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THE CHRLSTIAN INDEX,
rUBUSiLBD EVEKT WEDNESDAY MOUNINtt
AT MACON, GEORGIA.
BY A COMMITTEE OF BRETHREN,
FOR THE
GEORGIA BAPTIST CONVENTION.
H.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION,
Two Dollars in advance : or paid within the year.
If suffered to overrun the yea'. Two Dollars and
one-half will be charged in all cases.
K. \V. WARREN, Editor!
VOLUME XXXIX.)
New Series.—Volume Vk\ 111. )
POETRY.
Isaiah, 13th Chap, 19-22 vs.
BT Hints E. SMITH.
Proud she sat, as It were, upon her throne
Queen of splendor—glory of kingdoms—
And “ the beauty of all excellency”—
Haughty Babylon, city of grandeur!
Her rich and splendid palaces towered
In their gorgeous beauty, the envy of
Kings—
And
■viler mighty walls were round her as
A shield of strength, sheltering from danger.
Like a star she shone from her dminenee
Eclipsing in her brightness all others.
The light of whose glorious beams lit all earth,
And nation’s seeing, said “ most beautiful.”
I Her streets were brilliant with the pageantry
And glittering pomp of her royal wealth ;
Her stately halls echoed with the sound of
Music and revelry. Noise of viols
And the laughter of her sons and daughters
Made merry her radiant palaces ;
And she said in her heart “ none like to me,
Yea, no glory like unto my glory.”
But the ‘ ears of her children were heavy’
And their hearts made fat with her luxury ;
Their eyes became dazzled with her splendor,
They heard not, nor saw, nor knew the true God, ’
But turned themselves to idols and angered
The Mo*t nigh.
Woe unto thee, Babylon!
For Go(fs dread wrath was poured out iu thy midst.
Before the besom of desolation
Thy beauty and glory were swept away <
And thou, Babylon! “ praise of the earth! 1
Did wrap thyself in a mantle es shame
And sit down Jin the dust most accursed !
Gone I .all gone !
The moaning winds as they sweep
O’er the lone heaps of fallen Babylon—
And the rolling Euphrates, dark in its majestic flow,
And the bittern’s shrill cry from gloomy brakes
And stagnant pools, all echo the sad sound,
* All gone—Babylon, the great, is fallen.
On the mounds where its halls of grandeur stood,
Prowling beasts of the desert make their lair;
And when night comes now, or* the place where
Once the sound of mirth and revely went up
Till the bright stars paled and set, one by one,
These heavenly watchers look down upon
Grave-like mounds, and shadowy crevices
Os rocky piles, where their light falls in gleams,
Ghastly, ’mid the dreary and thick darkiic*s ;
And now, for the laughter of gayety,
Is heard the dismal “ hoot” of the night owl,
And the hideous cries of doleful creatures,
Making their homes where the palaces stood ;
And noman dwelleth there ever—no man :
Shepherds make their folds far from the oursed
place,
And wild men of the desert dwell not near ;
When dews of evening and night shades fall,
Their wandering steps turn away in fear
From the shadowy mounds, Kir “evil things”
Are there.
Night fulls not on man among the ruins—
Yea, ‘Satyrs shall dance there,’ and dragons roam
Throughout all her pleasant palaces.
Oh ! Baybion I Glorious Babylon! !
And nations of the earth say where, oh where
Is beautiful Babylon ? and they search
But find her not. The shining star went out—
Yea, sank in no setting gleam of glory,
But darkness enfolded her beams, and men say
Behold 1 she has fallen, she has fallen.
Wtfrrenton, Ga.
~ ('ONTRIIitTIONS.
Corrective Church Discipline.
NUMBER ELEVEN.
Deductions from Principles—Ciicrcii
Sovereignty (continued.)
Question 3. ‘‘Can a minister be tri
ed and expelled without the interven
tion of a Presbytery or Council?”
Direct expressions in the Scriptures,
as well as the general principles laid
down therein, authorize us, in our
opinion, to answer this question in the
affirmative. Not a few distinguished
and deservedly influential names, how
ever, may be quoted against us. Ba
ker, Crowel, Sands, the lamented Mer
edith and others, all give a different
answer, and fortify it by many plausi
ble arguments. It becomes the pres
ent writer, then to express himself
with diffidence, and to proceed no
further than he can plainly show that
he is sustaised by the Scriptures.
1. My flrst remark, then, is that no
passage in the Bible, in direct terms ,
instructs the church to call in a Pres
bytery or Council, when she would try
a minister holding membership with
her ; nor is a single example given in
the Scriptures where one was tried
with such intervention. No one, it is
presumed, will call this m question. If
so, let the precept be quoted, or the
example cited. The church is told how
she is to “receive an accusation against
an Elder;” but it is not hinted to her
that she cannot proceed, in other re
spects, in his trial, in the same way in
which she conducts the process against
any other member accused. This of
itself is signiticant. But
2. Paul directs the Galatians to ex
communicate the false ministers who
were teaching that it was necessary to
bo justified by the law. I would they
were even cut off which trouble you,”
5 : 12. “Aud this they were to do in
the exercise of their Christian liberty,
5: 13.” (Crowell.) To the church
alone the address is directed ; and no
hint is given that it need the help of
a Council or Presbytery. But it may
be said, there were false teachers.—
True : It was not to be expected that
Paul would exhort to the excommuni
cation of true teachers. Nor is it said
here that a i church is authorized to ex
communicate orderly and true minis
ters. If the .church in Galatia was
satisfied that these teachers were false
they had the right it seems, to cut them
off. So in all time, churches that, af
ter trial, convict ministers of crime,
can cut them off without any external
assistance. Paul does not say, call a
Presbytery to look into their ministe
rial credentials and expose them if
they are impostors—or to take away
their ministerial credentials, if they
have properly forfeited them; and
then exclude them from membership.
But the exhortation is, cut them off*.
3. Christ praises the church at E
phesus for excommunicating false A
postles. “And thou hast tried them
which say they are Apostles, and are
not, and hast tound them liars,” Rev.
2: 2. Now these iren professed to
he Apostie6. So far as the church at
Ephesus knew, the really were such;
and, on investigation, their claims
might have been sustained. It did
not follow that their claims were spu
rious simply because they were doubt
ed. On this principle, Paul’s Apostle
ship would have been invalidated ; for
it was called iu question. The true
state of the case was ascertained by
investigation. The church tried them
and the church found them liars ; and
Christ praised her for it. Not one hint
is given that she did this in co-opera
tion with a Presbytery. If the church
at Ephesus was praised for trying and
cutting oft’ false Apostles, surely the
Scripture will sustain a church in mod
ern times in trying and cutting off, in
the same way, false ministers.
4. Peter, though he was an Apostle,
acknowledges the sole j urisdiction over
him of the church in Jerusalem, of
which he was a member. After the
baptism of Cornelius, they of the cir
cumcision at Jerusalem, brought the
charge against him that he had gone
in to men uncircumscised, and eaten
with them —Acts 11. We do not find
that Peter claims to be tried by “his
foes,” and demands that a Council of
Apostles or even Elders should be call
ed to decide upon the validity of his
defence; but he expounds to the church
the facts of the case and seeks their
approval of his cjnduct. Ido not pre
sent tliis as technically an arraignment
—in the sense of church dealing but
only claim that Peter acknowledged
that the church was able to decide up
on the propriety of his course, aud to
acquit him of blame without external
assistance.
These instances appear to us to fur
nish decided evidence from the Scrip
tures that a minister can be tried, con
demned and expelled, without the in
tervention of a Council or Presbyte
ry.
Objection 1. But it is objected,
“The ministry was conferred by a
Presbytery or Council; and it requires
the same power to unmake that it does
to make.”
To meet this objection, it will be
necessary, as a preliminary, to enquire,
1. What is a minister? 2. What is or
dination ? 3. What relation does a
Presbytery or Council bear to ordina
tion ?
* 1. What is a minister? A minister
has two functions. 1. He can preach<
the Gospel. 2. He can administer the
ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s
Supper.
The first he does not possess as a
prerogative peculiar to himself. All
male members of the church have the
right, and are in duty bound, to tell to
others all they know about the Savior.
By, conversation, or, if able, in set
speech, sitting, walking, or standing,
on the floor, or if more convenient, in
a pulpit, they are authorized to pro
claim to sinners the unsearchable rich
es of Christ, and to point enquirers to
the Lamb of God, who taketh away
the sins of the world ; and this with
all the impressiveness and eloquence
at their command. “As every man
hat received the gifr, even so minister
the same one to another as good stew
ards of the manifold grace of God,” 1
Peter, 4: 10. But while it is the priv
ilege and duty of all to proclaim the
truth, Christ has set apart a special
body of men to the work of the minis
try as preachers, whose business it is
to give themselves, with all their en
ergies, to the proclamation of the truth
—to reprove, rebuke and exhort with
all long suffering and doctrine. A
minister then, in part, is one whose du
ty it is to preach the word.
1. Some believe that any church
member is authorized to administer
the ordinances. But with very general
unanimity, Baptists hold that only
ordained ministers are authorized to
do so. The answer then to the ques
tion, who is a minister ? is, one who
preaches the Gospel and administers
the ordinances.
2. What is ordination? and what
relation does it bear to the ministry ?
Ans. Ist. Whatever it may be, it
does not impart any grace or intellec
tual or spiritual qualification. There
is no invisible gift imparted by the
imposition of hands; nor does the cer
emony bring the subject into a line of
succession from the Apostles; or make
him a link in a ministerial chain from
primitive times. This may do for Po
pery and High Church Episcopacy,
which depend upon superstition and
credulity ; but the Scriptures make no
intimation of the necessity or existence
of such a line of succession. And if
a Presbytery of Baptist ministers pro
fess that ordination is designed, aud
that their manipulations are intended
to bring a candidate into this mystical
—not to say superstitious —line of suc
cession, it may be well for them to be
called upon to prove in advance that
they are themselves in that line.
Ans. 2. Ordination is not designed
to authorize the subject to preach.—
God gives that authority and not the
Presbytery. Men are ordained not
that they might become preachers,
but because they are preachers already.!
God calls them to be such, gives them
the gift aud qualifications, rolls upon ;
their hearts the burden of 60uls, kin- 1
dies a fire in their bones, and compels
them to cry, “Wo is me, if I preach
not the Gospel.” And when they
prove themselves to be preachers, then
the Presbytery lays hands on them,
not that they might be preachers, but
because they are so already. Ilow
many “licensed preachers” are there
in our churches ? Paul was called to
be a preacher, and the call announced
to Aunanias before his (Paul’s) bap
tism—to say nothing of ordination.—
Ac. 9: 15.) A head to know, a heart
to feel, and a tongue to utter fluently
and forcibly the truth as it is in Jesus,
are the qualifications that make the
preacher, and not the external ceremo
ny of ordination. These gifts and
graces God bestows and not the Pres
bytery. An ardent design for the glo
ry of God and for the salvation of sin
ners, and not the authorization of the
Presbytery, is that which impels men
to preach.
3. In answer, then, to the question,
what is ordination ? I would say ordi
nation is, by ceremony, a solemn pub
lic recognition ot one whom it is be
lieved, God has ca’led to preach his
Gospel and administer His ordinan
ces.
3. What relation does a Presbytery
bear to ordination—in other words,
why is a Presbytery necessary to take
a part in this solemn recognition ?
Presbytery is derived from the Greek
word , presbuteros ; and implies a com
pany of elders or ministers. In our
churches in the Southern States, the
ordaining body is exclusively a com
pany of ministers selected by the can
didate and the church to which he be
longs. But in the Northern States, it
is custoiHary for the church calling to
invite neighboring
churches to send their Pastors and mes
sengers, who shall together constitute
what they call a Council, to enquire
into the propriety of ordaining the
candidate. This latter body consists
of private members as well as minis
ters. While this custom is liable to
misconstruction in the fact that it may
be supposed that, as other churches
send messengers to this body, the pow
er to ordain belongs to an association
of churches, it tends to correct the
superstition which wo are in danger
of imbibing from Rome, that the body
performing the ceremony of ordina
tion, communicate through themselves
some spiritual gift, or by virtue of be
ing in that condition themselves, im
part to the candidato ministerial suc
cession, or make him, like themselves,
a link in a ministerial chain from the
Apostles. The private members of
these Councils are non-conductors of
the ministerial fluid, and have not, in
thetnsAves, the ministerial succession
to communicate. If it be said that
not the private members of these
Councils, but the rtiinisters lay hands
on the subject, it is replied that the
ministers do so, in s>art, by the per
mission and under the direction of the
private members. In the mouth of a
Romanist or a High Church Episcopa
lian, apostolical succession and minis
terial qualification imparted by the
laying on of hands, are superstitious
and presumptuous ; but in the mouth
of a Baptist Council they are simply
nonsensical and ridiculous. But to
return.
Why is a Presbytery or Council ne
cessary to the solemn recognition of a
minister? I answer, God designs (1) to
prevent unworthy and incompetent
men from entering into the ministry ;
and (2) to provide for the endorsement
of worthy and and competent men, so
that they may be received with confi
dence by other churches and the world
who, for themselves, may not have the
opportunity or ability to pass upon
their character and qualifications. To
secure the former, lie makiTs the can
didate pass through two ordeals. He
has first by his gifts an 1 qualifications
to attract the attention of the church
to himself, and convince it that God
has called and qualified him for. the
work of the ministry ; and then, hav
ing convinced the Presbytery or Coun
cil that he has gifts of mind and utter
ance that qualify him to edify, he must
stand an examination before them
which is conducted to see whether he
lias experienced a work of grace;
what are his reasons for believing that
God has called him into the ministry ;
what his motives for desiring to enter
upon the work; and what aro his
views of Scripture doctrine and church
order. If, on any of these points, he
fails to give satisfaction, it is the duty
ot the Presbytery or Council to refuse
to ordain him. And thu9 an unworthy
or dangerous man fails to be turned
loose to work mischief among the
churches. If, however, on all these
points, the examination be satisfacto
ry, they proceed to his ordination. In
other words, by a solemn ceremony,
well calculated to arrest attention, they
in concert with the church, declare to
the world that, iu their opinion, God
has called this man to minister in holy
things. This opinion they submit to
writing, and place in the hands of the
ordained, that it may be a testimony
for him to the strangers among whom
his lot may be cast, that in the opinion
of this church and these brethren com
posing the Presbytery or Council, God
has called and qualified this man to be
a minister of the New Testament.
Let us return now to the objection.
I will repeat the words of it: “The
ministry was conferred by a Presbyte
ry or Council; and it takes the same
power to unmake that it does to make.”
To this it is replied, by denying that
| that the Presbytery or Council con
: fers the office or makes the minister.
I All that they do is to recognize and
MACON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 1860.
endorse him as a minister. God, and
not Presbyteries or Councils, makes
ministers. Paul says, “I thank Christ
Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me,
for that he counted me faithful, putting
me into the ministry.” 1 Tim. 1 : 12.
To the latter part of the argument, it
is replied, by denying that it takes al
ways the same power to unmake that
it does to make. The Ephesian Dome
required many years and much treas
ure for for its construction ; but a mad
man and his torch consumed it in a
few hours. A well established repu
tution requires long years of patience
and continuance in well doingto build
it up ; for “confidence is a plant of
slow growth.” But one startling crime
may, in a short hour destroy it. So it
takes many particulars to give confi
deuce that one is a minister of Jesus
Christ—a renewed heart and faith in
Christ; a knowledge and love of Di
vine things; an utterance ready and
forcible ; an ardent desire to promote
GodV glory and the salvation of sin
ners; the con victron on the part of
the church and Presbytery or Coun
cil, that God has called aud qualified
him for the worship; but one crime
against religion and morality will, as
soon as known convince that all these
evidences were descriptive. And be
sides, if we were to grant that it takes
the same power to unmake that it does
to make, it is not pertinent here as an
argument; for God alone makes min
isters. If any interposition then is
necessary, God and not the Presbyte
ry is the power that must interpose.—
This interposition God does make by
investing His church with delegated
sovereignty over ministers as well as
others that are members ; and encour
aging it to “try them that say they are
[ministers] and are not,” and to prove
them “liars.”
Objection 2. It is objected again,
“On your own principles, a Presbyte
ry or Council was necessary in o.dina
tion to give the world confidence that
in the judgment of competent men,
God designs the man *o be a minister.
On the strength of this endorsement,
other churches and the world gave
him their confidence. Is not the same
testimony necessary to authorize and
induce them to withdraw their confi
dence ?”
To this it is answered, it requires
much stronger testimony, and that of
a different nature, to establish one’s
ministerial character and qualificatious
than to show his nnworthiness and
crime. In the former, we need knowl
edge of the Scriptures, penetration in
to human character, renewed hearts
of variety of disposition to appreciate
the exposition of Gospel truth—in
short, just such evidence as the con
current testimony of a church of mix
ed members and a Presbytery of pi
ous, intelligent and experienced minis
ters can afford- But iu the latter, no
thing is needed but tho proof that he
has been guilty of a ciirne against re
ligion and morality. Now, a church
is as able to investigate and pass upon
the charge of crime alleged against a
minister as the same alleged against
any others of its members. And the
testimony of her act in expelling him
falsehood, or adultery, or drunkenness,
or any other great crime, needs no cor
reboration, and as effectually neutral
izes and withdraws the testimony giv
en in ordination, as though her act
was concurred in by ten thousand
Presbyteries.
Objection 3. “The assertion of a
right to try and expel a minister with
out a Presbytery, implies theassertion
of the right on the part of the church,
to ordain a minister without a Presby
tery. Now, if she were ordaining a
man tor herself exclusively, this might
do; but as ordination is designed to
give him access as a minister to other
churches also, and to the world at
large, she cannot ordain him by her
self, and by parity of reasoning, she
cannot depose him by herself.”
To this answer, why is a church un
able to ordain one of her members
herself ? When the church at Jerusa
lem was the only one in existence, with
the Apostles in her membership, was
the only one in existence, with the A
postles in her membership, was she un
able to ordain ? At the present time,
in this country, it is inexpedient for a
church to do so—nay, I will go further
and say, it is wrong for her to do so ;
not however because the ordination
would be invalid, but because it would
not be influential. Ordination is de
signed as a solemn testimony, by those
engaged in it, that, in their opinion,
God has called this man and qualified
him for the ministerial work. Now,
Scripture and common sense teach
that, to make this testimony influen
tial, it must be above the suspicion of
bias or incompetency. Whenever,
therefore, a church at the present time
in the ordination of a minister, fails
to fortify her testimony by the concur
rent testimony’ of a Presbytery or
Council, she gives evidence that there
is something in the candidate’s char
acter or doctrinal belief, which will
prevent the approbation and endorse
ment of an honest, capable aud unbi
assed Presbytery. So far then from
hersole endorsement giving the ordain
ed currency, it stamps him as spuri
ous coin. Wo have a noted instance
of this kind which has recently occur
red in one of the Northern States. E
ven those who differ from me in the
views expressed above, will grant that
if a church has in her membership two
ordained £ inisters besides her pastor,
they, with the pastor, are competent
to form an ordaining Presbytery ; and
if they admit that it would be inexpe
dient /or the church to set a part to
the ministry another of her members
by the aid of such a Presbytery, they
can explain that lack of expediency
only upon the grounds upon which I
have placed it, viz : that it would not
be sufficiently influential as an endorse
ment —unless the ministers, composing
the Presbytery, have an overshadow-
I ing reputation.
But the assertion of the right to try
and expel a minister by tho church
alone, does not imply the assertion of
the right to ordain him without the
intervention of a Presbytery. The
two ideas are not correlative. While
While the church may acknowledge
that it is not so well able of itself to
ascertain whether a candidate possess
es ministerial grace and qualifications,
and feels confident, therefore, that her
sole endorsement will not be influen
tial enougn to give him circulation ev
erywhere, it may assert and the world
may well grant to it the right and the
capacity to decide and act upon tho
crime committed by her member.
The church does not propose to or
dain him for herself any more than the
churches which contributed members
to the Council, propose to ordain him
for themselves; but only to endorse
him as one worthy to be received as a
minister everywhere ; and qualified to
be pastor of any church that may wish
his . services. Ordination does not
make a man pastor, or give him offici
al relations to any church. There are
many ordained ministers that have no
pastoral or other official relations to a
church.
Objection 4. “But ought not a man
to be tried by his peers ?”
I answer yes: But the members of
the church constitute his peers. One
is your master, and all ye are brethren.
Were a minister to be tried before the
Courts of the country, on a criminal
charge, likely as not the jury of his
peers, that would sit upon his case,
would boa Petit Jury, composed of
individuals not distinguished for their
intelligence or moral worth. But do
you mean by “his peers,” his collea
gues in office? If so, and your princi
ples be right, then should all Deacons
under charges be tried by a Council of
Deacons!
It would seem, then, that it must be
granted that ministers, like others, are
subject to the churches to which they
belong; and that should they be guil
ty of crime, the church, in the exer
cise of delegated sovereignty, can ar
raign them, try them, and expel them
without the intervention of Presbyte
ries or Councils.
So much would I say in regard to the
rights of the churches. I would not be
understood, however, to maintain that
a church in dealing with her minister,
cannot call in the aid of a council; not
to intimate that, in many instances, it
would not be highly judicious to do so.
P. 11. MELL.
University of Georgia,
Letter from Bro. Reid.
Ilorin. Some general remarks of Rev.
T. A. Reid , in connection with his
late visit to that large city.
p A visit to Ilorin cannot but excite
in the mind of tho traveler an exten
sive train of reflection. While thus
engaged, conclusions of the probable
effect which the various influences
which are now acting upon this town
and other neighboring towns, are fre
quently brought to mind.
Size of the tovjn. After riding
through the greater part of this town
I was convinced that it had been much
overrated in regard to size. It is true
that tho area of this town is very great,
but the town, as a whole, is not so
densely populated as the generality of
Yoruban towns.
The portion of the town immediate
ly surrounding the residence of the
King, is very dense, but on receding,
the houses become less dense, the most
of which have gardens attached, from
one fourth to an acre in size. Besides
this the streets aro very wide; hence
much space is taken up with but few
houses.
Wickedness. This I think has no
parallel in all this country. The con
centration of so many kinds of people
and languages in one town, as is here
found, cannot fail, of itself, to render a
town very immoral. But add to this
Mahometan influence, and the effect •
which spirituous liquors are beginning
to have upon the morals of the place,
and we naturally infer almost every
kind of evil. There are regular bands
of robbers formed according to certain
rules and signs, by which they are
able to commit various depredations
upon others for some time without de
tection by the authorities.
These bands use certain kinds of
charms which they regard as impreg
nable barriers to all detection. If any
one of them is caught in his wicked
ness, he is not only the subject of pun
ishment, but of ridicule from his accom
plices, upon the ground that he was
not skillful in the selection of such
charms as would be proof against de
tection.
Arrogance and love of show are lead
ing characteristics of Mahomedans, and
it matters but little with them how
they obtain materials to gratify this
feeling. They are generally traders
or merchants of some kind, and but
very few are farmers.
Kidnapping is one of the principle
sources of revenue of the Ilorin people.
There is perhaps no time but small
parties are out catching persons who
either are traveling, or going to or
from their farms. In this way many
small towns are annoyed for the pur- 1
pose of keeping up these vain idlers
without labor.
j The political condition of Ilorin is
; very uncertain. The present King is
: advancing in age and failing some in
health. The Yorubans have an in
creasing majority of the town, which
they seem to feel, aud it is reported
that they intend to have the successor
to tho present-King. Should this be
the case a civil war will be the result,
and tbe town will perhaps be entirely
overthrown. Even now there is a rest
lessness among the people growing
out of a desire to return aud build up
the destroyed town of their fathers.
Although there are a great many
languages spoken in this town, the
Yoruban is almost universal, and I
think will take the precedence all to
gether.
I might write many things about
this Sodom-like town, but will conclude
for the present.
Y'ours mort affectionately,
T. A. REID.
Letter from J. S. Murrow to the
MACON BAPTIST CIIURCU.
Little River, Creek Nation, )
Jan. 27th, 18G0. j
To the Macon Baptist Church :
Dear Brethren : I write you the fol
lowing lines, because I feel now, more
than ever before, peculiarly your mis
sionary, dependent upon you for sup
port, and subject alone to y<*mr direc
tion. I write from several reasons.—
Ist, to provoke, if possible, some of
you, (or all, if pleasing) to open a cor
respondence with me, in order that we
may bring about a more intimate ac
quaintance. I do earnestly request
letters from you—letters of advice, of
encouragement, and ot inquiry. It is
my desire to keep you posted up in
the operations of your Indian Mission;
incidents frequently occur that would
be interesting to you, I believe. In
formation too eould be furnished in
private letters, concerning Indian cus
toms, manners, habits, Ac., their social,
political, and moral condition, that
would add some little, at least, to your
general stock of information.
The first Baptist Mission established
amongst the Creeks was in the year
1823, I think, under the care ot old
Father Lee Compere, (for several years
my first wife’s pastor and preceptor,)
who still lives in Miss., and with whom
I correspond, gotting much informa
tion concerning the condition of the
Creeks at that time.
He labored with considerable suc
cess, though encountering many and
obstinate difficulties, for six years, or,
until the removal of the friendly por
tion of the tribe to this country, for
you well know, perhaps, that they were
then living in Georgia and Alabama.
I have never seen it in any history, yet
from what I have learned from some of
the old Indians since I have been out
hero there were a few missionaries
amongst the Creeks previous to the es
tablishment of the Baptist Mission, in
deed it must have been quite early af
ter the settlement of Georgia by Ogle
thorpe, and from their description I
have thought said missionaries must
have been Moravians. Tho accounts
given of them are merely traditionary,
however, and mixed up with supersti
tion. After the removal of the friend-*
ly Creeks to this country, they were
exceedingly bitter against the praying
people, whipping aud beating them
most cruelly, confiscating their little
all, and subjecting them to all kinds
of insults and injuries. Indeed, to this
day the laws of the country compel
every man, whether a praying man or
not, to attend all their annual super
stitious convocations and ceremonies,
on penalty of fine or robbery.
Amongst the early supporters of the
Baptist cause out here, was John Da
vis, a converted pupil of the old man
Compere. lie was a good man, and
did much good, but unfortunately mar
ried a most wretched woman, who
never allowed him one hour’s happi
ness or peace. Davis was an influen
tial man, and a brave one. He did
not fear the laws of his country when
opposed to lys religion, and defied the
power of the Chiefs. Finding they
could not affect him by threats, and
afraid of his influence to execute said
threats, the} succeeded in entrapping
him in a matrimonial engagement with
>a woman subject to their own direc
tions. For several years he remained
firm and steadfast, but at last, finding
no cessation to his torment, and having
no one to afford him comfort and en
couragement, he plunged into drink,
and ere long filled a drunkard’s grave.
Such was his history as told me by one
of his neighbors.
Another object in writing this was
to inform you of a ehange in the loca
tion of your mission. You are aware
that ever eince I have been out hero, I
haxe been staying at the North Fork
town, Micco P. 0., which is Brother
Buckner’s Station For a long time I
have been thinking of the change of
location as promotive to the interest
of our cause. By occupying separate
points I have thought we could oper
ate to better advantage. Some time
since the Marion Board directed me to
remove to this Station. I then declined
because I had lost my wife, and did
not then think of marrying again, aud
could not feel willing to come alone
with the knowledge I had of the people,
Ac. The reaction of your Association
confirmed me to remove to anew sta
tion, and this one, to my mind, took
precedence before all others in the na
tion, except North Fork.
I* shall soon apply to the Rehoboth
Ex. Com. for means to build a Mission
house here. We are now boarding
i and are very comfortably situated, tho’
Terras of Advertising. ‘ \
For all transient advertising One Dollar per sqo are
of ten lines for the first, and 10 eents per square fer
all subsequent publications.
RATES FOR CONTRACT ADTSATIIISO,
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“ “10 lines “ 6 “ 700
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charge is for the space occupied by ten such lines
as are used in the body of an advertisement. Lon
ger advertisements in the same ratio.
S. BOYKIN, Associate Editor.
NUMBER 9.
we would be much more bo if we had
a little home of our own. We have
been here now three weeks, and have
labored faithfully and under heavy dif
ficulties.
Ist. I have no interpreter yet —ex-
pect to get one as soon as I can. A
gain, Bedo influence is exerted fieroely
against me—there are two Bresbyten
an Missionaries here, and they seem to
entertain bitter and unholy feeling*
towards me, although I have tried,
honestly too, to keep on good terms
with them. 3d. I have no pony, hav
ing had to sell my pony when I left
North Fork to pay my Board and con
veyance here. Ilowever, I shall buy
another when my next draft comes.
Mrs. Murrow, whom I beg to intro
duce to your acquaintance, is busily
en o a g e( l in teaching a neighborhood
school. She wishes to be useful and
at work. She says she “did not come
out here to be a missiouaries wife”
(though by the way she makes a-very
good one) “but to be useful to the In
dians,” and acting upon such feelings
she has entered heartily into her la
bors, and bids fair to succeed. She hae
already 32 scholars.
In conclusion, brethren, I, v>e, beg
an interest in your prayers—not only
at your monthly concerts, but nightly,
and in the morning at the throne of
Grace would we beg to be remember
ed. Again, I request that you write
to me, and your letters all shall be at
tended to. I would add that I sorrow
with yon at the loss of Bro. Landrum,
your pastor. May the Lord grant him
abundant success in his new charge.
Evelr yours in Christ,
J. S. MUBROW.
Brunswick Bar
A correspondent of the Savannah Express
writing from Brunswick says:
Mr. Carl Epping, the enterprising and ener
getic timber and lumber merchant, of your city,
has found it to his interests to freight his lar
ger vessels in this port.
Yesterday the ship Oregon , of New Castle,
Captain Blytli, went to sea, from her moorings
in our harbor, with six hundred and fifty thou
sand feet of timber—the largest cargo, I be
lieve, ever carried from the coast of Georgia.
The Oregon is a fine ship, of nine hundred and
forty-seven tons burthiyi, and went across the
Brunswick bar with hor own sail, under the
pilotage of Mr. Samuel A. Brockinton, drawing
twenty-one feet
Capt. Blytli had previously sounded, wi£h
great care the channel, from his anchorage,
which was within a stone’s throw of the intend
ed terminus of the Railroads projected from
Brunswick to the interior—to the deep blue sea
beyond the bar, and stated that he could, at
high spring tide, carry a draft of twenty-four
feet over the bar, and have six feet beneath him
to play upon the swell. He has kindly left a
certificate, that this is the best harbor, and deep
est water south of Norfolk.
The New Steamer R. R. Cuyler. — The new
steam propeller R. It. Cuyler, belonging, to
Messrs. Cromwell & Cos. of this city, went on a
trial trip yesterday morning, and had not return
ed at a late hour last night. She was seen
about 5 P. M. at the outer bay, where she had
afterwards dropped her anchor. She came to at
the outer bay in consequence of the bad weath
er, which would have made it very difficult in
getting safe to her moorings. She will come
up this morning, if everything is all right,
when wo will hear more of her.
[N. Y. Daily Newt of the 1 6th.
Poisonous Liquors. —Dr. Hiram Cox, official in
spector of liquors in Cincinnati, in a recent report
on the adulteration of livuors, relates the following :
I called at a grocery store one day, where liquor
also is kept. A couple of Irishmen came in w r bu’ I
was there and called for some whisky ; and the first
drank, Rnd the moment he drank the tears flowed
freely, while he at the same time caught his breath
like one suffocated or strangling. When h# could
speak he said to his companion : “Och, Michael, but
this is warmin’ to the stomach !” Michael drank,
and went through like contortions, with the remark :
Vv ouldn t it be foine in a cowl frosthy morning ?
Afier they had drank, I asked the landlord to pour
me out a little in a tumbler, in which I dipped a slip
of litmus paper, whioh was no sooner wet than it
put on a scarlet hue. I went to my office, got my
instruments, and examined it. I found it had 17 per
cent alchoholic spirits by weight, when it should
have had 40 per cent to be proof, and the difference
in per centage made up by sulphuric acid, red pep
per, politory, caustic, potassa and brucide, one of
the salts of uuces vomicae, commonly called
vomica. One pint of such liquor would kill the
strongest man.
Barbadoes. —This little island of only one hun
dred and sixty-six square miles, is said to be more
thickly populated as a country, than any other in the
world. It contains one hundred and twenty five
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six inhabitants,
and exports twice as much sugar as the large island
of J amaica. There is a special element in its popu
lation, contributing extensively to this superiority.
It is the large number of whites in Barbadoes com
pared with the general mass—an advantage which
Jamaica does not, and never did possess. In none
of the West India Islands do the blacks so greatly
outnumber the whites as in Jamaica. Anglo S ixou
energy in Barbadoes, is a chief cause of its prosper
ity ; but the white population is now so overflowing,
that hundreds are seeking other islands for emigra
tion. Many are going to St. Lucia and more to Ja
maica. Barbadoes is only thirty-one miles In length
and twelve in breadth.
A New Kixd of Leather. —The New Orleans
Commercial Bulletin, says:
Messrs. Haas & Wiser have established a tannery
somewhere in the vicinity of the Old Bayo and
are doing a capital business. They went the right
way to work. They commenced upon a (mail scale
at first and gradually enlarged as the demand in
creased. They have brought to the business anew
element. They have been putting the numerous al
ligators which swim lazily about the bayous and
swamps of Louisiana in the sun to a useful purpose.
They have been making their hides into leather, and
a capital article it is said to be. Quite a number of
our citiEens are wearing shoes made of it and speak
of it in high terms. Messrs. Haas ts. Wiser are
about sending some of the leather to Europe as a cu
riosity. At the first Fair of the Mechanical and Ag
ricultural Society of Louisiana they will be able to
make a capital showing of tanned alligator hides.
Artificial Marble. —Many varieties of artificial
marble have from time to time been invented, some
of which have been applied to the useful arts ; but
nothing has heretofore been discovered ot suffioient
purity and hardness to answer the requirements of
the sculptor. A practical chemist of Brussels, of
the name of Changy, the original discoverer of the
divisibility of the electric light, has recently discov
ered a process of producing liquid statuary marble,
which can be molded on the plaster figure, thus tak
ing a perfect impression of the cast at once, saving
nearly all the labor of the artist, and producing a
figure as purely white, hard, and polished, as the
genuine rock itself, in fact possessing every quality
of the genuine statuary marble. Having been test
ed by many of the eminent European chemists, it is
confidently believed that this invention will eventu
ally supersede the quarry, and thus save much of the
labor heretofore attendant on the sculptors’ art.
Sore throat is just now prevalent in our com
munity ; we commend the following simple
remedy:
Take the white of two eggs and beat them
with two spoonsful of white sugar, grate in a
little nutmeg, and then add a pint of luke warm
water. Stir well, and drink often. Repeat the
prescription if necessary, and it will cure the
most obstinate case of hoarseness in a short
tithe. So says an exchange.