Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, September 2, 1877, Page 9

% THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: SUNDAY. SEPTEMBER 2, 1877-SIXTEEN. PAGES. g | RELIGIOUS. The Contributions of Egyp- tian Papyri to Theo- logical History. Osiris, the Messiah of the Nile, as Described in Hiero- glyphics. Job's Faith Finds Its Counter- part in the Creed of the Pharaohs. The Approaching Episcopal Convention---Subjects for Consideration. Will the Church Change Its _ Name?---That Isa é Question. Religious Tramps and Dead- Beats-—-Wandering Pro- fessors.of Holiness. Notes from the Church at Home and Abroad---Pious Smiles. * Personal Gossip---Tke Oakland Congre- gation—Services To-Day. THE EGYPTIAN MESSIAH. THE PARALLEL BETWEEN OSIRIS AND CHRIST. From the Catholic Review. The Egyptians attributed to God different names and forms, according to the aspects and attribates to which they wished to give promi- nence, while, under each of these names and forms, God, in His inalienable infinity, remain- ed always the same; and, as if thev had antici- pated our perplexities at the sight of these battalions of divinities, they have taken exceed- ing pains to instruct us on this point. As the Eternal, God had one name; as Creator, he had another; as Providence or Preserver, another; and as Judge and Redeemer of souls, the name of Osiris. In each sanctuary the onc God of the whole country, living.in a Triad which, without division of substance, expressed the phases of his threefold existence, was wor- shiped under a particular form and name. He liada special worship, rites. cliants, and cere- monial, unknown in the neighboring temples; but the hymns and inscriptions gonstantly dwell on the fact that each temple and each ritual was in honor of the only God, to whom beiong all temples, and to whom all prayers are addressed. The Egyptians knew that the Deity is an un- fethomable mystery and can have no name. «Tis name,” say the texts, ‘is mysterious 25 His being.” Considered from this point of view. Heis called The Hidden One—Ammon, whose image is enveloped in an impenetrable veil. In His uncreated essence God is invisible, bat He bas revealed Himself in His acts, ex- pressive of His wisdsm, power, and goodness, and each of these atiributes. presents an eccessible side, by which the mind can take hold of the incomprehensible, sce the invisible, aud name the nateless Oue. Having in flim- scif aH powers and every form of greatness, His names and forms aré without number, and the texts, as in tie Hyinn to Ammon, expressly cesiguate Him as the Many-Named—the Multi- tnde by the Names. The trae wane of God appears to have been, s with the Hebrews, the With the Egyptians Pevyrus Harms, iis utters '{ am He who makes trial of the warriors, He whose name is Known to none. His name must be Kept in silence on the borders of the river; who shall utter it, he shall be consumed. is name must be silent. upon earth.” It has been necessary to dwell at some length vptiun doctrines respecting the nature of God and His relation to the world before: ap- proaching anuther feature of exceeding inter- ind theology, namely, the history and of the Redeeiner. * is misty Liberator, the first hope of whom was given by God to our first parents, appears uuder various forms in the traditions of ali the peoples of a distant antiquity, and among these traditions the most ancient and tbe most pure inly that of Osiris, whose uoble and be- t nitributes raise hiin above all the di- of other nations represented as coming to bring succor to ma’ ‘he doctors of the Charch were themselves st vith admiration. beiore this august figure, and did not hesitate to identify the name of Csiris with that of our Lord Jesus Christ, bemg convinced that the be- lief respecting him was but an echo of the prin- itive revelation. It would indeed be datlicult to plain otherwise its correspondence to the Messiattic prophecies given later to ‘the chosen people. or the analogies of the Osirlan teaching With the accomplishment, in the lite of our Lord, of the hopes which, during long centuries, iskept alive in the countless generations of Egypt. The special attribute of Osiris is goodness; it Is he who is Oun-Vofre, the Good Being par ex- teilence; it is he who, with Tum (or Phtah) and Tuoth, partakes of the divine esseuce, and is talled, like Ammon, .Veb-vr:u—the Lord alone. apyrus 3,292 in the Hall of Tombs in vre, is the followin passage: _*‘ Hail to thes, Osiris... the great eldest Son of Ra, Father of fathers, . . . King of immeasui abletume and lord of cternity . . . None knows his name; innumerable are his names in the cities and the nomes . - - Hail to thee, . . . the one who didst rise from the dead. He is the lord of life, and we live by his creations; none can live without his will.” “The Evcond aspect of the life of Osiris 18 his sojourn ‘upon earth in human form, his death, and pass- a¢einto the land of the departed. Plutarch tlls us that. Osiris, Jord of tinic, made himself man aud reigned un earth, mving his people Wise and holy laws; that be taught them agri- culture and” reverence to the gods, going throuzh all the cotntry to instruct his subjects, ‘Whose attention he wou and whose manners he sottened by the penetrating charm of his words end by music. The priests and faithful _of Osiris could not endure tue attempts made by travelersaud phi- lusophers tu tind a resemblance between this. pure aud lofty divinity to any of their own dis- Teputable guds, or to fix iu the depths of the earth aud tle abode of the dead tue dwelling- dlace of hin who had “no kind of communica- ‘on with substances subject tu corruption and death.” No other god had in Egypt so many temples and worsh as this favorite deity of the country, since, besides its own local divini- ty, each of the nomes worshiped Osiris and Isis, atd thue the “Protector of Souls’ was, from the Mediterrancan to the cataracts,.the god of all the Egyptians. Tue snuiversary of the death of Osiris was every year observed with lamentations through- out the land until the hour of his resurrection, Which was hailed with joy, festivities, and tri- ‘umph; this people, always so.anzious and inter- ested about the tuture beyond the tomb, having forthe “Lord of the lite to come” the most deep and tender devotion. For, of all the haces of his worship, that which occupied the jargest plece and exercised the profoundest in- fluence on the religious life of this great nation is connected with the office of Osiris in regard each separate .coul. All the Sune Teal inscriptiuns dwell -upon this. | Oai- ris was not only their savior, but their judge. 1p the paintings and sculptures and’ the vienettes of the ritual, he is usualiy Tepresented enthroned in the Hall of the divine dustice, where, enveloped, all but the face and hands, in the stroud which had enfoided bim in the tomb, and holding in his richt hand the hyk, or pastoral staff (not unlike an episcopal crosier), and in the left a double-thonged scvurge. he awaits the suul of the departed. At bis feet are the divine balances, wherein will be weighed the heart of te dead. ‘At the threshold of the hall Maat, the symbol of justice and truth, receives the soul and presents it to the Judge. A The sou!’s nrst words on being brought into the’ presence of its Gud were: [such a one}, givi i ‘This assimit With his divine aud touching characteristics of doctrine; uor dées anything snal pe is one of the most elevated tian cect it | under its new prelate auriug the past year or exist in any other religion of antiquit only in Christianity that we find it az the same way that the Christian isa living mem- ber of Christ, sharing im his life, rights, and merits, bearing his name, taking refuge behind the person of his Saviour, so dues the worshin- er of Osiris become a living member of his liberator, and anotber Osiris; and, at_ the hour of death, the soul calls for aid from him who lad also passed its dark portal ana come forth arain Victoriously. n additional probability that the words of Job contain an allusion to this doctrine is to be found iu the remarkable ideutity of the remain- ing portion of this text with the formula of the ‘2yptian papyri. After bis affirmation of faith in ‘a living Redeemer_Job immediately adds. with the theologians of Egypt: “Iu my flesh I a sce God. whom I, I shall see tor myself; othe shall sce Hit, and not: [those of] an- fhe passages in the Todtenbuch and fnneral inscriptions are numberless i ind i Guid OF the departed: ide ease his “glorious i be clit, florious spirit, in bis flesh, he himself, Agam: “I come to Thee, Lord of gods and men; 1 come to contemplate Thy beauties.” eb debate ‘the great God in the interior of His cae le; in this day of tha judgment of rhe resemblance is so striking between the Hebrew and Egyptian texts that comment 1s needless; nevertheless, we would guard against the supposition that the ideas uttered by the patriarch were borrowed from Exypiian theak. ory; for, besidest kat in the words of Job there is the absence of any myth or secondary personage whatever, it appears certain that these doctrines, preserved in greater’ purity in their primitiv form among ‘the Semitic raves. may be traced back to the time of the separation of the fam lies of Sem aud Cham, whom they respectively accompanied into their distant wanderings as their most precious herita but whilst the scribes and doctors of Ex oped them in an exuberant mythology, the pas- toral tribes of Sem preserved them in the sitn- plicity of the first ages. And yet all these doctrines, which are proved to be ‘the heritage of humanity, would have been lost and buried with the Egyptian dead had it not been for the intervention of Ch In vain for three centuries did the loftiest in telligences of Greece weary themselves in studies whose result was to prove that man was incapable of forming true notions of God, tl soul, and our destinies from the chaos of sy: tems which enveloped: the origina when our Lord brought to the human race the realization ol its venerable traditions aud the. faith of its earliest days. oe F Let it not be objected that the doctrines of the Redeemer were more ‘ancient than its ad- vent, and known to mau before Hegaueht them for man having always had: the i a to his future destiny, of necessity God did uot leave him in ignorance or them from the time of his origin; aud when, later on, they were forgutten, and the whole world lay in darkness, then arose the Light of which a faint redection im the tirma- ment had long heralded the approach, though clouded most befure the dawn. EPISCOPALIANISM. THE GENERAL CONVENTION 70 BE HELD IN BOSTOD New York Herald. Three years ago the General Convention, the highest judicatory of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, met in this city, and had a very exciting session. principally on the election of the Dean of the Seminary to the episcopate, of which he failed to receive votes enough. A few weeks hence the Convention will come together in Boston (Oct. 2) and hold its sessions daily for two or three weclis in Trinity Church and in Emanuel Churcb,—the Bishops in the former and the deputies in the latter. On Sunday, Oct. 7, missionary meetings will be held in all the churches of Boston and vicinity, and on the 10th a musical festival will be given in Trinity Church as purt of the pro- mme. Missionary meetings will also be held ‘on the 11th and 13th October in the Tabernacle. For the rest it may be hoped tnat the General Convention will not be occupied chiefly with the making aad mending of canons. ‘Lhe code is certainly extensive enough already. The clergy and laity scarcely have time to become acquainted with the canons before such changes are proposed and effected as frequently to occa- sion no little perplexity and confusion. The attempt to reulate by canonical provis- jon and with minute detail every possible phase in the circumstances of the Church throughout. the country is simply futile. In secular or civil matters many things are determined by what is kmown as the common law. So in ecclesiastical matters, the general law of usage, which can never be in direct or intentional opposition to canons and rubrics, should have the moral in- fluence to control those practices which involve. no doctrine and offend no prejudices. Legisla- tion is not necessarily the best method of reme- dying all existing evils. We cannot remove troubles from the Church by enacting canons and passing resolutions. If the State sould make alaw that no man should be a drunkard ora libertine it would effect nothing; for the State cannot legistate intu the individual con- science a scuse of mural oblizatiou. Less de- bating, fewer speeches in the Convention and in the Buard of Missions on points of external , Would leave more room for the cou- sideration of measures cal dtu quicken the zeal and promote the spiritual growth of the Church in ever part of the land. The eusuing Convention will be the most i portant gathering of Episcopal Church di Taries that bus been seen fora long time. opportunity of Jarze and clear. ett, disputes on hand; party spirit is much allayed3 the country is at peace; the religious needs of the nation are obvious and urgent. There seem: to be no reason why both houses should not a dress themselves in good earnest to their work, both legislative and spiritual, undertaking ana accomplishing some practical measures worthy of their calling for the good of man and the glory of Christ, and, after a suort and fruitful cession, depart in peace to their several spheres of work. Nevertheless a correspondent of tbe Churchman secs 2 portcntous shadow hanging over this fair prospect. A zealous hand, he Says, proposes to open the whole clothes busi- ness in ail its length and breadth aud branches. This is dreadful. Except the toreat- ened petition for female priests and preachers we have seen nothing so bad. Probably in. all the range of possible discussions there is nothing like the raiment question to call out all the varieties of wind and water in debate, from the fine tox to the roar- ing tempest. He thinks, and so do we, that the most fertile invention of man could hardly de- vise a topic that would create more talk witit Jess result or more schemes to less profit. He does not want the English clerical, vestment controversy transferred tu the'Protestant Epis- comteGuurch of America at this time. ‘This uormous, eager, growing, powerful, muscul multiform Alerica; irreverent, intemperate, unbelieving, rioting. and striking, shallow in thougnt, materialistic in living, disordered in spiritual health, wauts several things more than new set of robes or a wardrobe rubric. The wildest imagination could not expect any acree- ment. And what if the Bishops, priests, and deacons should be able to carry home a com- ete, straight-cut, close-fitting canon, full- reasted and high in the neck and tight about the waist, would that bring much honor or com= fort to 300 gifted and Iearned leaders of the people of God or to the people themselves? ‘Bishop Huntington hits off those uidnune churchmen who are so scrupulous in hrursical anise and cummin that they.must have e' thing detined and detailed by cannon. Hes: if they were suddenly to tind themselves in the New Jerusalem they would want to kuow if every one of the twelve gates had been author- izedj to stand open by canon for by resolution eds to Staral Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Caurch .of the United States, and Whether the uew song was sung in Bishop Hobart’s time, and whether the amens of the multitude that uo man can number came in ac- tording to Wheatley, Vicar ot Brent. The Bishop contends fora considerable margin for Jawful, reasonable, and churchly diversity and liberty, and he holds that in ordinary cases au- thority has not the right to intersere with it, and that it isinexpedient and injurious to re- strict it. ‘The proposed change of name of the Church and the division of dioceses will necessarily Oc- & The the Convention is unusually Tt has no petty panic or public cupy much tlme and:cause considerable debate . {athe Convention. . Illinois wants to be divided ‘and to have the headquarters of the new diocese at Quincy. Virginia wants to be divided into two or tliree dioceses. If two, the seat of the ty diocese would be at Wheeling, W. Va. Though the churchmen are few, the diocese as it is is too large for proper episcopal supervi- dou. Some of the missionary jurisdictions will probably be set off as indepeudent dioceses, and i few assistant-Bishops will be elected tor the shost venerable prelates. The Catholic Standard of Philadelphia laughs editorially at this aping of its Church. When a State or diocese 1S di- Sided for the Catholic bierarchy, the Protestant Chureh straightway divides, though some of its dioceses, the Standard says, are not 2s populous nor a8 rich as some Catholic parishes. But the Episcopalians have some vague notion that Bishops are the Church, and that by multiplying their number the Church is in creased. ‘The experience of the Diocese of Iowa less oes not prove this notion true. On the contrary, eight of its ministers have been de- posed and four or six of fts churches biotted out. But this matver is aot nearly so serious us the proposition to ckange the name of the Church from ‘The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States” to “The Atnerican Brauch of the Church Catholic,” or to the more con- densed but more comprehensive title, “The Church in Amerxa.” But this latter is mis: leadiug and indefinite, There is no “Church” per sein Amenca, and we hope there never will be. There are many sects and denomiuations of Christians here, as there ever will be, includ- ing the EpScopalian, and every one is 28 much “The Chureh in America” as every other, It ts folly and presumption to claim that the Episco- pal is the only Church in America. Aud that is the pretension sought to be foisted on the Church aud on the public by this change of name. It mast be manifest to the most casual observer, that there bas been considerable shifting of party lines in the Church during the past five or six years. The disclosure of the real animus of the’ “advanced” ‘school and the schismatic movement of Bishop Cummins have made High Churchmen mpre evangelical and Low Church- men more *churehly.” Now take this fact, Lo- gether with the conspicuous onc that the evan- felical school per xe has met with nothing but defeat in the Gencral Convention, and we may learn something useful. The Low Church army has been trying to defend too much territory at the saine time. It must concentrate if it would ever win a victory. Low Churehmen have allies, but wou't use them. In a communica tian to the Church Journal the writer says that within twelve months from the day that tne unreformed should abandon the name Protest- aut Episeopal the Reformed Episcopalians would adopt the name, and would go before the world as the same old Church that they desert- ed. If arguments are needed against a proposi- tion sv absurd as this proposition to change the uame of the Church here is au argument. ‘Aud yet there are strong as Well as strauge arguments put forth in the church papers in favor ot the change of name. The Rev. Dr, Craik, of Kentucky, President of the House of Deputies of the last Geueral Convention, op- poses the present name because it is uncuphoni- ous, too long and awkward, and hinders the recognition of its catholicity; that it holds up the Roman Church as prior to this “one catho- lic, apostolic church;” and that in this country the name “Protestant” is a gratuitous siver- tisement of the Papal ,Chureh, and a certiticate that it was before the ‘Protestant Episcopal.” min, Dr. Craik says Christendom has been di- vided for more than 1,000° years. And these distinctive uames but recornize and declare the fuct of these unhappy divisions. The Doctor might have said, with equal truth, that the Church of God on earth bas always from its first establishment been divided. There were ii udduces. Essenes, and Herodiaus m the one Mosaic Prophetic Church of the Old Testament, aud it was against the straightest sect of this one Church that Christ proclaimed wo. The real issue which Dr. Craik is endeav- oring to establish when he_ assails the Roman Catholic, the Church of England, aud all other Protestant churches. | ex- cept his. own, aud endeavors © to prove the Protestaut Episcopal Church of the United States the only true Church, and then tells the members of that Church who differ from him that they “ falsify, in common speech, their own solemn profession in the creed,” is that his is the only catholic apostolic church ou The Diocesau Convention of Vir- denied that position, and it prizes y as a venerable t form of church government or eccles does not muintain vor does it find in the pra book the exclusive validity of episcopal orders. This much the Convention nas declared by reso- jution. It therefore sees no good reasou why the name of the Church should be chunged, and has given its volce aud vote against any tinker- ing with it. .The present tame having beeu re- tained for nearly a hundred years, and the Church having within that time grown steadily from an esvcedingly small body Into au institu- tion of great power and influence in the land, and with far greater izfluence than any other Christian body with. the same numerical and financia) strength, it must be a dangerous ex- perment, to change the name and to return at once, Without the people being educated to the true significance of it, to a name more truly catholic, but which ‘seems to cast off the Protestant character of the Church. The fact that not onein twenty of the church people uf the land is sufliciently indoctrined in distinctive church principles to sec any reason for the change of name is of itself suiticient to inake the Convention move very cautiously in this direction. = * But ‘A Churchman” tells the Church Jour- nal that the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Church, the Church of England, and the Prot- estant Episcopal Church, are equally branches of the primitive Church. and that in Asia they all work side by side. He can’t sec, therefore, hew the change of name to the “American Church ? could burden any conscience or debar other branches of the Church from belonging to the one great Catholic Apostolic Church. ‘+ Pro- fessed Christians” do not always belong to the Catholic Church—often to none atall. If the word “church? means a house of worship, or a parish or a body of persons united in a common discipline and doctrine (in Which sense any one could very properly speak of the Presbytcrian Chureh), why, asks A Cuurehinan,” does Webster deline a churchman as oue be- longing simply to the Church of “En- gland. and not to the — Fresbyterian Church? But mamfestly Webster had no idea of ng the status of churches. A cbarchman is properly ‘tone who belongs to a church.” and Webster's detinition, or any other definition, does not make the “Church of En- gland any more a “church” than the “Church of Scotjand” or the “Church of Ire- land,” or of any other Jand. And when it is considered that the Protestant Episcopal Church. is one of the smallest sects of Christians in the United States, the absurdity of its clain to be © American Church” is too much to be usly looked at. According. to its latest of- ficial statistics,—those contained in its directory for the present year,—the whole uuinber of its “communicants” throughout the United States is 20S, hag also fifty-nine Bishops aud 3,J71 priests and deacons, or one Bishop for every 4,557 commuuvicants, and one priest and deacon for every eightv-live communicants. Now, the term “communicant” with this sect ns all its adult members and all of their children who have been — contirmed, ceremony (for they do not rezard it a sacrainent) which generally takes place when the children are about 12 or 14 years old. Tf we allow that there are as many children too young to be confirmed as there are adults and confirmed children, we should have as the whole number of Protestant Episcopalians in the United States 537,048, aless number by a con- siderable sum than that of the Roman Cath- olics in New York City and Brooklyn atone. ‘There scems to be good reason to believe that the whole number of the sect in the United not exceed 500,000 souls. The num- ber of deaths among them in 1976 was 20,093, or about 1 in 25, taking 500,000 as the true num- ber. The number of marriaces was 9,494, 1 in 52; the number of baptisms was 42,031, or 1 in 1) ‘The whole number of Bishops of the Prot- estant Episcopal Chuch throughout the world is 1$1—to-wit: 59 in the United States, 27 in Brit- ish North America, 31 in England, 11 in Ire- Jand, 7 in Scotland, 5 in India, 18 in Australia, W in South Atrica, 5 in the West Indies, 2 in China, and 2 in West Africa; 1in each of the fol- Jowing named countries: Japan, Gibraltar, South America (Falkland Islands), Sandwich Islands, Hayti, and Palestine. RELIGIOUS TRAMPS. WANDERING “ PROFESSORS” OF HOLINESS. From the Interior. The papers have had lately to deal with the religious, temperance, and reformer tramp. The number of people who “run” some ma- chine of 4 pious or moral sort fora living, whosecapital is self-conccit, and whose income is is derived from mixing their brass with the credulity of the public, has greatly increased since 1873. The Northwestern Christian Advocate recently said of the religious section of these vazabonds: This urmy of so-called evangelists, lilliputian Moodys, who, with limp Bible, travel ‘around the country, indorsed by no church, not always even by a self-constituted **State Central Coimittee,” and, what is vastly worse, not often members of any church organization, need to be carefully watched. Certainly those who, like some of the prominent evan: sof the day, whom it were easy to mention, e cut loose from all church organizations, should be *‘cut" by all lovers of good order and permanent usefulness. The Canada Christian Advocate adds: Portions of this Province have been grievously jmposed upon the past two or three years by characters similar to, or perhaps worge than, thuse Sliuded toin the paragraph here quoted. Some of these, counterfeiting Sankey and Moody. have hailed from the United States, and others are of Canadian production. They tramp abont from place to place, maxing great pretensions to and professions of holiness, eecking for churches in Which to ‘trun holiness mectings," as they term ir services, The church once obtained, they ‘o in for union meetings." They are protessedly non-ecctarian, but in fact they are the very worst Kind of sectirians, and cecided!y censorious. They are Baptiste. or Methodists, or anything ‘that is beet calculated to euit the times. Our American-Briton goes on to say that the character or many of these men is absolutcl: bad. ‘They seduce silly women and even steal. They usually “operate” as far from home as ossible. In short, the evangelist tramp has yecome a nuisance, and it is time to compel him to enter upon some honest employment. "The Northwestern remarks very properly upon the solemn and careful manner iu which ical polity: it churches ascertain and prove the character of those whom they ordain, A minister, a preacher of righteousness, need not in our times be without a good reputation, a standing in approved*character before those whom be addresses. Turn the key on the vagabond who attempts to take charge of mectings. OAKLAND CHURCH. ITS FINANCIAL CONDITION, To the Editor of The Tribune, Cmcaco, Aug. 31.—Gratuitous advertising Is an object greatly desircd in these timesof finan- cial stringency. - It matters little whether praise or fl-founded abuse is bestowed, so long as prominence before the public is secured. a "The enemies of Oakland Church are evidently determined it shall not die for lack of notoriety. 1 presume a smile will pass over the facc of every Congregationalist when’ be knows that Francis Munson was the author of the article headed * Church Debts” and signed “Justice ” in your last Monday’s issue. He has probably originated and participated in more church rows than guy other man in Chi- cago. é To appreciate his motive, your readers should understand that he was excommunicated from this particular church on account of an assault in open day, and o# a public street, upon the person of one of the clergymen whose cause he now so valiantly champions, and all because in a Sabbath sermon truths of too pointed a char- acter were promulgated. Itis truc that there is 2 mortgage of $13,000 on Oakland Church, and there are arrears of in- terest. due. The property has been several times teudered to the-mortgagee, but he be- lieves the security is abundant, and prefers to wait for the interest or fora more opportune, time to seil. ‘The same party has over $100,000 loaned on Chicago property, and his faith inthe future of the city is so great that no alarm is felt for the safety of the investment. 7 This being his state of mind, beyond the fact that such a mortgage on Oakland Church ex- ists, the public uccd uot borrow unnecessary anxiety upon the subject. ‘The mortzagce his, however, under a consid- eration a proposition, whieh, if accepted, will place Oakland Church in a favorable position so far as its funded debt is concerned, as com- pared with sister churches: It isa fact that Amos Grannis had two con- tracts with Oakland Church when in process of construction and repairs, amounting in the ag- gregate to about $6,000. The coutracts were awarded without competition, and it is pre- sumed yielded a fair protit. The entire amount except $300 was paid, and for this sum he has never pressed the church, knowing it had not the money to pa: When Rey. J. C. White’s connection with the church, was terminated, his account was set- tied by a note, Francis Munson being one of the makers. If his deep sympathy mduces him to forward a portion of the amount direct to Mr. White, it_ will doubtless be received with grititude. We are happy to say that. Mr. White is uw engaged in ministerial labor at Cincin- nati, and, While he needs ‘money, his condition is nut so abject as some would have it believed, The church holds a receipt in full for the cost of the singing-books purchased from Root & Cady. "The Rev. J. W. Cracraft was not dismissed from. the church, but resigned. When the separation took place, his family, who are pos- sessurs of considerable property, were absent from the city, and for a time his household effects were stored in a vacant room in the church. That be did not hold possession till his salary was paid is evidenced by the fact that a suit for the balance due is now pending in the Circuit Court. When it shall be adjudicate what the value of reading from a pulpit tbe wblished sermons of Henry Ward Beecher and DeWitt Talmase us original effusions shall be, he will become entitled to his share of the assets of the church. The statement was made at the meeting of the Geucral Assoeiation of the Congregational Chureh that expense of running Oakland Chureh wes $3,500 per unnum. No statement of actual receipts was given. It would be inter- esting to know the exact source from which Mr. Munson’s information came. So farasthe Oakland Church is an example of excvssive denominational zeal and compett- iu the city’s suburbs, which has led to the erection of au edifice and the incurrence of debts in advance of the disposition of the sur- ple to support, it is accountable, tobe held up as an example and warning for the public rood. Even to this view there are extenuating cir- cumstances. When the edifice was planted it wus not foreseen that the very men who nezo- tiated the loan and indorsed the notes would be driven from the Chureh-by the extravagant management of its present assailant and bis supporters. It was not calculated that a young hurricane would overthrow the steeple and crash in the roof, thereby compelling an addi- tional outlay of several thousand dollars. "The great tire, which annihilated the resources of the stanchest_men, of the Church, was not counted upon, The prolonged panic, which has greatly retarded the growth of the section at the southern extremity of the city, was notin the original program: ‘Tre small band of determined men who, in spite of prolonged disaster, refused to abandon the struggle, althougi: it drew enormously upon their resources, are worthy of respect. ‘Toc great bulk of the present membership is made Up of those who have reently come on to help as best they can to resuscitate the fortunes of the church, and it is this evidence of growth which exeites such bitter antagonism. The Re S. Holbrook, the present pastor of the church, was formerly in successful busi- ness inthis city, and is fayorably known by 3 large number of influential citize lie gave up a tucrative: business connection and devoted seven years to collegiate und sem- inary preparation for the ministry: De. accept- ed theeall to Oakland Church at'a small salary; and continues the work, notwithstanding re- peated advantagcuus offers to return to com- mercial life. Tf any doubt his ministerial ability, they satisfy themselves by attending bis services at least once. Both his character and the work he is doing entitle bio church to protection against the abusive insinuations which have recently been thrust at it. For several years the Oakland Church was a beggar among the Congregation- al Churches here and elsewhere. The present management determined that this policy should cease, and if there was no need of the church in the community where it is located, nor disposi- tion to sustain it, the doors should be closed. During the past year the result has peen that 9 larger number of conversions and accessions have taken place than in any recent year in the history of the church. The active and working membership has been tripled, the revenue from internal sources hag more than doubled, and the congregation has largely increased. The three last pastors of the church were paid in full for their services, as would be the present pastor if his connection with the church should terminate. During Mr. Holbrook’s pastorate un amount of money has been raised and paid out on the new and old indebtedness of the church cqual to the runuing expenses, except the interest, about w there is the most explicit under- standing. The pers are assessed upon a valuation cal- culated to cover the entire running expenses of the church, and the prices range from $6 to $120 per annum, placing the privilege of wor- ship Within the reach of rich and poor alike. Nota dollar of the past indebtedness, the most of which is very old, has been repudiated, but all will be settled if the creditors exercise suflicient patience, and when the actual cred- itors think better results can_ be realized in any other way no factious opposition will be made. ‘The intention is to keep on in a course which is not without difficulty, but which will com- mend itself to the judgment of alj honest and fair-minded men. Meanwhile, every pinnacle of the church bristles with chins which it is anxious to nave publicly knocked off, providing there is space for the purpose in your colums, and the assail- ants will come out from behind theiranonymous signatures so that it may be known from whence the blows are‘struck. Respectfully, Georce If. Buiss, Chairman Trustees Oakland Congregational Church. To the Editor of The Tribune, Cnicaco, Aug. 31.—Please allow one more communication qn the subject of church debts, and then let us hope the whole affair will be buried forever: I must enter my protest against this indiscriminate use of other people's reputa- tion, other people’s capital, and other people’s characters, even if it be public institutions. Whose business is it- outside the Oakland Church, or any other church, how they stand financially, as long as they conduct themselves in a Christian manner, and try to carry out the object for which they were organized? Why Jay the hand so heavy on the Onkland Church, when there are so many others more guilty than she? Whv not take up some other church and parade their misfortunes before the public gaze? Think ye that the Oaklaud Church isa siucer more than these? I say nay. The present membership of the Oakland ure no more to blame for the financial condition of the church than the depositers of the State Savings Bank are for the financial condition of that institu- tion; it was their predecessors who brought this dire calamity upon them, and they have to ear that burden or die. Charity for the oppressed is what that institution needs, and it ill be- comes those who live in glass houses. to throw. very large stones. Who would dare to say as much of a business house of this city as has been said of this church? And yet their repu- tation fsas dear to them as i the business man’s, Where is there a church inore united, or that works narderin the Master’s vineyard, than the Oakland? Aud where is there a great- er need of a live church than at the city limits, where the Oakland Church is located? - Aud where is there agreater proportion of young people in the congregation that necd the Gos- pel than there? Llift my voice against any more of this church-debt exposure, anil say, Let every man or church sweep in front of his or their own house before they undertake to injure any other socie- ty.. If the Oakland can keep life in themselves, and do the work the Lord has calied them to do, and bear up against a debt inherited from the founders of the church, and stand up under the loads of obliquy that her sisters are heap- ing on her, I say let her live, she is worthy of Letter treatment at the hands of society. ‘There lave mavy churches abandoned their organizations for far less excuse than this church has, and they show a zeal worthy of com- mendation. Lnow think it time tne hatchet was buried,— and so deep that it will not come up again to cut the roots, trunk, or branches of the tree that bears frait as good as any of its kind. ‘These poopie love their Church, no doubt, in spite of her misfortunes; or else they would abandon her, and it is not for J. O. E., or Jus- tice, or any other man, to hinder their progress by putting blocks under the wheels: they ought all to help make straight the patu, and build up the higuways of the Lord, cither througt this or some other church organization. Yhope, Mr. Editor, we shall hear no more about church debts, as Jong as we owe so much to the Master personally, that we do not seem willing to-pay, but are’ so ready to repudiate. Yours, ete, A “Justice” (of the Peace). WESTERN EPISCOPACY. ‘TM APPROACHING CONFERENCE. Acorrespondent of the Diocese, the official organ of the Episcopacy in Illinois, in advocacy of the approaching Western Church Conference, says: ‘The great problem {s, How shall she best do her great Work and fulfill her divine mission’ It is ob- vious, first, by every man and woman, every Bishop and clerzymun, and every tayinan fs g theie duty in their own lot. But there are ofier expedients alo to be used, and among them the Charch Con- ference. Ag long ago as 1809 or "70 such a Con- ference for the West was desired by 4 number of Bishzps und clergymen who met at Hucine. ‘The details were left with Bishop Whitehouse, but for some reason, no doubla wise one, he never took any action, “The subject has now been ed, and such a Conference, to be a relles of the Church in the West, hus veen- settled on, to be held in Chicago at some future time to be ficreafter settled. After conference with other bishops. Bishop Me- Laren has appointed a local cominittee of eleven, whose nantes We eleewhere give, to be supplement, ed by other ten from other Diocese, and who areto serve us the Executive Committee of the Confér- ence. It is expected that, when assembles, all ehades and schvols of thouztit and opinion will be represented. ‘The subjects to be discussed will be mostly the great practical problems of Church life and wore, instead of doc- trinal pointe. We have hud enough of controversy, and itiy better tu refer questions still in dispnte to the VIL. General Council, when it shall be held. The Cathedral system and’ its development, the Provincial, or, a8 our Presbyterian friends wonid guy, the Synodical System, Temperance. Prison Reform, Chiristian Education, Missious, Methods of Parochial Work, Sunday-Schools, these, and such as these, are the great themes which will oc- cupy such s conference, Sch a body. represent- tug all schools, would illustrate the unity of the Church, It would brivg out the veut, inteliect and learning of her clergy, and show it to the It would prov while we hold to the past, and value our historical prestige, we are ag- gressive in the preacut, and have our face tnened fo the future. ir would encourage weak places and parishes, by demonstratins the strength of tae Church, und that there are not ouly the solitary prophet. but seven thousand in Isracl; in a degree it would neutralize diocesan independence and parochial isolation. ‘The local Committee to-make the preparation for the Conterenve, to which ten are to be added from other dioveses, consists ut the Revs. Clin- ton Locke, D. Edward Saliivan, D. D.,S- 5. Harris, D. D., George F. Cushman, D. D. Knowles, A. M., Arthur Ritchie, aud Mess H. Sheldon, W. K. Ackerman, L. B. Otis, Peabody, and Edwin Walker. ‘i ‘The Comumittee on the proposed division of the Diocese of Ihnois will meet in this city in aiew days and agree upon their final report to, the Convention. GENERAL NOTES. The Sisters of Notre Dame were founded by Julie Billiart, at Amiens, in 1805. They were approved and contirmed asa congregation by Pope Gregory XVI. in 1818. It fs reported that a body of 25,000-Czechs of Volhyma has broken loose from the Roman Church, aud dectared its adhesion to rolic Bishop Reinkens. utiful Methodist Church in Saratoga, N. Y., which cost over $1,000,000, is almost held in the grasp of the Sheriff for a debt of $50,000, and will be actuatly in bis grip ere Jong unless this sum or part of it is paid. It is stated that in-Poland, the past year, 259,~ 000 members of the United Greek (Catholic) Chureh have joined the Russian Church. The latter also received from other churches in Rus- gia 9,016 persons, including 763 Protestants. The statistics of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Connecticut are: Families, 12,539; communicants, 25,086; clergymen, 188; contri- putions for parochial expenses, S43.3H1. The total contributions for all purposes is $313,411, which is au average of $18.50 from cach com- municant. P ‘The Church Times hears of a rumor that the pody of English Bishops have agreed to exclude from all preferment. in their gilt those clerzy- men who are members of the Engrish Church Union, the Soviety of the Holy Cross, aud the Contraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, oum- bering iv all about 3,000. Eight souls were saven in Noah's ark. Eight Dunkardscrossed the Atlantic “to restore prim- jtive Christiauity? on these distant shores. Eight souls constitute the Dunkard mission which has gone back to Gernrany, where, trust- ing in God, they can lie down safely with the Hon and the lainb, the former, of course, being behind iron bars. Complaint hes been made to the Bishop of Winchester against the Rey. Reginald Shutte, of St. Micheel's, Portsmouth, for the use of i legal ceremonies and vestments. He is also charged with exhorting his parisnioners to con- fession, as follo “Come boldly, then, to this healthy exercise of confession, though it pain you like laying bare a caucer for the sur- geon’s knife.” Judge Massy Hoffman has written an article in the Church Journal deprecating any change in the name of the P: testant Episvozal Church. He asks: “What isthe defect or evil of the present namet What ills does it proce which will be averted, or what benefits, by discarding it, will be secured’? Judge Hoffman traces historically the origin of the two words Protestant” and “Episcopal” inthe Church’s title. The New York State Baptist Missfonary Con- yention will meet xt Troy in October. At its last meeting in Albion the sum of $16,000 was appropriated for missivnary work within the epere during the year, Up tothe present, near- ly ten months, only $5,493.33 haye been received from the several churches, and there is very lit- tle hope that the balance witl be received within the next two mouths. And there is besides a debt of $2,850 on last year’s subscriptions which cannot be collected, and meantime the mission- aries and their families must suffer. In directing attention to the fact that a Madrid Professor, Juan Mauuel Orti y Lara, bas just published a book called “La Inquiscion,” in which he enthusiastically defends the Inqui- gition, and pleads for its restoration in Spain, the Churchman (Episcopalian) reminds its read- ers that the book bas been expressly approved. by a special censor appointed by the Vivario Ec- clestastico ‘of Madric, and according to the cen- sor is a brilliant defense of the ‘subline tri- bunal of the Holy Inquisition, the bulwark of our holy religion,” an institution ‘tas greatly beloved. by the Church as it is reviled and cursed by the monster of heresy.” ‘The Rev. Edward de Pressense, of Paris, writes that “ Religious liberty in France is about to pase through a sorrowful eclipse. lt is evi- dent that the bill preposed by ine to the Na- tional Assembly, aud which was taken up again by my friends in the existing Chamber of Depu-- ties, will be set aside for a long time. It will become very difficult to carry on any. evangelical missionary work, at least outside of the grcat towns. I lately received a,most interesting call from some thoughtful men, who, weary of Catholicism, were convinced that it must be overthrown, not by skepticism, but by a true ard carnest faith. They. invited me to come and explain to them my own evangelical con- victions. ‘The day folluwing, May 16, they wrote to me to gay that the proposed discussion would now be impossible. Only this morning there haz appeared an extraordinary circular from the Minister of the Interior on the subject of col- portage, which must inevitably affect the col- portage of the Bible.” Prof. A. K. Strong, of the Rochester Theologi- cal Seminary, in the State of New York, has col- lected statistics covering a period of half a cen- tury. Dividing that period into five decades, he proves that the ave! number of candidates for the ministry in Tale. Williams, Amherst, and. Hamilton Colicges, and Brown and Rochester Universities, during the first decade, was 46 per cent of all the students in those institutions; while the averaze number duriag the last de- cade was only 17 percent. He attributes this great decrease in the number of young cleray- meu to the secularization of our colleges, to the lack of a clear insight into the doctrines of the Gospel, and to the materialization of the age. ‘The Primate of Scotland, the Bishop of Moray, bears willing testimouy to the missionary ac- tivity of tue Russian Church: “ Enropean ig- norance of Russia has led to much injustice be- ing done to the Russian Church, and because our missionaries have not frequently fallen in with Russian missionaries in the course of their labors, they have concluded that the Church was asleep. It would be well, however, if the English Church, with all its advantages, could show comparatively as much successful work done by her in India as the venerable Innocent could show among the heathen nations of the vast Russian Empire.” Bussia fs not neglect- ing her missionary duties among her heathen subjects. : 7 . in the founding of churches in this country there have been no less striking coincidences than in the estublisument of the civil govern- ment or the discovery of the continent. By one of those singular coincidences not unknown to | history Maryland became the fruitful sced-bed of American Presbyterianism, American Meth- odism, and American Catholicism. There francis MacKemie, an Irishman, first organized Presbyterianism. There, also, Strawbriage planted Methodism, and there Lord Baltimore and others laid the foundations of Catholicism. * "The Irish Presbyterians swept down into the Sticnandoah Valley and over the Alleheny Mountains and founded Pittsburg, Pa., a city that is as distinctively Presdyterian as Boston is distinctively Puritan. How unlike the action of the Presbyterian Church in the United States toward heretics is that recently adopted. by the General Assembly of Presbyterians in the British Provinces. A Rev. Mr. McDonell, a very attractive and poru- lar preacher, had publicly denied the endless- uess of future punishments. Le was arraigned for heresy. The Assembly was divided. Part favored an explicit denis! or aflirmation of the hevesy, and part favored ‘a_milk-and-water ar- rangement, by which the Church should not lose so able a minister, and he should not be compelled to edmit or deny his theory. statement was therctore drawn up, which he signed, declaring that he still subscribed to the Confession of Fuith and its teaching on the doc- trine of eternal punishment of the wicked, not- withstanding doubts snd difliculties which per- plex is mind. So that Mr. McDonell can hold this or any other heretical notion ‘he pleases in the Presbyterian Church, provided he docs not teach it publicly. 3 The case of the First Presbyterian Charen of Louisville, Ky., which has agitated the South- ern Presbyterian Chureh since. 1874, bas beea decided by Crandellor Duval. The history of the case is, in brief, as follows: Previously to 1ST4 diferences existed beuwcen'a majority of the ruling Elders and the pastor. the Kev. Dr. Ss. R. Wilson, which led to the withdrawal of the Elders aud a minority of the members from the elu They were refused letters of dismis- sion, and appealed to the Presbytery of Louis- ville to be reinstated, in order that they might be ou certain charges that bad been made aguiust them. ‘The Presbytery granted the ap- peal, but, in consequence of certain criticisms upon its action made by Dr. Wilson, it refused to allow him to Appear and answer until he made an apology. This he refused todo. The ried up to the General Assembly, judgment in favor of the Presby- nthe seceding members began a suit for the division of the church property, and Chancellor Duval has decided azainst them. Tke chureh fs now connected with the Northern Assembly. MORMON MIRACLES. A branch of the Mormon Church, flourishing in Canada, bas gone into the miracle business on au extended scale. One of their mission- aries at London, Out.) J. J. Cornish by. name, reports the cure of a Sister Cambridge of tits by Vaptisin according to the Mormon rite. Frou her infancy she was subject to them, being over- come as oiten as twice a day until her union with the Church of Latter-Day Saints, about two years ayu. A child of this pious sister was accidentally poisoned, but was promptly “re- stored by prayer and the ordiuances.”” A Broth- er Harvey, working in a machine-shop, sawing lumber, cut off two fingers of his right hand and. e seriously mutilated that member. Missionary Cornish was working in the same shop, and immediately, sceing the blood was flow- ing freely, he laid his hand on the injured man’s head, raised his right hand, and prayed God to 7 the blood. Immediately the blood stopped. For two days the man suffered great paiu, but that, too, Was stopped in the same way, aud one week after the. accident the injured man was again at work as welland as hearty as ever. Missionary Cornish also cured a Sister Parker of fits by laying on hands and prayer. Ie tells of amiraculuus light from Heaven which shone round about him and alittle party that was going to a baptismal service inthe River Thames, about 11 o'clock at night, by which a crowd of skeptics and persecutors were convinced “that the Latter-Day work is true,’”? and sought the prayers of the Saints and admission to their fel- lowship. At another time, while he was con- firming ¢ sister, ‘the Spirit declared that from that time, if she continued faithful, she would have the giftof visiuu. She immediately saw the Savior, and she was wrant in the glory of the Spirit? 4 TNE BAPTIST SEMINARY. The Baptist Theological Seminary at Morgan is now prepared to offer unusual advan- 3 to students of divinity daring the coming Northrup aud. Morgan will be in iheir places as of old. Dr. J. E. Boise, the emi- nent Greek scholar, will fill the chair of New Testament interpretation.. Prof. Maimon, a scholar of rare attaiuments, will teach th eutal Languages and Literature. Dr. fi ‘Anderson, who has had eight years’ experience iu Newton, will lecture once _a week on Homi- letics und Pastoral Duties. Dr. A. Owen, the new pastor of the University Place Church, will deliver a course of lectares on the “ History of the Early Church.” Dr. J. A. Smith will be the Jecturer on Modern Church History. A special course of twenty-two lectures will be given on Missions, Calvinism, Long Pastorates, Social Science, Church Benevolence, the Doctrine of Jnterence, Public Spirit in the Ministry, Sunday- Schools and Pastors, Romanism and Protestant- isin, the Preaching of Carist and Chrysostom, Recreation and Side Studies of the Pastor. ‘Among the lecturers will be Drs. Cheney, Everts, Moss, Randolph, Gregory. Anderson, Smith, and Gardver. The Scandinavian depart- ment will be uuder the supervision of Prof. Ed- gren. Fourteen students have already signified their intention of being iv attendance. The im- portance of this department can hardly be over- stated. The Nortnwest is_ rapidly filling up with Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians, Baptist churches are multiplying among them, and an educated ministry is imperatively demanded, [rof. Edaren goes forward with no promise of salary, trusting in Goa to move his people to sustain the work. UNIVERSALIST STATE CONVENTION. ‘The [linois Universalist Convention will hold its session for 1877 at Morrison, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Sept. 1, 18, and 13. ‘The paristies within the fellowship of the Con- yentiun are each entitled to three lay delegates. Delegates must be provided with the proper written certilicate to the Secretary. ‘The programme is as follows: ‘Monday evening-—Introductery sergice. Sermon by the Rev. William S. Balch, D. DS "Tucsday—10 to 12 o'clock, opening of Conven- tion business; 2 to 3, Convention buainess:-3 to 4, address by the Rev. T. N. Glover, on the ‘+ Best Method of Sunday-Schoot Work,” followed by discussion. Evening. sermon. ‘Wednesday—8 to 8, Conference; 9 to 10:30, Convention bneines2; 10:30, '* Occasional Scr- mon," by the Rev. Sumner Ellis; 2to 3, address by the Rev. Miss A. J. Chapin, *!'The Evangelical Work of Our Church." followed by discussion; 3 to 4:30, meeting of the Universalist Woman's As- sociation of Illinois. Evening, sermon. ‘Thurday—$ to 9, Conference: 9 to 10:30. Con- yention basiness; 10:30 to 12, address by the fev. S. A. Gardner. on ‘*The ‘Relation of Our Church to Other Churches,” followed by discus- sion; 1:30 to 2:30, religions themes; 2:30, com- munion services; 4 to 5, unfinished business, Evening, sermon. PERSONAL. ‘Mr. Henry Needham is preaching and holding prayer-meetings daily at Halifax, N. 8. Bishop Fallows, of the Reformed Episcopal Church, fs at present traveling in England. Dr, Enoch Pond, Professor in the Bangor Theological Seminary, has reached his 86th year. The Rev. E. L. Hurd, D. D., formerly of Lake Forest, has been elected Lrofessor of Theology m Blackburn University, at Carlin> ville, II. The following gentlemen are announced a8 lecturers at Andover Theological Seminary the Rev. Hf. M. Dexter, D. D., of Boston, on “ Con gregationalism 7; and the Rev. A. H. Clapp, D. D., of New York, on “ Home Missions.” The Rev. Messrs. M. C. Osborn and E. E. Jenkins have been elfcted Foreign Missionary Secretaries of the English Wesleyan Missionary Conference. The Interior calls Moncure D. Conway “2 miserable heretic,” and yet it is written some where in the Presbyterian Bible, ‘Judge not, lest ye be judged.” : ‘The Rev. Charles Hall Everest, pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church, has returned | | from his vacation, and will resume, his pastocal labors this morning. “ Bishop Simpson fs sail tobe seriously ill. At Ocean Grove, after preaching, Aug. 19, he toc! a severe cold, and has since been confined to hit bed at his home in Philadelphia. : The Rev. Dr. Dos, ot the Free Chu: Scotland, is to be arraigned before the G Pr ry on a charge of heresy respecting tht reveiation and inspiration of the Bible. Prot. J. B’ Taylor, of the Wesievan Universt- ty, Bloomington, Hil, and wife have gone te urope. The Professor has leave of absence for one year, and will then return to his eollest ork. _ The Rey. J. Baker, D. D., a prominent Bap- tist divine of Quitman, Ga,, is lott He we? ie oie ialaistes almost Gn ars, serving churches in his native State, Virgi di Gane ec ey Heine, and in Bishop Andrewa, of tha Methodist Episcopal Chureh, has returned hone from his tour of the world, While abroat he orginized tha Sweden, the Norway, and the South Loaia Meth- adist Coaferences. ‘The Rey. W. W. Patton, D. D., who is so well known in religious circles throuzhont the Northwest, wiil leave on Monday to assume the duties of his new position as President of How- ard University at Washington. Dr. Custis. pastor of the Mie Baptist Church, bas returned trom yacation, which he has spent in P! New York, and Boston. During hi pulpit has been supplied by D: Prof. William A. Stevens, of Di sity, bas azcepted the Chair oi. New Testa Exegesis in Rochester Theoloztcal Se and will enter upon his duties at the open' the session, Sept. 5. Le succeeds the late Dr. row. op Marvin, of the Southern Methodist Church, has returned from # tour around tie worl. to it his Church’s missions alinost simultaneously with the arrival of Bishop An- drews, who performed a similar service for tue Northern Church. - Bishop Domenec, formerly of Pittsburg, since of Allegheny City ued the latter Sce, founded especially on bis dation, and the two Sces, Pittsbu y, united, will be under the faich: cientious gov- ernment of the Right-Rev. Dr. Tuige. The death is announced of the Rev. Carstairs Douglas, 'D., the senior missionary of the Presbyterian Church of England in China, whe died at Amoy during ‘the latter part of July. Dr. Douglas was adistinguishee Oriental scholar. ‘A dictionary inthe Amoy dialect is considered one of his most valuable works. The Rev. J. H. Koowles, Canon of the Cathe- dral, has returned from his summer vacation avd resumed his charge, greatly benefited Ly the rest he has been able to enjoy. The East- ern papers speak in flattering terms of his services at Trinity Church, New York, where he has been officiating during the absence of its Rector for the past two months. ‘The Official Board of the Langley Avenue ME. Church have invited their pastor, the Rey. W. C. Willing to return to thei for his third year. By their unti ies in work- ing fur the Master, Dr. Wil been the instruments in God's hands in leading many souls to Christ, and the church bas pros- pered as never before in its history. The Rev. W. F. Crafts, the popular pastor of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Chureb, bas re- turned, atter an absence of some four. wecks, and will preach in his church this evening at 45 o'clock. Asvonductor of the great Sanday- Schoo! Parliament at Thousand -Isiand Park, St. Lawrence River, he met with the most gratify- ing success, His many friends will be giad te welcome him back. Bishop Haven is still_ suffering from malaria fever contracted in Africa. He thus decribes it: «An African forest was growing wp within tne, the tops whereof were made visible. When the serapings from the roots of the tongue were placed under a microszope. their routs were is the spleen and liver. Biack specks moving swiftly up and down these ferns and trunks and branches were probably monkeys leaping from tree to tree of thisgaward African forest.” It having been charged that Prof. Sanford was “Kicked” ont of the Syracuse — University (Methodist) because he Was i Baptist, the answer is made upon authority that such is not the fact. There was no dissatisiaction among the Alumni, as alleged, and the tact that he was a Baptist operated in fayor of his reteation. “The reasons which Jed to his resignation were not different from those which, in many cases, have caused the resignatiun of Methodist Pro- fessors in Methouist collexes.” PIOUS SMILES. tadelphia, absence Lis 7 rthrop. $ Acclergyman of ordinary abilities asked for a license to preach. “I grant you permission,” said his Bishop, “but nature refuses it.” “+ By proxy I pray and by proxy I vote.” A xraceless peer sald to a churchman of note. Who answered, **My lord, then. venture tousy, You'll to heaven ascend in a similar way.” You can judge of a Christian,” says the Rey. Mrs. Hanaford, “by the shape of his head.” Tobesure. The Christian never at- tends Democratic caucuses and gets his head bunged up.—Lochester Democrat. In some strictly religious communities croquet is regarded as an ingenious device of the evil onc. There is, perhaps, nothing that will make a young lady go back on the teachings of pious parents so quick as to gather all ler soul and energy for & magnificent cross-feld shot and then flinch. 4 The good man reclineth at his case; he cover- eth his head witha paper; be taketh his rest, and his snores are heard in the land. The house fly is not so, for his heart deviseth evil con tinually, and when he hath crept under the paper he will tickle the good. man’s noxe. Verily. ull that is vanity and vexation of spirit. A Frenchman has discovered ray Eve ate the apple in Eden. The gentlemanly devit present- ing it to her, remarking that “IfM. Adam eat ze appel he will becume like our Dieu: but you, Mme. Iv, cannot become more of a goddess. than you are now.” ‘This compliment settled the questa, and she ate’and left a legacy to her descendants for all time. a Can a truly moral journal admit a circus ad- vertisement into its colt a question which a Denver editor 6d] ed himself. The manager sent a fi the editor's: office, and after witnessing the“first exhibition he wrote that ‘for children paying half-price asight of them trick roules was better than being brought up in a Sunday-school library.”” ‘The old Scottish hearers were very particular on the subject of their ministers preaching oid sermons. A group of parishioners were ob- served to be somewhat merry. on their way home.. ‘The minister asked. the cause of this. ‘Indeed, sir,” replied ihe beadle, “they were saying ye had preached an au!d sermon to-day, but I tackled them, for I touid them it was not an auld sermon, for the minister had preached it not six months syne.” A juvenile test of prayer: Not long azo two little girls in the West filled their shoes at night with corn, and then prayed that God would turn their corn into money. The next morning, when they looked into the matter, their shoes were shoes and their corn was corn. At this failure tneir faith was shaken, ur rather, as one of them expressed their teclings, “We were rather spunky when we found the corn just 98 we left it, and no money.” . During the long French war two old ladies fn Stanraer-were going ta the kirk. The one said to the other, . ‘Is it not a wonderful thing that the Breetish are aye victorious in battle?” “Na,” said the other, “ for ve keo they aye say their prayers afore the fechtin’ be gins.” The other resiied: ‘But the french can say their prayers a3 weel’s the Brectis! ze “Hoot! said the other. ‘Jabberin’ bodies, wha could understand them?” It was in a Baptist church at Springfield, Mags., the other evening, that thosc who {els they had special cause for thanifulness were asked to testify, and a genuine son of toil arose and said: © Pm not much of a public spaker, 1 don’t know as I’m u Christian, mebbe 1’n but the Riverent Hinry Ward Beecher sald fortnight azo as How the workiugman could Ifeon bread aud wather, and I thank the Lord the newspapers is giving him b—1 for It.” Archie Campbell, the head of the old town guard of Yuimbure, was a somewhat rorari able man in his hin ‘His old mother died, an Archie, being well to doin money matters; Te solved to take her back to her vative place ia coming year: The Rey. A.C. Thompson, D. D., of Roxbury. on “Foreign Missions"; the » Highlands and did so. ‘Thinking it a it ay Pr taking the hearse back to Edii fet empty, he thought of the pian of scnding a fe'