jintritan, prtisilictrtialt. THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1869 REV. JOHN W. MEARS, D. D., Editor. No. 1334 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. TIVE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Rev. Z. In Humphrey, D.D., Pastor of Calvary Church. Rev. Herrick Johnson, D. D., Pastor of the First Church. Rev. Danl. March. D.D., Pastor of Clinton St. church. Rev. Peter Stryker, D.D., Pastor of N. Broad Git. Church. Rev. George F. Wiswell, D.D., Pastor of Green HID Church. Bev. E. E. Adams, D. D., Prof. in Lincoln Uni versity. Rev. Samuel IV. Duffield, Special Cor respondent. Mr. Robert E. Thompson, will continue to act as Editor of the News Department. Correspondents in . every Presbytery and Synod will promptly furnish us• with, fresh items of news from their respective fields. —Almost every murderer who has been hanged for a month past, confessed on the gallows that rum caused his misfortune. —The Waldenses have-been requested by several citizens to open Protestant worship at Sinigaglia, the birthplace of Pius IX. According to the late report of the Walden sian work, they have 88 agents and 22 clergymen engaged in missionary work. Their communi cants are 1,984, day scholars 1,641, Sunday school scholars, 943. Their main support comes from England and Scotland. THE CATHOLICITY OF CALVINISM AGAIN.- A Boston correspondent of The (N. Y.) Chris. tian Advocate says, with some inconsistency: " Have not some of our controversialists gone a little too far in asserting and contending that there is no foundation whatever in the Scriptures for the peculiar doctrines of Calvinism F Has not that body of believers produced as eminent biblical scholars and commentators—men of deep piety, as well as of extensive scholarship— as any Christian denomination has ever produced ? There can be no objection for any Arminian to say that he does not baieve there is any founda tion in the Bible for the peculiar doctrines of Calvin. But I am not disposed to go so far as this, for I believe there is; and yet I am not, and never was a believer in any of the [distinctively] Calvinistic doctrines." PROGRESS OF KANSAS. ED. Am. PRESBYTERIAN.;—This has been a propitious year for Kansas. Emigration has been very much greater than during any year since the settlement of the State. Persons in search of land fur settlement or speculation, are traversing the State in great numbers, in every direction. The Kansas fever is rife throughout the country. The pro-pi ces for a large increase of population during the ensuing fall and spring are very flat tering. Probably no one of the Western States ever had such an influx of population as Kansas is receiving and is likely to receive for a long time to come. Its population in 1870 is estimated at 400,000. Kansas is a beautiful land, none more so, perhaps in the whole country. Its sur face is high and undulating, and hence without swamps and stagnant water, and therefore, in a great degrce, free from in L' a ria. It is intersected by many streams which flow between high bluff banks which confine the water within deep chan nels. The soil is rich and fertile. It is admi rably adapted to grazing, ti small grain, vegeta bles, fruits, &c. It is capable of sustaining•a dense population. Timber is scarce, but there is an abundance of coal and stone. The crops are magnificent. The season has been remarkably rainy, so much so that farmers have scarcely been able to plough their corn even once. Wheat averages 25 to 35 bushels per acre; oats from 50 to 70; vegetables are luxu riant, and the prospect for corn is very fine. There will be a good home market for all these abundant crops. The immigration to the State will consume all the surplus, and more food will be needed to supply the wants.of the country. But Kansas is not Paradize; weeds and briars abound here. In the sweat of their faces men must eat their bread here as elsewhere. The blight of sin rests on these beautiful prairies; sickness and death are here. Let none come to those charming prairies, and fruitful vallies ex pectingto escape from labor, and care, and suf. fering. They will find a healthful climate, a generous soil, and an abundant reward for their toil. The State will soon be traversed in- every di rection by rail-roads, a goodly number of • which are being pushed forward with energy and with the prospect of early completion. Topeka, the capital of the State, is growing rapidly; its population is estimated at between 6000 and 8000. Several hundred dwellings and numerous business houses have been, or will be erected this year. The East wing of the Capitol a magnificent building, is approaching completion, The city is beautifully situated on the Kansas River, chiefly on the South side, but as the Kan sas Pacific R. R.R. runs on the North side of the river, the town is growing rapidly in that direc tion. Topeka is 67 miles west of Kansas City, and 27 west of Lawrence. At another time I may write something respecting the religions and educational interests of this place and of Kansas, generally. ' P. S. C. .Topeka, Kann's, August 12, 1869. THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1869. FROM OUR ROCHESTER CORRESPONDENT, CLIFTON SPRINGS This certainly is one of the most admirable places in the world in which to rest and regain one's wasted energies or waning health. The old wooden buildings which constituted the "Cure" a few years ago, are now all gone, having given place to a much larger and more complete brick structure, four and five stories high, with adjoin ing buildings for cookery, laundry, Gymnasium and the like, all constituting a little city by them selves. The rooms are neat, airy and well fur nished, the table good, the order perfect, the house always full, and always having . room for a few more. • The good physician "at the head' of it con tinues to treat the ministers of the Gospel, of all Christian denominations, with the same consid eration and liberality which have characterized his course from the beginning. He vounts him self a steward of God, and seems 'to try to con duct the institution so as to Christians to live as long as they can, and do all the good in their power. The moral atmosphere of the place is delightful. Much of the company is alWays composed of devoted religious 'people. • And just now, we are hapity to find more than usual religious interest in t the place. Meetings are held almost daily in the= chapel. Christians haie been moved tto pray with unwonted fervor for those among the& who were impenitent, and a few such have recently expressed the hope that they have passed from death unto life. We have not yet heard of any such revival at Newport, Long Branch or Saratoga; ;.but we believe they have some great horse-races at the place last named. Rev. Chas. S. Stewart, D. D., once Missionary of the American Board at the Hawaiian Islands, and for a long time Chaplain in the United States Navy, is staying here, a great invalid. He seems quite broken, evidently suffering, from partial paralysis. He walks with great difficulty, and speaks so as hardly, to be understood. And yet, true to his quondam, military life, he is as erect as ever, 'and seems cheerful and hopeful for the fu ture. Rev. Ww. K. Platt, of Ludlowville, is also here, suffering from over-work and general pros tration. He is gaining, however, but evidently needs a good long rest, just such as this place was intended by the benevolent founder to fur nish. We trust that in due time he will be quite restored and ready for hard work again. REPAIRS The church in Ogden has been closed for some time for repairs and improvemetts. It is now made better than at the beginning, with new car pets, lamps, pulpit chairs and Bible, communion service, and the like.-- The Sabbath school room is also enlarged and renovated; and now, with neat walls beautifully ornamented with pictures and mottoes, presents one of the most attractive places anywhere to be found for Sabbath school services. The Society bas greatly prospered under the ministry of Rev. A. 1116 A. Thorburn, their pre sent pastor; and these improvements are but the natural expression of their high regard for him, and their readiness to do their part toward secur ing that true prosperity at which• with great dili gence and Christian enterprise he aims. PERSONAL REV. GEORGE C. CURTIS, D. D., late of El mira, is now resting and trying to regain his health, at Princeton, Mass., one of the highest and most delightful towns of the old Bay Stat 3. He is in admirable private quarters, with plenty of room, in a clear, bracing atmosphere, and amid fine scenery. He has everything in the surround ings favorable to his recovery. We are happy also to hear that he is gaining some, and hopes soon to gain more rapidly. " His many friends will be glad to see him well again, just so soon as Providence shall pefinit, and hard at work in some important and responsible position, for he which is well qualified. REv - ..Dwicaur W MARshr. has for some weeks had under consideration an appointment to the Presidency of Rogersville Female Seminary in East Tennessee. He has been there to look over the ground, and was strongly tempted to take hold , of the'enterprise ;• but, on the whole, was constrained to decline the appointment. He. has left this city, hOwever, and is temporarily resid ing at Bernardston, Massachusetts, prepared : to preach the Gospel wherever . `Providence open the . doOr lor him to enter. PROF. NORTH, of Hamilton College, has been handsomely and deservedly honored by -the Re gents of the University of this State, with the de gree of Doctor of Literature. If finest attain ments, and capacity to use these attainments to the best advantage to please and instruct on all occasions, constitute good reason for such an honor, beSwell deserves it. He has purchased that "good degree," by hard study, by thorough culture, by masterly self-control and ripest schol arship. We notice also that he presented a very inter esting paper at the Convocation of the Regents of the University, as Chairman of a Committee appointed last year for the purpose, on the pro per age for entrance upon college studies. He insists that our colleges admit students at too early an age, some at fifteen, some at fourteen. Such are too, young to appreciate or master,a pro per course of college studies. They do not de rive the advantage from them that they would a little later in life. It is better that the student should be sixteen years old when he enters col lege. The Professor gave this as the judgment which he has formed by long experience and much reflection ; and he quoted the highest authority among college Presidents and Professors, as agree ing with him in this view. If any man is com petent to speak with authority on such a subject, certainly Prof. North is, after his long and ample experience as a most accomplished and successful college officer. GENESEE. Rochester, Aug. 14th, 1869. OUR EXCHANGES. The Independent writes on " the Eclipse of the Pulpit," as follows : " Is it true that the pulpit is losing its hold upon the world? Are the most cultivated intel lects gettin , indifferent to sermonizing ? If the sufferage of the.brightest people were taken, ,would preaching be voted an impertinence ? One thing is certainly remarkable. While there are more persons than ever before who are inclined to answer these questions in the affirmative,' probably there never has been an age, since Christ gave His, gospel to mankind, when in all Christian realms there were so many mighty preacher so variously and superbly accomplish ed, sn rich in learning, so potent in speech, so pure in life, so followed by listening throngs, as in this very century of alleged clerical inanity and decay. All superstition about the preacher's office will go; but the preacher himself will stay. In the coming time, we do not see any particular vocation for priests; but we do see a magni ficent and an unending one for devout and able .men, who shall testify of the sanctity of all truth, of the nobleness of all virtue, of the reality of spiritual things, and of the everlasting presence and tenderness of the Father. Even now the preacher is regarded with less awe and with more love. He is honored not so much ior his official position as for his character and talents. We no longer fear him as a dread personage, end Owed with authority to open and close the gates of Heaven; but, what is infinitely better, we love him as he shows to us how every soul, by its own attitude before God, opens or closes the gates of Heaven for itself. This is not decay of the ministry, but development. We have lost the parson, and have found the wise teacher, the strong helper, the honored and be loved friend. The medimval priest is no more ; in his place we have the modern-aman. The Occident thus states the question of un employed ministers and vacant churches: "At first thought, we are ready to suggest that as the number of churches exceeds that of minis ters, nothing more is needful than to send the un employed ministers to the destitute ones. But a second thought shows that the problem is too complicated for this solution. First, one-half of those clergymen are teachers, professors in colle ges, editors, agents, or employed in varique duties relevant to their profession. Then nearly • one half part of the remainder—one-twelfth of the, whole—are itifulm, superannuated, or incapacita ted by physical, or moral hindrances, from the work - of the ministry. Then there are left a cer tain proportion who have evidently mistaken their calling—the Reformed Church making no pre tension to infallibility, and they are compelled to' resort to secular pursuits for a livelihood, while their names continue to swell the lists of the pro fession. No doubt that there are alsomany who are not acceptable to the churches, and ivho hang about them when vacant, waiting for a call—thus producing an erroneous impression as to the sup ply, that it exceeds the demand. With all these allowances, there yet remain many able, accept able clergymen without charges, and churches wishing fdr supplies, but not knowing how to obtain them. It would be well that in all• our prominent cities a register should be kept, to enable vacant churches to apply for ministerial help, and where unemployed ministers could as certain where their services might be needed." The Advance proposes this solution of the question as to whether the Sabbath of the-Chris tian is to be defended from the fourth command ment: It would put the five positive institutions Church, Ministry, Baptism, Lord's Supper, and Sabbath—on the same ground. They are all distinctively Christian, while each had its ana logue in the parallel institution under the law of Moses; showini , r ‘ that each rests on human neces sities for which God has always in some manner provided. The Pacific seems to think there is some dan ger of our Eastern ministers making "a Fool's Paradise " in their minds of California. It says : " A considerable number of ministers of various denominations, have visited the Pacific coast since the opening of the Pacific railroad. Dr. Todd led the way, and we judge has already re ported that be found a land •flowing with milk and honey ; and will further report about the pomegranates.and the clusters of Esehol. The brethren thus far, have a good time. They have been ministered to, and have, in turn, ministered to others, with great acceptance. . . But the fact may be overlooked that California is tone of the most difficult fields for successful ministerial labor, in the. whole country. The obsta -les to be overcome have been very great. The work has required as much faith and patience as in any missionary field in the world. Many a hard working minister could tell tales of .. privation of other days—and such days are not over yet— which could not be over matched in all that vast country formerly known as the West. Few ruin isters have died at their posts. More have left, discouraged by slow gains and many adverse in fluences. The whole mountain region, where were once some of our most flourishing churches, with few exceptions, is failing and morally des olate. Population is shifting and nomadic." The S. S. Times borrows this wisdom from three wise men : Mr. Beecher says; " Never forget what a man has said to you when he was angry. If he has charged you with any thing, you had better look it up." A person has often been startled from a pleas ant dream of self-deception by the words of an angry man, who may wish his words unsaid the next hour, but they are past recall. The wisest course is to take home this lesson with meekness to our souls. It was a saying of Socrates, that every man had need of a faithful friend and a bitter ene my; the one to advise, and the other to show him his faults. When Plato was told that one whom he highly esteemed had spoken ill of him, he mildly re plied, "I am sure he would not have done so if there had not been reason for it." The Cincinnati Enquirer says of an awful evil steadily gaining ground in our country: It is about time for the press to join the pulpit in a crusade against the shocking indecen cies of the modern drama. If we cannot have full houses without such a sacrifice of (to say the least) propriety, better be without them. The time has come' to desert the theaters when the theaters go boldly over to the brothels There is in it an insult to our nationality. Under the name of Prerieh comic opera, these foreign actors and actresses do things that would not be tolerated in Paris;'and we feel like going into an active circulation of decayed eggs, old boots, and dead cats at the insolence of the insult. The New York Times has this good news The cause of female emancipation has reached India. A young widow has just re married. By the old Indian law, or religion rather, the widow is obliged to burn, herself. The English have succeeded pretty much in the suppression of the suttee, but then the widows were con demned to widowhood, which, as Dido learned to her cost, was a sore trial. Mme. Vaunee Bai was a widow at seventeen years of Mr. Wahman Srabhakar. Instead of burning herself she has just married again, with great ceremony. Her friends, including the "Association for the Mar riage of Widows," had the good taste to enter tain the bridal pair at dinner, at which a hundred Brahmins were invited. The Hindoos were much interes'ed in the event; and thronged the streets where the ceremony was performed to such an extent that the police were obliged to interfere, to prevent disorder or serious accident. A Unitarian paper takes Dr. Bellows to task for eulogizing Edward Everett in The Christian Examiner as "always continuing an ornament and a pillar of the Church in which he was once a minister. It wonders if Dr. Bellows has never heard that, while minister at St. James, Mr. Everett never crossed the doorway of a Unitarian Chapel, - but regularly, prayer-book in hand, worshipped with, the Episcopalians; and this in spite of bitter complaints on the part of English Unitarians. It closes with these words : " Mr. Everett had wonderful accomplishments and rare virtues. But he lacked, in a sad de gree, moral courage . To be a Unitarian in Lon don was to suffer reproach. Mr. Everett had not the apostolic courage for such a contingency. So he went with the aristocracy to the Estab lished Church." The Morning Post severely criticizes our -city Rouse of Refuge, apropos of a trial of a girl in our :CoUrt.of Quarter Sessions. It says: - Boys and girls, who, for some trivial or first offence,•are sent, there by the inconsiderate action of parents, comes out expert malefactois, lack ing the experience, it is true, but 'still theoreti cally perfect so far as association and conversa tion with the worst youthful criminals can make them. The system which compels a youth, for insubordination to parental authority, to come into daily contact with another whose entry was gained by consummate skill in such practices as Fagin, sought to teach little Oliver, is radically wrong in theory; how lamentably pernicious in practice the dockets of the criminal courts attest. We know - that the relative merits and demerits of the congregate and segreaate systems of im prisonthent so far as they apply to adult prisoners have been fully discussed by humanitarians, and that the weight of authoritative opinion (if there can be such a thing) inclines in favor of the former; but we know of no one who has ever contended that it possesses advantages over the segregate in the government and reformation, not of ascertained criminals, put of a mixed assem blage of infants, four-fifths of whom are com mitted for no violation of law—simply for the manifestations of a willful and headstrong dis position. And yet this seems to be the view taken by the managers. Dr. J. P. Thompson writes to The Congrega tionalist on the due limits of religious toleration. He says Just now the Chinese oath is to us a super stition, partly amusing, partly pitiable. But to allow men to be sworn in our courts by the sacri fice of a cock, and the incantation of burning paper, would be to degrade the moral sense of the people, and co make the oath itself a foolish mummery, The open allowance of devil wor ship, and the sometimes vile and inhuman practices that grow out of this, would, in like manner, tend to degrade the popular mind, by putting Christianity on a par with Paganism in the view of the government. And to allow Brigham Young to do with impunity in Utah what would sen d hi m to the penitentiary if done in New York, is to subvert the foundation of social morality and of legal authority throughout the land. The New Constitution of the State of New York attempts to provide agaiust'such anotnalies, by a saving clause in the declaration of the rights of conscience : " The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall for ever be allowed in this State; and no person shall be incompetent to be a witness on account of his religious belief : but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentioesness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of the State." The Heio York Sun. tells this story of Judge Benjamin Tappan, of Ohio, a brother of the Tap. pans of New York :- On one occasion, Lorenzo Dow, an eccentric genius and preacher, who became famous for his wit and sarcasm some thirty or forty years since, was invited to preach at Steubenville, where Tap pan lived. Tappan, unlike his two famous bro. thers . in this city, was an avowed infidel, and had a number of followers among the prominent men of the place. Hearing that Dow was to preach. they arranged a scheme by which they would have an opportunity to try his mettle. Tappan called upon him, under the pretext of respect fur his eminent reputation, and invited him to dine. , Dow, who was fully apprized of the obje c t at once accepted the invitation. Tappan had all his infidel friends present, and the conversation natu rally turned on religious subjects. All sorts of questions, intended to embarrass Dow, were put. Finally, Tappan, in his squeaking, nasal tone, ad dressed him somewhat after this fashion : " 3lr. Dow, what kind of a place is this they call pur gatory ? They tell me it's about half-way be tween here and hell." "Judge Tappan," said Dow, "that's a subject in which you have no sort of interest. When you die, you'll go straight to hell, without any half way about it." Dr. Irons, of Brompton, England, who has published a letter in The London. Morning Post, in defence of the Athanasian Creed, is thus ban died by The London Spectator : He might employ his time better, if he really wishes to defend scientific theology of any kind from the general discredit into which it is falling in these latter days, when as The Pall Mall Gazette very justly remarks, the distinctions about which men fought, and on which empires often depended, sixteen centuries ago, are becom. ing every day more and more unsubstantial and inapprehensible. The Athanasian Creed, which is bad manners, bad morals, and bad theology all in one, is hardly worth attacking now; but even the Nicene Creed, which seems to us as Rrofound as it is subtle, is losing its hold on the intellects of men ; indeed, ethics and all purely psychologi cal science seem drifting to the same fate. For the time, science is passing into a region of dis tinctions so complete, so easily tested, and so full of immediate and impressive results, that all the sciences which deal with deeper and less appre hensible conceptions are losing way relatively. But after all, the tendency of a generation or two in Western Europe is no standard of truth. The nineteenth century is doing much to raise the circumstances of man ; but can it compare for a moment with the fourth century in its influ ence on man himself. The Christian Statesman tells the story of a recent interment in Madrid : A young woman, a member of the Protes tant church of Madrid, who had made an open profession of her faith, died recently in that city. Her friends were anxious to bury her in the general public cemetery, but on application to the priests who had the charge of it they were refused on the ground that she, being a Protes tant, could not be buried in a Catholic cemetery. The committee of the Spanish Protestant church applied, to President Rivero for advice, there being no place that was not Catholic ex cept the little British cemetery, and that has never been used for the interment of any Span ish subject; in tact it was part of the conditions on which the land was sold to the British gov ernment in 1854 and English Protestants per mitted to be buried here at all, that it should be exclusively devoted to foreigners. President Rivero, as soon as the case was brought before him, issued a peremptory order, declaring her right as a Spaniard under the new constitution to rest in one of the general cemeteries, and charged three officials to accompany the body to the cemetery, to force the gates if they should find them locked, and to take into custody any one who should offer opposition. Under this war rant, the body was peaceably interred, no oppo sition being made, beyond a protest from the priests, which was quietly disregarded. THE STATISTICS. —The amount received for the Ministerial Relief Fund last year was twenty one thousand six hundred and sixty eight dollars, (821,668.) The "$18,966," as lately published in your paper, seems to have been taken from the statistical ta bier of the General Assembly, which omit a lega cy and donations from several individuals, there by making a difference of $2,702. C. B. —The H , rald notes : The Old School has three more Synods and thirty more Presbyteries than we have. Hence, its Synods are somewhat larger than ours. It has 359 more churches than ministers, and we have 217 more ministers than churches. The union will nearly equalize the ratio of ministers to churches, leaving a dif ference in favor of the latter of 142. The aver age membership in the New School churches is nearly 106, while in the Old School it is a frac tion over 90. The Sabbath-sehools in our branch average 111 scholars to each church ; in the other branch the average is only 80.- The aver age annual contributions of the members on our side, to all objects, is $2l each, while on the other side it is less than $lB. But it is due to the Old School to add, that when we take out of the contributions what is given for congregation al purposes, and get at what is given for Missions, Education, Publication, etc , their average is higher than ours. They gave for these more general objects an average of $5 to a member, while we gave an average of $4.37. It is some what saddening to reflect that the liberality of these great denominations is so largely local in its objects—that three-quarters of it is expended upon home interests-t—supporting their own pas tors and hired singers, and making their places of worship more comfortable and attractive. We believe that every church ought to do at least as much for others as for itself—that its contri butions to Missions, etc., should equal its congre gational expenses. There are exceptions, where it requires a constant struggle to sustain the Gospel at home. But, on the other hand, many churches should give fourfold, yea, tenfold more for other objects than for home expenses. The figures indicate ''a healthful progress, yet if we had been faithful to our Master iu all our spheres of Christian duty, some of them would have been fourfold what they are, Take the additions on examination for instance—the best exponent of the true vitality of a Church. They show a gain from the world of less than six per cent. that is, the labors of 100 Christians have been re quired instrumentally in bringino- 6 six sinners to Christ. It will not do to console ourselves by saying that the ratio is about the same in the other branch and in the Churches generally. We all know that we might; and should, do a great deal better.' We know-that God would pour out his Spirit far more copiously upon our congrega tions if there were more fidelity and more faith.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers