1863 EVERARD KEMPSHALL. Thanksgiving Sermon During Height of Civil War. Superb Content.

"Thus, as the conflicts upon the battlefield have brought the men of the East and of the West should to shoulder, heart to heart, in this struggle for our nation's life; and as the carnage of war has mingled the tears of widows and fatherless children, as over a common grave, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, so have these sacrifices and trials, these rejoicings over common blessings, and tears over common sorrows, brought about this sublime spectacle of a powerful nationa, in the very midst of a terrific civil war, laying aside, at the call of the Chief Executive, and of the Governors of the different States, alike the sword and the hammer, deserting the forum and market-place, that one harmonious song of praise and one united voice of prayer may ascend to Almighty God." 

"The more prominent occasions for gratitude to God, and such as chiefly concern communities and the nation, have been alluded to in the excellent proclamations of the President of the United States, and of the Governor of our own Commonwealth. I shall not detain you with any lengthy reiteration, but pass a portion of them in brief review, that our public thanksgiving may not be so vague as to fail of its object for want of apprehension of the grounds of it. IN both the proclamations alluded to, reference is made to the goodness of God in preserving us from the prevalence of pestilence and severe forms of disease, such as, in former years, have made vacant seats at many a hearthstone, and cast gloom over the whole States. And, truly, if God had laid upon us this rod of chastening in addition to that of war, our case had been sad indeed." 

This bit, quite fascinating in light of our times:

"To allow to an armed mob the privilege of expressing their disappropbation of any measure adopted by the lawful rulers of the land, by burning houses, pillaging and destroying property, and taking the lives of men, women, and children, is simply to abandon the idea of security to life or property, to fill our homes with fears, and to imperil the very existence of the government itself."

"For any signs, therefore, of diminishing ability on the part of the Confederate States to sustain the rebellion, we are abundantly justified, I believe, in giving thanks go God today; for, until their armies are dispersed, and the power of the rebel leaders over the property and persons of the people - willing or unwilling - is broken, there seems but little prospect of accomplishing anything decisive toward that result which will alone satisfy the people of the loyal States, a restored Union, and but one name as the exponent of that Union to the world - "The United States of America." 

Kempshall, Everard. A Thanksgiving Sermon, Delivered by Rev. Everard Kempshall, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Elizabeth, N. J. November 26th, 1863. New York. Wm. C. Martin. 1863. 20pp.

Good, crisp text, complete. Removed from sammelband and thus weakened.