She ftTsbjjU'ran New Series,. Vol. V,. IsTo. 13. $2 50 By Iff ail. $3 00 By Carrier, l 60cts Additional after three Mouths. : I fvfsiislftian. THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1868. CHIVALROUS ELEMENT IN THE CHRIS TIAN CDABACTER, All the good in the' World is from the Holy .Spirit and belongs to, the. Churoh,. It may not now be in th&.Ch,ftroh j it did- not all originate there. But it belongs to the Ghtireh,to be? ap pro ted, and. made subordinatetp her spiritual designs. All that is good in philo sophy or s'cience; all that is glotripus in art'and in literature; all sweetness of mariners and noble ness of natural character, so far from exciting ber jealousy arid hostility, so far from drawing,doWn her indiscriminate condemnation because .they arc sometimes outside of her visible linlits, should be regarded as hints, of tole wbn and new powers-to be barriered to her.ical’ of.light and of progress. ! f That mysterious, bcaut,ijfitV. and-•powe.tfjiil ,iiir poise which for throe or four centuries (prevailed among the higher.claSseri eohMtutlng them an Order of Generous Men for ,th,e: .defence of the weak, for the cultivation 1 of ndblri ttriils of character, for promptness, 6elf r saflrigep and mahly courage in every bold enterprise, and for promo ting the general safety in a titoe of'.prevailmg law lessness,; going under the nsriie of Chivalry, has passed away; and'with it is v gone iritich that J is, absurd aud worse-than useless.,.. But a certain dignity of character, a certain superiority to low forms of selfishness, a certain, upori good manners, a certain sense of honor and. truth and contempt of meanness, a certain enthusiasm tor high and daring.achievepientj aomo of the choicest .elements of civilization, we cannot afford to pirt with. The Chtafell' was. wise enough to recognize the, go,od elements of chivalry and to attract them to her-service dur ing the palmy days of knighthood; now" that the Order has disappeared, the Cburob capnot wisely overlook its best elements ’tri day. , 1. The Church should be, and he known to be, the very sanctuary of truth and rectitude. Autinouiiankm should bp rejected) not merely as a dangerous heresy, but as something impossi ble to Christian purity and honor. He that can not feel the meanness of making the doctrines of grace an apology for a sinful life, has none of the noble moral "senpiftiities of the true Christian kuiglit. He cannot sympathize with Paul’sin dignant God forbid ! at the proposal of continu ing in sin to illustrate the abriujirißce °f grace. The chivalrous Christian willall;the,most generousriiriprilses of ; chivalry: :That errand r on which the world's Redeemer came 'down, might well serve; as the ideal of the most perfect knighthood. . How pure, j how; ■ Self-Sacrificing, 'how boundless the love! How sublime, uriwaveririg, arid iriiimph ant:the i purpose ! How infinitely gentle; and tolerant of miScririceptiOn arid opposition, even from those he came to bless and to save ! Both his-errand and the spirit in .which he performed it, stand before, men as the' glorious anti-type and reality of all the little schemes of man for the good ! of his " fellow. The Christian is called to bear share in, the enterprise of his divine -Master. Not with the frivolty.of, worldly chival ry, but with glowing earnestness, with unsparing devotion, with taci, arid geritlenessj arid versatili ty, and -inexhaustible patience and boldness, and with'the' clear-eyed intelligence arid crimprehen siveness,of modern philanthropy, he is to proye himself- a true Christian ; knight, whose aims, Vjrhtf^4 !J lriel!Kc)ds, arid'wkwse'spirit pftftake of'the .greatness of eternity. ; A special order of Chris tian chivalry is made up of the missionaries on home and foreign fields; a great field for chival rous attempt is the vice and crime and home heathenism of our cities. The work of-'God''in every pprish arid pulpit, in every family, in every Sabbath-school class and in every individual, heart required to be done uridrir the noblrist,’ most courageous aspiratioris, in (conflict with the, mo.Bt' powerful foes. And >if it -often seems a wearisomevplodding business, frprn the' brilliancy of knightly ericounter,. we have but to remember that, we are enriompaSsed by a cloud, of witnesses and that the. victor's-wreath, the prize of the high'calling of God in. Christ Jfesus, is waiting for our brows. ' 1 3; 'The chivalrous element in Christianity leads us to treat with candor and fearlessness the ob jections of its enemies and the seeming: hostili ties of science. Perhaps Bowhere has’the want of knightly courage arid honor ainong. Christians been more sadly manifest than here- Often has error, or the semblance of error, been met with fpar, with .unmanly and.,violent opppsitipD, with base cruelty and persecting rage. Much of this spirit has passed away. Yet]sitill there is often a want of a gallant, frank spirit, in dealing; with error and with' the advances of science, which: ar4 imagined to be hostile to the, truth,. We shonld fearlessly conrt inquiry into the truth of our religion. We should be, willing to have it tested to its foundations by every method that skepticism can*devise. 1 Though Renans and Co leuses,.and Tyndalls,, and' Darwins, and .Positiv ; ists, and Westminster Reviewers should; swarm around us, we sliould be >ealin in the thought that in; the endurance of these ..last, arid severest tests, our religion will but appear the stronger and the worthier' of credence from intelligent, men. The broad, unembarrassed Conflict ; pow going’on in the world between truth and error is proof of the, true chivalry belonging to our age of the Church and the world. Fear of the re sult, in shell a conflict, is base aud craven. We should willingly see Natural Science go her way and draw her conclusions, even though they seem in conflict with ojir vie ws of Christian truth. It were ungenerojis to distrust the God.pf Nature as possibly in antagonism with the ;God of grace and of the Bible, Let us have faith that as we get nearer to Him,.by the. road ? pf a constantly improving'method in Biblicaliand in Natural 'Science, each department of science helping the other, we shall more and more clearly see Him to be ONE. And it behooves the men of .science to;see to it that their, part of the . undertaking is not devoid of a chivalrous regard; to the claims PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1868. : and services, the sanctions and supports of the religion of Jesus, ; We,rejoice in the nobler manners and prirer traits of character shown by different denomina tions of the Ch'urch towards each other at this, day. The narrowness of bigotry, the meanness of exclusivism, the littleness of'soul, that eould see np truth outside of,/the, ac«4>£arice of the minute details of its oWn tbeory or practice —fea- tures Chichi have' given 1 such ari re pulsive appearance to large parts o|Uj.ke. Church —are disappearing, and a most -hohofablo. cour tesy and generous recognition” 'their places. M utual jealousy and suspicibn rife giving place to confidence and fratefkal;,af]|iofipri. The broad,,and,clear esseiitifiisfofLphfirikirih doetririe, duty and order are grasped- the more firmly; while' miripr ‘differences,'river which our unworthy conflicts have ichieflyyb, cent fought.ajfg , 11 freely, al lowed” in new bases; ofuriaottii ! -Wimior- without orga'nie. unio n, the : reproach, and' liia derance. of. disunito are passing aWay. r ' A-nobler, sweeter Christian age is opening' upon; us. The flower of Christian manhood .is • abejut t to bloom.' That combinhtkm of purity, gentleness, generosi ty;‘arid ' courage which / was ’ phrie Ahe 1 ideal of knighthoodis-again shaping, itself ofttef the ele : ments at work in the Church of our-time. Ilapi py the eyes that behpld' patrifris that aspire to it; , happiest ,they, thatjachieveit! The wisdom of the children of world'-is not wholly lost on the children Of ’fight'.' ; The former have long known the valuejpf conven tions. rind mass-meetings, of pioie . 'or less infor mal, character, and embracing individuals from different localities, united in sympathy for a com mon object. The formality of; our regular-relig ious: bodies is generally a barrier- to, the pi-oducV tion of any great Amount of enthusiasm for their objects. The annual meetings/rif r Aniurican Board seem to be the only ones-in the,,religious world of America approaching our/g|eat politi cal gatherings in popularity iripS' enßCtayeness. The whole religious community,-of < afl, denomi nations, far and near, is warmed, by them to a higher degree of interest in- Foreign Missions. The glow of feeling does riot die, out in the whole intervening year/ / . The Christian "'conventions which are being held with such success all, oyer .pur land, espe-. cially in the North-west and New England, and One pf which'rilosed, its sessions; rin Wednesday evening of last week in, our city, have proved themsrilves a great and needed outlet for Christian sympathies, arid; a great power' to .cultivate and, elevate’such.sympathies. :■ Heart has-answered to heart, as face to face in 1 water., ‘The unity of real .Christian experienep-and aspiration hgs been; demonstrated. As soldiers in the thick of bat- tie nepdjo. see a comrade,,at''theitf]dlbbw in order: to keep their courage to its fighting point, sp ilhe courage and working force of individual Chris tians depends largely upon the consciousness of lively and active co-operation , on the part of brethren in every part of the field. Plans of work are discussed, ? Light is concentrated upon practical questions from widely different quarters. Special gifts in anyone quarter are, as far ais possible, made common to the whole body., (Flag-: ging zeal is rebuked and (quickened. The re-: (spousibilities of the laity are explained and en forced. Aud a place is Vindicated for religion among the.elements of the social, public, every day, life of. tbe community,—-as; a power.which ex pects to make'its way in the world as a great public, movement, as weij , as by Sabbath-day min istrations in isolated pulpits, in -prayer-meetmjpy and in individualized, independent effortAor the salvation of separate souls of meu.„_ It is true,: that all great pubic-movementsfior the real good of'men, prove.their genuineness by the filial in dividuality of their That which is truly great is conscientiously attentive to detail. Judged by these" conventions are worthy of all approval, for the constant pressure of tli eiy,inquiries and discussions, and the con st aqt-fesult of their presence in any locality, is ■towards an increased sense of personal responsi bility among Christians. In fact, the great pop ular evangelizing movement istp be realized iDj the raised Christian activity of members of in dividual churches, simultaneously realized among all the denominations of God’s people, in any given locality. It. is tp. bring the grand army into.line, to secure a general and united advance, to convert the straggling shots and encounters which a few faithful workers are continually ef fecting not without results, but at great disad vantage from want of adequate support, into a sim ultaneous, enthusiastic, overwhelming assault. The Convention last week was brief. It inter fered but slightly, if : at all, with the regular Church services. It drew together .the embers THE STIMULUS OF COUFEI^PIONS. of Christian - light and warmth among us. If it dries nbt seem : to accomplish all that could be wished, it will be because, iD a great city, like this, the religious interest which would electrify a whole western country, might almost escape notice. In fact, Christian Conventions of alljhe Churches in a particular ward, might prove of greater practical value than. one. embracing jthe entire ;.city and parts of; neighboring Stateri be? sides. ■' ' 1 - ■ ■ ■ DR. PATTERSON’S VIEW OF THE JOIST COMMITTEE’S PLAN. ; Rev. J*.: W. Meaus, D./D.—-Dear Brotrier, I am. excriridingly sorriy to see: that xriportri are' already publislied) repres,entirig tKe. Joint Commitiee,/ pm Reunion as haying unanimously adopted a basis for reririiriffjvthfiifi wiirsrirprise arid" grfriyri many friends of our church and lovers of; Christian lib erty. Very triuch l» ifay regret I was Unable' to remain with tbe Cririimifitee till tlie coniplptiori of its work. I was heartily iri'favor of rekunion on the basis recommended by the Joint'Committee last,year,,.witli,,an additional priweyi of the General Assembly. lam ris heartily opposed;to' reunion o’h the; present basis, arid this on several-important grounds. , ; €n due time I will, if Providenoe' permit, give my views on this whole matter. ? • ; Yours fraternally,,. R. W. Patterson. Chicago,. March 20,1868. - ; ; :! SUBSTANCE ,0F jTHE; COMMCTTEfe’S ~-t ’'N; '.. isiliw plan. ■■■'“'■'‘VN.T-' - ' JBeiow we give the substance of the plan pf tbe Committee, referred to. by our (Chicago corres prirident, as having appeared in the W. Pfes byterian. It is believed to have first appeared in the N. :T. Herald, from which it was copied into pther papers. It‘is incorrect in some important respects. . We presume the Joint Committee will, under present circumstances, conclude to remove the injunction of sedrecy and authorize the pub lication of the entire document. 1. The Philadelphia basis as to doctrine with Dr. .Gurley ’ same rid me nt'. We suppose it will now read somewhat thus, according to the statement of the Evangelist: lu the United church the •Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms shall be received and adopted as containing the of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures: Yet while tbe Confession of Faith and Catechisms,' our/recognized, standards as' a Church; shall; be held Ip their integrity,,and in their fair histori cal, that, is the Reformed or Calvinjstic senseyfull liberty ia grauted to both sides in explaining-arid illustrating these doctrines of the Go.-pel.r - ; ' ■ 2.' The two Boards, of'Publication'rihall eon tinrie their separate ‘ catalogues uritjl the'U.nited Assembly shall 'organize its,first /Board' or Com mittee, when the two: . catalogues 1 shall be sub mitted to it-for revision, it being understood that only invidious references tp the date divisions shall be left out. /: . 3. The rights of Presbyteries to : examine min isters seeking admission was conce'dfed, the .Old Schpol Committee yielding the imperative rule,; and leaving each Presbytery to' examine as dis posed. , ..., ~y. . 4. The seminaries .are. all- advised to put them r selves under Assembly or Synodical control, arid upriri’such submission is conditioned their’eccle siastical recognition and recommendation; 5/ All imperfectly organized, or "“ Plan of Unjori ”, churches are advised tp perfect their or ganization presbyterially, within five years, qr/ otherwise be dropped from the rolls. No new' churches'.thus organised are tri be received. LATMEN’S .ASSOCIATION. The , plan :ri'f a As'sbciaitio'n among the churches otour city has met the approval of the PaS-tprsb Assoejation, as will be seen from the fol lowing action Resolved,- That'tbis Association has heard with pleasure of the' prospect for uniting the strength aud resources of our laity, for the more effective promotion of missionary enterprise, within the bounds of this city ; and we hupe that those who have undertaken the matter may be able, by the Divine blessing, to bring it te a speedy and suc cessful issue.” (Extracted from the minutes.); Chas. Brown, Sec’y. We trust that those interested wifi now, feel encouraged to go forward and perfect an organi zation .from which such important results are like ly to follow-. JtSsff" Our assent and approbation to the New Plan of the Joint Committee, as reported to us from different quarters, soon after its adoption, was qualified, as our readers will remember, by the remark that, not having seen the Plan, we could not speak finally. From what we have further learned of the document, we are v incliued to the belief that the liberal purpose of its fra mers is capable of more explicit statement, and that., comparatively slight amendments may be necessary to make it thoroughly acceptable to all the friends of Re-union on a safe, permanent, and liberally Cal\inistic basis. Genesee Evangelist, ISTo. 1140. . Ministers $2.00 H. Miss. $2.00. ! Address :—1334 Chestnut Street. AFFAIRS AT THE CAPITAL. blcArdle is out of the Supreme Court at last. The pill withholding jurisdiction in his case and otherqmmilar, passed the House on Friday by the thirds majority, and having already passed tfie Senate was declared by Speaker Col- be law notwithstanding the Presidents veto. It is ' understood that. the Court will at oncie formally dismiss the case. The treasonable utterances of McArdle through his paper while was'in the court, hastened the speedy action'on this bill that should leave him under the penalties already inflicted hpon him. The hill ter the relief, of manufacturers has been iu hands of a Committee of Conference, and their-report, has been accepted by the House, but rejected and another Committi e calj^d the tax .frpm about tenr:thousand different articles,' leaving tobacco, ivhisky aritL'pCtroid unites, SorirCbs rif revenue. The disagreement is .upon the whisky section.. In the i heVP bill'it is‘provided that in any district where :the pyceofwhiskyis.ljelow ihe tax, it- shall be the duty.ofthe revenue officers to seize and close all the, distilleries oft lie’ district. The tax is still two dofyari: a gqllqri.', The “ whisky, ring ” have been very active in the lobby and on the floor of the trim’Horises, but'have as yet beep ririsuccessful. It; ,is'feared by .many in the .Senate that this sec tion of the tax bill is;so stringent that it will'not accomplish the purpose,aimed at, but Congress is iq earnestinatsintention to .enforce, the collection of the tax übriri . distiUed l, liquors, and the frauds naye ,peen ; .sp. immense, something new must be doute.'-, -The-Ways and Means Committee are fear ful ‘least the revenue be not sufficient for expen 7 ses,,te The greap. difficulty has mot been the defect of the law,- but the;failure of the officers appointed by President'Johnson te enforce the law; this was very clearly stated in the letter of the Com missioner of Internal Revenue, urging the removal ofGeneral Steadman from the. office of collector •at New Orleans, which was read-in the House last week... ■ . " The,Constitution voted upon at the late, election in Alabama, is; by vote of'the'House of Repre sentatives, accepted as the basis of a provisional Sf**e;. Government; and the officers elected under it. are to qualify and enter' upon their duties. Tlie Legislature? is to. be convened and the. Con stitution again submitted to the people, when a ihajority of the’ : yofes,cast will ' decide its accep tance. ,;Adyices., received here indicate the success of the hew Constitution there py five',thousand,majority, Mrs. Frances Lord Bond has been.recommend ed by a' large- numiber o'f'leading men for some diplomatic po|itiph abroad, H ld .;is said that she aspires to represent the government at the Court of 'St. dames';'but the- 1 President will not be like ly fto , nominate her, at. least till the Senate has acted upon the appointment of < Gen. McClellan, and the Senate knowing the General’s readiness to wait, do riot seem disposed to hurry him in bis preparations for moving ori Great Britain. Mr. Clay and Mr. Hale are coming home from St. Pe tersburg, and, Madrid, leaving other desirable places vacant. It may be that President Wade may he called upon to act upon his own recom mendation, of’.Mrs.' Bond. I, understand that the Democrats have ascer tained that Judge Chase can be their; candidate only when they come to his platform ; when they do that, probably Boutwell, Kelly, Logan and other Badieals will return ,to their old party. Gen.-'Butler has just concluded a very calm, clear, and able argument before the Senate,, —the opening argument, of the impeachment trial. He reviewed the whole case—‘the nature of the Court; the right to challenge Senators; the relations of the President to the Senate; and all the items of indictment presented by the House. The effort must add greatly to Gen. Butler’s reputation as a lawyer, and the manner of presenting it was in keeping' with the importance and dignity of the occasion. Some of his points were quite telling; as for instance, in reviewing the President’s ob jections to the Tenure of Office act, he proved that the President had, in ‘ the early part of his Presidency, approved the, principle of that act, thus —accepting it or not as it Buits his conve nience;”-or, again, in putting the claim of the President in his answer to exercise freedom of speech, and to instruct the people upon their du ties, in juxtaposition with some of his ribald and blasphemous utterances at Cleveland and St. Louis, showing what the President actually said in glaring contrast with JLhe smooth legal paper of his counsel. .W Mr. Wilson-presented some of the testimony, and then the Senate adjourned to meet to-morrow and proceed with the t|ial. Fenwick. The full and accurate report of the Chris tian Convention’ on the Second Page, is from the accomplished! pen of Rev. Samuel W. Duffield.