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TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS.
fe:r.
VOLUME XXXIX., NO. 36.
|joctrn.
SAINTS.
BY M. B SMKDLBY.
I see them with their heavenward eyes,
Men who in Christ abide;
The long train eta es not to rise
Through time’s unceasing tide,
And a grave across each pathway lies
But the path swerves not aside.
Like a chorus with no discord mar,
Sober and clear and grand.
Like a scroll upreachiog to a star,
Caught by an angel’s tiand,
Like a wind beginning from afar,
And covering all the land,
They sound they pass; each man beholds
I'he Master’s risen lace,
Each arm some near beloved enfolds,
Vet keeps its forward place,
The weak one leans, the strong upholds,
But all are in the race.
Up. through the darkness and the pain.
Up. through the joy and light.
Earth’s myriud hands are raistd in vain
To battle or invite.
Life shows them nothing to detain,
Death nothing to affright.
By all things fair their coarse is graced.
By all things hilt t, heated ;
C-t.4erii*g like servants seut in haste
# Who, being challenged, yield,
And through tue garden on the waste,
Guide to God’s happy Held.
To them each human loss is gain
Witndrawn or sacrificed,
Nothing hut sin was all in vain,
Aid that, which long enticed,
Falls from each heart and loves no stain
At tlie tirst smile of Christ.
The flock of God goes up and on,
And if, as sin departs,
Some faces from the throng are gone,
Leaving some broken hearts,
God, full of pity for his own,
Dries every tear that starts.
The flock of God is strong and swift
And it devours the way,
Longing to see the, curtain lift
From the everlasting day;
Ilow slight the toil, how vast the gift
llow weary the delay !
Lord, gather ns beneath their feet,
As thy good will shall be!
The service of thy saints is sweet'
When they are serving thee;
Souls for inheritance unmeet
May serve eternally.
—Good Wards.
Contributions.
WESLEYAN FEMALE COLLEGE.
The question of Female Collegiate Educa
tion —and by Collegiate Education I mean
an education according to the common cur
riculum of male colleges—was long in sus
pension, because it was shamefully assumed
by some, that the female mind was naturally
unable to take in much that properly be
longed to Collegiate Education, particularly
in the mathematical department; by others,
that if they could, they had no use for any
thing more than a sprinkling of English lit
erature ; scholarship, if they could master
it, would spoil them. Be not surprised when
I tell you, that as late as 1838 and 1839,when
I canvassed Georgia aB financial agent, in
begging money to build what was then called
the Georgia Female College, 1 found the re
mains of that old barbarian idea, that wo
man was only the choice menial in domestic
life, made to bear children, to knit and darn
socks, and so on. But they were few, and of
the most block-head classs of men. There
were many, however, who were <\iposod to
our ever introducing a really collegiate course
of study, especially the Latin language.
But all this is passed and gone, and no
man objects to his daughters being intellect
ually as well furnished with ancient lore as
his sons. The building of this actual Female
College was an epochal event in the ascer
tainment of woman’s equal capacity to learn
anything that man can learn, in as far as
mental capacity is concerned. It is to me a
matter of gratilication that this Female Col
lege enterprise originated in Georgia. It is,
however, a matter of no little mortification
to me, that while Georgia honored herself in
readily granting us the first charter ever
granted for a female College, she has never
done anything else for her noble daughters.
She has, however, been extremely liberal in
granting charters. Georgia has run at one
time a dozen chartered female colleges,
against four male colleges. So powerful
was the impulse given to the public mind by
• the brilliant success of this grand old mother
of female collegiate education, that at one
time, in the midst of these days of noble en
thusiasm for female education, there were
twice as many girls engaged in college stu
dies as there were boys. For, being espe
cially committed to the assertion and main
tainance of the equality of the sexes in this
respect, I kept myself well posted as to com
parative facts.
I will mention a few facts in this connec
tion, which ought to be preserved. About
1830, having daughters of the right age to
enter upon higher studies than mere gram
mar and geography, I began to talk about
algebra, and geometry, and upwards. But
I was laughed at by many as a mere idealist.
I sent to the State of New York and pro
cured the services of Miss Martendale, who
boldly taught mathematics. From this I
suppose this study was taught to some
females as far back as her girlhood days
My second and third daughters were taught
by Miss Martendale in these new female
studies, and graduated in this uncollegiate
style several years before our glorious old
college opened her halls. But what was de
monstrated then, satisfied our few collegiate
scholars present that girls were just ar ready
in mathematics, with a good teacher, as
they were in grammar—in which it had been
long noticed that they rather excelled. In
as far as I ever knew or heard, this was the
first instance in which a young lady had ever
been exercised before the public in algebra
and geometry. It, was a proud day with me.
About now, I suppose, something like
female collegiate education began to stir the
minds of great men here and there. Duncan
G. Campbell made a speech in the Legisla
ture, I think in 1835, reminding Georgia of
her duty in this long-neglected necessity. It
made no friends to the issue, in as far as
State action was invoked. Shortly after this,
if my memory is true, Daniel Chandler, in
a literary address at Athens, defended the
rights of woman to share with men the hon
or of a collegiate education. And in 1836
it began to glow upon many warm hearts.
A few citizens about Macon combined in this
enterprize—subscribed freely, and my recol
lection is, won by liberality and effective
zeal in the cause, the uncontested honor of
its Macon location. After it was considered
a fixed fact that the college would be built, it
occurred to its embodied friends that it ought
to be under the special paternity of some
one of the prevailing Christian Churches—
this they determined to settle by a vote of
its friends. When thus disposed of, it was
voted into the paternal management of the
Methodists. Hence, we being a connectional
Church, it had to come before the Georgia
Conference for contract and ratification.
We accepted the trust with this provision—
that in the Board of Trustees there should
be a majority of one from the members of the
Siiffcwi tweak
Georgia Conference. This was done purely
for the moral security of the internal polity.
We did not intend in any sense that the in
mates of the college should be comrades in
a dancing school, nor invited companions
at theatres. We have alwayß conducted all
the inside living of the college as a great re
ligious household. When it was accepted
by the Conference, and trustees from that
body chosen, I was one —and have been
present at thirty-six commencements.
While it was the Georgia Female College,:
it waf only incidentally a Methodist College.
Its President was of course a Methodist, butt
its professors were of other denominations —
at least a part of them. But after it passed
its crisis, and changed its college name to
Wesleyan, it has been a Methodist college
in every proper sense of a denominational
college. And, although there was never an
unpleasant occurrence for a single moment
between these original mixed boards of in
struction, yet I think out of it came the con
clusion, that if a college was denomina
tional at all, it should be entirely so as to
its faculty. Denominational collegia-, with
out a glimpse of sectarian littleness in them,
constitute the glory of this age. Few colleges
have ever had as many new converts while
boardmg in it and under its family altar, as
the Wesleyan Female College ; and I am sat
isfied there is not one among them all who
will say that any one of the faculty ever tried
to proselyte one of them from any other fam
ily religion to Methodism —nor knowingly al
lowed any one else to do it.
We entered upon collegiate female educa
tion with the determination to have a college
that could live upon its scholarly merit and
Christian record, or no college. We have
never puffed our old college. Less has been
said about it in the way of dash and show
than any college of comparative merit on
the long roll of female colleges. But its
fruits have shown all the pleas ever urged
against female education utterly false. They
have fully justified my original opinion of
the equality of mind, as mind, between the
sexes. As to the idea that collegiate educa
tion would render women foolishly preten
tious, our Alumnae have exploded the bau
ble forever. They are, in their pretension,
the noblest set of women ever produced.
For, among other evidences of good culture,
they learned this —that genuine learning fur
nished its own labeling. It did not need
petension—it lay in beautiful polish, always
to he seen, without notice.
In one thing only am I sadly disappointed
in the education of the daughters of our day.
I had supposed a good education would re
store to our women moral courage enough
to make them contemn the abnormal taste
for sensuous fashions, and restore to society
a race of women whose better cultivated
minds would so utterly abhor and shun these
abnormal tastes as to furnish the Church
and the world with irresistible proofs that
great minds never yield to little self-debas
ing accommodations, but stand firmly by
normal elegance and propriety. But alas !
even among our graduates, on the stage
itself, composition in hand, may be seen
fashions which no one—not even the subject
herself, can ever believe to be the fruit of
great-mindedness—such as a draggle-tail a
y-ird -long, lu. her o*>t *r.y, and every
body else’s way that has any proximity to
her. And as mind has to be employed in all
of our voluntary arrangements, whatever in
them cannot be traced to great-mindedness
must be to little mindeduess. There is no
middle way. This is but one of many evi
dences, that anything like submission to a
fashion merely to be in fashion, is a great
weakness, and more likely to be set down to
a constitutional female imbecility than any
thing else, and when cast against me by the
deniers of woman’s equal mental endow
ments, lam hors de combat. I can say no
more; for when one of these barbarian
minnifiers of woman appeals in proof of his
doctrine to the long trail of costly muslins
scraping the floor, and to the body of the
dress, pinned back to immodest tightness, as
proof of a native weak-mindedness, I am
dumb. I respectfully ask our Wesleyan
Female College graduates, must I give up ?
Greatness and littleness are two —not one.
L. Pierce.
A SOKE EVIL.
Dear Advocate : How pleasant and
edifying are the long columns, brimming
with truths and sparkling with wisdom’s
gems, which come to me weekly. They serve
to pass pleasantly by the wearisome hours
on railroads, and during the monotonous
puff, puff, of steamboats, and especially do
they prove a boon of content during days
aud hours of relaxation at home—sweet
home. The first paper I ever remembered
was the Advocate, the first piece I ever
read in the Advocate was in the cherished
“Children’s Corner,” and even now, whilst
lines of care are stealing over my brow,
fond memory recalls the lovely Sabbath even
ing when my mother called me to her knee
and tracing the lines to guide my eyes, heard
me read, “The Sabbath — God's day." I
will never forget that day, Mr. Editor, nor
the lecture I received with those few lines
as a text; and ever since that evening, at
home or abroad, I can see the wisdom of
words I heard when a child.
Well do I recollect the weekly tramps of
Sunday mornings across the meadow and
through the grove to the old hewed-log
church, the pious faces, the joyous smiles,
the loud amens, and all, all, are yet as plain
ly stamped upon my mind as if it were but
yesterday. After church services were over
we all went home again to meditate upon
what we had heard. Now jnst here, Mr.
Editor, is the point to which I have been
driving. I have seen, of late, so much evil,
growing out of so small a cause that often I
have wished myself able to speak to all of
my brethren, and sisters too, at once, and
say, “The Sabbath —’tis God's day." Social
visitings are one of the strongest ties of
friendship. We love to greet our friends
upon our own thresholds, and wide-open
throw the doors of our larders to all who
may visit us ; still there are hours set apart
by almost every family in the world, for the
purpose of home enjoyments, and during
these hours, company is not desired, yea,
hardly tolerated. I notice that the Sabbath
evening is generally so observed by the la
boring classes, and largely by all classes of
people. The attorney closes his mind from
the client’s call; the merchant thinks not of
the bills to write from his ledger on the mor
row ; the farmer sits and talks to bis family
in the back porch ; and the student has clos
ed his ears against Greek and Latin while he
reads from the Book of Books. Still, there
is one class of persons yet unnamed, and I
confess my inability to place them in regu
lar order, and can only say that they can
be found at home but seldom, on the Lord’s
day. I know of several, yea, many, very
many whole families who pack up regularly
every Sunday morning and wend their way
to Church, and from thence to “spend the
PUBLISHED BY J. W. BURKE & COMPANY, FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
evening ” with some friend who would cheer
fully gather up his conveyance and carry
them home, just to get one more quiet Sun
day evening. But no, the good wife and
daughters who had done extra work on Sat
urday in order to save toasting their faces to
day, must go to the cook room and pantry
and get up a good dinner for Mr. Brown and
family, Squire Sinner’s wtfe and others-
Dinner over, the dishes to wash, the mind
frustrated, no time to digest a sermon, and
all because our friends don't think of the
error they commit. Too often these visits
are made upon one family who unfortunate
ly live near the church, and who, I daresay,
have not had a Sunday to themselves during
the past twelve months. This looks like an
exaggeration, Mr. Editor, yet I have one
family in my mind now, who from good cir
cumstances have been very hard ran by this
very course of things. The father says he
must sell his place and leave, just because
he cannot support the crowd that weekly
comes—the older ones to talk of politics
and crops and scandal, and the host of chil
dren to run and shout up stairs and down,
around the house and over the whole premis
es until any one of sober mind would wish
himself in Hiudoostan, or some other place
of security against vampires of hearthstone
peace.
“My brethren, these things ought not so
to be,’’ there is a growing evil amongst us.
W e can root it out; will it be done? Let
every one of us pray just before we leave
home and see if conscience will not tell us to
return to our own houses on God’s day, and
try to do some good for ourselves, and not
spend our hours in foolish jestings and un
profitable conversations.
DeKalb County.
THE OBJECT OF CLASS-MEETINGS.
In the edition of our Discipline published
in 1858, the origin and object of Class-meet
ings is thus given : “In the latter end of the
year 1739, eight or ten persons came to Mr.
Wesley in London, who appeared to be deep
ly convinced of sin, and earnestly groaning
for redemption. They desired (as did two
or three more the next day) that he would
spend some time with them in prayer, and
advise them how to flee the wrath to come ;
which they saw continually hanging over
their heads. That he might have more time
for this great work, he appointed a day when
they might all come together, which from
thenceforward they did every week, namely,
on Thursdays, in the evening. To these,
and as many more as desired to join with
them, (for their number increased daily,) he
gave those advices from time to time which
he judged most needful for them; and they
always concluded their meeting with prayer
suited to their several necessities. This waß
the rise of the United Societies, first in Eu
rope and then in America. Such a society
is no other than 4 a company of men having
the form and seeking the power of godliness,
united in order to pray together, to receive
the word of exhortation, and to watch over
one another in love, that they may help each
other to work out their salvation.’ ”
From this it is plainly to be seen that in
the first institution of the class-meeting by
Mr. Wesley himself, the great object was to
aih anh'aasist truly penitent souls to approach
“the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world,” by an act of living faith, that
they might receive the blessings of justifica
tion, regeneration, and adoption. That this
“great work,” as Mr. Wesley justly calls it,
can be done more effectually, in a great many
cases, in the class-meeting than in any other
way, must be clear to the mind of every one
who is thoroughly acquainted with the inter
nal workings of pure spiritual Methodism ;
and more especially so to any one whom
Christ has honored as His instrument in
bringing many sons and daughters to God.
Such is the blindness and stupidity of the
unregenerated heart that the very simpleness
of faith makes it hard to be understood, and
every one who is earnestly engaged in trying
to bring souls to Christ, knows how hard it
is to place this subject before the mind of the
penitent so as to get his soul to act upon it.
A thousand ditficulties present themselves
in the way of those who are “deeply convin
ced of sin and earnestly groaning for re
demption,” that even the public preaching
of a Wesley cannot remove ; and without
those private “advices” and special prayers
of some faithful spiritual guide or “leader,”
which can be administered most effectually
in the class-meeting, the penitent is left to
struggle with a most powerful enemy, in
darkness and weakness, for weeks, months,
or perhaps for years, and may eventually give
over the struggle and go out of the Church
to hell at last, when by a little spiritual help
from a faithful class-leader, his soul might
have been saved. This consideration alone,
it appears to me, ought to silence all objec
tions to claBS-meetings.
But the class-meeting has another, and
if possible, a higher object than the one
above stated. It is to bring the members of
the Church into the full enjoyment of “the
communion of saints,” and place them in
circumstances where they can more effectu
ally seek “the power of godliness,” and be
come more closely “united in order to pray
together, to receive the word of exhortation,
and to watch over one another in love, that
they may help each other to work out their
salvation.” If our attainments in divine life
were at an end as soon as the blessing of jus
tification was obtained, or if the doctrine of
eternal election and reprobation was true, so
that there could be no danger of final apos
tacy, then we might afford to dispense with
class-meetings. But as the reverse of this is
true, it does appear to me that the class
meeting is an indispensable necessity to the
Church of Christ. While it is admitted that
it is possible for one, by the use of such
means as searching the Scriptures, hearing
the word preached, self-examination and
prayer, to grow in grace, (and how few there
are when left to themselves that will use these
means as faithfully as they should be used ;)
yet the growth must of necessity be slow and
tedious for the want of that spiritual assis
tance growing out of the close spiritual as
sociation, which the Saviour certainly con
templated in organizing His Church. “For
as the body is one, and hath many members,
and all the members of that one body, being
many, are one body: so also is Christ. For
by one Spirit are we all baptized into one
body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, wheth
er we be bond or free; and have been all
made to drink into one Spirit. For the body
is not one member, but many. If the foot
shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am
not of the body; is it therefore not of the
body ? And if the ear shall say, Because I
am not the eye, I am not of the body ; is it
therefore not of the body? If the whole
body were an eye, where were the hearing ?
If the whole were hearing, where were the
smelling ? But now hath God set the mem'
bers, every one of them, in the body, as it
pleased him. Aod if they were all one mem
ber, where were the body ? But now are
MACON, GEORGIA, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1876.
they many members, yet one body. . . ,
For our comely parts have no need : buf
God hath tempered the body together, hav
ing given more abundant honor to that pad
which lacked: That there should be njt
schism in the body ; bnt that the member|
should have the same care one for another
And whether one member suffer, all the
members suffer with it; or one member 1(8
honored, all the members rejoice with ifT
Now ye are the body of Christ, and membess
in particular.” (1 Cor. xii., 12-27.) Held
in the language of inspiration itself, we hav-1
set forth that strong bond of union, or rath]
er unity, which it is the intention of ouj
blessed Saviour should bind His Church intij
one body ; and that bond of unity is non?
other than the spirit of Christ himself. No\j
without this omnipotent centripetal fore*
acting constantly upon the heart of eacl
particular member, and concentrating tb .
whole in the one great heart of Christ, th
Church must, of necessity, be tom to pieciS
by the powerful centrifugal forces acting in the
corrupt and unholy hearts of the members:
It may continue to exist as a society, and iup
members may all live together peaceably soy
quietly, just as the members of Masonic <v
Odd-Fellows Lodge do, or as do the mem
bers of any other benevolent society ; but is
utterly ceases to be a true Ghurch of Chrisi,
whenever the Spirit of Christ and holiness
ceases to exert a supreme controlling influ
ence in the hearts of its members. Alas!
alas 1 how many such societies there air*
throughout our land I Now the great, thi:
grand, the glorious object of class-meeting is
continually to lead the members into a closer
and more sacred nearness to Christ, that
they may all abide in Him, and He in thens
even as He also abideth in the Father. Anjt
never was there an institution devised by the
mind of man (?) so well calculated to
plish the glorious object had in view ; no.-
can I see how any Church can retain its holi
ness, without the clai'ismeeting, or some in\
stitution very similf V Elder.
ALWYN-A ROMANCE OF STUDY.
BY JAMES C. MOFFAT. if
This will never be a popular book —calm,
contemplative, and thoughtful, it will
be taken up to while away a summer’s dwT
or to lighten the burden of an hour of enmo
—but it will be a chosen friend and valued
companion to the student, the thinker, and
believer. If poetry is, as we are told, ima
ginative composition in metrical language,
then Alwyn is a poem of no mean order, for,
with few exceptions, the flow of its rhymth is
as even and smooth as the murmur of a run*-
ning stream ; and if a poem deserves its title,
as Poe tells us, only inasmuch as it excites
by elevating the soul, then are its claims K,
the name beyond dispute,as we are occasion
ally caught up by the poet’s rapt fancy sW
carried to that “ Brighter day on which no
night shall fall, nor saddening cloud delay.’’
Alwyn is the record of a student’s care..
—a life-path pursued for the most part away
from the heat, and glare, and strife of ever
day existence, but carried on amid the quiet
shades and cloistered walks of severe stud;,..
A simple country boy, seeing “ God hi
every cloud” and hearing “Him in the wind, ’
the great mother Nature first rouses his a>•
pira’iont*; at her fc*t ha worships.
thinks to find from her the answers to the
great questions of being which already are
beginning to trouble his untutored mind.
The desire to know, the wistful search after
the great Beyond, are making themselves
felt in his heart. Despising the simple
of his companion and friend, Norman, he de
termined to spend
“ Long, patient thought, aiming as best he could
To reach by inward light all intellectual good,”
and to leave no human means untried to sojxe
the mighty problems : "
Wbat am I among -
Material things, so many and so strong?
Yea, what is life, and whence its force and Joy?
And, wherefore, is there death ?
Who made yon sun ? Who spread that lofty
sky V
Who carved those vales? Who built the moun
tains high ?
What are they made of ? How did they begin ?
Strangest of all, myself; yta, what am 1 ?
How have I slumbered into life?
Is it to last forever—to remain
While God endures, or to return to sleep,
And never, never wake again
While years on years their endless courses
6 weep ?
One thing I know, before me, dark and deep*
An awful, vast eternity is spread.”
He applies himself to the acquisition fbf
knowledge, and in the second canto of the
book we go with him through a masterly re
sume of the ancient classics, examine the
works of Greece and Rome, and trace their
influence in the progress of human culture,
winding up with a striking contrast drawn
between Christ and Caesar, yet giving to Ciesar
his grand place in the world’s history. But
all this does not satisfy the cravings of Al
wyn’s soul. Having exhausted the ample
store on the shelves of the country pastor’s
library, he turns to the city. Here he entqrs
upon the troubled Rea of journalism, and
though his paper rises high on the waves .of
public opinion, and his voice becomes that
of a leader in the land, self-disgust and wea
riness fill his soul, and “ All that knowledge
he had hoped to earn, seemed further now
away, and harder now to learn.” Next, trav
el is the resort of his perplexed mind, hoping
to throw off “ dreary Doubt’s intolerable
woe.” Foreign scenes, foreign tongues —*he
exhausts them all, and still cannot find the
truth for which he seeks.
We have seldom met a more magnifiejet
tribute to our mother tongue than Alwyn’s,
as he returns from journeying and hails once
more his native land:
“The thoughts of millions fill thine atmosphere
As warm and genial sunlight fills the air;
Thine atmosphere, in which the odors rare
Are poetry, and science is the gale;
And he who lives therein, though it may bear
At times miasma’s transitory bale,
Knowledge and beauty must as daily breath in
hale.” >
Philosophy now claims his thoughts, and
from its teachings he hopes to derive comfort
and rest. Each school, in turn, he searches
—the lonic, the Eleatic, Italic, Socratic, and
on even down to Hegel, Schelling, and the
thinkers of to-day, and gains " rich mines of
thought,” but no peace for the weary soul.
The dear-bought experience of many goes
with him, as he tells us:
“Whoever would the heights of truth attain,
Must pass the ordeal of doubt and dread;
Go out into the desert and sustain
Temptations of the Devil, and must tread
Them underfoot, crushing the serpent’s head ;
Of his own heart the treasures must explore,
And choose the guide by whom he will be led
By pa h or trodden or untrod before.
But, once for all, decide his aim to change no
more.”
And Alwyn’s doubts and
assume the subtlest forms, as he
“Before the gates of Science stood,
Left to himseif without a helping band.”
The quest grows more searching and more
keen, and the conflict waxes fiercer and
fiercer. Can any thing be found to meet the
cravings of the human mind better than the
Bible? He betakes himself to the lore of
all ages, and finds it all but Dead-Sea fruit,
turning to ashes upon his lips. Literature,
art, science, business life, all have failed—
with no faith fixed in God, he loses all faith
in his fellow-man; and, sick at heart, turns to
his first idol, Nature, only to find she is fruit
less now to give
"The fellowship she gave to life’s bright mom.”
In a dream he hears his mother at the throne
of God praying for him. The light begins to
break, but his wanderings are not yet over.
He strays into a grand cathedral, where the
gorgeous ritual and solemn service might
seem a fit sacrifice for the Lord of all,
“ But still the question rose:
Has God required this ottering at our hands ?
Can ail this pride of human taste unclose
The prison doors of sin, or break her bands ?”
Weary, cold, dejected, and heart-sore, he
sadly turns away, to meet a scene of sorrow
—one of God’s children, in poverty, bereave
ment, and distress, yet always rejoicing;
having nothing, yet grateful; full of sorrow,
but satisfied. In this happy follower of the
Lord Jesus, he is astonished to recognize the
friend of his boyhood, Norman, whose sim
ple faith he had scorned in the days of his
haughty youth. Humbled and contrite, he
begins to relieve the needy, feed the hungry,
clothe the naked, and finds
"In doing good,
in kindly ministering to want and pain,
.Peace, which never could
Be won fiom Learning in her holiest mood.”
From doing good, he goes on to getting good.
“ If any man will do His will, he shall know
of the doctrine” —faith takes the place of
reason, and good works of doubt.
’Twas not that anv doubt, bad been dispelled—
For none had yet b-en solved. But he bad found,
In I tie daik wateis which around him swelled,
At last a footing upon solid grouud.”
Firmly planted upon the Rock of Ages, the
goal is reached ; by faith, meditation, and
prayer, the light bursts upon him in full ef
fulgence, and his whole being breaks forth
into the triumphant acclaim, “ Christ is the
truth.”
* Self-humbled Son of God—atoning Lamb—
Who once for men descended from Thy throne,
How shall I praise Thee, sinful as 1 am,
All holy as Thou art ? Through Thee alone
Is God to man in love and mercy known.
In Thy commands all duty lies enshrined;
From beauty’s full perfection hast Thou shone,
Thyself more fair tliau form of human kind;
ADd Thou alone hast peace to calm the troubled
mind.”
Alwyn is by that well known scholar, James
C. Moffat, by birth a Scotchman, once a res
ident of South Carolina, but for many years
Professor of Church History at Priuceton,
and it is a most valuable contribution to
Christian literature. I. D. M.
Columbia, S. C.
“ COMPLAINTS AND PRESIDING EL
DEIIS REVIEWED.”
“Y. Z.” astonishes me. I scarcely know
which surprises me more, his misconception
of my article in the Advocate of August 1,
or the bitterness of spirit in which he re
plied in the issue next succeeding. I really
pity him, for he is badly hurt unintentionally
by me, and he has not exercised the grace to
bear it. His article, in every particular, in
dicates passionate haste. Before the dew of
the press had vanished from the paper upon
which my article was printed, his reply must
have been ready for the next issue. And
who can read his sentences and not conclude
that he was “ too full for utterance.”
As “ Y. Z.” may by this time be in a bet
ter condition to apprehend what he misap
prehended, I will endeavor to remove the
cause of his misconception. I intended to
condemn the principle of covertly receiving
repi-esenlations conkernihg a brother (be* he
layman, pastor, or presiding elder) and act
ing upon them to his detriment, and to ad
vocate fair and open dealing one with anoth
er. I did not bring “wholesale” accusa
tion against presiding elders as a class when
speaking of them ; I distinctly disclaimed
any such sweeping charge. And if it will
relieve the brother any, I will add, as a gen
eral proposition, subject to exceptions—pre
siding elders are among our purest and best
men, worthy leaders of an honorable host.
I intended to convey the idea that some pre
siding elders (not all) secretly received repre
sentations concerning the preachers of their
districts, which so colored their judgment as
to influence their recommendations, not on
the Conference floor, but in the “ stationing
room,” and that presiding elders have been
made victims of similar treatment to the
detriment of both the preacher and the work.
Is “ Y. Z.” prepared to say that such has
never been the case ? Does his information
so extend to every preacher and presiding
elder throughout our connection, as to ena
ble him to deny that the complaint has any
foundation ? If his reply is, no; then there
is no issue between us, except it may be as
to the propriety of the manner of referring
to it. When an evil is not confined to a par
ticular individual, or to a particular locality,
it may best be corrected by a general refer
ence to it, without mentioning names and
localities. The warning is general, and is
so given that only the implicated need at
tend. The representation is not secretly
made, but openly and directly to them, and
is not used to their detriment. If this does
not, however, satisfy “ Y. Z.,” but feeling
personally aggrieved, he still says : “ I urge
and insist that A. B. C. drop his generalities
and disguise, and charge the guilty individ
ual or individuals, thus giving them a chance
to reply”—let him “ drop his generalities
and disguise,” and authorize the Editor to
furnish me with his true name, with the re
quest for information concerning himself in
the matter complained of, and I will frankly
give it, if I have it in his case. This is fair
and open.
But if, on the other hand, “ Y. Z,” affirms
that his information is so general and par
ticular as to enable him to assert that the
evil complained of does not exist, he has the
published testimony of at least one presiding
elder against him, and if he will extend his
information a little farther, he will find some
preachers and presiding elders sore, very
sore, on account of the treatment complain
ed of. From ray heart I could wish it were
otherwise, but I cannot denounce the erring
brethren by whom the evil came, as he does.
All good men have not the same views of
propriety. What some may conscientiously
do, others may condemn as wrong and hurt
ful. I would simply condemn the act, with
out denouncing the actor.
I protest against the closing words of “Y.
Z’s.” article: “or himself forever rest un
der the stigma of dark conspiracy and whole
sale midnight assassination.” Certainly he
does not mean what these words import. I
cannot conceive how a Christian brother can
apply such language to another with all their
force for so slight a cause. He certainly
would not apply them orally and personally
to any Christian gentleman. Then why
write them, and send them forth to ten thou
sand readers ? Surely his anger must have
overcome his better nature. Now if “Y. Z.”
will relent toward me, and promise not to
consume me by the fervid blaze of his wrath
I will cry out against still another evil —the
intemperance, if not licentiousness of the
religious press, in the language sometimes
used by one brother concerning another.
Such practice should be relegated to corrupt
politicians, and never once named among
us. If he shall say again, “ Physician heal
thyself,” I reply: true I did write “stabbed
in the dark,” but these words were quoted
from others to show how intense is the feel
ing among some on account of the evil com
plained of, and as a reason why it should be
abated. As my intention was simply to
call attention to an evil, and not to inflict a
wound upon any one, I beg my wounded
brother's pardon, and retire from the con
troversy. A. B. C.
COKESBURY DISTRICT CONFERENCE.
Mr. Editor: The Cokesbury District
Conference was held this year in connection
with Mt. Bethel Camp-meeting, Laurens
county, S. C. The Rev. Manning Brown,
P. E., occupied the chair. R. D. Smart
and Thomas G. Harmon were elected secre
taries. The opening sermon was preached
Wednesday night, August 9, from Hebrews
xii:24. The sessions were held from 7) to 10J
a. m., the remainder of the day being devo
ted to the exercises of the camp-meeting.
The attendance of preachers and delegates,
notwithstanding the difficulty of access, was
quite large. Their reports brought out
prominently the following facts :
The spiritual condition of the work is
quite encouraging. Most of the charges
have recently been refreshed by revivals of
religion, and in many the good work still goes
on.
The finances of the district are sadly defi
cient, but preachers and delegates, with an
occasional exception, are hopeful and confi
dent that all claims will be met by Confer
ence. Crops never were better, and surely
God’s people will cheerfully make liberal
thank-offerings when the time of harvest
comes.
The subject of pastoral visiting and family
worship received special attention. An in
teresting discussion on these subjects took
place, which was largely participated in by
the members, lay and clerical, as well as by
the visiting brethren.
The session of Saturday was devoted to
the cause of Education. Prof. F. A. Con
nor, rector of the Cokesbury School; Prof.
W. D. Kirkland, of the Columbia Female
College, and Dr. James H. Carlisle, Presi
dent of Wofford College, represented the in
terests of their respective institutions in ap
propriate and interesting addresses. The
following resolutions were unanimously
adopted.
Whereas, The interests of our educa
tional institutions, the Cokesbury Conference
School, the Columbia Female College, and
Wofford College, have been brought to our
attention ; and whereas, these interests are
so closely connected with the best welfare of
our Church ; therefore,
Resolved 1. That we have listened with
pleasure to the remarks made in behalf of
these institutions respectively by Prof. F. A.
Connor, Prof. VV. D. Kirkland, and Dr. Jas.
H. Carlisle.
2. That we are glad to be able to heartily
recommend these institutions to the confi
dence and patronage of the entire Church,
and to Ihe public generally.
3. Further, that we pledge ourselves to
urge the claims of these institutions among
our people, and to renewed effort in trying
lo raise the educational assessment of the
Church the present year.
The following persons were elected dele
gates to the next session of the South Caro
lina: J. B. Humbert, G. M. Maltison, J. L.
Smitfi, and Rev. M. M ; . Boyil. kiteriiates’:
F. A. Connor, Thomas G. Harmon, Thomas
S. Moorman, and B. D. Kay.
It was decided to hold the next session of
the District Conference at Ninety Six, S. C.
The religious services of the camp-meet
ing were largely attended, and resulted in
several conversions and five accessions to
the Church.
The entertainment of the Conference by
the tent-holders was hearty and elegant, fully
sustaining the reputation of this community
for generous hospitality.
Richard D. Smart, Sec’y.
Selections.
From the Texas Christian Advocate.
WHICH WILL WE HO?
One of three things : Bring up our children
without education, send them abroad, or ed
ucate them at home.
It is a sad confession to make, but many
of us are choosing the first alternative. It is
easy and cheap —as ignorant persons think.
Men reach this conclusion by a simple pro
cess : “ I have made money ; I was not col
lege-bred ; therefore my boy need not bs.”
It would wear out one’s strength this hot
weather to show a man capable of such rea
soning the fallacies in his argument, and the
misconceptions in his head. But we may
tell him, though he may neither understand
nor believe, that the mere making of money
is not the best test of success in human life.
To deny or even doubt the value of thorough
education indicates a degree of ignorance
that does demand patience, but that is invin
cible by argument.
Hundreds of us are prating about what is
called practical education, and neglecting
the most practical education possible to our
children —their thorough mental training and
culture.
By practical education most people mean
preparation for making money. The aver
age sentiment among us as to education—its
character and value—needs to be craned up.
We give our children the most practical edu
cation by giving them the fullest use of all
their mental and moral faculties. And this
they can only have by thorough mental dis
cipline and culture. “The tools to him who
can use them,” said Napoleon. Education
will give to our children the right use of the
tools with which the God of nature has fur
nished them. Alas 1 that so many of our
comfortable, well-to-do people are bringing
up their children in comparative ignorance,
when they might, if they would, give them a
thorough education, did they only know that
money, judiciously invested in the mental
and moral training of our children, pays for
both worlds larger dividends then any other
investments we can make.
If we educate our children, it must be done
at home or abroad.
Some people send them abroad—to the
North and to Europe, for the style of the
thing. Argument is wasted here. As well
argue with a fashionable woman who drags
her skirts in muddy streets, or with the swell
who parts his hair in the middle. They go
for what they consider style, and sense to
them is nonsense.
But some send their children abroad be
cause they honestly believe they can do bet
ter for them by so doing. Now, there is no
use in quarreling at this class of persons.
They act on their judgment and on their con
science. There is one way, and but one way,
to meet their arguments : Make our home
schools what they ought to be. Other things
being equal, it is certainly unwise to send
our children abroad for education unless we
wish them to be foreigners. Travel is good
when there is training and culture enough to
made its lessons available. Those who have
gone through the ordinary college course, or
its equivalent, (if there is an equivalent,)
may profitably go to the great universities
for special studies. The true university is
for young men and women, not for boys and
girls. Those parents who send abroad with
an honest purpose to do the best for their
children, sometimes forget this. The best
furnished university in Europe is not the
school an entrained boy needs. He cant
use the tools; he must first finish his ap
prenticeship.
But from the standpoint of these articles
we need not discuss the university question
We are now concerned about our colleges—
Southern colleges—particularly our Southern
Methodist colleges. They have done won
ders, considering their chance; they are
wonderfully efficient, considering their op
portunity. They have almost worked mira
cles. Their tenacity of life is marvelous.
But we make bold to say, and with such em
phasis as we can command, the present state
of things cannot last forever. The faculties
cannot endure it. Every Southern Metho
dist College does a large beneficiary work.
We know one that gave tuition to one-third
of its students during one collegiate year.
And this was not far above the average. For
this the college received praises, compli
ments without end. Also, some prayers,
minus the alms. Now, who paid for the
tuition of these beneficiaries?
“Nobody,” one says. That won’t do.
“The Church, says another.
No.
“The public,” says another.
No.
“Who then?”
Brought to its last analysis, as the phrase
goes, the faculty.
“Were they paid their not large-salaries?”
No.
“What then ?”
The Church call on a few men to do
what they are not able to do ; to do what the
Church says must be done ; to do what the
Church should do, can do, and has not done.
“What else ?”
It is a question of endurance. When a
college man has endured as long as he can,
he drops out, and another, cheered by prom
ises of better support and lighter burdens,
steps in. And so the process goes on grind
ing up men. But not forever. We here ex
press our most deliberate judgment: Our
entire college system will break down; it
will fall to pieces ; it will perish unless the
Church, who says she is the great patroness
of the colleges, endows them. We are
among the most hopeful of men ; but what
are hopes born of dreams ? Hopes that have
no faith-foundation ?
We do that believe our college system will
break down, because we believe the Church
will endow her colleges. But the Church
may wait till some of her most useful col
leges are grouud to powder. What a shame!
What a sin it is to kill a college that deserves
to live, by slow slarvation.
But why endow colleges? We may say
more hereafter, but now we answer briefly:
Because Church colleges, to perform their
full functions, must give free tuition to many
poor boys, and the tuition fees of the richer
ones are not enough to sustain the college ;
far a Church college zhsetd be first-c!'is”.t 1 A
first-class college should have a full faculty
of trained aud accomplished men, and they
cost money. It should have also an ample
apparatus; it should have, in a word, a com
plete outfit, and this costs money. ;
We close now with this question : Is there
not one man ot fortune in the whole South
ern Methodist Church, with sense, and soul,
and devotion, enough to place SIOO,OOO un
der one of our struggling colleges, and thus
lead the way to better things, showing all
other rich men how to do good with money ?
Is there not one man among us who will put
$30,000 under one chair, and endow that?
lied Uill. John Smith.
THANKFULNESS.
“O dear," sighed Mrs. Morton, “I never
do have anything like other people. I am
dying for the want of luxuries. I cannot
live without them. I always did have every
thing I wanted till I was married, but now,”
—and she paused a moment to take an in
ventory of her present state and condition.
These complaints were addressed to Mrs.
Bell, the wife of her husband’s partner, a
cheerful, happy, little body, who had learn
ed to bear life’s discipline with the most ex
emplary Christian patienee.
“ I do not suppose you mind these strug
gles with poverty as I do,” she continued,
“ for you are accustomed to them, but / was
brought up in the midst of luxury, and not
to have things like other people is a source
of constant annoyance to me. Now there is
General Wilson’s wife ; she has horses and
carriages and servants constantly at her dis
posal, but I never ride now. I have talked
and talked with George about this and tell
him I shall die if I have to stay cooped up
here; but he says he cannot afford it, and
so the matter ends.”
Now this horse and carriage matter had
been one of the great questions that had ag
itated the domestic life of Mrs. Morton. Her
husband’s income wa3 limited, but he had
spent every dollar of it and something be
side upon her unreasonable demands. He
had rented the best house in town, had fur
nished it much better than he could really
afford, had kept the best of help to do the
work, wait on her, and relieve her from care
and anxiety. He had denied himself all the
luxuries and many of the necessaries of life
to indulge her expensive 'astes. But she
was not satisfied. She wanted an elegant
turn-out at her command that she might ride
whenever and wherever she pleased. But
this was a luxury that Mr. Morton could not
possibly afford, and he had plainly told her
so. Like a spoiled child, as she was, she
had fretted and fumed over this harsh treit
ment, as she called it, and tried hard to
make herself sick.
Mrs. Bell was silent, for she knew not
what to say to this outburst of complaint.
She knew very well that her friend was sur
rounded by far more luxury than she had
ever thought it reasonable to ask or ex
pect of her husband. She was happy in
her home with her children, happy in the
midst of self-denial and labor, and she
could not understand her friend’s misery.
“I am sorry you feel so, my dear friend,”
she said at last. “I think our husbands
are very kind and do all they can for us,
so I try to be happy without many things
that I would really like.”
“ Yes, I know you do, and I often won
der how you can. You are not accustom
ed to luxuries as 1 have been and that
makes a great difference.”
Not accustomed to luxuries 1 thought Mrs.
Bell. Did not she have a good home be
fore her marriage, with all the necessaries
and many luxuries at her disposal? Were
tere not a plenty of books, nice pictures,
music, servants, horses and carriages at her
disposal ? But when she married a man
F. M. KENNEDY, D. D., Editor
J. >V. BURKE, Assistant Editor
A. G. HAYGOOD, D. D., Editorial Correspondent
WHOLE NUMBER 2011.
with his way to make in the world, she did
not expect to begin where her parents left
off, but with united labors, prudence, and
self-denial, to work their way up the ladder,
and perhaps when the evening of life should
come they might enjoy a brief leisure. This,
she believed, was the way she ought to feel,
and she had never thought of rebelling against
her convictions of duty.
Mrs. Bell had begun her married life as I
think every woman would do who wants to
be an actual helpmeet to her husband. His
income was not large, and she knew if they
were iO ever have a home of their own, they
must not spend everything as they went
along. So they had, at first, rented a few
rooms and furnished them with the necessa
ries, but only a few of the luxuries of life.
She did her own work, they lived simply and
prudently, and in the course of a few years
saved money enough to buy a comfortable
house.
Children were given them to gladden their
home; love and contentment was in their
hearts, and they were happy. Thank offerings
arose daily from the altar, and with gratitude
they learned that ,‘every good gift and every
pefect gift cometh from above,” and to the
Bountiful Giver of all good they were in
debted for everything that they received.
If sometimes, in the dispensation of Provi
dence, small pleasures were denied them,
they felt that there was enough to make
them happy, and they learned to feel that all
the self-denial and discipline of life, if right
ly improved, is only a means of perfecting
their Christian characters.
Happy would it be for all of us, if we
could learn early in life this practical lesson.
It would save many a heart throb, and glad
den the journey of life with the brightest
and sweetest flowers of patience and hope.
KNOWING WHEN WE ARE WELL OFF.
You are well off when you are in a healthy
neighborhood, with enough to eat and drink,
a comfortable, well ventilated apartment to
sleep in, and you are paying all your expen
ses and laying up something—even slowly—
for a rainy day, and, in addition to all this,
acquiring knowledge and strengthening your
character. Young men whose situation
combines all these advantages should be
very cautious about exchanging such a cer
taiuty unless it be for another certainty.
Happiness does not depend upon great wealth
so much as it does upon independence and
intellectual and moral culture. Add to the
above, always, a conscience void of offense
toward God and man. When the Maker of
the universe is your guide, and you have ac
cess to Him by prayer, you are rich whether
your income be one hundred thousand or
one hundred dollars.
MISCELLANEA.
The Methodist Episcopal Church has in
Italy 7 missionaries, 12 native preachers,
600 members, and 1 church, worth SIO,OOO.
That God whom now we may be so strong
ly rejecting, will one day be the punisher o
our rebellion ; “His goldeu sceptre becomes
an iron rod.”
Dew drops have been, not inappropriate
ly, called the tears which angels shed over
fallen earth. Their number is indicative of
the heinonsness ofpur sins.
Rev. Henry Morgan has offered $lO,-
000 to the Methodists if they will build a
tabernacle in Boston to accommodate the
masses, and others have each subscribed
SI,OOO.
It is proposed to divide the Episcopal dio
cese of North Carolina into three dioceses—
one with Wilmington for a center, another
with Raleigh, aud the third with Asheville
west of the Blue Ridge. Next year’s Con
vention is to decide upon accepting the plan.
The London Merhodist says that the com
mittee of the Connectional Sunday-school
Union have resolved, after two or three con
siderations of the subject, that on the whole,
it is better not to adopt the International
Lessons next year, but to continue their
plan of framing their own list of lessons.
Rev. Mr. Skrefsud, one of the missiona
ries of the Santhal Home mission, returned
to India from England toward the close of
the last year. He writes that 1,600 grown
up Santbals were baptized last year on pro
fession of faith, and that a large number will
probably be baptized during 1876.
The late Mr. Baird, the great iron-founder,
who left by will X 200,000 to the Church of
Scotland, also bequeathed £20,000 each to
the universities of Edinburgh aud Glasgow.
He has left funds to endow two chairs, one
of architecture and one of geology, in Glas
gow University, and to establish a popular
lectureship in natural science.
A work containing some of the earlier
writings of Luther, such as his first lectures
on the Psalms, is announced to appear soon
from Dresden. Its principal interest will
lie in the fact that these lectures were writ
ten at the time when Luther, though stilt a
Catholic and a monk, was beginning to note
the abuses in his own Church .against which
he finally protested.
The Congregational Association of Oregon
has resolved that the true solution of the
Chinese question is not to oppose the com
iug of Chinese to these shores, nor to seek
any modification in the treaty, but to break
down by legal restraints and penalties the
present contract system of the “Chinese
Companies,” and destroy their power to
keep those brought here in a state of virtual
slavery.
The Reformed Episcopal Church was or
ganized in December, 1873. At the recent
convention in Ottawa the report showed up
ward of 60 ministers and 50 congregations in
union with the General Council, besides
others already formed or in process of for
mation. Reports were received from only
34 congregations, which contain 2,311 fami
lies, 3,549 communicants, and 4,095 Sunday
school childreu. The collections for the
year amouuted to $151,000. The next coun
cil will be held in Philadelphia.
Says the Alliance , and every one else will
add Amen: “We would advise every min
ister who can, to make sure of the Centen
nial. Not only will you not have an oppor
tunity to attend the next, but you will have
missed the very one of all you ought to see,
unless you are off for Philadelphia in the
near future. It is the thinking man, the
scholar, who will really enjoy the great show:
only he can take in its immense scope. To
him it means more than to all others. For
it is more than a show and more than the
history of a hundred years. It is history and
philosophy, science and art, men and things,
all combined, a vast volume full of the old
and the new, speaking out the sure word of
prophecy that should ring around the world
and make it more wise and more happy.
The congregation that will send their pas
tor to Philadelphia now will be amply repaid
on his return. They will have better ser
mons, a more genuine liberal theology, and
a gospel that is designed yet to bless the
world. By all means, if possible, send down
your pastor,”