TEE CHINESE PHILOSOPHEE MENCIUS, j MenejuSfis only secondary to Con fdcius. He js 'not a sage, nor a worthy, bat a subrsage, or an almost sage, accord-; ingto the estimation and judgment of the • Chinese of the pres&ttVday. • Hit image, dr tablet occupies a, high place of honor, jjqar, to .that of Confucius, on his left, in; the temples' erected in China for the; worship of the sage. • following te brief| account, of. wp v follow . sub-j language. senti-j menijs/ pf tti,e Bey, Dr. jjqndpn jMiasi on ary. Society, .located., at ; Hong Kong, jwhp has. pqbllehed an elaborate translation of; the writings of tb,is. .maijj' prewded by a studied estuuate of his life, influence and ]ppifflops—comprising thesocond volume of j £hp, I . Gkines'e Classics. ' which "he proposes to translate and publish. , (1 , Mencius is the latinized form of Mfingtsze, «the Philosopher 1 ' Mang.” Hisbirith-place is situated In what ; was apoicntly the State .or Principality of YsoWj’ hut now forms a part of the Prdyihce of Shahgtdhg, in the northern part 'Ofthe Empire. It was adjacent to the •Kingdom, of Loo, in whiphCon frtcius .was Born. They.earof his birth ' was probably the fourth of the Emperoi; liuch, B. C. 371. He lived to the age of 1 84, dying in the year Bf C. 288, the' twenty-sixth' of thd Emperor Nan, the last sovereign of the .Chow, dynasty; Thofirst twenty-three years of his life thus synchronized,with, the, lasj;, t wentyj i hree o'|Piat6’s. ! " Ar istotie* Zeno, Epicu rus,Deiiiostkeh'es, and some otheTgreat mett'Of thfe west Were-also’ his contempoi ■aries; . When we place Mencius among. Shorn.ho can look them ,in the face; He apes not need to hide .a, diminished head; life had the misfortune to lose his father at a very early period of his life. Bhf. he was blessed with'the instruc tions and the' example of his; mother, who has become a.distinguished model or patternrof what (Should be. Aocordiiigio the Chineße, “ Thq Mother of’ Meiidins” is a kind of proverbial oxpfqssibn, indfoatingiher Oxtfaordinary excellence. She thrice Changed her residence on his account. , At. ffret,. they lived near a cemetery, and Mencjns amused himself with acting the varibns scenes which he witnessed at the tombs. “ This," said the lady, is no place for my son,” and she removed to a house in the market-place, but'the change was no improvement. The boy took to playing the part of a salesman, vaunting his wares and' chaf fering with customers. His 1 mother sbught anew house, and found one at last close by a public school; There the child’s attention was taken with the various exercises of politeness which the sohoiars were taught, and he 6n deavored to imitate them. The mother was satiSfled. “ This,” she said, “is the proper place for my son.” As -Mehcius grewup he Was sent to sohool. When he returned home one day, his mother looked up from the web which Bhe waiß mending, and asked him how for he 1 had got on. He answered her with a look of indifference, that-im was doing well enough, on which She took -a knife and cut through her web; The] idler was alarmed, hnd asked what ghe ‘meant, when she gave him a long that she had done what Be was 1 doing—that her cutting through her web was like bis neglecting his studies. The admonition, it is aaid, had its proper effect; the lecture did not need to bo repeated. Such' are some of the accounts found relating to the mother of Mencius. Possibly some of them are inventions, but they are devoutly believed by the Sle' of China; and it must be to their ti We may well believe’ that she Was a woman of very superior charac ter, and that her son’s subsequent dis tinction was in a great degree owing to her influence and training: In regard bo the teachers of Mencius little is known. Some have affirmed that he was a pupil of Tsze-sze, the grandson of Confucius. A reference, to dates shows this to be incorrect. For supposing that Tsze-sze was born in the year his father died, he must have been 112 years old when Mencius was born. One anoient writer states that “ Mencius studied, with the disciples of Tsz'e-sze.” ■This may have been the case. There is nothing on the score of time to make it impossible or even improbable, but this is all that can be said about it. Mencius nowhere speaks as if he felt under special obligations to. any in structor, . ' : ihe first forty years of his life are little hibre than a blank to ns. Many of- them we may be sure were spent in diligent study. He made himself fa miliar.. during this period: with all ; the literature of his country. Its classics, l&fliistbriesj its great men, had reoeived Bis direful attention. Confucius espe cially became to him the Chief of mortal men, the object of his untiring admira tion ; and in his principles and doctrines bo recognized the truth, for want of an appreciation of which the bonds of sooiety : all around him were being malaxed and the empire hastening to a general anarchy. Ho.yi hq supported himself in Ysow we cannot tell. Perhaps he was pos sessed of' some patrimony; but when he first comes forth from his native state, we find him accompanied by his mopt emineqt disciples. He probably imitated Confucius by assuming the office of a teacher—not that of a school blaster in our acceptation of the word, but that of a professor of morals and learning,.encouraging the resort of in qvdring poinds in order to resolve their doubts, and’ inform them on the true principles of Virtue and society. These, disciples would minister to his wants, though we in ay presume that he sternly maintaine,d;his .dignity among them, as Me aiterwards did towards tne princes of the time, when he appeared among them aB a lecturer in another sense of the term. One instance of this will be given; “ When Kang of Tang made his ap pearance :.in yojur. schoo),” said'.the disciple Kung-tOq,''“ it seemed proper that a polite consideration should be paid to him, and yet you did not answer him; why was that?” Mencius replied, “ I do not answer him who questions me presuming on his ability, nor him who presumes on his talents, nor him who presumes on his age, nor him who presumes on services performed, to me, nor him who presumes on old acquaint ance. Two of these things are charge able of Tang.” The state of; China, had waxedf worse and • worse .during, the injfcrval,. that elapsed between Confucius asd.|ileticLu.s. Tfib- of disorganization 'wKicir were rife’ in tfib times of tbf earlier sage had : gone On to prodUCoitneir hatural restflts. Qnd feeble [sovereign had fol lowed another on the imperial throne, and. the dynasty'of.Chp.w ,was readyto vanish away.’-.Menwere persuadedof its .of loyalty to it whs a cherished sentiment, and the anxiety and expecta tion was- about, what-,-new. .rule.; would take’ its place. The prince's were at constant' warfare with One another. Ambitious statesmen were continually inflaming these quarrels.' The recluses of Confucius’ .day, who withdrew:, in disgust from the world alnd’its turmoils, had given; place to a class of then who eame' forth from their retirement pro vided with th el arts; of war or'schemed of policy which they recommended to the’ contending VpMeik' They -made no. sbruple- 'bfr bhabgihg' their' religion as they were moved; by whim or interest. "It is not wohdeffabthat ih suchtitnes the minds of men Should, have; doubted the soundne's's of the .ancient principles of the acknowledged sages of the nation. Doctrines, i strange 1 - and portentous in the View of 'Mencius, were openly pro fessed, ' ; The authority of Confucius was disowned. ■ The Foundations ofgovem metit Svere overthrownthe foundations of truth were assailed; Mencius s'et'his'-faco 'storhly against these disorders’ aiidi these innovations on the practices and the sentiments of the ancient 'sagesi He - spent' twenty odd yeark- in' [visiting the kings and prince's of vafibus'S fates add Kingdoms, Usually or frequently on invitation, in the 1 hope of .influencing them to rule according to the principles of righteous ness. When he found his instructions not followed; oven though he himself was treated very respectfully, he inva riably departed from that kingdom to another. When he was between sixty and seventy yoars old ho retired from courts and great officers. We can but think and conjecture of him, according to tradition, passing the last twenty years of hid life amid the more congenial society ‘ of his disciples, discoursing to them and compiling the works which have remained as his memorial to the present day. , Amopg the states or principalities he visited ih the hope of: influencing the rulers to better principles of govern ment; may be. mentioned Tec, Tang, Sung, Wei andLoo. One of bis favorite pupils was culled to assist in the coun cils of the kingdom of Loo. When Mencius;hear'd of it ! he was so over joyed that ho could not sleep. Mencius declared him to be <r a good jhain” and “ a real inari.” Ho allows that be was “ not a man o'f vigor,” nor “a wise man ih’council,” iior a 1 man of much; infor ination,” but he says he was “ a man loved yhat was good," and “ the love Of what ! is good is more than ’a sufficiehl, qnalification’ for .the govern ment of .the Empire ; hbw much more is it so for the State Of Loo.” y While he was ih Tze his excellent mother, who had accompanied’'him thither, died. He. carried her coffin to Loo to; bury hep hear the dust of his father ; and ancestors. The funeral Vras a splendid one. Men cius perhaps erred in having it so from his dislike of the Nihilsts, who advocated a spare sim plicity in all funeral matters: His ar rangements certainly excited the aston ishment of some bf his own disciples, and was the qpeasion of general remark. He on the ground that “ the superidr man will not for all the world be niggardly to his parents,” and that as he had the means there was no reason why ho should not give all the expression in his power to bis natural feelings. What he did was in harmony with his own teachings, and the ancient rites only on an extravagant scale. Having paid this last tribute of filial piety to his mother, Meneius;returned to Tse, but. be could' not appear at court, till the three years of his mourning was accomplished according to the ancient rules- We must believb that he left a family,, for his descendants form a large clan at the present day. He-wan, the 56th in descent from Mencius, was in the reign of Kea-tsing (A. D. 1522-66) constituted a member of the Han-lin College, and of the board in charge of the 5 classics, which honor was to he hereditary in his family, and the holder of it to pre side at the sacrifices to his ancestor. China’s appreciation of our philosopher could not be, more strikingly shown. Honora usually flow back in this Em pire. The descendant ennobles his ancestors. But in the Case of Mencius as in that of Confucius, this order is reversed. No excellence of descendants can extend to them, and the nation acknowledges its obligations to them by nobility and distinction conferred through all generations upon their pos terity. An estimate of the influence and the opinions of Mencius, is a subject worthy of another letter. Puh Chau, November, 1863. It is -wonderful how a full acceptance of Christ’s righteousness by a very wicked man removes his senße of shame. ■ Human society could not do it, even ‘should it heap its honors upon hijn, : . But “ the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, oleanseth us from all sin."— Nehemiah Mam. PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, MARfiTT 31, 1864. THE GEEAT OENTEAL PAIE. CAN CHRISTIANS CONSISTENTLY CO OPERATE IN IT? The question here asked, is one which to my mind at least, is pressing itself upon the attention of every Christian in the States called to unite, and one on which I believe thousands of God’s ..people, are seeking light. It is not even assumed by any one but that the object principally in view —that of affording relief to theuphysical, wants .of;,'our brayq and suffering;,solr. diers —is a noble one, an object for 'which' every laudable effort=-should bo> and ssa-crifices of a Idgh kind endured. But good and holy as it is, miist it he that burlesques on divine institutions, such as mock marriages and gambling .are to, be resqrted- to in order to accomplish evexi this ? ’I will not allow myself to be under stood by any one as inimical' in any way to the Sanitary Commission in the prosecution of its grand object; iwhiie; I am willing to have, all men know that I am wholly; in.; pppositiqn) tor some of thp,means employedin epnneetion with the; great fairs throughout the country to accomplish the ehd : proposed; ;i ; What good Christian In our, land has not shuddered for the religion of Christ as he has read of the manner in which these fairs have generally been. cbm ducted, and chiefly - because ministers ; of the‘gospel and leading laymen; ih:-the membership of the church are promi nent on the.,committees in ,the conduct of them, and. it is; taken for granted they endorse’ the methods employed to raise money. - ■ Must we do evil that good may come? Hay.ealfhonorablemeansfailed to fill waning troaeuries.'? we obliged to resort to dishonest aid .dis honorable measures to accomplish a good object?; Ig the child of God called upon from his deep sympathies With the noble heroes of our land, and in order to relieve their, sufferings, tb do injury to'his conscience before God^and 1 man? If the men of the world put-; number,'and in any cause, however good;,;thus control; ,the action, will f he people of God be led into, and quieily submit to do wrong? Is there mo other channel through which the bene factions of the Christians of ; our laW may reach the. soldiers, conducted bn strictly Christian principles ? , ! In our pwn good city pf Philadelphia another, is about being added to the series of fairs that have been held lin other cities. Are we in Philadelphia to follow in the wake of our . prede cessors ?. Is raffling to be a part of tne programme ? If so, will the Christian ministers and God-fearing men and pious women of our city co-operate and sanction it ? ! I have heard it already announced in a public meeting that, an opera troupe will perform in connection with the fair and for its benefit ; and in the public prints of the city, in one of the, most exhaustive appeals presented aft the names of the officers of, the com mittee on labor, &e., a call is made upon “every individual within the Statesbf Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Dela ware, in any way earning a livelihood, to contribute one .day’s earnings.” . Now I shall be very sorry, for one, for the reputation of'bur city, apart I from its Christianity, when we' staiid at the door of the theatre, the dance house, and the tavern, and ask their learnings.and stand upon a level with them, in such a work as the religion of Jesus teaches, and exemplifies in its highest form. - ; . ; , ; As if designed to -be a corrective; of all these abuses,, and; meeting the ,same; grand object, apd ; much more at the same, time, lopkipg upon man as. having : a soiil as well as a body, and doing the ; work not only in d ihuch ihofe economi cal but in a- much; more effective - way.; Sas not God. given to the 'country the Christian Commission f and has not. His blessing rested on it ? In doing the same, and at the.same time, a much' higher ah'd'holier work/ can the Christians of our land hesitate for a moment through which channel their benefcLdions, at least, shall flow ? In the name of our common, Chris tianity, I protest against the means employed bv the Sanitary Commission, as above referred to, in these fairs, for the securing of money, and I repeat the question, can Christians consistently co operate in these fairs,? M. The following letters tell their own story and carry their own moral with thorn: ■ - - February 10,1864. , To the Ladies’ Sewing Circle of the First Presby terian Church, Philadelphia. Kind Christian Friends Tester 1 day was : a' gladsome’ day in our family circle; and it was made so by your thoughtful, generous ministrations. : De spite the winter’s cloud and cold withpuf we had a large experience of t£e “Sunhy side” of Missionary life; and all this was brought to our sight and hearts on the opening of the box of good things from ■the, city of benevolence and love-. The day before I brought the box home from, the railway station —8 miles distant— and such a box V So plethoric, yet well proportioned, as to require a two-horse team tq convey it to its destination. In examining its contents we had an agree able surprise party.; the friendly gifts exchanging looks with us from every quarter of the room'; only tlie donors: were not present to witness the almost) magical soothing and melting effect ol these tokens and substantial proofs of Christian charity. We thank you, kind friends, for so ample a store of useful articles. Hot one thing of all: the treas ures but what will do us service :, from: the dolls and marbles, &c., for the recrea tion of the little ones, to the books and papers for the reading of all. When winter was approaching; I could not see how we were to get comfortably.thrpugbj for clothing, &c., but I was willing to trust a gracious Father, and He has sent us, through your willing service, a large TWO MISSIONAEY BOXES. fcpply for our wardrobe. For months f> come will these articles of dress serve io clothe our bodies, and we hope to be iiankful to God and you so long afi a angle thread of these things remains to Jpcak through the eye to the heart. And yhile we gladly wonder at the sacrifice of time, influence and means on your part, to furnish so many useful things, ive are grateful because without your aid •wh should have been destitute of many useful things, and also beeause you have alleviated; by many and many a stitch and hour of toil, the labors of my wife; The shoes, hoods and garments -for the children arc all neat' and timely. The clothing for myself and wife benefit the mind as well as the body; and, in the fancy and furnishing goods, it seems as though the whole contents of' a thread and peedle store had been poured into our -laps: and although cotton, .is, no longer King, yet from the profusion of it sent us, in pieces made ana unmade, we are persuaded that Christian charity is potential, and that cotton and all things earthly are. at its. disposal, for the ser vice of, phrist.. ~ , . '..Myself and wife and children thank you for your generous aid, and We only wish that every needy missionary house hold might find relief so providential, and that every benevolent . society may have the rich spiritual blessing that springs from a consciousness of doing good. May the Lord' reward, you, in your families and Church, with an in crease of grace on earth and an over-: flowing fulness of glory hereafter. . Yours in the Gospel. P. S. During, the high price of tea and sugar, we had been doing without them for some time, and wero expecting thus to get along until the war, with its reign of high prices, is over. We pray for the end qf war and its desolations, and feel in duty bound to stand by the Government ill its painful and righteous duty. Our tea is now doubly sweet from the thought of its procurement. Very Kind Friends : —Your most Welcome gift was received by us day ‘before yesterday, the 9th, having been nineteen days on the way. But we assure you that all our anxious waiting during that time was compensated when we were permitted to look .within the box, and take from its sacrett trust; one by one, the treasures it brought-us.. It had been a household word, and .now that it had arrived all necessary labor was speedily finished up, not an article being removed (the cover already being off) until all w.ere ready to see; then came the unpacking. Could you have witnessed the scene and beheld the delight depicted in each, I think it might have proved some slight com,- pensation to yon all for .your labor and kindness. . But the sensation of the hour was the discovery of the beautiful dolls. The largest one presented itself first, and was received with , wild delight by its declared owner, Emma, who being eight years old and the senior of the juveniles, laid claim to it,, to be sure, and we all gave way and admitted the claim. Those dress patterns were very fine, while piles of linen declared the generosity of the donors. Those Swiss blankets are very highly prized! That variety box was just in place. But words are not adequate] to the gratitude we would express. Everything is ac ceptable. May God bless you a thou sand fold, and keep you,to the life above. I paid freight on the box on both roads. The amount was ?2 46; so you see there was: some left of the $5 you sent for this purpose. Yours very truly in Christ. S. HODGES OEITTENDEN. Departed this life on Thursday, the : 10th inst., after a severe and:protracted illness, S. Hodges Crittenden, Esq., Principal of the Commercial College ■ which- bears Ms name, in tMs city. At the early age of 12 years, Mr. Crit tenden, assumed the sacred resposibili ties of the Christian profession by uniting with the Church, and he continued the active and consistent discharge of its du tiesfor the remainder of his life. He was deeply interested in every department of Christian benevolence and instruc tion. As Superintendent and Teacher he devoted himself with great zeal and success to the Sabbath School and Mis sionary work. In all the relations of home and society his daily life and char acter commanded an unusual degree-of confidence, affection and esteem. But the great and peculiar mission which the Master gave him to fulfil for the last four years of his life, was one of suffer ing.. Worn out.by slow degrees; ex hausted by pain and. want of rest; feel ing the sensitives threads of life cut away one by one, and yet tantalized from time to time by an appearance of amendment and the promise of recovery; occasion ally sinking in deep waters, and then, lifted up by a strong and restoring hand, though always left a little lower than before; doomed to be a spectacle of woe,' a living embodiment of affliction, wait-- ing for release .from the body of this death, it was his great ana sacred missioh to preach Christ through it all, by exhibiting a patience that silences 'Complaint, and a faith that conquers agony to the end. While many mourn the loss of so excellent a brother, they cannot but rejoice that he received grace to complete his course so well, and that Ms tried and troubled spirit, out of great!.tribulation, has entered; into rest. The faith of many has been strengths ened by the testimony which he bore to the saving power of the truth as it is in Jesus, when he could no longer speak the beloved name with the utterance of the tongue.' There are four different ways, by which men expect and propose to be saved. One is fate; another is chance; a third is self; the/ourth is Christ.— Nehemiah Adams. Night brings out stars, as sorrow shown ns truths. To connect the railway system of Italy with those of Prance and Europe generally, it Is necessary in some way to surmount the great obstacle presented by the Alps. The Italian government is distinguishing itself by the unparal leled engineering exploit of successfully undertaking this grand enterprise. A tunnel was commenced under the min istry of the great and lamented Cavopr, by which the Alps are to bepiercedin the direction of Prance* and an underground passage* between seven and eight miles long, will be hewn through the: heart of. the mountains. In carrying out this novel enterprise, a new power has been brought into extensive use, that of com pressed air. We give an account of the mode in which this agent is employed, taken from the late number of the West minister Beview. , Hothing can be more curious than the account M. Sommeiller gives of the man ner in which the works proceed.! The section , of th e tunnel which the. machines are employed to excavate is about eleven feet wide and eight high; a double rail runs along the centre, upon which a framework upon wheels is rolled for ward; carrying the ten! perforators; of of which nine are usually kept, at work at once, close up to the face of the rock. Once there, the distributing pipes for air and water which are fixed' on r the frame are put in connection with the main tubes, carried aloDg under the floor of the tunnel from the machine-house outside by means of flexible pipes,- and each perforator is then supplied with air and water by turning the cocks belong ing to it in the distributing pipes; Pressed forward by the compressed air, the augers then strike the rock, which they pierce very much as a gimlet bores a plank, only that by a special contri ance they recede after each blow, that a jet of water, may be impelled: into the hole being bored, in order to dear it of dust, and to keep the auger itself cool. This retrograde motion is produced in a manner very similar to that : in which the same movement is given to the pis ton of a steam-engine. In the perfora ting-machine the auger is fixed to the end of a piston moving ; backwards and forwards in a cylinder. Compressed air enters this cylinder at both ends; hut as it is contrived that the front surface of the piston (the one towards the rock) upon which it presses should have only half the size of the other end, it follows that an equal pressure of six atmos pheres, the pressure received from be hind is twice as potent as that in the contrary direction, and the augerptrikes the rock, although less violently than if there were no compressed air in front of the piston to resist its forward motion, As soon as the blow has been given, however, this relative proportion of the strength of pressure is reversed. The valve by which the compressed air en ters the portion of the cylinder behind the.piston closes; and another, commu nicating with the outer atmosphere, opens. This escape being afforded, the forward pressure is immediately re duced to the' strength of one atmos phere, which is of course overcome, and the piston recedes, while the compressed air which has just escaped resumes its primitive volume, and thuß fulfils its second purpose, by driving out' the mephitic air, which naturally collects in so small a space with no draught through it, and supplies the workmen with fresh air to breathe. The augers of the perforating-machines continue their work until eighty holes have been bored, each from twenty-seven to thirty two inches in depth, an operation often accomplished within six hours, though in the beginning especially, it took a good' deal more—ten, or occasionally even fourteen hours. The connection with the main pipes is then cut off’ and the whole framework, with all its appa ratus, is rolled away by the workmen to a distance of a hundred and fifty to two hundred yards, behind great gates made of thick planks and beams, called “ safety-doors.” A fresh gang of work men, the miners, then appear on the scene, whose duty it is to load the mines thus prepared, and then to fire them. No sooner have the mines been exploded those in the centre, where they are closer together, first, then the ones on the circumference, than a burst of com pressed air is admitted into the farthest end of the tunnel, to clear it from smoke and the gases produced by the explo sion, and a third set of workmen arrive, with a number of little trucks rnnning upon Side rails laid for this special ser vice, in-which they cart away the frag ments of rock brought down by the ex plosion. . In this way about a. yard of progress is generally attained. . When this system was first proposed ; there were innumerable objections urged against it in the scientific world. It was declared impossible ito construct recipients strong enough to hold a supply of compressed air, which was thought capable of bursting the vessel in which it was enclosed, and perhaps even of oozing out through the pores of the cast-iron plates of which it was! made. The practicability of conveying com pressed air. to any distance through pipes, without a loss of tension render ing it- utterly useless -wub even more strongly and: generally insisted on. Fortunately, the experience, acquired at Bardonneche affords a full refutation of these unfavorable predictions; for we learn that not only is there no escape of air from any part of the machinery or pipes, sufficient to stir the flame of a; taper, but. experiment shows that the loss of tension liable to be incurred in the transport of compressed air would not equal one-tenth of an atmosphere in any distance less than 25,000 metres or nearly four,times that which -it .ean’.be required to traverse for the works under Mont Oenis! Another fear also ex pressed by the opponents of the tunnel March 11th, 1864. IPSftIIXMSXS. TUNNEL UNBEE MONT OENIS. was, that from want of shafts the work men employed must necessarily be suffo cated; it is, however, found that though, the temperature is somewhat higher, it is as easy to breathe at the farther end of the tunhel as -on the hillside itself, since a quantity of compressed air is daily impelled into ,fhe small section seventeen times-grbater than its cubic capacity, and- this rush: of compressed air not only , renews the, atmosphere, but also tends to moderate th'e neat genera ted by the presence of a number of workmen in asm® sjiace, burning; for it has been demonstrated by experience, that \whon; Air pressed.it losob a portion of its, calorie, whence it follows, that when it resumes its primitive volume, on being allowed to escape, it is ready to absorb an amount of heat equal to - that, which it Had previously emitted. From what we have already said, our readers will readily perceive that there need be no fear of the workmen being suffocated; nevertheless, the directing engineers proposed at least to double the supply of compressed air before the end of 1863. BE. BOSS AT HUNTSVILLE, ALA. Eev. F. A. Boss, D- IX, formerly of (Qhattanooga,. Tenn,; is well known to our readers as one of the most extreme of the pro-slavery interpreters of Scrip ture in, the South. His home is now within, the lines of the National army, but from, the following which we find in a recent number of the Gongregationqlist, we judge he has chosen to remaiD, and has, of course, taken the usual obliga tions prescribed by military., authority. The sermon described in this extract was preached February 7th, in Hunts ville, Ala., a place then, as now, in the hands of opr army, , Dr. Boss’s large and fine church was filled to overflowing, about one-half of the congregation being the first families. The other half were soldiers, for the most part occupying the side seats. He, a portly man of sixty years, with gray standing hair, and short gray beard,. .was praying as we entered. He used short, dry sentences;, with reverent manner, covering the usual objects of public prayer, with marked and habit ual exception of national affairs. His text was from Luke : “And the Lqrd turned and looked upon Peter .... and Peter went out and wept bitterly.” Dr. Boss is'equal to any audience, or occasion. In the complacent, familiar, conversational way, he showed that the- Lord liked Peter, a rough, honeßt, swearing, but strong-minded fisherman. There was somekindof affinity of tastes. In order to any intimacy, it is a neces sity that there be corresponding sympa thies, culture, or habits. “ How can two persons walk together unless, they are agreed?' Jesus liked' and chose three of his disciples as companions. He saved more, and in order that he might have the testimony of an enemy, he made UBe even of Judas. Dr. Boss’s peculiar views upon society were quite : apparent. He proceeded to say that Peter was a timid man. He was afraid of a girl. He denied that he knew the ! man. Here the Doctor illustrated the i vehemence of Peter’s denial, and became quite impassioned. Though not record :ed, yet he did not hesitate to give the very oaths of Peter, equally as profane I and blasphemous as any of modern date. I Strange that in God’s house, and before Southern chivalry and the army it ; should be thought necessary to give il : lustrations in swearing I * Peter was timid; he was afraid to die a martyr. This was sheer folly.! Why, a man who was hung, or shot, or be i headed, or who. was drowned, or who died by any Budden cause, suffered less p,ain than fifteen minutes of tic doulour eux or inflammatory rheumatism. Peter should have shown more of the cour age of a man. Whether this picture of : Peter’s folly will have the effect to make the preacher and his Southern hearers less regardful of worldly comforts, and more ready to expose themselves to danger of sudden death, remains to be seen. But Peter was very guilty. As he stood at the far end of the Hall, the Lord turned and looked upon him. The evident satisfaction with which this was illustrated, daring a solemn pause of some minutes, might suggest to some minds the fact that there is but a step between the sublime and the ridiculous. But the crowning impudence of the ser mon was in. the application. Peter wept, he ought to weep. Alt who deny the Lord, professing Christians who come in the army and have foTgottefr (their vows and ;the Sabbath, chaplains !whq have learned-to,drink, soldiers who are seen going toward lovyhouses of li cense, these should all weep. Yes, even in little' things we may deny the Lord, i Dr. Boss again illustrated that a child with closed eyes, so that no one, not : even itself should see, and on tiptoe, with pinching fingers, could reach and take a lump of Bugar, and so deny ’the Lord. He ended the examples; : May suck have grace to repent as : did Peter. No allusion was niade to those who make broad their phylacteries, yet bind heavy burdens, grievous tb be borne, and will- not move them with one of their fingers; nor those who shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; nor. those who make qlea.n the outside of the cup, but within are full of extortion and excess. Of course not. Why should it ;be expected ? If Dr. Boss and the four other pastors of this place are.deliber atffiy opposed to every effort to instruct ana elevate the negro—-if they simply will not pjjpy for the President and our government.—if the wife of a distin guished rebel officer ha& just been lash ing a servant girl, (thank God, no longer; a slave) for the offense of coming to our Sunday school,—-does-the thin varnish! of an oath raakothom anything else than pro-slaveryrebels atbeaft?. Whs* called upon. to fall down before such eminent ability and piety, I must pray to be excused. W. C. S.
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