VOL. IX.
mjMiL'&mm
^ *:r •*.
•mw$n
mSmi i
r, SEPTEMBER 11, 1885,
NUMBER 34
MY TRIP TO VIRGINIA.
A POP CALL AT THE STAB OFFICE—?
HOW ZION WESLEY COLLEGE CAN
BE BUILT WITHIN ONE YEAR AND
HOW THE DODGE BEQUEST HAT BE
OBTAINED BEFORE JANUARY.
Mr. Editor :
Business having called me to Rich
mond a few days ago, I took advan
tage of the trip and rode down to
Petersburg Va, I was not there long
ere I found my way up street where
the A M E Zion church (recently
completed) adorn that street and giy
es beauty to that part of the city. There
are a few Other churches in the city
which makes a more handsome ex
ternal show, but none have a . more
substantial and beautiful appearance
fronting one of the principal streets
than Oak st A M E Zion church
Harrison st Baptist church Rev C W.
B Gordon pastor is one of the% finest
both externally and internally in the
city.
Having gazed to my satisfaction up
on these grandstructuree I soon won
dered my way onward toward 108
Shore st. Having arrived at the a
bove No. I walked up in a spacious
piazza overlooking a beautifully
* shaded st, rapped at the door. I was
met by a strange face, but it turned
out to be the accomplished Mies P.
Delia Farley the daughter of the Rev
J. McH. Farley Editor and business
!' ^ manager of the Star. Having been i
assigned to aSe&t in the parlor! sat
quiet but not long ere the able and |
hearty looking Editor gave me a moat
friendly grasp which drew me from
my seat to my feet. He having a few
pounds more flesh than I concludes that
the piazza would be a more congenial
place owing to^ the weather I con
cluded likewise and soon we were seat
ed where the pleasant breeze hailing
from the famous > Appomattox kissed
our cheeks and made us feel cheery
and glad. We talked of matters in
general, mostly eonnectionaJ, chief a
mong which was the Star, its removal
. - to Salisbury and the College. ^
To my surprise the subscription is
far less than the number of our minis
,' . ters and preachers, notwithstanding
the Star is better equipped material
ly now than ever since its existence
I wonder at this to the Editor, hut
soon learned that the main cause was
the same as that which is crippling so
many ot our connectional institutions
, ■ the want ofiinity of action, unity of pur
, pose and unity of interest from the high
est down to the lowest office and memb
erinthe church. Until every minister
make himself a cash subscriber and an
active agent in his community the con
nectional paper must drag along and
ekeout a pitiful existence. There ought
not to be less than 2000 subscribers
- and behold there is less than half that
number, yet we proudly boast of our
three hundred thousands followers. “O
nsistency thou art a jewel.”
About this time Mr Smith the com
positor and foreman in the office came
in and we had a pteasant handshak
ing and joined in the conversation giv
ing us the benefit of his cool mid dear
ideas on the questions talked of. But
stop! I hear a bell ringing, Father «
making, the Dodge donation are talk
ed. Friend Smith suggests a plan
'which in part had been in iny own
mind whereby the buildings could
reach an early completion and the
Dodge donation be obtained very soon
Most of the conferences ehd a number
of private individuals have subscribed,
and yet the amount of subscriptions
is inadequate to secure the stipulated
donation. The time has expired long
since and has been re-extended, and
yet the President finds his subscrip
tions far too short.' What can be
done? we have not only hundreds but
thousands of churches and church of
ficials and members who have never
subscribed a penny. Why do not the
board of Bishops or the several annu
al conferences introduce a plan by
winch subticriptions may be opened in
every church and Sunday Bchool, and
get as much cash as possible and re
tain the list of subscribers and push
the good begun work on and obtain
the Dodge donation. ' •
it is a shame in us that President
Price has been compell ed for the sec
ond or third time to ask for an exten
tion of the time. Not only has he
done that but has asked if it .were pos
sible to obtain the donation without;
coming up to the orijopnal compact.:
So interested are the Dodge family in
our connections^ and race wellfare
that they gave $15,00 and still assure
the president of a possible chance for
the original $5,000. How can we he
so indifferent as to let these golden
land thousands of opportunities pass
by. How can we go on if we neglect
so great an offer. Let there be one
aim, one purpose, united effort and
combined interest manifested from
Maine to Georgia, from the Atlantic
to the Pacific. Wherever Zion’s ban
ner waves let her College and her pa*
per have ahelping hand extended into
them. When this is done we can
stand our ground and do our part
whether we unite or whether we standi
as we are.
I don’t see how a minister can get
along without his connectional paper.
I don’t wonder that some of the congre
gations never know anything*about our
institutions and enterprises when their
spiritual advisers are destitute of
that knowledge or the medium through
which it could he obtained. The
equipage of the office is all that is
needed to make it a tuccessful and a
ble journal, the compositor is one of
the best in the country. To this aty
will agree wheiythey notice the marks
of improvement which the paper has
under gone since he has been in the
office The press is a first class one
capacitated to publish a much larger
sheet. The fall is here the money
season is with us* and now, let us 1 e
SjHUia doing ,
ot our cdnnectional Instit
a subscription list
.
will rally to
and do not
wise equally as
C*w*nt
milt up
, Yours as
(few 1
GW(3upn.
ORGANIC UNION.
: :• / r..' -i-^. '' -1
Mr. Editor :
■ As the very momentous question, of
organic union between the A M
and the A M E ohurdies » now
the attention of some cA
thinkers in and out of
pppm great and grand organize
and decided action has been taken hjjj
the administrative and legislative pow
ers ofeaeb, ldoJdng towards$he efiect
ing the consolidations^ the aforesaid
august christkn bodies, I therefore,
desire to express some thoughts on
this Very important matter. To com
mence, I will say that, foryears, I
have been greatly in favor of ihe oon
solidation of those two, in faot of all
other Methodic bodies, irreepective of
race or color, if itoould be done amir
cably and in such a way as Would
redound to the glory of God and the
furtherance of his glorious causSt^O%
erwise, my opinion is, they had better
remain apart as they now are. In
this opinion l am not alone, but ha*A
I doubt not, with me some of the wiS
est and best men in ont own and
connections. But if the A M E
and the AM E can be united cm
good and. Solid bans without too
concession on either aide, it would,
one of, the grandest events that
ever happened to our race in
country in oiu: age.
tion of souls.
J5ut ail tins wiiicerwumy
depend 01
opinion of some, that the coned
church might proceed a way to,
cause one or two other divisions to
grow out of it, in whieh case the ]a^
error would be worse than the first.
I have heard men of intelligence and
influence express the opinion, that
when these two churches *
that, all the nnTeamftd men.
with limited education, would, np
moved from the itinerancy as soon as
their places can be filled with men with
finished education and also the old
preachers, before they are womout or
broken down, wjll be removed, ip or
and classical men without a strict Jdi
gard to their piety or a sufficient proof
of their having been called of God.or
sent to the work of the christion minis
try. « Now if tins should occur, it no
doubt, would create; great dissention,
and eventually; terminate |n €■ divi*
ion in which the re^es, and fiends
of tbooe agneved will undoubtedljr
take pa#, as w»U a large number,#?
others who are themselves^
lieve more in vs
that-God has called andnent ;men to
Though there ®*y <
when ourraee ML:ta»
ministry, e^eicwll^, irh^
the fruitsaad ibpt wfflffc
wife thew wor^> $ut fl
and willing to dwevd ^Jl
m
of the learned and spiritual
people would crowd, in which case the
.lastend might be wore© than the first.
In my opinion the leading ckarai*
4ers in thkprandmovemeiitof organln
n should use, every precaution to
ent such a direful calamity ftom
ever taking place, should this contem
plated union be effected. Before it is
aecompKshed, much needsto be done
tn remove all the obstacles out of the
tray. For if this intended union in
Worth a conaiderabk amount of sacri
fices on both sides^ the members of
each body will want some' assurance
theywilj not ’ be banned by a
lidation either spiritually or fin
ancially. The latter k an all-im
portant item, in this connection, in
these times of so much financial em
it. The people in the Smith, ]
especially, will hardly be willing at
tins time to take on themselves any
heavier obligation than they now have
At least I think thk the case with our
‘mm people. But as we suppose tjjie
object on both tides is more for a spir
itual than a financial success, if there
is ground to believe the ferm by our
uniting can be accomplished* Though
the latter may not, it ia,reasonable to
believe neither will back down. Bui
'if the desire te unite is not up to
point there is reason to fear that
of- the great Bedeemer's
nent of our
and the advancement
vis not the ohief object -m view
- nn.VjJ 1 ‘ 4.f.
Dot tuftKIOrCj
God.
How far our sister churchls willing
to go to effect an organic union will
be better tnown when it comes to the
test. In connection with this there
is one difference between ours and the
A M E church; namely; Their gen
eral tax is one dollar annually per
member, while ours is only fifty cents.
The two great questions are, first; will
their legislative and administrative
powers % the sake of consolidation
be willing to reduce their tax to a
half dollar per member? Secondly, if
they will not, will our people be wil
fifty cents to one dollar ? There is
reason to believe that many of our
people wiH not In that event what
done? There would doubtless,
objection on the part of their
to fall from one dollar to fifty
cents. The next questionwould be,if
that amount Could be collected from
.each member of the consolidated body
wiUitmeet the running expenses of
the whole., In answer to this inquiry,
we would reply, if the consolidated
churehshould comprise a member
ship of€00,000 which the two bodies
jected, would emount to #300,000 an
nually,, and if there should be 18
bkhope with * salary of #2000 each,
this would be only #30,000 which
wouH leave #2#&0Qfc Thin amount,
ene would think, ought to cover all
the running expenses: and something
iff the whole united body.
rewon.to believe M pur
r o«ots general tax* at least suoh
Vatfe, thpa^ att are^hn
istence say, come with us and we will
make your burden fighter, as a cer
tain presiding elder once known in the
Charlotte N, C., presiding elder dis
trict assayed to do ; and though not
y#y ,8uccessfi|il, yet from that, and
other sources it.»/ possible for some
thing to arise that might give* the es-'
tablished church much trouble if an
attempt is made at this time to in
crease the amount of their taxation.
This state of things exist no doubt, in
the A M E church as in ours. This
being a fact,, the members of that
church in general, especially in the
South, will have no objection to hav
ing their taxation reduced and would
rather rejoice thereat, and if the run
ning expenses of the consolidated
body can be met by such reduction,
there would be no ground for ^com
plaint on any source, and on that all
might harmonize.
Now, it is very evident, to complete
a permanent union on good and solid
basis, the will of the people must bo
consulted and concurred in, and as
has been said their should be thorough
courtship previous to marriage. If
there is not, there might soon be a
suit made for a bill of divorcement,
which would be a worse evil than to
have never married. Every possible
precaution should be used to avoid
itKis*
St ; ^ . Vi,« s. •:... . -
I noticed that tha joint committee
agreed that the third ordination could
ofc be sustained on
of American Methodism, it should he
adopted by the organic union , except
in the case of the present bishopst of
the AMI Zion chtfrcb, -who should
be recognized as equal, during their
life, with the bishops of the A M 3$
church who have received the third
ordination, but that all other persons
who are hereafter promoted to that
position should be ordained according
to the usages of American Methodism.
Now while we maintain that ohr pres
ent bishops being Scripturally ordain
ed, are equal to any others and that
this .cannot be sucCessfidly contradict
ed, yet we think that if we are to be
united with a body who assume the
third ordination as one of their funa
mental principles, our bishops too,
should have the third ordination as a
protection from the assumption, of be
ing inferior to the other bishops w
have had the third ordination. O
own people, I mean those who, at pres
ent compose the A M E Zion church,
would of course always venerate and
treat them with as much respect as
they have ever dope and as they would
any others ; but that piart of the con
solidated tidy who have always been
accustomed to having the third ordi
nation might not treat them with that
respect they did the other bishops,
notwithstanding they would be as
muck, their bishops as the others, and
therefore entitled to the same respect,
honor and regard as they, ahd this
would be unpleasant to us. But I
think our own body should ordain or
at least one of them, as Bishop Asbury
was ordained by ordained tfdenfto
ife&omtiblSr ^
illustrious branches of the church of
God, for I claim to be second to none
in his love for his race and the church
of God in general and the prosperity
of his glorious cause, but I hope what
ever may be done in this august mid
momentous work of organic union,
that it may be done on such firm basis
that it shall stand forever, haying, the
approval of the great Head of the
church.
In conclusion, I would say thatifit
is a great pity that not only all the
different branches of the Methodist
church, but all other Christian denom
inations on earth should not he con
solidated in one grand united body ;
under the lead and command of our
great Commender-in-Chief Jesus who
is the captain of our salvation who
wiU that , we should all be one in Him
To accomplish this is required a pure
ministry and a pure membership. This
can only be done by preachers and
people living up to the requirements
of the gospel, which is, that we should
be perfect evOU as our Father in heav
en & perfect, i This must be possible
or it never would have been command*
ed. But the great mistake many la
bor under, is that we are to make our
selves perfect or attain thereto by
practice , or some effort made on our
put, whereas/ perfection, sanctifies- ;
tion or holiness which.are all one and
ths same thing and is the work of the
holy Ghost who when we have made
the necessary -preparation to receive
him, visits us and imparts his. nature
to us by which means we become par
takers of the Divine nature and die to
the Adamic nature, which is sinful.
This is a special blessing to be sought
and obtained after justification or con*
version as an instantaneous blessing
through perfect faith in the merits of
the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from
all sins and keep us so. O, that more
of our preachers and members had
this experience! The Christian church
would soon then be as terrible^ as an
army with banners. This is a theme
I would lrke to say much on, but I.
don’t wish to intrude on your space and
do not know whether the discussion of
this subject is acceptable to the cot*
iimns of the "Star” or not. But I will
say, if more of our preachers and
members lived up to their privileges
it would be much better than what it
ia both spiritually and financially with
oUrs and all other Christian churches.
Yours in the bonds of the gospel,
L. D. Blackson.
^PREVENTIVE FOR CHOLERA
Professor Mezzeroff who has passed
through two epidemics of cholera gives
the following directions as a means
5 “The best medicine to prevent So
lera is the following* namely: Chlo
rate or potash one ounce; nitrate of
potash, a haKouncepepper, two grams*