334 .6tan,ponitrau t OPEN AIR MEETINGS. No. 111 BY EDWARD PAYSON HAMMOND I promised in my last to collect a few facts and thoughts with regard to " oc casional open air meetings." There are hundreds of goodly men in Great Britain who are ever watchful for opportunities to repeat the story of the Saviour's finished work. It is said that. the 8i51.. - )p of London takes his stand at Charing Cross, and preaches Christ and him crucified to the crowds who there gather. Would it not look strange to see the Bishop of New York on the City Hall steps, telling the motley crowd that " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," even the chief? No doubt many would " murmur," as did the Scribes and Pharisees when " all the publicans and sinners" pressed around the meek and lowly Jesus to listen to his compassionate and life giving words. ST. JAMES' PARK the Bishop of London, like our blessed Lord, love to be called "the friend of publicans and sinners." A walk through St. James' Park on any pleasant Sab bath day, convinces one that in that vast city of three millions, there are hundreds who fear not to imitate his example. It is safe to say that twenty or thirty separate audiences might often be counted in that park on a Sabbath, listening attentively to the words of eternal life. Among the speakers may be seen gentlemen of high standing, whose names are familiar even on this side of the Atlantic. It would be at times imposSible for a man to get through the park without listening to a sufficient amount of truth to save his soul. In June, 1861, while I was driving with a gentleman in Grosvenor Square, ho remarked that there was a crowd in St. .Tanaes' Park, and proposed that we should go and see some of the open air preaching-services, which were usual on such public occasions. It might add interest for me to state, this gentleman's whole time and yearly incame of seventy five thousand dollars is devoted entirely to the service of the Lord. On entering the park we found numerous audiences listening, though on a week-day, to the Gospel. But I was soon astonished to see my honored host step upon one of the wayside seats, and holding up his pocket Bible, begin to speak to the passers-by of Christ and heaven. One after another stopped, till soon a large crowd were assembled. He " lifted up" Christ in a simple but impressive man ner, which at once arrested and riveted - the attention of all within sound of his voice. It was most interesting to study the change upon the countenances of his hearers. At first, by their looks at least, " some said, what will this babbler say ?" But ere long their care less or contemptuous appearance was changed to one of deep anxiety. A short hymn and prayer closed the service. But then began the most interesting and important part of the meeting. Numerous Christians were ready to go among the wounded and point to the Lamb of God. This gentleman, who ranks among England's nobility, though intensely interested at the sight of *nxious inquirers, treated the whole matter as one of common occurrence. But was there not joy in the presence of the angels in heaven over sinners repenting ? Will not God in answer to prayer raise up such men in this coon-, try—men who shall be willing to obey the command of our risen Lord and go out in the highways and compel them to come in ?" A recent number of The Revival, a paper published by Messrs. Morgan & Chase, in London, gives• an interesting account of the manner in which the Gospel was preached at a public.execu tion a few weeks since, at Leeds, in England. I venture to quote it almost entire. To the one who prayerfully inquires, "Lord, what wilt thou 'have me to do ?" it is full of instruction. "PREACHING AT THE EXECUTION AT LEins.—The two wretched murderers, Sargisson and Myers, were executed in front of the Armley jail, Leeds, on Saturday morning, at nine o'clock. As this was the first execution there, the crowd was immense, certainly. over 50,000,and by some said to be much larger. This assemblage occupied two or"three fields in front of the prison, and afforded a rare opportunity for preaching and tract distribution. Nor were laborers wanting to seize the opportunity. Without definitearrange ,beforehand, upwards of thirty OMOrin -men wore drawn together to „work for their Master, including the ei,ghteen town missionaries, with their superintendent. We - had one of the large banners provided by the Open Air Mission, Which W-Ei,s first stationed in 4 ..oxio:part of - the Or-94v0. and. then in an other, the six texts on it being read by thousands of peofile,,',7e preached COQ; secutively at three or four stations'. i gto,addresses were,gon - Orally short Atpd: to the point. The people were warned and entreated, and Jesus was held up as the only deliverer from the penalty due to the murderer and every other sin. " The addresses of some of the breth ren, who themselves had sunk deep in sin, were peculiarly suitable. Some one in the crowd called out, 'Let's hear -M -ier Joss,' meaning Joshuairoole. He stood up, and used expressions like the following, Some o' ye know me.; I used to carry a pack o' cards and a nook o' dominoes in my pocket, and fifty-seven songs in my Lead. Now I carry a Testament in my pocket (hold ing it up) and Christ in, my heart. There's gamblers here this morning. I used to kick 'em up (imitating the tossers), but I've given that up now. Some o' ye seek your happiness in drinking, but happi (less, does not grow in a beer shop. Now tell ye what religion does. It makes a man happy seven days a week. I used to belong to the laughing club, but. I gave it up because they paid nothing in sick- ness. I've now joined the wheat club, and mean to stick to it.' Then follow ed earnest, telling appeals. Great. order prevailed through the crowd. The peo ple generally paid much attention to the preaching, and many cheeks were wet with tears. What a sight it was to look at such a sea of upturned faces. How earnest did it make the preachers in speaking to those whom they could reach. The Rev. Dr. Atlay, the vicar, had a special meeting'in the church at a quarter tizi nine. " It is impossible to say how many tracts were distributed, perhaps 25,000 or more. Three were printed in the town for the occasion. One entitled 'lie that is hanged is accursed of—God' (Dent. xxi. 23); another,' What is your sentence,?' and the third was a touching prayer intended to be used on behalf of the convicts. Two striking placards were also well posted all over the town. One containing-the last words the crimi nals would hear (from the burial ser vice), and the other asking whether these men were sinners above all men because they suffered such things ' with an appropriate answer. I don't know who devised these placards, but they were singularly appropriate, and were read by thousands. " It was curious to notice the inscrip tions on the leathern tourists' bags, in which several of the brethren carried their tracts. One had God is love,' in gut letters, and another, 'Joshua Poole, converted fiddler. Praise God.' " I preached in the open-air in the Vicar's-croft on Friday evening, (where the town missionaries hold services on Sunday throughout the summer,) and afterwards attended a meeting of the Yon ng Men's Christian Association, and was pleased to see so intelligent and de vout a body of young men met to welcome their now secretary, Mr. Smith. May their influence for good be felt all over this vast town with its population of 207,000 souls. " G. KIRKHAM." AN ILLTJSTR,ATION AT NOME But we need not cross the ocean to find examples of successful open-air meetings. In a recent interesting pub lication-44 THE DAYS THAT ARE PAST," by Rev. Thomas J. Shepherd, pastor of the Buttonwood Street Presbyterian Church, - Philadelphia, it appears that the REV. JAMES PATTERSON, the first pastor of that church, in the year 1816, carried on, with an abundant blessing, "periodic Sabbath services on the com mon." I cannot forbear making a few quotations from this volume. "The interest began with the ap pointment of a prayer meting on Mon day evenings, for the special purpose of supplicating revival influences. These meetings become so thronged and so solemn that every evening in the week was soon occupied, and, preaching ser-, vices were intermingled with those ot: prayer. For ninety successive nights these services were protracted, with some extravagance it may be, but with manifold evidence of a power more than man's. "At the outset some of the confirms church members were troubled and per plexed. Among them was Mr. Markoe. He had never witnessedliad never ima gined such scenes. For a time, ho was in doubt as to the character of the work. In the subjects of this strange influence, there were probably some prominent excesses of feeling and of action, but the fruits of a precious revival of reli gion beginning to appear in the'clear and stronglymarked conversion of many persons, he condeinned and mourned his hesitation. With an honesty and no bleness that become him well, he arose in the crowded church, declared the change in his views, and pledged him self henceforth, with heart and soul, to enter into the work." • The record "states that during that year, 192 made profession of faith in Christ, and that Mr. Patterson saw the number of communicants rise from fifty to eleven hundred. His heart con tinually yearned for the perishing masses. His passion for saving souls found in the crowds that listened to his words a powerful stimulus. For five successive summers be continued to preach Christ to the "throngs of Sabbath; breakers that were wont to' stroll in the fields near his church." At each of these services, thousands gathered around him and heard that Gospel whieh elsewhere they. never heard, From these services to those in the church, the transition of interested hearers would be easy, and abundant evidence exists that many who became consistent, earnest '"inenibers of the church, owed their first impression ' , to tho' field preabher's - liungetit C: VI PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1864. THE RECENT INTERFERENCE With the Work of the Aineriean Beard at the Sandwich Islands. It Is a thing of course for the Romish Church to send its agents into every important field occupied by Protestant missionaries. In this that oburch is consistent with its avowed principles, for it denies to us Christian privileges, and is the declared enemy of our relig ion. Accordingly, the Romish missiona ries forced their way, thirty yiars'ago, into the Sandwich Islands, although our labors then covered the whole ground; and did not scruple to use' the naval power, of France to overcome the re luctance of the Hawaiian government. As, however, the Romish mission has never gained a controlling influence in the Island government, and as our struggle with it has been only among the people, wo have not hitherto had ranch to fear from it. It is even a question, whether so much of just that sort of antagonism was not useful, on the whole, both to the missionaries and to their converts. At any rate; the work of Christianizing the Islands advanced Steadily, through the blessing of God, until, in the year 1863, we completed the religious organi iation of our churches, and devolved on them the responsibility of self govern ment, and also, to a great extent, of self-suppprt. The HaWaiian govern ment, as such, though Protestant in its legal character, had no inconvenient entanglements with either denomina tion previous to the year 1862, and the ministers of religion, both Protestant and Romish, felt that they had the freest scope for the exercise of their sa cred functions. Indeed, nothing seemed wanting for the religious accommodation of all classes of the people, from the king down to his lowest subject, except an Episcopal clergyman of evangelical sentiments and good abilities and char acter, .to reside -at Honolulu, where a small number of people 'of foreign origin, and the king who had been in England, and his queen whose father was of English birth, were supposed to prefer the Episcopal form of worship. To meet this state of things, the Foreign Secretary of this Board, a few years since, advised an excellent bishop of the Aniet4can EpiFcical Church to - procure the sending of an evangelical presbyter to Honolulu, and there was some con ference on the subject, but no one was sent. Not long after this, at the commence ment of 1860, a movement was made frotn the Sandwich Islands to obtain such a clergyman from England. Dr. Armstrong, then President of the 'Board of Instruction, and Mr. Wyllie, Minister of Foreign Affairs, acting under direc tion from His Majesty, wrote to thd Rev. William Ellis, in London, asking him to take measures for securing an Episcopal clergyman for Honolulu, stating that the king would guarantee him a thousand dollars, annually, to wards his support, and grant a lot of land for an Episcopal church. It is understood thitt, the new presbyter was to be made chaplain of the royal family and private tutor of the young heir•to the throne, who, however, died not long after. Mr. Ellis hid once resided at the Islands, and was desired to procure an evangelical clergyman such as he believed would be' adapted to the situa tion, but not one of high-chureb pro clivities, for, such an one would not haie the sympathy and support of the other evangelical ministers on 1,116 . islands Sueh an Episcopal clergyman was then needed,.and would strengthen4he cause of Christian piety_on the Islands, and receive a cordial welcome from all the American missionary brethren. Mr. Ellis placed the letters in the hands of the. Secretary of the " Colonial Church and School Society," and the committee of that society, approving of the object, submitted them to the Bishop of London, who expressed his entire concurrence in the proceedings, and his readiness to aid in carrying them out. And application was actually made to one or two suitable individuals, but without success. . The Consul General of the Islands in London is an Englishman, but was never at -the Sandwich Islands. He . aiE4O had been written to by Mr. Wyllie, it must be presumed in strict accordance with the letters addresSed to Mr. Ellis, but he at once put himself in communi cation, note with 'either of the great missionary soCieties:in the Church of England, but (as Mr. Ellis says) with individuals belonging. to the " section Of the Cbrirch of En 'land characterized by extreme ritualisna," With a 'View td sending a bishop to the Islands, " all the paraphernalia," as he expresses it, " appertaiining . to kis-office and func tions." Oa, learning, this, from the Consul, Mr. Ellis Ohjected---and here too we use his: own languazo T ,—f t ' that . such a procedure would he,<P gnat, Jnistake, as' the , Bishop, if :sent,- would ' probably, fail, while- a re;spectable pious clergy man, who would co-operate A with .=.SY~. . the Christian ministers already there, would prove a real blessing, especially to those who cherished attachment to the system of the Church of England, of which, except as one Of the various forms of Christianity, the king must necessarily be ignorant." Mr. Ellis' objections were not re garded, while the endelvor to send a mission to the Islands, to consist of a bishop and three presbyters, was prose crite.d to a'successful issue. It was the original plan to add two more presby ters from the United States, making a mission of six in all, butthis part of the plan, for some reason, was not carried into effect. The Prudential Committee do not bringthis remarkable interference with our work at the Sandwich 'lslands before the Board from a sectarian point •of view, but solely in its relations e to the prosperity of the naissionary work. This new mission is really a great inno vation upon the usages of Protestant missions, and is the practical assertion of a very dangerous principle. We know of nothing like it, unless it be in Western Asia. The onsets of the Church of Borne we, can bear, but'a house divided against itself' shall not stand." Every Protestant denomina tion of Christians, every missionary so ciety, has a deep interest in the case. The American Board has been more. than forty years endeavoring to elevate a race of barbarian pagans, on those remote Islands, up to the level of a civilized Christian community, and for this purpose it has sent forth a hundred and fifty laborers, male and female, and expended considerably over a million of dollars. If now—after it has succeeded, and can point as the result of its labors and expenditures to a Christian nation recognized - as such by the Christian nations; to a self-governing Christian community wonderfully transformed in manners and morals; to the missionary work so far accomplished, there, that if the churches we have planted and organized are let alone, they can live and thrive with but little more of our 'aid ; --if now, in this hour of our victory, after so long and arduous a conflict and so great an expenditure, it shall be judged right and proper for a body of professed . allies to come upon us, ivith the evident intent, if it be possible, of taking entire possession of the field ; what a hindrance and discouragement that would be to prosecuting these great and costly missionary enterprises ! It is well, for the calm and candid discussion of this case, that it involves the Christian honor of no one of the great churches of Christendom, of no one of the great missionary societies. For we have the declaration of the late excellent-Archbishop Sumner; in, a letter to the Foreign Secretary of this Board, corroborating our other testimonies, that this mission had its origin with " certain individuals," who "formed themselves into a committee for the`pprpose of taking hdvantage of the proposal of the king of Hawaii, and with the ultimate view of establishing a bishop on the Polynesian Islands!' Nor had the good Archbishop himself even beard of the plan, until he was informed of it by the Foreign Sec retary of this Board, some months'after the-self-appointed , committee had com menced its operations. F, Gradually, Gradually, in the progress of the missionary work, there has been devel oped and established A. LAW OF CHRIS!. TIAN OOURTESY,fOT the government of missionary societies,our great com mon law. Alt Protestant societies have found: it for their advantage to ebserve it: And it is vitally for their interest, and for the interest of all 'the several churches for which they act, and. of Christ's kingdom, to observe it strictly and to discountenance every violation of it. The plea set up for sending an Eng lish bishop to the Sandwich Islands is, that such a bishop was requested, by the king of the Islands. But we have , the correspondence, and we know, that his request was simply for an Episcopal presbyter to reside at' Honolulu. If— many months after the self-appointed committee in England had set the wheel in motion—the young king was persuaded to give - his assent to the plan of sending a bishop, if he even wrote to' the Queen of England, as is affirmed on' somewhat doubtful authority, that may serve to Recount for the fact that Earl Russell gave his license fOr the COIIBEW cration of a bishop, and that the Arch bishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London felt 'bound. to Consecrate' him but it in no degree justifies the previous' acts of the committee, nor would it have beenregarded, as we fully believe,' by either of the great missionary socie, ties of the Endlish Church, as justifying a 'mission that; by its numbers, consti- , tUtion, prestige, and the intensity of its rittalistiC:apirit, was evidently designed to supplant;'on those tilands,'the insti tutions andlirfinence of the missionaries sent out by'Otiii - Board. • ' The moVe)nerq the.' -`parties England, not excluding Bishop Staley and his associates, was no doubt entered upon with very inadequate and mistaken views of the number, character and labors of the American missionaries, and of the great religious and social changes which bad resulted therefrom. A work published in London by the Consul-General in the interest of the new mission, with a commendatory preface by the Bishop of Oxford, did not hesitate to pronounce the'American mission at the Islands to have been a failttre I—though the authorities, to which the author frequently refers, were enough to have taught him better, and of course' left him inexcusable for his ignorance. Bishop Staley, soon after his arrival at Honolulu, with his three presbyters,' (which was tin the autumn of 1862,) published in a sermon what he calls the " leading features of the church-system," which they had come "to establish among the people of the Islands." These may be described very briefly, in nearly his own words. The worship of the people, he says, was to be "guided by Holy Scripture, as interpreted by Ole ancient fathers, implying by that term those chiefly of the first five centuries—the purest ages of the Church." They were to be taught, that their infants were, by bap tism," made members of Christ, children .of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven." And when the baptized children arrived at "years of discretion," they were encouraged to believe that they would "be strengthened by a new gift, of the Holy Spirit, imparted to them by the imposition of hands," in "the holy rite of confirmation." Being thus "initiated into full communion with the Church," they were to be deemed fitted to "approach the Blessed Sacrament of Christ's body and blood." The baptized were also to be taught, that they were not to wait till they were " con verted by some sudden, irresistible impulse," but to regard themselves " as already, by baptism, grafted into Christ's church," and not only bound, but " able to crucify the old man, with his evil deeds, by the strength already imparted from above." If their con sciences were "burdened with sin," they, were to be encouraged "to come to the minister, and open their grief," and "receive the benefit of absolution." The islanders, under , the instruction of the American missionaries, are wont to call one day in seven the Sabbath, but "'most falsely and mischievously," in the opinion of Bishop Staley; for the church provides an order of prayer to be said daily throughout the year." "Such," he adds, are some cf the leading "fea tures in that church system we conic to establish among the people of these Is lands." The Board will at once see, that the doctrines involved in this " church sys tem" could not possibly be " established among the people of those Islands," and become prevalent,- without a dangorous re - volution• in their religious opinions and habits, 'nor''-without going far to dispossess as of the field we have strug gled so long and expended so much to win. It is proper to add, that tbe office and work' of our brethren- as Christian min isters, as welLas their churches and tia tive ministry, are ignored by. the Re formed Catholics, (as they call thorn selves,) as much as they ever were by the Roman Catholics. They never meet our brethren as divinely author ized Christian missionaries, and the . natives - see it. Thus far, they have found it. hard to interest the people. Bicepting a few extraordinary occasions, their audiences have everywhere been small, even with in the precincts of the court. Their worship is too showy, toe like the Ro man Catholic, for the religious taste of the people. Still this mission, having come with a virtual commendation from Queen Victoria, and having been most cordially adopted by the late kitig„ and falling in with the tastes and tendencies of the present reigning family, is exerting an influence in the government,' which occasions much uneasiness. The Min ister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of the Interior, one of the Justices of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General and the Governor of Maui (a native,) 'have joined the Reformed Catholic Church. The only other cabinet minis ter is a French gentleman, and he is a Roman Catholic. Bishop Staley, though remaining at the head of his mission, has been made chaplain to the king, and a member of his Privy Council. The time allotted to this Special Re port has allowed no extended quotations from the correspondence, nor 'a state ment of the matters of detail;., but should the case be.referred to a corn_ mittee, to report :;hereon during.the pro gress of this meeting, that committee will find an ample and carefully pre pared historical,account of, the mission, now under consideration, in the Twen, tiEsth Chapter of anew, work on. the Hawaiian Islands, which will be placed in its hands. At the close of the chapter just men tioned, will be found the noble protest of the Earl of Shaftesbury against a sim ilar attempt, and by same class of persons, to send a bishop and six pres byters to the capital of Madagascar, where the London Missionary ;Society had long and successfully labored. The protest was made at a meeting, at which the Earl presided. It is now under stood, that the mission was not prosecu ted,—as it may be hoped the one sent to the Hawaiian Islands will not be. The Committee cannot but regard the mis sion of Bishop Staley as fraught with far more evil than good to the Protes tant community on those'lslands; nor can they believe, that their brethren of the Episcopal Church, whether in Eng land or in this country, when once they understand the case, will desire its con tinuance in its present form. RESOLUTIONS OF UNION PRESBYTE- BY, EAST TENNESSEE. We have already given a summary of the proceedings of this Prestiytery at its late meeting in Spring Place Church, near Knoxville, Sept. 2d, 1864. At that time the Presbytery resolVed to resume its connection with the A. - sembly of our church, which had been interrupted since the secession of the Southern churches at Cleveland, in 1857. We believed at the time of the seces sion, that the churches in E. Tennessee, although carried away with the rest, were not cordial in the movement, and especially that the membership of the churches was largely in sympathy with the General Assemby. In the late meeting of Presbytery, although there were but three ministers, no less than ten elders were present, showing where the sympathies of the people are. We give the subjoined resolutions at the request of the Presbytery : WHEREAS, Presbytery, at its last reg ular meeting, held,in New Market,l.B63, passed the following resolution, to-wit.: Resolved, That this Presbytery will neither license, ordain, nor receive from anothei; Presbytery, any man who does not sympathize with the South in her present struggle for independence, or who holds that slaveholding is sinful and ought to be abolished ; and Whereas, This resolution is an arbi trary and unwarranted stretch of power, and an usurpation of the prerogatives which belong to the Lord Jesus Christ alone, as the supreme head of the church, inasmuch as it imposes tests or terms of licensure, ordination and mem bership, which are novel and without any warrant either from the word of God, Confession of Faith, o?' uniform practice of the Presbyterian church, but is in direct conflict therewith, and is therefore subversive of the good order, peace and purity of the church; and Whereas, This resolution is a shame ful and inexcusable apostacy from the • ,principles of patriotism and universal freedom to which the Presbyterian Church in its long, varied and honorable history has steadfastly adhered ; and Whereas, This resolution may, and doubtless does, express the sentiments and views of a large majority of the ministers belonging to Presbytery, yet the same is heartily condemned and se verely censured by a very large major ity of the churches under its care; therefore, ResolDed, That the said resolution be and the fame is hereby deemed and held to be inoperative, null and void. ' Resolved, That we deeply regret and lament that so many of our brethreh have been st'.• far forgetful of the imper ative demands of patriotism, justice and humanity, as to range themselves on the side of wrong and injustice, and against their conntry and freedom • and we sin cerely hope that they will reconsider their action, be brought to see their great error, and abandon principles which are evidently at war with Chris tianity, civilization and humanity. The above resolutions • were unani mously adopted. RETURNING TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY Whereas, Presbytery is convinced that its interests are not likely to be promoted by a continuation of its con nection with the United Synod of the Presbyterian Churb ; therefore, Resolved, That the connection of the Presbytery with said Sy nod be, and the same is now hereby dissolved. Resolved, That this Presbytery, atthe kind solicitation and request of the Gen eral Assembly of the Presbyterian church from which it withdrew in 1857, presented through the Rev. S. W. Elliott, does now return to that body. The resolutions were adopted unan imously. HOME MISSIONS. On applications received from - the churches they serve, the 'following min isters were commissioned by -the Pres byterian Committee of Home Missions. Seven of whom were under 'commission last year. . Rev. H. B. Scott, (Jen tral College and Genoa, A: D. Moore, Da.uppin,,Pa. " W. J. Johnston. Lena, Ills. " Danl.-•Higbee, Washingtonville, N. Y. " Benj. Franklin, Brighton, Mich. . " .John Glass, Scott and vicinity, lowa. " B. Russell Tirane - aud Sugar Hill,N. Y. "' H. Baker, Harrisburg, Pa. " Jas. IL Stevenson, Jersey City,.N. J. Alanson Schofield, Quincy and Cantor . nia, " J. H. Phelps, Win tercet, Ipwa. , " W. J. Atting,Unadilla. and Plainfield Mich. - 'll - c3tington- Lyman, Armon Spencer, Willtaxneqn, p.r. Y. 7„ George C. WOOd."JackiOni7ille," 111 a." W. H. Hendrickson;"
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