Newspaper Page Text
TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS.
IPEIR. annum;.
VOLUME XXXIX., NO. 33.
THE GREAT REFINER.
He eh all sit an a refiner and purifier of silver.
’Tis sweet to feel that He who tries
The silver, takes his seat
Beside the tire that purifies.
Lest too intense a heat.
Raised to cousume the base alloy.
The precious rnetal should destroy.
’Tis good to think how well He knows
Tnc silver’s power to bear
The ordeal through which it goes;
And that with skill and care,
He’ll take it from the tire wheu fit,
For His own hand to polish it.
’Tis blessedness to know that He,
Tne piece He has began
Will not forsage, till He can see,
To prove the work well done;
An image by its brightness sLown,
The perfect image of its own.
Then Great Refiner ! sit Thou by,
Thy promise to fulfill:
Moved by the hand, beneath Thine eye,
Aud melted at Thy will :
O may the work forever shine,
Reflecting biauty pure as Thine.
Contributions. , \
THE 0L1) SA.jTEE (TRCUIT.-Xo. 2.
The earliest ant] only authentic record of
the churches in Santee circuit now accessi
ble, is the Quarterly Conference journal, ex
tending from December 7th, 1810, to 26th
November, 1831. The churches forming the
circuit are not there recorded until March
10th, 1821. These are Clark’s, now Andrew
chapel : Taw-caw, now St. Paul’s —both in
the present Santee circuit; Rehoboth and
Oak Grove, now in Manning circuit; Green
Swamp, now Sumter station; Providence
and Rembert’s, now in'Sumter circuit; Beth
lehem and Russell’s chapel, now St. Luke’s,
both in Bishopvillecircuit; Marshall’s, Bethe
ny, Bethel, now in Kershaw circuit; Knight’s,
now Fork creek, and Zion, in Chesterfield
circuit; Stephens’, now Union, in Hebron
circuit; Branch meeting-house and Owens’
now unknown. Eighteen in all.
In 1822 Branch meeting house is omitted,
and Bradford’s, Robinson’s, Pritchard’s,
Pack’s, Zoar. Bennett’s, Mulberry and New
Prospect, are added.
In 1823 Bradford’s, Pritchard's, Pack’s,
and Bennett’s disappear, and New Hope is
added. No record of the churches after un
til 1830, when Sumterville, Sardis, Willis’,
Ebenezer, aud Pine Log, are given.
There may he doubt as to Clark’s being the
present Andrew chapel, there being another
Clark’s as late as 1808. This stood a little
below the present Bethel church in Sumter
circuit.
But, now to go back to the beginning and
gather up all of interest we may. A glance at
the map shows the Santee river rounding the
lowest point of Clarendon county, formed
from th ■ old Sumter district. Once Vance’s,
Nelson’s, and Murray's ferries gave to the
traveler a crossing not so easily secured
now. Even then it was difficult —a freshet
making seven miles of ferriage ; and, if not
“ lontj ferry," it was worse, for the swollen
runs in the swamp induced the necessity of
‘‘ a dip and dive and dash.” This formida
ble river lay directly in the path of the early
Bishops in their annua! transit across the
State, or continent, and Bishop Asbury gives
many an incident of its difficult crossing.
The first record in his journal is but a year
after the formation of the Santee circuit,
Sunday, April Ist, 1787. Himself and Dr.
Coke crossed the overflowing walers, com
pelling their horses to swim. At Moore’s,
some fifty miles onward, they met Richard
Swift, who had formed the circuit in 1780.
“ He had been near death, but was then re
covering ; we advised him to go with us for
lii i life.” From this time on, until his death,
year by year, he gives many an instance of
“ wrestling with its Hoods.”
March oth, 1797, he preached in the court
house at. Camden, and on 24th of November,
1798, was again in Camden, and writes :
“ Here we have a beautiful meeting house.”
But such, this present writer says, we have
no longer, and when we will have, is, under
the present pressure, hard to determine. In
1799, he writes: “ Benj. Blanton came up
with us sick. His famous horse died of the
staggers. He has received from the connec
tion, in four years, two hundred and fifty
dollars. If we do not benefit the people we
have but little of their money. Such is the
ecclesiastical revenue of all our order.”
December 26th, 1804. Again at Rembert
nail. Set out for Charleston. “ Rain;
passed Sumter court-house dripping; dined
at Bradford's : pursued the journey, wet as
it was ; wished to stop at a certain house,
hut was driven off bv a drunken madman,
who went on like a fiend ; stopped at a Mr.
Boyd’s; I was wet —I was blistered—l was
skinned.”
December 14, 1805. Again at Rembert’s.
“ Buried Abijah Rembert, aged 02, for six
teen years a member of the society ; he died
in the Lord. There is a revival in the so
ciety here —so much for camp-meetings.”
The first camp meeting held in the circuit
—or rather in the Rembert neighborhood—
was on McGirt’s branch, below the point
where the Statesburg road, leading to Dar
lington, crosses it between the Rembert and
Young settlements. At this there is said
to have been two stands for preaching. A
bad arrangement, presently changed for a
better. The tents were extemporized—wag
ons, and awnings made of coverlets and
blankets, were mostly relied on. At this,
and the next in 1803, the strange bodily ex
ercise called the “jerks" prevailed—“the
head and neck, and sometimes the body also,
moving backward and forward with spas
modic violence; and, so rapidly, that the
platted hair of a woman's head might be
heard to crack.” Then, in other cases, per
sons would fall, appear senseless and almost
lifeless—fot hours as pale as a corpse—and
then the jumping exercise, approximating
dancing, without seeming to bend a joint of
the body.
The camp-meeting of 1806 was distinguish
ed from these by the entire absence of those
“ unaccountable bodily exercises,” and yet
not less remarkable for the sudden and over
whelming force of the convictions leading
sinners to respentanee.
Another was held in July, 1808—Jonathan
Jackson, William Gasaway, and William M.
Kennedy, the preachers on the circuit. In
August, of the same year, William Capers
was received into the communion of the
Church, by Wm. Gassaway. In October, at
a camp-meeting at the Taw-caw, the first
fruits of his ministry appear in the conversion
of Joseph Galluchat, who was brought up in
the Romish Church, but afterwards combat
ted Voutrance her dogmas. A second camp
meeting was held this year at Rembert, after
the middle of November. The weather was
exceedingly cold, but the meeting was excel
lent. Bishops Asbury and McKendree were
in attendance. But, time would fail to tell
of the many camp-meetings in this Old San
tee circuit. No spot of ground anywhere is
l —■■— -
Ifntttliww Christian Adroatr.
more remarkable for the number of persons
converted at its camp-meetings than Rem
bert’s. It is on record that old Father Henry
Young (on whose land was the encampment)
“had known of more than five hundred per
sons converted there from 1808 to 1815, in
clusive.” But, alas ! for Time’s changes ;
the war has swallowed up the wealth of this
neighborhood, and Rembert church is lan
guishing, and languishing is ready to die.
Yet, Bethel church, and Providence camp
ground not far away, promise to keep up the
ancient prestige of Methodism.
There are several localities of interest in
this old circuit; two have been noticed—
Taw-caw and Rembert’s. There are others ;
two of which—Cootersboro’ and Bishopville—
we now briefly notice. No one now driving
on tothepleasant neighborhoodofSt.Luke’s,
and coming to the cross-roads a few miles
above the church, would imagine that the
Cooterboro’ of the olden time, so peaceful
and quiet is it now. Then (in the year 1813)
a tippling shop made it a very pandemonium.
James Jenkins, while preaching the funeral
sermon of the keeper’s wife, had the satis
faction of witnessing his convers-on, and for
fifteen years was Mathew Meeks a class
leader, an upright man, and greatly respect
ed by all who knew him.
In the year 1814, Bishopville, then called
the Cross Roads, was owned by an old woman
named Singleton. It is declared to have
then been as dissipated a place as ever ex
isted —its prototype Sodom of old. Whisky
shops and whisky drinkers abounded ; drunk
enness, quarreling, fighting, dancing, and
even murder, is said to have been prevalent.
One of the State judges remarked, “ What a
wretched place that Cross Roads is ! A so
ber man cannot pass without being insulted.”
Several persons killed themselves drinking,
and the old woman’s two sons murdered a
man, for which they had to forfeit their lives.
Now, what a change ! the centre of a most
successful and beautiful farming country.
Religion has had, unquestionably, much to do
with the change. C.
MARION (S. <’.) DISTRICT CONFER
KXt'K.
The Marion District Conference was held
at Bennettsvilie, S. C., July 2Gth-2!Hh, and
was presided over by the I J . E., Rev. W. H.
Fleming, I). D.
It was one of the fsw District Conferences
that I have attended where all the ends of
the Conference were met without tedious
ness and without haste, and with a full mar
gin of time for the deliberate closing of the
final exercises. Whether in the chair of a
District or Quarterly Conference, in the pul
pit, or the social circle, as an adviser or an
executive officer, Dr. Fleming is considered
by the Church, in this section, as the man
for Marion District.
The following items of interest worthy of
special mention, were evolved by the search
ing inquiry of the Conference :
Throughout the district special attention
has been given to parsonage and church
buildings—old ones are being repaired, re
painted and refurnished, and new ones are
in process of erection even “in these hard
times.” The district shows in these respects
a gratifying degree of progress.
The financial exhibit was even better than
we had reasonably expected.
There has been a Sunday School revival
throughout the district unparalleled in its
history.
From the reports given, we conclude that
our people appreciate more highly than ever
our Church literature, even though their pa
tronage may have decreased on account of
the want of money. The Southern Chris
tian Advocate was handsomely sustained in
speeches by the presiding officer, Dr. J. H.
Carlisle, and others.
Our people need information, argument,
and persistent persuasion on the subject of
denominational education of a high grade.
The Conference, feeling the necessity of this,
respectfully called upon our own beloved
Bishop Wightman to take the lead in the
great work of the endowment of Wofford
College, pledging themselves to a hearty and
earnest co-operation with him. The inter
ests of Wofford and the Columbia Female
College, were most ably presented by J.
H. Carlisle, LL. D., President of Wof
ford ; Rev. W. H. Fleming, I). D.; Rev. J.
M. Carlisle, and others.
W. C. McMillan, J. Norton, and P. M.
Hamer, were appointed a commission to con
fer with a similar commission, appointed by
the Florence District Conference, in order
to adjust the relative claims of these districts
to the District Parsonage property located
in Marion.
Among our visiting brethren were J. H.
Carlisle, LL. D., who added largely to our
pleasure aud profit by his speeches on the
Conference floor and in the Sunday School
mass meeting.
The following were elected delegates to the
next Annual Conference: P. M Hamer, Rev.
S. J. Bethea, W. C. McMillan, and B. F. Da
vis ; Reserves: N. S. Rodgers and J. Norton.
There was preaching twice a day during
the Conference, and hopeful impressions
were made upon the community. A few
were added to the Church. Our chief was
too unwell to preach, but when the sacred
influence waxed warm he could not contain
himself; he had to preach.
It would be difficult for me to speak in
fitting terms of the hospitality of the people
of Bennettsvilie and vicinity. It was truly
“overwhelming.” They led us all captive,
and regretted that there were no more of us
to conquer. They expressed pleasant mem
ories of you, too, Mr. Editor. May God bless
them.
Marion was selected as the seat of the next
Conference.
The following resolutions were adopted by
the Marion District Conference, held at Ben
nettsvilie, S. C., July 26-29, 1876 :
Church Buildings. —That the wants of
our people require not only that our houses
of worship should be commodious and com
fortable, but in their erection, finish and fur
niture the taste for the beauliful should be
consulted also.
Sunday Schools. —That we have heard
with pleasure of the revival of the Sunday
Schooi interest within our bounds; that we
esteem the Sunday School as a most valuable
auxiliary to household instruction, and to
the means of grace in the sanctuary, but to
substitute it for home instruction and for the
services of the sanctuary, is an evil that
should be remedied ; that we most earnestly
recommend that parents teach their children
Bible truths at home, and use their authority
and influence to cause them to atteud both
the Sunday School and the public worship.
Church Literature. —That this Confer
ence expresses its appreciation of the value,
particularly, of the Southern Christian Ad
vocate, and generally ot Church periodicals,
including the Southern Review.
Education. —That we are more than ever
impressed wih the importance of denomina
tional education, and we pledge ourselves to
renewed efforts aud liberality to sustain our
own Wofford; that an ample endowment is
of the first importance to Wofford —to secure
this, we must have a leader, and to none can
we look with more hope than to our gifted
and beloved Bishop, W. M. Wightman ; that
this District Conference earnestly request
PUBLISHED BY J. W. BURKE & COMPANY, FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
Trim to takecharge of this matter and pledge
him our hearty eo-Qperfttioa; that tne Sec
retary be instructed to eomjnnhicata. these
resolutions to Bishop Wightman ; that we
most heartily welcome among us Wofford’s
gifted President, J. H. Carlisle, LA D-,
and we have listened with delight and profit
to his golden words, and we will be ever
ready to welcome him smong us ; that we
appreciate fully the value of the Columbia
Female College to us as a Ckareh, and that
we urge our people to patronize it, rather
than others, by sending their daughters.
A. J. Stokes, Sec’y M. D. Conf.
Selections.
APPREHENDED OF CHRIST.
Paul was arrested by Christ in the midst
of a career of violence and unbelief. He re
cognizes the supreme aud merciful purpose
as to himself when he exclaims: “But I
follow after, if that I may apprehend that for
which also I am apprehended of Christ Je
sus.” The arrest of the sinner ordinarily is
not by miraculous means. There are no
v)bysieal demonstrations, the lejw is not
struck with blindness, and there is no vision
of the supernatural to overwhelm the mind
and to overpower the senses. But religious
awakening and conviction of sin are the con
ditions of that manifestations of Christ which
is common in human experience. The Lord
appears to men on their way to Damascus in
this wise, not in visible form, nor in over
powering light, nor with startling voice, but
in the shape of serious impressions, and in
the sense of guilt and danger, and the urgent
need of deliverance from sin.
Paul was not disobedient to the heavenly
vision. He surrendered to Christ at once,
repented, and experienced the saving power
of the gospel. He henceforth disclaimed
the righteousness of the law, and builded
upon another foundation. Henceforth he
counted all things but loss that he might win
Christ, “and be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law,
but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by laith.”
Christ laid hold on him that he might lay
hold upon eternal life. He saw the benig
nant end of that sudden and unexpected blow
that fell upon him when he was at the height
of his madness, and it became the object of
his subsequent life to realize it.
Leaving out what was physically miracu
lous in his awakening, the mental and spirit
ual exercises are much like his in all. The
convictions of the sinner are connected with
Christ as the persecuted, the neglected, the
rejected One. His sin has been a conscious
refusal to accept Christ as his Lord and
Saviour ; and, when conviction conies, its
central point is that he has rejected Christ.
The reproving Spirit moves about this axis
of truth, and brings out the guilt and con
demnation of unbelief in their special rela
tions to the crucified Redeemer. There is a
startling realization of Christ as the glorified,
who, in his personal exaltation and power,
lays his hand upon the rebellions soul. This
is distinctive of religious conviction under
the gospel: that the sinner is apprehended,
arrested seized by Christ himself; and the
alarmed sinner knows that it is Christ who
takes hold of him, and calls him to give up
his unreasonable enmity and. submit to his
sway. As in Paul’s case, there is no room
for evasion, Christ is manifest to the soul,
the fact that the sinner is against him per
sonally is made clear, and the issue is sharp
whether to submit or to finally reject
Christ and his offered salvation. The in
ward light of the Holy Spirit shines with
wonderful brightness, revealing Christ in his
awlul splendor, and exhibiting the guilty
boul in its defiant attitude.
Often there is a suddenness in the convic
tion of sin which comes to the conscience
very much as the light, the voice and the
form of Christ came upon the persecuting
Pharisee. It is well if the awakened obey
the heavenly vision, and yield to the power
of the Son of God. But it is not always so.
Of those whom Christ apprehends, how few
comparatively yield and are saved. Not
with the ready obedience of Paul, but rather
with the guilty delay of Felix, they dismiss
their convictions ; and those whom Christ
has apprehended, for the purpose of bring
ing them to heaven, are lost forever.
It is. however, as a reminiscence of the
Christian that Paul refers to his awakening
as an arrest. There is something wonderful
in this experience as the believer looks back
upon it. The time, the manner, all the sur
roundings, to him have something remark
able in them. Christ was strangely reveal
ed to him —suddenly and powerfully while in
mid-career of sin. He was stricken down
in the dust as in a moment. It might have
been bewildering and inexplicable to others,
but to him it was the persecuted and des
pised Christ whose word was sharper than
any two-edged sword. The vision was all
within, but it was as real and overwhelming
as if it had been to the outward senses. It
was 8 crisis—the very turning-point in the
soul’s destiny. From that struggle issued
penitence and faith, and the life of peace
aud love. What a mercy —what a depth of
mercy —that the arresting hand was laid
upon him then —at all —but then 1 "Later
might have been too late. And there may
be the recollection of halting purpose, and
the thought of delay, and that the powers of
darkness had nearly triumphed. But things
turned the other way, there was a complete
surrender to the Saviour, and heaven upon
earth followed. It makes us tremble to
think of dangers encountered, hair-breadth
escapes, of imminent perils barely missed.
How nearly lost is the soul that, after long
and sharp resistance, does at length submit
to Christ 1 How nearly lost, and yet how
completely saved 1
And the devout mind goes back to that
fearfnl and gracious hour to re-enforce its ar
dor and patience in the heavenly race. “That
I may apprehend that for which also I am
apprehended of Christ Jesus.” It is the
key-note of the whole song. The end was
in the beginning. Arrested in his madness
and blindness by a compassionate Saviour,
the converted soul gathers strength and hope
from such grace abounding. And just as in
conviction his feet had well nigh slipped, so
he sees danger still before him. He was
apprehended in his sins that he might be
saved; he must now make this object his
earnest pursuit. He must seize that for
which he was seized, he must grasp and se
cure that for which the arm of mercy was
first stretched out in his behalf. He must
now be studious to attain all that Christ ar
rested him for —the heights of holiness here,
the utmost measure of usefulness, the last
degree of consecration, and the heavenly
crown.
It is thus that we may go back to this most
striking epoch in our religious history and
find in it a lesson of hope, of vigilance, and
of more determined effort in the service of
Christ. The mercy therein exhibited is
enough to fire the heart with a life-long zeal,
ACON, GEORGIA, TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1876.
Lw .■
and to keep the flame of love always bun*-
ing. For, after all, if the arrested sinner
may shake off serious conviction, and refuse
the booD of pardon, so may they who have
experienced the regenerating power come
short of the glorious and final reward. -
A'ew Orleans Christian Advocate.
HAVING DONE ALL, TO STAND.
BT R. K. CARTER.
“ Having done all, to stand”—the words ring
down .*
The echoing corridors ol time. No frown
Of adverse fomiint, When in fickle mood ;
No Far of foes that lie in wait for blood ;
Not venomrd stiDg of friendship, false and dt id
Wheu sorest Deeded ; not the cruth ng tread
Of bi ter grief upon the bleeding heart ;
Nor yet the great arch fiend’s most subtle da.t,
Could from those lips the smallest tribute
wring, J
That, conquering, cried, “O Death! where is
thy sting ?
O Grave! wbere is thy victory?” He stood
fast
Through light and storm ; finished his course at
last;
And, having kept the faith the battle won,
Rec,ived the crown from God’s Eternal Son.
Should I then simply stand ? my work abate ?.
Sit idly down, folding my hands, and wait,
'trusting that God will o'derall things right?,'
Not so ! Am 1 not called upon to tight ? L
Something Iheie is to do, for me, for all; Jjp-
Tbe ChrUtiau’a trumpets to a hatlle call 'Jr■
And yet rtsistance wins In years long fled.
When Carthage threatened Roms with vee
geauce dread,
One man, when many others fought in vain,
By watchful waiting won a great campaign.
Often on some lone rock, amidst the roar
Of winds and waves that lash the savage shore,
With care and skill is reared the massive tow<*r,
1 hat bold defies the tempest’s wh rling power;
Scorning the foes that in the billows lurk,
Unawcd it stands, and standing does its work !
And, though it moves not. yet amid the crash
Of warring elemeuts, the welcom flash s
Sends fife and hope to thousands.
So may we, t
With earnest, patient arpose, steadfastly
Stand, and resist the billows, tossing high ;
And as the light-house lenses multiply
The feeble lamps, so, though our light be faiiA,
The young disciple and the strongest saint
Can thousand fold intensity impart,
Reflt-cted from the mirror of a heart
Burnished by love for God Nor shines in vain,
If from the deep death of the angry main
One soul he saved, though hundreds, tempest
tossed,
Heedless of warning, sink, forever lost.
Of all sad thoughts that through the memory
roll.
The saddest this—l might have warned a sou’.
Bo should we strive to keep the mirror bright.
That o’er life’s sea may shine our feeble light:
Witli childlike faith, holding our Father’s hamt.
Always look up, and, “ having done all, standvf
Christian Advocate, rV. Y.
“ TO EVERY MAN HIS WORK.” -
Christ here represents himself as going
away, and leaving His household, the Church,
assigning to each member thereof his respec
tive duty, which he is required to discharge
faithfully until He returns, enjoining upon
them all to watch for that coming. Now',
this is literally true. Christ in person has
gone from ns, and when He ascended on
high He gave gifts unto men, gifts to be ex
ercised on His behalf and for His glory until
H • should come again to reckon with the:j.
“ He gave some apostles, and some prophets,
and some evangelists, and some pastors ai;J
teachers, for the perfection of the saints, for
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ”—“ To every man his
work.” Such is the truth embodied in His
parting command to His disciples, “ Go ye
into all the world and preach the gospel,"
Ac. The fulfillment of this command rests
upon the Church, for it is through the Chur'-h
that the world must hear the gospel |ii-eLuii(^ ,N
And if this work rests upon the Church as a
whole, a portion of the work must rest upon
each individual member of tne Church. All
cannot “go and preach,” but all can do
something in obedience to that command in
preparing, equipping and sending out, in
sustaining and encouraging missionaries and
teachers to the heathens in foreign lands, a3
well as in erecting churches, establishing
mission stations, and supporting missiona
aries in destitute portions of our own land.
What is the object of the Church of Christ ?
Is it the sanctification of souls only ? Is not
rather her primary object to reach out her
arms of Christian love and gather into her
bosom the poor lost souls of mankind? Is
it not to go forth encased in her spiritual ar
mor and make aggressions upon the kingdom
of Satan, bringing deliverance to the captives ?
There is, therefore, loving work to be done;
hard, laborious, self-denying work to be
done by all, and by every one his own work.
“If any man will be my disciple let him
deny himself, take up his cross and follow
me,” is the instruction given to every one
who would enter the service of the Lord. If
we would be followers of Christ, we must be
workers for Him. No one will deny the de
claration of Peter, that Christ is to be our
example. But, in what is He to be our ex
ample? Some say, “In holiness”—“ As I
am holy, so be ye holy.” Yes, but not in
holiness alone is He to be onr example, but
in everything, and especially in personal
work for God. Look at His example, from
His first recorded and very remarkable ut
terance to His mother till the closing scene
of His lifs on the cross, and what is it ? An
example of much intense, personal work for
His Father, in saving men from their sins.
And, having accomplished His work in tri
umph, He says to all, “ Follow Me,” and
“ to him that overcometh will I grant to sit
with Me on My throne, even as I also over
came and am set down with My Father on
His throne.” Many of the parables of our
Lord also teach us that we are called every
man to his work. The parable of laborers
in the vineyard teaches us two things: First,
all who are truly called into the vineyard bf
the Lord are called to work —“ Why stand ye
here all the day idle?” “ Go work.” Theyare
called to take care of and cultivate the vine
yard, not to be taken care of by the vineyard.
Second, they are called to labor to the close
of day, no matter when called, whether in
the first or in the eleventh hour. None are
excused from work sooner because hired
earlier.
The parable of the pounds and talents re
present every servant of the Lord Jesus
as having some talent entrusted to him,
with the eommand, “ Occupy till I come.”
This talent does not embrace merely our
money, but everything—money, time, influ
ence, health and life, all the powers of soli!
and body. While these two parables teach
the same truth, there is this difference : In
the former all our time is to be consecrated
in active service to the Lord ; in the latter
all our talents are to be his. In the two com
bined the great truth stands out in relief,
that the time and talents, soul and body, of
each individual in the Church, are to be
wholly devoted to the service of the Lord.
That we are to be faithful in maintaining
good works in Christ’s service, is strongly
enjoined upon us in such Scriptures as Eph.
ii. 10, Col. i. 10, Titus iii. 8, ii. 7, and ii. 14.
What do these mean ? Do thev not mean,
work for Christ, if we would be his follow
ers? Surely, from what we have seen, it
don’t look as if, when men and women are
in the Church, that that is all they have to
do. It don’t look like that which too many
believe, that when they are in the Church
the Church must aud will take care ol them,
and let them do nothing. No! The Church
is not a machine for bolstering up and nurs
ing lazy souls. It is not merely an asylum
for fitting this soul and that for heaven. It
is not an institution to relieve individuals
from the responsibility of their personal sal
vation. The true Church of Christ is a fami
ly of earnest workers for God, every one
working out their own salvation with fear
and trembling, while striving to bring other
souls to Christ.
Let every one find his or her work and do
it. It may not be a great work, but do it
nevertheless. The tiny flower, hidden down
in the vale, has as important a work in the
economy of nature as the cedar on the top of
Lebanon. What the Church needs to day is
the Spirit of Christ, agonizing for souls. Re
member, God has given to every man his
work, and if you want a work to do you can
find it anywhere.— United Presbyterian.
ABILITY AND OPPORTUNITY.
These are the conditions of success. Give
a man power and a field in which to use it
and he must accomplish something. He
may not do and become all that he desires
and dreams of, but his life cannot be a fail
ure. I never hear men complaining of the
want of ability. The most unsuccessful
think that they could do great things if they
only had the chance. Somehow or other
something or somebody has always been in
their way. Providence has hedged them in
so that they could not carry out their plans.
They knew just how to get rich but they
lacked opportunity.
Sit down by one who thus complains and
ask him to tell you the story of his life. Be
fore he gets half through he will give you
occasion to ask him, “ Why didn’t you do so
at that time? Why didn’t you stick to that
piece of land and improve it, or that busi
ness and develop it? Is not the present
owner of that property rich? Is not the
man who took up the business you abandon
ed successful?” He will probably reply:
“ Yes, that was an opportunity; but I did
not think so then. I saw it when it was too
late.” In telling his story he will probably
say, of his own accord, half a dozen times,
“ If I had known how things were going to
turn I might have done as well as Mr. A.
That farm of his was offered to me. I knew
that it was a good one, and cheap, but I
knew that it would require a great deal of
hard work to get it cleared and fenced, to
plant trees, vines, etc., and to secure water
for irrigation. I did not like to underlake
it. lam sorry now that I didn’t. It was
one of my opportunities.”
The truth is, God gives to all of us ability
and opportunity enough to enable us to be
moderately successful. If we fail, in nine
ty-five cases out of a hundred it is our own
fault. We neglect to improve the talents
with which our Creator endowed us, or we
failed to enter the door that he opened lor
us. A man cannot expect that his whole
life shall be made up of opportunities ; that
they will meet him at regular intervals as he
goes on, like milestones by the road-ide.
Usually he has one or two, and if he neg
lects them he is like a man who takes the
wrong road where several meet. The fur
ther he goes the worse he fares.
A man’s opportunity usually has some
relation to his ability. It is an opening for
a, man of his talents and means. It is an
opening for him to use what he has, faith
fully and to the utmost. It requires toil,
self denial and faith. If he says, “ I want a
better opportunity than that. lam worthy
of a higher position than it offers or if he
says, “ I won’t work as hard and economize
as closely as that opportunity demands,” he
may, in after years, see the folly of his pride
and indolence.
There are young men all over the land
who want to get rich, and yet they scorn such
opportunities as A. T. Stewart and Commo
dore Vanderbilt improved. They want to
begin, not as those men did, at the bottom
of the ladder, but half way up. They want
somebody to give them a lift, or carry them
up in a balloon, so that they can avoid the
early and arduous struggles of the majority
of those who have been successful. No
wonder that such men fail, and then com
plain of Providence. Grumbling is usually
a miserable expedient that people resort to
to drown the reproaches of conscience.
They know that they have been foolish, but
they try to persuade themselves that they
have been unfortunate. —Herald and Pres
byter.
BIBLES IX REVOLUTIONARY DAYS.
Up to the time of the Revolutionary War,
the colonies were dependent upon the mother
country for their supply of English Bibles.
Eliot’s translation of the Scriptures for the
Indians had been published in the seven
teenth century. Two editions of the New
Testament in German had been published
in Pennsylvania before 1776. Proposals had
even been made, as early as 1688, for the
publication of a “large house Bible,” in
Philadelphia, but either for lack of encour
agement, or because the copyright laws of
England forbade, that project was abandon
ed, and a full century passed away before it
was consummated.
The importation of Bibles having ceased
at the outbreak of hostilities with Great Bri
tain, the demand for the Scriptures became
so great that a memorial was presented to
Congresß, in 1777, urging that body to print
an edition of the Bible, and a committee of
the House went so far as to recommend that
20,000 copies be imported at the public ex
pense. The measure was not carried, but
individual enterprise was equal to the emer
gency, and in that very year Robert Aitken
published a duodecimo edition ot the New
Testament. Other editions followed each
year, till, in 1782, the entire Bible was is
sued from the Bame press. This work was
examined by the chaplains of Congress,
whose favorable report led to the adoption
of the following resolution :
“ Resolved , That the United States in
Congress assembled highly approve the pious
and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken, as
subservient to the interests of religion, as
well as an instance of the progress of arts
in this country, and being satisfied from the
above report of his care and accuracy in the
execution of the work, they recommend this
edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the
United States, and hereby authorize him to
publish this recommendation in the manner
he shall think proper.”
Thus early in our national history the
Bible was regarded as essential to the high
est well-being of the people and its publica
tion sanctioned and approved by the govern
ment. —The Bible Society Record.
The “ Un’i.arnt ” Phofessor. —Many
years ago the licentiates of Princeton Semi
nary were in the habit of preaching at a sta
tion Borne distance from that place. Among
their habitual hearers was a Christian ser
vant, called uncle Sam, who, on his return
home, would try to tell his mistress what he
could remember of the sermon, but com
plained that the students were too deep and
learned for him. One day, however, he
came hoi e in great humor, saying that a
poor uniat nt old man, just like himself, had
preached that day, who he supposed was
hardly fit to preach to the white people, but
he was glad he came, for his sake, for he
could remember everything he said. On en
quiry it was found that Uncle Sam’s “ un
larnt” old preacher was Rev. Dr. Archibald
Alexander, who, when he heard the criti
cism, said it was the highest compliment
ever paid to his preaching.
SEEK THE LOST.
God gives us in the Church a sphere of in
fluence, and we should keep the question
before our minds as the good we are doing
there. One great end of the Church is to
send the knowledge of Christ to them who
know Him not. A paramount obligation of
the Church is to be aggressive, to be con
stantly making inroads into the kingdom of
darkness, to keep up uninterrupted assaults
upon the power of Satan over the hearts of
men. Hence there ought to be a constant
striving to bring those under the influences
of the gospel, who are entirely outside of the
ordinary range of Church influence and re
straint.
In this work every Christian ought to be
actively and systematically engaged in some
one way by which the aggressive character
of the Church maybe kept prominent, and
its true work be done. Missionary societies,
Bible and tract distribution, mission schools,
prayer meetings among the outcast and neg
lected, personal visitation of the houses of
those who cast themselves outside of the en
closures of the church, street preaching,
have been eminently blessed of God in the
past. And all Christian hearts should be
deeply engaged, and all Christian heads
should be full of wise and ready inventions
to “compel them to come in,” The lay
members of the Church, both male and fe
male, are part of the five barley loaves and
two small fishes which shall multiply in the
hands of the Master, and feed live thousand.
Are then all our small instrumentalities in
exercise awaiting this gracious augmenta
tion of our Lord and Master? Are all the
young Christians busy? Are all the old
Christians engaged in this active, aggressive
work ? The middle aged and the old ought
to be so occupied. They should not sur
render it to the sole care of the young Chris
tians. All the young Christians ought to be
busy in the work with heart and head, hands
and feet, tongue and pen and purse. And
so ought also all the old ; for it is a vast, ar
duous, and important work. It needs the
activity and fire of youth, and the counsel,
prudence, and steadiness of age. And all
ought to be in it; for the labor is blessed
and the reward is great. Nowhere else will
small instrumentalities effect so much. We
are poor, weak creatures, and may become
tired in working, but if we are tired of the
work, if we have no heart for the work, it is
to be feared the love of Christ is not in us,
and we ourselves need to be sought aud
found by the Shepherd of the lost sheep.
ISOLATION.
We walk alone through all life’s various ways,
Tlnoiigh light aud darkness, sorrow, joy aud
change
Aud greeting each to each, through passing
days,
Still we are strange.
We hold our dear ones with a firm, strong
grasp ;
We hear their voices, look into their eyes ;
And yet, betwixt us in that clinging clasp
A distance lies.
We cannot know their hearts, howe’er we may
Mingle, thougut, aspiration, hope and prayer;
We cannot rea-m them, and in vain essay
To enter there.
Still, in each heart o f hearts a hidden deep
Lies, never faihomed by its dearest, best;
With closest care our purest thoughts we keep.
And teuderest.
Bu’, blessed thought ! we shall not always so
Id darkness and in sadness walk alone;
There comes a glorious day when we shall know
As we are known.
— Atlantic.
LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAY.
I am with you to succor in temptation, to
strengthen in duty, to guide in perplexity, to
comfort in sorrow. From the instant you
become my disciple, I am with you all along.
lam with you'every day. All your life I
am with you —and at death? —at death you
are with me. That’s the difference. At
present I am always with you, but you are not
always with me. At present Jesus is con
stantly near his own, but his own do not con
stantly desire to be near him. Here it is
only by faith that believers enjoy his pres
ence. There they shall see him as he is.
Now the Lord Jesus follows his own whither
soever they go, but they do not always fol
low him. Then it will be different, for they
will follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.
And all that is wanting to complete the pro
mise is what death’s twinkling will supply.
Now it is “ Lo, lain with you alway”—and
then it is, “ And so shall we be ever with
the Lord.”
“ Ever with the Lord.”
At once and forever. At once, for absent
from the body we are present with him. So
near is Jesus now, that, like the infant wa
king from its dream, it looks up and lo ! she
sits beside it—waking up from this life-dream,
the first sight is Jesus as he is. At once —
no flight through immensity—no pilgrimage
of the spheres—for the everlasting arms are
the first resting place of the disembodied
soul —it will be in the bosom of Immanuel
that the emancipated spirit will inquire,
“Where am I?” and read in the face of
Jesus, the answer, “ Forever with the Lord.”
Forever! To be with him for a few years,
as John and Peter were —to be with him one
Lord’s day, as the beloved disciple subse
quently was—to be with him a few moments,
as Paul, caught, up into the third heavens,
was —how blessed I But to be ever with the
Lord—not only to-day, but. to-morrow —nay,
neither to-day nor to-morrow, but now, now,
one everlasting now!
“ Forever with the Lord!
Amen ! so let it be!
Life from the dead is in that word,
’Tis immortality."
[Hamilton's Mount of Olives.
Too Early. —How fearfully afraid are
many good people of being too early at
church 1 It does not seem to enter their
minds that a few moments for meditation,
communion, and prayer, may double the
value of the services to their souls. How
will a dull prayer be enlivened by the hear
ers being already in the spirit of prayer?
How will a little discord in the singing be
overlooked by one whose soul is full of mel
ody before the Lord? How will a prosy
sermon be made lo yield gospel sweets un
der the alchemy of an eager hungering for
truth from God, even though it come in an
earthen vessel 1 Do not be afraid to spend
a few minuteß in your seat in God’s house if
you have grace to spend those minutes, not
in gazing at your neighbors, but in commu
nion and devotion. In one of our Phila
delphia churches, an aged saint recently died
in her ninety-eighth year. SLe was wont to
be in her seat in the gallery a half or three
quarters of an hour before the services com
menced. To her pastor she said that she
found it sweet to sit there, for it was rest to
her soul .—Presbyterian at Work.
CLEANSING THE TEMPLE.
The Lord comes to us to raise up from the
lower to the higher planes of our being. He
came to the earth for that purpose. But when
he comes he £mds the courts of our minds
preoccupied with selfish and worldly affec
tions and false principles. These must be
driven out; and this work of cleansing he
seeks to accomplish. This work on our part
is repentance. We must cease to do evil,
before we can learn to do well. One reason
why we make so little progress in spiritual
life is our reluctance and dilatoriness in re
moving the evils and falsities which obstruct
the entrance of the divine life into our minds.
We try to get the good of spiritual affections
before we remove the evil. We long for the
purity and peace of heaven ; but we do not
expel the mercenary affections which cause
the disturbance of our peace. We cannot
get harmony from an instrument when it is
oat of tune. We cannot reap harvests of
wheat from ground preoccupied by thistles.
Every man in whom the work of sanctifica
tion has commenced mourns over his evils at
times, and longs to be freed from them. But
how few there are who go resolutely and
faithfully to work to expel them ; who look
upon every selfish and worldly affection which
has usurped the courts of the Lord’s temple
in them, as an enemy, and who scourge them
out. How reluctant we are to say to pride,
to envy, to malice, to all uncharitableness,
and to that supreme love of the world which
leads us to estimate natural things more high
ly than spiritual things, “Leave these courts
of the Lord,” and to persist in our efforts till
they are driven out. It is hard work, it is
painful work. These evil affections will not
go of themselves. There is no use in waiting
for them to depart.
THE KINGDOM FOUNDED IN
TllOt'lillT.
The Lord founded a kingdom, very unlike
any other kingdom. He founded it without
drum or trumpet, or banner or scepter, or
throne or crown. He founded it without geo
graphical limits, without fortress, without
fleets. He founded it as a kingdom whose
foundations were laid in thought; as a king
dom whose wars were to be carried on in
thought; as a kingdom whose instruments
were those of thought; whose sword was
not the sword in hand, but the sword that
“proceedeth out of the mouth of God
whose charter was the power of the Word ;
whose battle-field was only and ever the bat
tle-field of thought. Into this world of
thought Christ’s kingdom came, !o attack all
who opposed; and in its own calm, search
ing, but irrepressible way, with a word, with
a message, with an invitation, with an argu
ment, with an exhortation, with entreaty,
with a continuous pointing upward —upward,
as if it had a distinct connection with invisi
ble powers, which it had; and “bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ” —thoughts high, thoughts deep,
thoughts old, thoughts built upon the foun
dations, as men supposed, of everlasting
principles —thoughts certainly reared up with
all the elaborate beauty of human genius,
and of vast national toil, adorned and en
riched by the splendors of empires! What
was the result? Of all other powers none
has the hold upon human thought that Christ
has at this moment, and there is none ad
vancing year by year as is the kingdom of
the Lord Christ. The world hag always
been talking of its feebleness and failure,
but where is the power that will venture at
this moment to say : I will sweep Christ out
of human thought.— Butler.
WHAT YOU READ.
I wish to urge upon you the importance of
being careful in the selection of your books.
Do not be simply self-indulgent. At this
day, when some of the best thoughts of the
best writers are given to the world in the
dress of the fictitious narrative, it is idle to
declaim against novels in a wholesale way.
The liking for stories comes to us by inher
itance. Our fathers and mothers, and their’s
before them, and so on all the way back to
remote ages, were fond of the legend, the
rhyme, and the fairy-tale. There is nothing
particularly new in the range of fanciful
writing, for though the literary form may be
slightly altered to suit different climates and
eras, yet the same stories have been recited,
with variations, ever since Adam and Eve
left Paradise. Mother Goose is venerable,
and our favorite fairy-tales were told in tap
estried tents and ancient palaces centuries
ago. There are no pictures of current man
ners and customs so perfect as those which
may be found in the current novels. Yet if
you confine yourselves to the reading of even
the most nearly perfect among them, those
which are the vehicles of truth and good
morals, and which are analytical, logical,
picturesque, and eloquent by turns, you will
certainly fail to thrive mentally. The mind
requires a change of diet as well as the
body. The constant reading of those books
which put in motion one set of faculties
only, results in mental dissipation, almost in
mental dyspepsia. If you wish to grow, to
enlarge your horizon of thought, to attain
not merely to a glib and fluent way of ex
pressing yourselves, but to the comprehen
sion of great subjects, you must commune
with the masters of thought and speech in
many departments of literature.
In order to get good from reading, you
must drink deep; -not content with flying
like humming-birds or butterflies from flower
to flower, you must be willing to study and
reflect. A week now and then, or a month,
with one author, will, if the author be one
of the really great, give you more solid
profit than a year’s dipping and tasting with
out motive and without effort. There are
few who remember how insensibly, yet how
steadily, we are molded,by our associations.
—Margaret Sangster, in S. S. Times.
Ministers are in danger of giving too little
thought to the children in the preparation
of their sermons. The increase of education
and general culture among the people con
stantly presses the preacher into higher,
more logical and more finished lines of
thought and style, thus rising beyond the
grasp of the little ones ; and yet they have
no more susceptible ears or appreciative
sensibilities in their audiences. They may
not be logicians, following and understand
ing the thread of an argument; but for clear,
positive statements, their minds are quick to
understand, aud their memories ready to re
tain. It would be well, if possible, if some
child’s loving face could peer occasionally
over the minister’s shoulder in his study
when he is at the busiest, that he might be
reminded to give the little ones in every ser
mon a remembrance. At a very early age,
a mother took a little daughter to prayer
meeting with her for company. The room,
the audience, the minister especially, were
indelibly engraved on her memory ; and one
utterance of the latter has gone with her
through life, namely : “ That one should
watch their prayers. To pray for anything
and then act indifferent or careless regarding
F. M. KENNEDY, D. D., Editor.
J. IV. BURKE, Assistant Editor.
A. G. HAYGOOD, D. D., Editorial Correspondent.
WHOLE NUMBER 200S
it, was proof of insincerity, and one could
not expect an answer to a prayer offered in
such a spirit.” That remark fastened itself
on that young mind, and in that young heart,
almost frightening the little one lest she
should have made careless petitions. No
person, probably, in that prayer-room was
more instructed or benefitted thereby than
the little child who was taken for company.
A single thought in every sermon for the
benefit of the children will yield a rich harvest.
MACAULAY’S METHOD OF WORK.
As soon as Macaulay had got into his head
all the information relating to any particular
episode in his history (such, for instance, as
Argyll’s expedition to Scotland, or the at
tainder of Sir John Fenwick, or the calling
in of the clipped coinage,) he would sit down
and write off the whole story at a headlong
pace—sketching in the outlines under the
genial and audacious impulse of a first con
ception, and securing in black and white
each ideal and epithet and turn of phase as
it flowed straight from the busy brain to his
rapid fingers. His manuscript at this stage,
to the eyes of any one but himself, appeared
to consist of column after column of dashes
and flourishes, in which a straight line, with
a half-formed letter at each end and another
in the middle, did duly for a word. It was
from a chaos of such hieroglyphics that Lady
Trevelyan, after her brother’s death, deci
phered that account of the last days of Wil
liam which fitly closes the “History.” As
soon as Macaulay had gnished his rough
draft he began to fill it in, at the rate of six
sides of foolscap every morning, written in
so large a hand and with such a multitude of
erasures, that the whole six pages were on an
average compressed into two pages of print.
This portion he called his “task,” and he
was never quite easy unless he completed it
daily. More he seldom sought to accom
plish ; for he had learned by long experience
that this was as much as he could do at his
best, and except at his best he never did
work at. all. “I had no heart to write,” he
says in his journal of March 6t,h, 1851. “I
am too self-indulgent in this matter, it may
be ; and yet I attribute much of the success
which I have had to my habit of writing only
when I am in the humor, and of stopping as
soon as the thought and words cease to flow
fast. There are, therefore, few lees in my
wine. It is all the cream of the bottle.”
When, at length, after repeated revisions,
Macaulay had satisfied himself that his writ
ing was as good as he could make it, he
would submit it to the severest of all tests —•
that of being read aloud to others.
HOUSEHOLD TASTE.
A writer in the Boston Journal of Chem
istry save: “Every chair in the house should
be an easy chair, and be made expressly
to give rest and comfort to someone; and
every chair and piece of furniture should be
strongly and honestly made, and show at a
glance that it is so, and how and why it is
so. The fashion of buying ‘sets’ of furniture
of just, so many pieces to a room, and those
perhaps not just what is needed, but such as
are dictated by the dealer or upholsterer,
leads often to great and unnecessary expense.
The chairs for a room should be selected as
far as possible to accommodate and make
comfortable those who will use them most.
They need not be of a similar shape or size,
or upholstered in the same material, or even
material of one color, and the wood work
may be walnut, oak, or ash, in one and the
same room, and still there need he no offense
against good taste. Until people are created
of one unvarying pattern, it is best to have
reasonable variety in their chairs. The bed
steads, at present popular, have monumental
backs, panneiled, scrolled, and carved, till
the eye that views them grows as weary as
the hand that strives to keep them clean.
The high, wooden heads have no possible
use; they do not even serve to protect the
sleeper from the draught, for you cannot
turn them away from the wall, as one side is
entirely unfinished. Better a ‘prison pat
tern’ of clean plain iron than this dirt collec
ting humbug. A wooden bedstead cap, how
ever, can be made which shall be clean, com
fortable, and sufficiently beautiful, without
resorting to a hospital severity of style. But.
after all, it is the bed, and not the wooden
frame, or even the lace ‘pillow shams,’ that
woos us to balmy sleep. A housekeeper
with a limited purse and a knack for carpen
try, who is oppressed by rooms full of furni
ture of night-mare designs, might find some
relief by sawing and chiselling off all unreas
onable and meaningless ornaments (so-call
ed.) He could not fail to improve matters ;
he would gain in healthful exercise, and in
crease the family store of hard wood kind
lings. Tables should stand firmly on four,
or more, good straight legs, and not be bal
anced on one shakey pivot like a teetotum
or an inverted bottle. All furniture should
be finished all around, so that any part can
be turned to view, which suits the arrange
ment or use for the time. Furniture should
be selected piece by piece, as one has the
good fortune to find decent specimens. It is
better not to hurry, even if the house has
to be occupied half furnished, aud the stock
completed as circumstances will allow. Don’t
make things uncomfortable to please the
neighbors; your home is not for them. Have
everything made for use, and use the best
you have. Comfort and luxury do not con
sist in the accumulation of things which
make work for any one, but in making life
simple, and in having everything fit and
good, not elaborate and showy. Put away
all shams and lies, and so order your sur
roundings that, however modest, they shall
serve for what they were intended. If they do
this fully, they can never be altogether ugly.”
LITTLE THINGS IMPORTANT.
There is nothing, perhaps, in which men
are more apt to err, than in estimating the
importance of little things. Generally these
things are looked upon as of no special ac
count, and consequently, more or less neg
lected. In reality, however, they, in most
cases, almost wholly determine the charac
ter and destiny of men. It has been well
said:
“Trifles make np the sum of human things;
And half our misery from our loihles spnugs.”
In the daily pursuits of life we find that
those who are really successful, are invaria
bly those who give proper attention to little
things; and those who want success, mostly
those who neglect little things. The me
chanic, for instance, who makes it a point
never to slight any work he may be called
on to do, no matter how trifling it may be,
is sure always to have abuudant to do, while
he who neglects to perform properly small
tasks, is often found out of employment,
even though his mechanical genius should be
superior to that of the other. And as it is
with mechanics it is with all classes of per
sons. Many a minister of the Gospel even,
might to day occupy a more prominent place
of usefulness than he does, but for his think
ing on some occasion or other that it would
not be necessary to make any careful pre
paration for the performance of his labors,