EV. DAVID M'KINNEY,
Editor and Proprietor.
,EV. I. N. 111'K iNNEY, ASSOCIATE EDITOR.
TERMS IN ADVANCE.
IT 70 111., /singly or In Clubs,) $1.50
ELI VERT(' IN EITHER OP THE CITIER 2.00
rem Dom.a as. we will send by mail seventy number",
0- ONE POLIAR, thirty-three /mothers.
/./resending nor/IV= eubecrihere and upward", will
Keby entitled to a paper without charge.
owalaahould be prompt. a little before the year expires
d pay men to by safe hands, or by mall.
let all letters to
REV. DAVID M'KINNEY,
• Pittsbtirgh, Pa.
(Selected.)
Drawing Near
now is your salvation ncarrr than when yo be
rarer ! yes ! we feel it not
;,j,4100 'Mid the rushing of the strife,
t'Ae we mourned our changed lot,
i Tolled beneath our shadowed life,
By each step our worn feet trod
'' We were drawing near to God.
:.; .
. ,
4 .
hen beneath the sudden stroke
- .i!! . All our joys of life went down;
~ .- . :olhen our best beloved broke
. ~ 4 1 ,,. Earthly bonds to take their crown,
3""* By the upward path they trod,
."
.. ' Nearer drew we to our God.
~ In those days of bitter woe,
4," When we saw their smile no more;
ii . .'*9tert our hearts were bleeding slow,
L' .-. Strickeo, stricken—CM, how sore!
i.. .. While we lay beneath the rod,
~, We were nearer to our Qod,
-'When upon our lifted eye
,7 Gleamed a vision of our home;
~ : When we saw the glory high,
Flooding all that spotless dome!
In that hour of raptured sight
.
h Pressed we nearer our delight. •
,hrough the long and vanished years,
4 Doubting, struggling and depressed,
Aided with their mist of tears,
We were passing to our rest ;
Tempest tossed and current-driven,
Ever drawing nearer heaven.
then the day was all withdrawn,
And we walked in tenfold night;
Nhen we panted for the dawn
Of the ever-blessed :
, In those hours of darkness dim,
We were drawing near to.bint.
For the Presbyterian Banner.
tery of Blairsville, at New Salem,
Oct. 6, 1863,
letter was received from the Rev. A.
, cc, who is Chaplain of the 11th Reg.
C., making report of his labors in
,rmy. Whereupon it was
so/red, That Presbytery are much
3d with Mr. Torrence's report, and
he has our cordial sympathy and
.s in his arduous labors.
u)lvecl, That the Stated Clerk be re
h.l to forward Mr. Torrence's letter,
icr with the above notion of Presby
to the Editor of the Presbyterian
for publication.
JAMES DAVIS, Stated Clerk.
TER FROM REV. A. TORRENCE
.P NEAR RAPPARAiiNOCK. STATIOS, VA., 1
September 11, 1863. j
.he Presbytery of Blairsville:
DEAR Btt6THREN :—I have not reported
you since your meeting in October of
t year. This omission was not wilful,
was occasioned by the moving condi
of the troops at the time the reports
ild have been made and forwarded. I
been occupied all the time since I
Ltered my present sphere of duty, ex
, one month, during which I was laid
,e by slckness : I do not know that I
. bet - ter meet the object of a report, such
would naturally be expected of me, than
giving a brief account of my labors
1g the soldiers in the camp, on the
and on the field of battle.
The Camp affords the Chaplain the
favorable opportunities and facilities
systematic, and what might be called
toral labors among the men, In the
I have preached every Sabbath, when
prevented by the inclement state of the
ther, or the absence of the men on
- et. This is the time for distributing
tracts, and papers, as here they have
it leisure for reading. Of such reading
;ter, I have obtained from various sour
enough to furnish the men with a fresh
Ay on an average, twice every month.
iy have always been thankfully received,
as I generally accompany them with a
of recommendation, and often inquire
,erwards how they liked them, I get sat
ictory evidence that the books, &c., are
ierally read, though, doubtless, as may
rurally be supposed, with more attention
profit by some than by others.
Through the liberalVey of a few friends
the soldiers,
,among whom were John
';on, of Indiana, and Benj. K. Craig, of
Alexandria, I obtained a sufficient
Jber of bound volumes to supply each
t of three companies with one volume
:IL These I.have used as a sort of cir
lating library. When an order to march
9 I collected and boxed these books,
got them carried along in the baggage
gm. When temporarily encamped, I
do distributed them. The good effects
these books are manifest and gratifying.
bad a Bible class last Winter, which
al
',ugh attended by comparatively few, was
highly interesting to myself and those
attended. The 25th of November
the day appointed by Gov. Curtin for
nksgiving, was observed by the 11th
',meat at Brooks' Station. This regi
-1 t only of' the "Reserves," was formally
,wn out to a convenient spot, where. Di
le, worship was performed, and a dis
cs° delivered by the Chaplain.
in the 6th of August, the day appoint
by the President, for publics thanksgiv
for recent victories, though we were on
return march through Virginia, and
temporarily encamped, religious servi
were held, and a discourse delivered,
were attended by the whole regi
officers and men.
Le public religious services of the Sa'b
are generally well attended. These
Age encourage me to hope that my, le
l; here are not in vain. Yet there are
iy things to discourage. The most
ion and inveterate sins in the army,
profane swearing, card•playing, and
bath breaking. 'But these, lam happy
say, are less prevalent in this regiment,
present, than at any, former period.
On the March, the opportunities afforded
chaplain for doing ,good -are not so
luent, or favetable; and yet . be is by
means deprived of opportunities and., :
tsions which, if promptly And prop.,
improved will serve greatly to ex-
I his influence and usefulness. There
the war-worn soldiers, burdened with
)sack, haversack, oartridge-box, canteen,
musket, moving forward, sometimes
'ugh rain and mud, at others under a
.thin g sun, and not unfrequently" pro
ing the march into the late hours of
t--tired, weary and longing for rest,
marching on. If the chaplain has a
rt to sympathize or a tongue to speak,
Mootti ibrboar.., to oddrese f 48 %MAME
1 4 ,trt.'sbgteri,ait'
VOL. XII. NO. 7.
offers, in words of encouragement and com
fort. Besides, a thousand little annoy
ances spring up almost hourly, both on the
way, and in the place of temporary encamp.
went, which chafe the temper and irritate
the passions of many of the men, and oc
casion vollies of profane oaths,and expres
sions of bitter complaints. ere the chap
lain should be, to reprove their impatience
and folly, and in words of kindness and
wisdom to reason them into a better state
of feeling.
On the Field, the chaplain's labors, if
properly directed, are of very great impor
tance. When a wounded or dying soldier
sees a chaplain approaching (whom he rec
ognizes by his uniform, if not previously
known to him) be always expects to find
in him a friend , ' to whom be can speak
with greater freedom than to any other,
both of his bodily sufferings, and of the
wants of his soul. And every act of kind
ness the chaplain performs, and every word
of sympathy, counsel or prayer he may
utter, is sure to be better received and more
justly appreciated, than when done or
spoken at any other time. For example,
one wounded soldier on the field at Gettys
burg, as he lay on the ground faint from
the loss of blood, and while I kneeled at
his aide, near the hour of midnight, threw
his arm around my neck and told me of his
conscious lack of preparation for death, and
of his solicitude about that event. And
when I asked him to let me go that I might
give my attention to others who lay near,
and in like need, it was only on condition
that I would promise soon to return to him,
that he withdrew his arm from my neck.
He died the tenth day after. Even the
rebel soldiers, when wounded and fallen
into our hands, expect to find in the union
chaplain a friend. Of many instances of
this, the following may serve as an illustra
tion : I approached a rebbel soldier as he
lay suffering from a wound which would
evidently soon be followed by.cleath, and
having directed his.attention to the dying
Saviour, as the only hope for dying sinners,
I was about turning away from him, when
he beckoned me back and said: "Chaplain,
I have been trusting in that Saviour for the
last seven years, and feel assured that he
will not leave me now. I leave in his
care my wife and two children, I wish you
to remember me in your prayers." I com
plied with his request, but the arrival of
surgeons and their hurry in getting wounds
examined and dressed, prevented me from
doing so in his presence.
But this report is sufficiently extended.
The number and importance of the duties
of the chaplaincy are truly great, and felt
to be so by those who rightly estimate them.
The boldness and prevalence of many forms
of wickedness—the timid and feeble oppo-•
sition made to them by many in official
positions, and of' former religious profea.
mons, and the oppressive sense of responsi
bility which often burdens the chaplain's
mind, constrains him often to cry in secret: -
places, " Lord who is sufficient for - these
things ?" Yet the preaching and praying,
and talking, and reproving, and distributing
of tracts, are evidently the means of doing
good, Ist in restraining the bad from run
ning themselves and leading others to great
er excesses in vicious practices; and 2d in
encouraging the good to hold fast their
principles, and resist the power of the evils
which encompass them. The great danger
is, that the traits of character, moral and
sooiil, which the, citizen possessed at the
time of his enlistment, will be supplanted
by the vices of the army, and that many
will return at the expiration of their term pt'
ae-vice, only to surprise and grieve their
friends by the evidences of sad changes in
their feelings and habits. The means of
grace of which I have spoken are important,
and not without efficiency, as means of pre
serving in a greater or less degree the mor
als of the soldiers, so that' those who may
be permitted to return to the peaceful
walks and avocations of civil life may do so
with pleasure to their friends and credit to
themselves, and that those who are appoint
ed to death on the field or in the hospital,
may be prepared for that change.
With prayers that the Head of the
Church may be with you to guide your
counsels and bless your labors, and request
ing an interest in your prayers, I remain
your brother in the Gospel of Christ,
ADAM TORRANCE,
Chaplain llth Regt. P. R. V. C.
For the Presbyterian Banner
Presbytery of Steubenville
MESSRS EDITORS :—The Presbytery of
Steubenville held an interesting and de
lightful meeting at Wellsville, on the 6th
and 7th insts. I send you the following
items forpublication, if deemed worthy'an
insertion in your valuable journal.
Rev. J. B. Patterson was elected Mod
erator, and Rev. 'J. W. Hainilion, Tempo
rary Clerk.
The retiring Moderator, Rev. John Wat
son, preached the opening sermon, from
Ps. xxvii .1- 44 One thing have I desired
of the Lord," &o. •
There, was an item of business transacted
on, the first day of the sessions of Presby
tery„which was regarded by its members
with peculiar pleasure; that was, the re
ception of a newly organized church and
its minister. There were two organized
,Pres
byterian churches in New Philadelphia; one
Old School and one New. The Old School
organization : was without the stated means
of grace ; the New School had an accepta
ble minister. These two churches united
together most happily, a short time since,
and asked to be received under the care of
Presbytery, which was granted: The min
ister, Rev. Delos E. Wells, presented a
certificate of dismissal from the Presby
tery of Pataskals, and was received as a
member of Presbytery.
Rev. Israel Price was dismissed by Pres
bytery from his pastoral charge at Am
sterdam, on his own request, with which
the congregation concurred, in order that
he may devote his whole time to Annapolis,
the other branch of his Charge's.
Rev. J. H. Aughey was dismissed, at his
own request, to the Presbytery of Vin
cennes.
Rev. John Arthur accepted the calls ten
tiered him by the united pastoral charge, of;
Oak Ridge and Chestnut Grove '
and a
ra
Consittee,was appointed to install, him as
pastor over,them.
Presbytoq enjoyed a season of delight
fit religious exereisevon Wednesday. The
Committee on Religions Exercises called
the attention of. Presbytery to the fact, that
for several, years past, Ihe4rst Wednesday
of:Ootober has been observed as-a day of
jeonoert of prayer, by Christian mothers,
far timiraßne ;" Amid crowanmenda that-the
PITTSBURGH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1863. WHOLE NO. 579.
social religious exercises of Presbytery take
this direction. Their suggestion was cor
dially adopted, and carried out.
Your correspondent left home on Tues
day morning at 9 o'clock, and travelled by
railroad between fifty and sixty miles, at
tended a pleasant and profitable meeting of
Presbytery, and'reached home at 7 o'clock
on Wednesday evening. It would have
occupied four days to have accomplished
thus much in the earlier years of his min
istry. That these facilities for speeding
travel may tend to promote the glory of
God, is the prayer of a friend of internal
• IMPROVEMENTS.
S.trlve.
LUKE xur : 24.34: Strive to enter
in .. . How often would .. . and ye
would not.
Salvation has been purchased by Jesus
Christ, and it ialreely offered to men and
urged upon their acceptance. Long has
the offer been made, and 'as long been re
jected. It mast be received as a free gift;
It can neither be bought nor merited. And
yet efforts must be put forth, or, the prize
can never be secured. Hence the exhorta
tion, Strive to enter in at the strait gate.
There must be decision to stop in the course
of sin ; 'there must be a purpose and an
effort to turn unto God. The difficulty
lies not in the way of life, nor in the pro
visiens of the Gospel. True, the way is
narrow; but that refers rather to what
men would take with them and what they
must renounce—the change they must ex
pPrimice and the life they must live—than
to [fleecy of atoning blood or the suffi
cizney of Divine grace. Men must strive.
Effort is needed, not because of the way so
much, as because of outward hindrances
and an inward reluctance. Wordly coin-
Vanions and influences, and a wicked heart
at enmity with God, combine to keep them
in' the ways of sin and away from the cross
of Christ and the throne of grace. Yet all
things are ready; and Jesus invites. He
is willing and waiting to receive the return
ing penitent. Yea, he follows men with
his entreaties; add weeping over them, says,
How often would I, and ye would not !
Yes, how often In every age, in child
hood, in youth, in manhood, and even in
old age, he- invites, and says, Come unto
me, and I will give you rest. In all cir
cumstances, in prosperity and in adversity,
in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in
joy, he says, Look unto me and be ye saved.
And now again, reader, he, addresses you in
loving accents, and says, Turn and live !
Often have I called, but as often you have
refused; how often would. I, and you would
not ! 0, sinner, let that word sink deep
into your heart I Listen to Jesus, and em
brace him as your Saviour. Strive to enter
in. The door is open now. Enter before
it is closed forever. W. J. M.
EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENCE.
Earthquake in England—Scenes of its Manifesta
tWns—Terror and Alarm—The Lessons.'Sug
gested—Retrospective Glance—Boding: for the .
Future—The Great King and his Sceptre—Past'
Earthquakes in. Britain-Nations and the " Om-•
nipotent"—Mr. Beecher at Glasgow—Strictures
of the " Times"—Analysis of t he
. Address—
" Egoism "." or Egotirm"—" The Altar" :and,
" Gethsemane"—The Final Explanation—Death
of Archbishop Whaiely—Local Science Congress
at Edinburgh—Colonial and American Land:
Unoccupied—A Grand Future.
•
LONDON, Oct. 10th, 1863.
AN UARTIIQUAKE shock has been expe
rienced in a part of England this week.
It chiefly affected- the neighborheods of
Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Chelten
ham, parts of Buckinghamshire, South
Staffordshire, East Worcestershire, Here.
fordshire, and South Wales. It was felt
also by parties waked out of sleep, at Stoke
Newington and Blackheath—the one a
Northern and the other a South-East sub
urb of London itself. Within three miles
from the spot where I write, a gentleman
writes a letter to the Times ' (one of twen
ty-seven communications from different
parts,) stating that at twenty-minutes past
three o'clock in the morning,-he felt his
bed move with an undulating, motion, as if
by an earthquake. There were four very
distinct shocks in the space of two seconds
The• motion was from Bast to West, and
" felt as if four waves had succeeded .each:
other under a boat." Your correspondent
did not experience anything of the kind.
Certainly it is la "sensation." which he
does not covet. Another, on the North of
London, tells how a heavy four-post bed
stead was "violently.shaken!' But at
'Wolverhampton and elsewhere ' the shocks
were - much more severe. One describes it,
as if there were a general breaking of the
furniture of the room, and noticed espe
cially the vibration of the doors of a hang
ing press mounted on friction rollers:
Another said that the impression was that
" thieves were' entering." A - clergyman
tells how his bed shook violently, the win
dows rattled, the: furniture shivered, the
silver jingled (in the plate basket), and it
appeared as if •the sound of a heavy explo :
scan beneath the cellars' accompanied the
second shock.
A member of the Society of Friends' at
Gloucester, who 'begins, " Respected
Friend," and ends " thine respectfully,"
says his bed -was shaken under him half -a
dozen of times, and that the tremor was
accompanied by a low roaring sound and a
rattling of doors and easements, which im
parted the cause of it too plainly to be
mistaken for anything else, and least of all
for that favorite simile for all loud noises—
thunder. The Head Master of the Chelten
ham College relates how there was -a deep,
rumbling noise suddenly heard, such as
that of an artillery wagon, that the entire
body of students' was awakened, and that
the impression on each was, that the rest
had conspired in a body to shake the whole
building with their feet until the heavy
stone walls on either side were heard •to
strain and crack. He then adds : Con
sidering that this country lies upon the
great volcanic: bolt, (what 'a comfortable
thought I) '" it- is matter of surprise -that
these phenomena have been so unfre
quent."
At Wolverhampton, " to parsons - in gybed,
.the whole;house , was shaken from the foun
dation, with a tremulous, rapid,-and undu
lating motion." There were vibrations of
the furniture, and creaking noises, -as -if
the whole house had been strained and--the
•timber-work and masonry were 44 settling."-
A night watchman on -duly at the Bank,
with a policemen, was terrified by seeing
the building shaking," and by thasound
of ".the .church gates" also' moving:" -A
aloud. oflituat tioselroni the- earth ; and at
the same time he felt a breath of warm air:
Far the Presbyterian Banner
, . .
Another saw the trees and " a wall shak
ing."
Not long since we bad news of an awful
and destructive earthquake.. at Manila, and
a gentleman residing at Birmingham, and
formerly at Matiila, describes the shocks
as similar to those experienced by him in
that region. Ity , the jaiLat Taunton there
was great terror among " the prisoners and
officials," (here Paul' and Silas, and the ter
rifted jailor' at, Philippi, are at_ once sug
gested to us !) j,`the : latter believing that
the prison was about to fall." Mr. Charles
Dickens; the author, says, " It: was exactly
I
as if a . great Vast
,Were crouching asleep .
under the bedst 41 ; and:were now shaking
itself and tryinakto rise:" : - - -
Suggestive sutely is such- a;phenomenon
as.this. It recall:li first ,of, all, the many
earthquakes men ioneitia , Scripture.- = sueh
as, that,which a' upl ißrailyDathatt
and Abiram, -ib t vlligh: occurred =in , the
reign of Uzzialtiaing of 'Judah, to which
the prophets Amos (i : 'lO and 'Zechariah
(xiv : *5,) and Joiephus:also refer. Above
all, it reminda fits , Of that ever memorable
and "mighty earthquake" which took
place when the- Saviour expired on the
cross of Calvary, and when the centurion
was led• to ery!but, " ' Truly this was the
Son of God," chid of , which Cyril of Alex
andria makes, niention, stating that in his
time rocks were shown which had been
rent asunder by earthquake. Sandys
acid Maundrelt were convinced that 'these
fissures,- as e*mined by them, were the
effects of the iliarthquake.
As prepursOrs of judgments, as well as
one of the means of their infliction on
guilty nationso.who does not ,know that
earthquakes a:0 Mentioned first as matters
of fact in Scripture, and secondly as 'spec
alyptio and prophetic symbols of such judg
ments ? Ourlord, when he predicted the
destruction of Jerusalem, and the disper
sion of the Jews, spoke of " earthquakes
in divers places," and these were but " the
hecrinnino. sorrows," for " nation should
rise against ration," &c. Often have I
thought that 9ur own times have been and
are parallel toi those of which the Saviour
spoke as ." nigh." Looking up to him now,
as'the Enthroned One who sways the scep
tre both as a rod of love and terror, who
shall smite through kings in the day of his
wrath, remembering how within the last
decade of years fearful convulsions and
revolutions have, taken place in Europe and
the East, and in Poland, is making
its throes and upheavings to be felt now,
and may next year - involve many nations in
war—howi moreover, Federal Germany on
the one side, threatening benmark as to
Holstein, and, how the American civil war,
even while we expect a beneficent issue,
is
nothing less than a political earthquake,
sudden and unexpected in its advent, up
heaving in its successive throei of things
which were treated tolerantly—including
slavery itself, a. permanent " domestic con
stitutiocaMidt,nceording to Southern the
ology, a Divlne economy; considering all
these, I say, what portentous events loom
up before us from , tha dread past,-from the,
troubled present, and it may be to a more
Awful future !
Spiritual and personal lessons are also
suggested—not forgetting the agonies of
an awakened conscience, the terrors of the
'Day of Doom—when of the - enemies even
now so proud, and blaspheming of the
Christ of. God, all faces shall gather black
ness beneath the frown of Him who, "robed
in dreadful majesty," shall sit on tke Great
White throne of supreme and final Judg
ment. Even now, nations that rebel-against
his authority have dark forebodings of
coming days of vengeance.- What a joyful
thought to the true Church of God—the
family of genuine believers—that his cause
cannot perish, that his kingdom, amid all
up.heavings can "never be moved," and
that as as the mountains are round about
Jerusalem ' So Jehovah eompasseth his peo
ple from henceforth, even forever. And
last of all, how sale the righteous man I
Amid the wreck or matter, be, the justified
and sanctified one, is secure; amid the
fall of worlds, lie fears-not. 44- impavidum,
.feriunt ruinm."
There,are chronicles which count up 255
earthquakes, of which 139 were in Scot
land, and the rest in Yorkshire, Derby
shire, Wales,-and the South coast of this
island. There was a violent one in Perth
Shire in 1839. Some twenty years earlier,
on a Sabbath morning, the congregations
were shaken in their pews, and saw the
Plaster fall. On Feb. Bth, 1750, London
was seriously terrified; it felt a worse shOck
on the Bth of the following month, and be
came so nervous, that when a fanatie fore
told its destruction on the Bth`of April,
the inhabitants took to the fields till the
supposed day of vengeance was over. It
was on the eve of the day of this expected
catastrophe, that George Whitfield, with
flashing eye and tongue of fire, preached to
a multitude in Hyde Park, of temperance,
righteousness, and judgment to come.
Many (alas with no better results in most
cases it may be, than that in the case of
Felix,) " trembled," and when the danger
was over, all was forgotten.
Solemn lessons have, by this earthquake,:
been suggested (besides those already indi.
Gated) by a powerful public writer, who
says
"There are means, utterly beyond our
ken and our computation, far" below our
feet, by which cities may be subverted,
populations suddenly cut off, and empires
ruined. This is a thought which, in its
personal application , is familiar enough ;
perhaps it is not so familiar as in its no.-
tional bearing."
- .
He then refers to American troubles, and
addsin a voice of warning "We are safe from
that fate, at least so we deem ourselves, for
never were we so united. But there are
other weapons of destruction in the arsenal
of the OMNIPOTENT: Who can say what
strange trials of shaping, or upheaving,
sinking, dividing, or drying up, may await
us. We know by science these isles have
gone. through many a strange metamorphe
sis, and science ce.nnot - assure us that
there are none, to, come"'
One thinks, at stick a time, of the Psalin
ist's grayer, ", Put them in fear, 0 Lord,
that the nations may 'know themselves to
be but, men." • •
THE REY. H. WARD BEECIFEJL has de
livered an address at'a public breakfast at
Glasgow. It was' his first public utterance
on the Americans war:-- -I shall give you an
analysis of it, but first quote what the
Times says about it.:..
" We can listen to any one except a min
ister of religion, who blasphemously tells
us that a
,purely secular end--the mainte
mince of the Ameriban UniOn—is
inns lirde'iliatit'tiano'tiftei ittiMetum 'in the
I sight of God, that those who offer up their
children to this moloch of human pride and
ambition, are to be likened to Abraham of
fering up Isaac, and that the sorrows of a
nation thus afflicted, resemble the woe of
the garden of Gethsemane. Still less are
these things endurable when they are in
terspersed with the most common-place re
marks on paper currency, the seizure of the
Trent, the garrisoning, of Canada, and we
know not how many other secular subjects.
No English-audience can possibly listen to
such language without disgust. It is the
setting up , as an object . of, religious wor
ship, that extravagant vanity and desira of
'overwhelming power which has long been
the mainsprings of American politics, but
which nevertheless, is not more opposed to
sound views of ,national happiness, than it
is to the first`principles of the%elk,. hum-
Ibla peaceful``'wit = it •
seeki-to identify itself! -
"- We understand clearly that the preser
vationnf the Union is the end, and aboli
tion only one of the means. Ms love is
not for his fellow-men ; his sympathy is
not fer hiiman sorrow or human suffering;
the spirit with which he believes himself
to be filled, and which he considers to be
Divine, he dignifies by the name of love of
country. * * Mr. Beecher was driven
to make an admission which should be ta
ken notice of by every person who wishes
to understand the motives of the. War
Christians of America. We have been in
the habit; of Opposing that the party of
which Mr. Beecher is, the apostle and the
ornament, were actuated by sympathy for
the ma ° re race; that- if their. hands are
stained with blood, .tiip motives of this
bloodshed, though overstrained and fanati
cal, were pure, and that no worldly ambi
tion, no national pride, no lust for domin
ion, mingled itself with the convictions
which have led Ahem to call aloud for fresh
sacrifices, to rejoice over the reeking slaugh
-1 ter of every, battlefield, and to adopt a
policy of extermination. According to
Mr. Beecher, we were entirely mistaken;
the first object was the restoration of the
Union, the abolition of slavery was only an
afterthought."
Now let us analyse Mr. Beeeher's ad
dress. I very much fear that with its ap
parent egotism and other characteristics, it.
has done harm to the Northern cause, or at
least given occasion for the adversary to
speak reproachfully. On -the other hand
there are very noble things in-the speech..
The' breakfast meeting was got up 'by
friends of the temperance - cause, but it
really assumed a political aspect, and the
desire of - those present, to hear Mr. Beech
er on the war, was gratified. Bailie Govan
occupied the chair and introduced the
speaker, with kindly words toward himself
and his country. Arderiea was spoken of
as_" the beloved country from which Mr.
Beecher comes—the country beloved by
every right-feeling Briton in thess islands."
Mr. Beeehernommence.d by speaking of
;his: hereditary love for Scotland. His fa
ther said when he waked up in Edinburgh
he thought he was in Boston—he felt as
though New-England had been simply a
branch broken off, with the sap fresh in it.
He then spoke some time •on the Temper
ance question, and referred to the great in
crease of drinking amid" the camp and ex
posures" of :the war, and that " the bad
custom seems for the: time to have spread
itself over the land. He then referred to
himself as one who had been made by grace
a Christian, and therefore led to feel he
must be like Christ. " I was, like Paul, a
debtor." And thus became a Temperance
man, nn Abolitionist, and also in his pub
lie ministrations, " loving those for whom
nobody cares." Espeeially did he consid
er it was his business "to do the things
which ought to be done, but which others
were afraid to do." "If;so, let me do
them." Then carne a little more decided
egoism (which in this case may not be ego
tism, although it sounds like it,)—" I am
born without moral fear. So far as reputa
tion is concerned, I never knew what it
was, to be .afraid. I have said offensive
things because I have said the things folk
needed and did n't want!' He went on to
say that he had his reward for all this, by
having sympathy in' his_soul with Christ.
" When it was danger to life and limb,
when all abolition press was dragged into
the river Ohio, I wrought id this cause,
and I deserve no more credit for it than wa
ter deserves for running down hill. I
reaped my reward. I never was so happy
as when men were out against. me. If I
wanted motives I just required somebody
to say, You slant do it.' I have been
paid a thousand fold. I have made these
statements, having been',' in • the heart of
slavery for twenty-five years."
Mr. Beecher next described the unanim
ity of feeling and resolve in the North, that
all felt it was God's work, not man's. "My
oldest 'son ,is in the war; he went when
about eighteen years of age. My next boy
is fifteen; and if he lives to see one year
more, he shall go. I pray God that he
should go. If God should say to, me, 6 Put
them there,' I would do it. Abraham did
not put Isaac half so, quick upon the altar
as ;I would my children!' He went on to
give hi.s explanation of the common com
plaint of what many call jealousy enter
tained toward England; as compared with
France, and the alleged abuse heaped en
:England, or rather as he called it, "cudg
elling the British, " while " Napoleon and
the French were doing the same things."
It was "because we love the English so
much. When we like them so much, we
can't help feeling it. Be'referred to the
reception 'given to the Prince of Wales,
when'" we greeted him as the future King
of England. Not so the South. ThuS we
got our bosoms warmed." But then came
the rebellion,' the 46 Trent business," and
what English .statesmen said, and "we
didn't like it," nor the " sending of troops
to Canada!'
As,to the alleged impossibility of a'uni
ted nation as before,-he said that it would
be united again, but " not as before." As
to "moral suasion," he said " we did not
fire the first gun, and they that take the
sword must p.erish by the sword. * *
We' mean to purge out-of the States all
those• things that in their nature are antag
onistic to liberty, President Lincoln wri
ting about slavery, had said, "Tell your
anti-slavery friends I shall go out all right."
He added, "Our people-in the North feel,
g Let this cup pass from me' They will
not draw back even in Gethsemane." This
hist passage, with that about 'his children
offered on the altar, as was 'Bade, gave the
teat for thelstrictures of the Times.' Along
with this was .. : a later statement made in
. ,
reply to IMr: Henderson._ The 'latter had
eiitt i to we hiterimhiemeyeuMeotethie
war. You should now hear ours. Had
we been told at the beginning, that the
war was to abolish slavery, the great mass
of the people of this country would have
cordially sympathized with the cause of the
North, and would have been very different
from what it is at present." Mr. Beecher
admitted that at the outset they did not
contemplate the abolition of slavery; but
the rebels became so potent, that the Pres
ident was obliged to have recourse to the
crushing of the rebellion by abolishing
Mavery, which struck right into the heart
of the enemy. When it became evident
that the Great flagon must be destroyed,
with arms outstretched and swords
. of
fire in their hands, they rose like one man,
and with a voice, which reverberated.
throughout 'the whole world, they cried,
'Let it, with 'all its attendant horrors, go
,to „JaenVcp These_ words were ;received
with silence. From , the lips of an Abo
litionist they were chilling; from a
Northern minister, who held milder Views
about slavery, the effect might have been
different, especially if he had asked the
audience, 4f Could you bear to have your
British flag shot down
. by rebels against
the Queen, and the integrity of the King
dom ?" Talk as the Times may, had we
been Northerners we should have fought
for the integrity of the Union, also.
DOCTOR WHATELY Archbishop of Dub
lin' died in Ails 77th year, greatly regret
ted. He was a powerful logician, an able
writer, quaint, pithy and original ' in his
illustrations, and his works will long sur
vive. He was a man by himself—more of
a " Broad" than a " High" or " Svangel
ical " Churchman; but that he possessed
the faith of God's elect, and died in Christ,
there is no reason to doubt. He contem
plated his dissolution with hope and strong
desire, longing to depart. The ladies of
his family were most active in their en
deavors to do good among Irish Roman
Catholics in Dublin, especially at the
schools in Townsend Street. These I once
visited in company with M. Pilatte, Wal
densian pastor at Nice, and I shall never
forget the astonishment not without angry
looks and words from one dark-eyed Mile
sian woman,) when, standing up to address
the people present—including many adults
who had been reading and disputing over
the New Testament--he said that he be
longed to a Church older than that of Abe
Pope, of Rome herself.
A SOCIAL SCIENCE CONGRESS is now
sitting at Edinburgh, Lord Brougham be
ing President. Papers from eminent men
in every department are being read and dis
cussed, all having- a practical bearing on
social advance and development. Of this
Institution, which holds "moveable feasts"
over the kingdom, it has been truly said
that " its Congresses are the annual review
not only of its own operations, but the
world's progress." It therefore embraces
even political movements in its review, as
well as matters of law and jurisprudence,
the treatment of convicts, cooperative So
cieties, clubs and: reading rooms, employ
ment for young women, leisure hours for
shopmen, and serial publications.
Among the papers read was one by Lord
Curnehill, (one of the Scottish Judges,) in
which, from official sources, he indicated
with regard to British Colonies, Ist, that in
the North American group there are in
cluded upwards of 260,000,000 acres of
land, of which about 187,000 remain un
alienated—not including the territories to
the West of the Rocky Mountains; 24,
that in the Australasian group there are
more than 1,280,000,000 of acres, of which
only about 20,000,000 have been alienated;
while 3dly, at the Cape of Good Hope and
Natal there are about 128,000,000 of acres,
of which about 70,000,000 still remain un
alienated. Add to these the vast prairies
and half unoccupied territories ot the Uni
ted States, and connect with it the spread
and multiplication of the Anglo.Sason
race, fresh empires starting into being,
macrnificent cities built, commerce and the
arts of -peace succeeding the comparatively
brief sorocco blast of war, and best of all,
Christianity triumphant, and " the taber
nacle of. God with men "—all men partici
pants in the glory and the joy—what a
magnificent vista opens up before the lover
of his race.
P. S.—Lord Lyndhurst, the Nestor of
the House of Lords, and the son of •the
American painter, Copley, who was a fa
vorite with
,George 111 . ,
has been for
some days dangerously ill. Although he
is in his ninety-second year, it is not im
probable but he •may recover. I have heard
him, within the last five years, deliver a
speech an hour long, with extraordinary
vigor.
I regret to say that typhus fever prevails
as an epidemic at Belfast, and that the Rev.
Dr. Edgar is prostrated by it. There is
some anxiety about the issue, but the latest
accounts inform me that while the fever
was in progress, there were no alarming
" complications." Re has been a benefac
tor both to his country at large and also to
the town of Belfast itself. It was ,largely
owing to his zeal and. influence that the
Queen's College at Belfast, and' the system
by which the late Sir Robert Peel estab
lished a Queen's University in Ireland, and
Provincial Colleges in connexion with it,
has had such stability and success.
Appeals have been issued for a fresh
supply of warm clothing for the distressed
operatives at Blackburn, in Lancashire.
The laber market is rapidly absorbinr , ° the
population which was out of work. Still,
there will be considerable distress -this
Win ter.
In many parts of Ireland and Scotland,
grain .is still in the fields. The weather
lately has"been unsettled, and while prices
of grain will be very low, and bread cheap,
yet in such districts as the above-men
tioned, there will be serious individual
losSes.
For the Preabytertan Banner.
Heaven a Safe Place.
"1 love to.. think of heaven as a safe
place," said a venerable man in whose piety
all who knew - him had confidence. It must
not be supposed that he was afraid of being
lost. He knew in whom he had believed.
He had no fears of hell. Bat he was afraid
of 'sinning. He wished to be free from
the danger of sinning. He knew that
once in heaven, there would be no
more exposure to the danger of sinning.
Hence he loved to think of it as a safe
place.
Men's ideas of heaven ararin a great
measure ; : the exponents of their characters.
Some regard it as a place of _safety from
Pain. They desire it as a' place
. Of esean..
'film - With
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deliverance from the penalty of sin. Such
persons have no real desires heavenward.
Heaven, as the object of true spiritual
desires, is a condition of soul rather than
a locality. The desire for holiness and the
desire for heaven are not distinguishable in
kind.
While the Christian will first of all think
of heaven as a safe place—safe from sin—
yet there are other considerations which
may properly awaken desires to be in
heaven. There is rest for the weary there,
and it is lawful for the weary to desire rest.
Indeed it is impossible not to do so. There
is glorious society, and it is lawful to de
sire the society of those who have washed
their robes and made them white in the
bkood of the Lamb. We have friends,
parents, Editors, children, who have, got
Koine before us, and it is lawful to desire
reunion with them. There are numberless
considerations which render heaven desira
ble ;
still, its holiness should be to us its
chief attraction.
Vho is a Rick Man ?
Poverty - and wealth are only comparative
terms. What we may Call a rich man in
one part of the world, or even in the same
State, may be looked upon as a poor man
in another. I have been in regions where
a man worth $lOOO was called a rich man,
and in other places where a man worth
$20,000 was considered a poor man. So
we cannot state the sum in dollars and
cents that is required to make a man rich
until we reach the highest standard. I
suppose the Rothschilds, of Europe, would
not consider Astor or Stewart, of New-
York, rich; and if compared with their
immense wealth, they certainly would not
be. Where or how, then, shall we fix a
standard for wealth ? Well, I will tell you
the amount which I think constitutes a
rich man. The man who has just enough
to meet all his real wants, and is contented
with what he has, with grace in his heart,
is a rich man. If the man be a farmer, if
the farm cost only $lOOO, and supplies im
with all he really needs, with reasonable
industry, he. is a rich man. If he be a
merchant or mechanic, and $5OOO of capi
tal will provide all his necessities require,
he is a rich man. If you should fix the
standard at what most men would desire to
have, the whole world would not satisfy
them. So I can fix no other standard for
wealth but the one I have fixed. Grace in
the heart, or contented mind, and enough
to supply a man's real wants, is wealth.—
Lutheran Observer.
God's norms.
Here are " God's heroes," the heroes of
the sick chamber and the vigil by the era
dleside ; the heroes of poverty and of the
workshop; of silent, patient endurance,
having learned, through much tribulation,
that waiting and suffering is their destined
work ; the heroes of long-suffering, forbear . -
ance and charity, or of victory over pain;
of the unostentatious self-denial of the
household; the lowly, toiling, sad .women,
climbing mounts of sacrifice under heavy
crosses, without a human hand held out in
synapathy ; the noble army of martyrs who
have found and followed the Master's foot
prints in the daily round of human duties,
transfiguring that" despised, circumscribed,
care-encumbered life of theirs into a living
testimony to the truth of Christ's evangel ;
the lonely sufferers, priests by a heavenly
consecration, offering the sacrifices of praise
in garret and cellar; men and women far
from stimulating delights of successful ac
tivities, co-workers with Christ, sowing in
hope the seed whose increase they shall
never reap; " the sacramental host of God's
elect," ever ascending with songs most
jubilant from the faithful performance of
earth's lower ministries to the perfect ser
vice of the upper sanctuary with its peren
nial and unhindered prize. They are pass
ing up through the gates of the morning
into the city without a temple, and it is for
other fingers than ours to weave the ama
ranth round their lowly brow.—North
British. Review.
Is it True ?
"He thinks he is right, and if he is sin
cere and honest in his belief, it is all that
can be asked of him," said Mr. More, re
specting one who entertained some singu
lar notions on the subject of religion.
" Suppose," said Mr. Edwars, " that
you are going to a certain place. You
think the road you have taken is the right
one—you are sincere and honest in your
belief. That is all that can be asked of
you'. You will reach the place you set out
to visit, whether the road taken was the
right one or not.
" You owe a man one hundred dollars.
You enclose in a letter a ten dollar bill.
You think it is a hundred dollar bill—you
are sincere and honest in the belief. That
is all that can be asked of you. Your cred
itor must be content with ten dollars in
stead of a hundred. You go upon the
principle that if you think a ten dollar bill
is a hundred dollar bill, it will become a
hundred dollar bill. You go upon the
principle that thinking a thing to be true
makes it true--that thinking a thing to be
right makes it right. Is that a true prin
ciple ?'}
"Not in regard to some things."
" Is it true in regard to anything 7"
" It seems to me that it is true in regard
to religion."
Does religion consist in doing God's
will ?"
" That is a part of religion."
"Is n't it the whole oreligion ? What
more is required of ns besides doing the
will of God ?"
" We are to do good to our fellow-men."
God wills that. It is a part of the
will of God. Nor does our thinking a
think to be God's will make it God's will?
Some men, in other times, thought it was
God's will that they should imprison and
burn those whom they deemed heretics.
Their thinkingit to be God's will did not
make it God's will. Sincerity in error will
not change error into truth. If religion
is the most important thing that can claim
our attention, then the utmost care should
be taken that our views in relation to it be
right. Let us never forget that thinking a
thing to be right does not make it right."
Let net the sun in Capricorn go down
upon thy wrath, bid write thy wrongs in
water; draw the curtain of night upon in
juries ; shut them up in the tower of obliv
ion,,and.lat them be as though 'they had
not been -Forgive thine .enemies totally
And arithont any, reserve of lope thathow,
'era' Grid
LOOKING UPWAED