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THE CHRISTIAN INDEX,
PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY MftRNINO
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 theyea*-, Two Dollars and
one-half will be charged in all cases.
SAMUEL BOYKIN, Editor.
VOLUME XXXIX.
Book Notices.
Corn in the Blade, Poems and Thoughts in
Pro3e ; by Crammond Kenedy ; with an introduc
tion by C. B. Conant. Derby & Jackson, N. Y.;
SI,OO
Crammond Kennedy, as many of our readers
know, spent the winter of ’SB and ’59 in Georgia.
Most of the time he staid in our house ; and we
learned to love and respect him for the qualities
ol heart and head which he exhibited. We, there
fore, hail with pleasure the appearance of this
book. Many of the pieces we recognize : sever
al of these were written in our own house; and
one at our suggestion, we furnishing the initial
lines to the verses. This was done merely as an
experiment.
[“To the Missionary,” on page 116 is the poem.]
“The little, laughing blue-eyed Child,” was written
on our supper-table, while waiting for the evening
meal.
“An Appeal,” on page 119, was written at our
request to follow *To the Missionary,” in the
Christian Index.
“The Separation,” page 125, was written in the
parlor of our old homestead in Columbus, amid a
crowd all noisely discussing the just-ended Con
vention : C. K. was aroused from his composing
rapture by laughter at his metrical countings. He
then read the piece for the gratification of all.—
Little Alice dwells in Albany, Ga.
“The Steam Horse” was written sitting beside
the Rail Road track near Atlanta, just after a train
had passed. “Immortality” was written one Sab
bath morn, between breakfast and church-hour—
C. K. walking up and down our parlor, occasion
ally stopping to pen his thoughts on the piano.—
This piece appeared in the “Southern Field and
Fireside,” and gained the author much credit in
Georgia.
“There is a God,” was written for and first pub
lished in the Christian Index: a gentleman of
highly cultivated taste has labelled it “good.”
“The Conflict between Night and Darkness,”
and “The Angel and the Child,” were first com
posed in our study. To evidence C. K.’s wonder
ful memory, we will relate that he lost the manu
script of this latter piece, and told us of it the next
day, averring Chat it made no difference as he
could re-write it from memory. We bade him sit
down and do it; and so he did, we looking on.—
By chance we found his lost MS. afterwards, and
on comparing it with the memory —written copy,
found them alike, word for word. The found MS.
we never returned. We recognized several other
pieces written in our house among which is the
first half of “The Love of Christ”—probably the
most ambitious piece in the Book.
Indeed, we think C. K. indebted to the inspiring
beams of our Southern Sun for some of his best
poems; hence we commend his book to our read
ers. ,
That “Corn in the Blade,” written by a youth
16 ©r 17 years old evinces poetic genius, no one
will deny: its versification is generally very
smooth and his expressions very chaste—chaste
in a strictly -hal sense, in contradiction to tur
gid. The ideas are often new and startle us by
their practical appropriateness. Witness the fol
lowing from “The Crucifixion,” one of his best pie
ces :
Well may the orb of day grow dim !
Well may the dead arise !
For earth and hell and heav’n are moved,
When God incarnate dies.
They’ve nailed his hands, they’ve pierced his side,
And bruised his noble brow ;
They’ve mocked, they’ve scourged, they’ve cruci
fied—
And he is dying now.
“Jehovah, can this ever be !”
The wond’ring angels cry,
“Among the host of heav’n, for Christ,
Who would have feared to die?
Who nails the Lord of glory there ?’
Who will ? who dare ? who can ?
From hell profoundest, demons cry,
“ We dare not—it is man /”
The greatest charm that pervades those poems
and which will keep them popular notwithstand
ing some immaturity of thought and expression is
the vein of piety moving through the whole. The
love of God has found a nest in C. K.’s bosom and
it will trill forth its melody amid the poet’s warb
ling.
No one will read this book without positive
pleasure ; it therefore deserves to be bought ; and
we hope that thousands will buy it. Many Geor
gians, we know, will be glad to obtain it : it may
be obtaiued at the Baptist Depository, Macon, Ga.
We ought not to omit to mention that the mechan
ical getting up of the book is very neat and hand
some.
Robert Cushman ; or, Rival Students. Charles
ton, S. C. Bap. Pub. Society.
The baleful influence of an unholy ambition, and
its disastrous termination ; the sad mistake of par
ents who instil in the minds of their children an
emulation which seeks to excel as its only end;
the temptations of a College life, and the dangers
of yielding to the first temptation—are most graph
ically depicted in this little volume; showing at
the same time, the imorptanee to young men, of
having enjoyed in early life, the benefit of relig
ious instructions at home.
Parents and their children will both derive prof
it from reading this book. It is a simple narra
tive, unpretending in style, yet attractive and
thrilling. No one will begin to read it and lay it
aside unfinished. An inordinate love of self, will
find here a rebuke written in crimson lines, will
unfold its finale in a maniac’s cell.
THE DEVIL REPULSED.
Luther says: “Once upon a time
the devil came to me and said, ‘Mar
tin Luther, you are a great sinner, and
you will be damned!’
‘Stop! stop!’ said I, ‘onething at a
time; lam a great sinner, it is true,
though you have no right to tell me
of it. I confess it; what next ? ‘There
fore you will be damned ?’ Tiiat is not
good reasoning. It is true I am a great
sinner, but it is written, ‘Jesus Christ
came to save sinners,’ therefore I shall
be saved. Now go your way. So I
cut the devil off with his own sword,
and he went away mourning because
lie could not cast me down by calliug
me a sinner.”
■
Those Christians who are most stren
uous in things of little importance, are
like the Pharisees of old, most likely
to fail in the weightier matters of the
law. It is those who are yielding in
non essentials who are most apt to be
stable in fundamentals. The willow
will ben Ito the blast, yet keep its
root in the ground, while the sturdy
pine, proudly opposing its unbending
trunk to storm, fails often at the root.
—Bishop Griswold.
, - - - -■
f rgan of % da. sap. Conkntion: tokrttfo to piss wits, Mgioit, antr % Interests of % baptist Jenommation.
NORTHERN LETTER.
Theophilus takes a tour —visits the
Great Eastern, and is pleased with his
feet on board—gives us some interest
ing ideas in reference to certain great
men.
Saratoga Springs, July.
I have been passing to and fro for
several days, and send you some ex
tracts from my unpublished, (and 14)
to this time unwritten) diary, which
I hope may not be without some inter
est to your readers.
July 5. Left Philadelphia at 10 a.
m., this morning for New York. I
need not mention the route; for
tho’ there are several, they differ very
little from each other, and all are con
trolled by that mammoth corporation,
the Camden A Amboy R. R. Cos. The
State —New for more than thir
ty years, ha9given to this Cos., the ex
clusive right to transport freight and
passengers through her territory. —
The consequence is, a monopoly inflic
ting upon the traveller high prices, or
dinary accommodations, and some
times serious disasters. The Jersey
ites, however, are amply remunerated,
as the road pays a bonus for the privi
lege, so large as almost to supercede
taxation in the State. I was soon
joined, .after taking my seat, by a
friend of early days, now in the ebb of
life, but without God in the world.—
His brother, the late Dr. Nevins, ot
Baltimore, (whose practical thoughts
have given him a tongue, though he
sleeps in death,) was a man of emi
nent piety; and I took this fact as a
text, from which to urge upon him the
importance of faith in Christ. The
mention of his brother evidently
touched a tenter chord, and I hope a
deep impression was made. Mem. —
Be sure to put in a word wherever you
can, for the honor of the dear Savior.
Four hours and a half brought me
to New York, where I found the
weather, wtiich was very oppressive in
the morning, uncomfortably cold.—
Having an hour at my disposal, I re
paired to the Great Eastern, and spent
the time in exploring its mighty cav
erns. I walked rapidly the unbroken
deck, and found that I was occupied
just two minutes and a quarter in per
forming the feat. Tne length of
the vessel is 692 ft., and the width
is 83 feet, and the depth from the deck
to the lowest hull, is 83 feet. This will
give some idea of its magnitude. The
proportions are fine, and the monster
does not seem to be so prodigious as
she really is. The exterior of the ves
sel is wholly of iron. The plates of the
iron are some two and a half feet in
length, and one foot and a half in
width, and were rivetted together by
strong bolts, when subject to heat
enough to make the operation easy.—
The plates vary in the thickness from
three quarters of an inch to an inch.
There are 2,000,000 of these rivets in
the ship, and the weight of the whole
vessel is twelve thousand tons. Some
of the state rooms are so spacious that
you might readily suppose that you
were in a commodious and comforta
ble parlor. The ladies saloon is per
haps the most beautiful room in the
boat. Costly mirrors, curtains, and
carpeting combine, with ornamental
columns of the most beautiful finish, to
make the apartment all that could be
desired by the most fastidious and ex
travagant. But the principal charm
of the vessel, and that which will se
cure for it, (should it be confirmed,) the
widest popularity, is that, owing to the
enormous size—there is comparative
ly little motion, even when running at
the highest speed. One of the officers
of the boat who came over from Eng
land assured me that there was no per
son on board who was sea sick, though
they encountered two days of rough
weather. Any company which can
construct a vessel that will relieve
us from the stomach tax, which Nep
tune so commonly imposes on novices,
and sometimes on old tars, should be
held in grateful remembrance, and
should be patronized by all sea faring
people; for only under such an ar
rangement can they have any fare at
sea. In case of emergency the Great
Eastern it is said, can accommodate
ten thousand passengers; though in
the luxurious style in which she is now
arranged, there are sleeping places for
only about one thousand passengers.
Six o’clock found me steaming up the
Hudson, in what would have been a
very respectable boat, had I not just
debarked from the monster. The
Isaac Newton is only 400 feet long,
and three stories high, with about 250
state rooms —quite an insignificant af
fair comparatively. She supplied me
however, with a good supper and a
comfortable room; and after gazing
upon the ever varied and beautiful
scenery which adorns the banks of the
river until night drew down the cur
taiu, I sought the kind protection of
Him who can guard us everywhere,
and was soon in the land of dreams.
July 6. At six o’clock this morning
we landed at Albany, the thriving cap
itol of the Empire State—population
about 75,000. Bepaired to the Dela
van House, where I paid 75 cents for a
moderate breakfast. Thought of one
Thompson at Atlanta, Ga., who used
tosay to his customers: “Walk in, gen
tlemen, eat ten cents worth and pay me
a half dollar.” Here it was 75 cents
for ten cents worth, At half past 7 I
had taken my seat in the car for Uti
ca. What strikes one in this section,
is the multitude of people whom you
meet at every point. On the present
occasion there were ten or twelve cars,
and every one crowded to its utmost
MAGON, GA., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1860.
capacity. The ride along the valley
of the Mohawk, which we are now
passing, is exceedingly picturesque.—
The country is in a high state of cul
ture, and the well appointed farms and
handsome country homes, supply a
most agreeable variety with the lulls
and rocks, which in many places skirt
the banks of the river. * * * *
July 7. Reached Rochester at 8
o’clock this evening, being here by in
vitation of the dudson Society to
preach before them to-morrow even
ing. Rochester is a thriving town, of
some 50,000 population. It is now in
teresting to Baptists as the seat of their
Lmiversity. Within a few years, two
hundred thousand dollars have been
raised for the academic department,
& nearly one hundred thousand for the
Theological. I know of no college or
seminary in the land, offering superior
advantages for the acquisition of
knowledge. Though it lias been in op
eration but a few y ears, there are for
this year, thirty-one graduates in the
Literary, and fourteen in the Theologi
cal department. And yet, there is an
other institution equally thriving at
Hamilton, under the control of the
Baptists. Rev. A. C. Kendrick, well
known as the author of sundry Greek
books, and as editor of Olshausen’s
commentaries, is the Greek professor.
He is a brother of Rev. J. 11. Ken
drick, of Charleston. Asa preacher,
the latter is the superior ot the Profes
sor—whilst in learning the Professor
must take precedence of his brother in
Charleston ; though the latter is far
from being an ordinary scholar. The
princical Professor in the Theological
school is Rev. E. G. Robertson, at one
time pastor of the Baptist church in
Norfolk, Va., and one of the constit
uents of the Southern Baptist Conven
tion. He is a man of remarkable ac
quir meats and of commanding pulpit
powers.
July 8. Heard a sermon this morn
ing from the Rev. Geo. B. Ide, D. D.,
ot Springfield, Mass. Twenty years
ago, Dr. Ide was thought by many to
be flie finest model of a pulpit orator,
which the denomination in the north
ern States supplied. He is not yet an
old man, being just 55 years of age.—
His discourse to-day w r as from the
words; “What is that to thee? follow
thou me.” He considered and exploded
several reasons which uneducated per
sons allege in extenuation of their dis
regard of religion. He addressed 1.
Those persons who refuse to believe
because the Bible contains so many
things which are to them utterly mys
terious and incomprehensible. 2 :
Those who refuse because they cannot
understand the origin of moral evil.—
3: Those who will not believe because,
amid the diversity of sects they can
not tell who is right. 4: Those who
excuse their neglect because profess
ing Christians are so inconsistent. —
These points were elaborated with
much beauty and force, and made a
strong impression on the congregation.
At 8 o’clock a large audience assem
bled'to listen to a discourse from John
17: 20 & 21. Though the sermon was
overall hour in length, (quite too long,)
the audience sat very patiently
throughout,
I had intended to continue my ex
tracts, but my paper is filled, and I
must spare sou tor the present. —
Whilst you have been suffering from
intense heat, the weather in this meri
dian has been most delightful. Ad
vices from Philadelphia, announce the
arrival of Dr C. D. Mallary, Rev. C.
M. Irwin, and other well known Geor
gians in that city. Pass them along.
The influence ot your good men on the
people whom they meet here is most
salutory. Could the good people of
the different sections see more of each
other, there would be less prejudice
and bitterness than what now, alas !
prevails.
Theophilus.
HINTS TO A YOUNG MINISTER,
And a notice of such boohs as are
lihely to be useful to him.
[The following series is by one who
for the first time enters the arena as an
Index gladiator, against ignorance and
mis-conception. Were we not ex
pressly forbidden, we might make a
flourish ol trumpets over his name.
Number 1.
Dear Bro:
You ask me about books,’ which
may guide you in your laudable efforts
at self-education. L will cheerfully
give you what aid I can, believing that
many a man has been usefully educa
ted for the ministry, in thework of the
ministry'itself And while you know
the earnestness, witll which I would
urge upon all who can go to a Theo
logical Seminary, to avail themselves
of the numerous advantages which are
there concentrated and combined; I
am equally anxious that the much
larger number of valuable brethren,
who cannot, as things now are, have
access to these advantages, should be
enabled to avail themselves most effi
ciently of those opportunities for self
improvement, which are within {heir
reach.
A good cliQrch is a most valuable
education institution. Some of us have
known the blessing of having a
thoughtful, intelligent, candid triend
among our early hearers, to encourage
our excellences, and repress our de
fects ; and the motherly advice of some
faithful, yet affectionate aged sister,
who is herself a pattern of piety, as
j well as good sense, has often proven
• more eflective than a dozen learned
lectures would have been. Brother
ministers too, will sometimes greatly
aid us by judicious counsel. But the
most extensively valuable and univer
sally accessible assistance is to be de
rived from books.
Now a word or two about the use of
books. Some men load their brains
with such a mass of other men’s ideas
that their own have no chance to
move. This is a great perversion of a
great good. It is the result mainly of
mental indolence. Reading is easier
than thinking. It is easier to apply
your lips to the conduit pipe provided
by another’s care, than to pump up
fresh waters from your own cistern.
This is being like a sponge, which ab
sorbs, but does not appropriate the fluid
into which it is dipped. It has only
become heavy, and sobby, and drip
ping : it is no less a sponge than be
fore— only a sponge after all.
The careless glancing over many
books which retains nothing from any,
is even worse than that. The man
does not think himself, neither does lie
retain the thoughts of others. Squeeze
a sponge, and you will get something,
though the sponge was only the place
of its deposit; squeeze a sieve, anti
you won’t even get borrowed mois
ture.
Reading, to produce valuable re
sults, must be digested. Thought is
the-food of the mind. There must not
be a surfeit of it, neither must it pass
through, as by a kind of mental diar
rhoea, so rapidly that none of it is taken
up into the blood. Unless the thing
which a man reads gets into his blood,
so to speak, and thus reaches his heart,
it is little likely to benefit him.
One of the best methods of proving
to ourselves that we have digested,
and appropriated to ourselves, what
we read, is to try to communicate it to
others. Hence the opportunity of free
conversation with intelligent Christian
friends, is as I said before, a most val
uable aid to seZ/-education, as we call
it, though we shall find that this self
education usually consists in the earn
est use of all the sideway facilities,
when the more direct processes of in
struction are out of our reach.
Try to tell any sensible friend what
has struck you in the last book you
read, and see how much of you can
state clearly. And remember, you
have got only so much of it as you can
retain and use. It is not the having
a thing merely, that makes it worth
having: it is the being able to use it.
What is a watch worth to a Hotten
tot, or Lord Rosse’s telescope to a Fee
jee islander ?
Don’t read too many books. I know
somebody lias said, “Lege, lege, ali
quid hcerebitP “Read, read some
thing will stick.” But you have
not yielded to the hallucination that
everything that happened to be writ
ten in latin is necessarily true or wise.
Read a good deal, write a good deal,
talk a good deal, and think above all.
Read the best books on a subject.—
What is the use of reading poor books,
when there are enough good ones to till
a lifetime almost, in reading .them ?
Why, (except for curiosity, or some
special object,) read the vapid pages of
some wishy washy author, with one
grain of truth to three bushels of
chaff, when you have access to books
that are all instruction, nutritious,
wholesome ?
It is a good plan to r >ad upon apian.
Some judicious system will not only
give you a more definite and encour
aging idea of what you have accom
plished, but will actually aid you to do
more. % Suppose, for instance, that yon
determine to look through someone
subject, or even someone text of scrip
ture. Yon will find that when you
have examined all the cognate pas
sages* and all the related topics which
are needful to its comprehension, you
have gained not only a surer and moie
settled understanding of that one thing,
but materials for the accurate study of
the next thing, which the mere curso
ry reader and thinker would never
tiave thought of noticing.
You will probably break your plan,
when you have formed it. Always
break it, when you are sure you can
substitute for it a better. But don’t
give it up from simple indolence or
fickleness. If you find your purpose
thwarted, or your resolution failing,
through weakness of the flesh—“try,
try again.”
I will not detain you longer now,
but will try in my next, to give you,
in a sort of conversationaFway, some
of my notions about particular books,
which it may be worth your while to
read. B. M. J.
Our readers will welcome, in this
new pontributor, a most valuable ad
dition to the able corps of writers for
the Index.
SABBATH SCHOOLS.
I.
In this utilitarian age, results are
considered the only proper tests of the
value of any theory, system, or of any
thing. We are perfectly willing to
have the value ofSabbath Schools thus
tried, premising this, however, that re
sults are twofold, immediate and re
mote.
We presume that all that can be as
ked is, that the results shall be certain.
The father who sends his children to
any other school, does not expect that
they can be educated in a year, and be
at once fitted for the duties oflife, but
is satisfied, if, during their minority,
they shall be prepared to act well their
part, when their majority shall come
upon them. Certainty is all that is
asked. It is true he is not satisfied un
less he sees them progressing to that
point, nor should he; yet witl^reason
able evidence that he will not be at
last disappointed, be is willing to wait.
The remote result justifies him in the
expenditure of time, care, and means.
The remote results ofSabbath School
instruction, when regularly and faith
fully imparted andneceived, are abso
lutely certain, so far as this world at
least, is concerned.
We forbear in this article the hack
neyed, but true remarks concerning
the tenderness of the young mind, and
its consequent fitness for the reception
of religious truth ; but we do say that
no class of mind, however educated
and refined, or ignorant and barbarous,
is as prepared for the benefits of relig
ions instruction as that found in the
Sabbath-school. There are no outposts
to be carried. Scepticism, nor the love
of gain, nor ambition, nor pride, nor
passion, have had time to create them.
Thegates of the citadel of the heart are
not barred and bolted yet, but stand
wide open for any comer. How im
portant that the Sabbath-school teach
er should then enter, and introduce
with him purity and truth and holi
ness! Priority of acquaintance is ev
ery thing. Let truth impress the judg
ment then ; let it be received as the
guardian of conscience, and make its
impress on the emotional nature, and
the child will feel its kindly influences
through all coming time. It will stay
there to whisper peace to passion, anil
to throw the rein 011 raging lust. It
will stay there to excite conscience to
its work of approval when the good is
pursued, or to use its scorpion lash
when the evil is embraced. It will
‘stay with him in the day time to give
its instructions, or to whisper to him
in the night season when alone on liis
pillow, and will often mingle itself with
his dreams. The boy may not be as
good as he should be, but he will not
be as bad as he would be.
The writer of this article is not theo
rizing. He is giving results—the his
tory of his life; and though in that his
tory there lias been much to abase him,
and cause him to weep, yet he has been
saved trom excesses and depths of in
iquity into which others have plunged,
by the truths of God, learned in the
Sabbath-school.
And now that nearly 50 years have
oassed over his head, he thanks God for
the Sabbath-school and for the Sab. S.
teacher. Memory brings up the com
panions in that School; some have
gone to their reward—some are preach
ers, members of the church, and oth
ers, though unsaved, are good raem
bu pof society—honorable, moral men.
There has not been one, who lias be
come a social outcast, or who has been
recreant to his duties as a Christian.
Another remote result I will barely
touch. It is this : the best members
of the church have been Sabbath school
scholars. Their minds are more thoro
ughly furnished with religious knowl
edge, and are more under its influence,
and they constitute the most, zealous
workers in the cause of righteousness.
An enlarged acquaintance with many
churches justifies this broad and un
qualified remark.
But there are immediate results that
justify the importance of Sabbath
schools, and we gladly submit them to
this test. These we will consider in
our next article.
* -x- jt***
WESTERN LETTER.
June 6th, 1860.
Dear Bro. Boykin :
In the country around Minden are
several churches ; some with and some
without pastors. At Homer, the Par
ish town of Claiborne, the Baptists have
a flourishing church of about one hun
dred members, and Bro. W. C. Crane
Pastor. This is the seat of Methodism
for North La.
At Antioch church, ten miles north
of Homer, there is ft membership of one
hundred members, but no pastor. And
all through the country here there is
a vast destitution of preaching, of the
right sort. There is no field of labor,
perhaps, in the world, that would pay
better than the destitue regions ot this
State. The people are here, they are
religiously disposed, and the ground
is partly prepared. Will not some of
our Georgia Associations take this field
into consideration at their annual meet
ings which are soon to come off?
I find an extensive drought prevail
ing, and understand that it is quite
common in this section. It now ex
tends even into Western Texas. This
is the objection, to all this country as
a farming country.
June J oth. —Left Minden, and after
one of the most dusty, and disagreea
ble rides in a “stage,” that perhaps
any man ever survived, over a billy,
and rather poor country, I arrived at
Shreveport. In this route we pass
9 or 10 miles up the valley of Red
River. Shreveport has a population
of 3,000. It is a larger, and better
place than I expected to find. Some
private residences are quite creditable
to the place. It has considerable com
merce, and like all such places the
population is largely foreign. It is an
exceedingly wicked place. A .friend
whom I tound there, informed me that
it was a common occurrence for two
or three men to be killed in a week.
There are several good church build
ings. The Baptists seem somewhat
awake in the town. They have a pret
ty fair building with a brother Hay, I
think, as Pastor—sell their books in
the town —and seem to be willing to
avow themselves. There is a Young
Men’s Christian Association here.—
There is one great desideratum wan
ting here, to the citizens, and, especial
ly to the traveling public—good ho
tels. Os all the places it was nfy mis
fortune to find on this route, the worst
is the hotel in this place. And though
there are two of them this is the best,
as lam informed. They buy the wa
ter they use in the town from a com
pany owning a large spring in the vi
cinity, and give you cistern water ,full
of vermin to wash in. This does not
comport with the feelings of a Geor
gian who is from that land of “brooks
and streams.” But Shreveport is des
tined to exert a controlling influence,
for j’earsto come, over the country a
round. The morals of it are much im
proving. On account of the dust, and
badness of travel, and on account of
the drought prevailing in all parts of
Texas, I could not resist the tempta
tion to abandon a short trip to Marshall
in Texas, and take passage in the stea
mer “Moro,” for the* “Crescent city.”
No change is more sensible than that
trom a western “stage” to the clean and
comfortable cabin of one of these “floa
ting palaces.” The river is rapidly
falling and this is the last good boat
that will descend. P.
SALIENT POINTS OF THE ALA
BAMA PULPIT.
Rev. Jesse A. Collins,
of St. Clair county, is a man of pith,
point, and parts—of a zeal fervent and
uniform in his great work, that balks
at no obstacle. An undying love for
the work, is the secret of success in the
ministry—not talents nor learning nor
force of character.
Mr. Collins was trained from child
hood to the calling of a sportsman,
horse-racing and gambling. We once
heard him say that parties would have
wagered almost any amount upon him,
at cards, against almost any antagonist,
at twelve years of age. When he be
came a youth, divine grace arrested
him. Resolving upon the ministry as
the work God had given him to do,
and disinherited on account of it, he
set on foot to a distant State to attend
school. His father, a wealthy man,
has oflate years, given him something,
we believe, and relaxed in his opposi
tion, perhaps given it up entirely, be
ing rather gratified at his sou’s honor
able and consistent career. His aged
mother, we think, lias received bap
tism at his bands ; may it be so with
his father !
The appearance of brother C. is cal
culated to arrest attention in any as
sembly—unique, piquant, solemn ;
his statue and bearing that of a Ran
dolph, informed and genial with a
boundless benevolence.
We hope and trust, as we heard him
say of the righteous when he first be
gan to speak for God, that when liis
work is done, he may be borne to hea
ven by a convoy of angels. Chill.
RENFROE.
How invaluable one great heart con
nected with superior endowments!
We think brother Renfroe is a little
snarled up in certain prevailing discus
sions, for the time,but have not a doubt
that he will come out of the mists, in
the end.
We rejoice in all such men given to
the church.
Mclntosh, and McCraw, and Tiche
nor, and Henderson, and others, on our
borders, are too well known to need
sketching ; I have written enough,
and conclude with this communication.
Chiel.
“WILL IT GROW?”
This question was asked a short
time ago of seed which a man was
planting in his field.
“Yes, sir,” said he.
“How do you know ?”
“I have three reasons for my opin
ion :
“Ist. The seed is perfect.
“2nd. I am planting it well , and at
the right time.
“3rd. God will make it grow.”
Here, thought I, is a lesson for us:
yes! for you and me, dear Sunday
school teacher.
There was philosophy, labor, and
faith in that man. The seed was per
fect. He had examined, tested,
proved, and selected it in preference
to any other. He had closely exam
ined every kernel.
Dear teacher, you are planting seed.
Have you examined it carefully ?—tak
en each precious golden grain and
carefully inspected it by God’s Holy
Spirit, and are you certain you are
planting it and it alone f
Many fondly flatter themselves that
they are .sowing this seed day after
day, and Sabbath after Sabbath, yet
are so little acquainted with it, that
they can scarcely recognize it, or even
distinguish it from poor, foul, worth
less seed.
God says, “He that soweth to the
flesh, shall of the flesh reap corrup
tion ; but he that soweth to the Spirit,
6hall of the Spirit reap life everlast
ing.”
What seed are yon sowing ?
If you would answer this question
fairly and honestly, you must be dili
gent students of the word of God.—
You must know what you teach. —
You must have clear and intelligent
ideas about Scriptural truths yourself,
before you can impait them to your
children. You must be able to dis
criminate between things that differ.
\ou must not give strong meat to
babes that require to be fed with milk.
Therefore you must prepare your
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lessons. Many teachers go to their
classes to expound God's word, who
seldom look at their subject till they
sit down with their scholars. This is
wrong.
You may be sowing the good seed,
but are you wisely sowing it at the
right time ?
1 our time is the present moment.
God impress that on your mind as with
a pen of iron. What hopes and fears
—what joys and sorrows—what fearful
destinies, hang on this present mo
ment!
Oh! could you only realize that this
may be the last moment you will ever
have to labor for Christ—that this Op
portunity would be tbe last you would
ever have of sowing this precious
seed, and that if you did not now sow
it, the precious souls, lost because you
lost this moment’s opportunity, would
come up in the judgment and con
demn you—how earnest, how careful,
how prayerful would you be ? “Now
is the accepted time, now is the day of
salvation.”
Do yon sow it well ? Do you break
up the fallow ground, pick out all the
lumps, pull all the roots and weeds,
dig about so as to find the best, mel
lowest and warmest ground to lay the
seeds carefully upon, so that they ipay
take deep and strong root; then dig
about again to find the best soil with
which to cover it, so that nothing shall
be able to root it up, or even to oppose
its growth.
A FLY OPENING A MAN’S EARS
TO THE GOSPEL.
A speaker at a Sunday School Con
vention, trying to show the children
what flies were good for, told the fol
lowing story:
An infidel, who lived opposite a
church, was very desirous to attend,
that he might hear the organ played.
But he did not wish to listen to the Bi
ble, nor hear the prayers of the man
of God. He determined to attend,
but concluded to stop both his ears
during the services. It so happened,
providentially, that during the read
ing of the Scriptures, a fly alighted on
his cheek bone, and stung him severe
ly. He bore the pain as long as he
could, but was compelled, finally, to
unstop his ear to brush him off. At
that moment the minister was reading,
“He that hath ears to hear, let him
hear !” It made such an impression on
his mind and heart, that he was con
verted to Christ.
The Christian Intelligencer authen
ticates the above as a true story, but
corrects it in one or two particulars:
The substance of the foregoing is
corrct, but not all the details. The of
ficiating preacher was Rev. Thomaß
Haweis, who died in 1820, nearly
ninety years old. He was long one
of Lady Huntington’s chaplains, a
rousing and successful preacher, and a
sweet Christian poet. V number of
his hymns are to be found in ohr book ;
among them, “Dark was the night,”
etc., “From the cross uplifted high,”
etc. The man whose ear the fly open
ed was a coarse, drunken, profane tav
ern-keeper, living six miles off* from
the Aldwinkle church, where Dr.
Haweis was rector, and where crowds
were in the habit of resorting. His
love for music led him to the church,
and there God met him in the singular
way recounted above. Alter walking
with God for eighteen years, “he died,
rejoicing in hope, and blessing God
for the minister of his conversion.”
A COURTEOUS CLERGYMAN.
Some years ago, a young man, a
bricklayer by trade, removed from
New.Hampshire to work in the city of
Lowell. He cherished at heart a
strong prejudice against ] ?'-ssed
Christians, considering them i.-.
and supercilious, and ever ready to say
to him, “Stand by thyself; we are ho
lier than thou!” His feeling of repug
nance was so deep seated, and had
such a controlling influence over his
intellectual nature, as to generate
skeptical thoughts, and lead him to
question the truth of the Bible. One
day, as he was going to his work, he
saw a gentleman approaching, who
liad been pointed out to him as Rev.
Mr. , and represented as one of
the most affable and courteous of his
profession. “Now,” said he, “I will
put this matter to the test. Here lam
in my work day clothes. If this man
notices me, I will think there is, after
all. something good in religion.”
1 They met. The clergyman raised
his hat, bowed, smiled, and looked as
if he would say, “I should be happy to
become acquainted with you.” The
young bricklayer passed on to his la
bor, but could not forget his promise.
The next Sabbath, he went to hear
that “gentlemanly minister,” and an
acquaintance of the most agreeable and
salutary kind ensued. His skeptical
notions melted away before kind treat
ment, like snow in an April shower;
and he soon became an honest inquir
er after truth and mercy. Now he is
the beloved pastor of a flourishing
church.
How clear does the fact prove that
a kind and courteous attention to
young men is a very cheap and effec
tive mode of usefulness. No men
ought practically to study the apostol
ic injunction, “Be courteous,” more
than the ministers of Christ.
When I was young I was sure o£ev
ery thing ; in a few years, having been
mistaken a thousand times, I was not
half so sure of most things as I was
before ; at present I am hardly sure of
anything but what God has revealed
to man. — Wesley.