of miles have greatly increased, and the amount of property vastly augmented; for, during the war, the old lines were extended and new ones projected. From St. Louis at the south end of Illinois, and Chicago at the north, with 800 miles between, lines of railroad run westward, converging in one centre near the Rocky Mountains. Already the lines have reached Fort Kearney; soon they shall meet in Salt Lake, Utah, and develop the vast resources of the country on either side. On the California side of the mountains there are 3,000 Chinese working on the roads. In the summer of 1868 it is expected both roads shall meet, and form a connexion between east and west in Utah territory. Along this line of travel and track of commerce thousands shall move, and towns and cities shall rise, and schools, colleges, and churches shall be built, and the wilderness shall become as Eden, and the desert as the garden of the Lord. The locomotive, with its train of cars, shall traverse the vast plains, where the Indian and buffalo roam, sweep round the curves of the Rocky Mountains, ascend the crest of the Sierra Nevada, or dash through its tunnelled sides, and hasten to the golden gates of San Francisco on the Pacific coast. The Pacific railroad stretching thus, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, nearly 4,000 miles, shall bind the east and west together, and open up the country to settlement and the development of its resources. Thus the general prosperity of the North became unparalleled, no poor suffered, for there was enough and to spare. Enough to feed the home populations, to send food to the starving in the South, and

export a vast quantity abroad. That this prosperity was not fictitious, nor based on inflated currency, is evident from the fact, that two years have passed since the close of the war, and still the prosperity continues. Many feared that if the war should cease suddenly (which it did) thousands would be broken up by the sudden change of circumstances; but instead of this, few became bankrupt, and the prosperity continued, as the people prepared to meet it.

Although thousands of the young men left the halls of colleges for the seat of war, the schools were filled with children taught by lady teachers, and the colleges with students who had taken the place of those who left. Twice young men left the Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, for the scene of battle; but their places were filled by others who were coming in; and to-day it is more prosperous than ever, as a letter from the President informs me. All literary and collegiate institutions flourished, and the debts they had contracted paid off. Books were written, and read by thousands more than they had ever been before. Those written on the war attained enormous circulation, some reaching 200,000 copies of one work. Annuals became quarterlies, and these were changed into monthlies, the monthly became a weekly, and the weeklies were turned into dailies, of even first, second, and third editions of 200,000 copies daily, as the war despatches came in.

The church charities and missionary societies shared in the general prosperity. As many ministers left as chaplains for the army, smaller congregations were united together, so as to be able to sustain a regular

ministry, but this was soon abandoned, as the population continued to increase. Through the war, and at its close, no congregation was left without a minister on that account, and their salaries were largely increased instead of diminished, and so continues still. Of course, it was very different in the South, where their churches and colleges were turned into hospitals, their congregations broken up, and their missionary societies bankrupt. In the North the religious life sustained the people; thousands flocked to the church of God, and prayer was made almost continually for those in the field of battle. Old churches were repaired, new ones were built, and contributions to the Home and Foreign Missions quadrupled what they had been before. The Methodist Episcopal Church at the close of the war, in the year 1866, received to her Home and Foreign Missions one million dollars, £200,000, the largest amount ever raised by any denomination for such a purpose. At the same period, 1866, was the year of her centennial existence in America, besides building new churches, sustaining the old, and supporting her ministry and institutions, she laid as a thankoffering on the altar of God, for charitable, literary, and religious purposes, five millions dollars, or £1,000,000 sterling.

The war is over, and the slaves emancipated; the country is saved; 4,000,000 soldiers have returned to the sanctities of home, and the peaceful pursuits of life. The nation, having passed through a second birth, or regeneration, is now again launched forth among the nations on a new career of prosperity. But let it never

be forgotten that the slave holders' rebellion cost the nation more than a million lives, and EIGHT THOUSAND millions dollars, or nearly £2,000,000,000.

CHAPTER X.

THE AMERICAN CHURCHES.

COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY PERIODS-SEPARATION OF THE CHURCH AND STATE-THE VOLUNTARY PRINCIPLE- -THE EVANGELICAL CHURCHES: EPISCOPALIAN, CONGREGATIONAL, BAPTIST, PRESBYTERIAN, AND METHODIST—THE CHURCH AND HER INSTITUTIONS: TEMPERANCE, BIBLE, MISSIONARY, AND SUNDAY SCHOOL SOCIETIES, COLLEGES-PRESS-UNITY -RESPECT-LOYALTY- -THE NON-EVANGELICAL: ROMANCATHOLIC, UNITARIAN, UNIVERSALIST-TYPES AND SHADES

OF UNBELIEF: MORMONISM AND SPIRITISM.

THE founders and the fathers of the American churches were religious men. The fire of God burned in their souls, and the peace of God reigned in their hearts: men who sacrificed all that was dear in the Old World to found the kingdom of God in the New. They were tried men-whose faith and principles were severely tested, and who stood the fiery ordeal to which they were subjected; men of the zeal of BAXTER, the faith of OWEN, the genius of MILTON, the patriotism of HAMPDEN, and the bravery of CROMWELL. Such men were the

chosen instruments in the hands of God to found the churches in New England. The other colonists had the same principles and privileges. The Dutch and Swedes founded churches in New York and Deleware,