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live" (Ps. lxxii.); and this is necessarily true also of the cause which he represents. The wrath of man shall only hasten in the triumph of the cause of truth, and the complete destruction of the powers of iniquity. But, in view of this solemn providence, the practical question is, which let each man ask himself sincerely, as in the sight of God, and as he will answer it at the last great day, let each man ask himself, whether, hitherto, in his politics on these great moral questions, he has been the servant of Christ or of the Devil? For there is no middle ground.

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Somerset Unionist, Somerville, N.J., May 18, 1865.

GOD PUTTETH DOWN ONE, AND SETTETH UP

ANOTHER:

A SERMON ON THE DEATH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, PREACHED IN THE SEAMEN'S CHAPEL, HONOLULU, MAY 14, the FIRST SABBATH AFTER RECEIVING THE SAD INTELLIGENCE OF HIS ASSASSINATION;

BY REV. S. C. DAMON.

PSALM 1XXV. 7: "But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another." JOHN Xiii. 7: "What I do, thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter."

IN

N the administration of the affairs of this world, God is ever doing and permitting things to be done, the reasons for which cannot be seen by short-sighted mortals. Such is God's method of proceeding, that we are continually compelled to take many things on trust. Faith in him is the great lesson which he is ever teaching mankind. He has drawn an impenetrable veil before our eyes, shutting out the future from our view. "Ye know not what shall be on the morrow," or "what a day may bring forth." How impressively these scriptural declarations, and those of my text, are illustrated by events which have recently transpired on the other side of the globe! All the loyal people of that great country, stretching from the shores of the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Gulf to the Lakes, were preparing for such a day of thanksgiving and jubilee, as never had been witnessed on the Western Continent. The national

feeling, which during four years of civil war had been repressed, was rising, and about to burst forth in such scenes and shouts of rejoicing, as would have made the "welkin ring." The dove of peace, which had, during those four long years, been confined to the ark, rocked and tossed upon the troubled waters of civil strife, political contentions, and cruel war, had now been released, and, with the olive branch in her mouth, was winging her flight over mountains and valleys, broad savannas and boundless prairies. The good news was flashed with lightning speed over the land and the world. The dark clouds were rolling away, and the sun of the nation's glory was beginning to shine; and the rainbow of peace was distinctly seen spanning a continent, as in days of yore, when, lo! from the receding black clouds of secession, treachery, and slavery, there darted forth a fiendish arm, holding in its hand an assassin's dagger. The whole scene is instantly changed. For a moment, the pulse and heart of the nation cease to beat; but, the next instant, there follows a sigh of anguish and wail of sorrow. Abraham Lincoln, our beloved President, is dead! I do not believe, since the creation of the world, so many hearts, in so short a space of time, ever mourned over the death of a single human being. There is no disputing or gainsaying the fact, Abraham Lincoln had gradually been winning for himself a place in the hearts of the American people, second only to that of Washington, the Father of his country. But will not the people now call him the Saviour of the country, when the life of the nation was threatened?

This most tragic event is not an accident; it is not the work of chance. We do not live in a world ruled over by blind fate. Never before did I realize there was so much force and intensity of meaning in those words of our Saviour, "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered," and even a sparrow "shall not fall on the ground without your Father." I do not think there

event.

ever was a public man who recognized more clearly and fully this doctrine of God's special providence, than did our lamented President. Gathered as we now are in the house of God, on this first sabbath morning after having received the news of his death, how can I more appropriately employ the usual time allotted to a discourse, than by directing your minds to some of those moral and spiritual lessons taught by this most sad and melancholy The telegraphic intelligence which has reached the Islands is quite sufficient to disclose the naked facts, but insufficient to portray the effects upon the country at large. Under these circumstances, perhaps I may be allowed to dwell upon the religious features of Mr. Lincoln's character. He was a public man, and had been called to occupy a most responsible and trying public position. He fully realized this fact, from the very moment that he stepped forth from the sphere of a private American citizen to occupy the highest position within the gift of his countrymen. His brief address, on leaving his home at Springfield, Ill., is inimitably beautiful: "My friends, no one not in my position can appreciate the sadness I feel at this parting. To this people, I owe all that I am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a century; here my children were born; and here one of them lies buried. I know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty devolves upon me, which is, perhaps, greater than that which has devolved upon any other man since the days of Washington. He never would have succeeded except for the aid of divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same divine aid which sustained him; and, on the same Almighty Being, I place my reliance for support. I hope you, my friends, will pray that I may receive that divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain. I bid you all an affectionate farewell."

During the delivery of this short address, the audience was much affected; and, when it closed, there was the hearty response, "We will pray for you." During his progress to Washington, he uttered similar sentiments at Columbus and Steubenville, in Ohio, ever expressing the hope that he should be sustained by the prayers of the American people. In this address, we have the key-note to all his subsequent addresses, letters, proclamations, and public documents. I cannot recall a single one in which he did not fully and frankly recognize God's agency in the management of the affairs of this world. His allusions to an overruling Providence were not in a half-apologistic and semi-infidel style, as if he wished to conciliate the feelings of Christians, while, at the same time, he had no very clear and definite idea of what he was saying or writing. Read his second Inaugural, on the fourth of last March. The staunchest and most orthodox divine could not have given utterance to more evangelical doctrines or religious sentiments. He quotes and comments upon the very words of our divine Saviour, in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew: "Woe unto the world because of offences." Then, too, with what masterly emphasis he quotes the words of the Psalmist David, prefacing, "If God wills that the war continue until all the wealth piled by the bondmen's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'" Noble utterances and sublime language, which will live as long as the English language shall be spoken! Such truthful sayings will go forth from the Chief Magistrate of a great people, to break asunder the fetters of slavery throughout the world. His name through all coming time will be associated with that most important of all his State documents, — his Eman

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