'Whom the Lord loveth
he chasteneth,' but not blindly nor uselessly, and not, therefore, after
the right frame of mind has been wrought in the subject of the
punishment. The law is precisely the same, whether we speak
theologically or from the profoundest philosophical principles; and it
may almost be said that the American people have only to choose whether
they will immediately enter, with the close of the war, upon a higher
career of prosperity, or whether they will endure an additional term of
tuition in the school of adversity. These words may seem mystical,
unaccompanied with further illustration and elaboration of the ideas,
but it is not the place here to pursue them.
Let us proceed with the supposition that we have before us, at the
conclusion of this war, a period of great national suffering. Such
periods, we have already said, are favorable to the development of
thought. We may add, they are alike favorable to the growth of earnest
purpose. Through suffering we are perfected. Thought and high purpose
are secure bases of noble achievement. If we are not yet prepared to be
inducted into our national mission, through providential favor, then let
us come to it through the inverse method: _through Ulterior and
Reactionary Consequence_.
It may be that we are to endure still more grievous afflictions than
pecuniary and commercial revulsion and depression.
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