The American Presbyterian AND GENESEE EVANGELIST. nEraor.ous AND PAHILY NEWSPAPER, IN THE MINIUM or rnz Constitutional Presbyterian Church, PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY, AT THE PRESBYTERIAN HOUSE, 1334 Chestnut Street, (2d Story,) Philadelphia. Bev, JOHN W. =ARS, Editor and Publisher. CONTENTS OF INSIDE PAGES, Presbyterian Re uoion...l4Bßeligious 5tati5tic5.........147 Letter from Dr. Tustin...l4B Bird : that Sung in May.... 150 1 Letter from Cincinnati-148 Exploits of Ruguenots...lso Position of the Papacy...l4B Cherry Rud.. ........ ...... ........ Regulations for ChapPrisl4B Family W0r5hip....,..... ... 150 Editor's Table ................147 Religious Intelligence...lsl Type Setting Machines..l47 THE PHILOSOPHY OF FRENOH INFI DELITY. A particular plant is sometimes spo ken of, as having its habitat in a specific locality—that is, it is either supposed there to have had its origin, or there at toast to be most frequent or productive. In a somewhat similar way ;ve might speak of infidelity as being indigenous in France. For centuries the world has seen it springing up there in philosophic groves and episcopal gardens. The Sorbonne even has sheltered it and the theatre has cultured it. How shall this be explained? The blood of the St. Bartholomew massacre, and the dragon adesthat followed the Revocation of the edict of Nantes a century later, have left stains on the hands and robes of the Roman Catholic church which time wiir never wash out; many a mind, sagacious, generous, impassioned, has been made to feel that the highest virtue of humanity was to hate that foe of human peace and liberty, and it is scarcely surprising that a Frenchman, impatient of slow Sifting investigation, should reject at once the hierarchy and the religion it represents —the only religion in many . cases that he knows anything about. Blind to the past as well as the future, the modern priesthood, by intolerance, false miracles, ultramonthne sympathies and serupu, lous if not superstitious ritual, takes good care not to conciliate the disgust excited by the history of the last three centuries. It is thus that France has become, what she is. Her history is a most in structive one. Of the Roman Catholic Church, her children have asked bread and she has given them a stone—or dag ger. Her greatest names, with the ex ception Yencron, -- PSkCitr - iiiid few others, have been those of the Apostles oL unbelief. Rabelais was the Lucian of his age, and even in ecclesiastical robes and employment, he could not keep down the gross humor with which ho carica tured the church. Montaigne's faith in the priesthood would compare favorably with Cicero's in the soothsayers (haru spices.) Rollers' 7artuffe--gibbeting priestly hypocrisy, and immortalizing his bigoted foes as well as his own geni us—provoked the Archbishop of Paris to deny him Christian burial. Diderot and the Encyclopedists snatched the wreath of learning from mitred brows, And did more perhaps than they intend ed, to transfer respect and authority to the school of Voltaire—m'aking him in deed the Pope of "illuminated" French men. Nay that strange genius himself —the sworn foe of the papacy—hated religion for the erimes that were done in its name. The Atheism of the French revolution was but the blo,ssoming of that century' plant of infidelity, which had been moistened by the blood of martyrs and pruned by the hand of per seCution. That - caricature of the life of Christ— blending scepticism and credulity, mea gre fact and romantic fancy—which has placed Ronan on the list of this infidel suecession, affords only a new illustra tration of the revolt of reason from the absurd claims of the Papacy. He ad mits Oat no one could have written his book who had not first believed and then ceased to believe. 'Evidently he had been disgusted with Romanism, and the reaction carried him into Pantheism. And yet this is only what we must ex peel as no infrequent occurrence, so long As Christianity is known to Frenchmen under a Roman mask. They lack the patience needed to put the mask aside and examine the real features which it covers.' As if to mal;e the matter worse, the French National Church has been hitherto for a long period semi-unitarian and leavened with errors that forbade harm - pious Christian effort. French men have seen Christianity only under •disguise, and have failed to do it justice If its real character and its practical workings were but once properly appre hended by them, we cannot but feel san g-din.° that a speedy change would fol low in popular sentiment and feeling It is difficult for us to understand the religions rendition of the Prench mind, and yet unless we do, we are not pro lared to appreciate its infidel ,tenden oieN or to foreosug doe possibilities of O ' teri ftittgirtc4n tv at New Series, Vol. I, No. it). its future ; yet as an illustration of the effect produced by -a candid study of Protestant institutions and worship on the mind of an intelligent Roman Catho lic, we may eite the recent testimony of W. Taine, author of a popular French work, on the history of English Litera ture., He visited England not long since, and the results of his observations show the favorable impression which was made upon his mind. He speaks more than kindly" of the "English Religion," and we should judge from his language that his lot fell among dissenters, or at least Evangelical churchmen. The English religion, he says: Is exclusively directed to produce a moral effect, to building up a character that shall be based on fixed principles, and shall resist temptation. There is nothing' in it of Byzantine subtleties; the curious speculations of Germany' find no place in it. The feminine soft ness of Catholicism is not to be found in it. There is nothing like the Spouse of the Soul, the Consoler and Friend dreamt of in the tender reveries of the Imitatio Christi. It bears the impress of the Old Testament and the stern He brew Psalms; and the' same spirit, the looking for justice and the triumph of the God of Justice breathes through the hymns that are sung with enthusiasm in English churches. Although a Frenchman, and born in a different creed, I listened to these 'hymns with sincere admiration and feeling They seemed to he high-pitched and serious poems, whieh gave ,a glimpse into the infinite, and appeared fit to satisfy; the deep poetical instinct, the vague desire for the sublime and the melancholy of the English race. We trust the day is not far distant when Frenchmen will not need to cross the English Channel to learn what genu ine Protestantism is. The separation which seems now to be taking place be tween the lax latitudinarian and the evan gelical elements of the French churches may yet be overruled to attract the atten tion of the nation and teach it what genu ine spiritual rel igion is. Let that lesson be once learned and. we shall have no more appreliension that such men as Voltaire, D'Alembert, Renan, &c., will be, produced to mislead their countrymen or persuade them, with gross injustice, to identify spiritual religion and the Christianity of the New Testament with the assump tions and traditions of the papacy. THE MEETING FOR THE CHRISTIAN COMMISSION, Our readers will no doubt be glad to find a full report of the late meeting in behalf of this eminent Christian charity in our columns. We give the report, not only for its intrinsic interest, but more especially as it marks the com mencement of a new series of efforts to diffuse intelligence concerning the na ture and wants of this great Christian enterprise, and to quicken anew. the sympathies of the evangelical , churches in the work of evangelizing the army of the nation. Similar efforts are about to be made in all the great centres of business and population throughout our country. If they'are met with the same popular enthusiasm and the same liberal response as have been manifested in our city, the movement must be a great success, and the half a million of money proposed to be raised will soon be in the treasury of the Commission. At this critical stage of our conflict, when the most important series of movements in the whole war are in process of execution, and when, amid great and perhaps unprecedented carnage, the, blows which are meant to be final are being dealt on the chief armies of the rebellion, it is a reproach to the evan gelical churches of the land that the treasury of its greatest agency for the spiritual, moral and physical relief of the soldiers is empty, or nearly so. We earnestly hope that the -movement to replenish it, though tardy, now that it has been nobly begun, will go rapidly forward, and that the Com - mission will be enabledto send hundreds of devoted men, with stores and consolations for the bodies and souls of the wounded suffering and dying heroes of the great battles now taking place. There is not a moment to spare. Even while we write, doubtless, precious, noble souls , are passing out of the gaping wounds of mangled bodies, without a word of con solation or of prayer from those Chris tian friends who, but for want of means, might have been by their side in the hoar of final anguish. And should these great engagements prove so decisive as practically to quell the rebellion, the necessity of fighting PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, MAY 12, 1864. being over, there would yet remain, while the army continued to exist, a great need of the active labours of the Commission, in carrying the gospel to soldiers by the living agent and: by the printed page. Nowhere, perhaps, in all the world, at this time, is there such a field for evangelistic effort as in the' ranks of our army, and it will long con tinue to be most inviting and most important. There will, therefore, in any case, be a call for every dollar of ) the half a million now asked for the Chris tian Commission. We earnestly hope the churches will show their wisdom and their appreciation of the crisis and the opportunity,by furnishing the entire amount. • Since the qbove was written, we learn that the Commission has, ; one:hundred delegates on the battle=field in Virginia ; and on Monday morning twenty more *ere prepared to go; pending the orders of the War Department. rniaNaima OONDITION OF THE AMERICAN BOARD. While it is undoubtedly true that the condition of our own country attracts and should receive the first considera tion from all charitable'and Christian men, we see no necessity for diminish ing our charities to the great perma nent causes of benevolence, especially to that of foreign missions. We have, by the blessing of God, enough to answer the ordinary and the'extraordinary calls made upon us. Nor'do we believe that Christian men intend to slight any of them. The friends of Foreign Missions--- in other words all true Christians and. enlighteiaed men—assuredly will. not ne glect the various agencies by which the truth is carried to the heathen world. The regular contributors to the Ameri can Board are almost exclusively among the devotedly loyal of the land. They have therefore been using their means liberally, to promote the success of the national army and to meet the va rious novel demon& made by the crisis upon their benevolence. This may account for the slight decline in the receipts of the Board thus far in the current year. But we will not allow our selves to believe that they will suffer this decline to continue, and not rather increase their contributions, to meet the deficiency and to cover the increas ed expenses of the Board arising from the high price of exchange. To meet these deficiencies and this' increased ex penditure, the Board will reqUire $281,- 000 in'the remaining months of the fi nancial . year. This would once have been counted a formidable sum for' such an object, but what is it amid ; the vast amounts 'pouring into ;the ;treasury of the Sanitary Commission, in: no 'small measure from the purses of the,friends of the American Board ? Let the libe-' ral men—we do not mean only the rich men—of the churches sustaining the I3oard, contemplate the fact, and resolve that the sum Slall be ma:de up ; and these churches—which are strongest in the most important and prosperous parts of the country—will not feel it when they have done the whole work. It would be a scandal to these churches and to the Christian name that the American Board, with such a constitu ency, should, of all the mission enter prises of our country, show a decline in prosperity. For the fact is, so far as our knowledge goes, the others are on the advance, some of them decidedly so• Ministers and sessions of churches, es pecially where no contributions have ye been made, as well as private members, should make the subject a matter of serious consideration and prayer and should act liberally as sustaining one (pf the most important of all our agencies in subduing the world to Christ. CORDIALLY RETURNING.-At the late session of the Indianapolis Presbytery, the Churches of Kingston and Clarks burg, recently under the care of Ripley Presbytery, were taken, at their own request, under the care of the first named Presbytery, from which they withdrew several years since, to unite with the Free Synod. They were very cordially received to their former rela tions. We clip the above from the Evangelist. The names of these two churches are not on the roll of the Ripley Presbytery as reported on our minutes. They prob ably remained aloof at the union of that Presbytery with our body, last year, and now return from a state of isolation to the Indianapolis Presbyteryi Genesee Evangelist, No. 938. E DR, TUSTIN'S LETTER. We have spade barely to call the readers': attention to 'Dr. Tustin's letter inl,repV to our late cditorial on Presby terian Union, on one of our inside pages, and to : express our . earnest hope, that nothing may 'occur to tinder' the pro gress of our brethren of the other branch , to'a position in which it would . be at once safe, judicious, happy and for the glory of God for the two branches to unite. . We believe they are making progkss, and nothing is farther from our'ininds than, as intimated in some quarters, to disco - in-age such movements. We s i hould count it one of , the greatest triumphs of Christian principle in our day, to find •our brethren synipathizing with 'fis fully in our attitude towards slavery, towards the national govern ment, and inreference to the real, es sentia elements ofthe Calvinistic system. 1 ;LETTER FROM MR. ADAMS. Many of onr readers will be interested in the fall Owing brief letter received fiore. Mr. Adams pastor of North Broad Street Church, a few" days ago. Mr. A. sailed for Boston on the last , day of April. E. CONCORD, N. H., May 3d, DEAR BROTHER REARS :—According to request I write to say that we reached our destination yesterday at an early hour, after a pleasant trip. lam now writing in ; the old sitting-room, by whose southern window a branch of my mo ther'S rose:-bush puts out its fresh leaves. I have just the discovery that the monument; which marks our family graves is visible through the trees of the garden twd miles distant. I find more of my " child's world" than I ever an ticipated. \ The air is bracing, the scenery delightful, and the neighbors welcome lis t We hear no sound but that of bird-voices and the ticking of the clock. I love the stillness, the rest. Give my brotherly greeing to the mem bers of Oe•Association, and my warm est love to_ our dear people. Wife and boy all We4.l. • Tours fraternally, E. E. ADAMS. NEWSPAPER. ENLARGEMENT; The venerable Presbyterittn, the staunch organ of the other branch in this city and in New York, comes to ns greatly enlarged even in comparison with its own former ample dimensions, and in the form of a double sheet. This is the second instance of enterprise of this sort among the religious papers of our city, in the present year ; our own being the first. We regard the Presby terian, in its present form and dimensions as unnecessarily and inconveniently large and the ambition of the proprietors to make it the " largest religious paper of the country" seems to us extravagant. Yet we welcome every evidence of ad vancement on the part ofthe, organs of our evangelic, 1 churches, and we offer to our cotem racy in its new form, and to its loyal and able editor, our ,bast ) wishes for ; its success. WE 'shall publish a series of two or more articles on the life and character of John ,Calvin, commemorative of the Ter-centenary of his death, commenc ing with our next issue. They are from the pen of Rey. E. H..GILLETT, of Har lem, N. Y:, author of the very popular and successful work, " Life and Times of John Huss." Our readers will be gratified to learn that Mr. GILLETT has become a regular contributor to our columns. FROM OUR ROCHESTER OORRESPON DENT, ANNIVERSARY OF AUBURN SEMINARY. The day was fine. After a fortnight of cold, stormy, " sour " weather, the wind had . gently shifted on the previous evening a few points to the south, and the sun rose clear and beautiful, and the entire day, wasUlmy, bright and inspi ring. It evidentlyput the professors and students and visitors, all, in their best mood; and, of course, therefore, the exercises ofthe occasion went on smooth ly, delightfully and successfully. The Annual Examination had been in progress during the previous three days, which it was not our privilege to attend, but of which we hear the best possible account. Many who have been accustomed to witness these examina tions from year to year, speak of this as the most thorough and satisfactory of any; and the report of the Examining Committee was so discriminating and interesting.a document that we take the liberty of,sending it entire for publics• tion. We know it will gratify the many friends of this institution , who were not permitted to be present, to• see it in your columns.* We failed also to be in time to hear the address of Rev. Dr. Smith, of Buffalo, before the Rhetorical Society on Wed nesday evening, but those who did hear it, speak of it as one of the most brilliant and happy efforts of that brilliant and delightful man. His theme, as near as we can learn, was, self-conviction as an element of power in the pulpit; and he spent considerable time in showing how that self-conviction may be attained; or the proper methods, as we should say, of assurance in the truth; and in this con nection he gave a brilliant exposition of the inductive philosophy, as superior to all other methods. Those who heard the address enjoyed it exceedingly, and words almost fail them when they at. tempt to speak their admiration. Next time the Doctor speaks on such an occasion, we hope it may be our privi lege to hear and enjoy for ourselves. On Thursday morning the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees, and of the Commissioners occurred. These two bodies were made glad by the evident tokens of divine favor toward the institution in the past year, which has been one of unexampled prosperity, about $50,000 having been added by donations to the permanent funds of the seminary. INo less than $6,000 came from the Third_Presbyterian Church of Pittsburg, of which Rev. lligriek John son, an alumnus and a faVorite of this institution, is the pastor. Fifteen thousand dollars came from an anony mous friend in New York. The scholar_ ship fund has been increased in the last year to $24,000, enabling them to aid many students who need it; and nearly $20,000 have been secured :as a perma nent fund for the:Library. This, when it is all in a.] productive shape, will furnish a very.handsome yearly income ;to be expended in the purchase of books. But where to keep the books, that is the question which the Trustees and Faculty of the institution• wish its friends and admirers seriously to ponder. A fire proof building for the safe keeping of the libra ry, is now felt to be a pressing want. The library now contains 8000 volnmes, well selected and valuable. This fund will enable the officers to add five hundred volumes a year to its treasures. It would be a fearful disaster to have all these destroyed some day by the flames. There is one man, a prince of benevolence, William E. Dodge, Esq., who appreciates the danger, and offers to give one half of $15,000 to erect at once a substantial fire-proof' building for the accommodation and safety of the library. Where is the man, his peer, who will give the other half ? Surely it is good compa ny-to be in; and the officers of the institu tion are quite'as willing that two should do it as a dozen? Perhaps it would be easier passing a vote of thanks. And we know, from personal observa tion, that the ample grounds of the seminary furnish a beautiful site for such a building, at a little remove from the main edifice;'and the soil upon the favored spot seems waiting and willing to be removed, to. make room for the sure foundation; the stone is uneasy in the quarry, and the timber is restless in the woods;-where is the man of $7,500 who will be the means of bringing these things into their places, and of making this site a beauty and a joy to look upon for all time to come ? In this connection, we may also men tion that William E. Dodge, Esq., has supported ten of. the young men here in the past year; and C. R. Robert, Esq., seven. The benefactions of these gen men, in this direction, are princely. Bat another gift of the past year was perhaps, more remarkable and touching than all the rest. Rev. Ralph Robinson, an old"roan and full of days, departed this life about a year ago. He was a strong man ; had preached the gos pel for, fifty-four years; had resided mostly in the northern part of the state, and died in New Haven, Oswego county, a most happy and triumphant death. He was a thorough Calvinist, a man of strong convictions and great faith. He was a warm friend of this institution and of sound theological instruction, but, like the greater num ber of his class, he was not largely endowed with this world's goods. He *lt will be found in another, oohuon. TERMS By mail, $2.00 per annum, in advance. 6. 2 50 .• " after 3_-months. By carrier, 50 cents additional for delivery CLUBS _ Ten or more papers sent by mall 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 one receipt will be returned. Ministers and Ministers' Widows supplied at club rates. Home missionaries at slper annum. -- Fosmean.Five cents quarterly in advance, to be paid by subscribers at the office of de livery. could not make princely donations, build fire-proof libraries, or found pro fessorships or scholarships; but he did what he could. As he saw that the time of his departure was near, he desired of his friends to be buried in a plain coffin, and that the difference of expense between that and a more costly one, whatever it might be, should be sent by them as his gift to this seminary, to aid, as far as it might, in putting some one into the ministry, when his voice should be silent in the grave. In accor dance with this request, a letter was received from his son, Rev. Samuel N. Robinson, enclosing ten dollars, as the amount realized in that way. The 'Trustees were touched with this gift and. made suitable mention of it in their records, besides sending acknowledg ment to the friends of the deceased. It should be some good, godly young man, to whom that gift should go; and we are sure he will find a blessing in it. In the absence of Rev. J. R. Page, of Perry, the appointee to preach before the Alumni of the Seminary, Rev. Dr. Fisher, of Hamilton College, kindly con seated, on short notice, to take his place, and gave one of his characteristic dis courses. The graduating class numbers twenty four—it was twenty-five; but one (John W. Holm) is not, for God took him. He was a, colored man of fine scholarship and great promise, preparing to be a professor of Theology in Liberia, and to labor for the regeneration of Africa. He was universally respected and be loved, and died deeply lamented. The speaking by the members of the graduating class was good. The themes were all well handled. There was not an inferior piece among them. We ap pend the names and , subjects of the speakers, also the names of the graduat ing class; only remarking, in conclu sion, that they have all found places already, or, rather, the places found them. One indeed, (T. S. Marsh) had leave of absence about a month since, and has already gone under appoint ment of the Home Missionary Commit.. tee to Colorado ; and one (G. G. Smith) is yet to go to Idaho. Some are to be employed in churches le' this State, and some further west. P. R Day was ordained on Friday even ing, by the Prebsytery of. Cayuga, and is to labor as a city missionary in Troy. A. C. Shaw, (son of Rev. Dr. Shaw, of Rochester,) whose address pleased us much, goes to Claysville. W. S. Beecher, who is neither a son nor a grandson of Lyman, and who is nevertheless a young • man of superior abilities and promise, has received and accepted a call to settle at Ovid. George White goes to Schaglaticoke ; Wm. Campbell to Chaumont; M. ; Higley to Onandaga Hollow; W. W. Wetmore to Ann Ar bor, Michli and E. Dickinson to Fenton vine, in the same State. An excellent farewell address to the graduating class was given by Rev. Dr. Hall, affection. ately dismissing the young men to their life work. Names and Themes of the Speakers.— Hebrew Poetry, C. H. Beebee; Depth and its counterfeits, W. J. Beecher; Humanitarian Tendency of the Pulpit; Its Remedy, E. Dickinson ; Savonarola, the Florentine Reformer, F. A. Parmen ter ; The Ultimate Reason, A. C. Shaw; Natural and Revealed Ethics, W. W. Wetmore; The Divine Theory of Unity, George White. The last named was unable to appear, being prostrated by sickness. GRADUATING GLASS Clarence H. Bebee, S. Hamilton; Willis J. Beecher, Vernon Centre; W. K. Boggs, Fairton,..N. J. ; Wm. Camp bell, Kossuth, Iowa; P. R. Day, West Avon, Conn, ; Edward Dickinson, Lin den, Mich.; A. L. Greene, Brier Hill; G. L. Hamilton, Johnsonville, 0.; James T. llanning, Staten Island; A. M. Heizer, Kossuth, Iowa; H. M. Higley, Owego; John : 4 W. Holm, St. Thomas W. I.; John Kelland, Flint, Mich.; A. B. Lamberton, Plattsburg; C. M. Liv ingston,.Tohnstown ; T. D. Marsh, Grand Rapids, Mich.; F. A. Parmenter, 0 wego . ; C. P. Quick, Birmingham, Mich.; D. M. Rankin, Sunbury, Pa.; Isaiah Reid, Kossuth, Iowa; A. C. Shaw, Rochester; Geo. G. Smith, PhiladelPhia, Pa.; J. B. Steele, Middlebury, Vt.; W. W. Wet more, Whiteeboro' ; George White, Hun- tington, C. E. Roman, May 6,1864.
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