TOE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN . AND GENESEE EVANGELIST. Religions and Fatally Newspaper, IN THE INTEREST 07 THE Constitutional Presbyterian Church. PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY, AT-«BS PRESBYTERIAN HOUSE, 1334 Chestnut Street, (2d story,) Philadelphia. Bev. John W. Hears, Editor and Publisher. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1866. A SUSTENTATION FUND. Our own views,'lately expressed, of the importance of a generSl fund, for the better support of the ministry, are fully confirmed by an article in the current number of the Princeton Review, from the pen of Dr. Hodge. From that artiole, we p learn that the subject was warmly discussed in the other branch of the Church, as far back as 1847. The sermon preached before the General Assembly of that year, was devoted to a recommendation of Dr. Chalmers’ plan, which,in pamphletform, had previously been sent to every minister of the Church. The last Assembly of the same branch, had the sub ject before them, in the form of overtures from North Kiver Presbytery, and from the Presbytery of Indianapolis. The Synod of New Jersey, at its last meeting, had the subject under consideration, as incidental to that of “ unemployed ministers,” and the Synod of New York has recently appointed a committee of fifteen, to report on the sub- ject, at the next meeting. The article in the Review proceeds to argue the question at length, presenting general considerations in' favor of such a fund, and meeting objections. The posi tion taken is, that the support Of the .clergy of a Church is the common duty of that Church as a whole. As the Church unites in the support of foreign missionaries, and insures them a living, in like manner should her members unite to provide for the entire body of her ministry at home. Ministers are the ofgans of the whole Church, for the performance of certain important functions, which the Church is bound to see exe cuted. As the whole nation provides for, and sends out, ambassadors, the whole Church should provide laborers in the Lord’s vineyard. The minister, under our form of government, is responsible, not to the individual Church, but to the entire body. If he is unworthy, he may be dis- missed; but while able and willing to do ' his part, it is the’ sin and shame of the body to whioh he belongs, that he is not employed and adequately supported. The expansive, catholic spirit of Christianity would suggest the duty and privilege of sustaining the ministry by the whole Church. The education of the youth of the State, is now admitted to be the duty, not only of individual parents, but of the State as a whole. Why should not the Church act on the same principle, in pro viding the Gospel for her own members, and for the community generally ? A com mon benefit involves a common obligation. The matter, says the writer, is so plain, that it cannot well be disputed. Indeed, il may be said to be universally recognized t All domestic missionary operations recog nize the principle that it is the duty of the whole Church to aid in rendering the Gos pel accessible to those who, of themselves, : are not able to sustain the expense of a 1 stated minister. All that is needed is, the more extensive application of the principle, and the corresponding enlargement of the resources of Home Missionary Boards and Committees. These organizations may.be the agents of the Church, in carrying out the objects sought by a Sustentation Fund. The outlines of the plan, adopted by the Free Church of Scotland, at the disruption, are then traced. A general fund is estab lished, to which all the congregations con tribute, as they are able, and from which each congregation receives an equal amount, — one hundred and fifty pounds, $750, —per annum. Of course, the wealthier congre gations, besides contributing largely to the Fund, supplement their own pastors' sala ries, by any additional sum they choose. The pew-system need not be, and is not, abandoned by the churches. After pausing to dwell upon the details of the plan, the writer prooeeds to more specific arguments in favor of its adoption. Into all of these we do not propose to fol low him. We would rather dwell upon the urgent necessity resting upon the Church, by some such means, to bring into aotive employment the dormant ministerial talent she holds; to save it from being driven, by sheer necessity, into distasteful and unbecoming employments; not to suffer it to be tempted quite away from the line of duty into a tangle of worldly employments and of heart-hardening speculations, some ' times soiling forever the character which is indispensable to ministerial usefulness, or ending in pecuniary and moral ruin. We are fully prepared to admit, that en trance into the saored ranks of the ministry is a meaningless ceremony, if it dpes not include a readiness to suffer martyrdom in the faithful discharge of its duties. But we just as firmly hold, that the Church has Ittiftte itoslmtotn. New Series, "Vol. XII, No. 5. no right to inflict martyrdom on these ser vants of the Lord, or to stand by and see them and their families .suffering martyr dom, without a determined effort to relieve it. What they may silently be willingly to bear, is no measure of the Church’s duty to them. Because they trust in God for daily 'bread, the Church cannot leave it to the ravens to feed them. The existence of a martyr spirit is a very good thing, but does it not argue a despe rately bad state of affairs ? We can under stand how the ungodly world mqy make such a spirit necessary, but is it not some; thing unnatural, startling, when the condi tion and attitude of a well-organized and wealthy Church is such as to make martyrs of multitudes of her highest officers ? And ! dare the Church find fault with her edu cated youth for shrinking from the pecuni ary trials of the ministry, which, by a rea sonable degree of liberality and forethought, she could greatly mitigate, if not entirely remove ? At least, it is her duty to take off the bitter edge. At least, she should relieve the.ministry of fear for the worst. At least, she should be prepared to assure her youth, as they engage in her servioe, that she will stand between them and grind ing poverty; that while they are faithful, they shall not want either the support of the individual Church or the practical sym pathy of the whole. The Church, we are persuaded, would be a great gainer in the end. Hard-worked, ill-fed animals; soil exactingly tilled; em ployes illiberally treated, are always unpro fitable ; business men know that it is posi tive economy to pay a good clerk well. And for a Church to treat her ordained workers, her highest officials, with indifference; to take advantage of their want of covetous ness, their trust, and their love of the work, in order to secure their services at the lowest figure ; to give a man, to whom they trust the moral and religious training of their families and the community, a salary which they wound not think of offering a bank officer or a head book-keeper, must work disastrously upon the ministry and upon the Church in every way. It is obvious, says Dr. Hodge, that a competent sustentation fund would greatly increase the efficiency of the church. It would redeem from secular pursuits all that portion of time which ministers have now to devote to securing the means of support. Taking the ministry as a whole, it is pro bable, one-third of their time is necessarily taken from their official duties for that pur pose. We may also reasonably hope for a corresponding increase of their spirituality. At least the excuse for engaging in worldly pursuits would be taken away, and greater responsibility would be imposed. All the institutions .of the Church would have increased stability and permanence, where they are now occasional, uncer tain, and ever changing. We should present an ever-advancing front. Congre gations too feeble to support the Gospel at all, under this steady culture, would soon be able not only to sustain themselves, hut to aid in sustaining others. A new spirit of alacrity and confidence would be infused j into the ministry. The church itself would feel a new life in all its parts. It would renew its strength by the exercise of the graces of liberality and devotion to its di vine Head, and if the principle which Paul lays down in 2 Cor. ix. 8, is still to be relied upon, it would grow in wealth in proportion as it increased in the bountiful ness qf its benefactions. There is no surer way of securing the Divine favor, than the faithful performance of duty. In our first issue of this year, we ex pressed a hope that the facts in regard to deficient ministerial support would be suf ficiently developed to show what needs to be done. We are glad to observe that one of our Presbyteries (Ontario) has taken the matter in hand, and made thorough work of it in its own field. The report will be found in another column. We believe this is the needed preliminary step, which; once taken, all over the Church, would be fol lowed, almost by the mere force of reaction, by the establishment of a Sustentation Fund, or some action equivalent ter it. As said an elder of Ontario Presbytery, at the close of the discussion:— “ Could the members of the churches only have been present to hear what has been said this afternoon in Presbytery, the work desired would be immediately accom plished.” • A MONTH OF PRATER. So great has been the interest in the daily prayer-meetings, held in the various evangelical churches in the city since the first of the year, that on Saturday afternoon last it was resolved to continue them, at least through the present week. The meeting on Saturday completely filled the great church at Eighteenth and Arch Streets, and the addresses and prayers were stirring, spiritual, and edifying. Rev. Dr. Newton read a letter from an Episcopal brother in Towanda, speaking of the mar vellous work of grace going forward in that PHILADELPHIA', THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1866. town, and more than corroborating the accounts published in our columns. Of the four hundred conversions reported, Dr Newton’s correspondent said that two hun dred and fifty were men, embracing promi nent persons—merchants, lawyers, physi cians, railroad men and the like; and on the day of writing, Monday week, the demonstrations were even • more surprising , than before. Individuals of the most un likely character'were coming to the Saviour. For several days the business places of the town were closed, through the eagerfiess of all to attend the services in the Court House. Great reluctance was expressed even at the prospect of discontinuing next week, and the ministerial brethren are invited to meet at half-past three o’clock on Saturday after non, in Penn Square Church, Broad Street, below Market, to deliberate in regard to the future. Oh! that our Churches would so prostrate themselves before God, that a great and universal outpouring of the Spirit might be granted to us in this city; and that the isolated manifestations of his presence, in many instances most cheering and extensive, might flow down asfrom over charged reservoirs and flood the parched territories between! The meeting for Wednesday of this week, is at Dr. Brainerd’s; on Thursday, .at the Tabarnacle, Chestnut Street, above Eighteenth; on Friday, at Dr. March’s; on Saturday, at Penn Square Church. PILATE WASHING HIS HMDS. When men who ought to know better, persist in cleaving to an evil course, on which the Divine reprobation has ’been plainly stamped, there is no telling to what extremes of self-deceit they may be suffer ed to go, or how awfully they may blind and stupefy their consciences on the, plain est facts of- their own conduct. The Southern churches are surely mad upon their old and shattered idol, slavery. With a regret, which is shocking to the moral sense of Christendom, they are looking back on that anti-Christian system, and are trying to shelter and succor it in its dying agonies; And with an infatuation of self-conceit and a sanctimonious assumption of rectitude, they hold up -their hands at the present miseries and mortality of the Freedmen, and declare that it is no fault of theirs. Hear the declaration of the late Presbyterian General Assembly of the South on the subject:— “We may righteously protest that with their wretchedness, already incalculably great; that with their prospects, to human view dismal as the grave, our Church is not chargeable; that it may hold up its hands before heaven, and earth , washed of the tremendous responsibility involved in this change in. the condition of nearly four millions of bond servants, and for which it has hitherto been generally conceded they were unprepared. . . . Should our worst fears be realized, and their doom be sealed, you wiU have a pure conscience at the bar of the Final Judge " Is there anywhere to be found a more complete specimen of refined, unconscious, hypocrisy and self-irony ? You not sible ! You washing your hands of the woes of the Freedmen ! Surely you cannot believe in the efficacy of such a proceedure, any more than did the theatrical, cold hearted Pilate. “ Not all great Neptune's ocean” could suffice for you or for him in that attempted ablution. The Southern Church, which, in its pul pits, in its ecclesiastical councils, and pro fessors’ chairs, for the last thirty years, has been one of the main bulwarks of slavery, has been prostituting Scripture interpretar tion to the defence of that giant system of wrong,’and quieting the public conscience by arraying religion on its side, will find it utterly in vain to disclaim all responsi bility for one of the most signal and inevit able consequences of the system,—the in capacity of the slave for freedom. This manifesto itself says, that it has generally been conceded, that freedom is a condition for which the late slaves are unprepared. And yet those, who alone for two centuries had these slaves in charge, declare them selves not responsible for the want of pre paration for freedom, which has produced this indescribable misery. “ A pure con science before the bar of your Final Judge!' A pure conscience, forsooth, because you taught, and preached, and philosophized, and fought a bloody war four years, not that you might better prepare these men for the right use and enjoyment of freedom, but with the avowed purpose of perpetuating this incapacity; of still more deeply driving into their souls the stamp of degradation ; of postponing more remotely into the ages all hope of their ever attaining the simplest rights of men: the right to their own per sons and labor, to their wives and chil dren, to read the void, of God and to gain an education. And now that G-od has brought suddenly to light the direlul results of your work, you pretend not to reoognize it and go to washing your hands ! Unless the Southern Church repents, we verily believe God will require at its hands every dying sigh of a starvihgfreedman, every pang of weariness, every despairing moan, every broken heart string that snapped in the vain grasping after the blessings of freedom, which ages of degradation had put beyond the reach of the’ present race of freedmen. But God is with the freedman. He will help the loyal people and the nation to take oare of him. He shall live and advance, while the Church which suffered herself to be used in his degradation, .will find herself utterly and hopelessly unprepared for the new condition of things, and will miserably perish in her apostacy. THE RIGHT OF PETITION. The Harrisburg correspondent of our anti-Sabbath daily is appalled by the tide of remonstrances coming up to the capital of the State, against the proposed repeal of the Sabbath law. At his wits’ end for any honorable method of meeting their in fluence, he has recourse to wholesale abuse and defamation. He says: The remonstrances bear upon their face unmistakable marks of deception, if not of fraud, and all have the same printed head. . . . . In fact, these remonstrances are just about the kind of documents one would expect to emanate from the proscriptive clergy. They are generally about two feet long and double-columned, and one contains one hundred and thirty-four names, seventy two of which are those of females, _ as follows: ten Marys, eight Margarets, eight Janes, four Lizzies, three Marthas, three Maggies, three Sarahs, three Rebeccas, three Annies, three Elizabeths, three Anns, two Elizas, two Nanoys, and Sallie, Anna, “Germima,” Fannie, Rose, Emma, Catherine, Hester, Esther, Jenny, Lucy, and Ellen, one each; •one “ Miss” and four “ Mrs.” A number or the other names are evidently those of females, but only the initials are given. There'is not a single name upon the whole list (and but few upon any of the remon strances) that your correspondent ever heard of before, and as the large majority of the signatures were evidently written by two or three persons, one of whom was a miserable and as many of the names are ap parently fictitious,. 1 have no hesitation in pronouncing these remonstrances , almost vnth out exception, as frauds and deceptions which the most corrupt and degraded of our city would have scorned to palm upon the Legisla ure. This, then, is the way in which the ex ercise of the most- precious of popular rights is to be met by this boasted cham pion of the masses. Such treatment, one of the most enthusiastic and most spontar neous movements of the respectable and moral portion of this community, that has ever taken place, is to receive at the hand of this editor and his associates. With the grossest abuse, with wholesale charges of the lowest and most corrupt species of fraud, they are, if possible, to be intimi dated, in the exercise of this right, and the Legislature is to,he prejudiced and cajoled out of a proper regard for their solemn wishes. Let it be understood, then, that the col umns of The Press of this city, are given up to charges of the vilest fraud, against a movement under the control of the most distinguished and honored pastors of this city —a movement directed by such men as Mr. Barnes, Dr. Brainerd, and Dr. Adams, of our Church; Dr. Edwards, Dr. Newton, Dr. Wheaton Smith, Dr. Dana Boardman, Dr. Bomberger, Mr. Cookman, Dr. Stork, Mr. Giesy, and a host of others in the va rious denominations —men who had a char acter for irreproachable honor and religious conscientiousness, long before it was sus pected tbi-r the editor of The Press had any aspiraiujos in that direction, or had attained any ability or right to judge on such a question. And now we hereby challenge The Press, its* editor, attaches, correspondents, • and lobbyists, to produce, upon any or all of the remonstrances which have gone up from this city to Harrisburg in due course, ten spurious signatures, or signatures of persons recorded without their authority. We de mand this small proof, in support of the vile slander,-which has been uttered against the evangelical clergy and people of this city—a' slander which we may safely pro nounoe unparalleled in the columns of a Philadelphia journal claiming respectabili ty ; a slander which is a confirmation of our argument for the observance of the Sabbath. For the man who boldly violates the fourth commandment may be expected to violate the ninth, and every other in the Decalogue. rev. S. W. S. Dutton, D.D., long the honored pastor of the North Con gregational Church of New Haven, died suddenly January 26th, in that city. He was a true patriot and friend of the oppressed, an earnest preacher -and a writer of some celebrity. Grenesee Evangelist, ISTo. 1028. The present spirit and condition of the Reformed Presbyterian Chnrch in this country, affords a fine illustration of one of the grand tendencies of church life in our day. That Church is the daughter of the Covenant Church of Scotland, and was originally composed of emigrants from that country and from the North of Ireland. Its present mem bership is chiefly- of persons of foreign birth, or having ancestral connection with those countries. It was a repro duction on our soil of the sterling church qualities of the land of the Covenant— a clear-headed Calvinism, a Presbyte rian discipline, an inviolable system of catachetical instruction, a carefully ar ranged preparation for the communion, and a watchful jealousy over the faith and practice of the membership. At the same time, it transferred to its new home the denominational exclusiveness which was the outgrowth of those stub born conflicts with civil domination and Erastian looseness in the old world; such as : close communion, forbidding of inter denominational worship, and disallowing the service of song except in the words of its authorized Psalmody, which was Rouse’s crude and severely literal trans lation of the inspired Book of Psalms. The occasion for that excessive rigidity on the subject of denominational inter course passed away, with the change of surroundings and the progress of time. Inflexibility of the Psalm-singing rule was not possible without the almost en tire avoidance of fellowship with the other Christian bodies. Besides, with the progress of a chaste hymnological literature, it became certain that Rouse could not long hold its place as the book of any Church. Fortunately for our Reformed Pres byterian brethren, their Church is found to contain a considerable and highly in fluential number of both clergymen and laymen, whose Christianity is large hearted, and who know how to' discrimi nate between those principles embodied in the Covenant which belong to all time, and those features which were properly provisional, and which may bend to pro.vidential movements in the world. They are men of the stamp of Rev. Dr. Wylie, of this city; Ex-Gover nor Pollock, whom all Pennsylvania owns; George H. Stuart, who belongs rather to two continents than any city or State—men who meet with us in our Christian assembles, join in our public prayers, sing with us, hymn though it be, “ All hail the power of Jesus’ name,” and who wait only the relaxing of a rule which has fulfilled its day, to sit down with us at the communion of our Lord. LIGHT AND LOYE EXTENDING. The Banner of the Covenant, pub lished in our city, is the organ of this Church. It is a live paper, with vigor ous editorials, and representing, in its correspondence, the ripest talent of the Church. During the last year, it Has largely reflected the deep agitation prevailing in Scottish Churches on the subject named. Christian frater nization and hymnological reform have been strongly advocated, both editori ally and otherwise, and at the same time the free use of its columns has been afforded to the opponents of any change of the ancient rules. On * one occasion, a venerable opponent laid down an/1 argued the proposition that any discussion, in advance of Synodical action, was disorderly. In other words, rules are to be obeyed without question ing, by editors, until regularly revoked by the authority which issued them. With this single exception, the discus-' sion has, so far as we have noticed, been temperate and manly on both sides; but it has been warm, and remains persist ent. The fact that it has been so long maintained, filling so large a space of the Banner, together with the further fact that, so far from diminishing the, acceptableness of the Banner, the year opened with an unusual number of new subscriptions, shows that the agitation is a welcome one, "and that the feeling of the Church is fast setting in the direc tion to which it would lead. As one out of many indications of this, furnished in the columns of the Banner, we quote from a recent number the fol lowing paragraphs from a Chicago letter. The Dr. Patterson mentioned is Rev. Robert Patterson, D.D., an eminent R. P. pastor of Chicago, who must not be confounded with our Re'v. Robert W. Patterson, D.D., of the same city. “It is cheering to notice the life of late infused into the Banner and a joyful sound it is to hear it snapping its glorious folds in the breeze of revival that is beginning to stir the churches of God. . . ‘ 1 Living as I do in Chicago, where Christian Union is almost recognized as a J ™ inclined to think that discussions about Psalm singing are almost useless; for the tact is, the people, ministers, elders, and members, are far in advance of such discussions. What is the use of talking about opening or shutting the gate, when the sleep are out of the enclo surefand quietly feeding beside other flocks ■on the great plains of Christian unity? I think any attempt at coercing them back to [ an exclusive pasture will be attended with 1 some difficulty; for there is no use of dis guising the fact, that in our Sabbath-schools, 1 T E K H S. _ Per annum, in advance: * , , By Carrie*,; after three months. ({AIR vi \ . 5» n P r ™ ore Papers, sent to one Perfect payable strictly m advance and in one remittavic. ByMaiL S 2 60 per annum. By Carriers. $3 per a. <n ju- Hinisters and Hinisten 1 Widows, $i - advance. Home Missionaries, s2ofrin advance. Fifty cents additional after three-months. Remittances by mail are at our risk. Postage.—Five cents quarterly, in advance, paK'-'r by subscribers at the office of delivery. Advertisements.— cents* per line for the nrst, and 10 cents for the second insertion. One square (one month) .$3 Ofr „ two months. 5 50 „ three “ 750 „ six " .12 00 ... .one year .18 0» *ne following discount on long advertisements, in serted for three months and upwards, is allowed: — Over 20 lines, 10 per cent off;-over 50 lines, 20 per cent.; over 100 lines, 33>£ per cent. off. prayer-meetings, and Union meetings, the n-eatest liberty is manifested in regard to Psalm, hymn, or Paraphrase singing, and the Lord is blessing ms the meanwhile. “ We are now in the week of prayer, and it is a hopeful, cheering sign in this "city, to see all its Christian ministers, and large dele gations from their churches, united in wor ship in the Clark Street Methodist Church every morning, while each Church has its own jrayer-meeting in the evening. Hopeful it is to see each denomination lay aside its dis tinguishing badge of sectarianism, and put on the uniform of Christ. It is needless to say our Church here is not behind, when you learn that our pastor, Dr. Patterson, conduct ed the first union meeting of this weekly series, to the great edification of all. “ Though Chicago is a wicked city, its Christian people of all denominations, blessed be God! are a unit. As an instance of the feeling of Christian unity that prevails, I wil) just say, that at one of the union revival meetings, not long ago, one of our most re spected elders, (an elder in the Reformed Presbyterian Church,) in his zeal for the good work, volunteered to blow the bellows for the organ in one of our city churches, when the person in charge could not be found ; and in doing so, I’ll warrant he scattered the dust and cobwebs which years of exclusive worship had gathered in the minds of many a good Christian. “The Church of God is moving—and moving together, moving in concerts of prayer and good work. Close up! close up! is now the word of command along the scattered lines of the Lord’s army, and woe be to the map, of church, or denomination who will insist on leaving gaps in the ranks, or be found straggling in the rear.” PRESB¥TER¥ OF ONTARIO ON MIN ISTERIAL SUPPORT. EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES. “ The Presbytery of Ontario, having taken measures to obtain reliable informa tion on the subject of the Support of the Ministry by its Churches for the year 1865, find a state of facts which imperatively calls for the serious consideration of all con cerned. “ Not more than three of our ministers have received a living support from the churches they serve; and they only by the practice of the most rigid economy, and the gratuities of their people, while the total deficiency of the ministers' receipts from the*Churches to meet their current ex penses is nearly one thousand dollars! The aetual excess of their expenses over their salaries is over two thousand dollars, but an aggregate of over a thousand dollars in donations to them from the Churches, reduces the deficiency as above stated. “ Presbytery cannot refrain from calling the attention df the Churches to this con dition of things. In a time of remarkable wordly prosperity to the members of our congregations generally, when their surplus gains have probably exceeded .those of any former year, the sad spectacle is presented of the ministry generally, either running in debt for their daily bread, or living on other sources of supply than their income from their people. Nor is this peculiar to the past year, but, to a greater'or less ex tent, it has characterized the entire period of the war. Therefore, it has been endured in silence, not less becanße the hearty loyalty of our ministers indisposed them to do anything that would tend in the slighest degree to prevent the most determined pro secution of our great national struggle, to the utter overthrow of the ‘ Confederacy’ and its 1 corner-stone/ than because it was generally supposed that the increased ex penses of living would not continue, but end with the return of peaoe. This hope has been disappointed, and the indications now are, that the return of former prices is not to be expected, but that the cost of living will demand, in, the future, an in crease of salaries beyond any sum yet reached. “Presbytery does, therefore, affection ately and earnestly recommend to all their Churches to give immediate heed to this providential call, and appropriately respond thereto. Nor do we doubt either their dis position or ability to comply with this re quest. We are persuaded that it is no want of appreciation of the ministry, or the value of religious institutions, or of genuine Christian liberality on their part, that has led to the facts we deplore. In view of the lamentable results that must follow a continuance of the practical denial of the Divine ordination, ‘ that they who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel/ and of the failure of the Churches to fulfill their solemn obligations as expressed in the call upon which every pastor is settled, we con fidently expect that our congregations will take immediate measures to have the sala ries of their pastors to eorrespond with the new order of things and the increased ex penses of living.” The • above was unanimously adopted by the Presbytery of Ontario, in Genesee, January 17/ 1866, and it was voted to be published in the American Presbyterian and Evangelist, and that it be read from the -pulpit t% each congregation belonging to this body. John Barnard, Stated Clerk.
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