But, while love causes us to linger by the remains of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, let us not forget the stern duties which his assassination imposes upon the nation. These we cannot throw off, even if we shrank from their performance. It is not vengeance we counsel, but justice. Look at the act, evidently the result of much thought and careful deliberation, coolly and skilfully planned, completed under circumstances that made it most appalling to the partner of his life, in the midst of an assembly of his countrymen intent on pleasure, and exultant at the prospect of peace. See the assassin deliberately eyeing his victim, quietly stealing behind him, and over the very shoulders of the wife firing the deadly weapon that forever should put out the life of the family and the hope of the nation. Picture to yourselves the gallant young officer vainly endeavoring to seize the murderer so as to secure instant punishment for his diabolical crime, forgetting his own wound in his efforts to bring to punishment the assassin-that piercing cry of the young woman-Stop that man—the Presi dent is shot,'-the assassin's leap on the stage, rending his country's flag in the effort, the shrieks of horror, and the cries of agony from all present, and his cool deliberation in escaping from the hands of those who would seize him. Is not the scene one that would make angels weep, and the malicious demons of the lower world shout in hellish triumph, that a human being had rivalled them in a deed of black malignity and horror? But these are not all the horrors of that night. See an accomplice, alike on murderous deed intent, forcing his way into the presence of the Secretary of State (stretched on a bed of pain and suffering), and doing that which the sentiment of both civilized and savage life pronounces the most cowardly of all deeds-striking a man when he is unable to defend himself and dealing serious if not mortal wounds to sons and friends who rush to the aid of the defenceless victim. In all the annals of crime, even in the times of the French Revolution, when horrors accumulated so fast that the very soul sickens at the thought of those dark deeds, there has never been more horrible pictures than these. Well may the Secretary of War ask that "the stain of innocent blood be removed from the land by the arrest and punishment of the murderers," and exhort "all good citizens to aid public justice on this occasion. Every man should consider his own conscience charged with this solemn duty, and rest neither night nor day until it be accomplished." The whole series of crimes, however, demonstrates with almost mathematical certainty that the direct perpetrators of these have been aided by numerous active accomplices. And here the question naturally ariseshow great the extent of this conspiracy? Has its main object been accomplished, or will blows, secret and cowardly, yet be struck? Who shall be the next victims? What man of prominence or quiet citizen shall next be the mark for the assassin's knife, or his deadly pistol? I am not an alarmist, but these questions are important; they concern our future security. No man can at once become an assassin. The process of demoralization is slow, but sure when once it begins, and in the end the man loses all the moral attributes of his race, and becomes a wild animal, subject to the influences that regulate and determine the acts of that class of beings. The taste of blood once experienced, and all control over the animal is gone. He rages and riots in blood. Swift, speedy and terrible punishment can alone afford security in the future for the nation. How many are justly chargeable with a direct agency in producing the demoralization that culminated in these crimes we know not; but the horrible fact stares us in the face that in December, 1864-an advertisement appeared in the Selma (Ala.) Dispatch, offering for a million of dollars to secure the assassination of the President, Vice President and Secretary of State, and this advertisement failed to create that horror in the region where it appeared, that should have been at once produced. And back of this-has not every man, woman and child, throughout the length and breadth of the land who actively or passively took part in the rebellion against law and authority, either by open participation in the bloody war that has been waged against the government, or by secret sympathy with the same, has not every such person some responsibility for the demoralization that terminated in this crime? Does not the blood of the murdered President cry aloud to each of these―ye had a share in this deed, and aided in the crime that now pollutes the annals of our history? "Not all the perfumes of Arabia" will sweeten the land on which this innocent blood has been shed. Repent, ye that have wandered from the practices of your forefathers—and have set at defiance the holy teachings of the Book of inspiration. It is manly to acknowledge error, it is manly to beg forgiveness and to ask God's help, that you may henceforward walk as in His sight, pleasing God and obeying the authorities set over you by His appointment; it is more than manly to do all this, for thereby you join the band of those returning prodigals which a merciful Father will receive with a forgiveness freely extended for their sins, for the sake of Him who died that penitent sinners might live, and who said to the malefactor on the cross, "To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." One word as to the duty of good citizens in this perilous crisis. If ever there was a time when faith in God's divine protection was needed it is now. In Him alone can there be found protection and defence, and He has taught His people to come to Him at all times with their sorrowful burdens. Prayer, for guidance to our rulers, prudence in the hour of trouble, strength to bear our afflictions, wisdom to direct the machinery of government, justice to punish malefactors, mercy to pardon minor offenders who are penitent, and patriotic love for our dear country,-prayer for these is now a duty which is not to be neglected by any Christian. We cannot afford to do wrong in the name of right and justice. These need no such adjuncts. Let the sentence, which Congress has ordered henceforth to be stamped upon all our national coins, be indelibly impressed upon our hearts-"in God is our trust." Let the closing words of the late President's last Inaugural be taken to heart and appropriated by all: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphans; to do all that may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." And now, my friends, in closing this tribute to the memory of President LINCOLN, and this sketch of the lessons taught us by his life, with the obligations imposed by his death, need I add one word of apology because it has been given you in the house of God and on His holy day. The lesson of the times has been presented for our perusal by the Father Himself. I have endeavored to spread it before you, as a Christian man would to his brethren, in the spirit of Him, who, although He forgave His persecutors, foretold the day when the wicked should be banished "to eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Justice is tempered with mercy to those who repent from their sins,—but to the impenitent/ justice in all its naked terror shall be meted out. May God grant us all grace to perform the duties assigned us here, to serve Him in truth, and to cherish a love for that country where freedom reigns and a refuge is afforded to the oppressed and persecuted of the earth! OUR FALLEN BRAVE. BY THE EDITOR. The battles are o'er, and the soldiers rest And their soft weird light, through the holy night, A tear for the noble, the brave and the true, To the mem'ry of those, who in glory repose, The battles are o'er, and a stillness reigns O'er the scenes where our brave heroes fell; But the silence that sleeps round those honored fanes, A presence of peace and of love, like a spell, And the whispering breeze at night in the trees, A tear for the noble, the brave and the true, To the mem'ry of those, who in glory repose, The battles are o’er, and the old flag in glee From the Lakes to the Gulf, from the sea to the sea, Sleep, heroes sleep, by the shore of the deep, On river, on mountain, in vale; Your brave deeds of glory, shall long live in story, And music shall tell the proud tale. A tear for the noble, the brave and the true, THE HOLY MINISTRY. BY THE EDITOR. The office of the holy ministry is a high office, it comes from God. It is a weighty office, it has immortal souls in charge. It is a responsible office, it is connected with eternal consequences. A good and faithful pastor must, therefore, be the greatest of all blessings to a congregation; a bad one must be the greatest of all curses. It is an old proverb, and a true one, "Like priest, like people." All experience proves that the people of a congregation are apt to imbibe the spirit of their pastor: as he is, to a great extent, will they be. As he thinks, acts, and represents religion, so will they follow by unconscious but exact imitation. Exceedingly solemn and momentous, therefore, both to himself and the people, is the position of a pastor. The position which the minister occupies in the Church must be viewed from two sides. One side of his office stands related to Christ, and the other side stands related to the people. He stands as a kind of mediator between Christ and the people; and he is responsible both ways. Let us consider, in the present article How the minister stands related to Christ. The relation he sustains to Christ is that of servant. Strange to tell, though it is a high and honorable office, such as the loftiest angel need not stoop to assume, yet it is the office of a servant. The Saviour himself Не осси has decided that he who will be greatest shall serve the rest. pies the highest and most honorable position on earth who best serves God and man. The name which the disciples gave to Christ was Master. He Himself gave them the injunction: "Be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your Master, even Christ." In another place Christ says to his disciples: "Ye call me Master, and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.” Just as common as it is for the apostles to call Christ Lord and Master, so common is it for them to call themselves "servants of Jesus Christ." The same relation which existed at first between Christ and His ministers, exists still; they are still His servants. As His servants, He has the entire control over them; from first to last they are under His authority and care. He calls them to this office as His servants. This He did at first. He selected, from among men, those whom He designed to make His ministers. Hence, Paul says of Himself: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God." He does not now, it is true, call them in audible voice, as He did then; but He so impresses upon their minds a sense of this duty, and so arranges His providences in reference to them, that they cannot mistake as to His will. He so opens the door to them that they cannot fail to see it to be their duty to enter the ministry. He makes them feel, by a strong spiritual pressure upon their hearts, like the apostle when he exclaimed: "Wo is me, if I preach not the Gospel." They are "bound in the spirit," and can go no other way than where God directs, without doing violence to their sense of duty. Very frequently they are led through obstacles, difficulties and trials, but are carried forward by a power beyond themselves, and have no rest till they enter the ministry. He prepares them also for the holy ministry after he has called them. No one is of himself sufficient for these things. So weighty and solemn are the responsibilities of this office, that one who is conscious of his own weakness will shrink from it as did Moses and Jeremiah; but He who calls them, will be strength in their weakness, and wisdom in their ignorance, and in every respect prepare them for the office. For this purpose the Saviour took His disciples under his special care. For three years He had them with Him, instructing them in public and in private, in the mysteries of His kingdom. It was only at the end of His life, and after His resurrection that He commissioned them fully, and sent them forth with full authority to make known the nature and design of His kingdom and mission. It was after they had enjoyed His instructions for three years, and not before, that He said to them, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." Even then He did not send them forth with only a theoretic knowledge, but commanded them to wait till they had received the gift of the Holy Ghost-"Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high." This is necessary still. Those who are called must also be prepared. This Christ still does for all His servants whom He calls; He makes them mentally and spiritually, outwardly and inwardly, qualified for the great work to which they are called as His servants. -- He also invests his servants with authority to act in His name. -No one can take this office upon himself. It requires not only a fitness for it, but also an actual investment. Not any one who may be qualified for it in an intellectual, or even moral point of view, has a right to perform the functions of the ministry; no more than one who is qualified to fill an office in the civil government has a right to do so till he is invested with lawful authority to do so. What would we think if men would, of themselves, set up for Justices, Legislators, or public officers of any kind, just because they felt qualified to discharge the duties of those offices? There must be an actual, orderly, and legal investment with the power to fill that of fice; and this must come from those who have a right to confer it. It dare not be assumed upon personal responsibility. So it is in the Church. Christ alone invests His servants with the authority of their office. Their power to act is not from man, nor from themselves, but from Christ. Christ gave it at first to His disciples, and they according to His orders committed it to faithful and worthy men. Hence, we read that Paul and Timothy ordained others to this office by the "laying on of hands"-not the hands of the people, not the hands of any one, but the hands of the presbytery—that is, of those who before had the office in a regular way. Thus Christ gives this office to those whom He calls and prepares for it, and commands them in their turn to commit it, by the laying on of hands, to their successors; and thus, age after age, He chooses and invests the ministers of His Church with authority and power to act in His name. Thus they are His servants, and they alone. |
