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TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS per VOL. XLL, NO. 39. Faith and Scepticism. BY THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. NUMBER FIVE. 1 shall now, before I close, sum up wbut I have been saying, which must be very disjointed and cursory, consid ering how very wide the range of our subject is. Hear now some extracts from the Holy Scriptures, and judge whether they will not meet the several heads on which I have dwelt. First, “ Prove all things ; hold fast that which is good.” Again, “ Bo ready always to give a reason for the hope that is in you.” There is no dissuasive in either of these passages from a reasonable examination of the scientific proof of the truth of our re ligion. Remark that the Apostle whom I have last quoted adds, that you are to “ be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” The last words indicate the very state of mind in which a scientific man will address his oppo nents, however much he may disap prove of the arguments they use. Again, we read of man being “deliver ed from the fear of death by which he was all his lifetime subject to bond age and another writer says that our Saviour Jesus Christ bath “abol ished death, and brought life and im mortality to light through the Again, looking toward tho changes that may come upon the world, and the day of judgment, we real that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” “The Lord is not slack concern ing his -promise, as some men count slackness.” “He shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it it be good or wheth er is be evil.” And we are promised, at the last, “ new heavens and a ear! a, wl.-oreil •' ”• 0 r , P nes.” And if lor a moment we are tempted to look upon the certain judg ment which follows upon sin and crime committed, as if it were but tho neces sary consequence following without any intervention of the great personal Governor of the world, we are re minded that “ He that cometh to God must believe that Ho is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” “ Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth ; and tho heavens are the work of Thine hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure; and they all shall wax old as doth a gar ment ; and as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed ; but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.” And if any doubts are felt as to the per sonality of God, what do we mean by God being a person ? That He is a willing, a living, a sentient, an intel ligent, a benevolent substance. God is a Person ! It was no dead law of nature which made things, but it was this intelligent, loving, willing Being. “ He that made the ear, shall Ho not hear; or He that planted the eye, shall He not see ?” And if our hearts are filled with the thoughts of this great personal Being, thus ruling, and di recting, and controling, and loving, and helping, shall he be dumb, and unable to make himself heard ? “ God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake unto the fath ers,” spoke unto the human race by a thousand voices, and among others “by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son,” and this Son, having come upon earth, “ is risen torn the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept.” I thought that we could not do better than sum up all that has been said in these words of Hoiy Scripture. For indeed we should do well to search the Scriptures, for in them we have eternal life, “ and they are they,” saith Christ, “ which testify of me.” Let us thank God that we live in a land in which men are familiar with these Scriptures of truth. Let us prize them, and teach them to our children, and believe that in them, after all, though we may find in them no in struction as to the secrets of common physical sciences, we have great truths that an immortal being is capable of understanding. And now, my friends, in closing these remarks there is one other point on which it is difficult not to linger for a moment. Is it true that there is here in this country, and still more in other countries, a determined war PUBLISHED BY WALKER, EVANS & COGSWELL FOR THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH. CHARLESTON, S. C., SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1878. between Faith and Unbelief? Is it true that great efforts are being made to sap the foundation of those princi ples on which all our hopes for eter nity are based ? nay, even, to sap those religious principles on which tho stability of human society depends ? And is the antidote to be found in the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ ? By the pure Gospel I mean the simple doctrines which the Apostles taught. “ I have determined,” says one, “to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” This was the rock od which Christ declared that He would build the Church— tho belief in Himself as the Son of the Living God. This was the doctrine which Martha came to believe—that lie is the Resurrection and tho Life, and that whosoever believeth in Him though he were dead, yet shall he live. To this Scripture everywhere gives testimony. “ Every spirit that eontesseth that Jesus is come in the flesh is of God ; and “ Whosoever eonfesseth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God.” To teach this St. John wrote his Gospel—“ These things are written that yo might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His Name.” What then shall we do ? Shall we quarrel about minor points ? Shall we tear each other to pieces for a vestment or a candlestick ? Or shall we desire, unwisely, to pull down any good old institution, which through many generations has taught that pure Gospel of Christ ? Shall we seek for any minor reason of so-called political consistency to play into the hands of those who desire to pull down the Gospel which wo love as our own lives? It will be very easy to unite •vitb those with whom otherwise,you 1 f£***ao vefdjpyrnpal li v U' thy ! institution wifich'the Gospel has j been maintained in this land for bun j dreds of years ; but when you come to divide tbe prejq I suspect they will have the lion’s share. I know of none who will benefit by such attempts ex cept those wbo dislike the Gospel of Christ, or those who hold up a stand ard which is not tho standard of the Scriptures of Truth, who, teaching in the name of the God of Truth a sys tem which is very unlike His pure Gospel, find in every land crowds flocking into their communion, ■ sim ply because of the fear of something more dangerous even than a mutila ted and disguised Gospel. I advise, my friends, that all of us should en deavor, in this age, when thero is real danger of a violent assault against the Gospel of Christ, to act heartily together to maintain it, and not mag nify differences which will weaken our hands in the great conflict for our Lord and Master.— McMillan's Maga zine. Historic Notes about Sunday- School Conventions. NATIONAL. The first National Sunday-school Convention was held in New York, October 3d, 1832. Two hundred and twenty-four delegates, from fourteen States and Territories, were present. Our State was represented, but names of delegates are not given in any ac cessible record. A second National Convention was held May 22nd, 1833, in Philadelphia. Nine States only were represented, showing, perhaps, that it was a mis take to call a second so soon after the first. The general revivals throughout the country, in 1858, created a wide spread demand for some united ef forts on the part of Christian workers. The third National Convention was held in Philadelphia, February, 22nd, 1859. Seventeen States were repre sented. The civil war and its results defer red the call for another for several years. The fourth National Conven tion was held in Newark, New Jersey, April 28th, 1869. Twenty eight States were represented. There were also visitors from Canada, Eng land, Ireland, Scotland, Egypt, and South Africa, five hundred and twen ty-six delegates in all. A single dele gate was prosent from each one of several Southern States, no one being from South Carolina. It was there determined to hold conventions trien nial ly. The fifth National Convention was held at Indianapolis, April 16th, 1872. Twenty-two States were represented. Very few reported from Southern States. No one from our State. Dele gates were present again from Canada, and it was thought proper to acknowl edge the fact by considering subse quent conventions as international. international. The first international Convention was held at Baltimore, May 11th, 1875. Twenty seven states were rep : resented. Of the sixteen delegates to which our State was entitled, nine ; were present, Rev. A. W. Walker, | South Carolina Conference, being one. i The second International Conven i tion was held at Atlanta, Ga., April : 17th, 1878, Gov. A. H. Colquitt, of Georgia, being President. Thirty three .States were represented. Del egates were present from every South ern State. Our Stale was represented by a full delegation, with visitors in addition. Our Church was represent ed by two ministers, Rev. R. C. Oli ver, Rev. J. M. Carlisle, and two lay men, Messrs. V. C. Dibble and Charles Petty. Number of Delegates in all was perhaps four hundred. The third International Convention will bo held in Toronto, Canada, May, 1881. state, —( Denominational .) “ In obedience to a cail from the Quarterly Conference of Columbia, S. C., a large representation of minis ters and delegates from tho Sunday schools throughout the bounds of the South Carolina Conference, assembled in the Washington Street Church, Columbia, S. C., to consider the in terests of the Sunday-School cause,” May 5, 1859. Gov. W. 11. Gist was elected President. Dr. Myers offer ed a roßqJji+ia 'niy<fc.u other Conner to join iti calling for a South ern Methodist Sunday-school Con vention at Nashville, in the fol lowing year. The minutes of the Columbia Convention were published in pamphlet form. (This General Convention was not held until May, 1871, when all the Conferences nearly, sent delegates to Nashville. The minutes of this con vention have never been published.) A second Methodist Sunday-School Convention was held at Spartanburg, May, 18th, 1860, Rev. N. Tally being President. No minutes were pub lished. In Darlington County, Methodist County Conventions have been hold annually for several years. The Baptists of the State, in 1876, organized a State Institute, which meets annually, its third session being in Sumter, October. The Presbyterians have, in one or more cases, held conventions covering the extent of a Presbytery. state. (Union.) Th efirst State Convention was held in Trinity Church, Charleston, May 12th, 1870, Dr. W. W. Hicks being President. The published minutes form an interesting and instructive pamphlet, the circulation of which in South Carolina and adjoining States did great good. The second State Convention was held in Charleston, May 15th, 1872. No minutes were published It was there resolved to hold the State Con ventions triennially, immediately pre ceding the National Convention. No State Convention was called, how ever, in the spring of either 1875 or 1878. Our delegates came back from the Atlanta International Convention under pledges to organize a State Con vention. This was done at Greenville, August 21st, when the third State Sunday-School Convention was held. It was there resolved to hold annual sessions, the time and place of next meeting to be selected by an execu tive committee, of which Hon. Charles Petty is chairman. County Conventions have been held in perhaps twelve counties. In Spartanburg County, Township Conventions have been held with good results. J. H. C. ■ There are no little events with the heart. It magnifies everything ;it places in tbe same scales the fall of an empire of fourteen years and the dropping of a wsman’s glove, and almost always the g'ovo weighs more than the empire.— Bazac. Letter from Bishop Wightman. [From Wesleyan Christian Advocate.] The Annual Se.ssion of the Pacific Conference was opened on Wednes day, October 16th. We had a pretty good attendance of clerical and lay members. All the routine business was carried through with satisfactory results. The cry of “ hard times and no money ” is heard over here with an emphasis as startling as in the East. Many of the preachers had received poor salaries ; in many instances the Conference and Missionary collections were largely deficient; there was pres sure in the direction of tho College and tho Conference organ. Never theless, general cheerfulness prevailed. There was strong faith in God, and pretty strong faith in California. We had a whole afternoon devoted to the consideration of tho affairs of tho Pacific Methodist, upon the report of Wick B. Parsons, who is tho only layman in our broad Connection who is in charge of a Church paper, Editor and manager-in-chief. His hold upon the confidence and affections of the Conference is very strong. lie de serves it all. Tho wonder is how ho can bring out so excellent a Church paper, from week to week, with a mind distracted and a heart burdened with the business management of so respectable a journal. Iho Confer ence took vigorous action to collect tho outstanding accounts of the paper, and gave tho Editor pretty substan tial proofs of their determination to sustain him. Careful and prolonged consideration was also given to the affairs of the College at- Santa Rosa, tho only institution oflearning under tho patronage of the Conference. This is struggling under a debt on which interest at i5 per cent, per annum is charged. One wonders how anything cJsf survive a squeeze of that sort. 'The interesting feature of the Mis sionary Meeting was the presence of Miss L. Rankin, the lately appointed missionary to the women of China, on the part of the Ladies Missionary Society, recently organized. Miss Rankin is a native of Tennessee, well educated, gentle and refined. She is petite in person, yet possessed of strong decision of character, together with unaffected piety. She has been engaged in the teacher’s vocation for three or four years, tho last two at the New Hope Mission School in the Indian Territory. Being in San Francisco, on her way to Shanghai, she was present at the sessions of the Conference, and at the Missionary Meeting. Her address there, when called out by the presen tation of some mementoes of affec tionate regard, was quite affecting. She had the good fortune to sail in the same steamship with the Rev. Dr. Hartwell, his wife, and a young lady missionary, who were on their way to Fouchow, where tho Doctor has labored for some years as a mission ary in the employ of the American Board of Foreign Missions. Miss R. could hardly havo found more agreea ble friends, or any who would take greater interest in her than these nice people. In company with several of our brethren, 1 spent the last hour of her stay in her native country, with her on board the ship; found that one of the best state rooms had been obtained for her; that every comfort possible to life on ship-board was at her command ; and devoutly commended her and her missionary companions to tho caro and protection of Him who controls winds and waves. The Belgic is a large iron ship, of 3000 tons, belonging to the British line of steamships plying between San Francisco and Yokohama. Dr. Hart well will have charge of Miss Rankin to Shanghai, through which he passes en route to his own station at Fou chow. It is pleasant to think that our missionaries at Shanghai will have the opportunity of acknowledging and responding to the courtesies received by Miss Rankin from him and his family. There are a few of your readers, Mr. Editor, who have ever seen a Chi naman, but probably all have read of him. You find him everywheree out here. I don’t think I should have troubled myself to go of my own ac cord into the China-town they have in the heart of San Francisco. But among the visitors to the Conference —ministers of the M. E. Church —Dr. Gibson was introduced one day. F. H. KENNEDY, D. D Editor. Rev. S. A. WEBER...Associate Editor. WHOLE NO. 2119. Learning that he had been a mission ary to China, and was now in charge of the Chinese Mission School of the M. E. Church, I requested him to favor the Conference, and particularly myself, with an address on that sub ject. This he did, with straight-for ward earnestness and telling effect. I was so much interested in the sub ject as he presented it, that I gladly accepted an invitation which he gave me, to go to the Mission House on Washington Street, and make person al inspection for my own satisfaction: and then allow him to show me over China-town. Accordingly, the day after adjournment, accompanied by brother Chamberlain, I went to the large and well furnished Mission House of which the Doetor has charge. The basement is rented out and brings in a monthty income of 860. Above this are two stories, tho main and second floors being commodious schoolrooms, while the third is used for a female department, the expenses of which are largely met by the Woman’s Mission ary Society of tho M. E. Church, on the Pacific coast. These rooms arc on one side of the building ; on the other is a comfortable parsonage for the Superintendent’s family, and for the accommodation of assistant teach ers. No 15 or 18 per cent, has ever put its paralyzing touch on this prop erty. What the venerable Dr. Schud der said at the dedication of tho Mis sion House, on Christmas day, 1870, has been true ever since: “ The building, standing as it does upon a hill, can look out all over the city and into every man’s face and say, 1 1 am an honest building; my biils are all paid.’ ” There were about twenty Chinese girls at their recitation, in one of the rooms we visited with Dr. Gibson. reading in “Jacob’s Reader,” one of the young Chinese preachers was called in and seated at the organ ; then all sang hymns, first in our tongue and then in Chinese. The whole per formance was creditable. Every night in tho week, Sundays excepted, there is held a school for boys and J’oung men, the attendance averaging eighty a night. We saw the black-boards on which stood the exercises of the night before. Each of those scholars is ex pected to pay one dollar per .month. When I was in California eight years ago, there was a pronouneed and de termined hostility on the part of the influential Chinese in this country, to the education in English letters of any of tbe young men brought over from the Celestial empire. This is now considerably changed, as tho facts just stated will show. I learn also, from Dr. G., that the total aver age attendance upon all the Chinese Sunday-schools of the Pacific coast, including five denominations of Pro testant Christians, is about one thous and ; and tho average attendance on the week-schools may be set down at eight hundred. The scholars from these schools are found all over the coast. They cannot fail to carry, in most cases, pleasant memories of thei r Christian teachers, a desire for further improvement, the knowledge of a language full of new thoughts—in a word, the germs of a higher civiliza tion. After an ample and elegant lunch, at which Miss Rankin was one of the guests, we started out to visit the Chinese quarter. Wo went down Washington street, the Mission House standing on that street, at the head of China-town. We began our walk by a brief visit to a Christian Chinese home, stopping long enough to see that the rooms were cleanly, comfort able, I might say, cozy. Then we went down the street, which is wide and paved, with side-walks. In most other respects, our cicerone says that in this China-town one can sec China as it is, almost as well as in Shanghai or Fouchow. The streets were alive with Chinamen. A few, very few, women, and one or two children, are visible. The universally-worn blue blouse, the wooden-soled, cloth shoes, the long black queue falling behind, three feet, ending in a silk tassel— behold ! they are hero, there, every where. Hundreds on hundreds, these people with their wonderful sameness of face, complexion, almond-shaped eyes, and closc-shaven heads, are passing up and down the streets. Tho shops of every variety, particularly [Concluded on fiftli page,]