3111ffitan Ettsligtfrian. TIIURSI)AY, APRIL 15, 1869 REV. JOHN W. MEARS, D. D., Editor. No. 1334 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE. Rev. Z. N. Humphrey, D.D., Pastor of Calvary Church. Rev. Herrick Johnson, D.D., Pastor of the First Church. Rev. Dani. March. D.D., Pastor of Clinton St. Church. Rev. Peter Stryker, D.D., Pastor of N. Broad St. Church. Rev. George F. Wiswell, D.D., Pastor of Green Hill Church. Rev. E. E. Adams, D. D., Prof.; in Lincoln iilli versity. Rev. Samuel Duffield, Special Cor respondent. Mr. Robert E. Thompson will continue to aot as Editor of the News Department. Correspondents in every Presbytery and Sy nod will promptly furnish us with fresh items of news from their respective fields. se- Florida and the Floridians, IIL, Li braries for Mining TotanA, Our Theatrical Amusements, Editor's Table, page 2nd; Liter ary Intelligence, American and ,Foreign, page 3d; Dies Ira;, (poetry,) by Samuel W. Duffield, The Bar or the Pulpit, Woman's Mission to In dia, Little Gaosey, (poetry,) Never in Sunday School, MeasUring Earthquakes, Supposed Traces of Man, items, page 6th; Religious In telligence; Reformed, Congregational, Episco pal, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, .Romanist, page 7th. Dar A transposition of numerals by your types, in your issue of April Bth, dcies the faith ful ladies of Camden, N. J., an injustice. Under " Churches," " The Church at Camden, N. Y.," sentence, "The ladies have furnished the house, &c.," " 8367" should read $637.. Please correct next week. YOUTS, &43.., E. N. MANLEY, Pastor• BOOKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED. Littell'a Living Age, 4th series. Jan.—Mar 1869. Fishing in American Waters. G. C. Smith Harpers. Illustrated. Hotchkin's Upward. Pres. Pub. Committee A Tennessean in Persia. Illustrated. Pub Committee. W. H. H. Murray's Life in the Wilderness. Illustrated. Fields Sr, Osgood. Illustrated Travels. Quarto. Richly Illustrated Cassell, Petter & Galpin, N. Y. Sunday Magazine for April. Routledge, New York. American Presbyterian Review, April. Scrib ner & Co. Princeton Review, April. Scribner &Co —The amended Excise Law has been recom mitted in the New York Legislature. The pres sure of the aroused public opinion of the State will probably prevent any serious modification such as contemplated in the free lager beer clause. A spirited Church Temperance meeting was held in the Lecture Room of N. Broad St. church on Thursday evening last. A number of brief, stirring addresses'were made, and one of the most acceptable speakers, Mr. Briggs, showed the practical character of his zeal, by offering to " run" the meeting at his own expense, and pro vide speakers for a year.--The meeting ,in the Western Church has greatly, increased in interest and numbers, the lecture-room being well filled. Thirty signers to the pledge were obtained in a single evening. Rev. R. H. Allen of Pine street church, preached a sermon in March, on " Heavenly Recognition," a subject of the tenderest interest to mutitudes. By request, the sermon was re peated to a densely crowded house on Sunday evening, April 4th, and the inquire?. of Thursday gives the sermon entire. It is compact, well reasoned, and strongly fortified by arguments from ancient literature, from the inherent prob abilities of the case, and from the Scriptures. A similar subject formed the theme of one of Dr. Herrick' Johnson's most acceptable dis courses, on the same Sabbath evening, at the First Church, the subject being " The Better Coun try." The impression made by the discourse was most delightful, and was deepened by the great appropriateness and beauty of the services •.of the choir. There was a full house. —Clinton St. Church received five persons on profession, and two by examination on Sabbath, April 4th. In the evening, Dr. March com menced his series of sermons on "Bible Lessons from the Book of Nature." Subject : God's Treasures of the Winds. The discourse was marked by the descriptive power and wise adap., tation of nature to spiritual ends, which distin guish this class of the preacher's efforts. The subject last Sabbath evening, was " God's Bow in the Cloud." The free pew system is in operation in the P. E. church of the Intercessor, on Spring Gar den St., near Broad, but with some restrictions as we suppose from the following advertisement : " Families desiring free pews may have them as signed from those not already occupied." The rector was to preach, last Sabbath morning, on the Scriptural Method of Supporting the Gospel. Wilmington, Del.—The new [West Presby terian] church in this city displayed their cour age and intimated what kind of man they want for their enterprise by calling Rev. Geo. F. Wis well, D.D ; of Green Hill church in this city to the pulpit. We are " right sorry " there are not two Dr. Wiswells, as we think they need just the man than he is; but Green Hill church is in precisely the same , situation, and Dr. Wiswell has declined, call. We t sineerely.,hope the West church will soon bp supplied and the im portant entorprize move vigorously fJrward. THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 1869. RELIGIOUS PRESS. Zion's Herald, the Boston M. E. paper, and one of the ablest that reaches us from any quar ter, has a leader last week on "Rome's Testi mony to Rome's downfall." These words, it says, were employed on placards, etc., 15 years ago, in he capital of Ireland, by Orangemen exulting over the announcement made by a re turned Catholic agent from America, that at least a million Irish Catholics were lost to ." the Church" in this country. Having quoted similar testimony from other high sources, the .Herald continues : " Within the past few weeks, still more of this testimony is forthcoming. An article in The Universe, which claims to be the oldest Catholic paper in the United States, written in the most startling and eloquent language, tries to wake up this recreant Church to a just view of her sink ing condition. The writer of this article de clares, that the Church in America has in truth a sad history;' he calls her ' a section torn from the bleeding side of Ireland;',asserts that her annual increase does not amount to twenty thousand; that this increase is wholly by immi gration. ' Nothinc , but immigrants,' while the children of those immigrants, two hundred thou sand, the best Catholic blood in the - world, are, every year, lost !to the: Churcht' That to 'boast of the erection of grand cathed4la uitder such circumstances, is almost sacrilegious. 'To save the youthful flock from the ravages of the wolves, would be 'more acceptable to 'God than the build ing of splendid Gothic or Corinthian temples. For these architectural piles the blood of Cal vary was not shed, but for souls, and the souls most tenderly loved Were the orplians the Church so cruelly neglected.' . . .:`Father Hecker has fig ured it all out; and declares that it is just as in evitable as the laws of mathematics, we shall all be Roman Catholics by the year 1890. Will the Reverend Father try his hand 'again at arithmetic, and have the goodness to tell us hoW long it will take to wipe Romanism from these United States, when immigration , ceases, and two hundred, thousand .children are, every year trans ferred to the Protestant Church?" The Western Christian Advocate; Cincinnati, closes an article on the Scriptural argument for the Separate Existence'of the Soul after Death, in the following terms which, we think, well represent the general sentiment of Christendom : "To be present with the f Lord' is something more than to lose connection with earth. Paul looked upon it as desirable; yea, as far better than to live in the flesh; 'For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better.' It can mean nothing less than conscious' communion with Christ. Whether when the self-hood departs from the body that finds prepared for it a special vehicle in which to live, or whether the soul it self forms a spiritual vestment for the conscious self and divine life that reside within it, or whether for the time being the soul, including all the qualities and characteristics of the spi ritual nature, remains unclothed' till the period of the resurrection of the dead, we may not posi tively affirm; but that the, departed saint lives with Christ, where Christ is, and in joyful fel lowship with Him is the plain teaching of this passage, and of the whole tenor of the apost6lic writings : ' Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him.' " Great injustice, we think, is done to the-Bap tist denomination, by one of their own leading organs, the Examiner and Chronicle. ,It says "If we mistake not, the Baptists have a les son to learn from 'the other branches of' the Christian family, . . . in regard to the import ance of a frank and manly ~avowal of our denomi national belief on all suitable occasions." It is the opinion of many that our immersion ist brethren, like ;other exclusives, have never suffered from modesty_ in this respect, and are tolerably ,good teac.hers• of- the lesson they are here urged to learn. All, however, will agree with the following sentences, in the same article: " The young people in our' churches will find or,make a place where they may develop their social natures, if we . do not anticipate them by providing for this want. If they find scope for all the legitimate promptings of their minds and hearts in connection with the Church . , they will be grappled to the Church with hooks of steel. If they go elsewhere for, intellectual culture, or innocent recreatidn, their affection will be fixed elsewhere. We have in mind, as -we write, a Church which is suffering' because scores of its youncrer members have transferred to the Good Templars the interest which they should feel in the Church. Is it because they feel any very special interest in-the cause of temperance ?.. No. This is a mere pretext for their coming together to develop their intellectual and social natures; and the Church suffers justly, to our . mind, for not having made such provision for the-wants of its young people as should have precluded . • the depletion of its prayer-meetings and mission schools to swell the ranks of an organization which it is compelled to regard as a dangerous rival." The folloting, from the Christian Herald's correspondence, is "a good thing." The writer is speaking of a great revival-in Jackson, Michi gan, and finds a. fatal effect of the work in one of the churches. He says: " In the other churches in Jackson the young converts say they are just beginning to live.• But in the Baptist Church they all die as fast as con verted.. I have not had time to go and witness this strange result, but have information ! from a source which cannot be doubted. i,Tbe , pastor of the church, a very excellent brother, full of love and good works,. ,who must be almost crushed under this appallin'g affliction, told me a few evenings ago that the evening beforc;he had buried' elare number of converts. - I am sure he would 'not bury 'them alive in this tian land, when their help is jo,maeb.,.acede'd. Let all good people remember the brother in his sore' affliction." A Harrisburg correspondent, " R," writes to the _Pittsburg Banner, as follows: wi'he spirit of Union"betwee:nihe two branches (Old and New School) of the Church gathers in force and warmth, as continued discussion reveals the real unity of belief and modes of activity in the Churches. Dr. Herrick Johnson's article, in the last number of the American Presbyterian, is a fair presentation of the feelings and views of the New School churches of this part of the State. The difference between it and the late Pittsburg Circular is well nigh infinitesimal." A correspondent of the Neto York Observer, called by the editor " our old friend," argues against the prevailing passion for Visible Union as a phase of Ritualism. He says " The notion that visible organic union is either essential to the Church militant, or is per fectly obtainable or possible in this world, is the proton pseudos of the ritualism of the great apos taey. To assume that separate organizations, occasioned by diitersities of opinions, not involv ing apostacy, are schisms, and therefore sinful, i s to yi e ld t o Rofne the entire argument. And yet this is the ilippa.nt assumption of some of our brethren. iiivision is_schisni,'schisna is ` sin; therefore all diiision should cease.- For the very reverse of this is true. Unity may prove schism, if it is attained at the sacrifice of , essential truth; for it outs off the whole body, thus united, from Chist, the living Head. Union in the truth is unity, union in essential error is schism. . "The idea thit Church - unity depends upon visible Organic union to one man at Rome, or to three hundred at New York, or St. Louis, and not upoict`iiition Kith the living Head in heivaii, is the monster error of the &Man Antichrist. "It is not the Protestant doctrine. It is the error that stands at the very head of that vast system of RITUALISM, against which the Ob server so ably aid constantly protests. VISI BILITY—VISIBILITY—th e OUTWARD and the FORMAL. 'For ithis ihe spirit of the times clamors. Give us a visible organic Church unity --visible forms. Let us have something polpa- Ue—something list appeals to the senses 1 For-, getting that. the kingdom of God conieth not with 'observation„ as its King hath said, we seem to think that alnthat the' Chnreh needs is visi ble unity, and thi world will be convinced and converted." The N. W. Ileskyteria,n, thinks the declara tion of our Reunion Committee upon doctrinal liberty, is about as serious a matter outside as if it were inside the actual Basis. It says : . "The real question therefore now put before the Church by to New School committee is, whether the principle of the rejected Gurley clause shall rule in the united Church, and / whether we are !,o have a,union vitiated from the first, in its germ and its development by all the fatal defects and ambiguities of that article, leading to endless' discords if we attempt to con form to it, and to endless criminations and re criminations if w4do not." The Presbyterian, of this city, having an nounced that it had no fear for the peace of the United Church, unismuch as it, did not credit the statements on rhich thOse fears rest, we called , up its own "fair warning" _that if _the !Tenth article is repealer, many in its own branch would " immediately demand" an acknowledg ment of the, right cif eitimination;_ 'and were pre pared for, a regular Ecclesiastical campaign through all'the courts of the Church, to attain their end. Last week, in response to our inqui ries, it boldly reprinted its belligerent declaration, speaking of it as no threat, but as " A candid utterance of what we believe will inevitably follow a union inswhich this right is place.d. in peril." t We marvel that the Presbyterian after this can say it has no fears of strife and debate in the , Reunited _ Church; especially j beCitute does ", not accept many of the statements on, which these fears rest" One or the •other of these declarations. so much at; variance; it must needs repudiate. • FROM OUR ROMESTER CORRESPONDENT. THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL According to notice previously given, we had our semi-centennial celebration of the Presby tery of Rochester, on Wednesday of this week. In the morning Louis - Chapin, Esq., - of this city, ga;ire the Statistical History Of the body. It gives the organization of each church, its number of members when formed; the names of all the ministers, the time of their connection with the Presbytery, dismission, death, &c. It cost much hard work to get these statistics to gether, and they make a paper of inestimable value for future reference. We know very few men who have the patience or the ability to pre pare such a document, and Mr. Chapin is one of that select few. He deserves the thanks of the entire church for such a service.' The Presbytel7;, When organized, embrabed nine churches, apd six of them are still:connected with it. In all,,,forty churches have belonged to it, the present number being eighteen. It is probable that the nine churches, at the time of the organization of the Presbytery, contained about four hundred members, while the present eighteen churches embrace nearly four thousand. It is believed that the total number added to these churches is more than eleven thousand. At its organization the Presbytery . embraced six ministers and one licentiate. But two of those original members are now known to be living, Rev. Ebenezer Everett, now eighty years of age, residing , at Hopewell; and Rev. , John. F. Bliss, who preached the opening sermon, but who afterward left the Presbytery; joined the Congregationalists, and subsequently became a Baptist. He is now residing at Churchville. Another most ; estimable brother, who joined the Presbytery ,at its first meeting,, Rev. Herman Halsey, of East Wilson, is still living, and, was With us in this semi-centennial; a living link be tween the transactions of that day and this.: 'ln all, one hundred and ninety-eight ministers and fifteensligent i iates ,havelbgen connected with the botly f of: whom twenty-five still belong to it; twenty-two have died while members ; one hun dred and forty two have been dismissed; four stricken off the roll; one deposed, and one sus pended; and one hundred and seven of the whole number are supposed to be now living. From this Presbytery, twenty-two persons, male and female, have gone out as Foreign MissiOn aries ; and the churches have given $500,000 to the causes of benevolence. THE POEM As part of the morninc , ° service, we also had a poem, from Rev. Charles E. Furman, one of the older members of the Presbytery ; but the poem had all the vivacity and sparkle of youth. It was an admirable production, and gave, perhaps, the greater pleasure from the fact that it took most of the audience by surprise. We doubt if one in twenty of those present _knew that the author ever wrote a line of poetry; but they knew it before be sat down. The subject was The Pastor, taking the young minister from his first introduction to his flock, along . through the varied experience of the pas tor's life and labors. One of the most enjoyable passages was the Donation ,visit, of which we give our readers a taste .4 The night before the was set, The parson, in his slippers, met The tailor, tapping at his door, ' With what he seldom saw before, A suit, well fitted and well Made ; All right,' was all the tailor said; , For some had wished the pastor 'drest,' When they should come to be his guest, And so they sent, the night before, The tailor tapping at his door. * * * * * * * * The ladies were'preparing supper, The lower sash =slipped by the upper, And in was thrown upon the floor A pig that weighed at least ten score. A start, a scream, and then a laughter, That shook the house from sill to rafter; Who did it no one seemed to care, • The main thing was, the pig was there. * * * * * * * * The parson's wife would also share In- the good'people's kindly care. The mill'ner brought a good large bonnet, No stingy pattern was there on it. There was a yard or two, or more— Old ladies know what then they wore— 'Twould cover head, and face, and all; For modesty was counted small, If pretty faces could be seen, Nor veil nor bonnet for a screen. That one you might have whittled down, Both edges, trimming, and the crown, For forty years, do avow, 'Twould be as large as bonnets now." These playful passages, were much relished, and others of a more- serious character gave equal, but,more quiet, pleasure. It was a poem that would suit well at Lyceum or Lecture courses. HISTORICAL DISCOURSE This was preached in the afternoon, 1y" Gen esee' It was 'necessarily a pretty long docu ment, very interesting—to the speaker, and very patiently heard, for an 'hour and ten minutes, by the audience. It first described something of the wilderness, as it was b9fore this Presbytery was formed ; traced, in few words, the surprising change which has made this desert" bud and blos som as the rose ; 'and then spoke more particu- larly of some of the faithful laborers in this field, such as Drs, Penney, the Elder Wisner, Josiah Bissell, and many others. But one of the most important portions of the disconrse, was that relating to the glorious re vivals by which this region has been so greatly blest. The labors of Mr. Finney were parti4ularly referred to, and highly commended. The great revival ; of 1830-31, which occurred under his preaching here at that time, embraced eight hundred souls. The place theri had 10,000 in habitants; now 70,000. If the revival of this spring had equalled that, in proportion to our population, we should now be rejoicing over s'ooo recent converts, instead of five hundred. And yet, comparatively few in all the churches of this Presbytery followed Mr. Finney in his speculations on sinless perfection. Chtirches more sound and stable are not to be found in any part of the country. It is expected that the Statistical History, Poem and Historical Discourse will soon be pub lished in pamphlet form. The Pkesbytery ap pointed a committee for the purpose. In the business meetings of the Presbytery, Rev. Samuel A. Freethan was received, (without examination I) from the Presbytery of Mon mouth, 0. S. He . is supplying the church of Honeoye Falls. " The Presbytery had previously adopted the Assembly's overture on Reunion. They now also express their willingness to unite on the "StandarA pure and simple," if that be thought the better v i y 7i i,tlteing understood, as exyressed by our commliteertnat all proper liberty is still guaranteed to us. The following were appointed Commissioners to the. General. Assembly , : J. B. Shaw, D.D., Rev. A. MoA. Thorburn; Louis Chapin and Frederick Starr. Resolutions on Temperance were also passed, deprecating, on the part of our Legislature, any modification or repeal of the Excise aw, whereby rum and ruin should flow more freely. -We have quite enough of them now. They are as follows : • Resolved 1, That we, the Presbytery of Roches ter are deeply concerned in regard to the move, ment in our State Legislature towards impairing or paralyzing our Temperance laws. Resolved 2, That we feel bound in conscience to remonstrate a g ainst it. Resolved 3, That our action shall be sent to some member of the Legislature who will faithfully present our memorial. AMBOY . . Our Church at Amboy, under the faithful and judicious labors of Bev. John S. Bacon, has ,been greatly blest. ~,Thirty-seven were added to its membership las,t, Sabbath, as the first fruits of a powerf:ul Aiival, which commenced some where in mid-winter. Others are expected to come forward at the next communion, The,church has been highly prospered during all the seven years of Mr. Bacon's pastorate. They have, built good parsonage; have re cently Tided $290- to ,the'pnstor's salary ; sustain a flonrishinc , b Sabbath i scho,ol,and the member ship of the churPh has donbled. .The congrega tion is largely; made - ,up of staid , orthodox ,independent farmers. They, are „contemplating extensive repairs in their house of worship the coming season. Last year they gave to every one of the causes of our church—they filled all the blanks ; setting a good example to some churches larger and stronger. PERSONAL The papers report that Dr. Mcllvaine has ac cepted tke call of the First church of this city. We believe this is premature, as his final answer is not yet received. It is hoped it may be favor able. Rev. Dr. Crowell preached for St. Peter's last Sunday, and made a very favorable impression. It is pretty confidently hoped that he may accept this call. President Brown, of Hamilton College, is to supply the pulpit of the Central church, in Dr. Campbell's absence, to-morrow (11th), and the Sabbath following. Prof. Upson is then to preach for one Sabbath, the last of this month ; after which the pastor is expected in his place again. GENESEE. Rochester, April 10, 1869. eitg ki:ip.,:O3,;(II',ICIPLIA tib>olliCi_3,%4:4XtDl:l4lllol • .0n Thursday evening, April Bth, a special service was held in Wharton St. church, upon erecting a tablet in the vestibule wall of the church, in memory of Mrs. Mary Cornell, through whose liberality the means for erecting the church-building were provided. The tablet is a thick and very handsome block of marble, about three by four feet, inserted in the partition wall of the vestibule, above the first landing. The services commenced with singing bridle admirable choir of Clinton St. church, who with the organist, Mr. Mitchell, had kindly volun teered for the occasion. The Scriptures were. read by the pastor, Rev. J. Garland Hamner,. and prayer was offered by Rev. A. J. Snyder of Wilmington. After a few introductory remarks by the pastor, Rev. Albert Barnes of the First Church, with which Mrs. Cornell was connected, made an address. He commenced by referring to and illustrating the difference between oc casional acts of beneficence ; and the establish ment of permanent sources of good which were like fountains or streams of water, like medicinal springs that flow on, and for aught we know, will continue to flow without exhaustion. Another thought was the value of a single time ly suggestion. Mrs. Cornell had no known in tention as long as she lived, to employ her Property in this way ; she was favorably struck with the suggestion of her chosen advisers, to make this disposition of it. Mr. Barnes then proceeded to give a history of Mrs. Cornell, who was born in Germany. Her husband was a sea faring man, who died soon after the marriage, leaving her a small property with no children. For forty years a widow, by painstaking and economy, carried to great length, she gradually increased her property; investing it from time to time in real estate. She had an adopted daughter, who married, against her wishes, a medical student, and going South, died there. Whether she left any child or not, was not clearly known, and Mrs. Cornell concluded to bequeath her whole property, which at her death consisted of five or six pretty good houses, to the purpose of building a church, primarily to accommodate the Mission-school of the First Church, with the expectation that it might result in the establish ment of a complete church organization. Mrs. Cornell, although at different times making con tributions to benevolent causes, sometimes in considerable amounts, was not what would be called a liberal person, and the providence which through the instrumentality of a suggestion di rected the fruits of her long life of economy to this hippy result was not overlooked. Dr. Mears congratulated the people upon the happy and very unusual occurrence that had drawn them together. They had come to show the world what estimate they put upon such acts as that of Mrs. Cornell. It was an excellent use to make of a- fortune. It was not wasted or squandered in dissipation, as are so many fortunes when left to individuals, but was here in these walls and these accommodations for worship. The two hundred souls already converted in this church testified to its vast usefulness. He earnestly hoped the example would prove contagious. But if we could not build churches, this people could main tain the spiritual, imperishable temple, could themselves be witnessing tablets and living epis tles known and read of all men. He concluded by wishing the Lord might, be with them hence forth as hitherto. .t After the singing of Dr. March's version of "Your Mission" as a Solo, with fine effect by Mrs. Tudor, REV. HERRICK JOHNSON, D. D. pleasantly remarked that he supposed he was on the programme merely to make the family-gath ering complete. He referred to Ruskin's beau . - tiful lesson from the fading leaf, that man should be known not by his resting-place when dead, but by the effects he had left where he lived. With many earnest, apt and stirring illustrations, he endeavored to quicken and encourage the people in their work, and closed with an appeal for liberal contributions in the collection abolt to be taken up, to meet a deficiency of $5OO in the finances. After the collection the congregation and choir joined in singing Mr. DUffi ° eld's noble hymn : Stand up ! Stand up for Jesus ! and the benediction was pronounced by Dr. Johnson. Green 11111 Church. Seventy-one persons were received into the membership of this church (Rev. Geo. F. Wis well, D.D. pastor) on last Sunday morning, fifty one by profession and twenty by letter. This is the largest number ever received by Green Hill church, and the occasion was one of the deepest interest to the crowded assembly. The ages of those received ranged from thirteen to over sixty years, the'greater number being from twenty to thirty-five years and coming ontof. the. Sabbath school. Ei.hteen heads of families were in the number, which is one sixth of the' entire previ ous membership of the church... This great _in gathering is not the result of . anything properly called excitement. Seine special services were
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers