New Series, Vol. V, No. 27.
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THURSDAY, JULY I 2, 1868.
INWARD ANSWERS TO PRAYER.
The Apostle says: "We know not what we
should pray for!' We ire indeed conscious of
many wants: • but We know little bettei than our
children what we really need. We , differ from
our children, mainly In being at last, by experi
ence, convinced that want and need are not iden
tical. Children lean instinctively on higher
power; we have learned to lean on higher wis
dom. Yes, we have one more great conscious
want, beyond those of ohildhood,--the want of
some one to discriminate among our * vrants, and
to take that paternal Place to us in our blindness,
whioh, as ohildren, generally, we were so loth to
have our parents take to us. We need to be
wisely denied many things' we ask for, and to
have many things for which we do not ask.
Says Calvin, in his comment on this passage,
"We are blind in praying, unto God, beCause,
although we feel our '
evils,. yet our minds are
more intricated and confounded, than they can
rightly elect what is oonvetiient expedient,"
The Apostle adds the'words, a'airtV'e"dright,"—
"We know not what we should pray .for as` we
ought''--perhaps to intimate, that evert:df, in a
general way, we know what we . should 'pray'for,
the mode and sphere, in Which we should expect
the answer, are hidden from us. We area-igno
rant of God's ways of giantiug eVAin, our right re-,
quests; so that he, may at timeik,seem• (to be de
nying them, when. Ire is mart fully ,and, satisfac , . ,
torily answering them. The groaultigs, or ihdiS-'
tinot yearnings the'Spirit within us; not being
capable of verbal expressieg, cannot t he ipterpre
ted by any, except by Aiut, who searchoh ( the
hearts; so that thoitgivi otir &sires/ may be di
vinely guided, we thay be`lotalli ithorint ' and
greivously mistaken as to' the rainte r aiiiichihei
are to be fulfilled. ,
But the Whole tenor 4 the paasage before ne
to the conclusion of the chapter,,is such as to
mphnsize the inward eirise;*-4F-pregyet- - --autt its
answers. Men's wants; are largely enraged on
objects outside, of thetus i elv,eB.,. They sigh and
cry for the removal of evils and afflictions. They
seek the enlargement and extension of the king
dom of God in its external relations. They crave
success in this or ; that scheme, at the hands of
God. All this time we suppose them to be
moved by that Spirit, " which maketh intones.,
sion for the saints according to the will of God;"
and consequently, that they may with confidence
look for the answer, to their , prayers nut how,
often is the saying of Christ forgotten even by,
praying men: "The kingdom of GocLia within
you" ? And when they are dismayed b3r sup
posed failures to receive answers to prayer, they
doubtless overlook all that great sphere of spirit
ual life and growth, covered by, this inward king
dom of God, and where answers to prayer may
be most expected to be found. Without doubt,
God often, and to some extent, always, answers
the prayers of his people for outward good ob
jects, by making them better men inwardly.
Often a' prayer that some bitter' cup may pass
away is answered in a far better way than, the
suppliant and sufferer imagined, by making him
calmer, more patient, and more able-to endure it,
and then letting it come with just that reduction
of power to injure. The answer is in the form
of an inward elevation; the outward storm is not
assuaged in the least, but it no longer threatens
to overwhelm; it beats harmlessly at our feet.
Of the two factors in the problem, the one which
we prayed to have altered remains unchanged,
but a far wiser solution is reached by' altering the
ether and more important factor—ourselves . . So,
when we pray for some marked advance of the
kingdom of God, with Our bin special view of
how it is to be done, in answer to that prayer
there will doubtless be an, advance, ,of that king-
Lin as a wholeOhough, quite probahly,'not in
the direction' we 'propose to ourselves. We may'
he personally disappointed and sadly mystified by
the actual event, while all the time the answer
to the prayer is rolling forward among, the firm,
decrees of God. All the time He is strengthen
ing his kingdom in the 'hearts~of his praying
Pelle ; lie is making its foundations there
broader and deeper. The verfdilappointments
and crosses they are called upon to, bear in the
work of the kingdom, secure the development of
their graces, bring out their Christian
. valor and
etnktititcy, and so work up the 'material of the
kingdom to a higher grade of excellence and efft
6eticy.
ciiiiracter, that of the Christian as mall , as all
ether, needs to be hemmed in and oheokbd by
the gravest and most trying digoultids, to pre='
reut it from spreading out into a shit)low,level of
prosperity. rt 'is when rivers are closely lem
med in by ragged shores, that they hew deep
channels; and flow with the greatest momentum.
God is answering prayers for the coming of his
kingdom, when he is thris, by the discipline of
disappointment in the special object, deeperiing
the ;wiretap and weight of, his' people's personal
influence.
,
This,lindeed, seems to' be the very current of
thought in the latter.part of the sublime chapter
—Eighth of Romans—from which we have 'quo- ,
ted. . The yearning prayer of the whole sentient
creation : for the manifestation of the sons of 'God,
, ,
is one whick we ca,anot offer aright, and, so
. the
Spirit =helps!ur infirmities , with unutterable
yearnings, `understood only 'by the l Seaicher of
hearts, and ,experienced ' by us only s as inarticu
late movements. Vut'in all the' sorrow of the
delay of, this great eonsummation, we are to learn
more firmly than ever, to grasp the great ada
mantine pillars of Christian doctrine; inwardly to
know•the-reality kreatness 'of the:redemption
of Christ; to come - off more than conquerors
over every form of trial; to be nersuaded with
the energy of an immovable convlctiow that no
creature that can be limited, shall be able to se
parate us from the love , of 'God in Christ. The
consummation itself, fdt which we pray, would
not wait a moment, after such.charieterhad!be
come general in the Churoh. , ; '
CRITICAL ROTES ON; THE ~LATE ,ASSEMI 7 .
114
There vias,perhaps'n'ever .an Assembly Which
went more promptly)andf With a more summary
business-like: way tkr its; regular den ordinational ,
Work. cOnthe.afternoon of the lint Day4l
slow, theriTrittatiregs Report and three" of the
PeratunenttOotoniittees' Repoits were beford the
houseLl-Poblication; Home • Iffil*its, and. Eauca
don .;,; ail& by , the close of the:Vivo/id 'day, all, the
Permanent Committees' had reported"; the) R.
port °lithe Joint .Committee sh-4teunion,l aid
Dr. Pattersonts dissentingopinionyhad been heard
and referred, and idelegate , frdm,:a-morrespond
ing body. (United. Frtnibyterie4lhad Anade.this;
address apd received his responfte.-4 On Saturday,.
morning one of the , Standing Comfititteesi- - --that
on Minieterialßelief,reported, and&goodspeechee
were made, a rising vote was given in token of
the interest felt in this somewhat new cause, and
the whole matter *as satisfactorily disposed of.,
So far, as a business body, the repute, of the
Assembly was well nigh established. ,Had the
course thus indicated'been pursued throughout,
every important matter would have received due
attention. A great mistake, however, was made'
on the (following Monday, by giving ,the whele
working time of that day to a single one of the
causes of the Chareh: 'lt was a very good cause
to occupy the time, and one, the comparative in.!
glect of which', by our people, is a most' :.serious
and remarkable fact, especially in view of their_
growing zeal for all the others--we mean For-
eign Missions. , Still, there was• no sufficient
reason for the , appropriation of' an entire day,'
when five other 'regular causes, including Home
Missions, with the new department for, the Freed
men, Church Erection, &c., demanded the atten
tion' of the body, besides the Re-union Report
and one or two 'judicial cases: - But without
much thought, and with no , opposition from the
Chairmen of t other Committees . ,who should, eer
tainly have had an eye to the interests specially
committed to them, it was suffered to be .done,
and from the opening prayer-meeting :until tea
at night, the Assembly was resolved, with a few
brief ex.ceptions,,into a great, deeply interesting;
and,Tdelightful• Foreign Missionary Convention:
Admirable reports and addresses were made, and
even a part of the next day Was spehtin
reports suggested during the discussions of Mon
day. As a consequence, no other cause had an
adequate hearing, and the Assembly, in its haste
to adjourn on the following Monday night, con
sented even to approve the Narrative, without
having heard it read!
On Tuesday, the report on Reunion was in
troduced, and the discussion lasted through that
day,-:-except when the delegates from the Other
branch were heard,---and.the next—Wednesday:.
On Thursday the Assembly were at Gettysburg.
Friday morning,the debate was resumed, and at
one o'clock the vote was taken and the subject
disposed of. In the remaining two days and a half
of the session, the Assembly.partoqk of the Lord's
Supper, heard a delegate from a Lutheran Synod
at considerable length, heard the Special Ddlega
tion from the Albany Assembly and acted upon their
project, settled a judicial case, (unsettled it, rather,
by reversing all the preceding , decisions,) sent ano
ther judicial case back, and disposed of mileage,
appointed the next place of meeting, and trans:;
acted about all of its regular business; only two
of the seven causes, as, already observed, having
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, JULY 2, 1868.
`slll',
been previously disposed of. It is nO disparage
ment to the ablest body of men that ever met; to
say that, mder such circumstances, their wdrk
could not be properly done. ."
In this We , have a leisoL to learn from the
other branch, .which carried its regular business
steadily through, with a genuine Calvinistic re
gard to the pielordained plaEn. Aniid•sliscns
sion on Re-union pore exciting ap,d prolonged'
than ours, the or4criq Qf t ie aay da,.iOt appear, to
have been sekasifle or slighted once. ,OF . own
Assetiibly,'at the Suggestion of the. .Permanent
Clerk, Br. Butler, did', l indeed, adopt en excellent
order, but it was lost sight of on the third day of
the session acid never heard of afterwa'ras.',
REV. GEORGE DUFFIELD, D.D.
The generaf ion under which the New School
,
Pregbyterian Church was constrained to assume
its, distinct form is pestling away., One of its,
standard-bearers ;had: fallen in Georg,e Duffield,
D.D., of Detroit. That ripe, deeply pious, inde-
pendent thinking, Scriptural belieting, venera
able man of God, has,closed his care4r. of unusual
activity, influence, and ; honor. We saw him last
in. Harrisburg, when., as we looked into his ex
pressive eye and metits glance of °oldie] sympa
thy, it seemed*not in the least degfeo4 diin. and
0 ft
as we heard him speak and saw lino 1
walking the
steets, withhis son upon one sideis
grim -
sorpcm the other—three generations side by side,
his natural force was apparently not abated. The
sudden summons from the Master collie to him
while engaged in 'the Master's businmshwhile
addressing, doubtless with a full heart, the bon
vention.of the Young Men's Christian Associa
tions in Detroit And' so he passed away from
his toil to his crown: For him to hie was Christ,
and, of c,Ourse, to die was gain-
Dr. Duffield belonged. to that eminent roll of
namesvwfhich shone like a conStellation of the
first magnitude, over the.niital hours of the New
Sktiool Church, such its Albeit Baiutie,, N. S. 5..;
1`; 13 Samuel HI - " l ilt
man, plan eel, er,. os ;
H. Skinner, N. W. Gilbert. He tooklo..fleading
part. in all 'the .diecus.siona itmaieCok e ,4
ended in the division: He had written' boldly
and from' a more Scriptural and less "dogniatic
point, of view on Regeneration, and his treatise
involved, him in great trouble among, the Old
Sehoolipartisans of that day, became one of the
pretexts for the division, and has ever since been
a favorite text'for denunciation from that
ter He was the author of the celebrated doe-,
trinal statement which first appeared in the •Pro
test of the New School Minority 0f•1837E against
the injustice, unconstitutionality, and falsehood
of the, BXcindino. Acts,, which was afterwards
adopted. by the Auburn Convention, and which,
if anything outside of the Confession of Faith
can be so called; has been; and is, the doctrinal'
platform of our body. To this document, the
Old'School Assembly in Alba:ny, in the Answer
to, the Protest,of the Minority, has given its un
qualified approval, as embracing all the essen
tials of the Calvinistic system. As a theologian
and a Presbyterian, therefore, there is a peculiar
felicity in the precise period of his death. The
orthodoxy of his main doctrinal work, is, after a
generation of suspicions, most emphatically
avowed •by the highest court of the body to which'
tthise suspicions were confined. The majority of
1837 becomes the protesting minority of 1868;
and the Protest of the Minority of 1837, becomes
the answer of the majority of 1868. Thus,, not,
by an' impatient, unseemly waiting until certain
men die, is Re-union to be advanced and effect
ed; but by honorable amends to their Christian
reputation. The pity is, those amends come too
late for the parties to enjoy them. Deferred a
whole generation, only those who live beyond the
allotted time of man can know of their occurring.
We speak not in unkindness, but as knowing
somewhat of the infirmities of good men. Jus
tice is done at last. And there survive not a few
younger men, Dnffields and not Duffields, who,
please God, will live long enough to show their
sincere and happy appreciation of so rare and so
great a thing in this fallen world—A RIGHTED
WRONG.
The N. P. Tribune furnishes the folloWing ad
ditional facts; omitting, as will be seen, all refer
ence to his ministerial career in this. State—by
far the,most important and interesting- 7 -which
we hope to supply in a fuller notice next week :
' The Rev. George Duffield, D.D., was born in the
village of Strasburg, Lancaster county, Pa., July 4,
1794, and was, at the time of his death, which occur
red in Detroit, Friday, June 26, in his 74th year.
His father, bearing the same name, was a merchant,
and for nine years Controller General of the State of
Pennsylvania, under GpV. McKean. His grandfaL
ther, having also the same name, was the well 7 known
Chaplain of the' old Continental Congress, which
honor he held in common with Bishop White.- At
the early age of 16, Dr. Duffield graduated at the
University of Pennsylvania, and from the institution
he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity. On
the 20th of April, 1815, Dr. Duffield was licensed to
preach b'y the 'Presbytery of, Philadelphia, and im
mediately after Ward entered' upon 'the active duties
of his profession, in which he continued until the
day of his death. In 1817 he was married. in IN. Y.
cityr.td Miss' Isabella, Graham.. Bethune, daughter of
the well-known merchant ; and! aister, of the Rev. ,
Geo.'. W. , Bethune, D.D. He had eleven sons, of,
whom Only five spill survive. In 1837 he was called
to the Broadway' Ta6ernacle as the successor to til l .'
Rev. Chas. G. Finney. In 1838' he was called to the
First Presbyterian Church of Detroit, a position he
at once accepted, and continued as sole pastor until
April' 27, 1865, when the•Re4. W. A. McCorkle was
installemiasiassociate pastor. • Dr.,Duffield maintain
ed his vigor .remarkably, preaching at least once
every Sunda, except`when temporarily disabled',
until the day of his death. - "Remaining faithfully at
his post during,the cholera season of 1849, and then
severely proStrate& by: that dreadful malady,. his
health-was in completely broken down that at the
earnest request of his people hel went. abroad for one
year, and returned happily, restored to health. In
his own denominatiop.,, Dr. Duffield's ability and
learning ,nagi'de him .one of 'its most, eminent men.
Itis influence has been' long' exerted, and will be per
nianent.
,He has fallen 4 akteep'„it a ripe old age, full
of good works, and hondrad :by; all who knew him.
!, • .
A. GREAT, DAY,IN; CONGRESS.
Itwas Worth while' te be in Washington on
that day. of last week, Thursday; when six of the
late. Rebel States were re-admitted to the Union
udder loyal supremacy and upon the basis of
equal rights to all. The • feeble, dying attempts of
the , representh i tiVe oil the rebellion; in the White
liOuse,,, to, prevent its final.,overthroi; and to
perpetuate the , political power'of rebels and for
nak,slaveholdeis in the 'State gevernments, and
so to keep rip,the war in spirit, if not in form,
haVe been quietly and summarily brughed aside.
It took Senate and'Hotwe but about half an hour
egoh'to Vete' I[r. JOhnson's veto, add thus at
last to re-establish the Union with all but three
of the, late: revolted Stites,. Early in 1865, Ten-.
nessee reaffirmed her over*holmingly loyal vote
of 1861 , ,' when the Union niaforay was sixty
seven thousand, and took again her 'place in the
Union, 13y adopting the :Constitutional Amend
merit. , And , now, after, three years', interference
and'ldelay itthel only result of which has been more'
strit4.git'iconditiong, higher -platforms of loyalty
and e l qual right,and breeder ancl4ner f444.4ations
of justice, the,remainder of the train :of wayward
sisters Are filing back to their. wonted., places.
Arkansas came iw over the vetp early in' the week;
and novi the two''Carcilinas,, 'Georgia, Alabama,
Florida and, Louisiana, ride rough=shod over the
same EitecutiVe barrier', into the arena. As we
stood in the. President's ,Chamber, adjoining, the
lobby of the Senate; examining, for the first time,
the 'florid but elegant fresco paintings on walls
and , 'attention: was arrested by the
incongruity, if not error, of the explanatory in
scriptions,,under the twOallegorical pictures—one
representing. Legislation," the other the "-Exe
cutive." The sword', the Scriptural symhol of
Executive power (Rom 'iii :4), was given to the.
Legialature, and the b00k5,,,,5x., to the Executive,
by, these inscriptions. 'To.day , , , it seems , asif•this
mistake, made under the direction' of a Southern
and slave-driiintr majority in Congress were a
prOphecy, With 'a, touch of •ironyin It. : To the
President,who•follows in their,foetateps, only the
poor privilege, •the brutum fulmen, of documentary
protests is giVen. It 'is the greater than two
thirds majority of the reiiresentatives of the peo
ple which .has really, become theTresident, and
which, at • length, has come to wield the sword of
supreme :power; and that not in‘iain: For this
peculiar - crisis, the inscriptions are correct.
This is,hew it Was done, under our privileged
eyes.
Without debate, with scarcely 'a remark, with
no. demonstrations of feeling, the House of Rep
rcsentat.ves suspended its action inCommittee on
the, fax bill; the Committee rose; Mr. Blaine
left the Chair; Mr. Colfax took;his place, and.the
House was formally constituted. On the right
hand of Mr. Colfax lad the important, hand
somely-engrossed Act, written in large char
acters,
,upon broad sheets of parchment. Mr.
Johnson's veto message, also written With a; liberal
allowance of margin and interliOeal spaoes, lay
before the reading clerk. "Is it the will of the
House that the Message be read ?" It was. In
a ,clear voice, the President's few words, without
attempt at argument, except in the case of Ala
bama, were read. They fell upon unheeding ears
of friend and foe alike. The member from Penn
syliania, whose heroic soul glows like' an un
quenchable coal,.amid the ashes of a decaying
body, and who had been aided to a position at
the left of the clerk's desk', was' recognized by
the Speaker. He moved the previous question
upon the adoption of the 'Act, notwithstanding
the, President's objections. Mr. Robinson, of
New York, occupying the front seat, directly be
fore the Chair, perhaps not hearing Mr. Stevens'.
feebly uttered motion, moved the reference of the
message to a Committee. "Mr. Stevens has
calledhr the. previous quistion." Mr. Robinson
seemed inolindd to complain. He thoualt he
Genesee Evangeli4t, No. 1154.
I Ministers $2.50 H. Miss. $2.00.
t Address :-1334 Chestnut Street.
had risen and caught the Speaker's eye first:
Thb . gentleman 'frrom Pennsylvania had intro
duelielthe bill, and, by, parliamentary usage, he
IMS the4oor." Bc t said the Speaker, with that
mixtUrkfiieurtesyanct positiveness, which makes
a man irreititible; at the same time pointing .to
the digest before him.-51r. Robinson sat down •
Nti 4 Stei-ens jocoselrekiloudly enough remarked
thitt; thii`rnessage `contains not a . word that was
• t , rr , f
new, ,
aria then the call for, the previous question
was sustained. The"salt= "of the roll proceeded.
Many answers. were inestitikiiiiiiable to an un
practiced ear in the reporter'S galle6r, bit - such
responses as telley, Logan, and Build gave,
there was' not the slight est di ffi culty
,ii under-
(5 ,
standing.
.A.l'most as w ell heard, but, alas! with
1, , 1
what different feelings, was the No! of Gen. Cary
of Ohio. It went to theh4rt, to hear this brave .
advocate of Reform put hiMself so emphatieally
in the ranks of the obstruotives. The
,call 'is
ended; but before the clerks begin to count, Mi.
Colfax says, quietly but distinctly, "The Speaker
desirea to record his name in
,the, affirmative."
Quite a number of members, who were not'in'side
of the bar when their names Were called, how
appeared,. and' got permission to record they
names:
appeared,,_
hundred and five votes were casfiii
the affirmative and thirty in the negative—a'
two . :thirila vote and forty-five to spare. , So tle
bill passed the House,,.not:withstanding the' Ob
jections of the Preaident. The same result was
almost immediately reached in the Senate "by an
equally emphatic vote; and so the bill became a
law, and the , six States were substantially in the
Union again
With a thankful, hopefut heart, we turned
from the Capitol. How grandly and nobly
lOpmel its ,proportions to, our eyes! Rise, now,
heavenward, in the grand! and graceful sweep of
your outlines, 0 .roighty dome ! The chambers
over which you, hover, liken meteor of the sky,
are reconsecrated to loyalty and to the rights of
man.
,Gleam afar 9, whiteness of outspread
marble walls, with column, and .architrave, and
pediment and pilaster, a glorious pile; emblem of
the pUrity, he 'rectitude and the 'permanence of
the politital structure rising within ! And thou
starry banner t Wave all thy folds , in the glad,
sweet air, of June.; flap out.upon the breeze the
mug°. of liberty; -such a lustre shalt thou. fling.
back to the sun of the coming Independence Day
as he never, in ninety-two years, saw in thy
stripes and stars before !
MR. BARNES' LETTERS ON SIN AND
SUFFERING.
Readers will observe that on the second page
of our paper to-day, we commence a series of let
ters from Rev. ALBERT BARNES to Hon. GER
RIT'. SMITH., in reply to a pamphlet, issued by Mr.
Smith a few months ago, and addressed to Mr.
Barnes without any other notice. Mr. Smith's
heretical views have done no little in time past to
create and sustain , the opinion,,once so popular,
that Abolitionism and Infidelitywere natural allies.
Mr. Barnes' position quite as fairly proves the' con='
trary to be the case.' It is' interesting to see'
these able and veteran defenders of the rights of
man, approach each other on the profound problem
of human sin and suffering in its broadest rela
tions. Mr: Barnes' moving confession of igno
rance and Unmilish of spirit at the insoluble na
ture of theie deep problems, ill which Universal
ists have so frivolously triumphed, is set in a
clear light, and the impossibility of escaping
from the difficulties of the question by denying
the plain teachings of the New Testament on.
Eternal Punishment, is demonstrated. We need
not, anticipate what our readers will prefer to
learn by actual perusal of the letters, of which
there will be five in all.
"The doctrinal position of Barnes, Beman, and
Duffield are exceptional in the New School Church.
It is expected, of course, that these divines will be
ministers in the united Church, but their cases will
be quietly left to time and the march of events."—
Speech, of th:e Rev. William G. T. Shedd, D.D., Pro
fessor in the Union Theological Seminary, New York,
before the Old School General Assembly.
"Time and the march of events" have already
donq,,the desired work with one of the gentlemen
referred to—the Rev. Dr. Duffield, of Detroit.
One of the other gentlemen named, for whom
the "united Church" is patiently to wait for
"time and the' march of events" to do their
work, is a Director in the Seminary in which.
Dr. Shedd is a Professor. Happily the "united.
Church" will not have to wait longer for "time.
and the march of events" to finish the work, for,
both the surviving gentletnen named are new
well stricken in years.
THE WESTERN UNIVERSITY, Pittsburgh, June
25th, conferred the degree of D.D. on Rev.. Geo..
Tracy, missionary of A. B. C. •P. M., in., India,
now in this country.