THE AMERICAN PRESETTERIV ,
AND
GENESEE EVANGELIST.
A litti „.. .igions and Family Newspaper,
IN THAI INTEREST OF THE
Oonstititional Presbyterian Church.
PIIBLISHICD'I4VERY THURSDAY,
AT THE PR ESBY ' T'ERIAN
1334 QheitnufEl'nest. (3d story.) Phibalelidna,
.Ray..latnalq.llKears, Editor antt , *., *sham
BSv. it. H. Ifotellacias, lltillttor st News and
Family Departments. ,
Bev. C. P., Bush, Corresponding Editor,
Rechanel., N. Y.
gmerivalt litt,s4tstian.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER s;l*.
CONTENTS OF INSIDE PAGES.s.
SSOOND PAGE—Tam FAMILTIARA:II./1:-
The Bird's Week—Johnny Ray, the Little News
paper Boy—A Successful Mission— 'We Go"—Ad
vice to Young People—A Yankee School-house—
Children Working for God—Death of an Infant—
Affecting Ordination Charge -Earthly Distinctions.
THIRD PAGE—EDITOR'S TABLE:
Reid's " Voices of the Soil Answered in God"—
•Farrar's ' Re colleotterts of Sevetity Years"—Brown
ing's " Lyrics of Life"—Grieb's," Dictionary, af the
English. German and German-English Languages"
—Children's Books "Little' Kitty's Library"—
pamphlets and PerledicalsLiterary Items: Arne
can and Foreign.
SIXTH PAGE — CORRESPONDENOE :
Daniere -rial and Victob:—.Me. Warner's, Letters
on Reoem4ruotion—The Year-Day Theory.
81avIeNTR . RniAt Eaoxonnr;
The Tallir--MutualtideratindinibetWein Farmers
—A Conyenient Disinfectant=-Fa' Planting of
Grapes. • ' • ' .
Soorrraro .• 'Steam ! -
.Plowing -Laughing Gas in
Dental Operitions•--n. • Astronomer's Prayer—Re
markable .Facter-The Right... Kind of an Invention.
MISOELLANKOIIS: Holidays—Alligator's Nests—
Sudden Death ; Cholera.
DISSOLVIIid * VIEW ',OF COMTE AMID
THE POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY.
[QONOLhiED:]
Reader,lt is no in feien ce of ours: Comte de
clares it, and Mill hirtulelt explains, half-de
. fends and mildly critieizas it, that Fetish
* worship Is more akin to. Positivisti than any
other form of, theology. Fetishism, our
readers underttand, is the,worship of natu
ral or artificial' objects; or, in the language,
of the latest edition'of Webster "'ene pf
the lowest and grossest Arms of super
consisting in the worship of -Some ,
material object as a stone, a tree, or an
animal, often casually selected; practiced
. among tribes of lowest mental endowment,
as certain ; races of .negroes." The author
of the Positive Philosophy betakes himself
to the debuedsaperstitions of Africa to find
paralle4 in the.religious consciousness of
inen, to the principles of his system, and
the Westminster Review devotes certain' ex- 1
planatory paragraphs, al m ost in extenuation
of thticoraParison I We cannot but regard
r Gegree worshippers as v, • • • • • • •
treitrer — Dron•Fv — imm 'mum ...or: • . ey
vagucArhelieve in something behind and
'above the rook, the tree, the bottle, the
feather they worship; they are supernatu
ralism, and we are inclined to believeptliat,
tho Ugh among them that are born of women,
there bath not risen a greater than Comte,
notwithstandingyhe that is least in the
kingdom of supernaturalism is greater than
he.,
Not satisfied, however,,, with recognizing
a linenecis, Comte proceeds, to
. ir,ame Tez
tish worship as one-of theLpraotioak deduc- -
tious from the Positive Philosophy::-Given
over, judicially, one is ready to believe,
to the uneontrullable litipulies of imagine
tion, he pictuieti the earth itselflatiendoWed
with tile; and as ..coniciously working in
past geological' eras for the reception of
znau, the " Grand- Etre" on her 'bosom at
last. ; The planets, too, are, tipulfpn ot: as
"improving their conclition,",ag,i , "oowog
eat devotion, having consolation," and Mr
Mill almost rise's. to indignation as he Rd
lows his master through these absurd vaga 7
• 0 This stair says Mr. Mill, •'though'
he c!alls it fiotion, he soon after speaks of as
belief, (eroyanee,) t tti:be greatly recommen
ded.. And'he obviously intends' that these
fantastical inventions, shoUltllbecorne
slant tu, and, in fact, transformed ; into ac
tual belief. Wretched as thiS
-singularly characteristic .of M. vigointe's:
later Mode of:thought." thus animated;
tire: ettrt t li becomes the " Grand' Fetish,"
dinicrete existence are reek.-
fined 'kwith the " Great i3eing,".. man as ob
iaeta4kf, rrship, in the PosiO,Oilgoorio=,
my ,lkitkce furnishes us stiltanotler deity,
undettOnmne, of the •' Grand Milieu," Or
the" Great Nemi,'.! nu* tho. new Pantheon of
Modern , 'Atheism is complete. Brother
Congoes, we niust tahake. hinds with you,
and apologize for sending you missionaries.
Instead of ''Ethiopia. `stretching forth her
hands unto God, we stretch form our hands
to Ethiopia for patterni of 'the true modes
of worship. M. Cooke should certainly
have gone on a tour of excloration'through
Jour tribes with ,Dullhaillu, or bettei; Win
wood Reade, to find his Supreme Pontiff of
the Human Race.
o om t e is dead, but so" great was his
folly, while living, that it is still illustrating
itself by the mere lapse of• time. In spite
of his denial of supernaturalism, he ven
tured upon the most .confident and definite
" predictions as to.the success of hie system.
...Nor are-the dates by any means remote. It
before the end of the present century
that the.new spiritual and temporal Powers
of the world are to be installed. At the
expiration of seven years, the direction of
I publio education in yrance would be placed
in 31., Comte's hand;; in five years more'the
„Emperor. Napoleon, or his successor, w,ould
resign kis powerto provisional triumvirate
oomposed of three eminent believers in the,
a1,44(14 ) It) tttan
res
New_ Seriies, IT, No, 4-0—
IMEMI
positivist faith. These rulers will be twen
.
ty-one years in . preparing society for its
final oonititutiou, and after duly installing
the spiritual power and effecting the decom
position of France into seventeen republics,
will give over the temporal government of
each to the three dictators, then to be
forthcoming ! Poor .man, he , hoped to
live to see it all, and did not even survive
.to become director of public education in
France, the very first step of this - confident
`series of liredictions. Aefor those '
remain
ing, there is perhaps not asingle thoronkb
_
going pupil of Comte to be found„ who
would be insane enough , to attempt to carry
them out.
Behold` the Positive Philosophy gone to
seed I See a sweeping negatien of re
ligion _demanding nothing : less than
reverence for itself; suppressing faith in
God,"immortality and revelation, and itself
requiring to be received on faith; decrying
theology as Obsolete, and' yet carrying out
its own" principles to an extreine, which
'brings them face to face with the grossest
and most degrade'd forms of theology; de
nying supernatural inflnence, yet claiming
to prophesy in the most distinct and specific
manner; proposing as a stibstitn.tejor exist
ing religions a system as intolerant, as. op
pressive in 'details; as antagonistic in WI
way to the free development of science and
pursuit Of literature, as hostiie to civil lib
ancl SW pliant to imperialism as Rome
itself; dethroning God and putting in his
place man; the race and individuals of it;
the earth, as the,GreatFetish; . sll, concrete
existence, Ancl.finallY apace, as the represen
tative of fatality
Here is the result ofthat vaunted,sys
tem.whieh was to supersede religion. This
is - the consummate flower of human thought
in,its spiritual 'aspect: It 'declared war
against true religion andthreitened to an
nihilate it, and its anther' and greatest
teaoher ends by, wopounding a.. polished
fetishism inits place.,; We area laughed At
for worshippin • the infinite ' God and we
at.Jengtn — : 01(11:161r - TO Wilts-fflsl
our mothers, wives and daughters, to wor
,
ship humanityi-the earth and - empty space.
We began in the blessed -light of Chris-.
tianity which* the Positive Philosophy was
to 'outshine and sup,erstrie. ' We end in the
degradatimi and darkness of China 'and
4ftica and Egypt, with a little of the 'wine-,
ripg of Greece and
,Rome. We had a diVine
Aid perfect Redeemer to worship, we are
offered. now the 'sinful race he came to save.
Have rict, these sublime and oracular senten
oesin thifirst of Roinana gained newweight
and in thfs , new evolution of
error? "yroferssing theinselves to beirise
they became fools, and' changed the glory
-of the incorruptible Cpd i,an image made
like to corruptible man, and to birds 'and
four, footed- beasts and creeping things.
Who changed the truth of God into , a lie,
and worshipped and served - the ,ineatirre,
more than , the Creator, who is blessed'for
ever, amen!' • Well '
says Mill •him Self,
though he applies it to only a single depart,
ment of Comte's speculations : ; " It l is the
most warning example we know, into'what
frightful aberrations, a powerftil "and "com
prehensive mind.,may be led, by the exclu
sive following out of a single idea. 11 Per=
tinent, too, - is the profound• remark of a re
cent writer*. "The course of Modern,
speculation tonohing ibis deeply interest,
ing subject tither towards a divine and
'glorious Redeemer, orioWaids a divine and
glorious humanity. . Jests - is not eialied
and worihiptied, the race must be. There
is no stopping place between the- Sinless
and the sinf4.7
We are now done with Comte 'and. 'hiS
impious extravagances, but we have a word
for his•43ritio and admirer.
In. spite Of ocOuaional protests and dis-•
Claimers, Mr. Mill .must be held resPenii
ble for palliating, and even recommending
some Of the most abominable features !of
this development of Positivist principles;
He even deliberately- defends the attempt
of the philosopher to deek'out his ath.eism
with the borrowed robes of religion. Nay,
more, he takes the broad ground that athe
ism is not inconsistent with religion, and
throws in a sneer at the idea of eternal re
ward which enters so largely into the mo-.
tives of evangelical piety. An atheistic
form of religion is better than that " irra
tional and mean° conception of human
nature." •" A religion without a God may
be even to Christians an instructive and
profitable subject of contemplation." Prac
tically, what does this amount to but a de,
fence of atheism? What must be its ten
dency but to exalt atheism above evangeli
cal Christianity ? What but to recommend
atheism as compatible with all that devotion
to the true interests of our fellow-men,
which we have been trained by the teach-
*Rev. John Reid. Voices of the Soul
answered.in Goa. R: Garter & Brothers, p. 84.
AI 'IF, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1865.
inv . of the New Testament to regard as .8,
result of the constraining love of Christ
alone ? Mr. Mill's whble argument would
lead his countrymen to believe, not only
that atheism need 'be 'followed' by no per :
m
.
elons results, but that in the form' pre
,
sented by the Positive Philosophy, it is a
more rational and noble method than; that !
of the gospel for effecting all the preetical
results of evangelical Christianity.
We dwell on this , point, because in there
_
cent canvas for 'a seat in Parliament, Mr. Mill
and his friends.have had to respond to a;,
direct charge of atheism made against the
former. In the discussion, Mr. Mill dej
fended a certain .expression of which
had been complained of as atheistic, de
daring it to be " one
. cf. the most religious
and Christian expressions of feeling in all
recent literature." He also 'defies any one
to point out in-his writings a single passage I
"that conflicts with what the best religious
minds of our age accept as Christianity."
While he was penning these proud 'expres
sions, he was doubtless glancing at the
proofs of this very article in defence of the
atheism of Comte. While claiming to be
as religious as any one, he was atuing for
a religion without. a God, and he was dis
paraging, as irrational and mean in the
comparison, the motives to benevolence
supplied in the gospel. Worse thanirra
tional and mean are Such equivocations as
these. He calli'his j writirige most.religiOns; •
the reader should haie been Warned
Mr. Mill'"believes in a religion withent;
God • ; oreokonfilimself among the
Christie% or as, above reproof of ,4.?,-Aziost:
Christian •minds ...of the country, but his'
Christianity. 'can - derive instruction and
from atheism, and can dispense with
one-,ef' the strongest the `gospel' motives,
to right aCtion.
Thanking - Mr. Mill for hiS frank •expo-..
sure of the faults and deformities of his
idol Comte, we -tiOist -warn hiin that he will
find it very difficult to ,iscap suspicion of
atheism from people who persist in.regaid 7
idea ; at a 4. 0 € 1 : - o , ui ofssuPe -
realities as , essential to religion, and very
dithoult,-to .establisk*.hie , - reputation--
Christian writer wih those who take their
ideas of Christianit ffrom the. Old and 'New
Testankeiste.
W4FIIL IGNORANCE;
• We can call it nothing else when one
with' ordinary means. of information,••per
slats, at this day, in speaking of the. Sand
wich lilands as practically heathen 'ground,
and as' requiring the initiation of a new
missinnary, enterprise to reach their wants.
It is not merely insulting to the Chris
tianity and civilization of . our American
Churches, but it is lamentable perversion
of facts, misunderatinding between Chris
tiatt;men, and a wasteftd and reckless ignor
ing of . achievements, gained at great •cost
and. pains to our
.common. Christianity, to :
indulge. in such language as that recently
'utteredby the Bishop of Oxford, at a vais
Sionary meeting in • Salisbury, England, in
behalf of the S. P. G. He said
allusion has already been made to tluk
Queen" of the Sandwich Islands, now for, u!
little.while tarrying among,us. lithink the
state of-.things.there is a loud call, for
dO something. One of the special motives
for We, Royal Visit; to'thia country is to try andE
stirrup 'among the English people a resolu
tiorcto do something at once for the poptda-
tion.of those islands, under the conviction of
the Queen:that mother thirty years, if they
do 'not :see a total moral change wrought'
in that will see their extermination
from - ,the earth. "(Heat, hear.). Is 'that not
a - call? -.You are told that in another half a
century, ImleaS",:you send the Means ,of
training the Young of 'that rate 'in' habits dif
ferent from 'those which English vietts,from
ships timohing there, with no other 9b.jec4 -
than immediate pleasure and gain,, have in,.
troduced among 'a &cite* and thoughtless
race, your vices, traasPlanted to those islands; ,
Will in a'?great measure have eradicated
people who receivethem ; froniv - the
face of the earth. At, this moment you
have everything to help; you. The throne Is'
filled by a monarch determined-to do all he.
can to carry out your missions; the people
are craving for them, are 'wearied Out by"the.
mismanagement and maltreatment of Ameri
can Puritanism; are shrinking 'exceedingly
from the Maryolatry of the Romish Church,
and are saying, ' Will you give us the-morals
of Christianity without these terrible alloys?'
(Cheers.) Is that not a call to .be doing
something Mote? It is' all very easylb say
that they should do it -themselves. - I was
talking on the subject the day before yester
day to the Queen, and she said; Our people
are so poor that they have not the meads.
Our people are, tiotlike your manufacturers
and agriculturalists, able to do everything,
with large stored-up capital. We have little
more than . sufficient to give us the merest
clothing and the poorAt elements of food f ,
and it must be done from your country- as a
act of Christian gift if Christianity is to
profit my people.' l(Cheers.) Then, I say,
, here is a call- which at the present-moment
can hardly be exceeded, because when God
does give a Christian nation the opportunity
of doing something, and seems to. intimate
that unless it be done now the opportunity
will be taken away, it: seems an absolute
charge upon us that, we should go over to
that Macedonia and help Mein."
In the Sandwich Islalds;about one-third'
of the , entire population are, members in
good standing of churches which would be
unwilling to admit many kmemberin good
standing ',in this= y biShOi'S - diocese; 'there.
are perhaps a score of native preachers,
most of whom are better versed in systema
tic the o logy than is many _ a priest whom
•
this bishop inducts into: the snored office;
there is a college, and a complete system
of public oducatiOn, with not far from
,three hundred and schools-and sixteen
thousand five hundred scholars, the native
Christians are "organized, into an efficient
'Missionary Society, and are cultivating the
,field presentee by the neighboring islands
qzith the moat marked evidences of the
Divine fairor. The contrilVipstof these t
chinkites to religiinni - otjects has for`lidis
avOnged over $20,000, or one dollar pet
,DiLember. • .
The; testimony of ± :Richard H; Dana ;
„Est, an Npiscopalian, ancl4l, distinguished
lawYeriof Boston,- ai , given Originally in-the
New York Tribune, heti oftenleen quoted ,
bit deserves to be placed in juxtaposition
'With the prejudiced declarations of the
Okford Bishop.
if It is no small thing," writes Mr.Pana,
lte say of the Missionaries of the'Ameri
can Board, that in less than forty years
they have taught this whole people to read'
an write, to cipher and to sew. TheY .
have established . sehoolta, reared-up native
teachers, and so pressed their work that'
now the proportion of inhabitants, who can,
read and write, -is - - matey than in New
Englatid; and, whereas, they .found th9se
isitiidefs a :nationAtfilalf-nakedt eavageti,]
ittine , ,in the:surf AnCon the- sand; eating
raw fiali; fighting among themselves, tyran-'
nized over by feudal' chiefs and abandoned
to sensuality, they now see &ern decently
clothed, recegnizing the iaw of marriage,
going to school and public worship with
more regularity thanthe people at home. As
to the interior it is, well-known that a man
'imay travel : alone, with money, through the
Aiildest -spotk-:unarmed. I found' no but
itithout its =Bible rand hymn book in the
,`native tongue, and the practice of family'
or and- mice before'ineat is as common
-11 • %gaud asentary
- -- pAngrokeTz-niamvm - wwweer . : mama
of the;apacfity and lust of nominal Chris
tians before they became Christianized; ,
and since that time, the name of Christian
ity-has,heen made , tk pretext_ for wrong,- op
premien; w and slarelen rof them and the
American missionaries down to the present
`day. In 1835, an Irish priest was forced
upon them against their laws, by the Brit-,
ish Consul ? and in 1839, a French frigate
compelled the authoritiesto:receive French
priest, to grant a site forliuilding a Roman
Catholic church and ,to abolish the laws
excluding distilled "spirits from the islands.
Finally in 1862, arrive Bishop Staley, and
tw4Pre,sbyters to establish the "'Reformed
`Catholic Church" tat the , '-ielands, who
area to be sustained there by the effect upon
the firitish public of such extraordinary
statements, as those just quoted from the
Bishop of Oxford.
What. the result vidll be, we cannot, tell.
God in his providence,- may have some.
_tdti
'mate purpose which we cannot foresee.
Meanwhile we may be, alloied to express
our conviction; that if a . strong form of
church' government had- been -organized
among the Converted islanders; at`the begin
ning, instead of waiting for a generation'to
pass away first, and if the body had sheen
in organic and rgegnized connection with
some vigorous Atnerion,church, the state
of affairs-would !have been far more.favora-'
ble to peimanenna and usefulness..
THE AMERICAN CHRISTIAN COMMIS-
There was a great ga.theriog of some of
men, the most zeatous . Chriatiaos,
I ,el the most liberal givers in the lamb at .
Aleveland, on Wednesday and Thiirsdai of
last week; All Evangelical - denominations;
_,wore: represented in the 300 delegates. A
`delightful: atmoiphere <of Christian unity
and affection pervaded the place. The:Chief .
Justice of the United States, upon whom
the mantle ,Of Christian'statesmanship has
Allen, since the 'death -. or our:good Presi
waS there; ready to work for Christ
with his , earnest_and'aetive rePreSentative&
The meeting was held in the 'First Presby
terian Church, the, pastor of which
'5,y., Goodrioh, D.D., took a leading ; part
in A •
he prochedings. Chief _Justice Chase
took the chair by vote of• the Convention;
and' was retained as a permanent officer
of the body. Jay Cooke, Esq.of our city, was
one of the Vice Presidents. Rev. Dr.
Kirk was • Chairman of the Business Com
mittee.
The following resolutions present the sub
stance of the action taken-.by the Conven
tion.
Resolved, -That inasmuch as a large part of
our people, both in city and country, are As
yet unteached by the Gospel, we are solemnly
Genesee. Evangelist, No. 1011.
bound to reinforce existing agencies and de
vise new ones to meet present exigencies.
Reiolved, That this Convention appoint a
Commission consisting of sixtY,- with power
to add to their number to be called " the.
American Christian COmmission," which
shall be charged with the-work of awakening
the attention of the Christian public to the
- urgent need of extending the Gospel to the
multitudes ofthis generation not yet.reached
by Airect Christian labor, using for this pur
_pose the. press,public meetings, iocal organ-;
izations, and other suitable means.
Resolved, That it shall be the duty of the
Commission to collect and diffuse informatidif
adapted to,,stir pp the hearts of Christians
everywhere to increased activity in, the relief,
rescue, and. - silvation of men ;" to suggest
Methods which extended observation own
pialison, -.and experience ..have prove& hest
adaptedlo these various ends ; es f a r as pos
sible to-call forth and increase the voluntary,
unpaid services of individuals in the Master's
vineyard';` to deviie plans for the training and
employment of womaestalentin the va rious
spheres-, of Christian - labor; . to be a medium
,between -Christian laborers and those who
desire theifiervices, whether Churches, pub 7
lie inStitutions, societies,' or individuals ; -to
!reinforce in every appropriate way, all forms
of Chistian effort and , charitable work, and
extend the blessings of the GoiPel to all mep,
even the most abandoned.
We last week 'chronicled the action of
one of our East _Tennessee Pre b te ies
(Kingston), in erasing from their roll,
'three- names of- ,, disloyal ministers, in ac
cordance with the action of , the last Gene
mil Assembly., Only four, names. remained
-on their• roll after this loyal and decided
'action. 'No doubt, Kingeton Presbytery,
by avoiding such a direct and manly course
might have been a numerically stronger
body to-day. 'One of the parties thus
droppedis pastor.of the. Church in Chat
tanooga, to which he has, returned : since the
war, and where he is now , .ministering to e
large congregition of former rebels and
half-hearted Union men. Rather than be
aesociateir WAY 'Men 'Ott eYraloathy with
our church, this handful of faithful men in .
Kingston Presbytery have determined to
forego all the apparent advantages of such
an allience and to stand alone. But they
are not alone. God and. God's aruth are
with them, and their brethren in the. North
feel doubly near to men who have resisted
alike the storm of war, and the still more
influenees of a hasty and. dangerous
spirit of ilenieecy:and' conciliation. .
Reiohied; That 'this Convention affirm . s its
fuitwaverinefalth in the'goSpel our Lord
Jesus.Cluist, as the Divinely appointed means
for the moral and social regeneration of hn
,
manity.
Resolved; That we believe thatihere exists
in Evangelical Protestant Christianity, 4
seen in r the various churches, sufficient, effici
-ent and practical'agencies"fof the accom_plish
ment of the great work committed to the
Church, viz : that of improving the . Condition
of men tn this - life, -and smiting Iheir. eternal
happinessin. the world to come.
Resolved" Tha t in order to the, greatest ef
ficiency ,of these means, this Convention in
dornrnendi see - Solent' and' hearty ce-opera
tion in the objects of the - Ameridan. Commis-
Sixty persons were chosen to constitute the
Commission of which the ,followmg persons
.
were appointed temporary officers.
President—ehiefeTustice S. P. Cliase.
Fee Presidea—Rev. Dr. J. 'P.' Durbin,
New York.
Secretory'-Rev. Wm. E. P.oardman, Phil
adelphia.
The first meeting will take place October
25th; in. New York City. •
A letter from our correspondent in: Cleve
land is in.hand ; and will appear next week.
FIDELITY OF OIIE E
REVIVALS.
In the rural• portions of Southemstern
Pennsylvania; the season opens with the
;shoat of the .Great King. The work
has made its appearance in several,
schuiehes in Chester and Lancaster4coun
ties; connected with the Presbyteries] of
New Castle and Donegal, both in the
'Old- School connection.. We, copy an ac
count, furnished by .a :correspondent of
the Presbyterian Banner.
The work began in Union Church,-Lancas
ter County, under the charge of• Brother C.
W. Stuart., about the first of June, to which
over one hundred - and twenty . were added.
Since the harvest, a . similar and almost
ecipally powerful work was manifested in the
Middle Cletorara Church, neighboring to the
former, and under the care of Rev. Mr. Rit
tenhouse, where over one hundred hopeful
Conversions have taken place. On the 29th
of August, protracted services were com
menced in, Lower West Nottingham,Brother
Gayley, pastor, and in Fsigg's Manor, Brother
Umstead, pastor. ln Mr. Gayley's church
the work'was not so great, yet good and last
ing results are no doubt pledged in the
greater fruitfulness of the membership. But
in old Fagg's Manor the work has been ex
tensive, deep, and overwhelming. The con
victed sinners were led to cry out literally,
" Oh,- my sins I my sins!—what must I do to
be saved?" At last accounts, there were
near one hundred hopeful conversions, and
the interest scarcely abated.
I spent Sabbath week with that venerable
and successful pastor, Rev. Mr. Rutter,. at
Chestnut Level, Lancaster County, preaching
three times for him, to large and deeply in
terested congregations. The meetings were
just closing, with the result of about fifty
conversions,_, and others still inquiring. •
During the first week in September, meet
ings were begun in Little 'Britain Church,
.under the pcstorate of Brother Alexander,
and also inllpper West Nottingham, in the
extreme isouthwest corner of Chester County.‘
These, have now ab o ut closed for the present.
TERBtffital e
Per annum, in advance:
By Hail, $B. By Carrier, $3 50
Fifty cent* additional, after three months.
Clubs.—Ten or more papers. sent to one address.
payable strictly in advance and in one remittance:
BZ_Mail,s3 50 per annum. By Carriers. $3 per annum.
Ministers and Ministers' Widows, $2 in ad-
Home Missionaries, $l5O inadvanco.
Fifty cents additional after three months.
Remittances by mail are at our risk. , ' •
Postage.—Fire cents quarterly. in advance, paii
by subscribers at the office of deliver,.
Advertisements.-12% cents Per tine for the
first, and 10 oasts for the mama insertion.
081 square (one month) $3 0 11
two months.. 5 50
"i three " 750
six " • 12 00
GA
one year 18 00
The following discount on long advertisements, in
serted for three months and upwards. is allowed:- , -
Over 20 Linea, 10 per cent off; over 50 lines, 20 per
cent.; over 100 lines. 33% per cent, off.
In the former, the work penetrated into
some of the most ungodly neighborhoods.
A man who refused to attend the services at
all; owing to prejudices against the preacher,
was overtaken of the Spirit in his own corn
field; deeply convicted, and driven to the
house of God to cry for mercy and direction.
lam invited to be present and aid - at the
coming communion there, when I may have
something more to communicate. Scores of
persons have there also found hope.
Last Sabbath T. was with Brother Gamble,
late, of Philadelphia,.now supplying the West
Nottingham Church. Here--.,Some who had
long fought against the Spirit, and who _cams„
to scoff, remained to pray and ask the inter "
cessions of the ministers and people of God.
This church, although small, has now before
her portals nearly fifty who will early enter
her communion, and others are anxious.
Wild, reckless, and even profane and inteirt
perste young men have been stricken doivn
and led to pray.
In four of these churches, where I was a
personal observer, and hak a very humble
part, I saw no means used but the ordinary
ones. The preaching was mainly.plain, ear
nest, and direct exhibitions of the doctrines
of grace; a large proportion of it was ad
dressed to members of the church, but having
close application to the impenitent also. The
assemblies were as still as the house of death,
and more solemn. Everybody seemed -'to
drink in the truth.
I ought - also to 'say, in justice to many
brethren and to truth, that there were in' all
these meetings ' Many mutual helpings — of
neighboring brethren. All who had a mind
to the work and were able, wrought , therein
as they were called upon. A few brethren
from "out of the bounds," as Rev. J. Cross,
of Baltimore, in three cases conspicuously,
Rev. Drs. Pinmer find Work of Philidel:-
phia, in two cases, and Rev. Dr. Hodge, of
your place, rendered, signal service, I am
told. Let the glory be to the Lord.
INTERESTING SERVIOES AT TEE WAG
NER. INSTITUTE--,The first anniversary
of the Oxford Street Sabbath-schools
meeting at the Wagner Free Institute,
was celebrated on Saturday afternoon.
The schools were assembled in the main
hall, in which there were representatives
also from the Sabbath-schools of the
First Presbyterian, Calvary, Olivet, Ta
bor, North Broad Street, Wharton Street,
and Clinton Street Churches. It is
estimated that there were not less than
fifteen hundred
_children present. ." .
The
,meeting was presided over by
Alexander Whildin, Esq. John S. Cum
mings made*the opening remarks. In
June;-1944, a- successful application
was made to Professor Wagner for the
use of the Institute for Sabbath services.
Rev. Dr. Brainerd soon after preached
the opening sermon: Since then reli
gious services , have been kept up regu
larly on-Sabbaths in this place, the pul
pit being supplied by clergymen, from
the different persuasions.
The , school now numbers about 225
scholars and 19 teachers, and in view of
the need of a• church in the neighbor
hood, u lot of ground at Broad and Ox
ford streets haabeen. purchased, and a
building is
- now in course of ereotion on
the site.
The chapel will hold about 500 adults
or 600 children,
.and will be o,i:fished
early in the coming year.
During the afternoon, a splendidly
bonint Bible was presented to Priffilisor
Wagner, on behalf of the' scholare, by
Rey. Dr. Adams, who Made some ,elo
.
quent, allusions to the sacred vaarne.
He hoped that the recipient of the favor
would value the gift in consideratidn of
the source from which it came, bat more
especially because of the preCious truths
contained' within it In reading from its
sacred pages he trusted that he would
derive that benefit which would prepare
hiin for the upper temple.
Professor Wagner received the gift,
and in so doing he said that words were
inadequate to express his gratitude. He
had arrived at the age of three score
years and ten, and had, he trusted, made
this volume the guide of his path. He
had the glorious record in fifteen differ
.ent languages, but if he was intrenched
around with Bible's this one would re
main in his memory with more than or
dinary love. No other book can Com
pare with this : no work of nature could
comparealn.e to its blessed truths.
Its history is in advance of all others,
and it points out the history of dead em
pires. Without this volume he would
he without hope. It is no less than 'the
breath of Heaven. J. K. P. Stites i Esq.,
Revs. Dr. March, and Mr. Taylor also par
ticipated in the services. Rev. Mr. Calkins
of Calvary Church was providentially de
layed and thus prevented from taking
the part assigned him in the exercises.
The singing was admirably- perforMed,
a duett especially making a most happy
impression upon the auditors. The
benediction was pronounced by Mr. Cal
kins. The services passed off in. the
most delightful manner, the day was fine
and the promise of future progress tothe
Oxford Street enterprize most encourag
ing.
We shall next week give the history
of the undertaking, with a view of the
Oxford Street Chapel in process of erec
tion.
Rev. G. L. POSTER, after a ministry of
twenty-one years in ',.%1 ichigau , has remov
ed to Connecticut and tu keit charge tem
porarily of the Congregational - chureh is
Bethel.