The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1864-09-27

EttHFn 10 loyalty " u4t institution
has been so mixed with all the prog.
ress OF affairs that none can write tie
history aud leave that out What has
been the effect Of The divine strok e
upon that institution What has the
war wrought thus Gar for is instiga-
tors who initiated and carried il on (?
What has II wrought for the nation
Of bondmen held in our midst, like Is
! raei in the midst OF Egypty What
seems in the clear dritt Of Providence
the inevitable working of the judg-
mentg Is it working toward deeper
ensIavement Of the African, or to-
wards his enlargement aud elevation 2
Is it working in any other vein-far
any other issue, 50 positively as for
this? Does ii take hold OF any other
matter with the grasp which it lays
upon this ! What is the other? Let
any man name il? Can there be a
question as to The main aim and mean
iug OF this judgment Of Godi the
work it has TO accomplish, the pur-
pose OF the sender in il.
Well il interprets itself and so in
terprets God. Ii has kept lis press
ure upon US, denying US success and
relief, pushing US from one confidence
to another, extinguishng disappoint-
ing hope alter hope, postponing deci-
sive victories until at length and at
last we had to make a clear issue of
it. Gods judgment brought Us up 10
il /; craftsmanship was compelled TO
say .Starery must 90 for Me Union
What a record was his That sla-
very to NEEDLE with which was to
menace the Union, to remove which
was to destroy the Union, to preserve
which was TO keep the bond ofnation-
al unity and Of national, life that self
same slavery must perish for the life
of the Union To work was all the
more divine that this pronunc iation
was the voice of craftsmanship, oil
political polity, and not Of moral re-
former. lt might have been expect
ed that a pure morality. would have
SO uttered. But Gods Providence
constrained the government, not at.
tempting the settlement Of moral
questions or the inauguration of a new
moral dynasty, to declare that if sla-
very be moi eXtinguished the days of
the Republic are numbered. This is
of God. Lei it stand as it is. 1t has
troubled some, know, that we have
doomed the wrong for safety's sake,
and not simply and purely for the sake
Of doing right. The working Of di-
vine Providence would not then have
stood out SO salient and undisguised.
Events have brought this forth. Gods
Judgment is the father of it. II tells
us where God stands on this question
whore he has stood, where he will
have US stand or blot US out from be-
ing a people on his earth.
And now, then, this being the issue,
after our slow but stern schooling Of
four years. he begins TO show more
declaritiyely which side he is on.
Is he going TO suffer that internal
scheme 10 thrive which proposes with |
bloody hands to build new empire
on the neck of the bondsman and
make bis chains sure for another cy-
Gle Of human history2 How does it
look f? We read him in his judg- |
ments. His strokes reveal him and
his purpose. How prospers the new
absolutism? How fares il with their
corner stone? What is the prospect
Of launching successfully, for fair
voyage, the new slave-ship of State ? I
Can you see the seal Of the divine
blessing upon the traitorous Confeder-
acy? Failing recognition at the
Courts Of St. james and ST. Cloud,
have they obtained il at the Court Of
God Z? What are the signs of lleav-
ems approval and favor for them
Are they in devastated fields, crops
rayaged, fences burned, bridges bro
ken down, railroads torn up, cities laid
in ashes, homes shattered, populations
scattered and wasted, forests and or
chards felled, fortresses pounded into
dust heaps, hundreds Of thousands of
slaves set free, seaports and great riv.
ers blockaded, great forces wasted
away, and narrowing in upon their
last strongho'ds The ever growing I'M
ion armies. The Lord is known by
he Judgment which he execuieth,"
Can't they see, can't we see,whether
be means 10 let them have their wick
d way2
What is the testimony Of those lat
EST manifestations Of the divine hand
IN the long protracled conflict, the
quick succeeding strokes over which
we are bidden to day 10 be joyful and
hankfulf Hear the thunders of that
ong days pounding that rocked the
waters Of Mobile Bay as the guns Of
Farraauts fleet aud tie accordant
runs Of the land batteries smote without
ntermission the grim defences and de-
enders OF fort that seemed capable
# holding such assanlting forces at
,ay 80 long as ammunition should not
all, nor famine sap The life within.
And between dawn and dawn. be.
ween Mondays day break and Tues
lay mornings rising sun, The terrible
form mrnnrht lis end. and Tie hag of