Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1864-09-21
New Series---Vol. XVIII. No. AT.

J hiSHt pc, Ill respect 10 In0Se crimes
which the public laws condemn, yet
would the nation, as such, be innocent.
Nor in such case would it be Just in
God to punish the nation.
In view Of this, suppose | were to
admit, what is not however truc, that
in respect to lying, swearing, stealing,
sa bbath- breaking, drunkenr ess. MUIR
der, and the like, we had become, Just
before the war, worse thar we had
ever been before. What then? Would
God curse with desolating war the
innocent nation for these crimes, when
by her laws she was all the while
condemning and furnishing them Or
would he hold individual sinners ac-
countable for them, who, in defiance of
the laws of the State and the nation,
had committed them upon their private
responsibility aud upon that alone.
Surely he would punish such indi-
vidual sinners in their private capacity,
and in that capacity alone.
But In respect to slavery, the case is
different. Here, the Public tdac, instead
Of as IN the other cases condemning and
Furnishing the crime, upholds, just;fes, and
protects it. In this way, the State-the
Nation makes the sin its own, assumes
the responsibility, and becomes guilty
before God and hence must bear, yes,
and is noD bearing, The punishment Of
Ho' sin
SO that it makes no difference in
what light we view it, whether by that
Of Providential indication or by that
of justice and propriety, we arrive at
the same conclusion, and can arrive at
no other, viz, that this aodr is upon US Je-
cause Of s/d0ery and because Of siaVery
atone. Our last point is
9th. Concerning the ultimate object
DivineIy designed to be accomplished
by the war.
/ argue that the Providential indica-
tions are,
1st. That such object is not the es-
tablishment Of the Southern Confeder.
acy For,
|. Such result would accomplish
what we have already seen was never
Divinely designed to be accomplished,
namely, the division Of our domain
into two governments, by an imagi-
rary line running east and west. And,
2. Such result would sanction, by its
more permanent establishment than
ever before, the very institution which,
by the war, as we have already seen, it
is Divinely designed to condemn and
punish argue,
I'd. That the Divine object designed
to be accomplished by this war is not
merel Y the p, eservation Of the Union as
it was before the war commenced.
To claim this would be,
l. To charge God with foolishness.
For why bring upon us Il war simply
to preserve what, but for the war,
both was not and never would have
been in danger.
But to claim this would be,
2. To charge God with cruelty.
For if the war only puts things back
where they were before it commenced,
and nothing more, and if God designed
this before he brought it upon us, then
what does he gain by it but simply
the wteaking upon US Of a bloody
vengeance?
Why, my brethren, is it not sacriIego
to ascribe to God an object in this war
which would result only in the indis-
criminate slaughter Of hundreds of
thousands of his blood-bought crea-
tnres
Nay, my brethren, God has other
and higher objects in our chastening.
He has no such bloody hate, as simply
such an object would suppose. "Whom
the Lord loveth he chasteneth."
This brings me to claim,
In conclusion, That the only object
which the Divine Being has in this
war, is to cause us to renounce and
give up the sin for which he is chasti-
sing us. l argue this,
l. From the fact that the admitted OBJ
ject of all punishment, both human and
Divine, is, (in this world at least,) the
reformation of the punished and the
prevention of further crime
Believing that this premise will not
be questioned, will not dwell upon it
as L might do, by argument and Illus
tration drawn from parental, civil,
ecclesiastical and Divine government.
Upon this point therefore, | will
only further add that the idea of all
chastisement is the infiction of only
enough Of it to cause the chastiscd to
quit himself of his vice, and that when
this is done, the chastisement will al
ways cease.
L argue this Divine purpose,
2. From the long continuance and
incidents of the war.
Who ever believed, either North or
South, or anywhere else, Or could have
believed when this war commenced,
that it would last so long. Has not
the nation been most strangely led in
this matter?