Newspaper Page Text
BY SAMUEL BOYKIN’.
50 NOS. IN A YQL
Written for the Christian Index.
Our’ ‘Delta’ Correspondence from ~
—, August, 1864.
It is not my habit, you know, to complain
of “ the powers that, but really
hgarance ceases to be a virtue. There is a
screw loose, or perhaps jpany screws loose,
in the Post Office Department. Making
every allowance for the failure ot mails^
attributable to the raids of .the eooJUj’ ah and
other adverse circutustances to their speedy
nnd oertnin transmission, there can be no
justifiable reason for the continued absence
of the Judex from our post office, with one
single exception, for the past seven weeks.
The papers must be removed on the way
here by dishonest or unfaithful officers
Paper, we know, is quite an item now. It
commands a price in any form, and whether
it contains religious or secular matter, it is
equally acceptable to purchasers. Is there
no way of stopping this grievance ? If the
fault is anywhere, let it be fereted out and
exposed. lam (as it is) in “ blissful ig
norance of what the Index contains, and
am striking blows in the dark, not knowing
which does the execution, or whether any.
i was gratified to learn the other day that
two copies of your paper had reached this
place, and .could be aeon. Keep one of
mine in your sanctum until you can find a
safe and reliable hand to whom to commit
it. If you find such an one I shall not
object—now that I am in a sttait to see
your pleasant face—l shall uot object to
your confiding to him (under the strictest
bonds) the name of your conespondent
Delta. By the way, it may amuse you to
know the thousand and one conjectures in
reference to the identity of “ Semei.” One
confidently asserts that “ Semei ” is a
learned divine ; another, that he is not a
divine at all, but altogether of different
cloth. Semei, I presume, knows very well
that there is much attraction in mystery,
and if he could he would throw around
himself an invisible cloak and wear it until
it became threadbare—when in the nature
of things it would be wise for him to put
it off- “ Delta ” wishes a similsff security
for the identical purpose which animates
u Semei.” He “ wants to do good un
awares.”
You have noticed, I presume, the lexico
graphical and the grammatical tendencies
of the newspapers ot late. The Richmond
Examiner has an “ Ignoramus ” correspon
dent, who presumes to inquire of its editor
why he iusists ou spelling public with a final
k. The editor condescends to inform his igno
rant frieud that he has placftd Johnson and
Todd’s Dictionary in the compositors’ room,
with instructions to follow copy, and the
inexorable k must be put in. In like man
ner he insists on restoring w to honour,
favour, and the like. Why this particulari-.
ty ? you inquire To avoid Yankee cor
ruptions! to vindicate the claims of the
English language, and to assert the intel
lectual independence of the South ! A
sorry affectation of independence. If these
changes are improvements, let them be
adopted without reference to their origin ;
if they are not, reject them because they
are not, and for that reason aloue. The re
public ot letters ought to be and is inde
pendent of national broils and national
feuds. A good book, written by a bad
Yankee is better than a bad book written
by a good Confederate. Let us not lose I
sight of this fact. We shall have but little*
reason, I believe, for offending an amour
propre by adopting this rule. Most of the
good books, of pure English and nervous
thought, produced in this country, have
emauated from Southern minds: but we are
not willing to proscribe the rest or to eject
them from our libraries because their
authors were not Southerners. The weighty,
thought of Webster (with all his heresies—
heresies, by the way, in which he followed
slavishly the opinions of the Virginian
John Marshall, clarum et venerabile nomen),
the strong Saxon of Hamilton, and the ele
gant beauty of Irving are among the treas
ures of the English tongue, and there are
Confederate soldiers (I doubt not) in the
field, meu eagerly anxious to defend the
honor and independence of their country,
who wduld be loth to give up the pages of
these sterling writers of good English. Let
us be honest with our mental tastes and
habitudes. Let us never condescend to a
prejudice, if we can possibly avoid it. Ido
not £ay this to find fault with Examiner or
thography. I rather like it, because it
carries us back to the best days of the Eng
lish tongue; but I do objeet to this univer-
■ # - *'V
sal cry of Yankeeisk, which indicates it
nine cases'out of ten the utter poverty of
thought as well as of expression on the part
of the anathematizer. For Lincoln and bis
of evil, with their foul and deadly
“rposes towards our government and peo
ple, for their eqiel murders of defenseless
women and chijirlp, for their robbing of
households and larcenies of private proper
their this unnatural,
cruel aud barbarons war, every Confederate
citizen cherishes a common and a bitter re
sentment and indignation) and we cannot
be too grateful to au all-wise and overruling
Providence who has thus far delivered us
from the domination ot these men; but it
would be unwise and impolitic, it would be
foolish to reject everything in literature or
science simply because it was first written
or discovered by a Yankee: Bryant is a
rank abolitionist and 4 deadly ioe to the
South. Should he be in the army x>f Butler
or of Grant threatening our capital, the
law of national self-defense would justify
us in praising the bullet which should find
it way to his heart—-but we will admire the
lhanatopsi nevertheless, and whenever it
suits our purpose will quote from ‘ the
Ages ” lines to point a sentence or set forth
in appropriate form an useful thought.
Longfellow, we presume, being in the hot
bed *of Yankee notions, “sympathizes”
with the unholy crusade of Lincoln against
Southern rights and Southern liberties, yet
in the brief intervals of time between the (
cessation of one Yankee cannonading and
the beginning of another, we shall not feel
we are guilty of treason in repeating and
conping over the Psalm of Life, or in
echoing the language and the sentiments of
the “ Footsteps of the Angels.” It is told
of Patrick Henry that he once gained a
cause from sober justices on the bench by
ridiculing the authorities cited by the op
posing counsel from law books, when
British cannon was sounding in their ears | ,
Had we been on the court, we might have ,
been heard into a phnihr fwttrity with our (
fellow Justices, but it would have been a
fatuity, neuertheless. British legal authori
ties were right, though British cannon was
iniquitous.
Is it right to say, “ I dined yesterday at
the Brook,” “ I will dine to-morrow at the
Brook/’ or, “ I dined on yesterday at the
Brook,” “ I will dine on to-morrow at the
Brook ” ? Dr. Reynolds, of the Confed
erate Baptist, maintains the former. A
’ correspondent of the Baptist comes out in
favor of the’ latter. The resolution of the
riddle depends upon the question, whether
“yesterday” and “to-morrow” are used as
nouns or as adverbs in th sentence. If as
adverbs, the “ on ” ought not to be there ;
if as nouns, the “ou” is right. Dr. 11.,
without denying that yesterday and to
morrow are sometimes nouns, insists that the
words are used in such phrases adverbially
by the best writers; cites Robert Hall* ,
Webster, Alexander Hamilton, Jefferson, .
Calhoun, John Foster, &c., and adds, “were ,
it worth while columns of authorities might
bo cited.” His citations suffice; but may (
not an equal number of the best writers be ,
cited on the other side ? I will not enter ]
upon the task. I leave it to the correspon. ,
dent of the Baptist to enlighten us. These j
.“ ijmm pterceuta,” as Horne took calls them, .
are worth attending to just now. It they (
serve no other purpose than to divert atten- .
tion even for a few moments from the sub
ject of war, they are useful and ought to be ,
encouraged.
J ‘
Woman in Sickness.— What sight is
more agreeable than woman around the
coueh of pain, wiping the sweat from the
brow, and administering to the sick ? Like
an angel of mercy, she watches unwearied,
and never leaves the sufferer, while her
presence can bless and her words cheer. It
‘may be a father or a.son over whom she
bends, or a stranger who has left a mother
or a kind sister beyond the seas. She
watches every moment—hears every breath.
With such care the bed of sickness loses
half its pain, and hope continually swells in
the bosom.
Those orators who give us much
noise and many words, but little argument
and less wit, and who are the loudest when
least lucid, should take a lesson from the
great volume of nature; she often gives us
the lightning without the thunder, but
never the thunder without the lightning.
Superstition is the spleen of the soul.
THE PASTOR'S AID: THU THE SINNER’S FRIEND.
MACON, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1864.
Army Correspondence of the Index.
Army News —Religious state of the Army —
Indexes Wanted.
£ Won’t oar readers help supply the Indexes
to this gallant and glorioos army? Our
fund for the purpose has been long exhaust
~ :l|Pr~ Camp near Petersburg,)
August Mt, 1864. * )
The quiet which has so long-reigned
along our lines here, was suddenly broken
on day before yesteaday morning, by an at
tempt on the part of the enemy to get pos
session of our works during the confusion
produced by the springing of one of their
mines. Thorough preparation had been
made for the accomplishment of their pur
pose; a feint had been msuier a few days
before on the north side ot the James for
the purpose of drawing off our forces, acd
ever} 7 precaution taken to eusure success.
But the watchful eye of our great leader
penetrated the designs of the “ crafty
Ulysses/’ and the night before orders were
sent around for our troops to be specially
vigilant, as they would probably be attacked
the next morning. At daybreak heavy
skirmishing begun, and just before sunrise
a carefully drepared mine, which the skill
of our engineers bad failed successfully to
“ countermine,” was sprung under a portion
of ous works, occupied by Elliott’s South
Carolina brigade. It- was so far successful
to blow up about fifty yards of our fortifi
cations, and in tlie confusion which ensued,
the enemy rushed in with yells and took
possession, of a considerable portion'of our
breastworks. Their triumph was, however,
of brief duration. Gen. A. P. Hill being
called on, was'soon on the spot with Wright’s
Georgia, Saunders’s Alabama and Mahonc’s
Viaginia brigades, and in a brilliant charge
retook the lost position, almost annihilating
the Yankee command that had taken pos
session. We captured at least twelve hun
dred prisoners (eighty-four officers, inclu
ding one Brigadier-General aud staff and
three Colonels,) and eighteen stand of colors'.
\V hat added peculiar interest to the contest
was, that our boys met negro troops for the
first time. The black raseals mounted the
parapet, calling out “No quarter!” and
they were accommodated, for our boys fell
upon and slaughtered them terribly until
our officers interfered and put au end to the
carnage. The Yankee loss in killed and
wounded was very heavy, far exceeding
our loss, which was about six hundred. Our
works which were blown up have been fully
rebuilt, and our original lines restored.
And thus has ended the “brilliant achieve
ment” with which the Yankee papers have
been intimating Grant was to astonish the
nation. The Yankee troops sent to the
north side of the James have returned, and
things have resumed their old status —the
“ grand move” only resulting in the loss of
some brave fellows on our part, and a heavy
repulse and slaughter of the enemy. What
will Lieutenant-General Grant do next?
He has tried massing his heavy columns in
attempts to break onr lines; then he tried
to “ steal in at the back door of Richmond”
by flanking our positions; next he tried to
starve us out by his cavalry raids, and now
he has endeavored to. blow up our ‘
and march into Petersburg. But all these
efforts have met with the same disastrous
failure, and one would suppose that the
Lieutenant-General had begun by this time
to be somewhat non-plussed. The cam
paign now presents a very different appear,
ance from, what it did several weeks ago.
Hunter’s vandals were routed from Lynch
burg as they were about to begin their
march on Richmond from the South-side,
and our victorious boys carried terror to the
heart of Yankeedom. Sheridan and Wil
son’s raiders were so roughly handled that
they have not yet recruited sufficiently to
assume the offensive. Grant now lies on
the banks of the Appomattox, making war
upon the women and children of Peters
burg, and perhaps digging a few more
mines. But the tramp of Early’s victorious
veterans is heard north of the Potomac,
spreading terror amongst those who have
been wont to “ eat the bread of quietness”
in their peaceful homes, and rejoice at the
ravages committed by their hirelings on the
people of our fair Southern land.
But you will want to know something of
the present religions condition of our army.
A large portion of the troops are so located
that they cannot assemble tor preaching
without subjecting themselves to a heafy
fire lrom the enemy—but even here the
ratew&tiot neglect their little pmyer meet
ing And thus the good work goes on. On
a large part of the line, however, we have
preaching, and a good deal of inter
cei/s manifested in the services. In Bryan’s
Wofford’s Georgia, Kershaw’s South
and several other brigades, there
ait: revivals of deep interest. Indeed, we
might look for a very general revival
tbmaghout the army if the position of all
thA 7 troops would admit of regular labor
aUMflejjt them, and we had laborers to enter
harvest. I have been receiv
ing therV“lndex” very irregularly, but if
could see the eagerness with
tte soldiers seize and read the copies
I mtvej,jehd their disappointment when the
they would give more
libdMll} to sending your most excellent
papfeH the soldiers. There has been a
of'reading matter here, but
now that themiails are becoming more regu-
hope that the supply of papers will
bel#jjg|r. > our Virginia Baptist Colporteur
Boast has become, I learn, a little pressed
for tnoney to carry ou their extensive work.
I only mention the fact, which I am sure
sufficient to secure for Brother
Whspfco n, as he goes among the brethren of
liberal contributions, since the
operations of this Board amongst the troops
of every State are known and appreciated
by Georgia Baptists. —W.—
what"are we r
Soldier, we are all great sinners. Sinners
we were born, and sinners we have been all
our lives. We take to sin naturally from
the very first, No child needs schooling
and education to teach it to do wrong. No
evil or bad companion ever leads us into
such wickedness as our own hearts. And
the wages of sin is death. We must either
be forgiven or lost eternally..
We are all guilty sinners in the sight of
God. We havebroken his holy la#. We
hare transgressed his preoepts. We have
his will. There is not a command
men in all the tsp whiqjfi does not oagdemn
us. If we have not broken it indeed, we
have in word; if we have not broken it in
word, we have in thought and imagination,
and that continually. Tried by the stan
dard of the fifth chapter of Mathew, there
is not one of us that yould be acquitted.—
And as it is’ appointed unto men once to die,
so after this comes the judgment. He must
either be forgiven, or perish everlastingly.
Surely we ought all to cease from proud
thoughts about ourselves. We ought to lay
our hands upon our mouths, and say with
Absaliam, “I am dust and ashes,” and with
Job, “I am vile.” and with Isaiah, “We are
all as an unclean thing,” and with John,
“If we say that we have no sin we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”—
Gen. 18: 27; Job 40: 4; Isa. 64: 6; I
Johfi 1: 9. Where is the man or woman
in t&e whole catalogue of the book of life,
that will ever be able to say more than this,
“I obuined mercy ?” What is the glori
ous ccmpay of the apostles, the goodly fel
lowship of the prophets, the noble army of
martyrs, what are-they all but pardoned sin
ners ? Surely there is but one conclusion
to be arrived at— We are all great sinners,
and vx all need a groat forgiveness.
FAST DAY IN NEW YORK.
In its notice of the last “Yankee” fast day,
(Aug. 4th,) the N. Y. Herald, of the sth,
says, that ‘ the general closing of places of
business was almost the only thing
betokening that a fast day was in progress,
while on the streets might be seen everything
suggesting the idea of a holiday.’ “Yes
MffekJy was a very fast day. The people cel
ebrated it by excursions in fast'steamers, and
drives behind fast horses. But there was very
little fasting except among those too poor to
eat, and very little praying except in the
churches, where the parsons are paid so
much a year for that business.” Dr. Sunder
land preached in Dr.Burchard’s church, and
in the coarse of his sermon said: “Asa
nation, we are the most wicked, audacious/
and God-defying people on the face of the
earth,” whose “three greatest iniquities have
long been Momus, Mammon and Moloch;
(which was rather more truth than the
North hears of itself every day.) “In his
denunciation of the course England has pur
sued towards the North, in his strong con
demnation of Wall street and kindred sub*
jects, the speaker was repeatedly applaud
ed!” In the evening, Lindley Spring de
livered at Cooper Institute, an address on
“Poaee aud Reconcilliation,” which (if the
Herald may be believed,) “consisted mainly
of vituperation and personal abuse of the sol
diers of the North, fighting for the Union,
characterizing the war as illegal, unjust and
disgraceful. The South was held up as a
much abused people, and as certain to secure
their independence. In, his coarser and
m >re unfeeling allusions to the North, he was
loudly applauded.”
, “ DU|IE MISSIONS.”
The N. C. Presbyterian has received
some copies of the True Presbyterian,
edited by Dr.. Stuart Robinson, of Louis
ville, Ky. . We copy the following, of some
interest to the Methodists of the South,
from the former .paper, which says: In
speaking of the movements by Methodists
and Baptists of the United States to get
possession of the churches and church
property of these denominations in the
Confederacy, we remarked that We had seen
no move of the kind on the part of Pres
bytjjrians. It appears from an article in
the True Presbyterian, that influential
Presbyterians in that land of thieves are
ready for-the same kind of work to which
the Methodists and Baptists have devoted
themselves. Even the Philadelphia Pres
byterian urges it. Who will say that in
this war we arc not fighting for religious, as
well as for civil liberty ?—for the Church,
as well- as for the State f But we are
keeping the reader from Dr. Robinson’s
article on “ Dixie Missions.” He says :
The new gospel, the corner-stone of
which is
Servants Obey NOT Your Masters,
is soon to be widely proclaimed in the Fed
eral lines down South. The United Pres
byterian Charch has recently .sent sixteen
‘Missionaries to Vicksburg and vicinity.
The Methodist Episcopal Church, North,
in its zeal, however, takes the lead. The
Methodist, of New York, of a recent date,
says:
“ The recent appropriation of thirty-five
thousand dollars for the extension of our
work in the far s ontb, likely to be fol
lowed by important consequences.
“ Measures have already been taken to
carry out the plans of our Church. Bishop
Ames, at last accounts, was at St. Louis,
preparing to start upon his tour down t the
Mississippi. Bish#p Simpson will soon pro
ceed to Tennessee. A prominent and pop
ular M< thodist minister, now stationed in
New York city, has been des : gnated for the
city of New Orleans; and though the ap
pointment demands of him not a little sac
rifice, his acceptance is nevertheless hoped
for. An order has been given by the Sec
retary of War, permitting the occupation
of deserted Churches within our military
lines, and the use ’of them temporarily for
religious services.”
*****
“ Many facts in the condition of the
Southern States, encourage the hope of the
return of the vast majority of the Metho-v
dists in the South to the old Church of As
bury and McKendrec, from which many of
them separated witn the greatest reluctance.
The Methodist Episeopal Church, South, is
shivered to atoms. It is douttful if its
General Conference will ever meet again;
or if it shall meet, it will be shorn of its
former proportions. The publishing house
in Nashville is in the hands of the United
States authorities. The members of the
Louisville Conference, at their last session,
avowed their loyalty to the Government of
the Union, aud by that avowal severed
themselves from the rebel part of Southern
Methodism.”
What do Kentucky Methodists say to
that—that the Methodist Church, North, is
so identified with the Federal political
power, that adherence to the one implies
equal union to the ? Is the Metho
dist a correct interpreter of the Louisville
Conference ? Is that Conference already
by that vote, also transferred to the Church
North ? Or .can it be that the Methodist is
a little too fast, and that “ the time of figs
is not yet ? ” - - *
The Presbyterian, of Philadelphia, pro
nounces the 835,000 appropriation of the
Methodist Missionary Committee “ indica
tive of a wise policy by which the Metho
dist Church will doubtless gradually secure
a foothold in the Southern States;” and
further proceeds to declare that, “ it is not
a day too soon for all the Churches to con
sider the most feasible re-estab
lishing the institutions of > n the
States which are returning to their former
places in the Union.”
Work of God in Gen. Lee’s Army.
Dr. Rosser, missionary chaplain in Gen.
Lee’s army, says in a recent letter :
“ Christ is in our camps. Faith in God
is the central principle of our army. It is
wonderful: we are invincible. The banner
of the.cross is welcomed everywhere. Last
Sunday I preached to an- assembly of sol
diers, among whom sat devoutly five gen
erals, their staff and subordinate officers.
The, word was in power, #nd the work pf
God is glorious ! ”
Scholarship without good breeding is but
tueaome. pedantry.
TERMS, SIO.OO IN ADVANCE
VOI. XLIII.-NG. 33
• TIME.
Mom caUeth fondly to a fair boy straying
‘Mid golden meadows, rich, with clover dew;
She calls—but he still thinks of naught save
playing, .
And so she smiles and waves him an adieu 1
Whilst he, still merry with his flowery store.
Deems not that morn, sweet taorn, returns
no more.
Noon cometh —but the boy to manhood grow
ing,
Heeds not the time—he sees but one sweet
form, .
One young, fair face*from bower of jasmine
glowing,
And all his loving heart with bliss is warm.
&< Noun, unnoticed, seeks the western shore,
And man forgets that noon returns no more.
Night tappeth gently at a casement gleaming
W ith the thin firelight flickeringfaint and low;
By which a grey-haired man is sadly dream
ing
Os pleasures gone as all life’s pleasures go.
Night calls him to her and he leaves his door,
Silent and dark—and he returns no more.
* God’s Word to Inquirers.
IV.‘ THE OBJECT OP FAITH.
1. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. John i. .
2. Then Moses called for all the elders of
Israel,and said unto them: Draw out, and take
you a lamb according to your families, and
kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch
of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in
the bason, and strike the Jintel and the two
side posts with the blood that is in the bason :
and nbnc of you shall go out at the door of his
house until the morning. For the Lord will
pass through’ to smite the Egyptians; and %
when he seeth the blood on the lintel, and
upon the two side-posts, the Lord will pass
over the door, and will not suffer the destroy
er to come in unto your house, to smite you.
And ye shall observe this thing for an ordi
nance to ihee and to thy sons forever. And it
shall come to pass, when your children shall
say unto you,What mean ye by thissetvice .
That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the
Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses
of the children of Israel in Egypt’, when he
smote the Egyptiansand delivered our houses
And the people buwed the head and
worshipped. And the children of Israel
went away and did as the Lord had comman
*ded Closes and Aaron, bo did they. And it
came to pass that at midnight, the Lord
smote all the first-born in thqjand of Egypt,
from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on
the throne, unto ti e first-born of the cap
tive that was in the dungeon, and all the
first-born of the cattle. And Pharaoh rose
■Up in the night, he and all his servants, and
all the Egyptians, and there was a great
cry in Ei-ypt, for there was not a house
where ther was not one dead. Ex. xii.
3. Who hath believed our report and to
whom is the am of the lord revealed ? For
he shall grow up before him as a tender
plant, and as a root out of dry ground, he
hath no form nor comeliness; and when we
shall see him, there is no beauty that we
should desire him. He is despised and re
jected of men ; a man of sorrows, and ac
quainted with grief: and we hid as it were
our faces from him; he was despised, and we
esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we
did esteem him stricken, smitten of God,
and afflicted. But he was Wounded for our
transgressions; he was bruised for our in
iquities : the chastisement of our peace was
upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray: we
have turned every one to his own way, and
the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of
us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflict
ed; yet he opened not-his tnouth. He is
brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is
dumb, he openeth not his mouth. He was
taken from prison and from judgment: and
J&ho shall declare his generation ? for he was
cut off out of the land es the living : for the
transgressions of my people was he stricken.
And he made his grave with the wicked
and with the rich in his death : because he
had done no violence, neither was any vio
lence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him : he
hath pub him to grief. When thou shalt
- make his soul an offering for sin, heshallsee
his seed, he shall prolong his davs, and the
pleasure of th'e Lord shall prosper in his hand.
He shall see the travail of his soul and shall
be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many : for he shall
bear their iniquities. Therefore will I di
vide him a portion with the great, and he
shall divide the spoil with the strong, be
cause be hath poured out his soul unto death;
and he was numbered with the transgress
ors : and he bare the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors. Isa. liiL