ICE ABERICAN PRESBYTERIAN
AND
iENESEE EVANGELIST.
BeliErionsand Family Newspaper,
IN THE INTEREST OP THE
Constitutional P . real Church.
PUBLISHED. EVERY 'THURSDAY.
AT THE PI3BYTPR HOdTT.gE, .
1334 Cheetnnt Street. (2d story.) Philadelphia.
B ee. John W. Mears. Editor arid 1411ilitiber.
gintritait Ersohyttrian.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1866.
FUNERAL OF MMUS W. BALDWIN.
On Wednesday of last week, an immense
concourse of clergy and citizens, with seve
ral hundreds of the employees of the loco
motive works, assembled at the ample
mans ion, formerly the Taeague House,, on
Chestnut street, to pay the last tribute
. o f respect to the remains of Mr. Baldwin.
The entire square was thronged with a re
spectful and ,sympathizing crowd. All
were animated with one sentiment of Pro
found affection forthe virtues and charities,
the integrity, the kind-heartedness, the
beneficence and Christian simplicity of the
man , no less than for the sagacity, skill
a nd enterprise which had made his name
almost as familiar and as honored as that of
the city itself.
Soon after ten o'clock, the procession of
clergy moved from the Presbyterian House
to the abode of mourning, when the de
votional exercises were commenced at the
head of the great stairway, with prayer by
Rev. W. W. Taylor, and reading of the
Scriptures by Dr. March; after which Dr.
March said, in substance :
The sources of consolation in God's word
are infinite and applicable to all our need.
If it were not so, we should find it hard to•
understand or submit to the Providence
which takes away good men from the world
when we need them most. The great
Heavenly Father had higher work and
purer joys than can be found in this world
for his honored and beloved servant, whose
departure fills us with sorrow to-day. He
has taken him from us when great and
sacred enterprises looked to him for sup
port, and multitudes were instructed and
gladdened by his beneficence. But all
the good that God enabled him to do while
he lived, is the pledge that the time of
completing his work and calling him home
is best.
With all our sorrow that, we shall see his
face no more, let us rejoice in the grateful
remembrance of the genial light that shone
u.od him wherefer - "E;3" - Wiiti -- arid 1116"
Christian charity that mingled with all he
did. The greater the loss which we feel
in his removal from us, the greater is our
consolation in remembering how much
good God permitted him to do while he
lived, The world has not many such men
as Matthias Baldwin, but it would be a
great deal better and happier if it had more
of them. Our Heavenly Father must be
infinitely rich and great since he can afford
to take away such men in the height of
their worth and usefulness, and yet feel no
want of resources to carry' on his work of
truth and beneficence 'among men.
dud let us not forget what it was which
made our departed friend the good man'
thal he was. There never 'has been but
oue influence in the world which could
form such a character as his. He himself
declared the source of his peculiar excel
lences when he ascribed, as he often die,
an he had done for the good of his fellow
len, to the infinite goodness and mercy of
God in Christ the Saviour. One of the
last times I ever heard him speak, he es
preyed, with tearful and tremulous emotion,
his gratitude for the disposition to give and
work in the service of Christ and for the
salvation of men.
And let us remember, too, that it was
only by making it the study and prayer of
his life, that he maintained that benovolent
disposition which God had graciously given
hint. Living in a great city, beset with
competition and temptation, harrassed with
ever-increasing earthly care as a conse
quence of success, it was a great thing, that
this man should have gone on from year to
rear, for a whole generation, pursuing a
toilsome path, yet ever trusting in God
with a serene and cheerful faith, singing
with gladness in his heart, and scattering
blessings for others with both hands and
la every direction as he went. With all
the deceit, the pride anti the selfishness
of the world to meet in the transactions of
business, he maintained simplicity of life
and manners, grew more meek and trustful
toward God as he grew older and richer,
and lived at peace with all mankind. He
ioveci all the simple pleasures of life, all the
beautiful things of art and nature, all the
fit instruments of refined and tasteful feel
ing; and, yet he was a thoroughly practi
cal, hard-working man, looking upon the
great and solemn realities of duty in their
true light, and never thinking that he had
made the most of any acquisition or enjoy
ment until he had used it for the honor of
God and the good of others. After long
culture and prayerful discipline, he gained
t he mastery of himslf so completely that
the agitations of the e world seldom ruffled
'us spirit, and the peace that dwelt in his
heart shone upon his face, and made his
4 i a benediction upon all whom he met.
I cannot speak as I would on this owe
ninu, for every word I utter.is accompanied
!nth regret for the absence of two who had
.bee. 4 associated with the deceased in plans.
n
works-of Christian usetulness.for thirty
Sears, and who could have set forth the
t ens, an of the hour with the fervor of long
ed friendship, and the vividness of per
sonal history. One has 'been called from
the ,,„ City by a previous engagement, and the
her having finished his work on earth,
7 a ns waiting to receive his friend and fellow
' borer to the blegn3ed and endless rest.
S
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New Series,, Vol. 111, No.; 38.
VAJLELINS' ADDRESS.
Mr. Calkins, pastor - of the decreased,
said :
It is very rare that an occasion of death
causes such a variety of emotions as this.
When before have our feelings been so
conflicting ? The grief felt for. the mur
dered Lincoln was simple as it was over
whelming. One thought filled the country.
When, a civilian of public spirit is removed,
the loss of the city seems irreparable. When
the head of 'a great establishment falls,
large business interests are affected,' and
industry feels- the shock through a thou=
sand- channels. • When a' leading ineniber
of the church is 'removed,
,an office-beard,
the superintendent • of a. Sibbath-school,"
still new interests are ..reached and .new
cause of mourning is given.- The, most
humble citizen will be mourned hills own
neighborhOod; and 'no little child can be
changed into a seraph without one home
being made desolate.
To-day all thede causes of grief blend in
strange harmony. The nation mourns the
death of one whose love for her was a per
fect passion of patriotism. The communi
ty, the world of business and of practical
science, mourns one of its greatest bene
factors. The Church of Christ mourns a
most distinguished friend and benefactor ot
the cause at large, and an officer, almost the
father, of one church in particular. Fellow
Sabbath-school teachers mourn around, and
there is a grief of the widow and the father
less so sacred that we will not attempt to
unfold it. And what shall we say of the
hundreds of workmen who just now filed in
sorrowful procession by the cold relics of
their friend and employer ?
At another time we will speak of him
more fully in his public relations as a citi
zen, a patriot, a man of enterprise and of
munificence. .Let us now concern our
selves with the traits of his private char
acter.
What then, said the speaker, referring
to the splendid works of art that covered
the walls. and crowded every nook of the
lofty and ample apartments—what do
these rooms say ? Suppose we had no
other key to his character than these ob
jects—what should we infer? Plainly that
he was a man almost free from any mere
vanity, such as success in life is apt to
generate. You will not find here any one ob
ject merely in display of wealth or of self.
They are not designed for any selfish end,
but-ovidontly-to do good- -to-othora,
was of such a generous disposition that he
could not enjoy anything unless others en
joyed it with him. His own home was
not a home to him unless others, even the
public, shared its entertainments. Wit
ness the magnificent conservatory of exotic
plants and . tropical flowers facing the
street. How many have been the multi
tudes arrested there ; lost in delight at its
rare and gorgeous beauty. And just that
was the design of the owner. It was for
the purpose of giving to all a source of
culture. In fact, it was exclusively for
the benefit of the public. It was so ar
ranged that it was impossible to gain any
enjoyment from it within doors. The only
way for him or his family to view it fair
ly, was to go out and view it with you and
me from the side-walk of busy Chestnut
street. 01 it seems as if every beauti
ful flower there was at this' moment filled
with tender recollections of the man, who
loved everybody, and provided for every•
one's enjoyment. Often I have heard
him say, when he saw others enjoying the
fruits of his liberality, It was the best in
vestment I ever made. Business men,
think of it. He never regarded any in
vestment worth anything to himself, ex
cept it in some way led to and provided
for the the rational, the moral• and •the
spiritual improvement of his fellow men.
Perhaps, my friends, you ask, was it
hard for him to leave this world, so bright
and beautiful to him—made so much bet
ter by his life? One year ago he was
very sick; we all thought he would die.
At that time I asked him what hisjeelings
were in view of death. He answered that,
at first, there was ' just a little doubt,
enough to remind him that death is the
king of terrors. But it did not last long.
Very soon there came a perfect peace.
What, I asked, were your more particular
reflections then ? I asked myself, replied
he, why I should wish to live longer ?
What have Ito live for ? - Indeed I ex
claiined ; is it possible, Mr.' Baldwin.
Did you ask that ? Yes, said he. Life to
me is full of pain and suffering; working
and suffering all day long, and thinking
and suffering nearly all night long. Why
should I shrink from dying ? I know that
my Redeemer liveth, and that through his
grace all will be well with me. But did
you think nothing of these churches, of
those various and great benevolent inter
ests, nothing of your family, to which you
are so necessary, when you spoke of having'
nothing to live for ? Yes, but they must
spare me soon, at any rate. If I am kept
longer, they may not soon enough learn to
depend• upon God, and .80 I fold my hands
in resignation to his will. .
At that time he was spared. And he
went back.without a thought of repose to
his accustomed business; he entered into
it with his heart; he projected great im
provements. And in that of his, he
set up a public 'institution to beneficence.
There was a source of influence training
hundreds of workmen to accuracy and
faithfulness in one of the most elevated
mechanical enterprises in .the world. There
was the centre for• hundreds of charitable
appeals, commencing from early morning,
to which,
he cheerfully gave up the large
part of ,his_, time they required.
Every day theyJime
,were sure to come ; none
can remember a day which was an excep
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1866.
tion. And he kindly received them all;
whether he gave or not,- •you were always
blessed in the application.,Frequently
you were surprised to find te amount of
your request doubled. His very last day,
in that consecrated place, was filled up with
just such services. Then, feeble and
weary, he turned away to his beautiful
home on the Delaware—that home, which,
like everything else he owned, was open to
all, and full of the most beautiful proofs of
the sweet and kindly nature of the owner.
Why, even birds and beasts came to sport
with the man, whose affections they sp largely
shared. Yes;, I. saw them there go be
wil!leyell, and mourning through the •deso
late walks, seeking in vain his familiar
caresses. That `beautiful home—was it
hard for him to leave it ? Did he cast his
eyes around over' the beautiful prospect
and say, I cannot go? I wish Mr. Barnes,
his former pastornow,out,of town—was
here to give testimony upon the spirit of
our dear friend's last hours. It was to
him he poured out his heart. And the
fact was, the broken heart belonged to the
pastor, not• to the dying man. Mr. Barnes
went to console, but invariable came away
consoled. The last thoughts of the dying
man were to comfort the mourners.
Mr. Calkins closed with an earnest
appeal to the large assembly to profit by
the example of the deceased. The exer
cises were closed with prayer and the bene
diction.
Mr. Baldwin's remains lay in the back
parlor, on the east side of the mansion, in a
cloth-covered, silver-mounted coffin. They
were dressed in a snit of plain black. The
habitual expression, of the now bloodless
features was still there, placid, noble,
sweet, heightened into a certain majesty
by the dead calm, the marble rigidity of
death. The silver plate of the coffin bore
these words :
" M. W. BALDwIN,
Died September 7, 1866,
Aged 70 years."
The pall bearers were Judge William
Strong, Asa Whitney, Franklin Peale, J.
B. Townsend, B. F. Kendall, R. Camblos.
The six carriers were Chosen from among
the twenty-five of the foremen of the'works
of Messrs. M. W. Baldwin & Co. Some
.dreds . of the employees walk.o iuTpro
cession by the cortege, which moved up
Chestnut to-Fifteenth street - , up Fifteenth
to Hamilton, down Hamilton ,to Broad, and
up Broad street, thus making a circuit of
the locomotive works, the bell tolling as
they passed. The march was continued
up Broad street to Girard avenue, up
Girard avenue to Ridge avenue, and up the
Ridge to the depot of the Manayunk Rail
road, where - the 'employees took cars and
omnibusses. Arrived at old Laurel Hill
Cemetery, the workmen divided their lines,
and with uncovered heads, and in mourn
ful silence witnessed the passage of the
clergy, the bier and the immediate . friends
of the deceased, in the midst. Down into
the bosom of the earth 'the precious re
mains were lowered, and after brief but
appropriate services by Messrs. calking
and McLeod, a last lingering farewell was
taken by weeping kindred and friends.
Rest, venerated clay Rest, 0 dear re
mains of a man greatly to be missed and
longed for ! Rest in peace, 0 long tor
,mented body, replaced, ere now, by a
saintly robe of 'glory, and soon to be mira
culously transfoimed into a spiritual body;
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth
not away . ! Yes, take thy fill of rest now
Ours is the toil, the struggle, the sorrow,
the burden. Thine, the long coveted re
ward. For thee, to live was Christ—and to
die was gain.
THE INSOLENCE OF THE SABBATH-
Men who have made up their ininds l to
set at naught the laws of. God, care very
little about the laws of the : State or the
laws of decency or propriety. Those who
have resolved to profane the Sabbath, may
be expected to set at defiance all the re
straints, and to pour contempt on all the
mere statutes which good men have put in
their way. Last winter, the Sabbath
breaking passenger railway men of our city,
and those of our citizens who stood by, them,
were fairly and decisively defeated in an
effort to repeal the Sabbath laws of our
State, by an appeal to the Legislature. Had
they been law-abiding men, safe and good
citizens, men desirous of setting an example
of
, order in the community ; they would
have gracefully acquiesced in the 'decision
of the majority rendered through its relife
sentatiies. The voice of the rightful, u
thorities of the Commonwealth would h e
v,
been a finality to them. Or they world
have confined themselves to legitimate sfad
honorable methods of agitating for a charige.
But who ever heard of sworn and m *g
nant Sabbath-breakers feeling or sho 'ng
any refined, deferential, right-minded en
tin2ents toward the laws of
,'the` land ? All
instinct of revence has died out of ueh
men. Covetonsness, if not a positive h tred
BREAKERS,
of divine and 'human restraint, impels such
men to overlei!p all bounds. Aid we find
these men, our defeated antagonists of last
winter, after'prociming a slight and utterly
inadequate authorization from Washington
enabling ,the to carry , letters which nobody,
wants carried; coolly setting at defiance the
ancient and good laws of the Common
wealth, and- the reassertion of them by
solemn vote% of• the last Legislature, and
riding right eirer the 'heads, and destroying
the immunities of the citizens, by robbing
them and thej faiiilies of their wonted
opportinities or worship on the Sabbath
day.;Almost every prominent line in the
city was running last. qabbath the entire
day. And thecity of which,
from the days of William Penn,' its vene
rated and sagacious foundtr, has enjoyed
immunity from outrageous offences against
the sanctity of the Sabbath, was on that
day, from one end to the other, in its rural
and denser districts, one scene of secular
hurly-burly. Ministers were disturbed,
interrupted, and almost silenced in their
pulpits ; worshippers were 'robbed of their
portion of God's word, and of the comfort
of the ordinances. All the soothing,
hallowing influences of the Sabbath upon
the domestic <life of multitudes of Christian
fiunikEt were swept away. Pacifies were
driven from the front part of their houses
to seek peace in the rear; and lawlessness
reigned, and the wicked triumphed.
We say that this is an insolent conspira
cy to break down the, laws of the State. It
is an example dangerous to all rightful
authority.. We charge upon the passenger
railway.companies of this city, the delibe
rate purpose, for the sake of gain, to break
up the Sabbath-keeping habits of this
orderly and peaceable 'city, to - cast odium
and disgrace upon the Sabbath laws of the
State, and to show that they, in their ille
gal and violent purposes, are above law and
stronger than the rightful authorities of
the land. We charge the mayor of the
city, much as we admire him as a true pa
triot, with,a guilty conniving at these repeat
d ,offeame, I'll:kW:4_os the chief e,xecntive
officer of our city, he was bound to hinder,
an,d might have prevented with a word.
We charge him with astonishing indiffer
ence to what should be most dear to a man
in his station, the fair name and the goodly
reputation of our city, as the most' Sab7
bath-keeping city on the globe,, and with
allowing himself to be insolently told, in
his own office, and in , his high capacity as
mayor, by one of these railroad officials,
that they intended to trample upon the
law and have their own way in spite of it—
and then blandly bowing the boastful, in
sulting offender out of the very shrine of
justice, as if he had been one of its most
distinguished supporters. We charge the
authorities at Washington with a most
scandalous subserviency to the wishes and
plots ;:,f unscrupulous 'men, who are deter
mined to break down the Sabbath-keeping
customs of our city; sustaining them in
their idle and palpably false pretext of
mail service, which is no service at all, and
lending their high positions in an unwar
rantable interference with .the internal
policy of a State, making - 6he Nation an in
strument in the wicked and cruel work of
demoralizing a great city, when it might
naturally be looked to as a. helper and a
guardian against a process , which goes on
so rapidly , and so, terribly by its own mere
force of gravitation. .';k
Citizens of Philadelphia—Christian men
and women—we know that you do not in
tend to give 'up this conflict. There are
no Sunday cars in Baltimore; none in Wil
mm
gton, and we feel comfortably certain
that there shall be none here.
FAREWELL TO HENRY WARD
BEECHES.
George Francis Train, that eminently
safe, sagacious and conscientious politician,
reckons up twelve elements of strength be
longing to the party of tlie President, and
makes Henry Ward Beecher the last of the
twelve. And we suppose Mr. Beecher's
recent letter to the leaders of the Cleveland
Soldiers' Convention, called to endorse
Mr. Johnson's policy, must be regarded as
a formal adhesion of the writer to that
policy. The reader can, judge for himself
by simply glancing at the concluding sen
tence
`"For`the sake of the freedmen, for the
sakeof the South and its ' naillions of-our
fellow-eountrymen, for our, own sakes, and
for the great cause of freedom and* civiliza
tion, I urge the immediate reunion of ail the
parts which rebellion' and war have shot
tered."
Without further guarantees then, with-'
out a single judicial condemnation of trea
son without an adjustment of the ratio of
representation so as to prevent rebels_ from
actually gaining in power by
,tbeir very
Overtbrow, without a single step toward
Genesee Evangelist, No. 1061.
securing equal suf&age or even sufficient
constitutional defences to the freedman in
the enjoyment of the commonest of his
rights as a man, without heeding the warn
ings of Memphis and New .Orleans, with
out repugnance at the monstrous spectacle
of unchanged malignant rebels in power all
over the South with their feet upon the
necks of the sorely-tried, the faithful, the
sterling patriots of that section, without
concern for the confusion of ideas on the
subject of loyalty and treason which such ;a .
policy must breed in.the consciencessi
and of ooming generations, Mr. Beecher is,
for immediate, reunion.
The true men of the nation, then, part
company with Mr. Beecher. The friends
of the colored men' in America bid hiin
farewell. The churches of the North with
which he has-been affiliated, see no room
for him any longerupon those Declarations
of high . principle, with which they. have
unanimously reinforced the national con
science during and since the war. Hence
forth he must seek his associations among
that motley and miscellaneous throng
which could never have been gathered
save by the most monstrous betrayal' of
principles by men in high places. Hence
forth Vallandigham and the Woods in the
North, and the Monroes and Semmes of the
South can never be so antagonistic to Mr.
Beecher, as Butler and Brownlow, as Ste
vens and Sumner and Wilson, as Tilton
and Douglass and the _lndependent itself.
To the companionship of the Copperhead
party, reinforced by a handful of weak
Republicans, we are constrained to hand
over Mr. Beecher. Worse, perhaps, than
all, he has antlered the catastrophe of the
friendship and the patronage of George .
Francis Train ! How are the mighty fallen!
Since the above was written, we notice
that Mr. Beecher has been called out by a
protest from some of his congregation,. to
whom he replies in an explanatory letter.
We confess this second letter is in some
degree calculated to mollify the severity of
our judgmeni as elicited by the first. Mi.
Beecher in this refusal& be classified with
the copperheads, and Mrglares himself op
posed to the simultaneous admission of the
rebel States. He also expresses some nat
ural disgust at the President's demagoguic
performances, and some indignation at the
Memphis and New °Aetna massacres.
Still he advocates the heretical and peril
ous policy of admitting 'the rebel States
without further guarantees, and is. favor
of electing such "Republican" Rspresenta
fives to Congress, as will aim at carrying
out substantially the President's policy.
As we cannot understand this in any other
sense than a fleclaration in favor of the re
turn of such. " Republicans" to Congress
as Mr. Raymond, we do not see what real
improvement the second letter makes in
the writer's position. We have, therefore,
concluded not to cancel what we have
written.
At length the extraordinary - Presidential
circuit is done, and Mr. Johnson is at home
at the White House again. And of all
public demonstrations on the part of men
in exalted stations in any country, we think
it is felt that this is by far the most re
markable on record. We are accustomed
to regard the Presidency of the great Re
public as the Most elevated political posi
tion which mortal man can hold. Presi
dents, indeed, are but men ; yet we tura
voidably expect the' dignity of their office
to ,exercise a refining influence upon their
manners, and, to appear in their every-day
deportment. And in the whole list of in
cumbents down to the last, the-people hive
had no serious ground of complaint on this
score. The dignity of the office has been
measurably upheld. Contempt has been
thrown upon it by none. Whatever com
plaints men otherwise had to lodge against
their Chief Magistrates, they , could not
accuse them of disgracing the whole nation
by trailing in mire and dust the dignities
of the highest office they had to' bestow.
But from the spectacle of unmitigated vul
garity which has been paraded from one
side of the land to the other, and chroni
eled with phonographic minuteness in every
newspaper, they have turned away their
faces crimsoned with shame, disgust and
indignation. When rulers in former times
have wished to descend to, unbecoming and
unkingly conduct, they have gone about it
in disguise. Nero Jdid not go through the
provinces as a fiddler or a play actor; he
confined his shameful antics to the capital.
It has been reserved to an American Chief
M4istrate to make the circuit of ten or a .
dozen States, with every. arrangement for
'rendering him as conspicuous as, possible *
and'to exhibit such coarseness, such vin
dictiveness, such bitter passion and prein,
dice, such instincts of the niob, such shock
ing profanity, to say nothing of his. mea-
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snrelen egotism, or titter disregard for his
own recently and solemnly avowed senti
ments, that even the lowest forms of po
litical wrangling in a heated campaign
must be searched to find a-parallel.
Mr. Johnson's closest political adherents,
who applauded his 22d of February speech
even, are ashamed, and they confess it. The
whole country is immeasurably disgraced.
It will not do to speak of the scandal with
bated breath. And it is idle to attempt to
apologize for or palliate such an offence. It
la simply unpardonable. There is no possi
ble excuse for the exhibition of petty spite
at official neglect; hone for bandying low
epithets with the mob; there• is none for
pressing a political policy offensively on
citizens who came to welcome him irre
spective of party; none for denouncing a
co-ordinate branch of the Government, as
honorable, as powerful and as legitimate as
himself; with vulgar language; none tor
denouncing the loyal men who have given
blood and toil and treasure to save the
country, as traitors, simply because he can-
not bring them to his views of reconstruc
tion; none for whetting the thirst of the
mob for blood and violence by calling upon
them to hang two of the leading emancipa
tionists in the country; none, 0 ! none, for
a use of the name of the divine Redeemer,
which for coarse impiety, almost amount
ing to blasphemy, has certainly not been
equalled in the utterances of any public
man, we venture to say, since the days of
Tom Paine.
Apology for such offences must rebound
disastrously on the one who offers it. Men
of common decency everywhere must repu
diate the attempt: Rather let us bow our
heads in humiliation, and confess that we,
as a nation of Christians, are in this un
speakable disgrace, deservedly punished
for yielding up the nomination of our offi
cers, from the lowest to the highest, to the
management of mere politicians. And we
may comfort ourselves, too, that this tour
has been one of the most damaging politi
es) devices that has ever been executed.
Five hundred radical speakers on the Pre
sident's track could scarcely have effected
more for £he good cause than the President
himself has done.
CHURCH ERECTION.
WORK FOB THE CriIIUB.CIIVS.
By the action of the last General Assem
bly, the , funds in the hands of the Board or
Trustees are no longer subject to distribution
among the churches. They are to be secure
ly invested, as explained in the August Num
ber of the Presbyterignifonthly, and to be re
garded strictly as permanent funds. The
interest accruing from these investments. is
alone subject, since the first of August, to
the call of feeble - congregations. This amount,
even when all the outstanding loans shall
have been refunded, will probably never ex
ceed $BOOO, and for some considerable time
it will not much, if any, exceed $5OOO, a sum
falling vastly below the needs of the denomi
nation.
After a careful and anxious consideration
of the whole subject, the General Assembly,
with entire unanimity, came to the conclusion
that " a sum not leas than $35,000, in addi
tion to the interest scorning from the Per
intinent Fund, will probably be required for
the aid of feeble churches this. year, in pro
viding houses of worship for their use ;" and
they " therefore resolved, that the third
Sabbath of December next be fixed as the
day for a general collection for the purpose
of raising the sum, and that our Presbyteries
and pastors be requested to use their utmost
endeavors to secure the full amount designat
ed."
The applications that already, since the
adjournnient of the Assembly, have been
made for appropriations, clearly indicate that
a much larger sum might be judiciously ex
pended during the year. From every quar
ter reliable statements are made to the effect,
that the operations of our missionaries and
churches are greatly crippled for want of
suitable houses of worship. Were it possible
to announce that the Board are now in pos
session of the requisite funds, applications
would be speedily multiplied much beyond
the sum named by the Assembly.
It is exceedingly desirable that, in these
circumstances the churches should anticipate,
to some extent, the simultaneous contribu
tions of next December i and, where practica
ble. have the cause p .rilibbteil and a collection
made at an early day. In many cases, it will
be impracticable to comply with the Assem
bly's recommendation for December, as, in
many congregations some other cause is al
ready assigned for that month. In such
eases, it is greatly to be hoped that some
Sabbath in September, October, or Novem
ber will be selected for this object and the
cause duly presented.
The Synods are to meet in September or
October, and the subject will naturally come
before them. The Stated Clerks should
have it especially in, charge. It will, how
ever, devolve principally upon the Presby
teries, as earnestly requested by the Assem
bly, to carry this recommendation into effect
practically and vigorously. At their autumn
meetings, now approaching, means should be
taken to secure an annual hearing for this
cause in every one of their churches, how
ever small and feeble, and to have a day as
_signed for it in every congregation., A Stand
ing Committee, as in the case of the severali.
Permanent Committees, should be charged
with the duty of corresponding with' each of
the churches of the Presbytery, and urging
-them to,-make the, arrangement. One fitith
ftil man in each Presbytery, if appointed and
willing to undertake the work, can secure the
object. The more system the better. It
should not be left to the turn-of an hoar, or
the fitful impulpes of the moment. Will the
Stated Clerks of the Presbyteries put it upon
their dookets, and 'see that the work is done?
=--Presbyterian ltrinthly.