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PAGANISM IN NEW ENGLAND.
President William De Witt Hyde,
f&ys in the June Forum, “New Eng
land to-day is confronted with the
danger that the country village will
be the first to lapse from vital Chris
tianity, that here the English word
countryman will repeat the history
of its Latin predecessor, and that
rusticity will again become synony
mous with' godlessness and supersti
tion.”
The facts given are taken chiefly
from the State of Maine, while the
conclusion embraces the whole of
New England.
Here is Mr. Hyde’s summary.
“The combined statistics of 15 coun
ties show that of 133,145 families,
67,842 are not attendants upon any
church.
A more serious consideration than
than that of attendance is the char
acter of the religious privileges af
forded in the rural regions. There
are no strong, vigorous churches in
these communities, uniting the intel
ligence, the resources, the society of
an entire village and township in up
lifting worship>, hearty good-fellow
ship, dignified social life, and aggres
sive Christian work.”
The causes for this state of things
he embraces under five heads.
They may be summed up as fol
lows:
A theology which recognizes a
far-distant God who takes little no
tice of what is going on in this world,
extreme individualism, and serinon
ihg, instead of gospel preaching, and
a desperate straining to be eloquent,
by the preachers.
Here is the remedy which Mr.
Hyde proposes for the arrest of im
pending paganism in New England:
“'Die only hope lies in the possibility
of the broader men in all the denom
inations of a town coming together
and, in entire disregard of existing
denominational lines, forming them
selves into the church of Christ in
tho town, and calling a minister
without reference to his denomina
tional affiliation, solely as a leader of
men In spiritual life and work.”
“Broader men.” Indeed they
must be very broad, broad enough to
cover any shade of doctrinal differ
ence, and church polity. Men who
are broan enough for such a place
could have no well settled principles,
no strong convictions, no living
faith, no burning zeal. Such men
are not, and can not, be leaders in
any thing. Men of clear cut princi
ples, of strong convictions, of earnest
faith, are men of zeal and enthu
siasm. Such men are leader. They
infuse their spirit into others, and
kindle the tire of enthusiasm in the
breasts of all who came under their
influence.
Such “broad men” as Mr. Hyde
describes could be influenced to ac
cept such work, lie says, “'Die in
creased salary and the larger oppor
portunity for usefulness the town
the town church would afford would
easily call the right man from the
denominational churches.''
Hush money would silence their
tongues and seal their lips about all
doctrinal difference and practical du- I
ties, even though pointed out plainly [
by a command of Christ. A figure- |
head, a mere dummy, would, indeed, i
be a fit person to have charge of '
such a mixed multitude.
The writer once saw in Barnum's
museum what the “great showman” ■
cklled a “Happy Family." It con
sisted of cats and mice, of hawksand j
chickens, of owls and sparraws, of ,
monkeys and parrots, of snakes and '
toads, and such like incongruous ele- I
ments. As long as they were well
fed the keeper was in sight they let
each other alone, and peiirce reign
ed. But take away their supplies,
and remove the man with the whip,
and the cats showed themselves to
cats and pounced upon the mice.
The hawks went for the chickens,
owls for the sparrows, the snakes for
the toads, and so on.
So it will turn out with Mr-
Hyde’s “church of Christ in the
town,” composed of all sorts of in
congruous clement.
As long as there is enough rnonev
to keep the poor preacher's mouth
shut, and be gives his hearers “a
very mild form of religion," there
■would be quiet. Take away these
restraints, and denominational dy
namite, touched off by the suppress
ed heap of truth, would blow the
concern to atoms.
“They Laughed Him to Scorn.”
—They thought they knew much
better than he did. Many since have
thought so. But they laugh best
who laugh last. And Jesus soon
showed them how unnecessary was
their weeping.
PULPIT THEMES.
There is a wtde departure, in
these days, from the character of the
themes that engaged the minds of
i Apostolic preachers.
Paul, in his first letter to the Cor-
I inthians, 1:22-23, says, “The Jews
I require a sign, and the Greeks seek
after wisdom: But we preach Christ
crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling
block, and unto the Greeks foolish
ness; But unto those that are called
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the
power of God, and the wisdom of
God.”
Again 2:2, he says, “I detrrmined
not to know- anything among you,
stive Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”
In all his preaching at .Jerusalem, at
Antiach, on bis mission tours in Asia
Minor, in Greece and in Italy, Christ
crucified, Christ the risen Saviour,
Christ tlie ascended glorified, mediat
or, Christ the judge of quick and
dead, Christ in all his offices, in all
the phases of his character in its re
* lation to the salvation of .man, was
the one theme that filled his mind,
and moved his heart and loosed his
i tongue to utter resistless logic, or
burning eloquence. " No influence
could divert him from this all-im
portant, all-absorbing subject. Nei
. thcr fear or favor of man could turn
him from it. No questions of mere
morality, no social questions, no civil
or political questions, no matter how
important to the temporal well-being
I of'men, could take the place of Christ
Jin his preaching. Doubtless, as a
citizen, at all proper times and
places, he made his influence felt
against the wrong, and in favor of
the right. But when it came to
preaching, his only theme was
Christ. He well knew that a true
believer in Christ, a genuinely con
verted man, a man born of God, re
newed in the .Spirit of his mind, and
an humble follower of Jesus, was
not only prepared for the future life,
but was better qualified for all the
duties growing out of his relations
in the present life. He well knew
that if men were led to accept Christ,
to obey his precepts, and to follow
his example, that a cure would be
found for all the evils that cursed
them in all their social and civil re
lations. Governments, laws, courts,
and executive officers were needful
to hold men in restraint, and to pro
tect life and property. This was the
business of the officers appointed for
the purpose. His duty, as citizen,
was to uphold them in the perform
ance of their legitimate functions,
but, as a preacher, his business was
••to preach Christ and him crucified.”
In these days, many preachers al
low themselves to be turned aside to
questions, which, though they may
: involve in certain senses, the welfare
jof society, yet do not come within
the scope of their duty as
j preachers of the gospel. Their bus
iness, and their only business, as
1 preachers, is to hold up Christ as the
Saviour of sinners. Knowing the
terror of the Lord, and constrained
by tho love of Christ, their work
■ is, in Christ's stead, to per-
i suade men to be reconciled to I
! God. That preacher who allows I
anything else to take the place of I
I Christ in his preaching, has lost sight '
I of the work whereunto he was called, I
i lowers the dignity of his office, and
; throws away an opportunity to save
: souls.
In one of the 'General Meetings,
; an aged brother, who has been many
wars in the service of God, in the ;
i church and in Sabbath-school work, I
desired information. Said he, are
■ we to put before a class in our Sun
day-school a teacher who is not a
■ Baptist or one who does not believe j
las we do'? He was of the opinion if
’ such was done he would not teach
i our doctrines. If he did teach our
doctrines he would not be faithful.
He would not be true to his own
church. Then it is important that
we select teachers who believe as
we do. In this connection it is
proper to state in some cases there
are union Sunday-schools. In other
eases the school of one denomination
is held in the forenoon and that of
the other in the afternoon. It is
best to have our schools taught by
‘ those who believe as we do, if there
be only enough to make due class.
The Harvest is Great hut the
Reapers are few. —The field seems
ever enlarging. Tho need of work
tube done becomes the more einphat
, ie, as more work is expended. And
I the more laborers go out, the greater
seems the necessity for an increase
lof laborers. Where once one hun
dred would have seemed an army,
now tens of thousands seem too
, few.
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX: THURSDAY, JULY 28. 1892.
LYNCHING.
If, as the dictionaries say, this is
the unlawful killing of a human be
ing, usually done by an excited mob,
*n haste and anger, then it is certain
ly within the range of subjects dis
cussed by the religious press, so we
make no apology forbringing it be
fore our readers at this time, for a
lynching quite lately in Louisiana,
one in Port Gervis, N. Y., two or
more in Tennessee, two in Georgia
and the frequent recurrence of these
affairs in various parts of our coun
try, go to show that the subject is a
live one.
We remark :
1. Lynching under any and all
circumstances is harmful to the pub
lic weal and is greatly to be deplor
ed.
Lynch law i. e., “taking the
law into one’s own hands,” is
lawlessness, the subversion of all law
if it should become general in prac
tice, is anarchy ;and beside anarchy,
tyranny, autocracy, or any form of
law enforced lawfully, is far prefera
ble.
For the time being, when Bates
was rescued from Bedford county
jail and hanged by angry, infuriated,
lawless neighbors, anarchy ruled su
preme. The Sheriff, tlie custodian
of the prisoner and guardian of the
law, was rudely put aside, the jail
was broken, thus insulting the ma
jority of the State and trampling all
order and equitible rules of action
under feet. 'More we see the law
less feeling that was dominant,
when some one said, “hang the fath
er too,” who was in the jail charged
with another crime, the crowd as
sented, and were hastening to carry
out the suggestion, when cooler
heads with difficulty prevented it.
We know that for one unmention
able crime, lynching, by common
consent, seems to be everywhere ac
cepted as the thing to do, but for
even this, it were better for the law
to take its course, as it almost always
would, for as catching conies before
hanging, the rapist could and ought
to be kept confined and given a
speedy trial and executed. We dis
criminate between the action of a
mob and the vengeance taken by a
husband, brother or father. No law
would punish them for taking the
life of the demon, but when once
caught and imprisoned let the law
take its course, by which we do not
mean let the delays, the machinations
of lawyers, the spiriting away of
witnesses, the postponements, take
their course.
2. Mob-violence is on the in
crease. We have ten lynchings now,
when we had one twenty years ago.
We will net say that lynching is of
daily occurrence in the United
States but we are sure we do not
exaggerate when we say we average
one a week every week in the year.
A dozen years ago, a man was
lynched in Spartanburg, S. C., for
killing a woman under most unjus
tifiable circumstances, the country
was greatly shocked, all the religious
papers discussed, deplored and con
demned the act. Now such killings
are so common that to write “a lead
er” on each one would become tire
some and monotonous to the read
ers. At first, this mode of punish
ment was meted out mostly to black
fiends for assaulting white women.
Now, ‘tis resorted to for ordinary
murder frequently; the moral sense
is becoming debased and “served
him right,” is often the only remark
made when the lynching-bee is an
nounced. In the case of Bates of
Tcnneesee, he had murdered his
wife, was in jail and there should
have remained ‘till tried, condemned
and hanged.
8. We believe that, in its last
analysis, our criminal courts are
blamable for this state of things,
this incipient anarchy and its in
crease. The delays of the law are
almost interminable ; when a crimi
nal is finally hanged ‘tis after the
shock caused by his crime has passed
away, when people have forgotten
the circumstances and thus the mor
al effect of the execution is lost.
Tom Wolfolk was finally hanged,
but what time elapsed between the
seven-fold murder and the infliction
of the penalty ! He murdered sev
en persons, was it not almost seven
years from the killing to the hanging?
Had this wretch expiated his crime
within a few months, tho moral influ
ence would have been very much
greater. We have heard it said fre
quently, “No man can be hanged
while he has money with which to
fee attorneys” and we in part believe
it. Certainly this must be all wrong,
fearfully wrong, that a murderer
may indefinitely postpone his own
execution by paying his money, but
the public, believe this and so in their
wrath they make sure work and deal
out death in the face of law. The
public are losing confidence in the
courts. In the case of Woolfolk and
those delays and appeals, affirma
tions and reaffirmations of sentences
etc., etc., a show of statute-law may
be brought forward, but it would be
hard for attorneys and courts to con
vince the outraged sense of the pub
lic, that there was any justice in
them. When the bank of Glasgow
failed every official was convicted
and put into the penetentiary, no
banks have failed in Scotland since.
The anarchists of Chicago were
hanged in a body. No more “Hay
market riots and murders have been
had in Chicago, and if our courts
would give prompt trial and speedy
execution to criminals, we believe
that lynching would be greatly aba
ted and finally cease altogether.
But ‘till the public confidence is re
stored in courts, judges and juries,
lynchings will go on, and must go
on.
4. The great majority of these
lynchings occur in the late slave
holding states and the victims are
generally black house burners, mur
derers and rapists ; this of course is
owing to the presence of our large
negro population. It is charged
that these lynchings indicate a low
state of civilization ? We answer,
No, and Yes. The negro has not
attained much civilization, yet, his
tastes are low and his instincts bru
tal, occasionally fits of what some are
pleased to call “emotional insanity”
come over him, he commits demoni
acal crimes for which he is prompt
ly lynched.
The w hite people of the South are
not wanting in civilization, nor Chris
tian character, we think they will
compare favorably with any Anglo-
Saxons in the world. But they
have a high sense of honor and
the highest regard for female charac
ter, so they lynch the Wack rapist ;
when the cause passes away or the
courts mete out prompt punishment
these things will change perhaps, and
not before.
‘Tis easy, for onr Northern friends
at their distance and with but few
negroes among them, to read lect
ures to us, but these lectures do no
good, for we are sure that they mis
apprehend the situation; under sim
ilar circumstcnces they would do
the same, »s has been occasionally
shown by the actual facts. They
have done a great deal for “the
brother in black” and have great in
fluence with bjm, let them use ail
their influence, in word, speech, ser
mon, school-book, newspaper, every
way to elevate and Christianize the
negro, to give him a moral uplift,
above the commission of arson, as
sassination, rape, this, we think is the
most excellent way for them to help
us to put down lynchings—we, as
well as they, greatly deplore it and
have never in any way given encour
ment to it.
EASY METHODS,
One of the most discouraging ten
dencies in the intellectual life of our
times is tho popularity of short and
easy methods. People imagine that
a few weeks spent at a “summer
school” is to make up for the neg
lect of years, or to condense into one
intense effort the work and the
growth of years. Schools for our
children are selected with reference
to the time required to obtain a di
ploma. The question asked most
frequently about a student is “How
long will it Like him to graduate?”
Clubs are formed for reading and
study, whose real object is to shift
the labor of research and of indepen
dent thinking upon others. And so
on.
In the multiplication of appliances
for intellectual growth, there is the
strangest neglect of intelletual exer
tion withoutwhich,growth is impossi
ble. There is a moral element, too, in
all this, which is generally overlooked.
The young man for example, who is
willing to appear to be educated when
he knows he is not, is schooling him
self for further deception. The at
tempt to appear familiar with a sub
ject which we have only heard dis
cussed in lectures, may come from a
dishonest purpose to masquerade in
il g ;|| 'b not our own, like the ass in
the lion's skin, or it may show our
utter misconception of the whole
meaning and scope of the subject,
like Madame De Staci, when she re
quested Hegel to explain his system
of metaphysics to her in a few words.
Our plea, therefore, is for mental
honesty, and mental thoroughness,
which are at heart the same thing.
Nothing can take the place of per
sistent, pains-taking toil, in the ac
quisition of knowledge, and nothing
can sustain this toil but an honest
purpose to know. Tho mind can
grow only by what it assimilates, and
it can strengthen itself only by its
own exercise. You might as well at
tempt to make the child a man by
over-feeding as to produce intellect
ual development by the intellectual
dissipations which have become
so common in “chautauquas,” “sum
mer schools,” and the like. A stu
dent may spend twelve hours on a
problem in mathematics or a diffi
cult passage in Greek with immeas
urably greater profit to his mental
powers than he could listen to half a
dozen lectures on as many different
subjects in the same length of time.
The danger of this tendency is
equally apparent in' the so-called
study of the Scriptures. Think of
the mighty men who knew only one
book! The possibilities of achieve
ment in the study of the English Bi
ble have never yet been exhausted,
and yet it has made giants. But it
took both time and toil. The secret
of Bunyan’s familiarity with the Bi
ble and of his insight into its mean
ing was twelve years of study in
Bedford jail. Now, however, a
young man spends two or three
years at school, takes a turn at a Y.
M. C. A. gathering for a few weeks,
and is prepared to discount all that
ever went before! There is no ed
ucation in this skimming process. It
is fatal to genuine scholarsliip and
to sound morals.
BE AT YOUR PLACE.
Did you ever go into a great work
shop where many machines were
worked by many men? Did you
ever go on board a ship where each
sailor had to be at his place and do
his work to make the ship safely ride
the waves to the opposite shore? If
so you can readily see how impor
tent it is for everyone to be in his
place and do his work. If you are a
member of the church there is a
place for you, during the preaching.
You have work to do at the Sunday
school. You are needed at the
prayer-meeting. Your mite should
swell the mission fund. Your sym
pathy should lighten the burdens of
thespoor. Your help should raise up
the fallen. Your happiness and
your success depends upon your
being in your place and doing your
part. Says the Herald :
There are thousands of persons in
places where they do not belong.
The bird’s wing means air, the fish's
fin means water, the horse’s hoof
means solid ground; and what would
happen if the bird tried the water,
and the fish tried the air happens
when men get out of their natural
element. In my watch, the spring
cannot exchange places with the
wheels, nor the cogs with the pivots.
“Stay where I put you!” cries the
watchmaker, “ft you want to keep
good time!” Now, the world is only
a big watch that God wound up, and
the seasons are the hands which tell
how fast the time i$ going. “Stay
where I put you!” says our great
Creator. Or, if you prefer, human
society is a ship. Some are to go
ahead they are the prow. Some are
to stay behind "and guide those who
lead; they are the helm. Some are to be
enthusiastic and carry the flag; they
are the masts. Some are to do noth
ing but act as a dead weight; they
are shovelled in as ballast. Some
are to fume and fret and blow; they
are the valves.
What is true of you as a church
member applies in all the walks of
life. Be at your place and do your
part.
Dr. J. G. Gibson was called on at
Marietta to give the methods by
which he had succeeded in building
up the Sunday-school. He said get
up a program, notify the superin
tendents, pastors, and especially the
latter. Push the program. If a
speaker was absent, he notified some |
one to Lake his place and be ready i
when called for. Have the music
selected and never have to wait for
any part of the program. This gave
life and interest. To build up an j
interest here you must begin with
the pulpit. Get the hearts of the
people on fire with love for Christ.
Let the people know that God puts
them here to do something to glori
fy him. Get the church members
interested in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Show them what they should do
with the Gospel. How they should
be np doing and working. He has
called, ordained and predestined you
to good works. Set them know that
they are not to live like hogs—eat
to live and live to eat. The hog can
live this way but God has intended
more for man. Wake up the sleep
ing church members, and let them
get to work for God.
“Art Thou Come to Torment vs
Before the Time?” —Jesus and his
religion are alike an interference
with the wicked. They cry out
against his interference. It is some
times a sight to rejoice over. When
the good works of good people are
deemed out of place.
At the general meeting of one of
associations recently, on the board
was this question: “Shall we teach
our distinctive doctrines in Sunday
school?” The brother who opened
the discussion was a visitor. Look
ing at the board and then at the
Moderator, he asked if we do not
teach our distinctive doctrines in the
Sabbath-school, whose doctrine shall
we teach? Still inquisitive he said,
shall we preach our distinctive doc
trines in our pulpits? If we should,
then why should not we teach them
in our Sabbath schools? The broth'
er considered, as did the audience,
the query sufficiently discussed and
the answer plain.
The subject had prompted in the
j mind of another good brother a ques
i tion, and he propounded it as fol
■ lows: “If we do not teach our dis
' tinctive doctrines, who will teach
, them?” He said he had nothing
i further, but simply desired his ques’
| tion answered. A vote as to whether
! an answer should be given taken,
. the body unanimously voted yes, we
should teach our distinctive doc
trines.
Sunday School Evangelist, T. C-
Boykin at the General Meeting of
Noonday Association, at Marietta,
opening the discussion of the ques
tion, “How to secure the interest of
church members in the Sunday
School, said he wished he knew how
to answer the question. One con
clusion he had reached was that
some church members would never
become interested in the work
of the Sabbath School. He thought
there were unconverted members
scattered through all the churches
and these never became interested
in any sort of work. One of the
| saddest sights to him was to see a
father and mother taking no interest
in the Sunday School work. The
best plan is to make the Sunday
School so valuable that parents will
love to come and take part. This
can be done by pastors taking a
lively interest, talking for the school
and working for it, and urging its
importance. Then a consecrated
zealous superintendent can make the
school so popular and pleasant and
profitable as to compel attendance.
Let pastor, superintendent and mem
bers all unite and work continually.
Rev. 11. Hatcher, discussing the
question of “How to secure the in
terest of church members in the
work of the Sabbath-School thought
not enough money was spent.
Put your money in the Sunday
school and its work, and your heart
will go into it, A cheap school on a
cheap plan by a cheap superintend
ent, will never accomplssh anything.
A live superintendent should meet
his scholars as they come to school
shake hands with them, take their
names, learn their place of residence
go to see each one. Such an inter
est in the scholars would reciprocate
an interest by .the pupils and the
superintendent could thus induce
them to come to school. 'Die Sun
day-school should be put into the
hands of one consecrated, zealous,
active, man and let him run it.
There is no use of trying to get
some to attend the Sunday-school,
and the best thing to do is to go on |
and let them alone. Put money in i
the work and push it by going out ;
and compelling church member and
children to come in.
Dr. Henry McDonald, in a sermon
to the children while considering the
temptations that beset them in city
life used some very strong language. |
Ho said: “If I had the power as I
have the will, there should never be
a licensed saloon from North to
South, from East to West in all this
broad land of ours. He followed
this declaration with a glowing pic
ture of the young man coming from
the country with ruddy peach-like
cheeks and eyes as clear as the noon- j
day sun. In a week the cheeks had
changed and the bright eyes were
bloodshotten. The boy had started
down the road to ruin. Oh, what a
picture.
Rev. A. C. Dixon, before the
Christian Endeavor convention gave
utterance to this beautiful expression
among other ■ good things. He
said:
“While New York and Brooklyn
are separated by a river of water,
they are united by a bridge of iron.
The river is mobile and fluctuating;
the bridge is stable and permanent.
The river, with currents and com
merce, is the symbol of unrest; the
bridge, poised above it, is the symbol
of peace. So with all evangelical
christendom. Above the fluctuating
issues that separate us, and the noisy
questions that distract us, is the iron
link of love for ‘Christ and the
church,’ which binds us together in
peaceful union.”
What a man is This? Do the
winds have ears, and can the waves
hear? They obeyed him, when he
spoke to them. What sublime ma
jesty was here. He rebuked the
winds and the waves, and they obey
ed him as the wild tiger and lion
obey the command of their mas
ter. *
“Many Publicans and Sinners
Came to him.” —They came to the
house and into the room where he
was reclining at the meal. They re
clined with him and ate with him.
He also ate with them. It was all
very singular. It would be so now.
Preachers find it very hard nowa
days to meet with the bad classes,
or have the bad classes come into
fellowship with them.
“Judas Iscariot who Betrayed
Him.” —Some terms of reproach nev
er die. They are eternal. Foil
nearly nineteen hundred years Ju
das has been called “the betrayer”
of the Lord Jesus. When 1900 cen
turies shall have passed, he will still
be known as the one who betrayed
the son of God. Your life too is be
ing written on eternal tablets.
He Rose up and Followed Him;
—lt was the best day’s work of hits
life. Matthew would never have
been heard of, if he had not. He is
known now all over the Christian
world, and men never tire of what
he has to say about Jesus whom he
followed. Some day he will tell us
face to face all about it.
• GENERAL.
Death has pressed Wake Forest
College, sorely, the past month,
Hon. L. L. Polk, Hon. Reuben Mc-
Brayer and Rev. R. R. Savage, three
of the trustees, and Prof. E. G. Beck,
all four have died since the com
mencement in June.
Rev. A. F. Hardy, pastor of High
Lands Church, Va., died last week.
Rev. D. M. Lennox has resigned
the pastorate of Pocome. Church,
Md., to take effect in September.
Dr. B. 11. Carroll resigned tho
presidency of the Texas Convention
Board and our Georgian, C. D-
Campbell, now of Cleburne, Texas,
was elected president.
Rev. W. C. Lattimore, San An
tonio, Texas, has been elected a
“general missionary” for the Texas
Mission Board, and has entered up
on his work.
During the pastorate of Rev. E.
E. King, First Church, San Antonio,
Texas during two years and four
months, 230 members have been
added.
Rev. W. C. Luther has tendered
his resignation as pastor of the Cor
sicana, Texas Church, and will take
up the Sunday School work to which
he has been recently called.
Rev. E. T. Sanford has begun his
pastoral work at Eureka, Cal.
Rev. R. J. Willingham, pastor of
the First Church at Memphis visited
his sick father in Macon last week’
The Lord is blessing his active work
at Memphis, as he has done at everv
other place where our good brother
haslabored for the Master.
Bro. J. A. Brunson, has given up
his appointment as missionary in
Japan and a full statement is prom
ised in the Foreign Mission Journal
in August.
The Florida Baptist Witness, refer
ring to the selection of Bro. L. D.-
Geiger, as pastor at Leesburg, Fla.,
thus speaks : “After a five year’s
pastorate, it is certainly gratifying
to him to know that he is still the
decided choice of every member of
his flock. Leesburg has always
been a hard field for the Baptists,
being a Methodist stronghold, but
we are glad to note that our church
in that city is now on a solid basis.
Bro. Geiger is of our strongest
preachers, and continues to grow in
favor with all the people. He has
just held a very successful meeting
with Pastor Bean at Sumterville.”
The Chicago University seems
without a parallel. Dr. Henson wri
ting to the Watchman, says ; “Our
voracious young university, like
the much abused octopus, is reach
ing out in every direction after what
it wants, and is gatheringin renown
ed professors and university presi
dents, many of whose names have
been already published in your col
umns. Among its latest and most
valuable acquisitions is President
Thomas C. Chamberlain, of the Uni
versity of Wisconsin, who comes to
take the chair ofGeology, and whose
fame in that department is not only
continental but cosmopolitan. We
shall probably begin next fall with a
faculty of 70 and a student’s roll of
1,500 —a launch unparrelleled, so
far as we know, in the history of the
world.”