The American Presbyterian AKD GENESEE EVANGELIST. A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER, IK TBS nrrSRBJJT OP the Constitutional Presbyterian Church. PUBLISHED EVERT THURSDAY, AT THE, PKESBYTERIAN HOUSE, 1334 Chestnut Street, (2d Story,) Philadelphia. ' Bar. JOHN W. HEARS, Editor and Publisher. I HEW PREMIUMS. *..• We have already offered a cash premium Ifeof One Dollar on every new subscriber, I any one procuring us three or more, at II rates, with pay in advance. We now or to anyone not yet a subscriber to e Review, who will send us one new ,me, and $3.50, a copy of the paper, and of e American Presbyterian and Theolo -jal Review for one year; for $4.50 we 11 send two copies of the paper and one py of the Reviej’ for one year; for $5.50 ! will send two copies of the Review and e of the paper, to new subscribers, d subscribers to the Review will add 50 its each to their remittances and we will > send them receipts for the Review and the paper as above. HUBS AND HIS TIMES FOR NEW SUBSCRIBERS. We offer this valuable work, in two vo lumes, octavo, now in its second edition, the price of which is $6, for four new sub scribers paying full rates in advance; or to any one getting up a club of ten new names and sending us $l5. The work will be sent free of charge to the nearest ex press station. ' SEWING MACHINE FOR THIRTY NEW" NAMES We also offer a new Fifty Dollar Gro- ver ft Baker Sewing Machine, for thirty new subscribers, paying fall rates in ad vance, or for a club of forty, or for four •olubs of ten, paying in advance at club rates. This is a very liberal offer. The j machine is universally admitted to be one ! -of the best in the market. There are few, j energetic ladies in any of our large con gregations that could not; by a little exer tion, secure one of these valuable instru ments. I THE ARMENIAN CONVERTS IH 00N fv STANTIHOPLE. T-he Evangelical Germans profess to take,,a very great interest in the. Pro- Sites tant Armenians in Turkey. We | quoted from the New Evang. Kirchen zeitung, the organ of the Evangelical Alliance in £erlin a year or mote passages in wbi cK“ tiro man agemcnt the Constantinople mission of the American Board was severely criticised, and the schism of the church at Pera ascribed to the want of a thorough system of church government on the field. The disaffected church, with its pastor, Eutugian, it was then expected . would be taken under the charge of the.; German churches, furnished by them with a Presbyterian form of government and sustained financially. Recently, the same organ has contained an article on the same subject, sug gested by two publications just issued from the press of Berlin; one from the pen of the chaplain to the Prussian Embassy in Constantinople, Rev. C. N. Pishon; the other by Pastor C. P. Pfeiffer who has had the charge of the education of the Armenian youths who came to Berlin with pastor Eutugian I both the volumes, says the, Kirchen zeitung, is the same, to show the neces sity which exists that the Evangelical Christians of Germany should be fore most in the support, the spiritual train ing : and development of the Protestant Armenian communities in Turkey. Ttie Kirchenzeitung in its further no tice 6f the books, proceeds to give an account of the mission of the American Board among the Armenians, from the commencement, in which the most cor dial' appreciation of the labors and successes of the missionaries is shown. The account concludes as follows: At present the community [of Protes tant Armenians] may number nine i thousand souls, which arc ministered to by twenty-seven native preachers, thirty-five Armenian missionaries, six ty-one teachers and about thirty col , porteurs; there are nearly fifty formally [organized churches [with 117 schools, icontaming over 3000 scholars.) Eight or nine of these churches are found in [Constantinople alone : [the American ■ Board reports but three;] aside from , this natural centre of the entire organ ' istn of the new community, the distinc ; tioh seems to belong to the church at Aintab in Northern Syria, which has a very large number of riiembers and | sustains prosperous missions in many o¥%he surrounding neighborhoods. The article then proceeds to com inent upon the present .unfavorable condition of the converts, and to give wEat it regards as the ground for this ■state of things. Chaplain Pischon is rfiiotod as casting doubt upon the utility of the selection of English authors which the American missionaries have New Series, Vol. I, No. 10. translated and employed as Text books amongst Armenians, such as Bunyan, Whately, TJpham, Abercrombie, Way land, Doddridge and D’Aubigne; draws unfavorable contrasts between schools of the missionaries and those establish ed for Roman Catholic Armenians, close at hand, in Venice, Padua, Vienna, and Paris. Chaplain Piscbon accuses the missionaries of a certain narrowness of view as exhibited in their attempts to enforce their own church arrangements in communities formed on heathen ground. He says: ‘ The Puritan mode of worship, and the isolation and inde pendency of the churches arc distaste ful to many Armenians, who have em braced the essential doctrines of the Gospel in all their clearness and who have made a decisive open profession of their faith. Moreover, the prospect held out in the beginning of the mis sion, that by degrees the Armenian church would be left to arrange its own ecclesiastical affairs was never realized. The native pastors found themselves frequently in a position of dependence ‘on the missionary,often vory irksome to therhselves, and, influenced by the dan ger of losing the support of the Mission, they prepared to abandon any direct connection with it, and to form an'in dependent organization. A degree of friction must unavoidably attend such a movement; but in the lapse of time all may again be made good.’ Pastor Pfeiffer mentions a number of circumstances by which the eyes of the Protestant Armenians have been opened to see the poverty and barrenness of the American mode of worship, not to men tion the doubts raised as to the appro priateness of the independent form of government to the state of things in Turkey, and the national character of the Armenians. The Armenian Protes tants regard themselves as the true church of Gregory the “ Illuminator,” and cannot and will not yield to Con gregationalists in America the right to lead them. Complaint is made that In tth conduct of the mission, worthy and tried men among the pastors who have withstood persecution, - are not invited even as guests to the councils held in reference to their own churches. The Kirchenzeitung remarks that it is plainly a first necessity with these Armenians to find in some other evan gelical body the support they require. The retrenchments which the Mission and especially its educational depart ments have undergone in consequence of our war, hut strengthen this neces sity for foreign aid. Yarious, causes have boen leading the Armenians to look for sympathy to Germany. Pastor Eutugian has been among the Chris tians of Germany seeking to interest them in the enterprise of erecting a church edifice for the Pera community, of more than one thousand souls. Mean while. the church worships in the . chapel ot the Prussian eMb'aSßjrat Con stantinople.. Germany is. the nearest of all Protestant countries to Turkey; her ecclesiastical system, bearing so strongly the.general impress of Luther anism, is best fitted to serve as the training school of a church seeking an evangelical reformation, and not the destruction of its ancient forms and constitution. We have laid before our readers the, substance of the article from the Kirchenzeitung. The following remarks upon the whole subject may be appropriate. 1. The Protestant Armenians have found a very slow sot of friends among the plethoric Germans. Three years ago, substantially the same appeals were made for the Pera church, and the thalers are not forthcoming yet. 2. German evangelical Christians are treating the American Board with most unchristian discourtesy. They have judged in a quarrel between this great and honored Institution, whose good works they cannot hut acknowledge and magnify, and one of its mission churches; and without any attempt at explanation, they hasten to take the recreant church under their patronage, and proclaim aloud the wrongs of the church, the gross errors and faults of the Board and the fine chance presented of exhibiting their own superior abilities in the missionary work! The calamity of our war is only another reason for in terference ! In what marked contrast is all this with the refined Christian feeling exhibited in the cordial co-operation of PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 1864. the Turkish Mission’s Aid Society of Great Britain! 3. The missions of the American Board are giving some alarming indi cations of instability. Energy, zeal, devotion, courage, prayer, well-ap pointed machinery at home and ably planned missions abroad, with schools, printing-presses, favor with the people, revivals and conversions—-all these and many other clement of success have been enjoyed by the Board, and great prosperity has attended many of its missions. But these things do not en sure permanence. Connected with loose views, or indifference, on the subject of church government; or with a certain reserve, which discourages a hearty, prayerful, and earnest attention to the subject, from root to branch, as it de serves, the work of the missionary will be transient, will yield readily be fore internal dissension, or outward proselytism or national fluctuations. Pure independency among missionary chueheß, is such a palpable source of weakness, that we do not think it any where is inculcated; though by negli gence, it may he the actual state of things in some cases. But the mission aries of a* Board which combines two or more denomiinations, with diverse views on church government, naturally and without the intended or the felt 1 exercise of authority on the subject, allow questions of church, government to drift into the' backgroundand the consequence is that the ' mission churches of this Board probably exhibit the most meagre and defective system of church government to be foundvpbn any of the mission fields of the great societies of Christendom. Only a couple of years ago, after thirty or forty years of fijis sionary effort, a system approaching completeness was, inaugurated on tub Sandwich Islands, and that is the one' solitary instance in the whole, world wide field of the Board; after the lapse of more than a half-a-century! : The, Hawaiian race is rapidly d’wjtmLi' lmg srway; aniT ths - 'SandwichTsTamf Mission will perhaps, in the lapse of a generation or. two, be blotted from the records of the Board. By all odds, the most interesting and important mission of the Board at this time, is that to the Armenians. Let the Board bo admon ished by the symptoms of disorganiza tion for some time .exhibited at Con stantinople, of the necessity of an element of permanence and a means of promoting homogenity to be found in a thorough, comprehensive, and tried system of church government; and let it there and everywhere instruct .and encourage the missionaries to organize the entire Christian community into a sympathizing, well-ordered and scrip tural whole. Independency is a peril ous experiment, among old-established Christian communities; left the warmor,, closer., grasp: of Presbytery j or of .the best ilw-eloperV Congregationalism bo thrown around the young converts;' coming half-amazed and, confounded from the dense darkness of heathen to the marvellous light of the Gospel. FROM OUR ROCHESTER eO&RESPON- Our city has been much excited for the last few days in regard to public affairs; saddened by the reverse in Pio rida, anxious because of the return of Smith's cavalry to Vicksrarg, and yet elated, so far, by the movements of Kilpatrick and Sherman. We have rejoiced in theevidences of activity, both East and West, furnished by their early movements. We have hoped that our military leaders were stealing a march on the enemy, and might strike a stun ning and perhaps final blow right be tween the eyes of the rebellion before they were prepared to ward it off. And if Sherman does take Mobile, and Kil patrick does clear out .Richmond, we shall swing our hats, we shall burn some powder, we shall exchange peculiar congratulations with our neighbors, on the streets; and then if Kilpatrick will only bring away Jeff Davis and Mem minger and Benjamin and a few such worthies wo should like to see them. The very thought that, in the chances of war, these very things may be, even before our letter is in print, almost thrills us as we write. But suppose we are not now to reap any such signal advantage. Suppose DENT. HOW WE FEEL, Genesee Evangelist, No. 939. Sherman and Kilpatrick both fail in the present movements. What then ? Shall we giya it, up ? Shall we recall our ar mies, and consent to the dismemberment of out beloved country ? Shall we give over the half of it to the control of thieves and traitors, as a reward for their unparalelled treachery and base ness? Shall we fall down flat, despised and contemned, before the nations of the earth? Shall we let all the patriot blood whmh has already been spilt go for nothing ? Shall we suffer the most malignant foe which we could then have bin all the face of the earth, to lie all along our Southern border, to pro voke ns to perpetual and relentless war fare, with no visible line to separate us or propitiate a peace between us ? We hear no such response from the bold and free sons of western New York. Such failures would neither appal them nor change, one iota their firm resolve. These would bo but ripples breaking upon the solid rock. "We should accept the only alternative, and that is renewed exertion&still more.eamest and determined mufi; conquer or be the his sing (tad ■■ the by-word of all the earth; conquer though it may take twenty years Ond-a whole generation of men to do it. \ This is not the news of the churches, but this is the prevailing sentiment of this region; and it may encourage and comforts the faithful in other parts of the • laudto know that our pulse is still steady, our step even, and, our eye riveted, to the goal. . All our reverses have .their uses, while they make no dif ference as. to the nature or certainty of the- grand end at which we aim—one country, one people, one destiny, and one God over all, blessed forever. A STRONG SERMON. ' I We: re for to that preached last spring by Rev. Prof. Shedd, now of the Theo logical Seminary at New York, on the 'jyjyilt of the pagan. It is an able and timely discourse, proving by impregna ble,',eMgumfcnts that the heathen have Mlfflwlv'e'ae&&dlfig to the light they have, ’and are therefore without* excuse, afld in a state of utter condem nation land ruin. This is the foundation for missions. “Unless the guilt of the pa gan,” as Dr. Shedd remarks in his opening sentence, “ can be proved, the missionary enterpris.es of the Christian church, from the days of the Apostles to the present time, have all been a waste of labor" ; But he does prove the guilt of the . .pagan beyond all controversy. “ Men arg eondemned already to redemption, by the law written on their hearts; by their natural convic tions of moral truth; by natural reli gion, whoso truths and dictates they .have failepi to put in practice.” Hence, M nothing, but revealed religion can save him [the pagan] from an eternity of sin and woe,” and : hence, also the duty to go into- aR the world and preach the gospelta.eyerocreature. ' These 1 jS^,=g r .eat truths,, uttere/i .in .languajgA/mosi forcible and convincing. ,We sincerely .thank Dr. Shedd for the And we notice with plea sure, that the American Board of Com missioners for Foreign, Missions have printed the sermon, by the author’s consent, in., the form of a missionary tract, and are scattering it broad-cast through the land. It will do great good. ifony there are, otherwise, well informed, Mfho do not more than half that the heathen are really guilty; they only think of them as un fortunate, and .trust that somehow or othor their case will not bo a very bad one in the end. But if they are really guilty,[they need the Gospel; and we trust that fill who read this sermon will be more ready than ever before to send it to them. . REVIVALS, We continue to hear delightful news of religious quickening in various quar ters. For soihe time tho special influ ences of the .spirit have been manifest in the Presbyterian Church at Mt. Mo rris, under . tije faithful labors of Eev. lievi Parsons, Jr., the pastor; and the indications of divine favor were never more marked than at present. A good ly number of the young people have already turned to the Lord; others are inquiring; and older ones are feeling that no* is the accepted time. In L ',roy also, there is more than usual s iriousuess. Last Sabbath, we are tol I, thirteen rose for prayer; and at ong the young ladies of the x ' : Ingham. Female University, some twen ty or thirty are inquiring what they shall do to be saved. In Corning, the number'of converts is supposed to be two or three hundred; and the work still goes on. PERSONAL. Mr. J. B. Gough , whom we recently introduced to our readers, as a young man of promise, is evidently becoming very popular in this region. After the Hall in Utica, in which he was to speak, was filled, and crammed, and jammed “to its utmost capacity,”it is estimated that near a thousand people were turned away from the door, unable even to get their noses inside. We see no other alternative, but that Mr. Gough must manage to lose some of his popularity, or we must build larger halls in all our principal cities for his accomodation. Many will be glad to learn that JRev. Mr. Mlinwood, of the Central Church in this city, who was much unwell for a considerable part of the Winter, has so far recovered as to resume his accus tomed labors. He has now preached for three Sabbaths, and has been gain ing all the time, so much so, that he already seems stronger and better than he has for a whole year before. This, after his being laid aside for two months, ; will be very gratifying intelligence we know, not only to his particular friends, and his own church, but to a great many others, in other parts of the land, to whom this esteemed brother is so well and so favorably known. His church is a model of kindness to their minister. They have desired he should have all the rest he needed, and they have : been quite willing to take care of themselves in the meantime; but they are now very glad also to see him back in his accustomed place, and to hear the good word of life from his lips. Rochester, March 4,1864. ALLENTOWH OHUROH, . The people of the Presbyterian con gregation of Allentown, have subscribed between four and five thousand dollars for the purpose of liquidating their en tire debt. This debt was originally contracted for important improvements upon the church property, and has, for some years, been a source of perplexity and embarrassment. They also, a few months since, raised and paid three hundred dollars for repairs in and about the house of worship' and for the bene fit of the Sunday school; so that the secular affairs of the society are now in- quite a prosperous condition, and good hopes are entertained that the special grace of God will be so imparted to the people, that spiritual blessings will not fall below the temporal favors thus bestowed. ! EOLAPOOR MISSION; In addition t.o' the recent acknow ledgment of funds received for the Ka lapoor Mission, we add from ! The Sabbath Schqol of Buttonwood St. Presbyterian Church, per D. 3L Ludwig, Treas., . §5O. DEATH 01 KEY. J, W. McLAHE.D. D. We regret to announce the death of' Eev. James Woods MeLanc. D. D., of Williamshurgh, N. Y., which took place at his residence, after a long and severe illness, on Friday, Feb. 26th. Dr. MpLane was born in Charlotte ville, North Carolina, May 22,1815. In 1845 he received a call to the First Presbyterian Church in Williamsburgh, where he remained as pastor until De cember, 1868, when, at his; own request on account of failing health, he was re lieved of his charge. He was long a director of the American Bible Society, and several years ago rendered valua ble service in correcting and preparing the present standard edition of the Bi ble published by that society. He was also Secretary of the Church Erection Fund of the United States. In this capacity he has rendered signal service for the last eight years, or ever since the completion of the fund. He took a lively interest in its management, and his annual reports were marvellously detailed and accu rate. His presence oh tho floor of the General Assembly in connection with the Fund, and his genial bearing in de bate and in contact with the brethren will not soon be forgotten. It will be difficult to fill his place in an onerous and responsible position, the services of which were cheerfully and gratuitously TEEMS. By mail, $2.00 per annum, in advance. “ “ 250 “ “ after 3 months. By carrier, 50 cents additional for delivery.' Ten or more papers Bent by mail to one church or locality, or in the city to one address By mail, $1.50 per annum. By carriers, 2.00 “ “ To save trouble, club subscriptions must commence at the same date, be paid strictly in advance, in a single remittance, for which OM receipt will be returned. Ministers and Ministers’ Widows supplied at club rates. Home missionaries at slper annum.' Postage. —Five cents quarterly m advance, to be paid by subscribers at the office of de livery. rendered by Dr. McLane. He leaves the Fund in a highly prosperous condi tion, and doubtless with his accounts in such order that a successor will find no difficulty in resuming them at the point of interruption. Dr. McLane. was an occasional contributor to the col umns of the American Presbyterian. Thus again the grave opens and closes over the form of a fellow-laborer in the work of the gospel, and another admonition of our frailty and of the limits of our opportunities is adminis tered to the survivors. May we profit by it. ■ From one of our lowa laborers, to whot* a donation of books and tracts was sent by our Publication Committee, the Secretary has received the following letter: lowa City, Feb. 15, 1864. On my return this day (Monday) fro BE a communion service, yesterday, thir teen miles west of town, to which and from which I walked and “caught rides" as well aB I could, I sat down, for the first time, to peruse that capital hook “ Our Laymen, by a Layman." The little church to I went as a vol unteer, has no laymen left: but I heard of one in the neighborhood from the North Church in Buffalo, N. T., whom I mean to see and secure for the work of blessing a few Presbyterian women and their families, who, for the want of itineracy in our Presbytery, have not had the Lord’s Supper for five years be fore. Nor is it my fault. I cannot do everything at my own charges. I have the last year served three churches, embracing four preaching places, and introduced two ministers into them, and am now introducing a third; when I shall he free to look after these lost sheep in the wilderness. But to return to “Our Laymen ” Yoit may well imagine my joy at reading the work of such a “ Layman,” after having labored at the West over fifteen years; often, as last Sabbath, without any lay man to assist at communion ; having, as yesterday, to ask the assistance of a good Methodist Class Leader, in the ad ministration of the elements. Oh! how little do the “Laymen" at the Bast know how we have to work without lay help at the West; 1 Bo let them rejoice tb work while they can; so that, if ever they should find places out here for themselves and their children they may bave the harness on and work on and work ever. I cannot think of any re spect in which the precious little book, “Our Laymen,” could be improved, save in adding that “Our Laymen" should not forget to work when they come West. They often live here “out doors," to use the expression of one of my par isioners, who lived too long “out of doors,” and died out of the Church. I frequently come across them, connected with no church of their choice, grubbing about their acres of prairie likeßunyan's old man with his “muck rake,” gather ing “a few straws.” True, they must be “ diligent in business,” at the Sir West, to make a new world from the wild prairie. But if only they would be “ fervent, in spirit, serving the Lord,” the wilderness would bud and blossom like the rose. Genesee : I thank ;you for the gift of so many copies of “ Oar Laymen,” which I will scatter about in our feeble churches, as precious seed to be found after many rdays. X thank you also.£or your gift of a Sunday. School Library and other vol umes. Little do wealthy “ Laymen” at the East know the good they are doing when they give such volumes as you have sent for distribution and introduc tion into our needy churches and Sunday Schools. They are better print ed, better bound, better in character, than those of any other Book concern with which lam acquainted. Your Sunday School Hymn Book is just the book for out-stations where we cannot always have the Church Psalmist. I carried a bundle with me in my band, foing on foot, and I found them a great elp in such small communities, where we can seldom find two hymn books alike, and where it is too early in the progress of things to introduce a hook so large as our Church Psalmist. It really amazeß us out here, dear brother, to see the indifference of our eastern ministers and laymen on the subject of supplying the West with good books, especially that portion of it whi ell our church occupies. Let such read the chapter on being “more denominational— ; not sectarian,” and that also on “ Chris tian benevolence,” as portrayed by the author of “Our Laymen,” and then open their ears to appeals from these out-posts of our church, and see if there is not some luxury in giving poor minis ters at the West something in the form, of good books, to leave behind with hospitable families and their bright-eyed children, and to put into Mission Sunday Schools. The season for starting summer Sun day Schools is. drawing on, and your gift of library books as specimens will be a=> seed corn for a crop of Sunday School publications, »I trust, to be or dered by our Presbyteries; some and all of which need benevolent aid in founding and supporting schools in tfc new settlements. Youra fraternally, S. S. K CXitTBS. FBOM lOWA.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers