THE MEANS OF NATIONAL SAFETY
By B. F. CRARY D. D.
From the N. W. Christian Advocate. THE MEANS OF NATIONAL SAFETY.
WHAT is to become of us? Whither drifts the ship of state? These questions are suggested by the strange events of our times. The portentous upheaving of the land as in a mighty earthquake, the sudden disruption of old parties and the rapid increase of new ones, the wonderful lack of patriotism and superabundance of treason, all force us to ask, What is to be the result of this new chaos? Are we to have order, or dire confusion, ending in the wreck of all things? We confess our perplexity, and would be glad of clear day, or any day; yet amid the gloom we see "a glimmering from afar," and thankfully express our joy at the faintest hope of permanency in human things—our confidence in the "Divinity that shapes our ends." We are navigating unknown seas, and are drifting towards a lee-shore over the storm-swept billows. . . . That the times are lamentably sick no one will doubt; that death and decay may be the result, is possible; but that chaos generally is returning, we hesitate to believe. The dangers that beset us are manifold and apparent, but we hope not incurable. The country is torn by dissensions, rent by secessions, disgraced by dueling and barbarism generally. We are bored past endurance by conventions, slaughtered by congressional speeches, assassinated by pointless, witless, remediless lectures and sermons—all dolefully consigning us to unheard-of disasters. We are diseased from the crown of our head—the White House—to the soles of our feet—the principal post-offices and custom-houses. [The following paragraph shows that amid all this trouble and perplexity, the peace and safety cry is not forgotten—Ed.] We apprehend that the very worst picture we can truthfully draw of American society, is clearly reconcilable with the continuance of our government and the progress of Christianity. . . . The nation will be safe, and the church will prosper.