Newspaper Page Text
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The Methodist Advocate.
"ATLANTA, QA., FEBRUARY 5, 1873.
N. E. COBLEIGH, D.D., LX.D., Editor.
OOINTTUKTCTE the CAISTVASS.
Brethren will remember that every subscrip
tion for The Methodist Advocate or the Ladies’
Repository, whether old or new, accompanied by
the cash, entitles the subscriber to the steel en
graving of Mr. Wesley and all the Bishops. Let
the canvass go on, until our periodicals shall be
in every home! Hitchcock & Walden.
Thanks are hereby rendered to brother F.
Ohlinqer for a report of the conference held
recently in Foochow, and a translation of the
• sermon preached on the occasion by a native
Chinese elder —both of which will be found
and read with interest on our first page.
We must insist in saying, whatever other
parties may write to the contrary, that no
“Lesson Traots” or “Home Papers” have yet
arrived at the Atlanta Depository. Those
brethren who have sent their orders here
must “wait a time in patience,” till the de
sired articles arrive, or send their orders
elsewhere. Their failure to arrive here is
not our fault.
Our brethren must bear in mind that if no
report of appointments or of proceedings of an
annual conference comes to hand, we can not
be blamed for not publishing them. If they
come late, we can not publish them early. In
fact, we can not make any kind of brick with
out straw. Being unable to attend the ses
sions in person, we could not secure any one
to do the necessary reporting. If any one is
disposed to find fault about delay or neglect
in publishing, let him empty his basket of
complaints where they rightfully belong, not
on our innocent heads.
Wb see that bishops, missionary secreta
ries, and distinguished laymen were to assist
the churches in Philadelphia to raise their
missionary contributions on Sunday, January
26th. Large preparations were made for
great things. We have no doubt that all did
well; yet we do doubt the propriety of teach
ing churches that they can not do their duty
fully without an extra urging by great men
from abroad. We have none of these appli
ances in the South. We think that churches
every-where should be taught to do well on
all occasions as a matter of Christian princi
ple, without waiting to be stirred up by extra
sensational efforts. If this is a good way to
do things in New York, Boston and Phila
delphia, let us have it spread equally all over
the ohurch.
We are in luck, after all. Just as we go
to press we have received anlnteresting letter
from Bishop Haven, which we will serve up
to our readers, nice and warm, next week. It
was written in Mexico, Jan. 13th. The Bish
op’s well-known veneration for the conserva
tism of age influenced him to write first to
Zion's Herald , then to the New York Advo
cate, and then —out of m regard for the inter
ests of his residential diocese —to The Meth
odist Advocate. The red flag on this train
indicates that others are on the track and will
soon follow it. The switches are all right
now; come on. Advance postage is high, but
we will remunerate the Bishop for all his
expenses in the premises, except the waste of
brain and nervous tissues. We now take
back our last week’s complaining on the prin
ciple of mutual forgiveness. Let us have
peace, and more pieces!
Historical Souvenirs of Luther, by
Charley W Wnhnor uml pnhUaharl by Hitch -
cock & Walden, is a charming little book. It
gives us in few words the character of the
sturdy German reformer and the most impor
tant events of his life. How much better to
get hold of these by reading 155 pages, 16m0.,
than to plod one’s weary way through huge
volumes of octavo. And yet this little book
does it. Mr. Hubner is a citizen of Atlanta.
If he did not occasionally drop in at the
Depository, where we meet face to face, we
would be very pronounced in saying that he
is not only an excellent, but a charming
writer. His style is perfectly transparent, so
that we see the procession of thoughts go by
without the slightest effort. The sentences
are smooth, flowing, and rythmical. He
has seized upon the points of character best
fitted for a perfect photograph of the immor
tal Luther. There are many of these little
volumes on hand in the Depository, which
ought to be ordered and read in the next
thirty days.
The article ou our first page under the
head of “request,” came too late for inser
tion in last week’s paper. If any of our
readers have omitted it, we invite them to
turn back and read it with care. We hope
our brethren and friends, so far as possible,
will respond favorably to the request. Let
us have a church entirely our own in Wes
leyania. Such Christian treatment as our
people have received there will fail to drive
us from the country or from the neighborhood.
We are there to stay. Let us take deep root.
We have a mission in the South, if for noth
ing else, to manifest ]and inculcate a kind,
charitable, Christian, and equity-loving spirit.
Whatever others can afford to do, our church
and our church members should be careful to
manifest Christian tempers and only a Chris
tian spirit. The world will judge us by our
works. “By their fruits,” says Christ, “ye
shall know them.” “If any man have not
the spirit of Christ he is none of His.” Per
secution will do us good. It always has done
true Methodism good and always will. There
fore, be hopeful, brethren : cheerful, forbear
ing. You will triumph in Christ only by
manifesting his love, his patience, his charity,
and, in a word, his spirit. We propose to
practice on this line as well as preach. We
shall send a small amount of material help to
brother Hyden. Give his article a careful
reading. Help them, brethren!
A DONATION TO THE SOUTH.
Through the beneficence of W. C. DePauw,
Eeq., of New Albany, Ind., the Sunday-School
Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church is able
to make a donation of five hundred dollars’
worth of Sunday-school Journals for 1873 to desti
tute schools in the South.
The Executive Committee, at the request of
Mr. De Pauw, offers to every such school (making
application before the fund is exhausted) to de
fray two-thirds of the expense necessary to sup
ply each of its teachers with a copy of the Jour
nal. For example, six Journals cost three dollars;
now a school forwarding one dollar will receive
six Journals, the DePauw Fund paying the two
dollars. The following is the form of applica
tion, which must in every case be signed by the
pastor or presiding elder of the school asking
for a grant:
1. Name of the Conference.
2. Name of the District.
3. Name of the Charge.
4. Number of Teachers.
5. Number of Scholars.
(Signed) , Pastor.
Or, , Presiding Elder.
, J. H. Vincent,
Cor. Seo. 8.-3. Union.
THE PLAN OF SEPARATION.
How Affected by the Decision of the Court.
Our series of articles on the “Plan of
Separation” (so called) has been inter
rupted by necessary absence a portion of
the intervening time from our office. Im
portant duties called us elsewhere. We
are now at home again, permanently, we
trust, and are ready to resume the thread
of our discourse.
We have shown in previous articles, to
the satisfaction of candid readers, we
think, that the so-called Plan of Separa
tion has been since 1848 practically “null
and void”—that in fact it was never
really entitled to any binding force.
Some have supposed, honestly we will
presume, that notwithstanding the fail
ure of the annual conferences to au
thorize a change in the Sixth Restrict
ive Rule, and the frequent violations
of the provisions of the so-called Plan
by the authorities of the Church South, it
was made legally and morally valid by the
decisions of the courts in the Book-Room
property cases. This impression w r as not
confined to members and friends of the
Church South, for persons connected witl
our church have to some extent in some
localities been carried away by the same
delusion. Hence the claim set up b}
writers and public speakers of the Church
South that the decree of the U. S. Court
confirmed to them every thing offered
in the Plan of Separation—a valid title
to all church property in their possession
south of the designated line—and a sol
emn promise that no minister of the
Methodist Episcopal Church should ever
attempt to establish societies or labor for
the good of our church below that line.
This in brief is the substance, if not the
language, of what has been affirmed and
reiterated hundreds of times by ministers
and members of the M. E. Church South.
These things have been declared in such
a way, by men of such standing and in
fluence, that we are constrained to believe
that they are sincere in what they say—
that they really believe the facts are as
they state them. This we cheerfully con
cede to our opponents. All men, how
ever, even the very best, are liable to
mistake, to error in judgment, to be de
ceived. When great interests are at
stake and strong feelings are excited, the
tendency to err in judgment in favor of
self-interests is very great. In the af
fairs of this world, things are often “not
what they seem.” The inferences which
they have drawn are unwarranted by the
facts.
The main point of inquiry now is, Are
these things so? What are the facts?
From the nature of the case, what effect
could those decisions have on the ques
tions now at issue between the two Meth
odisms? What could they do to give va
lidity and moral force to the “Plan of
Separation,” especially those provisions
in the plan not involved in the points at
issue before the court? However others
may feel on the subject, personally we are
more interested to know the truth than
to make out a case or to sustain a par
ticular cause. The real interests of our
church (indeed of any church) are all
with the truth, whichever way it may
lead—forward or backward, to the right
or to the left. Show us the truth, free
from doubtful colorings, and we will
thankfully accept it.
On May 19, 1851, Henry B. Bascom,
A. L. P. Green, and Charles B. Parsecs,
Commissioners of the Church South,
brought a suit “in equity ” in the U. S.
Circuit Court for the Southern District of
New York against George Lane and Levi
Scott, Book Agents, for a pro rata divis
ion of the property of the New York
Book Conoern, under their supervision.
Able counsel appeared on both sides, and
the trial lasted some ten days. The
Southern Commissioners put in as evi
dence, among other things, the Report of
the Committee of Nine, otherwise called
the Plan of Separation. The final decis
ion of the court was in their favor. With
the justice or injustice of that decision
we have now nothing to say. It is a fact
which must be respected. Giving it then
all the force of a fact, what effeot does it
have on the provisions of the Plan of
Separation ?
It is a principle well known in law and
among intelligent lawyers, that a judge
can not legislate—can not make law—he
can only apply existing laws to the case
in court. His decisions can cover only
the points involved in the suit—can affect
nothing outside of the case in litigation.
In this case the petition was for a decree
giving them a pro rata share of the funds
of the New York Book Concern, based
on the relative membership of the two
churches. The decision of Judge Nelson
covered that point, but nothing more.
He granted the request of the petition
ers. It affected and could affect nothing
beyond that. Whatever the Judge may
have said while giving or previous to giv
ing his legal decision was simply his opin
ion, with no more legal weight than any
other intelligent man’s opinions. His
preliminary words decided nothing, set
tled nothing, confirmed nothing beyond
the simple points pending in the suit.
Even if he had said in so many words
that he regarded the Plan of Separation
as legally and morally binding in all its
provisions and specifications, his words
would have had no legal force, no power
to make it so, any more than Judge Lea
vitt’s opinion (directly the reverse) would
have made the Plan of Separation null
void. These points are vital and must
not be overlooked or ignored by parties
on either side of this question.
The decision of Judge Nelson gave the
Church South what it claimed of the
funds of the New York Book Concern.
It gave them nothing beyond that—no
rights, no titles, no privileges or immu
nities outside of that suit. It decided
no right or title to any other church
property, north or south —it made obliga
tory the observance of no boundary line
by either party. It gave the Church
South no more right to any other church
property than it did a right to the island
of San Domingo or to the peninsula of
Yucatan. It no more absolved the min
isters of the Methodist Episcopal Church
from thoir obligation to “go into all the
world and preach the Gospel to every
creature,” than it absolved the Church
South from obligation to keep the com
mandments of the decalogue.
If Judge Nelson’s decision in the New
York case was so potent and so far-reach
ing in its effects as is claimed for it, why did
it not settle the property question at
Cincinnati? The Southern Commission
ers knew and practiced on that knowl
METHODIST ADVOCATE: FEBRUARY 5, 1873.
edge, that the decree concerning the prop
erty at New did not and could not set
tle any case outside of the jurisdiction of
the Circuit Court for the Southern District
of New York, whether in the North, South,
East or West. Hence, in their love of
equity, they brought a suit “in equity” for
their pro rata claim to the funds of the
Western Book Concern in the U. S.
Circuit Court for Ohio, before Judge
Leavitt. The trial commenced June 24,
1852, and closed July 9th. The evidence
agreed upon by oounsel on both sides,
and read in the case, was the same that
was used in the New York case. Judge
Leavitt’s decision was adverse to the
Southern Commissioners. His presenta
tion of the case is masterly and his ar
guments unanswerable. An appeal was
taken to the Supreme Court, at Washing
ton. Judge Taney w'as then living, and
a majority of the judges were then in
sympathy with the South. The decision
of that bench of judges, where even a
majority of one decides the case, was
what every body expected it would be.
It reversed Judge Leavitt’s decision and
gave the South what they asked, and
doubtless would have given them much
more if they had asked it. It was the
same bench from which came the Dred
Scott decision—which decision receives
now from a near posterity the amount of
respect due to the justice and humanity
it contained. In this decision of the
court we bow to it submissively as a fact,
but with no more respect for the justice
of it on the grounds of constitutional and
common law than for the Dred Scott
decision.
That decision of the Supreme Court
had the effect only to reverse Judge
Leavitt’s decision —just the effect that
Judge Leavitt’s decision would have had
if it had been given in favor of the South
ern Commissioners. Its whole force and
effect was limited to the points involved
in that suit. It did not, it could not go
beyond them, as every intelligent lawyer
knows. It affected the Plan of Separa
tion just as the New Y r ork decision af
fected it, no more, no less —that is, none
at all. It made no point in the Plan of
Separation not involved in those suits,
valid. From the very nature of the case
it could not not affect them. If a similar
decision bad been made in regard to a
share of the Chartered Fund, the decis
ion would necessarily be limited in the
same way to the points involved in that
case.
It is evident to us, therefore, from the
foregoing facts and principles, that the
Plan of Separation (so-called) was not
confirmed, established or legalized by the
decision of the Supreme Court, as has
been so widely claimed and so often re
peated. The decision would have been
as it was, in all probability, if no such
plan had ever existed, had the suits been
brought as they were in equity for a
share of that property. The Plan stands
just as it would have stood if there had
been so such decision. It has received
neither weakness nor strength, legally,
from the decrees of the court, except in
the vain imaginings of those who wish to
have it so. It is to all intents and pur
poses just as the General Conference of
1848 pronounced it, “null and void."
We propose to show in our next how
those decisions of the court affected the
church property questions in the South.
OBLIGATION OF SUPPORT FOR THE
MINISTRY.
The true Gospel minister is called of
God. He does not take the sacred office
self-moved. He generally hesitates until
he feels Wo is me if I preach not the Gos
pel ! The call is divine. The obligations
are divinely imposed. The responsibili
ties are what God has made them, not
simply what any one may think them to
be. The preacher must give himself
wholly to the work, and thereby give up
all other means or reliance for support.
He must preach the Gospel and live of
the Gospel. The relation between the
Gospel minister and the people, between
the pastor and his parishioners, God has
established, has fixed it so that neither
the hand nor the will of man can change
it. The duties which grow out of that
relation both to the pastor and to the
people are precisely what God has made
them, and for their faithful performance
God holds each party responsible. If
faithfully performed, the Great Head of
the Church will reward the performers;
if slighted or neglected, punishment from
the divine hand will be equally sure.
If the preacher neglects his duty, God
will surely call him to account. If the
people fail in their duty, God will not
fail or neglect to call them to account.
He will reward or punish one as readily
as the other. Let it be borne in mind
that the obligation is no more sacred, no
more binding on the one side than it is
on the other—-no more fearful responsi
bilities tremble over the minister than
over the membership. Faithfulness on the
part of the people is just as necessary to
secure the approval of God as it is on the
part of the minister. This point may not
have been so much thought of or so care-
fully considered as it ought to be. Peo
ple often think how fearful the preacher’s
responsibility must be, without dreaming
that their own responsibilities are equally
fearful. Many believe that if a preacher
refuses to preach the Gospel when called
of God to that work, he will lose his soul,
without ever passing on to the thought
that they may equally endanger their own
souls by withholding from the preacher the
means of his support; when perhaps their
own withholding determined him to leave
the work. Brethren, there are solemn
considerations, sacred duties, awful re
sponsibilities, growing out of both sides
of this sacred pastoral relation.
Jesus says “the laborer is worthy of his
hire.” If the preacher—the laboring
preacher we mean—has a God-given right
(as we have before shown) to his support,
the people for whom he labors have also
a God-given obligation to support him.
Let the reader not hurry over this point,
for it will bear close examination. The
Savior never would have commanded his
disciples not to cumber themselves with
the means of their support when he sent
them into the field to labor, if he had not
already imposed upon the people a cor
responding obligation to support them.
The fact that he has not revealed this ob
ligation in the same place nor in the
same way, does not prove that the obliga
tion does not exist. It is very clearly
revealed in the following passage as well
as in many others: “Even so hath the
Lord ordained that they which preach
the Gospel shall live of the Gospel.” To
to perceive it, the
this point
as a this relation one side
of it is- j* just as divine as
the other. What the Lord has made
the preacher’s right to a support, he has
also made the people’s duty to supply.
The one is the measure of the other. The
two sides are equal—both are heaven
appointed, both divine.
God, who imposes these relative respon
sibilities, holds them in his own hands.
Each party i3 responsible to God, not to
the other. The preacher has no right to
punish the people for unfaithfulness to
him, nor have the people any right to ad
minister punishment to the preacher if he
neglects his duty. God holds each party
responsible to himself. He alone will re
ward the faithful and punish the guilty.
Neither can escape the consequences of
neglected duty, except by a speedy and
hearty repentance and a full pardon.
This will a return to fidelity
in the performance of duty.
The people are under obligation to God
to support the faithful minister to the ex
tent of their ability and the minister’s
work. The work merits hire, and is the
measure of reward. The minister is God’s
servant; so are the people. He com
mands the preacher to do one kind of
work,and the people to perform another—
the former to preach the Gospel faithfully,
fully, promptly; the latter to furnish the
preacher the needed means of support.
What we are especially anxious to show
is the divine element in both, and the di
vine relation running from God to both.
All are prone to break away from God
to sunder the ties that bind them to God—
to forget him'and their relation to him.
We wish to call the people’s thought back
to God, that they may discover their im
portant and unchangeable relation to him.
There is a great deal of digging to be
done at the foundation of this spiritual
temple, a vast amount of rubbish to be
removed, before the people’s eyes can
clearly see the King in his beauty and
behold the intimate royal relations which
he sustains to them.
The point we have tried specially to
make in this article is that the obligation
of the people to support the faithful pas
tor is just as great, just as sacred, and
just as fearful as the obligation of the
preacher faithfully to preach the Gospel.
God imposes both; both grow out of dif
ferent sides of the same relation; both
are equal; both divine. Over each trem
ble similar responsibilities visible to
each party is the hand-writing of promise,
and over against this the threatening of
punitive reward.
POLITICAL OR NON-POLITICAL?
The article from D. C. Kelley, in the Nash
ville Advocate, of January 25th, from which
we made a brief extract last week, contained
also the following in reply to F. W. Vinson’s
pamphlet:
In the pamphlet before me, the author nets out
with an attempt to answer the charge that the
Methodist Episcopal Church is a political church.
We do not understand him to deny the charge,
but only to defend his church by charging that
the M. E. Church South was equally a political
church —the Methodist Episcopal Church for the
Union, the M. E. Church South for the Confed
eracy. The charge as against us we kindly deny.
We held before the war that whatever we might,
as individuals and citizens, believe, teach, or do,
that when acting through our church organiza
tions we would have nothing to do with the right
"aF'Wrong'Trf political questions as such. During
the war we inculcated what we had done before and are
doing now, viz: Obedience to the de facto government
within whose jurisdiction we found ourselves.
The author of this pamphlet charges that the
Holston Conference, under the presidency of
Bishop Early, did more than this. We doubt it.
If so, they did wrong, and are an exception to the
general course of our church. An occasional
preacher dragged political questions into our
pulpits. I heard but one such sermon —that by
a brother invited to preach to the church I was
serving. My congregation was offended; so was
I. Such was, so far as I believe, the general
temper of our church. Even through those
years of intense excitement, where a fragipent of
the church or an individual preacher varied from
this course, we believe them now to be heartily
ashamed of it. Do not misconstrue me; what we
did as citizens, out of church organizations and away
from our pulpits, we believed to be our duty, and are
proudly willing to leave our record to the verdict of his
tory.
This is where we stood when we parted from
you in 1844, where we have stood ever since, and
where we unequivocally stand to-day. Corrob
oraiions of this statement allow two facts: Some
of our ministers and members were Virion men from the
beginning to the close of the war, without producing one
word of censure or reproach from any conference or
church.
We do not propose any formal reply to this
article. Brother Vinson is abundantly able
to vindicate himself or his pamphlet. We
publish the extract to let our readers see how
those preachers defend themselves, and what
they can muster up courage to say. We do
not try to keep our readers in ignorance of
what their opponents are saying of them, as
some editors we know of do. We call special
attention to the sentences in italics, put in
italics by ourself and not by the writer:
“ During the war we inculcated what we had
done before and are doing now, viz: Obedi
ence to the de facto government within whose
jurisdiction we found ourselves.” By his use
of the we, we understand him to mean the
Church South. Now if the Church South
had inculcated that sentiment before seces
sion with ene-half the earnestness and zeal
they did after secession, there would not have
been, in our judgment, any secession at all,
nor any war in the United States during the
years from 1861 to 1865. We are too near
the events in that histoi’y to be caught or
blinded by the chaff thrown into that sentence.
Our readers fully understand the scenes
through which they have passed. Memory is
vivid and tenacious.
The logic in the second sentence in italics
is truly refreshing. What the church South
had to do with politics they did as citizens,
not as members of the church. Therefore
the Church South is not, was not a political
churoh. What an achievement in ratiocina
tion! what a vindication for the Church
South! Shades of Aristotle, what a triumph,
in logic! Let us construct the cognate argu
ment as the writer above would have it con
structed. What the members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church had to do with politics, they
did as members of the church, not as individ
ual citizens, therefore the Methodist Episcopal
Church is a political church. Such a charge,
whether openly made or implied, we unquali
fiedly deny. That is certainly one of the most
convenient systems of logic ever invented, for a
man can shape his premises to warrant his
conclusions. The facts are that there was as
much and as earnest political preaching in
Southern pulpits during and before the war
as there was in Northern pulpits, even if
brother Kelley did not happen to hear it, and
no fair, logical reasoning that will exempt the
Church South from being political, can con
vict the Methodist Episcopal Church of be
ing a political church. If the latter is or has
been political, the former has been equally so,
and a careful c'ollation of the facts in the case
will prove the declaration beyond a reasonable
doubt.
We do not know whether any sophistry was
intentionally woven into the last clause in
italics or not. The record of the Holston
Conference at Athens, Teun., in 1862, will
prove that sontence either sophistical in
statement or false in fact. If he moans that
some ministei‘B and members in some portions
of the Southern jjhurch were Union men dur
iug the war, and were not persecuted or cen
sured, that may be true; for such men there
undoubtedly were who managed not to let
their Union preferences be known. They
were very quiet and prudent men. In some
places they may have been known as such,
but because of their age or surroundings they
were not supposed to be in danger of doing
the Confederate cause any harm. It was not
so, however, in East Tenuessee nor in the
Holston Conference. Ministers were ex
pelled from that conference for no other rea
son than that they were not in sympathy
with the Southern Confederacy. We have
considerable evidence of a very striking char
acter, written or '.available, which will fully
settle this question. It can be produced if
necessary.
We are willing, however, to lot these ques
tions of the past rest in quiet graves, if the
other side do not keep raking out of their
sepulcher the old mouldering bones. There
is not much earth upon them yet, and a great
many curiosities can easily be exhumed. We
prefer to recreate among the green and grow
ing things of the present that may in the fu
ture ripen into golden harvests, rather than
wander or dwell among the tombs. Yet we
must obediently follow wherever duty to Hod
or to the ohurch may lead the way.
Notes and Brevities.
The Atlanta Herald claimed, last week,
the largest oiroulation of any daily published
in this city.
The Atlanta Constitution announced, last
Saturday morning, an issue of ton thousand
copies to veritable subscribers; also an acces
sion to its editorial oorps of Messrs. Howell
C. Jaokson and J. P. T. Finch.
The Methodist says:
“ The Virginia Legislature refused the use of
their hall to Bishop Ames for religious servioes,
though the hall has been repeatedly granted for
similar and other purposes. The objection, as
stated by themselves, was that ‘ he is a Bishop of
the Northern Methodist Church.’ ”
Another “cold snap” has come down
upon us, another “arotio wave” has rolled
over the land, and January 29th is reported
as furnishing the coldest experience in some
of our Northern cities for thirty years past.
The weather in this city, for nearly a week,
waß the meanest, the nastiest, the most un
pretty, undesirable, hateful even, that old
father Time has administered to his unde
serving children this coldest of winters.
Come, O ye balmy breezes of the springtime I
We are getting impatient for your gentle
caresses, when we can feel that
“ The winter is over and gone.”
W. C. DePacw, Esq., of New Albany,
Ind., has made a donation of SSOO to the
Sunday-School Union of the Methodist Epis
copal Church, to be expended in circulating
the Sunday-School Journal among teachers
in the destitute Methodist Episcopal Sunday
schools of the South. The Executive Com
mittee, at Mr. DePauw’s suggestion, require
schools to pay one-third of the cost of all
such grants, the other two-thirds coming from
the “DePauw Fund.” This is a noble exam
ple which our wh»le-souled Indiana brother
has set to the men of means in the church.
Current Literature.
Peters’ Music at. Monthly, for February, as
usual, is filled with first-class pieces of music.
Only $3 a year; J. L. Peters, 599 Broadway, New
York. Those who would keep posted in the
popular musio of the times would do well to
take this monthly.
Briggs & Brother’s Illustrated Catalogue
of Floral Work is a perfect gem of its kind.
Those who are fond of rare and beautiful flowers
will be delighted with it. This is a Quarterly
for 1873. Send to the publishers, at Eochester,
N.Y., for catalogue or for flowers.
The Plantation, for February—a magazine
of Progressive Agriculture and Improved Indus
try—is an excellent number, well filled with
interesting and useful articles; published in this
city by the Plantation Publishing Company.
Eural Chronology, we notice, is a feature of
special interest. Every farmer in the South
would do well to exchange $1.50 for this period
ical every year.
The publishers of the Musical Independent,
a monthly magazine, with much good reading
and several choice pieces of new music—offer
magnificent premiums to parties who procure the
greatest number of subscribers for it. Send for
the January number and it will give you all
needed information. Robert Goldbeck, Chicago,
Illinois.
Cincinnati Medical News. No. lof Vol. II
has reached us, and we learn that the new year
is begun under very auspicious circumstances.
Certainly the enterprise shown by the publishers
in their first volume deserved reward, and we
are glad to know it is meeting with it. The
News is a popular, cheap and valuable journal
for medical ifien, has able editors, and is up to
the latest improvements. Price, $1.50 per year;
J. A. Thacker, M.D., Agent and Editor, Cincin
nati, Ohio.
Atlanta Medical and Surgical Journal.
The Herald Publishing Company has issued the
first number of this familiar magazine under
their management. The old editors are retained,
and the Journal looks quite natural. There was
considerable delay in getting out the December
number; but it is all ready at last, and better
late than never. The new publishers have shown
great enterprise in their other publications—the
Atlanta Herald, for instance—and we expect to
see improvements of great importance in the
Journal soon. $3 per year is the subscription
price, and it is well worth the money.
Stayed on God is the title of a small, neat
volume, published by N. Tibbals‘& Son as a kind
of memorial and tribute of respect to the late and
lamented Rev. Alfred Cookman. It embodies
some of the best thoughts from the pen of brother
Cookman. Besides this, appropriate extracts are
given, taken from the remarks and addresses
made in honor of the deceased; a poem by Rev.
G. Lansing Taylor; testimonies and incidents.
It contains a life-like photograph of the deceased.
It is a volume gotten up by affection for the
departed, and will bless the careful reader
whenever or wherever perused. Agents wanted
to sell this every-where.
The Uniyersalist Quarterly, for January,
has the following list of articles: “John Ruskin,”
Contributions to the History of Universalism,”
“Africa,” “ Physical, Historical, and Etymologi
cal,” “ Christian Missions,” “ Hosea Ballou and
Edward Turner, a contribution to the truth of
history,” “The Rise of the Republic of the
United States,” “Infidolity,” “The Triumph of
Good over Evil,” “Ernestus Sonerus,” “General
Review,” “Contemporary Literature.” The con
tributors to this number are able and interesting
writers. $3 a year; Universalist Publishing
House, 37 Cornhill, Boston.
The National Quarterly Review, for De-
ceml>er, 1872—Ed ward I. Sears, LL.D., editor and
proprietor; published at Oo Bible House, New
York city—is on our table. It is a solid, stately
Quarterly of 210 octavo pages, lhe articles are
ably written, and in <flie exhaustial stylo ot the
old English Reviews. We have in this number,
“Siam and the Siamese,” “Notabilities of the
American Bar,” “ Rufus Choate,” “ The I tiffing
Element in American Literature,” “The Plane
tary Theory,” “The University of Pennsylvania
and its New Windows,” “Pope Alexander \ 1.,
Development of Art,” “ Horace Greeley, No
tices and Criticisms.” Each article has to stand
on its merits, for we have no clue to its author.
We always like to know whose production we
are reading. This is Vol. XXVI. and No. 51;
so the reader will see that the Review is an old
settler, and has the marks of age upon it. W e
consider it among the ablest of American quar
terlies; price, $5 a year in advance. We heartily
commend it to those who want substantially a
review in fact as well as in name.
Lange on the Psalms is not Lange on the
Psalms,but someoneelse. Carl Bernhard Moll,
D.D., a distinguished Prussian divine, has done
the critical and the commentarying in this vol
ume. Being done in German, it had to be trans
lated into American. Four men have done this —
Revs. Charles A. Briggs, John Forsyth, D.D.,
James B. Hammond, and J. Fred. McCurdy.
After the historical, exegetical, critical, doc
trinal, and homoletical doing of the Psalms in
the same style of Lange’s other volumes, we have
anew version of the Psalms and Philological
Notes, by Rev. Thomas J. Conant, D.D.; pub
lished by Scribner, Armstrong & Cos., New York.
This will be a valuable accession to the literature
of the Book of Psalms, already varied, rich and
full. The new version of the Psalms mentioned
above will add much to the interest and value of
this volume of Lange’s great Commentary.
The Earth. That is the brief title of a large
book. It is an octavo volume of 573 pages; it
is a beautiful book in binding, paper, type, me
chanical execution —so the eye says. But what
is it about? It gives “a descriptive history of
the phenomena of the life of the Globe.” That
is pretty big talk, isn’t it? Who is the author?
Elisee Redus. But he is a Frenchman. It is
translated, though, by the late B. A. Woodward,
M.A., and edited by Henry Woodward, of the
British Museum. Those last two words make it
look up a little. We said it is beautiful; a part
of this beauty is found in the 230 maps inserted
in the text of the book, and 23 page-maps printed
in colors. Who publishes it? Harper & Broth
ers? Now, reader, you think you know it all;
but you are mistaken. This volume is a treasury
of knowledge on this vast subject. It is charm
ing in style, profound, speculative, full of re
search. It is full of interest and information.
The thorough scholar will read it at any rate,
and those that want to be thorough scholars
ought to read it. It is a valuable book; buy it.
We can’t let you have our copy; we must keep
it as a book of reference.
Personals.
S. B. Conover, on the 31st ult., was elected
United States Senator from Florida.
Adam Sedgwick, an eminent geologist,
died recently in London, aged eighty-five.
A bill divorcing Gov. Safford from his wife
has passed the Arizona Legislature.
Prince Arthur, of England, paid a visit to
the Pope and Cardinal Antonelli on the 23d
ult.
The retirement of Bismarck from the Min
isterial presidency, he says was entirely in
consideration of his health.
Hon. and Rev. Baptist W. Noel, an emi
nent evangelical divine, recently deceased in
England, aged seventy-four.
Hon. Oscar C. Shafter, formerly Judge ol
the Supreme Court of California, died in
Florence, Italy, January 25th.
President Grant has vetoed the bill to give
the East Tennessee University, at Knoxville,
$18,500, for damages done during the war.
Henry Ralph Dennis, Esq., one of the old
est members of the New Orleans bar, died in
that city January 28th, aged eighty-six years.
The Senate has confirmed the nomination
of J. C. Bancroft Davis to be Assistant Sec
retary of State, v\ce Charles Hale, resigned.
A telegram from San Francisco, Jan. 29th,
announces that Prince William C. Lunalillo,
is elected King of the Sandwich Islands.
Victor Emamuel, King of Italy, has pub
lished a royal decree whereby he takes pos
session of sixteen convents in the city of
Rome.
Mrs. Hamline, widow of Bishop Hamline,
is living at Evanston, 111. Though not in ro
bust health, she is active and zealous in her
Master’s work.
General Palmer, of Illinois, thinks railroads
ought to be constructed as public highways,
allowing every man to run a train who is able
to afford it.
Senator Sumner’s condition, according to
reports, is not materially improved. He is
not expected to be able to be in his seat again
during this session.
The Dowager Empress Amelia, of Brazil,
died in Lisbon, January 26th, aged sixty-one
years. She was married to the Emperor Don
Pedro 1., of Brazil, in 1829.
Rev. Wm. Butler and family are announced
to leave New York, on the steamer City of
Mexico , at 3 o’clock p.m., Thursday, Feb. 6th,
from Pier No. 3, North River.
Thomas G. Boyd, of Sweetwater, Tenn.,
waSj on the 31st ult., in Knoxville, sentenced
to five years’ imprisonment and $5,000 fine
for pension frauds/®*) the Government.
Rev. James White, of the New Jersey Con
ference, was buried on the 16th ult., aged
fifty-seven, having been thirty-five years a
member of his conference.
Mrs. Jennie F. Willing has been holding a
series of meetings in New Albany, Ind.,
which have been signally blessed of God. So
says the Methodist Home Journal.
Dr. B. F. Test, editor of the Ladies Repos
itory in by-gone years, has recently become
editor of anew weekly, published in Bangor,
Me., and called The Northern Border.
We learn indirectly that Rev. W>H. Rogers,
of the Holston Conference, comtemplates go
ing as a missionary to Mexioo —by invitation
of Dr. Dashiell —to leave for that field about
the Ist of May next.
We learn from the New York Times that
Rev. John Hutchinson, an Episcopal clergy
man of New Jersey, has been indicted by the
Grand Jury, in Boston, for obtaining money
under false pretenses.
Bishop Simpson and family have been vis
iting in the vicinity of Boston. The Bishop
recently dedicated a churdh at Leominster,
Mass. He has also favored several New En
gland towns with his popular leotures.
bather Boehm, aged ninety-eight, preached
a short and very affecting discourse in the
Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church, Wil
mington, Del., on a recent Monday evening.
He referred to his preaching in that city in
the ear 1800. This is a most extraordinary
fact.
D. Wemiss Jobson, of New York, has been
awarded SIO,OOO damages for having been
forcibly ejected from the United States Court
building by United States Marshal Sharpe.
It was, not after all, so very sharp in Sharpe
to do that.
Mr. G. Smith, of the British Museum,
whose translation of the Chaldean account of
the Deluge has caused so much talk lately,
has been asked by the proprietors of a daily
London paper to go to the East to undertake
further researches.
Dr. W. 0. Tilden, Professor of Chemistry
at Harvard University, was accidentally shot
in the National Hotel, Washington, on Thurs
day night, by a pistol which fell from the
pocket of G. C. Wall. The wound is a seri
ous one, in the abdomen.
Rev. Wm. C. Clark, who was recently ex
pelled from his church in Brooklyn, N.Y.,
lor dealing iu lottery tickets, was not a mem
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as
some newspapers have reported him, but of
the Protestant Methodist Church. They
served him right. It is high time that both
ministers and churches should oppose lot
teries and gambling in all forms, no mat
tor what the money raised is to be used for.
Christ does not want his cause assisted by
any doubtful expedients.
Kodama, the Japanese, who was baptized
by Dr. Newman, at Washington City, several
months ago, has abandoned his intention of
making law his profession, and proposes to
study for the ministry and return to Japan
and establish a Methodist Episcopal Church.
At the late session of the South Carolina
Conference Rev. Richard M. Valentine was
recognized as an elder from the Colored M. E.
Church of America; Rev. Nathaniel Drayton,
as a deacon from the African M. E. Church.
Rev. E. J. Snetton was re-admitted.
Pere Hyacinth made a public address in
Paris, Sunday, J anuary sth, the first since the
bishop of Paris removed him from the pastor
ate of Notre Dame, some three years ago. It
was at the opening of the week of prayer in
Dr. Presencee’s Church. Both Catholics and
Protestants were his auditors.
A telegram from Berlin reports that Car
lotta, the daughter of a King, widow of Max
imillian, Ex-Empress of Mexico, who has
been insane for several years, on account of
her husband’s death in Mexico, was released
by death from her earthly sufferings on Jan
uary 30th. Her death was not unexpected.
Hon. James Brooks, Congressman from
New York, has been ordered by his physi
cians to quit all work of any kind, and has
not been in his seat either in the House or
Ways and Means Committee for over two
weeks. He is suffering severely from attacks
arising from his summer journey around the
world.
John McLean, a prominent Methodist lay
man of New York city, died suddenly of ap
oplexy at his residence, January 24th, aged
seventy-five years. For several years past he
has been President of the Sing Sing Camp
meeting Association. A devoted, pious and
useful man has passed from labor to reward.
Gen. Thomas Eckhart, Superintendent of
the Western Union Telegraph Company, and
G. B. Prescott, electrician, are to visit Eu
rope during the coming month, on behalf of
the company, to investigate the workings of
foreign telegraphic systems, especially the ap
pliances of pneumatic tubes, with a view to
their introduction into this country.
We learn from the Methodist Home Jour
nal that Dr. J. S. Inskip and Rev. W.
McDonald were to commence a ten days’
meeting in New Albany, Ind., January 26th.
Dr. Fuller has reoeived no letter from Dr.
Inskip in reference to the invitation from
Loyd-Street Church to come to Atlanta.
These brethren are expected, but it is not
certain that they will come.
The New Orleans papers say that Bishop
J. C. Keener, of the Church South, left that
city January 20th, for Mexico, with a view of
establishing a mission or missions in that old
city of the Aztecs. He expects to be absent
about a month. $1,600 were contributed for .
that mission by friends in New Orleans. The
Bishop thinks it will require from SIO,OOO to
$50,000 to establish the mission on a perma
"nent foundation.
Dr. Reid, one of the Missionary Secretaries,
visited Boston, and preached January 19th,
in Winthrop Churcn in the morning, (col
lected $1,500;) Tremont-Street Church in the
afternoon, (collected $1,500,) and at Harvard
Church at night, (collected S9OO) —total for
the day, for missions, $3,900. Dr. Butler,
same day, preached at Lynn Common-Grace
Church, and Church-Street Church. Lynn
Common proposes to make its contribution
$2,000.
Bishop Haven has reached the City of
Mexico in safety, as we learn through Zion's
Herald. The editor of that paper says:
“ From a private note we learn that his way
seems to be providentially opened before him.
The railroad was just eompleteted between Vera
Cruz and Mexico, and he was invited to accom
pany the President of the Republic and govern
mental and railroad officials into the capital,
upon the new route. So he enters the heart of
the new mission under the highest auspices. He
is in fine health and spirits, and full of Christian
hope and courage.”
TEXAS CONFERENCE APPOINTMENTS.
Houston District, W. R. Fayle, P.E.— Houston.
Mission) John Hail? "Houston, Spencer Hardwell?
Houston circuit, Murray Cole. West Point, Ga
briel Todd. Lynchburg, Elias Dibble. Harris
burg, to be supplied bv Wm. Burley. Galveston,
Jessie Shackleford. San Felipe, Austin Logan.
Richmond, John Whittaker. Columbia, James
Smith. Caney, to be supplied. Staffords, James
Davis. Liberty, John Nesby. West Liberty, to
be supplied by Benj. Johnson. Cypress, John
Brown. Danville, P. S. Meadows. Montgomery,
Enoch Jefferson. Frost Chapel, Reuben Reeder.
Gulf Prairie, Mason Reddick. Bernard, to be
supplied. Livingston, Isaac Smith. Wharton,
Washington Thomas. Columbus, B. F. Wil
liams. Columbus circuit, Collin Maya. Wallia
ville, Henry Patterson.
Navasota District, S. M. Kingston,'P. E.
Hempstead, Samuel Gates. Hempstead circuit,
A J. Neeley. Bellville, Sami. Laurence. Court
ney, Wesley Childs. Navasota, A.Gillum. Plau
tersville, Louis Lane. Anderson, Charles Gor
don. Huntsville, J. K. Loggins. Millican, Ste-
Shen Curtis. Bryan, to be supplied by Peter
lake. Brewer’s Hill, to be supplied. Brenham,
John Guess. Brenham circuit, to be supplied.
Hopewell, to be supplied by H. McDonald. Red
Top, Mack Williams. Brazos circuit, Willis Van
Hook. Walker circuit, Richard Williams. Yel
low Prairie and Caldwell, Turner Jackson.
Waco District, B. O. Watrom, P. E. —Waco,
Anderson Brack. Marlin, Abraham Taylor. Big
Creek, Prince Wilson. Port Sullivan, Solomon
Morgan. Calvert, Lewis Woodward. Springfield,
Hiram Melton, h airfield, to be supplied by James
Allen. Cotton Gin, Gabriel Wilson. Battle Creek,
Austin Lockhart. Corsicana, to be supplied.
Waxahatchie, Wesley Fletcher. Centerville,
Perry G. Brown.
Austin District B. C. Hammond, P.E.—Aus
tin Wesley Chapel, Daniel Gregory. Austin
Janes’ Chapel, Jacob Miller. Austin circuit, to
be supplied by Charles Madison, Elijah Nesbitt.
Georgetown mission, T. J. Lacy. Cross Creeks,
Joel L. Strickland. Cameron, to be supplied.
LaGrange, Alexander Campbell. Cunningham,
to be supplied by Primus Gates. Industry,
Samuel Alien. Bastrop, Cesar King. George
town. Cyrus Shanks. Belton, Christopher Young.
Lockhart, Nathan Caswell. McDade and Gid
dings, Archie Johnson. Burnett, John Boyd.
San Antonio District, T. T. Leach, P.E.— San
Antonio, William Brown. San Antonio circuit,
W. O. Sheeley. Seguin, to be supplied. San
Marcos, to be supplied by Tony Angus. Gon
zales, M. Henson. Gonzales circuit, London
Morris. Cibolo, J. G. Webster. Lavender, John
Wright. Clinton, Charles Schraggs. Goliad,
George Young. Victoria, Larkin Carper. In
dianola, Allen Harris. Corpus Christi, Cyrus
Hackett. Texana, to be supplied bv Isaac Smith.
Yorktown, James Holt. Helena, W. H. Thomas.
Belmont, John T Hill. Sweet Home, Reuben
Coleman. Peach Creek, James Boyd. Halletts
ville, Asa Moore. Boxville, Daniel Harper.
Rockport, to be supplied. Hesterville, to be
supplied by Henry Thompson.
Marshall District, W. L. Mallov, P.E. —Mar-
shall mission, F. C. Moore. Marshall Ist Church,
Emanuel M. Williams. Marshall 2d Church,
Elijah Wells. Marshall circuit, E. Beck. Tyler,
to be supplied by Wm. Saunders. Quitman,
Abraham Robinson. Honey Grove, Cesar Wo
mack. Clarksville, A. M. Gregory. Paris, Dan
iel Battle. Bonham, to be supplied. Sherman,
to be supplied. Jacksonville, to bo supplied.
Palestine, Thos. Ward. Jefferson, Paul Doug
lass. Jefferson 2d Church, C. Luester. Jefferson
circuit, Daniel Benjamin. Wheatville, Anderson
8. Strong. Cofteeville, Henry Smith. Hickory
Grove, E. Blair. Nacogdoches, to be supplied.
St. Augustine, Hubbard Kellum. Marion, J.
Jordan. Linden, Edmund Williams. Sabine,
Edmund Barrett. Shelby, to be supplied. Fort
"Worth mission, Thomas Wilson, Dallas, to be
supplied.
Western German District, Carl Biel, P.E. —
Fort Mason, to be supplied. Llano, Anton Ul
rich. Fredericksburg, Conrad Pluennecke. San
Antonio, Gustavus Elley. New Braunfels, Wil
liam Felsing. Hockheim, to be supplied. Vic
toria, Henry Homberg.
Eastern German District, Wm. Pfaeffie, P.E.
Austin, to be supplied. Waco, Frederic Mumme.
Dallas, Henry Diets. Anderson and Navasota,
to be supplied. Industry, E. W. Strocter. Bren
ham, Carl Urbanthe. LaGrange, Edward Schnei
der. Rabb’s Creek and Bastrop, Christian Speck
map.
E. F. Biscoe transferred to the Newark Con
ference.
Superannuated. —lsaac Wright, Johnson Hens
ley, Wm. Burley.
Supernumerary. —T. B. Ferguson, G, W. Honey,
Aaron Neeley.