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I ' I Z 1 IX PUBLISHED AS THE ORGAN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE OF THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH VOL. XXV. RALEIGH, N. C, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1880. NO. 22. mm 15 wFN- II 1 It This paper has been entered by the publishers as second-class matter, in ac cordance with Section 199 of the Postal Laws and Regulations. Subscription Rates. One year $2.00 in advance. Six months $1.00 in advance. How to Remit. Send money by post office money order, check, or in a register ed letter. If sent otherwise it is at the gender's risk. Always give the name and post office ad dress of the person to whom the paper is addressed, or is to be addressed. Where changes are to be made give . he office from which, and the one to which, the pa per is desired to be sent. Our Agent s. All the clerical mem bers of the North Carolina Conference are our Agents, to whom the paper is sent free of ch arge. To all other ministers the Advocate will be sent for $1.00 per an num, in advance. The Local Preachers are requested and authorized to act as Agents. Address all letters and packages to it lack & i:i:it, Raleigh, N. C. For the Advocate. Letter From Dr. Deems. Dear Brethren : My letters have been few and brief. A tourist whose days are limited, has little time to spend in correspondence. When he has occupied the day-light in sight-seeing, and written up his note book at night, he is a squeezed orange, whose pulp is worth little. But I have an indistinct recollection, of having promised to drop you a lew lines, and perhaps other friends will be pleased to hear of my welfare. My whole time has been crowded. I have gone up the Nile to the First Cataract, passed through the land of Goshen, crossed the Red Sea, and gone on a canal to Sinai, and back through the desert of Suez; from Is mailia, I have been through the Suez Canal to Sow Said, and by steamer to Jaffa; and on horse-back, 1 have tra versed the Holy Land from Hebron to Casarea Philippi, and swept around Syria, crossing both ranges of Leba non, taking in the magnificent ruins of Baalbeck, and by steamer have come from Beirut to the Golden Horn, stopping at Cyprus and Rhodes, pass ing in sight of Patmos, standing by the tomb of Poly carp in Smyrna, and, running among the beautiful isles of Greece, have gazed on the site of Homer's Troy, and run up the channel of the Hellespont to this wonderful city. To-morrow, I expect to go, in a chartered steamer, up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea, and on Friday start for Athens. Thence by Venice and across the continent, I shall strive to make rapid strides to London, where I have engagements which will prob ably demand a fortnight, after which I sail for home, and hope to preach from my own pulpit, on the first Sun day in July. This condensed catalogue of names, holds the main history of the world, the cradle of civilization, the fields of man's mightiest efforts, and God's most glorious revelations, and the al tar of the Divine Sacrifice for human redemption. How can a tired man, who, for nine hours, has walked the hills on which Constantino's city stands, and examined its mightiest structures, write anything in detail at this time of night 1 The impressions made as this panorama of sacred seen ery has been spread before me are they not written in my note book, treasured in my eyes, and cherished in my heart ? My gratitude is un speakable. Little did I even dare to hope to see these lands, when I read of them in childhood, and mused of them in the pine woods of North Caro lina. But the kindness of my dear Church, and the gracious providence of the Heavenly Father, have brought me even this rare enjoyment, with held from so many better men. May the fruit of it appear in my remaining ministry ! But this I can truly say, that I have seen no sky more beautiful than that which I have often watched .hanging over Xorth Carolina, and no town more pleasant to dwell in than your own City of Oaks, and in every place, something has occurred,to remind me of something else that had occurred in the Old North State, in which I had manr a dark moment, as well as many a happy hour, out of which the Lord has brought me to stand in the City of the Great King; as I trust lie will bring me out of all this life, to stand in the New Jerusalem. A disheartening effect of travel in the East is produced by seeing the dissension of Christians.. Armed Turkish soldiers are necessary in Christian Churches to keep Christians from killing one another. Latins and Greeks hate each other more than ei ther hates the Turk. The Crimean war, you recollect, sprang from such a conflict in the Church at Bethle hem ! In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem, a place made abominable by Christian super stitions, idolatries, and impostures, I found myself spontaneously praying that the Lord would not let the sword of the prophet depart, until He had swept the miscreant monks from out His holy places. Churchism and sectarianism are the greatest enemies Christ has always had. When a Turk sees only wThat the Greek and Latin Churches have to offer, no wonder that he intelligently prefers to remain a Mohammedan. He sees there are worse things than Islam. But the truth as it is in Jesus, must prevail not only over superstition but over Churchism. In the Morgue of St. Sophia, I saw yesterday something to remember. You know it was the first great Christian Church. Over what was once the altar, high up in the roof of the apse, is a representa tion of Jesus with hands outstretched i blessing. It is in Mosaic. The Turk has tried to obliterate it and has so far succeeded that it is recognized with difficulty, but it is there, and there it must remain until other days shall allow hands to retouch the linea ments and remove the obscurations. So there is over one of the portals a brass on which is engraved an altar with an open Bible on which is an in scription in Greek. It is so high up that I could scarcely decipher but a few words, but I believe it tq be a quotation from the gospel of St. John. In divers out of the way places I dis covered the cross. Even acute Tur kish fanaticism has not been able to suppress that. believe in the irre pressible cross. The day is coming when it must be erected all over this empire. May it be Christ's Cross and not the Church cross ! But I am desperately tired, yet seem to be writing a book. Good night. My love to all my friends and my charity to all others. Keep your paper sweet and brotherly and relig ious. Never mind about being smart. Do all for Jesus and it will stand. All else will perish. The world seems smaller to me than ever, great men less than ever, rich men poorer than ever, and Jesus more than ever. Again, good-night. Faithfully yours, Charles F. Deems. Constantinople, 5th May, 1880. i i For the Advocate. Are all Children Entitled to Baptism ? BY REV. THOS. O. SUMMERS. I have been requested to answer this question in the Raleigh Christian Advocate : "Are all children entitled to baptism ?" I answer in the affirmative. I give as a sufficient reason, that all children are redeemed by Christ. The Holy Spirit is purchased for every child or man; and it cannot be wrong to exhibit the symbol of his gracious operations, in the case of every one who comes under his influence. Some postpone the baptism of chil dren till they are old enough to under sancl its importance, and to promise compliance with its obligations. But this is contrary to the analogy of circumcision the initiating; ordinance of the ancient Church which wTas ad ministered to'infantson the eighth day of their ag;e as earlv as it might be thought safe to administer "the bloody seal." Cyprian and the Bishop in council with him properly decided that baptism, being so simple a rite, may be administered before that age. Some allow infants to be baptized, provided one at least of their parents is a communicant in the Church but not otherwise. The exclusion of others arises from a misinterpretation of 1st Cor. vii. 14, and other places. There is no interdict of the sort in the New Testament. Such wouTd be contrary to the analogy of circumcision,and the practice of the early Church. Masters circumcised their slave-children, with no reference to their parentage. Guardians had their wards baptized with no reference to their parents, dead or alive, Christian, capital, or heathen. In the early UJiurch a sponsor was required for every one baptized. Pa rents naturally acted as sponsors for their own children. But in other cases, as Augustine says, others acted as soonsors "as when slaves were i. presented to baptism by their Masters; or children whose parents were dead, were brought by the charity of any one who would show mercy on them; or children exposed by their parents, which were sometimes taken up by the holy virgins of the Church, and by them presented unto baptism." Augustine properly observes that "children were presented to baptism not so much by those in whose hands they were brought, though by them too, if they were good and faithful persons, as by the whole society of the saints and faithful the whole Church was their mother." This is equally true and beautiful. There is something so repulsive in the rule which excludes children from baptism if their parents are derelict, that it is not to be wondered at that the communions which hold this view endeavor to modify it in its practical operation. Thus some have introduced the law of Atavism an ingenious figment, which opens the door to all children in Christendom! If a child's ances tor any ancestor was a Christian, then by this elastic lawr of Atavism, the child is admitted to baptism ! I am generally opposed to fictions, sub terfuges, pious frauds, and the like; but if a Reformed minister will baptize infants on the ground of Atavism, I would rather see him suffer the little ones to come thus to Christen this or dinance, than to deny them the right to come. It does not follow from this, that baptism is to be administered in discriminately to all, young or old, who may come, or be brought, to bap tism. Baptism is not a farce it is not a mere form "a five minute's cere mony" it is a solemn sacrament of the Church. All who are baptized are initiated into the Church : They are matriculated in the school of Christ and this implies that some must be re sponsible for their culture and care. It would be useless to put the mark of the shepherd upon the tender lamb, and then turn him loose without the shepherd's oversight. He must be placed in the fold, led to pasture and stream, and be protected from beasts of prey. The nurslings of the household of faith must have kind, material atten tions they must be fed with food convenient for them every member of the lamily, as far as circumstances will allow, must contribute to their comfort, and growth, and healthful development. Let this be done in all our Churches, and within a generation or two, every Antipedobaptist gun will be spiked. Nashville, Tenii., May 20th, 1880. For the Advocate. jNotes From The West- Messrs Editors : I am now on my second round on the bhelby District. I find the Churches, as a rule,in a pros perous condition and the preachers laboring: with a zeal worthy of the cause m winch tney are engaged. Within the last decade, the advance of Methodism in all her interests in this country has been truly remarkable, and it does not require a prophets ken to see that her triumphs within the next ten years will be still more glorious. The Church is growing in spirituality, increasing in liberality, the line of demarkation between the Church and the world is being more distinctly drawn, and, as in the past year or two, the people are being con verted and are flocking as doves to her windows. If our legislators had the moral courage to legislate whiskev out of the State the march of the srospel would be greatly facilitated and the material prosperity of the I country would be increased an hun dred fold. Just at this point a question arises which is worthy the consideration of every member of the Church. Why is it, that Christian men will persist in sending men to legislate for them who are immoral themselves, and who are ever ready to lend their influence to those who are engaged in the liquor traffic, and to legalize crime in other directions? It is high time for the better class of our citizens to ig nore the actions of those political con ventions that bring forward such men as their candidates and expect good men to do violence to their conscience by voting for them. We have chris tion men in every county in the State, who are every way competent to .fill all the offices of trust within the gift of the people, and if political conven tions will continue to ignore such men and bring forward men who "neither fear God nor regard man," let Christian people take their interest in their own hands and select those for office who have in them the true elements of Statesmanship.. Some politicians who expect to be before the people very soon in search of office, have been seen on first class coaches with their demijohns, drink ing themselves and treating others,and that, too, in the presence of ladies and children. From such officials may the good Lord ever deliver. If intemperance is the only path leading to high official positions in this coun try what may we expect of young men who are ambitious, and are looking forward in their collegiate studies to these positions? There are signs of material prosperi ty through all this section of the State. Iron, mica, and gold mines which have been idle for year6, are being reopened and some of them are yield ing handsome profits. Farming is conducted more on scientific principles than formerly, and many of the worn out lands are being brought back into a high state of cultivation. The wheat crop is very promising. To bacco is being cultivated, and man ufactured to some extent, and promises to be a source of considerable reven ue. Great interest is being manifested on the subject of education. More schools are in successful operation in this district than in any other portion of the State embracing the same pop ulation. The most prominent are: Rutherford College, with two hundred students, a good corps of professors, and a curriculum equal to other and more pretentions institutions; Kings Mountain, under the management of Capt. W. T. R. Bell, a gentleman of fine culture and high Christian char acter, with about an hundred students; Denver Academy, Prof. D. Matt. Thompson, A. M. Principal, a man of fine Christian character and schol- arly attainments; Shelby High School under Professors White and Sharpe, with about one hundred students, Prof. Royster and lady of Rutherford, county who conduct a large and ex cellent school; Prof. Johnston, Marion, and Messrs. Blain and Ivy at nickory, with others equally deserving of men tion. All these schools are worthy of patronage, and with two exceptions, are conducted by members of our Church. J. S. Nelsox. Happy Home, N. C, May 21st, 1880. Southern Methodist Items. Dr. Lipscomb, of the Vanderbilt, is at Athens, Ga., in very feeble healh. Senator Thurman is ot the Lynchburg Thurman family. His father was a Methodist preacher, and his mother was an exeellent woman. The Senator be longs to no church. In 1866, before the division of the Georgia Conference, (which was once a part of the South Carolina Conference), the Metohdist in Georgia numbered 54 000 whites, Now, only thirteen years later, the North and South Georgia Conferences number 88,983. In the little State of South Carolina,, where this denomination is scrcely a century old, the membership, exclusive of baptized children, as shown by the recent report of their Statistical Secre tary, numbers 44,791, with 166 travel ing, and 153 local preachers. The number of adults admitted by baptism alone in th communion of the M. E Church, within the bounds of the South Carolina Conference, during the year just closing, is 11,308. The denomination has within the bounds of the South Carolina Conference, 497 Sabbath-schools, with 5,045 teachers, and 22,057 scholars. They have raised in South Carolina during the year' 1879 tor their wornout preachers and the widows and orphans of deceased preachers, $4,868.50. They have raised in the same terri tory during the year (1879) for mis sions (exclusive ot the amount raised by the Woman's Misssionary Societies) $6,905.52. .Er. STATISTICS OF THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH After much toil and travail I have edited the Minutes of the Annual Con ferences of 1879. They are ready for the printer. Here is the numerical re sult : Traveling preachers (including supernumeraries), 3,549 increase,92, superannuated, 318 increase,12 ; local preachers, 5,833 increase, 71 ; white members, 814,301 increase 31,090 ; colored, 1,202 decrease, 226; Indians 4,923 increase, 225 ; total ministers and members, 830,126-net increase 31, 264. Infants baptized, 28,011 increase 2,962; adults baptized, 49,798 in crease, 11,727; Sunday-schools, 7,941 increase, 1,167 ; teachers, 58,528 increase, 3,661 ; scholars, 421,137 in crease, 29,844 ; collected for Conference-claimants, $66,833 72 increase, $6,407 91 ; for Foreign and Domestic Missions, as reported through Confer ences alone, $129,713 47 increase, $19,162 30. The preachers who were discontinued (37) and those who were located (63) are not counted those who were admitted on trial (223) and those who were re-admitted (28) are counted among the traveling preachers, though many of them are also reckoned with the local preachers. Our colored mem--bers have been nearly all absorbed in the Colored M. E. Church, and other organizations. Thos. 0. Summers. Publishing House, April, 1880. ii An exchange says that Senator Thur man is not, as reported, a Presbyterian not a member of any Church. His father was a Methodist preacher, and his mother one of the best women that any Methodist preacher ever had for his wife. He belongs to the Lynchburg Thurmans, than -whrni there are no sounder Methodists.
North Carolina Christian Advocate (Greensboro, N.C.)
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June 2, 1880, edition 1
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