©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