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more than one hundred and eighty-seven
thousand dollars, and of course reducing the
surplus in the treasury by that amount.
“The appropriations made for the year
now ensuing amount to a million and thirty
one thousand dollars, almost exactly agree
ing with the numbers of our Church mem
bership, as shown in the Minutes for the
present year. Os this sum $306,000 is for
Foreign Missions; for the German and
Swedish Missions in this country, $64,000;
for the American Indians, $4,550 ; for Do
mestic Missions within the Annual Confer
ences, $449,000; for Domestic Missions
outside the Annual Conferences, $56,000 ;
and for various purposes, aggregated as Mis
cellaneous, $75,000.
To the Contingent Fund, designed to be
used in any unforeseen emergency, the usual
sum of $25,000 was appropriated ; for office
expenses, (including salaries,) $20,000 ; and
for other not enumerated expenses, $15,000.
For the Missionary Advocate, for gratui
tous distribution, $15,000 was set apart.
V arious small sums, amounting in all to
$45,000, were appropriated to be used in
helping to build churches, chiefly for freed
men; and, $25,000 for a church in New
Orleans.
“Os the aggregate given for Foreign Mis
sions, Liberia gets $15,400, an advance of
nearly a thousand dollars over last year’s. —
This,” says the* Advocate,, “ is our oldest
foreign field, and it was long the most cher
ished cf our missions. But it has not an
swered to the expectations of the Church. —
White men cannuot live in that country,
and colored ones seem to make but indiffer
ent missionaries. Each Church n ember in
Liberia costs the Missionary Society about
ten dollars per year, and this work is de
clining rather than advancing.
“Ofthe more than a million appropriat
ed for the ensuing year, it is probable that
very nearly the whole amount will be drawn
for. If, therefore, the entire surplus in the
treasury shall be used, there will still be a
demaud for over eight hundred thousand
dollars from the Conferences, or more than
a hundred thousand dollars in advance of
last year’s contributions, and rtyjuiring art
average advance of two thousand dollars in
the contributions of each of the several An
nual Conferences.”
Corospniitittt.
THE WORK IN CHINA.
FOURTH LETTER.
Mr. Editor: —la a previous letter, I
promised you some particulars as to the
Mission work in China. Since then, we
have received a communication from Dr.
Sehou, Sec’y Board For. Missions, in which
he assures us of increasing interest in the
China Mission, but says, we are heavily
pressed with debt, and the future is dark
and gloomy; but 1 am determined under
the divine blessing to spare no effort lor the
full support of your Mission, and will, as
soon as possible, make you another remit
tance/'
In view therefore of the pressing wants
of this work and an earnest desire to arouse
and encourage the Church to meet them, as
far as possible, by yet greater zeal and lib
erality, I propose t) give you some statistics
as t) what the native converts, themselves,
are doing to help Jorioard the great work
begun in their midst.
By reference to the general statistics for
warded you sometime since, y T ou will see
that the whole number of converts to Chris
tianity in connection with the several Prot
estant Missions here, amounted in the ag
gregate to two thousand six hundred and
seven, (2,607) and the amount of their con
tributions to $2,988, for the year 1864, or
more than one dollar for each member —the
membership and contribution of each re
spective station being as follows :
Membership. Contrib’ns
Canton 160 Not noted.
Hong Kong 340 SI,OOO
Sua-tow 68 100
Amoy 924 1,236
Fuh Chow 197 125
Ningpo 482 142
Shanghai 273 209
Han Kow 36 30
Chefoo and Tung Chow... 54 107
TienTsin 27 35
Pekin 46 4
Total 2607 $2,988
Several Missions did not report the
amounts raised by their converts; otherwise
the sum might have been larger still.
Now, when it is remembered that the
class of people most generally represented
in our Churches are many of them poor in
deed, and the most, if not all of them, de
pendent on their daily earnings for the ne
cessaries of life, their liberality will appear
as surprising as it is large; and, viewed in
reference to future operations and success
here, is encouraging in the extreme.
Already, several Churches supply their
native pastors and support them by their
own contributions. Sometimes the con
verts express a desire and willingness to aid
in support of the gospel, which has brought
glad tidings “ without money and without
price,” and to extend its blessings to others
in their midst and even beyond them; but
they complain that they are not able. Con
vince them, however, of the possibility of
economizing for that purpose, and they readi
ly make the effort, and sometimes with sur
prising results.
This statement has been proved and beau
tifully illustrated in our own native Church,
and as it may prove a valuable suggestion,
perhaps reproof, to some of our brethren
and members at home, I will tell them
how our poor, (may I not call them rich
too ?) Church members managed to make a
liberal monthly subscription for the promo
tion of the gospel, by helping to sustain a
native assistant, during our severe trials,
while separated from you and from all as
sistance from home.
I had just been spending an hour in con
versation and prayer with two of our young
men, one of whom we had recently set to
work as an assistant, and before separating
the condition of the Mission at that time
(1864) was mentioned and I told them I
thought it would be well for. them and their
members generally to take more interest in
its support, and especially in sustaining the
native agency, which, at that time, 1 was
exceedingly anxious should not feel the ne
cessities and burdens that came upon us,
lest it might cause faintness of heart or
confusion of purpose. They mutually ex
pressed themselves willing to make any con
tributions in their power, but seemed at a
loss to ascertain their ability. After hesi
tating a moment, I inquired if either of
them smoked, for nearly all Chinamen
smoke, to which they responded in the
affirmative, whereupon, 1 proposed to re
lieve them of their embarrassment in refer
ence to assisting the Mission, by suggesting
that l smoked, also, (having contracted the
habit in 1862-3 as a srt of disinfectant,
during the cholera season, when I was in
daily contact with it, and the fatal malaria
of the filthy Chinese city) —but that I would
be willing to leave it off n§w, as not neces
sary or indispensable as rice or tea, and ask
ed if they would consent to do the same.
They evidently had not thought of such
a method of giving aid as that; yet they
consented cheerfully and we immediately
proceeded to enroll our names and pledge
the several amounts each was to pay per
month, which resulted as fallows:—l smoked
segars, though not constantly, hence I head
ed the list With two doliars per month as
my subscription. They smoked the Chinese
pipe, with very mild tobacco, which cost ten
cash or mills per day, or thirty cents per
month, which amount they each placed op
posite their names. I then told them, it
was perfectly optional whether they con
tinued to smoke or left it off altogether, that
if they continued they would have to econ
omize, where they previously thought econ
omy impossible, where help to the Mission
was the object.
I afterwards brought the matter before
the Church publicly, and acquainted them
with the facts above noted and solicited
their voluntary co operation. I was not dis
appointed, but encouraged beyond measure.
Those who formerly smoked thirty cents per
month contributed that amount and learned
to economize fifteen cents from other sources,
wherewith they still indulged the luxury of
the pipe.
Now, Mr. Editor , though I would not
claim for myself or those above mentioned
the character of the good Samaritan, jet I
hope the circumstances and the example
may prove u< no levites or pharisees, but
challenge all whom it may concern to “go
and do likewise.” We have struggled hard
to outlive our adversities and have so far
succeeded, that should the Church come to
our rescue at once, not only the life of the
Mission will be preserved, but future use
fulness and success will crown your gifts
and our labors. Dr. Sehon encourages us
to believe that you have not and will not
forsake us. The country is wide open now
for the operation of native agents. There
is a pressing demand for labors and labor
ers —the fie and is white unto the harvest.
The country is old and decaying, superssi
ticn infests it; the people rush madly ou to
destruction and there is no hope, unless the
Church claim the country as the Lord’s pos
session and this heathen people for his in
heritance.
SHALL I TELL THEM YOU ARE COMING ?
This haughty laud convulsions shake,
And revolutions direful change,
Contract, o’erturn and break :
Confusions rampant range;
Wild rumors of ten thousand ills
Spread consternations wide around;
The trembling nation reels,
’Tis toppling, falling down.
Shall I tell them you are coming
That the signs of promise downing
Reveal a better day ?
Fast on this prostrate Empire feeds,
The stealthy monarch of decay;
Corruption sows its seeds ;
Its life-blood ebbs away.
The “ Son of heaven” o’er it broods,
And strives in vain that power to stay,
To staunch the crimson floods,
Or pluck death’s seeds away.
Shall I tell them you are coming ?
More dark than Egypt's grossest night
The blindness of this heathen place,
Where goblin ghosts affright
And haunting horrors chase,
Gliding shades of superstition
Steal o’er each person, place and thing
Nightly to their vision
Pale apparitions cling.
Shall I tell them you are doming ?
The priests of Buddha and of Tow,
Prophets of Siuim’s ancient race,
Before tlieir dumb gods bow,
And vainly seek for grace,
And all these people everywhere,
As vainly bow to wood and stone ;
They perish in despair,
For hope they cun have none.
Shall 1 tell them you are coming ?
Where the gulf of hell is yawning,
Aud its sulphurous currents flow;
Down, down without a warning,
These helpless heathen go.
Yea unsubstantial ail tlieir hope,
And all their aspirations vain,
They still in darkness grope,
Down , but I must refrain,
And go tell them you are coming
That the signs of promise dawning
Reveal a letter day.
SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE.
Economise your trea-ures now,
Increase your faith and hope and prayer,
With richest gifts endow,
And aid Christ’s Kingdom here,
Suffice the past for the flesh to’ve wrought,
Henceforth the senses’ sway disown ;
He labors not for naught,
Who prays thy Kingdom come.''
And I II tell them you are coming
That the signs of promise dawning
Reveal the better day.
More auou.
Yours truly,
Young J. Allen.
Shanghai, August 28, 1866.
P. S.—You may say to the numerous
friends of “ Emory College” and the “Chi
na Mission” that 1 am now collecting a va
riety of articles, illustrative of Chinese ait,
etc., also a number of Chinese books, which
I propose to send as contributions to the
cabinet and library of my beloved Alma
Mater, to arrive before the Commencement
in July, 1867.
When ready for shipment, I will furnish
you with a list of the articles and the name
of ship, etc., by which they are forwarded.
Y. J. A.
EUROPEAN LETTER.
Having received permission to pass
through the Austrian lines, I left Vieuna
on the first- train that ran over the newly
repaired roads, which had been destroyed
by the Austrians in their retreat from Bo
hemia. I was anxious to visit the renowned
battle fields, and to review the great Aus
trian and Prussian armies which are spread
over the country mainly from Yienua to
Prague. An hour from Vienna by rail, and
we entered the camps of the victorious Prus
sians. After a careful examination, I can
not discover much, if any, difference be
tween the Austrian and Prussian soldiers.
I imagine that the latter are a littl.e taller
and stand more erect; this slight difference
may be accounted for in the present posi
tion of tire two armies—the Prussians are
flushed with victory, while the Austrians
are crushed by defeat. If the latter were
placed in the same circumstances, and dress
ed in blue instead of giaj r , I doubt whether
even a German could perceive any differ
ence. They both are under fine dis»c:pline,
march with even front and steady tramp,
and are gencralij T large, fine looking men,
with great breadth and depth of chest; the
firm muscles in their arms and chest made
me envious of their superior physical devel
opment. They possess great strength and
wonderful power of endurance. Their train
ing and bracing climate doubtless have much
to do in promoting both.
The militia of Prussia are very differeut
looking men from the same class of soldiers
in America. They are called here Luml
wchr levies, and are generally older and bet
ter educated than the regular soldiers, and
have received three years’ training, and are
just such rtdiable soldiers as a general takes
delight iu command. /•»■;. The Prussian sys
tem in organizing and training in peace is,
perhaps, superior to that of any nation in
Europe, and while it gives them reliable and
efficient men, always ready for line of battle,
it obviates the necessity of keeping up such
large standing armies as are to be found in
France and Austria, and which are such
moths upon the public treasury. I spent
nearly two days in the camps and on the
battle fields, and saw quite enough of sol
diers to satisfy me for a twelve-month.
A portion of the journey had to be per
formed in very indifferent carriages, and the
accommodations were not such as I had
been accustomed to in Munich and other
favored localities. There is much more
cholera in Bohemia than anj r place I have
yet visited ; the soldiers and people are dy
ing at a fearful rate. The Austrians, iu
their retreat after the last great battle, burnt
the bridges and tore ud the railways. I
saw hundreds of women, many of them dedi
cate girls of 15 to 18, working on the rail
roads which had been destroyed by the men.
I have come to the conclusion that a woman
on the Continent is a very useful animal,
and she is appreciated by the men in pro
portion to her physical endurance. It is
evident that the position of the women in
Europe, especially on the Continent, is very
different from that of the American ladies.
With us we have no women ; they are all
ladies; and the humblest has her eye on
the White House at Washington, and stauds
a good chance of being the President’s
Queen. I think I can see why it is that
the women are only' appreciated here when
they want the fields tilled, the houses built,
and sons for the army. But lam now wri
ting about battle fields; at another time I
will write a chapter for the benefit of the
women of Europe, and tell them of the great
American Eden, where the women are ap
preciated by the men for their social and in
tellectual worth, and where it is not a mis
fortune to be born a mother’s daughter in
stead of a father’s son. The blackened
chimney stocks which line the road between
Chlum and Konniggratz are miniature rep
resentatives of Sherman’s desolating march
from the Savann ih to the Congaree ; here
the houses were burned when the two great
armies of nearly half a million of men were
engaged in battle. In Carolina the work
was deliberate ; the torch was applied when
the only weapon of defence were a widow’s
tears, and the shrieks of orphan children.
But what has the hyena for tears,
age, or sex ?
.Sherman’s “bummers” were worse than
the fiercest hyenas that roam in the savage
forests of Africa. They even tore the dead
from their resting place in search of spoils,
desecrating churches and graveyards. The
roadside here is lined with knapsacks, tat—,
tered caps, belts, cartridge boxes, bayonets,
sheaths, &c ; the poor fellows who so recent
ly wore them lie beneath the long range of
fresh mounds which line the hills and val
leys. Men and horses were piled in trench
es by the thousand, and were imperfectly
buried. The odor arising from them is
horrid, and beyond endurance. No wonder
nearly every house you pass has been convert
ed into a hospital with a white flag hung over
the door. The houses are filled with the
sick and wounded of both armies, attended
by the Austrian and Prussian surgeons.
If any one has a doubt about the utter
depravity of the human family, let him visit
a battle field, where myriads of bis fellow
creatures have been butchered by their
neighbors and relatives, and thrown into
long trenches, with horses and mules, only
a cross here and there to denote that the
bodies of those who recently possessed im
mortal souls are mingled in this mass of
putrefaction. The widow searches for the
grave of her husband, the mother for her
only son, and they find the vultures preying
upon their carcasses, and the peasants dress
ed in the clothes that were worn by the hus
band and the son when they bid adieu to
home never to return again.
These are no fancy pictures; would to
God they were. But one need not come to
Europe to look upon scenes like these. The
past five years’ history®of ’our country will
furnish scenes equally horrid and revolting;
soldiers were thrown into prisons at the
North to freeze, and into pens at the South
to starve. When a torpedo would explode
under a ship, sending hundreds of men un
prepared for eternity to the bottom of the
ocean, and the battles that sent most souls
to eternity, these events would furnish occa
sions for extra prayer meetings and Chris
tian exultations. The Christian (?) minis
ters could see the hand of God iu all these
things. The Hand of God ! Merciful Fath
er deliver us from the teachings of such
men ! It is horrid butcheries like these that
elevates States into pround Kingdoms, and
make a Bismark who was detested by his
own countrymen, the most popular man in
Europe.
I found the city of Prague, which is the
capital of Bohemia, full to overflowing.—
The Prussian officers occupy the hotels from
cellar to garret. I was so fortunate, after
waiting a couple of hours, as to secure lodg
ings iu a hath room, sleeping on a Prussian
army bed. I intimated to my landlord that
he must be doing a flue business, seeing that
he had such a full house. He shrugged his
shoulders, shook his head, and glancing his
eyes around to see if auy of the officers
were near, cursed and abused the Prussians
in a shocking manner. I could excuse the
poor fellow for being angry when he in
formed me that he had been boarding one
hundred officers for more than a month
without receiving one dollar of compensa
tion, and what added to bis wrath, the offi
cers made out their own bill of fare, often
ordering articles that, in a country overrun
by war, it was almost impossible to procure.
The cholera is epidemic here, and I am
anxious to leave for Dresden, but the mili
tary occupy the railways. I visited the
PaHee. which is now occupied by the Prus
sians; also the Cathedral, tlie Museum, Lo
retto Chapel, and last, though not least, the
old Jewish Synagogue, which is a thousand
years old ; it looks old, damp and dingy en
ough to have been fastened to Noah’s Ark.
I,have not seen just such a place of worship
in Europe. The dark, wet dungeon of the
Synagogue, among coffins, skeletons, &c., is
not far short of the Strasburg mummies. If
a man can spend ffiPe minutes in such a
place, and not have the cholera, I thiuk he
is proof against it. Speaking of cholera,
one of our passengers was attacked on yes
terday—an Austrian officer; he was attend
ed by a Prussian surgeon, who manifested
as much interest and was as attentive as if
he had been his own brother. We had to
leave the poor fellow in a small town; the
doctor stopping with him. When the par
oxysm would occur, he would be drawn al
most double; his sunken eyes and pale
cheeks looked as if be were not long for this
world. Severe eases of cholera often termi
nate fatally in . a few hours. I made an ef
fort to leave Prague for Dresden on the one
o’clock train ; for the first time the Califor
nia application failed ; just as the agent had
the permit written, and we were about to
exchange civilities, a Prussian officer step
ped in. and our acquaintance ended. The
glad tidings of' peace between Prussia and
Austria was signed at Prague since my ar
rival in Bohemia. This news, which is good
to all the civilized world, doubtless reached
the new world before it was published in
Prague. “Peace and friendship shall pre
vail in future and forever between his Ma
jesty King of Prussia, and his Majesty the
Emperor of Austria, their heirs and success
ors, their States aud subjects.” Thus reads
the first article. For the sake of humanity
I hope it may never be violated.
G. W. W.
Prague, Bohemia, 1866.
OXFORD AND EMORY COLLEGE.
A few weeks since, the Rev. G-. J. Pearce
became impressed, while attending a meet
ing in Coweta, that it was his duty to go to
Oxford and labor for the spiritual benefit of
that community. He accordingly came
among us, feeling assured that God would
favor us with a season of refreshing from
his presence. His expectations were soon
realized. At the opening service, the Spirit
was poured upon the congregation. Ail felt
that the Lord was in his holy temple, and
through every succeeding service of the
meeting, He revealed himself in the sav
ing manifestations of his grace.
Had the influence of the revival not ex
tended beyond the pale of the Church, its
results would be the most gratifying. The
backslidden were reclaimed. The tempted
were succored, and the members of the
Chur ah all edified. But the influence per
vaded the entire community. Sinners ap
proached the altars with penitent acknow
ledgments of guilt, and were freely justified
by the grace of Godin Christ. There wa9
an accession of 25 members to the Church.
The meeting hc.s been an occasion of joy to
the community, not only because of the
spiritual improvement it has already wrought
in our midst, but because of its prospective
bearing upon Emory College—the acces
sions to the Church being mainly young
men of the school, the most of whom are
now members of the Church—forming a
nucleus, we trust, around which many more
will gather, not only to receive the mental
culture they have come to seek, but to feel
the moulding influence of a piety which,
like leaven, shall continue to disseminate
itself among the incoming students of Emo
ry, through all the succeeding history of the
Institution. Although her number is
small, compared with her lists of former
years, yet she is gradually recovering from
the desolating effects of war, and with a
favoring Providence, will soon outride the
difficulties now besetting her, and become,
as she once was, the center of an intellectu
ral, and moral influence, which will long
live to bless the Church, and the State.
If Emory College has lost one endowment,
Heaven has favored her with another, (viz )
a baptism of the Spirit; and I regard the
moral condition of the College and com
munity, as a bright augmry of her future
success and triumph. The great Ruler
above is fitting her for mental and moral
achievements, which shall eclipse her form
er glory, and make the Church of which she
is now the afflicted (and we fear, the too
much neglected) child, proud to claim the
maternity of such a daughter. We know
of no place so free from temptations to vicious
indulgence, as Oxford. Here are to be
found no haunts of iniquity—no gambling
establishments—no dram-shops, with the
sparkling, tempting wine-cup, to decoy into
the meshes of vice, the most unwary young
man —no bacchanalians to celebrate the
orgies of the wine-god, and by his corrupt
ing example, lead the unsuspecting youth
into the vortex of dissipation. But on the
contrary here is to be witnessed the grand
spectacle of a whole community (excepting
one or two families) consecrated to the ser
vice of the most High God, and agencies
the most conservative of tlie morals of the
student ply him wherever he is found,
whether in school, or Church, or the family
circle.
We cannot appreciate too highly such a
condition of society. Os what avail are
genius and learning, if our sons become the
victims of habits which must soon enfeeble
the body, dim the eye of the inte.lect, and
drive them from their fellow-men, to herd
with the vile and abominable of earth ?
How many young men of sober, virtuous
habits, who have left the paternal roof to
enjoy the advantages of an education, have
yielded to the temptations to which they
have been subjected abroad, and have spent
the whole of life amid scenes of the most
senseless revelry ? Emory College may be.
justly proud of her alumni. True, with
some of them, life lias proved a failure ; but
it was to be expected that of so large a num
ber, some would, in an evil moment, yield
to temptation, and be overcome. Yet by
far the greater proportion of them, whether
found upon the walls of Zion, or in the halls
of the Senate, or in the more private circles
of life, are living to reflect credit upon their
alma mater.
The College is still favored with a Facul
ty, whose piety and intelligence have made
them too widely and favorably known to
need any panegyric here. To know that
such men as Thomas, Means, Smith, Stone,
and Orr are Btill here to discipline the heart
and the intellect of our youth, is a sufficient
guarantee to all who may wish to patronize
the Institution, that everything which can
promote the mental and moral interests of
our children, will be accomplished. The
College must not, she will not die. Will
not the Church say she shall not die ? She
is the child of the Church, and will Metho
dism, acting inconsistently with all her tra
ditions, leave her to struggle alone against
the adversities she is now encountering ?
With the mother’s fostering care she will
soon regain all she has lost, and live again
the fountain and source of as intelligence,
which shall bless society in all of its de
partments.
There are in the Georgia Conference more
than 159 preachers. Could not each mem
ber of the Conference, by earnest and per
severing effort, secure one or more pupils to
the College ? Our people are now appreci
ating, as they never have done before, the
importance of a liberal education of their
children. They have learned the insecurity
of material wealth, and they begin earnestly
to desire to bequeath to their offspring, a
legacy, of which no enemy can dispossess
them. Let us in every way we can, encour
age this laudable desire, and do all we can
to get our people to curtail their expendi
tures in other respects, and educate the
youth of our land. If, to all the other ills
afflicting us, ignorance, with its concomitant
evils, must be added, we must yet descend
to a depth of degradation, appalling to the
contemplation of any serious mind. Next
to the religion of Christ, a liberal mental
culture lies at the foundation of all that is
valuable in society. Education isthe hand
maid of religion; and it is worthy of our
remark, that the one does not exist- long in
its purity without the other. If this
position be true— and we think no one can
reasonably question its truth—then it is
our duty as a Church, to do all we can to
promote our educational interests.
Emory College needs help. Let the
Church rally to her support. Send on your
sons, and they will not only enjoy the moral
and intellectual advantages already mention
ed ; but they will find a climate as salubrious
as any in the South, and the expenses of an
education as light, if not lighter, than will
be incurred at any similar Institution of
learning in our country. M. W. Arnold.
5