The Mariettian. (Marietta [Pa.]) 1861-18??, November 05, 1864, Image 1

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    BY FRED'K L. BAKER.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
,g• 4itakes,
AT ONE DOLLAR AND A HALF A YEAR,
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additional lines, five cents a line.
A liberal deduction made to yearly and half
yearly advertisers.
Having just added a " NEWBURY MOUN
TAIN JOBBER Paws," together with s large
assortment of new Job and Card type, Cuts,
Borders, &c., &c., to the Job Office of "THE
MARIETTIAN," which will insure the fine and
speedy execution of all kinds of JOB & CARD
Pitrxxxxo, from the smallest Card to the
Lamina PorrEit, at reasonable prices.
Sermon by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.
"And, behold, there was a man which had
his hand withered. And they asked him,
saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath
days? that they might accuse him. And he
said unto them, What man shall there be
among you, that shall have one sheep, and if
it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he
not lay bold on it, and lift it out? flow much
then is a man better than a sheep? Where
fore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath
days. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth
thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and
it was restored whole, like as the other.
Then the Pharisees went out, and held a
couaeil against him, how they might, destroy
him."—Matt. xii., 10-14.
Or how much more wyth to-day is a
nation than a single man. This young
nation, planted with wonderful provi
dunces, grew with celerity and vigor to
a surprising manhood; but its right
hand was withered. The right arm of
any nation is that which holds justice
and liberty. Both had shrivelled in
our nation, under the paralysis of slave
ry. In his own mysterious way, God
had appeared for our relief, and the
command was to this people, Stretch
forth thine hand. The nation obeyed
with a sword in its hand, and now, not
a sheep but a man, and not one man
but millions, are in the pit of war. To
eave the nation is good work for Sunday
and sanctuary. A Sunday too religions
for patriotism, a church too sacred to
be used for the rescue of wretched men,
religious men so devout as to be neither
just nor humane, are not Christiac.
They are Jewish. They are not even
Jewish according to the nobler teach
ings of the prophets of that illustrious
people ; but of that degenerate day
when men bound burdens on their fel
lowmen, which they would not touch
themselves with their little finger; when
they devoured the houses of the, poor,
but made long prayers, robbed with long
phylacteries, and tithed mint, anise, and
commin, and omitted the weightier mat
ters of the law—rustie,e and judgment.
Such men,•trained to superstition, could
net break the Sabbath ; but they cru
cified the Savior. And there . be men in
our day that are ashamed to have intro:
duced upon the Sabbath day a patriotic
subject ; but they tolerate with the ut
most complacency the crucifixion of
millions of their fellowmen.
Oar nation has come to a decisive
hour. Two roads lie just before us—
the one bright with justice, with right
eous law, with benign government, with
industry, with prosperity, and with nni•
versa! renown : the other lurid with
corrupt passions, with conflicts ever re
newing and never ending, with princi
ples subverted but never abandoned,
with national integrity shattered, and a
futureof shame and world-wide derision.
There never was a time when men
were called to a decision under such cir
cumstance!' of solemnity and of import
shoe.
The first canvass that I remember was
that of 1840. The nation was then con
vulsed. But as I look upon the actual
interests at stake, they were not to be
mentioned with those that are at stake
flow.
Call to mind the exceeding fervor and
zeal and energy of 1856. They were
real and important issues that were
brought before the community then ;
and yet the question was only as to
whether the territories should be cursed
with slavery, and the nation be respon.
sible for its extension.
Now, the question is not of this poli
cy or of that policy ; it is not a question
of commercial interest, it is not a ques
tion Of tariffs : the question is, Shall
the nation itself exist or shall it' Se rent
asunder ? This is the one questfon that'
Ti4tJn aft t+m
absorbs all others—Nationality, or no
nationality.
At all times a citizen's vote is a high
duty ; but when the destinies of one's
country, and the cause of governrient
itself, and of popular liberty are to be
determined, nothing can be more august
or more solemn than the vote. All the
votes of your life-time have not meant
so much as , that single one which you
will cast in the approaching November.
It is my duty to set before you some
considerations that sheuld influence a
Christian man. In the first place, I
shall consider some of the motives that
are proper and some that are improper,
to actuate Christian voters.
Let me, in the first place, rule out
improper considerations.
I. We are oot at liberty in this mat-
ter to be either indifferent or ignorant.
When great dirties rest upon us, indiffer
ence is a sin ; when those duties involve
the welfare of others, indifference is a
crime; and when the crime reaches to
the life of one's government and country,
indifference is a treason. And that man,
in such an_hour as this, that counts his
political duty to be a matter of indiffer
ence,-is guilty of sin, and (itime, and
treason. You are not at liberty to say,
"I do not care." You are bound to care.
You have no right to live under these
skies, and under this government, and
not care. Nor is ignorance less a sin.
No man may go wrong, and plead, "I
did not know better." You are bound
to know. God has placed you under a
government - which requires of every cit
izen an intelligence of political duty.
To be ignorant of the proper mode of
performance is to betray your solemn
trust. Ignorant citizens betray their
country. For that ignorance is volun
tary. If you plead business, pleasure,
or disgust, it is not the less criminal.
You need not be ignorant. Reading is
free—without mousy and without price.
It is proffered to yon, and urged upon
you. We are willing to leave the is
sues of this day and this year to intelli
gence; and we appeal from your pas
sions to your understandings. Read,
ponder, decide in the fear of God and
n the love of man, and we will take the
consequences
2. Yon must not anymore settle this
great duty by any secret or avowed
predjudice, by any impatience of temper,
or by any grudge. Yon must not set
tle your course because you like or dis
like men. We have a preference of men;
but there are times when principles are
at stake, and men become comparative
ly insignificant, and derive all their im
portance from the fact that they repre
sent those principles. And you cannot,
as our government is constituted, set
them aside without setting aside what
they represent. You have no right be
cause you have been injured, or because
your friends have been injured, to take
an oblique course, or to refuse any acti
vity. It is no time for personal feelings
to dictate a patriot's duty. It is for
thirty millions of men that you are act-
ing. That should make every man's
conscience as free from bias as that of
an honest judge on the bench ; and
every man that votes in the approaching
month should vote as though he sat on
a bench, and was sworn to justice—for
his ballot isjudicial. Lay aside grudges,
and slights, and angers, and go with
clean hands and Christian honor to your
imperative duty. There never was a
man, that had any experience of puhlic
affairs, that was not obliged to submit
to what seemed to him indignities.
Public men, or men engaged in public
matters, must bear what they suppose
to be injuries, partialities, and injusti
ces ; and all the names that have be
come illustrious in our history have
been obliged to go to their patriot's
duty through hardships and personal
wrongs. And it is an evidence of their
nobleness that they disdained to avenge
them. One illustrious name is in our
history that bore the brunt of wrongs—
Washington. I think you have heard
of him. He despised such things, and
brushed them from him daily as he did
the dust from his coat ; and his' name
will never die. Another man there was
that was wronged ; and, taking counsel
of his hatred, he sought to betray his
country into thelauds of ittkoppressore ;
and the , name of Arnold shall rot.
Choose which example _ you will ob
serve.
3. Nor have men a right to settle
the question before them on economic
grounds. That is to say, yoa have no
right to determine your duty from con
siderations of profit or less, of conveni
ence or inconvenience. • The 'price of
flonr;1 know, is high, and of coal, and
of cloth , and of butter.; but I did_ not
40tpti6tut rennogibania 4ourtud fax f •NOME Cult.
MARIETTA, SATURDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 5, 1864.
know before that the price -current was
a patriot's constitution, and that he
measured his duty by whether that went
up or down. I know how, when it is
stated to you, you scorn the idea of se
lecting or pursuing your duty as a citi
zen from a consideration so mercenary
as this; and yet, thousands of men say,
"Times are so hard, we must have a
change of some sort: I cannot stand
this." You cannot stand fifty cents
_a
pound. or butter ;, but you can stand
betraying you country! You want to
get smaller prices ; but you 'would get,
not smaller, but larger prices, if the ideas
you advocate were to prevail. Thous
ands, inconsiderate and uninstructed,
are tempted to say, "We must have re
lief." Yes, you mast hive relief ; but
it is quite an important question wheth
er you 1011 have it at the hands of the
devil; or at the hands of God.
When Paul, and those in the ship
with him, having been cast about on the
deep till they were worn out with hard
ship, drew near the land, the sailors, ,
making believe something else, let down
the boat, and attempted to make their
escape, leaving the ship's crew and pas
sengers to perish ; and the apostle de
clared, "Except these abide in the ship,
ye cannot be saved." The boat itself
would have been swamped, and the sail
orti would have perished ; and for lack
of the sailors to manage the ship the
crew would have perished. All would
have gone to the bottom together.
There are some men in the ship of
state that are fools enough to jump over
board to verify their declaration, "Any
change is better than this."
4. Nor has any man a right to take
his line of duty from considerations ari
sing from weariness and impatience.
Neither of these considerations is manly
or patriotic or Christian. I hear Christ
saying to every one. "What, could ye
not watch with me one hour ?" For
four years we have borne the storm, and
we have almost weathered it ; and is
this the time, when the clouds are grow
ing thin, when the blue is beginning to
shine out, when fair weather is just be
yond, for men to give up to weariness,
to discouragement? You may have
suffered, you may have been tried ; but
is not the integrity of this great nation,
and the glorious future that awaits it,
worth all that you have suffered? And
by-and-by, when the clarion sounds ; by
and-by, when the weeffaced banner is
lifted up in every state ; by-and-by,
when once, more this government is re
cognized, and stands in all its majesty
and freedom, will not you rejoice that
you were counted worthy to suffer some
thing for the sake of so great a consum
mation ? Cast not away, therefore, the
confidence which ye have. There is
great reward in patience.
You pour dishonor, should you now
turn back from your confidence and your
faith, upon every one who was incited
to go into the army. We hear an ar
mistice proposed for disgraceful purpo
ses—for the sake of an unrighteous peace.
Now, my soul 'abhors those men that
will dishonor the grave of every soldier
that has fallen in the conflict, and that
Will make every man that ie lame here
after ashamed of his crippled condition ;
and I honor those men that propose to
hold the government up, and maintain
this conflict until this nation is victori_
mar over rebellion and secession and
slavery, so that every man that has died
shall have in his grave a memorial of
honor for those that survive him, and so
that every man that limps shall carry
his wounds as more honorable than
epaulets and stars, and medals, as marks
of heroism in the noblest cause that can
embark man's enthusiasm. (Applause.]
Let your hearts clap, if you please,
and not until -you come to that point
where the'stones would cry out if silence
were kept do you clap. I know you
could have held in a little longer.
On the other hand, the following are
a few obvious rules and principles which
should guide your decisions and your
actions in determining what your duty
is. You are soon to east that , vote
which has in it the decision of ages.
1. You should act politically for the
safety and integrity of the whole nation,
and not for any temporary convenience
of any part of it. Does not this approve
itself to your judgement? You are to
determine What side you shill take; and
what vote you shall cast, with reference
to the welfare of the whele country.; in
all periods of time, and not with refer
ence to the excitement, the clamor, or
the party interests of any section.
2: 'You shOtild` embrace and
,apply
those great - and settled princ!ples on
which oOT Jawswere first founded, and
by which they have thriven. You are
not at liberty to follow your whims or
caprices. You are bound to take sides.
You are bound to guide youiselves by
some• canons: And I ask, Are there
any canons that can determine a man's
duty in this regard which are wiser and
nobler and more sensible than those
principles on which national law, insti 7
tution, and government were founded : ?
When you have found them, follow them,
and apply them, We
- must go back to
Revolutionary ideas ; to those truths by
which our fathers combatted the, throne,
and laid the_foundations of this govern
ment. Whatever conforms to those.
principles must be preserved - at all haz
ards; whatever is destructive 'of those
principles must be overcome at all haz
ards. It is the work of principle; then
to which you! are called.
3. Your conduct should be determin
ed in harmony with the best lendencies
of the age in which you live. That is
but saying that you should move in co
incidence with God's providence. You
are bound, to know the signs of the
times. When God is calling Russia to
march in the direction of larger liberty
and better civilization ; when God in
calling the Central nations of Europe,
and the Western nations of Europe, to
enlarge the sphere of the common
people, to inspire intelligence among
them, andlo make them more dignified;
yea, when God is turning the very isles
of the ocean, and the continents' where
the heathen dwell, in the same great
course, it is a shame for you, the chil
dren of . Christian parents, and reared in
a civilized country, to have your face in
the other direction, and to go toward
circumscription of human liberty, to
ward degradation, oppression, and tyran
ny. You are bound to go with the anal
ogies of God's providence in the world,
and not against them.
4. You must be supremely guided by .
Christian ethics; by that• justice and
that humanity of the Gospel of Christ
which has wrought revolution, and refor
mation, and civilization in every ignor
ant and oppressed nation of Europe.
Can, any man object to such a view as
this? Are not these simple and sensi
ble canons, by which men should regu
late their judgement and their actions?
Let us apply them, then, to the two
policies and the two platforms which
are before the country.
If we ask, in the first . place, What is
the Chicago Platfor m? I can tell you
in one word what it is. It is expressed
in the single sentence, We are 'out, and
we are determined to be in. There is
not a principle in it deeper than that—
not one. Not one word is * there in it
against rebellion; not one hearty word
against secession ; not one earnest word
against national dismemberment ; not
one word against slavery, the sovereign
cause and source of all our woes. For
all that it says, you would •never know
that there was a doctrine of human
rights, or that that doctrine was in per
il. If I had entered the councils where
Wickliffe, and Bramlett, and Wood, and
Vallandigham, and Long, and Seymour
conferred, and were mannfacturing the
Platform on which they were to place
their candidate, and had said to them,
"Gentlemen,let me propose to yon some
principles that shall shape your con
duct.; you are ,bound to be guided by
the original principles of human rights,
which were the foundation of our gov
' ernment, and to act in harmony with the
philanthropic and progressive tendon
ciee of the age, . of God's providence, of
the law of Christ, and of the Golden
Rule," do you believe those saints would
have consented to be governed by those
principles? [Laughter.] What must
be the fact, when you involuntarily
laugh at the very , question? Or, if I
had gone into the street where the
crowd were cheering the most infamous
sentiments of disunion, treason, and
Northern revolution against the govern
ment. and said to them, "Gentlemen,
you must determine year political ac
tion, and lay the platform of your party,
upon the old principles of the natural
rights of men, the rights of liberty and
the pursuit of happineas, you must con
form it to. Christian ethics," do you not
believe that they would have cried' out,
like their progenitors of old; "Away
with him ! away with him !"
On the other hand, can any man .doubt,
if he turns' to thepltitform that was laid
,down at Baltimore 4 that it Was the real
and legitimate successor ef the old De
claration' of • IndeOndence; of the: old
- colonial doctrines of the men that :fash
'ioned our institutions, .and . that Were out
-political 840 pOrk:4 l . o loquliseas,well 0s
ourinthers by blood ? , v !
rike those two platforms and .read
them. Look at the base negations of
the one, and : the absolute, perpendicular,
bright, shining; statements of the other.
See how the one lifta itself up -so high
that thexery, light or God's sun shines
in glory on its r head, declaring , men's
rights, emancipation, „ government, nap
tionality; and the maintenance of war
till law shall be established ; while the
other sneaks out of every each declara
tion, and only declares against the gov
ernment; against-the army, and against
everything• but a treacherous peace.
The one is•in sympathy-with all that- is
patriotid.ia-the North; the other is in
sympathy with all thate is rebellions in
the South. The one is so glorious that
to sit on it and obey the dictates of
manhood is to be enthroned higher than
any king on earth ; the other is so low
that to siton that dooms a man to be
claimed by all Southern villains, and
the devil that inspired every one of
them.
Let us, then,mext, mike a statement
more at large of the questions at issue,
Having laid before you some considers-
ions which should guide your spirits,
et me say that this is a struggle for na-
tional life--for one government, as op
posed to a disruption of the Union, and
a division of its contents. Disguise' it
as you may, this is the issue. The par
ties inevitably take opposite sides. You
go for national - life and unity, or you go
against them. You cannot help' your
selves. There is something higher than
human volition, There is a nature of
things, a logic of events, a compulsory
current ; and if you go in one direction,
you go for national life and national in
tegrity, whereas, if you go in the other
direction, you go for governmental dis
solution. A man may take a car at
Boston, and say, "I am going to New
York," and yet, if the car that 'he takes
is bound to Portland and Bangor,lbough
be may say, "I think I am going to'
New York; I am sure I am," he will
go to Portland, and not to New. York.
And if a man takes the cars toward dis
union att secession and slavery',.he may
say, "I a patriotic, and lam a friend
to the government," but he is an enemy
to the government, and is wanting in
patriotism, notwithstanding. I know
not to what extent you may decieve
yourselves ; but I know, and every clear
sighted man knows,',where you will land.
You are bound to take the right train,
and you are bound to have sense enough
to find out which is the right train.
Now, are you prepared deliberately to
plunge this great nation into the , abyss
of conflicting notions ? Are you willing
from any grudge, from any idea of econo
my, from , any weariness of the struggle,
from any motive whatever, to take this
great and glorious nation and rent it
asunder, and cast its fragments into
that future where there will be turmoil
ever-beginning and never-ending?
And now I say to every young man
that shall cast the 'first vote in his life
time, God signals your entrance upon
political life by an. opportunity that does
not occur once in a thousand years to
man or nation. Your first vote will be
one of . those votes that wilt decide
whether this nation is to be a 'nation
fair and proportioned and victorious, or
whether it shall be like a vast rod of
iron shattered into a thousand fragments.
It is no small thing to be permitted, by
so small a power as a vote, to determine
such a question as that. Bat it is not .a
small power. Men with votes-in their
hand are more powerful than Louis Na
poleon on the throne.
I could ask nothing,better than, stand
ing in my dying hour in• 'the very pres
ence of my God, who gave me life, and
in the very front of that day that is to
determine eternal• life, to be permitted
to deposit the -Vote which it is your
privilege and mine to oast at the ensu
ing election for the preservation of this
Government. I would fear nothing, if
I Were to go to the other world directly
fron:i the casting of that ballot, putting
into it all my Christian hope for this
nation, and all my love for it. Beyond
all peradventure, methinks I 'could rise
and confront my Judge as well from the
fulfillment of this duty of the hour and
of the age, as from the performance of
any other Christian act, Make this a
day-oNudgement matter, every one of
you, It is . not alime for party heat, in
the sense' &Passion ; it is not a' time
for partisan zeal. It is a time for men
to batmen; it is a time•.for :citizens to
be patriotic 4 it is, I time for. Christian
prinbiples and Chrietian.motivms .to, an
`taste every , man. See,- where'lgovern
ment gpes, see- mhere-orcler goes, see
where libVrtY goes, Sea where jastice
gees; an be otind I there: DIV if
will not be found there, oh, do net' lei
your patriarchs and leaders be such im-
VOL. XL-NO. 14.
maculate men as Pernando Wood and
Valland igham, eminent for patriotic
service,
.uncorrupt teen, virtuous men,
liberal-minded men, disinterested men
The men that animated the work of con
structing the OppositioniPlatform—are
these the men that yen will entrust with
the destinies and liberties of your coun
try ? Was Judas the one to whom the
sacred things of the disciple band should
have been entrusted ? He:earried the
bag, and it was the inspiration of the
bag that led him to betray his Master ;
and the men that animated the councils
ofthe Opposition are men whose histo
ry in the main has not been:such as to
lead you to entrust either the bag or
the Constitution to their care and keep
ing.
I am firm in the faith that God means
better things for us than that we should
be swallowed up in the whale's belly for
three or four days. I believe that God
means for us in these threatening aus
pices only that trial of our faith which
shall vindicate it, and bring us out more
victorious than ever yet we have been
in all this struggle. And then again
shall be seen that which took place on
the formation of the present Govern
ment. For I read that, when Boston
was beleagured, when her ports were
shut, and when the armies were gather
ing in New England, from that very
ground where the battle now rages con
voys of provisions were sent. Virginia,
to feed the Months of patriotic citizens,
from beyond the Bine Ridge, and from
the Shenandoah Valley, poured forth
corn and meat. It went to Fredericks
burg, and thence it was conveyed to
Boston, to supply the wants of the strug
gling people there. Virginia, when the
National Government was being found
ed,-stood by its defenders in their trial.
From that region that is now laid waste
and over which the storm of war rages
with
,its greatest fury, the patriots of
the East derived needed sustenance.
And the time will come when we shall
send back corn for their mouths, and oil
and wine for their wounds; and the
voice of Liberty shall be heard in all
that State of noble ancestry. And when
the cannon has done its roar, and there
is no more rattling of musketry, and the
old torn flag shall be rolled up and laid
away as a memorial of honor, and the
new flag shall once more float over
Richmond, and Charleston, and Savan
nah, and Mobile, and in every degener
ate State,. and slavery shall be destroy
ed, and every cause of oppression shall
be removed, and every cause of home
geneity shall be established, then we
will enjoy a tranquillity such as has nev
er been experienced in this land.
I shall speak on the Blue Ridge yet,
and in Alabama, and in Georgia, as
never could I with safety for my life.
Slavery, that great red dragon, stood
and said, "You shall not open yonr
month here." But slavery shall die,
and free men shall speak in the South,
and I mean to be one of them. And
you and I will yet see this nation die
enthralled and lifted into grandaer that
will, put to shame our enemies and ha
ters, and will' rejoice t hose that love
liberty, and human rights, and the cause
of God.
And when that day shall come, do not
hang your head,.and say, "I was cajoled
to vote the wrong way." When that
day shall come, let it be yours to gather
your children about you and say, "God
gave me the privilege of voting for this
consummation." If you go on the plat.
form that looks toward the establish
meet of our institutions, and the main
tenance of the Union in all its integrity,
you will be.proad of it, and your chil
dren will be proud of it; but if you go
on the other platform, let me tell you,
you will be e 9 ashamed of it—if you are
capable of, shame—that you will not
dare to look your fellow-citizens in the
face, and your children will be .so
ashamed of it that they will lie to con
ceal it. Be wise in time. Foresee
which-Way right if{ going; foresee which
way goiernment is going; foresee
which way justice and liberty and safe
ty are going ; and go that way, and God
will go with you, and shield you, and
honor you, and at last take you where
the films shall be wiped away from your
eyes, where mistakes shall be no more
,possible, and where all the good ,of Voth
sides shall be gathered, while the wick
ed,are cast off and destroyed.
sir A housemaid in the country,
'boasting of her industrious habits, said
that on a certain 'occasion she arose at
foor,inade si*re v , Vitt on the kettle, pre
pa e`tl and made at/ the beds,
'before soil was up in the
house.'