Vol. VII, No. 32.---Whole No. 344. ottieg. (For the Ameriesn Presbyterian.r) The Traitors .Shield. The Persians attempted to make It dash , upon Athens befgre the Grecian troops, .flashed with victory, could march from, Piarathen. Th.f4y, were informed of the defenceless state of.the city by a ' shield hung up in the sun by a traitor.—" The A thenians impute the prosecution of this measure to one of the Alommonidm !who.they say held, up a shield to the Persians when they were under end," -BERODOTIIS B. VI., Oath'. 115. The Persian fleet is ploughing deep through the A g ean sea, And Persian swords are sharpening for the 'red blood of the free And the waves that bear are moaning deep- - Athens farewell to thee, Farewell, Farewell, through all the earth—Fare. well to Libertyl The Persian hosts are moving, like bees that swarm in June The Greeks before them form a line curved like the crescent moon ; • • A little band, awhile they stand' deftaneeintheir eye,, Then rush upon the Eastern hordes—for home —for libesly I The sands blush red at Marathon; the sails are filled again; The Persian " hosts are routed.:-'446 thousand thousand men ; Hurrah I hurrah ha* swells the heart through Adieu's chosen band, "Our swords have saved our wives apd honlPS,a'd freedom for our . But see, what gleanis so brilliantly o'er Atlien's walls af'ar; Why speed 0181'mm:tan's ships along; as guided by a Star A burnish'd shield is burnine , bright broad breasted to the anti, And treason gives the beaoort , sign-- 14 Run swift for Athens, run." • "Back l hack I "—the cry swells thronat the lines "a traitor lives to-day, And skulks within the city walls While we are in array; " . Beek 1 hack 1 ,to save the city, the traitor's heart to reach, , Whose crime in this our battle-day exceeds -all power of speech I Oh, blessed was that day for Greece ` cad blessed too,f or Wan. . • , When the Grecian Ooldiers marched as fast as the Persian vessels ran, And the traitor `knave whO' spread the shield • that glittered in the litte ' Found that the work: of Marapthon could not be thus na4ctuo, Oh, if a traitor hand to:day, Within our lines extends '' r A beacon to the enemy, to comeaud slay' his friends— _ If while the nation pants and bleeds,,,his Wald gleams in the sun,- : And he bide the iuthless rebel do what a traitor would have done Ills be a nameas much ablisred as > Athens' traitor then, His be a deed to bleak too Dame a - of men ; • t - While forth in Freadout's holy case , our , aritiies hold the field,, • . Palsied the arms that our, utidst ; lifts up, the traitor's shield March 25, 186fi. fortopg4 m masts OFS A X. L 80401 EL ,002 0 NEAR FALItOIIIII 1 ` V. tot *arch 24, 1863. TO the Editor gf else 4nierican Brea Arian WILL you: ermit me to give to the public, through your volumes, the following letter, which was received a few days ,since ttY Col.. McAllister of the 11th Volunteers and which he kindly permitted ,Me to copy. This letter should be read by every, 'one Vito is inclined togive up our gloriousetruggle for law and liberty. It speaks for itself., The gallant Colonel who has fought `many hard battles, and knows well tbe kipl, of metal required to stand the fire, remarked to me that be, knew tbe boy mentioned in that letter would fight, - although he was not personally acquainted-with him. If every mother who has a eon itv the army would write such letters, :there mwould :be little de moralization, in the camp. It sad fact that the strength is often taken out of the army by the frieusts,et home. J. C. B. "Ifmart - 14 . 1'T. J. 'March If 1863. "Honorable Sir : "I hope you wil pardon theliberty which I, a stranger, take in addressing you, al though you; sir, do not seem like, a stranger to me, as =yur name is identified with thei 11th Regt. N.J. Vols., and there is not a soldier in the'whole Union 4rmy that seems like a stranger to me. Whenever I see or meet them I feel as though I could take them by the hand• and call them brothers, and bid them " God speid' in the glorious' work of sustaining the Union. But enough of this. "The reason of mywritingl'Ai you is this. I wish to congratulate yonrielf and regt. on the noble stand you have publiclrtaken ,to sustain the government and put down this unholy rebellion. It made me happy to-:see that nice letter and those good resolutions in the Newark Daily Advertiser, and L ca n assure you, sir, such things cause the hearts of the Union people to rejoice, and it:gives a deeper joy to those' who have friends in the 11th. It shows to- the world that they have no sympathy with thoie traitors who meanly stay at home and barter sway their country for less than thirty pieces of silver. "I feel very deeply for themoraland spirit ual interests of the 11th, as well 4044 mili tary fame. You may ask, the reason why , It is this. My only son is in the rankel t und I a widow, but I give hiin freely to his court- try, and had I a dozen I would give 'them just as freely to so good a cause.- Bather° is one thing in his ow whir: 4 lo" es me much, that is, he is ,unprepared: die.. Oh how I wish that all, our officers and mu' w ere Christians. " There is at least, orie'bsvon who will fol low the regiment with her prayers. I hope that the noble resolutions you 411Y0 adopted may be carried out to the letter,- and that peace may soon return to milhlce.ding a n d distracted country. "Respectfully yourd,'' "A nut Lovse4r VON ' " STARS AND Oruro, TILE American, Methodist missionaries in India have recently, founded a Christian vil lage in the province ofPu.de,--in experiment the results of which will be looked for with great interest. The followingaccount of it, is given by the missionary of the station Hew Christian Comnsunity.—A very inter esting experiment is now in progress in our mission, from which I hope to see much good realized.: The openings which our mission found some time since in the,villages west of Moradabad resulted in a .large number of people abandoning their priests and idols, and placing themselves under, Christian in struction: Most of them were very ignorant and degraded; and some of them very poor. Of course they had - to' suffer the usual annoy ances ,for - what preference they showed to Christianity, and a few of them were even pushed out of their humble employments as tillers of, the soil. They were,thus thrown . . upon our sYWllathPa exqYre,.aPeq) and we tried to do, what we •.could for, them. • A drliristian Village.—Providenee opened the way for founding a Christian village. The wioccumied land Dude Wag' *red in lots -of five 'thousand acres by the Govern ment to gentlemen who 7o> ld engage tp pyl tivate it. I' l put claim and was access ful, the grant assigned'ine being' central o the estates of sometwelve or fifteen Europe in'gentlemen, who have commenced opera tions in the neighborhood e.lf our Luckem; pore mission:; and then we went to work and collected these despised and illiterate people . under :brother and sister Parker's pastoral care. A village has been built, wells dug, farms laid off And cultivated, the foundations of a church and school laid. The, new Government road to Philibeet and Nynee Tal from Lucknow runs through`our grant and village ; other roads will open out to it from the surrounding estates ; and the prospectis that our little town will become a sort of market town for the whole region, as we, are already far in nilyance of them 01 in the way of people, tradesmen etc. Morals:of Me New Valage.—The Moral. aspects - Of, the, :place are ,no less, pleasing. Brother.and sifter Park.er have,good. reason to, be encouraged in the frMu. ef their toil. Most of our mission know well how much they had to discourage them in the commencement; the pedple Were so illiterate, so perverted fro - to truth and goodness, all that could be said in their'favor was that they were, Willing tote in structed; and thiS gave.tui hope to tabor with them. Well, one year :has gone, and the -results are, two =schools, containing forty ". )( 0 3 Ycia4g,'Pagn, .440 , fifty girls and-16r Christian and patient instruction _daily; a very, interesting ,congregation of `More than one . hundresi and twenty-five.per sons regularly assembling to worship the -Ohrietian's trod and Saviour a large and well-attended class meeting of •firty persons, who " have the form ;and are seeking the ,power .of .godlirress.7 , Spiritual,. religion is ,beginning to be understood, truth more:re-' f leeted, conscience more fully developed, and the voice of family devotion heard in many of those dwellings. , on thp )30118 S! Davt3DAlii-m No 140/B.—rit;iB prohahlythe.only spot in ,North India of,equal egctent,tand'haying ;the same number of ,inhabitants, where there is not an idokor idol temple, or Mohammedan masque to bel'fannd'; where the ten' com mandments are the,law of the'vonimunity, or *here "the Sabbath of our Gild. 'ls strictly hthiored, and "the" sound of. the' bhuroh going' , belt " responded , to by all`not 'de .tainedby illness or other lawful cause. Their Worship.—l was there not long "Since. It was the Sabbath; the 'aspect Of the congregation was'Verg'pleasiz c ig ; as They mark liintloo fashion upon.the matted floor, , their Bibles open .on their-laps, ready to read, their verses ,alternately with the minis ter as he Went - through` the 44 first' and - Second lessons," I could harpy recognize in Their Clean, tidy, and intelligent aspects the per sons whb two" _ years - ago Worked upon our `buildings in Bareilly as coolies, and not one Of whom tben kria.* ii-letter of their mother tongue. And thisiis the effect -under God,-of Christian instruction and .their own industry. No .one in that community but ,earns his ;oven; living.,: 'What they. had ; to borrow in order. to begin. to cultivate, their .farms they are now gratefully paging back again. 'Chris tianity, may here be . paid to be rooting itself in the soil. • A mighty influence for good ought to go out from such a centre within a few years all over that region; and from that community especially may we expect , to see coming forth the 'young men who will'Yet help to fill our training schools and Biblical institutes. fftlectioso. 'CHRISTIAN VI.LLARE IN Deed ; or the Lands.—l have deeded the land, to .brothers. Parker and •Ilicks in trust for our. Society. They will see the Govern ment conditions carried out till the land is paid for—about $1.25 per acre-:--when it is to become the property of our Conference; and then whatever revenue it yields, will remainforever as a home mission fund, to support schools and help to extend our, work in this country. We 'have named our Christian village ,"Wesleypore"—"pore" meaning place or home. RELIGION IN BUSINESS. It is the privilege of the Christian to over . come the world by the indwelling faith, of the Gospel. The Christian in business ought to magnify this power of the Gospel, and thereby honor God. It is an object *worthy of every earnest disciple, to show the leauty,of religion by,its fruits in business. The North. Bratiah 88111010 says: The pressing need of our faith is not sim plr faithful evangelists to proclaim its doc trines, but' egions of men consecrating, their worldly vocations,witnessing,to that truthon which much skepticism prevails, that Chris tianity, so received as to become an integral part of .a man, is _omnipotent to. keep him from the evil, not by taking him out , of the world, but by making him victorious,over it. 110 is ,a most worthy disciple of Christ who, like Palissy, or Buxton, or Budged, or Perthes, exhibits religion as GO the right use o f a man's whole self "—as the one thing whichLgives dignity?and nobility;to what '''is in Waif sordid and , earthy—as the main- spring earnest and successful strivings , al- PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, -.APRIL 9, 1863. ter loftier ends and a purer life—as the pow er, outside of and within man, •which lifting up conduct in the individual, raises the com munity—and not as,a state of mind mystical and in active life unattainable, high up among things intangible, separated from contact with work-a-day life, appropriate, to Sabbath days and special hours, to leisure, old age, and death-beds. Every man who is " diligent in'business, serving the Lord," is a sermon brimful of the energies of life and truth, a witness to the comprehensive ness and adaptability of Christ's religion, a preacher of righteousness in scenes where none can preach- so effectively or so well. EXCITEMENT IN REVIVALS. -But.we have not our-ohoicein such mat, ters. We cannot change the laws of the hu man mind, and As long, as these remain, it may not in every, case be possible to prevent some degree of excitement by what so pow erfUlly appeals to every . feeling and affection in the sent of man.' GiVen only that the facts of Christianity are true regarding man's condition withenti Savidirr, and that Thas been done for him, and`must 'be done in him, before salvation - is possible; with the tremendous consequences >through out eternity attached to ,his faith and repen tancein time,—and excitement is very nat r , oral, and not altegether unbecoming, inhipa who sees and believes, and, as it generally happens where excitement exists, who Ada% these truths for the first 'time in his life: Would not calm • self-possession, in such circamstanees, if more reaionable, be more wonderful than excitement among those; -es pecially without culture? It is quite true also that excitement will muohless frequently occur among strong minded educatedpeople, who, are accustomed to, keep their, .emotions udder contrul,;,while many, with a, coMparl tively speaking, weak emetional nature, but with a sound' head .and sound sense,. and Wakeful conscience, seldom, in any case whatever, betray- much feeling. ViOlent excitements, as 'a rule, are ' found only among northern f nations, , among ignorant masses; or, those who have more feeling than judgment. • - But'why may-not.;a wide-spread rexcite . ment about religious truths, though in some pertions a mere physical ; condition of the nervous system, be the, very means, under God, of arresting their Mind or the minds of others, and disposing, them to consider and receive the truth itself ? What is it which we-have most to complain of is an obstacle -to the .gospel?:Not infidelity, nor active Oppoitien, nor ignoranee, but indiffennee, —cold, _heartless- indifference in those who may go to church, stand up at prayer, hear or sleep, ,read or dream, agree with every thing the minister says, yet .verily ,believe nothing; and are therefere neither roused by fear nor . gladdened by hope, but live day by day, - buying and selling, eating and drinkitg, respectable, it may be, , and- re epected; as good farmers, decent tradesmen, bonest,shopkeepers, but to spiritual things in their living reality and momentous im ,portance—indifferent I Could any one but read the thoughts, hear the conversation, or watch the effects on the great mass of the hearers, one day or one ,heur, after hearing - the most iinpressive and' earnest" sermbn; in -whielr -the minister before 'God sought to MVO their souls, what a fearful vision' ofthe mystery of indifference would be revealed . . ,Whatever then, breaks •this up.is a bless _ing.„ No excitement can be so ;dangerous, so ~:deadly, as, this indifference.- Better a :thousand times the wild hurricane than -the calm Miasma. Better the stream which -rushes, impetuously over its banks, carrying with it devastation for a time, -than the dead and 'foetid marsh. The one inai be turned into :anew -channel, and Made available as a .poiter for advancing , the interests 'Of , man, but the other is " evil, .and, only Oil contin ually." , Wtatever, therefore, we repeat it, tends in providence to .destroy indifference, and induces people to listen , with . earnest ness and attention to the truth,—be it the excitement of a storm or earthquake of a, great rcligious mvival, or of domestic be reaveinent and sorrow,—Whatever it be, yet 'is Ws blessing if it prepares' the soul to' re ceive the seed of .the gospel', inducing men even to =think seriously, 48 the firstoon dition for , their, ultimately , believing. :ea,rish, Papers:; THE "CHURCH IN THE WAR. We have learned this year , , if .we did: not know it before, that warfare, fierce and terri ble as,it is, does not of necessity expel the sense of sacredness, nor keep the soul away from God; that we can visithospitals give -bread to sufferers in the camp, listen to discourses on the sani tary commission, and in favor of good govern ment and freedom: for all who are in bprids, and at the same, time keep a-going the sacred machinery of the church, meet for prayer, labor for all good institutions, and invite the presence and the grace of the Divine. Spirit: And here we take occasion to give back the charge to those who in their disloyalty have often made it, that churches and ministers who interest themselves in the condition of the ceuntry, who speak and pray Ifor. the Government, for the war and for the African against, whoin such monstrous, and sinful pre judice exists, are cold and jejune and with out life in the loftier service of God. We know that the reverse is true. The annals of revivals during the past year will demon strate to those who read them, that churches have ;been most blest wherein the spirit of freedom, of a whole nationality, and of loyalty to the Government has been wane, constant and unrestrained. The work ofgrage going on now in-a. neighboring church is , proof of What I say, and a revival in Wilmington the Most powerful almost ever known, Was in a church distinguished for its out-spoken at tachment to the great cause for which the free states are at war. The same is true of churches in New England, Ohio, andin.sta,tes farther westward. We are sure that the Spirit of God does not desert men for loyalty to the, powers that be. _He does not depart from those who love the poor, and labor with a right spirit for the liberties'of man. De votion to the Government is an element of religion. The spirit df liberty is the spirit of the gospel.—Bett. Adante . third Anniversary 'Sermon. • • ANECDOTES ,01 + RMS. Magdeburg is memoiable in the story of hymns, ftn. it was at the 'cruel • sacking of it by Tilly thatc the schisol=children marched across the market-placof singing, and so en raged him that lie bid the all be slain ; and from that day; saythechreniclers, the fortune departed from him, norAd he smile again. Other hymns were mere fortunate, for we, read of a certain rough captain who would not bate a crown of the : -thirty thousand he levied of a captured Ovn, 'till at last `the archdeacon summoned the people together, Saying ; " Come, my children, we, have .no more either audience .or race with• Men ; let us plead with God ;" arif.'when they had en tered the church, and, to t ing a hymn, the fine, was renaittedtpa thousapd. The same hymn played as merciful a p a t , in in another, town which was to 'be - bur ' for contumacy.; l i When mercy had beenfi.S,ked in ; vain,, the clergyman parched out 'Withh - tielve heyslo the general's tent, and - sang there' before him`;' when; to their amazement; he fell upon the pastor's neck and embraced -him. _-,He -had discovered in him an old student friend, and spared : the place, and still the afternoon ser vice -at I'egan is commenced with ithp.nlemo. 7 l NO hymn that saved it. Of another, it i t s said°:that a famousrobber.haVingSeen chang ed"hiniself, sang it among hiemelf, BO that many ,of them were change - d - aleo. *ugh hearts, indeed, seem Oftenthe most suacepti- Mc.' 'A'inajor in comniand of thirty-dra goons entered a quiet viCarage, and 'demand ed within three • hours more than the vicar could give iu a year.,a'o cheer her father, one of his Alaughters took hey guitar 2 and sang Wit one of Gerhardt's 1711112 a, Presently the door stiffly opened,- the oißder stood at it, and motioned her tocontinue, and when the hyinn :Was sung, thanked her for the lesaMi, ordered out the dragoons, grid rode oii. ' - And another 'story of the'sarne hymn •I make'n6 apology for gioting ititire. "`ln a Village near-Warsaw there Hued a ,:pious peasant of . German extraction, -by"name Dobry. With out his fault he had fallen : into , arrear with his rent, an.d the landluid determined to, evict him, and it was winter, ' He went to him three times in vain. It :was evening, and pie next day he was to he turned out with all his fern; ily, when, as they sat 'therein. sorrow, the church bell pealed for "evening praYer- and Dairy kneeled down in their midst, andthey sang— . • ,: ‘Counnit thou all thy gtief And ways 'lido His hands. And as tbey caine to - the last verse " 'When Thou wouldstall 4:pr nepd supply . Who, who shall stay`Thy there vas, a knock at the window. It was an old. friend ? a raven, that Dobry's grandfather had taken out of the nest and tamed, and then set at liberty. , Dobry open:the window, the raven tioppeirn,.. and in his hill 'there. was`rine set witVfireoioui Vol:;ry, thought, he would sell the ring; but he thought again that he would bring it to his minister, and he, who.eaw at once by the . crest that it belonged to,King Stanislaus, took it to -him, and, related. the story. And the' king. sent for Dobry, and rewarded him, so that Lie was no more in need, and the next year buiß him a new house, and gave' him cattle from his own etall, and over the housedoorithere is an iron tablet, whereon is carved a raven with a ring in his beak, and underneath - this verse-- Thou everywhere bast sway, nd xll thin,gs;setVe Thy might; Thy - every aot pure blessing is, Thy path unsulliecl Hymnshavesomethries been curiously:used in stirring times, cspeciall,y, about the *for mation period. More than oncetbe .Romish preachers have been compelled to. abandon the pulpit by the vigorous singing of one of Luther's. They have played their' part in battle. At the 'faineus' battle of t Leuthen, one of Heerrnann's hymns was raised by regi nrent,before going into the fight, and one after another took ittip, the-colimns were singing it >as '1 they advanced. " Shall I silence them ?"'the general asked, as he rodeup.to stern, tobacco-loving, heroic King Fritz. "No, ; with such soldiers God" will give me the victory," and leaping down among the ranks and crying, "1•1 - ow, children,in God's' name," he led theminto battle. hen the battle was Won, the field was strewn with dead:and weunded,- itwas night, and the Sol diers•were weary. Then• one' 'began to 'sing a hymn of, thanksgiving, the;hands joined.in, and,presently it rose from, the army in a full and,mi,ghtrchorus that, reached and greatly moved .the king, who turned round, exclaim ing, "What. a. power there is ,in religion !" It was at the great battle of - Leipzig that Gustavus Adolphus sang, with his army, Lu ther s Carmen, fferozcum, and after it, that, kneeling on the field; he thanked God for the victory in a Stanza.of- the same hymn. The Te Deum Won the fight at Liegnitz ;it was a " poor sinner's song" of Luther's that the peasant raised before the battle of Frardrenhausen, and hraye Earl Oldenburg triumphed at Drakenburg by the song of `Simeon. A single hymn has conferred immortality. Wearing but this one decoration, a man goes down to posterity and outlives the most famous of his time. The Dies irae has been oftener translated than any book except the Bible. The precentor 'of a. country church is remem bered in more hearts than the poet of a nation. The biography of a hymn will often reverse and confoundthe judgments of Letters. It is not the great poet, but the obscure paitor who writes these "heavenly lays." In no coun try which possesses a hymnology have the , great poets sharedin its'construction. Three of our greatest poets, Spenser, Milton' 'and Wordsworth, are essentially •religious poets. You cannot read a page of their writings; without 'being struck:by thedeep, pervading, , religious feeling. Yet all the service Milton rendered that way (for the,magnificent " Ode on the Nativity" is scarcely a hymn) was' veriifying, poorly enough, a few of the Psalms, while Wordsworth wrote some agreea ble stanzas, which he called " The Laborer's; Noon-day ymn." It is not by its Schiller or Goethe that the •gre.at hymns