Newspaper Page Text
THE SOUTH-WESTERN THE CHHETIAN KEiE-ALU
of Alabama. . '
. of Tennessee.
VOL. 55—NO. 16.
Table of Contents.
Fibst Page. —Alabama Department: Record of
State Events: Letter from Jacksonville; Bap
tist Union of East Alabama: Spirit of the Reli
gious Press; General Denominational News;
Baptist News and Notes.
Second Paoe —Our Correspondents : Visitors to
our Pulpits—No- lll—The Rev. L. R. Gwalt
ney. of Rome, Georgia; Dry Rot in the Cl.ureh
—No. II; Woman not Wanted as An Evange
list in our Churches; An Apology for Bad
Spellers ; Sunday-School Work in the Georgia
and Washington Associations.
Xhi kii Page. —Special Contributions: Notes on
the Act of Baptism—No. Vlll—£v Rev. J. H.
Kilpatrick.
PorBTH Page. —Editorial: Proceedings of the
State Couvemion; Dr. Montgomery; East
Tennessee; Immortality of the Soul; The
Triumphant Christian—Rev. D. E. Butler.
Girls Studying Latin—Rev. J. 8. Baker. A
Sad Outlook—Rev. W. A. Montgomery. An
Old Saint's Song—Poetry; etc.
Tvfib Page. —“Perfectly Resigned''—Poetry.
Centennial Sabbath-Breaking—Addison J ones;
A Remedy for an Evil—Gideon; Pronuncia
tion. Secular Editorials: Our Public Schools;
Dr. Gwinn; A Big Methodist Quarrel; Literary
Gossip; Shall Religious Property be Taxed;
Georgia News; etc.
Sixth Page. —A Relic of History; The Fannin
Massacre—Authentic Details of this Fearful
Incident in the Struggle for Liberty in Texas
—A Graphic Letter from the Pen of a Partici
pant—lnteresting Reading for Georgians.
Seventh Page. —Our Pulpit: Unbelief—A Ser
mon, by Rev. W. A. McCrackan. The Sunday-
School : Lesson for April 30, 1876.
Eighth Page. —Our Correspondents: Letter
from Virginia: “Burning the Fool”—A Queer
Incident at Madison, Georgia; Letter from
Texas; “Secret of Power;” Florida—Her Re
ligious Wants; Missions and Colleges; Good
Words from Texas; Dr. T a;g s Evidei ora of
Christianity; Home Mission Board. Obitua
ries. Advertisements.
INDEX AND BAPTIST.
ALABAMA DEPARTMENT.
Rev. W.C. Hearn, of Birmingham, has been
quite sick.
Rev. E. T. Smyth, of Oxford, is visiting
Texas.
The Rev. Mr. Motheral is proposed for the
legislature from Lawrence county.
The prohibitory liquor law in Vernon, San
ford county, has been repealed.
The next meeting of the State Medical As
sociation will he held in Birmingham.
The old Baptist church at Uniontown has
fitted r.p for the use r*t£ic ue„ t>.-artar
tyM&a Ooun r '
Rev. John Frierson, late of Livingston, has
accepted the pastorate of the Presbyterian
ahurch of Decatur.
It is stated that Col. M. Smith, of Scranton,
Miss., will soon begin the publication ofanew
paper at Uniontown.
There are eight young lady compositors em
ployed in the different printing offices of
Montgomery.
Anew Grange has been organized in Bibb
•ounty, called the River Bend Grange; Dr.
J. M. Williams, Master, W. F. Lowry, Secre
*T- _
A Bible and pitcher were recently stolen
from the Huntsville Cumberland Presbyterian
•hurch:
A county grange P. of H. has been organ
ized in Sumter, of which J. M. Godfrey is
master, J. N. Gilmore overseer, and J. W.
Phares secretary.
On a recent Sunday, eighteen persons joined
the Presbyterian church in Selma; the same
number joined the Methodist church on the
same Sabbath,
Mr. C. F. Brown, for many years a promi
nent and well-known citizen of Selma, is liv
ing at Hot Springs, Arkansas, where, a few
weeks ago, he was ordained a deacon in the
Baptist church.
Rev. Dr. Basil Manly, Jr., has consented to
deliver the University Commencement sermon
in July next. He is the son of the venerable
Basil Manly, who was for many years Presi
dent of the University.
The Eufaula News learns from farmers that
fields of oats which were submerged as long as
72 hours during the recent overflow, were im
proved by it rather than injured. The sedi
ment left by the water will enrich the soil.
The State Medical Association elected Dr. E.
D. McDaniel, of Wilcox, president; Dr. Inge,
®f Greensboro, and Dr. Bankson, of Jackson
county, vice presidents; Dr. Seelye, health
•fficer; Dr. E. H. Fornier, orator; and Dr.
J.JM. Kumphe, alternate orator.
The Troy Messenger says:
Mr Roach, an elderly man, who for some
months past has been teaching at Mt. r /ion
academy, in this county, was brought to the
city last week in a state of insanity. The cause
of his troubles seems to be some religious hal
lucination.
Alabama has not been so badly treated in
the matter of river and harbors appropriations
as has been made to appear. In addition to
the $13,500 for the Tombigbee, she g< ts 285,-
000 for Muscle Shoals, sls 000 for the Warrior
and Tombigbee, and the $40,000 for the Coosa
is properly an Alabama appropriation, and
was secured mainly by Alabama influence.
Faith never overdrew its account in God’s
hank.
For the Index and Baptist.
LETTER FROM ALABAMA
Jacksonville—Tlie Country from Calera to Dalton
—The Beauties of Nature—The Grasses—
Denominational—A Hero’s Grave.
Jacksonville, Ala., March 27, 1876.
Messrs. Editors —Dwellers < n the ’inetvf
the Selma, Rome ami Dalton Railroad can
find no pleasanter resting place than this
quiet, sleepy town. A short ride in the hack
along the level of the valley from the depot
and a sharp turn to the right, up a steep but
good road, and one is on the plateau and iu
Jacksonville, a town that will not compare
with its neighbors, Talladega for size, nor
with Oxford for enterprise, hut for beautiful
location and magnificent scenery it far snr
passes either.
There are many fine views along the Hne
of this railroad from Calera to' Dalton, and a
tourist would find objective points enough to
justify a bait, and encourage pedestrianism.
Talladega has some very pretty surroundings
but the prospect is bounded, and at Oxford,
from its nearest eminence, the hill back
of the Baptist church, and from the semina
ry plateau the eye ranges over ahroaderand
more diversified extent of country, and takes
in with pleasure the quiet, fertile valleys,
with the hold outline of mountains, but the
tout ensemble of magnificent scenery is found
at Jacksonville. From the reservoir hill,
with its background of clear cut mountains,
almost overshadowing the town, there
spreads out a beautiful landscape, a pano
rama of wooded hills and fertile valleys,
with the mountain range treading in solemn
grandeur to the southwest, a grouping of the
beautiful in nature, and seeing it as 1 have,
in my several visits to Jacksonville,and ih its
various phases of cloud and sunshine, in the
morning light, with is sharp outlines, and in
the softeuing shadows of the sunset, I have
wished for an artist’s skill to catch and fas
ten in enduring colors these beautiful pic
tures.
Those of your up-country readers, to
whom Alpine scenery is as familiar as the
sunlight, cannot appreciate the enthusiasm
of the coast people as they gaze in wonder
at these beauties of nature, so much in con
trast to the monotonous features of the low
country, and to whom the sight of a moun
tain is as much a wonder as is the broad belt
of ocean to a mountaineer.
But there are other things to interest one
in and tround Jacksonville, besides beauti
ful scenery. Much of the vicinage is in cul
tivation and shows evidence of good farming.
Especially noticeable are the lands in the
Chocoloco valley, which stretches in its fer
tile beauty for miles aud parallel with the
stream Irom which it takes its Dame, and
fringed by the mountain range, producing
good crops of grain, and, with fair seasons,
a good yield per acre of cotton. Some at
tention, too, i' .wild.to the • ultivatioc of the
grafLes, and 1 Lear of clover it this' county
(Calhoun) growing waist high, and this by a
ii oderate use of land-plaster. And about
grasses, here let me say, that I hear wonder
ful stories of a grass in cultivation below
here, and which gives an enormous yield per
acre. At Montevallo this species, called by
some Egyptian and by others Guinea grass,
has been cultivated successfully lor several
years. A mower is used for the several cut
tings of a season. The hay is bailed on the
gronnd and is shipped to Selma and Mont
gomery for sale. I am informed that for
feeding stock it has no superior, and has al
most, if not entirely, superseded Northern
hay.
This little episode on grasses has led me
away from my subject—Jacksonville, the
county site of Calhoun. Here, in the centre
of a capacious square is the court house, a
substantial brick structure, and dotted
around in its vicinity are the lawyers offices,
and on a neighboring street are a row of
quaint, one-story buildings, of the Grecian
pattern without the colonade, and all, at one
time, graced by the legal fraternity, but now
one is occupied by a tonsorial artist, and
another by a son of Crispia.
Four denominations of Christians, Pres
byterians, Methodists, Episcopalians and the
Baptists, have church edifices here, but for
various reasons no religious servies were held
in them on the last Sabbath I spent in town,
except those of the several Sabbath-schools
connected with them.
A short distance from town is the cemetery,
and here is pointed out with mournful pleas
ure the grave of one who though young in
years, had, while be lived, the friendship and
esteem of Lee and Jackson, and who bid
fair to rank in his arm of the service with
the proudest in military history. Here, in
the cemetery, on the hill side, overlooking
the beautiful valley, with a simple stone
marking his resting place, lies the remains
of John Pelham. Permit here an extract,
from history, an incident related by Pollard:
‘‘Dense masses appeared in front of A. P.
Hill, stretching tar up the river, in the direc
tion of Fredericksburg ; as they advanced,
Major Pelham, of Stewarts horse artillery,
who was stationed near the Port Royal road,
with one section, opened a rapid and well
directed enfilade fire, which arrested their
progress. Four batteries immediately turned
upon him, but he sustained their heavy fire
with a courage that in a half an hour made
him one of the most famous names in t! e
Confederacy. Thirty Federal cannons were
striving in vain to silence him, aud yet the
young artillerist, only twenty-two years of
age, was firm as a rock, his unyielding cour
age and composure under the deadliest fire,
making him for the time a spectacle for the
whole field.”
The Federal historian (Swintori) bears
equal testimony to this young hero’s great
ness. ‘ This battery was one Napoleon
captured at Seven Pines and used so well at
Cold Harbor. Pelham’s fire was so rapid
that it checked Meade’s whole division. Five
thousand men baited until that hornet could
be brushed away. To silence the galling
fire Gen. Meade brought up two or three
batteries, placed them in Pelham’s front at
point blank range, and opened on him a
furious fire of shot and shell, to which was
added the cross fire of some thirty pound
Parrotts on the hill beyond the river. The
storm of projectiles thus hurled at the one
Napoleon was enough to move the nerve of
a veteran. It did not touch Pelham, though
he was literally a beardless boy.”
Major Pelham fell at Kelly’s Ford in
March, 1803, and his body was brought
home and buried at Jacksonville. From
the head of his grave I picked a sprig of
fern, and I cherish it ns a memento of a
gallant soldier, and I hope that if this faint
tribute to a hero of the “Lost Cause” should
FKANKLIN PRINTING liOl EE, A ITAXTA, GEORGIA, APRIL 27, IB7G.
meet the eye of any of your readers living
near hieksonviUe, that they will see to it
that his grave, on deco a’ion clay, shall show
that though dead, John Pelham is not for
gotten Nomad.
For the Index aud Baptist.!
BAPTIST OIOS OF BIST AI.ABIMA.
Interesting and Profitable Meeting Valuable
Discourses and Essays.
The Baptist Union of East Alabama
met on the 14th, 15th and 16th iust.,
with Mt. Pleasant church, Tallapoosa
county, Ala , near Camp Hill. The vis
itors were met by pastor (Rev. G. P.
Bledsoe) and people at the depot, and
conveyed to the pleasant homes of the
good people, where all were made not
only to feel welcome, tut glad of the
privilege of spending a few hours with
such families.
The Union was originated more than
three years ago, growing out of a felt
want among our people of this part of
the State. It was greatly desired to
have meetings where our ministers and
members could come together in a more
general way than in Associations, even,
and where, instead of the business
routine, free discussion of doctrinal
subjects could be bad, and especiallv
such theological subjects as the masses
of our people were not familiar with ;
by which discussion we would not only
receive and impart valuable information
on vital subjects of the Bible, but
learn to know each other, and also to
advance Christianity and morality gen
erally. The first session of the Uuion
was a grand success, nor have wo rea
son yet to doubt the utility of the
meetings.
For this meeting an elegant pro
gramme had arranged by the ex
ecutive commitA 1 for the purposes of
the meeting. What .i. .wardcircum
stances prevented a large attendance of
ministers and members, yet unite
enough of good talkers were pt .lent
to handle all the subjects in a most
pleasing, edifying and.improving man
ner. It is refreshing, in these times
of church isms, to hear the brethren
bring out from the Scriptures “the na
ture and objects of the New Testalnent
Church organization.” It is also
efieering, irfitheso times &
dullness, to hear such men as Rev. J.
F. Bledsoe and J. P. Schaffer urging the
duty of giving as a means of grace,
emphasizing the doctrine that it is bet
ter to give than tojri ceive, backing it up
by Divine arguments and philosophy,
enforcing it as our own interest and
happiness, and the example of Christ,
who gave Himself for us. Then to
have “Church Communion Distinguish
ed from Christian,” clearing away the
mists and denominational fogs by defi
nition, explanation, reason, and Scrip
ture, is actually thrilling. In the
minds of the masses church and Chris
tian communion are churned up togeth
er and so befogged that they see noth
ing on the surface but the partaking of
the Lord’s Supper bv the Baptists, and
their aunts and cousins all kept away.
The lines of distinction between these
communions, as drawn and presented
on this occasion, will not be forgotten
by many. Rev. G. E. Bremer had
been appointed to open the discussion
on this subject, aud the paper he read
before the meeting was requested for
publication.
Then came the consideration of “The
Part the Baptists have taken in the
Establishment of Religious Liberty,
and their Duty of Co-operating in the
Cen’ennial Work of putting the Ben
efits of Education in Reach of the
Masses.” Of course, many good things
were said ou this very broad subject,
giving the Baptists present a better
opinion of themselves and favorably
impressing others.
Having gone through with the pro
gramme, the meeting adjourned till 9
a.m. Sunday, at which hour the Union
was called to order and a little finishing
up business transacted, one item of
which was the executive committee was
instructed to prepare for the next
meeting, appointing time and place.
W. H. Carroll and Z. D. Roby
preached, by appointment, to large and
attentive audiences.
With a few words by the President,
and the benediction, our most pleasant
and hospitable meeting ad j ourned with
out day.
By unanimous vote of the body W.
H. Carroll was elected President and
W. S. Rogers Secretary.
To say these meetings were altogeth
er pleasant and hospitaole, does not
half express the facts. The opinion
has been expressed by some that of all
our religious convocations, these ser
vices are the most beneficial.
W. H. C.
Opelika, Ala., April 21, 1876.
—Mr. Moody, the celebrated reviv
alist, was in Augusta this week. He
and Mr. Whittle, and Dr. Jaeger, the
converted Jewish Rabbi, formerly of
Mobile, participated in an open air
meeting in Augusta on last Sunday af
ternoon.
Spiiit of ‘lie Religious Press,
—From the Central Baptist :
The Miever in Jesus Christ lias eternal life
abiding i him, and he cannot come into con
demns!!. h. This life is not an attainment, but
an imps’ ition—it is the gift of God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Eternal life is not a
mere cha tge in the relation of the recipient to
the Divio; law. It is a state of moral being—
it is a spiritual life, (he result of union with
Christ. v le who believes in Christ is anew
creature in Him. He is invested with the
Christ All of the new impulses of the
soul; a’.! of the new views of God and eternity;
all the m w motives to action, are the effects of
the presence of the spirit of Christ in the
mind.
The spiritual life is not an inactive, but an
active principle. He that was dead is ahve;
and life is active. The believer abides not in
a state of passive receptivity, but the faith of
die gospel in the heart manifests itself by an
active productivity. He that receives good be
comes active in goodness. They that are dead
to sin, should remain no longer therein, but
putting off the deeds of the flesh should walk
with Christ in all holy living, for in Him they
are complete, and are buried with Him in bap
tism, wherein they are also risen with Him
through the faith of the operation of God, who
hath raised him from the dead. And he who
was dead in his sins hath He quickened togeth
er with Him, having forgiven all trespasses.
Speaking of the effect of the Moody and
Sankoymeetings in New York, the Examiner
says . iat no attempt is made to number the
conversions, but there is no doubt that they
are to be counted by hundreds, not improbably
by thousands. The meetings, by the conditions
of the lease, ended April 15th.
—The Standard gives the following survey
of the Chinese question in California.
The work among the Chinese on the Pacific
coasi begins to show encouraging indications
of success. There were at the last report about
five hundred scholars enrolled in the schools,
and ditring last year over 1,800 Chinese have
attended church more or less, long enough to
hear the name of Jesus, and to know some
thing of the sa'vation through Him, and forty
converts have been gained after six months’
probation in each case. Eleven churches sus
lain Chinese Sunday schools, with over three
hundred pupils. One-lourth of the expensed
these schools is contributed in California. The'
Christian Chinese have organized a “ Congre
gational Association,” preparing their own
rules. None are admitted who are not follow
ers of Christ. The members meet regularly
fa, or-, and for counsel and encourage
■ ifl ' Xi Jkt’lV-V othp- N d'“ r ' n return to
China without a month’s notice to the Associ
ation, and the clear payment of all his debts.
This organization aids greatly in the mission
work. We have encouraging hope that lrom
the direction of this work through the swarms
of Chinese immigrants who invariably purpose
to return to their native land, very large re
sults may yet be accomplished in that teeming
empire of idolatry beyond the Pacific. The
political, business and social persecutions to
which the Chinese have been subjected have
been a great hinderance to their evangelization.
They have been trea ed in anything but a
Christian spirit.
—The Biblical Recorder caustically says:
Rev. G. A. Lofton, in the Memphis Baptist,
tells of a visit to the ruins of a church which
was “killed by whisky drinking and whisky
selling Baptists.” Those ruins were in Ten
nessee. We fear that some might be found in
most of the States. Those two agencies—whis-
ky drinking and whisky selling—are enough
to kill any church.
—The Christian Intelligencer says :
It is not necessary to argue the propriety
and necessity of a wise denominational activi
ty. The churches which succeed grow by their
enthusiasm, by intelligent earnestness, and by
the persistent prosecution ot well devised
plans. They push things. They hold last
that which is good. They make the most of
their history, doctrines and peculiarities. They
take care of their own church work, They
are true to their creeds, to their form of wor
ship, to their benevolent agencies. They work
their own ground, and are content to let their
neighbors do likewise. They also bear their
share of the common burdens. But they need
not be bigoted, nor exclusive, not uncharitable.
Those individual Christians, too, who domo'
for the general cause of Christ, are, as a rule,
intensely loyal to their own particular commu
nions. They adorn and magnify their own
churches, aud they are not less of “the City of
God.” But they do not gad about all the
churches in town, nor patronize all the popu
lar preachers, nor neglect their own places in
the sanctuary, nor boast of being liberal to ev
erythin z but those truths and vows to which
they have sworn allegiance.
—The Presbyterian Journal , in a pleasant me
taphorical manner, draws the moral lesson
from that most irksome of dl literary drudgery
—proof reading. It says:
Almost every vocation of our earthly life is
suggestive of lessons of salutary instruction.
The business of an editor is not an exception.
Plodding on in his fixed and often irksome
routine, even he may he found “from seeming
ev ; l still educing good.” Take an illustration
When “copy” has been furnished to the prin
ter, it is isou returned in print, on long slips
of paper. Over these, with pencil in hand,
the scrutinizing eye of the editor passes, either
slowly or rapidly, according to his tempera
ment and experience, to see what mistakes re
quire correction. Ve-y rarely it is that these
slips escape from him without an abundance
of marks indicating more or less important er
rata. Types inverted, words misplaced, phra
ses transposed, punctuation violated, all these
matters require and receive due attention, and.
generally to good purpose, for it is only occa
sionally that he finds that his proposed correc
tions have tailed.
What, then, are the moral teachings of this
business? It teaches that first impressions are
not always right. Some persons hastily form
an opinion of men or things, and hold on to it
with dog-like tenacity, “It seems” say they
“to be in accordance with truth, and therefore
we maintain it,” forgetting that the appearance
ol it,” may be deceptive, just as a slip of
“proof’ deceives the casual observer by its
seeming neat and solid look, although it has
many errors.
—The Watchman tells a story of a man in
Illinois, who, having killed a fierce dog,
was found beating its body, and exclaiming,
“I’ll teach him there’s punishment after
death !’’ “As unreasonable,” says the Boston
editor, “as passionate, as absurd, is the conduct
of the English Episcopal clergy towards the
members of other communities than their own,
in their oversight of the parochial burial
yards.
—Catholics are used to confession, but their
leaders scarcely ever admit the fact which even
a casual observer finds to be a fact, and which
the editor of the Irish World confesses in the
following words:
Catholocism is practically a foreign element
as yet in the United States. Catholics have
gained by accessions from abroad, but Catho
locism has not developed What the United
States have gained Ireland has lost. There is
no substantial victory for the Church. But the
Church has not actually held her own. We have
a few score pro-English converts, and these few
we put up on our shoulders th it the multitude
may see and cheer them. These converts get
the chief seats in the synagogue. But the
number lost to the Church in this country for
the past two centuries, the enormous multitude
of Irish descent who have fallen away and are
falling away, quietly and noiselessly, and
about whom there is no talk, can be counted
by millions.
—The Western Recorder says:
How to “usf the world as not abusing it” is
indeed a practical problem, that the faithful
Christian not infrequently finds sufficiently
difficult, and which by far the larger portion
of mat. kind do not even attempt to master or
resolve. Men suffer themselves to drift at the
meycy of selfish instincts, passions and pur
suits, until what should be the servant becomes
at last the master. All the glorious purposes
of life are sacrificed to base and ignoble ends.
Manhood, instead of expanding with the years,
becomes narrow and dwarfed and hard. Ban
yan's poor pilgrim with the “muck rake” la
boriously shunning the sunshine and busy
witlnhe dirt at his feet I How perfect a type
it is of the great bustling heedless throng ol
earth-worshippers around us I Here and there
we find a man who really seems to have some
faint appreciation of what life means—of its
sacredness, its noble possibilities. Christianity
is really shaping such a soul into a spiritual
symmetry that shall make it “meet for the in
heritance of the saintß in light.’’ The multi
tilde are utter sti angers to such an aim or such
an experience. The one mission of their lives is
accumulation. Hi alth, honor, conscience,
spiritual growth, everything that should be
come (an immortal saul, arte sacrificed to the
love of money. All life is narrowed down to
the single purpose of gathering one little gold
en ant-heap for other antß to envy while its
possessor is living, and quarrel over when
dead !
—The Journal and Messenger gives this ad
vice on the treatment of a class of ministers
seeking after pulpits:
Since our courtesy requires that a travelling
seeker for a pulpit asking the attention be
heard, we suggest that it be enquired why he
travels, not having an objective point nor such
an introduction as would claim for him a mod
erate welcome to a Christian home. His
“cheek,” in such circumstances, is against him.
Good men, having the average sensibility, pre
fer suffering at home to “sponging” abroad.
Then ask him why he did not continue with
that “dear chnrch,” which so much needs an
under shepherd to lead them through the wa
ters of affliction, to tow them over the ripple of
church building or of a church debt, to lead
them out into vigorous warfare against the er
rorists who threaten to swallow them up ! Un
der most conditions he must be pronounced
guilty who thus forsakes the cause, since it is
part of his commission to do such duty, and
since he is so eminently willing (?) to be offer
ed upon the sacrifice.and service of the faith
of any church in better condition. Beware of
the “poor health” plea, inasmuch as there is
generally health enough for any post that
brings a good salary. Look askance at him
who portrays but one side of a church trouble
—the other side. If one comes to you in
sheep’s clothing and does not hesitate to con
fess his own part in a difficulty, that man is
probably a true sheep; if he inculpates only
the church and delights in devouring them, he
is probably a wolf. Put little confidence in
credentials; to be of force they mnst come
from known persons, must not be old, and
must contain statements thaf mean something.
One trick of an impostor is to accumulale
names, and one will add his name because
anotl er has given his.
—The American Tract Society held its an
nual meeting in Washington last week. Judge'
Bradley of the Supreme Court presided. Secre
tary Shearer made a statement of the Society’s
operations, and addresses were delivered by
Hon. J. H. Seelye, Professor Edward W.
Clarke, late of Japan, and Rev. Dr. Chamber
lain, of India. The receipts from donations
and legacies exceed $1,000,000, and from Hales
of books, tracts and periodicals over $350,000.
Grants of tracts average over 1,500,000 pages.
About two hundred colporteurs have been em
ployed, chiefly in the South and West, and
Texas, Utah, and the Pacific Coast are repre
sented as very hopeful.
WORK.
A distinguished author wisely says:
Work ! work ! work I That iB the grand
panacea for sorrow, and, mercilully, there is no
end of work to be done in the world, if any
body will do it I have always found those
the best liked people who havestrength to bear
their sorrows themselves without troubling
their neighbors. And the sight of all others
most touching, most ennobling, is that ofa man
or woman whom we know to have suffered,
perhaps to be suffering still, yet who carries a
cheerful face, is a burden to no friend, nor casts
a shadow over any household—perhaps quite
the contrary. Those who*e own light ig
quenched are often the light-bringers.
God is glorified not in, possessing, but in dis
pensing his gifts.
WHOLE NO. 2817.
General Denominational Hess
—People sometimes fancy that the Romanists
have no church debts. The following from
the New York Iribune, shows how erroneous
the impression is. St. Stephen’s is the most
wealthy and aristocratic congregation of Ro
manists in the United States :
“The financial report of St. Stephen’s Ro
man Catholic church of this city for the year
ending December 31, 1875, which has recently
been published, states that the receipts of the
church from pew rents, collections, etc., for the
year were $44,832; the expenditures, $44 578.
The sum of $3,795 was collected for charitable
purposes. The indebtedness of the church is
$158,499.”'
—The Centennial Sunday-school convention
to be held at Ocean Groye, N. J., July 22-30
promises to be a profitable and interesting af
fair. All evangelical denominations are to be
represented, the object of the meetings being to
cement fraternal union among the workers
ol such bodies, the discussion of the needs, in
terests and methods of Sunday-school work,
and a brief but comprehensive course of nor
mal instruction.
—At the recent grand gathering of delegates
to the Christian convention held at the Hip
podrome in New York, under the auspices of
the revivalists Moody and Sankey, and com
posed mostly of ministers, there were present
4096 delegates, of whom 1013 were from New
York City, 1347 from New York State, 962
from New Jersey, 492 from Connecticut, 99
from Massachusetts, 88 from Pennsylvania, 16
from Virginia, 9 from Illinois, 7 from Ohio, 2,
from New Hampshire, 6 from Delaware, 8
from Rhode Island, 6 from Maine, 4 from
Georgia, 8 from Washington. D. C., and 1 each
from South Carolina, Wisconsin, Kansas, Ken
tucky, Maryland, Canada, Colorado, Indiana
and Vermont. There were 873 Presbyterians,
557 Baptists, 430 Congregitionalists, 146 Epis
copalians, 455 Reformed, 556 Methodists, 38
Lutherans and Calvanists, 9 Universalists and
Unitarians, 10 Friends. 1 Hebrew, 5 Moravi
ans, 12 Independents, 200 representing Young,
Men’s Christian Associations, and 795 “Not
stated.”
—A grand revival sweeps the Cumberland
Valley, Pennsylvania. Twelve Presbyterian
congregations have received seven hundred
personsto communion, and the Methodist and
Lutheran churches more than twice as many
more.
—The Berlin police affirm that they have
knowledge of a lottery which has been set on
foot in London in aid of the persecuted Ger
man clergy, and that agents are offering tick-
privately for sale in Prussia to Roman
Catholics.
—At the beginning of the present century
there were less than 2,000 churches in ‘he
United States, or one to about 1,600 of the in
habitants. Now there are nearly 76.000, or
about one to every 600 of the inhabitants.
BAPTIST NEWS AXE* NOTES.
—The American Baptist Missionary Union
will hold its anniversary in the Washington
street Baptist church, of Buffalo, N. Y., on
Tuesday and Wednesday, May 23d and 24th.
Sermon by Rev. Wayland Hovt, cf Boston.
—The Baptists in Ontario and Quebec have
grown from a little over 13,000 in 1869 to 23,-
000—a gain of 44 per cent in six years. They
have in the whole of Canada 55,000 members.
—A Baptist Missionary Total Abstinence
Association has been organized in India.
—Let every church debt in the United
States be paid during the Centennial year, and
let no such debts be contracted for the next
hundred years.
—Dr. Montgomery has' recently made a
strong appeal to Virginians to rally to the sup
port of the Home Mission Board. Among
other things he says :
Last year, outside of the city of Richmond,
the whole State contributed les* than four hun
dred dollars. Year before last the entire
S:ate did not contribute five hundred dollars,
while the little, impoverished negro-ridden
State of S: uth Carolina contributed twenty
seven hundred dollars.
—There are two Baptist churches in Massa
chusetts which have commemorated their sec
ond Centennial—the First Baptist church,
Boston, and the church in Swansey, the for
mer having been constituted in 1664, the latter
one year earlier. There are nineteen churches
which have reached or passed their first Cen
tennial.
—Brother Eaton’s revival meetings in Pe
tersburgh, Va., are remarkably successful.
Eld. G. A. Loftin says in the Baptist:
'“Christianity is a beggar in the land. Not
one man in ten would give if he were not
begged? Circuses, theatres, dress, passions,
appetites, tobacco, whisky, business, ease, com
fort, self, all these are gratified, indulged, pet
ted, feted, but truth goes begging. Oh, heaveD'j
what sort of a Christianity is this! Out of
twenty congregations where we have put the
test, ‘‘All who ever made a sacrifice for
Christ, all who have ever suffered for one
mouthful of bread, a rag of clothing, a mo
ment’s comfort, on account of anything you
have ever done, Baid, or given, hold up your
right hand,” not one man, woman, or child
ever yet held up the hand.
—By advice of his physician, Rev. G. W.
Sanderlin, pastor of Franklin Square Baptist
church of Baltimore, has resigned his charge.