Perhaps I cannot close this notice of Madison county more profitably than by directing the attention of the reader to the vast consequences, in the form of false views and false practices, which came of one man’s decisions. Rev. William Harris decided to follow Mr. Crutcher, and now thousands of people walk in his track as anti-Missionaries. PERRY AND HALE COUNTIES. At Salem Church, near Greensboro, the Alabama State Convention (white) was organized October, 1823, not quite forty-five years before the organization of the Colored Baptist Convention in 1868, and its first anniversary was held at Marion, in Perry county. Reference is made to these facts in order to introduce other facts bearing a closer relation to ourselves. Within a circle of twenty-five miles of Marion--and Greensboro, is near this point--some of the mightiest influences in support of Baptist views have risen up and gone forth upon the colored Baptists of Alabama. The colored people of Marion, and throughout the country around, are hardly less noted for their refinement than they are for their Baptistic opinions. In this section arose those colored men of power and of pioneer fame--Revs. James Childs, the first pastor of the Marion Church (colored); Henry Stevens, first pastor of the Greensboro Church, and John Dosier, so long pastor of the church in Uniontown. This point, till right recently, has been the educational center of our white brethren, and here in Marion, the first colored State Normal school began, as the result of the influence of the late Hon. A. H. Curtis, of Baptist fame. [Illustration: Mrs. A. A. Bowie, Instructress in Dressmaking, Selma University.] MONTGOMERY CITY AND COUNTY. Baptist principles manifested themselves in this part of Alabama about 1818-19 in the constitution of the Elim Church, near the city of Montgomery, and Messrs. J. McLemore, S. Ray, and W. J. Larkin, are mentioned as pioneers. A STRAW WHICH SHOWS WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS. In Dr. Riley’s “History of Alabama Baptists,” we have the following: “A negro slave, named Cæsar, a bright, smart, robust fellow * * * was ordained to preach. His ability was so marked, and the confidence which he enjoyed was so profound, that Rev. James McLemore would frequently have Cæsar attend him upon his preaching tours. He was sometimes taken by Mr. McLemore into the pulpit, and never failed of commanding the most rapt and respectful attention.” To the credit of the Alabama Association, it is written that they bought this man and gave him his liberty that he might preach among them the gospel of Christ; and it is said, that though he was as black as a crow, he traveled alone and unharmed on the mission of life. Thus the negro appears in the foundation of gospel operations in Central Alabama. Here also appear the victories of the gospel leaven, the triumphs of the love of God over those hearts wherein Christ was king.