"IF A MAN DtE, SHALL HE LIVE
A6AlN7’J
n UnUerAfy Matfatlne, ,* *• - - --
Although, philosophically speak
ing, the mcmt natural, yet in (Ordi
nary contemplation the most myste
rious thing in this woild is death.
It comes so strangely, and some
times apparently so unnecessarily
and cruelly, as to utterly confound
imd astonish us.- - '
What does it mean? The an
swer of physical science is easy
enough to understand; It is this;
The human machine is dither worn
out, or so overheated by fever, or
clogged by congestion, or broken by
external violence, as to .stop work
"ing; and its vital force ceasing, it
- immediately''begins to decay and
is rapidly resolved into.its original
chemical constituents and/ disap
pears. All this is a matter of jdialy.
• observation; So familiar that every
" Child knows itf and yet, alike to the!
Child as to the sage, there is an in
superable and passionate desire to
know what it all means. That it
has a meaning; the universal human
conscience testifies; that this mean
ing reaches far beyond the mere
physical phenomenon,' the naked
savage arid the wisest scholar agree.
■ The Materialist affects to deny
this ulterior meaning, but when
pressed with the multitudinous ar
gument for immortality he is driven
tathe cave over whose gloomy en
trance is"*written Agnosco—“I don’t
know.” They who seek refuge
there are those who demand proof
of all things, and who are, therfore,
without f;uth as to anything. To
them the declaration of Job,, “i
know that my Redeemer liyeth,”
and of Paul, "I know in whom I
have believed;’’ tire mere rhetorical
expressions,Of religions fervor, un
sustanod by any sufficient proof of
i; knowledge of tlie facts alleged, and
arey therefore; valueless as state
ments of truths. .
It is certainly right to disclaim
.Jtnpwledge Which we really do not
possess—to say frankly that we do
ndt know,- when we do not know—
bdt it is.a cardinal maxim', even in
humah government, that “ignor
ance of the law excuseth no man;”
and when, in, addition to ignorance
of the law, a man shuts his eyes to
the most palpable facts, it can hard
ly avail lilift .as an excuse, to say, “I
don’t know.”
Every child knows that death is
f in the jvorld1, and. very early discov
ers that evqry living thing is subject
to death. It is; accepted as a matter
Of coarse that we shall die; and yet,
whenever death strikes near us we
are startled into a realization of its
profound mysteriousness, and the
old, old question is suggested, “If a
man die, shall he live again?” The
answer of the Materialist, already re
' ferred to, isja modest ono, and sounds
better and more polite than the
blunt “No" that used to be given.
Perhaps it means the same thing,
but it appears to be merely non-com
mittal, clothed, as it is, in some
such phraseolgy as this. “Really,
my friend, I couldn’t Say, I
never saw anyone live agaiu af
ter dying, and never knew any per
son who had. T do not say it is im
possible, but I have no knowledge
on the subject; I don’t know."
If the testimony of scripture ns
to the Resurrection of Jesus is
mentioned,*the reply is that it will
not staud the test of critical analy
sis which scholarship has applied to
ft, or that, as Hume said, it was like
tmy ouuer luiiwio—ui
proof by any amount of testimony.
One strange thing about the
"whole matter a, that nien should
consider it with no more interest,
apparently, than any other physical
problem when the truth is that up
on it hang all the hopes of man
kind. If the grave is thes end for
time and eternity, then indeed is
< life a m.ockery; and a conviction of
the tiuVh of that proposition in eve
ry mind would wreck the moral
World and reduce the race to the
lowest condition of savagery. Of
this no sane man can entertain a
doubt.
Another strange thing is, that
those who deraanct proof of contin
ued existence after death, and regard
faith in it without such proof as not
only unscientific, but as mere unrea
soning superstition, should forget
or ignore, the fact that a very large
proportion, if not a vast majority,
of what are . called established
truths of science are nothing more
than pure idealizations, based upon
* improved and improvable phenomena
and therefore necessarily requiririug
faith for their acceptance as truths.
Science can no more exist without
faith than religion can. - The basis
of moat of it is mathematics, and
nothing can be more parely ideal,
or further removed from the opera
tion of the senses than geometry,
algebra, or triginometry. As a dis
tinguished man of science, Mr. G.
' If .Lewis, says, in discussing the
philosophy of Aristotle: “The fun
damental idaas of modern science
are as transcendental as any of the
axioms ihr-ancient philosophy.”
These men of science do hot pre
tend that, even in what are called
the exact sciences, more than ap
proximately accurate results are ob
tained, and they are obliged to ad
mit that many of their postulates
do not rest on ascertained facts, but
are mere creatures of the .^scientific
imagination. They are pure as
sumptions, and these assumptions
have been continually changed as
further knowledge has been ac
quired.
If it be said that, although science
believes nWlfy things that are be
yond the reach of the senses, still
she only deals With such thing? as
are conceivable, whereas religion re
quires belief in matters which are
utterly incomprehensible and incon
ceivable, the reply is that this is not
true, so far as science is concerned.
She believes for instance in the
force of gravity, winch is not oulv
inconceivable, but as the great Far
aday says, involves “inconceivable
inconsistencies.” She asserts that
matter was uncreated; that there
never was a time when it did not
exist, and that it is indestrucible:
and she speaks confidently- of force
always persisting in unchanged
quauty, &c.—and there is not one
of these things that is not absolute
ly inconceivable. They are beliefs
and nothing more. They involve,
too, the very same ideas for faith in
which religion is accused of unreas
onableness, namely, the immaterial,
the infinite and eternal. The mo
ment that science gets beyond what
is known, it ceases to be. science;
and becomes speculation or tfieta
Now, death is a tremendous fact
in the economy of nature, and this
fact of death itself powerfully pre
sents the idea of the duality of flesh
and spirit. It irresistibly forces the
conclusion that the animating
principle—^the something that gave
energy, force, vitality to the now
inert and senseless body—has left, it
and that this severance, of connec
tion between them—this absence of
the vitaliziug force—has produced
the awful change in the material
part. Its disappearance from our
sensible perception is not proof that
it has ceased to exist, nor is it pos
sible to prove it, or even to find any
—the slightest— evidence of its de
struction. The simple truth is that
death, in its relation to the spiritual
part of mau, is not a possible sub
ject of scientific investigation, as
such, may very justly say, in regard
to that relation, Agnosco—“I don’t
know.” But, as the possessor of
that faculty', for which the evolu
tionist has nevor yet found- a place
in his system—conscience— and with
those other phenomena which be
long to the mental or spiritual
world as a basis of inference, he is
not justified in saying that he is
without any evidence upon which
to rest a conclusion. Certainly he
does not know, as a fact ascertained
by experience, that a man lives after
death, and so likewise, he does not
know, as a fact, that one in onehun
dred of the postulates of physical
science is true.
rsics.
jluis ui^umnit leavos uui> ui view
both the. evidence of Scripture and
all those striding analysis of nature
so well used by Bishop Butler. The
latter are not considered, because in
"Butler’s day science admitted, or
was supposed to admit, a God of
N.ature but denied a God of Revela
tion, while now it recognizes neith
er, but substitute force and matter.
My attempt is to meet the Material
ist on his own gruond. He says that
thought—the mind—is the result of,
and inseperably connected with the
structure of the brain—that it is, in
a Word, a mere manifestation of a
certain form and combination of
matter; and by 'way of illustration,
he cites the absence of it in an idiot,
or person with a diseased or injured
brain; butinasmuch as he also in
sists that the matter of; tAe iroin;
like all other matter, is indestructi
ble, why should this manifestation
of it, which he calls the mind per
ish ? He also insists that evolution
is the law of Nature; that there is
ever an ascending scale of being.
Why, then, should he presume to
fix a limit to the soul’s existence,
and make that limit the moment of
its separation from the body? The
soul is certainly either a material Or
immaterial force. If it is a materi
al substance, itr is of course, accord
ing to his doctrine, indestructible-;
ana if it is an immaterial force, it is
according to his doctrine again eter
nal in its nature and not subject to
decay or death.
To my mind, the most marvelous
result of scientific reasoning is this
that matter is self-existent and im
perishable, but that the immortali
ty of that immaterial thing called
the mind or seal, which reasons out
the process bv which this conclu
sion is reached, is so uncertain as to
justify science in saying, in regard
to it, Agnoscif—“I don't know!"
The man of science knows that mat
ter cannot be destroyed, but whether
thd soul, if it exists, does or does not
cease its ezistence-when the body
dies, he “realy cannot say.” The
truth is, that he really knows as
much (or as little) of the immortal
ity of the one as of the other. He
also knows that his personal happi
ness, or that of others, is not all de
pendent upon the indestructibility
of matter, While the establishment
in every mind of a conviction that
the soul dies witli the body, would
produce moral chaos in the world.
Of course I speak only of the Mate
rialist,’pure and simple, who is a fit
yoke-fellow of the blind religionist
and bigoted fanatic to whom all
science appears to be inimical to re
ligion. The number of each class
is small, and will not probably, in
crease in dudue proportion. I
auc ^ieuLjimiss or Humanity, en-!
lightened or ignorant, have abiding
convition, an inborn consciousness, |
that every soul is endued with the
quality of immortality, and that
death is a mere usher—albeit a most
solemn and mysterious one—who
heralds our entrance into larger
mansions. The consciousness is en
tirely independent of any external
evidence, furnished either by Script
ure or Nature. Its existence has
been denied, and the case of a cer
tain savage tribe, who had no con
ception of a supreme being, or of the
immortality of the soul; has been
cited to disprove the universality of
the idea; but a thorough investiga
tion of the facts has been made, and '
it appeared that with this tribe, as i
with the rest of mankind, in all j
ages, and in every land,-the idea, al
though of the rudest kind, had its i
place. There is no way to explain
such a phenomenon, except by. a
process unrecognized by physical
science. It exists as a fact in hu- j
man experience, however, and be
ing a fact, it ought to be accounted
for. It is, too, perhaps the only
idea, not based upon material e<
periment, which is common to all
mankind. There are all sorts of
conceptions of a Supreme Being,
and of the conditions of a future
life, but, that there is a future
life of some kind is a fundamental
irradicable human belief, which has
always existed and which must al
ways exist. The discussion of it be
gan with the dawn of reason; it
was a favorite theme with the ear
liest philosophers of whom we have
any knowledge, and the libraries of
the world are full of books about it.
“This believing instinct,” says one
who wrote exhaustively on the sub
ject of a future life; “this believing
instinct, so deeply seated in -our
consciousness—natural, innocent,
universal—whence came it, and why
was it given? There is but one
fair answer.” And elsewhere the
same writer says; “Man is the
lonely and sublime Columbus of the
creation, who, wandering in this
Spanish! strand of time, sees drifted
waifts and strange portents borne
far from an unknown somewhere,
causiug him to believe in another
world. Comes jnot^ death, as
a ship, to bear him thither?”
Science may, and probably will
modify religious beliefs in the fu
ture, as it certainly has in the past,
but it can never destroy the faith
of mankind in the immortality of
the soul. It does not wish to do so;
but on the contrary, will rejoice in
continueiug to be instrumental in
enlarging men’s views of the uni
verse, and thus faith in the infinite
wisdom and goodness of the Crea
tor, who entertwined into their
very being the assured consciousness
of a future life.
' A. M. Waddell.
J. c. Pi ice. of Salisbury, is the Big
gest. , IV
St- Louts Globe-Dent, I •
Who we the ten greatest men of
the negro race whieh the United
States llaS produced? J. H. M.
Probably the men most worthy of
this designation are Benjamin Ban
neker, the astronomer, Fredrick
Douglass, Bishop Turner, P. B. S,
Pinchbeck, ex-Governor of Louisi
ana; B„ K.l Bruce and John R.
Lynch, The former of whom served
in the Senate and later as Register
of the|Treasury,and the latter.in the
House of Representatives; ^H. p,
Cheatham, now in the House; Hen
ry Highland Garnett and C. H. J.
Taylor, ex-diplomats, and G. W.
Williams, author of the “History of
the Negro Rrace in America ’ and
other books relating to the African
residents of this country.
Senator Beck was' a Scoteh-Pres*
bvterian, and “before the war’’, was
• Whig. *•?
THE SUP-TREASURY SCHEME.
It Would be Injurious to the Farmers,
| Mr. W. It. Davie, o’f tandsford.
3, C., has published in the Charles
ton News and Courier the following
review of the bill urged by the Far
mers' Alliances.
I have jusc read a copy of Senate
bill 2806, entitled “A bill to estab
lish a system of agricultural deposi
tories for the accommodation of
farmers and planters and for other
purposes,” introduced (by request)
by Senator Vance of North Caro
lina,
The bill proposes to inaugurate
what is known as the sub-Treasury
scheme, and as it has been endorsed
by the county and sub-alliances in
this State, and presumably in others
it may 1* will to call the attention
of our farmer friends and the public
generally to its most extraordinary
provisions, its tendency and effect.
It provides that there may, be estab
uoiicu in Crttii UJL I'HUU Otttie
in the United States agricultural
depositories or warehouses, which
shall be under the control of the
United States Treasury Department,
upon compliance ■with the follow
ing conditions.
rnovrsroN's op the bill.
First. When it shall be duly
certified by the oath or affirmation
of the clerk and sheriff of the coun
ty that" the average gross amount
per annum of cottou, wheat, corn,
oats and tobacco produced and’ sold
in the county for the preceding two
years exceeds the sum of §500,000 at
current prices in said county at that
time.
Second. Provides that upon the
petition of 100 or more citizens of
said county, and the donation of
lands for site it shall become the
duty of the Secretary of the Treas
ury to establish a United States ag
ricural depository in such county,
and appoint a manager of seme.
The manager to give such bond as
the Secretary of the Treasury " may
require, and shall receive as a salary
for his service not less than ? 1,000
and not more than $2,500, to be de
termined by the Secretary in pro
portion to the business ol his depos
itory.
Section 2. That any owner of
cotton, wheat, corn, oats or tobacco
may deposit the same in the deposi
tory nearest the' point of its produc
tion and receive therefor (presuma
bly from the manager) treasury
notes, herein after proviced for,
equal at the date of deposit to 80 per
centum of the net value of such
product at the market price, said
price to be determined by the mana
gerof the depository,under rules and
regulations prescribed by the Secre
tary of the Treasury, based upon
the price current in the leading cot
ton, tobacco and grain markets in
the United States.
Section 3 provides for the prepa
tion by the Secretary of the Treas
ury of such treasury notes as may
by required.
Section4 makes such notes full
legal tender.
Section 5 requires of the manager
of the depository to give warehouse
receipts for all deposits, showing
the amount and grade or quality ol
such cotton, tobacco or grain, and
its value at date ..of deposit, the
amount of Treasury notes the de
postory has advanced on same.
“That the interest on the monev so
advanced is 1 per centum per an
uura,1’ expressly statingthe amount
of insurance, weighing, classing,
warehousing and other-charges that
will run against such deposit, and
that all such warehouse receipts
shall be negotiable by endorse
ment. r
Section 6 provides for the re
demption by the holder of the ware
house receipt of all deposits, by the
surrender of the warehouse receipt
payment of advances, with interest
and payment of all charges.
Sec ion 7 requires the Secretary
of the Treasury to prescribe rules
and regulations necessary, for the
management of the depositories
and snail provide rules for the sale
at public auction of all cotton, corn
oats, wheat and tobacco that hart
been placed on deposit for a longei
period than 12 months after due
notice published, the proceeds aftei
payment of advances and charges tc
be held subject to order of ware
house receipt.
Section 8 provides for the erec
tion of the depositories.
Section 9. That the profits, if an)
from the charges for insurance
weighing, &&, shall be paid into tin
Treasury. , - h
Section 10. That the term of of
fice for a manager of depositor)
shall be two years.
Section 11. That the sum of $50,
000,000 be appropriated, or so mucl
thereof as may bo found necessar)
to carry out the provisions of till*
Section 12. That so much of any
and all other acta as are in conflict
'ftifcq the provisions of this act are
hereby repealeih.
tt?e scheme is preposterous1.
Now, Mr. Editor, after reading
the bill we no longer wonder that
the honorable Senator was careful
to state that it was introduced “by
request.” So staunch a Democrat,
SO'true a patriot,so astute a politi
cian would not care to accept the
patiernity of such a measure, and it
is safe to predict that it will never,
in its present shape at least, piisi in
to a law, either by the help of his
influence or his State. Crude in
construction, illogical, unfinished
and refreshingly generous in deal
ing out Uucle Sam’s millions upon
one ill-digested experiment, it quiet
ly ignore the Agricultural Depart
ment of the Government and con
verts the Secretary of the Treasury
of the United States into the respon
sible head of a gigantic commission
uusiness charged with the details of
building, insurance, storage, com
mission, shipping, weighing, sam
pling, classifying, grading and pric
ing all the surplus product of cotton
wheat, corn, oats and tobacco in
this great country of ours.
AN ARMY OP REPUBLICAN OFFICE
HOLDERS.
It goes further and organizes the
Secretary to prove unnumbered
millions of dollars' worth of Treas
ury notes, to he paid out by appoin
tees of his own selection under rifles
prescribed by himself alone, as ad
vances upon the products stored in
the depositories. It creates ail army
i>£ office-holders, amounting in man
agers and their clerks and assistants
to not les.s and perhaps to many
more than 10,000 men. Armed
with more money and more patron
age than any set of officials ever ap
pointed in this country and of
course at the present time every man
,of them a Republican, it establishes
and fixes for two years at least -a
good working centre of Republican
influence in every agricultural coun
ty in the United States, supplied
with unrestricted- and unlimited
money to loan at 1 per cent, per an
num to all holders of cotton, corn,
wheat, oats and tobacco, with power
to grade, classify and price the pro
ducts offered and to decide upon the
amount of loan and the charges to
run against the product in the ware
house. Who can measure the weight
of such influence, the possibilities
for good or bad, incident t<j such
opportunities? What can we say or
think of the action of a Southern
Funnel's’ Allicanee indorsing such
measures and adopting resolutions
asking their Senators and Represent
atives in Congress to favor the pass
age of such a bill? It would, per
haps, be more charitable than com
plimentary to say that they had
never read or understood it.
A WESTERN SCHEME TO FLEECE THE
SOUTH.
Leaving out all hereditary ten
dencies towards State rights, free
trade, Democracy and all that sort
of thing, one would have thought
that self-interest would have dicta
ted opposition to such measures.
The “ average cotton farm
er has cotton to sell, and
corn or wheat or flour or oats or
meat to buy. Now, it is a fact that
of all American products cotton is
to-day the dearest, bears the largest
abnormally low. So that our gener
ous and patriotic Southern cotton
farmer is joining heart and soul in
the .effort to enable the Western
corn, wheat or meat producer to ex
act of him a larger price of Wes
tern. produce. Such a scheme as
this would enhanqe the price of
corn and wheat and oats, and of
meat and flour, for they are perish
able and must be consunmed within
a given time. They are necesaries
of life and must be had regularly.
It would not and could not perma
nently enhance the price of cotton,
for if protected itj would not decay.
Weevils will not injure or destroy.
We cannot-eat it ourselves nor feed
to stock, and the spinner . smiles at
all our efforts to “corner” it, know
ing full well that to the spindles it
must come at last, and the gain in
price of our crop would be more
than offset by the loss in value to
the next by reason of “carried over”
stock. Such action on the part of
the cotton planter is pure nonsense
a suicidal folly.
AH UNJUSTIFIABLE PREFERENCE.
And Mr. Editor, I would like' to
ask what pre-eminent. claim have
cotton, wheat, corn, oats and tobac
co to this bounty and fostering'care
of the Government? Why not in
clude sugar, rice, Wool, hay, wines
silk, peanuts, turpentine, cotton
seed oil, petroleum, phosphate, the
fruit of the looms and the product
of the mines—1-anything that is pro
duced by the sunlight of hearen or
the glow of the furnace, by the dew
of the air or the sweat of the brow
in the smiling fields fanned by life
: giving breezes or in the dark caverns
■ of the earth filled-wilhgasAes dan
gerous as dynamate? Each and all
these products and the busy mill
ions toiling to produce them are a»
musch entitleiTTo the aid of the
Government they help to support as
are the few agricultural products
mentioned in this bill, and, should
this pass into a law, will not defer
asking for it.
A COTTON AND GRAIN TRUST.
This measure means, if it means
anything, that cottcfn, wheat, corn,
oats and tobacco are .produced in
this country in excess of remuner
ative demand; that the farmers and
planters cannot, in the open mark
et and usual channels of trade, get
what they deem sufficient profit for
their production; that, from their
standpoint, it is desirable to en
hance the selling price of these pro
uucls; Liiac mis can uone in onlv
two ways—first, by reducing the pro
duction, or second, by withdrawing
from the market such part of the
product that the remainder vvi 1 in
crease in the selling price; that it is
impracticable to reduce the yield, and
that it is impossible for them with
out theoinnipotent ai 1 of the Fed
eral Government, to withdraw
enough from market to materially
affect the market value; mid. there
fore, it, having been deteanirncd to
form a trust, in order to maintain or
enhance prices in defiance of the law
of supply and demaitd. the Govern
ment is called upon to put up the
capital and assume the management
of it for their benefit. A wise,
promising Republican, centralizing,
paternal Government programme,
truly! worthy of the combined ef
forts of Reed and Boutelle, Blair and
Hoar, Andrew Carnegie, James G.
Blaine and the New York Tribune;
and to think, Mr. Editor, that a
Southern cotton planter would en
dorse such a scheme;
To carry this class of legislation
to its legitimate results, and with
justice to all classes, would be to
enact: That hereinafter when any
man or set of men in this country
see fit to produce anything of any
kind in excess of remunerative de
mand the Govern ment should on ap
plication build a depository or de
positorfes for such product, and ad
vance to the producer 80 per cent,
of its the market value in money at
the rate of 1 per centum per annum.
If the producer did not see fit to
redeem it in twelve months, or if, as
might very frequently happen, the
price of the product should in twelve
months be reduced in the open mar
kets by twenty or more per cent.,
the Government would then sell the
product at public auction for what
it could get, pocket its losses and by
such forced sales break down the.
prices and market which such un
warranted and mischievous legisla
tion was designed to support.
READ THE BILL.
I do hope that our Alliance friends
will get this hill, study it carefully
as I have done, and I am certain that
as sensible men and Democrats they
will see the folly of supporting such
a measure,
W. R. Davie.
Landsford, S. C., April 10,1890,
THE GENERAL’ CONFERENCE.
Theflemarkable History of the Metho
dist in America.
ilttanta Constitution'
The meeting [of the Methodist
General Conference, at St. Louis,]
will be the eleventh quadrenial sess
ion of the Methodist - Episcopal
church, south, and in many repect
it will be the most important relis
f;idus gathering that has been held
or many years.
The history of the Methodist "in
Aitierica is a remarkable one.
The first Methodist Society in the
United States was organized in
New York in October, 1776. Eight
years later the first conference*
which embraced ten preachers, rep
resenting a membership of 1,100
was held. Now the M. E. church
alone has a membership. in this
| country of nearly 3,000,000, and the
M. E. Church south, has in the
neighborhood of 1,500,000. Up to
1844 there was no division among
the Methodists in the United States,
and one general conference
represented the church from
north, south, east and west. But
at the Conference held in that year
a separation was brought about by
the difference of opinion between
the northern and southern delegates
on the slave-holding questiuons.
Bishop James O. Andrews, of
Georgia was the owner of a number
of slaves and because he refused to'
part with them the eastern and
northern members of that body suc
ceeded in' haying him suspended
from his high office “in church.
This created a dissatifaetion among,
the Southern members who straight
way prepared to withdraw from the
general jurisdiction and from' a cod'*
ference of their own. This waff
Successfully accomplished. and thd
ftrSt meeting was held in Louivillef .
Ey„ in May, 1845, There was
built the foundation for1 the present„
largo and suscesafnl organization
known as the Methodist -Episcopal
Church, South,-and it is to the able
and earliest divines that steered the
church through those critical peri
ods that the present prosperity is'
due. • ' ', .....
Since then ten quadrennial con- ■
ferences have occurred, and tho ben
efits resulting therefrom are known
the world over. In view of the
stand taken by the representatives
of this body on the question of-•
slavery, there is "one significant
fact in relation to, their work that is
hot so generally known as it shook!
V/Ul/UX I cu
missions which.had been instituted
and carried on by the.United church
were taken up and vigorously pros
ecu ted by the northern branch under
tlie direction of Bishop Capers, who
had made the subject a special study
and for a long time gave the matter
his undivided attention: During the
twenty years following 1845, tho
church spent over $1,000,000 lit
this work of endeavoring to con
vert the plantation slaves. At the
dose of the war, when the colored
race established an episcopacy of
their own, all their church property
was transferred to them gratis, and
they are still being largely aided
by the Methodist Episcopal Church*
houth^ especially in the establish
ment of institutions for the educa
tion of candidates for the minstry.
oieuce the first assembly in
Louisville, there have been ten
general conferences. Two of them '
were held In St. Louis, but the im
portance attached to the former
gatherings hardly compares with
the significance attaching, to the
one now in preparation!
There will be pen or twelve stan
ding committees, which will have
in review respectively missionary,
publication, educational, church ex
tension, Sunday School, and other
departments m the work of the
church. Rooms have been rented
in the exposition building for the
sessions of these committees.
The opening session of the con
ference will ’ "
ill be held Wednesday
morning. May 7, at 9 o’clock.
Bishop J. C. Keener, of New Or
leans, senior bishop of the church,
will preside and start the meeting
to. work. The number of delegates
will be 290, composed in equal num
bers of clergymen and laymen.
They represent forty conferences in
eluding the conferences in Mexico,
Brazil and China, together with the
representatives of the church in
other foreign lands where the miss
ions have not yet organized into
conferences. The representation is
based on two delegates one lay and
one clerical, for every thirty-six
members of each annual conference.
This general conferanee is the leg
islative body and the supreme pow
er in the church. It has unlimited
authority except as restricted by
certain rules which guard the integ
rity of its doctrine and perpetuate
its itinerant system of ministers
and the rights of the members. In
addition to looking after all the in
terests of the church, there will
come np for adjudication before this
uuujr an matters inning to be ami
cably settled in the annual! confer--'
ences. One subject of considerable :
importance to be attended to at thik
meeting will be to provide for an
acceptable disposition of the surplus
moneys on hand secured in profits
from the church’s publication insti
tutions. At present this money. is
used in creating a fund for the -
maintenance of worn-out preach
ers, their widows and orphans, It ’
is intended to appropriate a part of
this money in the future toward
the spreading of biblical literature
and cheapening the cost thereof.
This assembly also chooses the
bishops for the church, and it may
be that two will be elected at this
meeting. How long it will take to ■
complete the work of the conven
tion is not known, but the session
will continue for three weeks anv
way, ambit is not probable that the
final adjournment will occur before
June 1.
Oxford Day: Dr. J. M. Have
saw Dr. Win. A. Hammond, the dis
tinguished physician, at Washing
ton, a few days ago, an.d was assured
by him that he would attend, the
meeting of the State ^Medical Socie
ty in Oxford, and will deliver a lec
ture to the profession bn . “Spinal
Diseases.” Dr. Hammond ranks,
easily first in this branh of practice.
Other eminent physicians iVuat
abroad have indicated their intention
of being here during the meeting.