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The CHRISTIAN INDEX,
PCBLISIfRO EVERY WEDNESDAY MORNING
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SAMUEL BOYKIN, Editor.
VOLUME XXXIX.
STANDING RULES.
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~IIEVIEW OF “CORRECTIVE <
CHURCH DISCIPLINE.”
Deductions from Previous Principles
—Church Sovereignty and Indepen
dence.
BY A. S. WORRELL.
No. 10.
Conclusion of Number 10.
1. Should the accused and the mi
nority submit to the will of the major
ity, when the latter commit merely an
‘unintentional error?”
Ans. If the ‘"'for involves the mis
apprehension of the law in accordance
with which the particular case ought
to be treated, the minority ought not
to submit. Why ? Because it would
be sinful for them to intentionally mis
apply the law of Christ. In this case,
they would be far more criminal than
the majority. The error must be un
important before they can acquiesce in
it with impunity.
2. Ought a minority to submit to the
will of the majority, when the course
of the latter, in trying a member, pla
ces them in the attitude of traitors or
rebels against Christ?
Ans. No ; unless they ‘ought’ to be
come traitors or rebels themselves.—
It is hardly supposable that any one
who believes in Christ will, in so many
words, say that it is any Christian’s du
ty to become a traitor or rebel against
Christ!
But perhaps the clause, ‘lf it (the
church) think best” (i. e., to entertain
a charge ‘irregularly’ and ‘wickedly’
preferred,) was designed to modify the
general proposition ! Yet how can a
church, in her proper mind, think it
best to be a rebel against Christ ? If
the majority should so think, would
her thinking it so make it so ? Would
her frenzy constitute a reason why
the minority or the accused should
participate in her madness? Sensible
men would say no, if they were reas
oning on anything beside church dis
cipline; and they would not be so reck
less even on this subject, but for the
emergencies of the times.
Perhaps it is the vote and record up
on which depends the dire consequence
of annihilation!
Prof. says that should a church,
by vote and record, resolve ‘that it
would disregard * * * *
the 18th of Matt. * * * it
would resolve itself into an infidel fra
ternity.’
But suppose a church should, with
out vote and record, resolve to disre
gard the 18th of Matt., still professing
to be acting in strict accordance with
it, what then ? Is the ‘vote and re
cord in reality, the offensive thing?—
Which is the worse, a tixed determina
tion to disregard the divine record, at
tended with the avowal that they arc
strictly acting out this same record ;
or the determination to disregard it,
accompanied by a formal vote and re
cord, showing that they do reject it?
Who will decide ? But if the vote and
record are indispensable to this fatal
result, what would Prof. M. say of a
church that practices sprinkling, or
pouring, instead of immersion—denies
church sovereignty and ‘the faith once
delivered to the saints”—yet without
any vote and record on the subject ?
Would the vote and record, in such
cases, be necessary to their condemna
tion ? Surely not. Then why are the
vote and record so important in the
case we are considering? ‘But there
is a difference,’ someone says, ‘be
tween one act of departure, and a se
ries of acts —or rather, an established
practice.’ Grant it; but suppose a
church should only once sprinkle, in
stead of immerse, would a vote and re
cord be necessary to her condemna
tion? Would not the churches every
where denounce the invasion as soon
as the rumor reached them? Why
should they be required to act with so
mucli more leniency when a church
violates, knowingly and wilfully, the
.... * v> v , ~ , *. , r; V _ T \ ‘f *.•’ ■*
(Organ of % (Oa. §ap. Contortion: kkfeb to Missions, Religion, anil the interests of tire Baptist Jpenonunation.
lßth of Matt. ? Why should we de
mand a vote and record, if the act it
self is known to be violative of this
Scripture ? Is it because there is room
for an honest difference of opinion with
regard to the meaning and applicabili
ty ol the law in Matt. J Stli, or as to
tlie propriety of a church’s enter
taining a charge ‘irregularly’and ‘wick
edly ’ preferred ? It may be answered :
The lNth ot Matt, is as easily under
stood, and the cases of discipline to be
treated under this law are as specifi
cally defined, as the meaning of bap
tize, and the persons to be baptized—
at least, so it seems to me. Any argu
ment, based upon the plea of obscuri
ty in God’s word in those cases where
great perspicuity is needed, is an argu
ment which I should fear to use. Prof.
M. does not use precisely this argu
ment, but he does affirm that ‘Oil a
question whether a church can enter
tain a private offence, prematurely and
irregularly introduced, ‘honest differ
ences of opinion may be tolerated’ on
this subject, I see not why they may
not be on any other. There is as much
ground to justify an honest difference
of opinion on baptism, or any other
part of God’s word, as on this. Argu
ments must be scarce when they have
to be based on the doubtful(?) suppo
sition that it may be right for a church
to do wrong!
But it may be that a license to vio
late Christ’s law in regard to discipline
(for this is the proper English,) arises
b’°m the tact, as some suppose, that
discipline is much less important than
faith—it being all important that a
church’s faith be correct, but a matter
comparative indifference as to her
‘order or discipline ! Did not the same
God give both ? Ought not his peo
ple to receive both as of divine origin ?
Should not that part of revelation per
taining to discipline, receive as warm
a place in our faith as any other part ?
Who would insult Jehovah, by dispar
aging any part of his revelation? Or
who would regard as unimportant, that
part of revelation which was designed
to guard the purity and independence
of the churches of Christ ? Tnis plea
is certainly one of the last that ought
ever to be used. Prof. Mell does not
use it directly.
It should never be forgotten that, in
an act of discipline, as well as in every
other important act of a church, the
number voting for or against a meas
ure makes the act itself neither right
nor wrong. Conformity to the law of
Christ makes the act right, whether
one or a thousand vote for it; while,
on the other hand, if the act be viola
tive—either in purpose or manner —
of Christ’s law, the unanimous vote of
a church, or of all Christendom, cannot
make it right. There is no inherent
right in the circumstance of a majori
ty’s voting for a measure. Right de
pends not upon the'caprice of human
beings; but upon the laws of the E
ternal.
Prof. Mell’B logic, in the present ar
ticle, reminds me of a definition of
‘prudence’ I read a short time since.—
Said the writer :
‘Prudence consists in acting different
ly under different circumstances.’—
Your logic, sir, leads you to different
conclusions, owing to what you wish
to prove. It acts finely in one case
but only let your circumstances be
changed without at all affecting the
premises, and it has such pliability as
to act in precisely the opposite direc
tion ! It has been well said that your
reasoning in this article has In ore to
do w T ith fallacies than any other part
of logic.
We come now to the third point:
3. There is no escape from expul
sion, even tho’ the charges be ‘wicked
ly’ preferred. We have already seen,
in a previous article, that a member,
thus ‘irregularly’ and ‘wickedly’ charg
ed, ought not to submit to trial; since,
in so doing, he would concede sover
eignty to the church which Christ
never gave her, and which she does
not possess. Yet I am inclined to
the opinion that there is no escape from
expulsion when a church thus ‘irregu
larly’and ‘wickedly’assumes the reins
of discipline! Such churches rarely
stop short of expulsion ? But what
of such expulsion ? It is, like the
charge upon which it was based, a
wicked expulsion. No pious member,
should feel ashamed, however much
he may regret the occurrence of such
expulsion.
Let us now’ consider the fourth prop
osition :
L That no error in discipline can
justify a minority in pronouncing the
majority no longer a church. We have
seen that both Scripture and reason
alike condemn the wicked principle.
Minorities are not only bound not to
take part in such wickedness, but they
should oppose it,even tho’ they should
be compelled to pronounce the majori
ties no longer churches. This the former
should do whenever they perceive that
the latter usurp discipline (so-called)
for the purpose of destroying a mem
ber, or when majorities knowingly dis
regard the laws of Christ. But if, as
Prof. Mell contends, a minority should
take sides w'itli a member ‘irregularly’
and ‘wickedly’ arraigned, they should
all be excluded, then they ought to be
excluded because they reiuse to ac
quiesce in, and become a party to the
wicked trial! Their connection with
the church in this case is made to de
pend upon theii participation in sin !
But membership in the true church of
Christ depends upon no such absurd
condition. Will Prof. Mell, or any
one else, prove that it does?
Prof. Mell, to cap the climax, says,
j ‘There is not a church in Christendom,
true to the Master and to herself, that
MACON, GA., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1860.
would not, in these circumstances, ex
pel her recusants.’ How absurd is it
to speak of being ‘true to the Master
and to herself,’ when, by the supposit
ion, she repudiates the authority of
her Master!! Upon such absurdities
depends most of his remarkable sci
ence of‘Church Discipline.’
Again, in the next sentence he says,
‘and if the revolters should afterwards,
with or without organization,call them
selves the church, whatever else they
may be, they are not a Baptist church,
which we consider to be synonymous
with a gospel church.’ Since (if Prof.
Mell’s position be correct) no error in
discipline can justify the minority in
opposing the majority, then these tru
ly devoted subjects of Christ ought to
be styled ‘revolters,’ and cannot possi
bly be a ‘Baptist church.’ All I have
to say in reply to this is, that if Prof.
Mell’s doctrine is correct, there may
be instances in which it is more desira
ble to bear the name of ‘revolter,’ and
not belong to, or constitute a church,
than to be a church ! For, by the sup
position, the majority who, he says,
constitute the church, are rebels against
Christ; while those whom he calls re
volters, are the obedient subjects of
Christ.
Once more : ‘Whatever may be their
pretensions or their claims, they are
excommunicated Baptists, and should
be so regarded and treated by all who
reverence the authority of the King in
Zion.’ This, doubtless, is the thing
which‘Corrective Church Discipline’
was and is designed to establish. But
the proposition must be assumed, for
it can never be proved. For such char
acters to speak of ‘reverencing the au
thority of the King in Zion’ is down
right mockery ; since they have exclu
ded the minority because of their re
fusal to join them in disregarding the
authority of Zion’s King! The loyal
subjects of the King should frown up
on and discountenance the majority
who would presume to discipline a
member ‘irregularly’ arraigned. This
article will be closed with the follow
ing requests:
1. Will Prof. Mell, or any one else,
inform us why it is that one voluntary,
premeditated act of rebellion against
Christ’s authority annihilates a church
while another act, equally subveisive
of his authority, does not have the
same effect ?
2. Will he tell us why it is that one
act of palpable departure from Christ’s
law deserves the righteous indignation
of all his loyal subjects, while another,
equally palpable and flagitious, de
serves the indorsement, respect and
hearty approval of his followers?
3. Will he unfold to the enlighten
ed world why it is that it is right to con
demn, in others, one act of rebellion,
and sinful not to approve another act
of the same kind ?
When he answers these questions
satisfactorily, he will be at liberty to
draw such conclusions as some of those
already drawn.
VIEWS OF THE RELIGIOUS CON
DITION OF THE WORLD.
BY G. W. SAMSON, D. D., WASHINGTON, D. C.
The persecuted native Christians of
Syria, and the interest Baptists
have in them.
Scarcely ever in the history of the
world do w*e meet with a page so red
with the bloo 1 of persecuted followers
of Jesus, as is the leaf now being writ
ten in that land once stained with the
blood of oesus himself. Villages are
surrounded, and when overpowered
and compelled to surrender, the men
are remorselessly butchered, wdiile the
women and children, if they escape
the same fate, are carried off to share
a w r orse fate at the hand of their fiend
ish captors. Hundreds, in some of the
larger villages of the north of Syria,
thousands in all, have thus perished ;
and the work of death, still raging,
brings w T ith every mail from Europe,
new and sickening details to pain our
eyes and hearts.
There can be no question what will
be the result so far as the arrest of this
fearful slaughter is concerned. Rus
sia is deeply interested in these native
Christians, as those who have given
their faith to them as a national reli
gion: France, Holland and America
have a right to interfere, because their
citizens and even their consuls guarded
by their official position have not been
discriminated by these infuriated’ zea
lots ; and of course the perpetrators of
these acts of outrage will be crushed
and broken on the wheel of torture
they have set in motion for others.—
While this is certain, its discussion
need not detain us. It is a more in
teresting question for American Bap
tists to have their attention, at this
juncture, called to the position these
native Christians hold in history: and
to regard the monument of his own
truth, which God has preserved for the
confirmation of the faith of his true
people in this latter day.
Christ told his immediate disciples
to go and “teach all nationsand
though this commission was meant for
all future generations of his followers,
yet as far as lay in their power, those
immediate disciples strove to fulfill
their Master’s last command; and
the foundation of all that followed was
laid during their lives. At the Pen
tecost, Jews and proselytes, from dis
tant and scattered portions of the three
great continents then known, were
j present. Africa wtis represented by
) men from Egypt, Lybia and Cyrene;
j Asia, by men of various families as
far east as Parthia; and to represent
Europe, there were persons even from
distant Rome.
1 tie seeds of Gospel truth were car
ried to every quarter of the world by
the converts at the great Pentecost.—
Long before Paul went to Rome, for
instance, there was a chnrclLof Christ
that had grown up in the imperial
city, we know not how—perhaps from
the conversion of Andronicns and Ju
nia, (Rom. 16: 7,) whom the apostle
especially mentions as being in Christ
before him; and churches in other di
rections and as distant as Rome, we
find already existing in the apostles’
time. In this early work, Mark led the
way in Africa, and the Gospel was car
ried even into Ethiopia by the conver
ted treasurer of the Queen, Peter
was foremost in Asia, and we find him
as far east as Babylon, writing com
forting epistles to the Christians scat
tered everywhere, and especially in
Asia. Paul was the great European
pioneer, and reached its centre.
After the apostles’ day, the Gospel
gained such a hold upon men of all na
tions, that about two hundred years af
ter they slept with Christ, Constan
tine, the Roman Emperor, from poli
cy, adopted Christianity as the religion
of the Roman Empire, which then em
braced the whole cultivated people of
the earth. Thinking to secure a great
er influence with the nations in the
eastern part of the Empire, Constan
tine built his eastern capitol on the
confines between Europe and Asia, and
called the city Constantinople. From
that time, there arose a political rival
ry between Rome and Constantinople,
which ended in the division of the
Kingdom; and from that time began
a division in the State church, which
finally separated into the Eastern and
Western churches. To us, the history
of the Roman church has naturally
been most known; and our commen
tators oq the prophecies have natural
ly looked at the papal hierarchy as ihe
great mother of harlots, that has cor
rupted Christ’s truth, and stood in the
way of the progress of his righteous
ness. But from the first, the Western
church has been only a small sect as
it were, split oft’ from the mother
church. At this day 7, the Eastern or
Greek church covers half of Europe,
all northern and eastern Asia, and all
the north of Africa; and by the side
of it, the Roman portions of Europe
are but a little speck on the map.—
Besides being the vastly larger body
with numbers that we have no means
of computing, this great body of an
cient nominal Christendom occupies al
most solely the immense regions visi
ted by the apostles, planted with the
churches they gathered, and radiating
around that sacred centre—the land
where Jesus lived and died. Certain
ly such a people, in such a land have
a claim, so far as earthly pretentions
are concerned, to regard themselves as
“the Church ” —the authoritative pre
server of the rights of primitive Chris
tianity; and they therefore call the
“Latins” (or Romanists) a “schism,”
that went off’ the true church ages ago,
just as the Roman church now call
Protestants a “schism,” a “sect,” sep
arated from them. There are man} 7
things that the Christian world has
learned about the position of the vast
eastern and primitive church, since the
war in the Crimea brought them into
notice. Strangely new ideas are awak
ened in the minds of American travel
lers and residents in Russia aud the
east, when they find that the believers
in immersion as the only baptism, are
no “small sect,” but lk the Church .”
To see three fourths of the Christian
world practising baptism in this form,
contending that it is absurd to suppose
there can be any other, that the word
belongs to their language, (the Greek,)
and that they know its meaning of
course, that the “Latin Schism” has
changed the ordinance without any au
thority, and in direct opposition to the
original practice—to see three-fourths
of the Christian world thus adhering
to the form, while they have lost the
spirit, makes intelligent men wonder
that they could have so mistaken the
strength of the position Baptists hold
as to this ordinance.
Thus God “makes the wrath of man
to praise him,” and we may be certain
that in the bloody cruelties that now
turn attention to Syria and to the ad
herentsof the oriental church, he has
a purpose to accomplish for truth.—
We may be assured that “the remain
der”—all of “the wrath of man,” that
He cannot turn to account for the ad
vancement of his truth in the world,
“lie will restrain.” G. W. S.
HINTS TO A YOUNG MINISTER,
And a notice'of such looks as are
likely to he useful to him.
No. 2.
Dear Bro:
One of the most comprehensive
small books that I have ever met with
that refers to all the introductory mat
ter that one needs to know, in study
ing the Bible, is Angus’ Bible Hand
Book. (Cost §1,25.) It is published by
the London Religious Tract Society,
which is a union of Episcopalians and
Dissenters, but its author is a Baptist;
aud he has produced a book, much su
perior to the one, with a similar plan
and purpose, prepared by an Episco
pal Divine, B. E. Nicholls, of Cam
bridge, England, and republished in
this country by the S. S. Union, under
the title of “The Mine Explored.” Dr.
Angus has combined, in this volume,
the results of life-long labor and the
substance of many learned treatises,
yet, in such a form that the larger part
of the book is entirely within reach of
an intelligent scholar in one of the ad
vanced classes of our Sunday Schools.
Another, kindred in character, though
differing in form, is the n&w Bible Dic
tionary of the Am. Tract Society 7, (cost
80 cents.) It is based on an old work
of Dr. E. Robinson, but lias been care
fully re-edited, brought down to the
modern state of knowledge upon the
subjects, and beautified by a very large
number of engravings, remarkable for
their distinctness and accuracy. Many
of them I recognize as faithful copies
from the large and magnificent pic
tures in Roberts’ Views in the Holy
Land—a work whose cost places it
beyond the reach of most persons.
Kitto’s ” Cyclopaedia in two vols.,
large Bvo., or the condensed edition in
one—the former costing about §6,00
and the latter §3,00, presents a great
mass of mixed matter, very various* in
excellence. This resulted necessarily 7
from the plan of the work, which was
to commit different topics to different
learned men in Europe and America,
leaving each of them to express his
own sentiments, on the subject. As
the men selected for this purpose w r ere
of ail shades of beliet, from the strict
Scotch Calvinists to the lax Rational
ists of Germany, it follows that the
work rejoices in the greatest variety
of hues, rivalling, in this respect, the
meetings of Garrison’s anti-slavery So
ciety. One of the writers, with a great
show of learning upsets the Bible ac
count of the Creation ; and another in
sinuates cautions as to the Deluge, the
Confusion of Tongues, Ac. This makes
the book a dangeious one to incautious
or uninformed readers ; yet it contains
a mass ot information as yet no where
else so accessible. Asa man once
said of his ill tempered yet diligent
and faithful wife, “It is hard to get a
lonrf with it, and hard to do without
it”
Herzogs Encyclopaedia is a large
and costly work—not yet fully out. In
the translation of it from the German,
the American Editor, Dr. Bomberger
has added an article, on the Baptists,
which exhibits either narrowness of
mind or wretched deficiency of infor
mation—or both ; and this, I own, has
prejudiced my mind somewhat against
this edition. But it must be acknowl
edged that the original work has com
manded the best talent in the Protes
tant churches of Germany, and that
the translation presents, in the main, a
faithful transcript of the original.
Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible is a
somewhat more condensed work than
the last named, and large enough for
most purposes. I have only seen the
first volume. The remainder will be
published soon. The author is the
same who has issued a Classical Dic
tionary and other books of extensive
and deserved celebrity.
But I must be briefer in my 7 notices,
or I shall become tedious. You will
find the following works valuable in
their respective spheres.
Percy and Gray’s Key to the Old
and New Testament, is pretty good
and cheap; but some of its statements
have been disproved, and the book is
rather out of date.
Home’s Introduction is a valuable
compilation, and has not been super
seded by anything which just supplies
its place. A cheap edition of it in two
royal Bvo. vols. has been published,
costing about §4,00. A recent edit
ion of it in England, with notes and ad
ditions, by Dr. Sami. Davidson, is said
to be very valuable. I have not seen
it; but it was objected against when
first published, as tending to encourage
lax views of Inspiration.
Those of Dr. Davidson’s own books
which I have seen, are very able and
interesting. They are Biblical Criti
cism, 2 vols.; Hermaneutics, 1 vol. ;
Introduction to the New Testament, 3
vols. ; Ecclesiastical Politity, Ivol.
There is a book entitled “Davidson’s
Connections,” which is by another and
very inferior author, being no improve
ment, whatgvej, upon the old standard
work of Dean Prideaux.
If you wish, at any time to examine
the subject of the Canon of Scripture,
more fully than the works above nam
ed exhibit it, you will find Alexander
on the Canon a very sober, judicious
work. Stuart on the Canon of the
Old Testament displays more learning,
but is less sound and reliable. The
most extensive work is that of Jere
miah Jones on the Canon.
But I must ddfer further remarks on
Books till another letter.
Yours truly, B. M. J.
LETTER FROM AFRICA.
Awyaw, Africa, May 17, 1860.
Dear Bro. Boykin:
I see from the last “Index” that I
received, that you have taken the edi
torial chair of onr beloved paper. I
have long loved the “Index,” but since
I have been in Africa, I have loved it
truly, because it has been the medium
through which I have received so much
valuable intelligence. I love it again,
because it is an instrument ot ad
vancing the kingdom of our blessed
Lord. Several months had past since
I looked upon it, but on the Bth inst.,
through the kindness of the Church
missionaries, I was permitted to look
at the “Index” again, with many oth
er papers] and some letters ; this you
may be sure I enjoyed very much, be
cause I did not know that I should get
another mail till the war was done.
I cannot tell anything about the
dear missionaries, except what I heard
from Mr. Townsend, in Abbeokuta. —
He heard that the missionaries were
cheerful, and had not suffered for any
food yet, and there seemed to be an
abundance of food in the town. As I
have already said, they have plenty of
cowries; for they had, just before the
roads were stopped, received the sup
ply of cowries which I had purchased
for my station, myself and the Ogbo
mishaw station, consequently they
will be able to live as long as tlieie is
any provisions in the town. Although
I am not so closely shut in as they are,
at present, yet my cowries are becom
ing scarce, and provisions are increas
ing in value. Besides this, the llorin
people have threatened to attack this
town soon. A'small company of them
have already been down and kid
napped 7 persons, and killed three in
the farms. Those that were taken,
were persons left in charge, by the
King of Koro, the royal temple of Shan
go, the god of thunder. This temple
is just outside of the town, and it is the
place where a part of the funeral ser
vices of the l oruban Kings, and a part
ot the installations of their successors
are performed, therefore a place of im
portance to the people, and especially
to the Kings.
The people have been stirred up
considerably about it, and say it the
llorin people do come, they will drive
them back. They say the war against
Ijaye is the King’s work, blit if the
llorin people attack this town, that will
be their work which they will perform
with energy and alacrity. Ogbomish
aw is on the alert, and will doubtless
render valuable assistance to this town,
if the llorin people make a general en
gagement against it. Should a be
siege of this town be made, there will
be troublesome times here, because
this not being a farming town, it is not
supplied with provisions. I do not
now believe this will be the case, 1
cannot tell, however, because the
whole country is in such a state of war
excitement. V
The war against Ijaye has now be
come a sad reality, and the intensity of
it is constantly increasing. Since the
first of this month the Ibadon and
Ijaye people have been fighting des
perately. Many have been killed and
captured by both sides, according to
all reports nowin circulation. Hearn
that Are has been shot through the
hand, his head slave killed and his eld
est son badly wounded, and perhaps
dead.
The Ibadon people have now con
centrated their forces around Ijaye,
and are endeavoring to cut away the
brush around the town. This brush
has been carefully preserved by Are as
a barrier against au approaching ene
my 7 , and truly it is quite formidable,
for no one can pass through it without
a road. While thus engaged, they are
much exposed to the firingof the Ijaye
warriors, from within the town wall.
Although one of these walls would be
a mockery in a civilized country, yet
they are a great protection to these
towns. The overthrow of Ijaye is yet
uncertain, though the people of this
town and the Ibadon people speak
very certain about it.
Abbeokuta is still much excited, and
seems determined to engage against
Ibadon. From information now re
ceived, Dahomey is now waiting, by
an agreement with the King and the
second war chief of Ibadon, to come
against Abeokuta, if that town comes
against Ibadon. It is reported that
Dahomey has now in readiness, the
most powerful army ever raised in
that country, and has several French
cannons and a good supply of smaller
arms. Thus matters stand, and we
missionaries left in an unenviable po
sition, with no hope of perfect safety 7 ,
but a firm trust in the mighty arm of
Jehovah, to whom we lobk and cry
daily for help.
The deputation of peace from La
gos has recently been to Ibadon, but
as far as I have heard, they have failed
to settle the difficulty,. because they
were too late. They were not allowed
to go to the Ibadon camp. Lieut. Lod
don, of 11. M. ship at Lagos was the
head of the party.
Time and debility will not allow me
to write more at present. I have been
sorely afflicted lately, and but little
qualified to labor, but I hope I am im
proving a little.
Notwithstanding the difficulties in
the country, I am encouraged some,
because there are some who come very
regularly to hear the Gospel.
Although I have now written you so
long a letter, I do not know whether it
will reach the coast or not. And it
may 7 be that this is the last I will be
able to send off soon..
Dear brethren, pray mightily for us,
for we are in great need of help. Our
God is mighty and can do wonders in
answer to the prayers and groanings
of his children.
Yours affectionately,
T. A. REID.
P. S.—Since wiiting the above this
morning, I have learned in two days
the Ilorin people will be here, and say
they will stop up the town. I do not
believe they will be able to do it. —
Because I think other Yoruban towns,
who have not yet taken part, will come
and help to drive them away. This is
the King’s tow 7 n, although the people
generally do not like this King; yet
there is a kind of sacredness about the
capital of their county, that will per
haps cause them to come and defend it.
It would be a disgrace to the Yoruban
towns to stand ofi‘ and see their capi
tol taken by strangers. T. A. R.
POLITICAL EXCITEMENT.
I cannot see what good it will do me
or do my country, if I allow myself to
become highly excited in politics. It
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is a kind of excitement that won’t pay!
Why? Because, if I become excited, my
neighbor who differs with me, will be
come excited too. If I make efforts of an
extraordinary charccter to insure the
success of my favorite candidates, my
opposing neighbor will outdo, if lie
can, to insure their defeat. And he is
quite as likely to exert an influence as
I am. So if my party use every strat
agem they can devise to carry their
point, the opposing parties will meet
stratagem with stratagem, and neu
tralize the effect which might other
wise be produced. So where is any
thing to be gained by fanning the
flame?
Upon the other hand, much loss will
be sustained by giving way to politi
cal excitement. That peace and quie
tude of mind so desirable and so essen-
tial to the enjoyment of the soul, will
be disturbed. The mind will be taken
up with political subjects to the exclu
sion, in a great degree, of subjects of
vastly more importance. The worst pas
sions of my frail nature will be exci
ted unduly, and to my injury. My
pleasant associations with friends will,
in a good measure, be destroyed.—
Troubles and difficulties are liable to
arise, which may in the end cost many
a bitter regret. And when the excite
ment is passed and the elections are
over; and a calm review of my course
is taken, there will be shame and mor
tification, I cannot anticipate how
much. These with other reasons that
might be given, suggest the propriety
of my keeping clear of the whirlpool
into which so many others will be
drawn and injured.
My settled determination, therefore,
is to guard against all political excite
ment, as fas as possible. To go quiet
ly along and attend to the round ot
daily duties devolving upon me ; and
after forming an impartial judgment of
the principles of parties, and the qual
ifications of candidates, to cast my
vote for the candidates of my choice,
and leave the results in the hands of
God, to whom I look for guidance in
all national and individual affairs.
Header, would not this be a good
course for you to pursue ? J.
WESTERN LETTER.
Stamer Moro, Miss. River, |
June 12th, 1860. f
Dear Bro. Boykin :
When I last wrote you, I had just
moved on board this boat, and taken
passage for New Orleans. We find
the captain and crew very kind, and
fare good. We came near, this morn
ing, having a sad scene on board. The
mate and one of the passengers fell out
about feeding a horse, and the captain,
coming up at the moment, took part in
the quarrel. We expected every mo
ment to see him shot by the passenger.
The sympathy of the passengers was
evidently with their fellow passenger,
though they were, perhaps, both
wrong. One—and one especially who
is not accustomed to hearing “it, is
struck with astonishment at the
amount, and kind, of profane swearing
which is heard in this country, and es
pecially on these boats. Men, who
seem otherwise to be decent, and mor
al men, swear in the most shocking
manner. I doubt if our Lord and Mas
ter ever takes passage on one of these
western steamers. lie may be, and is
here enough to hear the prayers of his
people, but he can take no pleasure in
that which is said or done. He will
not ride here as one* he did on the sea
of Galilee. Gambling too, is common
here, and even the gambler himself is
sometimes caught by one of these
“sharpers.” We had an instance of
that on board this boat. A young
man, a decent looking fellow, was seen
on board from beginning; ar* 1 be did
not “show his hand” till Ik i ad for
some days surveyed the crowd. lie
then chartered the “bar,” and said,
“gentlemen I shall be pleased to have
you drink at my expense to-night.” —
But he had previously drugged the
liquor. Most of those who drank at
all partook, and soon had an indescri
bable thirst for gambling. Anew
game was proposed just then—one
said to have been invented by Napo
leon on the island of St. Helena.—
They entered into, and kept up the
drinking and gambling for most of the
night, when almost all were largely
losers. Among these was the sou of
a Georgian, who haa become a citizen
of La., some years since, and farms
now on Red River —a mechanic from
Nacogdoches—a young man from Tex
as, on his way to visit his friends in
Tennessee, and many others. All this
was told me by a young physician
from Mississippi, whose acquaintance
I had made on the boat, and who him
self, took some part in the game. He
soon discovered that the liquor was
drugged, and took an emetic. His
loss was comparatively light. For a
man to enter into a game with a pro
fessed gambler on one of these west
ern boats, is the same as to burn up his
money before he begins. He is cer
tain to loose it. Cursing of all grades,
and gambling of all descriptions, are
the pests of the moral part of the com
munity, who travel on these boats.
In the route we were joined by bro.
Jesse Davis, of Georgia, with his ex
cellent wife, and little 6on. He has
been visiting his relations in La., and
preaching as opportunity offered.—
Upon the whole he is pleased with the
country; though he does not expect to
move to it. We had much sweet con
versation by the way. How pleasant
to hear the voice of a “bro. beloved”
in such a crowd as this. Without ac
cident we passed the Falls at Alexan
dria, and came in sight of the “cres-