ing towards them any terms. of condemnation and reproach, and would rather bow in humiliation before our common Father in heaven for the sins which have brought his judgment on our land, we yet feel bound to declare our solemn sense of the deep and grievous wrong which they will have inflicted on the great Christian communion which this Convention represents, as well as on the country within which it has been so happily and harmoniously established, should they persevere in striving to rend asunder those civil and religious bonds which have so long held us together in peace, unity, and concord.

Resolved, That while, as individuals and citizens, we acknowledge our whole duty in sustaining and defending our country in the great struggle in which it is engaged, we are only at liberty, as deputies to this council of a Church which hath ever renounced all political association and action, to pledge to the national Government - as we now do - the earnest and devout prayers of all, that its efforts may be so guided by wisdom and replenished with strength that they may be crowned with speedy and complete success, to the glory of God and the restoration of our beloved Union.

Resolved, That if, in the judgment of the bishops, any other forms of occasional prayer than those already set forth shall seem desirable and appropriate, whether for our Convention or Church or our country, for our rulers or our defenders, or for the sick and wounded and dying of our army and navy and volunteers, we shall gladly receive them and fervently use them.

During the sittings of the Convention, the House of Bishops, with a dignity worthy of themselves and the occasion, ordered a day of prayer and fasting in view of the great national crisis through which we are passing. The official resolution was worded as follows: -

The House of Bishops, in consideration of the present afflicted condition of the country, propose to devote Wednesday, the 8th of October instant, as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, and to hold in Trinity Church a solemn service appropriate to the occasion.

The Bishops affectionately request the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies to join with them in said observance.

In accordance with this resolution, the Convention adjourned for the day specified.

Long before eleven o'clock - the hour announced for the service - the church was crowded. At eleven precisely the bishops and clergy entered the church, and occupied the seats leading to the middle aisle.

The order of Morning Service was modified for the occasion. Instead of the Venite, the one hundred and thirtieth Psalm was chanted: -

"Out of the deep have I called unto thee, Lord; Lord, hear my voice," - the proper Psalm for the day. The first lesson was the forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, and the second from the sixth chapter of St. Luke, beginning at the twentieth verse.

To the suffrage in the Litany for "unity, peace, and concord" was added, "and especially to this nation, now afflicted by civil war."

Immediately after the general thanksgiving the following
special prayers were read: -

Almighty and most holy Lord our God, who dost command us to humble ourselves under thy mighty hand that thou mayest exalt us in due time, we, thine unworthy servants, desire most humbly to confess before thee, in this the time of sore affliction in our land, how deeply as a nation we deserve thy wrath. In the great calamities which have come upon us we acknowledge thy righteous visitation, and bow down our souls under the mighty hand of our holy and merciful God and Father. Manifold are our sins and transgressions, and the more sinful because of the abundance of our privileges and mercies under thy providence and grace. In pride and living unto ourselves; in covetousness and worldliness of mind; in self-sufficiency and self-dependence; in glorying in our own wisdom and richness and strength, instead of glorying only in thee; in making our boast of thy unmerited blessings, as if our own might and wisdom had gotten them, instead of acknowledging thee in all and seeking first thy kingdom and righteousness: in profanencss of speech and ungodliness of life; in polluting thy Sabbaths, and receiving in vain thy grace in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we acknowledge, Lord, that as a nation and people we have grievously sinned against thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. Righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face. Because thy compassions have not failed, therefore we are not consumed. Make us earnestly to repent and heartily to be sorry for these our misdoings. May the remembrance of them be grievous unto us. Turn unto thee, Lord, the hearts of all this people in humiliation and prayer, that thou mayest have compassion upon us and deliver us. When thy judgments are thus upon us, may the inhabitants of the land learn righteousness. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful Father. For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, forgive us all that is past, and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life, to the honor and glory of thy name. We beseech thee so to sanctify unto us our present distresses, and so to make haste to deliver us, that war shall be no more in all our borders, and that all resistance to the lawful Government of the land shall utterly cease. May our brethren who seek the dismemberment of our national Union, under which this people by thy providence have been so signally prospered and blest, be convinced of their error and restored to a better mind. Grant that all bitterness and wrath and anger and malice may be put away from them and us, and that brotherly love and fellowship may be established among us to all generations. Thus may the land bring forth her increase, under the blessings of peace, and thy people serve thee in all godly quietness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Grant, Lord, we beseech thee, to all such as are intrusted with the government and defence of this nation, thy most gracious support and guidance. Graft in their hearts a deep sense of dependence on thy wisdom and power and favor, and incline them with all humility to seek the same. In all their ways may they dutifully acknowledge thee, that thou mayest direct their steps. Make thy word to be their light, thy service their glory, and thine arm their strength. Further them with thy continual help, that in all their works - begun, continued, and ended in thee - they may glorify thy holy name. Under their heavy burdens and trials be thou their refuge and consolation. By their counsels and measures, under thy blessing, may the wounds of the nation be speedily healed. For those our brethren who have gone forth for our defence, by land or water, we seek thy most gracious blessing and protection. In every duty and danger be thou their present help. In all privations and sufferings give them patience and resignation, and a heart to seek their comfort in thee. May they be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, hating iniquity, fearing God, and obeying his word. Give them success in every enterprise that shall be pleasing to thee. Visit with the consolations of thy grace all sick and wounded persons, all prisoners, and all those bereaved of relatives and friends by reason of the present calamities. Prepare to meet thee all those who shall die in this conflict. Give them unfeigned repentance for all the errors of their lives past, and steadfast faith in thy Son Jesus, that they may be received unto thyself. And finally unite us all together in the blessedness of thy everlasting kingdom, through Him who liveth and reigneth, with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Let thy continual pity, O Lord, cleanse and defend thy Church; and in these days of sore trial to thy people raise up thy power, and come among us, and with great might succor us. Grant that, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, all Christians may be so joined together in unity of spirit and in the bond of peace that they may be a holy temple acceptable unto thee. May all counsels of dissension and division be brought to naught. Increase our faith and love and zeal in thy service and for the coming of thy kingdom. Make the whole Church a light in the world; and the more her afflictions abound, so much the more may her consolations also abound by Christ, to the praise and glory of thy name.   Amen.

After the liturgical service, the thirty-second selection of
Psalms, beginning, -

"Thy chastening wrath, Lord, restrain," -

was song by the choir.

The eightieth hymn was sung. It begins thus: -

"Almighty God, before thy throne
Thy mourning people bend;
'Tis on thy pardoning grace alone
Our prostrate hopes depend."

By special request the music was, in accordance with the sentiment of the occasion, as simple and unpretending as possible.

Before the benediction a short prayer was read, beseeching "Infinite Mercy" to appease the tumults among us, to bring to an end the dreadful strife which is now raging in our land, and to restore peace to our afflicted country.

The services were conducted by Bishops McCroskey, of Michigan, Kemper, of Wisconsin, Smith, of Kentucky, Whittingham, of Maryland, Hopkins, of Vermont, and McIlvaine, of Ohio.

Bishop McIlvaine prepared the following

Pastoral Address of the House of Bishops to the Clergy and Laity.

Brethren: - We have been assembled together in our Triennial Convention under most afflicting circumstances. Hitherto, whatever our Church had to contend with from the fallen nature of man, from the power of this evil world, or the enmity of that mighty adversary who is called by St. Paul the "god of this world," her chief council has been permitted to meet, amidst the blessings of peace, within our national boundaries and as representing a household of faith at unity in itself. Our last meeting was in the metropolis of a State which has long hold a high place and influence in the affairs of our Church and country. Long shall we remember the affectionate hospitality which was there lavished on us, and the delightful harmony and brotherly love which seemed to reign, almost without alloy, in a Convention composed of representatives of all our dioceses. Never did the promise of a long continuance of brotherly union among all parts and sections of our whole Church appear more assuring; but, alas! what is man! how unstable our surest reliances, based on man's wisdom or will!

How unsearchable His counsel who hath "his way on the sea, and his path on the mighty waters," and whose footsteps are not known! What is now the change! We look in vain for the occupants of seats in the Convention belonging to the representatives of not less than ten of our dioceses, and to ten of our bishops. And whence comes such painful and injurious absence? The cause stands as a great cloud of darkness before us, of which, as we cannot help seeing it and thinking of it wherever we go and whatever we do, and that most sorrowfully, it is impossible not to speak when we address you in regard to the condition and wants of our Church. That cause is all concentrated in a stupendous rebellion against the organic law and the constitutional Government of the country, for the dismemberment of our national Union, under which, confessedly, all parts of the land have been signally prospered and blessed, - a rebellion which is already too well known to you, brethren, in the vast armies that it has compelled our Government to maintain, and in the fearful expense of life and treasure, of suffering and sorrow, which it has cost on both sides, to need any further description here.

We are deeply grieved to think how many of our brethren, clergy and laity, of the regions over which that dark tide has spread, have been carried away by its flood, - not only yielding to it, so as to place themselves, as far as in them lay, in severance from our ecclesiastical union, which has so long and so happily joined us together in one communion and fellowship, but to a sad extent sympathizing with the movement and giving it their active co-operation.

In this part of our letter we make no attempt to estimate the moral character of such doings. At present we are confined to the statement of notorious facts, except as to one matter of which this is the con-venient place to speak.

When the ordained ministers of the gospel of Christ, whose mission is so emphatically one of peace and good will, of tenderness and consolation, do so depart from their sacred calling as to take the sword and engage in the fierce and bloody conflicts of war, - when in so doing tliey are fighting against authorities which, as "the powers that be," the Scriptures declare "are ordained of God," so that in resisting them they are resisting the ordinance of God, - when, especially, one comes out from the exalted spiritual duties of an overseer of the flock of Christ, to exercise high command in such awful work, - we cannot, as ourselves overseers of the same flock, consistently with duty to Christ's Church, ministry, and people, refrain from placing on such examples our strong condemnation. We remember those words of our blessed Lord, uttered among his last words, and for the special admonition of his ministers, "they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."

Returning to this great rebellion, with all its retinue of costs and sacrifices, of tribulation and anguish, of darkness and death, there are two aspects in which we must contemplate it, namely, as it comes by the agency of man, and as it proceeds from the providence of God.

We desire, first, to call your attention thereto, as it proceeds from the providence of God. So comprehensive is that providence that it embraces all worlds and all nations, while it is so minute that not a sparrow falleth without the knowledge and will of our Father in heaven. In its vast counsels, this deep affliction has a place; God's hand is in it; his power rules it. It is his visitation and chastening for the sins of the nation. Who can doubt it? Just as the personal affliction of any of you is God's visitation to turn him from the world and sin unto himself, so is this national calamity most certainly his judgment on this nation for its good. And we trust, dear brethren, that we are in no danger of seeming, by such interpretation of our distresses, to excuse in any degree such agency as men have had in bringing them upon us. God's providence has no interference with man's responsibility. He works by man, but so that it is still man that wills as well as works. The captivities of God's chosen people were, as his word declares, his judgment upon them for their sins; while the nations that carried them captive were visited of God for heinous guilt in so doing. Saint Peter declares that our Lord was delivered unto death by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, and that, nevertheless, it was by "wicked hands" that he was "crucified and slain." Thus, we need be under no temptation to diminish our estimate of the present dispensation of sorrow, as proceeding from the counsel of God, in punishment for our sins, whatever the agency of man therein. So to consider it is our duty, as Christians and as patriots, that it may do us the good for which it is sent and may be the sooner taken away.

It is not possible for us in this address to set before you in detail, or in their true proportions, all the national and other sins which make us as a people to deserve and need the chastisements of a holy God. It needs no Daniel, inspired from on high, to discover them. Surely you must all be painfully familiar with many of them in the profaneness of speech with which God's name and majesty are assailed; in the neglect of public worship, which so dishonors his holy day; in the ungodliness of life which erects its example so conspicuously; and especially in that great sin for which Jerusalem was given over to be trodden down by the heathen, and the people of Israel have ever since been made wanderers and a by-word among the nations, - namely, the rejection - whether in positive infidelity or only in practical unbelief - of God's great gift of grace and mercy, his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to be a sacrifice of propitiation for our sins and an all-glorious Saviour of our souls.

But there is a passage in the Scriptures which is of great use as a guide in the consideration of national sinfulness. It is a warning to the nations of Israel, and is found in the eighth chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, as follows: - "Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day; lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and hast dwelt therein, and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, then thy heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God; and thou say in thy heart, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me all this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God; for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth. And it shall be that if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, as the nations which the Lord destroyed before your face, so shall ye perish, because ye would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God."

Now, it was because that nation was guilty of precisely such self-glorying and such forgetfulness of its indebtedness to God and dependence on his favor as this warning describes, that the grievous calamities which so fill its history before the advent of Christ were brought upon it. And it is because there is so much agreement between this description and the aspect which we, as a people, have presented before God, that we place the passage before you.

Marvellously have we been prospered in every thing pertaining to national prosperity, riches, and strength. God has loaded us with benefits, and with our benefits have grown our ingratitude, our self-dependence and self-sufficiency, our pride and vain-glory.

A synopsis of the residue of the address can only be given.

After exhorting the people to repent of the sins which have caused God's judgments on the nation, that they might be exalted in due time, as God's hand was not shortened that it could not save, the letter broached the second point, - the agency of man in creating the troubles of the country. It was a subject which was approached with great diffidence, but one which the House of Bishops could not refrain from mentioning, especially as the clergy and laity desired their expression on it. They looked around and beheld the vacant seats of their absent brethren. It was the first time the Convention had met since the calamities of the nation commenced; and might the Almighty order that, when they should again convene, those calamities should have passed away and peace and union reign throughout the land. When they reviewed the state of the country, they found an immense force ready to effect its division: they beheld all the sad results of the war; they saw vast armies in the field, sharing the perils of battle; military hospitals were thronged with the wounded, and everywhere they witnessed the painful results of the conflict. The Church looked on the scene. What was her duty, and how should she accomplish it? Her duty in the emergency was to proclaim obedience to the Government, or, in the words of Scripture, the powers that be which are ordained of God, and to declare that whoever resisted them resisted the ordinance of God and was liable to damnation. That was the course of the Church. The obligations to remain in the Union were as legal and forcible on the States which had seceded as those which remained in it.

Allegiance was rightly due to their common Government, and refusing such allegiance was sin, which culminated in a great crime against the laws of God and man when it appeared in the form of rebellion. In cases where States should leave the Government without cause, or in the event of their suffering wrongs which provisions had been made to redress, they were guilty of the horrors of the war which they opened. The homily against rebellion denounced all attempts to subvert legally-constituted Government. The letter next noticed, in eloquent terms, the patriotism of the people in giving their substance and treasure and sending forth mighty armies to battle for the unity of the nation and the Government. After stating that the troubles of the country might lead many away from religion and draw others to God, it enjoined the people to be constant in prayer, and not let their love of country decrease their love of God. They should beseech the Almighty in mercy to take away the calamities which they all deplored, and which were caused by sin. They should, however, remember that to hate rebellion was a duty, but to hate rebels was the opposite of duty. Let them under no circumstances be unmindful of the words of the Saviour, who told them to love their enemies, and who, while they were themselves enemies, died on the cross for their salvation.

Reply of the President.

Right Reverend and Dear Sir: - The copy which you sent me of the "Pastoral Letter of the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America" has been submitted to the President. He authorizes me to assure you that he receives with the most grateful satisfaction the evidences which that calm, candid, and earnest paper gives of the loyalty of the very extended religious communion over which you preside, to the Constitution and Government of the United States. I am further instructed to say that the exposition which the highest ecclesiastical authority of that communion has given in the Pastoral Letter, of the intimate connection which exists between fervent patriotism and true Christianity, seems to the President equally seasonable and unanswerable. Earnestly invoking the Divine blessing equally upon our religious and civil institutions, that they may altogether safely resist the storm of faction, and continue hereafter, as heretofore, to sustain and invigorate each other, and so promote the common welfare of mankind, I have the honor to be, right reverend and dear sir, faithfully yours,

William H. Seward.

The General Convention of the Methodist Protestant Church, Cincinnati, Ohio, November, 1862.

Whereas our country continues to be involved in all the horrors and dangers of a civil war unparalleled in the history of the world, alike in its gigantic proportions and in the vital interests which it shall affect for good or ill; and

Whereas we cannot be cold spectators of the scenes occurring around us, because they appeal to our sympathies and our principles as patriots, as Christians, and as philanthropists; and

Whereas we deem it our duty to our country, to the world at large, and to our God, to utter our sympathies and sentiments in this hour of danger to the country and to civil liberty: therefore,

1. Resolved, That we cling with fond affection to the institutions bequeathed to us by our Revolutionary sires, and that we infinitely prefer them to any other that ever have been, or that may be, proposed as a substitute for them.

2. Resolved, That we therefore sanction, with all our hearts, the prosecution of the current war for their maintenance, and we recommend that this war be pushed with the utmost energy and to the last extremity; because in its successful prosecution alone we see the prevention of anarchy and misrule, of wide-spread dissensions and mediaeval tyranny and vassalage, of universal distraction, contentions, and bloodshed, more fearfully desolating and terrible than any thing that can now result from the course that we thus earnestly recommend.

3. Resolved, That we heartily endorse the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln, because it strikes at that baleful cause of all our civil and ecclesiastical difficulties, American slavery, - "the sum of all villanies," the darling idol of villains, the central power of villanous secessionism, but now, by the wisdom of the President, about to be made the agent of retributive justice in punishing that culmination of villanous enterprises, the attempt to overthrow the most glorious civil Government that God's providence ever established upon earth.

4. Resolved, That we earnestly deprecate all dissensions and divisions among those who profess loyalty to the Government and attachment to our free institutions; and that we deem it suspicious at least, if not strong evidence of sympathy with our enemies, when men in our midst attempt to create such divisions or dissensions upon any pretext whatsoever.

5. Resolved, That a committee be appointed to address the President of the United States, and express to him, in the name of the Methodist Protestant Church, the sentiments of loyalty contained in these resolutions, and to assure him that our people endorse his Proclamation, sustain the war, and are ready to do and suffer all things necessary for the maintenance of our glorious Government intact.

These resolutions were unanimously adopted by a rising vote, followed by a solemn season of prayer for the President of the United States.

The Synod of New Jersey (Old-School Presbyterian), October, 1862.

Whereas, heing deeply impressed with the sinfulness before God of the present rebellion against our Government, with the widespread wickedness of our whole nation, which has brought upon us all the chastisement of civil war, with the necessity of that humiliation which the Divine judgments demand and are well fitted to induce, and with the duty of trusting sincerely in God alone for our national deliverance, and fearing that our people at large are not duly alive to the religious aspect of our public troubles: therefore,

Resolved, 1. That this Synod express to all the people under its care the deep and solemn conviction that the armed rebellion now in progress against our national Government cannot be viewed in any other light than as a grievous sin against God and his Church, and that in the present conflict of our Government with this rebellion there can be but two parties, - the friends and the enemies of the Government; and therefore all who in any way sympathize with or uphold the rebellion are involved in the guilt of its great sin.

Resolved, 2. That we regard the continuance, the enlarged and calamitous proportions, of our civil war as a solemn token of God's righteous displeasure with our whole nation, and a most impressive admonition that we are not suitably humbled for the manifold heinous sins of corruption, pride, ambition, self-confidence, forgetfulness of God, covetousness, Sabbath-desecration, irreligion, both of rulers and people, and oppression, especially of the colored race.

Resolved, 3. That a committee be appointed to draft a memorial to the President of the United States, to be signed by the Moderator and Stated Clerk, requesting him to appoint an early day for humiliation, fasting, and prayer.

Resolved, 4. That, in case the President shall not have previously appointed such a day, this Synod hereby recommend to all its churches to observe the said Thursday in December as a day of fasting, with suitable public and private services of devout humiliation and prayer, ihat the Lord may turn away his anger from our country, save the Union from destruction, and restore peace and harmony to our whole land.

Resolved, 5. That these resolutions be read by the ministers of this Synod to their respective congregations from the pulpit.

The Svnod of Wheeling, Virginia (Old-School Presbyterian), October, 1862.

In view of the present condition of our Church and country, caused by the existing and terrible rebellion in the whole Southern portion of this Union, calling forth the warmest sympathy of God's people in behalf of our land and nation, the Synod of Wheeling do reaffirm her attachment to our Federal Government and Constitution, and that it is the imperative duty of all our people to maintain the same by upholding all persons in authority in all their lawful and proper acts, whether civil or military; and, with profound humility and dependence on the grace of God, we would seek for Divine guidance and assistance in our national troubles, and be encouraged by the blessed truth that "the Lord reigneth." And

Whereas God has revealed himself the hearer of prayer, and it is the privilege and duty of Christians to cry earnestly to the Lord in the time of individual or national calamity; and

Whereas the united prayers of God's people might be prevalent with the Most High to remove from our beloved land and nation the chastening hand with which he is so severely afflicting us, and that he would make us sincere in confessing our sins and humbling ourselves before the Lord in consequence of his judgments, which rest so heavily upon us, and, moreover, that he would grant grace unto those in rebellion to change their hearts and make them willing to return to loyalty and obedience to the Federal Government, which the God of nations has so long upheld and so wonderfully blessed in years that are past: therefore,

Resolved, 1. That the Synod of Wheeling, of the Presbyterian Church (Old School), now in session at Washington, Pennsylvania, do respectfully, but earnestly, ask his Excellency the President of these United States to appoint a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, to be observed by all the people of this land in view of the distracted state of our country.

Resolved, 2. That if his Excellency the President should fail to appoint said day, then the Synod do appoint the first Thursday of December next a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer within our bounds, on which our people are recommended to meet in their respective churches, and confess their individual and national sins, and pray to Almighty God in behalf of our beloved and bleeding country, its Government, its army and navy, and its people, that armed rebellion may be overthrown and cease, and that the constitutional authorities of the Government may be vindicated, and that we may obtain a speedy, honorable, and permanent peace.

Resolved, 3. That the Stated Clerk of Synod be directed to forward a copy of the first resolution to the President of the United States as soon as practicable.

The Synod of Indiana (Old-School Presbyterian), October, 1862.

The Synod of Indiana, in session at Greensburgh, October 18, 1862, recognizing the manifold and grievous evils of the civil war by which the nation is convulsed and its very existence threatened, as the righteous judgment of God upon it for its national sins, and especially for its complicity with, and support of, the system of slavery existing in many of the States, for the instruction and guidance of the people under its own pastoral care, and all men to whom its voice may come, deems it its duty to declare:

That the nation has no right to expect that God will turn away from the nation his judgment, until the nation shall have, with sincere and godly repentance, turned from the sins by which the judgment has been provoked.

That it is, therefore, the imperative duty of the citizens of the nation, while humbling themselves under the mighty hand of God, and confessing their own sins and the sins of the nation, supplicating his mercy upon it, to urge upon the national Government the exertion of the whole power with which it is legitimately invested, whether under military law or otherwise, to withdraw the nation from all complicity with and support of slavery.

That it is the sacred duty of the whole people, by all the means in their possession and to the whole extent of their power, to sustain and support the Government in all lawful and just measures for the suppression of the traitorous rebellion which has been originated and sustained in the interest of slavery and slavery propagandism and domination.

Ths Philadelphia Baptist Association, October, 1862.

Resolved, That, as members of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, we reaffirm our unswerving loyalty to the Government of these United States.

Resolved, That in the trials through which we are passing as a nation we recognize the guidance of the Almighty, and see, not dimly, the purpose of his love to purify the fountains of our national life and develop in righteousness the elements of our national prosperity.

Resolved, That, as Christian citizens of this republic, it is our bounden duty to renounce all sympathy with sin, to rebuke all complicity with evil, and cherish a simple, cheerful confidence in Him whose omnipotence flowed through a stripling's arm and sank into the forehead of the Philistine.

Resolved, That, in pursuance of this splrit, we hail with joy the recent proclamation of our Chief Magistrate, declaring freedom on the 1st day of January next to the slaves in all the then disloyal States, and say to him, as the people said to Ezra, "Arise, for the matter belongeth unto thee; we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it."

Resolved, That in the name of Liberty, which we love, in the name of Peace, which we would make enduring, in the name of Humanity and of Religion, whose kindred hopes are blended, we protest against any compromise with rebellion; and for the maintenance of the war on such a basis, whether for a longer or a shorter period, we pledge, in addition to our prayers, our "lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the President and his advisers, with assurances of the honor in which, as Christians, we hold them, and with our solemn entreaty that no one of them will, in the discharge of duties however faithful for his country, neglect the interests of his own personal salvation.

The following reply was received from Mr. Seward: -

Washington, October 18, 1962.

To the Philadelphia Baptist Association: -

Gentlemen: - I have the honor to acknowledge for the other heads of Departments, as well as in my own hehalf, the reception of the resolutions which were adopted by your venerable Association during the last week, and to assure you of our high appreciation of the personal kindness, patriotic fervor, and religious devotion which pervade their important proceedings. You seem, gentlemen, to have wisely borne in mind, what is too often forgotten, that any Government - especially a republican one - cannot be expected to rise above the virtue of the people over whom it presides. Government is always dependent on the support of the nation from whom it derives all its powers and all its forces, and the inspiration which can give it courage, energy, and resolution can come only from the innermost heart of the country which it is required to lead or to save. It is indeed possible for an administration in this country to conceive and perfect policies which would be beneficent, but it could not carry them into effect without the public consent; for the first instruction which the statesman derives from experience is that he must do, in every case, not what he wishes, but what he can.

In reviewing the history of our country, we find many instances in which it is apparent that grave errors have been committed by the Government, but candor will oblige us to own that heretofore the people have always had substantially the very kind of administration which they at the time desired and preferred. Political, moral, and religious teachers exercise the greatest influence in forming and directing popular sentiments and resolutions. Do you, therefore, gentlemen, persevere in the inculcation of the principles and sentiments which you have expressed in your recent proceedings, and rest assured that, if the national magnanimity shall be found equal to the crisis through which the country is passing, no efforts on the part of the adininistration will be spared to bring about a peace without a loss of any part of the national territories or the sacrifice of any of the constitutional safeguards of civil or religious liberty. I need hardly say that the satisfaction which will attend that result will be immeasurably increased if it shall be found also that in the operations which shall have produced it humanity shall have gained new and important advantages. Commending ourselves to your prayers, and to the prayers of all who desire the welfare of our country and of mankind, I tender you the sincere thanks of my associates, with whom I have the honor to remain, gentlemen,

Your very obedient servant,

William H. Seward.

The State Baptist Convention of Ohio, October, 1862, passed the following resolutions, prepared by Rev. Dr. M. Stone: -

"Whereas the powers that be are ordained of God, and he that resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God," and is threatened with damnation: therefore, be it

Resolved, 1. That it is our right and duty, as a body of Christian citizens, in these times of rebellion against our beneficent Government, to tender our hearty sympathy and support to those who are intrusted with it.

Resolved, 2. That we will accord a cheerful and earnest support to our rulers and our armies in their endeavors to crush the wicked rebellion, until that object shall be accomplished and peace and order restored; and that we will offer up our prayers and supplications daily to the sovereign Disposer of events for his interposition in this behalf.

Resolved, 3. That since the present terrible civil war was begun by our enemies, without any just cause or provocation, for the purpose of extending, strengthening, and perpetuating the wicked institution of slavery, against the moral sense of the civilized world, and though in the beginning we had no intention of interfering with the institutions of the rebellious States, yet the progress of the war clearly indicates the purpose of God to be the summary extinction of slavery, therefore we approve the late proclamation of liberty of our President, and we will sustain him in carrying out that proclamation till our beloved country shall be purged of the accursed blot, both the cause of the war and the chief means in our enemy's hands of carrying it on, and will stand by our country in the adoption of such further measures as may be necessary to put an end to this great rebellion.

Seneca Baptist Association of New York, September, 1862.

That, while we deplore the evils of the war, we still believe that the interests of humanity, freedom, and religion require its prosecution until the rebellion is utterly crushed out.

That, as slavery has taken the sword, we should therefore let it perish by the sword, being absolved from whatever legal or moral obligations we may have been under to support it.

That we recognize in the scenes of blood now being enacted, the righteous judgments of God for our sins. It therefore becomes us to bow in humility and penitence, lest iniquity be our ruin.

That the recent proclamation of the President is but a step in the order of Providence, necessitated by the logic of events. We therefore accept it, praying that the same Providence will make it a sure proclamation for liberty.

That we cherish in our memories and prayers our brethren and friends upon the field, making incessant eflfort to promote their spiritual welfare, and trusting in God for their protection.

At the Baptist State Convention, October 7, 1862, in Ithaca, the Committee on the State of the Country made the following report, which was adopted unanimously: -

Whereas the civil war which was in progress in our country at our last annual meeting is still in existence, threatening the destruction of our Government, with all the precious interests it involves: therefore,

Resolved, 1. That, as a religious body, we deem it our duty to cherish and manifest the deepest sympathy for the preservation and perpetuity of a Government which protects us in the great work of Christian oivilization.

Resolved, 2. That, in our opinion, the history of civil governments furnishes no example of more audacious wickedness than is exhibited by the rebellion which has been inaugurated against the free government framed by our fathers and so eminently in harmony with the conscious and obvious rights of man.

Resolved, 3. That while we see, with the profoundest sorrow, thousands of husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons falling on the battle-field, considering the interests to be preserved and transmitted to future generations, we cannot regard the sacrifice of treasure and of life too much for the object to be secured.

Resolved, 4. That as human slavery in the Southern portion of our country is, in our judgment, the procuring cause of the rebellion now raging among us, having been proclaimed as the corner-stone of the rebellion and as the institution for which they are fighting, as Christian men and citizens we fully and heartily endorse the recent proclamation of the President of the United States, declaring forever free all slaves in the rebel States on the 1st of January, 1863.

Resolved, 5. That the spirit of the age, the safety of the country, and the laws of God require that among the results of the present bloody war shall be found the entire removal of that relic of barbarism, that bane and shame of the nation, American slavery, and that the banner of freedom float triumphantly and truthfully over all the land.

Resolved, 6. That the foregoing preamble and resolutions be signed by the officer's of the Convention, and transmitted to the President of the United States.

The Pennsylvania State Convention of the Baptist Churches,

November, 1862.

Resolved, That this Convention, representing forty thousand of the citizens of Pennsylvania, mindful, in the present national crisis, of our own solemn duties to our country and our God, hereby declare our profound conviction of the intimate relation there is between the cause of human liberty and the cause of pure religion, and also our set purpose, as citizens, as Christians, and as Christian ministers, to employ our whole influence in supporting the supremacy of our national Constitution against all enemies whatever.

Resolved, That as the institution of slavery stands before the world as the confessed feeding source of the present mighty and wicked rebellion against our national Constitution, we most heartily approve of the President's proclamation of emancipation, without modification in substance and without change of time in its execution.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, duly authenticated, be forwarded to the President of the United States.

The two following letters are in answer to resolutions which the author was not able to obtain.

Department of State, September 29, 1862.

To the West New Jersey Baptist Association.

Reverend Gentlemen: - The resolutions concerning the state of public affairs which you have transmitted to me have been communicated to the President of the United States. I am instructed by him to reply that he accepts with the most sincere and grateful emotions the pledges they offer of all the magnanimous endeavors and all the vigorous efforts which the emergencies of the country demand. The President desires, also, that you may be well assured that, so far as it belongs to him, no vigor and no perseverance shall be wanting to suppress the existing insurrection and to preserve and maintain the union of the States and the integrity of the country. You may further rest assured that the President is looking for a restoration of peace on no other basis than that of the unconditional acquiescence by the people of all the States in the constitutional authority of the Federal Government.

Whatever policy shall lead to that result will be pursued; whatever interest shall stand in the way of it will be disregarded.

The President is, moreover, especially sensible of the wisdom of your counsels in recommending the cultivation by the Government and people of the United States of a spirit of meekness, humiliation, and dependence on Almighty God, as an indispensable condition for obtaining that Divine aid and favor without which all human power, though directed to the wisest and most benevolent ends, is unavailing and worthless. In a time of public danger like this, a State, especially a republic, as you justly imply, ought to repress and expel all personal ambitions, jealousies, and asperities, and become one united, harmonious, loyal, and devotional people.     Your obedient servant,

William H. Seward.

Departmemt of State, Washington, October 6, 1862.

To the Congregational Welsh Association of Pennsylyania.

Reverend Gentlemen: - I have had the honor to receive the resolutions which you have adopted; and, in compliance with your request, I have submitted them to the consideration of the President of the United States.

The President entertains a lively gratitude for the assurances you have given him of your loyalty to the United States and your solicitude for the safety of our free institutions, the confidence you have reposed in him, and your sympathy with him in the discharge of responsibilities whicli have devolved upon the Government. The President directs me to assure you that wherever the Constitution of the United States leads him, in that path he will move as steadily as shall be possible, rejoicing with yourselves whenever it opens the way to an amelioration of the condition of any portion of our fellow-men, while the country is escaping from the dangers of revolution. The President is deeply touched by your sympathies with those of our fellow-citizens who suffer captivity or disease, and the grief with which you lament those who fall in defence of the country and humanity; and he invokes the prayers of all devotional mien that these precious sufferings may not be altogether lost, but may be overruled by our heavenly Father to the advancement of peace on earth and good will to all men.

I have the honor to be,

Reverend gentlemen,

Your obedient servant,

William H. Seward.

Baptist Convention of the State of Massachusetts, October, 1862.

Resolved, That, in the present terrible national crisis in which we are involved by the unreasonable and wicked insurrection of disloyal men in the interest of a stupendous system of oppression, we hail with pleasure the proclamation of the President of the United States in favor of emancipation, and the acts of harmony therewith, as a favorable indication of Divine Providence and as an important instrumentality for the suppression of the rebellion.

Resolved, That in the fearful and wide-spread conflict now raging in bur land we regard the interests of civil and religious liberty throughout the world for future ages as deeply involved, and therefore regard it as the solemn duty of every man to sustain the Government to the whole extent of his ability.

Resolved, That, for the speedy and complete suppression of the rebellion, we deem it eminently important that the loyal portion of the nation, holding in abeyance all minor issues, should remain united and present an unbroken front against the insurgents, and should therefore put forth all their energies to prevent any division of the people in the loyal States which shall weaken their support of the President in the execution of his avowed policy.

Resolved, That whilst we mourn over our individual and national sins, and acknowledge the justice of Almighty God in the severe affliction which has befallen us, we also recognize his Divine sovereignty, that as the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, so deliverance from our present troubles can be effected only through his mighty and beneficent agency, for which it becomes us to offer earnest and persevering prayer.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, signed by the President and Secretary of this Convention, be forwarded to the President of the United States as expressive of our approval of his policy in the prosecution of the war, and as a pledge of our sympathy, prayers, and cooperation with him in his arduous efforts to restore the Union and bring back to us national peace and prosperity.

The New-School Synod of Wabash, Indiana, October, 1862.

Whereas a giant rebellion is still struggling to plunge its dagger into the heart of our beloved country, that it may establish an empire of slavery on the ruins of our freedom; and

Whereas our national Government is manfully struggling to crush this rebellion and annihilate its power: therefore.

Resolved, 1. That wo do hereby express our unfaltering loyalty to the Government under which we live, and do pledge all our means of influence, and our personal resources, for the preservation of the national existence.

Resolved, 2. That we tender to the President of the United States our cordial esteem and sympathy, and we will not cease to pray that God may give to him wisdom and courage and faith adequate to the responsibilities of his position, and to the people patriotism equal to the exigencies of the national peril.

Resolved, 3. That while we bow in humble and sorrowful acknowledgment of our national sins that have provoked God's displeasure, and deeply sympathize with the bereaved who have lost life-treasures and heart-treasures for the salvation of the nation, we yet cherish an unwavering faith in God, confirmed by the orderings of his providence and the conquests of his truth in the progress of this struggle, that he is disciplining us for a nobler national life in order to a wider national usefulness and prosperity; and we give thanks to God for the Executive proclamation of freedom, which we trust may sound the death-knell of slavery to the whole human race.

Western Reserve Synod of Ohio (New-School), October, 1862.

While we are deliberating for the interests of that kingdom "which is peace," we are reminded that the war begun by a wicked rebellion still rages in the land.

The Synod, at their last annual meeting, adopted a carefully prepared report upon the state of the country, in which they bore testimony against the prime cause of the war, and pledged their support of the Government in its efforts to re-establish its authority over the States in revolt. Since that time the conflict has assumed larger proportions, and gathered to itself greater moral interest. Battles have been fought; new armies have been sent into the field; and legislation, and the