The subjects considered were practical and the addresses were earnest and to the point. The topics of “Church Extension,” “Education,” “Temperance,” and the “Moral Character of Ministers and Church Members,” came prominently before the Conference. The sentiments expressed, in which there was entire agreement among the brethren, were pure in tone, and placed our churches upon the broad platform of moral purity and intelligence. I shall be pardoned if I particularize. Social and domestic relations among the colored people in the dark days of slavery, in a great many instances, do not bear inspection. The necessities of those days call for a charitable judgment, but do not justify a continuance of the evil. There is but one sentiment in the Congregational churches of Louisiana on this subject: _legal marriage is insisted on in all cases_. No exception is allowed on any plea. Said one of our pastors while this discussion was pending, “Individuals living unlawfully can remain members of my church only so long as it takes to call a church meeting to turn them out.” The pastors agreed that they could afford to preside over small churches, but not over impure churches. I desire to emphasize this fact, that our friends may know that we are building upon a good foundation, and that our work, whatever the rate of its progress, is in accord with the Gospel of Christ. The discussion on the topic of “Education” called forth the deep convictions of the brethren that the churches need and must have educated pastors, and that the colored people must demand the highest benefits of education that can be obtained. The first eager, enthusiastic desire for education which followed in the wake of emancipation has been succeeded by a calm, intelligent, determined conviction that the future of the race in America depends upon the thorough education of the people. CHURCH EXTENSION. A question which occupied the serious attention of the brethren was the extension of our work in the State,—how may our churches be strengthened and their usefulness extended, and how may new fields be occupied and cultivated? It was represented to the Conference that several churches occupying virtually an independent position were prepared to join our ranks, and that “all things were ready” to organize churches in many communities where the people were in sympathy with our spirit and polity. To meet this demand, and to gather a harvest already ripe, the Conference decided, and I think wisely, to appoint from their own number four missionaries, who should go through the Southern parishes to preach the Word, to instruct and encourage the people, and, wherever the opportunity offered, organize believers into churches, and minister to them till stated preaching and pastoral care could be provided. The brethren appointed were Rev. W. P. Ward, of Gretna, Rev. James Craig, of Algiers, Rev. Homer Jones, of Lake Peigneur, and Rev. Samuel Smith, of Terrebonne.