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where the people are more disposed to re
ward the laborer—ihe minister as well as
•miy other derailment of labor. Faithful la- •
borers will be faithfully rewarded. Can [
you send some faithful .'men, such as Pauli
and Barnabas (men who will hazzard, if
liecil be) to preach the jfospel to those who
wish to hear it t .. •
We expect to hold a meeting 0f,5 or 6:
rlays continuance, commencing on Thurs- j
day night before the fourth Sabbath in June,
at this place, Ministering Brethren, north
and east of Us, will find it perhaps the best
tout to the Convention to be held with the
Palestine church, 16 br 18 miles southwest
from Jackson. Ministering Brethren with
others, who intend going to the Convention,
arc earnestly solicited to attend our Pro
tracted meeting.
Will you give notice of this in your pa
per and you will very much oblige your
humble servant and fellow laborer in the
Gospel.
BURWELI, L. BARNES.
May 6th, 1844/
Bro. linker. —Dear Sir—Since I last
wrote yon 1 have had the pleasure of atten
ding two very interesting meetings. The
first was at Clinton, Hinds county, (the
seat of the New School [Presbyterian]
College.) Although there was no particu
lar excitement, we trust much good will re
sult from the labors of that meeting, as
there was measuies adopted for the Con
stitution of a Baptist Church in Clinton. {
Wc then repaird to Kayinond, 8 miles dis-’
taut from Clinton, and the county seat, i
where we adopted measures for the Con-;
slitution of a Baptist Chuich, which will
take place on Wednesday after the third
Sabbath in this month, under the Pastoral
care of Bro. Geo. W. Dorrotn, who labors
in that place under the Boaid of the State
Convention. It is rejoicing to the hearts,
ot Christian Brethren throughout these re
gions to see these “waste places” building
Up; two important vilages where there has
never been u Church of our order. lam
more and more confirmed in the opinion
expressed in iny last, that our Denomina
tion is advancing and not under enthusias
tic excitement, but under cool and calm de
liberations, seeing and feeling that the cause
is of God and is a good cause. With the
deepest sense of our own insufficiency (as
a denomination) to promote this great and
glorious cause, we pray God that we may
fully realize that “our sufficiency is of God.”
Pray for us. Your very unworthy fellow
laborer in this
Cause of the Redeemer.
U. L. BARNES.
For the Christian Index.
May Oth, 1844.
Bro, Baker —l see in the Index, No. 15,
Pinevilte, February Ist, 1844, a protest a
gainst the correctness of my report to the
Executive Committee of the Columbus As- j
sociation, by Daniol H. I loll; his first com-I
plaint is, that 1 say there is great destitution |
ou their southern boundary churches, with
out pastors, some without regular discip
line, and many settlements destitute of any
tegular preaching; truly the harvest is
plenticus, interesting fields already white,
but alas, none to in the gospel seed,
that these immortal souls may be reaped to
the glory of God.” These reports, says
Mr. Hall, present a doleful picture of this
country; according to them this is one of
the darkest places of the earth; much strong
er language it seems to me could not be
used if they were describing the central
parts of Africa, and those who know noth
ing of this country. But what they hear
from these reports, might’ be almost as j
much afraid to trust their peison here as ]
there, and so Mr. 11. goes on to describe
45 miles long and 16 or 17 broad, “and be
ing no inattentive observer of men and
things hi nine years past, he thinks he has
a right to know, and enters his protest a- .
gainst the correctness of the report.
Now, bro. Editor, l am not for war', but
for peace. I have not went through that
countiy getting up religious controversies,
or, ill the least degree, abusing the unties, 1
Methodists, or any other religious denomi- j
nation’, as Mr. Hall knows. I will now,
rrison with Mr. H.—-suppose Mr. Hall,
there was not one anti-preacher in all the |
country you have described, that would take j
care of the anti-missionary churches, would !
you not feci that your people were desti-j
’ tute?—suppose then, you were to write to
some of your brethren in the ministry, (as
for an Executive committee you hhve none)
your destitute condition, soliciting their kind
aid, in ptomotinii of good discipline, and to
cast m the good seed of life for their com
fort ! and 1 was to publish you, over many
States, as a man of falsehood; would you
not have great reasons to think that I had
forgotten the true principles of the Gospel,
and the admonition of the Apostle to take
heed how we bite and devour one.another;
lest we be consumed one of another.
1 having no means of knowing anything
.certain with regard to your people, the doors
being shut against me, and (he eAvord of an
iinfellowship, that turns every way to keep
the good things secret, good things of your
.people, from me a Missionary Baptist. 1
thought it right to sav nothing about you ;
i.did not fed disposed to meddle with oih
men's matters; open your doors and let
me see your good works, and I will speak
‘of your ‘virtues, and will watch over you-for
good; but how am 1 to speak of your quiet
ness, sobriety, hospitality, good neighbor
hood, love of the truth, when 1 am not per
mitted to participate in any of your religious
devotions as a minister of the Go’spel, I felt
not disposed to Speak of your people’s
vices without their virtues.
Now Mr. Hall, 1 will speak what I know
and testify what 1 have seen, beginning, at
Flint river: and .there is a section of.coun
try from Antioch, Talbot, to Corrinth, in
Sumter, near Danville, about 60 miles, there
is not a Minister of oui order, and I found
, two churches wilhoutdiscipline,or Pastors.
From James Lunsford’s in Stewart county,
to Talbolton, there is butone ordained Min
ister, and he lias had so much affliction in
his family he )ias not taken the chaige of>
any church ; this is a section of 40 miles
distance. Fioin Carey Willis and- T. J.
Hand’s in Muscogee, to J. Rushing’s and
l bro, Cox’s in Stewart, is about 40 miles,
| there is no ordained Minister of our order.
There is an average of 20 or 30 miles from
| F-lint river, to Chattahoochee, with but one
ordained Minister. I speak of Missionary
Baptists. In these bounds I travel and
preach, and I find more destitution than 1
can possibly fill, and the Macedonia cry is
heard every week. Brother J. Howel attends
four churches ill the bounds of my labor,
and wc-havc baptized about 150 persons,
and we hope by the mercy of God to do
good, and you know, Mr. Hall, that I found
a place of destitution within three miles of
your house, where (if I am not mistaken) 1
baptized 13 persons, and I preached in the
woods a portion of the lime. I feel like I
have done but little for the Lord, and I pray
i the Lord to forgive me for any error, or any
i affliction that I may have given any person.
!If Mr. lla)l had watched me for good
; and not for evil, ho would have seen my
| report did not include the whole of the ter-
I ritory in which I labuted.
Yours in Christian affection.
ISAAC B. DEVOUR.
For
Children should be taught to be very
careful of the A B C of swearing, such as
sink andjing, drot and dearn, &c., for in
so doing they enter under a very brisk and
certain teacher, (the Devil,) who will soon
have them in the grammar and parsing of
Oaths with a great deal of adroitness. Chil
dren he careful then of small beginnings in
sill.
• And as this is the’case in children, so it
is with all other sins, in all people, and all
I ages. Be afraid then, of the entering wedge
; of sin ; for tbc larger will find room by its
little aperture and then a still larger by dial
one, &e. &e.
This principle will be seen on the left as
well as on the right, as well in sins of omis
sion as thoso of commission.
This entering wedge of sin, then, should
jbe watched with the .tenacity of young
1 Brewer, (uarrated by Mr. Buck) whose
I punctuality beat the clock and corrected
the whole school. But a greater than Brew
er hath said, “ Behold, how great a mailer
a little (ire kindleth,” to him we call your
| respect, most emphatically !
Children, this old writer has the advan
| tage of a great many people in this world,
for he knows what he writes about this
thing, amljCtfpecially thus testifies, that ye
younger may know die truth.
Yours,
Verity.
P. B.—Pa, please teach your little son
the forepart of this and I will giv you the
ballance.
Anwrirnn Tract Society.
The nineteenth year of the Society’s la
bors lias been attended with the signal bless
ing of God. The receipts have exceeded
those of’thc jyevious year by more than
$12,000 ; the gratuitous issues of publica
tions by more than seven million pages;
•the foreign pecuniary grants by $5000; and
the number of colporteurs employed among
the destitute of our own country is more
than doubled ; while the evidences weekly
received of the blessing of the Holy Spirit
in lending souls by these means to the Di
vine and only Redeemer have caused (he
: hearts of the officers and. members of the
> Committee to bound with joy and thanks
giving.
D’Aubigne’s History of the Great Re
formation has been issued, by the Society in
3 volumes, containing 1200 pages 12 mo;
Jay’s Morning Exercises; Bishop Hall’s
Scripture History, or Contemplations on
the Historical Passages of the Old and New
Testaments ; Oiven on the Forgiveness of
Sill, Or Psalm 130; Matthew Hemy’s
Church in the House; a treatise on Self-
Deception ; 16 new Tracts—to No. 482 of
the general series—in all 41 new publica
tions making the whole number on the So
ciety’s list, 1109, including 147 volumes,
besides 1930 publications, including 164
volumes,, approved for publication abroad.
Three valuable German volumes have
been stereotyped : Eli
jah the Tishbite, originally written in Gei
inart ; Doddridge’s Rise and Progress, and
Abbott’s Mother at Home, making in all
nine volumes; besides more than 120
Tracts and Children’s Tracts issued for the
Germans of our country.
The receipts for the, year have been in
donations $56,680 31, including $18,781
98 for colportage, and $4382 78 for foreign
distribution ;’ and for sates $51,804 13;
making a tola), with the balance of $290 in
the Treasury, of $108,774 84. The ex
penditures have been for paper, printing :
and binding, $57,987 10, lor colporteur
operations, (in addition to nearly 11,600,000
pages distributed to. the destitute) $15,611
15; remitted for foreign and pagan lands
$20,000 ; all other expenses, as by items
in the Treasurer’s.report, $15,776 59-Sto
tal as above $108,774 84.
The gratuitous distributions of. publica
tions to the destitute, made iii 974 distinct
grants by the Committee, have been for for
eign lands 1.659,816 pages; to seamen’s
chaplains, shipping for loreign ports and
on lakes, canals, and rivers 1,137.957 ; to
Home and Domestic missionaries 759,000,
to Auxiliary Societies 2,149,052 ; distribu
ted by colporteurs and Agents of die Soci
ety 10,948,982; to Sabbath schools, liter
ary, Humane and Criminal Instilutionsuaiid
individuals, 1,119,189—-total 20,77!WU0
pages; besides 3,541,125 pages delWlred
to members and Directors. Total gratui
tous issues 24,315,121 pages, in valueflo,-
210 08. ,
Printed during the year, 217,000|vol
uincs, 5,536,000 publications, 96,119,000
pages. Circulated during the year, |92,-
480 volumes, 4,937,684 publioations|9l,-
471,456 pages. Circulated in 19 wars,
2,-118,886 volumes, 73,340,753 publica
tions, 1,391,325,867 pages.
About 12,000 volumes in German, and
80,000 Christian Ahnanacs have been cir
culated during the year, and the lotai circu
lation exceeds that of the last year by 10,-
COO,OOO pages. Os one Tract, the Holy
Ghost Resisted, 200,000 have been primed
within the year ; of the Stricken Bride, the
Sinner and the Savior, and the Sinner Be
lieving, all four-page Tracts, more than
175,000 each ; of Baxter’s Call, 20,000 ;
and of Alleine’s Alarm and Harlan Page
8000 each.
THE AMERICAN COLPORTEUR SYSTEM.
The name is derived from the French,
and is synonymous w\lh-pious book-bearer,
implying personal effort for the spiritual
welfare of men in connexion with the diffu
sion of good books.
The history of uolporlugc, in its broadest
sense, is traced from apostolic days'to the
Reformation, when the 715 books and
Tracts written by Luther, in the thirty years
of his public life, were diffused by convert
ed monks and others; Flavel, Zuingle, and
the other reformeis employing the press
and colporteur labois, and establishing a
Tract Society and colporteur association at
Baslo, in 1534. The English Reformers
and the Puritan non-conformists of a later
period employed a kindred agencyiii dif
fusing piety among the common fPbple ;
John Knox and his associates availed them
selves of itinerant and lay agency in the
Scottish Reformation, and Howell Harris,
of Wales, rekindled the fires of devotion in
thousands of hearts by similar means.—
The Moravian and Wesleyan systems owe
much of their efficiency to this feature.— |
The more modern history of colportage on I
the continent of Europe and in qur own
country is.also sketched in the Report.
The elements of power involved in the;
system arc the individual influrnre of man
v( his I'ollow-inan in private intercourse, I
and thepress —the mightiest known engine !
of intellectual and moral power—and these i
combined and sanctified.
The spirit of the system is catholic, e
vangelical and purely benevolent, seeking
to bring men lo Christ, regaidless through
what window of the visible church th^smils
converted may depait for heaven, ifiso be
they enter it through’ Christ, “ the door.”
Member* of thirteen different denomina
tions have co-operated harmoniously); and
the colporteurs are connected with line e
vangelical denominations. ‘1 here isjhcnce
no room for sectarian jealousy ; andfevery i
Christian agency for ovangclizing the land I
is welcomed and rejoiced in as a co-worker, j
The system is in the way of no good in flu- i
once, and docs not claim to be a substitute I
for any other agency.
The. psculiarfield for colpnrtage embra
ces the absolute destitutions of the conn-1
try, North, South, East and West, Protest-!
ant ot Romanist, foteign or domestic; *
The necessity for such a system is argu
ed from the extent of territory and spnrse
ness of population, a colporteur in Georgia
having traveled 000 miles to reach 287 fain- 1
ilies, and another in Arkansas 520 C miles
to’reach 2000 families ; fiom the existing
destitutions of other means of grace, colpor
teurs frequently meeting families and neigh
borhoods where a sermon has not been
hoard for four, eight, or twelve years, and
a single county in “the Empire State” hav
ing 1298 families destitute of the Bible:
from the inadequacy of picsent schemes of
evangelization to reach the masses of the
people ; from the prevalence of etror, the
victims of whieh will not come to the sanc
tuary, and must be reached at their homes
or not at all.: from the vast increase of im
migrants, who must be approached by pi
ous laymen with pious books, until an ade
quate ministry ean be raised up; and from
the coirupt condition of the popular press,
respecting whieh startling disclosures are
made in the report.
The adaptation of the system to the con
dition and wants of the heterogeneous class
es comprising our population is noticed,
and the fact stated that already, in the in
fancy of the enterprise, colporteurs are em
ployed for-the islands along our coast : for
the sailors and ships at Mobile, and the raft
men and boatmen at New Orleans, for
Germans and Danes, in various parts of the
counliy ; for itnmtn Catholics, infidels,
and other errorists ; and for the French in
i our noihem frontier and at New Orleans.
The results of Colportage for thojtar
Are cheering and satisfactory in the highest
degree. Several items will be noticed, and
one or two faels illustrative of a large class
of similar facts staled. -
Supervision. General Agents for the
Northern, Middle, Southern, Western and
j South-western Stales have explored, fields,
secured and instructed colporteurs, address
,ed large churches, and raised funds. Qne
| of this class, at the far South, has provided
f for four colporteurs jn Florida, and secured
i one ; and secured one each fiir Alabama,
| Georgia, and other States , raised SI3OO at
New Orleans, and SIOOO at Mobile, to be
expended in Louisiana nnc[ Alabama ; and
has Iraveled thousands of miles on steam
{boats, rail-roads, and in stages, without
charge. Does “ prejudice against agents ”
extend to such men ? Efficient and expe
rienced agents for the immediate supervis
ion of the labors of the colporteurs are also
employed, Mr. S. Wood having the over
sight of thirty at the West.
Expansion. —27 colporteurs had been
in the service of the'Society at the last an
niversary, including 4 Germans; the past
I year 73 colporteurs, including 23 Germans
and Frenchmen, have been in the service,
‘■ and 29 additional laborers, including 14 stu
dents for the vacation of three months, and
exclusive of those in the service of the A
merican Tract Society, Boston, and the
” Savannah Colporteur Association,” are
now under commission, making 102 in
commission during the year. These labor
ers, with those in the service of the Boston
Society, are dispersed over 27 States and
Territories, as follows: New “England
Stales, 7 ; Northern and Middle, including
the Germans in Pennsylvania and students
for New Jersey, &c. 46; South and South
western Stales, 18; Western, 37.
Distribution. —Nearly 35,000 families
have been eacli supplied gratuitously with
a book, and thousands with Tracts. The
cost of publications distributed gratuitously
is 87300. The sales on the Western field,
under the supervision of Mr. S. Wood, a
momvt to $11,340, and the grants to 83029.
Total of volumes circulated during the year
j 192.480.
Morals.— E very Colporteur is, in a sense,
a Temperance Agent. Besides addresses
given and pledges obtained, distilleries have
been stopped by their influence. One in
the mountains of Kentucky put out the dis
• tiller’s fires ; and a German colporteur
was the means ol leading a Universahst dis
tiller to abandon his establishment, which
cost 81000 1 and the man and wife, his
j brother and wife, and mother, were hope
i fully converted.
Education. —A colpoiteur in Indiana
j gave a Tract volume to a family without a
! reader in it. The mother being taken sick.
| a girl came into the family, who read the
J oook in her hearing. It was the means of
! her conversion, and of leading her to send
| her children to school, which she had nev
j er done before, and of bringing the family
| into church. Sabbath schools are encour
aged or established where the influence of
| the colporteur can effect it. The Aineri
j can, German and French colporteuis. at
j New Orleans, each have schools under their
direction, gathered from the poor.
| Intelligent piety is promoted by the
i thousands of practical treatises placed in the
j bands of professors of religion, many of
whom have been found without a religious
j book in the house.
.Attendance on public worship is invaria
bly iitcruas.ed. *• Hundreds have been
• brought to the house of God,” says one,
; who states that previous to his visit not 500
out of 2500 population were accustomed to
attend the sanctuary. Other facts corrob
orate this.
fictitious and injurious reading has
been-supplanted. —ln Florida, ihe colpor- ‘
tour sold 29 volumes in a family Where the
children we’re engaged in reading fiction : :
another in Illinois has bartered Doddridge
and Baxter for “the Devil on two sticks”
and other trash, committing it to the flames.
Infidelity has been refuted. Nelson’s
work on infidelity is accomplishing won
ders. Ah infidel Judge in Tennessee was
led to Christ by it and loaned it to two law
yers on his circuit, who were also convert
ed, and established (heelings, in which some
200 souls were hopefully born from above.
Ilomanism lias been successfully en
| countered. The converted Romanist cot
| por:eurs have had large meetings of Romaii
i ists, and a larger proportion, probably, of j
ibis population have been led to the Savior
j than of any other class, compared with the
number visited. In one instance the lead- :
! mg Romanists in the town went from bouse
! to house with 4h books and sold or gave
them to the people ; telling them -that the
colporteur was-right, and wished to bring
them back to primitive Christianity and to
the Bible.
The German population constitutes one
of the most important and inviting fields of
evangelical effort. Evangelical Pastors’
have been greatly encouraged and strength
ened by jlte co-operation of the Society.—
The Genn'an colporteurs are-not excelled
by any others in zeal and devotedness.—
•One ‘of them preached or lectured once or
twice each day from January 1 to April 1,
holding a prayer meeting in die morning j
and going from house to house during the
day with his books; but was at4ast attack
ed with bleeding and prostrated for the time.
Another braved the yellow-fever at New
Orleans ; was altaeked by it, but recover
ed. A grea’ change is going on among the
Germans, and the aid of colportage is-inost
opportune.
„ Individual conversions are reported by
nearly every colporteur, though the fruit
■ from the seed sown must necessarily be
brought to the knowledge of live laborer,
chiefly at the great harvest day.
Revivals of Religion aie reported by
American colporteurs in New York, North
Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri,
Wiskonsan, &e. and by Germans in Penn
sylvania, Ohio, Indiana, &c.
The reflex influence of the colporteur
• system has been increasingly manifest in
I prompting to kindred • voluntary efforts to
save souls. A distinguished gentleman in
Kentucky, with his lady, have made volim
! tary. colporteur excursions ;. two clergymen
!.in.Georgia have undertaken the visitation
; of their respective counties with the Socie
ty’s books ; the Savannah -Colporteur As
sociation has employed five colporteurs du
i ring a part of the year, sustaining the ex
pense oi’the effort: individuals, churches,
I associations, presbyteries, &c. in many
1 parts of the country are making arrange
ments for the supply of destitutions in their
vicinity. One of the richest blessings of
the system is thus experienced: may it be
extended, until every benighted household
and every desolate heart, in our Tand is
gladdened with the Gospel!
FOREIGN OPERATIONS.
In foreign.and pagan, tends the work of
the press, goes on with steady progress, as
a grand auxiliary to missions arid all evan
gelical labors. Neither the written not
preached word alone are most successful
for the salvation of men; they must go hand
in hand, and be accompanied with the pray
erful labors of the members of the church,
or tire command of Christ to “evangelize
every creature” will not be fully obeyed.
In the necessity of this blessed union the
churches of l/hristare agreed, and perhaps
it has a happier exemplification in missions
to pagan lands, where the true convert feels
bound to make known the Saviour’s name,
than amid the luxury and worldliuess
which so ensnare the churches at home.
The Society’s co-operation has been cor
dially welcomed by all our foreign mission
ary boards; and’ the appropriations have
been distributed among thirty-two stations
as they appeared to be most vrgently needed
in view of all the information received.—
No less than 1930 publications have been
approved abroad, and die Society and all
the institutions it aids have issued publica
tions in ninety-nine different languages
and dialects.
During the year there has been paid for
our North American Innians S2OO through
the American Board of Commissioners;
for thejTract and Book Society at Toulouse,
in the South of France, and the American
Swiss Committee at Geneva $600; Baptist
mission in France $300; Paris (Religious
Tract Society $500; Tract and Book So
ciety at Strasbourg $100; Tract depart
ment of the Belgian Evangelical Society
$200; Tract Society at Caiw, Germany,
for dark and destitute parts of Hurtgarv,
$300; Baptist mission in Hamburg $600;
Lower Saxony Tract Society at Hamburg
$300; Prussian Tract Society at Berlin for
Hungarians, Wendes and Poles $200;
Friends at St. Petersburg, Russia, ssoo—
on Continental Europe, and for
our aborigines S3BOO.
To the Baptist mission'in Greece $300;
die large mission iu Tin key, embracing the
stations at Smyrna, Constantinople, Broosa,
Erzeroom and Trebizoud, where the Spir
! it is poured out, especially on die Arme
nians, a great demand lor books ’has been
awakened, and all previous grants have
I been expended, $2000; to Rev. William
G. Schaeffler for dark parts of Austria
and Germany $200; Nestorians of Persia
$300; mission a'. Gaboon, Africa. s3oo—
for countries mound the Meditei
ranean and Africa S3IOO.
For die mission at Bombay $300: Ah
mednugger $600; Ceylon 81600; Madura
$500; Madras $500; Tclnogoos, Lutheran
mission $200; General Baptist mission in
Orissa $500; Rev. Mi. Carapeit, Armenian
Baptist missionary in Calcutta $100; the
large missions of the Genera! Assembly's
Board in Northern India, all die Society’s
giants having beer, expended, and 73 ap
proved Tracts issued s3ooo—making to
Hindoostnn $7300,
For Bnrmali $400; Siam, Baptist mis
sion S6OO, mission of A. B. Cl F. M- $500;
China, where on the wonderful opening of
its principal ports, all the protested! missions' 1
are concentrating their energies, mission ofi
the Board of Commissioners SI7OO, Bap
tist Board SBOO, General Assembly’s Board
$300;- Sandwich Islands slsoo—making
for Eastern Asia and those Islands ssßoo
more than half of the total amount has J
been granted had reported the expenditure 1
of all previous grants.
A Sketch of Western Missionary- Life,
BY MRS. 11. B. STOWE.
“Mother’s sick, and I'm keeping house!’’
said a little flaxen-headed girl, in aH the
importance of seven years, as her father
entered the dwelling.
“Your mother sick! whatVthc matter?”
inquired Mr. Stanton.
“She caught could washing, yesterday,
while von Vere gone;” and when the min
ister stood by the bed-side of his wile, saw
her flushed face, and felt her feverish pulse,
he felt.seriously alarmed. She hail scarce
ly recovered from a dangerous fever when
he left home, and with reason he dreaded
relapse.
“My dear, why have you done so?”
was the first expostulation: ‘ why did you
not send for old Agnes lo do your washing,
as I told you?”
“1 felt so well, 1 thought 1 was quite
able,” was the reply; “andxouvknow that
it will take all the moueiigj|M?'|tgtyeH!o\v on
hand, to get the cold
weather comes, and iwhen
we shall have, any more.^^BP^^
“Well, Mary, comfort your heart as to
that. I have had a present to-day of twen
ty dollars—that will last us sometime.—
God always provides when need is great-’
est;” and so, after administering a liftle ■
to the comfort of his wife, the minister ad
dressed himself to the business of cook
ing something lor dinner for himself and
his little hungry flock. ■’ ‘ .
“There is no bread in .the house,” he’ ex
claimed, after a survey of the ways and
means ai his disposal, . ‘ *
“I must try to set up long enough to
make some,” said his wife I’eiritly.'-
‘•you must try to be quiet,” replied the
husband. “We can do very well on pota
toes. But yet,”.. he added, “1 ihjnk if I
bring the things to your bed-side, and you
show me how to mix-them, 1 could make
some-bread.” •
A burst of laughter from the young Try,
chorused his proposal; . nevertheless, as
Mr. Stanton was a man of deckled genius,
by help of much sho wing, and strong arms,
and good will, the feat was at length accom
plished in no unworkmanlike manner;
and while the bread was put down to the
fire to rise, and the potatoes were baking
in the oven, Mr. Stanton having enjoined
silence on his noisy” troup, sat down pen
cil in hand, by his wife’s bed, to prepare a
sermon. *
We would that those ministers who feci
that they cannot compose without a study,
and that the airiest and pleasantest room in
the house, where the floor is guarded by
the thick carpet, the light carefully relieved
by curtains, where papers are.filed and ar
ranged neatly in conveniences purposely
adjusted, witli books of reference standing
invitingly'around, could figure to them-,
selves the process of composing a sermon
in circumstances such as we have just pain
ted. Mr. Stanton had written his text, and
jbtted down something of an introduction,
when a circumstance occurred, which is al
most inevitable in situations where a per
son has anything else to attend 1 6-the baby
awoke. The little interloper was to be
tied in the chair; while the'flaxen-headed
young house-keeper was now installed into
tl.e office of waiter’ in ordinary to her ma
jesty, and by shaking a newspaper before
her face, playing a rattle, or other arts
known only to the initiate, to prevent her
from indulging in any unpleasant demon
strations, while - Mr. Stanton proceeded
with his train of thought. , ;
“Pappa? pappa! the teakettle! only
look!” cried all ihe younger ones, just as
he was again beginning, to abstract his
mind.
Mr*. Stanton rose, and adapting part of
his sermon paper to the handle of the tea
kettle, poured the boiling water upon some
I herb-drink for his wife, and then recom
menced.
i shan’t - have much of a sermon!” lie
soliloquized, as his youngest but one, with
I the ingenuity of common children of her
; stending, contrived to tip herself over in
j her chair, and cut her under lip, which for
i the time being, threw die whole settlement
1 into commotion; and this conviction was
strengthened by finding that it was now
time to give the children their dinner.
“1 fear Mrs. Stanton is imprudent in ex
erting herself,” said the medical man to the
husband, as lie examined hersyinpto...s.
“I know she is,” replied the husband,
“but I cannot keep her from it.”
“It is absolutely indispensable that she
should rest and keep her mind easy,” said
the doctor.
“Rest and keep easy”—how easy the
words are said, .yet how they fall oil the
ear of a molher, who knows thaL her whole
dock have not yet a garment prepared lor
winter, that hiring assistance is out of die
question, and that the work must all be
dong by herself—who sees that while she
is sick, her husband is perplexed, and kept
from liis appropriate duties; and her chil
dren. despite his well-meant efforts, suffer
ing for the want of those attentions which
only a modier can give, will not any moth
er, so tried, rise from her sick bed before
she feels able, to he again prostrated by
over exertion, until the vigor of ihe consti
tution year by year declines, and she sinks
into an early grave? Yet this is the true
history of many a wife and mother, who,
in consenting to share the privations of a
Western minister, has as truly sacrificed
her life as ever did a martyr on heathen
shores. The graves of Horrid Newell
and Mrs. Jndson are hallowed as die
shrines of saints, and their memory made
as a watchword among Christians; yet the
•W estern Valiev'’is lull of green and name
less graves, where patient, long enduring
wives and mothers have laid down, worn
omny itir j) matrons or ns severe a mission
ary field, and “no man knoweth the place
of their sepulchre.”
Deplorable Igiiorauce.
A Colporteur of the American Tract So
ciety in one of the most destitute parts of
the West, writes that his sales had amoun
ted in two months to about 500 volumes
ami his grants to more than 200. “Many
of the people,” he says, “are as ignorant
as the heathen. 1 have found many whole
tain dies in width there was not a single in
dividual who could read: and agic-at many
who can read, have no books except the
Bible and some old song book. 1 have
fou.nd some fifteen or twenty families with
out the Bible: but what is even more to be
lamented, there are many, even -in the
church, who have the Bible but do not read v
it. For instance, l called oil one of the
first families in a villiage named ‘l'., which
consisted of.ihc parents ynd six or seven
children, who could read—some of them
members of the church. While conversing
on some points of Bible truth, the story of
David and Goliath was alluded to. The
old gentleman • remarked, ‘I have never
heard of that!” ‘Nor I,’ said the old lady.
I took my Bible and read the narative,
which was listened to with breathless at
tention. I also gave them the narative of
Samson, and Moses, and then commenced
a sketch ol Joseph’s life, when the olif man
remarked, * l'hace Hearn tell of that!' —of
the other stories not one ot that large fami
ly had ever heard or read! I have often
seen tears flowing freely, when rising front ‘
my knees; in cabins where the voice of
prayer had then been heard for the first
time: ai*d that heart must be stone which,
would not be moved by such indications.”
To Parents. —-When chastisement is ad
ministered, let it be brief and severe, in ex
act proportion to the necessity of the case,
lest it .degenerate into worrying; let all
scolding be abstained from, for this only
exasperates. One single severe word.f. g.,
‘silence!’ uttered-with a commanding voice,
is better than many. But let all be done
without passion, for ahgry face can only
procure a frightful impression on the child.
And now, when the child is content and
yields, let him at once again see a serene
brow, and art unclouded face, and talk with
him about tilings; this*wi|l operate like the
warm sunshine after the first thunder-storm
in spring. .
The Seneca Indians. —A Buffalo letter,
says; “There is-to be no resting place for
the red man this side of the Rocky Moun
tains. Their extinction is slowly but sure
ly approaching.’ The Ogden Company,
which purchased the Seneca Reservation
of the .State, have paid the full instalment.
$75,000 at New York, and having thus
fulfilled their part of the bargain, will now
exact of the authorities a strict- compliance
with theirs by the enforcement of the latv
whieh compels the Seneca nation to yield
up their lands to the above corporation—
Go they must, and that speedily, or the
strong arm of the. State will be brought to
bear tipon.tlieui.”