Southern Christian advocate. (Macon, Ga.) 18??-18??, November 30, 1866, Page 5, Image 5

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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