The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1865-12-10
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The Thanksgiving services Of to Chatham
Square NJ. B. Church VINE partcilasestn y
Rev. DR.. Gillette, Of the Medical College
Rev. Mr.. Phillips, Of the Third Presbyterian
Church, Des Moines and Rev. John Bur
eess, of the Exchange street church.
The sermon was delivered by the pastor,
Rev. E. II. ,Warins, who selected - his text,
the words found in Psalms i4fth, 18th and
14th verses:
Praise the Lord o Jerusalem; praise thy God,
Zion. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy |
gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee.
He maketh peace in thy borders, and 6leth thee
with the finest Of the wheat
After referring to the duty of thaukfulness
for personal and social mercies, the speaker
referred at length to the special obligations Of
the people to thank God for national bles-
sings. 44ffEf M e@ffaCi
If fever there was q nation that has reason
to give praise to God for national deliverances,
ours is the nation, and that was the glad &C.
casion. A year ago the people had gathered
to thank God for the prospect OF peace. Then
the contendng armies were in battle array
Sherman was on his grand march from At
huta to the sea, and Grant was menscing Lee
at Petersburg and Richmond. Then, and
for nearly six months longer, we were watch.
ing the flashing Of the telegraph to catch the
news Of the final triumph of the Union cause.
The months came and went, and the day Of
decision approached. The rebel armies sur
rendered and the old flag waved unchallenged
over the whole land Even the desperation
of treason that was permitted to take from US
the lamented Lincoln, the martyr President,
was not suffered to arrest the tide of victory.
The memorable year, now about to close,
had witnessed the last rebel army disbanded,
the last rebel fortress surrendered, the last
rebel privateer abandon its piratical opera
tons on the high seas, and the last rebel
Congress adjourn, to be called together no
more If Lincoln was assassinated, speedy
vengeance fell upon the immediate actors in
the tragedy. who now lie in ignominious
graves The civil, military and naval officers
of the defunct Confederacy are sueing for un-
/ deserved pardons. Its representative man, and
chosen cheftain and President, is confined a
prisoner in a fortress of the Union, gloomily
awaiting his coming trial and certain con-
demnation. And that hateful flag, which so
lately foated 80 de6antly over one half of our
country, stripped from the staff of every strong
hold, torn from the mast head of every priva-
teer, snatched from the grasp of every ensign
in the Southern army, trampled beneath
the feet of our brave and victorious le-
gions, and execrated by all true men every
where, has become nothing but the torn and
shattered symbol of defea. and disgrace. The
storm clouds of war that hung for four long
years, like the pail of death over our land. have
been driven away and to-day the nation re-
poses from its struggles in the enjoyment Of
national peace.
The greatness of this browning blessing can
only be estimated In view Of the facts of the
war itself. 1t was civil war: a war fought
with those who ought TO have been our
brethren; war fought at our doors. Ii was
war distinguished for the numbers engaged
in it, for the extent, frequency and deadhness
of its battles, for the vast territory over which
it was waged, for the desperate vslor of the
combatants, for the resources of art, inven
ton and treasure employed in its prosecution
for the 6endish brutality of our foes. and for
the vast destruction oflife and property it in-
volYed II was a war noted 70. the multitude
was whether this Union is a rope of sand, to
be destroyed at the within of single State, as
South Carolina, or any number of States, as
those composing the Confederacy; or wheth-
er it was firm, stable, indissoluble bond,
uniting the people of all the States, and com.
bining them in one great nationality.
Another question was whether this govern.
ment, cemented by the blood of the Revolu
ton, planned and perfected by the wisest men
that ever set in a national council. the freesl
on the globe, the hope of the oppressed every
where-whether it should be rent in twain, oil
torn into ten thousand fragments, and wbeth
er. upon the ruins should be erected another
whose cardinal principle should be despotisn
) and whose cornerstone should be human
; slavery.
And, finally, itinvolved the question wheth
er this continent should be free or slave
Apart from pretence, that was the real ques
ton. All rejecting men could see that on,
or the other type of Government must a
length prevail.
1t was strange how this question was helc
In allegiance. 1t was not the question of tn,
President. nor that for which the Congress
legislates, nor that for which the army wa
. raised. The President, the people, the Con
gress, the army had in view the suppression
) of the rebellion and the mainfenance of tn,
Union. That was the first question witt
them, the subordinate one with God. VIVA
were the facts? Slavery had been the on,
disturbing cause in this nation 1t had rule,
our legislation, divided our churches, aliena
ted our people, corrupted our press and de
stroyed the peace of the country. Beneatl
its power four millions of people, made in tn
a image OF God and redeemed by the blood O
Christ, had been held in the chains of
hopeless bondage. Their number was rapid
ly angmenting. and the infatuation of thei
: oppressors increasing. The strain upon th
o public conscience was becoming more intens
: every day. The impending crisis approach