College Letters
College Letter No. IV
December 10th, 1886
For Private use of Members of the Academy. Please read carefully, and, when read, return immediately to the undersigned.
No.__ Philadelphia, December 10th, 1886=117.
DEAR FRIEND:—Since our last College Letter the Schools of the Academy
were reopened after the usual summer vacation. The Faculty consists at
present of Chancellor Benade, Professor Tafel, Professor Pendleton, and
Head Masters Schreck, Whitehead, and Bostock. These are assisted by Mr.
E. S. Price, Misses Electa and Alice Grant, Mr. C. F. Browne, and by several
of the students. Thirteen students are in attendance, of which twelve
are preparing for the ministry. Of these four are from America, four from
England, and four from Sweden. The Boys' School numbers sixteen pupils,
and the Girls' School and Kindergarten twenty-one. Besides the Philadelphia
Schools the Academy has now under its charge one in Pittsburgh and one
in Chicago. The one in Pittsburgh is attended by twelve pupils. The Head
Master, the Rev. John Whitehead, is assisted by the Rev. Andrew Czerny,
Miss C. Hobert, and Dr. William Cowley. The one in Chicago is attended
by six pupils. The Head Master, the Rev. Edward C. Bostock, is assisted
by Mr. O. Blackman and Miss Susan Jungé. The Schools were opened
in the three cities on September 15th. A full report of the Chancellor's
speech has been published in New Church Life for November.
The outward uses of the Academy are at present the Library, the Schools, the Book-Room, the Calendar, and the Orphanage.
A copy of the Calendar is inclosed herewith. If you should like to assist in extending its sale, more will be forwarded to you. The price to Members and others is five cents a copy.
THE College Letters, which were first issued nearly a year ago, have called forth a number of responses from the members of the Academy, all of which prove that the use intended is being fulfilled by these Letters. So interesting and strengthening have these responses been to the College that we select a few which illustrate the spirit animating our fellow-members, in the assurance that all will be benefited by their perusal.
One who, with his wife, is isolated in the midst of a large New Church Society, writes:
"It is indeed most satisfactory to the isolated members of the Academy to be thus made to feel that they are kept in mind and that their connection with it is a living and not merely a nominal one. They are quite as much interested in its principles and uses as those who are nearer the centre of its organization and are no less eager to know what is going on in the Body and no less in need of its life-giving circulation. When a living connection is maintained those members also may in some degree contribute to uses of the Body, when otherwise they might languish and even perish. Letters like that do much to overcome the separation by space, and to bring all the members into conjunction and harmonious co-operation."
While our isolated brother thus writes, the company of Academicians in Brooklyn send with the return of the last College Letter the following communication:
"Home again from the decennial celebration of the Academy, where members from east and west, south and north, assembled to enjoy, spiritually and naturally, the tenth birthday of this Body. We must ask ourselves, 'Have we seen, have we felt, how this Body of which we are a part, is organized, is constantly working to form itself more and more into a Human Body, and do we know now, how we, a part of this Body, have to work? Are we able to do anything for this Body, and so to perform any uses? We doubt—especially, when we look from the place which by the Divine Providence is given to us to occupy, up to the head and trunk and again down to the extremities. But these doubts vanish as soon as we look upon our external body, upon the uses which our feet and hands have to perform for the head and trunk—we are convinced they have to do some uses—and so we, the extremities of this great spiritual Body, have corresponding uses to perform.
"The Academy is a Body in a human form; there is not one member in this Body unable to perform some use; it is a Body in a perfectly healthy state, and always growing in vigor, and is by no means a cripple, where parts, on account of their deformities, cannot perform any uses. The head is sound, so is the trunk, and both need sound, well-formed extremities. The brain is always working and searching for means to increase the strength of the extremities, as well as of the trunk, especially spiritually. The office of the head is to govern the body. Feet and hands cannot move without head and trunk, and in order to be able to execute this the head must have brain, eyes, ears, etc., and the trunk a heart and lungs. A blind man walking his way alone is always in danger of falling and injuring himself, or to lose his way and perish. We cannot stretch out our hands to grasp an object when our eyes are closed, and in trying it we will undoubtedly do a great deal of damage by upsetting and breaking things.
"Not one part of this Body, so we have heard, can exist without the other; head, trunk, and extremities are necessary to the human body; take one part away and the body loses its form. Hence we, Associate Members of the Academy, the extremities of this wonderful Body, must and have to perform some uses—spiritually as well as naturally. Spiritually, by studying, searching the Divine truth, the Will of our LORD, in His Word and in the Writings of the New Church, and by carrying the same into our daily life. Living these truths and His Will, they become life which vivifies us. Accomplishing this, we have already performed the greatest and most important uses, yea, we are not able do any uses properly, except by performing them according to the Divine Truth, thus we do the will of our LORD; uses done otherwise may have an external appearance of being uses, but in reality they are none, for they are not performed in the LORD's name, hence they have no life.
"The natural uses consist in external assistance, contributions which are necessary to sustain, to preserve a healthy external body, in which alone a healthy internal can live. No matter how small and modest such contributions are, it is not the quantity which determines the value, but the good will. By sending forth such means by the way of the trunk to the head, we receive in return from the head by the trunk, means indeed more valuable and precious than those sent forth; strengthening, encouraging, and so enabling us to perform our duties more completely and perfectly. Natural, external means which are sent forth and transformed by the brain return to us spiritually.
"Therefore, we Associate Members do not need to fear or to be in doubt how to act; we have a head, which has brain, has eyes, ears, and a mouth, and in the trunk beats a warm heart full of life and love, and the lungs are breathing full of vigor; the feet can move forward without fearing to lose the way or to fall; arms and hands can be stretched out to do their work; the eyes and cars of this Body are open, and the mouth ready to teach us, to send us instructions and good advices; we can look forward without fear, for the head which governs this Body is governed and guided by THE LORD."
IT is exceedingly encouraging to all others when they see their fellow-members endeavoring in such a loyal spirit to carry out the principles of the Academy, and to show themselves true members of the Body. It is, therefore, with feelings of great delight to learn of still another brother who endeavors to ultimate in act the principles of the Academy.
The one grand end of the Academy is to become more and more a tabernacle of God, in which He may dwell. As this is the aim of the Academy in general, singular its members must make this their end and aim. They must dedicate themselves to the LORD. The LORD must be in all their thoughts and affections. The use they perform in the Church and in the world must have inmostly in it the LORD, and must be performed in service of Him. It is therefore most fitting that the material dwelling of an Academy family should be dedicated to the service of the LORD. This has been done—probably for the first time in the New Church—on the occasion when one of the Council took possession of his new residence.
The Academy met at 2008 Spring Garden Street, November 1st, 1886, to hold a Memorial Service on the occasion of the departure of Dr. David Cowley, of Pittsburgh, to the Spiritual World.
Before the Memorial Service there was a preliminary service, which consisted in the dedication of the house of Mr. John Pitcairn, where the meeting was held, and which had just been finished, and into which the family had just moved.
The Chancellor opened with an appropriate address concerning the use of a New Church home, following which he requested Mr. and Mrs. Pitcairn to indicate the place where they wished to have the Repository for the WORD. They did so by lifting a small table from a central position in the room and placing it against the east wall, in lieu of the Repository, which was not yet ready.
The Chancellor then read the one hundred and twenty-seventh Psalm, beginning with the words, "Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it."
The Chancellor then walked to the table, placed the open WORD upon it, and all kneeling, he offered an impressive prayer, followed by the LORD's Prayer, in which all joined.
After the prayer, the Chancellor requested the Rev. W. F. Pendleton to read from the True Christian Religion (n. 773). After the reading, Mr. Pendleton, with the True Christian Religion in his hand, walked to the table and placed the opened Book upon it.
The Chancellor then read from the work on Conjugial Love (n. 101, 102). He then walked to the table, holding in his hand the copy of the same Work, and placed it open upon the table. Then, after some appropriate remarks by the Chancellor closing the dedicatory services, the mwlv wl[v [in the original publication the Hebrew characters for "sh'lw shlwm" are included] was sung, which was followed by the benediction.
At the Chancellor's request the Rev. L. H. Tafel opened the memorial services by reading from Heaven and Hell concerning the state of those newly arrived in the Spiritual World.
The Chancellor then said: "Dr. Cowley has been our companion almost from the beginning of the Academy. Now the LORD has removed him from our midst to the world of higher uses. Those who have known the Doctor well, have known a wonderful humility in him, and the trials he has had to pass through have only served to make him a more spiritual man. Besides humility, the Doctor's traits were patience, truthfulness—a steady pursuit of what he believed to be right. He had much of what the world calls good-nature, was a pleasant, genial companion, always a true friend and brother. He proved his good qualities in his capacity as husband and father; his was a beautiful family life, a New Church home; his children have been faithfully taught and reared in the Church."
The Rev. W. F. Pendleton said that he was not intimately acquainted with Dr. Cowley, but from what he had seen of his sons he was prepared to indorse all that the Chancellor had said of the home life of the Doctor's family. Such families make the Church on earth. "It is an interesting fact that two men, who have profoundly studied New Church science, have lately been taken away from us—Dr. Cowley and Dr. Farrington; taken when we just seemed to need them most, for the study and development of science in the light of the Church is a great need with us; but we may feel assured that they will be of greater help to us where they are, even in this study, than if they were here. It is also interesting to note that almost the last act of the Doctor's professional life was to proclaim to an assembly of medical men the great value and importance of Swedenborg's anatomical works."
Mr. John Pitcairn said that he perhaps knew Dr. Cowley more intimately than any one in Philadelphia, and he could testify strongly to what has been said of his qualities. "He was one of the best balanced men we have had. The Church was always first with him. He was one of the men first thought of in the beginning of the Academy as most to be relied upon. He will be much missed in Pittsburgh. In respect to science, he has been delivering, for the past two years in Pittsburgh, lectures on Anatomy in the light of the New Church, which have given great pleasure."
The Rev. L. H. Tafel said that he had known Dr. Cowley for one-third of a century, and he had always been impressed with the same characteristics that the Chancellor mentioned. "He was one of those genial men we always like to meet. We shall miss him here, but he will be greeted by the Academicians in the other world, and will doubtless be asked by them, 'What news from earth?' We should always think of the Doctor as being happy in the circle of the Academy above."
Dr. G. R. Starkey said that he had also known Dr. Cowley nearly one-third of a century, and could indorse all that has been said of him. Dr. Starkey also mentioned that Dr. Cowley had at first some scruples about memorial meetings of this kind, but his first actual experience in the one held after the death of Mr. McCandless removed this entirely.
Mr. Walter C. Childs spoke of the same circumstance. The Doctor thought it too convivial a manner of celebrating the departure of a friend, but his experience at the meeting referred to removed all doubts from his mind. Mr. Childs added that the Doctor was associated in his mind with many pleasant things of the past. He always carried with him a pleasant sphere. He was also a man of no small ability in the Church and in his profession. A glad thought in connection with the Doctor is, that he is our decennial messenger to the other world, and will without doubt receive a warm welcome on that account.
The Chancellor spoke in conclusion of the Doctor's medical position. His colleagues had the highest confidence in his powers of prescription.
The service was then closed by singing "When the Mists are Cleared Away."
FROM Pittsburgh, where Dr. Cowley lived, comes the following account to the College:
"On Saturday, October 30th, Dr. David Cowley passed into the Spiritual World. He was a member of the College and we shall miss him very much from our circle. His kindly ways, his consideration for others, and his good judgment were qualities by which we greatly benefited. We now have no laymen in the College in Pittsburgh, the only two members being ministers. We shall therefore need to call upon our laymen of the Associate Members to aid us in the performance of some of the duties hitherto performed by Dr. Cowley.
"We received a telegram from Philadelphia appointing Monday evening, November 1st, for a Memorial meeting for Dr. Cowley. Owing to certain engagements by the Doctor's family, we did not hold our Memorial meeting until Tuesday evening, November 2d. We met at Mr. Whitehead's house. There was a full attendance of all the members residing in Pittsburgh and Allegheny, ten in number, Miss Laura Vickroy being now in Ferndale, near Johnstown, Pa.
"Flowers had been provided by the members of the Academy, which were afterward given to Mrs. Cowley. On the table was a copy of the WORD in Hebrew and Greek bound together, which was opened at the twenty-third Psalm. The meeting was opened with prayer and the reading of the twenty-third and twenty-fourth Psalms by the Rev. John Whitehead. Afterward the account of the resuscitation of man from the dead, contained in the first volume of the Arcana, was read. There were a number of pauses in the reading for comments and remarks. Among other things attention was called to the statement that
"'After the use of light has been given to the Resuscitated one, or the Soul, so that he can look around him, the spiritual angels show him every attention which he can desire in that state, and instruct him concerning those things which are in the other life but so far as he can receive. If he was in faith, and desires it, they also show to him the wonderful and magnificent things of heaven.'—A. C. 314.
"In connection with the reading of this it was suggested that we have probably been forming a wrong conception of the speed with which persons rising in the Spiritual World, who had been deeply imbued with the principles of the New Church, come into the World of Spirits and meet their friends there. For instance, it is common for us to say about the third day that the person rising is meeting with friends gone before. If they remain with the celestial as long as they delight in their sphere, if they are instructed by the spiritual angels and by them are shown the wonderful and magnificent things of heaven, if they desire it, would not a sound and true Academician desire to remain in this state for some time, and thus delay his descent into the World of Spirits and his meeting with friends who had departed before him?
"We had a very delightful and peaceful meeting, and Mrs. Cowley, who was present, seemed greatly helped in rising above the grief natural on the occasion. Indeed, we all thought she bore the Doctor's removal wonderfully, and her presence gave an added charm to the meeting. We were all convinced of the very great use of such memorial meetings, not only to the family, but to all the members of the Academy.
"The arrangements for the funeral were all that could be desired. Some time before his death the subject of funerals was discussed in an Academy meeting. At that meeting the expense and arrangement of funerals were spoken of, and it was agreed by all that a funeral should be arranged to cost as little as possible. It was also thought that most of the great cost incident to funerals arose from the exhibition of the body. If this could be got rid of in some way the cost would naturally be diminished. The Doctor took a leading part in the discussion, which was like many of our Academy discussions, all on one side, because we all thought alike. Before the Doctor's death, he requested that his ideas as thus expressed be carried out. He also desired the body cremated. As he died in the hospital away from his home, it was arranged that the body be taken directly to the crematory, only a few blocks away. The cheapest kind of a coffin was procured to remove the body in, the undertaker not being willing to remove it except in a regular coffin. It was arranged that the body be not on exhibition. The family did not see it, only two friends, Academicians, being appointed to see that the body was properly cremated. The body's being away from the house removed much of the depressing influence of funerals, and there was a quiet, peaceful feeling in the house which was noticeable at the services which were held on Monday afternoon at three o'clock, and were conducted by the Rev. J. Whitehead. The absence of the body also seemed to make a more receptive sphere among the people present, of whom there were a large number, probably from one hundred and fifty to two hundred.
"The question arose, how should the ashes be disposed of? An argument has been made in favor of the burial of the ashes, out of the correspondence, but to all of us it seems that the correspondence of burial is simply from the fact that the spirit rises when the body is dead, the body being buried about the time when the spirit rises; and the dissipation of the particles of the body by cremation, or by any other process after the spirit is separated, would have the same correspondence; and in regard to the ashes, it would seem that any way to restore them to the storehouse of nature to use for other purposes would be orderly; but that retaining the ashes in an urn or case, thus preserving them from performing any use, is the least desirable of all methods of disposing of the remains.
"On Wednesday evening we had a meeting, which only few of the members could attend, on account of the lateness of the hour, to meet Mr. Walter C. Childs, who gave an account of the Memorial meeting, and of the dedication of the house of Mr. and Mrs. John Pitcairn.
"We also held a meeting after the meeting of the General Church of Pennsylvania.
"The subject of the dedication of the home seems to us a very important one, and the question has arisen, ought we not to adopt it as a custom, even though we do not own the house we live in? To many of us it seems very important that we should do so."
THE General Church of Pennsylvania met at Pittsburgh on Friday, Saturday, and the LORD's Day, November 12th, 13th, and 14th. There seems to be a recognition on the part of members of both the Academy and the General Church of Pennsylvania of the position of each body, the Academy being an Internal Church, and the General Church of Pennsylvania an External Church. This recognition, and the consequent harmony of both bodies are largely due to the paper on " The Function of an External Church," which was read at the March meeting of the General Church of Pennsylvania, and published in the May number of New Church Life and in the journal of the General Church, a copy of which latter has been sent to you.
On Monday, November 15th, a meeting of teachers of the Academy schools and others interested in their work was held, at which there were present Chancellor Benade, Professor Pendleton, the Head Masters of the schools in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Chicago, the instructors of the Pittsburgh schools, and a few others. A morning and an afternoon session were held.
In the evening of the same day the Academy meeting referred to in the Pittsburgh letter was held, at the residence of the Rev. John Whitehead. Two days previously, at a social meeting of the General Church of Pennsylvania, the Chancellor, as Bishop of that Church, had explained that the social life is the extension of the home sphere, and that therefore the woman controls the provision and disposition of its affairs. The rooms in which the Academy meeting was held were accordingly adorned with flowers that had been provided by the women of the Academy, augmented by other flowers from the floral decorations of the Pittsburgh temple. There were present eighteen members, of which ten were of Pittsburgh, three from Chicago, and five from Philadelphia. They were all seated in a circle when the Chancellor arose and, opening the Word, conducted the opening services. He then spoke as follows:
"It seems very appropriate to have our meeting of the Academy at the close of the general meeting of the General Church, when all has been completed for which we had come together, and we turn from the works of the External Church to those of a more internal character. Still more appropriate is the holding of this meeting at the close of a long session at which was considered in detail the work of the Internal Church, the education of children, that use of the family which is given for the life of heaven. Closing in this way, and coming into the form of a circle, we are in a sense completing in an ultimate manner what has come from the LORD, to be returned to the LORD. Life from Him is in the form of Truth. By truth it leads to Him again who is the one and only Good. This is the circle of life completed in the end and intention, if not in actuality. For life from the LORD in its proceeding to man and thence returning to the LORD again, is like a circle. The use of the Academy is to complete things of Divine revelation which the LORD has given to men at His Second Coming, by carrying out in active doing the provisions of that revelation so that by the heavens this Church may be elevated into conjunction with the Divine Human.
"Our duty as a body and as individuals of the body is to perform uses. We must first know them, study their principles, and then enter into their particulars by which we are led into doing. No man can carry out generals unless he puts them into particular forms and determines them to particulars in act and word. We need to learn particulars that we may not stop in generals. The Academy as an Internal Church must be in internals and particulars of Truth, and carry them out into special acts. Therefore must we know the law in details, and be prepared and willing to obey it.
"Particulars make up the whole. If we seek truths in partiular we shall seek the LORD—seek to know Him as to His Infinity. The more truths we have, the more will our thought approximate to Infinite Truth. Thus will the Church advance with us, and the Academy's ends and uses come into clear thought as well-defined intentions and determinations.
"The Academy as an Internal Church is a rational form of the Church guided by law in the understanding. If we are in the love and the desire of carrying out the law, it will lead us into the sphere of the Divine Itself, which seeks by law, which is order, to bring all back to Itself. Good is use, and by performing uses Truth comes into act and becomes good. Then the LORD forms a plane which can receive this influx, and by this plane man is lifted up into conjunction with the LORD. The kingdom of the LORD on earth will thus be internal in love and faith, and external in words and good works. Instruction and education, the work of the Internal Church, is to affect primarily the condition of man in the other world, and secondarily his condition here. Things of this world are but to confirm things spiritual. Spiritual work regards man's spirit. Education brings out remains, and when remains are vivified that which is of the LORD with man constitutes in him the life of heaven, for which he is created.
"The kingdom of heaven is not established without education. That kingdom is the rule of the LORD, and education is to be the means of giving the rule to the LORD; the means of accomplishing the Divine end of bringing men into conjunction with Him, of bringing them out of their connate evils, which are infernal loves, into states in which they will receive heavenly loves, in which what is of man disappears, and the LORD only appears.
"The LORD is to be King. All good affections and true thoughts will then bring offerings of precious things to Him who is the First and the Last, in acknowledgment that they are from Him. We are to return to the LORD the affections and thoughts which He has given. In order to do this, our first duty is to shun our evils, our self-love and self-conceit; our second duty is to receive His truth and knowledge and His will. If we have done these simple things our whole duty is fulfilled.
"All know how the work of the Academy has grown. Many things we see, understand, and appreciate better than heretofore. The uses have expanded until they appear far beyond our ability to manage. They have been performed imperfectly, in great weakness, but so far they have been performed. We can trust in the LORD that He will do other things, and provide the means for relief of the burden of uses.
"To submit to the LORD's Providence our wills and thoughts is to prepare the way for the LORD to do His will in us. The LORD is present in His Revelation, and teaches men to do what they need to do for their salvation. He is everywhere in the truth of that Revelation, and accomplishes His will. If we submit to His will we can fulfill the duty He has given us to do, for this is His will."
Mr. Pitcairn, Councilor, followed, and said:
"The Chancellor has spoken of this meeting as a fit ending of the meeting of the General Church.
"It is a matter of great satisfaction that the relations between the Academy and the General Church are so harmonious. At the meeting which has just ended there has been no manifest opposition to the Academy. The General Church is beginning to appreciate the uses which the Academy is performing, and in the future the relations between the two bodies will, doubtless, be of a most amicable nature. The influence exerted by the Academy in the General Church of Pennsylvania is very gratifying. The principles of government, drawn from the Doctrines and held by the Academy, have, to a certain extent, been adopted, and are in effect in the General Church of Pennsylvania.
"The General Church is much in advance of the General Convention, and I believe the chief cause of this advanced state is due to the fact that doctrinal questions have always been freely discussed in the Ministers' Conference of the Pennsylvania Association. These discussions have not only served in educating the ministers, but they have also tended to develop the rationality of the laymen who had the privilege of hearing them, and thus prepared the way for what we have to-day.
"There has always been a marked contrast in this respect between our ministers and the other ministers in the General Convention. For many years I attended regularly the annual meetings of the General Convention, and I noticed that the tendency was to put doctrinal questions more and more into the background. When any doctrinal question was discussed it generally emanated from the clergy of the General Church of Pennsylvania. The other clergymen seemed to be afraid of doctrinal discussions, and there was always an effort to dispose of them as quickly as possible. The General Church of Pennsylvania, pursuing a different course, has decided to lengthen its session one day for the express purpose of having more time to consider and discuss doctrinal questions. The tendency of this will be to make it a more intelligent body. The principal reason why members of the Academy and of the General Church are more in advance of others in the New Church is that they are not afraid of Doctrine nor of discussion of Doctrine. To promote this end the Council of the Laity of the General Church have under consideration a plan that will facilitate routine business."
The Rev. W. F. Pendleton, Councilor, after commenting on the propriety of looking at the General Church, said:
"We have every reason to be encouraged. We have before us an illustration of the doctrine that the Internal Church must first be formed, and by it the External Church. The Pennsylvania Association existed before the Academy, but it had a precarious existence. It was not fully alive; it dragged along. But all this changed since the Academy was formed; it then took on a form and order more in agreement with that of the Internal Church.
"We had a pleasant, a delightful sphere, at the March meeting of the General Church. It was so delightful as to be almost a surprise, and we hardly expected to see such a meeting soon again. But we have just had fully as good a meeting, if not better. This one was more peaceful; the sphere of conflict was more absent. In March there was still a little conflict, arising from indignation at the action of the Chicago folks. This meeting was in that respect better. Nothing was said about the other side. When necessary fight, but be grateful to the LORD when the enemy does not appear. For the peace at this meeting let us be thankful. There is nothing pleasant about mere fighting.
"The contrast of the Internal and the External has been spoken of. In the growth of the External Church we see the growth of two apparently separate but really united bodies. The Academy has its uses and duties, and so has the External Church. The External is the steward, the procurator. Let it more and more take upon itself its own duties and its officers. As the one grows and expands so will the other."
The Rev. John Whitehead, Collegiate, was the next speaker, and said that the Doctrine that the Internal must precede the External could be seen plainly in the case of the Academy and the General Church. The beginning of the Academy is from the Doctrine concerning the Second Coming, and that concerning the state of the Christian World. These Doctrines designate the real position of the Academy. They are its centre from which is the Academy's essence and internal. They have been gradually derived into the External Church, and have had their effect upon the General Church of Pennsylvania. It is thus the LORD appearing in a more ultimate form. "The first act of bringing this before the world was when the Academy graduated its first students. These students were ordained by the Pennsylvania Association into the first degree of the Priesthood at a time when the Convention acknowledged neither Priesthood nor its three degrees. This innovation, though opposed in Convention, led it gradually to the change of its Constitution and the adoption of the Doctrine concerning the Priesthood. The outcome of this event illustrates the importance of carrying out any principle we see, no matter what people may think of it. The Academy has from the beginning gone to the Writings and performed its uses according to its understanding of their teachings. From this the Academy and its uses have grown. Thus with the External Church. In the General Church of Pennsylvania the Council of the Laity are devising means of expediting the purely business matters that come before the general meeting, so as to prevent the waste of time generally attendant on them, and to leave more time for the discussion of Doctrines and principles. To the Council of the Clergy are referred subjects for the elaboration of the principles underlying them. Thus new fields of work open up before us. Hitherto the work in the Church has not been from the LORD, but ways and means from the Old Church have been adopted. We are now beginning a work in the External Church corresponding to what has been done in the Academy, and it must have a powerful effect upon the Church at large.
The Rev. E. C. Bostock, Collegiate, spoke of the peculiar sphere and spirit of the meeting of the General Church. There was but one other general church meeting which he had enjoyed as much—the meeting at Beech Haven. Usually at Church gatherings he did not feel like taking an active part; in this he did. It was a matter of great satisfaction to witness how the Church was growing. All its members were thereby strengthened.
After a few more words from the Chancellor, those present passed into the next room, where the toasts were drank. It is needless to say that the meeting was a very happy one.
WHILE there are evidences of a rapid development of the various uses of the Internal and of the External Church, the thought is naturally directed toward the means of carrying them on. At the meeting of the General Church of Pennsylvania the subject of contributing to Church uses was seriously discussed, and among the excellent speeches made on the subject Bishop Benade's was, as usual, conspicuous, and we refer you to the forthcoming journal of the General Church for his speech, which made a profound impression upon each and every one present at the meeting.
We are led to speak of this, since one of the uses which the Council has assigned to the College, and which has been extended during the past year, threatens to be seriously crippled. We refer to the Orphanage. We have now full charge of ten children, and the expenses of providing them have increased, while the receipts have fallen off. At the present rate of receipt and expenditure the surplus in the treasury will be exhausted in two months, and if nothing is done some of the children will have to suffer. In addition to the Treasurer of the Orphanage, Mr. A. J. Tafel, 1011 Arch Street, Philadelphia, the following gentlemen have been appointed collectors for this use : In Chicago, Mr. Seymour G. Nelson; in Pittsburgh, Mr. Arthur C. V. Schott; in Brooklyn and New York, Mr. A. Klein; in Berlin, Mr. Henry Stroh, and in Cincinnati, Mr. S. S. Carpenter.
SINCE our last Letter the Secretary of the Academy, the Rev. W. F. Pendleton, has issued a new Manual of Addresses. It is in such a form that when necessary it can be easily carried in the pocket. The first two pages are devoted to the Council, the next two to the College, and the rest of the Manual to the Associates. Blank spaces are left in each division so that every member can enter the names of future new members. For this purpose we intend to keep you informed of all changes and additions to be made. We call your particular attention of the request on the back of the title-page. Whenever you should change your address, if you will notify Mr. Pendleton, the change will be announced in these Letters so that all may make the necessary alteration. Please correct Mr. Means's name in your Manual so as to read "Mr. Ralph W. Means, Jr."
THE Council has separated the Rev. J. R. Hibbard from the fellowship of the Academy for disturbing the order and peace of this body. (See H. D. 318.)
PLEASE notify us whenever a birth occurs in your circle, so that we may communicate the welcome intelligence. On October 28th, the first child, Dorthea, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Hugh L. Burnham, of Chicago.
Eugene J. E. Schreck
Corresponding Secretary
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