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The CHRISTIAN INDEX, PCBLISIfRO EVERY WEDNESDAY MORNING AT MACON, GEORGIA. BY A COMMITTEE OF BRETHREN, FOR THE GEORGIA BAPTIST CONVENTION. TERMS OK 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. STANDING RULES. AGENTS. Rev. F. M. Haygood, General Agent. All Baptist Ministers are Agents; and any one remitting #B.OO and the names of four new subscri bers will be entitled to an extra copy. By Club bing six persons can procure the paper for fIO.OO. ear Subscribers wishing to have their papers discontinued, should give express notice to that ef fect—not by the return of a paper, but by letter. — They should be sure that all arrearges are paid; and as far as such payments may have been made to an agent or agents , they should inform us to whom, when , and how much. 23r Persons forwarding their names with pay ent in advance, will be particular to inform us it icy wish their subscription discontinued when the term of payment has expired; otherwise they are supposed to be permanent subscribers. Agents and others in ordering the paper, and remitting payments, should be careful to have the name and Post Office address of each subscri ber with the amount paid, DISTINCT AND LEGI BLE. Our accounts are kept with each subscriber individually, and not with agents merely. £ yf J Persons ordering the direction of a paper to he changed from one Post Office to another, should be careful to mention the names of both of fices, with the County and State. £3?” Bank-notes, if properly secured from de predation may be sent to us by mail, at our risk ; provided that, if the receipt of the money is not ac knowledged in the paper within one month, the sender shall promptly notify us that the money was sent. When the amount is large send by Express, or by Check. TERMS Two Dollars, in Advance. NOTICE. —To send money wjth safety—Seal the letter carefully and mail it yourself, saying no thing to any one about the mo> y, not even the Post Master. Don’t register. Address “ CHRIS TIAN INDEX,” Macon, Georgia. ~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 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 .8 4 00 “ “ 10 lines “ 6 “ ............ 7 00 “ “10 lines “ 1 year 10 00 These lines are the text advertising lines andth e charge is for the space occupied by ten such lines as are used in the body of an advertisement. Lon - ger s e same ratio. N. S., VOL. 28, AO. 33. 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-