felt in the Beautiful arises
from the fact that it manifests or suggests, in a greater or less
degree, some portion of the Divine attributes for whose enjoyment we
were created. Is it not then time that the good and earnest men of our
own broad land should cease to ignore, if not to persecute, art; should
indeed reverently pause to inquire into the resources and capabilities
of the mighty symbolism used and wielded by the fine arts?

THE VALUE OF THE UNION.

I.

We are engaged in a life-and-death struggle for our national
existence--for the preservation of the Union, for these are synonymous.
To succeed, we need an animating spirit that shall carry us through all
obstacles; that shall smile at repeated defeat; that shall ever buoy us
up with strong hope and confidence in the ultimate success of our
efforts. Such a spirit cannot flow from a simple love of opposition,
excited by the wicked bravado of our opponents; nor from a desire to
prove ourselves the stronger: neither can it flow from the mere wish to
destroy slavery. None of these motives singly, nor all of them combined,
are sufficient to sustain us in this hour of trial, or to carry us clear
through to the desired goal. The only motive which can do this, and
which, in the heart of every loyal man, should be of such large
proportions as immensely to dwarf all lower ones, is one that can flow
only from a clear comprehension of the value of the Union, coupled with
a conviction, arising out of this intelligent valuation, that the Union,
being what it is--containing within itself untold, and yet undeveloped
blessings to ourselves and to the human race at large--is nothing less
than a most precious gift of God; given into our charge, to be ours as
long as we deserve its enjoyment by our individual and national
adherence to truth and right; a conviction also, that our Union, from
the very marked Providential circumstances attending its establishment,
is in no small sense a divine work; and hence, that we may rest in the
sure hope that God will not permit His own work to be destroyed, except
by our refusing to cooeperate with Him in its preservation.

All our blessings, natural and spiritual, are enjoyed by us only in the
degree of our free and voluntary cooeperation with the intentions of the
Divine Giver. No good thing is forced upon us, and nothing that we ought
to have is withheld if we put forth the power granted us to obtain it.
The atmosphere surrounds