“Today we stand on an awful arena, where character which was the growth of centuries was tested and determined by the issues of a single day. We are compassed about by a cloud of witnesses; not alone the shadowy ranks of those who wrestled here, but the greater parties of the action–they for whom these things were done. Forms of thought rise before us, as in an amphitheatre, circle beyond circle, rank above rank; The State, The Union, The People. And these are One. Let us–from the arena, contemplate them–the spiritual spectators.
“There is an aspect in which the question at issue might seem to be of forms, and not of substance. It was, on its face, a question of government. There was a boastful pretence that each State held in its hands the death-warrant of the Nation; that any State had a right, without show of justification outside of its own caprice, to violate the covenants of the constitution, to break away from the Union, and set up its own little sovereignty as sufficient for all human purposes and ends; thus leaving it to the mere will or whim of any member of our political system to destroy the body and dissolve the soul of the Great People. This was the political question submitted to the arbitrament of arms. But the victory was of great politics over small. It was the right reason, the moral consciousness and solemn resolve of the people rectifying its wavering exterior lines according to the life-lines of its organic being.
“There is a phrase abroad which obscures the legal and moral questions involved in the issue,–indeed, which falsifies history: “The War between the States”. There are here no States outside of the Union. Resolving themselves out of it does not release them. Even were they successful in intrenching themselves in this attitude, they would only relapse into territories of the United States. Indeed several of the States so resolving were never in their own right either States or Colonies; but their territories were purchased by the common treasury of the Union. Underneath this phrase and title,–“The War between the States”–lies the false assumption that our Union is but a compact of States. Were it so, neither party to it could renounce it at his own mere will or caprice. Even on this theory the States remaining true to the terms of their treaty, and loyal to its intent, would have the right to resist force by force, to take up the gage of battle thrown down by the rebellious States, and compel them to return to their duty and their allegiance. The Law of Nations would have accorded the loyal States this right and remedy.
“But this was not our theory, nor our justification. The flag we bore into the field was not that of particular States, no matter how many nor how loyal, arrayed against other States. It was the flag of the Union, the flag of the people, vindicating the right and charged with the duty of preventing any factions, no matter how many nor under what pretence, from breaking up this common Country.
“It was the country of the South as well as of the North. The men who sought to dismember it, belonged to it. Its was a larger life, aloof from the dominance of self-surroundings; but in it their truest interests were interwoven. They suffered themselves to be drawn down from the spiritual ideal by influences of the physical world. There is in man that peril of the double nature. “But I see another law”, says St. Paul. “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind.”
–Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (1828-1914)
Whatever one thinks about the underlying political philosophy of this speech, what magnificent prose! And the scriptural learning just leaps out at the reader. I pray that the Lord would raise up such thoughtful leaders for our nation in this day.
Would you be willing to share the source for this great quote, Kendall?
[i] In the Hands of Providence [/i] is one of my favorite books and I recommend reading it. [i] Soul of the Lion [/i] and [i] The Killer Angels are also on my bookshelf. If you asked me ten years ago who I thought was my favorite hero, I would have answered Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. He clearly exemplified a Christian view of the Civil War. He was earlier tutored in the values of Harriet Beecher Stowe (in person). Yes, Some great figures in history did feel an end to slavery was worth fighting the war, and he was appointed the ceremonial Union Commander at the surrender of Lee’s Army.
If you asked me now who my greatest heros are, I can say that some are my friends and some I had the honor to shake their hands personally. They were present at the Dead Sea and/or Jerusalem during the previous week.
And I’m proud to say that one of these men was my bishop, +John-David Schofield.
And may I recommend the book “Conceived in Liberty…..Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, William Oates, and The American Civil War,” by Mark Perry, published by Viking Press? These are very personal accounts of two lesser-known commanders…..one Federal, the other Confederate.
The Army still uses Chamberlain’s defense of the ultimate left, at Little Roundtop, of the Union Army’s line on the second day of Gettysberg as a perfect example of small unit cohesion.
Hi anxious Anglican in #1. As I am a Bowdoin graduate, you will not be surprised to hear that Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is one of my heroes.
The remarks here are from Chamberlain’s address at the general dedicatory exercises in the evening in the court house in Gettsyburg on the occasion of the dedication of the Maine monuments. It took place on October 3, 1889.
The General rose to the rank of Major General, served four terms as Governor of the State of Maine, and as President of Bowdoin College. For his action at Gettysburg, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.
As Commander of Union Forces at the surrender of The Arny of Northern Virginia he ordered his units to present arms to salute that force as they were now Americans returning to the Republic. The southern general returned the salute, this move was the first step in easing tensions between the members of both armies. It was typical of Chamberlain’s firm Christian belief of forgiveness.
Baruch,
There is an artist by the name of Dale Gallon who has depicted the actions in your posts 5 and 8 as paintings. He has a great deal of Civil War related art and is particularly fond of Chamberlain.
Gallon’s complete works:
http://www.gallon.com/products.asp?cat=4