The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-12-03

! h.nd<d dsliv,ranee 10 = nation Of slaves
Judas, by his trsaohery, and Plate: by bi
irresolution, and Hsrod; by his cruelty, AZ
important links In human progress and II
tho salvation Of The world. And 30 An out
burst Of treason In the interest: Of mer
mad in their devotion TO Afrio,n slavery IN
our; own oouhtsy; . war undertaken Il
make slavery the dominating power on
this continent. 10 made rod Of iron ID
break that Ubiquitous system in pieces, like
= pottsr's vessel. All seemingly adverse
events are under tho control Of Jesus OF
Nazareth. and ore even pArt Of his far.
sighted policy. The very eruoidxiou Of
the Son Of God va The life Of the world /;
and tho prosecutions Of tho early christians
to put down the gospel 10 Jerusalem, is the
means Of spreading i throus bout the. ear,b.
1t 10 lust cause of tn .nksgiving today 70
this whole American nstion, that Jesus
Christ IL giving continual evidence shat hs
10 able 10 govern our government and TO o.
tablish it, authority over the whole land.
But in order 70 IN efficient and stable
government, furthermore; it 10 necessary
that the executive power be lodged in the
hands Of one Who is wise enough 10 Crap
pie with every complicated and formidable
difficulty. Jesus Christ 10 wise enough, 10
solve every difficult and perp!exing prob
lem that may arise. under bis administers.
ton. There are crises. in the administrs-
ton Of the divine government In human
affairs, in which the most profound and
far seeing wisdom il required. Al ~ H.
lustration Of this truth. let mo turn your
attention to some Of the::great and critical
exissnees throug h which, under Christs
providence, We hare been carried - IA
ton, during the last six or seven years Of
our history; exigeneiss in which wisdom
more than human Was required, and va
seen to b exercised: Fer example, how in
the beginning could the National govern
ment cope with such widespread and
powerful rebellion, with empty .rsenals,
without IN army, without navy At ito con-
troll, with many Of its ablest military and
naval officers in league with the rebellion,
and others Of . suspected loyalty? How,
without preparation-for our government
had made none-oould it sustain the frst
onset Of rebellion that had been maturing
Tor thirty years! How could the various
departments Of our government DO purgsd
Of the presence Of concealed and cunning
traitors! Who could b trusted! Be-
sides this, there was every reason to fear
that the British government, salready i.
sympathy NTH the rebellion, would prove
it, open ally and defender; and how could
W meet such complication Of emba.rass-
ments? I'm the most terrible moment Of
our domestic trial." to use the lasguses Of
our then minister at the court Of St. James,
''in struggling with . nonstrous social
evil, Great Britain eoldly and At once A.
sumed our inability to master il, and then
steadily contributed in every indirect wy
possible to verify lts pre;judgmsnt." Aud
that will be written on the page Of history,
and read by coming generations 10 tho end
Of time. How could ve put down rebel.
lion covering half our territory, and 1t the
same time grappls, it might be, with one OF
tho most powerful nations on earth! But
We should have done even thst, 1t oil hxx-
ards, had it been laid upon Us, and W
should have accomplished The task throurh
the power Of Him who has al power in
heaven and on earth. And. then in the
very midst Of the war, with = Formidable
element Of discomfort and Of danger in tho
bosom Of even the loyal States, how could
We stop while our enemies were in tie field
and re-submit to the decision Of the ballot:
box al the great questions pertaining to
tho war, without still greater d.ngsrl II
that could not be dole, if we had refused
to do It through fear, then our government
was already : demonstrated fA:lurs. Tia.
was . most trying exigency, requiring tn,
most profound wisdom sontwh,rs.
Aud then, here w.s slavery. til. orisi,
and The strength and the end Of the rebel.
lion .. State institution which had u.dly
ovsrleaped its constitutional limits and de.
lenses how could ~ strike it, rebellion,
defenders without striking ~ Even that
impossible thing was honestly tried. Til,
government At first did its best in trying te
conduct = war on the principle Of the gold;
en- rule! And the war would have beer
fought through and the rebellion crushed
it possible, without touehiax that sacreii
institution and even without hurting tn,
rebels! The government honestly under,
took to save its own lite and 10 save slsv,r,
with it. And then he who held the rein
Of universal supremacy, who had heard tn,
cries and prayers Of the oppressed frsu
generation to generation. saying, "Ho,
long, O., Lord, how long! he iatsrpose,
in his divine wisdom and in his avspeipl
wrath and struck 1t tho vit.ls Of The rebsl
lion and destroyed slavery ITSELF. Ey.
our good and martyr<d President WAS M
the author Of Emancipation. The erss
King Obliged him to do it In order 10 que
the rebellion and save The government
The question how tha. Shiny monster who
had coilsd itself around the National 10,
eminent and threatened 10 slransle it in II
folds, like another LAGOON and bis son,
could be dissatwinsd snd thr.t,led fro
its graep-that question which had BAN.
the wisdom Of tho visest and best Of Anne
lean Statesmen, found IL solution N u
]t'dom Of Him who had oil power in hsx
en- aud on earth. He who ruled over no
that critical junoture, proved himself vi
+ enough to b thoroughly competent to col
oil those questions which had eoufound
the wisdom Of the vissst American Pre-,
i dent. ...:.