The New York Herald Newspaper, December 15, 1872, Page 13

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. December 15---Third Sunday in Advent. PROGRAMME OF SERVICES TO-DAY. Herald Religious Com- municants. An Open Letter to Rev. George Hepworth. Pope Pius on the Education of Catholic Youth. REPLY TO THE REV. D. M’ALLISTER. Methodist Unification---North and South. Day of Special Intercession in the Episcopal Church. WATIONAL SYNOD OF THE REFORMED CHURCH The Jesuits in Austria---Diabol- ism in Nevada. The Downward Tendency of Religion. MOVEMENTS OF THE.CLERGY. Serviees To-Day. At Canal street Presbyterian church, 17 Greene street, services will be held by Rev. David Mitchell. At Apollo Hall, Broadway and Twenty-cighth street, Thomas Gales Forster, trance speaker, lec- tures at half-past ten A. M., subject—I. Corinthians, xv., 50—“Now this Isay, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of God,” and at half-past seven P. M. on “Generic Progress.” Rev. £. 0. Sweetzer will preach this evening, in the charch corner of Bleecker and Downing streets, at half-past seven o'clock. Subject—“The En. chanted Ground.” Morning service at @ quarter bo eleven. Bishop Vail will preach in the chapel of St. Luke’s Hospital at half-past three o'clock. Bishop Snow will preach in the University, Wash- Ingion square, at three o'clock P. M. Subject—The Seven Last Plagues.” The OChuroh of the Resurrection has removed from Fifty-seventh street to Madison avenue, cor- ner of Forty-seventh street, where divine service will be held by Rev. Dr. Flagg morning and even- Ing. Sunday school at three P. M. At the Ohristan church Rev. W. 0. Dawson preaches at half-past ten A. M. and balf-past seven P.M. Evening discourse addressed to young men. Rev. Dr. Oheever will preach at half-past seven d’clock P. M. inthe Chapel of the University, on | ‘Washingten square. Subject—‘‘Prayer Not an Ex- periment, but the Law and Necessity of Spiritua) Life.” At the Central Methodist Episcopal church the order of services will be:—Opening of the new wliapel, preaching at half-past ten A. M. by Rev. Bishop Foster; at half-past seven P. M. by Rev. J. HH. Vincent, D. D. The chapel opening services will commence at three P. M. in the church. Rev. Bishop Janes; Rev. S. D. Brown, D. D.; Rev. J. M. Reid, D. D.; Rev. George S. Hare, D. D., and Rev. andrew Longacre will participate. ‘ At the Fifty-third street Baptist church Rev. Wil- Yam H. Pendleton preaches at half-past ten on “The Wells of Salvation,” and at half-past seven on “Samson Between the Pillars.” ' There will be interesting exercises in the Morn- dng Star Sunday Schoo}, Twenty-sixth street and Beventh avenue, at half-past two P. M. At the old Forsyth street Methodist Episcopal church the Rev. J. W. Barnhart preaches at half- | past ten A. M. and half-past seven P. M. Rev. H. D. Northrop will preach at West Twenty- Shird street Presbyterian church at half-past ten and balf-past seven. Rev. Dr. Tyng, rector of St. George's church, will Preach in the Church of the Holy Trinity at half- | past seven o'clock. Rev. 0. S. Harrower will preach at half-past ten ‘A. M., and Rev. Bishop R. 8. Foster, Rev. C. S. Har- rower and Rev. William F. Butler will speak in be- half of St. Mark’s (colored) Methodist Episcopal charch at half-past seven P. M. in St. Luke's Methodist Episcopal church. St the Russian Greek chapel divine service will Je held at eleven o’clock. At the Church of the Messiah Rev. Henry Powers will preach. Morning—‘‘Covetousness and Its ure.” Evening, first of course of sermons to goung people, Subject—-Getting Ready.” ‘The order of services at the Spring Street Pre» Dyterian church will be preaching by Rev. G. M. McCampbell, pastor elect, at hali-past ten A. M. Sudject—“Fighting Against Christ.” At three P. M., subject -‘Christian’s Trust.” Young people's prayer meeting at half-past seven P. M. The anniversary of the House of Mercy, New Work, will be held at Trinity chapel, West Twenty- ith street, this evening. The Bishop of the dio- wese will preside. The anniversary sermon will be preached by Rev. Morgan Dix, D. D. at Wainright Memorial Church, Rev. W. T. ‘Egbert, rector, the Rev. John W. Kramer will preach. “Why the World Will Not Believe the Church as 'B Witness of Christ” is the subject of a sermon by Rev. ©. A. G. Brigham, Catholic Apostolic church, at half-past seven P. M. Very Rev. T. N. Burke will preach at eleven ‘p’clock in the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, Sixty- Ath street and Lexington avenue. Father Tom Burke lectures to-night at the Brook- Jyn Academy of Music. Subject:—“Our Catholic Young Men.” “The Church of the Puritans” have rented for the \season the small chapel of the University on Wash- dogton square, and Rev. Dr. Cheever will preach ‘every Sabbath evening. Sittings free. Rev. William N. Dunneil in All Saints’ Free ‘ehureh. Chaplain J, Belen Lavai at the Bleecker street Mission. | In Berean Baptist church Rev. Philip S, Davies vill preach twice during the day. Rev. J. W. Shackelford, rector, in Church of the Redemer, Eighty-second street. Rev. John E, Cookman will preach in the Meth- Ddist Episcopal church, West Thirty-fourth street, ‘ Rev. George H. Hepworth in Steinway Hall. In the Baptist Mission, Rev. Halsey W. Knapp. Rev. Artuur C, Kemler in St. Augustine's chapel, Bowery. Father Preston's sermon in St. Ann’s church. Rev. Heury Powers in Church of the Messiah, Rev. Dr. Ewer in St. Ignatius’ church, Rev, John Colton’s lecture, Rev. C. 4. Brigham in the Catholic Apostolic pharch. Am Open Letter to Rev. George Hep- worth. fait an old acquaintance, and, indeed, an intimate tetond, to neve a little talk with you through tbe Rev. axp Deak MR. Herwortn—Will you me | NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, DECEMBER. 15,::1872—QUADRUPLE SHEET. medium of the Hzganp? You can hardly object to the HmnaLp, for you are now famous, and the Henao is the tiberal journal which has exhibited your numerous merits and your well-earned lau- rels to al! the mation of America. I have hailed you as an old acquaintance—that is just; I have the honor of acquaintance with you for a long time; andI have put myself down asan old friend— that too is just; you and I have been students under the same collegé roof. And now, what have I got to say? My dear friend, Iwill telt you. I am at present up to the chin of my understanding in the take 5f dark theological doubt; and as you have just come forth erect in body and soul and covered with certitude in all your religious fibres, from that unfortunate, and, | might say, infernal pool—for, to me, it is direly in- fernal—I come to you, impioring you to throw me arope of relief by which I may work my way to the shore of absolute safety. My dear friend, when you threw up Unita- rianism I was staggered in all my nature; when you put that faith under your two feet and tram- pled it out of life with all the strength of your vig- orous and ful faculties [fell to the earth. And what wonder? had abiding faith in om eae 1 was satisfied that Unitarianism would infallibty lead my imperishable soul to heaven. My spiritual po and my God vanished from me at once, an lost all peace of heart, of soui, of intellect, of blood itsel!l, Three months of this deplorable con- dition passed over my devoted head. At the end of that time I began to feel theologically alive once in. Notin the Unitarian way. No! and never! That was impossible. Your change, or defection, or inspiration, or courageous adventure, or whatever is the proper name for it, was almost instantly fol- lowed by a ruthless and an unmitigated peeling off of all the Unitarian epidermis that was on mi and a single scale of the repudiated cuticle I ha never taken up with since. 1 have, indeed, occa- ked back on the cast-off creed, but always wil shudder. It is not in the custody of an angel grinning devil has it all in his charge, and in vil guardianship i¢ must remain for ever, as far as Iam concerned. And thus, you see, you have cut me loose from theism. But there is More work for you to do in behalf. Lhave closely watched your career, and I am perpetually axus myself two questions—first, is my dear frien: yp rry ayeee now? and Grp er ing that he has the true faith in all ite éxtent and virtue, am I, who followed him before into Unitarian- ism and out of it again, obliged, before God, to follow him again? My dear friend, these are the two questions which, as intimated above, are steeping me to the very chin in the dtsturbing, suicide-provoking rs of religious scepticism. ‘My friend, bear with an old friend; the issue at stake 1s nothing less than my eternal salvation, and, therefore, | want to have these two oppres- sive, exacting, killing questions solved. Have you all the true faith ?. Have you certain authority from God to preach, so that under God you are pound, at the peril of your soul, to preach, and so that the ple, at the peril of their souls, are bound to ear you? The truth is, [have been studying the logic of theok Of late, and these two distressing questions are the chief fruit of the Letom Are they legitimate questions? I thinkso, Look at the first of them. I want to save my soul; and, therefore, it is essential forme to know that you, whom I have an inclination to follow, have all the divine truth necessary for my salvation, and that with this truth no error is or ever can be, as far as youare concerned, mixed up. Suchis the first ques- tion. No one can say that it is not legitimate, na- tural, just; in fact, of the very highest consequence. ‘To say that it is an unimportant ela or to put it off with a minimizing answer is to impugn the perfect sanctity of faith ; and as faith is of God such an act must be destructive of the salvation of the human soul. ‘The first question, then, ts an essential one for me to have solved. And look at the second question. As far as | theology teaches me it is quite as essential as the first. I want to save my soul, under your guidance. Has God really and surely given’ you authority to teach? If He has 1 am bound at the very perilot my soul to hear you. If He has not there 18 no obligation on me as to the salvation of my soul to hear you, and, that ene the case, it is impossible for me to be saved if | follow your leadership. This argument is based on the prin- ciple taat all obligation as to the salvation of the soul must come from God alone. And this principle can never be exploded, for God is the creator of the soul, the eternal Judge of man 1n all his acts, and because salvation essentially and entirely con- sists in being forever with God. I supmit, then, that the second question that perplexes me is one that must have solution. Thus my two questions are legitimate. Now, who wili solve these questions for me?’ Behold them! They carry with them nothing less than my eternal sal- vation. They are pressing on me day and night and night and day. My dear friend, it is a fact that these two questions have often made me wish that the soul perished forever the instant it leaves | the cherished tenement of clay, I come to you for their solution. To whom elge should 1 go? And now, my dear friend, here comes the most ainful confession of all—the divulgement of the | fact that makes my two doubting questions have all their stifling weight upon my soul. And it is | this—a logical certitude that you have not all the | truth necessary for my salvation, and that you are | not sate from change any more than you were | when you were the most intrepid of Unitarians; | and, Second, another logical certitude that you ey | have not a commission to preach from God. And I will tell you the chief cause of this twojold scepticism, (My dear friend, bear with me! -If you Knew what doubt, what a very woe of perplexity I have within, Lam sure you would). I ground my- self on your next installation in the Brick church. A great many ministers installed you, Three may be said to have represented the whole body. These are Dr. Tyng, Jr., Dr. Hail and the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, It is sate to reason tor the justification of your new position from these three distinguished ministers. And, therefore, I ask you, have they all the true faith? and is it sale forever in their hands’ and had they authority from God to pasron in religious jurisdiction over souls? Look | at the plain fact. These three ministers have three essentially different creeds. These three ministers, therefore, hold each other to be tainted with error. | Therefore, themseives jor witnesses, they have not the faith they have. As a consequence it is simply impossible for you, as far as the integrity and continued purity of the faith are concerned, to have received from these three ministers true or divine installation. Let me now look at the commission to teach. | When did these three ministers receive divine au- thority to give you divine authority to preach the Gospel? Ti is 4 repudiate what is called apostolical succession. Very well. They have, then, no such succession, and, therefore, they have no authority from the Apostles to give you authority to preach. Has an angel been sent down from heaven to con- fer authority on them? Noclaim to that effect is even imagined. Has Christ Himself come back to the earth and imparted to them authority to teach and to commission others to do the seme? It is not pretended that He has. Christ, there- fore, has not done this thing by your commissioners. But, you will say, berbe; 1s | all the needed authority for this thing is fa ; the Scriptures! My dear friend, thére is no more authority in the Sciiptures for the three distin- guished clergymen named to give you jurisdiction over souls than there is for you or for any other man to give them jurisdiction over souls—not a bit more, not a bit less; and therefore you cannot prove by the Scriptures that your authority to preach ts valid, And thus, my dear friend, you are totally nude of all divine commission in your ofMice oi pastor of souls, ‘This is what cuts me open with intolerable pain. I want to be saved. It is as safe to follow you as any other minister. But, O heavens! it is awful; your faith is not whole and your authority 1s all covered with flaw! My dear friend, pardon me for having positive views. My soul is a thing that positively exists; that my soul is imperishable is a positive truth; that lam a responsible being is as positively true as that the sun is in the sky; and that religion has all to do with the everlasting saving or losing of my soul is positively certain. For these reasons 1 have a right to have positive demands to make of the minister to whose teaching I am inclined to entrust my soul's evernai welfare. My dear friend, such is my whole case. Is it an irrational one? Manisa rational creature. How can it be irrational for him to desire to be sure that the minister he toliows has all that is necessary in faith and authority? Lam in hay her pt J doubt. I love my wile, my. children, my friends; but this reasonable doubt ip which i am often makes me wish that life were over. I was once in peace. That was before you put Unitarianism in the gut- ter and trampled on it. So cometo me now with | words of certitude. You have a great heart; there- fore come to relief, You have a fine under- standing; perhaps you can dissuive my doubts. Oh, if you can, I entreat you. to hasten and do so Do so in ‘the HexaLo. The Hena.p is a universal vehicle. Iam on the wing on business, and wherever I go I can find the HERALD. 1am not alone. There are many, many like me. Are you possessed of certitude in faitn? Are you possessed of certitude in the authority of our commission? This is the entre case, Tos ave this double, indispensable, essential certi- wuae. Then make an exposition of it to an old friend—to is | old friends. Do not despise us. Have charity. In charity for our souls that once followed you—that imcline to you now—that will always love you. Show us your certitude, FIFTH AVENUE Hore, Dec. 8, 1872. EB Pope Pt IX. om the Education of Catholic Youth—Letter to the Young Catholics’ Friend Society of Washing- ton. WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 187% The following letter, just received from His Holi- ness Pius 1X., willbe read to-morrow (Sunday) at the meeting of the Young Catholics’ Friend So- ciety, to be held in Carroll Hall. It was sent in reply to resolutions of sympathy for the Holy Father adopted at the last anoual meeting of the society :— To our Beloved Son, Mr. J. EoMoND Matern, Presi- dent of the Young Catholics’ Friend Society, of Washington, D. 0.:— BELOVED SON—Heaith and apostolic bencaiction! It has given us pleasure to learn trom your letter aj tue ith of last September that there exists al] the faith, and there is no safety from error in | 8 society, under th of Pa Roe oe eT Jour Tastors In supporting pari echoota, 0 ou! the children of Catholic families to attend — and to spread and Fewer right and sound principles concerning this most important matter of Catholic education. ‘Truly does this under- taking of yourself and your associates give evidence of your charitable zeal, which is the more to us, because we have always re- garded as deserving of our greatest care what- ever, in these times of perversity, has reference to the welfare of Christian youth, and especially to the directing of their ways by good and careful traint Hence we earnestly congratulate yo beloved son, and aasociates, on your excellen' undertaking, and we doubt not following ce the guidance of yoi y duty, uu will 80 energetically prosecute the work of your society as to deserve the hearty ap- Probation of your fellow citizens, and, what is of Still greater lempertance, to obtain an abundant re- compense from God, the rewarder of all works, In the meantime we beseech His Divine Majesty that through the intercession of your holy patron He would copi¢ bless your pious re and heap upon them the heavenly favors of his pleasure, As to the resolutions of protest against the outrages inflicted on this Holy See and of devot- edness to it and to ourselves, which you adopted at your annual meeting, we have received this testimony of your affection and fidelity most tefully, and from it we, from our heart, re- ‘urn you, in this letter, our assurance of paternal love. We ask you to consider as a pledge of this, and asan earnest of all heaventy blessings which we wish you, the Apostolic Benediction, which we most lovingly in the Lord bestow on you, beloved 80M, and on all the members of your society and on our families. jiven at Rome, at St. Peter’s, on the 23d day of October, in the year 1872, in the Late ith year of our pontificate, PIUS P. P. IX, A Reply to t! Rev. D. McAllister. To THE Epiror OF THE HERALD In glancing over the cotumns of your excellent and liberal journal of to-day I find the report of a discourse delivered by Rev. D. McAllister, before the congregation of the Third Reformed Presby- terian church, The reverend gentleman clearly does not fully understand the subject which he treats, either in its nature orin many of its im- portant bearings; and I regret to say that his views are very unfair, very dangerous and very wrong. From the Alpha to the Omega of Mr. McAllister’s religious creed, and his strictures on the able decision of Superintendent Weaver, I take the liberty of dissenting, and I claim a legal, a constitutional and a natural right to do so, And, first, in selecting his text, the reverend gentleman assumes the existence of a God, a su- preme being, the creator of the universe and dis- tinct from it, which he, no doubt, in common with other churchmen, calis God, Secondly, he assumes that this God has made a Tevelation to man, and that we are responsible to this being for our actions. Thirdly, he assumes that a correct record of this revelation has been kept, and that the Bible issuch @ record. Fourthly, he assumes that because this supposed God had commanded the Israelite nation under a theocratic government to teach these things that, therefore, our government has the right, and that it is its duty, to do the same. He says, “Here is the nation’s duty, and as there is no duty without its rights, and no_right without its duty, here is the national right to the use of the Divine Word.” Itistrue there can be no duty without a right, but itis not true that there can be no right with- out aduty, Ican waive or disregard my right to certain things. I cannot neglect or disregard my duty without violating the law of the State, or the great and supreme law of nature. The reverend gentleman tells us, “If the State undertakes this work it cannot dispense with the Bible.” I hold as firmly that it must dispense with it, and that neither the State nor the nation uor their govern- ments can have apy more right to teach the writ- ings of supposed prophets than it has to teach the views of Emanuel Swedenborg, of Jefferson, of Rousseau or, Voltaire. _Again, Mr. McAllister says:—“If the State has a right to use the Bible and the great principles of the Christian religion in her reformatories as a remedial measure, who shall deny her right to use the same for preventing crime?’ I will answer— The State has no right to use the Bible nor the great principles of the Christian religion in her reformatories as a remedial measure when such are inculcated as supernaturally revealed; and I, for one, shall forever deny her right to use the same nieans for preventing crime, And my reasons are that it would be a complete union of Christianity and civil government, which would be the total subversion oi our present form of gov- ernment, founded, as it is, upon the great and seli-evident truth that allmen are created equal. Secular instruction, he says, practically teads to infidelity and atheistic ruction. This is simply untrue, and Mr. Beecher’s arguments on this point are conclusive, Mr. McAllister to the contrary notwithstanding. is now more than fliteen years since we re ed the belief in the existence of a Supreme Being, distinct from the universe, after having listened to the reading of the Bible from our childhood in the public schools, and there- fore it Was not the want of the Buble in the pub- lic schools that caused us to regard it as alegend and to regard the history of creation contained in It as the history of the earth and the tortoise. Mr. Weaver is right in his decision; he is right when he aflirms twat there is no legai basis for the use of the Bible in our school system, and Mr. McAllister’s historical researches fail to find any. Itis clear from the tenor of the preacher's dis- course that he is greatly disatisfied with the liberal principles of our constitution and of our govern- ment, since he invokes the aid of his Christian fellow citizens to insert in the constitution an acknowledgment of God and His Bible. This language smacks not only ‘of Christian sectarian citizenship but also of that muscular Christianity which is held only by a jew Christian bigots, and to which ‘they would sacrifice any form of government, every interest and every truth. Thanks to an enlight- ened people, we can look forward with hope for a brighter era, when this Christian, sectarian and biblical imposition shail cease to be an apple of discord for our people, and when its sectarian and discordant influence in the councils of our govern- ment shall at last be unheard of and unknown. Those who favor sectarian schools, such as Ro- manists and others, will be much gratified at the arguments made by the Rev. Mr. McAllister, as it would appear that the gentleman is more in favor oi sectarian schools with the Bible supported by the State then State schools without the Bible. Ifever such a system siould be inau- rated Mr. McAllister, I trust, will not consider it wrong to give a proportionate amount of the public money to the sect that shall teach the non- existence of any other god than nature and its laws, as a curdinal point of its system, as well as to the various sects that teach their discordant ideas of a divine Being and of their relationship to ‘im, ATHEOS. The Downward Tendency of Religion. To TH& Epiror oF THE HERALD:: in my last week's letter I treated on the great importance of our having a faithiul Gospel minis- try established among us, in order to our securing the fruits of a wise and beneficent national gov- ernment. Perhaps it is desirable to throw out a few more suggastions, with a view to call public attention to this momentous subject, both on the part of the pastors and the Christian people, We are living in an age when the great mass of our fellow men are more absorbed in materialism— in the secular objects and pursuits of iiie—than in the tremendous business of our souls’ salvation. In no country have greater achievements been done in these departments of labor than in our own. How stupendous have been the material labors during the past fifty years! The fathers of our country—our Washington, Jefferson, the Adamses, Hamilton and Frankiin—would gaze with astonisiment were they #0 see the progress and growth of our young Republic, which they labored with such zeal and heroism to establish, The thirteen young colonies which they formed imto @ nation of confederate States have now sprung into @ young Co- lossus, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the British possessions to the Gulf of Mexico. Hamlets have grown into towns and towns swelled into cities, and Anglo-Saxon civilization has advanced with onward march across the vitae forests and prairies, until with our tide of foreign emigration we now number a population of nearly forty millions of people. So gigantic have been the labors of our citizens and so sublime their energy in the development of our material resources that the vital interests of re- ligion have thereby been greatly neglected. Another cause of the declension of religion among us is to be found in the intellectual ten- dencies of the =e. During the past century many of the most profound thinkers in England and on the Continent of Europe, a8 well as in America— men of literature, philosophers, statemen and the- ologians—bave been ireethinkers and infidels. With many of them the tendency to douvt has been greater than the tendency to adore. The profound and learned minds ofJohu Horne, Richard Baxter, foundations of the Christian religion with humility and reverence, and at every step have drawn nearer to God, led by the light of acoumulating evidence, with deepening convictions and more matured experience. On the contrary, during the past century, many able thinkers, dis- carding the supernatural filumination cun- tained in the Holy Scriptures, and lean- ing on the unaided light and seif-willed dance of their own minds, have wandered fh their researches further and further from God and His Gospel truth. The more they investigated the: etna the deeper into chaos and dark ath, wolil many of tem became ensurouded to | Protestant confirmed oy ea Like thoge unbtest spirits. described by Milton in his Sparadise Last,” Others apart sat on e hill retired, 1s More Cle | and Mirae ies eieceeencie sete . wi Eid bend ct cakte contarien tesa lee Among this host of balefu: thinkers, who have carried ruin and destruction in their train, we refer to Voltaire, Rousseau and the Encyclopedi- asts in France; to Kant, Fichte, Schelling and Strauss in Germany; to Hume, Thomas Carlyle and other thinkers in jdengiana and to Emerson, ‘Theodore Parker aad others {n America, The tend- ency of the writings of those men of unsanctified mind has been to throw doubts on the divinity of Ed Cesietian religion aud to bring it into con- fempt. Besides, many eminent scholars have arisen in Germany, England and other nations of Europe who have subjected the Holy Scriptures to a keener and more critical scrutiny than they ever received formerly. But we confidently believe hat at the close of this trying transition age in which we live they will come forth unscathed from the ordeal and gain a ter influence over tho nations than at any former period, Another source of the irreligion of our age is to be found in the spparea! conflicts between science and the sacred Scriptures, which have shaken the belief of many of our Recple. Representatives of this class of men are to be found in the Huxleys and Tyndalls and Spencers and Darwins of our day, who bring scanty tacts, now dimly seen in twi- light, in the undeveloped fields of natural science, and arrogantly range them in antagonism to the sacred Scriptures, A more penetrating ard com- prehensive survey of those natural delds by abler explorers in the future will, no doubt, as on former occasions, bring out the divine harmony betweeen the works and the inspired Word of God, But a still deeper and stronger cause of the prac- ticalun godliness of our day isto be found in the natural alienation of the heart of man from God, as revealed in the Scriptures, This can only be sur- mounted by the supernatural operation of the spirit of God and the earnest and habitual use of the means of grace. We may startle many of your readers when we speak of the practical ungodiiness of this age. ‘They will point us to the great number of churches of diferent denominations in our towns and cities—many of them crowded with people clong- ing to the various circles of society. They will point us to the number of Bibles and other ks to be found in our families ; they will call our atten- tion to the numerous Sabbath schools in our land, attended by hundreds of thousands of scholars. They will tell us of the number of our benevolent institutions and public and private charities. These, no doubt, plainly indicate that we are a professedly Christian nation. But they by no means decide the presence of so la’ an amount of vital piety among us as we ought to poetent. Were we to analyze the members of our ristian congregations we should find that com. paratively few of them carry out consistently the operas of the Christian religion in their daily jife and business; that very few of them live habit- ually in the fear of God and under the influence of the world to come; that very few of our house- holds attend to the duties of family worship, but are rather living in practical infidelity, without God and without hope in the world, or resting in some delusive hope without any solid fonndation. it we need, then, is to have the moral sense of our people quickened, to have our community more deeply impressed with an abiding sense of the presence of an over-ruling God and of the certainty of a world to come, and to have the momentous truth proclaimed to them, with the most impressive earnestness, that we are by nature rebels in the sight of God and require tu be reconciled to Him by the bloed of His Son, our merciful Redeemer, and to corr in mind the solemn fact that each one of us will have to appear before the Jndgment seat of Christ to render an account to God for our conduct in this world, They should be made to feel that we are here under the providence of God in a sphere of prokercn. with an eternal destiny before us of happiness or misery. ere our popular ministers to keep these tre- mendous facts steadily before their minds it would arouse them to greater earnestness and faithtul- ness in their high vocation as heralds of the cross. It would tend to inspire them with an apostie’s zeal to seek and to save the lost. Were our pulpits generally to be filed with faith- ful ministers of the Gospel, fired with zeal for our Redeemer and with burning love to the souls of our fellow men, we should have them Sabbath after Sabbath, with their various orders of gifts and graces and acquirements, preaching a sound Gos- pel to the people and proving themselves able fishers of men. A new era would soon burst on our city and nation, Practical godliness would Nourish more in our churches; missionary enter- prise at home and abroad would receive a new im- puise mightier than the world has ever seen; a higher morality would everywhere prevail in our social and business circles and marts of com- merce; corruption would hide its odious head in our political government and shrink from the light of day, instead of walking, as tt does now, with steutorian tongue and brazen front, and disorders and crimes would almost disappear from our streets, Then we shall find that an honored Gospel ministry is the palladium of our land, and rigut- eousness the true foundation of our national great- ness. A FRIEND. Methodist Unification—A National Assem- bly of the Several Branches Sug- gested—Views of Leading Ministers and Journalsa—The Church South, The great question of forming a closer union be- tween the great Protestant denominations for the purposes of general action has extended to the Methodists, and the subject has been taken up with earnestness by the press and ministers of that com- munion, Last Sunday the HERA called attention tothe movement now agitating the Presbyterian body having for its object the assembling of an | ecumenical council in Philadelphia or in some other city inthe United States or Europe, to be decided upon hereafter. The Methodists at present only look to a more intimate fellowship with religtonists who are followers in general of the teach- ings of Wesley in America, Rov. Alexander Clarke, of Pittsburg, Pa., and others have expressed an anxious desire to see a gencral Methodist reunion, and have taken steps to elicit the views of leading clergymen and journals onthe subject. Rev. Daniel Curry, editor of the Christian Advocate, in this city, is not prepared to give an unfavorable answer nor yet to decline directly and unqualifiedly. the proposed measure. The great dificulty, it would appear, is with the Church South, which demands certain conditions relative to property that are considered inadmissible; and also shows a disinclination to accept certain pro- posals relative to admitting colored people among its members on terms of equality, It may be stated here that the negroes in the North belong- of Methodist pay it would therefore does not meet wrth fi at favor in New York. the Christian Advocate a\ that the idea of a great Eoumenical Council has no charms for it, but rather opposite; a Nationa! Methodist Union might or might not bo for the best. It is not so much opposed to sects as others, and does not consider separate ecclesiastical organizations a great evil; posuibly in somo cases not an evil at all, but a real good to be cherished and propitiated, ‘and would Momination into waingie srsanie!beage ese le or; . pore ng ‘ganic body, It is op- posed any change in the ministrative laws of the Methodist Epis- C0} Church, but would receive Pat without any ceremony, if they should sink at once their separate Organizations by passing over to the larger household. Whenever this is the case the unification of such bodies as are vir- tually identical ought to be labored tor always mode- rately, discreetly and in the seiris of charity, The easiest way to accomplish this is the vest and which calls for no diplomacy, no settling of cond- tions, but simply the disintegration of lesser bodies and the absorption of constituent elements by the greater, ‘The discussion of any other method would be unwise and would lead to no practical results, It must be borne in mind ghat the Metho- dist Episcopal Church in the Northern States is an immensely wealthy corporation, There are in- vested im its Book Concern alone millions of dollars, A WESTERN VIEW OF THE SUBJECT. The Cincinnati ministers of all denominations (referred to above) had a lively discussion on the general subject a few days since. Some of the views presented are certainly worthy ofnote. Rev. Dr. Thomas considered the present condition of the Christian Church abnormal, criminal and disgrace- ful; it was scattered and divided. The millions of the Greek and Roman Catholic Churches and the millions embraced in the disjointed members of the Reformed Church, if an army under one com- mander, possessed an immense power for good; but what army ever won @ battle where every regiment followed its own leader. The Oriental Church is a unit; the Roman Catholic justly boasts of its unity; the Protestant Church glories in its disuaity. There are 1,200 divisions in the Protest- ant Church, If they wanted strength they must bevafil union, If the Christian Church was united it ANSWER TYNDALL IN TEN MINUTES, The second point to look atis the possibility of accomplishing the upion, “What are you going to do ?’ is the question that shuts every man’s mouth. Are you going to ask the Methodists to shut up their Concerns, abandon their associates and open their hearts? There had been trials to effect this union of Christians, and there would be more. The ar- gumentative | spe failed, but the speaker thought the subject settled in the thirteenth chap- terof Romans. if we would only quit BUTTING EACH OTHER LIKE GOATS and live in peace it was clear to Doctor Thomas’ mind there would be but one fold under one shep- herd. Looking at the future of the Church he maintained that God had a grand purpose in keep- 136 rae Continent back. He could not say what this purpose was; but God seemed to have put everything into it, ag Macbeth’s witches had put everytl into the cauldron to boil and bubble. ‘There were indications of union all over the world. In Australia, as big as the United States, the Presbyterian and Episcopal Churches are laborin; together, so that by and by the distinction woul be lost thero, REV. COLONEL GRANVILLE MOODY called Doctor Thomas to account for ignorance of natural history in asserting that goats butt; but the Doctor rebutted by saying that a goat bad butted Dim the other day. The Colonel took the ground that the Church wasan army composed of infantry, cavalry and artillery, each acting in its proper sphere. Each division of an army marched under one banner and formed line under one head. Let one part of the line be touched, and see how all would rally like a band of brothers, Rev. Mr. McCune said he had been looking with a candle for one minister in favor of union. He would appeal vo his Methodist brethren. It was a shame to ask men of means to support so many churches. Rey. Mr. Mellish declared that Christ founded only one Church, ‘On this rock,”’ He said, “1 will build my Moy id not my churches. The oneness was recognized everywhere. ‘The Church at this or that place is always A of in Scripture as in the case of Corinth, Galatia, Ephesia, We should drop all distinctions, and instead of call- ing Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, &c., wo should say the Church at New York, Cincinnati, Boston, &c. Rev. Dr. Hattield and Bishop Wiley, of the Methodist church, continued the discussion, but no conclusion was reached. ‘The different views ex- pressed by prominent clergymen, it must be said, do not afford much encouragement for a union of other denominations than the Presbyterians. In Tespect to the latter the proposition for the meet- ing of a general council seems to be gaining favor. A Day of Special Intercession in the Episcopal Church—The Lord of the Harvest and Missionarics—The Field in Afrlca—The Services on Friday Next. Friday next, 20th instant, nas been set apart in the American Episcopal Church for special inter- cession to the Lord of the harvest that He may be pleased to send forth laborers into His harvest. The House of Bishops, at their meeting, held last October, appointed a committee to prepare a form of service for the occasion to be used in all the dioceses of the United States. Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, April 19, 1872, ‘The plan was submitted to the Archbishop | of Canterbury, and having received bis cordial sanction, the concurrence of the Church Missionary society was invited and promptly given, quently each of the two societies published a minute inviting its friends and agents in all parts of the world to onite in prayer on the appointed day, The gatherings for prayer next Friday will not have the character of missionary meet- ings. The special object of the occasion is not for | the support of missionaries, but for interceding be- fore Almighty God for an increase of the gilt of His spirit and of His blessings upon the work. The Episcopal bishops of the United States have issued pastorals to their flocks, hoping that the day will be observed in the closet, in the family and in company of fellow laborers in the missionury cause, $0 that fellow helpers in work shall be fel- low helpers in prayer, and the spirit of devotion quickened by this solemn occasion; and, further, that each individual who attends them may Iecl they are real workers in the mission efforts, REASONS FOR THE DAY OF INTERCESSION, ‘The reasons given for setting apart a day of in- | ‘Onera » | and depri tercession before the close of the year are, firs that the reports of the missionary societies bear testimony to the fact that the principal stations ‘This movement was | inaugurated in England, by the Society for the | Subse- | | the oth instant im Cincinnati, after a soaaion of tem days, The delegations, clerical and lay, came from all parta of the country. Besides the regular rep- resentativea there were alarge number of visit ors in attendance. There are several branches ob this denomination; but the Reformed Church ap proximates closer to the old Dutch Reformed Church, the first established in New York, than anp other form of Preabyterianism. In fact a consid- erable portion of the time of the Synod was takem up in discussing measores for an immediate untew of the two-communions. Their principles are act forth in the resolutions of the Synod of Dort, held in 1618, Another denomination, know as the Reformed Chureh, is composed of what are called Covenanters, They olaim lineal descent from the men who entered into & solemn league and covenant im Great Britain and Ireland in 1643, The members adhere to the same doctrines, however far they may come short in carrying out their application, The latter have been regarded as entertaining cer- tain peculiar opinions on the subject of civil rule. One party helds that they cannot own allegiance so any government that refuses to acknowledge allegiance to Jesus Christ, and as the United States constitution does not contain this acknowledgment they in a measure decline to recognize the author- ity of the government. At their last annual Syno@ a resolution was adopted calling for an amendment to the constitution providing for the acknowledg- ment of the Christian religion, From time to time some of the Covenanters have entertained the opinion that the constitution and government are essentially immorai and infidel and therefore dia- sented from both, In consequence in 1833 a num- ber of ministers and adherents seceded and formed aseparate organization. The great body of the Church, however, believe a representative democ- racy is ordained of God and approve of the repubit- can form and character, THE SYNOD OF DORT. The Synod which has just closed tts session a& Cincinnati are better known as German Reformers. The Synod of Dort, from which they take their doo- trines, assembied 154 years in consequence of disputes ‘between the Calvinists and Armenians upon five points relating to election, redem| bay Aire sin, grace and perseverance, in Holland ioaded the other with reproaches, soctal intercourse was seriously interrupted. By aegrees the controversy grew into a State matter, and threatened the dissolution of the government. Maurice, Prince of Orange, put himselt at the head of the Calvinists, though really entertaining the same views as their opponents, because they were in favor of a stadtnolder; and the magistrates whe were opposed to a stadtholder took part with tne Armenians. The Synod consisted of thirty-eight Dutch and Walloon divines, tive university pre- fessors and several lay elders, embracing in all Feat ay persons. Besides these, twenty-cighs foreign divines, from Great Britain, Switzerland, France and Germany, joined in the deliberations, ‘They heid 180 mectings, and during the twenty- third each member took an oath expressing purpose not to use ANY KIND OF HUMAN WRITINGS, pee ey the word of God as a sure and infallible rule of juith, The tive points were decided in favor of the Caivinists, alter which the Armenians were dismissed the assembly and banished the coun! within a limited time, unless they submitted to the new contession, The authority of the Synod wag far from being recognized out of Holland. Of ite proceedings very different opinions have obtained among the contending parties, some holding that since the days of the Aposties never had an assem- bly more excellent divines, and that its equity was such that no instance can be given where heretion were treated with more forbearance. Others, how- ever, poured contempt upon it, and braved ev danger sooner than subinit to its decisions. Bat all impartial men think that it were much to be wished that they had been more conformable to the spirit of charity than the representations of histery, fairly considered, show them to have been, Great Britain Presbyterianism atter the teachil of Knox took root, and in France the consistor system, which is more nearly Presbyterian thaa either German or Dutch, was established, The principles of the Synod of Dort were introduced ia the New World by the first settlers of New York. BUSINESS OF THE SYNOD. The National Synod was organized by the elec- tion of Rey. Dr. Klein, ef Louisville, Ky., President; Revs, G. B. Russell and J. H. Good Vice Presi- dents; Rev. D. KE. Klapp Secretary, ‘The chict business transacted during the first three days related to reports and communications from the Dutch Reformed and Moravian churches looking towards unity; to applications from negroes im Southern States to form district synods, and for the formation of German ciassis within the bounds of English classis, which were granted. From the report at the last meeting of forty missions the number has grown to eighty, showing @ and vigorous progress ‘The missions 7,000 members, 160 Sum- ‘The chief subject ss1on—Which lasted two days—was an he decision of a district synod in re; theology by Doctor Bomberger, ef Elsinius College, the lower body wishing to contine theological imstruction to theological seminaries, The district body pronounced the Doctor’s couduct disorderly without any trial or oppor- | tunity tor defence. The case really involves | one of the principles upon vlich two parties in the Church (High Church and Low Church) are divided, The High Chureh is in favor | of a centralized system of teaching, while the Low | Chureh party is for the right Of munisters to pre- pare students for the ministry by giving them im- struction in theology. The right to give private theological instruction was sustained by a vote of 100 to 78, peal fr | to t MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. ) . The last days of the session were taken up in the | discussion of an appeal from the action of the Ola | synod in the case of Rev. Henry Knepper, whe had appealed from the Illinois classis, which deposed him, having found him guilty of the | charge of adultery, on the ground that he married | after obtaing @ divorce, which, though legal, was | not procured on Scriptural grounds. It appeared | further, and the charge was sustained, that he had husband was | living, aud from whom she had not been | divorced on Scriptural grounds. Mr. Lite | per had been twice legally divorced. The compiain' ere against—i’ , the action of the Ohio Synod in remanding the case to the Classis on account of new married & woman whose | evidence; second, the decision of the President of that Synod being that during the pendency of | the case Mr. Knepper shall ‘rest in ecclesia"’—4, e., be suspended from exercising the functions of & | minister. This matter called forth a lengthy dis- cussion, the result being that the National Synod ispended Mr. Knepper from the ministry and the He was thus practically excommunicated “of his living. It very doubtful, if | this proceeding took place in Germany at present, | but the members who voted in its favor would not have laid themseives liable to punishment an- are calling for additional laborers. Sierra Leone | der the new law passed by the Prussian Reichstag. MISSIONARY SPIRIT OF I ing to the denomination have separate church and religious organizations from the whites, A WARM SUPPORTER OF THE PROPOSITION. The Methodist, of this city, referring to the pro- posed Presbyterian Council, hopes it will be carried out, and promises to advocate it to the best of its ability. It recognizes its importance, because it thinks it will be followed by a Methodist counctL It is of importance to every Christian having com- mon interests and wno believes common action should be taken. Protestantism Is one by virtue of its unity in fandamental princtples, anit should be more and mo one by the operation of a common unde: beeidin among its various branches, Evangelical Protestantism will be stronger by such @ council. It rests on justification by faith alone and the right of every man to read the Scriptures and judge of their contents for himself under persona respon- sibility to God, Our age, the Methodist thinks, re- quires a reaMrmation of these fundamental truths; that the line should be drawn firmiy between sacerdotal and evangelical authority, and that the difference should be made clear to the common | mind. It is this service it isexpected the proposed council can do, In Cincinnati the ministers of that city during the past weck discussed this very ques. | tion, and the views expressed were tavorable to a closer union between the different denominations, DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY. Besides the difficulties stated above there are others put forward which, it is claimed, stand in the way of a council of American Methodists, Dr. Curry believes that there are now too many | sects, and between some of them the differences | are so small a» not to justify separate existence, The relations, however, of the two large Methodist bodies in this country towards each other indicate that the time for union has not yetcome. The sentiment of brotherly affection now happily in- creasing is not suMciently mature for such a con- summation. The policy and practice of the two bodies towards colored people are not finally agreed, and it is not wise, there- fore, to tate the organic union of the two Church bodies. During years of pro- scription the colored people were all through the North precluded, though not by any form of eccle- siastical law, ‘from the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in the separation they formed them- selves into two bodies, known as the Bethel and Zion Churches, and for their benefit, and that tne white people may have the opportunity to dis- charge so long deferred a duty to their hitherto neglected brethren, Mr. Curry favors a union of both colored Methodist Churches to the parent body. WORTHY BRANCHES OF THK CHURCH. With reference to two other bodies of the Meth- odist family—the Evangelical Association ana the United Brethren—the tor 18 not well informed. They are doing good work, if not better than the chief branch of the denomination, They uti- lize unlearned men for the ministry; run church attairs on very inexpensive principles and seek out the poor and hegiected, in back ‘hoods and igh out of the Aaty (4 In respect to Methodist merican Wesleyans and Methodists who are well known and recognized in the generat religious community, there does not seem to be any reason for their further continuance; they have served their purposes and fulfilied their mission. They could without any abandonment of principle, if they desired, ve admiticd to the parent Methodist avock, CONDITIONS OF UNION: ON ONE S108. ‘The Pittsburg call, though seconded by a number is described as a bright spot in 1,500 miles on the | 4 " The Reformed or German Church has ever been @ West Coast of Africa, and there are two or three | jnissionary church. The ministers possess much of more such, but between them there is thick dark- | that cbt an Parag bt ole woeuientin ‘ v1 e ing to the destitute beyond the bounds of their owa tiess, Why should not, it Is asked, the whole const | imeacdiate oonare eh he members are coae be illuminated by the light of native churches, 80 | tered over the Middle and Western States. The that, a8 on the coast line of England, the mariner | Committee on the ae of the peta! reported % | that since the last meeting the number of ministers Mot by the Arishdly rays of second, ahieson i | lad grown from 526 to 586, an increase oF 60; clasais continuous succession? And then still there wut | {rom #1 to i4: mombers from 117,010 10 130,229, am be the vast interior of Africa, the thought of which | 10¢' ie Se Cee ae appals the heart of the Christian missionary. In | and cert rae wath barnuanina tan India and China th are populous places wholly | * Pa by ae Aye nt ice eglected. A second special reason f yer | ned ee ierived~ Ton the. general, nagumged | lloped a complete union will be formed with the state of many of the principal missions, | Vutch Reformed Church, which has its great which has made it necessary to provide ministers | Strength iu New York. of high attaininents and special guts to meet pres- ent necessities. A goodly company of native | teachers have been raised up, but there is also | needed men of a wide range of thought and of deep | experience in divine things, and mighty in the | Scriptures to meet snbtie inquiries and to exercise | dominions, where the order has several sarge a commanding influence over other men. A third | establishments, There is no law in the Empire reason for prayer, at this time, is represented to | . be suggested by a survey of the state of the world, | Inhibiting their residence in the country. There in which everywhere ail things seem to be in pro- | is, however, & pofice regulation that requires al Dar rors mae prea Riad poe atin | who enter its territory to register their names ing of the heathen and Mohammedan with Christ- | ian nations; the upheavings of the most solid | When it is their intention to remain permanently. foundations of social systems; the altered position | The exiled Jesuits have been received with every of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe ; these and | mark of respect, not alone by the people but by the many other signs of the times have, itis claimed, w ~ produced upon the minds of Christians generally | government. The members of the order, in com- a solemn impression that we @re ou the eve of | mon with other citizens of the Empire, enjoy cer- events foretold in prophecy. t . ol WORM OP SPECIAL PRAYER, ) tain rights‘ and privileges, which have always The Jesuits in Austria. Aconsiderabie uumber of Jesuit fathers, bam ished from Germany, took refuge in the Austrian Tne usual exhortation, contession, absolution, ver- sicies and collects are to be followed by special | prayers. The concluding one is as follows:—“How | many, O Jesus! of Thy sheep have no shepherd; none to show them their danger; none to keep them out of danger; none to lead themawhere they may find pasture. May Thine infinite wisdom and goodness, O Lord! reveal to us the means by which “4 Gospel may be preached unto them, and prepare their hearts to receive the truth, that they may be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious hberty of the children ot Go, The invitation extended by the English socteties | been ognized, Among these are posi- Lon veer ie amet accepted Ld Liga Hien ey tions im the Universities, for which their ranch of the Angfiexn communion. The service | prepared and set iorth for next Fridayin all Epiaco- | great learning and ability in teaching give al churches is in the form of morning prayer. | them superior qualifications. In the Tyrol, | which is abont half German and half Italian, and where the population ts chiefly Catholic, Is situated the University of Innspruck. The government at Vienna, much to the surprise ana indignation of the people, has been recently encroaching on tte privileges. This year the Rector Magnificus should ave been chosen, according to usage, from the faculty of theology, all of whom are Jesuits. The government, however, appointed a rector of their own, Doctor Ullman, of the faculty of law. The majority of the Fagen od Diet having vainly pro- tested against the proceeding, has given notice Send them pastors after Thine own heart, t they will no longer attend the sittings of the full of knowiedge, compassion and zeal, who Semis The Diets consequentiy, Was’ closes PITYING THRIR SAD CONDITION, | by the — Emperor. There is in thie may instruct them in the ways of trai and eternal | act gn indication of & leaning towards lite. Increase i in a a toucn the he Cad messengers and ministers, uch the hearts of | very litte favor in South Germany, ‘The Tyroleae all Christians with a true compassion like Thine, 0 | ave‘among the most devoted subjects of Sus eee vrd, tor all such as are strangers to Thee and the | of Hapsburg, and it would seem they take the rits of Thy death, by which they have been re- | sight to the Jesuits as a national afuir, Al deemed, that they may cheerfully contribute to® | nas many internal dificulties to contend with, and work so acceptable to the divine majesty. ADd | ay the ‘Tyrol sends & solid delegation in favor of may kd Holy Spirit, by the preaching of the Gos- | the policy of the government to the Keichsrath, pel, add daily to the Church such as shall be saved | it ty possible the defection of these representatives througn merits and mediation, O Lord aud | would lead to serious results, as parties are tn | lover of souls.”’ ogtelly batanced, Itis believed the appoint ° ry Dr. Ullman will be reconsidered. It has createé National Synod of the Reformed Charch— | (oy orai dissatisiaction throughout the Tyrol. Decision in a Case of Marriage and Divorce—Private Theological Instruc- “The Fellow Is a Jew.” tion—Union With the Dutch Reformed | To tHe Eprror or THE HERALD:— ‘Charch—The Synod of Dort. I cannot restrain from making a strictare on the ‘The fourth triennial Synod of the xeformed | communication of the stirring tragedy, “Shot Chuvoh of the Uuited States adiourned sine dic ou { iam Brothel,” an given uw yesterday's HeRaum the Prussian proscriptive policy, which receives