Vrtsbßitrian
PITTSBURGH, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1860.
sgr Having purchasedibr our office the "Right ,, to use
Dick's Accountant and Dispatch Patent, an,' or nearly all,
of our subieribers now have their paper addressed to them
regularly by a singularly unique machine, which fastens
on the white margin a small colored "address gawp," or
label, whereat' appea rs their name plaintyprinted, followed
by the date up to which they havepa id for their papers—this
being authorised by an Act of(innards& The date wit/
always be advanced on the receipt of subscription money,
in exact accirrdeince with the amount so received, and thus
be an ever-ready and valid receipts securing to every one,
and at alt times, a perfect knowledge of his newspaper ac
eftunt, so that if any error is made he can immediately de
test it and hate it corrected--a boon alike valuable to the
peiblistficr and rubseriber, as it must terminate all painful.
misunderstandings between them respecting accounts, and
thus tend to perpetuate their inipm•tant rdationahip.
l a * Those in arrears will please remit.
Western • Theological licminary . ,—At the
expressed desire of several members of the
Board, a special meeting of the' Board of
Directors of the Western Theological Sem,
inary will be held in the, hall of the said
Seminary on Tuesday the 15th day of Jan
uary next at 3 o'clock P. M.
E. I'. SWIFT, Vice F'res't, presiding.
Bomala.—A. large number of our sub
scriptions expire at the beginning of the
New Year. Our friends will confer a great
favor by renewing at once, for it will save
a world of trouble in keeping our mail
books correct. Send the money at once,
if possible; but if this cannot be done,
let us have your name, and. then send the
money by your pastor, or by the first oppor
tunity, through the mail or otherwise: And
let each of our, present subscribers secure
an additional one. Make the attempt and
you will be surprised at the result.
%The Fourth of January.—The call, by the
President of the United States, of the
whole ooantry, to, fasting, humiliation, and
prayer, is a solemn recognition of the being
and providence of G-o'd. It is an acknowl
edgment that God is just and merciful ; and
that we are transgressors, but would avert
his anger, and enjoy his love. Let minis
ters and people, who shall observe the - day,
not malign the absent, nor justify them
selves, but confess sin and pray for pardon
and blessing.
The Second Week in January.--The 7th
to the 13th of January has been set apart,
by our General Assembly, and by various
Churches, as a season of devotional exer
cities. It is well to have a protracted nteet
iv, once a year, and no season is more
favorable than that named. If every fore
noon ani evening could be devoted to pub
lic worship, it might be well. If not .all
the week, then say every evening, and three
whole days. The mind needs a season of
abstraction from the world, that it may
duly attend to its spiritual concerns. Let
this be such a season.
ALL UPPERMOST.
"The infidel_ socialism, which underlies
the fanaticism. of the North, teaches that
all must be uppermast—that every one must
beat the top of society—none at the bottom.
" All history demonstrates that this is
impoisible, and that the doctrine is utterly
false. 'And all these things confirm the un
erring Word of God."— Witness and Senti
nel.
The " infidel socialism" and "fanati:
cism," .alluded to by our contemporary, are
found at the North; but they are rarely
found", and are strongly condemned. The
almost, universally prevalent doctrine is,
the natural right of men to "life, liberty,
and the pursuit f happiness ;" . and this
-four.de l ur on the Scriptural law of justice,
love, an.l brotherhood, springing from the
fact that God made them all of." one blood,"
and all in his own "likeness." Then, let
no one despise, or oppress, his brethren.
The equalities in the human family are
fundamental, and to be cherished; the inc.
qualities are adventitious, and are not to
be entailed.,
DI BOARDMAN'S' THANKSGIVING SERMON
This excellent sermon, preached on the
29th of November last, and published by
request, we have just read aloud in the
hearing of an intelligent lady. Her first
and spontaneous
.remark was, " Well, that
may pleue the South, at any rate." A lit
tle co.lamee brought ui to the unani
mous conclusion that it was Scriptural,
and adapted to the section of country
in which it was preached. Dr. BOARDMAN
is not chargeable with the common sin, of
flattering the present Viand censuring the
absent. He admits that grave errors,
North and South, have .brought the nation
into trouble; but he confides in his South
ern brethren, that they will preach to, and
rebuke and exhort the people there; and
hence he devotes himself to the task of
pointing out errors there, and urging amend
ment. This is wise. If all preachers
would do so, happy would it be for the
Church and the land. The sermon is earn
.est 'for the Union.
.TILE BANNER FOR 1861.
Another number will complete 'our work
for 1860. How we have discharged our
obligations is known to our readers.
The year 1861 promises to be one of un
usual interest in both Church and• State, at
home and abroad. It is our purpose, to
keep our readers fully informed of the
progress of events; to discuss the various
subjects presented, according to the best
of our ability; to continue to employ cor
reiyondents cf'ability and the proper qual
ifications, and to give our readers the
greatest 'possible amount of the best kind
of return for their patronage.
We look to
,pastors, elders, and mem
hers of the Church generally, for assist
ance in extending our circulation.
Our thiteks are given to the many who
have already interested themselves in cur
behalf. Will not our friends, and the
friends of religion and intelligence, seek
to place the Banner in the families of their
neighbors ? ,
On the great questions of the day we
give no uncertain sound. We are for our
country, our. whole country, and against
disunion from whatever quarter. We seek
to convey to our readers a correct idea of
the.great controversy, doing justice to all
sections. This locality, is worthy of such
a paper as we desire to make ours. Will
the people give us the necessary-encourage
ment:?
Change of tolation.—Bethel Church, (N.
S„)' in Smith county, Miss., numbering
fhir# members, unanimously resolved, on
the 26th, to withdraw from the Newton
Presbytery, KN.S.,) and to unite with the
Bast ,Mississippi Presb Wit;
isiiitua &NOMA
NEWSPAPER RASHNESS.
Probably the best lectured people-in en
lightened lands, just now, are poor, •toiling,
sweating editors. Everybody has a bit of
advice for them'; something has not been
done that ought to have been done, and
something has been inserted that ought to
have been omitted. Something has been
commended that ought to have been con
demned, and a word has not been spoken
for something that ought to have received
unmeasured praise. This change would
please one man, and that change another
man. In short, every one has his likes and
his dislikes, his preferences and his rejec
tions. ' But, in the meantime, people with
out number have favors to ask; and each
one thinks his plea most meritorious, and
that granting it would redound to the un
told benefit of the editor, and be the har
binger of innumerable subscribers to his
paper.
And no men .receive advice so cheerfully
4r. editors.. As a matter of course, they
Osten attentively to every word, and weigh
well every argument presented. Also, it
affords. them the highest delight to gratify
every-person, if consistent at all with right-,
cousnes:s'i - and propriety. It positively
makes art-editor feel happy to know that he
has obliged some one.
But notwithstanding all his amiability of
manner, and forgetfulness of self in his
great desire to gratify every one of his tens,
of thousands of readers, there is one con
chision pretty uniformly arrived at ; that
is,. that editors are rash—that newspapers
are rash—reckless in their . .statements of
facts and opinions.. This seems to be• a
settled conviction with many people: It
is spoken of morning, noon, and night;
on the streets, in the cars, and on the
steamer. The honest farmer .is fully per
suaded that editors are a terribly reckless
and daring class of men. The plethoric
merchant decidedly coincides in this opin
ion, as he carves the smoking.roast at din
ner, or puffs his evening cigar. The
charming boarding-school Miss is free to ex
press her sentiments ih the affirmative.
And the dapper young gentleman, in all the
glory of patent leathers, and black mous
tache, is wondrously outraged at the want
of discretion exhibited by' the entire edito
rial fraternity. The politician on the
. stump, "pitches right into editors, though
he relies wondrously on their aid at last.
The professional lecturer, reading over" his
manuscript for the hundredth time, proffers
his rebuke. While the reverend Divine,
discoursing to his people on Thanksgiving
day, wakes them believe that 'on account of
this thing, editors are " sinners above all
men in Jerusalem ;" though this, same
reverend Divine may have been indebted
to these same pesty editors for whatevet • of
reputation he may have abroad, and for
protection from many a fierce onslaught at
home.
But now, good friends, permit us to as
sure you that you are all egregiously in the
wrong ; that no other class of men are less
worthy, at least of this charge, than these
same editors. Every one that has been be
hind the scenes for a little, can bear witness
to this, and can testify that no other class
of men are so careful about statements, and ,
about reports, as these same naughty
editors. With them, one great trouble is
to keep out of their columns what is pressed
for insertion. We venture the remark that
there is scarcely an editor of any influential
journal, secular or religious, that does not
offetid many more of his friends by de
clining to publish what he knows would
cause difficulty, than he offends by publish
ing what is really, objectionable. Editors
are appealed to by the young and inexpe
rienced', by the learned and influential, by,
the wise and patriarchal, to do many things
which the applicants suppose to be right
and proper, but which editors know would,
when all things are taken into considera
tion, be productive of great and lasting in
jury. If the editor of any secular paper
published all that was offered to him, his
head would certainly be broken at least
once a month. And if the editor of a re
ligious paper would dare publish all that is
sent him, or even what many think he
should publish, he would come under the
ban of Presbytery or Conference, at- least
once every quarter.
It is time for readers to learn that edi-
tors are in general about as carefully con
scientious and honest, as other people. No
doubt they have their faults, like,others;
but, be assured, willful rashness is not one
of them. If you knew the arguments pre
,
son ted, and the appeals made, you would
wonder how the poor fellows could with
stand such influences. And if you could
only see the manuscripts, written by " those
who are of 'reputation," that the pains
taking, discreet and cautious editor is com
pelled to cast into the basket, among the
waste paper, lest a commotion might be
stirred up, your opinion of his good sense
and general soundness of 'judgment would
be vastly increased. Thank the editors
not only for what they give you, but also
for what they withhold.
THE CHRISTIAN'S LIFE A CONFLICT.
From the moment when, under convic
tion of sin, the anxious cry is first uttered,
"What shall I do to be saved ?" up to the
moment 'of his soul's separation from the
body, tbe experience of the child of God
is, with but few if any exceptions, an ex•
perience of spiritual conflict.
Prior to justification, effort, even agon
izing effort, is needed. Satan opposes;
the world opposes; the heart opposes.
The anxious sinner resists them. He
strives to enter in at the straight gate.
He is earnest, eager, diligent, indefatigable.
The sinner is justified by grace. He is
drawn to Christ by the Holy Spirit, but so
drawn as to come with desire. There is
no interference with his consciousness of
responsibility. No violence is done to his
will. Personal effort he feels to be a rte.:
cessity. His soul's best energies are there
fore concentrated upon the work before
him. He not unfrequently, the subject
of intense agony, before he attains to a
joyous sense of pardoned sin.
And after the soul has attained to peace
with God, energetic personal effort is still
necessary. We have something more to ob
tain than pardon and acceptance. We
must acquire rneetriess for heaven ; we
must - becOrne holy. Now, the attainment
of holiness is by no means easy% The
It it ir Be
PRESBYTERIAN BANNER.---
ye therefore perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect."
Who that knows anything of the cor
ruption of his depraved heart, can regard
it as a work of but little difficulty to cleanse
himself from all iniquity, and become con
formed to the Divine moral standard.?
Who that knows the opposition which the
heart makes to the perfect law of God,
will anticipate a life of uninterrupted ease ?
Who that knows the power of the .world
and Satan to seduce from the path of up
rightness; will presume that to resist temp
tation and to become like God, requires no
laborious effort ?
All who have been Divinely taught—all
who have been made to see what they are
and what they must be, and what are the
difficulties to be encountered, will readily
acknowledge that they have a work before
them, an arduouf work, a work that never
ceases this side of eternity.
Many who profess to belong to God's
people are unwilling to acquiesce in the
view here presented. They doubt whether
the standard of Christian attainment is so
high: They cannot believe that sueh con
stant and laborious effort is required, or at
all necessary. This is because they love
" ease in Zion." They are unwilling to
give up the gratification of their natural
inclinations. They desire not deliverance
from sin, but deliverance from its penalty.
This they flatter themselves, can be secured
by some easy kind of intellectual faith, and
a form of godliness.
Men may shut their eyes against the.un
welcome truth, but the truth still remains.
God's word leaves no room for doubt as to
the necessity of self-denying and persever
ing effort upon the part of the Christian.
The Sermon on the Mount is replete with
lessons on this subject. Every one who
will not act in accordance with these les
sons, Christ compares to •a. foolish.man who
built his house upon the sand, which was
swept away with the destructive tempest.
The rule is, " If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross daily, and follow me." "Who
soever doth not bear his cross, and come
after me, cannot be my disciple." In the
Epistles, the Christian is compared to one
contesting for a prim which can be obtained
only by the most strenuous effort. He is
represented also as a soldier, engaged in a
warfiire, with the most formidable foes. He
is under the necessity of being constantly
armed for conflict. He must fight the good
fight of faith. At death, he will receive
the crown. God works in the Christian,
but, under that working, the Christian still
both wills and does.
And we may not complain of our condi
tion and trials. We know that God could
have exempted us from them all. Re could
have made smooth our pathway to the celes
tial city. His not doing so is proofsufficient
that our own good, as well as his glory, re
quires that our experience be such as it is.
In some things, we can ourselves see the
wisdom, of the Divine arrangement re
specting us; and where we cannot, we may
confidently and cheerfully say, "even so,
Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight."
But let none, hence,-conclude that the
Christian's is a cheerless life. Many make
it so, but they need not, they should not.
The Christian's experience may be, and
should be, in the highest sense, a happy
one. Re has to watch and pray and strug
gle, every day and every hour, until death
shall end the conflict, but he is ever sus
tained and cheered from above. He bas
joys far transcending any that the world
can give—joys that, even here on earth, far
more than compensate for all his trials.
TILE PRINCETON REVIEW ON TILE STATE OF
TILE COUNTRY.
We bave received a few advance sheets
of the Princeton Review, which contain an
admirable article on the "The State of the
Country." It is clear, comprehensive,
patriotic, Christian. The value of the
union of these States, it regards, like the
value of the family union, of a father's
blessing, or of a mother's love, inestimable
by dollars and cents. We are bound
together by a common lineage, a common
language, a common religion, rocked in the
same cradle, and surviving the same diffi
culties. Geographically we are united. We
are adapted to each other in the produc
tions of climate, population, and industry,
each large section producing just what
other sections need. We are bound
together by a Federal Constitution, and by
solemn official oaths. Our history is one,
our duties are reciprocal, our interests
are blended.
The question of principle between the
North , and the South, the Review deems to
be this: Is slavery a municipal or a natural
institution ? If natural, if founded on
the common law, then ii master has a right
to his slave—at home, in a territory, in a
neighboring State, in England, France,
everywhere—just as he has a right to his ox
or his horse. If the right is founded on
municipal law, then it extends no farther
than the boundaries of the State, which
created and sustains it. The Princetbn
Review, with WASHINGTON, JEFFERSON,
MADISON, MONROE, and jurists and states
men generally, maintain the latter. It
regards slavery as local, and slaves as men;
-and it maintains that they are entitled to the
treatment due to men—" to mental and
moral culture, to have the light of heaven
let in upon their souls, to the rights of
property, and to the prerogatives of the
conjugal and parental relations!'
The Review admits mutual wrongs, prac
tised by North .and South, against each
other; but these do not infer the need of
a separation. They can be and should be,
corrected. The article also argues strongly
against the' right of secession; and against
the probability that secession would be any
remedy for•the evils complained of; /and it
maintains that secession would expose the
country to calamities too painful to utter.
In speaking of the likely results of se
cession, the Review quotes from a protest
of HON. W. W. Bovoz, of South Carolina,
in 1851. Mr. 8., says in his summing up
"For the various reasons I have stated, I ob
ject, in as strong terms as I can; to the secession
of South Carolina. Such is the intensity of my
conviction upon the subject, that if secession
should take place—of which 'I have no idea, for
I cannot believe in the existence of such stuPen
dons madness—l shall consider the institution of
slavery doomed, and that the Great God, in our.
I blindness, has made us the instrument of its de
struction."
Secession is now declared -,by Stout
Outline . ; bit it ill flir attrtina
ATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1860.
plished. Wet uSt that God in his mercy,
will yet arrest the " stupendous madness."
We believe that, Slavery is "doomed," but
we pray that the decree may be executed in
mercy—that slavery may be removed by the
sweet influences if the Gospel, and the
mild and wholesome order of law, and not
by passion, insurrections, and wars. If the
Union shall con ti ne, the slaves will have
liberty—liherty t rough the Gospel's pow
er, upon them a d their masters. They
findtheir bonds relaxed, their
d, their rights as hu
kded, their relation to
condition improv
man beings ace.
their masters re. dated by New Testa-
Testament rules, pd themselves fitted for
freedom, and obtaining it.. If tbe Union
shall be ruptured; slavery loses its strong
protector. - The North and all of civil
ized Europe will frown upon it. Wars will
arise—an end will come. Slavery is
doomed. May a kind Providence not per
mit a violent rupture of the bonds, but
cause them to vanish under the dissolving
influences of light and love.
A WORD TO OUR SOUTHERN BRETHREN.
The present state of the country is such
as to excite the most painful apprehensions
in the bosom of every patriot and Chris
tian. And one of the worst features is,
that leading politicians, editors, and min
isters, in the South, insist, that the time
for conference and conciliation is past.
With many of them we grieve to say, dis
union is a foregone conclusion. South
Carolin - a now considers herself out a the
Union—" homeless and houseless," as, a
member of her Convention said. For
weeks her leading men have treated all
suggestions as to continuance in the Union
as a gra,nd impertinence. They would not
stay in on any. consideration. And the
Northern newspapers, both secular and re
ligious, that were most anxious for conces
sion, that would grant almost anything in
order to satisfy the Sonth, are the ones
that have received the heaviest blows and
the most contemptuous sneers from that
quarter. The South Carolinians regaid
the advocates of Union upon any terms, as
their enemies.
Now, in view of this state'of things, we
wish to Whisper a few words to our South
ern brethren—especially to Southern Chris
tians, that they may pause before they take
the fatal leap. In most of the Southern
States there are as true friends of the TJn
ion as ever lived in several of those States
these greatly preponderate. They need
our sympathy i they are worthy ,of our
greatest encouragement, that they may
arouse themselves, stand firm, and roll back
the tide of disunion, as has been attempted
by the noble Senator JOHNSON, from Ten
nessee. '
The precise point to which we wish to
call the attention of determined disunion=
ists, is this : You are doing the very thing
those rampant •Abolitionists, who seem to
have given you so much trouble, and in
denouncing whom, you have well-nigh
exhausted the entire vocabulary of condem
natory English adjectives, wish 'You to do.
You are rushing into the very abyss into
which WILLIAM LOYD GARRISON, WENDEL
PHILLIPS, and men of that class have been
long anxious to see 'you fall. No men are
so delighted with the course you are now
pursuing, as these, men. For years they
have been wishing you out of the Union,
and seeking to make, you go out, and now
you are taking every possible means to
gratify those who have wronged you so
greatly, by going out, whatever obstacles
may be thrown in your way. In no other
way could you so delight the admirers of
OHN BROWN, of Harper's Ferry notoriety.
They are daily holding high carnival at
the prospect before them.
Be assured 'that the great mass of the
Northern people of all parties, who are now
praying for the continuance of the Union,
and who cannot bear the thought . of losing
a single star from our proud National
banner, are those who have no sympathy
with GARRISON, JOHN BROWN, or any of
that crew. They are the conservative
people who would never incite a slave to
escape, or interfere with the legal execution
of a law of the United States with respect
to a fugitive, who Would allow the institu
tions of the South to remain forever, free
from any Northern aggression. These peo
ple are your friends; the only real friends
you have on earth. Bat you will not lis
ten to them; you east them aside. And
then you prepare yourselves to rush into
the arms of your enemies—to fall into the
'pit they have them long digging for you.
Is this wise ? Is it politic ?
THE CHRISTIANS BEST MOTIVE FOR PA
TRIOTISL
This is the title of a sermon, preached
November Ist, 1160, in College Church,
Hampden Sidney, Va.,. by Rev. ROBERT
L. DABNEY, D. D. The occasion was, the
General Fast-'day appointed by the Synod
of Virginia, to pray for escape from Na
tional . convulsions. It is founded on
Psalms cxxii : 9—" Because of the house of
the Lord our God, I will seek thy good."
The text is most appropriate to the occa
sion, and the motive which it presents for
a true, elevated, and self-consecrating patri
otism, is the highest possible.
The evils existing in the country 'are
ascribed by the preacher, and rightly so
ascribed, to the raising, on the part of the
people, of bad men, to posts and places of
power and influence ; and hence the remedy
will be, the supplanting of such, by others
who are good and true. Christians are
called upon, wisely and calmly, to perform_
the part of citizens ; but, alas, unhappily,
many Christians, Christian ministers, Chris
tian editors, and Christian legislators,.he
come seemingly as wild and fanatic, though
by no means as reckless and unprincipled,
as ordinary and selfish politician& But
hear Dr. DABNEY
"My brethren, the Christians of this
land are able to control the selection. of
feckless and wicked men for places of trust,
if they please, and will do their duty.
Ffere are four millions of men and women,
chiefly adultiAllmong a people of twenty
six millions of men, women, children and
slaves—four millions who profess to' be
supremely ruled by principles of righteous
ness,
peace and love, and to be united to
each other in the brotherhood of a heavenly
birth. If even the voters among these
would go together to the polls, to uphold
the cause of peace, they would turn the
scale of every election.
44 We must otikey the law of *Gad rathef
an. the unrighteous behests of party, I
Climate oIYE df, the wit
such as fear God, men of truth, hating
covetousness; and place such over them to
be riders,' or God will assuredly avenge
himself for our violated allegiance to him.
The Christians of this country must sternly
claim that wicked or reckless men shall no
longer.hold the helm of State ; that polit
ical orthodoxy shall no longer atone for that
worst offence against a citizenship, a wicked
life. And along with rulers, I would in
clude the directors of the public press, as
being of the general class of leaders of
the people.' Even while you boast of the
potency of this engine of the nineteenth
century, you have allowed it to fall in many
cases into most incompetent and dangerous
hands. See who have held this responsi
ble lever in our land in these latter days!
Some are honorable and patriotic; but more
are unreliable; some mere half-educated
youths, without any stake of family, es
tate, or reputation in the community; some
fiery denouncers, some touching the springs
of public' affairs with a drunken hand, and
many the open advocates and practioners of
the duellist's' murderous code—these men
you have perinitted and even upheld and
salaried, in your easy thoughtlessness, to
misrepresent, misdirect and . inflame the
public sentiment of the nation
"But especially should you remember,
at such a period as'this, the boundless mis
chief wrought by the habit of reckless vi
tuperation, and the political violence, in
which bad and foolish or inexperienced
men indulge, to further political ends. It
is this which chiefly has created our pres
ent unhappy dangers, by misrepresenting
each section to the other. You have heard
descriptions of the reign of terror in the
first French Revolution, and perhaps as
you saw the frighttul and murderous vio
lence of political factions there displayed,
you have exclaimed : ' Were these men, or
devils.' They were men, my brethen ;
' men of like passions with us.' Read the
narrative of the -philosophic Thiers, and
you will learn the source of these rivers of
blood. Unscrupulous leaders of parties
and presses, in order to carry their favorite
projects and overpower political rivals, re
sorted to the trick of imputing odious and
malignant motives to all adversaries.
" Now I, say to you in all faithfulness,
that the reckless and incapable men whom
you have weakly trusted with power or in
fluence, have already led us far on toward
similar calamities. They have bandied vio
lent words, those cheap weapons of petu
lant feebleness; :they have justified aggres
sion ; tbey have misrepresented our tem
pers and principles—answered, alas, by
equal misrepresentations and violence in
other quarters—until multitudes of honest
men, who sincerely suppose themselves as
patriotic as you think yourselves, are really
persuaded that in resisting your claims,
they are but rearingg-a necessary bulwark
against lawless and arrogant aggressions.
4 4 Whereunto can all this mutual violence
grow 0
? Do not the increasinc , anger and
prejudice, which seem so fast ripening on
both sides for a fatal collision, tell you too
plainly? And when these rash represen
tatives of yours in our halls of Legislation
and our newspapers, shall have sown the
wind, who will reap the whirlwind ? *hen
they have scattered the dragon's teeth,
who must meet that horrent crop which they
will produce? Not they alone; but you,
your sons, your friends and their sons.
So that these misleaders of the peoPle,
while you so weakly connive at their indis
cretions, may be indirectly preparing the
weapon which is to pierce the bosom of
your fair-haired boy; and summoning the
birds of prey, which are to pick out those
eyes whose joy is now the light of your
happy homes, as he lies stark on some lost
battle-field. For God's sake, then—for
your sakes, for yoUr children's sake, arise
—declare that from this day, no mone3i, no
vote, no influence of yours, shall go to the
maintenance of any other counsels than
those of moderation, righteousness, and
manly forbearance.','
We would, that every man, of every
party and every creed, could hear such a
sermon. When speaking thus, and in sea : -
son, the minister is within the sphere of
his calling. If the day of prayer appointed
by the President, January 4th, shall he the
occasion of such, presentation of God's
truth; and if, with the spirit which
breathes in this sermon, ministers and peo
ple shall go to a throne of, grace, the offi
cial call will result in a benefit to the land.
COXIANA.
The Rev. SAMUEL:HANSON Cox, D.D.,
LL.D., has been lately treating the readers
of the New-York Observer to a series of
articles on that wonderfully gifted but ter
ribly erratic man, the late EDWARD IRVING.'
It seems that when Dr. Cox was in Eu
rope, he attended several times upon the
services conducted by InviNo. These as
was proper, rift with the decided disappro
bation 'of the Rev. SAMUEL HANSON
COX, D.D., and he has just finished
"showing them and also poor IRVING in
the most approved " Hexagon " style, of
Greek, Latin, and distorted English. But
this operation so excited the venerable
Doctor against everything opposed to - his
peculiar views, that he looked around for
something else upon which the vials of his
indignation might be poured out, and in
an unlucky moment for the " juvenile pa
triarchs " connected with the ..Excinding
Acts of 1837, his eye fell on them. That
was enough I • just listen to his utterances
upon these devoted heads, in a' communica
don to the American Presbyterian :
" When disruption, excision, cruel
schism, was avalanched upon us, for no
good reason; and in a way which I never
cease to accuse and denounce, as a very
wickedness, wavily?, et inauditum netas ; as
hugely and anti-constitutional; •as involv
ing necessarily the sins of perjury, and most
an ti-ehristian intolerance, against four Syn
ods, twenty-eight Presbyteries, and one other
dissolved,' in leves auras—that is, in
the abstract, since in its noble concrete, it
still exists, grows, and blesses the very
city of Philadelphia in which it was in fa
mine annihilated by the self-styled prop
agators, and expounders, and special,
guardians of the constitution; when all
this occurred, I say, Oh ! how it grieved
me, agonized me, jostled me away from all
my prospects and hopes for the honor and
perpetuity and the just predominance of
our glorious American Presbyterian Church!
Nor yet, if ever, in this world, caul recover
from the damage, the degradation,-the dis
honor, of that unique abomination in our
annals, the result of which we feel to this
day !"
He thinks this unique abomination"
has been oVerruled for good as was the
persecution of PAUL and the sin of JUDAS;
but then exclaims, no thanks to PILATE, to
the traitor, or to the high-priest, and none
at all to "the juvenile patriarchs" who did.
it all, with such a rush of fury—while con
science and reflection were too .debauched,
or drunk, or maddened, to care a straw for
their ordination vows, to the constitution
The subsequent conduct of these self-same
"juvenile .patriarchs" he has no very
high opinion of. For he says : " Soon they
laid a'new ' basis'—their own• word, and
without a particle of constitutional author
ity, or right of any, kind, they just in:ll)i %
uubly exfseithibil -from their Chunk .wlioW
sale and retail, all whoever would not
approve their revolutionary and schis
matical acts ; sanction them; make
those acts their basis,' declaring all
such excluded, ipso facto, by the rendition
of the schismatical vote, refusing such
homage to blasphemy and treason ! How
' schismatical' it was 1" Nevertheless the
charity of our venerable Doctor reaches to
some of these huge offenders. He even grows
facetious and perpetrates a pun, albeit a
poor one, when he says, "Many of them, in
spite of•their evils, I sincerely revere and
love. And they know it Why will they
then not right about, face the music of
their duty, and perform the doing of it as
if they were ABLE—to be account-ABLE."
Sic transit, Rev. SAMUEL HANSON
Cox, D.D., LL.D.
EXTRAVAGANCE,
How ninny people did PAUL address on
Mar's Hill ? Speakers of an ardent tem
perament and strong prejudices and pas
sions, are very liable to over state matters,
and make themselves ridiculous. The min
isters of religion should be, exceedingly
cautious in this regard. By their excesses
they, injure, not only themselves, but the
cause they advocate, and the name they
bear.
An instance of extravagance, of the'
wildest kind, we have in'the Thanksgiving
sermon of Rev. HENRY J. VANnvv.F, D.
D., of Brooklyn, New-York. The speaker
is immensely ardent, in his zeal for Slavery;
and to give it the semblance of Scriptural
authority, he alludes, in his own way, to
several things spoken in the Divine Word.
In the midst of these remarks, he exclaims:
"When PAUL stood upon Mar's Hill, sur
rounded by ten thousand times as many
slaveholders as there were idols in the city,
do you believe he kept back any part of the
requirements of the Gospel, because he was
afraid of a tumult of the people ?—Central
Presbyterian, of Dec. 22.
Certainly not, through fear. But 'he
might have omitted some things, because
the people were not able to bear them, yet.
But we are o interested to know how many
"slaveholders" "surrounded" PAUL. He was
in Athens, where we are told there were
thirty thousand gods, publicly. recognized.
The apostle, even supposing each god to be
represented by but one image, (idol,) must
hence have had a surrounding of, at least,
three hundred millions of people !!
Three hundred millions of slaveholders
in Athens 1! Well, hoi many slaves
had each? And bow- many people in
the city had no slaves ? And now can
Dn. VANDYKE calmly and rationally look
at the sentence we have quoted, and then
conclude that even one of his sober-minded
hearers or readers, will, on his authority,
believe a single statement which he made ?
The Fifteenth of Jannary.—Let not the
Convention of Ministers and Elders. be
forgotten. There is a dearth of spiritual
influences. Coldness and worldliness in
vade our churches. And the people, in
religious things, take very much of their
temper from those who officiate among
them. Deeply consecrated ones should
they be, who minister at the altar of the
Lord. An elevated Christian life should
they possess, who assume the guidance of
their fellow men. During the week of re
ligious exercises, ministers and elders will
be much engaged in mental and,physical
labors. They will need a little time for
sweet counsel and refreshment. For this
the Convention will afford a precious op
portunity.
ECCLESIASTICAL.
PROFATII. M.ES WoonsoN, of Oglethorpe Uni--
versity, Ga., has accepted the Professor
ship, to which he has been elected, in the
Theological Seminary, at Columbia, S.C.
REV. S. F. SoovEL, of Jeffersonville, In
diana, has received and accepted a call
from the First Presbyterian church, in
Springfield, Ohio, and will remove thith-
er immediately.
MR. P. H. THOMPSON, of New-Orleans, at
a meeting of the Presbytery of Memphis„
at Oceola, was ordained to the work of
the ministry, as an Evangelist.
EASTERN SUMMARY.
B 0 TON _AND NEW-ENGLAND
The REV : Dn. WALLE.R, late. President of, Har
vard College, is carrying through the press, a
volume of his sermons, preached to the students
of that Institution. Dr. WALKus belongs to the
least heterodox class, of Unitarians, and. is
strongly conservative in all his views.
Last - week we gave notice af the proposed NEW
NRIODICAL, to be styled "The Boston Review."
The scheme has since that time taken shape and
form and the first number will be issued in
January. Tbe price will $8 per annum. It is
proposed that the new Review, while it shall be
unequivocal and out spoken in its theology, shall
yet be attractive in its literary merits, and ar
tistic finish.
UNIVERSALIST CHURCHES are dying out all
over New-Bnglancl. We do not say that Uni
versalist principles are becoming extinct, for,
alas, there is too much evidence of their preva
lence. But the church organizations are grad
ually disappearing.' The reason of this is very
obvious. Universalism soon run's to seed—soon
developes its true character,. which is no religion
at all. Those who adept it, soon begin to feel
that Bibles churches and ministers are unneces-
nary, and consequently soon desert them. Peo
ple soon become tired of keeping up churches,
and their appliances, merely for the sake of ap
pearances.
No OTHER Cmuncu in New-England is just
now making such, quiet but at the same time such
permanent advances as the Episcopal. In.many
places the people have been so long surfeited on
politics, a loose theology, and platform lectures,
that they are ready to unite with any Church
that offers them the Gospel free from these ad
mixtures. If the Old School Presbyterian Church
had the men and the means, she might to-day
found in New-England, dozens of churches that
would soon be self-sustaining. The Old School
could, do this much more easily now than the New
School, for there is a jealousy with respect to
the New School, that does not exist against the
Old.
TILE RAILBEADS have turned aside the great
routs of travel from their former course, and in
this way many towns of note in the early history
of our country, are now but little thought of.
Litchfield, Conn., is one of these. Almost every
old house in this village was built, or has been
inhabited by an historical personage,whosa rep
utation could be called neither local nor Section
al. Here dwelt the Woleotts, the Trtunbulls, the•
Holleys, and the Tallmadges of a former gener
ation. Every foot of her soil has felt the tread
of those who, contemporaries of her green elms,
have been great in their country's history. Her
judges, Reeve and Gould, the great Gamaliels of
the country, drew about thein as students, those
•ho went forth to be the giants or their gener
Tongs ' ,
HEW-YORK.
The PREPARATION'S FOR TIM HOLIDAYS Were
quite lively. And the on-looker, who bad not
heard of suspensions, secession, and the entire
crowd of evils just now disturbing the people,
would have supposed that everything was going
on quite prosperously. Nor is New-York read y
to sell out yet, or secede from the Union, as pro.
posed it. sober earnest by that pattern legislator,
Mr. Sickles. The meeting gotten up by Messrs.
Lathers, O'Connor & Co., at which Mr. O'Conno r
took occasion to compliment the Rev. Henry V an
Dyke, DD., of Brooklyn, for his sermon against
the Abolitionists and in devotion to the South,
did not create the alarm that was expected. Th e
fact is, New-York, as a whole, is by no means SCaTy.
Individuals may be frightened, but the city,
as such, is conscious of its strength. One cheer
ing sign is found in the large amounts of s p ec i e
now arriving from Europe and California. The
Atlantic brought over a-million, the Persia a mil
lion * and a half, and the Fulton $600,000; t „i x
millions of dollars arrived within four days o f
last week, and every steamer from Californi a
brings large sums. The effects of our produce
exportations are beginning to be sensibly felt.
SOME OF THE MEDIOAL STUDENTS have left o n
account of the excitement in the South, but the
"stampede" has been confined mostly to those
from Georgia. And some of the Young Ladies'
Seminaries have lost a portion of their Southern
pupils within a few days.
AMONG the passengers in the ship IP/gen/ a,
which arrived at her dock last Friday night. wa s
Mrs. R. Lowrie (widow of the Rev. Reuben .1...( 47 .
vie, one of the Missionaries of the Presbyterian
Board, who died at Shanghai, Chinn, April it
1860,) three children and sister, all in good
health. They had a passage of one hundred and
thirty days, and experienced severe weather in
the China seas.
PHILADELPHIA
A good degree of ACTIVITY continues in busi
ness cirCles. It is true that many mechanics and
workmen have been lately dismissed for a time,
but this is done every year at this season, in a
greater or less degree. And the North Almerican,
so well informed respecting matters in Philadel
phia, and so devoted to the interests of that
city, says that the proportion this year is not
greater than usual; and that the reports sent
abroad about want, starvation, and all that, are
mere imaginations. Philadelphia is a city having
the, means of independence too much within
itself, to be easily injured permanently. The
miscellaneous character of the_ manufactures of
this city are a safeguard that nothing can lake
from her. And those who raise a cry of alarm
at every cloud on the horizon, are not her true
friends. It is politic, as well as manly, to stand
ffim in the day of trial.
STEREOSCOPIC VIEWS are being taken of the
interior of many of the principal churches of
this city. This is done so admirably, as to give a
very correct idea of their size, arrangements, &c.,
even to one who has never visited them.
Funds Urgently Needed
While th - e unspeakably great interests of
the country t are engaging the earnest at
tention of all citizens, we must again appeal
to God's people not to forget the interests of
the. Redeemer's kingdom as represented in
the work of this Board of the Church.
As our readers were informed in the last
number of the Record, the Colportage
Fund of the Board of Publication is not
only exhausted, but largely overdrawn,
The Board has for the last month felt com
pelled to decline all offers of eolportage
service., and to issue no new commissions.
It has to this time striven to keep in their
fields of labor the large band of colpor
tears already at; work, but unless liberal
contributions are speedily forwarded from
the churches, it will be compelled very
soon, to allow them one after another, as
their commissions expire, to retire from
their important and blessed work.
We earnestly beseech those Christian
brethren and churches which have the
power to aid us, to send their remittances,
large or small, •to our Treasurer, at the
earliest day possible.
W. E. SCHENCK, Cor. Sec.
Lotter from China,
[CORRESPONDENCE OP THE PRESBYTERIAN.]
CHINA, October, 1860
3Misr& Editors.—My letter by the last mail
had been sent off only a day or two, in which I
stated that peace Intd been concluded between
the Allies and China, when a later arrival from
Tien-tsim brought the sad intelligence that ne
gotiations had been interrupted, and that the
Allied army was on the march to Pekin. This
march on Pekin is a move which the military in
China bad greatly desired, but it is one which
every considerate person out of the range of the
excitement must contemplate with great solici
tude. The history of the proceedings is as fol
lows l—The ...British and French Plenipotentia
ries reached Tien-taun on the 25th of August.
On the 31st. Kweiliang, the Secretary of State
and Commissioner for the Negotiations with Wes
tern Powers, arrived. . His former colleague be
lug dead, he was accompanied by Flung-fah, the
Governor-General of the Metropolitan Province,
and by Hung-kee, formerly Superintendent of
Customs at Canton. This latter is a member of
the Imperial Household. Kweiliang negotiated
the treaties with. the four Western Powers in
1858. The ability be displayed as a diplomatist,
and his urbanity and intelligence as an officer,
obtained for him the high respect of the American
Commissioners---the lion. Messrs. Reed and
Ward. After the untoward events of June.
1859, and after he had received the American
Embassy in a such a satisfactory manner at Pe
kin, he requested permission to retire from the
cares and anxieties of office on account of age,
he being seventy-five years of age. It is a co
incidence worth remarking that three statesmen
of such advanced age, are in such high office in
three different kingdoms as Cass, Russell, and
Kweiliang. The counsels of age still command
the respect of the world. But his Imperial mas
ter would not spare him, retaining him at his
post especially to see these treaties with the Al
lies finally ratified. He now returns to Tien
tsun to meet Lord Elgin and Baron Gros, under
very peculiar circumstances—they are accom
panied by all the prestige of an imposing and
successful military demonstration, he with the
humiliation of seeing all the defences of his
country vanish before the enemy's fire like a
wisp of tow—and with the heavy task of extri
cating his country from an embarrassment which
his statesmanship and counsels had labored in
! effectually to guard against. No one, with any
generous feeling, but must feel a deep sympa
thy for the trusted and patriotic ambassador of
the Chinese Emperor. . The thousand-tongued
press, by , giving, universal dissemination in the
actions of. Yell, the late Governor-General at.
Canton, (a name execrated among the Chinese
themselves,) haVe caused him to be regarded as
the type of Chinese officers. But the names of
Keying, Wang, lin, and Kweiliang, and rawly
others will, however, with those who study the
history of nations and their institutions, redeem
in a measure the character of Chinese statesmen
from such indiscriminate obloquy.
Kweiliang and his associates having thus ar
rived on the 31st, the negotiations were com
menced, and by the 3d of September the terms
on which the Allies would consent to reuor
peaceful intercourse were settled. The docu
ments only waited the affixing the names and
seals of the respective Commissioners. It was
very difficult, of course, for Kweiliang to nego
tiate when the Allies had an army, flushed wih
victory, to enforce their demands. It only re
mained for him as a patriot to obtain the best
terms = the least. humiliating to his country that
he could. When the papers were drawn out, Le
intimated that so far as it rested with _him, he
Resented to the requirements. But the exaction
appeared so hard, and the humiliation so great,
that he was not willing to affix his name till lie
bad communicated with the court at Pekin. he
therefore put Off the signing of the documents
for four days. In the meantime the word went
abroad that the terms of peace had been settled,
and that fiarther bloodshed was stayed. And un
der the pleasing impression and the emotions it
awakened, I wrote my last letter. But on the
• ith, Kweiliang having, as it is mast reasonably
supposed, received an answer from Pekin, in
fornied the Allies that he had not authority to
pledge his government to these terms. The Am
bassmlors then announced that the army
would
commence the march to Pekin, in separate brig
ades,On the next day, The conditions and re
quireinents, as presented in these State papers,
ltaye'rriot transpired. It is a most reasonable
.FuPposition that they were very hard and ha
o In all eirdinniArees
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