Excerpt from Our Country and Its Cause: A Discourse, Preached October 2d, 1864, in the South Presbyterian Church, of BrooklynBearing these principles in mind, we come to a grave ques tion of fact: How happens it that this once peaceful and happy nation is now involved in all the perils and sorrows of a dreadful civil war? Who began this contest? Let a word or two of history be my answer to this question.In the autumn of 1860, the people, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, entered upon a Presidential Can vass, whose result was the choice of abraham lincoln as their President for the period of four years from the 4th of March next ensuing. This election was strictly legal in its time, and legal in its majority, and hence its constitutional effect was to make Mr. Lincoln President of these United States, and as such, the Minister of God.Was Mr. Lincoln so recognized by all the people? The an swer of this question forms one of the darkest and most melan choly chapters of our political history. The proceedings adopted by large bodies of the people in the slave-holding States, will bememorable alike for their unreasoning infatuation, their moral criminality, and the terrible woes to which they have given birth. It was a sad hour for them, and for us, when they broke the bond of peace, and threw down the dire gauntlet of war. Acting under the inspiration of treacherous leaders, who had been long waiting for an opportunity and maturing their plans, the Southern people refused to be governed by the legally expressed will of the majority. Though they shared in the election, they declined to abide by the choice. Under the pre tended right of Secession, State after State professed to with draw from the Union, and when seven States had thus With drawn, they organized a Confederate Government at Montgomery, in Alabama, hostile in its character, repudiating the authority of the Constitutional President, and forcibly taking possession of the Forts, Mints, Property, and Military Stores of the United States lying within its pretended jurisdiction. In a word, these seceders made war upon this Government. These acts on their part were acts of war. All this was done during the winter of 1860 and '61, and While Mr. Buchanan yet held the office of President, surrounded, I am sorry to say, by as infamous a nest of traitors in his Cabinet and among his counsellors as ever dis graced this fallen world. That winter was one of the darkest periods in the history of this whole tragedy.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.