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FOR THE CHILDREN.
Woman’s Rights.
One day at school
I told the boys
’Twas wrong to chew tobacco.
A six-year old,
Grown very bold,
Presumed to give his veto.
Says he, “ I saw
A fellow chaw
Because he had the toothache;
’Taint never wrong
For any one
To chaw that has the toothache.
The school agreed
With him; indeed
His logic charmed the urchins.
Quite puzzled, I
Could scarce reply
At first to his assertions.
A happy thought •
However brought
Relief from Greeley’s namesake.
“ Horace,” I said,
“ If a girl instead
Should chance to have the toothache,
And want to chew,
What should she do?”
Like older ones by time unschooled,
He scratched his head,
And then he said,
“ She’d orter have the tooth pulled.
The Little Thief.
In nothing do we show our want of
self-control as in our disposition to
charge others with fault, because we have
no other explanation for mysterious oc
currences. We conclude that others are
untruthful when no solution but this
presents itself. We lose valuables, and
at once think they are stolen. The
charity that “hopeth all things is a rare
virtue.”
Some years ago I performed a wedding
service, and received a fee ol fifty dol
lars. It was a soft note placed inside a
small delicate envelope. I returned
home in the evening, and laid the
envelope containing the note upon the
bureau of my bed-room. No one was in
the room but my wile and one servant,
who had been with us for years, and was
implicitly trusted. In arranging the
room she took up the note and asked
about the wedding. Making some play
full remark about the fee, she laid it
down again on the bureau. In a few
moments she went to her own room, and
we saw her no more again that night.
The other servant was in the kitchen.
She did not, to our knowledge, enter our
room at all. The children were in the
adjoining chamber asleep. Two friends
who were visiting us, were in another
part of the house. Turning down the
light, and closing the door, we left our
room for an hour’s chat with our guests.
When we returned, the note could not
be found. ’lt was certainly there when
we left. Nothing else had been disturbed,
but the note was gone. Thorough
search was made for it; every thing in
the bureau was carefully examined.
The floor was swept, the clothing
shaken out. The closest scrutiny re
vealed nothing. Nearly an hour was
spent in the search, but all in vain. The
girls had long since retired; the chil
dren had not awakened; save the friends
in whose company we had been no one
else was in the house. No one could
have entelTu vvitliini t knowledge. Hertp
was a mystery; what could have become
of the note? It could not have made
away with itself. Such a suicide was
impossible. Could one of the girls have
slipped into the room during our ab
sence and stolen it? We were too sure
of their honesty to entertain the thought.
But there was the stick —how else could
it have disappeared? With uneasy
thoughts we gave it up for the night.
The next morning the search was re
newed. Every part of the room and
every thing in it was carefully examined,
with the same result as before. We
questioned the girls and the children.
They affirmed positively that they had
not been in the room or seen the note.
The loss was nothing compared with the
mystery. Not a word of suspicion was
expressed, though it was hard to refrain
from thoughts. Down stairs we found
the girls in great distress. Though un
accused, they felt that circumstances
pointed to them as the gulity ones. We
assured them that we had all confidence
in their integrity, and concluded to await
revelations.
Later in the day I determined to solve
the mystery if possible. I shut myself
in the room and went at it with the pre
cision of an experienced detective. I
found at length a small cutting at the
base of the chimney fire board. Re
moving the board, I discovered a mouse
hole between the brick floor and the
wall. I then got a chisel and pried up
the brick, and lo! underneath it was the
envelope with the note inside. The gum
was eaten OS', the envelope crumpled up,
but the note was intact! The story was
now plain enough. During our absence
from the room, the mouse had come out
seeking what he might devour—had
climbed up the lace curtain beside the
bureau, attracted by seed in the bird
cage above, had jumped on the bureau,
found the gummed envelope, and had
dragged it down the curtain to the floor,
through the opening in the fire board to
his nest under the bricks, for a future
meal. I called in the family and ex
plained the circumstances, to their
great relief.
Now how strong the facts were against
the girls! How natural to have called
in a policeman and have them arrested,
and their characters gone ever afterward,
and we ourselves made unhappy and
doubly suspicious in all future.
My little mouse preached me a good
sermon, and the text was, “Judge not,
lest ye be judged.”
Prayer.
Nothing can detain or destroy a real pray
er; its flight to the throns is swift and certain.
God will not fail you, though you fail your
self. Though you faint, he fainteth not, nei
ther is weary. Lift up your cry, and he will
lift up his hand. Got to your knees, you are
strongest there! resort to your chamber, and
it shall be to you none other than the gate of
heaven. Tell your God your grief; heavy to
you, it will he light enough to him. Dilem
mas will all be plain to his wisdom, and diffi
culties will vanish before his strength. Oh,
tell it not in Gath that Israel cannot trust in
God; publish it not in the streets of Askelon
that trouble can dismay those who lean upon
the Eternal arm. With Jehovah in the van,
O hosts of Israel, dare ye fear? The Lord of
Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our
retuge. What man’s breast shall quail, or
what soul shall faint? Lift up tee hands
that hang down, and confirm the feeble knees.
Say unto the feeble in heart, “Be strong;
fear not—God is with you ;he will help you
and that right early. ’
Don't—Pray Don’t.
Don’t tell the little one, who may be
slightly willful, that “the black man will
come out of the dark cellar and carry it off
if it does not mind.” Don’t create a needless
fear, to go with the child through all the
stages of its existence.
Don’t tell the little five-year-old Jimmy
“the school ma’am will cut off his ears —pull
out his teeth —tie him up”—or any of the
horrible stories are commonly presented
to the childish imagination. Think you the
little one will believe any thing you tell him
after he becomes acquainted with the gentle
teacher, who has not the least idea of putting
those terrible threats into execution?
Don’t tell the children they must not drink
tea because it will make them black, while
you continue the use of it daily. Your ex
ample is more to them than precept; and
while your face is as fair us a June morning,
they will scarcely credit the oft-told tale.
Either give up drinking the pleasant bever
age, or give your children a better reason for
its non-use.
Don’t tell them they must not eat sugar or
sweetmeats, because it will rot their teeth.
Pure sugar does not cause the teeth to decay ;
and sugar with fruits is nutritious and healthy,
notwithstanding the “old saw” to the con
trary. The case of jcity children is often
cited; the cause of their pale faces and slight
constitution being an over-amount of sweet
meats with their diet, when the actual cause
is want of pure air and proper exercise.
Don’t tell the sick one that the medicine
is not bad to take, when you can hardly keep
your own stomach from turning “inside out”
at the smell of it. Better by far tell him the
simple truth that it is disagreeable, but nec
essary for his health, that you desire him to
take it at once. Ten to one he will swallow
it with half the trouble of coaxing and worry
of words, and love you better for your firm,
decided manner.
Don’t teach the children by example to tell
white lies to each other and to their neigh
bors. Guard your lips and bridle your tongue
if you desire to have the coming generation
truthful. Truthfulness is one of the founda
tion stones of heaven. Remember the old,
old book says “no liar” shall enter within
the gates of the beautiful city. There is no
distinction between white lies and those of a
darker hue. A falsehood is an untruth,
whether the matter be great or small.
—Rural New Yorker.
TEMPERANCE.
A suit was brought to recover civil dam
ages by a father to whose son liquor had been
sold in one of the rum-shops of Brooklyn, in
consequence of which he became intoxicated,
and died in a few hours thereafter. The jury,
having the facts proved, found a verdict of
two thousand dollars against the owner of the
building and the seller of the liquor, who
were jointly the defendants in the suit.
Mothers, Beware.
At one meeting a lady from Brooklyn gave
an incident, that it would be well for all
housekeepers, and especially mothers, to give
heed to. She said: “I met a gentleman one
day—a stranger to me —who said, ‘Are you
not Mrs. , one of the temperance women?’
Replying iu the affirmative, he said, ‘When I
was a little boy, my mother used to make
puddings with brandy sauce; I became so
fond of the taste of liquor, that whenever
she left the table I would lick out the dish.
Now I am a confirmed drunkard, and there
is nothing to be done for me; but I want you
to tell every mother in the land that it was
from eating my mother’s puddings and 3auces
that I have become as low and degraded as I
am now!’ ”
The Dead Point of Danger.
I want to say, to those who are the victims
of strong drink, that while there is a point
beyond wiueh-arßtaa-can not stop, and while
man carT not stop in his own strength, the
Lord God, by his grace, can help him to stop
at any time. Last Summer I was in a room
in New York where there were many men
who had been reclaimed from drunkenness.
I heard their testimony, and for the first time
in my life there flashed out a truth I never
understood. They said: “We were victims
of strong drink. We tried to give it up, but
always failed; but somehow since we gave
our hearts to Christ, he has taken care of us.”
I believe that the time will soon come when
the grace of God will show its power here
not only to save man’s soul, but his body, and
reconstruct, purify, elevate and redeem it.
—T. DeWitl Talmage.
A Temperance Fact.
I don’t like that red nose, and those
blear eyes, and that stupid downcast
look. You are a drunkard. Another
pint, and one pint more; a glass of gin
and water, rum and milk, cider and
pepper, a glass of peppermint, and all
the beastly fluids which drunkards pour
down their throats. It is very possible
to conquer it, if you will but be resolute.
I remember a man in Staffordshire who
was drunk every day of his life. Every
farthing he earned went to the ale-house.
One evening he staggered home, and
found at a late hour his wife sitting
alone, and drowned in tears. He was a
man not deficient in natural affections; he
appeared to be struck with the wretched
ness of the woman, and with some eager
ness asked her why she was crying. “I
don’t like to tell you, James,” she said,
“but if I must, I must; the truth is, my
children have not touched a morsel of
any thing this blessed day. As for me,
never mind me; I must leave you to guess
how it has fared with me. But not one
morsel of food could I beg or buy for
those children that lie on that bed before
you; and I am sure, James, it is better
for us all wo should die, and to my soul
I wish we were dead.” “Dead!” said
James, starting up as if a flash of light
ning had darted upon him; “dead, Sally!
You, and Mary, and the two young ones
dead? Look at me, my lass, you see
what I am now—like a brute. I have
wasted your substance—the curse of God
is upon ,me —I am drawing near to the
pit of destruction—but there’s an end; I
feel there’s an end. Give me that
glass, wife.” She gave it to him with
astonishment and fear. He turned it
topsy-turvy; and, striking the table with
great violence, and flinging himself on
his knees, made a most solemn and
affecting vow to God of repentance and
sobriety. From that moment to the day
of his death he drank no fermented
liquor, but confined himself entirely to
tea and water. I never saw so sudden
and astonishing a change. His looks
became healthy, his cottage neat, his
children were clad, his wife was happy;
and twenty times the poor man and his
wife, with tears in their eyes, have told
me the story, and blessed the evening of
the fourteenth of March, the day of
James’s restoration, and have shown me
the glass he held in his hand when he
made |the vow of sobriety. It is all
nonsense about not being able to work
without ale, and gin, and cider, and
fermented liquors. Do lions and cart
horses drink ale? It is mere habit. If
you have good nourishing food you can
do very well without ale. Nobody works
harder than the Yorkshire people, and
for years together there are many York
shire laborers who never taste ale.
—Sydney Smith,
HOUSE AND HOME.
Orchard Grass. —The Ohio Farmer
says: “Orchard grass is one of the most
valuable grasses; it is as early as red
clover, and is therefore the grass best
adapted to sow with it. For hay it is
productive, yielding a very heavy crop on
rich land. It is very nutritious, and
very palatable to all kinds of stock. It
makes early pasture, will bear close and
constant cropping; it blossoms with
clover, and gives as large or larger bur
defi of hay. It is somewhat inclined to
grow in tufts, and to remedy this it is
well to harrow aad roll it in the Spring.”
As some of our neighbors are sowing
orchard grass at this time, we remark
that it should be sown thick, if not ac
companied with other seeds, to avoid
bunching and being very coarse in the
stem, like straw. The better way is to
mix clover seed, timothy or red top, if
for meadow. Many farmers sow two
bushels of orchard grass to the acre.
Small Hogs.
Some sensible feeder of swine writes:
There is not a single advantage to be
claimed in large bogs. There never was
a monster hog which did not make the
man who raised him pay for every pound
he weighed. They don’t furnish an
ounce of meat gratis, but charge full
price for every atom of their carcass.
When slaughtered it takes a long time
to get one cool to the marrow bone, and
when the hams are put in salt, it is trou
blesome to finish them to the center.
Four hundred pounds live weight is as
large as hogs should be, in order to make
good bacon. Beyond this size, there is
a loss somewhere —either the feeder, the
butcher or consumer is beaten, and as a
general thing, every one who has any
thing to do with the big hog will find if
he observes closely, that they are not so
profitable as the smooth, little hog of
only three hundred and fifty pounds
weight. Small head, with little upright
ears, and legs and feet to perfection, are
marks which indicate the greatest amount
of flegh for any given amount of food
consumed, and more rapidly draw the at
tention of the butcher.
The Use of Weeds.
Will not weeds take possession of the
old meadows after a while? Yes, if the
meadows are not properly fed. There
is some truth in the maxim of the
ancients that nature abhors a vacuum.
Weeds abound on old, worn-out lands
simply because the proper nutriment for
a more delicately organized herbage has
been exhausted. White dajges and gol
den-rod, and even hard-hacks, are better
than utter barrenness. In their decay
they furnish food for a better class of
plants. Nature is determined to pro
duce something, and if left to herself
always produces that to which the soil is
most congenial If water abounds,
coarse, aquatic plants will as surely
grow without any sowing of £ne seed, as
will corn when planted in good loam.
We have seen alluvial meadows that had
for a long series of years produced large
crops of good hay, being kept in good
heart by a deposit of fine fertilizing ma
terial by the annual overflow of a neigh
boring river, suddenly have their herbage
changed to reeds and rushes by the
damming of this river and the con
sequent setting back of the water over
their surface. In those parts of the
meadows where the water did not come
within a foot of the surface, the character
of the grasses was changed.
— lud.Farmer.
Grass Culture at the South.
The experience of the writer, who has
planted somewhat extensively in lower
Georgia and now pursues mixed husbandry
—including cotton —in upper Georgia, is
that our efforts should be limited to the
following forage and pasture plants: The
pea, Red Clover, Timothy, Herds, Orch
ard, native grasses and Lucerne, for hay;
Blue grass, White clover, Red clover, Or
chard and Bermuda grasses, together
with cane and grasses, for pasturage.
The millets, oats, barley and rye may be
added.
RED CLOVER
stands first in importance to Southern
farmers. Perennial in its nature, it com
bines more virtues and is destined to
effect a greater revolution in Southern
agriculture than any other plant. It is
a tap-rooting plant. Gathering its
nitrogen from the air and sending its
tap-roots far down into the store-house of
nature, it is a wonderful fertilizer. “It
enriches the land in proportion to the
yield; the heavier the crop the greater
the benefit, the soil being improved
mechanically as well as enriched. To
the South it will be a boon of inestima
ble value. Our hot sun, often accom
panied by drought in Summer, renders
the corn crop precarious; and the excess
of rain in Spring, which so frequently in
jures materially the wheat and oat crops,
furnishes the very nutriment for Red Clo
ver and the grasses at the time when they
most need it. We think that clover can
only be grown upon a large scale profit
ably in the South on those soils where it
can be successfully grown without manure.
Upon the calcareous lime soils of the
mountainous parts of the Southern States,
it is probably our most remunerative
crop. We have sown it as early as the
10th of t February, and as late as April,
with perfect success. If sown in the
Fall it is liable to be Winter killed. We
have sown clover and Timothy mixed in
October; the Timothy survived the hard
est freezes, while the clover was killed.
In New York it (clover) is sown in April,
and the heat of the mid-Suminer sun in
New York is greater than in Georgia.
Gypsum is generally beneficial, but some
times not needed by our soils. The
whole of an acre in clover would afford,
by incineration, only three or four
bushels of gypsum. Hence,the benefit of a
small application of gypsum. Our best
bottom lands often make two tons to the
acre at one cutting. The average price
in Atlanta in the Spring is S3O per ton.
The reader should not be misled by this
statement. A ton of green clover will
weigh in the following Spring very much
less, perhaps it will lose one-half its weight.
Nevertheless, we are safe in saying that
such land will yield twa Itons of dry hay
per acre from two cuttings. The second
crop is not so well suited for horses, but
METHODIST ADVOCATE: NOVEMBER 11. 1874.
There is no need that we should repeat his
words, No doubt much of their power was
owing to the deep earnestness with which
they were spoken, and to the little creature
in one of the front pews unconsciously giving
point to each sentence. But the congregation
was stirred as it never had been before.
When the benediction was pronounced,
and the people passed slowly and thoughtful
ly from the church, Nellie lingered in her
seat, partly to avoid attracting fresh attention,
and partly because she suspected that it might
not be safe to trust the little beggar among
the well-filled pockets in the crowded aisle.
As she sat waiting, a voice behind her said:
“Miss Nellie, did Mr. McMullen engage
you to illustrate his sermon?”
She turned indignantly to reply, but before
she could speak, a voice on the other side an
swered :
“ No, Mr. Allen, but she inspired it. I
brought a very different one from home.
Have you anything to say against it or her
act?”
“He cannot,” said Nellie, “ for he was the
inspirer of both.”
“ How so?” said Mr. Allen, and Mr. Mc-
Mullen looked inquiringly at her.
“ Don’t you remember,” said she, “ asking
me a few evenings ago why we, who professed
to believe in the Christian religion, did not
live up to its precepts, and quoting the very
words of Mr. McMullen’s text, to show how
little we regarded them?”
“ No—did I?” said he.
is excellent for meat stock. The value
of an acre of clover located near a
market in Georgia is about S4O per
annum. Lands worth S2OO per acre
near St. Louis, often rent for from $lO to
sls per acre per annum. Clover and
grass pay better (i. e., yield more money
per acre) on land in Georgia worth S2O
per acre, than they will in Mtssouri on
land worth ten times as much.
TIMOTHY
comes next to Red Clover in importance;
it is a surface-rooting plant, especially
adapted to wet land. It will pay on such
land better than corn at the rate of fifty
bushels per acre. It commands $5 per
ton more than clover, but is not so re
munerative on uplands as clover. Sown
upon our bottom land, it is followed the
first year by a luxuriant crop of Crab
grass, thus yielding two crops per
annum. It grows from two to four feet
high and yields upward of two tons per
acre. It can not be excelled by any for
eign crop in quantity, quality or money
value, unless it be Hungarian Millet,
which is not a rival, inasmuch as it is
only an annual plant. Well secured
Timothy hay can always be sold here on
the farm at from S2O to S3O per ton, if
nicely packed and preserved. Like
clover it is a perennial, lasting sometimes
eight years. Broomsedge, however,
renders' it necessary to plow it up every
three or four years. That this pest of
Southern meadows may be extirpated,
plant corn on Timothy or clover sod.
After corn is gathered, sow early in
autumn, on clover sod, Timothy; or on
Timothy sod, clover; the two will be
found coming up together and will form
the best hay. One is a leguminous
plant, feeding on the subsoil and the at
mosphere; the other a surface plant
with lateral roots, pumping up the water
of life. Seasons are apt to suit one or
both. The objection to the mixture of
clover and Timothy is that they do not
mature at the same time.
Phillips' Southern Farmer'.
The Family Circle.
Before the Rain.
We knew it would rain, for all the morn
A spirit on slender ropes of mist
Was lowering the golden buckets down,
Into the vapory amethyst
Os marshes and swamps and dismal fens;
Scorching the dew that lay in the flowers.
Dipping the jewels out of the sea,
To sprinkle them over the land in showers.
We knew it would rain, for the poplars showed
The white of their leaves, the amber grain
Shrunk in the wind—and the lightning now
Is tangled in tremulous skeins of rain!
“As ye have done it unto one of these.”
There was a surprised rustling of garments
and turning of heads in the fashionable con
gregation at Calvary Church as Nellie Raynor
passed up the broad aisle leading a ragged,
dirty child, perhaps ten years old. Her eyes
were cast down so that she did not see the
astonished glances turned upon her; bufyher
burning cheek showed a painful conscious
ness of them, and it seemed to her that her
pew, near the end of the long aisle, would
never be reached. She had found the little
girl begging upon the steps, and in spite of
her half indignant protest that “the big folks
in there didn’t want nothing to do with such
as her,” had brought her in to share for an
hour the warmth and comfort of the house
dedicated to Him whose life on earth was
spent in ministering to the poor and outcast.
The Rev. Mr. McMullen looked up as the
wave of sound reached him to see what had
so aroused the attention of his fashionably
immovable congregation,and took in the situa
tion at a glance. He watched Nellie as she
moved up the aisle, guessing well that she had
acted from a generous impulse without count
ing the cost, and sympathizing keenly with
her embarrassment until he saw her sink into
her seat and bow her head upon the rail be
fore her, thankful for the momentary shield
it offered her. Then he bent his head upon
his hand and thought deeply.
Two years before he had been called to this
Church from the country village where he
had been settled for the six years since his
ordination, and he had come to the city with
high hopes of usefulness iu the larger field
opening to him. But grievously had he been
disappointed. The little Church which he
had left had been awake and zealous. The
large one to which he came was rich and
worldly. The pews were generally well filled,
for the people were proud of their young pas
tor; but he often felt that they might as well
be empty for all the effect that his words had.
Faithfully he had worked and prayed, but
seemingly with no result. On this Sabbath
morning he had come to the church weary
and discouraged, bringing with him a sermon
on which he had spent nearly a week of ear
nest labor. He was thinking it over carefully
to see if he might not still improve it when
Nellie entered. But as he saw her and her
companion it seemed to him that a revelation
was given him. His congregation was selfish,
and he had preached to them of themselves.
What would be the effect if he spoke to them
of others?
Anew tone in the opening exercises sur
prised his people. They were accustomed to
being prayed so they were called upon
to pray for others, for the poor, the sick and
the outcast. The only petition that was of
fered for themselves directly was that their
eyes might be opened to see the work which
lay around them, and their hearts that they
might do it, and that they might be taught
that if they would be true followers of Christ
they must live as he did —for others, not for
themselves.
What was the sermon that was to follow so
strange an opening? Not the one which had
been carefully prepared in their pastor’s
study. That was laid aside unopened, and the
people thrilled with an unfamiliar feeling as
the words of the text fell upon their ears.
“ Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of
the least of these my brethren, ye have done
it unto me.” And the pastor, in free, un
studied words, gave them the setting in which
they were found, and applied them keenly to
themselves, describing the misery of the poor
around them, and the little that they were
doing to relieve it, although they had the as
surance of their Divine Master that whatever
they did for one of His little ones they did
for Him.
“.Yea,” she answered; “ and when I found
this little creature shivering on the church
steps this morning, your words came back to
me, and I realized that there was far too
much truth in them.”
“ Mr. Allen,” said Mr. McMullen, “am I to
understand from this that you are not a be
liever in the Christian religion?”
“ You are. sir,” was the reply; “and I think
you must admit that there is little in the con
duct of most of its professors to prove their
sincerity.”
“ I must, indeed,” answered the minister,
sadly; “ but I shall not admit that as a test of
our religion. _ But now, Miss Nellie, what is
to be done with your young friend here?”
“Give her to me,” said Mr. Allen. “I
will go with her to her home, if she has one,
and learn what I can about her, and then re
port to Miss Nellie,” and so it was ar
ranged.
Nellie’s father was one of the deacons of the
church, and also one of its richest men, so
that whatever she did was sure to be remark
ed. Add to this that she was sensible, pretty
and sprightly, and it is evident that her influ
ence among her associates was large. Mr.
Allen brought word that the little beggar was
the child of an Irishwoman living in a miser
able alley. The father was a worthless loaf
er, doing little or nothing for his family: and
although the mother did such odd jobs of
scrubbing and washing as she could obtain,
she did not earn enough to feed and clothe
her four children, and was compelled to send
them out to beg, at the risk of turning them
into a set of good-for-nothing vagabonds.
Nellie and her companions quickly made
warm clothing for the family from their own
cast-offgarments, and found work by which
the mother could support them comfortably.
But in doing this they gotan insight in to the
work of which Mr. McMullen had told them,
and learned that this was only one of many
cases of destitution near them. The interest
in their poor neighbors spread through the
church. Purse-strings long tightly drawn
were loosed, idle hands were busied, and
hearts long cold with selfishness felt the rays
of light and warmth that entered through the
portals opened in the effort to serve others.
Hundreds were supplied with work, food and
clothing, and a mission school was opened in
which Nellie and her companions taught.
The interest they soon felt in their work was
astonishing. Even Mr. Allen was a constant
attendant, at first as a looker-on, but soon as
a worker. He shrank back, it is true, the
first Sunday that Nellie handed him a Bible
and pointed to a class that was without a
teacher, but yielded to her when she said:
“ Please, Mr. Allen, do not refuse. It will
not hurt them to hear the Bible stories, even
if they are not true, you know.” After that
he never objected to filling the place of an
absent teacher.
Six months from the day that Nellie Ray
nor led the little beggar girl up the aisle of
Calvary Church, Mr. McMullen sat in his
pulpit looking down upon his congregation
with a face beaming with happiness. In the
pews before him were fifty persons, young
and old, who were that day to make a profes
sion of their faith in Christ, and their de
termination to live in obedience to his com
mands. The remembrance of that sermon
and its living illustration had not faded, and
the congregation started as they heard the
text—“ Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one
of the least of these my brethren, ye have
done it unto me.” But very different was the
sermon that followed. Let us quote the clos
ing sentences:
“You have proved the truth of your Sa
vior’s words. In blessing others you have
been blessed. Pour mouths ago this church
was so careless and worldly that a gentleman
in this house, avowing himself to be an un
believer in our religion, told me that I must
admit that there was very little in the lives
of its professors to show their sincerity, and I
had to admit it. To-day that gentleman is
among those who are to be received into our
communion. Last evening he said to me:
‘There is no argument for Christianity like
that of a Christ-like life. History may be
doubted, miracles may be denied; but I never
heard of a sceptic who did not admire the
life that Jesus led, and would not admit that
the world would be the poorer if the record
of it were lost, and that the following of Ilis
example and obeying of His commands would
turn this world into a paradise. And I am
confident that at this day Christians would
have little to fear from the attacks of doubt
ers if only their lives were a living illustra
tion of their faith.’
“ Let us remember these words: ‘ The
strongest argument for Christianity is a
Christ-like life;’ and let us strive that our
lives may be a living illustration of our
faith.’ ” — Ellen Bertha, Bradley , in The
Methodist.
Christ All in All.
Remember it is not thy hold of Christ that
saves thee; it is Christ; it is not thy joy in
Christ that saves thee; it is not thy faith in
Christ, though that is the instrument; it is
Christ’s blood and merit. Therefore, look
not so much on thy hand, with which thou
art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to
thy hope, but to Jesus, the Author and Fin
isher of thy faith, We shall never find hap
piness by looking at our prayers, our doings,
or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, and not
what we are that gives rest to our souls. If
we would at once overcome Satan, and have
peace with God, it would be by “ looking
unto Jesus.” Let not thy hopes or fears
come between thee and Jesus; follow hard
after Him, and He will never fail thee. —
Selected.
God’s Call.
You will have been downcast in the prayer
meeting, and pleading very earnestly, holding
the secret in your own heart. Just as you
turned to walk out, a brother comes, laysjhis
arms around your neck, and says: “Brother,
God has a work for you to do.” The young
man may be at college, walking the streets,
carrying his books under his arm, and think
ing no one dreams of the secret that is dwell
ing in his bosom, and somebody joins him
and says,“ Brother, don’t you think God calls
you to preach?” A man may leave home,
and cross the mountains, and go to California,
but some one in the church will make the
same suggestion to him. And, oh, how many
of us are there to whom these words have
come like a sharp sword, and when some
one approached, he felt like saying, “ Hast
thou found me out, my enemy.” —Bishop
Simpson.
Family Religion.
“David returned to bless his household,”
so should every head of a family turn to his
home when his day’s work is done. “ The
smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul,”
and there will be no light of gladness in your
home without the favor of God. “ The can
dle of the wicked shall be put out.” There
are many nominal Christians that have no
home altar. No wonder they cannot pray in
public, or that their spiritual comforts have
lied. No wonder that the thorns of conten
tion spring up in their bowers, and that they
find it easier to kindle a hell at home than be
happy. When Whitfield was asked if a cer
tain man was a Christian, he replied, “ I do
not know; I never lived with him.” That
affords a true test. If a mau is a Christian,
he is religious at home. He is a priest in
his own house, and his house is a Bethel.
The time for devotion must be observed.
The children may have their part in the ser
vice, and “ the voice of rejoicing will be in
the tabernacle of the righteous.” “ John
Howard, the philanthropist, never neglected
the duty of family prayer, though there was
but one, and that one a servant, to join him;
always declaring that where he had a tent
God should have an altar.” The example of
this good man might well be imitated in cer
tain sections that we know. A prayerless
family is like a house without a tenant—grim,
desolate and wasting away. Such a family
will pass by the prayer meeting to the thea
tre; its members are late to church and early
to the ball room; never at class meeting, but
always at the circus, to see the animals, of
course. A true Christian will delight to
honor God in the presence of his family, and
God is in the generation of the righteous.
Bead Hitchcock & Walden’s column about
the Methodist Advocate.
METHODIST ADVOCATE.
ANNOUNCEMENT FOR 1875.
OFFER T 6 NEW SUBSCRIBERS.
Inducements to Gash Subscribers.
The Publishers of the Methodist Advocate, in order to have this paper of our Church
more fully meet the wants of the Christian reader and the Christian household, enlarged
it and improved its appearance, one year ago. The Annual Conferences directly interested
in its circulation have, by formal action, indorsed these improvements, and also the edito
rial management. We are anxious to increase the number of subscribers to this paper,
which gives such general satisfaction to its present patrons, and having carefully consid
ered what can be done at its present circulation, we take pleasure in making known our
plans for the new year.
A CHEAP PAPER.
In view of the expense of publishing the Advocate, and the amount and variety of its
contents, our subscribers have had a cheap religious paper. We now propose that the
cost shall be still less to its patrons who pay cash. We offer no picture, or other premium
of uncertain value, but will send the paper post-paid through 1875, to all the subscribers
who pay the regular subscription price— two dollars in advance. Heretofore, all subscrib
ers have paid the postage, twenty cents per year, in addition to the subscription price,
making, together, $2.20. Those who now pay in advance will receive the paper, post-paid,
for $2, which is twenty cents less than it cost them last year, including what they paid for
postage.
NEW SUBSCRIBERS.
The 3lethodist Advocate will be sent to new subscribers from the date of receiving their
names at our office until January 1,187 G, for the price of one year's subscription , which
will give those who subscribe now nearly TWO MONTHS of the present year FREE.
The price of the paper will continue the same as last year—s 2. New subscribers, who
pay in advance, will not only receive the paper free during the rest of 1874, but also will
receive it, post-paid, through 1875. Cash payments enable us to purchase materials at the
lowest rates, and obviate the losses inseparable from a credit system, and hence make it
possible for us to offer the above substantial reduction in price to cash subscribers.
We give this timely notice, that all may avail themselves of the offer. 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 disadvantages of a credit system.
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 takiug subscriptions aud sending 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.
A LIVE PAPER.
Compared with the denominational papers of the country, the Methodist Advocate is
second to none in the amount and variety of its contents, and the ability with which lead
ing and living questions are discussed in its columns. It is devoted to a vigorous defense
ot the faith aud the constant promotion of experimental religion. It opposes Roman
Catholicism as a hierarchy antagonistic to spiritual Christianity and republican institutions,
and vigilantly notes and discusses its ambitious and aggressive movements in Europe and
America. It is earnest in advocating the education of the masses and the maintenance
and improvement of our free common-school system; and it also favors the higher educa
tion of all classes. It devotes special attention to Temperance, but treats it as related to
religion aud morality, rather than as an element in politics. Its foreign correspondence is
fresh and varied, comprising letters from important fields in the Old World, by contrib
utors whose positions enable them to collate the most reliable and valuable intelligence.
A LOYAL PAPER.
The Advocate is published by the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is loyal to the
Doctrines, Polity, and the esprit du corps , which, under God, have made her successful in
her manifold mission. ‘ As occasion may require, it discusses, in harmony with Method
istic thought, the doctrines of the Bible, giving to each the position to which it is entitled.
It aids in spreading Scriptural holiness, by maintaining the Wesleyan expression of the
Scriptural doctrine, and inciting all to the practical life, as well as the joyous experience.
It does not favor radical changes in our thoroughly tested polity, but will consider such
modifications as the progress of our work and changes in our condition may seem to de
mand, and here it will aim to discriminate between the system itself and the manner of its
administration. The present is no time to drift away from agencies, methods, and usages
which have given us success, just when others, impressed with their efficiency, seek to
adopt them. In these, as in all important and essential things, the Advocate will be loyal
to Methodism.
A LIBERAL PAPER,
The Advocate is denominational, but not sectarian in any narrow and bigoted sense.
It devotes ample space to Methodistic news, but also records the important movements of
other Churches; it gives prominence to the discussion of those questions which elicit most
interest among our own people, but does not fail in attention to all subjects of geueral in
terest to the Christian world; it not only strives to keep its readers in active sympathy
with the multiform and increasing work of Methodism, but gladly chronicles the successes
and growth of other evangelical denominations. It aims to cultivate a true catholicity,
which shall have its permanent expression in relations of unqualified fraternity between
all evangelical Churches.
A RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPER.
In addition to what is named above, the Advocate devotes space to other departments
of news. A market report is prepared regularly and with great care, by a competent and
experienced person—one whose position enables him to keep thoroughly posted in regard to
commercial matters. A summary of secular news is carefully prepared, furnishing those
who take only one paper with a general view of the important events which transpire at
home and abroad. Articles of special interest to the farmer and the housekeeper have
their place weekly. The family department comprises a miscellany in which both the
young folks and the old folks will find attractive and instructive reading. With all its
variety, the high religious tone of the paper is maintained. The claims of Sunday-school
workers are not overlooked.
AN ADVOCATE IN EACH FAMILY.
There are hundreds of Methodist homes within the conferences which patronize the
Methodist Advocate, not visited by any of the periodicals of our Church. The patrons of
this paper justly are proud of it as one of the publications of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. All who read it know, and none better than the pastors, that it is a benefit to
every family to which it comes, and that its increased circulation would strengthen every
enterprise of Methodism at home and abroad. Our offer makes the present a favorable
time to canvass 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 cir
culation, because of its value as a medium of religious thought and news, and because it
is the paper published especially for them under the direction of the Church. Let the
aim be to put a copy of this paper in every Methodist family.
CASH PAYMENTS AND NO POSTAGE.
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 subscribe now nearly two months of the present
year free. The price of the paper will continue the same as last year—s 2.
Hitherto the postage has been twenty cents 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 he 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, including what they paid for postage. This
proposition also embraces the free papers, pffered above, to new subscribers.
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 subscriptions and sending orders, will please bear this in mind. Un
less the cash accompany the order, fifteen cents will iuvariably be added to the price of
the paper to cover tho 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 subscribers, We give this timely notice, that all may
avail themselves of the reduction. Our aim is to securo to those who pay in advance the
advantages of a cash system, and to let those who ask credit share with us the disadvan
tages of a credit system.
CONFERENCE INDORSEMENT.
Never before has the Methodist Advocate received such hearty indorsement at the Con
ferences as during the past few weeks. Never before has the necessity for its support and
wide circulation been so deeply felt. Through the times of trouble and discouragement
it has gone forth week by week to cheer and strengthen the toilers in the vineyard. Many
fireachers have been urged to greater diligence by its counsels, and numbers of members
lave been led steadily forward by its word's. It has successfully contradicted the false
statements of euemies and often carried forth the glad tidings of success and salvation,
when many supposed that the work was lagging, if not being disbanded. As the battle
flag of our column in the South, it has waved in the breeze the ensigu of our hosts and
the promise of triumph. Tho Fall Conferences have indicated a disposition to do more
than heretofore in its circulation, because they see and feel the need of this helper in their |
work, and in this they judge correctly. Every leader and steward certainly ought to take
the paper.
BEGIN THE CANVASS NOW.
No time is to be lost in commencing the canvass in all the Conferences. The people are
taking in their money for the labors of the year, and now, right now, is the best time to
canvass. Do not wait till the new year begins, but on the first round on the circuit bring
the paper before every congregation and obtain subscribers and forward the names for the !
coming year. Get cash in advance wherever practicable, and if preachers have the paper
charged to their account, the subscribers should pay as soon as possible, so that the pub
lishers can have the money early in the year. Begin the canvass now and keep it up till
we have a circulation of ten thousand.
Agents will be allowed the usual commissions on all renewals, as well as for new sub- I
scriptions. Send money, only by Post-office Money Order or Registered Letter, to
HITCHCOCK & WALDEN, Publishers,
110 Whitehall-street, Atlanta, Ga.
*®“Send for Catalogues, which will be sent free. For Books and Stationery, send your
orders to Hitchcock & Walden, as above, with plain directions how to have them sent ij