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The Christian Index VOL. 55—NO. 35. Table of Consents. Fibst Page.— Alabama Department: Record of State Events ; Notes on the Act of Baptism— Rev. J. H. Kilpatrick; Spirit of the Religious Press ; Baptist News and Notes ; General De nominational News. Second Page —Our Correspondents ; The Geor gia Committee on Missions—S. Boykin : Ten nessee News—Rev. W. N. Chandoin ; Letter From Florida—Rev. G. W. Hall; Letter From Waltkourville—Rev. D. G. Daniel; Our Vir ginia Letter—B. G. M.; Letter From Thomas ton—Rev. T. H. Stout; Elder R. J. Hogue— W. M. Howell; Church Constituted; Sins of Omission anp Commission—Rev. W. D. Atkin son ; Query. Mission Lepartment • An Ad dress to the Baptist Ladies of Georgia—Mrs. N. A. Bailey. Thied Page l — Searching the Scriptures : “Epis copacy Tested”—An Essay on Apostolic Suc cession—The Baptist Church of the Present Day—Pedobaptism Considered. Fourth Page.— Editorial: Feet Washing ; Cor rection—Rev. S. G. Hillver. D.D.; Broadway Baptist Church and Dr. Burrows; Georgia Baptist News ; Rev. G. A. Nunnally; Rev. D E. Butler ; Remarkable Cases ©f Conviction and Conversion—Rev. J. S. Baker, D.D. Fifth Page. —Secular Editorials : Husband and wife ; Minutes on hand: Mind is Wealth ; Pray for Others ; Savaunah ; Sustain and Ab stain ; University of Georgia; Personal; Geor gia News ; Hymenial—Marriage of Col E. Y. Clarke and Miss Nora Harrison— Atlanta Con stitution. Sixth Page.— The Sunday School ; Lesson for September 17th, 1876 ; The Sunday-school—its Governing Idea—John S. Hart, L.L.D. Seventh Page,— Agricultural Notes ; Horticul tural-Essay read before Mount Ida Grange by Miss Ella Dicksor. Eighth Paoe.— Prejudice : Subscribers, Atten tion ; J. C. Peck A Cos ; Obituaries and Adver tisements. INDEX AND BAPTIST. ALABAMA DEPARTMENT. Some valuable mineral springs have been discovered near Tuskegee. Gracious revivals are in progress in all parts of the State. The report of a case of yellow fever in Mont gomery was untrue. Rev. Robert Blan, ol Troy, was thrown from his mule and badly hurt. Anew post-office called Potterßviile is soon to be established in Pike county. Fifty-six per cent, of the deaths in Selma in August were negro paupers. At Sethel Methodist church, near Cross Plains, there has been a revival and fifty three additions. Mobile last year rece;v.d 371,302 bales of cotton. The cotton crop of Chilton county is almost destroyad by worms. The Young Men's Christian Association of M arion is forming a library. The Demopolis Hem says the cotton crop of the canebrake has been literally eaten up. In eight months thirty-one persons have joined the Tuscaloosa Methodist church. Prof. W. D. Fonville has been elected to a position on the faculty of Howard College, by the Board of Trustees. A bright new paper,cal led the Enterprise, has been esiablished at Springville, St. Clair coun ty, by Mr. T. B. Slade. —Dr. E. B. Teague has been callpe to the Montevallo, Alabama church, vacated by brother J. S. Dill, who resigns in order to at tend the Seminary. The total cotton receipts in Selma for the year ending August 31st were 88,580 bales, which, at an average of sixty dollars a bale, represents a cash business of $5,314,800. —The Big Hatchie Association, Tennessee, numbering between 5,000 and 6,000 members, at its recent session, resolved to raise $30,000 to endow the chair of Mental and Moral Philosophy in the new Baptist University at Jackson. Under the ministration of Elder R. Van Hoose, a meeting of twelve days held with the church at Round Island, Limestone county, was blessed with a fine revival. Fifteen were baptized, a number of whom were Methodists, one of these a member of thirty years’ stand ing. | At a very interesting revival recently closed at Brundidge, Pike county, forty-one were added to Salem church ; thirty-eight by bap tism. It was a grand outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The revival commenced Saturday be fore the first Sunday in August, conducted by the pastor, Rev. E. Y. Van Hoose, assisted by Revs. A .N. Worthy, li. P. Copeland, and R. W. Priest. —The Religion Herald says: “The white Baptists of Virginia did not give, last year, more than an average of 15 cents apiece to Foreign Missions, and most of them did not give anything, as the little that is contributed is from a few churches. If we have erred in putting too much into our columns about the millions who have not yet heard the name of Jesus, it has not led our readers to very large contributions. Is it not true, the world over, that as the Foreign Mission spirit prevails, the hearts and purses of the people open to every good cause? THE SOTTTH-WESTEBISr BAPTIST, of Alabama. For the Index and Baptist.l NOTES ON THE ACT OF BAPTISM. BY REV. J. H. KILPATRICK. NO. XIV. APPEAL TO THE ORIGINAL —PURIFY CONSIDERED. The claims of sprinkle, pour and pourupon, have been brought to the test of original usage, and have severally been proved groundless. Indeed, so palpable is the lack of evidence for these significations, that aflusionists have very generally, of late, ceased to contend for them. Well, does this mean that they are going to abandon their present practice and adopt im mersion ? Not at all, but rather, seeing the utter hopelessness of justifyng their practice on the ground that these meanings are found in baptizo, they have shifted their position en tirely, and now declare that the word means neither sprinkle, pour, pour upon, nor im merse, but that it is a general term signifying to wash, cleanse or purify, and that sprinkling, pouring and immersion, are all modes by which this one purification may be accom plished. As to the mode, however, some bold ly contend that affusion only is authorized, and that immersion is a profanation of the or dinance. The examination of the New Testament teachings with reference to this whole subject will come at the proper place—our present concern is to find out the testimony of the orig inal language itself, i.e., the original language outside of the New Testament. And the ques tion just now is, does the word baptizo mean to purify ? does it have this meaning in classic Greek 7 does it have this meaning in Hellen istic Greek ? 1. The testimony of classic Greek. To show the absurdity of trying to make baptizo mean purify, the reader is invited to turn back to No. xi, and substitute this for baptize in the examples there given of current Greek usage. ‘‘Shall I not laugh at the man who j having purified his ship by the abundance of freight, finds fault with the sea for engulfing it?”—Ex. 3. “Always, while crossing the river, he cunningly lowered down and purified the sacks.”—Ex. 4. “Most of the land ani mals, being surrounded by the river, perish, being purified.” —Ex. 7. “A storm arising, and the ship being in danger df being purified, he [the shepherd] throwing out all the goods into the sea, hardly escaped with the empty ship.” Ex. 8. But why continue these references? Is it possible to conceive of a more groundless figment than that baptize signifies to purify? But are these fair samples? They most certainly are true and faithful exponents of classic Greek usage. I admit that there may be some instances which do not show the ab surdity of this meaning in so glaring a light; but not one has yet been discovered which gives even the shadow of a foundation for it, while there are Btill many others which show ite incongruity and absurdity just as decided ly. If there were a Hingle case where baptizo necessarily meant purify, then there would be some little ground for the advocates of this meaning to stand upon ; but when not one such lias ever yet come to light, while a mul titude shows that “purify” is an impossibility and an absurdity—we have no option, willing or unwilling, we must let this meaning go by the board. 2. The testimony of the Greek as used by Jewish writers is no less decisive. Turn,reader, to example 11, in the article before referred to, and test this meaning for yourself. Was Aris tobulus killed by purifying him ? In Ex. 12, was the ship just about to be purified t No, indeed; but it was, to human appearance, just about to go down under the water. Examples 13, 14 and] 15, are equally clear. Ex. 18 is singularly so. Did Noaman purify himself seven times? By no means, it took seven dip pings, or baptism, to make the one purifica tion. To these add the case of Simon, given in the preceding article. Did Simon purify (J) the sword into his body ? How superlatively absurd! But Josephus says he did baptize, or, as we would say, bury or plunge the sword into his body. As was said of classic Greek so also may be said of Hellenistic—there is not a single example where the word necessa rily m aim purify, while there are many which unequivocally condemn it. We are obliged to conclude, therefore, that no Greek literature, extant at the time the New Testa ment was written, knows anything of purify as a meaning of baptizo, much less the meaning. If we should attempt to make baptizo mean cl anse, we will meet subsiantially the same difficulties. Was the ship, in Ex. 8, in danger of being cleansed ? How absurd ! Was the ship ol Josephus, in Ex. 16, only cleansed in the midst o’ the Adriatic sea ? Methinks this was a poor reason for committing himself to the waves, in the darkness of the ni ht, to swim for his life. Did Simon, the suicide, cleanse the sword into his body ? What folly to suppose such a thing 1 But enough, enough, the word does not mean cleanse. As for the the meaning wash, fo- which some contend in argument, but take good care never to adopt in practice, it has the shadow of a foundation —and only a shadow —which ought to deceive no person of ordinary discernment. And why do I say the “shadow of a founda tion ?” Simply because there arc cases where the word louo, to wash or bathe, and baptizo may be used interchangeably. E. G. The prophet commanded Naarnan to wash seven limes in Jordan, and he obeyed by dipping FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, SEPTEMBER 14, 1876. himself, or, if you please, baptizing himself, self seven times in the river. But does this rove that wash and baptize mean the same thing,and that a command to lie baptized is the same as a command to wash? By no means. Many words may, un ’er certain circumstances, be used indifferently, and yet each necessarily retain its own peculiar meaning. A histo rian may say, in one place, “ Charles was put to dea'h by order of Cromwell,” and in anoth er, “Charles was beheaded by order of Crom well.” Now both these declarations refer to instinctivelv the same fact in history, and shall we, therefore, jump to the conclusion that beheading and putting to death express the 6ame idea ? We may, but we should look before we leap. A command to put to death is not a command to behead, for a person may be put to death in many w ays ; and a com mand to b head is not a simple command to put to death, but to put to death in a particular way. Just so a command to wash (lotto) is not a command to be baptized, although bap tism may fulfill it ; and a command to be baptized is not a command to wash, although washing may be the result of the baptism. Further, a command to wash is satisfied when a washing is performed, let the mode be what it mav ; and when n command to be baptised is given, it also is satisfied, and only then, when a baptism is performed, let the what it may—but mark, it must be a real bap tism, and what a real baptism is, the word it self must testify. “But,” says my affusion friend, ‘ if a com mand to wash may be fulfilled by baptizing one’- self, why may not a command to be bap ti ed be fufillled by washing ?” Simply be cause while the general includes iho specific, you cannot reverse this, and sav that the spec ific includes the general. All wheat is small grain, but all small gram not wheat. A child might not be able to wade here, but surely a man who presumes to discuss the subject of baptism will nd' so soon get beyond his depth. Since the question as here presented has been thought quite conclusive by many, although it is virtually answered in the pre - : ceding paragraph, I will here add an iljg?.- tration which will show its fallacy to the tinn iest understanding : Suppose I require a ten ant to sow twenty acres in small grain, and he complies by sowing wheat. The next year I require him to sow twenty acres in wheat. He, however, prefers ftjQcow oats, and t ats he sows. When I come l, Vpon hiu to know why he did not obey me, he argues thus : “ Last year you required me to bow twenty acres in small grain, and I coi&pind hv* sowing wheat, which yon said was satisfac tory. This year you required me to sow twenty acres in wheat, and I thought that if a command to sow small grain could be ful filled by sowing wheat, surely a command to sow wheat could be fulfill°d by sowing small grain, which I have done, for oat-> is small grain.” Now, quite likely no tenant in all the land, not even the most ignorant ne gro, would be so void of common sense as to make such a smash of logic as ibis, and yet learned divines, in their blind zeal to estab lish a “darling dogma,” have done this iden tical thing. This much I h ve said on the supposition that Elijah’s command to Naarnan was alto gether general and indefinite as to the kind of washing. A closer inspection, however, re veils a more exact correspondence between the command and Naaman’s method of fulfill ment. The original Hebrew for wash is rachats. This word, when used without limitation, most generally, if not always, refers to the whole body. Moreover, it generally, when the hu man body is the subject of it, refers to that par ticular kind of washing which we call bathing. We find this word used twelve times in Levit icus 15th chapter to indicate washing for the removal of ceremonial uncleanness, and in every instance it is translated by the English word “bathe.” The command, therefore, given to Naarnan really was, “Go and bathe in Jor dan seven times.” That this is the meaning of the command is evident, also, from the fact that the Septuagint here gives, as a translation of rohats,lousai, the middle voice of l buo, and this every scholal knows is bathe. And every body, whether scholar or not knows that the customary method of bathing in a river in volves the immersion of the body. Having, therefore, received a command to bathe seven times in Jordan, Naarnan literally obeys by dipping, or immersing, or baptizing himself seven times in the river. And while I still hold that this by no means proves that a com mand to baptize people is a command to bathe or wash them, I would suggest to our anti-im mersion friends that bathing or washing peo ple’s bodies from head to foot, (which is certain ly the force of both the Hebrew and the Greek words when used without limitation) has no advantage oversimple immersion either as to time, convenience, or decency. And, further, my friends, if baptizo is equivalent to louo, as in argument you declare it is, why do you not regulate your practice accordingly ? Verily, it would seem that you do not accept your own conclusions, nor lelieve your own doctrine. Many baptisms, so called, have I seen admin istered by affusionists, but never yet have I seen a single case of "washing.” Show your faith by your wotks, and then we will, at least, give you credit for sincerity. But Ido not admit “wash,” in any sense, as a meaning of baptizo —much less the meaning. In order to get even a faint shadow of support for tliis meaning, we have to connect baptizo with water. But the word has no necessary connection with water, either in the Scriptures or elsewhere Though most usually assoc'ated with water, this being the most abundant pen etrable substance, and the one with which men most frenucntly have to do, yet, it is by no means, the only baptizing element. Blood, oil, mire, and even the flesh of the human body, are all mentioned. From which we necessarily infer that any penetrable substance whatever may be used in connection with the word. If, because the result ol a baptism is purification or cleansing, therefore, the word must have as a meaning, wash, or cleanse, or purify ; in the same way we could make it mean to defil-t, beslime, besmear, etc., for when mud, all ue, or filth of any kind, was the bap tizing element, most assuredly defilemen l would follow. Nay, we could, in the same way, make it mean to kill, since death result ed from Simon’s baptizing the sword into his body, and also from the baptism of Ariatobu lua in the swimming bath. llow transparent ly false must that method of interpretation be, which leads to such absurd and contradictory results? The fact is, anti-immersionists have been trying for centuries to find some general meaning for baptizo, which would explain it satisfactorily, and yet not imply immersion. Their work has been in vain, and will ever be. The Providence of God has had the word re corded in so many different connections, and hedged in by bo many different circumstances, that nothing but the true meaning can satisfy the demands of every place. And what this true meaning is no one can fail to discover,who will read the examples given in article xi, of this Beriea. I care not what English equivo lent you selict, or whether you select any at all—take the transferred word of our version and all may see at a glance, nay, must see, that the baptism of Greek literature involved the covering.of the baptized object in the bap tizing element. • As two passages in the Apocrypha, (Judith, 1 2:7 and Eccl. 34:30) have been thought by #ome to furnish substantial ground for the meanings, wash, cleanse, purify, I will give them a full consideration in the next article and also, briefly notice seme other examples, which some seem to think militate against the doctrine of exclusive immersion. Spirit ofjlie Religious Press. * *'“ j. ' p-;— — / —The deerfcasetin ti c veceipttLu be.. ..It'! societies is variously accounted for, hut the following little story told by the Christian Key. istcr aptly illustrates the “philosophy" ot a large part of the shrinkage : “A little boy’s father gave him two cents, one to spend for candy, the other to give to the heathen. He presently lost one of the cents, but consoled himself with the thought that the one which was lost was the one which was to be give . io tilt heathen. Hence the falling off of .ontributions for the heathen. —The Baptist Reflector well and trenchantly remarks; A North Carolina pastor, writing to the Biblical Recorder of some people that he had baptized, says, “Their hair was not dry before I asked them to lake the Recorder.” There is promptness for you. And yet, that pastor waß well aware of the importance of what he was doing. New converts need to be put in train ing as soon as a profession is made, and they should be disciplined by persuasion. They must be scholars, and made to feel, every day, the great responsibility they have taken upon tVemselves to lead a godly and blameless life. And in the absence of the pastor, what better mode can be resorted to for instruction and reproof than the perusal of the weekly de nominational paper ? It teaches them the way of life, and is a constant remembrancer of their duty, to do which should be the pleasure of all professed Christians. —The Watchman, in an interesting article on “Faith-Cure,” gives its reasons for not an ticipating an era of miraculous healing by special gift given to individuals ; it says : In general, the natural is beetter than the miraculous. Nature is the expression ol God’s deepest and most loving thought. Had the miraculous been better, we should behold it surrounding us, even as the natural surrounds us. A reverent faith adores the Author of na ture as He is revealed in all the works of His hands. Were the miraculous very common, we should not know what to expect ; the order of nature would give place to confusion; we should not be able to avail ourselves of any law or any force; we should not know whether the sun would rise at the appointed time, or lay for hours, while the world awaited his beams; whether the Btream would continue to flow downward, or roll back upon its sources; whether ordinary food would nourish or poison our bodies. If we had such anarchy in place of the stability we behold, civilization would lie impossible. Moreover, if we hail the as surance that all our diseases would he removed in answer to the prayer of any Christian who might be called in a* any time, how prone we should be to slight the conditions of health, and to ignore those precepts which our Maker has written in our frames. It is a fortunate circumstance, therefore, and an evidence of divine wisdom, that miracles have been infre quent in human. history, that they are seldom if ever wrought in our day, and that when our prayers are answered in the healing of disease, the recovery is promoted by the blessing of Heaven on the use of ordinarv means, rather than in a supernatural manner. —Under the head of “Strange Blundering” the Southern Christian Advocate alludes to the alleged union between the Northern and Southern Methcdistchurches as follows: We have been astonished and then amused at the misconception of the Cape May negotia- THE IE G HHISTIA IST HERALD of Tennessee. linns, bv many secular papers North and South. The wav was prepared for this gross blundering by the intelligent agent of the Associated Press, who sent flashing along the wires all ovefthe land the unauthorized and unfounded statement that the Commissioners have “agreed on a basis of union.” Consider ing the superficial investigations usually ac corded to ecclesiastical matters, it is not strange that notwithstanding the plain text of the ad dress, the glaring error should gain currencv. and that the reckless newsmongers should spread it with the startling head-line, The Methodist Churches Be-nnited. The question of union was not, and is never likely to be, a sub ject of negotiation between these two churcheH. While they have a glorious historv in com mon, and are substantially agreed in their scheme of doctrines, and mainly in their polity, they enter'ain views on some constitutional questions so radically different as absolutely to forbid their consolidation. In their separate organizations, it is possible for them to main tain their respective views and still live in peace and fraternity; united under one eccle siastical government, perpetual strife, ending in another violent rupture, would be the inevi table result. Fraternity and union are whol ly distinct; these two churches may now fra ternize, it is not probable they can ever unite. —Speaking in terms ot indignation of the massacre of Christians by the Turks in Servia and Bulgaria, the National Baptist savs : The American traditions are opposed to any intervention with the affairs of other nations. But there is certainly a point at which it is the right and the duty of civilized mankind to say, “This thing shall stop. We will not longer endure to hear and see these atrocities.” Russia, England and France took this position when Turkey was ravaging Greece with fire and sword; the battle of Navarino was the result, and Greece was free. The present exigency seems to call fora simi lar step. And this is peculiarly the case since Turkey exists only bv the tolerance and moral support of Western Europe. Surely it is the duty as well as the right of England and France (which at vast expense of treasure and blood maintained Turkey in existence during the_ Crimean War) to see that the dynasty which they perpetuated does not longer out rage the moral sense of mankind. It is a time when one longs for an hour of the mag nificent old Protector, who wrote (through the hand of Milton, the Secreteiv of the Common wealth) to the Duke of Piedmont and to the Pope : “Unless the massacre of the Wal dense* ceases, my ships shall he seen in Civita Vecchia, and my cannon shall he heard at Romeand the massacre ceased, for it was the voice of a king. —Here is a paragraph from the New York Methodist , which all editors, and every intelli gent readet; will duly appreciate; it is pointed, somewhat sarcastic, but, nevertheless, incon teslihlv true : We were in blood earnest when we gave due notice of our intention to edit this paper in the interest of our readers, as we understand their interest. We are very sorry to have to cut a mail’s maniiHcrjpt to pieces, not only because we know ir hups his hid b)o it consumes our time. We shall oontv'n ’to take what we want and to ctoss out ano cut to pieces what we don’t want His remedy —the brother w! ose heart we break is meant —is not to send us any more choice adjectives and un timely suggestions. Good natural editing spoils half the papers in the United States. —The Christian Repository says that Dr. Ford, the editor, addressed the great audience in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, on the 10th ult., and Mr. Spurgeon publicly thanked him for the discourse and sent his best wishes to the Baptists of the South and West. BIPTIST NEWS AM) NOTES. —The Rev. Wm. Carnes has organized the First Baptist church in British Columbia, at Victoria, with a membership of fifteen. —There are in California 101 churches, with a total membership of 4,834; but the churches are generally quite small, widely scattered, and many of them are without pas tors, and unable to support them. There has been a clear gain of 650 members the past year, the number of baptisms being 396 in all. There is vigor, life and purpose for the future manifested, with determination to stand fast in the faith once delivered to the saints. —The Baptists of Chicago are to have a series" of Centennial sermons in the First church. The subjects are chiefly historical ; and the various preachers will trace the pecu liar docrines of our denomination in the apostolic age, in the period from the great ajKrstacy to the reformation and since the era of Luther. —Rev. Mr. Van Meter has been successful in raising funds for the further prosecution of his work in Italy. About SIO,OOO are now necessary for its annual support. —The Texas Baptist State Convention meets at Independence, Saturday before the first Lord’s day in October. —The Texas Baptist Herald of August 31st gives the following synopsis of the recent wonderfully successful revival work of brother Penn, the evangelist: Brother Penn, after leaving Waco, labored at liobinsonville twelve davs. There were 186 professions ; at White Hall, four days— -84 professions ; at Bosqucville, nine days— -141 professions; total, 411. Of these not ex ceeding 15 could lie called children. Many whole households were converted and baptized. There were <’amhellites and Ro man Catholics, several men and women over sixty years of age, some over seventy, and one seventy-nine ycais and ten months. At the Waco meeting there were 371 whites and 250 colored persons made profession. The total number ot professions since the 30th of April is 1032. ‘ During the quarter ending June 30th, the Baptist women of South Carolina raised $302 75 for Foreign Missions. —The Baptist State Convention meets in Jackßon, Tennessee, Friday before the fourth Sabbath in October. WHOLE K - 2235 General Denominational Hess. —A society has been formed to sunplement and assist all other societies and organizations, by supplying Bibles and Testaments to Chris tians who will undertake the judicious free distribution of them on the Continent of Eu rope and other quarters of the globe. All missionaries, evangelists and other earnest laborers in the great harvest field will be sup plied, and thus enable to assist in scattering the good seed of the kingdom. —The Reformed Episcopal church was or ganized in 1873, and at the present date there are upwards of sixty ministers with fifty con gregations in union with the General Council. From the reports of 34 congregations it appears that they contain 2,311 families, 3,s49commu nicants, 4,905 Sunday-school children, 490 Sunday-school teachers, and that they have collected for one purpose or another during the year ending May Ist, the sum of $151,131 41. —The Protestant churches of the world maintain, collectively, 1,559 missionary sta tions and 2,732 missionaries, at an annual ex penditure of nearly $6,000,000. —On the Centennial Exhibition grounds at Philadelphia is a small pavilion, in which are sold copies of the Bible in one hundred of the different languages. The sales thus far have been very large, the greater portion purchased being in French and Spanish. This building belongs to the American Bible Society, and all books are sold at cost price in order that they may come within the reach of every one, copies being sold as low as six cents. As at the day of Pentecost, each man was enabled to hear the Gospel in his tongue, so he may again at this later gathering of the nations. —The Presbyterian board of foreign Mis sions, needing a suitable missionary to go to Japan, has resolved to issue a call to any one in the ministry possessing the requisite quali fications. —The Methodist ministers of New York have been discussing revivals, and many of them are of opinion that the ordinary church work is decidedly preferable. Some of the preachers do not think that any great good was accomplished by Moody at the Hippodrome. —The Neshaming church, at Hartsville, Pennsylvania, has had only seven pastors in 150 years. —The English Wesleyan Conference, after an extended discussion, adopted the scheme of lay representation proposed by its committee by a vote cf early ten to one. —Dr. Yates, of Shanghai, in a recent ad dress Vt fall;.in observation which is verified the world over. Residents at .v.ot\ stmion and visitors to them, ir.flict severe wounds by want of sympathy with the missionaries and their work. The Doctor complained of the coldness of European and American residents in regard to Mission work. He said, that during the thirty years in which he had labor ed in Shanghai no foreigner had ever called on him to inquire after the welfare of his native work. —There are 713 Sunday-schools in the State of Minnesota, with 38 000 scholars, and 1,285 persons from the Sunday-school have been added to the church membership during the past year. —A missionaiy in India has sent an order to New Haven for a vehicle which can be traveled in by day, slept in by night, and preached from at any time. It will be fur nished with cooking utensils, bedding and books, and six oxen will draw it. —At the instance of the British Minister at Teheran, Mr. Bruce’s school at Tulfa, Persia, has been re-opened. The violent opposition of Roman Catholics and Armenians has drawn the favorable attention of the Mohammedans to the missionary enterprises. —Some time since the old Lutheran church officially closed its pulpits against ministers of other churches. Somecf their preachers have since been busy defending the action. —Rev. W. H. Milburn, the blind preacher, has been lecturing and preaching in England. —We have received the following for pub lication : At a recent conference of the Hickory Head church a committee was appointed to inquire into certain rumors touching the Christian character and conduct of one J.O. Howard, to whom the church granted a letter of dismission in December or January. This committee has learned, with regret, that the reports con cerning Howard are too true ; that his conduct has been unbecoming a Crristian and gentle man j that he made false statements when he obtained his letter. The committee thinks proper to phblish these facts for the benefit of other churches and communities, as Howard holds a letter from our church, and nothing can be learned of his whereabouts. Howard is a singing master, by which profession he supports himself. W. P. Burke, A. W. Groover, R. J. Denmark, September Ist, 1876. Committee. An item is communicated to the (Memphis) JJupfist Ly Rev. A. Van House, of Winchester, Tennessee, who states that he received it from one of the oldest and most intelligent members of the Eufaula Baptist church. It is as fol lows : “That Rev. W. N. Reeves, the pastor, did, on two successive Sabbaths, and in the strongest terms, denounce, as false, the doc trines of close communion and Calvanism, as usually held by the Baptist church.” We earnestly hope that there was some misappre hension of brother Reeves' teaching. It is a case that calls for explicit explanation.