Thanksgiving sermon, delivered in the First Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, on Thursday, Nov. 29, 1860 / Page: 9 of 16
This pamphlet is part of the collection entitled: Sam Lanham Collection - Civil War Era Pamphlets and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Schreiner University.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
9
I confess, frankly, this suggestion has staggered me more than any other, and I sought
to take refuge therein. Why should we not wait and see the effect of success itself
upon a party whose elements might devour each other in the very distribution of the
spoil ? Two considerations have dissipated the fallacy before me. The first is, that how-
ever mixed the party, abolitionism is clearly its informing and actuating soul ; and fanati-
cism is a blood-hound that never bolts its track when it has once lapped blood. The
elevation of their candidate is far from being the consummation of their aims. It is
only the beginning of that consummation ; and, if all history be not a lie, there will
be cohersion enough till the end of the beginning is reached, and the dreadful banquet
of slaughter and ruin shall glut the appetite. The second consideration is a principle
which I cannot blink. It is nowhere denied that the first article in the creed of the
now dominant party is the restriction of slavery within its present limits. It is dis-
tinctly avowed by their organs, and in the name of their elected chieftain ; as will
appear from the following extract from an article written to pacify the South and to
reassure its fears: " There can be no doubt whatever in the mind of any man, that
Mr. Lincoln regards slavery as a moral, social, and political evil, and that it should be
dealt with as such by the Federal Government, in every instance where it is called
upon to deal with it at all. On this point there is no room for question-and there
need be no misgivings as to his official action. The whole influence of the Executive
Department of the Government, while in his hands, will be thrown against the ex-
tension of slavery into the new territories of the Union, and the re-opening of the
African slave trade. On these points he will make no compromise nor yield one hair's
breadth to coersion from any quarter or in any shape. He does not accede to the
alleged decision of the Supreme Court, that the Constitution places slaves upon the
footing of other property, and protects them as such wherever its jurisdiction
extends, nor will he be, in the least degree, governed or controlled by it in his execu-
tive action. He will do all in his power, personally and officially, by the direct exer-
cise of the powers of his office, and the indirect influence inseparable from it, to ar-
rest the tendency to make slavery national and perpetual, and to place it in precisely
the same position which it held in the early days of the Republic, and in the view of
the founders of the Government."
Now, what enigmas may be concluded in this last sentence-the sphinx which ut-
tered them can perhaps resolve ; but the sentence in which they occur is as big as the
belly of the Trojan horse which laid the city of Priam in ruins.
These utterances we have heard so long that they fall stale upon the ear; but never
before have they had such significance. Hitherto they have come from Jacobin con-
venticles and pulpits, from the rostrum, from the hustings, and from the halls of our
national Congress ; but always as the utterance of irresponsible men or associations
of men. But now the voice comes from the throne ; already, before clad with the
sanctities of office, ere the annointing oil is poured upon the monarch's head, the de-
cree has gone forth that the institution of Southern slavery shall be constrained with-
in assigned limits. Though nature and Providence should send forth its branches like
the Banyan tree, to take root in congenial soil, here is a power superior to both, that
says it shall wither and die within its own charmed circle.
What say you to this, to whom this great providential trust of conserving slavery is
concerned? " Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth
mischief by a law ?" It is this that makes the crisis. Whether we will or not, this
is the historic moment when the fate of this institution hangs suspended in the bal
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This pamphlet can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Pamphlet.
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/m1/9/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Schreiner University.