_ b -c flo r g (fitC i l l gli t ..trtentlo John A.Weir 1.5 j uly 69 • , New Series, Vol. V, No. 33. $3 00 By Mail. $3 50 By Carrier. BOots Additional after three Months. glutritint grtst(gttriait. THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1868. GOB'S REMEMBRANCE. The sorest times of trial to faith are those in which God seems to forget. And they are not unfrequent times, nor are they always brief. From the days of Cain to the days of Noah, while man utterly corrupted. his way on earth, while more than a thousand years of lust and violence rolled, by, the just God seemed to forget. A hundred years passed on, unchanged, after defi nite warning of his purpose to punish. And when at last the deluge rolled over a guilty world and a solitary ark floated upon the boundless waters, it must have seemed to the desolate in mates, after their five months' experience of the elemental commotion, during which they probably had no sensible manifestation of Deity, as if they too were forgotten. How great a suspense was that, when the existence of the race, the history of the Church and of Redemption, and the Cove nant faithfulness of God hung upon the fate of that ark; swayed to and fro with its tossings on those restless tides ! How full of meaning is the sacred declaration: And God remembered Noah! How memorable that act of deliverance of which the bow in the cloud is the appropriate sign I Truly did God seem to forget his promise to Abraham and his seed, of possession of the land of' Canaan, while the great progenitor and three generations of his children were only pilgrims and strangers in the land, and while their descen dents groaned, for centuries, under the taskmas ters' whip of the Pharoahs, until all vestige of hope and of nationality seemed obliterated from their crushed natures. So God seemed to have forgotten his servant David, while the heir of the throne of Israel wandered, a fugitive in the lime stone caves of the wilderness of Engedi, in dan ger of falling every day into the hands of Saul. "Why standest thou afar off„ God," he .oriel„ in almost hopeless agony of spirit. But what were all these instances - of seeming forgetfulness compared with that when he seemed to have forsaken his only-begotten Son; when he' suffered him, amid' convulsions of nature, and outcries of anguish and amazement, to sink in the embrace of death, to be sealed up in- a tomb ? What gloom was that which for three days wrap ped our world ! No wonder the Apostles were confounded and demoralized. A world with a DEAD CHRIST—is not that a forsaken world ? Might not God with reason, be supposed to haVe forgotten it? Carrying such a burden on its bo som, it Might well be supposed to have sunk al together out of the line of God's beneficent pur poses, and even out of his providential, regard. But as we well know r there was no forgetting; as there never is, on the part of God. In , due sea son, the proof of remembrance came. The Dead Christ was raised. Hope returned to the hearts of the Apostles. The Church was filled with life, with miraculous energy, with the Holy Spirit. The world is a redeemed, not a forgotten world. • God has remembered his, true, Church ;; when nearly crushed by persecutors. He brought it out of the Catacombs, where it seemed to be for gotten, and placed it on the throne of the Cesare. He brought it from the cloisters and hidden places of the middle ages to the open day of the Refor mation and the leadership of modern civilization; from its refuges in " Alpine Mountains Cold," to be the teacher and Evangelizer of the descend eats of her bitterest and bloodiest persecutors, the Reformer of the territories of the Pope him self. With our own eyes, in our own land, we have seen one of the most signal instances of God's remembrance in human . history. In our day, the centuries of his strange seeming forgetfulness of the enslaved African race in our country came to a sudden, surprising end. When he seemed most completely to have forgotten; when the oppressor seemedabout to widen vastly the arena, and to lengthen and strengthen the lease, of his power; when moralitiy,_ol;RiAttnity and,free government itself seemed about to combine, perversely and corruptly to vittdicite, end , sustain the outrage,' then God remembere:i. And All the delayed, judgment of centuries was summed up in that quadrennium of remembrance. Have faith in God though he , seems to forget. Let the story of the past' throw' light upon' the present• and the future. gi a tor 4s , b . ?h sacred and profane, is written to show. vs •that .God remota, bens. Let us bear up hopeftillY l 'uyder'ailikry appearanCes. We and our whole' . oieiOn May, die, while God seems still.tobeforgettinge Thou sands'of soldiers of the good cafillei b lY'Ailibithe issue of the conflict is uncertain. Vir,l4,; f*.ir Rflo !shut up , in a dark and tempiest:toatied art ; .the storm may rage without abatement; the waters may swell and rise, until every vestige of our past hopes and dependences is swept away. Let us believe in the God who remembered'oah at last. When our hearts fail us, let us turn to the bow of promise, set in the cloud, upon the skirts of the retreating storm, token of God's covenant of mercy with man and the earth for perpetual generations. "As it lights up the dark ground that just before was discharging itself in flashes of lightning, it gives us an idea of the victory of God's love over the black and fiery wrath, origi nating as it does, from the effects of the) sun upon the sable vault, it represents' to the senses` the readiness of the heavenly light to penetrate the, earthly obscurity; spanned between heaven and earth, it announces peace between God and man; arching the horizon, it proclaims the all-embrac ing universality of the covenant of grace." THE POPE'S LAST DELIVERANCE. The problem of the Roman Church in its rela tion to American institutions is considerably com plicated by its relations to the institutions of the Old World. The problem of becoming "all'things to all men" is not so simple to the Pope as it was to the Apostle, mainly because the two idles are not founded in a like , clearness of sincer ity, and honesty of purpose. Father Hecker of New York, has been in forming our Western people that Romanism is the only religion consistent with our free inSti tutions, that our system of government presup poses a natural goodness and wisdom in men, which the Protestant doctrine of Total Deprav ity denies. Pius IX., poor man, is too Much in volved with the political concerns of Europe, to, pay due heed! to the necessities of the work in America; and so mercilessly contradicts Father Hecker: The Eldest Son of the Chnroh—lthe Austrian Hapsburgh—has found that ho can not continue - .to be both a foremost European mon arch and an obedient Son of the Church: 'He has given his imperial assent ..to a series of Jaws which approximate Austrian institutions in some degree to those of America. LibertY is there, as with us, granted to hold and teach any religious opinion, and to establish colliges and schools and . pericidicals for its ,propagatiOn. Civil marriage is to be valid; the national' cemeteries are :to' be' open to heretics as well as `Catholics; the 'chit dren of mixed marriages are to be brought up— the girls in the faith of their mother and the boys in that of their' father; the control„ of pub lic education into he takeUOut ti . f• the liana 'of the priests and cdnducted nncler'the of the State. These Americanizing, laws, the Pope 'has the candor to tell us, in a recent allocution are "odi ousi" and "abominable,"—" in flagrant contra diction of the doctrines of the Catholic religion" and*" of natural right itself,""Had his _Reline& stopped'here it might have been thought a mere matter . of . difference of religions opinion„ with which the political world had nothing , to do. But no;—this petty civil ruler,—who since the Battle of .Mentana has been the pupil and the vassal of Napoleon lll.,—proceeds to "declare those decrees null and poWeiless in their effect, both as regards the present and the future " and exhorts their , authors " not to, forget the cen sures and spiritual punishments" which may fall on them if contumacious'. :. To which Baron von Beust, 'the Proteitant Premier' 'ofAustria, re sponds that his Holiness is ~an officions . Meddler and a busy body in other men's matters. If we needed any 'evidence that Rome had not changed in her ftindamental principles, and that the liberalizing talk of American Roman,ists like Hecker is utter, falsehood, this d.ocument furnishes that evidence, Our national, laws f differ from those of Austria simply in that they are more " odious" and " abominable;" our ,marria-' ges are in the view of his Holiness mere omen-, binages; our school system an offence to G.cd and man; our toleration of all opinions a wicked disregard of, and indifference to the truth. It is true that Rome has not had the candor to make the application to ourselves; but place,and ,dis tance can make no difference as to truth and Principle. Itome - h - a - : 4 's tot a its - What we aTre to ex peeti; if the 'Roman Catholic Church shbuld ever obtain . such a :preponderincu as to control the legiSlition of Atterica. ' ' The revolt of Austria von3pldtes the' work of the:German Refoimation as Such, and divides Europe into three great , religious T territuries, corresponding to the three greatuwaves,of immi gration by which that continent was 'settled mums ago.' 'The Cliurch'ef Rd** of the, Latin race, which has inherited ,tric guage, the centralising pulicy, and thp:pc4egfiag tioal.traditionaliem,of the- Roman , Empire. .The Protestant Phuich is the Chttrar:Uf the 'Tea tonic ri4e; of the champions of - PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, AU GUST 13, 1868. the family life, and Bible truth. i The Greek Church is that of the half-civilizea Slavonic race, whose achievements and influence in the world's history are among the possibilities of .the future. No one of these, it is manifest, C# 'Claim to be geographically the Catholic Church i which is re ceived temper, übigu,e et alo omnibulk. THE MINORITY AT HARRISBURG' LETTER FROM AMBROTOE. DEAR PRESBYTERIAN: I observ;iilha in your; criticisms upon the late Assembly some 'of is get now and then a decided thump ! Tight and ; left; especially some who are coustmd : ;as " the minority ;" the subitance of the &litigation being; that their side was not managed watt' much skill or spirit. Will you _allow me to qy a Word regard to that, minority; or at lea4,,that part of it of which I have some knowledger? There was in fact no organized minority in thei Assembly. It consisted mostly' of fraguietits hr nd then' )f by their' eircumstan- sere am Jere; o sue, as •y cos had been led to,doubt, but Atth little ac e , quaintance, or even knowledge oft each other.. Had there been the knowledge at the beginning which existed at the close of the Athiembly; the opposition would have been somewhat differently managed. , The more • active opposition came from the West. .Noni of the Western members perhaps had made the' union question a very'special . sub2 ject of study, with the exception . of Patter- . son; though some of them had given it. a fair amount of attention. Those had studied it most, who were in closest contact with 0. 8. ministers, and to whom it was a matter of met immediate concern. • Dr. Patterson, from his_ position,,his' history, and his tastes, had perhaps giv,e,n it more, thought; and was better posted in'regard to the attitude' Of the question in both braitehes of the Church, than any man in our body or perhaps' in either. But, the:North r wetteri-: nijAisters, have been readers of the 2Verth , we,4o44resifst- , :terian, ;( awl some of theni had bee alarmed by the tone , of the paper; asking with sl i me anxie ty the question-4f we are to bataken into Anion with this sort'of thing, how art we to fare when it is'accomplished ? Now a considerable nuMber of our Western men, and they not infe rior men either, are distinctively :New School men ;` and some of the Western delegates went to the Assembly charged, that if union could come with our freedom' secured, it were welcome; otherwise not. F.A.brrxrris or INFORMATION. But the delegates—some of thein—laCked light, as to two questions. First, its to the pro posed Basis. It had not been publialie:d ;. and in fact our newspapers had refused, under advice "I suppose, diicuss; for the most part, the'ques2 tion of "union; lest should get Us into a snarl, and hazard or defeat it. This was and is'regrot-, ted .by some of us, as an' unwise policy in our view,. How were we to get any,light, as to the, advisability of union ? How could we settle it y whether the North-western Presbyteriati repre sented any considerible part of the 'O. S. bOdy? or whether, as some , alleged, its .utterances rep resented only the views of, a little eirele, or even. of one; man ? We must think that to assume in the 'beginning that union was tlesirable, and .te publish only Whit . favored it, was not the best way to get at it. lam not unaware that there was a slight opening of columns—of yours at least,—just before the Assembly. But it had been understood from the start that union could not be fully discussed; and it 'Wag not New light was wanted , on the whole groat question, as to whether there was that feeling in the two bodies---especially in the the 0. S.,—; Which Would make 'Union safe and peaceful. The Basis, 'though nOtPitblished,..had, been reported", more or less ; and w l as generally uniatisfactory to us. Still, with some, if the ,bodies of the Churches were in accord,. the Basis.was not of , se much - account, and might be taken even though' objectienable. this attitude 'of things the, Assembly met: and the delegates spoken of, went on,with the,hope, that : the Basis .mightf be presented, and a free investigation of the desira-: bleneas bf union upon it, bY'qiiestions asked` tine' answered, secured. HMI WE FARED. As soon as the Assembly came together, it was.` evident that no such thing was ' "proposed Union W4n ot a question at all. 11Wai alFeadi, decided; andithe only question. was ; /iow to bringl. it aboutiThis foim of it began! and Iv'ent along.;/ in the'llevotiOnormeetings,in'the: prayers; stripci tare ienaings; eibOrttitio&s: "114.;, ,},. • : 4? .) many, from the moderator down, Oka j t , ' prayer of, our Lord, , ",that they all,may be onoi, l etc.r, as if its only poseible rOfereneewere organic ' Then' in' the 'bOdritielfilitliciti , l •'t v began its bootie, and w as propelled so •, J; 1114 that was to ride down opposition. The report 6•7 Dr. Adams, applauded as it was at every period, and without waiting for periods; with its argu ments in advance of the Basis, and stuffed like a joint of veal all around with a, stump speech for union; and the majority having it their own way for some six days, with only Dr. Patterson's *diglent from the Committee's %Report, to break the force of the current—all this you may per ceive was not very encouraging to, people who had ,dophts to solve, or questions to ask. Then one,of the minority, on whom reliance was plabed for aid, surrendered at , the first fiie. Then too, Dr. Patterson's reception, in his endeavor to• present his dissent, was not very assuring. , These things did not strike the majority as they did us; but they came near at times with some, to stir ring-a little indignation. THE PHILOSOPHY OF IT. Now, do:noti think that in mentioning these things, lam doling the cothplaints of a dissat isfied Patti: . It'is no such thing. lam free to say that to some . it seemed, at the time, that the, thing had been "cut and dried "—that all these things argued a plan which was being put , through'; and as the New York men were, by their, position, and experiences, in the interest, of union, it, was referred to them as the operators. I am satisfied that all this was unfounded; and that your , own explanation is • the real one, viz. that the warp and woof of the body—the elder= ship and the ministers who did not talk, were interfused with the spirit of union;_ and that it liubblediup on all occasions. But yommay, guess how formidable all tliat string of D.D.'s, from the metropolis and its adjuncts, seemed as they were shaken , '6gether. Their rattling scares me yet. Tap. PROGRESS There were two specially pinchinc , occasions to the minority, yet where, they : must speak - ,• or fail utterly. One was at the close of Dr. Adams' Re port; *hen Dr?; Patterson presented his dissent. If `i'equiakiirage - eqUal'tO that which faces a:battery to present it. None of the minority wiji forget, that, I reckon. The„other,oeeasion was on the.sixth day; after the surrender of one of the leaders—after:Chancellor Green's gushing appeal for nnionafter the majority had sung, and;prayed,. and preached union for six days— Oleg Drs. Skinner and Rankin had. advised us to give a "unanimous vote"—and no word, except De Patterson's dissent; had been uttered in ques tion of the one view which ruled the body. I do, not, know what was in• the mind , or intentions of all the members, but it was the supposition of some, at this point, that opposition to the pur pose of the majority *min danger of utter col: lapse., And I must still believe 'that no further dissent would have been uttered, had it.not been for the consideration that a constituency at home would be reasonably dissatisfied, were the case to' go by defatilt, as it seemed about to' do. ' If you will consult "the true order of &bate On - Wednes, day, (your polumns do not show the order) you will find whomet the ball rolling in another. rection.' •Then came 'the utterance of others;• Ijr:"Patterson's complete argument Included: NoW* occasion further was there for ." Minnie billets," or, musketry, or revolvers, or cutlass slashing, to hurt or to sting ?, So far as the 11asis. went; the object of, the minority was' gained. Dissent, had got itself well ventilated; and no rehashing of 'Dr. Patterion's argument-by ethers would have done `''arrythiiig but weaken it. ithe Assembly: owes . something,. tat some of its members; that they had the self-restraint to, keep, so. far; still. As, to the other matter, viz. : the question of readiness in the respective bodies to be. placed in union,. that was slowly getting itself answered in, various i ways. , So that all the objects of the mi nority- were substantially gained., The matter was, kept the .body long enough to secure, it a fair ventilation; _which was all that was ex pected ,so, far as this; correspondent knows., ,it will, beremembere4 perhaps , that one of the Minority proposed ,an amendment that ;11l the. doctrinal and • ecclesiastical part of the basis be stricken out; and that the Confession of Faith be,the:Pasis. It was,not seconded. - yet •before the adjenrnment, a committee , of the . 0. S. came , ever with, that very-proposal. It would have been offered„ and pressed to a vote, as, an amend meat, : at the. time the vote was : taken,; and would ,then have secured some votes-at least . but , for one, reatiorL. • There was such a tendency to A . lemitepput, and l disorder,eed,such :was the diffi- Af,,gettcing ae..fleeF, ql.Wcor,,the,,Aliie, a t a, ieere,~es~ j it did not EFRmis9 .t9IPY) and was apt tJliaStfYggle. I*?lYing49l the 10i! accepted ; by both As -13;0141c4f'194 ti CO d°7 4 to .the Presbyteries, , this; in-,part;revved by a section of -Abe, bay;letrilioirW If any l)fi-uS go 'So; it; vitt wilt= dt i te" - tli r "il`r 13" a 13 article re arne ut kirg . •• ' - Ntiaaesee Evangelist, No. 1160. - j Ministers $2.50 H. Miss. $2.00 Address:-1334 Chestnut Street. - itself peaoefol, very well. No one will re, more than the doubters. It is shown that a roc, siderable number of the 0. S. minority, and who might, if they chose, make trouble in a united Church; live along in the border States. In case of union, might not such slough away to the Southern , Church ? And if so, might not that fact conduce to harmony in the Northern body ? But if union fails, it will not be probably on the N. S. side. If it comes and proves to be troub lesonie, Stormy, etc: etc., then— ,"! Yours, BAY July 27, 1868 NATIONAL TEMPERANCE CONVENTION. This body began its annual session in the First, Presbyterian Church of Cleveland, Ohio, on the morning of July 27th. Dr. Wolcott wel comed the Convention to the city. The attend-, ance was large ; the spirit enthusiastic. The leading advocates of the cause were present from every part of the North. Neither Massa chusetts nor any Southern or border State except. Maryland and, Kentucky, answered when. asked to report the state of the cause. Maine, New Hampshire, Michigan and lowa, reported the ex 7 istence ' - plohibitOrY and most of the other States' announced their desire for them. On the second.day the proceedings were not so har monious, the main difficulty being the determin ation of some 'persons and societies to thrust themselves into prominence. The attempt to secure, a hearing from the delegates Of the re ligious bodies—associations, conferences, Synods, Presbyteries, &c.,—was choked off after much confusion. The resobitions reported by the pro per Committee were warmly discussed, and some of them amended after - .ouch opposition, The, , ladies took 'part--some of them very sensibly, some in a , way to convince the audience that Paul . was r rioi, aueh "a crabbed old batchelor " of.' ter all. A. finally adopted, these resolutiOns, embody the; best wisdom of the body, and are important' as being the platform of the coming temperance campaign. They are from the pen of. Prof. Seelye, of Amherst College, and will be found on our fourth page. S We have received• of Lippincott & Co., the ,first ;volume of Mr. Barnes' "Notes Critical and Explanatory on the Psalms." We hope to notice it mote at length in our, next, but we pre sume, that many of our readers will not wait to hear our opinion of iti before possessing them selves of a copy of the Work. It is printed well, and, bound very tastefully. SS , We lave reeeiv,ed the first number of the Delaware Blotter, a Monthly illustrated family newspaper. :The letterpress is German, but the illustrations seem to be, English—at least they are perfectly intelligible. The contents we judge to be quite unobjectionable,-and if the paper will contribute to • the promotion of healthy lit erary tastes among our German population, we bid it good speed:: Office 28 South Fourth St. TEE AMERICAN BoARD.—We are gratified to learn that the receipts, of the Board for July were nearly soo,ol3o,—more than $28,000 high er than i 4 July, 1867. • Still to meet-the expen ses of financial year, a very large sum must be received in August, the closing month. In-, dee4 the recentsuddea advanceriu the price of goldi 'adding largely to the Board's expenses, and the fitting off;of several families about to sail, , will make that,sum somewhat:: greater than was expected. The. ; ,Treasurer, , informs us that not less than ;140,990 will be needed to prevent a debt May the; liberal:still devise liberal things. For August of last year ihe receipts were $83,- 610; ..Can t,his sum, bey as nearly doubled as were: thereccipte,for JiAly ,„ • Srtbaciiherti, 'Cheese to settle fi)r-ar. yearllt !tivt,t . 99ll, potpies t h e amount or whiah, they are ehant;4 4 , polio so at a reduotion..d. 50L oenti from the.regalar rates. Two yearwsksiotly advance $5. City $6. AMBROSE. I ESIZEI BISIVIN
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