Christianity ought, in this 1880th year of our Lord, to be more than a “voice crying in the wilderness;” more than John clad in skins and living on locusts and wild honey. She ought to go forth clad in her beautiful garments. During these two centuries she has ripened much fruit which the world knows is good; she has developed much power of which the world feels its need, and it should not go to the nations and tribes of the earth empty handed, only to utter, as at first, the glad tidings which she was commissioned to proclaim. She should march forth in the greatness of her strength and magnificence of her beauty, panoplied in power and garlanded with her victories, commending herself to man by what she has gained for him. Other avenues have been opened for approach—other than through his hopes and fears for the future life; substantial gains have been achieved for that which now is, and these should be made the allies of Christ and the instruments of the Church. It has taken centuries to build a Christian home, the mightiest ally of the Church; let the Church take it with her along with the school, and not suffer the filth, and discomfort, and degrading influences of the old hut to hang as a millstone about the neck of those she would save. Of man’s home here, no less than of the heavenly, “the Lamb should be the light;” his surroundings, person, intellect, every part of him and every interest pertaining to him, should be acted upon by the accumulated influences, and appealed to by the developed advantages and benefits of Christianity. If by some means the log cabins of the negroes can be supplanted by neat and healthful cottages—surrounded by gardens and shaded yards—more than threefold efficiency will be added to the efforts we are making through the schools and churches. Send back our pupils from the refining influences of our boarding-schools into the dirt and squalor and ugliness of these cabins, and a large per cent. of our work will be lost. Attention to the subject, immediate and earnest, is demanded by all the interests we seek, and it is hoped that some one competent to deal with it will give it thought, and suggest some practical way of securing so desirable an end. * * * * * THE GROWTH OF IDEAS AMONG THE NEGROES AND INDIANS. REV. ADDISON P. FOSTER, JERSEY CITY, N. J.