glic
,:k.•#wri./01.', -rcslitp/Irrim.l
New Series, Vol. IV, N (5. -44.
$3 00 By Mail. 03 50 'By Denier.
50cts Additional after three Mouths. 1
gmaitait Vrtsbytitiat.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1867
PREPARING TIIE WAY 01 0 , TRE s LORD.
Will the Lord visit his churches with
special blessings dt pgoe : season-uflabor
which has just commenced? Mal2y hearts
are weighing this question td-day; to many
inure it should come home; as; .the greatest
of all questions. We crave present prosper
ity for the Church. Per the ` Church as a
whole, there should be no season which is
not a time of harveStynhCo itigathering.
This winter, too, she4l; • Nitinese : graaons
m anifestations of Divine power: ;. • :.
We should look for them, The. Lord
has encouraged us by himself-preparing the
way in some most important respects. He
has roused the expectation aad increased the
faith of the church, by the, frequency. and
power of his recent visitations, hap so
to speak put the. churches ,:in...the inood
to receive his favors. They haVe caught
hint of something. like ep,ationont?.. revival.
Perhaps since the time of 1858, there is; a
more general recognition i'ever , the, 7vhole
Christian world, than ever hefore„ Ofi. the le
gitimacy and necessity of suctrtnethods of
divine and human activity . as
_are termed
Revivals." There is less, stiffness of the
joints, less awkwardness in getting Work
,
under revival conditione, and less reaction
afterwards than formerly— Thee minister
and people of God in Alab midst of abundant
labors, seem to renew their strength; they
run and are not weary, they walk and faint
not. The multiplication of seasons Of epecial
religious interest, with .a diminution of'the
intervals between them, suggests the approxi
:nation of that period of continuouarevival
which has become the. hope of; many •spirit-
wally-minded Christia;tis
Moreover, the .w ay a the Lord. ; is prepared
by the constant increase and better organi
zation of effort 'forr44olfingi'# , Q: "masses
outside of regular . church ordinances
—the, heathen at home. In foreign mis
sions, too, signs ' of
. this preparation are
seen, in the exact knowledge which is now
being reached of the nature and - limitations
of the work to be done by the churches at
home. To evangelize the accessible portions
of the world we need but one foreign mis
sionary for every one hundred thousand of
the population ; an authority in Turkey says
one for every one hundred and sixty thou
sand, in a largepart of that field. We know
what we ought to attempt to-day for China.
In the chief centres of heathenism the pre
liminary work of evangelizing has been
Mona "The skirmish line," said Secretary
Clark at Buffalo, " has done its work; it is
time for the grand army to advance and
take possession in the name of the
great Leader." Said Newman Hall at the
same place : "We have passed through the
Wilderness, and stand at length before the
Richmond of unbelief. The linos are, all
drawn, the mines laid, and who can tell
when the order for the great assault shall
be given? It is no time to falter."
In our own 'country, according to Prof.
B. Smith's report to the Evangelical Al
liance, at least three-fourths of the entire po
pulation are under the dominant influence
of the chief Protestant churches. In 1800
there was one communicant to about fifteen
of the population, in 1832 it was one to ten,
in 160 one to six. Is there not a great
preparation for the coming of the Lord in,
dicated in these figures ?
Moreover, just at this time, there is a
stagnation in business and an uncertainty
about the future in this and other coun
tries, which will be found favorable to se
rious thoughts. Men are not going to be
carried away with speculative excitement;
many probably will be made to feel by ac
tual experiment the vanity of the worldly
good on which they have relied; Oil fevers,
gold fevers, railroad fivers are not going to
Sweep; over the country, which looks with
distrust even on legitimate enterprises.
Bet let not these broader generalizations
carry us away from our own wants and duties
and from the specific .work of the season.
Each minister and each congregation, and
every individual Christian needs to ask what
they can do, in their own sphere, for prepar
ing the way of the Lord. The minister
should form his plans ; should lay out be
forehand his pulpit work; should choose
16 6 points and methods of attack, consider
his difficulties and arm himself, calling
1 6july 68
John N.
upon God for the precise aid • which he
needs in the precise work be is to do.
The individual church has also its •work
of preparation—its humiliation and-prayers;
its clearer separation kom die wOrld—iits
Cdfnpleter organiiation for 'work within its
berders, as Well 'as for its Share of the unre
claimed' material' without. And= 'finally,
every•individnal Christian should 'n'o'w be
tatisideriiiewbat 'he ) or ishe"can do iri2-pre
pitiring'the - way . of thetordr;- what bbst r acleA
to the Lord's work M his -own- Oliiiraeter,
habits • or example,• he ;aft - tedriadve';lrfrbin
what worldly :asiotiatiois • ho.. cad and
should break- :away . ; 'Whi,t seitrle re
sponsible for, "niorii - than'lantP-btliat
And every 'one' hoWerbr 'humble, ixiay..join
with others to do his part. ` '`Thousands` of
workmen are needed -to' f . .)TtildLthe- great
railroad nilW can't:Alt cting,-aeross -the dontiL
nent. . The work-of vabh may be.-insignifi
eant,l but- all' togetherutbey . will' etrinplate
the grandeatfaiiduilabat important lank 'in
theitrade and . tfavel of ttie world..e4istiark
workman!. do your duty •in preparing' the
grander and more important highway - of
the Lord.
THE BANNER-PRESBYTERY.
`llRirrtf tat: 7 l4AR - ri'Otide ; of the
PieSleterial Ref:obits, Mailetcl We last Sy
1,
hodical apply' " meeting, youply the above term
e .
to the Presbytery of Haiiiahnie,4crith ref
erence to its proPortionate contributions to
the evangelical e nterprises of the 'Ohara.
It was ea'rneil, and was Jiistly bestow
ed. In this, and in other respects, that
Presbytery has longbeen the pride of our
Synod, and its praise has not been withheld.
It Ilea, however;•occurred to rive; that, in re=
aped Of comparative liberality,' these corn-
Menaations may'be pushed to the -Point of
injustice toward other Presbyteries, yvhich,
under all'the circumstances of the case s , are
not so far behind as' the figures would seem
to shoty 7 It'will be remembered
basis of coMparistin is ph° average .per - corn
mtinicant, and that, under this mode of. cal
culation, all the chance is Oil the side
of the Presbytery, which has the least pro
portion of feeble churches, or of members
belonging to each church. The Presbytery
of Harrisburg has nine churches. Four of
these are what are generally called first class
churches. They embrace many wealthy fa
milies, and their 'aggregate membership is
one thousand and' ninety.. The total mem
bership of the remaining five, is only two
hundred and seventy-five, and out of the
nine, only three properly come under the
denomination of feeble churches.
Compare it in these respects with the
Presbytery of' , Wilmington. The latter has
seventeen churches. Of these perhaps three,
with an aggregate membership of one
and eighteen, may be ranked as first
class. Four or five of the others are barely
self-supporting, while nine or ten are pre
sumed, to belong to the class " feeble.''• Nu
merically we have, outside of - the really
strong churches, a membership of eight
hundred and sixty-six to offset against the
one thousand and eighteen of the latter, in
stead of the two hundred and, seventy-five
against the one thousand, and ninety - in the
Harrisburg Presbytery. The bearing of
this upon an average per capita contribu
ted, will be perceived.
The Presbytery of the District; and the
two Philadelphia Presbyteries, ought to be
judged upon a similar basis of .calculation.
They all have mission churches, some of
them quite numerous, but made up of the
poor; and they have besides a large propor
tion of those which are either dependent
upon missionary aid, or barely self-sustain
ing. There is not one of these bodies which,
in the proportion of the strong to the weak,
approaches the Harrisburg Presbytery.
Take for exa,mple,Philadelphia Third, which
reports twenty-four churches, and a mem
bership of four thousand six hundred and
forty-eight. Eight of the twenty-four
churches may rank in the higher class, as
regards pecuniary strength r not more than
six, however, would stand side by side with
the leading ones in the Harrisburg Presby
tery. The eight referred to have a total
membership of two thousand five hundred
and ninety-two, leaving two thousand and
fifty-six belonging to churches, which, as a
whole, would grade for strength -with the
Harrisburg five, which number only. two
hundred and seventy-five. To exhibit the
disadvantage here supposed under the per
capita ,estimate, it will be sufficient to cite
NUT 4 I I 9 w 4 1 - RSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1867..,
RENZI
Olivet, witkits membersli4 of almost three
hundred, and Tabor, wl h reports more
than, four . _ hdijdred, both nuesioriS 'hat T.eS
terdity, and while Vigorous, in'omising, and in
aft residets risincr, still asregards their,coin
parative weight in the scale of our eontri,
hutiOn's, - Aurcles 'of the' fkure more than'
)f the
t 'e present. -
The/ie relnarkS are r.ot apd.lOg,6tic"fo - r any
PresbYiery. The figures tt each are itieil
ottsably small.' - Thotiie of i atever
..tire'Sby
terir.stands' lowest, shpula t r aSfe beeif as high
as 'thohe of the hig,liest; d "those of
r thP
highest't. 7 ' should' have bee much higher
than they are, as its averag ability WO'ut,cl
jntitify . :, I hate 'n'ot gdirie;'fi l legoii,,,,%iiii, into
the calculation to say -wheo'6r, even under
the 'fairest ;estimates, Haiirigbiirg 'would
still bear : the banner, builli.eiiii.rae such
* Mild"h the fact. i sMyl. plp , desire is ?
tilat[Presbyterip's should not SeCril to, fal.bp
iiiitl:fartheit ilian'they real' 'do., Give - 61,cl
its ''falepropcirtio'n'' of crillif' and 'th ell"; 'it
liarrisbUii, ii Ot wi thStandigi rie:r:l i reclucea
PrOpiirtiPliS; still keep tii'6'!foild Trott,' Ve
Wilr,'Nvi'tti most 'fraternal ciiiigratillalliA s'Or
to 'bel., " Many daughterS' liArte dotidi#lftti'
Qusly., but thou exeellest thern'allJ"' ' ''''
iREBYTEIrt OF TugleisTßNT or ".;
Coullow-
LETTER FROM D 8 SI:INbERLAN.n.
WASHINGTON, q,:t. 21st , 1867,..,. :
BEV CDR MEARS :—DEAR Th4,o.
log paragraph. appears in the Odd Sibpol *4PP I I
of your city, " The Preshyteriati;'lu, its issue,
of the 21st ult.
ADOPTING' TILE CONFESSION•OF 'FAITH
• ,Turning from the troubles of the State to those of
the Chitral, it - maybe interesting - note a, state
ment that was made upon •the floor of our PreSb - y-'
tery of Potomac during the latsdimissiori upon the
terms of re-union. A great deal is made of Dr - . Hat
field's letter in certain quarters, - aEtthere is a eon-
Siderible. amount of dodging sroaild the stump as
to the question of the
the ministry. , of - the - NeWsch94JiiatiCh adopt the
Confessibti . orFaitli::"Drilf aitleftt s nioatiSt Statel:'
merit would make people believe that. he knows all
about the habits of his branch of the church ; whilst
Dr. Hodge has very inadequate information. It
may possibly turn out that Dr. Hodge has some lit
tle knowledge of the facts of the case after all. . At
least here is a case in point.
It was stated on the floor of' Presbytery by an
elder in one of our churches, who was present at
the time, and heard the examination, that some
time since a minister from the Methodist Church,
applying for admission into the Presbytery Of the
District of Columbia (New-School,) in this city, was
examined as to his adoption .of the. Confession of'
Faith. His reply was substantially to the effect that
he could adopt it, with the exception of the doctrines
of predestination and the atonement! and after a few
words of explanation he was received. He has since
been installed pastor of one of the New-school
churches of this city, where he still ministers. And
it is likely, from what.we have heard, that it is not
the only case of the'kind that,,has, occurred. just
here ! So much for "substance of doctrine." But
it is a queer CalVinism that does not endorse these
two distinctive doctrines. The New-school press
have spoken much . about the licensing of candidates;
but the painful silence is.on the question of the re
ception of ministers from other denoinin'atiOns. What,
have they required of that large number constantly
flowing into their branch from the Congregational
ists for instance? Light on`this point would be pleas
lug,- no doubt, to Dr. Hodge and other Old-school
men.
This is truly a piece of-intelligence to us, who
had no idea that the Presbytery of the District
of Columbia was so. unsciund., Mr. Tschiffely,
an elder in Dr. Gurley's church, in•order to,shqw
the laxity of new-school men, makes a statement
in his Presbytery, and the Rev. Mr. Taylor, min
ister of the Old School church of Georgetown,
communicates it for publication. The Rev. T.
B. McFalls is the pastor, who is represented to
have given the reply which so shocked the theo
logical nerves of those worthy gen•lemen! When
it became known what they were saying about
us, it was deemed advisable to see them in per
son and ascertain the motives of such misrepre
sentations. The Rev . . Mr. Taylor threw the
responsibility on Mr. Tschiffely, and the Rev.
McFalls and myself visited Mr. Tschiffely,
when he reiterated what he had said in the meet
ing of the Presbytery of, the Potomac; and added
that what satisfied him, that he had not misun
derstood Mr. McFalls on the occasion referred to,
was that he had a day or two afterward men
tioned it with some surprise to Mr. Wells, an el
der in Mr. McFalls' church, and that Mr. Wells
responded that it was of no importance; that Mr..
McFalls received the Confession of Faith as a
whole 1
Now the facts of the case are simply these.
The Rev. Mr. MeFalls was born in Pennsylvania
of Scotch Presbyterian parentage, and has, not • a,
single relative on the,side of his father's family,
that does not belong to or was not reared in the
Presbyterian Church. His connectionwiththe
Methodist church and ministry resulted from the
fact of his conversion in early life under •the as-
Of sociationa'and infl4ences Of that Church; while
atV6idirig After Smite eirieriendeo and a
fleetiOn, he Was convinced, that
wliile 'entgitain i'ethoiird` for 'his - Mitho
dist bretlirdt, - hia' ta:ue''and PioPei" place ivhS'in
the rrbsbitcrlan Church and It hap
petted, that he'waS•stdtion at':Wasliintriakivhere
isi4tinalier of to this
Chdficib of his• eeclesiastidal relations: ' was
cfro'b'ilitiinaticonyiecei46d by our PireshyterY and
installed toVelitha i .iss enibly'a chneehl : .
. • f
was not however on his - examination for
reception into the :fireabite4 on the - occa-
Sion - Of over' church "some
wed-A*l - 61dr that .Mr. - Tschiffbly sayslhe - WiS pre;
sent, and, witnessed the scene which he had in
,
iltatement'ii the Old
Schonl`PießViit'itt6 iii t hdyr row'sye didthings as
inernbeis 'Of - a Texetcotir Presbytery. - Thisgeri-
VenYi'al reebl*Uio t n . seems to 'be yeti vivid,
thoullt Ile c
is lintradi'4tid'nOtnlY l b'Y :Mi. Mb-
FAS but ~ every membee - of cm!r`Pres
tcyteryPriieiitt at the time, and able } to recall the
scene Which thiii 'transpired. His account of
the matter varies 'Somewhat; frOm the story as
given by gr. Taylor.. te saYs,'that 'wiled the
prOpOunded to Mr.
IterillW; 4l l% .rec - eiiie and adOpt
OideSifetiOe kilitiebrthis Church con
s'yhtdm' 61" dpeirlhe tanght in the
Holy Sciiptnces 'The reply' of the - eandiditte
did receive r it with'thk 4xcepttioli' of
the deetrines of predestinatiocn - and'atoonbezietit,—
tho. then Soineone 'put to IVIr l‘teFalls a side
rig: t
question, 0116 h he, Mr. Tscliiffely, did not hear
and'etinnot'tell what it was, but that 'the reply
appeared to be satisfactory and the installation
proceded. ; ,
• o.
On hearing the above statement, we deemed it
beat to examine this gentleman's ileas - of the
case a little farther, - whereupon the following
conversation transpired.
Ques.—Did you infer-from what Mr. MeFalls
said 'con that occasion, that he did' not hold the
doctrines of predestination and atonement in any
sense ?
`P I~ADELPRIAi
ins .eeftdialy. i, inTerred that e i not
hold them ‘tii ). iii t ki 'brit j' Session
of Faith.
Ques.—What do you consider the Confession
of Faith teaches as to the doctrine of predesti
nation ?
Ans.—That which acc.rds with the generally
received opinion of the Old School Church—
that God predestinated some men to be saved
and passed by others who will be lost; and that
God aid this without any
.consideration . of fore
seen works in the saved or in the lost. This is
the literal teaching of the Confession of Faith as
I understand it.
Ques.—What do you understand to be the
teaching of the COnfession of Faith on the sub
ject of the atonement?
Ans.—The generally received opinion. I be-
Have in a limitp I atonethent, by which, I mean,
that the atonement is suffiient for all, but not
efficient for all as a matter of fact. -
Ques.—Did you infer that Mr. McFalls did
not receive these doctrine's in the literal words of
the "COnfession," but in some other sense ?
Ans.—l understood that he did not receive
these doctrines as I have now stated them.
Other conversation was held, but the substance
of the above was written down at the time, and
assented to as comprising the principal subject
matter Of our interview. Mr. McFalls then and
there controverted the' statement of Mr. Tschiffe
ly, by positively denying, that on the occasion
referred to, any thing was said about, or any allu
sion Made to, the doctrine of 'predestination, and
by as positively affirming that what he did say
with regard to the doctrine of atonement was in
substance as follows : "I adopt the'Confession of
Faith—but do not think it limitti the atonement
A.S sizariebelieVe." Thus we, see that Mr. McFall's
held then, as he holds noW, to these doctrines of
predestinatieUand atonement as held in the'Holy
Scriptures—and while he thinks the Confession
- of Faith does 'not warrant the metaphysical idio
':-yncrapies of - ''Mi. Tschiffely, Taylor; Dr.
Hedge or any
,Other Man; great or small, he does
. consi4er that it contains the system of doctrines
- taught in the Holy scriptures„and fot this very
reason he adOpts it.
Butthere is something more to he said about
`the position which Messrs. Taylor and Tschiffely
assume, when they seek, as they plainly do, to
produce evidence of the unsoundness of our Pres
bytery. What will- - be-thought of their present
course; when it -is knoWn 'that subsequent to the
occurrence which occasioned Mr. Tschiffely such
surprise, and within two years past the Presbytery
of the Potomac received the Rev. Wm. B. Evans,
inieruber ofthe Presbytery' of the District of Co
lumbia, without any examination whateverr This
intine'Rei. Mr. Tayler being then moderator of
Genesee Evangelist, No. 1119.
Ministers $2.50 H. Miss. $2.00.
,Address:-1334 Chestnut Street.
the Presbytery, assumed on that occasion that
Mr. Evans was 'ail right, and by virtue of his
office
~as moderator; suppressed the attempt ,to
subject him to such- an examination! His ideas
of the reception of members seems : lately .to
have undergone a change ! It appears to depend
somewhat on. :whose Pre:bytery is receiving mem
bers.
Bat in his comments on the subject he appears
if possible still more ridiculous. "It is a queer
Calvinism" he observes "that does not endow
these two distinctive doctrines," meaning predes
tination and atonement; now, for my - part.l. never
knew. before that these two doc:trines were 6143-
tinetive,of,Calvinism. What a flood of light, is
rising,upon ns. And Mr. Tschiffely, not to be be
hindhat, d, now tells us that the generallyyeceived
opinion, of the , Old School is, that the•Corassion
of Faith ten.ches literally that God. predest4al,ed.
some to be saved and passed by. others, who±will
be lost,,and this "without, any consideration, of
foreseen works- ift, the saved or•, the
then becomes of Chapter 111. Section 7 of the
Confession of; Faith---f. The rest of manitind,9-od.
was pleased, &c. to pass by, and to ordain . thept
to,diqlen.r and wrath , for their. s.ins 7" If he
thus assumes to speak fur the Old -School body,
and .to fasten , on. it this palpable ..contrad,ictipu,
perhaps we ought not to complain when'he telly
us, that, although a question / w.as „put .to Mr. Ale-
Falls which he did •not heari although the
reply appeared te be satisfactory t,to,the. Preslq-:
tery, yet,it by to means diminished :his surprise
nor. changed "lais suspicion of our unsoundn9§B,:in
:.the faith. '
Yet-in sobriety and candor, .we are not disposed
to hold all-the members of the Presbytery of the
Potomac, responsible for-this ill tino,and gratu
itous assault upon our orthodoxy.-rWe.,believe on
the other hand; it is regretted by,the wiser and
more far-seeing members of •that Presbytery, by
the men who have labored-in good faith to .bring
about reunion—such men as Dr. Tustin and
Gurley, Mr. Evans, Mr. Dechart and others, but
whose efforts for the time being have, apparently
been' checked in their own Presbytery, by the
zeal of the
~eldership 4d. the sagacity of a
"liaikeye:"so,ThEttLAND.
A Special Pretniu.m for One New Subscri
ber. The new illustrated and handsome
volume, "BEGGARS OF HOLLAND AND GRAN.
DEES OF SPAIN," by Rev. John W. Mears,
D.D., 16na0., 478 pages, price $1.60, will be
sent, post. paid, to any address for one sub
scriber paying full rates in advance.
THE FENIANS CHANCE FOR SOMETHING
PRAciacA.l.,lf be not impertinent, we
would suggest to the Fenian leaders, and to
Romanists of this country in general, that
if they really wish to "smell powder," or if
they have money in their pockets which
aches for foreign service, they haVe just
now a chance to show that something more
is meant than the keeping - alive of a stupen
dous imposition. These occasional forays,
which could never promise any thing more
for Ireland than enough of annoyance to
the imperial government ,to react in suffer
ing upon the Irish, cost but a trifle of the
immense sums poured in,.and a few lives,
and those only of deluded, victims. The un
principled, agitators probably, secure the
lion's share of the fiscal provision, and cer
tainly make it a point to keep themselves
out of reach of peril. Ireland does not need
any of their fighting force, either men or
other "sinews of war," but the "Poor Old
Pape," their "holy Father," does need
them in the present extremity of his throne.
There is a chance for them to do something
—a chance, if there be any honesty in them,
to give, to fly to the rescue, to imperil. life,
and., if need be, to die. There are .enough
of. them to double the whole Papal army,
probably to quadruple it at a stroke; they
are, or ought to be, if there is any thing in
their boasts of thorough organization, in
condition for an instantaneous start: why
do they not go? They might go in regi
ments, brigades and whole divisions, and we
could manage to get along while they are
absent from us; and even if, by reason of
the vicissitudes of war, very considerable
numbers should never revisit our shores,
our country would survive the loss.
When the ways of man please God, the
winds and the weather are often made the
agents that assist him.
NEW PREMIUM.