Newspaper Page Text
TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS.
upeir.
VOLUME XXXIX., NO. 45.
Original Joetrn.
“BRIGHT DATS WILL COME.”
BY W. P. R.
Good Heart, hope on and never weary !
Though winter days are dreary,
The spring returns, with April showers,
With songs of birds, and dewy flowers.
Bright sunny days more cheery !
Be strong and brave, and ntvrr weary!
Though days be black and dreary.
Though dark-wingedcare sighs through the air,
We may not yie and to dull despair,
Bright days sill come more cheery.
On darkest thunder-clouds appearing,
Bright rainbows chide thy fearing,
And skies of noon with storm? o’ercast,
With sunset-glories show at last,
A bright to-morrow nearing.
Though lightnings flame with lurid glaring,
Great good they are preparing;
The terrors that our hearts appall,
Shall clear the skies, for rain to fall;
God’s love for men still caring.
Good Heart, look up and cease repining !
The clouds have silver lining.
Beyond the storms that drape the sky,
Uncbarging Love is throned on high,
And ail the stars are shining.
Go t’s promise thine—be never weary !
Faint not, though days be dreary !
Life’s wintry days shall pass away.
And Heaven shall all thy grief repay—
Bright days will come more cheery.
Contributions.
JUSTITIA AM) COMMON SCHOOLS.
Mr. Editor: I have read Justitia's reply
to my article on Common Schools. He com
plains that I treated his position unfairly,
and concludes by expressing the hope that
I will slick to the text in case I see fit to
answer him.
My first article was simply an expression
of the fact that I rejoiced to see Bishop
Pierce announcing himself as no friend to
the Common School system, and a few com
ments upon extracts from Justitia’s plea for
that system.
If the State has a right to adopt a system
of education, supported by taxation, then
the only question is, the wisdom and expe
diency of the plan. If the State has no
right to inaugurate such a system, then the
system has no foundation, and the wisdom
nnd expediency of the plan is not debatable.
Justitia refuses to discuss the right of the
State in the matter, hut proceeds to defend
the system adopted by the State. “ I have
refused,” he says, “to argue the right of
the State to educate her people.” He thus
places himself in a most anomalous posi ion
He most earnestly contends for the correct
ness of his conclusion, and yet, refuses to
offer a single argument in support of his
premise. Strange reasoning!
I now address myself to Justitia’s “text.”
I will di-cuss it fairly. It is conceded tha’
some of the poorer class cannot avail them
selves of the system provided by the State.
I suggested that if the State ought to provide
a system which “is the only hope of the
common people,” it should for the same !
reason place these in a condition to enjoy
that system. To this Justilia objects, ana
claims the deduction to be illogical. I sub
mit if any other deduction can be drawn. If
the State ought to furnish the system of ed
ucation, and it is ascertained that the people
cannot avail themselves of its benefits with
out aid from the Slate; and if the State has
noright to furnish the means to thesp people
to enjoy their “ only hope;” if to furnish the
means to enjoy the system would be going
“beyond the limits of her right and duty,”
is not that fact a strong argument against the
system ? Why should the State provide a
system of education, if, in those instances
where the people are unable to enjoy its
benefits without aid from the State, the gov
ernment has no right tojifford tha means of
that enjoyment ?
In my first article I took the position that
the Common School system gave to the Stale
the performance of those things that should
be exercised by the parent. Whereupon
Justitia says: “ The performance of what
things does it give to the State that should
be exercised by the parent —and in what
does the Common School system and ffer from
any other? H ~hy. only in the payment of
the tuition by the State. [ltalics mine.] It
does not relieve the parent of one single
duty, nor assume one of his prerogatives.
The parent has choice of schools. If he does
not like one he can send to another within
reach." [ltalics mine] Again: “When
ha (Justice) says that the Common School
sy-tem gives to the State the performance of
those things which, in his judgment, should
be exercised only by the parent, he fails to
mention one of them; and I deny that there
is one.” Let us examine the law and the
facts of the system, and then compare them
with the hasty assertion of Justitia. The
Public School system of this Siate, in its
main features, is to be found in the acts of
1872. I quote from the act. Section XIl
declares : “ That hereafter each and every
county in the State shall compose one school
district, and shall be confided to the control
and management of a County Board of Edu
cation.” That board is chosen by the graud
jury of each county. Section XIX enacts :
“ That the County Board of Education shall
provide from time to time what text books
and books of reference shall be us°d in the
Common Schools of the county. Provided :
That the Bible shall not be excluded from
the public schools of the State.” This board,
through the Coutity School Commissioner,
employs the tfache-s and they are licensed
by the board. Sec. XXXIII provides '■
“That the County Board of Education shall
■not be permitted to introduce into the schools
any text or miscellaneous books of a secta
rian or sectional character.” Sec. XXVI:
“ That admission to all the public schools of
this State shall be gratuitous to all the cbil
dren residing in the sub district in which the
school is located. Provided: That in special
cases, to meet the demands of convenience,
children residing iu one sub district may, by
express permission of the County Board, at
tend the primary schools of another sub
district.” In view of the law, is the only dif
ference between the Common School system
and any other, simply in payment of tuition
by the State ? In a private school the teach
er can select his text books and books of re
ference, and the parent has choice of schools
-if he does not like one be can send to an
other. In the private school system the pa
rent only pays when his children attend the
school. The doctrine of quid pro quo ob
tains in such a plan. But the Public School
system smiles at this principle in political
economy. The parent is compelled to pay to
the schools’ support, whether his childreu
attend or not. Even if a man has no chil
dren he is nevertheless made to contribute
to sustain the school. Do not we find here a
very material difference between the two
finnthmi (fluis<ian 2Umalc.
systems? In a short ar’icle I can only sug
gest, the reader can readily pursue the rea
soning to his own satisfaction. Justitia ad
mits that if it be shown that the operation of
the Common School system is to step be
tween parent and child, he will no longer
advocate it. I ask him, in all candor then,
when the State compels a parent, by taxa
tion, to contribute to the support of a school,
and yet, gives that parent no voice in the
management of it; when he cannot select
his teacher; when the teacher has no power
t adopt his text books and books of refer
ence ; when the parent has no choice of
schools; in the light of these facts , I ssk
him if the legitimate operation of such a sys
tern 13 not to step between parent and child
in the important ma'ter of primary eduea
Mon. I insist with in the words
of Bishop Pierce, “ something is due to pa
rental responsibility in the matter of prima
ry education.”
I have not, so far, discussed the right of
the State in this question. Justitia desired
me only to discuss his text —the operation
of the Common School system, and wherein
it differs from any other system. I have
done so, and now submit it to a candid
public.
And now, a few more reflections on the
Public School system.
Any system of education that fails to re
cognize that a child has a mental and moral
and physical nature, and that fails to make
provision for the fullest development of each
of those natures, is, to that extent, defective.
The moral, mental, and physical natures are
all capable of high education, and no person
is properly educated that has neglected the
education of either of these natures, and
most especially the moral nature. And just
here is a great objection to the Common
School system. The tendency of the system
is to exclude all religious instruction from
the school room. That has been reached in
some places. A Board of Education of a
Western city passed the following resolution :
“ Resolved , That hereafer no teacher in
the employment of this board shall either
teach or practice religion.”
A profound thinker and fine educator, the
late Bishop Thompson, has left us this whole
some reflection : “Tell me that I shall say
nothing to influence the moral character of
those under my care and you tell me non
sense- As well say that I shall restrain the
atmosphere from bearing my breath in any
direc'ion hat the North Pole. They who
forbid moral instruction generally overlook
'he fact that it is constantly going on.
Though the school may not teach morals,
the play ground, and the street, and the
market, and the tavern, and the nro nenale,
aud tire auction block will. Though the
teachers do not teach the written Decalogue,
there are plenty of masters to proclaim the
unwritten one ; lust, and stealing, and blood,
and atheism, preach without any license.
Let the youth grow up and choose religion
and morals for himself, and he may choose
himselfinto the penitentiary long b-fore he
is fully grown. Men of en complain of the
ease wi h which the young mind receives a
religious bias, hut they ought to think of the
greater ease with which it receives an irre
ligious one. * * * *
The school-house is the great fountain of
national character , and sends forth sweet or
bitter waters through all the streams of the
nation's thought. It must be in the hands
of either religious or irreligious men. Let
it fall into the hands of the latter , and Cata *
line is at the gates of Rome." Let Justitia
“ chew and dig est” the thought well. In
tellectual education, in and of itself, does
not make lie'ter men. Dishonesty, and pro
fanity, and licentiousness, and murder, are
often found where the intellect alone has
been educated. The many defaulters of this
age are smart men but knaves. Their ras
cality is refined, and for that reason all the
more dangerous. The penitentiaries are not
filled with men who were properly educated
iu reference to their moral na'ures. Horace
Mann, a close observer and thinker on the
subject of education, says: “I think I re
strict myself within bounds in saying that,
so far as I have observed in lite, ten men
have failed from defect in morals where one
has failed from defect in intellect." The pub
lic School system makes no provision for the
education ot the heart and conscience. Nor
can the State adopt a system for primary
educatiiu and make such provision. The
Catholics, and Jews, and Infidels, have too
much power at the ballot box for that
“ Education is a normal function of the
Church," says Dr, Havgood, in his fine
Alumni address, delivered at Emory Col
-1 ge, 1874. A careful perusal of that excel
lent address will afford Justitia pleasure and
profit.
The question of Public Schools is one of
vast moment. The subj“Ct is worthy of
sober reflection. It is assuming importance,
and within the decade may be a question o‘
national politics. The writer wishes such
may not be the result, but the tendency is in
that direction.
I have no desire to prolong this discus
sion ; as Justitia has none, I presume it is
at an end. Justice.
Burke County , Oct. 27, 1876.
DR, MYERS.
We copy the following from an apprecia
tive and discriminating tribute which appears
in the St. Louis Advocate of October 2oth,
from the pen of Dr. Myers' trusted friend.
Rev. A. G. Havgood, D. D :
Dr Myers was one of our best aud hard
est workers. He had many talents and large,
aud he used them all and altogether for the
glory of God and the good of men. An af
fection of the throat cur'ailed his pulpit
work, but in or out of the pastorate, he
preached when he could, for he loved lo
preach, and deplored, but with resignation,
the infirmity that so often hindered him. He
was a faithful expounder of God’s word. He
made its meaning plain to the understand
ing, and pressed its truth upon the conscience.
There was critical exegesis, philosophical
breadth, and evangelical fervor in his preach
ing. His minis'ry was always characterized
by sound sense aud sincere earnestness. He
wai susceptible of profound religious emo
tion. and at times when the unction of the
Holy Ghost was upon him his preaching was
in great, power. His preaching was religious
ly courageous ; what he believed he pro
claimed, whether in reproving sin or expos
ing error.
Asa teacher he was punctiliously faithful,
laborous, patient, untiring, impartial. His
long career as editor brought him recogni
tion everywhere as one of onr best writers
and strongest minds. Especially will his ed
itorials that preceded the important changes
in our Church economy by the General Con
ference of 1866 be remembered lor their
sobriety, clearness, breadth and power. His
volume, entitled, “ The Disruption of the
M. E. Church,” had he produced nothing
else, would stamp him as a man of learning,
research, and ability.
Dr. Myers was a man of “ affairs.” He
PUBLISHED BY J. W. BURKE & COMPANY, FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
would have succeeded in almost any depart
ment of life requiring industry, energy, pa
tience. sound judgment, broad views, and
adminisirative ability. On committees and
“ boards” in Annual and General Confer
ence work, there were few so able ; none
more faithful, honest, and painstaking. He
knew more of the wants and polity, resources
and possibilities ot our Church, than scores
of average men. And he will be sorely
missed wherever he has worked. We will
now begin to knew what many were not over
quick to learn, his great worth, by our keen
sense of his loss. It is as when a great tree
falls —there is vacancy all around. And it
will take a whole genera’ion for smaller and
younger trees to fill his place.
Dr Myers was a thoroughly trained man ;
his mind worked under admirable discipline.
His reading was extensive ; his culture was
broad and real. His library contained many
of the masters, old and new. And he knew
what his books contained, and was the mas
ter, not the slave, of his learning He kept
himself well informed in the best thoughts
of the day, in literature, science, philosophy
and theology.
Dr. Myers was thoroughly coneecrated.
He was consciously Christ’s. His religious
experience was deep and wide. He had a
lofty ideal of Christian character, and nobly
strove to realize it. He was much given to
prayer, and to the study of God’s word. He
trusted God with all his heart. She who
knew him best writes to me: “During the
thirty years of our married life, I never re
member to have known his faith falter,
nor to have heard him murmur or repine, at
any dispensation of God’s providence.” Our
dear Bro. Myers loved the Church, the whole
Church of Christ. He belonged to the Church
body and soul, but not as a partisan. He
was truiy a catholic Christian. The Church
was ever in his thoughts. His talk was of
the Church and her interests. In the trou
bled slumbers of his last illness, he dreamed
of the Church. The Church filled his heart;
in her prosperity he rejoiced, in her calami
ties he sorrowed. He bad faith in the Church,
because he had faith in the Head of the
Church. New-fangled infidelity had no ter
rors for him ; he knew in his soul that the
Church of Christ is in this world to stay and
to conquer. Sailing on the good old ship,
the painted cockle shells of infidel philoso
phy and science had no attractions for him.
He feared Tyndall, Darwin, Huxley and the
rest, living, no more than he did Julian,
Porphyry, Voltaire, Hume and Tom Paine,
dead. He had dug down and felt the rock
under his feet.
There were among us men more popular,
none more trusted. I would not have chal
lenged him as a jurror or judge had one of
his children been the opposing party in the
case. None who really knew him failed to
love him. From my boyhood to the day of
his death he was one of my truest and most
loving friends. I owe much to him. While
he lived I loved him ; I revere his memory,
now that he is gone from us.
When they told him he was about to die,
he replied promptly, quietly,and unfaltering
ly, “I am ready ; I have been for a long
time.” All Monday night he lay dying, con
scious, and at himself when awake. About
5 o’clock Tuesday morning, about two hours
before the end came, he roused himself, and
with full consciousness, despite the nervous
spasm that lollowed his efforts to speak, he
tried hard to tell what was passing through
his mind to bis family and friends. Address
ing Mrs. Sanssy, of his Church, laying his
hand upon his breast he said, in broken
tones, “ All-peace-here.” Then he said,
“ Wife-children”—and something else they
could not catch. Let us who survive sup
pose that it was “I commend them to the
Church and to God.” There is something
sad to see this strong man, who had always
been able to speak and to write, trying in
vain to do either. When his paralyzed
tongue refused its office he tried to write
with a pencil, but his “ right hand forgot its
cunning.” Findingthat hecould neitherspeak
nor write, he gave it. up with a sweet resigna"
lion, and, quietly folding his arms, in a few
moments, without a struggle, breathed his
last.
Stlcrfions.
From the Nashville Christian Advocate.
LETTER FROM BISHOP MARVIN.
The line between the State of Oregon and
Washington Territory bisects the Walla Walla
Valley, giving the larger fraction to the latter.
In descending from the Blue Mountains into
this valley, you leave the forests behind and
emerge first, into a region of bold, bare hills,
and then into the level plain, which is also
destitute of timber, except that there is a
fringe of willows along the Walla Walla
River, which pursues a course so tortuous as
to make quite a show of verdure as you con
template the landscape from a dis'ant point.
The town of Walla Walla, in Washington
Territory, only four miles from the line of
Oregon, is situa’ed in the heart of the valley.
It is a very lively town of about 3 000 inhab
itants, which has come to be almost all that
it is within fifteen years. There were a few
people here, perhaps, as much as twenty
five years ago, but no settlements of any con -
sequence. But now it is supposed that the
Walla Walla Valley alone produces a mil
lion of bushels of wheat annually, and that
within an area of say, twenty by forty miles.
It is a wonderful country for wheat, not only
in the level valley-lands, but on the hills. I
will not venture to give the estimated aver
age yield per acre, lest someone might snp
pose it to be fabulous. But farmers are at a
great disadvantage iu gt ing their produce
to market, having to give two bushels to get
one to market —that is, to the Portland mar
ket—but to get it to its ultimate market they
have to give three or four bushels to get one
sold. The price now realized at home is
twenty-five cents.
Why is this? The reaFon is plain. A sack
of wheat, after it leaves AValla Walia is han‘
died ten times before it sees Por'land. It
goe3 thirty miles by rail to Wallula, and is
there unloaded from the train and loaded up
on a boat, from which, at the head of the
Dolles, it is unloaded and loaded upon the
train ; at the foot of the Dalles it goes again
from the train to the boat; then at the head
of the Cascades it undergoes another un
loading and re loading, and po again below
the Cascades. You see what a costly system
of transportation this is. Now, if farmers
can live here at this rate, what will the coun"
try be when they get good facilities and an
accessible market?
Nor is this wonderful wheat couutry con
fined to the Walla Walla; but, lrom all I
can learn, it covers a vast area of irregular
outline. If it were in a solid body it. would
be, I suppose, two or, perhaps, three hun
dred miles square. Its amazing fertility is
just now becoming known largely, even on
this coast.
MACON, GEORGIA, TUE
The prospects of our Church in this r.e(v
region are good. For want of men and
means we have not occupied it largely here
tofore. Something had been done in East’
ern Oregon in an irregular way, but it had
not been followed up in any efficient effort.
But last year Bishop Kavanaugh did all that
was practicable to reoccupy the field and en
large it.
On reaching Walla Walla I found that Bry.
Mays had done an excellent work there, and
explored the country largely in the regicu.
beyond. He had effected an organization
in the town, consisting of substantial citi
zens, who had long desired the advent of
Southern Methodist preacher. They have
made a bargain for a good house of worship!
built by the United Brethren but no longer
occupied by them. The property is offered
at a low price—not above two-thirds of its
actual value. This property secured, we
shall be on an excellent footing in thi s i
country.
Brother Og ! esby, the Presiding Elder, ha.;
done a noble year’s work, and this year. /■
shall be able to send some additional men t,
the District. It would astonish you to find
how abundant Southern people are here, anc
how eager they are for preachers of our owr
Church.
At Walla Walla I found fruits of all kinds in
great abundance. It is astonishing how rap
idly trees grow and how early they begin to
bear. Brother Jesse, mine host, has a grand
orchard, and you ought, to have seen me out
in his vineyard destroying the ripe and lus
cious grapes ; and that in this latitude! The
eccentricities of the thermal line on this con
tinent are a mystery to me. Up here ir
Washington Territory the winters are com
paratively mild, except iu the elevated,
mountainous portions of it.
After spending Sunday with our little
flock in town, with great comfort, 1 was up
and off to the depot by a little after day
break, iu company with Brothers
and Mays. We were now fairly on our way
to Conference at Corvallis. To be in time
we had to take a freight train loaded with
wheat. At about ten o’clock we reached.
Wallula, on the Columbia River, some dis-.
iance below the mouth of Snake River. |
Above Wallula there are broad valleys skirt
ing the river, but just here there are precipi
tous blull's of basaltic trap on both sides of
it —the familiar Snake River formation that
I had beeu traveling in for hundreds of miles
At Wallula we had to wait all day at the
hotel. Just at dark the boat arrived, and
we went aboard and slept as best we could,
the boat not being designed for passen
gers. But the captain was clever, and a)
lowed us to make our-elves comfortable/*
We had the tmndle of the wheelbarrows j
rolling in the wheat, for our lullaby. A l
daylight the whistle sounded, and we were
off', down the beautiful Columbia. As we
approached Umatilla the scenery be tame ;
less rugged, and as we moved on rapidly
down stream the snowy ridge of Mount |
Adams was descried, and soon after the I
white crown of Mount Hood, the loftiest/
peak on the Pacific slope—at least in the ,
United States —being over seventeen thou- i
sand feet high. Mount Hood is in Oregon, j*
and Mount Adams in Eaahington T--p
just opposite. At several points on the
river the view of Mount Hood is magnifi
cent. In general contour it bears a st-ong
resemblance to my old California friend,
Mount Shasta, and is a shade higher
We made very rapid progress down stream,
the current being very rapid. At some
points I should have pronounced the navi
gation impossible if 1 had not known the
fact that it is navigated. At one tin e, as
I looked ahead, I saw the stream so choked
with immense rocks, rearing their heads
above the surface, and apparently crow:V
ing the space from bank to bank, that I al
most shuddered as we approached. Amongst
the rocks the rush of the water is so strong
that I could scarcely believe my eyes when
I saw our boat braving it under full head
of steam. But in we plunged, and the staunch
boat responded to the hand of the pilot as
promptly as if it knew the danger, and turn
ing its sagacious nose this way and that as i:
dashed along, dodged all the rocks, and
danced away down stream as if proud of its
dexterity. These boats have to be very
strongly built, and supplied with machinery
of tremendous power, in order to make any
head whatever, or even to hold their own, in
ascending the river.
At the Dalles there is a stretch of several
miles in which no boat could live, except at
a very high stage of water. A short railroad
carries the freight and passengers over this
distance. I rode on the top of a box-car
that I might have a full view of this magnifi
cent piece of scenery. It is indescribable.
At some points you have the precipice of
naked basalt rising to a height of two or
three hundred feet on your left—perpendicu
lar, majestic. Here, the water spreads itself
out among the rocks, and dashes itself into
foam in the rapid descent: there, it makes a
leap over a ledge, and farther down the full
volume of the mighty stream is compressed
between two walls of solid masonry of Na
ture’s own building, not over one hundred
and seventy feet apart. — -feet, not yards. The
captain of our boat, in describing it to
before I saw it, said that at that point the
river had been set upon its edge. Th? depth
of it at this narrow place no man knoweth.
I presume no skill could obtain a sounding,
so swift and strong is the cur ent.
Some forty miles below the Dalles are the
Cascades, where there is another portage of
a few miles by rail. This is where the river
has broken the back of the Cascade Moun
tains and pours itself through the chasm. At
the foot of the Cascades the mountains tower
on either bank to the height of three thousand
feet at a very sharp aagle. One magnificent
column of basalt stands by itself, full eight
hundred feet from base to summit.
Below the Cascades the river widens and'*
flows with a more placid surface. For sev
eral miles the scenery is precipitous on both
sides, and every man who has written about
it mentions the little mountain torrents leap
ing down, sometimes by a sheer descent ot
several hundred feet. I had supposed from
what I had read that they were more nu.
merous than they are. In the spring, when
the streams are flush, I Buppose they are
both more numerous and of greater volume.
We were soon in the level valley region,
between the Cascade Mountains and the
Coast Range, and just at dark turned into
the Willamette River. By uiue o'clock we
were at Portland, aid at the St. Claries
Hotel found Brother Shreve, a transfer from
the Baltimore Conference. Af er an early
breakfast we took the 'rain, and were met
by Brother White at Albany, where we en
joyed his hospitality tor a f'tw hours, after
which we proceeded by hack to Corvallis,
the seat of the Conference. Here my old
Missouri friends, Brother A. C.uthorn, and
his most hospitable fami y, re eived me with
joy; and I, also, entered wiih joy under
their roof again. What hours of delightful
ISDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1876.
and hallowed inteicourse I have had with
them at intervals for near a quarter of a
century!
Every preacher was in his place at Con
ference, but the attendance of laymen was
small, for the harvest is not over with in
this latitude. We have had a peaceful, de
lightful session. E. M. Marvin.
THE HOLY COMMUNION.
I tbiuk if my sins, O Christ!
My endle.s sius against Thee!
“ Nay, r ittier,” a voice replied:
“ Remember Me.”
I think of she wa ted years.
No fru t on this barren rice :
“Yet, since I can raise the dead,
R member Me.”
My hear t is narrow and cold.
When- love should b- warm and free:
“Be Hbeil with mi fullness then—
Remember Me.”
I iose my way in the dark ;
1 grope, for I cannot see :
“I am rhe l ight of the world.
Remember Me.”
Alas! I may know Thy law.
But what will the doing be?
“I can baptize with lire:
Remember Me.’’
“ Poor is thv love, indeed,
To ;ha: which I b'ar to thee;
Forget thyself—for an hour
Remember Me.”
And, as I gaze at His cross—
Gaz - till my eyes are dim,
The strength comes hack to my heart,
Remembering Him.
O Lord and Giver of life,
Do as thou wiit with me !
I feed upon h -aven y brt al.
Remembering Thee!
—A. Y Observer.
HUXLEY’S LOGIC.
We have received from an unknown friend
a copy of the New York Tribune containing
Dr. VV. M. Taylor's admirable review of
Prof. Huxley's lectures in New York. Dr.
Taylor disclaims any pretensions to scieu
tide erudition, but tries the lectures by the
test of logic. We make the following ex
tracts from his letter:
A BEGGING OK THE QUESTION.
For his argument rests on a conjecture,
and so it violates the first of the two can
ons regulating circumstantial evidence. His
conclusion is thus a hypothesis evolved from
a hypothesis. To see that this is indeed the
case, let us put his argument in syllogistic
form. It is as follows: Wherever we have
an ascending series of animals with modifi
cations of struclure rising one above an
other, the latter forms must have evolved
themselves from the earlier. In the case of
these fossil horses we have such a series,
therefore the theory of evolution is estab
lished universally for ail organized and
animal life. Now even if we admit his
•premises, every one must see that the con
clusion is far too sweeping. It ought to have
been confined to the horses of which he was
treating. Bit passing that, let us ask where
is the proof of the major premise? Indeed,
that premise is suppressed altogether, and
lie nowhere attempts to show that the exis
tence of an ascending series of animals, with
modification of structure ascending one above
another, is an infallible indication that the
higher members of the series evolved them
selves out of tlie lower There, in the sup
'.seFSed premise, in which Whateiy cautions
u/itiok nio?t warily aber laiiaey, the Haw in
Huxley's reasoning is to be found. He has
taken for granted in the major premise of
iiis argument, which is conveniently out of
sight, the very thing which, amid a great
great flourish of trumpets, he set out to de
monstrate. Nobody denies the existence of
the fossil horses, but, his inference from their
existence, to the eff ct that the latter horse
is an evolution of ilie earlier anchitheriuin,
is purely and entirely begged The exis
tence of a series does no* necessarily involve
the evolution of the higher members of it
from the lower. The steps of a stair rise up
one above another, but we cannot reason
that therefore the whole staircase has devel
oped it-elf out of the lower step. It may be
possible to arrange all the different modifi
cations of 'he steam engine, from its first and
crudest form up to its latest and most com
pieteiy organized strq ture, in regular gra
dation ; but that would not prove that the
last grew out of the first. No doubt in such
aca e there has been progress—no doub:
-there has been development too —but it was
progress guided and development directed
by a presiding and intervening mind. And
nowhere in the existing order ol things will
you find modifications increasing and per
petuating themselves except under the inter
vention of some intelligent mind. There
fore all present experience is against this
major premise which Hurley has so quietly
taken for granted. It is a pure conjecture.
I w 11 go so far as to say that even if he should
find in the geological records all the inter
vening forms he desires these will not fur
nish evidence that the higher members of
the series rose out of the lower by a process
of evolution. The existence of a graduated
series is one thing ; the growih of the series
out of its lowest member is quite another.
No doubt if it could be proved that there was
such a growth, we should certainly find such
a series; but it is a mistake to suppose that
because ol that, the existence of the series
has proved that there was such a growth.
This being the case, the argument of Huxley
is something very d’ffVrent from a demon
stration —‘o wit, a fallacy.
EVOLUTION NOT WELL BASED
Indeed, to affirm as he did. that evolution
stands exactly on the same basis as the Cos
pernican theory of the motion of ihe heav
enly bodies, is an assertion so astounding
that we can only “stand by and admire”
the “ marvelous” effrontery with which it
was made. That theory rests ou facts pres
ently occurring before our eyes, and treatei
in the manner of mathematical precision. It
is not an inference made by somebody, from
a record of acts existing in far off and pre
historic, pcssihly also prehuman, ages. It
is verified every day by occurrences that hap
pen according to its laws. But where do we
ste evolution going on to-day ? If evolution
rests on a basts as sure as astronomy, why
do we not fee one species passing into an
other now, even as we see the motions of the
planets through the heavens? Why cannot
its votaries foretell that at a certain time,
and in a certain place, not too far for per
sonal inspection by us, some modification in
the structure of an animal or a plant shall
occur, without any human intervention, even
as astronomers predict the occurrence of a
transit of Venus across the sun ?
We know that astronomy is true, because
we are verifying the conclusions every day
of our lives, on land and on sea. We set
clocks according to its conclusions, and nav
igate our ships in accordance with its pre
dictions ; but where have we anything ap
proaching even intintesimally to this, with
evolution? It may he that there is truth in
it; and whenever that shall be made clear
to us, we are ready to accept it. But, with
Prof. Huxley himself, “we have an awk
ward habit—uo, 1 won’t call it that, for it is
a valuable habit—of reasoning, so that we
believe uothiug uuless there is evidence for
it, and we have a way of looking upon belief
which is not based on evidence, not only is
illogical, but immoral.” The Professor is
wclceme to the application of his own prin
ciple. For me, the demonstration of Hux
ley, so far as it has been set before us here,
is of the same sort as the conjecture of Top
sy, “ ’ specls I growed.” It is after all, de,
spite the words he has multiplied around it"
the “ ‘ spects” of Huxley, As such it is
worthy of respect—just as any opinion or
conjecture of suc h a man must have a certain
de< :ree of importance - hut as a demonstra
tion it is an imposition, which we have done
our best to nail to the counter, that it may
not get into currency.
REVEALED IN CHRIST.
The universe is full of God. There is no'
an atom of the earth or sky that does not
proclaim his being and his power; but espe
cially the whole structure and frame of the
universe is a complete demons'ration of his
greatness and the glory of his perfections.
I' requires but a little use of natural reason
to find ihe absolute necessity of his existence,
the demonstration of his being and of his
power in the universe he lias made. The
argument has prevailed always with great
and noble minds, and it lias been considered
conclusive, that without a Bible the world
has proof of God. He is its maker and its
father, and has written Ilia name upon every
star and upon every atom of earth ; he has
revealed himself in the infinitude of his ws
dom in the ingenuity of the structure in ail
parts of it, as well in the material globes as
in the organization of the infinitesimal lines.
Everywhere the demons!ration of Gcd is
complete and perfect. But while this is con
ceded, 1 am here to state the appalling pro
position that if Jesus Christ be not a meg
senger from God, if he did not come into
the world to communicate truth to mankind,
the woild has no other knowledge of God
than that of a great inexorable power that
has originated it and set it agoing. He that
rides in his chariot of thunder in the heavens
and above the heavens he has made has nev
er once in all the ages spoken one single word
of tenderness to the human creation ; he has
never once given forth the idea that he is
compassionate, tender, loving Father, and
tint, we are his children. Tue world has no
fatherhood in God out of Christ. I would
emphasize this declaration because of its
importance, and because of its truthfulness.
You will search in vain over all the litera
ture of all Ihe ages, so Liras human history
is accessible to human study and investiga
tion—so far as we are able to press the dis
cussion into all the minute parts of ihe indi
vidual histories of the world, and there is
not a solitary fragment of evidence that the
great God who made it and reigns over it as
its chief and gl-'rious head has ever or<~e
broken the silence that reigns throughout cre
ation as to his thought and feeling; he bu s
never uttered one seutence that can give hope
or comfort to his human child. All along
thpse ages pressed with a sense of the im
portance of communication with Him, urged
by insatiable longings and unappeasable
thirst to come into some kind of communion
with him, he has remained dumb and silent —
has dropped no word out oi beaten, has per
formed no act, has given no sign that he has
ever had a thought concerning his human
creation since Ihe day he made it and finish
ed creadon. You will search in vain among
all the religions of the world, ancient and
modern, for a solitary communication, if it
he not, contained in this book. And, my
fiend?, this isa most appalling fact: it, gives
significance to the mission and character ol
Christ that is trai scendantly and inconceiva'
bly great. —Bishop Foster.
DULL PREACHERS AND DULL
HKAKEKS.
It, should he remembered that eloquence is
n raie gift with all cla-ses of public speak
ers, and that genius only occasionally ilia
urinates even the pages of secular writings,
l’owerful sermons are few, and great preach
ers are rare, hut neither fewer nor more rare
than excellence in other things—in fact much
less so, for we know of no branch of intel
lectual effort that, taken as a whole, is so
vital and i: flueotial as the pulpit. Every
large city has at least several preachers whom
eager crowds gather lo ltPar; every section
has more than one noted pulpit orator whose
fame is spread afar, and, if grumblers at
dull sermons would point out the hook
makers or journal writers whose influence
is greater or whose followers are more nu
merous or more zealous, they would do
something to justify their complaints.
But there is another aspect to this ques
tion. When we hear a complaint of a dull
sermon, it is by no means certain whether
he dullness is in him who pireaches or in
him who listens. There are orators ot such
energetic nature that the passionate earnest
ne?s of their delivery excites every auditor ;
but it does not follow that, these men have
utterances more worthy of atten'i -n than
hose of less emphatic speakers Tiie ser
mon that flows smoothie and calmly along
may have far m .re intricate thought, much
more fresh suggestion, than the tuibulence
of a so-called eloquent preacher; and these
calm and ihough'ful addresses, above all
things, require intelligent lis'ening. In these
cases the attention is not carried by storm ;
it must, be surrendered by the alert imagina
tion and the willing sympathy ; the spirit,
the life, the significance, the worthiness, of
any sermon must largely depend upin the
relation of the mind that receives to that
which expounds. No matter what wealth of
color an artist pours upon his canvas, the
picture is meaningless io him who does not
look upon it with quickened apprehension :
no matter wi'h what splendor of imagery a
poet adorns his lines, it is all a babble to
him who has uo poesy in his soul. Dante
and Shakspt-are, Raphael and Murillo,
Beethoven and Handel, all are locked up
iu dullness to the dull. Of course there is
varying quality of performance; it must be
conceded that there are poor painters, weak
verse writers, and bad preachers; yet who
shall say how much of critical depreciation
in these assumed cases springs from the in
sensibility of the critic ? Many a line of a
poet has profound significance to a student.,
which is but meaningless jargou to the clown.
Many a flower is full of beauty to a naturalist,
that to the crude rustic is no more than a
worthless weed. As it is true that
The ripe flavor oi Falerniau tides,
Not in the wine, but in the 'arte resides ;
as it is certain that the glowing tints of the
flowers and the raiiiaut splendors of the sun
set depend upon the susceptibility of the
retina that mirrors them ; as it is Ihe delicate
seusi'ivedess in the photographic plate tha t
catches successfully the shadow of the suu,
and fixts the subtle lines of ihe image; as
divine uieiody can live only in the attuned
ear; ashcatand light are vital forces only as
they act upon the material that receives them
—so we may be assured that the world of
mind is equally with these instances of phys-
ical phenomena a matter of correspondence.
No seeds are so fruitful that they can quicken
in a desert soil, and few so feeble that they
will not vivify in a generous loam. In depre
ciative criticism, therefore, it is often uncer
ain where the defect lies—whether it is real
ly in the dullness of the producer or in the
stubborn insensibility of the censor. — Apple
ton's Journal.
EACH IN HIS OWN WAY. "
All the great works are done by serving
God wi'h what we have in hand. Moses
wa? keeping sh- ep in Midian. God sent him
to save Israel, but he shrank from the un
dertaking. We empathize with Jethro’s
herdsman —alone, a stranger, not owning a
lamb that he watched. He had nothing but
his shepherd’s rod, cut from the thicket, the
mere crab stick with which he guided liis
sheep. Any day he might throw it away
and cut a batter one. And God said, “What
is that in thy hand ? With this rod with this
stick thou shalt save Israel.” And so it
proved.
What is that in thy hand, stranger? An
ox-goad, with which I urge lazy beasts Use
it (or God, and Shamgar’s ox goad defeats
’he Philistines. What is that in thy hand,
David? My sling, with which I keep the
wolves from my sheep. Yet with that sling
he slew Goliath, whom an army dare not
meet. What is that in thy hand, disciple ?
Nothing but five barley loaves and two little
fishes. Bring them to me, give them to
God, and the multitude is fed. What is that
in thy hand, poor widow? Only two mites.
Give them t<* God, and behold the fame of
your riches fills the world. What hast, thou,
weeping woman? An alabaster box of oint
ment. Give it to God. Break it and pour
it upon thy Saviour’s head, and its sweet per
fume is a fragrance until now. What l ast
ihou, Dorcas? My needle. Use it for God
—and those coats and garments a*e multi
plying and are clothing the naked still.
You are a manufacturer, a merchant, a
mechanic, a man of leisure, a clerk, a stu
dent, or a sewing woman. God wants each
one of you to serve Him where you are.
You have your business? Use it for God.
Order it in a godly manner. Do not allow
any wickedness ill it. Give godly wages ;
preach Christ to your clerks, not by a lone
face, hit by being i ke him, doing good.
Use your profits for G and, feeding the hun
gry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick,
comforting the wretched, spreading the Gos
pel far and wide. What a field you have to
glorify God in, just where you are ! If you
have nothing else, use your tools for Him ;
He can glorily Himself with them as easily as
he could with a shepherd's stick, aii oxgoad,
a sling, or t wo mites.
A poor girl who had nothing hut her sewing
machine used it to aid a feeble church; and all
her earnings above her needs were given to
wards building a house of worship; and in
a var she paid more than others a hundred
times richer than she. So you can do if you
will. Think of the widow with her two
mites; the woman wilh her alabaster box,
and Dorcas and her garments; you can do
as much and have as great reward,
(JHURCHLY CHURLISHNESS.
If there is any )lace under heaven where
good manners should be practiced, that place
is the church. But, in many instances, it is
the very home of churlishness and boorish
ness. A stranger dropping in, finds kirns. 7 l[
in an atmosphere of such Arctic chilliness
mid fret zing rigidity, that his fi-gt thought is
that lie has suddenly intruded in'oa spiritual
refrigerator. T. ere he stands, unertain
whether to advance or to back ouri No one
shows him a pew. or speaks a kind word lo
trim, or gives him the slight st look of en
eon rage in ent, or welcome. He feels that he
is a stranger, an intruder, that he is ' ot wel
come, that to stay is only to l e tr ier 7 ted.
What wonder the service his no effect on
'hat man? Or, if any, that he retires after
the benediction more hardened than sof en
ed ? He went, to gather stiength for the
grand purpose of anew lite ; lip Ipaves, feel
ing that there is no strength nor grace to he
extracted from this frosty selfishness which
has built itself a temple iu the iinnie of Chris
tianity.
Now, had some kind hearted Christian
stepped up to this diffident, new comer, and
frank in speech and warm and sympathetic
in hart, grasped him by the hand and hade,
him welcome, and given him to understand
that the Church wanted him, and had work
for him to do, how different the result! Ah,
when will the Church be as wis" as the devil ?
When at her doors will the stranger meet a
welcome as bright and cheery, as hearty
and warm, as he finds at those doors which
open on death and hell ? Fill the Church
with an atmosphere of radiant kindness, of
genial welcome. Let. there be exhibited 'he
courtesy, not of outward deportment and
etiquette only, but that also of the heart. B -
civil. Be cordial. Be pleasant. Keep b-:ck
your antipathies. Bit show your good-will.
Be hospitable, for 'hereis no'hing like church
hospitality. Thereby you will entertain an
gels. who will come again. Then every flow
er of Christian grace will bloom in richest
colors, and every stranger that enters " ill be
conscious of an attrac iveness and a warmth
that will irresistibly bind him to it as his
home. —Christian at Work.
AN IMMEDIATE ANSWER.
Washington Allston, one of our best, paint
ers and poe's, tells us in what way he was
led from the enjoyment of j* s s at sacred sub
jects into an abid'ng trust in them. Having
married the s'ster of Dr. Cbanning, he made
his second visit to Europe. He met with
l'ttle success; nay, was at, a lost for the means
of procuring the necessaries of lit'?. Reflect
ing one day almost with a feeling of despera
tion upon his condition, his heart, all at once
was fi led wi h the hope that God would help
him if he only askeL Accordingly he locked
his door, withdrew to a corner of his loom,
and .brew himself upon his knees in prayer.
He was aroused by one knocking at the door.
He opened it to a stranger who announced
himself as the Marq -is of Stafford, who in
qutred if his painting of the angel Uriel was
sold. Receiving a negative reply the noble
man prid him four hundred pounds for the
beautiful production ; wa3 so pleased that he
introduced the poor painter to the leading
nobility and gentry, and thus to immediate
fame and fortune. Alls’oa never regarded
this as a mere happy coincidence ; the feel
ing which led him to prayer and the imme
diate relief, he looked upon as the direct iir
terposition of God in his behalt. Fixed de
votional habits became predominant traits in
his character to the end of his life.— Rev.
John Waugh.
Christian, do not excuse yourself from
work in G d’s vineyard by saying that, you
have not the feeling that will prompt you to
work. Are we not just as responsible to
God for not having the feeling, as we are for
not doing the work? i
F. M. KENNEDY, D. 1)., Editor
J. W. BURKE Assislfliit Editor
A. G. HAVGOOD, D. D., Editorial Correspondent
WHOLE NUMBER 2020
MISCELLANEA.
Tue Order of the Sisiers of Charity in the
Roman Catholic Church now numbers over
50 000 members.
The minutes of the General Assembly ofthe
Presbyterian church show that the additions
on profession of faith last year were 48 240.
It is stated that five hundred conversions
have been reported as a result of the labors
the past Summer in young Tyng’s gospel
tent in New York.
Gen. J. Meredith Read, United States
Minister in A'hens, has induced the Greek
government to rescind the order prohibiting
the sale of English and American Bibles and
religious books in Greece.
The Methodist Board of Church Exten
sion has a buiiding loan fund of $270,000
cash, and over $200,000 in good subscrip
tions and promises to pay, and $60,000 in
real estate besides over SIOO 000 known to
be on the w y *o the fund in wills.
Zion's Herald denies the statement that
the late Bishop Janes left a large, property.
It ?ays it will only be by the wisest manage
ment on the part of the executors of his
estate that any considerable sum will remain
for the family he leaves behind.
Joseph Smith, Jr , son of the founder of
the Mormon Church, is preaching in Cali
lornia. He denies the h -adship of Brigham
Young, He says that he has from 12,000 to
15,000 personal followers and that thehiad
q.iarters of the reformed church are at Pla
no, 111.
The English AVesleyan missionaries on
the Gold Coast, Africa, have resolved to re
open missions in ihe K ng of Dahomey's
dominions. At little Popo, one of the states
or divisions, and at Aligway, they have been
welcomed bv H * kings or caboceers of the
respective states.
At the Society for the Increase of the Min
istry, of the Protestant Episcopal Church,
held recently in Philadelphia, it was report
ed that the receipts lor the year were $28,-
859, its expenditures. $32,959. It has aided
the past year 153 scholars, of whom 31 were
the sons of clergymen.
The Presbyterian Board ol Foreign Mis
sions has in its employ nearly nine hundred
missionaries,helpers,anu teachers, with 8 567
communicants, and 13 501 scholars in day
ani boarding schools. Tue missions are
among the Indian tribes in Mexico, South
America, Africa, India, Siam, China, Japan,
Persia, and Syria.
Y’ou have a disagreeable duty to do at
twelve o'clock. Do rot blacken nine and
ten and eleven, and all between, wi h the
color ol twelve. Do the work of each, and
reap your reward in peace. So when the
dreaded moment in the future becomes the
present you shall meet ir, a at king in the light,
and that light will overcome its darkness.—
Geo Macdonald.
The Rtmish papers deny the truth of the
story thut the General of the Je-uits is to be
made a Cardinal. In tha terms iu which
they deny it, however. are some suggestive
items. AA’lien Clement XIV dissolved the
Society of Jesus, was he infallible? And if
Pins IX. should make a gracious reparation
fi r that in elevating Falher tfoekx to the
Cardiealate would lie b infalilVe also ?
Missionary progress in ihe South Seas,
especiilly on the Gilbert I lands, has been
quite remarkable during the past year. On
one island where a year a ;o thirty were re
ported lo have professed Christianity, there
are now three hundred a : i twenty who have
thrown off heathenism. On anoth-r island,
instead f fourteen candi fates, as reported
last. year, there ere upward of lou" hundred
this year, aid ol these over one. buudred
late been adtin t. and lo Church m-mbe-sHp.
At the las’ reg ila- men ing o tli“ B ■ .rd
of Mat asters of the Mi -SHI a-y S ici ty of the
M E C ninth the treasurer pr ’sent-d a re
port of which an abstract is as full ws: Bal
ance Septe nher 1, treasury in deb’, $253 -
702 17 ; rsceints, $47,424 70 ; dtsbirse
inputs, $43,218 14; treasury in de it 8249,
545.55, le-s amount in the hands of tlre as
sistant, treasurer in Cincinnati, $28,899.82;
actual indebted ness. $220 615.73. Bishop
Levi Scott was elected President iu place of
Bishop Janes deceased.
The New Y'nrk Tribune says: “ The So
ciety of Friends in the United Sta'es hw3 un
der its charge 20,000 Indians. The seventh
annual report of their Ex ettfive Committee
states 'hat at Rosrvilie. Kansas, the Potta
wattom es have 95 farms a boarding-school,
and a school farm. The Kiekapoos, in
Kansas, have al o a boarding school and a
school farm. Many o ! the ch ldren are ad
vanced in arithmetic, grammar, and history.
The Mndocs have 200 acres inclosed, have
log houses built by themselves, and are well
disposed Tiie Friends are confident that
the Indians can be both Christianized aud
civil zed.”
In a recent address upon the Mexican
work of the M E. Church, Rev. Dr Bu’ler
said: “ On this great continent of America
there are living at this day thirty-one mill
ions of people sperking the Spanish tongue.
These people live in Mexico and in various
Spanish provinces of South America. Mex
ico contains by far the larger proportion of
the thirty millions of souls, an and is in many
respects the example for other Spanish
states. Where Mexico leads they will follow
—and if the seed; of a pure Protestant
Christianity can be firmly rooted in this cen
tral ground, they may be expected to spring
up wi h incalculable fruit among all this vast
body ot Spanish-speaking people.”
A Presbyterian missionary at Orootniah,
Persia, says a rema-kabie change is taking
place among the Mu-salmans, who show an
anxiety to converse witii any Christian they
can find. Many go to Deacon Pera, at the
Bible bazaar, for Christian instruction, some
times as many as eighteen or twenty at once.
They also attend the public meetings of the
missionaries. Mohammedanism has assumed
wide dimensions in tiie Holy Laud ; but the
Christian cause has, nevertheless, made much
progress. There are in Palestine 250 Protes
tant churches, and iti Jerusalem, 30 000 Pro
testants. 6,000 youths who attend Protestant
schools, and a high school which is attended
by 1.600 Prostestant youths. Similar success
is reported from Alexandria, Cairo, Abys
sinia, etc.
The Fall Mall Gazette publishes a long
statement which it says, is by a person fully
ent tied to speak on behalf of the whole
body of American missionaries in Turkey.
The writer says: The Protestant mis wea
ries do not hesitate to say that the Turkish
government affords a better assurance of re
ligious liberty than some forms of Christian
rule which might replace it. Ttte missiona
ries have such dreid of Russian ascendancy
that they have requested me confidentially
to lay Ifefote the German government cer
tain proofs of Russian intolerance, and to
solicit Germany to secure from Russia guar
antees of religious liberty The missiona
ries appealed to Germany beca tse of Amer
ica’-’ policy of nou intervcnliou in European
affairs.