Vresbgitrian 'ginner.
PITTSBURGH, SAMMY, 'AUGUST SO, 1862,
The Meeting mit The Directors of the Wes
tern Theologioal Seminary is to take place
on the Eighteenth of September, according
to our notice. Some of the daily papers
have it, by mistake, the eighth. The offi
cial call is the .Eighteenth.
We received the notice, last week, when
we were nearly through the press, so that
it appeared in but a few copies. We, this
weck, republish it, in our whole edition.
Princeton Theological Seminary.—The next
term will be opened on Thursday, the 4th
of September.
The usual facilities are continued. Good
boarding will be provided in the Refectory
at a low rate. Rooms will be provided for
all that come; and aid furnished to needy
students, enough to cover all necessary ex
penses.
The special instructions in Elocution
will be given, as usual, near the beginning
of the term. A. 'a CUAMBERS,
Danville Theological Seminary.
The Tenth Annual Session of the Danville
Theological Seminary will open on the 20th day
of September.
A full corps of Professors will be in attend
ance, and it is confidently believed the exercises
of the Institution will be uninterrupted.
A new edifice for the accommodation of stu
dents has been completed during the Suthmer.
The rooms will be furnished with new and suffi
cient furniture, including mattresses ; but stu
dents will provide their own bed•olo:hes. All
who may attend nest Session will find accommo
dations in the Seminary buildings.
STEPHEN YERICEB,
Secretary Board of Directors.
Washington College, Pa.—The Semi-An
nual Examination of this Institution will
commence on the 29th inst., at 9 o'clock
A. M. The Rev. Messrs. JOHN EAGLESON,
D.D., C. V. M'KAIG, and JAMES R.
iIIJOHES, and Messrs. JOHN IL EWING
and A. W. Acamoor, are the Committee
of the Board to superintend it.
The Board of Trustees will hold their
Semi-Annual Meeting on Tuesday, Sep
tember 3d, at 2 o'clock P. M.
The Commencement will be held on the
following day, Wednesday, the 3d. The
public are invited to attend.
THOMAS WKENDIAN, Secretary.
Injuricu Persons.—Every country pro
tects some persons who may be properly
called injurious. It is so, emphatically, at
present, with the United States. Long did
the Government pour blessings upon those
who ate now in rebellion. And there are
some persons in the loyal States, also, who
ha•ve received, and are receiving benefits,
who requite the country with injury.
There are two extremes of the North which
do so. One is the few who give aid and
comfort to the traitors by approving of
their course; the other comprises those
who would destroy the old foundations.
Both are injurious by distracting our na
tional counsels, and discouraging the peo
ple. Let men avoid them.
When a nation's life is endangered by a
powerful and assaulting foe, the man who
produces discord, who alienates the people
from the Government, or who produces die.
trust in the commanders of his country's
armies, is the injurious person.
RIMING OF DIRECTORS OF THE WESTERN
IHEOLOGICH SEMINARY..
To the Rev. E. P. Swift, D.D., President
of the Board of Directors of the Wes
tern. Theological Seminary:
You are hereby requested to call a meet
ing of the Directors at the earliest period
in your power, to take into consideration
the interests of the Seminary, in view of
the connexion of the Rev. Dr. PLUALER
wiAh the same.
W. D. HOWARD, S. M. MCCLUNG,
Ix R. 111.0AnoY, LUKE Lo()MIS,
ELLIOTT E. SWIFT, F. 0. BAILEY,
ROST. MCKNIGHT.
Aug,. 16, 1862.
In pursuance of the above request, I
hereby call a meeting of the Board of Di
rectors of the Western Theological Semi
rary, to be held in the Seminary Building
on Tikurscloy, the 18th day of September
neat, at 2 o'eloek P. M.
B. P. Swirr, President.
Aug. 19, 1862.
ALLEGHENY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.
The next session of the Theological Sem
inary at Allegheny City, will commence
on Monday, September Bth.
The Students will assemble at 4 o'clock
P. M., in the Chapel ; and the Rooms in
both the . Seminary Buildings will then be
opened to the choice of those who shall be
present.
On Tuesday, at 10 A. M., the Annual
Address to the Students will be delivered
by one of the Professors.
The Corps of Instruction will be full.
Each of the Five Professors will give at
tention to his Department.
The expenses at this Institution are very
light; not necessarily exceeding $lOO for
the Seminary year. All students who are
meritorious, can be aided to the extent of
their actual requirement, on application to
either of the Professors.
The tuition is free. No charge is made
for room rent. Good boarding is furnished
in desirable families at $1.76 to $2 per
week.
Students of all denominations are ad
mitted.
Four of the Professors minister to their
respective churches in Pittsburgh or Alle
gheny and the students are thus brought
under a Pastoral care, while they are also
furnished with a practical training by this
means.
Any inquiries may be addressed to either
of the Professors at Allegheny or to
• Tams. EL N.F.via, Treasurer,
When Mr. LiNciii.N left his home, in
Springfield, 111., in February, 1861, to en
ter into the office to which he had been
called by the people of the United States,
he requested them to pray for him. He
uttered this wish to a multitude who had
assembled to bid him good-bye. Of his
sincerity there can be no doubt; but of his
need of the Divine guidance, in ruling
such a people at suoh a time as this, he
could have but very inadequate concep
tions. The wisdom requisite, and the en
ergy and firmness rightly to meet the occa
sion, are far beyond what man, uninfluenced
from Above possesses, rr can even estimate.
The President did not tell the people for
what favors they should entreat the Lord.
SOLOMON'S prayer when he took the seat of
power, was, "Give me now wisdom and
knowledge, that I may go out and cone in
before this people; for who can judge this
thy people, that is so great." This is
comprehensive : " Wisdom and knowl
edge." So now we ask for the President
of these United States, this selected people
of the Lord, wisdom and knowledge, ade
quate to the position in which he is planed.
In reference to our civil commotions, we
pray God that the right may prevail ; that
the affliction may be brief; that be will
bring good out of the evil; that our Chief
Magistrate and all his counsellors may be
divinely directed, so as to bring about a
speedy, an honorable, and an enduring
peace. In the words of such petitions, all
can unite. The abolitionist, the pro
slavery man, the secessionist, the radical,
and the conservative, can each fervently
pray, in this language, each interpreting it
for himself. All might bow together, and
be thus lead, by one voice, in the same
sanctuary. And we think much of our
praying should be thus; in unity of spirit,
in meekness, in calm resignation to the
will of God, allowing God to judge what
the right and the good is, and pleading
with him, in his infinite wisdom and kind
ness, to judge for us and bless us with his
own blessings.
But all our praying is not to be thus.
We thus pray when we can do nothing.
We thus pray when we have exhausted all
our powers. We thus pray under a. feeling
of our own ignorance, and prejudice, and
possible error, and with a feeling of humil
ity and resig,nation, wishing that God may
thwart our wrong purposes and execute his
own wise will. But it is our privilege,
yea, and our duty, to pray not only in terms
thus general, but to pray more particularly
and definitely; to pray for the very thing
which we believe that se need. We may
ask God to give our President wisdom to
put down this wicked rebellion ; to make
bitu faithful in the administration of law,
that he shall be a terror to those evil doers
who have risen up against us, and not hear
the sword in vain. We may ask God to
make the counsels of our enemies foolish
ness, and to make their hearts weak in the
day of battle, so that they shall flee before
us. We may ask God to protect our
armies, and bless our Generals, and give us
victories. Any thing that we may strive
for, we may pray for. Our efforts and our
prayers should ever be companions.
S tewa d
But with all our earnestness- in effort
and prayer, we mast be meek and subwis
sive. When we say, Thy will be done, we
must feel that possibly God's will may be
different from ours. Ihe good man often
prays, most fervently, that if he is in the
pursuit of a wrong thing, the Lord will dis
appoint him. And such a feeling does not
dispirit him, nor make him speedily relax
his efforts. He will exert himself to the
utmost, knowing that this is the appointed
way of success; and if, after all he can do,
he is discomfited, he will submit meekly.
The President of the United States needs
now, especially, the prayers of Gnd's peo
ple. The ordinary affairs of Government
would be a hard task. To conduct the war
is a matter still harder. But the most dif
ficult of.all is, to prevent dissention in the
loyal States. The President is beset inces
santly by radicals, conservatives, Dada
State men, all of whom should be his sup
porters, and all of whom are needed; bat
each class urge that the terms of its adhe
sion are the adoption of its measures. Can
the Government be sustained'!"Must dis
sention ruin the nation ? Are we to be
brought to, greater straits before we can
yield our selfishnes, and save the country ?
The President is God's servant, to rule the
people and perpetuate the Union. Pray
for tbe President, that he may be a wise
and adequate centre of influence, and be
guided to such measures for conquering
the•fbe and saving the country, that - all can
unite with him, as one man, in their exe
cution.
MUZZLING THE PRESS.-1 BETTER WAY.
The Apostle JAMES says of the tongue,
"It is an unruly evil." The press of our
day does much of the tongue's work, and
it is about equally hard to " tame." Our
Government has been trying fur a long
time to limit its operations, but only with
very partial success. The rebels have suc
ceeded better in their efforts, but still not
effectually. One of their generals, VAN
Dorm. lately issued the following order :
" The publication of any article in the
newspapers in reference to the movements
of the troops is prohibited ; and if the ed
itor or proprietor of any newspaper pub
lished in any of the counties hereinbefore
designated, shall publish any editorial ar
ticle, or copy into his paper any article or
paragraph calculated to impair confidence
in any of the commanding officers whom
the President may see fit to place over the
troops, such editor or proprietor shall be
subject to fine and imprisonment, and the
publication of the paper shall be thereafter
suspended."
To this the Columbus, Georgia, Sun re
plies :
"This order, if enforced throughout the
'cozi . Rtry, would establish the most thor-
Out and absolute military despotism that
.
dtsgraced any age or n Idea. The
164 e Weis the pea* Mall we be alkiwid
PRAY FOR THE PRESIDENT.
PRESBYTERIAN BANNER.---SATURDA Y, AUGUST 30,1-1862.
to criticise the conduct of their agents is
to) monstrous for contemplation. The
privilege of the press to expose official in
com peteocy is its highestbirthright, and the
unshackled exercise of that power the
strongest safeguard of liberty. Such an
assumption of authority has not been at
tempted or conceived even by LINCOLN. It
" out-Herods Herod." A contemporary
well remarks 'that an independent press
and an independent people will not submit
to such an arbitrary act.
The subject is a difficult one. There is
reason in the General's order; and there is
reason in the editor's reply. The difficulty
cannot be settled. It is like the limit be
tween governmental power and individual
freedom. It cannot be made a fixture. It
will vary, and ever must be varied, by cir
cumstances.
Secretary STANTON, and some of our
own Generals, hive endeavored to control
army correspondents. The success, of the
effort is but partial. Sometimes we almost
wish that the authorities could succeed.
Great mischief is done by the letter writers.
We find them so very frequently telling
us things which prove to be untrue, that
we have ceased to put much confidence iu
them, and feel that it is an immense waste
of time to read them. And yet they are a
necessity. They are a part of our freedom.
They are a stimulant to commanders. They
hold men to their responsibilities. If they
would orly tell the truth, mad nothing but
the truth, they would be invaluable; but
they are so habitually incorrect, that their
power for good is greatly weakened. Who
believes the correspondent of a sensation
paper?.
We would suggest' to Sectretary STAN
TON a better way----a new order. He may
permit the "special correspondents" to
accompany the army, and to write what
they please, only hold them responsible for
the entire truthfulness of every word they
utter. Let them freely speak of the
misdeeds of Generals, and of their dis
qualifications, &a., but make them
prove, promptly, before a military commis
sion, every word they utter, under a most
severe penalty, to be immediately exe
cuted. Such an order, if rigidly enforced,
would greatly diminish newspaper corres
pondence; but oh, what time it would save
to a reading public!. And what power
would it give to what would then be writ
ten ! and bow it:would make bad officers
tremble! What! Truth to be told; and
so told that every body would believe it!
The press then would be what the Scrip
tures require magistrates to be; a terror to
the wicked and a praise to the good.
Well, if what is suggested would be too
high-handed a measure for a Secretary, or
if the execution would be so difficult as to
deter from the effort, let the people try to
ameliorate the evil. They can do so by re
jecting all papers which habitually abound
in extravagant and injurious statements;
and in statements which are found after
wards to have been false. Every man,
whether speaker, letter writer, or editor, is
bound to make a reasonable effort to ascer
tain the truthfulness of what he would
utter or reiterate. Absolute and entire
truth is not within the reach of man; but
he who has nothing to say, should say
nothing; and things injurious to individ
uals, to our rulers, to the country, or to the
public comfort, should be neither spoken
nor printed.
THE COLONIZATION SCHEME.
The President continues to manifest a
praiseworthy earnestness in his scheme of
colonizing the free people of color. He
has appointed Hon. S. C. PoluntoT, who
has consented to organize emigrating par
ties for settlement in Central America.
Mr. PONIEROY was an agent in the settle
ment of Kansas, and has done something
toward forming settlements in Colorado.
He has both zeal and eiperience, and there
is reason to hope for a fair experiment in.
Central America. Congress appropiated
money to forward the work. The (3overn
moot will send the emigrants out in good
steam ships, and provide them with the
implements of labor, and feed them till
they can raise food from the soil.
Mr. POMEROY, with the sanction of the
President, issues the following address :
"To the Free Colored People of the United
States
" The hour has arrived in the history of
your settlement upon this continent, when
it is in your own power;.to take one seep
that will secure, if successful, the elevation,
freedom and social position • of your race
upon the American continent. The Presi
dent of the United States has already signi
fied his desire to carry out 'fully in the
•
letter - and - spirit of the late act of t "ongress,
the' desire of 'the National Legislature,
which made an "appropriation to facilitate
your emigration and settlemefit in sonic
favorable locality outside of these States,
and at his-request, I have consentedand
and agreed. with him,th aid you; in organi
zing this emigration, and in settling a local
ity that will be valuable and attractive to
your peeple in itself, as well as to give the
promise to you and . us, that it,. shall be it
suitable location 'for a great; free and pros
perous people, '
"I now addreas you as 'one awake to, this
momentous revolution in American history,
alive alio to your interests in this conflict of
arms, whereby you are led to hope that in
thus unsettling established . instittEions .
your people may go free. This, theoyis th_ e .
hour for you to make one earnest . ellen, to
secure your owe social pdsitiOn and inde
pendenee, by cooperating with those who.
now reach out their hands to aid you...
ask you to do this by the pride yon may
have, to make another exhibition to the 1
world of the valor heroism, and virtue of
the colored race.; by the loVe you tiiay - have
for your struggling and oppreSsed people
now among us, as well as by the hopes you
may indulge in making smooth
. and pros
perous the pathway Odle coming genera-.
tions. I propose ou the first day of Octo-.
bet next to take' with me one hundred
colored men as pioneers in this movettieht,
whti with their families, may equal 'the,
number. of five hundred souls, and for Those
benefit the appropriatimas in the acts of.
Congress referred to were made: The,
President will provide for us the means of
transportation and the,protection. of aettle.: ‘
mikiti , 'Eking shoS tirttim-
and settling the early emigration to my
own State, Kansas, I indulge the hope that
that experience may be made seviceable to
you. lam in earnest, fur the welfare of
your people present and prospective. I
want you to consider this as an auspicious
period for you. If this travail and pain
of the nation becomes the birthday of your
freedom, let us plant you free and indepen
dent beyond the reach of the power that
has oppressed.
. " You consider this as an opening, by the
wisdom of Divine providence, when you are
called of God to go with me to a country
which your oppressed people are soon to
receive for their ioheritance. I propose to
exawine and, if found satisfactory and prom •
ising, to settle you at C,liiritp i in New
Granada, with the approval of the Govern
ment, only about one week's sail from
Washington, I). 0. All persons of the
African race, of sound health, who desire
to take with tue the lead in this work, will
please send their names, the number, sex
and ages of the respective members of their
families, and their post office address, to me,
at this city, Washington, D. C.
" No white person will be allowed as a
member of the colony. I want mechanics
and laborers, earnest; honest and sober men,
tor the Interests of a generation, it may be
of mankind, are involved, in the success of
this experiment, and i4.i4fi the approbation
of the American people, and under the bless
ings of the Almighty God, it cannot, it
shall not fail."
It is to be hoped that the benevolent
will encourage the scheme Give the, black
man a fair opportunity--land, protection,
schools, time. Let "him develop his pow
ers. We do not expect that Mr. PoMErtOY
will make a " Kansas" in Central Ameri
ca with the rapidity with which that noble
young State was settled and organized by
white men. He has not in the present
ease the intelligent, moral, industrious,
thrifty, enterprising material with which
to operate. More time will be needful,
but we hope to see it evinced that the
scheme is practicable. And Christians we
hope, will not be slow in planting the Gos
pel, the seed of the Word, simultaneously
with this seed of a new nation of human
immortals.
PRAYER NEEDED FOR THE ARMY.
We want success; we want our men to
be spared and returned to us; we want
those appointed to death to be prepared for
their change; and we want the moral and
religious character of those who are to live,
to by so protected that they will be a bless
ing when they come. All those wants God
can supply. Every person having an ib
'Wrest at a throne of grace should be dili
gent in prayer.
A soldier in the army of Geri. CURTIS
thus writes to us:
" The noble stand you took, long before
Sumpter was fired upon, when, alas! other
Presbyterian p9pers were halting between
two opinions, will ever make the Banner
a welcome guest' at the fireside of loyal
Presbyterians. As a soldier, permit me to
thank you for the kind interest you take in
our weifare. I occasionally get a sight of
your paper, and always find in it something
to encourage as' well a,s
" Theie me many things thatl might write
you, of, our experience in the army; what
we have seen, and ;what we have endured ;
but as letters from the army are too numer
ous now for"all- to be interesting, I will
close with the single request----that you ex
hort the brethren, and those haviug rela
tives in the army, to not only pray for^ the
soldiers, but to be instant in season and
out of season,' in their exhortations by
letter, and by sending, religions reading to
their soldier friends,' that they way by
some means save some. I tremble fur so
ciety when I think of the, characters that
will be thrown upon it at the close of the
present struggle. Circumstances have been
very unfavorable to good morals and relig
ion in the army under Gen. Cu,,TIS. This
guerrilla warfare, and the plundering con
sequent-on being for mouths on short ra
tions, added to the influence of the Califor
nia, Kansas, and Pike's Peak gamblers,
who are enlisted in the service, have done
their work. The very atmosphere of our
camps is morally poisonous. The most
watchful and prayerful feel its terrible in
fluence. But two seimons have been preach
ed to our regiment in five months."
ANOTHER LABORER GONE.
Rev. C. P. Voms, of Lexington, Ind.,
died on the 4th inst. He was young. His
work was soon ended. One year in the
ministry was all that the Lord required 'of
him. To man it would seem a useless
,ex
penditure of time, toil; and Means, in a
seven or eight years' preparatory course, to
preach but one year. He, however, who
directed that preparation knew what he
wanted, and what he would- dd. One year
was what the Master desired, and to him
all good men yield in cheerful acquiescenCe.
The Presbyter says, of him
4 ' Mr. V. graduated at Hanover College
in 1.858, and at the North-western Theo
logical Seminary in-1.861. • He had served
the Lexington church something more than
a year. He was laying - deep hold upon the
hearts of the 'people, and promising fair
for a useful career, as was eloquently told
by one of his plain people, when he said :
Mr. Vows impressed everybody with a
sense of his 'earneseness;' and the big
tears dropped front his eyelids as he thought
of his neighbors and' their children, who
needed' such earnestness to' win them to
Christ. •
But our brother's work was done. He
did not leave it unfinished. We' know not
what that work was, but God knows. He
saw it finished, and called his servant
home.
INDIAN HOSTILITIES
The 'lndian is to be pitied beyond any
other branch of the human family in our
country Driven from his home, despoiled
of his property, wasted in battle, defraud
ad in bargains from generation to genera
,
tion, it is -no wonder that in his despair
and madness he should commit vengeful
deeds. It is folly for''him to wage' battle
with the whiteman, bat desperation de
thrones reason.
Recently the Sioux Indians and other
tribes of Minnesota, provoked.by the frauds
of traders, and by delaya in the payment of
their annuities for lands sold to the United
States, and incited by rebels from . Missouri,
took up their weapons of war, and slew a
large number of the white settlers, in the
ofPay Ritiplerikthe
pie who escaped . their rage, took refuge in
the .Fort, where they were besieged, and
likely to suffer starvation. At last accounts
Col. SIBLEY'S force at St. Peters, and Col.
CUTLER, with 700 cavalry from Henderson,
had set out for Ft. Ridgeley, and hoped to
relieve the sufferers.
It has been estimated that 500 persons,
including the missionaries, have been
killed. The estimate is probably much ex
aggerated.
EASTERN SIIIMMY.
BOSTON AND NEW-ENGLAND.
THE NEW-ENGLAND - MEDICAL COLLEGE
fur Females, has free scholarships for stu
dents needing aid from auy part of the
con n try
TILE Boston Recorder has the following
as an illustration of the kind of preaching
in which the first minister of Cambridge
indulged at times
The women of Old Cambridge as de
scribed by their first minister, " Women
that are weak in their reason, are wonder
fully refractory in their wills. Such was
the remark in one of his sermons of Rev.
Thomas Hooker, who was ordained the
minister of Old Cambridge Oct. 11, 1633.
Is this true of the women of Cambridge'at
the present day? Or had the preacher
any ground for assuming this as true of
the sex in general ? However this may be,
the minister-was earnestly ineulcating the
duty -of the subjection of the reason of
man, of his will and affections, of his
whole soul, to God's truth and authority ,•
but he found that many refused to humble
themselves, " wicked wretches," strenuous
ly arguing against the •Divine command,
because resolved to persist in their sins.
They were, as he thought, like women,
"weak in their reasons, and wonderfully
refractory in their wills." In his words of
plain and solemn warning to proud and
resolute transgressors, he said to them in
the same discourse: " It is a wonder, that
God sends not some lightning from heaven
and even stamp them to powder, and send
them down packing to hell suddenly.: -I
take this to be the sin of the divells that
are now chained up in eternal -darkness
until the judgment of the great day; and
I take this pride of a man's spirit, of his
mind, his reason, his will and affections to
be another old man of sinne."
THE Religious Herald states that, the
Centre church and Society, (Dr. Hawes's,)
on Monday evening, 4th inst., unanimously
voted to invite the Rev. Mr. Calkins, of
New Haven, to the pastorate, at a salary of
$2,000 per annum. If he accepts, it is sup
posed. that Dr. Hawes will still be associated.
with him in the pastoral office, though the
age and bodily infirmities of the Doctor
render it impracticable for him longer to
meet the demands of that large church and
society.
THE reported regiment of negroes to be
raised in Rhode Island, is not likely to be
forthcoming, since it is said that there are
not more than four hundred or five ban
dred negroes in the State fit for military
duty. '
HEW- Y" ORE.
MONEY continues to increase rapidly on
the market, and much of the surplus has
flown into the Sub-Treasury, which re
ceives on deposit all that is offered at 4 per
cent. This alone keeps the market from
falling below that rate. The large increase
in bank loans is entirely owing- to this.
Those loans' now amount to $152,328,781,
of which 35 millions are on ten days' call
to the .Sub-Treasury. The bank returns
also show a great increase in the deposits,
now amounting to over 142 tnillions. The
investment'
amount of idle money seekina e
is enormous, and is still on the increase.
The disbursements of:Government are
large, and keep up a brit.k circulation of
money, though not at all in proportion to
the accUmUlation. The striking features of
the market in addition to this great super
abundance of c•ipital, are the reduced ex
ports of-gold, the large increase, in other
exports, the upward tendency of the rates
of foreign exchange, with a moderate pre
mium on specie. Call loans are easy to
first-class men at 4 per cent., and occasional
loans are making under this rate. Loans
are negotiated at 3 per cent. on gold and
the old demand notes. High grades of
short-dated business paper are taken quick
ly at 4 per cent., and good paper generally
passes at 5 per cent., with a downward ten
dency. Long dates are not abundant in
the market, and are not much in demand.
Short engagements of all kinds are the rule'.
The export of specie last week was only
$700,431, making $39,192,856 since the Is - i
of January. The specie in nank is now
$35,301,778, an increase of $690,000 in
the week, and showing a steady inward flow
of gold from the interior. Gold is now
steady at about 14* to 15 per cent.; silver,
8 to 10 per cent.; and the Customs demand
notes, 107* to 107*. Foreign exchange
exhibits - an improved demand, and rates are
firmer.
TEE WATER has.been let into the mag
nificent Reservoir in Central Park. The
new Reservoir is located in the Central
Park, between 85th and '76th streets, and
Fifth and Eighth Avenues, nearly 'filling
the space between those boundaries. The
first excavation wasr made on April Bth,
1853.. The ~ entire amount of land pur
chased for the Reserveir was 106 k acres,
of which 96 acres will be covered with
water. The cost of the land was $500,000.
The Reservoir and the , gate-houses_ com
plete, have cost about $1,500,000.1' , The
capacity of the Reservoir is estimated at
1,000,000,000 imperial gallons.
A COMMITTEE of several prominent mil
itary men and citizens is actively proceed
ing in the organization of the Home Mobile
Guard.
This Garde Mobile Will have to defend
Vie State and particularly the City of New-
York 'against all external or 'internal dan-
ger,'invasion ' insurrection, ete. If will be
composed only of all foreigners and' other
able-bodied residents who are exempt from
the military and the volunteer regular ser
, vice.
' The committee is about to publish an
address to the foreigners and . - others not
liable to military duty.
IT is said that at the launching of a new
steam frigate, not long since, at the Brook
lyn navy-yard, a young lady broke a bottle
of water over the ship's head, saying, " I
baptize thee, Lackawanna, in the name of
Neptune'.' Can, nothing be done to p,re
*as . recietiitort gusha diagraixtful
scene? The parties did not mean it, but
they were all guilty of an impious travesty
of one of the most solemn ordinances of
Christianity. It would be very appro
priate for the chaplain of the yard, or a
neghboring minister, to signalize such an
occasion by a devout prayer to Him who
holds the winds and the waves in the hol
low of his band; but if this cannot be
done, if there is to be no direct recognitien
of Divine Providence, at least let there be
no insult to the common faith of all Chris
tians by a mock baptism in the name of a
heathen god.
THE TER-CENTENARY of the Reformed
Dutch Church is to be celebrated this year.
Each pastor is required to preach a com
memorative sermon on the morning of the
second Sabbath of September. It is three
hundred years since the adoption of the
Belgium Confession.
D. APPLETON & Co: have published
"An English Grammar, by G. B. Quack.
enbos, A. M.," who is known as the author
of a long list of successful school-books.
The new grammar, it is claimed, is made
more easy to the pupil and more interest
ing '‘ by combining practice with theory,
example with precept, on a more liberal
scale than has heretofore generally been
done•" The author has several new ideas
in his construction of a grammar, and
among other innovations ventures to do away
entirely with the neutre gender, which he
terms "a fictitious distinction engrafted on
English graiumar from the 'classical lan
guages."
COMMODORE VANDERBILT has a new
project in vie.v, which, when completed,
will be an enduring monument to his mem
ory. On the 20th of April last, be pur
chased about eight and a half acres of land
adjoining the land of the Moravian church,
New Dorp. Upon this, it is understood,
he intends erecting large and substantial
buildings, in which to educate the young
of both sexes, somewhat after the fashion
of the celebrated schools at Bethlehem, Pa.
He will endow the schools in such a man
ner that their support will be always en
sured. The site selected for the buildings
is one of the most beautiful and healthful
upon the island, overlooking for many a
mile a varied and charming country, with
glimpses of the ocean in the distance.
PHIL AD ELPIIIA
TETE UNITED STATES ARMY GENERAL
HOSPITAL at West Philadelphia is, in all
respects, the most complete and extensive
in the Union. Its location is close to the
intersection of Forty-fourth and Pine
Streets—being the very highest position
in the city. It is upon an eminence,
thereby affording a fine "view of the sur
rounding country, and, at the same time,
possessing all that could be wished for it
in a sanatory point of view.
There are 28 wards, 167 feet long by 24
wide—each of which will accommodate
seventy patients. These wards are in two
rows. of fourteen each, twenty feet apart,
and communicating with- each other, and
with the central or medical building, by
means of two corridors parallel to each
other, 775 feet long, which are used for
dining halls. Connected with each corri
dor, at the Eastern end, are large buildings
for kitchens, store-rooms, laundry, &c.
There are also separate buildings for bag
gage, knapsacks, &e ,-and':for guard-bar
racks, besides numerous other out-build
ings. There are one hundred and fifty
hospital tents on the ground, which will
accommodate nine hundred additional pa
tients—also separate buildings'for the cook
ing, laundry, dining-rooms, &c., of those
occupying the tents.
The whole establishment covers a space
of twelve acres', and will be inclosed with a
fence fourteen feet high.
THE NOONDAY PRAYER-MEETING, which
is held daily at from twelve to one o'clock,
at Sansom Street church, Philadelphia, will
hereafter he conducted with special refer
ence to these three things':
The 001111 try in its present peril.
2. The Soldiers and, Sailors on duty.
3. The Sufferers in. oiir United States
H ospitals.
Who can tell how great ,a blessing God
may send upon the nation in answer to
these prayers?
We shall be glad to llaV'e it to say that
this long-continued daily meeting has re
ceived a new and powerful impulse from
this new character given to it.
PRESBYTERIAL NOTICES.
The PRESBYTERY OF REDSTONE will'lneet
at West Neween, on' the First Tuesday of Octo
ber, at 8 o'clock P. M.
J. WOLINTOCK, Stated Clerk.
The. PRESBYTERY OF FAIRFIELD will meet
in Washington, lowa, on the Firat Tuesday in
September next, at 7 O'clock P. M.
' ' S. C. IWCIINE, - Stated Clerk.
The PRESBYTERY OF .ALLEGHENY CITY
will hold its next stated meeting at the church of
Cross Roads, commencing on Tuesday, the 2d
day of September, at 12 o'clock M.
WILLIAM. ANNAN, Stated Clerk.
The,PRESBYTERY OF, _KASKASKIA stands
adjourned to meet in Chester, 111., on Friday be
fare the fourth Sabbath (26th de)) of September,
1862, at 11 o'clock A. H.
D. A. WALLACE, Stated Clerk.
The PRESBYTERY OF• MISSOURI RIVER
will bold its next regular meeting in the Presby
terian church of - Brownsville; N. T., September
at 7 t t,- o'clock P. br.
11; _H. DOBBINS, Stated Clerk.
The PRESBYTERY OF PEORIA. will hold its
next stated meeting in the church of Brunswick,
on the Third Tuesday of September, at 7i
o'clock P. M. • ROBERT JOHNSTON,
The PRESBYTERY OF ZANESVILLE will
meet,- per adjournment, in Coshocton;" the
Third Tuesday (18th) of September,. it 2 o'clock
P, M. W. M. FERGUSON, Stated Clerk.
The PRESBYTERY OF BLOOMINGTON will
meet - in ChenJa, on Tuesday, September 23d,
1862, '11;7-o'clock P. M.
R. CONOVER 'Stated 'Cleik.
The PRESBYTERY OF FINDLAY stands ad.,
journed to meet in the Riley Creek church, on
the Third. Tuesday of September, at 2 o'clock
P. N. W.' K. BRICE, Stated Clerk.
The PRESBYTERY OF DUBUQUE will meet
in Dubuque the Second Tueeday (9th) of Sep
tember, .at
,7 •o'clock P. M.
JOHN M. BOGGS, Stated Clerk.
The PRESBYTERY OF CEDAR will meet'-in
the Summit church, on Tuesday, the 9th of. Sep
tember, at .7 P. M. E. L. BELDEN,
Stated Clerk.
The `P . RESBYTE'RY OF DES MOINES' will
next stated meeting in Des' Moines, on
the , tolist: Thursday of Seinernber;k at 'o'clock
P. Mt ih Mc DAXCHBLDERN Wailed C 1 wl6.
The PRESBYTERY OF MARION will meet at
Pisgah church, Middletown, on the Fivz,t Tues.
C d O Y tiv ( e 2 y d a ) n o c f es w Sel il t l ern be b in e
September
r ne finess at Marion, for
the use of those who may arrive there on the
ears at. 10 o'clock A. M.
The PRESBYTERY OF SCHUYLER will meet
in Perry, Pike County, 111., on Thursday,
tembei 4ib, 1862, at 2 o'clock P. M. Sixty_
seven members due. THOS. S. VAILL,
Stated Clerk.
The PRESBYTERY OF WOOSTER will meet
in the church of Apple Creek, on the First Tues
day of September, at 11 o'clock A. M.
JOHN E. CARSON, Stated Clerk.
The PRESBYTERY OF TOLEDO will hold ity
next stated meeting in Montezuma, Powsheik
County, lowa, on Thursday, September 4th,
1862, at 7 o'clock P. M.
LUTHER DODD, Stated Clerk.
The PRESBYTERY OF lOWA will hold its
next , stated meeting in the Westminster church,
Keokuk, on the Second Tuesday of September,
(9th day,) at. 7 o'clock P. M.
GEO. D. STEWART, Stated Clerk.
The SYNOD 'OF ALLEGHENY will meet in
the Presbyterian church or New Brighton, on th e
Fourth Thursday of September, (25th,) at 7
o'clock P. M.
Presbyterial Narratives are to be sent before
the First of September, to the Rev. David Hall,
Cowansville, PO.. ELLIOT E. SWIFT,
Stated Clerk.
The SYNOD OF lOWA will meet in Daven
port, lowa, on Thursday, September 11th, at Ti
o'clock P. M. A. A. E. TAYLOR,
Stated Clerk.
The SYNOD OF SOUTETERN lOWA will
meet in Albin, Monroe County, lowa, on the last
Thursday in September next, at 7 o'clock P. Sf,
S. C. M'CIINE, Stated Clerk.
PIIILADELPH/A, August 21.—The following is
a response of Secretary Seward to a letter
from J. W. Hughes, Chairman of the Demo
cratic State Central Committee, which explains
itself :
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington; 'August 19, 1862.
To J. W. Hughes,Headquarters of the Democratic
State Central ommittee of Pennsylvania, Phila
delphia:
DEAR SIR :--I have had the honor of receiving
your letter of the 14th inst., together with the
three papers to which it refers—two of them be
ing appeals, written by yourself, and endorsed
by the Democratic. State Central Committee, to
the Democrats, and all other friends of the Con
stitution, of Pennsylvania; the other being a
call for a mass meeting of the citizens of Phila
delphia, the objects of which meeting will be to
express a firm purpose to stand by, the mainte
nance of the National Constitution with devotion
to the American Union; and further, to declare
hostility to the policy and measures of all who
seek to prostitute the country to the purposes of
Abolitionism, and formally to express the inten
tion of the Democratic party to do as it has
always hitherto done--namely, to support the
Federal Government in the exercise of its con
stitutional power, and to defend it, at whatever
peril, against the
~insidious and treasonable
teachings of Abolitionists. You tell me that
some influential journals, conducted by political
friends of mine, censure one of these papers as
treasonable, and that the others are conceived
in the same spirit with the one which is so harsh
ly judged. You desire me to read them and
weigh' them for myself. You further intimate a
hope that the perusal of the papers will have the
effect of producing exertions on my part to in
duce the President to favor a policy to put down
the demon of abolitionism. I have read the
documents thus submitted to me, with a high
respect for the authority by which they were is
sued, and with a full confidence in the sincerity
of the deVotion to the Union which, as their au
thor, you have avowed. You- will allow me to
say that this nation is now engaged. not in a
political convass between opposing parties about
questions of civil administration, but in civil
war, carried on by opposing armies, on an issue
of national life or death. -If the revolution.
prevails, there will be no questions of adminis
tration left to settle ; if it tail, there will be
time enough lett to settle all such questions. I
am not to dictate a course for others to pursue in
this crisis, but I must' say for m self, that
neither as a - public officer nor as a citizen can I
know with favor or disfavor parties among the
supporters of the United States, any more than
I can make a distinction between factions which
unite in aiding the rebellion. A nation, like an
individual, can do only-one one thing effectually
at one time. It cannot wisely turn aside from
the chase of the feerful demon of disunion to
pursue any inferior demon; whether imaginary
or real. think that the wrangles which occurred
among' the Crusaders, about their respective
creeds,' when they sat down to the siege of Jeru
salem, were just as rational and just as wise as
the disputes about abolition would be now in the
Army ot the Potomac, in front of Richmond.
What is Unwise - in the camp at such a moment,
cannot he wise in the Cabinet or in the assem
blies of the peOple. lam occupied here either
in mediating between differing parties and jeal
ous sects,-,or else in watching and counteracting
the intrigues of traitors in Europe. But I some
times "'think that if, instead of being charged
with these duties, I were at liberty, as you seem
to be, to serve the country in my own way, I
could make - an appeal to Democrats, Republi
cans, Abolitionists and slaveholders, in behalf of
our distracted country, that would bring the
whole people at once under alms, and send trea
son reeling back into the den of darkness from
whence it sprang. Ido not know how this
would be; but I do know that if I were in your
place, I should try it. .
I am, very respectfully,
;Your obedient, servant, .
WILLIAM LI. SEWARD.
[Signed
Moja — Coeval Horatio G Wright.—Major
General 'Horatio Gates Wright, recently
appointed to command the new military
departbent of-Ohio, is a native of Connec
ticut. He entered the lkiilitary Academy
at West Point as a cadet from that State in
1837, and graduated in that institution in
June, 1841. The following month he was
appointed second lieutenant or engineers.
He was detailed as acting assistant proles
for of engineering the Military Academy
from :January, 1842, to Ancrust, 1843, and
assistant professor to July, 1844. He was
appointed first lieutenant in February,
1848; major, August 6th, 1861, and brig
adier general of liiillinteers September 3d,
1861. At the fitting out of the expedition
to Port Royal; South Carolina, Gen. Wright
commanded the second brigade of Sher
man's diVision. Prior to the sailing of the
expedition from Annapolis, be devoted his
whole time in getting his command in a
state of' efficiency, displaying a zeal and
knowledge of military affairs that created
confidence among his officers and an esprit
du Corps among the rank and file. He
commanded the military portion of the ex
pedition to - Fernandina, Fla., and on the
occupancy of the place he was placed in com
mand of' a military district, having his bead
qnarters in that city. His great executive
ability, rigidity of discipline; and his gentle
manly accomplishments, won for him the
esteem of all with whom his official position
brought him in contact. He subsequently
commanded a brie e mde in the unsuccessful
battle at James Island,S. C. He returned
with his brigade' Si few weeks ago from
Port" Royal, in order to operate with Gen.
McClellan's army.
•
Rev. Hiram Eddy, of Winsted, Conn., who
has just been released after a year's captiv
ity in the South,„was received with publio
demonstrations. of , rejoicing on his arrival
home. In his speech he said :
I am for the Union ,ten thousand times
more than ,ever before:— my hairs have
whitened dnrittg the year of my captivity,
but for every white hair I have scored a
blank mark agminst this rebellions"
Stated Clerk,
11. A. TRUE, Stated Clerk
SYNODICAL
Letter from Mr. Seward.
PERSONAL.