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166
Southern (ijjristian
MACON, OEORGIA, OCTOBER 10,1868.
Care of Young Converts,
The revivals which ia many sections
have brought numbers into the Church, are
to be followed up with pains-taking care
for the new converts, unless the agents in
these revivals arc willing to see much of
their past labor lost. It will be calamftoas,
if a sluggish re-action should follow the
efforts of the summer, if they who have
been persuaded to commit themselves to the
care of the Church, find that now they are
left to combat with difficulties and tempta
tions as best they may, there is much dan
ger, that many of them will prove but in
different members. The wisest of them
need nurture and aid from their pastors.
Satan is a fierce assailant of the youDg con
vert. He tries him at every point. Self
confidence to-day, despair to-morrow; now
a certainty of acceptance, then a doubt as
to his spiritual state; at one time, delight
in religious service, private and public, at
another, a deadness of soul that cannot be
excited to prayer or praise,—these are some
of the alternations of experience, through
which the newly converted soul is generally
called to pass- For these ttie young disci
ple must be prepared by caretul instruction;
or he may be led, as lie is tempted to do, to
let go his confidence in Christ, lose heart,
and turn back to the world.
One point of peculiar danger is found,
when the converted man who has passed
through a novel experience of excitement,
returns to the old, every day duties of life,
and finds that in meeting and discharging
these, he returns likewise to his former
calm and unexcited state of mind. lie has
peace; but he may fail to recognize in this
the essence of religion. He has been in
flamed by joy; but the flame has died away,
leaving only the steady warmth, and per
haps he even doubts whether as to this he
is not deceived. Inexperienced as he is,
he may begin to fear that he lias deceived
himself; or that he has done some evil,
whereby he has forfeited God’s favor. If
added to this, there is any flagging of in
terest in religious service—as from our very
constitution there is apt to bo, after a pro
tracted period of excitement —if he finds
it more difficult to fix his mind on divine
things, and to engage in prayer, then the
danger that he will cast away his confidence
is increased. And it will be well for him,
if he do not heed the voice of the tempter,
who will tell him that all of his religious
service and pretensions are a mockery and
a fraud; and thus seek to induce him to
abandon even the very forms of worship.
Now, thcro is one prescription for this
doubt and despondency, that ought to be
universally known. When the attack comes
on, flee to the word of God and to prayer.
Resist stcdfastly the idea, that you are at
liberty to neglect a duty, because you fear
you are not performing it properly or ac
ceptably, or because you have to drag your
self heavily to its performance. The man
who hai undertaken to be a follower of
Christ, and to win heaven, has done so, in
vain, except he has made up his mind to
discharge duty as it arises. And, in every
temptation to neglect duty, he must main
tain this purpose; not allowing its discharge
to turn at all on his mental or spiritual
frames, or to be influenced by his hopes or
his fears. lie must meet, his obligations as
they arise and perform each duty not be
cause he feels like it., but because it is duty,
and because he has committed himself to
its performance. Thus, the Scriptures are
read, prayer is offered, the social meeting
is attended, the family is gathered at the
altar, and all the other duties of the pro
fessed follower of Christ are done, irre
spective of a disposition leading that way,
and making their performance an absolute
delight. The state of mind is not consid
ered. The duty lies there in the path.
Solemn vows bind to its performance, and
it is done.
This brief lesson is of vast importance
to young Christians, tempted to unbelief
and discouraged. In a little while, if fol
lowed, they settle down confirmed Chris
tians. Connected with this advice should
be instruction as to the need of using those
private means of grace, by which only can
there be growth in holiness, and a close
walk with God—such as, regular reading
and study of the Scriptures and frequent
private prayer. We do not hear young con
verts taught on these points, as was the cus
tom in our younger days. It is long since
we heard stress laid upon the daily and sys
tematic reading of tho Bible as one of the
cardinal duties of the child of God. And,
perhaps, one of the reasons for the many
painful irregularities and imperfections in
the Christianity of the present age, is
found in neglect of the daily perusal of the
oracles of God. The good man—the “hap
py” man—“meditates in His law day and
night.”
The shepherd who does not feed his flock
with thoughts like these—and with other
and wiser thoughts—may soon expect to
find that the lambs have perished —broken
away from the fold and returned to die in the
wilderness, whence he had brought them
but recently. To this end, there is nothing
equal to personal intercourse, and, where
possible, private conversation. To do the
work in this way, may require extensive
visiting, at a heavy cost of time and trou
ble, but the faithful pastor will never feel
his duty done, until he has secured the
fruit of arduous revival labor, by establish
ing his young converts iu the truth, and
seeing them so rooted and grounded in the
faith, that the probabilities are all against
their making shipwreck of faith, in the
first adverse wind that blows. “ Feed my
lambs,” said Christ to Peter; and he re
peats the injunction to every shepherd to
whom he has committed his flock.
The Evil Heart of Unbelief.
On the one hand, while we are to look
to the good heart as the seat of saving faith ;
on the other, we ave counselled to examine
the evil heart, if we ever expect to discover
the habitation of unbelief. The moral na
ture is the citadel of unbelief, filled with
the determined enemies of God and his gov
ernment. To this stronghold Christianity
lavs siege and levels her artillery against
it. It is this moral antagonism that warps
the judgment, misleads the reason and in
fluences an evil will. The sinner being in
love with sinful pursuits and wedded to the
pleasures of sense, the gospel becomes an
enemy that sorely troubles him. It is quite
as much so to him who plumes himself on his
occasional virtues, and to himflrho parades
a studied self-righteousness. While it
would wrest from one the objects and de
sires of sensual gratification, it would hum
ble the pride and vain glory of the other.
Every impenitent man looks with repug
nance on the requirements of Christianity,
for the reason which he is most loth to admit,
—though it is more manifest than any other—
that is, becanse bis heart is depraved. He
examines the claims of the gospel with nat
ural reluctance at least, if not with a firm
prejudging enmity. Those who finally
discard it, do so, not because its truth is
not established by the clearest evidences,
meeting every known rule of interpretation,
exegesis and logic ; but because their evil
hearts of unbelief reject the proofs admit
ted by their intellects. They wish it to be
false and allow their hearts to believe it so,
although their understandings may be in
capable of detecting a single flaw in the
demonstration of its truth. An unbroken,
consistent Christian walk, is a requirement
and reproof so much opposed to their mor
al state and habitudes, and arouses such
malevolent feelings, that they will not give
up worldly ambitions, or place, or pride, or
social relations, or pleasures, or appetites,
and enter on it, though the truth that it
it would lead to paradise were proved by a
thousand rational arguments. Their evil
hearts of unbel'ef are become encased in
that impenetrable mail of judicial hard
ness, against which none of the divine ar
rows of conviction are ever wasted, noted
by the apostle in the declaration—“ If our
gospel bo hid, it is hid to them that are lost.;
in whom the god of this world hath blind
ed the minds of them which believe not,
that the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine until then.’’
Dr. Pierce at Louisville Conference.
Before Hr. Fierce left Kentucky, the
Louisville Conference sat. At the earnest
solicitation of the Louisville preachers he
tarried till the session opened, to deliver a
discourse before the body. We find a brief
report of it in the Louisville Courier, as
follows :
He had proposed leaving the city this
morning, hut the earnest and brotherly so
licitation for him to visit and address the
Conference, he had not been able to resist.
He never allowed his brethren to outdo
him in love.
His history was largely known in the
Methodist Church, aou it was needless lor
him to speak of himself. He proposed to
speak something of the past, the present,
and the possible future of Methodism in this
country.
He spoke of the rights, powers and duties
of an annual conference, such as this. A
conference is an executive of the Church iu
calling out preachers to serve in the pas
toral work. He feared that, as we had in
creased in age, as a Church, we had become
less rigid in our exactions in regard to the
gifts and graces and administrative qualities
of the preachers. In his youth the exami
nation of character was very close. None
was passed without a thorough analysis.
He had been struck with the instructions
of Faul to Timothy, and thought there was
not enough regard for the apostolic injunc
tion concerning family government. A
preacher who does not rule his own house
well, is not competent to rule the Church.
He never knew a preacher loose in the gov
ernment of his family, who was strict, in
administering Church discipline. Elders
should never be made of men who are deli
cient in family government. In the kind
ness of our hearts we admit men to the
itinerancy, and keep them there, who pos
sess no administrative qualities. They arc
good men, pure men, but on account of
their administrative disabilities, the Church
suffers. Lot every man that is received
among you, know that you expect him to do
his whole duty, and, if he do it not, treat
him as a merohant would an incompetent
clerk—discharge him and let him turn his
attention to something else at which he will
better succeed. If we bo not rigid in our
exactions, defective men will multiply on
our hands, and evil will ensue to the Church.
In the character ot the ministers we send
out, let the Church know what we expect,
and the membership will aspire to reach the
standard we have erected for them, or the
defective will gradually disappear from
among us. The older brethren, when he
was young, were very rigid with the young
er ones, but it was all to their ultimate ad
vantage.
In the olden time the preaching was more
pointed than now. Wc want more point
now. We must see io it that conversions arc
real, and contend for the evidence of con
version, even the witness of the Spirit.
When he was young, there was none of the
polite, corrupting literature, that now curses
society. The books then read were pro
motive of morality and piety. Now it is
different. If members will do evil and not
be reformed, they must be espelled. The
Church is held responsible for tho misdeeds
of the few, and gets no credit for the vir
tue aud piety of the majority. He regret
ted the decline of interest in class-meetings,
and urged attendance on the part of all on
Church meetings, which should be less
business meetings and more spiritual than
many are inclined to make them.
One defeet of the times is that there is
not enough of religious conversation among
the people. All that is said by some
Church members in favor of religion, in a
life time, would not make a thimbleful.
The preachers must talk to the people about
religion, and labor for a revival of vital god
liness.
The St. Louis Conference
This Conference met at Jefferson City,
Mo., Sept. 23d, Bishop Kavanaugh presi
ding. We copy the following from the St.
Louis Christian Advocate:
“The aggregate of members of the Church
in the bounds of the Conference is sixteen
thousand one hundred and fifteen, being an
increase of a little more than two thousand
during the past year. Adding these num
bers to those reported to the Missouri Con
ference, it will be seen that the aggregate
number of Southern Methodists in the State
of Missouri is, in round numbers, thirty
four thousand, a little over five thousand of
whom joined the Church during the past
year. That is, the increase of the aggregate
number daring the year was more than five
thousand. This, too, in a Church that, tour
years ago, was solemnly pronounced dead—
certainly and surely dead—and those so
pronouncing proceeded to administer on its
effects. ‘There is life in the old Church
yet.’”
The missionary collections were about
$4500 —of which S9OO was taken at the
Conference missionary meeting. Six preach
ers—two of them from the M. E. Church,
North—were admitted to the Conference.
Dr. Wm. A. Smith is President of Central
College. Rev. F. X. Forster, known in
South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, is
acting Principal of the College Classical
Seminary. Three of the churches in St.
Louis are left “to be supplied,” which indi
cates, we suppose, that some transfers are
expected to the St. Louis Conference.
Dr. D. E. McAnally, in the list of ap
pointments, is set -down as editor of the
St. Louis Advocate. But iu the same pa
per in which the list is published, his “yal
edietory,” as editor, is found. He says the
determination to resign was recently—we
suppose, suddenly—formed. We copy the
first and last paragraphs of his address to
his readers, as stating his purpose and what
he has to say of his future movements :
“I have resigned the position, office,
emoluments, duties, responsibilities, pains
and pleasures, of the editorship of this
paper.
“Whether this were done willingly or
unwillingly, of choice or of necessity, on
my own motion or at the instance of others,
does not matter. It has been done, and I
did it.
“Where I may go in the future, what I
shall do, or what 1 shall be, doth not yet
appear. For a few months next to come,
and possibly longer, my post-office address
will be Carondelet, Mo., where I will be
much pleased to hear from any and all
friends desiring to address me.’’
Wc presume this conclusion was reached
because the Conference made anew arrange
ment respecting the publication of the pa
per It now passes into the hands of a
joint stock publishing company.
We shall miss Dr. McAnally from tho
corps editorial, of which he has for so many
ycais been a conspicuous member—stand
ing by his principles in the face of bitter
persecution, not forsaking them even when
they carried him to prison. We always
opened the St. Louis Advocate expecting
to find in, it something unique—something
good, said in a way iu which nobody save
Dr. McAnally would be like to say it—and
we were seldom disappointed.
We wish the venerable ex-editor great
peace out of the “chair”—something it were
vain to wish to one occupying it.
“Stat Umbra Nominis ”
Those of our readers who have allowed
themselves to name the preacher, whom they
suppose wrote, under the above name, the
articles on “The Support of Methodist Itin
erant Preachers,” surely did not notice,
that when we published his first article, we
informed the public, that he is a gentleman
of eminent legal ability. So far as we
know, he is not even a local preacher. He
is a civilian, who has occupied a prominent
place in the councils of the country, a stew
ard in the Church, and a delegate elect to
the Annual Conference. All this ought to
convince those who are troubled by his wri
tings, that he must have had grounds for
writing as severely as he wrote. Especially
should this appear, when it is known that
he writes for the benefit, of the preachers
and people in a section of the country where
the District-meeting itself has said, that “if
the Methodists of the District will pay one
dollar each for the support of the ministry,
the preachers will be amply supported.”
After this statement of facts, we should
be sorry to see anybody punish themselves,
in endeavoring to be revenged on the edi
tor, fur publishing these articles—solicited,
we believe, by his fellow stewards, at least
by others. This would be like getting a
divorce from a wife, for the first blemish
discovered in her—emphatically, “cutting
off your nose to spite your face.” No, no;
in your state of mind you cannot afford to
do without the Advocate; and, therefore,
wc shall hope to say many good and profita
ble things to you in the future. You must
not imitate those Methodists of whom our
correspondent writes. If they took the pa
per, there would be no need of such writing.
So, keep it going.
Bishop Doggott in South Carolina.
In the Baltimore Episcopal Methodist is
a letter from Bishop Doggett giving account
of his visit to South Carolina, some extracts
from which will doubtless interest many of
our readers. He writes :
“From Spartanburg, I traveled by private
conveyance, over an unattractive route, to
Greenville, the most beautiful of the South
Carolina villages which I visited. Emerg
ing from the lowlands to the mountainous
scenery with which it is environed, amidst
groves of oaks then robed in their vernal
pride, it was, to me, invested even with an
air of romance and of sequestered repose, so
delightful to a traveler whose hurried and
violent transitions create a relish for the
bolder and the purer attractions of nature.
The real interest of the occasion was, nev
ertheless, of a different kind. It was the
pleasure and the profit of the District Con
ference, and of intercourse with the minis
ters of other Christian denominations. Our
District Conference was a blessing, I have
reason to believe, to the Church, which
was so well represented in its sessions, and
to the community. The preaching pro
duced a profound sensation upon all that
were present, and awakened an apparent
zeal for the prosperity of every department
of our work. The Sabbath was a memora
ble day in Israel. The congregations were
immense, anil the word and the Sacrament
of the Lord’s' Supper were attended with
power. On Friday and Sunday nights, by
special request, I preached in the Baptist
church, by far the largest bouse of worship
in the village. The whole church-going
community seemed to be present, and in
sympathy with the services. Certainly I
felt that the Master was present. The Bap
tists are the leading denomination of Green
ville and its vicinity. They have a Liter
ary and a Theological Institution in opera
tion in the place, and several of their most
eminent preachers are located there. With
some of them, and with the Presbyterian
and Episcopal clergymen, I had delightful
intercourse. They visited me and attended
my ministry. No place, on my tour, has
made a more pleasant impression on my
mind, and to none do I recur with greater
satisfaction.
After a short and refreshing visit home,
I returned to Columbia, South Carolina, to
fulfill my engagement for that District. I
found a happy home in the family of llev.
Wm. Martin, whose considerate attentions
I shall long remember. The District meet
ing was held in the Chapel erected on the
site of the Washington street church, so
wantonly destroyed by Sherman’s army.
The scene of desolation in that once fasci
nating Capitol of a proud State, is yet ap
palling. A few only of its former beauties
remain, to remind the traveler of that as
semblage of exquisite charms which ren
dered Columbia the gem of the South.
The demon of war discharged the vials of
his wrath on this lovely city, as if to wreak
a remorseless retaliation upon the chivalry
of the population. Vacant spaces, heaps of
rubbish, and the rank luxuriance of a wild
vegetation, evince the success of the dia
bolical attempt. A generation will not re
pair the damages or heal the ghastly wounds
inflicted upon the beauteous queen of South
ern cities. And it is mournful to record
that this spectacle of ruins is a truthful ex
ponent of that devastation which has frus
trated the resources of a people who reveled
in the abundance of their possessions. Af
fluence and elegance have given place to
poverty and hardship, and accomplished la
dies work for a precarious subsistence. But
the spirit of the population is not broken.
Sustained by a conscious integrity and a
sense of unsullied honor, they are noble in
the midst of misfortune, unbroken in ener
gy, and are rallying to the calls of industry
and economy. The Church has shared
largely in these temporal disasters. De
spoiled of its wealth, it is devoted more to
the duty of self-preservation, than to that
enterprise by which it was previously dis
SOTJTHISRasr CHRISTIAJSr ADVOCATE
tinguished. And I rejoice to say, that
though impoverished, our people were never
firmer or more resolute in their hold upon
Methodism, than at present. Preachers
and people display a heroic fidelity to the
Church, and are co operating to sustain its
institutions. I was fully convinced of this
fact during the progress of our District
meeting. It was not so fully attended as
those at Spartanburg and Greenville, but it
was a gratifying success, and, I hope, a de
cided benefit to the cause of God. It was
eminently harmonious, and, occasionally,
deeply affecting. Our business clceed late
Saturday evening. The summer had burst
upon us in all its power. I was over
whelmed with heat, and sunk for the time,
overcome by exhaustion. On Sabbath morn
ing I was solicited to preach in the spacious
Baptist Church, which had escaped the in
cendiary torch. I discoursed with freedom
to the vast assembly, and concluded the ex
ercises by ordaining a local elder. Unable
to attend the Sabbath-school celebration in
the afternoon, I preached for Bro. Sidi
Browne at night, oppressed with heat and
suffused with perspiration, in a crowded and
bsdiy ventilated house. Thus’ ended my
official visit to Columbia, the recollection of
which is stili tinged with the sombre hues
of its fallen fortunes. The meeting was
honored with the presence of Dr. White
foord Smith and Prof. Carlisle,whose agree
able associations I cheerfully recall.
Death of Gen. Howell Cobb.
The friends and relatives of General
Cobb, residing in Macon, were startled on
last Friday by a telegram announcing his
sudden death. He was in New city,
whither he had gone on account of Mrs.
Cobb’s health. Being at the Fifth Avenue
Hotel, on the morning of the 9th, Colonel
Williams of Florida, accompanied by
Bishop Beckwith, called on Gen. Cobb.
An animated conversation occurred between
the gentlemen and Gen. Cobb. Gen and Mrs.
Cobb were taking leave of their guests on
the stairs leading from the parlor to the
office. Geo. Cobb sat down on the stairs,
when Mrs. Cobb observed a tremor of the
body and a contraction of the muscles of
the face. Attending physicians of the
hotel were called, but before medical reme
dies could be administered, the General was
carried into the reception room, and in a
few minutes was a corpse. The coroner’s
inquest rendered a verdict, that his death
was occasioned by apoplexy.
Gen. Cobb removed to Macon at the close
of the war, and was here fulfilling the du
ties of a good citizen, and practising his
profession. II is personal character made
him many warm friends, who now sincerely
mourn his loss. The Macon bar and the
city authorities each appointed committees
to attend his funeral in Athens, where he
will be buried with his forefathers. The
Rev. Mr. Warren of the Baptist Church,
which Gen. Cobb attended, and Dr. Key of
the Methodist Church, a special friend of
the deceased, attended also at the request of
the family.
Conference and Missionary Collec
tions.
We were proposing to call attention to
these eolleetions, when the articles on these
subjects came to hand, and our services are
not now needed. The appeal for Missions
is made by the Treasurer of the South Geor
gia Conference; but the appeal has a broader
application—and we commend the thoughts
to all in every Conference.
Another Minister Called Ho#»e-
We have received the following sad intel
ligence from W. M. Shuler, of South Car
rolina :
The Rev. Andrew J. Green, of the South
Carolina Conference, died in St. George’s
Parish, 8. C., October 2nd, 1868.
Although Brother G. had suffered in
health for the last six weeks, yet he con
tinued to labor as a faithful minister of Jesus
Christ. On the evening previous to his
death, he delivered aa earnest exhortation to a
congregation at Murray’s church, retired to
his home about one mile distant, and in a
few hours was seized with apoplexy and ex
pired like one,
“Who wraps about him the drapery of his couch
Aud lies down to pleasant dreams.”
Brother Green enjoyed the love and con
fidence of all classes in our community. In
his death the church has lost a zealous min
ister and the community a good man, who
endeavored both by precept and example to
lead us in the way everlasting. I doubt
not our loss is his eternal gain.
Dr. Alexander Means was on a brief
visit to Macon last week, having come to
place a daughter in the Wesleyan Female
College. He reports that Emory College
had near 200 pupils in all the departments
with promise of more. The good Doctor
has recently received from the State—quite
unsolicited—the commission of Chemical
Inspector of Guano for Savanuah. If he
accepts the position, our planters may feel
satisfied, that their fertilizers pass through
honest hands, and they will know what they
are buying.
Anonymous Communications.—Sev
eral contributions from writers who do
not give their names are on hand. We
thought that by this time, all newspaper
readers knew that editors do not publish
articles, where the name of the writer does
not accompany them. One from “ Wesley
an, has received the direction desired by
the writer. “ Thomisville’’ is informed
that the person she alludes to is not a
preacher, but a leading layman and official
member of the Church.
A Terrible Accident occurred on Sat
urday night, on the railroad near Quincy,
Fla., by which Wm. Lawrence, of Quincy,
was killed, Rev. Mr. Easterling, P. E. of
the Tallahassee District, had an arm broken,
and six other persons were more or less se
riously injured.
The Southern Cultivator, for Octo
ber, offers the following bill of fare :—Work
for the Mouth ; Osage Orange; Deposition
of Moisture in a Pulverized Soil; Preserv
ing Sweet Potatoes; Wheat; The Nut
Grass; Native Grasses ; An Experiment
with Wheat; Profits of Farming; Meas
uring Corn in the Shuck; Manures; In
crease and Decrease of Fertility in Soils ;
Manufacture of Cotton Seed Oil; Rice
Culture, etc.; South West Georgia; The
Mulberry ; Labor, Improved Culture, etc.;
Notes on the August Number; Why Flori
da is the Most Desirable State; A Prolific
and Early Corn ; Keeping Rats from Oats ;
Clover Seed Adulteration ; Note from Mr.
Dickson ; Cotton Caterpillar; Wheat—
Agricultural Clubs, etc.; To increase the
circulation of the Cultivator; Letter from
Gemes Munro; Raising Goats; Clover,
Onions, etc.; Ciover, Grass and Wheat;
Solubility of Phosphates; Acrostic (Poe-
try); The Saluda Agricultural Society;
Does it pay to Grow Corn ?—Barley; How
to Dig the Sweet Potato ; Different Varieties
of Wheat and Oats; Buckwheat; Pyracan
thus as a Hedge Plant; Crops, etc ; Brin»
ly’s Improved Plow. Diseases of Animals :
The Cattle Plague ; “ Charbon ;” Diseases
of Domestic Animals: Quinine for Sleepy
Staggers; Diseases of Pigs, etc. Horti
cultural Department: The Kitchen Garden ;
Advertising—Wine Making ; Review of
the Newer Strawberries and Grapes ; Grape
Growing; Ho! The Scuppemong; Some
thing Worth Knowing; Scuppernong
Grapes ; Grape Culture and Wine Making.
Household Economy : To Make Vinegar—
Recipes—Quince Marmalade—Good Vine
gar—Ear-ache. Fireside Department —
Mountain of the Lovers; Scrap—Rather
Suffer Wrong than do it. Editorial—Busi
ness Notices ; Editorial Items; Increase
and Decrease of Fertility in Soils; Inqui
ries and Answers to Inquiries ; Books and
Exchanges. It is published byWm.and
W. L. Jones, Athens, Ga , at §2 00 a year,
in advance, and it ought to be in the hands
of every Southern i'armer, who wishes to be
well-instructed, in his business.
Tiie Methodist Quarterly Review
for October 1868, is out. The Articles are,
Greek Text of the New Testament, Article
Second, Rev. D. A, Whedon, A. M., Bris
tol, R I ; —Romanism intheUnited States,
Article Second, 11. Mattison, D. D.;—Re
cent Astronomy and the Mosaic Record, S.
D. Hilman; —History and Oracles of Ba
laam, Rev. M. S. Terry;—William Cow
per, W. 11. Barnes, A. M.; Foreign Re
ligious Intelligence ; —Foreign Literary In
telligence ; —Synopsis of the Quarterlies; —
Quarterly Book Table. The Review is
edited by Rev. D. D. Whedon, D. D.; and
published by Carlton & Lanaham, N. Y., at
S3 00 a year.
The Maryland Farmer, is an excel
lent Monthly devoted to Agriculture, Hor-.
ticu’.ture, Rural Economy and Mechanical
Arts. It is published by S. Sands Mills
& Cos., Baltimore, Maryland, at $1.50 a year,
in advance. It will be found very profita
ble to southern farmers.
Our Conference Collections—No. I
BY C. R. J.
In the whole economy of our Church
there is not, perhaps, a feature which dis
plays more wisdom and forecast than the
provision contemplated in the Discipline for
our superannuated preachers and the widows
and orphans of those who have died in the
service of the Church. The founders of
the Church clearly foresaw how vitally such
a policy is interwoven with the best inter
ests and perpetuity of an itinerant system.
To appreciate the importance of such
provision, we need only trace the facts which
have developed themselves and ever will do
so, under a Church organization like ours.
The salaries of our preachers—determined
by a Board of Stewards—are not more than
adequate for their support, even under the
most rigid economy.
The experience of tho whole itinerant
ministry will attest this fact. And often,
very often, these salaries are not paid. The
preacher has no exemption rights from mis
fortunes and losses. Debts often accrue,
unavoidably and unintentionally, by reason
of the failure of his salary or unexpected
losse-, and rest, like an intolerable incubus,
upon his heart and energies. For, as an
honorable Christian gentleman he feels,
deeply feels, the humiliation of pecuniary
obligations which he is unable to meet.
In the mean time, perhaps, his domestic
responsibilities increase and with them cor
responding expenses, while his income, by
no means increases in an adequate ratio.
What is the result? He apprehends
with the most anxious forebodings that he
will be compelled to locate before many
years —driven to it from the fear, that should
his health fail or should he die, his family
will be reduced to utter want. He resists
the soul-torturing apprehension with all the
force of faith and hope. Asa minister of
God, he loves his work—his heart is glow
ing with the zeal of the gospel and the love
of precious souls. He feels that he has
and knows but one business on earth. He
has thrown into it his sympathies, talents
and all his interests for time and eternity
and often prays, may I,
“ My body with my charge lay down
And cease at oaco to work and hvo.”
But he is a man as well as a minister.
He has the heart of the one aa well as the
spirit of the other.
He loves his wife and children with an
affection as pure and pious, as that inspired
for his holy mission.
Judging (he future by the past, he sees
that he must either locate, or when health
or life fails, see his loved ones whom God
hath committed to his care exposed to ab
ject poverty and distress. At last he is
forced to choose between immediate location
and future want and with a sadness of spir
its whose bitterness only his own heart
knoweth, he decides that there is no alterna
tive—he must locate. This may be weak
ness — but it is weakness awakened by the
purest affection that ever warmed the heart.
I know that Bishops may discourse elo
quently of the supreme obligation of the
ministry—our self-sacrificing devotedness to
the cause of Christ. The scZ/’-sacrifice is a
small matter compared with the sacrifice of
wife and children, especially when we re
member indignantly, that it is not rendered
to the wants but to the parsimony of the
Church.
The priceless immolation is not made on
altars divine but, on those which an avarici
ous Mammon has reared “beside the altar
of the Lord our God” and whose libation is
the very heart’s blood of the ministry.
Ministers are men and must feel as men—
and it is neither reason nor piety to shut
our eyes to the apprehension of facts of
which the experience of so many warns us,
and against obligations to which God and
nature alike command us.
Many are thus driven to location from
f ear —just and reasonable fear, that in their
old age, if not sooner disabled by disease,
they will subject their families to a distress
ing poverty, or become the pitiable pension
ers of a meagre, balf-per-centage charity,
doled out from slim Conference collections
year by year.
They locate at that period in life when
their services to the Church are the most
valuable —when mind i3 in vigorous maturi
ty, and they can wield the largest influense
by their well known character for piety,
talents and usefulness. Others take their
places who in a few years follow their ex
ample.
I find by reference to the records thatoi
the 102 members in the South Georgia
Conference on the effective list only 22
have traveled 20 years—lo others have
traveled 15 years, and nine others have
traveled 10 years; so that the average is
less than 15 years —and in latter years the
itinerant period grows sadly less.
But the evil stops not here—we are not
only losing many of our most useful men
by constant location, and at a period in
life when their services are most valuable to
the Church and perhaps at a crisis ip her
history when she needs an experienced
veteran band to lead her hosts ; but the vast
interests of the Church, involving as they
do, by her tremendous influence, the
moral and social weal of thousands, is com
mitted to the hands of a young, inexperi
enced and, in many instances, uneducated
ministry.
I love my brethren, and far be it from
me io depreciate them in any respect; but
it must be apparent to all that such a min
istry cannot command from older members
in the Church that reverence for their offi
cial authority Decessary to inspire confidence
in the enforcement of discipline and co
operation in carrying on the great enter
prises of progressive Methodism. They
cannot, as defenders of doctrinal truth, wield
that power essential to the triumph and
unity of the faith. They cannot exert that
influence in society which will enable them
to compete in acceptability and usefulness
with the ministry of other Churches. For
there are many whose acquisition would
give moral and intellectual strength to our
Church, who will not attend the ministry of
those whom they regard mere pulpit tyros;
consequently, the membership of our Church
in many places becomes circumscribed and
socially defined. At the same time, there
are many in our own membership, who, on
account of wealth, social and intellectual
position, consider themselves a privileged
caste, and exert or seek to exert over a
young preacher an undue, patronizing in
fluence which utterly neutralizes the enforce
ment of discipline; aud, if he rises with
manly independence to the discharge of his
duty, all his efforts arc utterly paralysed by
their superior influence in the Church, and
he becomes obnoxious and powerless. And
in this way many evils creep into the Church
which it becomes almost impossible to eradi
cate.
And all this unfortunate train of incalcu
lable evil flows from the simple lact that the
Church will not contribute the means and
make adequate provisions, according to her
own discipline, to meet the wants of the
superannuated preachers, thereby assuring
the preachers that, they shall he supported in
their old age and if they die in the servico
of the Chureb that comfortable provision
shall bo mado for their widows and orphans
—and thus secure to the Church the ser
vices of an experienced and efficient minis
try.
It is time, my brethren, that we look
these facts ''ally in the lace and meet them
as facts which undoubtedly exert no insig
nificant influence over the Church commit
ted to our care. For as a sacred trust it is
now iu our hands, and we must transmit
Methodism to posterity, as a failure or as a
great moral and spiritual power and a bless
ing in the world. Under the wise sugges
tion of Bro. Key, Chairman of the Joint
Board of Finance iu the South Ga. Confer
ence, having oharge of this interest, a sys
tem was adopted at our last Conference to
dispose of those claims by a rnoro equita
ble division of the funds according to period
of service rendered, etc.
Will you, my brethren of the Church,
endorse it by a noble liberality, and say to
your self sacrificing preachers, work on—
toil on—as true and faithful itinerants and
never for a moment entertain the thought
of locating while God gives you strength to
work. And when health fails or age de
clines, or you are called to your high reward
—fear not —neither you or your little ones
shall ever suffer from want. The liberality
of a grateful and generous Church, by all
that is true and just, insures you against
all apprehensions of such calamity. “ For
the laborer is worthy of his hire and even
so hath the Lord ordained that they which
preach the Gospel shall live of the gospel.”
To the Preachers of the South Geor
gia Conference.
Dear Brethren— Article Bth, of the Consti
tution of our Board of Domestic Missions
reads as follows :
“As soon as in their discretion is most
practicable, after entering on their work, the
preachers shall take up a collection by cash
and subscription, and forward the money to
the Treasurer of the Board.”
Up to this date, but one preacher has
complied with the last clause of this article.
It is presumed, however, that collections
have been made in some places, and the
money raised, turned over to the Presiding
Elders to be used in their several Districts.
Permit me to urge upon you the importauoc
of giving diligent and prompt attention to
our missionary collections. It is very ne
cessary to the success and enlargement of
our missionary operations, that the full
claims upon the missionary treasury he met
this year. Last year we fell behind over
40 per cent and the possibility of another
failure must be very discouraging to our
brethren who arc occupying mission fields
of labor. The several amounts appropriated
by the Board for their support are not largo,
end they, together with their families are
looking anxiously to you for what at best is a
meagre allowance. Remember, Dear Breth
ren, that you arc the stewards oi'the missions,
and should you fail in your duty, or your
efforts, they have no other source to which
to look for relief.
Iu addition to these considerations, there
is a large portion of our conference territory
yet undeveloped which can only be culti
vated lor the present, through missionary
agencies. We need laborers in these new
unoccupied fields, but unless there is a con
siderable advance in our collections, we can
not enlarge the sphere of our operations. I
would suggest then that at least twenty five
per cent, be added to the assessments made
upon the several charges—and every possi
ble effort put forth in order to raise them.
Do not rest satisfied with a bare mention
of the subject from the pulpit and a hat col
lection, but instruct the people about our
missionary operations; give them iacts; let
them know what we arc doing anil what are
the results of our missionary operations.
Hundreds of intelligent men and women,
well informed in other respects, are very
ignorant of the nature, the extent and the
claims, of our Missionary work, who if
properly instructed would contribute liber
ally to this glorious cause. Appeal private
ly as far as possible to every member of the
church, and to those friends of the church
who wait upon your ministry—interest the
Sabbath schools too in this work, and you
will be able to give a good account of your
stewardship when we meet at conference.
Don’t be afraid to ask outsiders to help
in this cause. Many of them arc more willing
and ready to give than some church mem
bers. I recollect once approaching a man
who kept a bar room and asking him for
a contribution to the missionary cause—and
he gave me Jive dollars very cheerfully—
while a steward of the church, who made
soventy-five bales of cotton, and was out of
debt, gave me nothing. Do your whole du
ty, brethren, and many hearts will be made (
glad—and the cause of Christ will prosper
in our hands. Fraternally Yours,
Geo. G. N. MacDonell,
Treas. Board Domestic Missions South Ga.
Conference.
Savannah, Oct sth, 1868.
Correspondence.
Affairs in Savannah District.
Mr. Editor —Having just closed my third
round and opened my fourth, I propose seme
incidents and reflections about affairs, spe
cial and general.
The summer campaign closed at the au
tumnal equinox. It was one of protracted
labor over an extensive region of country,
pervaded with much sickness. I have not
lost an hour from sickness, and during the
month of September have preached 24 ser
mons without even hoarseness.
There have been revival meetings in
Springfield, Alexander, Louisville, Sanders
ville and Gibson circuits, and in the oity of
Savannah.
Some of these meetings are reported by
the pastors as fine in character and results;
several of them attended by myself have
been occasions of deep interest, but not
markod by more than the usual phases of a
Methodistio revival. We sometimes con
gratulate ourselves on great results, when
it is too evident for argument, that the
growth of the Church is not in equal paee
with the increase of population.
The Mt. Moriah camp-meeting has just
closed—about 20 conversions. The meet
ing lost some in interest by the scarcity of
preachers—nearly half the preaohing de
volved on the Presiding Elder.
From the camp ground I passed to the
Gibson circuit, where there are evident
signs of improvement. Bro. Timmons
walked his circuit until he could go no
longer; but he is now mounted, as he should
have been all the year. Several of the
preachers have been sick, yet all have
worked with commendable energy, especi
ally Bro. Sweet, who has not only filled his
own charge, but also a neighboring circuit,
left vacant by the removal of the preacher
to Nebraska. Methodism does not seem to
flourish in Seriven county, notwithstanding
there are numerous churches. A cheap
gospel is popular, judging from the financial
exhibit,which is distressingly bad, but there
are some in Seriven county of different faith
and practice, and in liberality equal to the
best of any section.
My friend, Dr. Woodruff, of Columbus,
is devoted to the treatment of chronic dis
eases. He has at lust taken in hand a ease
that defies medication. To cure the Church
of covetousness is too much for doctors of
physic, or even doctors of divinity. His
prescription would cure, if he could only
get the patient to take the medicine; but
he will have a hard time in getting his
physic down the chronic patient.
The plan of monthly payments after a
liberal assessment, is working finely in Sa
vannah, as well as in Columbus—it will
work well everywhere, if only adopted ; but
there’s the rub. Iu the country, the peo
ple raising their supplies, spending very
little, and keeping no books, very easily
imagine a preacher needs but little, and—al
though everything is now cash —that he can
afford to wait until the last day, when, per
haps, his claim will be settled by paying
about titty cents in the dollar. If tho as
sessments were made on a credit basis, it
would be well enough ; provided they were
paid in full, as they always should be, for
the comfort of the preacher and the charac
ter of the Church.
Dr. Woodruff is moving in the right di
rection, and so is the eloquent writer with
“shadowy’’ name. Matters are no worse, in
this respect, here, than elsewhere, but that
is poor consolation to the circuits, and none
at all to the needy preachers. Brethren—
stewards and private members—you are now
in the last quarter of the Conferenoe year.
Firmly resolve to come out in credit by your
next quarterly meeting. Leave repudiation
to corrupt politicians; Christian men should
not rest under such an odium.
Let every circuit determine to elevate its
character, and make itself a place sought,
and not shunned, by the preachers. Preach
ers cannot live on groans and aniens, nor
even hallelujahs. They are not augels, and
if they wore, they could not retain easily
their angelic status, without some encour
agement among their parishioners.
Sometimes the failure is attributable to
the steward. He is inert and timid, per
haps himself not very liberal, and yields
readily to the slightest objection to paying,
and even sometimes in the manner of his
asking, virtually invites a refusal. Very
often the failure is duo solely to the want
of a systematic plan, and this because the
preacher is too timid to suggest one, or to
urge its adoption
The Church has had its days of fasting,
and its week of prayer, and it would be well
to have a solid month to wage one univer
sal, relentless crusade against dishonesty in
Church and state. When the people un
dertake to do their admitted duty—to meet
their legal and moral obligations in the pay
ment of debts—l shall have some hope of
the country; until then, none whatever.
The calamities of war have indeed made it
impossible for many to meet fully their con
tracts; yet how many avail themselves of
this plea falsely to evade a duty! How
many plead old debts against new ones,
when not one in a thousand pays, or tries,
or expects to pay old debts? Is God blind,
that He caunot see this sham ? Even the
dullest man knows this is mere pretence,
too flimsy to bear the light of a lax moral
ity, and destined to the fierce rebuke of a
just God.
The war has done many dreadful things
for us as a people; but tho worst calamity
entailed is the terrible shook to the integ
rity of the public, nay, of the Church, in
respect to contracts and obligations.
A “witnessing Church’’ must bear deci
ded testimony against the loose morality ob
taining in sociciy at large upon this sub
ject. Revivals may be conspicuously pa
raded, and a flourish of trumpets mado over
a triumph consisting of a score of acces
sions after a month’s labor; but what a dis
count on the real progress of tho Church is
the fact, that multiplied thousands pay their
debts to neither God nor man. The tenth
cominaudmcnt is a neglected study, and af
fords at present the most important theme
for pulpit discussion.
While the preachers are engaged in tak
ing up their Conference and missionary col
lections, they may serve their generation
weil by brushing the dust off this long re
fused commandment, and showing the peo
ple that it is replete with meaning, and is
as durable as the eternal stone on which it
was written by the linger of God, sanctioned
by flashing lightning and emphatic thun
der. J. W. Hinton.
Macon, Sept. 30.
Philadelphia Correspondoiioo.
T’he religious world of Methodism jogs
along here at its accustomed rule of slow
ness. i’olitical chances are made certain
ties by the desperate effort recently attempt
ed by a candidate in this city, who, running
for the high and honorable position nl .1 edge
of the District Court, has so bcuieinu <1 and
belittled himself, as to seek the inllnonce
of the Methodist paper here—Home Jour
nal. When political affairs descend to such
a grade as this, it would certainly bo time
for us all to cry out ior the untramelling of
the ballot box It is in my power to give
you a number of examples of the manner in
which this honorable Judge has attempted
to seek the aid of the Chrirch to further his
personal interests. The game, however, is
exposed, and in this instance it has failed,
as in all others T sincerely hopo it may.
The Roman Catholic is known to be the
only Church having control of the conscien
ces of men, and may tho day never come
when Methodists shall he judged as they
are judged.
The Rev. W Morley Punshon will lee
ture in this city on the 16th and 19th, in
the Academy of Music; tho first subject,
“Daniel in Babylon,” and the second a sec
ular theme The anxiety to hear him is
unbounded, and the rush will be one worthy
of the occasion and of the speaker. Efforts
are being made to have Mr. Punshon ex
tend his tour Southward, so that your large
cities and towns may be visited, and their
people privileged to hear him. I will re
serve all opinion of his manner and style
until my next letter, when I shall have lis
tened to him. Like all great foreigners, I
believe him to be overrated; but perhaps
all criticism should be stayed until ho has
had an opportunity to show his theme and
his manner of treatment.
Rev. John Walker Jackson, one of the
most eminent Methodist preachers in this
oity, is ono of the many whose appreciation,
like that of the prophet, is in another coun
try. Philadelphians are a peculiarly dull
people. What I mean is, that “brains”
have nover been appreciated here. Mr.
Jackson is a man of the Spurgeon type;
cool, calm and fiery all in the same sentence,
provided that sentence be divided by a co
lon or a semicolon. Anywhere else but in
Philadelphia, the rear end of the churoh
would have been knooked out long ago and
a hundred new seats let in. Here, he will
crowd his church, and he does crowd it,
Sabbath after Sabbath; people go away say
ing, “excellent sermon,” “grand ideas,”
“splendid thoughts.” And ask them where
the text can be found, and they have for
gotten ; mention a grand idea, and they de
clare it has slipped them.
Vol.xxxi. 15T0.42
The pulpit here is very able, especially
the Methodist pulpit. But the people can’t
understand, they don’t know what “the man
in tin box” is talking about. They don’t
think. All of our great preachers arc run
off to New York and Boston, just where
Jackson will go in a year; just where Roche,
Crooks. Kennedy, and a host of others have
gone. Our people wonder why they go;
they say that money takes them; that is all
folly—they go where they can be apprecia
ted. Who, among your readers, has uot
felt a good thought come nimbly out of his
mouth, fall flat before some sleepy hearer,
to be trodden down and crushed by what
is worse than all criticism—saying nothing
about it? I believe, if I were a clergyman,
I would rather speak before twenty
thinkers, than ten thousand of the class
that infest our ohurehes in general. Our
preachers go to New York and Boston, just
because they are anxious to go into a dia
mond factory.
The recent publications of the week are
‘GEsop s Fables,” “Pope's Essay on Man,”
by.S. R. Wells, of New York, a young and
rising publishing house. They are the
finest editious of these popular books I have
ever seen, and come at a very low price.
‘ Oratory,” by Pittengcr, ought to bo in the
hands of every public man. The author
adopts a novel method iu his treatment of
the subject, making it exceedingly simple,
yet exceedingly valuable. The extracts are
varied, and calculated to raise the standard
of eloquence in the school house, college,
and the world. This is also from the same
house of S 11 Wells, as is also the new
edition of '‘Handbook of Improvement,” a
valuable work for young men who depend
on themselves for education and general
intelligence. Such hooks as these are an
honor to any firm that publishes them, for
they do good long after they have passed
away. The “Handbook,” of which rtiis is
the .latest edition, has always been popular
in the South. I have seen it in many sec
tions of Yirgiuiu and North Carolina.
Cm DONA.
Letter from Virginia.
Mr. Editor —Do you remember the pret
ty village of Ashland, 17 miles lroiu Rich
mond, on tho Richmond, Fredericksburg
and Potomac Railroad? This is now the
site ol Randolph Macon College, and licic
we expect this Institution to flourish as
never before, although she has seen pros
perous days, and been an ornament and a
blessing to the Church We are fortunate
in having secured this situation accessible,
healthy, in the midst of a hospitable, reliued
and moral community. The grounds are
ample and beautiful; the buildings attract
ive to the eye, comfortable and well adapted
to their purpose.
It is an interesting fact, that at the open
ing of the session on the first of this month,
there were present seven young meu who
are studying for the ministry, and I have
heard of several others who will attend.
Dr. Duncan has established a department
of Biblical literature, including tho Hebrew
language, for the special benefit of this olass
of students. They will certainly enjoy a
great advantage iu the sympathy, counsel
and instruction of this eminent minister.
He is known throughout the South as a
preacher of extraordinary elequenoe; but
he has other qualities which peculiarly fit
him for his present position. I refer espe
cially to his kindness of heart, genial mari
ners, oontagious cheerfulness, and the in
terest which he feels in young men. 11c
has always attached to himself the youths
of his congregations, and exerted over them
a strong influence. I know no man who is
better qualified to excite their confidence
and to be their guide.
The other gentlemen of tho Faculty arc
ripe scholars, and at tho same time apt to
teach and to govern. I honestly believo,
that nowhere in the land can greater facili
ties be enjoyed for acquiring a sound, thor
ough, complete collegiato education, than at
Ashland, Va. I trust that, by the blessing
of God, Randolph Macon will proven tower
of strength to our /ion.
Since tho war, a general religious apathy
has prevailed among us. It, is pleasant to
record that a revival oi' great power is now
progressing in one of our churches, at Dan
ville, in this State. I mention this by no
means as the only, but as the most exten--
sive, outpouring of tho Spirit within the
bounds of our Conference during the pres
ent year. The pastor is Rev. W. W. Dun
can, a younger brother of Dr. Dunoan, the
President ot R. M. College. When 1 last
heard, 150 had professed conversion. A
deep interest is said to pervade the whole
community on the subject of religion. It
has seized on all classes and all denomina
tions. This is an encouraging fact (o other
churches. No church seemed to he colder,
more iudiffereut aud sluggish, than the
church at Danville a lew months ago. Now
they are in a blaze of holy z»al and joy.
“The Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it
cannot save; neither is His ear heavy, that
it cannot hear.”
The District Conference proves itself a
most admirable institution lam sure that
the next General Conference will adopt it
with unanimity as a regular feature of our
economy. So far as l have observed and
learned, the Church-meeting has not been
such a success, though not without its use.
It seems difficult to draw the members out,
and to give interest to the exercises. Per
haps we will grow more expert in managing
these meetings, and then they may be more
popular and efficient.
Tours truly, J. C. Granbery.
Petersburg, Va.
Sunday School Celebrution at Contro,
Seneca and Tugaloo Circuit, S. C,
Conference.
Mr Editor, — Nothing gives me more
pleasure than to read the nccounts on Sun
day-school celebrations in the last few num
bers of the Advocate. Indeed, l have shed
tears of joy while reading sonic of those
accounts. Relieving that some of the read
ers of the Advocate arc like myseif induces
me to write this short account of the cele
bration at Center.
The school mot at 10 o’clock, A. M.,
Sept. 25th, 1868 They formed in proces
sion, and marched to the arbor, singing as
they went, “Come, thou Fount of every
blessing”—tho banner in front, with the
motto “Sustain the Sunday-school.” The
exercises were thou opened with prayer by
tho writer. J. B. Sanders, one of the su
perintendents, then gave a full report of the
school during the year. Wo all thought
the report a very good one, and especially
that part of it whioh informed us that so
much of the Bible had been committed to
memory by the little boys and girls of the
school. The superintendent then introdu
ced the speakers, all of whom were scholars.
Many tears were shed while tho boys and
girls were speaking of the goodness and
love of God. But the best of all was the
dialogue taken from the 37th Genesis—
Joseph sold into Egypt. It was very im
pressive. The school repaired to the table
where they found plenty of good things,
and, after them, all present were invited to
the table, and I believe discharged their
duty iu short order. Dinner over, all re
turned to the arbor, and the writer delivered
an address to the children, with a few re
marks to parents. He tried to show that it
was the duty of ohildren to obey their pa
rents, and the duty of parents to love their
ohildren, and to bring them up in tho nur
ture and admonition of the Lord. llev. T.
B. Maulden was then introduced, and ho
gave a good talk to parents, urging them to
send their children to Sunday-school, and
also to go with them, and see that they
behaved while there. Brother Mauldcn’s
speeoh was very good, and we hope good
will result from his remarks. James Zaoh
ary then proposed that we take up a collec
tion, to buy books for the sohool. Sonic
six or seven dollars was collected. The
collection was not as good as we desired,
but we hope to be able soon to procure a
good library for this interesting school.