The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1867-12-25
For THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
Charlestown and Winchester.

No one, suppose, who was at the late
Synod, came away without pleasant i'm
pressions of the families with which he
sojourned, or which he transiently visit
ed. Sometimes these occasions give rise
to cherished Christian friendships. Eve
ry one who was there must have been
struck with the taste AID beauty
beauty without any - Sa.
interior of the Presbyterian church,
which has been fitted up anew since the
war.
At Harper's Ferry we had seen, stand
ing not far from the bridge, the engine
house in which John Brown, with his
gang, had made his last stand. Here, in
Charlestown, as one walks the streets, he
sees the courthouse where he was tried,
and where Mr.. VOORHEES, made his elo-
quent plea for Cooke, and the jail, not
far of, where they were immured; both
of these buildings so nearly destroyed by
the Yankees in the war, that only the
rooAess walls are now standing. l walk
ed out too, one morning, with friend
who had been present and acted part
in the scene, to the spot where the wretch
ed fanatic and the companions of his fate
were hung,-on gradually swelling emf
nence, which is in view from all the sur
rounding parts,-where, as my friend in
formed me thousands of people stood to
look on.
At one end of the village stands the
present residence of Andrew Hunter,
gentleman of high standing; and on the
spot which it occupies there stood his for
mer elegant mansion, which that fend in
human shape, Gen. David Hunter, ruth
lessly burned to the ground, with those
of at least two other gentlemen of the
vicinity, as was informed, ,-one of these
being a minister of the Gospel, Rev. Mr..
North. A lady of the house, who was
present at the scene, informed me that
when Mr.. HIS house was burned, the
piano, and the furniture, and all the
valuable things that the house contained
were doomed, with it, TO che fames,-no
entreaties, even of female lips, availing
any thing, and some things being ruth
lessly cut or broken to pieces before the
barbarians set fire to the house. Iwould
commend such facts to the Christian pa
pers,-so esteeming themselves-of the
North, which keep up the howl about
rebel cruelties at Andersonville, (the al
most solitary places they can name, in
such category while "the beam in their
own eye" of Camp Chase, Fort Della
ware, Point Lookout, &C., &C., is not dis
cernible to them.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad COM
pany have control, for the present, of
the Winchester branch railroad. This we
took, from Synod, and an hour or so brought
us to the good old borough of Winches-
ter, through the fine country of Jeffer-
son and Frederick. l had never seen the
place before, except in passing through,
on rainy day, many years since. The
place, being still railroad terminus and
capital of fine county, is the centre of
a good deal of trade. What effect the
extension of the railroad to Strasburg,-
where it will meet the Manassas road,
and farther up the Valley, will have on its
prosperity, remains to be seen,-but pro-
baby, as turns out in most such cases,
not much either way.
The town is we'll supplied with church
es,-a Lutheran, an Episcopalian, two
PRESBYTERIAN, a German Reformed and
TWO Methodist-a Baltimore Conference
and Southern Of these two last, the
former divided, the majority went with
the conservative majority of the Con-
ference, and the church building is, at this
time the subject of lawsuit between
"Northern and Southern parties, an
attempt having been actually made by a
minister of the former to take the pulpit,
most literally, from one belonging to the
former. The case waa expected to come
on in the Circuit Court, which l found
in session. The court house is a hand
some building, with we'll finished inte-
rior. Judge Parker presides with abili'
ty, and some eminent advocates, such as
P. Williams, R. Y. Conrad and others
still adorn the bar.
The Presbyterian congregations may
be considered to be in quite fair condi
ton. Both have pastors; "Kent Street
having still the services of Rev. j. r
Graham, who has been with them mum
Der of years, and "LOudOun Street,
formerly the pastorate of the lamente(
Boyd, having the labors of Rev. G. L
Leyburn; the latter being ordained ant
installed during the week following Synod
May these churches, through divine in
Auence descending upon them, prove t.
be two beautiful and aourishing branche
of common stem, bringing forth COLDER
fruit abundantly, to the Masters glory