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TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS,
ipeir.
VOLUME XXXIX., NO. 31.
fottrir.
HARVEST.
With throbbing heart and tearful eye
1 watched the spring-time fleeting by.
I saw the snowdrop at its birth
Felled, by spears.of rain, to earth;
The iris hurst her emerald sheath,
And shew the amethyst beneath;
The painted Tulip fade and close
Before the glory of the rose;
And now, down fields of sunburnt grass
I see the withering rose-leaves pass;
And, night by night, and day by day,
The life of summer ebbs away.
I see the granaries overflow,
The mellowing orchards bending low.
O God ! my heart in awe and fear
Looks back upon thy perfect year.
Thy bounty covers all the lands;
I lift in prayer my empty hands.
Of all the summer of my life
My harvest is but sin and strife.
Oh ! could these tears, like April rain,
Make moist my heart’s hard soil again,
And stir the seeds which Thou didst sow,
Oh ! never should they cease to flow.
Could prayer but melt this ice away,
Oh ! never would I cease to pray,
Till thou in mercy, Lord, didst bring
Into my soul a second spring.
Oh ! then what rich reward and sweet
To lay its harvest at Thy feet!
— Good Word s.
Contributions.
A PLEA FOR MISSIONS.
The Church should be a unit, both i "pint
and effort, on the great subject of Mis ions.
Rut is this the caße? Are there not thous
ands in our Church to-day, who are anti
missionary in their faith and practice? Do
not a majority of our members fail to do any
thing for Foreign Missions? And of those
who do something, how many fall far below
what they ought to do ? The answer to these
questions is found in part, at least, in the
Btatisties of the Church. Some are imbued
with the spirit; others have but a very mea
gre measure; others still seem entirely des
titute of it. If a tree is to be known by its
fruits, I cannot reach any other than the
above conclusion in reference to the mission
ary spirit in thousands of our Church mem
bers. How can we account for this? and
how can we remedy or remove this evil? are
questions which deserve to he seriously con
sidered.- Is it a spirit of unbelief in the
hearts of the delinquent? Do they really
believe that Christ died for a part of the
world only, and not for the whole world ? Or
admitting that He died for all, do they think
that they have no duty to discharge in the
matter of spreading the gospel, no part to
perform in subduing the world to Christ ? Is
it a spirit of despair that has settled down
upon them, and caused them to conclude
that the powers of darkness will ultimately
triumph, and that the glorious conquest of
t! girpel will be cu‘ short before Christ re
ceives all “the heathen for His inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for His
possession?” Surely these anti-christian
principles do not obtain in the Church of
God ; and we may find reasons for the fail
ure of our members to support the missiona
ry cause aside from an affirmative answer to
these questions.
The people are not generally enlightened
on the subject as they should be. There has
been too little earnest labor performed in
this direction. The subject has been denied
that prominence, both in the pulpit and the
public prints, to which its importance entitles
it. The ministry has been remiss at this point.
Many have contented themselves, and quiet
ed, if not silenced, their consciences, by
merely allduing to the subject at the close of
a discourse, and taking a hat collection, with
out ottering any argument to show that Chris
tians are religiously bound to give of their
means to support missions where they are
established, and to establish them where they
are needed and do not exist. This careless,
slovenly way, of treating the whole subject,
illy becomes those who have received their
commission from the Great Head of the
Church, and is well calculated to cause those
who are not thoroughly imbued with the
spirit of consecration, to treat the proposed
collection with contempt. This lightly skim
ming over, and delicately touching, the sub
ject, as though it contained an explosive ele
ment, or was in itself a magazine of destruc
tiveness, is tantamount to an advertisement
of one’s unbelief in the whole missionary
movement of the Church. The conduct of
such speaks to the intelligent observer about
on this wise : “This is a duty imposed upon
me by the Church and Conference of which
I am a member, and in order to maintain my
respectability, J must do this much, though
Ido not believe in it.” The people are not
chargeable with all the blame; the pr seller
comes in for a large share. As pr. .cliers
we have not made the subject of missions the
theme of our pulpit ministrations often
enough. We have not taken hold of the
subject with that resolute earnestness and
determination which never lets go until suc
cess rewards the effort. We admit in words,
the almost paramount importance of this
matter ; why then have we failed to present,
and press the claims of missions in our pul
pits, and in our private intercourse with the
people ? Is it not because we have not car
ried the cause of the poor benighted heathen
into our closets as often as we should have
done? Have not ministers and members
contented themselves too much with repeating
“Thy kingdom come,” without seeking to
realize the import of the prayer? Reform
must begin with the ministry.
Then, lack of full consecration to God and
his Church, is another reason why the Church
does not occupy that advanced position in
regard to missions that she ought to hold.
Missionary intelligence may be disseminated
among the people, the helpless, hopeless,
perishing condition of unenlightened millions
of our race, may be clearly and forcibly por
trayed, and the fact that salvation has been
purchased for them by the blood of Christ,
be proved from the scripture; but all will
fail to bring up the contributions to what
they should be, while people professing god
liness do not have the spirit of consecration
within them ; while they think more of their
houses and lands, their herds and flocks,
their gold and silver, and the adorning of
their bodies, than they do of the Lord who
bought them, and the salvation of immortal
souls. There must be a more thorough con
secration of soul and body, property and all,
to God. There must be a more profound
sense of duty experienced by both preachers
and people, before the “fruit” of the “hand
ful of corn” sown “upon the top of the
mountains, shall shake like Lebanon.”
Paul said to the Galatians, “I am afraid of
you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in
vain.” If the apostle had not told us why
fvoafhet’n fihcisliaw AtltmaU'.
he had these fears, we might have concluded
that he had just taken a collection for mis.
sions. Does not the small amonst contribu
ted by some give rise to such doubt as that
expressed by the apostle in the language just
quoted? This, too, after due allowance has
been made for ignorance in regard to obliga
tion, for a want of well digested plans for
raising money, for lack of talent and tact on
the part of the preacher in presenting the
claims of missions, and for the ever-ready
excuse of hard times. When these and oi her
considerations have been taken into the ac
count, they utterly fail to justify members of
the Church, who are blessed with a sufficien
cy of tiiis world’s goods to keep them above
want, in doling out fifty cents, or a dollar a
year, for missions, when they have had the
privileges of the Church, and the benefits of
the gospel. Despite the utmost stretch of
our charity, we cannot but feel, that such
do not realize that they are giving to the Lord,
and do not appreciate the great and inesti
mable privilege of being co-laborers with
God in the work of human Salvador).
• When the burden of souls is felt, and tiie
spirit of consecration compasses all that is
possessed, there will beau enlarged liberality,
hounded only by the Church’s ability. This
consecration being complete, its concomitant,
self-denial, will be practiced. To refuse to
aid in the support of missions, until every
other want is supplied, is a sad comment ou
the spiritual condition of any Church or in
dividual. To place the work of saving souls
last on the list of duties, is an argument for
depravity and degeneracy. To attempt to
satisfy the demand of conscience, by offering
to God the refuse of what he has blessed you
with, is wicked presumption, and an insult
to the majesty of heaven.
Let us, dear brethren, prosecute this work
the present year with increased zeal. Let
us talk more about missions, let us preach
more on the subject, and above all, let us
pray more earnestly than ever before for their
success. I verily believe that if the preach
ers will devote as much time and earnest
labor to this one work the present year, as is
compatible with their other duties, tl e as
sessments made by the General Board will
all be raised ; and the Board at its next an
nual meeting will be enabled to increase the
number of missionaries to foreign fields. It
is not enough to support the gospel at home,
we must send it to the regions beyond. It is
not enough to pray “ Tby kingdom come,”
we must labor to set it up. It is not enough
to give a few cents or a few dollars for the
cause, we must give according as God has
prospered us. It is not enough (or us to say
amen, when the public prayer is being offer
ed for the universal spread of the gospel, we
must “<7O” and carry the good news if we
can; if not, we must “ send .”
Lake City, Fla.. S. E. Phillips.
THOUGHTS SUITABLE TO THE TIMES.
M it. Editor: Whether what will follow will
he worthy of the name of thoughts or not,
you, and possibly your readers, must judge.
I feel quite well assured of this, that our
people need to think, and that lie, who by
suggestion or otherwise,lends 'hem to do so,
is to that extent a public benefactor. It was
a just and burning rebuke: “My people doth
not consider.” Is this out of date in 1876?
llow many of us with shame, and how
many with joyful confidence will read this
sentiment which I quote from the prophet!
“Although the fig-tree shall not blossom,
neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour
of the olive shall fail, and the field shall
yield no meat; the flock be cut off from the
fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in
the God of my salvation.”
There is a joy of human origin which
perishes with the frail means used to create
and promote it, and there is a joy, a fruit of
the Spirit, which may be as immortal as its
source.
Have we prosperity ? Are conditions ful
filled in our case precisely the opposite of
the prophet’s? Are our fields promising with
the coming harvest? Do our flocks and herds
multiply ? Do riches increase ? Then a sanc
tified use of this prosperity as a means of
grace, will but promote and perfect our joy.
Have we adversity? Are the times hard?
Is money scarce? Do the crops fail? Is the
hope of the husbandman cutoff? What is the
meaning of all such possibilities or realities
as these ? Are they to us the necessary occa
sions of discontent, distressing care, or re
bellion against the will of God ? Or are they—
as they should be—opportunities ?
There is something in man that cotton
bales can’t satisfy, that bank-bills can’t
satisfy, that the dram-bottle can't satisfy,
that “the whole world” can’t satisfy. This
profound depth of the human soul can only
be filled “with the fullness of God.” Let a
man realize this possession, and he rDes into
a sublime height from which he can look un
disturbed on the contending elements below.
The rains may descend, the floods may come,
and the winds may blow; but he is far above
their reach. He realizes that the God of the
universe is his Father, and that whatever
befalls him —fortune or misfortune —is the
appointment of his Father, dictated by wis
dom and goodness, aud wisely, benevolently,
and sweetly, adapted to the peculiar circum
stances of his case.
An humble faith in God, which puts one
meekly at the feet of Jesus, as a learner of
him, will enable us to form right judgments
and to revise and reverse wrong ones. Un
der such blessed tuition, we will find out
that what we misname an evil is as yet an
undiscovered, butjnevertheless, a real bless
ing. What the world calls adversity is fre
quently, in the best sense of the word, pros
perity. A rich man, in the common accep
tation of the word, may be as poor as poverty
itself; and a beggar may be richer than
Croesus. All this too when our vision
sweeps no wider a horizon than this world
presents. Who best appreciates the grandeur
of the ends and aims of life, he, who on a
review of an experience of royal splendor
and ease, cries out in bitterness of heart,
“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity;” or he,
who triumphing amid persecution and toil,
looks back upon the past as a conqueror
upon a battle field, and exclaims: “1 have
fought a good fight 1”
So far from being wrong to have worldly
interests, it is wrong not to have them. We
are here in the order of the Providence of
God, and our human relationships entail
responsibilities aud create duties, which we
can’t neglect but at our peril. Enough for
us to subordinate our temporal interests to
our spiritual, our earthly concerns to our
heavenly, aud thus realiziug our first duty
to God and whatever other duty his Provi
dence may dictate, bo to do them —each and
all —as to enjoy Him in them, and to enjoy
them in Him. “Seek first the Kingdom of
God.” After that, neglect no proper means,
such as industry, economy, and the like, to
procure an honest, decent, and comfortable
living, and take the result as the expression
of the Divine will. If you get riches, use
PUBLISHED. BY J. W. BURKE & COMPANY, FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
riches to the glory of God. If you have
poverty, make your poverty a blessing.
But I will close with a thought which is a
natural climax to such reflections as we have
been pursuing. This present life is hut a
small seguieut of that life, the most of which
is hid with God. The deficiencies of this
life are more than made up in the abounding
excellencies and glories of that. Here we
have sickness, there perpetual health. Here
pove-ty; there, wealth. Here, affliction;
there, “an exceeding great and abundant
weight of glory.”
And now, Mr. Editor, in taking leave of
my subject, and of you for the present, let
me invoke the benediction of Heaven upon
this humble service which I dedicate to my
MastetNuifl Lord. Unable to preach to day,
I would have some little testimonial of labor
and rewardX. The labor is with God. My
enjoyment of it is a part of my reward.
Williamston, &. C. S. A. W.
Selections.
LETTER FROM CHINA.
Shanghai, China, May 12. 1876.
liev. D. C. Kelley, D.D., Assistant Secretary
Board of Missions, M. E. Church, South :
Dear Brother: At the close of the past
quarter, March 31, I am glad to s ! ate, the
work in Shanghai and at all our stations is
very encouraging. I would have reported at
an earlier date, but my health was such as to
prevent me from doing so at once. But I
thank my God that the prayers of his people
have been heard, and I feel to-day, as also,
the past two weeks, that my strength and
healih are returning. My soul is filled with
thankfulness and praise for the great loving,
kindness of our kind and loving Father in
heaven. At our station in Naziang I bap
tized two persons in March. One was the
teacner in the school at that place, and the
other was the wife of Bro. Fong, our preach
er at that place. This teacher seems to be
an earnest man, and I trust may become a
useful man in the Church. At Soochow we
have succeeded in renting a house on a good
street. The house is being built according
to contract, and will contain several rooms.
There will be a book-room in connection
with the Church. Ido trust, as soon as we
get into this new building, we shall meet
with more encouragement in our work there.
Bro. Parker is engaging heartily in his work,
and is making excellent progress in the writ
ten and spoken language, and we trust he
will soon be able to do effective work in his
new field of labor. He has been with me to
visit some of the cities to the south of Soo
chow, where we hope some day to open sta
tions and commence a work. There are no
places of worship in these large cities which
should be occupied. We did not succeed in
getting a house at the city of Chingpoo dur
ing the last visit. The people are quite
willing to let their houses, but the officials,
though pretending to be favorably disposed,
and willing, as they say, that we should
have a house, yet secretly are intimidating
the people. But we will succeed by and bv.
as the Lord in hie good providence opens ihe
way. Our work at the village of Wongdoo
is very encouraging, and also the work at
Naziang. Our schools are all in excellent
working order, both in Shanghai and in the
interior. On the first of May we opened a
new day-school in Shanghai, in connection
with the native parsonage we have just com
pleted. This makes two day-schools in
Shanghai, and one boarding school, one day
school in Naziang, one day-school in Kard
ing, and one hoarding school in Soochow.
We hope to open another day school in the
city of Shanghai very soon. Our work is
extending, and, of course, the necessary
labor to be done is increasing. We put as
much work upon our native preachers and
Bible women as we can, hut the work and
labor of the foreign missionary is also in
creased to a very great extent. Can we not
have more missionary ladies for this work?
It is greatly needed just now in our mission
at Shanghai. If you can send us some such
help—ladies who are somewhat advanced in
tile, say thirty or thirty-five years of age —
determined to devote themselves to this
work, we shall be very thankful. Our schools
are increasing in number, and it is impossi
ble for one lady to look after all, and do them
justice. Our native parsonage has been com
pleted, and a school-house built in connec
tion with it. It forms a very nice compound
on the Liew lot. It has been built at a cost
of two hundred and four Mexican dollars.
Half of the amount was paid from the fund
of the Woman’s Bible Mission, Nashville,
and the other half has been paid from the
rent of the houses on the lot. Avery inter
esting school of girls has been opened there,
and I feel sure there will be a good work
begun among the women in the neighbor
hood. Bro. Allen’s school room has been
so arranged that we can now have preaching
there twice a week. With the prayers and
the help of God's people in Christian lands
the good work will go on. Good news reaches
us from Hankow, Hangchow, and Ningpo,
that a good work of grace is going on in the
.-chools and in all their congregations. We
are grea'ly encouraged in Shanghai to see an
increased earnestness in the native Chris
tians, and also an increase of interest on the
part of the heathen around us to hear the
glad news of salvation. We confidently ex
pect a blessing: but how utterly inadequate
are we 10 carry on this great work without
the aid of that power which is given from on
high I The Lord is working in the hearts of
many around us in this land and in Japan.
A wonderful work is going on in Japan. Can
we not have some part in this glorious work?
Cannot one or two men be sent to Kobe or
Osaka, or Iviota—all large cities, and very
near each other? I would recommend either
Osaka or Kiota. It is in the inland sea, and
very healthy, and there is air immense poprf
lation in these two cities. If we had a mis
sion there, we from China, ip case of ill
health, could reach this point in about four
days. I would like very much to see Walter
appointed to Japan if the board thought it
necessary or expedient to open a mission
there. I think he would find a more exten
sive opening in Japan, and a more readiness
to receive the truth. If we had a mission
there we could be in easy communication
with each other in regard to the progress of
the work in both countries. I feel sure that
if the hoard did determine to establish a mis
sion in Japan they would not regret the step.
All over Japan churches are being formed,
and many of the Japanese are professing faith
in Christ. It is one of the most interesting
fields of labor for the missionary which we
have in any part of the East.
Praying the blessing of God to rest upon
all your labors, I remain yours in the bonds
of Christian fellowship, J. W. Lambuth.
Science has no faith-begetting power.
Therefore a Christian faith should not rest
upon scholastic wisdom, but ou the power
of God renewing his heart.
MACON, GEORGIA, TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1576.
TRUST IN GOD.
The happiness of the Christian is always
in proportion to the sincerity and depth of
his trust in God. He may be overwhelmed
by affliction, his plans may be thwarted, his
good name assailed, his hopes for this world
blasted; and yet, if he has an unimpaired,
serene, loving trust in God, his peace will
be as a river, whose pure depths and strong
currents are undisturbed by the things that
vex its surface. Nowhere in the Bible is
this trust more powerfully and sublimely
depicted than in the prayer of Habakkuk:
“Although the fig tree shall not blossom,
neither shall fruit be iu the vines; the labor
of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall
yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from
the fold, and there shall be no herd in the
stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will
joy in the God of my salvation.” The sub
lime poetry of the Orient is in these words,
hut they are not too strong to express the
feelings of one in any clime or age, whose
mind'and heart are truly “stayed on God:”
In times of prosperity, when our veins are
full of healthy blood, when family and social
ties are unbroken, and our hopes and ambi
tions are not thwarted but moving on in the
full tide of success, we may easily persuade
ourselves that we are trusting in God, while
in fact, our faith iu him is of the feeblest sort.
It is when troubles come, and all earthly sup
ports fail us, that our faith is put to the test.
If then our trust does not fail us. happy in
deed are we. Such a faith is not too dearly
purchased by any earthly calamity or loss,
and to many doubtless it never comes through
any other process. Any trouble or affliction
that brings us near to God and leads us to
cast ourselves unreservedly upon Him as our
strength, our providence, and our eternal
hope, is a blessing for which we should, be
profoundly thankful. Such a faith exalts
and enn bles all the virtues and graces of
humanity, deepens the sources and widens
the domain of character, and fits us for the
highest usefulness and happiness in any
sphere of life. Such a faith gives us power
over men, to win them from selfish and
worldly ways and bring them to Christ. We
may have a creed of unquestioned soundness,
and know howf to depend it by arguments
that no man can impeach; but if we lack the
“sweetness and light” that are born of a
pure trust in God and a sense of intimacy
with him, our influence as Christians will he
poor and small. It. is well to preach Christ
in our words, but far better to preach him in
our example, and by all the influences that
flow out of a character formed upon the mo
del of his Divine manhood. The trust in
God of which we speak will cause our faces
to shine and our eyes to glow with a heaven
ly radiance, and our lives will distil an aroma
so pure, that men, taking knowledge of us
that we have been with Jesus, will he drawn
toward Him by an irresistible attraction.
Trust in God is a well-spring of joy and
peace in the heart, springing up evermore
unto life eternal. Having this Divine inheri
tance, knowing God as he is revealed in
Christ Jesus, and having no will hut His, we
can appreciate, as descriptive of our own
d-1!y experience, '.the-precious linos > f Faber: 4
“He always wins who sides with God,
To him no chance is lost;
God’s will is sweetest to him when
It triumphs at his cost.
“11l that God blesses is our good,
And unblest good is ill;
And all is right, that seems most wrong,
If it be His dear will.
“When obstacles and trials seem
Like prison-walls to be
I do the little I can do,
And leave the rest to Thee.
“I have no cares, O blessed Willi
For all my cares are Thine;
I live in triumph, Lord, for Thou
Hast made Thy triumphs mine.”
Christian Union.
CASTELAR ON TOLERATION.
The article on religious toleration, in the
new Spanish constitution, has passed both
houses of the national legislature. In its dis
cussion before the Cortes, a brilliant assem
bly, composed of “the statesmen of every
shade of political feeling, the whole diplo
matic bodies, the ladies of fashion, and the
passing stranger,” was electrified and en
thralled by the eloquence of the noble advo
cate of religious liberty, Senor Castelar. One
account says : “The whole speech was deliv
ered without hisitation ; it was replete with
historical erudition, and glowing wit,and ten
der pathos; the rich, musical tones of the
orator ran through every niche and corner of
the Congress ; bursts of suppressed applause
followed at the conclusion of each separate
division of the subject.” We make a brief
extract from his brilliant and weighty speech:
‘ From the day when the elements of hu
man matter rose up from confusion of chaos,
uprose with them, spirit, and heart, and con
science. That spirit you cannot curb; that
conscience you cannot bind by any human
law of coercion. Try it! It has been tried ;
it has ever failed ; it ever will fail. And why V
Because it is against the will of the great
Creator of the universe. The State has ever
—in the pages of divine or human history go
and seek it —sought to bind down the con
science of men. Pharoah, who represen
ted the State, sought to force his own form
of worship upon Moses and the Jews ; Pilate,
the State representative, through seeking to
do this, wetted his hands in the blood of the
spotless One. Nero, the Cossack of the Don,
King Henry the Eighth and his harlot Parlia
ment, Charles the Fourth—all these, powers
of the State, committed a like fatal error ;
and how their names sound to our ears?
No, brother deputies, you cannot do it. The
State and the conscience are two great pow
ers, but they are separate entities, and each
has its own work in the universe; the State
is the representative of authority to enforce
what is morally and legally clearly right;
but the conscience has a higher, finer, keen
er task to perform.
“I see honored statesmen around me who
wish to hind the conscience of their subjects
by the power and force of the State. What,
brother deputies, if the State tells you what
is the true, what the false religion, would
you believe it? If you do, if you will vote
for a religious unity of coercion, why you are
voting that the power of human law shall be
paramount and tyrannize over the divine and
moral powers of the human soul. Conscience
is uncoercible, is inviolate; you may per"
suade, but never can you coerce it by force.
No, deputies, you know you cannot. You
can move it by inspiring it with anew idea ;
you cannot move it by a mandate. The per
secutor gels his way outwardly, hut he does
not in reality. Outward obedience and as
sent is all he can obtain ; and is such a vic
tory to be called a triumph ?
“Sirs, I charge no one with desiring to
bring back the cursed age of torments, the
horrors of the Inquisition, the street and al
tar smeared with innocent blood. Nay ; but
sirs, I charge you with trying to coerce men
to be hypocrites and liars from fear-fear
lest their children should be illegimate, fear
lest their rights of citizenship be taken from
t':TvP, fear lest when dead their bones should
rot on some dung-hill, or in theCampo. You
sajv ‘The State undertakes to support the
Reman Catholic religion, aud its ministers.’
Well, I give that creed its due honor; I own
its beauty, aud its force, and its antiquity.
An! you say: ‘This is the true religion.’
Sirs, are you so gross as to say, ‘This is the
true.’ because it is imposed by human law
am* force of arms ? Nay, you will surely say,
‘Tips is the true because, and only because,
it recommends itself to your own heart and
coi-*science as the true one ; and, if so, why
do-*ou want a human law to force you to fol
low that which your conscience tells you is
tru? , Are you afraid of a rival ? Sirs, you
do An honor to Protestantism, if you think it
so true as to he able, in a fair race, to outrun
Roman Catholicism. But it it be not true,
this religion of the State —if it be not true,
broiaer deputies, what then? Magna est
verAis etpraesalebit. If the Roman Catho
lic creed be true, it will prevail by force of
truth ; if Protestantism be true, it will pre
v L LSisd you cannot crush it. If this liberty
K)f c onscience be of God, you cannot; if of
mai*,, you need not, crush it.
THE SINS OF THE GOOD-NATURED
31AX.
Ihe Good-Natured Man is asked by some
spendthrift'“friend” to lend him five dollars.
It is as good as certain that the money will
never be rapid. But the Good-Natured Man
liat-s to say No, aud so he lends the mouey—
which he really needs for his wife and
children. In other words, his wife must
come short on anew bonnet, or his children
must wait still longer for the needed new
shoes, in order that this seedy spendthrift
“accommodated” with five dollars.
liie Good Natured Man is asked to en
dorse a man’s note. The one who wishes
him to endorse the note is one to whom he
is not in any way beholden, one whom he is
not under any obligation to assist. There is
no reason why he should be expected to be
con,: security for this man, but he hates to
“disappoint” any one, and so lie signs his
nan t@. By and-by he finds that he has got
the note, and he is obliged to sell his
hoif tu.nd lot, perhaps, to raise the money.
In oilier words, his wife and children must
be t urned out-of doors, because he was so
anxious to “accommodate” a man to whom
he owed nothing at all.
Tte Good-Natured Man is perhaps a min
istei. As such, his name and recommenda
tion are worth something. He is asked to
reco.amend a book which he knows, or
shot.ld know, to be worthless—to say that it
is ms extremely valuable work, while, in
fact, Jie does not believe it to he such. He
is to sign a recommendation that a
cer in man he appointed to a certain posi
tioi* when he knows that this man is utterly
incooupetent to till the place. But he wishes
to ♦'-'accommodate” the book agent —he
“fet ig sorry” for the candidate for the office,
and he signs his name to help defraud the
pe jie with a worthless book, or to defraud
the ''immunity at large by having an unsuit
ahltfman appointed to the place in question.
rtJ 1 haps the Good-Natured Man becomes
a newspaper. Tneic is *eni, to
him a long article which the writer is very
anx us should be published, but in which
the tiblic will feel no interest. Now a mo
tnet t’s thought would show that the money
of subscribers is taken on the condition that
the; are to receive the very best reading
mat er that can he furnished. But to please
the writer, Dr. Spinyarn, this long, prosy
arti.he is published, and the thousand or ten
thousand subscribers are defrauded —actual-
ly defrauded —by having poorer material
givt u them than they have contracted for.
But the Good-Natured editor soon finds,
however, that the subscribers have one way
of defending themselves. They “stop taking
the paper,” and the thing collapses.
The Good-Natured Man is guilty of moral
cowardice. He knows that he ought not to
“accommodate” every man who comes to
him with a request, but he has not the cour
age to look a man square iu the eye and say,
“No.” Rather than refuse to “oblige” one
whops perhaps an entire stranger, he will
brnlfjhe greatest evils on those nearest him.
The old precept was, “Thou shalt love thy
neighbor and hate thine enemy”—but the
Good Natured Man is very good indeed to
strangers, and very hard on his nearest
friends. Good nature should begin at home.
Let ). man “accommodate” his wife and
children before giving up everything for
strajg, 'S. Let him not be unjust in order
to b i obliging.”— Examiner.
< ■ ♦
igSSIGN IN THE ATMOSPHERE.
Tfe wisdom of God is clearly manifested
in tR: adaptations of the vast expense of at
moa'rlieric air which surrounds this globe
and Envelopes all that it contains.
While the sun is the great source of light,
yet the co-operation of the atmosphere to
diffu e that light is essential to the proper
illumination of the earth. To the atmos
phere we are to ascribe the sweet glories of
the cay, the delicious blue of the heavens,
and ; ne soft and soothing shade of the land
scap Without it the sky would be black
as etuny, and out of it the sun would gleam
likef iffd hot. ball ; and his beams, like a
ray passing through an aperture into a dark
room, would reveal only the objects on
which they fell, or those from which they
were directly reflected. Without atmos
phere there would be no twilight, morning,
or evening; the sun, at the commencement
of the day, would, at one bound, burst from
the bosom of night in all its unbearable bril
liancy; and, at the close of day, would sud
denly plunge out of view, and leave us at
once in utter darkness. To the atmosphere
we owe all the glories of the setting sun,
when heaven puts on her most gorgeous
rober, and for all the loveliness of the soften
ing twilight that succeeds.
Bv means of the atmosphere birds wing
their way through space, and insects flit
from flower to flower. Without it. the busy
bee could never gather and lay vtp her nectar
store, nor the morning lark ascend on high
to pour forth her early song. Without it
even the eagle and the condor would flap
their wings in vain ; flight would be impos
sible)
is also the vehicle of smell,
by w4tibh we are warned of what is unwhole
some or offensive, anti attracted to wfat is
desirable and pleasing. Without it we should
never he regaled with the perfume of incense,
or the sweet odors of flowers from garden or
field.
The atmosphere is likewise the medium of
sound. In its absence eternal silence must
have reigned ; conversation could have been
carried on by signs only, while music would
have remained an impassibility—that is, sup
posing that, under such circumstances, men
could have existed to converse or sing. The
vibrations of the air, like speedy messengers,
are what convey our thoughts to others, and
those of others to us. r lhe air is the chan
nel through which man holds communion
with his fellows, and receives the indiscriba
ble pleasures that spring from the words of
friendship, the voice of love, and all the
soothing charms of melody.
Thus in the air as in other portions of the
universe, we see the wisdom, the design,
and the goodness of that Creator who “saw
everything he had made, and behold it was
very good.”— Science and the Bible.
“ THIS IS NOT YOUR REST.”
No, “not thy rest,” poor pilgrim, worn and
weary,
Foot sore aud fainting on life’s darksome
waste;
Thy sky o’ercast, the storm-clouds howling
dteary,
And threat’ning death in every angry blast.
No, “not thy rest,” for there’s no safety near
thee,
And “moth and rust corrupt” thy choicest
things;
The midnmht thief breaks through, and scorns
to fear thee.
And all thy boasted treasures “make them
wings.”
No, “not thy rest;” thy direst foe within thee,
Betrajs thy soul in every pas-iug pour;
Passions and lusts and lair temptations win
thee,
And make thee feel the arch-destroyer’s
power.
Then “rise and flee;” there is arc-t above thee;
No moth, nor rust, nor thief can enter there,
Nor hard oppressor, dark as assiu move thee;
Not even death shall cloud thy brow with
care.
Yes, there’s a rest, poor weary wand’ring
strange>;
“Arise aud flee,” and let 1 by soul he glad;
In that blest home they never reck of danger,
No foot is weary, and no heart is sad.
Then “r’se and flee;’’ thy Saviour waits to meet
thee
And all thy loved companions gone before,
With outstretched wings, are hasting now to
greet thee.
And bid thee welcome to that peaceful shore.
There evermore the ransomed millions wander,
And bathe for ever in that boundless flood;
There tune their harps, and deathless praises
render
To Him who bought them with his priceless
blood. — Methodist Home Journal.
FRUITS OF UNBELIEF.
What are the political and social fruits of
unbelief in a general way ? History very
plainly tells us, that, apostasy from the faith
very soon deprives a nation of its power and
authority. As in the family, when is life is
not haed upon the fear of God, all domestic
bonds are soon destroyed by the unfettered
power of selfishness, so that dangerous laxi
ty or arbitrariness is substituted for earnest
discipline in the education of children ; so in
civil and national life, the people that will
not bow to Divine authority will eventually
break through the bounds of all human or
der in endless revolutions. The self-love
which would fain he wiser than Divine revel
ation, at last snaps all bonds of society. Un
belief will ruin every nation which does not
in time resist its all-poisoning influences.
In our attack on unbelief we must oppose
these as its fruits. It boasts itself of helping
progress, and hinders it; it inscribes “cul
ture” on its banner, and threatens us with a
new and worse barbarism. It promises to
bring in the age of true humanity, and yet it
injures the dignity of man so as to deprive
him of any specific moral value, because it
overlooks thpfact that humanity can only he
saved and prosper by means of divinity ! We
protest, then, against unbelief, in the name,
not only of Scripture, of faith, and of God’s
honor, which it tramples in the dust; not
only of our spiritual experience, which it
does not understand, hut also of reason,
which it leads astray. We protest against
it in the name of a healthy Church life, of
fruit-bearing preachings and care of souls,
of the truth and purity, aye, of good taste
and aesthetics of our worship ; in the name
of a healthy discipline and constitution of
our congregational life; of independence of
the Church, which by it is betrayed to the
state ; and the Church’s energy and power
of increase ; of self sacrificing and self-deny
ing love; of home and foreign missions,
which it tries to paralyze ; in the name of
all practical tasks of the Christian life, for
which it has neither a deeper understanding,
nor yet energy to carry them out; in the
name of morals and all true humanity, which
it undermines and destroys, since it separ
ates them from religion and gaps its Divine
foundations. We protest against it, not only
as Christians, but as citizens and patriots
who truly love their country, becanse the
prosperous future of a nation, its freedom
and power, its flourishing and healthy de
velopment, essentially depend upon its hon
esty, holding fast to the Gospel as the truth
and life from God.— -Theodore Christlieb.
REUNION IN HEAVEN.
If the mere conception of the reunion of
good men in a future state infused a mornen
tary rapture into the mind of Tally—if an
airy speculation (for there is reason to fear
it had little bold on his convictions) could
inspire him with such delight—what may
we be expected to feel, who are assured of
such an event by the true sayings of God l
How should we rejoice in the prospect, the
certainty rather, of spending a blissful eter
nity with those whom we loved on earth, of
seeing them emerge from the ruins of the
tomb, and the deeper ruins of the fall, not
only uniojured, but refined and perfected,
“ with every tear wiped from their eyes,”
standing before the throne of God and the
Lamb in white robes, with palms in their
hands, crying with a loud voice: “ Salva
tion to God that sitteth upon the throne, and
to the Lamb, for ever and ever!” What
delight will it afford to renew the sweet
counsel we have taken together, to reeount
the toils of combat, and the labor of the
way, and to approach not the house, but the
throne of God in company, in order to join
in the symphonies of heavenly voices, and
lose ourselves amidst the splendors and fru
itions of the beatific vision 1 To that state
all the pious on earth are tending; and if
there is a law from whose operations none
are exempt, which irresistibly conveys their
bodies to darkness and to dust, there is an
other, not less certain or less powerful,
which conducts their spirits to the abodes of
bliss, to the bosom of their Father and
their God. The wheels of nature are not
made to roll backward. Everything presses
on toward eternity. From the birth of time
an impetuous current, has set in, which bears
all the sons of men toward that intermina
ble ocean. Meanwhile heaven is attracting
to itself whatever is congenial to its nature,
is enriching itself by the spoils of earth, and
collecting within its capaeioue bosom what
ever is pure, permanent and divine, leaving
nothing for the last fire to consume hut the
ohjects and the slaves of concupiscence;
while everything which grace has prepared
and beautified shall be gathered and select
ed from the ruins, to adorn that eternal city
“ which hath no need of the sun, neither of
the moon, to shiue in it, for the glory of God
doth enlighten it, and the Lamb is the light
thereof.” Let us obey the voice that calls
us thither; let us seek the things that are
above, and no longer cleave to a world that
must shortly perish, and which we must
shortly quit, while we neglect to prepare for
that in which we are invited to dwell forever.
Let us follow in the track of those holy men
who have taught us by their voice and en
couraged us by their example, that, “ laying
aside every weight, and the sin that most
easily besets us, we may run with patience
the race set before us.” While everything
within us and around us reminds us of the
approach of death, and concurs to teach us
that this is not our rest, let us hasten our
preparations for another world, and earnestly
implore that grace which alone can put an
end to the fatal war which our desires have
too long waged with our destiny. When
these move in the same direction, and that
which the will of Heaven renders unavoida
ble shall become our choice, all things will
be ours. Life will be divested of its vanity,
and death of its terrors.— Robert Hall.
WHILE YE HAVE THE LIGHT.
While ye have the light, walk in the light.
Present privileges are for present improve
ment, hut we are very prone to neglect the
present while thinking of the future or of the
past. We look backward with sorrow as we
remember our failures and neglects. We
look forward with hope and dream of better
days, and more extended usefulness; hut on
the present, the only time which is ours, and
which enwraps within itself all our oppor
tunities, we look with comparative indiffer
ence. To-day the light of revelation, the
light of providence, the light of the Holy
Spirit, the light of life are shining on our
path. Now, while we have the light let us
walk in it. Now, while we have the oppor
tunity let us improve it. Now, while the
commands of God are laid upon us, let us
obey them from the heart.
Ilow suddenly our circumstances change.
The light which we neglect may be taken
from us. Sickness may come; poverty may
come; adversity may come; pain may feel
for our heart-strings, and death strike home
to the centre of our lives, and all our oppor
tunities be past. Now affords us every pri
vilege, but the hereafter may be as barren as
Sahara.
The antediluvians refused to walk in the
light, when they had the light, but when the
floods came, how glad would they have been
could they have shared the privileges that
Noah enjoyed. The Sodomites had light,
refused to walk in it, and were destroyed
with fire from heaven. The chosen people
of God neglected the light that was given to
them, wandered in darkness, and stumbled
upon the dark mountains, and while they
looked for light, it became gross darkness,
and was turned into the shadow of death.
The world to-day are rejecting Christ who
is the light and life of men. They have the
light, but refuse it; they see it, hut will not
walk in it. But a day shall come when
God shall call men to account for the ligh t
which they have received, the light which
they have rejected, the light which they have
ri fused ! May God help us, now in the liv
ing Present, to walk in the light we have re
ceived, faithfully and steadfastly, aud bring
us at last to dwell with Christ who is the
light and life of men. — The Christian.
MY STAlts !
Right over there, to-night, above the south
ern horizon, a triangle of three bright stars
shines like diamonds in the sky. That
brightest one is Sirius. It was the watch
dog of the Nile. It rose when the great Nile
flood rose every year. As they had fever
then, they thought the Dog Star Sirius warn
ed them of fevers. And some people here
believe the rising of the Dog-Star—dog-days,
are fever days.
How brilliant, it i9 ! Wonder how far off
it is I Let’s see; how shall we come at it ?
The tailor measures by the yard; but
the yard-measure won’t do. Railroads
measure by the mile. Well, that may do to
start on. Let’s get a few distances. From
New York to Chicago is, say 1000 miles, to
Denver, Col., 2000 miles, to San Francisco
3000 miles. A pretty broad country, that.
But this will hardly do for the stars. It
may do for the star worlds that belong to
our sun. The moon is 240,000 miles off.
About 500 times as far —say 100,000,000
miles—and we come to the sun. It is a lit
tle less, but that will d0—130,000,000 miles
to the sun.
Now that bright blue star, Sirius, that
looks so little beside our sun, is over 100,-
000,000 times as far from us as the sun —
that is, 100,000,000 times lj million miles,
or about 100,000 000,000 miles. That’s a
good ways off, and a good many figures.
But 100,000 000,000 don’t get much knowl
edge into our heads. Let’s try another way.
The ears run about thirty miles an hour. To
get to the moon on the cars would take 333
days—say one year. To get to tire sun we
would have to go, if we lived long enough,
about 376 years. And now for a long trip.
If we could ride to Sirius on the cars, at the
rate of thirty miles an hour, we should get
there in about" 376,000,000 years, allowing
for no way stations at the moon and the sun.
But that is a little more time than most of
us can spare for a pleasure trip.
Let's try another plan to find out how far
Sirius is. If we can’t go, may he we can
see. Light travels faster .than the cars.
Light goes at the rate of 184,000 miles a sec
ond. In about eight and one-half minutes
the first ray of light reaches us from the sun,
after he rises in the morning. Now, although
that is traveling pretty fast, yet it would take
a ray of light, starting from Sirius twenty
three years to reach us here; it will take
the Sirians twenty three years waiting to see
the glories of our one hundredth liberty
year, and the splendid show of the Centen
nial at Philadelphia, the gathering of the
fruits of the great republic, and the gather
ing of the fruits of the nations of the earth
will not dazzle their eyes till about the year
1900. If Sirius were blotted out to-day, yet
for twenty-three years its splendor would
gem the southern sky, and only when twen
ty-Jiree years nad gone by would we know
the dire catastrophe by a dark space eclips
ing the brilliant star. What a great blazing
sun it is, pouring out its white heat way into
the untraveled immensity !
We think some people and some things
big in this wo.rld of ours. But when we
look at this mighty sun, mightier than 2000
of our suns, and then remember that the
eye can see 6000 of them in the sparkling
sky, and that the glass can see 20,000,000 of
them, some of them smaller, hut many of
them far mightier than this glorious Sirius,
we begin to feel our own dimension, and,
though we can never take its measure, yet
we can look with awe and reverence on the
mighty universe of God.
Dr. H. A. Reynolds is a remarkably sue
eessful temperance agitator in New England.
He claims to have induced 51,000 persons
to sign the pledge within two years. He
calls cider “hell’s kiudling wood,” and asks
converts to wear red ribbons in their button
holes as a notification that they will never
have red in their noses.
F. M. KENNEDY, D. D Editor.
J. W. HURKE, Assistant Editor.
A. G. lIAYGOOD, D. D., Editorial Correspondent.
WHOLE NUMBER 200(5.
MISCELLANEA.
Bishop Marvin expects to sail for China,
from San Francisco, about the Ist of Novem
ber. Rev. E. R. Hendrix, of Missouri will
be his travelling companion on the tour.
The number of printing presses in the col
onies in 1776 was 40. The number of libra
ries in 1870, was 164,815, with 45,528,938
volumes, and the aggregate circulation of
the newspapers and periodicals was 1,500,-
000,000 copies annually.
In the British House of Commons a peti
tion wound on a roller three feet in length
and two feet in diameter, and signed by
102,000 persons, was presented, praying that
no further advances be allowed to members
of the royal family until a full statement be
made of its present income.
The secularization or confiscation of the
monasteries and convents in Greece is pro
posed. There are now 138 monasteries and
7 nunneries, with 1,720 monks and 168 nuns,
in Greece. The yearly income of the con
ventual property is about SIOO,OOO, and the
full value of the monasteries is estimated at
from six to ten million dollars.
An association has been formed among
influential ladies in Germany, whose mem
bers agree to neither give nor attend halls on
the Lord’s day, but to attend church regu
larly, and enable their dependents to do so;
to avoid all unnecessary visiting, and every
thing that adds to the labor of servants, and
prevents their enjoying a day of rest.
In a closet near the door of the Church of
St. Nicholas, Leipsic, is the pulpit in which
Martin Luther, the Reformer, preached.
The pulpit of the celebrated Richard Baxter
is still preserved in the vestry of the Unita
rian Church at Kidderminster. It is small
and of the octagonal form. In the front of
it near the top are the words in yellew let
ters, “Praise ye the Lord.”
According to Rowell’s Newspaper Direc
tory for 1876, the New York Observer has a
circulation of 23,000; Independent, 21,000;
Christian Union, 21,000; Illustrated Chris,
tian Weekly 28,000; Evangelist, 13,000
Interior. 10,000; Herald and Presbyter,
15.050; Presbyterian, ofPhiladelphia, 12,000;
Occident, of San Francisco, 2,000 ; Alliance,
3,000; St. Louis Presbyterian, 3,000. Quite
a declension from the figures of former years,
for most of these journals.
The third Synod of the Old Catholics was
recently held in Bonn. There were present
thirty-one priests and seventy-six delegates
from Old Catholic communities. According
to the report, there are now thirty-five com
munities in Prussia, forty four in Baden, five
in Hesse, two in Birkenfield, thirty-one in
Bavaria, and one in Wurtemburg. The whole
number of persons belonging to them is
17,203 —in Bavaria 10,110, iu Hesse 1042, in
Oldenburg 249, in Wurtemburg 223. The
number of Old Catholic priests is in Germany
sixty. The rest of the meeting was devoted
to the discussion of regulations regarding the
ritual.
The twenty-first international Convention
of the Young Men’s Christian Association,
of the United States and the British Prov
inces. was held in Toronto, week before last.
Ten years ago only sixty-five associations
reported, and fifty-two were represented in
the Convention. Then but one building was
owned by the associations, costing SIO,OOO.
One year ago five hundred and fifty-four ac
tually reported, with nearly two hundred
delegates in Convention, and reporting fifty
six buildings, costing in round numbers
$2,500,000. Young Men’s Christian Asso
ciations are now numerously established ou
the Continent of Europe, in Australia, Ha
waiian Islands, Japan, and other foreign
lands.
Wiiat is known as the Methodist Confer
ence Bill has passed through the British Par
liament and received the Royal Assent. It
enables the Wesleyan Conference to give sat
isfactory organization and proper independ
ence to the societies and conferences which
have grown up under the auspices of the
Wesleyan Missionaries in the British Colo
nies. The necessity for this additional legis
lation grew out of the action of the mother
Conference granting independent existence
to the Australasian Conferences. It was
thought by eminent counsel that the British
Conference had exceeded its powers in its
generous grant of power to these Confer
ences. The Bill pronounces the former ac
tion of the British Conference valid, and
grants it power to delegate or confer, with
or without, the power of revocation, all its
powers to conferences already or hereafter
constituted in the colonies or dependencies
of the United Kingdoms. The Act, how
ever, does not empower the British Confer
ence to confer its powers upon a Conference
in Ireland.
The Presbyterian Foreign Missionary tab
ulates thus the growth of Protestant Chris
tian missions in the past fifty years. Fifty
years ago there were four missionary socie
ties in the United States—the American
Board, organized in 1810, the Baptist Board
1814, the Methodist Board, 1819, the Pro
testant Episcopal Board, 1821. Only the
first two had their missionaries outside of
titer United States. The estimated number
of converts at the time was 40.000, of whom
84,000 were blacks in the West Indies and
Guiana. The annual contributions for missions
in all Protestantism were about $1,000,000
the Churches of the country giving about one
ninth. There were about 400 ordained mis
sionaries. The average annual contributions
of all Protestant missionary organizations is
about $6,000,000. The present number of
communicants in mission stations is thus es
timated: Africa and-Madagascar, 130,000;
Europe, 53,500, Asia, 120,000; Polynesia,
70,000; North and South America, 21,500;
West Indies, 105,000; making a total of
500,000.
The Coptic Church in Egypt is described
by an experienced English issionary as the
most degraded of the Oriental Churches. Its
superstitions seem to have been deepened by
the influence of Mohammedanism. The mis
sionary was present at a marriage service at
which two priests officiated. While the
Scriptures were being translated from Cop
tic into Arabic they sat on the floor, and ap-
peared to talk and joke in the most disgrace
ful manner. Their private prayers are re
peated seven times a day, and are in the
highest degree mechanical. After they have
repeated a great deal of Scripture, they say,
“O my Lord, have mercy,” forty-nine times,
in Arabic, counting off the number on a
string of beads. Their fasts are very long
and arduous, and, besides those observed at
special seasons, include every Wednesday
and Friday. To the United Presbyterians
of America has been committed the work of
resupplying this fallen Church with the gos
pel. The mission station at Alexandria is
not very flourishing. Those at Cairo aud in
the Fayurn are more promising, while the
mission at Osiut, Upper Egypt, bids fair to
revolutionize the Coptic Church of that dis
trict.