Newspaper Page Text
f\tt CHRISTIAN INDEX.
E. W. WARREN, Editok.
TELBSRAPH POWER PRESS.
~MACON, <3-A.
Wednesday, Feb. 29, 1860.
Notice.
All communications for the INDEX, must be
addressed simply “ CHRISTIAN INDEX,” Macon,
Georgia. Those intended only for the eye of the
Editor, must be addressed to him individually.
REV. F. M. IIAYGOOI \AgH.for Index
i I I ■*
Valedictory.
Some of our readers may be taken by
surprise when we announce to them that
this number closes our Editorial career
with the Christian Index. A word of
explanation is therefore necessary.
1. We were elected for a limited peri
od, which would have expired at the end
of this year. We have not, therefore, con
sidered ourself the permanent Editor.
2. The sensation in favor of the sale of
the Index, had determined us to resign in
time for our resignation to take effect at
the Convention. We had many personal
friends who were in favor of selling the
paper, who might have felt trammelled
from personal considerations had we con
tinued editor. We had determined not
to bid for the Index if it were sold ; there
fore our future connection with the paper
was tod precarious to rely upon.
3. As we had been blessed with the re
turn of health, which enabled us to enter
upoA the more congenial dutiefc of the pul
pit and pastorate, we had determined to
avail ourself of the first suitable invitation
of a church. A call to the church in this
city having been tendered to us, and ac
cepted by us, an earlier dissolution of our
connection with the Index, than was an
ticipated, became necessary.
In taking leave of our readers a feeling
of sadness steals over us. It is as the sep
aration of old friends: though our acquaint
ance has been short, it has been most agree
able, and we trust, not without profit. We
tender to you our heartfelt thanks for
your forbearance towards us, and for the
lively interest many of you have manifest
ed in our editorial success, and for the
words of comfort, approval, and encour
agement which have so often awakened
grateful emotions in our bosoms.
We have not given universal satisfac
tion to our readers —this was not to be ex
pected, scarcely desirable, for “ woe unto
you when all men shall speak well of you.”
We have endeavored to edit in the fear of
God, and not of man, and still we have
not been at all indifferent to the good
opinion of the lovers of Jdsus. VVe have
not been a partizan editor, because we
believe that spirit which is now rampant
among us, is the bane of personal piety,
godly zeal, and the spiritual interests of
our Zion, and the day is not far distant
when many of the devout lovers of Jesus
with subdued spirits will bow under the
“ chastening of the Almighty” on this ac
count. We would take this last occasion,
affectionately, but earnestly to entreat our
brethren to “Let all bitterness, and wrath,
and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking
be put away from you, with all malice,
and be ye kind ono to another, tender
hearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ’s sake,hath forgiven you.?’
And “Let us follow after the things that
make for peace, and things wherewith
one may edify another, for God hath
“called us unto peace.’’
In conclusion, we tender our thanks to
the “ Index Committee ’’ for their kind and
Christian demeanor towards us. They are
in every respect worthy of the high trust
which the Convention has committed to
them.
We now resign our chair to a more wor
thy occupant, and introduce our readers
to their new editor, Rev. Samuel Boy
kin, whom we commend to their prayers,
sympathies, and co-operation, as sound,
pious, and conservative.
E. W. WARREN.
Mission Boards.
Answers to some objections to the
Board system.
Objection Ist. “It is without a warrant
in Scripture, and we should do nothing
without having a “thus saith the Lord”
for it. It should therefore be abandoned
at once,”
Ans. There is no “thus saith the Lord”
for Sabboth schools, “and therefore” say
our anti-brethren, “ they should not be
sustained by, or patronized by Christians.’’
“We are commanded,’’ says the friend of
Sabbath Schools, “to bring up our chil
dren in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord,’’ and we find Sabbath school
instruction well adapted to aid in carry
ing out this divine injunction.’’ We con
elude, then, as it bears fruit, it piust be
of our heavenly Father’s planting ; for
He says “the branch cannot bear fruit, ex
cept it abide in the vine.’’
The Master said, “Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every
creature.” To fulfill this command, eve
ry creature, in all the world, must have
the Gospel preached to them by the dis
ciples of the Great Commander. As he
knew that every creature would not come
to the disciples, He therefore instructed
the disciples “to go to them.” He did
not say whether they should go on foot,
on horse-back, or on ships, or whether
their expenses should be paid by individ
uals, churches, associations, conventions,
or Boards, or whether they should defray
their own expenses. There is no com
mand to any Church to support a Mission
ary, or to churches to combine their influ
ence and funds for that purpose—and yet
objectors to the Board system would not
object to this, while there is as much
Scripture for the one, as for the other. —
Christ has commanded what to do, but
has not defined how w’e are to do it. —
Hence the early Christians had no uniform
system to carry out this great command.
“Go,’’ was their watchword, and they
went, sometimes driven by the fierce per
secutions of their opposers ; again, a la
borious, self-sustaining Missionary would
bear the glad tidings abroad. Then a
Gentile, as in the case of Cornelius, would
invite the gospel messenger to his house,
and collect his neighbors “to hear all
things that were commanded” them of
God ; again, the churches would collect a
sum, and send it by the hand of an Epa
phroditus to their loved missionary who
had gone among the gentiles. And the
sisters were not without the manifestation
of an interest in this great work. Each
seemed to feel he was responsible to the
extent of his ability, for the fulfilling of
this last command of the ascended Saviour.
But none were supported by an organized
Missionary Society, by a Mission Board,
by an Association, or by any other combi
nation of churches —for no such organiza
tions were known in the apostolic age. —
There is as much Scripture for a Mission
Board as for an Associational Mission Com
mittee, or Missionary Society. Christians
of modern days whose hearts burned with
love to Jesus, and who felt a deep inter
est for the salvation of the heathen have
prayerfully considered their duty in send
ing the gospel to the ends of the earth. —
They have felt the work must be done,
and finding upon examination that Jesus
did not say how it was to be done, they
have considered that plan the best which
promised to do most towards carrying out
this divine command.
But is our present system scriptural ?
It is endeavoring to carry out the last
command, to “preach the gospel to every
creature’’; it is using the appointed in
strumentalities, the living ministry. “How
can they hear without a preacher, and
how can they preach except they be sent?”
It is using the means, money, which as
far as they were able, the apostolic Chris
tians used. Now if it is doing the divine
work, by the divinely appointed instru
mentalities, supported oy the means which
God has given to his people, in part for
this purpose, why do you yet find fault ?
’Tis as old as true, that “in union there is
strength ?” To this truth w r e may be in
debted for church organizations: Christ
saw the benefits of combining in organized
churches, those who Were to be the “light
of the world,” that the concentrated ef
forts of several, might do what the labors
of single individuals would fail to do.—
The development of this same idea, result
ed in the formation of our present efficient
system, by which, if one man cannot give
one thousand dollars to support a Mission
ary, one thousand men, each giving one
dollar, can support him. This system,
which will as assuredly direct the widow'’s
mite to its desired destination, as it will
the large sums of the wealthy contributor.
It seems to be a plant of our Heavenly
Father’s planting. We sometimes plant
according to the directions of Ilia w r ord,
and the vine bears fruit: again, we some
times plant under the direction of his
Providence, and the vine is not less fruit
ful. The present system, the only one
which has ever aehieved any great work in
the mission cause since the early days of
Christianity , is a providential plant, whose
inception was the result of much prayer
ful deliberation, and whose expansion and
success afford abundant testimony of the
Divine favor and blessing. Should we
abandon it for want of scriptural warrant,
let us be consistent and abandon our Sab
bath Schools, Publication Societies and
Houses, stop our religious papers, disband
Bible and Tract Societies, Associations,
Conventions, and societies of every grade
which were organized for the dissemina
tion of the glorious gospel of the blessed
God. Let us do the work of extermina
tion thoroughly—leave not a single plant
which our Heavenly Father has not plant
ed. But before we do this, let us settle
the question, “how shall the work go on?’’
We all love the work too well to let it
stop, though w r e differ as to the manner of
doing it. Let us not give up the work
till Christ repeals the command, or until
it is fully obeyed. Let us sustain the
Boards in their “labor of love’’ until we
have a more scriptural,- or more efficient
plan, and upon that we will all unite when
its effectiveness shall be proven.
Raca.
This word which occurs in Matt. 5:
22, is transferred and not translated,
by Dr. Conant, in his revision of
Matthew. Why is this? We under
stood every word was to be translated.
We want the mind of the spirit in En
glish, and what English scholar knows
what Raca means.
We are much pleased with revision
by Dr. Conant, as far as it has gone,
with the above exception. He has not
needlessly changed the language and
style of our common version. We al
most forget \ve are reading the revised
column, till we come to a passage
where we would have gone astray but
for tho revision, then our attention is
arrested,and upon examination we find
the Doctor has brought to light by a
revision, something obscured or whol
ly obliterated in our version.
The Board Question.
We have not seen the objections to our
Boards, in all their ramifications, met and
answered as we think they should be. —
The discussions w’hich we have read in
other papers have not, in our opinion, ful
ly met the qusstions.
The objectors to the present system, so
far as we have seen, are good men and ar
dent missionaries, and deserve to be met
in a manly, Christian spirit, and in an ar
gumentative style. Considering ourself
the least of the Editorial corps, we have
waited hoping to be able to copy from
other papers such a defence as our system
deserved—but seeing nothing which ex
actly suited us, save w hat appeared from
the pen of one of our own able contribu
tors, we have been for a week or two
gathering the opposing arguments with
the determination to undertake the work.
Our first article appears this week, and
will be succeeded by others as we may
find opportunity to write. o„urs is a Chris
tian system and deserves a Christian vin
dication. We shall deal in no personali
ties, for we have no unkind spirit. Our
object will be to unite the friends of mis
sions, and not to show ourselt a valiant
defender of a party. We belong to our
Redeemer’s party, and call no man mas
ter. We deprecate all divisions among
Baptists—and shall not knowingly “go
with a multitude to do evil.”
Let the Work not Abate.
What wonders the Lord is doing in the
conversion of the heathen! While w r o at
home are discussing how the work is to
be done. The Lord, through a few weak
disciples, is doing it. The time may have
arrived when the dissensions of Chris
tians shall not stop the work—if so, He
will reject us as laborers, for our unfaith
fulness and carry on the work by other
instrumentalities. The “islands wait for
His law,’’ and He intends they shall have
it; if we do not bear it, lie will send it
other hands. We should, therefore,
make haste to “preach the gospel to eve
ry creature.” The “work should not
cease, while wo come down,” to the dis
cussions of plans and systems. Let the
discussions proceed if they must, in the
spirit of brotherly love, but let the work
not abate. Let the voice of the Master,
“Go ye into all the world,” be heard and
heeded. We know not how soon a “na
tion may be born in a day.’’ “Glad ti
dings” may soon reach us, from beyond
the main, that other nations are renounc
ing idolatry, and accepting the religion of
the Bible. We may be upon the eve of
a mighty religious crisis, the Son of Man
may be near at hand. Whom will He
find watching? “Even so come, Lord Je
sus, come quickly,” and “let the whole
earth be filled with thy glory. Amen
and amen.
An Old Servant.
We performed, in this City, the funer
al services of a negro woman, the proper
ty of Col. Gazaway Lamar, of Augusta,
who was at the time of her death 110
years old. She was married in the 20th
year of her age, and had three children
when the Independence of the United
States was declared in 1770. She has
been a member of the Baptist Church for
70 years, was a pious, consistent Christian
during that long period. She has been
helpless for about 2 years, and her reason
only gave way about three months before
her death. During her helplessness, eve
ry want was supplied, and every attention
and comfort afforded. Her shroud and
coffin displayed a neatness and elegance
worthy of the heart of a true Southern
gentleman.
our exchanges, Secular and
Religious, Baptist and Pedobaptist:
Please read in another column the
Prospectus of “The Lone Baptist and
Christian Investigator.” Give it an in
sertion and call the attention of your rea
ders to it, and send a copy with the pros
pectus marked to Elder Joseph S. Baker,
Jacksonville, Fla.
On acccount of severe illnessin his
family, the editor has not been able to
write an editorial leader this week, tho’
the plan of one has been sketched out in
his mind- He requests this apology to be
made for him. B.
COMMUNICATIONS.
“Soul Prosperity.”
✓
BY C. D. MALLARY, D. I).
, [ Concluded .]
Again, there are those who desecrate
the sacred desk and the religious press,
by the discussion of subjects which are
secular. Philosophical theories, schemes
of moral reform, absurd visions of social
perfectibility, sectional issues in politics,
and a thousand chimeras of sublimated
fancies, or disordered intellects, take the
place of repentance, faith, charity and
good works; and the pulpit becomes a
theatre, no less attractive to the unre
generate than Convent Garden, or Drury
Lane, or Niblo’s. The worst feature in
the case is, that the exhibitors assume'to
be believers in the truths of Christianity,
making the revelation of God the scape
goat of their abominable obscenities, and
donning the livery of Heaven to serve
hell withal. Thanks be unto God, that
this class of persons belong not to our lo
cality! Now, Dr. Mallary’s book stands
in beautiful contrast to all these objec
tionable things.
The experienced Christian cannot fail
to perceive, in the delineations of Dr.
Mallary, a profound knowledge of that
deceitful thing, the human heart. This
he derives from his familiarity with the
varied teachings of the Old Testament
scriptuures, and the revelations of the
Gospel —from his personal experiences,
and his close observation of men. With
deploring distinctness, he paints the un
fathomable depravity of our race. And
is not this the concurring testimony of
mature believers, from the beginning ?
Depths opening still into lower depths—
the mind saturated with evil, and the
heart engaged with sin!! It is to the
disciple, whose walk is closest with God,
no cause for wonder that the great and
good Apostle should pronounce himself
the chief of sinners. Dr. Mallary does
not heal the wounds of the people slight
ly, with surface unguents and tempo
rizing emollients; but, lifting the veil
from the revolting ulcer, points, with
cheering confidence to the only cure—the
Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of
the world. With a gentle, but steady
hand, he lays open the festering sore, and
pours into it the balm of Gilead. Is it
said that there is no peculiar merit in
all this ?—that all concede the depravity
of the heart ? Alas! we concede it in
terms, but do not realize the length, and
the breadth, and strength, of the fact.
Our lives are but too often a protest
against the utterance of our lips. If we
felt this truth as we ought to feel it, we
should be content —nay, eager, to aban
don the expedients of a shallow religion,
and flee to Christ, the only sacrifice for
sin. It is, therefore, a merit in him who
would direct the soul to the true sources
of its prosperity, to give to this vital
truth of Christianity such prominence as
will make it practical.
Truth is the aliment of the soul. Upon
this it feeds and 4s nourished —it is this
that brings to it a prosperous condition.
Truth invigorates mind, emotion, suscep
tibility, prayer, praise, contemplation and
adoration. It so unites and harmonizes
all the attributes of the soul, so subdues
the passions and stimulates conscience, as
to enable its votary to resist the clamor
ous demands of appetite, pride, and, in
deed, all unrighteousness. He grows
even tfo the stature of a perfect man in
Christ. lie is strong in his spiritual en
dowments, patient under trials, and se
rene amid all the clamors of earth and
hell. lie is not one well to do, but rich
—not only comfortable, but abounding in
good things—content to rejoice or mourn,
to work of to wait, to live or to die—
knowing, believing, that all things work
together for his temporal and eternal ad
vantage. What truth ? Why, that truth
which nature, and art, and human expe
rience, and science, teach —but eminently
the truth, as revealed in the Scriptures. —
Time, duty, love, hope, joy, charity,
death, eternity, the Judgment, and the
Great God, are its themes and the ob
jects of its contemplation. The soul is
persuasively urged, by Dr. Mallary, to
cultivate thought of all these things, and
build up for itself an enduring posterity,
upon the sure foundation —the truth as
it is in Christ Jesus.
The error of Christians is, that they
live below their privileges. Many, very
many of us, do not believe that it is pos
sible to attain to a high degree of spiritual
prosperity. Want of faith induces cold
ness, inertness, narrowness, and poverty
of spirit. Our moral man is sickly, our
religious constitution feeble, our capacity
for spiritual enterprise small; and we
complain, and murmur, and repine, and
sink into joyless imbecility.
This treatise demonstrates the attaina
bility of soul prosperity. It is, therefore,
to all of us a voice of encouragement. It
is also a note of warning, and delineates,
with great clearness, the dangers that en
viron the believer. LAYMAN.
Letter from Theophilus.
Philadelphia, Feb. 7th, 1800.
The vernal temperature of to-day re
minds me of the balmy breezes which I
have so often felt in Georgia at this sea
son of the year. As I write the thermome
ter hanging by my side marks GG degrees.
And when I tell you that there is no fire
in the room, and that the register which
introduces the hot air is entirely closed,
you must admit that we sometimes have
pleasant weather here in the “ depth of
winter.’’ It is true my room has a south
ern exposure and the sun is shining upon
it with all his power; but the thermome
ter would not be much lower if exposed
to the outside atmosphere. But to-day,
it must be confessed, is an exception.—
Within a week the mercury has been
down to zero, and the rivers which flow
around our city, have been converted in
to solid blocks of ice. Last Tuesday in a
few hours there was a change of nearly 50
degrees in the temperature. But for the
complete arrangements which, in this re
gion, are secured for warding off the cold
blasts, we should suffer severely under
these extremes.
You must not suppose that our religious
fervor in this latitude is chilled by our
wintry frosts and that our churches at this
season are torpid and cold. In Georgia
the fashion used to be to have revivals in
the summer and fall, whilst the winter
months exhibited very meagre chronicles
of such good things. Here the state of
things, especially in our city, is reversed.
Our revivals usually occur in the cold
weather, whilst the summer witnesses no
marked religious interest. But the reas
on is easily assigned. We And the winter
more favorable for special effort, whilst
with you summer is the time for work. —
The truth is that God is as willing to bless
his people at one time as at another, and
if we would bring the tithes into the store
house and prove him'through all the seas
ons of the year, we should constantly en
joy the out-pourings of His spirit. The
wonder is that God gives any revival to
people who are indifferent for three
fourths of the year, and who wake up and
rub their eyes and go to work for a few
weeks, hoping to do in a short time work
which was enough to employ all their en
ergies throughout the year. It is well for
us that these revival showers are gifts, and
that like all other gifts of grace they are
bestowed upon us with as little respect to
our deservings, as the natural showers
visit the earth because the dry clods de
serve their moisture. At the present
time a very encouraging state of religious
feeling prevails in several of our Baptist
churches. The baptismal waters are oft
en visited, and the song of rejoicing is
heard in many families. For the last three*
months the Rev. Mr. Guinness, the minis
ter whose labors in Ireland were so re
markably successful a year ago, has been
preaching in the different churches of the
city with extraordinary acceptance. The
most remarkable thing about him is his
zeal. As an intellectual man he is not
very great. He preached in my pulpit
from the words, “A broken and a contrite
heart thou wilt not despise,” and I have
often heard sermons from brethren com
paratively “ unknown to fame” which
judged by all the recognized canons of ser
monizing, would be pronounced superior
to his discourse. Yet it was spoken with
so much earnestness, and force, and sweet
ness, that the attention of every hearer
was rivited to the close. One element of
his power, undoubtedly, is a_voice pecu
liarly full and sonorous. It was saicKhat
WhitefieM could say “O’’ with such a pa
thetic tone, as to move thousands. When
Mr. Guinness comes out with the same ex
clamation, from a heart which is evident
ly deeply concerned for the conversion of
his hearers, multitudes are thrilled. Per
haps the influence is increased from the
fact that he gives himself to the most
abundant labors without accepting any re
muneration from the people for his servi
ces. His fortune is said to be ample, and
he travels and lives, I understand, at his
own expenses. His purpose is to preach
the gospel all around the globe, lie will
travel west from the United States until
be reaches the meridian from which his
journeys were commenced. Another
charm of his preaching is, that it is full of
Christ, and only Christ. No one could
tell from anything which he has said in
the pulpit whether he was in favor of a
monarchical or a republican form of gov
ernment, whether be was anti slavery or
pro-slavery* He eschews all political ques
tions, and preaches, so far as I have heard,
the Gospel, lie has several times ex
pressed a desire to visit the Southern
States. Should he do so and preach in
the same strain which has characterized
his preaching in this city, he will receive,
I am sure, a cordial welcome.
Writing of the absence of political dis
cussion from the sermons of the Irish Or
ator, reminds me of Mr. Spurgeon’s recent
ebullition on the Slavery question. I
have seen nothing for a long time more
violent and preposterous, than the terms
in which he has been pleased to deliver
his opinion of slave-holders, in a letter to
the Watchman and Reflector, of Boston.
It seems that Mr. Beecher charged Mr.
Spurgeon’s publishers with mutilating, his
sermons so as to suppress in the American
editions bis denunciations of slavery. Mr.
Spurgeon relieves his publishers of the
charge by saying that having no slavery
to .deal with in England, he has rarely
thought it necessary to mention the sub
ject. But as if anxious to indemnify him
selffor his past silence, he proceeds to de
nounce slaveholders most unsparingly.—
lie calls them “manstealers,” and declares
“that he would as soon commune with a
murderer as a.slaveholder.” In the bit
terness of his wrath he declares “that if a
slaveholder should dare to show himself
in his neighborhood he would receive a
mark which he would carry to his grave,
if it did not carry him then,’’ meaning, I
supposp, that he would lay violent hands
upon him. In the same article he eulogi
zes John Brown who was executed in Vir
ginia, as a glorious martyr! lam not
surprised that even the Boston AVatch
man, decided as its anti-slavery views are,
was not able to endorse the monstrous
doctrines of its correspondent, and found
it necessary to introduce them with a pre
face which might blount their edge. Mr.
Spurgeon is a young man, and when his
views are enlarged by more extensive ob
servation and maturer reflection, he will
be heartily ashamed of this production.—
Few men have achieved a wider popular-
a preacher,but there are many slave
holders whom I could name, at whose feet
he might sit and learn lessons of meekness,
humility, love, and other qualities of pie
ty, of which, if we may judge from his let
ter, he is singularly ignorant. I suppose
some extenuation ought to be made for
him from the fact that his notions of sla
very have been derived from the distorted
representations of the most ultra abolition
ists. As it would be dangerous for any
slaveholder, or friend of the system, to
approach his lordship, I see not how his
mind is to be relieved of these preposses
sions. He promises in his letter that this
is only the first instalment that “ Brother
Jonathan’’ may expect from him on this
subject, and adds, that as Messrs. Sheldon
& Cos., will print anything which he may
write on this subject, he intends to make
himself heard in America against this sin.
I am not, of eoure, in the counsels of
Messrs- Sheldon & Cos„ but you may rest
assured that they will send to any
Southern State such intemperate and un
justifiable abuse of your people as Mr.
Spurgeon has been pleased to pour upon
them, I hope the Christians at the South
who are so wantonly assailed, will indulge
in no spirit of retaliation, but simply pray
that it may please God to bestow upon
one who claims to be a follower of the
meek and lowly Jesus Christian charity
towards his fellow Christians in this coun
try.
AVe are soon to have another minister
from Georgia in this vicinity. Rev. Al
bert Spalding, of Madison, has accepted
the call of the Berean Baptist Church,
A\ r est Philadelphia. The church has been
but recently constituted, and though few
in number, they are enterprising and uni
ted, and will co-operate most earnestly
with their pastor. They are about com
pleting a beautiful brown stone structure,
of the Gothic order, and perhaps the most
beautiful house in the particular part of
the city in which it is located. These
ministerial interchanges must do good.—
I learn that the Baptist church in Agusta
have called Rev. I). 11. Miller, of Connec
ticut, to succeed Air. Ryerson. As he
goes from the land of “steady habits’’ he
will doubtless walk straight himself and
teach the people to do likewise. I heard
him make an admirable speech last Spring
in a Convention in New York. Mis views
on the vexed questions are. I believe, en
tirely conservative.
THEOPIIILU S.
Circular Letter of the Bible
BOARD TO THE CHURCHES.
Dear Brethren —In view of the near
approach of the Convention, we deem it
not improper to address this communica
tion to you: we hope it will meet with
your approval and incite you to action.
We would remind you that the ap
proaching Georgia Baptist Convention
will be a most convenient time for send
ing contributions to Georgia Baptist Bi
ble and Colporteur Society; and we
would urge each church to take up a col
lection for that purpose.
You well know that this Society was
founded for the convenience of our De
nomination in the State—that the De
nomination might find, at a central local
ity, all the Books likely to be desired.
It was founded'also for the purpose of
supplying a Denominational and Sabbath
School literature to the State. It furnish
es Colporteurs with Books as cheaply as
they can get them elsewhere; and it
makes grants of Bibles, Testaments and
Tracts for the purpose of gratuitous dis
tribution. The objects of the Society,
as you perceive, are not selfish, but
purely benevolent —its grand aims being
tlie diffusion of Bible Truth, the Salva
tion of Souls and the dissemination of
sound doctrine. That these aims meet
your approval we doubt not; and if so,
will you not help us carry them out ?
We have in the Depository a select but
small stock of Books—one inadequate to
the wants of the Denomination ; and we
wish funds to enable us to enlarge this
stock.
AA r e have one Colporteur, who labors
assiduously, the result of whose labors
for the last ten months we lay before
you:
lie has visited SOO Baptist Families,
lie has visited 214 not Bapt. Families.
He has prayed with 327 Families,
lie has conversed with 297 persons on the
subject of personal religion,
lie has delivered 145 sermons.
He has visited 20 Sabbath Schools.
He sold $731.72 worth of Books.
He donated $78.40 worth of Books and
T racts.
He donated 11,575 pages of Tracts.
He sold 110 Bibles.
lie found 40 Families destitute of God’s
Word.
And he found 13 Families destitute of all
other Religious Books.
This brethren shows what one man has
done; and it manifests what we would
do did you give us the means. It also
exhibits something of the need of Col
porteurs in our own State.
AVe put the question to you now, in all
solemnity— will you not help us in tins
work? Row long shall it be said that
there are ip Georgia families—Bapt,Fam
ilies —that have no Bible ? Give us the
funds and we will buy the Bibles and put
them into the hands of those destitute of
God’s printed Truth.
One of our great objects is to supply
the Sabbath Schools of our State with ap
propriate Libraries, Question Books, tfce.:
w want funds to lay in a large supply of
S. S. necessaries during the coming warm
months; and we look to the friends of
Sabbath Schools for donations. Shall we
look in vain ?
In view, then, of the benevolent and
unselfish aims of our Society, we suggest
to you, in making up your contributions,
to send to the State Convention, that you
by no means overlook the G. B. B. ct Col.
Society. To those Churches or individ
ual that prefer forwarding contributions
at once, we would say that we are in
need of them, and that they will be grate
fully received and acknowledged.
By order of the Board,
SAM’L BOYKIN,
Feb. 21st, 18G0. Cor. Sec.
The Lone Baptist and Christian
INVESTIGATOR.
Devoted to the investigation of the
PRINCIPLES of the Gospel of Christ,
upon which depend the peace, purity and
prosperity of Zion.
Every act involves a principle; and
conflicting principles invariably lead to
conflicting acts. The only possible way
to promote Christian unity is to induce
Christians to adopt and act upon the same
principles. In the principles of the gos
pel of Christ there is aperfect harmony,
and were all Christians and Christian
churches governed by these principles,
there could be no collision in practice
the clangor of arms would cease, and in
stead thereof would be heard again the
song of the angelic host: “Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace, good
. will to men.” followed by the joyful shout
in heaven : “The kingdoms of this world
are become the kingdoms of our Lord and
his Christ; and he shall reign forever and
ever.’’
A publication with the above title, de
signed for the object above stated, will
be issued in a royal octavo form, (I). V.,)
and be sent gratuitously to subscribers,
as soon as the address of 30,000 persons
are obtained who are willing to receive it
and engage in the investigation proposed.
It is hoped that every one in our land,
North, South, East and West, who is fa
vorable to the Christian religion, be he a
Catholic or Protestant, Unitarian orTrin
itarians, Baptist or Pedobaptist, will send
on his address without delay.
Every paper in the wide world is re
quested to copy the above. We promise
to publish, in our first number, a prospec
tus of equal length for editor who
complies with this request and sends us,
in season, a copy of his paper containing
our prospectus, marked.
The office of publication is not yet se
lected. We consider that a matter of ve
ry little consequence. The frequency of
our issues will depend upon circumstances
that are yet in the future.
llow the expenses of such a paper is to
be defrayed is a question that concerns
the editor and publisher, but not the rea
der. It will be sent as free as the air he
breathes or the water he quaffs to every
one whose name and address we receive
before the day of publication.
Every reader of this Prospectus is re
quested to ascertain who in his communi
ty are willing to receive our proposed
publication, and to send us, without de
lay, their names and post offices. Address,
JOS. S. BAKER, M. G.,
Jacksonville, Fla.
The First Baptist Church, Atlanta,
and Rev. A. T. Holmes, D. D.—The
public will be gratified to learn that, at
the request of the above named gentle
man, a full investigation of his conduct
has been had; that his difficulties with
certain members of said church have been
satisfactorily adjusted ; and that he has
been dismissed from said’ church in full
fellow T ship, and in the exercise of his
Ministerial functions. The visitors pres
ent on the occasion of the above adjust
ment, were Rev. Joseph Walker, Rev. N.
M. Crawford, and the undersigned. J
J. ll* Campkell.
Atlanta, Feb. 20, 1860. ‘
EDITORIAL BREVITIES.
What some frltnds believe. X believe vour
course as editor of this noble paper gives sat
isfaction in this_ section of country, and may
you continue to advocate the great ‘and soul
cheering truths Gospel, in the same
manly christian-like sp : -it, which has hitherto
characterized your editorial career, and may
the God of all grace sustain you in your ardu
ous and responsible position.
Being requested, we inform the persons
whose names are below that they are credited
as follows :
Mrs S. Gorland 10, ’6O
B. P. Gorland 1. ..50, ’6O
Anderson Covington 5, ’6l
R. J. Kennedy 5 ’6l
Dear Brother—Enclosed you will find Two
Dollars for Index for the present year, &.c. I
am well pleased with the Index. I esteem it
above all other papers. I hope all Baptists
will take the Index. If they dont they ought
to. ‘ It J. H.
Such letters as the above are pleasant.
A. C. Your criticisms are good—hope somo
day there will be an alteration.
The paper is sent to 11. E. C. one year
free, on account of your agency.
Persons communicating to us about
their paper, must ALWAYS tell their
Post Office.
It will be a great convenience to us.
EDITOR.
Can any one tell us the Post Office of
Y ashti Meador ?
AVin. Mays. Your money came safely
to hand. AVe hope you will do some
thing to extend the circulation of the In
dex. Your letter was read with interest,
and will be glad to hear fr m you again.
Is P. F. Campbell, of AVhitesville, and
I*. F, Campbell, of Hamilton, the same
person ?
From friend S. S. “I am well pleased
with your management of the paper.’’
All right with AVel E. T.
Many communications are on file and
must abide their time. Some of them
are capital and several very interesting.
THE WRECKED STEAMSHIP
HUNGARIAN.
Halifax, Feb. 25.
The clearance papers of the steamship Hungarian
have been found. There were 365 passengers, but
no names have yet been obtained by-the agent.
The Europa reports that the Hungarian had a
large freight and thirty-five passengers. Two bodies
have been found near the wreck —one that of a fire
man, and the other a small child.
Murder of a brother of lion, E. M.
ltcitt.
Private dispatches received in Washington last
Saturday state that the brother of the Hon. L. M.
Keitt has been recently murdered by his slaves in
Florida.
FRO^r^EOPE.
AIUtIVAL OF TIIE VIGO.
New York, Feb. 24.
Steamship Vigo has arrived, from Liverpool on
the Bth—three days before the Europa.
The annexation of Savoy has been debated In
Parliament. The Great Eastern Steamship Com
pany have resolved to borrow fifty thousand pounds
to prepare her for sea immediately. All the Cunard
steamers will touch at (Queenstown atter March.
France is willing to withdraw her troops from Rome
if the Pope will consent to employ others. The
Austrians are constructing new torts around Peschi
era. There is a report that Pope Pius IX. is about
to excommun icatd Victor Emanuel. Ills holiness
has made auo tlier speech hostile to France.
**
Great Fire in Danville, Ky,
Pittsburg, Feb. 25.
The principal part of the town of Danville, Ky.,
was destroyed by fire on Wednesday last. Eighty
buildings were burnt, including three churches, the
court house and other pubiic buildings.
From California.
St. Louis, Feb. 25.
The overland mail has arrived with California
plates to the 4tli inst.
Gov. Denver has commenced canvassing the
State against Gwin for the Senate.
Anew quicksilver mine has been opened, and
several tons of ore were en route for the Assay of
fice at San Francisco.
More Wrecks.
■*. New York, Feb. 24.
The ship Jane Walsh from Sunderland tor Havana,
foundered at sea.
The Boston bark Atlas, from New Orleans bound
to Boston, is, ashore off Chatham Beach. She was
compelled to discharge her cargo.
Troubles in Havana.
New Orleans, Feb. 24.
Havana news to the 20th inst., has been received.
A Spanish born American citizen has been claimed
by the Spanish authorities for military service, and
requested to furnish a substitute or pay one thous
and dollars. Our Consul, Mr. Helm, demanded Lis
release, but it was refused. The man paid the thous
and dollars under protest. The correspondence on
the subject has been transmitted to the government.
Tennessee Coal. —The Nashville Union says:
—W e are informed that four English miners
from Mansfield and Newcastle, England, have
recently found and opened a coal field on ()bed's
river, in Fentress county, in this State, belong
ing to Gen. John B. Rodgers, consisting of one
thousand acres of a solid coal bed, four feet
thick, of the best article of bituminous coal,
containing an extra quantum of gas and petrole
um, the best they have found in the United
Suites. It is on the margin of the Cumberland
river, and easy of access. A specimen of the
coke and tar may be seen in the hands of Prof.
Safford, our State Geologist, at Nashville. This
coal is overlaid in many places with tire-proof
tile rock, suitable for making coke ovens, para
pet walls, paving streets, covering houses, and
the like, and may lie obtained of any thickness
from one inch to six, squaring right of itself if
desired, and can be transported by water at a
trifling expense.
Counterfeit. Look Out. —We saw yesterday,
a counterfeit bill of twenty dollars on the bank
of Hamburg, S. C., which is calculated to de
ceive the unwary. It is a jac simile of the
genuine bill, and can only be detected by a care
ful examination of the signatures, which, it will
be discovered, are photographed, and not writ
ten. The public should be on their guard.
Sawnnah Sews.
The Equestrian Statue of Washington, re
cently inaugurated at the national capital, is by
Clark Mills of New York, but front early life he
was a resident of Charleston, where his genius
for statuary was developed. He came from
Charleston to this city, on his way to Italy,
where he purposed to study his art. But here,
the fame of his genius having proceeded him,
lie was arrested by the Jackson Association,
who employed him to carry out their project
for the erection of a bronze equestrian statue
of Jackson. This work was so far a success
that Congress adopted it, and granted the artist
the sum of twenty thousand dollars, and gave
him an order for an equestrian statue of Gen.
Washington, at the cost of fifty thons&nd dol
lars.
Excitement. —There was a considerable ex
citement in our city on yesterday, owing to the
refusal of the Mayor to give up to the Vigilance
Committee the man who is strongly suspected
of having robbed Mr. Foster’s house, but against
whom no direct testimony could be instituted.
A meeting of the citizens was called and Mr.
Mm. Bell acted as chairman. The Mayor
made a few remarks, in which he declared his
intention, inasmuch as he was officially bound,
not to deliver up the prisoner as he (the priso
ner) had claimed the protection of the city.
Other speeches were made sustaining the May
or in his opinion. The vote was taken and the
Mayor decided to be in the right. After the ad
journment a large collection of bad books be
longing to this suspected robber were carried
near the Artesian Well and burned to ashes in
the presence of a large number of persons.—
Mont. Confederation , 21st.