Review and Herald, Vol. 37, No. 7.
OUR FAITH AND HOPE; Or, Reasons Why We Believe as We DoPage 1
Earlier text: OUR FAITH AND HOPE; Or, Reasons Why We Believe as We DoThe cheerfu’ supper done, wi’ serious face,
They round the ingle form a circle wide;
The sire turns o’er, wi’ patriarchal grace,
The big ha’ Bible ance his father’s pride:
Then, kneeling down, to Heaven’s eternal King
The saint, the father, and the husband prays;
Hope “springs exultant on triumphant wing,”
That thus they all shall meet in future days.
—Burns. There is no more beautiful scene in the Christian’s pilgrimage on earth than the one which the poet Burns has so tenderly described in the “Cotter’s Saturday Night.” The gathering together, morning and evening, of the family circle to read the holy precepts and precious promises of the gospel, to sing the praises of the Most High in the sweet songs of Zion, to bow down in humble adoration of his majesty, and pour out with one accord their heartfelt thanks for his many blessings, and seek the consolations of his infinite grace, presents a spectacle which, in beauty and simplicity, surpasses all other forms of worship, and before which all the pomp and pageantry of the false religions of earth sink into insignificance. These daily seasons of devotion have a softening influence upon the hearts of the children, which renders them peculiarly susceptible to religious impressions; and the lessons of piety thus inculcated by the parents will sink deep into their hearts, and like seed sown in good soil, will spring up in after years into fruits of righteousness, crowning their lives with heavenly graces and Christian virtues. Prayer is a necessary element in the Christian character; and that parent who does not at stated times bring his family under its hallowing influences, is recreant to the high trusts which God has committed to his care. By an observance of this truly Christian duty, he familiarizes his children with the precepts and requirements of the gospel, imbues them with a love of righteousness and virtue, and a veneration for himself on account of his Christian character, which will make them strong to resist temptation when they leave the parental roof to go forth into the world to battle for themselves. As Daniel in his captivity, in a land of idolaters, when he was beset with the snares of his enemies, kneeled down in his chamber with his windows open toward Jerusalem, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, so will they when dangers surround and temptations assail, with a vivid recollection of home and the family altar, and the gray-haired father that still follows them with his prayers, raise their hearts to God, and be strengthened by his might, and consoled by his Spirit. A pious, devout family, however obscure their lot in this life, possess a certain dignity of mind and equanimity of temper founded on their hope of a blissful immortality beyond the grave, that commands the esteem and admiration of those that are far superior to them in the honors and riches of this world, and yet have not the courage to “turn from these vanities unto the living God.” And why should they not have the respect even of the princes of earth? Although poor in temporal possessions, yet they are rich in faith, and have great expectations—no less than a crown of glory in the kingdom of the Redeemer, and a participation with Jesus Christ, in “an inheritance that is incorruptible, and fadeth not away.” Family prayer as a means of grace draws us near to Heaven and the inexhaustible fountain of purity and love. It shuts out for the time all worldly affections and earthly interests, and opens up to our delighted vision the glories of the New Jerusalem, and of the numerous assembly of the redeemed from earth, that sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. It ascends to Heaven, as gracious incense, securing God’s loving-kindness and pardoning mercy. It refines and elevates the affections by directing them to things above, imparting a spirit of humility, a dependence and trust in Christ as the rock of our salvation, causing us to grow in grace, and rejoice in a knowledge of the Lord, whom to know aright is life eternal, making the family circle the dwelling-place of unity, and “the peace of God, that passeth all understanding,” inclining their hearts to virtue, righteousness, and self-denial, and clothing their whole lives with the beauty of holiness. “Howbeit He Meaneth not So.” Isa. 10: 7.
By G. W. Burnham
An article in a recent number of the New York Herald, on the present political aspects of Europe, contains the following sentences: “The terrible time predicted of ‘wars and rumors of wars’ filling the whole earth, would really seem to be upon us. The nations are angry, and the harvest of the world is rapidly ripening.” When from merely a political standpoint, able writers are thus impressed by the grand coincidence of the eventful scenes which they describe, with the divine predictions uttered eighteen centuries ago, we, certainly, who “take heed to the sure word” of God ought to cling thereunto more earnestly, and may lift up with increased clearness and joy the expecting eye. Those angry war-preparing and war-clashing powers may be as ignorant of, and, if they knew it, as little inclined to fulfill Jehovah’s purpose and “charge” as was the proud, boasting Assyrian more than twenty-five hundred years ago; yet that purpose shall stand, growing brighter through all the confusion of wars and commotions, until his “whole work on Mount Zion shall be accomplished,” and his down-trodden people there find long-looked-for eternal rest! Hail the glad future of that chosen place of rest, glory, beauty and endless joy! It is the place of His throne who “shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even as a morning without clouds.” The last preparations are rapidly progressing. In the insatiable ambition of bloody rulers with their gathered and gathering hosts, we have but to note clearer tokens of that calm, peaceful, eternal day. Hail, thou just and spotless One! Conquering Jesus, hail and welcome to thy throne! Let us patiently wait, brethren, with our loins girded and our lamps burning, for “He hath said, and he will do it, he hath commanded, and will make it good.”—G. W. BURNHAM, in Advent Herald. The outrages reported from the South are not fictitious, but the veritable outbreaks of rebel hatred to the Government, and an undisguised hostility to fair elections wherever the Republicans are in the majority. In Kentucky, which, however, is not included in the list of States referred to in the President’s special message just sent to Congress, the lawlessness has become so conspicuous and outrageous, that there is no pretense of denial. Gov. Stevenson himself called the attention of the Legislature to the subject; but between the Executive and that body nothing is done. The Governor complains that he has not sufficient force with which to execute the laws, and the Legislature explains that it has no authority to raise any such force; at all events it neglects to do so. Events which have just occurred at the very capital of the State, indicate that men, high in authority and influence, are not beneath the commission of these outrages. At the recent election in Frankfort, there were provided two voting places, one for the whites and the other for the blacks, separated by a barrier. As the election proceeded it became evident that the Republican candidates were running ahead, and unless something was done, their election would be secured. Accordingly an attempt was made to destroy the barrier, in the evident expectation that the colored voters would be frightened away. While this attempt was in progress, some one—and the evidence taken before the coroner’s jury clearly shows it was a white man—drew a pistol, and fired it. This created general confusion, and in the fracas that ensued, William Newman, a worthy and respectable colored man, was shot, and so seriously wounded that he died soon after. At the inquest into the murder, Mr. T. N. Lindsey, a Democrat, but a lawyer of high standing and character in that place, testified that he was three times jammed away from the voting place by persons who had voted, and had finally to get to the polls by a side door. The mayor refused to preserve the peace, and had given orders not to interfere except in case of actual bloodshed. Another witness testifies that Mr. Rodman, Attorney General of the State, was present, and in reply to a remark that a disturbance seemed probable, said “that was just what the Democrats wanted, then they could get possession of the polls.” One of the election judges declared that they would beat the Republican candidate “or have a fight;” and the coroner, since the murder, has said, “The matter must be hushed up.” Shortly afterward occurred the Ku-Klux outrages near Frankfort. The story of them is told by the Yeoman, of that place, which is a Democratic paper, and its testimony cannot well be impeached. Last Wednesday or Thursday afternoon, a band of mounted men, seventeen in number, armed with double-barreled shot-guns, and with masked faces, set out on a hunt for negroes, exactly as the Indians on the plains start on a buffalo hunt, or Europeans in India go forth to shoot the tiger. They first visited the house of a barber, in a town called Stamping Ground; but luckily for him, they found him absent from his lair. A colored shoemaker, an inoffensive man, was discovered a quarter of a mile further on, however, and shot while sitting in his house at work. About sundown they reached Watkinsville, and were about to make a predatory raid upon it. The negroes hastily gathered with arms in their hands, and, after a brisk fight, drove them off. In the skirmish three negroes were wounded, and one Ku-Klux, or “regulator,” as they call themselves, was killed and one wounded. It is believed that the same band has been operating in Henry and Shelby counties. They are entirely lawless—a depredating, murderous set of men. There is just as much reason for their suppression, as there would be if a band of seventeen mounted men should set out from Wayne County shooting chance citizens while at work in their shops and fields. These two instances of outrage in Kentucky are examples of thousands of similar cases which have been perpetrated during the last five years in the South, and reported by the National authorities. Page after page of documents accompanying the special message of the President is filled with summaries merely of the official statements of the murder, robbery, arson, insult, whipping, lynching, burning, hanging, of the colored people generally, of the white people sometimes. It would be unjust to pretend that these are all outgrowths of peculiar wickedness in Southern society. Many of them are results of the disorganized condition in which the war left that people. But deducting the crimes which would occur under any circumstances; deducting the unpunished crime resulting from social disorganization, there is left an immense residue of crimes against the citizen as a colored man or as an obnoxious political opponent. They are committed either for the sake of terrifying both the negro and the white man from voting the Republican ticket; or of punishing the black one for voting it; or for the sake of breaking up his contracts on the plantations and stealing his share of the crops; or for the devilish satisfaction of a hatred for him and his race, and a craving to torture the weak and helpless.—Detroit Post. THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
By Michael Carmichael
“WATCHMAN, what of the night?”
“The darkest hour, that ushers in the dawn,
Broods o’er the earth that, desolate and lorn,
Yearns for the coming light. “Far off I hear the din
Of clanging arms; I see the ghastly heaps
Of the new-slain, where Death red-handed reaps
His awful harvest in. “One fights for Fatherland—
For home, but not for altar; dying and cold
Is the bright flame that kindled hearts of old,
When Germans, hand to hand, “Fought for God’s truth and love,
And the victorious Swede, on Lutzen’s plain,
Laid down his mortal crown to take again
The martyr-crown above. “For glory one contends—
A mighty nation, led, like a passionate child,
By the strong will of one who has beguiled,
To work ignoble ends. “And he the master-mind,
A god of force, lured by an evil star,
With a cold smile lets slip the dogs of war
On shuddering mankind. “And round the nations throng,
Scarce held in leash by prudence; half unfurled
Their standards flap, and the storm shakes the world
With thunders loud and long. “And oh! still sadder sight
For thee, O Bride, who still’st expectant here,
Guarding His honor, till himself appear—
The spotless Prince of light. “A mortal, old and frail,
Sits as a god in God’s own seat, and dares
To claim the title thy Beloved bears—
Wisdom that cannot fail; “While, where the angels sing
Hymns to the Only Wise, and praise is given,
The strong, long suffering Majesty of Heaven
Mocks his vain counseling.” “O Watchman, this again
My Lord foretold me. Strain thy steadfast gaze
Through the night-shadows toward the fount of days,
And say, ‘He comes to reign.’” “Lo, in the eastern sky
A faint flush seems my longing eyes to meet!
Then lift, O Bride, thy joyful head to greet
Redemption drawing nigh.” Confidence in God.
By Dr. Stanley
“Why hast Thou forsaken me?” So, indeed, many a one is crying at this moment. Why hast thou forsaken this weary, solitary soul? Why hast thou left the parent to bear the burden of ungrateful, rebellious children? Why hast thou left the wife or mother to bewail her only joy? Why hast thou cast those poor children on the world, with none to help them? Why hast thou permitted those cruel oppressions to go on under the sun, unrebuked and unchecked? Why hast thou permitted those vast multitudes to be born and die, as sheep without a shepherd? Why hast thou forsaken so many churches which thy right hand had planted? Why has Christendom gone so far astray from its original purpose? Why has the human race—why has this church and nation—been allowed to lose so many great opportunities? Why has so many a noble spirit been snatched from us when we most needed him? Why do the evil prosper—why do the good fail? Why is human life so mysterious and so sad? Why is the divine life so far off—so difficult to attain unto? We ask these questions—we cannot help asking them. We even do well at times to ask them. Christ asked this one question which comprehends all. There is no other answer but what he gave to himself—not in word, but in act. He did not give way; he did not despair. He waited; he endured. He looked forward and upward. Though God seemed to have forsaken him, he yet had not forsaken God. God was still to him his God. “My God.” And therefore, in the strength of his endurance, the darkness broke away, and the desolation ceased. He felt that God was not only his God, but is always his Father. “Father,” he said, “into thy hands I commend my spirit.” The work which he came to do, and which seemed for the moment forsaken and interrupted, he felt was, after all, accomplished. “It is finished,” he said. So we may be sure that, if we persevere, our Father will receive our spirit in calm and peace. Our work will be finished; if not by ourselves, by others, when God’s good time is accomplished.—Dr. Stanley. Mr. Fletcher's Advice to a Young Lady.
1. LIVE above earthly and creature comforts. 2. Beware of flatness and lukewarmness; this, if not carried immediately to the Lord, often ends in darkness and deadness. 3. Value divine comforts above all things, and prize Christ above all comforts, that if they should fail, you may still glory in the God of your salvation. 4. Let that which torments others make your happiness. I mean self-denial and renouncing your own will. 5. Be ready to yield with joy to every conviction of the Spirit of God. Be faithful to present grace, and aspire after a continual growth. 6. Live the present moment to God, and avoid perplexing yourself about your past or future experience; by giving up yourself to Christ, as you are, and being willing to receive him now as he is, leaving all the rest to him, you will cut up a thousand temptations by the roots. Family Worship: Foundation and Covering of the Home
It was a saying of the late Rev. Dr. John M. Mason, that a house without family worship had neither a foundation nor a covering. A STRIKING instance of the mysterious working of God to accomplish his providential deliverances, is related by Horace Bushnell, in the fourteenth chapter of his work on “Nature and the Supernatural, as together constituting the one system of God.” “As I sat by the fire,” says Dr. Bushnell, “one stormy November night, in a hotel parlor, in the Napa Valley of California, there came in a most venerable and benignant looking person, with his wife, taking their seats in the circle. The stranger, as I afterward learned, was Captain Yount, a man who came over into California, as a trapper, more than forty years ago. Here he has lived, apart from the great world and its questions, acquiring an immense landed estate, and becoming a kind of acknowledged patriarch in the country. His tall, manly person, and his gracious, paternal look, as totally unsophisticated in the expression as if he had never heard of a philosophic doubt or question in his life, marked him as the true patriarch. “At my request, he gave me his story. About six or seven years previous, in a mid-winter’s night, he had a dream, in which he saw what appeared to be a company of emigrants, arrested by the snows of the mountains and perishing rapidly by cold and hunger. He noted the very cast of the scenery, marked by a huge perpendicular front of white rock cliff; he saw the men cutting off what appeared to be tree tops, rising out of deep gulfs of snow; he distinguished the very features of the persons, and the look of their particular distress. He woke profoundly impressed with the distinctness and apparent reality of his dream. At length he fell asleep and dreamed exactly the same dream again. In the morning he could not expel it from his mind. Falling in, shortly, with an old hunter comrade, he told him the story, and was only the more deeply impressed by his recognizing, without hesitation, the scenery of the dream. This comrade came over the Sierra by the Carson Valley Pass, and declared that a spot in the pass answered exactly to his description. By this the unsophisticated patriarch was decided. He immediately collected a company of men, with mules and blankets, and all necessary provisions. The neighbors were laughing, meantime, at his credulity. ‘No matter,’ said he, ‘I am able to do this, and I will; for I verily believe that the fact is according to my dream.’ The men were sent into the mountains, one hundred and fifty miles distant, directly to the Carson Valley Pass. And there they found the company, in exactly the condition of the dream, and brought in the remnant alive. “A gentleman present said, ‘You need have no doubt of this; for we Californians all know the facts, and the names of the families brought in, who now look upon our venerable friend as a kind of saviour.’ These names he gave, and the places where they reside, and I found afterward that the California people were ready, everywhere, to second his testimony. “Nothing could be more natural than for the good-hearted patriarch himself to add, that the brightest thing in his life, and that which gave him greatest joy, was his simple faith in that dream. I thought also I could see in that joy the glimmer of a true Christian love and life, into which, unawares to himself, he had really been entered by that faith. Let any one attempt now to account for the coincidences of that dream by mere natural causalities, and he will be glad enough to ease his labor, by the acknowledgment of a supernatural providence.” The Christian, of Boston, commenting on this incident, remarks: “So much we learn from Dr. Bushnell, but who can tell the rest? Such histories are never fully written; the inside view is only seen by God himself. Who knows what prayers went up that night from fathers, mothers, wives, and friends in far-off Eastern homes, in behalf of those emigrants who had set forth upon their long and dangerous way? Who can tell the midnight groans and secret sighs of hearts that held communion with the Lord, and craved his blessing over the absent ones? And who can tell the uttered or unspoken pleadings that arose from that storm-beleaguered band, who, perishing amid the rigor of that awful winter’s cold, looked up to God when every earthly hope and help had failed? Doubtless, if those rescued ones were called to tell their tale, we should find in this account not only a story of the wise direction of God’s guiding hand, which selected perhaps the only man in California who had means to send deliverance to these distressed ones, and faith enough in the unseen to heed a divine monition, but also a most striking record of the wondrous virtue of prevailing prayer, poured out by souls in sore and deep distress.” A CORRESPONDENT calls for an article on Public Prayer. He desires, we suppose, some of the evidence that the custom of offering vocal prayer in the public congregation is in itself proper, and that it is sustained by the example and precepts of the sacred writers; for there are some who do not believe in the practice, and hence who offer no prayer to God in their public assemblies. On the subject of public prayer we think it can be maintained, 1. That there is no testimony in the word of God against the practice. 2. That we have in its favor the example of those whom we can safely follow. 3. That it is enjoined in the Scriptures. 1. There is nothing in the Bible against the practice. How can you say that, says one, when the Saviour says, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret”? Does the Saviour mean to tell his disciples that every time they prayed they should enter into their closets? Let us look at the context that we may understand the subject of his remarks. Matt. 6:1-6. He is warning his disciples against falling into the vainglorious spirit of the Pharisees. They did their alms before men to be seen of them. The disciples were to do theirs in secret. The Pharisees loved to pray standing in the corners of the streets, that they might be observed by passers by, and gain the applause of the multitude for their great piety. What kind of prayers were these which they offered thus in the streets and market places? Did they pertain to the public worship of God? Not at all. They were their own private devotions. Spiritual pride had led the Pharisees to obtrude upon the public gaze those acts of religious worship which should have been performed by them in secret before God alone. This was one of their sins; and Christ said they should have no other reward for their flaunting devotions, than the empty applause of their fellow-men, which they so eagerly sought. Were Christians also to have their private duties? By all means. Alms they were to give; but Christ told them to let it be in a quiet and unostentatious manner. Secret prayer they were to offer to God; but they were to offer it in the privacy of their own closets. The Pharisees had certain hours for their devotions; and they managed, as far as possible, that these hours should find them in some place of public resort, in the synagogue, the thoroughfare, or the market-place; and then they would immediately commence their devotions, apparently all to themselves, but really to be seen of men. “Be ye not like these hypocrites,” said Christ to his disciples. “When you do your alms, don’t sound a trumpet before you; when you engage in your private devotions, don’t do it in the streets, but in the closet.” The subject then upon which Christ is here speaking is the private worship of God. But God has also instituted public worship; and this is another thing altogether. Now to take the directions which Christ here gives us respecting our private religious duties, and apply them to public worship, of which he was not speaking, is altogether illogical and wrong. And as this is the only passage which can by any one be supposed to forbid public prayer, we consider our first proposition established, that there is nothing in the Scriptures against the practice. 2. We have in its favor the practice of those whose example it is safe for us to follow. On one of the most important and imposing public occasions the world has ever seen, public prayer was offered. When the first temple, the place which God had caused to be prepared to place his name there, was dedicated to its holy use, Solomon, then standing in the counsel of the Most High, and filled with heavenly wisdom, came forth before the assembled hosts of Israel, kneeled down upon his knees, spread forth his hands toward Heaven, and offered unto God a prayer replete with the most beautiful and sublime sentiments. 1 Kings 8:22-54; 2 Chron. 6:12-42. The prayer is recorded in these scriptures; and it is stated to be what Solomon said, not what he thought. The prayer was an audible one, spoken in the ears of all the people. Again we have an instance of prayer publicly offered when a company of disciples were together Acts 4:24-30. That the words recorded in the scripture here referred to, were uttered as a prayer, is evident from the next verse which says, “And when they had prayed,” or, they having prayed, referring evidently to the preceding record of what they had said. In Acts 20, we have the example of Paul. Having called for the elders of the church of Ephesus to meet him at Miletus, after a solemn interview, as he was about to depart on his way to Jerusalem, to see them no more, he “kneeled down, and prayed with them all.” Verse 36. These instances are sufficient to prove our second proposition, that we have the example of the sacred writers in favor of public prayer. 3. It is enjoined in the Scriptures. Whenever any of the inspired writers give directions how certain acts of public worship shall be performed, it is good evidence that they understood that such acts were to constitute a part of public worship. But Paul does give directions in regard to praying in the public congregation, 1 Cor. 11:4: “Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head.” The prophesying here mentioned, whether it be taken strictly as speaking with the spirit of prophecy, or in the accommodated sense of explaining the prophecies, that is, preaching, was a public act; for Paul further says, 1 Cor. 14:3, “He that prophesieth, speaketh unto men to edification.” But the praying was just as public as the prophesying, and was to be done in a similar manner, with the head uncovered; and both were exercises to take place when the disciples were “come together in the church.” 1 Cor. 11:18. Paul further speaks against talking or praying in an unknown tongue, unless there should be one to interpret; 1 Cor. 14; because in that case, the listeners, understanding not what was said, would not be edified. But if all praying is to be done in secret, and consist simply of the silent communing of one’s own spirit with God, it might just as well be in an unknown tongue as any other. And the fact that Paul did not desire that prayers should be made in an unknown tongue, because he would have all things done to edification, verse 26, is proof that he speaks of prayers to be made in the place of public meeting where believers and unbelievers come to listen and learn. Verses 22-25. Again, in 1 Tim. 2:8, we read: “I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” As Paul spoke by direct inspiration, his “will” (boulomai) is equivalent to a command. The force of the word everywhere, will be seen when it is considered that the language is probably spoken in opposition to a superstition of the Jews, who held that public prayer could only be offered, properly, in certain places. At first they considered that prayer to be acceptable must be offered in the temple at Jerusalem. This was afterward extended to the whole land of Judea. And after they were scattered among all nations, they built oratories or places of prayer, at which alone they held that public prayer could consistently be made. But Paul sends forth to all his Gentile converts, directions that prayers be made everywhere; that the prayers which the Jews thought could be made only in certain places (and these, be it remembered, were public prayers), should be offered up in all places wherever occasion might require. Prayer is an expression of our dependence upon God. To live without it, is to show that we are trying to live independent of him. It was this spirit which caused the fall of man; it is this which keeps him from returning to God. And where can we more appropriately express our dependence upon God by humble supplication, than when we have come together publicly to worship him? To hold religious meetings without prayer, as some do, is to give them an air of irreligion and impiety, which is nothing less than painful to every truly humble and devout heart. The National Reform Convention.
THIS Convention was held, according to appointment, in Philadelphia, Jan. 18 and 19. A preliminary report, all that has yet come under our notice, states the number of delegates who assembled from different parts of the country, in a representative capacity, to be over two hundred. Large audiences listened with interest to the proceedings. Hon. James Pollock, Ex-Governor of Pennsylvania, was made permanent President of the Convention. Among the first resolutions offered by the Business Committee, were the following:— “Resolved, That this Convention of those who aim to secure a religious amendment to our National Constitution, gratefully acknowledge the good providence of God in the evident progress of this cause during the past year. “Resolved, That with the conviction that, under God, all that is wanting for its ultimate and its early triumph, is to publish the facts and illustrate the principles upon which it is based, we pledge ourselves to renewed zeal in its prosecution.” “That, in view of the controlling power of the Constitution in shaping State, as well as national, policy, it is of immediate importance to public morals and to social order to secure such an amendment as will indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all Christian laws, institutions, and usages, in our government, on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the nation, specially those which secure a proper oath, and which protect society against blasphemy, Sabbath-breaking, and polygamy.” There are some who plainly see the tendency of this movement, and raise the alarm, as the following from a letter sent by W. Jamison of Chicago, to be read at the Convention, plainly shows:— “With a great deal of interest I am watching the movement in which you are engaged to Christianize our peerless Constitution—peerless since the blot of slavery has been wiped from it. As an American citizen, I must frankly say to you that, in my judgment, your organization is fraught with danger to our American government. I am fully convinced that you are in dead earnest in this work of obtaining a recognition of God in the fundamental instrument of our Government. You are persevering, too, as you are earnest; hence I can see that the ‘Re-form’—as you term it—is destined to spread, assume gigantic proportions, and grow in favor with the mass of Christian people. Your conventions, I notice, are securing this result. Gentlemen, Beware! Overthrow this human government, (founded by the wisdom of such men as Jefferson, Adams, and Paine,) and religious liberty will be trampled under foot in this new world as it was, and is, in the old. The people of the old world are throwing off the shackles of a union of Church and State, while you (I say it with all due courtesy) are striving to unite Church and State in the new world.” In this connection it may be of interest to state that meetings in behalf of the proposed amendment, have been held in different parts of the country, as follows:— In Deer Creek church, New Bedford, Pa., Dec. 27, 1870. Three speakers addressed the meeting. Permanent organization formed. Washingtonville, N. Y., Dec. 30. McIndoes and Johnsbury, Vt., Jan. 13 and 16, 1871. Barton and Topsham, Vt., the 11th and 16th. Society organized for Orange County. Duffield St. Presbyterian church, Brooklyn, N. Y., Jan. 16. Chambersburg, Shippensburg, Carlisle, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the 15th, 16th, and 17th inst. The meeting in Harrisburg was held in the hall of the House of Representatives, and was presided over by Gov. Geary. On Jan. 3, another Sunday Convention was held in New Concord, Ohio. Meanwhile, zealous agents are beginning to travel from town to town, and city to city, visiting clergymen and laymen, to arouse the churches to take hold of this movement. And thus the work goes on.