euttopants.
LETTER FROM TEE HOLY LAND. X.
BY REV. EDWARD PAYSON HAMMOND
It is akonishing what vast numbers of pil
grims annually visit the Jordan prior to the Holy
Fire festival of the Greek Church. Joseph Du-
puis, formerly a vice consul in Tripoli, states that
in 1853 he joined a party of these devotees,
chiefly members of the Greek and Russian
Churches, which numbered about eight thousand
The custom is still kept up, and several thousand
every year, on 'the Monday of passion week, paiess
their way down the wild pass from Jeim6aldra to
the site of ancient Gilgal. They are 'acconatd-
nied by the Turkish governor of Jerusalem, or
bis depu t ty, with an armed escort to drive away
the' robbers,—wbo still, as in the days of the
6 Good Samaritan," prowl along the road-side in
Search of plunder. The great number who thus
visit the Jordin can but remind beholders of the
scene witnessed' eighteen centuries ago, whert
"John did baptize in• the Wilderness, and there
Went out unto him, all the land of Judea, and
they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him
in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins:"
- .
The travellers, having bivouacked the first
night at Gilgal, long , before the break of day,
are of torches e seen amidst the'darkness
of the night, moving slowly towards the banks of
the Jordan—to the traditional spot where Christ
was baptized by John. There, after having, most
of them, clothed themselves in white robes, which
they ever afterwards sacredly preserve for their
winding sheets, they plunge into the swift cur
rent. If these robes shroud their dead bodies,
they are sure of entering Heaven. Alas, we Thar
that few of them are taught of the wedding gar
ment, which Christ has wrought out, and with
out which they can never be admitted to the
marriage supper of the Lamb. •
Pathera and mothers are there seen, with their,
little ones„ and often with a tender infant in their
arms solemnly immersing, one by one of their
offspring, in the sacred Waters. If these pa-
rents but had the Bible in their; hands from
which they could read: "The blood of Jesus
Christ His Son eleanseth us from all sin," would
they, not spend more time in telling their little
ones of that " fountain opened for sin and for
uncleanness," and less time and money in useless
pilgrimages to the Jordan ?
On the fifth of December, with' the warm
bright sun shining upon us we turned - bur faces
towards to that part, of the river where . it is•'be
lieved our Lord was baptized. Our way = led
through a pleasant vale, called the valley of Gil
gal ; but, though Joshua speaks of " Gilpl in,
the east border of Jericho," yet,•neither at Riha
nor at any place east of it, could we discover any
vest;ge of Gilgal, but it was pleasant to. reflect
that we possibly passed over the spot where the
Tabernacle was first set up, after the children of
Israel reached the Land of Promise, and where
it remained until it was transferred to Shiloh.
(Josh. 1.) Where also Saul was made
king, and where the tribe of Judah came to wel
come back David from his wanderings. (2 Sam.
six: 15.)
Although in Deut. xxxiv: 3; Jericho is called
"the city of palm trees," yet neither upon its
site nor in all that part of the valley of the Jor
dan did we discover a single palm tree. The
only one we remember to have seen was at Tibe
rias on the sea of Galilee. I should have men
tioned that we drank that morning of the sweet
waters from the " fountain of Elisha." This
spring is named for the Prophet because it is be
lieved that through his agency it was miraculous
ly sweetened. (2 Kings. ii: 19, 22.) Hating
arrived at the banks of the Jordan we were first
struck with its swift and muddy appearance.
We could well see the significance of its name
Jordan, which means "the descender." We were
also impressed with the greatness of the miracle,
When its waters were suddenly'arrested, that the
children of Israel might pass over on dry land,
and when the potent mantles of Elisha and Elijah
divided them. As the Jordan has so often been
compared to 'the river of death, it was natural
that when we beheld it, we should have been re
minded of that river which all must cross ere
they reach the shining shore of Heaven. Seve
ral of us joined in singing the well-known hymn—
" Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood
Stand dressed in living green,
So to the Jews old Canaan stood,
While Jordan rolled between."
We followed the example of nearly all visitors
to the Jordan, by bathing in its turbid waters.
As the weather was extremely mild, we expected
to find the water corresponding, but to our as
tonishment it was as cold as ice -water; and as we
turned our eyes away to Lebanon, covered with
snow, we were made aware by that chilling bath
that the waters around us had but recently left
their!wintry home, of t that cold mountain side;
nevertheless we were entirely immersed beneath
the waves. We did not, however, venture in the
centre Of the swift current, where too many have
loit their lives, but'contented ourselves in remain : -
),
fag in the more shallow waters.
We could - not faillo ifotiCe-the effect produced
by. ((the swelling of : the Jordan," for, all .along
its banks where the water annually;overflows, ye - -
getation is quite luxuriant. In Joshua iii. 15
we are told, "Jordan overflowe,th all his banks
THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1867.
• ,
all the time, of harvest." , This overflowing,ho*-
ever, is not at all like that of the Nile. The
banks of the Jordan are rather filled than: over
flowed; in fact the word translated... , ovetyloweth
in the passapAtt , quoted from Joshua is liter
ally
. filleth. After filling a bottle with the Jor
dan's water .to show to our friends in America,
and gathering a few flowers and smooth stones,
we turned south to the Dead Sea. It was as warm as
summer, and we could hardly realize that you in
America were muffled in furiaMid WintEM'shoWi.
r rrro •
The valley which we were then passing, is reck
oned by some modern geologists to be the lowest
land upon the face of the globe, of course not in
cluding the bottoms of mines.
,Cone writer makes
it 3000 feet lower than Jerusalern, and 1300 feet
below the level of the Mediterranean. .This a°-
, counts for its excessive heat during the summer
months.
After a delightful ride of a few hours, over a
level plain, we reached the sparkling waters of
the Dead Sea. We had not expected to see such
beautiful, transparent water. Having read that
no bird had ever been known to fly across this pea
and live, we were surprised to see standing upon
its edge a • large and beautiful bird: MiChael,
our dragoman, made' an unsuccessful attempt to
shoot it. Startled at the report of the gun, it
spread its broad, red-lined' wings, and sailed away
over the sea, to the opposite shore. We never
stood on the beach of the Atlantic, upon a warm
day in summer, when its waters looked more
tempting, and we were not long in deciding that
we would, each of us, ladies included, enjoy a .cool
ing bath. We were soon among the breakers,
which the strong south wind rolled in upon us.
From the accounts we had, read, the excessive,
density of those bituminous, waters,me had ex
pected to find it difficult to keep beneath the
surface so as to be able to swim; fput I did not
find the4least difficulty
,in enjoying a good swim.
Without some effort, I. am inclined to think I
should not have found it easy to float upon the
surface. Suddenly, in the_midst of the ablutions;
a wave, higher than, the rest, dashed over my
head, and had innumerable .needles' at ,that time,
penetrated my eyes, it seemed to, me I could not,
have experienced more severe, pain. I quickly ;
turned and, swam to the shore, almost, frantic,
with pain. pleanwhile, Dr. Smith was lying
upon, his back with his Testament in his hand
and trying to read ,it while, floating- upon the
He called me tnget an AMERICAN PRES
BYTERIAN from my coat pocket upon the beach;
and see if I could do likewise.. ..I was , foolish!
enough, to attempt it., While thus side by side,
upon the water, with, , our reading matter held ,
high up in our hands, all at once Dr. Smith
found himself rolling over, ankin the twinkling
of an-eye his New 7'estantent was , beneath the
waters of the Dead Sea, and his eyes smarting so,
severely that he cried aloud in, agony. I could not
refrain from laughing at 'his ludicrous appearance,
but before I knew it I found myself in as ridicu
lous a position. Convulsed with laughter, I
found it impossible to " keep right side up with
care," and in a moment the AMERICAN PRES
BYTERIAN was beneath the waters. We did not
attempt a second time to read while bathing in
the Dead Sea. Such was the pecUliar nature of
the water that that paper did not become dry for
several weeks; some of our clothes, also, were
many days in drying. Nevertheless we all en
joyed our bath extremely. We did not forget to
'secure a bottle of this peculiar water, `aiid also
some of the beautiful pebbles from the
_beach,
which glisten like diamonds in the sunshine.
A word or two about this wonderful sheet of
water, of which so much has Been written, may
be new to some of your readers. It is about 50
miles long and .12 broad, so Dr. fßobinson. says,
but Prof. Porter states that it' is but 40 miles
long and 81 broad, narrowing to 5 ~n3iles at its
northern extremity, where it is in some places
1300 feet in depth, whereas the ten miles' at the
southern end are only 13 feet deep. The doomed
cities. of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is supposed,
stood upon that, southern It prohable ,
that when the ea.rthquake took place, which very
likely acccompanied the rain of fire from heaven,
[ 'the deep waters of the sea north of. Sodom sud
denly flowed over the subsiding, burning cities
with their surrounding country. Some, indeed,
have believed they could discover the remains, of
cities far down in the deep toward the southern
shore.
" By this sea's dark shore as the wanderer strays,
When the soft, bright eve's declining,
He sees the round towers of other ,days,
In the waves beneath him, shining."
Oh, how solemn and vivid appeared that descrip
tion in Gen. xis : as we read it upon the borders of
the Dead Sea. How sad must.have heen the heart of
Lot, when in spite of all his entreaties to his sons-in
law, pleading with them to escape for their life, he
"seemed to them as one Who mocked." But when
"the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah,
brimstone and fire from the Lord clued Heaven,
and overthrew those cities and all the. plain, and
all the inhabitants of the cities," then they real;
ized the terrible truth of their father!s warning.
Every where in our journey throligh Palestine,
we had seen how deeply the curse of God rested
upon the land, but nowhere had we.' felt, this so
strongly as during our visit to the Dead Sea.
God grant that we may be ever mindful that this
world in which:we , live is one day , to be destroyed
by fire. ~ May we 'heed the warning :
But th'e day of tke Lord Will cOmeas a thief
in the night : in the which the heavens shall pass
away with a. great noise., and the elements shall
melt with, fervent, heat, the eartA also and the
works that are therein shall bwined ••up.
Seeing then, that all theSel things shall' be, di,sJ
solved, what manner of pergons ought ye to 66 in
all holy convirsdipm and godliness.
Loo,king for _and hosting unto the coming of
the day of'Ma; wherein the heavens being on. fire,
shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
foment heat?
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look
for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness.
Wh, ere:foelbelO*l, l ' See:iim fa i t ye ny'ayi 10616 Lori
such diligent that ye nay be found`of j
him in peace, without spot, and blameless. (2 Peter,
iii : - •
FROM OUR. ROCHESTFROORRESPONDENT.,
ANOTHER LABORER GONE
Mrs. Marietta Inglaan,i, one, of the founders of
the Ingham University at Le Roy, departed this
life,on Monday last, at the age of 69 Jears. She
was born in Lyme, Ct.;. lived for a time, in her
early womanhood, in Pittsfield, Mass., but came
in 1835, with her younger sister, now . Mrs.
Stannton, the Piin c ciptil •of Ingham University, to
Attica to establish.i.FeinalerSeminary. By her
own exertions she:had•educated,this youngersis
ter, and had gathered means with which to start
the school which together they.had projected.
After laboring two years successfully in Attica,
they were induced by the earnest entreaties - and
offers : of pecuniary assistance ; :from citizens of
Le Roy, to remove their school to.the.latter place,
and there it soon' grew into large proportions and
great influence;, and there
,it has ,continued for
thirty years, until the graduates of its ,entire
course number 250, and more than 4000 pupils
have been under instruction within its walls.
Mrs. Ingham was,eiclowefl with strong mind,
great force of ,character ; and-remarkable business
capacity. She was ;the treasurer, provider, and
general, manager. for the Institution, while her
sister, Mrs. Staunton, had
, charge of the depart
ment of Instruction; and ,so;the two have labored
together-, with unwearied. fidelity and, devotion,
until this large. and flourishing Seminary is the
enduring monument of-theirlife-long consecration
to the cause of female' cducatiou. , . •
Mrs. Ingham. died, of consumption, and was .a
great sufferer for . many weeks before the end: eame,
yet she retained her faculties, and her interest in
all the ;things around her, almost to the last. She
was buried on Thursday, the ,6th, inst., in the
family burial,spot of the, Seminary grounds, at
tended to her last resting-place by the scholars
of the school in mournful 'procession, as well, as
by citizens of the place, and by friends, from
abroad. A very admirable funeral sermon was
previowly preached in the chapel of the TJniver
sity, by_Rcv. Dr:l4lo9ns, a professor, in the In
stitution, which 'yvi'highly complimeoaryito the,
character of the deceased, of whom we should
•gladly write much more if our limited space did
not forbid. Some able pen will doubtless do jus
tice to her memory in some more enduring man-:
HOUGHTON SEMINARY
The catalogue of this excellent and flourishing
Seminary for Young Ladies, located at Clinton,
has come to hand, and shows that something over
one hundred students have been in attendance
during the past year. Its annual examination
commences on Monday, 24th instant, and its-An
niversary exercises at 10 o'clock on Wednesday.
The address before the Barrett Browning Society
is to be given by Rev. Dr. Hawley, of Auburn
THE , ROCHESTER AGENCY
The fourteenth annual report of thp Rochester
Agency of the American Tract Society has just
been issued. , It shows receipts from donations
,and legacies in this field of X 51 0 ,610, being an in-.
crease of $lOOO over the pievlous year. Publi
cations circulated, nearly twenty millions of
pages, valued at $40,000. The total business of
the agency amounts to $60,000, being $12,000
over the preceding year. The store is in charge
of 0. D. Grosvenor, as usual, who is also the Su
perintendent of Colportage. , Rev. W. V. Couch
is the District Secretary; and 11ev. E. F. Owen
'General Agent in the same field.
COMMEMORATIVE
The " Half Century Commdmorative Exer
cises" of the Presbytery of Ontario have been
published from the office of the Rochester Demo
crat. It makes a beautiful pamphlet, of fiftx
four pages, containing the sermon preached on
the occasion by Rev. Joseph It. Page, of Perry,•
sketches of some fifteen or twenty speeches by
other clergymen who were present, together with
two original hymns sung at the time, and
origi
nal music to accompany, one of them: Alto
gether it makes an attractive pamphlet, and will
be especially valuable to all in this region for fu
ture reference..
The good people of Canandagua are moving
toward the building of a new Congregational
church. The plan is to have one worth about
$60,000, to be located, we believe, on the site of
the old one. Several meetings have been held
on the subject, and some progress made =toward
plans and subscriptions for the purpose; but the
last we heard, it was not probable that the house
would be built this year.
The Congregational church in Henrietta are
also planning to build. It will be remembered
that their church edifice was burned down.. last
winter. The, new one is to .be built 'on the old
site,, the same size as the
_one burnt, 40 by , 60,
and to cost about $7000., ..The job is in the
'hands of Mr, Hiram Kingsbury; an experienced
builder of this city.
Rev. Sylvester Cowles, of Randolph, is about
to take charge of the Presbyterian church Of
L : Gowareda, in the same Presbytery.
Rev. Dwight Scovel, of Lakeville, has received
and accepted a call to the Presbyterian church of
Hendon, and is to enter at once upon his rallirs
in the new field. GENESEE.
ROCHESTER, N. Y., June 7, 1867.
FRAGMENTS - ,FROM THE JOURNAL OF A
AiIMIONARt TOUR IN INDIA, V.
DECEMBER. 22.—1 n exploring the villages of a,
mountainous region to-day, quite upon the sum
mit Fr came upon an old., monastery of large di-
mensions: I'did not measure its outer walls, but
they could not have been less than 250 yards
square, with interior rooms and accommodations
for at least 1000 inmates. It .enclosed beautifill
and costly temples to the gods Samba and Sidesli
wur, ally in a perfect State, uninjured by time;
only a few broken- images showed the- innate
hatred•to such gods, of the Mussulman iconoclasts,
when they Prevailed in this part of India fOur or
five , centuries ago. . .
The Swami or chief occupant of the MOnas
tery ' was 'absent, and from. his dull disciples I
could gather nothing of importance of the history
or fcirmer object or uses of the monastery; and 'I
have seen' no allusion to it in any published state
teciats or historical records of this part a India.
Among the villages visited to:day was Girgav,
whence a band of 200 men rushed down to Kola
poor in the Mutinous outbreak of 1857, 'armed
Only with reaping hooks and a few rude weapons,
but ready to peril life and every thing in a mad
attempt to 'banish or destroy their British rulers.
Only a small' audience gathered to - hear me in
Girgav, but these seemed impressed with the
truth, and freely'admitted their convictions.
Native offerings to the idols in the form' of ru
pees imbedded.in the temple steps, are very com
mon in all this region. At the lage of Yewti
were 12 rupees imbeded in the temple steps of
the god Jotiba; at Baley, 10 rUpees. At Hi
raTdey, 25 rupees to the god 'Nursoloa. At
Has°Or, 4 rupees, with new and costly brass idols'
by. the sideof their old stone gods. At Shiroli,
I counted `47 rupees in the temple steps, and at
Bhampta, 200 rupees, inlaid, not; in the stone
steps, but in costly and rnost; durable wood, ar
.
ranged permanently just in front of the god Joii
ba in a very large and costly temple. I wonder
if it' is capable of clear demonitration that Chris
tianity inspires more costly gifts and sacrifices in
its behalf than Hinduism does ?
Iltram, December
,-23. Perhaps by this
time you are able to appreciate our remark made
in the beautiful bungalow atKagul, at the outset
of our tour, that if you would gain an accurate
idea of touring life in India you must join our
party r not fora day or two, and in such a delight
ful garden merely, 'but keep with us add share
our varying fare month after month.
How nice it would be to have a dear old friend
like yOurself along with us on such a tour as this.
And then the stern realities of the work, the
burning sun and many discomforts of the way,
whether travelling or halting, the hard toil of
this downright grappling with heathenism in' its
strongholds,—all come thronging up to remind
me how very superficial are the best views of this
work ever obtained by the best of men, who make
only a temporary visit to our, missions, limiting
observation mainly to gathered churches and the
larger stations, and shielded from all exposure
and discomfort by the ceaseless care, kindness,
vigilance, and forethought of loving hearts, whose
generous hospitality too often leaves a false. im
pression on the minds of their guests for thelal
ance of tifeir lives.
Don't think ine opposed to "Deputations." I
wish with all my heart I could have the senior
brother of the ablest deputation that ever visited .
us from America keep close by my side through
such a tour as this, both when able to find shelter
from the sun, and when exposed to its burning
heat, sharing in our village fare, and the unceas
ing mental and heart exercise of trying to en
lighten these dark-minded idolaters, and bring
God's' truth to bear on their minds and hearts to
their conviction and salvation. If he could de
vise means for this object more effective than we
have yet discovered, would we not thank God on
his behalf ? And if he came to feel that our
best hope is with the young, and find his heart
yearning to bring . these more pliant minds under
the, daily teaching of God's truth, would we blame.
hini? 0 for men of earnest souls and true zeal
and love, to give themselves to this work, and
bring God's blessed truth in any and, all ways to
bear on the minds and hearts of these idolaters
so that they shall believe and be saved.
At this village of Huldi, our best shelter from
the burning sun is a small, low temple of the
goddess Ambahac. Though the, great 'shrine of
this goddess is in Kolap,oor, yet she has a temple,
larger or smaller, in.almost every. village of the
Kolapoor kingdom. This is so low that we have
knocked our heads cruelly against the roof, but
are most grateful for, its protection from the in
,
tense heat.
Despite the deep innate and inwrought super
.
stitions of the people in all this region, we are
struck with their readiness to let us occupy their
temples andcome•in contact with ,their idols to
an extent never tolerated in strictly British ter
ritory. Here we all are in this little temple—the
priest himself swept it out and got it ready for
us. We eat our fowls, (when wia can get them)
and common food here, wear 0017 shoes. and boots
—a great deffietnent of the templa-iellindu esti-
Ination—our children sit down on the carved
stone, just in front of the idol, to count the nine
shining rupees embedded in it, as native offerings,
and our little boy sits upon it to eat his dinner,
innocent of any harm ilk so doing; and with : all
this before them, neither priest nor people take
any offence.
And yet, when touring some years ago with
brother Munger in the Ahmed.nuggur field, I re
member he was violently assaulted, elided, and
thrust ; out of, a temple by an insolent, Brahman,
merely for stepping' inside to look at it: Why
this difference? Is it the excessive deference
paid by the British. Government and officials to
Hindu idols and superstitions'? Have 'the Hin
dus learned to take advantage of this deference
to magnify their gods and temple-rites By _this
needless, foolish deference, - as well as by its offi
cial acts, and large patronage, has the British
Government fostered and warmed these vile su
perstitions into a. measure of vitality they never
otherwise would have had. It is sad to think so,
but if ithis is not the reason of the difference in
question,, what is ? ,* * *
DECEMBER 25.--Beerd.—This is the first
capital' of the Kolapoor kingdom of which we
have any' knowledge. Here .old IySin,g, a Chutra
king,• Iteld• his court nine centuries ago. It is
now . a small town, of - not more than 2000. An
audience of 52 men gathered to hear me, and
listened most attentively to my preaching.
At the neighboring village of Mhia, I observed
anotherinstance of deification. The temple
small and not imposing in finish or appearance,
but the principal idol being evidently a modern
figure and of.. recent workmanship, led me, to
make inquiries, which elicited the faet that Suko
ji Petit built it and had his'statim enshrined in
it just' before his deatli,sa, few years since—that
his, immediate friends and rattily were the, only
worshippers for a tinm, but now.allregaxd it, as a
,
veritable god, and make offerings and worship as
to any other shrine. * * *
-FEBILUATOr 4, 1867.--Sunibhapooi.You
'will
note the long interval from ouvehristmai at the
old capital. at Kolapoor and the,date here given.
The explanation is simply that we can work faster
than we can write=rnake journals 'faster than we
can record' them. :By the Way, you inustßein
phasize %Fragments, in. the' runititi,g` title 'of these
sketches.
We, spent ,our. precious ," Week of Prayer"
with our little band of Christians in, -Kolapoor,
and manage to keep up most of our station dirties
there though still prosecuting' our villagework. I
say a word .of this village;-SumbhapClor, Vocalise I
find •here an instance of hnman,deificationta little
more notorionsthan any .I hove:beforementioned.
The temple is,very large. and costly,Adol, of
brass, very large and impbsing; being the statue
of a king in his' royal robes. - On'. 'either - Side 'are
the statues of aimed attendants; and on each side
of,the outer door of the temple .are [Statues of
several soldiers in full armor, as if 13 till standing
on guard. I find the solution of all this to be
that, a former king of fc.ols,poor, named Sumbhaji,
great-groodfo.ther. of 'mit. .Kind . Shiva...B., just de
ceased, ,died on this,spot aftera reign-of.-4 years..
He had been visiting some .. of.. the more distant
towns and provinces of .his, kingdom, and, was, re
turning to his caPital, "Aen diseases of long
standing,increased in force ''difdllie died' id 'his
tent, pitched. on 'this spot. " Among his dying'
rections was the, choice of an heir to succeed him,
with strict injunction's and .arrorgempnts for, the
building of this temple, ,i
the:preparaiion of the,
statues, the consecration and nstallingothis'' own'
statue, as also an annual grant tO pay the'priests
and servants of the temple and secure the per
formance of his daily, worship in perpouo. His
commands were executed—the temple built at
enormous expense, the' statues Made, consecrated
and enshrined, the present village of Sumbhapoor
.soon sprang , up -around the temple, taking its
name from the deceased king, and though Sum-.
bhaji died 106 years , ago, everything has ,been
perpetuated—priests, attendants and daily wor
ship—and the annual allo*a.neels COntirinCil from
the treasury of the Kolapooil GoVernithent. The
bearing of such cases on the origin. of the Hindu
gods, such as Krishnu, Rama, Marooti A and others
is
,obvious, ond shouldhave its etl?pt Or mind;
Of intelligent Hindus themseiveS. Bilt it is 'just
as true of them as of President jehitiOn 7 that
"A man convinced against his will
Clings to the same opinion,itill."
• • .. •
I find the heat increasing; and am admonished
not to risk exposure in the villages much longer.
In the service of: he Gospel, , , ,
Yours sincerely, G. Wv,Dgrt.
CONVENTIONS IN CARLISLE, PA
DEAR SIR :—We have been 'trying, to find
time to send you an account of our. Conventions.
First, we held on April 23d, a Temperance Con
vention, composed of-delegates from the churches
and various Temperance organizations in the
Counties of Cumberland, Nrry, Mifflin, and Ju
niata. 'On Wednesday, P. M. the meeting in
our church, of ,the various Sabbath Schools was
exceedingly interesting. Among them was our
colored school of nearly two hundred' members.
The Pledge has been signed by all of our white
and colored. Sunday Schools, with the' exception
of six members. s
We supply our school with the Temperance
Banner, and have obtained.some :fifty.: names for
the Temperance Advocate. We feel the influ
ence of the Temperance Revival, which is passing
over the land, and desire to fan the flame. .
Our County Sabbath School Convention opened
May Ist, at 10 o'clock, A. M. Mr. Walton, of
Philadelphia, was with us. Mr. Harland, of the
Sunday ,Sehool Union, And Mr. Purdee, of New
York, were our principal speakers :. , ,May we
long feel the influence of the truths they.,uttered,
and the enthusiasm they enkindled: Many cler
&men and Superintendents of Sunday Schools
were in attendance from different parts of our
county.
The gathering together of our Sabbath Schools
on Wednesda,y,R. M., was a great.success. With
them caul, our Freedmen's School, which led of
in both 'singing and answering qUestions. men
tion this to yon, sir ;:fOr I . know Your heart is in
our , wOrk. We , may seim:to move slowly, but
we are doing what we can. Respectfully,
P. M. Y. WING