Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1895-10-03

every sense defensive, no other can De
justified by the gospel, and if such things
had not been and a wicked world made
them fashionable, every christian man
would feel an uprising against them OF
all his principles, no matter upon what
pretext waged.
Examples of real and efficient piety in
armies are mostly found among laymen'
and even with them GARDENERS aud
Havelocks and Wears are very rare.
Chaplains aud Bibles and Tracts may
stav little the downward course, but
they tend to deceive, by quietng the
of those whose hearts in bet
ter moments miSgive them. All impair
tial testimony concurs i'll saying that
armies are at best but schools of iniquity'
aud a few months training III them Is the
preparative TO thousands for an instant
death. Nor is even this the worst. The
whole country is becoming rapidly de
moralized" as the term is. | mean IN
m0raH=ed, including those who preach
the war from pulpit and those who hear
them. Icauuot blame our ministers and
religious papers for they have but yielded
to a tempest which l must suppose
could have resisted rs little as they. But
l would soleunly appeal to those of them
who are less excited and ask whether
these understanding effects of the war
be not visible all around them, and
whether they are not called upon by
the voice of God to pause What chris
tan man will dare assume the reSponSi-
bility of its continuance another day
But YOU say the Southern government
was in the wrong Admit it, How many
wrongs has England and the United
States government too committed, equal
" gross, which it would be both imprac-
ticable and wicked now to attempt to
redress by war!
DO christian men deny that the North
too has grievously sinned, and shall one
sinner assume on so vast scale the
prcrogatives Of God against another
Treason may indeed be put down, but
all the books assert that treason cannot
be predicatcd Of entire communities.
But it is a great calamity which you
are trying to remedy. 1t is so indeed
not only to you but to us, aud to the
whole world butt is not the first calami-
ty which proud and wicked nations have
suffered for their sins, or shall be the
last The remedy is not war but re
pentauce. The world by its policy but
aggravatcs its own miseries.
But it will not do to treat after defeat
Then from objection of one side or the
otherthere cannever be a treaty ofpeace.
But this is the language ofpride and re-
bellion against God, which every side
NAV indulge in. And it is ineXpressibly
cruel, for il demands another sacrifice
of widows and orphans and mangled
bodies and lost souls.
But if another battle must come inc
responsibility s,,,.ot rsst nPon those VINO
will have it. The strength OF the South
to resist taken materially aud morally
has been doubled by the war soiar. The
manacles referred to arc being scattered
through the South and every one will be
a recruiting sergeant. How another con
test will end God alone knows but II
there must be one look for nothing less
than a second Solferino, the sight Of
which we are told the day after the bat
tie, rather than any political considera-
tons, disposed the heart of Napoleon
himself to peace May God in mercy
avert it. Is not the land already suffi-
ciently in mourning and stained with
blood?
One Of the worst signs of the times at
the North was that any who moved for
pcace were arrested or silcnccd. He
that departed from evil made himself
prey. How rejoice that IT is not 50
now. Is there not heart Of humanity
to speak out which has not spoken yet?
need not tell you for you know it
already how loved the Union-how
earnestly labored and prayed for its
life and was in bitterness for it when it
was dead, and am still as one that IS IN
bitterness for his first born.
But does any man now believe it can
ever be restored 10 life, and shall we re-
bel and fight against God, and while
protesting to be christians in very heath
enism like the heir Of the King Of Daho-
mev bury 5000 living men in It's grave
II is fashion alone which alters the form
of the sacrifice. Surely superstition IS
more pardonable sin than revenge under
whatever name clothed, for do you be-
lieye that If resentment or other motives
equally unholy were taken out Of the
war there would be enough left Of any
other to carry it on further?
The South you say is wrong. 1t IS
needless now to discuss that point. But
no one doubts that she is comparatively
cool and thoroughly united, and has one
definite and fixed purpose. The North
is distracted, already increasingly so.
One Of her wisest clergymen. who is in
distress for her interests, writes me that
he is persuaded that those ministers who
preach war do not carry their people
with them. And outside Of churches the
people with the instinct Of self-preserva,,
ton are beginning to fear the effects O.
legislation for themselves by the poll
ticians Of a party in such a state oi
mind.
The only hope for such a government
as ours at any time isin domestic peace,
and now It is in the dispersion Of these
:. a.I c-,aadfeef Z