AND he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him, the man of G-d, today, it is neither
new moon nor Sabbath? and she said, Shalom, peace; Peace I want, and peace I am
seeking." 2 Kings iv.26.
The same question I direct to you my friends. Wherefore are you come today to the house
of the merciful Father? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath?
What is it that brought you hither at a time generally devoted to business and labor?
What is it that caused you to check the great wheel of activity in its rapid course? What
made you close today so early the temples of mammon and hasten to a place where there is
no earthly gain to be acquired? What impelled you to leave the temples of joy and pleasure
to repair to the lonely house of devotion and prayer, where no earthly enjoyments can
cheer up your mind depressed by earthly cares? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath. No, my
friends, it is neither new moon nor Sabbath, but it is a day designated by the Chief
Magistrate of the United States, for the purpose of fasting, humiliation, and prayer. In
compliance with his proclamation, we are assembled here to join our fellow citizens of the
various denominations in keeping this day as a solemn fast; as a day devoted to religious
exercise only. And in order to show you how wisely and properly the government acted in
calling together all the citizens in a religious assembly, although its act has been
attacked by many an infidel, let me unroll before you a picture, although old, since time
has not blighted its freshness, neither have years dimmed its hues.
It presents an event that happened in the days of yore, when a ship was going to
Tarshish, and a dreadful storm arose, while heavy, dusky clouds were brooding in thick
darkness over the sea, and the raging tempest flung the staggering vessel now up and then
down again on the storm-tossed billows. The mariners, aware of the great danger which
threatened the ship with wreck, and their lives with being devoured by the wild, voracious
waves, were afraid; their hearts were filled with terror, and they called every one unto
his god. In this tempestuous and dreadful night, when every heart was terror-struck, a man
was lying in the hold of the ship carelessly indulging himself in a sound sleep, until the
ship master rushed down unto him, waking him with the thundering clamor of despondency,
"Sinful sleeper, why dost thou sleep? Arise from thy slumber, danger is nigh! Arise
and call upon thy G-d--Perhaps it be that G-d will mercifully think of us, that we may not
be lost."
Do you not recognize, my friends, in this event, a mirror in which all our untoward
circumstances of the present day are strikingly reflected? -- Heavy, storm-foreboding
clouds are spreading, and lowering darkly over our country. The splendid vessel of our
glorious Union, exposed to the pernicious discharge of their destructive contents, is in
danger of being wrecked; and whilst the people in the vessel are vainly disputing about
where the first cloud arose, in the North or in the South, those who sit at the helm,
being aware of the approaching danger, are terror-struck, and with anguish and fear, they
expect every moment the dreaded crash of the staggering ship; but with paternal care the
faithful shipmaster rushes down to us, waking us up with the loud clamor of despondency,
--"Arise, thoughtless sleepers, from your careless torpor, danger is nigh; arise, and
call unto G-d, perhaps it be that He will mercifully think of us, that we may not be
lost."
Let us, my brethren, hear the paternal warning of the faithful ship-master, and
fervently pray to the G-d of our fathers that He may send us relief in the hour of
calamity and peril, that He may remove from us the danger which has thrown all our
citizens, rich and poor, in a state of general dismay and confusion. Let us pray unto Him
that peace and harmony may return again unto our gates, and keep us far from polluting out
hands with the blood of our brothers and fellow-citizens. Listen, my brethren, to a prayer
which the pious King David, with the sacred zeal of his heart, offered unto the Lord for
the prosperity of his country:
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee; peace be
within thy walls, and peace within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sake I
will now say, Peace be within thee; because of the house of the Lord our G-d I will seek
thy peace."
Such was the short, but fervent prayer of the pious King, whose soul was burning and
whose heart was glowing for the welfare of his Jerusalem; and such should be our earnest
prayer for the peace and prosperity of our Jerusalem, I say our Jerusalem, for
until the time that it will be pleasing in the sight of the Lord to protract the
fulfillment of his promises, this country will be our Jerusalem. O may it also forever
continue to be the holy land, the land of liberty, the house of peace, and the asylum of
oppressed and persecuted humanity.
It was customary among the ancient Israelites, whenever danger was nigh, whenever a
hard time of trouble was approaching, to go to the tombs of their ancestors, praying
there, that the spirits of the departed might plead for their cause before the mercy seat
of the Almighty. Let us, my brethren, do the same today. Let us, then, with hearts warm
with pious devotion, walk among the tombs of the illustrious fathers of this country, who
bought with their precious heart's blood the many blessings which they faithfully
transmitted to unborn generations. Let us today commune with the spirits of the glorious
dead, who will forever live in the hearts of their countrymen. Let us enter the
sepulcher
of the past, and with awe and deference, put forth our hands to wipe off the dust and
mould of forgetfulness from the coffin-lids of the wise and brave; with hot tears to let
us moisten the sod where their ashes repose, and exclaim, "Illustrious fathers, arise
from your peaceful slumbers; your children are in danger of being slaughtered, the brother
by the hand of his brother; the hallowed fire of universal love and harmony which you once
kindled is in danger of being extinguished by the destructive flames of civil war; the
paradise which you have bequeathed to us is in danger of being devastated by the seductive
serpent that has already impregnated many hearts with its deadly poison of ambition,
selfishness, and cupidity. O arise, illustrious fathers, and pray unto the Lord for the
peace of our Jerusalem!" Yes, my brethren, once every city and every village of this
vast republic was a Jerusalem, the residence of peace and brotherly love; but now we must
join in the lamentations of the Prophet, the faithful town that was once full of justice,
and wherein righteousness lodged, has become the gathering place of discord and enmity.
Let us, therefore, pray, my brethren, to Him who maketh peace in His high heavens, that He
may unite again all our states and all the contending parties in peace and harmony, and
guard our glorious republic against all the dangers which threaten to trouble or overthrow
it.
Now, my brethren, let me direct your attention to another topic, not less important
than the last.
It is an incontestable truth that our republic stands among the governments of the
earth like an ancient oak in the forest, which, after having overcome many a blast,
overtops the other trees and commands respect and veneration; and as we may hope G-d will
be with us, answer our prayers, heal the breach between our sister states, and the
dissension will soon be peaceably settled, our Republic will again, as heretofore, be
admired by Emperors and Kings, and the nations will again look at it with envy as the
happiest system that was ever devised for uniting dignity in the magistrate and liberty in
the nation, with protection and security to all. Yes, we may boast there has never yet
existed a happier and mightier government than ours. There was already political liberty
in the days of old. Sparta, Athens, Rome, Carthage, and Judea, were once republics; but
there liberty was only an imaginary coin, a name usurped by tyranny, and they could not
keep themselves safe against the attacks from without and discontent from within. Our
sister Republic in Europe depends only upon the merciful protection of the
despotic
great powers; but our glorious Republic has achieved, up to the present critical moment,
in not more than three quarters of a century, a government over thirty-three flourishing,
sovereign, and independent States, without the support or protection of any foreign power.
We have a commerce that leaves no sea unexplored, navies which take no law from any
superior force, and a peace with all nations founded on equal rights and mutual respect.
All this is true, incontestably true, and we feel that we are exalted to the very gates
of heaven in respect to our advantages and national excellencies; but let us take heed
that we incur not the reproach with which our divine teacher Moses once rebuked our
people, -- "Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked," -- let us take heed that we grow
not dizzy with the height of prosperity to which we have attained, that we reel not and
stagger not on the summits of freedom, that the very loftiness of our happy state be not
the means of giving impulse to our downfall, by which we might lose forever our honor and
our privileges.
The vastness of our government, which is extended over an immense, large territory, and
over numerous inhabitants, coming from many different regions of the world, forms a
fruitful field of danger to the quiet and permanence of our institutions. It has ever
proved unachievable in a commonwealth to make laws which could meet with the general
approval of all its citizens, especially in a Republic like ours, composed of many
different nationalities, coming from different countries, differing from each other more
or less in customs, manners, habits, languages, creeds, and political views. In addition
to all this, there must be brought into consideration the large extension of our
territory; the law that provides for the benefit of the North, may operate with blighting
effect upon the interests of the South, whilst that which promotes the immediate welfare
of the South, may be injurious to that of the North. The contrariety of interests, the
principal source from which all dissatisfaction flows, gives rise to party spirit, to a
perpetual contest between the different states and the government, and between the
different popular leaders who aspire to the chief influence, and the violence of a
turbulent multitude.
The ends for which men unite in society and submit to government, are to enjoy security
for their property and freedom for their persons from all injustice or violence. the more
completely these ends are attained, with the least diminution of personal liberty, the
nearer such government approaches to perfection. -- But who, for example, can blame our
brethren of the South for their being inclined to secede from a society, under whose
government those ends cannot be attained, and whose union is kept together, not by the
good sense and good feelings of the great masses of the people, but by an ill-regulated
balance of power and heavy iron ties of violence and arbitrary force? Who can blame our
brethren of the South for seceding from a society whose government can not, or will not,
protect the property rights and privileges of a great portion of the Union against the
encroachments of a majority misguided by some influential, ambitious aspirants and selfish
politicians who, under the color of religion and the disguise of philanthropy, have thrown
the country into a general state of confusion, and millions into want and poverty? If
these magnanimous philanthropists do not pretend to be more philanthropic than Moses was,
let me ask them, "Why did not Moses, who, as it is to be seen from his code, was not
in favor of slavery, command the judges in Israel to interfere with the institutions of
those nations who lived under their jurisdiction, and make their slaves free, or to take
forcibly away a slave from a master as soon as he treads the free soil of their country?
Why did he not, when he made a law that no Israelite can become a slave, also prohibit the
buying and selling of slaves from and to other nations? Where was ever a greater
philanthropist than Abraham, and why did he not set free the slaves which the king of
Egypt made him a present of?"
Why did Ezra not command the Babylonian exiles who, when returning to their old
country, had in their suit seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven slaves, to set
their slaves free and send them away, as well as he commanded them to send away the
strange wives which they had brought along? It is an historical fact, that even the
Therepentae and Essenes, two Jewish sects, who with a kind of religious frenzy, placed
their whole felicity in the contemplation of the divine nature, detaching themselves from
all secular affairs, entrusted to their slaves the management of their property.
All these are irrefutable proofs that we have no right to exercise violence against the
institutions of other states or countries, even if religious feelings and philanthropic
sentiments bit us disapprove of them. It proves furthermore, that the authors of the many
dangers, which threaten our country with ruin and devastation, are not what they pretend
to be, the agents of Religion and Philanthropy.
Therefore, my friends, there is only one rampart which can save our country from
degradation and ruin, and shield it against all the danger arising within and threatening
from without. This is, the good will, the good sense and feelings of the great mass of the
people. They must have no other guide than the book of G-d and the virtues which it
teaches, and make their hearts inaccessible to the pernicious influence of some individuals
who exert all their efforts to mislead them, under the disguise of Religion and
Philanthropy, from the TRUE PATH OF TRUE RELIGION.
The foundation of all the happiness of a country must be laid in the good conduct of
the mass of the people, in their love of industry, sobriety, justice, virtue, and
principally in their unfeigned religious feelings. Such virtues are the sinews and
strength of a country: they are the supports of its prosperity at home and of its
reputation abroad. Righteousness and justice will ever exalt a nation.
שמרו
משפט ןיעשו
צדקה כי קרבה
ישעותי לבא
וצדקתי
להגלות
Thus saith the Lord, "Keep ye justice and do equity, for near is my
help to come, and my righteousness to be revealed." Keep justice and truth in your
gates, and the merciful Father will graciously answer our prayers and save us forever and
ever--Amen.
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