The American Presbyterian * AMD GENESEE EVANGELIST. • t XELXGIOUS AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER, IN THZ IHTIRIST OF THE 'Constitutional Presbyterian Church. PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY, I AT THE PRESBYTERIAN HOUSE, 1334 Chestnut Street, (2d Story,) Philadelphia. ev. JOHN W. HEARS, Editor and Publisher. CONTENTS OF INSIDE PAGES. Letter from Dr. Cox 210 Try Again 214 Why art Thou Casi Down2lo Little Girl’s Prayer..... 214 Letter from A18bama......210 Adventure in White Mt5...214 Correspondence inohma2lo New Acquaintance ;.,.214 U. S. a Commission 210 Student Life 214 Editor’s Table 211 GiHillan on Calvin 215 Claims of Labor. .211 Ministerial Support— 215 Results of Missions -211 Missionary Items 215 Erratum —The paging opposite page 210 shonld be 211 instead of 2H. CONGREGATIONALISM IN PHILADEL- PHIA. Tlie Independent of June 23d admits to its columns An attempted reply, trf a correspondent, to our article of June 9th, on the above subject/the spirit of which is so bad that we confess to a deep reluctance, as Christian journalists, to engage in any controversy with the author. If any one not acquainted with %e facts wished for an explanation of ohc attitude towards recent Gongrega tioi-al movements in this city, he would need) to know nothing more than is revealbl in the animus of this article. That which ig impregnated with such a spirit, and which requires such a style of defence, may well be expected to alienate all Who have the honour of Christ’s cause at heart. It is the perijstent effort of this writer, and of otitis on the same side, to show that all wexhave written upon the recent effort to establish Congrega tionalism here, springs ftom opposition to, and jealousy of, Congregationalism itself. This is altogether \ mistake. While we have no idea that Congrega tionalism is needed here, any more than New School Presbyterianism is heeded in Boston, we could not find it in our hearts to oppose a natural, genuine developement of orthodox Congrega tionalism here, or any where. We should be false to some of our best memories - and happiest associations, and to some of tW-Tiohlfisf, traditions in the history of ®e church and the country. No Int is this spurious representative usurping an honored name, this sectarian fever that boils over with' animosity to New School Presbyterianism every where, this unscrupulous welcomer of all creeds and of no creed, so that it can make a show of suceesp,—it is this against which we feel it our duty to contend in its noisy demonstrations. In pi'oportion as we love and I 'revere the true, we must protest against the false. This sectarian movement claims to represent the healthful and seller of New England, and (fomwrtwa our recognition as such. We cannot give it. Wo have read the fable of the ass in the lion’s skin. We havq heard the awful attempt of this creature to roar in the columns of the Independent, and if we had any doubt remaining before, we are now sure that the lion of New England orthodoxy is not under his skin. And why should we be expected to welcome this phase of Congregationalism among us? If it were" the genuine thing it professes to-be, it would bo more closely allied m doctrine and spirit to our branch of the church than any other, and would comport itself as ■such. In fact, it has showil no special regard for us, but has been just as ready to affiliate with every other, evangelical denomination in the city as our own. It made equally friendly demonstrations to Methodists, Baptists and Episcopa lians as to. us. Evidently, it was not conscious of any “ elective affinity” our branch. -It was a widely different body from those who, thirty years ago, inaugurated Congregational ism in our city. They came to the lecture room of the First Presbyterian Church, freely offered them for the pur pose of organization. Thiscouncil goes into an opera house, submitting, for the sake of eclat, to the uncongenial asso ciations of a place of worldly amuse ment. ’ They chose our ministry as their natural associates. These seek to gather every .shade of opinion around their council, and actually, in their first let ters missive, were so awkward as to put their council in danger of falling mainly into the hands of a mixture of Presby terian, Baptist, Lutheran, German Re formed and oilier delegates, whom tbey had invited on the same footing with their own. This blunder was so great and the exigency so important, that when discovered by Dr. Bacon, he re quired a supplementary note to he ad dressed to each of these outside parties, politely admonishing them that they werp not expectedtovote on this occasion !* This section of the Congregational body evidently has quite a different self consciousness from that which we once welcomed among us and are prepared to welcome again. Again, the past history of efforts to plant Congregationalism, even of the better sort, at and below this latitude, might well relieve us of any suspicion of fear or jealousy. Is “B. JEE.” aware *The following is a copy of one of these supplementary notes: MKEOAHTIM LIBBAKT COMPASI OP PHIIADBIPHIA, 1 135 South Fifth Street, Moy 23d, 1884. / ——.—: Dear Sir: —ln the letter addressed to the church of which you are- the -nastor, by committee of the three Congrega .fianal Churches here, it was not stated, as it ■should have been, that the churches of the cityyrere invited as honorary members of the tt^g“4.S W o(Vi»om. talo tko m* New Seirieis ? Vol. I, 3Vo. 37. that this is the third attempt of the kind in Philadelphia ? Thirty years ago the beginning was made under favourable auspices. - One of the best men in all New England was sent to take the place of pastor to the “ Clinton St. Church." A handsome edifice was erected in a most eligible part of the city. The church was soon disbanded, and the building is now in the hands of our own denomination. Five or six year 3 ago, an effort was made to start a church organization in the northwest ern part of the city. It was so short lived, that it has been found agreeable to ignore the undertaking entirely. A few years ago the Congregationalisms came down upon Washington city like an avalanche, taking the hospitable people there utterly by surprise. Something like a hundred clerical add lay delegates from a distance responded to the call for a council to organize a church in that city. The newspaper announce ments of this enterprise were quite as boastful, quite as sensational, as those which have heralded the movement in our city. Where is Congregationalism in Washington city now? Let the Boston GongregationaKst of June 17th, give answer: — , It is now represented almost altogether by a few members of Congress, and by some twenty to thirty clerks in the departments, with a few reporters., Not half a dozen resi dent families have as yet volunteered .to identify themselves with an effort to establish a Congregational Church there. And so on; the article closing with an appeal for help from the American Home Missionary Society in some pos sible future attempt to organize a church and sustain a pastor there. We are far, very far, from exulting in these failures; but as we have been ac cused of jealousy and petty fear, we wisb to remind our accusers how little real ground their past movements in this section have given for such feelings. To part of their work we may apply the celebrated fragmentary line of Vir gil •• v fjie vos, non vobis — leaving it to their best remembrances, and to their classical ingenuity to com plete the verse. Jealousy? TMS'.'s an emotion which sees in its Jk&ft Something aspiring— of the same ends wtfeo'itself. We can never be jealous of -that which aims lowel- than ourselves, and which exults in atfaHrtng— which we disdain to seek. The late demonstrations in this city prove that Congregationalism is glad to eat of the crumbs which fall from the New School Presbyterian- table; considers the ac quisition of parties which we have de liberately .rejected, as ground for the liveliest demonstrations of triumph ; has such an insatiable craving for success that momentous questions of creeds, of personal character, of respectable ante cedents are ignored in the eagerness to swell the numbers of its adherents. Such movements astonish and grieve us ; they excite our pity : they are not within the scope of our jealousy. We are not rivals on such a field. Nay, since “ B. H.” lias presumed to give the philosophy of our state of mind, we may be excused if we undertake to explain his. Why is he so intensely bitter? Why is the Independent so steadily, so unscrupulously, anti-Pres byterian? Why so specially opposed to the New School Presbyterian Church, that we think it #as somewhere been said, that “ the original sin.of the Inde dendent is hatred to New School Presby terianism ?” For no other reason than because good Congregationalists, when emigrating into New School Presbyte rian neighborhoods, will, to such a greaf extent, commit the grievous offence of joining our churches and becoming true, loyal, working members who cannot afterwards be detached. Because good Congregational ministers will accept calls to our churches and professor’s chairs, and ally themselves with ail their hearts with our denomination, and become convinced of the superiority of its grand polity. Because the Inde pendent cannot dragoon these men and ministers into the-policy of standing aloof, or of at least, retaining their pre ferences for Congregationalism in their new positions, and serving the Presbyte rian Church with only half a heart. It is precisely the ' same spirit which, twelve years ago, cried out that the plan of union, for which our branch of the Church endured the loss of all things, was working unfairly and to the advantage of Presbyterianism; which procured the vote of the Albany Con vention for its appeal; which perverted the American Home Missionary Society into a sectarian institution, and which;, all through the West, has ever since been seeking to eliminate the New Eng land elements from our churches, and to run a sharp line of demarcation be tween Congregationalists and ourselves. If we mistake not, “B. H.” himself, has had a sh|ire in this very work in the Northwest, where he established his reputation as a vehement arid un scrupulous partizan, and trained him self for the work he is now attempt ing in Philadelphia. At all events, the explanation of his bitterness in the ar ticle under consideration is disappoint-- ’ ment. Under what other feeling could he have written the following: ■ New School Presbyterianism, wants Con gregafcionalists from New England and else where to build up Presbyterianism, as they PHILADELPHIA, THTJR have so long done. It wants our influence, our money, our zeal, our education, our life, our best men, all for itself. . . Then, with majestic self-complacency, it adds, “ In the meantime, as was to be expected, our best and most valuable New England men re main contentedly in their former connec tions." If New England men,Congregation al ists in principle, do remain contentedly in connection with this editor, after Teading his false and reckless assaults upon their own kindred in blood and faith and order; if they show no family feeling, and forget still the cost and worth of their own' principles; if such an exhibition of overdone partisan ship does not disgust them ; it will show a most lamb-like temper, which wil suggest the millenium; for we read that then “ the wolf Also shall dwell with the lamb” — con-) tentedly. Under what other feeling could he have written as he has done of the American Presbyterian!-which he had heard warmly recommended by a New England minister, and of which com mendation he says, in a hurst of concentrated bitterness, which has transported him out of all bounds of truth and of propriety: We like the preachers—but what if we must have “ The American Presbyterian” that beggar for a life, thrust into our faces out of their pulpits, once in three months, and we be put under pains and penalties if we yyill not support it! , It is from the very depths of a disap pointed soul that this language comes. He could not bear it that a Congrega tional minister shonld not only aceept a position in a Presbyterian pulpit, but should be loyal and true in upholding all the interests of the denomination he espoused. Doubtless “B. H.” expected him to recommend the Independent. That would have accorded fully with his notions of ecclesiastical fidelity and honor, as we shall have, perhaps, occa sion to show hereafter. Not so, thinks this pastor. Not in his bosom do the mists of partizaii zeal and, rancour so obscure the princi ples of Christian manliness. Arid tiie spectacle is viewed by “B. H.” with chagrin. While writing this article, we have received from the pastor in ques tion a note, indited in entire ignorance of our present intentions, dated among the granite cliffs of New England, which, at the extreme risk of increasing :l B. H’s.” disappointment to an inconsolable de gree, as well as aggravating the sinful ness of that estate into which the Inde pendent has fallen, we insert in this connection. ■. . 4,. Cnxronrijt HaJRBe^Ultt.lSBA. DeAr'lßhotiieu Hears :-kAllow ihe to~ex-~ press my great gratification in the perusal of your paper. Now that I have no practical part in the preparation of its materials, I can impartially pronounce on its merits. It is, in my judgment, many degrees better than it was two years ago, and superior to most, if not "all, the religious journals of the day. It is able, lively, varied, and marked by candor, as well as pervaded by a*healthfui Christian tone. It is doing good service for the fami lies and churches in our denomination; and appreciated, as I have occasion to know, in households of other religious persuasions. Its advent, weekly, to my rural door, is a refreshment and a joy, both on account of its reminders of past relationship, and of its in herent worth and interest. It gives me much pleasure to see .that our church has done so much for missions, and that the General Assembly has taken such promising steps toward the true. and com plete direction of our children in Sabbath Schools. The resolutions please me. Go on; dear brother, in your editorial work. You are touching chords in many hearts; you are influencing the springs of action in the clmrch. Remember me with deep affection to the brethren of the Association. I am of them, though not with them. ' We, shall be together again. I love our church better for my absence. It is my prayer that I may yet serve it with greater efficiency and a purer zeal. The Lord bless you and yours, my own dear people, and our whole church. Yours, in Christian brotherhood, E. E. Adams. J - We venture to say that this is one oi the many true men among us from New England, who are ‘glad to gel away from any identification with til Independent, and who are the more fine ly fixed in their present relations by'tie very tone'and policy of the Independjni and its friends on such occasions. / But we cannot lay aside our ie without paying some particular nip tion to the correspon den thi mself. Win we have to say of him will hell ’ explain the anunusof themovenien/ai to jusiiiy our altitude towards it. lit ton'll. if.” that the Independent turned over the work of defending recent proceedings in inaugurating C grcgationalism (for the third tii Philadelphia. And justly er, n B. H. is the leading spirit in movement. It was his zeal haste that dragged, the others embarrassing position which tj and of which wc are sure the / among them will, as the Cow alist has already suggested, lastingly sorry.” His glow! sentations lured them on, an/ enough, the others hold hirar tor the difficulties of the roi “ B. H.” doubtless is or : Congregational minister, id the active duties of his ct lowing a secular calling. He has been a member—;! of Congregational ministj of one of our churches (tlf street) for two or thje representing an honorc branch of the church, ; decided ability, he w; ceived and afforded eve) in a congregation cont; England families, and < istrhtions of a pastor originally from Hey England. He was welcomed to the pulpits of this and other churches in Uuch services as his health would admit of; we ourselves freely commend ecuthose in charge of our own vacant p/lpits to. him for assistance. Conceive o/the extreme indelicacy and hardihood cr the man, who, while holding such a position, stealthily insinuated himseif lmohg the families of the church, with which he is connected and whose peace mo, is solemnly bound to study, and strove to detach them from it and secure heir pledges to another organization! wh'o ses the Christian confidence frankly yiel’c sd him by an entire denomination to v )rk it v mischief! This is the very anti tfdes of Christian manliness; the verj essence of the ethics of bigotry and jropagandism. Such eon duct would hot be tolerated in an effort to form a chu chi of the same denomination, but woild .expose the actors to discipline ancdisgra.ee. B. H. says it is within his mWlodge that not a Presbyterian fan ily-hor a Presbyterian man has been ask id to join this enterprise. We do i wonder he says so. Sis member- I of a Presbyterian church certainly veryj lightly upon his conscience, ad not hindered him from proving selfbjltterly anti-Presbyterian. From point, of view, no Congregationalist, matter how long he has been united ;he most solemn bonds with a Pres ioi'ianf church, can be a Presbyterian, •ought to belong to such a church y that he may at the opportune morhentfuse his position to the advan tage of his own sect. Yolla tout l Be hold the ethics of “B. H.,” of the Inde pendent, and of Jesuits generally. Whjj did not B. H. take a manly course'in his endeavors to extend Con gregationalism in this city ? He is very severe upon*sueh Hew Englanders as forget, in reaching this latitude, the qualities peculiar to their original char acter. He summons them to the coun ter of his shop in Philadelphia to learn from his lips, and revive from his exam ple, the qualities lof the Hew England character which (they have lost. He regards himself ah having escaped the transforming influence in his emigre tion. Unfortunate man! the one trait which, in all jbese transactions, he has made 5 it conspicuously certain he has brought along with him, is that quality of eiunning and adroitness, which, when it the nobler, grander Englander, makes him the sftorn 'of the land. Why did •he choose such an equivocal course? Why take the gratuitous step of bring ing his letter of membership to a Pres byterian session—a step which he must know ii not expected from min is-ters in our congregations? Why .did he not, ardent ‘ partizan that he is, em brace the earliest opportunity afforded by the organization of the Congrega tional Church in this city, under Mr. Hear] to ally himself with the struggl ing enterprise, instead of remaining for nearly a year afterwards,' in his old con nection. i: B. H.” and his friends may insist!as they please, that it is the ad vent of Congregationalism only that annoys ns; certainly there has been that in the mode of planting it, that might well throw suspicion, in the eyes of he nest men, upon the; thing itself. Thos i who ..wish to destroy, in'Presby teria i hearts, the lingering affection and esteem they still cherish for their 'old dissociates in the Congregational Church, need but send such propagand ists as this “ B. H.” to plant it by our side. / ♦ —t>—» / j PEOGEESS II THE WEST. We chronicled in last week’s paper, the recent accession, by organization and otherwise, of four churches in the West to our body. One of these is the Church of Palmyra, Mo., which has returned to our ranks after au absence i- of five years among associations that 1 • savoured too strongly of disloyalty and pro-slavery. The others are newly , organized churches at Canton and Holla, it in the same State—which is now one of to 'the most promising fields for home mis s ion ary effort open to our church ; and the Pirst Church, also just organized, of ;he Lawrence, Kansas. These are impor m- t",nt movements and full of encourage | to all interested in the extension an pe Redeemer's kingdom. In each iyl art? stii the organizations are complete, / , -qM;' 011 in Lawrence material was at hand /oy the formation of a session of five food iaqk‘ ' e j|ers,,each'o'fwhom has been previously /jf evo”- gained to that office. ns • renre *^fc ese are but aewol ™ e ear v r6 ‘ naturally suits of our invigorated Home Mission ■csponsible. ary policy. Our churches will see in them additional reason for sustaining the committee with liberal contributions and earnest prayers. tej in •• ,„«‘gans > filling :au in the hospitals or the battle-, field while fighting in its defence. They have borne their unexampled sufferings without murmuring. They are martyrs in the holy cause of national life and human liberty. And blessed and ho nored is the age and the land we live in, that it could produce such countless examples of the noble, unselfish, heroic spirit, without which no degree of wealth, or commercial prosperity, or literary distinction can make a nation truly great or insure its permanence. But how is it with those of us who, under various circumstances, remain at home—who are spectators, merely, of the trials, disasters and triumphs of our brave men—and who read or hear of their wearying marches on dusty roads; their short rations ; their night manoeu vres, followed by their day’s fighting; their lonely and perilous picketing; their toilsome and. perilous raids; their charges upon bristling entrenchments; their three, and six, and eight days’ fighting; their wounds, their maiming, their deaths, their unburied ghastly corpses;—all this borne for us and for our children ; that we may abide unmo lested under the roofs of our own happy homes ; that we may pursue our avoca tions undisturbed and carry on the far different pursuits of peace—how is it with us ? Do we ask ourselves seriously, why this difference? Is it any more the duty of these men in the field than ours, to risk their lives, to suffer and die for the country? Has Providence, in any special manner, indicated to us the duty SJaying ,at' home in this juncture ?". Perhaps he has, —wo hope none that can go and that are needed, • are staying at home, without some such indication. But what wo would insist upon is, the need of the same noble spirit in those who stay as in those who go. We must be willing to be martyrs for our country, wherever and whoever we are. We must share in the same spirit which has made the patriot sol dier ready to volunteer, so that we too, when indications of duty are clear, shall be fully prepared to go, and endure the same toils and perils, and die, if neces sary, his death. At home, we must be ready to bear suffering and privation, in whatever shape it comes upon us. We must hush the notes of murmuring, and cultivate a manly spirit of endu rance. We must rise with every new demand made upon us, with a growing sense of the solemn importance and the historic grandeur of the strife through which we are passing, and with a sense of shame at the remotest thought of weakly shrinking from the burdens necessary to be borne in the deliverance and regeneration of this great Nation. What is the comfort, what is the life of an individual, compared with the salva tion of the country? No one is a true patriot who hesitates at the alternative. No one is a true patriot who regards his fortune or his life as too precious a thing to give in its defence. It is necessary that this heroic mood should more extensively pervade the people of the North- We have, thank God, already witnessed many cheering examples of it; more than can he num bered. But it must become the prevail ing temper of the public mind, before our Nation will be permanently bene fitted by tbe present straggle. As a whole people, we must heed the solemn call of duty, and offer ourselves upon the altar of our country. It may be that God designs still. more severely to chastise ns,. and to expel more com pletely tbe devil of selfishness from tbe national heart. Within tbe past fort night he has suffered us to be attacked in our finances in a manner unparalleled during the war, and ominous of still greater evil. Do we not need, as a grasping, money-making people, to be chastened just here ? Especially do not those enemies of our country, and those heartless men who have been .diligently and adroitly using this time of great TZEfR-IMES By mail, $2.00 per annum, in advance. “ “ 250 “ “ after 8 months. By carrier, 50 cents additional for delivery. CXiTTBS. Ted or more papers sent by mail to one church or locality, or in tho city to one address By mail, $1.50 per annum. By carriers. 2.00 “ To save trouble, cluo subscriptions must commence at tbe same date, be paid strictly in advance, in a single remittance, for which onf 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. excitement to stimulate prices and to weaken tbe credit of the Government for their own advantage, need .to be chastened; do not the business circles of our country need to be purged of such noxious elements; or if that may not be, is it not necessary that our whole eager business community be strikingly convinced that we are in the midst of ,a struggle demanding tbe martyr devo tion of every class in the land, before we can hope for success, or before it will be safe for us to be successful ? We do not know whether more or greater sacrifices will be required; we are no prophets of evil; but we are sure it is appropriate to counsel a readiness to bear them on the part of tbe North. There is no surer way of averting them than by cultivating beforehand the brave spirit by which they must he met. Might we but see our business and financial circles rallying to the support of the national credit; the people ab staining from imported luxuries and freely yielding the taxes required in our great expenditure; the armies re cruited by real volunteers without recourse to an extravagant system of bounties; and one true, simultaneous, unwavering, identical swell and outflow of practical patriotism from every quar ter of tbe land and every class of the community,resolved to do, and to endure, and to lose everything rather than suffer this nation to perish! "BOLDUESS.” HKRKEW 10 : 19, —AND 4 : 16. The original word is rather a singular one, and might be rendered free-spoken ness. Robinson says, “It is characteris tic of a frank and fearless mind.” In a great many translations it is rendered “Liberty,” but it is the liberty which a frank and fearless mind possesses. You see an illustration of the word, in the conduct of a little child, which has entire confidence in, and most heartily loves, its parent. There you see real free spokenness. It is net afraid to say any thing which it wishes, to its parent. It can open up its whole heart to its par ent. It can tell all that it desires, and ail’that it fears, to its parent. It holds back nothing. It feels the utmost lib erty ; but not one iota more than the child of God ought to feel in the pres ence of his heavenly father. Confidence and love east out the fear of the confiding child. So it is with the child of God. “ There is no fear in love,” except the fear of offending the one loved. “ Perfect love casteth out fear.” Hence confidence and love beget free spokenness. There is a translation which renders it; confidence, but that is implied in free-spokenness. There must bo confi dence, where there is freedom of speech. The lack of confidence seals the lips. You are cautious about your language when in the presence of those in whom you have no confidence. You are afraid to open your heart to a stranger, and tell him your joys and sorrows, hopes and fears. Confidence in God opens the lips and the heart to him. Reader, does it open yours ? You need not fear to tell him your heart’s joys and sorrows— you need not fear to trust him. He will not betray your confidence. He will not disappoint you. If we take our own excellent translation, “ Boldness,” wo must of course understand the word in its mood sense. It is used for for o ward, rude, impudent, &C-, which is farthest from being proper in the pres ence of God. Indeed it is in no sense the characteristic of the child of God. Rut the primary meaning of the word is openness j and then also it means courage, bravery, fearlessness, &e. We can be. open and frank in the presence of those in whom we have confidence. Where we can be free-spoken we can be bold, Paul using tbis word says, “ For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our in firmities, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb. iv: 15, Ifi, If there is any place where we should be free-spoken —have boldness, confidence, and frankness, it is in spiritual things. There is no place where we should be so free-spoken, an before God, and in coming to him. Salem Presbytery, Ind. —Three new la borers have recently gone into the wide and needy field of this Presbytery.