eisirrApttOtitte. JOTTINGS FROM A PARISH JOURNAL No. -via." A MODEL SABBATH-SCHOOL Some• weeks ago, being in Brooklyn, N. Y., I made it a point to visit Lee Avenue Sabbath-school. I had heard so much of that school, as enabled me to apply to it the compliment of Paul to the Thessalonians, "From. you, sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Mace donia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to Godward is spread abroad." On the occasion referred to; I had only time to run through one branch of this great Institution and reach the platform in. time to take part in the clos ing exercises. In the providence of God, it was my privilege to be in Brooklyn on last Lord's Day, and being introduced to the excel lent Superintendent, I had an opportu nity of surveying more accurately the machinery of this noble Sunday-school. The entire basement of the Lee Ave nue, D. R. Church, is devoted to the accommodation of the school ; and, in addition, one of the infant departments occupies a gallery. The platform (be hind which is a splendid organ for the use of the school and public lectures) is placed on the west side of the room. Whilst the entire length of the eastern transept, rising in amphitheatre style, is occupied as one of the infant school rooms ; this wing is in front of the platform, and within easy range of the eye and voice of the Superintendent. All the lesson hour it is separated from the main body of the school by glass sliding doors, which during the music, announcements, addresses from the platform, with open ing and closing exercises, are flung open. By a similar arrangement, the left wing of the infant school occupying thezallery, is brought under the eye and voice of the platform. Then the entire ground floor, save a small space for the Library, is occupied by well arranged and well con ducted classes. The entire direction of the school is under the management of Jeremiah Johnson, Jr., a noble Christian gentleman ; whilst the infant depart ments are entrusted to able adjutants, one of whom, Mr. Lummus, seems to possess amazing powers of oral instruc tion. I regretted not being able to see his coadjutor, who occupies the gallery wing already noted. The music is ad mirable, being conducted by one of the first vocal musicians in Brooklyn, and accompanied by an organ, a very splen did instrument. The mode of conducting the psalmody in this school, differs from that of any school I have ever seen. Instead of opening and closing with a few stanzas of a hymn, in this school, singing spir itual songs" seems to be an important part of the service—hence, the whole school (embracing two thousand five hun dred on the roll,) is opened by singing four or five different selections—and closed by singing as many. In my mind, one main secret of the success of this school is found in the variety and excellence of the hymns used in its wor ship. To Mr. Johnson, however, is the suc cess (under God) mainly due,. He has the entire machinery in . perfect order. He is a gentleman of great Christian worth and indomitable perseverance. He devotes much time to the interests of the school, and by a well-organized sys tem of local visitation, children from the whole of the surrounding districts are gathered and kept in the school. As a local mission for Evangelistic work, this school, with its library, its excellent staff of teachers, and its juvenile heralds car rying the precious Gospel into the streets and lanes of the neighborhood, is accom plishing a vast amount of good. Fur thermore, as a nursery for the congregar tion, its value cannot be overestimated. In casting my eye over that immense throng, I could not help thinking that in five to eight years, if only kept together, they would produce a noble congregation. Many of them, doubtless, are gathered from the ranks of the non-church going, but through these little missionaries, their parents may be reached, and God's house filled. Would to God all our churches had such a splendid staff of laborers, under such a faithful superintendency, for then indeed would each be a " city set on a hill." It is impossible to estimate the amount of glory which two thousand little mes sengers may bring to Christ. From this seminary they go forth singing the truth, praying the truth, talking the truth, and in the house and by the way, and going out and coming in, and lying down and rising up, they are heralds of God's grace and mercy to sinners. Seldom have I felt more refreshed by any - exercise, than on last Lord's day, while the tones of the magnificent organ accompanied the voices of over one hundred teachers, and, perhaps, fifteen times as many chil dren, in chanting the beautiful anthem which runs thus : "There'll be something for children to do, None are idle in that blessed land, There'll be loves for the heart, there'll be thoughts for the mind, And employment for each little hand. There'll be something to do,there'llbe something to do, There'll be something for children to do, Onlthe bright shining shore, Where there's joy evermore, There'll be something for children to do." THE GOLDEN WEDDING On Tuesday evening, the 16th inst., it was my privilege to .be present at a GOLDEN WEDDING. It 18 a rare event even in the life of a guest, on such an occasion. It was the first, it may be the last, " Golden 'Wedding" I shall ever wit ness. In this instance, the bride and groom are both, as may _be supposed, ripening in ears ; but the most delight ful thought connected with the interest ing event is, that they are both mature in the divine life, waiting for the cry "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh !" Their lamps are trimmed and they are ready to sit down at the great " Mar riage Supper of the Lamb." The bride and groom, in this instance, were married at Baltimore in 1815, and in 1824 removed to 'New York. For many years he was an elder in one of the oldest Presbyterian churches in that great city, and a very Successful mer chant, whose whole career in business was marked by the most unbending in tegrity. He is the father of fifteen chil dren, some nine of wttom (all married) are still surviving ; all most respectably connected, and many of them giving clear evidence of a close walk with God. So that the mellowing parents now wait ing for the call, and enjoying the fullest hope in the death of those who have gone before, as well as those who are to come after them, can pass from grace to glory in the joyful assurance of assem blirig, " No wanderer lost, mily in heaven." What a precious :ght! And how few can fully realize it ! The eldest son .of this venerable bride groom is a retired merchant, residing on the Hudson, in a very paradise, and married a second time to one of the love liest Christian ladies I have ever met. This gentleman, while in business, kept his Bible in his office, and read it daily in Hebrew and English, and now in his retirement (having reached an opulent retiring point) his Bible is his daily com panion. His circle of acquaintance em braces almost exclusively Christians— educated Bible-reading and. Bible-loving christians. Since forming the acquaint ance of his venerable father, I have often thought of the SEED of the righteous as the heir& of the promises. And how true the language of David Rouse's ver sion of the psalm— "Blest is each one that fears - the Lord, And walketh in His way— For of thy labour, thou shalt eat, And happy be always. Winding up with the promises— . " Thou.shalt thy children's children see, And peace on Israel." Never have I seen that sweet promise so literally fulfilled as in this case. Ahout 8.30 P. M., sons and daughters, with their wives and husbands and children, from almost all parts of the Union began to pour into the rOoms of that consecrat ed home—and while the venerable pa triarch, tall, stout and erect, with snow white hair and plain countenance, stood in the drawing-toom and embraced each child and each grandchild—his daugh ters and daughters-in-law holding up their precious little ones to receive the kiss and the benediction of this man of God, my mind was - carried back to the plain of Goshen and the last scene of Jacob's life, when each tribe passed by his dying pillow, and received the part ing prayer and the prophetic 'blessing which accompanied it. The present state of health enjoyed by the bridal couple, might almost warrant the hope that they should yet celebrate the tg Diamond Wedding." With my whole heart I could wisk s it, were it for their good and Christ's glory. It is com forting, however, to know and believe that Christ never keeps a child of grace a single moment out of heaven, after he has completed his work in him and by him. The moment the harvest is ripe, the angelic reapers will come and put in the sickle. Of this, the esteemed and venerable patriarch, whose «Golden Wedding" I have been describing, rests firmly and fully persuaded—believing that " Still, or here, or going hence, To this our labors tend, That in His favor spent, our life Shall in His favor end." A PUPIL OF CHALMERS TO MY FRIEND ANDREW, (CONCLUDED.) [Translated from the German of Matthias Claudius, for THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, by G. D. A. 11.] The Lord's Prayer is for all time the best prayer, if thou knowest who bath made it. But no one upon God's foot stool can so pray it as he that designed it. We limp it forth at a distance, one step still more miserably than the other. But be not ashamed of this, Andrew, if we only mean it well ; the dear God must ever do that which is best, and he knoweth how it should be. Because thou desirest it, I will explain to thee how I make it with the Lord's Prayer. But I think it is thus only very poorly done, and -I will willingly be taught a better way. When I utter it, then I think first of my blessed Father, how good he was and so freely gave to me. And then I place before me all the world as my Father's house ; and all men in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, are in my thoughts, my brothers• and sisters ; and God sitteth in heaven upon a golden throne, and hath his right hand stretched out over the sea, and upon the ends of the world, and his left full of salva tion and goodness, and the mountain tops round about smoke, and then I begin:— OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN, HAL- LOWED BE THY NAME This I do not as yet understand. The Jews regarded the name of God with peculiar sanctity. This I. think to THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY; JUNE 1, 1865. be good, and only wish that the worship toward God, and every trace whence we may know him, might be to me, and to all men, above every thing, great and holy. Here I think on myself, how I am borne here and there, and now this, now that reigns, and that all is heart-ache and I come to no green twig. And then I think how good were it for me if God would make an end to all strife, and rule me himself. THY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH AS IT IS Here I picture to myself Heaven, with the holy angels, who with joy do His will, and no pain falleth upon them, and they know not how to speak forth their love and salvation, and they tri umph day and night; and then I think, whether will it ever thus be upon earth! GIVE US THIS DAY OILS DAILY 13READ. Every odb knoweth. what daily bread is, and- that we must eat as long as we are in the world, and that also it tasteth good. Then I think thereon. Then cometh well to mind my children, how they so eagerly eat, and oft times; and so happily they - are upon .the dish. And then I pray that the blessed God may still give us something to eat. FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS, AS WE FORGIVE It is had that when we are injured revenge is sweet. This also cometh be fore me. I also had pleasure therein. But then there standeth before my eyes the unmerciful servant (scbalks knecht) of the gospel, and my heart faileth me, and I resolve that I will forgive my fellow servant, and never saya word to of the hundred pence. AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION Here I call to mind the example, on every hand, where people, under this and that circumstance, are turned aside from the good, and fall, and that it might not go better with me. BUT DELIVER VS FROM THE EVIL Here come to my thoughts, still, temp tations ; how man is so easily deceived, and wandereth , out tif tie even path. But likewise thinlij also of the pains of life, of consumption and old age, of childsbirth, mortification , . and insanity, and the thou§and. miseries, -and.' heart sufferings, which are in the world, racking and.tortiring ,, phor man, and there is no one can' help. And thou wilt find,Andrew, if the tears have not come before; here they come indeed, and wp can see our selves so heartily, so<thoroughly, and be so troubled and cast down within our selves, as if really there were no help. But then must we again take courage, lay our hand upon our mouth and break forth ,as in triumph. FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND .PDWER, AND THE GLORY F I ORE - VER. AMEN lOWA C [TY, May 16th, 1865. - LETTERS ON RECONSTRUCTION. • May 11, 1865. DEAR SlR:—Having " made you sorry with a letter," I feel obliged, by the progress of events, to repeat the inflic tion. • President Johnson, I see, has taken measures of "reconstruction" in regard to Virginia i.following out the opinion of his most worthy predecessor, that the rebel States, forasmuch as they could not " secede," are none of them out of the Union in matter of fact. As if re bellion and war could do nothing which "secession" could not. That the States of the South as such —that is., in their organic character as governments—took part in the, war, is very certain. That they thus became public enemies, follows of course. Could they in that 'character be members of the Union ? No, sir ; this friendly relation was utterly broken off, and terminated. Silent leges inter arma. Nor was it simply a suspension of the Constitutional bond. Do not all treaties finish when a war arises between the parties to them ? finish utterly? War exterminates all civil, political, or other amicable rela tions between the belligerents. And it seems to me that Congress, by admitting Western Virginia as a new State, have assumed this fact as a prin ciple. They would otherwise have had no power for that proceeding, without the consent of the old State of Virginia first obtained. See article iv., section 3, which is explicit. Either therefore Vir ginia is absolutely out of the Union, or the act admitting Western Virginia is void. Besides, as I have said before, a State consists of a people politically organized on a given territorial area. Of course the area of the new State is an ingredient of the old one, or at least a portion of its geographical base ; and to reorganize old Virginia as a State of the Union is virtually to repudiate the• act of Congress that has made a new State of its Western counties. The con stitution of old Virginia provides ex pressly that a definite number of each house of its legislature shall be from those counties. So that without those counties it is not and cannot be a State, even admitting it might otherwise have survived the war. I might state the question, therefore, in the way of dilemma. Either the war has killed the State of Virginia (consti tutionally speaking) or it has not. If it has,• the President cannot bring the State to life again by any form of re cognition ; it requires a new form of State government, and a new admission by Congress to effect the object. On the other hand, if the State survives the war, two consequences follow : one, TO .lIS THY KINGDOM COME IN HEAVEN OUR DEBTORS that the act of Congress admitting its western counties as a new State, with out its consent, is a nullity; the other, that any recognition of the remaining parts by the President must also be a nullity, for that the State, supposing it to survive at all, survives in its own organ ism as a whole, and thus only. Entertaining these views, my dear sir, I grieve exceedingly at the course things are taking. It may be wrong for me to obtrude my thoughts on you as I have done ; but I felt as if I must give vent to them in some direction, and though I was not sure of your concurrence, I had too much confidence in your good nature and personal kindness, as well as in your concern for the right ordering of public measures, to fear that you would take it amiss. REPORT': OP THE PERMANENT. COM MITTEE ON - HOME MISSIONS. • _ READ IN THE afiENERAL ASSEMBLY: The fourth annual 'report of the Hnme ADS sionary Committee has made its appearance.. With devout thanksgiving to God for the great blessings which have crowned the year, it pro ceeds to give an account of the Committee's labors for the past twelve months. The whole number of missionaries employed during the whole or part of the year is 320. They report many revivals, 1443 conversions, 1334 have united with the Church on professsion of their faith, and 940 by letter.. The points it discusses are, Ist. The changes wrought by the war on the missionary field. These are shown to be dis astrous in two ways: The war drew off the young and able bodied men from the feeble churches at the West for the service of the country; and secondly, it drew equally from. the East the young men who otherwise would have gone West. So that many churches that would naturally have become self-sustaining but for the war, are in a state of dependence' still. - At the same time the frontier has not remain ed stationary. New towns have sprung into being which have called for aid before the others were in a condition to assume their own support. Nevertheless, the frontier has been materially strengthened by increasing the force of the ministry there, and the blessing of God on their labors. Nearly all the• churches in Michigan and Wisconsin and Minnesota and many in the other States have been blessed with powerful revivals of religion. • _ 2d. The great multitudes of Germans in this country, the readiness with which they can be reached by evangelical ministers speaking in their own tongue, makes it importantto put forth more effort for their evangelization and new endowments. Professorships in our Theological Seminaries are urged on the attention of the Assembly as a Means of raising up a competent ministry for the German and Patch population. The report makes special referenCe to what has been done in Newark, N. J., and holds it up as an inciting example to the whole church. _ 3d. Now that the war is closing, a great field is opened at the South. In Missouri and East Tennessee the People welcome us most cor dially. In the forwer, the work auspiciously begun last year was checked in the fall by the invasion of the State by the rebel army. Bat now again, with the permanent clearing of the State, comes a new demand for more ministers of Christ. In East Tennessee two Presbyteries that were drawn ,away from us seven years ago have, through the counsels and assistance of our missionaries, returned to the bosom of our Church, and it is expected that the two other Presbyteries which go to make up the Synod of East Tennessee, will follow in a short time. The , posture of affairs in these two States and the sort of work entered upon are a fair type of what will be encountered all overthe South. Meanwhile the freedmen and refugees afford a fine field for missionary labor. We have•a missionary laboring among them in St. Louis with great success, and have been unable to, in augurate a similar work in other places only for lack of suitable men. The report allndes to the Secretary's trip across the Rocky Mountains to California and Oregon. As the result of the careful observa tions then made, it is stated that "the popula- . don of the mining districts will be fluctuating for many years to co' lkwhile theit distance from- supplies must•nWthe cost of living and consequently the expenses of sup . Porting mis sionaries very much greater than in any other part of the country. Their remoteness from permanent Christian influences will, however, make it all the more necessary that the Gospel should be preached among them faithfully and continuously, and therefore, until 'the Pacific ' Railroad is completed, we must expend more labor and money on this vast, and, on the whole, most promising region than we have ever be fore thought of doing,." The report makes a special appeal for more ministers. Says the Secretary :—" Nothing has been a source of greater anxiety to the Committee than the limited number of minis ters to supply the increasing number of Home Missionary-fields. East Tennessee, Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois press their demands for from five to fifteen each. Our brethren in California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, and Montana, have grown weary with calling for men. Promising openings on every hand are pressed upon the attention of our theological students even be fore their studies are completed, and they shrink from the hardships which they fancy are inseparable from new and distant fields. We fear that the spirit of the fathers has .died out in many of the sons. If we could now com mand the services of twenty-five additional missionaries of the requisite qualifications, we. have but little doubt but that the churches would grant them a support even at the most expensive points." This part of the report concludes that the want of suitable laborers is truly alarming, and that many souls must perish for the want of knowledge or warning, "unless the chaplains and stud is in the army shall speedily fill up the, milks of the ministry, or God shall raise them up in . some other manner. Our Church has never supplied itself with min isters ; it has drawn continually from other denominations, and if any have concluded we have not grown as rapidly as we ought, the lack of ministers constitutes the solution of the pro blem." ajil'he District Secretary of Indiana calls attention to ten vacancies in VI State ; and another at the West writes:—" Our greatest human want in all this field is laborert. With a sufficient number of suitable ministers, in all probability, we could in one year increase the number of our churches twenty-five per cent." The matter of church edifices is glanced at. The great lack in this respect, and the neces sity of a house of worship to every congrega tion before it can become self-sustaining and give the community an impression of perma nency, the expense of building; etc., is urged on the attention of the Assembly. The report next refers to the fields and duties of the several District Secretaries, all of whom with the exception of Messrs. Adair and Stowe are engaged in exploring new fields, planting new churches, supplying destitute congrega tions with pastors, and assisting their brethren in various ways besides makin g collections for the treasury. The Synods of Wisconsin and Minnesota have been furnished with Synodical missionaries at their request, and a few other changes have been made. Three faithful la borers have died sine the last report, viz : Rev. A. Blakely, of Lawrence, Kansas; Rev. Comfort I. Stack, of Newton, lowa, and Rev. E. E. Merriam. • The receipts of the Committee the past year, $85,000 : are somewhat short of the mark set at the last Assembly, but, says the report, ".it is cause for great rejoicing that no church which has'applied for aid, has been sent empty away on account of limited resources." Yet the in come would have been quite inadequate but for the short supply of laborers. In conclusion it is stated that the relations of our Committee to the .American Home Mis sionary Society continue unchanged. The Society while using many thousand dollars from Presbyterian sources, mostly, from legacies of persons who died before the organization of the Committee, expends not a single dollar upon any church represented in our Assembly, and at the same time more boldly than ever before proclaims itself the organ 'of the Con gregationalists throughout the country. Bizallautato. DR. BEECHER IN A HURRY. Dr. Beecher, like most men of extremely nervous temperament, was very impulsive, and followed no law in his habits of study. Henry -Ward, when quite a boy, wrote a most amusing description of a journey with his father to Dayton, .where the doctor was on trial for heresy, on charges preferred by Dr. Wilson. It is foUpd in the autobiogra phy, second volume You, who live remote from Walnut Hills. have; notwithstanding, heard somahing of one of our stars, Lyman Beecher., But, though of note as a public character, he is not less famous and interesting in private life. Indeed, we, who see him daily, im agine that he exhibits more unequivocal marks of genius in the domestic than in a wider sphere, for in the - pulpit (thanks to the attention of Aunt Esther) he wears whole stockings, has decent handkerchiefs and cravats, a tidy coat, and never wears one boot and one shoe together, and in his published works who can see though the type either the manuscript or the writer ? But in his family, and unmolested by feminine pertinacity of neatness, his genius eeps forth in various negligencies of ap parel, particularly his shirt-sleeves, open bosom and ample display of flannel. As if to put the broadest seal upon his genius, nature - seems to have ordained that he shall study half undressed. But if we admire these marks of innate abilities which appear on the exterior, no less are we surprised at those which he ex hibits as a business man. Let me give you a sketch of our iiepariure for. Dayton. Having several weeki for preparation, he felt secure, and made no attempt at a be ginning till the day before, Then, while cutting up stumps in his garden, he fell upon a plan for his defence, which was in dicated to us by' his,,; precipitate retreat from the stamp to the study. In the after noon i he dragged me . away , six miles, n an excess' of patriotism, to, deposit his vote. b Before going to bed, he Char.ed 'me to be up early, for he must get ready, and the - boat was to start at nine. The morning opened upon a striking scene. As I emerged from my room, the doctor was standing in his study door-way, a book under each arm, with a third in his hands, in which he was searching for quo tations. In an hour and a half all his pa pers were to be collected, (and from whence ?) books assorted, breakfast eaten, clothes packed, and horse harnessed. After a hasty meal, whew ! he goes up stairs, opens every drawer and paws over all the papers, leaving them in confusion, and down stairs again to the drawers in his study, which are treated in like manner. He fills his arms, with books, and paperi, and sermons, and straightway seems to for get what he wanted them for , for he falls to assorting them vigorously, de: novo. "Eight o'clock, and not half ready. Boat starts at nine!' " Where's my Burton ?" • " Xather, I have found the Spirit of the " Don't want it. Where did I put that paper of extracts ? Can't you make out another ? Where did I lay my opening notes? Here, Henry, put this book in the carriage. Stop ! give it to me Let's see —run up stairs for my Register. No,! not I've brought it down. Half past eight.. Not ready. Three miles to go. Horse not up. At length the doctor completes his as sortment of books and papers, packs, or rather stuffs his clothes into a carpet-bag, —no key to lock it—ties the handles, and leaves it gaping. At length we are ready to start. A trunk tumbles out of one side as Thomas tumbles in on the other. T reverse the order—tum ble Tom out, the trunk in.' At length all are aboard, and father drives out the yard, holding the reins with one hand, shaking hands with a student with the other, giving Charles directions with his mouth, at least that part not occupied with an apple ; for, since apples wein.plenty, he has made it a practice to drive with one rein in the right hand and the other in the left, with an apple in each, biting them alternately, thus raising and lowering the -reins like threads in a loom. Away we go. Charley horse on the full canter , down the long hill, the carriage bounciriPand bounding over the stones, father alternately telling Tom how to get the harness mended, and showing me thetrue doctrine of original sin. Hur rah ! A thunder alongside the' boat just in time. OUR COUNTRY'S NEW PERIL. Most people have heard of the " Fenian Brotherhood," but few, I imagine, are awake to its rapid growth and dangerous designs. This is an Irish secret society, the proposed object of which is to effect the liberation of Ireland. A meeting was held in our village recently, at which the whole Irish-Catholic population turned out en masse, and.a. Chap ter was formed amid a scene of excitement and "hullabaloo" which lasted until mid night. Men, women, and children were hurried into the organization, many with out any clear impression, except that they were following the will of "the Church." Let me call the attention of Americans to this attempt to throw the entire moral and political weight of our Irish population into the scale of hostility to England. Whatever error of judgment and of heart England may have committed during this rebellion, we cannot afford to plungt these two Christian Protestant nations into war. Especially, we do not wish to be instructed or incited to punish her for her Southern sympathies by that portion of our popula tion which, of all others, had given the most aid and comfort to the rebellion. The peace men of 1864 illy become the charac ter of war men of 1865. Bat the secret of it all lies-farther hack than aught which appears upon the surface, in my opinion. It is found in those words quoted by Dr. Gordon from the Prussian Ambassador: "They (i. e., the Romish Hierarchy) know that if they can paralyze the efforts of these two great nations, (England and America,) they gain a mighty victory." And how can they -better ac complish this object than by taking advan tage of the popular irritation in our'and to plunge these two champions of Protes tant and Evangelical religion into an-ex hausting and interminable war? And if, as an incidental advantage, they gain the independence of Ireland, they have at least achievedsthat ,much of solid progress to their cause. For let no man. suppose that the independence of Ireland would be in any way identical with - the advance . of lib erty. Who that has reid the Irish charac ter, so utterly under pri.estly domination, but knows that the Irish soil would oeaSe to be a tolerable habitation for 'Protestants ? It would be the •roost' priest-ridden and nl tramontane nation in the - world. What friend of political or relikions freedonixas hesitate in sympathy as, between_Erigland and Ireland ? But, however these, things may be, let our American people look closely to it, and think long , before they lend their fingers (already well burnt in the flames of war) for the purpose of pulling that chestnut out of the fire.— Chriitian Intelligencer. . THE ORATORIO OF "THE MESSIAH" ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. THOUGHTS ON HEARING THE ORATORIO IN•LONDON IN THE YEAR 1746 At first it seemed to me more heavenly than any thing I had ever heard-; but when they came .to those words about our Lord's sorrow, " He was despised and re jected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," and around us there was not a hush of shame and penitence, but a little buzz of applause and suppressed whispers, such as " Charming !"—" What tone !" " No one else can sustain that note in such a way !"—and at the close the audience loudly clapped the singer and she respond ed with a deep theatrical courtesy, I thought of " When I survey the wondrous cross," wished myself in Dr. Watts' chapel, and felt I would rather have listened to any poor nasal droning which- was wor ship, than to such mockery. I could not help crying. When we were in the house again Eve lyn said— " You enjoyed that music, Kitty ?" "No, Cousin Evelyn," I said, "I would rather have been at the opera a hundred times, and far rather in Watts' chapel. To think," I said, "of their setting the great shame and agony of our Saviour to music for an evening's entertainment and applauding it like a play ! One might as well make a play about the death-bed of a mother. For it is true it is sin ! He did suffer all that for us." " How do you know, Cousin Kitty, that other people were not feeling it as much as you ? What right have we to set down every one as profane and heartless just be cause the tears do not come at every mo ment to the surface ? The Bible says, 'Judge not and ye shall .not be judged;' and tells us not to be in such a - hurry to take the mote out of other peoples' eyes." I was quite silent. It is so difficult to think of the right thing to say at the right moment. Afterwards I thought of a hun dred answers, for I did notmeam to judge any one unkindly. I only spoke of my own feelings.--Extracts from lir& Kitty Trevylyan's Diary. PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S PRESENTI- IiMENT OF HIS DEATH. The communication below, from Rev. Dr. Kirk, =of that city, to the Boston Journal, is good authority for reports of a similar char acter, which have been current : A great and good man has fallen I Let the nation mourn. But let it trust in God—as he did. This result was not unexpected by him. He may not have looked for it from the hand of an assassin; but he was sure that his life would end with the war long ago. He told me " that he was certain he should not outlast the rebellion." It was in last July. As you will remember, there was dis cussion then among the Republican leaders. Many of his best friends had deserted him, and were talking of an opposition convention to nominate another candidate ; and universal gloom „as among the people. The North was tired of the war, and supposed an hon orable peace attainable. Mr. Lincoln knew it was not—that any peace at that time would be only disunion. Speaking of it, he said:— "I have faith in the people. They will not consent to disunion. The danger is they are misled. Let them know the truth, and the country is safe." He looked haggard and careworn, and fur ther on in theunterview I remarked on his appearance, saying : You are wearing yourself out with hard work." "I can't work less," he answered; "but it isn't work—work never troubled me. Things look badly, and I can't avoid anxiety. Per sonally I care nothing about a re-election; but if our divisions defeat us, I fear for the coun try." When I suggested that Right must eventu ally triumph—that I had never despaired of the result, he said : " Neither have I ; but I may not live to see it. I feel a presentiment that I shall not outlast the rebellion. When it is over my work will be done." It is over, and his work ia..done ; how well done, impartial history will tell. THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY; June, 1865. Contents: A Letter about England; A Prose Henriade ; Harpocrates ; Cow; Needle and Garden, No. VI.; Going to Sleep ; Doctor Johns, No. V.; The Great Lakes, their Outlets and De fences ; To Caroline Coronado ; Rey nard ; John Brown's Raid, How I got into It, and How I got out of It; Schu.mann's Quintette in E Flat Major; Richard Cobden; Modern Improvements and our National Debt ; irhe Chimney Corner, No. VI.; The Jaguar Hunt; Late Scenes in Richmond ; Down ; The Place of Abraham Lincoln in History; Recent American Publications. WE should enjoy more peace if Ave did not lmsy ourselves with the words and deeds of other men, which appertain not to our charge.—Jeremy Taylor..
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers