The American Presbyterian. (Philadelphia) 1856-1869, February 23, 1860, Image 2

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THURSDAY, FED. 83, 1860.
D. C. HOUGHTON. 1
JOHN W-MEABS, j EniTORS '
ASSOCIATED WITH
ALBERT BARNES. GEORGE DUFFIELD, J*.
THOMAS BRAINERD, JOHN JENKINS,
HENRY DARLING, THOMAS J. SHEPHERD.
NEW ARRANGEMENTS.
No good work is accomplished without labor.
An enterprise which contemplates durability and
extended usefulness must have time to take root,
grow, and develop its strength. We organize a
Church, establish a school, found a college, and
expect the fruit after many days. The toil and
sacrifioo are the realities of to-day, while the hope
ful reward of success is in the distant future. To
establish a religious newspaper on a permanent
and self-supporting foundation, is not a work of a
day, or accomplished without much self-denying
and persevering effort. It must have time to
take root in the heart and affections of the Church.
It must he known, and-acquire confidence and re
speot as a discreet teacher of truth, and a reliable
messenger of good tidings. It must create its
own necessity, and make this necessity extensively
felt and acknowledged. Its loyalty to truth, to
the denomination, to God, must not only be
vouebed for, but demonstrated. It will have, to
meet, at every step and turn, with ignorance, pre
judice, selfishness and rivalry. Its motives will
be depreciated, and its virtues disparaged and con
demned, and its good evil spoken of. These
things are incident to allgood men and good works,
but especially to the important work in which we
are engaged.
In view of the difficulties and binderances, both
of a general and special character, we have every
reason to be encouraged at the remarkable success
and. general favor which the American Presby
terian has attained in its short career of a little
more than three years. Every year of its history
has demonstrated the wisdom and necessity of its
establishment, and encouraged its special friends
to sustain it with increased vigor, that its useful
ness may be more extended and general. Our
circulation in Philadelphia has nearly doubled
during the last two years, and in Pennsylvania,
New York, and in the States west, it has gradu
ally increased by its own force of influence, with
no active agency to urge it upon the attention of
our churches. When we consider the circum
stances of our locality and youthfulness as com
pared Vith our older and larger contemporaries,
who have long pre-oceupied these fields, and whose
natural position gives them increased advantage,
we have great reason to be grateful for the in
creased favor and ciroulation which our paper has
received, especially in the State of New York.
These facts, and other similar considerations whieh
we might mention, have induced the Executive
Committee of the Religious and Literary Associa
tion which originated this paper, to strengthen its
active editorial foree by the election of Rev. John
W. Hears as an additional editor. Mr. Hears is
a young man of literary taste, and excellent at
tainments and adaptation for the work. He is a
true and devoted friend to the Church, and has
been an active and successful pastor. He leaves
a church where his ministry has been very useful,
at the advice of his brethren, to take a position,
in which, in view of his peculiar qualifications, it
is hoped he may he still more useful. We welcome
Mr. Hears cordially and joyfully to a participation
of our labors, responsibilities, and duties.
To meet this increased expense, we depend very
muoh upon a corresponding increase in our circu
lation j and to secure this important end, Mr.
Hears will devote most of his time for several
months, in the hounds of |bis Synod, in bringing
our paper to the notice of the public, and iu se
curing new subscribers. In the mean time, our
columns will he regularly enriched by his contri
butions, with such items of local religious interest
as may weekly fall under his observation while
abroad. His attention will also be extended to
the home department in our city.
We hope to be sustained in these efforts to
strengthen our paper and increase its usefulness,
by the ready co-operation of ministers and friends
at home and abroad. With a little positive and
timely effort exerted now by each of the friends
of the American Presbyterian, they may hope
soon to double its circulation, and place it on a
permanent and self-sustaining foundation.
SALUTATORY.
Guided by providential indications, and impelled
by a sense of duty, I have decided to accept the
position of associate editor of the American Pres
byterian, to which 1 have been elected by the
Executive Committee of the Presbyterian Reli
gious and Literary Association. Not as coming
to a post of ease and emolument, but as to one of
enlarged usefulness, have I made the decision.
It is no sinecure that is offered me, nor would I
desire it to be such. But the step is taken with
the earnest desire and determination to contribute
what I can to promote the interests and enlarge
the success of that grand means of advancement
in Christ’s Kingdom, and that right arm of deno
minational progress, the Religious Press.
1 have not left the pastoral office because of
physical disability, because I am weary of it or
weary in it, or because my views of its transcend
ent dignity and usefulness have changed. It is
scarcely two months since I removed my family
into the comfortable parsonage of the Milford
church, and settled myself, as I thought, for
another period of quiet study and humble effort
in that interesting and important field. And if
it were not that Providence seemed to order it
otherwise, I should leave with profound regret
those quiet opportunities of self-improvement and
of personal effort for the salvation of my beloved
flock, I hold the pastoral office to be first in dig
nity and usefulness: more firmly so now, than
ever. Among all the diverse positions, Secretary
ships, Professorships, Editorships, to which the
ministry are called, the pastoral office holds a place,
in my judgment, very much like that of the
farmer among the secular pursuits of men,
Paßtoral labor is the primary, fundamental
work—the tillage—from which every thing,
about which the church is concerned, must grow.
Nevertheless, there are positions in the church
outside of the pastoral office, presenting wider
fields of usefulness than some positions in the
pastoral office, and he follows the spirit of the
Great Sbepherd.-who, in the exercise of a judg
ment enlightened by prayer and the best connsel
he can get, accepts what seems to him the wider
sphere, and engages in its duties with all his
heart.
It is scarcely necessary to add that the clear
record of the American Presbyterian upon all
questions involving the interests of our beloved
Zion, its unwavering adherence to her princi
ples and its clear exposition of her doctrines,
its fidelity and eminent usefulness to the church
during a critical period, have met my cordial
approval, and were among the chief inducements
to accept the position upon which I now enter.
Friends and subscribers of the American
Presbyterian and Genesee Evangelist, in my
new relations to you, I crave your indulgence,
your Christian sympathy and your prayers.
Whatever a hearty good will can accomplish
through the columns of this paper for the edi
fication of you and and for the advance
ment of the interests of our beloved Zion, that
I freely promise shall be done. The rest, in
humble dependence npon Divine aid, I can but
leave to the test of time.
REV. GEORGE CHANDLER.
The death of this venerable and venerated
minister of the gospel has carried grief to ten
thousand hearts. Por nearly forty-seven years,
almost half a century, he has in Kensington
gone in and out as the faithful and beloved
pastor of a confiding and warm-hearted people.
He was regarded* in Kensington, not simply as
the pastor of a single church; not as a Presby
terian preacher only, but as a representative of
Christianity itself in its 1 purity and its bene
ficence.
His reputation for godly living was so un
questioned; his spirit was so genial, loving
and tender; his bearing so humble, gentle and
benevolent; his charity so impartial, comprehen
sive and practical; his sympathy for human
nature, so independent of the accident of birth,
occupation, wealth, or social position; he was so
long known, so well and favourably known by
all, that he was regarded, not as the property of
a sect or single church, but as the loved and
cherished patriarch of the whole district of
Kensington.
He had baptized, married and buried suc
cessive generations; his presence had sanctified
thousands of wedding festivals; he had been met
at thousands of sick beds, and been heard at
thousands of funerals; he had “wept and prayed
with those that wept,” of every colour, creed
and condition, until his services, as a messenger
of consolation, seemed a necessity in almost
every house of mourning. When he laid the
foundation of the church in Kensington, it was
a little village of the relatively poor. He gave
his heart to his field and his little flock. In
obscurity, with a feeble support, and no brilliant
earthly prospects, “he went about doing good.”
Yielding his attentions, his sympathies, his
prayers and counsels, to the poor around him,
they gave him their love and their confidence
in return. Forty-six years blanched the pastor’s l
and dimmed his eyes. Forty-six years;
carried the little village to a flourishing city,
and elevated many of poor to relative
wealth; but those years rather cemented, than
weakened the golden chain, between the still
humble and faithful pastor and his people.
The success of the Rev. Mr. Chandler as a
pastor was great and uniform. The member
ship of his church reached some seven or eight
hundred; and for a score of years it has seldom
been less. Something of this was doubtless
to be ascribed to the growth of Kensington, and
to the fact that his was always the only church
of onr denomination in the vicinity. But none
could look on his crowded congregation and
full communions without perceiving that his
ministry was one of power. This power was not
of genins, great learning, startling eloquence,
nor of any marked gifts or graces of person,
voice, or manner. He attracted to his church
by his reputation for goodness, rather than great
ness. He held great and growing congrega
tions year after year, by the lively earnestness
of his manner, and the power of the simple gos
pel truths, which he brought in contact with
the minds of his hearers. He was never prosy
nor dull; never boisterous nor rude; never bom
bastic nor extravagant; never eccentric nor
mountebank; never ldekadaisical, nor affectedly
profound; he was a lively, earnest, fluent, sin
cere and intelligent preacher of the gospel; and
by confining himself to his own field, adapting
himself to his own people, working hard and
working ever, he went right on in the strength
of Christ from conquering to conquer.
His example is the more valuable, asit is with
in the reach of his brethren at large, demanding
not greatness but goodness. He loved revivals
of religion, and when “revival measures,” and
oven revivals themselves, were sneered at by
some of his cotemporaries of twenty-five years
ago, he unhesitatingly used strong means, al
most every lawful means, to bring sinners to
God. .
In doctrine be was soundly orthodox, after
the type of Edwards and Dwight, but liberal to
those who differed. He was identified with
the great struggle attending the settlement Of
the Rev. Mr. Barnes in this city, and all the
strifes connected with the “elective affinity
Presbytery.”
Prom first to last his votes are registered on
the side of liberty of thought in theology. He
was the compeer of the Rev. James P. Wilson,
Thomas .H. Skinner, James Patterson, Albert
Judson, E. W. Gilbert and others in establish
ing freedom of theological discussion, and free
dom of measures for revivals, in Philadelphia;
and with some of his brethren, he lived to see
the great work consummated. In 1831, he was
a member of the “exscinded” Third Presbytery;
and detesting and resisting that unlawful mea
sure, he aided in organizing and consolidating
the constitutional General Assembly. To bis
dying day, bis mind was clear in snstaining these
sentiments and acts of his earlier life.
Mr. Chandler, among bis brethren and in the
community, was a gentlemanly, affectionate, but
retiring, and apparently diffident man. Ken
sington church was the home of his heart. He
was regular in church courts, but he seldom
spoke on any subject, and almost never proposed
a measure for adoption. Indeed, we are dis
posed to regard it as an imperfection in his
nature, that he so loved quiet, so shut himself
up in his own field, and mingled so infrequently in
the weekly meetings of his brethren. But if he
seldom originated new enterprises or undertook
large outside labours, he was always the man to
smile upon and aid every good work, planned
by others for the glory of Christ, or well being
of his denomination. After what has been said,
all must infer that our departed brother was
peculiarlyfree from personal, social, professional,
and ecclesiastical ambition; that be bad “a
John W. Mf.ars,
I will not, I will not desert to his foes; . V.
That sonl, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never —no never—no never forsake.”
1 Mr. Chandler replied, “ Yes, that is a delightful
promise,—thank God, those doubts have all dis
appeared, and the cloud has been removed. Jesus
is now precious, 0 how precious to my soul 1
Brethren, I am happy; the Lord be praised for
his goodness, —I know in whom I have believed/’
After a pause, Mr. C. continued, “Brethren, I
have not been as faithful in tlie discharge of my
duty as I should have been, and have not always
so preached the gospel as to strengthen and com
fort believers, and so as to warn sinners of their
danger. For my short-comings I pray the Lord
to forgive me.” In reply to which an elder re
marked, “Mr. Chandler, in expressing my own
sentiments I believe I also speak the sentiments
of my brethren here, and of our whole church,
and of this community, when I say, we firmly be
lieve that you have faithfully preached the gospel
of Christ to us, and that you have been a faithful
and useful pastor to our church for,the period of
forty-six years, in which you have been with us;
and as an evidence of this, you now have the love
and confidence of the whole Church, and not only
of every member of our own church, but you have
also the love and confidence of this whole com
munity. God himself has put his seal to your
ministry, by the success he has given you. We
believe there are hundreds whom you have been
instrumental in bringing from nature’s darkness
to God’s marvellous light.” Mr. 0. said, “I thank
God for what he has enabled me to do, and pray
that he may forgive me for what I have left un
done,” —he continued, “Brethren of the Session,
be faithful to the.flook over which Christ has long
called us to watch; be united, be prayerful. You
will have with you, to assist you, the great Shep
herd of his flock, our Lord Jesus Christ, even
though he shall take froni you this poor, weak
under shepherd. Say to the members of our
church, for me, be faithful to Jesus!—persevere
in the narrow path, and meet me in heaven. Say
to the whole congregation,—the old, the middle
aged, the young, the Sabbath Schools, that my
heart’s.desire and prayer to God for them, is, that
they may be saved. Tell them all I die happy in
Jesus.” An elder remarked, “Sir, we think it
might well be said here, as Paul once said, <1 have
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I
have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up
for me a crown of righteousness; which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day,
and not to me only, but unto all them also that
love his appearing.’ ” He replied, “Feebly, very
feebly done; —I am, and have been, a weak crea
ture, but through Christ I conquer, and to his
name be all tbe glory.” AH the company present
were in tears, and Mr. C. himself wept freely.
The interview was deeply affecting, and at this
point it was with difficulty that anyone could
speak. When the moment of separation came,
one of the elders asked Mr. Chandler whether they
should pray with him? “O yes, brethren,” was
his reply, “let us all once.more join in prayer,
together.” The members of the Session then
kneeled down around the bed of 'the afflicted pas
tor, while one of their number led in solemn
prayer, Mr. 0. himself joining in the petition, and
at its close exclaiming distinctly, “Amen.” He
then said, “Brethren of the Session, we have had
many delightful and important meetings together,
but we have now come to the last one on earth;
I feel assured that we shall meet again, but our
next meeting will be in the new Jerusalem above.”
The elders having requested his blessing, he took
each one by the hand, desiring them to kiss him,
and in bidding them farewell, he raised his hand,'
and said, “May the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, tbe Son, and the Holy Ghost, be with,
and rest upon you all, now, henceforth and for
evermore, Amen.” The elders then left the
room, and as they retired each of them was
deeply impressed with the truthfulness of the fol
lowing lines:
fusfrgt«nan mb Gtutfitt. taiiplijst.
meek and quiet spirit, which, in the sight of God,
is of great price that he labored long, hard,
judiciously, and successfully for his Master;
that his whole course has been one approved of
God, and all good and true men; that it will be
hard to replace him in the church militant;
and that his exit from earth has carried new
joy to the church triumphant. He has died at
a good age, with the harness on. His last hours
have been soothed by the attentions of a loving
and worthy household, and by the sympathies
and prayers of a stricken and weeping people.
He has lived and died well. When his death
was announced in the noon-day prayer meeting
on Wednesday last, a clergyman said in com
ment on his virtues, that earth had opened no
grave more safe in which to await the last
trumpet, than the grave which holds the mortal
remains of that friend of God and man, the Rev.
George Chandler, of Kensington.
DEATH BED SCENE OF REV. GEORGE
CHANDLER.
The following solemn and interesting scene occurred
on Sabbath, the sth of February, in the dying chamber
of the Rev. George Chandler, the venerable pastor of
the First Presbyterian Church, Kensington, Phiia.
In accordance with a previous determination,
Messrs. Clouds, Worrell, Sedliuger, Lowery,
Dougherty and Affelbaugh, members of the
Church Session, met and proceeded in a body to
the chamber of their dying pastor, with a view to
make him a farewell visit. As they entered the
room one of the brethren said to him, “Mr.
Chandler, the Session have come to pay you a
farewell visit,” —he replied, “ Oh, brethren, I am
glad to see you —yes, I am glad to see you, I want
to tell you bow the Lord has been dealing with
me. For a portion of the time since I have been
sick, Satan has sorely tried me, and at times
almost made ine think that I had been deceiving
myself. He came upon me as a strong man
anned, and it seemed as though the Lord had
hidden his face from me—had forsaken me, while
a heavy cloud overspread my mind, hiding from
me the Sun of Righteousness.”
One of the elders remarked, “I have been
young, and now am old, yet have I not seen th;
righteous forsaken.” Another observed, “The
poet has beautifully said,
“ The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
“ How blest the righteous when he dies,
When sinks a weary soul to rest,
How mildly beam the closing eyes,
How gently heaves the expiring breast.
“ Life’s duty done as sinks the clay,
Light from its load the spirit flies;' .
While heaven and earth combine to say,
How blest the righteous when he dies.”
CHANGE OP RELATION.
A minister from lowa writes that the Old
School minister and his church, in Washington,
in that State, have changed their relation to
the New School. “This is,” he says, “only the
beginning of a movement in the Presbyterian
Church (O. S.) north that is rapidly preparing.”
CARL RITTER.
This celebrated German Geographer, who
died September 28,1859, at the advanced age
of 80, deserves notice at the bands of religions
journalists of every country, as a shining in
stance of Christian scholarship. His rare
were vigorously and successfully.employed, with
an evident,devotion to thd interests of Christ’s
kingdom, in his particular sphere. Only an
earnestly Christian' spmt sould discover and in
dicate, as he did- the hitherto unsuspected re
lations between physical is&ence and the reli
gions history of the race. Prom the breadth
and spirituality of his vUws, he has been called
the “Prophet of Physical Geography,” and he
may well be placed in contrast with his friend,
the almost pagan Humboldt, many of whose
views he has clothed with their proper Christian
associations. The VeiJ Evangelische Kirohen-
Zeitung, of November 15,' 1859, contains a full
and interesting account of the deceased, and his
peculiar services as 4 Christian Geographer,
from which we gather the following. The great
idea of his life and lalfors, which seems to have
been suggested to mind, in a conversation
with the celebrated Pestalozzi, was that which
regards the Dhvsical features of the earth as
divinely arranged andl adapted to man, and as
to be studied- not merely as independent facts,
but in the m truct ve light o'* history, both
sacred and secular. every plant must have
its proper soil, and every class of animals its
proper element, it is not to be supposed that
the earth, which is mdfe's dwelling-place, the
seat of the development of the race and the
home of million- of it; individual 3, fails in such
adaptation, or owes tie shape and distribution
.of its continents and oceans, the inequalities of
its surface, the direction of its river-courses, its
varieties of climate, soil- &c.. to chance or the
operation of blind powers of nature. For over
half a century, the powers of a great and
richly stored mind wete employed in the expo
sition and illustration' qf this instructive idea.
Geography, in his hands, ceased to be the
memorizing of anmearimg outl nes and isolated
facts, but a rich and interesting branch of the
natural history of man nay more, it arose al
most to be a department of tlieology.
In 1820, Rittir w - made Professor of Geo
graphy, in the Sew University of Berlin. His
treatises, read before the Academy of Sciences
in that city, of which volume has been pub
lished, are a satisfactory presentation of his
general views; .whilg^his great work, “Geo
graphy,” applies them to particular divisions
and countries. In all'his investigations, and in
whatever aspect he views the earth, it is man’s
earth and God’s earth he is contemplating. The
same Providence which guided the civilization
of the world, in Ritter’s view, gave to the dif
ferent portions of the-earth’s surface their pe
culiarities and positions in harmony with this
higher design. Thus the human family were
originally planted in a central position on that
broad belt of the Eastern Hemisphere, ex
tending east and west from China to Spain
in the same zone, which, a moment’s reflection
will show, must have greatly facilitated their
wide diffusion. Vastly different would the case
have been, if they had been planted on this
narrow western continent, whose greatest length
is north and south, reaching through every
variety of ..climate, exactly the reverse of that
just described,
He teaches and'in.
racter of “prophet” in hifc, se i en ce-tliaT^' to?s
great privilege, as a rcsideiKj. Q p pith’s sur
face, is to learn to apply .<se his earthly
home as the soul uses the body, and as the child,
growing up to youth, learns to exercise his
bodily strength and the powers of Ms mind to the
fullest extent of the requirements made upon
them. Who does nbt here perceive that the
highest accessible regibn of geographical inves
tigation, as conceived by Ritter, is identical with
that which church history and practical theology
have in view,—the realization of the kingdom
of God upon earth ?
Great changes have already taken place in
the views entertained of spaces, distances, and
forms of natural objects. The form and mate
rial themselves of the earth have undergone
changes, through the activity of man, within
historical periods, the bfute forces of na
ture have been compiled to yield to the con
scious power of mad. Chains of mountains,
which once divided nations, have become path
ways of intercourse; oceans, which once formed
impassable barriers, ate now transformed into
means of union; beneath the wheels of the steam
ships the intervening seas sire changed into short
bridges; the region ’of calms has become a
peaceful, easy road; the remotest ends of the
earth have become near; and time and space
stand in altogether different relations to the
cultivated nations of the earth.
Hitter’s works are described as of great inte
rest and value to missionaries. He himself ap
preciated the services 'of this class of men in his
own science, and, on the other hand, regarded
it as highly important to consider the physical
condition of a region in which it was designed
to establish missions. Man, in his physical re
lations, should bo atfdbject of careful study with
those who sought to instruct him in the true're
ligion. . *,
But that part of his Geography which relates
to Palestine is, of the'greatest value to theolo
gians ; indeed, his lectures upon that country
proved a great blessing to hundreds, in opening
up to their souls a wide view of the kingdom of
God upon earth. Here, indeed, the peculiar
views of the “Prophet of Geography” have the
fullest scope, and may be considered as reach
ing their final completion. “Palestine,” he says,
“was from the beginning an isolated country, as
the Jews were an isolated people. It lay like a
bridge leading from the Euphrates to the Rile,
with a desert on one side and a sea on the other;
in the very midst of the region of west Asiatic
culture, yet isolated from and unaffected by it.
No other country had a, similar position. No
other lay like it in the immediate neighborhood
of the six most illustrious, cultivated nations of
the ancient world, the Babylonians, Assyrians,
Medes, Persians, Phoenicians, and Egyptians,
and yet in their very_, midst, divided from them
by nature herself,in order to secure to this coun
try its own eompjjietffpppoiytiqn, its own alto
gether peculiar culture, its monotheism, its
grand spiritual independence. None lay thus
in the closest proximity to each of the three
continents in their points of contact, and to the
five arms of the sea, reaching far inland, thus
early sho wing the paths prepared for the fulness
of time, when the gospel should be ready to be
despatched from this common centre, in every
direction, to the ends of the world. This union
of the greatest contrasts in geographical posi
tion, is peculiarly characteristic of that cele
brated Country.”
Bitter is described as haring lived the lae pf,
a sincere Christian, in the quiet and
natural to such profound scholarship. 6fie of
his earliest pupils is the Prime Minister of Prus
sia, von Bethmann Hollweg, well known as one
of the sincerest friends of a united and evange
lical Protestantism.
We conclude with the words of Dr. Hoffman,
spoken at his grave: “To him the earth, both
in nature and in history, was the theatre of the
kingdom of God upon earth; and in Christ his
spirit recognised, and his heart embraced the
King, and the living centre of this kingdom.
This idea constitutes, in his precious works, that
warm, beaming sunlight of science, that glances,
now upon Alpine peaks and dark, forest-clad
valleys; now upon desert wastes and busy cities
of men, so that every thing on earth appears to
him created by God and for God, in the person
of the only begotten Son.”
It is just this warm and vivid pulse of Chris
tian life which we miss in the works of Hum
boldt, and we turn from the cold grandeur of his
Cosmos to these noble products of the highest
style of German and Christian scholarship, with
refreshment and with hope.
THE JESUITS IN THE TYROL.
A correspondent of the New Evaug. Kirchen
zeitung writes from Feld-Kirche, a town in the
mountainous province of Yorarlberg, (which is a
part of the Austrian Tyrol,) a letter of such inte
rest that we give a free translation of the most of
it for our readers.
Besides a number of industrial establishments
which fill up the rocky gorge of the 111, there is
one of recent construction which excels all the
rest in size, namely, the Pensionate of the Jesuits.
In earlier times, Feld-Kirche could boast of, a
gymnasium of great and well-deserved celebrity.
But under the absolutism introduced by the Aus
trian Concordat, both the higher and lower gym
nasia have been surrendered to the Jesuits.
They arrange the method of instruction exclusive
ly to suit themselves, without reference to the
general plan of instruction ordained by the State,
and they are independent of all control or inspec
tion on the part of the latter. They have also an
educational institute outside of the town, for which
they have purchased, enlarged, and remodelled, a
new and unused hotel. Here are assembled chil
dren from every quarter of Germany, and from
other countries, to the number, as. I was told, of
350 to 450. The terms are high, and payments
must be made in silver. I met with Catholics
belonging to the higher nobility of Prussia, who
had committed sons and nephews to this establish
ment, and who spoke of it, and especially of the
Rector, Father Faller, in the highest terms. The
political events of the past year have brought
hither many refugees of the Order from Lombardy,
and the Italian Duchies. Hence, an evening walk
around the valley or upon the woody heights sur
rounding it, will bring one in contact with nume
rous groups of members of the order, who go by
in their black mantles,, three and three together,
eiijoying the cool of the evening. Often one
meets a company of children, under the guidance
of a father, joyfully at play, some of them hanging
on his arm, and joking with him, in the most un
restrained maimer. It is a pretty view which one
has into the grounds of the Pensionate, when the
youth are eajoying themselves with plays and
~ gymnastic exercises, and clieerfpl walks and talks;
yet one cannot but lament that under this attractive
- exterior, the fathers are binding the youth to
themselves, and bringing them up under the influ
ence'qf an ecclesiastical superstition.
I was; convinced of this by a sermon I’heard in
the village church, which is near the Pensionate;
and where.tlie services are performed by members
of the Order. It was half past seven in the morn
ing; the church was half-filled by students, and
the. town people occupied the other half. High
mass was over, and the acting priests and deacons
stood at the altar like pillars, with their backs to
the audience, and so remained through the entire
remaining part of the service. A father (the
name given me was father Leiter,) ascended the
pulpit and read the gospel for the day, Matt. v.
20, &e, Protestant hearers would have expected
a discourse on brotherly love or forgiveness from
Bueh a text. But the Jesuit,' leaving his text on
one side, sprung, as it were, with a bound to his
theme, of whose importance he could not say
enough, and hence he had made it the topic of
frequent discourses; he referred to the queen of
heaven, Mary. “A prominent trait in the lives
of all saints,” he began, “has been their peculiar
veneration of the Virgin Mary. We know in
regard to St. Aloysius, that at Florence he gave
himself up to be hers, soul and body, and devoted
himself to her service.” The speaker found a rea
son for speaking of her at this time, in the fact that
the day before, July 16th, was the festival of the
holy virgin of Mt. Carmel; hence, too, the Scapu
lar y suggested itself to him as the material for
edifying his hearers. The Seapulary is a charm
which the Carmelite monks boast was given in
•1246 to the sixth General of their order, by the
Virgin Maryland which she told him would pro
tect the wearer from eternal destruction. Though
it has been satisfactorily proved by a French
Catholic theologian that the story is a fabrication
of the fourteenth century, the Jesuit preacher
took it for granted as true. “ Whoever wears the
Seapulary,” he said, “acknowledges the Virgin
Alary to be his mistress, and himself her servant,
for he wears her livery ; he promises to serve her
not. only with word and deed, but with all his
thoughts, feelings, desires, inclinations; with his
entire affections; and who would not joyfully serve
her? For there is nothing to be found in heaven
or upon earth, besides God, more glorious than
Mary — die is the fairest, sweetest, purest, richest,
most liberal, most powerful in defending her
friends Each of these epithets was discussed
at length. Especial prominence was given to the
protecting influence extended hy Mary to such as
wore this garment in sickness, fires, inundations,
storms, perils of war, and the like. To remove
every doubt from his hearers’ minds of the reality
of this protection, the speaker referred to a recent
railroad accident, in which all who wore the
Seapulary escaped unharmed, and only those suf
fered injury who were unprovided with this talis
man. “That is a fact; it cannot be questioned,
it stands fast.” A far-fetched allegory, based
upon the colors of the Seapulary, formed the con
clusion of his discourse; because it is dark, the
wearer should be penitent; because it is not of a
lively appearance, the wearer should be humble,
&c. The name of Jesus was not once mentioned
in the discourse. All our hope and all our need
centred exclusively upon. Mary. .
One effect of this Jesuit sermon was to decide
a parent to remove his son from the establishment
to In nspruck, where there is a State institution.
Another result to be dreaded is an infidel reaction
among the common people of tho valley, which it
is to be wished that the, Evangelical Church of
Germany could anticipate by establishing a* mis
si on among them.
FUNERAL OF MR. CHANDLER- _
The funeral services of this emmen p
were held in the Kensington Church, on Mon
day morning at 10 o’clock, and were o Y
interesting character. The corpse was placed
in the middle aisle, in front of the pulp •
About thirty ministers were present. me
church was crowded in every part. ,
After a few introductory remarks by the Rev.
Charles Brown, the Rev. John Patton gave .on
the hymn,—
« Servant of God, well done.
Best from thy loved employ,”—
which was snug in plaintive tones by a full
choir. Mr. Wallace read the 15th chapter of
the first Epistle to the Corinthians. Prayer
was offered very earnestly and affectionately by
the Rev. John Chambers. The principal ad
dress was then made by Dr. Brainerd. It was
most touching and beautiful, and every way a -
mirable, and should be published entire. Mr.
Barnes followed with a few very solemn'and af
fecting remarks. Rev. G. ,W. Cox announced
the hymn, Y' v , .- ; ".
« How blest the righteous when he dies!”
after the singing of which Dr. Converse pro
nounced the benediction. . ; ... (
The congregation then .passed by the coffin,
each taking u. farewell look of the pastor’s re
mains. The elders then bore it to tbe hearse,
and the procession moved to Laurel Hill.
At the grave the exercises were closed by a
few suitable passages of Scripture, and the be
nediction by the Rev. Robert Adair.
The entire services were appropriate, solemn,
and interesting. The congregation was deeply
attentive, and gathered with tender affection
around the mortal remains of the eminent ser
vant of God who is gone from ns. . No one. who
was present at the funeral of the Rev. George
Chandler will ever forget it.
THE BIBLE AT HAMILTON COLLEGE.
Mb. Editor : —I was much pleased with your
article in the last number of the American Pres
byterian, entitled The Bible in College, and that
you so highly recommended the plan which has
been pursued in Hamilton College during the past
year, in its introduction as a text-hook into this
institution, a»d its forming a part of the regular
studies of the course, ~ And I believe that I utter
in common the sentiments of the one hundred and
fifty students who are now attending this college,
when I say that it has proved a complete success.
* When President Fisher, in his inaugural discourse,
favored the introduction of the Bible into our lite
rary institutions, and stated the method by which
its study might be of great advantage to the stu
dent, and not interfere with the already established
studies, serious doubts were entertained whether
the experiment would succeed or prove a failure.
But now that more than a year has elapsed since
the attempt was made, and it has proved perfectly
satisfactory both to the faculty and the students,
there is no reason why our literary institutions and
colleges throughout our land should not take steps
to imitate so good and useful an example. These
Biblical studies are recited once a week, on Monday
morning, so that ample time for thorough prepa
ration is allowed. The exercises in Chapel on
Sabbath consist of but one service, and that in the
forenoon, so that the student has the afternoon to
devote to his Biblical lesson, and the evening is
open to religious meetings. One of the text-books,
for instance, is Coleman’s Historical Atlas, which
is used in connexion with the Bible. During the
past term, the class reviewed some of tbe books'
of the Old Testament, including the history of the
twelve tribes of Israel, and the geography of Pa
lestine. At the recitation, two or three students
were required to draw maps of these countries from
memory. In this way, the class, by the close of
last term, found themselves possessing much valua
ble information upon an important subject, which
some of them, (kis is the case with many students
elsewhere) had previously known but little about.
The examination at the close of the term, where
all the students are examined in the various stu
dies of the term, was highly satisfactory ,to the
Faculty, and creditable to the class, not surpassed
by even that in Demosthenes, which is. usually
excellent.
We hope that our sister institutions of this cha
racter will follow in the footsteps of Hamilton
College, in this particular, and them officers be led
to look well at so important a feature in the edu
cation of the young men of this, country. . '
“ATOTALS OF THE POOR.”
THE SICK. .
It is not uncommon to find persons—often far
advanced in life—in a state of health so feeble as
to seem scarcely able to be out of bed, who are
still compelled to work hard throughout the day
and evening, while their earnings, after deducting
their rent, which must be paid, would seem in
sufficient to buy even their daily bread.. In some
instances it is with reluctance the confession of their
extreme poverty is made, and in some cases still it
is not made at all. Where the parties are in good
health they may live on the coarsest fere; but in
cases of sickness it is quite; different, and except
as to medicines, I know of no provision for. them.
There is a case of an old woman who has seen
much better days, and who, though now past 70
has lost her husband and .several children within
but a few years. Her son remains with her. He
is a young man of two or three and twenty— a me
chanic. They continued to live comfortably to
gether until a few when by an acci
dent, while engaged at bis work, he broke his leg,-
and since his partial recovery he has not been able
to get work. In the meantime, he h as go t con
siderably in debt, and it would seem neither does
nor can render his mother any assistance. She
winds bobbins. Old age, poverty, and bereave
ment, have brought with them their infirmities.
Farther details it is perhaps unnecessary to give
hut I mention her case at this time because it is
one of a number of similar «>nes ); and to inquire of
our friends what, if anything, can be done for
them. There are several articles of diet that will
keep indefinitely, and of which, almost any family
in comfortable circumstances, eould spare some
thing, which if I had, would save, in the course
of a few months, the expenditure, of at least a few
doilare I have no doubt of the cheerfulness with
which they would be supplied. The only question
is, as to the mode of getting them. Perhaps the
least inconvenient time and place would he It
School room on Thursday evenings:
rung the Ladies’ Sewing Circle meet there as
heretofore stated-numbering now from twelve to
fifteen ladies, with some additions every week
Such articles sent there, would be on hand and
convenient for distribution; or they may be sent
m common with others, to 1334 Chestnut Stiee '
or if at be preferred that I should call on any one’
“ Annals' 3 ” will ktter P lace > d ™»ted to the
Annals, will be promptly answered in person.
• ~ t?vTDBKOES OF THE truth
anew, with
special
; of the Scripture DiscoV eries of Mo,l (fn
reference to . tb «. : ° T ®delivered in the Oxford
Times, in ® , f h -Y^ t he'ye ar 1859, on the Bampton
University JSwlinson, M. A., late Fel.
Foundation. Editor of “ The Hi.,
lowand Tutor of Exet tbe Notes translated
tory of Herodotus, Boston: -Gould & Lincoln. -;i
by Jfby Smith, English & Co..
I“Slxit PhUadelphia. Pp-454. Price
A] 20
This cottoto
Oxford Univeraty »» tho BoopKm f000d,,,...
„d are a» exceediagly «»*«• eonlr.bul.on „
Biblical literature. ...
The author is a distinguished historian, and h«
brother has made himself famous byAm explore
tions in Egypt, where he has gathered much v a
luable information from -the recently deciphered
hieroglyphics! records, whieh have remained „
unintelligible mystery for ages. He has brought
from the domain of history, fresh and eonvinctug
testimony to the authenticity of the Divine re
cords, exhibiting the contrast and posrtrve agree
ment between Scripture and profane history. The
volume is well adapted to meet, the new phases
of infidelity, and the subtle attacks of German
Neology, which is so skilfully used to under
mine the foundations of Christianity. The Note.,
which constitute full one half of the bulk of the
volume, have been carefully rendered into Eng.
lish by Rev. A. N. Arnold, which gives an in
creased value to the American Edition. We com
mend the bookto every Christian minister as an
armory of defence, full of choice and potent wea
pons for the errprs and skepticisms of the times.
GREEK AND LATIN TEXT BOOKS. New York:-
Hlrper & Brothers. Phfla. Lindsay & Blaftiston.
Quibit Hobatii Fiacci Opera omma. Ex recensione
A. J. Macleane, A. M. , _ . _ ,
jEschylus. Ex novissima recensione F. A. Faley, A.
M. With an index of all words and names especially
. noteworthy., ....
These are neat pocket editions of Horace and
jEscbylus in- the German style. They contain
the true text without,.note or comment, leaving
each scholar the - agreeable felicity of making
bis annotations. They are soon to he followed by
Sophocles, Euripides,; Herodotus, Thucydides,
Xenophon, Virgil, Caesar, Sallust, and Cicero’s
De Amicitia an.d De Seneetute.
We commend this edition of the classics to com
mon use as text-books in our higher schools, in
preference to the editions of Anthon with their
extended notes, translations and glosses. Much
of tho discipline derived from the study of the
ancient languages is lost by quietly gliding along
in beaten tracks made easy by the investigations
and notes of anothef.
LIFE AND TIMES OF GEN. SAM. DALE, the Missis
sippi Partisan. By J. F. H. 'Claiborne. Illustrated
by John M’Lenan. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Philadelphia: Lindsay &Blakiston.
This.is a graphic history of the. perilous ex
posure and brave darings of frontier life. It
recounts Sufferings and ’achievements with the
savage foes, that are horrifying to think of. Gen.
Dale was a venturous add bold leader in the South
west against.the Indians in 1812,and subsequently.
The volume is illustrated .by scenes of personal
encounters. -
THE HABITS OF GOOD SOCIETY: A Handbook for
Ladies and-Gentlemen.'..With .thoughts;-hints and
anecdotes, concerning social ohservances; nice points
of taste and good manners, arid the art of making
one’s self agreeable. The' Whole interspersed with
humorous illustrations of social predicaments; remarks
on the history and changes of fashion; and the diffe
rences of English, and continental etiquette. From
the last London edition. New York : Rudd & Carle
ton. 'Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston.,
This is a reprint of a popular English book.
It is written in‘ a hnmorons andr pleasant style,
and treats of society, social life, and demeanor and
etiquette, in a manner that is both sensible and
instructive. . It is a volume of over four hundred
pages, and its topics embrace a very, large range,
and it contains a variety of Valuable suggestions
on many hundred points of interest.'
ANSWER TO HUGH MILLER AND THEORETIC
GEOLOGISTS. By Thomas A. Davies, author of
“Cosmogony, or Mysteries ofiCreation; being an
analysis of the natural facts stated in the Hebraic ac
count of: creation, supported by the development of
existing acts of God toward matter.” New York:
Rudd &. Carleton. Philadelphia: Lindsay &. Blairis-
The discoveries of science often conflict with
men’s previously conceived opinions and theories,
and have frequently shocked their religious sensi
bilities by discrediting their interpretations of
Scripture. The Bible is a revelation pertaining
to. the history, character, wants and destiny of
the human race, and >-nofr a treatise on science.
It is from God, yho made the world, and will not
contradict the established laws of this mundane
sphere on which man dwells. We need not fear
to hold the torch of science to the Bible. It
never has, nor ever will throw discredit upon it;
but has always contributed; its testimony to its
divine authorship. Science has changed men’s
views as to what the Bible does actually teach on
inany points, and given more enlarged and con-
views of truth, but has never really weaken
ed the authority of Hod’s word, nor diminished
our in its divine source. The facts of
geology may change our views of Genesis as to
the time and order °f the creation of the world,
sun they do not discredit the inspired records.
. 1 “ e author of this book seems to think that the
foundations of bur religion have been endangered
y the theories of geologists, and in his unneces
sary a arm he undertakes to discredit the records
oun on t e rocks, offering a theory too irra
tional for belief, that the fossils of animals and
which indicate a pre-Adamic existence of
apnnal mid vegetable life, were , the result of a
creative fiat Such works may spring from a well
roeant seal for the truth, afford very
slender, props to religion. They g i ve more real
courage to infidelity than all the discoveries of
smenee in the vast domain of nature htVe ever done.
God s works and his word will never be found to
contradict eacli other.
w. c. w.
J- 8.4 p c ou&co?° r * FieWs ’ PMladel '
pre^fo^y b pttbhiUri“°tb S - aUd P ° PUlar leCtUreS '
and T d m thls Country by Ticknor
nonuh, attract « d Mention and awakened
popular interest; Thev are nv»r.fs„„i
and abound in a rfeh f su^ estire ’
valuable; thoughts. COnUBOn sense and
JTbis contains fifiy-si x expository lec
made • T E P !stles to the Gorinthians: being
takt notes and short hand sketches
tekenhy different individuals, they are somewhat
elah ? y - “S d ® not embrace air the brilliant
elaboration incident to the warmth and glow of
am, they JL the
chfrl’ P P originality and beauty which
inow m ! l aUth ° ? ’ S Btyle and
and.power to bis preaching.
X.UCY CKO^PTON
land ” «.■■■ ‘ - y “ e a “thor of « Margaret Mad-
S. 0f “V Life,” « The W of h-or
ladelphia ■ Lin 1 York! Harper & Brothers. Pti
raaeipma. landsay & Blakiston.
p Datura * and easy narrative of domestic
ite Ml of touching incidents, and agreeable from
A?J nrT P Clty ‘ It is io the peculiar vein of
and moSsiif **
Feb. 23,
TABLE,