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THURSDAY. JULY 11. 1801.
JOHN W- MEANS, EDITOR.
associated with
ALBERT BARNES, , GEORGE DUFFIELD, Jb.
THOMAS BRAINERD, J JOHN JENKINS,
HENRY DARLING, I THOMAS J. SHEPHERD,
A YEAR OF EDITING.
In the providence of God, by the death of our
associate, wo were left in eharge of the editorial
department of this paper a year ago. The illness
and growing infirmities of Dr. Houghton had trans
ferred to us, one after another, the duties and re
sponsibilities of the position; but his removal at
last was a surprise, and we felt ourselves summoned
to a work, for which our experience was inadequate, |
and our fitness unproven. Thus led by Provi
dence, however, we hesiiated not a moment; and
depending on him for aid, and looking to a world
within and without the Church, all alive with evi
dences of the divine working, and teeming with
the promise of great events, for inspiration, we took :
up the pen audentered upon our editorial novi- J
date.
In many respects it has been a happy period of
our public life. While close and systematic study
and scholarly pursuits have been impracticable,
it has afforded us an opportunity of scanning
the moving world in its religious, ecclesiastical,
literary and political phases, in every part of the
globe, and in a period of unparalleled significance
and interest, suoh as can scarcely he enjoyed any
where else. To have come to the editorial chair
at suoh a time as this, we have felt to he a privi
lege, to be thankfully acknowledged and enjoyed.
Questions of the most stirring nature, the discus
sion of which tends to enlarged views of life and
morals and of the relations of God’s kingdom upon
earth, have come up, with bearings of the utmost
praotical value. The popular mind has been in
a state peculiarly susceptible to the moulding in
fluences of suoh an institution as the press. Ar
tificial means for exciting an interest in editorial
discussions have .not been required. It is an age
of wakeful earnestness, when any one who has the
ear of the public, may well congratulate himself
upon his unwonted opportunities. Argument,
entreaty, reproof even, fall upon willing ears, if
but the key-note of the popular feeling is struck.
It is a time when God is so manifestly drawing
near by his judgments, that the nations are dis
posed to learn righteousness, to hear their sins de
nounced, and to give heed to those who, with a fair
degree of wisdom, point out the personal and na
tional hearing of the visitations of a just and angry
God under which we are living.
Ah editor’s life is not devoid of the usual ap
pointment of trials great and small, peculiar and
general. Inexperience will leave room for errors,
and the errors of an editor aro public and hard to
remedy, even though the acknowledgment of them
he equally public. We have had the grief to see
our mistakes oopied far and wide; while our cor
rections, equally explicit and prominent, have been
Utterly neglected. Our honest fixed opinions, too,
have not only elicited such counter statements
and arguments from opponents, as every friend of
truth and free discussion is ever willing to see and
to respond to; they have also brought out such in
dications of ill-temper, of bitterness, of invective
without argument, as we frequently felt to he ut
terly unfit for a place in our columns, or for an
answer according to their folly. Southern editors
have raged against us with that intemperate hate,
and that copiousness of angry vituperation, which
is the peculiar vein of their chivalry. It is no
pleasure to us to be abused even by those whose
praise would be disgraceful, and we have no heart
or conscience to respond to such attacks. We ac
cept them as a sad necessity of our position; we
have opinions; we try to have decidod ones on im
portant subjects and where light is to be found.
We would not give a groat for the poor privilege
of a comfortable life, procured by the sacrifice of
the freeman’s birthright, to entertain and dissemi
nate his opinions at the bidding of an enlightened
conscience. We would not sit an hour in an edi
torial chair, where it was required to put peace
before purity; and, by God’s grace, while we hold
such a position, we design to use it for the pur
pose of speaking the truth —in love—that is, with
a sincere purpose of promoting the welfare, and
not merely the mental quietude of those we reach,
or of merely securing their friendly attitude to
wards ourselves.
We ask our readers’ prayers. If the position
we hove held has been exciting and interesting,
it has been solemnly responsible. The audience
vouchsafed ns, raises within ns, over and over
again, the inquiry: are we meeting its wants; are
we wisely contributing our share of the influence,
which, in this susceptible era, is shaping their
principles, and which, in this age of prompt and
energetic action, is flowing forth every day into
realisation—into history? We seek no greater
reward than a humble consciousness that in such
a time and place, we are approximately performing
our duty. One proof of it we are finding, and
Still more expeot to find, in the sympathy and sup
port of onr subscribers and friends. Whether our
work shall continue to be prosecuted through these
trying times, and through years to come, under
God, rests with them. We call upon them to stand
by ns noW, while we enter upon another year of
editing.
For the American Presbyterian.
A BOARDING SCHOOL JOB YOUNG LA
DIES, IN CLINTON, ONEIDA, CO., N. Y.
It will gratify the many friends and former
pupils of Mrs, Gallup, of Canandaigua, formerly
Mias Houghton, Principal for five years of In
gham University, at Leroy, to learn that she is
about to open, in Clinton, New York, a Board
ing School of the first elass for yonng ladies.
The first session of the School will commence
early in September. Mrs. Gallnp was herself
one of the pupils of Mary Lyon; and to all who
knew her large success at Leroy, as well as her
high qualifications personally for her work, it
will be quite 'Unnecessary to speak her praise.
We of this region regard her accession to us as
a great addition to the educational facilities of
Central and Western New York; and we are
aura that many beyond onr own bounds, who
desire a thorough earnest Christian edneation
for their daughters, will be swift to avail them
selves of the opportunity thus furnished. Mrs.
Gallup Is a sister of the late Rev. Dr. Hough
ton, of Philadelphia; who was, during his last
illness, under the care of Dr. Gallnp, her hus
band ; and she is, in her religions affinities, de
cidedly Presbyterian. D.
Clinton, N, T, Juty 2d, 1861.
the BIBLE AS A COLLEGE TEXT-BOOK.
President Fisher has done honor to himself
and to his position as an educator, at the head
of Hamilton College, by the proposition which
he made in his Inangnral for the recognition of
the Bible ag one of the regular text-books of
the College course. As Cicero plead for the
study of the twelve tables in the education of
every Roman youth, contending that they “were
worth more than all the libraries of the philoso
pher,” so the excellent and trnly Christian
President of Hamilton College, argues for the
Bible as “ worth more than all philosophy, all
natural science, all other forms of thought,”
and consequently worthy, of all books, to be
“the most profoundly studied, the most con
stantly present through the whole course of edu
cation.”
Dr. Fisher’s plan, as announced in the Inau
gural and other addresses, would be to give the
Bible substantially the same position in the
college curriculum, as any other study. “We
must make it,” he says, “ the book which our
youth shall study—study from Genesis to Re
velation—study in its history, its laws, its pro
phecy, its poetry, its philosophy, its theology,
its Christology.” Proficiencyin the knowledge
of the Bible “should enter into the final estimate
of the character and standing”,of the student.
[ “Instead of being left to the caprice of the stu
dent to be engaged in or not, as he may choose,
it shohld'be enforced precisely as is the study
of the classics, or mathematics. You canhbt
compel men, young or old, to think ; but you
can plaee the young in such circumstances, and
surround them with- such influences as will con
tribute powerfully to awaken thought in any
desirable direction.”
We find these important suggestions, quoted
to our hand, in the last number of the Ameri
can Theological Review, in a favorable notice
of Dr. Fisher’s published volume of sermons and
addresses. The Reviewer adds some sugges
tions of his own, which may be profitably-copied
in this connexion. Speaking of the manner in
which this science or study of the Bible should
be taught, he says the Professor of this branch
“ should be a. man of enthusiasm in his depart
ment. He should have his recitations fixed and
definite in the course of college study; and it
should be his aim to make them as clear and as
impressive as possible. He should cherish the
utmost freedom of inquiry on the part of his
class, encouraging them to bring forward all
their objections, and all their ‘ strong reasons ’
against the Bible; and he should be prepared
to meet them and show their fallacy. Such a
process of teaching the Bible two or three times
a week through the year, would do more, in our
judgment, to exterminate infidelity from the,
precincts of a-college, than any other human
agency.”
For ourselves, we are glad to see this very
important matter brought forward again for dis
cussion. Certain it is, that some counteracting
agency to the undue development of mere intel
lect, and with it, of intellectual pride, which is
the natural result of scholarly pursuits, needs
to be introduced among the regular studies of
our under-graduates. The proper balance of
the moral and spiritual with'the intellectual,
should be provided for. Nor is there any sphere
of life in which educated men would not find a
scientific knowledge of the Scripture of the
highest practical value. When all but the mere
disciplinary influence of Greek, Latin and ma
thematics had passed away, their Biblical at
tainments would come into play at almost every
turn in their affairs. And instead of turning
out a race of educated youth, whose intellectual
pride leads them to skepticism in regard to
the Scriptures, because it is just these that they
have no scientific acquaintance with—they are
not skeptical as to the Copernican system, or as
to the great age of the geological formations—we
shall have our professional men, and men of in
fluence in society, Instructed in the emptiness
of infidel objections, awake to the vital import
ance of maintaining a cordial sympathy between
faith and philosophy, and with characters more
effectively trained under the influence of true
and elevated views of that Boob, which suffers,
in the youthful mind, from the. commonplace
light in which it has been for the most part re
garded.
Who can doubt that such an interweaving of
the study of the best of books in the studies of
our youth, in that susceptible era when their
souls are a-glow with a noble eagerness for
learning, and when in every pursuit we seem to
hear the ringing cry “excelsior” burst from
their lips, would communicate a healthful influ
ence to the very textnre of their souls—would
result in the engrafting of the word upon their
moral and intellectual natures, often to the
saving of their souls, but almost invariably te
the training np of a race of citizens, competent
more than ever, to influence and to direct the
affairs of a great republic; to counsel, to legislate,
to jndge and to execute, in all its departments,
upon the soundest and most elevated principles
of statesmanship, steering ns towards onr great
destiny by no tortuous channels of low expe
diency, bnt along the broad, straight track of
principle, by the guiding star of divine Truth.
REV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, JR.
We are again compelled to chroniele a sun
dering of pastoral relations in one of our city
chnrcbes, and the consequent removal of another
of onr colleagnes from his labors in onr midst.
We deeply feei the loss of Mr. Dnffield from our
ministerial circle, and from the narrower and
closer relations of warm personal friendship.
As a man and a Christian bis frank and cordial
nature, his glowing piety and evangelical zeal,
bis hopefulness and vivacity, his bright and
wakeful intellect and powers of conversation
endeared him to ns, and to all with whom he
came in contact. His services in onr city as a
pastor, a Presbyter, an advocate of temperance,
and contributor to the evangelical press, and
especially, in connexion with the revival, and
the consequent great expansion of evangelical
effort among the firemen and the neglected
masses, will not soon—will never be forgotten.
His little work “ Pentecost,” descriptive of the
revival in Philadelphia, has been widely circu
lated in both continents. Having accepted a
call to the church in Adrian, Michigan, he has
proceeded at once to the new scene of his la
bors.
Harmless Bombs —Some of the bombs fired
by Federal troops were fonnd filled with saw
dust; bnt the rebels have some of the same kind.
One fired from the rifled cannon at Big Bethel
was sent to the TJ. S. Arsenal, at Troy, where
it was opened and fonnd to be filled with rice.
Therq must be a little treachery on both sides.
Itmmcait IftfSi&gifjiatt attfl (SvattgcliS't.
PROGRESS OF THE CONFLICT.
The United States Congress meets, for the first
time in our history, under the protection of an
army. Were it not for the seventy-five thousand
brave and disciplined men, who since the 15th of
April have been gathering and forming in solid
column for its defence, the legislative body of our
nation would have been driven to some remote
.place of assembly, and the fair historic structure
in which it now meets, would have been a prey of
violence —perhaps a heap of ruins. For this
peaceful and secure assembling amid all the old
emblems of power and sovereignty, for this unin
terrupted course of public legislation, under God,
we have to thank, first, the General in chief of
our army, Lieutenant General Winfield Scott,
who, six months ago, was making his cautious
preparations for defence; and with him and se
conding his plans, the grand army of the Union,
summoned into being from the bosom of a peaceful
and peace-loving people, by the proclamation of
the President. For this result, brave men have
had to offer their blood, like Corporal Needham in
Baltimore, and Colonel Ellsworth in Alexandria.
The fourth of July, 1776, will hereafter be coupled
in public remembrance with the fourth of July,
1861. The first recalls the struggle which revealed
our power and purpose to win nationality; the
second strikingly reveals the necessity, determina
tion, and ability of the Government to maintain
that nationality against inward plots and hos
tilities.
- We have given the message, which
was delivered to Congress on the sth, entire,'"in
another part of the paper. Every one will wish
to preserve a document which will remain among
the most memorable of our national papers: It is
not unworthy of the occasion. Its simple, una
dorned, manly style; the calm dignity of its state
ments and reasonings; the transparency of the
policy which it both explains as past and fore
shadows as future; the confidence it so freely ex
presses in the people, will commend .it to the
popular heart and judgment above all the state
papers of this generation. It is the evident effu
sion of Mr. Lincoln’s own honest, capable, and
unaided mind. The country chose him rather
than others, whose personal claims'seemed to he
higher, but whose antecedents were too deeply in
terwoven in the entanglements of a long public
life; the country’s choice on that score has justi
fied itself, and in nothing more than in the un
diplomatic frankness and sturdy*simplicity of this
war-message. In every patriotic heart what an
echo is returned to those grand and simple words
at the close: “ Having thus chosen onr course,
without guile and with pure purpose, let us renew
our trust in God, and go forward without fear and
with manly hearts.” Nobler words have not been
. written in the records of American statesmanship,
; and the whole American people will one day ad
mire and honor his memory for‘them, and for
what else of similar purport this memorable docu
ment contains.
The House, after a single ballot, elected the
Hon. Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, Speaker,
and the late representative from Tennessee, Hon.
Emerson Etheridge, Clerk. In the latter.instance
the republican majority showed themselves above
all mere partisan feeling, and desirous of recog
nising and honoring true patriotism in the dis
tricts where rebellion prevails.
On the field, we are permitted to speak of very
great advantages gained by General Pattersons
column in Virginia. On the 3d of July, after
patient waiting, having crossed the Potomac once
and returned to Hagerstown, and after pursuing
a policy of wise maneuvering, doubtless after Gen.
Scott’s own heart, if not in strict conformity to
his orders, Gen. Patterson again crossed the Po
tomac, near Williamsport, and fell upon the enemy
on the Virginia side, at about 11 o’clock, A. M.
M'Mullin’s Rangers, from Philadelphia, the Phila
delphia City Troop, and a Wisconsin regiment,
with Doubleday’s _and other artillery, led the ad,
vance. The enemy, said to he 10,000 strong,
were utterly routed by this advance, before the
main body of our forces reached the scene of ac
tion. The loss, on our side, was three killed and
ten wounded. The enemy’s loss was three or four
times as great. The next day the United States
troops occupied Martinsburg, Va., and pushed
forward gaining further advantages over-the re
treating foe.
In Western Virginia, too, a very decided ad
vantage was gained by. part of Gen. M'Clellan’s
column at Buchanan, where several thousand of
the rebel force were totally routed, with the loss
of twenty killed, slight casualties only being re
ported on onr side.
CORRESPONDENCE.
PROM THE CAPITOL: THE SOLDIER’S FRIEND.
Rev- Me. Butler, Chaplain of the Penn
sylvania sth, now in Alexandfia, writes to the
Rev. Mr. Dalles:—
-Washington, D. C., July 4th, 1861,
Rev. and Dear Brother: After some delay, the
package of the “ Soldier’s Friend ” came to hand.
They were distributed as judiciously as possible
to the men of the sth Regiment, on Sabbath
last, at onr service. I need hardly assure you
they were most eagerly seized by the men, and,
I trust, will be properly used. I am much
pleased with the arrangement and character of
the truth yon havefgiyen ns in this form.
Yon will thank the unknown donor for me,
and for the men, to whom it is very pleasant to
minister, lam not without encouragement in
this work. I have reason to know that the
good seed sown is already bearing fruit. The
camp affords an extensive field of usefulness to
the earnest follower of Jeans. Thereare many
good men in the army, and, I am persuaded,
many good purposes are formed by others for
the future.
If, through the liberality of any of the friends
of Christ, you are enabled to grant additional
supplies of the “ Soldier’s'Friend,” they will be
highly appreciated by the men of the sth Regi
ment. Truly, your brother,
PROM REV. JOHN 0. SMITH, D, D.,
Washington City, July"6th, 1861.
Editors op American Presbyterian.—l
am indebted to you or some benevolent friend for
25 copies of your paper of 27th June, postagepaid,
which I took from the Post Office to the U. S.
Hospital, where I am in daily attendance , under
the written authority of the Surgeon General, and
Hon. Secretary of War. I entered upon these
duties 26th of April, and find them pleasant to
myself, and agreeable and profitable to the sick
and wounded soldiers. 'The number varies,but
averages about 100 in all the wards. They are
generally men of intelligence, and some of them
are church members at home, and seem to be
much interested in spiritual things. My aim is,
every day, to have at least a few words with every
man in my visits, and to give a testament, tract,
J. Geo. Butler.'
or book, or some paper. These are gladly re
ceived, and often with grateful expressions. Tracts
and testaments are furnished from depositories
here gratuitously. I belie ve.they are read. In many
cases I know they are, and carefully preserved.
I will gladly distribute -any books and papers,
that may be sent to ]tsl; The package of 25 co
pies was not markedffor the. hospital, but I sup
posed it was intended for the men under my
care. With my many pastoral duties, l must
confine extra efforts to the; hospitah In my brief
service I have had daily conversation with at least
four or five hundred men,; beginning with the
wounded Massachusetts men of memorable 19th
of April in Baltimore.
The hospital is under the direction .of U. S.
Army Surgeons of fine-talents and large experi
ence, with a corps of nurses, male and female.
The arrangements are the very best for the com
fort and recovery of the sick and wounded. The
number of deaths has been particularly small, and
these have been in most cases from Pennsylvania.
I get no pay, have no military title, but am al
ways yours, ; , John C. Smith,
Pastor ith, Presbyterian church.
FROM BOSTON. “HONOR TO WHOM HONOR.”
Mr. Editor - The.writer attended th e fiftieth
anniversary of the ordination of Rev. Richard S.
Storrs, D. D., of Bffeitree, Mass., July 3d, 1861,
and as your paper is the,chronieler of the daily
transactions of the church, it may not be amiss to
send you a oLthe proceedings, Your cor
respondent'hasjhad of this church
and' of its pastor;add from this personal know
ledge he hesitates not to say there is no pastor
more worthy of,commendation, or more justly de
serving the respect of his brethren or the grati
tude of the church, than Dr. Storrs.
The house is nearly hew, of fine dimensions, 6/
Gothic style, very jarge for a country church;
every thing—-pulpit, pews, singers, hearers, all
where.they ought torhe; and yet, there is one of
the greatest inconveniences attending this that I
have ever found in any house of worship. Ac
cording .to the meaning of words as'mannfactured
by that indefatigable word-maker, Rev. S. Hanson
Cox, by variegated .colored glass, .“they-stained
the light of heaven before they let it in'.” Now,
the fault I wish to find is this, they should have
stained it more, or not have built the window so
high (as they did;) no curtain could he got
up to It; and so, w||)e attempting to take a few
notes for the benefit of your readers, I almost lost
my eye-sight by the solar rays being poured di
rectly on my head so that'l could not see.
- The morning was occupied with a sermon from
the very worthy .pastor who has fed this flock half
a century. He spoke of the manner in which
the Lord had helped him during all that time
It was partially a partially historical, and
most deeply interesting from beginning to end.
In the afternoon, the service was introduced by
prayer by a neighboring clergyman. An ode was
then sung fay the midif, composed for the occa
sion by Richard Storrs Willis, a namesake-it is
presumed of the Dr.
Rev. R. Sv Storrs, Jr., D. D , of Brooklyn, then
made a speech, and acted as chairman of the
meeting. Your people in Philadelphia know
“somewhat” of him, as he has lectured there
once or twice beforet“ The People’s Literary As
sociation.” He revived the Doctorate quite
young, and is, dqnlpess, a man of full ordinary
abilityj-but'tfough 'jfowln lie vigor of his days,
he foils for short of bis venerable father. Besides,
he has not done the very thing for which his fa
ther received all commendation, namely, remain
ing In one place for fifty years. Young Storrs
removed from Brookline, Mass., to Brooklyn, New
York. :
Prof. Edwards AiPark, of Andover, came next.
He gave an historical sketch of each pastor of the
eboreh since it wap first gathered in 1677, by
Rev. Hugh Adams., At Mr. Adams’ ordination
Cotton Mather preached. Mr. A. was paßtor but
three years, when he left on account of not getting
his salary. He went to Chatham, Mass., from
which he removed again on account of the non
payment of his salary. From thence he removed
to Durham, N. H., and preached to a society
called the Oyster Bay Society, where, after labor
ing for some years land not receiving his salary,
he petitioned the general Court of N. H, for a
law to enforce, thippaymeht of it in full with
promptness. Thisi petition had some very curi
ous items in it, and they were enforced by very
peculiar arguments! It represented that for this
non-payment of the minister’s dues the people of
N. H.- had been visited with the throat-ail, of
Which many had died ; while in Mass., where
they paid their ministers fully and promptly,
(after Mr. A. had driven them to it,) they were
not visited by this terrible disease. Mr. Adams
seemed to believe that he was raised up to accom
plish this one great work—to secure the payment
of ministers’ salaries. Still, it was a little re
markable that be. should come so near to “a state
of starvation in the parish of Oyster Bay."
The second minister was Samuel Miles, of
Rhode Island, Mr. Miles preached his own or
dination sermon.
The third minister of Braintree was Ezra Weld,
born in Pomfret, (jonm , .
Each of these ministers, (the last two I mean,)
preached, or was pagtor fifty years, and asthe pre
sent incumbent hw now been pastor -fifty years;
this church, with toe ministry of three pastors, has
been served one htindred and fifty years. Prof.
Park’s address wasjwitty and amusing, and passed
off very pleasantly. * * * *
Next' came the! compliments of the Norfolk
Association of Clergymen to Dr. Storrs, which
was represented by Rev. Mr. Means, of Dorches
ter, successor to Rbv. Dr.Codman. It had been
said that for some teason Dr. Codman, when Dr.
Storrs was ordained would. not give him “the
right hand of fellowship." It therefore seemed
meet to the brethren that Mr. Means should now
give Dr. S. the right band of commendation.
This part of the performance, also, was well me
rited by Dr. Storrs.
I should have said that the venerable Dr. With
ington, of Newburyport, made some very enter
taining remarks ujjon the utility of a “Permanent
Ministry." First,■ he said, permanent ministers
pud much attention to their sermons., Second,
they were gentlemen—had hearts as well as heads.
Third, they verei"dunned their people. Dr. W.
gave a fine account of the ministry of some of the
old clergymen of Massachusetts.
On the whole, j Mr. Editor; this wag a jubilee
of more than ordinary interest, and though it was
made to magnify Congregationalism, a; little as to
its permanency, (yet, all things considered, it
passed off nobly. ’ It was all due to our father,
Dr. Storm. j
It is now the 4tli of July, 1861. Boston was
never so quiet on such a day. Alh. the rowdies
have gone to the lebelllibn, and the good people
have decreed not to spend their money for naught.
LETTER FROM NEW ENGLAND.
Dorchester, Massachusetts, June 24th, 1861,
Rev. J. W. Mears, Dear Sir:—Every week,
punctual to a day, I find in my post office box
your esteemed paper. Its pleasant face I greet
with a cordial welcome. I rejoice in its noble
patriotism. When I first began to look through
its columns,: I;felt thatTthough its editor and my
self were personally strangers, yet we were “one
in, Christ Jesus-j ” but since the great uprising in
April, I feel that we are drawn heart to heart in
the noblest cause for which a Christian has-ever
been permitted to draw the sword. When I was
a boy my father bought three pictures, in hand
some gilt frames. I wondered why he felt so
much interest in them. They now hang side By
side on the walls of the family mansion, and I
often find myself gazing upon them with admira
tion. They are full-length portraits of Washing
ton and La Fayetto, at the right and left of a very
large French engraving, (after Trumbull,) of the
Signing of the Declaration; I never realized till
now the spirit that filled those heroiemen. I can
never again read the record of those days as a
glowing history, but as a living fact; and the actors
in that great drama were flesh and blood, winning
my sympathy and even moving my tears,. I never
understood till, now, how a man could love God
and fight against an enemy. To draw back, or
even hesitate in an hour like this, would seem to
provoke the severedispleasure of our God. I had
an opportunity a few-weeks since to address a com
pany of soldiers who volunteered from our village,
and are now on the “ sacred” soil- of Virginia.
Among them was one of our Sabbath-School scho
lars, a thoughtful, upright youth, whom I congra
tulated in' his class when I first learned his pur
pose. My address was in our church, and I told
the people that our school had made frequent
contributions to religious and benevolent objects,
but never to one more worthy than that to which
we then gave a scholar) for next to a soldier of
the cross stands the soldier of his country. I ad
dressed* the company as a band of home mission
aries, going forth to preserve for us an entire
country, wherein it should yet be possible for us
to p'feach the gospel to every creature. So- that
from the Lakes to the Gulf, on the mountains of
Virginia and the banks of the Mississippi, the
cotton-fields of Carolina and the sugar plantations
of Louisiana, the truth as it is in Jesus might be
made known to all who have ears ,to hear.
Allow me to thank you for your kindness, and
believe me to be, Very truly yours, ——
LACK OF SYMPATHY EXPLAINED.
Mr. Editor. —lt seems that some of the Old
Seliool Editors-—I refer especially to the Presby
terian in your city—are greatly exercised that wej
of the New School do not seem to pity them very
much, now that they expect their body to be
“rent in twain.” The following considerations
must be our justification for any lack of sympathy
for their sufferings. ’
1. They never expressed any sympathy with ms,
when the Southern chvrches left us.
I was a member of the “ Cleveland Assembly,”
and heard the protest of the Southern seceders,
and knew what to expect.. And when they with
drew from ns, I watched for the expression of
the “Old School” elrnrch on the subject, and
if any Editor of-that branch, either North orSoutli
expressed any pity for us, I failed to see it. I
remember that Dr. Breckinridge called it “ the
first imbecile scltism,” the'beginning of our dis
integration and destruction. And now when the
secessionists are trying to crush the Doctor’s last
pet, the New Danville Review, and this “great
Caesar,” for the first time, perhaps, turns his face
to the North for help, and says
“ Help me, Cassius, lest I sink;”
it may be very wrong in me not to pity the Dr.
more, but I cannot help it I
2. They uniformly exulted over theirs as the only
national church. -
They never took any pains to tell their readers,
why we had no churches in the South: they did
not hesitate -to call us a sectional church, and
slur- and stigmatize our branch of it, as if we had
done some unworthy act, to bring such a calamity
on ourselves. If any of them have ever fairly set
forth the grounds of division in our church, ex
pressing one word of sympathy with the Anti-
Slavery 'North, which simply reaffirmed the Old
Presbyterian doctrine—-the statement has never
fallen into my hands.
3. Every one else saw by the tone of their pa
pers,-—perhaps they did not, —that they put a very
high estimate on numbers, and a low one on pu
rity and truth.
They knew that their position on the question
of slavery was equivocal; they claimed to be
anti-slavery at the North, and pro-slavery at the
South. At the South they claimed that the testi
mony, on the subject, by the Assembly of 1818,
was “virtually repealed;’’ at the North they
claimed that it was not; and yet all the intelligent
men, at both North and South, knew this state of
things. But the plea of all the leading men
in tlie church, before the Assembly met and
during the session, was that the discussion of
that subject would divide the church, not that it
would not promote purity and the cause of truth.
They could bear to be misunderstood; but they
could not bear to be reduced in numbers. And
the whole question seemed to be, with many, not
what truth and righteousness and the church and
the country demand; but how shall we keep our
church together! And the lamentations over the
“indications that this great Old School church is
to share the calamity thathas-rent others in-twain"
remind one of Rev. xviii. 10: “Alas, alas, that
great city Babylon, that mighty city ! for in one
hour is thy judgment come."
The pride of this church was also; manifest, in
its claiming always, to be the Presbyterian church.
“The United Presbyterian church," which has a
good many fhousalid members, and our church
which has a good many thousand more, were not
recognised or spoken of as Presbyterian churches.
And the superciliousness and exclusiveness of our
0. S. brethren was little less thin that of the
Episcopalians or Roman Catholics.
4. The action which seems Ulcely to divide their
church cannot command much respect.
That action was an expression of loyalty to the
Government. It was proper. I like it. But when
1 remember that the first resolution of Dr. Spring,
which was simply to raise a Committee to inquire
what ought to be said of the state of. the country,
was voted down, and kept down till; the indigna
tion of the country frightened the majority, and
that it was at the cud of many days—and finally,
with but a two-thirds vote, that a mild expression of
loyalty was extorted from the assembly—they must
pardon me if I cannot pity them on account of a
division resulting from it.- They may take.it as a
special mark of God’s favor that such a revelation
did not rend them into a thousand fragments.
fi.. Perhaps the. end will prove that they have,
not lost much.
*• , t
W— P—, July Ist, 1861.
Sixteen Thousand members seceded from us,
on account of the “Cleveland action;” and yet
comparing the minutes of 1857 and 1860, we see
that in three years twelve thousand were made up
to us again.
6. They that could "excind," sixty-thousand
church members, without trial , and therefore un-,
constitutionally; must not Jbe hard on us, if we do
not sufficiently commiserate their lot, though sixty
thousand" secede.” Yours,_&c., Y. S.
Forthe American Presbyterian.
THE PHILADELPHIA- HOME MISSION
. ARY SOCIETY.
This Society which has for many years heen
an auxiliary of the A. H. M. S-, at an adjourned
meeting held recently in the Presbyterian House,
dissolved its connection with the institution at
New York. The second article of the Constitu
tion was so changed as to read, thus:— fi. '■ 5
“ Art. 11. The object of this Society shall be
to eo-operate with the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church in the United States of
America in assisting churches that are unable to
support the gospel ministry, and to send the gos
pel to the destitute, particularly in . the States of
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Mary
land.”
This alteration, as it will be seen, restricts its
appropriations jto churches in connexion with our
own branch of the Presbyterian church. All
contributions, therefore, made to this Society will
be expended exclusively for the benefit of needy
churches belonging to Presbyteries within the
States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
and Maryland, connected with our General As
sembly. - What amount of aid we will be able to
render such churches, must depend on the contri
butions of former friends. If their donations are
exclusively directed to tjjie Treasurer of the Pres
byterian Committee of Gome Missions of the Ge
neral Assembly, these feeble’ churches and their
needy pastors must suffer, for we do not suppose
they can receive aid for the present from that
Committee. We have some fifty such churches
dependent on ns at present, and in view of the
monetary stringency of the times, and the exclu
sive attention of the churches being directed to
the new Home Missionary movement of the de
nomination, we fear these churches and their pas
tors will be greatly embarrassed during the year.
This will. be the case if those who have hitherto
helped us should now withhold their aid. Our
receipts thus far,.this-year, have fallen much-below
those of the corresponding period, of-last year.
We have several new and pressing applications
for missionary aid in the office, and our response
to these, as well as our ability to cancel present
obligations, must be determined-by the action of
our patrons> through whose generosity we have
in past years been able, to cheer and sustain so
many churches, struggling amid many difficulties
to maintain the means of grace among the desti
tute.
The following facts show that the seed sown
by this Society has, under God; produced fruit
that will survive long after it has fulfilled its mis
sion, and is numbered with the institutions of
by-gone days.
Results since the organization of the Society , July ,
Funds received during these twenty- ' *
one years, of which one-quarter was
expended beyond the limits of this
field) . • . , $222,000 00
Churches organized, 52
Sabbath-Schools, 89
Churches attained to a position of
self-support, . . ' 55
Places of worship erected, . , 73
Parsonages secured, . TO
Hopeful conversions, over . i . 6,000
Added to the churches, over ’ . 6,300
Benevolent contributions, . . $38,000 00
Moneys expended in erecting and re
pairing houses of worship, and can
celling church debts for the last >
severe years, (hot fully reported be
fore on this subject,) = . $28,000 00
The efficiency of the Society in future will de
pend on the co-operation ofPresby teries, churches,
and individuals. Donations may be forwarded to
the Secretary, No. 1334- Chestnut St., or : Mr.
Hemy Perkins, Treasurer, S. E. Corner Third
and Walnut Sts., 2d story.
ROBERT ADAIR, Secretary.'
AMERICAN AFFAIRS IN ENGLAND.
We will cheerfully abandon the view in which
all parts of our country, North and South, at one
time agreed, as to the friendly attitude of the. Eng
lish government toward the rebellion when it as
sumed the proportions of open war, as fast as we
receive satisfactory evidence that the contrary is
or was the fact. , One thing should be acknow
ledged on all hands, namely that too much impor
tance was attached to the utterances of the Lon
don Times upon our affairs. From the best in
formed Englishmen, and from various reliable au
thorities, we have come to the conclusion that the
Tmes is not more reliable as an exponent of the
controlling public sentiment of England, than is
the New York Herald in regard to that of our
country. The people, it is said in every quarter,
are thoroughly and keartily witk us of the North.
The government is indeed behind the people,
but is rapidly coming up to their requirements.
Says a recent correspondent of the New York Ex
aminer:
The general feeling among our people is, that
he [Lord John Russell,] should have spoken out
more decidedly in favor of the North, and that his
condemnation of the South ought to have been
clear and unmistakable.
The expressions of indignation at Lord John’s
course, elicited all through the North and at the
American Meeting in Paris, however, have quite
astonished the 1 British people, who seem to have
been entirely unconscious and innocent of the un
friendly construction we have put upon their
acts.
We cannot altogether divest ourselves of the
impression that the British government was really
disposed at first to sympathize with the rebellion.
Snell reasons as a low tariff, access to the cotton
supply, a willingness (which is certainly Iranian
and therefore British,) to see a great commercial
rival crippled, and a possible military rival de
graded from' the front rank of nations; besides onr
own'hesitancy at home; nnd inadequate representa
tion abroad; such reasons influenced the govern
ment to regard the movement favorably—so we
tlunk—whiJe on the other hand, a truer instinct
gumed the mass of the Christian people.' But
we cannot do better than allow the correspondent
to state the case at length. He says:
So fir as appears, two causes of complaint are
assigned:
Ist. It is apprehended that mH* Government
mean . to aid the South' in their rebellion, and
speedily to recognise their independence. I am
sure that no such design is entertained, because I
am sure that no Government could stand an hour
which adopted such a policy. They would bo
ejected from office immediately on its announce,
ment, and would not be allowed to remain lon-,
enough to carryit into effect. I know only one
person in Great Britain who entertains the wish
or thought of such a course, and that is an I r ; s j l
Tory in the House of Commons, named Gregory
He has once or twice endeavored to bring fe r ’
ward a motion to that effect before the House,
but he has not heen allowed even to introduce it'
or make a speech upon it, so unanimous was the
feeling of the House against him. Let me most
earnestly disabuse the minds of your readers of
any apprehension on that score.
2d. It is complained that we have recognise!
the belligerent rights of the South. Let mo cull
your attention to the very careful and guarded
way in which this was done. A very clear di>.
tinction was drawn between the recognition of in.
dependence and ; the recognition of belligerent
rights. The former was not conceded—the hi(f. r
was. Observe, too, the different terms in wlii.],
the two sections of your country have been spoken
of in all offiejal documents. Invariably, our t
vernment-have forborne to give the seeeders tb,.
title they claim. They are always styled li the
called Confederate States,” or “calling thcmstUc
the Confederate. States.” This usage has not been
departed from in a single instance. Now I mu, t
say that such language, in a declaration of n cu .
trality, is all you have a right to demand. Conn
led with the fact that the representatives of tile
Confederates have now been in England for six
weeks, seeking recognition in vain, and not eve-,
admitted to an audience, they may complain that
our professed neutrality is one-sided, and in your
favor.
But why recognise their belligerent rights? yo u
ask. For a very obvious reason. It is inevitable
that difficulties and ugly questions should arise
as to the infringement of private or public ridit
and that our Government may have to seek redress
from somebody. The South are, as they always
have been, very unscrupulous. Causes of com
plaint have already arisen, respecting the impress
ment of-British •subjects. To whom shall we »o
for redress? The act of which you complain, rc.
lieves your Government of all responsibility in the
matter. We must note demand redress, not from
the Government at Washington, but from the
local authorities—and indeed, have already done
so. The recognition of the belligerent rights of
the South is tantamount to recognition that you
in the North are not responsible for what they
may do. *
Let-it he remembered yet further, that until
very recently, your orators, journalists and states
men, spoke of the secession as a feet accomplished.
It is only since the attack on Fort Sumter that
you in the North have taken such high gronnd,
and used such strong language toward the rebels.
Indeed, so far as the facts presented themselves,
we conjectured that you would recognise the
Southern Confederation'. There seemed to be, at
that time, a general unanimity of opinion that the
South eould not be brought back to its allegiance
by force of arms. This seemed to be the mean
ing of Mr. Seward’s speech on taking office, and
we gathered from many sources that these views
were endorsed by very large sections of the com
munity. At that time we were Stronger in your
cause .-.than you yourselves were. We always in
sisted that you had the right to compel, even when
your own statesmen questioned or denied it. But
we doubted then, and doubt stiU, whether r you Imve
the power to do so. * * *' Let me,Tn conclusion,
give you the confident assurance, that nothing
would give us more complete satisfaction than
to hear of your speedy success, the vindication of
Northern principles, and the peaceful re-establish
ment of your Federal authority.
HEW REVIEWS. .
The richly-freighted Quarterlies of New England
and New York, are gathering on our, table again.
The range and quality of their articles demand a
niore thorough examination than can be well af
forded or appreciated in these sultry days.
The American Theological Review, “under
the editorial direction of Prof. Henry B. Smith,
D. D., contains the concluding portion of the ar
ticle on Biblical and Talmudic Slaveryptranskted
froin Dr. Mifelziner, of. Copenhagen. It treats of
the condition .of the slaves of. foreign descent.
There is no evidence, giyen from Scripture, justi
fjing>tbe: Rabbinic view of the religious and civil
condition of the slave, according 1 to which his tes
timony before a court was invalid, and his mar
riage neither a civil nor a religious contract. The
Hebrew slaves were treated with-great kindness.
No instance of insurrection—very common among
the slaves of Greece and Rome—can be found in
the history of Hebrew slavery. . This may also in
par* be accounted' for from the fewness of the
slaves. Reference ismaade to Job’s acknowledg
ment of the equal human worth of the slave with
that of himself; (Job xxxi. 13—15;) also to the
warning against vilifying a servant before his
master. (Prov. xxx. 10.) Oh the whole, the es
say is somewhat disappointing. Information on
the condition of this class in all nations is scanty.
The Hebrews, it is clear,- were far from believing
in the necessity of keeping the laboring classes, as
such, in a'servile condition. ' That was reserved for
heathen Rome and'Grefece, and for would-be states
men and theologians .of modern times. The ll»b
-bis insisted strongly on the dignity of labor, and
in nothing is our Saviour’s conformity to Jewish
usagemore manifest, than in His acquiring tbe trade
of the carpenter, as his father had-done before
him. It was not respectable for a Jew to be
brought up in ignorance of all handicrafts. The
author argues that not a trace of extensive slave
traflic, or special slave marts exists among the He
brews. ... Dr. Goodwin, Provost of the University
of Pennsylvania, contributes an article on Powell’s
Essay, on the Study of the .Evidences of Christi
anity in the “Essays and Reviews.” . . . Rev. J.G-
Wilson, of Terre Haute, continues his arguments
on the Unity of the Human Race. . . . The edi
tor reviews President Fisher’s Sermons and Ad
dresses, with chief reference to the valuable sug
gestion. of the President, to incorporate the BiUe
as a regular text-book in the curriculum, of college
studies. We are glad to see the suggestion so
ably seconded, and in a quarter that wilt be sure
to command attention. Exactly how it can be
carried out, in the press of studies now threaten
ing to oveitask the. student, we do not see. The
editor- proposes that a professorship of the Bible
be founded in every college, to be’ filled by a mao
of- the highest attainments and personal fitness,
who should have regular recitations and conversa
tions with the students, in which, as in the case of
President Dwight, the students should have op
portunity freely to present and argue their skepti
cal objections. This shonld oecur two or three
times a week through the whole college course.
In all probability the .scheme might be introduced
in some such practical way, but merely to refute
.error, and forestall'infidelity, would be, in our
judgment, the smallest part of the end in view.
. .. . Prof. Hitchcock contributes a continuation
of his article on the Ante-Nicene Trinitarianism.
which is yet to be concluded The depart
ments of Theological and Literary Intelligence,
and Literary and Critical Notices of Books, are
highly valuable. We know of nothing resembling
them in any American .journal, and regard them
as furnishing facilities of the highest order for
keeping the reader well informed upon these to
pics. ;
Schooii Voices. —This is a beautiful sheet
issued by the COixegiate Institution r° E
Voting Ladies, 1530 Areh St., Rev. Charles A-
Smith, D. D., Principal. It is filled with choice
productions from the pens of the ladies of the In
stitution, and gives creditable proof of their pro
ficiency in the art of English composition. The
titles of the brief essays are:-— Tempera meat,
Dreams, The Flowers and their Queen, L’Envoi.
Passing Away, The Three Wishes, Life Real and
Unreal, Beggars, A, Lake Scene.
take this opportunity to commend D r -
Smiths Institution to the patronage of ° ur
friends. The term et Collegiate” id designed to
have a real significance, as the pupils only g r3 ‘
duate, after a very thorough course, 'embracing
many of tbe branches pursued at.our colleges.
The School • Voices, .containing a circular,
may be had at the Presbyterian House, 1331
Chestnut St.
July \\