THt iMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN
AND
•
GENESEE EVANGELIST.
oge) igions and Family Newspaper,
IC THE INTERIM' 07 THE
Constitutional Presbyterian Church.
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY,
AT THE PRESBYTERIAN HOUSE,
i ?,31: Chestnut Street, (2d story.) Philadelphia.
Bey. John W. Mears. Editor and /Publisher.
gtmairaix HrtstOtrian.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1866.
THANKSGIVING IN 1866,
The call to thanksgiving from governors
4' States, and from the President of the
United States, directed to entire communi
ties and to a whole nation, leads us, natural
ly to national and general causes of thanks
:icing in our reflections at such a time.
:Pod we think, on the whole, these are
more numerouS and more wonderful this
vest than they have ever before been.
The churches of our country have a
great year of revival to be thankful for.
The mature opinion of observers is, that the
revival of last winter and spring was the
createst and most fruitful of any enjoyed
since 1831, surpassing in depth and thor
oughness, and in the quality of its results,
the more demonstrative work of 1858. The
two specific features of the work were : the
uniformly large accessions received by the
churches favored, and the great proportion
o f men among the converts. Lawyers,
physicians and merchants were brought in
in crowds. On Home Missionary fields,
the effect was often surprising. Feeble
churches sprang from the dust to a state of
efficiency and vigor. The accessions to the
Evangelical churches of the North and West
during the year cannot be short of three
hundred thousand. The catholic and fra
ternal feelings which have marked the in
tercourse between Christians of different
names for several years, were still further
developed and strengthened. Union move l ,
meats between different branches of the
Church, especially in our own denomina
tion, have assumed a specific form; un
seemly rivalries and intemperate contro
versies between Christian brethren of differ
ent names, have almost entirely ceased.
The action of the lay element in the work
of the Church has been most encouraging.
To see a man of the standing and ability of
Judge Durant, of Massachnsetts, give him
self to revival work, is matter for special
thanksgiving, both for its results in the con
version of souls, and its power as an example
to others. The hopeful conversion of a
distinguished. 'Senator, through his "labors,
wQ not soon be forgottßn
the Church generally is animated with
hope of the early, if not immediate, renew
al of i he reviving influences, which we have
Zee❑ enjoying in such large measure.
ere is little disposition to settle down in
quiet contentment with what has been
gained. No one now considers it necessary,
io the order of Providence, for a church to
nadergo a protracted period of coldness and
unfruitfulness before a new season of re-
freshing otln be enjoyed. It is a time
then the plowman is expected to over
take the reaper, and the treader of grapes
kin: that soweth seed. Whatever may be
he defects of the Church to day, we believe
that never, since apostolic times, was it
wore penetrated with a working spirit than
•
Fur defects and dark sides to the picture
'here certainly are. The thinness of the
rank:, of the ministry, the deplorable lack
of men for almost every position which the
litlpit has to offer, both at home and abroad,
nd the connected fact of the inadequate
5 1Mport of the ministry, are well calculated
to throw a shadow upon our rejoicipg,
ttherwise so well-grounded. But multi
-:lie,: revivals must eventually cure these
iefeetz. The powerful influences of the
1013 , Spirit are sufficient, sooner or later,
remedy every sort of evil under which
Church and the world suffer.
IVe have spoken of the inadequate sup
':Ott of the ministry. • That support is in
:•ley,:ate, painfully so; yet never was so
-lie: given for this and for the other objects
henevolence as now. The
of liberality in the Church is rising, not
. d...! . ed with sufficient rapidity to save many
Our best and most faithful laborers in the
*Iil• - try from suffering, but 'it is unques
:ionably rising in such a Measure as to
`4 , %rcl ground for devout thanksgiving to
'aS Our Methodist brethren, this year
celebrating their centenary, are presenting
lel'llaps the most remarkable example of
enlarged spirit of liberality. Their
JAed centenary fund has met the most
and generous responses from the
% . .lrehes, and they are determined to give
'exist on no niggardly scale. They are
tiLtuughly aroused; the spirit of high en
:rprlse is burning within them, and no
1
World temple, thronged with enthusias
"- Worshippers, was ever the object of
o frequent and valuable votive offer
than they are now laying upon the
,glue of Christianity. -.Their subscriptions
reported as reaching the sum of two
' 4llll on dollars.,
Those great causes of thankfulness which
,r_it4ll 7:::'''''q_';' 0 tv0444
New Series, Vol. 111, No. 48.
are found in the progress of nations and of
the world at large in Christian civilization,
were never more numerous or more remark
able than this year. The hearts of the
people of our country were never so firmly
or so earnestly set upon a policy of justice
and equal righti as now. Never were there
so many men of honor, of Christian principle
and practical ability among its rulers.
Never so strong in finances and in military
prowess, never so much respected abroad,
we perhaps never before could , muster
such large majorities of men who, by their
principles and, their characters, were fit to
sway the destinies of this great country.
And if we look abroad on the' world, - we
find that jistice is being enthroned among
the •Vations ; =we behold Protestant Ger
many cOnsOliditing 2 and rising ht a htiind
to a commanding pesiiien atnong the na
tions;"we see Catholic Austria crumbling to
peces, and: Catholic France humbled' in:
the Old World and in the New. We see.
Italy leaping from papal and imperial
thraldom at once. The fifty years of Aus
trian dominion over Venetia are ended,
and the Cossacks have withdrawn to their
trans-alpine homei. The twelve hundred
and sixty years of hierarchical oppression
in Rome, 'are visibly approaching their
close. And the time for that celestial
thanksgiving, spoken of Rev. 18 : 20, seems
at hand, when holy apostles, and prophets,
and martyred souls, crying how long under
the altar, shall join in great rejoicings,
saying, "Alleluia : Salvation, and glory and
honor and power unto the Lord our God !
For true and righteous are his judgments;
fpr he hath judged the great whore which
did corrupt the earth , with her fornications,
and hath avencr o ed the blood of his servants at
her hand. And again they said- Alleluia!
And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
And the four-and-twenty elders and the
four living creatures fell down and wor
shipped God. that sat on the throne, saying,
Amen! Alleluia! 'And a voice came out
r of the throne, saying PRAISE ouR Gob, all
ye his servants, and ye that few' him both
small and great." .
.THE PASTORAL LETTER OF THE
ROMISH4MERICAN COUNCIL. '
r 44,F,IMAii4,(gWLiOTEJt.z
----Bovon--croliely.printed columns. of .. a-
Roman Catholic paper are filled with the
"Pastoral Letter of the Second Plenary
Council of Baltimore." It is addressed to
the " Venerable Brethren of the Clergy
and Beloved Children of the Laity ;" but
bears upon its whole face the intention to
produce effect outside of the Church.• It
is signed by seven archbishops and thirty
eight, bishops, comprising, we believe, the
prelatical force of the Romish Church in
this country, and of course is, or ought to
be, a somewhat stupendous exhibition.
The document is a master-piece of
Jesuitism. We know not how many of
these prelates are members of that Order,
or were trained in the craft of its colleges ;
but the writer of this Pastel al is beyond
question deeply taught in the tactics of
Loyola. The gist of the paper could easily
be comprised in half a colUmn ; all. over
that is used in masking a purpose.
The Papacy vaunts a stubborn change.
lessness. Ask for any relaxation or modi
fication of its views or policy corresponding
with the advancing -light of the ages, and
from its medieval cell comes out the husky
non possumus. But its craft is anything
but changeless. Nothing is more flexible,
less straitened by the usages of the past,
and more accommodating to the age' and
the public tastes, than the Papal pen, when,
as in the present instance, it is employed
to disguise the revolting features of the
Papacy, and disembarrass it of the odium
of its standards, such as the Tridentine
decretals, and its historic life. Any one
who will read the "Secret Instructions of
the Jesuits," as they were brought to light
after the suppression of the Order about a
century ago, will find exact rules laid down
for the practice of the rankest hypocrisy
in outward. show, while concealing a pur
pose which shuns the light. One article,
for example : it, is Chaper iv. Section 1, of
these " Instructions."'
"Let the members of our •Society direct
princes • and great men in such a mintier
that they may seem to have nothing:lie in
view bat the, promotion of God's glory; and
advise theta to no other austerity of con-.
science but what they theitselves are willing
to comply with; for their aim -must, ;not im
mediately but by :degrees and insensibly,i be
directed toward, political and secular domi
nion."
It is idle for Rome to disclaim responsi
bility for this atrocious policy on the plea
that :the Society of Jesuits is not the
Papacy, but:simply a religions' Order. It
might ha've done so in 1773, when, after
having• been banished by one after another
of the Catholic'Governments of Europe for
its Pcstifeious influence in the' state, it was
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1866.
finally, for its overbearing insolence, abol
ished by Pope Clement XIV. Then the
Papacy might have washed its hands of
complicity In this deliberately arranged
and thoroughly systematized scheme of in
trigue. But Papacy was on the decline,
and the loss of this vigilant and übiquitous
agency Was felt. Light and intelligence
were making their way in, the world, and
the Loyolan mode of effort was the only
one which could keep such a.system afloat
amid the general progress of things. The
best way to revive the plan of action, was
to revive the Order in whose.hands it had,
become such . a mighty power. Especially
in the prospective raid of Romanism upon
our American people and institutions, the
services of the Jesuits were, likely to ,be,44,
omparable value. Accordingly, in 1814,
the Order was restored by ; Pope Pius VII.
to its. full powers and prerogatives in all
particulars, and Catholic princes were called
upon "to afford it protection and encour
agement ;" and the bull reviving it de
clared that act "above the recall of any
judge, with whatever power he may be
clothed," thus setting at defiance the civil
magistracy of the world. Since then the
Jesuit agency has been the right arm of
the Papal throne, its choicest instrumen
tality for propagandism, and, in this coun
try especially, it has reduced the whole
aggressive effort to its own peculiar and
unscrupulous tactics. These gave shape
to this Baltimore Pastoral.
THE PASTORAL RETICENT
The vital features of the Papacy—we
mean the points in which it departs from the
common Christian faith, And which consti
tute it the apostacy—are either utterly left
out, or buried in a verbiage' which leaves
their features profoundly indistinct; their
aim, to, quote again the " Secret Instruc
tions," "not immediately, but by degrees
and insensibly" ♦to be reached. Here are
seven mortal columns, expatiating, as we
have said, upon matters, tome of which did
not require teh words, and yet no room was
found for any statement of the tenets, of
Mariolatry, immaculate conception, mira
cles wrought by dead men's bones, praying
to the saints, hiring priests to help souls
out of purgatory, the sacrifice of the taus,
purchase of indulgencies, sealing God's .
'Book of Retelatiton -Mini the people to.
whom it was given, the Papal denunciation
of heretics and handing them over to the
civil power for punishment of death, the
obligation of the civil power, under the
will of the Pope, to extirpate heresy, even
with fire and sword, and the divine right
of the Pope to, dictate to, the civil govern
ments of the world. Here, also, are none
of the savage anathemas which Rome has
been accustomed to append to her deore
tals. The curses stand out'grim and greedy
of blood on every page of the decrees of the
Council of Trent. Take, for an example,
the decree concerning the seven sacra
ments , ,
".Canon 1. Whoever shall affirm that the
sacraments of the new law were, not all insti
tuted by Jesus Christ our Lord, or that they
are more or fewer than seven; namely, bap
tism, confirmation, the
. eucharist, penance,
extreme unction, orders and matrimony, or
that any of these. is not prophrly and truly a
sacrament: let him be accursed.
"2, Whoever shall affirm that the sacra
ments of the new law only . differ from those
of they old law, in that their: ceremonies and
external rites, are different: let' him be ac
cursed. •
" 3. Whoever shall affirm that these seven
sacraments are in such sense olual, that no
one of them is in any respect more honorable
than another,: let him be accursed."
So it proceeds until, upon the subject of
the sacraments alone, there are rolled up no
less than ninety-three of these curses, most
of them following views which are Romish
in distinction. from our primitive Christian
faith.
This Council of Trent, be it : remembered,
was what •is termed an cecumenical or uni
versal one, in which the authority of the
Chief Bishop and the Church are combin
ed, .'and whose decisions are held by all
good Catholics as comprising, even above a
Papal bull','the infallibility and authority
of . the Church. .
Such hard swearing ,would not have done
for the Baltimore pastoral. This is another
country and age, and here' at least the time
for cursing men into the Romish Church
is past:
Readers of the history of the old philosb
phies remember the distinction which was
made between the esoteric and 'exoierie
doctrines of the schoOlsi The ftrst were
tenets lying in the Marrow of the system, :
which would not do for the onside werld.7
They were too choice, too profound„ or
too radical against the popular prejudices.
They-were reserved for the disciples, and
though not to be taught out of the school,
were to be in the mind as a suggestive
agency in all attempts to manage the public
mind. The exoteric doctrines were for
pubile teaching and for shapinglhe p, lio
view of the character of the school. We
have been incessantly reminded of this in
all the Jesuit teachings of the 'Romish
faith and morals; and never more so than
in the seven eminently esoteric columns be
fore us.
Still, with all 'the daintiness with which
some really Romish tenets are set forth in
this pastoral, the insupprrsable preten
sions of the Papacy 40 spiritual domination
are, revealed, and the insatiable lust for
civil supremacy is not half concealed. It
is written with a gloved hand, but never
theleas written , it Arguing that, "as
obedience to the law : is the basis on which
civil, liberty can be enjoyed, so in religion,
respect for the authority established by
-God,
,Obeikeneejo its commands, and reyer- .
ence for the* in whom it is invested are
_
conditions olChristian freedom," it attempts
from these really sensible premises, forget
ting the analogy instituted, to make one
supreme earthly authority an - essential for
a spiritual government, and to make a case
of rebellion out of any lack of implicit obe
dience to this authority.
TILE PAPACY AND CIVIL GOVERNMENT
That part of the pastoral which treats of
the relations of the Romish Church to
the- civil government, is the only one from
which, even with sufficiency of space, we
should think it worth the while to make
quotations. There, of course, an emphatic
denial is given to the charge that the claims
of the Papacy are incompatible with the
independence of the civil: power. To this
is added the-cool assurance that its authori
ty and influence is the most efficacious sup
port of the temporal authority by which
society is governed. It is then gently insin
uated that, since all " power is of God," and
the temporal magistrate wields only a Power
delegated . from on high, the duty of sub
mission is qualified by the higher duty of
obedience to God. In other words, no, act
of obedience ,can be rendered to the power,
which would. . constitute disobedience to
God. This is only the common Christian
doctrine on the subject. '
The next step brings out the conclusion
which, by logical consequence, vests . the
Papacy with the right to absolve the sub
jects of any government on earth from
their 'civil alliance. We quote from the
Pastora l ;77 -
This undeniable principle [that last
stated] does not, however, entail the same
consequences in the Catholic system as to
those of the sects. In these, the individual
is the ultimate judge of what the law of God
commands or forbids, and is consequently
liable to claim the sanction of the higher
law, for what after all may be, and often is,
but the suggestion of an undisciplined mind,
or an overheated imagination. Nor can the
civil government be expected to recognize an
authority which has no warrant for its char
acter as divine, and no limits in its applica
tion, without exposing the State to disorder
and anarchy. The Catholic has a guide in
the Church, as a divine institution, which
enables him to discriminate between what
that law of God forbids or allows ; and this
authority the. State is bound to recognize as
supreme in its sphere—of moral, no less
than dogmatic teaching."
Put a' franker face upon these state
ments, and Nit ignores—in fact denies the
duty of tha civil magistrate to pay any re
gard to the sanctions of religion except as
they come to him with the Papal imprima
tur. Protestant subjects or citizens may
express their religious scruples : these are
entitled to none of his respect ; but when
the Church—in other words, the Pope or
the Councils, speaks, that is for him, in its
sphere, the supreme authority.
There happens to have been published
at Rome, almost simultaneously with this
pastoral, the Pope's Allocution on the Ro
man question, delivered to the "Venerable
Brethren" of the Sacred College. In this,
after denouncing the government of Victor
Emanuel, for giving validity to marriages
contracted without the sacrament of the
masa, and for sundry other matters decid
edly out of the Ronaish line, he says :
"By our apostolic authority, we abrogate
and, proclaim null and void, and without
force °reject, all the aforesaid decreef, and
everything that appertains to them."
The Prelates of the Baltimore Council
say that the claims of the Church are not
incompatible with the independence of the
civil power. This is written for the peo
ple of America. The Pope at h9me pro
nounces the decrees of a civil magistrate
null and void, and without force and effet.
We commend these incompatibilities of
statements to the SoCiety , of Jesuits, as an
appropriate work for its peculiar craft.
The pastoral met another and practical
Alifficulty, in it's own facile manner. 'A,
large portion of the "beloved children of
the laity," and a good sprinkling of the
"venerable brethren of the clergy" were
engaged in r the late rebellion against the.
civil government of this country; and not
a few of them might be restive under any
laws of loyalty for the future. It would
not do to give too much stringency to the
Genesee Evangelist, No. 1071.
duty of obedience to the civil government,
and a heretical one at that. Two or three
strokes of the pen settle all this perplexity.
" There may, indeed, be instances,"
says the pastoral, "in which individual
Catholics will make a misapplication of the
principle ; or in which, while the princi
ple of obedience to civil authority is recog
nized as of divine obligation, the seat of that
authority may be a matter of doubt, by rea
son of the clashing opinions that prevail in
regard to this important fact. The Church
does not assume to decide such matters in
the temporal order, as'she is not the judge of
civil controversies, although she always,
when invited to do so, has endeavored tto re
move the misconceptions from which dis=
pates so often arise; and to consult for every
interest while maintaining the peace of socie;
ty and the rights of justice."
If the authors of the pastoral expect
their laity to comprehend any final result
'from this backing and filling upon the sub
ject of the relation of the Church to the
civil government, they give them credit
for more brains than people generally
"pos
sess. These " beloved children" will pro
bably get from it a vague notion that,
respecting the duty of loyalty to any par
ticular government, they must ask the
Church, and while awaiting explicit in
structions, they must take counsel of their
own inclinationS. As this has generally
been the way with our Romish population,
we expect no remarkable changes in their
political bearing, from the doctrine of the
pastoral.
OTHER MATTERS
Besides this subject, the pastoral dis
courses of matrimony; ranking it of course
among the sacraments, urging that it is
purely a rite of the Church which should
always be contracted with the sacrament of
the mass. But it preserves a Jesuitical
reticence respecting the canon of the
Council of Trent, which affirms to the
Church the right to constitute impedi
ments to matrimony, or to annul it, and
pronounces accursed whoever maintains
otherwise. ,These church-made impedi
ments afford opportunities for special Papal
dispensations, and have thus become a
source of no small revenues. A. Roman
Catholic gentleman of wealth, not far from
this city, desired to marry his cousin. The
Church's consanguinity impediment was in
the way. The Pope was applied to, and
the difficulty was removed. The pastoral
also shies the Romish claim that the eccle-
:thialrand—rrot—the civil- tribunal, shall
take cognizance of matrimonial litigation.
" Whoever," says the Council of Trent,
" shall affirm that matrimonial cases do not
belong to the ecclesiastical judges, let him
be accursed."
The Press comes in for notice, and the
law of the Tridentine Council, requiring all
books treating of religion to be submitted
to the bishop for approval, before publica
tion, is cited as still in force.
On the subject of education there is
nothing peculiar said, excepting, perhaps,
a caution to parents not to educate their
children above their probable, condition of
life—a caution which, judging from the
past, was not greatly needed.
Other subjects are dwelt upon, such as
the holy state of virginity, the alarming in
difference of the laity to the sacraments of
the Church, the falling away of some, etc.
THE WORK OF THE COUNCIL UNRE
VEALED
But the most noteworthy feature of the
document is, that it begins and ends with
the virtual admission that , not one of its
declarations have the authority of the
Church, and that, in so far as it seems to
be an authorized statement of the motali
ties and doctrines of Romanism, it is, from
beginning to end, null and void. In the
orening sentences, defining the nature and
authority of Plenary Councils, it says :
By a wise regulation which combines the
benefit of central authority with the advan
tages of local legislation, the decrees of such
Councils are not promulgated or published
until they have been submitted to the Holy
See.
At the conclusion it is stated that the
Council has enacted a series of decrees for'
the promotion of certain ends named, and
then it is added :
For the furtherance of these important
objects, we have caused to be drawn up - a
clear and compendious series of. statements
upon the most essential points of faith and
morals, with which we have embodied the
decrees of the Seven Provincial Councils of
Baltimore, and of the First Plenary Council,
together , with the decrees enacted by us in the
present Council, which, when they have been
examined and approved of by the Holy See,
will fcirm a compendium of ecclesiastical law,
for the plidance of our clergy in the exercise
'of their Holy Ministry.
So the real enactments of the Council
are thus far, to the under clergy and laity
'of the. Church, and to the outside world, a
sealed book. But since, after so much
pomp and demonstration as was assumed by
that Council, the expectatiOn to hear some
thing which at least bears the semblance of
result, is too natural to be trifled with,
this . irresponsible pastoral becomes a con-.
venicnt tribute to. the public curiosity. It
stands self-confessedly, of no official weight ;
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it has no Papal sanction, and no Romanist,
not even one of the prelates who signed it,
is bound to accept any of its statements of
doctrine or duty. It is a mere sermon, and
the attempt to give it a higher character is
an unmitigated imposition.
The decrees proper have gone to Rome.
They are the esoteric product of the con
clave. They will come back with the Papal
signature, and become the basis of a new
revival of propagandism among us. They
will come back as they went, in Latin.
They may never be translated, never be
scattered broadcast among the people. They
may be dealt out only in fragments from the
lips of bishops, and possibly priests, as oc
casion arises to enforce a tenet or carry a
point. Such at least is the probability. So
Rome meant to have done by the Bible—
does even now by it as far as it is in her
power. Such are the only conditions upon
which a stupendous priestcraft can be per
petuated ; and take from the Papacy this
quality of p4estcraft, and its last prop is
knocked away.
INTIMATIONS OF REVIVAL.
We rejoice to be able to report various
items of a revival character in our columns.
It seems, like the happy opening of a new,
and yet not a new, season of refreshment
and progress to the churches—not yet
fairly clear of that of last winter. In San
Francisco, the preachin. b of Mr. Earle, the
Evangelist, has been accompanied with im
pressive evidences of the Holy Spirit's
presence. Services were held twice daily
in the principal hall of the city and were
well attended. A Conference of Churches
connected with a Western Synod of the
other branch, for the promotion of revival
will be held next month. A revival is re
ported in a Reformed Dutch church in an
other column. Great interest exists in
some extended portions of Illinois. Those
who heard the statements of D. L. Moody,
Esq., President of the Young Men's Chris
tian Association of Chicago, at the recent
anniversary in this city, remember the ex
traordinary results which followed the
apostolic efforts of members of the Chicago
Association among the neglectful population
of Pontiac and other places in Livingston
county.. Indeed, the Christian people of
Illinois seem aroused to high enterprise for
God, and speak, perhaps none too boldly,
of carrying counties and the whole State
for the Master.
There has been an extraordinary gather
ing of ministers and laymen of all Evan
gelical denominations, from all parts of the
State, at Springfield, in persuance of a call
issued by the evangelical clergy of , the
capital, for the purpose 'of prayer for the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the
churches and people of the Stale and coun
try. As a result of that meeting, a most
stirring and devout appeal has been issued
to the Christian public, which shows a state
of feeling auspicious of great results for
Christ's cause and well calculated to kindle
a like feeling in others. We cannot con
clude better than by giving some extracts
This meeting is the outward symbol of the
conviction that united, believing prayer and
effort will convert the world to Jesus Christ—a
conviction wrought, as we believe, in multi
tudes of hearts throughout our land, by the
power of the iHoly Ghost. We cannot doubt
that the movement was ordained of God. We
Artist that it may prove one of the opening
events in a work of grace, which will never
cease till it has overspread the whole earth.
The call thrilled the Christian heart of the
nation. Perhaps no convocation ever met for
which more earnest prayer has been offered to
God, not only in Illinois, but elsewhere. We
feel that the prayers - of God's dear people have
been answered. We go down from this mount
of privilege, deterthined to consecrate ourselves
wholly to Christ. The work must be done by
individual Christians. Every Christian is, or
ought to be, a power for God. We need to
place less reliance upon organization and rou
tine, and put forth more direct effort for the
salvation of individual sinners. Men are
brought to Christ one by one ; and the church's
work will be done, whenever every unregener
ated man in the world is regenerated.
How shall be obtain the revival we desire ?
1. Pray. Ask and ye shall receive. 2. For
sake sin. Return unto the Lord, and he will
return to you. 3. Look away from sinful self
to the Lamb of God slain for us. 4. We 'see
Jesus in the Word. Study more diligently
the sacred Scriptures. 5. By the foolishness
of preaching, it hath pleased God to save them
which believe. Preach the Word. Preach
Jesus. Hold up the cross. Remember that
Jesus said, "I, if Ibe lifted up,
i will draw all
men unto the." 6. Labor for immediate re
sults. 7. Expect them. According to your
faith be it unto you. Open thy mouth wide
saith God, and I will fill it. 8. Seek to lead
the children to Jesus. Has he not said, "Suffer
fer the little children to come unto me?" 9. Be
united. "If two' of you agree on earth as
touching any one thing, it shall be done for you
of my Father whiCli is in heaven."
We venture to recommend concert of action
in cities, villages and country districts, among
Christians of different , denominations.. We do
not desire organic unity. What we need is the
unity of the Spirit. The experiences of the
past year, in almost every place throughout the
State, where the Spirit has been poured out,
prove that without any sacrifice of principle,
suck a union is possible as will disarm opposi
tion. and silence - the cavils of unbeliever& If
,it is possible, observe Ahe week of prayer to
gether. Let several congregations gather in
one church.
Another similar conference was appoint
.
ed to be held in.Chicagenext.yar, - on a s
31st of Octoberpalich is, chosen, as the
350th anniversary of the nailing of the
;theses by Luther to the church door of
Wittenberg.