fmmtau Ijrahgttim
THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1865.
THE FINANCES- OF THE AMERICAN
■■BOARD.
We learn from a circular dated at the
Mission House, Boston, August 30th, that
the receipts of the Board for eleven months
of the year ending August 31, were but a
trifle over §380,000. Other sources of in
come (sales of property, interest, etc,) are
expected to yield nearly $15,000. In
order, therefore, that the disbursements of
the year (§530,000) may be fully provided
for. $135,000 will be needed in this closing
month. This is a very large sum; but the
donations and legacies of August, 1864,
were $134,815; and surely, if there be a
“willing mind,’' an equal amount can be
given now.
We commend this matter to the prayer
ful consideration of our readers. Although
it must be regarded as exceedingly unfor
tunate that so large a proportion of the
contributions is thus delayed until the last
moment, yet it is better late than never.
Churches and individuals who have already
contributed, should contribute again; while
those who have given nothing —what can
ever reach their consciences and their
purses, if this exhibition of great deficien
cy in one of the dearest of all causes to
every true Christian’s heart fails ? One
dollar from every member of our branch of
the Church alone, or forty cents from each
member of all the churches contributing,
would more than meet the necessities of
the case. Let not the noble men connected
with the American Board, a specimen of
whose overtasked yet elastic energies and
great services appears in our correspond
ence this week, be left to suffer for want of
so pitiful a sum. Let not a great cause
languish in this our year of national jubi-’
lee. Blessed as never our own or any
other nation has been with victory and
peace, let our .joy and thankfulness over
flow in this as in other worthy channels of
beneficence. The priceless blessings we
have just secured for ourselves can best be
communicated to heathen nations by the
preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
THE RIGHT 0F SUFFRAGE FOR THE
FREEMEN.
. The Nation, in replying to a correspon
dent, thus disposes of the objection to
granting the right of suffrage to the freed
men, on the ground that the Northern
States are unprepared to grant the same
privilege to the colored population residing
within their own limits.
We can go on a step further than this,
however, and affirm that even if there was
not one State at the North in which a col
ored man was ' allowed to vote, the North
would still be justified in asking that all po-
persons disfranchised under such a rule at
the North would, be, by the census of 1860,
237,218; the total number of those who are
disfranchised by this rule at the South is 4,-
201,000. We count in for the sake of sim
plicity the whole colored population in each
section. Now, looked at in the light of ex
pediency, in the light of its effect on public
security and tranquility, on the administra
tion of justice, or of the national unity, the
disfranchisement of 200,000 people in a pop
ulation of 19,000,000 is a small matter;
looked at in this same light, the disfranchise
ment of 4,000,000 in a population of 12,000,
000 is an immense matter —startling, mo
mentous, full of danger; and it is still more
startling and dangerous when we remember
that the barrier which separates them from
civil rights is ini passable, can never be sur
mounted either by genius or industry or
good conduct. In all political questions
numbers are the greatest of forces. Nobody
can overlook or make light of them. The
wrongs or disabilities of one man or a hun
bred men may smell as rank before heaven
as the wrongs or disabilities of a million ;
but in the ear of any human lawgiver the
cry of the million must always be the loudest
and most impressive, because their griefs
threaten the security of the state. Our nat
uralization laws, which convert every for
eigner who lands into a citizen within five
years of his arrival, and which now begin to
exercise such marked and, as many think,
prejudicial, influence on the elections, are, in
our opinion, called for by the public safety.
If there were but 200,000 foreigners in the
country, their exclusion from a share in the
Government would be of little consequence:
as there are 5,000,000, and the number is in
creasing. it would threaten the very founda
tions of the Government. And we confess
we do not know how any calm reader of his
tory can sit down and contemplate with com
placency the future of a democratic country
in which one-third of the population is
deprived of the rights of citizenship, by
those who hate and have injured them, on
account of a physical peculiarity.
Mr. J ess up’s Letter. —We have given
the letter of Mr. Jessup—well known to
most of our readers as the missionary
of the American Board at Beirut—long
as it is, entire. It will be found upon
an inside page. As a faithful, graphic
portraiture of the life of a busy mission
ary at one of the meeting places of the
Eastern and Western civilizations, we
do not believe it can be surpassed in
interest and value. Those who think
foreign missionaries have an easy time
of it, will he thoroughly undeceived by
reading this journal of one week of Mr.
Jessup’s life. Shall such indefatigable
aborers be sustained? If they are will
ing to “go down into the pit,” shall we
not hold on to the rope ? Who will con
tribute the eighty dollars in gold, neces
sary to keep that promising Syrian girl
in the Seminary, whose discharge Mr.
Jessup otherwise declares will be inevi
table ? 1
In Type., —The letter of another corres
pondent at the Saratoga Convention;
letter from Rev. E. P. Hammond, &c.
THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1865.
THE PRICE OF PAPER.
A WORD TO MANUFACTURERS.
After a brief period of decline, the price
of paper has again risen, and that more
rapidly than it fell. The sheet on which
this is printed cost us fourteen and a half
cents a pound ; forthe same quality we
are no w asked sixteen and a h alf cents The
cause of the rise, from all we can learn,
is the most arbitrary and unnatural pos
sible. We are credibly informed that
three of the largest manufacturers in
this vicinity have agreed together to
run but half-time for three months, thus
creating a scarcity of paper and forcing
up the price. Doubtless this agreement
is far more extensive, embracing the
large manufacturers generally through
out the North, else it could not have
brought about the desired result, of the
sudden and rapid rise in -prices. We
could wish that the newspaper interest
would promptly meet this combination,
by reducing the size of their issues for
the corresponding period, and reducing
the price accordingly to subscribers;
great as would be the inconvenience
to ourselves, we would cheerfully agree
to publish but half a sheet for the next
three months, if our brethren of the
double sheet press generally would join
with us in the movement. Speculation
can only be effectually met by absti
nance on the part of consumers.
But do unscrupulous manufacturers
forget that by such arbitrary courses
they are preparing for themselves a most
sweeping and terrible retribution ? Do
they not know that they are hurling at
the people a weapon like that of the
Australian warrior, which may come
back to the yery spot from which it
started ? Are they aware that a great
effort for a sweeping reduction of the
tariff is in preparation for next Congress,
and that the course they are pursuing is
the very best possible for multiplying
the friends of such a movement ? Those
who find themselves at the mercy of the
caprice and inordinate covetousness of
great manufacturers at home, will not
need many arguments to induce them to
seek relief in throwing open our markets
to the competition o fthe world at large.
■ And we have no doubt that a reduction
of the tariff on many articles now vir
tually forbidden by the high duties,
would be followed by vast gains to the
national treasury. The experience of
low rates of duties in Great Britain con
firms this view. As the rates have been
lowered there the- customs receipts have
increased. We repeat, manufacturers
will have little chance in Congress next
winter, if they persist in such arbitrary
and irritative courses as the one just de
scribed.
HOW THE WORLD LOOKS AT IT.
The last General Assembly of thb
United Presbyterian Church was held
in the borough of Washington, in South
western Pennsylvania. During its ses
sions, the following just notice of a ble-
appeared in. the Washington Press, a
local secular paper. We are pleased to
see it copied, with approbation, in the
Presbyterian Witness, the Cincinnati or
gan of the U. P. Church. We also copy
it, not as applicable especially to the
minority of that Church, for it has much
wider bearings, but as an admonition of
the estimation in which the outside pub
lic holds this kind of indulgence.
It will not happen often, perhaps, in the
history of our village, that we shall see as
sembled a body of Christian gentlemen\rep
resenting so extended a constituency, and
wielding so large an influence, as that now
holding its sessions in this place. We think,
as a body, they will compare favorably, in
point of intellectual development and eminent
Christian piety, with any similar convocation
in the land.
While paying this tribute to the character
and worth of the members of the General
Assembly, it is not pleasant to observe a prac
tice amongst some of them, which it strikes
us does not accord very well with the position
they occupy as conservators of public morals.
We refer to the use of tobacco, a practice of
such doubtful morality, that very many good
people outside of the clergy, or even any re
ligious profession, find reason to condemn
it. But we have met many of these
ministers of the Gospel, on the streets and in
public places, puffing a pipe or cigar in a
very worldly sort of way, and setting an exam
ple which parents would regret to have their
children follow. They would have been
shocked to have been seen touching glasses in
a drinking saloon, and yet they would have
found among the frequenters of such places
perfect social equality in respect to the prac
tice to which we allude.
We do not make these remarks in any in
vidious spirit, nor because the ministers of
the U. P. Church are singular in this dere
liction, but because the body now in session
is the proper one to check such inconsisten
cies, and recommend that the practice of its
members accord with the precepts of a pure
Gospel and the requirements of a pure life.
We sincerely believe that the use of tobac
co is a crying national sin, second only to
slavery and drunkenness, and that it will not
be abated while the religion of the land toler
ates such uncleanness.
THE WEEKLY REVIEW,
The London Weekly Eeview, Presby
terian, under the editorship of Peter
Bayne, has become the London and
Edinburgh Weekly Beview, and devotes
a large space to the discussion of Scot
tish topics. In the number for July 22,
we notice editorials on* the Elected and
Rejected at Edinburgh, The Upper
Classes in Scotland and Evangelical
Religion, Scotch Constituencies in 1865,
and “The Wallace Monument” from a
Scotch correspondent. We presume the
plan of a Presbyterian journal of high
character and price (a guinea a year)
dependent upon English Presbyterian
support exclusively, has been found at’
least premature. The Beview of July
22, copies our article on Presbyterian
ism and Pepublicanism.
ANOTHER REBUKE TO SABBATH DE
SECRATION.
It is a fact which seems to have been
generally overlooked, that the laying of
the new Atlantic Cable was commenced
by the Great Eastern on the Sabbath.
The Great Eastern herself, the most
marked failure in the great commercial
and mechanical enterprises of the day,
as our readers will remember, was
launched on the Sabbath, and now
having started on a Sabbath with the
new Atlantic cable, whose structure has
vaunted as so perfect and success re
garded as so certain, the very next Sab
bath brings word of failure. The fol
lowing are the Yalentia telegrams an
nouncing the commencement of the
Great Eastern’s work..
Sunday J uly 23—Evening.
The paying out of the heavy shore cable,
twenty-seven miles in length, was completed
at 11:30 P. M. last evening by the Caroline.
The splice with the main cable on board the
Great Eastern was completed at 4:25 P. M.
to-day, and the paying out then commenced
from the Great Eastern.
Testing through the whole length is perfect.
The weather is very fine. Her Majesty’s
Terrible and Sphinx are in company with
the Great Eastern. \
Yalentia, Sunday, July 23.
The Great Eastern is now (1 o’clock) about)
twenty-fivfe miles off Bray Head, and has just
picked _up her shore end of the cable. Aid
king and testing the splice are likely to occu
py at least six hours, so that it will be sixbr
seven o’cloek this evening before she starts.
The weather is wonderfully fine, and thqj sea
is smooth as glass. Barometer very ligh,
and still rising. /
Here is the announcement of the first
break from one of our dailies:—
On Sunday, the 30th, the day on which
the Cuba called at Queenstown, a brief ,dis
patch was received, announcing tjlat, after
700 miles had been paid out—lso beinglthe
work of Saturday, the 20th —insilation torn
lost. The closing words of the dispatebjare
these: “ Cause unknown. Further particu
lars have not transpired.” * f, f
|]teta Df n« ®{ratt|
Rev. Dr. Scudder.— The Hoto
Presbyterian church of this c 1
crowded last Sunday morning '/
ning, to hear the Rev. Dr. Scy
his first appearance in publi
Doctor is easy, fluent, and earn
delivery; preaches without no j
his proof-texts out of a smaU'Rl
.he holds constantly in hand
English custom. He is easil
all parts of the house, is '
illustrations, simple in sty]
the attention of the audieu
ginning to end.
The new pastor has bee very hand
somely received and welt imed by his
people, and we cannot but opd.that the
noble church, which has s > >oig strug
gled and patiently waited 1 fir fts time,
enters to-day upon a career of te great
est prosperity and power.—Pacfc.
ok
Hrp v
‘ttegrt
icfc.
,Aid”— We
iimunion
. fiabbath,
Amende. —Rev. Francis Ra. against
whom some reports of intempeU, e ha
bits have been circulated in VVstern
New York, is believed to be whay in
nocent of such charges by thosefah
have investigated the matter, and pe .
now settled among an intelligent plople
who thoroughly satisfied themselis '
his innocence before employing hiiv
“In the midst of the Ye*.
are glad to state that at the coi
season in Tabor church, last
to say he was not a Christian, though
he was thankful he had been brought up
under religious training Still it seemed
strange to him that he should attempt
- to touch, with his unholy hands, these
(° precious services. He had refused to
13 speak when requested by the commit
lee ; but had been induced to attempt it
by the. hope that he might be the means
6 of accomplishing some good.
s " He said it was a beautiful sight to see
children and parents thus assembled
n- from all parts of the land, by the side of
he the ocean, to hold this religious service.
■W It appeared to him that all religious wor
;o- ship was divided into two classes, that
nt included in Prayer and that in Thanks
— giving. When he spoke of prayer the
memory of the great Chief-Justice Mar
te shall came before him, how, when an
id infant, his mother had taught him to
a- say, “Now I lay me down to sleep.”
k- How that great man had said, that
he hever, in all his life, laid down to
>e sleep without repeating that simple
i- prayer, or never rose in the morning
• e without thanking his Heavenly Father.
. What an influence that prayer had upon
that man’s life!
After alluding to the fact that prayer
Recent Arrivals inform us vhat l e *° * S “ P Tr ? e “ 8 T
friends of Dr. Colenso, Bishop of Nal l il iif° L g ’
had presented him with a sum of £3 3»I ° Ut , worid ’ P a f ed on to the
raised by about six hundred subseribT BeC ° nd dl ™ lon ’ B T g ’ Whlch
partly tS make up for the loss of s B ° n *
Episcopal income and partly to tesv d 6
to his services to the cause of free! than * s f ™g- The music is all lost to
pression of opinion within the Churcbf ™ aVe thell \ soul-inspim^
England. The Bishqp was about o J 8 ’ , In th ™ S™ ad old feast of
proceed to Natal. According to e pi °™ f WSC \ me
Guardian, Bishop Colenso his c t - P f to
menced an action against Mr. Glads! e g™ thanks for their harvert, when
and Mr. Hubbard, as trustees of Vhe a- Ttl u
lonial Bishopric Fund, for the psn it the * be.hills and through
of his salary, and the Attorney cUI Je rallies of Palestine towards the
has been retained for their defence* )■ H ° ly T 6 When ™
I salem became so great that they dwelt
/ in booths, made of boughs of trees,
those booths built all along the roads
I and streets in and near the city;—how on i
| the last day of the feast the High
Priests ascended the altar, and from a
vessel poured out water, in sight of the
assembled thousands, proclaiming to the
multitudes, “With joy we draw water
from the wells of salvation.” The peo
ple took up the shout, and gloriously it
ran through the vast assemblage: “ With
joy we draw water from the wells of
salvation.” It was echoed through
every street in the crowded city, and
thus they rendered thanksgiving to God
for the bounties of the year. We here
to-day are drawing water from the wells
of salvation; swelling in the chorus of
our sacred songs our thankfulness to
Almighty God. These beautiful tunes
that you children sing, how they will
is considered an able and faithful : Ini
ter, and a strict temperance: 1 man. \
Rev. Austin P. Stookwell, a leu
ber of the late graduating class ( tl
Union Theological Seminary of le’
York, has acceepted and taken the; st<
ral charge of the church of Pit >ar
Plains, Dutchess County, New Yc
Evangelist. N .
Rev. J.,M. Alexander, a licei iat
of Maui, Sandwich Islands, .was ord nei
by San Jose Presbytery, at San ’ ar
dro, Cal. Sermon by Rev. E. G, Icl
with. ;
Rev. G. L. Poster has given n ici
to the Presbyterian Church in Cole-a
ter, Michigan, of his design to soon'<
his labors among them, giving as a
their failure to build a new church
Correction :—ln the list of cole
tions for the Ministerial Relief Pm
published in our last number, the chu|
at Cherry Valley, New York, shoj
have been credited with $l9 40—
stead of $lO 40.
At Alexandria the cholera had
dined, not, however, before carrying
Mrs. LansiDg, wife of the Amerii
missionary, Rev. Julian Lansing of
U. P. mission to Egypt. „
Rev. Dr. Gurley, of Washingt
announced to his congregation that
had declined to accept the Secretarys
of the Presbyterian Board of Publi
tion, and would continue his ministe.
labors as heretofore.
GREAT OPEN AIR MEETING AT CAPE*
MAY.
What would you think of a religious
gathering of two thousand perpons on a
Sabbath afternoon to hear addresses and
sing hymns on the lawn of Congress
Hall ? We attended such a gathering
on last Sabbath afternoon, and it did our
hearts good to seethe wide spread interest
Which was awakened. A committee of
some twenty church-going sojourners at
the seaside arranged to have all the
Sabbath-school children invited, with all
the children then staying on the Island.
With them came many of their parents,-
and to the throng were added many hun
dreds of those who “ care for none of
those things,” but on whose hands time
hangs heavy on a Sabbath afternoon;
for, be it said, to the praise of the au
thorities of Cape May, not a carriage
is allowed to be hired on the Sabbath,
and thus extensive and expensive means
of killing time as on the week day, riding
out, &c., can not be enjoyed.
At 5 o’clock Mr. A. G. Cattell, the
worthy President of the Corn Exchange
Bank of Philadelphia, called Rev. Alex.
Henry to the chair, who commenced the
exercises by reading the first hymn on
the programme. A neatly printed pro
gramme containing the hymns to be
sung, with the order of exercises had
been distributed far and wide. The
band of Congress Hall, seven brass in
struments, most exquisitely played, struck
up the tune “ Marching along.” They
had been supplied with the notes by that
admirable leader of children’s singing, Mr.
Thomas H. Rawlings. He mounted the
platform and at the proper moment, had
the audience join in that stirring melody.
It was led with spirit, and sung with a
will, the fine accompaniment of the brass
instruments blending richly with the
swell of song. An army chaplain then
led in prayer, and in the hush of the mo
ment, the heavy bass of old ocean’s
rear, seemed as the voice of God him
self.
Then came the second hymn, “ Jesus
loves me! this I know,” which was also
sung inspiringly. Then an address by
the Hon. Mr. Caseby, of Newark, N. J.
He was no novice in speaking, but said
he was better used to facing a jury,
than a crowd of Sabbath-school children
and their friends. He dwelt upon the
fact that the children of the land are
soon to be the rulers, and the destiny of
the nation is now wrapped up in the
souls of its children, hence the import
ance or training the rising generation to
piety and virtue.
Then came the hymn “ I want to be
an Angel,” which was followed by an
address by—would you believe it ?—.
Benj. H. Brewster, Esq., one of the
prominent leaders of the Philadelphia
bar. He said frankly this was new
business for him. He was used to ad-,
dressing grown up children; had never
tried to speak to such a throng as-this,
and what he should say would perhaps
be better understood by the adults before
thflTi ■— ,
!rd St.
fy was
ad eve
der. on
The
ist in his
fes; reads
Me, which
after the
heard in
randant in
1 and holds
Se from be-
last in your memory when you are)
grown up men and women. Let me
tell you an incident that occurred in
one of the smaller streets of Boston,
in one of those allies where the vicious
and the poor are crowded—not vicious
because they are poor, but rather poor
because they are vicious—an organ man
was playing his tunes, when a poor
woman with a bucket on her arm
stopped, and listened, and wept. Forget
ting her errand, she stood weeping and
spell-bound. The tune was that grand
old anthem of the American people, and
the American church, Old Hundred.
The tqne carried her back to her child
hood days when she was an innocent
girl among the hills of Massachusetts,
and she wept as she contrasted what
she now was with what she had been
long before, when she used to hear and
sing that dear old tune, which she never
sang now.
This music that you sing refines and
elevates your souls. I have heard
every variety and style of music, all
that can be heard in the old world and
the new Two years ago to-day I
stood in the great St. Isaac’s chapel in
St. Petersbugh and listened to the grand
chants of the Russian church. I have
heard the Gregorian .chants in the ca
thedrals of Italy; but, grander than all
I have stood in Westminster Abbey at
midnight, and listened, with rapt devo
tion, to the glorious- chants of the
Church of England, rendered in the
very highest style of art. The refining,
awe-inspiring effect of sacred song, this
thanksgiving of the heart sent upwards
to its Maker is precious to all of us, and
helps to direct us to the better life above.
Hundreds of Philadelphians were
there, who rejoiced that so talented and
gifted a man as the speaker should be
employed in such an effort.
Next came an inspiring hymn to the
tune of “ Shouting the Battle Cry of
Freedom,” “We are Marching to Heaven
the Home of the Blessed, Singing the
Praises of Zion.” Then a fine address
by Rev. Mr. Sewell, of Baltimore. He
spoke of the importance of early reli
gious instruction, of his three children
buried in the cemetery of Baltimore, for
whose happiness he had no fears; then
of his four living children, whom he was
trying to train in the way of righteous
ness. He told, with much humor, how
he had sent their old family cradle, in
which three generations had been rocked,
to the Sanitary Fair of Baltimore, hav
ing written upon it a verse of Oliver
Wendell Homes’,
“From the same cradle side,
From the same mother’s knee.'
The idea was how from the same
Sabbath-school some went out to accom
plish no good in the world, while others
would grow to be the hope of the nation
and the church.
Mr. Heiskell, of Philadelphia, a vete
ran in the Sabbath-school cause, next
delivered a short address: After an ex
planationby Mr. Barclay Harding, editor
l» »1 II . ■ n *—-
a collection was taken up in aid of the
“ Northern Home for Friendless Chil
dren,” especially of the department for
the children of soldiers and sailors killed
in the war. The people gave liberally,
the twenty hats of the committee being
well filled.'
After singing “My Country. ’tis of
Thee,” and the doxology “ Praise God
from whom all Blessings flow,” and a
benediction by Rev. Dr. Dickey of Penn
sylvania, the crowd dispersed.
The meeting was a grand success,
bringing many in contact with religion
who never see nor hear anything about
it. It was the second of the kind, and
it is proposed to continue them through
out the season.
I have never seen Cape May so
crowded nor so gay. Imagine one thou
sand persons on a fine afternoon, many
of them gorgeously dressed, sitting in
the lawn of “ the Columbia,” listening
to the mnsic of the band, and thousands
bathing every day. Probably $25,000
per day is spent for board alone, while
for carriage hire, boat hire, &e., &c.,
sums almost incalculable slip away so
easily that we almost begin to believe
that the chief end of man at Cape May
is to spend money.
The bathing is certainly delightful
and invigorating. This is the only
attraction to Yours, G. W. M.
THE SYNOD OF THE PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH
OF THE LOWER I'ROVISCES.
This body met at Halifax, June 27th,
and took unanimous and decisive action
on the proposed union with the Presby
terian Synod of New Brunswick, as fol
lows
Approve of the report and subsequent
proceedings of the Committee on union with
the Synod of New Brunswick, and adhere to
our previously expressed desire that the
union be consummated without unnecessary
delay; instruct ministers to bring the matter
before their congregations as they may see
cause; invite expressions of opinion from
Presbyteries and Sessions, and appoint next
meeting of the Synod on the of June,
at the City of St. _ John, N. 8., in the expec
tation that we will then be prepared to ar
range for the consummation of the union.” ■
There are ninety-two ministers and
ninety-seven charges, many of them em
bracing two churches, in the Synod of
the Lower Provinces. The contribu
tions of the churches for Foreign Mis
sions during the past year, were £l5BO
Home Missions £457, Education £194
There are vested funds for the latter
object amounting to £BOOO, within a
fraction. *
The. Synod unanimously passed the
following resolution on American af
fairs :
This Synod thankfully recognize the
mercy of Almighty God in the restoration o
peace in the United States, and adore the
heavenly wisdom which has so controlled
and restrained the wrath of man and the
horrors of war, as to furnish the occasion for
the abolition of African slavery, and for most
noble manifestations of Christian liberality
and beneficence. The Synod express their
profound sympathy with their Christian
brethren in their sorrow over the death of
President Lincoln, and their deep abhorrence
of the atrocious crime which caused it; and it
is their hope and earnest prayer that the
great and sore trials of the past few years,
culminating in this deplorable event, may
lead to the establishment of true liberty and
order, and to the glory of God in the further
ance of the Gospel of his Son. This Synod
rejoice in the friendly relations existing be
tween Great Britain and the United States,
and fervently pray for the continuance of
such relations. Acknowledging with grati
tude to the Head of the Church the high at
tainments in love and good works_ of sister
churches in the United States, this Synod
implore for them the continued grace and
guidance of the Holy Spirit in going forth to
occupy the vast fields of usefulness now open
before them.
REV. A. M. STEWART IN THE OIL
REGIONS.
Petroleum Centre, Venango Co., Pa. \
August, 1865. i
Dear Brother Mears: Health,
pleasure, curiosity and on benevolent
schemes intent, have brought me for a
ten days’ sojourn to this new centre for
human assemblage, hopes, cupidities,
successes, and sore disappointments.
Not half a score of years since this
region, at present so full of human life
and energy, was a forlorn, barren place,
as it remains a very rugged one. Land
surrounding Oil City might have been
purchased for a dime an acre. No one
wanted, or would pay taxes for such un
promising possessions. Now, the value
set upon many a lot exceeds that of a
similar sized one in the centre of Phila
delphia.
Treasures of oil have been kept hid
den away in- this most unlikely place,
until fully needed ia the world’s ad-
vancement. Such has been the Lord’s
plan to hide away treasures in unlikely
places until the times demanded their
use, when they are developed by prop
erly directed human skill and energy.
There are no accidents, chances, or
mistakes in God’s government of the
world. Not one of the Generals, on
whom we depended at the outset of our
late terrible struggle to lead our armies
to victory, proved adequate to the task.
Men heretofore unknown to literary, sci
entific, political, or military fame, and
hid away among the masses, were
thrown by the convulsions to the sur
face just when needed, and fitted for the
whole emergency. The gold of Califor
nia was kept hidden away in her almost
inaccessible mountains, until fairly need
ed as a basis for trafie and to balance
the world’s commerce, when it was un
bosomed, and a great State has been
organized as an offshoot of the enterprise.
As the whale-fishery languished, tallow
and lard oil proved insufficient for new
and enlarging demands. As the inte
rests of earth moved faster and faster, a
-now- lubricator, as well as illuminator,
was needed; when the earth in this
hitherto unproductive place was bored
into and petroleum flowed out in quanti
ties sufficient for all the demands.
Many things here remind me of long
familiarities in camp-life—the rude,
hasty, irregular structures for dwellings
and business, crowds of men, modes of
living, with unsettled conditions gene
rally. No one yet conversed with has
come to this region with any thought or
desire of making here a permanent
home. To obtain the everlasting dollar,
in a more speedy manner and in larger
quantities than hitherto, has brought
hither this army of adventurers; and
when the treasure is obtained, if at all,
to spend it elsewhere. Here is the gen
uine adventurer, making claims and
selling leases; oil brokers and oil sel
lers; oil hunters and borers for oil;
teamsters innumerable ; engineers, black
smiths, masons, carpenters, storekeepers,
grocers, boarding house keepers, rum
sellers, idlers, loafers, gamblers, et id
omne genus, all busy plying their voca
tions, and jostling against each other.
If business ever deserved the appella-
tion “ Lottery,” it is that of the oil
proper. One man, or company of men,
sinks his shaft five hundred feet, and
the pent up gases beneath immense
rock strata, throw out his tools to the
surface and after them a stream of oil,
yielding from one hundred to a thousand
barrels per day. The successful per
sonage is a millionaire in an hour
Nineteen other persons or companies
sink as many wells in the same neigh
borhood, deeper perhaps than the first,
and get neither gas, nor paying amount
of oil. Five to eight thousand dollars
are required for engine, fixtures, and
sinking each well. If a failure, as is
the rule, the proprietor loses his entire
investment and often his all. Unable
or unwilling to go further, he disappears
from Oildom and in some other locality
joins a less hopeful yet perchance more
paying business. An occasional grand
success still maintains a constant and
feverish' excitement, causing thousands
to adventure and lose their all. Here
men think, nor speak, nor dream, nor
act of ought save oil. “ Good show of
oil.” “Rich territory.” “Payingwells.”
“ Profitable stocks,” constitute the mo
ther tongue. Even excited speculators
will laugh at the exploit of a companion,
who becoming too fevered suddenly
leaped into a great tank of the element,
when a thousand barrels of the greasy
liquid had to be run out and lost in or
der to rescue the adventurer. The
yield of petroleum along Oil Creek is
undoubtedly fast decreasing; and from
the sudden failure of the most famous
wells, may ere long, cease altogether.