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CHRISTIAN INDEX AND SOUTH-WESTERN -BAPTIST.
YOL. 46-NO, 8.
A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY PAPER,
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN ATLANTA, GA.
J. J. TOON, Proprietor.
FOK TERMS REFER TO SECOND PAGE.
Insects—Their Sense of Smell.
The Study, Jan. 18, 1867.
Brother Shaver: —Whenever we meet with
any thing in the actions of men or the lower
animals, which we do not understand, we are
in the habit of explaining it by attributing it
to the agency of instinct. The skill with
which a bird builds its nest, the mathematical
accuracy with which a bee constructs its cell,
or the impulse that induces certain birds to
seek the milder climate of the South as win
ter comes on, are all, according to our imper
fect philosophy, owing to that mysterious
something which we call Instinct. Any re
flecting man is often conscious that this word
k —for which we Rave use—is
geneaally a simple cojfft?sion of our igno-
and if we w f ere perfectly acquainted
with all the laws of animal life, it is more
than probable that it would pass entirely out
of use. That which is now accounted for by
the existence of some inexplicable contrivance
would range itself under some law as beauti
ful and complete in its operation as it is sim
ple in its nature. It is possible, for example,
that we may find an explanation of much that
is strange in the economy of insect life, in the
wonderful acuteness of their sense of smell.
Some time in August last a friend of ours
undertook to rob some of his bee hives. The
season was dry and flowers scarce; conse
quently bees were very hungry. When a
hive was opened, and a large quantity of
honey exposed to the air, bees from all direc
tions began to swarm around, and #oon much
of the honey w T as devoured. Our friend, in
accounting for the great influx of strange bees,
said that some went off and told others, and
thus all the bees of the neighborhood were
made aware of the rich feast spread for them.
To him the explanation was altogether satis
factory. He supposed that Wees had both the
will and the power to communicate facts to
each other, and that they had unselfishly called
their friends to partake of the sweets which
they had discovered.
We are not disposed to deny that there
may be a kind of bee language by which bees
may hold intercourse with each other; but
we think the fact mentioned is susceptible of
another and less fanciful explanation. In the
spring or summer, when flowers are plenty,
""take your bee cup and catch a bee. Having
- secured him, take him to some open space
of honey-
While he is busy at life" delightful re
past, drop upon his back a small quantity of
flour or dust. Now watch him. In a little
while his hunger is sated. He rises and cir
cles round and round three or four times,
rising with each circle, and then takes a straight
course for his hive. As he leaves, look at
your watch and notice the time of his absence;
for he will certainly return. After a while
other bees will come. Mark them too, and
observe how long it takes each of them to
carry home his precious* burden. You will
observe that some of the Dees are gone much
longer than others. From this you will in
fer, first, that they belong to ' different hives ;
and second, that there has been no communi
cation between them. The next inference
will be, that that which brought one of the
bees, after the first, brought all yand that they ,
came because they smelt the honey? •
An experienced bee hunter will be able to
tell, from the length of time a bee is absent,
about how far he has to go to get to his hive;
but when the bee he is coursing passes over a
body of woods, he sometimes doubts whether
he has passed, or not yet reached the tree in
which the bees have made their home. In
this case he takes out his honey ; and after a
while he is delighted at seeing his marked bee
come again. He watches him as before,'and
so learns whether he must go backward or.for
ward to find the object of his search. This
process is continued until his labors are -re
warded with success. What brought the bee
to the honey after it was moved? We must
conclude that he was guided by the scent of'
it. We may also conclude that what we have
been in the habit of calling the bee’s instinct
ive power of determining direction is the re
sult only of h s acuteness of smell. As the
■PHThoT -e snuffs the battle from afar, so this
little creature scents his far-off home upon
the breeze, and seeks it in a straight line. We
can c.t further enlarge upon this point.
Several centuries ago all classes supposed
that insects were generated by putrid matter.
Even now many people, to use a kind of pro
verbial expression, believe that “ carrion
breeds maggots.” The old theory was satis
factorily exploded in Florence in the year
1680, by experiments made by a physician
named Francesco Redi. From some cause,
he had been led to doubt the truth of the
theory, and resolved to bring it to the test of
experiment. He killed some snakes and put
them in a box. They were soon covered with
maggots of different kinds, (we beg pardon,
but for the sake of science we must say mag
gots,) which, in process of time, produced
different species of flies. He then put several
kinds of meat in wide-mouthed bottles, some
of which he closed, while he left the others
open. After a while the meat in the open
bottles was swarming with maggots, while
that in the closed bottles was entirely free
from them. Finally, he covered the vessels
containing the meat with thin wire gauze. He
frequently saw flies like those produced from
the larvae in his former experiments, light
upon the gauze. Sometimes they tried to
drop their eggs through upon the meat; but
being foiled in this, the meat remained with
out living inhabitatits.
We have very imperfectly described the
experiments of Redi; but as no one will
doubt the truth of his conclusions, there is
less need that we should be minute in our
FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, .GA., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1867.
reference to the processes by which he reached
them. We have referred to the matter at
all, first, because it is of interest to some peo
ple to know that their bodies will not neces
sarily become food for worms ; and second,
to ask what it was that directed tiny crea
tures, “ whose vision scarce extends an inch,”
to the matter in which their eggs should be
deposited. There would be no occasion for
saying that they are guided by instinct, if we
only suppose that they are endowed by their
Creator with a wonderful, almost miraculous,
power of smelling.
We have sometimes watched a little ant as
he boldly forced his way through grass, weeds
and other obstructions, to a being like him,
seemingly an inextricable maze. Go on, lit
tle creature, like the water-fowl of the poet,
Lone wandering, but not lost!
But why is it that he is not lost? How
can he ever again reach the shelter of his
home? Did you never observe what a strong
scent there is about ants, and that they always
seem to return by the same track by which
they went out? Occasionally, when we have
seen one of these little fellows apparently la
boring under his burden, we have been seized
with a desire to help him on, and taking him
up in our fingers, have placed him a yard or
two forward in what we supposed to be his
course. But generally, we have been con
vinced that our well-meant interference was
not only useless, but hurtful. Our little friend
would run about, apparently bewildered, un
til he again fell into the track he was travel
ling, and then he would push on with an easy
confidence, as if sure that he was right. We
have sometimes, too, watched ants going and
returning on what might be called their high
roads. To use a classic expression, the path
seemed to grow hot with their work ;* and so
many thousands have passed over some of
these Toads that the soil has been worn away
beneath their little feet. We have now in
mind one of these roads, through a grass plot
on a creek side —a kind of tunnel it was, in
which you might lay your little finger—so
exactly had these glorious little workers, with
a readiness that a bloodhound might envy,
followed upon the track of each other. Can
we doubt that the ant is guided by his sense
of smell ? Thou most adventurous of all
travellers, having thus the power to retrace
thy steps, whether thy way be over desert
sands or through fenny brakes, we will not
fear for thee !
There is a Power whose care
Teaches thy way along the pathless coast.
A little incident will further show the
acuteness of smelling in insects. A friend
was in the woods hunting, and sat down under
a tree to rest. While thus sitting he heard a
rustling in the leaves, and looking, saw a spi
der and what rs vulgarly eWisil.a dirt-dauber
- engaged in liturUtl combat; -liis interest be
ing excited, he watched them. Now and then
the spider would get an opportunity and in
flict a bite or sting. The dirt-dauber would
then fly off, and having, as our friend sup
posed, obtained a remedy for the poison, re
turn again to the conflict. In .each case the
spider quietly waited his return. At length
the spider seemed to grow weary of the
sport, and wished to escape; but, as if aware
of the difficulty of his position, he would trust
rather to cunning than to speed. When he
found himself again alone, he quickly climbed
a shrub, and running out upon a branch,
leaped as far as he could upon the ground-
The dirt-dauber returning, and missing the
spider, circled round and round, like a well
trained, beagle, and striking the track, followed
the fugitive up the bush, out on the bush, and
leaped after him ; and overtaking the poor
spider, carried him off and deposited him in
his mud home, as food for himself and his lit
tle ones*
The conclusion to which we would come is,
that insects that have but imperfectly the
power of vision—that from their very nature
could not look over a wide prospect —find
their deficiency supplied in an increased power
of smelling. 'lt is by the exercise of this
one of their'senses that the smallest of the
animal creation probably find each other when
they become separated. What the yelp is to
scattered turkeys, or the whistle is to flushed
and separated partridges, this sense is to ants,
spiders *and other insects wanting the tuneful
voice. Some one better acquainted with nat
ural history than we are may run a plow
share through our facts and overturn some of
them; but.we will still cling to our theory.
An Hypothesis, according to Burke, when
based on facts, and not arbitrarily assumed,
is good for as much as it explains. Surely
this hypothesis of ours explains much that is
wonderful in nature.
But why write of insects at all ? Why
choose so small a subject? No subject is
small which may illustrate the wisdom or
power, or goodness of our Creator. And
how amiable does He seem when He shows
us that even the smallest insect is an object of
His fatherly care. When we can find occa
sion for loving and adoring our Maker in the
smallest as well as in the greatest works of
His hands, “ the world itself henceforth be
comes a temple, and life one continued act
of adoration.” Gekbert.
*The learned reader, if he should deign to notice our
speculations, will thank us for reminding him of Vir
gil’s lively description of an army of ants :
It nigrum campis agmen, praedamque per herbas,
Convectant ctile angusto ; pars grandm trudunt
Obnixse frumenta humeris ; pars agmina cogunt
Castigantque rnoras: opere omnis semita fervet.
Ain., lib. iv. 404-407.
A Letter to the Christian Index.
My very dear Friend :—Many tardy weeks
and months have receded into the past since
I have been visited with your pleasant tidings.
Your life has reluctantly undergone frequent
changes. From the fostering care of the Bap
tist Convention, you found yourself placed
under the control of “ Uncle Sam.” He un
weariedly poured out his most attractive gifts
upon your cheerful face, keeping, however, the
same familiar and unassuming appellation.
With an enlarged acquaintance you bounti
fully enriched the Christian mind with valua
ble thought and blessed truth; but, like all
messengers of love, fiery trials were divinely
appointed through which you must pass.
With augmenting anxiety every step was
closely watched to see what indeed would be
the final issue. At length the mournful in
telligence was spread abroad, that in the fear
ful siege of Macon, even amid the greatest
tumult, you were the innocent victim of some
malignant incendiary, whose blazing torch
brought out many sighs from thousands of
Christian homes.
Uncle Sam, not willing to lift you from the
furnace purified, “ turned over ” his claims to
the magnanimous and sympathizing heart of
Brother Toon, who gave you a home in the
“ City of Burnings.” To secure a pulsation
quicker and stronger to your life, Dr. Tucker
was called to administer' the best medicine
that his unexampled skill might judiciously
direct. Doubtless your emaciated features
produced by the burn, began rapidly to show
the favorable indications of a more vigorous
life. Again your beams began to dawn on
the dismal gloom as your Index pointed the
Christian to a day whose brightness and glory
are never dimmed. . -
In your desperate struggles for existence, I
was, my dear friend, unable to aid you. It is
true my prayers, sympathies and cooperation
were with you, but pecuniarily I could not
help you; for the war left me penniless. You
know I was once a strong supporter and ad
vocate for your interest. “ Uncle Sam ”
knows it. Beginning, through Divine grace,
to live above 3heer necessity, I send you the
enclosed sum, $3 00, which I hope will enable
you to call and seaKifoe. I send it to brother
Toon’s care, believing he will use it to your
best advantage. Oh ! 1 recently heard that
you had something more than “ Christian
Index ” tacked on to your name. Is it Doctor
of Divinity ? as that appeqdage is quite com
mon ! , Perhaps you require more covering
to hide your scars. Would not Earnest Mes
senger help your name more? Well, your
first name is good and sweet enough for me.
Come along, and stop at LaFayette, Ga. In
formation has come that brother Shaver, of
Virginia, will look to your welfare. That is
a good arrangement. I heartily congratulate
you; for he is an excellent companion for such
a being as yourself. «
When you last came to see me, I was in
the low country ; but, through the providence
of God, I am among the mountains preaching
the riches of the gospel to perishing sinners.
I will introduce you to my many hearers as soon
as you get here. You may let my numerous
friends know where I am. Tell them lam
“ up the country,” preaching Christ and Him
crucified. If you want to hear any news from
the “ hilly country,” let me know, and I will
endeavor to give you some sketches. May
Heaven’s richest benedictions rest upon your
brethren Toon Stiver , ‘ ijo
come to LaFayette, Ga.* * v *
Yours truly, J. L. Blitch.
The Reception of Members.
I am glad that some thoughts on this sub
ject have found way into the columns of the
Index and Baptist. Baptists claim to take
the Bible for their guide; and when asked to
show the place in the Bible that requires the
telling of an experience in joining the church,
they have simply to acknowledge that there
is no Scripture for it—or, to quote the lan
guage. of John the Baptist to the Pharisees
and Sadducees : “ Bring forth, therefore, fruits
meet for repentance.” I believe this is the
only passage of Scripture I have ever heard
quoted in support of the practice. It is evi
dent to my mind, from this passage of Scrip
ture, that John did require Evidence of peni
tence and faith, before administering baptism :
but that he required the relation of a Christian
experience is nowhere taught. And the prac
tice of the church, under the immediate direc
tion of the apostles, as given in the Acts of
the Apostles, shows that no such custom was
known to them. Can it be supposed that on
the day of Pentecost the large number of con
verts that were baptized told each an experi
ence of grace? No one could reasonably
come to such a conclusion. But they did
give evidence of penitence and faith that was
satisfactory to the apostles. For it is said :
“ They were pricked in their hearts, and said
unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, ‘ men
and brethren, what shall we do?’” They
were told what to do; and it is also said:
“ With many other words did they (the apos
tles) testify and exhort;” and the penitents
gladly received the word. “ Then they that
gladly received His word were baptized.”
Not a word about telling experiences. We
read in the Bth chapter of Acts, that “ Philip
went down to the city of Samaria, and
preached Christ unto them;” “ and there was
great joy in that city ;” “ and when they be
lieved Philip preaching the things concerning
the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus
Christ, they were baptized, both men and wo
men.” And when the eunuch “ believed with
all his heart,” he was baptized upon a profes
sion of his faith. In none of these instances
above mentioned, is there a word said about
telling an experience. Indeed, the Bible does
not say one word about such a requirement.
I am opposed to infant baptism, because the
Bible does not say a word about it; and, to
be consistent, I must, for the same reason, be
opposed to requiring the relation of an expe
rience as a condition of church membership.
Various objections have been offered by
some of the brethren writing on the subject.
According to Baptist theology, there berng
neither precept nor example in the Bible in
support of it, is objection enough: indeed,
this is my greatest objection. But applicants
for church membership should give evidence
of their faith—“ faith that worketh by love ”
—faith by which they are “ justified,” and
“ have peace with God through our Lord Je
sus Christ.” Such a faith is inseparably con
nected with repentance; and penitent believ
ers are entitled to the ordinance of baptism,
and to church membership. But how is the
church to satisfy herself that they are peni
tent believers ? The apostles had the follow
ing evidences : “They were pricked in their
hearts;” enquired what they should do;
“ gladly received the word ;” and were willing
to obey Christ; for they wer? baptized, and
“ continued steadfastly in the jostles’ doc
trine, and in fellowship, and it breaking of
bread and in prayer.” I think these evidences
may be as readily obtained bj asking a few
leading questions, as in way; and
such has been my custom for several years. I
do not object to the applicant tilling an expe
rience if he desires to do so: in this way he
may give evidence of his faith—-for if he has
faith, he has a Christian exp&^fice; but the
church certainly should not assume the right
to require it—to make it a condition of mem
bership. -Ls.
Some of the brethren recommend the ap
pointment by the church, of a committee to
decide upon the fitness of I do
not see the necessity of this; the investigation
may as well be before the congelation. The
pastor need not embarrass th(- 4 candid ate by
asking difficult questions. lyLra been sug
gested by some one recently, tWfthe churches
ought to be more particulacjn rL-«iving mem
bers. Ido not think so. If Sf 'jgLy' e -p r&lC !gge s
to believe in Jesus—to love G3£ An( j pjj s p eo .
pie—to be willing to obey Chi#;. in a u things
—believing that his sins pardoned
through the merits of Christ,b e un _
willing to see him rejected, there is
something in character, ting his
profession. Observation has Aught us that
those who can talk most fluently about Chris
tian experience, do not always £\ ve the bright
est evidences of true piety. 41 .have known
many who came to church i ductantly and
tremblingly, with what is c jfed a small
experience, who have become bright shining
lights ; while others, who talks 1 most fluent
ly, and interestingly of Christ! # experience,
have disgraced themselves am their profes
sion. To require an experience will not keep
out hypocrites; for if any on; to act
the hypocrite, he can make \ o a wonderful
experience. But some brothe; will say : “ I
like to hear them tell an exigence, that I
may know whether or not they have gone
over the same path I travelhil.” But, my
brother, do you not sometimes doubt your
own conversion? And will #u make your
experience a standard to judy* others by ?
We may assume too much, the or
dinances of the church and fellowship of
Christ’s people to some whoniOhrist has re
ceived. M. ||. Lowrey.
Ripley, Mies., Jan. 25, 1867. W
Sunbury Associatei
The churches composing t|is body were
not strong in pecuniary resoui*s, and except
in their colored membership, vpre numerical
ly small. Hence, in mostlpf fhesi the
support of the gospel rested m^kaffew mem
bers. The
w.*te the bnly
less, active in efforts for the of souls,
and maintained almost until the
commencement of the war, tw» missionaries,
whose services were given cLiefty to the ne
groes. Covering a district Iff country in
which the slave population waa large, the im
portance of supplying them witlh the preached
word was early felt, and the larg «‘increase from
this field is the best evidence of the fidelity
with which it was cultivated. The facts in
this connection have a historical value, and
deserve preservation. In 1818, in the organi
zation of the Association of thirteen churches,
two were Africar —the Ist and 2d in Savannah,
numbering 2,210 members. How many of
this class were members of the other churches
I have no means of ascertaining, but as an ap
proximation, I put down the aggregate colored
membership at 3,000. The miSutes of 1857,
the latest that I have seen, show 13 African
j)
churches, and 5,987 colored members. Many
of these were connected witS the white
churches, as was the case throughout the
country wherever Baptist churches were lo
cated in reasonable proximity tb them. The
labors of the brethren of this Association for
the evangelization of these people were not
confined however to the operations of their
missionaries. There was not £ pastor who
did not devote more or less time to their re
ligious instruction. The pastors of Ihe white
churches in Savannah were deeply concerned
for the welfare of the African churches in and
around the city. They with their
churches- a kind of supervisory care over
them, giving advice, settling difficulties among
them, often of a perplexing nature, and in
structing them in the principles «f the gosp’el.
This was true of Wyer and Binjiey and their
successors. Some who were engaged in sec
ular business devoted their pabbaths to
preaching to the negroes on plantations
Dear the city, and on the adjaient islands.
One brother, I think, (the late A. Harmon,)
was brought into the ministry by the crying
wants of these people, and labored for them
with the zeal of one whose heart was aglow
with the love of souls. I have been told that
the Rev. Samuel S. Law, of honored memory, a
preacher of the Apostles’ sort —“instant in sea
son and out of season”—was accustomed, when
he made his weekly visits to his plantation, to
suspend work and assemble his servants, that
he might preach Jesus to them. I have my
self seen Rev. Jacob Dunham, after working
on his plantation during the week, on
Saturday, oar in hand in a canoe, with a negro
boy, on his monthly missionary voyage to
St. Catharine’s Island, ten or twelve miles
distant, with a wide and dangerous sound to
cross, that he might preach the gospel upon
the large plantations there. And the next
Saturday he would ride forty miles on his
pony, in another direction, upon the same
blessed errand, and the next, and the next, to
other appointments. I never heard what his
salary was; but, from the records of the Asso
ciation, whose missionary he was, his supplies
from that source were exceedingly scant,
ranging from thirty to forty-six dollars per
annum. I recollect hearing that a brother
gave him fifty dollars a year to preach to the
negroes once a month, forty miles from home.
I presume this was all he received at that
place. But he was laying up enduring treas
ure in a safe place, and has long ago gone to
enjoy it. The simple truth is, in regard to
him and others, their services were mostly
gratuitous. Rev. Josiah S. Law, one of the
ablest ministers of his day, was consecrated
to this work, declining to leave it for posi
tions more lucrative and distinguished. 'Others
could be named among the living and the
dead, but what I have written is sufficient to
show the spirit of the Association. But not
alone by preaching did they seek the black
man’s spiritual welfare. Oral religious in
struction to the children, in Sabbath schools,
in houses of worship, and upon plantations,
by ministers and people, male and female,
was at one time common. Ido not know to
what extent it lyas continued of late years,
indeed, if there be any class of laboring people
in the world, whose spiritual interests have
been better cared for than the late slaves of
the South, it does not come within my knowl
edge. In our houses of worship special pro
vision was made for their accommodation,
and right-minded people encouraged their at
tendance at the house of God. Pastors gave
a part of every Sabbath to them in a separate
service, and at a convenient house, and do so
still to the freed men, where they desire it.
Our responsibilities for them did not cease
with slavery, nor shall our labors for their
welfare. Ido not mention these things that
we should boast of them. If we had reached
the full measure of responsibility upon us,
exultation would be unbecoming, and only
betray the weakness of our fallen nature.
How far short of the mark that duty prescrib
ed we have fallen God only knows; but we
know enough to humble and abase us, and
extort the cry of agonizing penitence, “ God
be merciful to us sinners.” Nor do I state
these things in vindication of slavery. It Is
dead; let it sleep in its bloody grave. Content
am I with its vindication by the Bible. I
mention them because they are facts—facts by
which God is honored, while at the same time
they may reflect shame upon us, that with
such opportunities as they disclose, they do
not stand out in broader and clearer lines.
Some of your readers may be interested to
know what was the relation of the African
churches to the Association and their privi
leges. They were recognized as independent
churches, and, entitled to their privileges as
such. They were represented by their own
members, and voted upon all questions. Some
of their delegates were free and some were
slaves. Between them and their white breth
ren the kindest feelings prevailed.
On one occasion the usual harmony of the
Association was in some measure disturbed,
and its peace threatened by an unfortunate
difference between two of the most prominent
churches. A question involving much feeling
was before them. So nearly were the parties
balanced that any thing like unanimity among
the colored delegates would have turned the
scale either way, and no one knew with whom
these delegates sympathized. Just as the
final vote was about to be taken, one of them
i »CTpfe, J gti# ll in qfcfted Yhcrtras
it was a matter in which the white churches
were interested, and as they loved the breth
ren in both of these churches, they respectful
ly asked to be excused from voting. The
difficulty was subsequently, during the meet
ing, so far adjusted as to remove it from the
Association.
The influence of these colored ministers and
churches in the communities where they were
located, I have no doubt was most salutary.
Such men as Henry Cunningham and Andrew
Marshall, who for many years filled the pas
torates of the Ist and 2d African churches in
Savannah, can never fail to impress themselves
upon their people. Long may the memory
of their good works be fragrant. In matters
of doctrine and church polity, while there was
no systematic course of instruction afforded
these churches, they nevertheless derived such
assistance from their white brethren, ministers
and others, as to establish and preserve them
in the faith of the gospel. During the last
year a correspondent of the New York Exam
iner and Chronicle mentioned with commen
dation the purity of doctrine and practice
which he found in one of the African churches
in Savannah; characterizing it (I quote from
memory,) as a model of apostolic simplicity
and truth. It did not, I suppose, occur to the
writer to inquire who, under God, were their
teachers, or to let the world know that the
Baptists in and about Savannah had cared for
the souls of the negroes, and had for nearly a
half century been diligently planting the seeds
of the gospel in their hearts.
It must not be supposed that the energies
of the Association were limited to the work
of Domestic Missions. Concern in one de
partment of Christian enterprise, begets con
cern in all others. Foreign missions, Sun
day schools, ministerial education, the tem
perance cause, were all cherished objects of
this body. Rev. E. A. Stevens, the mission
ary to Burmah, was the son of an honored
deacon of the Sunbury Church. Rev. J. G.
Binney went to his work abroad from the
Savannah Baptist Church. They (the churches
of this Association) came, perhaps, as near the
apostolic rule of giving to all good objects as
God had prospered them—i. e., according to
their ability—as any body of believers in mod
ern times.
The noble men who composed this Associa
tion in former years have passed away, but
the light of their example lingers around us
still, as if to quicken our zeal, and stimulate
the fervency of our love to Christ.
W. H. M.
Marion, Ala., Jan. 28, 1867.
jfotothmg.
Infant Baptism.
Not long since, the National Baptist ex
pressed the opinion that “ a great many Pedo
baptist members regard a child as safer after
than before baptism.” The Christian Advo
cate, N. Y., replies:
“ Our Baptist friend needed not to be so
modest in his supposition, for we presume he
would have been quite safe in saying, that not
only a great many, but nearly all intelligent
Pedobaptists “ regard a child as safer (that is,
in better religious relations) after than before
baptism.” If it were not so, one might ask,
why baptize a child 1 and possibly the lack of
such belief is at the foundation of the shame
ful neglect of infant baptism by many mem
bers of churches nominally holding to the
divine authority of the practice. . . In our
Twelfth Article, taken from those of the
church of England, it is said: ‘Sacraments
ordained of Christ are not only badges or to
kens of Christian men’s profession, but rather
they are certain signs of grace and God’s good
will toward us, by which He doth work in
inyisibly in us, and doth not only quicken,
but also strengthen and confirm our faith in
Him.’ The meaning of this language is un
mistakable ; and it means just what our Bap
tist brother charges ‘ a great many ’ with be
lieving. Baptism, as one of the ‘sacraments
ordained of God,’ is a means of grace; by it
the subject, infant or adult, is formally brought
within the compass of the covenant of grace,
with its peculiar and special advantages. The
act of baptism is a work of faith, in favor of
its subject. It is not only prayer and petition ;
it meets God with His own signs of the cove
nant He has entered in our favor, and claims
its fulfillment. The child thus dedicated to
God is brought within the range of gracious
influences not covenanted to others; and
though unchanged by the act of baptism, its
state is a ‘ safer ’ one, because of its nearness
to God, and the consequently enlarged influ
ences of the divine Spirit, of which it becomes
the subject.’’
“Because He Chose To.”
Some little time ago, after the conclusion
of one of Mr. Brownlow North’s addresses
in Edinburgh, a young man came into the
room where he was receiving persons anxious
for private conversation, and said to him : “ I
have heard you preach three times, sir, and I
neither care for you nor your preaching, un
less you can tell me, Why did God permit
sin ?”
“ I will do that with pleasure,” was the im
mediate reply : “ because he chose it.”
The young man, apparently taken by sur
prise, stood speechless; and Mr. North again
repeated : “ Because he chose it; and,” add
ed he, “ if you continue to question and cavil
at God’s dealings, and, vainly puffed up by
your carnal mind, strive to be wise above
what is written, I will tell you something
more that God will do : he will some day put
you into hell-fire. It is vain for you to strive
with your Maker: you can not resist him ; and
neither your opinions of his dealings, nor
your blasphemous expression of them will in
the least lesson the pain of your everlasting
damnation, which, I again tell you, will most
certainly be your portion, if you go on in
your present spirit. There were such ques
tioners as you in St. Paul’s time, and how did
the Apostle answer them ? ‘ Nay, but, O
man, who art thou that replies against God ? ’ ”
The young man here interrupted Mr. North,
and said : “ Is there such a text as that in the
Bible ?” “ Yes, there is, ” was the reply, “in
the ninth chapter of Romans; and I recom
mend you to go home and read that chapter,
and after you have read it, and see how God
claims for Himself the right to do whatever
He chooses, without permitting ■ the thing
formed to say to Him that forjnefl it, ‘ Why
hast thou made me thus ?’ remember that be
sides permitting sin, there r is another thing
that God has chosen to do: God chose to send
Jesus. Os His own free and sovereign grace,
God gave His only begotten Son to die for
sinners, in their stead—in their pll&e ;so that,
though they are sinners and have ifone things
worthy of death, not one of them "shall ever
be cast into hell for his sins who wSll accept
Jesus as his only Saviour*, and* believe in
Him and rest in His word. I have no time
to say more to you now; others ffre waiting
to see me. Go home; attend to yphat I have
told you ; and may God the Holy bless
it, for Jesus Christ’s sake.” f-
This conversation took place 0| Sunday
evening. On the following Fr|Jay, Mr.
North was sitting in a friend’s drawing-room,
(the Rev. Moodie Stuart’s,) when tile servant
announced that a young man wanted -to speak
'Whim. shownTip sfairs, .TTS"9STd : J
“Do you remember me ?” “ No.” “Do
you remember the young man who.on Sunday
night asked you to tell him ‘ Why did God
permit sin?’” “Yes, perfectly.” “Well,
sir, I am that young man, and you said that
God permitted sin because He chose it, and
you told me to go home and read the ninth
chapter of Romans; and also that God chose
to send Jesus to die for such sinners as I am;
and l did, sir, what you told me, and after
wards I fell down at God’s feet, and asked
Him to forgive my sins, because Jesus died
for me, and give me His Holy Spirit to put
all wicked thoughts out of my head, and He
did: and now lam happy, oh! so, so happy,
sir ! And though the Devil still comes some
times to tempt me with my old thoughts, and
to ask me what reason I have to think God
has forgiven me, I have always managed to
get him away by telling him that 1 do not
want to judge things by my own reason, but
by God’s Word, and that the only reason why
I know I am forgiven is that, for Christ’s sake,
God chooses to pardon me.”
The changed expression of the young man’s
countenance was quite sufficient to account for
Mr. North’s not knowing him again. It was
radiant with joy and peace.
Dear reader, the first lesson a poor sinner
has to learn, is to “ trust in the Lord with all
his heart, and not to lean to his own under
standing ;” to trust God not only for what he
does understand, and for what is explained,
but for what he does not understand, and for
what is not explained. This is faith; and
such faith honors God and saves the soul.
This is receiving the kingdom of God as a lit
tle child, who always believes that things must
be right if father says them and father does
them; and let us ever remember that it is
written, (and the Scripture can not be broken,)
that unless “we receive the kingdom of God
as a little child, we shall in no wise enter
therein.”
Egotism.
The vainest expectorator of vapid nonsense
I ever heard speak, was a man who piqued
himself on the absence of all egotism in his
addresses. He carefully evaded the common
first personal vowel, and, insteariof “/,” he said,
“ Your orator.” His absurd self-conceit could
in no way have betrayed itself more ludi
crously. And he was really the representa
tive of that class of literary coxcombs who
are always croaking about other people’s
egotism, because they tell what they saw in
the simplest way. It is a fact universally ap
plicable, that all over refinement is nothing but
vulgarity, and that all excessive setting up for
uncommon chastity in a woman, and for trans
cendent honesty in a man, is nothing but a
want of virtue in each. So as to our wry
faced, simpering, querulous whiners about
egotbm. They are, without a single excep
tion, the most thoroughly affected, pedantic,
prudish, and pragmatical of all fops, dandies,
“ Scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites.”— Rev.
R. Fuller , D.D.
Sunday Work.
An experiment was once tried in a large
corn-mill. For a number of years the own
ers worked the mill seven days in a week. The
superintendent was then changed. The new
comer ordered all the works ttf be stopped at
eleven o’clock on Saturday night, and to start
none of them till one o’clock on Monday morn
ing, thus allowing a full Sabbath every week.
And the same men, during the year, actually
ground several thousand bushels more than
had ever been ground in the mill in any single
year! The men being permitted to cleanse
themselves, put on their best apparel, rest
from worldly business, go with their families
to the house of God, and devote the Sabbath
to its appropriate duties, were more healthy
moral, punctual and diligent. They lost less
time in drinking, dissipation and quarrels.
They were more clear-headed, and cheerful;
knew better how to do their work, and were
more disposed to do it in the right way. It
is an old motto and a true one, “ There is
nothing gained by Sunday work.”
WHOLE NO. 2828.
f Mtrg.
At tie Beautiful Gate.
Lord, open the door, for I falter— *
I faint in this stifled air—
In dust and straitness I lose my breath ;
This life of self is a living death :
Let me in to Thy pastures broad and fair—
To the sun and the wind from Thy mountains
free!
Lord, open the door to me I
There is holier life and truer
Than ever my heart has found.
There is nobler work than is wrought within
These walls so charred by the fires of sin,
Where toil like a captive blind and bound;
An open door to a freer task
In Thy nearer smile, I ask.
Yet the world is Thy field—Thy garden ;
On earth art Thou still at home.
When Thou bendest hither Thy hallowing Eye,
My narrow work-room seems vast and high—
Its dingy ceiling a rainbow dome.
Stand ever thus at my wide-swung door,
And toil will be toil no more!
Through the rosy portals of morning
Now the tides of sunshine flow.
O’er the blossoming earth and the glistening sea
The praise Thou inspirest rolls back to Thee:
Its tones through the infinite arches go ;
Yet, crippled and dumb, behold me wait,
Dear Lord, at the Beautiful Gate.
I wait for Thy hand of healing,—
For vigor and hope in Thee.
Open wide the door,—let me feel the sun, —
Let me touch Thy robe! I shall rise and run
Through Thy happy universe, safe and free,
Where in and out Thy beloved go,
Nor want nor wandering know.
Thyself art the Door, Most Holy 1
By Thee let me enter ini
I press toward Thee with my failing strength;
Unfold Thy love in its breadth and length ;
True life from Thine let my spirit win I
To the saints’ fair City, the Father’s Throne,
Thou, Lord, art the way alone.
From the deeps of unseen glory
Now I feel the flooding light.
0 rare, sweet winds from Thy hills that blow l
0 River, so calm in its crystal flow 1
O Love unfathomed —the depth, the height!
What joy wilt Thou not unto me impart,
When Thou shalt enlarge my heart?
To be joined unto Thee, one spirit,
Is the boon that I- lingering ask.
To have no bar 'twixt my soul and Thine, —
My thoughts to echo'Thy will divine,
Myself Thy servant, for.any task :
Life! life 1 I may enter through Thee, the Door,
Saved—sheltered forevermore 1
Veiled Angelg, or Afflictions.
Uonui^J)saawi^ll'SSiftg^" i Weh'>fln3-lVee,
Have dome to us, our God, from thee.
Sweet tokens written with Thy name—
Bright angels from Thy face they came.
Some came with open faces bright,
Aglow with Heaven’s own living light;
And some were veiled—trod soft and slow,
And spoke in voices grave and low.
Veiled angels, pardon, if with fears
We met you first, and many tears.
We take you to our hearts no less ;
We know you come to teach and bleal.
We know the love from which you come;
We trace you to our Father’s home.
We know how radiant arid how kind
Your faces are those veils behinth
We know those veils, one happy day,
In earth or heaven, shall drop away;
And we shall see you as ye are,
And learn why thus ye sped fjjom far.
But the joy that day phall be
W b know not yet; we wait to see.
-For this, 0 angels, well we know,
The way ye came our souls shall go
Up to the love from which ye come.
Back to* our Father’s blessed home.
f
And bright each face unveiled shall shine,
Lord, when the veil is rent from Thine.
.. ’ , ».
Church Fairs.
These institutions, though practically any
thing else than that their name would imply,
are, nevertheless, a favorite instrument in the
hands of all religious communities, for the
promotion, of church objects. Their popu
larity consists in that they are profitable;
their profit arises from the latitude allowed to
impudence, in -the deception and plundering of
the weak and sensitive. This assertion is
complimentary to neither managers nor visit
ors; yet it is strictly true. We may blush,
to admit it, while we can not refute it. How
long would the business and reputation of a
storekeeper survive the adoption of that style
of business upon which these fairs are conduct
ed ? And what good Churchman would pa
tronize an establishment where goods are
raffled for, or put up at roulette ? where pret
ty girls are employed for the express purpose
of dazzling the eyes of susceptible youths,
while they pick their pockets? Are these
practices, so objectionable as a means of indi
vidual success, any more respectable because
employed in aid of Church prosperity ? Who
will risk his reputation for good sense and
sound piety, by affirming that, because the
object is good, it makes that meritorious
which would, otherwise, be disgraceful ? Next
to God, the good name of the church should be
sacred to every true Christian. Yet just such
inconsistencies as are found in church fairs furn
ish our enemies with their strongest weapons
in their war upon us. 1, for one, would rather
bend my knees upon the cold earth, without a
roof over my head, than upon.the nicely oar
peted chancel of a temple erected at the cost
of decency and religious consistency ; and
these fairs are a sacrifice of both.— Pacific
Churchman.
Revivals.
We do not believe in “ getting up revivals,’*
as it is called, but it “ getting them down.”
A genuine revival comes down from Heaven.
It is a work of God. “0 Lord, revive thy
work.” But we do not believe that revivals
come as the storm or the earthquake, without
any agency on the part of man. We believe
these precious seasons of refreshing come in
answer to prayer, and the faithful use of the
divinely appointed means. It is not a misfor
tune for which they are to be pitied, but a
fault and sin for which they are to be blamed,
for a church to remain in a lukewarm, cold,
frozen state.