126
'cutlet vangtliot.
TRuttorrokr, APRIL 4, 1461.
JOHN W. MEARS, EDITOR.
ASIOCIATXD WITH
ALBERT BARNES GEORGE DUFFIELD, JD
THOMAS BRA/NERD. JOHN JENKINS,
HENRY DARLING. THOMAS J. SHEPHERD.
EVIL CURIOSITY,
Our mother Eve was led into sin by a desire to
know good and evil: a desire which was rather
presumptuous than base in its character. To a
very sad and lamentable degree, her progeny are
curious to know evil only. It is one of the very
consequences of the fall that our moral natures are
unstrung, so that a far lower form of temptation
is sufficient to beguile us into sin. 'Open up to
man a view of the evil of his neighbor's character,
make a "hole in the wall," and offer to show him
the abominations of social life, and you have.
reached a deplorably weak point in his fallen na
ture; he will, in a vast multitude of instances, be
tray a shameful greediness for ouch knowledge.
Or is it not true that the staple of private con
versation about one's neighbors relates to their
faults? Or that the rumor of a fall from virtue
will excite a flutter of curiosity, far exceeding that
produced by news of a fresh development of good
ness in individual character? Or that the budget
of small scandal to be unfolded, is often the grand
attraction of , the social gathering? Or that a life
of goodness is expected to be dull, while the de
tails of a life of violence and wrong-doing are an
ticipated with an assurance that they will prove
interesting? Or that the great poet was not
giving vent to spleen, but uttering a great truth
explained by the perversion of our tastes and intel
lects, when he exclaimed,
I , The evil that men do lives after them.
The good is oft interred with their bones."
Alas for us! The times in which we live give
ample proof of the prevalence of this evil curiosity,
and of the respect paid to it, and the mercantile
uses to which it is turned, by the class that fur
nishes the daily supply of its demands. From the
paradise of ignorance, we have fallen into the
slough of the daily revelations of evil, which it
has become the great business of a laige part of
the press, to make broad enough, and deep enough,
and black enough, and tenacious enough, to gra
tify the most swinish propensities! Led on by this
evil curiosity at first, the press now re-acts upon,
and fearfully stimulates it to fresh eagerness, and
to a readiness for deeper disclosures of human guilt.
Too often the daily press has suffered itself to be
come the very drain of social impurities; the
channel to convey their pestiferous influences into
the sacred precincts of home, and to spread blight
and devastation among the precious plants of the
household. What a fearful dereliction to its high
calling and responsibility I What an inversion of
'the healthful functions it might, and in some no
ble, exceptional instances does, fulfil. Its high
charge is properly to resist the baser proclivities
of our nature; to reform the swinish tastes of the
multitude; to stimulate the healthful desires after
a knowledge of the useful, the good, the true; to
hold up the attractive aspects of virtue; and as for
vice, if it cannot be painted of so hideous a mien
as to ensure the horror and rejection of all who
behold it, without leaving the trail of the serpent
behind it in the reader's mind, then let its exhi
bition form no part of the business of the journal.
But as for those prints who fairly gloat over fresh
developments of vice, and seem to take a worse
than brutish delight in expatiating on their de
tails; and who consider it a necessary mark of en
terprise, and a feature of superiority to have every
extraordinary case of delinquency promptly photo
graphed in their columns, with a careful preserva
tion of every picturesque feature; they have a tre
mendous account to render to the Creator of those
souls they are destroying, and to the author of
that instrument of moral power which they are so
fearfully perverting. We know not which to
blame most; the unsparing disseminators of this
knowledge of evil, who coolly make merchandise
of the crimes and the base appetites of their fel
lows; or the multitudes whose well-known greedi
ness for such news, makes them sure of a remune
rating return for the most liberal outlay in obtain
ing it.
Let us cheek this evil curiosity, worse than mo
ther Eve's, which brought on our full; let us eat
only that side of the apple—now that it is plucked
—which brings knowledge of good. Let us culti
vate pure tastes and an ennobling curiosity. Let
us seek to know the wisdom of God in a mystery.
Let us delve amid the uosearchable riches of
Christ.
PHILADELPHIA EDUCATION SOCIETY.
The annual meeting of this society, was held on
Wednesday of last week. Prom the report of the
Directors, we learn that increasing usefulness
marked its progress through the last year; and
that at no previous period in its history were the
opportunities for doing good more favorable than
at the present.
From the number and character of the candi
dates now under their care, there is reason to be
lieve that there will be a future accession to the
ministry, which will amply repay the churches for
all they have contributed toward the education
of the young men. / Sixth -one received assistance
during the past year. The receipts of the society
from all sources, were seven thousand and three
dollars and pinery-three cents;—expenditures,
six thousand five hundred and fifty nine dollars
and ninety-eight cents.
The annual report is soon to be published in
full, when we may make further extracts from its
pages.
ale following officers were elected for the en
suing year
President—Ambrose White; Vice Presidente
—John A. Brown, Hon. Wm. Darling. Corre
'fowling 'Secretary—Rev. Charles Brown. Trea.
surer—William Purves. Audimr--Clem. Ting
ley. Directurs.—Rev. Thos. Brainerd, D. D.;
Rev. Ai Converse, D. D.; Rev. John Jenkins,
D. D '
~• Be,; David Malin, D. D.; Rev. Robert
Adair; Rev. * Thos. J. Shepherd; Rev. John Pat
ton, D. D.; .Rev- J. Helffenstein, D. D.; Rev. Ed.
B. Bruen; Rev. E. E. Adams; S. H. Perkins,
Esq.; Alexander Fullerton; Joseph H. Dulles;
Benedict D. Stewart; Archibald M'Elroy; A. S.
Naudain; Alexander Whilldin; John Sparhawk;
J. S. Kneedler; 'Wm. E. Tenbrook; Henry J.
Williams, Esq.; George W. Sio;ions; James S.
Earle; J. C. Chance.
Tun VENTILATING APPARATUS so favorably
montioned. by Dr. Cornell on our first page, is the
work of Mr. Joseph Leeds No. 505 Chestnut St.
r
GONE TO ROME.
We hope our readers will not be astonished or
grieved over-much, when wd tell them that a mi
nister of high standing in our church has gone to
Rome—as, indeed, was natural, since it was from
Rome he came. The ties of old associations are
powerful, and can never be wholly effaced by new
ones. Years may pass by, yet late in life they
will be found asserting their force, and leading
the individuate retrace steps taken in early years,
and to make long pilgrimages with the spirit of a
devotee.
We are speaking, not of the Italian, but of the
American Rome—the New York village, to which
Mr. Barnes turns with the deep interest and affec
tion of a native, and whither he has recently bent
his steps, to gain that refreshment to a study-wea
ried mind and body, that flows so delightfully from
scenes separated from the strife and turmoil of
manhood, and interwoven with the lighter and
sweeter associations of early life. While he is
thus at a distance, and unsuspicious of any such
purpose on our part, we may express the great de
greo of
,interest with which we follow him, in
thoUght, upon that visit. We cannot but call to
mind what he was when he first left that village,
an unknown, untried youth; all unconscious and,
as we are strongly inclined to believe, unambitious
of the distinguished, honorable, and useful posi
tion before him. Unconscious, too, doubtless he
was—or he might well have shrunk back from the
prospect—of the conflicts,. trials,. and persecutions
of which he was to be the object; and of the con
spicuous part he was to perform in one of the most
needful and righteous, but most painful, passages
in the history of successful resistance to ecclesias
tical usurpation and the intolerance of dogmatism;
these things the youth of gentle spirit could not
have ventured to imagine. Nor that long career
of steady, quiet and courageous, persistence in the
chosen path of right; nor that wide and scarcely
paralleled success as a popular commentator and
religious writer that awaited him, and that bids
fair to embalm his memory in the minds of the
Christian masses, when the nudes of his detrac
tors are buried amid the cobwebs of
e unvisited al
coves, or are mentioned as the symbols of an in
tolerance that thrust itself into the church long
after its time had gone by.
We do know, in a general way, how he felt, and
what was his position, on going forth from his
home to grapple with the world. He has given
us, in a few sentences in his "Life at Three Score,"
some means of judging of the youth going forth
from his father's roof. ne'says:
"I began life 'with no wealth,.and with no pa
tronage from powerful friends. I was blessed with i
virtuous and industrious parents, and entered on
my course with the advantage which was to be de
rived from their counsels and example. I was
dependent on my own efforts. . . I know,
indeed, what it is for a young man to weep when
be starts out alone to engage in the great struggle
of life. . . I came here a younc , man, with
but little experience, with no personal acquaint
ance with the manners and habits of a great city,
and with no such reputation as to make success
certain."
This was the manner of his setting out; other
thoughts must occupy him on his return. The
Rome of his boyhood has changed, we presume,
but little; but the man of sixty who revisits it,
comes back freighted with a store of no common
experiences, trained by no common discipline, the
centre of regard and affection of no common kind
in the hearts of hundreds of thousands; and if of
hostility too, a hostility amid which his character
has but risen in true dignity, the possessor of an
honorably acquired reputation, which is imbittered
by no one's envy, the unaspiring, yet tacitly ad
mitted leader of a denomination, among whose of
teers, of older or later generations, there is not,
we verily believe, a spark of jealousy or rivalry of
his position.
God grant him a safe return, and prolong his
days of usefulness among us many years.
EDITORIAL. JOTTINGS.
THE CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE, a Baptist organ of
this city, is very much exercised at the coldness
shown to Mr. Guinness during his recent visit to
Philadelphia, by the Pedo-Baptist "Union" men.
Whatever be the case with others, the mere fact
of Mr. G's. immersion, is not the cause of any,
coldness felt in this quarter. It is because of his
immersion by a Separatist, Lord Congleton, and
his quasi connection with a body of men whose
very unsectarianism has, like Quakerism, taken
the form of antagonism to all church organization
and church order. Did not the fact of submission
to immersion at the hands of a "brother," and of
union by marriage with a lady-preacher of that
body, who, as his wife, conducts religious services,
and has just issued an elaborate and earnest de
fence of the brethren, make Mr. G. partaker of
their destructive principles? We retort on the
Chronicle the question whether the - mere fact of
his immersion has not been suffered to atone'for
the grievous wrong of his example and that of his
wife—whether our Baptist brethren, in recog
nising Mr. G., have not inflicted upon themselves,
and upon all bodies who believe in the great im
portance and Scriptural warrant of chtirch organi
zation, a
_serious woundmerely for the sake of
the eclat which the immersion of Mr. Guinness
would give to that rite? In the name of Scrip
tural church-order, and of decency in the obser
vance of the sacraments of the church, we protest
against the recognition of thjs new-fangled Qua
kerism by the evangelical churches of our. country.
THE CHA MPIONS OF INDEPENDENCY have great
reason to be annoyed at the developments pre
sented by the chronic troubles, in the church of
the Puritans. A week ago last Friday, these
troubles, after a temporary period of quiet, broke
out with all their old violence; 'and the tyranny
of a majority from whom there is no appeal, was
exhibited in the summary suspension of half a do
zen members who had scarcely a chance to be
heard in self-defence, and who, so far as we can
learn, had been subjected to no preliminary forms
of trial. Their offence was differing from their
pastor on the question of ,slavery, and on the me
thods he is now pursuing to raise funds for the
support of the church. There is said to be a ske
leton in every house. Perhaps there is one in al
most every church organization. The church of
the Puritana, - is the skeleton in the Congrega
tional House.
PROF. JOSIAH W. Gins, of the department of
sacred literature in Yale Theological Seminary, is
dead. He was a man of profound and varied
learning, familiar with the great advances made
in his department by continental scholars; and he
freely admitted their value; yet, while candidly
acknowledging the existence of difficulties not yet
solved, he was never carried away by the false
and pretentious assumptions of the rationalist
school, whose rise, culmination, and decay, ho saw
during the forty years of his career as a teacher in
those branches. His calm blue eye was an index
to the unpresnming modesty and gentleness.of his
character. His students, among whom We are,
mttitifl ttobgttrian and 14 entott grangriigit,
thankful to have been, have impressed upon their
memories an image of devotedness to science, of
unwavering fidelity and impartiality in the inves
tigation of, truth, of comprehensiveness of spirit,
of magnanimity, candor, and the utter absence of
prejudice, which we doubt whether we have seen
equalled since we left the scene of his valued in
struetions. He _just yassed the bound of three
score and ten.- * 'His 'works' on the *Hebrew lan
guage, jssued)ong ago, have been superseded; but
their merit was freely acknowledged at the time
of their isaue.
Enrrons or RELIGIOUS. JOURNALS in the
South, no doubt regard themselves as included in
the general claim for superior refinement of man
ners, and for high-toned and chivalrous behaviour
so extensively made in behalf of the Southern
people. •
If so, undoubtedly, they should exhibit these
qualities in their conduct towards such cotempora
ry journals as they see fit to notice in their co
lumns, especially when they undertake to contro
vert or to deny their position& If instead of ar
gument, or dignified, though severe, denial, they
flout their self-chosen antagonist, and attempt to
single one out of seven editor& and make him an
object of personal reproach; as has been done once
and again, we are sorry to say, by the North Ca
rolina Presbyterian, in reference to ,this paper;
we submit that in such a case, the chivalry, the
refinement, the high-toned and gentlemanly spirit
of th'e South have found a most unfortunate mode
of expression.
EASTER IN THE EAST.
The festivities of Easter week, as celebrated by
Oriental Christians, are of so interesting a cha
racter, that a brief description of them may not be
out of place; particularly since many religious
denominations at home . are now observing this
time-honored anniversary.
All Eastern Christians religiously adhere
to the old style, or Julian Calendar; and dogmati
cally ignore the Gregorian computation as a po
pish deride. Indeed, so strong a bold has this
chronological prejudice on their minds, that an
ciently the Maronites, and . more recently, some
Bulgarian communities resolutely refused to .ae
knowledge the supremacy of the Pope, unless an
express dispensation was granted them to preserve
inviolate their old dates.
Hence let us on Saturday night, the 13th Inst.,
introduce the reader into the interior of the prin.
cipal Greek Church of Constantinople. The
studied gloom of a few flickering lights, barely al
lows us to discern the tinselled ornaments,> and
the legion of saints who decorate the walls; whose
faces are painted in colors on wood, but whose
garments and haloes of glory glitter with solid gold
and silver. Over the, principal entrance,a wretched
daub, teeming with spits and caldrons of sulphur,
and which every tyro in the art would scorn to
father, depicts the horrors of the Judgment Day,
The church fills rapidly with worshippers, or
spectators like ourselvesk the body, the aisles, the
galleries, nay, even temporary platforms' are alive
with a multitude of ladies and gentlemen in ball
costume; or of the lower classes dressed out in
their very best; each holding an unlighted taper.
They tell their beads, Aiss the_well-worn feet of
patron saints, mutter a prayer, discuss the last
fashion, or make appointments for:the approach
ing holidays, all at a breath. Precisely at mid
night a priest, splendidly robed, draws aside the
screen of : the sanctuary, and reveals a sepulchre
purporting to be that of our Saviour. With re
verential awe, he lifts the lid, but starts back ex
clainiing in theatrical tones of surprise, " He'is
not here." An interval of silence, intensified by
the previous murmur of devotion, is broken only
by the muffled sound of shuffling of feet, as
the priests in precession pretend to search in
every nook and corner for the body of our Lord.
A mitred Bishop now ascends the pulpit, with a
lighted taper, and, while every sound is hushed,
screams out triumphantly "Christ is risen, He's
risen indeed."
The effect is electric; of the vast congregation,
those in the immediate vicinity of the pulpit repeat
the words; their neighbors eagerly catch up the re
frain, until transmitted from lip to lip, the dome and
vaulted roof echoes, and re-echoes with "Christ is
risen. He is risen indeed." Some shout out the
glad tidings with wild and frantic gestures; others
repeat them mechanically, with tears of penitence
trickling ' down their furrowed cheeks; but high
above; the din may be distinguished the shrill
voices of children, piping these magic words.
Now convulsive surges of this living sea sway
and fro; roll np 'in waves, and beat against the
pulpit; each arm struggling to light its taper
from direct contactwith the bishop's holy flame,
, .
before its virtue is diluted by transmission. The
candles of distant deiotees are let down from the
galleries by knotted handkerchiefs; • others reach
out long poles, on the end of which are fastened
their tapers. Lay-brothers, perched On ladders,
apply the heaven-born flame to chandeliers, to os
cillating lamps and torches, until the church is
bathed in a noon-tide , of tallow; the floor seems
sprinkled with luminous dots, the galleries a mo
saic of scintillations.
The explOsion of fire arms; the shrieks of wo
men crushed in the oiultant press; the mutual
embrace of acquaintances; the suffocating clouds
of incense; filthy streams of tallow guttering - into
impending stalactites, or dropping into stalagmites
on the greasy pavement; the rude guards with
fixed bayonets, jostling and hustling their infidel
subjects; the sweltering heat and close attno ;
sphere; the mingled shouts and screams; women
fainting in every direction, and men dragged out
insensible; the oppressive smoke of candles, and
the breath of devotees, redolent with the erlic of
Lent, combine to urge our escape into the fresh air.
Our exit is not the work of a moment; we have
to stem the tide of the eager multitude; but by
dint of adroit management of our elbows, necelera 7
ted by fears of premature explosions, or the bursting
of fire-arms; we gain the main entrance ; glad
once more to breathe heaven's pure air, free from
the religious scent, and the abominable odor -of
Eastern sanctity.
Alas! for those degenerate churches: this is
not an exaggerated description of the Roman Sa
turnalia, but a faithful sketch of the manner. in
which a great Christian Anniversary is celebrated
in the nineteenth century. But we have not done
yet._ Including -pabbath three days are devoted
to one protracted feast, or, more properly speaking,
revel. , Every Greek and Armenian lays aside his
work day rags, and dresses for once in "a complete
new suit; and the entire native population resort
to the numerous cemeteries to dance on the sods
of their ancestors. The absence of public squares
necessitates this singular custom, not the laudable
desire of inculcating a great moral lesson on the
instability of life. Swings of every form and de
scription, see-saws, panoramas, serpent-eaters, cir
cuses, jugglers, dancing bears and monkeys,
drinking and eating booths, gambling with stakes
of eggs emblematically dyed red, afford'amusement
to this religious community.
Dancing is the order of the day; porters of giant
girth of limb, with a ludicrous expression of so
lemnity on their weather-beaten faces, lock arms
and balance themselves on their elephantine toes
to the sound of a hiss-drum and fife, the latter
screeching out a universal tune, which, including
variations, enibraces .the -rich' compass of three
notes and an accidental. Their more lively neigh
hors, the Greeks, crook little fingers and trip
through the intricieiesl of the Romaika. Candor
compels us to say, that this classic dance, celebra
ted in song 'and story, mainly consists of a great
exhibition of pocket-handkerchiefs, 'and of such
unearthly yells as would suggest an inroad of Ca
manches to the inhabitants of' our frontier settle
ments. Thißulgarian bag-pipes accompany their
national dance, the chief peculiarity of which lies
in dashing its votaries skull-caps on the , ground,
and catching them on the rebound.
A`-universal rejuvenescence, a boisterous re
turn to childhood become universal. Seniors rival
the terpsichorean recklessness of their juniors. A
reverend priest may, without scandal, take delight
in the oscillations of a swing; whilst tin to one, a
couple of monks are arctic and antarctic to one
another on that see-saw. A time-honored custom
of being weighed is: religiously observed; and half
a cent to the owner of a steel-yard determines that
important question.F- Prisoners, whose crimes are
not very ilagrint,b,iprocuring bail for their re
appearance, can . usnally obtain 'three days of li
berty, provided 'the "teari of relatives melt .the
plaintiff into a consent. ; Whilst on" the other
hand, the tumults and "qtrarrels arising from
drunken license" fill the station-houses with new
victims.
A full week elapses before the public settle
down quietly to their former routine of business,
and every one is glad atithe, termination of these
festivities. Custom-houses have been , closed, for
the simple reason, that not a porter can be, hired
for love or money to touch an artiele of freight.
For the same reason travellers must remain per'
force or leave their - baggage' behind them; as for
house moving, the idea is too preposteroui to be
entertained. A New Yorker might as well attempt
to transact that buifness on the 4th of July, which
is usually limited to the first of May.
Thus" do corrupt Eastern Churches celebrate
the resurrection of our Saviour. Is it reasonable
to expect that the MohaMmedan - will exchange
the more solemn rites
,of his faith, for the puerile
extravar , ancies of Carnival or the debaucheries of
the Easter holidays? If our puritan forefathers
witnessed a tithe of such religious mockeries, 'no
wonder 'they set their faces sternly against every
ecclesiastical anniversary, which could degenerato
into drunken revels, or a gross theatrical farce.
REV. CYRUS B. ROSENRRANS.
We are SorrY to hear of the death of this faith
ful and devoted servant of Christ .Without any
personal knowledge of theleceaSed, we yet felt an
interest in ;him at this office as a snbscriber prompt
and faithful his payments.. He did. not die in
.
debt for his paper. Only a fey weeks before-his
decease he wrote, renewing his subscription, en-
Closing the pay, and admonishing us that this
would be the last extract, a notice from the
. .
Presbyterian, Recorder:
•
"This sad event occurred at Columbus Wis.,
on the Bth of= February, 1861. His disease was
consumption, aggravated, if not occasioned, by the
exposure and; fatigue .endnred in . the prosecution
of his missionary labors among the destitute:
Brother Itosenkrans was pre-eminently a man of
faith and prayer, rich in the confidence and love
of all his brethren. 'He was a man of excellent
judgment, of enlarged views and sympathies, deep
ly attached to the faith and order of our own be
loved church, yet
,eminently catholic in spirit and
in effort. For about a score of years, he acted the
part of a pioneer missionary in Wisconsin, and
under his culturing hand the wilderness was sub
dued, and the desert made to, blossom as the rose.
Early in his ministerial life he turned away from
inviting prospects at the East, and consecrated
himself to the service of God in missionary la=
bon; and from his chosen -path he never shrank
nor turned aside. Churches were planted, Sab
bath schools built up, and souls saved through the
influence of his labors. He entered upon his. la
bors at Columbus in 1848, organizing the first
Evangelical Church_ in that region of. country.
For a. period of ten years in that field he filled the
position of pastor most; acceptably and usefully.
When obliged by ill-health to relinquish this
charge, he yet loD,ged to preach the. gospel, and
taxed himself muck beyond his strength in efforts
to supply destitute neighborhoods in the vicinitY,
and only ceased from Ogee efforts a few months
prior to his death, when ompelled by increasing
weakness so to do."
SYSTEM IN BENEVOLENCE.
There is no one subject that, more pressingly
demands attention' in our churches, than that of
,
BYETEM IN BENEVOLENCE. As a stimulus to the
consideration of this topic, we give an article from
our Chicago neighbor, The Presbyterian Recorder.
We might suggest some modifieatiens of the plan,
and may do so hereafter; but, for the present, con
tent ourselves with the thouc , hts of the Recorder.
A. plan of some kind we ought all to have to go
upon. -
, Noiv that our churches are likely to enjoy
rest from the agitations of past years, the ques
tion of uniformity and concert of action in our
benevolent =operations is-of great
,practical irate
rest:
~
Some uniform system is. desirable, and the ob
jects for which we• wish mainly - to labor are now
so well defined, that we venture to suggest for
consideration till tbe meeting of. the General As
setnblyi the: following objects and order, in the
hope' that something like a schedule of collection
may be agreed upon.
Ordinarily,.Six general collections are enough to
'be taken in the year. -- So far as we are able to
judge frOm our stand-point,' the nearest approxi
mation, to a uniform system which might perhaps
be quite generally'adopted, and give satisfaction
and prove'efficient, would embrace,
AatratoAN'BrßLE SOCIETY. On the
Bible work vre are a unit,, and look to both Home
and Foreign supply. Give it January and Feb
ruary._
2'..EurrcAmorr. .For the Education of candi
dates-for the ministry we look mainly to our Com
mittee under the general arrangement. or to our
local organizations; and in either case funds must
be raised. Funds for libraries, endowments, &c.,
should come under this head. Say MarCh and
April for Education.
3. PUBLICATION CAUSE. ``
In this departnient
we 'h . ave need to look to theproper support of our
Assembly's Committee, and to purchase their
issues for local use. , And then We have the Tract
work`and Missionary Col portage to promote at home
and abroad, through-the old 'rand efficient agency
of the American Tract Society, in which we have
as large aninterest as anyone denomination. For
this give May and June.
4. SABBATH SOHOOLS.' Ia this • work our
churches have large local expenses to meet, and
then find abundant occasion' to aid in the Mission
Work of the American*Sunday School Union.
We suggest for that object July and August.
5. Domvsno,Mrssione. On this question we
are fast becoming of one mind, and with a will to
work we need the help of united action and gene
ral sympathy. Concert,of 'action. would tend to pro
mote both these. September and October.
S. FOREIGN MISSIONS. We have but one chan
nel of co-operation in this werk, and the American
Board requires all the churches can poesibly do
for it in November and December.
This presents a prominent object for each two
months of the year, and they are so arranged as
to give the objects manding the largest amounts
the most favorable Part of the busiinss seison.
Adopt some order - and system for the whole
Church, such as is now in successful use in many
separate churches, and each object may then be
pressed upon the attention of all the churches by
those in special charge, through the pastors, and
the best, the fullest and most intelligent develop
ment of our benevolence be secured.
It seems to us the matter of adjustment is not
so diffi.cult that it cannot be reached soon, and
we make these suggestions in the hope that
by the time of the meeting of the Assembly at Syra
cuse, there may be a sufficient comparison of
.thought, and of the requirements in different pans
of the church, to , warrant a definite recommenda
tion by the Assembly.
ARISING TO BUILD.,
We thankfully record the fact that conclusive
measures have, during the last week, ,been taken
for the erection of another city church edifice, of
the first class, by one, of the new orga.nizations of
OUT body. THE NORTH BROAD STREET Gannett,
at a full meeting of the congregation held on Fri
day evening last, the proceedings of which were
characterized by a delightful spirit of harmony and
hopeful energy, found itself in a position to in
struct the Building Committee 'to close the con
tract, l and proceed at once with the erection of the
proposed 'church. 'edifice, 'on the N. E. corner. of
Broad and Green streets. This is the most im
portant and, hopeful movement which has been
made by our church in 'this city for nearly ten
years; say, since the erection of Calvary Church:
The location is . admirable, and, with the divine
blessing, cannot : fail to become the centre of a
large and important church organization. The
elements•already gathered around its able, active,
and successful pastor, Rev. , E. E—Adams, are of
the most promising character. , The erection of a
building has become , a necessity for the . audiences
who throng : . the Commissioners' Hall, Thirteenth
and Spring Garden streets, which was but lately
exchangedfor an apartment, then found too strait
for the people; and we mayconfinently expect a
similar enlargement when the increased accommo
dations to be, furnished by the now . building are
enjoyed:
Simple justice requires us to give a ,large part
of the credit of this enterprise to that firm and
liberal friend of our church, Mr. M. W. Baldwin,
whose large heart has been shown in,nothing more
clearly, than in the substantial encouragement he
has given to North Broad Street Church, from its
very commencement to the present time. It is
due also to the devoted and laborious pastor, who
undertook this matter while a comparative stranger
to the, brethren; to say that both his pulpit minis
trations and'his pastoral activity are regarded with
increased satisfaction by the people among whom
he 'ahem. . •.• „
In our next, or as soon after as the arrange
ments can be made, we propose to give a- view of
the building, with a sermon
,by the pastor.
CITY CHURCHES
The ingathering in KENSINGTON Ormactr, lest
Sabbath, 'is even greater than was anticipated
Seventy-eight were admitted on professien, and
nine by certificate, making eighty-seven in all:
These were -of 'all:- ages; chiefly from fifteen to
thirty years, orthereaboutS. Twenty-six of theni
were baptized. - Rev. J: IWLeod assisted in the
Services. We rejoice 'with the pastor, Rev. W.
T. Eva, and the brethren of this flourishing
chureh. The revival- spirit which characterized
old:Kensington , during the pastorate of the be
loved Chandler, findsa careful and zealous nou:
risher in his successor. The mantle of Elijah has
fallen on Elisha. The God of Elijah be with him
and his people!
THE UNITED PRAYEIL MEETING of our churches
will not be held next' week, on account of the
meeting; of Presbyteries taking place on Tuesday.
On Tuesday of the week following, it will be held
in Pine. Street Church.
THE - 221:$ OF FEBRUARY AT TURK'S 'ELAND.-
We learn from the United State.s Consul, Rev. A.
G-. Carothers, that Washington's Birthday was
dilly celebrated at the Consulate, and that due no
tiee was paid it by the Governor of the island and
other representatives of foreign powers.
RECENT REVIEWS AND NAGAZINES.
The BOSTON itEvmw, published every two
months in that city, is the organ of the strongly
conservative branch of the orthodox Congregational
churches in New England.. Among its published
list of Writers, we find the names of Rev. Jos. Tracy,
D. D., S. M. Worcester, D. D., Prof.'Pond, Rev:
N. Adams, D. D., Ac., &c. Its principal object;
as set forth in the prospectus, is to respond to "in
extensive and increasing demand for. a New Eng
land organ of the Puritan Theology." Calvin, the
Westminster divines, and Edwards, are properly
held up as furnishing the best human symbols of
Christian doctrine.
There certainly have occurred some startling
doctrinal developments among the so-called ()Abe l .
dox churches of New England in very recent times,
pointing possibly to such an extensive defection
from the truth as calls for vigorous measures from
its friends in that'quarter. There can be no no,
bler, purpose than that which seems to animate
these brethren. But our stiff and unbending con
servatives in doctrine; our high orthodox men, to
whose minds almost every feature in the scheme
of doctrine is projected to the foreground; to whom
all truths occupy nearly the same place of impor
tance; who, by their tenacious adherence to tra
ditional modes of explanation,. and human expedi
ents for filling up the lacunas of revelation, leave
us often, in painful uncertainty as to their relative
estimates of the traditiens of men and the inspired
word;--these men, and we say it with the pro
foundest respect for their motives and their
lities, do quite as ranch harm by repelling and
prejudicing one class of minds as they do.good in
confirming the faith of others.
• So far as we have examined this periodical, we
find much in it, and expect to find
_much in it,
commanding our entire sympathy. But its avowed
purpose in so many words of "heresy-hunting,"
its desire "to express grief, anxiety and alarm,"
and the general tone of its articles which seem to
endorse all -the extreme views of the older teach
ers of Calvinism, repel our sympathies and create
the ; fear lest it should prove mischievous in render
ing Calvinism still more of a stumbling-block to
many of;the best minds of New Enaland in turn
ing them unbelievingly from the Scriptures, in
which, indeed; all the essential features ?f Calvin
ism are plainly written, or in perverti_ng them to
the different forms of Arminianistn, Methodist and
Episcopal, ,which are invading New England like
a flood. "
The first article in the lumber for March is,
Theology, Old and New. The re-action of the
mind from the stern and one-sided presentation of
truth among the New England ministry of earlier
times leading to Arminian and Unitarian develop
ments, to us appears quite natural, and we throw
part of the blame for it upon the inconsiderate and
intellictual methods of those teachers. But with
the writer it is nothing but =the native heretical
tendencies of the unregenerated or partially sanc
tified mind, and he knows no better cure or pre
ventive for it than a return to those high ground's
of doctrine. Among "the present signs of a, new
and divisive Theology," the writer enumerates
"unwillingness to make or allow of faithful exami
nation" into the present supposed doctrinal de
fection; the testimony of men like T. Start King
to the spread of "liberal" opinions in the." sacri
ficial" churches; the promotion of a minister to a
Theological professorship straightway after - he has
boldly assaulted, and claimed to have overthrown,
the positions of Edwards on the Will; two new
Congregational papers forced into being at vast
expense and sacrifice; a general relaxing of the
tone of teaching from the Professor's chair, the
pulpit and the press followed .by ignor•ance among
the people of the fundamental doctrines, and ridi
cule east upon the themes of the Shorter Cate
chism by "Young America:" In regard to this
entire Jeremiad, we may say that while there is
doubtless room for. complaint of laxity in doctrine
in New England, much of what is complained of
is comparatively insignificant, and much of what
would be significant if true, is, in our opinion, un
founded. As to the Shorter Catechism, it is only
last week that we noticed the immense sale of
Rev. Mr. Baker's work on the Catechism, ..which
is claimed to have reached two hundred and ten
thousand copies, of which, doubtless, the publish
er could tell us New England took her full share.
The truth is, New England seems to need . the
kind, of preaching of which there is still a great
'deal in her pulpits—the preaching of such Theo
legy, as that of Dwight, combined with the, best
features, in that of Edwards; a true, though; libe
ral and Scriptural Calvinism, together with a closer
approximation to the Presbyterian form of govern
ment; in short, American Presbyterianism--which
was formed from a combination of the best features
of the Scottish and New England systems, and
which is now most, nearly represented by the body
to which we belong.
We designed to say more on the other articles. The
one on Future Pun ishment, summons us to retain all
the ,peculiar tone of the views of Edwards and Cal
, yin on that subject. ' That. on the Theology of the
Plymouth Pulpit, subjects the doctrinal character
of Mr. Beecher's published sermons to a searching
analysis, which we confess they are ill
. calculated
to bear. That on Fear as a Christian Motive,
objects, wisely enough, to the attempt to make all
the world right by a system of general coaxing,
and pleads for an "outspoken deliverance of -the
alarming dbetrines of our faith." The Christian
character of Mrs. Browning's poetry is fully and
gladly recognised in an article chiefly made up of
extracts from her Drama of E xile. . Messrs. Mar
den of this city, are agents for the Review.
THE CHURCH MONTHLY is the new organ of the
High Churchmen, of Boston, and has, perhaps, a
closer connection, by the "logic of events," with
the Review just mentioned, than appears on the
surface. We have no hesitation in classing it, and
the movement it represents, as, in part, a re-action
from just such teachings as are insisted _upon in
the Review. Its editors are Rev. Geo. M. Ran
dall, D. D., and F. D. Huntington D. D., the let
ter well known'as, until recently, a leading 'Unita
rian divine and Professor in _Harvard University,
bUt now rector of Emanuel Church, a new and
flourishing organization which was gathered around
him, soon after he entered the Episcopal body.
In such competent hands, it would be impossi
ble for the Church Monthly to hold a second-rate
position in its own church literature, or in deno
minational literature generally. The number for
March gives ample, evidence of the ability of its
conductors. Its tone is respectfully but decidedly
High Church, and the assumptions of that party
are not wanting; even from the first article on the
Church, and the People. There is a very comfort
able,-ostrich-like oblivion to the discords in the
Episcopal denomination, and to the monstrous in
fidel developments now coming to light , in the
Church of the mother country, while the writer
discusses the elements of dissolution, the laxities
and discontents which have their origin in Inde
pendency, Voluntaryism and Dissent, and compla
cently asserts that order and.health can be restored
only, through his own form of Church-worship and
Church-life.
Now we take no delight in detecting, in bodies
of Christians whom we cheerfully .recognise as
such, those evidences of imperfection presented by
a wide and seemingly irreconcilable diversity of
views on points of almost. the highest importance;
and we will allow no one to be, before us ,in deep
and heartfelt sorrow and alarm at the entrance of
the views of Strauss and Baur into the high seats
of learning, the rectories and the. schools of the
Church of England, and the halting manner in
which rampant and destructive heresy is treated
by the authorities of that church; but when its re
presentative in_ this country, or rather when a
party in the Episcopal Church of this country pro
poses_ its own organization as the sovereign cure
for our disorders, we who see the would-be physi
cians suffering under as great, if not greater, ma
ladies than ourselves, find a certain proverbial
form of •rejection of the proposed remedies rising
to our lips, which we need not_now repeat.
There is in this article an attempt at liberality
in connexion. with a pretty decided. avolval, of
exclusive "Church principles." These principles
are spoken of .as necessary to the salvatien of the
world. They are " the entire body of Christian
truths which the church'holds and teaches,—itt
eluding the essentials of h'er doctrines, her disci
pline and her worship. We mean • her creeds,
sacraments, ministry, Prayers." Yet there is an
intima.tien that enough 'of these principles are
held by "various Christian associations,! possibly
to save individual souls. But the salvation of the
world, and the establishment of the kingdom of
Christ, are objects to be brought about by the
church. "There is no sort of reason to believe
the world, would' be under the sway of Christian
ideas to day, but for those distinctive church
principles." ~ This is a very cool ignoring of the
services of. Luther, Calvin, and John Knox, and
the Puritans in bringing the world "under the
sway of Christian ideas." It is adreitted, indeed,
that there is some trace of haughtiness and exclu
siveness in the Episcopal Church.. "Probably a
sweeping denial (of it)would not be true. There
is no assumption Nee the assumption of assuming
men in the true church." Not that the claims
made by the Church Monthly, as first quoted, are:
admitted to be assuming. No doubt it classes
itself with that large; body, which• it makes, bold
to affirm is larger in the ipiscopal Church, pro
portionally, than in any other " body of
.Christians
in this land," who "are posseSsed of a_kindly,
genial, reSpeetful feeling towards those that are
without." Nevertheless, it claims for "the
church," that it " has had the shaping and disci
plining of the. Saxon mind for centuries: (Puri
tanism again a mere cipher,) that in its principal
distinctive features, it is older in the world, than
any kind of Congregationalism by some fourteen
or fifteen hundred years."
We do not know but that this singularly gentle
and respectful manner of barring 'out the• sects
may be.good policy—may have great weight with
those who are to •be reached in New England—
may be a worldly-wise feature in the scheme of
Church comprehensiveness so highly cherished in
many minds of the better caste in the Episcopal
Church now-a-days. It is at least worth bringing
to the notice of our readers.
Another significant article is on Christian laity.
We think it is in the very vein that Episcopal
pens were intended to work, and indicates what,
perhaps, after all is the true mission of that branch
of Christ's Church among men; to be a witness to
the importance of unity among the people of Christ;
to be a living protest against the rampant indivi
dualism of our day. We admire the tone of this
article greatly, the more snbecause no latitudina
rian basis, no virtual rejection,of creeds is advo
cated, but the contrary. "It is submitted," says
the writer ; "that the full realizatien Of the mind
of Jesus supposes unanimity in acknowledging the
same articles of faith. We are required to admit
the practicability of unanimity' in belief, as we
would not make of nature and of revelation, each
a dark riddle, mocking earnest efforts tog et. at the
solution." As to the great essentials of the evan
gelical system, ,we say amen to these sentiments.
And we welcome all laborers in the direction of
church comprehensiveness and Christian unity,
who refuse to sacrifice these, truths in their efforts.
The consequences of a schismatic spirit and of sec
tarian jealousy 'are indeed deplorable. The fol
lowing is a tniggestive inquiry: "What wonder, if
the success of missionaries in the foreign field is
so limited as to ,tempt the query, whether th e
greatest profit of the undertaking may not be fou n d
in the aids afforded to learn the weak points o f
the religion, which thus attempts to make itself
universal 7"
Among the other articles is the conclusion of a
criticism of Mansell's Limits of Religious Thought,
which 'handles the erroneous concessions and r e ,
gations of that work with great force and clearnes s.
We have dwelt longer on -these new visitants to
our Wile, than was our purpose; hence we cann ot
devote much space to other, claimants. BLACK
WOOD FOR MARCH contains an enthusiastic and
laudatory article on Maury's great work, the Illy_
sical Geography of the Sea. This attempt to po
pularize this branch of physical science is described
as peculiarly elevating , to the .character o f t h,,
sailors, wbo are enlisted as co-laborators, and
minds are opened as never before to the sublim e
wonders of nature amidst which they dwell. A ti ,. ).
tiler article announces Lee's History of the Chii,
of Scotland as destined to become the statol ar i
work on the internal Riritory of the Church. The,
author, now deceased, was Principal of the l: n i_
versity of Edinburgh, and the book is his Leet,,,„ ,
published by his son since the decease of the fe.
ther. Such is the critic's opinion of the erudition
and accuracy of the author, that he says his "own
assertion is of itself an authority," dispensing with
she necessity of citation. The critic eulogizei
John Knox, as,-" more consistent than Luther,
more honest than Crammer, more courageous than
Calvin." The exertions of Knox fur a period of
more than twenty years, were eminently instru
mental in preventing Scotland from becoming th e
tool by Which France hoped to weaken and under.
mine the power of England." The reviewer de
fends Presbyterianism against the stale charge of
ascetism and gloom. Re incidentally gives it as
his opinion that Laud was the first of the eminent
English Churchmen who showed a decided leaning
to Arminianisrn, his predecessor in the See of Can
• terbury, Abbott, having been a decided Calvinist.
He enters into the question of the right and expe
diency of the covenants; the first or national co
venant may be excused by the plea of necessity,
but the policy of unions for a political purpose
bound by oath is condemned. The Solemn Leacue
and Covenant was open to the serious addition a l
objection of endeavoring to force upon England
the Presbyterian form of government, in opposi
tion to the wishes- of the majority. The Cove
nanters themselves ' however, are respectfully and
even eulogistically described. We do not under
stand the reviewer to be here presenting Prof.
Lee's opinions. Another paper on this branch of
the subject is promised.
An article on Recent Natural History Books
presents, in a very entertaining manner, the va
rious facts and departments in this branch of
science which are just now of special interest. The
functions of, the antennw of insects; the shape of
the honey bee's cells; the "mental manifestations"
of bees and other animals, which the author pre
fers not to call matters of instinct, and of which
he quotes some admirable ~examples; the sea-ser.
pent, in the existence of which he, with Mr. Gosse,
is disposed to believe; the ornithorhyneus of Au
stralia, of which no specimens have as yet been
brought away from the" former country, though
they have been caught, and, to some extent, do
mesticated there. -
Mr. Littell, in the LIVING AGE for this week,
answers complaints which have been made against
him for publishing secession poetry in his journal,
by disavowing any sympathy for such literature,
which he publishes, he says, "as a part of the
living .age,. not considering them as poetry, but as
curiosities, we may say, monstrosities of litera
ture."
EBITOR'S' TABLE.
LEIHIPPON PUBLICATIONS.—An association of
individuals connected with the Episcopal church,
propose to publish, under the above title, a series
of Theological Works not hitherto readily accessi
ble in, this country. There are now ready, two
volumes of SERMONS BY REV. RALPH ERSKINE,
selected from the British., editions of 1777 and
1821, with a - preface by the Rev. Stephen 11.
Tyng, D. D., and two volumes of Owmv's WORKS,
the person and glory of Christ;—and a volume of
Practical. works, containing the Mortification of
Sin; Temptation , ; Indwelling sin in believers,
and the Exposition of Psalm exxx.; being reprints
from the last Edinburgh edition. These two works
have been laid on our table and are reserved for
such notice as their extraordinary value deserves.
They are to be followed in due course by six or
seven additional volumes of Owen's Works, and
perhaps bp' hia Exposition of the Epistle to the
Hebrews;" arid also the WORKS or limner Ezr-
KIEL HOPKINS. The works of Archbishop Leigh
ton, which will properly form a part of the series
will be deferred for the present, as they have al
ready been rePublished in this country. It is
intended to publialitwo volumes or more annually
in octavo'form, at about $1 25 per volume. And
in order to make them the more accessible to cler
gymeb, they' Will be furnished to them at the of
fice of publication at $1 00 per volume, and either
volume separately. Published at the office of the
Proteitatt Episcbpal Book Society, 1224. Chestnut
Street, Philadelphia, 1860.
Messrs. J. E." Tilton & Co., of Boston, whose
list of hooks for children and young people; em
bracing Thayer's BOBBIN Boy and PRINTER BOY;
STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS, FOR THANKSGIVING,
&0., is among the choicest, freshest, most enlivening
and profitable that we know of, have just increased
it by the real addition of. FRABIRIEIS BOOK OP
BIBLE KEN. Frankie's mother repeats to him in
an artless and yet very entertaining and instruc
tive manner, the incidenta in the lives of leading,
Bible charadters. The filling out of the narratives
is always skilfully and reverently done; the sacred
record is not overloaded or concealed, and its great
and powerful lessons are brought home effectively
to the heart of the interested reader. The au
thor is already known from Sabbath Talks abut
Jesus; Susan and Frankie, &c. The exterior is
tasteful, as is invariably the case with Tilton'.
books for'children. For sale by Smith, English
Co., Philadelphia.
MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS.
SUNDAY Scum. WORLD. This is a monthly
issued by the American Sunday School Union,
in place of the Weekly Sunday School Times,
which has ceased to have any connexion with
the Union. It is a handiome quarto sheet of
16.. pages, and promises adequately to serve the
interests of the tinion. Terms: 50 cents Per
annum. To be had at 1122 Chestnut St.
THE <AMERICAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW for
April wrich number. The articles on Slavers'
among the Hebrews, fropkthe German of a karma
Jew Of Copenhagen; and on the New La titudinarins
Of England, by Prof. H. B. Smith, will attract at
tention.' The Departments.of Theological and Li
terary Intelligence, Literary and Critical Notices
of Books ' and news of the. Churches and itlissiow,
are very full and valuable.
Phblished by. W. Pt. Bidwell, No. 5, Beekman
St., Nfr.`
THE XIGLECTIO. MAGAZINE FOR APRIL by the
same enterprising publisher, is beautifully embil
lisbed' with two frill page engravings, one of them
of the deepest-and saddest interest: Lord RusF.vl l
parting with his family, previous to his execution.
The list of articles is eighteen in number.
Tux . NORTH AND SOTITII misrepresented S T! - I
misjudged; or 'a candid view of our present ddli
oultieil and danger, and their causes and remedy.
Phila. printed for the author 1861, pp. 48.
. .
CATALOGUES of Mr. Wyers' excellent school for
boys, at West Chester, Pa., may be found at our
office. .The next term commences on the lst of
May., We take pleasure in calling the attention
of. parents to Mr.W. pre advertisement in another
colunin.
Orville Gardiner has exhibited symptoms of 0
sanity; OW Saturday week, therefore, he was takPu
to a mountainous part of Pennsylvania, where, it is
to be. hoped, &relaxation from the cares of business
and a residence in a more healthy atmosphere maY
recupdrateltis physical and mental energies, and re
store hiin to that sphere of usefulness to which he
has of late-years devoted himself. In the meantime
the Fourth Ward institution will be under the super
intendence of another gentleman.
April 4