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THREE DOLLARS PER ANNUM. Vol. XXXII.—No. 29. Conlribalions. ] To the Bev. Lovlek Pierce, D. D Reverend and Dear Brother :—You will pardon the liberty I take in addressing you thus publicly, as the motive which prompts this letter is to give whatever emphasis I may be able, to the advanced position you occupy upon a question which has perplex ed, vexed, inflamed and divided the reli- ; gious world. Ido this with the more zest, ! from the fact, that, without ever having read your sermon, I have preached a clus ter ot about five sermons to my congrega tion, at Union Springs, Ala., within the past two months, in which the same posi tion has been taken and a very similar line of argument has been pursued. Your letter in the Nashville Christian Advocate of 27th June, gives rise to my present writing; for, as yet, I have not had the pleasure of reading your sermon on the “Unity of the Faith’’ as the only true bond of union for the Church. Your letter comes very opportunely to strengthen and confirm me in a view of an ; important matter. The distinction between i mere ritualistic observances and ordinances , is the solution of the whole question, and gives a relief to the religious mind not un like that experienced by one, who has been relieved of a pressure upon the brain, by having the fracture of the skull lifted. Without referring to our standards on the Sacraments, but gathering a common sense view from the plain historical facts, as related in the New Testament, I am quite sure, that you are fully sustained. Did Christ institute baptism? When? Where ? It was the most na’ural thing in the world for his disciples, as they were recruiting a party in his name, to initiate them in that way. Their view was to in augurate a political revolution. That this idea obtained up to the very last, is wit nessed ‘by the request of the mother of Zebedee’s children, as our Saviour was on his way from Jericho to Jerusalem. Now, after the resurrection, just before His as oension, Christ told his apostles to go into all the world, baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son and the Hfiy Chko s'. By throwing the emphasis' on the words italioised in the above, the proper idea is obtained—Christ’s pur pose is expressed Go back a little. In John iv., wo read that “whon the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John ( though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,') he left Judea and went into Galilee ” It was just in keeping with his inimitable mode of management not to forbid ti eir way—their mode —of announoing him ; but by withdrawing from the soenc into a remote part of the oorutry, he drew them off after him, and thus ac complished his purpose of giving a better direction to the efforts of his friends. To have undertaken to check his disciples by explanations would have involved him in a mere negative work. It were better for him to “wink at” their ignorance in many matters, and await his time. But as he passed through Samaria, it is altogether natural that he should have his mind fully absorbed with the essential nature and tb~ pecutiW anu instinctive feature ot his kingdom ; and the conversation with the woman at the well was the fruit of it all. I regret that I have space only to suggest the outline of the argument here. Take His utterances at the well and the words of the commission, and you perceive that bap tism and “such like’’ fall into the baok ground, whilst the mind is lifted up to the essentially spiritual worship of a spiritual God. Local, national, selfish, ambitious views perish from the mind, as every name suggestive of Lteity is called. They know Him no more “ after the flesh.” I fear the point I seek to present is not so palpable as I desire to make it. I mean to say, that Christ’s disciples had practiced baptism as the method of recruiting in the name of the Master, and, as it was brief, simple, decent, Christ did not interfere with it; and in giving the final commission, he recognised it merely incidentally—ob liquely. Some visible, sensible rallying point must be had; they had fallen upon one good enough, and He merely told them in baptizing, to baptize— not in the name of Jesus, but in the name of God. Hence we find the endearing names—the senti mental, maudlin, rhapsodical strains of some Christian poets and devotees, obnox ious to those of a truly spiritual cultus. •John and Charles Wesley are eminently free from this. By a similar rendering of the conduct of Christ as regards the memorial Supper, we arrive at the same conclusion, and hold it as an observance—a rite, but not an ordi nance. And the Sabbath day falls into line, and the three hang upon the Church comfortable and conveniently as garments ; they do not constitute the skin of the Church—else were they a part of Christi anity. But now are they no part of Chris tianity, even as the clothes I wear are no part of my person. Get the Church loosen ed properly in its rites and its members will grow. Like Hezekiah of old, you have shivered a piece of brass, the verdigris from whioh has poisoned the churches, all. I hope that with the candor characteristic of those who “know the truth,” all minis ters will inquire of this matter. To one at least the prospect opens up most ravish ingly, and joyfully do I hail what you have written and spoken. Very truly yours, Joseph B. Cottrell. Five Poplars, Ala , July 1, 1869. Griffin District, Colored M. E. Church, South. To the Ministers of the M E. Church, South. My Dear Brethren in Christ: —l feel that it is my duty as an Elder of this church, to let you know how we are getting on in this District. There are some, who I trust will be faithful even unto death, but others are wavering, turning aside to listen to every new doctrine thatoome3, and blame one for standing up to the old faith. I have recently met some of my brethren, who were formerly ministers of the M. E. Church, South, but have turned over to the Northern Church. They begged me not to stay in the old church, for its object was to get us all back into slavery ! lam rather too old now to be taken in by those who believe the falsehoods of the teaohers who come down from the North, as wolves in sheep’s olothing, to turn our raoe against those who have the right to be our protec tors—those who worked for us, who prayed with us, who attended us in sickness with the solicitude of parents. No, I can never be persuaded to leave my church, for when I was on the way to ruin she took me in her arms, and pointed me to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. Many a blessing I have felt at the good old camp ground in Upson, under the sound of the voice of such preaohers as Rev. William Arnold, Dr. Pierce, Rev. Wesley Smith and others, who always treated me with the consideration of a brother. The camp ground was burned during the war, and many changes have taken place, but never will I forget what they taught me there, and never will I forget my obligation to the Church, and my duty as her repre sentative among the oolored people. I ask the prayers of you all, brethren, that I may hold out faithful to the end, in Hattibeai Cisri spite of divers temptations, and cross-pull iDg on every side. lam getting along in years, and I know that no new friends will ever think as much of me as my own white people, and I am sure I can never love any body else like them ; for they have done all they could to help me to Heaven. There fore I do not wish to change, and I am sorrry to see so much confusion in the army of Methodists. In the old Church I was born in the Spirit and baptized, and in that same Church I intend to live and die. Some believe I am hired by the white people to stay with them ; but One migh tier than they has called me, and in his name I will try to preach the gospel at all times and at all places. Let persecution come, let the days be dark, but give me the blessed love of Jesu9 to hold me up and bear me to the mansion my Father has prepared for me, then in the words of St. Paul, “neither death nor life, nor angels, nor 'principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other oreature shall be able to separate me Irom the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord ” Sandy Kendall, col. P. E. Upson co. t Ga. From the Baltimore Episcopal Methodist. Camp Meetings. The time for Camp meetings is at hand and we are glad to find that more than usual interest is exhibited concerning them. After many years of observation and re flection we are satisfied that these meetings have been very useful, and we see no reas on for supposing that they may not be as useful, or more useful now than before. We know the objections that are made to them; and are willing to give them full force; but the objections to not holding them seem to us much stronger. That they are often disfigured with rant and cant and coarse exhibitions of feelings, very imperfectly and even doubtfully religious, is unfortunately true. We have seen rude and indecent prooeedings, as disgusting to good taste and civilized manners as those which brought out Mr. Wesley’s indigna tion, in his sermon on Knowing Christ af ter the Flesh. “Loud shouting, horrid un natural screaming, repeating the same words twenty or thirty times, jumping two or three feet high and other things shock ing not only to religion but to common de cency.” We have seen all this, and more; and we have asked ourselves if this was not as outrageous and offensive to God, even as the heartless irreverence and lip worship of impudent dandies and simper ing belies who mock God by fashionable and full dress profanity, in a Gothic uhuroh ; and we have thought not. Bad as the vulgir indecency was, it might have, and probably did have some right sense of God and sin and honest thought of salva tion in it, but the genteel indeceney of cul tivated ungodliness, dressed for exhibition in the awful presence of God, as for an opera and trailing its superfluous train along the aisles with no more thought of the soul and sin and the Saviour, than a peacock has when it flutters its fine feath ers in a barn-yard to overpower the plainer fowls; the inexpressible impertinence of a youngman reeking with sin. who drooo«» himself elaborately to go impenitently be fore Jehovah, and to flare impiously in his presence, as if to call his attention to the audacity of his impudent puppyism—what possible savor of goad can be in that f Yet nobody has anything to say against the gross indecency of “the going to Church’’ that pusses before us every Sunday ; when the fashion of the world goes to cull upon God. Yet, we would rather see anything we have ever seen at camp-meeting, that presented itself as recognition by the soul of saered things, than to see every Sun day, the highly decorated living coffins car rying their dead souls to their weekly fu neral in God’s pttyiog presence. Yet we do not wish to excuse the indecorum of apparent or perhaps sincere devotion. We have tolerated too much of it, and have driven away from us thousands of our chil dren whose edueation and notions of pro priety proved stronger than their good sense and religious philosophy. The old Methodists were so afraid of “quenching the Spirit,’’ that they refrained from “try ing the spirits” and permitted a great deal of folly and imposture too, which they ought to have suppressed. But these things, for the most part, have passed away. Our preashers do not get cross and scold as some of the old ones used to do, if the brethren hear the sermon without ejaculat ing Amens, and content themselves with listening to a prayer, instead of setting themselves with deep earnestness of lungs to pray the leader down. We can remem ber when a meeting in Light street was quite as vociferous as one now in any Af rican meeting house—and we honestly tes tify after a good many years knowledge of Methodists, that the noisy worshippers of that day were not a whit better men than the quieter brethren are now, and were not nearly so zealous in good works. We have no objection to a natural and honest ex pression of religious feeling. It is as fair and right as the expression of any other. Ladies at concerts and operas clap their lit tle hands and paddle their little feet and cry “encore” or something as much like it as their school French permits, and men at political meetings bawl and soream and laugh at the poorest jokes as though their rib muscles would crack under the strain. We see no reason why the sense of God, and salvation and the premonitions of eter nity shall not find sensible utterance, but if not honest and spontaneous, it is abomi nation ; when honest and spontaneous it is the least vulgar, and altogether the de centest thing in the world There is an objection to camp-meetings that they are not necessary now, that there are plenty of churches, ete. Now all this Gomes of sheer ignora.ice. In the country, even here in Maryland, people hear very little preach ing and that commonly of a small kind. City people who are surfeited with sermons of first quality know nothing about our Sunday condition in the country. A fami ly of Methodists attends a meeting house where the preacher preaches once in two weeks. In the same time a city family, has six opportunities to hear a sermon. But the country family must go several miles over roads not laid down with Nioholson pavement, but satanically obstructed with mud holes, ruts, rooks, streams, water breaks and back-breaks of all varieties Even when they are at the best, but a part of the family can get to meeting at once. Then rains, extreme cold and extreme heat, and lame horses and broken carriages, and absent drivers, and a number of other contingencies prevent; so that the family hear not half the sermons really delivered ; and the preacher from siokness and nec essary absence rarely delivers all. When heard they are commonly short, and very often narrow too The preaQher must ride some miles to preach in the morning and five or six more to preaeh in the afternoon, and probably lead a class, or do some other work besides. The people come miles to church and have miles to go from it. Al together it is a poor weary, thin, interrup ted, unsatisfactory business. Now a camp meeting puts new religious interest into the whole community. For a week they listen to two or three sermons a day; any one of whioh sermons is worth in matter, earnestness and the oondition of reeeptivi- lie , ty any three beard in the meeting house. The mind is kept fixed on religious things. The prayer-meetings are deeply devotion al and the farmer and his wife miss the old familiar prayer of the official neighbor whose nasal petition they have heard from a time the memory goeth not back to the contrary. There is freshness, novelty. Even the neighbor’s old prayer when he delivers it is new to many and he prays it with a fervor that surprises himself. The singing is delightful to us country folks who have no choirs to look np new musio and keep us from running the old tunes down at heel. Camp-meetings are a grand - cure for religious dyspepsias. They re lieve us from the dreadful atony of coun try religion, starved on a two week’s circuit. Then again, there are great numbers of people who go to hear our preaching at camp-meetings that never would hear it anywhere else. To be sure many go for idleness and amusement, as they go to fine city churches; and many go to see other people; as in city churches many go to let others see them; but what of that ? when the multitude ran together to see the lame man leaping at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, it is likely they ran without any religions purpose, but Peter got a chance to preach to them and did them a great deal of good. Sometimes there is muoh bad behaviour in the vicinity of camp meetings ; and so there is in the vicinity of city churches on Sunday, though roofs and walls bide it. The camp-meeting does wicked people no harm. It does not teach them to drink and swear and break the Sabbath. If they were not thus employed there, they would not be very differently employed somewhere else. There is no reason why we should abstain from preach ing against sin, because sinners come about us. But ought we to hold camp-meetings near cities ? Weli, we are disposed to sub mit that to the judgment of city people who have been in the habit of attending them for many years, and their verdict very generally is in favor of these meet ings. They break up the monotony of the common Sunday service. They prolong the impression of the preaching from day to day, which is commonly extinguished on Monday in the pantry or counting house. They make religion a business for a week; and must do a great deal to counteract the worldliness which threatens to be the death of us. Then they bring city relig ion to the country and mix the better ele ments of both. Social religion too is pro moted. Tent life breaks down merely ac cidental distinctions and makes religion, not money, the test of nobility. We oon tess to liking the Christian picnic right well. We know it may be carried too far; and so may the more abstract and solemn view of the usefulness of camp-meeting Upon the whole, we feel no hesitation in urging our people to maintain them. They have done very muoh for us, and for the country, and for oar own sakes and for the sake of pure, simple Christianity, we ought to keep up our feast of Tabernacles. We ought to go to them prayerfully and with full purpose to search our hearts be fore God, and by His help cast out every unclean thing. We ought to go hopefully as assured of meeting with that Ba*ioui wno fails to meet us whenever wo make an effort to find him While there we ought to avoid a.l talk about politics and business. The first is the most useless, as it is the most exasperating, demoralizing, exhaustive subjeot we could talk about. It is getting contemptible, which is a sad truth for the country, but we c?nnot help it; but we can seek a city out of sight, whose builder is God. Let us talk about the politics of the glorious country to which we expect to go very soon. Don’t talk business. We have all got business on the brain. It oppresses us, stupefies us, makes us see double and side ways, and paralyzes our Christian activities. There are some of us now, whose sonls are as bed ridden and as useless as the poor man was who had laid for many years by the pool of Bethesda. Business has effectively done for us. We sit doubled up at the Beauti ful Gate of the Temple, and the people hear us whining there of a Sunday, but we arc not as useful as the door post. Except to frighten others from too much busi ness, we do not know why God spares some old members, to the Church. Don’t talk business at camp-meeting. Talk religion, talk kindness, talk wisdom, learning, if you have any, and everybody has some, and many more than they think. Be pleasant, be happy, social, fraternal. Listen to the sermons and make the most of them. If a big preacher tries to be too big and comes out small; pray for him and say nothing. Perhaps the poor man has fled to the woods and is humbling himself before God and “trying to die.” If a modest man preaches you a good sermon tell him so; it will do him good. But better not talk much about the preachers. They ought not to go to camp-meetings to show how they can preach. They are not pitted against one another to determine which can preaeh best. God forbid that emulation of that kind shall ever influence us ; when it shall the day of camp-meetings and all other meetings good for any thing will have passed away. The best sermon is the one that most pleases God. The best preacher is he who does the most good, or at least who preaches ser mons most likely to do it. But good is various, and is not to be estimated by our senses. “The kingdom of God” is not much the subjeot of observation. The preaching is generally very good; better than we hear any where else, because it is less pompous, conventional, formal. The more we can make our preaching like sa cred stnmp-speaking the better. Eloqu tion is no longer eloquence. The people have passed into that stage of intelligence where the thought is far more than the manner. We must interest and instruct the people ; and to do this we mast talk to them faoe to face. Camp-meetings are the best schools for preaching that we know of; and if only for this great purpose they are well worth preserving. A Humiliating Confession. A paper on divoice and infanticide, ad opted by the Old School Assembly in New York, reveals the prevalence of unnatural crime in the Northern States to an extent that has hardly been conceived of. It has long been known that the stos against which the Assembly raised an earnest protest have existed, and perhaps become widespread, in New England. But the Assembly has few ohurohes there. The emphasis there fore with whioh infanticide is denouaoed— the urgency with which the twenty-five hundred Presbyterian ministers in the North are invited to instruct their people on the duties of the marriage relation, and lift their voices against the mnrder, by pa rents, of their own offspring; and the de liberation and seriousness with whioh this action is taken, —after a careful considera tion of its necessity by the committee on Bills and Overtures; this action of the Assembly, in connection with all its circum stances, is a public confession of the wide* spread existenoe of these heinous offmees all over the Northern and Western States —in the Church, as well as outside of it. A few years ago this sin was supposed to be of rare occurrence. Its prevalence is one of the dark signs of the present age. The following is the paper adopted: The Committee on Bills and Overtures, PUBLISHED BY J. W. BURKE & Macon, G* to whom was referred the paper relatil to divorce and infanticide, beg leave to i port that they recommend the adoption the following : That it is with great pain we are co strained to admit the increased prevalen in many parts of our country of unseri tural views of the marriage relation, consequence of which the obligations that relation are disregarded by maDy, at separations of husbands and wives, and a vorces for slight and unwarrantable reasor are becoming more frequent every yeai Nor can we shut our eyes to the fact th the horrible crime of infanticide, especiall in the form of the destruction by paren of their own offspring, before birth, ai prevails to an alarming extent. The evil which these errors and crimes have alreac brought upon our country, and the wor> evils which they threaten in the near ft ture, make it imperative, as we believe, th. the whole power of the ministry of th Church of Jesus Christ should be put fort in maintenance of truth and of virtue i regard to these things. Many causes hav operated to produce a corruption oft 2 public morals so deplorable; promineu among whioh may be mentioned the facili ty with which divorces may be obtained i some of the States, constant promulgatio of false ideas of marriage and its duties by means of books, lectures, etc., and th distribution through the mails of impurt publications ; bat an influence not less pow erful than aoy of these is the growing de votion to fashion and luxury of this and the idea whioh practioally obtains to | so great an extent that pleasure, instead of the glory of God and the enjoyment of i His favor, is tie great object of life. It ; is therefore the duty of the Church of : Christ to oppose in every praotical way • these and all other corrupting agencies and tendencies, and we especially urge upon all : ministers of the Gospel the duty of giving instruction to the people of their respec tive charges as to the Scriptural doctrine | concerning the marriage relation. We warn them against joining in wedlock any who may have been divorced upon other than Scriptural grounds. We also enjoin upon church sessions the exercise of due j discipline in the case of those members' who may be guilty of violating the law of Christ in this particular. This Assembly i regards the destruction by parents of their own offspring before birth with abhorrence as a crime against God and against Nature; and as the frequency of such murders can no loDger be oonoealed, we hereby warn those who are guilty of this crime that ex cept they repent they cannot inherit eternal life. We also exhort those who have teen called to preaoh the Gospel, and all who love purity and truth, and who would avert the just judgment of Almighty God from the nation, that they be no longer silent or ; tolerant of these things but that they en deavor by all proper means to stay the ffsod of impurity and cruelty. We call upon ali to remember that marriage is honorable, not only in itself but in its ends. There fore those who seek to avoid the responsi bility and oares eonneoted with the bring ing up of children not only deprive them selves of one of the greatest blessings of lite and fly in the face of God’s decree., but do violence to their own Matures, and will ’ be found out by their sins even in this world. fluttrine anb feeriente. Testimony of a Pastor. Is it argued by the preaoher, that this life is too insecure, too unsubstantial to be pursued as the portion of the soul ? My reminiscences tell me that the argument is good. I have seen the fact affirmed most abundantly demonstrated. I have observed that death is ever at hand to defeat the best-laid schemes and blast the mo3t ration- ! al hopes of man. I have seen him again and again, selecting as his victims the very ones who we would have sai 1 ought not to die and could not die. I have seen him out down with his remorseless scythe the fairy child, the maiden in the pride of hsr beauty, the minister of God in the midst 1 of his usefulness, the mother with her lit tle flock living upon her love, and the father holding up his dependent household by bis providence and care. I have seen, in our epidemio summers, a young mechan ic, whose energy and probity had opened for him, as he supposed, a sure avenue to wealth, and the bride, whom he had brought in her ruddy girldhood a few months be fore to his neat little home, both almost at the same hour prostrated by the fever, torn from one another, and from all earthly ob jects by the stupor in which he was wrapped, and the delirium which had seized upon her, and reunited only when death came—in less than two days—and again almost at the same hour, to bear them both to the presence of God; and in one burial a few of us laid them side .by side in the same grave. That incident and hundreds of others of the same import, though less striking in their details, have taught me, that the man who makes the world his trust is the grandest madman who ever built a costly house upon a foun dation of sand. Is it argued by the preacher that the way of the transgressor is hard ? I have seen this verified, when I have seen the drunkard, after throwing away talents which might have made him reputable, and wrecking the hearts of those who loved him, going to his early grave; when I have seen the man of viol nee groaning in re morse upon his bloody death-bed ; when I have seen the criminal shuddering in his cell in t?rror of the gallows to whioh his crimes had brought him ; and when I have seen—for I have seen this too—the tenant of the house of shame elosing her life of vice in the agonies of despair; when I have seen these, and a hundred other' speotaoles implying the same doctrine, though less marked in form, I have been satisfied that the wages of sin, from first to last, is death. And is it argued by the preaoher that godliness is profitable unto all things, hav ing promise of the life that now is, and of that whioh is to come ? A long procession of beautiful characters, graced with the piety of the gospel, and radiant habitually with the peace which trust in Jesus and love to God has inspired, rises before me. And a long series of scenes, in whioh these characters, after demonstrating the genuine ness of their faith by their patience in suf fering, had calmly, joyfully fallen asleep in the arms of their Saviour, to wakea in his likeness and in his presence in heaven, oomes to light on the pages of my memo ry ; and when I think of them, I am sure the apostle was right when he oalled Christ and his salvation God’s “unspeakable gift when he described the faith of the believer as a “precious” faith; and when ho pro fessed himself willing to “oount all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowl edge of Christ Jesus his Lord.” And it is not, T ask you to notice, a testimony furnished merely by the exer cises and phenomena whioh attend the ao tnal moments of death, to whioh I thus re ier—for I know only too well that such ex ercises may be speoions and such phenom ena illnsory; but I hold up that testimony before you, as founded upon this broad in ' duetion, this absolute foot—that I have i -‘X \S), was ' If 1 no pastor. W do not k-arn that they been, peculiarly fitted for the ministry because they were giants. ItnHj true that a good physical development, a strong constitution and sound health, are quite important for the minister; but they are not yet considered indispensable. It was not in this sense, that the phrase was used. Webster was, as it used to be said, “a man of giant intelleot,” but I suppose that no one ever thought that that fitted him to preaoh Christ to the people. Ilia natural acd acquired mental power was not a sufficient qualification for so high and holy a calling. Some men are masters of oratory and rhetorio ; they have great pow er over a congregation whenever they speak, and may be called giants in oratory, but it is certain that they would not be “giants in the pulpit.” If the excellence of the power be of God and not of man, these desirable qualifications are not all that is essential to ministerial success. Perhaps all that was intended by the de scription at the head of this article, might be expressed in the shortor phrase, “a smart young man.” This term “smart” is a very ambiguous one ; for what one would call smart an other would think extremely weak and puerile, so different are the judgments acd tastes of mankind. What is desired by many, is a minister that unites every qual ification for the ministry in its highest de cree. He must be a deep and profound thinker, a close reasoner, an eloquent and .fluent speaker, a good singer, and remarka fc>le fa? Bi» anr*ial qu»liti«s With such a minister, they expeot to see great things done for God aod his Church. Now if any church is looking for sueh a minister and waiting to find him, they may have to wait a long time, and die without the sight. Such men are liko “like angels’ visits, few and far between.” All the qual ifioations above named are of great value to the minister, but few possess them all in an eminent degree. Deep thinkers are not al ways eloquent speakers; fluent speakers are not always close reasoners, and men of deep thought are not always social and easy in conversation. Some are great in one respect, some in another, and a few if any, in all These qualifications would make a pleasing and popular minister, of whom many would be proud ; but he might have but few souls as seals of his ministry. He that combines the most of these qualifi cations in fair proportions is better prepar ed for the manifold cares and labors of the Christian pastor than he who is remarkable in one re«peot and really deficient in others, livery minister should know himself, and lultivate and strive to improve those gifts and graces in which he is most defioient. Churches should not seek for a “giant’’ in all or in any one of the departments of ministerial labor, but for one whose powers are evenly balanced and fairly developed. But there is an element in pulpit great ness above all that 1 have mentioned, that is open to all; this is a deep conviction of the truth which the minister is sent to pro claim, a clear view of the terrible conse quences of sin, and an overwhelming sense of the goodness of God in providing, at such a cost, a Saviour “mighty to save,” even “to the uttermost all that come unto God by him.’’ This will make him elo quent. This will clothe his words with power. This will enable him to speak to the heart and reach the heart. This can only be enjoyed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a heart fully consecrated to God. Such a minister, if not a “giant in the pulpit,” with an appreciative and co operat ing church, will be succeesful and useful minister. The church will prosper, and seuls be gathered into the garner of God. Let ministers seek this holy unction from oB high, and if they do not see the imme diate results of their labors, let them know, that this labor in the Lord is not in vain. Let the church pray, “Lord, increase the number of sueh men.’’ Preaching Christ in Private. It is a false idea that to preaoh the gos pel, we must have a crowd before us. In the early history of the church, God blessed His own Word to small assemblies. Peter preached to Cornelius and his house hold; Paul to Lydia and her household; Philip, on the desert way, preached to a single hearer. Suoh sermons are some times the most effective. A single soul is inestimably precious, and a single convert has sometimes proven himself a host. We have read of sermons addressed to a mere handful of persons that have proved the seed of abundant harvests. A poor plough man taught the celebrated James Harvey some useful lessons out of his humble ex perience ; and who can tell the influence qf these lessons ? It is marvellous how much good was accomplished in Scotland and Geneva by the eminent Robert Haldane. To traoe the streams of good that have filled from the fountains of his influence sgems like romance. *Yet, of him it is "said, that it was to the conversation of a pious stonemason, with whom ho once walked some miles through the woods of Airthray, that he attributed his first clear conceptions of the plan of justification. That stonemason was a preacher. No metropolitan pulpit could have added dig nity to his work. He preached the Gos pel more truly and effect unity than many who have attempted it in gown and bands. Perhaps, if he had aspired to do it in the sacred desk, he would have made a failure. The grass-grown path through the woods of Airthray was pulpit enough for him, and, oontent, yet faithful, in his humble sphere of influence, his words have already, thtough his single hearer, gone forth to the eiAls of the earth. “The prosperity of the cause of Christ de pihds largely onr the fidelity of tho private seems t^^^^^^^^^W^^^=withont father or mother or beginning of days. He exists and moves among' us, but no one is aware of his presence nor oan be con scious of his visit until he is gone. No one ever heard him speak, yet almost every body knows something which he has said, and is ready to repeat it. He was never known to be at any particular plaoe, and yet he seems to be übiquitous. We have often heard of his being on the streets and have gone out in all possible haste to get a glimpso of him, but before wc could reach the plaeo at whioh he was supposed to be, he was gone. No one had soon him, but there were not a few who could tell many things whioh he said as he passed. Ho seems to be invested with the wonderful power of being nowhere and yet every where at the same timo, and of oommuni oating his thonghts without the nse of words, letters or signs. This monster, invested with these won derful powers, is a most irresponsible being. Ho has no regard for law, human or divine. He seems to be governed by ro prinoydes. He knows nothing of truth, justioe or be nevolence. He has no respect for proper ty or decency. All his oonduet indicates that he supposes himself responsible neith er to God nor man—nor tho devil. Asa consequence of his irresponsibility, he is a most misohievous being. He perpetrates all manner of wickedness with perfect im punity. It is his daily business to do mis chief, and his hanpiness consists in ma king miserable. To oarry out his ends and to gratify his propensities, he scruples at no means He lies with every breath and delights to slander the most innocent. He creeps into families, and meddling in their private affairs stirs up domestic quar rels. He enters the church, not to wor ship, but to foment disputes and orcate di visions among the saints. He moves in all grades of society, but he is never seen in company. He is at ease in the palaces of kings, and at home in the hats of beggars. No one olaims an acquaintance with him; but almost everybody is ready to listen to what he has said, and too many delight in repeating his sayings. The reader’s curiosity may now be ex cited and he may wish to know the name of this mysterious oharaoter, which we have described. But this is also buried in im penetrable darkness. He is without: name. Ho seems to possess a plurality of persons in his nature; and this may aoeount for his übiquity. In accordance with the plu rality ot his nature he puts all his reports into circulation in the indefinite and irre sponsible form—“ They Say ” Now, gentle reader, when you hear any thing floating about the streets in this in definite and irresponsible form, we warn you not to believe it, and whatever you do, never repeat it. These indefinite rumors bandied about as things which “They Say,” are the words of the lying, slandering, ir responsible, unknowing and unknowable being which we have described. If they are repeated, they will engender strife, generate misery, and do much mischief. We en’reat all who wish to be happy and to cultivate peace, never believe what rests on no better authority than—“ They Say.” If any one oan oontrive any means by which this invisible and mysterious mon ster of wickedness oan be apprehended and brought to justice, and an end put to his wild and disastrous career, he will forever be known as a friend to humanity, a bene factor to his race, and a blessing to the whole world.”— Rev. J. M. P. Ott. A dvice of an Actross. I was seated in the parlor of the hotel at B , reading, when a lady hastily enter ed, and addressing me, said: ‘What time shall you start for the theatre ?’’ Then glancing at my faoe, added, “Exouse me, sir; I thought you were one of our oom pany.’’ It was Miss , a celebrated actress, who was at the time an inmate of our house; and I said pleasantly, “I never went to the theatre!” “What!” she exclaimed, “have you not even heard Forrest, the great tragedian ?’’ “No,’’ I replied, “I was taught by my parents to shun the drama. Some, how ever, whom I respeot, say that I was wrong ly educated in this matter, and that if I should onoe visit the theatre, I should see my error. You oertainly know all about it, and I would like to ask your opinion.- Would you adviee me to attend ?’’ The tragedienne’s oountenance grew pale and haggard as she answered with an ex pression whose mournful seriousness haunt ed me long after, “Sir, if you have never been to the theatre, I advise 50U never to go and without another word she left the room. —..—~~ I have thought since, in connection with her sad, weary look, of the touohing wail of English aotor Robson, uttered through out his last illness, “Oh, my wasted and unprofitable life !’’ and I have wondered if the patrons of the stage ever consider that their amusement is purchased at a terrible oost of the peace of mind, and pothaps the eternal happiness of the performers they applaud; and if the' young, when for the first time to the playhouse, know how many famous actors and actressess hare uttered earnest and heart-broken protests against the theatre.— American Messenger. Like the inn of Bethlehem given to lodge meaner guests, a heart full of pride has no chamber within whioh Christ may be bom “in us the hop* of glory ’’ .The magnet which dieir» Savifltir from t he skins was hot out merit but out tnisetyl pwrTm. \ and Hie. Many V-, many tears were shed, he related how, only the famous Monday, he had been by the bed side of a dying woman, who had resisted God’s offer of mcroy, and who felt that she was too late, and who, amidst her tears, and in spite of her pain, kept exolaiming, as life was passing and eternity approaoh ing. “Oh, what shall Ido? What shall I do?’’ It is thus Mr. Samme produocs his effect, and this is why he’s heard gladly by the Urge masses in the towns and cities which he visits, warning men, like one of old, to flee from the wrath to come; often, it }may be, attracting Attention from those who would otherwise refare to listen to any one else. For the outoast and the wander er in our streets and bye-ways who will not go to chapel or church, who avoid parsons, who call all good poople Methodists and shun them accordingly, he is admirably qualified. Few men possess a voice of suoh powers and pathos. You might hear him wheu be is preaching in the middle of Chcapstoc. In his appearanoe there is also something very pleasant and refined—noth ing, indeed, of tho vulgarity, nothing of the red face, the thick nick, the hoarse voice, the heavy form, we have time out of mind associated with the oostermongers’ humble but useful trade. Too Good to Be True. “No! These words are not too good to be true,” said our minister. “Ye are Christ’s,” 1 in you, and you in me, “Christ in you the hope of glory,” and many kin dred expressions of the Sorjpture so full of emphasis and incxhaustable meaning are all true; and you believe them. Your words seem to express a doubt; I consider them tho language of surprise ; you do be lieve them to be true in all the fullness, and variety, and glory of their meaning— they under-lie all your hopes of heaven, and are the fruitful source of consolation and holy joy to your soul. Perhaps, it is not always that you are able to see into the depths of their mean ing, and when you do, your thoughts are higher, deeper and better than language oan utter, aDd the pleasing conviction enters your mind that there is something above, and beyond, and better even, than all this which you are not able to comprehend. It may be language of surprise in an humble, believing, loving disciple of Christ, who “lays hold of the hope set before him in the Gospel.’’ I oan conceive of a true dis ciple suddenly dying, and in an instant with his Lord in glory, exolaiming, “It is too good to be true,” but reality, and its possession and enjoyment are not doubt. It is good—it is true in all its grace and blessedness and glory, and I know nothing more profitable and pleasing than for us, with a lowly and' loving spirit, to live upon these Divine words and to search into the very depths of thoir meaning. Perhaps, I may say, every failure will be a suooess. You know what St. Paul writes of his pray er for the church, Eph. iii, 16: “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ; that ye being rooted and grounded in love.; may bo able to comprehend with all saints what is breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, whioh passeth knowledge.” They are won derful words, and you may think of them, and study them, and feel them with a low ly, loving and delighted heart until you are in heaven, but even then, and ever, do I saripose, it will be said: “The love of Christ passeth knowledge.’’ A Satisfactory Sort of Christian. —ln his speech on the Irish Church bill, Mr. Bright said: “The right honorable member for Bucks argued very muoh in favor of the Established Churoh, on the ground that there ought to be some place into which people could get who would not readily be admitted anywhere else. (Cheers and laughter.) The faot is that what the right honorable gentleman wants is this, that we should have an Established Churoh which has no discipline, and that any one who would live up to what may be oalled a gentlemanly conformity to it may pass through the world as a very satisfactory sort of Christian.” The “Establishment” is not the only churoh, we fear, whioh con tains a number of members who pass through the world as “a satisfactory sort of Christian ;’’ with just religion enough to lull the oonsoienoe and make it rest in a false security; just religion enough to ap pear to the world “a sort of a Christian.” Falling Flat on the Promises.— A negro, who was remarkable for his good sense, and his knowledge of the essential truths of Christianity, and especially for his freedom from all gloomy fears in regard to his eternal state, was once addressed on this wise : “You seem to be always comfor table in the! hope of the gospel. I wish you would tell me bow you manage R, to keep so steadily in this Messed frameof mind.’’ “ Why, Mases,” be replied, “I just fall fiat on the promises and I ppray right up ;’’ an answer that would no honor to the head and heart of a philosopher, and that oontains in it the true secret of earth ly happiness.' four great hindrances to prayrr. 1 Too much outward business unoom manded by God. 2. Too little subduing of the body. 3. Too little privacy. 4. Too great slothiulness. —-—'■ ' -r 1 t- ». .into A Holy ]if£tm^vqj^e j,.\t speaks jhen he tongue is silent, and is either a constant k "«tradfloh'tor k’ pei'^ual f? 1 "* • : ■ > ■PjfßjlMsS. ’ ‘ :u;il !:, ■PjSßjiKflFjr Ins I;11 records rodi nn as seeds to your soul, and Pta orop of faith spring up in you. By thus sowing Scripture in our souls wc raised other crops—crops of love, joy, peaee, gentleness, goodness, meekness, tem poranoe. Rotate these erops and keep up a perpetual fruitfulness. Anointing in Scarlet Fever. Tho Apostle James enjoined that tho elders should pray over a sick person, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. This has been corrupted by the papacy into the sacrament of extreme unc tion, which is quite a different thing, while the true idea probably is, that the custom ary medical appliatffoes of the day should be used, lest the prayer of t>e elders should become a matter of tuipersthous incanta tion. The following statement isgoing tho rounds, and is probably well wor.h know ing. And how curiously it recalls the sanitary practices of ancient times, which were probably not so far out of the way ns may have been supposed : Dr. Budd, of Bristol, has published an account of his method for preventing the spread of the scarlet fever, whioh ought to find a place in every school and dwel ling-house throughout the country. For nearly twenty years the Doctor has prac tised the method, and with entire success. His experience may therefore be trusted, and we find that the Registrar General has published his approval thereof. He sets forth dearly all tho precautions that should be taken to prevent the spread of infection, and shows that if these are attended to, the disease may be cured in a compara tively short time, and without harm to the other inmates of the houso. To counter act the diffusion of the poison in the dry sours from the skin, he anoints the whole body, including the scalp, with olive oil, twice a day, beginning when the white dry eruption appears, commonly about the fourth day. Thoughts to Bemeinber. The meanest are mighty with God, the mightiest mean without Him. None are so sure to lie in Jesus’ bosom, as those who lie lowest at Jesus’ feet. That man gave the athiest a crushing answer, who told him that the very feathor with whioh ho penned the words, “There is no God,’’ retuted the audacious lie.— Dr. Guthrie. Business a Means op Grace—ln stead of business becoming a feeder to cov etousness under the promptings ot nature, it must beoome a stimulus to b'nevolrnce under the promptings of grace. Dr llawes, in his biography of Norman Smith, a mer chant in his congregation, says he never grew in grace more rapidly, or shone bright er as a Christian, than during the Ism. six or seven years of his life, when he had the greatest amount of business on bis hands. From the time when he devoted all to GoJ, and resolved to pursue his business ns a part of his religion, he found no tcndeooy in his wor.dly engagements to chill his pie ty or enchain his affrotions to earth. His business became to him a means of grace, and helped him forward in the divine life, just as truly as the reading tho Scriptures and prayer. Whither are you Going. —Three travelers from Frankfort to Lile, tell asleep. They had entered a wrong catriage, and were taken away toward Strasburg. They never discovered their error until they reached the bank of the great river, where their tickets were asked for. Their vexa tion on discovering what their sleep had cost them, suggested a solemn lesson. I thought of another journey—of the thou-, sands who are passing on to eternity last asleep; of the speed with which they are hurrying along 5 of another river j of other sleepers awakening to find that they have been on the wrong way, and that they must faoe an eternity undone. “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Religious Newspapers. —ls you have not done so before, subsorihe to a religious paper now. The dearest paper is cheap ; indeed, when we oonsider the influence of fitty-two suoh in a year, read as they are by a,ll the family. You will meet in it gems of thought io prose and poetry, extracts from the best writings ; encouragement to do good, and warnings against evil, with examples of both. And thus you will sus tain an agenoy, whioh, at present, is indis pensable to our church’s due suooess. Those who live good and useful lives, feel as they grow in years, that they are gradually attaining an eminecco where they can took calmly down on the busy anxious mass of mankind, with wonder that the same hopes and passions once agitated their own hearts. With no lingering regrets for the empty past, only an unutterable longing for the glorious future, which alone can satisfy the immortal soul, they wait “the coming of the Lord.” Uncertain Riches —General Dear born, for tweiliry years OolteetM' of the port of Boston, kept dan record of the successes and failures around him. At the e,pd of_ that period, of living men, not more than three or four par cent, ot the pooe prospe rous aotors in the arena of Itade, h id made a fortune, or were dotog profitable bu-dness. At least ninety-six out of a hundred had failed to reaoh the goal of their ambition and early promise. It is said, that the purest diamonds, are not so much seen of themselves, u by the light they riflsot. So with the truest Christians; it is not thensslveswe recog nise, but Christ reflected in thep ! REMEMBSRING FgRM.kR "M-ascre There is no keener stin'j to "path' thaii tbs nUedtfry of’foriier ptea'cVo. “ lia ”