The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-06-03
THE LORD ON OUR SIDE.
REV. U.1RPEY 4. BURNES, SERJION
 ON THE CIYiL VAR.

A"Ehou 'he Stctory ana FreserVet
 the Unton-- Graphic Story of the Grear
 Struggle Told by n Participant .n th,
 Ranks.
 Despite the unfavorable weather a
 large congregation heard an admirable
 sermon preached at the Howard avenue
 Methodist church Sunday evening, May
 26, by the pastor, Rev. Dr. Harvey E.
 Burnes. He told the story of the civil
 war, the points of vital moment being
 the battle of Bull Run, the Trent affair,
 the battle of the iron clads, the battle
 of Chickamauga, Grants escape from
 Moseby and the heading off of Lee.
 Rev Dr. Burnes took his text from
 Psalms, 124, 1-3: If it had not been
 the Lord who was on our side, when
 men rose up against us, then they had
 swallowed us up quick, when their
 wrath was kirdled against us" The
 sermon in full follows.
 This psalm is known as one of the
 songs of degrees by David, That
 1t was composed by David could
 be granted easily enough, since
 1t was after his well known meth
 cd. That it was song of degrees is
 easily enough granted since it is found
 among them, and is of their length and
 nature. That it was both a song of de-
 grees and was composed by David, for that purpose cannot be so easily grant
 ed since the songs of degrees belong to a time long after David had finished his earthly course. It was more probably written by one long after the captivity and had respect to the terrible evils that threatened at that time the life of the nation. How appropriate for in stance the Psalm would be i'll respect to the immanent danger of their religion at the time of the three Hebrew chil- dren, or of Daniel under the reign of Darius; or of their national life at the time of Ahasuerus and of Haman It is taken now as applicable to our na- tional life In the days of '61 to '65. It is often said that the southern states never had any chance for success. Perhaps the same people said during the war that they never could be con quered. They spoke then according to their wishesy They speak now accord ing to their contempt of the men whose deeds made it possible for them to have a nation to live in, and the world to have a nation of freemen. It was cer- tainly not thought by the south then that there could be any serious doubt of the success of the effort. They were not the men to take overwhelming risk when they believed that anything but success would follow their stroke. There were others in the north who de- dared the same think If they did not believe in the truth of what they said l hey were the most despicable race of ! nen that ever had home in any land l md among any people. Since they did Ill they could do or dared do, to make | what they said would be, come true. The nobility of England, and the ruling lower in France were allied together in Extending sympathy and even aid to | hat cause. To have the mighty repub- ic divided and the hope of the down. roflden masses under the feet of nobles thoroughly ignoble in their lives, was lot at all strange England wonders vhy we should take to despotic Russia nore than to Monarchial England But .ussia was our friend, and England was lot. Even Gladstone was then on that idle. He has had the manhood to &C., his wrong. His act was too 1anly to be catching by those whose atred was based on principle or the ab- enoe of it. The French were not so 1uch to blame. What was then their uling power has been since thrown own, and their. ruler became a back umber. But since the war one os the ', .ading generals of the southern side 'eauregard, has declared in an article yer his own hand that the south had ne utmost hope of success. If it be aid that they were doomed to failure, zen no people has any chance in the fort to become a nation. The south ere practically united. They had de- l tted state governments. Their noun l tins and rivers made natural defences 7 the highest order. Their railways I ade transportation easy. As people ley were earnest, brave and patient. [ hey had generals who at the begin Il ng were equal to those on the north . fl side. There was but one cause of V | lorougl ircompetency of their rulers P r the task We do not attribute their a ilure to any such direct cause. Ad- V fitting all that he says about the nat al expectation for triumph founded the people and their territory, we p y in the language of our text, If it n Id not been the Lord who was on our II lie when men rose up against us; then u ey had swallowed Us up quick, when d cir wrath was kindled against us." U e believed then; we believe now, 5 at that rebellion was against human IT yhts and was therefore doomed by IS mighty God to overthrow. That its T innate success would have been suf E' tent to have questioned the divine W vernment among men. We had no LII ubt on that matter, then. We have u thing to take back in the result We tf ve, for many years, reverently felt ps at the Lord of Hosts was with us, oi at the God of Irrael was our refuge. ll' e first illustration of this truth, and d( } first critical event we still notice, M Il be the battle of Bull Run, the first I' sat conflict of the war 10 The armies Of neither side knew nc lch about war. There had been some sa uble in Missouri and also in Ken at ky. The main work in the east had tl' m the blunder at Big Bethel, and in ed ,stern Virginia, where the Union bt ces under Generals Mcclellan and re