118
Amtvion rtoligitrian
tutote 11J rangtliot.
trEEVELSIDAT % MARCH 21 9 11301.
JOHN W. MARS, EDITOR.
ASSOCIATED WITH
ALBERT BARNES. GEORGE DUFFIELD,Is.
THOMAS BRAINERD, JOHN JENKINS,
HENRY DARLING. THOMAS J. SHEPHERD.**
MONEY WANTED:--Not to lend again, or to
speculate in, but to pay honest debts, and to
satisfy needy and patient creditors who have in
vested their labor and their property in supplying
you, dear subscriber, with this weekly means of
informing yourself on the state. of affairs in the
Church and the world. Agents and subscribers!
You have been femarkably incommunicative for
the last two weeks; our empty purse yearns fur
a renewal of the interrupted correspondence and
its fruits. Gather up the little sums which sepa
rately appear so trivial, but upon the faithful col
lection of which depends the efficiency, if not the
very existence of a paper. Will not every agent,
and every subscriber in arrears, take heed and act
promptly?
WHERE ARE THE MEAT
One of the last public acts of the lamented young
Tyng was, to preach to one of those immense and
ever-memorable Jayne's" Trall afaciiincei iii the
spring of 1858, on tbewordis of Pharaoh to Moses:
"Go now, ye that are men, and serve the Lord;"
which, with a warrantable accommodation, he
made the basis of an admirable and powerful ap,
peal to the consciences of impenitent men. Mr.
Duffield has seized upon this incident and skilfully
woven it in with the memorable dying charge of
the preacher, in that stirring lyric of his: "Stand
up I Stand up for Jesus !"
Oland up! eland up for Jesus!
Ye soldiers of the cross ;
Lift high his royal banner,
It must not suffer loss..
"Ye that are men now serve h imp"
Against unnumbered foes;
Your courage rise with danger,
And strength to strength oppose.
•
In the depth of his. own manly Christianized
nature, the preacher felt that religion was manly.
it was not merely a solace for the weeping, or a
support to the weak and fearful, or a system which
commended itself merely to the feminine side of
our nature; but one which could make good its
claims to the devotion and fealty of the sterner
sex. He doubtless Lad long observed and felt, the
comparative inattention of men to the public duties
and the more personal claims of religion, and took
advantage of the extraordinary excitement of the
time, to bring . home to the consciences of the yoUng
men and the men of business, who were then so
accessible, the truths and duties they are so prone
to neglect.
Few religious bodies distinguish, in their sta
tistical showing, between male and female mem
bers. The Congregationalists, however, are among
these few. Their last annual statistics, published
in the Congregational Quarterly foaanuary show,
that in a total of 258,331 members in the United
States and Canada, the proportion of males to fe
males is as one to two; the female church mem
bers are twice as many as the males. We are in
clined to the belief that this proportiOn would hold
true of most other denominations, though we kriow
of no means of actually determining the point. So
far as we have examined church registers, observed
the attendance at communion seasons, or noted the
sexes of those admitted do such occaiiiontOvo &tire
been confirmed in our opinion. Indeed, a glance
at most of our regular Sabbath congregations will
reveal the preponderance of the female element.
The feet is, the Gospel has not reached the men,
and we need to take the fact into serious conside
ration. It has not overcome the strong hold of the
world upon them, or invaded the arena of their
absorbing cares, and made itself heard amid the
din and strife; it has not made captive of their
harder natures and firmer wills; it has not com
mended itself to their constitutionally bolder, more
enterprising spirit; it has not been so presented
as to vanquish their pride of intellectualism, their
ambitious speculations. Woman has, naturally,
less selfishness; less temptation to, or opportunity
for intellectual vanity; her cares are not so ab
sorbing; she naturally craves support, and seeks
some superior object of trust; her moral sensi
bilities are less blunted; the Gospel easily reaches,
satisfies and elevates her; in comparison with her,
man, as a sex, has not been reached by the Gos
pel.
We shall not now consider more fully the pro
bable reasons for this state of things; we shall not
agitate the question whether our style of preach
ing is not at fault, nor suggest any means by which
the difficulty may be obviated. We wish to push
our observations one step further, and to carry them
into the Church itself.
We desire to call attention to the fact, that even
of those actually belonging to the Church, the pro
portion of male members who perform active duty
is small. The attendance upon the social meet
gags of the Church will not be found to average
one-third men and two-thirds women. The same
causes—is it?—which kept men out of the Church
in the first place—the same absorption in the world
—the same hardness of heart=operate in a modi
fied form to restrain them' from duty within the
Church; while, on the other hand, every thing
which owned to facilitate the entrance of women
into the kingdom of Christ, acts with equal or
greater fdreeito keep them faithful there. We
state this as - a
sad fact for the Church; for the
men in particular. We commend it to the notice
of ministers and all. Perhaps, before we ask how
we may reach unconverted men with the Gospel,
we had better begin with the converted, and plan
for au increase of interest in their souls' for the
cause of the Master. Let us consider how we
may accelerate the growth of holiness, in their
souls, bow break up more completely the power of
worldliness over them, how counteract the absorb
ing influence of care in their case. We feel un
speakably humiliated on entering one of our fast
day meetings ) our united celebrations of days of
prayer, suck as those for colleges and the conver
sion of the world, or our united weekly prayer
meeting, to look around and see that our male
members have so generally left these special ser
vices in the hand's Of the ministers and the faith
ful sisters of the Church. In times like these,
when employment id scarce and the demands of
business light, and when the causes for prayer are
such as Christian men should feel to be uncom
monly weighty, might we not especially look for
their presence and co-operation? We pause for a
reply. If any of our laymen have an excuse to '
render, we will give them an advantage they can
not have when reproved from the pulpit—an op
portunity to present it in full in these columns.
Meanwhile we hope they will not wait for discus
sion, but will go to the very next prayer-meeting
and keep on going. ,
IS SLAVERY A LOCAL INSTITUTION?
Good mei in the South have ceased to apolo
gize for slavery as it exists among them, or to ex
pect its extinction even in the ntilleniitm. Their
leading minds, and particularly the lending minds
of the Presbyterian Church in the. South, have of
late assumed an attitude of positive friendship to
wards the institution; have come to extol it as a
social and political advantage; have convinced
themselves, and are .laboring to convince others,
that the Scriptures, the Constitution, and .natural
laW, are on the side of American slavery; in fine,
that it is an order of things, which; as to'its prin
ciple, is not only not local, not simply national
even, but universal; an order of things - Which ex=
ists and has existed everywhere, per se; while it
is personal.freedom which'islecal, and whiCh needs
the force of special enactment to.give it rightful
existence. One can scarcely credit it that good
men, Christian men, professed believers in the
Bible and in Calvinism, ecclesiastical. descendant!
of the Presbyterians of 1818, should f ound
giving themselves to the work of 'defending such
a lamentable perversion, or rather inversion, of the
truth tii - thisl - Freedom is sectional' and. lodal !
Anietican slavery is. natiOnal—universall We
give the language - of Dr. Thornwell, - of South Ca
rolina, in the number of the Southern
byterian' Review. - He, indeed, uses the 'general
word slavery in his argument; but that it is Ame
rican slavery that •he means, is 'clear; because. he
. .
immediately draws the inference "That slavery
goes, of right; and'as a matter of coin* into every
'territory," ita, Says Dr.-T.': . •
"In the firsk place, 'slavery ltas - nedi; . iti any
country, so far.ris
. we know , '
arisen u nder the !ape
ration of statute law. It is not a Municipal - insti7
tutionit is not the arbitrary creature 'of the
State, it has not sprung from . the - mere . force of
legislation. Law defines , • modifies, • and regulates
it, us it does every other species of property, 'but
law never created it. The law found it in exist
ence, - the law subjects 'it to fixed rules. On the
contrary, what is local and municipal, is thn'abei
lition of slavery. The States that - are new non
slaveholding, have been Imade so by positive sta
tute. Slavery exists, of
. course, in every nation
in which it is not prohibited.' It arose, in the pro - -
gress of human eyents, front the operation of mo
ral causes; it - Las been grounded .by philosophers
in moral maxims, it has always been held to be
moral by the vast majority of the .race. No age
has been without it. From the first dawn of au
thentic history, until the present period, it has
come down to us through all the course Of ages.
We find it among nomadic tribes, barbarian hordes,
and civilized States. Wherever communities haVe
been organized, and any rights of property have
been recognised at all, there slavery is seen. If,
therefore, there . be any property which can be
said to be founded,.n the.conamon -consent of the
human race, it is the property in ilaVes. If there
be any property that can be called natural, in the
sense that it spontaneously springs up in the his
tory of the species, it is the property in alaVes. If
there be any property which is founded in princi;
pies of universal operation, it -is the property in
slaves. To say of an institution, whose history is
thus the history of man, which
..has always and
everywhere existed; that it is a local and- muni
cipal relation, is of ' all absurdities* the motliest,-
the merest word that ever fooled the ear from out
the school-man's jargon:"
In responding to these extraordinary assertions
we would first desire to hold the writer "to that
Particular form of slavery, for the extension of
which he is arguing. For it is,quite out of ana
logy with much of what be has brought together
in. this paragraph, though he calls all by the same
name. American slavery is not serfdom; it is not
a quasi-apprenticeship like most of the slavery of
the Hebrews; it is not the result - of open Warfare,
in which the friends of the captives may make re
prisals upon the captors; it is a traffiekinginstitu 7 .
tion which would expire in a generation or twit, if
robbed of its mercantile character; it chattelizes
the slave and makes him as truly a marketable
commodity as his owner's - horse or ox; its laws
pay no regard to conjugal and domestic relations
among the slaves; chastity, fidelity, filial and pa
rental ties have no sacredness iu the eye of the
law; and American slaves arc a distinct and de
graded caste in society. Has this kind of slavery
"always been held to be moral by a vast majority
of the race?" Is it true that "no age has been
without it;" or that slavery such as. this "has
come down to us from the first dawn of authentic
history, through all the course of ages?" Ia this
the relation that bound Eliezer to Abraham; or
their bought, but not sold,* servants to, the He
brews, and who went out free at the jubilee; or
the captives of the Homeric age to their hero
masters; or the serfs of the middle ages to their
feudal chiefs? Let us not be cheated; let not the
defenders of American slavery deceive themselves,
by the use of a word. That relations of depend
ence between man and man, involving more or
less of servitude on the one part, and of irrespon
sible control on the other, have prevailed in many
countries and through long periods of time, we
freely admit; but that such a system as that laid
down by the slave code of the Southern States has
now (!) or ever had the universal sanction of man
kind, or the sanction of so large a part of the race
as to acquire the force of law,--cca common law
wider and more pervading than the common law
of England," who would have expected its craziest
defender to assert?
Let the defenders of American slavery exercise
their powers of analysis; let them, in their histo
rical view of slavery, "seize only on the essential
and omit the variable and accidental;" let them
tell us what it really is, which, in the form of ser
vitude, "has come down to us through all the
ages;g let them contrast the result of their spa
lysis with the peculiar form of -slavery they are
defending, and for the sake of which they are toss
.
ing to the winds the labors of our reroldtionary
fore-fathers; let them strip off those features of
American slivery by which it differs from the es
sence of the traditionary servitude thus discovered;
then their plea of universal validity for American
slavery will begin to have some plausibility—then
the Northern majority against its extension will
show a sudden and great diminution, and then,
too, good reader, the 350,000 slaveholders of the
South, in whose behalf this great revolution is un
dertaken, would not care : a button what disposition
is made of the territorial question or-the fugitive
slave law.
.Dr. Thornwell's sweeping assertion is, that "No
age 'heal:men without" slavery; and again, " Where
ever communities have been organized . . . .
there slavery is seen." On the contrary, we have
no evidence of the existence of such a system as
he is defending any where in the early: history of
the world. The slavery of which records still ex
ist, was a radically different system. Even the
Egyptian slavery under whizh the Hebrews suf
fered, was not such as to prevent a child of the
servile race from being adopted by a royal-princess,
and brought up in the palace of the Pharaohs.
' But if we come down to modern times, and
especially to the middle ages, we are puzzled to
* "We boldly challenge any man to produce one line or
word of Scripture to show directly of indirectly that any
patriarch ever sold a slave to a heathen, or to any other
patriarch; that ever a Jew, in later times, sold a bonds
man to a heathen or to any other Jew:"--Tayter Loons.
4 1 11:tritin 1.,“(1 . 4te,...:E4 . #! .:.. *tit . .-..-0ritt0t.;,..:.:,(15iiia...it..g0i.0.5.
know how the Reviewer keeps up the chain of con
tinuity which the absoluteness of his claim renders
necessary. A sort of apostolical succession must ,
be proven for slavery, or the argument fails. How
can he overlook the long interregnum of serfdom,
which, under the influence of Christian legislators,
like Justinian, took its rise somewhere in the fifth
or sixth century, and, with some interruptions
caused by the irruptions of the northern barbarians,
went mruntil ti all the various classes of slaves be
came merged into the adscriptiglebw, ()reeds of the
middle ages." (Smith'g Diet. An tiq. Art. Serves;
see also, Bible in the Workshop, chap., xii.) With
same exceptions, this condition of serfdom was one
of inseparable attachment to the soil; the serf riot
being an article of traffic except on and with the
land; hence his domestic relationships were vastly
more secure than with American slaves. If he
ran away, his rendition was very uncertain. Many
obstacles were thrown in the way of suits for his
reclathation. Residence of a year and a day in
a walled city or borough in England, made the fu
gitiie free. By the middle of the 14th century,
a large proportion of the peasantry in that country
had become hired laborers Early in the fifteenth
century, serfdom is spoken of as no longer exist
ing in Italy, while in some countries in Germany,
the greater part of the peasants had acquired , their
liberty before the end of 'the 13th century, (Hal
lam's Middle Ages,* 1, 200, 111., 169.)
Hence, the History of Society' in the middle
ages, - shows us slavery attenuated .to serfdom, with
at constant tendenertr; its-removal and substitu
tion by free labor, until` that result was actually
brought about in all: the more civilized and Chris
tianized countries, and freedoin became time univer
sal law and condition of man in civilized commu
nities.
But why is there any necessity for showing this
defect in the argument, or rather the sweeping
claim of the Reviewer? Grant the universality
of slavery up to a recent date if you please—up to
the time of Clarkson and'Wilberforee; a score of
social wrongs and evils might be named, which,
up to a certain period, were well-nigh universal,
and against which the conscience of the world has
been aroused only after the lapse of ages. Take
the customs of polygamY, of divorce for trivial
causes, of enslaving or destroying all captives taken
in war. There was a time when their defenders
might have pleaded. their very recent universality
against any attempt to abolish them. The defend
er of polygamy, or of divorce, or of cruelty in war,
might have taken Dr. Thornwell:s very, language
in his lips. Let us imagine our country,'with all
its cotnponent..parts,t existing- some - centuries ear
lier in the world's history; let us suppose the Mor
mon polygamists to occupy the place of the South,
and the political aggressions which have aroused the
North to have been in the interest of polygamy,
instead of slavery. Suppose, in our constitutional
measures to arrest the spread of that institution,
we had pleaded, as we plead Of slavery, that polyga
my is contrary to nature, and can exist only by
positive local enactment. The Mormon might
have replied, almost in the very language of Dr.
Thornwell, "Polygamy has never arisen under the
operation of statute law. The law found it in ex
istence. No age has been without it. From the
first dawn of authentic history, it has'come down
to us through all the course •of ages. If =there
be any relation that can be called natural, in the
sense, that it spontaneously springs up in the his
tory of the species, it is polygamy." And then, in
a burst of scorn at the pleadings of his adversary
for a limitation of the system - to the section in
which itgAisted, he iaight added - "TO - say
of an institution, whose history : s thus the history
of man, that it is a local *mid municipal relation,
is of all absurdities the motliest," 4Ste.
The answer in both oases would be the same;
that the conscience of mankind has long been
working towards the issue which it has now
reached. The relation you defend has at last
been fully and universally .recognised as against
nature. Whatever may have been the case be
fore, since this recognition of the true character
of the relation, and its abolition everywhere else,
its. existence has become exceptional and local
and dependent upon local law. The conscience
of the civilized and Christianized world is the in
terpreter of natural law, if it be not in a true
sense the very law itself. The social wrong against
which it protests has disappeared gradually, and
is now limited to a comparatively small section.
It haS made interest there; but can that small
remnant rise in the face of Christendom, and claim
universal validity for their condemned and dis
carded polygamy or slavery?
,Is their unenlight
ened conscience to dictate law to the world? Shall
the once universal wrong, when discarded and de
feated, when driven to its last refuge on earth,
look forth and say, I am everywhere by prece
dent and ancient recognition; your monogamy,
your, free labor and free soil are limited, are en
croachments, are nowhere, unless as creatures of
local • law and special legislation; I am rightfully
everywhere, and I will rend and tear, and revolu
tionize for such a recognition where it is denied?
Thus Dr. Thornwell of to-day, and the defender
of polygamy, of capricious divorcei, or of cruelty
in war of centuries ago, stand on • precisely-the
same ground in arguing for the universal recogni
tion of a social wrong. It is the enlightened
conscience of the Christian world which pronounces
authoritatively the
, common law of mankind, and
not the defeated, misguided remnant, that cleave
obstinately to the institutions and practices, con
demned by that conecience.
ACCESSION TO' THE CHURCH.
Last Sabbath was a day of great,interest in
Old Pine Street Church, (Rev. Dr. Brainerd's.)
Twenty persons, fifteen on profession of their
faith, stood up, to assume, publicly,, their
obligations to Christ. The audience was very
large, the communicants nearly filling the body
of the church, and the wide galleries thronged
with interested spectators. Among the young
converts was a great-grand-daughter of Rev.
John Blair Smith, D. D., Pastor in 1779. The
presence of the Rev. George Duffield, Jr, of
this city, great-grandson of Rev. George DO
field, D. D., Pastor of Old Pine Street from
1771 to 1785, added to tbe•interest of the oc
casion. The day will be long remembered.
A correspondent adds:--" Yesterday was a most
delightful day in Old Pine St. At the commu
nion in the afternoon, twenty united with the
church,—fifteen on profession. It was good in
deed to be there, to see the old church packed to
the very door with communicants, and to see •so
many spectators in the galleries. The most no
ticeable feature in the exercises of the day, was
the prominent interest manifested in behalf of the
children and youth. The good pastor has great
reason to be encouraged, and that the Lord would
long preserve him to the church in general; and
to Pine St, in particular, is the sincere prayer Of
your humble servant."
* Our references are to the new and handsome edition
of Crosby, Lee, Nichols & Co., Boston.
A QUESTION ANSWERED
Dr. Thornwell, in his recent_ article on the
State of the:Rotintry, asks the North:
If the tables were turned, and it was - your
thoughts, your life, your institutions, that the
Government. was. henceforward to „discounte
. _
nance ; non-slaveholding was Jiereafter to be.
prohibited In :every territory;.and the whole pot
Hey of the:G4vernment.iyhaped by the priaciple
that slavery is a blesstng, would you endure it?
Would not younchined - boil, and would you not
call upon your hungry millions to come to the
rescue? And yet, this is precisely what you
have done to us, and think we ought not to re
sist.
The questioner has "forgotten that this Very
alternative has been before the eyes of the
North for years. Especially does:the history
of events in Kansas, taken in -connectien with
the southern and , the administration accepts,
tion of the :Dred Scott decision,'show that the
social status of slate.ry - was to be forced upon
all the'terriforiesll the 'United States. Was
not governor sift 4 goVernor.recalled. from' iCan
sea, for no other Season than because he would
i: ,
not lend himself 4the very work of "prohibit
ing•non-slavehol mein that territory? Was
it not alaettliatithe "whole policy of the- Go
vernmenti.! for: tWo .presidentiar , terms, was'ac-
Wally "shaped - hi - the principle that Slavery is
a blessing,?! (linter as , much as—in alI prObabi
lity—the pollcy , nfAhe present administration
will be shived , bithe oppotite principle ? - The
h A ti
questiOn- thee ' Airoperly, not what would,
ImCwhat Alit It
.R. , . orth do, in view of the fact ?
Why, it maintaine 'its loyalty: to an odious go
vernment, and apfmtled .to the tribunal recog
nised by time freemen-:—public opinion and the
ballot-box. : It„fought 'a peaceful battle and
gained a bloOdlesi vintory. It had truth iiti its
side, and it: prevailed. The South Went into
the conflict, in Red faith, as, was supposed,
and failed. And now comesthe trUly pertinent
and 'seasonable inquiry r- What did the South
do, when, as' the result of that fair- and open
contest, the - victory was with the North, and
the government c?lr . conitipitiOna,lly into our
hands? What dil. the South do, when, by the
force •of politic °Pinion, compelled -to take Sub
stantially the same-position as that which the
North had longsn itted to, with unbroken loy
alty? History is writing the answer. She
plunged headlong into a shameful and wicked
rebellion; she broke' her onths; she spurned
and insulted the glorious-banner of our Union;
she seized millions-4 Federal property; forts,
arsenali and-munit4s 'of war;: she plundered
custom houses and mints; she scouted the ar
guments of eintistians acid of freenien, and flew
to arms. In nearly - identical circumstances,
the North has acted the part of patriots, the
South that of anarchists, towards the best go
vernment under tlie sun.
The Abbe Lacordaire, at his induction into
the French Academy in,place of the deceased
De Tocqueville, the great European defender
of American institutions, took occasion to
eulogize' the societyand Government of the
United States, Itilbetmost enthusiastic manner.
News of the revolutibiary movements in the
South bad already laded Europe, when this
ceremony took place Here is the eloquent
and hOnored Abbe'ii o q inion of the movement:
"He (De Toue iIle) even raised . himself
above his admiration , to tell to America the
perils which menaced be?, to.denounce SLAVERY,
THAT INHUMAN AND AMMO SCOURGE TO WHICH
FIFTEEN STATOR.:ASE t . 0Y TO BACRIYICE THE
Moat' • oi_ or 7.,,,,t4,1_4mtvra.z..
=I64IdIE
SLAVE-BXENDING.
A new proof the policy'of pest administra
tion has come 'under our notice, since Concluding
the above. We clip-from a daily paper.
- The editor of th . e Memphis Jean.) Appeal has
received a letter -from , Captain A: M. Jackson,
Secretary of the territory of New Make, under
the late administration, dated Santa Fe, February
Ist, from which we learn that the Legislative As
sembly haa just adjourned, and left unrepealed
the slave act. Captain. Jackson's letter says:
"This is better luck: than 1 expected at the
opening of the session: Tr suppose you are so
much engrossed with your own troubles that you
will regard this as of but slight importance. How
ever, I think the securing of New Mexico to the
Sonth, is au object worth an effort. If so' the
maintenance of our Slave act is an important
item.P - '
"HEAPINet%COAIS OF PM," ece.
Our readers cettainlyheard of the great
scarcity of foOd,'atiproaching to a famine, which
now exists in NOrthern Mississippi. Appeals`
have been made !sir assistance, and an agent has
been sent to Illinois on this errand. The man
ner in which he was received there, is a delight
ful interruption to the dreary discord of the past
few mouths, and is no truly a Christian mode of
treating those who'llave been breathing; out sen
timents of the deepest hostility, that we cannot
be surprised at the softening influence it has ex
erted on the MississipPians.
The Brandon (Miss.) Repubrican, says
"On our first page;will be found a letterfrom
Major Benjamin Hawkins, who is now in Illi
nois, buying corn 'from the citizens of Scott,
Smith, and Rankin counties. He says that he
can get the corn on, a credit, if the people can
raise the money to pay the freight. Major
Hawkins took with him a list of the poor of his
neighborhood, whomere unable to buy or pay
freight, and who.2,oo.eipompe/kd to starve un
lescassiStance Were endered them. 'From his
S
letter.it wiILAW-k" mak
I t ' itt
the citizens of Spring
field, the thome-of Lav
- tfinyhe contributed one
thousand bushels of orn, and that much more
will be contributed to. relieve the distress of
the poor in this seetitm.
"How humiliating," the same paper conti
nues, "to every Mississippian, to know diet, af
ter cursing and dendukeing the people =of the
North, as our citizens-have been in 'the habit of
denouncing. Ahem, we 'are compelled to turn
around and beg them for bread, and they in
turn are trying to kilt us with kindness, by
treating: our agent With the greatest . respect,
and not only giving hiin more than he asked for,
but paying for the inielieto put it in. It cer
tainly places us . in*,a-siery lumiliating position,
and we heard Major Hswkins abused for going
there and begging corni but we say he has done
I right, and thousands , af starving children, wi
-1 dows; and orphans wiT bless him for his efforts
to keep them froM perishing with hunger.
"Some narrow-mind:ed, contemptible dema
gogues say that the citizens of Illinois give us
corn because they feat us, and wish to get on
good terms with us again. We believe they are
actuated by purely Ohistian motives, and that
they-have purer and better' hearts than those
who make such charger:Pl
DuniELD's .FA.Or SERMON. Any
.
minister of our church Who desires a copy of this
discourse, and who will iand'his name and address
to the author, will have his wish gratified.
YELLOW SPRING COLLEGE. Much religious
interest is reported as eskting in this institution,
and in the churches genfrally of Kossuth, 'lowa,
where it is situated.
OUR HONE MISSIONARIES AND TURTR
FIELDS
We give below part of a letter, not designed
for publication, but which, as exhibiting the de
voted spirit of our Home Missionary brethren,
the hopeful, though hard character of their
work, and the importance of. what has already
been accomplished by our church for this inte
rest, ought not to be withheld.
EDITOR OF AMERMAN PRESBYTERIAN;—DEAF
BROTELER:—I.enclose two, dollars for my paper
another year. . . .
The church, in this place has been,very much
disheartened,—is engaged in building a parson
ageom an essential, to having • a'- minister, and
had voted to use their means the present year
for it, instead of, for preaching.. But great dif
ficulties arose. I came here six weeks ago.
. . . . The session had been engaged in
efforts to settle difficulties, with some happy
success. I have preached here since, telling
them they may give me what,they please. Now
a revival of religion has began. A few are be
ginning to hope, and others are anxious. lam
preaching six to eight times per week, attend
ing prayer meetings, visiting from house to
house, Szc.,—have proposed to preach for them
for $359, besides house rent, per year, allowing
to go towards it any donations that they can
make me. But they cannot raise, jt and build
Voir parsonage,,tugl without their parsonage
hnilt, they can find no place for, a minister to
live. They have asked' the presbytery to s aid
them-so% lint have not,•obtained an answer.
The Lord has;blessed, and is blessing my laborti
here. At'present I cannot leave this people, if
I get'nothing except my own board and horse
keeping, for my. labors. Help from. the A: H.
M. S. is out of the question..
Here:
Here is., a wide region for a minister to go
over. Some.of the church come seven miles to
meeting. The town is on the highest land in
the State, and contains the head waters for four
of itslarge rivers—consequently, the snow just
having gene off, the travelling is very bad.
Two of the families in which are recently hope
ful conversions, are eight miles apart. I can
not tell the number of anxious persons. I find
them in visits where did; not expect. The
church are Irma encouraged—have an earliest
Spirit of prayer; bat an absorbing, inquiry is,
how shall they sustain a 'minister? As for
other denoniinations, we are alone, except' a
Congregational Church,—house of worship two
miles. distant. If I should leave, other denomi
nations will come in, some are now ready to
gather the results of present labors and prayers.
This is the only Presbyterian Church between
and ;forty mijes, on one of the
most travelled-roads in the State. North, there
is no Presbyterian or Congregational Church,
between here and Jackson City. night in Joy
field: of labor here, if -I could cultivate properly
the whole of it, is ground enough and people
enough, that are not connected with any:other
Christiana denomination, for three -able,' self
supporting churches. Now is the time' for, this
church to do something, and. I. believe, that
with the help of $lOO, at this crisis,- it will sus
tain itself, and spread its influence over a large
portion of this destitute region.: It appears,like
a noble working church.:.
By
By the aid of the Church Erection Fund, we
have a house of worship, of good size, and well
finished, and we are beginning to experience:la
it agnigthinjorti&siffitlijirrCtite- Holy Ghost
and of fire. • , ' - .
I-make these statements, dear, brother, that
you may have some idea of this field of labor.
I do think that I shall be 'sustained here some
how, but I do not know how.
Yours in the Gospel,
For the American preabyterian.
LETTER BROX - MOUNT LEBANON.
NUMBER IX
Bbalndun, Mount Lebanon, Feb. 12, 1861
DEAR EDITOR :—His excellency, Fund Pasha,
soon after -my last communication was sent from
this place, returned to Beirut, having granted
amnesty 'and release to several hundreds, if . not
a thousand and more. It'is said that two or three
hundred Druses are still detained in custody at
Mokhtara, the residence of Said Bey Fumblat.
And yesterday we heard that 280 Drnses, under.
apprehension at Beirut, were also released.. These
favourable , events for the Druses appear to be gene
rally disapproved by the native Christians, how
ever sanctioned by the United Commissioners of
Turkey and Europe. The inherent animosity and
hatred of the so-called Christians, demand as a
punishment the life-blood of the Druses, in retalia
tion for the barbarities and massacres which their
own untiise proclamation of war had provoked.
Bat no man can be admitted in ordinary trials, as
a witness or judge of his own cause. And the
Christians of Syria ought •to be satisfied with the
same favor and mercy shown to their enemies,
which they would have desired for themselves, in
similar circumstances.
During the past twenty-five days, the winter,
coming down from the summits above, has raged'
in frequent snow storms around; and gone down
into the lower parts of the mountains, towards the :
sea. My thermometer ranges from 20° to 50° it
is novr itideed at 52°. The climate is, however,
more like spring than winter, and'one of the most
salubrious and, delightful in the world. While
these storms prevaikupon the mountains, the people
confine themselves to4heir dwellings, for the most
part, until their good friend, the sun in heaven,
melts away the snow, and enables them to resume
their former pursuits. Certainly all their habits
and manner of life are widely different from what
they are in the United States.
ROW SEOESpION APPEARS FROM MOUNT LEBANON;
In this foreign land, we lament to hear, that
abolition and disunion principles are operating to
separate and dissolve the golden links of our Ame-,
rican Union. God forbid the involuntary dissolu
tion of that Union, embracing, as it does, the best
government in the world, till the heavens are no
more. And let every American citizen who loves
his country, always prefer the whole to a part,
the United States to his own state governrnenb.
The declaration, "I am an American citizen, that
is, a citizen of the United States of America,"
now commands the respect and homage of the
world. As such a citizen, I have forgotten my
native Connecticut, and sworn to support the C0n...,
stitution of the United States, and most solemnly
protest and remonstrate against the dissolution of
our federal Union. If seceders confederate; I
must and will protest, and never acknowledge nor
admit our powerful nationality can be destroyed
by the secession of a sister State, or a number of
States; any more than it was created anew, when
ever twenty States, one after another came into
the Union of the thirteen United States Of Ame:.
Michigan, March 2, 1861
rica. Let all causes of grievance and secession be
removed; let there be no North, no South,'lto East,
no West, but the Union of all sections for "Inde
pendence and Liberty, now and forever, one and in
separable.'' All my sympathies are for all sections,
North, South, East, West, and Heaven. •
I owe an apology for the, above paragraph, and
for presutning so far upon your acceptance of the
Syrian Trumpets. Nine have already appeared.
And 'enclosing a letter from • Mrs. B. for your
juvenile readers, I remain,
Yours in Christian love,
WILLIAM A• BENTON
[Mrs. Benton's letter will be given in our next.
Our young readers and those fond of reading illus
trations of God's Providence in the work of mis
sions, may expect a rich treat. —Ens.]
WHAT OUR FRIENDS SAY.
From letters recently received at this office, we
venture to lay before our readers a number of ex
tracts. We have no fondness for self-glorification,
but we like to bring our readersinto communica
tion with each other on the subject. Says a car
respondent in the West:
"We are greatly pleased with the late tone of
your paper on the political matters. It does us
good like a medicine."
Says a New York pastor, in a letter containing
remittances with old and new names:
- "I have been delighted with the bearing of the
PRESBYTERIAN on matters involving-the state O
the nation. It is doing good."
Says a Subscriber, renewing -his subscription':
- 44 1. am much interested in the decided course
you, take , against the .traitorous a.nd, rebellious state
of ,things at, the Sonth • I consideeit outrageous
in the eitrenie.",
Says a clerical correspondent on the Hudson:
"I am greatly interested in the increasing
.ear
neatness and richness of your columns. I think
the last number of the AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN
was nearer to what a 4 religious newspaper' should
be, than any other religious paper .I have read:for
a year past!' •
From the Pittsburg Educator:
"The American Presbyterian, Philada., John
W. Mears, Editor, is an ever welcome exchange.
It is the organ of the Presbyterian Church (N.
S.) and is unflinching in its patriotic devotion to
the true interests of our common country."
MINISTERS DISCLOSING CONFESSIONS.
AN EXPLANATION.
In reply to correspondence, Dr. Cornell
wishes ns .to say, that his argument on the
above subject, recently published in , our co
lumns, was only accidentally applied: to the
esteemed brother whose name was mentioned,
(Dr. Patterson,) and that he freely withdraws
any seeming intention to fasten upon any indi
vidual the abstract wrong against which he ar
gued. In any further use of the article be may
make, he will drop all names.
EDUCATION FOR THE MINISTRY.
Perhaps the most important feature of the con
cert of prayer for colleges and institutions of
learning, recently held in our city churches, was
the carefully prepared statement presented by Rev.
Charles Brown, Secretary of the Philadelphia Edu
cation Society. We have already published a full
statistical view, prepared by the students of Union
SeMinary, in NeW York; but we 'gladly add the
statement of Mr. Brown, which he has handed to
t qleeily7offj yertiiiive elapsed einee the an
,
mial- Concert for 'Colleges was establiShed. It
originated with the American Edticatiort - Soeiety.
Candidates for the ministry under the care of the
Society, were in the habit.of holding weekly and
monthly meetings for prayer, at which they in
voked the Divine blessing on themselves—on the
friends of education—on the work of missions
throughout the world; and on all colleges, and
other institutions of learning, •in different parts of
the land. This, practice suggested, the idea of
establishing an annual concert of. prayer, which
was done in the year 1823. '
In praying for Colleges, we do not 'ask for spi
ritual blessirigiwithout using
the means to obtain
them. The means are found in the institutions
themselves, and consist mainly in the faithful ef
forts of Christian teachers. There is sciree, s ly a
college in the land, in which the'religious element
does not greatly preponderate in the Faculty. In
most of our higher institutions of learning, near
ly all, the Professors are active members of the
church, and many,of them ministers of the gos
pel:
The history of this concert of prayer shows that
its annual observance has frequently been fol-'
lowed immediatelywith revivaleof religion in col—
leges, and similar. institutions. Sdch benefits.have
resulted from it in by-gone years,
,that its'tnnual
return is hailed with pleasure by all - the friends of
religion at the seats of learning.
The following figures will indicate with tolera
ble accuracy, the number of students in this
country, connected with the institutions, speci
fied:—
In 45 Theo. Seminaries there are 1,872 students
In 124 Colleges " 13,541.' do.
In 39 Medical. Schools 44 5,241 do.
This army of more than twenty thousand young
men are well worthy the prayers of the Christian
community, especially as in a few years the most of
them, in all probability, will. be occupying posi
tions of the highest responsibility, in various parts
of this and other. lands.-
•
Reports from forty Colleges have been recently
received, in which it-is ehown that among less than
six thousand students, there are two thousand five
'hundred and seventy-six members of the church,
twelve hundred and seventy , of whom are preparing
to enter the ministry. If there is the same pro
portion of church members, and candidates for the,
ministry, in the colleges not reported, there must
be a total of it least -seven thousand church Mem- .
berg, of whom, about two thousand seven hundred
have the office of the ministry in view; to, which.
last number, add thirteen hundred and seventy-two
already in Theological Seminaries, and there will
be found a total of four thousand and seventy-two
candidates for the gospel ministry, pursuing their
stndies in the various colleges and seminaries
throughout the land. Among the number pre
paring for the ministry, there are about two hun
dred who design enteringloreign missionary fields,
but for . want, of sufficient data on this point, this
estimate may not be strictly correct.
Regret bas often been expressed that so large
a number of college students should be uncon
nected with the church. This is to be deplored
only on the principle that we should regret that all
men are not - Christians, for by comparing college
students, with the same number of young men in
any other class of society, it will be found, that
the number of the pious among the students,
greatly exceeds the number in any other classes.
As it regards eddeational interests, more par
ticularly related to our Presbyteries, in this 'city
and vicinity, it may be said that* present affairs
afford an encouraging aspect. About sixty stu
dents connected with the Philadelphia Education
Society„have received the pecuniary assistance
necessary to their studies, during the current,Year.
These candidates for the ministry are distributed
in four theological seminaries, ten colleges, and
eight academies. Within the last year, seasons of
unusual religious interest have been enjoyed in
several institutions , containing these candidates;
who, in their turn; highly appreciate the spiritual,
blessings conferred, and send their request that
they may be rrereemb.ered in our prayer.s. The
Philadelphia Education Society has not had better
opportunities, for usefulness for many years p ost,
than are now presented by the number and cha•
raster of its candidates."
THE EVANGELIZATION OP ITALY.
- The following extract of a letter from R ev . A,
McDougall; of Florence, Italy, in a late x,
York Observer, gives some deeply intcrestinr,
facts, upon the present accessibility of that cow l _
try to evangelical influences.
We may well pray that Protestant Christia ns
may have grace given them to improve the grand
opportunities of spreading the knowledge of the
truth in these long closed regions of Papal supr e .
macy and darkness.
The country north of Florence has for a yelr
past been traversed by colporteurs, but only th e
other day did the gratifying intelligence reach r
that a colportenr who had left us lately made hi,
way due south through the Papal States to Naples
safely, selling Bibles and books as he went along,
Thus, then, all Italy, from the Alps to the
straits of Messina, is open to the Gospel, excepti% ;
the city of Rome and the territory ,of Venitia, so
that you may form an idea of our responsibili ties and
the labor devolving upon us, with such a wide field
on which to sow broadcast the incorruptible seed
of the word.
Last. year the sale of
.books in Tuscany was be
yond every one!s expectations, and far exceeded
the expenses of colporteurs in Northern Italy. I
rejoice to inform you, what seems difficult to ex
plain, that the circulation of Bibles and religious
books of all kinds in Naples and Sicily has been
far more extraordinary than anything we have
been privileged to see in Central Italy.
I will not now trouble you with statistics, but
will only say that every box arriving in Naples
has been emptied of its contents in a few days, so
that, but for the enormous expenses of transport,
a profit would remain in favor of the publishers.
Indeed the dissemination of truth goes on so pros
peronsly that the Itomish camp is in agitation.
In times gone. by, the civil power was brought to
bear, and truth was imprisoned or banished.
Now the sanction of the law is happily given to
the preaching and publication of evangelical see
, timents. What, tlien, is left for the priests to do?
Nothing but to . take up the pen and enter the field
of controversy.
We are now in the very thick of this second phase
in Italy's religions history. What iz hopeful sign:
What but good can result ! Truth needs but a fair
field and a fearless discussion. From many a pul
pit in Florence,'Pisa, Leghorn and elsewhere, a
daily or weekly sermon is being preached, where
formerly nothing was said either by way of up
holding the papacy or of opposing Protestantism.
These discourses areiistened to and answered by
the Waldenisi'an or other evangelists, either through
the press which ' is gradually opening its columns
to such disCussions, or at their various reunions.
COMPLIMENTARY.—Zion's Herald, the Boston
organ of ihe M. E. Church, in concluding a
highly commendatory notice of the late Judge
Jones' excellent. Commentary on Matthew, says:
The author, we judge; was a New School Pres
byterian, though denominational peculiarities do
not largely appear in his notes, which are emi
nently evangelical and orthodox.
Judge Jones long held the office of ruling elder
in one of the churches of the other Iran& in this
MURAL AND RELIGIOUS QUOTATIONS nom
THE POETS, topically arranged. This is an in
dustrious_ and ; valuable compilation from no less
than six hurtdred authors,
,British, American,
German, Danish, Swedish, Russian, French, Spa
nish, Italian, Portuguese, Latin and Greek; of
Whose names a list is given with the dates of their
birth and death, • AMid-many true brilliants of
poetry, there are also net a few selections 'Which
good. taste would scarcely_ have admitted. Yet as
the objeet of the compiler was to illustrate sub
jects, it offen, doubtless, became necessary with
him, just as is the cue with compilers of hymn
books, to intrciduce quotations which have no other
recommendation besides aptness to the topic in
hand. The list of subjects is very full, and well
selected and arranged. We should judge the
book to lie, on the whole, a real addition to the
library apparatis of the sermonizer and lecturer.
It is : a strongly bound octavo of 338 pages, with
fine steel engravings, paper and printing being of
the very best. Published by CARIiroN & PORTER,
of New York, and for sale by .Perkenpine & Hig
gins, in this
The same house hive issued a very convenient
and handsome COMMON PLACE BOOK, whose mere
appearance invites and reconciles to the labor of
...making those extracts and references which are as
ialuable as, to most busy men, they are tedious and
buidensome to make. A host of literary men may
by qUoted as witnesses to -the utility of some such
method of classifying and rendering accessible the
knowledge, which otherwise would be retained only
by the slender' ties of memory. This is simply a
blank book of - 400‘quarto pages, with a space ruled
off "perpendicularly upon the outer edge of each
pain for the guiding wind 'of the quotation, and
an alphabetical index to_ contain these words with
the page on which they are found. We heartily
commend it to students seeking .to store up their
acquisitioni. For sale as above. '
Messrs. Carlton & Porter'S pamphlet on PAR.
KERISM, - contains three Able and. vigorous dis
courses; the first .on Parker's opinions and in
fluence, by Rev. W. F. Warren; the second, oa
his - Life-Work, (to overthrow the authority of the
Scriptures) by Rev. F. H. Newhall, and the third
on the character and career of Theodore Parker,
by Rev. Gilbert Haven, All of these sermons do
excellent service in exposing the radical errors and
dangerous tendencies of the teaching of the Ame
rican heresittreh, while they generously recognise
and • - applaud the good they find in their subject.
By the way, we think Dr. Warren's estimate of
De Wette's present influence in the theological
world is very much below the mark. How, with
any knowledge of the movements of mind in Ger
many, he could say, "De Wette has fallen into
complete oblivion" there, we-cannot imagine. Nor
do we think Dr. Sehaff's rendering of his poetry:
"lelt hab' ihn geschlichtet," by "I did
not gain the field," is a very happy attempt to
present the exact state of mind of the - author. He
means not to confess his life tiTailize, but his at
tempt to compose the contentious of the times.
" Binen Streit schlichtem," is a phrase meaning
to settle a dispute. De Wette laments that he
was unsuccessful in his attempts to settle the
speculative differences of his age.. For himself,
he claims somewhere in the same poem, that he
had retained! his faith, and it is the concurrent
testimony ; both of his _late writings and of his
friends and the people of Basle, where he ended
his clays, that
_his views grew more evangelical as
he !drew nearer the grave. Undoubtedly, a great
part of this gifted man's teachings is tainted with
grave and perilous error.
20,154
THE METHODIST ALMANAC, of 1861, contains,
besides the usual calendar, a large body of impor
tant, denominational statistics, among which the
educational, are very', remarkable. For sale by
Higgins tk; Perkenpine.,
THE
,NORTH BRITISH REVIEW FOR FEBRUARY,
(Scott; Atherican reprint, for sale by
W. B."Zeiber, NO. 106 S. Third street.) contaits
in eleven articles, a most entertaining variety of
treatises, among which we would select as of spe
cial interest, those' on.. Modern _Necromancy —3
pretty thorough exposure of Judge Edmonds' tuld
Robert Dale Otveit's recent volumes, Engineers and
pgineering, Which glances at the principal de
partments;-.great feats and leading men in this
wide field of human_ activity; Hessey's Bompton
Lecture,---un exposure of .the insufficiency of the
lectUrer's argument in behalf of obligations of the
Chiistian'Sitbbath; and 'Dr. Carlyle's Autobio
graphy.
Yarch 21,
EDITORS' TABLE
MAGAZINES AND PAMPYTTY,I'S.