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Southern Christian
MACON, GEORGIA, MARCH 29, 1876.
MAKING PREACHERS.
The ministry is essential to the propagation
of the gospel and the advancement of Chris
tian institutions. And this fhct makes the
ministry of any Church the most vital point
of its economy. How a continuous supply
of preachers is to be had and maintained, is
the great question for every Church that
seeks perpetuity and expansion.
Assuming that the vocation to the ministry
is divine, that none may dare go unless they
are sent, this admission must be made to
consist with the authority of the Church to
determine the validity of the supposed call.
God does not speak audibly to him who is
to preach, and the impressions as to duty
may be justly regarded as very equivocal
proof of the duty. One’s convictions on this
matter need the same inspection and an
alysis demanded for prudent action in every
complex affair. We cannot assume the cer
tainty o f the call, byteasonof a simple im
pression, and for the reason that one may be
mistaken himself, it is needful that others
should judge him. This may be said as ap
plicable to every case even where there is no
room to question the sincerity and integrity
of the candidate.
But in view of the fact, that these qualities
may not always exist, and the ministry may
be sought for other ends than its own, it is
essential to the preservation of the purity of
the ministry that the Church should decide
who is to represent her before the world.
The very first step then in pursuance of
the object—''‘making preachers”—is that the
Church should recognize its responsibility in
the premises as very great. We doubt if this
is usually felt, judging from the haste and in
discreetness with which applicants are licen
sed. It seems to be considered that the li
cense must issue as a matter of course, be
cause the candidate himself claims to be call
ed of God, and to refuse the license would
be to fight against God. If the expressed
conviction determined the matter, it surely
is senseless to appeal to the Church for
its authority. If a man’s impressions or
delusions are to be treated as a divine in
spiration, there is nothing more absurd than
such a pretension to a divine call, except the
action of the Church in regard to the fact.
We inculcate the duty and th£ necessity of
closely scrutinizing every applicant, and de
ciding the case by the criteria of our Discip
line —“gifts, grace, and usefulness.” He
that is without gifts, common sense, a good
understanding, is beyond all dispute, not
called to preach, whatever he may think or
feel. A man who cannot talk coherently,
intelligibly, on common affairs, cannot ex
pound the things which “the angels desire
to look into.” One with a mind so illy
made, that his efforts to explain tend only
to confuse, should be held back—the Church
cannot afford to place such a representative
in her pulpits. “Grace” is a qualification
even more necessary than vigor of mind, for
God hath said unto the wicked, “what hast
thou to do, to declare my statutes?” And
this Grac e is not simply that invisible work in
the heart of which the man himself can only
judge, but it relates to the entirety of the
man as an exponent of Christian principles
—to his words, deeds, tempers, and manners.
We very often see men with authority to
preach, whose walk and conversation sadly
belie every utterance they make in the pul
pit; and if they only neutralized their own
leaching it would not he so bad, but they a-e
often taken as samples of the fraternity.
The Church is discredited in the person of
the illy chosen representatives. There should
be devoutness of spirit, devotedness to Chris
tian work, solicitude for the purity and pro
gress of the Church to justify any man in be
ing called to the ministry. ‘ Usefulness”
is another and the final test. But how is a
man to be tried by his usefulness, if he must
be licensed before his usefulness can be
known. Surely our fathers have not been
guilty of this plain absurdity. Evidently, the
man is expected to officiate in some inform
al way, as in prayer or class-meetings, and by
exhortation, before he is licensed to preach.
Yet we have instances where none of this
caution is observed, and not a few cases
where none of the criteria appears.
Mistakes are made, and will be, upon any
plan of proceeding, but to avoid them should
be the aim, and to correct them the high
duty of the authorities. We do not feel sure
of offering any very certain remedy for the
evils which are obvious and great in the
practical working of our present system.
Hear some suggestions. Put the candidate
on trial before his Church as an exhorter
without even formal license for some time >
let him have its recommendation to the
Quarterly Conference for authority to exhort
(not to preach). After such (rial in this
capacity, let him be recommended to the
District Conference for license to preach,
the recommendation proceeding from the
Quarterly Conference. As matters now
stand, the Quarterly Conferences are too
small, too meagre every way, to be in
vested with the high and hazardous prerog
ative of granting such license. Very of
ten the candidate conies before his kindred
in a Quarterly Conference, always before
his neighbors, who by reason of delicate re
lations fail to act discreetly and candidly.
Removed from the narrow, local sphere of a
circuit, placed before a broader and abler
body of men in a District Conference, the
action is likely to be more cautious and dis
interested. Preparatory to a vote on his
case, let him be examined in open Confer
ence, and let the case then rest on its mer
its. Make the District Conference the body
for the passage of a local preacher’s charac
ter, and the renewal of his license. We all
know how difficult it is to get a Quarterly
Conference to confront an unworthy and
inefficient local preacher and to deprive him
of his license.
We will remark also that recommenda
tions for admission into the traveling con
nection would be worth far more if they
emanated from a District Conference The
preliminary examination might be had there
as to qualifications, and the case so thor
oughly canvassed that an improper admis
sion would be improbable to the last degree.
The reckless folly of Annual and Quarterly
Conferences needs a check somewhere, for it
is too mauifest to need proof, that almost any
one can now be recommended, and almost
any one can be admitted into Conference.
Once in, a suit in Chancery, or an action
of ejectment, is not more difficult than a
deposition from Conference privileges.
These things need not be, we know, but
that they are, no man of candor can deny.
Prevention is always better than cure —safer,
easier, and more pleasant. We might en
large and specify on this momentous subject,
but we must desist for the present.
One way to make a feeble and inefficient
ministry is to pay them begrudgingly and
meagerly. None bnt small men can be ex
pected to be content upon an .unworthy main
tenance ; and if this is the class the Church
wants, there will never be any lack whatever
the compensation. If on the contrary the
Church needs, and clamors for, a strong
ministry, equal to the intellectual demands
of the people, let it be understood whatever
may be the need, it will never be met except
by a liberal scale of maintenance.
J. W. H.
A SPECIMEN RELIGIOUS TEACHER.
That our readers may have some knowl
edge of the impressions of Southern people,
and especially of Southern Methodists, that
are diligently inculcated by most of the
Northern Methodist press, we give some ex
tracts below from a three-column editorial
in the Northwestern Christian Advocate.
The editor, Dr. Arthur Edwards, has been
on a visit to New Orleans, and the memory
of it, he says, comes upon him at times, as
a spasm or an almost agony of solicitude
lest the Church (M. E.) should let this
divine opportunity pass unimproved ” that
is, lest it should withdraw material aid, and
let “ Our Southern Work ” take care of
itself. If voluminous writing, richly spiced
with defamation of Southern people, can
avert so dire a delinquency, Dr. Edwards
will see to it, that effort on his part is not
wanting. He recognizes distinctly, and
admits more candidly than most of his con
freres, that the mission of the M. E. Church
in the South is of necessity, almost exclu
sively to the colored people. Ignoring what
we of the South know to be true —that the
alienation of the colored people from the
religious teachers to whom they were indebt
ed for all the spiritual training they had ever
received, and through whose labors multi
plied thousands of them had been converted,
was effected by the persistent and unscrupu
lous efforts of Northern people—he says :
“ We are there to receive every white per
son who desires to come, but our presence is
of the primest importance to the race against
whose enslavement our protest in 1844 and
since made the breach between ours and the
Southern Methodist Church. Ihis last
Church is at work yonder, but her past atti
tude toward the slavery question, and her
present position with respect to measures
most vitally relating to the colored people,
render her powerless to secure the trust,
sympathy, and co-operation of those colored
people who would still be in bonds if the
Southern Methodists had had their prefer
ence in certain related questions.”
The arts by which Absalom “ stole the
hearts of the men of Israel” were not more
nor more industriously plied,
nor, we are sorry to believe, more malig
nantly selfish, as to many who employed
them, than those by which the colored peo
ple were induced to distrust anil forsake
their former teachers.
That the “ bloody shirt,” is made to do
duty for ecclesiastical as well as political
purposes, will be seen by the following:
“The people among whom are our chief
fruits are improving and developing very
rapidly. Those yet unconverted have char
acteristic faults and weaknesses; but so, also,
have the whites in the South. We hesitate
not to say, that no people in history have
made half as much progress as have she col
ored since the war closed. Nor do we hesi
tate more to say that thousands upon thou
sands of their less worthy white fellow-citi
zens have made equal progress—downward.
If political rancor and ungenerous jealousy
do their work as thoroughly for ten years
more, scores of thousands and even entire
white communities in the South will reach
the level of cowardly assassins comparable
to Spanish skulkers or Mexican banditti.
The history of murder, riot, and incendiarism
in the South, is a foul blot in American his
tory. Southern state legislatures, daily pa
pers, religious weeklies, loud talkers on the
streets, aiid the Charles Nordhoffs writing for
New York Heralds, have very much to say
of the “plundering carpet-baggers,” “the
lazy niggers” and ‘‘the uncertainty of col
ored labor.” These gentry never have any
thing to say about the fusilade of murdering
shot-guns, or the sneaking propensities of
those who express their anger against eman
cipation by burning school-houses, shooting
or whipping white and colored Method st
preachers on their way to labor among the
freedmen, or by leaving colored women and
even children in their gore. If Southern
politicians, churches, and presses, had clearly
denounced such outrages against the weak,
the crimes would have ceased long ago.
History will ever honor the colored man for
abstaining from “the fire in the rear” at a
time when it would have broken up the front
of the rebel army. No less honorable and
wonderful, and unquestionably the fruit of
pure religion, is the sublime patience with
which the colored Methodist of 1876 endures
persecution and outrage. That this patience
is not, as the Southerner asserts, the result
of cowardice, is proven by the terror which
lias shaken the South to the center when ru
mors of a “general conspiracy among the
blacks” has pervaded the land. It is true
that the black man is the best hope of sev
eral of the Southern states, and it is no less
true that some of those states will be perma
nently ruled by the freedmen. Labor is often
uncertain in the South, but only because of
the too frequent unfair treatment of the col
ored laborer. The employer who is honest
and just and considerate has no troubles like
those complained of by the planter who treats
his mules better than his colored help.”
The brother was manifestly in a “spasm”
of solicitude about the vitality and perma
nence of “Our Southern Work” when he got
off the furious article from which this extract
is taken. Let us hope that he “feels better,”
and that the violence of the paroxysm has
passed off wilh reporting to his
state of things at the South —past, present,
and prospective—which has scarcely any
foundation in fact, and has existence mainly
in the morbid imagination of one who is con
fessedly in “an agony” of apprehension. The
agonized editor, feeling that his utterances
are entitled to arouse indignation and wrath,
yet dominated by the hallucination common
to lunatics, closes the first section of his
editorial with these words:
“Many teeth yonder, and some here will
gnash when these words are read. We write
them in utter absence of all malice, or pre
judice, or spirit of recrimination; but in the
fear of God, in grief and shame as an Amer
ican citizen, yet in the hope that a near fu
ture will give the historian anew chapter to
illustrate our national repentance for the
past, and prompt atonement through the ad
ministration ofjuster policies. Some of our
paragraphs may seem cruel, but they are
truthful, and therefore are they written.”
Such “words,” when they come from a
man of Dr. Edwards’ position and influence,
stir our pity rather than our wrath. The
writer will doubtless succeed in reviving the
waning bitterness of his readers against
Southern Methodism and the people of the
South, and upon this achievement may re
plenish the meager treasury of the “Southern
Work of his Church,” but unless our own
feelings mislead us, he will have to forego the
satisfaction of knowing that he has set the
people whom he, perhaps ignorantly, mis
represents, to gnashing their teeth. The fact,
which we are willing to concede, that Dr.
Edwards believes that he writes without
“malice, or prejudice, or spirit of recrimina
tion,” only illustrates the power of these evil
passions to utterly blind their victims.
Can anybody explain to us the connection
between the near approach of the Northern
General Conference, and the increased vigor
with which Southern Methodism is assailed
in certain M. E. Church journals? It is a sad
strait for any Christian people when they can
only perpetuate what they regard an impor
tant enterprise, by bringing railing accusa
tions against a sister Church. Yet. such
seems to be the extremity in which Dr. El
wards regards his Church with reference to
its mission in the South.
SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE.
*IO.OOO LESS THAN *549.69.
The following paragraph, now going the
round of the papers, has become public pro
perty, and may be commented upon, with
out impropriety: “The Treasurer of the
American Bible Society has received SIO,OOO
from the estate of William B. Astor, and also
$549.69 from the estate of Miss Henrietta
Parker, who was once a slave.”
In this case, as it seems to us, SIO,OOO is
much less than $549.69. Very naturally,
the Treasurer’s acknowledgement reminds
one of another record: “And Jesus sat over
against the treasury, and beheld how the
people cast money into the treasury; and
many that were rich cast in much. And
there came a certain poor widow, and she
threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
And he called unto him his disciples, and
saith unto them. Verily I say unto you,
That this poor widow hath ca3t more in,
than all they, which have cast into the treas
ury; for all they did cast in of their abun
dance; but she of her want did cast in all
she had, even all her living.”
There is a smooth look and to our human
ears a euphonious sound—which, to ears that
catch the deeper harmonies, may be alto
gether cacophonious —about the great man’s
SIO,OOO. The ex-slave’s $549.69 looks not
so smooth, and sounds not so musical at fir.-t.
But looked at and heard again, it is both
fairer and sweeter. This poor girl must have
given her all; the odd cents, to say nothing
of the $49.00 indicate this. If it were SSOO,
we might conclude that she only imitated the
example of the ex-money-king—giving a slice
of her estate. But the $549.69 reads as if it
were taken from the pass book of a Savings
Bank. It was all she had; her last deposit
brought the total to the $549.69. The great
man never lacked necessaries, comforts’, or
luxuries. He never knew want of anything
he wanted or wished, a single day ot his life.
That is, of things purchasable with money.
But the best things are not so purchasable.
The ex-slave’s bequest brings a very differ
ent history before our eyes. The figures
$549 69 tell of self-denial and cross bearing.
She might have had her money’s worth of
this world’s good things, but, like Mary, she
“chose that better part which shall not be
taken from her.” She must have given this
money from pure love of Christ. And her
gift carries with it a perfume sweet as that
which filled the room where Jesus was,when
a poor woman who loved much, broke the
alabaster box of very precious ointment, and
poured it upon his head.
And the $549.69 may do more good than
the $10,000; the prayer of faith and love
that went with it must be far more than the
difference between these amounts —$9,450 31.
Maybe the money-king sent prayers after his
SIO,OOO. We do not deny it, but he prayed
not as the poor woman did. Had her pray
ers gone from his heart he would have given
at the very least, one night venture to think,
$1,000,000. Had his gift to the Society been
equal to hers,it would have been . How
much was he worth?
No doubt the light of eternity has changed
many a man’s estimate of values. A Scotch
story represents a gentleman as saying of a
deceased friend who never knew, while in
the flesh, the true use of money: “If old
Mrs. were back again, the first thing she
would do, would be to break her will.” No
doubt many would break their wills —if they
could only get back. But, alas! they do not
get back to undo the blunders of blindness.
How is it that so few of the very rich know
the true value and power of their money?
And why do so many who know its power to
do good, and use it to do good, to the best of
their ability, have so little of it?
These questions we may not answer, but
one thing seems tolerably clear to us: there
must be something wrong about our common
doctrines of averages and of ad valorem
subscriptions and gifts. The ad valorem
standard may do in the assessment and col
lection of taxes for the support of secular
government. This itself might be discussed.
Some may think it is not quite self-evident.
But in the matter of charity, the doctrine of
averages —with its so much per capita—is
delusive, and the ad valorem measure of
obligation is—to state it mildly—inequitable.
For he who has SIOO,OOO a year can more
easily give $5,000 to help the world to be
better, than he can give SIOO who has only
SI,OOO. Take 10 percent as the measure.
The first gives SI,OOO and has $9,000 left;
the second gives SIOO and has S9OO left. The
Pauline measure for every man is this, “as
the Lord hath prospered him." This is the
Divine law. It says not, ten, or any other
per cent. It puts the amount on each con
science. Alas! many consciences are dark
and dead.
A “penny a week” (a nickel a week is the
Americanism) was good enough, in its way,
when Wesley’s members were all alike poor.
But to see a rich man drop in his nickel for
some great and good cause just after a poor
widow drops in her nickel, would be a farce
if it were not a shame. When rich men fall
down to mere ad valorem measures of duty,
they fall from grace. Very often $549.69 is
more than SIO,OOO. H.
Oxford.
OUR APRIL MONTHLIES.
Harper's. —The Romance of the Hudson;
The Microscope; Old Gardiston —A Story;
Lost —A Poem; St. Johrland; Garth —A
Novel; Prayers—A Poem; The First Centu
ry of the Republic; Old Philadelphia; What
is Your Name? —A Story; Before, at, and
after Meals; The Church of the World; The
Last Days of Royalty in New Hampshire—
A Story; The Tulip Mania; How my Ship
Came from over the Sea —A Story; A Faded
Glove —A Poem; Daniel Deronda —Book II;
April—A Poem; Editor’s Easy Chair; Ed
itor’s Literary Record; Editor’s Scientific
Record; Editor’s Historical Record; Editor’s
Drawer.
Lippincott’s. —The Century—lts Fruits
and its Festival; Sketches of India; The Col
lege Student; Sonnet; The House that Susan
Built —A Story; After a Year; The Berkshire
Lady—A Sketch; The Sabbath of the Lost;
The Atonement of Leam Dundas; The
Sing-Song of Maly Coe; Letters from South
Africa; Dinner in a State Prison; Farewell.
The Instruction of Deaf Mutes; Our Monthly
Gossip; Literature of the Day.
Scribner’s. —Yale College; Is there a
Subterranean Outlet to the Upper Lake Reg
ion? Philip Nolan’s Friends or “Show your
Passports!” Dies Irse—A Revised Transla
tion; Poe, Irving, Hawthrone; Parting; Beds
and Tables, Stools and Candlesticks.; The
History of a Critic; Shadows; Perky's Cross;
At Best; Gabriel Conroy; Revolutionary
Letters;The Mysterious Island;Springs; Cuba
without War; The Astor Family in New-
York; The Legend of the Statue; Topics of
the Time; The Old Cabinet; Home and
Society; Culture and Progress; The World’s
Work; Bric-a-Brac.
St. Nicholas.— Frontispiece; The Straw
berry Girl; The “Miss Muffett” Series; Eye
brights; How a Grizzly treed Obed Rollins;
The Frog, the Crab, and the Limpsy Eel;
Talks with Girls; A Lake on Fire; Easter
Tablet; The Poor Boy’s “Astor House;” The
Adventures of Five Ducks; The Education
of the Lion; The Boy Emigrants; The Micro
scopic Brick-maker; The Queen of the Ork
ney Islands; The Grave’s Grandma; Queer
People; Gilbert Stuart; An Easter Carol;
The Ash Girl; American’s Birthday-Party;
Jack in-the-Pulpit; For Very Little Folks;
Sippity Sup; Young Contributor's Depart
ment; The Letter-Box; The Riddle-Box.
The Galaxy. —ls Nature Inconsistent;
War Memoirs ; Love Confirmed by Reason — J
A Sonnet; Madcap Violet; Provencal Song ;
Fate’s Choice ; In the Shadow ; The Incon
venience of Being Named Smith ; Reuben
Dale ; Homes of the American Aborigines ;
To my Daughter; American Pronunciation
of English ; Mr. Beaman’s Mistake ; Sou
venirs of a Man of Letters ; A Spring Even
ing; A Final Word on Emerson; To Mr.
Editor; The King of Poland and Mme.
Geoffrin ; The Bonanza Mines of Nevada ;
Drift-Wood ; Scientific Miscellany ; Current
Literature ; Nebulae.
The Atlantic.— The Seige of Boston ;
Liernur's Pneumatic System of Sewerage ;
Early American Novelists ; Private Theat
ricals ; Old Woman’s Gossip; A Carnival
of R ime ; Battle of Lutzen ; Rural Archi
tecture ; Recent Literature; Art; Music.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS.
Bancroft’s History of the United States.
Centenary Edition. In 6 vols, 12 mo.
Cloth, $2.25, a vol. Boston: Little, Brown
& Cos.
Wj are in receipt of the 2d Vol. of this
work,of whose merits we wrote at some length
in these columns a few weeks ago. I hose
who wish by far the most thorough and re
liable American history that has ever been
written, must get a copy of Bancroft’s ; and
those who would have the work, as near per
fection as the learned and laborious author’s
latest revision could make it, must get the
Centenaf* edition, which its publishers are
bringing out in attractive and durable style.
Living Waters. By D. F. Hodges. Boston:
Oliver, Diison & Cos. New York : C. H.
Ditson & Cos.
This is anew collection of sacred songs,
for Revivals, P ayer and Camp
NmSHH
pieces nave
Moody and Sankky. An Authentic Ac
count of their Lives and SERViCES.--By
Frank S. Reader. New York : E. J. Hale
& Son, 17 Murrav st. Paper, 50c ts; cloth,
SI.OO.
The wonderful career of thsse plain but
earnest men, and the great celebrity they
have attained through the almost marvellous
success attending their labors, naturally ex
cite desire to know something more of
their origin and private history than is fur
nished in the newspapers. The readers of
this handsome little volume will have this
desire gratified in a very agreeable way. The
author is the intimate friend of Mr. Sankey,
and has been for many years; and is endors
ed by his father as more competent than any
one else outside his family, to furnish an au
thentic account of the personal history of
his son. Mr. Reader is also pefectly con
versant with the career of Mr. Moody, and
has had the service of his friends in revizing
the sketch of his life. Then brief biograph
ical sketches of the two evangelists are ex
ceedingly interesting; and then in addition,
we have here a judiciously condensed account
of their labors and successes, especially in
Great Britain. No one who reads this little
book, will regret the small outlay required to
secure it. Excellent portraits of the evan
gelists adorn the volume.
Corrrsponkntc.
LETTER FROM BISHOP PIERCE.
Mr. Editor: Conference over at Paris, I
returned to Sherman on my way to the
North-West Texas Conference at Corsicana.
This made my third trip on the Texas Cen
tral Railroad, and each one in the night.
The moon lent her light to my observations,
and I could just see enough to determine
that I was passing through a region, pictur
esque in its beauty—fertile soil,and striking
ly alternated with timber and prairie.
The day I left Paris it rained, and by
morning I had a fair specimen of Texas
mud. We had spent the night with a good
brother who lived in an open praire of black
land, and next morning we went in a two
horse wagon to the depot, about a mile dis
tant. When we alll got aboard—--each man
bringing as much mud on his boots as he
could well carry—the aisle in the car was
like a hog-pen in wet weather. But the
Texas brethren offset the state of affairs by
telling me it took rich land to make such
mud and so much of it—that it dried very
fast and was a short lived trouble at most.
Of course this was all satisfactory to me, as
I was a mere sojourner, and it seemed equal
ly conclusive with those who dwelt in the
land. I like that temper of mind which con
strues adverse things pleasantly, finds good
in everything, and never permits that which
is merely incidental to mar the real advanta
ges of what is substantial and abiding. The
bright side is the best side.
The North-West Texas Conference has
the advantage of all the other Texas Con
ferences in territory, numbers, and immedi
ate promise of growth. It is a strong Con
ference. This relative superiority is contin
gent as to the future. The continued settle
ment of the country, r lilroads, new towns,
and new industries, will work great changes
in population and prosperity. Texas is a
wide field for experiment. Changes will be
frequent. First one locality and then another
will attract emigrants. The tides of people
and employments will ebb and flow for a long
time. North and North-west’Texas are lead
;ng now, but the East and West have their
attractions, too—and which shall prosper
most, or whether all shall be alike thrifty
in the long run, I cannot say. Of this I
have no doubt: Texaß as a whole will be
great —perhaps peerless in population
wealth, and power. If the Church can lea
ven the elements, and mould society accord
ing to the form of gospel doctrine, she will
win an empire for Christ.
We had a good time at Corsicana. The
argc aTTO ap‘"
free and abundant —Conference
embarrassed, and the effect of our religious
services full of promise. The new preacher
inaugurated himself with a protracted meet
ing. The hospitality and kind attention of
Major Beaton and family are gratefully re
membered by me and my little travelling
companion.
Now for another ride on the great “ Cen
tral ” as far as Dallas. The citizens of this
young city are as proud of it as the Arabs of
Damascus. And verily it is a marvellous
place. Only four years old, it has the size
and bustle and air of a long e.-tablished
place of business. Fine residences—large
stores and warehouses —street railroads—
every avenue to it, and from it, and in it,
crowded with wagons, carts, oxen, horses,
and people ; it is a live place. Dallas is a
boiling pot, everything in motion from the
surface to the bottom. The men walk and
talk and rush—an eager, anxious, excited
multitude. Every man seems to expect a
fortune if he can get to the right place in
time. No grass grows beneath their feet.
Every trade and style of business is in full
blast. The professions are crowded. The
universal conviction seems to be that this is
the place and now is the time. “ Pitch in,”
there is something for all of us. If one gets
more than another, it only proves the thrift
of Dallas, and the wonderful resources
which enrich the lucky, and yet provide for
all the rest. Great is Dallas of Texas.
I found several Georgians here. Stayed
with my old Hancock friend, William Ross,
and talked old times over. He loves the
memories of the past, but is glad to live in
Texas, and especially in Dallas.
We have two churches in this city. I
preached in one at night, and in the other
next day. Congregations were good at each
place. The preachers must keep busy—
strong in faith and ardent in zeal—to save
the Church from the blight of surrounding
worldliness. But I must move on.
Another night start, but this time on the
Texas Pacific Railroad. My destination was
Long View —the point where the Interna
tional and Great Northern unites with the
Pacific. Arrived after midnight—found a
home with brother Boring—a Georgia name,
and a Georgia man. Preached in anew,
unfinished church, at eleven and found a
a perfect nest of Georgians in the congrega
tion. Indeed, I have no doubt I was indebt
ed to the old State feeling for a large part of
my Audience. They came from far and near.
By the way, these emigrant Georgians usual
ly stop in the timber. They have an old
liking for wood close by, and a plenty of pine
knots for kindling. We are now in East
Texas, and in the pine belts. Here are fire
wood. lightwood, water, sandy soil (no mud)
—easy to cultivate, and withal productive.
The Southern people generally take to for
ests, and the Western to the prairies. So
much for early tastes and long habitudes.
At night, as usual, took the train for Jef
ferson, where I had promised to preach the
next day. Arrived just before breakfast—
stopped at the parsonage —preached at an
early hour, and left on the oars for Marshall.
Jefferson a few years ago was perhaps the
thriftiest town in the State, but now illus
trates the remarks above about the probable
changes that will take place in Texas.
Everything is tentative; nothing settled.
The town has declined, business has been
property has depreciated, to
and tin- embarrassment of
G. F. PIERCE.
Sunshine, March 15, 1876.
LETTER FROM BISHOP KEENER.
City of Mexico, February 28, 1876.
Mr. Editor : On yesterday I ordained our
two Spanish preachers, in our own beautiful
church, Sosthenes Juarez and Jose Elias
Mota. It was in the afternoon, and the house
was filled with Mexicans ; some few of our
English-speaking people were present. The
service was part in Spanish and part in Eng
lish. The singing and music admirable. All
the natives are, as the English would say,
“very clever” in music.
The house next door to the church is rent
ed by us fora girls’ school. Our location in
the city is excellent. It is a very short walk
from the principal hotel, and is within one
square, in three directions, of an active bus
iness thoroughfare i'Yet surrounded as it is
with the streams of city life, the spot where
the church stands is very quiet.
I should like you to see our girls’ school,
numbering 50-60. The pupils are much
above the average of Mexican children ;
though out of the poorer classes, they are
not of the poorest. And yet money could
be charitably spent upon not a few of them.
We need the means to give premiums, in or
der to infuse some enthusiasm among them
for their studies, the committing to memory
Scripture, neatness, and to secure a prompt
and regular attendance. Any church at
home wishing a specific missionary object,
could not have a better one than the entire or
partial care of this school.
The boys’ school is not so large, number
ing 40, but is well taught: and twice a week
the teacher gives lessons with blackboard in
music, both to them and the girls. This
school is taught in the old chapel, which has
been changed into a side vestibule of the
new building. Brother Daves deserves much
credit for the present condition of the work,
and the completeness of our “ Templo Evan
gelico."
i£he improvement in the Protestant work
here since 1874 is very marked ; better au
diences, more of them, more and better
schools. The M. E. Church, and the North
Presbyterian, as well as the Episcopal, are
putting down a good deal of money and
sending out men from the States to work
with the native preachers. Mr. Hutchinson,
the Presbyterian superintendent, reports
forty points at which he is operating, but
owns no properly.
We have in all, here and on the Borden
some SIB,OOO worth of property, and seven
distinct charges, which are manned with
native preachers ; besides our two teachers
and an exhorter. Our preacher in charge
reports over 70 members here. Three years
since we had but one preacher. The field is
a very wide one, and there are a number of
cities in Mexico, each large enough for sev
eral distinct missions. There need be no
rivalry in this work, only a healthy Christian
emulation between the several denomina
tions, to spread the gospel over these lands.
“Would that all the Lord’s people were
prophets.”
On Sabbath last we had in the “Monitor”
a very sensational letter, purporting to be
from the friend of an eye-witness, in regard
to the fighting which was at or near Oaxaca.
He says that “1,500 dead bodies were left on
the field.” That the charge of the rev
olutionists “ surpassed that at Balaklava for
fury and courage; because at B. only 600
were killed.” As there were on both sides
only 5,500 men engaged, it is easy to be seen
that this is an extravagant statement. The
more reliable account is that the Govern
ment has pressed back the revolutionists
from their position near Oaxaca, and that
the whole affair of these various pronuncia
mentos will prove to be a very serious Mex
ican style of determining an election in ad
vance. If things were allowed to take their
proper course, Mr. Lerdo would unques
tionably be returned as the next presi
dent, and will doubtless anyhow. These
views are not mine, but those of reliable
still be in power. It is
a Church party against a liberal
party, for the Church party has been stripped
of its property, and can scarcely hope to
undo the work of fifty years without the
sinews of war; but simply those out of office
against those in office. Mexico is not the
only country where that kind of conflict is
going on.
Since writing the above, I have seen Dr.
Butler and find that the (North) M. E.
Church have in all some $63,500 worth of
property in Mexico. $42,000 here; $15,-
000 at Pueola, and $7,000 at Pachuca.
Their stations are Puebla, Orizaba, Mille
flores, Quanahuata, Quaratero, Paduca, and
this city: 14 preaching places, 8 Spanish
preachers, 8 teachers, 4 local preachers, and
7 Americans, 3 of whom preach in Spanish,
and two are ladies; an orphan school
of 50 children, and a hand printing press.
Last year Dr.B. received in all some $32,000
for the current appropriation and the Ladies’
Society for Foreign Missions.
I send you a Spanish advertisement of a
protracted meeting gotten up by our two
preachers, Juarez and Mota.
We greatly need tracts - short,very short—
in Spanish. The Churches at work here are
getting them out, and Dr. B. showed the
manuscript of the Theological Compend
which he was about to put through his press.
I shall bring home a good assortment of
tracts, and if our Publishing House has any
spare steam, it can be very profitably turned
in this direction.
I learned yesterday how the mosquitoes
were caught of which you heard me speak at
Orangeburg. They are taken in their least
enthusiastic state; just before they get
wings ; a collection (of them) is easily raised
—with a scoop net. They are sold here by
the bushel; what a satisfaction for one who
has been fighting them all his life to know
this! In Dacotah they use four fold bars,
and light “smudges” in the room and then
wear a hood of netting. I have been as
sured by friends from that territory that
Louisiana is at “the dying edge” of the
mosquito line, that in fact we “have none.”
This by the way. Now if you will insert the
Spanish advertisement, I will conclude.
TEMPLO EYANGELICO,
Situado era la esquina de las calles de S. An
dres y Cincuenta y siete.
CUI.TUS DE “ ACCION DE GRACIAS.”
Invitacion.
Se hace a todos los hermanos evangelicos
de esta capital para que concnrran a ellos a
las siete de la noche, en los dias siguientes :
Jueves 80 de Diciembre de 1875.—A1 Pa
dre Eterno.
Viernes 31 de Diciembre de 1875. —A1
Hijo Unigenito.
Sabado 1° de Enero de 1876. —A1 Espiritu
Santo.
El Domingo 2 de Enero se celebrara
LA CENA DEL SENOR.
Proximamente, despues de los cultos de
accion de grac-ias que celebratan las Con
gregaciones reunidas, seguiran en este tem
plo, los de
“ liEVIVAI.ISMO,”
de los que se repartiran oportunamente los
prograntas.
Mexico, Diciembre de 1875.
Sostenes Juarez.—Jose E. Mota,
Past ores.
Most truly yours, J. C. Keener.
LETTER FROM CALIFORNIA.
h Dear Brother Kennedy: The fear that
your readers as feel no personal in
rerest in the “Georgia Emigrants” may be
come weary of our communications has pre
vented my sending you another letter before
this date. But it is impossible for us to write
to each one of our friends who read the
Advocate. We cannot bear to drop alto
gether out of their memory, and cannot re
press the desire to commune with them in
some way. In all your letters, and in all the
letters we receive from the dear friends in
Georgia, and Florida, we are urged to con
tinue writing for the Advocate, and to write
more frequently. These facts have impelled
“the elect lady” to venture into your columns
oftener than her extreme diffidence would
otherwise have permitted, and now drive me
to take the hazard of making my patromynie
offensively common in your paper. If any
of your readers object to our occupying so
much of your valuable space, please let u g
know, and we shall quietly retire from their
notice.
Some of our friends write that they cannot
find Santa Rosa on the maps, and, therefore,
cannot locate us. This is easily accounted
for. Five years ago, Santa Rosa was only a
village, and the map-makers overlooked it.
The village has now reached the dimensions
of a city, and, though not “a city that is set
on an hill,” may be seen on all the maps of
recent date. Santa Rosa is the capital of
Sonoma county, is fifty-four miles North of
San Francisco, on the Northern Pacific Rail
road, twenty miles from the Pacific ocean,
and a few miles east of the Coast Range. The
“foot-hills” as they are called here, the
mountains, as we should call tlieiiu in Geor
gia, extend halfway round the city, distant,
from two to four miles. The tops of these
“foot-hills” are covered with snow this morn
ing, while their sides are clothed with the rich
green of California grass. To-morrow the
snow will be gone and the “hills” will be green
from bottom to top. The valley is adorned
with clusters of California oaks, and carpeted
with the most luxuriant growth of wheat,ai and
oats, and barley. Twenty miles away, St.
Helena lifts her hoary head far above the
“foot-hills” and gathers about her form, in
fold upon fold, her robes of fleecy clouds.
The scenery upon every hand, forever chang
ing, and yet always beautiful, is such as the
eye never grows weary in looking upon. The
city is built along the eastern bank of Santa
Rosa creek, has many handsome residences,
and is rapidly growing in population and
wealth. To one who has lived long in the
slow-moving cities of the South, the rapidity
with which houses are completed here, and
the large number always building, are sources
of constant astonishment, in one month the
appearance of a street is so changed by the
busy hands of carpenters, that it is difficult
to realize that it is the same street along
which you walked a month before.
The perfect transparency of the air betrays
new comers into making many ludicrous
blunders. It is amusing, to lookers on, to
see an admirer of nature starting off to ex
plore mountain tops that he thinks are one
or two miles away, when in fact they are ten
or fifteen. The rugged top of St. HeleDa,
more than twenty miles distant, seems to be
only a lofty peak rising Irom the midst ol
the “foot-hills” which come down close to
the city; but in reality it is separated from
them by a valley ten miles wide. Walking
one day with Bishop Kavanaugh, I pointed
to St. Helena, and asked him how far off he
thought the mountain was. The good Bishop
summoned to his aid all his California ex
perience, and said, “Well, if I were in Ken
tucky and saw a mountain as distinctly as I
See that, I should say that it was about two
miles to its base; but I have been here long
enough to make allowance for deceptive ap
pearances, and I think St. Helena must be
ten miles away.” Bad as the guess was, it
was better than one person in a hundred
would have made.
Since Mrs. Branch wrote you, we have
spent another day on Taylor’s peak, accom
panied by Prof. Griffith and wife, and two of
our young Mississippi friends. The view that
we had of the Pacific ocean, to say nothing
.of the indescribably beautiful landscape that
ptretched out beneath and around us, more
than repaid us for the slight fatigue we felt
from our nine miles’ walk. Twenty miles
away “the deep blue sea” was plainly visi
ble; only, from our standing point, it looked
more like an ocean of molten silver than an
ocean of blue water. Far out, how far I can
not say, we could distinctly see two large
ships, one sailing North the other South. It
seemed very strange to me when looking upon
the rounded surface of the Pacific, from that
mountain peak, that men were so long in
learning that the earth is spherical. The
madam and the children came home adorned
with mountain flowers, and I,somewhat bur
dened with a satchel full of beautiful speci
mens of lava and petrified red-wood. If you
make us that promised visit next summer,
you must overcome your dislike to muscular
locomotion, and go with us on a tramp to the
hills. Ido not mean to intimate that you are
lazy; for I do not think you are, but you do
belong to that class of men who “never walk
when it is possible to ride.”
If my pocket were “full of rocks,” in the
modern sense of this phrase, I could supply
Dr. Haygood with splendid specimens of
California rocks and woods. lam making a
collection, and hope that some day I will he
able to contribute to Emory something that
will be worth having. Within ten miles of
Santa Rosa there is a petrified forest. About
fifty immensely large trees have been un
earthed, each one a solid stone, roots, trunk,
and branches. I have seen collections of
arrow heads here that wi re of all colors and
sizes, and of most wonderful workmanship.
Among them I found one arrow-head that
was made with exquisite skill and so fash on
ed as to do away with the necessity of using
a feather. We “rifle” our cannons, the |
Indian who manufactured of
death, “rifled” the arrow-head, and ma n
tained the axis perfectly from the centre of
the base to the point. An arrow armed with
that head would go as straight to the mark
as a rifle ball.
Lest I weary you and your readers, I must
bring this scribbling to a close. Mrs. Branch
is gathering items for another letter to the
Advocate, and, if it be still acceptable, will
continue to write occasionally for your paper.
This letter leaves us all well and still full of
enthusiastic admiration for our new home,
but with ever increasing love for the dear
ones from whom we are separated by so
many, many miles. We have no hope of
meeting them again on earth, but are trying
so to live that we may meet them when we
“cross over the river.”
Yours truly, Jas. O. Branch.
Santa liosa, Cal , March 6, 1876.
[We condense the expressed wish of almost
numberless private letters, and convey the
eager desire of every reader of the Advocate
whom we have heard refer to this correspond
ence, when we say to our “Georgia Emi
grants” write on. — Ed.]
MILLEDGEVILLE.
Dear Brother Kennedy: I have said
nothing through your columns about our
little city, since your good friend, the piin
ter, made me accuse some of my old friends
here of “ aguing,” whereas, my soft im
peachment was ageing; and transformed
my honored friend, who has recently died,
from a peer into a “ pen;” but with Jacob
Faithful, I must hope for “ better luck next
time,” and let your readers know something
of Milledgeville religious matters.
We are well supplied with Churches:
Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyte
rian, Baptist (whites); and Colored M. E.
Church, African Methodist and Baptist, for
the freedmen, with an enterprise on foot to
build a Northern Methodist Episcopal
church for them. The first named of these
colored Churches is doing well. Of the
condition of the other two I am not so well
advised. These Catholic churches, to be
found in many of our villages and towns,
should convince us that the Pope and his
followers are profoundly in earnest with
regard to getting the control of the religious
faith of this country. Its prayer chants, in
cense, genuflexions, and music, have great
power over some; its confessional and
priestly absolution, bringing a false, it may
be a fatal peace to conscience, over others ;
while its prayers for dead people and to dead
people, connected with its quasi Universal
ism, involved in the dogma of purgatory, is
attracting others to the Roman Catholic
Church. Protestantism is not insensible to
these facts, but is not aroused by them to
that ceaseless activity,vigilance,and conflict,
that the times demand.
The Young Men’s Christian Association
maintains its organization yet, but has not
been so actively at work since October, as
before. Some of the committees, however,
have worked through the winter, and are yet
working. The Anniversary occurs first Sun
day in April, and it is hoped that it will be
an interesting occasion, and give renewed
power to the organization.
Our Presbyterian brethren have a movea
ble house prayer-meeting conducted by the
elders on Tuesday nights. Our Baptist
brethren have a similar service at private
houses on Thursday nights. The Christian
Association conducts two such meetings, on
Tuesday and Friday nights; while the Meth
odists have a prayer-meeting at the church
on Wednesday night, and preaching at the
Factory on Saturday night. So you see we
are not asleep here after the Sabbath is over
and gone. Among these active workers
there is a growing desire for a revival of re
ligion. May it soon be gratified.
Sparta having obtained the Annnual Con
ference, has relinquished the District Con
ference, and it has been decided to have it
here. Time not yet announced. Bishop
Keener, or Bishop Pierce, is expected to
preside. We are looking forward with great
interest to the gathering of our brethren,
and hope that payer will be made throughout
the District that great blessings may result
to our community and Church. Our Sun
day-school is not so large as it should be
(about 100 in attendance) but is well con
ducted and interesting. Our good brother
Crawford is Superintendent. He has been
quite sick, but is growing better. Many
prayers were offered for his restoration. He
is much needed by the Church, indeed, such
a man is of great value to a whole commu
nity, and we trembled with apprehension lest
he mjght die.
Judge Iverson L. Harris, after years of
confinement from paralysis, died on Sunday
and was buried on Monday. He became ra
tional on Saturday, recognized his children
who had gathered about his dying bed, and
gave evidence of his trust in Jesus for sal
vation. He had been Circuit, then Supreme
Court Judge, a man of great integrity of
character and of intellectual force. He had
a fearful conflict with sceptical tendencies
and harassing doubts, but applied himself
with untiring earnestness to the study of the
Scriptures, and was led to simple reliance
upon Christ. Your brother, H. J. Adams.
March 15, 1876.
ST. JOHN’S AUGUSTA.
Mr. Editor : Oh could you just slip into
our church some night; or in the morning,
kneel with us in our little lecture room; how
yonr heart would leap and your lips praise
God for reviving his grace in our hearts.
God bless our dear , patient pastor, (Bro.
Evans.) His crown in the by and by, is daily
gathering more jewels, and the love he is
gaining from his people here is but sending
its rays up to God and drawing him nearer
the great white throne. May God spare him
to us many years longer, and give him phys
ical strength to serve in the temple daily.
The revival is such a one as St. John’s never
witnessed before—such a waking up. It has
continued two weeks, is now in its third,
and still the morning meetings are well at
tended. You know it is a time of trouble
to all. We are begining to realize that there
is no dependance in anything for true com
fort except God and heaven. A com
mon misery is drawing us together, and the
Church is united now, as it never has been
before. Why, bless your heart, ’twould have
made your eyes fill to have seen the eleven
little soldiers standing around God’s alter
last Sunday night renouncing the world,
and taking unto them the whole armor of
God; and our dear pastor laying his hands
upon their heads (one after another receiving
his blessing) looked nearer home, his face
illumined with divine love for his flock. Two
more persons joined, man and wife, two here
but one in Christ. Ah, these new brethren,
my heart went up in solemn prayer to God,
that he would keep them ever near him, and
hold their hands even through the valley of
the shadow. I heard a young man say of Bro.
Evans that when he called for mourners,
they “could not help going up, whether
they wanted to or not.” We have twenty
one new members in all. Just think, twen
ty-one more on the shining road. So many
more on the Lord’s side—oh why wont we
come out from the world and confess Him
before man, His divine ear is ever open to
catch the first note of repentance falling
from our lips. May the patient Jesus
bear with us, we all want to repent, but we
are stubborn. We all love Jesus, but we
keep it locked away in our hearts iustead of
pouring it out like lava to burn into the
hearts of our fellowmen, and constrain them
to love him also.
VOLUME XXXIX., NO. 13.
Well I must close, but oh it does me good
to tell you what a revival we are having. I
feel nearer God, nearer home. And we are
growing in faith and strength.
Your letter from “Montana” has attracted
considerable notice here. God bless our
dear sister in the far West. She is far from
us, yet we feel “by faith, we meet around
one common mercy seat.” Take heart, sister
C. the same living God is at your side among
the mountains, that watched over you for
years in your Georgia home. We all pray
for you daily. Pray for us brethren, that our
Church may continue in its good wjjrk. We
are growing and spreading out, and God’s
kingdom is advancing. We are telling of
the lowly Nazarene, our King, who said, “Be
not afraid only believe.” J. C. P.
Augusta, Ga., March 13, 1876.
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE WIDOW
AND OKI’IIAX AID ASSOCIATION.
The above named society was organized
several years ago in order to provide imme
diate and adequate pecuniary relief to the
family of any itinerant preacher who, being
a member of the Association, died “ in the
work.” Until this Conference year not a
death occurred. But in a brief quarter of
this year, five men —all good and true —all
beloved —have been cut down. The ener
getic Secretary and Treasurer of the Asso
ciation has suddenly found himself required
to make appeals in rapid succession, as the
information came to him that Parker —
Jones—Pearce Johnson — Harris, were
called from the field of toil to the rest of the
people of God. These all died in the faith.
May our dying be as theirs. They have been
taken and we have been left. Let us do our
duty fully, freely, thankfully, to their fami
lies, as we expect our brethren shall do for
ours, in the fear of God, when we are gone.
Let us meet this unprecedented call for the
relief of five stricken families, with a loving
and ready response to the call of the Secre
tary. We must not delay. Our duty de
mands immediate remittance. Our mem
bership depends on it. We are poor, but
we are alive and with our families and
friends. Will not our lay brethren who read
this article, each send by mail to Rev. G. H.
Pattillo, at Sparta, Ga., one dollar for the
Widow and Orphan fund ? Will they not
recall the labors, the sacrifices, the poverty,
of those devoted itinerant preachers, all en
dured for their sakes and the gospel’s ? Will
they not, for Christ’s siike, “give this cup
of cold water” to the bereaved little ones
of these fallen soldiers of our Lord ?
Clement A. Evans,
President of the Association.
NORTH GEORGIA ORPHANS’ HOME.
Mr. Editor: These children still have some
kind friends. No great deal is coming in,
yet enough to remind us that we are not en
tirely forgotten. To-day we received a box
of nice dried fruit from Hogansville. Grif
fin, Senoia, and Fork Cbapel Church, in
Greene county, have each sent us help of
late. The time is at hand for the Societies
to send in Spring and Summer clothing. I
hope none will fail. Try to have your boxes
shipped free of charge for Orphans’ Home, or
collect enough to pay express or freight. I
learn from the agent at this point that the
roads have been in the habit of bringing
boxes and packages free till quite lately.
Since I have been here, I have been paying
express and freight on nearly everything that
has been sent. Help us all you can mi that
particular. We have no money in the treas
ury. We have this week taken into the Home
two small children, aged respectively, three
and six years. Who will clothe this boy and
gin ?;
Brothers and sisters, we are not here in
idleness ; but are here at work to make a
crop. Almost everything we use for family
or stock has to be bought. Who will help us
through the summer, by sending us money
or provisions ? We are economising all we
can. Send money to V. R. Tommey. All
boxes or packages, Orphans’ Home.
J. L. Lupo, Supt.
Decatur, Ga., March 17, 1876.
A I‘I.EA FOR HELP.
We have received the following, with are
quest that we give it a place in our columns:
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
in this place was burned April 20, 1874 The
new church now in course of erection, will
when completed, be one of the most elegant
Church edifices in the State. Seven memo
rial windows will ornament it; among these
we have undertaken to erect one to the
lamented James K. Polk. He was long a
citizen of this place, and resided here when
he was elected President of the United States.
It is befitting that an elegant window to his
memory should adorn the church in the city
where he so long resided, and where he was
so highly honored and ardently loved. May
we ask you to contribute one dollar or mere
to this purpose.
J. B. McFerrin, Nashville, Tenn.
J. A. Orman, Columbia, Tenn.
Columbia, Tenn., 1876.
gtissionaru.
GOSPEL OF NUMBERS.
NUMBER VIII.
MORE EXCELLENT— FXCKEDKD ASSESSMENTS.
conferences. Chaige. Pastor. Assessed. Paid.
\ irginia—Eastern Shore District Onancock Joseph F. Amiss £”.7 H3 sl7! 30 •
Louisiana— Shrevep* rt District 'adio K. 11. Adair 25 0 ‘ 60 10 i
North Mississippi— Yazoo Distric Blnck Hawk 'J L. Fuired 66 no \X2 50 :
Missouri— -St. Joseph District {Savannah IC.'A. Gherman... 75 0i 132 00 i
Fayette District {Glasgow W M.Newland.. 240 00 251 0* .
Baltimore- Moorefiuld District Nor:h River J. W. Shore 14 00 17 <0 :
Florida—Tallahassee Dbtrict Leon E. la. T. B’nke... SO (X* 94 <0 :
*’ “ j.Mooticello Jas. P. Del\i>s... 118 00 15100
'* (j'lincy .. 0. E. Dowman... OH 00 121 40
'* Live Oak District Luke City 11. E Partridge.. 53 00 65 00
Alabi ma— Diinopolis District .Havana |G. Hawkins 100 00 12' 10
We give this week only such charges as
belong to our Table No. 11., more excellent.
It is not proposed to give any more charges
belonging to either TulTle No. 1., excellent
paid assessments in full, or Table No. ll.'
more excellent—overpaid. Should any re
ports reach the office claiming precedence
over those heretofore published in Table No.
111., most excellent, we will give them the
honor due superior excellence by publishing
them. Onancock, Eastern Shore District,
\ irginia Conference, Jos. F. Amiss, pastor,
is most excellent in amount collected as com
pared with amount assessed.
Florida Conference, in this table, and in
her printed Minutes, presents facts well wor
thy of emulation. A weak Conference, poor
in this world’s goods, in a country especially
impoverished, her zeal is admirable. 1 taka
from her published Minutes two extracts