ffiWOTflabjttte. . '-..’A ■ ; BEV.E.P. HAMMOND’S LETTEBS FEOM PA LESTINE. On the 14th of December, our party commenced onr journey through the Holy Land. though we numbered only four, still we found eighteen horses and mules and nine men were needed to take us safely and comfortably through. Our tents were not used the first night, as we had been invited to spend the night with'Kev. Samuel Jessup in Sidon, while Dr. Budingtoto- and wife, onr pleasant travelling,conipalhions from Brooklyn, accepted the hospitality of Itev. Mr. Eddy, Both these men, sent out by the American'Board, we found fulLof jseal_for-_the Muster. We were at family worship at r Mr. Eddy’s, where were pre sent four'flative converts.' We iteard J one of them jfeSy in his own tongue.' Though 7 we could not understand the words he used, still we felt that he ! prayed in the Spirit, and we joined with him". '' Eight-hours in the saddle the first day made bleep most refreshing to us, but the' next day We i were on our horsea early again. A'little after eight o’clock, we took a look at thfe modern City,-which stands where Sidon, the grandson of Noah, founded the' city,'which has- Been' balled “ the Mother of alt the Phoenicians.” Wb found it any thing but attractive- in-appear ance! It has now a population of only 9000. We' enough to get out of its filthy, crooked st'teetswith our missionary friends, and to turn bmr f faces towards the “ Tombs of the Kings;’* whdre we found the French Consul making ex cavations. Not a name could we find to tell who of?all the proud monarchs of “ Great Zidoii”'once sat’upon her-throne. We were -told that sarco phagi Of admirable workmanship, as well as beau tiful marble columns had been broken up and Burnt to make lime. This may’be one reason we saw'so few ruins. On our way to Tyre, we passed ancient Sarepta or- Zarepheth. While : upon the spot; ;we read wltK deep interest the seventeenth -chapter of 1 SSh|s, givii4 the account of Elijah’s visit to that bity.. ; , A^ r another long ride .of more than eight hours, we found our tents pitched By 1 the side of the wall of Tyre,’ close tp the ruins of the ancient city, which are now all scattered about in the water. The next morning, as the Doctor and I in bathing, we laid our clothes on a large, red granite pillar,' half imbedded in the sand. If ypu will turn to the twenty-sixth and twenty -1 chapters of Ezekiel, you will find a most graphic account of the destruction o£ that wicked «&• We, too, could but exclaim, “ How art thou destroyed that wast inhabited of sea-fating men, the renowned city which wast strong in the »ea, she and her inhabitants, which cau-ed their .-terror to be on all that haunt it.” As we looked inyain for traces of old Tyre, or Palsetyrus, which Alexander the Great cast into'the sea, for Abridge over which to lead his armies to the caj)J.ure of insular Tyre, the word's of that old prophet seemed' to say in our ears, ! “ For thus saith the Lord God, When I shall make thee v a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhab ited; when I shall bring up.the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover' tliee; I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt he no more; though thou .be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found.” We thought, too, of the time when Paul visited the city, (Acts xxi. 3-7.) He must have found ,warin' friends and true Christians even among that wicked people; for he says, " They all brought us on our way, with their wives and children, till we were out of the city, and we kneeled down on the shore and prayed.” Ji, few miles east of Tyre, we found the tomb of Hiram. It was most impressive to look upon those great stones, piled up twenty-one feet high, and to reflect that since the days of Solomon, . •"> Y in ( • these had marked the last resting place of his iiriend; who' rendered'such valuable assistance in furnishing material for the temple. "We halted for lunch at Kanah. Michael Hany, our most excellent dragoman, in a short time spread out for us, under an olive tree, his for which our long ride in the cool air had given us an appetite. But before we were half through, all the village children had gath ered around us. The way we took from Tyre to Banias was not very much frequented, so we were quite a novelty in Kanah. We seized upon the 'opportunity to hold a children’s meeting. No bill had to be rung, for they were all- there. Michael interpreted while we tried to tell them about the children in America, and especially how some 'of them‘"have learned to love the Sa vibufi They seemed quite moved at the thought that we had come all the way from America; to visit the land where the Lord Jesus died'on the cross to save sinners. j way. from Kanah lay through one of the dhep, solemn gorges of the “Hills of Haphtalk” We had read in Hr. Thompson's “ Land and the Book” that it was one of those “wadies” which “now abound in large leopards, in bears, wolves, hyenas, and many other kinds of destructive ani mals.” For a path, we had only the rocky bed of a mountain torrent. In fact, we often made the remark/that the “ hills” might, with as much Propriety, ‘ have. been ’ called moan tains.' Were they not in tlie vicinity of Mount Hermon, 10,000 feS't high, they might have, been so called. Re peatedly we had to' dismount to let tlie' horses leap over great rocks. JUBt at Bunsct we reached THE AMpiCAN PRESBYTERIAN, FEBRUARY 14, 1867. the summit. In front of'us, lay Tibnen crowned with its ancient! castle, built" by the crusaders. We found our tents.pitehed just beneath itsruing, which we took-much interest-in exploring the' next day. •’ As we gazed upon those acres of mas sive ruins, we were more impressed than ever with the great work of the crusaders in seeking to rescue from the hands of the Mohammedans the sacred places in Palestine. We learned that for eighty years this Btronghold, built A. D. 1107, was held by the Christians. It was captured By Saladiu, whose, tomb we remembered to have seep at Damascus. A few years after, the Christians, under the Duke of Brabant, attempted to re-take it. . For four weeks they battered away at its high walls, and when it was quite ready to capitulate, dis sensions arose among the besiegers, and all their efforts .were lost.. Alas ! how often do God’s people follow the disastrous example of these crusaders! Who does not remember the time, in almost every commu nity, when Satan’s kingdom .seemed ready, like this castle, to surrender,' and when it appeared as if only a little .more prayer and united- effort' would accomplish the desired-result? On our way to Banias-(Cesarea Philippi,) the first object of attraction was the extensive view, from a high hill called Munarab. Fifteen hun dred feet below us lay the valley and lake of Huleh or Merom. The lofty summit of Lebanon was all a-rglow with the bright light of the morn ing sun. To the south of us, lay the hills of- Galilee and Samaria. Pages would not.-sufficc (O' speak of all we saw and felt from that high look out. The view might be, likened to that from tha Bigi in Switzerland, owing more especially (! to its isolated position. On every side of us were, places of scriptural interest. Below, were the sources of the sacred river, in which the Son of God-was baptized. The scene left an impression on our minds which? no words can describe. From, that high eminence we got a very good idea of the principal; localities, in Northern Palestine. In a: few hours’ time we were by the side of one pf, the cool “Fountains of Jordan," which spring up from the earth just by the. side of old Dan, the city which marks the northern boundary of the possessions t of. the chil dren of Israel. The amount of .water which we there saw bubbling up, fresh ,aud sparkling from the earth, was sufficient .to turn a large water r wheel. ,1 had never , seen any thing like It. ; We found scarcely “ one stone.left upon an other” to mark the spot where, stood Dan, the city which Benhadad smote, nearly a .thousand years before the advent of the Son of God, ‘.(l Kings xv. 20.) ( ... . As we were toiling up the hill from.l>an to Cesarea Philippi, now called Banias, we met Rev. Mr. Eddy, who had kindly come down. to meet us, that he might point out to us some, of the most interesting ruins of that city, where Christ healed the demoniac after coming down from the mount of transfiguration. We found traces, of a large city scattered in all directions. It must have contained many fine buildings, for we found within its fallen or crumbling walls massive stones and beautiful prostrate columns, „ We were soon at another source of the Jordan, where we saw quite a large stream bursting from beneath the great “ cave of Banias,” by the side of which were the ruins of the temple of Paniutp. On the face of the rock, hundreds of feet ..in per pendicular height, were Greek inscriptions, show ing the temple to have been of heathen origin. But the chief thought which .impressed our minds at Banias, was the assurance that our Saviour had been there in the days of His incarnation, and that He had. doubtless drank of the same foun tain which was so refreshing to us. after our Jong ride. The view from the eminence on .which Banias is situated, all alive; as it is with sparkling streams of water,, gushing from the .foot of Mpunt Hermon, reminded me a little pf. my yisit,,five yeap since, to Tiyoli,; fifteen miles, from Rome, where Horace and Maecenas had , their country seats. But while that, was classic ground, this was more sacred by the visit of J esus the Messiah. After healing the. blind man at Bethsaida, he doubtless came along the east hank of the, Jordan, into the coast of Cesarea Philippi, (Matt. xvi. 13.) Most likely in, or near the city took place his conversation with.regard to his divinity,.when Peter exclaimed, “ Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth.them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured be fore them: and his face did shine as the,sun, and his raiment was whife as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them, Moses and Elias, talk ing with .him.” (Matt. 17,.) There seems to be little doubt in the minds of those who have made it a matter of study, that <yi some point of Mount Hermon, rather than on Mount Tabor, the hea venly visitants “ appeared in.glory, and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jeru salem.” (Luke ix. 31.) No one supposes it was pn the top, but as we turned our eyes up Her nion’s lofity sides, we could easily fix upon.' nu merous projecting points, where the scene might have transpired. . Every true Christian is both a laborer and a soldier, working with one hand fighting with the other, and called by the sound of the Gospel al ternately to his work and to the conflict. Neh. iv-17. CONSISTENCY vs, HYPOCRISY. a word for the Sjinisjter’s wipe. Mrs. Sharpremarked one day, “I do not think it looksLwellJor a minister’s wife to dress so gay as Mrs. Meek does. We are taught to look up to the minister’s family for an example in all things.” Indeed! Madam, what is there that should lead you to prescribe a rule of conduct on the ground .that shb is a minister’s wife ? ' Dock sh,e .hold-, any-office that makes her differen t from. any. other woman in the parish ? Did the parish have any thing ito do or say in the choice that placed her in that position ? Has she taken any vow or made, any profession that requires the duty of plain dressing any more than any woman in the church ? Certainly not. She Has pro fessed religion, united with the church and taken the covenant, neither more nor less than you and every other sister in the church. If she is under any,obligation to heed your remark, then all are. Qr is it because her husband is a minister that she ought to live more strictly? If so, it were well if the Lord would provide more ministers, and would ordain that all the brethren of the church should hold the offiee for a time, that tlieir wives might be brought under obligatiqn/to keep his commandments, if there is no .other way. Or is it because her husband occupies a promi nent place in the community, that makes her example of more importance ? It is true that the, Scriptures have noticed this reason. But do not. lose sight of 1 the rule ip. the application, li that be your reason, then ought the wife of Office to dress plainly. There is, also Mrs. Mer chant, able to expend, more money than any other sister in the church, and holding the most influential position in'the society of the town. Whatever enterprise is undertaken, it must haye, her sanction. If she adopts it, it is carriedthrough; if she opposes, it, 1 is killed. She has a far more prominent place than the minister’s wife., Have you ever said that you thought Mrs. Merchant, the observed of all observers, should .dress in a very plain way, because of her prominent posi tion? It is safe to say you never did. You have more likely saidthatshe was excusable for herextravagan.ee, that she ought to dress accord ing to the circle she rno.ved in. . . . l)id ,1 not hear you say, once, that you, would yourself like to have a set of nice furs, like those of Mrs. Merchant? yet,the minister's, vyife never wore furs, nor expects to while her husband re 4 M!mains in the ministry . She would' be glad to have money enough to pay their family expenses, and educate her children, scarcely hoping for a competence for old age. I doubt, Mrs. Sharp, 'whether,you had in you'r mind one Valid reasofi i for your remark abouj Mrs. Meek. . ; have you considered what was, really im plied by your basing the rule upon the ground that Bine was the minister’s wife ? You meant to | excuse all .the other ladies of the church, your- I self included, from the performance of a certain irksome duty. And who are you, pretending to deal out indulgences for sin in the church of Christ? Where did you get, your authority? We 'know there are those .who pretend to have such authority, but they tell whence and how it comes, and put a respectable appearance upon it. We, in our' church,, are accustomed to call it a false and blasphemous, claim. Bjut how do you dare to give to any one license to sin? If there is any thing that the minister’s wife ought' to do, it is .commanded in the law of Christ, which Jaw has made no exceptions. If you intend to break the.law, trusting that it the judgment there will be respect of persons, you will find out your mistake to your sorrow, the matter of the dress of, the minister’s wife is one on which there mio-ht I J- t t -- I - i, -i f '' ~ ;f . &t be room for difference of opinion. The law concern mg what is befittipg a women professing godliness, needs to he interpreted with sound wisdom, and with great caution, lest there be error leaning to the side of selfishness. It is quitepossible that it might haye been better for the minister’s wife to expend less upon her wardrobe, that she might show to, t the world that dress was not a matter of the first importance, since we look for another country, even a heavenly—that she should have saved, more for the future, or. the poor or .the cau,se of Christ. But the decision of that ques tion, in her case, would apply to every woman in the church, including Mrs. Merchant and Mrs. Sharp. The rule is essentially. the same for all. Whosoever shall break one of these hast command ments, and shall teach men so, the same shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. If you deliberately adherTT to the principle of your re mark, you Kaye yet to learn the elements of the kingdom of God, and what is the nature of its binding force upon yourself. You cannot be allowed to claim the name of Christian unless you mean sincerely to obey all of Christ’s commands, j Your remark also implied, that the fundamen tal duties of Christian life may originate in man, rather than in God; that a person,may have the choice' of two different courses of life, one of which will make the law of God of none effect, and the other will make it applicable. It con tains the seed principle of that error of Roman ism called Voluntary Humility. You assume that the minister’s wife was bound to greater sanctity, but had she occupied a different posi tion, she> might have been : excused. There is scarcely a step from this to the notion, that there is a gredt merit in assuming such a position, i Here we can see the origin of the Romish idea i of the stfnctity of the priesthood, and popehood , and sainthood; and let this idea find a place in the hearts of the people, Agrad, there will grow up that other df • the "’sujiererogatory merit of that sanctity, and a new method of atonement will be adopted, whereby men may be saved some other way than by the merits of the only name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. This consciousness of superior sanctity on the part of the saint would lead to pride and consequent corruption, and to ignoring of the fact that all aie; dejpendeht lipon God, as mere servants,. who, when they, have done all that was commanded, would be merely unprofitable, and to forgetting that he that' knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to Min it is sin. If any wonder how the mystery of iniquity began to work in the primitive church, let them loot about them. Furthermore, that remark was made in the real Pharisaical Spirit of lading others with heavy burdens, and not lifting them with one of their fingers. Besides that, it contained another -idea' of Phariseeismthe rule was drawn not' frdtn the law of God, but ’from the traditions of men’ This tradition' is no donbt shaped somewhat by the model which ministers’ wives have furiiished. As far as it conforms to the law of God, let it be followed, but only because it is the law of God. In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrine the cominandments of men.'* The remark was also uttered"with something of a'self-righteous feeling,—the critic and denouncer thinking that she was more righteous in* her station than the other in hert.—iPiirt'fan. 1 REMARKABLE. RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT IN SHANTUNG PROVINCE. Foo Chow, Nov;, 1866. A communication with the above caption has just appeared in the C'/iina dfai7, llong Kong. It is from the pen of Rev. J.Doolittle, ofthe North China Mission, and, therefore; reliable. As your readers may ndt otherwise sefe-a narra tive whose facts seem so strange, yet blessed here, I cheerfully communiod'te it through your col umns. I must condense somewhat; but will be faithful in every essential particular. ; ’ About last February an aged stranger was seen in one ofthe streets o‘f’Tientsin (where Mr. Doo- . little resides) inquiring where he could get infor mation about the Roman Catholic religion. Some one directed him to-the Protestant chapel of the ’English Methodist (new”-connection); Mission. He eagerly sought the place, and found the' na- tive assistant preaching from the- Beatitudes eh the “ bleSse’dness of the pure Iff hearth He manifested'great jjoy on hearing -the d seourse, and subsequently made the following statement s: He lived’in Boh-Ting,’distant from'Tientsin : about 450 ’li (over 100 'English' mflesy and about 7 or 8 only from the south- border of Chili pro vince. His age was ’6B years. Some months previous he was-siek,-ahd believed himself near death. He felt that ;he was a very great sinner, and unprepared. His lnind' v was deeply depressed, And hVcould fidd no rest not SatisfactionV ! One night he dreamed that he was conducted by a superior being, to the gate of a magnificent palace. He had never seen ahy thing so grand and beau tiful. Looking in, he saW that it was filled with splendor, and Inhabited by many happy beings like his conductor. • On attempting to enter, he : was told that such as he were not admitted. No unclean or vile person was allowed within. And then thegreat difference between himself and these happy ones was pointed out to him. He.was as sured, however, that he was not to die for some; time, and that, if he became pure, after death he could enter the pa’la'ce and join in its pursuits. He awoke astonisßed, hilt could hot comprehend the dream. Full of longing to understand it, he slept again, and dreamed substantially the Same dream. In the morning he told it to his friends, but mo one could give a satisfactory explanation. He recovered from his illness, but his distress of mind increased in view of the vision. At length it occurred to him that there were some native Roman Catholics* in his neighborhood. - He went to them and described his feelihgs and his dream, but they were utterly unable to answer his’inqui ries. They directed him, however, to go to Tient sin, and seek instructions from Roman Catholics there. He started without delay, and, on reach ing the city, was directed to the Prote-tant chapel above referred to, ■’ < His story and evident sincerity excited much in terestat the'time.- Forsevcral weeks hffattended the chapel services, read Christian books, and learned all he could about the new doctrine; which he embraced joyfully. Finally, he returned to his distant home; carrying with him the pre cious books. ' ’ ' After several weeks had elapsed, he appeared again at Tientsin, with a letter signed by a num ber of his neighbors, who had become deeply in terested in the statement of his experien ch at that city, and in the truths of the. books. The letter requested that a native'Christian might be sent to Loh-Tihg to explain them more fully. j t a j g6 stated that the interest was widening, and that many desired instruction. In accordance with this request, the Methodist Mission sent back with 1 the old gentleman a sup ply of books and a native assistant. The latter was absent about a month, and on his return gave wonderful accounts of the serious attachment of a comparatively large number of the people to the Qespel. Soon afterwards, two colporteurs were Bent to Loh Ting, who Spent a month there. ' On their return they confirmed the previous accounts and bore an invitation for a foreign missionary tr, go and administer baptism to -those who should be judged suitable candidates. Slit as one nf the two members of the mispiotl -was then at sent at Shanghai, and the other could not be spared from his post, a native preacher and bis wife were sent instead of the foreign missionary. On the 4th of September, one of the mission aries started for the place, and in nine or ten days sent back intelligence of a deeply interesting nature, more than confirming the statements mads by the natives. The other missionary then went to Loh Ting and assisted his associate in the work of examination and baptism. They, b'oth returned on the 29th of September! and made known the following interesting facts: —After careful and prayerful examination, they baptized 45 persons of whom 18 are women and 27 are men. There are several tens more, % good portion of whom are females, who desire baptism. The village of Loh-Ting district, where the chief interest cen- tres, bears the .name of .the family clan, of which the old gentleman above mentioned is the head. It is a small village, surrounded by similar ones, only a few li apart. The. interest extends in all directions. Some come on Saturday afternoon from 20 to 40 li and more, Fringing food and bedding, so as to attend the Sabbath services, re turning Sabbath afternoon after the second ser vice. One old man, aged 72, living 45 li distant, was heard, to say that, if, the foreign teachers could afford to come 450 A", he could come 45, and,so he walks that distance Saturday afternoon to hear the Gospel. " The native helper, before £hq missionaries ar rived, remarked publicly, one Sabbath,* on the duty of destroying their idols and instruments of superstition. On the following, day, 17 families brought their image's, pictures, etc., and burned them in the'helper’s presence. . ’ ' The Sabbath is strictly observed,!!! some things. The Christians, of their own accord, have made a 'rule that, during the intermissions'of the services while preparing and eating their meals* no secular topics .of conversation shall be introduced", as those relating to their farming and gathering the crops. As those attending the meetings are "farmers or laborers on farms, it is manifest that the rule is a practical one, and evidences their enarncstuess and sincerity. . - ’ ! 1 * Those living in the village go to their farm work early in the morning. Returning for break fast about 9 o’clock, they meet in the chapel for worship about half an hour, and then go again to itheir work- In the evening, after supper, they assemble again for worship. ' ' - The women are not so reserved as respectable Chinese females usually are, often meeting in the (same, building with the men, and manifesting a desire to hear the word for themselves. The wife of the native helper has a good infiuen'es amoni; them, and sometimes 20 or 30 of them bring their needle-work, etc., to her hou3.e, and "set and work while she reads and explains* the Bible. Some of them, too, can read. " ll " ‘ These Christians are said topiray with fervency and propriety, and to sing Hymns, if not accord ing to rules of music*’yet With' animation, with the Spirit, if not with the understanding. They have, what cannot be said generally If native Christians, an affecting , arid profound sense of their personal sinfulness and unworthiiiess. They manifest an ardent desire for .'tfe,' conversion of their families and neighbors, of which their prayers, as well as their daily conduct, give abun dant evidence. ' ' " " " Our missionary brother,' in conclusion, speaks of «e above movement as “ unprecedented," so far as China isnoncerned, and requests the reader to “ remember that the work, was commenced and carried on, titt less than one month ago , without the prince 0 f a foreign nii&ionary, and that previous to last spring no one in Loh-Ting knew any tiling about the Bible or its doctrines as ex plained by Protestant missionaries.” The future hn says, will tell ] more perfectly than we now know th e real nature and extent of the work. It appeals to be an extrusive and genuine turnip from idolatry to. the worship of the true God. I beg that your readers will ponder carefully the deep significance of this movement. Look at the wonderful, providences and the means, then at the glorious results and the precious promise for the .future. Surely, God is .with L, ami , dna s redemption seems nedr at hand. Dear brethren in the ministry, and all who love Christ nd the souls for whom he died, take this account o your monthly concerts and family altars, to t** 0 ' and pray over it; Men af ‘ eeded simply to guide such movements and her more ordinary operations/ Who will com. n the loye of Jesus and a helping hand in Am grand work of Chlna’ftegeneration ? As ever, yours truly, C. Q. Baldwin. bf Hebfet W kp r, l ic Marseilles, in 1806. father and or .Perhaps of a Hebrew Jew and nas.t r a “ m 0t T heF ' .?e looked like a for twelve P hours after aU h!s life aßli bad been death - Preparation. of the synagogue Mrenuraitf the body all nidi* » W 0 rabbins had sat up with creed. An hour w- reClt f Ac Payers of their the funeral bis Ae time appointed for known architect) discovered Shi his DaDern „„ ~e , erecl while hunting among The P funeral “ A C l te ° f his Christian baptism, tired, dud the nrießt^™ 3 ' I^'l, tbe ral)binß rc ‘ striking illitten !!?u? Seht for - What a ta Prance; neither J?p loosenc ?s of family tics whether their nearest lilf* dau 6 bter kneff tan. nearest kinsman was Jew or Chris-
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers