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y jJj f' PUBLISHED WEEKLY HITCHCOCK & WALF OWtt FOB THE METHODIST EPISCOP/*S^. At No. HO WhitehalUtrWlr ' teems: TWO DOIXARS A YEAR. TO BE PAID INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. ALL TRAVELING PREACHERS OF THE METHODIST EPISCO PAL CHURCH ARE AUTHORIZED AGENTS. SUBSCRIPTIONS MUST CLOSE DEC. 30. RomittaDces must be made by P. O. Monev-Order, Registered Letter, Draft, or by Express. (ONE DOJLLAR FOR SIX MONTHS.) Help Us Out! May 3lst is the middle of the financial year of the Book Concern. We are making up a lull and care ful exhibit of receipts and expenses, sales, accounts, books and stock on hand, so as to know to a dollar where we stand and wbat our losses have been for six months. Already we find our receipts considerably more and our expenses materially less than last year, for the same time, though the balance at this date will probably be against us, as we have expected. But we can see our way safely to the close of the year, and on the 30th of November will have, without doubt, a small balance in our favor under the provision of the General Conference. The order of the General Conference is im perative. We must and therefore shall come within its limit. In spite of the dull times and the usual falling off in business at this season of the year, our cash sales have steadily increased for the past lour montns. Several of our ministers are doing nobly, never better. We ask three favors of the preachers and friends, namely: * 1. For one thousand more sub scribers on the first of July at one dollar each for cash, or one dollar and ten cents each at the Confer ence. This is the price of the pa per for half a year, from the first of July to the first of January next. One thousand more subscribers with the money now, or at the Conference, would carry us through splendidly. Shall we have them? We expect to hear in response, “Yes,” from every circuit. 2. Buy and sell our books for cash. Do not be impatient because we talk so much about money. The Cash System has saved us. Had we continued in the old ruts, under the action of the last General Confer ence, we should have been swamped. Work up a cash business on every circuit, in spite of the hard times. More and more we are making Cash and Success our motto. 3. Begin now to make preparation to settle in full at Conference. Close up the old accounts with money. Do these things and we will make a report to the Conferences that will be delightful for us to give and pleasant for all friends to hear. Help us to come through triumph antly. Do not fail to send the thousand subscriber!? sbfc dollar cash, or a dol at Conference. The last one of tuit thousand will make us hajspy. That Thousand. That thousand more subscribers for The Methodist Advocate from July Ist to January next, for one dollar cash, or one dollar and ten cents at conference, can be had without much effort. Holston Conference has only to get 200; Virginia, 50; North Caro lina, 100; South Carolina, 100; Florida, 50; Savannah, 150; Geor gia, 150; Alabama, 100; Central Alabama, 100; Tennessee Confer-, eence, 150, and the work is done, with 150 over the thousand for good measure. An average of two more subscribers from each circuit will meet the case. Many might send five or ten more, all can send two. Get the names and send them in at once. Plea for Prayer-meeting; Or, 20 Reasons for Attending Prayer-meeting. BY D. R. BRITTON. [Coniinued.] 9th. Because it is your duty in every possible way to encourage your pastor. God has in his infinite wisdom ordai ted and set apart some of our race as pas tors, teachers, etc., and so constituted us that no man liveth to himself alone. We are all more or less dependent upon one another in spiritual things as well as temporal; therefore we ought to be found in our seats in the prayer-meet ings of the Church, encouraging the heart of our pastor, stimulating him to renewed effort and zeal in the cause that lays so near and so heavy upon his heart, holding up his hands by our presence, by our earnest prayers and supplications in his behalf, and also comforting and encouraging each other in the race for everlasting life. 10th. Because it is our duty and priv ilege to do good, to be good, to get good, and to impart good; to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth; to live within the use of the means that we may so grow. Armor must be used to be kept blight. Constant labor and rubbing will polish and brighten the hardest metals. Flowers to bloom in the freshness and fullness of their beauty must be well kept and cared for. Grain when sown or planted must be cultivated so produce food for the toiler. The muscles of the arm must be used to receive and retain strength. So with the Christian, if he grows in the Chris tian graces he must labor; he or she must exercise their graces, they must use and cultivate the ability given, whether great or small, one talent or ten, be constant in season and out of season, always abounding in the work of the Lord; always ready to go where the Spirit bids; willing cheerfully and earnestly to do whatever the Master calls to do, that you may be able to grow up into Christ your living head. There is no such thing as a dead, do-nothing, inactive Christian; but, thank God! there are many living, working, acting Christians in the world. 11th. Because the future welfare, ad vancement, prosperity and ultimate consummation of the object of the Church of Christ on earth, namely, the salvation of all men depends upon the efforts of the Church. A man can not save himself; but without his personal, individual efforts he never will be saved. What we can do, God will not do for us; what we can not do and which is nec cessary to be done for our salvation, God will do for us, by the exercise of faith in his power, willingness and abil ity to do it. You, my brother, my sis- 'r MkJ jS «jk Tj .; 4mFl Iftflnf <SI *sL rt'fl'rt'i^lt'T# Jk rw . YOL. IX. NO. 25. ter, however bumble your pretensions, however humble your sphere in life may be, God has a work for you to do. You have your place in this grand, this glo rious work —your niche in the wall that no one else can fill. God makes no mistakes. He has never called one yet by his Spirit and adopted him or her into his family without having some thing for that one to do. Remember that God only requires according to the ability bestowed. He does not give all ten talents. The one to whom is given one talent only is required to use that one in the service of the Giver, and will receive therefor a full reward according to promise; the one that receives ten talents, likewise; and where there is more given there is more required; but the reward of all that properly use their talents, will be full and complete. So you are all required to do something, to work somewhere in the Church. Odo not let your seats be vacant in the Church, at the Sabbath-school, in the prayer-meeting and other meetings of the Church. The Church can not pros per wibhout the prayer-meeting; the prayer-meeting cannot be kept alive and spiritual and continue to grow in inter est without the attendance of the mem bers of the Church. A child can not grow, can not live without necessary food to sustain life; neither can a Christ'an grow nor live without spirit ual nourishment and the bread that cometh down from heaven, and the irayer-meeting is one of the principal ehanrels or avenues through and by wh'ch it comes. The obligation upon one member to attend b equally binding upon all, whethey they have one, two, five or ten talents. The Lord says he will be inquired of in his temple. The prayer-meetiog is the true index, the tbevmometer of the spiritual state and condition of the Church. Your ab sence, m,v brother, my sister, depresses the mercury at least one degree lower. O, come aud help raise the banner of King Immanuel, so that it may soon wave over all the earth! 12th. You should attend prayer-meet ing so as not to hinder the cause of Christ or retard the advance and on ward movetneat of the Church. You do not desire to do this, I know and feel, yet many times you may do it, feel ing that it is of little or a matter of small importance whether you go or stay away from prayer-meeting. God has given you no right or privilege to think and act thus. Where God calls do not fail to go. Staying away from the prayer meeting is, to a considerable extent, hindering the cause of Christ, is re garded by the outside* world (the very class you desire to reach and influence, if you are a Christian), as opposition to it, or, at least, of very little importance, thereby destroying your influence —con- sequently is so much loss to the Church and gain to the world, and so much hinderance to the spirituality of the Church. 13th. Because I know you do not de sire to be a stumbliDg-block in the way of others, a clog upon the wheels of Zion, thereby, to some extent, retarding the advancing hosts of God; but know thou this, that staying away from the prayer-meeting discourages others that, perhaps, need your presence to encour age them oml stimuiatu llu in tu mere may tee'p*oTbeßnOft:m'^jSnSfrwua ß xßs^ be the means thereby of causing them to lose their hold upon Christ, by cold ness, carelessness and growing indiffer ence in the cause of Christ, and to that extent retard the advancement of the kingdom of Christ in the world. 14th. Because you can not keep a conscience void of offense toward God and your fellow-men, by willfully stay ing away and absenting yourself from the prayer-meeting. If you desire to have an approving conscience, be often found in your place in the prayer-meet ing, and often in close communion with our blessed Savior in prayer from the heart, on the streets, in your daily avo cations, in the busy throng,in the silence of the closet where no eye can see or ear hear but God’s. In the family cir cle around your own hearthstone'erect an altar of prayer and offer yourselves twice daily (morningand evening) upon the same, as a living, not a dead sacri fice; and in the great congregation con tinually lift your hearts to God. Pray always; pray every-where; pray with out ceasing, and in every thing give thanks to him from whom cometh every good and perfect gift. 15th. Because the enemy of your soul is after you, pursuing you by day and by night, desiring to have you that he may sift you as wheat —if you cease to watch and pray, he will very soon over take and destroy you. If you turn away from Christ, as he is the light, you walk in the dark and step in your own shadow. Toward Christ yorr shadow is benind you, and the full light of Christ illu minates your pathway unobstructed. _ If you want to be saved from backsliding or turning away from Christ, live, work, act in the discharge of every duty, stay not away from the prayer-meeting of the Church for unsatisfactory excuses. The command comes to you now to go for ward, tell the people to go forward, on ward and upward, as the Ph l stine host is pursuing in the rear, and if they get to the front, or between us and Christ, all is lost for time, all is lost for eternity. Christ has promised to deliver, if we will be delivered. 0, my brother, my sister, you must act to live - you must work to be vigorous and strong; you must work to eat of the hidden manna. All nature works, and why not you? Standing water stagnates, becomes pol luted and filthy. The rolling, moving, gurgling stream, either small or great, purifies itself by action and keeps itself pure by motion, and why not you? Time is moving, rolling on day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. All nature is moving' on to that day for which all other days were made. Noth ing in the world above us, in the world around us, and in the world beneath us, is standing still. Hell is moving, with all its mighty host, agents and sub agents, to draw off the world and the people away from Christ. Standing still in the Christian warfare means death to the Christian. He must move onward to live. Stand not thou still. Stay not thou in all the plain of sins of commission or sins of omission, but flee thou continually to the mount of of God, the rock, Christ. An active, earnest, praying, working Christian, living in the discharge of every duty, will never be overtaken by the enemy and slain. Such a one was never known and never will be known to backslide or to disregard his duty to the Church or his fellow-soldiers in the cause of the Redeemer. [TO be concluded.] The Connecticut Catholic , an organ of the Roman Catholics, calls for .the formation of a distinct Catholic political party. When it is thus the American party will re vive, to die no more. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. Arise, 0 God, judge the earth, for thou shalt inherit all nations. “IN MEMORIAH." “Oar Honored Dead.” Twelve beautiful times have the blos soms breathed Their fragrant blessings o’er heroes dead; Twelve sorrowful times have we sadly wreathed The laurel crowns for each honored bed; For the heroes who died, friends, for you and for me, Asking only, “Keep sacred our mem ory.” ►Bring flowers and garlands, benedic tions and tear3; They went “to the death,” friends, for you and for me; Remembering here all those costliest years, We need strength to bear the sad vic tory. Standing here by their graves in God’s sunlight of gold, With the country bequeathed us to have and to hold, By the memory sacred of youth, By the priceless endowment of patriot age, Let us solemnly vow, as God guides us in truth, To preserve for the future this great heritage. By each starry gem in the clear field of blue, By the stripes and the stars, borne aloft, friends, by you; Kept aloft, proudly floating, midst thick of the fight, Though brave men were dying for truth and the right: Standing here, ’neath high heaven, we plight unto you, Unto you, flag and country, this mar riage vow true, To keep burning the flame until tyran ny’s night Disappear from the world and the na tions have light. Twine the “olive” and myrtle; may the scarlet of war Ne’er crimson again the white lilies of peace; Our emblems be, “Union,” “Truth,” “Liberty,” for All, freedom of conscience, from bond age release. * ***** And now amid the dirges, the sad funeral marching, “Illinois” approaches with a floral trib ute rare; A tiny leaf of laurel, from the honored grave of “Lincoln,” With the fragrance of sweet charity shedding blessings every-where. We twine it with the myrtle from that other grave at “Vernon,” Thanking God that war is over—that victory is won; Fair Liberty receives it, into a cross she weaves it, Inscribed with “ Union,” “ Lincoln,” “Freedom,” “Washington.” — lnter-Ocean. The above was read on Decoration Day at the Na tional Cemetery at Marietta, 6a. BY REV. B. L. ROBERTS. When William Chambers, one of the editors of Chambers’ Journal, visited America he was completely charmed with the educational sys tem of the little State of Rhode Island, but astounded when aware of the fact that ninety thousand dol lars were annually expended for educational purposes, while the cost of the whole machinery of civil government did not exceed fifty thousand dollars. He cheer fully ' admitted that the difference between American polity in refer ence to the laboring classes and that of Great Britain was so great that one sentence would comprehend the whole matter. “Charity rather than justice.” This idea gains expression when ever the African is brought upon the tapis beside his Caucasian brother. Everything like justice is hidden and charity brought forward, as though the black man was unfit for anything else; that so low had he degenerated in the scale of civil ization that the exercise of pity, which generates contempt, was only for him. This has led to most,if not all,of the misunderstandings between the races, for if the black man exercise any freedom of thought he must regard all offers of sympathy with scorn if not contempt. He must look upon all attempts to place him upon any other platform than that broad one, MANHOOD, as an insult to his dignity as a man. Why should he esteem any man his superior who is only endowed with the same faculties as himself? Why should he yield to any, his reason, and move by the guidance of another, as if, in his case, the Creator did not perfect His work? Why should he in any case surrender those God-given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happi ness? Why ought he not desire and strive to obtain a national status as well as any other tribe or race of man? Is his sable hue a crime against the laws of God and man? Thoughts like these arising in the breast of the dark-hued Ethiop is a self-evident fact,apart from historical gatherings of the manhood of the African and a premonition of the designs of the Almighty. History is but the record of passing as well as past events, and it is only by the study of its pages that we arrive at truth in the discussion of questions such as this. The chronicles of every nation furnish us with the actions of indi viduals who occupied prominent po sitions,»and whose actions upon the tastes and feelings of those with whom they came in contact, formed the national character and rendered posterity tributary to their genius. The heroism of Leonidas, the inde fatigable perseverance of Demos thenes, the sublime muse of Homer and Hesiod, the lyre of the gay Anacreon, the sweet Sappho, the daring Pindar, the wild strains of ATLANTA. GA.. WEDNESDAY. JUNE 20, 1877. iEschylus, the pathos of Euripides, with those of Sophocles and Men ander will always shed a halo around the Grecian name. The superior training of the Roman youth in all the ennobling faculties of the human heart, the simplicity of Cincinnatus and Fabricius, the heroic spirit of Clelia and Vetruria, exemplars of the gentle sex, the self abnegation of Regulus, the unflinch ing purpose of Scipio to the stern dictates of the Roman Senate, “Carthago deleuda est” the civic and military prowess of Caesar, who never tarnished his glory, and whose loss Rome deplored, and from which blow she never recovered, will never fade from the minds of men while virtue lives, and though the “Eternal City” is but a cipher among the na tions, her fame will endure while time exists. Little did Tom Paine think when writing his “Age of Reason” that so far from overthrow ing the aromatic and exegetic ele ment of the world’s ruler, Chris tianity, he was kindling a fire that would burn throughout the nine teenth century. Liberty! liberty! liberty! has been the watchword ever since, and man, creation’s mas terpiece, whether sable or pellucid, fires at the word and cries, Onward! These general hints on man, irre spective of race or color, will serve as an index to the solution of all problems in diversity of opinion, relative to civilization and human progress and we cannot wonder at the commotions at present at work among the nations of the earth. The moment we grant humanity and recognize in the sable-hued African the germs of progression, there must be no denial to the pulsations of his heart. Full scope must be given for development lest in the heated imagination, avarice triumph, might overcome right, and man become the monster he shudders to think the world he inhabits ever gave birth to. Grant this and the Afri can may be considered as a brother and a co-laborer in the work of hu man progress. “Belie the Negro’s powers—in headlong will, Christian, thy brother thon shalt prove him still; Belie his virtues—since his wrongs began, His follies and his crimes have stamped him man. Between the parallels of twenty five north and twenty-five south latitude lies the continent of Africa, watered on the north by the Medit erranean Sea, east by the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, and south and west by the Atlantic, comprising from its northernmost to its south ernmost point thq delightful clime of perpetual th; .3*s; mg'lic'd.i ill habited by a race,'? but little known, though in contact with the other nations of the earth for centuries, and from being viewed in almost every instance from a prejudiced standpoint, never understood. Characterized as an enigma, every civilized nation from the days of Grecian glory, until the present has tried to read the mysteries presented by her unknown interior, and shrunk from the task. Save what some intrepid traveler intent upon phil anthropy, or enrolment upon the lists of fame, has done, naught is known save some general outlines to enable the school-boy to connect the rotundity of the earth’s surface. Cut off from the rest of the world by deserts and oceans, given up to the occupancy of barbarous tribes, defended by a climate more terrible than armies, with an imperfectly understood anathema hanging over it, and viewed by an uncharitable public as an anomaly in the created intelligences, she has repelled or destroyed, alike the covetous, the curious and philanthropic. The strange fatality which has kept from us the researches of some more unfortunate individual has shrouded the whole subject with a pall more horrifying than that of the “Cities of the Plain.” Os all the vast interior, what is known now, more than in the days of the Punic merchants who dealt there, taking slaves, ivory and gold? Carthage, the England of the Old World’s rulers, has no Livy or Niebuhr to explain her rise or untangle the mysteries of her civil ization. Consigned to arid plains, noxious vapors and all the scorch ing enervating influences of the “Torrid Zone,” Africa ipust re main, until some intervention of the Deity, an incomprehensibility in the annals of civilization. It is con tended by a great many contribu tors to Science that there is some incongruity in the races from the developments in the varieties, and such a theory is not wanting in plausibility. One grand fact underlies all at tempts to explain the differences in type, in that memorable saying of Holy Writ, “God hath made of one blood all nations to dwell on the earth,” and until this declaration can be totally annihilated the mat ter must remain in statu quo, de spite individual opinion. A brief glance therefore at the origin of the diversity of the races will not be amiss, indulging the hope of clear ing up in a measure, or rendering some tribute to the past, present and future of Africa. From what we read in sacred history, and the generally received and universal opinion and assent, we jump.at once to the conclusion that whatever connection we sus tained to Adam was swept away in the Deluge, and the present races sprung from the three sons of Noah, viz.: Shem, Ham and Japheth. There is a tangled thread over the transparent fact that there are five distinct races to the five grand divisions of the globe, when only three sons repeopled the earth, and these three men, the sons of one man and one woman, and they the offspring of the “First Pair.” Perhaps Darwin can explain. It is computed by archaeologists that the countries of Persia, Assyria, Chaldea, Lydia, Syria, Arabia, In dia and portions of China were peo pled by the descendants of Shem, among whom were the Jews, and through whom the Messiah had his human descent. The establishment of the true religion under the Mo saic, and the Christian were con fided to. them as a necessary se quence of the blesssings pronounced by Noah, thus, “blessed be the Lord God of Shem.” The richest and most fertile parts of the earth fell to their share, and at one time the Saracenic branch threatened to overrun Europe and bring the world tributary to their feet. As we live in an age when strange things occur we are not suprised that they are no longer what they were, and the universal dominion aimed at by their monarchs from the days of Cyrus and Darius Codomannus receded from their grasp and the Semitic family live only as a record of the past. Imbecile victims of the grossest superstition, the poet may well sing in dolorous strains, "Yon waste where roaming lions howl, Yon tower where mourns the grey-byed owl.” From the sons of Japheth de scended the Celts or Gauls, the Tartars, Medes, Greeks, Romans, Goths, Turks, etc., who peopled Europe, the northern half of Asia and most of America They have, according to prediction, settled themselves in the habitations of Shem. The Medes and Chaldeans overturned the Assyrian empire, and afterward the Medo-Persians overturned and ruined the Chaldean, then came Scythian and Medo- Parthian. Afterward the Gallic branch invaded Asia and partially took up their. residencee in Mes opotamia. The Greco-Macedonian, Roman, Tartarian-Huns, Turks and at present the Russian and British, so that the enlarged posterity of Japheth bids fair to enlarge their proportions at the expense of their Semitic brethren. So much for the descendants of Shem and Japbet. I now turn to consider the descendants of Ham, and beg the reader to keep in mind the, fact that the enrse of Noah was '•**. upon Canaan, one of the sons vs Canaan, a Servant Os servants sham he bib to his brethren. Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant, God shall en large Japhet, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.” The repetition of the curse in which the name of Ca naan is mentioned three times must convey to all that the curse was upon Canaan and not upon the other three sons of Ham, viz.: Cush, Phut and Mizraim. How then the sad condition of the other three is to be accounted for, there being no special curse, the student of archae ology must determine for himself. . Georgia Correspondence. BY KEY. J. MITCHELL. Notes by the Way—ln St, Louis—Advancement of Our Church—Views of Well'lnformed Europeans as to the Soman Question. After thirty-nine or forty hours’ travel, I find myself in St. Louis, and in the home of my only sister. I have not seen Mr. Savitz and family for over five years. I assure you it is matter of great joy to greet those we love. Mr. Savitz and sons-in-law are all connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church either here or in Illinois; mostly with Union Church. Some of the young people were complaining about the low state of our Church in St. Louis. I asked them, “How many churches have you connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Louis?” The answer given was, “Twelve.” “Well,” said I, “please remember that on my first visit to your city, when I came over here about twenty-four years ago to aid Rev. F. C. Holliday to escape from the cholera, we had but the one Church, he then served Old Ebenezer; now you have twelve Churches, and your own Church gave last year SI,BOO for missions alone, and your whole Conference is self-sustaining. Please put a tide-mark there and note the rise of the waters.” I clip the following from a St. Louis paper, published under the head-line, “Is a General War to be the Long-awaited Opportunity of the Holy See?” Please reproduce it, as many of your readers are carefully noting the great events now transpiring in the Old World. It is only another illustration of the oft-repeated remark that the Pope and Jesuits are the great organizers of this world-wide conflict, that will be the last great struggle of the scarlet woman. St. Louis, June I, 1877. The Paris Presse sought to startle Europe by quoting Cardinal Man ning, of England, as having said, “The Eastern question will receive the solution which Providence has assigned to it, the independence of the Holy See.” And the Presse thereupon constructed a theory that the hand of Cardinal Simeoni (An tonelli’s successor) was in all the murmurous agitations of Europe and that the energies at work would impinge upon Poland for an uprising there, which would bring about com plications favorable to the Holy See. The article did not set Europe in a blaze, nor startle it to any great ex tent—in part, no doubt, because Cardinal Manning was misquoted, what he said being, “The solution of the Roman question has been ever since persecution ceased that the Yicar of Jesus Christ should be in dependent.” A reporter of the World yesterday waited upon a prominent clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church, who is in this city on an important mission from Rome, and asked his opinion of the Presse article. The reverend gentleman answered: “Oh, I don’t think there is much in it. The one who wrote it was evidently in fcbn ‘ring,’ as we call It here, of the Polish agitators. The Pope has persistently condemned that Polish organization, and always advised the Poles, when they pre sented themselves for an audience, to refrain from warlike purposes, and to dissolve their secret organi zations.” “Well, has not the Pope taken sides in the Eastern question?” “I dare say he has. There can be no question that this present war will involve the whole of Europe, and then will come a solution of all questions wherein Rome and the East are concerned. Pius IX must necessarily take sides in the war, for it will be the war of civilization.” “ What is the prospect for the so lution of difficulties which beset the Papacy?” “ God only knows. -Every earnest Catholic must look to the future with concern when he takes into consid eration the plans of the Italian Gov ernment showing themselves openly. These prove the crisis to be ap proaching, and that far greater evils are hanging over the Papacy than have heretofore threatened it.” “What are some of the questions at issue between Church and State in Italy?” * “In the famous law of May, 1871, the first guarantee is that by which the Italian Government renounced, throughout the whole kingdom, the right of naming or presenting for the greater benefices, bishoprics, etc. Now, unless one appointed to a see by the Holy Father have the royal exequatur , he is not considered a Bishop with respect to the civil code, but he is looked on as such with re gard to the penal code. This state ment is borne out in the case of tho to Milan, which Court decided in a civil mat ter, that the so-called Bishop had no standing in law because he had not the royal exequatur. On the 16th of October, 1875, the Court of Appeal of Palermo made a like decision, affirming that the Pope had a right to name Bishops, but without the royal exequatur they can not exer cise their functions in external mat ters of a civil nature, which is as much as to say the Bishop may say mass, preach and confirm, but not touch a dollar of the revenues of his see.” “Will you please explain the royal exequatur?'’ “It is an expression on the part of the Government that the prelate obtaining it is acceptable to it. The manner of obtaining it is of course by subscribing to an oath which is in every sense objectionable, and it would be suicidal for prelates to sub scribe to it. Those prelates, there fore, who have not received the royal exequatur —namely, those appointed since the new order of things—have no means of support, as the tempo ralities of their sees are withheld. The Pope supports these himself, and as he has refused to touch a farthing of the $640,000 a year allotted to him by the Italian Gov ernment, the drain on him amounts to $1,200,000 yearly. Hence the sending of money to His Holiness from all parts of the world.” “Is there any further purpose in the attitude of the State to the Church?” “There is a scheme having for its object the foundation of a ‘National Church/ following after the pattern of Henry VIII. This idea is not exactly new in Italy. In 1861 Count Cavour was approached on the sub ject and asked to lend his aid to the project, which he decidedly refused to give. In 1864 a bill having a National Church in view was pre sented to Parliament, but, though ably defended, was lost. At the present time the project is strongly advocated by Government newspa pers. The head of the late Ministry, Marco Minghetti, advocated it in a public speech at Bologna. A so called National Church exists now, and though it has not been formally recognized by the Italian Govern ment, it has at least received de cided encouragement from no less a person than the present Minister of Public Worship, Mancini.” “What, then, is the Pope’s exact standing at the present time?” “lie is in the position of one sub jected to a power hostile to so he defined his position in his let ter to the bishops soon after the Eternal City was captured by the Italian army. It is true he is not in prison, so to speak, but there are many kinds of prisons, and so, pris oners. Were he to come forth from his palace so long as another sover eign claimed to rule over Borne, it would be, indeed, a deep moral deg WHOLE NO. 442. radation. Mark you this, were Pius IX voluntarily to leave the Vatican, he would be false to his oath not to give up, or do any detri ment to, the rights of the Roman Church. In justice to his oath and every dictate of conscience, he must only give up the Vatican, or any other possession (he holds all in trust for the Catholic world), when forced to. This being his po sition, how can he move about Rome as in former times without giving the world to understand that he has accepted the situation created for him by his conquerors? Again, were Pius IX to move about Rome the effect would be constant trouble in the city. On the recurrence of the anniversary of his elevation in June, 1874, the Pope, who had been pres ent, unseen, in the gallery above the portico of St. Peter’s while the Te Deum was being chanted, chanced, on reaching his apartment, momen tarily to look from the window at the immense crowd in the piazza. His white figure, well known, was recognized at once, and immediately arose the cry of “ Viva Pio Nono, Pontijice e Re!” What was the re sult? The soldiery were called out, and only at the point of the bayonet could the enthusiasm of the crowd be interrupted. Many ladies and gentlemen were arrested, the former being discharged but the latter being punished. Now, I ask you, what else is the position of the Pope than that of a prisoner in his own house?” “Does this restraint extend further than the inconveniences you men tion?” “Decidedly. The Pope is tram meled in matters spiritual, even more so than in things pertaining to his person. The Italian Government proclaims with loud voice that the Pope may talk as he pleases in the Vatican; may promulgate his de crees, encyclicals and constitutions by putting them up as usual at the doors of the basilicas of St. Peter and St. John Lateran; but if any one dares to reprint them, his paper will be sequestrated, if in. the judg ment of the Government the docu ment contain objectionable matter. Thus you see the Pope is free to perform his functions, but the Gov ernment reserves the right to say what they shall be.” Mission Rooms. Rev. J. H. Deputie, Secretary of our Liberia Conference, and his brother, a minister of the Presbyterian Church, also of reached New York, bring most interesting in telligence from their home-land. A number of Swedes have recently gone to Liberia and are leasing lands on the St. Paul river for coffee cultivation. The price of prop erty on that river has risen in value in consequence of this new venture. The Swedes after leasing the lands hire the owners of it to cultivate coffee upon it. The American Bible Society is the able co-laborer of all the missionary societies. We doubt if the Methodist Episcopal Foreign Missions have ever been refused in all the applications they have made to the Bible Society. The Secretary informs our Missionary Secre taries of a grant recently made of S2OO currency to Dr. Vernon and will add something for colporteur. A condi tional appropriation, if needed, is avail able for our Lucknow press for com pleting the publication of the New Tes tament in Hindi. This is SSOO. They have also sent to Dr. Butler a quantity of Spanish Bibles and Testaments for Mexico, and also aided our German mission. Protestantism In Italy* Bishop Andrews writes of affairs in Italy and in our mission in particular. We are hearing encouraging things of Protestant work in general in that land, and hence are the more pleased to know of our own part in the same. A singu lar sort of interest, almost a poetic interest attaches to the Waldensian Church. The “Church of the Reforma tion,” says Dr. Wylie in his recent his tory, “was in the loins of the Walden sian Church ages before the birth of Luther: her first cradle was placed amid those terrors and sublimities, those ice-clad peaks and great bulwarks of rocks.” “Its history.is written in blood and tears,” says another. It has now a fully equipped college at Florence for training ministers, and has forty congregations, and sixteen charges and fifty places regularly visited by its evan gelists. One of the ablest men aiding Dr. Vernon as a preacher is brother Gay, of Rome, of whom Bishop Andrews says: “He is a Waldensian by birth and training, of good scholarship, vivacious to a degree, a fluent and attractive preacher.” The Bishop also says: “The Waldensians in some cities have quite a large resident population, by which their congregations are made larger than those of other Churches.” The Wesleyans have a good work in some thirty stations, conducted by con verted Italians, many of them ex priests, and not a few of them men of mark and of former high position. In the province of Padua, the whole popu lation has been influenced. The Wes leyans purchased property in Rome in 1872, two men subscribing £I,OOO each for me purpose. A few weeks since they dedicated their fine Gothic churCh opposite the palace of the Vicar of Rome, lately occupied by the Secretary of the Inquisition. In some stations, Mr. Punshon says they have had old fashioned Methodist revivals in which men and women by the scores have realized the converting grace of God. In one place the Government has been so well pleased with .the Wesleyan school that they have knighted the mis sionary, making him a “Cavaliere.” We, ourselves, have had a good work among the soldiers, but the diminished appropriations of the Missionary Society made it necessary to reduce expenses in some way. Dr. Vernon says:“[l.] This military church was one of the most expensive of all. [2.] The elements composing it are constantly changing, and away from Rome onoe, scarcely added more to our Church than they would if it were sustained by others. [3.] With the means necessary for its support, two stations could be sustained in interesting towns and oities elsewhere as permanent and stable parts of our general cause.” It illustrates Protest- Terms of Advertising: for leti than four insertions 10 orat* par Una Four week*, or len than 13 week*... .8 cent* par line Twenty-fix weeks or longer 6 cent* per line Business or Special Notices .12 cent* per line Marriage. Notions 26 cent* We intend to Insert no questionable advertisement* The Methodist Advocate ia on file at ail the lead ing Advertising Agencies iu the United States. Subscriptions, $2 in advance. B. D. no LOOM B, PRINTER. ant unity in a Romanist country when Dr. Vernon adds as he does the follow ing: “As the Wesleyans could provide rooms for Cappellini, the preacher iu charge of this work, and for his serv ices, too, in their large palace, and so greatly lessen the cost of the work, they finally preferred and agreed to take all into their own hands rather than see it pass to others—an arrange ment which pleased all parties. This action was unanimously approved by the annual meeting and met Bishojp Andrews’ approval also. I count it myself a most fortunate turn of affairs. We will replace it in a few weeks by a station in an interesting town by a man we had already employed in a limited way. Brescello was also ceded to the Wesleyans, being not far from one of their stations. We shall thus be able to diminish expenses and yet institute, very probably, soon, two new stations.” Dr. Vernon also adds: “You will see anew name in connection with Naples— Edoordo Stasia, a young Neapolitan lawyer, converted, well proved, and ad- • mitted on trial into the Germany and Switzerland conference; or, rather, rec ommended for admission. He adds: “The work on the other stations is sub stantially in the same condition as when I last wrote you.” The Secretaries of the Missionary Society report very favorably from their Western rally for the cause. Dr. Reid was heard from substantially at Evans ville, Ind.; and Dr. Dashiell in the first two weeks delivered eighteen addresses. Farting. If thou dost bid thy friend farewell, But for one night though that farewell may be, Press thou his hand in thine. How canst thou tell how far from thee Fate or caprice may lead his steps ere that to-morrow comes? Men have been known to lightly turn the corner of a street, And days have grown to months, And months to lagging years ere they have looked in loving eyes again. Parting, at best, is underlaid With tears and pain. Therefore, lest sudden death should come between, Or time, or distance, clasp with pres sure firm the hand Os him who goeth forth; Unseen, Fate goeth too. Yea, find thou always time to say some earnest word Between the talk, lest with thee hence forth, Night and day, regret should walk. —Selected. Get Christ Into Tour Homes. There is a woman I have met within twenty-four hours who has a drunken husband and five children. She is not a Christian, but if she will only take Christ into that home and just live for Christ, it won’t be long before that husband is won to the Savior. I heard the story of a father who was an infidel and a drunkard, and he had a little son who became a convert to Christ. But his father forbade him to prafo this didn t stop it, and finally he said to the boy, “If you continue to pray you must leave the house.” And the boy went and did up a lit tle bundle of clothes and went to his mother and said, “Good-bye, mother,” and she said, “Why, where are you going?” “I don’t know.” “Why, what do you mean?” “Well, father says he won’t have me in the house if I am a Christian, and I must pray to God.” Well, the mother hated to part with him, but she saw it would be no use to oppose him; so she kissed him, and, with tears running down her cheeks, she said, “farewell.” And the boy kissed his little sister and held out his hand to his father, and said, “Good-bye, father, I shall pray for you.”- And, as he went down the street, his father couldn’t stand it he came running down after him, and he said, “Come back; if that is religion, I want it.” The boy prayed with him that night, and that drunkard and that infidel was con verted. [This story visibly affected many in the audience.] If there is a mother here that has a dark home, let her take Christ into it. If she has a husband that hates her and hates the Church, Christ has the power to break that heart and then heal it. O, may God help us to realize this truth, that God sent Christ into the world to heal the heart-broken. He, can heal every broken heart in this assembly, every broken heart in all Boston, if you will only bring your crushed and wounded and bleeding hearts to Him.— Moody , in a recent Sermon. The Christian Weekly relates the fol lowing: “A Japanese Commissioner to the Austrian Exhibition, saw the Bible stand, and wondered that any book should be thought worth translating into so many languages. He bought a copy in Chinese, read it and became convinced of the truths it taught. On his way through Europe he made ob servations on the Romish, Greek and Protestant faiths, and concluded that the latter came nearest to the teachings of the Book itself. On his return to Yeddo, now Tokio, he applied to the American Missionaries for baptism. He has since purchased a heathen temple for purposes of Christian wor ship, and in it the Christian mission aries now hold religious services.” Dula, a colored man, who was a few weeks ago appointed postmaster at St. Francisville, Louisiana, reports to the Post Office Department that the former postmaster will not surrender the office, neither will they let him perform the office of justice of the peace, though he has received his commission from Gov. Nicholls. Dula also sends a narrative on this same subject to Gen. Butler, also a miniature coffin with his name on the lid and a bullet hanging to a string, which, he says, were put on his gate. The matter will be investigated. * ♦ ♦- —— The Republican Administration, from July Ist, 1876, to June Ist, 1877, has reduced the national debt $36,062,002. Cotton vs. corn. — A reporter of the “Vindicator,” (Merriwether county), in passing through that country, estimated 83(j acres in cotton, and 144 in corn,