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.