American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1866-04-14

= Bishop Early formally srecsived into oui
Ecclesiastical connection this Conference
consisting of one hundred andsioursnjnr
listers and membership Of twelve thous.
and. M M "a
Itis agratsful duty tovelcome these
brethren amongus and to commend them
to the confidence and affection Of our PEG,
pie. This is large accession to our mem.
!; bers and teSitory. II is also testimony
in our favor that is nobly borne by men
whose former position and long delibsra.
ton upon the subject. as well as their
known intelligence, will entitle i to spe.
cial respect. In our hearts we welcome
them. and cordially extend to them the
right hand Of fellowship. 7g 1G Sd
As a fact Of interest to us and Of prom.
Use to our future influence we may state.
that in the city, Of Baltimore there. have
been organized several flourishing church.
upon an independent basis, composed Of
Methodists whose warm, sympa.hies are
with us, and whose liberal kindness has
already contributed largely to aid us in our
time Of need. laying US under obligations
by their love and good works. -
Our educational interests have been
greatly damagedby the war, and nearly all
Of our male institutions have been closed.
Providentially many of ourfemale institu.
tions have been kept in operation. and are
still dispensing the blessings of sanctifed.
education to the daughters of our land.
Everything in our power should be done
to revive. as speedily as possible. the male
institutions under the patronage Of our
church. i.o- go a .yrl
In this connection we specially bring to
your attention the importance of an insti.
tute for the proper training Of young
preachers. That we should make some
proper arrangements for the more thor
ough training OF our young men before
they are received into the Conferences
and sent forth to minister 10 the Church
Of Christ. appears to us to be SO obvious
as to need no argument to prove il. 1t
behooves US to take this matter into seri
GUS and immediate consideration and Sc.
cure TO the church the invaluable advan.
tages the provisions we suggest can only
supply. ttr
The instruction ofthe children under our
care and the interest of our Sabbath
School system cannot be too highly appre
ciated by you. Your body will. we hope.
show your love for these little ones Of
Christ and lambs bis hock by the prac
teal value Of your action in their behalf.
We think it unnecessary to enlarge on a
point of such obvious and vital concern to
the church. Let us remember that it is
only by taking care of the children tina,
we can take care Of the future prosperity
of the church. q -+
II we are to judge from the tone Of the
religious press and the action Of many Of
our conferences. great concern is felt in re-
spect to certain changes in our economy.
1t is obviously unbecoming in US as Bsh
ops 10 occupy any other than an impartial
relation to those matters. But We take
this occasion to urge upon yoi the import.
ance Of giving these subjects your sober
and prayerful consideration. From our ex-
tensive observation Of the state and wants
Of the church, we hesitate not to say that
some improvement of our economy may be
wisely undertaken at this time. Well for
us il we can happily avoid extremes and |
do neither too little nor too much. Let US
remember that while innovations are not
Mt necessarily improvements. wisdom may de
mand in the department Of ecclesiastical !
expediency new applications and develop
ments Of Fundamental principles. The Eff
cheney Of Methodism finds its frs; condi-
ton in the prevalence Of deep spiritual
life and alterations ia. our economy are
valuable as they coincide with this condi-
ton, calamitous when they ignore il. On
only oae Of the points suggested do we re-
gard it becoming 10 our position TO speak
directly, and that is in respect to The in
crease Of the number Of the Bishops. For
such an increase as will give The church a !
more efficient episcopacy we think there
is an urgent necessity. The in6rmities Of
age press heavily upon some Of us and di.
minish our abilis5 to answerto the demands
Of the work for general episcopal visitation,
The great and increasing extent Of our ter
ritory should be considered. We should
by all means have Bishop. for obvious
reasons, residing on the Pacific coast
And while We do not recommends Bishop
for every State or Conference, we are fully /
persuaded that the number Of Bishops
should be increased so as to enable them 10
be pastors Of The people as well as chiaf<
men Of conferences and pastors Of the
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