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TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS.
JPEIR. A. IST ISTTJIM:.
VOLUME XXXIX., NO. 13.
. fattg.
“A VOICE IN THE TWILIGHT.”
I wa3 flitting alone in tbe twilight,
With spirit troubled and vexed.
With thoughts that were gloomy and morbid,
And faith sorely perplexed.
Borne homely work I was doing;
For the child of my love and care;
Some stitches half wearily settiug
In the tndlesa need of repair.
By my thoughts were about the “building,”
The work one day to be tried,
And that only the gold and silver
And the precious stones could abide.
Then remembering my own poor efforts,
The wretched work I had done,
And even when trying most truly,
The meager success 1 had won.
“It is nothing but wood, hay, and stubble,”
I said, “it will all be burned,
The useless fiuit of the talents
One day to be returned.
1 And I have so longed to serve Him,
And sometimes I know I have tried;
But I am sore when he sets such building
He*wiil never let it abide.
Just then as I turned the garment
That no rent should b • left behind,
Mv eye caught an old little bungle
Of mending and patchwork combined.
Mv heart grew suddenly tender
And something blinded my eyes
With one of those sweet intuitions
Which sometimes make us so wise.
Dear child! she wanted to help me,
(I knew it was tne best she could and-),
But oh! what a patch she had made it—
The grey mis-inaiching the blue.
And yet, can you understand me?
With a tender smile and a tear.
And a half compassionate yearning,
I felt her grow more dear.
Then a voice seemed to break the silence—
’Twas the voic ; of my Lord to me—
“ Art thou tenderer for the little child
Than I am tender for thee?”
And straightway I knew his meaning, *
So full of compassion and love;
And my faith came back to the refuge,
Like the glad returning dove.
So I thought when the Master-builder
Cometh our service to view.
To see what rents must be mended
And what must be made all anew.
Perhaps, as he looks at the labor.
My work he will bring to the light,
And seeing the marring and bungling,
And how far it all is from right.
He may feel as I felt for my darling,
And say as I said for her—
“ Dear cnild, she wauted to help me.
And love for me was the spur.”
And for the real love that was in it,
He will value this poor wok of mine;
And because it was unto him, only,
Will crown it with plaudit divine!
And then in the deepening twilight,
I seemed to be clasping a hand.
And to feel a great love constraining,
Stronger than any comma .and
—Sout Uern Ch urchrnan.
Contributions.
Ol<l> QUARTERLY CONFERENCE JOUR
NALS— ENOREE (UNION)I lltUl IT.—NO. 8.
Other Journals —Complaints Parsonage
Difficulty—Financial Misappropriations —
Selfishness Versus Self-Sacrifice —The Old
District Conference —Other Conferences —
Class-Meetings—Curious Penalty—List of
Churches Sunday-Schools Forty Tears
Ago Quarterly Conference Members
Thirty Years Ago.
Other old journals having come into my
possession, I shall finish up the Knoree re
cords, and bring out any items of interest in
the others.
The first session of the Quarterly Confer
ence for 1820 was held at Kbenezer M. 11.,
March 2. Daniel Asbury, P. E., Griffin
Christopher, and .1. B. Chappel, C. P's.
“ George Clark complained of for putting
a school into Ebenezer M. H.,” was not
censured, but at the second session it was
resolved “That no schools, reading or sing
ing, shall be kept in our meeting houses in
future.”
“ A. S. applied for a dismission as trustee
of the parsonage, but in consequence of
some embarrassment about the establish
ment, etc., and as he had taken an active
part in getting the house, etc., it was thought
not best to grant his request.”
I pass over some seven years, nothing un
usual appearing. The third session for 1827
was held at Antioch. Robert Adams, P. E.;
John Mood, Wm. H. Ellison, C. P’s. John
Jennings, Benjamin Wofford, L. E’s. Wiley
F. Holliman, A. Shands, Benjamin Gaines,
Licentiates. Z. McDaniel, John Comer, J.
C. Mahew, R. Casey, Oliver Kirby, A. Pow
ers, s. Hardy, C. Bogan, Thos. Humphries,
Leaders. The Parsonage all these years a
troublesome matter.
On motion, resolved “ That the contract
between the trustees of the parsonage and
brother B. Wofford with regard to its sale be
confirmed.”
On the question “ Shall the trustees seek
out and purchase another parsonage? An
swer —they shall.”
November 27 1830, W illiam Whitby re
commended to the South Carolina Confer
ence.
June 30, 1832, Malcom McPherson, P. E.,
M. C. Turrentine, James Stacy, C. P’s.,
the f dlowing resolution adopted : “Whereas,
this circuit deems it expedient and right
that there should be a house provided for the
presiding elder’s family ; and whereas, a
house is purchased at Mt. Ariel (Cokesbury)
for that purpose : Resolved, that this cir
cuit's part be paid out of the avails of fur
niture of the Old Enoree Circuit parson
age.”
This was the easist way of doing it, and
likely to carry, nobody being hurt by the
operation, but certainly not. the best. Such
a mixing of interests would not obtain in
our day. One’s readiness “to sacrifice all
his wife’s relations for the good of thecoun-
try ” finds its counterpart in this readiness
to pay Quarterage and buy other property
with other people’s money. How selfishness
will steal into the very sanctuary under reli
gious disguises. The wonder is, that, even
good men often lack the nerve to rebuke it.
“ The preacher in charge complained of
for not attending to class-meeting strictly
enough at Antioch.”
“ Whereas, the Laurens Circuit has pass
ed a resolution to revive the District Confer
ence for Saluda District, and whereas, said
resolution is offered to this circuit for con
currence, moved and seconded that this Con
ference concur. Motion lost.”
What failed to carry then, obtains now
over all the Southern Church. The class
meeting, the Church Conference, the Quar
terly. the Annual, the General Conferences,
seemed to meet all demands ; but the pres
ent year in the bounds of the Sumter Dis
trict, in the Santee Circuit, Rev. J. L. Shu
ford, pastor, anew Conference has origina
ted called the Circuit Conference. Every
fifth Sunday such is held, with its delegates,
preachers and stewards, at some point select
ed. The advantage promised seems to be
in bringing about greater unity of action in
the churches composing the circuit. May it
not be made to supply the place of the
“ Leaders' Meeting ,” so hard to be made
effective in the country, and now gone into
desuetude in the cities ? In union is strength,
Hrkfiii
and Methodism loses much of its force just
here. The wisdom of Wesley has never
been questioned in the institution of the
class-meeting—its virtual abandonment has
been damaging, both spiritually and tempo
rally, the only compensation being in mak
ing us like other Churches. When I say
class meeting, I do not mean the thing into
which it degenerated,of one's getting, up read
ing a chapter, commenting on it, then prayer
and dismissal —but the earnest watch-care of
a shepherd over the trust committed to him,
and the faithful reviewal by pastors and
leaders of the life of each individual.
1833, name of the circuit changed to
Union.
At the second session for this year, “Stew
ards complained of for not making any col-
lections of consequence to defray the ex
penses of the circuit.”
April 29, 1833, two members put back on
trial six months and debarred the privilege
of taking the sa rament, and staying in love
feast. Curious penalty for offences.
January 16, 1836’ For the first and only
time, here is a record of the churches com
posing the circuit, viz : Trinity, Chappel,
Tabernacle, Fishdam, Hebron, Bethel, An
tioch, Zion, Flat Rock, Wesley Chapel,
Sardis, Ebenezer, Mt. Tabor, Quaker, Dry
Pond, Roger's, Odle’s, Shiloh, Unionviile,
Fairfield, Rehoboth, Nob’s—twenty-two in
all.
The report on Sunday-schools for 1835 is
full —Angus McPherson. P. C., 480 schol
ars, 74 teachers, and 32 superintendents;
these last quite numerous, some schools
having no less than five each. The children
forty years ago—how many were gathered
into the Church !
August 10, 1839. The centenary of
Methodism observed, Wm. M. Kennedy and
Wm. M. Wightman to preach the prepara
tory sermons at the Flat Rock and Maybin
ton camp-meetings.
We close our extracts from the old jour
nal with a full list of the members of the
third session of the Quarterly Conference
held at Bogan’s camp-ground Oct. 21, 1842
—more than thirty years ago. How many
now survive? N. Talley, P. E.t A. McCor
quodale, J. R. Pickett, C. P.’s ; B. S. Ogle
tree, J. Jennings. L. E.’s; A. Shands,T. A.
Glenn,W. F. Holliman, J. F. Gleen, L. D’s;
Miles Packet, Wm. May, C. S. Beard, Li
centiates; Thomas Fowler, Ex.; John W.
Kelly, Ex. L.; S. L. Malony, Ex. and
L.; Wm. Hunt, Ex.; J. H. Dogan, Steward;
T. A. Carlisle, S. and L.; James Epps, B.
Dehay, Caswell Bogan, Stewards and Lead
ers ; M. Hames, James Gantt, E. Gossett,
Sr., Oliver Kirby, W. Foster, E. Gossett,
Jr., H. Murph, Henry Wofford, Wm. Farr,
Wiley Yarboro,— Sexton, W. Farrow,
Miles, R. Gillian, —Hendricks, A. Shell,
Hipp, John Sims, Thomas Kumer,W. Clark,
P. ’fucker, G. Tucker, Thomas Ison, — Gill
ian, W. Jennings,— Thomas, Joshua Bishop,
Wm. Mitchell, Wm. Bevis, James Beckwell,
R. Lipsey, C. Hames, John Galmon, Perry
Stribling, M. Hill, Thomas Young, Lewis
Bobo, Wiley Miles, Class Leaders. A strong
Quarterly Conference —nearly sixty mem
bers.
Jan. 6, 1844, John W. Kelly and Miles
Puckett, recommended to the South Caro
lina Conference.
Here ends the record —the financial ex
hibit wanting, it is impossible to note the
advance of the circuit in that particular.
Our next may treat of the old Koewee Cir
cuit. A. M. Chriktzberg.
WILL THE VOLUNTARY SUPPORT OF
THE CHRISTIAN UELHiION IN THE UNITED
STATES PROVE A FAILURE t
Mr. Editor: Are not the facts referred to
in the previous contribution straws at least
that show the direction of the wind ? Can any
considerable number of professed or nominal
Christians be under the influence of such mo
tives, with such results, without exciting in
the thoughtful mind unpleasant apprehen
sions that their number may increase, and
more deplorable results occur?
Let me present your readers with some Bi
ble instances of voluntary support of religion
—they are numerous, but only two will’be
brought forward. The first is recorded in
Exodus xxxvi., and xxxvii. The tabernacle
was to be prepared, materials to be furnish
ed, in the wilderness, involving a very
heavy expenditure by a people who owned
not a foot of land, nor anything but flocks
and herds, except jewels and gold, and other
personal property, of which they had despoil
ed their oppressors —the Egyptians—person
al property, so essential to their condition,
af:er they should come into possession of
Canaan, desolated by a destructive war. —
The erection of the tabernacle and the pre
paration of everything necessary for the con
duct of public worship, involved the accep
tance of a religion that required the surren
der of no inconsiderable part of their income
and their time: nevertheless, it is done —wil-
lingly, cheerfully, bountifully, overflowingly,
they bring their offerings, until Moses is com
pelled to stay their hands, and refuse to re
ceive more! No man among them who did
not give willingly was to give at all. yet eve
rything needed and more, is brought! Ima
gine, if you can, Mr. Editor, Moses, Aaron,
and Joshua, pursuing the people for months,
for years, with entreaties, exhortations, “dol
lar propositions,” finally playing the buffoon
before them, to loosen their purse-strings,
and then calling in Miriam and the working
women, to get up tableaus representing Adam
and Eve driven from Eden, Noah and his
family going into the ark, or Lot and his fam
ily fleeing from Sodom ! Whatever were the
frailties and the sins ot that generation, they
gave willingly to sustain the Church in the
wilderness.
The other instance to which I refer, is re
corded in 2 Corinthians, chapter viii. The
Churches in Macedonia, “in a great trial of
affliction,” and in “deep poverty, abounded
unto the riches of their liberality—to the
power, and beyond their power, they were
willing .”—Having “first given themselves
unto the Lord,” they rose superior to all em
barrassments and temptations, resulting from
persecutions and poverty. The Christian re
ligion was of great value in their estimation,
and they willingly contributed to meet the
demands upon them. Devotion to any cause
results in willing offerings to it, and if need
be, in heavy sacrifices for it.
But what is true with regard to the offer
ings made by the Churches in this country?
In times of prosperity and abundance, more,
when adversity and scarcity come, less, very
much less, is brought to the Lord’s treasury,
notwithstanding the fact that the wants of
Christ’s kingdom are steadily increasing, and
call for Macedonian devotion and liberality
in times of financial embarrassment to meet
them.
It is an admitted fact that the means of
professed Christians in America, are ample
to meet all necessary expenses, personal and
family, together with the demands of govern
ment upou them, and to sustain with liberal
ity, every Christian enterprise set on foot by
the Churches at home and abroad. I mean
PUBLISHED BY J. W. BURKE & COMPANY, FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
the aggregated wealth of professed Christians
—of course, we have the poor with us.
It is an admitted fact, that the expenditure
for wines, beer, and tobacco, (snuff, segars.
and chewing,) by professed Christians in this
country, would more than meet, largely more
than meat, every demand the Church makes.
Nevertheless, almost every interest of the
Church is inadequately sustained, and cur
tailment has become a necessity.
If the Christians of this land, as a body,
were denying themselves, economising in
every possible way, yet liberally sustaining
that cause, which is superior to any other
demands upon them, these thoughts would
not have arisen, and this query would not
have been presented to your readers.
That there are noble, self-sacrificing men
and women in the Churches in America, can
not be doubted —men and women who delight
in giving time, talent, labor, money, to the
cause of God; but, they are largely in the
minority it is feared —so much so, that I end
as I began, with the interrogatory: Will the
voluntary support of the Christian religion
in the United States prove a failure?
Vox Ci.AMAN'TIS.
BROTHER CROAKER.
Twenty years ago. when the circtj^
stretched through the length and breadth or
one county, embracing in another county
what is now a good pastoral charge, and in
all the territory thus embraced, making at
this writing, four good and strong charges, the
two preachers received about §6OO for their
labor. Brother Croaker was then a member
of the Board of stewards. He was generally
first to move in allowing the preachers §6OO,
or a little more or less, as the case might be.
He was the tuning fork for the Board, and
when he gave the pitch, the members present
knew that they must all hum out in unison, if
for no other reason, because brother Croaker
would not consent to higher figures. Be it
said to the credit (?) of brother Croaker that
it was before the war, when the Church was
strong, and the circuit very large. This good
brother Croaker, (and who can say he was
not, and is not now, a good man?) would, in
long and solemn tones, preface his motion
to allow so much, by the remark, “Mr. Chair
man: I know it is not enough, but it is all we
are able to raise, and I am in favor of only
allowing what we can make good.” The old
Quarterly Conference journal of this large
circuit, was inherited by the charge of which
I was pastor, several years later, as the said
charge retained the old original name. Re
ferring to the several years intervening, I
found that in no instance had that large ap
pointment ever settled up in full with its
preachers. Brother Croaker is still living,
and still steward, and sustains the tuning
fork relation to the Board until to-day. In
fact, he is of good metal, and does not change
pitch for small matters. He gets the floor,
and “pitches” very low, and for the best of
reasons, “we can’t raise anymore.” His
Church raises five times the amount to-day,
that it raised twenty years ago, but “it can’t
raise any more.” I wish to ask brother
Croaker if he has been sincere, or honest, all
these years. Does he realize his influence
in dwarfing the benevolent spirit of the
Church, to say nothing of pinching the
preacher in every direction ? I have a great
mind to make a wish. Shall I wish them all
in heaven ? Well no, they have not the right
pitch for that place just yet, and besides, that
would be tantamount to wishing them all —
brother Croaker and all his kin—dead, and
gone, and that might be wrong. But, Mr.
Editor, I find the Croakers a large and influ
ential family—influential with the Board of
stewards. They never have been known to
put an assessment up to what the majority
favor, but like throwing a log on the railroad
track, they will he crushed out of the stew
ardship, and the Church, before they will
get out of the way ; or they will tumble the
machinery upside down rather than yield. I
meet them everywhere. They are spotted
by the new preacher on the first meeting of
the Board ; they are in the way of progress,
of development. They are not in favor of
putting the assessment up to what the preach
er ought to have, by virtue of his high office,
his talent, his devotion to only one work,
his dependence upon that amount for the ed
ucation and maintenance of a growing fami
ly. The credit of his Church must not suffer
by failing too far to “raise the asssessment,”
even if he—brother Croaker —suffers spiritu
ally, and in the estimation of all interested.
Move up, brother, or get out of the way—die
out, if no other way. This matter ought to be
settled, and when one man blocks up the ma
chinery of the Church, he ought to be run
over. What matters it to the Church, if in
an effort to develop liberality, the stewards
fail to raise the full amount the first year.
Try again. You are right, and can work
with more heart, than if you were conscious,
(if brother Croaker has any conscience,) of
the painful fact that your preacher, is to fail
to live on the meagre allowance, or be pinch
ed for twelve long months. One man, more
than a majority, does all this, for one man
on this line can hohUback wonderfully.
Itinerant.
THE CRIMES OF GREAT MEN.
The Master when on the earth rebuked the
proud Pharisees for making void the law
through their traditions. His words are not
without bearing on the affairs of our day. J
Ethics based on tradition, was not wholly
eradicated with the Jewish nationality, nor
was it confined within the borders of Palestine.
Its essential ingredient was not, even in the
case of the Pharisee, the tithes of mint, anise
and'cummin: but its chief element was serv
ing man rather than God. We frequently do
like them. We serve men daily too much.
The rules of right with some of us are rules
that we have deduced from the practices of
our fathers and mothers whom we believe
have gone to heaven.
The greatest evidence of our men-serving
tendency is presented in our estimation of
moral delinquency in great men and the dis
crimination we make between the practicai.,
not the professed , criterions by which we
judge of their guilt or innocence, and those
principles by which we judge the actions of
others. Crime in a man of reputation is
with us excused in a great measure by his
genius. Are we not thus tradition servers?
Or perhaps the principles of right and wrong
as deduced from the law of God, are adjusti
bleand mutable instruments, which, with pre
cisely the same action, with precisely the
same preceding, subsequent, and attendant
circumstances, acquit or condemn according
to the person involved? If the immorality
of a great man is ever mentioned among us
it is mentioned as a kind of excusable eccen
tricity about which it becomes us to be more
amused than indignant. His fame with us
is a kind of chariot of fire that carries him to
heaven without dying. The misfortune is
that frequently a double portion of his im
moral spirit rests upon us and his ungodly
garment is left behind. This ought not so
to be. It is worshiping men by tradition
rather than God by His Law.
MACON, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 1876.
The traditions of the Pharisees proceeded
in one sense from the law—they were very
great perversions of it. Our tradition pro
ceeds from a true principle, —the tendency
of the mind to appreciate and esteem gLt
intellect; but this too we have perverted by
this addition to the law that mind should he
admired viz: that it can atone for immorality.
It is a wholesome practice to teach the mind
to admire the great and good of earth, but it
is equally as unwholesome to teach the mind
to justify a man’s wickedness by his great
ness.
Food is very good and necessary; but woe!
to him who mixes with it poison. “Tribute to
whom tribute is due,” “custom to custom’’
but forget not to “give the devil his due.”
Well does a learned essayist say “ I can
not help thinking that the indulgence with
which great men are treated by the world in
their moral obliquities and eccentricities has
much to do in making them what they are.
The prevalent disposition which I see on
all sides to make heroes and martyrs of tije
infamous great, amounts to a premium on *i!
that is despicable in unbridled ambition and
limitless lust.” In another place
“The disposition To make res^d^H
public mind the impression that great geiTvit
and low morals generally go together, and
that the former justifies and even glorifies the
latter.” He is correct in his observations.
Our minds with us are becoming more im
portant than Our hearts. Our common
schools are more important than our Sun
day-schools, our secular press more interest
ing to us than our religious journals, our
courts, which we call —courts of justice , but
which are frequently courts of injustice, more
preferable than the courts of the Lord, and
our great men more admirable than our pood
men. It should not be so. The mind that
“like an undying worm gnaws at the vitals”
of our highest interest, must be trampled
under foot.
The bonfire that consumes our homes and
store-houses may be never so brilliant, but
it can not illuminate the heart of the in
cendiary nor burn a sacrifice for his crime.
If this tradition is to continue to subvert
our morals, let us be consistent—go its whole
length—canonize the devil and all approx
imate characters. Emory.
ScMons.
TRUST IN GOD.
There are special seasons and circumstan
ces in every human life when special faith in
God is the one thing necessary. First, mo
ments of introspection, when the follies and
inperfections of our life pass before the soul
in their dread reality and blackness ; when
not only the wrong deeds of the past, but the
inner sources whence they proceeded, are
spread out before the mind, awakening a full
and bitter consciousness of impurity and im
potence. The supposed renewal have
been a sheer delusion, cherished convictions
of moral progress a vanished dream. This
is the tempter’s time. Evil assumes a voice
and speaks to tempt and seduce : “How
wasted have been your efforts to improve:
how vain all your vigorous self-denials, your
stern resistance of inclination; how visionary
your hope and dark your outlook ; cen°e this
senseless struggling, yield yourself up to de
sire and passion, follow the dulcet tones of
pleasure and fortune ; rejoice, oh young man,
in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in
the days of thy youth, walk in the ways of
thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes.”
He who gains a victory in such a trying hour
as this, gains it by a calm, strong trust in
God, who hath revealed himself as the Lord
God, merciful and gracious, plenteous in
goodness and truth. The assurance that will
bring relief and deliverance is this : lam
God's child, and he loves me. Perfection
is not a condition of peace ; if it were, the
world would be one vast troubled sea swept
by a wild and careless tempest, with no voice
of might and mercy saying, “peace be still.”
This is the condition of spiritual repose, “He
shall keep him in perfect peace whose mind
is stayed on thee.”
In moments of mental doubt, when the
foundations seem to be giving away, and the
soul is pavilioned with darkness, there are
very few who know nothing of mental per
plexity ; seasons when the problems they
had thought were satisfactorily solved, appear
with anew strange mystery ; when the prin
ciples they had loved and cherished seem to
be falling from the high plane of fact and
truth in which they had viewed them, to claim
kinship with the possible and supposed.
Sometimes, when, through the acquisition
of knowledge, the progress of thought, the
discoveries of science, we are imperiously
summoned to a change of opinion, the sur
render of a belief hitherto the source of
much comfort, we are apt to conclude very
illogically that all our beliefs are grounded
upon fiction, and so we become disquieted,
and fear takes hold upon us. Then if we
close for a moment the volume of experience
and diseovery, whence our doubts arose, and
open the Book of God, we may read thus :
‘‘Know thou that the Lord thy God He is
faithfulwMchkeepeth^^mnan^midm^^
mandments.”'’ n”,
whom ye were called unto the
his son Jesus Christ our Lord. Though we
believe not, yet He abideth faithful. He
can not deny himself.” We close the book
feeling confident that this one truth abideth
forever, the love and faithfulness of God.
In Him we can put our trust. Ashamed of
our weakness and fear, we begin to sing with
David, “Why art thou cast down, oh my
soul, why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God.”
Times of severe trial. There never was a
human experience free from pain an and bitter-
ness. Adversity is as universal as sin. In
the present condition of man, suffering is an
agency in his moral reconstruction and re
finement. Every cross is a link in that chain
of causes, proceeding from the place of God’s
own counsels, reaching that point where his
broad and beneficent designs are accom
plished.
An ignorant man disposed to find fault with
the arrangements of the natural world, might
argue against the wisdom and goodness of
God, because he permits great storms to
sweep over the earth, considering such de
vastating phenomena as wholly evil and un
necessary. A better acquaintance with the
laws and facts of nature would reveal their
uses, show their vital relation to the habita
bleness of the earth. Were there no great
winds there would be no life nor 4>eauty nor
productiveness in the world. In the experi
ence of man, strong gales of trial are not
marks of divine anger, but ministers of di
vine mercy. “ All things work together for
good to them that love God.” Without the
disappointments, the griefs, the tears of life,
the best qualities of the human soul would
remain dormant, the chief excellency and
beauty of manhood would not appear. God
reigneth and he ruleth all things well. The
soul that trusts in Him shall not be over
whelmed.
In the hour of death. The Gospel reveals
the sublime fact that death is the means of
entrance into life —brighter, freer, happier
life. The death of the Christian is not an
occasion of hilarity and laughter, but it is
an event of solemn joy and deepest thank
fulness. The trial time is ended. The hour
of reward and rejoicing has come. The
mortal has put on immortality, the corrupt
ible incorruption—death is swallowed up in
victory. He who has trusted God in life,
can trust Him in the hour of his departure,
and go away calmly to his home and his
God. Though he cannot see into the be'
yottd, he can gay with the brave old king of
Israel, “ Though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear %> evil;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. — A.
D. Brown, in Methodist Recorder.
HEAVEN.
BY MBS. S. T. PBRRY.
Vi once about our cottage door,
BMUjD i|'• 'V’jicl-.L tilavi-.d.
Were angeiiiTUuTimen of the night.
Then childish faith and love could see
Iu every lonely, darksome place,
The Father looking down at me,
And smiles upon his loving face.
The fleecy clouds that silvery shone
Were glimpses of the Great White Throne.
In the far west, at soft twilight,
Amid the beams of red and gold,
Did heaven’s gates of pearly white
So often to my sight unfold;
At every eve iny soul knelt there.
Borne on the wings of childhood's prayer.
Ah. me! that love and childish tru6t
With childhood’s ye-rs were soon outgrown;
The tilings of time, of sense, of dost,
Hid from my : oul God’s Great White Throne,
And the world’s mansions towered high,
Hiding the gates in the western sky.
Heaven became a place unknown.
Like s me far city ’cuss the sea;
God a steru king u .on a tfcroue,
Wl.o eared no more to smile on me;
And unbelief hid from my sight
The angel watchers of the night.
Th world was beautiful and fair;
I loved its glittering, dazzling toys;
I gathered all its gilts so rai e.
And gave my soul to all its joys.
The path to Heaven dai k became;
I lost my way, nor asked the same.
With pity the good Father’s eye
Watched o’er me while I went astray;
He sent an angel from on high
Ann took my little child avtay.
How well the good, Wise Father knew
That I would turn and follow too.
Then earthly things to me were naught;
1 longed to lind that city fair;
Amid its strangers one I sought,
That child of mine—a dwell r there.
I longed to walk the golden Btreet,
Its dear; sweet face once more to meet.
Years have passed. I’m traveling still,
So worn and weary, old and gray;
I’ve almost reached the western hill;
The sun goes down; ’tis closing day.
Amid the beams of red and gold
That little child the gates unfold.
- Evangelist.
ANTI-CHRIST.
For a long time the Protestant exposition
of the Scripture teaching concerning anti-
Christ has pointed toward the Roman Catho
lic hierarchy as that to which the sacred
writers refer. It has been spoken of as “the
beast” of the apocalypse, having seven heads
and ten horns. All the symbolism of the
Scripture account has been explained again
and again as applying to Romanism, and the
last act of an “infallible” council in declar
ing the head of the Church infallible, and
therefore possessed of a divine attribute, has
been regarded as the fulfillment of the proph
ecy that, the man of sin shall exalt himself
above all that is called God, so “that he as
God sittetb in the temple of God, showing
himself that he is God.”
Now we have anew interpretation. The
leading article in the Catholic World for No
vember last is written to show that Free Ma
sonry is anti-Christ. Jesuitism, that con
trols the papacy, the power behind the throne,
the most wonderful secret society the world
has ever seen, is terrified by the proportions
which another secret society lias attained,
and is making a strenuous attack upon it.
Recent events in Europe and particularly in
Brazil, show how determined the struggle is
to be.
The article in the World begins by refer
ring to the trial of faith which is to come on
the saints before the coming of Christ. After
speaking of the prophecies concerning the
great apostasy, and quoting them at some
length, it declares that “it is sufficiently ob
vious that the great apostasy inaugurated by
Luther was the first outbreak of anti-Chris
tian victory.” Then it says, with its pecul
iar reading of history, that “the first marked
sequel of the apostasy, the first outbreak of
success of anti-Christ in the political order,
was the first French revolution," and “that
saturnalia of lawlessness was the work of the
‘craft’ of Free Masonry.” Free Masonry is
the “mystery of iniquity.” Then follow
quotations supposed to show that Free Ma
sons have been responsible for the civil com
motions of Europe for m any years. After
these co me descriptions of their recent plans,
and of the habit the society has of adapting
itself to its surroundings, concealing its dead
ly purpose till the time be ripe for its execu
tion—an acount which reads very much like
-the beat descriptions ofJesui.t plans and pro-
Masonry adopts,
Bnd finds the “note-mark or sign of anti-
Christ” there. It is seen in the darkness
that surrounds it, in spurning authority, and
so on in every count of the indictment St.
Paul gives against anti-Christ in Second Thes
aalonians.
As we have read this arraignment of Free
Masonry we have had recalled to our minds
the tremendous indictment against the Jes
uits which Dr. Dollinger published five years
ago in his “Lectures on the Reunion of the
Churches.” We have to-day no word either
for or against Free Masonry. Its merits are
not before us. But we feel that if this Ul
tramontane charge against it be true, another
and quite a different society is condemned as
well. Dr. Dollinger shows how the work of
the secret “Society of Jesus” has brought
disaster on every land where it has had pow
er. For instance:
“The Society of Jesus devoted its best ser
vices to its native home in Spain. * * *
The result was the bankruptcy and depopula
tion ofthat once powerful kingdom. * * *
They co-operated with the Inquisition for two
hundred years in impressing their spirit on
the life of the people, with this result: that
the higher education has been crushed, the
scientific spirit strangled, and the country
ruined in every department of life. * * *
Well might a Spanish diplomatist in Rome
say, at the time of the suppression of the
order: ‘The Jesuits are the wormwood that
gnaws on our bowels.’ They it was who
brought on the German nation the Thirty
Years’ War and its results, and to them Cath
olic Germany owes the decline of its schools,
and its consequent backwardness in cultiva
tion and long intellectual sterility.’’
And so throughout Germany and Auatria,
Bohemia, England in the Catholic days, Swe
den, Poland, Portugal, France, 'he shows
that the Jesuits have been as an evil genius,
and that their methods of work and their sel.
fish ends are so much like those which the
Catholic World charges against Free Masons
that there is nothing left but to say: If the
secular society be dangerous, so also must
the ecclesiastical, for every count of the in
dictment brought against the former can be
exactly matched by well-grounded charges
against the latter.— Christian Inteligencer.
THE SPIRIT’S WITNESS.
The wind announces its presence by the
effects of its power. The Holy Spirit in like
manner conveys its message of cheer to the
believer’s soul. I recognize His presence
by His work, and recognize testimony as His
by its own divine quality. Ido not expect,
therefore, to receive the Spirit’s witness
through sense or sensation, but through the
consciousness of my own spirit that a divine
work is wrought within, bringing me into a
new relation to God.
A bar of iron lies upon the table before us.
Hold an anvil within an inch of its surface
and it will not stir a hair’s-breadth. Bring
tl is horse shoe magnet near it, and as if sud
denly endued with life it leaps upward and
clings to its extremities. Now suppose the
bar of iron to have the faculty of conscious
thought, and having only a hearsay knowl
edge of magnetic power, to he discussing the
question whether or not it is maguetized. It
sees the shape of the approaching magnet,, and
knowing its own to be different, concludes,
“I am not magnetized.” It beholds a red coat
ing of paint, upon the magnet, and remem
bering its own blackness, cries, “I am not
magnetized.” It catches sight of the polish
ed steel, and reflecting upon its own dull,
rough, surface, despairingly exclaims, “I am
not and never will be magnetized. lam en
tirely different from that magnet, and never
can be like it. There is no such thing as
magnetism. ” But all this specious logic goes
for naught when the mysterious power thrills
along its fibres and causes it to spring toward
the object of its thought, convinced at last of
the reality of magnetism.
A whole library of divinity brought to the
soul does not change its nature nor impart
that “comfortable assurance of its acceptance
with God.” But let the soul renounce sin
and rely upon the mercy of God given through
Christ, and it receives “power to become ”
a son of God. It is lead or attracted by the
Spirit, and is therefore no longer an alien
and outcast, but a member of the family.
This fact, when established by an act of di
vine energy, is revealed to the believer much
as in the case we have supposed the fact of
magnetism was revealed to the bar of iron.
One may think upon God, upon the perfec
tion of his attributes, upon the resplendent
purity of His nature, and, conscious of his own
unlikeness to Him, may doubt his adoption
into God’s family. And were the act of adop
tion based upon our God-likeness, the doubt
would become desperate certainty. But when
subjected by repentance of sin and trust in
the Saviour to the magnetic influence of the
Spirit, the soul springs God-ward. It is seiz
ed with an unutterable yearning to get nearer
to Him. And is not the forgiven soul’s deep
longing for God, which discards such names
as Great First Cause, Supreme Being, Law
giver, and Judge, and as if conscious of es
caping orphanage, cries “Father, Father,”
the very witness of the Spirit ? Is it possible
to have more satisfactory testimony to the
reality of my sonship than the fact that my
heart recognizes and claims God as a father?
Ah, trusting Christian, if you were not truly
adopted into His family, you would not “pant
to view His glorious face,” hut would shrink
from the fierce wrath of His countenance. If
you were not truly a child of God, it would
be impossible for your faith and affection
thus to lay hold of God as your father, how
ever much you might speculate upon his
universal fatherhood.
“And because ye are sons,” because you
have availed yourself of the provisions of the
gospel, received Christ and experienced the
Spirit’s regenerating power, “God has sent
forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art
no more servant, but a son ; and if a son,
then an heir of God through Christ. — E. C.
A., in North-western Christian Advocate.
THE WOMAN WHOM THOU GAYEST.
Adam threw the blame of the first trans
gression upon his wife. Instead of a help
meet for him, she had proved, as he would in
sinuate, a tempter and a snare. There was a
measure of truth in the charge, for it was
through the woman that the devil reached the
man, although if man had been alone, and
Satan had thought it worth his while, he
would probably have found some other means
of leading our first father astray. However
much of truth there was in the reply, it haß
generally been regarded as a mean thing in
Adam to lay the blame of eating the forbid
den fruit on his wife. He was the head of
the woman, master in his own garden and
bower, and, however drawn by the silken
cords of connubial influence and conjugal
sympathy, he should have rebuked the sin of
his fascinating bride, and maintained his in
tegrity in spits of her charming wiles or the
devil’s more covert seductions. Although
the pressure of modern society, and the
temptation to extravagance in silks, laces,
jewelry, turnouts, and receptions, were as yet
unknown, still Eve wanted to shine, to be as
a god, and “the tree was pleasant to the
eyes. ” Her daughters have had stronger en
ticements to meet, and do by no means suffer
in the comparison. Still she and they are
very much alike in the transgression, and not
much can be said in their defense.
It was, nevertheless, a cowardly and ungal
lant thing in Adam to attempt to exculpate
himself in the way he did, and the same is
true of the modern man who endeavors to
shield himself by exposing the venality and
worldly idolatry of his wife and daughters.
Their extravagance and love of style may
have led to all the trouble, and induced the
reception of presents and bribes, that they
might move in the first circles, and Bhiue with
the brightest in imported costumes and brill
iant diamonds. But were these gallant men
not their own masters, and shall we not hold
them responsible for the order of their own
households ? There is doubtless a great deal
of Mother Eve in our fashionable women,
and often through them the tempter pulls
down the strongest and best of men. fills
society with the bane of dishonesty, and
brings contempt and disgrace upon the coun
try. This is lamentable truth. The share
which female vanity and ambition have in
stimulating whisky frauds, and promoting
bribery, and all kinds of unrighteousness in
getting money, must not be lightly estimated.
She who was given to man as a help meet for
him does sometimes entice to partake of the
prohibited fruit.
But the old Adam is manifested in the
men, and somehow they let it get out that
the women are chiefly at fault in most of
these recent revelations of corruption
in high places. Mr. Sehenck took hold of
the Emma Mine because his wife and daugh
ters must have court dresses, such as hts
salary was inadequate to procure. The con
fession of Belknap, as to the agency of a de
ceased and of a living wife, in his disgraceful
affair, is no doubt true, but humiliating to
our common manhood. The woman made
the bargain, handled the money, and spent
it in fashionable extravagance, and the hus
band winked at the proceeding. Gen. Sher
man tells an interviewer that the Belknap
demoralization is due to the vicious organi
zation of Washington society. Here is an
extract from what the general of the army is
reported to have said :
“ Now Belknap got SB,OOO a year, and
had no outside resources. He had a fash
ionable wife, ambitious to lead in society.
She must have money, and there was no
other mode of getting it except by resorting
to unlawful practices. In my mind this is the
key to the disgraceful conduct of the Secre
tary of War.”
“ Do you know Mrs. Belknap?”
“ Very well. She was regarded as a most
estimable woman, intelligent, brilliant, and
pretty. She came of a good Kentucky fam
ily, and was ambitious to lead in society.
She wore a profusion of jewelry, and her
dresses were imported. Her receptions
were among the most agreeable and showy
entertainments at the national capital. It
was impossible that she could keep her ex
penditures within her husband’s official in
come.”
It is the woman in society, ambitious to
shine, snowy entertainments, imported
dresses, profusion of jewelry, and only a
salary of SB,OOO a year.
From these instances of woman perverted,
we gladly turn to the thousands of noble
wives and daughters who adorn virtuous
homes, and who, by their piety, frugality,
and industry, sustain their husbands and
brothers in maintaining their honor and in
tegrity. The court life at Washington, and
fashionable circles elsewhere, do not include
all the womanhood of the country, and these
instances of weakness and wickedness must
not be permitted to reflect upon womankind
in general. In the fall and since man has
been the greater sinner—so we are willing to
believe —while at the same time the facts we
have noted,in connection with current events,
have their lessons for the fairer and better
part ot the human family.— New Orleans
Christian Advocate.
ENTERTAINING JESUS.
What a throb of pleasure would thrill the
hearts of millions, if they could only give an
entertainment to the human Jesus, at their
homes! If they could only, like Lazarus,
Mary and Martha, have him for an associate
and guest, their cup of joy would be full ;
they would be ready to anoint him with the
most precious ointment, and, with over
whelming feeling of delight, they would be
ready to wash his feet with their tears and
wipe them with the hair of their heads.
Christ in his humanity has ascended into
heaven, and is no longer in his personality
seen walking as man with men. Yet he
comes to us as our Savior, to be our friend,
our guest, and onr brother. He to-day
knocks at our doors ; he is ready to enter
our abodes. He comes to be entertained by
us, and in tnrn to entertain us. He will
dwell with us. If we receive him, shall we
not have all the joy of entertaining the great
King of Glory ?
But, materialized as we are, we desire the
Jesus who is not merely the object of faith
and spiritual love, but the Jesus that onr
senses can reach —the one upon whose match
less countenance we may look, his tender,
loving tones be heard, and his warming grasp
be felt. Can we thus approach and enter
tain the Savior as our friend and guest? If
so, how may we honor him, and be honored
by him, in bis presence ?
We are taught by the inspiration of God
that Christ and his Church constitute a mys
tical personality; that of this personality,
Christ is the head and the Church is his
body. The body is just as essential to the
existence of the person as is the head, and
the presence of the living body is the pres
ence of the person. Therefore, “whether
one member (of the body) suffer, all the
members suffer with it, or one member be
honored, all the members rejoice with it.”
Do we desire the corporeal presence of Je
sus? Let us remember that God has said to
the Church, “Ye are the body of Christ, and
members in particular.”
There is a way, by which we may he the
guests of Jesus, and have him as our friend,
guest and brother, and the way is in and
through the Christian Church. Here we may
honor him and we ourselves be honored by
him.
Yet many will say, “I have for many
ye'ars been a member of the Church, yet I
have never found a realization that I can
place in the stead of that secret desire to have
the presence of the human Jesus, but find
myself involuntarily uttering the prayer, “0
that I knew where I might find him, that 1
might come even to his seat.”
The difficulty with many of us may be that
we are looking too much for what we fancy
to be the joyous presence of Christ, or, if we
look for him in the Church, we seek him in
the persons of the wealty and honorable,
and fail to humble ourselves to look for him
in the persons of the poor and lowly. It is
indeed noble to find the Savior in the pala
ces of the rich and in the homes of the learn
ed, but it is more Christ-like to find him in
dwellings of sorrow and misery. This we
learn from the inspired word, that “not
many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, are called; ” and
Christ himself has said that he “came not to
call the righteous, but sinners to repent
ance.”
The nature of Jesus is one that is full of
sympathy. While he was on earth he was
not only the despised and rejected of men,
but a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief, and now in heaven he is touched with
the feeling of our infirmities; while on earth
he ministered to the despised and wretched,
and now in heaven he succors those that are
the children of trials. He is with his peo
ple, not only in their hours of triumph and
joy, but especially in the moments of heart
piercing griefs and the most intense trials.
The burdens of an agonizing soul open
afresh his heart of love, and bring him as a
healer and comforter to the distressed.
Do we desire a consciousness of the pres
ence of the Saviour? then let us seek him
by ministering to the wants of the suffering,
and alleviating the miseries of the distressed
and wretched. Do we desire his presence
as our guest? then let us feed the hungry,
clothe the naked, nourish and care for the
sick. Do we desire to look upon his person
and listen to his voice ? then as his servants
must we do all things as to the Lord and
not to men, and in the poorest of those who
may be hia redeemed see the image of the
F. M. KENNEDY, I). D., Editor.
J. IV. BURKE, Assistant Editor.
A. G. HAYGOOI), D. D., Editorial Correspondent.
WHOLE NUMBER 1988.
glorified Saviour. Then at the last will the
Jesus whom we desire to see say to us: “I
was an hungered and ye gave me meat, I
was thirsty and ye gave me drink, I was a
stranger and ye took me in, naked and ye
clothed me, I was sick and ye visited me, I
was in prison and ye came untome;” for
“inasmuch as ye hnve done it unto one of
the least of these my brethren, ye have done
it unto me.” Are we daily meeting with
Jesus in our work of mercy and love? then
we will have his final welcome, “Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you,” and forever dwell in his
presence.— United Presbyterian.
MISCELLANEA.
The Unitarian Church at Brookfield,
Mass., hag substituted water for wine at the
administration of the Lord’s Supper.
A two fold purpose is clearly intended by
all the occurrences of life. One is to reveal
our character, the other to aid Urination.
In England and Wales, the number of
Christian ministers of every denomination is
31,942; in the United States they number
43,866.
In India there are 900,000 Christians, less
than one in 200 of the population. A won
derful result and a complete vindication of
the mission movement.
The Moravians are the banner missionary
church, considering their numbers. They
have 355 missionaries in the field, and a mis
sionary fund of $106,900.
An unknown lady of another denomination
has presented to the Baltimore branch of the
Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society ot the
Methodist Episcopal Church a gift of twelve
hundred dollars.
The annual revenue of the Church of Eng
land is $25,000,000. Of this ample revenue
the Archbishop of Canterbury receives $75,-
000 per annum, the sur Jest bishop $10,000;
and many of the lows clergy and their fami
lies are starving.
The Church of England is becoming ag.
gressive. She is putting in motion eight-day
meetings, inquiry meetings, and sending out
lay female exhorters and teachers. Having
had a good long rest as the conservative
branch of the Church, good service might be
expected now.
A missionary in the Church Missionary
Society on the West coast of Africa, was
recently captured by a band of robbers.
Three times in the night the leader of the
band bad to interfere to save his life. On
promise of SIOO he was released, and two
native brethren who remained as hostages
ha-e since been released.
Get to the roots of things. The gold mines of
the Scriptures are not in the top soil; you must
open a shaft. The precious diamonds of ex
perience are not picked up in the roadway;
their secret places are far down. Get down
into the vitality, the solidity, the veracity, the
divinity of the word of God, and seek to pos
sess w tit it all the inward work of the blessed
Spirit.- Spurgeon.
The American Bible Society, at its meet
ing March 2, received encouraging reports
from its work of distribution in Russia,
Fmnce, Mexico, Italy, Turkey, and India.
SSO 000 were appropriated to its foreign
work. 6,000 books for home fields, and
2,600 for foreign circulation were given.
$50,495 were received in February, and
47,623 copies of the Scriptures ißsned.
The Heathen Woman's Friend says: “At
the last meeting of the Foochow Methodist
Mission, at which five missionaries, eleven
ordained and forty-seven unordained native
preachers were present, it was resolved to
forbid altogether the practice of binding the
feet of girls connected with the Church. As
the meeting represented a native Chinese
membership of two thousand three hundred
souls, the action is one of no little present
and prospective importance.”
The following item from the “Table Talk”
of the London Methodist will give our read,
ers a hint of the method of our English
brethren in regard to appointments: “The
list of Invitations to circuits at the Confer,
ence of 187 G that is in private circulation is
extensive. Most of the ministers whose
three-years’ term expires seem to be en
gaged. But there will be some great altera
tion; for it is noteworthy that several impor
tant circuits are leaving their appointments
to the Conference, and it is certain that in
filling them that ‘venerable assembly’ will
not fail to set aside some of the previous ar
rangements made between preachers and
places. That course is inevitable: therefore
both parsons and people should train them
selves beforehand for the exercise of great
a miability, and get ready to prove for three
years that a contented mind is a continual
feast.”
The Louisville Courier Journal, of March
9, contained a special dispatch from Mt.
Sterling, Ky., which says that on the day be
fore a most wonderful phenomenon tran
spired in our section. The correspondent
says that during the sunshine and clear sky
there fell from the heavens quivering flesh,
which came down in large quantities and
covered many acres of territory. Hogs and
chickens eagerly devoured the flesh, which
was scattered over two acres of the ground,
resembling mutton, and left traces of blood
in trees and fences which were touched by
the falling flakes. Quantities of the flesh
have been preserved, and put in the hands
ol Prof. Lawrence Smith, of Louisville, Ky.,
the well-known scientist, who says it gives
indication of being the dried spawn of rep
tiles, doubtless that of frogs. They have
been transported from the ponds and swampy
grounds by currents of wind, and have ulti
mately fallen where they were found. This
is no isolated occurrence. A similar shower
occurred in Ireland in 1695. Showers of live
frogs are by no means rare.
If we could judge from the number of
mosques and places of prayer, one would
ceriainly take Constantinople to be a reli
gious city. There are probably upwards of
5,000 mosques in that city, some of which
are gorgeous in the extreme. The one call
ed Agia Sofia stands at the head of the list.
This was originally founded by Constantine
in 325, and was renovated for the last time in
1847. It it 266 feet in length and 143 in
width, its ground plan being in the form of a
cross. The height from the ground to the
cupola is 180 feet. Within a gallery of 50
feet in width is upheld by 67 pillars, some of
which are of green jasper and are said to have
been taken from the renowned Temple of
Diana at Ephesus. The streets of Constan
tinople are badly laid, and very irregular and
mostly without names. There are no street
lamps, and at nijjht they are the haunts of
numbers of ownerless dogs. The population
is about 800,000. Of these more than one
half are Mussulmans, and the rest a medley
of Armenians," Levantines, Franks, Jews,
Caucasians, Persians, Arabiaus, Hindoos,
etc. Constantinople’s ancient name was
Byzantium. It assumed its present name in
A. D. 330. In 1553 it was besieged and
taken by the Turks, since which it has re
mained iu their power.