OR, THE UNION, THE TRUE SOURCE OF DISUNION, AND OUR DUTY IN THE PRESENT CRISIS. A DISCOURSE PREACHED ON THE OCCASION OF THE DAY OF HUMILIATION AND PRAYER APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA, ON NOVEMBER 21st, 1860, IN THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, CHARLESTON, S. C. BY REV. THOMAS SMYTH, D. D. PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE SESSION AND CORPORATION. CHARLESTON: STEAM-POWER PRESSES OF EVANS & COGSWELL, PROCLAMATION. Whereas, it is proper and becoming a people who acknowledge the hand of God in every event, and bow in reverence to His will, and who desire to imitate the noble example of their forefathers, not only in resistance to oppression and injustice, but in supplication for Divine aid and counsel in this momentous crisis of our country's history, to implore a continuance of His favor and interposition to protect and sustain us in all the trials we may be called upon to undergo, and the dangers to which we may be exposed: Now, therefore, I, WILLIAM H. GIST, Governor of the State of South Carolina, in obedience to a resolution of the General Assembly, appointing WEDNESDAY, the 21st instant, as a day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, make this my proclamation, inviting the clergy and people of all denominations in this State, to assemble at their respective places of worship, to implore the direction and blessing of Almighty God in this our hour of difficulty, and to give us one heart and one mind to oppose, by all just and proper means, every encroachment upon our rights. Given under my hand and the seal of the State, at Columbia, on the 13th day of November, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty. WM. H. GIST. DISCOURSE. DANIEL IX, 11, 14-"Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the Lord hath watched upon the evil and brought it upon us.' God is governor among the nations, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the high and mighty ruler of the Universe, doing whatsoever it pleaseth him among the armies of heaven, and the inhabitants of the earth-none, with impunity, daring to stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will. This great practical truth is embodied in the wisely worded proclamation of a most seasonable appointment, by the present Governor of South Carolina, His Excellency W. H. Gist, as follows: "Whereas, it is proper and becoming a people who acknowledge the hand of God in every event, and bow in reverence to his will, and who desire to imitate the noble example of their forefathers, not only in resistance to oppression and injustice, but in supplication for divine aid and counsel in this momentous crisis of our country's history, to implore a continuance of his favor and interposition, to protect and sustain us in all the trials we may be called upon to undergo, and the dangers to which we may be exposed. Now, therefore, I, William H. Gist, Governor of the State of South Carolina, in obedience. to a resolution of the General Assembly, appointing Wednesday, the 21st instant, as a day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, make this my proclamation, inviting the clergy and people of all denominations in this State, to assemble at their respective places of worship, to implore the direction and blessing of Almighty God in this our hour of difficulty, and to give us one heart and one mind, to oppose, by all just and proper means, every encroachment upon our rights." THIS THEN IS A DAY OF fasting. Fasting has been universally adopted by all nations as an expression of consciously-felt sin and sorrow, through which, by the suffering and impoverishment of the body, the mind is led to realize man's helplessness, dependence and want of all things; and the conscience and heart to come in humble contrition before an offended God, under whose judgments they may be suffering, and whose gracious providence alone can either remove them, or in the midst of judgment remember mercy. |