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The Methodist Advocate IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY HITCHCOCK & WALDEN, FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, At Mo. 110 Wbltoliall-Btreet. TERMS: Two Dollars a year, It,, -'«Mj In advance. ptrg Bigkl All traveling preachers of the Methodist EpifJc~ are authorized agents. All subscriptions must close with the end of each Year. A Sermon. BY REV. T. 0. CARTER. “Behold, the hire of the laborer* who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Swbaoth.*’ Jaipes v: 4. This terrible passage of Scripture has been manifestly fulfilled in the history of our country, especially in that part of it where slavery existed, previous to the bloody in flict that terminated in its extinction. For more than two centuries the “laborers” went forth clearing these great'forests, scattering the grain over these extensive acres, and “reaping down these vast fields;” yet, “the hire was kept back by fraud,” and the poor outraged “laborers” received no equivalent for their arduous toils. Although the labor of their hands filled the country with wealth, built rich and flourishing cities, erected literary and religious institutions, tracked the land with railroads, freighted steam-cars and steam-ships with the products of* the country, and glutted the markets from year to year with a superabundance of exchangeable com modities; although their toils did all this and more besides, still "the hire was kept back by fraud," and the “laborers” were not per mitted to enjoy the products of their own hands, but toiled on through cold and heat, half clothed and sometimes half fed, while their children suffered penury and ignorance. But Dr. Rivers says in his attempt to justify the institution of slavery, that “The direct tendency of slavery is to make the con dition of the slave more happy and prosper ous than that of the free white operative at the North or in Europe. While the poor white operative pines in want and his chil dren become beggars, the negro slave flour ishes in plenty, and has to spare.” What a fallacious argument! With regard to the assertion that the condition of the negro slave was more prosperous and happy than that of the poor white operative of the North, I would say that no statement was ever more obviously false. It is false, in the first place, because it is impossible in the very nature of mankind for a slave to be as happy as a free man. I can see how a man may be happy in the cold hut of poverty, but I can not con ceive how it is possible for him to be happy when his life, liberty, and greatest possibili ties are held in absolute control by another, and dare not move only as he is bidden. This fact is illustrated in the fable of the wild and tame ass. The former seeing the latter in a certain sunny place, thought him to be happy; but afterward, seeing him bear ing burdens and beaten by his master, a sad change came over his brutish instinct. No sensible, unprejudiced man, seeing the poor slave bearing burdens and beaten by a cruel master, thought his condition to he a happy one. A slave happier than a free man? No! The assertion is preposterous! I doubt if the slaves of the South knew what happiness was, only as faith removed the veil of gloom, and hope whispered “there’s a better day approaching.” The assertion is false, in the second place, because the poor white operatives in the North have always enjoyed the same.chances of success and failure that other men have; and many of them have become vastly rich. Who ever hoard of a slave becoming wealthy? Mr. Rivers says “ho flourished in plenty, and had to spare.” If this be true, why did he not live in a comfortable and well furnished house? Why did he not sleep on a feather bed, and recline his weary head on a downy pillow instead of falling to sleep on a pile oi straw-? Why did he not rest his timl limbs at evening in the rocking-chair, or pleasant sofa instead of a hard bench or rough stool? Why did he not ride in a cush ioned buggy instead of walking, when he went six and eight miles to Church? And if “he flourished in plenty and had to spare,” why in the name of reason did he walk ten and fifteen miles on the Sabbath day peddling baskets and brooms which he had made at the dead hours of night when his body should have been wrapped in slumber? And why did he wear the old coat and hat that his master had thrown away instead of wearing first rate clothing? Did his degraded taste lead him, amid “plenty and to spare,” to choose rags and cabins instead of purple robes and costly mansions? I would forever say, no! The text solves the mystic problem. “ The hire was kept back by fraud." Rut Mr. Rivers compares the condition of the negro slave with that of the European operative, and asserts that the condition of the former is more prosperous and happy than that of the latter. Suppose it was, did that remove the injustice of the treatment which the slave received from his master? And would Mr. Rivers, as an American citi zen, argue for a moment that the subjects of Europe are treated as they should be? Be cause one man kills another, does that prove it to be right and justify all others who may commit murder? Or because one man gets drunk, does that license all men to do like wise and prove it to be Scripturally right? “Insulted reason” answers no! This is the very ground on which the learned divine con tends for the right of slavery. Beeause the poor operatives of Europe, under~that mon archical form of government, are crushed beneath the iron heel of oppression, he would say it is Scripturally right to buy and sell, beat and torture, enslave and oppress the African race, under this Republican form of government. He has surely forgotten that the very oppression from which he argues drove Our pilgrim fathers to these shores. They brought with them the seeds of a dis enthralled religion and a free government— one that would grant to all men “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This seed they sowed on American soil, and on the morning of our nation’s birth they realized the harvest of their sowing. “The clarion notes which echoed from the temple of Amer ican independence, and aroused the oountry to civil liberty, were answered by a louder voice proclaiming liberty to the Church;” The people of Europe can not boast of civil and religious liberty, while the people of America glory in the freedom of all their in stitutions. It is no wonder, therefore, that the poor operatives in Europe are oppressed, but that only proves the more conclusively that oppression should not be tolerated in America. The arguments of Mr. Rivers have neither proven the right of slavery nor removed the fact that those who received slave labor practiced fraud. The stain can not be washed from the history of our country nor erased from the records of slave-dealers. It was by fraud that they were stolen from their sunny Africa; it was by fraud that they were sold to the American colonists; it was by fraud that they induced them to make the bloody {mrchase; and it was by fraud and open vio ation of all law, both human and divine, that they were held in abject slavery and their hire “kept back.” But I must turn to the last part of the text —“And the cries of them which reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.” Just as surely as the Lord heard the cries of the Israelites and delivered them from the hand of the oppressor, just so surely did he hear the cries of the slaves of the South, and emancipated them from bond age. Through the long years of intense suf fering to which they were forced to submit, their cries were piercing the very heavens. From hill and valley, from field and barn, from secluded grove and public sanctuary, their lamentations were going up to the mer ciful ears of the never-sleeping God. At morning’s early dawn, as they arose from their excited dreams of freedom, they bowed the suppliant knee to Him who had watched their disturbed slumbers, and pleaded for a realization of their cherished hopes. And through the heavy toils of the day, while driven by task-masters, their prayers went YOL. YI. up in subdued sighs and suppressed murmurs for the yoke to he removed. And then, at the holy hour of evening, when the vesper shadows began to gather, their cries still ascended, freighted with earnest pleading for the heavy shackles to be broken from their tortured bodies. At last Jehovah stooped from his high empyrean and with his own hand burst the fetters, and sounded the note of liberty from our proud Capitol, which was answered by ten thousand shouts of ec static joy, and the whole nation was made vocal with the songs of freedom. Truly the “cries of the laborers” had entered into the ears of the Lord his great, com passionate heart had been moved to pity, and his grand purposes were accomplished iD their liberation. Then let those who are ever croaking and grumbling at the North for freeing their slaves, cease their complaining and bow to the majesty of God, acknowledging him as the one who announced the “Emanci pation Proclamation.” Now that they are freed among us, home less and penniless, and are compelled to cul tivate our lands for sustenance, let us remem ber the text in all our dealings with them. Let no one take advantage of their ignorance and poverty. Let no one be so basely wicked as to hire them for half price because they either do not know the worth of labor or have sunken into such a state of necessity as to force them to work for reduced wage3. It pays to be honest. But it does not pay to exchange integrity for a few dollars and cents. Money made by cheating these poor, unlet tered freedmen will burn in your conscience and destroy your earthly and perhaps future happiness. Then deal honestly with them. Hire liberally and pay punctually. Do not “keep back the hire by fraud,” and then God’s smile will rest upon you and a sweet peace will take possession of your soul. I desire, in conclusion, to allude very dis creetly and gently to the atrocious deeds of murder that have been committed in the South, and especially in my native Tennessee, during the months that have just passed. As I have read the statements of the Ku-Klux outrages and midnight murders, I have won dered how long shall the patriotic people of Tennessee suffer from those outlaws? How long shall her sacred name be disgraced, her houses of worship burned, her public schools outraged, and her citizens shot down by blood-thirsty villians? Surely it is mercy, second only to the mercy of God, that has caused President Grant to withhold the sword from these lawless , rebellious and Gov ernment-hating wretches! They may bo thankful that they have had the merciful Grant to deal with, instead of the justice giving Jackson, whose sleeping dust is de famed by their heinous crimes. If he could rise from his grave and assume the responsi bilities of Chief Executive, he would say, “By the Eternal,” as he did in the case of John C. Calhoun, that death should be their inevitable doom, if they desisted not from their enormous crimes. And no less certain than the declaration will be the execution. But, while President Grant has been so merciful, and these fearful crimes have gone unpunished, the blood of the slain has been crying unto God. “The Lord said unto Cain, the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” Many voices of blood have cried unto God from Tennessee during the present year, calling for vengeance, and though he has not yet cursed them or driven them from the face of the earth, which opened her mouth to receive this inno cent blood, yet, “He will not withhold his anger forever,” and sooner or later, they will pay the fearful penalty. jSuch tremendous crimes must be punished! The day of retri bution will come! And it will be more tol erable, in the Day of Judgment, for Sodom and Gomorrah than it will for the assassins of Tennessee. May God protect the right! “He Shall Have Whatsoever He Saith.” NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE. BY REV. JOHN A. LANSING, A. M. Whosoever shall say, he shall have what sover he saith, if he have faith and doubt not. Such is the teaching of Jesus, as Mark records it and Matthew tells it, when they set before us the withered fig tree and its lessons. Is it not well to look a little after our vested rights, as belonging to the great company who have heeded the “whoso ever” of the Gospel invitation, and who firmly believe the teaching of the epistle that says “All things are yours”? May not the one who has heeded the voice that said “Come!” have the right to say, “Be thou removed” to the mountain, and witness its stately march to the sea and its disappear ance beneath the waves? And shall not the one that can truly say, “All things are mine,” be able, by his voice of command, to pluck up by its roots —not one left behind to sprout trouble afterwards —the sycamine tree, and even plant it, as the sign of his conquering, where no green tree has ever rooted or flourished—on the bosom of the same waters where the mountain went down Trom sight? There can be but one answer to queries like these, without a reversal, so it seems to me, both of the preface and conclusion of these illustrative words of Jesus. For preface, we have not only these mar vellous words, “Have faith in God,” or, better, have the faith of God, but the ever present teaching that doubt is all that can negative faith, and the pregnant “verily,” and wide reaching “whosoever” of the Savior. “For, verily, I say unto you, whoso ever shall say unto this mountain, * * * and, for conclusion, “Therefore, I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe- that ye receive them, and ye shall have them,” or with the close knitting copulative, and, to bind it fast thereto, these words, “All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Both of these mighty promises the Church has held common to all believers; both of them are but formulated statement and conclusion of the teaching that makes the “say” of faith as the word of him who spake and it was done. The “ye,” which held in its two let ters, at the first, apparently, but the ad dressed disciples has expanded to the “who soever,” whose limitation you make by doubt ing, and then has become the ye whose ample breadth takes in all who desire, pray, believe, receive. The “whatsoever” has been broken in two, that it might read, “what-things soever, and there has found another form without limit in itself, for in Matthew’s record it becomes “all things whatsoever;” and so the “say” of faith, on the lips of him whose heart is undoubting, .becomes a measureless force which moves mountains and plucks up and plants sycamine trees by its word. If we look upon these picture words as but il lustrative, we but add strength to the state ment; for the symbol is ever outdone by the reality. Either symbol paints the impossi ble, and that in most striking figure; for what could more fitly set forth that which can not be done, than the removal of the everlasting hills by a word, or the planting of a tree in mid wave? If you make the word “say,” but illustrative, there only comes ATLANTA, GA., WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1874. meat out of the change. For to say, using it figuratively, would be but to put into word form so that your thought could be borne to another; and so this mighty word of faith is the written as well as the spoken “say,” the word of a printing press or letter, if it come from a heart that doubts not. And why not all this? Creation followed, “and God said,” from the first, let there be light, and there was light, until God’s crowning work in man; for the record is “And God said, let us make man,” and then it was done. By the word of his power all thing are upheld, and at his voice all will be changed. The first man heard the voice of the Lord God, walking in the garden; and the last scene of the Judgment is ushered in with the King saying, “Come! Depart!” The world is to be brought to God by a herald voice. Even the coming of The Word, who was God, was prepared by the voice of one crying in the wilderness. God has ever chosen to join the resist less power of his Spirit with the spoken, written, living Word; and, since the life of the just is the life of faith, is it strange that the “say” of faith should be overcoming? Reader, is there any power in what you say to remove, pluck up, or plant? Before the voice of your asking, do mountains begin to tremble, and wide-spreading, deep-rooted trees begin to break ground, or is your voice as the voice of any other man? We Can, if a we Will. BY KEY. R. PIERCE. In a recent editorial you say: “If a hun dred of our well-to-do Tennessee farmers would give a thousand dollars each for these institutions (East Tennessee Wesleyan and Knoxville Universities) they would soon put them in a position of incalculable power for good in the Church and country;” adding, “this suggestion is practicable.” My ex perience in canvassing has developed the fact that, on every one of our charges visited by me, there are from one up to five who could give SSOO, orslooo, each. On the —circuit, there are four persons at least, who could give SSOO, each, and two who could give SIOOO, each, and it would be a great blessing to them. On the R— circuit is one man who could give from one to five thousand, and it may he necessary for him to do so, to save him from worldliness iand avarice. There are many others who could give SIOO to S2OO and $300; some SSOO. I know a man on one of our circuits —a warm Methodist in sentiment, and though not professedly religious, who is thinking and talking (rather in a quiet, private way) of willing his entire property to the Knoxville' University—he has no chil dren. His property is worth, I judge, near SIO,OOO. He will give us a thousand dollars on the Memorial fund, in my opinion. Now let us move right along in earnest —show the community and Church that we mean busi ness, and in due time we shall receive be quests and large donations. I might fill pages in giving you details of what I have seen. and liheatown are only specimens of the ability of our Churches and congregations to give. One word as to de veloping this ability: In Newark, N. J., a Church was in debt SI2OOO. In an official meeting it was proposed to raise S2OOO, and reduce the debt. This proposition dragged. A brother then proposed to pay SIOOO, if the SI2OOO were secured. This proposition took, and was carried through with enthusiasm. Place an enterprise before men that is grand and inspiring, yet practical, and they will give in proportion to the magnitude and im portance of the enterprise. Talk to the Church and propose to them to do something worthy of themselves and the cause, and they will give largely. We must preach, lecture, write, circulate documents,tracts, until the people understand the importance and the grandeur of our edu cational work. In other words, work up these interests, and this will take time. But it ap pears plain to me that broad, bold, grand plans, sweeping on in their scope and includ ing the coming greatness of the future —plans measuring up to our duty and responsibili ties —will inspire and develop the power of the Church to execute those plans, provid ing the plans are wise and practical. Our plans (educational) have the collected wisdom of the Church, the experience of the past, all concentrated on them. Hence, I hail your editorial—give us more shots in the same di rection. They will hit the mark. You know Judge Patterson, his new wheel is likely to be a great success, this is considered as a settled fact already. He lias large plans for our educational work, in case lie secures the means he reasonably expects. Methodism in the Miasmatic Regions of South Carolina. BY REV. BENJ. L. ROBERTS. It may prove interesting to some of your readers to become conversant with the fact that the “miasmatic Charleston” is the cradle of Methodism in South Carolina, and that notwithstanding the commercial strides of some of the interior towns of this State, the old gray-haired Mother is still a giant, and like the pyramids of Egypt, grand in every respect. Nor could we expect less when such sainted men as Bishops Asbury, George, Soule, Andrews, Pierce, and other Godlike men, all of them Colossuses in intellect and labor, operated here. One of the common mistakes of neophytes is, that the Methodist Episcopal Church is being inaugurated for the first time in this State, and that they (the neophytes) are pioneers. Established in 1785, with a steady onward stride, and numbering, in 1815, 5,692 colored and 282 white members, the latter of whom endured many hardships, such as being pumped, stoned, dragged from the pulpit, etc., there needs no “wail of lament” from those who are not conversant with the facts of her history in these parts and who are easily misled by some old wife’s tale. If, after the schism by Hammett in 1791, the African in 1815, the separation of 1844, Methodism finds plenty of breathing room, we would caution ill-advised writing on the decline of Method ism in these miasmatic regions. A reference to the statistical tables of the ninth session of the South Carolina Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, will satisfy the incred ulous. The entire district numbers 17,636 full members, an excess over the three other districts of 9,604. Charleston alone exceeds Broad River by nearly 300, and Saluda dis- trict by 1,000. The “Seaboard and Mountain” have a like interest in the progress of Meth odism, and ’twere well for beginners to leave the field of inuendo and inurbanity. But what does it all mean? Some time ago one of the writers from Georgia to Zion’s Herald made urgent appeal to white men to come to Georgia and take possession of the central places, as preach ers and school-teachers, etc. One from South Carolina, in the Methodist Advocate, thinks the aid afforded the freedmen superfluous, and white men ought to be sent to teach and preach, etc. Still another, in the North-western, urges the unfledged students in the Northern semi naries to come down and take the schools and pulpits, etc. Now, some of us feel satisfied that these wails are uncalled for, and that these attempts to drive the colored men to the wall, or to make them “hewers of wood and drawers of water” will result disastrously to the cause at large. Furthermore, we are trying to stem the current against those who are laying the entire political and ecclesiastical troubles of this section of the country to Northern men, or carpet-baggers, as they are called in de rision, and these sort of letters bear upon them the impress of pride of race, and will force us to think or act against our own in clinations. Now, to those writers who think the second centennial of Methodism will occur next week, or month, or year, because they have by some fortuitous circumstance, persuasion of friends, or considerations of health, hap pened to be in the South, we say, “Let us have peace.” “There is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them as we may.” The field is open, and if God sends us, let us go, and feel satisfied that he wills it so, and not that we are the men. The world move3, and will move,, and so will Methodism, whether we live or die. Charleston, S,C ., Oct. 15, 1874. [We think our correspondent misappre hends some of these writers. They are cer tainly not attempting to drive colored men to the wall or to make them “hewers of wood or drawers of water.” We should be, and trust that we are, workers together for the good of all, and there is certainly enough to be done to occupy the time and strength of each without any getting in the way of others. — Ed.] News from Texas. Miss , a teacher in the freedmen’s work, writes an interesting and suggestive letter to Rev. Dr. Rust, which has been placed at our dis posal, with the recommendation that it be al lowed a prominent position in our columns. At no time in the history of our Church has there been such a ‘glorious opportunity for winning stars for our C'owna in glory as is afforded in the suffering and pithr’Sle Condition of our freedmen it.-Texss, IfirtVeir efi’oits'to shake off the skaekles of ignorance and degradation and attain the alti tude of a Christian manhood and usefulness. We trust that this appeal may find a lodgment in the heart of the Church, bringing forth imme diate and ample fruit to the glory of Christ’s kingdom. At your request, I send you a report of our school and work here, as exhibited in its ad vantages, disadvantages, and needs. First. Qur advantages. We have the advantages of being in the center of a large colored population, of a quiet and unusually healthful location, of plenty of ground to spread out upon, and of having no competing schools. Second. Our disadvantages. We have the disadvantages of being too far out of town to walk to church, lectures or any public exercises without too great an expense of time and strength, of having no private- conveyance and access to no public conveyance, of having no buildings that can be used for students’ board ing hall, therefore of not being able to offer in ducements to those from abroad to come. Since I came here I have not had one mouthful of wholesome food, and every effort to improve it has made it worse instead of better. Provisions are uncommonly high. Flour, sls per barrel; milk, 30 cents per quart; Irish potatoes, $4 per bushel; butter, 50 cents per pound; vegetables of all descriptions ruinously high; beef, 10 cents per pound; and fruit very scarce and high. Third. Our needs. The colored people are yet children, and need to be taught every thing. They know nothing of civilized modes of living, nothing of improved methods of agriculture, very little of the use of tools, except of the rudest description; in fact, very little of im proved methods of labor of any kind. Very few of them have any idea of taste about their homes, and these things can be taught them better by example than any other way; hence we need to place before them a model home, in which neat ness, taste and comfort are separated from ex travagance; and a model farm, which shall show them the best modes of farming and gardening, or, in other words, of making a little land yield large returns. All this can not be done without considerable outlay of money at first. The house and grounds are run down, and need to be put in good repair and neatly furnished. For the farm, there is needed a good Northern farmer, then good Northern tools and appliances, a horse and spring wagon, and last, but not least, a genu ine good watch-dog. For the school, there is needed a boarding hall with dormitories, and our farmer should be a man who could use the labor of the boarders about two hours a day, and make the farm very nearly supply the boarding-house, and thus put the price of board at the lowest possible rates. With this we could offer induce ments to students (and especially theological students) to come to us from abroad. With a chance to offer suitable accommodations and a little timely aid, there is no reason why we should not have here five hundred students, in stead of a little over one hundred. And now lor the immediate and urgent needs of the schools. First. We have no stoves, and Winter is coming on, already we have had some morn ings too cold for safely occupying unwarmed rooms, and two stoves are needed. Then we need maps, charts, school requisites, and some apparatus. There are on the grounds one old building and in process of erection one small new building, which, if furnished with the heavy furniture, would give room to about a dozen students boarding themselves. The furniture for these is very much needed. Then a horse and wagon are needed. There is work enough on the place in drawing lumber, wood, and gen eral cleaning up and repairing to keep these em ployed constantly. To do all that is needed here would require at least five thousand dol lars, but when I look at Conference reports aiid see wealthy Conferences return only a few hun dred dollars, I know that the Freedmen’s Aid Society can not have funds to meet all the de mands upon it; and yet I feel that there are wealthy men enough in onr Church to give all that they now give and yet give all that is needed to carry forward and extend this work and be richer, healthier and happier for it. There are men who ought to give not by dollars, but ac cording as God has given them, by thousands. (I intended to write hundreds, but I think God directed my pen, and I am glad I wrote thou sands.) There is one very urgent reason why our work should be pushed energetically for ward in this part of the South at the present time. Ours is the only school we have in a range of several hundeds of miles, and, so far as I can learn, the only Protestant school in this part of the South. The Romanists are quietly but surely pushing their work forward here. They have schools established for the colored people in many places in the State, and we know that neither money nor labor will be spared in strengthening their hold upon this people, and they have the advantages of having a large white population of Romanists. Now is the accepted time to work for them; to defer will prove highly detrimental and may ruin our interests. Sometimes we get to thinking that times are bet ter than they have been, then accounts of new outrages come to us, showing us how uncertain is our security, except as we feel secure in God’s hands. We have no human protection; but for myself I feel a perfeet assurance of God’s pro tection. Last Saturday we received a letter from a neighboring presiding elder, stating that there had just been an attempt to assassinate him, and he had been obliged to leave the place, where he was helping to carry on a meeting. Every means is being taken to frighten and intimidate the colored people, with the hope of being able to keep them away from the elections. At one point on a certain bridge a guard has been sta tioned to keep colored men from crossing. As an instance of the justice dealt out in the courts here: About the time I came here, one of our young ladies, a student, was passing along a nar row passage in company with a little colored girl, when they met two white girls. In passing, the little colored girl brushed against the white girls. The colored girls were arrested, the case tried, and the older girl fined $lO0 —the little one, $7.50. The only charge made against the older girl was, that she spoke to the little one just be fore they met, and the white girls thought she told the little one to brush against them. The real offense was, that the young lady was attend ing school and becoming educated and refined beyond many of the wlike girls. History of the Institution of Thanksgiving. George Washington defined Thanksgiving to mean a day set apart for the public ac knowledgment of benefits and mercies receiv ed from God. Noah Webster defines it as a public celebration of Divine goodness, a day set apart to acknowledge the goodness of God, as manifested in the ordinary dispensa tions of his bounties, or in averting calami ties, or iu delivery from dangers. This institution of Thanksgiving w r as es tablished by those who came over in the Mayflower, and landed on Plymouth Rock. The Summer of 1623 was marked by a very severe drought. From the Ist of May until the middle of July there was no rain. It seemed inevitable that there must be a com plete failure of all the crops. Starvation looked the colony full in the face. The Gov ernment,‘under these painful apprehensions, was induced to appoint a day for fasting, hu miliation and prayer. When the morning of the designated day dawned, the skies were cloudless and the heavens seemed brass. There was not the slightest indication that the dreaded drought would terminate. But, undaunted, these moral heroes engaged in importunate public prayer for nine consecu tive hours. In the midst of their tears and implorings, without thunder, without winds, the clouds gathered ou all sides, and sweet, moderate rains came down in all needed abundance. They came in direct answer to prayer. The crops yielded an abundant har vest, and the people were saved from the horrors of a famine. And it was in grateful acknowledgment of these great blessings and of this signal interposition that the first American Thanksgiving was proclaimed and devoutly celebrated. In the year 1630, the Plymouth Colony numbered three hundred souls, but they re ceived a reinforcement of eight hundred and forty. Asa suitable recognition of God’s kind providence in their deliverance from the dangers of the deep, and their safe arrival in Massachusetts Bay, the Bth day of Juiy was appointed as a day of public thanksgiving. The Plymouth Colony, in 1631, were com pelled to resort to nuts, clams and acorns, in order to sustain life. In view of this great destitution, they appointed the 6th of Febru ary as a day of fasting and prayer for relief. And it is most worthy of note, that in the very midst of their devotions, two ships, laden with supplies, were discovered proudly enter ing into their harbor. In the epitome of the laws published by the above-named colony, in 1636, it is written that it shall be in the power pf the Governor to command solemn days of humiliation, fast ing and prayer, and also for thanksgiving, as occasion may require. And a fine of five shillings was decreed against any one who engaged in manual labor on Thanksgiving Day. A Thanksgiving was observed in 1651. The Thanksgiving of the year 1654 was in view of the proclamation of peace with the Dutch. Iu the year 1688, the Court of Plymouth issued the following: “ The Court, taking notice of the goodness of God, in the continuance of our civil and re ligious liberties, the general health we have enjoyed, and that it hath pleased God, in some comfortable measure, to bless us in the fruits of the earth, do conceive that these and other favors, do call upon us, for return of thank fulness to the Lord, who might justly have dealt otherwise with us, and, therefore, that we may be joint in this our sacrifice, do pro pose, in the several congregations of this Government, that the 25th day of November next, which will be the fourth day of the week, to be kept as a solemn day of Thanks giving with respect to His goodness in the particulars above mentioned, and what par ticular places and persons may propose to themselves as special causes of devout thank fulness.” We learn from the Plymouth Records that Thanksgiving days wore appointed for the years 1680, 1686, 1689,1690, and all iu the month of November, save the one in the year 1680, which was observed in the month of June. After the year 1700, no mention of Thanksgiving days is made in the records of the colonies, from the fact that such days were annually observed. In the year 1705, the annual Thanksgiving in Connecticut was appointed for the first Thursday of November, and that day was observed iu all the towns except the town of Colchester, where it was postponed, by a formal public vote, until the second Thurs day of the same mouth, on account of the want of a sufficient supply of molasses. In the year 1777, the Continental Congress set apart the 18th day of September to be ob served as a day of solemn thanksgiving and praise throughout the United States, and di rected the Committee on Commerce to import twenty thousand copies of the Bible for gratui tous distribution. On the 17th of December, 1777, General Washington, then near Valley Forge, pro mulgated the following order: “ To-morrow being set apart, by the Hon orable Congress, for public thanksgiving and praise, and duty calling us devoutly to ex press our grateful acknowledgments to God for the manifold blessings lie has granted to us, the general in command directs that the army remain in its present quarters, and that the chaplains perform Divine service, with their several corps and brigades; and he ear nestly exhorts all the oflicers and soldiers to attend with reverence the solemnities of the day.” At Valley Forge, May Gth, 1778, General Washington ordered: “ It having pleased the Almighty Iluler of the Universe to defend the cause of the United American States, and finally to raise us up a powerful friend [referring to the French] among the princes of the earth, to establish our liberty and independence upon a lasting foundation, it becomes us to set apart a day for grateful acknowledgment of the Divine goodness, and celebrating the im portant event which we owe to his Divine in terposition. The several brigades are to be assembled for this purpose at nine o’clock to morrow morning, when their chaplains will communicate to them the intelligence, and offer up thanksgiving, and deliver a discourse suitable to the occasion.” Congress proclaimed a day of Thanksgiv* ing and praise on account of the capitulation at lorktown. President Washington ap pointed, as a day of Thanksgiving, the first or June, 1795. For many years the designa tion of the day was made by the governors of the separate States, and as there was no con cert of expression, different days were selected by the ditferent States. The custom now is, and we trust ever will be, that the day chosen by the President shall be the day of Thanks giving throughout all the States. He who proclaimed liberty to the captives, 'nnd wiped slavery from the face of our na was the first President, since the days ot \V ashingtou, to invite the whole country to join in devout praises and grateful songs on a day appointed as a National Thanks giving.— Western Christian Advocate. Unspoken Prayer. Too tired—too worn to pray, I can but fold my hands, Entreating in a voiceless way, Os Him who understands How flesh and heart succumb— u How will sinks, weary—weak, “Dear Lord, my languid lips are dumb. See what I can not speak." Just as the wearied child, Through sobbing pain opprest, ’ Drops, hushing all its wailings wild. Upon its mother’s breast— So on thy bosom, I Would cast my speechless prayer, Nor doubt that thou wilt let me lie In trustful weakness there. And though no consgious thought Before me rises clear, The prayer, of worldless language wrought, Thou yet will deign to hear. For when, at best, I plead— What so my spirit saith— I only am the bruised reed, And thou, the breathing breath. —Margaret J. Preston. Strength only in God. Man must be supported every inch of the way to the Celestial City, by leaning on Christ. When he ceases to feel this necessity—forgets he is human —he falls! It sometimes results that his best frionds are, spiritually, most injurious to him. Having attained to a certain degree of eminence for purity of life and faith, he is honored and revered. Conscientious persons do not dis guise their admiration, and byword and look finally betray the good man into feeling that he is superior. Satan, quick to seize an ad vantage and steal a glory from the Lord, em phasizes the suggestion, until the poor, de ceived soul, forgets whence its strength was drawn—forgets that a man is only great in God, and is led downward by his mocking enemy. Sometimes this discipline is as necessary for a community as for the deluded one, for hero-worship must always here end in a de thronement of the idol. “Great Homer’s gods were men —our men are gods—or would be so had we the power to shape the ends,” some one has adroitly put it, and it seems very true. As soon as the exalted hero be trays any cast of humanity about him, down comes the pedestal, shattering the common clay all about the feet of the indignant, mad multitude. Aud why? Because, forsooth, it brings two revelations before them—one of their idol's falsity, another of their own blind judgment. Not that the clay was not good enough clay! It Answered very well the use tor which it was i nM rid c d-~to■ tsc m chi- common purpose. Ah no! but it was not such stuff as a god could be made of; so the humiliation extends to the worshipers and idol alike. Then what? The fragments should be gath ered up tenderly, and restored by the mis taken builders to their proper use, if that be yet possible, for by them it was exalted; the angry words should be repressed, and the honest, though too eager hearts and hands, learn a lesson of moderation in the humility. Over-praise is never good: on one side it de generates into flattery, on the other into petty contemptible self-aggrandizement. “Honor to whom honor is due” is quite another thing to consider! No true soul is ever honored by an overweening praise, aud but few are able to withstand the subtlest forms of flat tery. There is in it the criminality of placing a block in your neighbor’s way, over which he may stumble into a ruinous disaster. Are we understood? The paradox—“a proud humility” seems possible—at least, as the terms are employed. This develops into secret spiritual pride, which, being at once the soul’s exaltation aud overthrow, carries discomfiture and humiliation into the camp of the worshipers. The plenitude of God’s grace makes even the seeming ruin a blessing to all, as it opens all understandings to sym pathize with the humanity and weakness that is in all. And so we believe individual aud public mistakes may turn again into blessings to God’s most holy praise.— Metli. Recorder. Ecclesiastical “Dead Beats.” The commercial world has a significant term which it applies, not to the unfortunate and the distressed, but to those who are ex ertionless in their mishap, and who succumb to adversity, expecting others to do for them what they ought to do for themselves. They have a genius for borrowing money. They are persistent bores. You know them a block away, and wish they would always stay at that distance. They are among business men called “Dead Beats.” Almost every Church has an element cor responding with that. These are they who, notwithstanding they have means, pay no pew rent where the pews are let, or contribute nothing where every thing is voluntary. They are voluble in prayer, jnighty in religious gab, make a big swash, but do nothiug for religious institutions. They pray that the pastor may “be blessed in his basket and store,” but do nothing to keep him from starving to death. They do not recognize the fact that there is a religion in giving and a wickedness in withholding. The furnaces would go out for lack of coal, and the lamps for lack of oil, and the church be shut iu six weeks, if it depended upon their contribution. The poor must have the Gospel preached to them, and the pennyless must be welcomed; but there are not more than ten people in any Church who can not give something. If a man can not give a hundred dollars a year, he can give three cents. Woe, then, be to him if he do not give the three cents. We never like to hear a man pray who takes it all out in prayer. It is all folly for a man to pray for the world’s conversion uuless he gives something toward it. The man whose income is not more than two hundred dollars a year ought to give some of it to God. One of the great wants of the Church every-where is to get rid of its “Dead Beats.” —Christian at Work. With God’s Help. Formerly I thought of this work as more difficult than it seems to me now. I am deeply convinced of one thing as I grow old er, and that is, God never sends me to preach a sermon, anywhere on any occasion, but he sends some one iuto that congregation to receive just that truth which he has sent me to utter. Oh, there are hearts —I cannot point them out to-day—but there are men and women iu this audience whose souls are beginning to be stirred, aud to whom God is speaking, even through my feeble voice, this morning. God grant to speak more fully and more loudly to their consciences; rouse them from the stupor of sin, and bring them to Christ! And there are men sayiug, “God helping me, I will be a better minister than ever before.” God help you to carry out your purpose ! —Bishop Simpson. THE Methodist Advocate. Terms of Advertising: Single insertion va centa j« line A ny number of lines, 3 mo’s, each Insertion, 10 cents per Uue number of lines, 6 months or longer, each insertion 8 cents per line On advertisements of fifty lines or more, lOper cent.discount special Notices 16 cents per line Business Items 26 cents per line Marriage Notices • 60 cents. We intend to Insert no queationableadvertisements. NO. 45. FROM OUR MISSION ROOMS. Stirring Incidents are given in the letter from a home missionary, who writes from Arizona Territory. Rev. D. B. Wright dates at Prescott, October 9th: “We have all passed through a process of acclimation, and it has been a severe one of about six weeks—two sick children, no one to take care of them. This, I presume, looks to you as though we suffered, and we should have suffered in tensely il the people here had not been very kind to us. They came in and did all they could, and seemed to bring all they could; in fact, they supplied the house with gro ceries and eatables while we were sick. Mrs. General Urook, the wife of the commauder at the post, (Fort Whipple,) came down, and not only sat up with us, but brought large stores oi teas, coffee, chocolate, canned fruits, wines and groceries of all kinds. Mrs. Gen. Small also donated very largely, and so did several of the officers’ wives. The wealthy ladies of the. village—that made no preten sions to religion—brought in largely, and all classes seut iu. One day two gamblers called, and in a very gentlemanly manner told me that they were gamblers and did not pretend to be Churchmen at all, but they ealled to help us, and handed me S3O. It came very opportunely, for I had been some days with out money to buy medicine with. This class of society have helped me other ways greatly. O my God, could I but benefit them, could I but see them saved, I think I could then say, with one of old, “Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.” But there is no hope of them; you can not get them where the Gos pel can reach them. The day of preaching is the most lively and prosperous day in their business. My dear brethren, you do not know what a community we have here. God must make bare his arm or no one is saved. Now, my dear brethren, I have a little good news to write—little in itself, yet in its con nections here it is great. It is the star of hope glimmering, though faintly, on the brow of the future. Two ladies, the wives of the two leading merchants in the place, have taken hold with us, and are getting other ladies interested with them, iu holding sociables, the proceeds to be used to upholster the church, to buy pulpit chairs, tables, stands, etc., and to do as much more toward finishing the church as they can. Aud still more: the merchants of the place have entered into an agreement—of their own accord —and signed a paper to the efiect that they will close their stores on Sun day, and the man that violates the agreement shall pay a fine of $25, aud it shall go to fin • ish the Church. I met the leading physician of the place a few days ago, who himself is a very talented and smart man. Said he, “That is the first step toward a reformation; and,” said he, “it is the first step in morals the place has ever experienced.” I might add here that none of these people are professors but one lady, who is on proba tion. I am working at 4rlie church, trying to get the carpenter work done; we haven’t money to hire; wages are $8 per day; so I do all I can with my own hands. Brother Reeder works with me when-he is here; ho has now gone to the Colorado, to return in five or six weeks, if at all; the country is so dangerous to travel in, that there are a great many more chances that he never will return, than that he will. I expect he will stay with me a few days, aud then leave for the Southern part of the territqrjv-te be - gUWruli winter. health has not been very good since I have been here. You might think, from his ill health and our sickness, that we have an unhealthy coun try here; but this is not the case; we have a very healthy country, very pure water and air, and no decay of vegetation, uor anything to make it unhealthy. Our sickness was caused more from fatigue and exposure on the last end of the route, than from any thing local here or change of climate. When we reached Ahrenberg, the only chance to get any further was a huckboard that had no spring to it, more properly ealled a lumber wagon, with a platform from axle-tree to axle-tree in place of a box, with two seats on it. This was our only chance. My wife, anxious to have the journey over; and not realizing—more than I did —how severe it would be, resolved to try it; and three awful nights and two and a half days we sat upright in that seat, aud held a child in our laps. The last night we became very mannerly, I wall assure you; we bowed, and sometimes very low, to every tree, and stump, and rock, by the wayside. I would not risk the life of my wife to undertake it again, and yet she kept up her spirits to the last. The road was uninhabited, and on the sides were graves of people that had been killed by the Indians. I would get very solemn, at times, as I would think of my wife aud little children out there exposed to the inhuman Apache. Then Mrs. Wright would strike up a camp-meeting song, and the driver and I must sing it with her. She, from the first, rejoiced to take the mis sion for the Master, and never has indicated any other spirit. Remember us to the brethren. Extraordinary Meetings. —Rarely, per haps never before, have so many meetings of missionary interest occurred within so brief a space, as the farewell missionary meeting last Monday evening, 19th inst., in St. Paul’s, New York; the departure of the company of seven on Tuesday for their work in India; and then the brief, but very comprehensive, account of our foreign missions given by Bishop Harris on Monday, the 26th inst., at a crowded meeting of our pastors of this city and vicinity. The farewell meeting was the result of ar rangements made by the “Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society.” Rev. Brothers Weath erby, Hard, Robinson and Goodwin. Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Banarjea, Mrs. Weatherby, and Miss Lore, all missionaries, in the work or on the way to it —with Dr. Chapman, Secretary Reid, Dr. Lore, and Bishop Har ris, all bore a part in this unusually profitable meeting. The remarks of the Bishop upon facts occurring under his own notice in our foreign missions greatly increased the in-, terest of the occasion. The singing in the Hindustani was also an inspiring part of the exercises. The departure of the missionaries on Tuesday had attracted to the scene troops of friends of the cause, and friends and re latives of the missionaries. Whilst there is always on [such occasions much to affect for good all pious beholders, the interest of this leave-taking was heightened exceedingly. When, at the loosening of the ship’s fastening, she moved from her berth, the crowd on her deck united with the crowd on the shore, to sing of meeting again, In the sweet by aud by, Ou that beautiful shore! The Monday morning address by Bishop Harris was a spell upon the audieuoe, which made them cry long after his purposed and epitomized narrative was exhausted; and so his continuous stream of burniug intelligence, which increased iu intensity as he,proceeded, was only arrested by his own imposed, violent determination to say no more —much to the Idissatisfaction of his enrapt hearers, who seemed relieved by an immediate motion of Secretary Dashiell aud Dr. Curry, express ing the heartiest thanks of the meeting for what they had heard, with a request that the Bishop give the same, and a more elaborate account, iu print, for the benefit of the whole Church. The motion was adopted by a unanimous aud rising vote. Ihe wish was very emphatically expressed that the Bishop should favor all the great centers of our Church throughout the country with a similar account of his observations in oi*ur foreign missions.