Presbyterian banner. (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 1860-1898, September 27, 1862, Image 1
REAT. DAVIT) AI'T<INNEY, Editor and Proprietor. VERNIS IN ADVANCE . . Si 50 Cans 1.25 ngLIVERFP IN E1T1.11..R. OP THY. 2.00 Ff 0 DOLLAI.I.B, we will ...fend by ueventy number nd r ONE: nottAg. thirty-three nuraho4. 6onding 118 TWI;NTY twild6crthers ;Lod upward t, will thereby entitled to a paper without charge. uswals should he prompt. a little before the year expired Seat(payments by safe hands, or by mail. Direct all letters to REV. DAVID M'KINNEY, Pittsburgh, Pa "Flll DUD OP TILE PRESENT WILL" This is the title of an excellent sermon preached by Rev. JOHN C. Li.uo,D D., Buffa lo, N. Y., June 28th, 1802. One design was to commemorate the young men of Buffalo who had fallen in battle; but the sermon is replete with valuable thoughts and sug gestions. We give a sample. After noting some of the horrors of war, Dr. LORD says " There is in this view of the dark side of the present conflict a strange forgetful ness of the teachings of the course of the Divine providence, and the testimony of the Divine Word. How were the founda tions of Anglo Saxon liberty laid in the old world? By one or the bloodiest civil wars since the Christian Era, the war of the Commons of Great Britain with the Stuarts, a war which arrayed, not opposing communities of the North and South, but household against household, brother against brother, father against son. How were the liberties of the thirteen colonies of North America secured ? By a couflict in the nature of a civil war, not merely because it Was waged against the parent government, but because it divided the colonists them selves, and Tories arid Whigs from Massa chusetts to 'South Carolina were arrayed against each other in arms. " Have not a multitude of wars proved blessings in disguise ? Is not the Word of God full of proofs that he overrules the greatest apparent evils for good? For what does the Government wage the present war ? Is it not to sustain its existence and authority assailed by traitors, false to their country, false to their oaths of allegiance, false to the cause of freedom and humanity ? Fur what have we sent our young men to the battle field to receive back the mortal remains of so many of them for burial ? Is it not for the life of the country, for our nationality, for the government and the laws established by the fathers and founders of the Republic? What do we resist at such amazing sacrifices of life and fortune? Is it not an attempted revolution, backward to barbarism; a rebellion which seeks to give a small minority the right to rule over the vast majority; which aims to perpet uate and strengthen African slavery as the highest form of Christian civilization.; which adopts as a fundamental principle the right of secession, nullifies all govern ment and all authority, and which would, if successful, divide this great Republic into nearly forty warring sovereignties as imbecile, as incapable, as poverty stricken and as belligerent as those unfortunate South American States where a condition of civil war has for the last thirty years been accepted as the normal and natural condition of society. " This, then, is a defensive war for all that men hold dear; a war for our life as a nation ; a war for our Constitution and laws; a war for the institutions received from WAstirsioroar and his compatriots; for an inheritance which every considera tion of' religion, patriotism and humanity binds us to transmit to the future genera tions which are to multiply oo this vast continent; a war to make personal liberty the rule and slavery the exeept;on ; a war against anarchy in the State and despotism in the household; a war for a free Church, free speech, and free soil; a war against the assaults of a desperate oligarchy, who, having dishonored their own white race on their own soil by reducing the common people to a state of universal ignorance and indolence, seek to make the system under which such a miserable result has been ob tamed, universal and not exceptional. &o doubt the primary idea of the leaders of this great conspiracy was to establish a grand slave system over this Continent; in fact this has been publicly avowed; a con spiracy not merely against the nation, but against humanity itself; a taking counsel against God and the Gospel ; a defiant as sault upon his mission and purpose who came to break every yoke, and let every captive go free—a Inifiluaeut in our day of the words of the second Psalm, where the rulers and, great men of the earth are represented as taking counsel together 'against the Lord, and against his Anointed, saying, let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us,' •Concerniug whom it is written and even now fulfilled : He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision."' For the Presbyterian Banner A Sabbath School Association. LENVISTOVN FULTON CO., ILL. 1 Sept. Bth, 1862. DEAR BANNER:—As some of your read. ers may be ready to employ anything that has a tendency to help along the Sabbath School cause, I have taken the liberty to send you a short notice of the annual meeting of our County Association. The Fulton County Sabbath School As sociation met this year in the town of Ver mont, on the 2d or September. Notwith standing the state of the country, the meet ing was nearly as large as usual, and in many features better than ever before. More schools and scholars were reported than at any meeting previous. The dis- CUSSiOUR were about practical things, and as much as possible to the matter in hand. The aggregate experience of the teachers and superintendents of a whole ,County, upon u given practical question in regard to the Sabbath School work, makes a com mentary not to be despised. In regard to systematic benevolence, we had a fund of fiats far better than a philo sophic lecture. Mr. Stephen Paxson, the missionary of the Sunday School Union, was present at all the meetings, and heartily engag ed in its exercises. lie was taken to Sabbath School when thirty years old, through the instrumentality of his little daughter, and to that he now looks as the time when he began to live. Now his influence is very great. The Association has a - Vice President in every district, who is the executive •of the Association in his district. 4.e is expect .ed to organize schools wherever he can, and visit. al I the schools in his district once it year. The superintendents report to the Asociation the state of the schools sew 4tely, and the Vice President reports the • istrict. When these are submitted, we hen have at a glance what the Sabbath Ichools have done in the year, and their . uditien at the time. When a measure adopted it can be asceituiued how it orks in the different kinds of schools. any districts not supplied with a preach- Gospel, by Dionne of this' organizations . . ThE PRESBYTERIAN BANIII ~ .„.. , .. . A Publicaior.l Office : ' , GAZIITTE BUtttilNl3B, :Frk•TE ST., P/MBURGH, Pi. .;!..'. f '.. -".' 2 .- „ . , -,,,... PHILADELPHIA, SOUTH—WEST CCP,. OP 7TH Aklito 01X8WITrtil : 'i ;, . ;: -4.,.., .., g . i. - ...i •.. ~, .7 ADVERTISEmENtg. ,„ * ; , „ - ::: i.' -,- :,:' ~, + ' M tra 8 IN ADVANCit. aolki.'• • - 4 : 4 1,,, ' . 11611/ .. . t .. , : , S. l ' . '''. ' ..g ( [ A Square, (8 been or less,) one insertion, 60 cents; subsequent insertion, 40 cents; each line beyond eight, 5 c ', - A Square per quarter. 54.00; each line additional, 35 cm ...," 1i 4 7., - . A RED4CTION made to advertisers by the year. VOL. XI., NO. 2. have the Gospel taught in the Sabbath Schools. The Association meets in different parts of the county. Every one at the meeting this year felt that - it did him good. Some were encouraged, and some felt ashamed; but they were sure it did nat do them any harm. This may be suggestive to some of the Associations in other parts of the land. I wish there were more Sunday School Asso ciations. Some may look on them with suspicion, but I think they will do good. I am sure they will work well in the re gions where the way of doing good is not stereotyped. 'Yours, very truly, FULTON. For the , Presbyterian Banner Presbytery of Toledo The Presbytery or Toledo held its Fall meeting on the 4th and sth inst., at Monte zuma, Powsheik. County, lowa. The min isterial members were all present except brother John Steele, who is in the army as chaplain of the 13th lowa Regiment. We numbered, in all, live ministers, eight elders and . one licentiate, Robert B. of the Presbytery of Washington, who is now preaching, and we hope with promising prospects, at Montezuma. The small amount of business on hand left us time fur devotional exercises which, we hope, were profitable, as well as truly pleasant. The war has weakened all of our churches, and some fields whic.t were on the point of becoming self sustaining, are obliged to ask aid from the Board. These are truly perilous times; very trying to the faith and patience of missionaries who labor in the little' scattered churches of the far West. The little flocks which we gather, with so touch anxious toil, are weakened, and our congregations scattered and gone. Our labors and expenses are increased, and our resources diminished. Fields which two years ago gave fair promise, have so far changed their popula tion that those prospects have all vanished. But notwithstanding all our trials, the Presbytery of Toledo are encuuraged to la bor iu hope of better times. We are all suffering from the inability of the Board of Missions to pay our quarterly appropria tions when due. During the sessions of Presbytery, the following paper was reported by the Com mittee appointed to examine the Alinutes of the General Assembly, and unanimously adopted : 1. That it is enjoined upon all the min isters, in concurrence with their sessions severally, and the Sessions of vacant churches, to see to it that a contribution be made annually to each of the Boards of our Church, and report of the same be made at the Spring meeting of Presbytery. 2. As the Bible inculcates beneficence, or giving for religious purposes, as a Chris tian grace, it is the duty of ministers to teach their people, on, this, as well as all other objects of religious duty and obliga tion 3. Presbytery recommends that the min isters and Sessions thereof, do what they can to introduce the Home and Foreign Record into every family belonging to our several chnrches. 4. Presbytery highly approves of the pa triotic minute passed by the General As sembly; and as a Presbytery, feeling that our nation is now passing a very solemn crisis, and recognizing our dependence upon God for our salvation, in this the hour of our peril, we earnestly recommend to all under our care, that they make continual and earnest supplication• to God for the favors of his Providence. LUTHER Dorm, Stated Clerk From the Presbyterian. The Pleasures of Dancing. A lady was once speaking in the pre sence of the excellent Hervey, of the pleas ures of dancing. Such parties gave so much pleasure in anticipation, there was such a pleasant excitement in the prepara tions, and then the recollections afterward were so delightful. Hervey heard her through, and then remarked: '• There is one pleasure connected with dancing you have forgotten to mention." " What is that ?" she inquired, with a little surprise. " It is the pleasure it will give you to re member it on your dying bed." These earnest, solemn words proved an arrow from God to the heart of that thought less young lady. Mrs. W— was a lady who approved of dancing, and took especial pains that her drily daughter should, he carefully instruct ed in the accomplishment. Naturally gay and thoughtless, she needed no peculiar in ducement to lead her to forget God, to for get death, and to forget the long eternity which follows. She was lovely and beauti ful, and the admiration and affection of a large circle were freely lavished on her. But when the morning dew of life was sparkling brightest, the grim messenger, death, was bid to summon her. The stroke was sud den, and they laid her down on her last pillow, with all her gay adorninga scattered around her. They need not be folded away to take with her, for in the narrow house there is no room fur display. 0 I what an guish seized her soul when she knew that she must die I "0, mother!" she shrieked, despairing ly, as she turned to her in agony, ".you never taught me how to die !" A beautiful ball dress was lying in sight. "0 ! take it away !" she cried. 0 ° For these I have bar tered my soul. Why did you teach me to be so fond of them ? You have ruined my soul, mother !" What words for a mother's ear ! Would their echo ever cease to ring through the chambers of her soul ? With a dying energy, she sent for the young companions or her gaiety, and bade them take a warning by her hopeless death. The eye which gazed on her agonized parents had looked into eternity, and there was only reproach in its wild glance. There was no for g iveness for those who had thus " ruined her . soul," and thus she passed into eternity. 0, mother ! when you take your child to ball-rooms, when you instruct and fill her mind with its vanities, are you teaching her how to die? Could you bear to hear from her lips the, words, " You have ruined my soul, mother!" when you knew the harvest time was passed forever ? 0 ! when you lie on your own death bed, the memory of such unfaithful neas will bite like a serpent, and sting like an adder." B. K. C. A poop man gave this advice to his son: "My son, when you feel a disposition to sin, seek fora place where. God cannot see, Ion" PITTSBURGH, SATURDAY, SEP TEMBER 27, 1862. WHOLE NO. 52,2. Fox' the Presbyterian Banner Presbytery- of Marion. The Presbytery of Marion met at Pisgah church, Middleton, on the 2d inst. Rev. C. H. Perkins was installed as pas tor of Pisgah church. The pastoral rela tions of Rev. D. M'Carter to the church of Liberty, and of Rev. Mr. Templeton to the church or Marseilles, were dissolved. Very few churches made reports on Beneficence for the Synodical year. It was resolved that all those churches which had not made report on this subject, should send one to the Stated Clerk previous to the meeting of Synod. It should 'be par ticularly noted that these reports are to be for the Synodical, and not the. General As sembly year. Presbytery calls attention to the appoint ment, by the General Assembly, of " the last Thursday of February as a day of earnest prayer fur children and youth, especially the baptized children of the Church, with particular reference to an in creased supply of laborers in the vineyard of the Lord, and that a collection be taken up on that day for the College Fund." Presbytery adjourned to meet at Dela ware, on the Second Tuesday (11th) of November next, at 7 o'clock P. M. H. A. TetrE, Stated Clerk. Tell , Me Ye Winged Winds The poem which follows is said, by a corres pondent, to have been written by Charles Mac kay, some time editor of the Glasgow Argue, and to have appeared in a little volume called "Voices from the Crowd."—Carolina bite lli- ge z er Tell me ye winged winds, That round my pathway roar, Do you not know some spot Where mortals weep no more ? Some lonely and pleasant dell, Some Valley in the West, Where from toil and pain, The weary soul may rest ? The loud wind softened to a whisper low, And sighed for pity as it whispered—" No !" Tell me thou mighty deep, Whose billows round me play, Know'st thou some favorite spot, Some island far away, Where weary man may find The bliss for which he sighs, Where sorrow never lives And friendship never dies? The loud waves rolling in perpetual flow, Stopped for a while, and sighed to answer—" Nor: And thou, serenest moon, That with such holy, face Dost look upon the earth, Asleep in night's embrace, Tell me in all thy round, Haat thou not seen some spot, Where miserable man Might find a happier lot? Behind a cloud the moon withdrew in woe, And a voice sweet but sad, responded—"No!" Tell me, my secret soul, Oh! tell me, Hope and Faith, IS there no resting place From sorrow, sin and death? Is there no happy spot, Where mortals may be blessed, Where grief may find a balm, And weariness a rest ? Faith, llope, and Love—hest boons to mortals given, Waved their bright wings, and whispered—.Tes! TN HEAVEN!" EIJEOPBaII GotiIIESPONDENCE St. Barthawnew'a Day-r The Times on. the. No nconformist Bicentenary commemoration—The Sys ,..tem of' Advowsons—lts Workings—The Simeon Trust— Anulysis of the Bicentenary Discourse of Rev. 7'. Binney—lts Characteristics—English Presbyterians, College Endowment, and Church Extension—Deputation. to Ulster—Special Col lection—" Weekly Review "—Americans Praised by the Times—The Daily News, English FePling, and. Mr.. Roebuck—The. Queen, and her. Mourner's Companion. LONDON, August 80, 1862. " ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY, the 24th of August, is," says the " associated with three great examples of cruelty. On that day, it is supposed, that the Apostle himself was flayed alive by the Indians. Ou that day, in 1572, in the midst of a Court rejoicing, Charles IX. and his moth er, began the massacre of the Huguenots. On the same day, 90 years afterwards, in 1662, two thousand. Presbyterian clergy: re signed their livings, rather than submit to the hard requirements of the Act of Uni formity." Such are the operat" sentences of a re markable leading article which appeared on the Saturday preceding Lord's day, August 24th, 1862. Its tune will greatly depress and annoy both High Churchmen and Evangelicals; at least it will be a rebuke to the latter, in that it does honor to con scientiousness, and, shows that the sufferers of 200 years ago were indeed men otprin ciple, and _are to be remembered among " the invincible knights of old." The Nonconformist leaders have behaved with great wisdom. This is specially noticed by the Times, in emanexion with an adver tisement which had previously appeared In its columns " in which the Nonconformists of England are invited to celebrate the Bicentenary with a .hearty syiupathy for the expelled clergy, a deep, admiration of their heroisra, and a qualified respect fur their opinions and, their cause." This ad vertisement is characterised as "very mod erate in its terms, and most reasonable in its views." It then proceeds as follows: "The spectac;e of 2,000 resigning, their worldly position in the cause of truth, is one that should not be forgotten. It has not been forgotten ; nor has time dimmed its lustre, or obscured its features. That great act of resignation has told, powerfully on the English character, on the, freedom of religion and opinion in this country, on the spirit of inquiry, our independence of judgment, and the determination with which all classes act .up to their religious convictions. It is admitted (by the son conformists,) "that the two thousand, while resisting, one may say, unto death, Prelacy and the Prayer Book, stood out for a Form of Government and a Directory, only less offensive to other equally consci entious men; so it is not, the doctrine, or the system, or the government, or any par ticular rite that is to be commemorated or ennobled to morrow. It is the broad fea ture of a great protest against spiritual tyranny and temporal dictation in matters of conscience. In this all sects can agree, (?) and when the Church of England re-, members, the Bartholomew's day of 1572, it, too, for ot:ice, can ~join hands litith :the rtielo4or2l This " joining hands" idea is a bitter draught administered by the Times to High and Low Churchmen. They wont do any such thing; although numbers of them must ?miens miens, in their inmost souls, do homage to moral greatness and its no ble self-sacrifice. But, ,even against this idea, or admission, numbers Of them, in cluding some Evangelicals, recalcitrate t their own great disgrace and dishonor, and some of them, I hear, - are likely to make to-morrow a day of proud Church-boasting and of misrepresentation, cursing and bit terness. That is truly deplorable. Nor are we to forget how the Bishops are op posed to any relaxition.of the Act of Uni formity, and how fear of change and cov etous grasping of vast' endo.wwents causes even the Recorri to cry out against change, and to ridicule Lord Ebury's attempts at Liturgical Revision. -How will thany of the clergy this day, read with wry faces, the article I now quote and comment,upon ; and how will it make some of them think twice before they produce before congrega tions which are far more lovers of liberty than themselves, those bilious and bitter discourses which they =`were preparing for Sunday morning! Verily the< Times, when it comes out on the right side as in this case, is " a thunderer." And thus with unsparing, impartial justice, while it pro claims to the world, " the fact that these 2,000 men were among the best, if not the very best men, in the church," * * it is the persecutor that predorninat3s in this instance. This was an act of tyranny. "Church and State" joined to override and trample underfoot freedom of conscience and opinion. They succeeded for the time; but they inflicted a worse harm on them selves, by paralyzing the Establishment. They struck a terror into it ; they hardened its touch ; they seared its conscience; they made it the creature of another's will. It has had small cause to 'envy the baffled Nonconformist. It had rather to lament the arm of flesh, which recovered for it the sacred building and the parsonage, and the stipend, leaving to others the more open heart of the people, : a house not made with hands, and an interchange of kind nesses measured by no law. "The Church of England was not jus tified even on its own view in inflicting a grievous injury upon itself It was not justified in hardening and perpetuating the uniformity which had already been found an intolerable bcrndite . e, and which could only be maintained by the exclusion of half the people. After all, the expulsion of 2,000 clergymen onlY threw them on the kindneas of tbeir friends," (a mitigat ing plea not justifiable <in this case,) (1 a resource which never fails in a country where poverty is the plea. There are now 2,000 or even 5.000 clergymen in this country, who are as-poor as even the Non conformists-were: So this is a small mat ter. Not so, none of the poor clergy' now are deprived of the liberty of preach ing, or are thrust into prison, or compelled to flee to other lands." But the concluding sentences of the article are better: "Thence forth much of the; voluntary spirit, much of the zealonach 'of the education, much of the learning fell into Dissent. It is the self-inflicted wounds of the Church, and the consequent rise of Dissent, that is to be celebrated to-morrow?' All this is excellent, because it is just and true. The Times, with a perverseness and self-contra diction worthy of its general career and character,_ adds as last words, the absurd sentence : " The 2,000 expelled ministers were themselves generally too much like other men to deserve a canonization ;"' in contradiction of which heartless words the silent shades of a Calamy, a Bates, a, John Howe, or Joseph AlkiJe, seem to rise up before us as well as others of that band of whom and whose writings George the Third said: There were giants in those days." Nevertheless I repeat, the article has been a heavy blow, and sore discouragement bigoted Churchmen on the one hand, and an endorsement and an encomium must reasonable and highly prized, of the Non cmformist Bicentenary Celebration on the other. AnvowsoKs, or the system of the sale of church livings, is, as heretofore, in full swing. [n the same number of the T,mes in which appears the " leader " above noticed, are twelve advertisements. One party wants to purchase a living " by the seaside ;" i. e., the: right of the next pre sentation to the liVing, after the death of,the present living, and offers any sum, propor tionate to the annual value, underXl,2,ooo. A second offers a vicarage tor,sale " within fifty miles of London`."—a valuable con sideration in the advowson market—and " the incumbent ninety years," and " net income £3OO a year," and the "price £2,500." "It is," moreover, " situated in the immediate neighborhood of a good market town." In a third case there is ready to be invested £5,000 to X 7,000 for " ituniedhlte possession." In a fourth also is " wanted to purchase," and " with im mediate possession, a living with not less than £4OO per annum." And of a fifth case, in a Midland County, it is said, " the parsonage is very well situated, in a very healthy neighborhood, and the income is £541 per annum. The population is un der three hundred and fifty, and the present ;incumbent in his seventy-first Wear." Think of that! the old g,entleimin is like a tnellovt apple, ready to drop any day from the branch, or "like the' last rose of Summer." And then what a nice little flock,v what gentlemanly ease and luxury, and what a fine income for the Master John or Augus tus, the son of a wealthy. father, who de voted perhaps the simpleton of the family to " the Church," and who is just ready for " orders I". But let us give a little further illustra tion of this- odious. system. Here is " a vicarage for sale, with immediate posses sion of the living, the net income, deriva ble chiefly - from land, nearly,-if not quite, £9l/0 a year—exclusive of commodious family residence, standing in an acre of land, price £1.1,000." Then comes another vicarage, " prettily and healthily situated," hat "no house suitable for residence;" only " three cottages with land," which, ‘- however, offers a good'site for a vicarage?' With the drawbacks, and only.£l7o tithes,. this will be a comparatively cheap pur chase, and yet it is enhanced by ".small work" for such " small pay," and by the present incumbent being seventy-three years old. Poor old, man ! once that the parish is sold .(pro.spectively,) how fervently, will his expectant successor, be tempted to pray that ; he may be speedily taken into Father Abraham's :bosom-I English families of rank .or „wealth hold z, prmmamtions as park. of their hereditary e property, so that they either present some of their own kith and kin, or else sell the right of presentation. Here is the exam ple of the latter : " Next Presentatioit of a Sale to a Rector,y ; beautifully situated within three miles of a railway station. There is an excellent house, approached by carriage drive, and overlooking a lovely country, with the valley of the Avon. The net in come amounts to £250 a year, derived wholly from valuable glebe lands. The Oburch'is very pretty, and in perfect re pair ; 'population small. There is the prospect" (a genteel way of saying that the present incumbent is on hiS last legs,) " of immediate legal possession." Matters like this are transacted throuuh lawyers of course. The charge of simony in such cases is repelled by . Churchnien, as they say that the living, the right of pre sentation to which is purchased, can only be held by a clergyman in holy orders, one who has been duly examined and approved by the Bishop, and who has professed his persuasion, in connexion with the Ordina tion Service to, have been " inwardly moved by the Eloly Ghost" to fa - e upon him the office of the ministry. But not withstanding such pleas, the system is abominable, and full of evil. It stimulates worldly people, who are possessed of wealth, 10 bring up sons for the Church; it shuts out from parishes nvirly worthy and earnest men, who are poor, and cannot purchase their way into them, and ofttimes it settles down fbr successive-generations, by reason of suoh,hateful'patronae or purcha.se, the blight of spiritual death. In some cases— such as that of Simeon's Trustees—men of Evangelical principles seek to mitigate the evils of patronage, and to secure to par ishes faithful pastors, such.. as Charles Simeon, of Cambridge, (the founder of this Trust,) was himseif. These good men go into the Advowson market, and buy up Presentations, giving them always, when the old inentabents• die, to godly men. 'When the right. of "perpetual presents tion " is purchased, there is . : a moral cer tainty of each parish being as a field which the Lord ha.s blessed. There are a con siderable number of such livings now. One of them is in Colchester, in Essex, which I visited some time ago, and where the clergyman of the Simeon school has a large congregation, is faithful and full in his holding forth of the way of lif., his min istry .effective and successful, and both the man and his doctrine looked, upon with some distrust by, his High Church breth ren. THE SERMOv of the Rev. T. Binney, the eminent Independent minister, at the Weigh House Chapel, London, last Sabbath morning, was very weighty, and deeply impressive. The Times [resented a full outline of it on Monday morning. As I have ere now brought your readers with me to Weigh House-Chapel, they will remem ber that the first minister was one of the Bartholomew Confessors, and that he was a Presbyterian. 14Ir. Bin ney's recent text was, " Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind!' He -said that two hundred years ago that day, many pulpits in Eng land were vacant, many voices were hushed, and in many places there were sheep with out a shepherd. The significancy of that act might well be considered. The year 1662 took its, character from the times which preceded it. It belonged to .a period of inquiry, search, questioning, and dis cussion, and it was a crisis at th close of a very stormy period. In times behind the fourteenth cen tury, there was in this country, on religious matters, a unanimity of ignorance, a state of mental stagnation being encouraged ; the souls of men were dead, and dead peo ple, it is well known, are very quiet. That was the sort of tranquility enjoyed by our fathers in those good old tim s, when the Church was above the. State. But in this condition of things, a star ap peared in the sky, sleepers awoke, the dea I arose, and inquiry , was set on foot. By the preaching of Wycliffe, the Morning Star of the Reformation,' attention was excited, and the new doctrine was everywhere ea gerly received. Viol en t fulminations went out against him. There were disagree ment, agitation, controversy ; it could not be helped, and it was by no means to be lamented. Better, far better, that there should have been life, action, and progress, with confusion, than the stagnationof death and the peace of the grave. Coincident with this very fierce agita tion, and this cry ,for, truth, were the utter-. antes of the secular idea, • which became very productive of controversy. yeliffe had stated that in the, primitive Church there were only, two orders of the ministry, which were considered sufficient, namely, presbyters and deacons,; and that in the time of St. Paul, presbyter and bishop meant the same thing!' The preacher went on to say .that in the time of Henry VEIL, there was.a contest of another kind---a contest for National independence. The King claimed for him self and. his. people entire freedom from foreign interference in matters ecclesiasti cal, and he was right. But at this time Papists and Protestants suffered alike, and frequently at the same stake—the one as a. heretic, for denying the doctrine of tran substantiation, and the other as a traitor, for denying the ecclesiastical supremacy of the King. Matters went on under the reigns of Elizabeth, .James, and 'Charles, until they culminated in that state of things with which' they were all familiar, under the k ocumonwealth "Then came a battle for greater simpli city of Church rites, for an in. in clerical habits, and' for a more clear and decisive declaration of Protestant creeds. It , was a cations fact in connexion with: this subject, that, in the. Convocation• held in 1562, just three hundrod years ago, in the, reigh of Elizabeth, the Puritan ele ment was so strong, that many members, holding high• ecclesiastical offices, were anxious for ritual reformation. A proposi tion was made to abrogate all saints' days, to •provide. that the priest:shall not turn his baekupon the people at any portion of the service, and to :leaver the practice of kneeling at the Lord's Supper a• matter of discretion. This :proposition was •carried by ,a.majority of eight of:those who were present.at the discussion; but proxies being admitted, the decision. was reversed by a majority of one---so near was the Church being :reformed:in Elizabeth's time by the Puritan element." Mr. Binney, then went on to describethe policy which forced the 2,ooo.Puritans out of the Church;• and the persecutions which for long years were endured: " tlett to this Ovid& itagu*# *ad Oree l Vat' with manifold agitatiods." He then point ed out principles involved. First, the con• test previous to the Act of Uniformity, zoos within the Church. Again, "it was a struggle between conservatism and progress, the one party clinging to doctrines and forms which the other party deemed erro neous or superstitious, and wished to super sede, so as to bring things into greater harmony with Puritan truth and Apostolic order. Thirdly, both parties looked to the secular power for support. Both sought the Regal, or Parliamentary suppression of the other. The principle was' the same, although the agency was different. The fact was that there never was aught of on intention on the part of the Bishops but to get rid of their old adearsaries; arid on the part of the adversaries, there was too much desire to introduce into the Church func tional changes." The moderation of Mr. Binney's views are here brought out. He is by no means an ultra-Dissenter, and I belieVe would gladly conform to the recognition and use of a limited Liturgy. He is also more' Of a Presbytherian than an Independent; although I think he would only stand up for a Congregational presbytery, or at most a joint presidency of pastors over the Chris tians of a town or district, even though meeting in different places for worship, yet to be under a united governmental and .shepherdizing presbytery and pastorate. Mr. Binney drew an argument from the events of the past, against the principle of Church Establislinients. He also spec ially pointed out, as liaving been grandly, and . .at great sacrifice,. taught by the suffer ' inas of the Ejected, " the reverence which was due to conscience Lyman to man's, and by each man to his own." He showed that these men• had loOked at oaths and sub scriptions as a solemn reality, and re: marked,: " There are men now, at this very day, who never think seriously of the tests they have taken, aud who, if some new form of test were proposed to them, would refuse or resist, whatever might be the eon sequence. The remainder of the discourse is dins given by the Times : There were principles and expressions in the baptismal and other services, in some of the rubrics, and in the office for the burial of the dead, Which the Nonconformists could not admit or approve, or which they strongly condemned or utterly denied, and which therefore they could not sub'scribe and confess. The lesson taught should not be lost, especially in the pres ent day, when the secret seemed to be possessed by some, how subscription might be harmonized with the denial of almost everything subscribed. The con duct of the men had in it the germ of everything which hail since been developed, arid much that was now secured by law. They would not strip themselves of the liberty to endeavor to retnov.-i abuse either from Church or State., They would not assert that there could not possibly he in the realm of England congregations of Christian men that might not be called churches, besides the Church of England by law. Their convictions had, not been without result, though the men had much to suffer from subsequent. penal and perse cuting laws. Their principles in time bore abun dantly . their legitimate fruit. They justified resist- nce to arbitrary power. They led to the Act of Toleration and ultimately secured the lib erty of worship which their descendants now enjoy. Had not , the Nonconfornaists-resisted, in one century there would have been no clear stage for the missionary movements of Wesley and Whitfield iu the next. The effect of the ejectment on ,the English Church was a century and' more of deadness, a wilderness of dreary formality and hollow profession which followed the casting out of the•Vuritan leaven. All that ought. to be a lesson to every religious community to beware of giving wag to revengeful feelings. of hu miliating a rival or vexing a brother. While we must sorrowfully donfess that they were still only, now in the second stage of the progress of opinion, and that it would be a long time yet be fOre the'Cliristian Church advanced to the third, let them all try to hasten the period of "the good rime coming," if it was ever to come. There never would be any religious unanimity o 1 knowl edge in the sense of scientific demonstratien. Especially was that true in respect to those sec ondary things in which Christians ;night direr who were one in fai=h, which had been too often mode (he watchwords of schism and the in4ruments of try- faun!: but in regard to faith, there might be and ought to be THE ONANIBILTY OF LOVE. There might. be a distinct recoguition of the right to differ, and a mutual respect. bet ween those who differed. Ottr'rule . for others should be, where there is nothing to throw suspicion on their in tegrity, to their Owll Master they stand. or fall. The rule of each for himself must he, be fully persuaded—that is, intelligently informed and rationally convince L-for whatsoever was not of faith in this full and enlightened persuasion was sin. Let all of •every - church carry that, with theta, whether Conformists or Nonconformists, and in that way they would all do something in heralding the approach of the unanimity of love. 6 4 The discourse," adds the rnms, "was listened to throughout with marked atten tion, and appeared to wake a proround im pression on the vast congregation." ENGLISH. PRESBYTERIANISAI seeks, in this Bicentenary year, to secure an, endow ment of £lO,OOO for its Theological Col lege in London. In answer to appeals from- its respective Deputations sent in Miy and July to the Free Church A.sssetn bly, they proposed to give them help in evangelistic efforts, and in Church Eaten si.,n, by sending up some of their leading ministers to preach in different English towns. Nothing or this kind, however, has yet been done. The Irish Assembly in vited a Deputation to come to Ulster ; and' taking advantage of the Bicentenary Com memoration, four ministers appeared at a public meeting last week, at Belfast, and are now preaching and speaking through out Ulster, for Home Missions in England.. Throughout Ulster, last Lord's day, ac cording to the unanimous resolution of last Assembly, they have brought before their people the principles for which the 2,090' ministers suffered; their fidelity to con science ; and the importance,. of maintain ing, .especially at this time, the te,stimony they were privileged to bear, and of aiding the Presbyterian Church in England, the legitimate representatives of these noble men, in the work in which •they are en gaged. .They were further instructed to make a special collection in all their churches, to be appropriated to this object. The. London Weekly Review hits the fol lowing There are at this moment two objects of para mount importance to the vigor and extension of the Presbyterian Church in England ; first., the endowment of the College; second, the.extinc tion of congregational debt. We give to neither of these objects precedence over the other. The success of both is indispensable. Without a suf ficiently endowed theological institute the'Church cannot hold her place among the religious de naminations of England ; and while many of her congregations are burdened with debt, it is vain= to look to her for that expansive energy, that buoyant vigor, that easy and genial strength, by, which her borders may be extended. The Presbyterian Church has an .historical re nown for learning, and has been characterized, at every period, by the eitiction of a high stan-: dard -of cultivation trorn!her ministers. In the' second half of the sixteenth century, the most learned• theologians in Europe were Presbyte rians; and until the close of the seventeenth, the: Presbyterians, of :England yielded, Ike_ palm •,of :EpiEtropirtibno zit* Indlt BUSINESS NOTICES of Tszi lines or leee, $l.OO each &eons] line, 10 cents. REV. DAVID APKINNEY, P.II.IWHIZTOR. AIM PUBLISHM pendents. The closing of the national universi ties upon the Nonconformists, the most grievous of all the wrongs inflicted by an oppressive Par liament upon Protestant denominations beyond the pale or the Church, led necessarily to a de cline in Presbyterian scholarship in England; ind only in our own day has it, become a matter f reasonable hope, that. the extinguished torch '3 ay be re-lit, and a Presbyterian college be es abtished in England, which will one day restore their European reputation to English Presbyte tian divines. It is, of course, not certain that t his will be effected by the endowment of a col lege; but without such endowment, the result. 11 be, humanly speaking, impossible. PRAISE is given by the Times to the pa i.ience. of the North, under disappointments, nd " a most creditable consideration for 'he difficulties of their Generals." * * After the disaster of Bull Run, the Fed rals conducted themselves like a sensible eople. Being conscious in their hearts hat nobody would really accuse Americans •f cowardice, they accepted their reverse s an instructive misfortune, and set to !ark to repair it." It goes on to refer to flcelellan, enumerating the results of his "ttrategy before Richmond. " Nevertheless, and in spite of all these reverses, McClellan has not become an un yopular General. He has enemies, it is • bought, in the Government, and he shares Ole ituputations hurled by the Abolitionists gainst all who hesitate to subvert the old f)onstitution of the Uuion. But he is not mipopular with the public. The public ppeat content with the introduction of Oren. Halleck to a share in the command, ml have no. - asked any thing beyond this ery moderate correction of McClellan's t ()ousels: For the rest they are satisfied , hat he shall remain at his post. And if hey are indisposed to take service in his !rtuy, that is rather because they have no ppetite for the work, than because they t:lstru.st the General. They are willing nough to send him fresh troops, if troops van be feund to go, and there has been no elk, as yet, of transferring the conduct of be war to a new Commander. This sin ;ular patience on the part, of a republican leople, is, we think, very remarkable." This is very well considering the source 'whence it comes. The Dully' News, which .nay be regarded as the London organ of iro-Northern sentiment—a j mum' of most ouorable antecedents, and always the calm nd honest friend of justice and liberty— 'vrites as follows as to the tone of the Times other occasions, and the spiteful oratory t.f Roebuck Up to the breaking out of the war, the people *t the North were, unconsciously perhaps, but. till largely influenced by foreign, and especially t.y English opinion. But the' kind of criticism hey, have recently met with has largely weaned !hem from this dependence. The ungenerous od unworthy course puraued by our contempo ary has, amongst other influences, contributed o this result, Nearly a year ago one of the most nfl uen dal and. widely-circulated New-York jour- La's said ; strange want of judgment man ; fasted by-the runes and other English journals n American affairs bids fair to tnrever release • ur people from the half-colonial dependence on 'iuglish public opinion which has characterized in times past." We are not in the least sun. ; wised ut this result. No intelligent cr reflective unerican could, read without a touch of scorn he :opinions which such journals as our contem ifirary, and such orators as Mr. Roebuck. set -,- ' 7 .tlrth as peculiarly English. These noisy oracles, hat claim to speak on behalf. of their country :lon, delight to represent England as a craven .nd selfish power, yielding to the unjust demands f the strong through fear; insulting the weak hew/se she thinks it may be done with impu ,iv, and exulting over the calamities of her tteighbors because she hopes they may turn to .erown advantage. The Ameiicans have not, however, fallen into be mistake of confounding these unworthy eb- Itllitions of sectional interests or class prejudices with the opinions of the English people at large, 'Cliey have done ample justice to the friendly pint dia . phiyed toward them by impirtial see ' ions of the community on this side' of the Atlan tic, as iv,ll as to the noble instinct which has !ed our working olasies:to suffer the most terri ble privations without a murmur against the itruggle that has for the time deprived thein of dread. While recognizing those deeper facts of I.ur national life, they have, however, ceased to gay any practical regard to the 'loud-mouthed traducers of English sentiment, or, indeed, to tlepend in any degree on European opinion. J. W. P. S.—The Queen left Balmoral pester. day, arriving iu Loudon (by 'night train),_ this morning. In a few days, she will leave fur Berlin. It is now announced that the Prince of Wales will marry, nest Spring, the daugh ter of the heir apparent to the throne off Denmark. Her family is said to be a pater tern, and a truly Protestant household. There has been just published a new and remarkable work, which has been the Royal Mourner's companion and consolation— " Meditations on Death and Eternity," translated from the German. The follow in. , in the Preface, the second sentence of wrilch seems to indicate that it was written by the Queen's own hand: "The medita tions contained in this volume, form part of the well known German devotional work, Stunden der Andact, published in the .beginning, of the present century, and gen erally ascribed to Zscokke. " Thry have been selected by one, to whom, in derp and overwhelming sorrow, they, have proved, a source of comfort and congolation." The volume is a fine octavo of 385 pages, printed oil fine paper, and by female com positors, at the Royal Victoria Printing Press. There are twenty-nine separate chapters, to each. of which is prefixed, freely rendered, a selection from that ,pre eieus hymnology which, amid the blight of Rationalistic theology, has kept; riiiistian faith,' hope and love alive in the Teutonic heart. The. Aged .Christian The wind is unseen, but it cools the brow of the fevered one; sweetens the ; Summer atmosphere, and ripples the ; surface of the bike into silver spangles of beauty. So goodness of heart, thmigh invisible to the material eye, makes its presence:felt ; and from its effects_ upon , surrounding things, we are assured of its- existence. Sometimes the sun seems to hang for a half hour in the horizon, only just to show how glorious it can be. -The day is done; the fervor of the shining is.over, and the sun hangs golden—nay, redder than gold —in the West, making everything look, unspeakably beautifnl, with the rich efful gence which it sheds on every side. -- So God seems to let some people, when their - deity in this world is done,.hang in.. the West, that men may look,on them, and ,see k ?,l how beautiful they are. There are some(' hanoin.• b in the 'West now. IBETwEEw the Fayed and' the lost soiili the next world, the diffh . renee,ls, not i kno,wing the truth, for both know it in loving it. Tie firAt Joyce ha