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THURSDAY, AUGUST 1. 1801.
JOHN W- HEARS, EDITOR.
ABBOCUTES WITH
ALBERT BARNES , GEOUQB DOFFIELD, Jb.
THOMAS BRAINERD, / JOHN JENKINS,
HENRY DARLING, I THOMAS J. SHEPHERD.
nailing the flag to the mast.
RESPONSE PROM JUDGE ALLEN, OF ALBANY.
Rev. J. W. MvAna.Hdilor American Pres
byterian, Philadelphia:—ln response to your
appeal, I remit $2 in advance for next year’s
subscription, commencing September sth, 1861.
Once in two weeks will be satisfactory; but, no
suspension . Gently remind ns again, if need
be,
God in his providence, as well as by bis grace,
is doing marvellous things for ns. From the
Chaplain in the Senate to the parish minister
in the rural districts, the heel of the slave-power
is lifted from us. Our members are no longer
leaving us for pro-slavery churches. And then,
too, our chnreh polity and denominational in
strumentalities ore all working happily among
ourselves and in peace with our neighbors. It
is a more glorious day of deliverance, in both
Chnreh and State, than I 'had dared to hope
for. Sound the loud trumpet, and the brethren
must see to it that every flag is nailed to the
mast.
Encouraged by the above and similar responses
to our “Appeal” of a fortnight ago, we resume
the publication of onr paper, and Bball continue
from week to week, or make occasional suspen
sions exactly as our friends and subscribers
supply us with the means for our work. So
then, dear friends, if you desire the regular ap
pearance of the American Presbyterian you
have the means of securing it clearly pointed
out to you.
VIOTORY AND DEFEAT.
Monday morning of lost week, the 22d of July,
witnessed a nation exulting in the news of the
viotory of its grand army advancing upon the fo
cal point of the rebellion. Monday evening be
held the same people stunned, confounded to
speechlessness and tears, by the news of defeat,
flight, panio, loss and shame. Instead of exulta
tion at a sense of invinoible power, there shot
through the national heart a pang of fear for the
national capitat, and the national cause. The
greatest battle fought on the continent, just before
proclaimed a victory, had gone against us. As
Athens felt when the news of the defeat at Syra
cuse first came with overwhelming weight Upon
the people, so, for the moment, felt the North at
the news of her regiments decimated, her best
blood poured out in- vain, her great army, sent
forth in pride and pomp, driven back iu utter
confusion and in senseless and irrepressible panio
to the very intrenchments of the capital.
Bat the keen sense of disaster and defeat was
not fairly realized, before the stubborn courage of
the nation, and its fixed purpose to conquer re
bellion, were more manifest than ever. Men, un
der the full belief that the disaster was complete,
crowded to the reerni ting-offices, determined to
repair it or to die. What is our life worth, they
doubtless thought, without our Union and our
Constitution to insure us the quiet possession and
transmission to posterity of onr civil rights and
privileges? Why care to live iu a State where
rebellion cannot be put down? If our cause is
lost, we and all ours are lost also. Yet none, even
in the darkest moment of this dark day, gave up
the cause of the Union as lost. It was but tem
porarily imperilled at the worst. Even such a
shock could be endured, and every thiug be saved;
nay, such a shook might well have been foreseen
by infinite wisdom to he neuessary for the trial and
development and refining of the righteous cause;
for the unfolding of its real strength, for its de
liveranoe from embarrassments and imperfections
which could in no other way be got rid of, and
which would work a worse disaster in the end, if
undisturbed.
We know that ere long the horrors of the dis
aster were greatly reduced and modified. It had
been overrated, at the first, probably not less than
fourfold. A member of 14th New York regiment,
who had just taken to the bereaved mother the re
mains of her two twin sons, who had fallen close
by his side in battle, assured us, in conversation,
that the sense of the magnitude of the disaster in
the community, seemed to increase in proportion
to the distance he got from Washington, and that
the soldiers themselves, as a body, did not share in
it. As • the week slowly rolled away, the uncer
tain haze in which the whole affair was enveloped,
and its details vastly magnified, in like manner
rolled away; and in the Washington despatch to
Saturday’s World, our killed are set down at one
hundred and fifty, and our entire loss in killed,
wounded, and missing, at seven hundred 1 We
fear this is altogether too low an estimate; yet
there is no reason to doubt the general fact, that
the truth is vastly better than we ventured to hope
in the depression of the first intelligence. We
rejoice In this inore than we can tell. The load
taken from our mind is the heaviest we have ever
felt in regard to any temporal calamity. Yet we
prefer to take our stand in the thickest darkness
of Monday, and from that memorable point in our
history to contemplate' the nation’s second up
rising to enter with awful purpose upon the work
which, as yet, it had only been toying with, in
ill-suppressed incredulity of its real greatness.
The blood of our brethren, crimsoning the rebel
soil, oried out with a different tone from that of
the insulted, but uninjdred garrison of Sumter.
We were bound not to let that, blood flow in vain.
Not one voice, at least none that could be heard in
the thunder of this second uprising, ventured to
remonstrate against the waste of blood, and to in
sinuate that it was time to cease. The idea of
compromising with rebels was probably finally re
nounced bv.more persons on that day, than in any
preceding equal portion of time. It may be said
to have then received its death-blow as a political
idea. Then it was that the strength of the North
ern purpose, and the power of Northern endurance
of disaster, and the extent of Northern resources
were first brought to light. We were tried by de
feat In as severe a manner aH perhaps it is possible
for us to be tried, and, by the grace of God, we
wore not found wanting. Wo wore not, disheart
ened, nor divided, nor demoralized. Concealed
traitors among us had even less opportunity to
lift their heads, and Congress, which had lost one
of its members as a prisoner, resumed its sittings
with Roman calmness; listened, unmoved os here
tofore, to tbo harangues of rebel sympathizers in
its chambers, aud Only voted its War measures with
increased energy, though the rebel pickets were
not very much beyond cannon range of the ca
pitol. ; s .. ....
Albany, July 18th, 1861.
The amount of it is, that we are gathering vic
tory out of defeat, and that the rebels will find
themselves as muqh mistaken, and having as little
cause of joy, in the defeat of Bull Run, July
21st, as they had in the fall of Sumter, on the
13th of April. Wo are brought to look upon the
work before us as a stern one. Congress, the Pre
sident,the Cabinet, and the leading officers of the
army, must test more severely the materials offered
for carrying out the purpose of the nation. A
high,"a truly great purpose, such as is demanded
of men who would be God’s instruments in fixing
a new epoch in history, must be cherished; and
all persona], and state, and party considerations
must be banished in giving the highest efficiency
to every department of the government,'and every
arm of the service. We believe this, to a very
great extent, will be done, and we shall see the
heroic character, and the lofty devotion of true
patriotism exhibited in a manner yet more marvel
lous than heretofore. In four or five days after
the defeat, 100,000 new men had been accepted,
and the cry is—“ Still they come I ” Pennsylva
nia alone put ten regiments of her reserve, armed
and equipped, into the field. Every precaution
in the future is to be taken to strip unworthy of
ficers of their trappings, and to put none but tried
men upon the field with precious lives in their
command. United States stocks are among the
very firmest on tho list, and our people, rich and
poor, are ready to bear taxes without' complaint,
and to furnish the government with all the men
and the money which are required with tbe’utmost
freedom and promptness. Rebellion is crushed
out in Missouri and Western Virginia. Mary
land, so far as it is not loyal, is"overpowered;- —
Kentucky is safe to the UnioD, and Eastern Ten
nessee cannot be conquered by rebel threats or
cajoling. The blockade is becoming daily more
perfect, and privateering more hazardous. Our
crops are large, our exports enormous, and the
balance of trade immensely in our favor. The ele
ments of strength are everywhere around us —our
people are only the more harmonized by disaster.
We look to God, and take courage. -
A LETTER TO THE EASY CHAIR.
Since our first acquaintance, dear easy chair,
it has never yet happened that you and I have
been so long separated; and no w I m nst needs ex
temporize the similitude of an editorial seat in this
remote region, and fancy myself again within the
familiar circle of your arms, that I may perchance
give the editorial flow and tone to the thoughts
which present themselves for utterance. You
will bear with me in this enforced absence,
which a jaded mind and a weakened body ren
dered necessary. Perhaps when I return you
will find that less of your ample accommoda
tions is nnoccnpied, and that your sturdy sup
ports have a weight to sustain better propor
tioned to their cheerful ability. Certainly yon
will find in your occupant and friend —a man re
freshed and renovated, and with a heart for any
work that offers, and any fate that is likely to
betide. Mayhap yon will not be displeased
with such chat as the various scenes and inci
dents of my jannt wonid naturally snggest. Let
me then begin with an admiring word for the
NEW YORK CENTRAL PARK.
As I sauntered along Broadway, during my
brief stay in the commercial metropolis, looking
this way and that for what might present of no
velty, my eye rested upon an inscription on the
body of one of the Passenger Railway cars, To
Central Park. . I remembered I had never seen
this rising glory of New York city, so I jumped
in, dropped my fare into an ingeniously con
trived till which was entirely beyond the reach
of the driver, and rode on. The journey is long
—it leads through about three miles of solid
buildings, and a short ride over districts as yet
nnoccnpied, or nearly so, and we are put down
near one of the entrances to the Park. With
the number of its acres or square miles, its cost
when completed, the workmen employed on it
and the like, I shall not trouble you, dear easy
chair. Bather let me say it is as charming as
fairy land, extensive enough for every variety
of prospects, with nature and art vieing and
at the same time blending with each other in
the most delightful manner,—art following,
adorning, and, at last, in its culminating points,
fairly triumphing over nature. Carriage-drives,
bridle-paths and walks for pedestrians, sweep
around and among each other, now passing by
elaborate bridges of every variety of material
and form, over gorges and sheets of water, now
circling around hillsides, and now losing them
selves in the shades of the wood.- The broad
walk for foot passengers, alone, passes, by a
straight course, over a wide and perfectly level
plain, beneath triple and quadruple rows of
elms, to the great stone terrace, upon which
all the taste and skill of the architects have
been lavished, and for which the depths of the
city treasury will have to be fathomed ere it
stands forth in its complete oriental or Parisian
magnificence. This broad walk, which, with
its rows of thrifty elms, will ere long rival the
classic shades of Temple Street, in New Haven,
and this massive and elaborate terrace, with its
broad flights of steps and its stone platform be
neath, are but introductory to the great attrac
tion of the park—the lake. This too, is no
mere uninteresting pond, but a'considerable
body of water, fed by springs, and by the over
flow of the Croton Reservoirs. There is great
variety in its form, and its borders are partly
| surrounded by gravelled walks, and partly by
grassy banks, aud groves of trees, and bushes
which are tended with the care bestowed upon
a private garden. Row-boats ply to and fro
from different landings, and for a trifle one is
carried aronnd the whole circumference of the
lake and back again, which consumes about
forty minutes. Swans, Chinese geese, white
ducks, Ac., float calmly to and fro on the sur
face, and the whole presents a novel scene of
great beauty and of singular attractiveness so
near to the busy Metropolis—or. indued in.
eluded within its corporate limits: and- doubt
less, ere long, to be surrounded by the dwelling
.of the wealthiest part of its population
We confess our delight in this place was with
out alloy; and when, dear easy chair. I set my
self down~somewhat wearied on one of the very
comfortable seats in the broad walk, beneath o
much shade as one of the young eim= already
had begun to shed, (and it was considerable)
and took second thought over tbe matter I was
constrained to feel—nay, I needed no mea ore
of effort to reach the conclusion—-that the
New Yorkers had shown pre-eminent wisdom
in all this great outlay of money; in thus fur
nishing, as. a counterpart and a counteractive
to the cares and wastingß of Broadway with its
cobble stone pavement, md its double line of
lofty warehouses, another Broadway of smooth
turf, with a double and a triple line of elm
Long Island, July, 1861.
mfcgtmau and #*»*£**
trees, so close by; and, instead of a dusty roa
for racing nags, terminating in Jtbo vicinity o
some celebrated resort of driqkers and gamblers,
a sweet rural drive, kept moist with dai y
sprinklings, winding in and ont among shady
nooks and recesses, terminating upon a sheet o
water and giving rise to none but the most
wholesome sensations and emotions. One might
well wish to have a home in a city which count-,
ed a park of these proportions and peculiarities
among its attractions. Let Philadelphia seize
upon tbe great natural advantages presented by
the spot which her Councils have wisely chosen
for a similar object. The banks of the Schuylkill
above Fairmount, on both sides, includingthe ri
ver itself, give a natural basisin many respects far
excelling the inland and quieter features of the
locality which the New Yorkers are turning into
. Central Park. There is scarcely any outlay of
money which a city makes, more sure to bring a
profitable return in the health and happiness of
• the people, and in attaching them to their place
of residence, than that undergone in providing
them and their families with such places of re
creation near at hand.
THE SEA AIR.
Yeti was in pursuit of an influence still more
reviving than the cool breeze which rustled the
elm trees over my head. as I satin Central Park
that evening, while troops of workmen, set free
by the six o’clock signal, streamed by me. And
I found it, after a few hours’ ride, “on Old
Long Island’s sea-girt shore;”; It was the sea
air. The half-invalid feeling which had revealed
itself of late, dear easy chair, at each separ at e ses
_ sion we had together, faded out and disappeared,
as I drank deeper and deeper of the reviving
breath. Only the living creature which God
has made and endowed with conscious powers
of enjoyment, can know the luxury which ocean
breezes impart, not only through the lungs, bat
by the whole body, which becomes one vehicle
of deiigbtfal sensations, as they play around it.
You, easy chair, know something of the air of
the mountains and the forests in which your
fibres gathered strength; so do I; but there,is
a fall-freighted measure of balm and refreshing
in the breeze that has come from converse with
the crested waves and countless laughing ripples
of the world-encircling ocean, that seems to
partake of . its own vastness, and that no land
breeze from hill-top or forest ever knew. How
it has often seemed to sweep along, like the very
breath of God, bearing some of his own glori
ous life out of heaven, to the body and the soul
alike of his grateful creature. That battle Sab
bath^—day of strangely mingled valor and weak
ness, victory and defeat—was to ns, in our
ignorance, a day of rare beauty and peaceful
ness. The purity of the air was exquisite and
exhilarating to a degree beyond our power to
describe. Tempered to a delicious coolness, it
rolled around us in waves of delight, contri
buting not a little to prepare ns for the worship
of the Being from whose fulness it came—one
of the least of his gifts.
To the air I must add the water of the ocean,
as a source of strength and healing. Tame, in--
deed, is a fresh-water bath to him who has once
committed his body to the buoyant waves of
the briny deep, or, who has struggled amid the
great waves that roll ceaselessly upon the beach.
On the southern shore of Long Island, far out
towards its easternmost extremity, I first met
that curling wave that seems especially commis--
sioned to revive the health of the land-wearied
people.
TFIE ISLAND.
The east end of LongTsland is remarkable
for the antiquity of its original settlement, and
the abundance of the memorials of the earliest
times which it contains in the shape of tomb
stones, ancient buildings and family names.
The church of Sbutbold, for example, was
founded two hundred years ago; among its pas
tors, were direct lineal ancestors of Bishop Ho
bart of New York, and President Woolsey of
Yale College. Davenport, a name celebrated
in tbe revival of Whitefield’s time, was another
of the line of which it took but few individuals
to stretch over the first century and a half of
its history. Among the old documents of the
town is one providing for a fortification of the
pastor’s house, as a means of protection against
the Indians. A recent examination of the house
shows that the heedful change in the upper
part of the structure for the accommodation of
a small piece of artillery, was actually made.
Whether the dwelling of the man of peace ever
became the centre of conflict does not appear.
A history of this ancient church and town—-for
a long period the two would be identical—would
be a valuable addition to onr ecclesiastical li
terature; and we coaid wish that onr Presbyte
rian Publication Committee, or Historical So
ciety had some means of stimulating in this
direction the activity of the excellent pastor
who how occupies that venerable seat, Rev.
Epher Whitaker, who is every way competent:
to the task of a chnreh historian on a more ex
tended scale. His knowledge of Suffolk County,
and the numerous points of interest to every
Presbyterian which it contains, would certainly
indicate the propriety of a memorial' from his-*
pen, covering the facts of importance in the
earliest history of every one ofthe Presbyterian
churches in that region. It would be a serious
disaster if these facts, now .to- a great extent
within reach, should be suffered to pass out of
the reach of human observation by those who are
able to put thein on record. Mr. W. has already
made a commencement on the Sonthold Church.
It Would give us pleasure to be the means of
encouraging him to continue and enlarge the
scope of hii labors. East Hampton—an Old
School parish—was founded in 1649. The
church edifice, now standing and about to be
replaced by a very elegant new structure, was
erected in 1H 1 ?, and has a clock in the quaint
tower, of great antiquity, with bat a single hand,
for indicating the hour.
The soil of this part of the island is rich, and
the crop are luxuriant and plentiful, as may
be inferred from the fact that a farm ef twenty
acres is sufficient to support a family well, and
gradually to raise its careful occupant and culti
vator to independence and wealth. The potato
thrives here, especially, and the crop is pre
ferred by New York dealers to any that comes
into that vast market.
The ; watere around: the -island, incloding : the !
bay; the sound and theocean, ‘abound ini fish of
every variety, which the inhabitants ate skilled
inpreparing for the table; so thattbey need not
want for luxuries. And here they dwell, earth
and ocean pouring out their various'
at theirdoors ; a more independent community,*:
and less liable to suffer from the great convul
sions wbiehagitate the>nation;thanal,most:any'
other Bectionrof country. Their pdsition’tenda:
to«isolatefthpmrfromii<their fellbw : eitizdns j'sahd"
hence, though they are intelligent, and though I
they are visited by the swift-winged couriers of
the telegraph —submerged in some parts at that
—and of the press, there does not beat through
the community that quick, strong pulse of sym
pathy with the nation in its tronbles, that in
most parts of the North has thrilled and rallied
in a mass,;the insultpdahd jeopardized people’
Old party prejudice's rankle "here and there,-'and'
the voice for the Cjmstitntion and the Union.,,
that shall ring like a clarion through the air,
from the pulpit, the forum and the press, is
scarcely yet heard among them. Newspapers;
snch as went down in'Philadelphia withorit'-a
blow, under the-mere crashing weight of en
franchised opinion, are still circulated' among
them from New York city—a city which wonid •
lose its identity, if it did not present types' of
the worst, as well as of the very highest and
best forms of human-character and develop
ment.”- 1 ”■ ! ■ ■■■■■■ ■ ■ .
From these watersVtHese thrifty farmers; too,
gather their fertilizers. They require no lime
or guano. The 1 fish—white-fish, ■ sharks, and
stingrays—which they haul from the shore by
the cartload, and the ribbonriike sea-weed which
Is left by the receding tide, on miiesupon miles
of the beach, famish the soil with' elements
which no profound chemistry is needed to prove
of the highest value. The shores of Peconic Bay
are lined with oil‘factories, which, by a process
invented-in France; ; Jkre-engaged in converting
these white-fish' into- iß said to’ be a
highly lucrative business, the oil being service
able for lnbricating purposes, and* to some de
gree, for mixing paints. The refuse of the fish
is sold for manure, .and is very suitable for that
purpose; -the' oil which it has lost not being of
any value as a fertilizer.
As I turn away, dear easy chair, from this’
land, aronnd which the sea coils its' embrace so
closely, and into which it has cleft such "deep
channels, I feel tbat in the season in which I en
joyed its welcome,'it is a goodly land' and well
favored. The view which I had of the southern
fork of the. Island, from the top-of Hampton
Church, embracing the vast and boundless At
lantic on the south, and the Sound with the
shores of Connecticut on the north, while the'
rich fields and wooded ridges filled the nearer 1
landscape, and the glorious ocean-breath and'
the splendor of the early summer' morning,
bathed the whole scenej'wiil -hot soon die out of
my memory. The “Ifffig foil” of the ocean is
still in my charmed earew- I shall remember the
bright bay on whidh our pleasure boat danced
or swung to and fro ou the heaving tide; aud :
“Shelter Island” that lay sweetly nestled be
tween the approaching shores. Nor let me
omit to disclose to the easy chair—perchance'
others may not care to 1 know it—how, in the
hospitable home of Rev. Epher Whitaker, the
present-pastor of Sonthold Chnreh, I renewed
and reinvigorated the ties of a long-standing
Christian, friendship, by many delightful hours
of converse, and many precious seasons at the
family altar, in-the prayer-meeting, and in the
sanctuary, which is thronged with the fruits of
his earnest labors; nor how a later, but not less
congenial, intimacy with the former pastor of
the same church, the now widely known-and
honored pastor of the Central Church, Wilming
ton, was strengthened by many an-interchange
of sympathy and many an enlivening incident
which* marked; the brief period of our associated
pursuit of health and: of. recreation.
Farewell to Long. Island! The streets* of
New York city thronged to utter -impassibility
by her patriotic people’ waiting' the return of
the " Sixty-Ninth,'’ remind us that we are in
the sphere of active duty again.
A SABBATH ASSAULT.
We arc not among those disposed to carp at the
government, or to pick flaws in a-policy .which, as.
a whole, is so wise and so .vigorous;, but we are
compelled to join in the-general protest against
the initiation of active -military movements on the
Lord’s day. . There; .may have been, reasons
amounting to a military .necessity for the move
ment on the morning of that day of rest—'the 21st
of July—but we doubt it. On the contrary, it
. would seem that the week had been one of severe
fatigue to our untried volunteers. They had
foughLa. battle and met itith severe, loss. They
had marched thirty miles, through a deserted
country, and under excessive heats. The enemy
was but imperfectly comprehended,, and a day’s
further repose, would not, for aught we can see,
have resulted in any thing but advantage to our
forces. The result, indeed, might have been un
changed ; but the apprehension that we had per
haps offended the God of the Sabbath would not
have mingled a new drop of bitterness in the cup
of disaster.
Col. Cameron, of the N. Y. Seventy-ninth, was
killed, and his regiment severely handled. We
believe this regiment—not then under the com
mand of the lamented Colonel —made itself espe
cially conspicuous, Scotoh, as it was, for a Sab
bath parade, flag reception,' speech-making, &c., in
New York city, just previous to its departure for
Washington. Its loss looks very like a judg
ment.
The statement has been! made ‘that no Sabbath
assault in war has been successful: The days "of
the week are not often marked by the historian,
and it is .difficult to veri££ or disprove the asser
tion. :The battle of Inkermann was commenced
on Sabbath, by the-assault of the Russians/ and
resulted.in their repulse after much severe fight-"
ing. Whatever may be the fact, we are sure that
soldiers can be no exception to,the rule, written
with the finger of God on the constitution of man,
aB well as iu the tables of the law, requiring a se
venth part of his time to be set apart from" secular
occupations, as a condition of the highest efficien
cy during the remaining six.
EXCURSION OF THE YOUNG MEN’S
CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.
We htiTe feocived tliiß'following-cbinniuni'oatidii s
fro'm Committee of 'flie Christian Association,
which we cheerfully insert; and to which we call
the attention of such ofjrour readers as" desire
either to aid a gobd*causefor to proeurba f ’day’s
enjoyment, or to do both? at ; onod.‘ ; ;^The ! , I sbcial :
s P°ken of, suppose^
at Atlantic,City... ili'j? V*.,’’;,.';;
/ E»-‘i AMERICAN iSinJ
The. debts of the! Young. Men ’ a iGhris ti an Asso l .
ciatipn hare, become so pressing, that the:Board;
of , Managers are forced Sto in urius&almethod/oifi
obtaining ■ funds* ;<yi»i: an Excuraionto. Atlantic;
City, oniTuesdayj August |th. ; f > u'o >na'. .*:• t.\- >
It has met. with the approbation, and will- be;
accompanied by, most,Of the following gentlemen:
•Bey. Messrs.; Kennard, £}h<qnbemi-J-HyatfeSantb; 7
Eicitard-jNewtonJ KrSuthffß. R.;
Hansen)
Itcomnibndsijiself jaj)py.b; tleLUSOhljgesrside.trips,-,
in that we shall be surrounded by just such/;com?!
pauyi-saft'wouldfhs congenial! There will be a so
cial meeting of the excursionists;, at 4 o'clock, in
the Presbyterian Church. , !
May we ask, you to give us a favorable notico
in your next issue, and very much oblige 4
Your friends/'
George H. Stuart,'
P. B. Simmons,
B.‘Atm6re, '/ Goni.’
fI i i i "i J TOMAN,
I 4 >.i ; I I•• ■ Sna others.
' -July 19; 1861.' 1 *• • ■<
A NATION’S DEBT.
It may be somewhat difficult to calculate the
pecuniary liabilities which we, as a nation, shall
incur as a consequence of the present war, hut
there is'another obligation noW falling upon us,
Which no accumulation of figures, and no pro
cesses of arithmetic can represent to our under
standings. It is the debt we are contracting to
the memories of the brave men who are nobly,
unselfishly, patriotically sacrificing their lives in
the defence of every thing which we hold dear.
What gratitiide does the nation owe to those who in
Her behalf, aud at her eall, have freely and even
eagerly, thrown themselves ‘ : as a living rampart
before her capital; have marched upon hidden in
trenchments bristling with rifled cannon and
thronged with fiefee'and well armed' opponents,
Have' charged again and again over their own
dead, to and beyond the very ramparts of the foe.
mindless of the awful storm of missiles hurling
in the air and cleaving them down upon*the right
hand aha i ihe : yft;I'* 1 '* : ■ ~ -
Rich already are the brief memories of orir
country's past.' Deep is the debt incurred to pa
triot blood shed in our wars of independence.
Prom year to year, we have striven to express our
sense of it, and to hand down to coming genera
tions in speeches, in sermons, in poetry, in his
tory, by* Sculptured shaft, by “storied urn and
animated bust,” a lively remembrance of the
self-sacrifice/the bravery, the heroism of those
Who have made our country’s history famous.
Precious to us are the names of those battle-fields
on land and on sea, which have been Crimsoned with
the life blood of our country’s defenders. We
are now actually living amid such scenes, witness
ing outbreakihgs of the like patriotic ardor, hear-’
ing of the-same heroic deeds, coming under a hew
national Honor, all honor to these
brave men of every nation of Europe, as well as
native to our own soil, who have counted not'
their lives dear unto them in comparison with the
sanetity of ohr-Gehstitutionj abd the perpetuity
of our Union. Let us teach their names, and
hold up the example of their' patriotism to our
children. Let us cherish the memory of their
deeds as among our ‘-Choicest earthly recollections.
As a nation, let us cultivate towards these heroes
of the greatest of our wars—the war of : the Con
stitution, ' '
A grateful mind,
Which owing, owes not, but still pays, .at once
Indebted and discharged. .
-Some new Pericles-must arise to embalm their
deeds in.-the sublime periods of Ms* own imperish
able ; rhetoric; some bard to immortalize their
achievements in strains which an Achilles may
sing, some historian to chroniele .with merited
grandeur of style, the toils and sufferings under
gone in defending and perpetuating the last and
highest results, of human progress, against the
desperate assaults of treason, anarchy, and oppres
sion. .. ,■ ... . -rfi J -■■■ ;
THE WOUNDED IN WASHINGTON.
. • Washington City, July 26, 1861
LETTER FROM REV. J. C. SMITH, D. D.
•; EDITOES AMEKICAN PrKSBYTISBTAN.- JAgfr
Sabbath,(2l,) was a very pleasant day and cool for,
the season. My congregations were unusuallylarge
and attentive, A. M.,and P. M. In the evening
I visited the hospital, and found all things quiet
and, orderly, as they are every day. No new cases
had .been brpughtin. In conversation with the
surgeons, they expressed their apprehension, that
a few hours might make a great change. . In-this
apprehension our citizens generally, shared, ; in the
church, .and on. the. street. Almost every one I saw,
seeraed impressed, and oppressed by some unde
fined influence.: ... —,■, i •>,;
sun-down,rumors of aseyero battle reached
us, and about, 10 o’clock, some unreliable accoun t
of success, These were during,the night contra
dicted, but when the mprningqatue,sad tidings were.,
published,. and, the true-hearted were, perplexed,.
1 but not in despair, east down,, but ,uot y destroyed.
Monday morning a heavy rain set.in, and poured'
down all day. I went. on my daily visit .to the
hospital. As I came near, I saw “ambulances”,
and other vehicles,before.the , I found in-,
side, quite a,number. from the battle field, while,
from the street, the wounded were being borne;in,
as the wagons and carriages cameup to the hospital,,
some slightly, others severely. These all,received
every necessary attention, from the attendants,
and the surgeons of the institution. They We
placed in comfortable , beds, in rooms well venti
lated and clean, and as soon as each case allowed,
surgical,examination and operations were made.
Such a .scene as I witnessed for hours, few of
my brethren have ever seen. I was busily engaged
passing from one to another, as they wore
brought in, arid lain on beds, speaking kind and
encouraging words of sympathy, assurxrig the
wounded srildier tliat he was with friends, arid
that he Would receive all the kind care that his;
carie needed. Others came in yesterday, and a
few to-day. ;
‘ The wounded are’from all the Regiments en
gaged, but more of them of course from those in
the hottest of the battle. Among these, where
all did their duty, I may name 1 thb (Eire)iElis- 1
Worth’s ! Zouaves‘, 69th, flstfririd 79thyali’of New
York. Colonel Cameron commanded the 7 79tb,
(Highlander;); arid was killed. fell into- the*
arms, of iCapt. Hong,- a 'gallarit|oative Scotchman)
who received the" Colonel’s sword, and;’though 3
desperate}}/ -wontided himself, brought it with- him
to the hospital; I saw the Captain bn Monday'
morning, 7 and reported to' the Sccretary, (General'
Cameron;) that? his'brother’s swbrd'lwas with Cap- 1
tain Long. Yesterday lie called l: at -the hospital,
and receiveddt from the hand of'the gallant Cap
tain, a very proper m'edium bctween the noble
dead, and distinguished-living.
The wounded aro doitjg well, and- 1 up to this 1
writing,:the-fiurgeon’s report that'theyexpeet them 1
all to iiye. ,! . r. . r •?; v.l! ;.v., u
' . ?Eh:eso; : areu new for -1 mei 1
‘fiThe so s ordered 1 -it, and l l joyfully
meet tills responsibility, as ! I hare all others, in'
my pastorate in this city of< 212 years.-; Soferl have
been graciously sustained, and will be, come what
jpny/.fpr; 1 know thut.l aUijhwgs-work iTOGETHER
fpr,goQ&.~
.... “The covenant is ordered, in-aIL, things, and
sure," aDd in these .bonds, I,am always, yours,
«■'.-j ' -,h-.
’j'ifi i—.:
, li-itua ad? /.'• <'£■ i- ;3r-B»ej('?a 3"<>c.ybuisi Janl
Lord. Elgin is spoken of as.a successor of Lord Hisr^
' - i’L > i
ai. -i-.i;,;
i HAMILTON COLLEGE- |
‘“To every thing,’’ says the good Book, “there,
a season.” Whether there 1 is' any very -neces
sary connexion between the summer months and
college commencements; between the verdure,
i season,’ r ijii3^.itbPt i
beauty of youth, intellectual efflorescence on the
college stage, and the promise of • future-iiseiful-?
ness in the completion of quadrennial studies, I
»will-not pretend to decide; 5 - But as the declaration*
of old was that “ While, the earth remaineth (Seed
time and harvest shall not cease,” so I suppose
the analogous law will hold good in. the intellec
tual world. ■ '
Hamilton College hap, just held ,its, fiftieth an *
niversary. Next year will be its semi-centennial,
when it is proposed to add to its order of exercises
something commemorative of .the event. This
year the exercises were.as.follows: —Sabbath after
noon President Fisher preached, his annual adr
dress to,the Senior class. (The Baccalaureate
sermon proper was preached by jthe pastor of the
college at the close of the Senior studies four
weeks ago.) President Fisher chose for his text
James i. 25: “But whoso lookefch into the per
fect law ,of liberty, and eontinucth therein, he
being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the
work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” .His
subject was law and liberty., 1. The true idea
of liberty, that of Christian development, was dis
tinguished from metaphysical and legal or civil
lißerty. 2. The law of liberty was shown to con
sist with limitations and conditions. On this
point the nature of man—his elements, reason,
appetite, passion, will, and conscience were re
ferred to. Conscience must have the supremacy.
His relations also were pointed out as bearing
upon the same point, (as.) His relations to God;
hence the inference, God is the source of law,
and his law is perfect and obligatory, (5.) Man’s
relations to Urn fellow-man. (c.) His relations to
physical creation. 3. Obedience to law is followed
with blessing,—(a.) Naturally,, from cause and
effect. (6.) By direct rewards of heaven. “This
man shall be blessed in his deed.” The applica
tion of the subject was made to the present con
dition of the country. This is but a Brief outline
of an able discourse.
The Society of Christian Research was ad
dressed by the Rev. Dr. Dagget, of Canandaigua.
He took for his text 1 Cor. xv. 14: “ And if
Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain,
and your faith is also vain.” His subject was
Christian Doctrines, 'or the objective truths of
Christianity the only basis of Christian unity.
The following truths were noticed in their or
der:—!. The resurrection of Christ. 2. His
prophetic office. 3. Ilis Messiahship. ’4. His
Kingship. 5. His dispensation of the Holy
Spirit. 6. His Judgeship, or judicial character.
7. His disposal of the present and final destinies
of his people. 8. The resurrection in its relations
to all the supernatural facts of the New Testament.
They stand or fall together.
Two lessons were derived from the discussion.
First, the objective truths of the New Testament
the drily basis of Christian unity. Secondly, The
Christian religion excludes all other systems.
The discourse was able and convincing.
Monday evening was devoted to prize speaking
by the three under-graduate classes with the fol
lowing result:—•
Freshman Class. —Edgar M. Martell, Meridan,
First Prize/ Melville E; Day ton ] Clinton, Second
Prize. " : *
- Sophomore Class.—Geo.-.W. Sheldon, West
Bloomfield, First Prize. Wm. H. Teel, Hobo
ken, N. Jl, Second Prize. •
Junior Class.—Levi B. Miller, Clinton, First
Winsor Scofield, Bewittville, Second
Tuesday afternoon, Prof. Ellicott Evans, re
cently elected to tie Professorship of Law and
Civil History, delivered bis inaugural. He chose
for his theme, Government, treating it philoso
phico-historically. It was both able and well de
livered. Mr. George Sumner of Boston, brother
of the distinguished Senator, addressed the Lite-'
rary Societies. His subject was Education; its
influences bn the material intefests,bharacter, arid
condition .of a'pebple. This ! he illustrated by nu
merous facte 1 drawn forth from the past histbry
and present state of Holland, Ireland, Greece,
and France. - The discourse'was quite instructive,
and pleasingly delivered 1 . :
Wednesday afternoon the Alumni - met, and
were addressed by the Hbn. Thomas T. Davis, of
Syracuse; He announced bis. subject to • be-r-
Physieal Investigation : asa Sburce of intellectual
culture, and an element in theprogressi ve eleva
tion of society. ' ThV'aSddress dcoupiSd M f hour in
delivery,’ arid was received with favor. The 'poetn
was delivered by MrT'THoihas'A. Tiirherj oPNew
York City, and of the class of 1858. His musi
cal periods were well received. There was a very
happy re-union in the evening, at which witty
and humorous speeches were made till a late
hour. ’
Thursday was commencement day. The fol
lowing: was the order of subjects and speakers
1, High Oration.—-Influence of 'tlie-Sublime in
Nature upon Character. Horace P. Bigelow. 1
2. Oration -—Author-Borrowing. Thomas -W.
Ghesebrough. — ; . >• - : ;
3.ltbetorical Oration.—The Strength of Pre
judice. Albert li. Ghilds/ ; - !
4. Oration.—The Puritan Principle In our
Political History. Joseph H. Durlcee.
j>. Ora tion.—Hallowed ' Ground.
Gigby. ' ' ' ; ■
6. Legal Oration.—The 'Ethics ’of the 'Lega!
Profession. Charles M. Davis.
7. Oration.—National Philanthropy. Harrison
Hoyt
8. Oration. —TkePhilosophy of Welsh Hero
ism. John D. Jones. ’ ;i
4 ’ 9;' OialMicilOratiob.-—The’Mbuntainsof Greece.
James S. Greves. •
‘lO. Oratibn,—The Literature of Art. ; John
G. Osborne.' -
11. ! Oratibh—Crises make Men. Charlies H.
Roys. ’* ' ''
12. Scientific Oration.—The Testimony of
Chemistry to the Beneficence of God. David,L.
Kiehle. '' /? ,
i 13. Oration.—Fear, its Causeand its Pro
vince. George H. Starr. •„ it!
:J4.i-.Oration.— Life-iForods. ,
■' N. Wilcoxeb; 1 ! ' !
15. Ethical Ora tion.—National 1 Hoiiehty til
best Policy. William 13. Miller. ' . '
Oration.—National Emblems, expressive
of Character.,, Frank; B Willard. ; i
17. Oration-.—NationalSongs.' Abel S. Wood.
181 Dissertation.—-Poem, Home; :5 - Aaron M;
Woodtull 1 ; "■ '
Philosophic®! Orairnn.—ThelEeison and
tile TJndert'anding; Williain WV Wctuiore.
20. Oration.—WillisJ.'Beeebef,Vernon Ceur
1 JFNdrlbfiip, Ganksfotl;
> j3 -22/‘WlWdi<!t<!& : y <|r Gfaffon.—Thongttj'al iirwii
3 and is. George JriNbrtfcS s ‘ ::l Su *-«*- Bd! x«vsJ.
The Degrees conferred in course were as fol-
lows
Bachelor of Laws.—Norman Malcolm M‘Queen,
-Eaton,; N. Y. G-eorge Washington Robbins,
■ Clarksburgh, N. J.
, Bacjmj^r !ii _g| 14 Arts.—Horace Porter - Bigelow,
Waterville; Thomas William Cbesebrough, Syra
cuse;' Alberl Lucas"Childs, Waterloo; Charles M.
Davfsj'S'ehnett; Joseph Harvey Durkee, Augusta;
James Sandford Greves, Milwaukie, Wis.; John
Clinton Higby, Prattsburgh; Harrison Hoyt,
La Fayette; Jqh'n "Davies! Jones, Utica; David
Litchard Kiehle, Dansville; William H. Harrison
Miller, Clinton,;„G,eorge .jjay ;: Nqrth, Waterloo;
John George^Oißorne; Verona; Charles Henry
Roys, Lyons; George Hills Starr, Rochester;
Francis Asbury Torrey, U- S. Army; William
Walcott .Wetmore, Wbitesboro’; Isaac Newton
Wileoxen, Seneca Falls Frank B. Willard, Troy;
Abel Sweet Wood, Whitestowa; Aaron M. Wood
hull, Madison.
Master l of Arts.—Willis Jndsoh Beecher,
Wbitesboro’; Ansel Judd Northrup, Canasfota;
James Ausburn Towner, New York city;. Harry
Allen Grant, Utica; Moseley Morris,,, Nashota,
Wis.
The following.is a list of the Honorary Degrees
conferred- ,
Doctor of Laws.'—non. James A. Hamilton,
New York; Hon. Joseph' Smith Bosworth, New
York, (Alumnus class of 1826;) Prof Oliver
Payson Hubbard, M. D:, ofUartniouth Col^ge.
Doctor of’ Divinity.—Rev. Charles Hawley,
Auburn; Rev. Alfred Newton, Norwalk, Ohio;
Rev. Robert Everett, Remsen, N. Y.
Master of Arts.—Prof. Henry W. Dwight,
Owasco Lake; Prof.' Rodniey G. Kimball, State
Normal School, Albany.; Rr. John Chester Gal
lup, Clinton, N. Y.
Bachelor of Arts.UM3alen</Hamilton Osborne,
Oswego; Goerge W. Reynolds, Franklin, N. Y.
.Thus passed one of., the most, delightful of old
Hamilton’s 'commencements.' Already over 20
students have been examined, and the prospect is
fair that next class will nunhber 50.
' ’ Yours truly; C .
Clinton, July 39th, 1861. ’ ' 1 - : ;
PRESBYTERY OF CHAMPLAIN.
At a latemeetingofthe Presbytery of Cham
plain in Port Henry, Essex Co;; N. Y., action was
taken endorsing*: the Assembly’s separation from
the American Home Missionary Society, so far as
to appoint a Standing Committee of Presbytery
on Home Missions, * but leaving, the churches,
(some of which arh on the accommodation Plan
of Union,}, free to contribute whichever way they
please. They did this, after full debate, and the
hearing of the ’A. H. Mi Society’s-;Agent- for dug
District. ; ■:
The church of Port Henry, under ‘the care of
Rev. C. Ransom, is a new and prosperous organi
zation..- And there are other congregations in the
county that incline to the Presbyterian order,
even where Congregational elements exist. The
operation of the Congregational form of discipline,
in the mixed state of society here, has not been
very happy of late, which may have directed many
minds "to a more strict order of ministerial con
trol, such as Presbyterianism affords. S. S. H.
Elizabethtown, N. Y., July 15, 1861.
THE .PRESBYTERIAN QUARTERLY RE-
The July number of this valuable journal has
teen placed npon onr table within a. few days,
and will receive due notieein onr next.
We have.also received from T.’B. Peterson &
<h* ibr jiaper .jOpyers, G|tEAT JExpbctatxoxs;
Dickens’, last serial, complete. From J. B. Lip
pineott & Co., A Day’s Ride, by Charles Lever,
(Harpers/ Publishers,} and The Silent Woman,
by the author'of/King’s Cope/ &c., (Burnham,
Publisher ; Boston.) , -
ThS, Soldier's Pocket Library of she
American, ,Tr£.ct Society appears to be admi
rably adapted ito aid in tbe.great work of evange
lizing out army. It consists of 25 small volumes,
in■; flexible'eovert, ; teiy clearly printed, and with
a very judicious selection of topics—some of the
volumes, being, made up of scriptore alone, as the
Book of Proveri® and the Gospel of John; ano
ther, the Soldier’s Test Book, being composed of
selected' verses with brief comments. There is
also a choice selection "of Soldier’s Hymns. Other
volumes.exhibit the experience of Christian Sol
diers iAs : ; Col. Gardiner; Corporal Murray, and the
Soldier; and A true story of Lucknow; some are
ainiedat the special wants and temptations of the
profession; as: Consequences of Gambling; the
Truth of Scripture;: BishopPorteus’ Evidences;
pthers .are ? more general, yet appropriate; as: Are
you a Christian f Christ two Thieves; The
Soldierand Jesus; Bunyan’s Glad Tidings; The
Sinner’s Friend ; Peace ! Be still; Sinner’s Wel
come to : Christ; The Commandments Explained;
Only One. Way ;-The Church in the House, and
several pthers, The whole are contained in a sub
stantial paste board box, and would prove welcome
and profitable to the great majority of the sol
diers;- One library should go with every com
pany. Price $2. For Bale by H. A. Thissell,
929 Chestnut. St.
< Willson’s Fifth Reader, by Harper & Bros,
on. the same novel plan, with the preceding four
of the series, already noticed in our columns. It
combines instruction in moral, religious, historical
and scientific subjects, with the usual reading ex
ercise.'' In order td obviate - the appearance of a
task in such a method, much pains have-’been
taken to interweave illustrations of poetry, and
incidents with the more prosaic details. Elegant
and accurate engravings of plants/fiowers, ani
mals, &c., are also profusely interspersed, in the
manner of the Harpers’, the whole constituiing a
highly finished apparatus Iwr fl the school-room.
For sale by J. B. Lippineott^Go
John C.
PAMFHLETSy MAGAZINES AND REVIEWS
The BostotMViw,fbrlfifly, continues the
battle for the stubhofnest type 1 ®! ef the Calrinlstie
dogma. Its position on ournational troubles is
unreseryedly Bostoniau;and Massachusetts-like.
Blackwood’s Magazine for July, (Leo-
Co,, iNew; Uork; W. B. Eieber, Phi
ladelphia,) contains Hook’s .Archbishops of Can
terbury; Judicia; Puzzles; The Farewell of the
Seal s (pbetfy/0 i'Nofman-Sinclair, part IT; The
Book; Hunter again;, iThe- Orleans' Manifesto;
of Civilization, a most readable and
against some of the inconveni
ences’of dur modern’ refinement; The Dmmse of
Epic of the BudfPW and
finally; the Disruption of the Union. This last
isin full sympathy with the 7Vmes, and such an
expression.as inight be expected .from the toiy
Blackwood.' IJnquestipnabiy, it represents the
views oFa of Englishmen—
mainly aristocrats 3 —who would rejoice to see our
government crippled and overthrown.
Isaac
- ®HE?iPßlsicWb2Sf «®EfeEßTbiiYy for July, eon
t.ains,:Th’e Kingdom; of/ChriSt—an enlarged form
W the .discourse of Dr .Yeomans, the retiring mo
derator {jtf jbe. jasl General.. Assembly; Knowledge,
PaitK 4n*d Fgelipg, in their;mutual Relations;
The* Subjeets df-Baptism-' Motley’s Dutch Re
public;; Annals of the=American s pulpit; The Ge
rAffiembly,win-.which?,the -Reviewer—Dr-
against
fne patriotic action of that body. *
Aug. 1,
VIEW.
EDITOR’S TABLE-