38 ’THANKSGIVING SERMON. man does not honor the name of Presbyterian who is unwilling to say so. Thanks to the great Head of the Church, this cautious skepticism taints the minds of but few in the midst of us. The history of the Church of Scotland and of our own Church furnishes emphatic records of the right and duty of the Church of God to warn those under their care against the wicked legislation of human governments. In other ages it was her privilege, in defiance of the sword and the fagot, to assert the authority of her great Head over all human laws. We live in an age of the world too far advanced in civil and religious liberty, and too imperative in its demands on the moral courage of good men, to be restrained from uttering the truth in plain language. And, if we mistake not, those, and especially those ministers of the Gospel who question the correctness of these views, will be found, both in their preaching and in their prayers, to be exceedingly wary, if not non-committal, upon the great wickedness of the Southern rebellion. Probe them, and, with some noble exceptions, you will find them rotten at the core.* * Among these exceptions the editor of the Danville Review holds an honorable place.
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