Yes, this must be the place; for the railroad stops here, and yonder is Vermillion Bay, and the anchored ships. This, too, must be the young pastor; his limp betrays his identity, but the face, whose pure native hue three years ago was darkened by the cloud of doubt is now wreathed in smiles. Here, too, is the church, the same, yet not the same; its former disfigured and unwashed face now shines in a new coat of paint; the unfinished and leaky bell-tower has been repaired and beautified; and those old benches, apparently designed for those condemned to do penance, have been replaced by comfortable modern seats, so that the worshipper's attention is no longer diverted from the sermon by the painful consciousness of his physical sufferings. But these changes, excellent in themselves, are by no means the highest test of these years of faithful and consecrated service. The twelve members with whom the new pastor began, have been nearly sextupled; the Sunday-school has been organized, enlarged and developed; a flourishing Christian Endeavor Society started; and right conceptions of practical righteousness enforced. The pastor's conception of his ministry includes a practical interest in education, and since his advent an increasing stream of young people has been flowing to Straight University. Thrifty himself, his contagious enthusiasm has not only affected his own flock, but the community generally, filling them with ambition to save their humble earnings, and become owners of their own homes, and send their children to school. The esteem in which Mr. H. is held by the best white people of the town was well illustrated at the recent meeting of the State Association. They not only crowded into the church, filling every available space for standing, but stood outside at the windows for hours in earnest attention, in the chilly night air. So great had their interest become that the last night of the Association, one white man offered the pastor any price for a reserved seat for himself and lady friends, and the town representative wrote him a polite note asking for a seat for himself and family, and the next day the white people offered to procure the courthouse, that we might have a larger place for our meeting. Newspapers and magazines are teeming, nowadays, with articles claiming that our people's supreme need is industrially trained men to indicate the road to prosperity. We gladly concede that there is need enough and room enough for such men, but we part company with these advocates when they intimate that we have too many liberally educated men. The value of such well educated men may be seen in the example of Mr. H., who is only one of many young men who have gone forth from Straight University and other A. M. A. institutions. * * * * * ITEMS.