7HE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN
AND
GENESEE EVANGELIST.
A Religions and Family newspaper,.
'THE INTERNST OF THN
Constitutional Presbyterian Chmh.
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY,
AT THE PRESBYTERIAN HOUSE, .
• • 1331 Chestnut Street. (2d story,) Philadelphia.
Rer. John W. Mears, Editor and PabUsher.
Bev. B. B. Hotehkin, Editor of News and
Family Departments.
Rev. .c. Bush, _ Corresponding Editor,
ito!eliester, N. Y.
ant halt trolrgttriaiL
THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 1865
CONTENTS OF INSIDE PAGES.
SECOND PAGE - THE FAMILY CIRCLE
Divine Faithfulness—A Father's Lessthi—Ballast—
Dead Three Months—" I'm Going: I Don't Know
Where"—Over the River—Boy Lost—Out of Tune—
Beautiful Illustration—The Apprentice—Tb e Un
seen Army—Children Attending Church—" After
Many Days"—Rum in the Army.
THIRD PAGE—EDITOR' S TABLE :
Philbrick's " The American Union Speaker"—Head
ley's "The Hero Boy; or,. the Life and Deeds of
Lieutenant-amoral Grant ;" " The Patriot Boy ; or,
the Life of Mmor-General 0. M. Mitchell, the As
tronomer and Hero;" " The Miner Boy and hie
Monitor; or, the Life of Captain John Ericsson, the
Engineer"—" Vivian . and His Friends"—Kelley's
" Little Sernism Talks"—Kelley's " Little Con
querors; or, Children's Comfort Bags"—" Mother's
Picture Alphabet"—Magazines and Pamphlets. .• •
Agricultural; Our Farmers—Grape Planting this
Spring—Gardeng for the Children—Visiting 'Ear
mers—Death to Rats—Marble Cement.
SIXTH PAGE—CORRESPONDENCE:
The Sabbath a National Bulwark—Jotting. from a
Parish SournalAn Illustration of City Missions—
Chaplain Stewart's Letter—Benjamin Franklin's
Proposal of Prayer in the Convention for Framing
the Constitution—With Me in Paradise.
Miscellaneous i Sound and Timely Suggestions
Our Publications: The Closer Walk.
SIVFZITH PAGE-PuELIGIOIIS INTELLIGENCE
Presbyteriau—Congregational—Methodist — Baptist
--The Church Catholic--Miscellaneous--Items--U.
S. Christian Commission.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL RECONSTIMC -
PION OF TENNESSEE.
How the shattered ,affairs of the South
ern churches are ever to be repaired it is
impossible to tell. Demoralized and shorn
of their character as witnesses for the pure
truth of the Gospel long before the - war,
by_slavery, they entered; heart and soul,
into the — Siiinuern — sla.
Their clergy, their elders, their Sabbath
school teachers, the young men of their
churches, as we have reason to believe, have
been drawn into the war by volunteering or
by conscription, far more generally than.
has been the case with us. A Bishop of
the Episcopal Church was killed while
wearing the insignia and performing the
duties of a general in the rebel army. The
late Secretary of the American Bible
Society, Rev. James H. McNeill, a college
class-mate of ours, was wounded near Get
tysburg, while acting as a rebel lieutenant.
Dr. Atkinson, President of Hampden Sidney
College, became a captain irrthe rebel service,
and was captured at the battle of Biel Moun
thin. Dr. Dabney was one of the staff of
Stonewall Jackson., Dr.,,PeAmer
have been both a colonel and chaplain in the
rebel service; he is known to, have haran
gued the , rebel army of Northern Missis
sippi with great energy and ability. The
churches hastened with a joyful eagerness
to reorganize themselves in accordance with
the new civil circumstances, never lifting
a word in behalf of the divinely ordained
" powers that 'be," against Which so MaprO
yoked a rebellion was raised, the formu
laries of Church Polity, the. Liturgies,-
the Directories for worship were altered,
and the "United Sates" . erased to give
place to the " Confederate States" in the
services. Solemn addresses were issued by
the Old _School Southern Assembly, the
Southern Bishops of the Episcopal Church,
the Young Men's Christian Association Of
New Orleans, the Smithern Baptist Con
vention, and finally, by the entire body of
Southern churches, Methodists, • Baptists,
Epcscopalians, Presbyterians, Lutherans,l
German Reforinici, &c., in April, 1868
all of which documents ,declare - their' un-'j
hesitating acquiescence in the rebellion
and even strenuously argtie in its defence;*,
The religiOus press of the South, weekly,
and quarterly, sustained the movement with
remarkable ulagdmitY- In fact, it has been
asserted, at' le'ast by one Southern man,
supposed to be Thomas R. R. Cobb, that
the td revolulic•n," as he terms it, "has been
accomplished mainly by the' churches."
In another 'place, he calls " Her, own
[the church'S] grand creation." - t
Now these organizations, so deeply pene
trafed with the spirit of the rebellion, who.;
commended it to the public conscience, gave
it moral status, anticipated by their per
verted reasoning andtheir suppression and
misconstruction of Scripture teaching, the
simpler and purer judgment of the people,
scattered, broken, prostrate, as they are, pre
sent no easy problem to the loyal Christian I
people of the -country. Shall they again,
by Northern aid, be set upon their feet?
Shall all their machinery once more be put
in operation? Can they become instrumen
talities in the work of the gospel, after they
m so extensively and so energeti
in the promotion and support of
ion in the interest of American
Can their leaders again be ad
places of trust and influence? Can
:embers be reinstated in pulpits
rhich they have preached treason and
for the success of a slaveholders'
7 Or if, seeing their schemes
Arn and the hand of God so mani
igainst them, they sincerely repent,
ton's Church and the Rebellion.
New Series, V6l. 11, No. 12.
will even the penitent authors of such mis
chievous•and murderous doctrines, some•of
whom have even shed 'blo'od in their de
fence, be fit men to be entrusted with the
moral training of the new generation of
free and loyal' Americans?
For our part, we do not see but that the
S h outhern churches, and leading ministers,
and religious newspapers
,and periodicals,
and theological seminaries, must be swept
away with the rebel politicians, with whose
cause they so unreservedly and promptly
identified themselVes.
Happily, the ease is far different with the
churches of . Tennessee, especially in .the
eastern portion. In the mountains of East
Tennessee, the spirit of liberty and loyalty
has dwelt , in unconquerable - persistency
from the beginning of the war. Some of
the ministers, it is true, participated in the
Secession madness; but their flocks have
endured amid 'indescribable martyrdoms,
until the long prayed for deliverer, in the
person of General . Burnside, arrived, - and
their false teachers forsook them and fled.
Here the problem_ of e.eclesiastieal recon
struction is the simplest possible. The in
tractable leaven of seccession is purged
away, andindeed the effect of the war has
been to. turn the churches more warmly to
the North, and to undo the work of mis
chief-makers who anticpated political by
ecclesiastical secession, a few years before
the .outbreaking of the war. Two entire
Presbyteries, separated from us by the
- .01 ,,, -hrtml----se.cession of 1857, voted to re
turn to the General Assembly as soon as
General Buraide's presence gave them
the opportunity of acting freely. The war,
in fact, recovered them to us; it.seened to
develope their sympathies with us, artifici
ally interrupted and repressed seven years
before.
Providence has, therefore, opened to us
as a denomination, a sphere of labor in the
ecclesiastical reconstruction of the South,
happily tree from almqst all the embarrass-
ments which must beset,a large part of the
field. .A. great. central State of the Union,
the commanding military importance of
whose territory has been strikingly revealed
by the war, with magnificent resources* .aria
a salubrious climate, is thus planed Vefo T e .
our -ehUrch. So much of 'ter duty to the.
South is clear. These returning Presby-_
teries must be sustained. The request, of
these churches for men and means and
suitable literature must be heeded. These
scenes of the apostolic labors of Gideon Black
burn and Robert Henderson must be revisi
ted by men of like zeal and energy. It
may be necessary to repeak the precaution,
of those first settlers and preachers of East
Tennessee,: who came armed to the places
of convocation, and sat down musket and
cartridge box. in the corner of • the pulpit
before commencing the sexinon. But the
work must be done. Our church dare not
shrink from it, or treat it as a matter •of
secondary importance. 'As surely as we
appreciate the significance of the questions
inVolved in this struggle ; as surely as our
branch of the church in its acts, policY and
sympathies represents the principles of free
dom, justice, and public order, vindicated
in this struggle ; as surely' as:we dealre - the
SOuth to be Pervaded With' these principleS,4
and 'to`enjoy' the transformin. eleVatine - .
power of a fairly preached gospel, so surely'',
must we rejoice, at the open .indications of
sympathy with us in a central .and exten
,
sive region of . .the South--must hail the
action and : present p,cisition of; the =East Ten
'nessee Preshyterians as i among the most
hopeful of the signs of thetime.s, and must
solemnly charge ourselves with the duty-of
giving to these movements, all the ele
ments of stability and of growth, which the
means, the executive ability, and the preach
ing forces at our disposal -will allow. -No
denomination in the country enjoys such a
magnificent base of operations for the work
in the South, topographical, strategetical,
and' moral, as is ours in Ekat Tennessee. -
It was long ago declared, in a military point
of view that, whoever held possession of East
Tennessee, dominated the country. We
know that the course of victory has been
almost uninterruptedly with the national
anus, ever since we gained undisputed pos
session of that territory. May we not learn
from this the importance of 'making a sure
and broad foothold for our church there, as
the best preparation for the performance of
whatever else may be our part in that work,
of restoration or substitution, which the
Northern churcheS in some way must Ito
complish for the religious and ecclesiastical
interests of the South?
Remembering the military importance ‘ of
Chattanooga, we cannot but hope that our
Home Missionary Committee will give it
their early attention, as e point of impor-
ikThere is an "Oil Creek," mentioned in
the early records of Presbyterianism in Ten
nesoee. See Gillett's History.
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 1865.
tance for their more peaceful, but, we hope,
equally aggressive operations.
'Finally, we may take it as a crowning
indication of the readiness and the promise
of this field, that the brief labors of our
missionaries, under many and great-disad
vantages, have already been, attended with
the Divine blessing. The Holy Spirit has.
been poured out upon oneof the congrega
tions, and a plentiful ing,athering of the
fruits has, taken place. In - 'that abused
country, -among those hunted, Troscribed
people, from' whose ears the din of war has
scarcely yet died away ; how solemn, how
delightful, how tender, how near to heaven,
and yet holy rich in promise for the earthly:
future of the church and the citizen, must
have been the admission of those converted
East Tennesseans to the New' School Pres
byterian Church ! .
THE FALL IN GOLD.
The Wall street wing of the rebel,ausil
iary forces met with a series of crushing
disasters last week. The doeline in gold
was nearly thirty per' cent.; an d e very at
tempt of speculators to arrest it pioved
futile, resulting in still worse - disaster to
the operators. <No rebel
,army, in actual
field service, has been more pertinaciouS,
more skilfully handled, more plentifully
supplied with material for a campaign,
more firmly entrenched, and, we may add,
more favorably disposed to the rebel oause,
than the' unprincipled , gold gamblers of
Wall stre '
vice .to tl
tl-zffut
to - inflict more than temporary disaster
upon our cause; but those who 'hove, by
persistent efforts, at the great financial:con
_
tre of . the country, depreciated the credit
of the government, and created the impres
sion- that its paper was no better than that
of a desperate bankrupt, worth but forty to
fifty cents on the dollar, have loaded uS
and all posterity: for. generations to 'come,
with the grieVous burden of a rieedleSsly
enhanced indebiedness, and have prepare&
the' way for a Conimereial panic,"Ahe extent
and results of which no, one can foresee,
gmlibleri gold,,
whose very occupation made them wish,
dipaster instead
,of success to our arms,' as
well as political defeat and popular disturb=
anoes at hOme, could not have carried out
their 7pu'fposes alone. The help . 4:0f: the
loyal and the . tindifferent portion' of the'
community - was necessary to their success,
and they got it.. They found the commu
nity accessible to panics, and even loyal mer .
have been covetous -enough of gain to
willing to .see., the plan§ of the gamblers,
successful, and to, beeotne, in a sense, coad.:
jutors.tvi.th them - in running up prices, and
securing -unprecedented gains. There has'
been an -immense amount of commercial';
immorality in- this waY;'-there has been a
vast deal Of criminal disloyalty to the honor.'
and credit of the country, among men who,
by their votes and actions in other direc
tions, have exhibited, every Mark of, true
patriotism. They have not been able to,
resist the appeal to their covetousness, pre,, ,
'septet].;in , the chance.of decrying govern-''
ment credit; or, swhieh is . the same thing,
'rinning 'and 'keeping up prices. Caught
in-'these eirciinastances, they have `fought`
,
agonise &decline; and •hive put themselves,
by their' actions;in in attitude entirely hos
.•
tile to a speedy restoration of the gov:era
.
ment Credit. In all their calculations and
business arrangeraents, they have trealvd it
as a needy, bankrupt,. whose - Paper can'
only. be' taken at an enormous and. ruinous
shave ; and now , when its real solvetwy is.
becomingmanifest; they are 'using t.)• 'ry
means to delay the disclosure; and, by'.. - ro
longing; the period of discredit, to save the'
- gains they have Made at the expense of
government and posterity. ' We hear of
'combinations at work to keep up prices;
we hear arguments,to the effect that there,
is no reason for any thing more than an
easy and very...gradual of. gold, and we
even hear that, the chief officer of the
Treasury Department is infected with the
prevailing immorality, and will use his in
fluence and :his immense means to let gol.
go down as easily as possible, thus lending
himself to the protection of the men who
have enriched themselves by the Aegrada-,
tion of.the credit of which he is the sworn
custodian. These and like , devices, which
have an exceedingly dubious character in
the light of morality and of patriotism, we
have heard of; but who ever heard of com
binations among great merchants and man
ufacturers to keep down prices, to forestal
panics, and to keep up government credit'?
Who does not believe, that, if a sincere and
earnest patriotism had prevailed in .leading
business centres,_ sufficient to balance the
covetousness of men, the truth, of the per
fect solvency of our government would have
-~_, _'~ "
been kept boldly before all classes of the
people, and no such excessive depreciation
of•its credit and disturbance of commercial
values would have been possible?
THE MARCH OF RETRIBUTION.
The transfer of the guilty.city of Charles
ton4to loyal hands . has brought some mar
vellous,and significant changes in its train.
The beneficent ideas.of modern civililation
forced themselves into that stronghold of
stubborn prejudice at the point of, the bayo
net, wltile the antiquated and..barbarous
notions in the defence of which its people
have become notorious before the' whole
world,fied with the retreating armies of Beau
J gar',,,,4arid . Hardee. They have _taken an
everlasting farewell of the city, as they
have of. BaltiMore, Nashville, Memphis,
Vicksburg, New Orleans, Little Rock, Sa-
vannah, Norfolk, and Wilmington. telt
mond-and Mobile are the only places of im-,
portance where they stilly Maintain their
hold; and even in Richniond the recent
action:of the Legislature of Virginia and
the rebel Congress for the enlistinent of ne
groes as soldiers,.sliowi,an- utter breaking
clown of prejudices, if not a-return to jus
tice, under the terrible pressure: of wideh
spread military disaster. , - •
• One'of the first things done in,Ghi!.rleston,
after, our troops came into possessitaywas,
the reopening of the public schoolss but a
prominent' condition ilposedwas, that they
sittnild'be accessible to whites and to blacks
alike ' The. education wilich had been
ad.vc, tutu w tuneki
Mini all bit The highest classes of free
blacks, who enjoyed it only under the most
onerous restrictions, was thus thrown open
absolutely to all. Pight colored teachers
have been appointed to these schools, and
two white the' remainder of the white
teachers haVinc , refused the conditions.
The white children of Charleston may, yet
be, compelled to, choose between gob* to
school: with
,the ne - groes; and staying at
home arid , nursing their prejudices,.in,the .
c latter case destined to fall into the very
iiugOranOhinto 'whibh they had 'previpu r sly
Cendeanzie&the ' f
the'
secureof the rebel School-bOoks. Just is
in „former dips, -publications breathing of
ihe spirit et=
. freedom were. judged incen
diary. and.daugerops, and .were seized and
destroyed -by the authorities in this fierce
nest..of., tyranny, so new, the 'Southern,
Ischtel-hooks, crammed full as they are Of
r • eb6l,sentitnents, are seized and confiscated
b e y the authorities of the Uniont The'
tfdrin of a receipt given to the owners, redda
lice a fine piece of irony upon Southern
Practices towards Northern books. It ie for
so many '.,copies of. incendtargpublications
confiscated."
Another, event , of the same character is.
tli.i„,retu.rofifßobert Small the brave cap
,tor of • the Plante?) as Captain, upon the
identical - vesSel, which three years ago he
brought out of Charleston, under the guns
of Fort Sumter, and 'delivered up, to the
Union fleet now. plies' his staunch
vessel, completely repaired in the Philadel
'
phis Nay.Y:Yairt, , hack: and forth uponthe
same wateraand upon . similar- errands, but
with tar differont f onds, in view.
:.We, should', like to lave been. :with% him
she steeied-:the. Plcottir past the-disman
tled Wails ,of Sumter, perhaps to the very
doek froth which he turned hie . hack when
he started upon' his perilonS voyage'" to
%
Nerare glad , -that ai man of nerve is in
command at Charleston, and that he knows
ho*, with lightning stiffness of repartee,
to exVose he emptiness of the popular pre
p ices, and to defend' the policy of the
government against the attacks of semi
,
loyal as well as.rebellious men.
"D. Williams, one of the committee of
citizens Charged with the distribution of the
rice; called
_and asked that ansorder should be
issued requiring the colored people to meet at
specified places on one day, and the whites
on the day,,suce,eeding. Colonel Woolford
declined to issue it on therground that he did
not'intend to rise the words white, black, "or
colored in any. official , order. His reply was
quite epigraramatid.
" SIR : When a nun approaches me with,
the shield.'of loyalty before him : he seems so_
bright that 'I cannot see that he is black ; and
when , he comes with the shield of :disloyalty,
he, ooks so black that I cannot see that he is
white I' " •
HER. NAME DISCLOSED.—The Montreal'
Wititss says the author of the Schoenberg-
Cotta Family is Mrs. Charles (formerly
Miss Rundell), the daughter of a banker at'
Tavistock, I)evonshire, England. As a
young•girl she was Tery fond of study, es
pecially of the Greek and Latin Classios,
and of poety. She has made many transla
tions from the German, and written origi
nal poetry.'
• THE whole world is, one grand *perti
nence to him who laws Jekla-Christ
by the eye.of
Genesee Evangelist, No. 983.
We mentioned, a few weeks since, the
fact • that the congregation of the Central
Presbyterian Church, N. L., now worship
ping in Coates street, near Third, designed
removing their enterprise to another loca
tion. We now learn, that they have, for a
season, the refusal of a lot rtorthwest of
their present location, the centre of a
growing neighborhood, and one which
stands in need of just such an enterprise,
The past history of the .Central Church
encourages:us to believe that friends will not
be wanting now to sympathize and co-ope
rate with, as well. as to substantially assist
it, in this new effort to maintain its exist
ence as a.church in the northern part' of
this city. We are pleased to record in our
`columns a paper on this subject: as adopted
at a recent meeting of the Pastors' Associa
tion :--
" The congregation of the Central Pres-
byterian Church, N. L., at a recent meet
ing having decided to remove their enter
prise to a more, northern and western loca
tion; and this decision,having been forced
upon them by the constant retrieval of their
members from the neighborhood of their
present church building, and believing, as
we do, that, as at pr l esent located, there is
no prospect of the congregation growing,
'but rather of its, diminishing; and the con
gregation; having • taken ingipient steps to
pro - cure 4, lot, and erect thereon a suitable
building for chiroh purposes: Therefore,
we, members of the Pastor's' Association,
Contemplated' movement, and to the end
that no delay may be had - in its execution;
cordially commend the pastor of the said
church,• Rev. J. Y. Mitchell, to the liber
ality of our people, with the hope that we
may speedily hear of his having ,secured an
amount sufficient to complete the enterprise
proposed, without having it burdened with
date
"The above paper luts been adopted with
the understanding that no, subscription
given' for the above-nained object is bind
ing, unless the enterprise be conducted
With9utno4rhig any debt"
"We will only :add : that We'iviih the move-
went a speedy-and complete success..
TEE PIJBLIt LEDGER AND MR.
CHILDS' POLICY._
- - The Public Ledger, lately transferred to
the hand's of George W. Childs the enter
prising and successful publiSher of this
city, has gained — Wonderfully in all the
elements of true respectability by the
change. From a miserably printed, almost
illegible 'sheet, the texture of which
re
minded one of a pine shaving, it has be
come clear and legible to the smallest busi
ness notice, and pleasant to handle. More
important still, adurking trace of a spirit
not cordially in sympathy with the govern
ment, ha's quite-disappeared-from its special
telegrams and New York letters, and if pos
sible, still bettei, -the whole abominable
troop of. obscene advertisements, which
were invariably found occupying a large,
,space - in the columns,-has been shut out,
'in accordance with.the new and - wholesome
policy-.the present, pnblisher. .The
thanks' of the community: are• due to 'Mr.
Childs, especially those of the - poor man,.
who, Whire'desircius of the advantageS of h.
cheap 'newspaper far his family, would
spare lais wife and childrerr the daily con
tact
With Vice, which formerly could 'not
be escaped - u'herever the Lddger, appeared.
Indeed, the purity, of ,Mr. Childs' sheet
in this respect, deserves-notice r and might
profilably'be imitated; by some of our -most
pretentious "religious" weeklies. We wish
the attention of their managers might be
called to- these 'metitorions attempts of a
layman to reform the press in this depart
ment, and that some means might be used
to awaken their 'consciences to the guilt, of
so-called religious editors, standing in the
way of this reform.
TREASURY OF THE AMERICAN BOARD.
A GOOD MOVE.
MISSIONARY HOUSE, BOSTON,
MARCH .9 ; 1865:
To THE EDITORS OF THE AMERICAN PRES-
BXTEItIAN
DEAR SIRS :-Will you have the kind
ness to inform the readers of your paper
that the treasury of the A. B. C. F. M.
is becoming seriously embarrassed ? One
half of our current financial year is gone;
but instead of receiving one-half of the
$600,000 voted at Worcester, we have
received less than one-third of that sum,
($186,654). Indeed, the donations and
legacies have advanced only $9436 be
yond those of last year. On the other
hand, our expenditures are uniform and
imperative. Remittances must be sent
to the missions, if possible, even though
our irccome is Wholly iribufficiont.
Will you not ask the friends of the
Board to keep these facts in mind, to the
end that their contributions may be
ri- E. n, m s .
Per annum, in advance
~. . . .
By Hail, $3. lily Carrier, $3 50.
FIN cents additional, after three months.
Clubs.—Ten or more papers, sent to one address,
payable strictly in advance and in one remittance:
By Mail, $250 per annum. By Carriers, $3 per annum.
Ministers and Ministers , Widows, 82 in ad.
vanes.
Home Missionaries, $l5O inadvance.
Fifty cents additional after three months.
Remittances by mail are at our risk.
Postage.—Five cents quarterly, in advance. paid
by subscribers at the office of delivery.
Advertisements.-123 cents per line for the
first, and 10 cents for the second insertion.
One square (one month) 33 00
two months 5 50
three " 750
" 12 00
six
one year 18 00
The following discount on long advertisements, in
serted for three months and upwards. is allowed:—
Over 20 lines, 10 per cent. off; over 50 lines. 20 per
Cent.; over 100 lines, VA per cent. off.
prompt, as well as generous? And will
you not suggest to those who have been
blessed with unusual prosperity, that
they have an opportunity to perform a
much needed and most useful service.
Very truly yours,
S. B. TREAT, Home Secretary
THE EDUCATION CAUSE.
We call attention to Secretary Mills'
statement, which will be found in another
column, showing that scarcely one in ten of
the churches have, thus far, during the
year, contributed to this cause. We need
not inquire in what quarter the delinquency
ex.ists, when nine-tenths of the churches are
involved, including, doubtless, some of the
largest and ablest. A general waking up
is required. And how much it is to be
wished that the feebler churches would feel
-it their privilege to contribute, according
to ability, be it ever so• small, to this and
all other causes of our church ! Flow much
more he.althful the state of things when
every member shows that it feels the pulse
of the common life, intead of allowing all
the vital force to settle about the great
centres, while the extremities are chilled
with cold indifference !
We trust the various committees of Pres , -
bytely' and Synod will hear Dr. ap
peal, and each one ask for himself, and the
body he represents : f' Is it I?" The two
months yet remaining before the meeting
of the Assembly may be made very fruitful,
by, !energetic efforts on the part of these
committees aided b. the castors. -
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF THE
BOROUGH OF DARBY.—This Church, of
which Rev. S. W. Crittenden is pastor;
received to its membership, on the first
Sabbath of this month, eighteen persons,
fourteen on profession of their faith and
four by letter. There are several others
also who have declared their intention of
professing Christ at the next opportunity,
which will occur on the first Sabbath in
May.
This ingathering is the result id a very
delightful work of grace enjoyed during
the winter. The religious interest com
menced. in the Sabbath school, of which
the pastor is superintendent, and the ma r
jority of those who have found the
Saviour, are Sabbath school scholars.
Two are teachers, the only teachers who
were not already professing Christianity.
Besides those from the school, however,
two gentleriten - and their wives, and the
wife of another, who is
were
in the
service of our country, were baptized and
sat down with us for the first time at the
table of our blessed Lord.
It Was an occasion of great interest tor
this little church ; and the more espe
cially as it followed -a successful effort
made during the last year to relieve the
church from all pecuniary embarrass
ment, and to secure a permanent home
for its pastor. Aided by several gene
rous friends, and by an appropriation of
$875 from a fund raised to assist feeble
churches, the congregation have, within
one year, discharged about $3,300 of
church debts, leaving the church edifice
and ground free of all ineumbrance ; and
have also plid about . s3,7oo on a par
sonage purchased and refitted, and now
Occupied by - the pastor. This Property
has cost over $5,000, and all that will
remain- on Mortgage is $i , 500.
,To those - Who are informed off the past
struggles of this church with' financial
difficulties the intelligence here given
will be gratifying. To us, who have,
hoped and labored with and for it, the
results achieved are causes of profound
gratitude to Almighty God; and the'
spiritual blessings following so soon after
the monetary ones cause us to feel that
we have had a practical and satisfactory
proof of the verity of that promise con
' tained in Mal. iii, 10. Com..
CITY OF WILLIAMBPORT.—We notice,
in the proceedings of our State ,Legisla
ture, the final passage of a bill giving to
the borough of Williamsport a city char-,'
ter.. The growth of this place has been
of the model type—sufficiently rapid to
indicate energy of the first order, and yet
sufficiently gradual to show that the ad
vance has been a wholesome one on a:
sound basis. It is the great lumber em
porium of the upper Susque,hanna, (West
Branch,) and the opening of railroad
communication_ on the Erie route will in
crease its business facilities in that line
to an extent almost incalculable. It is
withal a lovely town to the eye, occu
pying a romantic spa, well-built, con
taining many exquisitely tasteful resi
dences, and in all respects a delightful
place of abode. The best of all is a high
moral tone of public sentiment. The
Christian element is large, earnest and
liberal. We know few towns of its size
which make themselves better felt in the
great enterprises which are working to ,
raise our fallen world np to God. We.
make our best bow congratulatory- to the
city of Williamsport. We trust she
bear, her new honors meekly, do justly - ,
love mercy,. and walk litWoly with heri
God.