The American Presbyterian
AND
GENESEE EVANGELIST.
RAD:nous AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER,
EV tun INISRESi UT TUB
Constitutional Presbyterian Church.,
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY,
AT THE PRESBYTERIAN HOUSE,
1334 Chestnut Street, (3d Story,) Philadelphia.
Belt, JOHN W. MEARS, Editor and Publisher,
* CONTENTS OF INSIDE PAGES,
General Assembly—Third and Fourth Days
Roll of the Assembly
Editor's Table
Correspondence in Burnaide's Division
What it Cost to be a Christian
Allentown Church
Sonnet of Michael Angelo
A Word about Clouds
Women'q Antl4mportation Movement.
Letters from a Lady
iinrihodi and Tennyson
Franklin and his Paper
Rehomus World Abroad
Publication Committee's Report
JOSH OALVIN-111.
HIS CHARACTER VINDICATED
In this world it is the fate of great
ness to be misapprehended, and of merit
to be abused. The man who assails er
ror or wrong, soon learns that there are
blows to take as well as blows to give.
Not rarely some weakness of his own
invites the arrow that may reach him
" between the joints of the harness."
The praise he receives is qualified by
criticism or censure, and the hisses that
the mention of his name excites, may
sometimes be more noticed than the ap
plause.
To such experience as this, John Cal
vin was not a stranger while he lived,
and over his dust that has rested for three
centuries in its grave, sharp conflicts
have been waged. His character and
his doctrines have alike been assailed ;
obsolete slanders have been .revived ;
and prejudice has spared no efforts to
decry his merits and exaggerate his
faults.
And faults no doubt he had. His
nature was not coagulated rose water.
He was not gentle and winning like Me
laucthon. He had not the hearty im
petuousness and broad humor of Luther.
And yet he was capable of the warmest
friendship, and he could inspire the most
entire confidence and the strongest at
tachment. True, the C'itrrent of his
feelings seemed like a winter stream,
frozen and impassive, bat underneath
the surface of cold logic and natural re
serve, flowed a strength of human affec
tion, for which the world gave him
little credit till revealed by his corres
pondence.
He stands charged too with the abuse
of power. 'Unquestionably he held the
reins of discipline with a firm hand.
He would not allow the manifestly un
worldly to hold a place in the church—
an intolerance which was a scandal to
many then, but if an offence, one which
the modern church has seen fit to copy.
He would not tolerate misdeeds and
vices, which in our day spurn the mem
ory of Puritan restrictions, but he re
pressed them in the name and in the
cause of sound morabi r and under the
pressure of a stern conscientiousness.
If he wielded power with a firm hand—
if sometimes himself " the power behind
the throne," he shaped the laws and se
cured their execution with unbending
rigor—it was not from any vulgar or
common-place ambition. No man loved
power less for its own sake. Non© ever
exercised it under a sterner sense of re
sponsibility to God. fie was not eager
for place. Greatness was thrust upon
him.
.His tastes were scholarly not
worldly. It was Farel's imprecation
that first forced him into public service.
It was the importunity of friends, the.
intercession of protestant cities, and the
supplication of Geneva itself, that over
came the reluctance of the exile to re
turn. " I tremble in my innermost be
ing," so he wrote to Farel, " when men
tion is made of my return." And to
Viret he says, " Shall I go then to Ge
neva to secure my peace ? Why not
rather submit to be crucified?" This
was the expression of genuine feeling.
Hypocrisy at least Calvin's enemies
have rarely ventured to lay to his
charge.
But the burning of Servetus ! This
clings to Calvin's memory like the fabled
shirt of Nessus. God forbid that any
man in these days should attempt to
defend the justice or the policy of the
deed. Let it be that Calvin deprecated
such severity. Let it be that Servetus
had steeped himself in perjury, that his
violent and outrageous blasphemies be
tokened the raving maniac rather than
the daring speculator. Let it be that
he was not a man to be reasoned with,
or one whose solemn promise could be
trusted. Still the deed was wrong. It
was a blunder as well as a crime. But
to judge Calvin fairly we must remem
ber the spirit of the age, and the ques
tion which was at issue. No less an
'authority . than Prescott luta . remarked,
"the immorality of the act awl of the
actor seem to me two very different
,
r
nigirto tre(2-bviitian
New Series, Vol. I, No. 22.
things ; and while we judge the one by
the immutable principles of right and
wrong, we must try the other by the
fluctuating standard of the age. The
real question is, whether a man was sin- .
cere and acted according to the lights
of his age. We cannot fairly demand
of a man to be in advance of his gene
ration,- and where a generation 'goes
wrong, we may be sure that it is an error
of the head, not of the heart." If such
principles of historic; judgment are sound,
Calvin is entitled to the benefit of them.
But besides this, a pressure was put
upon him, the force of which we are
unable fairly to appreciate. Servetus
was a scandal alike to Papist and Pro
testant. By the sentence of the Romish.
Church his life was forfeit. He had in—
curred infamy which no protestant ad
vocacy could venture to .excuse. Was
such a man to find refuge and toleration
at Geneva ? Was such a man to be al
lowed to cover protestantism with the
odium of lies, blasphemous errors and
crimes ? What would the world say ?
What would Rome say? What was the
boasted Reform of Geneva, if the state
that repressed ruinous vices, gave shelter
to the Hydra of deadly error ?
But even in such a proceeding as that
which resulted in the doom of Servetus,
Calvin's participation was limited to
what he regarded as the line of duty.
Ile was stern and inexorable in fidelity
to his convictions. We cannot cease to
respect him even when he errs.
His theology has been represented as
tinged with his own bilious hue, and it
has been inferred that his sympathies
were as narrow as by imputation his
creed is assumed to have been. But
this is a gross mistake.' Calvin was .too
sagacious, as well as liberal, to tithe
mint, annise and cummin. The,horizon
of his sympathies was broad as Chris
tendom. He did not dream that the
Church of Christ was contracted to the
limits of the Geneva Republic, or
bounded by the Alps. One. of the three
great objects which he perseVeringly
prosecuted, was that of Christian Union,
the promotion of the harmony and com
munion of the several protestant church
es, not only in Switzerland but through
out Europe. " Fain would I," he said,
" that such a harmony reigned among
all the churches of Christ in this world,
that the angels might sing to us from
heaven:" In keeping with this was his
view of the essentials of faith. No
sissima verba restrictions chilled his sym
pathies. Clear and definite in his own
views, he did not demand that others
should swear in verba magistri: "If
even theldoctrine," he wrote, "is mark
ed with error, it is enough for me if only
that which is fundamental remains."
Such was John Calvin, a man whose
individuality of character is strongly
marked, but whose broad views, liberal
sympathies and heroic, firmness Om
mend him to our regard. Perhaps no
branch of the church accepts fully to
day all the peculiarities of his theologi
cal system, but as a system in its
great features it stands now, as for three
centuries it has stood, like a granite pil
lar based on a pedestal of rock. It has
been the study and admiration of the
greatest minds. It has exerted a world
wide influence. It has inspired to he:-
roism. It has taught endurance. Back
of the great historic movements of these
last three centuries, we discern again
and again the shadowy and operative
presence of the Geneva theology. It
hovers over the dykes of Holland, where
the tide of Spanish invasion recoils be-_
fore the valor of Dutch Calvinists. We
recognize it
_in Round head encamp
ments, Puritan Conventionists, and
Scotch Communions, and we hear its'
familiar tones from tho lips of the great
leaders of religious opinion down to the
present times. With the Mayflower it
crosses the ocean, and with the fathers'
of the Presbyterian Church, it colonizes
a young empire for freedom and for God:
linoble pioneer missionaries have braved
the wilderness, and the Presbyterian pul
pit has been true to the cause of civil
`and religionaliberty, and if we read to
day with just pride the record of the
ministry in " the times that tried men's
souls," it is but justice to the claims of
historic truth to recognize our indebted
ness - under God to the influence and
teachings, the life and labors of John
Calvin.
THE GERMAN STREET CHURCH, on.
Monday, May 23d, unanimously' elected
Rev: Josiah Young, of Sunbury, pastor
of the church:
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 1864.
THE ASSEMBLY.---MODERATOR'S SER
MON.
Last week; by timely arrangements,
we - were enabled to lay before our read
ers the moderator's sermon, entire;,
we have no doubt they appreciated our
endeavors, and most of them, probably,
have read the whole sermon. We hope,
they will do so, if they have not. Its.
highly appropriate theine; the compre
hensive, penetrating, exhaustive, yet
not tedious, handling it received; the:
clear and logical statements which of
themselves have the force of argument ;
the admirable combination of fidelity to.
the truth, with charity to all who think
•
differently; the manly, earnest, evan-_
gelical spirit, breathing through the
whole, unite to give it a, place among
the very first of our Moderators' Sex-,
coons. On the subject it treats of; it
must, we think, pass as authority. We
cannot forbear quoting half a dozen.
sentences, in which, as it seems to us;
the gist of the whole matter between us
and the other branch is stated :
"Our ground has always been that bOth
parties may and ought to live under one
standard in peace and quietness. We do
not object even to those of the most.
straitest sect, provided that, concerning
zeal, they do not insist upon persecuting
the church. But if it be claimed that'
the only basis of union is our aceeptatici3,
of the theories of immediate imputation,.
unqualified inability and a limited,
atonement, even if we held to these dog-.
mas, we could not accede to the terms:J.
for . they annul the very principle of'. 7
broader ministerial fellowship, - withottt
which no reunion could be lasting. We
cannot afford to enter a eommunibti'
which would exclude Edwards and
Dwight, Richards and Woods."
Whatever is distinctive in the attitude
of the so-called " New School man" is here
stated. He is " New," not so much in the
more liberal doctrinal views he enter,
tains, as in the liberal attitude he main
tains towards those who differ from him.
There was a time when we regarded;the
statement of this position as of great
importance in the discussion4of ii u
-
.
question of union; but ftirther reite,ctlon
leads us .to doubt its practical value.
Who, in point of fact, are habitually
and on principle, tolerant of various
shades of opinion in Vie Calvinistic.
churches ? Who are naturally and ne
cessarily zealous for every tenet of their
creed, and .of the philosophy of their
breed ? Where is the " New School"
spirit of union found, but with the liher
al-minded in doctrine ? Is it not idle to
expect a high Calvinist to be tolerant of
more moderate views ? Should we agree.
to admit " those of the most straitest
sect" to our organization, on the suppo
sition that they bad become "New
School," so far as the abandonment of
the persecuting spirit is concerned,
might we not, ere long, find that both
they and we were mistaken ; that the
spirit of intolerance is inseparable from
ultra-Calvinism; that it must and will
assert itself in restlessness and division
of some sort or other? The high-Cal
vinist is, as we all know, an exceedingly
conscientious person in regard to the
doctrines and shades of doctrine he
holds. He is unrelenting when upon
the track of an errorist, real or supposed.
Some of those who took part • in, or
approved of the evcin ding acts, doubtless
believed that they were doing God ser
vice by such high-handed measures.
Intolerance is, we fear, wrapped up
with the very fibres of their system. In
their psychological position they cannot
help it. We may therefore*well hesitate
about a new union with these elements.
Twice we have tried to fuse them, With
but temporary success. Of one thing
we may be certain : that if such a• ser
mon, as this catholic and masterly per_
formance of our moderator's, were once
-heard - in the assembly of the other
'branch, there would be more hopd of a
genuine and permanent union than there
is now. Its spirit surprised no one
.in our assembly; would that be the cash
in the other body ?
GUARDING THE PULPIT.—The Preshy
of Pataskala, 0., at its recent meet
ing, passed the following :
Resolved, That in view of °frond):
stances as existing in our immediate
vicinity, we earnestly advise our vacant
Congregations to allow no minister to
occupy their churches, or otherwise la
bor among them, who does not cordially
approve the action of our last General.
Assembly on the state of the country.
The Corner Stoile of Olivet Church,
Mount Vernon and Twenty-sewn+ sta,
n &ie. city, was laid Monday, mity 30.
Genesee Evangelist, No. 041.
LETTER FROM CONSTANTINOPLE.
[We yield our columns, with pleasure,
to the veteran Missionary, Dr. Riggs, of
Constantinople, who, in the subjoined
communication, furnishes explanations
and corrections of statements made in
recent German publications, on the Pera
church difficulties, quoted in our columns
some time ago. We expressed, at the
time, surprise and censure at the dis
courtesy shown by the Evangelical
„Church of Germany towards our mis
sionary brethren in Constantinople, and
we are prepared to learn that the repre
•sentations on which the German church
'es acted, are highly colored by the false
zeal, through which the writers,Pisclon
and Pfeiffer, have looked at the facts.
Why cannot such statements as this of
Dr. Riggs, helaid before the Evangeli
cal Alliance at Berlin, or sent to the
,lirchenzeitung, the organ of. that body,
for publication ? Such statements, to
, .gether with the example of the Turkish
Missions' Aid Society of Great Britain,
would go far to disabuse the minds of
•German Christians, and alter their
course. How much they need light,
appears from the fact that the present
King of Prussia, in view of such repre
sentations as are here corrected by Dr.
Riggs, has just subscribed two thousand
, thalers in aid of the Pena church ; his
predecessor subscribed one thousand.]
TO THE EDITOR OF THE AMERICAN
PRESBYTERIAN :—Dear Brother,—ln your
paper of March 10th, you state succinct
ly the position of the Pera Church, of
this city, and the views of Prussian
friends in respect to affording them aid.
Will you .allow me the space to make a
few brief statements respecting some of
the points:touched upon in that article?
In your quotation from the Kirchenzei
tung, the " Pero, community," for whose
accommodation it is proposed to build a
church, is represented as consisting of
" more than 1000 souls." Now it is very
' ely that the hope may have been ex
pressed, that - should a commodious and
inviting church building he erected, the
congregation would be greatly increased,
and this estimate may have been found
ed on some such anticipation. It would
hoviever have been wiser as well as
truer, to have stated it as an anticipa
tion. The actual Sabbath congregation
does not average thirty persons.
Mr. Pischon says: "The prospect held
out in the beginning of the mission, that
by degrees the Armenian church would
be left to arrange its own ecclesiastical
affairs, was never realised." The impli
cation here is most ungenerous, as well
as unfounded. The fact is that the mis
sion has steadily urged the native pas
tors and churches to go forward in the
_management of their own ecclesiastical
affairs, availing themselves of our advice
only so far as they should be perfectly
satisfied with it. > The missionaries, after
rganising the native churches, have
ever even 4 ,voted in the • reception or
43,x_elusion of members, or in the election
of pastors or other church officers, or in
the administration of discipline. They
have acted together with the native
• -
tastors (in all cases on a footing of per
?feet equality;) in examining and ordain
ing Pastors elect, examining and licens
ing candidates for the ministry, and in
hearing and deciding cases which have
come up from individual churches,—in
short, in all ministerial duties.
Pastor Pfeiffer says that the native
pastors " are not invited even as guests
to the councils held in reference to their
own churches." Now the real meaning
of this.complaint is that they are not
invited to the business meetings of the
Mission, in which, it is true, we act by
'Ourselves, as trustees, and the only re
sponsible trustees of the funds of the
Board. If Pastor Pfeiffer's statement is
'understood of any properly ecclesiastical
meetings, precisely the contrary of that
- statement is the truth.
Your editorial remarks are valuable,
, and your view of the necessity of a
compact organization of the churches
13ere, agrees 'with our own. We have
labored for this from the beginning
The native churches also admitted it in
principle, and incorporated in their con
stittiti.us certain rules which imply the
existence of a body consisting of all the
pastors within a given district with lay
representatives from the churches ; but
they have thus far failed to carry out
this organization in practice, mainly on
account of the scattered position of the.
churches; idea the consequent expense in
volved in the attendance of pastors and
delegates on the necessary meetings.
You will be interested to learn that
measures have at length been taken by
the native pastors themselves, for the
organising of associations of the church
es wherever practicable, and so far as 1
know, the only pastor who dissents from
these plans and measures, is the Pera
pastor. So far from accuracy is Chap
lain Pischon, when he represents the
pastors generally as preparing to aban
don any direct connexion with the mis
sion, and to found an independent or
ganization.
How the statement that NINE of the
evangelical Armenian churches are found
in this city originated, I cannot imagine,
unless it has been from a misunderstand
ing of some manuscript statement. The
fact is that there are POUR, three ca-ope
rating with us, and reported (as you ob
serve) by the Board, and one, (the Pera
church,) not at present so co-operating.
Permit me to add a remark on the
use of the term heathen, as applicable to
the state of the oriental Christians. It
is true, that in a loose way we speak of
heathen at home, &c. But in speaking
of the classes of people for whom mis
sionary labor is expended, the term hea
then has become so entirely synonymous
with pagan as to render unsuitable its
application to any Christians or even to
Mohammedan s.
Most truly yours in the Gospel,
ELIAs BIG GS
Constantinople, April 18, 1864.
LETTER FROM DAYTON,
DAYTON, Ohio, May 25th, 1864
DEAR BRO. MEARS :-A ride of eight
hundred miles and • more 'brought us
from Philadelphia to this gem-city of
Ohio. We first tried to scale the Blue
Ridge over that master-piece of engi
neering skill—the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, but the angry Potomac had
swept away our crossing at Harper's
Ferry, and so cheated us of our expected
feast upon Nature's wild beauties-among.
the mountains of West Maryland and
Virginia. We turned back, therefore,
and set down again at our starting
point, after having lost a day. We
joined company for a night ride over
Pennsylvania's giant railway, with
several hundred of our noble boys re
turning wounded and worn froth the
front to their homes. After a morning
cup of coffee at Altoona, we cling)-(I
the steep of the Alleghenies, with he
sun smiling merrily upon the fresh
glories of spring, and the silvery mur
muring waters sparkling in the moun
tain gorges.
Time and the cars went swiftly amid
the pleasantrids and mutual entertain
ment of our company, among whom was
the ever-genial pastor of " Old Pine
Street," and after a peep in passing at
dingy, sooty Pittsburgh, and Ohio's
capital, the morning. of Thursday found
us in this beautiful and hospitable place.
Dayton, with its populatiod of near
30,000, is the second city in Ohio in the
amount of taxable property. Situated
on the east side of the Great Miami,
fifty miles from Cincinnati, the depot
of seven railroads and the Miami canal,
with its beautiful private residences and
broad shaded streets, with its tasteful
churches, court-house and romantic
cemetery, with its extensive mills for
linseed oil and cotton and paper, with
its people so warm-hearted, genial and
kind, it is a - place that Will long be
remembered with appreciation by the
G-eueral Assembly of 1894-.
The sessions of this body were opened
on ThursdaY; I9th inst., at 11 A. M., by
. .
a noble sermon from the retiring Mode
rator, Rev. Professor Henry B. Smith,
of New York, OR CHRISTIAN REUNION
the theme which is -engaging the heart
of the whole Presbyterian world. Your
readers have had it already spread
before them in your columns. The
present:Assembly is a fair representa
tion of our church. On its roll yonwill
find the man of intellectual calibre, the
man of executive ability, the man -of
heart, the polished rhetorician of the
city, and the rough, earnest standard- -
bearer of the frontier. The spirit of all
is that of Christ. It is good tO - be- here.
The hearty, warm expression of brotherly
love in debate, in the morning prayer
meetings, in the social greetings of the
brethren, is inspiring and full of cheer.
The Assembly has done itself a hippy
honor its choice of Our well-known,
and-beloved co:Presbyter; Rev.' ThoMais
By mail, $2.00 per annum, in advance.
6 1 250 6 6 6 ' after 3 months.
By carrier, 50 cents additional for delivery
01.17338..
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 .4 4.
To save trouble, club subscriptions must
commence at the same date, be paid atrictly in
advance, in a single remit+ ance, for whiai one
receipt will be returned.
Ministers and Ministers' Widows supplied at
club rates. Home missionaries at slper an num.
POSTAGE.—Five cents quarterly in advance,
to be paid by subscribers at the office of de
livery.
Brainerd, D. D., as Moderator. His
Christian courtesy and dignity, his ready
tact in disposing of difficulties, his grace
and felicity in responding, to the saluta
tions of delegates from other Christian
bodies, have charmed every one. Our
Old School brethren have sent us most
kindly assurances of their affection and
regard, by the mouth of Rev. Edmund
P. Humphrey, D. D., and at their invi
tation we have this afternoon spent an
hour in prayer for our country-in con
cert with them, as represented in
Assembly at Newark, N. J. The busi
ness of the Assembly has its usual
interest, if not more. The Reports of
the several Permanent Committees on.
Foreign and. Home Missions, Education
and Publication, show progress, though
they by no means give evidence that the
church yet appreciates the responsibility
of her stewardship. Oh ! that our Zion
could be aroused to respond to the
claims of the Master. Rev. Thomas S.
Hastings, of New York, in an address
last evening before a meeting called in
the interest of Foreign Missions, made
allusion to the contribution box in the
Cathfdral of Montreal. Over it is a
great open 'eye, which turns every way
upon the giver ; and Yesus still " sits
over against the Treasury and beholds
how the people cast in." May the
church learn the lesson of liberality
developed throughout the land by the
discipline of the war.
Monday evening was devoted to a
conference upon the interests and work
of the Christian Commission. Rev. D.
W. Thompson, of New York, and Bud
dington, of Brooklyn, on their way
home from the bloody field of Resaca,
were present, and by their graphic
painting of the scenes from which they
had just come, filled all with new hatred
of this monster rebellion, and with
warmer love and admiration for the
noble men who stand a living rampart
between it and us.
It need not be said that this Assembly
is top/. If there be any copperheads
here they certainly keep very - close in
the grass. And as for these generous
homes where we are so hospitably
entertained, there is hardly one - which
has not brave, dear fathers, husbands or
sons gone forth at their country's call.
On an excursion last Saturday to the
Miami Bluffs, which bear upon their
crest the ruins of a fort - built in the
highest style of military' art long be
fore the memory of the Indian, we had
the pleasure of meeting General Alexan
der M. McCook, whose immediate family
has already offered four slain-victims
upon the altar of Columbia, and who has
very recently enrolled himself under the
Presbyterian banner of our Great Cap
tain, adding another to the noble list of
our Christian soldiers.
The Assembly have been gratified
twice during its sessions, in the reading,
throughthe thoughtful gift of the editor,
of the " AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN,"
which is highly esteemed everywhere
among those who love loyalty to their
church and country.
I cannot close without an acknow
ledgement of the unremitting attention
and kindness to the comfort of the
Assembly of Rev. Dr. Specs, and the
Committee of Arrangements.
Fraternally and eternally, J. 0. H.
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE
Methodist.—the Laymen of the Cluirch
held a large m =.9.3t week, and ap
pc.-n • of twenty-five to
of lay-delegates in
the s.—The General Confer
ence sent down to the Annual Conference
for their action, a resolution to include
in the Rule on Slavery - Slaveholding as
well as the Slave-trade ; thus excluding
slaveholders from communion.—Among
the most exciting scenes of the General
Conference still in session here, have
been the discussions on the noble address
of the Bishop, upon the subject of slavery,
and the reception of a delegation from
the General Convention of the Colored
Churches, which has also been in session
in this city. The addresses of the dole
grates were eloquent, and elicited - much
applause. We were struck with the
superior order and quiet of the African
Conference, the dignity and refinement
of the Bishops—among= whom presided
the venerable Father Quinn—and the
large, attentive audiences. One htm
dred and. ninety delegates were present.
When . we . commented upon the good ap
pearance of the body, and the silence of
'the 'religious press in regard to the
meetings, an intelligent clergyman of
their body replied, " What we are we
have made ourselves, under. God God, and
the remark.was added, wand that, too,
while enslaved at 'the'South ,and in the
,
seero prejudice.atithe North!!