THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN GENESEE EVANGELIST. A RELIGIOUS AND FAMTT.Y NEWSPAPER IH THE INTEREST OF THE Constitutional Presbyterian Church. PUBLISHED EVERY THUBSDAY AT THE PRESBYTERIAN HOUSE, 1884 Chestnut Street, (2d story,) Philadelphia. Her. J oha W. Hears, Editor and Publisher. LIPE AND TIMES OP JOHN HHSS. During the several years’ independent existence of the Presbyterian Quarterly Review, under the editorial control of the lamented Dr. Wallace, there appeared in its pages, a series of elaborate historical studies or monographs, upon the leading characters oPthe thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in whom the spirit and tenden cies of the great Reformation were fore shadowed: Nicholas de Clemengis, Laurentius "Valla, Vincent Ferrara, Eng land after Wioliff, the Taborites and Oalixtines. John Hues and his Writings, are | some of the titles of these articles which, attracted great attention at the time, from, the novelty of the sources, freshness of description, force of statement and general unity of design which seemed to pervade them. Some of the most popular newspaper articles of the day were extracted from ■these sketches, and expectation was begin ning to be aronsed as to the greater work ■of which they might be symptomatic. * It now turns out that they arose in the course of long and extensive investigations •necessary to the production of a work which, rb soon as it appears, is recognized by the theological world as a standard: *• The Life and Times of John Huss.” Those review articles were the shavings thrown off in the course of the work; the real purpose of the workman is at last revealed in these two handsome volumes. We welcome them with .gratification akin topride, as the work of a Presbyterian minister—a pastor too—at Harlem,'New York, who has suddenly earned 'no mean reputation among the historians' and theological writers of America., He chose a subject of the deepest interest, which had as yet received no adequate attention from historians, and he has thrown around a familiar .name the charm pf novelty. More than this, be has given us a graphic account of a hundred of the most stirring of the .-world’s,, history,concluding with the thirty years’ war in 1 It was troublous times in the Romfeh Church when Huss appeared: The power of the Popes had already reached the height which it never afterwards attained. The corruption and hypocrisy of Romish ecclesiastics was kindling universal indig nation. Wicliff, the " morning Btar of the Reformation,” had .already appeared in England, and was dealing terrible blows at the rnonks, which were heard with sympathy in the heart of Europe. And alas for papal infallibility 1 Two rival Popes claimed the chair pf St. Peter, one in France and one in Italy, but neither at Rome, and thundered anathemas at each other and sadly perplexed Christendom with! their conflicting, irreconcilable preten sions. It was an age of the world deplorably ■in need of Reformation. If Luther and Calvin could not appear, then a herald in the spirit and power of Elias must come, and the paths be made straight for the true Reformation. Two such heralds came in Germany, in ■the persons of Jerome and Huss, both of Bohemia, contemporaries and warm friends of each other, fellow-laborers and fellow martyrs for the truth. Jerome was the •orator, Huss was the logician, the control veraialist, and, when driven from the pulpit of Prague, the voluminous and powerful writer. In his first attacks upon the abuses of the hierarchy, he carried the popular sentiment with him, or rather Became its organ ; for the people all over Europe groaned under the burden of priestly arrogance, extortion and brutality. His own. ecclesiastieal superior, Sbynco, Archbishop of Prague, sustained him warmly. Having risen by the force of his talents and the purity and nobleness of his •character, from the position of a charity student to the rectorship of the great University of Prague, to be confessor to the Queen of Bavaria, and preacher to the •celebrated Bethlehem Chapel, he held on his bold career for a number of years un disturbed. •In 1402 he was made preacher of the chapel; in 1403, the writings of Wicliff were condemned by the University, with little or no opposition on the part of Huss, who probably had as yet little acquain tance with them. But he had begun to study them, and from that time became more and more convinced of the truth of the English Reformer’s positions in regard to the supremacy of the law of Christ and *The readers of the Review for September 1856 found in a foot note to the article on ‘‘Hubs and his Writings,” the following sig nificant words: “Surely the tune to eonm ' for the vindication of a name that deserves to | be ranked by the side of Luther and of Calvin." lineman I’mi^terian. New Series. Vol. I, No. 4. the teachings of the apostles, over all the commandments of men. Being detected in the perusal of his writings, he was coarsely reminded that the arch-heretic’s soul had been condemned to hell. Huss warmly replied: “ I wish only that my soul, when it leaves this body, may reach the place where that of this excellent Briton now dwells.” He was however not molested'th'en, nor when he openly denounced as an imposture ' a pretended miracle announced by a priest at WilShack:- The Archbishop was still in sympathy with Huss, and forbade any one in his diocese to visit the scene of the pretended miracle. ButSbynco and many others who appeared to sympathize with Hues in the desire for a reform in the Church, had no profound religious interest in the question. They soon drew back when they saw the radical nature of any measures which would prove effectual. The Bishop ordered the writings of Wicliff to be burned, and in.spile of the University, and the people, of Huss and the king himself, persisted in his determination. ■ In the course of the proceedings, Huss was excommunicated by the Bishop and for bidden to preach in Bethlehem chapel. Here commences the long straggle, the recital of which lends its chief interest to the volumes before us. We cannot follow the thrilling, course of the narrative, told .as it is withsgraphiff power, and without , tedious: pauses, digressions.or.expansions ; how Huss triumphed over the Bishop who soon after died; how, when all the power ful friends who had hitherto sustained him, at length yielded to the weight of pontifi cal authority, Huss continued fearlessly to rebuke, the glaring and, monstrous vices and martial policy, which disgraced the papal chair, in .the person of: Balthazar, called John XXIII; how he-maintained before immense-assemblages, in Prague the ■ anti-Gjhristiam character .of-, the measures) 'taken; by. the rPppe ;> how, 1 after* years ,!of Buspeuse;/t)ie. ar.ch-hisbop*s; sentence is: confirmed by theiPqpe, and HusS, excom municated, leaves Prague, to save the city from the interdict which his presence brought upon it; how diligently -he; employs his leisure iu the use of his pen! - for: the great principles which he m«iy. no loager-.preach ; how the- futility 'of all other attempts to suppress the heresy he spreading and to save Bohemia to the Papacy, combined with other reasons, to _bring :about the, celebrated, council: of Constance.; how treacherously the pious and brave Reformer was treated by this assembly, claiming to represent, the purest of all organizations, the church of Christy who in spite of the “safe .conduct” of, the Emperor, under which ,he: had come to Constance, thrust him into a loathsome underground cell and retained their hold on him to the last moment; how the very Pope who had excommunicated him, came, by a decision of the council to occupy a cell in the same prison with his former victim; how the attempts of - Huss to defend himself before the council were frustrated, and how at length on the 6th of July 1415 he was burned at the stake, on his forty-second birth day, in the full vigor of his remarkable powers, which, if they had been spared to the world, would; in all probability, have given us half a century more of Protestanism than the race has enjoyed. The martyrdom of Huss, however, brings us only to the end of the second chapter of the second volume. To complete the description of the immediate results of Hus# teaching, the historian carries us through the proceedings of the council, the persecutions, recantation, repentance, noble bearing and martyrdom of Jerome, the friend and fellow reformer of Huss ; recpunts the efforts to win back the people of Bohemia, now thoroughly enlisted on the side of their fallen teachers and heroes, to the Papacy; depicts the repeated and entirely unsuccessful attempts of the Em peror Sigismund to crush by force of arms, the awakened spirit of his people; and tell us how even the disastrous divisions of the Bohemian Christians did not give their •enemies sufficient advantage to accomplish their overthrow. Down to the early part of the seventeenth century, Protestanism was flourish Lag in Bohemia. The dread ful era of the Thirty Tears’ War, from 1622 td-1655, was uecessary to crush the leaven which John Huss, by the grace of God, had introduced into the hearts of his countrymen. The Moravians still remain however, as a living proof of the power of his influence; the rise of that remarkable branch of Christ’s Church, being traced by: PHILADELPHIA, THU R SD AI, JANUARY 28, 1864. Mr. Gillett to the sect of Bohemians called Taborites, one of the two great'Protestant parties into which the people were divided after the death of HnsS; the other-'party being called Calixtines. ■ Around this principal theme of the nar-! rative, are skillfully grouped by the his-[' torian all of the ; great characters of thet times in the church and the world, and all) the leading incidents of the contemporary] history. For this comprehensive result;-) this triumph as we may call it, on an enT| tirely new field, Mr. Gillett preparedihim- j self by the skirmishes of his review arti-i cleß upon isolated subjects and characters. ! He first gained thorough mastery over hi?l materials, and has been able to finish his tower successfully, because he thus counfdd' the cost at the beginning. It is a work which needed to be done, and which must do good, as exposing in a most masterly; manner the weakness, the corruption, the internal discord and the utter rottenness of the Papal hierarchy, before the era. of. the Reformation; and as a powerful his-., tone justification of that movement. * “ There is,” says Prof Shedd, in them-, troduction to his late work on Christian Doctrine, “ an inexpressible charm in the biographic monograph, especially when, passing to it from the severer and graver portions of dogmatic history. We have been following the impersonal spirit of ,the age, the great tendency of the period, anjj now we come to a single living man and, a single beating heart. The forces of . the period play through him, and that which had begun to' appear somewhat rigid,- though even impressive'and weighty, is. now felt to have an intensely human in-, terest, and a vivid vitality.” " ■ Mr. Gillett has, perhaps, scarcely written.; in the spirit of-a profound student of the phi losophy of the history of Christian doc trine, but we believe he has more filled the description given byProf. v Shedd of the appropriate style of such pono graphs, than either- of . the three '§r ,s)sir ‘fo&tMeM'cfcdcTirf tfie fobfc tfdte.- ? “ The lights and shadows ' l pWy more strikingly and variedly, and there is far more opportunity for vivid sketching, bril liant description and rapid narration, than in, those more central parts of the sub ject, which we have been describing.” CALVINISM £SD ABMINIANISM IN The Christian Advocate and Journal of last week gives prominence to the follow ing on the relations of various .doctrinal systems to the work of evangelizing Italy : But whatever failures some Protestant denominations may experience ip their efforts to evangelize the Italians, there are very evident indications that Metho dist labors will be eminently fruitful, in that department of missionary .work. The secret of our present and prospective success seems to lie here, that predes.tina rianism is peculiarly repulsive and obnox-. ious to the Italian mind. The progress of the Waldensian movement is hindered by the drag which Calvinism puts upon its wheels; while on the other hand, Armi nian doctrines, when clearly placed before the people of Italy, seem to stand com mended to their approval. OiiUi I may add that the Italians are not alone in this respect among the nations of the Continent, though the trait may he marked with peculiar distinctness in their case. While we welcome upon the wide field of Christian effort every true and zealous friend of our common Master, and while we recognize gratefully the extraordinary services of the Methodist Church in that field, we cannot let such an assertion pass unchallenged. Whether facts will bear it out or not we have no means of knowing; we should think that the very brief expe rience of the various systems'as yet tried in Italy, was insufficient to warrant any conclusions whatever as to the greater or less fitness of any, as a permanent instru mentality. All laborers in this interesting country express themselves as encouraged. . But grant the assertion ; it would not be wonderful if a people saturated with Jesuit teachings upon the freedom of the will drawn from PelagiuS, Should cherish a prejudice against the views once taught by Augustine, nor that they should find it easy to fall in with a new creed which, on that point, approximates their old one. Nor in general is the doctrine of the divme sovereignty to be reckoned among the popular, taking, doctrines of the gospel, any more than that of depravity aDd the consequent need of ■ regeneration. Drop the doctrine of depravity from your creed, or atleast modify and mitigate it from the severity of the gospel, and you will render the creed still less liable to objection on ITALY. 'the part of unregeherate men. The ‘truth is, the fitness of a creed to the purposes of evangelization is to be tested, -not by its repulsiveness to the natural ■man, nor even at first by its success, but *by- its conformity to the statements and '•proportions of the Scriptures, i The doctrine of divine sovereignty may indeed be repulsive to those who have not •as : yet thought deeply upon ! religious ; a 'system which ignores or opposes it may sweep ■ over a' new ’ com munity rapidly, where a different system would work its way with slower steps and ■■less immediate encouragement. It may Ibe that the Arminian body of the Church •has a call, or is adapted even by its as well as by its zeal, for a pre liminary and necessarily superficial work, a work in itself of little value or promise Sof permanence, and chiefly serviceable as preparing the way. for those systems which appeal to the profounder religious sensi bilities of men, which grasp the more vital! and secret elements of scriptural truth, i •which exercise and strengthen the reflec tive faculties and which root themselves i deeply in the habits and characters of | individuals and the community. i It is ominous, too, in this connection, that Methodists are themselves discussing the causes of the decline of their denomi nation in the cities. A writer .in one of their journals, whom we have quoted in another part of this paper, ascribes the fact, which he takes for granted, to their system of removals in the pastoral office. To us, the itineracy seems but a part .of a system which is, throughout, in a certain sense, “without depth of earth.” To prolong the term of office, will;not avail, unless that change is accompanied with extension in the other dimensionof doctrinal depth; We are inclined to the opinion,, that a change is going on, in both directions, as to polity and doctrine simultaneously, in the Metho dist Church. We believe it would be a great gajn to*the cause of liberal iCalyinism should spread 1 clergy sm( bducateu laity;, of •■<&&.> abfive and zealous denomination. Meanwhile, we hold to the opinion that Clod's truth wielded by his Spirit, is the best instrument for converting Italy as well as every other Papal or heathen nation; and as Calvinism in. our judge ment is the most scriptural of all systems, we go for wisely and boldly, pressing its grand principles upon the minds of men everywhere. MOBE NOTICES. The American Presbyterian. —This valuable and ably conducted paper, which represents in the Presbyterian church the type of theology, anti-slavery and loyalty, •of- which Dr. Barnes is an - exponent, has taken the quarto form., It has done good service in the cause of. .religion and the country. We wish it increased prosperi ty.— Vermont Chronicle. >' -- • ■ ’ '■ ■ : . ... ,•: t-Amebioan Presbyterian. —The Amaricanffresbytqrian and Genesee Evan gelist] published at Philadelphia, comes out -with the New Year in quarto form, and- with an enlarged sheet. We are happy to note this evidence of prosperity. This is one of our most enterprising reli gious weeklies, and richly deserves suc cess. —"Buffalo Advocate. American Presbyterian.— This valua ble religious joumal comes to us greatly enlarged and ■in quarto form. As it has hitherto been among , the best, so now it is also among the .largest religious papers published. —Cumberland Presbyterian. American Presbyterian. —This excel leni|paper in the first number of the new year, makes its appearance in an enlarged form on a double sheet, and otherwise much improved. The American Presby terian/ which is in-the'interest of the Con stitutional Presbyterian Church, publisher in Philadelphia, has hitherto . ranked among the best religious newspapers of the couptry. Among our exchanges, we •value this highly. In its enlarged form, with-an additional.corps of contributors and correspondents, it will * doubtless be all that it warmest friends can wish. This enlargement is made without advancing the^rice. —Lutheran Observer. Enlargement.— The American Presby terian comes to us in a new and enlarged form. It is now issued as a double sheet, and presents a greatly improved appear ance. We wish our cotemporary and neighbor the success which his industry and enterprise deserve. Presbyterian, Philada. The first number of the New Series is now exhausted. Orders coming from new subscribers can be filled only from Number 3 and onward. The Letter of our London Correspond ent-'arrived after our columns were full. It will appear in our next. Genesee Evangelist, No. 923. 'A dSSsoa op otra bbanoh in ' INDIA. . We' incite attention to a comniuhifca tion in another column in regard to a Presbyterian Church in India. The en terprise deserves attention at once. A gentleman known to us offers to sub scribe |l6o lp four others will put up a like amount, so as to raise at once $5OO, to be sent to Mr. Wilder to assist in building the church. • Will four of our laymen send their names to our office at once, so that the $5OO can be sent out immediately f Who would not covet the happiness of owning a share in the First Presbyterian Church, ofKolapoor, India? FROM ODE ROCHESTER 00RBES PONDENT. Canton, St, Lawrence Co., N. Y,, Jan. 21st, 1864. Dear Editor: —You see by my date that I am wandering about, over some of the remoter portions of my field of observa tion; and yet lam not by any means so near the north pole as you may imagine. Al though snug winter weather is prevailing in this region, yet-it is not extremely cold; and if we may trust the representations of sensible people whom we have met, the climate of northern New York is by no means so severe as many may suppose. And still the atmosphere is sufficiently bracing to make an earnest, active enter prising and highly prosperous; people; while the climate is not the best for grain or fruit. It is rather a grazing country, and the staples of this region are butter, and cheese. We have been told of one man in this small village, who pays out $200,000 a year, for : a house ;in Boston, for the purchase of these products of the dairy alone. And these articles here com mand a: price almost equal to that which rules in our great cities ; so are these mat ters equalized by our. wonderful facUities for transportation; so is the market brought to .every man’s door. ~We irt ar has re-enlisted, and is re-filling its depleted ranks, to go again to honorable service. THE ST. LA.WBENCE COUNTY ANNTVEESAHIES. It may not be known to all the readers of the Presbyterian, what an admirable arrangement they have in this region, for keeping alive and deepening the interest in all the great causes of benevolence. First, let it be remembered that St. Lawrence county is almost as, large as some of the little kingdoms of the old world. It is somewhat remote from our great religious centres, where the May Anniversaries are held, New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. The friends of the good causes cannot all go up to those great festivals, so they'get up some of their own. As we write, we are in the midst of these Anniversaries. They are" movable feasts,” one year held in one of the larger villages, and another year in another, so passing around the county, and leaving a blessing, it is, believed* wherever they go. They commence on Tuesday evening, and. continue through all day Wednesday and Thursday, , one . session, (morning, after noon, or evening,), being devoted to each .one of the great causes of benevolence, re presented in the local organization bearing its name. And here is the County Tern perance Society, the Bible Society, and Societies for Home Missions, for Foreign Missions, for Tracts, for Sabbath Schools, and for the American and Foreign Chris tian Union, all pleasantly and harmoni ously holding their anniversaries through these successive days. Leading citizens and clergymen are gathered from, all parts of the county in attendance, Each society TEHNr. By mail $2.00 per annum in. *' “ “ 2.50 11 By carrier 25 cents additional. CLUBS; Ten or more papers sent by mail to one jdnirch or locality, or in the city to one address, By mail $1.50 per annum. By carrier 2.00 “ To sa, ve trouble, club subscriptions must com mence at the same date, must be paid strictly iu advance a ?d * n °ne remittance, for which one receipt wi?U be returned. Ministers ana numstera’ widows supplied at club rates. . . . , ... , Postage, five cenfcd quarterly, to be paid m ad vance by the subscribe rs a t the office of delivery. has its own officers, its own reports, and its speakers; and each o®e seems to be a live institution, and there ar® live men sus snstaining them. », 1. First, on Tuesday evening,, came the anniversary of the Comity Temperance Society; appropriately first, as one of the speakers said, because it is the pioneer regiment, going forward to,clear the way for the triumphant march of every other goodcause. This was a rousing meeting. The old fires for temperance seemed to be thoroughly re-kindled; and it was resolved to attempt at once to employ an'able, and earnest temperance lecturer to go through the county. The meeting for the Ameri can and Foreign Christian Union came off on Wednesday morning, and was made in teresting by a very peculiar and striking address of Rev. Mr. Welsh, an Irishman, who was a Roman Catholic, and knew by bitter experience the folly and degrada tion of that system of false religion from which this society is rescuing so "many thousands every year. At the Anniyersity of the County Bible Society, Rev. Mr. Miller, of Ogdensbnrg, gave a brief historic discourse, presenting a succinct account of the origin and work of the society. It was organized in 1819, and has held on its useful way from that time to this. Hon. John Fine, of Ogdens burgh, was its first corresponding secre tary, and has been for many of the late years the honored, earnest and active pre sident, Beside paying its surplus funds -into the treasury of the Parent Society at New York, this organization has again and again explored its own territory, and supplied every destitute family with a copy of the holy Scriptures. The history of .its activity, and: usefulness for the five years of:its existence was alike interesting and honorable: - The speech of Rev. Dr. Pearne, one of the agents of the Parent Sooiety,iat:this meeting, was one of the mqst. intesting and touching of all the speejehes we-have listened to imalong time. .Without seeming; to- .make> ahy special ef fort; .he has great power overan audience, and moves themito smiles or team at .his will. : ; • * ■■■ ' ‘ Of the anniversary of the Home and Foreign Missionary Societies, and of the Tract . Society we can net particularly speak. They were all deeply interesting, and well attended. In connection with the first, Rev. G. W. Warner, who has been a missionary of the Assembly’s Committee in Colorado, gave some very interesting facts in regard to the progress of the gos pel in that new territory ; and in connec tion with the last, Rev. Mr. Doane, a re turned missionery from the . island of Micronesia thrilled and delighted the au dience with a simple; hut touching narra tive of the trials and successes of mission ary labor in these lands. But the closing meeting, and that which T was intbndSd, perhaps, tor the best, was in behalf 6f Sabbath Schools. A great throng of little ohesj and larger ones, crowded a large hall, and listened to short and lively addresses, interspersed with swebt music by the children, after which a beautiful collation was served. In this connection, however, it Was reported that there are 34,000 children in the county, of a suitable age to attend Sabbath Schools, and only some 7,000 as yet gathered into these blessed institutions; but measures are al ready on foot to employ a Sabbath School Missionary, to explore all the towns, and organize schools. It is hoped that the re ports of next year will show a great im provement in this direction. Aninieresiing.revivdl we find in progress in Stockholm, one of the two neighboring parishes to which, as we mentioned last summer, Rev. W. S. Pratt, a recent gra duate of Auburn Seminary, isnow.preach ing. His faithful labors are already being blest by the presence and converting power of the Holy Spirit. The work seems but just begun, and -the praying ones are hoping great results in both the churches to which this brother ministers. We have admired, again; the admirable arrangement by which- thisaminister is settled. Here are two small churches, at Brasher Falls aud Stockholm, three miles apart; neither are able alone, as they suppose, to support a pastor. But the two combine. Each one raises $3OO, and besides that, one ge nerous individual furnishes a very neat and comfortable house for a parsonage, and so the minister is admirably settled, happy, and useful in his labors, preaching one ser mon in the Sabbath in each of his pulpits. Other small and contiguous churchesmighfc well imitate this excellent arrangement. ■■■ '-Genesee.