Thanksgiving sermon, delivered in the First Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, on Thursday, Nov. 29, 1860 / Page: 2 of 16
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2
In obedience to this great law of religious feeling, not less than in obedience to the
civil ruler who represents this commonwealth in its unity, we are now assembled.
Hitherto, on similar occasions, our language has been the language of gratitude and
song. "The voice of rejoicing and salvation was in the tabernacles of the righteous."
Together we praised the Lord "that our garners were full, affording all manner of
store ; that our sheep brought forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets ; that
our oxen were strong to labor, and there was no breaking in nor going out, and no
complaining was in our streets." As we together surveyed the blessings of Provi-
dence, the joyful chorus swelled from millions of people, "Peace be within thy walls
and prosperity within thy palaces." But, to-day, burdened hearts all over this land
are brought to the sanctuary of God. We "see the tents of Cushan in affliction, and
the curtains of the land of Midian do tremble." We have fallen upon times when
there are "signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; upon the earth distress
of nations, with perplexity ; the sea and the waves roaring ; men's hearts failing them
for fear and for looking after those things which are coming " in the near yet gloomy
future. Since the words of this proclamation were penned by which we are convened,
that which all men dreaded, but against which all men hoped, has been realized ; and
in the triumph of a sectional majority we are compelled to read the probable doom of
our once happy and united confederacy. It is not to be concealed that we are in the
most fearful and perilous crisis which has occurred in our history as a nation. The
cords which, during four-fifths of a century, have bound together this growing repub-
lie are now strained to their utmost tension ; they just need the touch of fire to
part asunder forever. Like a ship laboring in the storm and suddenly grounded upon
some treacherous shoal-every timber of this vast confederacy strains and groans un-
der the pressure. Sectional divisions, the jealousy of rival interests, the lust of po-
litical power, a bastard ambition which looks to personal aggrandizement rather than
to the public weal, a reckless radicalism which seeks for the subversion of all that is
ancient and stable, and a furious fanaticism which drives on its ill-considered conclu-
sions with utter disregard of the evil it engenders-all these combine to create a por-
tentous crisis, the like of which we have never known before, and which puts to a
crucifying test the virtue, the patriotism and the piety of the country.
You, my hearers, who have waited upon my public ministry and have known me in
the intimacies of pastoral intercourse, will do me the justice to testify that 1 have
never intermeddled with political questions. Interested as I might be in the progress
of events, I have never obtruded, either publicly or privately, my opinions upon any
of you; nor can a single man arise and say that, by word or sign, have I ever sought
to warp his sentiments or control his judgment upon hy political subject whatsoever.
The party questions which have hitherto divided the political world, have seemed to
me to involve no issue sufficiently momentous to warrant my turning aside, even for a
moment, from my chosen calling. In this day of intelligence, I have felt there were
thousands around me more competent to instruct in statemanship ; and thus, from
considerations of modesty no less than prudence, I have preferred to move among you
as a preacher of righteousness belonging to a kingdom not of this world.
During the heated canvass which has just been brought to so disastrous a close, the
seal of a rigid and religious silence has not been broken. I deplored the divisions
amongst us as being, to a large extent, impertinent in the solemn crisis which was too
evidently impending. Most clearly did it appear to me that but one issue was before
us ; an issue soon to be presented in a form which would compel the attention. That
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Palmer, B. M. (Benjamin Morgan), 1818-1902. Thanksgiving sermon, delivered in the First Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, on Thursday, Nov. 29, 1860 /, pamphlet, Date Unknown; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth498613/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1&rotate=180: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Schreiner University.