SENESEE EVANGELIST—WhoIe No. 797- § metis. LIFE’S bathe eield. Each has In's own one path in life, A circle small within his ken And a small circle, too, perchance— We cannot all be famous men! And duties are not truly done By panting vainly afterfame, Or fretting for the want of ohaoce To quickly make a brilliant name. A brilliant name 1 Too oft is this The phantom that leads many on,. Until, too late, they wake and and ’jl,e time for real endeavor gonel Butter to fill a lowly place, And labor there with soul and heart, Than dream ambitiously of wealth Till time and youthful strength depart. Do I speak sadly? Truth it is That in the lowest place of life A man can act a hero's part, Amid the daily toil and strife! Ay, amid hourly din and care, Even though within the humblest home, Can shine In virtue great and grand As ever gilded ancient Romel Life’s heroism does not need A spacious or a lofty stage; Life's greatest deed# are not nil writ Upon the flaming golden pagel Believe me, glorious work is done, As the world’s wheels still onward go, Which ten-tongued rumor never yet ilath blazoned, or will ever know.- Self-conquest, self-devotion —these Are the high gifts Which give to ail . ( Who own them, that well-tempered mind, ' Prepared alike to win or fall— Prepared, with fighting men, to meet The happy good or bitter ill } Unshaken, whether fate the oup With nectar or with gall may fill! Each of these words, in loftier truth, Is a sure talisman in life, To guard and strengthen heart and brain, In time of hourly din and strife; Ail stations they alike befit— The peasant’s cot or monarch’s throne— To every man a priceless gift They bring, in self-respect alone! Shade’s Magazine. fSamttsjptt&etwt. JROH OUR CHICAGO CORRESPONDENT Cataract) State af Wisconsin, Aug. 9th, 1861. Dear Presbyterian :— lt may surprise you that I date from the village of Cataract; but, I can assure you, it is as good a place to date from as any in these parts, and, in some respects, better than the calorific streets of Chicago, through which so lake breeze ventured these ten days past; but which are visited now by winds that come troop ing over the plains, from I know not What super heated 'Terra del Ftiego. Perhaps you do hot know where Cataract is. I can help you. Yet 1 did not know where it was till I came and found it; I did not know more of it than iEsop’s ox knew of the fly that alighted on his horn —not even of its existence. Yet here it is, and such it is, Physically it is not a large village, consisting of only five or six houses, two taverns, and a mill. It sits in the sand, ten miles north of Sparta: and Sparta is on the La Crosse Railroad, 27 miles east of the Mississippi River, It—that is, Sparta, is'ft mure place,'full of Yankees and wood houses, comprehending all the equipments of a village—- three churches included. But this Cataraot has to church, and I judge does not care to have any, and this leads me to speak of it spiritualty. In that regard I judge it to be wholly below zero. It has no Sabbath day, and but a portion of the ten commandments. I believe each man to swear, to drink whisky, which is done from a brown iag, alternating with a black bottle. These are not evident at the tavern where I stop, insomuch that I at first thought myself in the purlieus of umperanoe, How many, and which of the other branches of the' Decalogue are ignored, I cannot cay. But certain it is, in no place, and at no dme did it ever come over me so strongly, that the edition of men which Heaven would remody, is riksmess ; the utter disregard of all that eon erns God, and the living without him as truly as b he did not exist. Inie/ledualty and socially, the place is such as “m might suppose. Yet I confess myself to have eon a little while amused and astonished to find myself beyond the region where the people talk of ibe war. It seemed as good as being out of North America, What do they talk about? The crops? -Vet a bit of it. The only matter I have heard talked of for these three days, excepting the case of one man in tho stage, who did talk of the war, and two other men who talked of a murder, and two more who talked of a colt, and some ventures of fishing—the only topic other than these, at the table—and that,where fifty people were eating— in the stage, in the streets, and about the public i houses,—is, the circus / You would believe men I to be divided into two classes,—one for circus-act ing, and one for eireus seeing.,,,No phase of the subject has, I think, been omitted. The capacity of managers, the proficiency of riders, and the Merits of clowns, have been, aqd are being; tho roughly ennvasssed. This at Sparta and at Cata rwt ! Seeing it attraet so much attention, I had "ORun to be penetrated with the idea that the eir £ns had been making great strides these twenty Jews back, while I had been attending to other ‘Otters, and of course oblivious, to the march of M.provement in this direction. I have, therefore, f l ! <cstioned the parties as to this; and instead, ! that it is the same - institution it Was when I W;,s a lad and gaped and grinned at its wonders. Tiic riders make the same jumps; the horses run 1,1 the same even and lazy way; and the clownß U!ter the same old seedy jokes, in the same tones, 1, «1 at the same turns; and these people are all I'.eascd after the same fashion as I was, when I klsered it all. 1 have looked over these two hotels, to find s «nc hook bearing upon something; but not a do I discover; not even the,^ Pirate’s Own f *V’ not Jack the Giant Killer/ The walls of lls Cataract House—l mean the walls in. the bar r, ' riu b which is reading room, sitting room, and a ro plastered over with show bills, shoeing c ''* ns in three dresses and attitudes; Heenan n layers at their fisticuffs; and extolling the 'Wucs 0 f D av j s » p a | n xdllor. The bar is an structure of spruce pine unpainted, ™ u ‘ ra there are three, one much crippled. Of there are two, one long and one short. , n shave here onee a week; and we eat salt cod 'S each day, for dinner. ftJs * oamo , and what for, are suggestions that to you, possibly. Well, I may as well 0)3 it. I came on three accounts: one that it is vacation—and where is the minister who has been making out his sermon a week and standing before his people twice on a Sabbath, with but three exceptions in nine months, to say nothing of lectures, visits, and pastoral work, who can stay at home during his vacation ? Then a man in vacation wants to go North, does he not? For, that Southward is secession and the war, who wishes to go where it is any hotter, after en during the mercury at 90° to 100°, for some ten days ? Northward, then, is, the way, and the nearer the pole you can get.’-the better. If ever a man wished to hug ,a white bear, or to ride a Greenland whale, this is surely the time. Ano ther thing—one wants to go to a hew place. I cannot admire the stupidity of going year after year to Saratoga. Let us see some new phase of nature or of life, and if rough, all the better. Be sides, here are brooks which must have been made early—so pure are' they, so cool, arild so gushing; end in these brooks are the speckled trout, the strawberry of the waters; surely the most beauti ful fish the Creator has made. Well, j confess I have a love for catching the little beauties; nay, I would rather catch one,trout than three sharks, or a whole bay of porpoise. Not that lam skil ful at the business, for,.till three summers past I have not put a hook in the water for a score of years; and, since that, but one day in a year—so lam not a fisherman. But to angle for. these lit tle fellows, carries one back to the boyish days, when, with hook or bent pin, as it happened, I pulled them from the cool waters of Massachusetts and Vermont, where they lurked under,the banks and beneath the stones. One loves to. go back there, and feel over again the good feelings of those times—as well as he can—though but in shadow. I carry home twelve pounds of the rogues,,caught hot all with my hook, but fairly gained, neverther less. My route hither is by the Galena Railroad .to Dubuque; thence up the Mississippi river to La crosse, and.so here. I eau return by railroad to Milwaukie, two hundred and ninety miles, or as I came, or by Prairie du Chien. In fact, this road out of Cateract will, as Carlyle says, carry 'the to the end of the world-r-had I the money to pay and the call to go. I stopped at Galena as I came—an old town for the West, rich, allitudipous, controlling the lead trade; arief the abode of Father Kent, called father not so much for years absolute, as for years spent here. He came ip 1820—something—-six, I be lieve, and has dwelt here since, and is good for service yet. He has a kind heart,, arid is valiant for his Redeemer as ever. The two Presbyterian churches have united, and make one tolerably Strong church. There are good people and a good field of labos for somebody, the church t faeiog now without a pastor—brother Swazey haying left the First ptiuTch for the Third in this' ettiy,'arid bro ther Christopher having bolted into Congregation alism, in order to have room for his antics, bis de sire being apparently to Beeeherize, or, perhaps, to Christopherize. - At Dubuque I found brother Trowbridge, ■ferofiftf bn a ; 'hill bf ftj hundred feet br io; over looking Dubuque and the'regionsbeyond. \yere be monarch of.all he surveys, he would be a king. I learned that his church is getting along well, but that the other churches in the town are all embarrassed, and that some of them will very likely go out of doors soon, and that, after twenty years of history. These times are trying weak churches, in a way. of which ‘yon, perhaps, have little conception. At Lacrosse I was landed at a hotel, where I stayed only four hours, and I cannot say that ! was sorry to get away. Its card-tables and dog button whisky are vivid remembrances of that.so journ. Eastward from La Crosse, we wind first through barrens, and then emerge into a land whose goodliness is not excelled hereabouts. Such thou sands of acres all covered over with shocks of cut grain I have never seen but once before. That was in the year 1860; a year whose fruitfulness will scarcely be repeated in fifty years—-fruitfulness, given to precede this year of war—why not? At Sparta there is published a tri-weekly news paper of small dimensions. In looking over its columns, I found a letter from a soldier belonging to the second Wisconsin regiment, and who was in the heat of the Dull Run battle. His letter was quite graphic; but I call it to inind for -one observation of the soldier. He says he went into the battle with the 'feeling, shared by bis compa nions, that our army was to be beaten. And the’ reason, which was talked over by the soldiers as they marched, was, “that it was Sunday.” This soldier, was evidently not a pious man, but bis convictions were such as he describes. ’ I had sup posed suoh a feeling to exist in the army, but did not e*peet to find it avowed, in a little paper, up here. How much bad such a conviction to do with the repulse? Who knows? Men who com mand armies ought to know a little of human na ture, and to be able to command all rightful .springs of feeling in their own favor—ought they not? Yours, West. POOR JACK. Here he comes, rolling along, half seas over, while beside him walks one of the smooth locks from “Rum Barrel” No. 20, under the hill, called a “Sailors’ Boarding House,” pouring into Jack’s ear all about what nice clothes they .arp going to get him, and such a fine ship, and big advance, &c. Alas ! in a few days he is told,—his money is gone, and he most ship; Thanks that there are some Binnings who keep the house of the "Blue Flag,” a real house for sailors, without rum, and the cur tained up stairs. Thanks that Binnings often hobbles up on his wooden leg and weathers the smooth lock of No. 20, and the sailor is saved —saved, not only from “rum and rain,” but, as Theodore Gould was, to go forth on the sea as a preacher of righteousness. If any one will read a little work recently issued by the Ame rican Tract Society, called “The Blue Flag,” my allusions above will be understood. A capi tal book for the soldier and sailor, slowing clearly the great good;of “Sailors’ Homes,” and how he may be rescued and become a noble 1 son of God to go forth and do good. Invest 30 cents in “The Blue Flag” and see; 200 pages, postage 8 cents. Who would like to furnish me with this book to supply the extraordinary number of sailors just now going to sea? Who would save a soul . from death ? . PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, ,1861 If any desire to donate for this object, the funds will bo gratefully received by me at 122 Congress St., or by H. N. "Thiissfill, Tract House, 929 Chestnut St., Phila. J. B. Ripley, Seamen’s Chaplain. the religious world abroad. SCOTLAND. ■ The Cardross Cose.—The decision of the court of sessions has been rendered, and is adverse to the position of the church. ‘ The Judges concurred in opinion, that a Dis senting Church cannot be recognised by the law ot the land as having any powers beyond what are acquired by contract with its members, or any jurisdiction at all in the proper sense of the word, xwo Of them, at least, endeavored to remove the apprehensions of the Free and other non-estab lished Churches, by affirming that, so long as they acted in accordance with their own constitu ton,.their discipline, would not fie interfered with. But they claim for fctie civil courts tie funefcion of determining what that constitution really is, and whether their own rules of'procedure have been observed. : This the .Free Church maintains to be inconsistent with the independent action of their Church Courts, inasmuch as if they are not, hU lowed to interpret' their own 'constitution and ecclesiastical order, there is practically no limit to the power of appeal to, the civil court,'nothing be ing easier than to allege informality and excess of jurisdiction. _ . , A filial appeal will now be taken to the House ot Lords. ' ■; ; ' ■ Open-air revival rneetings During the month of July, large open-air religious meetings have been held, in many parts of Scotland.... The largest gatfmnoga at Huutly and at Edinburgh. ’These meetings have now become as much an institution m Scotland ristlie annual fairs. The assembly in the Hastle Park, Huntly, this year, was estimated t°; number upwards of ten thousand souls, who ra '?> °? ot ) rind, by every description, of vehicle, from all parts of the county, and from eVen beyond the county. .• In Edinburgh the attendance was 1 greatly be yond that of last year, partly owing to the more favorable weather., There were sometimes as many as 20,000 persons present. The services continued for three days, and were so much appre ciated, that it was found very difficult to bring them to a close even at night-full, There was geperally'a large attendance of inquirers, and a good deal of emotion in the .churches opened for personal dealing with those who desired it. As at Huntly, there were reverend speakers of all evangelical denominations. . i. 4 public meeting has been held in Edinburgh to express, .sympathy, with the American nrissioria es in. India and elsewhere, suffering from the present crisis in the United States. The Lord Provost pfeMdea,aria Mr. Momson, of the Lodiana (Mission, gave a;sad account Of the- effects of the American troubles pn .the missions in India. ; As issue,of the proceedings of the meeting, Subscription was set on foot, to be .divided be tween the stations at Lodiana arid Ahmedriuggur. IRELAND, The Census Returns show that the* Roman Catholic ’population is as Si to 1 of. the Protestant. Ten years ago, it was 8: to 1. The Catholies haye lost fwo millions; the Protestants, a quarter of a liiillion. Cork , has lost 6,800; Dublin -8,600; Protestant Belfast lias gained 18,990,, The report on the state of ''religion, in the Irish •I&esbpteridii Assembly,, stated that all th|l‘rgpertp. which had Been" received bore testimony to the IriSfi ; that the: vehement excitement whi.oh. ; marked;the commencement ,of the late re vival had .passed awriy, its blessed influence re gained, and that tlie year 1859 Had hot proved to ■be a year of delusion , But a.year of grace. It was, indeed, gratifying and encouraging; tb ‘ find that, throughout a,movement so novel and unexpected, and amidst so much evil surmising as, to its na ture and'results, there had been so little to regret, and'so much with which they had reason to mag nify and bless the God of our salvation. The in crease in .contributions to missionary objects in this church, was over twenty-six hundred dollars.! , Rev, A- W- ■ MJDougaU, of : Florence, , made deeply interesting statements on the ,condition bf Italy, before; the, japt Assembly of the Irish. Presby terian church, from which, as reported in the News of the Churches, we gather the following; “The-Sardieiah la# of freedom has been car ried over wide; Italy, with the exception of the city of Rome and the territory of Venitia, both of, which are longing for their birthright. The colporteur travels about with his passport and, his 'permit as the vender of religious hooks. The 'churchyards have been thrown opcu to Protestant and Catholic dead without distinction. The com mon .schools have been inaugurated at Naples, by the Kiug in person, on a new basis, t heir govern ment having been taken out of the hands of the priests. Railways are, being laid down at great expense in every direction, sb as to bring the scattered races of the Peninsula into one happy family. The newspaper press has no restrictions, while liberty of discussion in religious matters has been declared to be no crime in the eye of the law. We have no fear as to the stability of this fabric. Every step of Cavoui* was constitutional. He boasted .’that Sardinia would become a little England, and both in the result and the man "f ™ attaining it he. has kept bis promise, lhe Waluofisian congregation in Florence is now very large. In reference to colportage, lam able to inform you, on the best authority, that between 40,0QU and 50,000 Bibles have been circulated this last year in Italy, upwards of 10,000, having gone forth from the Morentine depot alone. Though box after box of Bifcles and religious books was forwarded to Naples, the projected depot did not really-exist for some months, tor each box was ! emptied of its contents a day or two after its arrival, and earnest entreaties were sent for more. I am assured that a Bible-reading movement is going on in Rome to such an extent that, when liberty is there proclaimed, the movement in the North.will be cast into the shade. ‘ “ The influence of Rieasoli will, he of great value in this coming struggle, for he is a step or two in advance of his immortal predecessor. He has used the Protestan t Bible at family worship, and attended the services of Protestant ministers. He will be guilty of no truckling for temporary applause or profit. He will neither barter away territory to tiie French Emperor, nor the principle of religious liberty to the Pope. He wrote but lately to the head of the Waldensiau Church—‘Count upon me; refer directly to mein every difficulty, for I am resolved to see religious freedom established in practice as well as theory.’” Rev. E. Edwin Mall, missionary of the Ame rican and Foreign Christian Union, arrived in Florence June 14th, and writes home in a very encouraging manner. He has engaged two Bible readers, upon the recommendation of Professors Revel and Goymonat. The Christian World says: There, seems to be no want, in Mr. Hall’s opinion and that of the Professors referred to, of good material for the great work to be done by the Society in Italy. The important question i s : “ Can the means be found to support all the well qualified persons who ought and might be em ! ployed?” A “.Ladies’ Christian Union, Associa tion” has been formed in Baltimore, on which we may count for $3OO for the supporter a missionary ITALY, in Italy, They Hare forwarded to us nearly a third part of the sum already: The Waldensians in the theatre at Leghorn. — The Waldensian church inj Leghorn was opened for public service on the 19th of June, and since then has been crowded with attentive and most respectable audiences, and;no disturbance has been offered on the part of;iiie population. The virulent declamations of thCspriests from thepiil pifc, and the opposition of the ,Governor* have ef fected'what the poor Vaudois themselves never could have achieved. Publjc attention has been called to their existence, and there is nofan indi vidual in that city who does not know of their church. Finding how much the Waldenses were exciting attention in Leghorn, a company perform ing at one of the theatres iji that city, resolved as a popular hit to give a representation- of a piece, entitled I. Yaldesi, written by Signor Felice Govean, editor of the Gahzetta del 'Popolo, at Tarin, altogether favorable ti the Waldenses. On Thursday night the theatre Iris crowded to over flowing, and the piece was rapturously applauded. It was announced again,for.Saturday night;, but the priests applied to the'governor to forbid it, which, of course, hh did. j : Wesleyan its an nual meeting in Paris.recently, reports for the year twenty new chapeLs,,aff§ four new Sabbath schools. There have beep revivals in several churches in the south. Four ministers received ordination during the sitting of the Conference. Authorization from the 'Government has been re ceived to open public worship in three new places, one of, which is Oervione,tin-Corsica, where for some years past; an interesting work has been carried ,on among a most benighted population. Paris. Under date of, July 18th, the correspon dent of the News of the' Churches says: The work of God is progressing in Paris; we have now; forty-five meetings for' prayer weekly: Two general meetings have been held, one at . the Evangelical Reformed Church in the Rue de Chabrol, and the other at- the Wesleyan Chapel, both.qf which gave rejoicing .proofs that the work commenced by means of ,^ije'English evangelists has taken solid root among us. GERMANY The attempt on the life if the Tcing of Prussia by a student, which came so''near : being fatal, created a profound sensation in Germany. It is felt that this deed, as. the,(Eing himself said, is the sign of,a deep-rooted, uldversal demoralization and impiety towards aU ! c}isoe and human order. When the news of whatliatfhappenedreached Ber lin, without farther-anhoUnlcetoent on the part of the church,authorities, atsolemn service was, held on the following day in several of the churches to offer up thanksgiving for the merciful preservation of the King. j ' ' A committee ‘ha's been formed in - Berlin, for the purpose of collecting Contributions towards tEe erection of a chapel on the spot where the deed was performed. V TURKEjr. • , The Bulgarian question; the bubble bursl.-r- Oiir will’ remember that when dissatisfac tion arose among the Bulgarian Greeks, in regard to their relations with tlie authorities at Con stantinople, the Pope, through his emissaries, ex pected .to make a wholesale conversion of the tribe to Romanism. One of the Bulgarian priests was per suaded to come to Rome by a certain M. Bore, agent of the Pope, and everything seemed in afair way for the accomplishment of the plot. , .Our last .advices by the, News offhe * ChUfckes, are as follows by Moiis. Boi&, aM’ ihere with 'So' much parade consecrated by the Pope as Bishop andApostolie 'Viear and futnpe Patriarch-of the (to';be) Bulgaro- Romish Church, has quarrelled with his patrons, has excommunicated Mods. Borland himself de parted to parts unknown: The Bulgarian news paper which. so zealously advocated "unibn with Rome,' and,published such shameless attacks upon Protestantism, has expired for want of .support; and the few Bulgarians here who had been caught in the Romish net, have already broken its meshes and returned to their, own Church and people. Thus ends Moos. Bore’s second notable scheme for the wholesale conversion of the Bulgarian na tion to Papacy. The very scene of one of this gentleman’s ex periments, the vicinity of Salonica, has since been •visitedhy a Protestant colporteur, who was eagerly welcomed by the people, and who sold more; than a thousand dollars'-worth of books, besides preach ing the gospel. An address has also been issued by leading na tive movers in the late for a union with the Latin church, from which we extract the fol- ... From all these things we have become perfectly persuaded that the Papists desire, to subject us to a slavery more galling than that under which the Fahariotes (Turks) had held us. * * * Be not deceived, Bulgarian 'brethren. We know this whole thing, and haye returned to the bosom of the Orthodox Church, because wa de sire to aid our people, and not destroy it. * * * Divine Providence has been pleased to deliver us from a new bondage. Tt petmitted some honest Bulgarians to accept the Onion; long .enough to know it, so that, they might the better put our people on their guard against the trap, that is set for them. We are sincerely thankful, though unworthy, that Providence has given us a place among the nuthber of those honest Bul garians. ■■ ; American missions In. Turkey. —The mission of the. A. B. C. F. M. 10 western Turkey, held its annual meeting recently in Constantinople. In view of the failure of eapplies from'America',-the attention of the Missh n was directed with great interest and carefulness to plans for the increase of the amount and effi iqney of native agencies, and at .the same time to measures for developing in the native the ability'and the disposition to support itbose-agencies.- Marash —Dr; Dwight gives the following viewof the most interesting state'of Marash, which he has recently visited:— This place is indeed missionary wonder! Twelve yearn ago there was not a; Protestant here; and the people were proverbially ignorant, barba rous, and fanatical. Six years ago the evangelical Armenian church was organized, with sixteen members. The congregation at that time consisted of 120. ' On the last Sabbath, I preaehed to a congre gation of over a thousand; and.in the afternoon, at the communion, I addressed nearly or quite fifteen hundred people, when forty now members were admitted to the church, making the whole present number 227! Nearly one hundred, of these have been added since Mr. White came here, two years ago. Previous to the late com munion, one hundred and sixteen persons were examined, but only forty jvere admitted to the church. t A SECLUDED MISSIONART STATION.— -A letter in the Delhi Gazette deser bes a remote Vd al most unknown settlement if Moravian mission aries in a valley called Le . lowl) about seventeen marches from Simla, and; urrounded by snowy mountains more than 20,0Qj) feet in height. Four years ago the Moravians took up their abode among the inhabitants of t|is secluded spot, and the only communication they maintain with the civilized world is to send one of their number once a year to Simbla,to lay in provision for a twelve month. ... ; ... COPTIC WORSHIP. The interesting account given below of religious worship among the Coptic Christians of Egypt, is extracted from an account of a trip up the Nile, by one of the missionaries of our brethren of the United Presbyterian Church. The Copts, who number about 150,000, are the.descendants of the ancient Egyptians and profess a corrupted and rather erroneous Christianity. They hold to the doctrine of the Monophysites, or “a belief that the Divine and human natures of Christ, so co alesce as to become one,” and also-resemble in some of their doctrines and practices the-Greek and Latin churches. The head of their church is a patriarch who resides in Alexandria, and has under his control different bishoprics in Egypt, Syria, Nubia, and other countries. The , Copts •practice both circumcision and baptism, observe confession,-and. are much given to austere obser vances, They are,. however, b.ut formal Chris tians, having a name to live while dead. Mis sionary, operations among them so far, have not met<with. -much. success- It will be seen by the succeeding'extract, that their, worship is, the very opposite of the simplicity which the Gospel re-* quires. . . . . 2d. (Sabbath.) The Bishop having invited, us to attend services in the'church, and Monsur in forming me that he thought they would allow me to, preach, I sent up on Saturday evening, to in quire what would be the scripture lessons for the morrow. That in the gospel was Mark x. 17—31. I Could not have asked' a better text, and spent till ope in the morning in preparing to preach from it. The exciting an ticipation of having the privilege of preaching in a Coptio church awoke me by star light, but withal I was not early enough, for I was but just fairly seated at my coffee and eggs; and the sun, not yet. up, was beginning to gild the western hills, when, two .messengers came from the Bishop, to tell me to come, as the services had already commenced. I hastened up, to the church with iny Testament under my arm, and was pointed to a chaii beside his reverence. They were read ing and chanting their prayers, partly-iu Arabic, .but mostly in Coptic- W hen the time earpe for reading the “lesson” from the gospels, the Bi shop first read it in Coptic, with a deacon standing bn eaeh side of him, with a lighted candle. He then asked me to read the translation in Arabic, and I took-my place behind the stand on which the books were placed, (there was n 6 pulpit.) One of the deacons came to me with a lighted candle, but, looking up to the windows in the reof, I remarked that there was light enough, and I could: see'to read, which provoked a smile from those around, and be took his seat. I read the pas sage. above mentioned, when the Bishop asked me to expound, and I commenced iny sermon. The men aud boys, large and small, were sitting around bn'mats, and the women in the raised I place in the back ground, where the school is | kept.. There were, I should think, from 150 to 200 present, and were all very attentive. I spoke about three-quarters of an hour, when I eould see that the Bishop was getting uneasy, and I stopped. Hie had good reason for uneasiness, for he had not yet had bis breakfast, and I found that they had yet, the long services of the mas? before them. When all was over, I found that it was nearly 9 o’clock, which, considering that the service com- Hienced'befere sunrise, made a long—mot sederunt, for as the church; like most churches of the East, ; was unfurnished with seats, the,people i#ooc?;Uiqst the Covenanters, in the West, for the length of their services, and when we consider that they are Almost altogether in incomprehensible Coptic, we must at least admire their patience., As I went out of the church I could not help exclaiming, .Poor, poor people, who have no food but this for their souls. ' But to return to the mass, or Kuddas as they call it. The Bishop asked me to go into the Holy of Holies, which,'as I had never witnessed ,the ceremony in Coptic, I did. The inner room, ,whieh I have called the Holy of Holies, as it cor responds to that department in the Jewish temple, is a small room about 10 feet square, arched over head, with a narrow door on eaeh side, leading into small dark vestry rooms. . It is .separated from the body of the church by a chintz veil, into which an opening is cut, large enough for the entrance of a man: (this veil occupied the plaee of the panelled and carved partition or image-stand in finished churches,) and back of the veiL is the altar, (a stone one, and. not a wooden table which the high-churehmeu would doubtless rejoice to learn,) covered with a cloth much greased by the droppings of the candles. The offi ciating priest; a fine-looking young man, whose .acquaintance I had made the day before, was dressed in a dirty white linen robe, with a shawl of the same over his head, and around his face, on which were embroidered fancy designs and crosses. He stood in front of the opening, just within the veil, and before the altar, and of course with my back to the people. Besides him and myself there were in the inner room a deacon, (who swung the censer which was occasionally replenished by the priest from a little box of frankincense be side him; from which he each time took a pinch, at first with his naked fingers, but after he had washed his hands ■' for the manipulations of the mass, with an intervening cloth,) and four boys, one of whom, was also robed. The service was altogether Coptic, and was chauted; the deacon, and' boys, and also at times the people without joining in the responses. The bread was a round cake, about three inches in diameter and one in thickness, with a square figure like a Jerusalem cross in the centre, which they say represents the Saviour, and around it twelve other similar smaller crosses; for tho twelve apostles, and five small holes pierced into it to represent the five wounds of the Saviour, and around this figure the passage, “Glory to God in' the highest, on earth peace, good will to men,” in Coptic. The silver platter containing the bread, as well as the cup which was placed on a raised stand m the centre, were each covered with several small silk embroidered cloths of different colors, which were slowly removed, two by two, by the priest, and then held up in succes sion beside him on a level-with his shoulders, while he was repeating the service. After removing all the cloths, he performed various manipulations over the bread, such as crosses, passing his finger around the edge of the cake, placing it over the cup, and holding it in one hand and placing the other over it while he was constantly repeating the service. He then broke the bread into, I think, five pieces, one of which he dipped into the cup, and then pressed it upon the other pieces succes sively. He then eat a part himself, and the rest he administered to the boy in robes, the lat ter walking around the altar after each mouthful, holding a cloth closely to his mouth, to prevent the possibility of a crumb being lost. The wine was then taken with a spoon also by the offici ating priest and the„boy. Throughout the whole ceremony, the greatest care was taken to prevent the waste of a crumb of the bread, or- a drop of the wine. Every time the priest lifted or touched the bread, he very carefully rubbed his fingers oyer the. platter, and after the bread was eaten he first carefully picked up the crumbs, and then rubbed the platter over and over again, with his forefinger, which he each time licked off with an appetizing smack, which must have made the teeth of the poor people who were fasting outside water. ~ The bread was elevated several times to a level with his head, when the people bowed, most of them half way, but many of them with their faces to the ground. At particular parts Of the service, too, the people repeated prayers, appa rently very devoutly and earnestly, with their hands and eyes lifted to heaven. When all was over, the Bishop came within, and standing before the opening in the veil, he blessed Unpeople by put ting his hand upon the face of each, as he passed, and repeating the words of tjie benediction. He then broke and handed to the people without one of the eakes, over which they had a good-natured scramble, each trying to get at least a crumb, This of course was not considered as part of the sa crament, as the bread had not been blessed. It. is, I think, the love-feast of which we read in early church history. In the Greek church I have seen a large dish of bread thus distributed. He then gave Monsur and me, each a loaf, and one for Mrs. L. when we left. A Coptic priest can seldom be met on Sabbath after mass but lie will take from his bosom, and offer one of these cakes; and it is done with an air, which shows that it is regarded as an act of Christian recognition and brotherly good feeling. WHY DID PENNSYLVANIA ABOLISH SLAVERY? When every intelligent reader peruses, with a fresh inferejt,, the history of the Amei?can Reyoj lutionwhehi tve are'now cngagedinthe second war, for the principles embodied in the Declara tion of Independence, it may not be out of place to answer the question at the head of this article. This is all the more important from the fact that ignorant or designing demagogues have been in the habit of misrepresenting the facts in the case. No greater slander can be uttered against the good people of Pennsylvania, than to say that they abolished slavery because it was not profit able. The act of emancipation was one of prin ciple, not'prompted by a mercenary motive. The conscience of the commonwealth, not the pocket, originated and carried through the measure. Of this the following statements furnish ample evi dence: - The first suggestion,of legislative abolition was made to the legislature in the session of 1777, in the beads of a bill furnished by the Executive Council. Hon. George Bryan, the Vice President of the Gounei), in a message to the Assembly, Nov. 9th, 1778, thus refers to the matter: * * “In divesting the state of slaves you will equally serve the cause of humanity and policy, and offer to God one of the most proper and best returns of gratitude for his great deliverance of us and our posterity from thraldom: you will also set your character for justice and benevo lence in the true point of view to all' Europe, who are astonished to see a people struggling for liber ty, holding negroes in bondage.” Subsequently, Hon. Joseph Heed, President of the Council', !!! a message to the Assembly, used the following language: “ We would also again bring into'your view, a plan for the gradual abolition of slavery, so. dis graceful to any people , and mope especially to those who have been contending iii the great cause of liberty themselves, and upon whom Providence has bestowed such eminent marks of its favor and protection. We think we are .loudly called on to evince our gratitude, in making our fellow men joint heirs with us of the same inestimable blessings, under such restrictions and regulations as will not injure the community, and will imper ceptibly enable them to improve the station to which they will be advanced. “ Honored will that state be in the annals of his tory,which shall first abolish this violation of the rights bf mankind, and the memories of those will be held in graceful and everlasting remembrance, who shall pass the law to restore and establish the rights of human nature.” The Assembly having failed to adopt the above suggestion,.the propriety of the measure was again urged by President Reed, in a message, Sept. 9th, 1799, in-which he says: “ We wish to -see you give the complete sanction.of law to this noble and generous, purpose, and adorn the annals of Pennsylvania with their bright display of justiee and public virtue.” This agitation had the desired effect. Mr. Bryan, now a member of the legislature, prepared and carried through an “An act for the abolition of slavery,” which was adopted, March Ist, 1780. The preamble is as follows: “ When we Contemplate our abhorrence of that condition to which the arms and tyranny of Great Britain were exerted to reduce us: when we look back on the variety of ; dangers to which we have • been exposed, and how miraculously our wants, in many instances, have been supplied, and our deli verances wrought, when evenhopeandhuman forti tude have become unequal to the conflict, we are un avoidably led to a serious and grateful sense of the manifold blessings which we have undeservedly re ceived from the. hands of that'Being from whom every good and perfect gift eometh. Impressed with these ideas, we conceive that it is our duty, and wo rejoice that it is iii oar power, to extend a portion of that freedom to others which hath been extended to us; and release from that state of thraldom to which we, ourselves were tyrannical ly doomed, and from which we have now every prospect of being delivered. It is not for us to inquire why, in the creation of mankind, the in habitants of the earth were distinguished by a dif ference in feature or complexion. It is sufficient to know that all are the work of the Almighty hand. We find, in the distribution of the human species, ; that the' most fertile as well as the most barren parts of the earth are inhibited by men of complexions different from ours and from each other; from whence we may reasonably, as well as religiously infer, that he who placed them in their various situations, hath extended equally his care’and protection to all, and that it becometh not us,to counteract his mercies. We esteem it , a peculiar blessing granted to us, that we are ena bled this day to add] one more .step to univer sal civilization, by removing, as much as possible, the sorrows of those-who have lived in undeserved bondage, and from which, by the assumed autho rity of the King of Great Britain, no effectual legal relief could be obtained- Weaned by a long course of experience from those narrow prejudices J|uirtialities we had imbibed, we find our hearts enlarged with kindness and benevolence towards men of all conditions and nations; and we con ceive ourselves, at this particular period, extraor dinarily upon, by the blessings which we have received, to manifest the sincerity of our pro fession, and to give a substantial proof of our gratitude. And whereas the condition of those persons de nominated negro and mulatto slaves, has been attended, with circumstances which not only de prived them of tbg common blessings that they were by nature entitled to, but has cast them into the deepest afflictions, by an unnatural separation and sale of husband and Wife from each other, and from their children; an injury the greatness of which can only be conceived by supposing that we were in the same unhappy ease.. In justice, therefore, to persons so unhappily circumstanced, and Who, having no prospect before them where on they may rest their sorrows and hopes, have no reasonable Inducement to render their serviee to society, which they otherwise might; and also in grateful commemoration of our own happy de liverance from the state of unconditional submis sion to which we were doomed by the tyranny of Great Britain Be it, and it is hereby enacted ” ■ Here our commonwealth, through her legisla ture, declared slavery unjust, barbarous or unci vilized, and impolitic; and that a sense of grati tude to God, consistency in those who were Strug g iog or their o#n liberties, and sympathj for the wronged slaves, all[required the complete abolition of he system. The preamble is one of the most histor J Pennsylvania a bright display of justiee and publio virtue.”- VOL. V.—lo. 52.—Whole Ho. 269. Very naturally such a measure met with some opposition. Yet no man arrayed himself against it on the ground that slavery is a blessing to mas ter or slave, or that the slave is unfit for freedom. Those who voted against the act of emancipation, placed on the Assembly’s records their reasons for so doing. They do not utter a syllable by way of apology for the institution, or by way of claiming that such an act would do injustice to any citizen of .the state. They offered but two objections: first, that it was inopportune, the na tion being engaged at the time in a war which was about to be transferred to the South; second ly, that the law conferred excessive privileges upon the blacks. In regard to the latter point, the dis sentients say, “We think they (the legislature) would have sufficiently answered their humane pur pose, had these unhappy people been enabled to en joy the fruits of their labor, and been protected in their lives and property in the manner white per sons are, without giving them the right of voting for, and being voted into offices,” &e. It, there fore, seems that the voice of Pennsylvania was unanimously ii? favor of emancipation at that ear iy day. ''The objection was not against abolishing slavery, as a sin and a stain upon the character of the state, but against some .details of the law. All admitted.the negro’s fight to freedom. The public conscience,'enlightened by the dis cussions of the times, quickened by adversity, and made tender by a sense of divine goodness, broke the yoke and proclaimed liberty throughout the commonwealth. The consideration of profit and loss did not enter into the question. Yet no doubt it was a most politic movement. Justice is always profitable to a community. “ Right eousness exalteth. a nation.” It is beyond question that the crying sin of Is rael to-day is covetousness; Btinginess, in the church, is the prevailing epidemic. We can hardly think of another evil so huge and mon strous as this, which exists in well nigh every con gregation. it paralyzes faith, impairs charity, and nullifies hope. It is the real, hard, obstinate heresy with winch God’s ministry is obliged to contend. It hinders all evangelical efforts at home and abroad. It cripples the exertions of pastors in every attempt to do good. It renders the growth of personal piety impossible in its vic tim. A stingy church member will let his heart go after its covetousness, while listening to the most animating discourse, and his tight fist will choke his conscience, even while it is gasping for a breath of vital air. He may admire his minis ter, and feel an attachment for the church in which he is wont to worship; and yet .the mo ment he is required to show his love for Christ by proper works of. benevolence or charity, he straightway takes counsel of his stinginess, and is seized, with a spasm of economy, which shuts up his heart as closely as a vault, from which the light of day is excluded. Many professors are, perhaps, unconscious of their meanness in religious matters. If they were, no doubt they would repent, and do works meet for repentance. But until they can be showu, and made, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, to feel how great their sin in this regard truly is, there can be little hope of reformation. Let us, therefore, propose a few questions which professors may pon der, with a view of covetousness, and chargeable with inexcusable stinginess. 1. Do you believe that you and all you possess belong to" Christ? ' Were you saved by the pre cious blood of redemption, only that you might the more indulge your own selfishness, or that you might-no longer live for yourself, but for Him who died in your stead? A careful and honest answer to this inquiry will go far toward deter mining your duty with respect to religious efforts for the salvation of others. _ 2. Are your gifts for church purposes a single tithe of the amount of your expenditures for lux uries in your own home? If you have sufficient means to comply with the demands of -fashion, or with the claims of an increasing business, can you give these as reasons for diminishing or withhold iug your contributions for religious purposes? It is au indisputable fact, that many professors ex pend so much upon dress, and furniture, and other luxuries* that they have little to bestow in charity. But are they blameless ? Is this course consistent with the claims of an enlightened Chris tian conscience? 8. Do you place yourself in debt in order to grow rieher than you now are, and then plead that because you are in debt you have nothing to give? This is a 1 subterfuge very commonly resort ed to among farmers. They add farm to farm, and while the gains are all the while increasing, still they grow more and more reluctant to aid religious efforts. If there is a little debt on the church, they are unable to help in-removing it; if the par sonage needs repairing, it must remain untouched until individual greed has done its perfect work; if missions want assistance; or charitable interests plead for aid, they must be sent empty away from him, who offers in excuse the existence of debt, which is, in fact, but a real advance toward in creasing wealth. .Every pastor knows very well how the subtle devil of covetousness entrenches himself in the human heart under the above named pretexts. 4. Have you made it a principle to live for others, as well as for yourself? If you have, then you will find little difficulty in so managing your afiSirs as to save a portion of your weekly gains for the service of God. If you have not, then beware lest you fail into the error and con demnation of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages pf unrighteousness. I charge you—-my young brother, to take care of your body. Eat nothing which does not agree with your digestive apparatus—-masticate it well —-take regular and sufficient exercise daily—go to bed at 10 o’clock P. M., and rise at six o’clock A. M.—and maintain “a prudent, cautious self control over your animal passions.” . I charge you—-to take care of your Mind. Dis cipline and furnish it daily. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly with all wisdom.” Make continual and choice additions to your stores of knowledge—otherwise, constantly pouring out as you will be called to do, “your barrel will soon run empty.” I eharge you—to take care of your Heart Keep it with'all diligence. Be watchful and prayerful. Unless the prineiple of grace implanted within you is kept vigorous and thriving, you will not be hap py in your sacred calling, nor successful in it, nor be a fit example to Christians, in charity, in faith, and purity. I charge you—-to take care of your Doctrine. Let it be that which was once delivered unto the saints—-preserve it uneorrupt —faithfully preach it in season, out of season —contend earnestly for it—and see that your flock be rooted and grounded in it. Taking tliis course—keeping your body under subjection, stocking your mind with precious furni ture, keeping your heart right in the sight of God, and your doctrine according to Divine Revelation; and having it drop in public and private, in the sanctuary and from house to house, “as the rain upon the grass, and as the dew upon, the tender herb”—you will make full proof of your ministry, and when the Chief Shepherd appears, will receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. —Religious Herald. Miss Augusta J. Evans, the authoress of “Beu lah,” is a nurse in the Southern army, where she has also two brothers serving as privates. COVETOUSNESS IN THE CHURCH- A BRIEF PASTORAL CHARGE Christian Instructor. Chris. Intel.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers