hearted man will echo the desire.
trust that shall not be misunderstood or
falsely interpreted. | am laying before you
principles and truths which believe to be more
important than anything else that l could ex-
hlbit, and which as a minister of Christ, l
am under solemn responsibility to God, not to
man, to hold forth. No, no, my dear friends, /
we have reached time which calls for thought
and care, the most anxious We are in danger |
OF being swept away from all morality and law. |
The great crime o. this century, indeed of these
eighteen centuries, is upon US, and we have |
grown familiar with it, we must not think it less
u crime, we must not allow ourselves to be de-
eeved by it, if we do, then woe be 10 us. But |
II we as people awake anew to regard it with |
the horror it deserves, and if, in the All wise
Providence of God, oil men are made to sec that |
lie has not permitted the guilty to escape, then |
even these dark hours will bear fruit of good for
all the coming time, and God will be glorifed as
they say "Veriy there is God that judgeth |
in the earth. Haggaia, Jelah !" The Lord is
known by the judgment he executeth. The |
wicked are shared by the work of their own
hands.