Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

The Christian Index! VOL. 55— NO. 28. Table of Content*. First Page Alabama. Department: Record of State Events; Alabama Baptist State Conven tion—Notes and Incidents; Spirit of the Reli gious Press; Baptist News and Notes; General Denominational News; The New Postal Law; etc. B*oootPiob.—Out Correspondents: Crawford High School—Spectator; Vitalized Christianity the Nation’s only Hope—W. G. Whidby, Presi dent of the State Bund*y-school Convention; Do Good while yon Live; Ministers and Dea cons’ Meeting of Mulberry Baptist Associa tion—H. N. Rainey; Hopewell Baptist church— A Splendid Revival; Shady Grove Baptist Church—lts Organization and Prospects— John H. Jones; Dr. Jeter’s Dream—James P. Boyce; eto. Third Paoi Onr Pulpit; Obey God, for He will be Obeyed. The Sunday-school: Lesson for July SO, 1876. Mission Department: The Relation of Distillers to Missions—Thomas E. Skinner; The New Plan for Raising Funds— Brother Warren’s Prophecy. Fourth Page Editorial : The Children of the Church; Revivals; Dr. Jeter's Dream; An Ap ology for Dr. Burrows—Rev. J. S. Baker. Nom inal Christianity—Rev. S. G. Hilly er. Georgia Baptist News; Gems Reset; True Prayer; Truth has a Supreme Claim over all Things Else— Rev. D. E. Butler. The State University and Dr. Tucker. Communications : The Baptist Ckuroh at Reynolds—Ordination of Deacons— A. P. Ashurst; Some Misconceptions—J. C. Hi den; From a Florida Church—B. L. Mims; An Appeal to the Baptists of Georgia—Mrs. M. J. Crutchfield: Sunday-school Work—T. C. Boy kin; The Image of Edessa; etc, Fifth Page.—Secular Editorials : A Poet’s View of Immortality; The Rod in Schools; The Cen tennial Route; Baptist Convention Minutes; Chromo-Civilization; Egyptian Philanthropy; "Good Haters’’; The Drunkard's Ruin; The Georgia Baptist Orphan’s Home; “Father Hyacinthe on the Prospects of Christianity”; Personal: Literary Gossip; Dead; Georgia News; Foreign and Domestic Notes; etc. Sixth Page.—Select Miscellany : Taxation. Children’s Corner: A Mother’s Gifts. Seventh Page —Agriculture: Forage Corn; Oats and Bees; Fall Meeting Georgia State Agricul tural Society. Eighth Pac.e.—Centennial Excursion: In Me moriam; Appointments of Rev. T. C. Boykin, State Sunday-school Evangelist, in Oostan anla Association; Obituaries; Tribute of Re spect; Advertisements. Index and baptist. ALABAMA DEPAWTMEWT. From the Alabama Baptist we take the fol lowing report of the Committee on the Heme Mission Board, as submitted to the Baptist Convention recently' in session at Montgom ery : If we would have the Southern Baptist Con vention continue to live, we must support the HeSuti Mission Board. The perishing of onr o*n country are dependent upon ns for the bread of life. -Under the management of Bro. Mclntosh, the Corresponding Secretary, the Board has been greatly relieved. We have high hopes of its future. Bro. Mclntosh: “It is one of the strange providences of God that I appear before you in this capacity to-day. The work of this Board had its beginning under the auspices of the Southern Baptist Convention. A spirit of earnestness characterized the history of its first work. During the thirty years of its ex istence, about $1,000,000 have passed through the hands of this Board. About 36,000 or 40,- 000 conversions have been reported. Were ever results more gratifying ? For ten years the Board confined its labors to domestic mis sion work. At the meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Montgomery, at the close of ten year*, the work of Indian Missions was transferred to this Board. With this ad ditional work came, also, additional liabilities. Contributions were rapidly made, and the in debtedness was cancelled, and the Board went on in its work of Domestic and Indian Missions, prospering and to prosper At the close of the war the Board had an empty treasury. The then Secretary bent his energies to the collec tion of funds to begin anew the work of mis sions. Kentucky contributed to it at this time funds sufficient to enable it to go forward. At the meeting of the Southern Baptist Conven tion in Mobile another transfer was made, with additional liabilities—that of the Sunday school Board. During the past year this in debtedness has been greatly reduced. Provis ion has been made for the publication of Kind Words, by which the Board is to receive SBOO royalty per annum for the next five years, this amount to be applied to the payment of the indebtedness oi the Board for past printing of the paper. Bro. Boykin is still editor of Kind Words , and has its complete management. The parties who print the paper have no control whatever over its columns or its contents. The debt of the Board is now about $6,000. We are beginning to renew our appointments, but with the greatest caution. The history of this Board is a commendation to the heart of every Baptist. Fot every $25 spent in the work of this Board there has been a conversion reported. Cries of help are daily comi -g to us from the wild Indiang. Shall we not rek.-ond to these cries ? Let ns send them an answer that will carry joy to their hearts and salvation to their homes. We recognize the claims of the world upon ns, but while it iB onr duty to meet these claims, it is not our duty to meet them to the neglect of our own people. There is destitution in all this land, which we must try to supply. We should remember the freedmen in our midst. They are constantly becoming more and moie accessible. However this may be, the obliga tion is upon us to use our utmost effort to give them the light of life. The work assigned to this Board is one which no other organization is attempting, which no other cen perform. The means of prosecuting this work must be secured by ob taining small contributions from all the churches, through the pastors and brethren who are willing to engage in making them. At the close of Bro. Mclntosh’s address, brethren Toluntarily pledged themselves to bring this matter before their associations and churches, and secuie contributions for this Board. The Alabama Commissioner to the Centen nial voted for the opening of the Centennial grounds on the Sabbath, thuß thorougly mis representing the feelings and wishes of every intelligent Alabamian. TK3S SO U '-L'JnL-W BAPTIST, • of Alabama. For the Index and Baptist, ALABAMA BAPTIST CONTENTION. Dear Brethren :—Your correspon dent has attended three sessions of this body, in the last few years, and can truly say that the meeting just closed at Montgomery was the best, in many respects, he has attended. The attendance was larger, the order was better, the speaking abler, the spirit more hopeful, the outlook brigh ter. Hon. John Haralson presided, and did it well. It was the third time he has filled the chair. Brother B. B, Davis, of Montgomery, and brother Hudson, of Selma, were re-elected Clerk and assistant Clerk. The Boards of the Southern Baptist Convention, the State Mission Board, the colleges, (Howard, Judson and Ala bama Central Female College,) and the Alabama Baptist, all came up for con sideration, and were ably represented. The presence of Drs. Boyce and Manly, of Kentucky, and Gwaltney, Hardin, Cox and Cheves, of Georgia, added some interest to the meeting. The brethren in Alabama are pleased with the capture of Elder Gwaltney, as President of the Judson, hut I told them, privately, they did not half know how to love him yet. Dr. Winkler’s centennial sermon was a grand discourse—Baptistic, historical and instructive. I made the acquaint ance of several brethren, among whom I mention Lowry of Mobile, Bailey, the multifarious worker, and Hendon, of Union Springs, nephew of our own admirable, versatile, able brother Un derwood, of Camilla, Georgia. The Alabama Baptist has a hold upon the brethren, aiid has been of advantage to the denomination and to the Con vention. The weather during the meeting was exceedingly warm—warm don’t express it—it was hot, but, never theless, the time was not changed, and the Convention meets next year, as this, ; n July, at Gadsden. Your correspondent was fortunate in being assigned a home at the house of Deacon Hatchett, who, with his wife and daughters, and “Willie,” made him feel at home indeed. “God bless them all <*nd cause His face to shine upon them.'” I hope to meet them all in Heaven. W. N. Chaudoin. For the Index and Baptist.] Alabama Baptist Convention—Notes and Inti dents. Editors Index — l have jnst re turned from Montgomery, where I have been attending the Alabama Baptist Convention, and I venture to contrib ute my impressions to the news col umns of The Index. We reached there in time to hear the Centennial Sermon, by Rev. Dr. Wink ler, which was preached at night on Thurday, the 13th instant. It was characteristic of the learned gentle man, and evidenced great research and familiarity with the history of the Bap tists from their earliest beginning. His appeals for future zeal and activity, based upon the providences of God, as shown to this peculiar people in all the ages past, were stirring and eloquent, and, upon the whole, we opine that the Baptists of the congregation went away, indeed, with some degree of gratitude to God, that they could be classed among such a noble people, although they had often been the outcast and persecuted of earth. Whilst I am writing on this subject of centennial preaching, permit me to indulge myself by saying that I have longed for and hoped that some of our good Georgia brethren would take the field and preach to our people more about the history of their predecessors. Certainly, much good could be done. I was surprised to see how much more enthusiasm was exhibited in their con vention than in the Georgia Baptist Convention, and I could not account for it upon any other ground than as a legitimate and natural outgrowth of education, arising from the sermon and speeches delivered by some of Ala bama’s representative men. I never heard a better report than that made by Rev. W. N. Reeves, of Eufaula, on education, and to have listened to the warm and enthusiastic advocates who rose up all over the house, would have seemed convincing to any one, that the people were inter ested on the subject, and that the cen tennial year would prove one long to be remembered in the history of Ala bama Baptists. The report shows that the Howard College, the Judson and the Central Female, are all in a prosperous con dition, and the friends of each vigor ously and zealously presp’it-u t’;eir respective claims. It seemed tc he the general impression that the Seminary endowment would certainly be com pleted, and that it would be located at Louisville. Dr. Jeter’s dream to the contrary notwithstanding. The subject of Foreign Missions was made the prominent feuture in the Con vention, and was ably sustained and FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, JULY 27, 1876. urged in well-timed speeches by emi nent men. Although the report on Home Mis sions, and which was followed by a statement from Dr. Mclntosh, was en tertained with some degree of interest, yet, to an observer, there seemed to be a lack of zeal and enthusiasm; why, we do not know, unless it be that the State Board claimed more attention. This report (State work) elicited a good many speeches, and the manner in which all spoke and acted, showed that it was a question about which thev thought and prayed, and for which they worked. Judging by the speeches, much good had been accomplished during the past year, and it was the desire to do still more the incoming year. The Sunday-school Evangelist’s re port in this connection, was very grat ifying. It showed that about eighty schools has been organized during the year, with other work correspondingly favorable. I could but ask myself why it was that Georgia Baptists could not do their own work without the com mission of another Board ? I hope brother Ryals will tnake all this very clear to us, for I confess that I have several questions I would like to ask about it. One notable feature, as a result from the discussion of that usually vexatious question, “ How to get money ?” was the establishing of a “Commissary Department;” certain brethren are to take their wagons and go around through the neighborhood and collect anything that may be contributed, whether given in com, fodder, oats, flour, potatoes, chickens, eggs, or any thing, and this to be carried to market and sold, and the proceeds forwarded. This, if it be successfully worked, we opine, will bring in a greater revenue than has been received heretofore. The Alabama Baptist received warm and enthusiastic support, and was con sidered no longer a thing of trial, but a success, and a necessity. Upon the whole, the meeting was a very pleasant one, and one which we shall long remember. The brethren and friends at Montgomery, entertained with a lavish hospitality. Dr. Haw thorne is soon expected to take the place vacated by Dr. Gwin. We saw but four Georgia delegates in attend ance. J. B. Chevis. Cuthbert, Ga., July 18, 1876. The Slate Line Frees (West Point) of July 22d,says: We have reveiyed notice of the action of three Baptist churches in Alabama, served by Rev. F. 0. David, completely exonerating him from an infamous charge fabricated by irres ponsible parties. We deem it useless even to mention the churches or to publish their full action. Suffice it to say, Mr. David is com pletely vindicated by these concurrent resolu tions. At the Convention in Montgomery, brother Mclntosh presented to that body, in behalf of Rev. J. L. M. Curry, a gavel purchased in Je rusalem, made from olive wood cut from the Mount of Olives. This beautiful present was accompanied by appropriate and touching re marks, and the unanimous thanks of the • in vention were given to Dr. Curry for the pre cious memento. One hundred thousand young Bhad have been planted in the Alabama river, at Mont gomery. The cotton worm has made its appearance in Montgomery county in considerrble numbers, and much damage is apprehended. Prof. O. F. Casey, for 18 years of the South ern University at Greensboro, has accepted an engagement at Pulaski, Tenn. Rev. Jesse Collins, of St. Clair, has been forty-two years a preacher. The Gainesville Ladies Memorial Associa tion, netted $275 from their fourth of July dinner. The Marengo grange fair will begin in Lin den October 3d. Newton Nail, of Limestone, a lad of 15, ac cidently hung himself the 6th. On October Ist, Rev. Dr. Cleveland will en ter upon his pastoral duties with the Selma Baptist church. From all parts of the State the crop reports are encouraging. A fine harvest is assured. Rev. J. B. Haw. home has accepted the call of the First Baptist church in Montgomery. The Primitive Baptists held their annual three days meeting at Beulah, last week. A lodge of Knights of Honor has been or ganized in Selma. Rev. W. N. Chaudoin preached in the Bap tist church at Selma last Sunday, a week ago. O” Take Simmons’ Liver Regulator. The great Southern vegetable medicine for all bilious diseases. It will cure Dyspepsia Sour Stomach, Cholera, Chronic Diarrhoea, Headache, Consti pation, Bilious Colio, Jaundice. No family should be without it, as it is the safest and surest medicine for all the complaints of children. julySO.At Spirit of the Religious Press, The Western Recorder uses these convinc ing words in illustrating the several truths of Christianity: A sound religious experience underlies all true piety. Christianity is not a mere senti ment ;it is something more than a series of problems, or a collection of beautiful ideas, or a system of revealed facts. To the be liever it is a living power in the soul. The gospel consists not only in doctrines to be believed and precepts to be obeyed, but a.so in emotions to be felt. And just herein is to be found the simplest and most convincing proof of the truth of Christianity. It is some thing which each one can test for himself. Out of the depths of his own experience Da vid cried, “Oh taste and see that the Lord is god; blessed is the man that trusteth in —A few plain, practical, and very necessa ry every day duties are finely alluded to in the following paragraph from the Evangel— would that every one would live up to these excellent precepts: If you say anything about a neighbor or friend, or even a stranger, say no ill. It is a Christian and brotherly charity to suppress our knowledge of evil of one another, unless our higher public duty compels us to bear ac cusing witness. And if it be true charity to keep our knowledge of such evil to ourselves, much more should we refuse to spread evil reports of one another. Discreditable as the fact is, it is by far the commonest tenden cy to suppress the good we know of our neighbors and friends. We act in this mat ter as though we telt that by pushing our fel lows down or back a peg we were putting ourselves up or forward. We are jealous of commendation unless we get the larger share. Social conversation, as known to every observer, is largely made up of what is best understood by the term scandal. It would be difficult to find a talk ative group, of either Bex, who could spend an evening or an hour together without evil speech of somebody. “Blessed are the peace makers” is not the maxim by which we are chiefly governed in our treatment of person alities. Better a thousand times stand or sit dumb than to open our lips never so elo quently in the disparagement of others. What we should do in this, as in all our hu man relations, is to practice the Golden Rule. If we do unto others as we would that others should do unto us, we shall be exceedingly careful not to volunteer ill words about them. Where a good word is to be spo ken, let it be spoken to the person concerned, that he may know your motive is not idle, cowardly and sinister, and that he may have a cHnce to defend himself. J' e Te; as Bapt'ti Hto-ld says : Dr. Pendleton said that Dr. Jeter should be set down as in favor of the Bocial dance from his recent lecture on amusements, and was not mistaken. Great pity that any great man should have so many soft sides. R was not thus with Christ, our great examplar. —Church Bells gives the following plan for enlivening pulpit discourses, and attracting the lagging attention of congregations: If you pause in your sermon and say, “Now I will tell you a story,” we engage that all who are not too fast asleep will prick up their ears and listen. People like similes, illustrations and well-told stories, and will listen to them when they will attend to nothing else. He is the best speaker, says an Arabian proverb, who can turn the ear into an eye. For my part, I not only try to tell stories, but I some times put before my people familiar illustra tions which they can see. For instance, I take a bunch of keys and shake them. The whole congregation, when they hear the keys, look up. Then I say, “Would there be need of any keys if all men were perfect and honest ? What does this bunch of keys show? Whv, they show that the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” —The Congregatumalist touches upon a deli cate and important theme in the following very sensible way. It asks: “Why should a poor theological student do so foolish a thing as to get married before he gets his profes sion ?” It says it has known several instances of this kind. One yonng man, now in college, who has had the ministry in view for three years, writes asking how he can pay the ex penses of himself and wife at the Seminary. And we would repeat the question, why should young men, beneficiaries, depending upon eth ers to meet the expenses education, do this foolish thing ? The tfongregationalist adds: “The sequel comes; interrupted studies, in creased expenses, pecuniary anxieties, hardship for the wife, and, not seldom, a shortened the ological course. The Educational Society properly withdraws its aid in such a case; not in discouragement of matrimony, bat in dis couragement of grave mconsiderateness.” —The Christian at Work says: A great Wny are hindefed from the reli gious choice because they do not know the proper order of events. They think that must first come the correction of evil habits, aDd then the choice of Christ. That is not the order of grace at all. It is.first acceptance of Christ, and then the correction of the life. You say, “When I shall get rid of this or that habit; when I can quench my thirsf for strong drink; when I can break this particular shackle of sin and temptation, then I will en ter into the life and hope of the gospel.” You have mistaken the order of spiritual events. The first thing for you to do is to come to God, and say, “Lord Jesus, take me. I find myself incompetent to do the work of correcting my life, and delivering myself from evil habits. Do thou the work. That is the order of events. —The Morning Star (Boston) sayß: W. G. Whidby was re-elected President ol the Georgia Stole Sunday-school Convention, at its recent annual meeting. This is a clear case of third-termiam. He is an indefatigable and efficient Sunday school worker, and deserves to have the offloe for life.—Eds. Index. —The loilowing reflections of an able con temporary, the National Baptist, are well wor- THE CHRISTIAN HTTn-R, A T ,~D of Tennessee. thy of the serious consideration of all Chris tians—they are so appropriate to “the times “Out of workthis most sad complaint meets us on every hand. And it meets us at a Beason of the year when, if ever, work ought to be abundant And the dismal thought keeps presenting itself, if men are looking in vain for work now, what will it be in the winter ? We tremble to think. So far the wisdom of man has proved utterly unable to discover a remedy for our evils. Af ter nearly three years, stagnation continues, We see no hope of deliverance for man. Has not the time come for us to recognize, as we never have before, the hand of God? Shall we not realize that it is from His hand that prosperity and adversity come? Shall we not spread before Him the prevailing suf fering, our anxiety, our helpleasness, and shall we not plead with Him to appear for our re lief? And all this, not as a matter of form, not as a becoming, decorous ceremony, but froin the heart. If our people should united ly, sincerejy, thus plead with God, at the same time attesting, their sincerity by works of holi ness, self-denial, benevolence, we believe that it would be more likely to pronote a return of prosperity than anything else of which we can now conceive. —The New York Methodist, with its usual forcible and terse style, decisively remarks : He who desires earnestly iB always a man of the present tense. He wants a present Saviour and a present heaven. There is no surer sign of spiritual languor than the constant use of the future tense in wishing and purposing. For knowledge, for power, for freedom from mortality, we must all wait. But believing, receiving, striving, and entering in are all, in fact, as present as the forms in which they are expressed. No earnest man is languid in his business or his affections. He works and loves his friends without thought of delays and fu ture tense reserves. He says in his human re lations, “I love,” not “I hope to love“I give,” not “perhaps I will give “I refuse,” not “I may refuse.” And in religion one is equally positive, when he is equally earnest. Ask him some questions about theology, and he may stammer; but ask him about his love for God and His truth, and the earnest man will not stammer. If one can know anything, he can know whether he loves, hates or is in different. —The Watchman strongly and beautifully says of our duty to exercise our powers to please : Now, God will require an account of the ability to win and please which he has lent to us. It is a talent which we have no right to wrap in a napkin and hide in the earth. Con secrated, it is one of our most useful powers ; employed for our mere selfish gratification, it will be the means of our condemnation at the last day. The souls of the carpenter, the blacksmith, and the shoemaker, are as pre cious as those of governors and merchant prin ces ; their characters may be whiter in the sight of God, and their families have need of the gospel. . The only way to gain their hearts is to make kindly advances; grasp their hands; seek them out; wait for no formalities: go into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come. BAPTIST NEWS AND NOTES. —The Baptists have purchased the fine build ing at Mossy Creek, known as the Mountcastle property, for college purposes. The sum of $13,500 was paid for the same, including 35 acres of land. —At the recent annual meeting of the Wo man’s Baptist Missionary Society of the East, Mrs. Williams, the treasurer, reported total re ceipts of the year, including a balance of $420.64, to be $30,241.29; the expenses were $27,700.07, leaving a balance of $2,541.22. Of this balance $1,155.75 was appropriated to the support of new schools, and $729.75 has been invested, and so the real cash balance for next year is $426.03. The increase of dona tions for the year is more than 3,800. The contributions by States were : Maine $1,970.10 Nefw Hampshire 1,321.12 Vej nont 1,022.56 Massachusetts 7,844.36 Rhode Island 2,323.47 Connecticut 2,964 30 New York. 6,717.45 New Jersey 2,697.80 Pennsylvania 1,599-97 Delaware 30.00 Dist. Columbia 90.18 California 57.00 Virginia 25.05 Missouri 25.00 North Carolina 4.00 Canada 11,45 Other States 18.10 Massachusetts, it will be seen, give* double the amount, compared with the number of Bap tists, of any other State. She does abontthe same in contributions to the funds of the Mis sionary Union. —Four strong Baptist churches in New York city are still destitute of pastors, Therf are plenty of candidates but none called. —The Waco (Texas) Examiner, speaking of Bro. Penn’s remarkable revival meetings, says: *• It is a little strange and not a little pleasing to observe that many of the country people are now attending church night and day in the city many of them riding in some ten or fifteen miles, lor this purpose. At the Baptist church, the congregations are now largely made up of this class, the members, and other town folks, cheerfully giving up their seats. Surely an era of good, after so long a time, ha* fully dawned upon this community. —Ba ptists in the very nature of things must be the friends of education. Their church poli ty demands this more than that of Aqy other denomination. Our independent fora of gov ernment imposes responsibilities on every local organization which are only assumed by the higher courts of other bodies. Every Baptist church is as high a judicial authority as a Con ference or a Synod. It i| therefore of the first importance that our churches be composed ef Godly, intelligent men and women, if they would fulfill the high trusts committed to them. WHOLE NO. 2228. General Denominational News, —)A revival is now in progress at San An tonia, Texas. That city is one of the oldest in the United States, and has from its origin been the stronghold of Romanism. —The Irish Presbyterian Assembly has adopted a decided resolution against the use of organs and harmoniums in public worship. —To sustain a Sunday-school missionary in Missouri, $1,500 were pledged at the late State Convention. They estimate that at least 500,000 children of their State are still out of the Sunday-schools. —John Bright has warned the English min istry not to repeat the blunder of the Crimean war. A war of races and religions, under which the Turk must inevitably go down if it continues, has begun. —The Pope is about to publish an encycli cal, which the Tablet (now the special advo cate of Lynch law against Protestants) says pe remptorily decides the questions about Free- Masonry in Brazil. —A College Institute for the training of East Ipdians as medical missionaries will soon be established at Agra. —Bro. J. M. Carroll is conducting a very interesting meeting at Washington, Texas. A large number have already been baptized. —Among the recent dead of whom the Eng lish General Baptist Assembly made respectful mention was Mrs. Sutton, widow of the Rev. Amos Sutton, and formerly known* as Mrs. Colmon, wife of one of the first workers in Bur mah. “By her death the last survivor has passed away of that noble and heroic band sent out from America, whose names are im perishably associated with the introduction of the Gospel into Burmah.” —Rev. T. A. Vaudray, a Catholic priest, of New Orleans, has married, and is sustained, it is said, by 500 people of his parish in his in fraction of one of the most important rules of the priesthood. —Among the graduates in the class of 1876, at Dartmouth College, was Rev. J. 8. Small, a Baptist clergymen about fifty years of age. This instance is, we believe, without prece dent in the history of American colleges. —Leading Jewish rabbis in New York have issued a letter warning their congregations against the indulgence of extravagance and display at funerals. —Archbishop Ledochowski, the banished bishop of Gnesen and Posen, has written a let ter from Borne to the clergy of his diocese, in which he informs them that he will adminis ter its affairs through secret delegates. —Nearly $400,000 are spent yearly on mis sion work in Africa. European societies spend $300,000 of this—American societies the balance. It is estimated that there are at pres ent 75,000,000 people in Central Africa who have neve*- heard the gospel. —The first chnrch in Charlestown, Massa chusetts, organized in 1632, is the oldest ortho dox Congregational church in the country. —The United Presbyterians have removed their freedmen’s school from Nashville to Knoxville, ’Tennessee. The receipts for the work among freedmen, last year, were over $12,888.80. —The number of Christian ministers of all denominations in the United States is said to be 43,866. In England and Wales the num ber is 31,942. —The Western Recorder very sensibly says: “Our State Mission Eoard insist that all the churches and states aided by that Board shall keep up a weekly prayer-meeting and Sunday-school.. We most heartily indorse the decision of the Board, feeling well assured that a church which h*s not vitalitity enough to keep up some form of religious service every Lord’s day will never accomplish much for Christ. THE NEW POSTAL LAW. The section in the post-office appropriation bill in relation to third-class matter is as fol lows : Transient newspapers and magazines, regu lar publications designed primarily for adver tising purposes, or for free circulation, or for circulation at nominal rates, and all printed matter of the third class, except unsealed circu lars, shall be admitted to and transmitted in the mails at the rate of one cent for every two ounces or fractional part thereof, and one cent for every two additional ounces or frac tional part thereof; and the sender of any ar ticle of the third class df%iail matter may write his or her name or address therein, or on the outside thereof, with the word “from” above or preceding the name, or may write briefly, or print on any package the number and names of the articles included. Publishes of news papers and periodicals may print on the wrap pers of newspapers or magazines sent from the office of publication to regular subscribers the time to which subscription therefor has been paid, and addresses upon postal cards and un sealed circular* may be either written, printed or affixed thereto at the option of the sender. From-the above it is seen that all printed matter of the third class, except circulars un sealed, is restored to the old rate. In other wordd, all transient newspapers, magazines, book* and all printed matter, with the except tion of circulars unsealed, will be restored to the former rate of one cent for every two ounces, while merchandise and unsealed circu lars will remain at the present rate. —Rev. W. A. Nelson, of Nashville, says: To-day the denominational status is better in Middle Tennessee than I have ever known it.