maintenance and prosecution of a war of defence, rendered necessary for the preservation of our Union and Government, and do honor to them for having so frequently, of late, convoked the people for purposes of humiliation, fasting, prayer and giving thanks to God, we do earnestly desire and urge that the name of Jesus, 'to whom God has sworn that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess,' be distinctly recognized and honored by our rulers, and especially that the Omnipotent and righteous providence of the Lord Jesus Christ be looked to and confided in for the solution of the great questions of philosophy and morality, involved in the public affairs of our beloved country." In September, 1867, was issued the first number of the CHRISTIAN STATESMAN, a semi-monthly journal, established by the writer of this sketch and the Rev. D. MCALLISTER, for the advocacy of the cause. The progress of the movement from that date has been faithfully chronicled in its pages, which have presented full reports of the National Convention at Pittsburgh in 1869, at Philadelphia in 1870, that lately held at Cincinnati, together with the Ohio State Convention at Columbus in February, 1869, and the Northwest Convention at Monmouth, Illinois, in April, 1871. The Pittsburgh Convention gave a marked impulse to the cause. It assembled upon the following call, which was signed by a large number of the most distinguished citizens: CALL FOR A NATIONAL CONVENTION. The Constitution of the United States makes no acknowledgment of Almighty God, the Author of national existence; nor of Jesus Christ, who is the Ruler of Nations; nor of the Bible, which is the Fountain of law and good morals, as well as of religion. This has, from the beginning, been a matter of deep regret. It may have been an oversight, but it was, and it is, both an error and an evil. It does not reflect the views of the great majority of the people upon these matters. It dishonors God. It is inconsistent with the character of nearly all our State Constitutions, and with all the precedents of our early history. It has introduced, or furthered, views and measures which are now struggling for a baneful ascendency in State and national politics: such as, That civil government is only a social compact; That it exists only for secular and material, not for moral ends; That Sabbath Laws are unconstitutional, and that the Bible must be excluded from our Public Schools. The National Association which has been formed for the purpose of securing such an amendment to the National Constitution as will remedy this great defect, indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all Christian Laws, Iustitutions and Usages in our government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the nation, invites, &c. The Convention was large, earnest, and harmonious, embracing more than four hundred members, nearly two hundred of whom, were delegates appointed by local associations, or in public meetings, to represent their fellow-citizens in the Convention. FELIX R. BRUNOT, Esq., now of the Board of Indian Commissioners, presided at this meeting. The resolutions were as follows: Resolved, That civil government is grounded, like the family, in the principles of the nature of man as a social creature; that it has its powers and functions thus determined by the Creator, and is, therefore, like the family, an ordinance of God. Resolved, That nations, as sovereignties, wielding moral as well as physical power, and having moral as well as material objects, are morally accountable to God. Resolved, That the moral laws under which nations are held accountable, include not only the law written on the heart of man, but also the fuller revelation of the Divine character and will, given in the Bible. Resolved, That it is the right of nations as such, no less than of the individuals composing them, to worship God according to the religion of Jesus Christ. Resolved, That in order to maintain and give permanency to the Christian features which have marked this nation from its origin, it is necessary to give them authoritative sanction in our organic law. Resolved, That the proposed amendment of our National Constitution, so far from infringing any individual's rights of conscience, or tending in the least degree to a union of Church and State, will afford the fullest security against a corrupt and corrupting church establishment, and form the strongest safeguard of both the civil and religious liberties of all citizens. Resolved, That the present movement is not sectarian, nor even ecclesiastical, but that it is the assertion of the right, and acknowledgment of the duty of a people who believe in the Christian religion to govern themselves in a Christian manner, I have quoted thus fully from the resolutions and published documents of the National Association, in order to show at one view the breadth, thoroughness and consistency of the principles which from the first, have actuated the promoters of this Amendment. With the same view the Call for the Philadelphia Convention, January 18th and 19th, 1871, is here appended: There is no political document so all-important to the American Statesman and the American Citizen as the Constitution of the United States. All laws, all customs, all forms of administration are shaped by it. Every thing in any state, corporation or business that affects a citizen in the remotest degree as to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is tested by it, and stands and works only as it agrees with it. Year by year its molding power is felt. The President, the Congress and the Courts, are coming more and more into evident agreement with what is there written. Our Statesmen and our whole people are learning their Americanism, as to its letter and spirit, from that great Instrument. This is as it should be. This was intended from the beginning. But at the same time, it is a serious matter if that Constitution should be found wanting in any principle or any matter of fact. The deficiency will in due time work mischief. Error in the Constitution will work as powerfully as truth, and what is left of it, may one day be formally declared un-American. And one such serious matter there is; one unnecessary and most unfortunate omission. God and Christianity are not once alluded to: although the Constitution is itself the product of a Christian civilization, and although it purports to represent the mind of a Christian people, who, in all their State Constitutions, had made explicit reference to both God and Religion. Hence it is that all the laws of this country in favor of a Christian morality, are enacted and enforced outside the Constitution. They rest only upon the basis of what is called Common Law. We have, strictly, no Oath, no law against Blasphemy, Sabbathbreaking, or Polygamy, that has any better foundation. And, as matters seem to be going, it will soon be discovered and decreed that Common Law is only another name for Custom, which has no binding force. And then where are we? In atheism, corruption and anarchy. This sketch, with the following proceedings of the National Convention, at Cincinnati, shows the result of nine years of labor in this Its friends commit its future, in prayer and faith, and with hope of its early and complete triumph, to the providence of the RULER OF NATIONS. cause. Philadelphia, March 15th, 1872. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL CONVENTION, TO SECURE THE RELIGIOUS AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. HELD IN CINCINNATI, JANUARY 31 AND FEBRUARY 1, 1872. The Eighth General Convention of the friends of this measure assembled in Thom's Hall, Cincinnati, on Wednesday, January 31, at 2 o'clock, P. M. The hall was filled with a large and attentive body of delegates and spectators. In the absence of Justice Strong, of Washington, President of the National Association, the Convention was called to order by one of the Vice-Presidents, Prof. O. N. Stoddard, LL. D., of Wooster University. Prayer was offered by the Rev. B. P. Aydelott, D. D., of Cincinnati. The Chairman then read the call for the Convention as follows: CALL FOR A NATIONAL CONVENTION. GOVERNMENT is instituted for man as an intellectual, social, and moral and religious being. It corresponds to his whole nature. It is intended to protect and advance the higher as well as the lower interests of humanity. It acts for its legitimate purposes when it watches over domestic life, and asserts and enforces the sanctity of the marriage bond; when it watches over intellect and education, and furnishes means for developing all the faculties of the mind; when it frowns on profaneness, lewdness, the desecration of the Sabbath, and other crimes which injure society chiefly by weakening moral and religious sentiment, and degrading the character of a people. The Acting for such purposes, government should be established on moral principles. Moral principles of conduct are determined by moral relations. relations of a nation to God and his moral laws are clear and definite: 1. A nation is the creature of God. 2. It is clothed with authority derived from God. 3. It owes allegiance to Jesus Christ, the appointed Ruler of nations. 4. It is subject to the authority of the Bible, the special revelation of moral law. In constituting and administering its government, then, a nation is under obligations to acknowledge God as the author of its existence and the source of its authority, Jesus Christ as its ruler, and the Bible as the fountain of its laws and the supreme rule of its conduct. 1 Up to the time of the adoption of the National Constitution, acknowledgments of this kind were made by all the States. They are yet made by many of the States. And in the actual administration of the national government the principle is admitted. But the fundamental law of the nation, the Constitution of the United States, on which our government rests and according to which it is to be administered, fails to make, fully and explicitly, any such acknowledgment. This failure has fostered among us mischievous ideas like the following: The nation, as such, has no relations to God; its authority has no higher source than the will of the people; government is instituted only for the lower wants of man; the State goes beyond its sphere when it educates religiously, or legislates against profanity or Sabbath desecration. The National Association, which has been formed for the purpose of securing such an amendment to the Constitution as will remedy this great defect, and indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all Christian laws, institutions. and usages in our government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the nation, invites all American citizens who favor such an amendment, without distinction of party or creed, to meet in Thoms' Hall, Cincinnati, on Wednesday, January 31, 1872, at 2 o'clock, P. M. All such citizens, to whose notice this call may be brought, are requested to hold meetings and appoint delegates to the Convention. WILLIAM STRONG, U. S. Supreme Court, President of the National Association. VICE-PRESIDENTS: His Excellency, JOHN W. GEARY, Governor of Pennsylvania, FELIX R. BRUNOT, Esq., Board of Indian Commissoners, Pittsburgh, Pa., JOHN ALEXANDER, Esq., Philadelphia, Pa., CHARLES G. NAZRO, Esq., Boston, Mass., THOS. W. BICKNELL, Esq., Commissioner of Public Schools, Rhode Island, Prof. TAYLER LEWIS, LL. D., Union College, New York, Prof. JULIUS H. SEELYE, D. D., Amherst College. Mass., The Right Rev. CHARLES P. MCILVAINE, D. D. LL. D., D. C. L., Bishop of the Diocese of Ohio, The Rev. A. A. MINER, D. D., President of Tufts College, Mass., The Rev. JONATHAN EDWARDS, D. D., Peoria, Ill., The Rev. J. H. McILVAINE, D. D., Newark, N. J., Prof. O. N. STODDARD, LL. D., Wooster University, Ohio, The Rev. M. SIMPSON, D. D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, The Rev. J. BLANCHARD, D. D., President of Wheaton College, Ill., JOHN S. HART, LL. D., Principal of State Normal School, N. J., The Right Rev. JOHN B. KERFOOT, D. D., Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, The Right Rev. F. D. HUNTINGTON, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Central New York, The Rev. T. L. CUYLER, D. D., Brooklyn, The Rev. LEVI SCOTT, D. D., Bishop of the M. E. Church, Delaware, General Secretary: The Rev. D. MCALLISTER, 410 W. 43d St. New York. Corresponding Secretary: The Rev. T. P. STEVENSON, 1405 N. 18th St. Philadelphia. Recording Secretary: The Rev. W. W. BARR, Philadelphia. Treasurer: Samuel Agnew, Esq., 1126 Arch St. Philadelphia. * See page 70. THE FOLLOWING GENTLEMEN CONCUR IN THE FOREGOING CALL: The Hon. JOHN POOL, United States Senate, The Hon. W. B. WASHBURN, U. S. House of Representatives, His Excellency, SETH PADELFORD, Governor of Rhode Island, The Hon. J. W. MCCLURG, Ex-Governor of Missouri, The Hon. W. H. CUMBACK, Lieut. Gov. of Indiana, The Hon. DANIEL MACAULEY, Mayor of Indianapolis, Ind., The Hon. M. B. HAGANS, Judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati, The Hon. D. K. ESTE, Ex-Judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati, The Hon. W. VAN HAMM, Formerly Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Cincinnati, EDWARD S. TOBEY, Esq., Boston, RUSSELL STURGIS, JR., Esq., Boston, The Right Rev. MANTON EASTBURN, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts, The Rev. JOSEPH CUMMINGS, D. D., LL. D., President of the Wesleyan University, The Rev. GEO. P. HAYS, D. D., President of Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pa., The Rev. DAVID A. WALLACE, D. D., President of Monmouth College, Monmouth, Ill., The Rev. WM. R. NICHOLSON, D. D., Boston, The Rev. E. B. WEBB, D. D., Boston, The Rev. SAMUEL WILSON, D.D., Professor in the U. P. Theo. Seminary, Xenia, O., The Rev. E. D. MORRIS, D.D., Professor in Lane Theo. Seminary, Cincinnati, O., The Rev. ELISHA BALLANTINE, D.D., Prof. in Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind., The Rev. A. D. MAYO, D. D., Pastor of the Church of the Redeemer, (Unitarian), Cincinnati, O., The Rev. ROBT. PATTERSON, D. D., Chicago, R. W. STEVENSON, Esq., Superintendent of Public Schools, Columbus, O., The Rev. E. R. ATWATER, D.D., Editor of the "Christian Intelligencer," New York, R. G. MCNIECE, Esq., Editor of the Fort Wayne" Gazette," Fort Wayne, Ind., The Rev. A. CROOKS, D.D., Editor of the "American Wesleyan," Syracuse, N. Y., The Rev. L. N. STRATTON, Office Editor of the "American Wesleyan," 66 The Rev. C. E. BABB, D.D., Editor of the "Herald and Presbyter," Cincinnati, O., The Rev. A. RITCHIE, Editor of the "Christian Press," Cincinnati, O., The Rev. P. J. LAIDLAW, Columbus, O., The Rev. J. H. COOPER, Morning Sun, O., The Rev. W. J. SHUEY, Publisher of the "Religious Telescope," Dayton, O. The Rev. A. A. E. TAYLOR, Cincinnati., The Rev. B. P. AYDELOTT, D. D., The Rev. JOSEPH CHESTER, SAMUEL S. FISHER, Esq., 66 66 66 A. H. McGUFFEY, Esq., H. A. MORRILL, Esq,, 66 WM. STRUNK, Esq., The Rev. C. H. TAYLOR, D. D., 66 |