202
auteviinto I'vtobgterian
~, t utott enutgellizt
TIIVELINDAY I ATIGIJST 10, 1860.
JOHN W. MEARS, EDITOR.
ASSOCIATZD WMII
ALBERT BARNES GEORGE DUFFIELD, JR
THOMAS BRAINERD, 1 JOHN JENKINS,
HENRY DARLING, THOMAS J. SHEPHERD,
THE AGE OF VIOLENCE.
Oar age seems to be not more remarkable for
great religious movements, than for the mani
festation of an extraordinary and criminal spirit
of violence's among those who are not reached
by these movements. Time was when records
of violence and crime were confined to a specific
type of journals, of bad standing in the profes
sion. Now any journal which undertakes to
give the current news, becomes of necessity, to
a large extent, a criminal calendar and a police
gazette. Few matters of intelligence demand so
frequent mention as these. Type-setters mast
see imaginary weapons of death flourish among ,
their columns, and the pressman's ink must seem
inoarnadined with the bloody recital which it
communicates to the white page.
Since the peace of Europe was broken by the
French Revolution in 1848, the ears of the Chris
tian world have been unceasingly assailed with
the noise of war and the equipping and assem
bling of armaments on a scale of grandeur and
destructiveness such as bad never before been
beheld. The mutiny in India presented a spec
tacle of malice, rage and brutality scarcely pa
ralleled in the history of man. One would have
thought that to originate one such an outburst
of hideous and dreadful .rage in a generation,
would have been enough for the arch-fiend him
self; but the massacre now occurring in Syria
reminds us of the "lower deep still opening in
the lowest," giving us fresh glimpses of the un
fathomable malice of the prince of all evil.
Our age is proved to be one of violence by
the extreme popularity of pugilistic exhibitions.
Two men go through a rigid scientific 'course of
training; one of them crosses the Atlantic;
they, meet and use their fists with all the violence
and skill they can command on each other's
naked bodies, persevering till loss of blood,
blindness and contusions cause them to desist.
This is bad and brutish enough: but it is dis
covered to be a feature of the age we live in,
by the universal attention and breathless inte
rest it attracts, _by the anxiety of leading jour
nals promptly to parade the details of the de
grading encounter in column after column of
fine type, by the connivance of all authorities at
the breaking of the peace, by the countenance
given to the transaction by the presence of per
sons of the highest standing in society, not ex
cluding ministers of the gospel, (if report is to be
credited,) and by the subservience of literature in
an organ as respectable as Blackwood's Maga
zine to the pitiful purpose of embalming the
memory of a prize-fight in a poem 1 The spec
tacle of wild and enthusiastic eagerness exhi
bited by the news-seeking multitude of our great
cities when it, was announced that intelligence
of the details and the result of this savage en
counter was at hand, was a scandal to our civi
lization. It proved a deep-seated sympathy in
the multitude with the violent spirit of the prize
ring.
Other exhibitions of the same spirit, running
downwards through the whole moral scale till
the lowest depths of criminality are reached, may
be witnessed, or read of, every day. The dis
graceful scenes sure to be enacted on the floor
of Congress at every session; the overawing,
bullying, browbeating spirit exhibited; the car
rying of deadly weapons, the facility with which
challenges to mortal combat are elicited, and
the general reign of brute force sought to be
established in that place, where, of all others,
the only legitimate weapons of warfare are high
argument and manly, earnest debate ; these are
unmistakable tokens of the era of violence upon
which we have fallen. The indifference into
which the country was lapsing over oft-repeated
tales of Congressional broils, was at one time
roused by the astonishing information that one,
born and reared to square his notions of honor
by the duellist's code, had refused to engage in
a duel because the challenged party had chosen
weapons too barbarous for that gentlemanly
method of settling a quarrel!
We forbear to do more than allude to the fear
ful record of bloody and murderous violence, which
it has become part of the every day business of
our secular journals to unfold, and in the wake of
which, our police force, our grand j uries, our judges,
our laws and an outraged and alarmed public sen
timent painfully and ineffectually strive to follow.
We cannot particularize upon the hundred mur
ders of Cincinnati, which Rev. Mr. Storrs has
had the patience to keep tally of, or upon the forty
or fifty murders in New York city never traced to
their origin, which the Tribune, from a hasty re
view of the past four or five years can enumerate;
and we will only mention the prevalent disposition
of men who conceive themselves to have been
injured, to take the law into their own hands and
to administer the penalty which the first burst of
unreasoning passion suggests. We had father
bestow a few reflections upon the probable causes
of the prevalent tendency to throw off restraint
and give full play to the violent passions of our
depraved nature.
1. A false morality or philosophy has found its
way into the minds of men. From the philosophic
elevation of Pantheism, it has percolated through
all the strata of society; the faisca and 'dreadful
doctrine is that man may safely act out his own na
ture; that he cannot but do so; that depravity is
a fiction of priestoraft; that whatever a man does
naturally, it is well for him to do. Pantheism con
founds virtue and vice, holiness and sin, the Crea
tor and the creature, it calls light darkness, and
darkness light, puts bitter for sweet, and sweet for
hitter. And while it may not obliterate conscience
or destroy morality in its teachers, yet when its
subtle influences flow down through the less re
flective classes of society, they let loose the fiercest
and most violent passions of men.
2. A second cause is the lowering of views of
law and penalty, the loose and partial execution of
penalties,and the deterioration in the charac
ter of our judiciary, which, with many noble ex
ceptions, prevail to an alarming extent. Crime is
not promptly and suitably punished. Corruption
taints the air of the court-room and the jury-box.
Violent men are in secret and abominable league
with the ministers of justice. Political intrigue,
-which has already elevated .the judiciary and ex
ecutive to power, can readily be brought to bear
upon them ; is obverting the ends of justice, in
lightening the sentence or procuring the early par
don of the offender. And when all these fail, then
popular sympathy, resting, in part, upon those
false and destructive views of human nature al
ready referred to, is invoked, and pity for the
criminal is stimulated until it swallows up all pity
for his victim, all regard for the honor of the law
and all sense of public safety.
8. We ascribe some of the growth of this spirit
to the power of example now so much greater than
formerly. The very same means which, at this
day, diffuse with such rapidity, the light of the
Christian's example, are used to hold up to public
gaze the deeds of darkness. Crimes and criminals
are made spectacles of. In hanging a pirate, al
much care is taken to ensure publicity, and as
great facilities are offered for spectators as in ex
hibiting the Great Eastern. And while we do
not find fault with a secular journal for keeping
pace with the rapid movements of crime in its
columns, we do denounce that greediness to make .
capital of crime by a nauseous exhibition of de
tails, and by all sorts of reportorial varnish and
clap-trap in the description, to sharpen the curi
osity and feed the baser appetites of the reader.
It is a new crime thus to photograph crime, and
spread it by hundreds of thousands of copies over
the land. It is a gross perversion of the noble en
gines of modern progress, the telegraph and the
press, for which God will hold the authors to a
fearful account. Not only will Ainsworth have
to answer for the many Jack Shepherds which
his exciting tale has made, but those, too, who by
the flourish and pomp with which they herald ac
tual crimes, kindle in the minds already prone to
crime, a monstrous ambition to win for themselves
these laurels of the Satanic press by bolder deeds
of wickedness. We are of opinion, that among
the crowds who floated on New Yolk bay, and amid
that strangely., brilliant scene, beheld the death
struggle in which the deeply dyed soul of the pirate,
Hicks, fled to its lest account, or who read the de
tailed and graphic reports of that scene of the
pirate's career and last fearful deed of blood, as
reported in most of the papers, there were some
who forgot the heinousness of the deed and the
dread nature of the punishment in the eclat with
which it was surrounded, and who, near despera
tion in crime previously, are now determined to
beepme equally notorious and equally guilty.
4. There is an antagonism to holiness in our
unrenewed nature which exhibits strange and per
verse phenomena. The corrupt heart is generally
beheld in a-state of growing indifference towards
the law and the example of goodness alike. But
it often exhibits the description pictured in the 7th
of Romans—when the commandment comes, 'sin
revives. The example of purity and meekness ex
asperates it. The nearness and effective working
of the Holy Spirit rouses it to defiance. When
presented with the Saviour, it says: "Not this man,
but Barabbas." The rage of Mohammedan, Bud
hist, and Druze against the Christian, is the bit
terness of heathen depravity rising against the
victorious excellence of the. Gospel. A revival of
unprecedented power, extensiveness and healthful
ness overspreads the Christian world; for a time
wickedness stops her mouth; an astonished world
waits while her Lord passes by. Is it surprising
that a fresh and more violent outburst of wicked
ness should follow from those who resisted - these
unusual influences? Our readers well know that
this is in accordance with analogy and with Scrip
ture alike.
The great increase of habits of intemperance
might be mentioned as another explanation of the
evil we are contemplating, but this part of the
subject deserves separate consideration.
THE PRESBYTERIAN QUARTERLY RE-
VIEW.
The number for July, delayed in order to a
complete presentation of matters connected with
the late General Assembly, is °Lour table. The
size of the type is reduced so as to admit a greater
amount of matter, and yet not so much as to in
terfere with entire comfort and ease in the perusal.
The literature of the General Assembly occupies a
large place in its pages. Not only does the re
view gain in importance by this 1 , 3 . jeans to every
minister and layman interested in the history of
the Church, but the opportunity thus afforded for
these debates, acts, lectures and sermons, and this
portraiture and characterization of the Assemblies
to pass into the domain of literature, is by no means
of small moment.
Awe. I—Ante-Revolutionary History of Epis
copary,—is the address delivered by Rev. Samuel
M. Hopkins, D. D., before the General Assembly,
May 21,1860, by request of the Presbyterian His
torical Society. The theme, which, ever since its
announcement, has struck us as somewhat Out of
the line of topics which would naturally present
themselves to the mind of a speaker under such a
commission, appears to have been suggested by
certain extraordinary and unfounded claims set up
for early Episcopacy in the colonies, at the lust
meeting of the Alumni of the General Theological
Seminary of the P. E. Church in New York. On
that occasion it was claimed that "the sons of the
Church who brought her principles here in this
western land," were "at first a- small, down-trod
den band of humble men, scarcely daring to ask
for, or to expect, equal rights and equal justice
among men of an opposite faith - nd worship," and
that "the rise and progress of this branch of the
Church in America, cannot but command the ad
miration of Christendom." •To show up and effec
tually explode all these swollen pretensions, to
contrast the actual pride, bigotry and' intolerance
of early churchmen with this picture of voluntary
humility, and to demonstrate the utterly unwor
thy character of the men and means employed to
establish and to legitimate Episcopacy in these co
lonies, the lecturer has brought to bear a great
store of materials from the early history of our
country, keen wit, overwhelming satire, and an
easy polished and forcible style. Argument there
needs to be none. A few well-aimed thrusts suf
fice to pierce and destroy the swollen claims set
up by the Alumni. It seems that the Episcopa
lians of America had no greater difficulties to en
counter than those offered by their own brethren
in England, who possessed the coveted gift of
apostolic succession, and who yielded it to their
American fellow-Churchmen with the greatest re
luctance. Dr. Seabury's "pursuit of the aposto
lkal succession under difficulties" is most humor
ously described. Many of the readers of the Re
view becoming acquainted with Dr. S. for the first
time, will be edified to learn that the said Dr.sis
tanked by the Church poet, Rev. A. C. Coxe,D. D.,
as above Columbus, the discoverer of America, by
reason of services rendered in the above pursuit!
That noble Genoese,
He crossed the seas;
And found the body o'er far waters roll—
Seabury infused the soul!
ART. IL—Rulfsia. This is a traveller's view
of that vast and increasingly important empire,
which in the present number reaches only to the
Intrican ptointerian and Cventott 6vangtliot,
capital itself with the approaches thereto. It will
be found to convey a mass of information upon the
outward appearance and social and business life of
the capital, not easily accessible; and the lively
picturing of an acute obserTer and affluent writer
will command general attention.
Awr. 111. Vincent Ferrara. This is one of those
sketches of celebrated characters in the Church
Catholic who felt the evangelical impulses of the
Reformation - before that event actually came to
pass, which have formed one of the most valuable
features of the review. These are no mere dry
outlines, but fresh and living memorials of true
men, which cannot be contetnplatedt without a
thrill of admiration and an imitative impulse on
the part of the Christian reader. We hope no one
will omit the perusal of this description of the
apostolic career of the Whitefield of the middle
ages. •
ART. IV. The General Assembly of 1860, be
ing the usual lucid and comprehensive view of the
acts, debates and spirit of that body.
ART. V. Dr. Bushnell 's Sermons. We believe
the reviewer states the general opinion among
Evangelical men in regard to these sermons.
Though still somewhat defective, they reveal a
drifting of that erratic and brilliant mind more
decidedly towards the truth. The simplicity, close ,
application and general tone of piety ascribed to'
them by the reviewer, are undoubtedly theirs, while
a strained manner sometimes, an occasional over
statement of the truth, and a preference for singular
texts and skis issues, rather than the plain pre
sentation of the Gospel, are unquestionably among
their defecta. We have ever regarded Dr. Bushnell
as a really original and independent thinker, very
decidedly astray some dozen or more years ago
on the relations of Christ's work to the law, and
on one or two other topics, with a style of remark
able freshness, with bold and startling turns of
thought, sometimes strained, but never common
place or dull, and sometimes rich and melodious
as a master of composition.
Aitr. VI. The Position , and Mission of our
Church. Since the Sermon of Mr. Barnes before
the Assembly at Washington, "Our Position," no
Moderator's sermon has attracted so much atten
tion as the recent one of Dr. Patterson here indi
cated. It was considered so fair and able an ex
position of the animus of our Church by a very
large number'of the Commissioners, that they de
cided not only to request its publication in the
Review, but to provide for the issuing of a large
number of extra copies. We shall not enter here
upon a criticism of the discourse, any further than
to notice its calm, philosophical tone, and the
wisdom of its positions and recommendations.
ART. VII. Doctrinal Preaching. This brief
and earnest plea for doctrinal as contrasted with
popular and sensational preaching, though last and
least, is perhaps equal in importance to any in the
present number of the Review. There is a ring
of the genuine metal.id it. It will do good.
Literary and Theological Intelligence and Notices
of New Books complete the Review. The Editor
deals vigorous blows at the Arminian and Unita.-
Tian works which have accumulated upon his table.
SUGGESTIVE STATISTICS.
- The following is the net loss and gain of our
Synods in communicants for the past year:-
arsons. 1859. 1880. Net Net
"Increase. •Decr'easse.
Albany, 8,639 8,561 78
Utica, . 6.986 , 6,990 4
Geneva, 9,617 9,307 310
Onondaga, .7,823 8,017 194
Susquehanna, , 4,001 4,204. - 203
Genesee, 13,121 12,602 ' 519
N.Y. & W.Jersey2s,743 25,940 197
Pennsylvania, 11,161 12,962 1,801
W. Penna., 2,936 3,083 147
Michigan, 8,334 8,354 20 •
West. Reserve, 6,580 6,637 57 - -
Ohio, 4,726 4,855 - 129
Cincinnati; 2,973 3.064 91
Indiana, 3,432 3,350 82
Wabash, . 2,631 - 2,700 69
Illinois, 4,111 4.298 187
Peoria, 4;372 4,723 351 . /.
Wisconsin, 1,384 1,524 140
10w5,2,003 2,047 44
Minnesota,
.500 558 5B
Alta California, 378 381 3
Missouri, 2,290 776 - 1,514
Virginia, 4,294 4,249
137,990 134,933 3,695 6,752
Presbytery of Dist. of Columbia, /
from both sides. j 1,496 1,496
2,199 5,256
Net decrease owing to slavery, 4,267
" . - 44 other causes, 989
Net gain irrespective'of slavery,
CONTRIBUTIONS.
Caine. 1850. 1860. Increase.
General Assembly, $5,104,15 $5,244,47 $140,32
Domestic Missions, 91,402.88 98,029,95 6,627,07
Foreign Missions, 67,796,42 '80,338,29 12,541,87
Education, 65,707,68 72,226,19 6,518,51
Publication, 41,667,21 50,944,94 9,277,73
$271,678,34 $306,703,84 35,105,50
The contributions for congregational purposes,
as building churches, support of ministers, church
expenses, Svc , are not reported.
Per centage of contributions to benevolent
causes per church member in 1859, $1.96
In 1860 2.27
Increase, • 31
. The typographical error by which our contribu
tions to Domestic Missions were made 470,000
less than the report, ($28,029.95 instead of
198,029.95) is travelling around the country, and
becoming interwoven with calculations and com
parisons to the great disparagement of our denomi
nation in this particular. Will statistic-hunters,
and editors who know by experience the affliction
of ill-read proofs take notice? '
We may add that the gain IM membership of
the Synod of Pennsylvania during the last four
years, irrespective of the additiiin of the District
Presbytery,' has been 1838, (or nearly 20 per
cent ,) a rate of increase, which, if shared in by
the whole church; would" haVe made our entire
membership at the present time about 150,000,
above all losses suffered from slavery.
A greater rate of increase is shown in the Synod
of Michigan, whose gains since 1856 are 1812, or
nearly 26 per cent. The Synod of New York and
New Jersey, has gained 2532, or 11 per cent.
The Synod of Peoria, has gained 911, or 23 per
cent. The Synod of Wisconsin, 636, or nearly 75
per cent. since 1857, when iewas formed. The
Synod of lowa, 872, or nearly 75 per cent.
NORTE BROAD STREET ORTIROH.
We are happy to learn that alivlegal difficul
ties in the way of a complete title :to the lot se
lected for this church, on the so"-east corner
of Broad and Green Streets, •bay,e at length
been removed, and the payment niiCessary to a
transfer of the title to the trustees of the church
bas been made.
ATLANTIC CITY:
Tbe Rev. Albert Barnes will :'preach at' the
Presbyterian 'Chnrah on Sunday next ; 19th ins
EDITORIAL OODDESpoNDENOE.
Sault st. Marie, July 20th, 1860.
THE NORTH STAR STEAMER,—A SENSATION TO
BEGIN WI 'H.
Thanks to the good steajr "NOrth Star," the
swiftest, steamer on.j,b..e.:Lakes, and to her model
captain, Captain Sheet, of'Civeland, we have been
brought thus far, safely andiexpeditiously on our
journey. The next time w ' visit the Lake coun
i try, commend us and our fends to the same boat
and the same captain. We want no better. We
have been in vessels where the intricacies of the
channel, or the difficulties getting in or out of
the harbor, were left entire] to the mate or pilot;
but not so on board the ' C N h Star." There the
vessel is the body, but the captain is the soul!
What he says as to the parts he will make, the
time he will remain there,hou may rely on most
implicitly, and make yourtarrangements accord
ingly. osi sic maps!
.
The voyage from Detrca ?. has -been more than
usually full of incidents. list as the weary crew
had filled the 'hold, and mpleted their heavy
cargo of flour, potatoes, hi% and a great variety of
machinery for the "uppexi country;" and when
the order had already beei given to cast off, the
gangway plank, two men wknseenikinning down
the avenue, one of thenk wib an enormous cudgel
z e,
,manifesting
in his hand, shouting,`,g ' ' her!" "stop'her!"
and for some • cause or . er, a-suffi-
A
cient amount of exciteinen .with the' thermometer
over 90 degrees, to thro'w bun into an , apoplexy.
" The villain, 0, the billy, murdering villain,"
he, exclaimed, as soon as h got aboard, "to run
off with my daughter—onl'seventeen years of age,
and for whom I paid sl2oo~hri bring her out from
the old country ! 0, the rillain ! he's murdered
three wives already, the laltt of them .died in the
poor house, and now the lusty villain, he must
have my daughter too! tit I'll have his heart's
e.
blood! I will! I. heard it first in the stage, and
I've run fifteen miles to ' tch the boat before he
got her off from me end*, and I'll, follow him
forty thousand miles, everlipile of it, but yvhat he
shall not rob me of my. dnighterl 'Come along,
constable, we've got him now."
Now be it understood, gentle reader, that on the
subject of marriage, we haVt some peculiar notiohs
of our own, Morally and religiously, it has long
been a matter of conscience! with us, never tomer
ry any one unless they are s 'pientified by some mu
turd acquaintance; and especially on the part of
the lady, unless we are well assured of the consent
of her parents. Most emphatically do we deny be
fore God and man, the rin la of any .minister for
the paltry fee of five or to dollars, to assume a
responsibility, the extent ef,which, from the very
circumstances of the case= fit u i
itterly mpossible
for him to comprehend. let any man take this
thing into serious eonside tion, and reason in re
ference to the daughters of iSthers, as he would, in
reference to his own, and ie are persuaded he will
come to only one conclusion. , .
Of course, therefore, a priori, all our sympathies
were with the injured father. We thought it no
thing more than the grctorit &Served, when in the
forward cabin surrounded ;by the entire ship's com
pany, he received from the old man one of the
most awful objurgations .ti , e ever listened to in all
our lives; just such a onn,aa Labatt would have
given Jacob, probably, if t i r the Lord had' notpre
vented him. Such an almost demoniacal exhibi
tion of anger, malice, revenge, and a tongue set on
fire of hell, Shakspeare,! rfiast - have witnessed and
have had in his eye, What; he irote the Merchant
of Venice! Meanwhile,:,thongh his brows knit,
_
and his lips quivered;
'an his cheeks grew deadly
pale, the haughty bridegroom "said never a word."
He was perfectly willing io "lake it," if he could
only keep the old man t.way from his daughter.
Encouraged by his silenee, and supposing it to be
an indication of fear; or '` I S tacit confession that lie
was destitute of the requie . documents in the pre
mises, the dapper little c`nstable next undertook
to perforin his part of the l tragedy. But now the
groom found his tongue, and that to some purpose.
"There is my certificate:` we were married last
night in Detroit. Instead of 17, my wife is 24
years old, and at full linertjito marry who she
pleases." The constable read the certificate, and
evidently was some what nonplussed. "But her
father says she is only seventeen, &e." By this time
it was the groom's turn q lift the safety valve and
let off a little of the extra pressure, and we must
confess in the intelligent appreciation of his rights,
he showed himself a,truef. AtieriCan: No wonder
with such men the Iti4ent of self-government
is by no means a difficult one. "Shut up, Mr.
Star, I was born. under `the Stars and Stripes, and
I am not fool enough t 0. .! be ignorant of my own
rights. There's the certificate, which is a receipt
in full for your danghter, or if not, I'll soon pay
you the balance." Once more the .constable re
joined, but only to receive a final and most effectual
quietus. 44 Shut up, I say, Mr. Constable, you've
made as much noise bithis matter as amen ought
to make who has no businessl in it—where's Your
warrant? You havn't got any, you know you.
havn't. Besides, even if you had, I am now in
her Majesty's dominions, and entirely, beyond your
jurisdiction!" . /
From this point, the tide of sympathy, which
in the, first instance watt •with the old father, now
began to turn, evidently enough; in favor of the
bridegroom, and the mud was desirous of hearing
his story. " He's a bli i rd old man that, and' when
.
he's fired up with liqub r will do anything. Some
. ,
weeks ago, he drove' e for nie, and, to get into
Detroit two hours.soe!
' k than he ought to do, in
order to have a spreeehS overdrove the team and
foundered them, so that I was obliged to dismiss
him. That's one of the reasons he is so angry with
me. Another is beettaselinterfered to protect
c '
his daughter against ) him. A short- time since,
from. being a Catholui; he turned a ranting Metho
dist—and now he haa turned back again, a worse
papist than even." ,
Our sympathy with the old man was gradually
oozing out at our finger ends, and after a fellow
passenger bad caughS him in his state-room pour
ing out two-thirds of a tumbler of whiiky, and
drinking it down raw, we began to come to the
conclusion that the daughter was better without
her father than with ,him. _ During the night
watching his opportunity, he gave the bridegroom
a blow that almost felled him to the floor; and the
next morning, he and his companion, the consta
ble, after their useless journey, and leaving Ahe re
mainder of the 40,000
,miles still unfinished, took
their departure from the Boat at Port Larnia.
(The last we saw - of the bridegroom, he was seated
very contentedly ona hub pile of topper, at Onto
nagon, and as thighs' . gif now-a-days in the political
world, it is quite possible ere another lustrum, we
may hear him addressed in the House of Repre
sentatives at Washington, as the " Gentleman
from Lake Superior.") The incident, of course,
had its due effect on all the passengers, especially
the female portion of them, and the bride once
more becoming visible after the departure of her
father, was durino the remainder of the trip, the
observed-of all observer& To point , the moral of
this story, we leave to each of our'readers, as may
suit them best.
SINCLAIR RIPER; SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS, OR
FLATS AND RAFTS
"Sinclair River." When a boy at college we
first read of it in " Wacousta," or " the Prophecy."
Those who have been similarly unfortunate in the
geographical impress ons received from that emi
nently veracious history, will remember the terri
fic descent down the iiver—between the interlacitig
branches of the giant elms! as thickly filled with
hostile;lndians, as an occasional fern leaf with mos
quitoes! " Wacousta," we fear, must henceforth
go on the same shelf with " Woodstock," "Abbot's
Napoleon," &a. We did not take any very accurate
measurement of the river; but as nearly as we
could make it out, the elms must have been
"giant " ones indeed, and the "interlacing
branches," each of them at least half a mile long!
Such trees would be well worthy, of a visit from
the Autocrat of the Breakfast-table, whose love of
trees, in which we most cordially sympathize,, is
perhaps the best thing about him.
"Lake Sinclair!" Wbo has not heard of its
" Flats," and the unavailing motions and speeches
of " potent, grave, and' reverend senators," in re
lation thereto ? Ah ! there is a hug: raft of pines
and hemlock logs, right in the middle of the chan
nel. 'ban we -pass it? very doubtful. Already
we are, at the extreme verge - or the" liannel, any
we must take our cheice between running aground
or breaking into the raft. The bell rings, the en
gine stops—there we - ate—smack ! chairs broken,
wheels foul-into the raft and aground too! and
a most delightful state of things generally, both
among the crew of the raft and of the boat! The
spirit of the proverb about " cursing the king in
our bed-chamber," is for the time being, entirely
forgotten, and whatever may have been the pre
vitas opinion of passengers about the constitution
ality of improving rivers and harbors, there was
but one opinion now. The man who split rails,
it is supposed, would take better care of the logs.
LANE. GEORGE, FURTHER OBSTRUCTIONS, AND A
MORAL
The Flats of St. Clair finally passed, after some
two hours' delay, we are next obliged to encounter
the still more difficult fiats and channel of Lake.
G-eorge. This time it is our fortune not, to meet
a raft, but a, squall, and a pretty severe one too.
It was a critical , moment, and one that called for
no ordinary seamanship ! A narrow; zig-zag, chan
nel, requiring as sharp turns as it was possible for
the vessel to make—the wind blowing such a gale,
that only the ponderous captain was able to keep
his footing without holding on by a,rope or spar;
the 'quick and incessant orders to thelour breath
less men at the wheel; the wheel one moment
wound up with all the power of foot and hand, to
the full tension of the rope—the,nezt, whirling
round so swiftly that you could no longer distin
guish the spokes—that was a sight, which to see,
was to admire—which once seen, was never to be
forgotten The channel passed--the. squall over
--it seemed to us as if we had known the captain
half .a life time. Wisdom was needed at the helm
as well as power, and certainly the lesson was not
lost upon us in reference to the further voyage of
life. What if we sometimes do get on the *'flats?' : '
What if the squall, strikes us in the most narrow
and intricate part of the channel? "Our Father's
at the helm,"—he knoweth the way that we take
—hnd confiding in him, we may find that repose
which our own little helplessness should _forever
prevent from finding in ourselves'.
RASPBERRY JAM.-A TOUCH OF NATURE MARES
THE WHOLE WORLD KIN.
• The clear waters of the far famed Huron, and
its fifty thousand Islands left behind, we are now
in St. Mary's river, at Charchville, the great depot
of Raspberry Jam, of which no' less than fifteen
tons Were last year shipped to Michigan, Ohio, and
other sweet-toothed states in the great North
West! Here we first caught sight of an Indian
canoe, _
Like a yellow leaf of autumn,
Like e yellow water lily,
paddled by a squaw and her daughter, and coming
down the river with prodigious velocity, in order
to avoid the tempest, which a few moments after
beat upon us with great violence. "It rains easy
here," is the common - proverb, and sure enough,
no sooner is there a cloud' in the sky, than (town
comes the shower, before you begin to think it
'possible. It was curious - to witness the predica
ment of certain of our company, who, instead of
taking the experience of others, chose rather to
reason from analogy. If analogy does not prove
anything elsewhere it certainly did not prove
anything here, except the folly of those who put
confidence in it. Another thing we saw at Church
vine besides the canoe and the factory of Rasp
berry Jam. The gentlemanly proprietor was on
board the boat with us—and as we came in sight
of the beautiful residence which he has erected—.
a little hand was put forth from the front door,
and the waving of a white handkerchief gave the
delightful signal to the s affectionate father and
husband: All's well ! Who can blame us, if for
a moment we could not see very distinctly in that
direction, and walking without any particular
reason, to the other side of the boat, found our
selves gazing very intently somewhere in the di
rection of old Pennsylvania? We thoughtof that
exquisitly beautiful sonnet of Wordsworth on King
Canute, which if any of our readers who have
had the patience to follow us through this epistle,
have never read—they will please turn to it and
read it now. 4 G. D. JR.
A RESPONSE FROM NEW ENGLAND.
In your paper of the sth ult., I noticed, with
much interest, an article headed, "New England."
Being .a New England man, in every. sense, so
far as birth, training, attainments, and residence
are connected, I read the article, in question, with
no common interest, and the more for knowing
the writer.
It may be as well for me to say here, that I am
an old man, being years the onward side of
seventy. Myrecollections will go back more than
half a century in the history of the New England.
Churches, with a limited knowledge of Presßyte
ibm Churches.
But to return to the article in question. It
must be acknowledged on all sides that the writer
has reviewed the history of N. S. Presbyterian,
end Congregational Churches, and their present
antagonistieal position with great calmness and
brotherly kindness. If it were not so, it would
be unlike the author, and 'tend more to divide
than unite, which is the object of the writer. I
well remember what were the feelings of the N. Eng
land Churches when the assault. was first made,
in. the General Assembly, upon the great Benevo
lent Institutions of the country, such as. the
American Board, Home Missions, &c. was
delegate to the Assembly from Massachusetts, and
on the committee of " Bills and. Overtures," in
that body ) at the time the pamphlet agalnst .the
above named Societies, was introduced. I then
saw the zeal of "Juvenile Putriarch.s," and I
well remember a remark of the venerable Dr.
Miller, who had repeatedly attempted' to speak, ,
but sprigs of Divinity stepped in before him—
when one of these sprightly ones propose,d to give
place to Dr. Miller, the venerable man replied,
"No, no, Moderator, 1 am not so full of matter
as to be uncomfortable." Would that this rebuke
had been sufficient to secure a place for age_and
experience to utter their voice. But the history
of the last thirty years has shown that old men are
too conservative, they are behind the times. The
fears on this subject, expressed in your columns,
by the writer, under 'the head of New England,
are founded in truth. One only needs to attend'
a meeting' of any deliberative body, from a Dis
triet Association, up to an anniversary of the Am.
Board even, to see that our yeung men are "so fall
of matter as to be uncomfortable." ,lt may be
said that these remarks come: from, an old man,
who is made envious by the ease and;grace, with
which young men speak; and their agency in di
recting the affairs of the Chutilt, It ,is so—
But-I tremble for the ark &GA, when -, I see so
many inexperienced hands put forth to, steady, it.
What an aged minister once said, to a church in
a divided state is now true,• on a large scale. After
.looking into the state of things, the venerable' an
--ealid-to - thediaratted - chUrch; “ - Youlti.v.a:s0 4 - 41 " -
team altogether wrong, the steers are where
old oxen should be." The ,hint proved salutary.
Fifty years ago the state of,things was very differ
ent. Sere , I may remark, in this growing evil,
we find a leading reason, why old men, are so un=.
willing to have a colleague. Many aged , men, to
my certain knowledge, are laboring beyond their
strength, because the present attitude of •young
men creates a fear that to have. one associated in
the pastorate would jeopardize their own peace,
and that of the: Church. '
I will say, nothing about What is said under the
bead of "New England," about an undue attach
ment of the New School Presbyterians to their
denominational distinctions. Of this the writer
in question has, more ample means of judging.
But I may say, I ought to say, that since the di
vision in the Presbyterian Church, my duties have
taken me into mostly every portion of our -country,
and introduced me to every denomination, conse
quently I know that twenty years ago, if -the
thought of separation, on the part of Congrega,
tionalists and Presbyterians had been suggested,
in any of the great Benevolent movemenM of
the day, either of these great, divisions of the
American Church would have said, as Ruth did
to Naomi, "Entreat me not to leave thee, Stc."
The union was close, strong, and unshaken.
There, is one thing alluded to by the writer in
question which deserves more than a passing
notice. I refer to what is said about an increased
attachment to congregationalism, and a diminished
love for the distinguishing doctrines, once so pro- -
minent in every orthodox pulpit in New Eng
land. Would that 'I
could say to the- Presbyte
rian brother, you are laboring under a mistake on
the subject. But alas, all he so cautiously and
kindly says on this subject, is true.
Divine Sovereignty, Decrees, Election, Total
Depravity, Perseverance ,of the Saints, and kind
red truths, so clearly set forth in the glorious re
vivals in the days of Peter, Edwards, Hopkins,
West, and others, are introduced and plainly dis
cussed in but few pulpits. I say this with sor
row, but truth compels me to speak. There are
some to be found s in almost every, Church, tailed::
Orthodox, who see encl .- deplore the change, in the
present sfyle of preaching in f New England. As
a deacon in one of the large elnuches in New
England said to me not long since,' so it is, "our.
Children will not know the great doetrines of the
Gospel by name." The text is too often a caption
to an essay, rather than ,the foundation of a ser-
•
The declaration which Nehendah did not 'be
. .
lieve,"We seek your God, e is;
now ye do," isow be
lieved, when made by such a one, totally opposed
to the Say-brook platform. A mistaken notion of
being liberal and charitable,-has taken the, great
portion of youthful - divines captive. The effect
has been to generalize the preaching of the pre
sent day, till an Arminian would - seldom be Offend
ed by what he would hear in what are, denondia
ted Orthodox. pulpits. As there 'must be some
thing to keep the visibility of Congregationalism
before the world, having laid aside the fundamen
tal principles taught by our fathers, the forth. of
church government must be' magnified:. A poor
substitute for what once gave New England
Churches such a wide influence in the Christian
world. - - • ,
After all; many who are so zealous for Cativo
gationalism, have tolerated female speaking and
praying in public meetings, yea more, they have
invited and encouraged it, and added a loud amen
when even a weak sister had done what Paul
forbids. In this way many a minister has helped
sectarians,' and introduced into his own Church
the seeds of discord.
God grant the funeral sermon'of which the
writer, in the American Presbyterian, speaks, may
never be preached. That beloved brother may be
' assured that there is a large number in New Eng
land who deplore feelings shown in the meeting
of the Ainerican Board in Philadelphia, together
with every word and act tending-to sever New
England Presbyterians and Congregationalists in
the work of Foreign or Domestic Missions.
was the woman whose the living child- was , not,
who said "divide it." Heaven, grant that no
"Female Divine," or " Juvenile Patriarchs," may
ever divide those who are, strong united, but weak
divided. SiCIPERANNUAITBD.
ANNALS OF THE POOR.
"WORSE OFF THAN A SERVANT."'
Sothe eighteen or twenty years ago a fair intel
ligent young woman, the daughter of a lieutenant
in the English army stationed in India, married
a young and rising army-ottcer in that plea. She
was happy. Heaven seemed to be shedding - its
gilded rays upon her pathway, and the journey
of life was as a May-day, all joy and gladness.
She lived in ease and Insury,having her'two ser
vants attendinAo her wants. Her father, wearied
with his foreign serviceand perhaps looking - for-:
ward to a grave among his aneestors, Sailed for
ahome;" leaving his daughter and her new con
nections behind; but sickness seized upon the
husband's constitution, and he too was compelled"
to leave the scenes of his rising fortune again to
'look upon his native hills.
They arrived in Ireland =the husbandswife;
and daughter; the first, to hid a resting" pliee
among the dead; the others to 'enter upon the
busy cares of this world, and be east about upon
its waves. To maintain herself and infant daugh
ter she became the travellitig companion and as
sistant of an English lady, and for five years she
travelled through -the West- Indies and England
comfortable and happy, and at the end of that
time'when this - connection ceased, our sister, :for
in truth she had united herself with Jesus, found
herself a resident of this city.
Feeling her warm heart glow with kind feelings
towards every one around her she little thought
of the realities of life, and when her hand was
again sought in wedlock she married, as she
thought, an honest and industrious weaver.—
(Weaving at that time paid much better than at
present.) ' -
Let us look in upon her home now; yonder in
that second storywwwin that obscure street sits
a mother, plying her needle from early morning
until late at night;, she , gays, "Once I bad two
servants to wait uptin,lna,Tbut,now I am worse off
than a servant ;" and as we look about her room
and see the indications there apparent, we know
that indeed she has trot veryjow down in this
world; though she is poor, yeti she is respectable
and clean.
Once she was a delicstte lady; .novr, she is a
strong-minded woman supporting- herself and
three little children, assisted only in the matter
of board received from her eldest daughter, who
herself works in the factory."
Think, dear reader, for yourself, hew - could
you - provide for the wants of yourself and four
children upon- such scanty earnings? When she
gets two dollars and fifty cents per week, including
'her daughter's board, slug_ nolo thinks herself
Erich— -J.,4decr-paytiig-herrent, what can -she have
left to feed and clothe so many?—little indeed;
though a member, still she . never attends her
church, not for want of a desire, but because she
would there be marked for her poverty. Who
will go to this sister and give the sympathy of a
Christiiin?
N. B ,We are happy to acknowledge the re
ceipt of a Family Sewing Machine from L M.
Singer & Co., of New York, thiS,,thotigh loaned to
ns for so long,a timees our mission lasts,Tve con
sider ours. We will , be glad to receive any
assistance you may render, through , a -note ad
dressed to "Annals' of the P00r,..1334 Chestnut
Street."
Oar Mission is located No. 1210 .Shippen St.
Call in and see us. - , B.
EDITOR'S TABLE.
. .
HOW TO LIVE Saving, and Wanting, or, Domestic
Economy illustr4ed; by tbe Life'
_of Two Families of
(.apposite Character, Habit, and Practices, in a Flea
sant Tale of Real Life; ,including the Story of a Dime
a Day. By - Solon liebineen i . - New yorli. Fowler &
Wells, pObliahers. limo: pg. 543.
This book will be found valuable in all families
as tending to cultivate'prinCiples of wholesome
economy, but particularly so to families'a limited
meanly or those in which `the domestic education
of the female head has been neglected, sealed! is
too often the case. The story bars sufficient in
terest to - relieve the economical lesson a dryness,
and we have met with:ndthing,in i leoking'thrpugh
it, to hinder_ a- erdict of unmingled approval.
PAMPHLETS AND. RBTIEWS.
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL. RE
VIEW AND CHURCH REOFLStiIi. VOL VIL, No.
111 July, 1860. New York: H. Bier. No. 11.
Bible House, Astor Place. Philadelphia:` J. Rana.
ton, Evangelical Book etore, No.: 1224 Chentuut.St.
A:rt I. Theories of the - Aloneslent. IL Cleri
cal.Aducation. 111 Phz:istian Union. IV. The
New - Discussion of the Trinity. V. Our Domes
tic Missioxts. VI The New Missionary Society.
YlkSontesTorary Literature.. Miscellaneous,
comprising Foreign, Domestic, and General Intel
' ligenco aryl New Publications.
THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN. 'Edited-by Thos.
SQebiiti Isittebtirgbi,
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No,B. Little Sins; or, What People CalrStich.
These are Sins of thought; vain words; a hasty
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habit of grumbling; busy idleness. - No. 9'. Shall
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11 Simplicity in Worship By=Rev 'John Caird,
SECOND SERIES.
No. 1.. Why Should I Pray? By Rev. E. E.
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