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THREE DOLLARS PER ANNUM.
Vol. XXIX.—No. 51.
Drig’mal
For the Sou.hern Christian Adrocate.
PSALM, XIX.
Oh ! who can understand,
Or who can ever know,
How many errors he
Is subject to below?
Oli, Lord! cleanse me from all
My secret faults, and give
Me grace to overcome
Temptations, while I live.
Oh ! keep me back from all
Presumptuous sins, and may
, They never have the power
To lead my soul astray.
Be every thought and word
Acceptable and right,
And, every thing I do
Well pleasing in thy sight.
So shall I upright be,
And from transgression free,
And worthy, Lord, to dwell
Forevermore with thee.
J. C. B.
Irmnlon, Ga., Dec. §th, 18G6
Cormjjonkntt.
EUROPEAN LETTER.
The stirring eventsof the past few months
add much interest to the great Prussian
Metropolis. I spent two days in Berlin,
and regretted the time at my command would
not allow me a week in this interesting city.
The Prussians are an enterprising nation
Whatever they undertake must be executed
on a grand scale, and thoroughly. I have
oeen no where in my travels a more striking
monument than that erected to the memory
of Frederic the Great. It is true, they
have been slow in offering this tribute to one
to whom they are so much indebted for their
greatuess. Frederic was to Prussia what
Washington was to the United States. He
was both a hero and a statesman, and is re
garded as the Father of his Kingdom. The
monument in all its proportions is splendid.
The horse on whioh the King majestically
gits is a noble looking animal, seventeen feet
iu height. The entire monument is some
fifty feet high. The bronae pedestal is of
huge dimensions, and is raised on blocks of
beautifully polished granite. The entire
monument consists of at least forty figures,
and, as a work of art, it has never been ex
celled in Europe. I drove through a beau
tiful grove of trees that would do credit to
an American forest, to the Palace of Char*
lottenhof, situated a few miles from Berlin.
The buildings, although fine, will not com
pare with the dazzling palaces of the city.
The site of the palace is good—stand
ing in a high park beautifully ornamented
with trees —the growth of centuries; the
walks are lined with orange and choice
shrubs ; but there is a stillness and want of
life in the old palace, and I felt as if moving
among scenes of days long passed away,
while I really stood in the home of living
monarchs. The marble statues scattered
through the park have a dingy appearance;
they look like neglected monuments in a
deserted churchyard. The most interesting
spot in these grounds was the mausoleum in
which the late King Frederic 111. and his
queen lie interred. Except that of Na
poleon’s in Paris, these tombs are the finest I
have seen on the Continent. The lay figures
aro exquisitely cut in pure white marble;
the delicate blue light admitted from the
dome of stained glass adds greatly to the
beauty of the monuments The Queen was
quite young when Napoleon, in 1806, en
feted as conqueror of Berlin. She was a
clever and spirited woman, and Napoleon
suffered in the estimation of the Prus-i ins
in consequence of his treatment of their fa
vorite Queen. She died at the early age of
thirty-five, while Frederic lived to the age
of seventy-two. No traveller should leave
Berlin without visitiug these magnificent
monuments.
Iu one of the public squares are exhibit
ed a large number of caution captured re
cently from the Austrians. The lloyal Bo
tanical Gardens in Berlin are not as exten
sive as those in Paris, but the exotics, which
grow in mammoth glass houses, interested
me very much. The environs of Berlin,
with their handsome private dwellings and
magnificent public parks and pleasure
grounds, filled with beautiful trees and flow
ering shrttCM, surpass anything l have yet
seen in Germany. Villas and summer
houses for refresh men t.s are scattered
through the-c parks. Under these gtand
old trees rich and poor assemble to listen to
the music or mingle in the dance. Berlin
was the bi< th place of the most, distinguished
naturalist the world ever pr. dueed—Baron
Von Huinb.»ldt. He was a great favorite
with the soverei and pe >p'e of Germany;
and Ids nam > is universally honored and
respected for his vast acquirements, attained
by extensive travels, research ami study,
and bis mind was ch ar and active even at
the advanced age of eighty four. No man
of bis day possessed such general informa
tion or lmd seen so much of the habitable
PUBLISHED BY J. W. BURKE & CO., FOR THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH.
globe. His great mind grappled with aod
comprehended nearly every branch of hu
man knowledge. He was eminently a work
ing man ; he knew the value of time, and
that knowledge was only to be acquired by
toil, and it is said that he seldom slept more
than four hours out of twenty-four. When
this rine scholar had reached the age of
three score and-ten—full of glory and re
nown—it seems he might well have rested
from his labors; but not so; he was as dili
gent in scientific research at eighty as at
any former period of his life. Would that
the young men of our country, whose am
bition it is to retire from business at forty—
to live a life of ease and idleness—would
study the life and imitate the bright exam
ple of the great Alexander Humboldt.
I left Berlin early in the morning. A
few hours by the “lightning express” and I
find myself in the quaint and to me deeply
interesting old town of Hamburg. In the
new town are splendid streets, with magnifi
cent buildings and royal palaces, while the
old is composed of narrow streets and alleys,
filled with a population of the poor. I ex
plored one of these alleys, where I found
the people even more degraded than in the
“ Five Points” of New York. I proposed
to my guide to accompany me. He de
clined upon the plea that gentlemen did not
visit such places. Just imagine a street six
feet wide, with houses on each side from
four to six stories high, to say nothing of
the cellars beneath, all of which are occu
pied, each room frequently accoufhiodating
two or more families.
These narrow streets are several hundred
yards in length, and what adds to the filthi
ness and discomfort of the buildings, is that
there is but one ingress or egress. The
dirty, half clad women stared at me, the
smut and grease dripping from their black
faces. The squalid children held out their
hands, begging for coppers I stopped to
take a peep into alley No. 2, when my guide
assured me the small pox and cholera were
raging there. I had seen enough of poverty
and wretchedness, and had no desire to extend
my visit among that class of citizens. I in
quired of a physician in reference to the
health of these dirty alleys, and he inform
ed me that the mortality was not greater
here than in the best portions of Hamburg.
I was surprised to find in one of tbe richest
cities on the continent so much poverty and
degradation. The children who are born
and reared in these dismal courts, or the
Five Points, New York, are no more affected
by the polluted air they breathe than are the
rats which infest these haunts of filth; but
as immortal beings they are corrupted by
the vicious atmosphere that surrounds them.
Hamburg is one of the oldest of the Free
Cities of Germany; it invites the rich com
merce of the world to enter its magnificent
harbor almost free of duty. Immense car
goes of merchandise are discharged from
vessels that lie in the middle of the stream
into small barges; these are rowed to the
warehouse, at less expense than if the goods
were ianded at the docks from the ships.
I drove along the banks of the river looking
at the miles of shipping, and was surprised
to see no docks*; but when I witnessed the
facility with which the great cargoes were
transferred, by means of lighters, to the
storehouses, the absence of docks was ex
plained. Here you find ships from nearly
every nation. The star spangled banner,
as it waved proudly over the fine American
ships, sent an electric shock through my
veins—for the first time in my wanderings
L felt homesick. To a citizen of the United
States there is something grand in the Stars
and Stripes. It is a flag that commands the
respect of all nations. The gigantic war
through which we have just passed has
proved to the world that the States, when
united, form an irresistible power, and are
not to be trifled with, either on land ot* sea.
May our great Republic for all time to come
cultivate peace, friendship and amity.
G. W. W.
Hamburg, Germany, 1866.
MONTGOMERY CONFERENCE-
Mr. Editor : — The 3d session of the
Montgomery Conference, held at Jackson
ville, Ala., from sth to 12th of December,
his been most delightful. Bishop Wight
man, after presiding at a District Meeting
at Talladega the week before, was promptly
on hand, and opened the Conference,
worship, in an address unsurpassed in ap
propriateness and taste. He has presided
to the delight of all the preachers and peo
ple; and his sermon on Sabbath morning
was characterized by cha3tenes3 of thought
and language, redolent of sentiment, just
ness of doctrinal statement, and was full of
unction and pathos. The Bishop having
had in early life the advantages of society
and education equal to any on the continent
being a native of blessed, afflicted old
Charleston —he lias ripened by means of fa
cilities afforded in the pulpit, sanctum and
c liege presidency, into a Methodist Bishop.
Shall l say this is the highest position on
earth '(
As I aui in trhe way of personal reference
let. me mention the services of Dr. J. B.
McFe.rin, Secretary of Domestic Missionary
Board. Such was the fondness of the
preachers to hear from hint, they would call
him out on every question possible; and
highly enhanced indeed is the estimate of his
Macon, Ga., Friday, December 21, 1866.
acuteness of mind and power of debate. His
devotion and constancy to the church of his
love were too fully attested before, for their
manifestation here to cause remark —some
of us knew not the power of the man before.
President Hargrove, of Summerfield Cea
tenary Female College, was also present as
fraternal messenger of the Mobile Confer
ence. In a speech of great clearness and
force, he laid before the Confidence the
cause of Centenary—our Conference having
a joint interest with Mobile Conference in
it. Certainly with such a man as Hargrove
in charge, the old mother of Alabama Fe
male schools aud colleges will thrive and
flourish.
The vote on the question of Lay Repre
sentation stood as follows : Yeas, 62; nays,,B.
The debate on this measure was by the
writer, Shapard, Ross and Blue in the af
firmative ; and Anson West and F. Walker
in the negative. On the change of name
the Bishop, by invitation of tbe Conference,
addressed us at length. He was opposed
to the change, and the candor and freeness
with which he sp.ke out were refreshing to
all who heard him, opposed as the great
body of them were, to his views, lie was
followed by the writer, and then by Dr.
McFerrin in favor of the change. Dr. M.
in his speech gave evidence of his special
gift. He is eudowed with those qualities
of mind which would, iu political life, have
placed him in the front rank of party lead
ers. The vote on the change of name stood
57 in favor, against 10 in opposition. So
our new Conference sends greeting to tbe
friends of progress everywhere.
About §3600 were collected for missions
during the past year, and §4500 for the
Bishop and Conference fund.
Quite a spicy debate was had in reference
to the Southern Christian and the New Or
leans Advocates as to which should be the
organ of the Conference —in wltich many
nice complimentary things were said about
each. We hang on to the latter as form
erly, deeming it right to foster a paper so
well located to serve the church. The
brethren down there have labored for the
church nobly, and deserve our gratitude.—
In the mean time, the old Southern has a
warm place in our hearts.
The hospitality of the citizens of Jack-*
sonville was equal to that of any other place.
The writer can speak of his own home at
Brother Woodward’s—one of the first citi
zens of the country —with full knowledge of
the facts. The Bishop lodged there, and as
we left spoke to the writer in Bi.oh hearty
words of commendation that 1 would like to
give them here, were I net at the end of
my sheet.
JosEni B. Cottrell.
On Board Steam Boat , Dec. 14 th, 1866.
St. Matthews Ct S. C. Conference.
Mr. Editor : lam very sorry that we
are not able to report such glorious revivals
of religion—the conversion of scores and
huudreds, ana the accession of an equal
number or more to the church—as many of
our brethren have been able to do, all of
which cheers the spirit and make the heart
feel glad. Nevertheless, we are not entirely
destitute of news from this part of our
Lord’s vineyard, and have at least something
to say of the state of things here, which we
regard refreshing both to soul and body.—
It is more especially so in these times of des
titution and want, and when the cry of “ in
adequacy of support ’’ is heard from so many
of our worthy brethren in the ministry and
from various portions of our beloved Zion.
We have had a few conversions and several
accessions to the church during the year,
and it is believed that there is an improve
ment in the spiritual state of the member
ship.
We have had a Sabbath-school at each
church, and a Bible class connected with
one of them. Our celebration was quite a
success, aud we hope it will give a fresh
impetus to the cause. As is the custom in
the country, however, during the winter,
our schools have been suspended, but with
favorable prospect of being resumed early
next spring—the Lord willing. I think,
however, that the custom, of suspending
Sabbath-schools in winter ought to be rem
edied as far as possible, and might be in
many instances with proper exertion.
The financial interests of the circuit have
been successfully managed, in the hands of
an efficient and liberal hearted board of
stewards, sustained by a kind and generous
people. A liberal appropriation was made
for the current expenses of the year, all jf
which has been paid, and something over.
The amount assessed the circuit to aid
liquidating the missionary debt, has besn
collected and paid over. A parsonage and
land adjoining have been purchased and
though not yet paid for, arrjngements have
been made by which it will be paid for, and
the house furnished.
Our Missionary and Conference collec
tions, though not large, I presume will com
pare favorably with the other circuits oqi te
same strength.
Upon the whole, I feel that the past year
has been ouo of the most pleasant of my
ministry ; and would say. in conclusion, that
whoever may be sent by the appointing
power to the St. Matthews circuit, and will
discharge faithfully the duties of his office,
need have no fears in reference to a support
as long as tbe Lord blesses the people with
the ability of supporting him.
May the Lord abundantly reward them.
Yours, affectionately,
William Hutto.
Mobile Conference—Report on Danc
ing.
The committee appointed to consider cer
tain resolutions referring to the subject of
dancing, report that the transfer of the see
tion of the discipline in which the word
dancing occurs to the preachers’ manual,
was made without any reference to this sub
ject, and it is absurd to construe this trans
fer into an approval of dancing, of Sabbath
breaking, bribery, going to circuses and
theatres, schism, and other evils, which are
denounced in the transferred sections.—
These were removed from their place in the
Discipline, partly becausj the book was en>
larged by an appendix, containing a cate
chism, etc., and partly because the evils
forbidden are interdicted in the General
Rules, which proscribe such diversions as
cannot be used in the name of the Lord Je
sus Christ, and other interdicts in that mor
al code. It is manifestly impossible to
specify all the evils which come under these
general rules, and it is unwise to go much
into detail, as many things which may be
specified must be dealt with on their own
particular merits, and dancing is of this sort.
No one recommends the sacred dances of
the Hebrews, and yet no one proscribes
them. Their festive dances, in which the
sexes danced apart, are, it is believed, sel
dom, if ever, taken into consideration; as
few practice, so few either commend or con
demn them. 1
The dancing of the sexes together in fam
ily or select social gatherings, where waltzes
and the like are excluded, may not be wrong
in itself, but by an easy transition it may de
generate into evil, and may prove a stum
bling-block to the ill advised and unstable.
The committee think that such dancing
should be disapproved by tbe Church.
Thesendingof children to dancing schools
the committe consider highly reprehensible;
for if persons acquire the art when they are
children, they will generally practice it
when they are advanced to adolescence and
riper age. It too frequently prepares for
promiscuous dancing in large parties and
public balls, which deserve strong reproba
tion.
To prevent and remedy the evils of this
sort which infest the churches, pastors
should labor earnestly to show their people
the inconsistency of such diversions with the
stipulations of the baptismal vow; the evil
which they do to both the good and the
bad, making the hearts of the former sad,
and strengthening the hands of the latter;
and the necessity of acquiring such an
amount of spiritual enjoyment, as will make
them independent of ail such trifling, equiv
ocal, and unsatisfying pleasures. Young
persons especially should receive the atten
tion of parents, pastors, and teachers, to
guard them from frivolity, and to induce
them to devote the early period of life to
such “ books, and work, and healthful
play,” as befit their age and condition in
the world.
The committee inculcate the foregoing
views, the rather, because they correspond
with the teaching of God’s word, the moral
discipline of the primitive Church, and the
authoritative deliverances of nearly or quite
all the sects into which the modern Church
has been divided, and, in particular, all the
branches of the great Methodist family in
the old world and the new. It is a great
mistake to suppose that Mr. Wesley and the
other fathers of Methodism did not disap
prove of dancing because they did not see
proper to put the word into the old Discip
line. Incorrigible offenders in the premises
were excluded from the Church before ’SB,
when the word was introduced into the
Book, under the general rule concerning
diversions, as readily as they were in the
eight years which succeeded, during which
period it is thought the evil bus been grow
ing among us.
The committee recommend the Confer
ence to adopt the following resolutions:
Resolved , 1. That while the Church takes
no cognizance of the inartificial dances of
children, sacred dances, and those in which
the sexes dance apart, it does discounten
ance all those social dances in which the two
sexes unite, as they may readily run into
improprieties, and result in scandals.
Resolved, 2. That the Mobile Conference
deprecates the sending of children to
dancing schools, and strongly denounces
promiscuous and mciug at balls aud other gath
erings of the sort, as tending to dissipation
aud immorality.
Resolved, 3. That it is the duty of pas
tors to teach the people of their charge from
the pulpit, in catechetical lectures, familiar
conversation, and by the circulation ot suita
ble treatises, the incompatibility of the diver
sion in question, as well as card playing,
visiting circuses, theatres, and the like,
with the baptismal vow, as also to atraign
those who persistently disregard the pastoral
counsel and reproof which unty be adminis
tered to them on this subject.
Resolved , 4. That it is the duty of the
pastors to give all possible at'ention to the
people of their respective charges in iefer
ence to the development and cultivation of
E. H. MYERS, D.D., EDITOR
Whole Number, 1515
the spirit of piety, the improvement of the
mind, and employment of time in laudable
undertakings, whereby they may be kept
lrom imbibing the spirit of the world, whioh
leads to dissipation and folly.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
Tiios. O. Summers,
A. 11. Mitchell, v Com
C. D. N. Campbell, )
Enterprise, Miss., Nov. 23d, 1866.
Appointments of the Mobile Con
ference.
Mobile District—T W Dorman, PE;
Mobile, Franklin St, J Hamilton; St Fran
cis St, P P Neely; St Paul’s, II Urquhart;
State st, no appointment; Whistler and
Cottage Hill, J M Boland ; Citronelle, J T
Heard; St Stephens, to be supplied ; State
Line ct, to be supplied ; Bay Shore, M E
Butt; Pascagoula, C W Calhoun; Ocean
Springs, J Randall; Eastern Shore, J J
Grace ; Fish River, B GFleming; Waynes
boro ct, Jas A Heard.
Dayton District.—J W Rush, PE;
Dayton, J D Cameron; Spring Hill, T 8
Abernathy, Sr; Rembert Hill, Geo F Ellis;
Choctaw Corner, II M Powers; Lower
Peach Tree, J E Foust; Suggsville, A
Hood; Owen Bluff mission, to be supplied ;
Jackson, A M Jones; Coffeeville mission,
to be supplied.
J E Newntan recommended to the For
eign Missionary Board for work in Central
America or Brazil.
Butler DisTRiCT.-Geo W Brown, PE;
Bladen Springs, J M Brown; Clarke ct, J
M Johnson; Butler ct, S M Thames; Gas
ton ct, J Evans; York ct, W S Larkina;
Choctaw ct, to be supplied; Clarke colored
charge, to be supplied; Belmont ct, E Phil
ips; Oketibbee mission, to be supplied.
Macon District. —S H Cox, P E;
Macon, J Bancroft; Plum creek colored
charge, E Callaway; Enterprise, T S Aber
nathy Jr; Enterprise ct, to be supplied;
Meridian, O P Thomas; Marion ct, \f
Spillman; DeKalbct, J M Gann; Kemper
colored charge, A J Coleman; Summerville
ct, J N Walker; Gainesville and Scooba, J
C Huckabee;* Livingston, T A S Adams;
Scooba colored charge, J F Marshall; En
terprise Female College, J W Harmon.
Columbus District. —W Murrah,P B;
Columbus, W C Hearn ; Columbus mission
colored charge, Geo Shaeffer, aup’y; Colum
bus ct, G Hawkins, J B Baldwin, sup’y;
Columbus ct colored charge, to bo supplied;
Pickensville and Carroltcfi, J A Peebles;
Bridgeville ct, R D Carver; Greene ct, H
II Kuvaneugh ; Trinity, J B Stone; Brooks
ville ct, L Massingale; Brooksville ct col
ored charge, to be supplied; Crawfordsville
ct, T P Crimes; Crawfordsville colored
charge, to be supplied; Cooksville ct, J B
Treadwell; Columbus Female Institute, A
S Andrews.
Athens District. —W E Mabry, P E;
Athens ct, J T M Gregory ; Athens colored
charge, to be supplied; Caledonia ct, R J
Perry; Caledonia colored charge to be
supplied; Yellow creek ct, W Vaughn;
Fayette ct, U L Thompson; Fayette
colored' charge, to be supplied; Littles
ville ct, J C Brogan; Bexar ct, T E Shelton.
Jasper District.— J G Gurley, P K;
Jasper ct, E Nicholson ; Blount Springs ct,
to be supplied; Blountsville, D A Hen
dricks ; Murphree’B Valley ct, W H Riley;
Elyton ct, J B Powers; Irondale ot, B
McMeans; Jonesboro ct, T P Roberts;
Northport ct, E M Turner; New Lexing
ton ct, W E Cameron; Lost creek mission,
to be supplied.
Tuskaloosa District.—J L Cotten, P
E; Tuskaloosa, W II Armstrong; Scotts*
ville arid Carthage ct, J W Peavy; Ha
vana, Wm I Powers; Brush creek, B D
Gayie; Marion and Hamburg, A Adams,
E V LeVert, sgp’y; Newbern and Oak
Grove, to be supplied ; Eutaw, J M Pm ton ;
Forkland,C C Ellis ; Green-boro, T C Weir;
Southern University. E Wadsworth, Prof;
Greensboro Female Academy, T Y Ramsey,
C C Callaway, sup’y, and employed by iho
Greensboro Bible Society ; Editor of books,
Nashville Christian Advocate, and SS Vis
itor, T O Summers.
Summerfield District-A II Mitobel,
PE ; Summerfield, J S Moore; Summer
field colored charge, to be supplied; Selma
and East Selma, C D N Campbell, one to
be supplied ; Selma colored charge, to bo
supplied ; Cahaba and Orrville, F M Grace;
McKinley and Rehoboth, W H Leith ; Orr
ville colored charge, D Carmichael; Perry
ville ct, J W Vest; Randolph, W II
McDaniel, W A Montgomery, sup’y;
Uniontown. J Barker; Demopolis, T V
Mangom ; Shelby coal mine, to be supplied ;
Briarfield iron works, tube supplied; Cen
tenary Institute, R K Hargrove, President;
Stonewall Institute, DOB Connerly, Prin
cipal, A D McV<y, Assistant.
S P Richardson, Agent for the American
Bible Society, to be transferred from iho
Florida Conference.
Greensboro Cor.oitED District. —T Y
Ramsey. P E; Green-boro, J W Sanq>y;
Marion ct, J W McCann ;-Brush creek ct,
to bo supplied ; Havana ct, to be supplied;
Eutaw ct, to bo supplied ; Carthage, to bo
supplied.
J W Peary transferred to Memphis Con
fluence.