The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1865-12-21
CFoR THE CENTRAL PREsBYrERIAyl
Comfort for the Saints.

"Comfort ye my people, saith your Cod
The present year has witnessed imp6r-
tant changes in the condition of our
country. The blast of the war-trumpet
has ceased; the bugle no longer sounds
the charge, nor the drum awakes the sol
der to prepare for the shock Of battle !;
the last act in the four years drama of
blood is over, and the curtain of peace
has fallen upon the scene. Yet sorrow
sits brooding over the land. Many a
heart has lost its treasure never to be re-
stored, and many a home the light that
once gave brightness to all its joys
Many brow has beeniurro%ed by care,
and many ihead been prematrely whit
ened by the'anxious thoughts that have
so long been crowding in upon the soul.
The hopes of the country have withered
like Jonah's gourd, and the fears of the
tbeughtful and rejecting been realized
te the utmost. The foundations of South
ern society have all been upheaved, and
like u city upturned by a mighty earth
quake, our prosperity for the time is
gone, and a wide waste of ruin and desc
lation meets our eyes whatever way we
turn. The past is flied with bitter re
collections, the present with sad realities,
and the future with uncertainties into
which no human wisdom is able TO pene-
trate.
Philosophy viii not do for times like
these. Its precepts are too cold, too
earthly for hearts that lie bruised and
mourning under the chastening hand of
God. Philosophy may harden, but ii
cannot console, 1t may nerve us to en-
dure, but it will steel US if it does. 1t
may crush the bleeding affections and up
root them from the heart; but it cannot
take them in loving sympathizing arms,
and bind them up, and train them
towards heaven, in greater beauty just
because they have been bruised, and in
vigor, Just because they have been crush
ed. Philosophy may stand by the grave
of departed friendship and dry the eye
by invoking the aid Of stern and Un-
natural stOicism, but it cannot sanctify
grief, and convert it into a blessing. 1t
may look out upon a ruined country and
shed no tear but it cannot take the WI
dow's vail and the orphans cry, and
transform these depths Of sorrow into
wells of salvation.
Religion, however,-pure and vital re-
Ggion,-is suited to all times and adapt
ed to all the emergencies of human ma
ture. If its power may be felt in seasons
Of light, it is equally potent in hours of
darkness; and if its comforts are real
lied in seasons of prosperity, they do not
desert us in times of mourning.
1t is to be feared that many have fallen
into infdelity, because the termination of
the war has overturned their most cher
ished hopes and their fondest eXpecta-
tions. Believing as they did in the just
ness of the Southern cause, and remem-
bering the many earnest prayers that
were offered in behalf of the Southern
Confederacy, they conclude from our
disastrous failure that God is Indifferent
to human affairs, and that prayer is use
less. They forget that a righteous cause
does not imply a righteous people, and
that a nation, though contending for the
dearest and most sacred rights ever given
to man, may fail to secure them, because
their iniquities separate between them
and their God, and their wickedness de-
mands the inteFEsutien of haaXy .jGaag-
ments and grievous punishments.
Or, if this view, (which is ndoubted-
ly confirmed by the teachings of Scrip
tme,) be insufficient to account for our
subiugation, we should not forget what
daily observation is constantly teaching,
that, in the providence of God, might
often triumphs over right, and that wick
edness is often stronger than innocence.
Has it not always been 50 from the very
foundation of the world? Does not God
tell US that it will be so, and warn US
against dependency and mbehet when
we see it? And is not this one of the
arguments We constantly use in favor Of
a day of future reckoning! In this
world Justice does not measure with an
even hand; and therefore, among other
reasons, has God appointed day, when
every thing on earth shall pass under"lGs
solemn and impartial review, when every
wrong shall Be adjusted, ard when tbs