The American Presbyterian. (Philadelphia) 1856-1869, September 28, 1865, Image 1

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    nfitaUUl PttISBYTBWAS
GENESEE EVANGELIST.
AB«llflo«aand Family ITewspnper}
nt THE IHTEREST 07 THE
Constitutional Presbyterian Church.
EPBLIBHED EVERY THURSDAY,
A.T THE PRESBYTERIAN HOUSE,
1334 Chestnut Stre< t, (2d Btory*) Philadelphia.
John Hear 9, Editor and Publisher.
B* Bi Hotehkin, Editor of kews and
Family Bspnrtnmnts.
*•?. «. P. Bush,' Correspotfdin g Edttor
Boeiiester, JT. T.
ftaratau Htwfoitam
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, . 1865.
CONTENTS OF INSIDE PAGES. ,
Sxooxd Page—The Family Circle- V- *, .
The Watch at the Sepnlohre—VoWhomii Mav
Concern-True HonMty-|£4tOMMil,®“,ertaSS
—Grandpa e Story—Ypyxjfoterag-The Tenth Com
mandment-Tho Fairy Pertle^ l e l Earnest Use of
Life. ,-, Y ,
Third Page—Miscellam^ops: "
Ecamott, a ' *
Sixth Page—
Ptu.mglia-Oarpoc&innaiirilTiHnbiples-LilyS l —.
Plymo l une^liUd! Pfj '-® l ' !3iflS ‘ iCal Me6tinK3_
Setesth Paoeh-Religious World Abroad :
—MiBstena^-9 l *S oa T'*’ t^~®-ermftTly ~® unBary
A DISSOLVING VIEW OF COMTE AND
TEE POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY,
A few.weeks ago we sketch of the
(latest portrait of. Voltaire, from recent draw
ings by his admirer, Thomas Carlyle. Our '
readers will remember the pitiable, humili
ating, disgraceful figure presented by that
once formidable foe-'* of true religion, of
whom it has been said that“ without be
lieving In the devil, hb saw him everywhere,,
even where be was ' not/' We now take,
likewise from, the delineation of a partisan
and an admirer,, an almost equally humilia
ting account 9/, the Coryphaeus’of modern
French infidelity, M, Comte, the author of
the Positive Philosophy, This Philosophy
is known to'our readers as an elaborate,, 1
scientific, and in many respects, great-sys
tem; in which modern ’materialismis^eii-.
shrined. It has had powerful attractions
for some of the ablest .mihdfs of the age ;
it has found, zealous advocacy in the pages,
of the it is frpm
an article, in tic last nutqhef of, this peri
odical, over lilies well known! initials “ J.S.
M.” (John'Stuart Mill,)that we draw the
whole of the. material! for this artiolev ■ '
The reviewer bakeb'his frank exhibitions
of-his master’s weaYiijiss upon the later
writings of Comte, and upon expositions of
his system by his Frenohfollowers. In these,
the Positive, .Philosophy has been carried
out to its,extreme consequences. It,is ap
plied as a law of life to the individual and
to soqiety. It is exhibited as a system of
“religious” belief and practice. The vices,
the* extravagances, the measureless absur
dities, and the ' deplorable degradation
which it exhibits in these’developments,
have shocked' many of. its' followers, and
are too much ‘ Mr. Mill. Some of the
worst.,of,, them indeed he defends; others
he would regard as mesa exqrqsqences. We
cannot perceive that he. regards the system
■from which they have*. spfung, as vitiated
by them. Nor do we intend to enter into
an argument upon thh relations of the sys 1
tern, as originally propounded, with theso
after-thou'ghts of. its author. Enough for
us to know, that materitlistio and atheistic
habits of thinking have, led- the greatest
and most celebrated unbeliever, of the
oentury, into_ imaginations as perverse, into?
doctrines as degrading, and into cohceits as
frivolous and ridiculous, as . his maturer,
cooler and saner'speculations are sweeping
and formidable.- ■ : - ' ’ i"
As to character of theman,
knowing almofet nothing of L ‘it, we dispose
of it first. He' -may have’ been compara
tively pure in his domestiq relations, as the
Frenoh estimate ,: that virtue r It appears,
however, that he, separated from his wifej.
and that hsuwa&Hihe subject of an intense ;
affection for the .wife of another man, infi
prisoned a,s a felon. This latter attach-
we are obligingly informed by Mr.
Mill, “ always rCndaine'd. pure,” although'
“ it gave him a year of passionate .enjoy
ment,” .. We are further informed that this
intimaoyif gave him an insight , into the
true ’ souroes, of human happiness- which'
changed his: whole conception of life.”
This may all pass'in an atmosphere tainted
by the low morality of the Frenoh nation ;
but we are surprised at the matter of course
way in whioh it is .treated in' an English
periodical. As to the philosopher himself,
if an unlawful love was needed to crown
and consummate his character, we -are net
to blame for suspecting rottenness at the
core. Comte with. his Clothilde, and Vol
taire with his “ divine Emilie,” are not too
far apart to illustrate each other's character.
Passing now to 1 the political application
of Comte’s-'philosophy, we find that he
hates and despises parliamentary and rep
resentative governments, and that he would
have the yrhole world under the absolute
sway of three Dictators, and one functiona
, fry, whom he calls High Priest, or Head Pon
tiff of the hutnan race. All the: rmental
and'‘scientific* activity of manj he'teaohes,
should be controlled by law. The' -studies
be pursued should be laid down; a' prob
lem should he assigned, upon which exclu
sively the whole attention of- thinkere
should be concentrated .until it was .solved
i.' " •• -- r ' I"*
-yew Series, V Q i. XI, N6.-:&Q.[ ; !
or pronounced insoluble, when it shoul# be;
and another substituted for it. :
All studies not contributing positively to
the public welfare are to be forbidden as
idle and useless. The greater part of all
the sciences, and especially of astronomy he
puts under this condemnation. Selecting,
about one hundred volumes of those now
extant, he would/in the spirit of the Sara-'
cen conqueror at Alexandria,commit all the
rest to the flames. We do not hear that
the Bible is among the hundred to be ex
empt. This, says Mr. Mill, (whose works,
would-doubtless go into the bonfire) is’even
worse than the early Christians who only ,
burned, the books of their enemies. It is
“the one thing,,in M. Comte’s.< projects
which merits real ;itidignatio'n." r He would
have every race and species of animals and
plants not useful to man extirpated.
Mv Comte would banish faith 'in ■ the.
supernatural; he scorn the idea of
accepting a revelation by faith; his- follow
ers cannot abide the method of some * bet
lievers, who substitute appeals to faith for :
proofs. But the author, .of the Positive
Philosophy, fondly imagining that he has
reached ultimate truth, ( demands’ tliat his
conclusions be received .without reasoning,
that is by faith. He inyeighsj against the
demand for proof so loudly heard, and in
the State,whiohhb foresees ,-isfto arise upon,
the universal Acceptance' -Of hib systein, the
youth are to be’ttoined to a knowledge of
its lfetdiDg principlfes, Which they are to re-‘
ceive with absolute unquestioning acquies
cence. Does any Christian parent reqjiirb
more of his child ,in teaching it the .Bible ? ,
Comte,. making no claim to ,supernatural
guidance, which his. system totally, excludes,
demands for, his , .teachings :i a regard which
he ridicules men for according .to teachings
which they believe to be divine-!
( His projeetfof regulating the intellectual
activity of mop is as as 'any
actually known’ to the-.dark ages. , His
great anxiety is . lest people ; pjbould., reason
land seek'to knoyr. more than enough. . The
Positive; Philosophy . is discovered—-how
foolish for men to -wish for -more! He
even lays down, laws prescribing the proper.,
number'Of chapters in' ever y treatise, and<
of cantos in eyery poem. ; He insists that
the minitnun length -of a sentence 1 is 250
letters! And to cap the' climax bf’ this
mania for regulation, he has a fantastic and
elaborate arrangement, by which each sec
tion of a work must be made to begin with a
•certain letter of. the alphabet determined be
forehand,, the letters being seleoted so as to
compose words having a ■“'synthetic ! or.
sympathetic significance,” and as close: a;
relation' as possible to the section or part to
which they are appropriated. And all this
is not put forth as mere opinion, but laid
down as law,,fo be enforced in the era'which'
the writer confidently 1 expepted, of the
universal prevalence ofjhe Positive ,Phil
osophy. i
But tho worst is to come. The, most
irreligious, atheistic and intensely worldly
of modern s systems, which denies. God, im-;
mortality, supernatural objects, sin, revela
tionj Christ, everything but - man,'"nature
and science', :’ahd c onlythe phenomenal, hot’
theessentialjin theseobjecfcs,has undertaken'
to be religious! And Mr/ 'Mill undertakes
to show that religion and atheisin are not
incompatible;: and he puts this atheistie t
caricature of religion in . disparaging bon-;
trast with;',' the conception of .human; nature,
as incapable of giving itadove and .devoting
itsVexistenoe to ;4ny otfjeot whioh eannot.
afford in exohahge ah eternity of personal'
eDj oymfe'nt,’ ’ a' m&s6 : unwbrthy' Shd
quate account of' evangelical piety; whibh
we need to comment on no further just now,
than to point out where Mr. Mill’s prefer
ences, evidently lie.
Let us however turn to: this new fangled
religion, which boasted tohave sprung from
a negation of all ’the fundamentals’of true
religion. It is, ip brief, a rehabilitation of
the lowest forms of heathenism—man-wor
ship and fetish worship. M. Comte’s lead-
ing historical axiom in regard to the pro
gress of human thought, is that the theologi
cal fonn of conception is the lowest, the me
taphysical higher and more recent, and the
latest and'highest development is the Posi
tive-Philosophy.’ Yet:this last issue of the
human intellect grovels among the meanest
and basest forms of that era which’it de
clares to be lowest of all. The first and
leading object of worship prescribed by
; Comte is man. And this worship is not sim
ply the high, devout and self-denying: re
gard for human welfare which Mill defends as!
truly religious, and which is indeed a beau
tiful and honorable feature of the Positive
Philosophy ; it is actual adoration specifically
prescribed, and regulated as minutely as in
any monkish ritual. The Human Race ac
cording to Comte, is. strictly and properly
.an iOhjeot of devout, meditation ami prayer.'
fit ia the> Grayd, %e i|reatTßeing.
PIIILADELPHIxt. THLKSDAV,. BEITOIIiKR 28. 1865.
And not only is “the race, as a
thus put in place of God, but
ofjone’s own family, particularly
the wife, the daughter, living c
designated as among the*new
Positive Era. In other words,; n improved
form of Chinese worship is to )e-the acme
of civilized religion; Or, are we not- re
minded of the loathsome and 1 lasphemous
demonstrations of the French I revolution,
j when an abandoned woman wai drawn in
i triumph through the streets of Paris, and
hailed as the goddess of the new era, and
,when Christian . churches were profaned ,by
the, vileideeds which: shock; us when narra
ted even'Of "heathen.'temples ? ;Suoh ;an
-is&'tte might not’ have ; been expected'byj
Qomte, but the worship of - ’ woman in a 1 so
'diety fro& whidh all regard tor Odd is ex
cluded .must .inevitably lead to it.
. There_ ishoyrever a lower .deep,in this gulf
of revived heathenism,-pf whioh? we shall
speak in our next.
THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN FOR
our ,paper is, steadily
on the increase. New fields, are opening to
us in various parts of the country, 1 and our
friends upon old fields are . preparing .to re
n'ew their efforts - to increase our list. We
cannot but believe that thedecided action
taken on two occasions by the last General
Assemble ’ on the religious press, was an
of increased regard among our
ministry and people for this important ad
junct of pastoral and evangelical effort; and
that they are better prepared than ever to
take s the advice' of, the Assembly ion- the!
SfibjeSt.- v;t if.;,; ::i d L<yL ‘^ .. '
1 Thd-Standing Comihittet of* the Assem
bly on Publication, felt imp< lied;’by the im
portance" of the fatter, ti suggest the
-following, deliyeri^der^fiponV the
circulation of our three. religious, papers
sf'Thgse/'jsaiy the Committee, y are our de
nominational organs,, and we, should dp
more than-.has been done to push; them' in.'
advance of all others, and even to the
. - .. t ■ » / • .
exclusion of some which have stolen in
Where -thep'do not belong. ' Outspoken
efforts to‘ feet 'Ourselves right before the'
people,. and * keep the priimiplas-iVe-. love
freshen,. the. hearts of those,who are with
are many of them hoiug.insidiQusly,
perverted, are absolutely .necessary.” . I .J.
From 'Judge Mansfield’s report specifi
cally on the Religious Press, itiwill be seen,
that took a Very,exalted view
of the importance of this 'instrumentality.
“ It is patent to every man that the'news
paper • has: a wider and deeper -influence
upon the members of our congregations
than tracts, books, or • quarterly reviews.
It comes nearer than any of them to the
living preacher in the-time and manner of
its ministrationp,, .-Hence, if the. press is
to be recognized by the Church as.an in
strumentaUty.for good supplied to her by
the providence of God, she ought to take a;
deep interest in the most popular and infln
entiaf of its issues, the new&paper, and try
to use it f so astoprbmotetiie goodofmen
and the glory of God.” : =
TBaf ’Seport estimated that there are in
but: Church some ‘30,000 -families who take
neither of the c three denominational papers
Supposing that'in this number are includ-.
ed aIL the.families among, us too poor,to
subscribe, there would 'yet. remaiu enough
ofa, different class to sustain, by-their pat
ronage aLcmeptwosfirst class -religious jour
nals; if- hot three. In vieteof this etartling
fact, : the' Assembly exhorts these delinquent
faihilies to subscribe for at least one of our
declaring itbe influence '.of'aubh a
paper as u second only to that of the.preached
the moral and spiritual culture of
ther Christian household.” Ministers are
also requested to preach on the subj eot,
impressing upon church members “ the
duty of .being' loyal to the dehominationlu
this* respect, and the duty ,of parents to
provide the right kind of papers for their
children to. read.” •- ; ■
It is time we were beginning to carry
out the wishes of our Assembly in this re
spect. The season for efforts of this kind
is drawing, .near. It, is not only- our ’inter
est, but our pleasure and our duty, as
publishers of, the American Presbyte
rian, to aid in giving effect to these wise
resolutions. :We shall seek to do it, by
presenting the chnrehes with a-paper as
nearly as possible answering to til® high
uses hud functions of a religious journal.
We are continually seeking to enlarge the'
circle of our correspondence, both in' this
country and the Old ' W grid, r . Especially
are we at pains and expense to gather up
all matters of interest, in the progress of
our oVn branoh of the: Church. We claim,
we think justly, a pre-eminence dn! this
particular! Nowhere; else ban so full a
view' of our Church as it is be; 'found.
Other branches of the JPresby terian' Church,
at houie. and abroad, .htovery fully repre
sented in our columns/noth by, ooggasponcU
enceoand: otherwise, x Our'aim is tohbe a
joumalbfP esbyteriaiiisnv in aU the world,
Sam: time, otir Space allows us to
present a, ccpious selection of facts every
week frbm the religions papers of other
deporniiTMiolis, and every, month -we pre
sent a. resume of the
state of thi world abroad in -its religious,
aspects, as gathered from; the latest sources.
! In. illustration rtf, these statements/ .we'
need, merely call attention to the present
number of the paper; Which happens, in
the riiost marked manner, to; correspond to
our general plan in these particulars. We
deubt Whether aii equal amount of. care-
pn,
i® to he found in any three current numbers
°£ the leading religious periodicalspf; the
Wintry. . - xinxx xJ *i
" To * '■ the correspondence *r department,]
already-including writers in this country, in
England, Syria, India ahd China, atiil Such
nlnifeß-Ss Jessupj Grillett, Adams, March,
j lawyer, Wilder, our correspond-;
BushJ and many others,;we are
pWgpg to. ai| lgthers in, tlie West ; ip.
difornia and-in Italy. .We hope soon to,
inounce a story of great j interest /and
jjronghly < evangelical spirit, 'from I the
;hor ofi one of ‘the best recent -books for.*
v , -ix
'holered be
individuals
the mother,
r. dead, are
rods of the
young-
' we are Poit
our'part'' in', facilitating the 'work
lsil upon the churches un d th e ministry
by the last General Assemhly. Will these
also, do their part f; Will the members who
already-jtakp ; a religious; paperof theirown
denomination,-:let theirilight? shinebycom
mending the'same coursed to■: their neglect-:
ful'. fellow-metnjbert ? • Will the tniihistry'
preach; on the subject) ; as one 'of equal" im*
portaUce with apy sepatate.entieiprisepf the 5
churoh ? Will minister' and people ’unite
in the effort patronage of the
ohurches to tpeir ' own'papers, instead of
squandering' it where the returns of der
hoihinatiohal profit 1 are, decidedly less than
nothing? 'f, '' ’ ‘ '* *' • l ’ - ‘
, A StettMOM TO, THE PREACHERS.
■ HatTn'ottlie leading editonals of the-Neto
' Tori' Time* for the last two months amply.-;
prepared us for the advocacy of almost any safe
or, unsafe, righteous or unrighteous conces
sion to rebelsfor-thesfike, ofisuperfioialorder,-;
oheap cotton and party sucoesß, we should
have been- greatly astonished, at ithe; tone of
its article of Monday weet on Ecclesiastical'
Reconstruction. In thatartible,- itdenoub
ces the; position taken" bytbePresbyteriah,
Methodist ah’d Baptist churches; that rebel
lion is a orime, whioh'muhtbb repented of
like any other, and; that none who haye
beeh; ,guilty. of it can be admittedto () thosp
communions without :evi<lence of repent-,
an.op. The assuming, of. thk position, saysi
the Tithes, destroys- the influenoe .of the
churches for and goes to per
petuate discord:” As if an offence unre-‘
pented of and poisoning the'bosom of the
offender still, could’ consist'wittf* real oon-'
cord. As if the truest and, broadest basis
<>f peace Is not a frank and honest aeknow?
ledgipent of wroug.done, and .the avpwat of
Sfpurppsq tq ; wpid a iyn. the;future |-i}, 1 1 > ; {
The; Times has gpt ihJp i: th e ;'Vbriest; i shal
lows and . mud-flats,
undertook, to sustain, ! ;tbrbhgh< 'thick- i anff
thin, MrV'Johhson’S lamehtable'and l danger-'
ous policy of CQnoessioii to'rebels!' - 'But in
the • • following' paragraph' it reaches, ’we
think, the' climax * 6f r Weakn'ess ’ahd con
fusion: f :
.. ,h.I ViJ .... i*!L '- J Jf-Vj x. ’ '
Again,- some distinction must be madb.be-:
tween a phlitibal’andiborarQffencei."'The onp'
may come fi-om’ari erfor bf the head simply ;'
-the other -must proceed, if its. author is sane,-
from badness of .hearty The one may be poms
mitted.conscientiously; .;thfe other cannot! ...A,
rebbl'inay mean to 'do' right; a thief or mur
derer : 'cannot. A Christian- minister of the
'North would! not dare to withhold spiritual;
consolation from a dying Southerner,,simply’
for failing;to express repentance for support
ing the Confederacy; and yet he would give
hb such consolation to an unrepentant thief
or murderer. The assumption that every
man gf the ax millions who have participated
in this rebellion acted against his conviotions
of duty,'and voluntarily committed what he
knew to be a crime, is monstrous. It would
prove a vmoral, depravity .in! the Southern
people beyond . anything, known to human
history—a depravity which would as much
forlnd us to have political as religious asso
ciations with them: “Were it true, it would
eternal disgrace .to. restore them to
American citizenship. Nobody; , believes it.
The :great body of the Southern people who
sustained the Confederacy did so on honest,
though, as we say, mistaken ; conviotions of
■duty: -. it is.beeause we. have this'belief that
• they aj§ freely welcomed back to 'the. Union.
What is'there iu felipous , principle , thp,t dis
’allows'a similar 'recognition, ; and beffeSpond-'
ing action ? What is there that-requires the
churches to be more implacable and relent
:less toward a the government :
than .is, the .government itself? Cannot
Christian charity yield, as much 1 as political
justice? : .f . <■:
’ It is a long time since we have seen
brooded into the same space so many crude
and erroneous views, such'manifest miseon
ception, such confused and loose notions on
the . most vital subj eots. ? “ Some distinction
Evangelist, lOlO
-erfesfeie
must be made,” says this self-constituted
teacher of the loyal churches, “between a
political and moral offence.” As if politi
cal offences were never also moral ones! As
if the. thirteenth chapter, of Romans had
never been -written, ,or the Bible every
where, did not inculcate obedience to the
regularly constituted authorities . of' the
State! As if Mr. j ohnson himselfdid hot
deolare,.though we fear, like : Mr/Ilaymohdj
he has found it convenient to forgetthe
sentiment, that treason is a crime aiid must
be, punished! As if it needed any argu
ment to prove that an unjustifiable pro
alaverjr rebellion,. against ,« peaceable and
j.ust Government was the greatest of crimes!
4-political offence, proceeds our ; moralist,
i may he .committed conscientiously, a moral
offence; cannot.' , But how'about that Sw
edish priest who poisoned the communion
jwine j and destroyed the' ‘lives of his parish
ioners j that was'amoral offence j yet he de
clared he did it conscientiously to release f
fhem from their hopeless, poverty. Saul
the persecutor, verily thought he ought to
.do many things contrary to the name of
rhesus, yet he; counted himself- the .chief of
Sinners, and regarded,his - ,forgiveness, as a
miracle of grade; Oonscientiousttess ! Is
there a crime in the catalogue ftir wliieh
.this has not' Beenpleadin extenuation 1
not Philip ‘IT of Spmn 'conSisientibtid'iu his
relentless and bloody policy to the revolted
Netherlands ?• Has. not every persecutor
and inquisitor plead conscience in justifica
tion of. his, .cruelties ?. jWould pot.. Lotus
Napoleontell you, he was consoientious in
usurping the imperial power in France? and
in all the puhlio add secret massacres which ■
were necessary to remove impediments from
hiB ; path ? Is there ' ‘a’ single pernicious
in all the' history of err6r which
has noi l been held oOnsoientiously ? Were
not the. .leaders of .public opinion in' the
churches of the South conscientious in'
maintaining the saerednessj excellence: and
divinity of American slavery? And: is
thbir opinion a whit }Css noxious: andt less
necessary to he repented of, and not rather
much more so, on that very account? We.
have not a. doubt that there have been a con
siderable number of conscientious rebels and
iproj-slavery men in the South.. Bui has there
been, in all the hiatory of opinion, a .delu
sion more gross, and a great ,practical error
leSs excusable than consoientious pro-slave
"ryism iandi: rebellion in this free country,
and in the middle of the nineteenth centm,
ry? And should not any professedly' loyal
editor hang" bis head for shame at
the thought of ‘ lecthring men who; would
simply preserve the Christian church from
a contaminating comptomise with it! Or
Would the. Times he understood as requiring
the churches to open their doors to all, of
whatever shade of. opinion or peculiarity of
practice, who professed a conscientious
attachment to those opinions and praotices. ?
Or does it understand iwhat it wants ?
'6 ’As to the l great mass of .the six million
fChels, it is most absifrd to speak of con
science being concerned in the matter. The
rebellion was a frenzy in its origin. The
truth ‘is briefly put in 'the; phrase about
“firingthe Spiffhern heart.” It was un
thinking, unppntrpljable passion with the
masses,,andcpnscienee was neither oonsiilt
ed, nor listened to, nor thought of-.- “ The
greet body of the Southern people who
‘sustained the Confederacy” had ho convic-;
tious, honestordishon'Cst about it.- “Duty**
Was i very unimportant idea 1 in the con
siderations which prompted and which sus
tained thp moyement. The South was in
toxicated with one of those wild.drcamh of
.independence which seize- upon- restless
men; it jyas drunk with tie arroganeeof the
plantation; it dreaded the advance of those
pregnant ideas ofliberty and eqnality which
were incompatible with the barbarism of
property in man, and it flew to arms in
obedience to these; mere instincts, which a
few half-crazy philosophers and theolo
gians undertook to .elevate into convictions
and to justify as Such. The truth'is, there
.was . not a little conscience in the South
..about the commencement of the rebellion,
■but it was largely the other way. The
rebel Vice Presidentwas, doubtless, honest
in his~conviotions to the very last moment,
(and later, too, we imagine,) 1 that the rebel
lion was unjustifiable. And the Times , of
course, knows of a certain rebel General
Lee, who expressed the same . convictions
at the opening of the movement, but who
in spite of'them, and in spite of his solemn
03th ,as a United States offioer, and of his
position on Gen. .Scott’sistaff, followed “his
State,” and became the main prop of the
conspiracy, which his conscience had con
demned; for four-years!
As to the questions with which the para
graph ends, a moment’s thought will show
that the position of the secular government
and of th<j|»'churoh isjridely different. The
Government is bound: to; judge its citizens
TEBMS.
„ in advance:
**£-?***’. j-* , _ By Carrier, 93 3*
Fifty cent* additional, after three months.
Clubs. —Ten or more papers, sent to one address*
payable strictly in advance and in one remittance*
vance.
Some Missionaries, $1 SO is ad vance.
fifty cents additional after three, months.
Remittances by mail are at our risk.
Postace.— Five cents quarterly, in advance, paid
by subscribers at the office of delivery. .
Advertisements.— l2si cents pgr h&a for the
first, and 10 cents for the second insegnih. ' PT . ‘
One square (one month) $3 0
“ two months t-uar.. 5 5
“ three .....ZT.I 760
“ six “ 42 00
' - on© year *
The discount on long advertisements, in
serted lor three months and upwards, is allowed: —
Over. 20 lines. 10 per cent off; over 50 lines, 20 par
cent.; over 100 lines, 2&H per cent, off. • ”
by their outward acts; whereas the heart, is
the; very provinoe of the Church. The
State requires obedience, the Church re
quires the principle of holiness. It is often
the duty of the State to punish where tlie
ohurch forgives, as when the latter recog
nizes the conversion of a criminal whom
the law still insists justly on retaining as a
prisoner, or on leading to the gallows. And
on the other hand, the criminal may serve
out his term, may pay his fine, may comply
with the prescriptions of the law or 'the
conditions of'. his .pardon, and . may never
afterwards incur a penalty; shall the church
therefore recognize him as ' a fit subject of
her. privileges ? The questions in ‘the
Times seem almost to take for granted a
hhiotf of church and State’ in the "country,
or at least imply that the morality of the
church is quite On a level with thatof New
York and Washington . politicians. Surely
the politicians would themselves be alarmed
if they, really believed this to he the fact.
The Presbyterian, Methodist and Bap
*tist. Churches will adhere to, their, princi
ples. We publish to-day a brief account
of the proceedings of Kingston Presbytery
in ’Bast Tennessee, from which it'
thatain accordance, with the action of {the
-last General Assembly, the - ' names of two
miifisters> W!ere' stricken from the folk for
disloyalty'. ' The politicians' may take their
course ' They may prate about.conscience,
,aqd,.we must bear with their oonfiision of
ideas on a subject, with which,; especially
since the lamented death of out praying,
honest-souled, President, Lincoln,“they evi
..dqntly.. have little practical acquaintance.
So much greater the need that the churches
'abide'iifmly by their declared p&My of
treating rebellion in .the light of the New
Testament, and of requiring repentance,
above all, for the sin of sustaining a man
stealing, - anti-republican, 1 prison-starving
rebellion like this. .Their position,, firmly
maintained,' niay becomethevery'palladium
of ! our. Bepublic. Even the ‘ New ’ York
Times may see the day when it will ' thank
ns for it.
RULING ELDERS AMONG HOTTEN-
TOTS.
It has been supposed by many intel
ligent persons that complete, organi
zation of Churches! out of
recently converted heathen was impos
; sible on account of: the lack of suitable
materials, for the eldership. And- the
proposal tp establish the entire machinery
pf an Evangelical Church, early, among
heathen converts, has been treated by
some active, (friends of missions as vision
ary, and an excuse has been made for
tolerating a very loose form of Church
government on the mission fields, oh the
same .general ground of. native incompe
tence and.unfitness. The following ac
count of the office-bearers in the Presby
terian churches of .Caffraria, communicat
ed by Rev. John A. Chalmers to. the Unit
ed Presbyterian Record for September,
will give some light on the snbj^bt:
“These elders of our church are a noble
b'andpf side by side they]' ptand
with us,. end.9aypring.to stem the,mighty
torrent ;of eyil with, which, we have to
contend... have passed
Wkny trials; . they have been. driven
.hither and thither bythq,desolating’ blast
pf war,. and still they stand, firm pi their
profession.: They have JsePU : inel|owed
the, trials and > dangers through
which they have passed ; singleThanded,
our fathers, ,so far as human aid is con
cerned, fought these battles; but we
have trophies of their conquests, and
though these elders have not received
.ppr.adyantiages, yet we cannot hut look
.them in ;an emergency. for their
counsel, as their experience is .greater
than ours. .Their names kje household
Words; and the ,future, historian, if such
there be of our chequered Caffre mission,
will not only recount the trials and deeds
of the missionaries, but also those of the
elders, for their acts are interwoven with
ours. . ,
“Such an one truly is Bacela, to
whom I introduce you, who is well wor
thy of the important sphere in which he
is laboring. Well do I remember, years
ago, at the Chumie, when I was but a
mere ( child, seeing, him a full-grown, man,
sitting in the same class with little boys,
learning eagerly tp read his Testament:
he thought it not a degradation of his
manhood to sit with children and learn
to spell the words of Divine truth. His
teacher, Pella, whose name is well known,
has long ago gone to his rest. His whole
demeanor is .an appropriate illustration of
the words, ‘ Diligent,in business, fervent
in spirit, serving the Lord.' He is one
of those unassuming, modest men, who
gain upon one the more you come in con
tact with him. He is man of a kind,
generous, charitable disposition; a peace
maker, who wins the hearts of others by
words of kindness and affection. ; ' Surj
rounded by a class of hard-hearted
ens, who have long stood.out against the.
gospel, he has yet gaine'd far Himself a
vast influence in that district vyhere he
is located.” •" ‘ •