Christian observer

              NEW SERIES. NO. 196.
FOR THE DIFFUSION OF TRUTH AND THE SUPPORT OF THE PRINCIPLEs 0F THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.
Southern auifflfous STeUjjvaph.
A. CONVERSE, EDITOR:—134 Chestnut Street.
PHILADELPHIA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1843.
VOL. XXII. NO. 35.
qmmwiBn&ss ©iBsaiBviBisk
For the Christian Observer.
THE BEST USE OF MONEY.
Mrs. A.'s shawl cost $40. One of equal utility
and durability, and of decent appearance, though
less showy and fashionable,—might have been
obtained for $10, or less. The extra fineness, or
fashionableness of her shawl cost $30; enough
to give ten children in Ceylon or Madura a. good
Christian education. But the deed is done. The
money is paid. The ten poor heathen children
cannot be educated for want of it; and she must
wear the price of their ignorance and degrada¬
tion, and it may be their perdition, on her shoul¬
ders. O how it looks! She paid too much for
her shawl.
Mrs. A. is a good woman. She does not mean
to be extravagant in dress; but only to dress as
well as other ladies belonging to the same class of
society. But many think her ratheradressy lady,
and it injures her Christian reputation among
the majority of her neighbors and acquaintances.
She is less useful than she would be if her dress
were plainer. Her $40 shawl does her no good,
but rather tends to make her less humble and
less happy ; and it does no good to other people.
The thirty needless dollars paid for it are a dead
loss. But had they gone to educate those ten
heathen children, it would have brightened their
prospects for life, and perhaps for eternity. It
would have made them different men and wo¬
men as long as they lived, and given them such
knowledge of the gospel, that we might hope for
their conversion and salvation.
She failed in making the best use of her mo¬
ney in consequence of not thinking sufficiently
of the effect of what she was doing on her own
spirit, and on the minds of others; and either
not knowing, or not remembering, what good
could have been done by a different use of it.
If Mrs. A. ever has occasion to purchase an¬
other shawl, I hope she will remember those
heathen children, and recollect that every three
dollars she can save, will give one of them a
good religious education. I hope she will also
remember it when she makes other purchases.
Let other ladies be careful to make a better
use of their money.        * FHILO.
SOCIALISM IN THE WEST.
This is the age of experiments ; and often, too
often, some new experiment is made upon poor
human nature, and man the victim, as well as
author, of a thousand ruinous experiments, is the
subject chosen to operate upon by the would-be
reformers. It appears by the following extract
of a letter to the Home Missionary from a minis¬
ter in the West, that the Fourier System has ad¬
vocates in the Western States, who are endea¬
voring to persuade the people to adopt their vi¬
sionary theories with the hope of improving
their social condition.—We trust that Christian
men will resist the temptation, without an actual
experiment. Common sense as well as piety
ought to guard them against the impositions of
the Fourier Association.
At , (says the writer of the letter,) in
a settlement consisting, almost exclusively, of
New-Englanders, the subject of socialism has
been extensively advocated. A considerable
number of the Baptist church in that place, in¬
cluding their preacher, and several of our own
members, have given their aid to this object, and
have gone so far as to sign their names to the
constitution. In fact this social mania, which is
but the leaven of French infidelity, has exten¬
sively prevailed in the eastern part of one coun¬
ty, and the western part of another. During
the winter and spring, two societies of this na¬
ture were in a forming state. Their design was
to accommodate in one house 300 families, more
or less, to have but one dining hall, with three
tables for three different grades, with prices ac¬
cordingly. Each individual is to choose his em¬
ployment, and to be credited for his labor ac¬
cording to the rules of the association ; or if any
are wealthy, they may live on the interest of
their money. Some go into this institution with
the hopes of living easier and better; some with
the ostensible design of educating theirchildren;
for, by the by, every flattering allurement that
can be devised is held out to beguile silly and
unstable souls. The hardness of the times is one
grand reason why this scheme has gained so
much success. The two societies, which were
in a forming state during the winter, have both
given up their constitutions and dissolved them¬
selves, with the design of forming a new society,
and having but one for the present out of all
their materials. This I conceive to be a happy
circumstance for some of our orthodox friends;
as it gives them an opportunity of withdrawing
now peaceably: and, with the new arrangement,
they must see clearly that the control of the so¬
ciety will be held by opposers of the truth, con¬
sisting, in part, of men decidedly irreligious, and
partly of the " Lexington Saints,"—a society in
this region who practice immersion, but oppose,
in toto, the doctrines of grace as held by our¬
selves and other denominationsaround us. They
deny the divinity of Christ, his vicarious suffer¬
ings, and his imputed righteousness; they lay
claim to future happiness in virtue of their own
obedience and self righteousness ; they claim to
be non-resistants, oppose civil government, and
refuse to serve in courts of justice as witnesses
or jurors. Such is to be the control of this new
social institution: and I am happy to learn
that our own members and some others are com-
,t7 lhC u1   As a church< I feel in hopes
hat socialism will make little orno inroads upon
spirit with wh   I6?! SGem l°re,ain much of the
!£_.,_        which they were revived
nothing can be more to us than God intended it.
J. E. BeaUmont.
winter season,
vails among them
A good degree of harmon
during the
y pre-
THE SOUL STARVES l7coTIPANY
I feel that all I know
thing for ray own soul, if
pie do, in business or company, even the'
, and all 1 teach, will do no-
1 "P^tny time, as most peo-
ESTIMATE OF THE FATHERS.
The authority and some of the doctrines of the
Fathers of the ancient church, have been recent¬
ly considered in this paper. Those who have
read the numbers to which we refer, will be pre¬
pared to appreciate the following discriminating
remarks on the merits of the Fathers as spiritual
and ecclesiastical guides. They are from an ex¬
cellent article in the Edinburgh Review, reprint¬
ed in the Eclectic:
The Fathers (says the Reviewer) will receive,
and ought to receive, just the degree of respect
that we should pay to any other men, and no
more ; that is, their authority will be in propor¬
tion to their knowledge, good sense, freedom
from prejudice, honesty, and opportunities of
forming a judgment. It may be supposed, in¬
deed, that the last circumstance, considering
their proximity to the Apostolic age, would give
them a decided superiority over every other
class of writers ; but it is very possible that their
disadvantages in other respects may depress their
authority in the greater number of cases below
that even of a third-rate student of Scripture of
a later age—just as a man with bad eyes may
not see an object so clearly at fifty yards, as an¬
other with good ones may see it at half a mile.—
Now, almost all the Fathers had very bad eyes;
and, what is worse, they attemped to remedy the
defect by still worse spectacles. On this point;
the reader will find some admirable remarks in
Dr. Shuttleworth's treatise on Tradition.
The reason of this phenomenon is not far to
seek. Many of the Fathers, indeed, were men
of unquestionable genius, and of large erudi¬
tion, (such as it was;) and small portions of
many of their writings may be read with profit.
But they were all, more or less, tainted—most of
them deeply—with the false maxims and perni¬
cious prejudices which characterized their day;
and from the influence of which, without being
more than human, it was impossible that they
could be free. This is no disparagement to their
genius or their learning, any more than it is dis¬
respectful to Descartes or Kepler to affirm, that,
having been early imbued with false principles of
science, they constructed theories which we do
not feel bound to reverence, because we rever¬
ence the men. We can separate Descartes from
his " vortices," and Kepler from his fanciful ana¬
logies between the laws of the planetary system
and the "five regular solids." In like manner,
we may well despise the interpretations of Ori-
gen, without despising Origen himself.
That Christianity should be fearfully corrupted,
and that at no remote period from its origin, was
not only natural, but inevitable, unless a series
of perpetual miracles had been wrought to pre¬
vent it. Brought suddenly into contact with
many systems of false philosophy, and of the
most degrading polytheism, and attracting con¬
verts from all nations and all ranks, was it likely
to be received and retained in its perfect purity?
Falling on such a million-sided surface as the
humanity of that day, it was impossible that the
heavenly light should not undergo all sorts of re¬
fractions; letdown into such a pit of mephitic
vapors, it was impossible that the lamp of truth
should not burn dim. Christianity did much for
its converts, doubtless; but it could not, and did
not, pretend to release them from all their preju¬
dices and ignorances. It was perfectly natural,
it was to be expected, that in a thousand cases
the new principles should rather enter into com¬
bination, according to the ordinary laws of men¬
tal affinities, with the old—than that they should
wholly repel them. The philosopher could not
absolutely forego his lifelong speculations—nor
the polytheist the habits of an ingrained idola¬
try ; and thus, at a very early period, we find at¬
tempts to reconcile the doctrines of Christianity
with the speculations of the Oriental and Gre¬
cian Schools; and to complicate and corrupt the
ritual of the new religion by luckless imitations
of that of the old. '• Such were the antagonist
principles, in contending with each of which the
holy religion of Christ triumphed in each in¬
stance, and in each was trampled upon ; con¬
quered, and was conquered; diffused light and
health, and admitted darkness and corruption."
It is thus, and thus only, that we can account
for the rapid corruption of the Christian faith—
and the extraordinary facility with which the best
of the Fathers admitted the most monstrous ex¬
travagancies and the most silly puerilities. We
can on this ground, indeed, palliate their errors
and compassionate their foibles; but to set them
up as guides, does appear to us the most extraor¬
dinary fatuity. Guides! A very moderate course
of patristic allegories, conceits, visions, legends,
miracles, and superstitions—of Barnabas and
Hermas, Origen, Tertullian, Jerome, and Am¬
brose—will be quite sufficient to reclaim any
sane mind from such abasement; while, if we
were to judge by any spicilegium of their er¬
rors, collected out of that menstruum of insipid¬
ity and common place in which they usually
float, we should imagine that we had got into the
company rather of a set of Bedlamites, than of
Christian sages; and should be unable to con¬
ceive the reason of that reverence with which
they are regarded, except on that principle of
the ancient Greeks, which connected insanity
with inspiration ; or that which dictated the cus¬
tom of the Mahometans, to worship and rever¬
ence as saints those who are fairly out of their
senses,
And yet these are the men whose authority—
when they are tolerably unanimous, is to be con¬
sidered as co-ordinate with that of Scripture—
from whose single opinions we are to dissent
with the greatest caution—and to whose keeping
Divine Providence has committed an unwritten
revelation.—"And so He may have done," it is
said ; "for it is not the errors and absurdities of
the Fathers for which we contend, but the apos¬
tolic truths of which they were the depositaries."
But is there no difficulty in believing that the
freight of immortal truth should have been com¬
mitted to such leaky and rotten vessels'?—that
God, designing to give a Revelation, would pur¬
posely and intimately mix it up with a mass of
impure metal, leaving mankind to smelt it as
they might 1 Truly, if this theory be correct, it
may well be said, that "we have the eternal trea¬
sures in earthen vessels!"
This difficulty is still farther increased, if we
consider the character of that portion of Revela¬
tion for which these men are the vouchers—the
ny.    My soul starves to death in the h^t"!!!-.™?*" I nalure of the dogmas superadded to the Bible.—
ost in prayer and ordinances ^"p-   The cluestion is» whether the Christianity of the
iber,' said he, 'and shut thv rii       third' fourthi or fifth century is a development or a
and God is often 1
ter into thy chamuci, oam ue, -ana shut thv d
about thee!' Some words in Scripture are very °m
phatical: 'Shut the door,' means much; it means ;
shut out, not only nonsense, but business; not only
the company abroad, but the company at home. It
means, let thy poor soul have a little 'rest and refresh¬
ment;' and God have opportunity to speak to thee in
a small still voice, or he will apeak in thunder.
[Cecil.
soph ^CU m'ght the chemist Iook for the PhiI°"
hope t* Sli°ne amon£ tne dust of the streets—or
luted w°aterabfrat8 the elixir vit!B from the Po1-
nnd among HI a sta&nant lake—as we expect to
dyin* spirit      l,Ungs below the bliss of our un"
' God never put it into them, and
corruption of the Scripture system—a natural
growth or a cancerous enlargement1? We be¬
lieve the latter; but, assuredly, nothing could
warrant us in believing the former, except the
most obvious harmony between the Scriptures
themselves and these supposed additions to it.—
out it is acknowledged that no such obvious
harmony is to be found_that the doctrines
contended for are not easily reconciled with the
acriptures-that apart from the patristic authority
no one would have suspected them to be there-
hat there is very much at the least which appears
to contradict them-that the tone and spirit in
which the relative importance of the several ele¬
ments of religion are spoken of, appear to be
entirely alien. One would imagine, therefore^
that nothing less than a Revelation as clear, as
j express, and as miraculously authenticated as
the Scriptures, would be sufficient to justify our
reception of these additions. Can we, then, be¬
lieve that they would have been committed to
such men as the Fathers are proved to be, and
mixed up with their acknowledged errors, follies,
and superstitions'? Ought not this circumstance
alone make us suspect, that the soidisant addi¬
tions to Revelation are more probable corrup¬
tions of if?
The interval between the Scriptures and the
very best of the Fathers is so immense, that not
a few have testified that it forms to them the
most convincing proofs of the inspired origin of
the former; it being, in their judgment, absurd to
suppose that any man—much less a number of
men could have composed such a volume as the
Bible, in an age in which theirimmediate succes¬
sors, many of them possessing undoubted geni¬
us and erudition, and having the advantage of
their light to walk by, could fallinto puerilities so
gross, and errors so monstrous. We could soon¬
er believe that Jacob Bohemen could have com¬
posed the "Novum Organum" or Thomas Stern-
hold the "Paradise Lost."
But the more intimate this conviction, the
deeper ought to be the indignation that any man
should attempt to exalt the Fathers, either singly
or collectively, to the same level with the Scrip¬
tures ; or attempt to divide their exclusive and
paramount authority with that of a set of men on
whose pages are so legibly inscribed the marks
of error, absurdity, and fantastic raving.
Yet this has the Oxford Tract School done. It
has done more. Without, we hope, designing
it, it has, by way of4 shielding the palpable con¬
tradictions and fabulous legends of the Fathers
from contempt, suffered itself to speak of the
Scriptures in language which cannot but tend to
diminish reverence for them, and to give no lit¬
tle advantage to infidelity. In one of the most
gratuitously offensive of the Tracts (No. 85,) it
is argued that if the Fathers apparently contra¬
dict one another, so do the Scriptures ; if many
of their statements are unintelligible and revolt¬
ing to reason, there are many in the Scriptures
which are equally so. And then it is added, that
if the Scriptures are nevertheless true, so may
the system dependant on the Fathers be true.
With the accustomed suppressio veri, the writer
has carefully concealed two essential points: the
first is, that the reason why we receive any ap¬
parent contradictions or startling prodigies in the
Scriptures, is not on account of their antecedent
probability ; but on account of the many and
convincing proofs, of an independent character,
that the Scripture is of Divine origin. Give us
the same evidence for the Fathers, and except
where they really contradictone another, (which
they do very plentifully,) we will receive them
too. The second is that there is the widest possi¬
ble difference between the miraculous narratives
of Scripture and the idle legends of the Fathers
—not less in the character of the events them¬
selves, than in the tone and manner of the writers.
These writers have gone yet further. We have
seen it recently asserted, that there is as much
reason for rejecting the most essential doctrines
of Christianity—nay, Christianity itself—as for
rejecting their "Church principles." That, in
short, we have as much reason for being infidels
as for rejecting the doctrine of Apostolical suc¬
cession. What other effect such reasoning can
have than that of compelling men to believe that
there is nothing between infidelity and Popery,
and of urging them to make a selection between
the two, we know not. The author of Tract
Number Eighty-five, calls his argument a " kill-
or-cure remedy." We believe that it will kill in
either case. But even in the sense in which the
author uses these words, we are persuaded it will
" kill" far more than it will •' cure." Not a few
will say, "We eccept your reasoning; you are
a learned man, and we will believe as you say,
that you have no more to say in behalf of the
Scriptures than in behalf of your Church princi¬
ples; and as we see that what you have to say
for the last is little enough, you will excuse us
for rejecting Christianity altogether." Indeed,
we fully expect that, as a reaction of the present
extravagances—of the revival of obsolete super¬
stitions—we shall have ere long to fight over
again the battle with a modified form of infideli¬
ty, as now with a modified form of Popery. Thus,
probably, forsome time to come, will the human
mind continue to oscillate between the extremes
of error; but with a diminished arc at each vibra¬
tion ; until the gravitation of eternal truth shall
at last prevail, and compel it to repose in the
centre.
After all, the greatest enemies of those " good
but greatly erring men," the Fathers, are their
modern idolaters; who, by exaggerating their
claims, compel us to prove them unfounded.
Most certain is it, that they do not invest either
themselves or the church to which they belonged,
with the authority which their modern admirers
would fain attribute to them ;—a point which the
reader will find abundantly proved in Mr. Goode's
ample citations from them. Daille has a striking
passage on this point, from which we extract a
single sentence : "I am firmly of opinion that if
these holy men could now behold from the man¬
sions of blessedness . . what things are done
here below, they would be very much offended
by the honors which men confer upon them much
against their wills . . or if from out of their
sepulchres, where the relics of their mortality
are now laid up, they could but make us hear
their sacred voice, they would, I am very confi¬
dent, sharply reprove us for this abuse, and would
cry out in the words of Paul, «Sirs, why do ye
these things ? we also are men of like passions
with yourselves!'"
In concluding this part of the subject, we may
remark that it is a suspicious circumstance, that
the authority of "tradition" did not maintain the
unity of the faith and the integrity of doctrine,
to secure which, their writers would restore it.
No sooner did the ancient Church assume thatper-
fect form to which the Oxford theologians would
assimilate the modern, than it degenerated into
Popery: it no sooner became ripe according to
their notions of ripeness, than it became rotten.
Of course, we have no difficulty in accounting for
the phenomenon; there was continuity in the
whole process. That the sun which had long
been setting, should go down, and leave darkness
behind it, was natural; but how it came to plunge
at once from the zenith into the ocean, may well
surprise us. Two things, however are clear.
One is, that this marvellous rule of faith is no se¬
curity at all against corruption ; secondly, it ap¬
pears that in the only experiment ever made of
its efficiency, it instantly ended in it. Its advo¬
cates can be consistent only in arguing that Ro¬
manism is not a fearful corruption, but, like the
Church of the fifth century, still a harmonious
development.   To this it is coming.
5. We had intended offering some observa¬
tions on the views propounded by this School on
the important subject of "Justification," and
the related topics. But our space warns us to
forbear, and we must content ourselves with re¬
ferring to the able discussions in the volume by
the Bishop of Ohio. Suffice it here to say, that
the views in question approximate indefinitely
to those of Rome ;-rat least if there be any im¬
portant difference, it depends on the most subtle
refinements and the most unintelligible distinc-
tions. Mr. Newman's "Lectures" on the sub¬
ject form one of the most curious specimens of
cloudy metaphysics ever given to the public.
Most unfairly is reason dealt with by this School.
In general, they dispense with it altogether;
when they do appeal to it, it is only to mock it
with incomprehensible subtleties. Of the two,
we decidedly prefer their mysticism to their
metaphysics ; we had rather be called upon to J
exercise faith without logic, than be insulted by
a logic which can be received only by faith. It
at least saves much fruitless effort to understand
what we, after all, discover is not to be under¬
stood.
6. In addition to all this, many individual
writers, and some of the public organs of this
School, have put forth a variety of opinions and
statements, the general tendency of which can¬
not be mistaken. They together constitute
Romanism, almost perfect in its organs andlinea-
ments, but of Lilliputian dimensions. We shall
give them miscellaneously.
The tracts on " Reserve" openly plead for a
method of exhibiting Christianity, or rather a
method of veiling it, which strongly reminds
oneof the Romish Church. The writer contends
for the ancient disciplina arcani, by which the
more awful mysteries were " reserved" for the
initiated; but amongst these, with a plenitude of
extravagance to which the ancient Church affords
no parallel, he includes even the characteristic
doctrine of Christianity, and vehemently de¬
nounces the "explicit" and "prominent" ex¬
hibition of the Atonement. He casts high scorn
on all the present "utilitarian" methods of doing
good—on cheap churches and cheap Bibles.
He disapproves of the attempt to bring the
church to every man's door; and seems to think
that an empty church, provided it cost enough
and the services be sufficiently magnificent, will,
by a sort of opus operalum, be of "incalculable
efficacy." In open defiance of the command to
"preach the gospel to every creature," and to
proclaim the truth "whether men will hear or
whether they will forbear; in equal defiance of
the Apostles themselves—he assures us that it is
an awful thing to made known the gospel to
those who are ignorant of it, lest we involve them
in deeper condemnation. We must not give a
Bible, we presume, unless we are beforehand
guaranteed that it will be rightly used; a plan
very much like that "utilitarian" benevolence,
which buttons up its pockets, and will not bestow
a farthing till quite sure that the "object is wor¬
thy." The utilitarian thus reserves his money,
as the writer of the Tract would reserve his Bi¬
bles. Alas! for Paul, and his ignorant col¬
leagues; we fear they must have incurred much
guilt, and occasioned much, by proclaiming the
gospel without sufficiently considering whether
it would be rightly received or not. They seem
to have been but poorly provided with the doc¬
trine of "reserve;" or, if they had it, they as¬
suredly "reserved" it. It is evidently, also, the
opinion of this writer, that it is better to leave
the heathen in utter darkness, than attempt their
conversion by any "unauthorized" methods or
irregular zeal. Men had better, one would sup¬
pose, die of their spiritual maladies than be
cured empirically—had better not go to heaven
at all, than go there by any other route than the
Via Media.
SCHOOLS OF CHURCH MUSIC NO. II.
The following remarkable passage appears in
the book of discipline of the Presbyterian
church:
 " God's ministers ought to be careful not
to make their sermons so long as to interfere
with or exclude the more important duties of
prayer and praise," &c.
More important duties ! What can this mean ?
Sermons, perhaps, are not generally too long,
and we are accustomed to hear them with de¬
vout attention. Prayer excites a universal feel¬
ing of solemnity; but praise is accompanied for
the most part by different demonstrations. It is
attended on lhe one hand by lassitude, weari¬
ness and disgust; and on the other, by that spe¬
cies of sentimentalism which results from the
gratification of taste. Where the style is uncul¬
tivated, the singing seems to occupy a sort of
recess in the solemnities; and where the music
is attractive, the scene for the time being re¬
minds us of a rehearsal or public concert. The
people are interested, some times deeply so, but
the interest is not generally of the most desira¬
ble' kind. It is that kind which makes them
think of the song, the adaptation and the execu¬
tion, till the sentiments of the hymn, the prayer
and the sermon are forgotten.
This is a sad, though faithful picture of musi¬
cal influence in too many of our churches.—
Neither of the two extremes here presented, ex¬
hibits any thing in accordance with that clause
in the rule to which ftejiaye referred, and as no
one believes in tb,e efficacy of restrictions which
will be perpetually violated, it becomes a ques¬
tion whether the clause should not be stricken
out. Ifthis%ere done, then a new rule might
be added like the following:
"As praise among all religious duties is the
one which is least in importance, which is the
most liable to be misunderstood, and.the most
difficult to be regulated; it becomes advisable
when a hymn has been given out, that, either on
the one hand the sexton attend to his more noisy
affairs, the deacons to their contribution boxes,
the elders to the disposal of pulpit notices, and
the pastor to those various items which would
interfere with the regular solemnities; or that,
on the other hand, the people be allowed to en¬
joy a short musical entertainment, as a relaxa¬
tion from the strictness of devotion."
The proposal of a rule like this may seem
harsh in the ear of orthodoxy, but it is in strict
accordance with the practical habits and max¬
ims which extensively prevail. Consistency is
a jewel; and what could sooner secure its inesti¬
mable advantages, than the adoption of such a
rule?
But seriously,—how are religious singing
schools to be established and sustained, while
the existing maxims, habits and practices are al¬
lowed to prevail in the churches'? The neces¬
sity of such schools will not be fully understood;
nor will the best methods of sustaining and con¬
ducting them be readily embraced where the
whole subject of sacred song is undervalued.
Creeds are right. Written principles,human and
divine, are sufficiently in point. Every one will
allow that praise is a holy institution, demanding
the union of heart and voice, as in the immediate
presence of the Omnipotent God. But principles
and practices are themselves at variance, and
thus the hallowed service is allowed to dwindle
into unmeaning formality. The inconsistency is
sometimes seen and acknowledged, perhaps la¬
mented. Individual effort is occasionally put
forth for the restoration of legitimate influences.
But exertions are few and feeble. Conflicting in¬
terests and purposes arise; and in a little time,
things revert to their former state, and the evils
are deemed incurable.
And is it nothing, then, that the work of praise
has become as "sounding brass or a tinkling
cymbal?" that on the one hand the "songs of
the temple" have become as " howlings," while
on the other, the performers are often as thought¬
less as the organ pipes which are behind them ?
Is there nibbing in the beauty of holiness and the
deformity of ingratitude which calls for a purer
sacrifice'1 Or has the time at length arrived,
when it will answer to be fervent in prayer and
heartless in praise? to be earnest in our suppli¬
cations to God for his mercy, and to render mock
homage to Him in return for all his benefits!
The idea is abhorrent to every sentiment of piety
in the human breast. Itmustnotbe. Obligations
are imperative, and excuses utterly unavailing.
The abuses of church music can be entirely re¬
moved. To suppose the contrary, would be to
assume the ground that a sacred institution, de¬
signed for the benefit of all ages and nations to
the end of time, has outlived the period of its
practical utility.
But the desired end will never be gained with¬
out the adoption of adequate means. A few in¬
efficient general measures will be of no avail. A
little safe advice accompanied by faint resolves
and gentle hints and admonitions will be nothing
to the purpose. Nothing of the ktnd can be ef¬
fected in such a day as this, without some sys¬
tematic form of agency. What would become of
missions, Sabbath schools, tract societies and
other kindred institutions, if deprived of the ad¬
vantages of a systematic organization? The
single fact that the churches have never adopted
any such expedient in behalf of the promotion of
church music, is quite sufficient to account for
the deep declension into which it has fallen.
Other objects are given in charge to men of ac¬
tivity and influence whose especial business it is,
to remind us of duty and stir us up to appropriate
activity; but since no one in particular has this
interest in keeping, it is misunderstood, neglect¬
ed and forgotten. It seems by common consent,
to have been long since abandoned to the mercy
of rival teachers, composers and publishers,
whose conflicting claims have often been prose¬
cuted, with more reference to personal emolu¬
ment than to the best good of the cause. This
is wrong. The churches should take up the sub¬
ject, and adopt some efficient mode of activity.
Efforts should be enlightened, thorough and con¬
sentaneous. There should be a becoming zeal
with intelligent, extensive, sytematic co-opera¬
tion. The press has not been wanting in activi¬
ty. Books are sufficiently multiplied; and many
of them have been prepared with labor and dis¬
crimination. But the character of schools de¬
mands investigation ; and these, as we shall en¬
deavor to show, will afford an ample field for
efficient, united effort, in the way of reform.
Thomas Hastings.
For the Christian Observer.
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. UNION.
Its Design, Usefulness, and Claims as a Missionary
and Book-distributing Society.
The American Sunday School Union was in¬
stituted in May, 1824, to promote the establish¬
ment and improvement of Sunday-schools in all
parts of our land.
Like the American Bible Society, and the
London Sunday School Union, the Managers
are laymen. The Agents and Missionarias of the
Society are clergymen—it can appeal to the
churches only through clergymen—and most of
the Society's publications (which are not written
by females) have been written by clergymen—
our organization thus happily combining the lay-
labor of the church with the healthful influence
of her ministry. Officers of auxiliary Unions,
and clergymen whose schools are auxiliary,
have also the privilege of attending the stated
meetings of the Board.
The main object of the Society is accomplished
whenever a school is organized, let its denomi¬
national relations be what they may—our sole
design being to collect into schools all the chil¬
dren and youth who need religious instruction;
and, when collected, to teach them the elements
of truth and duty from the Holy Scriptures.
In those parts of the country which are newly
settled, or which have not the means of sus¬
taining such schools, a Sunday-school Mission¬
ary collects the people of the neighborhood to¬
gether, without distinction of creed or sect, and
proposes to them to open a Sunday-shool. The
time and place are determined, the most compe¬
tent persons are selected for officers and teach¬
ers; and, when they assemble, the Missionary
superintends the organization, gives such aid
and direction as the case requires, supplies ele¬
mentary books and a small library, and goes his
way. It is admitted, that, under an efficient ad¬
ministration of the system he would be confined
to such a sphere, that he would be able, after a
short interval, to visit the new school, and re¬
peat his visits, from time to time, until it shall be
permanently established. And it is further ad¬
mitted, that without such nurture it may die:
but, even with all the risk of a_ failure now and
then, the effort has proved itself worth all it
costs.
How many children and youth might be ga¬
thered into such schools, it is not practicable to
ascertain. It would probably be safe to estimate
the number in the valley of the Mississippi alone
at one million. If we should take the ascertain¬
ed destitution in some of the Western States as
the criterion, the number would be half doubled!
Not less than 20,000 schools would be needed to
supply instruction to this number of destitute
children. If we suppose ministers of the gospel,
missionaries, and private Christians, do all they
can to multiply schools, there will still be a great
work left undone. Many communities are com¬
posed of various sects and parties, and would not
readily unite for this or any other religious pur¬
pose but upon an equal footing; and upon such a
footing our Society places them.
In the schools we assist in forming, the leading
truths of the Bible, in the belief of which a large
proportion of Protestant Christians agree, are
taught in a manner intelligible to little children,
—simple hymns are learned and sung,—good
manners are enjoined,—and a kind, healthful in¬
fluence is diffused throughout the neighborhood.
In a week or two the library is opened, and books,
inculcating the most blessed truths of our holy
religion, (without denominational peculiarities,)
are put in circulation. They entertain, instruct,
andexcite the children and youth, and soon their
it results in the organization of one school A
week. To judge of this, reference must be had
to the state of a new country, and to the charac¬
ter and circumstances of the peopleamong whom
the enterprise is commenced. To collect the
parents and children, and interest them in the
scheme; refuting the objections of some, and
encouraging the favourable suggestions and kind
offices of others; to secure the services of teach¬
ers and instruct them in their duty; to see to the
arrangement of the room and books, and the or¬
ganization of the school, and to put the whole in
proper order to be left; to do this, as it should
j be done, at the rate of one school every week in
the year round—will obviously require all the
time and strength of one man. If there are no
lost Sabbaths, through stress of weather or failure
of appointments, or other causes, we shall have
the result of the year's work in fifty-two Sunday,
schools. The salary and expenses of the Mission-
I ary, making due allowance for the usual hospi¬
talities, will not fall much below §300. Suppose
each of the schools raises $5 or even $10, to¬
wards a supply of books and requisites, there
would be at least an equal sum to be furnished
gratuitously; and this, at $10 a school, would be
$520. By this estimate we should have expended,
say $800, in missionary labour and gratuitous aid
to establish fifty-two Sunday-schools for the in¬
struction (in each) of fifty children and youth,
(or nearly 3000 in all,) and to supply each school
with a respectable library of one or two hundred
volumes. This would be an average draft on our
benevolent fund of about $15 to a school, or
thirty cents to each pupil, or about half a cent a
Sabbath. But very little additional expense
would be involved in maintaining it for three'
years, and thus the average annual expense
would be reduced to about ten cents a head for
schooling and the privileges of the library, or
two mills a Sabbath !
Surely benevolent men cannot look with in¬
difference upon such an agemcy as this, for the
diffusion of knowledge and morality and reli¬
gion, in the vast regions of the West.   What
higher, holier, nobler charity can be bestowed in
any part of the globe! and what portion of its
800,000,000 inhabitants should share more large¬
ly in our sympathies, than those who speak our
own language, live under thci same government
and breathe the same air with us, and are invest¬
ed with ample powers to sustain or subvert, to
save or destroy, the cherished institutions of the
country?    Is there a more simple,  unmingled
missionary movement, at home or abroad, than
that which is above contemplated?   Does it not
embrace, most obviously, the distribution of the
Bible; the introduction of evangelical books and
tracts; the building up of churches, and the es¬
tablishment of the Christian ministry?  All these
ends have been oftentimes answered, even by
the very imperfect and inadequate agency we
have been able to employ.    Give it a proper im¬
pulse, and it will prove itself, on the largest
scale, equally appropriate and effective.    We
ask for means, then, to employ trust-worthy Sun*
day-shool men, to go abroad, in the manner and
for the purposes we have specified, so that Sun¬
day Schools may be opened every where, and
the ignorant and untaught be gathered into them,
to learn to read and obey the Scriptures.
But another object is continually before us, to-
which we can only allude.   Applications crowd
upon us for Books, just as they do upon the Mis¬
sionary Society for missionaries, upon the Bible
Society for Bibles, and upon the Tract Society
for tracts; and, like those kindred institutions,
we have no means of supplying them, exeept
what Christian charity affords us.   If Bibles or
tracts   are   gratuitously distributed,  somebody
pays for them.   They are not printed and bound
for nothing.   The fund which is raised to circu¬
late them, is paid to the manufacturer of them—
and without this fund they could not be had.—
Just so it is with a Sunday school library, sent to
a distant and destitute school.   The American
Sunday School Union pays a shilling for making
a book.   If we give that book awayTwe have
nothing left with which to make or get another.
The donation of books to Sunday schools, is just
like the donation of Bibles and Tracts j and we
need the same aid from the churches and from
benevolent men, to enable us to give away Sun¬
day school books, which is needed to sustain the
Bible and Tract distribution.   The only question
is, whether missionary labor and the distribution
of religious books, among children and youth,
will be likely to do as much good as missionary
labor and the  distribution  of religious books
among them, after they are grown up.   If so, let
our efforts share proportionately in the prayers
and alms of Christ's disciples.   The friends and
agents of the Sunday school, Bible, Tract, and
Missionary enterprises, are all aiming at one and
the same great end; viz.—the filling of the earth
with the knowledge of the Lord.   Each has its
appropriate sphere; and to diminish aught from
the value or the utility of either, is to weaken all.
The American Sunday School Union has been,
for nearly twenty  years,   recognized, by the
friends of the Redeemer, as the instrument by
which the children and youth  of the United
States, who are destitute of Sunday school privi¬
leges, may be furnished with them.   We have
been enabled, by God's favor, greatly to extend
and improve such schools. We can make books,
—as the Bible Society makes Bibles, and as the
Tract Society makes Tracts,—but we, like them,
must depend on Christian benevolence to supply
the means of giving them away.   We can find
good and faithful missionaries to turn their feet
to the new States and Territories beyond the
mountains: but, like the Missionary Society, we
must have help from the friends of missions, or
we cannot send them, even though ten thousand
times ten thousand tongues should implore their
service.   To sum up the whole matter—
1. The Society has no means of sending out
missionaries, or employing other agents to es¬
tablish schools, except such as are contributed
to that object by the friends of Christ and his
gospel. ,
2. The Society has no means of distributing
books gratuitously, except means are furnished
happy influence extends to parents, neighbours i o—
and friends.   If the school prospers, its advanta-   for that Purpose by the benevolent
ges are more and more obvious, it becomes the '    a  n,,r book sales merely retur
rallying point of Christian sympathies and hopes;
and soon rises into the more imposing relations
of a Christian congregation and a church   of
Christ.   The gospel ministry is then introduced,
and thus, in due time, out of the seed sown in
weakness by the humble Sunday-school   mis¬
sionary, spring up many Sunday-schools, and
other   Christian  enterprises, which adorn and
bless the land.    This is no fictitious representa¬
tion.   Many scores of cases might be specified,
with names and dates, in which it has been fully
realised.
We have said that no less than 20,000 Sunday-
schools would be needed for the accomodation
of the destitute ; shall it be the blessed privilege
of the American Sunday-School-Union to estab¬
lish even 1000? Surely our friends will not think
such an effort too bold for a Society so well es¬
tablished in the affections and confidence of
God's people as the American Sunday-school
Union, even though it be in times of distress and
darkness like the present. But to attempt even
so small a portion as one twentieth of the impor¬
tant work involves much labour and expense.
Those most familiar with the details of such
labour, will tell us that it is well bestowed when
3. Our book sales merely return the money
.'aid out in printing the books; and the Society
I is no richer at the end of the year than at the be¬
ginning. The opportunity to plant schools and
distribute books is passing away, and can never
be recalled. Shall we go on, or shall we for¬
bear? P.
THOUOHTS OF THE WISE.
A sound head, a simple heart, and a spirit de¬
pendent on Christ, will suffice to conduct us in
every variety of circumstances.—Cecil.
A Christian is like the firmament, and it is the
darkness of affliction that makes his graces to
shine out. He is like those herbs and plants
that best effuse their odors when bruised.—Jay.
Some birds never make a noise but at the ap¬
proach of foul weather: so there are persons
who never cry to\€rod but when his chastening
hand is upon them. This is selfish—what can
God think of your religion, if you never seek
him but in trouble 1—Jay.
Charity suffereth long; itbeareth the imper¬
fections of others with patience, waits for their
amendment without impatience ; and begs'it of
God without being weary.—Bishop Wilson,