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r THE FLOWERS COllECTIQtf PUBLISHED "WEEKLY BY .A. COMMITTEE OP MUSTISTETJS FOR HE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CPU ' RCIT, SOUTPI-RUFUS T. HEFLIN, Editor YOL. V.-NO. 40. RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, TUESDAY, OCT. 23, 1860. T E R 91 ft t TWO DOLLARS A YEAR, IN ADVAXCS. CAROLINA A DVOCATE. I... r Business Xotiee. Tn North Carolina Christian Advocate, an ora-an of the General Conference, and of the North Caroliua Conference of the Methodist Epis copal Church, South, is published in Kaleigh, eve ry Tuesday Morning-. " Si msRiPTiox : $2 a year, in advance. All papers are discontinued at the expiration of the time paid for. Subscribers will be reminded of the time for renewal, and respcetiuuy re quested to renew subscription, bj a cross mark upon their paper. Z-kS All the traveling preachers are Agents; open accounts are kept iti them, upon condition of prompt settlements at Conference. Aivkrtisi!i : Per square of 12 lines or less, first insertion, SI. For each subsequent insertion, 25 cents. Business Cards of 6 lines vr less, per an. $ 6 00 A square of 12 lines or les-v per annum, 10 00 All accounts for advertising are due at the time of the first insertion, or when presented. .OlilGrlNAL NUMBER SIX. In choosing a profession tliere should always be conscientious consideration of the subject of " usefulness." This is nec essary alike to greatness, goodness, and happiness. One of England's great men said, " usefulness is the measure of great ness." lie who can be useful and refu ses, cannot be good while he refuses. lie who can be useful and will not be, has a bad conscience ; and a bad conscience will make any one unhappy. In truth, to live to norood purpose were worse than not to lire at all. He who does no good is re proved by universal nature, livery dew gem, every flower, every leaf, every rain drop, every sunbeam, chides him in sweet yet mighty language. The breeze hisses him for shame, and the great storm con demns him with its thunder-tongue. All earth's myriad voices brand him as a trait or to his fellow-men and his God, and the heaven's answer earth by proclaiming all her charges true. " Where can I be most useful " must, therefore. - be the sincere query of every faithful and noble soul. Mark you, it is not merely " where can I he useful ?" but where most useful ?" To this some may answer, ' la the politi cal world." Are they right? Think with what elements you wi'I meet in that une ven field. Think how fluctuating and un accountable the vox populi. Think how S-'ldorn you will be in power, and how lim ited that power when possessed. Think, with an honest mind, of what your influ ence as a politician would consist, and of vhat the consequences of that influence would be. Ask yourself the question, ' what good can I do as a politician t" and let theanswerbeafreeaud favorable one.aud ' fhetT tell iie If yuu are wiling to spend all your life for that ! You can point me to a glorious few who have brought hon ors and blessings to their country; while I can point you to an inglorious host who lived on politics, died of politics, and scarcely left their '-footprints on the sands" of their community. You may re gard yourself a child of fortune and think you are sure to succeed, while I may tell - you that those who had as much talent and promise as you, have squandered a lifetime in unprofitable devotion to poli tics. What docs the law promise as to use fulness ? Cniess you could always be on the side of truth, it would be impossible for you to be always useful. There is not a lawyer who is always on the side of truth and justice. He may think he is. when he is not. I have heard it remarked of a distinguished lawyer in our country, that he had argued cases for the sake of his clients, regardless of the sacred principles involved, until he was verily incapable of making moral distinctions as ho formerly could. He had done so much an the wrong side, that it didn't matter which side he was on ; he could speak equally well on cither. He is a man of power ; yet, what think you has been his usefulness in a wise and good sense of the term ? Ta king it to mean that which makes people hat-pier and better, a don't think he has ! been very useful in h;s puoiie i:le. Ihe truth is. there is great danger of lawyers' lc:ng too much affected by the praises and purses of the people. These are too apt to constitute their controlling aims. Their profession d-ies not have a good ehect on j their ow i hearts; and is not, therefore, J likely to make them very useful to the I christian morals of others. I appeal to j your knowledge of the liar and it.s nieur- i liens for farther view on th's point. J lo you not believe tiiat tin. life of a faithf.il minister is th - most useful of all? ; If a man is convert id by the grace of Cod it is better than it he had been fifty times in jail or charges. fifty times acquitted of petty Courts punish, but they do not regenerate ; laws rostr.ii.'i. but tin y do not reform the nature. Ir is best of all to bring a soul under heaven's laws; for the "law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." " Usefulness" is the supreme, all-absorbing motive, end and aim of the minis try. It involves the perpetual application to good uses of those means which Cod himself has prepared and designated for the amelioration of man's condition and the ever-increasing blessing of human hearts. It is the only calling whose sole motto is. "The good of man in Cod's own way." True, every life out of the ministry, as well as in" it, ought to be brought under this motto, but this alone of all professions is truly so; and if oth ers become so, they lose their identity and become the ministry. It would seem that a minister is more useful than a law yer, by as much as heaven is more valu able than earthly estate ; by as much as glory is more desirable than gold ; by as much as eternity is longer than human life. It is more " useful " to be instru mental in ransoming one soul from ever lasting dangers and crowning it with the blissful freedom of immortality, than to tramp.e in triumph over a thousand bar risters, and lead cantive the judments of the proudest justices that ever dignified a human court. Over the latter men may rejoice over the former " there is joy in the presence of the angels." A. W. 31. THE BISHOPS'AND THE LAW.-N0 II. Mr. Editor : In my last I attempted to shew that the power of bishops over Conferences, Districts &c, was dependent on their presence in the particular locali ty requiring official action. Proved, as I think clearly, that the fundamental law of the Church demanded it, showed that in all alleged offences they were required to act "as the discipline directs." Endeav ored to shew what the "discijrfine docs di rect." I further endeavored to shew that precedent, contrary to existing law was of no binding force, and could not be plead in justification of any act not supported by the law. Bishops have no power to suspend a P. E. at pleasure upon any allegation, and o' or-.' trey .liMno sucfl power v. uen none is made. Hut suppose an allegation is made, how are bishops to act ? 11 As the discipline directs." A trial by a com mittee &c. Trial bv an annual conference as is clearly shown by ch. 4. sec. 1. p. 133 and 34. Cases are provided for in this section that occur frequently, and yet i : gives no power to a bishop to suspend o.' to supercede. It strikes me as peculiarly striking, that both, trial and sentence, aie with the Conference here, as indeed they should be. If then a Bishop has no power to sus pend, or to supercede a P. E. upon thesn grounds, much less has he the power ti change a preacher from his circuit in anoth er district and appoint him P. E. in a dis tant district. For in the absence of tk Bishop, power over him is expressly given to his own Presiding Elder in the follow ing words: "In the absence of the Bish op to take charge of all the Elders, Dea- j cons &c, in his district." To change re. j ceive and suspend preachers in hisdistric , during the intervals of Conference, and i:( the absenceof the Bishop, ''as the discipt line directs." From which it is clear thy 1 when present, the Bishop has power; whe ( ; absent he has not, but the Presiding E, der has. It is too evident, from the whole ofth" second chapter, that a bishop's power i ,' bounded bv his presence. The diseipiiu , most clearly shews, everywhere, except i a solitary instance, that tracdling isessei j tial to Episcopal functions ; for without i j there would be discord in the itinerant d j partuient of our work. Nor does it siuin' j mean going from one annual Conferein to another ; but in the broad sense of tnr eling ''through the connection at larg in order to preach and oversee the spir. ual and temporal affairs of the Church. These are the plain duties of the Epi copacy, and for the plain reason that no other way can they become famili with the 'spiritual and temporal affairs the Church." There is but one sin case where a bishop can exercise Episc pal power when absent, and that is asm; matter, that cannot materially effect eith the ministry or the laity; it is simply appoint the President of a Conference i , letter, when there is no bishop present. But if this is neglected, the body can ele their own presiding officer, and thus pr ceed legally and regularly to work. It has been too long, and too much tl case, that the primary law of the Meth dist church, (I hope Episcopal will be le out ) has been too little investigated by tl great body of her people. They ha looked upon it as too abstruse for the comprehension, or that it did not legit, mately come within their sphere of duties and, have therefore confided its interpre tations to another department of our churc But to return to the subject; action 1 our bishops pertainiug to the Conferem : must be at the sessions of Conference ; the districts within the district ; to tl circuits within the circuit. And that u on consultation with the constituted a-i thorities oft he church, or after notice an trial, as the discipline directs. Else wl does the discipline require the presidii Elder "to attend the bishop when pre ent in his district ?" It cannot me;.' to wait upon and serve him. It mu i mean for consultation and advice. iSu . ordinates are not the servants of superio in the Church. They are all servants i the Church, and co-laborers in the gre work of man's salvation through Jest Christ. There is no such power in the churc as can say "do this, arid he doeth it."- Our church 'overiiment, under (.rod, is constitutional one. Those who govern, . such there must be, are to be regarded . officers, and not tyrants or despots, ami . such must be approached, acted, andcou i soiled with. Hence I say a bishop canu f depose a presiding Elder; take auotii presiding Elder from work regularly ; signed him ; fill the deposed P. E's pla w:tn nun, call a distant preaclier troiii nother circuit, under a third P. L. to si: ply the place of the second P. E. witho "traveling" to this third district and e; suiting with the presiding Elder on ti' . district. 3or could he remove the seco P. E. to supply the place of the first wit t out like traveling, and like cuastiltatio j The reason is obvious enough : he cou ' not know anything about the "spiritu : and temporal affairs of the church" I these different localities; and by that ve j act entirely subvert both. Neither cou 1 he. for the same reasons, remove the si ' ond P. E. to the place of the first. Ti case of the removal of a preacher from circuit without the bounds of either d. trict is a stronger illustration ofthegroum , I have taken, if possible, than that of t! presiding Elders. Because if the bish- , be absent the control of the preacher entirely with his own I'. E. disciplin chapter 2. sec. 0. This control is only a limited one. for -the iuterval of the Conference, neithert! presiding Elder nor the Bishop, althoiu ' present, could control him at pleasure ; b . only "as the discipline directs." Just : a bishop could not, whether present or a sent, control the circuit preacher (in tl supposed case above,) at pleasure, so cou :. he not control and change a P. E. in tl second district to the first, except in ma -ner and form already pointed cut. No this principle is easily enough transfem to the case of the first P. E., and wheth.. absent or present, the bishop could not d pose or suspend him without notice and tri "as the discipline directs. Can it be po sible that one officer in the church can s: ; to another officer, at his own pleasure, cea: to exercise your office, and it must be so '.' Certainly not. If then it be asked how ca a criminal or delinquent be dealt with?- The answer is, go to the discipline and det1. with him as that directs. If he has violaj ted any of its provisions, punish him. I he has not, let him alone. Then there is no room for caprice, none for complaint "Thus it is written." is the warrant, and submission is the duty. It will be seen that I hvc censured no one, and praised no one. I have only dis cussed the law, as I understand it. And if I have thrown any light on the way it is only what I have desired ; it 1 have tailed, it is only what I feared. May others have more confidence and better success. Yours respectfully, WOOD3IAN. Backwoods, X. C, Oct, 8, 1860. SELECTIONS. ACROSS THE C0NTINENT.--N0. 17. The. Pacific Confer nice Self-Sacrificing Spirit of the Preachers The Return Trip Sickness Kindness of U. S. Officers Trying to reach the Confer e n re Succeeded. The Pacific Conference met in San Fran cisco. The session was brief but pleasant, much business was attended to Methodist preacher fashion in a little time. On many subjects there was much discussion, but harmony and brotherly love prevailed. The brethren there seem to have one mind and one heart. They weep together and rejoice together and share the changing fortunes of an itineraut life with as much patience, fortitude and devotion as any men I have ever seen. Labor is no burden to them, they love their work. In convenience is no hardship; for the yoke of Christ is easy and his burden light. In California, as elsewuere, tliere are de sirable places, and places wdiich a man would not prefer, places now unorganized, hard work and poor pay; but there is no struggle for the former and no dodging of the latter. Many things which would be esteemed in the East as intolerable, by no means to be endured a triumphant ap ology for location are met, endured, enjoyed by the brethien in California. To feed the horse, to milk the cow, to work the garden, to make the fire and draw the water, to cook, and trash the dishes, are menial labors; but California preachers J sometimes uo au uie.se inings. rMiiie men rent a room anil make it parlor, chamber, kitchen and dining room live well and do good. Married men help their wives in all domestic employments, and live independent of hired help for economy's sake in part; but mainly to avoid the annoyance and vexation of white servants. The supply in this department consists chiefly of German and Irish girls, j who are ignorant, impudent, and lazy, i and who taking advantage of the dis- proportion between supply and demand, exa.'t high wages for little work, and leave : without notice oil the most frivolous pre ' tenees. I was d. 'lighted with the spirit of self denial, the humility and yet the personal io J'-p en Jenee of the ministry in this -'far west ;" and I felt that with such in struments, there was ground for hope and encouragement as to the future history of the church on the Pacific. An humble, holy, working ministry will do good any where ; and while education, knowledge, experience are all elements of power and greatly to be desired, yet God very often confounds his foes and surprises his friends by means and eperations. as they are mi philosophical. The wisdom of the world does not know cver3thing, and the faith of the Church is too often a sequence of calculation rather than a simple, uu compounded trust in the tru'.h and faith fulness of God. Weak things ofter. con found the mighty, and things mighty in human estimation often fail to realize our expectations. For the present, we must leave California. I had been sick for a month before Conference, up and down, as 1 now think, just because 1 continued to preach when 1 was not able to do it. Lest an evil report of the health of tne country should get abroad among the preachers and deter some from going, it is proper for me to say that 1 regard California as a very healthy region, and that my own long indisposition was not the result of the climate, but of my own imprudence (I j suppose most would call it;l though 1 should say of my resolution to do the work assigned me, wlntcver suiTeriii"; it might cost me. If in my feeble state I could l ave returned by water, my indispositiou would have ended in a few days, llisin from a sick bed to start; 1 took thesteamer of .San Pedro, the port of Los Angelos, and was on the ocean three days and improved in health all the time. Failing to connect with the stage, we were detain ed three days at Los Angelos. Jlere again I preached and on resuming my journey I relapsed. The stage was crowded with passengers, mail-bags and boxes of pro visions, and our situation was anything but comfortable. I rode eight hundred miles with my limbs at an angle of forty five degrees, and was never able to get m re than one foot to the floor at any time. The chill came on every day about sunset, the nights were very cool, but my fevers saved me from suffering much with cold. Fourteen days and nights did I travel in this condition. Twenty-four hours before reaching Fort Davis we en countered a "norther" and we had wind, sleet and snow. The stage curtains were rent, the front entirely open, and we were in a prairie region where our exposure was j-erfect. The discomforts of that ride wiiluevei be forgotten. My little daughter suffered extremely. Mrs. P. complained for the first time, and in the midst of the storm my chill came on. On that night every body joined me in the shake. about midnight in utter darkness, the sky black as ink and the winds howling like hungry wolves, we reached the fort. The agent of the line, the officers of the army and the driver urged us to stop and wait the next stage, We yielded, know ing that we must stop at the next fort, when we changed to the San Autonia line of stages. It was well we did lie over, for here I had two of the sickest days of my life. We expected to take the next stage, but it wis full, and the next, and so we were detaiued eight days. At this point I must record my sense of obligation to the officers at Fort Davis, Col. Seawell and Lieutenant Van Horn, the sutler Mr. Young, and others. Most of the re giment stationed here, both officers and men, were absent holding a court martial. But those named above were as kind and attentive as though we had been the friends of other years. Furnished with a house and servant, fed and nursed with watchful tenderness, every want anticipated and, as far as possible supplied, we felt thankful to God and proud of our country. These gentlemen, bred to arms and .iving beyond the pale of civilization, yet retain and cherish the amenities of social life, and dispense a noble hospitality even to the passing stranger. An army of such men is one of the safeguards of the Ecpublic and deserves the admiration and confidence of the people, whose interests they defend. They never could be made the agents of usurpation, the servile tools of power, or in any way compromise the rights and glory of our common country. I left Fort Davis in wretched plight for travelling, but reached Camp Stockton eighty miles distant, and here again I was very sick for a day and night. And again I was indebted to the army for quarters I and much " kindness. ' Capt." Carpenter and Lieutenant Jones were friends in the hour of need, and made my detention as pleasant as my sickness would allow. owe them many thanks, and pray heaven's richest blessings upon them. :t this point my only chance tn get on was to hire an extra. This 31 r. Ilolliday the agent kindly furnished. By this time, I was so feeble and exhausted, that to sit up was a task Slid yet a travel of four days and nights must De endured ere I could rest even for an hour. Hiding my suf fering as much as possible, I proceeded and often felt that I could go n) father; yet on we went, day and night, lo add to the evils of the trip, the Camanclu's were about, plundering and killing, many people at the several stations bid us fare W'ell forever, never expecting to see us again. Tales of blood and murder were rife all along, as we approached the set tlemcnts. But we saw uo Indians, and by a merciful providence were delivered from all dangers. The only mishap, save an upset in which nobody was hurt, was ihit one night about one hundred and twenty miles from San Antonio in changing sta ges and transferring baggage, 31 rs. P.'s trunk was left. 3Iy lady readers can estimate the seriousness of the calamity. n e had gone sixty miles before it was missed, and how to recover it was a question hard to answer. The agent, who was along, took the return stage and promised to forward it if it could be found- So on reaching San Antonio. 1 sent 3Irs. 1'. and the little girl to Gen. Pitts', to rest a few days and wait the arrival of the trunk, while I diverged for the Bio Grande Con ference at Goliad. I left, at midnight, in another Norther, being the third I had faced on the trip. The driver, to protect himself got down into the boot under his seat and, trusting to the mules to keep the road, went to sleep. By and by. finding the motion of the stage very peculiar and hearing the wheels crashing along among the bushes. I called out to know what was the matter, there were three of us all buttoned up inside, and by a united of fort we at last waked up our driver, and j luunu ourselves uobooy knew where : wo were lost. The team had left the road, but whether thev had gone tcthe right or left, backwards or forwards, nobody could tell. We were in "a fix," and no mistake After all. I was to be disappointed in reach ing the Conference. I had periled life, endured more than I shall ever tell, to get there before adjournment and now to be to utterly defeated by a sleepy-headed eoacliinan it was too had. -My patience fairly gave out. . That night was one to be marked. We were freezing and could not stand still. So we journeyed North, south. East anil West, around and across and about. Just before day we readied a creek, with steep, sandy, broken banks, we must cross. 3Iy fellow passengers got out to walk. Too sick to stand, much less to climb, I sat still, but soon found that to turn over was inevitable. I got out and left the driver to his doom. Presently here lie came sailing in the air and the mules and the stage after him, over and over, such a pile ! This was the con summation of trouble. We helped to set up the stage and left the driver to get the mnlcs out of the creek as best he could, while we returned a little way to a house we had seen, in search of fire. Finally all was made ready and we reached San An tonio the following night. I was present at one session of the Conference a poor compensation for my trouble ; but I had done my duty according to my abiliy, my body was sick, but my conscience was well. Sunshine., Sept. S'. ('. Advocate. A MOTHERS";- CONCERT OF PRATER. The Jhinbers of the 2?cic-York and Brooklyn Maternal Associations, to Christian Mothers af every name throughout our Country. Burdened with a sense of our respon sibilities in reference to the spirtiual wel fare of our children painfully conscious of our want of faithfulness, and oppressed with anxiety, lest, amid the prevailing worldliness and the temptations with wdiich they are surrounded, our loved ones should be left without the precious hopes of the Gospel we long for a closerbond of sym pathy with those of like trials and cares. Especially do we long to have their fervent prayers mingle with ours at the morcy-scat, that the gracious Redeemer would claim our children as his own, and give us wisdom and grace to guide them in the way in which they should go. Impelled by these feelings, and yielding to earnest and repeated requests from many others, we invite all mothers in our common Zion to meet together at such places as niny be convenient to themselves, at three o c:oek. on the first citnezdaii of Ue'oocr next, and join with us in a Union meeting or Concert of Prayer in behalf of ourselves and our children. The presence and power of the Holy Spirit is our only hope, and while we believe God lias promised to bless the children of his servants, we are reminded that parental prayer and faith fulness is a principal means through which the fulfillment is to be realized. We can not suppress a fear lest, by our neglect or indifference, we ourselves should block up the avenue by which the blessings ot the Gospel are appointed to flow to the hearts ot those committed to us. Whether through our unfaithfvlness or otherwise. the thought that any of our dear children should be left to rjerish is unutterably painful. Hence, we desire to share your supplications. We believa God has en couraged united prayer ; and the history of the past furnishes many instances in which tie earnest entreaties ot associated mothers have been answered in mercy. Let us unitedly surround the throne of grace, and see if He will not pour us out a blessing. We can not but feel that your hearts will respond to ours in this desire, and we shall look forward with solemn and sacred interest to the hour when, through the intercession of our risen Re deemer, the prayer of faith from believing mothers, in all parts our of land, shall ascend to the Father of mercies. - Furthermore, having ourselves experi enced the great benefit of associating to gether for mutual counsel, encouragment, and quickening, we earnestly recommend that mothers, as they are assembled on the day referred to, shall take into consideration the forming of themselves intoassociations where none exists, or seek a reviving in terest where a maternal association already exists ; and that by meeting on the first 'Valuesdaii of each succeedina month, we Vt3 have a recurrence of this Concert of Jijvr, mingled with conversation for mutual aid and sympathy. We invite ydu at least to join with us in a meeting of prayer, each month, in the aiternoon ot the day named. We do not undervalue other means of grace, but we should be blinded to our most solemn duties and our highest privileges, did we not recognize that dispensation of our Heavenly Father by which the tender minds of our children are placed in our hands to be trained for the service of the Redeemer, and ly which their salvation is made to depend much upon the manner in which we discharge our high trust. Who of us has not yearned for mutual counsel and divine guidance, that we might be able to give to the cause of our Saviour and to the highest good of our children a mother's influence wisely di rected and sanctified by the Spiritof God ? We do not. think any uniformity oi organization is essential. The form may be modified as circumstances may suggest. GOOD NEWS FRCil ITALT. If our readers hrve a good map of N jrthern Italy, and will take the trouble to look up the places mentioned in the following article, they will have a more definite and distinct view of religious niovi'inent in that country. With the exception of the Papal States, all Italy now presents a field more or less open for the work of the evangelist. It may be useful to point out wdi it provision has been already made foj preaching the gosjiel to the natives. The Yald 'Aosta, leading up to the southern base of 3Iont Blanc, is occupied by the Waldensian church. She has a devoted and able missionary 31. Cuke stationed at Cour mayour, who has also kept up service for a year past in the city of Aosta. In this hitter station the work has attained a magnitude which renders it necessary for 31. Cl'RE to transfer his residehce thither, and another Waldensian minister will supply his place at Courmayeur. There is a spirit of inquiry awakehed in many other villagesof that valley' the population of which amounts in all to 100,0u0 souls. T r. priests are excited to a high de of anger. They made an auto de fc lately of a copy of a controversial work written by M. Cure, and by their bravos they all but murdered a young colporteur in the suburbs of Aosta. In the city of 3Iilan tliere is no Italian minister resident. There is a Plymouthian evangelist named Bassele, and a converted priest: named Ravioli:, who is employed by the society of Elberfeld as a colporteur evangelist, and as schoolmaster by a society in Berne. At Bergamo there is a Swiss Protestant church, of which Signor KlTT is the pastor, and as the majority of his con grgation are from the canton of the Gri soni (in Switzerland).he preaches al ternately in German and Italian. Some from among the upper ranks of tlie Lom bards come to hear him, but the lower orders are too ignorant and indifferent. In Turin there are 31. 3ItLLE, of the Waldensian church, and Dr. De Sanctis. At Voghera the Waldenses have a school master evangelist; but pressing calls from other quarters have led them to withdarw their ministers from Allessandria and Casale. At Alessandria there is a Plymou thian evangelist, with, a tolerable congre gation. At Genoa there is 31. Gat, Wal densian minister, and Signor Mazzarel LA. The letter is said to have received an appointment from goverument, which will withdraw him from Genoa. At pres ent he is absent, having gone to visit his parents and relatives in Naples after a long banishment. At Bologna there is settled an Italian minister, Signor Crese, ordained lately at the Oratoire of Geneva, and supported by that admirable Christian man and merchant prince, 3Ir. John Henderson, of Park. He has only been a few months in his present station (hith erto unworked), and has found it up hill work at first, but he is beginning to gain an audience. There are three meetings of native converts in Florence, two presided over by English ladies virtually, though 3Iessrs. Faubroni and Gaultif.re are the evangelists ; the third has as its evan gelist Signor Borioni, master in a mis sion school, supported from Scotland. There is also a Waldensian congregation, of which 31. Concourde is pastor ; and there are congregations both at Pisa and Leghorn,' under the superintendence of 31. Ribet, another Waldensian. From thence we must make a leap to 3Iessina, where Gavazzi was a month ago (on his way to Naples and Rome), dressed in the uniform of a volunteer, and where he has delivered occasionally an open-air, phil ippic against the pope. Letters from 3Iessina have been sent to Italy, urging the appointment of a missionary to 3Iessina who would visit and preach to the wound ed and sick in hospitals,whoamount to more than 1,500 persons. The staff of laborers in Tuscany will be still further increased at the end of this month, by the arrival of two Waldensian brofessors of theology and eight students. The latter are so poor that they have small scholarships allotted for their support at La Tour. These are quite insufficient to support them in Florence. They would each re quire an addition of 200 frances, or 40. Perhaps some of our readers would like to help these young men, poor and worthy, in their efforts to receive an education, in order that they may preach the gospel in Italy. Any sums which they may think proper to send to the Rev. Dr. Campbell, 150 Chambers street, will be faithfully transmitted to the Rev. Dr. Revel, at Florence, who is the president of the the. ological school in which these young men arc prosecuting their studies. iV". Y. , World. FLAGELLATION OF PENITENTS. lne editor oi tne Uhurcu Journal o. New York City, writing from Home, thus describes this strange and revolting cer emony, as witnessed by himself last 3Iarch Last evening accompanied by a brother clergyman, 1 went to the Jesus Church in tne v la Larvitia, to he ppscnt at an ex traordinary service which an earnest but misguided spirit in the llonian Church has devised a service of self-scourgiu A I lttle before seven o' clock we entered a large church dimly lighted. The lights were four candles about the and five others surrounding a large only altar letter I (iutial for Maria,) which stood high upon the wall, back of the altar. We seated ourselves on a bench ranged alon the wall. The floor, covered with a carpet, was left entirely open and free from obstruction. Every here and there on this open space, and along the row of chairs outside the wall bench, or hid in tne corners, were to be seen in the dun light, figures kneeling in silent devotion. Now and then one would prostrate himself with his face to the floor. As far as I could judge some seventy or eighty had entered, and were scattered about in dif ferent directions, when the doors were closed and bolted. The first portion of the service consisted of prayers and litanies ve ry hurriedly chanted by a minister at the altar ; to these a loud musical response, or an occasional 'Amen,' was returned by the kneeling penitents. These prayers ended, and a sweet tenor voice sang a solo, apparently some recital, perhaps the story of our Lord's suffering. As he closed, the lights above and below were extinguished, and the church was left in utter darkness. One almost imperceptible ray of light I did see, however, though an opening in the curtain of an upper window, or perhaps through the curtain itself. I saw the f-iiiit glimmering of a star in the heavens above. I could not but accept it as an augury that through men seek to walk in darkness, God will not leave them to themselves, but still sends his light in upon them as in the days of those wdio saw the star in the East. At this point a voice was heard: of course no one could be seen. A priest " began ah exhortation founded upon on. Lord's readiness and desire to suffer fin our sake. He spoke with slow and distinct ' articulation, and with the rich Roman ca- ' donee. Alluding to the approaching commemoration of our Lord's deat h, h. ' quoted his word, 'With desire have i desired to eat the Passover with you ' before I suffer, and enlarged upon the steadfast eagerness of Christ to fulfill his ' labor of suffering, of expiation. He be came more and more impassioned, and ', spoke more rapidly and vehemently as he , dwelt upon the point, and upon the con-' trast which our own ingratitude, coldness, ! and unwillingness to suffer, presented to Christ's self-devotion. As he warmed ; with this subject, I could hear the self- : inflicted scourges falling upon the backs of the penitents not indeed with their ; full lorce, lor it was hoc the proper time as yet as if, like horses eager for the race, they were impatient to manifest , their willingness to suffer in the likeness of Christ. The orator closed by asking, -'Shall we not at least show our love and willingness to deny ourselves by subduing our rebel flesh?' With these words' or rather with the words ,31isereremci,' shout ed by the penitents, the flagellations began in earnest. On every side, the knotted scourges fell. (I have seen the scourges that are used ; they are not large, but sufficient to inflict severe pain when ap plied for any length of time, and there can be no doubt that they were both for-, cibly and continuously used.) The rapid : succession of reverberating blows sounded ' like a fierce head of hail. I held my breath and bowed my head from a ner vous and uncontrollable sympathy with ( actual suffering. It seemed to me as if the shower of blows would never end. Of course the time seemed longer than it was in fact; but it was long enough to make me wonder not only at the physical endurance, but also at the muscular force, required for such incessant, rapid and long continued blows. The penitents, j however, were able, i. e., had the breath, j all through the scourging, to chant with a firm, loud voice, some words of con- j trition, I think most probably the 51st Psalm, with the words of which, as I have said, the scourging commenced. After a lapse of some five minutes, the bell rang as a signal to dUcontinmj at least so I understood it the flagellations. It rang a second and third time before all had finished. Indeed, after the third ringing a few strockes were heard ; some one in the body of the church cried out "hist," and at last the sad sounds ceased. Then that sweet tenor voice took up his song again ; (his song was followed by a chant with responses, and then the doors were unbolted and the service was con cluded. This exercise takes place three times during Holy Week, as often during the week preceding, and I believe at , other times- I am told also that a sim- j ilar service is held at some other churches, j The penitents are said to undertake ! this flagellation of themselves voluntarily, j as an expression of sorrow for sin, and to ! associate themselves with Christ iu fell- ! owship of his sufferings. Perhaps also the idea of acquiring merit thereby, or of expiating their own sins, or of averting God's wrath and temporal punishment. enters into the -ninds ot some. Probabiv also in certain cases, this is a discipline enjoined by the confessors as a penance." NO JIAN CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS. "When you see a ' dog following two men," says Rev. Ralph Erskine, in one of his sermons, "you know not to which of them he belongs while they walk together; but let them come to a parting road, and one go one way, and the other another way, then you will know 'which is the dog's master. So, at times, will you and .' the world go hand iu hand. While a man may have the world and a religious profession, too, we can not tell which is the man's master, God or the world; but stay till the man conies to a parting road; God calls him this way, and the world calls him that way. Well, if God be his master, he follows religion, and lets the world go; but if the world be his master, then he follows the world and the lusts thereof, and lets God, and conscience, and religion go." A DAY OF HEAVEN UPON EARTH. O, Sabbath! needed for a world of innocence without thee what would bo a world of sin! There would be no pause for consideration, no check to passion, no remission of toil, no balm for care. He who had withheld thee would have for saken the earth. Without thee ho would never have given us the Bible, the Gospel, the fepmt. e salute thee as thou couiest to us in the name of the Lord, radiant in the sunshine of that dawn which broke over a nation's achieved work marching downward in the tract of time, a pillar ot refreshing cloud and guiding name, in terweaving with all thy light new beams of discovery and. promise, until thou Bland est forth more fair than when reflected in the dews and imbibed by the flowers of Eden more awful than when the trumpet rang ot thee m hinai. Ihe Christian Sabbath! like its Lord; it but rises in Christianity, and henceforth records the rising day. And never since the tomb of Jesus was burst open by him who revived and rose, has this day awakened but as the light cf seven day, and with healing in its wings. iSever has it unfolded with out some witness and welcome, some song and salutation. It has been from the first until now the sublime custom of the Church of God. Still the out goings of its morning and evening rejoice. It is a day of heaven on earth. Life's sweetest calm,- povery's birthright, labor's only rest. Nothing has such a hoard of antiquity in it. Nothing contains in it such a history. Nothing draws along with it such a glory. Nurse of virtue! Seal of truth! The household's richest patrimony, the nation's noblest safeguard! The pledge of peace, the fountain of intelligence, the etreugth of the law! The oracle of instruction, the ark of mercy! The harbinger of our 'sours sanctified perfection! The glory of re ligion, the watch-tower of immortality! The ladder net upon earth, and the top of it reacheth to heaven, with the angels of God ascending and descendin upon it Hamilton. ; THE LIFE GL'AGE. They err who measure lifo by years, With fuNe or thoughtless tongue; Some hearts grow old before their time; Others are always young. 'Tia not tho number of the Hues Ou life's fa.st filling pae ; 'Tis'not the pulse's aiblcil throbs AVhich eoustitute their ago. Some souls aro serfs among tho froo, While others nobly tbeire; They stand just where their fathers stood; Dead even while they live! Others, all spirit, heart, and sense Theirs the mysterious power To live in thrills of joy or woe, A twelvemonth in an hour I Seize, then, the minutes as they pass The woof of life is thought! Warm np tho colors, let them glow With fire or fancy fraught. Live to somo purpose make thy lifo A gift of use to thee! A joy. a good, a gidden hope, A heavenly argosy ! ITALY BY WILLIAM CI I.I.EN BRYANT. Voices from the mountains speak; Appeui.ies to AI reply ; Yale to valo and peak to peak Toss an old remembered cry, Italy Shall be free ; Such the mighty shout that fills All the passes ,f her hills. All thi'old Italian lakes Quiver at that quickening word ; Cuiiiii with a thrill awakes; Garda to ht-r'depths is stirred; 31 id the steeps Where he sleeps, Dreaming of the elder years, Startled Thrasymenus hears. Sweeping Arno, swelling Po, Murmur freedom to the'r meads. Tiber swift and Liris slow Send strange whispers from their reeds, Italy Shall be free, Sing the glittering brooks that slida Toward the sea from Etna's side. Long ago was Gracchus' slain ; Lrutus perished I0113 ago; Yet the living roots remain Whence the shoots of greatness grow, Yet again, (iod-liko men, Sprung from that heroic stem, Call tho land to rise with them. They who haunt tho swarming street, They who chase tho mountain boar. Or, where cliff and billow meet, Prune the vine or pull the oar, With a stroke Break yonr yoke; Slaves hut yesterve were they FreemenSrith tho dawing day. Looking in his children's eyes, While his own with gladness flash, "Ne'er shall these," the father cries, "Cringe, like hounds, beneath the lash These shall ne'er Brook to wear Chains that, thick with sordid rust. Weigh the spirit to the dust." Monarcbs, ye whose armies stand Harnessed for tho battle-field ! Pause, and from the lifted hand Drop the holts of war ye wield. Stand aloof While the proof Of the people's might is given ; Leave their kings to them and heaven. Stand aloof and see the oppressed Chase tho oppressor, pale with fear As the fresh winds oflhe west Blow the misty valleys dear. Stand and see Italy Cast the gyves she wears no mora To the gull's that steep her shore. SAVED HY A DKl"M. The drummer-boy of the 31ilwaukee Light-G uard was on board the Lady Elgin when she went down, and was saved by means of his drum. He had presence of mind sufficient towhittle a plug and close the air-vent, then lashing the drum to his shoulders, he trusted himself to the waves. The drum supported him, and also four others who seized hold of it; but these, one after another, dropped off. The drum carried the boy nearly ashore, when, by some means, one head was burst in, and it filled with water, The boy abandoned it, and seizing a fragment of the wreck, succeeded in reaching the shore. The drum afterwards came ashore and was ret urned to the boy whose life it had saved. PROTESTANTISM IN FRAME. The corrspondent of the A' im f th Churchet, ppeaking of the condition and prospects of Protestantism in France, nay : "It is very interestingto notice how much Protestantism is now brought forward iu the public press. Men are diving int tho dark stream ofhFstory, and bringing in:iuy things to light " Wedges of gold, frrrat anchors, h-np of pe.irl, In .-stiinahle stones, invalned jewel,. Some lay in dead men's skulls; and in those hoUs Waere eyes did one inhabit thervrrcpl. As 'twere in acorn of ycs, redacting gimw." "3Iany of these reflecting gems aro being raised, and shine resplendent in the sun, howsoever those who buried them never expecteit ! And wofully do they reflect ou those dead men, whose reputation ihi'ic by withers and perishes. Some of our re. viewers candidly acknowledge that l!i y knew nothing until lately of the pei men tions under Loufe XI V. "'We were Cutely reading, sav-t Oprnione Xatioiuile, "in the last VoIiiiu.m,, 3Iiehelet, the terrific history, too lilt',! known, of the Revocation of the Edict f Nartes, and of thedragonnades. We frank, ly confess our ignorance ; we had not an U of anything like it; and yet we had rc.i I. like every one else, iu general history, of the edict of tolerance being revoked, of Protestants being watched, ill-tit ;;.' !, persecuted, obliged to turn, or lorinigr .. But, expressed, iu moderate and gem 1 :I terms, such facts had brought to our in 1. I nothing but a vague idea, very far J'r.'i.i representing in any degree the horriMo truth.' Then follow some of the liarrowm,; details well known by all English readers, but brought out in strong relief by the powerful and feeling touch of Mici:c!i t. On the other hand, tha Ultramontane or gans are furious that Michelel should h.ivo 'once moro insulted the religion ol I- rati' e. and defiled her glories !' They may wi il cry out, for it ill-behoves those who uphold the system under which the best un-ii of the time gave their approbation not on'y to persecution, but to wholesale, harcfi'vd purchase of apostasy, falsly to accuse us!; 1. day of doing what they approved iu t!io grand monarch. 'Ihe pages of Michclct in thin ncy work will do much in hastening I In- di.w ti. -fall of Ultraniontanisui. AH Fram e; Will read t'iciii; hut how many will cart y on n o thoughts thus aroused until they find inilli and rest for their floating, fluttering n.i! ', 11 the Sosind of a God oflove? 'J hoj.i'.ii- lcc, and the Protestant History :;.K-ii-lv, are gradually expanding short iiolicc. of tho Church of Christ, here and tliere into volumes of the greatest inU ri-st. Thin the history of tlie Church in Poictoii loi just been completed by a sen. ml v 1 1 1 1 1 . 1 . ; and this year has been reprintc 1 tho Persecution of the Church of .Met, froi.i the only known copy, found at IV- -el. 3Iay these treasures ol the past. n-M-ii.-I by modern research from their I mg 1 ceahnent, be a powerful agent in the h:i;i 'n of Cod to arouse establish and stri n :lh n 1.1. "We greatly need it. The Iord in thii.- nm our ranks:thc last.ninoiigmaov'-'iii.-1 away lastely to their holy rest, wat Aia.l cmoisclle de Chabaud La tour. v.hoi:i t name was ever to call a grateful (n.ilo !' warm feeling from all. 'Ihe translator of Romanic, and Adams' Private TIioul-IiN, of -I. Newton's Life and Works, of I .ad Hake's Commentary, etc. ; the spriglui and solid teacher of TaitboutSuiid.'iy-clai for twenty five yeaiu;thc intellectual com pan ion; the firm, true, s-lf sacrilicin friend; the wise counsellor ; thetru. -evangelist, whose perfect tact never went bi' yond her sphere such was the rharackr whom all joined to mourn. M. (.'uiot, and Pastors Grand Pierre, Ed.de IVesscn-f, Cazelis, after the venerable president of the Reformed consistory, Pastor Jui!hr.-i gave utterance to the sorrow of tho churches around her grave." LINES ON A SKELETON. This poem appeared iu the London Morol.i Chronic le just forty years ago. A nm.r I of fit" y guineas failed to bring on its ulhoisji , n..f is it yet known : Behold this ruin ! 'Twas a skull, Ouce of ethereal spirit full. This narrow cell was Life's relrest. This spacs was Thought's mysterious sent. What beauteous visions filled Ibis f"'. What dreams of pleasure, lung forp't. Nor Hope, nor Lore, nor Joy, nor l'cur. Hare left one trace of record here. Beneath this mouldering canopy Once shone the bright and busy eye ; But, start not at the dismal void If social Love that eye employed ; If with no lawless fire it gleamed, But through the dews of kindness breni'"!. That eye shall be forever bright When stars and suns are sunk in Xi1.l. Within this bollow cavern bung The ready, swift, and tuneful tongue. If Falsehood's boney it disdained, And where it could not praise, was linim ! ; If bold in virtue's cause it spoke, Yet gentle Concord never broke! This silent Tongue shall plead for tho-n When Time unvails Eternity. Say, did these fingers delve the mine ? Or with its envied rubies shine F To bew the rock, or wear the gem. Can little now avail to tbem. But if the page of Truth they sought, Or comfort lo the moarntr brought, These bands a richer meed shall claim Thau all that wait on Wealth or Fame. Avails it, whether bare or shod. These feet the paths of Duty trod T If from the bowers of Fase they fled. To seek Alflicton's humble shed ; If tirandcur's guilty bribe they spurned, And home to Virtue's eot returned. These feet with angels' wings shall vie, And tread the palace of the sky. Tr HOW TO GET TOIR WORK DONE. 'If you want your busness done." ini the proverb, "go and do it; if you don't want it done, send some one else." An indolent country gentleman Lad a freehold estate, producing about 500 a year, be coming involved iu debt, he aoM Lalf tl e estate, and let the remainder to an in dustrious farmer for twenty years. About the end of the term the farmer called to nay his rent, and asked the owner whether he would eell the farm. "Will 1OU bllV it ?' asked the owner, surprised. "Yes, if we can agree about the price." That is exceedingly trance." observed tl, gentleman ; "pray tell me how it happens that while I could not live upon twice as much land for which I paid no rent, you are regularly ravine me two hundred u. year for your farm, and are able in a few years to purchase it ?" "The reasou it plain, was the reply ; "you sat still an. I said go, I got up and said come ; you laid in bed and enjoyed your estate. 1 rwe iu V.- . ! 1 ' 1 uivruiDg auu mumeu my ousiacb'. is 1 r! '.
North Carolina Christian Advocate (Greensboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 23, 1860, edition 1
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