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178 METHODIST ADVOCATE. ATLANTA, GA., NOVEMBER 11, 1874. E. Q,. FUHER, D.D., Editor. Corresponding Editors: Rev. J. Braden, Tennessee Conference. Rev. W. C. Graves, Holston Conference. Rev. James Virginia Conference. Rev. T. B. F. James, North Carolina Conference. Rev. A. Webster, South Carolina Conference. Rev. S. B. Darnell, Florida Conference. Rev. C. 0. Fisher, Georgia Conference. Rev. Wm. P. Milder, Alabama Conference. Rev. A. B. Wright, Holston Conference, sends ten new subscribers for 1875, and says: “We are going to make a powerful effort to get up fifty subscribers on our poor mountain circuit.” The subscribers are to be sent to Wartburg, Tenn., where we have bad only two subscribers this year. Subscriptions for 1875. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT. The Methodist Advocate will be sent to new subscribers from the date of receiving their names at our office till January 1,1876, for the price of one year’s subscription, cash in advance, which will give those who sub scribe now nearly two months of the present year free. The price of the paper will con tinue the same as last year—s 2. Hitherto tbe postage has been twenty eents a year, payable in advance quarterly by the subscriber at the post-office where he received his paper. Under the new postal law, the amount for postage will be about the same, but must be paid weekly by the publishers. We will send the Methodist Advocate, post paid, through 1875, to subscribers who pay $2 in advance. This will furnish subscribers, who pay in advance, with the paper at twenty cents less than it cost them last year, includ ing what they paid for postage. This propo sition also embraces the free papers, offered above, to new subscriber. When the cash does not accompany the order, the subscriber must pay to the pastor who takes the subscription, the price both of the paper and postage, for the year, which will be $2.15. . , , Pastors, in taking subscribtions and send ing orders, will please bear this in mind. Unless the cash accompany the order, fifteen cents will invariably be added to the price of the paper to cover the postage. Cash Payments , by enabling us to purchase materials at the lowest rates, and obviating losses inseparable from a credit system, make it possible for us to offer the above sub stantial reduction in price to cash subscrib ers. We give this timely notice, that all may avail themselves of the reduction. Our aim is to secure to those who pay in advance the advantages of a cash system, and to let those who ask credit share with us the dis advantages of a credit system. Agents will be allowed the usual commis sions on all renewals, as well as for new sub scriptions. There are hundreds of Methodist homes within the conferences which patronize the Advocate, not visited by any of the periodi cals of our Church. A favorable time is at hand to reach these homes by canvassing for new subscribers. We request the pastors throughout the patronizing territory of the Advocate, to present its claims to all their congregations, and urge its circulation, because of its value as a medium of religious thought andj news, and because it is the paper published es pecially for them under the direction of the Church. Who will send the largest number of new subscribers by December first? Death that is More than Death. On Saturday, the 31st ult., Miss McDowell, a young lady highly esteemed in tips city, was run over and instantly killed by a passing engine crossing one of our principal streets. The whole com munity was shocked by the occurrence, and protection for persons thus exposed to danger upon the streets, is demanded. This is well, just as it should be. Some thing ought to be done to prevent the recurrence of such scenes as that on the last day of October. We can not refrain, however, from naming in this connection, other scenes equally and indeed more horrid, but which excite no comment. All over this city are whisky holes, the veriest devil dens, where young men are entrapped every day and dragged to a more fearful ruin than that which befell Miss McDowell. She was killed, only. Her character was not tarnished nor her good name stained. These young men are ruined in body, mind and spirit. Reputation, character, every thing, falls under the blighting curse of whisky. Better, a thousand times, that the body be instantly ground to atoms than that the whole man be corrupted, the life wasted and the soul lost in hell. And yet here they go, day after day, bringing down new victims to degradation worse than death, and no one thinks or cares to think of the wretchedness and ruin that is wrought by this monster evil. Tens of thousands every year are utterly blasted by the rum traffic, still there is no outcry against it! One is killed by the cars and the whole city is in an ex citement, but day after day this work of soul-killing goes on, and the community sleeps peacefully in the midst of the dead. Bespattered with blood and brain, the stains are washed with occasional spasms of temperance talk, and the whisky mills grind on day and night, Sundays and all, mingling flesh, bones, blood, mind, morals, money, hope, hap piness, all, all, in one mass of ruin! In go the young and promising and out come the old rotten hulks of debauched hu manity with the smell and look of per dition upon them! Worse than this, good men, Christian men, in defiance of God and right, give license for this very thing to be done! Better have all of the railroad trains in the State running through the city at twenty miles an hour than these hell-gates, the grog-shops, open wide to entrap and destroy the weak and foolish. Grog-shops are Satan’s houses of assignation. In them is death that is more than death. Tbe Church property in the District of Columbia has been assessed according to its market value of $1,591,000, of which sum $1,426,000 are credited to such property in Washington. For some years it has been ex empt from taxation, but now it will have to pay the same as other real estate, namely, three per cent. Three thousand per month is the rate at which the Catholic Total Abstinence Union is increasing its membership. It now in cludes five hundred societies, with a member ship of one hundred thousand, and held its fourth annual conference in Chicago Octo ber 7th, Thanksgiving. President Grant has appointed Thurs day, the 26th inst., as a day of Thanks giving to God for his mercies during the past year. This is eminently fitting. A Christian people should ever recognize his hand in directing the affairs of men. He raiseth up one and casteth down an other according to his wisdom and good ness, holding in check the forces of evil and sustaining the good as shall in the end best promote his glory and the final welfare of mankind. The nations are in his hand. He calls Cyrus, his servant, and leads him to do his will in the resto ration of Israel, and sends confusion and ruin upon the house of Haman. The sunshine of the day and the dews of the night are the gifts of his love, and fruit ful seasons and years of prosperity come at his bidding; while drought, famine and pestilence are the rods of his punishment. All things are naked and open before him. The intrigues of kings and the cor ruptions of people are alike in his sight, and the most secret schemes of the wicked are knoAvn to him even before they are matured in the minds of the designing. God rules though we may not see his hand or acknowledge his power. But for his restraining presence, the whole earth would’ be filled with violence and blood, and peace would he no more known among men. We live and move and have our being in him, and from him cometh every good and every perfect gift. On the day appointed the churches should be opened for prayer and praise, and suitable sermons ought to be preached throughout all the land. These dis courses might impress especially the idea of our obligations to God and that it is his hand which has dealt so won drously with this nation from the begin ning. The colonies were founded by his care and the States and General Govern ment have been shaped by his molding providence. Washington, Lincoln and Grant have been called by his voice as truly as were Cyrus, Mordecai or David, each to fulfill the lot to which he was as signed. He has spoken deliverance to the captives and bids the people to rise up in moral excellence, intellectual power and political purity; and happy will they be if they obey him. In these times, every man is a captain. No one liveth to himself alone, but each is linked to the welfare of all, and he who stands boldly for the right is a host in himself. The few brave Spartans who defended the pas3 of Thermopylae turned back the hordes of the East who had set out to overrun Europe. God helped them and scattered these. The good of to-day are called to act with like valor, and if true to their opportunities and to themselves, God will~mak r e them to be victorious. He presides over the destinies of nations as well as of Churches and individuals, and as truly now as in the time of Moses or Samuel. These facts should be pro claimed from all the pulpits of the coun try on Thanksgiving day. None but infidels or the corrupt have excuse for passing the occasion in neglect. How much have we to be thankful for? Life is a gift, and to be, is a blessing. To life, God has also added mercy, divine grace in giving comfort to the sorrowful and suffering, and the power to do right by those who have nobly, bravely sought the right, and renewing, saving aid to the penitent. God has blessed the Churches so that they have been able to go forward. The Bible has been given to the destitute, the Gospel carried to the heathen, and the Sunday-school has opened its door to the wandering and led the way from degradation and death to hope, manhood, heaven. The presence Os the Lord has been in the camps of Israel, and the land has echoed to revival song and shout. Let us thank God! Next to spiritual blessings, perhaps we ought to name the perpetuity of na tional peace. We have been upon the verge of general outbreak and fearful bloodshed, but the wrath of man has been restrained and the foolishness of the wicked revealed and their schemes brought to nothing. For which God be praised. Amidst the plottings of poli ticians and selfish devices, the Govern ment is not destroyed. All of this is through divine mercy. If God had not been for us we should have been over whelmed. Trust him. Vain is the help of man. Special thanksgiving should be observed for the temperance reform so well begun. The Divine One is in that. He is its strength. More has been done during the last year for the education of all of the people of these States, than in any preceding one. This, too, is the Lord’s doing. White and black, Indian and Chinaman, share in the common up lifting. In some sections, the harvests have been scanty, but, where the grasshopper plague has not wasted the verdure of the West, there is enough and to spare, and in most portions of the country, plenty abounds. The fruits of the earth have given ample reward for the tillage of fields, the orchards have borne their burdens of luscious food, the gardens have yielded their measure of comfort, while pasture and stall have sent their levies to the table. Floods have wasted portions of our heritage, but pestilence has been turned back from our shores. Fires have, in some places, devastated forest and city, though to a lesser extent than during some past years. Commerce has been crippled, but is reviving again. Money has been scarce, but that has impressed many with its value. In the midst of evils, the good has predominated; and after the storm, the bow has been seen in the cloud. Truly, God has been good to all this people. Turning from society to the family and the person, the occasions for thanksgiv ing are equally numerous. Many have fallen asleep during the year, and thus households have been broken; but, still, God has not forgotten to be gracious, nor has he willingly afflicted the children of men. Through cares, and toils, and tears, the balm of his presence has been felt, making our strength according to our day. Mercy has opened the gate of the morning, walked along the path of the day, and barred the door of night. Goodness and love have been our por tion. Gratitude should fill our hearts, and praises break forth from our lips. After Election, What? We do not know. The clouds of bat tle, the smoke and dust of falsehood and vituperation from the scandalous war of words which has characterized the campaign, has not yet cleared away suf ficiently to know the exact state of the case. That a considerable change has occurred in the political aspect of the country is apparent, but the idea that a great revolution has taken place, so si liently and suddenly that none have marked its coming, is absurd. Every one, acquainted with public sentiment, knows that there has been no real growth of Confederate ideas or retrograde move ment of opinion on the great questions which have agitated the American mind for the past ten years. There are no more people in favor of the restoration of slavery and a return to the condition of things before the war, than there were two years ago. On; the contrary, the growth of the public mind has been steadily toward liberty and union. If we were to judge, however, from the reports of the papers, we might suppose that the Confederacy was practically es tablished and that there was nothing left for Union men, of all races and colors, but slavery or hanging. But it must be remembered that most political sheets have done an immense amount of lying in the past ten years, and that these first reports are no doubt greatly exagerated. The outburst of political enthusiasm on the spur of the moment, is no more than was to have been looked for under the inspiration of party leaders. Threats of proscription and persecution, inwoven with some of the ad captandum speeches, in celebration of the victory, have been any thing but creditable to their authors. As mere gasconade, this might be tol erated from the weak; but it savors little of statesmanship or even of good sense. Mauger the stump orators, the heavens have not fallen nor is the earth moved out of its course. The facts simply are that the party long out of office has succeeded in carry ing several States and in electing a large number of Representatives to Congress, perhaps a majority of the lower house. The detailed reports of the elections will be found elsewhere, as far as we are able to give them, this week. The figures may be considerably changed by more careful returns. To the Union people of the South this at first view may look startling. And if the whole country were as these States, there would be oc casion of alarm. The disloyal element might do mischief if it had the power; that, on the part of some, there is a con stant aim to get control of the Govern ment, to overthrow it, is true, without a shadow of doubt. But this is not the purpose of the winning party in a single Northern State. The people there have supposed that the issues of the war were fully settled, and that union and disunion, the freedom of the colored race, their civil recognition and politi cal rights, their education and elevation, were questions beyond dispute. The mass of voters there have had no more thought of reviving the Confederacy than they have of electing Jeff. Davis to the presidency. The contests in the North have been upon local or State issues. Here the case is different. The party winning in the South is little else than the Confederacy revived, with the old ideas and spirit. How far it will carry out its previous aims is yet to be seen. Should revolution be attempted, no prac tical support will be found in political allies of the North. The American people have determined that the Union of these States must and shall be pre served, that freedom, equality before the law and education shall be maintained in the whole country. Nor does the late election indicate any relaxation of these purposes. It may be asked, how, then, has the party representing these ideas been so largely [defeated? To our mind the an swer is not difficult. First, in many places in the South the late election was but a pretense, a farce. Tens and hun dreds of thousands of Republicans have had no fair opportunity to vote. The white league has directly or indirectly controlled the election in some States. As Governor Smith, in his speech in At lanta, said, they claim this as the “white man’s government” and swear that it shall be continued such. Other portions of the South have been thrown into con fusion by the discussion of Sumner’s civil rights bill, and the Republican party has lost heavily in consequence. Second. In some of the Northern METHODIST ADVOCATE: NOVEMBER 11, 1874. Hitchcock & Walden have received a stock of Pastors’ Diary and Visiting Books, of which there has been such a demand that they sold entirely out, but can now fill all orders. Every pastor in the Methodist Epis copal Church should have one. They are nicely bound in morocco, and can be used also as a pocket-book. Those who have used them can not do without them. There is no profit to the Depository on them, but they are gotten up as cheap as possible for the preachers. Send them eighty cents, and they will send you a copy by mail prepaid. Any of our subscribers who would like to give their minister a nice present, should send and get him one. States a political temperance party was organized. This drew almost its entire support from the losing side, and re sulted in adding greatly to the political efficiency of the whisky power. Third. During the interim of presi dential election there is always a falling off from the party in power. This arises from the reaction following a great ex citement, from the disappointment of the myriads of office seekers who fail to get the places they ask for and the mistakes of any administration inseparable from human imperfection. Fourth. General apathy prevailed throughout the country, on the losing side, because there was no important is sue made between the parties, at least none involving the life of the Republic or the stability of the Government. It was a promiscuous scrub race for office, in regard to which perhaps the mass of American citizens are too indifferent. In Ohio, alone, over sixty thousand Re publicans neglected to vote, or voted the Temperance ticket. The “gains” claimed by one party, are not real but apparent. The nominal gain is not caused 4 by per sons going over to the other side, but simply by a failure to vote the opposite ticket. The Democratic party has ab solutely gained nothing ; while the Re publicans have lost by non action, or by unwisely, as we think, throwing away their strength upon a third—the Temper ance movement. Our position on the' general question of Temperance is under stood. In political matters, we think it better for temperance men to guard the nominations of both parties rather than to attempt to defeat them by anew or ganization. On the other hand, there was in the South a perfect organization,Called the W hite League, and no systematic opposi tion. In the North, the old party allied with whisky and Romanism, was put into the field, under the ablest leaders. This campaign was the first martialing of the trinity of anti-progressive influences in this country, viz., Rum, Romanism, and the broken fragments of the late Rebellion. These have made a demon stration in force which may awaken ap prehension, and ought at least to cause careful study on the part of the Amer ican people. W T hat they may accomplish when fully combined in a Presidential campaign, no one can tell; but we apprehend that the late elections measured their strength, and that it is utterly impossible for them to gain control of the Government, unless it be through the indifference of the peo ple. It should always be remembered that the price of liberty is eternal vigi lance. When the issue is hereafter made on national questions, we lock for very different results. The a Bull Run defeat as well as a Gettysburg victory. The former indeed prepared the way for the latter. So these changes in political aspects may have been needed to awaken the people, especially of the North, to a sense of their responsibility. But what now? Again we answer that we do not know. We hope for the best. All that is desired is good gov ernment, the preservation of peace and the protection of the people. If we have these, it is enough. But, shall we look for the burning of our churches and school-houses, the mobbing of our min isters and murder of our people? All of these were threatened before the election and seem to be on the programme of Governor Smith, who announced himself, at the great jubilee in Atlanta, to be in favor of driving “carpet-baggers,” “scal awags,” “Judas Iscariots,” etc., out of the country. Just who this Christian states man and chief executive of a great com monwealth means by these “elegant” terms, we are not informed. As yet, however, the Government is not over thrown, and the citizens of any State have the rights of citizens in all of the States. If the victorious party has so far advanced in liberality and humanity as to honor itself by pursuing a wise policy, which shall tend to the prosperity of the country, we shall be ever ready to admit the facts and express gratitude for their existence. But if the future is to be as the past, in the South, the present victory will ultimate in more overwhelm ing defeat in the near future. The vic tors have placed themselves on trial be fore the civilized world, and if they pro nounce for truth and progress, well; but if for proscription, narrowness, ignor ance, whisky, repudiation, payment for slaves, and the oppression and serfdom of the people of color, the triumph will be short and reverse certain. God rules, and he is yet the sworn friend and de fender of the oppressed. He will make the wrath of man to praise him, and the remainder of wrath will he restrain. He has held this nation in his grasp from the beginning, and now that he has eman cipated the slaves and broken the Con federacy in pieces, we have no fear that we shall be left to corruption and ruin. Parties may perish, but principles endure, and God will bless the right. The October Quarterly. Every preacher in our Southern Con ferences and every laymen who desires to become acquainted with the leading minds in the Church, should take and read and study The Methodist Quarterly Review. Read the October number and you will say so. The following table of contents will tell of the intellectual feast: 1. The approaching Centennial of American Independence, by E. 0. Haven, D. D. 2. Dr. Bender on the New Testament idea of Miracles, by Prof. LaCroix, D. D. 3. Cheap Transportation, by S. G. Ar nold, Esq. 4. Withrow on the Catacombs, by Prof. C. W. Bennett. 5. John Murray the Father of American Universalism, by Rev. N. T. Whitaker. With the “Synopsis of the Quarterlies,” “Foreign Religious Intelligence and Quar terly Book Table.” The first article presents the interests of our National Centennial in its relation to American Churches, and shows how the first Centennial of Methodism in Great Britain gave new life and vigor to Wesleyan Methodism and awakened the attention of all Protestantism to this modern and wonderful revival in Chris tianity. It calls attention to the fact that our Bishops have made the motion that we have for our object in the Cen tennial Celebration, the raising of moneys for educational purposes, endowments of universities, colleges, etc. The Gen eral Conference of 1872 seconded the motion, and it remains for the people to adopt it by carrying out the provisions as laid down in the report adopted by the General Conference. What was done in 1836, and repeated in 1866? The Centennial of American Methodism may, by raising funds for ed ucational purposes, be more largely made a blessing by adding to the $16,- 000,000 funded in our schools, and thus endowing the Church with larger gifts to be used for Christ’s cause. If the na tion should show its gratitude, the Churches should equally do so, and none more so than the Methodist Episcopal Church. The second article on the New Testa ment idea of miracles is an attempt to present this idea as abreast with and beyond the advances of modern life and thought. Prof. LaCroix has, doubtless, well rendered the views of the German theologian, Dr. Bender, and closes his second article with the following resume: 1. “Miracles are not outside but inside of the order of nature. 2. And have the same cause as all other events, namely, the vital Spirit of God. In both events they are organic links in uni versal history. 3. That which distinguishes miracles from natural events and hence constitutes them miracles is (a) the astonishing rapidity of the process, (b) The almost entire ab sence of known second causes, and (c) an un heard of domination of the material by the spiritual. 4. These circumstances result not from a generically different activity of God, but from a direct and more vigorous flowing of the same divine stream that fructifies all ex istence. 5. That this stream, by its fullerleffusion at tained just then, in certain persons and at certain points, extraordinary results, arose in the final instance from the salvatory will of the all-mighty God. 6. Accordingly, miracles have for science (a) the worth of helps for determining the -eftfure andiactivity es God, and-the relation of Jesus to God. 7. They also furnish for Christian faith a basis of experience which can never be superseded by mere abstract reasoning. The third article is full of instruction interest to the merchant, the farmer, the traveler. Cheap Transportation is a thing to be desired and this article shows how it is proposed to secure it. Not by anti-monopolists, nor by Grange opposi tion; but by — 1. Competing roads. 2. By regulating rates by law as now in lowa and Wisconsin. 3. Indirect regulation by opening lines for freight only. 4. The improvement of national water com munications and connections by adequate canals. This last method considers the con templated water communication from St. Louis, by the way of Knoxville or Atlanta to the Atlantic seaboard. The whole article is instructive. The fourth article, “Withrow on the Catacombs/’ is the most valuable to the Christian teacher. The study of the burial places of the earlier Christians, as the Catacombs are shown to be—reveals a most interesting history of the Christian Church in the first three centuries. It shows the per versions of Christian history by the Romish Church, presents the wonder ful beauty of Christian symbolism and its relation to early Christian history, and gives to the scholar a better field of study than any work on Archaeology. The reader of the article will surely wish to secure the book reviewed, and the study of its pages will doubtless give him clearer views of the saving power, Christian truth and life as evinced in its influence upon these early martyrs and their brethren. The fifth article shows the foundations of American Universalism to rest upon the morbid mental condition of John Murray, its founder. His second wife wrote an enthusiastic eulogy of her hus band, whose faith she embraced, but who, according to her statements, died without any sense of his own unworthi ness as a sinner or of his desire to see and be like Christ in a world of holi ness. The review is evidently candid and full—drawn from the “life” of Murray as chiefly written by himself. The Book Notices are, as usual, in Dr. Whedon’s own inimitable style. His re view of Dr. Lowrey’s criticisms in the “Christian Standard” is -a very clear re-statement of his own agreement with the Wesleyan doctrine of sanctification, and an exposition of the error, and conse quent weakness of his critic’s criticisms, as well as his critic’s Theology, or more properly Soteriology. We repeat the review should be studied by our preachers and laymen. It will give breadth of view and beget a love for the Church, or, better, inspire a love for the doctrine she represents, and em phasises with so much force as to make them peculiarly Methodistic and truly evangelical. This October number closes the volume for 1874. Now, therefore, is the time for renewal, or new subscribers. No better expenditure of $2.50 can be made by our brethren than by taking this “best of the quarterlies.” THE METHODIST ADVOCATE. 46?“ We are waiting for the subscription-lists. Clark University. We have additional improvements to re port at Clark University. The institution has enlarged its faculty, its course of study, its grade of students and its buildings. The great good accomplished by “Clark Theological Seminary” is to be supple mented, augmented and carried forward by the larger school and better equipments. Let every preacher make special effort to rally students for this institution. Send your sons and daughters and get your neigh bors to do the same. Educate them in your own schools where their mental and moral natures will be developed to be a blessing to you, to them, and to the Church of Christ. The new building furnishes ample ac commodation for fifty more students. On Saturday of our Conference session, this new building was dedicated and the in terest taken in this matter by all of the mem bers of the Conference, white and colored, indicated the strong hold the Conference had taken upon the education of the people. The new building is It frame structure, 26x47 feet, two stories high, and to be used for dormitories, recitation rooms and chapel. Dr. R. S. Rust directed the exercises, and in his opening speech, struck the key-note. He referred to the celebrated prayer-book of Bishop Doane, who wishing to select a suita ble frontispiece, found a picture representing the nations of the earth pleading to God for mercies and favors. The center of the pic ture was, however, marred, as the Bishop thought, by having the negro bending also as a worshipper, lifting his shackled hands and imploring blessings from our Father. So the Bishop had that part of the picture changed—the praying negro was put out of the assembly of the saints. This, said the Doctor, was only twenty-five years ago. Every other creature might have a Jesus, but no prayers or prayer-book for the poor negro, but now he takes his place again— even in the front , and is learning to plead to, t and to plead and preach for this Jesus. The Doctor said: “In these halls men are to be trained for Christ and the Church. We then want to dedicate these halls, as our good Bishop said last night, to Christo et Ecclesia .” . The Doctor then called upon the Rev. W. Lee, late President of Clark Theological Seminary, who said: “The ground upon which this building stands is to me conse crated ground. It was here that ten years ago he had camped, when the sound of war hushed every other sound save the prayers of those who were holding up their shackles in their pleadings to the Almighty. These prayers had stood indented in the throne of God till the fullness of time had come to answer them; and, lo! as the clouds of war break away, we behold God’s answer given in shackles broken, the bondman made a free man, and this soil on which the blood of freeman had been poured out, ‘made,’ as Wendall Phillips said, ‘Now too sacred to be trodden by by slaves.’ The dawn of a better day has broken upon us, and the freedmen is to be lifted up to intelligence, virtue, and a true Christian manhood. This school is one of the levers which God is using to do this work. “It could not then be otherwise that after two and a half year’s work spent in the be ginning of this Institution, at first with such a noble Christian teacher as Rev. Dr. Barrows, I should feel indeed that this is con secrated ground.” He also referred to his early experience in Baltimore city, and his first lessons in slavery, his better nature bear ing him against the iniquity until in army life God taught him in teaching others. He said, “I have often gathered with the students in the little chapel yonder, and as we bowed in prayer, how earnestly we prayed that some way might be opened for us to secure larger accommodations. God has been good, and now we do rejoice that this day has come, and we are here to dedicate .this new building.” Dr. J. A. Dean, of East Tennessee Wes leyan University, spoke of the immense im portance of the work in hand. He referred to the work to be done in these halls, and said it is because of this that the intrinsic value of this building can not be estimated. However humble in itself, the work done in this place will be of a value untold. Rev. Charles 0. Fisher, of Savannah dis trict, spoke of the impossibility of any one, however deeply interested and sympathetic, measuring the degrading influences of slave life unless they had felt it. He saw it daily in his own work. He felt its influences among his own people. He saw it in their ignorance, superstition and degradation to-day. Why, it was but a short time ago that he listened to a preacher (not of our own Church) who in the threatenings he poured out upon his people threatened them with “the Divine Theologies of the Divine hell.” Brother Fisher referred to the '’''holy dances" as prac ticed in South Georgia, and said: “Why, I find among my own people some who hold to the grossest absurdities and most material views of heaven. He named “one old sister” who had a revelation that she was set apart to keep the robes of the saints white, and believed that there was a soap factory in heaven where she would be especially em ployed in “washing white the robes of the saints.” “Os course lam glad this building is erected,” said brother Fisher. “We need it and many more like it to aid in lifting up our people to the knowledge of life and salvation through the blood of Jesus.” Rev.H.F.lsett, of Philadelphia, spoke of his deep interest in the work, and was followed by Bishop Andrews, who said: “I feel some what like the converted Sandwich Islander who was present at the American Board of Foreign Missions.” He could not speak Euglish very well, but he understood some thing of the work done and to be done, so with the use of all his English the converted Islander said: “Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on,” etc. So said the Bishop: “I say, Go on with the good work so well begun.” The Bishop then referred to the fact that only three weeks ago he left his home and crossed into this Southern land. He had never before been South; had often longed to look upon this land, but not till recently had he done so. He referred to his entrance into Tennessee; his Southern Conferences— the Holston, at Chattanooga, the Tennessee, at Brownsville, and now the Georgia Confer ence. He was pleased with what he saw and heard. He had yet much to learn, but he could not be mistaken in his own interest in this great work of training our teachers and preachers, and he was glad so much was being done. He sometimes felt that his life had been too smooth a one. When he saw how others toiled and suffered, he felt ashamed almost to know so little of toil and sorrow, but he rejoiced that in the midst of it all we may have Christ. Let us strive to emulate each other in this. Rev. Mr. Francis, of Atlanta University, made some remarks expressive of his interest and sympathy. He saw no hope for the peo ple but in taking the individual and so in structing and preparing him that his influ ence would be felt for purity and progress all about him. We must not tire in this work. It can not remain undone. Let us then work on and work together. Dr. E. Q. Fuller said: “It is too late to say much—even as much as I feel I ought to say —but I can say no less than that my heart rejoices in the success of this enterprise. It isn’t much in comparison with some greater enterprises backed by hundreds of thousands, but is much to us in this work; and to what has been done already in these walls we trust we shall add greater work with larger suc cesses until all this land shall feel the influ ences of this institution and be wonderfully blessed by it.” Prof. I. J. Lansing, the new President of the University, said: “It is too late to add much, but I wish to say, dear friends, I thank you for your interest, and now send us the students and we promise you to take good care of them, mentally and morally, and do here a work for Christ that will aid you all in your circuits and districts. Fill up this building, and I promise you, backed by the Freedmen’s Aid Society of the great Meth odist Church, to have another building in a twelve month.” (Dr. Rust said yes in six months. Brother Lansing then stated the terms of tuition —$1 per month, Theological students free, board $lO per month, including room and washing. He reported the prospect en couraging, and urged the preachers to aid him in doing this work. The whole service was one of great interest , and if our friends North and West could only see the imperative needs of the work to be done in our schools, they would rally more freely and liberally to the support of our Freedmen’s Aid Society and give more freely of their means to aid the noblest benefaction in the Churches. Now let our brethren rally for this school and fill its halls to overflowing. L. New Fields and Old Questions. BY KEY. W. C. GRAVES. I believe I will ask you, Mr. Editor, to write a suitable caption to this article. I have not written a letter for the Methodist Advocate for several weeks. Some may not understand why I have kept silent so long. They should recol lect that our annual conference has but recently closed a session. That document that the bishop reads at the close of the session usually gives some preachers the blues. But that is not what has been the matter with me. It is true that I was eligible for Ducktown another year, and would have been pleased to have had the privi lege of spending another pleasant year on that station. But they have given me a hoist. I confess that since I have become old and grav headed I have no very great aspirations for an elevation of this character. The privilege of traveling a district, all on horseback, covering about ten counties in the most mountainous part of North Carolina, is one that I did not covet. But I do not and will not complain. For forty years I have been receiving appointments at the hands of the bishop, and have never yet com plained or thought myself dealt hardly with. I have always gone cheerfully to my appointments, and if I did not find them good ones, I have gone to work and tried to make them good ones. I expect to find the Asheville district a good field for usefulness, and I expect, bating the roughness of the country and the disagreeable ness of the Winter, to spend a pleasant year among the brethren and friends on that district; and from that region, Mr. Editor, you may look out for numerous articles for the paper. But to keep read up I must, of course, find the Church papers, especially the Methodist Advocate, in most of the families that I visit. I hope that the preachers and members and friends of our Church will anticipate me in this, and all have the paper fresh from the office that we may talk about the great movements that are going on the world. Mr. Editor, did you ever notice the marked difference there is between those families that do not take nor read the papers and those that do read them? There can be no good excuse offered on the part of any family, no difference how poor, for not taking the paper, especially if they chew and smoke to bacco. Well, brother Atkins attended our Conference, was introduced, saw sights and wrote about them. He says, “The Conference did not seein to be large; perhaps a number were not present, as this is an extreme point.” One presiding elder and all the preachers on his district were absent. There were, however, enough of that element present to answer brother Atkins’ pur pose. He says “The church had three tiers of seats, and I noticed that one-third of the house was devoted to the colored brethren and sisters; and it was a question in my mind whether or not it was a violation of the announced policy and principles of the present Methodist Episcopal Church, to have them seated apart and to them selves in that way. For it was distinctly stated in their Church papers that their ‘Conferences in the South should be organized without distinc tion of race or color? ” What does the writer mean by “the present Methodist Episcopal Church” ? There was a Methodist Episcopal Church or ganized in 1784, and that is the only one of that name that has ever , been organized in these United States of America. I have never heard of its disorganization. It has remained the same identical Church ever since. So “the present Methodist Episcopal Church” is the same that had its origin as a Church in 1784. All other Meth odist Churches in this country have branched off from this as the original stock, and the original retains its identity as the mother Church of all the rest that bear the same family name. How the mother could lose her identity and become twin sister, according to the logic of some writers, is a mystery that I am unable to solve. Brother A. thinks that he sees in this custom' of the whites and colored sitting apart in the Conference room, “a violation of the announced policy and principles of the present Methodist Episcopal Church.” But who has ever “an nounced” such “policy and principles”? It is certainly from a source that is but little regarded anywhere so far as my knowledge goes. In the 2vorth, the policy is to organize the colored peo ple into separate Conferences. The Washington and Delaware Conferences in the ministry and membership are composed of colored people en tirely , and yet they enjoy all the ecclesiastical and religious privileges that the whites do— there is no distinction in these respects on the account of race of color. In the South, the pol—• icy is to organize colored Conferences where a sufficient number of each color can be embodied to organize separate Conferences. In Kentucky, the Lexington Conference is a colored confer ence, while the Kentucky Conference is white. Even here in Holston, we are talking about and arranging for separate organizations. Both races are agreed to it—our colored brethren have been hesitating on the ground that they have not yet a sufficient knowledge of ecclesiastical affairs to run a conference of their own to advantage. The white members are quite willing to retain them among them, and give them equal eccle siastical rights with them until they are in readiness to set up a separate organization. While the two races remain in the same eccle siastical body, their names will probably be mixed up, and they will be called out together for ordination, and some people will have occa sion to “behave rather rudely,” as brother A.