412
aintrivan IlrEsllllttriait.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1869.
REV. JOHN W. HEARS, D. D., Editor.
TIME EDITORIAL COMMITTEE.
Rev. Z. WI 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
St. Choral'.
Rev. George F. Wlswell, D.D., Pastor of Green
Hill Church.
Rev. E. E. Adams, D: D., Prof. in Lincoln Lid-
Mr. Robert E. Thompson will continue to act
as Editor of tl‘e News Department.
Correspondents in every Presbytery and
Synod will promptly furnish us with fresh items
of news from their respective fields.
OUR POSITION-A CARD.
Earnest efforts have recently been made by dis
interested parties, including ministers and laymen
of the highest standing in both of the former
branches of the church, to procure the-consolida
tion of the.two papers in this field, upon an hono
rable basis These efforts have failed. Without
iptending'in the slightest degree to criticise or
complain of others, we need only say that the
failure is due, to no reluctance on our part. All
who were engaged in the transaction know that
we ofkred every facility for its accomplishment.
It was only when the proposal took the form of
mere absorption or extinction that we drew back.
The sale of our subscription list, and the disap
pearance of our paper, without any guarantees for
the future maintenance of the principles it has
upheld, seemed inconsistent with prudence and
honor. Reunion is not absorption. It grows out
of the abandonment of the policy of absorption,
and proceeds upon the honorable and frank re
cognition of entire equality between the parties .
Not as contrary to the spirit, but rather in the
very name of Reunion, we have declined to be
absorbed, and we once more give our banner of
American Presbyterianism to the breeze. We
shall continue to devote ourseh es as journalists to
the interests of Evangelic,ll religion as held by
the Presbyterian Church, but shall especially aim to
foster and develop the noblest elements and the
best tendencies which are stirring in the united
clittrch; its wide awake, enterprising, Catholic
spirit; its sympathy with the suffering and the
oppressed ; its broad and generous concern for
the public good; its open loyalty to the right in
all relations of life; its Evangelical liberty of
opinion within the limitations of the essentials of
In this spirit we hare recommitted
and reconseerated ourselves to our editor's' work.
Not so much the 'servile following and echOing 4
what the church is, as the inculcating of what.*
church ought to be and do, shall be our ambition
and our aim. •
We have not the slightest idea that these prin
ciples are to be unwelcome, or the advocacy of
them to be counted unsuitable for the public
prints of the church. Nay, in these halcyon
days, this time of honeymoon, it. will be quite un
necessary to make them prominent matters of dis•
cussion. But precious as they are, we have felt
that they should not be left without the special
guardianship of at least one newspaper in the
united church.
We shall therefore present ourselves in the
opening number of the New Year in an entire
new dress,—a wedding dress, from the foundry of
L. Johnson & Co., of this city. We shall gather a
wider range of correspondence, from writers in both
the former schools. Our foreign correspondence,
embracing letters from our gifted associate, Dr.
March, will be at least as valuable as heretofore.
The activity and wonderful growth of the church
es of this city will be carefully and prominently
presented in our columns. All branches of church
work will of course :be advocated ; the interests
of the Sabbath school will be better represented
than formerly; the operations of earnest workers
everywhere : Evangelists and Young Men's Asso
ciations will be recorded; and eepeoial prominence
will be given to . city evangelization, the Work
among the Freedmen, and Temperance.
Above all, we hope both to enjoy and to com
municate to our readers, no small measure of that
spirit of renewed consecration and deepened spi
rituality which alone can bring increase of
strength and efficiency , to the reunited church
Give us your hearty sympathies; give us your
earnest prayers; labor with us, in promoting the
great ends of our work.
WEEK OF PRAYEL'
The Presbyterian. Ministerial Association of
thiff- city, appointed :a committee last Week 'to
consider and report arrangements for the Week
of Prayer among onr churehes. Oh last Mon
day the . Committee's Report was presented and
adopted as follows :
The Committee appointed to arrange for meet
ings-by oar churches during the Week of Prayer
would respectfully report :
I. That they find - it impracticable to hold
other Mbetings than those usolilly held at such
time, and known as "Union Meetings of all
Ofi t ristian denominations."
2. That ,a
. Presbyterian Union Meeting be
held in the Arch Street Presbyterian Church,
Arch street above Tenth, on Thursday, January
s m . , a t 4 E. it., in accordance with the views
expressed in the letter of the Moderators of the
last General Assemblies.
—Pastors will please read the second Resolu
tion to their congregations.
A REPRESENTATIVE PAPER WANTED.
THE PLACE NOT YET OCCUPIED.
We fear that we spoke prematurely of the
newspaper revival a week or two ago. The omens,
after all, are not so favorable as we at first inter
preted them. The Chicago enterprise, although
making encouraging progress, will not be in shape
so early as the first of the year. The Presbyte
rian, of this city, as yet, makes no announcement
of a material change such as the circumstances
demand. The Evangelist's Old School co-editor,
Dr. Imbrie, it turns out, is not to leave his pastoral
charge; and everybody knows how far he can
represent the former Old School branch under
such circumstances. The Church, we should
think, required a bolder and more generous policy
in the papers which aspire adequately to represent
it, in the new circumstances of reunion. And .
more in sorrow than in anger, it must be said,
that just at this juncture the. Evangelist has come
before the public in a light not favorable to
popularity where a strict code of morals prei'ails,
as among Presbytetians. Without meaning here
to judge the right or wrong of the conduct of the
editor-in-chief in the marriage whichhe witnessed
and defended, it is certain that his card in the
Evangelist will not contribute to the success of
the paper in its new career.
There is work for our men of means to do in
establishing a truly representative paper, one em
bodying and cultivating the progressive, enter
-Prising and liberal spirit of the reunited Church,
soundly Calvinistic, yet popular, vigorous, able,
readable; a great, educator of the people, concen
trating and developing the talent of her writers,
and commanding the regard of the public. To
this end we trust the newspapqr revival will yet
reach. Who is willing td consecrate his service'
this day unto the Lord ? Why may not Phila
delphia, central as it is to the densest and oldest
Presbyterian population in the land, be the home
of such a paper ? We pause for a reply, which
should lie in the shape of greenbacks, to be
effective.
THE ERA OF FRAUDS
Fraud, swindling, counterfeiting and corrup
don crowd upon us. The columns of the news
papers are bUrdened with the details ; behind
the old cases, new ones, like Alps on Alps arise
Wall Street itself is not sharp enough to escape
the operators. The reporters bring out their
expletives, which have long ago lost their force
from familiarity, and tell us of " one of the most
bold and successful swindling devices that have
startled the - street in years." Half a million
dollars have been triumphantly carried away from
the money-lenders of that famous locality, by
parties who left altered securities, worth but one
tenth that amount, in the hands of the unsus
pecting lenders. Enormous frauds in the New
York custom house, in the very department espe-.
cially established to detect and punish fraud,
have been discovered; and one of the parties
has been arrested in Prescott, Canada, where he
had purchased a house and saw-mill, and was
running a brewery. These frauds have only
recently been brought to light, having extended
over several years. The hand of justice is on
the perpetrators, although every device is being
employed by Canada lawyers to prevent the de-.
livery of the chief criminal to our courts. In
New York city, on Dec. 14th, extensive estab
lishment for counterfeiting the printed or litho
graphed.check stamps, was seized and the opera
tors arrested. .On the same day, a penitent
counterfeiter of Philadelphia, sends to the Chief
of the United States Secret Service in New
York, a counterfeit ten dollar bank-note plate.
pronounced by experts the best plate they have
ever seen. On the same day, the late cashier of
a bank in West Chester county, New York, was
arrested on a c6rge of embezzling $30,000 of
the funds of the batik. On the same day, a
counterfeiter in,Roboken, with two accomplices,
aged nineteen and twenty
,years, were arrested
and committed in default of heavy bail. All
these items we gather from a single page of a
New York paper Of the 15th inst. Turning
over to the next page,, we find a report of the
judicial examination of a late' New . York State
Senator, also= on the same day, who used his
position as a member of a Legislative Committee
on Railroadk, last winter, .to aid an accomplice in
gambling in railroad securities. The failure of
the speculation, and the refusal of Ex-Senator
Mattoon to pay his half of the loss, of one thou
sand• dollars, have brought the corrupt transac
tions to light.
Let us pray for a contented mind, and not to
be led into temptation. Let us be willing to
make .our, living in the steady methods of 'legiti
mate business Let apprenticeships and handi
crafts of the simplest, kind be held in honor.
The Saviour 'of the world was a carpenter and
the son of a carpenter. It is not certainly from
the influence of . His religion that the mania for
sudden riches which leads to such monstrous
frauds has sprung.
—The hereditary priesthood recently abolished
in Russia, embraces seven hundred and fifty
thousand families, to which the right of offi
ciating as priest is restricted, and the male child
ren of which could not engage in scculiar, pur
,.uits. The effect of this great change will be
very considerable on the social; and industrial life
of the empire.
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1869.
A NATIONAL WORK FOR THE CHURCH.
The re united Church comes before the public
in a favorable attitude. Having taken the pre
cedence of others in healing the • divisions of
Zion, it will be regarded as appropriate that it
should take the precedence of all in some na
tional work. Is there then some such work
which it may undertake with a right minded am
bition to be in advance of all other denominations;
some work to which it is fitted ; some work which
will develope its energies and draw together its
sympathies; and which, by its own nature, will
tend to keep the whole Church in the line of the
best public sentiment, and cultivate in it a like
ness to the Christ who preached the gospel to
the poor ? We firmly believe there is. And
while we are sensible of the demands of institu
tions of learning, of the wants of our great cities,
• and of our 'home and foreign field, we think the
re-united Church might find its special mission
for a national and a jnbilee work AMONG THE
FREEDMEN. .
To educate and evangelize the four million
Freedmen of our land ; to fit the lately trampled
and degraded slaves for freedom and Christian
citizenship; to raise them up to intelligence and
virtue and character, not only for their own sakes,
but for ours; to shape them into a moral and po
litical force which may soon be needed to turn
the scale in the conflict between Atheism and'
Godliness in the government and the public
opinion of our country; to train their glowing
and impassioned natures under the influence of
the gospel, so that they may renew in our own
and in other continents, the glory of the African
Church of the days of Origen, of Tertuliian, of
Lactantius, of Cyprian, and of Augustine—this
is a work fit to commemorate our year of, jubilee.
Or, if this be called extravagant, none.who have
heard the efforts of recent graduates of institu
tions for their training, will doubt that they have
capacities of intellect and peculiarities of tem
perament, which fit them to go like flaming
torches to the enlightenment and salvation of a
dying world.
Here is a work that must be done now.
These freedmen are already raised, by the most
sacred and inviolable compacts, to citizenship;
they are framing laws and governing States
Such rights and privileges can be made safe only
by education and religion. Other influences are
at work to pervert them. Rome is putting forth
her energies. The eager thirst for instruction
which now opens every door of access to the
freedmen, may be closed. Base political leaders
may get them uncial. control. Vice and supersti
tion may usurp the,place - belonging to religion.
Our Church is p,op'ular among the Freedmen.
Their own tropitkpatures demand the balance
wheel of our liberal Calvinism. Our systematic
training in theology has made us a teaching
Church' And our consecration in an especial
manner to this work, will - link us, as a Church,
to the grand world movement in behalf of the
rights of man. If there is any old-fogyism lurk
ing about, it, will feel that it has received imme
diate notice to quit a Church which has under
taken, as its jubilee work, the elevation of the
freed people of America.
We could do it. A thousand teachers rent to
the South in six months would give us the field.
And we don't believe other denominations would
be jealous Of us for such a truly Christian and
"undenolninational work. The world would recog
nize in such a movement the genuine , Christian
impulses actuating our Re-union. The Christian
people of Great Britain would be drawn to us
more closely than in any other Work which we
might undertake. Let every other department of
Libor he pushed forward. But let us make the
Evangelization and Education of the Freedmen
our Jubilee enterprise. It is limited and definite.
It is at our doors. It is pressingly needed. It
accords with the best aspirations of the two
branches, each of which, in the dark times of civil
conflict, sacredly pledged, itself to liberty and hu
wan rights. It is .a most faithful following of
Christ, who sought out and ministered to the
despised and the afflicted.
—The hostilityr of Romanists to our entire
pubic school system is exhibited in a communi
cation flout one of them, published in the N. Y.
Tribune of December 15th. Mr. O'Brien pleads
for a division of the school fund. He says :
"This is what we are striving, to obtain, and
from our past success in getting what we want,
we know we shill get our proportion of the
school money and have.our. own schools."
He frankly declares that
As Irish Catholics, we want to bring .up our
children in our own way, and teach them to be
good Catholics. This we cannot do in mixed
schools, and we -want to educate them in the
true faith, with our own -books, and by good
Catholic teachers. We don't want to mix up
with Protestants, and Jews, and Infidels in school
matters, because we want our children to grow
up in the Holy Roman Faith, like their fathers,
and not imbibe the loose and irreligous iudepen
deuce of the age. •
The public, he says:
Can, judge that we are right in not desiring
our children to, be p "Americanized,":as The Tab
let, forcibly puts, it, which means .'• demoralized"
from the Holy Roman Catholic,.and Apostolic
Church, the Mother and Mistress of all churches.
Now, since Roman Catholics alone are dissatis
fied with the present public school system, and
wish to go by .themselves, we propose that all
tax payers of that persuasion, shall have the
privilege of filitig a declaration, upon payment
of their school-taxes, setting forth their wishes
as to the disposition of said moneys; and that
the whole amount of the school-tax paid by these
parties—no less and no more—be appropriated
according to their wishes, the extra expense for
such an apportionment to be defrayed from these
taxes alone. If it is unfair for Romanists to
pay to a general fund not appropriated according
to their wishes, it is still more unfair for us to
be compelled to aid in supporting a scheme of
the narrowest and most anti-American bigotry.
Or, let the Romanist tax-payers b y e entirely ex
empt from school-tax, and let their own extensive
and powerful church-machinery be used in collect-.
ing funds, and establishing schools, while the
general school system stands open, as before, for
the admission of every American child, of every
creed, or color.
WHITHER ARE WE DRIFTING ?
A friend connected with the Reformed (Dutch)
Church, a week or two 'ago encloped us an extract
from the New York Times of Oct. 21, stating that
the RIGHT Rev. J. T. Duryea, D .D., of Brook
lyn preached the sermon before the Synod lately
convened in Poughkeepsie. Oar friend expres
ses the hope that . the New School Presbyterians,
having thus-prefixed a title to the names of their
presiding officers are always right.
Since receiving the above communication we
have been favored with one from another guar
ter, which fairly puts the joke back upon our
Reformed friends. There was a wonderful
wedding in that old Dutch town, New Bruns
wick, N. J., some two weeks ago in which a
General Wilson was married to a Miss Cor , aswell.
One of the papers of that city, in noticing the
affair, states that Rev. Dr. President Campbell,
of Rutgers College, performed the ceremony in
a SCARLET GOWN. New School Presbyterians
are all right, but how about our Reformed breth
ren ? We can go the black gown, and the Heidel
berg Catechism has lately been endoried by the
Old School Assembly, but we are afraid the Pres
byterian Church,-New or Old, is too blue to bear
the scarlet gown, even when worn by as good and
great a man as Dr. Campbell
—We have no idea that the reunion is such a
namby pamby affair, that it can be disturbed or
jeopardized by any frank and honorable reference
to the times of division, or by a recognition of
the great guiding inapalses and tendencies which
are now animating and shiping the body, in con
trast with those of the past. This is no school-
Girl's reconciliation which an unfortunate word
may .unsettle. It is the work of earnest minded
men, with hearts touched by divine grace, whose
very nnion is the result of frankness and candor
in the statement of difflrencea, with the recogni
tion of a comprehensive, underlying, essential
unity. Union is not unison, but harmony. No
wan may sing, epeak or teach out of time or
tune, but if he• is in the fundamental key of
Evangelical Calvinistic truth, the reunited Church
will welcome his utteranees, no matter in what
clef they belong, or what denomination of notes
he chooses to fill up his time. There is a great
and promising stir made about work in the
Church, but meanwhile, our good feeling is not to
be such - a sickish sentimentality as to allow
thought to stagnate for fear of disturbance:
Mr. Stanton once told a PresVterian visitor
that he had read over the late Dr. Alexander
M'Leod's Sermons on the "lawfulness of De
fensive War," once a year, during the term of
the rebellion. These sermons were preached in
the First R. P. church of New York - , at a time
or great excitement and dissension. at the open
ing of, our sec ind war with Great Britain. The
interest felt in them was so great that the side
walks in the vicinity of the church were often
blocked up by the throngs who sought admission
to the church'. They have been frequently re
published.
FIRST FRUITS OF THE UNION.
MR. EDITOR, :—You will be happy, I know, to
spread good news, and encourage the . united
Church to love and good works. Kansas,. I be
lieve, presents the first fruitq of the RE-UNION
of the two great Presbyterian bodies in North
America. In what way ?
A movement has been on foot for some time,
both in the New and Old School branch, to es
tablish a first class literary institution in this
State. It was felt to be a -necessity for the far
West. The Old School had the Highland Uni
versity, twelve miles north of this place, but it
ranked only as a good Academy. The UNION
has given.that movement anew turn; and now
it is proposed to' establish a" Memorial &liver
sity" to commemorate the Union.
A hopeful commencement has been made at
Highland. The subject has been agitated and
discussed at public meetings. At a recent meet
ing, $16,000 was pledged, and a purpose avowed
s to run it up to some $35,000. Add to this
$15,000, tbe value.of the present property of the
Highland University, and we have some $50,000,
in the beginning of the movement.
I send you these facts, because every eye, as
we are aware, is turned to see what are to be the
results of the Union—one Of the great events of
the century. It is right and proper that they
bhould be recorded for the glory of God, and the
encouragement of the whole Church.
JOHN S. CHAPMIN.
Troy, Kansas, Dec. 23d,'1867. \
WALNUT STREET CIILRCII,
The S. S. Anniversary of the Walnut street
Church took place last Wednesday evening
(December 22d). The church was bcautifully
decorated with flowers and evergreens, and at an
early hour was filled with the school and its
friends. The singing w. ,s spirited and excellent.
Addresses were made by Messrs. Rene Guillou
and R. S. Walton, and by the pastor, Rev, S. W.
Dana. The reports for the year showed that it
had been one of prosperity ; and one of the most
encouraging features was the fact, that nine of
the scholars had united with the church during
the year.
The only thing to mar the pleasure of the oc
casion was the retiring of the superintendent.,
Rev. J. W. Dulles. For thirteen years he lias
held this position and has endeared himself to
all, both old and young. He felt that a pressure
of other duties compelled him to resign. As a
slight testimonial of their affection, the school
presented him with a handsome secretary as a
parting gift. As Christmas was so near, each of
the scholars was given a box of sugar plums to
carry to their homes.
LESSONS ON THE LIFE OF PAUL N 0.15.
NOTE.—In the preparation of these questions, which
are mere outlines, originality is not sought, but free
use is made of all materials within reach, especially
of Conybeare and Howson's great work, " The Life
and Epistles of St. Paul."
ilHaz any age of Christianity been without
controversies or corruptions?
How early did these difficulties commence?
W here did we leave Paul in our last lesson ?
Was his return to Antioch followed by a con
troversy ?
Did this involve serious consequences to the
church ?
Were the Jews now scattered everywhere?
Acts xv. 21.
Though their synagogues were in every city
where were their sacrifices offered?
In their dispersion were they surrounded by
idolatry ?
And by the false philosophy of Greece and
Rome?
Would this make a line of separation between
the Jews and Gentiles throughout the Roman
Empire?
Was this separation both religious and social ?
Bow lona. E' did Paul and Barnabas remain in
Antioch ? Chap. xiv. 28.
Who came from Judea to Antioch ?
What does Paul call them in Galatians ii. 4?
.Did they come as open antagonists or clandes
tinely ?
What did they teach ?
Was this all they taught? Chap. xv 5.
Would Paul be likely to oppose such a doc
trine ?
What was Peter's experience under similar
circumstances? Acts xi. 2.
Was this a question of expediency or of fun
damental truth and duty to Putil and Marimbas?
How did they receive it ?
What was the result of - the dissension and dis
putation ?
Who determined that Paul and Barnahas
should go to Jerusalem r
Why cro to Jerusalem?
Had r 'Paul any other authority fur going?
Gal. ii. 2.
Had not Peter equal authority for going to
_Cesarea
Who were Paul's companions in this journey
to Jerusalem ? Acts xv. 2; Gal. ii. 2.
Why these two?
Whit do we know about Titus?
THE MISTAKE OF CLERGYMEN.
[From "The Day."]
Sid :—We take up the newspaper on any Sat
urday and notice many sermons are to be preach
ed on the following day. We go to hear some of
them and find the announcement an error. They
are not preached—they are read. Wh'y is it that
a body of men so intelligent and so full of know
ledge as the clergymen of our city should make
this great mistake? Are they not aware that the
vital influence of a sermon is marred, if not al
together lost, by so doing ? The power of the
gospel is from and upon the heart. and the hear
er must so feel it,' else it has no effect upon him.
Many hard working earnest ministers, whose
hearts are now sad and troubled at the apparent
want of success in their labors, would find them
cheered and made happy -did they correct this
mistake. Said a minister to one of his elders
some time since, (both having come from another
city and the same church,) " Why does my work
here progress so coldly and unfavorably i .as com
pared with my former charge? I labor harder
than ever in the cause of my Master." " Sir,"
said this venerable elder, "you preached to your
people then : they felt your heart was in the
work. You thus touched their hearts, and did not
fetter up your power, by reading elaborately writ
ten manuscripts. Try the old plan here; preach
as you used to." He did so, and God has bless
ed the change. Many a vacant pew in his church
has been filled; and, far better, many a new con
vert has been added to it, filling his heart with
joy and g'adness. The writer has in mind a min
ister, full of piety, of' brilliant intellect and im
agination, thoreughly cultivated, whose forensic
power on the platform and in the pulpit can
thrill every hearer, and with one accord they say,
what great heart that man has, and how full ha
is of the religion he professes and preaches. Put
that same man in' the pulpit, over his manuscript,
his eyes scarcely ever leaving it, the beauty a
his sermon marred by hesitating and defective
tone and reading, and how changed the feeling
of his hearers. They say the sermon is well
written, but the man's heart does not appear to
be in it; he has read it as would a school-boy his
lesson, and thus the good effect is all lost.. Would
that our ministers would take this important mat
ter into consideration. They could make their
power for good more felt all over this community.
What Would be thought of a lawyer pleadino• to
a jury for the lite of his client did he read his
plea from
,a manuscript., when the well known
power of his eloquence could enforce it so much
better? Are not our ministers pleading with
sinners for the life of theirit;amortal souls? and
,
should they not enforce it also with ad the
powers God has eitdowed them with, and there
fore preach the Gospel? A LAYMAN.