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J. J. TOON, --- - Proprietor.
Rev. b. SHAVER, R.fr., Editor.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1867.
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Charitable and Religious Lotteries.
The ladies of Columbus, Ga., with the char
acteristic generosity of their sex, have con
certed measures for averting warit from the
household 'of the distinguished Prisoner at
Fortress Monroe. The end which they pro
pose to compass is laudable. Jefferson Davis
suffers only for what he did at the behest and
in the name df the Southern people. The
failure of the cause in which he served them
can not warrant, on their part, a frigid indif
ference to his fate. Even if that cause, on
“ sober second thought,” were recognized as
wrong, it would be a very questionable type
of repentance, which coldly abandoned his
family to retributive pains and penalties
equally deserved by all. The ladies of Co
lumbus, therefore, have done well, in aiming
to alleviate, as far as lies within their power,
the hard doom which threatens the little fire
side flock of our Leader through the stormy
days of war.
But, while we approve their purpose, we
regret the method by which they seek to ac
complish it. The plan devised by them is
obnoxious to weighty animadversion. A sense
of duty as Christian journalists, constrains us
to enter our earnest protest against it. It is,
unmistakably, a lottery, with tickets on sale
in the cities and towns of the South, but with
out sanction of law.
The case is too plain to require dfscussion.
Benevolence should resort to no illicit scheme
—no scheme which a wise regard for the con
servation of public virtue has placed under
ban—-no scheme which has been interdicted
because of its palpable tendencies toward cor
ruption of morals. And does not the lottery
bear this character ? In almost every Chris
tian country abated as a nuisance, condemned
by stringent legislative enactments, and hunt
ed even from the hiding places of society ; in
the few exceptional instances of toleration,
shut up within narrow limits and staked
round with vigilant precautions, we might say
with repressive provisions ; —the ethical judg
ment of the age, alike in State and Church,
has/ gone decisively against it. Who that
calmly weighs the question, then, can fail to
see, when Benevolence has recourse to it, how
sadly she stoops from her high, pure sphere,
and trails her garments of beauty in the
mire ?
These are not 1 times when any doors that
lead in that direction, may be safely thrown
open. All the foundations of the moral world
seem out of course. It looks as though the
bands of obligation were loosening visibly
from the mass of mind: society threatens to
part from her anchorage and drive unchecked
before the gale of evil influence : we appear
to be entering on a universal carnival of crime.
Especially does “ a wide-spread lottery ma
nia,” disguised under the specious name of
“ Gift Enterprises,” infect popular sentiment
at the present juncture. Shall we help for
ward this process of deterioration ? Shall
virtue and religion fall more and more into
decay, because we lend our aid to the unscru
pulous agencies that take them in their toils!
At such a crisis of impairment to sound mor
als, shall men be invited to gamble in the
heaven-bright name of Charity ? Shall, the
invitation come from Woman—the “ human
angel ” —with her matchless powers of per
suasion !
In this “ gambling revival,” as even the sec
ular press has styled it, professed Christians,
we grieve to say, are not without fault. They
have winked at it—have taken part in it. One
of our exchanges states that “ in the Chicago
Opera House Lottery the church and the
world invested in about equal proportions ! ”
From another we learn that ‘ the names of
some of the most fortunate ticket holders in
the Soldiers’ Home Lottery were withheld
from the public, because, in view of their re
ligious surroundings, they had conscientious
scruples about letting their names be known!’
Is this “ the Bride, the Lamb’s wife,” or the
Adulteress, the World’s paramour?
Carnal compromise in this matter has taken
a more open and, as we conceive, a more cen
surable form. The peccant humor breaks
into blotches on the very face of the church.
Not only have her children stolen away
to participate in gambling among ‘those
who are without:’ they have imported it
within her sacred precincts. It has an ac
knowledged place by the side of the altar.
“ Fairs held for religious objects derive a
large portion of their proceeds from raffles
and other kinds of lotteries.” To such lengths
has this worldly conformity run, that (if we
may credit the New York Evening Post)
‘ some of the “ Gift Enterprise ” managers, as
arrant a set of knaves as live outside of the
State Prison, have signified to the managers
of Christian benevolent institutions their
readiness to undertake lotteries in the interest
of charity, or piety, for a fixed commission,
or for a share of the profits.’ When the
church sinks to so low a level that Vice feels
emboldened to ply her with such humiliating
overtures, “ how is the gold become dim !
how is the most fine gold changed ! ”
The question takes even a darker aspect.
We are at a loss to decide which party is the
seducer in this case. Has the world tempted
the church aside ? Or has the church led the
world astray ? The stream is floating both
along; but who unsealed the fountain? “The
gambling spirit,” says the Watchman and
Reflector, “ has been born and nursed some
times at religious fairs, by various methods
of raffling in vogue; and these larger enter
prises are a natural result of the laxity al
lowed by those who ought to set a better ex
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX AND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST: ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28,1867.
ample.” And the Episcopalian writes : “It
is a disagreeable reflection that the present
popularity of these lotteries may be traced to
the abominable Church Fair system, which
has familiarized the minds of even the reli
gious community with games of chance, for
the benefit of this or that charitable, philan
thropic, or religious object.” If these repre
sentations are correct, —nay, if there be but
space for thd intrusion of a doubt as to their
falsehood, —“ it is high time to awake out of
sleep.” Individual Christians should heed the
imperativesummons, to wash their hands from
the smutching taint. The voice of the churches
should ring out in tones of faithful warning
and stern prohibition; and if that voice is dis
regarded, the knife of discipline should un
sparingly sever this fungus from the mystical
body of the Lord. As Zion values the favor
of her King, as she guards her honor in the
midst of a gainsaying generation, as she hopes
to train her children for the skies, or to re
cover an alien race to the loyalty of faith and
the fruition of glory, she must not—she can
not—leave a shadow of uncertainty overhang
ing the question, whether, as regards the spirit
of gambling in any of its developments, she
can deliberately consent that the world shall
ensnare and mislead her. Still less can she
permit an ambiguous haze to cloud the ques
tion, whether, in this matter, she can play the
part of misleader and ensnarer to the world.
The season for compromises is past. Prompt
action and inflexible fidelity are the demand
of the hour. Heaven help her to show
them!
A Remarkable Case.
Last summer, a pastor in one of our South
ern cities, paid several visits to a youth of
fourteen years, a member of the Sabbath
school, who had been wasting away, through
weary months, under an attack of disease des
tined to prove fatal. In the earlier interviews,
the sufferer, a living skeleton in appearance,
seemed rather averse from conversation. He
gave no token of Christian hope, and but little
of religious sensibility ; for the household was
ungodly. The Lesson of the Two Mounts—
of Sinai and Calvary—was impressed on him:
he was instructed to view himself as a con
demned sinner, and yet a sinner redeemed.
Prayer in his behalf was offered at the bed
side. These counsels and intercessions were
renewed, again and again, by his teacher
also, —for some time, with slight apparent
effect. * r
During the last visit of the pastor, however,
while he was speaking of Jesus as the friend
of sinners, the little boy, with an air of timid
hesitation, said,
“ Preacher, I have something to tell you.’’
Encouraged to unbosom himself freely, he
proceeded, “ My little brother and sister, who
died some time ago, came to see me.”
“ You mean,” suggested the pastor, “ that
you dreamed you saw them !”
“ No,” he replied, as impetuously as his
difficult breathing would permit, “ No—they
came." Raising his wasted finger, he pointed
just above the ted, and near the window at
its foot, “ They were there. I saw them. I
knew them.”
“Very well,” rejoined the pastor, “let us
alb about it.’^
“ They said to me, ‘ You are going to die.
Mother tells you, you are not. She only
hopes so. You will never get out of that bed,
until you go into your coffin. We want you
to come where we are, and be happy. But
you can not come as you are. Your heart is
too bad. You must pray to God, and ask
him to give you anew heart for Jesus’ sake
—a heart to love Him. Then when you die
you will come and be with us, and with
Him.’ ”
Here he paused, and the air of timid hesi
tation returned. “ And have you done as
they directed ? ” asked the pastor.
.“ O yes ! ” burst out the dying boy, his face
kindling with a light which did not so much
suffuse the pallor as shine through it; “I have
asked God to give me anew heart! • And He
has done it! When I die, I shall be with
brother and sister, and with Jesus, in heaven!
That's what I wanted to tell you ! ”
A day or two after, he died. If Peter and
John and James feared as they entered the
bright cloud, in the place of transfiguration
where they saw their Master, with Moses and
Elias, this little boy did not fear as he entered
the dark cloud which hangs over the grave; a
cloud through which he was to pass to the
Third Mount—“ Mount Zion, the City of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem ” —where
he should see, not only Moses and Elias, not
only Peter and John and James, but their
Lord and his—see them and Him, and share
their transfiguration in eternal glory !
The question occurs to every thoughtful
mind, Was this appearance of a deceased
brother and sister an illusion, or not ? Who
shall presume to say ? The two worlds—the
natural and spiritual—interlock. We are girt
about with invisible hosts. Only this veil ftf
flesh hinders us from seeing them. How shall
we assure ourselves that God “ who giveth
not account of any of His matters,” never lifts
this veil, for purposes of mercy ? And if He
does, on what ground shall we rest the con
clusion that it was not lifted, in that hill side
hovel, to save a young soul where neither
father nor mother made mention of His name?
We leave the question unanswered. The an
swer to it must be written by a bolder pen
than ours. Ours can only write—we do not
know—we dare not say.
This case speaks especially to parents.
Was not the testimony which this little boy
bore, —the gift of anew heart, by the power
of God, for the sake of Jesus, —“ the principal
thing,” and, for one about to die, the only
thing ? Was it not a pledge that he was lan
guishing into life! Did it not warrant his
hope that he should exchange the hovel for
heaven ? Could you desire more for your
own children ? Are you willing that they
should live—nay, that they should die—with
out it? Do you seek it for them with impor
tunity of prayer ? Are you making any ef
forts to awaken in their bosom a sense of ita
necessity,—to guide their feet to the all-cleans
ing Fountain of Blood, where they may se
cure it ? O, bethink yourselves. Give them
not over to the devices of Satan and to their
own waywardness, lest they perish before you
are aware of it —perish through your fault.
The young, too, are admonished by this
case. Death may come to you, as it came to
the little boy on the hill-side. In a very
short while, you may be called to lie in the
grave. Are you ready for it? Have you
prepared yourselves, when you leave this
world, to enter into a better ? Have you
asked God to give you anew heart for the
sake of Jesus? and has He done it—as He
always does, when we ask it with repentance
for sin and with faith in the Saviour ? O, be
fore death comes to you, come to Christ!
Death may come to-morrow; therefore come
to Christ to-day!
Our Southern Zion—in Our Exchanges.
Missouri. —A meeting at Pisgah Church, Ray
county, which “ had not met in a church capacity
since June, 1862,” resulted in 9 accessions.—
There have been 12 additions to Hopewell Church,
Audrain county; 18 to Wyaconda, Lewis ; and
32 to Providence, Marion.—The past year, Rev.
L. Elledge re-organized four churches which had
been entirely destitute of preaching for a long
time.
Tennessee. —The Baptist states that Rev. A. J.
Hall, late pastor of the Jackson Church, is Gen
eral Agent of the Sabbath school interests con
nected with the Board of the West Tennessee
Convention. —Rev. M. Hillsman has accepted the
appointment of Evangelist within the bounds of
Big Hatchie Association.—Unity Association re
ported about 150 baptisms in the churches the
past year; and after the close of its session, at
Walnut Grove, Hardeman county, a meeting was
held, resulting in 34 baptisms.—From four to six
hundred baptisms during the year were reported
to Central Association. Among the ministers at
tending its session was Rev. John Randolph, only
about three months from the Methodist ranks.
Kentucky. —Rev. Henry McDonald, pastor of
the Danville Church, has accepted a call to the
pastorate of the church at Shelbyville.—A new
church with 23 members has been constituted in
Simpson county.—The church at Owensboro has
had a recent accession of 33 members, and gave
bonds to the amount of $1,050 for Greenville The
ological Seminary, during a recent visit of the
agent, Rev. J. F. B. Mays.—Rev. J. F. White has
gone to the “Hard-shell” Baptists. —Rev. Wm.
Haw, late of Indiana, accepted the pastorate
of Fox Run (or Eminence) Church ; Rev. T. Ram
baut, LL.D., late of Georgia, the pastorate of the
East Church, Loufsville ; and Rev. Geo. Hunt the
pastorate of Bowling Green church.—There have
been 13 additional baptisms at Walnut Street
Church, Louisville; 15 additions to Big Spring
Church, La Rue county ; and 15 to Mt. Washing
ton.
West Virginia. —A revival at Coon’s Run
Church brought 15 souls into the fold ; and one
at Hepbzibah Church, near Clarksburg, 12.
Virginia. —We regret to learn from the Herald
that the Senior Editor, Rev. J. B. Jeter, D.D., has
been in feeble health for some weeks. —The Ports
mouth Association reported 4,307 members and
378 baptisms during the year ; the James River,
21 churches, 2,851 members, and 150 baptisms.
The proportion was, in the former, not quite one
baptism for every 11 members, and in the latter
not quite one for every 19.—Rev. J. E. Hutson,
recently ordained, has assumed the pastoral care
of the Second Church, Petersburg.
North Carolina.— The Goldsboro church re
cently contributed $l2O to State Missions.—Rev,
P. Oliver has been released from his labors on the
farm, and is engaged all his time as missionary in
the Western part of the Beulah Association. —
Rev. A. D. Cohen has baptized several within a
short time atNewbern. —Rev. N. W. Wilson pro
poses to open a permanent Musical
Chapel Hill.
South Carolina. —The Associate Reformed
Presbyterian states that a prospectus has been is
sued of anew Baptist paper, to be published at
Columbia, and edited by Rev. J. L. Reynolds,
D.D.—Two young men were recently licensed by
the Sumter church; one a son of Rev. R. Fur
man, D.D., the other a grandson of Judge Rich
ardson. Os the latter a correspondent of the Bap
tist says: “ His relatives are all Pedobaptist, but,
after a thorough investigation of our distinguish
ing peculiarities, he was led by the stern convic
tions of duty to connect himself with our denom
ination. He graduated at the South Carolina Col
lege the first year of the war; passed safely
through many scenes of privation and peril;
through grace, has been brought to the knowledge
of the truth ; and now, in the strength of his
early manhood, he dedicates himself to the min
istry of the Lord Jesus..”
Georgia. —Rev. S. Landrum, Savannah, writes
to the Religious Herald : “ Our church is gain
ing in strength and becoming efficient. I collected
last month $l5O for foreign missions.
Alabama. —During a recent visit of Rev. M.
T. Sumner to Montgomery, the First and Second
Baptist churches contributed SBOO to the Domes
tic Mission Board.
Mississippi. —The First Baptist church of Boli
var county was “scattered to the four winds” du
ring the war; but the few remaining members
think that $1,500 or SI,OOO can be raised for the
support of a good, pious minister, and are inquir
ing for a pastor through the Christian Watchman.
—A discussion on the question of the depravity
of infants has sprung up in the Mississippi Asso
ciation and transferred itself to the Watchman.
Some ministers vehemently deny the doctrine,
which to us is a matter of equal surprise and
pain.
Texas. —There has lately been a very interest
ing meeting at Farmington.—Concord and Clear
Creek churches “ engage the entire time of their
pastor, not to preach every Lord’s day for them
at their houses of worship, but to preach also in
the more remote and destitute neighborhoods
where members live, including the territory be
tween Centreville and the Navasota River. This
is a proper step, and in the right direction.”—
There is virtually no Baptist church in LaGrange,
where some of our best ministers have labored.—
Since the constitution of the State Convention in
1848, funds have been contributed to the amount
of $85,000 only ; but its missionaries “ have been
instrumental in the organization of five or six
Associations and between forty and fifty churches,
and in the erection of from twenty-five to thirty
meeting-houses. They have ordained from twelve
to fifteen ministers of the gospel, and from twen
ty-five to thirty deacons. Six hundred converts
were baptized in one year by them, and about
twenty-five hundred in all.
Arkansas. —Enon Church, Bradly county, con
stituted in October with 9 members, has now 18.
—The Bartholomew Association, which met at
Mt. Zion, Ashly county, received two new church
es, making 25 ; has 14 pastors within its bounds;
and enjoyed glorious revivals in some of the
churches, where the baptisms ranged from 10 to
45.—A church was constituted Jan. 20th, at Tyro (
Drew county, with 11 members.
The Wat They Pdt it. — The Irish corres
pondent of the Nashville Christian Advocate,
in allusion to the change of Dr. Strickland
from the Methodist to the Presbyterian min
istry, says: “He has changed the broad,
boundless expanse of Methodist theology, ir
radiated all over with the light of God’s re
deeming beneficence, for the circumscribed
field of Calvinism; all but entirely embraced
m the cold gloom of inexorable decrees.”
•limpeaflf Jty <sin
In Quest of “Ui/)ns.” —lt is said that Bap
tist clergymen of have invited
Spurgeon to visit bhat city at the time of the
May anniversaries ;jand that Ritualistic Epis
copalians have extended an invitation to Dr.
Pusey. There au&Jbpes that the former will
accept: the health <#• the latter wilkprobably
compel him to dectfie.
The Pen. — writes from Bremen
to the Methodist 7*^l l is difficult to tell when
the German sceptieKleep. They seem to be
always writing, always talking. They man
age to write hugejblumes at very brief in
tervals ; and if "not frequently furnish
lengthy articles for ijie Reviews m their inter
est, they neither nor receive much cred
it for great literari ability.” We devoutly
wish that Christians, within the
range of our circuldpon, realized in some such
sort the power of tfi pen.
Pulpit Fellowship.— The council of the
Dutch Reformed Clufrch, Holland, has passed
a resolution admittab the ministers of every
recognized denomination to its pulpit; and an
English minister recently preached in one of
their Amsterdam ebjWges —the first instance
of the sort in that Jky since 1619.
Religious LiterJlure. —Of the 4,204 new
works and new edHufrs of old ones which
appeared in EnglatHuast year, 849 were on
the subject of religuEj.
Dancing.— A cWjtfra&n of Philadelphia
represents to shrivel up
all man's moral digi™®tln the Maine Chris
tian Convention a nSgfcer “ told of a revival
which followed his fiflhful rebuke of dancing.”
New Hampshire —The statistics
of last year show 56 castors, 81 churches, and
7,320 members ; an ncrease of 2 pastors and
10 churches and a d< grease of 246 members.
“The Greatest % Curse.” —The Journal
and Messenger avo’Vjg; the belief that “ the
greatest curse the Western and Southern
churches have to OD’bend with is covetous
ness.” 1 -
Baptism. —A corre^p on( )ent of the Nation
al Baptist relates th£ following conversation
with “ a learned and-candid Presbyterian
“‘ Do you know of language, or do you
think there is any lan|. ua g e> which has in it no
word for so common ty n action as dip ?' He
replied, ‘ No.’ ‘ls mA the Greek language
the most perfect in t# wor ] < j fHe replied,
‘Yes.’ ‘lf the Gree%- wor( j baptizo do not
mean to dip, is word, in that lan
guage that does ?’ J| e replied, ‘ No.’ ‘Do
you know of any langffi&y. which has any word
to express the appli<|f lcm 0 f water in any
mode ?’ He replied,^ No- . « Now,’ sa id i ?
‘that will do. Go onjp n( j sprinkle your ba
bies, and call it baptjl n > «Pooh !’ said he,
‘ don’t talk to me of bftt'lzing babies : I don’t
hold to it. I hold to t believer's baptism, and
none other. My chil‘JL’- have not been bap
tized ; and will not beJE]} jt is their own vol
untary act.’”
Northern and SoutCJern Baptists. —Wm.
Johnson writes to Au Religious Herald:
“ Northern Baptists acknowledged to me
that the Baptists are more cor
reei in those
at the North.” -
Giving. —The NortA Carolina Methodist
Episcopal Conference ’pronounced members
who neglected to make reasonable contribu
tions, proper for discipline.—The
New Orleans Christian says: “Who
ever can bring back, ok discover the way to
collect regularly, at intervals of one week,
any given sum, from member of the
church, will have done more for the benefit of
mankind than James Watt did by inventing
the steam engine.”—A Presbyterian pastor of
Virginia tells his people’that five cents a Sun
day, by every church mduiber, would keep the
Southern church afloat Without foreign aid.—
Rev. E. Dodson writes* to the Biblical Re
corder : “An agent comes to a protracted or
a camp meeting. The ministers do not wish
him to make a public collection, as it will
lessen the money to be raised for the preach
ers. An agent made a large collection at a
certain place. The preachers also got $23.
At another great meeting the members would
not let the agent collect, as they wished to
help the preachers. The agent was disap
pointed, and the preachers received $15.”
Denominational Preaching. —Rev. C. B.
Crane, of the South Baptist Church, Hartford,
Conn., on the first Lord’s day morning in every
month, preaches on some of the distinctive
sentiments and practices of the denomination.
Ice. —ln a recent baptism at Beaver Lake
Minnesota, ice was cut feet thick.
Strict Communion. —The Strict Commun
ion Baptist College at Bury, Lancashire, Eng
land, commenced less than a year ago, has
called to the chair of Ecclesiastical History,
Rev. Benjamin Evans, DfD., of Scarborough,
author of “ Early English Baptists,” “ Letters
on Romanism,” etc.
On the Wane. —Rev. I. T. Ijecker, a Ro
man Catholic priest of New York, in a popu
lar lecture delivered in Brooklyn recently,
declared the Yankee race to be on the wane; —
which might be accounted mere rhetoric,
smoothing the way for his assumption that
“ the unity and perpetuity of this glorious
Republic depend on the spread of Catholi
cism.” But may we as lightly dismiss the
following statement by Dr. Thos. E. Bond,
in the Baltimore Episcopal Methodist, who re
fers, for his facts, to “ the New York Observer,
Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, and the
late work by Dr. Storer, of the same city
“ We hope in God never to see New England
ideas, spiritual or temporal, dominant here.
They are now eating out the very life of Mas
sachusetts, and if not altered will, in a few
generations, extinguish the descendants of the
Pilgrims in the boasted Old Bay State
Where the American deaths exceed the births,
and only half the children beach maturity, the
race is doomed. Foreigners in Massachu
setts have three children to an American one,
and the New England writers, from whom
this extraordinary fact is obtained all attrib
ute the rapid declension of the population to
the prevalence of secret srime unknown to
the South.’ ”
Creeds. —The Radical s|ys: “We see no
escape from the meshes of a greed hut through
the open door of the church out into the
world.” Well: that is the right place for the.
opponents of creeds; and the opposition will
always, when legitimately developed, end just
there.
Romish Superstition. —Rev. Jos. E.'Car
ter writes to the Biblical Recorder, an account
of a recent visit to the Abbey of La Trappe,
Nelson county, Ky., in which he says, describ
ing the monks’ chapel: “ The most prominent
figure of this magnificent room, is the monster
crucifix. There, in full life-size, executed by
one of their monks, is represented Christ on
the cross. I have seen in their cathedrals in
other places, great pictures and monster cru
cifixes, but this excels all. The mouth, eyes,
and tongue, all touched with the finest skill,
and painted in the image of death, seem to
speak though made of wood. The dripping
blood from the hands seems almost reeking
on Calvary. No temple-god in China will be
more of an idol to the poor followers of Con
fucius, than will this crucifix be to the blinded
Trappists of Gethsemane.
Sunday Schools. —ln seven or eight of the
chief Northern cities, the Methodists have es
tablished Home Sunday School Normal Class
es, classes of teachers who are trained for
the effective discharge of their office.—During
a recent revival in the Baptist church at Sag
Harbor, N. Y., on one Sabbath “more than
half the Sabbath School were upon the anxious
seat seeking salvation.”
Another Revision Demanded. —ln the
Scotch Established Church, (Presbyterian,)
the Duke of Argyll, Rev. Norman McLeod,
Principal Tulloch and Rev. D. Robert Lee,
have pronounced a revision of the Westmin
ster Confession of Faith a mere question
of time and an event which can not much
longer be delayed. These views were echoed 1
by Rev. Dr. Edmond, at the last meeting of
the London Presbytery, (United Presbyteri
an,) who urged the movement to get rid of
antiquated phraseology, and to secure the omis
sion of statements not needful now, and the
insertion of fresh matter to meet the require
ments of the present day.
Slavery. —A new religious periodical, the
Panoplist, has been commenced in Boston,
and claims to stand in advance of all religious
journals, on this one “ vital ” point—that it
will utterly exclude from church fellowship all
who uphold the institution of slavery.
Northern Methodists. —The journals of
this church claim* that, every Southern State
either in whole or in part, is now embraced
within the bounds of an Annual Conference of
their connection. Bishop Simpson completed
the circle recently by organizing a Texas Con
ference, which he did by joining some German*
and some colored preachers with one preacher
transferred from a Northern Conference.
Medicine and Missions. —Acting on the
belief that missionary stations can ‘never be
properly equipped until there are more medi
cal missionaries, New York clergymen are
uniting in a series of discourses for the bene
fit of the medical students in that city, who
number not less than 1,000, and among whom
a Christian Union with forty members was
formed during last year’s term.
Ministerial Candidacy. —An article on
Vacant Churches, in the Christian Intelligen
cer notices ‘ the recent ’case of a minister, of
good talent, popular address,consecrated heart,
a true disciple, who is sent for in a very flat
tening way, by a churoh wishing a patefcor, to
visit and preach with a view to a call. He
goes and finds that six others have been be
fore him, all of whom had gained friends who
stood ready to push them through. After
running the gauntlet, he said : “ Let me go to
Siberia and freeze, to Sahara and burn, to the
Micronesian isles and be eaten by cannibals,
to the territories and be tomahawked, but save
me from ever preaching again as a candidate.” ’
The No-Creed Party. —The First Unita
rian Church, Troy, N. Y., has recently adop
ted articles for its government and guidance,
from which we clip the following: “ The be
lief being entertained by many persons that,
in order to become members of a church, it
is essential to make profession of faith, and to
be received and acknowledged personally by
the church, and, on the other hand, a different
belief prevailing with many, namely, that
church membership is spiritual only, and that
the best profession is that which is made by
a good life, we leave it to the conscientious
convictions of each individual member to de
termine what kind of profession he shall
make. . . Whereas, some of our members
believe religion is a spirit to which established
forms are not essential, and such persons are,
therefore, not persuaded of the obligation to
join in the use of what are known as the
‘ Christian Ordinances,’ and others believe
that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are obli
gatory upon all, we leave it to the conscien
tious convictions of each member to use
these ordinances, or to abstain from the use of
them.”
The Fun Islands. —There are now in these
islands no fewer than 90,000 professing Chris
tians, 36,000 young people in the Wesleyan
schools, 1,700 school teachers, 1,500 class
leaders, 1,200 local preachers, and 35 native
missionaries. They have also a theological
institution, where 40 promising young natives
are being trained. The entire Bible had been
reprinted in the native tongue.
Strong Drink. —There are 800 “ grog
shops ” in Hartford, Conn., one to every 50
inhabitants.—Of the 930 drinking saloons in
Chicago, 230 are on two streets, and nine
tenths of the arrests made in the city take
place on those two thoroughfares.
London. —There are 3,000,000 of people in
this city, of whom 1,000,000 live in habitual
neglect of the means of grace, and only halt
a million make public profession of faith. The
neglecters of worship, if placed in a line four
a-breast, would reach from London to York, a
distance of 200 miles. In Bethnal Green,
within a brief walk from St. Paul’s, there are
persons whose only conception of the Al
mighty is, that ‘he is an old man with silvery
hair, who has been alive for a great many
years,’ persons who have never heard His
name except in an oath!
Church Decoration. —A gentleman of
liberal education and extensive European
travel recently remarked, with respect to the
painting, etc., of the inside of Madison Square
Presbyterian Church, New York, that it was
“like nothing he ever saw, but a North River
steamboat.”
The Ministry. —The Irish correspondent of
the Presbyterian Witness represents a defi
ciency in the supply of preachers and mis*
sionaries, as the experience of all religious
denominations, endowed and unendowed, in
the three kingdoms.
■ djarmpondenq..
: ' ' -4 ,
Letter from the Valley of Virginia.
Religious sta'.us of this part of the Valley—Prejudice
against Mm Baptists—Misdirected efforts— Brighter
day dawuilg—Effect of the war upon Baptist inter
ests in th9J7alley—lllustration—More readiness to
hear and tcrWnbrace our views—New corps of labor
ers likely to lfe more permanent—More men wanted
Can’t Georgia furnish some?
Dear Brother Shaver: —You are /amiliar
with the past history and present status of
the Baptist cause in this region, but a few
items in that direction may be of interest to
your readers. This part of the alley was
settled originally by Scotch-Irish Presbyte
rians, and each successive generation has fol
lowed in the footsteps of their fathers until
this may be called with truth,the “Gibraltar
of Presbyterianism.” For several counties
around they have the numbers, wealth,
intelligence and social position necessary to
“ possess the land.” There is a considerable
Methodist influence, a few Episcopalians and
a few Lutherans. The Baptists have but few
churches, and they are generally small and
feeble. For some years the Virginia Baptist
State Mission Board have efforts to
build up T .-Qur cause in this but the
success hair hitherto been
obstacles have been, very the efforts
have not always be%i welt directed. The ig
norance of our views and of our people has
been very great, and the prejudice against us
very strong. It has been currently believed
that we teach Baptismal Regeneration, Infant
Damnation, etc., and that we are an illiterate,
bigotted sect, composed of the lower classes
of white people and negroes. Several years
ago one of the most prominent citizens of this
county, on hearing a visiting Baptist minister
preach, exclaimed in surprise: “ Why he is
an educated man ! ” Last August the Albe
marle Association met at Goshen BridgA in
this county, and it was a matter of astonish
ment to many of the people that the ißaptists
had such men as the brethren who preached
on the occasion. This ignorance of qa • has
been perpetuated from year to year, withput
any opportunity (in most cases) of removing
it. There are large districts of country where
the voice of a Baptist minister has never befen
heard ; and unfortunately some of the pjjgfich
ers we have had in this section have notulen
at all calculated to remove the popular j>{eju
dice; against us. *’*-
*"We have had sonie noble brethren wfto
have labored for a season in this part of the
Valley, and who, if they had remained, might
have accomplished a great revolution in bur
favor; but unfortunately most of them re
mained but a short time, and then sought
more congenial fields; in some cases leaving
feeble churches that they had organized to
languish and die.
But I am persuaded that a brighter day is dawn
ing upon our cause in this splendid country.
The war brought the young men of the Valley
in contact with Baptists from Eastern Virginia
and from other States, and this contact served
to give them more intelligent views of our
doctrines and our people, to dissipate the
prejudice against us, and in not a few instances
v to cause them io unite j ThefwriterJ
remembers several striking instances of this
in his own personal experience. One may be
given. I administered the ordinance of bap
tism upon one occasion in the presence of a
large crowd of soldiers from this section, read
ing simply the proof passages of Scripture
without a word of comment. That evening a
very intelligent sergeant called at my tent
and made the following statement: “ I was
raised in the belief that Baptists were an illit
erate set of bigots, and that immersion was
contrary both to the Scriptures and to com
mon sense. I never heard a Baptist minister
preach until I came into the army, and never
witnessed an immersion until to-day. But
association with Baptists has done away my
prejudices ; the passages of Scripture which
you read to-day., and the scene which I wit
nessed have convinced me that I have never
been baptized, and I come to ask that you
will baptize me at your earliest convenience.”
The next day I led him down into the liquid
grave. God spared him through the war, and
I saw him last summer a useful member of a
promising Baptist Church, which was organ
ized in this region during the war by an army
chaplain.
The people through this entire section are
more willing to hear, and more ready to em
brace our views than ever before. And I
trust that we will have hereafter a corps of
more permanent laborers. Brother A. B.
Woodfin, known to many of your readers as
the efficient chaplain of the 61st Ga. Regi
ment, located about twelve months ago at
Mt. Crawford, (fifteen miles below Staunton,)
and has added nearly one hundred to his
church. Brother George B. Taylor, who in
eight years has built up an efficient church of
two hundred members from a company of
only twelve at the start, retains his post at
Staunton, despite many calls to go elsewhere.
Brother John H. Taylor, chaplain of the 35th
Ga. Regiment during the war, has recently
taken charge of Williamsville and Healing
Springs churches, and enters upon his work
with every prospect of a permanent and use
ful pastorate. Brother John W. Ryland (a
young brother of fine promise and none the
less qualified for this work, because during
the whole of the war he was a gallant Con
federate soldier,) has succeeded the writer of
this (who now gives his whole time to Lex
ington,) in the care of “Goshen Bridge ” and
“ Deerfield.” Thus you see we have four
new laborers added to the little band who
have been toiling here for the truth as we hold
it, and we are determined to stick to our posts
unless forced by plain providential indications
to leave.
As soon as our Missionary Boards are in
condition to make the necessary appropria
tions, there are a number of other points which
we wish to occupy with suitable men. We
are making arrangements to have six or eight
of our best preachers from Eastern Virginia
spend next summer in laboring as evangelists
in this region.
Are there not of your young Georgia
preachers who marched and fought along this
magnificent Valley during the war, and who
would like to make it the scene of their future
labors? Georgia owes us several to pay for
brethren Gwin, Wharton, Shaver, etc.
But-enough (and I am afraid your readers
will say more than enough !) for the present.
J. W. J.
Lexington, Va., Feb. 14, 1887.
Our Cause.
Brethren :—We address you upon the sub
ject of the evangelization of our people, for
the most part unapproachable through any
other organization but their own.
Immediately after the war, the Board of
Domestic and Indian Missions of the South
ern Baptist Convention applied itself to the
duties assigned it by the Convention; and re
solved, as far as the means would justify, to
enter upon a vigorous prosecution of the same.
In May, 1866, it was able to report 53 mis
sionaries in the field, with the sum of $23,-
053 28 received into the treasury during the
preceding six months. Since the meeting of
the convention, some 120 missionaries and
evangelists haye been under appointment for
a longer or shorter period. At this time 107
men are employed as pastors, missionaries and
evangelists, at an annual expense of not less
than $60,000. The most satisfactory results
have attended their labors, and we have every
reason to believe that the Divine favor has
rested upon them.
These brethren are scattered throughout
our Southern Zion : not a State but is reaping
the fruits of their labors. During the quar
ter ending June 30, 1866, they reported the
baptism of 283 whites and .44 blacks.; for _
quarter ending Sept. 30,643 whites and.2l4 i
blacks ; and for last quarter, ending Dec. 31,
464 whites, and 181 blacks—making a total
of 1,829 baptisms in 9 months.
Is not this an evidence of the Divine favor 1
What Christian heart does not swell with grat
itude to God ?
Now, my dear Christian friends, shall this
work be continued 1 If not, whom shall we
dismiss? Your pastor, or yours, my brother—
my sister 1 It will require not less than $15,-
000 to sustain this number of laborers till the
Ist of April next. There is'but a balance of
SI,OOO in our treasury. $14,000 must come,
if these dear brethren are paid, and must
come from the Baptists of the South, in the
main. Will you, my brethren, come up and
meet this crisis ? It is a noble work ; you
may be required to make some sacrifice in
sustaining the Board in this endeavor to keep
eur ministry employed, but can’t you do this,
for whom Christ died ? Talk not of sacrifice ;
think of the value of the souls of men—of
the interests of our beloved land—of the cause
Os God’s truth—and do all you can, and do it
for Jesus, and you shall receive the reward of
a disciple.
I Remilr byjnail or express to my address—
.. Marion, AHa.—and God bless you !
s Yours frujy, M. T. Sumner, Cor. Sec. .
Letter from Eastern Yirginia.
Dear Brother Shaver :—For the pleasure I
experience in the weekly reading of the Index
I wish I could make adequate remuneration.
I have been receiving it only since the begin
ning of the year, yet jf it fails to come at the
expected time, as it has done once, I am sadly
disappointed. I was a subscriber to the old
Index some years ago, but it came very ir
regularly. I am glad to say every number
has reached me this year, one only having
.been delayed a few days. And.wbenit«omes,
how rich it is, and how beautiful its face. No
other paper that I see, religious or secular,
compares with it in typography. I lent a copy
the other day to an old brother, and he ex
claimed, as in glad surprise: “ I can read it
without my spectacles! ” and after reading it,
he expressed himself delighted with its con
tents. Ido not despair of getting some sub
scribers for you in this far off country. Its
excellence and its beauty must win favor.
By the way, speaking of spectacles, a recent
number of the Religious Herald has an article
with the startling title, “ How to avoid the
necessity of using spectacles at the change of
life.” As one who after a while might have
to incur this necessity, I read the prescription
carefully. The amount of it is, that we must
exercise our wills and resolve not to have our
eyesight grow dim. We must not let our eyes
lose their power. It is argued that, “ when a
man of resolute will and of naturally strong
muscular energy determines that he will resist
the inclination to relax his activity, to stoop,
to swag in his gait, and to allow the grip of
his fingers to become weak, his power over
his faculties is perpetuated! ” What a tran
scendantly wonderful discovery ! Now I move
that we make short work of it, and resolve
with double vim that we will not grow old at
all. But, alas ! the day will come “ when the
keepers of the house shall tremble, and the
strong men shall bow themselves, and the
grinders cease because they are few, and those
that look out of the windows be darkened,”
and “ man goeth to his long home.”
In this part of the world general quiet pre
vails in all the various departments of life.
The churches (in the country I mean, not be
ing posted in town matters,) are only having
their regular Sunday services ; most of them
two or three Sundays a month. After a
month or two the Sunday schools will be
reopened, and soon thereafter the summer
campaign of protracted meetings will begin.
Last summer and fall many of the churches
received large and valuable accessions. God
grant an increase of a hundred fold during
this year!
The farmers have not commenced yet to
plow their fields, though the weather at pres
ent is mild and favorable, and the plowman
will soon be busy, unless winter returns again.
I reckon the gardens in some parts of Georgia
are beginning to look green with vegetation.
Many weeks will pass before such is the case
here.
As to political matters, they are rarely the
subject of discussion. O that all our Southern
people would continue to let them alone se
verely. If we mourn over the grave of con
stitutional liberty, let it be silently; it will
not be therefore the less deeply or sincerely
J. R. G.
King and Queen county, Va., Feb. 14, 1867.
The Truk Sunday School Spirit.— The
extract which we make from the letter of
brother J. W. E.—Mayfield, Ga., evinces a
commendable zeal in the Sunday school cause
on the part of the members of theElim Bap
tist Church:
“We have quite an interesting Sabbath
school. Not long since, at a review and pic
nic of the school at Elim Church, a class of
seven repeated fifteen hundred and ninety
nine verses of Scripture. We have kept up
this school all the winter in an open house,
without any stove; meeting in the months of
January and February twice a month. Would
that every church could feel the worth of Sab
bath schools!”