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111 r 14,
New Series, Vol. VI, No. 1 JohnAWeir 15ju1y69
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1869.
Strictly in Advance $2.50, Otherwise $3. 1
Postage 20cts, to be paid where delivered.
gattritau gmbprial
THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1869.
THE MORTAL SAVOR OF THE GOSPEL.
The Gospel always triumphs, but does not al
ways save. It is a sweet savor unto God always,
but not always a savor of life unto life. Its very
power to give life, involves and necessitates a
power to slay. If it is rightly, plainly, faithfully,
earnestly presented, without reserve or extenua
tion, it must be mortal as well as vivifying. If
it does not kill, it is in all probability, because
it has no power to make alive. That which has
no force will rouse no opposition. Weak and in
efficient remedies will stir no bile. A poor can
dle-light will not irritate the diseased eye. The
feeble rays of the winter sun will not start vege
tation, and so they will not breed pestilence in
the slimy marsh.
Often the Gospel shows its genuineness by
nearly killing those whom it finally makes alive.
It breaks up the carnal peace and security of
the sinner; it burdens his conscience with a
crushing weight of sin ; it brings him to the verge
of despair; it pierces like a two edged sword, to
the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit. All
the evil of his nature is roused in opposition to
the demands of the Gospel. Under its quicken
ing power, the sinner actually seems farther
from salvation than ever. So Saul, the persecut
or, goes from the moving spectacle of Stephen's
death, breathing out threatenings and slaugh
ter against the Christians, and his persecuting
rage may have been a sort of cloak to the storm
of rebellion against an aroused conscience, going
on within him. It may be, that just at the time
when thoroughly slain by the Gospel, Christ the
life was revealed to him from heaven.
The world of gracious, saving instrumentalities
embraced in the Gospel, cannot be resisted or
excluded from the heart without deadly effect.
The dying love of Jesus, the most powerful ap
peal from the heart of God to the heart of man,
the omnipotence of loving-kindness, cannot be
resisted without a deadening effect upon our
higher emotional nature. The pure principles of
Gospel morality, the supreme claims of our
Creator and Redeemer upon our allegiance, cannot,
be refused and set aside without a searing process
going on in the conscience, and a gathering of
responsibility, and a treasuring up of wrath
against the day of wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgment of' God. The pleas and
whisperings of the Holy Spirit, and the admoni
tions of Providence always seen and felt in con
nection with the faithful preaching of the word,
can only be successfully resisted at a great sacri
fice of that moral sensibility, which is nearly
identical with soul-life itself. Open your heart
to these high and holy influences, and submit
your will to God, yield to the infinitely tender
persuasions of the Holy Spirit, and the Gospel
becomes a savor of life unto life to you; it is its
nature and design to be such and nothing else.
But its very benignity, glory and power turn it
into a savor of death unto death if resisted.
And what, 0 sinner, must be your fate, if the
blessed Gospel, by your resistance, is turned into
a savor of death unto death? You have turned
the only medicine of the soul into poison, and
what remedy is there now ? The wide universe
furnishes nothing that can save and restore you.
You seal your own doom. See to it, 0 delaying
one, that now, while the Gospel spreads its sweet
odors on every side, and is a savor of life unto
life, to thousands and tens of thousands, its fra
grance reaches your heart, and transforms your
character, and saves you instead of aggravating
your doom.
PEN PICTURES,
No. 2. The Once.a-.ttay Church-Attendant.
This individual is a manifest improvement
upon the one we lately looked at, who never
goes regularly to divine service. He whom we
now see is very steady. .He moves like clock
work. You may safely put him down as the
most methodical man in the world. He lives,
moves, works, eats, sleeps, and does everything—
even attends church by a rule. And it is a rule
almost as unalterable as the laws of the Medes
and Persians.
He is a very respectful and attentive hearer.
The preacher is encouraged as he catches his
eye, and feels sure there is one at least in his
audience who is ib sympathy with him. Our
hero is also a person of intelligence. He does
not open his mouth and eyes only when some
sensational remark is made, but is pleased and
edified with the pure milk and solid meat of the
sanctuary. Moreover he is a devout as well as
sensible man. With reverence he bows his
head in prayer. With fervor he joins in the
psalm of praise. He seems really to feel the
influence of holy truth in his heart.
But he only goes to church once a day. Now, if
he lived very remote from the sanctuary, if he
was sick or infirm or aged, if he was detained in
any way by Providence, this would be no cause
for censure. His duty might call him in an- :
other direction, or require him to stay at home.
Not so however withoar friend. He does not
attend divine worship in the afternoon or even
ing just because he does not choose to. He pre
fers to take his smoke and nap after dinner, and
then' spend the day in reading and talking with'
his friends. He argues that one good sermon is
all he can digest, and he feels a self-complacency
in the fact that' he always goes to the , morning
service. If all.did as well as he does, he thinks
the .cause of religion would succeed very well.
Where is the flaw in this character ? Juit in
this, we apprehend. He is one of that large class
of people who regard religion as a thing of privi
lege, not of duty. Perhaps he would not affirm
in just so many words that there are no holy du=
ties to be performed. No, but the duty in this
age is secondary. He argues that the .old dis
pensation with its heavy burdens has passed away.
The new economy with its' easy yoke 'his com
menced. Christ has fulfilled the law, and now all
His disciples need. do is to follow Hina•as His pu
pils, receiving from Him' and the Divine Spirit
those covenant blessings which are promised to
believers.
A very quiet man is thik once-a-day church
goer. He never finds fault with others for visit
ing the sanctuary more frequently. But, if you
attack him, he will put himself on the defensive,
and sustain a pretty good argument too. He will
tell you that those people who go to the Sabbath=
schooltwice, go to church twice, attend one or
two prayer meetings, and visit the sick on the
Sabbath day, make it a day of toil,—that they
starve their own souls while they feed others,
that they neglect their closet and family duties,
that they do not read the Bible and meditate on
its sacred' truths as they should.
But we say—" Stop, my friend ; you are now
supposing one extreme while you are occupying
the other. There' Ts a meditim. The Sabbath is
a day of rest, and this rest is to be found in holy
duty. No doubt some people give too much sa
cred time to public ~services. But others give
too little, and God means us to do neither."
In our cities and large towns, and, indeed, in,
many rural districts, it is not enough for the com
munity to have sanctuary service only once a day
on the ,Sabbath. Perhaps the second service may
be a prayer meeting, or a lecture, or an adult
Bible class exercise. But we hold there should
be more than one service. We ought to use
God's time as judiciously and profitably as we do
our own. A good mechanic or merchant or far
mer does not thrive if he only does a half a day's
work. No business man would be willing to em
ploy his clerks with the understanding that they
should do his work in the morning and their own
in the afternoon. Such an arrangement would
be disastrous. He would not only lose half of
their time, but they would become so much in
terested in their own affairs as to care but little
for his concerns.
No, my friend; if your portrait is before you,
look at it, and then consider these facts:
1. God has a claim upon you. Re calls you
to duty, and your heart and hand should be given
first to Him.
2. God gives, us the Sabbath, and commands
us to devote all its hours to His worship and ser-
3. If we work hard during the week in secu
lar employment, we can work hard on the Lord's
day in holy duty, and this work, if our hearts
are right, will be rest for us. It will be a whole
some change. It will prove a recreation for the
body and mind.
4. We are to serve God. "Go work to-day in
my vineyard," is the divine command. This we
are to do in gratitude, esteeming it a privilege to
work for so good and gracious a Lord and Master.
5. You are no better than Jesus. He toiled
all day king, and so should you. You should go
to the sanctuary, to both services if possible,
through winter's cold and summer's beat, because
thus you can assist your minister, thus you can
sustain your church, thus you can by example
induce others to come, and you may in this way
bring them to Christ.
6. It will be for your good. It is reasonable
to suppose that you will sometimes, at least, be
benefitted by the exercise. You must be a per
son of very small mental and spiritual capacity
if you cannot receive profit from the second ser
vice.
Try it, dear friend, and when you become
thoroughly interested in holy things you will not
stay away. The sanctuary will be an attractive
spot to you. You will love the place where God
meets His people. Your soul will be refreshed
with holy truth, and very likely you will get
your appetite so sharpened that you will think
as many do—" Our minister preaches his best
sermons in the evenings." The secret is that
the people are better prepared. aftg the exercises
early in the day; for the closing wor ,
Try it, for if pit are a Christian you will want
to be prepared for the eternal Sabbath in the tem
ple on high; Where ice will never ;cease the wet.-
ship of God. Shall we not now t.ultivate a love
for ,holy service so that in expectation of, that
glorious day 'we may exclaim with the psalmist:
"How amiable are thy' tabernaeles, 0 Lord of
hoitsl My soul tongeth, yea evan fainteth for
the courts of the Lord. My heart and my fleSll
crieth out for the living God." 1 P. S.
OUR CITY, AND COLLEGIATE EDUCATION:
Aniong,recent proofs of a growing interest
in the higher forms 'of education given by our
city, we reckon the recent farewell dinner, to
President Cotten of 'Lafayette College. The
courteous, warm-hearted, energetic man, who
has just foughtati . d 'won his battle for the eiis
tence and eminence of his College, desecved thus
to have his great services to the cause of educa
tion in the State, recognized. And we rejoice
that so enthusiastic and entirely successful a re
cognition was given here, and by our own citizens.
Festivals in honor of purely litmary.enteririses
have not been so common here, aS by any means
to distinguish or characterize our higher, social
life. But we are growing; our city is showing
a higher appreciation of such interests; and the
fact that two hundred guests, lay 4nd clerical,;
from business and from each of the learned pro
fessions; could' be so easily rallied Aid so thor
oughly warmed up to the occasion, as they were
at, .this farewell dinner, given at the Continental,
Thursday evening last, shows Oat our Quaker
city, not content with its admirable common
school system, is determined to keep abreast of
the movement for all the higher forms of
culture. ,
Dr. Cattell accepted the Presidency of La
fayette. College, at a time in the. history Of the
instituitionivheti it was a doubtftiThonor ; when,
in fact, it was nothing more than a summons to
lead a forlorn hope. For eleven months, he
toiled at the desperate work of raising an en
dowment, and could report but ten thousand dot
lars as the resalt of almost a year's labor. Then,
in his darkest hours, deliverance appeared.: The
same Providence who, ages ago, had stored _up
exhaustless beds of fuel, and kept them until
needed by the last and highest of his creatures,
had, out of these same coil beds, been gathering
up and storing away" thq wealth, 'whiqh was
at the fitting moment, to be un locked for the en
dowment of Lafayette College. The, steward
of the Lord,—doubtless, for many years acting
his part as such all unconscionsly—was a Self
made man, whose career was begun and continued
amid the very richest and purest strata of the
anthiacite region of sPennsylvania. Not afraidl of
work himself, by diligence, persistence, shre
wd
ness, and self-denial, he rose from the humbl i est
position, to the control of vast interests reckoned
by millions. With , the increase of wealth,, no
spendthrift tendencies appeared, as is too often
the case in our country. When he might have
vied with the nabobs of the Fifth av enue in his
style of living, his home continued to be the
same plain and comfortable abode, in the 'same
mining town whichhad , witnessed , the beginning
of his good fortune. His benefactions were not
large. Wedded happily to a Christian wnman
he showed reverence to her faith, as well as a
reasonable regard for the public benefits ;if re
ligion, by attending and contributing to the
church, but not by publicly connecting himself
with it. Nor has he yet done so.
But in the Providence of God, while Dr.
Cattell, faint yet pursuing, was seeking aid for
his college, the mind of Mr. Pardee of Hazle
ton, was ripening for just such an emergency;
and the meeting between the two men was as
thrilling as might be expected, when such high
providential affinities had drawn them together.
Dr. Cattell's own happy account of' the scene, as
given at the festival, deserves to be reproduced :
In the fall of 1864 I became acquainted with
Mr. A. Pardee, at his own home in Hazleton, Pa.
It was at a period when the clouds of our civil
war hung low and dark in the horizon, shrouding
the whole country in gloom. It was a dark
period, too, for Lafayette College. I had labor
ed for nearly a year with all the energy God has
given me, and so insignificant were the results
that it seemed scarcely possible the college_
could much longer exist. , I may say also that,
so thoroughly had I woven my own life with
that of the college, that it seemed to me as if
we were both dying 'out together. You oan
therefore judge somewhat of my personal, as
well as official gratitude, to Mr. Pardee, when I
tell you that at this first interview, although he
had never set foot within the college grounds,
and had never met with any of the faculty ex
cept the president, at whose youth and diminu
tive appearance he was no doubt at first grieved
in heart, this noble man placed in my hands his
obligation for s2o,ooo—the largest sum at that
time ever given by one person to any educational
institution in Pennsylvania! If you, Mr.
Chairman, or any of these gentlemen can de
scribe', my feelings, I wish you would. It is be
yond 'niy power. I read the paper over and
over, and the. more I read it. the less I compre
hended "the situation." I was, sir, as one that
dreamed, and, if Mr. Pardee had melted away
right before my eyes through the carboniferous
rocks upon which we stood, and reappeared as a
preaclamite megalotherium, I could not have
marveled More than I did when I looked at
those little slips of paper. Ido not think the
sensation would have been so delicious, but it
would not have been more stunning. And
indeed, '--sir,` how I got home that day I can
scarcely'remember. I presume the cars did not
rnia•off the.track j but really, sir, I do not think
I would have taken much notice, of an ordinary
smash-up. I do remember, however, that wheng
reached home and shoWed'the lette: to the one
whose gentle sympathies had cheered me in so many
burs of discouragement, and who was the first
to have and share my new joy,—l well remem
ber that we two knelt down together, and from
my full heart there went up the prayer that God
would bless and reward the generous donor, and
that prayer 1 have not, sir, since that time,
ceased daily to offer.
This generous and unexpected contribution,
however, has been utterly thrown into the shade
by subsequent gifts froth Mr. Pardee, amount
ing to $200,000 in all.
Other sums contributed since that memorable
interview, which marked the turn of the tide,
were enumerated, in part, as follows:
$30,000 by Wm. Adamson,l2o.ooo by John
A. Brown, $5,000 by Alex. Whilldin and M.
Baird, of ,this_• city; Thos. Beaver, of Danville,
gave $25,000; Joseph H. Scranton, $15,000; J.
W. Hollenbach, of Wilkesbarre, and Thomas
Dickson, 'of Scranton, each $5,000. W. E.
Dodge, of New York, gave $15,000, and Seidel]
T. Scranton; of New Jersey, $7,500. Also,
$15,000 from Mr. John I. Blair to purchase addi
tional ground, for the erection of a new dormito
ry ; the magnificent, chemical Hall, one of the
finest in the country, built and presented to the
college by Barton H. Jenks, of Philadelphia;
the .Astromical Observatory, completely fur
nishedr, by the munificent gift of Professor Trail!
Greene; two dormitories, one erected by Alfred
Martien, and the other by Rev. Matthew New
kirk, both of Philadelphia; a fund of• $20,000,
Contributed by the citizens of Easton for the erec
tion of new buildings.
And now, with a full corps of professors, with
Ithe old Classical course in full operation, but with
a complete scientific course• carried on by its side;
with a course in English philology as severe and
searching as that in Greek or Latin; and with
the whole system harmonized and subordinated
to the , highest Christian aims, La Fayette. Col
lege seemed to need only this step on the part of
the presiding officer—a visit to the leading scien
tific.schools of Europe,, to learn those points of
superiority.in them, which draw to them six hun
dred of our. best American students for the com
pletion of their studies, and to get materials for
deciding upon the feasibility of keeping these
.students at home, by furnishing them : with equal
facilities at least in •one institution in America.
It is understood that the practical good sense of
Mr. Pardee is really at the bottom of this move
ment, and there is not much danger in inferring
that the required funds for any improvements
suggested by the visit will not be wanting.
Even more than the usual enjoyment seemed
to be experienced at this memorable re-union.
The feast was .choice and ample. There was a
happy mingling of the lade
.cum, dulci. The
presidency of Ex-Governor Pollock, the speech of
Mayor Fox, the brilliant and yet most instruc
tive address of Dr. Cattell, the remarks of Prof.
Green, of Ashbel Welch, Esq , of Judge Thomp
son, Ex-Judge Stfong and Prof. Gross, the ex
ceedingly humorous address of Dr. Herrick John
son, which set the tables in a roar, and yet suf
fered for, no lack of substantial thought, and the
wholesome, earnest admonitory remarks of U. S.
Commissioner Barnard, upon the very great
imperfection of the educational arrangements of
our own land, as compared with the land which
especially would secure the attention of the tour
ing president—he referred to Germany—all con
tributed to the happiness and profit of an occa
sion, which must be set down as marking, with
others, a new and hopeful era for higher educa
tion in the judgment of our community, and in
the sympathies of our men of wealth.
L—Elkanah Watson's estimate of the progress
of our population, made in 1815, and based upon
the three census returns up , to that time made,
has been verified with remarkable accuracy thus
far. The census of 1860 showed a difference, in
thirty odd millions, of only a little over three
hundred thousand of over-estimate on Mr. Wat
son's calculltion. At the sash o rate, the popula
tion in 1870 should be 42,328,432.
Genesee Evangelist., No. 1198.
5 Home & Foreign Kiss. *2.00.
t Address:-1334 Chestnut Street
The English Parliament is investigating the
Sunday sale of newspapers in the kingdom, and
thinks of compelling the Sunday paper proprie-
tors to publish on Saturday. Six thou and per
sons are employed in the traffic in London every
Sunday.
—A sign of the healthful change in public
affairs, is the recent conviction of a Kentucky
whisky dealer, of evading the revenue tax, and a
verdict against him of two hundred thousand
dollars, in behalf of the burdened taxpayers of
the country. His name is A. W. Darling, and
the decision was rendered at Covington, April 30.
But the fine is not yet collected.
--W9 notice with grief that the Independent
deems it necessary to champion Mr. Swinburne,
lately assailed by the novelist Yates, and to draw
comparisons favorable to the morality of the for
mer as against the latter. Advertising the filth
iest nostrums, and shielding writers who glorify
vile lusts, go naturally together, but how do they
sort with the assumption of a religious character
in a journal? With pain and shame, and with
not a particle of exultation, do we point out these
grave faults of our powerful and eminent con
temporary. God give it more grace !
—ln the Hotel Bills . of the N. Y. Assembly's
Committee of Elections, during their sessions in
the City of New York, two thousand six hundred
dollars are charged for the use of two parlors;
two hundred and thirty-seven dollars are for
opera and theatre tickets; three hundred and
seventy for brandy, whisky, and wine—chiefly
the first; and four hundred and twenty-one dol
lars for cigars, being one thousand and twenty-eight
dollars, in all, for these three items. Boys who at
tempt to rob, their masters' money drawers to get
the means for similar indulgences, are sent to jail
in disgrace,; they do not deserve it half so much
as these brazen plunderers of the public purse.
The House, indeed, refused to foot the bills—we
are sorry they considered that a sufficient punish
ment.
The Abolition of Compulsory Tithes has at
last taken effect, and only those who choose are re
quired to contribute in this direct way to the
Church's support. The fact led to this amusing
scene at Reigate, only a month since. The town
crier appeared in the market an d made proclamation
as follows : " Oh yes ! oh yes I oh yes 1 positively for
the last time. This is to, give notice. This after
noon a quantity of beans will be sold by auction
at half-past four o'clock, in the marketplace,
having been seized for Church-rates ; and where
as, the British Government having now decided
that robbery does not promote Christianity, no
further sales of this kind will take place. God
save the Queen !" This proclamation was re
ceived with loud cheers.
--- An anonymous pamphlet against Reunion,
purporting to be written by a very ardent New
School Presbyterian, has for some time been
upon our table. We have long wondered at the
dearth of pamphlets on the subject; the very few,
perhaps but two or three, which had previously
appeared, being, we believe, merely reprints of
Review articles. This pamphlet is written in
popular style, puts things fairly and squarely, and
if the AMERICAN PRESBYYTERIAN itself desired
to take a lesson in plain dealing it would probably
have to sit at the feet of the blunt author. Yet
we are disappointed at the belligerent style, and
the seeming purpose as much to annoy as to con
vince Old School men, in the pamphlet. It is a
noisy rather than able, a zealous rather than wise
demonstration against Reunion as now proposed
to be consummated.
—We are pleased to, notice that the U. P.
Presbytery of Monongahela, at its recent session,
passed a vote of thanks to Gov. Geary for his
veto of the commutation-penalty bill and for his
refusal to pardon notorious criminals. This is a
just and appropriate act. Our worthy Governor
is not above the need of such support. We are
inforffied that, notwithstanding the severe repulse
he has given to the crowd of pardon seekers, he
continues to be overwhelmed with their applica
tions. in every one of the thirty-five other cases
of recent conviction for murder in the State,
Governor Geary is besieged by friends of the
criminals to interpose the pardoning power. And
so powerful are the criminal element and its sym
pathizers in the community with our politicians,
that there is no doubt the chances of the Gover
nor's re-nomination to office at the hands of the
politicians, are seriously affected by his inflexible
integrity in the execution of the laws. We do
not know that he desires another term of office;
but, if the question of his re-nomination iato turn
upon any such matter as this, we- warn the poli
ticians that the people of this State will not easily
submit to the dictation of the criminal element
in the choice of their candidate for the guber
natorial chair.
CERRENT TOPICS.