366
toretoponitact.
OPEN AIR MEETINGS.
BY EDWARD PAYSON HAMMOND
No. VII
At the tumult at Ephesus, occasioned
by the preaching of Paul, "the whole
city was filled with confusion, and
laving caught Gains and Aristarchus,
mien of Macedonia, Paul's companions
in travel, they rushed with them into
the theatre. Some therefore cried one
thing and some another. And the
=Oat part knew not wherefore they
were corn s together." Paul seems ready
to have thrown himself into the midst
of this tumultuous gathering, but the
odisciples suffered him not!'
But when another, a " Jew," would
have made-his defence unto the people,
all with one voice, about the space of
two hours, cried out, "Great is Diana
of the Ephesians."
A scene somewhat similar -to this
occurred at an
OPEN AIR 'MEETING IN CHICAGO.
A. few ministers, on their way to one
of" -the nightly meetings held on the
"north side," last June, stopped at the
ernes aft one of the prineipatthorough
fares and commenced to speak to the
passers-by of the things of eternity.
Their strong voices, together with the
sweet , singing of the children, collected
quite an audience. Each speaker had
for his pulpit an old chair, borrowed'
froii the drinking saloon, at the very
dooi of which the meeting. was, held..
All,Pasfied off quietly that night, and
the next, and large numbers, who had
perhaps not heard before of the nightly
meetings in the church near by, were
for the first time induced to attend
them.
These oat-door meetings were entirely
isapromptu, no notice of theM having
been previously given. But the second
might it was announced that a similar
meeting would be held the next evening.
When the hour arrived, a tumultuous
thieng assembled. The chair which
bad before been granted from the low
drinking saloon was denied.' We soon
saw that we were in the very worst part
of the city - of Chicago. " The lion in
his den" was there. How to conquer
him was the question.
It seemed as if the scum from the
whole city had flowed 'thither. The
nature of the motley throng - was unmis
takable. The rumsellers, whose" craft
was in danger," had been .busy. The
meeting commenced as usual with sing
ing, but the oaths of drunken Irishrnen,
at times, were heard above the songs of
praise. One of the speakers, for about
twenty minutes, addressed the heaving
mass of wretched men and held them
still, I say men—for therS was scarce a
woman ventured nearer than the out
skirts of the crowd. Just as another
minister began to preach the gospel,
the cry of fire in the distance attracted
every ear, and soon hundreds of stento
rian voices around us re-echoed Fire !
Tire ! ! Fire 1I I Whenever this tremen
dous uproar for a moment lessened, the
speaker, who was the Rev. Mr. Harsha,
of the 0. S. Presbyterian Church, at
tempted to make his voice heard above
tkee4est. It was of no , use. They only
shouted the louder, Fire ! Fire ! ! Fire ! !
Mr. Ryder—the stage actor and Jew,
who bad just been hopefully converted,
and who is now under the patronage of
Dr. R. W. Patterson's church, studying
theology, tried in vain to tell of the won_
derful work of God's Holy Spirit
bringing him from darkness into
amarvellous light." There was no Ephe:.
sian "town clerk" there to it appease
the people." Not a policeman' was to
be seen. Thus, not for "the space of
two hours," but till their throats must
have been hoarse, they 'cried, Fire !
Fire,!`, Of course - this . ' great outcry
brought together new crowds from all
thy' locality, though "the greater part
knew not , wherefore they were come
together." It was estimated by some
that three thousand were 'thus called
together, and every door and window
was filled far and near.
Bat Satan and his allies, for once at
hest, were defeated in their purpose.
They expected to break np the meeting
convened for the preaching of Christ
aoid'Him crucified. But the Lord had
purpose beyond all their power to
inverse. He can cease the wrath of
man to praise Him, and the remainder
will He restrain. He permitted these
wicked' men to help gather- this great
concourse that they might hear of Jesus
Clad Of his " finished Work."
Thus far only men had been addressed.
No attempt'had been made to call upon
God's name in prayer. To the surprise
of many, Iyhen a loud but solemn , voice
was heard - sup;plioating the throne of
Grace, all was at , once still. The mob
seemed lc suddenly", quelled by a pOwer,
sure than human. Those miserable
hai-tenders, drunkards, gamblers, and
Arab boys seemed spell-bound.
We read in Acts 4 that " when they
had prayed, the place was shaken
where they were assembled together,' ,
and I have reason to know that there,
in the streets of Chicago; in answer to
the prayer of faith, some stubborn
hearts " were shaken."
After this prayer for the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit to quell proud hearts,
there was not another attempt to dis
turb the meeting. The prayer was
followed by a few ‘searching, solemn
words. A hymn was sung and large
numbers, still singing, moved towards
the edifice opened for, worship. One of
the leaders of the mob came to. the
house of God and sat quietly during the
whole service., If I mistake not, he was
among those who tarried for conversa
tion and prayer.
Two months later, while passing
down the aisle. of- the Illinois Street
mission chapel, Mr: Moody pointed me
to a man who, he believed, was led by
that open air meeting to see - 'himself as
a lost sinner, and Christ as- the only
Saviour. As I approached, he at once
gave me a hearty shake of the hand.
During fL most satisfactory conversation
with him, I learned these facts : In
Germany he was an infidel. 'ln this
country he had for some time lived 'a
Mormon. The shouts of the opposing
throng had attracted his attention to
'our meeting in Chicago. And if I
mistake not, for the first time in his
life he there, in the open air, heard the
story of the' Cross.: - counte
nance beaming with love and gratitude
to God, he said : "I shall never cease to
be thankful for that open air meeting."
If each of those Christians and ministers
who took part in that strange gathering
could have seen this converted infidel
Mormon, and heard him, with tears,
speaking of the " dear Jesus," they
would have felt a thousand times repaid
for all their efforts.
Of the hundreds of open air meetings
which it .has been _my priiilege to
witness, this was only the third where
there was the least disturbance; and
even there we coUld, with Paul, speak
of a seeming defeat as , having "fallen
out rather unto the frirthemnee of the
gospel."
As we turn our eyes upon the uncared
for masses in our cities, can we not
hear Him who, as he," looked upon the
multitude, had compassion on them,"
calling to us, " Say not ye, there are
yet four months, and - then comet& the
harvest. Behold I say unto you, Lift
up your eyes and look on the fields; for
they are white already to harvest."
Ho ! reapers of life's hatirest,:
Why stand With rusted blade,,
Until the night draws round thee,
And day begins to fade !
Why stand ye-idle waiting ,
For reapers more to come ?
The 'golden morn is passing,
Why sit ye idle,.dumb?
Thrust in your sharpened-sickle,
And gather in the grain ;.
The night is fast approaching, '3
And soon will come again :
The Master calls for reapers,
And shall he call in vain ?
Shall sheaves lie there ungitheied,
And waste upon the plain?
FIRST ETANGELIOAt GENERAL SYNOD
r 'IN AUSTRIA.
[PREPARED FOB, OUB:COVMUNS.]
At the summons of the4outhful but
wise Emperor of - Austria, the., repre
sentatives' of the Protestant churches of
his empire . --Reformed and Lutheran
met in general synod in;the capital city,
Vienna, closing their sittings on the'9th
of JOY last. The body was composed
of 41 Lutheran and 21 Reformed Dele
gates; *ith Other kiffice?rs -ahol , secular
Members. The delegates of the two
confe,ssipns orgituize l d, separately, but
after4ards uriliedinto The
chief 'business- of this council was, to
iL4 et tl t pies; en d:1 - flov out `the
details,of,the,Church Cons'Atution,under
which they might permanently organize
to enjoy, the fr:u4,B,ot • theit- new-found
freedom. "The ftindaiiienie:it of such a
constitution had already.been given
them in oulline . by the goVernlitent, but
the whole subject was thoroughly ex
amined, = and the :following a conclusions
reached:
The Past9r, or his vicar, shall be
chosen by vote of the entire body of
church meTbers capable of exercising
the franch'ise.d Associated , with him
shilL,be a body of from sir' to thirty
twO 'lidera, endowed with lilt usual
fimotions, and wherever necessary a
temporal called, a „,guxatorcehall
; Otl
be elected, who sh ta e e oversight
of temporal matters and be the secular
head of the session. The Curator and
the Elders shall be' chosen by the entire
body of voters in churches of less mem
bership than five hundred; in larger
churches they shall be chosen by a
representative college. Several churches
associated together : shall be, called a
,Seniorat9. The Senior is ChOsen krom
the pastors, by a vote of the majority in
the collected church sessions, and holds
office for six years. His position there
fore resembles that of the Prussian
Wit'llffilOODlFW:loiMcri:lll:Llzimihir4Vol l ialolooalt 1 , 18.4.
" Superintendent." A Convention of
the Seniorate (Senior atsversammlung),
consisting of the pastors, delegates of
the church sessions, and a representative
of the educational faculty, is associated
with him, altogether constituting the
higher Session or Presbytery. Two
other officers, one called the Con-Senior,
the other the Curator, are chosen by
the Presbytery, and form, with the
Senior, the Committee of the Seniorate,
which attends to current affairs of
business, and especially is charged with
instituting inquiry in matters of disci
pline. All the Seniorates of one, or of
several provinces (rronlcender) form a
Superintendency, [corresponding some
w,bat to a synod in the Presbyterian
Church.] The Superintendent is chosen
in the same manner as the Senior, by
vote of the Sessions, subject to the
imperial approval. The office, however,
is for life, and so far introduces a pre
latical element. He retains his-existing
pastorate; hence the seat or capital of
the Superintendency may be alternately,
in widely different parts of the district.
Associated with the Superintendent
again, is- a Convention of the Superin
tendency, or, as it might be termed, a
Provincial Synod, consisting of the
Seniors, the Curators of the Presbyte
ries, two spiritual and two temporal
delegates from every Presbytery, with
delegates from the higher and lower
Educational Faculty (Professors and
Teachers) In this Provincial Synod,
or. Superintendency, we again have a
Curator and an Executive Committee.
Finally, for the entire Slavo Germanic
country a General Synod was established,
to meet'once in six zears, to consist of
.the Superintendents and Seniors ,- and
their Curators, of one spiritual and one
temporal delegate from each Superin
tendency (Provincial Synod) with dele
gates of the theological faculty Only.
So far as their decisions refer to •Doc
trine, Ceremony, Festivals; Hymn Books
and the like, they reqUire no approval
from the ministry to give them authority;
the assent of the Superior Evangelical
church-Court or, Council, (Evangelisehe
Ober-Kirehenrath) is required, yet this
may be dispensed with, should the de
eisions to which the Court objects be
reiterated in the next General Synod.
These arrangements -as described, hold
good for both branches of the Protestant
church, the Reformed and the Lutheran,
who are not united by them as in Prussia,
but maintain distinct organizationa.
The Superior Church Council, however,
whose;members, spiritual and temporal,
and named by the Emperor, is common
to both"Confel3sions'; yet in the treat
ment of denominational matters, it . di-;
vides into — Councilii, called - the
"'Superior. Council of ,the-Augsburg": or
"of the 'Helvetic Confession." On the
other:: hand, the two General Synods
may'discuss matters of common interest
together, each retaining its identity as
a denominational ,body, The General
Synod is not allowed to tamper with the
Confession of the phurch. In 'arrange
ments pertaining to the choice of pastors,
regard is paid to the denominational
peculiarities of the parties. The mem
bers of the Synod take-oath-that " in
their Synodical acts they will seek the
inward and outward prosperity of the
EVangelical chuieh,(ofeitherConfession)
according to the best ottheir knowledge
and ability, and will see to it that the
Church in all its members grows up into
Him who is the Head—Christ."
In considering this Conitituti9n we
must:reaTember that it is not the spon
.
taneouS expression of the ,Will of the
churches. Their representatives were
obliged to work within certain imperial
limitations. Exactly what these - were
we are notinformed. But notwithstand
ing its close,connection with the State,
the Presbyterian elements in the consti
tution of the newly formed chuich, are
numerous :and important enough, to
bring it within the Presbyterian family.
These elements are;:.Representative
- government of the individual churches
by Elders in a session. 11. Affiliation
of the churches in Presbyteries and-Sy
nods. 111. Inferior and superior Church
Courts, in each-of which. the laity is fally
represented, and which embody the 'en
tire church and set forth its unity. - IV.
Parity of the Clergy. The .Seniors,
elected for six years, and the Superin
tendents elected. for life, with the im
perial upper Council itself, appear to be
endowed with no special authority, and
serve merely for business purpbses, as
Presiding Officers,lleads of Committees,
prim inter pares. They are nowhere
called Bishops; nothing is said of any
power residing in them alone, to lay on
hands, &c. '
In the General Synod the representa
tion is quite limited, it is true. But it is
still the principle of representation, the
Provincial Syn ods—Superinten de n cies—
and. not the Presbyteries—sending the
delegates. In the first. Synod, of which
we''are writing, .there were, aisty-twe
delegates from bath denominations, be
sides "temporal" or " worldly ".mete
hers, making, with Seniors, Superinten
dents and Curators, probably two hun
dred persons in all.
The presence of a considerable world
ly element, in the Curators and the lay
delegates, is a much greater departure
from Presbyterianism, and indeed from
any proper government of a spiritual
body, and it proceeds not from aversion
to Presbyterian government, but from
the remaining dependence of the church
on the secular arm, the German and En
ropean laxity of opinion on church.
membership and discipline, and the lat
itudinarianism brought in by the Ra
tionalists, who everywhere raise the
cry of intolerance, when the church
would maintain her spiritual identity,
vitality and existence by excluding the
manifestly unregenerate from her mem
bership.
Before the Synod adjourned, it drew
up and presented to the Emperor a-pa
per which showed him how his political
-concessions to the spirit of religions lib
erty had thoroughly aroused and whet
ted the appetites of JAB long-oppressed
Protestant subjects, but which he re ;
ceived, with a courtesy; hat showed him
to be sincere in his large •and noble pur
poses to all classes in his empire. The
paper was, in fact, a bold protest, on the
following points
1. Against the denomination of non
cath,olic, which is the term used, in the de
crees and ordinances of the political au
thorities to designate the adherents of
the two Protestant confessions—the
Augsburg and:the Helvetian_.;;2. The
Synod demands. that those, obstacles
which, in some parts of the monarchy
are still presented to the establishment
of Protestant congregations, shall be re
moved; 3. That booksellers shall be al
lowed to deal in Protestant book's; 4
A e,ommunity, of cemeteries; 5. The ad=
mission of Piotestant pastors, as of
priests, into houses of retirement and
charitable institutions, to exercise their
functions in .them ;, 6. 'The establish:
ment of ,the equality of the Protestant
and the Catholic, festivals, in order that
the authorities may be bound to protect
the, festivals of the Protestants in the le.
calities in which they are the most nu
tnerous; 7. The Synod protests against
all - interference by subordinate political
authorities in Protestant schools; 8.
Against ordinances prohibiting Jew
children from going to Protestant
schools, and Catholic children from en
joying the care of Protestant foster pa
rents; 9, claims :a share of the funds of
the normal school ; 10. The admission of
I Protestant teachers in the medial Cath
olic schOols; 11. The institution of Prot
estant.a.s.teehists in the schools; 12. The
in corporation
.of the Protestant. Theo
logical faculty into the' University of
Vienna; 13. - The representation of the
Evangelical Church in the Diet and in,
the municipal council-.
_
Though the Emperor '--gave the paper,
- a gracious reception, ,keFeturned no
positive'Answer to the requests,
THE SYNODS.
The following summary of the pro
ceedings of several Westetn Synods - waa
crowded:out of our last issue :
„„
SYNOD OF. WESTERN RESERVE. --j:RO
annual meeting was held in Atwater,
Ohio, commencing October 14. The
Sin of Ingratitude was the silbject of the
sermon of the retiring Moderator, Rev.
Ebenezer Bushnell. Rev. Franklin Ma=
ginnis was chosen Moderator, and Rev.
Francis A. Wilbur, Temporary Clerk.
Much of the attention of the Synod was
occupied by the great benevolent enter,
prises of our church, including the new
one Of the' - Ministerial Relief Fund,
which was cordially commended to the
churches for generous support., ,Sab
bath evening was given up to the, cause
of Foreign Missions, the presence,' of
District Secretary Ballantine and Rev.
L. Bissell, missionary at Ahrnednuggar,
adding greatly to the interest of the
occasion. - A Synodical communion was
held on the Sabbath, and throughout
the sessions the-devotional exercises
were frequent and interesting. - The
churches were exhorted to increase the
salaries of their pastors, commensurate
with the increased cost of living,-and;
the following minute on the subject of
Temperance was adopted :
Believing, as we do, that intemper
ance prevails to ..a fearful extent, within
the bounds of this. Synod, and all over
our'land,;•and that much more may be
dopp than what is doing to stay - its
ravages, it is hereby recommended to
our minister to preach oftener - on the
subject. And as the final triumph of
temperance in our land, and throughout
the world, will, under. God, depend'
mainly on the education and training
of children to avoid and hate intoxi
cating drinks, we earnestly entreat all
persons, and especially parents and
teachers in Sabbath and weekly schools,
to inculcate with the utmost diligence,
the principles of temperance to all under
their care. -
SYNOD OF INDIANA.—VOVay was We
place of the annual meeting, and the
■ession was continued from October 13
to 17 inclusive, embracing a Sabbath for
Synodical communion and other relig
ious services. Beyond this, we have
seen no account of the proceedings; but
learn that the session was harmonious,
lively,_ and aeeply interesting to the
people in Vevey.
SYNOD OF OHlO.—This Synod met is
Ripley, Oct. 28. A large number of the
members, on their way up, held a Chris
tian Commission meeting in the cabin
of the steamer Magnolia. Speeches
were made by Rev. Messrs. Chidlaw,
Hussey, and W. M. Cheever. Patriotic
songs were sung. The Christian Herald
says that it was a meeting which would
have made the soldiers glad, if they
could have looked in upon it.
In Synod, Rev. W. M. Cheever was
chosen Moderator, and Rev. Messrs. J.
L French and H. V. Warren, Clerks.
The appearance of Rev. Dr. Monfort
and Elder A. E. Chamberlain as dele
gates from the 0. S. Synod of Cincin
nati, formed s a feature' i a the proceed
ings. An hoar was appointed for their
reception. The Berald says that when
this hoar arrived, thehouse was filled ;
for the people had heard of this novel
and interesting proceeding, and wanted
to know what the representatives of
these two branches of the Presbyterian
Church would say to each other. The
addresses of the delegates and the
response of the Moderator were all
excellent in sentiment and spirit, and
'showed that.if not yet quite ready for
reunion, we have a growing mutual
* confidence and affection—that God is
$,
drawin ourhearts together.
Stion and unequivocal resolutions in•
behalf of the Government were adopted.
,On Saturday evening a sermon on the
doctrine of eternal punishment was,
;according to appointment, preached by
Mr. °hoover, and the Synodical corn
rntirtion was held on Sabbath inorning,
after a sermon by Prof. Allen.
BROWNING'S DEATH OF SAINT JOHN.
FIRST PAPER.
The spiritual pride so generally ac
companying literarrpower,and success
is unfavorable to evangelical faith. A
sentimental glow, bearing remote re
semblance*to true devotion, not unfre
quently imparts a religioustinge to the
productions of poets, wbo would repudi
ate all the specific, doctrines of revealed
religion. That style of unbelief which
rejects the facts of revelation and which
professes to receive its ideas, only, and
that skeptical habit or vice of thought,
which seems too weak to grasp with
firm and joyous faith the full circle of
revealed truth, are represented in some
of the leading literary prodUction's of
the day. Tennyson's in -Memoriam and
Longfellow's Tales of a
. Wayside inn
will abundantly illustrate
,the preva
lence'of this spirit in the literature with
which our readers: are most familiar. ,
Robert Browning is a poet whose
corhtnunings with the 'human spirit
haVe ever been too profound to be of
interest to the bugy pnblic. He has
grappled closely with . the qUestions
raised. by Revelation in the innermost
recesses of that spirit. He is a thinker
of aligh order, and it has .been a pro
blem-for'him to- solve, whether , a mind
endowed with such capacities could
work freely and make progress in - the
channels prescribed by evangelical
faith; whether intellect would lose its
power, arid imagination its dischrsive
ness when subjected to the restraints of
revealed doctrine and duty; whether,
'in short, Christianity can be represent
ed by, or find expression in, the highest
for-ms of Modern Poetry. The question
also arises whether 'in Robert Brown
ing the'age - •has found its -believing, de
vout Christian Poet. Hive we in this
remarkable thinker and writer, ,the man
of the time,. who shall mould into the
_highest forms of which our language
,and modes of tbought•and imagination
areat this day capable, the grand, spe ;
cifie, vital truths of Christianity:? vete
shall honor the author of the poetic
iaculty by wreathing its' fairest 'pro
ducts into a garland of 'praise to :his
Christ, the Redeemer of a 1 . 64 world, to
his drace,, his povereigntY; hie. Justice,
bjs lloli,ness, not, sacrificing a featnre or
prejudicing an, attribute or, obscuring; a
Truth, or •panderingin any degree Co
the proud reason, -or the selfish will .of
unregenerated man.
' Seme late poems of Browning's, pub
,
liglied in hiS volume Dramatis Personce
lead us, as they have led others to' hope,
,that ;the e writer has at length, after
some wavering, taken his stand upon
the'platform of Evangelical Christianity,
and that he .wishes the literary world
to regard hich;iia his poetic character,
positively enlisted in its defence.
Not only incidental expressions as in
the concluding lines of "Gold Hair"
'Tis the , faith that launched point-blank her
dart
At the head of a lie—taught Original Sin,
The'corruption of Man's Heart;
but the entire ,argument of leading
poems puts him in deliberate and, we
must suppose, conscious antagonism to
the fashionable heresies of the thinking
cultivated classes. The poem entitled
"A Death in the Desert" is in fact an
i
argumeut of sngnlar beauty. • force and
appropriateness,against the current cri
tical and pbilosophicall cavils of unbe
lief, and if it is to be interpreted as
revealing the poet's own convictions, it
at once draws a broad line between
Browning and the semi-believing Ten
nyson—that "infant crying in the night
and with no language but a cry"—the
Socinians Longfellow . , Whittier and
Bayard Taylor; the Pantheist Emerson,
and that whole claw of transcendental
ists who at Boston, Cambridge, Concord e
and elsewhere, arrogate to themselves
all the " insight" vouchsafed to man,
and look down upon believing Chris
tians, as beings lamentably deficient in
culture and independence of thought.
The title of the volume "Dramatis
Personm" does indeed suggest a sort of
exhibition of different characters, who,
upon the platform of the Poet's art,
aro suffered to present their own
views to the reader, and the Poet him
self may have no intention of judging
their correctness ; and as we pass
through the smaller piece, we confess
we are startled with the very title of
one, writen upon the eights at the Dead
House in Paris, and entitled " Apparent
Failure." Of the poor suicides he speaks
in such wise
" I thought, and think their sins atoned ;"
And again
" My owu hope is, a sun will pierce
The thickest cloud earth ever stretched ;
That after Last returns the First,
Though a wide compass round be fetched ;
That what began best, can't end worst,
Nor what God blessed once prove accurst."
Here doubtless appears the besetting
sin of over-cultivated human intellect,
an unwillingness humbly to receive
those darker truths of the Divine gov
ernment which seem incompatible with
its own limited views. Here John Foster
hesitated; and upon this Bible dogma
of eternal punishment mere literary
men have concentrated their scorn and
proclaimed their repugnance to the
whole evangelical system bound up
with it. The Independent, in its last is
sue of the year 1862, published a Poem
of John G. Whittier's, without note of
comment or dissent, in which the anti-
Scriptural doctrine of Restoration was
plainly taught. And Tennyson, with
great cautiousness it is true, hints his
own belief in the same doctrine, in the
53d canto of In Memoriam :
Behold! we 'know not anything;
I can but trust that good shall fall
At lalit,—far off,—at last, to all,
And every winter change to spring
But he quickly adds, as if unwilling
to give the sanction of his sober judg
ment ta the opinion
So runs my dream: but what am I !
An infant crying in the night:
An infant crying for the light:
And with no language but a cry
However the piece " Apparent Fail
ure" may seem to associate Browning
with these poets, in the "Death in the
Desert" we find otirselv(is in an entirely
•different atmosphere. liere, a 'soul im
bued With-the very spirit of the Gospel,
anticipates by prolishetic 'insight, and
skilfully handles, the subtle philosophi
cal objections which modern times
would raise against the credibility of
The Christian system :
; .
"On islets yet unnamed'amid the sea;
in some 'eliormon - sto wn
Where now the lark sings in a solitude;
. . . upon blank heaps of stone an dsand
Idly conjectured to be Ephesus."
We will analyze the Poem, and pre
sent the reader with extracts which
will account fiir the
r disposition felt by
some to- prochtiin Robert Browning as
THE CHRISTIAN Parr of the age.
WILL IT PAY TO RAISE TOBA000?
_ Pecuniarily, I have no doubt of it ;
morally, I think not. Yet that all will
get rich who raise tobacco seems to me
problematical; and that in the long run
it will_pfove profitable, either physical
„t3r, morally, or politically, I do not, be
lieve. That it exhausts Alio soil and
impoverishes the farm admits not "of a
doubt. If there are doubters, let them
travel from Annapolis to Drum Point,
along the':Chesapeake Bay,. ~they
,will see tract, of land originally as
beautiful and as finely located as can
be
,found in America, now a barren
wage, thousands of acres producing
nothing but mulleris and other weeds.
Let them , ,inquire of - the inhabitants for
the,cause of tuis•state of things, and the
uniform response will be, ” Killed by
raising. tobacco." So in every part of
Maryland and Virginitir.
But we Yankees know, better how to
keep up our land. Admit, it. Pi:hence
comes the manure , ? Is it not tarnished
at the expense of all the rest of the
firm. Does not every nth& crop suf
fer ? There are towns:in 'this .valley
into•whieh twenty years.ago, kbusin 1 of
corn had prohably never been imported,
and but very little wbeat,,Which now
import and consume fiftY to one hun
dred thousand bushels'of corn annually,
besides most of their •breaddtuffs.
To, pay for this will require lots of to
bacco. To pay for extra imported
manure, for extra help, of which there
must be no stint, for extra'shed room—
ten acres reqUiring a building covering
as mach . surfape as Solomon's temple—
will require lots more.
But admitting that it dees pay better
than any,other crop, there are some
moral coneiderations which, it seems to
me, ought• not to be, overlooked. God
sends down ,upon us light, heat, and
moisture, that, by cultivating the soil,
we maybbtain susteirauce l f6r nciark l and
beast. Rave we liiihttlio t to\ per
vert these bleOsbage 481t0 otir..telds
to produce nothing buta hurtfulpoison?
—New England Farmer.