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The Methodist Advoeat^
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A DAY OP PRAYER RECOMMENDED
BY THE GENERAL CONFERENCE,
I
On page 442 of the published Journal of the
General Conference of 1872 we find the follow
ing text: “ A resolution from the. Committee
on Education was presented and adopted, rec
ommending that the day observed as a day of
prayer for colleges, be changed from the last
Thursday of February to the last Thursday
of January.” .
The last Thursday of January is therefore
solemnly set apart by the General Conference
as a day of prayer for colleges. It certainly
ought to be taken for granted that the highest
authority of the church has not taken this
action superfluously, or without an earnest
purpose that all our pastors and Churches
should heed this recommendation.
We may asfeume, then, that if timely atten
tion oaii be called to this action, prayer-meet
ings will be held, at least, on Thursday even
ing, January 30, 1873, by our societies gener
ally in America, Europe, Asia, and Africa,
tor, thank God! “the world is our parish,”
and we have some representatives in all quar
ters of the earth.
-Eat. us pray, if for nothing else, to rebuke
that insidious spirit of infidelity, that foun
tain and origin of all iniquity, which professes
to doubt the efficacy of prayer. This palsy of
the soul needs to be rebuked, especially in our
schools, and we earnestly invoke the church
to call down upon all our institutions of learn
ing such a blessing as shall signally demon
strate anew the efficacy of prayer.
There are in the schools belonging to the
Methodist Episcopal Church, to-day, at least,
ten thousand youth of both sexes, all of whom
ought to be disciples of Christ. Many of
them, perhaps even a majority, are. Hundreds
of them will soon be preachers of the Gospel,
missionaries, teachers, or active lay laborers
in the vineyard of the Lord.
The presidents, principals, and instructors
in these schools need special grace, that they
may be patient in their cares, wise to win and
instruct, and may be assured that the church
does not forget them.
Many of the students preparing for the min
istry feel tlie pressure of waut and can not
see how they ean complete the study which
they believe to be essential to their largest
success. None who have not passed through
this experience can fully appreciate their
anxiety.
There are also hundreds of others who be
lieve that God has called them to the minis
try, who sec no open door by which they may
obtain the requisite preparation. Just here
is a pressing and present demand. Many of
the colleges are only partially endowed, and the
faculties are painfully conscious of the incom
pleteness of their work for the want of ade
quate means.
I would suggest that all our seminaries, col
leges, and theological schools hold religious
and that every
leges in the evening/' Let the leader of the*
meeting prepare himself to present tlie facts
pertaining to the educational interests of the
church, and thus give direction to the praises
and prayers of the people.
And, now, is it improper for me to suggest,
that on the following Sabbath the annual col
lection for education, which also has been or
dered by the General Conference, be taken?
The subject will be fresh in the minds of the
people. We do not ask any extraordinary
effort. We want no ebullition of feeling, but
a steady purpose. I know personally of very
many young men, called of God to the minis
try, who by receiving a little aid—say SIOO a
year—will be able to prosecute their studies.
The most of them would prefer to borrow it,
to be returned, if the Lord spare them and
enable them to do it, after they begin their
life-work. We want the means, to help them.
At any rate, let the day of prayer be observed,
and take your annual collections if you can.
E. O. Haven,
Cor. See. Board of Education.
A Higher University for Methodism in
the South.
P,Y PRESIDENT JAMES A. DEAN.
Mr. Editor : I have been much interested
in the discussion of the above named topic
by Profs. Wilson and Pierce. Will you allow
me to add a few suggestions? I would, in
the first place, saj T a word in regard to the
NAME.
I doubt whether the term “Central” would
be desirable. First, because for the whole
Methodist Church the college will not be
central; and if we wish to restrict the signifi
cation to the Southern part of our work, we
will be obliged to add an adjective to that
effect, which will make the title too long. In
the second place, I believe the Church South
has already given that name to a proposed
college, and consequently we are debarred
irom it by courtesy, if for no other reason.
Is jt not better to follow the practice of nearly
all others, and name our college either from
the chief douor, or from the place where lo
cated?
THE LOCATION
of the college is one of the most important
questions that will come before the committee,
if a mistake is made in that, it will be almost
impossible to rectify it. The old Wesleyan,
at Middletown, Conn., is laboring under that
disadvantage to-day, because it would cost
her hundreds of thousands of dollars to re
move.
A few of the data which ought to be con
sidered in determining the location are the
following: First, an indispensable condition is
healthy uxness.
To select a malarious section of the country,
or a town which lor any cause Is unhealthy,
(unless the cause is temporary and will soon
bo removed,) would be suicidal. The place
where a large number of youth are to spend
several years of- their lives, ought to be a
sanitarium as well as a seminarium —a home
ol health not less than a home of learning.
Many would be thus attracted to it who would
otherwise be repelled. In the second place,
A LIBERAL DONATION
should be secured from the place where it is
located. I would fix no sum; but it seems
to me it ought not to be less than one hundred
thousand dollars, but as much more as can
be secured. The city of Syracuse, ,N. Y.,
gives, through its corporation and citizens,
not less than three hundred thousand dollars
for the location of a Methodist college there.
If a place can now be found which is suffi
ciently liberal, while possessing the other re
VOL- IV.
quisites, let the selection be made at once;
but if not, then let us “bide our time.” Bet
ter wait three, five, or even ten years, than
make an injudicious location. The university
just located at Syracuse, waited twenty years
before finding a permanent home. Rest as
sured that it will not be many years before
more than one place will be ready to make a
high bid for such a college as we propose to
build, and,. by the help of God, bill build in
the South. “Make haste slowly” in this
matter.- We build for all time, and we can
afford to be deliberate in our work. What
ever place secures the college will soon have
disbursed in its midst, not less than fifty
thousand dollars a year from the school alone,
besides securing many families who will move
there to secure its benefits. But beyond this,
it will be of great advantage, both by the cul
ture that it will introduce and by the great
saving to parents in educating their children
at home, instead of abroad. One will see
from the catalogue of almost any institution,
that the people of the place, whether they are
friends or not, avail themselves very largely
of the opportunities it affords them. The
last catalogue of the Hast Tennessee Wes
leyan University gives the names of nearly
one hundred students residing in Athens and
vicinity. In the third place, locate the uni
versity where it will have from the citizens
A HEARTY WELCOME.
Such an institution confers too many benefits
on a place to be treated with open or covert
hostility, or even with cold neglect. Let the
citizens be called upon as u body to show
their feelings, both by making a general sub
scription, according to their means, and by
expressing their views in public gatherings.
I need say no more on this point, but it is too
important to he neglected. Again,
A READILY ACCESSIBLE LOCATION
ought to be secured. It should be on some
trunk railroad, and if at the junction of sev
eral, still better. Out of the way places,
though once popular, are now considered un
suitable for colleges. If the town be of con
siderable size, it will be more desirable, but
this ought not to be an indispensable condi
tion. '
Thus have I indicated some of the condi
tions that ought to be insisted on before we
locate the proposed university. It may be
years before the right place will be found, and
what are we to be doing in the mean time?
I would say, either select some institution al
ready in existence, or establish one for the
purpose, and make that, for the time being,
our Central University. Let it be fully
manned, with competent professors in all the
departments, and let their support be pro
vided for by special calls upon the church.
Then when the school is finally located, and
buildings erected, let the students, so far as
they will, and the professors, so far as shall
be mutually desirable, and apparatus, and li
braries, so far as they belong to the new insti
tution, be transferred to the new and perma
nent home. It would not be amiss, also, to
have fine dr more’ agents engaged during (ftfa"
interval, in soliciting funds for buildings and
endowment, so that when tlie school is trans
ferred, it shall have good buildings, unbur
dened with debt, and a sufficient endowment
to lift it above embarrassment. If we thus
“ learn to labor and to wait,” I think we shall,
in the course of a few years, have a university
that will be an honor and a blessing to our
church and to the South.
DIVORCED.
BY ROSE TERRY.
“ Custody-of the child given to the father."
My darling! my darling! the midnight ia here
To stiile and tempt me with longing and fear;
I hear through the darkness thy sweet little voice,
Like birds in their neats that in slumber rejoice.
My darling! my darling! a long night has come;
I am {straying alone in the ashes oi home:
Its echoes of love and their answers of peace—
All voices that blessed me in solitude cease.
I gave them my love as our Father gives air;
I gave them my life without stint or compare;
They used me and left to die by the way;
My darling! my love! thou wert kinderithan they.
IV'oln thee in thy blossom, the sweetness of dawn;
The perfume and faith of thy life are not gone;
Thou lovest for love’s sake, not duty, nor gain;
Life hath not deiiled thee, nor sorrow, nor pain.
All! would that together in some quiet grave,
Or deep in the ocean’s long sorrowing wave,
Thy tiny arms round me, thy head on my breast,
We two lay forever in passionless rest.
In the night and the day time I long for thy face;
I dream that thou liest at re3t in thy place;
I waken and call thee with pitiful prayer,
My darling! my darling! why art thou not there?
O God! when Thou judgest the false and the true—
When the madness and passion of living are through,
I ask of Thee only to give me above
This baby, who only hath answered my love!
— Scribner’s Monthly for December.
TENNESSEE CONFERENCE.
Our conference shows fine success iu all
its workings during the past year; yet there
is much room for improvement, especially in
the collections. 27 charges take no mission
ary collections, and 47 no church extension;
66, none for tract; 61, none for Sunday-school
Union. Asa total, there were about four
hundred collections omitted that should have
been taken. Nashville district contributes,
for all collections taken, about 30 cents per
member, including probationers; Liberty
district,about3|cents; Murfreesboro,3cents;
West Tennessee, 7 cents; Shelbyville, 9J;
Tennessee River, 11 cents; Memphis, 71
cents. The conference gains, in members
and probationers, 997; Middle Tennessee
loseg 359, and West Tennessee gains 1,316;
Middle Tennessee reports a loss, in two years,
of over 700, and West Tennessee a gain of
over 2,600; the Shelbyville and McMinnville
districts report a loss of 425 last year, and 453
the year before—a loss of 878 in two years.
Now, brethren, let us determine, by the help
of the Lord, to change this, and have McMinn
ville district gain 425 by next conference. West
Tennessee will push us; they are determined,
if possible, to be in the lead again. But we
must make them work for it. Let there be
no blanks in your collections this year. Do
not defer this matter, but commence, at once,
and be sure and present every collection at
each -appointment; the Discipline requires
this, and we have no right to neglect it. At
tend to'securing land for churches and par
sonages, and to building wherever possible.
Urge this upon the people; push the work!
Let us endeavor to organize in every section,
devoting all our time to the work of the min
istry. Unless prevented by an actual impos
sibility, every preacher should live in the
bounds of his circuit, cut loose from farms
and trading, and give the entire time to the
work of the church. Travel, visit the people,
ATLANTA, GA., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4. 1872.
pray with them; preach wherever we can get
hearers, and endeavor to organize! Count
not our lives dear unto us; live holy, work
hard; be faithful and bold, constrained by the
love of Christ. Let the salvation of souls,
and the extension of the Methodist-Episcopal
Church, and the promotion of all her inter
ests, be the work of the year; and let it be
unequaled by any of the years of the past, and
a grand success shall be ours. And as the
preachers thus live and work, we trust our
dear brethren and friends will use every effort
to “pay the preaeher,” assist in building
churches, and subscribe for The Methodist
Advocate. Let no Methodist family be
without it. Especially should every official
member take it; and in more than one case
have we known where a copy of the Advo
cate opened the Way for our preachers before
any organizations had been made. Keep the
Sunday-schools going through the winter, and
if there should be churches not suitable, meet
in some private house; also, for class and
prayer meeting. God help us this year,
brethren; it may be the last some of us may
be permitted to work on earth for the Master.
Live holy! O, that the love of souls and of
the church may move us to be at it, and at it
all the time! V.
[When presiding elders talk like the above, success is a
certainty. They, place themselves at the head of the column,
and lead to the charge. The spirit and example of the leader
make the soldiers brave. - Let every preacher and every con
ference do their full duty, and great success will crown their
labors.— Ed.]
A VOICE FROM TEXAS
We are glad—yea, thankful—for any thing
that may be done for us by way of beginning
a normal school in the bounds of our confer
ence, as our needs are very great. We have
thousands of children and grown-up people
suffering for teachers throughout this .Empire
State —for such it is in extent of territory.
When our Sunday-school interests can not
be attended to, we feel that our work is being
little more than half done. To prepare
teachers for our church must be a work of
our beloved Methodism in this country, if it
would spread Scriptural holiness over these
lands. This ean not be done, by the itiner
ancy, only as they have local organizations,
such as our church proposes iii all places
where we have formed classes or churches.
Until we can raise people enough to attend to
the teaching of the multitudes in our Sunday
schools, our work must suffer; we must look
well to this thing. Those who are not with
us, and yet are teaching week-day schools in
our own houses, are reluctant that we should
report the Sunday-school as of the Methodist
Episcopal Church; yet, among ourselves, we
are advancing slowly.
Our conference —or, rather, the Freedmeu’s
Aid Society—(as we think, and the great body
of our people are with us in this respect,)
should locate an institution in some accessi
ble place, .where exercise in agriculture and
horticulture should be practiced by the stu
dent/f.AVbile the best portion of their time is
given to the studies necessary for tttefr-iifs
business. Such a place as this may be started
at once; when, if the persons placed at the
head go to experimenting in our little cities,
they can only have a few that belong to the
place, while none (or but very few) will come
to such a place to board themselves and run
the risk of working, or getting no work in
those places, as it may happen, and in such
oases become loafers, throwing themselves
away for want of sufficient means of obtaining
a support. Concentrate them, teach them,
work them lightly as a compensation from
them for board and clothing, and in a few
years you will fill the church in Texas with
competent teachers of our own choosing.
What have you got to-say on the subject,
Mr. Editor? Hope you like the plan.
Onward.
Houston, November IQth .
[We say, go ahead in the best way possible—in that plan,
if the only one at present. Not only do something, but do
your best. Our people in Texas should be aided by our
church heartily, promptly, liberally, and constantly, until
they need help no longer.— Ed.]
SECTIONALISM IN WORDS.
Words are signs of ideas; and as long as
any minister, or member of a church, uses any
terms that carries invidious distinctions in
the sounds, so long are the utterers of them
proclaiming their malice and hatred to the
world, where the evident design is to lessen
the influence of the church they design to
banish from their section or parish.
How very unwarrantable it is to say the
Methodist Episcopal Church, North. In this
term “North,” as used with reference to our
church in all the late slave States, is cal
culated to eater to the prejudices of any who
may yet feel that the power of the general
government was of the North, and not of the
South, and this being the feelings in the
South, those who would write or speak of the
Church North, knowing that there is no such
church in existence, must do it from bad mo
tives, and is a spirit of evil design. But where
the Northern Church is spoken, of without
knowing what they are taking about, to their
ignorance must be imputed such expressions.
It has been said by the writer, lately, when
asked if he belonged to the Northern or South
ern Church, that there was no Northern
Church. Surprise would seize the questioner,
and the reply would come, “0, yes, there is;”
an explanation would follow —an acknowl
edgment on their part that they were misin
formed by their papers and the frequent oc
currence of the term, “the Northern Church.”
None of our ministers should get iuto the
habit of thus speaking of our church. Let
those be politically sectional in choosing names
for their churches who choose to do so, but
let us ever abide, as we have done, in our Dis
cipline and church periodicals by the good
old name —Methodist Episcopal Church —not
of the United States, only, but of the world.
What a pity that terms will be used that pre
sent to the mind sectional differences with
the terrible circumstances that were con
sequent on the secession of the Methodists liv
ing in the slave States, or rather a majority of
them, for all never agreed to it.
Old Ship.
The Washington Star sayS: “The first of
fer of sympathy and aid to Boston, in hbr
great calamity, came from the South. Let
that fact be remembered, as evidence that,
however much the different sections of our
common country may differ politically, the
mystic cord of brotherhood still exists, and
only requires some peculiar emergency to ex
hibit itself in generous words and deeds.
Baleigh, North Carolina, was the first city in
the Union to appreciate the necessity of suf
fering Boston.”
GOOD MANNERS.
Mr. James Jackson Jarves, in a late num
ber of the The Independent , hafc ah exceed
ingly interesting and well-written paper on
‘ ‘ Fine planners a s a fine ArU’ ft is written
from the stand-point of an amst, and relates
mainly to the aesthetic element-in manners.
We do not propose to criticise it, and we al
lude to it only to point out and emphasize the
distinction between gogd manners and fine
manners. A manner may be hue without be
ing good, and good without bethg fine. It
may also be good and fine at the same time.
The manner of an aristocrat, who looks down
upon every nine persons in ten whom he may
happen to meet, may be fine, bu( it is not
good. The manner of a Frenbhftian—a mem
ber of the Latin race, which Mr. Jarves
praises—may be fine, but it is not good, be
cause it is not based in that profound respect
for woman, without which all fine manners
exhibited in his intercourse with her are no
better than an insult.
And this brings us to the only point we
choose to make in this article. A catholic
We of humanity, and a gensill %.r espeet for
its .rights, is the only sound baSft. foi ! good
manners. A tender and pure regard for wo
man, added to this among men, furnishes all
the spring and impulse necessary for the best
and finest forms of politeness. It is not nec
essary to go to the Latin peoples, with their
traditions of art and their aesthetic culture;
it is not necessary to see countries where
classes are recognized and manners take the
forms and are shaped to the arbitrary rules of
etiquette; it is not necessary to study manuals
of social usage, or sit at the feet of Mr. Tur
veydrop, in order to learn good manners, pro
vided a man thoroughly respect his fellow,
and find himself possessed of that sentiment
toward woman which makes her his ideal and
his idol. Without this respect and this love,
there is nothing more hollow and worthless
than fine manners. They become, in this
ease, simply the disguise of an egotist more or
less base and contemptible.
We know that it is quite commou to attri
bute fine manners to the Latin peoples as a
characteristic. That their forms of polite
ness are graceful and picturesque is not to be
denied. There is more of the show of court
esy among commou people, and more of what
may be called gallantry in the treatment of
women, than among the Saxons and the Celts;
but a form of courtesy which is a 'form of
fawning for a purpose, and a gallantry which
originates in sensuality, arc neither fine man
ners nor good manners. The French have
been for many years regarded as the politest
nation of the earth. The French capital is
looked upon as the very home and high court
of' fine manners; yet there is probably not a
city in the world that entertains so little re
spect for women as Paris, or that is so thor
oughly permeated by distrust. The French
man does not trust the Frenchwoman, nor
does she trust him. His treatment of her,
though fine enough in its manner, is dictated
by that which is base in him. It has tlie look
of gold, but both he and she know that it
is only lacquer. France is full of fine man
ners, but we should never think of looking
in France for good manners. Any man who
lias traveled there knows that they who bow
lowest to him will cheat him worst, and that
underneath a fine exterior and a show of self
depreciation and outgoing deference and re
spect, there lives and dominates a selfishness
that is hideous and hateful.
As we are in the habit of praising tlie
Frenchman’s politeness, so are we in tlie habit
of speaking very contemptuously of tlie man-
A'fsrs .o*' the. j<> \mericau.... .That in
the lower forms ot American social life there
is much that is rude and uncouth is admitted; 1
but it is also claimed that, in some respects,
the American is the best-mannered man liv
ing. He is never quarrelsome, his whole ed
ucation has made him careful to respect the
rights of those around him, and he entertains
a regard for woman which the eharaeterisub
representative of no other nation shares with
him. The theory on which the institutions
of his country are founded, and the influence
of those institutions upon him since the day
of bis birth, are favorable to the development
iu him of that respect for the rights of all
men which is essential as the basis of good
manners. In no country but America can a
woman, unattended, travel wheresoever she
w ill without insult, or the danger of insult.
There are no countries in the world in which
a woman traveling alone would travel in so
much danger as iu those most noted for fine
manners.
American society is comparatively new.
We have very little among us that is tradi
tional. The national style of manners is in
a formative state; but we certainly possess
the basis for good manners in a pre-eminent
degree. We are a good-natured, facile peo
ple, not ungraceful, and certainly not lacking
in self-possession. We have need only to re
spect ourselves a little more, cease looking
across the water for models, and give as grace
ful an expression as we can to our sentiments
toward universal man and woman, to become
the acknowledged possessors of good manners.
Fine manners will not become universal and
characteristic of American life for many
years. The absorption of the American mind
in the development of the material resources
of the country, in the prosecution of its indus
trial interests, and in the pursuit of wealth,
forbids that aesthetic culture whose natural
outgrowth is fine manners. Good manners,
which we already possess, and for which we
hold the only legitimate and reliable basis,
need simply to be refined. The-refinement oi'
good manners will not come to us through the
pursuit of “fine manners as a fine art,” but
they will come as a natural outgrowth of gen
eral aesthetic culture. As the nation becomes
more refined, manners will be only one of the
forms and modes through which the growing
idea of that which is beautiful will express
itself. The man who feels finely will act
finely, provided he mingle sufficiently in so
ciety to act freely. There is no value in any
form of fine art without fine feeling, and there
must be something better than the character
of the typical Latin on which to base a style
of manners worth possession or emulation.
Manners pursued as an art, for their own
sake, will become artificial, and thus react
upon character in a very disagreeable way. —
J. G. Holland, in Scribner's for December.
Christ the S. S. Teacher’s Example.
Let us glance at some things in the exam
ple of the great Sabbath-school Teacher.
Christ never delivered set discourses. No
brilliant harangue ever fell from his lips.
His teachings were much more like the teach
ings in the ounday-school than like modern
pulpit addresses.
Christ never demanded that his instructions
should be appreciated by those to whom
they were addressed. He had but one object
in view; —the benefit of those he was teaching.
No indication appears that he ever thought of
the estimate his pupils would put upon his
instructions.
We desire to have our motives and efforts
appreciated. We soon weary of laboring for
those who can not or who do not appreciate
our labors in their behalf. This is natural,
but not Christ-like. Our duty to God does
not depend upon the absence of stupidity and
perverseness in men. Our duty to our pupils
is to do them good. If they do not appreciate
our efforts, and are not grateful, the greater
need there is of effort on our part in their
behalf. •
It is indeed difficult to labor earnestly for
such pupils. But all duty is as difficult to an
unsanctified heart as melody is difficult to an
untuned harp. Melody is difficult iu propor
tion as the instrument is out of tune, and duty
is difficult in proportion as the heart is ouf of
tune.
More thought, more sympathy, and more
prayer is necessary v?hen our pupils do not
appreciate us.
Let us have constant reference to the exam
ple of Christ. Christ was not provoked when
his instructions were not only not appreciated,
but were rejected. He endured the contradic
tion of sinners, and maititained the calmness
of his benevolent spirit, even when “they
laughed him to scorh.” . . > ot I
The Sabbath-school teacher often comes in
contact with the wayward. It is easy to say,
“If they will not be taught, they must take
the consequences.” Christ did not take that
attitude toward the persons to whom his les
sons were given.
Sometimes his instructions were well re
ceived. Sometimes the common people heard
him gladly. Sometimes all present wondered
at tiro gracious words that proceeded out of
his mouth. 'Sometimes he was met by captious
questions, and efforts to pervert his instruc
tions to his ruin.
Teachers have a similar experience. They
meet with some who have no desire to learn,
and who wilfully resist all efforts put forth for
their good. They piust possess their souls in
patience.
It may be well to consider Low they have
treated God’s dealings with them. To how
many lessons from his providence and his
word they have been utterly inattentive! How
many loving influence they have resisted!
God did not lose patience with them,® and
leave them to follow the devices and desires
of their own hearts. Let teachers not get out
of patience with their wayward pupils, aud
five them over to themselves and to the devil.
t is by patient continuance in well-doing that
we secure the sublime rewards of eternity.
Christ sometimes felt sad in view of tne
failure of his benevolent effort. “0 Jerusa :
lem, Jerusalem, . . . how often would 1
have gathered thy children together, even as
a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,
and ye would not!” While he thus wept
over the impending fate of' those whom his
instructions would have saved, he did not
relax his efforts. He was sad, but not dis
couraged. He kept at work till ho had finished
the work that his Father had given him to do.
We may feel sad, but we must not be dis
couraged. We have reasons for sadness such
as Christ never had. Perfect wisdom was his
guide, and a perfect character gave weight to
his instructions. We are conscious of great
defects in our teaching, and of great defects
in our characters. The teacher who sees the
work to be done, is led to exclaim with Paul,
“Who is sufficient for these things?”
One of the modes of improving as a teacher
is to strive to become Christ-like in character.
Christ retired to a mountain, and continued
all night iu prayer to God. The objects for
which he prayed are not mentioned. We
may safely infer that his prayers had especial
reference to his work. His recorded prayers
have reference to liis disciples and their
work.
Our prayers may have too exclusive refer
ence to ourselves —our own spiritual interest.
A larger portion of our prayers should be in
tercessory. There can be no selfishness in
prayer for tlie benefit of others. The more a
teacher prays for liis pupils, the deeper will
be his interest, and the more earnest his ef
forts in their behalf.
Hand-Book on Teaching.
THE PRAYER OF PETER.
BY MRS. M. A. DENISON.
Thou Lord of life and light! Thou sinner’s
friend,
Thou great. High Priest! me with thy lightilings
rend:
Oriymy false soul. thy righteous judgment send;
Thou tender, true, and faithful unto death—
Love on thy lips and wisdom in thy breath,
Thou who all sin with sorrow visiteth,
I have rejected thee.
I saw: thee, stainless, at great Pilate’s seat;
My soul on fire to witness tliy defeat,
A bold girl, passing, challenged my deceit,
And 1 rejected thee.
Once more my coward heart threw off its dread;
I yearned to shelter that defenceless head,
Then spake another damsel, honor fled,
Aud I insulted thee.
With viler oaths than common lips profane,
For by thyself, 1 swore: thy sacred pain
Athwart my vision, I, the second Cain,
Lied, and defyingly.
And yet again; my God! why palsied not
This traitorous tongue? Lo, tears with passion
hot,
Fall for this sin, which shall not be forgot,
Throughout eternity.
“Thrice ere the cock crow!” 0 divinest eyes!
Torture me not; my guilty spirit lies
In deeps of anguish; hear my broken cries—
j r Reject not me.
For O, I love thee, Lord; I love thee Lord!
Those groans, this agony, this sharpest sword
Os wild remorse—these are my sin’s award;
Yet I love tliee.
Afar I follow: “Jesus, Master!” Lo!
Again he turns pale with majestic woe,
And from his lips I hear the sentence, ‘^Go,
I have forgotten thee.”
Divinest eyes! by all thy patient light,
I will obey thee, die for thee, and fight
Thy foes unwearied, till my day be night,
And death join thee and me.
LOST PULPIT POWER.
Preaching is a Divine institution; but the
methods of using it are human. The ability
to influence men by preaching, is pulpit power.
This is more or less effective, as it does, or
does not avail itself of the Divine and human
appliances pertaining thereto.
The effectiveness of the modern pulpit, as
a whole, is far less apparent than either its
learning or piety. It would be a vast service
to the church and cause of Christ, if it could
be shown why this is so. Little as we hope to
accomplish toward that great object, we sub
mit the following dash or two:
A measured, precise, or stiff style of preach
ing, showing more, care of its grammar, rhet
oric, or pronunciation, than of its results,
soon wearies, and puts ill at ease the hearer.
Then the desired effect is lost. An effective
writer is not always an effective speaker. A
declamatory or stilted style of speaking, sa
vors so much of heartlessness as to produce
about the same effect as the stormy and uu
meaning threats of forceless parents —loud,
but empty. The hearer, like the child, sbon
learns that such words are for show, and not
for dead shots. No learning or piety can re
deem the lost power of such preaching.
In like manner, one uniform, monotonous
sound from the pulpit, destroying all empha
sis and vivacity, is as effective —to produce
stupidity and drowsiness —as a steady wind, a
roaring water-fall, or distant thunder. It ob
scures all freshness and vigor of thought, if
such are in the sermon; and the only lasting
impression left on the hearer’s mind is a great
noise with very little to make a noise about.
A mechanical zeal or vehemence, in the
pulpit, consisting of “bodily exercise,’' profits
but little toward the great purposes of preach
ing: as soul-force only can reach and effect
soul. When cold-hearted and emotionless
preachers attempt to show warmth and feel
ing by great pulpit bluster, to conceal their
coldness, they are less successful and less
respected than- cripples are., who get on horse
back to hide their limping, for tbeir horrid
deformities are self-superinduced.
A preacher with the most faultless elocu
tion, unwarmed by love of God, love of souls,
and love of Bible truth, may draw around
him flattering crowds, as one who can “play
skillfully with a loud noise,” hut he will not
“add much people unto the Lord,” as his pul
pit exhibits the human, rather than Divine
power.
Yery much of this lost or latent power of
the pulpit might be uncovered and brought
into the richest service of God and humanity,
by friendly, but sharp criticism and exposure.
/?., in Zion’s Herald.
A Costly and Elegant Church.
U. R. Disosway, Esq., in a communication
to the Christian Advocate, gives the following
account of the Methodist Episcopal edifice
just erected in Baltimore, aud called the
Mount Vernon Methodist Episcopal Church:
This is located iu the most fashionable part
of Baltimore—Mount Vernon Square— very
near the great Washington Monument, aud
facing the beautiful Peabody Institute aud
an open area, or small park, of grass. This
church, without doubt, in almost every as
pect is the finest in the city; it is built of va
riegated stone, said to have beeu brought
from four of our States—some of it all the
way from Scotland. There are two towers in
front, from each of which springs a spire, one
not very high, tlie other quite lofty-’-one hun
dred and sixty-eight feet—surmounted by a
cross. The interior of the edifice, sixty by
eighty feet, is elegant: almost beyond descrip
tion. Many churches liave I seen, but this
ill beauty outstrips ihfem ail. Modern Beza
leels ,aud Aholiabs, "with knowledge in all
manner of workmanship, knowing how to
devise cunning work,” must have been en
gaged in these mechanical refinements, and
the genius of the most skillful artists iu va
rious departments severely taxed to produce
such brilliant, unique, tasty, and harmonious
effects iu molding, carving, gilding, painting,
and general decorations; indeed, if there be
any fault, rather is there an excess of this.
The church lias galleries, and will seat fif
teen hundred worshipers. The cost of the
ground was $100,000; of the building, $200,-
UGO. It was well remarked to me by a plain
man looking over the edifice, “If the congre
gation would be as good as the church was
beautiful, the money would not he wasted.”
So may it be—might I not say so will it be?
for I recognize among the institutors of this
church some of the oldest, most active, and
most respected members of our denomination
in this city.
To fill a building like this will require a
minister more than .ordinary. Such a one
the congregation believe they have in Rev.
Thomas Guard, who is engaged to be their
pastor. lam told there will not be a cent of
debt on the church when completed.
A .WEEK OF, PRAYER.
The officers of the different branches of
the Evangelical Alliance have issued their
annual programme of topics for the week of
prayer, from January 5 to 12,1873, as follows:
Sunday, Jan. s—Sermons.5 —Sermons. Subject: The
foundation, security, and universal extension
of the Christian Church.
Monday, Jan. 6/ Devout acknowledg
ment: Remembrance of God’s mercies to the
nation, to families, and to the churches; prov
idential and spiritual blessings to ourselves;
confession of sin.
Tuesday, Jan. 7. —Prayer: For Christian
churches; their increase in love, activity,
fidelity to the truth, and the clearer mani
festation of the unity in the faith; for minis
ters, missionaries, aud evangelists.
Wednesday, Jan. 8. —Prayer; For families,
for sons and daughters of Christian parents;
for a blessing on home influence, and on the
services aud ordinances of “the church of
God;” for schools, colleges, and universities;
f or' children at "SCa” of "in foreign lands , -for
young men in business and professions; for
servants; and for all in sickness aud tribula
tion.
Thursday, Jan. 9. —Prayer: For nations;
for kings, and all in authority; for the main
tenance of peace; for increase of righteous
ness; for the spread of religious liberty; for
tlie growth of sound knowledge: for content
ment, concord, aud good-will among all
classes; for the discernment of God’s hand
in national judgments, and for the removal of
intemperance, immorality, and the sins w’hieh
are “a reproach to any people.”
Friday j Jan. 10. —Prayer: For mankind;
for the circulation of the Holy Scriptures,
and the spread of pure literature; for the
overthrow of all forms of tyranny and op
pression: for the removal of every form of
anti-Christ; for all prisoners and captives,
and for the increase of that kingdom which
is “ righteousness, peace, and joy iu the Holy
Ghost.”
Saturday, Jan. 11. —Prayer: For Sunday
schools; for missionary, tract, and other re
ligious societies; for the raising up and send
ing forth of more “ laborers into His harvest,”
and for the removal of hinderances to the
spread of the Gospel, and the conversion of
the world. ■
Sunday, Jan. 12. Sermons: “Let the
whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen,
and Amen,”
“I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE.”
In these words the English language fails
to give the full meaning of the Greek. It
implies, “ Never, no, never, nor ever!”
This world is a world of “leaving, parting,
separation, failure, and disappointment,”
Think of finding something that will never
leave nor fail. Grasp this, “ I will never
leave thee,” and store it in your heart; you
will want it one day. The hour will come
when you will find nothing so comforting or
cheering as a sense of God's companionship.
Stick to that word “Never.” It is worth its
weight iu gold. Cling to it as a drowning
man clings to a rope. Grasp it firmly, as a
soldier, attacked on all sides, grasps his
sword.
“Never!” Though your heart faints, and
you are sick of self, failures aud infirmities—
even then the promise will not fail.
“Never!” Though the devil whispers, “ I
shall have you at last; your faith will fail,
and you will be mine” —even then God will
keep his word. _ % •
“Never!” When the cold chill of death
creeps on, and friends Can do no more, and
you are starting on that journey from which
there is no return —even then Christ will not
forsake you.
“Never!” When the Day of Judgment
comes, and the books are opened, and eternity
is beginning—even then the promise will bear
all your weight; Christ will not let go his
hold on your soul. — Rev. J. C. Ryle.
Do Something for the Sabbath-School.
Do something for the Sabbath-School, and
to increase it. Let all, teachers and scholars,
and church members, too, take this course,
and the school will prosper.
What is wanted is work —strong, personal,
united effort. Let the scholars, all of them,
set their lessons, and be present every Sab
ath to recite them. Let each try to persuade
others —as many as can be persuaded—to
come into the school, and thus increase its
numbers.
Let the teachers prepare themselves by a
study of the lesson they are to hear, and do
all they can to illustrate and enforce it, and
by this punctuality aud faithfulness manifest
interest in the school.
Also, let every member of the church con
sider the Sabbath-school as an important in
strumentality, and do all he can by his pres
ence and co-operation to contribute to its
prosperity, and there can be no doubt as to
the result.
Friends of.Christ, just try these means, and
you will have no reason to complain in regard
to a poor Sabbath-school.
It is the far-off look that brings repose.
No man can he very wise on an empty
stomach.
Methodist Advocate.
. Terms of Advertising:
Single Insertion 12 cents per line
Any number of lines, 3 mo’s, each Insertion, 10 cents per line
Any number of lines, 6 months or longer,
each insertion ..... 8 cents per line.
On advertisements or fifty lines or more, 10 per cent, discount
Special Metiers .16cento per line.’
Business Items .«}centsper ItaS.
Marriage polices 60 c#nt#
AVe intend to insert no questionable advertisements.
NO. 49.
_ Brevities Miscellaneous.
Fernando Wood is said to be worth $10,000,000.
A recent census shpws that the city of. Vienna,
Austria, lifts a population of 900,000.
New Zealand is in the true modern fashion, for
it has a public debt of about $50,000,000.
1 bitty tons ot silver are required annually for
photographing.
A single pound of wool will furpish a piede of
yarn 100 miles hi length.
There are said to be 10,000 children in the
streets of New York who live by begging.
The total length of electric land telegraphy in
the world is set down at 180,000 miles.
The number of passengers on the railways of
- United Kingdom in the year 187 V, averaged
more than ami llion a day. , t
. of. palace-car notoriety, is said to be
in 1 aris for tlie purpose of placing his cals on
the line of railway between Paris and Vienna.
M. Fug. CJayot\has produced a cross between
the hare and rabbit which has been fertile to the
sixth generation.
The Commissioner of Patents has lately is
sued a patent to John R. Weed for A hash 6f
dried fish and potatoes, as an article of food.
Who should be most thankful, boarders of
hoarding-houses? swi.l) '
Four native priests fmve i„<- t E uroJ)e
to study the various religions of that country.’
Magistrates have been appointed in all the police
districts of Yedo, with a jurisdiction similar to
that of the United States.
M. Helouis proposes the introduction of a
platinum-bronze for the manufacture of cooking
utensils. It is said to be entirely inoxidizable.
The proportions are, nickel 100, tin 10, plati
num 1.
The use of zinc for the manufacture of the so
called tinned iron employed in making domestic •
cooking utensils is on the increase in France.
Articles of food cooked in such vessels are not
only unwholesome, but also poisonous.
The Centennial Commission has issued an ad
dress to Rie people of the United States, signed
by President Joseph R. Hawley, for subscrip
tions to the fund of $10,000,000, required to
make the Centennial such a success as the patri
otism and pride oi every American demands.
The completion of the railroad from Yoka
homa to Yedo was'celebrated in grand style on*
the 14th of October. The railroad is the tirst
one built in Japan. The Emperor presided over
the ceremonies and passed over the road ill
person.
It has generally been supposed that the leaves
of plants neither absorb vapor of water nor wa
ter. M. Cailletet linds that when the supply of
water to the roots is sufficient this is true, out if
the supply to the foots is insufficient the leaves
will absorb liquid water though they will not
absorb watery vapor.
The election in New York city, November sth,
resulted in the clear triumph of the Reform
ticket. Mr. Havemeyer was elected Mayor, and
the Reform candidates for Judges and llistrict-
Attorney were returned by large majorities. The
effect of this victory will be to remove all im
pediments in the way of the regeneration of the
city government.
German newspapers arc expressing gratifica
tion at the gift of 15,000 Bibles by the British
and Foreign Bible Society to the widows and
families of German soldiers and others killed in
tlie late war. These are given as a token of con
dolence and solace in bereavement, without re
gard to the financial condition of tlie parties re
ceiving them.
The value of some of the patented stove im
provements be learned from statistics made,
public at the recent meeting of the stove manu
facturers <>f theUn>ted-Bi-ates, Vldiu <’i«icinii«ti
This interest has, in this country, a combined*
capital of over $80,000,000. It employs
men, and the probable product, during the cur
rent year, will not fall short of 2,500,000 stoves*
An acorn suspended by a piece of thread
within half an inch of the surface of water in a
hyacinth glass, will, in a few months, burst and
throw a root down into the water, and shoot up
ward its straight and tapering stem, with beau
tiful little green leaves. A young oak tree,
growing in this way on the mantleshelf of a
room, is a very elegant and interesting object.
Experiments were recently made in Berlin to
ascertain the effect of gas on tlie roots of trees.
The gas from tlie street mains was delivered into
the soil in which two lime-trees and a maple tree
were planted. After the lapse of two months
the roots were examined, and it was found that
all the fibers were dead. The bark of the strong
est roots was decayed, and even the woody part
altered. The gas was then cut off to see if the
trees would recover; one of the limes produced
a sickly crop of leaves, but the other trees
showed no signs of life.
Painting on tin-foil has reached so high a de
gree of perfection as to constitute anew and
beautiful decorative art. The tin-foil is stretched
on a moistened plate of-thick glass and carefully
smoothed, the design is painted in oils on the
tin, and when perfectly dry it is varnished. The
foil is then removed from the glass and trans
ported on wooden rollers to the surface or object
to which it is to be attached; this is covered with
a npn-hygrometric gum, and the decoration ap
plied. The flexibility of the tin-foil enables the
artist to attach it in the most perfect manner,
even to surfaces which are.very irregular.
A deep well this: At the village of Spereu
berg, about twenty miles from Berlin, a well has
been sunk to the depth of 4,194 feet. A abaft
was sunk in this locality, because the known ex
istence of gypsum there led the explorers to
infer that they might possibly find a mine of
rock salt. At the depth of 80 feet they did
reach the salt, and continuing on they passed
through the salt deposit, 8,907 feet, without hav- .
ing reached the bottom of it. The boring would
have been continued to ascertain what deposit lay
under, the salt ; but the mechanical difficulties
were too great. The greater part of the boring
was done by steam.
A University of Arts and Trades may be
come a fact in Ohio, for a prominent citizen of
Toledo, Ohio, has matured a plan and donated to
the city a building si to for the establishment of
a “ University of Arts and Trades,” for the pro
motion of knowledge in these and the related
sciences*by means of lectures and oral instruc
tion; of models and representative works of art;
of museums of the mechanic arts, and of what
soever else may serve to furnish artists and arti
sans with the best facilities for high culture in
their respective occupations, in addition to those
which are furnished by the public schools.
explosion on the sun! .Read what lollows:
“Prof. Young, of Dartmouth College, observed on
the 7tli of September, what appears to have been a
verv sudden and violent explosion on the surface
of the sun. He was examining an enormous pro
tuberance or hydrogen cloud on the sun's eastern
limb, which, by his calculation, was 100,000
miles long by 54,000 high, floating at a height of
15,000 miles above the surface, and sending down
to the sun pillars of its own substance like a
vast banyan grove. Being called away from the
telescope a few moments, he was astohished on
returning, to find that the whole cloud had been
blown into filaments, which rose, as he gazed,
with a greater rapidity than had eveT been be
fore observed in this substance, to a height of
more than 200,000 miles, from the solar surface.
Hydrogen, in this 6tate, has never before been re
corded as rising so high. As these broken fila
ments streamed upward, they melted away like
wisps of filmy cloud. Meanwhile, a little cap
or knob which has been noticed near the sub
stance of the sun developed wonderfully into a
pyramid of flame 50,000 miles in height; there
its summit was drawn out into long filaments
and threads, which were most curiously rolled
backward, and downward, like the volutes of an
lonic capital, and finally it faded away, and at
half-past two (the first change was observed at
five minutes to one) had vanished like the other.”