1 eye, and by the vigor of his stout right arm, he has spell-bound two thousand chivalrous Southrons, has kept them at bay for twentyfour hours, and has, after a desperate struggle, only yielded at last to the horde of disciplined troops, which came rushing in from the surrounding towns in answer to the cries of the affrighted populace! But why, when the surviving invaders are sabred and secured, and the smoke of the battle has cleared away, why does the commotion amongst the terrified citizens still continue? Why should the panic spread over the whole of the Southern States, and the excitement rush throughout the land, gaining strength at every step? Has any claim been disputed? any darling object assailed? any species of "property" endangered? Yes! The "peculiar institution" has been greatly imperilled! Slavery, and not merely the Old Dominion, has been invaded! Dagon, the pet idol of the South, has been openly threatened with destruction; and the weak knees of the Philistines have smitten one against another, when the perils which fear and cowardice had conjured up, stood in dread array before them! "The great goddess Diana" has been openly despised, and the "the craft" by which their wealth was made has been in great danger of being "set at naught." That explains the mystery and the extent of the excitement! An honest, God-fearing old man, one who "loved righteousness and hated iniquity," had for many years noted the fact that a certain class of his fellow-creatures had, in an evil hour, "fallen among thieves." And, robbed of all their God-given rights and privileges, scarred and deformed at the will of their cruel task-masters, they found no deliverer to undertake their cause! The recreant Priests of the nation, intent on theological controversies, busied with trifles, but "omitting the weightier matters of the law-judgment, mercy and faith"-though they had seen again and again the sad condition of their wounded brethren, had "passed by on the other side." The herd of unfeeling Statesmen, anxious to mount to high office and to secure national plunder, and fearing to meddle with or denounce odious laws and shameful compromises, had also "passed by on the other side." And the plaintive, wailing cry of the bruised and stricken ones was echoed throughout the land. Then the sorrow of the old man was stirred within him; and "while he was musing the fire burned." He thought of his duty to his God, of his duty to his neighbor. And the question, "Who Is my neighbor?" rang incessantly in his ears. Then, from the swelling tide of human woes, and from the Throne of the Eternal, came bounding back the answer: "Thy neighbor? It is he whom thou Whose aching heart and burning brow Thy neighbor? Yonder toiling Slave, Whose hopes are all beyond the grave Go thou, and ransom him!" And he resolved to go and help his crushed and bleeding brethren; to deliver them from the burdens, too heavy to bear, which had so long bowed them to the ground; and to bring them out of the house of worse than Egyptian bondage. Of this man, and of his actions, I am now to speak. In memory of this "good Samaritan" I have resolved to preach a "Funeral sermon. It is not often that a funeral sermon is preached over one whose spirit goes to the eternal world from the GALLOWS-over one who was charged with the crimes of "treason, robbery and murder!" But, notwithstanding the malice of his enemies, and the silence of those who profess to be his friends, I rejoice that I have this opportunity of bearing testimony to the truth, and of paying my feeble tribute to the memory of that honest, valiant, noble man, who "counted not his life dear unto him, so that he might finish his course with joy." I stand not here to advocate deeds of violence and bloodshed, or to vindicate war in any of its forms. Neither, on the other hand, do I intend to condemn the acts of the deceased, or to impugn the motives which led him to those acts. He has already been arraigned before one human tribunal, and now his soul has gone to appear in the presence of the righteous Judge of all the earth. But I shall speak of him as I find him; review his character in the light of reason and revelation; and then leave you to decide whether I am successful in proving him, in the language of the text, "a just man that perished in his righteousness." And may Heavenly grace descend into our hearts, so that we may profit by the subject now before us, and be led fervently to pray, "Let me die the death of the righteous!" As to the LIFE of the deceased, a short and necessarily imperfect sketch only can be presented. No authentic memoir has yet been. published, and all we know of him is from the items which have appeared in the various journals of the day. But I have gathered enough to serve as an outline for the present occasion; enough to show that the lamented hero came of good old stock; and that amid all the vicissitudes of what was indeed "a chequered life," he proved himself to be a worthy descendant of worthy ancestors, one of nature's true noblemen, and a credit to any name, or family, or age, or nation. |