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<DrtfiCnal.
[For the Christian Index.]
A BACK WOODS SKETCH.
While a student of the Academy in Dudleyville. i
Ala., in the spring of 1H4.‘5.1 took occasion, one Sabbath 1 !
morning, to attend church some eighteen or twenty !
miles north, at a little church called Emuckfau, an In- j j
dian name for a celebrated creek, which winds its
course hard by.
It was a bright morning in April. The trees were
beautifully adorned with their vernal foliage. The
notes of the wild bird were heard resounding through)
the immense forest. It was. in every respect, a day
which seemed to inspire devotion. Soon you might
see each Indian defile lined with men, women and)
children, on foot, all making their way to the meeting
house, which consisted of a few rough trees from the)
forest, meanly thrown together. Soon the house and,
yard were crowded with people. The minister took
his text and commenced his discourse with much ler-j
vor and native eloquence. lie did not take much
pains to divide his subject into different heads, but pur- 1
sued the course which would give him the surest and
easiest access to the hearts of his hearers. By the melt-!
ing strains ofhis unaffected oratory, the feelings of the)
audience were soon wrought up to the highest pitch.
At the distance of a few paces stood a log cabin, at
which there was dancing—but still the faithful and
zealous servant was not diverted from his labor. A
cry of fire was soon heard at the cabin. Ihe root was
seen in a light flame. The people commenced break
ing off and running to the scene of alarm. Ihe minis
ter exclaimed, “put out that fire—but remember there)
will he a worse alarm than this in the conflagration of)
the universe.” . ;
The flame being extinguished, and the meeting clos-j
ed, I mounted my horse and returned towards the vil
lage, and when I had proceeded about ten miles on my
wav. I spied through the extended forest, a group of
voung persons at some distance, apparently approach
ing the road. We all soon met together. The compa-l
ny consisted of a young man. and young woman and,
three children ol smaller size. They were all bare
footed. The young man and woman had a pole on
their shoulder with a quarter of venison suspended from
the middle. I asked when they caught him. They
said, “to-day, and this is our share after dividing with
the company.” I heaved a sigh and on I rode.
As 1 approached the river, my ears were saluted
with the winding of the huntsman’s horn. When I
arrived at the bank. I saw four young men with
their guns, horns, hounds and liquor. I thought it)
was dangerous to pass that way, for I never heard
worse oaths in all my life. I crossed the river and
was soon at home. After tea I retired to my room and
had some solemn reflections, 1 thought 1 had that day
explored an inviting missionary field. It is a tact that
within twenty miles of that destitute region, there are
churches of the different orders, which contribute lib
erally to send the gospel to China, Burmah and the,
Indians, while their'next door neighbors are starving!
for the bread of life. Surely < Campbell was not wrong;
when he said, “Tis distance lends enchantment to the
view.” Many portions of country may be found in!
the Southern and Southwestern States in as had con
dition as the one above mentioned. Would it not be
well for more prayers to be offered and more money
contributed for the spread of the gospel in our own
l uid! Surely those of crur own country, State, color,
mid language, demand our first attention.
ALPHA.
TII E TIIU T H I N LOV E .
PENEIELE, GA., YEYttIU AllY U, mi
[For the Christian Index.]
CIIA L K LINE SNo. 2.
Bro. “Index. ” —l have often thought there was
;great danger in allowing one’s self to depart in the
‘slightest degree, from the apostle’s injunction. “Do all
|to the glory of God,” and I have been made to reflect
how seldom does this important text enter our minds.
Is there one who does not love to Jest, and laugh, and
|he merry with gay companions ? or that is not some
times too loose in his conversation and thoughts? or
who does not often speak a great deal where only a
little is required, or speak only a little where truth and
justice demands more ? And are these things “done
to the glory of God ?” There is a fearful account
) against many of us, arising from our sins of this sort.!
| and may a just God enable us to avoid them in future,
and prepare us to reflect before we speak or act, in or-j
jder that all may he done to his glory !
Many ol the members of our churches have estab-l
lished dram-shops and distilleries, at which theirbreth
ren and the world mingle together in wild confusion,
;or drunken brawls: others have formed the practice
of fashionable tippling to an excessive degree, and
I thus cast a reproach upon the best cause in the uni
|verse; while others again, have looked upon these
‘things in silence, and made no efforts to stop the evils.
Surely none of these brethren are “doing all to the glo
ry of God,” or even to their own temporal welfare and
eternal happiness. Their lights do not shine, others
do not see any good works from them, and none arc
constrained, by their example, to glorify our father
which is in heaven.
It has not been a great while since I saw an old
gentleman reeling home from a neighboring dram
shop, with a jug snugly deposited in each end of his
saddle-bags, and some idle song drawling from his lips.
1 On coining up with him, he exclaimed, “how are you,
brother M ?” So, thought I, here.is one Baptist
! drunk, nntl for once, at lensf, tniminrilm iff fin} rrlfgftirr;
hut I said nothing. The next day I met him again
when he was sober, and again I said nothing, though
my conscience told me I ought. And so the matter
passed oil’, old brother drank to excess, and I
who saw him in that situation neglected iny duty, both
las a Christian and true friend, in not telling him ofhis
j fault, and warning him against it in future : so both of
ins wereblanieahie, for neither of us acted in all things
“to the glory of God.” It requires a close watch over
ourselves to live right, and too few of us are in the hab
it of keeping that watch. May the Lord forgive ns !
A great many brethren have little amusements and
! pas-times that do their souls no good : Some love to
play at draughts, some id back-gammon, some at chess,
some at cards, and some at dice: some are fond of idle
reading, some of vain conversation, some o (fine dress
ing, some of gay parties, and some of good dancing. —j
Can a man who has made a profession of Christianity,l
i follow any of these amusements, and yet say he “does
all to the glory of God ?” Can he pray the Lord’s
blessing upon his games or pleasures, which entirely
separate his mind from every thing of a religious or se
rious character ? or can he claim to himself the prom
ises of God to those who “know his will, and do it ?”
! Let us walk humbly, obediently, righteously and will
ingly after the example set us by our “Elder Brother,”
|and, then, our God will be glorified through us.
I know that I, for one, and, I fear, many of my
brethren, do many things that are not to the glory of
God, and I am sure that a reformation within ourselves,
| i in this respect, would be of more service to our present
land eternal happiness than any thing else. God help
us all to reform our lives, and honor our profession !
I Not only in thought and appearance, but in deed and
!| in truth, do we need such a reformation.
Our daily walk and common conversation, our secu
lar employments and miscellaneous duties, our inter
course with the world and our private paths, our
j|thoughts, words and actions, “everything we have and
are,” should be directed to the one great object, the
‘glory of God ! for thus, and only thus, are we to reach
the “saint’s everlasting rest,” and spend eternity in
| glory. Let us all learn to sing and feel that,
“Religion is the chief concern
Os mortals here below.” MARTIN.
The crpdulity of unbelief is the most extraordinary
of all phenomena in the moral world. It can repose
on mere speculative objections in the teeth of history|
and experience.
VNEW SEIIIES.-VOL.XV.—NO. 1.
Brnomiiifittoual*
[From the N. Y. Recorder.]
SONNET ON BUNYAN.
Thou wast a tinker—but the hallowed tire
Os God baptized thy spirit, and thenceforth
Thou wast a flaming prophet. Heaven and earth
Rang with the symphonies of thy sweet lyre,
Whiles the vibrations of the extatic wire,
’Neath tliv discoursive touch, embodied forth
Forms of no vain or transitory worth;
Whose truth, when all sublunar tilings expire,
Gorged in infinitude’s profound abyss,
Shall be the song of angels. Every gleam
Os that pure flood that sparkles through thy dream
Is light from heaven shot from the bowers of bliss.
Thou an apostle by the holy beam
That fired thy sold to speak God’s mysteries.
Suffolk. G. T.
In this Department we place an extract from an ar
ticle which appeared ip the Presbyterian ol the 16th
lilt., under'the caption “Distinctive Presbyterian
ism.” With such verbal alterations as may he neces
sary to adapt it to Baptists, and with the substitution, in
one or two instances, of the term “ Christians” for “ the
church,” we would most cordially endorse the article.
•• ‘The great error of the church, in every branch ot
her organization, appears to me to be a proneness to
concession, and I think I may, with all the force <>l a
|received truth in ecclesiastical history, say that she has
never made a concession which lias not been more or
less downward in its tendency.
“Our church, distinctive inner doctrines and polity,
maintaining the whole scriptural system in its entire
ness and integrity, is looked down upon by the mere
worldling, who dislikes its home-thrusting truths, as
luu. n’flid. and her sons as imTOW-sintded and bigo.tted,
and is hence oftenest. called upon to make concession,
and flic call has been, alas ! too often responded to —
resulting, as in the nature of the case it ever must, in
creating new demands, and mediately or immediately
greater dissatisfaction.
“ The question between the church and the world is,
not how much of the error of the latter the former may
receive, and still maintain her character in an outside
distinctiveness and half made up integrity. It is simply
this: Is a given course or proposition right in God’s
sight ? that is, can we, by the light ofnature and reve
lation, when that light is directed by the distinguishing
grace of God, say that the given case is clearly right or
clearly wrong? If it is the one or the other—and it.
must be one—there is no middle ground on which truth
and error may repose in concert.
“ Let me not be misunderstood. I dft not advocate a
personal and offensive exclusiveness, but simply the in
trenchment of the church on the battlements of the Bi
ble. Where our ecclesiastical doctrine and polity are
not concerned, let there be the largest liberty; where
either is interested, let us stand by our ancient land
marks— not, however, in a spirit, of vituperative com
plaint, but in the deep-toned piety of him who first ex
claimed, “let others do as they will, but as for ms, and
our house, we will serve the Lord in that manner
which we are taught in the divine word, we should
serve him. If the world will still scoff and take of
fence, vve will heed not their reproaches, but meekly
breathe the ejaculatory prayer of our great exemplar,
“ Father, forgive them ; they know not what they do.
i # # * * ***** *
“ Anomalous as it may seem, it has been too much
| the case, as you are aware, to abstain with almost reli-
Igious scrupulousness, from urging the “distinctive”
doctrines of our own church even on our own people;
and, as a consequence, the great mass of Presbyterian
mind is less instructed, perhaps, on this head, than on
any other in the whole round of knowledge. This
should not be. The intelligence of the church must
have perceived the cause, and, perceiving it, must
mourn the occasion of its continuance.
‘“Let there be light,’ exclaimed the great and eter
nal Jehovah, when the physical universe sprang from
his creative hand. Let the church arise and imitate
■ her Great Head, and say, grace directing her, There
jshall be light; and the chaotic darkness which en-
| shrouds her shall be dispelled by the brightly effulgent
beams of the Sun of our religious system, the God of
‘the Bible.”