15ja1j69 New Series, "Vol. VI, No. 12. Strictly in Advance $2.60, Otherwise $3. 1 Postage 20cts, to be paid where delivered. } THURSDAY, MARCH 25, : 1869. PASTORS’ LIBRARIES. The writer of this is the fortunate occupant of a pleasant church study. It was thoughtfully arranged by his congregation, and supplied with ererything necessary for the pastor’B oomfort. Its desks are well nigh perfect in style and in convenience. A low-down grate diffuses its heat through the apartment even in the coldest days; ever reminding the writer of sermons to brighten his discourses by the glow of feeling, and to in tensify them by the solid fire of sanctified thought. The book-cases are carefully glazed to exclude the dust;.and the volumes on the shelves display their titles, as if inviting the no tice of the student. Most of these volumes belong to the pastor, only as do desk and chair. They are provided for his use by the people of his charge. Their' number is not yet very large. You would look in vain among them for the fare and curious books which delight the amateur collector. Here: are no vellum covered tomes. No worm has ever cut his channels through these sheets. No black-letter pages could be discovered in any of these volumes. All are for present and frequent use. And.there is scarcely a line of investigation into which the pastor oould be led by the necessities of his pulpit, in pursuing which he would not be materially assisted by this library. For general reference, the New American Encyclopedia js within a moment's reach. On the same shelf which holds it, is Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. If a difficult passage of Scripture is to be examined, Calvin and Bengel are ready to give tbeir opinion out of the past, and Alford, Ellicott, Lange, Qlshau sen, Delitzsch, and many others, offer the best results of modern scholarship. Robin son, Stanley, Thompson, and Layard are at hand for aid in Biblical researches. If the question he theological, each of a row of teachers, from Charnock to Woods, is prepared , to show his opinion. If philosophical, Dugald Stewart, Ha milton, McCosh, Lewes invite lf ecclesiastical, here are digests and histories in abundance. Giesler, Guericke, Sc‘haff,"Shedd,‘ Kurtz, Milman, each can tell us some new thing. Barth and Livingstone are ready to takeus on tours of missionary inquiry to Africa. De Pressense, El iicott, and Andrews tell the Btory of the Life of our Lord, as they have learned it, while Renan and his sympathizers tell that story as they have imagined it. Behind yonder doors, the Bibliotheca Sacra waits to unlock its varied stores of learning; and other quarterlies, claiming to be as good, are equally communicative. We ui 1 go no farther in our enumeration, !e ;t this article take the complexion of a bookseller’s cataloguo. We have named these books' as indi cating what resources of study a church may easily supply for its pastor. The want of books is almost chronic with clergymen. Very few of this class of professional men are ever able to supply themselves with the necessary imple ments for their work. It is a wise economy for any church to appropriate a part of its revenue to the purchase of what the pastor so much needs. The American Watch Company not only employs the most skilful workmen, but also pro vides the most delicate machinery that can be devised. The directors do not say to their ar tisaus : "You must purchase your own imple ments, and then turn out the best watches in the world.” It says : “ Here are the best instru ments which human ingenuity can produce. This will cut a screw no bigger than a grain of sand. That will drill a ruby with mathematical precision. Take the instruments, and let us show what we can do.” If nothing is to be done except to fell a tree or to excavate a back, a laborer may well be expected to furnish axe or barrow. Even that is not required in our for ests, or along our railroads. Now the work of the preacher is confessedly one of the most difficult which is committed to human hands. Words were wasted in describing it. Our query is, why that work should be ex pected of those who, in general, are barely given a subsistence, and for whom none of the better instruments for study are provided ? A church considers itself obliged to provide an attractive sanctuary. It finds money somewhere for the velvet and the fringes of its pulpit. It expects of its minister that which will both interest and instruct the congregation. What more logical, then, than that, if the clergyman has not the implements of thought he needs, and is not able to procure them, they should be provided by the church as conscientiously as paint and varnish are laid upon their house of worship ? Can par lor tables be made with broad-axes ? Can fine cut and instructive sermons be produced, week after week, when there is no other implement in the hands of the preacher than the Dictionary or the Concordance? “ But we are scarcely able to pay our minister even his scanty salary. Rich churches in cities can do what they like.” So can almost all churches, if they have the will. A small sum of money appropriated by any parish, for a pastor’s library, each year, would soon such materials for study as would greatly encourage the minister, and enrich his pulpit., Suppose a membership of fifty. Each contributes, annually, fifty cents for this purpose. The result is twenty-five dollars; which would prove one of the best investments the church could make. We wonder that this is not more generally understood. They who de sire good preaching should be more wise in ob taining it. We do not imagine that culture in a clergyman will ever take the place of piety. Nor do we claim that any abundance or perfec tion of implements furnished will insure good sermons. But if is very hard for one to “ make bricks without straw.” Z. M. H. CURE OF THE AMUSEMENT MANIA. There is only one sure, radical cure of worldli ness in any of its forms, and that is other-world liness. Laws, restrictions, appeals to conscience have their value. Warnings may be uttered, dis tinctions drawn, liberties permitted on this side and denied on that, but after all, so much' must be left to the individual case and to the peculiar circumstances, that there is no security for the needed exercise of judgment or self-denial, ex cept in the raised spiritual state of the believer. It is the expulsive power of a new affection which is indispensable for thoroughly doing this work. - When the Christian finds pleasure and con scious elevation in the service of God, when he feels the constraining power of the love of. Christ, when gratitude, wonder and adoration for re demption stir the deepestcapabilities of his soul, when YU* escape tlie corruption which is in the world through lust, and to be a partaker of the divine nature appears to him the most exalted and glorious privilege of humanity, when the Christian race for the prize of the high calling, in the sight of the great cloud of witnesses, ap pears to him worthy of the laying aside of every weight and besetment; when the beauty of holi ness, the wonders of the divine character as dis played in creation, in providence and in grace, and when the height and depth and length and breadth of the love of Christ which passeth knowledge fill his soul, wing his affections heaven ward and turn his inward life into a psalm of praise, the tyranny and the charm of the most se ductive of the world’s amusements will be broken They will seem transient, shallow, childish. They may not be wholly abandoned, but he who walks in daily communion with a personal, living Sa viour, needs few rules for the amount and degree of his indulgences in them. The sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, the heirs-expectant of crowns of immortality, the future sharers of the beatitudes and services of angels and seraphs, wearers of white robes and bearers of palms of victory, whose glorification will be the signal for the restitution of a fallen and a waiting universe, —they who are conscious of such a destiny, will be sublimely indifferent whether the world knows them or not; will draw a broad line between themselves and a world which disregards and despises their hopes, and will feel it to be a concession or a compromise, to patronize those shows and entertainments, of which the world boasts, as alone giving true enjoyment, and in comparison with which it proclaims the hopes and pursuits df the Christian as gloomy and repulsive. The true, living, growing Christian cannot ask such a question as : How far may I go in worldly indulgences ? That is a form of inquiry which springs from the imperfectly regenerated, dark corners of a half-Christian soul, and should be classed with the question secretly weighed by many called Christians, How little will it do for me to give ? Christian !be alarmed if this is the form in which conscience seeks light. Away with such casuistry ! Hasten to consider if it does not spring from an entirely wrong attitude of the in ward man. Infinitesimally small will the whole round of the world’s gayeties appear to him or to her, who has found in Christ the living water, and who expects to drink of the river whose streams shall make glad the City of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. 4@*The Presbytery of Furrakhabad, India, 0. S., has voted for the Reunion Basis, amended by striking'out the Smith and Gurley clauses of' the first ar icle. PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1869, THE RISEN CHRIST. The certainty, the glory, the comfort of the resurrection of Christ demand for it a leading place in the faith and hope of the Christian. As the time of the year returns in which it is known to have taken place, it may well seem to shed a holy glow upon the season, and to suggest pecu liar demonstrations of thankfulness on the part of those who have tasted its benefits. Its glory consists in its being the greatest of Christ’s won derful works, the most decisive of His ffiumphs over natural law, the clearest of proofs that the whole kingdom of nature lay at His feet and ac knowledged Him as Lord. It is gloriousi because of the depths of humiliation which; preceded it. Christ’s poverty, His no-reputation and self-emp tyings had reached their lowest point in His death. Devils and men, Jew and Gentile had triumphed. His disciples had forsaken; Him and. fled, and His kingdom' had come to'naught in the despair and consternation of His handful of poor followers. The ray of light for a fallen.and perishing world, which hadshoneover Bethlehem, and beamed a brief while in His teachings, pro mises and example, was quenched in night again. Where was that church; founded on d rock ? The gates of hell had indeed prevailed against it. The world had risen up in bitter spite against, its Sa viour and had wiped out His name and Hiswork in ignominy‘and in blood. So it .believed en •Friday night. But’behold! at the early dawniof the Sabbath morning, there;was a tjreat earth*, quake ; the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back thsistone fronii the door and sat upon it. His countenance, was, like lightning, and his raiment whi isms snowjt And for fear of him the keepers did) shake and became as deadmen. And the angel maid, tHe is not here,,He is risen ...... He is ris’dri from the; dead. Thus suddenly did- all the sail story of deepening humiliation end in a burstftif; trans cendent glory, and soon from the lipsiofjrthe cru cified One was heard the.rqyal delaratipn*'“AlL power is given; unto me in heaven and in earthiv Lo I am with you alway, even unto of the world.” Tested by the obstinate unbelief of friends and; foes, and followed by.results upon the characters; and labors of His, disciples for which its own 1 reality is the only: admissible rational ground, its glory consists again in its certainty. Among the leading facts of the world’s history, it stands un rivalled for the amount, variety and quality of the evidence going to establish its truth. Criticism is foiled. Learning, scholarship, acuteness turn to folly, as well as convict themselvesof blind and suicidal malignity, when they join hands with chief-priests and elders, and .persuade men: that His disciples came by.night and stole Him away while the keep’ers slept. Doubt may find room to expatiate elsewhere, but to the risen Saviour, it is compelled to cry out, My Lord and my God! Back upon all the other miracles of Christ, this’ crowning, conclusive, indisputable one of the Re surrection sends its powerful confirmation. All His teachings, all His claims, His whole mission are' authenticated by this triumph over the extreme rage of. His enemies, over the last and greatest of catastrophes that can befall human affairs, over death. The world’s Redeemer is; revealed atid vindicated as such. The sacrificial, victim has risen from the ashes of the altar. Of . what trans cendent virtue must be the offering ! The wages of sin is death. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the. law. : Christ’s victory over Death is the visible, illustrious token, of the com pleteness of His victory over sin, of the fullness and sufficiency of His atpning work. THE PHILADELPHIA PASTORS ON RE UNION. The following paper was adopted by the Pas toral Association of Philadelphia, March 22d, 1869, and directed to be published in The Amer ican Presbyterian, The Evangelist, and The Chris tian Herald. The Pastoral Association of Philadelphia, con sisting of New School Presbyterian ministers of Philadelphia and vicinity, have observed with solicitude the recent discussions in regard to the Basis on which the two branches of the Presby terian Church must be re united. In view of the opposition likely to arise in the other branch of the Church to the Basis approved by both Gen eral Assemblies; certain Synods, Presbyteries and ministers of that body have proposed to the Presbyteries to modify said Basis, so that it shall read “ the Basis of the Standards pure and sim ple.” T?is suggestion is made in. hope of secur ing the re-union of the two Assemblies in May next. The Re-union Committee of our General Assembly, desirous of removing all impediments in the way of a speedy re-uuionof the two bodies, have concurred in the above proposition, and have recommended our Presbyteries to, make this or a similar amendment. At the same time our Com mittee very frankly state, that our Presbyteries must have liberty " in the statement of views, and the interpretation of the standards as gener ally expressed in the First Article, as it now stands.” Against this explanatory clause, the leading journal of the Old School Church pro tests, as “a re-introduction of the Gurley Amend ment.” Therefore, since the recent discussions and propositions on this subject have led to no satisfactory results, we conclude that the only wise and safe course for our Presbyteries is to confine' their action to. the Basis approved by our Assembly and SCnt to the Presbyteries for their adoption or rejection. Therefore . Resolved Ist , That we respectfully recommend to the Presbyteries to which we respectively be long and te others of our branch of the Presby terian Church, at their spring meetings to act only upon the Basis overtured by the General Assembly, that being “the only question at this time properly before them.' > Resolved 2d, That, in our- opinion, the Gen eral Assembly-cannot consummate a union with the other Assembly on any Basis except the one already overtured to the Presbyteries, without violating at least the spirit' of oar constitution ; or .until, another Basis has been regularly sent down to the Presbyteries and ratified by them. S. W. Dana, Chairman. ‘ Ciias. Brown, Secretary. RELIEF INDEED. <: For. several: weeks past, the churches seem 'to have quite forgotten the Ministerial Relief Fund of the General. Assembly. < The Secretary and Treasurer swore long faces, wondered'- and were [dismayed, save that they trusted in the God of the ,fa.therless and the widow; and believed that His; servants would not be forsaken in .their old age. But their human, resources seemed to have quite gone dry;when lo! it became: their privi doge to announce by far the ’largest single dona tion, the Committee has ; ever received, t almost •equal, in fact, to the whole of last year’s receipts from every source. It will be. seen that the gift is' to the pernlanent fund, and therefore it does not release the churches from the pleasant duty of regular contributions. The Secretary, Rev! Chas. Brown, says: • H. M. Schieffelin, Esq.) of the-First Presby terian church, Yonkers, New York, who for sev- eral years sent an annual contribution of five hundred dollars to the Relief Fund, has recently crowned his liberal gifts with the munificent Sum of eight thousand two hundred dollars (88,200) toward the Permanent Fund. He first designed to offer to be one of twenty-five persons who should give eight thousand dollars, each, to make a permanent fund of two hundred thousand dol lars, but thinking there might be some difficulty in the way of executing this project, he has given eight thousand two hundred dollars uncondition ally ; hoping, no doubt, that his example will prompt others to give liberally to this cause. In a letter to the Secretary on this subject, Mr. Schieffelin writes: —“ I think, that in the apos tles’, time, giving to supply the necessities of the saints was more prominently urged than any other giving; and there’is no other kind of giv ing of which our Lord Jesus Christ so distinctly says it is given to him ; and how much more so in the case'of those who are worn out in the ser vice,of the Church?” ONE WORD MORE ON «HELPING THE POOR.” My Dear Dr. Mears :— I find in my haste in writing my last week’s article I have uninten tionally used a word which did not convey my meaning. The firm to which I refer gave way, as the senior partner informed me $1,500 a month in petty benevolence to applicants at their office. It is not proper to characterise all these as street beggars, although the one who at the time was receiving her dollar was of this class, and my friend gave me to understand the majority were like her. P. S. THE WOMAN QUESTION “ Dr. Nelson rather startled his conservative frinds by the strong ground he took on the wo man question.” — Am. Presbyterian. “ Will our contemporary tell Dr. Nelson’s friends what it is that is startling, in his remarks before the late Presbyterian Cnovention in Cin cinnati? They are fully published in our paper of March 4th, and have impressed all hearers and readers of them in this region, as eminently wise, scriptural, and ‘ conserrative.’ ” —Christinn Herald. Among Dr. Nelson’s friends we certainly are, but not among his “ conservative ” friends, and we were not in the least startled by his views as presented in the Herald, but considered them wise, scriptural, and right, which is better than r" conservative.” The statistics of emigration for the year 1868 show that the number of Germans who came to our country during* that year is more than double that of the Irish—the figures being 101,989'Germans against 45,571 Irish. Genesee Evangelist, IN"o. 1192. ( Home & Foreign Miss. $2 00. 1 Address: —133 d Chestnut Street. —The Massachusetts Legislature has refuse d to pass the bill opening the Boston Public Li brary on Sunday. —The Watchman and Reflector' takes Mr. Hammond to 'task for having said that “all Universalist preachers were devils.” ■ What au thority has the W. and R. for this statement? A Universalist preacher charged Hr. Hammond with haying said so ; that is probably the whole of it. Mr. r Hammond himself has publicly denied it. 'He did say that the first Uni versalist preacher was the devil, a declara tion to which,, doubtless, the Reflector would subscribe. Bufcbefore it preaches a sermon on propriety, it. should hot omit the most proper thing of all—be sure of the truth of its text. —-A series of 1 Universalist sermons is an nounced in one of our daily papers, under the “ All'men are by nature UniveTSalists.” What is this but a free rendering of the ortho dox proposition, “ All men are by nature totally depraved”?.* And'what is any J sorfrof Gospel worth which -does not' try to raise meii above what they are by nature ? —We heat* that ample naval preparations are being made for the protection of the few score of Americans*'oll the island of Cuba, who are merely menadcd with rude treatment by the Spaniards. Such prompt' and effective mea sures for‘ the honor of the American name abroad ire refreshing'; but, meanwhile, we do not hear of any'special measures in behalf of the thousands'of patriotic citizens of Georgia and Texas; who are Still' suffering actual and bloody violence at the hands of the unrecon structed rebels of those' 'States.' Secretary Borie has done nobly'; noW ’ let Secretary Baw lins do likewise. . —The last official act of Andrew Johnson, besides pardoning whiskey thieves and counter feiters, was to pocket the bill pledging the faith of the nation to the payment, in fall value, of every dollar of the public debt. The very first bill which President-Grant signed, is the one pocketed by Andrew Johnson, and re-enacted by the present Congress. The promptness with which both departments of the Government thus disavowed the scandalous heresy of repudiation, is creditable to both, and reassuring to our coun try and its creditors. This, and tho announce ment by Secretary Boutwell of his purpose to cease hoarding the surplus funds of the Treasury, and to apply them to diminishingour obligations, will tend to raise the relaxed tone of the whole mercantile community, and to invigorate every commercial virtue. Thank God for this raising up of the second table of the law, and chiselling out into clear outline again the almost defaced character’s of the Eighth Commandment. —lf the calculations in Prof. Schem’s Eccle siastical Almanacs, for, last year and this, furnish the true rate of increase of Protestantism and Romanism, the child is now born who will see the relative numerical strength of these great re ligious parties reversed, and Protestantism twice as strong in numbers as Romanism, instead of only half as strong, as now. Before the close of the present century their numbers will be equal. There may, meanwhile, come a great struggle in this country and in England, where the most energetic efforts are being made to revive the superstition which is fast dying out in older countries. —The N. Y. Christian Advocate, in an article which we shall refer to again, makes exalted claims for the Presbyterianism of Methodism. Alluding to our. own and the Methodist Protest ant's recent articles on the subject, it says : “ Every one who has looked into the nature of our ecclesiastical polity and order, or who has attended to any of our discussions and contro versies about Church government, must have learned that, beyond any other Church in the land, ours is a purely Presbyterian regimen.” We would suggest to our 0. S. brethren who are on the lookout for a sufficiently pure Presby terian church for union, and who cannot alto gether satisfy themselves of the qualifications of our body, to turn their attention in this direc tion. —We have had a purpose in noticing at length three monthly magazines in our book column. Two of them are distinctly religious, and the third is under the control of conscientious and religious men. In the vast quantity of periodi cal literature now soliciting patronage, we com,- mend these magazines to families wishing a higher class of reading, which shall, at the same time, contain nothing hostile, to Christian prin ciples, sound morals, or the truths of the Bible. We furnish these magazines as premiums for new subscribers, as follows :. Sabbath at Home,. one new subscriber and $3, Hours at Home,. two new subscribers and 8.5. Guthrie’s Sunday, Magazine, two new subscribers and 85 25- CURRENT TOPICS.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers