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MISSIONARY ANNIVERSARY.

WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPT. 5.

     The Treasurer of the Society made his report, after which Dr. Fowler was introduced, and addressed the congregation as follows:
     There are 700,000,000 needing the Bread of Life. For the Church to send the Gospel to this great number is a vast enterprise. Nineteen centuries of work has been done, and still the Church is in the minority. But there are those in this congregation who will live to see the Gospel preached to every creature.
     IT TAKES A LONG TIME TO GET AN IDEA INTO THE HEAD OF THE RACE. Fifty generations from the promise of Christ to the fulfillment. How long it took Christ's disciples to comprehend that His kingdom was spiritual, and look from the narrow limits of Palestine and take in the whole world.

SOME OF THE OBJECTIONS TO MISSIONS.
     1. Some think missionary work is a side issue.
     2. So many heathen here.
     3. So far away that we cannot afford to help them.
     4. It costs so much.
     5. But we don't know where the money goes to.

REASONS FOR MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE:
     I. Work is God's way of making saints.
     2. The heathen will perish without the law.

     THE WHOLE MASS OF PROTESTANTISM HAS BEEN PUSHING UP TO GOD AND A HIGHER SPIRITUALITY, AND THE CHURCH HAS WONDERFULLY WIDENED HER BORDERS.
     At the end of the first fifteen centuries there were 100,000, 000 Christians. At the end of the next three centuries, 200,000, 000. In the last three-fourths of a century the number has increased to 600,000,000. At this rate it will not take long until the Gospel is preached to every creature. Four hundred years ago it took forty years of labor to purchase a Bible. Now missionaries are protected everywhere. We have all the appliances. God could create the gold to save the heathen, but God wants consecrated gold. Three-fourths of the taxes are paid by Christians. This shows that twenty-five millions are paid for the Government, while three-fourths of a million are paid for missionaries.

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EDUCATIONAL ANNIVERSARY.

THURSDAY EVENING; SEPT. 6.

     After the opening exercises, Dr. Ninde, President of Garrett Biblical Institute, spoke as follows:
     The Methodist Chhurch (sic) not always favorable to educating ministers in special schools, but it is not necessary at this day to plead for theological schools. Prejudice against these schools in Dr. Dempster's day. Garrett Biblical Institute on good financial basis. Property in Chicago doubled in three years. The number of students constantly increasing. Twenty-eight graduated in the last class.

     GARRETT BIBLICAL INSTITUTE HELPS TO SECURE THE RIGHT KIND OF MEN AS PASTORS.

Our endeavor is
     1. To make Biblical students,
     2. To make good theologians.
     3. To make cultivated intellects.
     4. To make good preachers.

     Rev. Edward Thomson followed with an address upon the idea that the effort to expunge the classics from college courses is not a wise demand, for the student is only truly educated as his mind is subjected to the discipline of the classics, mathematics, philosophy, and science.

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FREEDMEN'S AID ANNIVERSARY.

FRIDAY EVENING, SEPT 7.

     P. C. Johnson introduced Dr. Hartzell, Corresponding Secretary of the Freedmen's Aid Society, who addressed the meeting as follows:
     The necessity for the Society grew out of the need of the South at the close of the war. The preponderance of illiterate people in the Southern States. The great proportion among the blacks. All have votes. The institutions of the country are not safe where ignorance prevails. The negroes increasing faster than the whites. The negroes can accumulate property. Have amassed $100,000,000 since the war. The M. E. Church has done a great work in the South since the war in moralizing and educating. Twenty-five seminaries established and doing grand work in the culture of the black race. If the negroes do not show the grasp of mind and moral perception that the whites do, it is because for two hundred years they have been educated the wrong way. The blacks gladly receive the Gospel. Their own preachers are of course ignorant, but there is a constant improvement. The negroes are beginning to be recognized as a power in the South, and their votes are desired. The M. E. Church is responsible for the salvation of the blacks, because they are either Methodists or Baptists. The South did not believe these people could be educated. The facts show that they can. It takes generations to rise. Give these people a chance. The work in the schools shows what is being done. From the twenty-five seminaries are going educated negroes who are lifting up their race, and now the white people are beginning to receive the benefit of these schools. The work in the south is appreciated. This work is pressing and we must be liberal.
     At the close of the address a collection was taken up amounting to about $100.

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ANNIVERSARY OF THE WOMAN'S FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

Saturday, September 5, 1883.

     After the opening exercises, Mrs. M. J. Shelley, Corresponding Secretary of the Society for Nebraska, read her report, in which it was stated that $930.69 had been raised the past year in the Nebraska Conference, Rev. B. H. Badley, A.M., returned missionary from India, was then introduced, who presented the following facts regarding the work in India:
     The people are worshippers of idols. God is with us in India. The first cen-

sus of native Christians was in 1851. From 1851 to 1861 the increase was 53 per cent; from 1861 to 1871 was 63 per cent; from 1871 to 1881 was 86 per cent. We have 400,000 native Christians now. At this rate of increase in seventy years, there will be 150,000, 000 native Christians, but the increase will be faster. We can only bring the girls and women to Christ through the instrumentality of women. I wish the men would give two cents a week as the women do, it would increase our missionary offerings from forty-six cents per member to one dollar. Where the ladies are at work, it is much more easy to raise for the Parent Board. We want to double our interest in the missionary cause."
     Sister B. H. Badley said: "I am glad I can tell you of a few people in India who can say 'Victory through the Lord Jesus Christ.' The work in India is complicated. The people are divided into Hindus and Mohammedans. Into the Zenanas, the husbands and brothers cannot enter without announcement. The religion of the people teaches that there is no surety for the salvation of women. The Hindu man lives in elegance, and the wife in degradation. The wife is a mere servant to her husband. The women have no idea of being elevated, but many are having their understanding enlightened by the gospel."
     Sister Badley closed her address with some very effective word pictures of life in India, and what the gospel is accomplishing in that far away land.

 

ANNIVERSARY OF SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION.

Saturday Evening, September 8, 1883.

     Dr. J. H. Vincent addressed the meeting as follows:
     "There is a great difference between a hobbyist and a specialist.

I EXALT FOUR GREAT AGENCIES OF THE CHURCH:
     1. The family.
     2. The pulpit.
     3. The pastorate.
     4. The Sunday school.

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK NEEDS:
     1. Hearty co-operation of intelligent pastors.
     2. Good snperientendents (sic).
     3. Faithful teachers.
     4. Wiser devising for the young people than we have yet made.

SOME FORCES TO HELP US IN THE WORK:
     1. Get the young to have an aim in life.
     2. Get our boys and girls into the right kind of society.
     3. Develop the intellect by getting them interested in reading.

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SABBATH SERVICES.

     The Conference Love Feast was held in the M. E. Church at 9 A.M., led by Rev. H. T. Davis.
     At 10:30 AM. services began in the Opera House.
     Dr. Fry announced the first hymn and led in prayer. Dr. Hunt then read a portion of Heb. xi. After which the 415 hymn was announced.

     Dr. Hunt took for his text Heb. xi. 16. He said:
     The chapter from which the text is taken is like ascending a mountain. A history of the family of God-pilgrims and strangers. All are pilgrims, but some not strangers, for this is all the home they have. Can we read this chapter with out coming to the conclusion that THESE WORTHIES BELIEVED IN THE FUTURE LIFE.

     Our guarantee to heaven inheres in the character of God. Future life is taught in other religions. Socrates and others had quite clear conceptions of the future life. More in the writings of Plato than in the writings of Moses on this subject But were these great men, that wrote these grand things, able to hold on to them in the time of inch The last words of Socrates, There is nothing to rest upon, then, in the doctrine of immortality, except a true conception of the character of God.

THE OLD TESTAMENT TEACHING WITH REGARD TO IMMORTALITY.

     Christ's quotations from the Old Testament, on the way to Emmaus. Psalms and the book of Job is full of declarations. The reason we do not have more said about immortality in the Old Testament is, because the Bible is full of that which is connected with immortality, viz., A revelation of God. The Old Testament is full of immortality, because it is full of Christ, who is eternal life.

THE NEW TESTAMENT IS BETTER THAN THE OLD

     Because it brings God nearer. We waste a good deal of time talking about heaven when we ought to be thinking of him who has made heaven possible. Heaven is all right if we are right with God. The Church needs a revival on the character of God. We are all coming to the end of this life.. For that period we need a personal experience of Christ.

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     At 3 P.M. the candidates for Deacons' and Elders' Orders were ordained by Bishop Wiley.

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     Sabbath evening Dr. Vincent preached. His text was John xxi. 21-22.

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     The text reveals the peculiar attidude (sic) of Jesus to one of his disciples. The thought to be gathered is the law of the concealed and the revealed in the Word of God. The Bible is a mountain of truth, but there are a thousand things the Bible does not reveal. Questions of the greatest interest are not revealed. The Book creates discussion and disunion. But the Book does say

FOLLOW THOU ME.

     I may know what I ought to be. The Bible gives illustrations of what men ought to be. Enoch, Moses, etc., and crowning all-Christ. The Bible does not answer every question of curiosity, but it answers every question of conscience. God is always saying "What is that to thee?"

THE REASONS WHY GOD CONCEALS.

     1. We have no right to know.
     2. Sin has darkened our minds.

     3. Because we might not understand if God revealed.
     The Book is designed to lead us to God, not to explain the surrounding things the locomotive light.

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     Monday evening, September 10, Dr. Stowe, agent of the Western Book Concern, preached an able sermon from John vi. 47

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HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

     ADDRESS OF MRS. ANGIE NEWMAN BEFORE THE CONFERENCE SESSION, MONDAY MORNING, SEPT. 10TH.

     The organization of the Home Missionary Society was a necessity. I was myself the bearer of petitions from Dr. McEldowney, of Salt Lake, from Chaplain McCabe and many others to the western branch of the W. F. M. S., asking the brethren to memorialize the General Executive Committee on subject of adopting Utah as a part of its field of labor. The action was had in the western branch. The General Executive Committee were memorialized and reported adversely.
     Work for the women of Utah must be undertaken, hence the H. M. S. was organized.
     If it was a necessity it must have piece. It is the policy of Methodism to enter new avenues of labor as they open.
     The thing sought of this Conference by the H. M. S. is, 1st, the appointment of a Conference Secretary and the organization of auxiliaries in all your Churches. Our obligation to Mission women, unfolds itself as we study their theory of salvation.
     If Mormonism is a blot upon our civilization, Polygamy is a blot upon our Christianity.
     Mormonism teaches that Paradise is an Intermediate Heaven, where saints and angels and cherubim dwell, together with the saints who have died in other faiths. Here there is no marrying nor giving in marriage. The Celestial Kingdom is the highest realm of the eternities. Polygamy is the foundation upon which the kingdom is built. Here the Priesthood of the Church of Latter Day Saints sit upon thrones and govern provinces. The family each had upon earth is the nucleus of the kingdom he is to rule. The wives that were sealed to him on earth are to reign with him in Heaven. They are to go on marrying and giving in marriage, enlarging and extending their kingdom and kingship thereby. The saints and angels of Paradise are subject to them, and perform for them menial service.
     Polygamy is based upon this theory: The soul has three stages-1st, Premature; 2d, Human; 3d, Post Mortem.
     Gods and goddesses beget spirits. All space is full of these weary spirits waiting for earthly tabernacles. Hence Polygamous marriages are a necessity to provide human habitations in which the spirit may be subjected to human passion and temptation to prepare itself for eternal happiness. Christ was the great Exemplar.. He must pass the crucible of human life.
     Woman refusing to enter into Polygamy refuses her Heavenly Father the opportunity to perfect a soul. For this, the unpardonable sin, she shall be damned.

     She shuts off a soul or souls from eternal happiness. For this she shall be damned.
     She limits the radius of her husband's Celestial Kingdom, and for this she shall be damned.
     Eliza Snow, Polygamous wife to Joe Smith, proxy wife to Brigham Young, the High Priestess of the Endowment House, a lady of high culture, who went to Palestine to establish Mormonism within its boundaries, who wrote a history of her travels, who wrote many of the hymns sung in the tabernacle, said to me, "Mrs. Newman, how have you read the Gospel that you do not know Christ was a Polygamist, Mary and Martha his plural wives, and they sisters. Bethany was his home, Mary Magdalene his favorite wife. Polygamy is of God."
     The Mormons base their religion upon the Gospel of Christ. They believe in Baptism by immersion, and devotees are baptised many times for their deceased friends-to separate them from Paradise and transfer them to the Celestial Kingdom. They believe in the Holy Ghost, the gift of healing prophecy, and personal revelation to man of the divine will.
     Now what the H. M. S. proposes to do is to win these women to a better faith.
     1st. Through educational channels-by opening and sustaining schools.
     2d. By opening a House of Industry, where apostate Mormon women may find employment,refuge, home; for apostasy in Mormonism means severe ostracism, poverty, and death.
     3d. Rev. T. C. Iliff published in the New York Advocate an appeal for a city mission for Salt Lake.
     Mrs. Isabella Spurlock, of our Conference, whom you all know, has felt herself called to answer his appeal. She has been for two years wandering along the Border Land where the soul hears unutterable things. A voice came to her as she stood by the crossing, "Go back up the ranks, and do this in remembrance of Me."
     We need fifty dollars to send her out. Wouldn't it be a grand thing for this Conference to raise the money to send her out?

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CONFERENCE ROLL.

Adams, R. G.	David City		Davis, H. T.	York
Aikman, Thos			Davis, W. E.
Alexander, G. S.	Syracuse		Dobbs, J. W.	DeWitt
Barger, W. J .	Carleton		Donisthorpe, F. B.	Geneva
Bartholomew, A. G	Shelton		Esplin, Wm	Kearney
Beans, W. K .	Nebra.ska City		Esterbrook, F. M	Plattsmouth
Beggs, A. L .	.Steele City		Ewell, H. A .	Auburn
Bird, E. J .	Rock Creek		Fetz, D.	Minden
Blackburn, W. S	York		Folden, A. L .	Broek
Blackwell, A. G	Guide Rock		Fort, J. L.
Brigham, A .			Gage, W. D
Britt, L. F .	Nebraska City		Gallagher, John	Hastings
Brannon, D. C .			Hancock, E. J
Burch, H .	Peru		Hawley, G. W .	Table Rock
Chapin, J. A .	Osceola		Henderson, S. H	Crete
Cooley, H .	Valparaiso		Hobbs, J. C. H .	York
Crippen, G. B .	Weeping Water		Hobson, G. A .	Alma
Crosthwaite, A. C .	Falls City		Holland, E.	Greenwood

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47

MINUTES OF THE NEBRASKA CONFERENCE.

Johnson, P. C.	Grand Island		Roberts, S. D.	Beatrice
Johnson, B. C.			Rodabaugh, D. F.	Pawnee City
Jones, G. M.	Reynolds		Selby, G. W.	Seward
Jones, W. R.	Hastings		Senser, G. G.
Kershaw, A	Fairfield		Sheldon, O. P.	York
Lathrop, C. G.			Smith, G. A.	York
Laverty, L.	Peru		Smith, C. L .	Ulysses
Lemon, T. B.	Kearney		Smith, L. W.
Lewis, C. A	Edgar		Smith, M. C .	Elk Creek
Loofbourrow, W. K.	Sterling		Smith, M. W.
Madole, A	Union		Stevens, L.	Sidney
Manley, S. H.	Normal, Ill		Taylor, J. W.	Rulo
McKaig, R. N.	Lincoln		Thomson, E.	York
Marsh, J. .	Lincoln		Tibbets, W. H.	Aurora
Martin, G. W.	Kearney		Turman, Z. B.
Mastin, C. A.	Gibbon		Tyler, H. F.	Saint Joe
Mather, P. S.	Lincoln		VanFleet P .	Fairbury
Miller, J. G.	Rochester, N. Y		Vincent, J. L.	Arapahoe
Miller, W. G.	Utica		Walker, J. G.	Mead
Miner, G. S.	Syracuse		Wehn, G. H.	Weeping Water
Nichols, J. A.	Palmyra		White, A. G.	Lincoln
Ogborn, A. M.	Raymond		Wilkinson, E.	Ashland
Orr, J. S.	Exeter		Willis, E. J.	Geneva
Pearson, R.	Humboldt		Wilson, W.	Burlingame
Peck, Wm	York		Wood, S.	Tecumseh
Presson, H.	Friendville		Worley, J. H.	Kinkiang China
Presson, J. H.	Omaha		Worley, T. H.	Wuhu, China
Randall, E. J.	Fairmont		Zielie, J. M.	Dorchester
Reilly, C.

PROBATIONERS CONTINUED ON TRIAL.

Buckley, J.	Clarkesville		Lanfest, C. B.	Red Cloud
Campbell, F. A	Roca		Maltbie W. F.	Glenville
Campbell, H. M.	Stromsburg		Marsh, A. J.	Bradshaw
Carr, J. S.	Gold		Storer, M. L.
Dudleigh, C. E.	Wymore		Swan, J. W.	Syracuse
Dale, C. A	Douglas Grove		Warner, H. W.	Blue Springs
Hollopeter, C. M.	Wilber		Wells, E. L.	Shelby
Hull, T. A	Cedar Bluffs

ADMITTED ON TRIAL.

Boylan, F. G.			Marcellus, E. F.	Stella
Calvert, A. J.	Keya Paha		Pierce, M. R.	Broken Bow
Campbell, C. E.	Berwick		Pierce, W. R.	Talmage
Carmichael, J. H.	Phelps Centre		Shuman, G.	Elmwood
Couffer, G. M.	Rising City		Smith, J. W.	Juniata
Davies, W. H.	Wood River		Thomas, F. F.	Beaver City
Gortner, J. R.	Middle Branch		Thurber, T. H.	Elm Creek
Kleeberger, J. A	Ringold		VanOrsdell, W. W.
Mailley, J.	Mount Pleasant		Wilson, Geo.	Blue Hill

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