with the perversity of human ambition: "Cœlum ipsum petimus stultitia." It is not inconsistent with every one's duty, which is to explore, with careful and prayerful steps, the profoundest mysteries of the Word of God. The least new light shining from those pages will disclose far richer revelations of the attributes of God than the loftiest discoveries in the realm of nature. It may be that this is such a divine light, not cast upon but breaking forth from what has been to many a nebulous cloud of fire.

With the highest respect for the great scholars from whom it differs, we submit it as the only right solution of an otherwise insoluble problem. It can stand only by the impartial and intelligent agreement of many minds. To their searching and honest criticism we confidently appeal. They will find, we trust, that it satisfies every just demand of construction, language, and thought; that it delivers the apostle from the serious, not to say revolting, imputations which attend every other exegesis; that it reveals him in this utterance in a more Christlike attitude and fullness than in any other of his mighty aspirations. They will see that it expresses the highest motion of the holiest soul, which must be identical with the constant motion of the heart of God, and that nowhere else in human language is there an equal expression of the possible love which, in Christ, man can have for man.

ART. V.-METHODISM AND THE WAR.

NOT among the least of the arguments in favor of the righteousness of the present war on the part of the Union for the suppression of the rebellion, is the fact that the great leading denominations of the North have uttered a clear and decided testimony in its support. Without disparagement to any these denominations we must say, that first and foremost of the Churches in the North stands the Methodist Episcopal Church. As when in the war of the Revolution the Methodist Church was the first, through her accredited representatives, to give in her unqualified adhesion and support to the government, so now, when that government is assailed by traitor hands, is she

the first to spring to arms in its defense. At the time when tory preachers uttered anathemas against the war and fled the country, the heroic Asbury, though an Englishman, stood his ground and battled manfully for American liberty, notwithstanding Wesley had issued tracts condemnatory of resistance to British authority and in opposition to the Revolution. As Asbury was the pioneer bishop, and had pastoral oversight of the ministers in the Methodist Church of that day, he infused his spirit into them, and set his face most loyally against all the English preachers who manifested the least opposition to the American cause. In the very commencement of the present war the Methodist Church not only was the first to show her hand, but the first to fill the ranks of the gathering armies. Methodist preachers, fired with the spirit of patriotism, thundered from their pulpits the notes of freedom, and leaving the sacred desk called for recruits for the Union army. One whom we knew and loved full well, the heroic Ward, raised a company of noble young men from his Church, and at their urgent request became their captain, and led them forth to the field of strife. At their head, bravely leading them on to the deadly charge, he fell; but his fall was covered with glory. His was a sublime life, and sublimely did it close. Captains, lieutenants, and non-commissioned officers can be numbered by the thousand from the Methodist Church, and in some instances almost entire regiments are composed of Methodists. In the Western and North-western States, where the Methodist population is largely in excess of any other denomination, and in some of them equal to all others, the Methodists are found in the ranks by tens of thousands. Contributing to the strength of the sword and the purse more extensively than perhaps any other denomination in the country, it has often occurred to us as somewhat remarkable, that in the civil and military appointments of the country, with perhaps one exception, and that a subordinate appointment with meager emoluments, the Methodist Church has been treated in just such a manner as we would expect a Church to be treated if it had been the design of the government to ignore its claims altogether. We allude to the chaplains; but even these are not government appointments, inasmuch as they are chosen by the respective regiments, and the number only goes to show the prevalence of Methodism over other denominations

in the army. The number of Methodist chaplains, according to the printed minutes of the conferences, shows one hundred and ninety-four; but this does not give the entire number, as many local preachers are serving as chaplains whose names do not appear in the minutes.

The Hon. M. F. Odell, member of Congress from Brooklyn, in an address before the New York East Conference, in which he expressed his love for the Church and his country, and stirringly affirmed that he desired his religion should run parallel with his patriotism, and that he had no disposition to exclude his country from the closet and altars of the Church, said:

Among the most patriotic in the land were the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He had been informed by the President, the commander-in-chief of the army and the navy of the United States, that no Church had given its ministers and men more freely than the Methodist Church all over the land. What the President asserted corresponded with his own observations. The last Sabbath he was in Washington, during the session of Congress, he, in company with other Christian brethren, visited one of the hospitals located in the suburbs of Washington. One of the company was the present chief magistrate of Connecticut. They found in the wards of the hospital six hundred soldiers, and before they left the whole company of wounded men united in singing the well-known battle hymn,

"On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,"

to the tune of Coronation. Such singing he had never heard before, and he ventured to say that every loyal state in the Union was represented by Methodist soldiers. In all the camps and hospitals he had visited, and they were numerous, he heard the grand old hymns of Methodism sung, and he never found a company in which were not Methodists. His love for the Church had been enhanced by the fact, that from her sanctuaries had gone forth her noble sons in defense of the country.

A few weeks after the honorable gentleman delivered the substance of this address before the New York Conference, which had contributed largely of its members for the suppression of the rebellion, and whose loyalty was expressed in a series of resolutions which were adopted with only two dissentients.

The above desultory remarks we have made as preliminary to a tribute to some of our noble and patriotic brethren in the ministry, who have won for themselves on the field of battle a

lofty niche in their country's history, and whose heroic deeds deserve a passing testimonial. The time is not far distant when all who have been connected or in any way sympathized with the Southern rebellion will feel the consequences of their treason and disloyalty, when from its hideous form shall be torn the mask, and its demoniac grin will haunt their souls forever. And, on the other hand, the patriotic and loyal, who, by their acts and sympathies, have stood by the government and rallied for its support, will live in national history and song, while every year of the country's prosperity will add freshness to their laurels. Every grave of the noble dead will become a shrine of freedom, while every drop of blood shed in the cause of liberty will prove a nation's harvest and the world's hope.

Among the officers of the Union army who went forth at the call of his country stands the name of Rev. JAMES HAZARD PERRY, D.D., a minister of the New York East Conference, and, at the time of his volunteering, pastor of the Pacific-street Church, Brooklyn. As Colonel Perry has fallen in the service of his country, a biographical sketch should embrace the incidents of his early life, and we avail ourselves of extracts from an excellent memorial drawn by an intimate friend and brother minister, Rev. Dr. Kennaday. Having been with him from the time he entered upon the command of the Forty-eighth New York State Volunteers, we can furnish a statement of all his military acts until he fell at his post. The following is Dr. Kennaday's sketch, which was read at the funeral, which was held in the Fleet-street Church, Brooklyn, of which Colonel Perry was once a pastor.

"JAMES HAZARD PERRY was born near Latintown, a small but old village near the line of Ulster and Orange counties, in the state of New York, in the year 1811. His education commenced at an early age, and he made rapid progress in his studies, until he became competent to enter as a cadet at the Military Academy at West Point. Becoming strongly interested in the cause of Texan independence, he resigned his position in the academy in the third year of his connection with it. He left behind him a good reputation for scholarship and manly deportment. Accepting the appointment of colonel in the service of Texas, he proceeded to raise a regiment. FOURTH SERIES, VOL. XV.-28

Succeeding in raising a large part of his regiment in New York, he embarked, intending to recruit the residue of it in New Orleans. The recruits with whom he sailed were undisciplined, and under very little restraint, save the influence of their colonel. The brig in which they sailed was a dull and indifferent craft, and they were driven by stress of weather upon the Bahama Banks. On nearing Nassau harbor the vessel was so disabled that the soldiers, fearing lest they should be lost, made every effort to escape, and reached the beach some distance below the town,

"The men had suffered much from hunger, and began their depredations upon the fields, much to the alarm of the inhabitants, many of whom were blacks. Word was soon carried to the town that a piratical vessel had landed her crew. The authorities at once proceeded to the arrest of the intruders, and their colonel, among them, was placed in custody. The magistrates and citizens, upon hearing Colonel Perry's statement of the facts, immediately released the men, and extended to them a generous hospitality. The colonel was invited to the residence of Mr. Lightbourne, a local preacher of the Wesleyans, father of Rev. James Lightbourne, now of the Philadelphia Conference. Though at this time no professor of religion, and but little acquainted with Methodism, his deportment in this family, and before the citizens generally, won the highest respect. His soldierly demeanor, his mild yet decided control of his men, made him friends, and every kindness was shown the regiment during its stay and upon its departure. Upon arriving at New Orleans he used all diligence to reach the scene of his future activity. His military education, together with his various other qualifications, made him a great acquisition to the little army of Texas, and its master-spirit, General Houston, soon appointed him an aid-de-camp. Great privations and sanguinary contests were then the daily incidents of that often dubious struggle. Colonel Fanning and his brave associates having surrendered as prisoners of war, had been brought into the presence of Santa Anna and ordered to be shot; only one of the number escaped. A little time afterward Colonel Crockett and his companions were all massacred, by the cruel edict of the same ungenerous conqueror, at the Alamo. Meanwhile Houston's forces continued retreating,