186 THURSDAY. JVLT 18. 1861. JOHN W- HEARS, EDITOR. ASSOCIATED WITS ALBERT BARNES, . GEORGE DTJFFIELD, Jh. THOMAS BRAINERD, / JOHN JENKINS, HENRY DARLING. I THOMAS J. SHEPHERD. AST APPEAL TO OTJB PBIENDS. Even as the power and purpose of our Lord to save his people forever, does not exclude great trials, imminent perils, and hair-breadth escapes, from their Christian course, so under the same great plan, it not unfrequentlj happens, that the Lord’s cause, or some particular branch of it, which he designs to sustain and perpetuate in the world, is suffered to fall into great, but temporary peril. Christ is still present in the storm which threatens it, though he seems to be asleep. The faith of his people is to bo tried, their energies to be brought into more vigorous exercise, their self-denial cul tivated; so that what seemed an evil, is to issue not only in the final rescue of the imperilled in terest, but in a large and general benefit to all concerned in the undertaking. Thus their light affliction works out for them a weight of glory. We deem it no discredit to our paper, and no special ground of discouragement, that it shares in the wide-spread depression of all business in terests at this time. We are free to acquaint our friends with the fact, that its existence is impe rilled, Important as we feel it to be as an organ of the chnreh of Christ, as an instrumentality for the diffusion of sound views, and the mainte nance of the true position of the Presbyterian Church upon the great questions of our day, such dangers surround it as Providence not seldom al lows to threaten the very best interests of his kingdom. We cannot bring ourselves to believe that the peril is more than temporary, or that it is designed for any thing else than the trial of our faith, and the further development of the energy and zeal of the people of God in behalf of his oanse. We call upon them to aid ns in this crisis which we confidently expect will last, for ns, but a little time. We seek their aid, not to uphold a deoaying interest, but an enterprise which has far better prospects of success and enlargement than It has ever yet enjoyed. We ask them to assist us in passing through the coming six weeks, or two months, in whioh our necessities will be great and pressing, and, without such aid, over whelming, after which we expeet to share in the returning progress and prosperity of the American people, recovering, under the divine blessing, from the shook of rebellion and of war. Will not our friends redouble their efforts to aid ns in leaping this threatening chasm which lies between ns and the great promise of the future? Prom all quarters of our field we are receiving extraordinary evidence of the aeceptableness of our labors; prejudices are melting away, and ob stacles to our future usefulness and enlargement are disappearing; the most cordial sympathy with the position and spirit of tho paper is expressed. The Pastors’ Association of this city have recently, for the first time, fully endorsed and accepted the paper as one of the legitimate objects of their fos tering eare, and will, as soon as the season is fa vorable, co-operate earnestly in the enlargement of the circulation in this city and neighborhood. With all these multiplied indications of good in the early future, we cannot believe that the Lord will suffer our friends so completely to fail us in the immediate present, as to compel the surrender of our enterprise. Our friends can help us in several ways: I. By paying their arrearages, or some portion of them, promptly. These are very large, and if a fourth part of them were promptly paid, the ap peal would be rendered unnecessary. 11. By procuring new subscribers, and trans mitting to us the names and amounts without de lay. If pastors and individual friends will each contribute but a little, in this way, they will won derfully strengthen our hands. We are confident there are many fields in which our circulation could easily he doubled by a little effort.. 111. A number of Mends have contributed di rectly to the support of the paper—some of them with great liberality—some of them at no little self-denial. XV.'.To carry us over the interval between the present date and the middle of September, rather than risk the total suspension of our paper, there Is the alternative of publishing but once in two weeks during the interval, which we may be compelled to adopt. If driven to this alternative, our friends can aid us, by bearing with us while the inconvenience lasts. The heat of the sum mer, and the comparative inaction prevailing in the church at this part of the year, will make the inconvenience trifling; while an opportunity for relaxation, which is much needed, will be given to those engaged on the paper. Mainly with the latter end in view, we shall, therefore, omit our issue of next week, and in the paper of the 2d of August our friends will learn our plans and expectations for the future. Mean while we hope they will realize, that under God, this question rests almost absolutely in their hands, and will be solved aocording to their re sponse to the several propositions just laid before them. CHAPLAIN TO THE SENATE. We are gratified to perceive that our friend, ] Kev. Byron Sunderland, D.D., of the First Church, Washington, has been elected Chaplain to the U. S. Senate of the Thirty-seventh Con gress, by a vote of thirty-three out of thirty-five cast. To those who have the pleasure of knowing Dr. S., it is unnecessary to say that he is no poli tician, but a faithful, pious, and laborious pastor, knowing no higher ambition than to be successful in that important and responsible sphere of duty. At the same time, if an engaging address, easy and eloquent delivery, firm and tried patriotism, and sound principles on the great questions of the day, and, lastly, eoclesiastieal connections of the most honorable and unequivocal character, are any recommendations for such a post, Dr. Sunder land's claims were of the highest order. It is not too much to say, that the honorable Senate in making such a choice, gave evidence of a dispo sition to place themselves under genuine religious influences, and to present the high and solemn issues with which they are charged before the eye of the Almighty and the Allwise, through the public supplications of one who knew, experimen tally, somewhat of the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man, that availeth much. We are oheered by such evidences in high places of a re gard for true piety. It ought to be understood in all chaplaincies, both in civil and military posi tions, that that is an essential element of fitness for the post. EQUATORIAL AFRICA. About the equatorial regions of Africa, all the obstacles which singly encounter the traveller in other portions of the continent appear to combine- The fierce heat rising to near 120° in the shade, the noxious miasms, the venomous reptiles and insects, and fierce and powerful beasts of the field and forest, some of which are more to be dreaded than any yet known to the hunter or adventurer; the ignorance, degradation and brutality of the j tribes of men unite to discourage the investiga ! tionsso desirable in the eyes of the geographer, the naturalist or the man of business. These obstacles, however, appear to have been triumphantly met by the American traveller, Paul B. Du Chailiu, who, through Messrs. Harper has just laid before the public the results of his last four years’ travel in those forbidding and hitherto unexplored re- j gions. They constitute an addition to our know- 1 ledge, especially in the department of natural his tory. so extensive that they almost mark an era in that department, and have drawn upon the travel ler the attention of the scientific world. Many accept his discoveries as real and great, while not a few cavil at almost the entire story, and utterly refnse to credit the traveller’s account of new spe cies and new varieties of known species of animals which he claims to have met. That every travel ler is liable to error, and that Du Ghaillu is a man of somewhat eager and enthusiastic temperament cannot be questioned. But we think any one who reads his highly entertaining volume, will feel that he is following the career of a man not only of that indomitable energy which forms a neces sary part of every African traveller’s character, but also of that honesty of purpose and that gene ral competency as an observer, which give a com fortable security against gross deception or egre gious error. | Pa Chailla claims to have discovered seventeen species of mammals and fifty species of birds during his expedition. The monstrous anthropoid ape, known as the gorilla, of which fearful rumors had already reached us, and a portion of the skele ton of one had been secured and transmitted to this country for examination by the American Mission aries, was seen, hunted, met faee to face and slain by this bold hunter first, of all white men. This terrible beast, which is more than a match for a tiger and is supposed to have driven the lion from this part of Africa, is not afraid of man, ljut rises from all fours and advances erect to meet him when attacked, and must be allowed to eomevso near as to insure his death from a shot beyond all doubt, or the hunter pays the penalty of his own life from a single blow of the gorilla’s enormous arm. The traveller sought in vain to tame the | young specimens which he took' alive. Pu Chaillu’s book is deeply interesting to phi lanthropists. Like Livingstone, our traveller sees in trade —subordinate to, but going hand in hand with missionary efforts—the great civilizing agency for this sadly degraded region. The accounts which he gives of the horrible condition of the natives, of their slavery, their Wars, their cannibal ism, their revolting and cruel superstitions, the misery of their females, are, like those of the mis sionaries, enough to make the heart bleed. The whole volume is an eloquent appeal to us and to the whole civilized and Christianized world, to come to the rescue of these degraded races, and by penetrating their vast navigable rivers with steamboats for purposes of traffic, to quieken their dormant energies and give new value to the natural products of the country, while the richer blessing of the gospel of Jesus will find ready aceess in regions where the white man is received with that reverence which the sons of Ham instinctively yield to their more favcired brethren of the family of Japhet. The tendency of the volume, like those of Li vingstone, must be to stimulate evangelical zeal and missionary interest, quite as much as the reports of the missionaries themselves. Pu Chaillu himself brings home at least one earnest request for missionaries, which is remarkable as committed by the natives to one whose objects were known to be merely secular. In the village of Goumbi after one of the most cruel and murderous of their superstitious rites, against which the humane traveller had remonstrated in vain, and when the fury of the miserable populaee had given way and something of a reaction ensued, one of them named Adouma came to him and said: “ 0, Chally, when you go back to your far country let them send men to ns poor people to teach us from that which you call God’s month,” meaning the Bible which the natives had often seen Pu Chaillu read. Says the traveller: “I promised Adouma to give the message, and I now do so.” The book is for sale, in this city, hy J. B. Lip pincott & Co. THE ASSEMBLY’S MINUTES—EBEOES CORRECTED. We acknowledge the receipt of the Minutes of 1861, from the Stated Clerk, Rev. Dr. Hatfield. The minutes proper contain two points of special interest: the action establishing a Home Mis sionary Committee; and the resolutions in support of the Government. In the appendix we find the usual reports of delegates to corresponding bodies; those which make special mention of the strange refusal of the New England Congregational bodies to enter into conference with us, oh the subject of Home Missions, are worthy of particular atten tion. From the report of the Church Erection Fund, we perceive that only about one-fourth of the amount which has this year fallen due, from the churches aided in loans, has been refunded. In such cases interest is required on the amount loaned. All the churches which procured dona tions have contributed to the fund, as required in its provisions. The report of ithe Foreign Mis sion Committee presents some interesting and carefully-prepared statistics, showing the amount contributed by each Presbytery and Synod in our church to the cause of Foreign Missions, as exhi bited in the minutes of the previous General Assem bly. This is a very imperfect petbod, as several of our most heavily-contributin'* churches make a conscience of withholding their statements. The result, however, shows, that the ISynod having the highest average of contributions, for eaeh member, is New York and New Jersey, §1.87; the second, Cincinnati, §1.37; the third, Alta California, 88 cents, and the fourth Pennsylvania, 85 cents. As the Presbytery of the District, connected with our Synod, made no report, our average was there by much reduced. We have little doubt that a full report would place our Synod second, or, at worst, third on the list. 840 churches make no report of contributions; most of which, it is to be presumed, gave nothing. The aggregate re ported is §79.300 53; but the committee believe that, including legacies, the true amount was about §lOO.OOO. This year the total reported is $72,867 60. ; The total of members —134,760 —shows a slight 1055—473. But a very brief examination, directed particularly to Presbyteries in which the losses are reported to have occurred, shows, at Snuemutt fjfrijg&jrimM and sexit&£t (Svanplisii least, two considerable errors, the result of whie Is a gain in the total, of 146, giving us 135,079 members. The errors are in the footing up of the Presbytery of Ontario, which should be 1,569, in stead of 1,369, and the Presbytery of Onondaga 2,542, instead of 2,423. A thorough examina tion might disclose other mistakes; it is a matter of regret, that the conclusions given are not more trustworthy. Other gains are, Presbytery 1, ministers 35, licentiates 15. , THE FOURTH IN THE CENTRAL CHURCH. WILMINGTON. We doubt whether any church in this entire section of country entered with greater spirit into the celebration of our National Jubilee, than the one above named. We learn from the Journal and Statesman, that on the morning of the day named, the church was handsomely and profusely decorated with American flags, while around the platform were seated thirty-four little girls dressed in the National colors. At half-past ten, a batta lion of soldiers, consisting of four companies, having stacked their arms in front of the building, entered and took the seats assigned them, while a large audience crowded the rest of the building in every part. After music from the organ, and the singing of Holmes’ Army Hymn, prayer was offered by Rev. Wm. Aikrnan, the Declaration of Independence was read by Mr. E. T. Taylor, an elder of the church, a patriotic ode, composed by the same gen tleman, was sung, and an oration was delivered by our friend, Rev. Geo. F. Wiswell, the esteemed pastor of the church, which well sustained his reputation as a fearless uncompromising and elo quent supporter of the Constitution and of freedom. The effect of the oration upon the audience was very great. Says the Journal and Statesman: — The Rev. speaker seemed to have his whole soul wrapped up in his subject, which he entered with an earnestness and enthusiasm that bore irre sistibly upon his hearers; indeed, so inspiriting and purely national were his utterances, and so ardent and pointed were his sentiments in defence of the Constitution and the Union, that the au dience, unable to restrain their patriotic emotions, buret out in open applause in the church. No such demonstration has ever before been witnessed under similar circumstances in this city. The newspaper edition of the oration, which was published in the Journal, was speedily exhausted, and a pamphlet edition of “a few thousand more copies” was issued from the office. We shall take an early opportunity to lay some extracts from this noble production before our readers. Meanwhile we cannot refrain from expressing our opinion, that the strength of the national senti ments in Wilmington, owes not a little to the boldness and vigour of its advocacy by this pastor, sustained by one of the most efficient and health ful church organizations in our body, or indeed in the land. WILL VICTORY SAVE US? Amid the joyful tumult created by the news of repeated victories we are too prone to take up the hasty conclusion, that victory and the final triumph of the rightful authorities over armed rebellion, are the only things necessary to the permanent peace and welfare of our country. We should never forget, that open rebellion is but a symptom pointing to a disordered state of the body politic, and to put it down by force may accomplish no more for the general good than the healing of an eruption would accomplish in a case of scrofula. Unless the virus itself is expelled from the system, the disease may be assuredly expected to break out again. We may be permitted to doubt whether Secre tary Camerou has correctly indicated the defective system at West-Point, as the true cause of the faithlessness of so many of the officers trained at that institution. We would be inclined to go still farther back, and lay the blame upon the training, or want of training, which these young men must have experienced amid the peculiar institutions of the South, so ill adapted to teach the important lessons of self-control and subjection to rightful authority. And while our armies are fighting against the open enemies of their country, it is the business of every man and woman to engage with the subtler enemies of order, that spring up around the carelessly watehed fireside, and to in stil into the forming mind of the young those les sons of reverence to rightful authority, which can be best conveyed in the form of family discipline and religious instruction of the young. If it'be an inspired declaration, that the ruling of one’s own spirit is better than the conquest of a city, we may, without a bold latitude of inference, say, that the parent who succeeds in putting a proper and lasting curb upon the headstrong spirit of his children, is doing as great a service for his country as General M'Clellan, in violently routing an army of such headstrong spirits grown to be men. And it is idle to pretend, that there are no ele ments of trouble to a free government save in one section of the country. The impetuosity of many in the North, in view of what is regarded as the tardy poliey of the General-in-Chief, has been ex hibited in an unseemly—we were about to say— disgraceful manner. The elements of rebellion are not indistinctly manifest in the spirit displayed by some of the most prominent of our , northern journals, who find the poliey of our government in carrying on the war not exactly to their taste. They are just as ready to speak evil of our leaders as are the avowed rebels themselves. We, there fore, may one day find that we have other sources of trouble and anarchy to our country besides the aggressive spirit of the slavery-propagandists, and that a victory over these last is by no means all that our country needs to secure the elements of enduring peace and prosperity. As true patriots, we should seize this period to impress upon our own minds, and upon the attention of the people, so far as our influence extends, the importance of discovering and contending against the secret sources'of national calamities, which are found in narrow circles, and in the individual character it self. After all, the familiar declaration of Holy Writ furnishes the best guide to the statesman and patriot in their efforts for the good of the Commonwealth. “ Righteousness exalteth a na tion, but sin is a reproacb to any people.” The one is true victory, the other is disaster and defeat. Our great fear is, that when the less serious—be cause merely outward —trouble is allayed, we shall straightway go to our farms and merchandise as if all were well, while the disorder, only driven in from the surface, is suffered, as a moral disease, to rankle and fester for another outbreak in gene rations to come. Christian people should pray t and labor that tbe victory may bo complete. y MINUTES OF ASSEMBLY. Members of Philadelphia 4th Presbytery en titled to copies of Minutes of General Assembly, can obtain them in the Presbyterian Book Store.* T. J. Shepherd, Stated Clerk. 15th July, 1861. CORRESPONDENCE LETTER from SYRIA. Bhamtlun, Mt. Lebanon, Jane 4th, IS6I Dear Editor: —Missionaries in foreign lands take the deepest interest in all the events and re ports which occur and reach them from the United States. In the great insurrection of last year in Syria, from our high watch-tower we contem plated the judgments of'the Lord, as in the whirl wind of fire we saw the> sad desolations of civil war. But we did not anticipate a greater and more alarming insurrection in our beloved and prosperous native land. But this insurrection was inevitable. It comes as a calamity and rebuke from our God. My hope is, that all our brethren at the South will see, before it is too latej that their favorite insti tution of human slavery can never be regarded as the leading interest arid grandest distinction of our Great Republic, and resume their appropriate position in their respective States, before their sin becomes their ruin. In the unalterable determi nation of the Federal Government to meet that insurrection: of so man|r States in all its magni tude, and to exterminate the root of all this evil, we see the present greatness and future prosperity of the United States, auk of popular governments. We hear the voice and/see the hand of a great nation, and we pray thi God of our fathers to give immediate and compWte triumph to the armies and navies of our-belovfed country. In the name of our God, an<| in humble relianee on bis provi dential direction, I have no fear of the final issue. Slavery and Freedom| can . no more occupy the same capital, than sintand holiness can reign in the same heart. Secession was God’s chosen me thod to remove a natic nal sin from the heart of Washington, and from the central point of. the governmental policy o' the United States, and the sympathies and heart® of all true American citi zens will, sooner or later, respond, Amen. But we are still in the transition of events. England, I rejoice to say, is in the ascendant at Constantinople and Beirut, as well as in London or India. The report came yesterday that H. E. Fuad Pasha is appointed Governor-General of Syria, and a convention of Druses and Christians Is called this day, near to Deir el Komr, to hear the proclamation of the Firman just received from Constantinople. ■ - The French expedition is mostly gathered at Beirut. In the harbor are eight French liners, and two or three frigates, besides transports and despatch boats; three’Russian frigates and one despatch boat; ancFlhree English liners and three frigates. The troops are expected to embark on the morrow, June sth. In this embarkation we see the policy of England, and that policy is peace and Protestantism; but in Beirut and many other places, much panic prevails. In our humble station at Bbamdnn, and in tbe ancient peace with all the parties so lately in hostile array, we feel as tranquil and safe as a chicken under the protecting wings of its mother. The late insurrection in Syria has tended to open new fields for missionary labor, but the la borers are few. And the insurrection in the Southern States will tend, I trust, under the good discipline of Providence, indirectly at least, to awaken our beloved countrymen to give their choicest sons aud daughters, and possessions, ac cording to their ability, for the moral emancipa tion of nations, and the peaceful recovery of this world to God., - . Lamenting the individual and national sins which still render insurrections needful, yet hopeful and joyfuKn the pre-determined ways and means, aud issues of infinite power and wis dom, and goodness,;manifested in the creation, government and destiny, of nations and worlds around, of which we form only the most insigni ficant part, I remain, dear Editor, with heartfelt patriotism, yours in Christian love, P. S. A letter from Mrs.- B. accompanies this. It will speak for itself if you please to publish it. FROM A PASTOR IN' MISSOURI. Yon have information, no doubt, of the strange events transpiring in Missouri. Ido not think that we have yet received accurate de tails of the latest military transactions; but I am confident that the military force, so ably led by General Lyon, is making steady and rapid progress in putting down rebellion. I think, also, that his wise administration is likely to re claim many who have been misled by the plotters of treason. The late Governor must be regarded as a criminal and a fugitive from justice. What immeasurable infamy must be his history 1 How our State government is to be restored to its proper dignity, Ido not see; but am too thankful for the resciie of our endangered Ame rican citizenship, and too sure.of the justice of the National Government, to feel anxious. Above all, I trust in our fathers’ God, and com mit our whole country to his gracious protec tion. Fraternally, * * *. LETTER FROM KENTUCKY. * * * Kentucky, July 8, 1861, Publisher Am. Presbyterian Phieada.:- > Bear Sir. —Inclosed find $2.50, in U. S. postage stamps, to pay my subscription to your paper. Money is scarce in this portion of the United States. Many of us would have been surprised to have been told last year, that it would have been hard to raise $' newspaper subscription at this -tune,* hut it ia#*.nevertheless. We are, indeed, in the midst of troublous times. Thirty miles south of jus are encamped five or six thousand Confederatejsoldiers—a lawless band.— We flatter ourselves that they will have employ ment enough when Gfeneral Scott moves against Memphis. . It is a trying time upon men in this part of the country who feel at all patriotic. Our town and country are both strongly Union, and, I think, the majority in southern j Kentucky unconditionally for the Government as it is, (save the rebellion,) but, among the secessionists, there is a spirit of lawlessness and domineering that would inaugu rate a reign of terror, if they could muster the forces. Before Kentucky is forced out of the Union you may expect to hear of the bloodiest fight on record. May it all result in the purifica tion of the Government and the church, and, finally, the glory of Clod, is our prayer. OUR FORRI&N MISSIONS. The wants of thej American Board, at this time, we presume, are well known. We would simply call attention to the fact, that our finan cial year closes with the end of this month. Will not those churches and individual friends of the Board that have not yet made their con tributions, do what they can in this time of press ing need, and see that their funds are forwarded on or before the 31st of Jnly ? Wm. A. Benton. Truly.yours. John M’Leod, Dist. Secretary. CHICAGO CORRESPONDENCE. Dear Presbyterian: —This uneasy summer is wearing on; we have passed another of Time’s toll gates, though being in process of paying so largely into the general treasury, we were some what careless of the toll at the various separate gates; so, at least, was it hereabouts. It did not seem worth while to stop for celebrating the Fourth of July with mimicry and rehearsal, while the ac tual thing itself is in process of real celebration, by armed legions, with Minnie rifles, and cannon with actual shell and shrapnel in them; and so our Fourth passed, in scorching quietude, except as the boys refused to be cheated of their squibs and Chinese artillery, and even this went on lan guidly; the crackers did not seem to make as much noise, nor the rockets to go so high, nor the Roman candles to burn so briskly red as usual. The day refused to be celebrated; at leas't till it be determined whether it be good for anything, or to mean more than any other day. In sooth, all. the world feel that our history is being Bpoiled, its current turned backward, its waters dreadfully muddied. What is a Fourth of July good for, if our whole concern is upset? If traitors spit on our flag, and make faces at our National Hymns, and put ink-blots on the pages where are written the stories of Bunker Hill and Yorktowb? Why be jubilant, till that matter is cleared up ? Let us stop the chariot in the middle of the street, till it .be seen if Washington were a patriot or a traitor. If the stream ef history is to run the other way— up hill—l, for one, do not wish to ship with it; I am content; yes, more than that, to go the old channel. 1 This season is not like the last and the other seasons, out this way. Then we had pie-nies in numerable; Sabbath Schools took the care, with each spoke of their rail-road wheels, on each sunny day, and sought out each pleasant grove and bub bling spring, to stroll and frolic, and eat sand wiches and drink lemonade, with their teachers, and to renew the conviction that there are f riends to the children, no matter where born, or who are their parents. But there are no pic-nics now. Our friends at Lake Forest tried the thing the other day, hoping to raise funds to assist them in erecting a Chureh edifice, which they very mueh need. They did realize a little over a hundred' dollars; but the attendance was sorry; and a “cloudy morning” was a good cloak to hide their chagrin. But the difficulty is deeper than cloudy mornings, unless you thus class the whole political heavens. People are waiting to see the “outcome” of this war; at least some intimation of what that “out come” is to he, and do not want too many other things to think of in the meantime. Besides, here in Illinois, has fallen one of the h4avy timbers of the edifice which rebellion has been trying to tear down. You think it hard, down in quiet Philadelphia, and New York, and Boston, doubtless as you see your shipping laid up, as the abodes of flies and bad aim, till the skies clear off; and think you know what the war means. But out here we have had our banking capital wiped away by it; and with boundless erops on hand, been left moneyless, and unable to stir a thing. And so wheat is sold for fifty-eight cents the bushel in our streets; and forty miles inland, corn can be had for sixteen cents the bushel. Well, we are not likely to starve just yet; especially as this season, like the last, pro mises to be fruitful though not so exuberantly so. Bnt a people without money; think of it; and yet as a fact, we are as well off in that regard as before, in reality; for we have not seen any money in these parts for five years past; though we have had “currency” which we persuaded ourselves was money, and went on stylishly, cheating each other and ourselves in that belief. I got a sight of the first gold dollar, outside of the broker’s show window, the other day, for the first time in many a year. But our banks are ruined. Geo. Smith & Co. wound up before the trouble; J. H- Burch & Co ., Hoffman & Gelpche; and now the Jforae have all assigned, and our bank ing capital is, sponged out; the merchants keep accounts in their safes, and each man does busi ness “on his own hook.” At Milwaukie—for Wis consin is wading in the same creek —a mob gathered and battered in the banks, and the mili tary interfered; but no lives were lost. And so our churches are poor—especially the poor ones—and we have nothing to give for the Gospel; and must see and hear' calls on every hand—and not the least that of onr new Home Missionary Committee —and be obliged to hear only. Till we have something to give, we can give nothing. But we trust times are brightening a little; geld begins to shine, and our neighbor states are ready to afford us a currency; some of it no better than that we have expunged. Now I suppose this will be good news to traitors. That they have pulled down their own credit, and in the wreck pulled down our prosperity, is a truth, over which all the sanhedrim of the Judases and Arnolds will be glad. Let them not laugh too loud. We think notwithstanding the tempo rary inconvenience, we can stand it, if they can. A man who burns down his own dwelling, need not be over-jubilant because the flames spread to bis neighbor’s pig-pen. Villains have always been able to do damage: to honest men; even the thief, serving ont his ten years in stonei-hewing, between penitentiary walls, can chuckle to himself that he did steal the horse and ride him to death, in the. act for which his expiation is in process. Satan, even, could get all the consolation which the heel bruising was adapted to afford, notwithstanding the head bruises were for himself. We expect to bleed —in truth, are bleeding; if the rebels bleed less than we in the long run, it will be that Provi- dence intends more good for them than they are thinking of for themselves. Doubtless this blow has produced more dis couragement in, and distrust of this State than it ought. It has naturally enough hindered our equipment of troops, or we had been glad to do it; and now it operates to hinder a state loan, of a million or two, authorized by our legislature for war purposes. But this state is as secure as Penn sylvania herself, and our loan ought to be taken at once. Our prairie state has hardly been able to do herself justice yet, in this campaign; she has now twenty regiments in arms, and yet no service has been offered to any of them, till the past two days, other than to two companies with General McClellan in Virginia, except to He in the sunbeams which smite the mud at Cairo, and to wage defensive war with typhoids and extra-sharp musquitoes there abounding. Two regiments, to their great joy, have got loose in pursuit of the pseudo-Governor of Missouri, within the past two days. Our men have felt as the Irish regiments in hollow square at Waterloo; when all they could do was to take the cannonades of the French, and ask, “ can we never get at them ? ” This question will doubtless be answered in due time; General Fremont is henceforth our leader; and no man, not tbe old hero at Washington, would inspire a greater confidence than this man of the Rocky Mountains. He is now among us; let good men pray for him. We have at last a President’s Message once more. That document had been so long missing that we had nearly forgotten the look of it. For as to your man, though it grieves me that I can speak to you no better of him, and with Paul, I would not speak evil of him, who had been the ruler of my people —still of Doctor Buchanan I am forced to say that his messages were, like cer tain days in law, dies non —messages non. Who read them ? I tried it—tried it twice; but it was not a thing to be done; the old gentleman did not discern the truth, at least truly. His facts were not facts; his logic limped, halted, stumbled, broke down; his sentences shambled along, like so many starved otters over a sand ridge. • It was dreadful. It was grievous to us, who, no matter what the name of the President be, intend to read his messages and do him a suitable,reverence; but we could not do much of it then. But our Illinois man, Abraham; you have read his document, dear P. How do you like it? Is it not sincere? Is it not truthful ? Is it not to the point? Is it not Lincoln-ian? For we glory in such sentences of Saxon, which go like Minnie bul lets straight to their work, and cut straight through. We feel, out this way, we of all sorts, I think, that we have a man as President whom we can respect and trust. If we differ from his past politics, we can differ squarely. We need not be always differing as to facts and foundations. You read the newspapers in these days, dear P; do you not? What do you think of them? I mean the daily papers; are they not a little sour — a little irked, that the Government will not let them have and tell all the news; are some of them not a little imperious? Do they not talk a little too loud sometimes, to men under great trusts, and presumed to know something of their own matters themselves? Do they not boast a little too much? What is the use of assuring the Country that the army is to go forward “to-night,” when they have told us the same thing for two months past; and that it will not stop till it “gets to Richmond;” or to Charleston; or to New Orleans, when every body knows that armies are liable to get stopped, at almost any time ? Why be sure—positively sure, that our side will always conquer in each skirmish, when we know they do not? Why kill only one and wound three, on our side; and fifty eight, and three hundred and sixty-nine of the enemy; whilst the enemy improves on the same facts, with none on his side killed or scratched; while his “ warriors” slew of the “ Federals” righty-three, and wounded seventeen hundred, exactly ? In short, why boast in putting on the harness, over loud? It is better to be able to boast in putting it off—-so says tbe Book. But I turn away from these themes of war, nof with any apology; for if our country does not now deserve the interest of Christian men, it pro bably never will; and if a good man, in the old days, declared, that if “ he forgot Jerusalem, he hoped his right hand might forget its cunning"— and if inspiration put that saying in the Bible, I shall not apologize, for writing of that which con cerns the weal of us all, and our children after us. One of our religious papers here, apologized, a ■while ago, for writing so much on the state of the country, and promised soon to amend, by giving “ something religious.” That is not exactly the expression of my idea; for somehow it seems to me that religion is a good deal concerned in this condition of our country. But I turn from it to say that there is little transpiring in our churches, at present, beyond the usual progress of things. Our city congrega tions are good; our prayer-meetings are well at tended; our Sabbath Schools are well filled. A late monthly report of the city schools announced the recent hopeful conversion of between four and five hundred of the pupils. There will doubtless be chaff here, but we cannot doubt also the ex istence of good grain. Westminster church, that of Mr. Spencer, is still without a pastor. Rev. Wm. Wishard, of I Rushville, in this state, goes to Tecumseh, Michi-1 gan. Galena is, I believe, still vacant. DISTINGUISHED MILITARY MEN. A paragraph has been published in several of our city papers, enumerating the prominent men now in the Army and Navy, who belong to Phila delphia and Pennsylvania. The writer seems to be ignorant of the fact, that the most brilliant officer now in the field is a Philadelphian by birth and residence. Gen. George B. McClellan is the second son of the late Dr. George McClellan of this city, and the brother of our fellow-citizen, J. H. B. McClellan, M. D., of Walnut St. Gen. McClellan has been repeatedly spoken of as from Woodstock, Conn. His father was from Woodstoek, and after graduating at Yale College in 1815, he settled in Philadelphia in 1817, where he resided until his death in May, 1847. He married in 1821 into one of the most influential families ’of Philadelphia, and his second son is the distinguished General now in command of the forces in Western Virginia. The family is of Scotch ancestry; of martial spirit; with great hatred to oppression. One of Gen. McClellan's ancestors was in the battle of Culloden; ,and his great grandfather was Gen. Samuel McClellan of the Revolution. Gen. McClellan, at the early age of twenty, then a Lieutenant, went out with the Sappers and Miners in the Valley of Mexico, in the war of 1846, which terminated in the capture of the city of Mexico. The promise of his youth has been more than confirmed in the successful career of his yet early manhood. DELIGHTFUL SUMMER RESORT. We feel confident that there are those among our readers who will he glad to learn that they ean find an agreeable, quiet and healthful resort for the summer in the family of Rev. H. S. How ffit at the romantic Delaware Water Gap. A number of: the rooms of his commodious residence, which is so situated as to command a beautiful 'view amid that remarkably fine scenery, may be obtained, with every arrangement for the eomfort and convenience of the guests, at the low price of Five Dollars a week. This is little more than half the charge of previous seasons. Clergymen with their families desiring a change of air and an experience of the benefits of the intermingling of bold mountain and river scenery, can hardly do better than repair to Mr. Howell’s delightful re sidence at the Water Gap. The New York World, and Courier and Enquirer. —Richard Grant White, Esq., is to be one of the editors of this newspaper. He was for merly one of the editors of the Courier and En quirer, and has been one of the editors of the World from its start. Some of the most brilliant, vigorous, and effective articles in the latter pa per, upon the war and general politics, were from his pen. BOORS FOR THE ARMY. Onr friend, the Rev. Edward Neill, well known as a useful and distinguished minister of our de nomination, in Minnesota, has accompanied the First Minnesota Regiment, as its Chaplain to the Seat of War, and is with the army near Washing, ton. In a late letter, Mr. Neill makes an earnest re quest to his friends for the means of procuring suitable books for distribution among his charge. We hope that this request will be met, and that so excellent a Chaplain will not be compelled t 0 go without the ammunition which he needs f or the successful prosecution of his work. The cost of two or three rounds from one of the great g uns will buy him a full supply. Cannot our good people give him what he needs ? Any contributions for this purpose can be sent to the Editor, or to the Secretary of the Presby terian Publication Committee, 1834 Chestnut St, Philadelphia. CALL FOR A MINISTER IN lOWA. Messes. Editoes: —Allow me to inquire through your paper for a minister, if there ia one to be found, that will come and take charge of two or three feeble New School Presbyterian Churches in the West. We are suffering for a man that will break unto us tbe bread of life, and give unto each one a portion in due season. The churches to which I refer belong to the lowa Talley p rcs . byteiy. We have a beautiful country, and as fair a prospect for doing good and building up large churches as in any other portion of the West, by the blessing of God attending our efforts. Please address, P. 0. Box 57, Marshall, Marshall Co., lowa. The Bibliotheca Sacka for July opens with a thorough and scholarly disquisition on the Au thorship of the Hebrews, by Prof. R. D. C. Rob bins, of Middlebury College, an old and valued contributor to this Journal. Prof. Robbins comes to the conclusion that tbe external evidence is strongly in favor of Paul as the author, while the internal evidence is such as in almost every particular, is sufficient to render the composition by Paul probable. ... A second article of great length, and rather forbidding appearanee,—not relieved by the promise of a fresh instalment,— is entitled a Sketch.of the Hindoo Philosophy. More than half of the entire number is occupied by these articles, which, to our judgment, is not very judicious editing. . . . President Woolsey’s article, which follows, is one of those illustfations of the value of a nice, scholarly elucidation of some single term or expression, especially when brought into the service of Biblical interpretation. It re fers to the phrase, “ My lord,” as used by Festus, of, and to, the Roman emperor. It discusses, and gives interesting instances of, the rise and preva lence of the sentiment of servility, once a stranger to the Roman bosom, as expressed by the use of the term “lord," to and of the Emperor, in address es, inscriptions, &e,, and draws a conclusion emi nently favorable to the verbal accuracy of the narrative of Luke. . . . Dr. Leonard Withing ton, of Newburyport, furnishes a welcome contri bution on Method in Sermons, which is full of sound views, and of practical advice and encou ragement to the preacher: the young preacher would do well to study it. Such advice as is given by Dr. W., and by the late Rev. J. W. Alexander, D. D., is calculated to exert a whole some influence upon the rising generation of preachers. . . . God’s ownership of the Sea, is a sermon by Dr. Swain, of Providence, R. 1., in which some valuable lessons upon the divine eco nomy, in that vast and interesting portion of his works are enforced. The notices are few, but carefully done. The Congregational Quarterly opens with a sketch of Nathaniel Emmons, D. D., and por trait. The article is based chiefly on the recent life of Dr. Emmons, by Prof. Park, and is by Bev. John W. HardiDg, a former pupil of the doctor’s, and enthusiastic in his estimate of his teacher’s great qualities. The personal qualities of the man, and the incidents of his life, come chiefly under review, with little or no reference to his doctrines. Three years and seven months the embryo theo logian sought a settlement in vain, and at last, con tented himself in a position which is only famous, like Northampton, because of the great name of the preacher whom it once entertained. His ha bits of close application to study, are described as having been carried out with extraordinary seve rity. The iron hook, on the inside of his study door, became famous. Mr. Harding proposes the drawing out of a contrast between the old New England preacher, as represented in Dr. Emmons, and the country parson of old England, as grace fully illustrated in the recent book of essays called Recreations of the said personage. It would, in deed, prove instructive. Important lessons are drawn from the life of Dr. Emmons, in regard, for instance, to the vanity of the attempt to bring theology entire into a system. Emmons says *' 1 have spent the greater part of my time in making joints.” The writer remarks: The im pression remains that it is difficult, if not often fu tile, “to make joints” for that grand moral sys tem of the universe, which theology would expound. Another lesson of- the first importance to young divines is: The most honorable path to distinction in the Christian ministry lies through the faith ful discharge of its ordinary duties, and the hum blest parish may afford a sphere of usefulness, wide enough for the full exertion and higbest de velopment of a noble mind. Every young minis ter should write these words ineffaceably on his memory Other articles, of a general cha racter, with much matter valuable chiefly to Con gregationalists, and to them highly valuable, make up the number. This is the cheapest of the quar terlies —in fact, the practicability of issuing * journal of its high character, so well appointed in all its varied departments, statistical and other wise, for one dollar a year, is something that we should suppose would tax- even Yankee ingenuity to achieve. It is done, however; One of the edi tors, Rev. A. H. Quint, is chaplain td one of the New’ England regiments for the war. West. Continued Good News from the Sandwich Is; lands.— Tidings continue to come of the work qf God’s power and grace on different parts of the Sand wich Islands. The latest intelligence is from R er - W. P. Alexander, who writes from If ailuku as fel lows : I have been mueh encouraged in my labors daring the past five months. Our people, so long indiffer ent, havebeen aroused to the concerns of eternity and a wonderful change has been wrought. Some of the wildest scapegraces in the land have been con verted, and are now earnest co-laborers in bringing others tojChrist. Meetings are held once or twice a day, in eight or ten different places in my field; and they are well attended. Some of the more mature Christians spend much of their time in going from house to house, to warn sinners to repent and seek the Lord. They go up the ravines, and reach many who are inaccessible to me. On the Sabbath, my congregation is very large; sometimes hundreds are unable to get into; the house, and our house is 50 feet by 80. Many who had long lived in sin in the church unknown to their brethren, have come forward and confessed, and begged the prayers of the church. 1 have encountered some tendency to extravagance; some whose business would not allow then) to attend the daily meetings, set up meetings for prayer ana conference in the. evening, and kept them up some times the whole night; and the good women have been so moved, at times, that they have taken part as exhorters. But by. watchful care, I have been able to control these and other extravagancies 60 that our meetings have generally been ns orderly as with you in Boston. I trust the work will spread till all our churches shall be refreshed. Mr. Alexander speaks of the meetings of the n®’ 5 ’ Presbytery. Pour have been held; all of them occa sions of deep interest. The Presbytery has thirteen churches under its care, on the islands of Maui, Mo lokai, and Lanai. It has also six candidates for the ministry. July 18. NEW REVIEWS. MISSIONARY.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers