71~.IERICAN PRESBYTERIAN AND GEN ESEE EVANGELIST. Lo y, igions and Family Newspaper, IN THR INTEREST OF THE Constitutional Presbyterian Church. PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY, A T THE PRESBYTERIAN HOUSE, 13>t Chestnut Street, (2d etory,) Philadelphia. Be y, John W. Mears, Editor and Publisher. iistritatt Urtoirgttrian. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1866 PLOTS AND EXPECTATIONS OF THE ROMANISTS IN AMERICA. Without doubt, the friends of the Pope eve rywhere are in a state of deep embar rassment bordering on despair. The march of events for the last few years has been such as to strike terror into every Catholic heart. The Pope's temporal power is prac tically reduced to a nullity. He is more dependent on foreign arms for support, he a sicker man, politically, than the Sultan o f Turkey. If the popular will is to be taken as a teat of legitimacy, no sovereign i n existence is more truly an usurper than h e , The reign of none is more thoroughly detested, or its end more impatiently ex pected or more sure to come, and that speedily, than that of the Pope at Rome. Some Catholics affect to think lightly of this crisis in the temporal affairs of their pontiff. Not so the Plenary Council lately zo r,veued in Baltimore. Exactly what they t hevht, we shall probably never know. But doubtless Archbishop Purcell,in preach = the closing sermon, gave the mildest possible expression to the fears cherished and discussed in their secret sessions. It is not a little which, even in the hypotheti cal inrm he uses, he is constrained to ad mit, thus publicly : "If Italy loosens her chains to follow strange idols, America must come forward to the front and assume a first place among the faithful. If the Catholic nations of Europe shotc ,inns of decay, and stand but indiffer sat spectators while Pius IX. is perplexed to 2nd a spot where to lay his head, beyond the reach of his enemies, the Church in the United States is to send him words of cheer, and draw from him a tribute of gratitude." These startling concessions to the public r are undoubtedly the very least the iehbishop could say. Judge what con. !nation the full admission of the facts, e acknowledged desperate situation*finan any and politically of the Pope, must have spread through a secret council whose pntJlr organ was fain to speak so frankly It be doubted whether there was suf ficient command of the Latin tongue, which we are told this learned council employed in its deliberations, to utter all that was felt on the subject. " Ital . * loosens her airs to follow strange idols."' " The .tholic nations of Europe show signs of cay;" "stand indifferent spectators" of e impending fate of the Pope; " Pius : perplexed to know where to lay his Ead beyond the reach of his enemies." Irlt astonishing and most ominous admis ot are these. Not only the Pope's tem )ral power, but the political power of all Catholic nations; is decaying. Austria, trlie .riit of the great nations in whose policy the IcTiort of the papacy has been a leading pa.ont, lies prostrate between Protestant :us•ia without and Protestant Hungary Rapidly the Pope and the Roman doh system arc vanishing from the olitical arrangement of Europe, in which, .;r , even centuries, they have performed a ;loruinent part. It feels the influence of to battle of Sadowa and of the evacuation Venetia. Bismarck's needle-guns have rarried all the way to Baltimore. But if the admissions of the preacher are starkable, his proposals and expectations Ire yet more so. The vast falling off from totaanism in the old world is to be made NI in the new. America is to come to le front and assume a first place among e faithful. She is to supply the lack of . "ice which the Pope can no longer ex ?et from Europe. The Council, according 4 the report of the Archbishop's sermon, I MS impressed with the necessity of re 'lainling, [whatever that may mean as to a country always overwhelmingly qotestant] to Catholicity the United '` a te.' of America; and this was intimated qe the grand. object of its assembling. l 'atte is to be no crusade preached against r otr.stantism, no offensive thrusting for- Ir d the doctrines and practices of Rome '' 1)1 a population, the great majority of 4111 are opposed to that Church, but in a t'll(t way the clergy are to set about their of proselytism with energy, persever "ce and industry." I:erica to be "reclaimed" to Catho- This is the fond dream which the '4litlyed, broken-hearted friends of the in this country cherish, and where they would console themselves in view I "li4t has befallen, and is still likely to .111 , their idol. The system of political 'l. telesiastical tyranny which has at last effete in Europe, from which the 4 '''lppressed and sunken nations of the 4 , acrld are at last freeing themselves, ,/ . 1 7hich is dying out in the keen air of ' 1 '1 , 6 light, intelligence and liberty, now Pt ' a ding everywhere, forsooth, is to be 4 / I sPlanted to the new world, and here it 7 1 ) I. 4 ilit teL;tiiiit;l4ll 44-*-- New Series, Vol. 111, No. 44. is to enjoy a new term of prosperity and power. This is the scheme of the Second Plenary Council, which closed its mysteri ous labors in a foreign tongue, with such brief hints in English of the business it had been at. These are the matters, the details of which are withheld even from the priests; the grave secrets which, we are told, even the instruments of their accomplishment will " never fully know by any formal an nouncement, but may learn from the severer discipline which they may hereafter be compelled to follow, and the renewed in dustry which they will be expected to dis play." The dead Romanism of Europe to be re vived in America! Surely these Latin speaking prelates must be poorly taught in history and all unmindful of the indisputa ble fact that the very ground and reason of the existence of this country is Protestant ism ; that these European nations are sweeping away the Pope and his hierarchy in their march toward the liberties which we have been enjoying for two centuries; that the very principles of Protestantism embodied in our constitutions and trium phantly illustrated in our career, are the causes which have stimulated 'the nations of the old world in their long, and at last successful, struggle against Romanism. To transplant to this shore for revival, a sys tem dying of wounds which we have in flicted upon it at the distance of thousands of miles, is an undertaking even more ab surd than that of MaxiMilian in Mexico. As well might we expect to see the tide of emigration in quest of civil and religious liberty, which, for two centuries, has been setting toward our shores, reversed. Romanism, once dead in Europe, will be twice dead and plucked up by the roots in America. The institutions of which even the crowned heads of Europe are weary, cannot be commended to the freemen of America. Exactly what relation the Pope, in the opinion of the council, is to sustain to a Romanized America, we cannot tell., The report from which we quote, eays "The Council has taken the most decided stand on the Papal question, and pledges the American Church in as emphatic a manner as the Latin language can convey to his Holi ness its unreserved loyalty and attachment." It would almost seem a fair inference, from such language; to expect the Pope to . appear in person among his American ad herents when his last European refuge fails him. Perhaps the council, looking at the success of the Mormons, who maintain their anti-republican institutions openly in the heart of the continent, cherish a hope of like tolerance for the assumptions of their own ecclesiastical head, and piature to themselves a papal court established some where in this country, as authoritative and as undisturbed as that of Brigham Young. On the contrary, they may expect to wel come the fugitive Pius to these shores in his ecclesiastical capacity merely. They may submit to the irresistible march of events, anti may, for the present, renounce all political aims and labor solely for reli gious ends. All over the world, Roman ism may put itself upon the voluntary basis of Protestantism, for the simple rea son that almost no other remains for her to occupy. No one can complain, we have no idea of complaining, of any 'attempt to spread Romanism as a simple form of doc trine and worship. But the very organization of Rome is political. She is allied, by her constitu ion, with monarchical, imperial and des potic forms of government. What service has the Papacy ever done to free govern ment? What fiercer crusade against poli tical liberty was ever waged than that of Philip of Spain for the establishment of the Inquisition in the United States of Holland ? What single potentate in the world ventured to acknowledge the superior claims of the leader of a rebellion in the nineteenth century in the interest of slavery ? Yes, when Catholic France and Spain and Austria and Brazil, when Greek Russia and heathen China hesitated, the Pope of Rome betrayed the nature and strength of his anti-republican instincts by sending a friendly message to " Presi dent" Davis. We cannot believe that it will be found possible to disconnect Romanism from the most ambitious political designs. And American citizens must be allowed to suspect and guard against such designs whenever now schemes of proselytism are set on foot by the Romish hierarchy. Such schemes have just been concocted by a secret conclave of Popish ecclesiastics, de bating and recording its decrees in a dead language, and withholding the details from the subordinate officials in its church. They mean mischief. They will fail, because so utterly opposed to the genius of 'our coun try. But as the no less anti-republican element of slaveiy wrought us incalculable PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1866. mischief and brought us to the verge of destruction before it was eliminated, so it may be with the wily element of Roman ism. If we view with indifference the machinations of the Papacy; if we make no resistance to the desperate attempt to re gain here a cause admitted to be lost in Europe ; if we tolerate political combina tions ivith the scarlet woman like those which gave such vast power for two gene rations to the 350,000 slaveholders of the country, may we not reasonably expect, in days to come, a similar bloody struggle to maintain the principle of free goVernment against hierarchical tyranny ? Otheicom plications are hinted at in the following sentences from the report which we have already quoted : " The bishops are encouraged to do this on the groUnd that they, of all the religious sects of the country:, remained, during the war, aloof from politics, or, to speak more accurately, leaned so muchtoward the South ern side as to make the Catholics very accept able to the Southern people. The people of the South will welcome the new Catholic missionaries with open arms, and will doubt less extend to them every possesible facility to carry out the plans they have adopted." The two dying systems of slavery and Romanism may thus combine to give each other a new lease of life. SUNDAY TRAVEL. We were deeply pained to read an article under this heading in our respectable con- temporary, The Evening Bulletin, the whole drift of which was such as plainly to place the paper on the side of the opponents of the wholesome Sunday laws of our Commonwealth. This article and others in the same paper on the same side, have the more surprised us, since at one time during the summer, in a severe and well deserved article on " The City Postal Hum burg," we were informed that : " The question of Sunday travel on the street railways is one with which the Bulletin does not intend to meddle." What has induced our contemporary to reconsider its resolu tion and espouse the wrong side, we are at a loss to conceive. —Pop --oast ofadmit th - 0 dlaim which the Bulletin now makes, of standing neutral between two extremes. Not only does it urge the submission of the question to' a popular vote, but it presents arguments for such a course, which, if sound, must jeopar • dim all laws based upon the Christian character of our government. No paper can hold a position of neutrality between the friends and enemies of the Sabbath which denies that Christianity is part of the fundamental law of the land, or which desires to subject that fundamental law to the will of local majorities. The Bulletin asserts that in our country, '" all persons, whether Jew or Gentile, Catholic or Mor mon, are protected in the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences." This we deny. The Jew's conscience requires him to set apart the seventh day of the week for the worship of God, and to regard the first as •secular. So does the conscience of the Seventh-day Baptist. The law of the State grants no protection to either in this exercise of conscience. If their Saturday worship is disturbed by the noise of business and trade, they can get no redress. If they transact worldly business on the Lord's day, they are liable to a fine. It is a dictate of the Mormon's conscience to regard Brigham Young as the supreme source of authority, and one of the tenets of his creed justifies and encourages polygamy. Does the law of the land admit a right of conscience in what it condemns and punishes as a crime ? Shall we be asked, in the name of religion, o tolerate and protect what is plainly destructive of morality? No paper, we venture' to assert, less needs to be instructed on this point than our intelligent contemporary, the Bulletin. None knows better that this Common wealth, by the very act of its settlement, is distinctly Christian—not Jew nor Mor mon. Nor do we need to enlighten it on another point,—that the fundamental law never contemplated the formation of a Jewish or Mormon, or anti-Christian com munity in the State, for the benefit of which that law might be suspended, or to whom it might be referred for decision by popular vote. If the State, as such, is Christian, by its fundamental law, is it not very absurd to talk of the rights of a majority in any limited partsof the State, over one of the most important of the institutions of Chris tianity ? The Government of the United States is fundamentally republican. The right of the majority in any State, to have their own way, is not absolute, but must be exercised always subject to this fundamental law. The government cannot grant to a 'single State that happens to lean to oligarchy, the right to decide, by a majority, whether it will in- k troduce anti-republican features into its laws. On the contrary, the minority which, in such a State, adheres to the original principles of the government, has a right to, be protected and upheld against any plots of the majority by the general Gov ernment, for the very reason that it is a minority. We must say, this sort of argument, which puts a fundamental law at the mercy of the majority of a mere district or sub division of the whole, is a political heresy, near •kin to that of the right of secession. Once granted as a principle of governinent, anatlbmay have a different Sabbath and a differknt criminal code in every county. Let t*fdends of Sunday-travel come out boldly and agitate for a change of the fun damental law in the whole State Let them ask the people of Pennsylvania to re consider the solemn judgment of the father of the Commonwealth, and to blot out the recognition of Christianity from its charter. But let them not ask the law-making power to give to thelmasses of a great city the right to unchristianize themselves, while professing to retain that character for the rest of the State. If the State as a whole is Christian, it will show its Christianity best by exercising the whole power of the Commonwealth to protect Christian institu tions whenever and wherever it is believed that a, inajority is opposed to them. The only consistent course is to maintain the character of the law or to abolish it alto gether. SENATOR WILSON'S TESTIMONY. We give below the Congregationalist's report of the remarks made by Senator Wilson,' at Natick, when recent converts were asked to give expression to their feel ings. The Senator was among the first to rise. His remarks have a frank, manly, and yet truly humble tone—such as might be expected to fall from the lips of such a man on such an occasion. Greatly should the friends of Evangelical religion be en couraged, by ,this new and conspicuous instance of its power. Mr. Wilson said:— He lt he Owed it to himself, to his friends about him, and to the cause of his Redeem er, to say a few words, though he did it with some reluctance. For more than thirty years he had attended the service of God on that spot, and had listened to hundreds of ser mons. He had been convinced of the truths thus set forth, and had no excuse to offer for so long delaying to give his personal atten tion to this subject. He had never shielded himself by infidelity, or defended hisposition by that poorest of all excuses, the faults of professing Christians. Whenever addressed personally on the subject, as he had often been by friends from various parts of the country, he had always felt himself guilty before God, and yet he had lived more than fifty years rejecting God. He had seen the Christian die in the tri umph of faith, and had often stood by dying soldiers, and longed to speak some word of Christian comfort and cheer in their ears, and he could not. He had stood by the graves of those he loved best, and thought how often those lips, now cold in death, had breathed his name to heaven. He trusted that, in an swer to the prayers of a dear wife, of those dear departed ones, and of other dear friends, he had now found abiding peace. He would not eichange the hope he had for any earthly honors. He had enjoyed more peace and as surance during the past week than in any other period of his life. He gave himself, all he had, and all he hoped for, to his Lord and plaster; and if anything had been kept back, he prayed that it might be revealed to him. The Senator was particularly glad to see so many young men coming forward in this good work, and called upon his neighbors and friends not to delay in making their peace with God. Scarred and seamed as we all are by sin, or, at any rate, as he felt himself to be, he rejoiced that there is mercy and salva tion at the foot of the cross. Ilis remarks throughout were listened to with the deepest interest, and the Christians of Natick rejoice that their esteemed fellow-citizen, who has rendered such signal service to his country, has now entered upon the service of him who is King of kings and Lord of lords. , BUFFALO DEPOSITORY. The Presb. of Buffalo, largely through the persevering labors of the Rev. H. P. Bogue, has succeeded in establishing a Depository of the publications of our Pres byterian Publication Committee within its bounds. Being convinced that some such step was needed, to bring the Committee's books and tracts mo're conspicuously to the notice of the members of the churches of the Presbytery, a fund of six hundred dollars was raised, invested in the publica tions, and put into the hands of Mr. Theo dore Butler, of Buffalo, bookseller, and an elder in the First Church. Our people in Western New York can here purchase the Committee's books at the same rates as in Philadelphia. This is a creditable affair, and gives much satisfaction, to the churches of the Presbytery. As a letter from Buffalo truly says : , c The same thing ought to be done in thirty other places." But to do it will demand the determined effort of some one energetic man in each of the thirty places. Why may it not be done, and the circulation of .our Committee's books and tract be doubled ? Genesee Evangelist, No. 1067. Defective, indeed, would be any attempt to chronicle the deeds, on describe the, spirit of the loyal people during the late struggle, which overlooked the part per formed by the gentler sex. Any occasion which taxis the energies and calls out the heroic spirit of the man, will be sure to develope unusual powers in the woman. Modern Christian civilization shows us woman, not merely as the delicate foil to the hardihood, or as the ornament to the victories of man, but as his earnest, efficient, practical helper in accomplishing his most exalted and difficult ends. In the self denying work of settling this country, she was his most devoted partner; and the Landing of the Pilgrims cannot be painted without giving a prominent place on the canvas to the forms of heroic women, whose lives, labors and sufferings entered so largely into the foundation of this Govern ment. The great transformation which, at the first gun on Fort Sumter, made us a nation of warriors, reached the hearts of the American women also. The heroism that throbbed everywhere, knew no distinction of sex. Whatever man could do or endure for national life and liberty, that woman, to the measure 'of her strength, was ready to do also. And we venture to say that scarcely any deed has been done by more than usually brave men, for the country, which has not been matched, in some way, by heroic women. Thee, these and like instances are cow paratively rare ; yet there are enough of them to show that the spirit of Deborah was awake in the breasts of our loyal women, and that any service really required of them would have been zealously rendered for the success of the cause. If it was felt to be out of place for woman to figure as a combatant on the field, she could encourage the noble purpose of husbands, brothers, and sons, and make at least as great a sacrifice as they, in surrendering the dearest objects of her affection to the dire chances of battle. Mr. Moore has recorded the noble utterance of that patriotic lady of our city, Mrs. Ellet, in reply to the consolation offered by Mr. George H. Stuart, upon the loss of her grandson in the war : " Two sons," said Mrs. Ellet, "I have already given, Commo dore Ellet, of the Ram Fleet, and Brigadier General Ellet, of the Marine Brigade, and four grandsons; nor do I regret the gift. Had I twenty sons, I would devote them all to the cause." But it was in every kind of service for the relief of the suffering soldiers, that the patriotic and Christian fervor of our women found its largest and most appropriate ex pression. It is past any doubt that no war has ever developed such depths of devotion and such extraordinary capacity of service to the interests of suffering humanity in, woman, as that just ended. We have it well exhibited in the many narratives of this volume. It appears in the most varied phases, from the case of the intrepid Mrs. Ricketts, who, after the battle of Bull Run, pressed her way over every obstacle to the side of her wounded and captured husband, and shared with him the horrors of Libby * WOMEN OF THE WAR : Their Heroism and Self-Sacrifice, by Prank Moore, author of the Rebellion Record. Illustrated with steel en gravings. Hartford, S. S.-Scranton 86 Co. Bvo., pp. 596. Sold only by subscription. 0. S. Par melee General Agent, corner of . 6th and Minor -streets, Philadelphia.. WOMEN OF THE WAR.* Things regarded as positively unfeminine, have been unhesitatingly undertaken by women determined to do their utmost for the cause they ardently loved. We read in Frank Moore's book. of Kady Brownell, the daughter and wife of a soldier, actually enlisting with her husband in a Rhode Island regiment, carrying the colors of the company, becoming accomplished in the use of arms, and standing her ground when others fled at Bull Run ; we read that she re-enlisted with her husband, served in the Newbern campaign, and though not allow ed, as she wished, to carry the colors at the head of the storming column, we are told how she saved her regiment from an unfortunate collision with some of their comrades who mistook them for rebels, by rushing to the front and waving her colors in the face of the artillery and musketry about to open on them. We read, too, of Bridget Divers, attached to the cavalry, whom Sheridan's men called " Irish Biddy," and who not only attended to the moral and religious wants of the men, and knew every soldier in her regiment, but who was a fear less and skilful rider, brave as the bravest under fire, and who had two horses killed under her in battle; who is now with the detachment that has crossed the Rocky Mountains for service against the Indians of the plains; we read of one woman who, in Kentucky, captured eleven rebels, and brought them, as prisoners, into the Union lines., TERMS, Per annum, in advance: By Mail, $3. By Carrier. $3 50 * Fifty cents additional. after three months. Clubs.—Ten or more Papers sent to one address. Payable strictly in advance and in oneremittance. By Mail, $2 50 per annum. By Carri cr.s3 per annum- Ministers and Ministers , Widows, $2 50 in advance. Rome Missionaries, $2 00 in advance. Remittances by mail arc at our risk. Tostage.—Five cents Quarterly, in advance, paid by subscribers at the office of detiverY- A llivertisements.-1234 cents per line for the first, and 10 cents for the second insertion. One square (ten lines) one month $0 OD two months 5 50 ..• three months 7 50 ... six months 12 00 one year 18 00 The following discount on long advertisements. in serted for three months and upwards, is allowed:— Over 20 linas.lo per cent. off; over 50 lines, 20 per cent.: over 100 lines, 33 1 / 3 per cent. prison ; to that of the widow of Governor Hawley of Wisconsin, who followed up the labors for the suffering soldiers, in which her husband, early in the war, lost his life, by at once devoting herself most arduously to the same cause, and who is now at the head of a Soldiers' Orphan Home at the capital of the State; the case, over and over met with, of tender and elegant women accustoming themselves, by dint of the most painful effort, to the horrors of the field-hospital, the amputating table, the dead-room, and assuming with the greatest alacrity and cheerfulness, the most loath some and trying tasks; sometimes going to the very edge of battle, and dropping like angels into rifle-pits; originating great schemes like Sanitary Fairs, for collecting funds, and sometimes lecturing without re ward and pleading modestly but effectively before promiscuous assemblies in Washing ton and other places, for the cause of suffer ing humanity. To one woman, Mrs. Fowle, is traced the founding of the admirable Soldiers' Free Library, connected with the Judiciary Square Hospital, in Washing ton ; while we find another, a Philadel phian, rendering singular service in investi gating the excessive hardships of military offenders, and in securing from our good President Lincoln, the frequent remission of sentences manifestly unjust or cruel; others again, like Anna Ross of our city, coined their hearts' blood, and freely and consciously shortened their days in labors for men who were facing death in the field every day for the cause. Such are the materials brought together in this new volume, which shed a gentle and attractive light upon the horrid linea ments of war, which reveal new spheres and capacities for good in the hearts of Ameri can women, which signalize our age and country as unequalled in exhibition of heroic, Christian philanthropy, and which are fitted to keep alive the noblest senti ments of patriotism and of self-denying charity toward all that suffer. The book is otherwise of deep interest as a memorial of' the war ; Many parts are graphically written, and many hold the reader's attention with a truly fascinating power. The chapter : " What we did at Gettysburg," will draw many readers. The pathos of not a few of the scenes is utterly overpowering. Philadelphia readers will notice careful accounts of several of the ladies of our city who were prominent in these self-denying labors, as Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Husband, Anna M. Ross, Mrs.. Brady and Mrs. Lee. Taken altogether, we do not believe there has appeared a choicer, purer, or more interesting contribution to the history of our struggle than this volume. THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN AND THEOLOGICAL REVIEW. The number for October contains a very rich list of articles. Prof. Shedd writes upon the Different Species of Sermons and the Choice of a Text. This, like all his articles on sermonizing, is full of profitable, practical suggestions and stimulating thought to the clergy. Prof Ballantine writes on the At titude taken by Christ to the Criminal Law. Dr. Tracy shows up the Calumniators of the Sandwich Island Mission in a timely and exhaustive article. Dr. Schaff, whose fertile and generous contributions are wel come in all our religious periodicals, albeit sometimes too remote from present interests to invite the busy reader, examines the Ath anasian Creed. Dr. Prentiss, by his rapid resume of events in the Political World, viewed from the position of staunch loyalty and fervent sympathy with the movement of the nation toward justice and equal rights, nobly maintains the high character of the Review in this important. regard. Dr. J. W. Nevin, of Lancaster, translates from Rothe an article on the Divine Revelation. The Theological and Literary Intelligence is very full. The Notes on Books are brief. Sub scriptions received at the Presbyterian Book Store. DR. BRAINERD'S LAST SERMON. We are glad to announce the appearance of Dr. Brainerd's Sermon, preached before the Brainerd Society, at Easton, Pa., July 22, 1866. It is gotten up in admirable style, within and without, from the press of our friend S. Loag ; and is to be earnestly com mended to young men as the legacy of one who loved and labored with peculiar success among this class. A life like Dr. Brainerd's could scarcely have been better ended than by just such a sermon. It is for sale at the Presbyterian Rouse. THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN ALMANAC FOR 1867. The number of this valuable and handsome annual for the current years, has been issued within the past few days, and is now ready for delivery. In appearance it will quite compete with any rivals, and for our owl people, no other almanac can be satisfactorily substituted. The copies are furnished with loops for convenience in hanging,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers