The Christian index. (Washington, Ga.) 1835-1866, May 02, 1860, Image 1

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TLIE CHRISTIAN INDEX, PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY CORNING AT MACON, GEORGIA. BY A COMMITTEE OF BRETHREN, FOR THE GEORGIA BAPTIST CONVENTION. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION, Two Dollars in advance: or paid within the year. If suffered to overrun the yea l- , Two Dollars and ore-half will be charged in all cases. SAMUEL BOYKIN, Editor. VOLUME XXXIX.) New Series.—Volume XXVIII.j POETRY. The following Lines, sent by Mss Dix, the I hil anthropist. will strike many of our thoughtful readers. —[En. Index. The Twister. A twister iu twisting, would twist him a twist, And twisting his twists, several twists he would twine ; If one twist in twisting, untwists from the twist, That twist in untwisting, untwists all the twine !’* Mother Goose. A ravelled rainbow overhead, Lets down to life its varying thread ; Love’s blue —Joy’s gold— and fair between, Hope’s shining light of emerald, green ; With either side, in deep relief, A crimson pain —a violet grief. Would’st thou amidst their gleaming hues, Clutch after thoxe, and these refuse ? Believe, as thy beseeching eyes, Follow their lines, and sound the skies; There where the fadeless glories shine, An unseen angel hoists the tuinc ! And be thou sure, what twist so e’er The broken rays beneath may wear, It needs them all, that broad and white, God's love mag weave the perfect light l The Dying Girl’s Address to her BARENTS. Away! away! above I go, The better land to see, I cannot now prolong my stay, Angels are calling me. I long to reach the spirit land, The Paradise above, To join the tuneful, happy band, And see the God I love. There is no fear for me to feel, In crossing death’s dark sea, For Clirisr my gentle shepherd is And he my guide will be. Then weep not, mother, for thy child, Others are left to thee, And I was not thy brightest one, So weep no more for me. Thy noble sons are yet with thee, To comfort, love and bless, And daughters cluster round thy knee — God’s mercy, then, confess. His kindness to thee has been great, You feel it, mother dear, Then let not grief possess your heart For me —l know no fear. It makes me sad to see you weep, A shadow o’er me lies, No tear should dim the beauteous way— My passage to the skies. And, Father, on thy cherished head, This stroke w ill longer bide ; I would avert it for thg sake— For naught on earth beside. But weep not, Father, for thy child— Submissive thou must be, With lifted heart say now to Him, “I give her back to thee.” May this a light affliction be, May He withhold the rod, And gently lead you, hand in hand, Up to the'Heaven of God.” Macon, April 9th, 1860. ORIGINAL ARTICLES. Letter to Spurgeon. Elberton, Elbert Cos., Ga., ) March sth, 1860. j Bro. Spurgeon —Sir: I have read your sermons witii great pleasure, and ’many thousands in this country have been delighted with their perusal. But 1 must say to you, that I was pained to see the production from your pen, which appeared in the papers about a month ago, taken from the Watch man & Rellector, of Boston, Mass., upon the subject of Slavery the spirit of that letter was so different to that of your published sermons, and, I mav say, with sorrow, so different to the spirit of Jesus ! 1 know there are many good men who are sentimentally opposed to slavery, as it exists in the Southern States of America, and it would not have surprised me to learn that you were among that number; and, had you expressed your views in a Christian spirit, they would not have produced such a sensation as is now felt throughout our country. But your attack upon slaveholders is exceeding ly iierce and war-like. Take a calm review of your style and language. You call them man-stealers; you would, shun them as you would a murderer; and if, by chance, a slaveholder should dare to show himself in your neigh borhood, you would, at least, sanction the act, if you did not commit it your self, of laying violent hands upon him, and inflicting a wound which he would carry to his grave, if it did not carry him there. Now, whatever may be the alleged evils of slavery, or the sins of slaveholders, is this the proper method to be used by a Christian min ister for its correction ? How does this agree with Paul’s direction to Timothy? Notice 2nd Timothy, 2nd chapter, from 22nd verse to the close of the chapter, and mpre particularly the 2dth, 25th and 2Gth verses. “The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repen tance to the acknowledging of the truth,” etc. Then, your allusion to John Brown, that “he is immortal in the memory of the good in England, and in your heart lie lives.” What the character and reputation of John Brown is in England, I know not; but, so far as I have understood it in this country, he was a very wicked, reckless man. I never heard ot his making any pretensions to piety. It is supposed he was made a tool of un principled, cowardly agitators of the slavery question at the North, to form a secret scheme to invade the South, excite the slaves to rebellion, and thus, — ■ .. by coming upon them unawares, slaughter and subdue the wlyole white population. But when be made the contemplated attack, there was a sig nal failure. Not a single sis/ -j made an attempt to join him ; he was soon captured and taken by the civil au thorities of the nation; had a fair trial in a court of justice, was found guilty of treason and murder, and was exe cuted accordingly; and several of his accomplices have since met with the same fate. You say this treasonable murderer lives in your heart. Do you mean that you most heartily sympa thize in his deeds and noble daring? Do you heartily sanction his course of madness ? and are we to understand that you stand ready to advise tind sanction a repetition of it, by other bold spirits ? Ir so, have we not rea son to look upon you as a murderer at heart ? and that, after all your world wide fame as an eloquent preacher of the gospel, you are only a wolf in sheep’s clothing ? We read that Sa tan does transform himself sometimes into an angel of light. But I hope this is not true in your case. But, as good a man as you are, and as great as you think yourself to be, you are not out of the reach of the devil so. long as you are in the body. He often binds good men by prejudice and leads them into gross error. I presume you have never seen American slavery—you have only heard of it. You have heard it from those who, like yourself, have never seen it. “ Your notions of slavery have been derived from the distorted representations of ultra abolitionists.” They have represented it as a mon ster most frightful. You shoul 1 have sought means to have made yourself acquainted with it thoroughly, so as to judge of it impartially, before you let out your artillery against it in such a manner. And still, you intimate, and even threaten, that you have yet in reserve many larger guns to tire. Hold, brother, and wait awhile; come over and look round; tind out who you are shooting at; you may hit and wound some of (sod’s dear children ; you cannot kill them, tor they are his elect, and must live forever. The in stitution of slavery as it exists among us, we think is scriptural. We never stole our slaves ; but, like Abraham of old, some of them we bought with our money, and some of them were born in our houses. God, in his prov idence, has permitted the black race of Africa, many of them, to become slaves. Without the agency of their present owners,they have been brought here and made slaves, and their in crease has been great. Their condition has been greatly improved by this providence; they become civi lized, as far perhaps, as the descend ants of Ham are capable of, and many, very many of them have been chris tianized. In our cities there are ma ny line commodious houses of worship, built expressly for their accommoda tion ; and some of these city colored churches have over a thousand mem bers, almost all of them servants, and they generally have colored pastors who are servants, but are permitted by their masters to devote themselves to the ministry. In most of our coun try churches, an apartment is made expressly for the accommodation of our servants, and many of them are truly a pious and orderly people ; and as to their condition in other respects, they are much better off than free peo ple” of color in the Northern or Free States. And no doubt they are more cared for, aud made more comfortable iu their physical condition, than many of the poor white people in the free States and in England. They are gen erally treated humanely, well fed and clothed, and their houses madecomfor table, more so than many of the poor er class among the free whites are able to afford. We had no agency in ma king them slaves, we find them com paratively bappy and contented in their condition as such ; they general ly become attached to their owners, and would rather remain servants than be parted from them and sent to Afri ca, or any free State. All the indica tions of Providence are, that he intend ed them to be servants. We find our duty laid down in God's word, as mas ters, with regard to our servants. We read of servants that are under the yoke. Paul says ‘‘let them count their own masters worthy of all honor, and they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather do them ser vice, because they are faithful and be loved partakers of the benefit; these things teach and exhort. If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the doctrine that is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil slirmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt words, and destitute of the truth, from such withdraw thy self. —1 Tim., 6th chap. What a les son this to those professed ministers of Christ, who are ever using railing words against the owners of servants, and trying to induce servants to rail against their masters, doting about questions that only gender strife, aud create envy and. evil surmising. I think we should be contented with a i standard of morality as high as the Bible. The Bible recognizes slavery ; ’ it may have its evils, but they must 5 be corrected, not by destroying the [ relation between master and slave, but by teaching them their respective du ties to each other. May the good Lord, of his great mercy, impart to us all a great meas ure of his Holy Spirit, and may chris tians in all lands cease their fightings, and breathe the true spirit of brotherly kindness and charity, should be our prayer. ASA CHANDLER, Elberton, Ga. Mr. C. H. Spurgeon, Clapbam, London, England. New York Correspondence. Dear Bro. Boykin: —As your reg ular correspondent is sick, and not able to write you, “Occasional” will till up the vacuum with the understanding that you may use or not, as you may think best. The last monthly returns from our churches, indicate a good degree of prosperity ; there having been larger additions than usual, both in the city and country, and particularly in our sister cities —Albany and Troy, where a most wonderful work of grace has been in progress, resulting in the con version of from four to five hundred persons in each city, and these mainly iu connection with Baptist Churches. In Albany it has resulted in forming anew Baptist church, with ample strength for success. This is the period for closing the fi nancial year with our religious socie ties. I am happy to inform your readers that it has been a year of increased success. Our American Baptist Home Mission Society, lias increased its re ceipts about twelve thousand dollars over the receipts of the previous year, reaching the sum of $620,000 for the present year. The Missionary Union for Foreign work, has run up to about $140,000 gross receipts, having paid off its entire debt. This is a gratify ing incident, that our Mission cause is now relieved from debt, with encour aging prospects for future usefulness. May the friends of Missions now run the Christian race without hindrance and with much success. May the pre sent be a glorious year for the spread of the Gospel, both at home and abroad, and it will be, it Zion awakens to the crying appeal of perishing millions of souls. We are permitted to live in a wonderful age, enjoying privileges such as no past age has offered. God grant that the American Baptists may prove themselves equal to those privileges, as well as their responsibilities. Your beloved returned Missionary, bro Cabaniss, is winning golden opin ions with our churches. His sad af fliction in the loss of his child soon af ter his arrival here, has awakened the sympathy of our brethren for him, and he has found good friends among ns. lie has been lecturing with decided success, before some ot our churches, I learn that he lias gone South. Bro. J. G. Schilling, Missionary to Canton, is now here, preparing to leave for his appointed field, lie is accom panied by the Senior Secretary, Dr. Taylor, who superintends his depar ture. lie sails on Friday of this week. The Spurgeon furor seems to have passed about ovei, and the North seems about as unanimous in condemning his folly in writing so foolish a letter, as the South. Could he have had wis dom enough to coniine himself to his proper work, the preaching of the Gos pel, no one can calculate the amount of good he might have accomplished, as he seems wonderfully qualified to preach the Gospel with success. It is to be hoped that increasing years will bring with them increasing wisdom and common sense. As your readers are interested in literary matters, I will add that Messrs. Sheldon & Cos., have arranged to bring out a really important work. The His tory of Latin Christianity, including that of the Ropes to the Pontificate of Nicolas Y, by Henry Ilart Milman, D. D., Dean of St. Pauls, London. This work is really a history of mo dern Europe, from the point of view of the Christian church. The author says, truly, in his introduction, that “the great event in the history of our reli gion and of mankind, during many centuries after the extinction of Pa ganism, is the rise, the development, and the domination of Latin Christi anity.” Dean Milman’s history has received the highest commendation of theological scholars, aud is alone among works of its kind, fascinating as liter ature to the general reader. Prescott was charmed with the book, for he re cognized in its author, at once learned and imaginative, a spirit kindred to his own. No work could be a more appropriate gift to a pastor, or be more appropriately recommended by a pas tor, to an intellectual man or woman of his llock. OBSERY ER. [We see from Report to end of March, that the gross receipts amount to $167,027 4:3.—Ed.] ■ -+■ ♦-♦ Baltimore Correspondence. Dear Bro. Boykin : I need not inform you that Balti more is one of the finest cities in the land. With a good location —wide streets —an abundance of pure water — and excellent educational and religious advantages, Baltimore may well be content. Our schools are of a high or der. Our “High Schools,” especially, are conducted in a manner worthy of all praise. And is not the education of our people one of the chief elements of our greatness and success ? “Knowl edge is power.” May our education al advantages, therefore, multiply in number, and increase in efficiency.— These are of more importance to us as a section, than all the fortifications along our seaboard, and all the war- MACON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 1860. ships that leave our ports. Outlawry has injured the reputa tion of our city, and retarded its com mercial prosperity. But the prospect of an improvement is brightening. — The police-law. recently passed by the Legislature, transfers the control of the city constabulary from the Mayor to Commissioners appointed for the pur pose. This will render certain the em ployment of moral and respectable po lice, and the freedom of our elections, will in future, be not as in the past, a mere farce ; but a fact. Last Sabbath evening Bro. Rohrer was ordained as Missionary to Japan. Rev. A. B. Cab aniss made a brief address, Rev. R. J. Wilson offered the ordaining prayer, and R # ev. Dr. Taylor delivered the charge. Never did we witness a more solemn and interesting scene. The first nam ed brother has recently delivered sev eral lectures in the citxq on the customs, manners, religion and literature of the Chinese, which have been largely at tended and universally admired. Rev. Dr. Fuller has been sick, but is now nearly convalescent. lie is a great and good man, and those who know him best, love him most. The Eligh Street Church have called to the pastorate the Rev. N. P. Rice, of Philadelphia. Painful divisions have lately occurred in this body. We trust that quiet may soon be restored, and that prosperity may attend the labors of their excel lent pastor. Rev. G, F. Adams has resigned the pastorate of the Broadway Baptist Church, and Rev. R. J. Wilson, that of the “ Lee St. Church.” The latter has received the unanimous call of the Baptist Church in Beaufort, S. C. This is the Church to which Dr. Fuller min istered for many years, before he came to this city, and is one of the largest in the State. Dominus vobisenm. Baltimore, April If. EXOTIC. M ♦ Not Words but Deeds. “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in truth !” John 3: 18. Reader, you love Christ, his cause, his people, his truth, his government and ordinances. You love the Mission cause, because it is the cause of Jesus. You love to contemplate the promises of the Bible, which encourage you to think that his truth, as you understand and believe it, will ultimately prevail throughout the whole earth. Y r ou talk , perhaps, much about these things. They are at your tongue's end on almost all occasions, and you can use them flippantly. Indeed, you are zealous in your advocacy of these things. You are a zealous Missionary —a zealous Board man—a zealous anti Board man— azealous&ovaQ man’s man, or a zealous no man’s man. Y r ou would die for church independence as you un derstand it, and are dovffi. on all tyran ny on the one hand, or rebellion against rightful authority on the other. Now, all this may be well, very well indeed, just as it should be in all res pects. But allow me, my brother, to suggest the candid inquiry in your heart , whether it is not all, or nearly so, in word and in tongue ; and not in deed and in truth. Bunyan mentions a character that had a very ready use of his tongue. “Talkative could out talk “Faithful.” Are you that charac ter ? God forbid you should bo; but it is well for you to look into this mat ter. It is perhaps too easy to substi tute an unholy denominational or par tisan zeal ‘for true Christian love—a noisy zealous flow of words for deeds of mercy, prompted by genuine chari ty. It is easier to talk and write for the public , than to perform the duties of the closet —to read newspaper con troversy, spiced and pointed with wit, irony and sarcasm, than the word of God. It is easier to denounce and seek to torture an opponent in controversy, and grind the teeth on what we con sider his errors, than to discover our own errors, to loathe our own sins and crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts—to give wrong professions than money and actual labor, to the cause of benevolence. It is easy to deceive our selves, but “God is not mocked!” O, brethren, let us not love in word, nei ther in tongue; but in deed and in truth. MONITOR. POWER OF EXAMPLE. Rev. John Angell James’ Conver sion.—ln a public lecture, Mr. James once said: “Ifthe present lecturer has a right to consider himself a real Chris tian, if he has been of any service to his fellow-creatures, and has attained to any usefulness in the church of Christ, he owes it in the way of means and instrumentality to the sight of a companion, who slept in the same room with him, bending his knees in prayer f on retiring to rest. That scene, so un ostentatious, and yet so unconcealed, roused my slumbering conscience, and sent an arrow to my heart; for though I had been religiously educated, I had restrained prayer, and cast off the fear of God; my conversion to God follow ed, and soon afterwards my entrance upon college studies for the work of the ministry. Nearly half a century has rolled away since then, with all its multitudinous events ; but that little chamber, that humble couch, that pray ing youth, are still present to my im agination, and will never be forgotten, even amidst the splendor of heaven, and through the ages of eternity.” This certifies that I have for several years used Davis’ Pain Killer in my family in several of those cases for which it is recommended, and find it a very useful family medicene. Rev. Asa Beon'sce. Review of “Corrective Church DISCIPLINE”—No. 3. Common sense is the medium through which the Professor’s definitions have been mainly viewed : it is proper now to see what the Scriptures teach on the subject. It has been shown that a private of fence is no offence, any further than it is a violation of moral , or religious law. If the Professor intends to teach the doctrine that a private offence may, in any case, violate the laws of morali ty, or religion, he should have inform ed us to what extent. But it is to be presumed that no such design was en tertained, for then his pidvatc and pub lic offences would not be distinct , but one and the same. Moreover, unless the characteristic distinction between these offences is, that one does not vio late religion, or morality, while the other does, there would be no possibili ty of forming his third class— mixed oi* fences. Accordingly, it seems that he is in a dilemma. Should he say that a private offence may violate some moral, or religious law, there is no dif ference between a private and a pub lic offence; and furthermore, there could be no mixed offence.. But if he does make a difference between pri vate and public offences, he destroys his private offences, since that is no of fence which is not a violation either of moral,or religious law; and the destruc tion sweeps away his mixed offences, inasmuch as no act can be indifferent , (not bad,) and, at the same time, good. Which will he take ? The Professor’s definition of public offences, the latter part of it especially, was objected to on the ground of its being unphilosophical, illogical, and unscriptural, (since the scriptures no where teach that the church is infalli ble.) Either the printer, or my article, (I will not say which,) has failed to bring out one point clearly. Speaking of the definition as unphilosophical, I design ed to eay, “As if a geometrician, in de fining a triangle, (drawing the figure on my manuscript,) should say, “A triangle is a figure composed of three sides, aud three angles, or (it is) the triangle, “ABC.” Besides, the phrase, “the Hues A B C,” without the figure, which was drawn, must have been wholly unintelligible to the reader. I do not make this correction in the way of complaint, but, the idea being an important one, I wish it to be clearly understood. I will illustrate it by oth er examples. As definitions akin to that ot the Professor’s read the follow ing : Arithmetic is the science of figures, or (it is) 2 plus 6 equal 8. Again : Grammar is the science of language, or (i t is) boys love to play. The former, while it is an example in arithmetic, is, by no means, arithmetic itself. The latter, though a sentence involving; some of the principles of grammar, is, certainly, not grammar itself. Read his definition of public offences and compare it with the above. His mixed offences have been suffi ciently exploded, whatever may be his definition of private and public offen ces. AVith such objections, lying at the very foundation of his definitions, the presumptive evidence is,that the Scrip tures will not sustain them. But to the law and to the testimony. What is the Greek verb, which is translated “ offend ” in the 18th chapter and 15th verse of Mat.? (for it will be remembered that the Professor bases his definitiou of private offences on this text especially.) Read, every one who can —it is “ hamartese(Ban dc hamartese is se ho adelphos ; lite ral ly, and if thy brother sin into (agaxnst) thee.) Now the reader’s attention is called to the following facts : Ist. That the verb, tfanslateffi sin in the N. T. is, invariably, hamcirtano in someone of its forms. Yhe verb, translated “ offend ” in Mat. 18 : 15, is “hamartese ,” (the Aorist sub.) The verb appears twi'ce in the par ticipal form in composition with the preposition, pro—‘-one's in 2 Cor. 12 : 21, (pro-emartekotocm ; again, 2 Cor. 13: 2 (pro-emarteko si.) 2d. The Lexicons all agree as to the meaning of the verb ; viz, in the clas sics, “to err from,” “to miss the mark,” “to err,” “to pin”—in the New Testa ment it means to sin. 3d. That the Greek adjective, cor responding, is hamartootos—one who is a sinner , sinner. Opheiletai , trans lated “sinners,” in Luke 13: 4, means a debtor —hence, by implication a sin ner. 4th. That the Greek noun, transla ted sin, is hamartia and hamartema , sin, or sinfulness. These words all belong to the same family, all have a. common root, and are in the words which God selected to designate the act of sinning , the state of being a sinner, and the action of sin itself. In view of these facts, I affirm— -Ist. That if the verb, ( hamartano ,) docs not imply a violation of moral, or religious law, the: - e is no verb in the New Testament that does. 2d. That if this same verb does im ply a violation of moral, or religious law, it implies as much in Mat. IS: 25, unless there is something in the con text to destroy this meaning. There is nothing in the context to neutralize its meaning, unless it be the phrase “against thee,” (if thy brother sin against thee.) But a sin is none the Less a sin , because it is committed against a brother. The object of the sinful action cannot, in the nature of things, destroy the elements of the act itself. Besides, here is one text which will forever settle the question: “ Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.'’ It is impossible to sin against a brother, without violating, at the same time, this law of God. The verb (hamar tese) in Mat. 18: 15, must have its or dinary meaning. It must signify to sin, or it dots not. If it does not mean to sin, then Christ and his Apostles were mistaken about the condition of the human family; supposing that they were guilty of having violated some moral or religious law, when such was not the fact! On this supposition, the human race has been cruelly , and want only slandered; having been charged with unholiness, wickedness, and re bellion, when they have, all the time, been holy, righteous, and obedient 1— Does any one believe that Christ did not use the verb {hamartano) to denote the act of sinning? If He who show ed himself, by miraculous works, to he God, did not thus use the word, lie said nothing about the existence of sin. If the noun ( hamartia) did not mean sin, and the verb {hamartano?) to sin , in the days of Christ, there is no won! that did. And if sin did exist, and was spoken of, it must have been designated by some term. No terms were used for the purpose of denoting the action of sin, and the act of sinning, if hamar tia and hamartano were not. If then, the noun ( hamartia) did not mean sin, and the verb ( hamartano ,) to sin / we must conclude that there was no sin, or if there was, no one recognized it. Why then was it necessary for Christ to die? Was not He, by his death, to “save his people from their sins?” If his people had not sinned, then the an gel of the Lord lied, when he said ; “He shall save his people from their sins.” Are we not compelled to be lieve that there was sin in the world j and that it was designated by some term ? But if hamartano does mean, to sin, Prof. Mell’s definition of private of fences must forever fall. If the verb (,hamartese in the 18th ot Matthew) does not “ essentially ” necessarily de note a violation of some moral, or re ligious law, then Christ and his Apos tles used no woi'd that does. But we know that sin does abound, that it has ever since the day of Adam’s trans gression, that the verb {hamartese) does imply sin, that Christ so used it / and that therefore Prof. Mell’s defini tion is not correct. It astonishes me beyond measure, and, I wiil add, pains me too, that my old Professor, and teacher of Greek be sides, should have taken such a strange and untenable position l To sum up, the m a tier stands thus: There are no Private offences, as defin ed by Prof. M., unless his private of fences are the same as his public ones —in which case, it would be as well, certainly, to cal) them all either public or private, giving them only one name. Only the fivst part of his definition of Public C/ffences can stand ; the clause, “or ‘the church in its organized capacity,” being thrown out. No “mix - ed offences.” If any unjust criticism has been made, the writer will bo thankful to have i t pointed out, that he may cor rect tt. The publication of error can nev'jr benefit any one in this world or thfj world to come. A. S. WORRELL. Talladega, Ala., Jan. 21, 1860. ANECDOTE OF A WESTERN PIO NEER. Avery pious, yet rather eccentric man, a Mr. P , was remarkable for his trust in God in all the affairs in this life, and his strong leaning to the pu ritan sentiment, particularly faith in prayer. Some circumstances in the life of tliis man, would seem to prove that in special and rare cases the par ticular mercies sought for may be granted. On removing from his native coun try to the west, Mr. P and some others made a purchase of land, and paid the money. It Wr-.s soon discov ered that the seller was not the owner, and consequently the title was worth less, and the money lost. Mr. P.’s loss was greater than he could well bear. The other purchasers had re course to law, and advised him also to “ employ counsel.” “ I have read in the Bible of a wonderful Counselor,” was the faint reply, “ and my applica tion shall be to Him.” He thereupon made it a matter of earnest and repeat ed prafjer; not, we presume, for a spe cific restitution of the money, but that by some providential interference, this serious loss might be made up to him, or that he might be duly reconciled to it, and eventually none the worse for it. The prospect of a specific an swer was very small, for the man who had obtained the money had abscond ed both from the neighborhood and from his family. But $s Mr. P was passing near this man’s house some time after, a child running up to him begged him to come in. As he did so, the wife handed him the iden tical bag which contained the identi cal dollars, explaining the strange ac tion in these words: “When my husband went away, he charged me to give this money to you, for, said he, Pm afraid the man will pray me to death.” Thus Mr. P.’s wish was gained ; the others, it is said, never got anything. Would not our public journals be more respected and more influential if their tone were always conrteous, their utterances always truthful, their aims always unselfish, and their spirit always Christian ?— American Mess. Terms of Advertising. For all transient advertising One Dollar per square of ten lines for the first, and 50 cents per square for all subsequent publications. RATES FOR CONTRACT ADVERTISING. 1 square of 10 lines per 3 months... $ 4 00 “ “10 lines “ 6 “ 700 “ “10 lines “ 1 year 10 00 These lines are the text advertising lines and the charge is for the space occupied by ten such lines rs are used in the body of an advertisement. Lon - ger advertisements in the same ratio. NUMBER 18. SABBATH SCHOOL COLUMN. The Teacher. From J. b. Taylor’s Frize Essay on Sab. Schools. He should be always at his post, and always there in time. Thus wo Id he attest his interest in his work, and afford a suitable example to those who naturally look up to him. When compelled to be absent, he should, if possible, secure a substitute, or at least communicate to his class, and to the Superintendant, the fact of his un avoidable detention. In like manner, he should, by suitable study, prepare for communicating the instruction he professes to give. It is, perhaps, a natural, but it is certainly a very great mistake, to suppose that youth, and especially children, can be interested, and instructed, without previous pre paration, better than grown people could be; just the reverse is true. In some sense, and to some good degree, adequately to interest the young, re quires more talent and effort than to perform the same service for the old. And he can not be, in the highest sense, a successful Sunday School Teacher who does not, both with all needful helps and pains-taking, study ‘ the lesson, and, besides, exert himself to find subjects of interest to present to his class. We are quite well aware that we are but making particular ap plication of a principle of universal applicability, that there is no excel lence without labor, no high success without attention and anxious effort. We remember to have seen one of Punch’s pictures which struck us as not without deep significance. An “ex quisite” has just turned from his glass with his cravat exquisitively tied. His companion surveys him with ad miring attention, when the following dialogue ensues: “Tom how do you get such a tie ?” “Why, the fact is Bill, you see, I give my whole mind to it.” Yes, truly there is nothing we do, from tying a cravat up to teaching a Sabbath School class in which we can hope to succeed, unless for the time, we give our whole mind to it. Let, then, the Sabbath School Teacher make it a matter of concience to pre pare to instruct and interest his class. Let him not only answer and explain the question in the qustion-book, (which it is taken for granted he uses) but let him add questions of his own, and encourage his scholars to ask him questions. To do this, he must use his Bible Dictionary, Commentary, bis Biblical Atlas, and, perhaps, fre quently resort to his Pastor. He must take time and trouble—he must give his mind to the work of prepara tion—must seek light from above. Let him also, fired with the desire of communicating instruction, exert him self during the season of the school to interest his class; discarding every thought of ennui, every feeling of sloth, and using all earnestness and vivacity of manner, occupy all the time allot ted for the exercise. If he’ will do this, he will find a rich reward in the pleasure of the work itself, in the beni fit secured to his own mind, and in that conferred on his scholars. THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT IN CHILDREN. There are very many points on which the rising generation should be carefully trained by their religious teachers. Among the multiplicity, the work of mission should be occa sionally laid before the children in the Sabbath schools. This should be done judiciously, familiarly and impressive ly. The subject is vast, and many ten der, touching illustrations are furnish ed which could readily be so presen ted as to deeply affect the youthful mind. Children may be thus educa ted to feel for, think of, and contribute of their little coins to the mission cause, and be besides personify bene fited. Well-directed remarks in Sab bath school by ministers, superinten dants and others, about the condition of the heathen world, and the efforts of pious missionaries, and the gracious purposes of Jesus Chrisf, the chief of missionaries, may be so blessed hat from the little scholars, in a few years, the force in the mission field will be greatly augmented* THE RIGHT SIDE OF FIFTY. It i4 the humble Mr. Venn, in one of his excursions to preach for the Countess of Huntington, that he fell in company with a person who had the appearance of a parish clergy man. After riding some time togeth er, conversing on different subjects, the stranger, looking in his face said : “ I think you are on the wrong side of fifty.” “On the wrong side of fif ty !” answered Mr. Venn. “ No, sir, I am on the right side of fifty.” Surely,” replied the clergyman, “ you mnst be turned of fifty.” “ Yes, sir,” added the Christian veteran, “ but I am on the right side of fifty, for I am nearer my crown of glory.” Happy that person who can thus feel; who has the right to believe he is nearer his crown of glory. How feelings like these, would cause us to rejoice as year by year passes away, and our salvation becomes nearer ! A Great Change in France. —ln France the most prominent men of letters hitherto nominally Catholic, and for the most part really infidel, are now advocating the historical, lit erary, missionary, and the theological claims of Protestantism. Some of these writers, though brought up in the bosom of the Roman church, avow fearlessly the superiority of Protes tantism as a system of religious faith. Vermont Chronicle .