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THE CHRISTIAN INDEX,
PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY MORNING
AT MACON, GEORGIA.
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E. W. WARREN, Editor.
VOLUME XXXIX, l
New Series.—Voiumc XXVIII. [
POETRY.
Tlie Refuge.
Fain would I seek a shelter from these storms,
That rise and break along my pathway here ;
Soon as one cloud has passed, another forms.
And bears its threatening murmurs to mine ear.
And thus like one benighted and astray,
I cried: Whither, oh whither, shall I flee !
When from yon cross I heard my Saviour say,
“Lay down thy burden here, come unto me.
‘‘Come unto me and I will give thee rest,
My yoke Is easy and my burden light,
I caine to bind and heal the bleeding breast,
Bid the lame walk, the blind receive their
sight.”
Saviour, I come, help thou mine unbelief;
May faith, humility and love be mine;
O let thy holy Spirit bring relief,
And all the praise and glory shall be thine.
CONTRIBUTIONS.
Corrective Church Discipline.
NUMBER TEN.
Deductions from Principles—Church
Sovereignty (continued.)
In the last number, it was shown
that the church, in the exercise of del
egated sovereignty, has the right to ar
raign and try its disorderly members ;
and that such members can in no way
escape her jurisdiction. To what was
said then, it might be added : If the
church has not such jurisdiction as will
enable it to arraign and try its disorderly
members, then, one of two things must
be inevitably true : Either the disor
derly members are irresponsible, and
can be arraigned by nobody ; or else
they are subject to a jurisdiction out
side of the church. If the former be
true, then the Scriptures authorize no
corrective discipline, and there is no
remedy for disorder and crime : If the
latter be true, then to whom does such
jurisdiction belong? To preachers and
committees? Then should brethren
eease their denunciations of Method ist
Circuit Riders and their committees for
exercising this very prerogative. Does
this jurisdiction belong toother church
es, to associations or to councils, wheth
er directly or by appeal? Then are we
Presbyterians in fact if notin name.—
Surely, it must be granted that local
churches have the power to arraign
and try their disorderly members. —
Now, if in these things, disorderly
members are subject to their churches,
in these things have their churches the
sovereignty over them. It remains to
be shown in this connection.
Second—That the church has exec
utive authority. She can expel all
whom she triea&nd condemns. “There
fore put away Trom among yourselves
that wicked person.” 1 Cor. 5: 13.
Question 1. “Put can a church ex
pel by majority?”
Aus. It is always desirable that, in
a matter of such serious import as the
expulsion of one from the privileges
of the fold of Christ, there should be
unanimity. In some of our churches,
therefore, there is a rule requiring that,
in all matters touehing fellowship, the
vote shall be unanimous. And the
custom is to enquire of the minority
whether they will acquiesce in the de
cision of the majority. If they consent
to submit, and thus promise not to
make this difference of opinion the
ground of alienation and confusion, the
inquiry proceeds no further, and the
decision of the majority is recorded
Put if the minority refuse to acquiesce,
then the custom is to labor with them
to bring them to right feelings and
right views. This effort is to be made
with patience and perseverance. It
may be that the majority may become
convinced that the opposition is well
founded ; and they may be induced to
stay proceedings, and to reconsider
their action. But jf it be manifested
that the opposition is factious, then it
is customary to require the minority to
submit; and if they refuse to obey, to
treat them as public offenders, and, if
necessary, to expel them. While the
design of all this is to produce, if pos
sible, harmony and unanimity, it is at
the same time an assertion of the right
of the majority to rule, and the duty
of the minority to submit.
The assertion implied in the ques
tion at the beginning of the above par
agraph is: No one can be expelled ex
cepting by a unanimous vote, i. e. if
any member objects. If this proposi
tion be true, then then if the woman
whom the incestuous man at Corinth
was claiming as his wife, had been a
member of the church, or if any other
man in the church had been guilty of
the same crime, he could not have been
put away.” If but one should vote no,
to the proyosition to expel, the vote
would not be unanimous. Then two
wicked and abandoned men may mu
tually retain each other in the chnrch
though one thousand should vote to
put them away. Can a principle be
correct which involves such conse
quences as these ? Bro. Baker, in rea
soning against the absurd proposition
that the minority ean “demand the ex
clusion of an individual whom the ma
jority believe to be innocent,” inciden
tally, but conclusively answers the
question above. After showing from
the Scriptures that the decisions of the
chnrch were ordinarily made by the
lifting up of the hands of its members,
he observes, (k Now we cannot account
for this voting, by the lifting up of the
hands, if it was not to ascertain the
will of the majority. But we are not
left to infer from general principles
the course pursued by the primitive
church in the exclusion of members. —
We have the express testimony of an
inspired Apostle, that in at least one
case of exclusion, the individual was
excluded, not by the few but by the
many. Sufficient to such a man (one
that had been excluded,) is this pun
ishment which was inflicted of many.
2 Cor. 2: 0. The word here rendered
‘many,’ is pleionon , which signifies the
greater part —the majority. On this
subject, then, the Scriptures is expli
cit and conclusive —nothing can be
more so. That passage is sufficient,
of itself, to show wffiat was the prac
tice of the church in apostolic times.
Per. Lib. p. 324.
Ques. 2. “But may a minority nev
er pronounce a majority to be no long
er a church of Christ, and declare
thernst ‘ves to be the true church ?”
This question is answered unhesita
tingly in the affirmative. There are
cases in which a minority may pro
nounce the majority no longer a
church. Put please notice the discri
minations that are made, and the
grounds upon which alone the ques
tion is thus answered. Whenever the
church, not only in fact but ostensibly
and by profession departs from the
faith and order that Christ has given,
it ceases to be a Paptist Church. For
instance: If it by act and by profession,
denies the purity of the ministry, and
introduces Episcopacy; if it denies
that the immersion of a professed be
liever is alone baptism, and avows and
practices infant sprinkling; if it re
scinds its articles of faith, and substi
tutes for them avowedly the doctrines
of Campbellism, or any other heresy ;
if it should by resolution deny chureh
sovereignty, i. e. its jurisdiction over
its disorderly members; if it should
deny church independence, and subject
itself, with other churches, to a form
of Presbyterianism, appellate tribu
nals in a series rising from conferences
through Councils, Associations and
General Associations up to General
Conventions; if it should by vote and
record declare that drunkenness, ly
ing, fornication, theft, libel, profanity
and other crimes that the Scriptures
reprehend, are no crimes, and avowed
ly encourage its members to practice
them. If by voting and record it de
cides to do these or any one of them,
a minority may pronounce themselves
the true church, and the courts of the
country would sustain them in their
claim. Put you perceive, this is not
the case before us. In my admission,
the persons protesting and unchurch
ing are not the parties arraigned, or
otherwise personally involved; but
those who, having nothing personally
at stake, are standing up solely by the
honor of the Master, and the constitu
tion of His church. They are strug
gling not to keep off* censu re from them
selves, bus to prevent the church from
being metamorphosed into a synago
gue of Sktan, or into another forgi of
Christian organization which they do
not consider scriptural. Put this has
no pretence to a case of discipline,
where the charges are for such things
as are recognized to be crimes by the
Scriptures.
This is the question you ought to
have asked : “Can an arraigned man
and his supporters, the minority, pro
nounce the majorityno church because
of the manner in which they conduct
his trial—and can they relieve him
from expulsion by proclaiming them
selves as alone the true church ?” To
answer this question in the affirmative,
and to practice on this principle, is to
make it impossible to discipline a
plausible and wicked man, and to rend
a church into fragments every time it
may attempt to enforce discipline up
on * a man of this kind. llow easy
would it be for such an one to plant
himself upon some great scriptural
principle, which he may arbitrarily in
sist is applicable to the case, and if the
church should deny its applicability,
to go off’ accompanied by his relations,
his personal friends, and his business
associates. If he is adroit, he may
even succeed in mystifying many hon
est and disinterested minds. But my
objector wishes to bring me back to
the admissions I have made in answer
to his first question ; and he -wishes to
enquire :
“Are not the Saviour's directions for
the government of private offences of
vital importance ? If then the majori
ty of a church in the management of
a case of discipline, disregard those
directions, cannot the minority, (leav
ing the arraigned out of the question)
stand up for the Saviour’s rule and un
church the majority ?” Let us see
what yon mean by “disregard.” First,
the church may honestly mistake that
for a public which is merely a private
offence; or, second, knowing and ac
knowledging it to be a private offence
prematurely introduced, it may decide
to entertain it anyhow. Let us see
whether either of these is a “disre
gard” of the Saviour’s directions ; and
whether they furnish sufficient ground
tor the minority to unchurch the ma
jority. If the majority honestly mis
take the nature of the offence, it has
only committed an error *, and we have
shown in the previous number, that a
church is not annihilated whenever it
commits an error. For the same reasons
a mistake made by the church in ref
erence to the nature of an offence,does
furnish sufficient grounds fora minori
ty to unchurch the majority. But,
second, suppose the majority, know
ing and acknowledging that it is a pri
vate offence prematurely introduced,
should nevertheless entertain it—what
then ? I answer, they may, like broth
er Baker aud other distinguished wri
ters on church discipline, believe that
these directions are addressed primari
MACON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1860.
ly to the offended, to guide his deport
ment ; and that the church has the
right, if it thinks best, to take into
consideration the conduct of her offen
ding member, even though t!?/e cate
may have been if
you please, wickedly brought before
her. In-all this, these writers com
mit an error, without designing to‘*dis
regaid” the instructions of Christ.—
Now as has been shown already, an
error, unintentionally committed does
not annihilate a church, nor does it af
ford ground sufficient for a minority to
unchurch the majority. Infallibility
does not reside in a church, either in
its majority or in its minority. On a
question whether a church can enter
tain a private offence prematurely and
irregularly introduced, honest differ
ences of opsuion may be tolerated ;
and merely a mistake on the subject
cannot involve annihilation. If a
church were by vote and record to re
solve that it would “disregard” or
erase from the Revelation received by
it, the 18th chapter of Mat., or any
part of the Scriptures great or small,
it would resolve itself into an infidel
fraternity, and the believers in its
midst should repudiate and denounce
it. But surely, the avowed rejection
of the ISth chapter of Mat., and the
erroneous application of its law, while
its binding force is acknowledged, are
very different things.
So it will be seen that a member un
der dealing, cannot escape expulsion
by retiring with a minority of the
church ; and that such a minority, so
far from shielding him by their rebel
lion, subject themselves to the same
penalty he endures. There is not a
church in Christendom, true to the
Master and to herself, that would not,
in these circumstances, expel all her
recusants. And if the revolters should
afterwards, with or without organiza
tion, call themselves the church, or a
church, whatever else they may be,
they are not a Baptist church, which
we consider to be synonymous with a
gospel church. Whatever may be
their pretensions or their claims, they
are excommunicated Baptists ; and
should be so regarded and treate i by
all who reverence the authority of the
King in Zion.
In conclusion, then, it must be grant
ed that in the exercise of delegated
sovereignty, the church has executive
authority. She can expel all whom
she tries and condemns.
Ques. 3. “Can a church expel a min
ister without the intervention of a
Council or Presbytery ?”
The answer to this must be reserved
to the next number.
P. H. MELL.
University of Georgia,
The Early Christian Church.
The voice of authentic history in re
gard to its organization , officers ,
practices and ordinances.
“That the name of episcopus was al
together synonymous with that of pres
byter, is clearly collected from the pas
sages of Scripture, where both appel
lations are interchanged, (Acts 20,
compare ver. 17 with ver. 28, Epist. to
Titus 1: 5-7) as well as from those
where the mention ot the office of dea
con follow's immediately after that of
“episcopi,” so that a third class of offi
cers could not lie between the two. —
Phil, 1:1,1 Tim. 3: 1-8. This in
terchange of the two appellations is a
proof of their entire coincidence” §
“Thes v pastors and teachers are the
same with bishops or overseers, whose
business it is to feed the flock they have
the episcopacy or oversight of, wdiichis
the w’ork of pastors to do; which of
fice of a bishop is a good w r ork, and is
the only office in the church distinct
with that of deacon ; and these bish
ops are the same with elders.” 7 “It is
a disputed point whether there are was
an order of deaconesses to minister
among the women in the apostolic
church ; the only proof of their exist
ence is the epithet attached to the name
of Phoebe, which may be otherwise un
derstood. At the same time it must
be acknowledged that the almost Ori
ental seclusion in wliicn the Greek wo
men were kept, would render the in
stitution of such an office not unnatu
ral in the churches of Greece, as well
as in those of ‘the East.”B
“The celebration of the two symbols
of the Christian communion, Baptism
and the Lord’s Supper, belonged to
the unchangeable plan of the Christian
church as framed by its Divine Founder
In baptism, entrance into communion
with Christ appears to have been the es
sential point; thus persons were united
to the spiritual body of Christ and re
ceived into the communion of the re
deemed,the Church of Christ y Gal. 3 :
27,1 Cor. 12: 13.
The usual form of submersion at
baptism practiced by the Jews, was
transferred to the gentile Christians.—
Indeed, this form was more suitable to
signify that which Christ intended to
render an object of contemplation by
such a symbol—the immersion of a
whole man in the spirit of a new r life.
But Paul availed himself of what was
accidental to the form of this symbol
—the two fold act of submersion and
emersion, as he found therein a refer
ence to Christ dead and Christ risen ,
the negative and positive, aspect of
the Christian life—in the imitation of
Christ to die to all ungodliness, and in
communion with him to rise to a new r
divine life— so in the given form of
baptism , he made use of w’hat was ac
cessory in order to represent, by a sen
sible image, the idea and design of the
rite in its connexion w r ith the whole
I essence of Christianity.
J Since baptism marked the entrance
into communion with Christ, it result
ed from the nature of tjbe rite, that a
confession of faith in Jesus as the Re
deemer would be made by theperson to
be baptized ; and in the latter part of
the apostolic age we ma j find indica
tions of the existence of such a prac
tice.
As baptism was closely united with
a conscious entrance in Christian com
munion, faith and baptism were al
ways connected with one another ; and
thus it is in the highest degree proba
ble that baptism was performed only
in instances where both could meet to
gether, and that the practice of infant
baptism was unknown at that pe
riod.” 9
“The enlargement of the commis
sion given the apostles, is set dowm in
such brief words that there is no par
ticular direction given what they were
to do in reference to the chilaren of
those that received the faith; and
among all the persons that are record
ed as baptized by the apostles, there is
no express mention of any infant.”lo
“We cannot infer the existence of
infant baptism from the instance of the
baptism of whole families; for the pas
sage in 1 Cor. 1G : 15, shows the falla
cy of such a conclusion—as from that
it appears that the 'whole family of Ste
phanas, who were baptized by Paul,
consisted of adults.”ll
From all these authentic records it
•appears that the apostolic churches
were, each, independent bodies that
chose their own officers, and governed
themselves; that those officers were
elders or bishops or pastors and dea
cons—two orders ori’y; that they met
statedly, worshipped in a simple man
ner, by reading, singing, preaching and
praying; supported their pastors by
contributions, and cared for their poor ;
that they baptized by immersion, up
on a profession of faith in Christ, and
did not practice infant baptism. To
this model, of all modern denomina
tions, the Baptist approaches nearest.
B.
6. Neander. 7. Dr Gill. 8. Conybeare & Ilow
son 9. Neander—planting of Christianity, 10 Dr.
Wall. Inti o. to Hist. Inf. Bap. 11. Neander.
Letter from Bro. Reid.
Still at Abbeokuta—Some statements
about the merchants and trade of
Abbeokuta—Emissaries of the col
ored people of the North and Cana
da examining the country —they are
much pleased—Curious method of
obtaining satisfaction Bro. R.’s
health improved.
Abbeokuta, Africa, \
December 1, 1859. )
Tear bro. Warren. —Being at leis
ure 1 will drop you a few more lines
in addition to the letter I sent you a
few days since.
You observe that I am still in Ab
beokuta. 1 have found it somewhat
difficult to buy cowries since I came,
consequently! have had to wait awhile.
There is an abundance of cowries in the
town, but the merchants who control
the market to a very great extent, say
the present rate of exchange is such
that the loss on their goods is too great
for them to bear. They are therefore
holding on till the palm oil season ho
ping to buy the palm oil, ivory and
other produce, to the amoant ot their
cowries. In pursuing this course they
make themselves liable to great loss
because their houses are so liable to
be burnt, and the palm oil season does
not commence fully until about April.
Abbeokutais now becoming quite a
place of trade fer some articles of for
eign goods and native productions.—
Linens, prints, velvets of cheap kinds,
and rum are the j rincipal imports.—
Palm oil, ivory, cotton, and shea but
ter are the principal exports.
A large majority of tfie merchants
are Sierra Leoneans. Some doing bu
siness upon capital furnished them by
Englishmen, and some upon their own
small capital. Upon the whole I be
lieve that these merchants are an ob
stacle to the gospel, because their high
est aim is gain, regardless of that mor
altraining of their native brethren, so
necessary to elevate them to a scale of
Christian sociality. While this course
is pursued Missionary labor is not en
hanced, because the missionary has
not only native evil to counteract, but
that of the trader.
Dr. Delany aud Mr. Campbell, col
ored gentlemen, are here now as repre
sentatives of the colored people North
and in Canada, for the purpose of ex
amining this country with a view to
settlement, Their object is not to es
tablish a colony, but for every one who
is able to come and settle where they
please, without any organization. This
is the only safe and succesful course
for them to pursue, because a separate
government would not be allowed by
the rulers of this country.
These gentlemen are much pleased
with the country. Dr. Delany expects
to settle in Lagos, Mr. Campbell in this
town. They are making preparations
to go as far in the interior as Ilorin.—
When they return they expect to leave
for America in afew months to report.
If the right kind of people should
emigrate to this country from Ameri
ca, they would do far more in advan
cing civilization than England has
done with all her Sierra Leone forces.
Such emigrants, we hope, will be great
assistants to the spread of the gospel
among the people. I will say no more
at present on the above subject.
The slave-of a rich man of this town
while running his horse through one
of the markets, ran over a rich woman
and killed her. The relatives of the
woman carried her body and placed
it before the door of the rich man and
L
ordered him to die, for the slave was
not of equal grade to the woman. The
body lay there about fifteen days, and
every day the man was called upon to
die. To get the case all settled, this
rich man had to pay about $13,000 to
the relatives of the deceased, aud to
the rulers of the town.
My health has improved some du
ring the last month, but I am still un
well.
Your bro. in Chist,
T. A. REID.
Introduction of the Gospel to the
KARENS.
In May, 1828, Ko-thah-byu, the first
Karen convert —called afterwards the
“Karen Apostle” was baptized. About
the same time Ko-myat-kyan, a re
spectable and intelligent Barman, was
converted. This man assured the A
merican Baptist Missionaries at Maul
main, that the Karens would receive
the Gospel much more readily than
the Burtnans. Induced by his repre
sentations, Mr. Wade (with the advice
of Dr. Judson) set out with him and
two or three other Barman converts to
visit a Karen village twenty miles
North of Maulmain.
We give Mr. Wade’s account of this
iirst visit of Christians to Karens, ex
tracting from anew and intensely in
teresting work by Mrs. Wylie, called
“the Gospel in Burmah.”
“On our arrival every man, woman
and child had deserted their dwellings,
and hid themselves in the jungle.—
We sat down in the shade of their
houses, and after some time one or two
of the men summoned courage to shew
themselves, and ask our object in com
ing to their village. Ko-myat-kyau
told them our only object was to tell
them about the true God, and the way
of salvation. ‘Oh, is that your ob
ject?’ they replied, ‘we thought you
were Government Officials, and we
were afraid ; but if you are religions
teachers, come to tell us of God, we
are happy; we will listen ; —have you
brought God’s book ? Our fathers say,
the Karens once had God’s Book writ
ten on leather (parchment,) and they
carelessly allowed it to be destroyed.
Since then, as a punishment, we have
been without boMsand without a writ
ten language. But our prophets say,
the white foreigners have the book,
and will in future time restore it to us.
Behold, the white foreigners have
come as our prophets foretold ! Have
you brought God’s Book ?’ (few of these
simple villagers had seen a white for
eigner.”) I replied, Yes, we have
brought the Booh of God, (shewing
them a Bible) but; it is in the lan
guage of the foreigners, though parts
of it have been translated into the lan
guage of the Burmans. Can you read
Burman ? ‘No, we cannot; you must
translate it for us, as you have for the
Burmans.’ By this time the villagers
generally had learned our object in
coming, and ventured out of their hi
ding places, so that we had a large
company of men and women and chil
dren around us ; some eagerly exam
ining my strange dress ; others aston
ished at the whiteness of my face;
but more still, intent on hearing what
I had to say about the Book of God,
which they had so long expected the
white foreigners to bring them. To
their last request, I replied, ‘I came
from the land of the foreigners, to
teach the Burmans the true religion.
I have learned their language, but I
do not understand Karen. lam obli
ged to speak to*you through an inter
preter. But I will write to those who
sent me out, to send a teacher for the
Karens, who will study your language
reduce it to wu-iting, and translate
God’s Word for you, if on your part
you will agree to learn to read, and
let your children learn ; else the labor
and expense will be lost. Will the
Karens do it?’ ‘Yes, we wiU, and we
will worship God whfen we are taught
his requirements. Our fathers have
told that when the white foreigners
bring us the lost book, and teach us the
true religion, w T e must listen and obey,
then prosperity will return to us ; but
if we do not listen and obey, we shall
perish without remedy. Long have
we suffered, and prayed for deliver
ance and now thpt the white foreign
er has come with the lost word of God,
according to the saying of the fathers,
if we do not listen, we know that the
threatening also will be fulfilled.—
Yes, we will listen and obey : but how
long will it take for a teacher to come,
learn our language, reduce it to wri
ting, and translate for us the Book of
God ?’ I said I thought it could he ac
complished in ten years. ‘Alas! it
will not then be accomplished in my
day,’ exclaimed a man who had near
ly completed his three score years and
ten. ‘But you must not wait for anew
teacher, you must begin air once.’—
Many others joined in this request;
but I could not then say, I will; for
the idea of becoming a Karen Mis
sionary had not yet occurred to my
mind ; my hands were full of work in
the Burman department, and thirty
converts were baptized and added to
the Burman church in Maulmain, du
ring that year.”
Hear and Meditate. —Philip Henry
notes in his diary the saying of a pious
bearer of his own which deeply affect
ed him :
“I find it easier,” said the good man,
“to go six miles to hear a sermon than
to spend one quarter of an hour in
meditating and praying over it in se
cret, as I should when I come home.”
Glances all Around.
East Indies. —There are signs that
the great revival has extended to the
distant East. Dr. Duff* has been con
ducting a special union service of ten
days in Calcutta, and a deep impres
sion has been produced by the occa
sion. Other large special meetings
have also been held, and deep feeling
is apparent.
Prome Bnrmah.- Dr. Kincaid writes
that five Burmans had recently been
baptized at Thay yet, and the signs of
the Spirit’s work were manifest in ma
ny other places.
It has been stated that through the
agency of the English Wesleyan Mis
sionary Society, the Gospel is preach
ed in more than twenty languages at
3,050 places in various parts of Europe,
India, China, Southern and Western
Africa, the West Indies, Australia,
Canada, and British America.
Protestantism in Italy. —ln Italy,
the recent war has given au impetus
to Protestantism. Bibles are sold ev
erywhere, and Protestant churches are
growing up.
The Revival Movement. —The good
work is progressing satisfactorily in
those parts of Ireland and Scotland
which it has already occupied.
Sunday Schools in Nebraska. —An
exchange says that “ there are at the
present time, seventy-five Sun. schools
in Nebraska Territory; all included
within twelve counties thereof. Fifty
of them are organized under the influ
ence of the American Sunday School
Union ; and twenty-five under the va
rious denominations of Protestant
Christians in the Territory.”
Baptist Statistics.— The German and
Dutch Baptist Churches in the United
States number 1 association, 40 church
es, 35 ordained ministers,l2 licentiates,
450 baptized in 1858. Total number,
0,300. Estimated Swedish Baptist
Churches in the United States —1 as
sociation, 10 churches, 8 ordained min
isters, 2 licentiates, 150 baptized in
1858. Total number, 500. The Welsh
Churches number 3 associations, 34
churches, 20 ordained ministers, 250
baptized in 1858. Total number, 1,400.
The Churchman in an article on
“Church Extension,” says the Roman
ists in the United States number about
3,000,000 ; the Methodists 1,880,200 ;
the Baptists, 1,200,000 ; and other de
nominations in proportion ; while the
Protestant Episcopal Church claims
less than 140,000 communicants, and
is extending slowest of all.
The Missionary Work. —Daily pray
er-meetings have been established at
Madras, Bombay, Poona, Calcutta,
and other places. There is manifest a
new impulse of spiritual life among for
eigners in India. The Annual leport
of the English Baptist Missionary So
ciety states that, throughout the entire
scene of the Indian revolt, missionary
work has been resumed. In Bengal,
notwithstanding the excitement of the
war, the additions to the churches have
been more than usually numerous.
Cumming is the most womanly
preacher whom I have ever heard ; he
is womanly in tone of voice and in ac
tion, and womanly in those intuitions
and prophetical revelations, not of the
Old Testament, but of the regenerate
heart to itself
Twice every Sabbath he draws a con
gregation equal to the population of
many American towns around him, and
expounds to them the riches of divine
grace. Let men ridicule Dr. Cumming
and judge him by his Millenarian fan
cies, but he has two sides to his char
acter, and in future I shall think of him
as the seer who penetrates the depths
of divine love, rather than as the mis
guided believer in the future temporal
glory of the Jewish race.—[Cor. N. Y.
Independent.
Over one hundred prayer-meetings
are held in Perth, Scotland, every
week.
A Baptist Slaveholder. —A writer
in the “Texas Baptist” states that Mor
gan L. Smith, of Brazoria county, has
built a church for his blacks, costing
hearly S3OOO, with this sign over the
front door : “ The African Baptist
Church.” He collects his servants in
this house each Sabbath morning,reads
and expounds the scriptures, joins with
them in prayer, and calls on the pious
of them to join with him. His wife
also teaches the children the catechism
prepared for their benefit.
The rumor that the Empress of the
French had abolished crinoline is de
nied in the Court Journal. The Em
peror, it is stated, was anxious to see
crinoline abandoned, but Eugenie hav
ing one day presented herself before
him in the meagre attire of a few years
he at once recanted, and hoops
reign paramount.
Am. Tract Society. —Dr. R. Fuller,
of Baltimore, being requested to give
up his pulpit to the Agent of this So
ciety, replied :
“I regard the Am. Tract Society as
one of the very few religious institu
tions that are at this time helping to
hold our great country together. I
very much wish to see it prosper, and
will surrendej my pulpit to the District
Secretary next Sabbath morning.
No more Lotteries in Maryland. —
The Revised Code, which has just gone
into operation in Maryland, has put an
end to lotteries and lottery ticket sel
ling in that State.
Secret prayer is a spiritual thermom
eter ; it tells the warmth of the heart,
indicates the rise and fall of religious
affections.
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ger advertisements in the same ratio.
S. BOYKIN, Associate Editor.
NUMBER 8.
Mr. Spurgeon and Orthodoxy. —A
statement lately made in an English
Episcopal journal that Rev. Mr. Spur
geon had made a “formal recantation
of the extreme Calvanistic views which
he lia£ preached,” has gained some cur
rency in this country. We find now
in a religious paper just received from
England, a distinct denial of the report
from Mr. Spurgeon himself, who says,
“ the statement you have made with
regard to my recantation of Calvanist
ic doctrines- is a fabrication from be
ginning to end, and one which could
only have been invented for malicious
purposes. lam the same in doctrine
as 1 have ever been, and I hope to re
main faithful to the same grand truths
until death.”
Then and Mow. —ln 1813 the first
Baptist Foreign Missionary Society
was formed in America. Its receipts
during the first year, were S9BO 22. —
Now Missionary Baptists extend from
Maine to Mexico, and they contributed
last year $102,140,96 to the Mission
cause. Then there were no Missions,
now there are 19. Then there were
two Missionaries, Rice and Judson,now
there are 450. At that time there
were no converts : now there are 234
Baptist churches among the pagans,
with 14,322 members. Was Judson’s
life a failure ?
The Bible Union. —The Union has
expended up to this tijne, in revising
the English Scriptures, $146,918 22.
The whole New Testament has gone
through two revisions, one in England
and one in this country. The revision
of the last six books of the New Testa
ment have been long ago printed ; and
Mark, John, Luke, Acts, Eph., He
brews, 1 and 2, Thes. and Job are now
for sale; and Matt.,'Gallations, and
Philemon are named by the final com
mittee and passing through the press.
The Bible Union has revised the
Spanish New Testament and given the
50,000,000 who speak Spanish a Bible
they can understand.
It has also revised the entire Italian
New Testament for the 30,000,000 who
speak Italian who have had no Bible
they could understand before.
MISSIONARY TO JAPAN.
The latest missionary despatched do
Japan is the Rev. Mr. Goble—a young
gentleman who has volunreered in the
face of adverse circumstances, for the
work. He was with Commodore Per
ry, in his expedition, and having ob
served the habits and character of the
Japanese, and acquired their language,
he returned to this country. In the
meantime he matured his studies, and
endeavored to find some avenue, by
which he might convey to that strange
people the joyful news of a crucified
and risen Saviour. He applied to a
missionary board for assistance to ac
complish his object, but their funds be
ing low, he failed. Two Baptist Dea
cons heard of his desire, and generous
ly pledged themselves for sufficient
means to enable him to pursue his la
bors for five years. He is accompanied
by his wife and child, and a young
Japanese, named Samuel Sentharo.
CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES.
A Methodist minister who was at
Nags Head last summer, very much
enjoyed bathing with the ladies, and
saw no impropriety in that kind of im
mersion. Recently, however, the rev
erend gentleman remarked in a ser
in that it was “a very difficult thing
to immerse a female, and that it look
ed bad to see a lady come up out of the
water all wet, with leaves from the
pond sticking all over her.” An “edi
tor out west” advises him to take la
dies who come to him for baptism to
Nags Head for immersion, and they
will probably look well enough.
“I have taken much pains,” says the
learned Selden, “to know everything
that was esteemed worth knowing
amongst men ; but with all my disqui
sitions and reading, nothing now re
mains with me to comfort me at the
close of life, but this passage of Saint
Paul, ‘lt is a faithful saying, and worthy
of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners.’
To this I cleave, and herein I find
rest.”
HOLD ON BOYS.
Hold on to your tonge when you are
just ready to swear, lie or speak harsh
ly, or say any improper word.
Hold on to your hand when you are
about to strike, pinch, scratch, steal,
or do any improper act.
Hold on to your foot when you are
on the point of kicking, running away
from study, or pursuing the path of er
ror, shame, or crime.
Hold on to your temper when you
are angry, excited, or imposed upon, or
others are angry about you.
Hold on to your heart when evil as
sociates seek your company, and invite
you to join in their games, mirth and
revelry.
Hold on to j our good name at all
times, for it is more valuable to you
than gold, high places, or fashionable
attire.
Hold on to the truth, for it will serve
well, and do you good throughout eter
nity. # .
Hold on to your virtue, it is above
all price to you, in all times and places.
Hold on to your good character, for
it is and ever will, be your best wealth.
How to be happy —try to make oth
ers happy.
How to be miserable —try to make
others miserable.