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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.