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THREE DOLLARS PER ANNUM.
Vol. XXXII.—No- 48.
Contributions.
The Gospel Anions the Negroes, by
Southern Method is m-- I Triumphs
and Trophies.
It seems to me tliat something might be
collected and w ritten, in the form of history,
pertaining to our operations among the ne
groes, while they were slaves. This would
be, legitimately, part and parcel of the his
tory of Southern Methodism. These ma
terials could only be gathered from the pres
cat generation of preachers and people.
"When the vail of fanaticism has been re
moved, rational men will see things in their
proper character; yes, they will compare
inconsistencies with consistencies. Then,
the master who cared for Jhe temporal and
Spiritual wants of iiis servants, till they W'ere
taken from him by the hands of power and
robbery, will be held ill contrast with such
abolitionists as came South, were poor, be
came rich by marriage, sold their wives’ ne
groes and went back to the North to live on
the money, and to preach against the evils
of slavery- to stir up abolition hordes to
come and rob us of our negroes, of norlands,
and of our churches. That the Southern
Methodist Church cured for the souls of the
negroes, the hundreds of faithful mission
aries, and thousands of dollars laid upon the
altar, and the two hundred thousand colored
members at the beginning of the war, are
our witnesses before God and Christian
world.
The ministry and membership of the
whites, everywhere almost, recognized the
obligations we were under to preach the
gospel to every creature, and especially to
the black man. The duty was insisted on
iu this wav: The negro works in the field,
and makes the corn and the cotton; these
things yield us a temporal support and wc
must render to f hem spiritual service. Gen
erally, our hardest ministerial w ork was for
them. After the Sabbath forenoon's labors,
the heavy demand of a three o’clock service
for the colored people had to be met. With
al, iu these ‘'labors more abundant,” we had
our rejoicings; for we saw them awakened,
converted and established in the faith of the
gospel. Take a single instance:
In 1835 I was appointed to the Warren
ton Circuit. Through troubles and afflic
tions, the new held of labor was reached
with my wife and four little children, oue a
young babe; a precious little daughter had
been consigned to the grave but a short time
before.
Three years previously our household ef
fects were destroyed by fire. Since then we
had occupied parsonages with furniture.
Now, a house was to tie rented and furniture
bought. On Thursday evening we went to
the hotel, where ! left my family till I could
till Taiy first appointments and make some
preparations for living. Having procured
a horse, on Saturday the first- church was
visited. \This was at Raytown. When I en
tered the house, some sweet singers in Israel
were singinaf a hymn of welcome. O! how
it cheered nvV heart and gave it a pledge of
much needed sympathy, and an earnest of
success. IVwt night was passed with an ex
cellent. Christian family, and next morning |
at i) o'clock. ' married a promising young
couple am l - returned to the Church. The
coniy gation was respectable /or numbers
t ,.ad for their attention to the lervice. The
vplaoe assigned the colored ) ople was not
without devout worshippers.
_ After the congregation was dismissed and
koany introductions given, as I was passing
Ipirougli the crowd, a heavy touch on the
shoulder attracted my attention, when 1
turned round it was a venerable looking
black man. who said in an earnest manner:
“Are you not. going to preach for us? We
have always had preaching for the colored
people at three o'clock."
“Yes,” said I , “Uncle Dick,” (for he had
told me his name.) .1 found Dick to be a
good man, and to have the confidence of the
good, white and block. While Hay town
was not worse than many other places, yet
there was immorality enough there to make
good man mourn; especially were the uegroes
in lhat vicinity wicked, uncleanly in dress,
Sabbath breakers, etc.
The meddling of abolition emissaries de
manded vigilance on the part of the good,
and often furnished occasion for bad men to
persecute pious blacks, and to deprive them
of the privilege of worshipping God. Uncle
Dick had these things to contend with, but
he persevered. The Lord blessed his peo
ple there, both white and black. How per
ceptible were the fruits of the gospel!
Many a time was the preacher encouraged
by the expressive countenances of the sable
congregation, and the crying out for mercy
testified the Spirit’s power to convict; then
the dead was made alive, and there was joy
on earth and joy in Heaven. Often was my
heart thrilled with joy at hearing them re
late their Christian experience. When
holding a protracted meeting at that Church,
sometimes there were preachers enough to
serve both congregations at the same time.
Then was realized Gowper’s beautiful stanza:
The calm retreat, the silent shade
With prayer and praise agree
And seem, by thy sweet bounty made.
For those wiio follow thee.
Nor was it at Church only, but at home
■and everywhere else, that others took knowl
edge of them that they had been with Christ
and had learned of him.
The reformation was seen in that text of
Mr. Wesley’s “cleanliness next to Godli
ness ;” for if they came to Church with old
and tattered clothes, these were patched and
clean. But the best of all is, they lived and
died in the faith of the gospel. And I shall
not soon forget the pressure of Uncle Dick’s
large hand, and his earnest inquiry: “Are
you not going to preach for us? We have
always had preaching for the colored people
at three o’clock.” Timothy.
Who can Solve the Mystery ?
With onr experience, we shall never cease
to remember the sainted Fletcher’s remarks
to the saintly Walsli, when the latter said :
“If a man lives piously, he will be sure to
die triumphantly.” “ I differ with you,” said
Mr. Fletcher, “I believe that the most de
vout persons are sometimes sorely buffeted
by Satan in their last hours”—or words to
this effect. With some warmth of temper
Mr. Walsh asserted that lie did not believe
it. But, sad to relate, it was he himself who
was called to verify the words of Mr. Fletch
er. We have been led into the above re
marks,. by reflecting on the lust hours of some
holy men whom we have known personally
or by their praise being in all the Churches.
As regards Bishop Soule : —although there
was enough to render his end sublime and
touching—yet, did not his friends expect—
considering his long, useful and laborious
career—that he would go up to the top of
Pisgah, and see all the glories of the heaven
ly Canaan, and that God, —if He did not
come Himself—would have sent His angels
to put liis servant in the tomb ?
Oft did the writer desire—if the survivor—
fiauiltctn Christian
to witness the end of the late Rev. R. J.
Boyd : —to be in ‘ ‘the chamber where the
good man meets his fate”—expecting that it
would indeed be
“ Privileged beyond the common walks of
Virtuous life: quite in the verge of heaven;”
and knowing bis ardent love for the Master,
and that he had made f 'nil proof of the min
istry which he had received of the Lord Je
sus, and that he could challenge the people,
as Samuel did, to bring against him a single
act of injustice, fraud, or any other viola
tion of his ministerial authority; and I re
membered that I saw him at the District
Conference in Marion, with Christ, on the
mount of transfiguration. Yea, if ever Pe
ter, or James, or John exhibited —by reflec
tion —the glory, beauty and majesty of
Christ, as there came this voice from the ex
cellent glory : “this is my beloved sou, hear
ye him”—so did we, at this District Confer
ence, behold these two men—Gamewell and
Boyd assume the appearance of unearthly
beauty and majesty as they stood in the al
ter before our pulpit, after having adminis
tered the element of the Lord’s Supper to
their brethren in the ministry. And not
only did your correspondent observe this
transfiguration ; but it was observed by
many others. Truly it signified, but we
knew it not, that God was about to take
them to himself.
It is a sweet consideration to me that I
have known the.se brethren ; have been in
timately associated with them ; and have felt
that I had their approving smiles on my
course as a member of the body of Christ.
Brother Boyd, 1 knew in my childhood ; and
knew him, as few could know him, in after
years. I had all that knowledge of his pure
and exalted character, which can only be
discovered by the intuition of a kindred in
telligence. The best of men—those of the
finest constructed minds, and most sensi
tive feelings are not always known and ap
preciated by others. I verily believe that
the purest and best specimens of our holy
Christianity have often gone into the grave
knowu by few, in the sense I mean— and with
very few honors. Ido not mean these re
marks as applicable to Bro. Boyd in every
particular—for he was greatly beloved, and
all bis brethren of the South Carolina Con
ference will be ready to do him honor—yet
I do infer that only to his intimate friends
did he reveal himself fully. Our views were
in perfect consonance; our hopes of the
Church the same ; and my knowledge of his
purity, integrity and holiness, induced tlie
conclusion that he would die triumphantly—
His end, how different!—Months of extreme
pain, of unexpressed agonies, impaired that
well-constituted mind, and tinged that spirit
of unwonted cheerfulness, with a sadness
distressing to his friends. In the gloom of
those hours he was sometimes ready to ex
claim with Luther: “I have spent my
strength for naught.”—He felt this in his
heart, but he would not express it—so ha
bituated to silence was he, as regarded his
own feelings and conflicts. He went down
into the grave in sadness, because he saw
not the Church where his ardent and zealous
soul had so long desired to place her. To
his dying eye, misted with the anguish of
suffering—the spouse of the Lord Jesus ap
peared atiil
Wandering in licr weeds of mourning”
surrounded with gloom and darkness and
tempest. His once transporting views of the
glory and success of the Church South were
dimmed with doubt and fear. But what
sweet surprise reanimated his freed sjiirit,
when, in the pure light of eternity, lie be
held the foundations of this Church fixed
and secure on the Hock and her head bathed
iu the sunlight of glory. What joy thrilled
his exultant spirit to discover that “true re
ligion never lmd more admirers than at the
present time.”
Do wo not daily see the verification of
this assertion V Do we not see that affiic
tion and sudden changes of fortune are turn
ing the weary eve of the South from spuri
ous coin, to “men of heart and faith sin
cere?” And while they feel that these are
the only reliable men—the only men who
uuinoved can bear disappointment and mis
fortune—-they admire that principle which
exalts them so : and admiring they long for
possession. So when Christ comes to dis
perse the clouds and scatter the mists which
now surround the Church, He will find a
people prepared for His working. Yea, a
nation now is “ripening for the deed.” “My
people shall be willing iu the day of thy
power”—willing to be converted ; willing to
be made holy,
Iu contrast to the death of Bro. Boyd,
comes up that of the sainted Gamewell. No
doubt of his own salvation, or of the future
glory and conquests of the Church of his
choice, entered to disturb the calm and
peaceful end of the dying veteran. The
same faith that moved him to cry out once
from our pulpit—“ God can carry ou his
work without any of us preachers" —still ani
mates his departing spirit.
Here is mystery :—two ministers equally
holy, zealous and devoted :—and one enters
the gloomy grave in triumph ; while the
other enters —by no means unwillingly—yet,
with a sadness touchingly affecting, and cal
culated to move every sensitive cord of a
sympathetic heart. We cannot solve the
mystery, but we can remember the words of
the pious vicar of Madeley and reflect, that
not all the holy go up ou Pisgah’s top to die,
or ascend to heaven iu the fiery chariot of
Elijah. Few men exhibit in their last hours
the grace, beauty and majesty of our holy
religion, as did Richard Watson—few men
die like Whateoat A. Gamewell. A death-bed
may be the “revealer of the heart,” but it
is not a true criterion for us to judge of the
true status one holds in the heart of God.
Who can doubt, that the sympathetic Christ
looked with the utmost tenderness and pity
upon the dying minister whom tlie Father—
for purposes imknown to us— called to be
crucifwd in remembrance of His Son. “Great
is the mystery of godliness!”—but we are not
staggered—having faith in the revelation
which is to be made hereafter. C.
Letter from Bishop Pierce.
Regular correspondence on a trip like mine
is out of the question. Since my last letter
I have been in constant motion, or closely
engaged with conference business. I left
St. Louis on the 9tli September for Kansas
City. As I took the evening train I could
not see the country, and resigned myself to
rest and sleep. Early next morning I reach
ed my destination, and went home with
Brother Lewis, the stationed preacher.
The man who located Kansas City was a
bold, adventurous spirit. Between the river
and the hills there is a strip of level land.
On this, when I first saw the place—four
teen years ago—there were few houses, and
I thought the place was about finished. Since
tlie war, the former straggling village has
grown into the proportions of a city in spite
of tlie hills and hollows which seemed to
me to defy all expansion. Immense amounts
have been expended, and immense labor per
formed, to lay out streets and make house
building possible. But the work lias been
done, and thirty or forty thousand people
have congregated here ; business is brisk,
real estate high and rising, and the citizens
fully jiersuaded that Kansas City will re
enact the history of St. Louis as to growth
and prosperity. It is to be oue of the great
railroad centers of the West. The physical
difficulties (real impossibilities to the timid)
which have been overcome in the outspread
of this place, illustrate tlie energy, enter
prise and indomitable will of our country
men.
On Sabbath morning I preached to a large
congregation, and in the afternoon went out
four miles to Westport, and preache dat
night. Returning, we encountered a storm
of wind and rain, followed by a day or two
of cold, drizzling weather, and this, with ex
posure and night labor, laid the foundation
of the sickness which came upon me at Cliil
licothe.
Ou Monday I took the ears for St. Joseph,
and preached at night. As my visit was
short and hurried, I did not see much of
that city. We have a good church and a
strong membership, and preacher and peo
ple seem alive to the work of extension. Ou
Tuesday, with a good many brethren, I went
forward to the seat of the Missouri Confer
ence, and found pleasant quarters with Bro.
Waples and family. Conference opened
next morning, and business proceeded with
dispatch. After a long absence, I enjoyed
renewed intercourse with the brethren, and
anticipated yet more, by mingling with them
in the services of the sanctuary. But on
Friday, while presiding, I was taken with a
chill, and was confined to my bed for three
days. lam greatly indebted to Dr. Watts
for his skill and attention. His kindness is
precious to memory. The Lord reward him.
The closing scenes of the Conference have
been reported by others, and I forbear.
I returned to Kansas City as the proper
point of departure for the Indian Mission
Conference. Brother Lewis, always prompt
and kind, met me at the depot, and inform
ed me that the church was full of people
waiting for a sermon. Though scarcely aide
to stand, from fever and fasting, without
supper or an interval of rest, I went into
the pulpit. The labor of preaching was
very exhausting, but the excitement was a
tonic of great advantage. Soon after reach
ing the parsonage, I felt decidedly improv
ed. A night's sound sleep renewed my
strength for a long and toilsome journey.
My good friends sought to dissuade me from
going forward, and seemed to think me im
prudent, if not presumptuous, iu undertak
ing a ride of three hundred and thirty miles,
mostly by stage, and pictured the possibili
ties of the case in very threatening colors.
God willing, I was resolved to go, and go I
did. Save the discomfort of stage travel
ing, and the weariness of constant motion,
I felt no damage. Wc start on the Missouri,
Fort Scott and Galveston railroad, and run
fifty-five miles, and then take stage for Fort
Scott. The travel on this route is wonder
ful—some moving, some prospecting, some
on business. I was put into a stage with
thirteen more, and we were sixteen hours
making fifty-five miles. Not very refreshing
to a sick man.
We arrived at last. Fort Scott is an em
bryo city. The arrival of the cars, it is
thought, will make it bound forward to its
“manifest destiny.” After breakfast, with
one passenger besides myself, and my little
traveling companion and grandson Pierce,
the stage started for Fort Gibson. Room
was a luxury we all enjoyed. The road
was good, the country beautiful, the speed
respectable, and about night we drove up
at Baxter Springs, having traveled sixty
miles. Kansas is one great prairie, diversi
fied at long intervals with narrow strips of
timbers on creeks and branches, and with
the richest soil—capable of immense pro
duction of com and wheat, would be almost
uninhabitable if it were not underlaid with
coal. It is high, rolling, and very pictur
esque. Sometimes on reaching the top of
these great land swells, we have a perfect
horizon round and round, dim and distant,
and yet within the vast area not a shrub or
tree top is visible. It is all a waving, undu
lating surface of grass, flecked with shad
ows, or dazzling with sunshine. The eye
wanders over the scene delighted, and the
lips cry : “Beautiful 1 beautiful 1” There is
a kaleidoscopic variety of outline and com
bination. and yet there is a general same
ness which makes the whole monotonous,
and, at last, you grow weary. The sight of
a tree is a relief. A line of green timber is
gladdening, like meeting a ship on the wide
waste of ocean. Indeed, the whole thing is
like the ocean. Tlie land seems once to
have been liquid, and by some force from
above or beneath, to have heaved, and swell
ed, and tumbled, and, in some great com
motion, to have been suddenly indurated,
and fixed, and as you ride upon the waters,
so here—there is constancy of change, and
uniformity of scene—prairie—prairie—all
prairie. I admire—but I should not like to
dwell here. The cold, and the winds, anil
the snows of winter must be terrible. Asa
home, I should prefer Florida to Kansas.
At Baxter Springs, I struck a tri-weekly
line of stages, and had to lie over two nights
and a day. The delay was bad enough in
itself, but it was rendered more unpleasant
by the abounding wickedness of the people.
I do not think I ever heard as much profani
ty in twenty-four hours in all my life. A
horse-race was on hand, to come off the day
I left. This was the. theme of general con
versation—some betting on the black horse,
and others on the sorrel, and every sentence
mixed with oaths and blasphemies, which
made me shudder. It was mortifying to see
a company of human beings born to die,
and yet immortal, thus excited, and absorb
ed by a quarter race between two saddle hor
ses. I was glad when the time came to
leave. There were but four of us, all told—
the hack was comfortable, and as one rode
out with the driver, we had room enough
within. We met many, during the morn
ing hours, hastening with eager steps to the
race. Alas 1 for society, when prize-fights,
liorse-raeing, ball-playing and boat-matches,
rouse national feeling and pride 1 Iu this
case, civilization has turned her face toward
barbarism. The very competition degrades,
and to rejoice in victory, is to glory in our
shame. A taste for brutal sports will de
moralize the people, and may be considered
the forerunner of national decay.
We soon crossed the line of what is known
as “the natural lands,” and entered the
Cherokee Nation. Prairie still predomin
ates, but timber is more frequent and more
abundant. We dined at one Indian cabin,
and supped at another, and fared very well
at both. Late Saturday night I was at Cabin
Creek forty miles from Fort Gibson, where
I had an appointment to dedicate a church.
The agent and driver promised to carry me
in by 9 a. m. ; but we did not arrive till 4 p.
m. Brother Harrell preached the dedication
sermon in my stead—and I occupied the
pulpit at night. The people seemed so
eager to hear, I lingered over Monday, and
preached both morning and night/ Two
joined the Church at the List service.
Bros. Harrell, Ewing, Gumming, and my
self and grandson, with five Indian preach
ers, set out Tuesday morning for Oekmulgee,
the capital of the Creek Nation. The most
of the company were on horseback. Two
or three of us occupied an ambulance and
carried the commissary stores. We had am
ple supplies, and no small variety. Houses
were few and far between—too small to
lodge us all, and so, at sundown we halted on
the banks of Cane creek—hobbled our hor
ses, kindled a fire, boiled our coffee, drew
forth our various eatables, supped heartily,
talked cheerfully, had family prayer, and lay
down to rest, each according to his notion.
Thus we camped under a large oak, on the
margin of a prairie. It was a very cold
night, and blankets were too scarce to keep
ns all warm. The fire had to be renewed a
time or two. With this exception we rested
well. We took an early breakfast, and were
making ready to start, when we ascertained
that Brother Cumming’s horse was gone.
Here was a dilemma. The old man was
sorely troubled. The Cherokees scattered
in every direction, hunting for the lost ani
mal. As one after another returned without
him, we all grew sad iu sympathy with the
dear old brother. At last—away across the
prairie—we saw one of the Indian preachers
returning with a horse in tow. All was
bright again, and we were soon on our
“winding way.” This delay compelled as
to dine, camp-fashion, on the road once
more. Early in the afternoon we reached
the seat of the Conference, and were assign
ed to rooms in the Council House of the
Creek Nation. This Conference deserves a
separate letter. For the present, adieu.
G- F. Pierce.
PUBLISHED BY J. W. BURKE & CO., FOR THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH.
Macon, Ga., Friday, November 26, 1869.
From the Richmond Christian Advocate.
The Times and the Manners.
To every thoughtful person there is now a
sad discrepancy between the times and the
manners of our people.
On every side much appears to shock the
sensibilities of a Christian. Politically we
have promises made to our ears and broken
to our hopes; socially, we are unsettled,
selfish, and despondent; religiously we are
too fitful, formal and halfhearted in our ser
vices; commercially, we are grazing the
borders of ruin, in a vast number of business
transactions.
This state of affairs, dark enough already,
takes a deeper, darker shade from the wide
spread want threatened by the failure of the
com and other staple crops of the country.
Thousands of laboring people are now
employed only on half time, and while win
ter draws nigh, they are now and then
startled by hints that work will soon be
shorter still. Underlying all this is tlie feel
ing of painful uncertainty iu reference to
the political future of the South; which has
fastened itself like a them iu every heart.
It would hardly seem to be possible for a
people so tom, shocked, humiliated, and
politically racked, as we have been to evince
such a spirit of frivolity, extravagance and
reckless indifference as now appears in ever;;
section of this unhappy land.
But tlie lessons of history are constantly
repeated. It needs not the imagination of
the romancer to depict the unnatural and
shocking revelry that shows itself in the
very midst of poverty, disease, desolation,
and death. Sin often holds high carnival in
the midst of a city whose streets hourly echo
to the rumble of the dead carts, and whose
houses all stand in tlie shadow of death.
Poor humanity would fly from the stem
facts that confront it to the places of gayetv
and pleasure, hiding itself for a little space
from the fatal dart and the inevitable doom.
But this is only’ the stratagem of the foolish
ostrich that fancies itself secure because with
head buried in the sand it does not see its
pursuer.
Nothing can be more certain than that ex
travagance, dissipation, selfishness, pleasure
seeking in all its seductive forms, and the
thousand and one studied arts by which peo
ple thrust away serious thoughts and the yet
more serious facts of their condition, are
utterly at variance with the times now upon
us, and of which we all complain. Theoret
ically we condemn our daily practice. And
iu this appears the huge inconsistency that
brings us under the contempt instead of the
pity of those who look upon us from a dis
tance.
The South, they will say, has no ground of
appeal to our sympathy and our help while
she presents herself as she does. Professing
to mourn the thousands of her slain sons
who lie iu unmarked and unmonumented
fields, whose bleaching bones are turned to
the light by the plow share, or rooted up by
the beasts of the field, her people cast away
their money for a momentary gratification
instead of consecrating it to the adorning of
the graves of their sons and fathers. With
countless numbers of widows and orphans
appealing for bread, for shelter, for clothing,
for education, her people carry the means of
doing so noble a work to the shops of the
distinguished modistes and invest them in
the worse than useless glitter of the party
and the ball room. With the appalling cry
of want coming up from the virtuous anil
suffering poor of the land, the means God
has given us for drying tears and clothing
nakedness, and sheltering the houseless, and
lighting up darkness, and soothing sorrow,
and alleviating pain, and smoothing, if only
a little, the rough way that leads to tlie
grave, are cast down at the shrine of fashion
and forever lost. “Make to yourself friends
of the mammon of unrighteousness,” said
Christ. Make to yourself joy and mirth,
and admiration, and a name among the gay J
worldly throng that fling away care anil
health and life and hope in the eager rush
after the highest point of admiration iii the
festive scene, by means of this mammon
says his modern fashionable follower.
There is now a flippant au.l profane per
version of the precepts of our faith.
And the worst of it is that many who take
part in this work are professing Christians.
Let any serious man glance over the daily
journals. What does he read? In the North
a great daily pays out thousands of dollars
for telegrams that tell of what—a new and
wonderful invention that shall lessen the
painful toil of humanity, or a great scientific
discovery that opens new fields of thought
and activity, the finding of some new coun
try where genial nature pours her richest
fruits at the feet of weary pilgrims, or the
sudden and glorious fulfillment of prophecy
ill the conversion of a nation of sinners in a
day? No—but these thousands are paid out
to announce to the nations that six boys
from Harvard and six boys from Oxford have
had a boat race in England!! O the times
and the manners! We need no resurrected
Roman censor to repeat in sonorous Latin
his satires ou the manners and fashions of
this day.
Was ever the carnival season at Rome ex
ceeded by the fantastic, frivolous, unmean
ing and corrupting exhibitions which have
been gotten up among us within this and
the past season? If the spirits of mischief,
presided over by the arch enemy, had met
hr counsel and planned with diabolical in
genuity the corruption of a people retaining
some repute for morality, to say nothing of
religion, they could not have fallen upon a
more specious and fatal scheme.
With bold, defiant, palpable wickedness
we should be shocked and thrown upon our
guard. Fathers and mothers would take
the alarm and shelter their sons and daugh
ters. But when the sin is covered and eon
concealed with flowers, and painted, and
gemmed, and joined to music, and flaunts
in satin and laces and all the parapharnalia
of the brainless goddess of fashion, and is
brought forth thus well disguised at some
place of fashionable resort, the maelstrom
is set in motion, and while its slowly cir
cling circumference hears along the light
hearted and ingenious youth of both sexes,
who are dreamless of danger, its whirl grows
more swift and strong, until amid the rush
and foam of the vortex they are broken and
swallowed up in utter ruin forever.
We have read with a sickening heart of
excursions that break and dishonor the holy
Sabbath, and the God who ordained it; of
singing feasts, and shooting feasts in which
this blessed day was the great day of the
feast, when drunken infidelity enthroned on
beer kegs, sputtered out its venom against
the faith and found its meed of praise in the
plaudits of its wretched votaries. We have
grown sicker still when we have read approv
ing paragraphs of these disgusting and de
moralizing celebrations in the newspapers of
a Christian land, and conducted by men who
live on the patronage of a people whose faith
is thus outraged and ridiculed by imported
unbelievers.
Superadded to this, we have the mournful
spectacle of wide-spread intemperance among
all classes of society. Let any one go through
the streets of our towns and cities, and
through the rural districts, and mark the
places at which rum is sold by the ten
thousand gallons, or by the quart, and
pint, and gill. The vice and suffering en
gendered at tliose precincts of hell no pen
can describe. The revenue to the general
government from liquor licenses is counted
by hundreds of millions, and the loss to the
material prosperity of the country by the
traffic, can only be estimated by tens of
thousands of millions. The loss of property
is nothing, great as that is, in comparison
■with the loss of honor, of character, of de
cency, of life, of body and soul for time
and eternity. —- 1
We say this horrible evil pervades all
classes, and endangers everybody. It rears
its gorgon head even within the pale of the
Church, and the wicked with sneering laugh
point at the passing church-member as “a
man that drinks.” His breath reveals it in
its sickening whiskey-taint; and more than
this; he has been seen to march boldly up
to the bar and wait till his dram was mixed.
A traffic that sends a hundred thousand vic
tims to prison in this country in one year,
is hell’s grandest instrument in the ruin of
men.
On what principle can those who partici
pate in them, justify the useless and extrav
agant outlay of money in the scenes of dis
sipation that have attracted so many thou
sands to the fashionable watering-places
during the present season?
If this question be sneeringlv spurned by
the utterly worldly throng, we press it on
the consciences of church-members who
were drawn into those wild extravaganzas.
Did they feel that in the dizzy whirl of the
dance at the masked ball, they were doing
God service, and illustrating the excellency
and power of the Gospel of Christ ? Were
there no quakiugs of conscience while the
preparations were going on, and the splen
did array of dresses were passing under
review? Were there no misgivings iu regard
to the throwing away of money for a mo
mentary gratification of the flesh, when
every department of the work of God was
loudly calling for help? While the fine
ladies were arraying themselves in dresses
that cost thousands of dollars—some are re
ported to have cost from ten to thirty thou
sands dollars—did they cast a thought to
ward their poor sisters who were at that
moment illustrating, in pain, and sorrow,
and poverty, Hood’s song of the shirt?
What a terrible controversy God will have
with those who thus cast away the meaus of
spreading the blessed influences of religion
throughout the world.
The time of hilarity will soon pass away,
and in the quietness of home the fashiona
ble Christians (pardon the misnomer) can
estimate the amount of good accomplished
during the season, and the weight of godly
influence they bore with them into the midst
of the giddy worldly throng that crowded
the halls of pleasure.
When the call is made for help for the
Church in her struggle with the powers of
hell, it will not be at hand. Why? It has
been cast down at the shrine of folly and
fashion; and though lost to the cause of
truth and righteousness, it is not lost iu the
history of him or her who has offered it on
the altars of the flesh; but will come again
in the great and solemn future, when each
shall stand in his lot under the eye of the
Judge iu the Anal day.
It is enough to make au angel weep to
look upon the followers of the meek and
lowly Jesus in the midst of the wild wicked
ness that revels iu sin and forgetfulness of
death and eternity.
No warning, however sudden and startling,
can lull the music of the revellers, or still
their flying feet, At the great masked ball
death appeared. Not far from the festive
scene lay a poor child of humanity fainting
under the heavy hand of disease. As the
lights of the ball-room flashed out brighter,
the darkness in his cottage grew deeper.
The evening breeze bore the strains of the
biuul to the bed-side of the dying man, and
mingled them with the death rattle in his
throat. But what of this—death is nothing
—mi with the dance! And on the throng
moves wilder and faster, and the death
darkened cottage and the blazing ball-room
make the true contrast of life.
How can this corruption of manners bo
arrested? Only bv the earnest and faithful
preaching of the Word by the ministers of
Christ, iunl holy living ou the part of God’s
people. Let us betake ourselves to self
examination and prayer. Let us seek for a
great revival of religion in the Church. We
must not lower the claims of Christianity.
If men will not live up to the rules of the
Bible, they must go out into the world.
The Church must be purged and purified.
The more earnest and godly Christians must
come to the Mercy-seat with devout appeals
to God for mercy upon a thoughtless and
backslidden people.
We call upon all good men and women to
awake and look about them; to consider the
times and manners, and to pray and work
for a great and thorough revival of religion.
May God turn a pure language upon us, and
save us from the follies and sins that threaten
our overthrow and ruin.
Memphis Conference Appoint
ments.
The thirtieth session of the Memphis Con
tVviajue- Bishop Kavanangh, presiding, in
good health aud spirits— was held Nov. 3
10, in Holly Springs, Miss. The atten
dance of members, lay and clerical, was very
large—and the display of interest in our be
loved Methodism was witnessed not only
her eiu, but in the proceedings generally- —•
at once arousing gratitude, and inspiring
hope. The following are the appointments :
Memphis District. —John Moss, P E;
Memphis : Second Street church, E C S'a
ter; Central church, W M Patterson; Her
nando Street church, L D Mullins; Saffarans
Street and Greenwood, A H Thomas; J T
Baskorvill, supernumerary; Springdale and
Bethel st, D R S Kosebrough; Raleigh,
James Perry; Germantown, Thus Joyner,
Joseph J Brooks; Marshall, Thos L Beard;
Bylialia and New Salem st, M H Ford; By
halia ct, James M Beard; Olive Branch, T
P Holman; Book and Tract Society, Sam’l
Watson, Agent; Memphis and Arkansas
Christian Advocate, W C Johnson; State
Female College, Charles Collins, President;
Bylialia Female Institute, I’ J Eckles, Presi
dent.
Someiivllle District.— T L Boswell, P E;
Somerville st, W D F Halford; Newcastle,
A Davis; Boliviar st, S B Suratt; Middle
burg, .T G Acton ; N A 1) Brvant, sup; Ma
con, W M McFerrin, G B Baskervill; Em
bury, A G Smith, J D Slaughter; Mt Zion,
-I II Garrett; Covington st, W T Melugin;
Tabernacle, M II Cullom; R A Umstead,
sup; Wesley, A R Wilson; Dancyville, M D
Fly; RY Taylor, sup; Somerville Female
Institute, W T Plummer, President.
Jackson District. —-W H Leigh, PE;
Jackson st, J H Evans; East Jackson st and
Sunday-school Agency, J T C Collins; L
Lea, sup; Jackson ct, W B Seward, B F
Blackmon; Humboldt and Milan st, W T
Bolling; Brownsville st, G Jones; Denmark,
to be supplied by Jas A Heard; S A Mason;
Big Spring, G K Brooks; P J Kelsey, sup;
Medon, R G Rainey; Rock Spring, J G Glas
gow; Purdy, GW Bachman; Memphis Con
ference Female Institute, A W Jones, Presi
dent, andß A Hayes, Agent; Superintendent
of the Work among the Colored People,
Thomas Taylor.
Trenton District.— G W D Harris, P E;
Trenton st, 8 W Moore; Trenton ct, M M
Taylor; N Sullivan, suu; Cageville, J B Mc-
Cutchen, BM Burrow; Ripley and Mt Pleas
ant st, J M Scott; Brownsville ct; C J Maul
din, J S Renshaw; Dyersburg and Union st,
H B Avery; W J Mahon, sup; Dyersburg
ct, John Randle; Kenton, N P Ramsey;
Gibson, R S Harris; G B Allen, sup; An
drew College, S W Moore, President.
Dresden District.— Fßynum, PE; Dres
den st, Edgar Orgain; Dresden ct, to be
supplied by J M Spence; H B Covington,
sup; Hickman st, J P McCall; Hickman ct,
JMFlatt; T BAttebnry, sup; Madrid Bend,
J G H Wilson; Troy, to be supplied by E D
Baker; M D Robinson, sup; Union City aud
Troy st. J E Beck; W H Frost, sup; Rich
land. -T Y Fly; S Weaver, sup; Boydsville,
D C McCntehen; McKenzie, W R Gardner;
.T C Crews, sup; Murray, W T C Young.
Paducah District.— A B Fly, PE; Padu
cah st, W T Harris; Paducli ct; W W Faw
cett; B H Bishop, sup: Bland ville mis, H
R Caldwell; Columbus st, S It Brewer; Clin
ton, F A Wilkerson; Palestine, J G Pirtle;
A L Hunsaker, sup; Mayfield st, It H Ma
hon; Benton, T R Luter; B B Risenlioover,
sup; Wadesboro, to be supplied by D W
Padgett ; Birmingham, J L Futrell;'Briens
bnrg, R R Nelson.
Paris District. —J H Witt, P E; Paris st,
A L Pritchett; Paris ct, WB Quinn; D M
K Collins, sup; Conyers ville, B F Peeples;
Huntingdon, Benj Peeples; Trezevant, Jlt
Sykes; Hickory Ridge mis, to be supplied
by W Cliriateuberry; Morgan’s Creek, T 0
Ellis; Lexington, It S Swift; Decaturville,
to be supplied by WD Stayton; New Salem,
W A Cook.
Holly Sprinos District.— J H Brooks,
P E; Holly Springs st, EE Hamilton; Holly
Springs ct, Elias Jackson; Early Grove, J
K Morris; Lamar, Iraß Hicks; Salem, SB
Carson; Tippah mis, to be supplied by A
Freeman; Ripley, J W Luter; Hickory Flat,
S W Miller; Coronersville, T G Freeman;
Lafayette. Springs, B H Bounds; John L
Yancy, sup; Oxford ct, B B Brown; A A
Houston, snp.
Hernando District.— A J See, PE; Her
nando st, E B Plummer; Hernando ct; T P
Davidson; Harmony, T P Ramsey; Sardis,
Warner Moore; Senatobin, A P Sage; Cock
rum, L H Davis; Chnlahoma, R A Neblett;
Tyro, H C Moreliead.
luka District.— P Tuggle, P E; luka st;
It L Harper; Jos Johnson, sup; luka ct; W
J Reeves; Burnsville, to lie supplied by John
McElhannon; Corinth st, JW Honnoil; Cor
inth ct, J N Reeves; Rienzi, and Booneville
st, John Bareroft; W E Ellis, sup; Kossuth,
A M Barrington, D L Cogdell; M L Martin,
snp; Marietta, H H Thacker; J B Price,
sup; Lagrange aud Middleton st, J A Fite;
D C Wells, sup; Jonesboro, K Adams; luka
Female Institute, J E Douglass, President.
Aberdeen District. —A C Allen, P E; Ab
erdeen st, Isaac Ebbert; West Point st, J
P Dancer, Vinton, T F Brewer; J WPeavy,
snp; Okolona and Verona st, to be supplied
by David Sullius; Okolona ct, M M Dunn;
Rufus Yancy, sup; Richmond, to be supplied
by S Mayfield; Fulton, to be supplied by S
D Worsham; Baldwyn, E J Williams; W W
Pearson, sup; Saltillo, 1> W Stubbs; Lee,
R G Porter; W L Kistler, sup; Pontotoc st;
J C Lowe; Pontotoc ct, T J Lowry; Hous
ton, to be supplied by W A Langley;
Chickasaw, W C Green.
Water Valley District. —F S Petway, P
E; Water Valley st, W S Harrison; Water
Valley ct, J W Poston; Panola, Wm Shep
herd; Coffeeville, J M Hampton; Charles
ton, F C Pearson; Grenada and Coffeeville
st, J W Boswell; Grenada ct, J F Markham;
Calhoun, R A Roach; Oxford st, Amos Ken
dall; University of Mississippi, J J Wheat,
Professor.
Sunflower District. —JW Knott, P E;
Sunflower, L M Nichol; Friars Point st, J
R Peeples; Concordia and Beulah, J F Trus
low; Austin and Commerce, J F Armstrong;
F A Owen, sup; Magnolia, to bo supplied by
D O Hughes.
Transferred. —Lsham L Burrow, to Arkan
sas Conference, and appointed to Lewisburg
station; John W Walkup, to Arkansas Con
ference, and appointed to Wittslmrg ct; Al
fred T Mann, to North Georgia Conference;
Henry B Frazee, Little Rock Conference;
W F Mister, to St. Louis Conference.
Sunerann nates. —W D Scott, J M Major,
Elias Tidwell, Jeremiah Moss, Charles B
Harris, Hudson D Howell, Michael J Black
well, Robt H Burns, Clement C Glover,
John Young, Thos J Neely, Robt Martin,
William McMahon, James W Mathis, Henry
Bell, W S Jones.
Located. —Bryant Medlin and Elhridge L
Fisher.
Religious Jltiscfllann.
Tlie Evangelical Alliance.
Extraordinary Meetings—Return of Dr. Selmfl—
European Divines, Scholars and Statesmen, Com
ing over—Council of 1870—Money Subscribed.
The Reformed Dutch Church was crowded,
November 4tli, with clergymen, and laymen,
and ladies, to hear the report of Dr. Seliaff,
and to consider the question of assembling
the Evangelical Alliances of the World in
New York in the Autumn of 1870.
Hon. Wm. E. Dodge, President of the
American Branch of the Alliance, occupied
the chair, and introduced Dr. Scliaff.
Dr. Scliaff thou gave a deeply interesting
account of the reception he had met in
Europe. In Groat Britain, at the annual
meeting of the British Council of the Evan
gelical Alliance in London; at the meeting
of the Congregational Union of England
and Wales; and at the General Assemblies of
the Free and the Established Churches of
Scotland; he met with a unanimous re
sponse to his invitation. In Loudon a pro
gramme of topics was arranged embracing
the leading religious questions of the age,
such as Christian unity aud co-operation,
Christianity and its antagonists, Protestant
ism and Romanism, Christianity and civil
government, Christianauity and the Press,
Christian life, Foreign and Domestic Mis
sions, Christianity and social evils; also,
reports on the state of Protestant Christen
dom by the delegates. The programme is
now submitted to tlie New York Committee
for their final revision. Dr. Scliaff hadqier
sonal interviews with tlie Archbishops Can
terbury, York and
Deans, Canons, and Processors; members of
Parliament and noblemen; with most of the
prominent Presbyters of Scotland; the Oon
gregationnlists, the Wesleyans and the Bap
tists; and from most of these gentlemen re
ceived cordial sympathy with the objects of
the proposed Conference. The Archbishop
of Canterbury said that lie would not like to
commit himself at once on the question, hut
would be very happy to correspond with him
on the subject, and introduced him to Doan
Alford. The Dean of Canterbury, with
whom he spent some delightful days, prom
ised to prepare a paper, and, from the posi
tion of the Church of England, is to extend
the hand of brotherhood to all evangelical
denominations. The following prominent
clergymen promised to he present: Tlie
Rev. Dr. Reynolds; Rev. Dr. Mullins. Sec
retary of the London Missionary Society;
Rev. Newman Hall; Rev. Dr. Allen; Rev.
Dr. Stoughton; Rev. Dr. Harrison; Rev.
Dr. Dale, and Rev. Dr. Alexander, of Edin
burgh. Rev. Mr. Spurgeon declined at
first for personal reasons to attend, but Dr.
Scliaff has learned since that he is very will
ing to come. At Paris the French Branch
of the Alliance cordially accepted the Amer
ican invitation, Rev. Mr. Bersier Grand
pierre, Pressense, and other eminent min
isters, promising to come. In Holland,
Cohen Stuart and the famous Van Oozterze
made the same promise. The Prussian
Minister of Public Instruction willingly
granted leave of absence to all professors in
the Universities who should desire to go.
Dr. Scliaff mot, at Bonn, Drs. Kraft and
Lange; at Berlin, Hoffman, who has in the
Prussian Church an influence equal to that
of tlie Archbishop of Canterbury in the An
glican communion, and Prof. Dorner; at
Halle, Dr. Tholuck; at Leipsic, Tiscliendorf;
at Delitzen, Erlangen, Herzog and Ebrard;
at Stuttgardt, the assembled representatives
of evangelical Germany at the Church Diet;
and, in Switzerland, Dr. Merle D’Anbigne
and Count Gasparin, beside many others, at
all these places, whom he named, with many
more whom he did not mention. He met
with no rebuff. All became enthusiastic,
many promising to come. There is good
reason to hope that England will be repre
sented by many of the most eminent men
in the Established Church and all other
churches.
From Germany, besides Dr. Hoffman, we
may expect to see, next fall, Dr. Tholuck,
who, despite his seventy years, is full of
freshness and life; Dr. Dorner, Dr. Kraft,
Emil Krummacher, Dr. Faber, Prof. Mess
ner, Count Bernstorf, Dr. Konig and others.
From Switzerland we hope to have Dr.
Godet, Prof. Astie, Prof. Pronier, the Rev.
Mr. Coulin, Dr. Van Der Golz and Dr. Ste
helin; from Spain the Rev. Antonio Carracio,
and from Italy Prof. Revell. Finally, Dr.
Wichem, of Hamburg, the greatest Christian
philanthropist of the age, expressed to Dr.
Scliaff his intention of coming.
At the close of Dr. Scliaff’s report, Rev.
Dr. N. H. Sehenck, rector of St. Ann’s Epis
copal church, Brooklyn, offered the follow
ing resolutions:
Resolved, That wo have listened with feel
ings of lively interest and grateful satisfac
tion to the report of Rev. Dr. Scliaff, and
while gladly welcoming home the distin
guished representative of the American
Branch of the Evangelical Alliance, beg to
exchange with him our warm congratula
tions upon the successful issue of his mission,
and thank him for the important and efficient
service he lias rendered.
Resolved, That as we heartily approve, so
we are prepared to second, with Christian
zeal, the steps which have been taken in fur
therance of our cherished purpose, anil, as
we believe, the general desire to hold a Con
ference of tlie Evangelical Alliance in the
United States; and, therefore, be it further
Resolved, That we hereby extend a whole
hearted American invitation and welcome to
the several branches of the Evangelical Alli
ance in the various parts of Christendom, to
meet in general Conference in the city of
New York, at a date hereafter to be agreed
upon, during the autumn of the year 1870.
Resolved, That we are eminently gratified
to learn, by the report of Rev. Dr. Scliaff',
that the preliminary invitation of the Amer
ican Branch, conveyed through him to our
brethren in Europe, lias been so kindly re
ceived that we have already good reason to
expect the attendance of a number of dis
tinguished delegates, and that we have
pleasing encouragement to anticipate a large
representation from Great Britain and the
continent.
Resolved, That in offering to our brethren
abroad the hospitalities of New York, we
propose, under God, more than open doors
and hearts full of welcome, looking forward,
as wc do, to sncli communion in Christ anil i
such “sweet counsel together” touching the I
interests of His Kingdom as shall bring I
down upon our Churches and the world we
seek to evangelize, a fresh baptism of bless
ing, aud help us all who now labor in Chris
tian unity and spiritual fellowship, to the
achievement, through Christ, of a heavenly
fellowship when labor shall cease and love
be enthroned forever.
Dr. Sehenck supported each one of these
resolutions in a speech of remarkable beauty
and power; recounting the scenes of the
groat Conference at Amsterdam, and antici
pating the reunion in New York as a fore
taste of the glorious assembly of the saints
of the Most High, from all nations and
names, in the kingdom of heaven.
Rev. Dr. Prime, the Corresponding Sec
retary, said that these resolutions are not to
be adopted by merely saying aye. But the
vote is to be taken by ballot, and the cards
on which the votes are to bo written are in
the pews, aud tlie amount of the subscrip
tion you make will determine whether or
not this great Conference of the World’s
Evangelical Alliance can be held. All these
invitations spoken of by Dr. Scliaff are i>rovis
ional, depending on our raising the money
to defray the expenses. We must have lit
least $20,000, and probably more; and wo
must have it subscribed now.
A collection was then made. The Presi
dent, Mr. Dodge, gave 82,000 toward 820,-
000. Dr. Hall said his church would cheer
fully give a tenth, or 82,000. Dr. Adams
said his people would give whatever was
needed. Dr. Crosby pledged 8500; Dr.
Sehenck, 8500. Dr. Nathan Bishop gave
8500 for himself. Jonathan Sturgis, 8200;
H. K. Corning, 8500. Dr. DeWitt said that
he would take all the delegates from Hol
land, and see that they were provided for.
President MeCosh, of Princeton College,
said: The most remarkable doctrine estab
lished in onr day in physical science and
doctrine, singularly illustrative of the power
and wisdom of God, is what has been char
acteristically designated the correlation of
physical forces. According to that sublime
doctrine, there is just one force operating
throughout the whole universe, but various
ly modified in different circumstances. It
is the same powor that moves and breathes,
burns in the fire, shines iu the light, gives
ns all tlie mechanical power that sets our
machinery going, that is in our very animal
life, and enables us to live. That is a doc
trine established in onr day, and this power
is a power derived almost exclusively from
the sun, coining from the sun to onr earth,
entering into the plants of our earth, going
into everything, diffusing itself over the
whole of nature. Now, I think this is a
magnificent illustration of the work of the
Spirit of God in the Church and in the in
dividual Christian. It is said iu the Scrip
tures that there is one Spirit, but there is a
diversity of gifts. It is the one Spirit
tlirougliout the universal Church that has
called men out of sin anil misery, and
brought them into a state of salvation by a
Redeemer, and who lias united them to
God through Christ. This manifests itself
in a variety of forms, and as we have a di
versity iu nature, so it is in the Church of
God, where we have such a diversity of gifts.
One man has a sanctified knowledge; an
other Inis wisdom in devising means for the
promotion of God’s grace; another has great
another has great zeal; love. As it is in
individuals, just so it is iu Churches. Oue
Church is distinguished for onegift. Some
Churches have been greatly distinguished
for the zeal with which they have defended
the glorious doctrines of the Word of God;
others have been remarkable for liberality;
others for keeping up a proper sort of
fellowship among the members of the
Church, one with another. While there
are these diversities of gifts in the Church,
still they are all one. I believe in the holy
Catholic Church. I believe that the Roman
Church is perverted, that they have turned
it into a doctrine that lias opened tlie way
more than any other for the perversion of
the true unity of the Church of God. The
object of the Alliance is not to constitute
Cliristian unity, but to manifest that pure
and Christ-like sentiment as it actually exists
in the evangelical Churches of Christendom.
These Churches have been active and vigo
rous —as they ought to have been—-in ex
tending ain’t multiplying themselves; but
there was another kind of activity equally
necessary in which they had been deficient,
viz: Iu cultivating brotherly love and sym
pathy with one another. Tlie Alliance,
however, sought to do more than nourish a
sentiment. It aimed to erect a standard and
under it unite all the followers of Christ
against the dominant materialism of the age,
against the enemies of the Sabbath, and
against the Church of Rome, specially in
the efforts she is now so vigorously making in
the Old World and the New to overthrow
the educational institutions of Protestant
countries. Dr. MeCosh also thought that
the snstontation of the Gospel ministry was
a subject which should lie discussed by tlie
Conference with a view to devising some
method to wipe away what was the crying
reproach of the Church, especially of tliose
maintaining themselves without aid from
the State—viz. the insufficient support of
the clergy.
Itev. Dr. J. P. Thompson, of the Broad
way Tabernacle, then said a few timely
words with reference to Father Hyaeinthe
and his “protest againt the doctrines which
are Roman and not Cliristian.” If the
coming Council at Rome refused to do him
justice, lie had appealed to “God and" men
to call another truly united in the Holy
Spirit, not in the spirit of party, and repre
senting really the Universal Church, not the
silence of some men and the oppression of
others.” What Council could better answer
this description than the approaching Con
ference of the Evangelical Alliance in this
city. Dr. Thompson, speaking of the. “un
doubted sincerity” of Father Hyaeinthe,
mentioned having received from Mr. Pres
sense and Theodore Monod, names eminent
among the French Protestant clergy, letters
iu which they speak iu warm praise and
commendation of the noble Christian monk
who has lately come to our shores.
Rev. L. W. Bacon, at Brooklyn, then read
a letter from Father Hyaeinthe which he
had lately written as a preface to the En
glish translation of a volume of his sermons,
which Mr. Bacon is preparing :
“I am grateful as well as surprised at the
honor which yon are disposed to give to the
few discourses I have published in Europe.
I should have been glad I acknowledge, if I
had been able to bring to America some
thing less unworthy of the sympathies with
which I have here been welcomed and which
I shall always reckon among the greatest
honors and the purest joys of my life. Such
as theso are, however, t commit these rough
productions to the intelligence of your read
ers. Frenchman and Catholic as I am, I
present them, through your hands, to that
great American Republic of which you are a
citizen, and to those numerous and flourish
ing Protestant Churches of which you are
one of the ministers. I am proud of my
France, but I deem it one of its most solid
glories to have contributed to the independ
ence of tliat noble country which it has
never ceased to love, and which it shall one
day learn to imitate, a people for whom lib
erty is something more than a barren theory
or bloody practice ! —with whom the cause
of labor has never been confounded with
that of revolution; which rears its houses
of payer next to its houses of commerce,
and crowns its noisy and productive week
with the sweetness and majesty of its Sab
bath. I continue faithful to my Church and
faith, but I have protested ngainst the ex
cesses which have dishonored it, and which
socni bent upon its ruin. You may measure
the intensity of my love to-ilav by the bit
terness of my lamentation. When He who
is in all things our Master, onr Example,
armed himself with a scourge of cords
against the profaners of the Temple, His
disciples remembered that it was written,
‘The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. ’
lam still faithful to my Church. lam none
the less sensible of the interest which must
bo felt in the bosom of other churches in
wliat I luay say or do within the pale of
Catholicism. For that matter, I have never
deemed that tlie Christian Communions that
have been separated from Rome have been
disinherited of the Holy Ghost, and are
without a part in the infinite work of the
preparation for the Kingdom of God.
“In my relations with some of the most
pious and most learned of their members, I
have experienced in the very depths of my
soul, that unutterable blessing of the com
munion of saints. Whatever may divide us
externally in space or in time, vanishes like a
dream in the prqsence of that whioh unites
E. H. MYERS, D. D., EDITOR
Whole Number 1779
us within—the grace of the same God, the
blood of the same cross, the hopes of the
same Trinity. Whatever be our prejudices,
yet under the eye of God who seeth every
hidden thing, who gives His hand which is
leading us, we are laboring all in common
for the upbuilding of that Church of the
future which shall be the Church of the past
in its purity and its original beauty. In
the days of his captivity the word of the
Lord came to Ezekiel and said to him, “Take
a stick aud write thereon, For Judah aud
for the children of Israel, his companions;
and take another stick and write thereon;
For Joseph ; the stick of Ephraim and for
all the house of Israel, his companions.
Then thou slialt join them one to tlie other,
and they shall form lint one stick, and they
shall bo one iu thy hand. ’
“To me, likewise, whom am the least of
Christians, in those spiritual visions which
are ever vouchsafed to longing souks, the
Lord hath spoken. He has placed in my
hand these two sundered and withered bran
ches—Rome and the children of Israel who
follow her; the Churches of the Reforma
tion and the nations that are with them. I
have pressed them together on my heart,
and under the outpouring of my tears aud
prayers I have so joined them that hence
forth they might make but one tree. But
men have laughed to scorn my effort, seem
ingly so mnd, and hav e asked of me, as of
that ancient seer, ‘Wilt thou not show us
what thou meanest by these things ?’ And
while I gaze upon that trunk so bare and
mutilated, even now I seem to see the bril
liant blossom and the savory fruit.
“ ‘One God, one faith, one baptism.’
“ ‘And there shall be one ffock and one
Shepherd.’ “Br. Hvacintre.”
Highland Falls, AU Saints’ Day, Nov. S, ’O9.
—A”, i. Obscvver.
» i ♦ll
Death of Rev. Ileiuan Hangs.
This venerated father in the Gospel, so
long and favorably known in connection
with the New York Conference until its last
division, and subsequently with the New
York East Conference, died at his residence
in New Haven, Conn., on the 2d instant,
aged eighty years.
He was born iu Fairfield, Gunn., April 15,
1789. While yet a child he removed with
his parents aud their whole family to Dela
ware county, N. Y. He was converted to
God and became a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church at the ago of eighteen, or,
as he would state the ease, lie was then re
claimed, for he insisted that lie was first con
verted at ten years old. Being zealous in
the service of God, and somewhat gifted in
his public exercises, he was licensed to ex
hort, and afterward to preach as a Local
Preacher. He soon became impressed with
a conviction that God was calling him, by
the Holy Ghost, to the work of the ministry,
to which, however, lie felt a strong repug
nance, and would yield to it only under the
strongest convictions. To block up his own
way in that direction he married, thinking
that he would not be accepted with a family,
and also engaged successfully in business.
But the voice of the Spirit still called after
him until, he became satisfied that it was his
solemn aud imperative duty to become an
itinerant minister; and encouraged by his
brethren, and urged to his duty by his faith
ful companion, lie entered tlie New York
Conference in 1815. He remained in the
active work of the ministry fifty-four con
secutive years, retiring only last spring. Os
these years thirty-three were devoted to the
regular pastoral work; during eighteen years
he filled the office of Presiding Elder,’ and
for three years he served as Financial Agent
of the Wesleyan University.
Hcman Bangs was, as a man and a minis
ter, much above the average of his fellows.
His preaching was able and edifying, and al
ways marked with the signs of his own in
dividuality. It was plain, practical, and
eminently evangelical. He handled the great
foundation tiutlis of the Gospel with great
force and an admirable skill, and his labors
demonstrated their efficiency in tlie fruits
that followed. Asa pastor lio was kind, ac
cessible, aud fatherly, ready to listen to all,
whether old or young, sympathizing with
the sorrowing and instructing the doubting;
and as necessity required, reproving the er
ring. Learned he was not, in the technical
sense of that word, yet lie was more than a
man of strong natural sense. He made the
English Bible his life study, and became
truly mighty in tlie Scriptures, systematical
ly and practically learned in theology, as
well as skillful to divide the word of truth.
His acquaintance with men was extensive,
and he thus became an able judge of human
nature; and as a man of keen observation,
he gathered valuable information from all
liis varied surroundings.
Ho was a man of deep and strong convic
tions, and altogether too loyal to them to al
low them to ho inoperative in his life and ac
tions, mid accordingly he was sometimes
thought to be self-willed and unpersuadable.
He was a warm aud fast friend toward those
who commanded his confidence, and on the
opposite side liis dislikes were positive,
though we cannot say they were designedly
unjust. He was an early and a persistent
friend of the cause of Temperance; he took
an active part in the initial movements of the
Church in the cause of education; he aided
iu the formation of the Missionary Society,
and in his pastoral labors lie received into
the Church nearly ten thousand members.
Xiis religious experience, \v lien it became
evident that death was near at hand, was
eminently in character. In August last he
made a visit to his relatives in Michigan,
returning about a month before his decease.
Soon after he found that his strength was
failing, when, talcing an opportunity, ho
said to liis two daughters: “Be prepared for
a change. The Lord may be about to take
me. I think lam failing. lam not anxious
either way. It will do no harm to be ready."
He thou gave directions respecting his
funeral; named the pall bearers (all laymen,)
and some of the ministers whom ho wished
to officiate, adding the solemn injunction:
“Don’t eulogize me, but glorify Christ
During his sickness his mind was very clear,
and his faith never clouded. He exclaimed
at one time, lam saved—not shall be ; lam
saved note.” When his sufferings were re
ferred to he answered, “It is all right; this
tabernacle must be dissolved. ” To his Pas
tor, Rev. W. F. Watkins, who had asked af
ter the state of his mind, he said: “It
triumphs; God lives in me, and I in God, and
soon I shall live with him. * * * So un
worthy am I; but the blood, the atoning
blood —that meets my case. I have done
nothing. Tlie Lord has used me.”
His funeral took place on the 4tn instant,
at New Haven, and was attened by a large
concourse of ministers and laymen, and of
the citizens of New Haven, by whom he was
well known and respected. Rev. Dr. Bacon,
of the Congregational Church, Rev. Dr.
Roche, Rev. C. Fletcher, Rev. W. F. Wat
kins, Rev. J. B. Merwin, of the Now York
East Conference, and Rev. Dr. Hatfield, of
the Rock River Conference, conducted the
opening services. Bishop Janes delivered
an appropriate and deeply interesting me
morial address, abounding in reminisoenoes
of the deceased, and recognizing his useful
ministry. The remains of our departed
brother were laid to rest by the side of those
of his deceased companion and children. A
sorrowing but mightily comforted Church
blesses his memory.
Servant of God, vxil done:
Kisst froui thy loved employ.
Lay Delegates. —Bishop McTyeire has
handed ns the following decisions in regard
to lay delegates : “The lay members of an
Annual Conference arc entitled to be record
ed on its Journal, as such, whether they are
present or absent; as is the ease with minis
terial members. And, in the absence of
their alternates, they are to be reckoned in
the basis of constituency for representatives
to the General Conference. Where there
are less than four lay delegates from an An
nual Conference, a local preacher cannot be
a memlmr of the delegation. The lay dele
gates to the General Conference need not
lie members of the Annual Conference. It is
only required by law that they be members of
the' Church within the bounds of the Con
ference, and fulfill the qualifications required
in the Discipline. (College of Bishops,
186!).”) —Nashtitle Christian Advocate.
1 -X
St. Bernard calls holy .fear the door keep
er of the soul. Asa nobleman’s porter
stands at the door and keeps out vagrants,
so the fear of God stands and keeps all sin
ful temptation from entering.