Cartspplithirr.
GEORGE WHITEFIELD AND HIS OPEN
AIR MEETINGS,
EDWARD PAYSON HAMMOND
INTO. 111.
George Whitefield seems never more
happy than when preaching to the masses
in the open air. lie loved to sing—
"For this let man revile my name,
I'll shun no cross, I'll fear no shame,
All hail reproach and Nteleome pain,
Only thy terrors, Lord, restrain."
Little children gathering along his
rugged pathway; loved to accompany
him in his open air services ; and, as
wayside flowers cheer the heart of the
weary traveller, so this evangelist often
found himself refreshed and strengthened
by their presence. These children loved
to crowd in and about the pulpit,
,and so
make themselves useful by handing him
the numerous requests for prayers. Some
times they were exposed to the violence
of-the rabble. Though sticks and stones
flew ,fitst about them, they seldom clit
sorted their tried friend. What a beau
tif4'teStimony Whitefteld has left with
regard to them 1 He says, " Every time
I Was struck, they turned up their little
weeping eyes, and seemed to wish they
could receive the blows for me."
Whitefield's boldest, and perhaps most
successful attempt at open air preaching,
was, made on. Whit-Monday, 1742, during
thearirinal holidays at Moodields, "the
season of .all 9thers," he says, "when,
if ever, Satitn!s children keep up their
rendezvous." Moorfields in Whitefield's
days, was a large open space of ground,
much frequented by the people on Sun
day afternoons, and at, holiday times.
At the great annual fair, the ground was
occupied with booths, where mounte
banks, players, puppet shows, etc., ex
hibited. Whitefield was on the ground
at six o'clock in the morning, accompanied
by several of his friends, and took pos
session of an eligible spot for his " field
pulpit." He found at that early hour 1
upwards of ten thousand already there ;
he gives us the following account of his
proceedings : "I mounted my field-pulpit,
glad to find that I had for once, as it
were, got the ,start of the devil. The
people immediately flocked round me,
and I addressed them from . the words
, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man
be lifted up.' All was hushed ' and
solemn ; they gazed, they listened, they
wept. Thus encouraged, I went again
in the afternoon, but now all bustle,
noise and confusion. Drummers, trum
peters, merry-Andrews, masters of puppet
shows, and exhibitors of wild beasts,
players, etc., were in possession of the
crowd of people, estimated at twenty
thousand and more. The fields were
white for the harvest of Beelzebub, and
not for the Redeemer." Whitefield's pul
pit was fixed on the opposite side, " and
.fudgin g ," he says, " that like Paul, I
should be called to fight with beasts
of Ephesus, I preached to them from the
words, ' Great is Diana of the Ephe
sians.' " Great was the mortification of
the players when they saw the multi
tudes change sides and flock round the
preacher. " You may guess," he says,
" there was great noise among the crafts
men." He was not, however, to have
it all his own way ; whilst preaching,
his enemies commenced throwing "rotten
eggs, stones, and dead cats" at him. My
soul was indeed among lions," he says.
But the greater part of his audience can
tinned to listen, and he gave notice,
at the • conclusion, that he would preach
again from the same place at six o'clock
in the evening.
When he went at.the time appointed,
he was much encouraged to see several
thousands collected together, and waiting
for him ; lint he was now to encounter a
more organized 'opposition. He con
tinues: "Opposite to the pulpit was one
of Satan's choicest servants, exhibiting
on a large stage to a great crowd, but
as soon as they saw me in my black
robes standing in the pulpit., they :left '
the player and ran over. This Satan'
could not brook ; the merry,andrew,
armed with a long whip, and followed
by a crowd of enraged and disappointed
showmen, approached. Then mounting
upon the shoulders of one of his com._
rades, the tumbler commenced lashing
his whip at me, and pretending to fall
down .at every stroke, with the violence
of his exertions. They next persuaded
it recruiting sergeant, with his drum,
to pass thrkfighthe congregation. When
I saw theiapproach, I gave the word
of command, and ordered that w might
be made for tie king's .ofreli: The
ranks opened, while...all marched quietly
through, and closed again." Finding
their efforts to divert the, attention of the
congregation fail, a large Body 4ssexii.:l2Jed
together, and having pro'cUred a co e'for
a standard, they marched upon th 'di
once ; but fortunately, when s 'tvi a
few feet, they quarreled among, em
selves, threw down their standar "..and
turned away." " We then," hV-sitys,
" returned to the. Tabernacle, whae the -
sands flocked, with my pocket full -
. ef
letters from persons brought under con
cern, and read them amidst the pra4es
and spiritual acclamations of thousands•
who joined with the holy angels in re
joicing that so many sinners were snatch
ed, in such an unexpected, unlikely place
and manner, out of the very jaws of the
devil. As a moderate computation, I
received, I believe, a thousand notes
from persons under conviction ; and soon
after, three hundred and fifty were re
ceived in one day. Numbers that seem
ed, as it were, to have been raised up for
THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1865.
Tyburn, were at that time plucked as
firebrands out of the burning."
It would seem as if, after that memo
rableday's labors at Moorfields, the even
ing at the Tabernacle was mostly taken
up with the reading of letters from those
brought to feel their need of a Saviour
at the open Sir preaching. White - field
well knew the valte of Christian ex'pe
rience. Some might have thought thAt
this mode of occupying the attention of
thousands for an evening, was very pro
fitable ; but the extensive experience of
14bitefield taught him the great value of
the simple narration of the dealings
of the Holy Spirit with individual cases.
He must have been a close student . of
the Acts of the Apostles. That even
ing's service seems to have proved so
interesting and profitable, that after
preaching again in Moorfields the next
clay, he resolved •to pursue • the same
plan. He therefore says, " I - retired with
my following to the Tabernacle, - Where I
read fresh notes that were handed in,
praising God amidst thousands assem
bled."
UAMI=MMUMSIi.=!.MAL.da
NIGHT, AT HYDE PARS,
shows how eager he Was to seize upon
every favorable opportunity to impress
the solemn truths of eternity upon his
fellow-men.
In 1750, a violent earthquake moved
the whole cities of London and West
minster. . . Multitudes of persons of
all classes fled from these cities, and re
paired to the fields and open *aces in
the neighborhood. Hyde Park was
crowded with men, women and children,
who remained a whole night under the
most fearful apprehension. Dr. Belcher
states that under these 'circumstances,
the ministers of Christ preached almost
incessantly, and many were awakened
to a sense of their awful condition before
God, and to rest their hopes of eternal
salvation on the rock of ages.
"Mr. Whitefield, animated with that
burning charity which shone so conspicu
ously in him, ventured out at midnight
to Hyde Park, where he proclaimed
to the affrighted and astonished multitudes
that there is a Saviour, Christ the Lord.
The darkness of the night, and the awful
apprehensions of an approaching earth
quake, added much to the solemnity of the
scene. The 'sermon was truly sublime, and
to the ungodly sinner, the self-righteous
pharisee, and the artful hypocrite, strikingly
terrific. With a pathos which showed the
fervor of his soul, and with a grand majestic
voice that commanded attention, he took
occasion, from the circumstances of the
assembly, to call their attention to that
most important event in which every-one
will be interested, the final consummation
of all things, the universal wreck of nations,
the dissolution of earth, and the eternal
sentence of every son and daughter of
Adam. The whole scene was one of a
most memorable character."
Passing over many thrilling events in
connection with Whitefield's efforts for
the masses in the open air, we come to
the closing scene of his life. Whitefield
had often expressed the wish that he
might die with the " harness on." His
desire, it is well known, was t. ot denied
him. Having preached Saturday, Sep
tember 30th, 1770, to a multitude in the
open air for nearly two hours, his ran
somed spirit, just as the king of day was
lighting up the eastern horizon, took its
flight to where " suns shall rise and set
no more."
The town of Exeter, where, at the age
of fifty-six, his last message to dying
man was delivered in the open air, had
been the scene of glorious triumphs in
former days. When once preaching
there, a man was present with his pockets
full of stones, determined to throw
them at the preacher as soon as the
services commenced. But a more than
human power fell upon this wicked man,
and before the - discourse was through, he
was not only . glad :to get rid of the stones
in his pockets, but was also anxious to
know how :he could get rid of his stony
heart. After the sermon, this subdued
man said to Whitefield, " Sir; I came
here to-clay to break your head, but God
has given me a broken heart." It is
said this man became an humble follower
of the Lord Jesus, and lived to prove
the genuineness of his conversion.
Doubtless crowds of anxious souls
accompanied him to Newburyport, a dis
tance of fifteen miles, where he was
advertised to speak the next day ; for it
has been related that after trying to eat
something, while attempting to make his
way unobserved to his room, they burst
in upon him, and at least with imploring
looks, said, " Oh, tell us what we shall
do to be saved." His .heart so yearned
for their salvation, that, though he was
scarcely able to hold himself up, he stood
upon the stairs till the candle burned to
its socket, pointing them to the. "Smished
work" of Him hi whose'inunediate pre
sence, ere another sun' he
was to find fullness of j937-41,14:pleapres
forever.
At his funeral in Newbmiyport, it is
said four_ or five thousand were present.
Mr. Smith, who used to :accompany
Whitefield, says, in speaking of the fune
ral services, "the ReV. Daniel Rogers
made a very affecting prayer, and openly
declared that under God, he owed his
conversion to that dear man whose pre
cious remains now lay, before them.
Then he cried Out, Oh; my; ather !
my Father ! ' then stopped and wept as
though his heart would break ; the peo
fie weeping all through the place." A
few years since, I stood in the vault
beneath the church in Newburyport,
:where reposes all that is mortal of
'.George Whitefield. I can never forget
the emotions which filled my heart, as
with tears I gazed upon the remains of
that persecuted but untiring evangelist,
who crossed the ocean thirteen times to
preach the glad tidings of salvation to
the perishing. Oh how blank my life
seemed ; how small I felt, as I stood
with the skull of Whitefield in my hands!
God forbid that I should ever forget the
solemn vows then made of renewed con
secration !
As I held the ulna of that right arm
which by an unknown hand had been
carried across the ocean and - carefully
returned again, and as I thought of the
thousands of weeping souls it had helped
to point to the “Lanib of God," I could
but humbly pray that - I might be far
more earnest to point dying souls to the
cross of Christ.
" Servant of God, well done I
Thy glorious warfare's past,
The battle's fought, the race is won,
And thou art crowned at last;
Of all thy heart's desire, .
Triumphantly possess' d,
Lodg'd by the ministerial choir,
• In thy Redeemer's breast.
" In condescending love
Thy ceaseless prayer,he heard,
Arid bade thee suddenly remove
To thy complete reward ;
Ready to bring thee peace,
Thy beauteous feet were shod,
When mercy signed thy soul's release,
And caught thee up to God.
"With saints enthron' d on high,
Thou dost thy Lord prdclaim,
And'still to God salvation cry,
Salvation to the Lamb !
O happy, happy soul,.
In ecstacies of praise
Long as eternal ages roll,
Thou seest thy Saviour's face.
" Redeem' d from earth and pain,
Ah I when shall we ascend,
And all in Jesus' presence reign
With our translated friend I
Come Lord, and quickly come!
And when in thee complete-,
Receive thy longing servants home,
To triumph at thy feet 1"
LETTER FROM SOUTHERN INDIA.
TIRUMIINGALIMS ' SOUTHERN' INDIA,
October 7th, 1864.
MY DEAR Siu:—Thinking a letter from
this "far off" part of the world might be in
teresting to some of your readers, whose ac
.quainta,nce I was permitted to make a year
and a half since, I take the liberty of tres
passing upon your attention. You may have
noticed in the papers, at the beginning of this
year, an account of the disaster to the ship
Osborn, Howes, in which we embarked from
Boston, on the 21st of November last. We
had been out but three days, when a huge
wave so shattered the bows of the ship that
the captain was obliged to lighten her by
throwing overboard about fifty tons of her
lading. Then he "used helps, undergirding
the ship," and although we were "exceedingly
tossed by the tempest," in eleven days we suc
ceeded in reaching Boston. We had in the
meantime encountered three heavy gales, and
once struck upon-the Nantucket Shoals. But
at length we all escaped safe to land. Our ship
underwent a thorough repairing, and we set
sail again on the 20th of January, and reached
Madras in the unprec,edentedly short space of
92 days; an ordinary_ voyage is 120 days, and
the last missionaries that came out before us
were 159 'days at sea.
THE BELLS CAST OVERBOARD
Some of your younger readers will be in
terested in :the fact- that the three church
bells which they contributed their money to
buy were thrown into the Gulf Stream. Also,
a fourth bell that was being sent out as a kind
of memorial bell for Mr. Scudder, who was
drowned in this district, shared the same
fate. Instead of calling these benighted
people to the house of God, as we hoped,
these four bells all lie away down, down
among the sharks and monsters of the deep.
But I am happy to say that, through the
favor of the insurance company, all of the
bells were replaced by others, and three of
the four are doing their appropriate work.
The bell for lily own church is so large that I
am obliged to build a tower for it, and as the
mission has no money for a tower, I am trying
to collect some from rich natives. I need
more than fifty dollars, and think we shall be
able to raise it, and I hope soon to fulfill my
promise to write those Sabbath Schools many
interesting particulars.
THE , LOCOMOTIVE IN INDIA
On reaching Madras we were happy to
learn that 200 miles, of our inland journey
might be travelled by the cars, the railroad
having been completed from the eastern to
the western coast. We came to Salem at the
at the rate of 30 miles the hour, and, thence
to Madura with speed decreased to "inside
of three " miles ari hour. This, of course, by
ox-power, changing cars, or rather changing
oxen, once every eight miles.
We now occupy what is to us a new station,
one left by Rev. Mr. Herrick, who was com
pelled by ill health to visit the United States.
I have a large field of labor, covering a tract
of country 61S square miles in extent, having
a population of 179,600, living in 894 villages.
I rejoice to say there are now Christians in
17 of these villages—some 734, in all—with
136 communicants in good and regular stand
ing. Thus you may infer that a good -begin
ning has been made, yet much, very much
still remains to be done. On one of my re
cent tours in the villages, a -man attended
meeting with an iron frame about his neck,
firmly riveted on by the blacksmith. It was
about 18 inches square, having bands of iron
,passing from each corner of the frame over
his head, riveted at the apex. This most
uncomfortable affair he has worn seven years,
all for the purpose of begging successfully.
In reply to my questions, he said he was en
deavoring to raise money to excavate and
enclose with hewn stone steps a tank—which
is a work of great merit—and that people,
seeing how much he suffered with his head
in that coop of iron, would give him money.
After a half-hour's talk, he seemed, almost
persuaded to have the rough thing removed.
But alas, the iron enters his soul.
PRAYERS OF NATIVE CHRISTIANS
(*very pleasing incident has just occurred
among the native Christians at this place,
which I will mention. Two years ago to-day
many, of the crops were wilting and withering
for the want of rain. Also the news from
America was rather sad. The Christians,
without saying anything to me, decided to
have a day of fasting and prayer : First, that
God would send rain, _and thus arrest the
threatened famine, and second, that He would
hasten the end of that terrible war, the influ
ence of which is felt all over the world.
" Give the victory to the Northern people,"
was an oft-repeated petition. They literally
abstained from food, and held four or five
prayer meetings during the day. I was pre
sent in the morning from ten to twelve. Now
the result : before night a shower of rain fell,
and it has rained nearly every day since.
Whether we shall hear of great successes to
the Federal cause occurring about this time I
cannot tell; but of this one thing I am sure:
God will not despise the prayers of His "little
ones." We' all feel more or less anxious
about the financial condition of our Board.
We are already sailing under close-reefed top
sails, and if the furids of the Board will not
allow us to carry these what will become of
the ship? I wish some of your great men
would preach from Isa. xlix. 6. "Finally,
brethren, pray for us."
I cannot close without sending my most
cordial Christian salutations to those pastors,
Sunday School superintendents, and others—
all the Aquilas and Priscilla,s with whom I
had a short but exceedingly pleasant ac
..
quamtance. The Churches •of Asia salute
you.
40 Very sincerely yours,
J. E. OECANDLER
Ditt(fzMt.
DIARY OF MISS Brix Txi v YLYAII : A Story
of the Times of Whitefield and the. Wes
leys. By the author of " Chronicles of the
Schcenberg-Cotta Family," "The Early
Dawn," &c. With a Preface by the Author
for the American Edition. New York :M.
W. Dodd. 12mo. pp. 436. Philadelphia :
for sale by J. B. Lippincott & Co.
The New York publisher of this and other
volumes, by the same author, has certainly
earned the gratitude of the reading public,
not only by recognizing the merit of a series
of works which had previously existed only
in the form of magazine articles, and by
bringing them out in a permanent shape, but
by opening communication with the 'writer,
and procuring directly from her fertile pen
the manuscript of the work above announced.
A new field in the domain of pious fancy
was entered by this accomplished writer, and
a new class of pleasurable and wholesome
feelings awakened in the reader. Those who
have read the " Chronicles" will be prepared
to appreciate the "Diary," which breathes
the same homely pathos and tenderness, and
exhibits the same exquisite grace, refinement,
and Christian courteousness. The "Diary" is
worth reading for the style alone ; but the Chris
tian sentiment is so evangelical, so noble, so
pure, that the highest principles of the soul
are reached and strengthened by it. The nar
rative is, of course, fictitious, as much so as.
Walter Scott's novels, or Shakespeare's his
torical plays. Truth to nature is preserved,
and a near view of the characters and doings
of Whitefield and the Wesleys, as they doubt
less appeared to private Christians of large
views in those days, is given with great skill
and truthfulness. No false impressions• are
produced, only an attempt is made by the aid
of the imagination to fill up a void in history ;
to give us facts as they appeared to persons
from whom we are cut off, except as we can
live and think ourselves into their circum
stances. Not a little of the enjoyment given
by the perusal of these.works arises from ad
miration of the ingenuity with which the
author fills out the picture to the minutest
details. The feminine tact is visible on every
page.
The volume deserves a welcome from every
cultivated Christian household in the land.
MITCECELL. Wet Days at Edgewood, with
Old Farmers, Old Gardeners, and Old
Pastorals. By the autor of "My Farm at
Edgewood." New York: Chas. Scribner.
12m0., laid tinted paper, cloth, pp. 315,
price $2. For sale by J. B. Lippincott &
Co. • .
Another of Ike Marvel's delightful volumes.
With marvellous industry he has improved
the " Wet Days" upon the farm, which is his
pleasant retreat from the busy world, and
which he enjoys as the fruit of most success
ful literary labors. A vast extent of litera
ture, classical and modern, comes under re
view, and Yields its choice tribute to the
novel and pleasing purpose of its writer.
An elegant taste and a skilful avoidance of
the prosaic, the tedious, and the conceited,
which not unfrequently mar the work of the'
essayist in such a field, characterize the
volume. Quondam scholars, who have had
no opportunity, amid the pressing cares of
life, to keep up their studies, will have their
classic memories delightfully refreshed by the,
" Wet Days;" those interested in modern
literature; from the "Piers Plowman" and
Chaucer in England, will welcome the gems
of quaint beauty which the author draws
from treasures too little known, and as all
persons instinctively take an interest in rural
life, the circle to whom " Wet Days" will
commend itself is a wide one. To farmers
especially it is an instructive example of the
excellent use to which their hours of enforced
leisure may be put, and is particularly worthy
of the regard of the class in America, so many
of whom lose their reason (according to the
statistics of the Insane Asylums), doubtless
from the utter monotony of their lives.
The volume is handsomely dedicated to Mr.
Scribner, the publisher.
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS. Boston Tick
nor & Fields. Square 18mo., red edges,
pp. 160. Fdr sale by J. B. Lippincott &
Co.
Admirers of the great poet will welcome
this little volume, in which all his sonnets are
contained. We believe it is yet a problem in
literature what the exact purpose of these
compositions was ; but they unquestionably
display the exuberant genius and . marvellous
copiousness and command of language of the
poet in an aspect not familiar to the - readers
of his plays alone.
FROTHrNGHAM-KING. A Tribute to Thomas
Starr King. By Richard Frothingham.
Boston : Ticknor & Fields, 16m0., laid
tinted paper, pp. 247.
MArrisoN. The Immortality of the Soul,
Considered in the Light of the Holy Scrip
• tures, the Testimony of Reason and Nature,
and the various Phenomena of Life and
Death. By the Rev. Hiram Mattison,
A. M. Philadelphia : Perkinpine & Big
gins, 12m0., pp. 398. With steel engraved
portrait of the authr.
The aim of this volume, which is the
work of an itinerant Methodist minister, is to
popularize the arguments for the immortality
of the soul. The author does not seek to
startle by novelty, but takes the common
sense scriptural views, and defends them with
ability. Great labor has been bestowed on
the subject during the twenty-five years in
which the topic has lain in the author's mind.
He has first treated it in the light of Scrip
ture, and then in that of reason. The various
arguments are clearly and forcibly stated.
The styleis pleasing and abounds in valuable
illustrations of the power and functions of
the soul, and the phenomena which involve
most nearly the question at issue. The work
is one calculated to do good, though we
think no one should now write on this subject
without consulting Ezra Abbott's exhaustive
catalogue of works on the Doctrine of a
Future Life, in Alger's History, published by
G. W. Childs, of this city.
REFLECTED LIGHT. Illustrations of the Re
deemer's Faithfulness in the Happy Death
bed Experience of Christians. Philadel
phia: Wm. S. &A. Martien. 12m0., pp.
173, red edges
A happy thought it is in the compiler to
gather these brief accounts of death=bed ex
periences and triumphs into a single volume.
Many timorous Christians will thank him for
the strong consolation he has thus put within
easy reach; and many will be glad to possess
in this compact form such a variety of testi
monies to the power of Divine Grace in the
most trying hour of all. Among the accounts
given are the dying experience of Lady Hun
tingdon, Doddridge, Hervey, Romaine, Venn,
Payson, Hannah More, Bedell, Simeon, the
Haldanes, Sarah Judson, Dr. Judson, Bick
ersteth, Susan Allibone, and Judge Jones.
Appropriate scriptural and poetical extracts
give increased interest to the work, the ex
ternals of which are very creditable to the
publishey, who is also steieotyper and printer.
WINES. Children in Paradise. By Frederick
Howard Wines, late Chaplain in United
States Army. Philadelphia: Wm. S. &A.
Martien. 16 mo, gilt, tinted paper.
The conclusions to which the writer comes
in this little treatise meet our entire approval,
but the processes have all the stiffness of
medieval logic, and all the dryness of Prince
tonian theology. The doctrine of infant sal
vation out of such premises is like figs upon
thistles and grapes upon thorns. However,
it is here, and we are glad to see it so dis
tinctly avowed, and so tenderly urged upon
the bereaved, for whom the book, is designed.
Again, as in the former case, we remark the
extreme beauty of the externals of the volume.
HOLLOWAY. Mental Geometry, or Generali
zations of Geometrical Demonstrations in
Planes, Solids, and Spheres. Designed as
a Manual for Teachers and for Students of
High Schools, Normal Schools and Col
leges, By H. H. Holloway, Professor of
Mgher Mathematics. J. B. Lippincott &
Co., Philadelphia. 12mo, pp. 260, price
$1.25.
Although this is the first regular treatise
on Mental Geometry ever written, the exe
cution is such as to elicit the, admiration of
all lovers of mathematics. It exhibits much
original research, and is in no respect a com
pilation of the excellencies of either American
or foreign treatises on Geometry. The arrange
ment of propositions according to their rela
tions is excellent, and much more logical and
philosophical than that of diagram geome
tries. The work is perhaps the most com
plete treatise on• solid geometry in the lang
uage. The placing of the principles of proof
at the commencement of each theorem is pe
culiar, and Is 'evidently a very commendable
feature. The formalities of demonstration
adopted by Euclid, and so servilely copied by
most modern geometers, have been generally
rejected. The work will tend to impress
thoroughly upon the mind of the pupil, not
only the properties of geometrical magnitudes,
but also the rationale of demonstration, It
will be •invaluable te . teachers, -and all mathe
matical students - should have a copy as an
accompaniment to their diagram geometry.
The literary excellence of the work will be as
delightful to the taste, as the clearness of the
reasoning is satisfactory to .the intellect.
rgsmlyvvvvrywir_n
• ,
BOARDMAN. Healing and Salvation for our
Country from God Alone. A Sermon
preached in the Tenth Presbyterian Church,
Philadelphia, on Thanksgiving' Day, No
vember 24th, 1864. By Henry A. Board
man, D. D.
A few sentences in the opening part of this
sermon have somewhat of the manly and pa
triotic tone, which we should expect in a
document given to the public at the request
of so many respectable men at this period of
the war. With truth and emphasis, Dr. B.
calls the rebellion a. "criminal revolt." But
as we read on, we become conscious of a sort
of vanity ; we gasp for breath amid the cold
And attenuated atmosphere. Dr. B. says dubis
ously,, " we may be thankful that any slave
States have become free ;" but he has the
boldness to assert, without any intimation of
doubt, " that the prevailing sentiment of the
country is not one of praise and rejoicing."
Pray, in what part of the country has the
author of this extraordinary assertion been
living ? What authorities can he give for, a
declaration so sweeping and so disheartening?
How many home-circles of loyal people,
gathered around the thanksgiving board, was
he enabled to visit, or by what token does he
pronounce their gladness assumed and hypo
critical? Do they belong 'to that "larger
class of frivolous people whose heartless mer
riment nothing short of the grave ,could ex
tinguish ?" And are those the true repre-,
sentatives of the national feeling, who spent
the day of thanksgiving, as Dr. B. encouraged
his hearers to do, in counting over, with
gloomy hearts, the length and cost of the
war; in ruminating over "the frightful bat
tles," the death and sorrow it had caused,
and in contemplating what be calls " a future
as dark and impenetrable as that which rises
bdore us?" We think it is pretty clear
what sort of people the preacher has been
associated with,,but he evidently knows very
little of the feelings of the loyal part of the
nation, even of those who have suffered by
the war. Any Government hospital, full of
wounded and maimed -soldiers, would have
contradicted his sweeping, unjust, and errone
ous assertion, that the " prevailing sentiment
of the country' is not that of praise and re
joicing."
After the fashion of a certain sort of Union
men, Dr. B. lays the blame of our troubles
about equally on both sections ; " the oppres
sion, the fanaticism, the ambition, the cu
pidity, the disregard of human rights, and the
invasion of Constitutional rights, [what rights,
asks Mr. Stephens, has the North invaded ?]
the wrongs and sins on the one side and the
other." He thinks it necessary to rehearse
Mr. Seward's prophecy about ninety days,
and to emphasize its falsification—a political
device long outworn.' He dwells upon and
magnifies the difficulties of the military posi
tion ; new armies must be raised, and tens of
thousand of additional soldiers' graves dug;
then turns to the very grave difficulties of
the political and social ,position; and with
some risk of self-contradiction, too, for if the
future, in a military point, is so dark and im
penetrable, as he verily believes, what need
of speculating upon the grave problem of
arranging for the "four millions of emend
patedlolaCks ?" That need not be discussed,
accorNng to the preacher's point of view, for
several thanksgivings, if ever. Nevertheless,
the period seems to him to be approaching;
" a mighty convulsion must follow the annihi
lation of this complex system." Are there
any signs of it in Maryland? The social
problem he states in language which must
have sounded strangely in the ears of believers
in the essential and rightful unity of the
American population: " Can these two peoples
ever again become one nation?" The italics
are ours. We are also once more informed as
to the " prevalent sentiment with us ;" this,
• says the writer, "appears to be that it is only
a forced and nominal Union which can be ex
pected under the most favorable circumstances,
and even to this the South is not willing to listen
Here is a difficulty," continues the preacher,
" which the most sanguine will concede to be
of the most 'towering proportions." Very
true, doubtless of " tlt I! "I do not know"
—this is much more modest--" whether it
[the task of allaying resentments] will ever
be accomplished."
The great remedy proposed is a "general
'reformation and return to God:" most true
and most excellent: But the able author is
utterly blind to the National reformation that
has been going on, almost ever since the war
commenced; he seems to have no capacity to
recognize the great purifying process which
has been making such rapid strides and filling
the hearts of Christian people in the North,
and all over the world, with inexpressible
gladness and thankfulness, and which the re
cent decisive vote of the nation uttered forth
in such thunder tones, that our thanksgiv
ings
of November 24th was mainly a joyful
echo of them, and that one would think
even the leader of the conservatives in the
Old School Church must have heard and
understood it. We are amazed that a man
of Dr. Boardman's moral and mental culture
could live, and write, and preach in such pro:
found oblivion of the great realities, the sub
lime materials of history, transpiring around
him ; we are indignant that a moral teacher
should leave the impression that men guilty
of' rebellion in the interest of slavery, were
little, if any, worse than men who are resolved,
at the cost of a fearful war, to put down both
rebellion and slavery ; but we are not sur
prised that a man with such views of the moral
status of the contending parties, should see no
positive ground of encouragement, no de
cisive evidence of the divine favor in the
steady progress of our arms, no prospect of
early victory, or of a successful settlement of
the difficulties which victory will bring in its
train.
DIRECTORY,
Of Presbyterian [N. B.] Ministers and
Churches, Philadelphia.
ADAMS, E. E., D. D 1702 Mount Vernon street.
North Broad St. Church. Broad and Green streets.
ADAIR, ROBERT Norristown.
Sec. H, M. Com. Presbyterian House.
BARNES, ALBERT .255 South itighth street.
let Pres. Church. Washington SqE&Te.
BARNES, A. iIENRY 923 Spruce street.
BERRIDDR, LEEDS It 31st street, above Baring.
Chaplain U. S. Hospital. Haddington. -
BRAINERD, Moues, D. D.... 634 Pine street. .
3d Pros. Church. Fourth and Pine streets.
BROWN, CHARLES Spruce st., above 40th, W.P.
See. Ministe'l Rel. Fund. Presbyterian House.
BRUEN, EDWARD B 1531 Chestnut street.
Ist Church, Darby. Below Darby Borough.
BUTLER, J. G., D. D Chestnut st., ab.4oth, W. P.
Walnut St. Church, W.P. Walnut st., ab. 39th, W. P.
CALgnis, WoLcorr .1814 Pine street.
Calvary Church. Locust street, above 15th,
CATTO, WILLIAM T
2d African Church. St. Mary's street, ab. 6th.
Cox. Gino. W 1041 Beach street.
CRITTENDEN, lit W Darby.
2d Church, Darby. Below Kinesessing.
CULVER, ANDREW' Green Lane, Manayunk.
Manayunk Church. Manayunk.
DULLES, joliN W 4037 Chestnut street, W. P.
Sec. Pres. Pub. Cool. Presbyterian House.
EVA, WILLIAM '2 1116 Columbia avenue, E.
Ist Church, Kensington. Girard ay.,near Hanover st.
BARBEE, J. GARLAND 902 Pine street. ,
Wharton St. Church. Ninth and Wharton streets.
HELFFENSTEIN, J., D. D Germantomi.
Market Square Church. Germantown.
HENDRICKS, FRANCIS 805 Vine street.
Kenderton Church. Tioga street. shave 17th.
Horoaxwi, B. B Haverford P. o..'Del. co.
Mande Church. Alarple.
MALIN. DAVID, D. D Broad and Ellsworth sta.
• Agt. for N. Y. Soldiers. 1021 Chestnut street:
MALLERY. RICHARD A 919 South Fifteenth street.
Cedar Street Church. South street. above 11th.
MARCH, DANIEL, D. D N. W. CDT. Tenth and Pine.
Clinton Street Church. Clinton and Tenth streets.
McLsoo, JOHN
Sec. A. B. C. F. M. Presbyterian House.
Southwestern Church. 20th and Fitzwater streets,
Teens JORN W 300 Nor th .,
Eighteenth st
Ed. Am. Presbyterian. Presbyterian__House.
MILLER, JEREMIAH 1106 Callowhill street.
Sec. Phila. Sab. Assoc'n.
MITCHELL, JAMES Y 1003 North Fifth street.
Central Church, N. L. Coates street, above Third.
PATTON, JOHN. D. D-......... 2023 Wallace street.
Logan Square Church. Twentieth and Vine sts.
PRATT__, LEWELL1N..........N. W. cor. Broad and Pine.
2d Mantua Church, -
W.P. Lancaster ay. and 41st st.
RBEVE, J. B 1029 Locust street.
LombardSt.Cent.Church.Lombard street, above Bth.
ROBBINS, FRANK L 834 North Broad. street.
Green Hill Church. Girard avenue, ab.l6th st.
SHEPHERD, THOMAS J... . . . _507 Brown street.
Ist Pres. Church, N. L..... Buttonwood at., below 6th.
SMITH, CHARLES A, D. 3) 1530 Arch
SMITH, H. AtroosTus 3404 Bridge street, W. P.
Mantua Church, W. P. 36th and Bridge sts., W. P.
TAYLOR, W. W.. 2021 Wallace street.
Olivet Church. 22d and Mount Vernon sty.
VAN AKBN. GULICK 13)6 South Fifth street.
Southwark Church. German street, below 3d.
VAN DEVRS, GEO 250 South Juniper street.
Tabor Church. 17th and Fitzwater streets.
W.n.Lts. J. S Filbert street, above 17th.
Western Church. ' 17th and Filbert streets.
PRAYER should be diligent, increasing, un
tiring, ever withstanding suspicion, unbelief,
and despair.