Page images
PDF
EPUB

together with the commentary, and the vast learning employed in its composition, and the conditions of a revision of the English Scriptures will require only a general agreement of the people of God to become complete. Other tongues, spoken by man, will also demand that the treasures of the Word be conveyed to their keeping; in each instance with the same fidelity as to the substance and the same consummate skill in the diction. Our Baptist brethren will, on mature reflection, we doubt not, take this comprehensive view of both the possibilities and difficulties of the case; and they will be satisfied if their revision, although it be not received as "final," shall be allowed to hold a place among the materials which shall enter into the composition of the best possible commentary, and, of what is the consummate result of such a commentary, an exact translation of the Scriptures into all spoken languages.

ART. IV.-The Loyalty demanded by the present Crisis.

IT IS proposed in this paper to consider the sentiments which a truly loyal man should entertain toward those who are now called of God to exercise authority over the nation. This will involve a review of the difficulties which beset the Administration at its beginning, and the necessities growing out of the war which the rebellion has forced upon our people. And, as no administration has ever before had to grapple with such tremendous opposition, or try so many hitherto untrodden paths of action, none have deserved so much lenity from loyal men for mistakes in judgment, or measures of questionable legality. It will be pertinent to the subject to dissect the character of those pretended patriots who, while proclaiming at the street corners and along the highways, that they are just as good Union men as anybody, yet, by their every act and word show their animus to be treasonable and their influence with the enemies of our country. And, as there are connected with these, in effect if not in purpose, numerous croakers and birds of ill omen, who despair of the Republic, and magnify temporary advantages gained by the secessionists; who villify every measure

of the Government which was not enacted for their own special behoof; who predict the utter subversion of the Constitution when its enemies are punished; it is proposed to show that the efforts of such persons have a direct tendency to weaken the hands of Union men and strengthen the enemy; and, therefore at this time, however allowable a certain licentiousness of speech may be in peace, are positively disloyal and wicked.

The foundation of all stable government is the sanction and blessing of God granted to rulers. For by Him kings reign and princes decree justice: and, therefore, as the established powers are ordained of God, those who on insufficient grounds resist this ordinance, receive to themselves condemnation and misery; as the leaders of the present unholy insurrection are learning to their confusion. It is very true that a government may become oppressive by subverting the liberties which it was established to protect; that a magistrate may lead the people astray by first forsaking God, as did Saul; and thus both constitution and executive become a burden so heavy that the voice of the people as a voice from heaven cries out against the oppression, and the yoke is justly shaken off. But in order to justify such action the perversion must be unquestionable, and the tyranny intolerable. The senseless murmurs of a restless and ambitious faction, or the disappointed hopes of shelved politicians, are not to be regarded. For these are usually nothing but the evidence that their occupation of making silver shrines for themselves, is gone, and their uproarious cries are only the expression of selfishness, but do not in the least atone for the crime of rebellion or compensate for the miseries of a popular uprising. For governments, however well administered by fallible human agents, and over such creatures, can only be a system of compensations, effected by the surrender of individual preferences for the common good; and hence it follows, from the nature of the case, that instances must occur wherein grievances are felt and occasions made for selfish complaining. And while such complaining is counter to the spirit and needs of civil society, it is also unreasonable because subversive of the common good, and contrary to the divine ordinance, which requires submission. Nor should the loyalty of the subject be expressed by a formal submission to authority, an outward obedience as if extorted by fear; but a hearty support, a cordial acquiescence in those mea

sures which the public welfare demands through personal sacrifice. This is not all, the true patriot honors the ruler as such, though differing from him in political views, because he is the visible representation of the divine power in the state. Even when the character of the magistrate be such that a good man can not approve of it, still, while the person can not be respected the office must be honored and obeyed. This is without doubt the true notion of loyalty-a sentiment far too little regarded in our country since partizan rancor ran so high near the close of Washington's presidential term, and, from the absence of which, our rulers have been deprived of that moral support which is imperatively necessary to the successful working of governments when the purposes of the executive are thoroughly honest. As a people, we have been nearly destitute of that romantic devotion to the persons of our magistrates which has so often been manifested in other countries; and, while it is the highest earthly reward, is one of the firmest securities that the confidence bestowed will not be betrayed. It by no means follows, that we must approve of everything which the constituted powers can do in order to be loyal citizens. The divine right of kings to tyrannize was a doctrine never palatable on this side of the Atlantic, and is becoming less so generally on the other. Our danger has been in the opposite extreme, and our course in this respect has been to drive the better class of men from our political arena, and take as a dernier resort those second or third rate politicians, who, but too well satisfied to feed at the public expense, did not shrink from the abuse and dishonor cast by the opposite faction; but which are so abhorrent to a pure-minded conscientious man. It is our privilege to learn wisdom from the results of our own errors; and it is sincerely to be hoped that henceforth we will avoid that mistaken policy to which we, in common with all democracies, are prone.

A hearty loyalty on the part of the people toward their rulers being a Christian virtue, as well as `a necessary accompaniment of all stable government, it follows that this is the more indispensable when the existence of the state is threatened. For though in a time of profound quiet, when no unusual expedients must be resorted to in order to maintain the supremacy of the government, it may be admissible, even necessary, to scruti

nize closely the conduct of rulers, and call them to strict account for doubtful measures, so that their improper actions may be corrected; yet when their overthrow is threatened by unlawful opposition, we should not, unless usurpation be unmistakably their object, withdraw our moral support. For it then becomes our highest earthly duty to rally without delay to their aid, and strike down the foe who endeavors to destroy our liberty in the person of our lawfully constituted ruler. And here let a common and fatal error be noted. Many hold that they can support the Government of the United States without supporting the Administration; that they can be loyal to the Constitution, while acknowledging no allegiance to those who have been elected in precise conformity with its provisions. That is, a man can be loyal to the Constitution while utterly disregarding its most important provisions: 'can be obedient or disobedient according to his interest or inclination; can be at liberty to yield obedience when his favorite party is in power, and can wholly set at nought every obligation when his candidate is defeated. Such is the deplorable disloyalty manifested by many who claim to be Union men. Such is the sentiment of the peace party at the North, and the multitudes in the border states who have taken the oath of allegiance to obtain Federal protection. But this is nothing but disunion manifested by those who are too cowardly to fight for a principle; and is just as hurtful, and infinitely more contemptible, than that open rebellion which the enemy in arms manifests. A grain of common sense shows that we can not separate between our rulers and the state, saying that we owe all allegiance to the latter and none to the former. Until any officer has been superseded by his rightful successor he is our magistrate, and the visible representative of the only power on earth to which we owe allegiance, and whether we approve all his acts or not, we must obey unless his commands manifestly contravene the law of God-and it is at our peril if we disobey.

Now, if these things be true at all, that loyalty is a virtue, but resistance to lawfully constituted authority a crime of most aggravated character, then a fortiori at such a crisis as the present, it behooves us to unite in the cordial support of those whom God has placed over us, even though they, in their efforts to subdue our common enemies, may have encroached on some

of our cherished rights; for, as before said, government is a system of compensations by which conflicting interests are united when all is at peace; of course, it follows that in war each man must surrender more of his private interests, and sink his own individuality far more in the common good. There is no sacrifice which the state may not justly call him to make; and the same holds good of particular parts of country and bodies of people constituting the whole. These doctrines are irrefragably true if any system of government be maintained, and no opposition would be offered to them if they were promulgated in the abstract; but the special application of them to our own case is fraught with difficulties, because the conflicting interests of the few shut out from view the common good of the whole. To this, the greatest evil by far which now besets our political pathway, special attention is directed.

At the commencement of the present insurrection, the Government of the United States was called to legislate for a people of various political views, influenced by strongly conflicting interests, and holding to hostile institutions. Added to this, the party previously in power had been the vacillating but ever dishonest tool of those who had long been the advocates of secession; and in their interest had perverted the whole power of the nation, as well as wasted the resources of the people. There was a powerful faction arrayed against the incoming administration, which, having prejudged and determined to destroy it, was prepared by all kinds of misrepresentation to influence the minds of the lukewarm by appealing to sectional prejudices and the jealousies arising from slavery; so that, do or say what the Executive might, nothing could avail to allay suspicions, and satisfy the minds of traitors that the interests of the nation would be safe in his hands. To meet the expectations of honest men who differed on important issues was difficult; to satisfy those determined to oppose, was impossible. All that could be done was to pursue an honest but determined policy; one insuring not the gratification of a fractional minority of malcontents, nor the tame submission to the demands of an unpatriotic neutrality, nor yet the perfect affiliation with the extreme men who had aided in carrying the election, but a conservative course indicated by the wishes of every true patriot. Such, there can be no doubt, was the pur

« PreviousContinue »