North Carolina Newspapers

1 ihe Fioyes coiumQS Yol. IL-Xo, 1.3. PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY A COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS FOR THE NORTH CAROLINA CON FERENCE, M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH. RUFUS T. HEFLIN, Editor. RALEIGH, YHCRSBYHARCH ft. mi 2l 50 a Year, in Advance. ST H, 1 n 'ft in t nj . From the New York Observer. A Little Wllile.,, BT RET. JT. E. RANKIN. A little -while ! my days 0 by, Aj eagles plunge adown the sky ; As arrows on their fatal flight; As ships, departing, fade from sight. A little -while! and hearts that beat Responsive to my coming feet. Will hush thir faithful pulse in vain, To catch the wonted sound aain. A littlo while! he still, my heart! Ciinst thou unwillingly depart? Wilt thou not from earth away. To bathe thy soul in Heaven's own Day ? little while ! I'll gird me well, To baffle foes of earth and hell ; TL it when I lay my armor dovrr, I may exchange it for a crown. Oh little while! that serves to buy A home eternal in the sky ! God grant, that earth may not beguile My spirit of its little while I A little wh;I?! O jrWioas thought! F r tticu ii on earth a name I've not, My soul, released from sin, shall be At rest forever, Lord, with thee. The Song of the Old Folks- Shoul 1 auid acquaintance be forgot An I never brought to mind ? Siu.ul I aul l acquaintance be forgot And the ongs of auld lang syne? Fit auld hing syne we meet to-night Fr auld lang syne ; To sing the songs our fathers sang. It. davs of aull lang syne. "We've passed through many viried scenes, Sinve youth's uneloudet day; An I frif eiil-t. an 1 h pfs. and hapry dreams, Time's hand hath swept away: And voices that once joined with ours, Ii davs of auld lang syne, Are silent no , and blend no more In songs of auld lang s ne. Yet ever has the light of song Illumed our darkest hours ; And cheered us on life's toilsome way, And gemmed our path with flowers; The sarrod sons our fathers sang, Dear songs of aulJ lang syne ; Th hallowed sngs our fathers sang In djys of auld lang syne. Here we have met, here we may part, To meet on earth no more ; And we may never sing again The cherished songs of yore ; Th- sacred sons our fathers sang la days ,f aul l lang syne ; We may mt meet to sing again, The songs of auld lang syne. B it when we've crossed the sea of life. And reached the heav'nly shore, We'll sing the songs our fathers sang, Transcending those of yore ; We'll meet to sing diviner strains. Than those of auld lang syne ; Immortal snes of praise unknown In days of auld lang syne. (Original For the X. C. Christian Advocate. Conference Boundaries- Bro. Heflin : Although but few have written from Western North Car olina on Conference Boundaries, yet ! there has been much talk upon the J Have you not noticed of late, Mr. Edi subject, and as far as my acquaintance i tor, the very flatteiing courtesy of the extends, a large majority of those in-! world toward the Church? Sermons of terested wish to see the whole of North ; D. D.'s and other notables among the uiin Carolina united in one Methodist Con-! iry are becoming as common subjects of ference not a Methodist Episcopal PWnJ tn e sf uiar Press as ne e Church of N. C with a Bishop of your !P,oit3 of an imported or the effi- VjUUI , . T-i i caey of Holloway s puis. 1 he presentation, own choosing, as Enquirer pretends to q tJ aa(J the . imagine, but a North Carolina Con- o, thou3and.j1,nar Surprise parties,' get ; in ference of the Methodist Episcopal to the paper3 aud the parson is puffed, Church, South, with the same Disci- jand the liberality of the members is puffed vb'ne used in the Holston Conference, and the nuff-w and the puff-w the world holding the same doctrines, with ; achers as much opposed to dram- j pre Jr;.,?;na. halls, varties. ?.. as Broth- er Reagan can desire. A goodly num- i ber of those desiring the change, be long to the class Brother Iteagan seems to zlory so mu-.'h in. e hope, there- j fv-t the crooa Brotner will spend hiS'f - ... . tiitive ircmus on sometni morei w :ihv. than evil surmising and mis-j reprefntn hii brethren. li he 13 opposed to the contemplated change, we have no objection to his speaking j when conteniinrr wun tne devii, brought not a railing accusation j a.iiiist him; l.ut Bro. Iteagan charges! Mountainer, without knowing any thing of his real character, iiow, it evil speaking andjevil surmising be sinful, we hope that our good brother will re pent, so that when he gets to a love feast, or class meeting, he may be in a proper frame of mind for a hearty Snout. . Brother Ilicks is very much mista- ken when he thinks that a desire to see the Methodists of N. C ur.itel in one Conferen -e is confined to the Jelier- son circuit ' Nor is he less mistaken, when thinks that the dissatisfaction out we care not how strongly lie may . true piety auu a conscientious cu.-ciiarge oi -rn-ue his point, for we are fend of in- i christian duty demand should be promptly destination, but we dislike to see the j discountenanced I, r.ther than give ofleuse T,Hccof argument supplied by mere good hhcral, fneud y sinner; Big pi.ict oi "o" ti j ir.ejchers and Ji tie preachers; leading baseless and unmd coiycctuie. ,lltlmbera and members wore obscure.thiuk u- v,.un nut. nl the Such is the formation or tne numan j mind, that man is better prepared for devotion when all the circumstances in Asne, nas t.u.. 'J e . . lrainou3 i the extreme; at the approach nrontpst-mce oi the circuit na ing uet-ii ; . rr circamSl.i.ict. ti .1 ,r ot lts poisonous breath the happ.uess of left without a preacher the present year. couimuf;i,ies wither8 anJ expires beneath We are somewhat acquaintea wun . hhstiviy fl.im0 jy if3 power, wounds the Methodists of the JeHerson circuit, are opene that tmie can never close; and believe them to be as much attach- flame;J 0f heart burning are enkindled ed to the Ilolston Conference as any . that nothiCg but tl ,e blood of the atoue circuit in Western N. C. ! tuent can extinguish. It has rung an- We believe in a christian patriotism. !crUish extreme from many an innocent r . . ' 1 ' ... 1 . ! t " . C with which he is surrounded are favor able thereto. The children of Israel " would not sing one of the songs of Zion in a strange land." The citizens of N. C. feel that their temporal inter ests all tend to one point. Moreover, we, as Methodists, feel a warm attach ment to the old North State, as the land of our nativity ; and while we venerate those noble hearted, self-sacrificing brethren who first preached the gospel among our mountains, yet we look forward with pleasure to the time when N. C. Methodism shall be so uni ted that all their spiritual energies may be strengthened by their State patriot ism. If such an arrangement will bring together a people whose educational, and other State enterprises, may act as auxiliaries to their christian warfare; will not a number of the Ilolston preachers, equal to the number of ap pointments in N. C, belonging to the Ilolston Conference, permit themselves to be transferred to the North Caroli na Conference ? W. J. For the N. 0. Christiaf. Advoate. Devices of the Enemy. Bro. Heft.ix : Two antagonistic prin ciples have been exercising their influence upon the human family ever since Adam partook 'of that forbidden fruit, whose mortal taste brought death into the world, and all our woe ;' and if the great adver- sary of man and enemy to holiness, the 'Ancient Nicholas has ever ceased his efforts to complete the work of man's utter destruction, I have never heard nor read of it. Various are the weapons and multi form the agency he employs to effect this; sometimes operating unon a sm;dl scale, then again engaging in more extensive op erations. No dou'.t he thought his success ! in the garden of E lea was a finishing stroke to the happiness r-f the new formed race ; and a failure to the Almighty's purpose; but when he found that the seed of the woman was destined t bruise his head, and a fu ture Redeemer promised to man, he set about laying his counterplots, deter. uined to retard and annoy, if ho could not de feat. Sometimes his efforts seem to have an individual a m ; at others he operates more iu the wholesale way. At one time he offers large reward to have the people of God cursed, as in the case of Balaam ; at another hi; baits his traps with a hand some woman b ithing, as in the case of Da vid. Now he foams and rages in all the dread fury of fire, the sword and the rack ; anon he approaches in such a profusion of smiles and blandishments as almost to in duce us to believe that he 'is not so black as he IS paiuted,' aftor all. At one tJmo, we read, he became so reckless and ex travagant as to offer hi3 entire possessions "all the kingdoms of the earth and the glory tnereof,' for a temporary acknowl edgement of his supremacy. The last trick of his was upon the whole sale principle, and although he failed in the speculation he by no means gave up busi ness, but is still operating, and perhaps upon as large a scale now as at any former period. If I have not mistaken the signs of the times, his presi-nt ruse, aside from individual transactions, seems to be to bring about a close intimacy between the Church and the world, and to obliterate as much as possible the liue of demarcation between them. and the Church hob-nob j jovially togeth- er, the one dropping a little of its sneer at what it used to call a 'sanctimonious njpociisy, the other abating considerably it it3 zeai agaiusi inc. vices auu lomus, etc., &c; in tbe meanwhile, 'the little old gen- o . , .-. . ,, t- nnm III I I II .1 il 1 II ti-l. 1 LU A-A X LU I UU JA W I I r 10 a r i1t,c i. ,,0 jnjjijrgr. 'n the irrowinsr friendshin be- tween the Church and the world? Do not Church uiendiers, through courtesy, give silent approval to things, many times, that ct' the matter. 3Iore anon, JACOBUS IIAIIVETUS. For the N. C. Christian Advocate. "Lon't speak of it-" How often is this cspre.-.-iou used when ! the evil speaker is abroad ! who c-mi tell ? I After an hours recital of slander aud scan Itialof iLe most nefarious character, the speaker winds up by saying, "Don't f-peak ; of it I" "The tongue is a little mem tier, jau1 boustoth .rcat things." "The tongue jis a grCi a ,vo.ii of iniquity: s is the . tongue ameug members, that it defileth the j whole body, and setteth ou fire the course ; of nature ; and it is set on fire of hell." ! Such is the course of evil speaking aud its cireiui euecis m sociciy. jus course is neart and toreeu me onny tear nom jnauy a sparkling eye; and atter having com pleted the ruin of its victim, in the esti mation of the hearer, said, " Don't speak of it." It has filled neighborhoods with confusion, and severed the ties that bound fond heart together; and by its power li u transformed those who were warm fri-mda into enemies. The evil speaker is his satanic majesty's most suc cessful agent in blasting and ruining the hapriiuess of communities, and the influ ence of christians ; and, yet, strange to see, there are professors of the pure -religion of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, them selves either indulge in evil speaking, or encourage others in doing so by listening atteatively to their slander. Is it not strange that such persons do not reflect that tltpy are doing a most serious injury to eiinstianUy f lhe world will judge, m some sort of religion by the character of them to whose care it is committed. Now, if members of the same Church who bow at the same sacred altar :and profess to love the Lord Jesus in sincerity, and his followers, as, themselves, now if they bite and devour and ruin each other bv evil speaking, will not the world see and Know it ? And if so, will they not prefer a course of sin that forbids evil speaking t i a religion that justifies it ? Incalculably great is the injury dune to the cause of religion by its own avowed friends and supporters. Is it possible that any can plead ignorance on this subject when the rules are few and so pluia that the weakest memory may retain them, and the weakest understanding may compre hend them. "Ihou shalt love thy neigh bor as thyself" is to be the prompting motive in speaking of one another. Either love for the person about whom we speak or love for some other person, or cause, against whotu, or which, he has committed an offence, is to prompt us to speak of oth ers. If ive love an individu d we will not reta'l scindal or evil against him, much less fabricate such either in part or whole. If no oue is to be benefit tel we havo no right to speik evil of any person. Eat tint the 1 :w might be complete, Jesus snid. "Therefore all thing?, whatsoever ye would ta it men snoula ao to von, do ye eve i so to them." By setting this rule by ihe sida of the other ("Thou shah love thy neighbor as thyself") you may easily and definitely determine whether you are prompted by the proper motive, and wheth er your action harnfouizes with the golden rule. Woul 1 you tell the evil if you wera the person to be iujured by it? or if you s'ipp sed it would do you as mu h harm as you desire it should do the person against whom you speak ? Or would you have your neighbor, uuder tho same cir cumstances, speak in the same way of you? "Don't spe-rk of it," should never be used when tai king about others. Because yoa do yourself a wrong, the person to whom you speak an injury, and the person of whom you speak an injustice : Yon li yourself a wrong in accustoming yourself to spaak of persons behind their backs what you would not before their faces. The per son spoken to is injured because you have bound him to keep a secret that makes him distrust another, who might if he could tell it to him remove all difficulty from his mind. iou ao tne person spoKen ot an injustice because y u compel him to lie under the the sentt-nae of condemnation and h has never been heard in his defence ; and, he, perhaps, will often be in company with persons who condemn him, while he is en tirely ignorant of any thing against his fair name. OSSISSO. Rest, N. C. For the N. C. Christian Advocate. Bishop Early in Washington. Bro. IIeflix : It is with more than or dinary pleasure, that I inform you and the readers of your ably conducted paper, of our having enjoyed a recent visit from our beloved Bishop Early, and we assure you that with us, as a church and a commu nity it is no smali event. He preached for us several times with great power and success, to large and deeply in terested audiences, and from present indication-;, and the generally expressed senti ments of the people of this community, we feel that his visit has not only been a great benefit to the church, but to a large por tion of this town also. As a proof of the deep interest felt, and the general anxiety to hear him, tho Chur;h, notwithstanding the very in clement weather was crowded night after night, to a perfect jam, by an audience who listened with profound attention to the w.-.rds of 'truth and soberness' as they fell from his lips lips which seemed to be fired with a live coal from the Heavenly Altar. The fact is, we have had the pleasure of hearing the Bishop several times before, but never have we seen him, as we thought while listening to his preach ing this time so fully imbued with the spirit of his mission, so vigorous and pow erful. The ltth, 12th and 13th days of March, 1857, will form no small dates in the- ' i t .-f of Methodism in Washington, N C, for the church and people will asso cia'e them with the heart moving and soul inspiring preaching of the Bishop. Long may he be spared to the church and to the world. The people here, say, lhe is a Bis'ip that is a BisJirp.' In this Connec tion, it is due that I should stae that he was accompanied by our esteemed brother aud coliiboivr in the vineyard of the Lord lte-v. A. Weaver, Pastor of C ntenary Church, New Berne, N. C, and who al-o preached several times with gveat accep tability and whose labors, did not, by any means constitute a small portion of the in teresting services held day aud night at the church. Yours, in Gospel Love, T. PAGE RICAUD. Deal thou gently with thr.t teude? youth sull'ering under the pauga of his " first luve." llis heart is soft and a harsh word would grate terribly upon his sensitive sou. Above all don't drench tLe j oor fellow with strong medicine, lest the rasli strike in and the boy strike out from parental author i;y. First love and the whooping cough have to be had soon or late, and nurse says one time is good as another, only the earlier the better. For the N. C. Christian Advocate. Speak Sweetly of Christ. A good man on the morning of the day in which he was suddenly called into eternity, said to ti friend, 'I love President Edwards,' he always speaks so siceetly of Christ.' We should think sweetly of Christ. He is most lovely and most loving. He is the Lamb of God. He has done every thing for us. He is our best friend in the Universe. We should speak sweetly of Christ. Christians should always have some sweet thought to expre.-s to each other of Him who has pardoned their sins, washed their souls, sustained them in affliction and delivered them in temp tation. Christians should speak sweet ly of Christ to their children. He is their friend and thc;r father's friend. All the beautiful trap's of his character should be presented t? their apprecia ting hearts. Cnristians should speak sweetly of Christ o ?inners, as their only hopo, thair ;V'r icdy Saviour unutterably solicitious for their sal vation so that they may see the exceeding sinfulness of striving against Him, who is the fairest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely. S. E. S. From the New York Observer. A Minister's Comfort. In many respects a minister's com fort depends upon the same things which other persons' comfort depends upon. A good house contributes as much to his comfort as to the comfort ! of the lawyer or th mechanic. An in djliver him from ! come sumcient to want and embarrassment is quite as comfortable to him as it would be if he were not a minister. Congenial socie ty does quite as much for him as for any other m;in. Besides these, he may h ive sources of comfort peculiar to his office. Paul speaks of some who were fellow-laborers in promoting the king dom of God, and says they 'had been a co-nfort' unto him. It is a great com fort to a minister when he has those in his church who are fellowdaborers with him in promoting the great ends of his ministry, the upbuilding of Christ's kingdom. There are some in almost every church who are not a comfort to their minister. There ars somo who show no signs of spiritual life. They are members of the church, and nothing can be said against them. They come to church regularly, and contribute to the support of the gopel. They make no disturbance in the church, or m the community ; but they give no signs of spiritual life. The minister is constrain ed to think that the oaly difference be tween them and some 3ther3 who make no pretensions to religion is, that they are members of the church. He is constrained to feel that their prospects for salvation are not as good as they would be, if they were not members of the shurch. They are no comfort to him : very far from it. There are some members of the church who have a peculiar capacity for finding fault. The minister's ser mons are too long, or they are too short. He does not visit enough, or ho does not spend time enough in his study. He" pays too much attention to the rich, or he is not sufficiently genteel. He takes too much upon himself, or he lacks moral courage. Their marvel lous ingenuity in fault-finding never fails to find some materials in the char acter and conduct of the minister. Such members are no comfort to him. There are sometimes members of the church who think more highly of them selves than they ought to think. Owing to their wealth, family connexion, or to some inexplicable reason, they think their influence ought to be superior. They assume a patroniziag air towards the minister. They are offended if he does not consult them on all occasions, and stiil more offended if he does not follow their advice. They are not a comfort to him. Paul himself, with all his talent and p'ety, couid not extract any comfort from such members. There are some members of the church whose zeal is very inconsistent, and whose consistency is not as great as is desirable. Now they are deeply interested in the work of the Lord, they are urgent that something should be done for the salvation of men, and they are willing to work diligently. But their zeal soon abates. Their exertion soon comes to an end. The minister-whose efforts they just nor so diligently seconded, is left to labor alone. Those who were so warm and zealous have become cold and neg ligent, and their inconsistency gives occasion for religion to be ill-spoken of. Such members may be a comfort to the minister for a time : then they are a cause of discouragement and sorrow. It is a matter of great thankfulness that there are some in almost every church who are a great comfort to the minister. All those who walk humbly with God, who pray for him and sym pathise with, and aid him in his efforts to do good, are a comfort to him. The humblest member of the church may thus be a great comfort to his minister. "Its Only a Trifle.' Everybody has heard people, when abou tto be guilty of some extravagance, excuse themselves by saying '-Its only a trifle." A wife u buying a new dress for herself, and tcmptxd by beautiful silk, pays more for a pattern than she ought, but quiets her conscience and endeavors to satisfy her husband by reiterating that the difference was "only a trifle." A husband increases the style of his living a little in everything in house, in furniture, in table, in dress ; and as each by itself seems a small affair, he overlooks the aggregate, which, alas ! is no 'trifle.' A mechanic squanders twenty-five cents daily in beer, spirits or cigar?, forgetting that in a year it comes to seventy-five dol lars, or the interest of twelve hun dred and fifty dollars ; and he goes on doing this for a life time, keeping him self impoverished all the while, saying "it is only a trifle." Only a trifle ! Fortunes are made up of just such tri fles. " Take cnxo of the pennies," say3 JXichard, ."ami the pounds wi'l take care of themselves.' Men who economise in triflino; exnenses are the men who oftencsfc become millionaies. The housewife who saves the trifles rarely wants bread and butter. What is true of money is true also of the least trifle. A father comes home at night, worn out by a day's labor and irritable in consequence ; his children unintentionally, annoy him, and he speaks angrdy to them. The tears come into the little one's eyes and their lip3 quiver a3 they turn away ; but he dis misses his remorse, saying to himself. "it is only a truijt. Alas! many cnuu nas Deen alienated from a narent m-iny a father has lost his influence over his offspring by trifles like these Ur a husband, peevish with his wife little by little wears out her affection Or a wife selfishly thinking of her own cares only, and making no allowance for the irritability of her husband, tried and jaded by a diy s exhausting toil, answers sharply at the first impatient word, and so either drives him to the tavern, or causes a matrimonial ciuar rel. Or friends, in moments of spleen. listen to malicious tale-bearers, and tmnk eacn other false. Or jealous lov ers, oftended by " trifles light a3 air," break off their eno-ao-eraents in a net. In truth, it is oftener small things that breed dissensions than great. ' In a matter of affection there is no such thingf a3 a trifle. We hear casuists talking sometimes of great and minor morals. It is a distinc tion without a difference. There are no such things in ethics. The most atro cious crimes come from small begin nings, and it is only slowly and gradu ally that the character is undermined. The man who perpetrates a murder to day would have said ten years ago, "is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing ?" Every babe that smiles in its mother's arms is innocent alike. Sometimes it is intemperance that makes the savage assassin ; sometimes it is lust ; sometimes it is greed of mon ey ; sometimes it is some other subtle, persistent, soul-destroying vice. Some times the deed is done in a fit of sud den passion ; and then the crime has its origin remotely in an ill-regulated temper. Sometimes it is planned de liberately, and executed coolly and diabolically. In this case the conscience has been laid to sleep by long years of secret wickedness. Trifles in morals ! There are but two roads which the soul can take one right, the other wrong and a movement in either direction projects a line which runs on, diverg ing eternally. The good become more virtuous continually, the bad more vi cious. Even, repentance cannot work out an immediate reformation ; for old habits are too strong, and have gradu ally to be conquered. Oh ! there is no such thinsc as a trifle. Bait. Sun. Footprints of an Itinerant. Put your foot in the track and see whether it fits. Every preacher makes tracks of some sort in his field. Unless he is very light, in going round ten or twenty times, with the complement of radii and diameters, he will make many steps. But some do not make a track every time they take a step. Lest you might 'lose trail,' I shall not confuse you by pointing out every size, depth, direction, and length of stride, which appears on the field, but let us take this. Which ? "Why this one I will not say more than point you to his tracks, and ask you to follow. If his tracks should be lost in others of a lar ger size and these in others, keep on and you may find a 'gang. If they should give an a nti-fogy-progressive-age growl, when you come up with them, you may be certain ycu have pot lost trail. But look out or you may be beaten off peradventure they have not already 'passed' the bounds for this year and are making tracks of the same sort in another field. But from figures to facts : Track 1. Didn't 'reach his work in o-ood time.' But he did. Then this is not his track. Track 2. Left his work somo weeks before Conference, which was the cause of several wrong ones, as, failure in col lecting missionary, conference collec tions, &c, leaving an awful chasm of 'No preaching.' Track 3. Close akin to last : Puts off stated collections till near or quite the close cf the year, and then if he has not gone his last round already ,the people have, or a rainy day fills the appointment. Track 4. Has a few stands among the rich to stop at : has the impression that the rich are always glad to see him and never thinks ho ought to go anywhere else because they do not tell him otherwise ? Now it is strange that men who made all their boy tracks around a poor man's log house, can so soon lose srnyputhy for cabins and poor people. Possibly supposing they have had their share of such doings at home, they wish to bring up the rear. Track 5. Is a negative track galle ry, i. e class-book. Stop ! There is not a scratch of pen by him not one for the whole year. Did he know (care ?) who were in full connection? who unbaptized? - Names of persons removed, died, i &c, for months and eur? f V-.-'ding 4-hh sresen; futhful members with no notice of any uiuer- ence. How dyA he get the numbers correctly ?. Guoss at it. He has not seen the class-book. Yes he saw it once'. ' He never called for it. No class-meeting by him and soon none by the leader. Track 6. 'Plan of the circuit' which he hands over to his successor. It is a thumb paper looking affair. In many instances it is a thing quite in order with the antecedents. Forbear any criticism, for it is invulnerable. Ought it not to be used as wadding for a gnu and shot out in some direction not vorv far from him? Where is he? Call his name, and let it be answered 'Noth- ing against II IM ?' The Actress. An actress, in one of the English provincial or country theatres, was, one day, passing through the streets of the town in which she then resided, when her attention was attracted by the sound of voices, which she heard in a poor cottage before her. Curiosity promp ted her to look in at an open door, when she saw a few poor people sitting to gether, one of whom, at the moment of her observation, was frivinf out thefol- hymn, which the others joined in singing ; Depth of mercy t can tbera Maroy still reserved for me?" be The tune was sweet and simple, but she heeded it not. The words had riv eted her attention, and she stood mo tionless, until she was invited to enter by the woman of the house, who had observed her standing at the door. She complied, and remained during a pray er, which was offered up by one of tho ittle company ; and uncouth as the expressions might seem in her ear3, they carried with them a conviction of sincerity on the part of the person then employed. She quitted the cottage, but the words of the hymn followed her ; she could not banish them from her mind, and at last she resolved to irocure the book which contained the iymn. lhe more sne react it, the more decided her seriou3 impressions became. She attended the ministry of the Gos pel, read her hitherto neglected and despised Bible, and bowed herself in mmility and contrition ot heart before him whose mercy she telt she needed, whose sacrifices are those of a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and who has declared that therewith he is well pleas ed. Her profession she determined at once, and for ever, to renounce ; and for some little time excused herself from appearing on the stage, without, how ever, disclosing her change of senti ments, or making known her resolution finally to leave it. The manager of the theatre called upon her one morning, and requested her to sustain the principal character in a new play which was to be perform ed the next week for his benefit. She had frequently performed this charac ter to general admiration ; but she now, however, told him her resolution never to appear a3 an actress again, at the same time giving her reasons. At first he attempted to overcome her scruples by ridicule, but this was unavailing; he then represented the loss he should incur by her refusal, and concluded his arguments by promising, that if to oblige him she would act on ihis occasion, it should be the last request of the kind he would ever make. Unable to resist his solicitations, she promised to appear, and on the appointed evening went to the theatre. The character she assum ed required her, on her first entrance, to sing a song ; and when the curtain was drawn up, the orchestra immedi ately began the accompaniment ; but she stood as if lest in thought, and as one forgetting all around her, and her own situation. The music ceased, but she did not sing ; and supposing her to be overcome by embarrassment, the band again commenced. A second time they paused for her to begin, and still she did not open her lips. A third time the air was played, and then, with clasp ed hands, and eyes suffused with tears, she sang, not the words of the song, but " Depth of mercy ! can there be Mercy Btill reserved for me V It is almost needless to add, that the performance was suddenly ended ; ma ny ridiculed, though some Were induced from that memorable night to "consi der their ways," and to reflect on the wonderful power of that religion which could so influence the heart and change the life of one hitherto so vain, and so evidently pursuing the road which lead eth to destruction. I t would be satisfactory to the reader to know, that the change in Miss 1 was as permanent as it wa3 singular; she walked consistently with her pro fession of religion for many yearsand at length became the wife of a minister of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Church Music. The fashionable style of singing iu church sometimes makes nonsense of the best hymns. Tha following amu sing illustration of thii fact is from the N. V. Christian Advocate. Dr. Stevens' articles on church mu sic aro exciting very general atten tion. Reformation on this subject ia - . - i.- r-t-f.?, .. .J Jj inv'table ft must com3. Caohs, in v tie a P" .. y in mnny instances, but they nc ,! r.evr be a monopoly. Congregational eing ing, lead by a good choir, is the true mod ut operandi. To suppose that half a dozen young persons, often irrelig ious, perched in orchestra galleries, m.iy perform the singing for a wholo congregation, is simply ridiculous. What is most needed in order to bring about congregational singing, is a re turn to the grand old tunes of former times. Our ameteur choir-singers. are, too fond of 'executing' difficult pieces, and confounding common people with, the reverberating resonances fugue tune. The rector of St. Bardolph'a takes off this style most laughab'y, in describing the singing of the following stanza : True love is like that precious oil. Which, poured on Aamii'tf head, li.in down his beard, and o'er h'u robps Its costly moisture shed.' In the prodigious effort of this per formance, the ear-splitting combination of the several voices hardly bore a re semblance to that oily current poured on Aaron's head, and which 'Kan down hif beard and o'er hi head Kan down his beard his robes And o'er his robes- Kiln down his ber 1 ran down hia -o'er his robes III robes, his rolx-K, ran down his head It an down h -o'er hi robes Kan down his beard h-i-s- b e a r d Its costly moift Kan down his heard u re beard hi ben rd his shod K in down Ida board his down llis robes its costly moist his hcsrl are siied his cost his robes ur sded Its c o-s td-i-e injis'ture shed 1 The late Bishop Seabury, being ask- ed hi3 opinion of this performance, re plied that he had paid no attention to the music, but that his sympathies were so much excited for poor Aaron that he was afraid that Le would not have a hair left! Such performances may be 'artistic,' but can never answer the purpose for which singing God's praise was designed. Anecdote ot Napoleon and the Ladies. Dr. Baird. in a late lecture at St. Louis, related an amusing anecdoto of Napoleon le Grand and the ladies who attended his first grand reception ball, at the Tuillcries. The old nobility had departed, and everything was new. The invited guests were mostly milita ry officers and their wives. Some two thousand ladies were present. When supper time came they of course took precedence of the gentlemen. A ques tion arose who had the right to go hrst. The great dining room hall was thrown open, admitting them, and the doors were then closed, and the officers of the palace found it impossible to open them. The dispute among the ladies grew warm. One lady said the right was hers, as her husband was a great general: but she soon found that others maintained, on one ground or the oth er, that their claims were greater. ilea n while the officers could not get the doors open, and in consternation on:,- of them hastened to the First Con s d, and asked him how they should settle the question of preceder.ee. 40h says Bonaparte, 'nothing is easier; tell them the eldest is to go first!' Tho of ficer reported to the ladies the first Consuls decision, ar.d instantly they all fell back! Thi3 gave the officers an opportunity to get the doors open, when, to their astonishment, none of tho ladies were willing to go first. Af ter standing in that ridiculous position for a moment, they began to laugh heartily at their own olly, and all marched into the dining room, without delay. This, said Dr. Baird, is one of the thousand and one stories they tell in Paris, of the 'Great Napoleon,' to illustrate the readiness of his wit. Sad Cascaltv Tho Southern Journal, published nt Monticallo, Miss., chronicles the following sad affair: A man and his wife named Odom, lately married, were removing from Coington coun ty to Copiah. When within about ten miles o'f Montieello they r.camped for the night. Tha lady was lyinjt upon a pile of straw, whieh took fire and rapidly conveyed the flames to her dress, and before she could throw herself into a pool near by, the raging element had done its work of death. i I