TUG AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN GENESEE EVANGELIST. R«li|Cionian(l Family Newspaper, IK THR INTEREST OF THE Constitutional Presbyterian Church. PUBLISHED EVERT THURSDAY, AT THE PRESBYTERIAN HOUSE, j 1334 Chestnut Street* (2d story*) Philadelphia. it. John W. Hears, Editor and Publisher. THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 1866. THE OTHER BRANCH ON UNION. Our brethren of the other branch do seem b be waking up pretty extensively on the Subject of Presbyterian Union. The cer ainty that the Southern section of their jhurch has settled, perhaps for a genera ;ion, its ecclesiastical independence, leads them to consider more seriously the pro blem of union with the remaining Presby terian bodies of the North. The Presbyte rian of this city, habitually reticent or oold on the subject hitherto, now seems about to change its course, and to adopt a more genial tone. It commences an article on “Union of Presbyterians,” a column and a half long, with the following sentence, which sounds like the announcement of an entirely new policy on the part of its con ductors : “ The corollary from the failure to re unite the Northern and Southern portions of the Presbyterian Church, is the union of the Old School and New School Presby- terians of the North.” IThe matter seems to lie in the editor’s mind in the form of a logical or mathemat ical sequence. And while he does not, in so many words, declare the time for union [come; he notices the fact of St. Louis being meeting-place of both Assemblies, as :nificant, and says these bodies should some “ more clear, pronounced, unmis able utterances on the subject, than sy have been accustomed to do” The )le article is such, that any one familiar the characteristic tone of the paper many years, must notice in a moment, m perusing it, that the Presbyterian has upon a far more elevated position,.as to istions of large ecclesiastical bearing, 1 has somewhat suddenly learned to idle them with scarcely a trace of nar- .ndications of progress like this must fill jry Christian heart with joy. And every ranee in mutual respect ancT confidence, ich the different sections of the Presby ian Church make toward each other, a fresh proof of the Spirit of Christ filing in them. We never see new ins of this feeling, without being sent mr olosets with fresh matter of humble ise to its Author. But can the Presbyterian have over :ed a document contained in the same her with this manly and Christian ar ■nt, which easily suggests one of the est obstacles to the whole proposal? i it forgotten that extraordinary precau is are deemed necessary to prepare for approaohing meeting of the As*sembly that branch ; —that Robert J. Breoken 'e, D.D., has a circular in its columns mg for a cauous or convention, prelimi to the Assembly, like those which :ady have enjoyed “ the manifest bless of God, and were especially effectual in lection with the General Assemblies'of 4, 1835, and 1837 ?” The work indi ;d for this convention and for the leral Assembly itself, may be gathered the following paragraph in the cir- 1 For myself I look upon the present ibles in our own, and all sister churches this country, as being little else than sinful continuation and working in a igious form, of the criminal spirit and de ls of the insurrection in temporal affairs; I am persuaded that neither the country the church of God can have peace or secu until the religious poison is healed or ;ed out. In both respects —both of the ;e and of the.Church —it is better, immeasu ty, to heal, if it be possible. If that may be, it is better, immeasurably, to keep the irch pure, and restore it to peace, let that it what it may.” Or, if the JPresbyterian is ignorant of 5 possibilities involved in this movement, will bring to its aid a paragraph from ther organ of the same branch. The iburg Banner commenting upon the liar asks : Must the Church still be torn by those who in in her bosom only to wrangle and re f—who prostitute their position as her office ers, only to pour contempt upon the most imn deliverances of her highest court, and leap with oppobrious epithets those who i been faithful to her teachings ? Or shall faction triumph who would trail in the the standard which God enabled his people nes of trial to lift up ?—as the enemies of jountry were accustomed to trample under i feet and Bpit upon the glorious banner of Union.” may be the brethren of the other ibly trill be able to meet and dispose iese difficulties on some morning ses at St. Louis. Until they do, however, will vainly look for us to come from dearly-bought position of peace, and le again in strifes to which Providence manifestly not appointed us. a\. Seth G. Clarke, lately Chap in the army, has gone to Cass county, ~ as missionary of the Presbyterian Missionary Committee. Sraedati torn New Series, "Vol. IST o'. 9. THE VETO AND THE SPEECH OF THE PRESIDENT. The President has seen fit to exercise his prerogative and veto the Freedmen's Bu reau Bill. Our readers have, for the most part, seen his message, or are sufficiently informed of its nature. We do not intend to enter upon a minute discussion of the document. But we deem it cur duty, as Christian journalists, and as the organ of a Church which has identified itself with the auspicious movements of the day, to record our deep disappointment and profound dis approval of the measure. For our readers must have noticed- that the President’s veto was given not against details; not against this and that feature of the measure; not against that particular proposal to secure to Freedmen their rights in law, to property, to fair remuneration for labour, to personal security and to educa tion. It was a veto of the entire purpose of the people to protect the late slaves and loyal population of the South, from their rebel rulers and masters. It was the ex pression of the purpose of the Executive to surrender these interests to the control of men, who, less than a year ago, were fight ing desperately, with the purpose of crush ing them forever, and whose legislation since has proved their spirit essentially un- changed. • Further than this; the veto plainly de clares the measure unconstitutional, because .it was passed without the participation of the States to which chiefly it is designed to apply. These States, then, are entitled to an authoritative voice in all measures affect ing their own interests. And especially, in settling the difficult problems, the dark possibilities, which slavery has left behind, and which form a nidus for guarding and nursing their rebellious spirit, they must be admitted to bear an equal part. Plainly, the President means to concede the full right of the States lately in rebellion, to the enjoyment the highest privileges of loyal citizenship in the councils of the Na tion. All attempts to secure further guar antees of good behaviour trom these States are, consequently, unconstitutional. Any thing that looks like punishment, or proba tion even, to these communities, in which rebellion was fermenting for half a century, and which, after four years of bloody strug gle, marked by the most atrocious and re volting features, were only subdued by sheer violence, eight or nine months ago, is also vetoed in that action. If any one thinks we have made undue extension of the significance of the veto message, we need but reter him to the speech of the President to the motley crowd, who adjourned from Grover’s Theatre to White House, on the 22d of February. That crowd had just been harangued by S. S. Cox, one of the most notorious opponents of the war and of emancipation, in language which can only be palliated on tie assump tion that the speaker was intoxicated. The report before us, in a journal that has taken no position in regard to the veto, represents him as saying that “ Thad. Stephens had been sent from his Satanic majesty fourteen barrels of sulphur and matches to get up hell on earth. He denounced Congress as disunionists as ‘black as Jefferson Davis or hell itself.’ ” At the same meeting, according to the same report, “ Mr. Rogers, of New Jersey, made a most violent and intemperate harangue, assailing President Lincoln’s administration, charging that it had the South of millions of dollars, in setting their slaves free, and now they have set up an odious, pestilent oath, to keep the South out of Congress.” This meeting, where even the small sprinkling of conservative Eepublicans must have felt themselves in unpleasant company, with men like Thomas Florence, Senator Saulsbury, Louis Schade, Esq., &c., ad journed to the White House and called out the President. Nothing loth, with sincere thanks for their approbation, the President commenced a harangue, which could scarcely have been less than an hour and a quarter long, and whioh even his friends must read with astonishment and shame. We unhesitatingly declare it unparalleled in the records of Presidential speech making. In that oration, the highest officer of the nation once more disgraced the Ame rican name, not this time by the maudlin airs and incoherent speech of a drunkard, but by condescending, at the call of a mob of secessionists and revilers of Abraham Lincoln, to single out by name and hold up to the scorn of his auditors, a Senator and a Representative of the sovereign people, men whose purity oi character and noble ness of intentions and devotion to the prin ciples of our Government have won for them even the admiration ot their enemies —Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens. These men he denounced as foes to the PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, MARCH 1. 1866. Union and on a level with the traitors they are laboring day and night to disable from further mischief! Massachusetts and Penn i sylvania do not accept the entjre political creed of either of these bold and uncompro mising statesmen, f But these two great Commonwealths feel that Mr. Johnson has grievously insulted them, in thul by name, and on the steps of the Executive Mansion, assailing their beloved and distinguished representatives as, equally With the Davises, the Slidells, and the Toombs of toe South, “ opposed to the fundamental principles of this Government, and laboring to pervert and destroy it.” Fortunate beyoid hep wont will be the Republic, if the President tial mantle falls next upon a statesmanhalf so good or so competent to the office, as kither of these objects of Executive denunciation. These men need not our defence. | We have referred to the speech simply |s an appendix to the veto message, and as gear ing the construction of that act fron all possible doubt. In this speech, the Resi dent, over and over again, the Southern States to be in the Dmionfand charges those who are not ready to fflmit them to all the privileges of loyal Stalls at once, as almost equally rebellious with the secessionists. He describes the policy of the overwhelming Union majority in Con gress, which demands surer guaranteesjand proposes a longer probation than the frag ment of a year to the lately rebel States, as. “ almost another rebellion inaugurated.” He describes it as an effort to bring about a result “ equally objectionable with a sepa ration.” He calls the Reconstruction Com mittee of both Houses of Congress van irresponsible central directory.” The of the great majority in Congress, he re peatedly declares to be hostile to the (|on-. stitution, and describes himself as the great, •champion of Constitutional and popular rights, in his efforts to secure the»repr®en tation of the States lately in rebellion. \ The President, therefore, has put Km self athwart the present movement of iur country and our .time towards justice a\id equatrights, and is determined fat as he has the power, it shall stop where itj is. What has been done for freedom.' he either., believes is secure, or he does now care whether it is or, not. He either be-l lieves the South honestly disposed to pro- 1 tect the freedman in his rights, and to do its duty as a loyal and integral portion of the Union, or he does not care whether or not it does. Without further probation or punishment, without additional guarantees, he regards the whole South, with its lately rebel population in the ascendency, and its loyal population, white and black, power less as ever, fit to come back to all its rights, safely to be trusted with a full share, and on a higher numerical basis of representation, in the Government of the Republio. He is either satisfied that such a course would not imperil everything al ready gained, or he is perfectly willing to run the risk. On the contrary, we believe it is one of the deepest seated convictions of the loyal North, that the course of the President in volves the gravest perils to all the substan tial fruits of our dear-Won victories; that 'no sufficient evidence has been given or security exacted that a right course will be pursued in the South to the freedmen, or to the Union; that haste to readmit the old dominant classes of the South to power, would' invest them with all their former haughtiness; that, step by step, they would intrigue with their old party devotees', and with the Irish Catholics of the North, for the restoration in substance of all of which the war has deprived them; that degrada tion, ignorance, and practical slavery would be the lot of the freedmen of the South, and that the debasing and anti-republican leaven, of which our national politics have been cleared at the cost of a terrible war, would reinfect them for a generation ; to No! no! we do not believe that the loyal North has the least idea of allowing it. So far from being satisfied with what has been accomplished, or from consenting to risk the guardianship of the results of the war to-day in the hands from which it was wrested by dearly-won victories; so far from consenting to trust the future of free dom, and of this Union, to the slave-lords of the South, to the civil and military power which brought such woes, martyr doms and expenses upon the people, to the authors and abettors of the unparalleled crimes against humanity, with whioh the war was attended; they to-day ask that the march of events shall go forward in the same auspicious direction with our victories in the field; that the vantage ground al ready gained be secured irrevocably, by taking still higher ground and fortifying it with constitutional powers; that, so far as lies in human power, strengthened by holy purpose, and by a sense of full accord with Infinite Justice, this Republic shall be made truly , everywhere and forever , Free. This is the responsibility laid upon the present generation. And it is only the worse for the public men of our country if they do not recognize and meet it. PRATER FOR COLLEGES AND INSTI TUTIONS OF LEARNING. The Church shows an intelligent and a wise regard to her deepest interests by mak ing her youth, and the youth of the country, receiving an education, the object of one of two Days of United Prayer in the year. We have no Annual Concert of prayer for Publication, or Home Missions, or Church Erection; as by a spiritual in stinct, we have given that eminence to the causes of Foreign Missions and Education. .Even should we extend the list and multi ply annual concerts, prayer for our youth in institutions of learning could not lose its priority in importance. The day has hith erto been attended by the most marked re sults in revivals among these youths; and the prevailing religious interest in all parts of our country having already reached some of these institutions, we may confidently hope for large and abundant answers to the prayers to-day offered. DR. ROSS ONCE MORE. —-TbeJast Congregationalist says : 1 We have received a long communication from Rev. Dr. F. A. Ross, of Huntsville, Ala., in which, we regret to say, he asserts and proves that he has not changed his views on the subject of slavery. He still considers the system as just, in itself con sidered, thinks the African must remain a slave so long as he is in social connection with the Anglo-American, and says he had hoped that the system would pass away by a peaceful emigration. He claims that the war has confirmed him in the first and second of those views, but that emigration “ can hardly be realized under the influ ences which will press upon the negro made free and ungovernable by the sword.” Comment on his position is needless, save ;to remark that, while the freedman is to be -fbfind all over the South, We have' not heard of the “ungovernable” negro, save in Dr. Ross’s letter. Is the South, which honors pre-eminent ly men of the Ross stamp in religion and [polities, prepared to take exclusive charge of the freedman, and regulate uncontrolled his interests ? SEVEN WEEKS OF DAILY PRAYER. The Union Prayer-meeting of the various Evangelical denominations of our city has Extended through the seven weeks, which !' ommenced with the week of prayer ; and n Saturday afternoon the congregation in ttendance at Dr. Kennard's Church voted or a* continuance of the services. The Church on Penn Square was offered for Monday, where a meeting of the most deeply interesting character was held. ’ THE ANTI-SABBATH MOVEMENT. A new aspect has been given to .the attempt to break down our Sabbath laws, by the enlistment of a pecuniary interest in its favor, and by arousing the bitterness of foreign opposition to the restraints of the American Sabbath. While the effort was only of the nature of a false scent to throw the Christian people of the city off the track of Sunday newspapers, it did not make any headway. There was no great prospect of pecuniary advantage held out to the railroad companies; they had not zeal enough in the matter to go to Harris burg,'and offer the inducements believed to be so effectual in securing legislative action in that place. In short, there was no money in it; and the Press, more than once, gave it up. But our German popu lation, who have unfortunately brought with them no home-born reverence for the Day of Rest, and many of no them rever ence or regard for religion in any form; who are known, all through the land, as the most dangerous enemies of the Chris tian institutions which have made our land so great and'so happy, and who crave the enlarged opportunity to drive the peculiar ly German traffic in lager beer, which the gathering of crowds in the outskirts of the city will offer, have come to the rescue of the bad cause in its jeopardy. Now, there is money in it; now, money can be had to circulate petitions and secure signers; now, borers and lobbyists can be paid for at Har risburg ; afid if the vilest, and alas! most effectual appliances are found needful and likely to succeed with legislators in carry ing through the repeal, they can be. had. Numerous petitions have gone to the State capital, one purporting to have six thousand or more signers, procured through this agency; and the report now is, that mem bers once counted on to'farm a decided majority against the measure, have yielded to the pressure from these infidel sources, G-enesee Evangelist, No. 1032. to such, an extent that the result is doubt ful. Meanwhile, the friends of the Sabbath have not been idle. A series of public meetings on Sabbath evenings has been in augurated, for the purpose of more fully enlightening and arousing the Christian people to their duty. The first of these was held in North Broad Street Church two Sabbaths ago, Hon. Wm. Strong of the Su preme Court presiding. Judge Strong made a powerful argument for the faithful observance of the day, drawing from his own observation among those of his own position on the bench, the most positive proofs of the necessity of a day of rest to the physical and mental constitution of men. Judge Strong was followed by George Jun kin, Esq., of the bar, and by the pastor, Dr. Adams. A second meeting was held last Sabbath evening in the Penn Square Church, where Bene Guillou, Esq., the pastor, (Dr. Crowell,) and Dr. Cornell made excellent addresses. We trust the Sabbath Union will use all necessary means, and spare no expense in thoroughly canvassing for signers to pe titions. Thus far the work has been im perfectly done, We are sure the means will be forthcoming for a prompt, vigorous, and general prosecution of this important work. Petitions for signing, and blanks to be used in procuring signers, may be found at this office. Among favorable indications, we observe that the Evening Telegraph , of this city, is openly and editorially upon the side of the Sabbath, and the frequent and able advocacy of the right in its columns is most encouraging to the friends of the day in this crisis.: We note also that a vote was recently taken by the Union League of this city, on the question of opening the refectory on the Sabbath, and that the pro posal was negatived by the decisive ma jority of two hundred and, eighty-one. DEISM OPPOSED TO THE DAY OF SACRED REST. “ A man is known by the (book) company he keeps.” Mb. Editor: —Having recently read a work “ On the Institution of the Sabbath Day,” and marked some forty passages de cidedly, and more or less, explicitly, deny ing the divine authority of the sacred Scrip tures; I herewith send you a part of them to show how open infidelity and hostility to the Lord’s day affiliate. I give them just as I marked them, ■in the order of the pages. “ Yet in the reformatory systems of the day common sense, is laid aside for Sabbath enactments, which it is vainly believed are sufficient to reform the world, and for theo logical dogmas, which above all else, have ever been the cause of crime, Buffering, and degradation.”—Page 7. “ And they refer to the 2d Chapter of Genesis, wherein it is stated that the hea vens and earth being finished, God rested on the Seventh day from all his works, and blessed and sanctified the day. “In this account of creation nature speaks one language, the Bible another. Shall we put aside those unchangeable marks of a creation long anterior to that recorded, to be guided by records written when and by whom no one knows ? “ The account in the Book of Genesis can only be considered as an allegory calcu lated to please children and ignorant men; In its literal sense it is entitled to no con-: fidence. Were it even true, it does not warrant the conclusion which has heen drawn from it.” Page 18. “No one at this remote period can de cide why the Sabbath was instituted.” Page 31. “ And it seems highly probable that at ' this period, in the reign of Josiah, [864 years after Sinai,] the Pentateuch was pro mulgated for the first time.” Page 44. “ Can any intelligent mind believe that the Father of Mercies has provided a con servative power to preserve and uphold all physical things, and yet has left man a prey to chance ? made him dependent for truth upon the Scriptures, which so late as the year 1516 Tyndale was burnt at the stake for translating into the English language ?” Page 175. “ Can any one believe that this book, ambiguous in its language, uncertain in its conjectures, is designed by the Amighty to be the rule of life for man ?” “The authority of the laws of Moses, which was adhered to by the Puritans, has greatly'lessened, but the authority of the Scriptures generally, among those who pro fess to be the teachers of men, remains in its pristine vigor; and if our reasoning is true, such a doctrine is of incalculable evil to the morals and welfare of society: From infancy, children are instructed that this book is ‘the Word of God,’ the ‘revelation terms. BvWnfr .*»»«»«■».» advance: \ , By Carrier, 83 S«v aUdrtdonal, after three months. - or (? ore P a Pera. sent to one addree PAyablo strictly in advance and in one remittance Mtoto,e ™ Widows, $2 50 in Home missionaries, *2 00 in advance. Jitty cents additional after three months. by mail are at our risk. bv°enta quarterly, in advance, paid at the office of delivery. fi4t Z,TS seine “ ta -- cents'per line for the “cuts for the second insertion. Une square (one month)... $3 0, „ two months.. 5 50 three " _... 758 .. , 81* .12 00 one year 0 JgS on‘long‘^d‘fertkemente f in ii™ rC in montha upwards, is allowed*— uver aI lines, 10 per oent off* om so linaa 9fl n«r cent.; over 100 per ceht off. of His will, the guide of life,’ and with these preconceived opinions, false in their very nature, every effort to reform society fails.” Page 194. “ I touch upon the subject of the clergy with regret, because lam liable to be mis understood (not at all, sir, you are per fectly well understood, to be a malicious, bitter, slanderer of the whole evangelical clergy,) “ yet there can be no doubt, that it is mainly through their influence that the Sabbath superstition is spread through the country. But the system of paying men for preaching and praying is liable to great abuse.” Page 198. “ The first day of the week is the great harvest of the clergy; hence so little re liance is to be placed upon anything they say on the subject.” “ Many of them would take either side of the Shbbath ques tion, as their interest might dictate.” Page 199. “ Whose feelings I would not willingly wound." Page 198. How bro therly the& is, Friend! “ Whether in re ligion or literature, the clergy have always been behind the age; from them have emanated all the persecutions which have disgraced the name of religion. Their prejudices are so deep, and their interests so immediate, that it is scarcely possible that their statements should be correct.” Page 200. “ The Esquimaux and the Hottentots are as effectually saved as Christians can be. The institution of a Sabbath has never come to them ; but they "understand the great moral principles of right and wrong as per fectly as we do.” Page 242. (If by “ we,” he means the little sectarian clique to which the.author belongs, it is probably true.) “ Jesus left no writing behind him as a rule for others —he directed none to do so.” Page 244. Thus infidelity marks the book from be ginning to ending. It totally repudiates the Gospel. This is the book recommended by' The Press, and which led that paper into its false quotations. What select com pany. Col. Forney keeps! STILL MORE INCOMPREHENSIBLE. That a President of the United States, escorted by the legal counsel of Mr. Lin coln’s murderers and of Wirz, should ap pear before a wild mob of secessionists, and denounce, by name, and in response to their call, two leading Republican Sen ators, and accuse them of a design to assassinate him, was, one would think, suf ficiently astounding. That newspapers like the N. Y. Times should defend the speech, added, perhaps, a little to the surprise. But almost equal to the indescribable shock of the speech itself, is the gratuitous de spatch of Secretary Seward, in which that once honored representative of all that was knightly and sagacious in statesmanship, applauds and revels in the brutal utter ances. The despatch as follows, has been in print several days, and has not been dis avowed or questioned: New York, February 23, 1866. It is all right and safe. The Union is re stored and the country safe. The President’s speech is triumphant, and the country will be happy. * * * “(Signed) W. H. Seward.” We note four respectable churches including the Third Reformed Dutch, St. Clement’s, and St. Matthias’, Episcopal, and the North Broad Street Presbyterian, advertised in Saturday’s Press. The ad vertisement of this latter church we know to have been unauthorized, and against the wishes of the pastor and other officers. In this case, the Press, or its friends, have re sorted to a dishonorable ruse, to keep up its repute among church-going people. We need scarcely say that this course throws suspicion On the genuineness of the entire list of church advertisements, meagre as it has become. B&Y Subscribers who think we have made out their bills at fifty cents advance on the previous year, will please notice the sentence printed in red at the bottom of the bills. Many subscribers, by delaying three months, instead of paying in advance, are becoming liable to the addition of fifty cents in such cases required. We offer to all who have been thus negligent, two weeks from this date, in which to settle at 33, (by carriers 33 50), if they will do it with out expense or trouble to us. All who tail to settle up arrearages, due three months or more, by the Bth of March, will be charged the additional fifty cents. Parties owing for two years or more, will understand thh»; offer as referring to the last year only. On ’ former years no reduction is made. Rev. Geo. W. Le Yere has just com menced labors in Knoxville. Theophilus
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