Vol. VI, No. 33.---Whole No. 3:02. ;~~~~~. Spring. BY TENNYSON. Dip down upon the northern shore, Oh sweet new year, delaying long; Thou dolt expectant nature - wrong, Delaying long ; delay no more. What stays thee from the clouded noons, Thy sweetness from its proper place ? Can trouble live with April days, Or sadness in the summer moons ? Bring orobis, bring the foxglove spire, The little speedwell's darling blue, Deep tulips, dashed with fiery dew, Laburnums, dropping wells of fire. Oh thou new year, delaying long, Delayest the sorrow of my blood, That longs to burst a frozen bud, And good a fresher throat with song. Now ring the woodlands loud and long, The dotance takes a lovelier hue, And drowned in younder living blue The lark becomes a sightless song. Now dance the lights on lawn and lea, The flocks are whiter down the vale, And.milkier every milky sail On winding stream or distant sea. Where now the sea-mew pipes or dives In yonder greening gleam, and fly The happy birds that change their sky To build and brood, that live their lives From land to land, and in my breast Spring wakens too, and my regret Becomes an April violet, And buds and blossoms like the rest. DR. HAWES ON PREAUHINO. THE venerable Dr. Joel Hawes, of the First Congregational Church, Hartford, de livered an ordination sermon last. September in New Haven, which has appeared in the National Preacher for this month, under the title of the Decay of Power in the Pulpit. The views of so eminent a servant of God, of one so experienced and so evangelical in character, are worthy of general regard. The evils he deprecates are indeed, in some in stances almost peculiar to New England preaching. We quote such portions of the sermon as are, in our view, of more general application : WRY PREACHING FAILS OF EFFECT. Instead of coming right out in the strength of God, with the naked sword of the Spirit, to do battle with sin and error, it is too com mon for the preaching of our day to study to be ingenious, original, eloquent ; to make literary sermons, great sermons, popular ser mons, as one says. To this end, instead of confining itself within its proper cemtuhssion,' , that of delivering God's message in God's way, it ranges abroad over creation to find novel and strange subjects ; and then it seeks to handle them in a new and original way, decking them out in tropes and figures, and all fine things ; just suited to make the whole exhibition elegant and popular, it may be, but utterly ineffective and powerless as to all spiritual impressions. Preaching, it seems to me, often fails of effect because it does not aim at effect. It stops in itself, or is satis fied with doing its task, with making a ser mon and delivering it without aiming so to construct, to point and push it home, as to make it felt by the hearer. It is not enough addressed to man as man, to man in his every day walks and wants, as related to God and eternity. It has not enough of the lawyer like element in it, which having stated its case to the jury, bends all its energies to get it. It is too abstract, too much in the form of an essay or dissertation, stopping with the proof, but not applying what has been proved. This is like preparing a medicine without administering it, or like planting a battery and fixing the guns, and then spiking them lest by letting them off they should do exe cution in the ranks of the enemy. SKEPTICISM AMONG THAI PEOPLE. There is a large infusion of skepticism- in the minds of men at the present day, which operates of course to diminish sensibility to divine things, and, greatly to prevent the proper effect of preaching. The skepticism here referred to is not the open infidelity of a former age, but it consists rather in a half believing, half-doubting, unsettled state of mind about religious • truth. This type of skepticism, am persuaded, is much more widely diffused, and 'is far more fatal in its influence on the interests of religion than is generally supposed. It is circulated and cherished by much of the popular literature of the day. It isspread abroad through the medium of the newspaper and #he pamphlet, and the popular lecture, and in a thousand different ways works itself into the minds of the young and the unreflecting, making them indifferent to God and his truth, and pre venting alljust impressions from the minis tribtions of God's word. EARNESTNESS NEEDED. Another thing demanded to render the pulpit more effective is an increased earnest ness, a larger share of ,what the French call I unction, in its ministrations. By earnest ness, I here mean not the mere warmth and energy of the secular orators, or of the advo cate at the bar, or of the statesman speaking before the Senate of his country, but 'the tender fervor and serious encragedness and determination of purpose which spring from a lively sense of divine things, from faith in God and a constraining love to Christ and the souls of men. Earnestness in this sense is always connected with a spirit of deep, living piety ; it is not noisy, declamatory, or affectedly eloquent; it iitender, solemn, pressive ; it is fed by sensibilities alive unto God and divine things , ; it is an inward fire, kindled by a coal from God's altar, which glows with a steady flame and warms into activity and zeal for Christ and his cause all the powers and affections of the inner man. There is nothing like the earnestness here in dicated to give life and efficiency to the pul pit. It turns into feebleness all the attain- ments of mere learning and genius. It takes possession of the whole man, time, talents, all, and lays them down at the foot of the cross, to be used for the glory . of Christ and the salvation of souls. It dwells with in tense interest among the - great truths. of God's word; and, realiiing . their supreme importance, it takes them into the pulpit, and there, with look and voice and manner , all breathing with the line of Christ and concern for man, it presses them home on the soul, and it is with demonstration of the Spirit and of power. There is no standing against deep, spiritual earnestness. The feeling - on the part of hearers is that they must surrender, and whether they do or not, the truth is commended to the conscience, and they cannot well escape its power. - PREACH THE GREAT DOCTRINES. Another thing necessary to remedy the evil of which I have been speaking, and to increase the power of the pulpit, is to bring into greater prominency and force the pecu liar doctrines of the Gospel. There are many who seem to think that these doctrines have become old, are worn out, and can no longer be made to interest and move the minds of men. No mistake is greater. These doctrines old I so is the Bible old, and the plan of salvation, and God's perfections and ways of dealing with men. Are they there fore obsolete and useless, and to he laid aside as old wives' fables ? No; the great dis tinctive truths of the Gospel, the truths which relate to God and his Government, to, Christ and his salvation, to the soul and its destiny, to sin and redemption, to life and death, and heaven and hell—these truths are, just as new, just as fresh, just as important to men now coming on the stage, of life, as they were to the men to whom they were irst announced, and so they will be to each suc cessive generation to the end of time. They are not abstractions, not speculations and fictions of men, but everlasting principles and facts, revealed by the God of infinite wisdom and grace, as perfectly suited to the nature and wants of man, and indispensable, under all circumstances, to his enlightenment and salvation. We need have no fear that men will ever become so wise that the truths, of God's revelation cannot enlighten them, can not subdue and . asave them. „They are God'a appointed means Of impressing and moving the heart, of awakening and saving the soul; the sword of the Spirit, .the fire and the ham mer that breaketh the rock in pieces, as well as the oil and the wine to heal the broken hearted; and inspire joy and hope in the bosom of penitence, faith, and love. And preaching, to have power, must base itself on these truths, and be sustained and animated by them. They are, and ever have been, the great elements of power in the pulpit, and the ministry of an angel would be weak that should dispense with them, or substitute any thing else in their place. God will not bless a ministry that does this. He has appointed his own instrumentality for the conversion of men - it is summarily comprised in his re vealed truth, and it is only as the preacher faithfully and boldly wields that truth in dealing with the souls of men, that he may expect God to bless him with his presence, and make the word dispensed by him his wisdom and power until' salvation. Let *the minister, then, who Woad - have' his preaching permanenny effective and use ful, deal honestly with God's truth ; let him hold it in firm and vigorous faith in his own mind, and make the manifestation of it the main design of every sermon he pfeaches. Let him preach not himself, but Christ Jesus the Lord; not prettiness of style and lan guage, but substantial, weighty truth"; not the speculations of men, but the great fun damental verities of God's word, filling his-" mind with the light and power of them, and going forth to his work in the seriousness and earnestness, in the strength and. hope which they are sure to inspire in the soul when clearly apprehended and held in a strong and vigorous faith. Then will he stand before his people in the acknowledged character of a man of God; he will be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, and, speaking in bis name and by his autho thority, his preaching will have an earnest ness and power which no mere talent, ,or learning, or genius can, impart to it. THE MINISTRY FOR TIIE TIMES. The ministry demanded by the spirit of the times is indeed a learned, able ministry, but not speculative, literary, ingenious, mere ly or principally ; a ministry of truth and piety, intelligent in the Scriptures, earnest, laborious, prayerful; a ministry seeking not so much to be popular as to be useful, self forgetful, independent, decided in duty, medi tating much and deeply on the great truths which are unto salvation, that so it may im part worth and power to its Sabbath minis trations, and withal, able -to tell what it knows, to speak off-hand and to the point, without the necessity, of running all its ideas out from the point of a pen—added to all, loving to go forth from the retirement of the study to mingle with the people in acts of sympathy and pastoral duty, and thus to en force, in the intimacy of private and social intercourse, the lessons, of instruction and warning which- it publishes from the sacred desk: A. ministry of this clAracter turns in to feebleness all the efforts of mere -talent and learning. And this is the ministry which we must strive to raise up for our churches if we would see them built up in strength and fruitfulness, and religion prospering among the people. A ministry trained in the spirit and after the manner here indicated, thoroughly im bued with the knowledge of divine things, with the fears, the hopes, the remembrances, the anticipations, the inward and outward experiences of a true christian faith and piety, has of itself, as Coleridge well remarks, u a philosophy and sum of knowledge, and power of reaching the hearts of men, which a whole life spent in the grove of Acadernus, or the painted Porch, could not have attained or collected." MEE AND GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. WITH the Gri Sql(S s , architecture was the em bodiment and „expression of their religion. They lavished their wealth and skill on public buildings, especially on temples. It was the religious sentiment that gave them excellence in this art, as it did in sculpture. They would have shrines worthy of their divine creations. While, therefore, their sculptured divinities were to them symbols of the invi sible gods, so were their temples symbols of the unseen Olympus. Majestic columns and corridors, the proportions and grandeur of their sacred edifices, the exact angle forming the perfection of the roof, all constructed of snow-white marble, with finely wrought flut ing and cornices, impressed the beholder as by almost supernatural influence. They, were creations, not works ! They symbolized the PHILADELPHIA, T 4 $z SDAY APRIL 17, 1862. settled, changeless past —the eternity of the gods—the calm, solemn beauty and majesty of heaven.. But Greek architecture is not equal to the religious "ideal" of Christianity. It does not compare, even in the grand and uniform impression of the Madeleine in Paris, with the deeper tone of Christian architecture in the middle ages. The noblest specimens of this style are to be seen in England, France, Italy and Germany. In the thirteenth Con . tury religious feeling greatly revived in those countries, and one result of it was a revival in sacred architecture as its °symbol. At Caen, in Normandy, the new impulse in this direction' first began. That city is known as having been the seat of William the. Conqueror, and' as now .containing, in a vault beneath St. Stephen's Church, a grand sombre Roman structure—the tomb of that ldng. The city, is a compact mass of rich architecture, intermixed with mean hovels. It is, like Rouen, a strange gem. The latter city can boast of the queen of churches, the beautiful St. Ouen ; but the former possesses clusters of architectural glories. The revi val of the sacred art was borne to Britain by the Norman conquest, and, at the same time, it spread over France and into Italy anil Germany. Among its grand outgrowths are the cathedrals of Salisbury, Canterbury, Win chester, Ely, Durham, Exeter and York, in Englad ; the Notre Dame of Paris ; the ca thedrals of Rouen, Tours, Bowles, Amiens, Rheims and Strasburg, in France ; Fryburg cathedral, in Baden;.Milan and -others, in Italy ; Ulm, Ratisbon and others, in Ger many. Some of these are reconstructions from earlier styles, nor do they embrace all that are worthy of notice. England and France shared most richly in this gush of ar tistic feeling, this overflow of the religious spirit into arclhitecture. ' Men, in those days, felt that the temple they were to build, would be the dwelling place of God ; and they labored by its Mag nificence, by its richness, by its suggestions of the spiritual, by its tone of mystery, by its awful height,, its vistas, its resounding aisles, its mellowed light, its. arches, its curves, its flowing lines - and foliations; its lofty vault, its ' pillars, high and branching into the roof, like strong but graceful elms ; its lighted corridors and carved chapels, its recesses and tombs,—by every suggestion which religion and a knowledge of moral in fluences could make—to render the place solemn, majestic, and fit for the worship of the All-Holy. Convenience, ease of posture and sociality were not studied. Men did not go to the holy place-for bodily comfort, nor mental regale ment from learned essays, but to worship, to be forgiven. We are not commending their type of piety as a model ; it was not suffi ciently informed, did not abound in charity, was not laige, tolerant, fearless. We speak only of th?ir devotion, their emotional fad, ingt=:-The" , ---vifyit tyre teittir4for pnrpnses - of piety. They thought not of velvet cush ions, depended not, as we do, on the preach er. We regard their pictures and architec tural forms as idolatrous ; and doubtless they did lead to unconscious. worship, of the mate rial, or of ideal, finite beings; and we cannot too heartily condemn the whole system of image-worship ; :but we, too, give ourselves up to the words, the gestures and tones of the spealrer, as symbols in which-we find the stimulus of emotion ; and worse far, we -yield to the genial comfort and sociality, lulled by music,—all the sweet 'influences of the place " stealing o'er sensation"—to silent enter tainment or repose. In those ages of reli gious art, souls felt the power of the forms that filled their churches.; the statues which stood in the recesses; the softened light, as if it were a beam from the mercy-seat; the organ-tones stealing into the spirit, or rous ing its whole power of emotion, as by voices from heaven ; the lofty, dim, concave ; the features of martyrs and of angels shining on them from oratory and choir—all symbols 'of I the distant, the past, the dead ! the eternal! And was it not so, but without human memo rials, in the temple at Jerusalem ? So rich, varied, vast, mysterious in its divine forms and holy furniture ! Did not God intend thus to impress men; by making "the place of his feet glorious ;" by surrounding the worshipers with symbols of the purity; the vastness and the life of the universe ?—.Rev. E. E. Adams. GREEK AND CHRISTIAN ART. THORWALDSEN'S CHRIST. Tn Greek gained the goal of seulpturein most of its essential elements. his models were the " Divine-human." Re sought to embody his ideal of God. This spirit of worship gave him power. Whatever capabi- lity there is in marble to express attributes that awaken autturak,a.mc • • --- love of the beaufifulin form, ;and that sway the spirit by majestic attitude—whatever art has done, or can do, to reach all but the Christian idea of Deity,—we believe has'lifeen achieved by the Athenian chisel. Modern art has only begun to realize it. Thorwald sen's Christ has much of the awful majesty and gentle inardicod - which we conceive as belonging to the divine model. Standing eleven feet in height, on a pedestal of red granite, three feet square, with hands ex tended, as if he would enfold humanity to his heart; with a natural'halo formed about his head, by a beam, of light streaming through a vista above him ; beneath his feet the words carved which he'uttered to sinners : " Come unto me"—that awful, glorious Christ at Co penhagen, is 'altogether the sublimest object we have ever gazed on ! We felt, as we stood in its presence, that Christianity had demonstrated her artistic supremacy, and that the Greek, so great in the power of trail.: -scribing sensible objects, in setting forth form and sensuous beauty, nay, in the ideal of the. Divine,—must, after all, bow to the loftier spirituality which our religion gives to art.: And now we cannot but hope that, under the inspiration of Christianity, with our freedom from persecution with the genius of a free government, with our history and memories of the great and good,"sculptor's among us may so round and soften the " mute marble," as that it shall - speak to the soul more than to the eye. Thus may their creations occu py, in future noes, a ; place at which lovers of art shall long 'finger and devoutly admire.— Rev. E. E. A:dams. GRACES are signs, not causes of justifi cation. LES I SOIIB o~ WAIL liO r 111. There are few thinge More weak and piti able than an army after having suffered re peated defeat by the same enemy. The souls of the men melt within them, and be come as water at -the*thought of meeting the victors upon another field, and no arguments are sufficient to ins Vite them with hope that they can ever make heed against them. The successive blows theyhave suffered from the same hands, have'had the effect of Supersti tion on their minds ; and_: reason and judg ment are utterly "ovOrthrown. They can no longer reflect with a natural glow of.courage and satisfaction upOn their own advantages of discipline and numbers, and they are blind to every other image, but that of an invinci ble foe and the terr Ile certainty of defeat. .fey are unable' spirit, and "a,"&. too :-. altetWebtlittlAilke to begin a timelylig" t, and . are fit only to be slaughtered whdie - they stand, or to' be trampled tinder foal 'One - of the bravest ar mies of Greece once refused to be led againit a confessedly inferi9r foe, by whom, from some accidental ca.use, they. had- more than once been defeated;:,rotesting to their com manders, with the ee.ting despair of vali ant; but broken spiliti, - "We cannot fight these men." _ '. ' " Such is the condition to which "a man re , and weakness himself, by permitting indolence and weakness to foil liimtagain and again- in the worthy enterprises oAlife. ' Defeated'always; successful never inhiS plans of diligenee and exertion, wherever Ae turns his, eye - he - sees the triumphs of sloth and inactivity,:in his lost years, in his *lining fortunes, in the obscurity of his name, in his once fair pros pects now rapidly 4rewing 'dint . ; :Ind as he looks upon the seen he is stricken to the seen heart, his strengt . ekes him ;heis no longer capable of : on, and he only waits for the friendly blOw of2a6cident, or an early death, to relieve hifiom his responsibility to himself, and covi : forever from his eyes the hopes and promises of his yinith, ,to which he had prove,o:,himself so unequal. If, in our strugeles with our own weak nesses and the difficulties of life, we would secure the best pledge of long and future conquest, we must sit lve from the first, to the utmost of our pelv, to cover• slothfulness and indecision with defeat ; to prevent these enemies of our hopes. 'from raising a single trophy in our sight, -and, at the same time, to surround otirselves.io tangible evidences of our power, and growing. examples of success. These principles aPply.with their; greatest force in religion, to the conflicts of the chris tian with his partiadar sinful inclinations. Nowhere is it so dangerous to- permit the enemy to erect a t , - , -„ofvictory. We in stantly quail before ~ l t .sin by-which we have been once or twice, : , ercome, whilstom the ~conktry„ene,4l, ~ 1 , - , cessf , , ,mistarkee4c what is evil, in - , - , . - Wong -. ii i ~ , vincible in the 1. 4 L: against the same form of vice, and almost ~ o ually so against every other ; . for, in their :. hit; the commandments of God are not inert and insulated things, the office and capacitl of each restricted' to itself, but they are a , vital and potent combi nation of friendly and inseparable elements, each of which is prompt to meet•alike all the ' exigencies of the moral nature, to dart its influence through the soul, .to show itself at every point, and fortify it against the as saults of sin. Every , obedient action gives a guaranty of victory,. and raises higher the bulwarks of the heart against the incursions of paision and temptation: => The rule of the GospeLis, grace for grace----more to him that hath ; and in this we have an eminent exam ple of the truth of the . encomium pronounced upon the precepts Or the Bible,—" In keep ing of them there is great reward. —Banner of the Covenant. S. P. H. FRELINii OF 110#101111Bil TOOpPY. R - bv. DR. ISToPthrxocK writes to the Methodist from Pa*. March 17th, as fol lows : The recent great successes` of the national arms in America hav4 brought , out the real feeling of the aristocratic party in England in a very strong light. Their organs no longer threaten, insult or abase us, as fla grantly as they did every day when they thought we were clown. ,But they plead the cause of the rebels even more earnestly than ever, advising, "1:!e pleading with . the American people just: to be good enough to break up their Government. I cite the following passage from Earl Rus sell's speech. It ought to be feniembered by -every. American, that in the height of- the struggle for the preservation of our' Govern ment and lifethe chief minister. reregt-Briteir Tlace in Parliament, thus expressed hircs• in favor of the de struction of our national life: "I trust that whateyer may be their Mili tary successes, whateVer - may be their naval victories, 'Whatever pttintions they may'_ cap= ture, the North will a t t list consent to the peaceable sepanttion, cf-ivro States Which might both be mighty—of.tvo States inhabited. by persons of very different education and of very different na,tpre„pef.haps, but respecting each other ' and each going on in a course of peace and'.prosperity,. which will not only benefit that great country in the present day but will secure its position for centuries to come." I must confess that I End it hi - id to keep' down my' wrath and contempt :for the man as I read thaw words. And thii Earl Rus sell, too, is our ; Mewl, in Nngland 1- This same Earl Russell it was who recognized the belligerent rights of the rebels so promptly last May. Then as w, he hoped for two republics in Aulell&citthead sof one, and eagerly-grasped .at the-chance of doing any thing short of actual-fighting; to aid , the-pro cm of dissolution. Last summer ' this same Earl Russell declared that the "North was fighting for empire and the South for inde pendence ;" and this snot of hatiSurnished a text for all the Tory and-pro-slavery speak ers and writers in Englandfroin that time to this. Yet Earl RuSsell is our friend in Eng land . If' so, lieaven. -save us from both friends and enemies there. But we know hotter ; our true friends in England—not, indeed, to be found ainolig the so-called no bility—do not desire to see the -.American Government broken"up, the American Union divided, and a slave empire' established for ever. WASHINGTON'S CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. FROM Rev. Dr. Wylie's recent discourse in the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of this city, entitled "Washington a Chris-. tian," we give some extracts. HIS PIETY PRACTICAL. The piety of Washington was not merely of a theoretical or speculative character. jt manifested itself in his attention to the du ties of personal celigion. lie was a very re gular attendant on the ordinances of religion, both when at his home and on the field. He was a; vestryman in the Episcopal, church in Alexandria„ and while he resided. at Mount Vernon, although nine miles distant, his seat was seldom empty. When the old church became so much dilapidated as to require the erection of another, he was actively engaged in, he selection of -a site, and :the - construe, app. of the building. , In this church he waft i , igkpia f 10*d - int 96 Leg Massey * who was then rector of it,. says "never knew so constant an attendant on church as Washington, and his behaifor in the house - of God was iever so deeply reverential that it produced the happiest effects on , my congre gation, and greatly assisted me in my pulpit labors. , No company ever withheld him from church. I have often been at Mount Vernon on the Sabbath morning when his breakfast table was filled with guests ; but to him they furnished no pretext for neglecting his God, and losihg the satisfaction of setting a, good example ; for, instead of staying at home, out of false complaisance to them, he used constantly to invite them to accompany him." It is a well substantiated fact that Wash ington was in the habit of participating 'in the sacrament of the Lord's Slipper when he; had opportunity. He was a regular commu nicant in the Episcopal. church which he at tended at Alexandria. On one occasion, when the American - army was,in the neigh borhood of Morristown, New Jersey, theTu charist- was to be dispensed in the Presbyte rian church in that place. Washington hav ing become informed of this, addressed the pastor of the church, the Rev. Dr. Johnes, inquiring whether he might be allowed to participate, being a member of the Episcopal church. The reply was, that the sacred or dinane,e he desired to enjoy, was neither the Presbyterian supper—nor the 13aptist sup per, nor .the Episcopalian supper, but the Lord's Supper, and that he was welcome. Accordingly he accepted the privilege which he prized so much. A *AN OF PRAYER. Washington, however, did not neglect the private duties of a religious' life. He was a man of prayer • and herein especially, we doubt not, was t'he secret of his power. By that wonderful instrumentality, through which Heaven communicates- so many bless ings to the sincere and earnest, his heart was str : engkhenalaintellectual • owers were re-, firm, self-controliing spirit, he was enabled to use rightly all his resources. One of the officers of his body-guar4 mentions that once despatches were received about daybreak, which he was to communicate at once to the commander-in-chief. On passing through a narrow entry to his apartment, he heard a suppressed and earnest voice • and, on paus ing, he found that General Washington was engaged in prayer. Another officer says, that, on a sudden entrance into his tent, he had repeatedly found him on his knees. At -the Valley Forge encampment there was a grove to which he frequently retired for prayer.. On one occasion, while he was thus engaged, a person who was unfriendly to our cause. was riding along, and hearing the whispering sound in the bushes, he paused, and approaching nearer as quietly as possible, he heard the words' of prayer ; and saw that the speaker was Washington.- Withdrawing uncbserved, he returned to his own home, and Assembling his family, mentioned what had occurred, and declared his determination to assist the American cause ; as he was 'sa tisfied new, that a cause, led by suph a man, and sustained in such a way, must succeed. We have heard the incident just related from the lips of the late venerable Dr. N. R. Snow den, who was informed of it by, the person himself.* - *We have received' the following note on this subject from , the Hon. J. R. Snowden, son of Rev. Dr. Snowden: Philadekh,ia, February 28, 1862. .114(y Dear Sir—Referring to your request, I have to say.that I cannot lay my hands at present upon my father's papers. I recollect that among his ma nu..seript "Reminiscences," was a statement of his interview with Mr. Potts, a Friend, near Valley Forge,._ who `pointed out to him- the spot where he saw General Washington at _prayer, in the winter of 1777. This event induced •Friend Potts to become a Whig 3and he told his wife Betty that the cause of America was a good cause, and wouldprevail, and that they must now support it, Mr. Weems, in his "Life of Wasbington,'! mentions this inci dent a little differently : but my father had it from Mt. Potts rierionally, and the statement herein made may therefore be relied on as accurate. Jim, with great regard, yours truly, JAMES ROSS SNOWDEN. Rev. T. W. 3. WYLIE, D.D. SOCIAL RELIGION. At the - recent quarter-century celebration of Dr. Brainenrs pastorate of - the Old Pine Street church, Philadelphia, the pastor gave a pleasing history of his experience among his people. In his address he remarked that he and his people believed religion to be "eminently social. Hence there is great shaking of hands in our gatherings—a great deal of tarrying to inquire after one another's welfare—much kindly feeling and friendly greeting that has grown up in thirty years." We commend this spirit and practice to the attention of-`Christians. Some of our exchanges are discussing the question as to whether the pulpit is 'not shorn of its strength by &slavish observance of its "proprieties." Might not the question also be raised, whether the Christain fellow ship of congregations is not seriously ob structed by a punctillious observanoe of so cial proprieties ? It has been said by earnest men that they never felt more alone and lonely than when in the noisy, crowded streets of London or New York. Something akin to this sensation -many an 'earnest Christian experiences in unsociable, congre gations, where with few exceptions each family is an isolated congregational frag ment, drifting drearily over its circumscrib ed; little lake of existence. Although they meet around the same communion altar, and are "all partakers of one bread," they have socially no more to -do with each other than the Jews and Samaritans. Watch them pres _ sed into solid column as they-pass out of the church through the aisles. An occa sional salutation you may notice, but a cor dial, general recognition is a rare occurrence. You will say, perhaps, that this would be irreverent in the House of God. A boister ous indulgence in vain questionings and wea ther-prophecies might be, but a discreet ex change of courtesies would be perfectly in place. We have known different persons at tending the same place of worship for years, without ever forming a personal acquaint ance, or even knowing each other's names. Many attempt studiously to evade a friendly recognition of strangers, because_ they have never been introduced.- Perhaps if they saw a man drowning within reach of their hands, they. would not extend help, for the want of an introduction ! *At the social gatherings in Arabia the guests, seated in a circle and furnished with pipes,-raut4y,44ertait). ealeli-ether-by-litber ed whiff's, while, looking intently at their pipe -bowls, and occasionally raising the hand to the breast and forehead, which compli ment is courteously reciprocated. Have we borrowed from the Arabs ? For there are not a few congregations whose Christian fel lowship is conducted pretty much in this style. Every one looks on his own bowl, and presses himself to his heart instead. of his neighbor; and this is called Christian fel iowship Some congregations remind one of petrifi ed forests or a field of stalagmites where every one is formed separately by droppings from above, but where each is solitary and distinct from all the rest. This unsociable spitzbergen -separatism indicates a disease which militates against spiritual advance ment. Every congregation truly Christian is a household of, faith," whose members live in vital. sympathy with one another. If one suffers all suffer. They weep, iyith them that weep, and rejoice with them that rejoice. If their fellow members are sick they will visit them, if they are poor they will supply their wants, if they die - they will mourn with the' bereaved and help them to bury their -dead. We plead not for a visionary com munistic theory, nor do we desire to obliter ate social distinctions, but simply urge the cultivation and practice of the common a menities and mercies which the Gospel en joins upon us; a return to the simple, gentle habits of apostolic times, when the family of Christ was vitalized by a genuine, fraternal spirit, which showed itself in corresponding work's. • The inhabitants of Laish "had no business with any man," and therefore were given to anarchy and. barbarism. The giants of Ho mer held no friendly intercourse with one another, -living apart in caves and. on moun taintops, and, therefore, became lawless can nibals and one-eyed dullard& Thus isolation blinds men to the excellence of their fellows, -m3 Tualrem Aikuionr• • -uf--Ararszte_____l , e # in re ai ng t e fault's of other'" ersills is always the effect produced by a morbid,' mental and spiritual seclusion. One design in organizina believers into bodies or congre gations, is to cultivate a social Christianity —to buildup a veritable communion of saints, and not an aggregation of sandgrains, a dis connected frigid multitude of unsympathiz ing individuals. The reason why there is so little of a common spirit---an esprit de corps —in many churches, is because there is no affable intercourse between the members and families. In some there is a mutual reserve, a stiff, starched shrinking from each other, scarcely, equalled. by the Fifth Avenue repul sions of New York. Not brotherhoods such churches are, but strangerhoods—the pink of anti-christian aversion. In this way, they never learn to appreciate each other's virtues, or exercise charity for each other's failings. 'They sacrifice one of the most precious boons of the Christian Church—the blessings of a sanctified Christian intercourse. Visit the members and families of your church, especially the poor and the sick. Attend all the funerals you possibly can, for your presence will indicate a degree of sym pathy, which will be as a soothing balm to the bleeding hearts of the bereaved. Seek the acquaintance of all strangers, and make them `acquainted with other members. Above all, "visit the fatherless and widOws in their affliction, and keep yourselves unspotted from the world." This is " pure religion and wk. defiled, before God and the Father."—Ger. Ref. Messenger. _ THE DEHRA NATIVE BOARDING-SCHOOL. THE following interesting narrative of the examination exercises in the native girl's Boarding School at Dehra, under the charge of Messrs. Herron and Calderwood, taken from a paper called. The Hills, published at Mussooriejndia. We commend it to our readers, with the hope that it may deepen their interest in the cause of female educa tion, in that benighted land. The editor of the aforesaid paper introduces the account of the'examination as follows : "In Calcutta, Christians have set up schools for native females, but Dehra, in these remote N. W. Provinces, may justly boast of possessing the. first Boarding. School in India, Tor, native .girls. It will be seen from the account of our esteemed correspon dent given below, that we owe the origin and the - success of the school to two Christian ladies, who have come from their distant homes in the West, to labor in love for the good of their ignorant heathen sisters ; and. we cannot doubt that whatever pecuniary help they may need in the prosecution and enlargement of their work, will be liberally accorded by the Christian community. "Many have considered that we shall la bor in vain for the civilization of India, till we can make a commencement of virtuous habits at the homes of Natives—till a good example is set tosthe young in their families. No surer way of instilling good principles and honest practice into boys and girls can be devised than this educating mothers, by whom all, both black and white, are Mum.- ced from the earliest to the latest moment of their lives. This boarding school" of 'Mr. Herron's and Miss Miller's Dehra, appears thus to- have peculiar claims on the favor of the practical philanthropist ; and, wishing the Institution every success, we conclude by commending our correspondent's report to the earnest attention of our readers." "-DEnnA, Saturday, 7th Dee., 1861. "We were invited to-day to witness a most interesting sight, viz., the examination of, and distribution of prizes to the childred at- GENESEE EVANGEMST.--Whole -No. 830- . tending the• 'Dekra Native Ohrirstian, Girra Boarding School:. " The name, of the school gives "a correct idea; of its purpose, and a little reflection will suffice to enable its value to be readily con ceiVed. ;The large room where the exercises were conducted was in a bungalow in the Ameri can Presbyterian Mission compound. It was pleasant to see, several carriages standing at the iloor, and on enterinc , b to find the seats filled with,between 30 and 40 English women and, pen, as well as a number of native Christians. The English women seemed par ticularly in their place there ; in encouraging by their presence, the education of these In dian girls, who are being trained up as the Christian mothers of Indian families. "The little girls to the number of about 30, were seated on forms at: the upper end of the roop.,frOnted.by the usual green cloth table on which the books lay, out of which they were" to ,be examined. Over the fireplace was- the black board on which we were pleised to see music written as part of the exercise *foi the day. In front, the World hung on the wall with, all the necessary bright coloring of divisions and countries, the dark shading of mountain and tortuous lines of river. The little girls were so cleanly and. nicely dressed, almost wholly in the strictest native fashion, with the graceful snow-white chudder thrown over the head and shoulder. It was very pleasing to see the good taste displayed in this, for we have seen elsewhere native girls dressed up in English clothes with bare (dark brown) necks and arms which made them look particularly unattractive and ungainly. All being up country girls had regular features, and one or two were decidedly pretty. One was es pecially noticed for, the particularly soft and amiable expression of her face. " The examination -as conducted principal ly by the Revd. David Herron, whose cheer ful and affectionate mode of questioning the children took of from the chilly horror of similar occasions. Considering the very short times these girls have been in training, it was really surprising to hear the way they got through the very varied difficulties put in their way. -They had to read in English, to them a foreign language, and that one of the most difficult to learn. In this they shelved great proficiency, which was further tested by their having to translate English into Oordoo and Oordoo into English. They had to read the new Teitament in the Oordoo language but written in. the Roman character and also the Hindee new Testament in the Hindee character, much of which is written in different words from the Oordoo version. They had to do arithmetic, and answer a host of terrible questions in English grammar. They had also to answer questions in a Ver nacular easy Catechism, and to repeat the first half of the Shorter Catechism, both in - Oordoo and-. En. lislL, This last seemed. to ifrm Vie most aimetir-ratiita_iitn, through, and no doubt they had not been able readily to understand in a foreign lan guage what Scotch children have so much difficulty with in their own Vernacular. The highest class then went through their facings with the geography, and were most at home in the map of India, which it seemed in every way proper. they should be, considering it is their " own native land. The work of draw ing out the stores of these little minds had lasted two full hours when it was resolved to finish. One interesting little girl, the young est of the number, and who had taken no part in the answering before, was now brought up in front of the table, all alone, to tell what they had been able to get her little mind to do. A short hymn was the sensible and pleasant contribution she had to make to the general exhibition. Fixing her full dark eyes on Mr. Herron as if thereby to keep them from being bewildered by the terrible array of great ones in front of her, she, after an anxious silence, began and re peated in a soft pleasing voice her allotted task, returning at its end, evidently with great pleasure, to her former seat on. the floor. " A few hard questions in music and a well sung hymn, concluded the exercises ; after which the more gifted ones who had prizes to receive came up and received them from the hands of, one of the ladies present, who read out the names and the particular excellencies which had merited the reward or distinction. "On the girls leaving, Mr. Herron gave us a short sketch of the use and progress of the school, and some account of the difficulties and encouragements they had met with. " It was first established in 1859, before which time there was no similar school, in which tile parents and guardians had to pay for the education of their children, in the North of India, and, where native Christian girls could be trained in the way, that the well educated native Christian man would desire his wife to be. " Besides learning to read and write they are taught to cook, and the elder girls having each charge of a younger one, are thus early taught to be kind and useful. They also spend the afternoon of each day in learning to sew, etc. " The number of girls haS increased within three years from eleven to thirty. Some of them are wholly supported by their parents, while others are partially so, and some very poor ones are kept at the expense of friends of the Mission. - - "In thus educating them there is also the hope that some of these girls may devote themselves to the establishment, perhaps a long with their husbands, of schools for the heathen girls in the city; for through this agency alone can an effectual work be accom plished among the heathen females around us; the great necessity for which, and the proba ble effects of which, umler God's blessing cannot be overrated. • " Mrs Herron, through whose zeal and love for the work to which her husband has devo ted himself, the Boarding School was esta blished and for some time conducted, con tinues actively to interest herself in its wel fare and progress; but the burden of the day and the credit for its present state of great efficiency is Miss Miller's, who with untiring industry labors at the good work. "Before leaving, we went though the class room, the sleeping apartments, and play ground. In the class room, the delighted prize recipients were looking at their neigh bors' gifts. One little girl, broken hearted at her want of success, had buried her little face in her shudder, and continued weeping unconsolably, shewing how valuable these least of gifts arc as a mark of approbation.
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