“And when the work of the government shall be accomplished, — when the stolen money of the nation shall be refunded; when hostile artillery shall be with-drawn from the lower banks of the Mississippi; when the flag of thirteen stripes and thirty-four stars shall float again over Sumter, over New Orleans, over every arsenal that has seen it insulted, over Mount Vernon and the American dust of Washington, over every State Capitol and along the whole coast and border line of Texas; when every man within the present limits of the immense republic shall have restored to him the right of pride in the American Navy, and of representation on common terms in the National Capitol, and of citizenship on the whole continent; when leading traitors shall have been punished, and the Constitution vindicated in its unsectional beneficence, and the doctrine of secession be stabbed with two hundred thousand bayonet wounds, and trampled to rise no more, — then the debate between Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Webster will be completed, the swarthy spirit of the great defender of the Constitution will triumph, and a restored, peaceful, majestic, irresistible America will dignify and consecrate his name forever.”

“A restored, peaceful, majestic, irresistible America,” — this was the vision that nerved King to herculean labor, to a most real martyrdom.  Condemned to the slow suicide of over-work, he gave his life a conscious offering to freedom.  “What a year to live in,” he writes, “worth all other times ever known in our history or any other.”  Again, — “I should be broken down if I had time to think how I feel.  I am beginning to look old, and shall break before my prime.”

Why is the song so sweet, and why does it move us so strangely?  The singer’s heart is breaking.  Why is the word so effective?  It is laden with love and winged with sacrifice.  A man is dying that others may live in verity, not longer in shadow; a hero is suffering crucifixion that the sad ages may a little change their course.  Not only is it true that the “blood of martyrs slain is the seed of the church,” but it is also true that a man never touches the heights of power until he has made a total, irreversible, affectionate surrender to the cause he professes to serve.  When he has done this the cause becomes incarnate in the man; and he speaks as one inspired.  And this was the power of Starr King in that great Summer and Fall of 1861 in California.  Of course he did not speak in vain.  Leland Stanford, backed by a Union Legislature, was elected Governor of California, and by October, King joyfully writing an Eastern friend was able to say “the State is safe from southern tampering.”

Part IV Philanthropist and Preacher

“As a philanthropist, Starr King raised for the most beneficent of all charities the most munificent of all subscriptions.”  These words were spoken at the King Memorial Service held in the city of Boston, April 3, 1864.  They call our attention to a unique service our Preacher-Patriot rendered the cause he loved.