The American Presbyterian AND GENESEE EVANGELIST. RELIGIOUS AND 'FAMILY NEWSPAPER, IF RBE imam OP RUE Constitutional Presbyterian Church, PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY, THE PRESBYTERIAN HOUSE ) 13.24 Chestnut Street, (2d Story,) Philadelphia. Rev. ZORN W. MEARS, Editor and. Publisher. CONTENTS OF INSIDE PAGES. Army Chaplains 154 Literary Items 155 Report on Home Mi55...154 Ladies' National Covenllss Auburn Seminary 154 Word About Rappiness..lsB Onions for the Soldiers-154 Letters of a Lady, 158 Photography in therieldls4lThe Avalanche .158 Servants in N. Y. City 154 Religious Intelligence.. 15g Editor's Table 155 Synod of Eng. Pres. Chan • THE WOMEN'S NATIONAL 007ENANT. We print, in one of our inside pages, the most important articles of the Con stitution of this new organization, together with the admirable address which it has issued, entire. We commend it to the attention of every woman among our readers. Doubtless many American women have felt themselves pricluded, by their sex, from such an active and direct participation in the struggle as their fervent patriotism would have made agreeable. Zeal for the cause has led many of them to the most arduous and devoted efforts for the personal comfort of the soldier, and for the relief •of the suffering and the wounded. Not a battlefield, not a hos pital, scarcely a regiment, but can show abundant evidence of woman's tender, practical interest in the men. And there is no page in the history of the war, that will shine brighter than that which records the vast labors and self denials of the loyal women of America for the comfort of their brave and suff ering defenders. Yet are we wrong in imagining that true patriotism m woman's breast is a tide so full and strong that it would gladly find more and even wider chan nels for its flow ; that it even chafes somewhat restlessly for_ more active employment; that - it carries its possessor sometimes to the perilous edge of battle, as an angel of mercy, amid the roar of conflict, to the wOunded and dying that it closes in enthusiastically with propo sals for grand undertakings, requiring unprecedented labors, such as our recent and voming Sanitary Fair ? Yes ; the of - itiin-vsoqlatiryin the Mares, of our American women hiss not, we be lieve been adequately expressed, much less exhausted, even by these great efforts. Gladly will it seize new open ings, and take up, with rejoicing, what ever new burden can be laid upon it. In the proposal of the Women's ' National Covenant, to abstain, so far as practicable, from all use of foreign goods, is just such an opening. Here is an opportunity for showing that as, in our day, the men can do and endure for the salvation of their country, as stoutly, as heroically, as unselfishly as in the days of the Revolution, so the women of this generation are equal, in devotion and in self-denial, to the truly heroic and noble souls of their sex in those days of our early history. Here is a wide and in fluential field ; as wide as the most ardent patriotism could desire ; as wide as the country; reaching all its business and financial interests. Here is a mode of bringing great relief to 'the govern ment ; of lightening every one of its burdens ; of raising its financial standing and credit; of benefitting every soldier, sick or well ; of relieving every family in the land, and of seriously diminishing the burden of our war debt, not only as affecting ourselves, but all the genera tions to come on whom that burden will fall. Here is an opportunity to cultivate simpler and purer habits of living, and to cheek that wild extravagance and dissipation which, if they go on, are more certain to ruin us as a people, than all the General Lees that can be sent from rebel capitals. Here is an op portunity to take up a daily personal cross, in the very spirit of the Master, and to prove, by those self-denials, so keenly felt by woman, the strength and sincerity of her devotion to the true interests of her country. Here is an opportunity to encourage our own work ing people—mechanics, manufaeturers and inventors ; instead of pouring forth our wealth to enrich foreign nations, who look coldly upon us, and who may some day use the very wealth we con tribute to them in compassing our ruin. During the height of the intense and awful interest of the past week, when the nation was holding its breath at the recital of the unparalleled bravery and stubbornness of our soldiers on the new battle-fields of Virginia, and swaying between admiration and grief at the fresh hecatombs of noble liVes offered with martyr devotion for country, how discordant was the telegraphic an nouncement that, "on May 11th, at noon, the steamer Olympia left New York, with nearly $1,000,060 in gold !" ItOliii:iii 74,1'ti..-hplicki-4n New Series, Vol. I, No. 20. Fifteen thousand wounded lying at Fredericksburg, while one million in gold was leaving New York! Six days terrible fighting in the Wilderness of Virginia, and one million in gold leaving New York city in the height of it ! Union losses forty thousand, and twelve generals, killed, wounded and missing; and one million of dollars going to Europe in one shipment, to pay for luxuries, silks, laces, diamonds, wines, to adorn and pamper the people, and help on their gaiety in the awfullest hour of the nation's history ! Women of America! you are in great part to blame for this monstrous incon sistency ! You have done it inconsider ately ; now prove your sincerity by appearing, if need be, in the simplest attire, and by shunning temptations to extravagance and display as you would rebellion itself. THE CHRISTIAN'S PAVILION In times of great excitement, it is the Christian's privilege to be calm in the exercise of trust in God ; while others are swaying to and fro in the tide of conflicting emotions : now carried aloft by excesses of hope and confidence ; now cast dOWn into cheerless gloom by disappointment; running, in the course of a few days, through every grade of intense feeling and back again,—the believer refuses to be carried away in the tremendous current; God catches him away and hides him in his pavilion, and sheds serenity over his anxious soul. Amid the extraordinary mutations of feeling which the ever-varying fOrtunes of the war have caused, the qUestion naturally arises, do Christians learn their privilege and gain experience in the use of their divine Refuge, and in the exer cise of a tranquilizing trust in God? We v_e_had ; matel,i,__Opportanity to cultivate_ these sentiments - '-The war has been a great school for the grace of faith. Here in the East, the equipping and marshalling, and forward movements, and delays, and fierce battles, and re treats of the Army of the Potomac, have excited in our bosoms the most powerful and most conflicting emotions. High hopes of victory have suddenly been dashed by news of defeat. First we have held our breath with expecta tion, then we have been electrified with rumors of glorious and final successes ; then chilled with ominous silence, and finally smitten to the earth with news of unaccountable and disas trous delays, or of unquestionable defeat. Are Christians, are believers to be swept utterly away in the rush of this carnal conflict of emotions ? or do they. feel a strong and secret support amid all the confusion ; are they gently drawn away into the Sabbath peace inad seren ity of the pavilion where God hides his people in time of trouble ? While men with no spiritual resources are utterly at the mercy of the excitements of the hour, do they possess their souls in patience, and show themselves anchored by faith to the sublime and secret coun sels of the infinitely wise God? The Christian is a man ; more truly and fully a man because he is a Christ ian ; the follower of a Master who became partaker of flesh and blood, the better to execute his mission. Hence he does not become more Christian by feeling less in the great crises of human affairs and interests. We do not ask or expect him to be cold when all hearts around-are throbbing and almost burst ing with intense desires and expectati6ns, or crashed with disappointment and dismay. But we ask him to learn, amid these storms Of joy and sorrow, to feel for his foundations, to get firm holding ground, and to acquire the art of staying himself upon his God. We counsel him to put these times of trial to good account ; to prove to himself the exis tence of a practical trust in God, as a psychological fact in his experience, and to bring it into exercise, that it may acquire strength, facility and promptness in" its movements, and that it may be come a leading habit of his soul. Why should the believer in God and in the mediatorial reign of. Christ over the world, suffer himself to be convulsed with excitement like other men ? Why should he be at the mere mercy of the conflicting hopes and fears of this sphere of being? Why remain in the atmos phere in' which all things are seen without order and without aim, when PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, MAY 19, 1864. God's pavilion opens its doors and offers shelter to the believer beneath its calm, celestial dome? There shines over its doorway the emblazoned motto: GOD REIGNS. There, through its telescopic windows, may be seen the lineS of Providence converging from the most discordant events to the most divine harmony. There horrible faith bows, and the subdued chant arises from calm, sweet voices : "Thy will be done." There are seen, immovably', enthioned, the divine principles of justice and truth, law and liberty ; and the rage of men breaks like harmless spray at their untroubled feet. There, built on a rock, with her foundations laid in fair colors, gleaming like a great jewel of light and beauty, reposes the Church, and the gates of hell prevail not against it. Enter into this pavilion, believer. It is set up in thy heart, and faith is the key to unlock its treasures. In the camp, in the very rage and thunder of battle, in the last conflict, thou mayest abide in its peaceful walls and soothe thy. spirit with its heavenly repose. OUR CAUSE AT THIS HOUR, While we write there is a lull in the fearful storm of battle raging for eight or ten consecutive days in Virginia. It is but for a moment, doubtless; soon the strife will recommence; and a contest which is accepted as final by the rebels, and which has every appearance of that character, will go forward to the dire conclusion. The rebel General, with his great army, which has always been the key-stone of the rebel resistance, is pressed hard in front by superior num bers, whom he cannot beat off, who are destroying him by piecemeal; his com- 1 munications on every side are cut off; the capital which he would defend is formidably menaced on land and water, and he cannot go to relieve it. With the coptinnauce for a few days llangArolf the sublime firmness, heroism and good generalship hitherto displayed, and _the I favor of God enjoyed thus far by our army, the destruction of the rebel host is certain. The victorious progress of Sherman in Georgia combines . ..with these successes in the East, to leave upon all minds, North and South, the impression that the rebellion was never I before in so critical a situation; that I never was the prowess of the North more fully exhibited, and never was the valor of the South more akin to desper ation than now. And never before did our rulers and generals so cordially recognize our na tional dependence on the Almighty arm as now. The calls of the President and of General Meade for prayer are more cheering than their bulletins of victory. 'We may venture to hope for success in proportion as such indications of a preparedness to enjoy and improve it,become national. Let us second them by our hearty daily prayers. Daily meetings for prayer -are held at the Epiphany, Penn Square, and Broad and. Arch Street Churches, in order,:tsom mencing on Monday of each week, at 5 o'clock, P. M. "CONTRABAND" AGENCY NEEDED. Amid all the enterprises far the relief of the escaped freedmen of the South, there is one which haS been comparatively overlooked, but which, if put in operation, would, as it seems to us, be productive of great practical results, and bring relief to both the black and white races. Could some effective agency be established for introducing these freed people as servants and labor ers into our families and business cen tres, mutual' benefit would ensue. The. Crowded places 'of rendezvous for the, fugitives would be relieved, and a most pressing need of help at the worth would be supplied. Especially as domestics, could great numbers of the feniales hind employment. The present supply of help, in this line, at the North, ci so indifferent and so scanty, that 'house keeping, in many cases, Ms bedeine 'an intolerable burden; and:. the _pleasure , and peace of domestic life reduced almost to a phantom. Why. should :so' many excellent families be in such a state of want and perplexity, when but a hundred miles away, quite as many excellent colored cooks and , house-ser vants are pining away in rags, Wretch_ edness and idleness, because no man hath hired them ? The subject is well worthy the atten tion of the. practically benevolent. Genesee Evangelist, No. 939. JOHN OALVIN. BRIEF SKETCH OP HIS LIFE. On the 27th of May, 1564, died John Calvin, the great Reformer, the founder of " the Reformed Church"—a man whose eminent ability, whose learning, whose purity of purpose, are alike at tested by friend and foe. Three centu ries have passed away since he . finished his labors, and yet three centuries have not produced a man, of whom it can be said with more propriety or greater eraphasis„ -that " being dead, he yet speaketh." Born in 1509, at Noyon in France, educated at Paris, initiated into those scholastic dialectics which Baxter, a cen tury later, so strangely admired, and mastering by quick perception and close .application whatever he undertook, his :reputation as a student . was fully estab lished before 'he was eighteen years of age. Proud of his son's progress, his father urged him to devote himself to the legal profession; and at Orleans, under Peter de 1' Etoile, and at Bourges under Alciat, he was unconciously ac quiring that profound acquaintance with law which, in the providence of God, was to fit him so admirably for his future position as the lawgiver of the Genevan republic. But while his text - books of law on- . gagedliinC•by day; his nights were de voted to the study of the Bible. The agitating :questions Of the day---whose solution was submitted by Parisian bigots to the light of the funeral piles of Protestant martyrs—claimed his atten tion. HiS reason was convinced, and after sharp inward strusgles, he resolved to cast in his lot with the friends of the new, opinions. Ere he Wae aware, he had really beeome a most efficient Gospel teaOher: without assuming the name he diWarged. the duties of a missionary Era. long he was forced by persecution to leave his native land. He had compromised himself, by writ ing for his friend Nicholas Cop, the ora tion delivered by the latter as Rector of the Sorbonne, in which the doctrine of Justification by faith alone was ably vindicated. The oration was burned and Calvin with difficulty escaped, first to Navarre and afterward to Basel. Here, at the age of twenty-five, he prepared the first edition of his Institutes, the preface of which—embodying in it a defense of the Reformation—ranks with De Thou's preface to his history and Casaubon's preface to Polybius, as one of the three which have secured the ap plause of the learned world. The In stitutes themselves, republished in suc cessive editions and translated into dif ferent languages, retain in plan and doctrine the stamp they first received, " Though prepared in haste," says Beza, "he never changed anything. "He made no retractions," said Scaliger, cc though he wrote much." Melanch than called him "The Thelogian." No system of doctrine so clear, concise, symmetrical, 'biblical, had ever before appeared. Peoria the first, it was receg , nized as; after the Bible, the text book • of the Reformed Church: But Basel was not to be Calvin's home. God had work for him else ! where. Having visited the court of the Queen of Navarre, he set out to return to Strasburg by way of Geneva. He wished to pass unrecognized. But he was discovered by Farel, and the latter insisted that he should remain. His re luctance was overcome only by Farel's solemn imprecation : "Since you refuse to do the work of the Lord in this church, may theliord curse the repose you seek, and "also your studies." Cal vin could resist no longer. At first he would take - a subordinate position, he would only . teach theology. But his - light could not be hidden. He prea,ched a sermon and the people insisted that he should repeat it. The task of church organization - was devolved upon him. The tempestuous little republic had, from time immemorial, been an Episco pal domain. After the Romish style, it had_ been a- theocracy. Calvin deter mined "to make it a theooracy of another type. Some steps toward this had been already taken, but the work was incom plete. Calvin did his best to realize his own ideal. Great difficulties however stood in the way. The opposition of the Libertine party was bitter. Calvin's severity was more 'odions to them than the maligned " Blue Laws." The 'result was that Calvin was driven out an exile from the city (Ap. 23, 1537). He was welcomed at Strasburg. A church was ready for him, and 1,500 French Refugees accepted his doctrines and discipline. The freedom of the city was given him. The interests of Reform throughout Europe engaged his atten tion. Crowds of students thronged to his lectures. He became acquainted in timately with many of the great evan gelical leaders of the day. If his views had lacked breadth before, his horizon now was that of Christendom itself. He imlvessed his views on others. He scattered seed that was to ripen on dis tant fields. But his heart was still in Geneva, and the people longed for his return. Of the four syndics that procured his ex.: pulsion, one had been hung for treason, one was killed while' attempting to flee, and two were driven away. The couri cil called him back. He hesitated. Full well he knew the turbulent ele raents with which he would have to deal.. Bucer and Farel entreated him to yield. The cities of Bern and Basel interceded with him for their sister re public. Calvin at length consented, but it was with the full understanding that his discipline sliould be calTiecl out._ His ideas of church order had not deteri orated in exile. He had learned lessons of the United Brethren, and from the lips of its deputies had received accounts of their diseipline. With the acelama tion of the people, he entered' Geneva (Sep. 13; 1541), never again to leave it. Truder his labors the little republic was to become the wonder and admiration . of Europe. , It was to hold a • position in,reference to Protestant Christendom not unlike that of Athens to her contem poraries while known as "the Eye of Greece." It was to be a model of ad ministration, civil and religious; a.school of Reform ; the home of the exile for the sake of religien ; the stronghold of an orthodox faith, and tke.best ordered and most moral community in the world. For more than twenty years Calvin was the ruling spirit of the State. A hand less firm than his would have lost its control. A mind less sagacious would scarcely have escaped the im pending dangers of civil strife. A heart less disinterested would haVe con founded the public welfare with . selfish aims. folio . of .tio . . fillltrivro•4_ Y•RROR CORRECTED.—By an inadvert e arising from too hasty readinc , and ..14r ~ ,,,Soring, a correspondent of the Evan gelist, writing of an installation at Cohoes Falls, was so c6pied in our columns of May sth, that the first part of his sentence —a long one—was omitted ) and the con cluding part only, inserted; by which he was made to endorse an opinion of an eminent divine and profound metaphysi cian in our church which he designed to rebuke and deny. We now copy the whole of the sentence, regretting to have done the correspondent and his subject such injustice, unwitting though it was. Dr. Hickok's sermon was, I must say, most excellent; clear, transparently so —as the Doctor's al ways are ; strong, too, —who ever heard of one that ,was not? eminently practical, as he always aims to make them. I could not, as I followed him through, but wonder at and pity those minds that seem bent on believing that in Dr. Hickok's case, the Lord, instead of creating a thinker pos sibly able to take them beyond their depth, has only given us an absurd park dox ; i. e., a mind wonderfully clear whkii he thinks for others, as wonderfully cloudy when he thinks for himself; un mistakable, in his meaning when he preaches to the multitude, stupidly in comprehensible when he writes for scholars; endowed with rare sense to avoid all abstract metaphysics as a preacher, but with no sort of sense as a metaphysician ; unostentatious, sharply practical, reverently devout in the pul pit, but in the professor's chair conceited, vaguely abstract,n,nd irreverently spec ulative. REVIVALS.-A work of grace of much power and large results has been vouch safed to the church of TJniondale, Pa. The pastor, Rev. R. Kessler, writes to the Evangelist It commenced early iu December, last year; the first manifestations of it, were a doep anxiety on the part of Christians and a great earnestness in their pleadings with God. We then commenced to hold daily meetings. In the thirdi week of January, the Rev. T. S. Ward of Carbon dale, was invited and came to assist in the work. He spent one week with us, preaching every evening. The good By mail, $2.00 per annum, in advanc?. 4. 44 250 " after 3 months.. By carrier, 50 cents additional for delivery CMIT_TI3B_ Ten or more papers sent 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 one receipt will be returned. Ministers and Ministers' Widows supplied at club rates. Home missionaries at $1 per annum. POSTAGE.—Five cents quarterly in advance, to be paid by subscribers at the office of de. livery. work was much advanced through the assistance of this servant of God, than whom I never knew one more faithful. It was his last work of the kind—ten weeks afterwards he entered into the rest that remaineth to the people of God. As a fruit of this revival forty-two have already united with our Church on pro fession of their faith; among these 18 are heads of families, the remainder mostly young men and women. Three of these young men have since joined our army, where this little Church bad already been well represented. The Gerald says : There has been more than usual relig ious interest in the Presbyterian Church at Ypsilanti, Michigan, the last six months. Extra prayer-meetings were held several weeks during the winter. At the two communions in December and March, between eighty and ninety members were added to the church, fifty five of them on profession of faith. Several persons will unite with the church in June on profession, and several stu dents who experienced religion the last winter, have,or will unite at their res . *, live places of abode. More than a hun dred persons have expressed a deep personal interest in their own salvation, ant the greater part of them have found a hope in the Saviour. Very many young men and - women have been converted, who have gone forth to all parts of the State to teach. The State Normal School, and also the City Union School educate a large share of teachers. In these institutions the religious interest has been quite general. OF COLLEGE HILL CHURCH, near Cin cinnati, the pastor Rev. C. E. Bab'o, also editor of the Herald, says : At the regular quarterly communion of the Presbyterian church May Ist, 71 persons were received on profession of faith. Of these, six were wives or widows, eighteen young men, twenty young la dies, and nineteen children from 11 to 16 years of age. Between thirty and forty others hope that they have found Christ during the recent time of refreshing from the Lord ; some of whom. have been taken under the care of the church and others will unite with other churches. The church on College Hill reported to the General Assembly in 1863, a mem bership of 60. It, will report this year 145 communicants—a gain ofnearly one hundred and fifty per cent. It is the Lord's doing and marvellous in our eyes ! Rev. E. S. Wright, D. D., of _Fredonia, N. Y., writes to the Evangelist that about forty persons have recently expressed a hope, in connection with special services in that church. Children and youths are principally interested, a large number being from nine to fourteen years old. The people have given Dr. W. $l7O. DONATIONS. &c.—The Peru church, Indiana, have given their pastor $l7O. A new church, organized by the pastor five miles South of Peru, of nineteen m&Mbers, have commenced. the erection of a house of worship.—Rev. S. D. Bur chard, D. p., of the 13th st., Church, N. Y., preached his quarter century sermon May 1. His people made him up a. purse of sl726—the largest donation we believe yet reported. The Evangelist says the church has gloriously emerged from all its difficulties.--Rey. H. H. ,- Allen, the young Pastor of the Presby terian Church at Cayuga, has received an addition of $lOO a year to his salary. —.The House of Hope - Church, St. Paul, having wiped out all its old debts, and made liberal advances in its contributions to the Home Mission and Education Causes, has recently added two hundred dollars to the salary of its respected Pastor, Rev. F. A. Noble —The first Ward Church, Syracuse, have recently purchased a lot on which they propose to erect a substantial brick parsonage for their esteemed Pastor, the Rev. L. H. Reid.—The First Church at Lansing, Mich., purchased two lots on Michigan avenue; for $4OOO and will remove their Church edifice to that site this Spring. KIRK'S CROSS-ROADS,IND.—This inter eating and prosperous mission field is rejoicing in the completion and dedica tion of, a new house of worship which took place April 17th. The house is of frame 34x50, costing $l3OO. It was de dicated free of debt. Special services, lasting, several days, were field, and as the result, eighteen persons were receiv ed, fifteen on examination. So the spiritual house was strengthened at the same time wilh the external. The entire membership, is 54, Rev. John B. Logan is the missionary. REV. DR. S. H. HALL has resigned the charge of the church of Oswego, to take effect on the Ist of June. REV. H. R..IIOISINGTON was ordained as the pastor ofthe church of Warren, 0., by the Presbytery of Trumbull. Ser mon by Rev. T. H. Hawkes, pastor of the second Church of Cleirei-Lid.
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