©IS®o IRBESKBriSHEni (2s IFUESsEIHISISSs, Whole No, 2782 HS flEssnai, From the Sunday-School Times. " WRUP I'on I im LIITMG." " Weep not for the ileal." for he weepeth no more; N > tear-drops arc needful on yon shining shore, Where he walks with his Savior the regions all bright. And basks 'neath the skies where ''the Lamb is the light." "Weep not for the dead." for his sufferings are o'er; lie sigheth. nor sinneth. nor sorroweth more— To that beautiful home. God prepared for the blest. The angels have borne him to enter his rest. *■ Weep not for the dead," for he dieth no more; His condiets are past, and Ins struggles are o'er; He hath entered on life, and commenced the new song: He hath dune with the cross, and hath gotten the crown. Rut - weep for the Hung." the sadly bereft. The deep stricken mourner in loneliness left— The fatherless loving one. bowed in his grief; The orphaned, who sigh for the tear of relief. Go weep with the living: bind up the torn heart; Go speak words of comfort, and soothing impart; Go tell them that Jesus once rested his head Within those dark portals, the grave that we dread. Yea. weep with the living. The living alone Need the comfort that tears bring the heart-broken one. ■Twill he sweet to he beckoned to yonder bright shore, Where the eye never weeps, and the heart grieves no more. N. Xcwark, August, 1864. ORIGINAL ESSAY, HINTINODON, Sept. 15, 1864. Mess s. Editors Lewi stow n Gazett ; At tbc annual meeting of the Ministe rial Association of the Juniata District ot the East Baltimore Conference of the Methodist E. Church, held at llun tingdon, Huntingdon county, the 13th and I4ih inst., the accompanying essay was read by Rev S. Barnes, of your town By a unanimous vote of said association, the undersigned were ap pointed a committee to request of Mr. Barnes a copy for publication. Hav ing obtained the manuscript, will you be so kind as to give it an insertion in your truly loyal and excellen* paper? A. VV. GIBSON, J. A. PRICE, JNO Gcss. AN ESSAY ON Providential Indications as seen in our National Affairs, READ BEFORE The Ministerial Association of Juniata l>is trict, Sept. 14. IHC4. BY REV. S BARNES. BRF.THRF.N OF THE ASSOCIATION AND Ft: 1 ENDS : The Committee of Assign ment has given me, as my theme, the following language, viz: "Indentions j of t J r> vide nee 111 our National Affairs." Believing that hy so doing we shall all better understand the sense intended, I shall take 'he liberty of inserting, in this language, two words, so that it shall read, " lnd wot tons ot t 'incidence AS SEEN in our A r mionot Affairs " As thus amended, my theme assumes that Divine Providence both lists, in the ja>t, and still does, perceptibly inter fere in the affairs of our nation. And. further, that such Providential inter ference is designed to indicate to us, as a nation, the Divine purpose , w It or pleasure concerning us. Now, that God rules over nations, even as also he rules over individuals, every bel e.er in the Bible will at once admit. It is always by his permission , and frequently by* his direct agency, that a nation is born into distinct existence, i. e. into existence distinct from all oilier nationalities. When, also, a na tion has come into distinct existence, by either the permission or direction of God, it is doubtless fair to inter that such existence is for some specific and wise purpose. For no work of God can be without a purpose, and no work of bis can have either a vague or fool ish purpose. Now, if God, in raising up a nation, or permitting it to be laised up. has in such act a specific and wise purpose, and it such nation, us a community of intelligent and responsible individuals, is to accomplish such purpose by their voluntary acts, and are so held amena bio to their Creator therefor, that he will prosper and build them up if they accomplish hisdesigns, and hamper and pull them down it they accomplish hot his designs, then it follows that, in justice to them, he should perceptibly 7 indicate to them, in some way, what his purpose, will or pleasure concern ing them is. Now this is precisely what we assume he does. I he question may arise here as to how he does this. We answer he mast do it, either, first, by direct and written rev elation, or, secondly, by Providential indication. Or, in other words, that in this respect he must deal with na tions as he deals with individual men. Now. in all Bible lands. God governs individual men by dire* t revelation. Ifithose lamia however, where the BI ble is not, he governs them by Provi- ! dentiul indication-, as in the case of j individual heathens. Will any one , pretend to say that God has no will j concerning individual heathens? And that individual heathens arc not res- ! ponsible? But how can they be res-! ponsible, unless they are made ae- j quainted in some way with their Ma- 1 ker's will ? And how can they know that will, in the absence of the written word, unless by some kind of intel ligible sign ? Now as with individuals, so with ' nations. As he rules one, so he does ! the other. And, where he does not reveal his will in the one way, he does ! in the other. And since no direct rev elation of the Divine will has ever yet been given to any nation as such, ex- ! copt under the Jewish theocracy, it i follows that it is intended, by the Di- : vine Being, that nations shall under stand bis will by Providential indica- ; tions, or, in other words, by observa tion and deduction. Believing these principles to be sound, we inquire concerning our own ; nation, Ist, And briefly, as judging by this process, MIIS it the Divine purpose urnl p'ensure ; th'if we should be <1 distinct nationality o j these shores, independent of the mother country f I assume that such was his design, j And maintain that this was indicted to i our fathers, 1 By our distant geographical lo- ! cality. 2. By the extent of our domain. 3. By the then ascertained character ! and sufficiency of our country's re sources for an independent nationality. Time will not allow me to be very ; mil lite at this point, and I will there fore only add that this design was finally demonstrated by our evidently God given success in the war of the \ Revolution, for, wi.hout his aid, we I know our fathers had failed in their re | sistance to the mighty power ot the mother country. I assume, 2d, J hat, as 1 ndicated in the sane wag, j it was the will of God that our f rin of\ government should be what it is, a repubti j can farm of government In confirmation of this, I think it is ! fair to presume that the Divine Being would assist our fathers to devise their ! form of government. And Iso think, 1 because they were religion-men. M n who ha 1 come to these shores that: they might have liberty- to serve God according to bis will, and who, for l bat purpose, bad committed their ali to bim. Now, it is divinely written. 1 " The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. ' They were good men, and the formation of a republican torm of government was one of their steps. Is it not fair, therefore, to infer that the formation of a republican form of government by them was or dered by the Lord? This conviction is also strongly cor roborated by Tie fact tbat w en. lor a long time, the convention which trained j the Constitution had failed to agree, ' and finally adjourned to pray for Di ! vine guidance, that, having come to gether again, they were able so soon to : agree. Does not this fact indicate ' that they were Divinely directed to | the results arrived at? Moreover, is it not an indication that God was pleased with our peculiar form of government, ' that tor so long a time he deigned to give us, under it, such unparalleled prosperity ? But, 3d. IF have t'rovideuf i I indications that it was the Divine purpose that this country should be, and remain, one and undivided in its government, through ail time. These indications are, 1. Ihe conformation of our eoun try's geography. Does not the physi i eal constriKiLion of a creature indicate the Creator's designs as to the use it is to he put to { Does not the construc tion of the horse, for instance, indicate that iie was designed both for service and fleetness on the earth's surface ? And do not the wings of fowls indicate ihat they were designed for flight through the air? And the tins of fishes, and the webbed teet of other fowls indicate t hat they were designed for the water, &c. And so, upon the same principle, does not the direction of our broad rivers, our expansive valleys and our i high mountains indicate that the divi sion of our country into two govern ments, by any line running east and west, would he a direct violation of the Creator's designs ? 2. To the same point also, are the i character and distribution of our coun try's resources. These resources are varied, and, in | the aggregate, sufficient, and of a : character, for any one independent na tion's needs But then, note their dis tribution. The great West is the nu i tion's granary. The East is its work shop, near to which are its deposits of heavy and necessary m ,fecials, such as its ores. fuel. Jcc.. whiie the Sontu.r. ils WUlc iiCtU iui liie Ui'oducUou oi ica WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1864. lighter and more portable commodities. Now, as surely as the eye was made for light and light for the eye, so sure ly were these several parts of out great domain made for each other. Such are the unmistakable indications of the Maker's will. What God bath, therefore, oven with river and plain and mountain fas* nesses joined to gether. let no man, or set of men. put asunder, nor let them even so much as sympathize with such attempts, lest they- be found fighting against God. As preparatory to the position I shall next take. I may remark just here, that it seems to be admitted 011 ali hands that the desolating war that is now upon us as a nation, is a visita tion from God. As a people, we are all so well versed in scripture theology, that we are at once ready to subscribe the maxim of the great historian who says, " There is a God in history." And al so, that other saying. " Man pro pose th but God disposeth." And also, this, " That there is a Deity that shapes our ends, rough hew them as we may." All these of course as regards the things of this life. In keeping with these universally received maxims, it must be admitted, Ist. That this war has neither hap pened by chance, nor, 2d. That it is the result alone of the wicked plotting- of ti.e eating South ern politician*, nor, 3d, That it could have resulted en tirely- from the abuses and aggressions of Northern Abolitionists, even if these be allowed to have existed, nor. 4th, From any wicked design of the acting administration, allowing that also, nor. otli, From all these causes combined But hold, says one, are you not. by these sweeping positions, screening everybody and leaving everybody in nocent of these great evils? I answer, by no means. There are too many, of us guilty. And God is punishing us for our guilt, and there is just where the trouble is. But the question may be asked, could n it this war have happened by the sinful plotting of wicked men, without, any agency of God in it? I answer promptly, no. It could not have so happened. Men might " pro pose" war, and in so far, be guilty of war, and MI be accountable therefor. But if God. loving those against whom such war was contemplated, was dis posed to screen them Irom it, could lie not so screen tl em? Would lie not so screen them? Has he not always so scicened his innocent people ? Has im not promised always to continue to do so? Need 1 tell you of Daniel in the lions' den. or of Sliadraeh, Me shed) and A bed n ego in the fiery fur nace ? Need 1 refer you to the "City of David." when menaced by Senacha rib, that wicked and haughty- Assyrian monarch, and the slaying by- an angel in a single night of an hundred and eighty and five thousand of his chosen warriors, so that Jerusalem might not fall? "What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" In such a ease, therefore, would not God so " dispose" that ali their wicked schemes would fail and that their "proposed" war would fall still-born and harmless to the earth ? Such my brethren are the incontro vertible and, so far as-I know, univer s.iiiy believed, teachings of the Scrip tures. If these things be so, then I am right, and this war is of God, aud is upon us of llis wrath. Aud He hath henye, taken away his restraints, and given us up to contusion, and to our own hearts lusts, even that we might slay one another with the sword, and, because, as a nation, we have been wicked in his sight. I am now prepared to assume my 4th position, which is, that, as indica ted by* Providence, this desolating war is upon us. because ot one particular sin, and because of that alone. And that sill is slavery. J am aware, that in opposition to this position, it may be said, tha' while the war which is upon us, is a new tiling, slavery is not. That this in stitution dates back to the very begin ning of our nation's history. And that notwithstanding its constant existence amongst us, we have enjoyed, all along, as a nation, until recently, the most marked evidences of the Divine tavor and blessing. Why then, it may be asked, do assume, that the Divine wrath, now being poured out upon us, is in consequence of slavery. I reply what though slavery has been amongst us from the first, yet, the sentiment and purpose of the nation concerning it, were not, at first, nor for many years, what, in more recent times, they have come to be. And that it is this ch.auye in the nation, that has produced our Maker's chanye to ward us. Let us examine into this matter a little. i. Was not the almost universal aeuitmoiiu oi lite iiauou, iSoutii, as weit as North, averse to slavery at the time of 'he formation of the government? 2. Did not our revolutionary states men universally execrate the mother country for having entailed upon us so troublesome an incubus? 3. Was not their failure to rid tho country of the evil at the start, attrib utable alone to what they regarded as the impracticability of the measure, at tho time then present? But, did they- not all unite in looking forward to a coining time when they both hoped and expected it would be practicable to do so ? 4. And in view of this, did they not most carefully guard the language of the Constitution, so as to keep it entirely tree from any word or phrase which necessarily expressed the exis tence ot the institution amongst us? M hen slaves were really referred to di<l they not simply- call them in the Constitution, "persons held to service;" but whether so held by virtue of sla very or by virtue of a personal contract agreed upon between the parties, the Constitution saith not Who can fail to see that this careful guarding of the wording ot that instrument waaspeeial ly designed so as to have its language appropriate when the time should come which they all hoped for, when the institution should exist amongst tiieni no more. Such, my hearers, was the anti-sla veryistn of the lathers of our country Now, what was thus true of those revolutionary times, continued to be true through all the earlier years of the Republic, and down until within a score or so of years of the present. In confirmation of this I would ask, did not Bishop Asbury, and ant i sla very Methodist preachers (for we have been strongly anti slavery- from the first) go, and continue to go. South as well as North, giving their voices con tinually against this evil, both in their private conversations, pulpit mi nisi ra tions, and printed testimony in our book of discipline, which, as Methodist preachers are wont to do, they scat tered broadcast, without let or hind rance, throughout all the land? And yet was riot Bishop Asbury and those Methodist preachers everywhere re ceived in the South up till 1844—some 20 years ago? And received too, with out protest, even welcomed as messen gers of God. And had they not a success, second to no other denomina tion, and that too amongst all classes 111 ali the S uitli. So high indeed, did Southern anti sluveryism run, not many years ago, that several of their States very seri ously contemplated emancipation. And so late as Virginia, where Southern blood is now being poured out like water for the institution, was with ti one. vote of breaking every yoke by her own law, and letting all her oppressed go free. But need 1 he more specific? Is there any use that I should quote his tory, with book and page, to convince any hero of these things? Are they not patent to everybody? When therefore, in opposition to my position, it is claimed that during all the years of the past, until recently, God was favorable to our land, not withstanding the constant existence of slavery amongst us; and that therefore, it cannot be claimed by any Providen tial indication, that he is averse to the institution, I reply that the reason of such favor then, was, that though the institution was amongst us. yet he saw that in our hearts we were averse to it, and that in our purposes we contempla ted its final and total removal—and so, looking not at the external appearance, but looking at the nation's heart and intentions he pronounced us innocent, and hence, blessed us. Take an illustration. Our Saviour bates d< pravity. and yet, when in the flesh, he took little depraved children in bis arm* and blessed them. Now why did he bless I hem, when lie hated their depravity-. Why? Simply be cause they I ad got their depravity from their parents and couldn't get clear of it yet, and so he reckoned them innocent, and blest them. Just so, our forefathers plead before God, before one another and before the world, tbat though slavery was amongst them, it had come down to them Irom the British, and that they were not to blame, and that they could not get rid of it yet. Well, God knew that all this was true, and so he ac counted our young nation innocent, and took it, also, up in his arms and blessed it. But, to continue the illustration, suppose that such, at first, innocent child lives; and that, when it comes to years of maturity, instead of ridding itself of its depravity, (as it might do through conversion) suppose that it now /asters, and cherishes, and comes to love its inherited depravity, and final ly proclaims its intention to retain and maintain and permanently settle down in ts sin ? Will its Maker's love continue to it? Will be not rather change his xegards and his conduct towurd it? ItHWCSSSWSJa SQEHHIiIBJ iRIAJSHFSr# JHSiJSro Now my brethern, let me ask, did not our nation, like the apostatising child, change, in its attitude toward slavery? That we did so change is so universally known to be true,that I need scarcely affirm it here to-day. Com mencing (at least in its outward mani festation) about the year 1832 so rapid ly- did a pro-slavery sentiment spread and prevail in the South, that in 1844 even the Southern wing of the Meth odis r E. cliureh had become so infected with it, that they- seceded in a body from the old church and the old prin ciples, which till then, they had them selves both held and propagated. After this, no anti-slavery Methodist preacher durst open his lips in all their territory-, on this question, under pain of personal violent*). A small Meth odist conference, which about a dozen years ago, was got together in Texas, while quietly- holding its session, with our own Bishop Janes at its head, was violently assailed and broken up by a mob. composed in part of judges of the court and civil magistrates. Our own Bro Buelly too, because he would not bow the knee to this Baal, and pro claim slavery a Divine institution, was cruelly hung to the limb of a tree till he was dead. So thoroughly indeed had the whole South changed on this subject, and so radical had they become, that all free dom. of either speech or the press, had passed entirely away-. And fi nally, about the time of the breaking out of this war, even much of the North itself was rapidly drifting in the same direction. 1 bus, like the sinless and God-ap proved babe, changed into the sinlul and God-accursed man, had we as a nation changed, and were rapidly changing more and more. And now, what were the concom itants of this last spreading change? Why. first, indications of a gathering storm ; next, the muttering* of distant, thunder; then, the blackening of both the political and providential heavens; and then, three years and a half ago. the bursting upon us of the fearful storm of this desolating war. Aow, if we have changed in our atti tude tow rd slavery, has not God changed in his attitude toward us? And is it not fur to conclu e that he has changed be cause we have changed ? Who can show that God ever yet changed toward a people for the worse, without a cause, and who can show any other change in us, for the worse, corresponding to God's change toward us for the worse, than in slavery ? Am I told that we are great sinners in other respects, and tout it is our other sins that have brought down up on us the vengeance of G-od ? I answer, we were no greater sin ners in other respects when this God sent war broke out upon us. than we were all along before. We had not changed in these respects toward God, for the worse, and consequently he could not, for these things have changed toward us for the worse. Nay, I am prepared to show that in other respects than slavery, we not only had not changed for the worse, but that we had changed and were eon Stanf/g changing, more and more, for the better, up until the very time this God sent war burst upon us. Why, I shall only affirm what all know to be true, when I say that never before, in the history of our country, were our churches so strong, so nu merous, so pure, so active. Mi'lions of dollars, and with a constant increase, were annually being given lor the printing and distribution of the Bible. Other millions were annually being given for the conversion of the world through missionary operations. While sinners at home, by thousands and hundreds of thousands, were being con verted in all the land. New churches, filled with anxious and devout wor shipers, were being daily multiplied. Institutions of mercy and benevolence, such as infirmaries and asylums, for the young, and the old, and the poor, and the blind, and the deaf, aud the insane, were springing up on every side. Righteousness was prevailing more and more. So that, with al our o'her sins, we were a better people when this war broke out than ice had ever been before. Having changed therefore far the worse, on/g in regard to slavery, this war must be upon us because of slavery and because of it alone. Now this point and conclusion I know is plain, and cannot be plainer. And yet, not byway cf strengthening its truth, but simply to show its pro priety, let me add, that the sin of sla very is like no other sin, and therefore its proper punishment is like no other punish inert. All other sins are personal, and com mitted upon personal responsibility, and upon that alone. We have no State or National law which upholds, justifies and protects men tor lying, swearing, stealing and such like crimes. On the contrary, our public laws are against all these things, and even pro- New Series—Vol. XVIII. No. 47. vide tor tiieir punishment. So that however guilty even the majority of tin? individuals composing our nation might he, in respect to those crimes which the public laws condemn, yet would the nation, as such, be innocent. Nor in such a case would it be just in God to punish the nation. /n view of this, suppose I were to admit, what is not however true, that in respect to lying, swearing, stealing, sabbath-breaking, drunken* ess. mur der, and the like, we hud become, just before the war, worse thai: we had ever been before. What then? Would God curse with a desolating war the innocent nation for these crimes, when by her laws she all the while condemning and punishing then* ? Or would he hold individual sinners ac countable for them, who, iu defiance of the laws of the State and the natiou, had committed them upon their private responsibility and upon that alone. Surely he would punish such indi vidual sinners in their private capacity, and in that capacity alone. But in respect to slavery, the caso is different. Here, the Public law, instead of as in the other cases condemning and punishing the crime, upholds, Justifies, and protects it. In this way, the State—the iVution makes the sin its own, assumes the responsibility, and becomes guilty before God ; and hence must bear, ye s, and is now bearing, Ihe punishment of t! <&■ sin. St) that it makes no difference in what light we view it, whether by that of Providential indication or by that of justice and propriety, we arrive at the same conclusion, and can arrive at no other, viz, that this in ar is upon us he cause of shivery and because of slavery alone. Our last point is sth. Concerning the ultimate object Divinely designed to be accomplished bv the war. * _ I argue that the Providential indica tions are, Ist. That such object is not the es tablishment of the Southern Confeder acy. For, 1. Such result would accomplish what we have already seen was never Divinely designed to be accomplished, namely, the division of our domain into two governments, by an imagi nary line running east and west. And, 2. Such result would sanction, by its more permanent establishment than ever before, the very institution which, by the war, as we have already seen, it is Divinely designed to condemn and punish I argue, 2d. That the Divine object designed to be accomplished by this war is not merely the pieservation of the Union as it was before the war commenced. To claim tins would be, 1. To charge God with foolishness. For why bring upon us a war simply to preserve what, but for the war, both was not and never would have been in danger. But to claim this would be, 2. To charge God with cruelty. | For if the war only puts things back ! where they were before it commenced, i and nothing more, and if God designed this before he brought it upon us, then | what does lie gain by it but simply : the wicaking upon us of a bloody ; vengeance? i Why, my brethren, is it not sacrilege j to ascribe to God an object in this war | which would result only in the indis criminate slaughter of hundreds of thousands of his blood-bought crea tures ? Nay, my brethren, God has other and higher objects in our chastening, lie has no such bloody hate, as simply such an object would suppose. " Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth." This brings me to claim, In conclusion. That the only object which the Divine Being has in this war, is to cause us to renounce and i give up the sin for which he is chasti ; sing us. I argue this, 1. From the fact that the admitted ob ject of all punishment, both human and Divine, is, (in this world at least,) the . reformation of the punished and the prevention of further crime. Believiug that this premise will not be questioned, I will not dwell upon it as I might do, bj' argument and illus tration drawn from parental, civil, ecclesiastical and Divine government. Upon this point therefore, I will only further add that the idea of all chastisement is the infliction of only enough of it to cause the chastised to j quit himself of his vice, and that when j this is done, the chastisement will al ways cease. 1 argue this Divine purpose, 2. From the long continuance and incidents of the war. Who ever believed, either North or South, or anywhere else, or could have believed when this war commenced, that it would last so long. Has not the nation been most strangely led in this matter ? AgaiD, who would ever have believed at the beginning of the war, that, with the sentiment of the North what S it was on the subject of slavery, that
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers