eimsq*titutt.
LETTERS TEA THE HOLY LAND. VIII
BY REV. EDWARD PAYSON HAMMOND
Al:tout noon, December Ist, we reached an emi
nence north of Jerusalem, which commands a fine
view of the city. We instinctively took off our
hats. We sat upon our horses for some time
iithout uttering a word. There, thought I, was
where Jesus died for me. In yonder valley, at
The foot of the Mount of Olives, He sweat drops
of blood at the thought of the bitter cup He was
soon to drink. We could well understand the
feelings which filled the hearts of the Crusaders,
as they gazed for the first time upon the city:
“it first transported with the pleasing sight,
E'ael Christian boson' glowed with full delight;
- But deep contrition soon their joy suppressed,
And holy sorrow saddened every breast.
Scarce 'dare their eyes the city walls survey,
Where clothed in flesh their dear Redeemer lay;
Whose sacred earth did once their Lord enclose,
And where triumphant from the grave Re rase.
Each took the example, as their chieftain led,
With naked feet, the hallowed soil they tread;
To humble thoughts their lofty hearts they bend,
And down their cheeks.thelpious tears descend.”
After passing 'within the lofty Jaffa gate,
`We were soon at a comfortable hotel, reading our
letters and papers which had been awaiting us
`from the United States.
A little before sunset, we started out with our
guide for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We
entered from a narrow street through a low door
into an open court, bounded, on one side, by
'the celebrated chili-eh, said to have been built over
the i)lace where dux 'Lord was crucified. As in
the temple of old, we SAW 'the money changers
sitting, and many selling rosaries of mother of
pearl and olive 'wood, and all kinds of memorials
of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. We'had
het expected to see so large an edifice. We were
told'that we probably'saw little of the original
structure; built by Constantine the Great at the
request of his mother, the Empress Helena.
As we entered the rotunda of the church, the
find object, that attracted our attention was a
building, 26 feet by 18, in the centre beneath
the lofty dome. "There," said our guide, "is
the HOLY SEPULCHRE." Crowds of pilgrims
from all parts of the world were waiting their
turn to enter. When our turn came, we entered
the sepulchre. It is a quadrangular vault meas
uring 6 feet by 7. The right side is elevated
.some •three feet; on this elevation, it is claimed,
the body of Jesus lay. It is now used for an
altar: It was worn smooth with the kisses of the
'thousands who, from morn till night, year after
year, press in to render this act of homage.
Forty-two lamps of gold and silver hang over it
and are kept burning continually.
We saw no remains of the Solid rock in which
the tomb is said to have been hewn. Marble,
gold, and silver only appeared. The question,
arose in my mind, If there is no deception about
this, -why do they not let the real rock appear ?
"If the brown lichen now were free to twine
O'er the dark entrance of that rock-hewn .ell,
':Say, should we miss the gold-encrusted shrine?
Or incense fumes' intoxicating spell?
Would not the whispering breeze, as evening fell,
Make deeper music in the palm trees'shade
Than choral prayer of chanted ritual swell?
'Can the proud shafts of Helen's colonnade
Match thy time-honored stones, Gethsemane's
holy shade?"
As we came out of the sepulchre, we went at
once to that part which, it is claimed, was built
over Golgotha. We were deeply impressed with
the sights we there witnessed. One was that of
a little boy engaged in prayer. All who ap
proached that shrine appeared deeply solemn and
'impressed.
Numerous writers, in speaking of their feelings
within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, have
expressed themselves as thoroughly disgusted
with all they saw. But, I must confess, it was
not so with me. Not that I was more credulous
as to these being the real places where our Lord
was crucified and buried, but yet I could not re
sist the tide of holy feeling which came over me.
Men of sound judgment, and writers of eminence,
have, with much learning and argument, at
tempted to show that this church is built over
the place of the crucifixion.
With a full heart I might have sung the words
of Joseph Swain, written three quarters of a een-
tory ago :
"On the wings of faith uprising
Jesus crucified I see,
While His love, my soul supriaing,
Cries, 'I suffered all for thee.'
Then beneath the cross , adoring,
Sin cloth like itself appear,
When the wounds of Christ exploring
I can read my pardon there,
"Who can think without admiring?
Who can he'ar and nothing feel?
See the Lord of life expiring
let retain a heart of steel ?
"Angels here may gaze and wonder
What'the God of love could mean,
When He tore the heart asunder
Never once defiled with sin,"
Ne lingered for a long time in the " Chapel of
the Elevation of the Cross," part of the time
watching the pilgrims as with bended knees they
approached and kissed the altar, which is raised
eighteen inches above the floor, and which, they
claim, is directly over the place where the crosses
of our Lord and the two thieves were erected.
As with my wife I'left the church, I found that
she had been as much affected at all she had seen
as myself. In fact, I cannot understand how
THE A. ERICAN PRE'
any one, who loves the heid Jcsds,,c4. that
• 0
. •
church with an' iinfeelin head
Thi nextirroininti. *a up "when- it yet
dark," thinhinOf t "first day 6f tlielfeek' s
when Jesus .triumphant over death and the
grave. I Could not sleep. And as I saw the sun
lighting up, little by little, the top of the Mount
of Olives, I thought of how our Saviour there
sperit whole nights in prayer.
Sabbath morning we heard Rev. Dr. Barclay
preach; after which we sat down at the Loriys .
table on " Zion's hill," not ?ar from the spot:
where, it is believed, our risen Lord instituted
that sacred ordinance, saying to His disciples :
"As often as ye eat this bread and drink 'this
cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come."
A goodly company were assembled, and the whole
service was most refreshing. Various denomina
tions were represented.
THE PAY OF THE MINISTER--HOW 'IT
LOOKS A LITTLE WAY OFF.
The preacher was presenting the cause of -Min
isterial Relief, and showing why so many aged
ministers were in need of aid. His text Was 1
Cor, ix. 14: " Even so hath the Lord ordained,
that they which preach 'the Gospel should live of
the Gospel." He carefully explained that a
ing included not only a means of support while
in the harness, but also the cost of his training
or apprenticeship (taking it for granted that the
parent should provide for his youth and for ac
quiring the rudiments of a good education) but
also a competence for himself and companion
during the superannuated period of old age. He
proved that by this rule not one minister in ten
received a full living from the preaching of the
Gospel; that the apprenticeship came either from
charity, to the great injury of the independence
of character of the ministry, or from their patri
mony rarely adequate to their necessities, "and that
during old age they were paupers, either on the
bounty of their relatives, or the Church, or, in
some 'eases the State,—it mattering little which,
—and that in fine, if, upon receiving a call, any
one entered upon the work without gold and sil
ver and brass and scrip, from some source, so
little was the church to be trusted, he would end
in hopeless debt.
In order to show the 'nature of the sacrifices
coolly demanded of the ministry by the Church,
he used the following illustration :
" Suppose a church to be without a house of
worship, and suppose it to be' necessary that
a man should he called of the Lord to build
church edifices, just as he is to build the spiritual
house. Also suppose that it is required that one
man should work alone, that it will take him
twenty years to. build one, and that including the
wages of that man, which Are to be the-bare cost
of living, the whole expense i 5.520,000, or.slooo
a year. Let the property of the church be taken
at the fair average of a country congregation, which
numbers ten men worth each $20,000, twenty
worth each $lO,OOO, and enough in addition pos.
sessed of smaller sums to make up, with the
builder's $3,000, $lOO,OOO, in all $500,000.
The builder says to the church, 'Come, let - us
build the Lord's house. We will divide the bur
den according to our ability: To raise '520,000
in twenty years, or $lOOO yearly, would require
a tax of two dollars on a. thousand.' 'But they
answer, 'No. We cannot give so much as that.'
`But why not? Here is your neighbor who gives
ten dollars on a thousand and supports his family,
and yet he is a thriving man on a capital of 'two
thousand. He will soon be worth twice as much.'
But the people reply, 'Perhaps some might give
at that rate, but we have all got i eur families to
support, our debts to pay, and find that $17,000
is all that can be raised. We thought you would
throw in your $3OOO to make up the full amount.'
But how can you ask this of me, when you re;
fuse to give two dollars on a thousand—much
less than the annual increase?' But they ask,
`Are you not called to build churches ?" No
more than you are i.alled to give. Your-duty to
Christ is no less than mine. If I 'should' die in.
the midst of my work, who would support my
family, or how am I to' be supported 'in old age
.?'•
" His representations make no change. They
tell him that they can find other builders who
will be glad to lay down their three thousand.
He inquires far and near, and finds that all the
small country churches require the same terms.
He lays the case before the Lord, and asks if he
is to submit to such an unjust arrangement. The
Lord heeds not his question, but again, in louder
tones, announces to him, `I have called thee to
be a builder of churches.' He sees the people
scattered for want of an earthly fold, and 'goes
quietly and puts down his three thousand.
" Do they thank him that he makes this sacri
fice for them ? I trow not. They tell him that
he is fortunate in getting his daily bread, which
his experience of the dangers of being out, of em
ployment tells him is too true. By-and-by, owing
to advance in prices, they may fail to give him a
full living, and he may become involved in debt,
or compelled to make shifts or practice econo
mies that are not flattering to their pride; then,
if they do not conclude to turn -him off, they will
make him a present, will replenish his library, or
give him some furniture, or some clothing, or,
mayhap, a couple of hundreds in money, and then
blow their trumpet in the newspapers. It is so
easy to be generous—so hard to be just.
" The poor builder will be so reduced that he
will receive this gift from his loving people with
tears in his eyes. He labors on with a heart full
RIAN, THURSDA I .T, MAY 9, 1867.
•
oan dos ofike 'ig Lord ;
0
He prays the may nev ••..1 a in, old ag
4ird comma iLe his family to i.Y'W nevt'
leave tiotAitsidit. His gr*4 - i"expititi•
ence or fear of pOverty, but that his example and
teachiegs4asre - not borne better fruit on the part
of the people of his charge. When he is taken
hence, or becomes superannuated, that people
will now and then take up a collection for Minis
terial Relief, not every year, and the amount will
3bo :sometimes 440. sometimes 820, s sometimesslo.".
• , f- 1 . s . '•
- The preachefspoke as if lie "l ad *tonal et"-
perience of the‘ - shortcomings of +the Church. He
was not bitter 'nor misanthiopical. But , there
came•such a sad and hopeless look from his eyes,
and his voice was‘so tender and entailed, that it
was eVident that he had no hope of any improve
ment in his own. time.
But it was with a different manner that his
feelings rose in the peroration.
"But in all our experience of the shortcoming,s
of this age, we look away for consolation to the
future glory of the Church, when there shall be
no more selfishness nor worldliness in it, and
when the love Of Christ shall 'be stronger than the
love of gain. We know' that this Chinch of the
living God shall be built up into a spiritual house,
with solid foundations, strong walls, 'addrning of
precious workmanship, and that it shall fill the
whole earth. Within it shall he , erected that
system of machinery which , shall 'communicate
the power of the Church to every nation. What
a magnificent sight will be its movement, when
the vast cylinders shall 'be supplied with steam
from millions of fires; when the huge piston shall
lift the beam that, poised 'on a mountain, shall
extend across the Continent; when the immense
balance wheel shall reach above the clouds; when
the shafting shall stretch across the ocean, from
cliff to cliff, and distribute power by innumera
ble belts to every people under heaven !
"In this great spiritual workshop there shall
be perfect system and division of labor. Some
will supply materials, 'some prepare them. Some
will forge, some will smelt, some will roughly
frame and put together, some carve and adorn,
some inspect and add the finishing strokes.
There will be facilities for repairing and renovat
ing the machinery as it becomes 'worn out. In
quiet rooms apart, thoughful and patient men will
give their, 'lives to the work? of preparing new
machines and designing patterns for the work
,
men. And there will be foremen, and superin
tendents, and treasurers,' and paymasters, and
agents to regulate the supply of all demands.
There will be no waste of labor or of talent, but
each will be constantly employed in that which he
is best fitted for. r 404111ked the day when the
best energies of 'the • Ohurch shall 'be fully devel
oped, and all those 'energies shall ,hoe rightly di
rected." A.11DITOlt•
LETTER FROM BOSTON.
DEAR BROTHER MEARS : We have a cold and
backward season here, after a very snowy ,winter.
The spring really looks gloomy.
Rev. Dr. Kirk; who has been sick all winter,
is now able to preach again.
There has- been a grand contest ;between. the
friends of prohibition and license before the Com
mittee of our Legislature. Ex-Gov: Andrew led
the License_ men, and Rev. Dr. Miner, a Univer
salist minister, and President of Tuft's College,
the Prohibitionists. There is a great struggle to
get a new Jury law, that , will prevent liquor
sellers from sitting on trials of those who are en
gaged in that business. The bill has passed the
House, but by the majority of a single vote. It
is supposed the law on prohibition will not be .re
pealed. Eighty-one'tnore men have been added
to the State Constabulary,. so that matters look
promising for temperance.
Park Street Church;is still hearing candidates,
and the 'last report is, that they are •about calling
a Methodist from Brooklym, N. Y.
Last evening went to hear Rev. E. E. Hale,
at the Boston" neatre. -His text was, "The
simplicity in Christ Jesus." He had three heads :
Ist: Simplicity in , repentance; 2d. Simplicity in
resolution; 3d. Simplicity in prayer. It was all
very simple. He thought' people ought not to be
sorry for past sins—ought not wear long faces—
ought not paint Mary Magdalene, as tbe Romanists
do, looking sorrowful. His sermon was as good
as it could well have been, leaving out Christ
Jesus. He did, however, call him Lord. You
know, at their convention, last autumn, at Syra
cuse, N. Y., they had a hard contest to decide
whether or not Christ should be called Lord at
all. The better, part of these men call him Lord;
while the Humanitarians do not give him that title
at all. There is a great difference among Unitari
ans as to the Bible, and Jesus Christ, and all that
pertains to religion. While none of them be
lieve in His supreme Divinity, they assign , every
grade of position to him, from the highest created
intelligence down to a' mere peccable man, or
"the illegitimate Son of Joseph and Mary,"
The Presbyterian Church (0. S.) in this , city
is keeping pace with the Park Street Cliurch, in
hearing candidates "from Dan to Beersheba."
Last Sabbath, they heard Rev. Dr. McDonald,
from Princeton. There is a grand chance to
build up' a church here, and there are Presbyte
rians enough in' Boston to crowd the house to
overflowing, if they could, get the right man.
It is supposed that the Boston Recorder is to
BOSTON, April 22, 1867
+E . "' •
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0 „
41410,10 k "fee gli: fice4l4o, thoug)i I hum
beatdi pouch 4 1 00 , Obi - 11 4fff days.
here PO someoA*llo 4 1 04*, aric.l4l
- several fihuipbeit, but 40 YOU gmerai
revivals. There is 'a good work going on in
Quincy, in which Mr. Durant, a lawyer, riei& r and
converted, has been laboring with the pastor,
Rev. Mr. Thwing, and much good seems to have
been done.
The offices of the general Government in this
eity,havo,at, last been filled by pretty good and
loyal men. The political test here will be tem
perance and anti-temperance, and it will be a
great struggle. May it .be so in&Philadelphia.
LETTER TROM
'TIENTSIN, CHINA, Dec. 1866.
DEAR IMR. EDITOR :—The city from wbi,ch I
Send you this letter, is one of the • ports which
were opened to foreign residence and commerce
by the treaty.of Tientsin, in 1858. Its popula
tion is estimated to amount to ,nearly if not . quite
half a million. It •is usually called the seaport
of = Peking, though there is a river l on which
small lighters , or cargo-boats can go to within 13
or 14 miles of the capital, i. e.-Tunehau. _This
city is distant from Peking labout 72 English
-miles, and is the head. of steamboat nav,igatieu of
the North river on which it is situated. The
celebrated' Imperial Canal of China Emits north
ern terminus - here. ,This city is the centre of an
immense trade in „native and foreign vessels.
'lt is closed to vessels of all kinds from abroad by
ice in the river and in the Gulf of Pee:hile, into
which the River enters, from about Ist of De
cember to the Ist of March or .later, every •year.
During this interval, our postal communication
'with the , outeravorld is via mule and cart, ,or mule
and rider to Chefoo, around the southwest part
of .the Gulf of Peohile, a distance of some 400
miles, receiving and sending letters and papers
only about once =in four weeks. Some winters
spapers are not reeeived.at all, on account of their
bulk and weight, by the land :route from Chefoo.
I give you some data for believing, that this
is no "mean" or unimportant
. eity, in a commer
cial pointof view:
During the -month. of November, just: closed,
27 foreign vessels entered at this port,.of which
only 3 were. American, and during:the . same pe
riod, 40 cleared of which only 2 were American.
The imports principally consisted of :opium,
piece-goods, tea, lead, wood; paper, sugar, matches,
Sopan-wood, seaweed. The exports ,were cotton,.
fruits, and the.various miscellaneous, articles,, de
nominated in. the , customs' report ,as '"general."
The export of cotton vras,'!over io r gaa piewo r ol.
picul being'l33 English, pounds.) Thcimports of
cotton, piece-goods of all ,kingis ; was, 0ver1.23,000
pieces; of woolens of all descriptions. over, 10,000
pieces; of opium more than 1450.pieals. Over
995,000 taels of treasure, i. e. silver in hullion,
were taken away to four of the , more southern
consular ports, (a Mel of silver being, equal, in
value to.about one and one-third • Mexican dol
lars.) The number of needles imported was over
.34 millions !
,This port never exports any tea or silk to for
eign lands ; and none are produced in this part
of northern China. Very little or no English or
American broadcloth is imported, because broad
cloth from Russia can be sold • here at prices
which would not remunerate the English or
American trader. There are many very exten
sive fur stores here, at which excellent furs of
various kinds can be procured ; at a much cheaper
rate than, the same, eould be procured in western
i. e. English and American markets.
An immense quantity of Lucifer matches from
Germany, sewing needles, sewing-thread, window
glass, sheetings, and cotton goods, are introduced
yearly from foreign
_lands. A stranger cannot
but be struck by the quantity, of matches and
needles that are exposed to view in the streets
and in the shops.
I
desire t•o call attention to some statistics and
remarks relating to the importation and consump
tion of opium at this port:--
The total amount of taels collected here at the
Custom House in November for .tonnage axes,
coast trade, exports, imports, of all- kinds, was
70,524, of which 43,233 was the revenue on
opium :—.llfore than seven-tenths of the whole.
The opium which arrived at Tientsin, accor
ding to the Customs' official report, in November,
1864, was 374 piculs, in November, 1865, 1148
piculs, and in the same month this year, 1451
piculs, which does not include 744 piculs, which
had reached the mouth of the river on four
steamers but had not been duly reported at the
Customs'. The amount of opium imported into
this port during this year is officially reported t&
be 7,831 piculs, which is declared to be "about
an eighth, probably of all the opium imported
into China during the same period." The price
per picul varies from, about. 600 taels to 900 taels.
A few days ago the, price was, 760 taels per picul
or a trifle over 7 dollars per pound.
From the above data your readers can estimate
the costliness of the vice of opium -smoking here,
and the .relative position which traffic in that
drug holds, the business of foreign vessels,
and foreignmerehants; but they can not ,estimate
in figures the ruin, the misery which its consump
tion brings; upon those who become addicted to
its use. A few foreigners, born and educatefl in:
Christian lands, derive imine.nse. pecuniary profit,
from dealings in it, but at the expense of the
health an,d the req.* or the tlogemokers of
it. It enricho thp fin', but i littes as well
as demoralize# •
As far as .t 1 knowledge e 4 di* siter extends,
there is but one or two foreigefirms in all the
consular ports of China, who do not deal in the
drug more or less extensively, or hold boxes of it
on deposit as the representative of value, much
as they would receive es socuritybonds or wort_
gages of real estate. Traffic in opium is declared
a "necessity." It is "legalized," and so far as
legality is concerned, it is as respectable as traf
fic in cotton, or silk r or tea. ...Professing Chris
tians, who deal in the drug, justify their course
by Elite plea tbat if they did not friAeliq. others
would, and bythe difficulty of conducting com
mercial business profitably and expeditiously with
out buying and selling it, or holding it for sale on
commission. -
w.M.O
The consumption of opium is undoubtedly on
the increase. Its use extends among all classes
of society, male and female, rich and poor, the
learned And the unlearned, officials and non-offi
cials, all ranks and conditions are among its vie
tires. The Chinese nation, through.it, is becom
ing poorer
* by so much as the people who use it
Are therapy rendered incapable of productive
labor, whether on account of lass of cherecter or
sickness, or weakness of body, as well as by the
.amount of, money actually paid outfor the drug.
The,poskto the nation is not to be reckoned as
simply the ,value of the opium represented by
dollars and, cents. Many other things,must enter
into the calculation in order to understand fully
what a curse the use of opium is to the Chinese
people, as individuals, and to Chinese nation as a
whole. .God only foresees, and foreknows the re
sult. The prospect appears , very dark. De
structiVe and deplorable as the, present use of
,opium is, there appear to be no human means of
averting still_ greater and worse consequences,
socially, morally, and financially.
It is no secret that some, not to ,say many, of
the Chinese who have become memhers of Chris
tian Churches, under the care of Ainerican and
English Missionaries, are, proved from time to
time to he o,pium-smpkers. This ,discovery of
course leads to suspension or expulsion. Mis
sionaries feel that habitual takers of opium can
not be sincere lovers of and believers in Jesus
Christ. Few, if any of those who have been
suspended or expelled on account of opium -smok
ing seem to have a deep sense of their sinful
,ness, or a sincere hatred of the vice. Its use en
slaves the ,minds and bodies not only, but also
blunts the,moral percePtiona Of its 'victims.
We feel that the 'Gospel is the only . Antidote.
Yours, very , sincerely, &c.,
JIISTUS DOOLITTLE..
hr ; the , : introductory .paragraph ; of the,artide in
,your last, nurnher = ",The , Brainerd. ,Memorial
Sabbath-school" there are believed) one or
two errors. Perhaps it is a matter of no conse
quence, but what is not worth, stating ,correctly
is hardly worth stating,at
When the marvellous success,of the efforts to
reclaim the lowest and most
.wretched class of
children in the cities of England. And , Scotland
became known here, some persons were disposed
to try,their hands at the same work. It ,could
not be, denied, that multitudes of 'forlorn and al-
Most naked,chiidren were uncared ,for, by exis
ting schools. Their "ragged" condition was the
most common apology,for non-attendance. It is
the peculiarity of the "ragged school" that it admits
children directly from the ,streets in their street
condition and garb; takes .them "in the rough;"—
cages them in their , wild state, and does not at
tempt an organization into classes, nor their sub
jection to the order and discipline , of a church
school. This is postponed until the taming stage
past. The exercises are. appropriate to the
condition and character , of the pupils; singing
being an essential and prominent feature.
The proposition, here, was to take the second
floor of one of the large ware-rooms on Broad St.,
which, will hold, perhaps, 3000 children—fitted
up,roughly but comfortably; secure a select com
pany of labour-loving, muscular teachers (and
several were eager for it) and make the , place as
attractive as possible by legitimate means. The
idea was to have something like the famous
Stockport school, and had the proposition been
entertained, we should, have had in our city, du
ring the last 15 or 20 years, a school , not less in
teresting and valuable than the_Railroad Mission
school in Chicago.
Bit some prudent, economical gentleman thought
not well of !inch a concentration of interest, and
advocated the expenditure of the same amount
of money and zeal, upon several 'localities; and
accordingly ground was purchased and a building
erected as the article states. It cost (it is be
lieved) seven thousand dollars. It was within
bow-shot of schools already established, and it is
doubtful if
,twenty-five children were ever en
rolled in it, who hail not convenient access to
schools in this vicinity. No doubt a'good Sun
day-school was kept there and nothing is farther
from us than to disparage the enterprise or with
hold full credit from those who -took part in it.
What, we. regard as errors in the statement re
ferred io, 'Ure—
I. That the building on Christian below Sixth
street was ever known as "the Robert Raikes
Ragged-school."
2. That it was ever, proposed, po carry on a
, .0.
school, tAere npon the plan of the London Rab
ged-school. 'And `' -• '
3. That parents or Children refused to counte
itance it because of the_naine. •
NOT AXACTLY OORREOT.
STICKLER.