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THREE DOLLARS PER ANNUM,
VOL. XXXIV. NO. 13.
Contributions.
Post-Bellum Errors—o. 111
BV HERBERT FIELDER.
The questions ire have been considering,
of race, people, industrial pursuits, produc
tion, material progress and deterioration,
are in no small degree at present, and to a
very largo extent in the future, connected
with the success of the church, and the
spread of Christ's kingdom. Whatever may
be the instances of individual piety and de
votion under privation and trial, we cannot
conceal from onr senses the truth, that even
the conservatism, as well as the progress of
the church, the integrity of organization,
the preservation of church property, the
maintainance of a free, enlightened ministry
and a pure literature, foreign and domestic
means ol' propagation—in fact all the work
.ng force and machinery depend on financial,
material, social, and political freedom and
independence—that with decline in property
and material resources will come social and
political bondage, ignorance, depravity, dis
integration, and, to a large extent, the de
cay of sacred altars, and expulsion of the re
ligion of our fathers, and the installation of
new and strange deities to accord with the
new condition of things, and the imagination
and temper of a fallen people.
Regeneration and faith in Christ, and the
supremacy of His kingdom over the indi
vidual heart, are the ground work and only
basis of personal salvation. The whole
church is composed of individuals -and in
that sense the religion of the country con
sists iu the piety of its members- as Hie
power of an invincible army is iu the indi
vidual prowess and skill oi' the soldiers. Rut
without discipline and organized govern rnent,
without money, transportation, ordinance
and commissariat, individual gallantry would
utterly fail to carry the banner in triumph
against, a formidable foe. So when the
church, its organization, and machinery,
are aggregated, thefieldof operation mapped
out, the material upon which, through ages
to come, the glory of Clod is to be manifest
iu reclaiming and saving from perdition,
and the wavs and means are all calmly con
sidered, we are brought to the common sense
conclusion, that the Southern Christian
Church, in no small degree, stands upon the
basis of material prosperity, and consequent
growth in knowledge, stability of character,
and public virtue. The church, with her
pious, and cultivated ministry—bound by
no social, political or monetary shackles,
guided alone by the eternal Truth of God
with her chaste and spiritual literature, must
be the chief ornament as well as the ruling
channel of public thought and sentiment of
this country ; or, sinking beneath a load of
poverty and consequent ignorance, imbecil
ity and depravity, become the slave, as well
as the channel and patron of its corruptions,
vices and crimes—dishonoring alive to God
and the civilization of the people.
No inconsiderable portion of oui true
wealth, our investment for future power and
glory, is in the education, the mind and ir
repressible will, ami freedom of thought
and conscience, of those whose places and
.A*.vf»'o , itsg.',o .t'om. fho poweri to moUd pub
lic opinion and to give organized shape and
successful execution to public will and policy.
That this country can long prosper and be
happy in any relation or department ol life,
after the general decline of vital piety, is a
vain thought. That true piety shall long
prevail under a general policy that does not
honor its Author, is equally fallacious. And
to honor God by a system that tends to de
grade His ministers, is a proposition too ab
surd to call for a reply.
Money or labor and care, bestowed in
charity, is as inspiring to a good man, as the
iiope of temporal reward is to the worldly
minded. Bat the good man must have, be
fore he can give ; he must command some
leisure and exemption from the cares and
duties he owes to himself and his own house
hold, before he can bestow time and labor
m pure acts of charity, and give to liis heav
enly commission, the labors of his head and
heart. The court advocate who appears
upon the side of indigence to vindicate jus
tice or plead for mercy, can afford to be logi
cal, eloquent and persuasive; because he
has clients who furnish his temporal sup
port, and he is therefore not anxious about
either raiment or shelter for his own wife
and children. But he always appears with
the disadvantage of suppressed energies and
chained spirits, when it is for a man who is
fully able to pay for the labor and skill, and
who is either too mean or stingy to do so.
It is easier to witness, than it would be to
pass through, the trials of a devoted minister,
who is confronted every Sabbath, by an au
dience who fare most sumptuously at home,
and who appear in their pews with the latest
beaver and broadcloth, and every grace the
tailor can impart, or with the very latest of
Godey and Leslie without room upon the
outlines of drapery to pin another furbelow
or flare another feather, all gay and festive,
as if, instead of humble eoufession and de
vout prayer, instead of doves and pigeons,
of he goats and bullocks, they were now re
quired to pluck the plumage of tropical
birds, and gather ribbons of rarest hue and
most fantastic tie, and to exhibit before the
sacred altars the styles of Broadway and the
Boulevard—and who have unblushiugly an
swered the calls of the stewards the last
month, and will do so the next, that they
are too poor and hard pressed—have too
many and pressing money engagements, to
spare more for the support of the gospel.
"T hey pay merchants, doctors, lawyers, la
borers, servants, bo#t blacks and chamber
maids—they pray for equipage, travel, luxu
ry—for stimulants, narcotics, and cosmetics,
■and plead poverty, when the just claims are
•presented of the man who devotes his life
under the command of God, for the public
morals and amelioration of the race -and
studies to show them the way of life, and
who, if he did no higher service, than to
open every Sabbath, a grand show-case in
which to display their fashions, would, as
between him and them, be entitled to better
pay-
The devoted pastor who stands in the hour
of distress by the bedside or over the grave
of the destitute and unfortunate of earth,
can justly look beyond, for the reward of
the good. But, made of flesh and blood as
he is and as his wife and children are, how
can he repress the indignation that must
constantly invade his sensibilities, and lure
his heart from the sacred duties of the cleri
cal office—in consequence of the daily evi
dence flaunted in his face, by an appetite en
slaved, and fashion-ridden congregation,
that his scant meals and precarious comforts
are made so, under pretenses from those to
whom his time and talents are devoted that
are false in fact and shamefully deceptive ?
How can he, with constant anxiety pressing
down his spirits, as to the continuance of
the meagre support he has, and the total
absence of hope for better, denounce to
jjmttfcecw Christian lUtacate.
those on whom he depends, their vices and
derelictions of duty ? The preachers of the
present day need no adulations for the faith
ful manner in which they are fulfilling their
calling under trials, which gives strong evi
dence of the divinity of their commission.
But the logical sequence mud ultimately be,
in tbe next generation il not in this, a down -
'cast and consequently depraved and fawn
ing clergy—confederating with sin—tolling
crime itself in order to obtain a richly tem
poral existence. True, a pampered clergy,
might, from opposite causes, tall into evils
of equal magnitude ; but in this generation
there is no reason to fear tkni. There is no
sense in giving physic to cure diseases that
show no symptoms.
It is said and often quoted, "the laborer
is worthy of his hire.” This only announ
ces an elementary principle, underlying the
Divine plan of propagating the gospel—the
amount of hire, the mode of getting it, and
the degree of comfort to be enjoyed by the
laborers in God’s vineyard compared with
that of those for whose souls and bodies they
devote llierr lives, are matters that must re
sult from immau wisdom and experience,
and depend in great part upon the strength
of vital piety, and the cultivation and refine
ment of the people. Whether in a country
like this, whose facilities, wealth and com
forts are so unequally distributed, and sueb
a system as our itinerancy, those who are
thrown into the more opulent districts, are
to fatten upon the surplus that may fall to
them, aud those whom they serve be exoner
ated by merely paying for ministerial labors
dispensed among themselves, while these
who go among the destitute and iu remote
sections, incurring the extra burthens and
inconvenience of the service, are to depend
alone upon their flocks for a miserable exist
ence thus unequally distributing burthens
and benefits iu a common service among
men oi equal worth, exciting, it may be, con
tests for favored places or whether a better
and more equitable plan might not be de
vised in a genpral treasury aud equal dis
bursements—removing temptations that flow
from immediate dependence in the one case
and from a surplus iu the other, are ques
tions for the leading minds of our church to
consider. The great question for the church
at large, and which, with present aspects,
portend evil, is the support of our ministry,
and the various means employed for the
spread and success of the gospel, whether
the glorious banner shall be borne aloft in
triumph or trail in the dust. Ourcondition
is not promising, unless the hearts of the
people can be won from the prevailing idola
try of tlio times - fashion and show in God’s
holy temple aud elsewhere -and the luxury
and ease that many seek after ; and unless
a sense of justice to our public servants, • nd
of duty to God iu the support of His word
can bo aroused, and a higher standard of
church contributions, or payments, erected.
It would seem that common justice might
be more nearly approximated, iu the distri
bution of burthens among the people, as well
as benefits among the clergy. To allow the
liberal to assume the debts of the selfish and
stingy, is the natural result of the present
system of voluntary contributions ; and is,
no dnnbt, peopling the road to 5 ‘.iriitio:; by
mi immense concourse of Methodists upon
the simple score of tho temptation it offers
for actual falsehood in disclaiming ability to
pay —to say nothing of downright stinginess,
which every generous mind and God him
self must despise. We can imagine nothing,
in tlio form of pretext for shirking duty,
meaner than the shelter taken by many un
der the direction of Christ uot to take two
coats or scrip. They falsify the spirit as
well as tlio history of the case. For while it
taught the apostles not to set stove by world
ly wealth, and to labor with an eye single to
the great trust reposed in them—it as forci
bly and by every just implication, imposes
upon others the duty to support and maintain
1 them.
i If the voluntary entrance into our church
1 connection could, by any just and equitable
J rule, impose the obligation to uphold the
church in her ministry and other material
aspects, so that iu so far as she is a temporal
burthen, that burthen might, be equally dis
tributed ; and at the same time, the provis
ions made for the servants ol the people,
and tho labors and privations that fall to
them, be received and borne somewhat
equalljq then it would seem that, still steer
ing clear of all alliance of church and state,
uot impairing out doctrines, but strengthen
ing our church government, the preparation
for a long contest with the powers of dark
ness - in so far as it relates to the temporal
affairs of tlie church—would be on a better
footing. I turn these suggestions which I
trust are not presumptuous, over to the
heads of the M. E. Church, South.
From the Charleston Courier, 12th inst,
Memorial Services.
There was au unusually largo attendance
at Trinity Church yesterday morning, com
posed of its own congregation, and those of
Bethel, and the Spring-street Methodist
Churches, and many others of different de
nominations, attracted hither, by the an
nouncement that a eulogy on the life and
services of the late Bishop Andrew, would be
delivered by his distinguished co-laborer,
Bishop Win. M. Wightman, D. D., which
we present in extenso below.
In testimony of respect to the beloved
dead, the Church was tastefully draped in
emblems of mourning, which skirted the
aisles from the pulpit to the door, and hung
from the gas lights. In the rear of the pul
pit, which was occupied by Bishop Wiglit
man, the Rev. Mr. Carlisle, Rev. Mr. Wan
namaker, and Rev. J. T. Wightman, were
inscribed in black letter on a white ground :
Bishop James Osgood Andrew,
Born 1794—Died 1871.
“Well done thou good and faithful servant.”
The beautiful and touching services were
opened by a voluntary, by the choir,
“I would not live always,”
which was succeeded by the hymn,
“Come let us join our friends above,”
with an affecting prayer by tbe Rev. Mr.
Carlisle, the pastor ot the church, and a clear
reading of tho Scriptures by the Rev. Mr.
Wannamaker, and another appropriate
hymn,
“Servant of God well done.”
The Bishop then pronounced, in his well
known style, the following tender
EULOGY :
“But none of these things move me, neith
er count 1 my life dear unto myself, so that
I might finish my course with joy, and the
ministry which I have received of the Lord
Jesus Christ, to testify the Gospel of the
grace of God.” — Acts xx., 24.
Christianity has had her heroes and great
men ; she is certainly worthy of the best
that human nature has ever bred. At tbe
bead of them stands the man whose words
I have just repeated. In St. Paul, we have
the noblest ideal of human greatness. It
was his mission to preach the Gospel to the
Gentiles— i. e. to the whole world outside of
the Jewish people. In carrying this testi
mony of revealed truth around the Roman
Empire, his daring spirit faced every form
of danger—every variety of obstacle. With
a devotion to a master purpose, singular and
supreme, he surrendered his whole being to
this one object; for it he expended thought
and time, genius and labor—every thing
that was grand in character and sublime iu
sentiment ; and at length, joyfully finished
his “course” and life together.
The Apostle’3 allusion, in the term he
here uses, “course,” is significant. He was
well acquainted, and so were those he then
addressed, with the Greek festive assem
blies, at which were gathered from all Hellas
crowds of spectators. These festivals lasted
through a thousand years, and gave to Greek
chronology its Olympiads, He well knew
the Pan-Hellenic enthusiasm which center
ed in the contests of the stadium. He could
sympathise with the excitement and agonis
tic efforts of those who struggled for “the
simple prizes of the palm-branch, or the
crown of olive, for which Europe has no
sceptre or diadem that the victor would have
taken iu exchange, must he have bartered
his Grecian glory too. : ' Paul transferred
to his own course—the race that was set be
fore him, the excitement the aspiration, the
high-strung muscle, the supple joint, the
sweat beaded brow, the diminishing distance
of the goal, the great cloud of witnesses,
the irrepressible gush oi' joy, as the victor
took the prize. Into the Ministry of the
Gospel he carried a strenous energy, similar
to that which distinguished the Greek Agon
istes at the Olympic festival.
What, my brethren, were the leading fea
tures of thin Ministry ? The whole func
tion and office grounded on the central idea,
that snbordinately to the great schemes of
Mediatorial Intervention by the Son of God,
the Redeemer, a human agency was to be
employed as the instrumentality by which
the glad tidings were to be carried, age af
ter age, to the minds of men—that the effi
ciency of this ministry was to be measured
by its quality—intellectual and spiritual;
and that the Lord Jesus has reserved to him
self the right and authority to call to this
work and offiee, converted men, with whom,
as his selected instruments, he has pledged
bis presence to the end of the world.
The great business of this Ministry is to
testify the gospel of the grace of God. All
Christian preaching resolves itself into a
testimony- a testimony of facts—things
done- of facts the most momentous, estab
lished by proofs the most certain and unde
niable. These facts aro the incarnation of
the Son of God ; his sacrificial death on the
Cross, the price of human redemption ; his
resurrection from the dead for our justifies
tiou ; his accession to the throne of media
torial dominion and glory ; the terms of re
conciliation with God—repentance toward
God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus
Christ ; the resurrection of the body ; and
the fixed retributions of an eternal state,
everlasting life, or everlasting death. The
Gospel did not deal with abstractions ; was
anything else than a speculation ; made no
pretension to be a system argued out and
sustained by dialectics. It was a testimony.
So must it ever be, fundamentally. To the
end of time, the tremendous denunciation
of St. Paul should awe the spirit of the
Christian Minister “Though we, or an an
gel from Heaven, preach any other Gospel
unto you, than that which we have preached
unto you, let him be accursed.” No lapse
of time can supersede the original truth aqd
force of the facts on which the Gospel rests
its testimony, or change the unalterable con
ditions on which it offers salvation to the
world.
There are important avocations among
men, pertaining to the physical, social, in
tellectual well-being of mankind—agricul
tural, commercial, legislative, judicial, med
ical, and the like. But if the facts of the
Gospel testimony be true, and the conse
quences which follow them be real, and take
bold on eternity, then it is certain that there
is no vocation that can be thought of, that
possesses an importance comparable to the
Gospel ministry. All other professional
cares and labors are limited to the interests
of time ; this touches infinity, and goes on
into eternity and reaches as far as the ever
lasting salvation of the soul,
Tho bfo ■>.' a great in an it has tjeen justly
and forcibly said, “is a subject to command
the attention of every thoughtful mind.”
Alexander, ou his Eastern expedition
spreading the civilization cf Greece over
tho Asiatic and African shores of the Medi
terranean Sea,—Julius Caesar contending
against the Gaula and subduing the barbar
ism of Western Europe to the order and
discipline of Roman Government, —Charle-
magne compressing the separating atoms of
the feudal world, and reviving for a time
the image of imperial unity,♦Columbus
sailing Westward over the Atlantic, to dis
cover anew world which might receive the
arts and religion of the old.—Napoleon on
liia rapid campaigns, shattering the ancient
system of European States, arid leaving a
chasm between the present and the past:
these are tlio colossal figures of history,
which stamp with the impress of their per
sonal greatness the centuries in which they
lived. Tlie interest with which we look
upon such men is natural and inevitable,
even when w e are deeply conscious that, in
their character and their work, evil was
mixed up iu largo proportions with the
good, and when we find it difficult to dis
cover the providential design which drew
the features of their respective epochs. But
this natural feeling rises into something
higher, if we can be assured that the period
we contemplate was designedly prepared for
great results, that the work we admire was
a work of unmixed good, and the man whose
actions we follow' was an instrument special
ly prepared by the of God. Such a
period w r as that in which the civilized w'orld
was united under the first Roman emperors;
such was tho work of him who spoke the
words of the text. The sound of hispreacli
ing has come down to ns through the echo
ing ages :—the force of his great life throbs
in the heart of our own time. The men of
his day “glorified God in him,” for “by the
grace of God 110 was what lie was.” Twen
ty years of toil, suffering, and activity finish
ed his earthly “course ;” but what intellect
cau compute the posthnmeons results of that
life ?
We are met to-day to pay a tribute of re
spect to the memory of one of Paul’s suc
cessors in the highest office of the Christian
ministry. He has just finished his course—
finished it with joy ; and closed a long life
of active labor, having occupied a promi
nent place in the affairs of a large Christian
communion: and been brought by tlie force
of events prominently before the Southern
people. From first to last, he has been en
abled by the grace of God that was upon
him, to maintain, as a man, a Christian min
ister, and one of the chief pastors of the
Church, a character, not only without re
proach, but remarkable for its singleness of
aim, its firm integrity, its uncompromising
cease of duty, its zeal, self-sacrifice, and di
vine beauty of holiness.
Janies Osgood Andrew was born May 3,
1794, near the town of Washington, Wilkes
county, Ga. His father was a native of
Liberty county, in the same State; and was
a member of the Medway Church, of which
the Rev. Mr. Osgood was at the time pas
tor. Asa mark of the high regard he felt
for this minister, he named his son after
him. Having lost the greater part of his
property in the war of the Revolution, he
removed to the up-country, where James
was born and brought up. The country
was then almost a wilderness, and of course
afforded very few educational facilities.
Such, however, as were within reach were
assiduously improved by the lad, whose
mind was athirst for knowledge. His pa
rents were devout Christians, aud James was
trained up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord, with all the blessed sanctities
of a Christian home shedding their influence
ou his opening mind and character. At an
early period he was brought under deep reli
gious concern; sought the pardoning mercy
of God through Christ, and reached a com
forting sense of acceptance, in the full, un
reserved commitment of his soul to Christ
crucified, as the only source of salvation to
the sinner. Not long afterward he felt an
impression, distinct and deep, that he was
called by the Holy Spirit to the work of the
Gospel ministry. It was the judgment of
his brethren that he was not mistaken in
this; and he was licensed to preach in 1812.
At that time the State of Georgia was in
cluded within the territorial limits of the
South Carolina Conference. At tlie session
of the Conference, which was held in this
city in December 1812, he was admitted,
on trial, in the traveling connection, being
then in his nineteenth year. Os a class of
nineteen admitted into the Conference, at
the same time, Bishop Andrew was the last
survivor. The venerable Nicholas Talley,
who still lives, was admitted the year before
PUBLISHED BY J. W. BURKE & CO., FOR THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH.
MACON, GA., WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 1871.
him. His first Presiding Eldest was Wm.
M. Kennedy, and his first circuit, Saltketch
er. His second year was spent on the Bla
den circuit, at the close of which he was re
ceived into full connection in the Confer
ence, and ordained Deacon. H>i next ap
pointment was in Warren county Georgia,
and after the three years’ training on cir
cuits, he was appointed one of the preachers
for Charleston. In this city hi married
Miss McFarland, a lady admirably suited
for the position of a minister's wife, com
bining in her character intelligence and
energy, with sterling piety. Sfco died at
Oxford. Ga., in 1812, and the cloning scene
of her life was full of Christian triumph,
and is thus described by Dr. Longstreet:
“For many months before her death she
looked forward to her approaching dissolu
tion with calmness and composure, but en
tertaining no higher hopes, it L believed,
than to die in peace and without fear. About
a week before she was taken from earth, it
pleased God to give her such a b*‘ght man
lfestatisn of his presence and of her accept
ance, that she broke forth into shouts of
triumph. Thenceforth her littl| strength
was spent in glorifying God. calling on her
friends to rejoice with her. eficonraging
Christians, counseling sinner j j-rob
ing her family. For the remairg week of
her life no cloud intervened between her and
heaven. In response to a brother’s ques
tion, when she could no longer pe&k, she
signified by repeated motions of the head
that God was still near to her, and that her
way was clear. She embraced religion at
the age of thirteen, cherished it •or about
thirty-throe years, aud died in its triumphs
in her forty-sixth year.”
At the close of this fourth year cf his min
istry, BLsliop Andrew was ordain, and Elder;
was rising into influence in the Cos iference;
meant to be and continued a married travel
ing preacher—the traditions of tb * Confer
ence to the contrary notwithstanding; and
was recognized as a real man, effective, in
dependent, of fine administrative abilities,
with abundant promise for the future iu
him. The next seven years of hi i life was
spent on prominent stations—WiYuington,
Columbia, Augusta and Savanna;'. Early
in 1824 he was appointed Presiding Elder of
the Charleston District; and in lS.’^aud’2B
preacher iu charge of the Aethodist
Churches iu Charleston. The ;allowing
four years was- pent at Athens and Vugusta.
The record of these twnty years 3xhibits
a constant growth in intellectual improve
ment; an ever enlarging circle of fesquaint
ance with society; no possibility
tion with the large scope of action presented
him in these different fields of pastoral la
bor; and everywhere, the respect, confi
dence and affectionate admiration of all
who came w itliin the reach of his ministry.
Some of the grandest sermons over preached
in South Carolina or Georgia, have been
preached by him, at Camp-meetings, where
un audience of thousands gives the necessa
ry stimulus to the great orator, and nerves
the arm that wields the thunder-bod. Bet
ter still, his ministry has built up the Church
of the living God, and been instrumental in
bringing many souls to the knowledge of
salvation; in awakening in multitudes of
people the serious concern, which cries:
“What must Ido to be saved?” Ir. a word,
this man has been gifted with great powers
of sagacity, strength, energy, activ'ty; and
has used them well; has enjoyed great op
portunities of influence, and been equal to
them.
Anew and still greater field now opens
before him. At the General Conference,
held in Philadelphia, in 1832, Mr. Andrew
and Dr. John Emory were elected Bishops
of tlie Methodist Episcopal Church.
For three quadrennial terms Bishop An
drew met with distinguished ability the
claims of the high office confenw upon
him. Weight of character, power jof elo
quent speech in the pulpit a.nd.onjj*-.; lat
form, capacity for tho, management ft affairs,
alertness, urbanity, tact, as a predicting of
ficer, these were the ripe fruits of his twenty
years, previous training. They were the
elements of success, and secured for him the
esteem and confidence of the Church. His
visitations extended as far as Texas and Cal
ifornia. In those days when railroads were
just beginning to stretch their lines over
the land, most of the traveling of our Bish
op in attending Annual Conferences was
done by private conveyance or stagecoaches,
and this involved the necessity oiten of
wearisome journeys and great exposures.
Bishop Soule made the tour of the Conti
nent five times 011 horseback, riding the
same horse, a Virginia thoroughbred, some
2G,000 miles. “Did Methodism,” says
Isaac Taylor, ‘ make Europe and America
its own to so great an extent as it did, by
tho sending out of youths—preachers who
had more tire than beard? Did the foun
ders of Methodism—did those true heroes
and martyrs of tho modern Church—did
they sit in Committee with maps and plans
before them, and thence from their chairs
of ease trumpet the question, ‘who will go
for us?’ It was not so. These great men—
great they were in energy and courage went
themselves. They never said to others, ‘go
and we will follow you’—but always— ‘ire go
—follow us, and help us.’ ” Let the memory
ot such men be ever honored by th4«r suc
cessors who prosecute the same work under
conditions so much more comfortable to
flesh and blood. Let their names be em
balmed iu the affectionate veneration of the
Church. By toil, suffering, .self-sacrifice,
they carried the gospel, and with it the
germ of all moral aud social improvement,
to the outposts of civilized life; and they
belong to the company of men who, in the
Apostolic age preached the same gospel
around and beyond tlie Roman Empire.
In 1844 the proceedings of the General
Conference, convened in the Cily of New
York, rendered the name of our venerated
friend very notable beyond the sphere even
of his own ecclesiastical relations. He was
the only Southern Bishop in the Episcopal
College. The force of circumstances had
made him a slave-holder, as were many of
the leading ministers and the members
generally of his communion. The force of
opinion in some of the Northern Confer
ences had reached the point of fanatical
virulence on the subject of the domestic in
stitutions of the Southern States. The idea
that one of the Bishops should be contami
nated was very terrible to many people in
that section of the country. To one who
who calmly reviews the history of the past,
it seems surprising that it should
overlooked that the conneetional sffijpof
the Methodist Episcopal Church made every
Northern Bishop, preacher, and member,
fully “particeps criminis.” If the relation
of master, in the existing condition of
Southern society, was essentially immoral
and sinful, why strike at the sin in a Bishop,
and excuse and ignore it in an elder, dea
con, class-loader, or private member? In
that large assembly convened in New York,
tbe South had other representatives besides
Bishop Andrew. There were among them
men of national reputation—some who had
represented the Church abroad—and they
were slave holders. Did the stroke which
was levelled at James O. Andrew relieve the
Church of the so-called iniquity? As long
as the Southern Conferences were an inte
gral part of the connection, so long was the
whole Church identified with it. Nay, its •
very book of discipline covered with the
shadow of a broad protection all grades in
the ministry, as well as the membership at
large, in those States of the Union where
emancipation was prohibited by statute.
I shall not dwell on this subject, or refer
at length to the painful scenes which led,
by inevitable necessity, to tho separation of
the Southern Conferences from the North
ern. It is sufficient if I add, that this (Sepa
ration has been overruled in the good provi
dence of God, for the wider spread of Meth
odism in the South, and its firmer hold up
on the respect and good wishes of the peo
ple of our section. - In its present’organized
form its bids fair to live and prosper through
all the future of that section whose geo
graphical designation it beat’s on its escutch
eon: a future that will be all the more illus
trious by the patient endurance of the pres
ent..
At a meeting of the Convention at Louis
ville, Ky., in 1845, at which the SI. E.
Church, South,[was organized, Bishops ‘Joule
and Andrew were cordially requested to unite
with and become its regular and constitu
tional Bishops, on the basis of the Plan of
Separation, adopted by the General Colfer
ence of 1844. From that time until 1666,
Our venerable father continued in the alkvfc
work of his high office, though with powers
and activities gradually diminishing as time
went on, and the burden of years pressed
upon him with increasing weight. At the
General Conference of 1860, in New Orleans,
being senior Bishop by the death of Joshua
Soule, he presented the address of the Bish
ops, but was too feeble to discharge the du
ties of a presiding officer. Before the ad
journment, in a brief address, replete with
profound and affectionate feeling, he re
quested to bo relieved of the active duties
of his office and placed on the retired list.
This was accordingly done, and »the follow
ing resolutions were adopted by a unanimous
rising vote:
“liesolved, That the General Conference
has heard with profound emotion, the re
quest made by our honored and beloved
friend, Bishop Andrew, that he be allowed,
on account of advanced years, and growing
infirmities, to retire from the responsibilities
connected with an active participation in
the Episcopal administration. While the
General Conference cannot be indifferent to
the important considerations, and cannot
but approve of the high and delicate motives,
which prompt this course, at the same time
the representatives of the Annual Confer
c-iiees of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, caunot allow the occasion to pass
without expressing, as they now take pleas
ure in doing, the respect and affection
universally felt for the venerable Bishop; the
honor in which his past services are held,
and the lustre which his spotless character
has shed on Southern Methodism. They
devoutly pray that the evening of his life
may be serene—full of the consolations of
that Gospel he has preached for more than
a half century—bright with the unspeakable
hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
“liesolved furthermore, That Bishop An
drew be, aud he is hereby released, accord
ing to his request, from active participation
iu the responsibilities of the' Episcopal
office. At tlie same time the General Con
ference beg that he will, as far as his health
aud circumstances allow, give to his col
leagues aud the Church at largo, the benefits
of his experience and counsels, and highly
appreciated visits to the Annual Conferen
ces.”
One can but faintly imagine the swell of
feeling in the soul of this good and great
man, on an occasion which, with so much
moral grandeur, closed the activejlabors of a
long public life. Through more than fifty
years he had “served his generation by the
will cf God;” and now, without slip or stum
ble, he was approaching the goal, and com
ing near the end of the course. The pro
nounced “well done, good and faithful
servant,” which carried to his heart the
assurance of the affectionate respect of the
assembled representatives of the largest
Christian communion of the South—might
it not awaken the anticipation—ah! how en
trancing—of that other “well done, good
and faithful servant,” to be spoken ere long
by the lips oi the glorified Saviour, to whose
service he bad given his whole heart and life,
without stint, from boyhood.
Not quite live years have elapsed since
that hour. This closing period of his life
presented the spectacle of a beautiful gentle
ness and simplicity; of an increasing physi
cal decadence and helplessness, borne with
quiet submission to God’s will. Whenever
his strength allowed he would visit an An
nual or a District Conference. A reunion
of this kind was always deeply gratifying to
his friends. He carried an atmosphere of
benignity around him. It was delightful
to see the cheerfulness, the loving sweetness
of his temper. His farewell words, delivered
With patriarchal tenderness, were apt to insist
upon these points; Maintain spiritual relig
ion ; iove 0110 another and keep united.
The last lime I was permitted to seo his
venerable form was at the.commencement
of Emory College, in July of last year. He
was aWf to take no-part in the tstrtrei&ea of
the occasion beyond occupying a seat on the
rostrum, and dropping iu occasionally at
the meetings of the Trustees. To the last
this clear-sighted man felt the value to the
Church of her institutions of learning. To
the cause of education, under the auspices
of the Church, he had given all along the
support of Ilia influence aud the aid of his
counsels. He lived to see schools, colleges
and universities established in number suffi
cient to meet the wants of the whole con
nection. And now, at this last commence
ment lie was ever to attend, there was a class
of more than twenty graduates, each one a
member of the Church, and several of the
most distinguished, preparing for the minis
try. Contrasting this with the state of things
when he began to preach, must he not have
felt the throb of a mighty joy?
I must not omit to mention the deep inter
est felt by onr departed friend in the spirit
ual welfare of the children. He possessed
that love for these little ones which drew
them to him- that divine love which, so to
speak, diffuses the spell of its own influence,
aud awakens the young, answering love of
childhood. Ho rejoiced to witness the deep
and growing interest manifested by the
Church in the success of Sunday-schools.
He saw in this great movement a base of
operations and a gathering force destined to
cope successfully in coming years with tbe
increasing worldliness and infidelity of the
age. Wherever he might be, he always
visited the Sunday school, encouraged the
teachers, and addressed the children. As
we shall presently see,g, the “lambs,” of
Christ’s fold held their place of interest in
his last earthly thoughts and utterances.
Early iu February he paid a visit to the
Churches iu New Orleans, which proved to
be the last of earthly labor with him. His
health seemed better than usual, and his
friends enjoyed his society greatly. On
Sunday morning he went to the Sunday
school of the Felicity-street Church, and
made one of his characteristic addresses to
the children. At eleven o’clock lie preached
a sermon of considerable length, and with
much vigor and freedom. This was liis last
sermon of his fifty-nine years of preaching.
On Tuesday morning, before daylight, he
was attacked with paralysis. He- retained
his intellectual faculties perfectly, though
Ills speech was affected. He was stopping
with his friend, Dr. Moss, an eminent medi
cal man, wlio offered him immediately the
best professional assistance. But, no doubt,
anticipating what would be the result of tlie
attack, the Bishop expressed a wish to return
to his family at Mobile. Under the care of
his son-in-law, the Rev. J. W. Rush, Pastor
of the Franlclin-street Church, ho was taken
to Mobile, the railroad authorities hav ; ng
kindly furnished a car for his sole accommo
dation. On the 2d of March, he closed his
long and useful life, having nearly finished
his 77th year.
From his dying bed he sent a farewell
message to hisfcolleagues in the Episcopal
office. To the Ministry of the Church at
large his parting words were: “Live right.
Maintain the discipline of the Church. Meet
me in heaven.” Rousing himself before he
died, he said to Mr. Rush, “Write; tell the
preachers to remember the Sunday-schools.
Feed my Lambs.” Then after a parting
valediction to the whole Church, he closed his
eyes, and his spirit joined the innumerable
company of the redeemed in the city of God.
To God, who has spared to the Church so
long, this eminent servant of his, and
crowned a life of manifold mercies with a
joyful and triumphant death, let us present
the tribute of grateful praise. Let us, his
brethren and sons in the ministry, gather
up tlio mantle of our ascended Elijah, pray
ing for a double portion of the “Spirit”
that rested on him. Let us all glorify God
in him: for the grace which was exhibited
so long and on a theatre so wide, iu the love
ly dignity of wisdom and charity, and tried
example. Sacred and dear are the memo
ries of tlie fathers—they are dead, but “the
Lord liveth, and blessed be our Rock, and
let the God of our salvation be exalted.”
He will be with us so long as we maintain
those doctrines and that testimony, in con
nection with the holy discipline which our
fathers defended and handed down to us.
At its completion, the Choir sung:
“What, though the arm of crowning death,”
and tbe Rev. J. T. Wightman delivered a
prayer, in which he besought the Lord to
teach the living by the example of the dead
those lessons which give better shape and
consistency to life and religion.
Then the sweetest melody
“Going down the valley,”
was rendered by the Choir, when the Bishop
pronounced a benediction, and the deeply
interesting exercises closed.
Is This All ?
BY HORATIUS BONAR.
Sometimes I catch sweet glimpses of His face,
But that is all.
Sometimes He loßks on me, and seems to smile.
But that is all.
Sometimes He speaks a passing word of peace,
But that is all.
Sometimes I think I heat Hri loving voice
Upon me call.
And is this all He meant when thus He spoks :
“Come unto We V”
Is there no deeper, more enduring rest
In Him for thee ?
Is there no steadier light for thee in Him ?
O, come and see!
O, come and see! O, look, and look again ’
411 shall be right;
O, taste his love, and see that it is good,
Thou child of night 1
O, trust tlion, trust thou in His grace and power
Then all is bright.
Nay, do not wrong Him by thy heavy thoughts,
But love His love.
Do thou full justice to His tenderness,
His mercy prove ;
Take Him for what. He is ; O, take Him all,
And look above!
Tlieu shall thy tossing soul lind anchorage
And steadfast peace;
Thy love shall rest on His ; thy weary doubts
Forever cease.
Thy heart shall lind in Him and in His grace
Its rest and bliss.
Christ and His love shall be thy blessed all
Forevermore!
Christ aud His light shall shine on all thy ways
Forevermore!
Christ and His peace shall keep thy troubled sou
Forevermore!
From the Nashville Christian Advocate.
A Liberal aud Popular Cliurcli.
Some of our Anglican and Anglo-American
friends are not so well pleased with tlie liber
ality and popularity of their commuuiou.
We think they have causo to complain.
Because there are a few relics of popery
in the Prayer-book, and a looking toward
the popish figment of succession, many of
their priests take the liberty of inculcating
Tridentine doctrine and practising Romish
ceremonies, repudiating the Protestantism
which is inculcated in the Thirty-nine Arti
cles, Homilies, etc., and for which the
founders of the Church of England were
burned at the stake. True Protestants in
that Communion have, indeed, eauseto com
plain .
Because of the difficulty ol deposing a
Bishop or priest for heresy in a national
Church, there are many this day who enjoy
preferments, and yet deny the inspiration of
the Holy Scriptures, the atonement of
Christ, and every thing else that is distinc
tively Christian in the system which they
have vowed to defend.
The great patron aud interpreter of the
driveling and impious mysticism of Jacob
Behmen wa3 a priest of the Church of Eng
land. So was one of the principal transla
tors and advocates of the works of Sweden
borg, that learned, bat crazy, enthusiast—
whose system is “another gospel, which is
not another.”
Allans, Socinians, and Universalists, not
a few, have been found in its communion
and iu its ministry, and so have Pelagians
and Augustinians.
A Methodist preacher can no longer preach
eternal punishment—oft’ he goes to the
“Episcopal” Church. Why is this ? Does
not that Church hold the doctrine ? Yes, as
clearly as the Methodist. You cannot read
the Burial Service or the Litany without en
countering it.
One of our friends wanted the privilege of
dancing—off he went to the “Episcopal”
Church. Why ? Hus not that Church de
nounced dancing ? Yes. Wo have a book
before us, written against it, by nu “Episco
palian,” as inconsistent with the baptismal
vow ; and a late venerable Bishop of that
Church fell siting when it was twitte?! with
being “a dancing Church.”
Backsliding Methodists, Presbyterians,
and Baptists, want to visit the theater—off
they go to the “Episcopal” Church. Why ?
Have not divines of that Church denounced
the stage ? Yes, as earnestly as any “fanat
ical Dissenter.”
A Methodist preacher wants to take his
social glass—off he goes to the “Episcopal”
Church. Why ? Is there any thing in the
standard of that Church which favors tip
pling ? No. Their authorities denounce it
as we do.
You have heard Methodists talk about
there being no more harm to go to horse
races, play cards, etc., than to do something
else. You know what that meant. Off they
went to the “Episcopal” Church. Why ?
Do not the authorities of that Church dis
approve of these practices ? They do—and
denounce them as inconsistent with the
baptismal vow.
A Methodist preacher thinks he is not well
treated in the way of appointments -not
duly appreciated, etc. —oft' he goes to the
“Episcopal” Church. Why ' 1 Is there no
Episcopal authority there ? Is there not a
chance to be unappreciated there. Some
have thought that there is. Some may have
jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.
The most judicious of our Protestant Epis
copal friends are the least disposed to brag
over accessions from other “Societies and
this for two reasons.
First, the proselyting business is not much
to the credit of a Church. It seems to im
ply that the Church has not the power, by
the aid of the Holy Spirit, to bring forth
children unto God, and to fill up the ranks
of her ministry from her own sons—she
must beg, buy, or steal them from others.
Is this a note of “the only Church and
true” ?
Second. Au eminent minister of that
Communion said he was rather shy of prose
lytes, as so many of them left their respec
tive Churches for the good of those Churches,
and not for the good of the Church to
which they went—that is, tlie event so
proved. There are, of course, honorable
exceptions; but what can be expected of
men who will abandon a Church whose doc
trines they can subscribe to join one whose
doctrines they cannot believe ? Thought
ful men know what may be expected from
those who palter with the truth, and thus
do outrage to their moral sense.
We do not wonder that the judicious
members of the Protestant Episcopal Church
who love their mother and are jealous for
her honor, should complain of the treatment
to which she has been subjected. It really
seems that some people consider the “Epis
copal” Communion as a kind of half-way
house between the Church of Christ and
the world—a kind of omnium gatherum —a
Noah’s ark and a Peter’s sheet—in the most
sinister construction of their import—full
of all sorts, clean and unclean. Men and
women who have no more sense of religion
than a horse, aud no more faith than the
devil —nor as much as he —join the “Epis
copal” Church, and wonder that anybody
should question the reality of their piety
and the safety of their state. They remind
us cf the “seven women,” spoken of by
Isaiah, who took hold of one man, saying,
“We will eat our own bread, and wear our
own apparel; only let us be called by thy
name, to take away our reproach.” Alas !
they only bring a reproach upon the Church
which they join, and through it upon our
common Christendom. For think of it as
we may, the latitudinarianism, and heresy,
and worldliness, of any body of professed
Christians, affect the reputation, if not the
character, of all others.
We are very well aware that though, as it
seems to us, there are a few errors in the
Articles and Offices of the Anglican and An
glo-American Churches, yet they bind their
members to purity of scriptural doctrine
and holiness of life as pointedly and firmly
as, e. g., does onr own Communion. We
could not belong to it, because we could uot
indorse some of its opinions ; but how can
any man that does belong to it deny the in
spiration of the Scriptures, or the retribu
tions of eternity, or the necessity of justifi
cation by faith, a chan go of heart, and a
holy life ? It seems to us that the popery
of one party, and the latitudinarianism of
another, will force the sound portion of the
Protestant Episcal Church to come out from
among them and be separate.
The Presbyterian says : “The passage of
individuals and families from other Churches
into the Episcopal fold is so constantly asso
ciated with increasing worldliness and de
votion to gay and fashionable life, in those
who go, as to rob the reasons of their going
of any religious character. Let a family be
suddenly or gradually enriched, and the
members thereof launch forth on a life of
gayety and pleasure, aud the tendency to
ward the Episcopal Church betrays itself so
clearly, that even the time of their depart
ure may readily be anticipated by those
skillful in such matters.”
The Methodist Quarterly Review says, “Our
view of American High-churchism is, that
it is simply the pseudo-religious side of a
lofty attempt to attract fashionable ladies
and sentimentsl effeminates of the other sex
to form a religio-social aristocracy. ”
A correspondent of the Southern Church
man, an excellent Low-church paper, pub
lished at Alexandria, Ya., says “Young
people aro taught by tho knowing ones to
believe that the Episcopal Church regards
opposition to dancing as puritanical, and
the effect is, that tho educated youth of all
the denominations are crowding our courts,
as the worldling's saloon and the devil's hall
room. Religion, and modesty, and virtue,
are iu great danger of vanishing from one
sex, while swimming in airy circles and li
centious waltzes with the other sex. Some
thing must be done to arrest tlie evil, or we
shall be compelled to close onr Churches,
for these revelers during the week profane
our services on Sunday by their shameful
irreverence. Light brains, light hearts, and
light heels, go together in the world’s carni
val, aud Satan looks on, well pleased to see
his slaves tripping it so merrily on ‘the light
fantastic toe,’ particularly when he sees
professing Christians entering heartily into
the sport, being a sure sign that their reli
gion does not hurt them.”
This is a sad picture—would to God it
were not a faithful likeness I Let our own
ministers aud members take warning from
tlie sad experience of our “Episcopal.”
friends.
Times go by Turns.
The lopped tree in time may grow again;
Most naked plants renew both fruit and flower;
The sorriest wight may find release from pain;
The driest soil sucks' in some moistening shower,
Time goes by turns, and chances change by course,
From foul to fair, from better hap to worse.
Tlie sea of Fortune doth not overflow;
She draws her favors to tlie lowest ebb;
Her tides have equal times to come and go;
Her loom doth weave the finest and coarsest weh
No joy so great but runneth to an end,
No hap so hard but may in time amend.
Not always full of leaf, nor ever spring;
Not endless night, nor yet eternal day ;
The saddest bird a season finds to sing";
The roughest storm a calm may soon allay.
Thus, with succeeding terms, God tempercth all;
That man may hope to rise, yet fear to fall.
A chance may win that by mischance was lost;
The net that holds no great, takes little fish
In some thing all, in all things none, are crossed;
Few all they need, but none have all they wish.
Unmingled joys here to no man befall ;
Who least, hath some; who most, hath never all.
Tlie Distinctive Features of Meth
odism.
BV BISHOP DOGGETT.
The very existence of Christian denomi
nations, as distinguished from each other,
depends upon peculiar views of doctrine,
government, experience, forms and policy,
which, in the exercise of their freedom, they
are presumed conscientiously to entertain.
If all Christians concurred iu their opinions
upon these questions, there neither would
nor could be any permanently separated or
ganizations among them; at least, any or
ganizations bearing a fundamentally differ
ent designation, either in name or in fact.
All these differences claim divine authority
for their support, from the Scriptures, or
from history aud tradition; and are sustained
in proportion as their advocates aro able to
made good, by argument, their assumed au
thority. Hence have arisen those contro
versies which have resulted in giving a defin
itive position to tho f ontestauts. and ip es
tablishing tho lines ot demarcation between
them. The logic of polemics does not’ usu
ally propose compromises. It is compulsive
of conclusions; aud each denomination
stands for defence within its own entrench
ments. Tlie strength of tlie fortification
consists in tlie amount of divine truth which
enters into its construction. To this test
must all religious systems bo reduced; and
neither a pompous ritual, nor sensuous ser
vices, nor a hoary antiquity, nor political
alliances, will avail, in the sifting processes
and the fierce ordeal through which all aro
destined to pass.
Methodism, as we have seen, has arisen in
grand proportions, and stands definitely
outlined on the map of history. Its obvious
aspects have corresponding causes. Its
ontward structure reposes upon fundamen
tal peculiarities. Thoso constitute tho rea
sons for adherence to it; and thoso alone
will bo steadfast in their attachment who
comprehend them. And those who com
prehend them will not lightly leap tho
chasm which intervenes between it and
other denominations, whatever bn their
title to evangelical Christians. These con
siderations induce me to call attention to
the characteristic features of Methodism. All
who have embraced it as a divinely sanc
tioned form of Christianity, should study
those features, satisfy and fortify their
minds, and take that decisive stand with
respect to it, warranted by their adherent
force.
One of tlio radical defects of thousands of
our Israel, is their superficial knowledge ot
the real differences between their own aud
other Churches. It lias almost become a
maxim with inauy, that tho difference is
merely nominal, and that one Church is, in
fact, as good as another. Hence some hang
loosely to the Church of their fathers and
the means of their own conversion, and are
easily seduced by merely personal motives,
to exchange their honorable birthright for
a boon scarcely more valuable than a mess
of pottage. Who makes the transition
from purely religious convictions? With
whom is it a principle of piety? This want
of discrimination was of very rare occur
rence iu the early days of Methodism, and
in days even uot very remote. There was
then a general apprehension amongst the
majority of our people, of the leading doc
trinal and practical differences between
them and other Christian denominations,
and a remarkable facility in adducing and
defining them. The consequence was the
firmness and fidelity with which they main
tained their ground, and the earnestness
with which they clung to their institutions.
This important fact was due in a groat de
gree, to two potential causes, which, I re
gret to say, do not now operate as formerly.
The Methodist pulpit of the present day,
with its higher cultivation, its effort for dis
play, and its too ready compliance with the
current diluted sentimentality of the times,
suppresses, or at least, does not make prom
nent those fundamental truths to which it
was then indebted for its notoriety and its
power. It gave no uncertain sound on these
points, and it left no dubious impression on
the minds of the hearers. Iu the march of
a creditable improvement, in other instan
ces, it has since lowered its tone in this re
spect, and its average exhibitions do not
even betray its original mission. It lias
assumed the common -level of indefinite
generalities, and inadvertently or timidly,
avoids those distinguishing doctrines which
are the substratum and support of our de
nominational character. Is there not a
culpable departure from our venerated
standards in the inculcations of the pulpit;
and do we not make a virtual concession to
a morbid generosity? Is it true that the
acerbity of controversy lias subsided, and
there is no necessity for reviving it? A me
morable victory has been won, and we are
not perpetually thrown upon tho defensive,
as in tho days when every inch of ground
was fiercely contested. Yet this is precise
ly tho state oi things in which tho tendency
is to merge our peculiarities into thoso com
mon elements in which it. is tho duty and
the pleasure ol‘ all Christians to agree. It
is not controversy, but it is self-preserva
tion and self-development which are sub
served by lovingly and boldly urging tlie
prime conditions of Methodistic life and
energy. Thus it is, that our congregations
aro not as explicitly educated as they ought
to be iu our constitutional viows, and readi
ly confound what is really different.
Another advantage which the preceding
generation of Methodists had over tho ex
isting one, was their familiarity with our
standard books in theology and biography.
They read them with avidity, and were fed
with intellectual and spiritual food. They
Sew in grace and knowledge. The press
is indeed greatly multiplied its produc-
E, 11. MYERS, D D., EDITOR
WHOLE NUMBER 1843.
tions in our day, and tho present genera
tion aro in advauee of the former in the
means of information, and evince no want
of eagerness in using them. The result of
this promiscuous reading is a positive dam
age. The morbid tasto for flashy periodi
cals and works of fiction has eaten like a
cancer into the heart of the Church. Our
substantial and wholesomo literature has
been neglected and superseded by trash and
poison, and tho mind unfurnished by tho
supports of sound doctrine, is left a prey to
the insiduousness of error and the seduc
tions of sin. This is especially tho case
with the youth of tho Church, whoso con
victions of loyalty to it, and whoso reverence
for it, aro relaxed by the defective manner
in which they are trained by their rightful
guardians. These methods it is our duty,
and most assuredly onr interest, to restore
to their legitimate influence. To their do
cleusion we owe uot a few of thoso fluotna
tions which wo occaeionnlly experience,
With perfect charity to other Churches
but with a cordial fidelity to our own, 1
propose, iu a subsequent communication,
to set forth several of those principles which
differentiate Methodism from our Christian
organizations. Tdo not propose to discti -i
their merits, but to define them, that the
reasons for becoming aud continuing Meth
odists may be apparent.—if ichmond Chrr
tian Advocate.
Tlac Quarterly Conference.
Tho Christian Index speaks a word on tho
above subject for tho colored people’s in
struction. We think we seo in it the hand
of one of our Bishops. At any rate, tho
Church officers may all profit by reading tho
article.
This body meets only four times in au
ecclesiastical year ; because four quarters of
anything make a whole. There can’t be fire
quarterly conferences in a year.
An ecclesiastical year roaches from the
dose of one annual conference to the dose
of the next annual conference. It, may
sometimes bo less than twelve mouths, ami
sometimes more.
Who are members of the quarterly con
ference ?
All the traveling and local preachers of
the circuit, together with the exhorters,
stewards, and class-leaders. The Sunday
school superintendent, if a member of our
Church, is also a member of tho quarterlv
conference, aud the secretary of tho church
meeting.
These make a body of picked men. They
ought to have great power for good. Im
portant business comes before them. Their
business is so necessary that the Church
must suffer greatly if it goes undone, or if
it be dono badly.
Examino the Discipline and see what work
belongs to the quarterly conference.
Tho presiding elder holds tho samo rela
tion to n quarterly eontereneo tUat tLe XUnl.
op does to an annual conference. Ha pre
sides and directs. The pulpit is at the dis
posal of tho presiding elder. If ho does
uot preach, it is for him to say who must
preach. As the military phraso goes, he,
by bis office, ranks all others in his district.
There must be a head; there must be order.
As St. Paul says : “God is uot the author
of confusion ;” and "Let all things bo dono
decently aud in order.” (1 Cor. 14th chap.)
At quarterly-meetings and camp-meetings,
and tho like, it is the business of tho presid
ing elder, when the Bishop is not present,
to direct and settle all questions as to who
shall preach, and when. This running away
from tho pulpit, or running to get into it,
won't do. The Discipline says : It is the
duty of tho presiding elder, “in the ab
sence of the Bishop, to take charge of all
the traveling and local preachers, and cx
liortors, in hiß district. ”
Tliio ia onr pl»» cf church y vcrniac '.t.
As old as John Wesley, and older, it runs
back to tho days of tho Primitive Churoli.
Os course—and the Bible commands it—
those who exercise authority, must do it
meekly, kindly, and gently, though firmly.
Tho quarterly conference is a time to look
closely into all matters connected with tlie
working of the Church. Tho presiding eld
er can say things to the official members
which the pastor cannot; and, on the other
hand, he can say things to tho pastor which
tho members cannot. He is equally inter -
ested in and for all; and must “oversee the
spiritual and temporal affairs of tho Church. ”
Quarterly conference business should be
done carefully, and recorded in a book.
The names of all thoso present should bn
set down, so that it may be known who did
it, as well as what was done.
It is the presiding officer’s duty to rule
out all business that does not properly be
long to the quarterly conference, and to
keep the members close to tho questions
laid down. Some quarterly conferences do
what they ought not to do, and leave undone
what they ought to do.
Take time. Don’t bo hurried. Begin
and end with prayer for God’s direction.
Set tho Lord always before you.
Every member of tho quarterly confer
ence should be in his place, as a matter of
conscience, and that, too, at the beginning,
It is a service he owes to God and to his
Church. It is a sin to neglect it.
The presiding older aud pastor and peo
ple ought to labor to make the quarterly
conference not only a business time, but a
religious time. The Friday before is ap
pointed for a dav of fasting and special
prayer.
Then wo have the love-feast and the sa
crament of the Lord’s supper, besides tho
other services. And perhaps a Sunday
school time with the children is part of the
plan.
Tho stewards ought always to bring up to
the quarterly-meeting at least me quarter
of the whole amount allowed the presiding
elder and tlie pastor. How can you expect
God to give a blessing on you, while you aro
robbing Him ; and denying His servants
necessary support, while they do His work ?
What a glorious thing for the Church is a
good quarterly-meeting! How it squares
up things, and sets them in order ! What a
fresh start it gives to tho wheels of Zion 1
Wo set clown the things that make u
good quarterly meeting occasion.
1. Tho church where it is held are ready
for it. Have fixed up the meeting-house,
and so on.
2. The pastor of the circuit has got up all
his reports, and they are written, and will
not have to be guessed at, or scratched oft'
iu a hurry when the presiding elder calls for
them, about Sunday-schools and the state
of the Church.
3. Tho stewards and class-leaders have not
been idle. Tho quarterage is on hand. Now
quarterage don’t mean a quarter of a dollar,
but it is the amount that ought to be paid
at every quarterly conference. It ought to
be not less than one fourth or one quarter
of the whole year’s allowance for tho minis
ters.
4. All the official members are up to time.
None absent or lagging behind. They are
in their places on Saturday, when meeting
opens, aud get warmed up by the presiding
elder’s first sermon ; he always likes to
have a close talk with the Church on Satur
day.
5. A full, orderly, searching quarterly con
ference, with a good secretary. All busi
ness attended to. Nothing sluired over.
Tho minutes are dono up by the book, read
and signed. You call tho history of the
proceedings “Minutes;” but it may take
hours to do the work. Don’t let talkers gel
on the subject. Stick to tho business ; keep
it going till you get through.
6. If auy official brethren have come from
a distance, they must not bo neglected, but
treated with Christian hospitality.
7. The Friday before has been kept as a
fast day. Tlie preaching, praying and sing
ing ; the love-feast and sacraments, aro all
in the Spirit. God’s people are Mossed,
sifiners are awakened, mourners are com
forted. Christians draw more closely into
fellowship. The presiding elder stays with
the Church as long as his official duties
allow, and leaves a protracted meeting go
ing on. The pastor feels stronger, on ac
count of the presiding elder’s visit and
counsel; aud pastor aud people wisli for the
next quarterly meeting.
Baxter.— To look at his controversial
works, overtaken with enormous quotations,
you would say he was never out of his study.
To look at his preachings, catechizings,
visits and imprisonments, you would say no
was never in it,