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THE CHRISTIAN INDEX AHI) SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST: ATLANTA,-GA.7 THURSDAY, JUNE 24 1869.
98
Jjafax ail fSaptfet.
J. J. TOON, • . ■ * Proprietor.
B9V. D. SHAVER, D.D., Editor.
THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1869.
“Political Assassination.”
In many quarters the statement has been made,
that political assassination is ‘the order of the
day* in our State, and that a debauched public
sentiment shields the perpetrators of the mon
strous crime from punishment. This impression
is conveyed, for example, by a recent “Letter from
Georgia,” in the Christian Era, of Boston. The
writer of the letter, as the editor of that paper
informs us, is “a New England divine, widely
known and universally loved.” This description,
for reasons which it is needless to detail here,
clearly singles him out for recognition by us : and
yet, he professes to withhold his name, as a safe
guard against personal peril from the lawlessness
of our section ! The artifice is shallow: the affec
tation of concealment really renders it more easy
to put one’s finger on him in Georgia than in
Massachusetts. With this exposure of the insin
cerity and subterfuge lying on the very surface
of the letter, we dismiss it; reserving its alleged
facts for notice the light of
cial, legislative, or milijsHfinstigation. jg|C
But the general that cotH(HH
as well the honor as tho|NHPand prosperlßH
our people, and we will wHAt some of itSHI
pects.
Perhaps, no one can the morals ■!
the whole country have from tfjjjl
war. If we mistake not, and deeds 4H
violence have been more nuEHBUS, both at thH
North and at the South, this terrible'-
upheaval of society. It is not in our section, in
deed, that these outcroppings of blood have at
tained greatest frequency : but no right-minded
Southern man can have marked their increase
among us without profound sorrow and humilia
tion. Now, (arguing on the logical principles of
“probability” which govern “the calculation of
chances,”) it is not unlikely that here,—as has
happened, at times, in every nation under heaven,
—the evil passions venting themselves in this de
struction of life, have been aroused and instigated
to their fell work, in some instances, by the con
flict of sentiment, interest and feeling, surround
ing questions of politics. If such instances oc
cur—and let them not be alleged except on testi
mony, w'hich defies impeachment and excludes
rational doubt—we have no word of apology for
them. Assassination for political ends is the last
extreme of folly and the lowest depth of infamy.
Nothing can be more dastardly in cowardice,
nothing more atrocious in brutality. He who
commits, or counsels, or conceals it, is, beyond all
other men, the deadliest enemy of his people.
Let no wretch of so flagitious a stamp find shel
ter from universal execration and the utmost rigor
of law. We would say these things with empha
sis. They express the sense of the great body of
our citizens. On this point, there are no parties
among us. Asa people, we give no more coun
tenance to political murders than to any oth
ers which make the course of events unsightly
with their crimson blot.
Let us, then, admit the probable occurrence of
political assassinations. Even in the instances
which may be most plausibly represented as bear
ing this character, what proof is there that the
actuating motive has been political only f (To
borrow the current phraseology,) who will assume
that “loyal” men have fallen on the single ground
of their “loyalty ?” Are there not reputed cases
of political assassination, in which the victims
have been imprudent, arrogant, coarse, denuncia
tory ? cases in which they have adopted a policy
of exasperation—have needlessly and wantonly
outraged the feelings of others —have covered the
past with a cloud of bitter reproaches and the fu
ture with a cloud of haughty threatenings—have
traduced, insulted, brow-beat opponents, with
an air of malignity toward individuals ? Is there
not reason to fear that precisely the same line of
action on questions altogether apart from politics,
would have cost them their lives at the hands of
desperate men ? We do not raise these enquiries
to extenuate the guilt of the slayer: nothing can
do that. But it is obviously just, that the politi
cal significance of the crime should be abated, in
our judgment, so far forth as personal faults pro
voked its perpetration. And has there been, any
where among us, a solitary case to which this
principle does not, in greater or less degree, ap
ply ? Is there not reason, too, to think that this
grossly offensive policy has sometimes been spared
the retaliation of blood, on account of the political
position of the offenders-- that Southern men
have forborne to avenge personal indignity, lest
their act should be wrongly construed as a proof
of sectional enmity, to the damage of our people
—and that thus the very party politics which are
represented as entailing loss of life have in fact
saved it?
If political assassinations occur, why look for
the perpetrators only among men of “Southern
principles ?” These events enure to the benefit of
but one class among us —those who favor extreme
measures of reconstruction. Is it, then, beyond
the range of probability that “loyalists” may
kill “loyalists ?” Are there in their number no
unscrupulous men— none so void of honor as to
welcome any expedient which promises partisan
or personal promotion ? We cheerfully absolve
the mass of them from such suspicion; but who
shall say that there may not be, now and then,
(as well in their ranks as among their opponents,)
one capable of murder, where murder conduces
to the ascendancy of the party, besides putting
out of the way a competitor in the prospective
scramble for place and pelf? To reject this hy
pothesis is to assume, —what the annals of the
world cannot parallel,—that we have a series of
crimes, committed always by those whom they
must injure—committed never by those who alone
reap advantage from them 1
To admit that political assassinations may have
occurred, and even to affirm that they have, does
not authorize us to give this explanation of par
ticular instances, in the absence of reliable and
explicit testimony. The strongest appearances
cannot warrant such a conclusion, without further
proof. May not individual malice or revenge
wreak itself, for private ends, upon persons po
litically obnoxious, with the hope that suspicion
will be led off on a wrong scent by the impression
that this obnoxiousness induced their murder?
Would not the guilty parties in such cases—and
in the cases to which the preceding paragraph
refers —so order their offence that the time and
the circumstances should give the highest color
to this impression, and, both before and after its
commission, originate rumors or assist in diffus
ing statements adapted to make the impression
prevalent ? Shall a hasty or blind credulity on
our part, help these arts of concealment to dupe
us ?
But our admission must not be pressed too far.
If there have been political assassinations among
us, their number has been grossly exaggerated.
At the worst, the real stand to the reputed cases,
we are sure, -scarcely in the proportion of one to
a thousand. Accusation has been wholesale—
has transcended all bounds of probability. Take,
for example, the statement, put in circulation,
some two years since, by a Northern religious
journal, that, ‘within a twelve-month, over four
hundred Georgia negroes had been butchered in
cold blood, without a single instance of punish,
ment for the crime.’ Take, also, the more recent
statement, that “two hundred and fifly men have
been assassinated in one Arkansas district, dur
ing the year, for no other cause than loyalty to
the nation.” Such allegations bear, on their face,
the brand of palpable falsehood: they are sheer
impossibilities. Even where this excess of cal
umny has received no countenance, many false
reports have been set on foot. Political assassi
nations have been alleged, w’hcre there has been no
murder and no attempt at murder, but the reputed
victims are still living, and living in perfect secu
rity,—or where the crime has been conclusively
traced to other and personal reasons, —or where
there has been not a shadow of legal testimony
establishing this reason for the crime. In these
cases papers have published the original report,
but have published no subsequent correction of
it: or, where both have been given to their read
ers, some have seen the former who have failed
to see the latter: or, where the one and the other
have fallen under the eye, the spirit of prejudice
and “the credulity of hate” have, here and there,
discredited the correction and clung to the ground
less, exploded report. Through such and such
like influences, it has come to pass, that the most
egregious over-estimates of the assassinations
which may be even colorably ascribed to political
reasons, prevail quite extensively outside of our
section, —for these things operate to produce at
once a liability and a tendency to exaggeration in
Jhidgments adverse to the South,
w This multiplication of false reports is diieto
[fipany causes. Take one. There is advantjjflßb
jpnem to a small but dangerous -
Bpreconstructionists. In proportion as nßjftpres
jtesion is made that the rights and lives ojf|||oyal-
HUts” are unsafe here, the hope increases Hkt ex
ifseme measures will be enforced and thelscend
fikttcy of this party ensured. Here is a strong
temptation, with men of lax principle, to foment
this impression, per fas et nefas —though right
and wrong—by fact and falsehood alike. Have
we not an illustration of the force with which
the temptation operates, if it be true, as alleged,
that the Chief Magistrate of the State, (a member
of that party,) notwithstanding his oath of office,
has exerted his influence to prevent the Commit
tee appointed by the Legislature to investigate
reported outrages against “loyal” men, from
discharging the duty assigned them, and has
offered no proclamation of reward for the discov
ery of the perpetrators of the two recent murders
so extensively regarded abroad as the fruit of
political hatred ? Does not such a course betray
an unwillingness to sift these reports, lest they
should prove to be baseless, or to bring the full
force of the Civil Authorities to bear against
crime, lest the issue should refute the charge that
no punishment can be inflicted on it? When
things like these can be done by men in high
place, who can wonder that a thousand rumors
born of the same spirit and conducive to the same
end should fill the land?
Take a second cause for the multiplication of
false reports in this line. Pecuniary interest may
prompt them. The impression that the lives of
loyal men are unsafe among us, depreciates the
value of property at the South. Capital from
the more prosperous section will not seek invest
ment under (what it regards as) the shadow of
lawlessness and blood. This impression, there
fore, has been worth millions of dollars to the
Northern men who have purchased real estate in
our section, within the last few years! If Gen.
Butler has really bought up, as the papers state,
a large body of land in North Carolina, who can
doubt that he has been well paid in pocket for all
his Blunders of our people, by the lower price at
which he was able to buy, on account of the ab
sence of those who might have bid or bargained
against him, but were deterred from the venture
by these very slanders ? Those who know how
an unscrupulous money power has interfered with
political affairs, —as in the case of the “ whiskey
ring,” (not to say the “ bond-holders,”) —will not
deem it Improbable that there has been an inter
ference from that quarter with the good name of
the South for order and peace, and a fabrication
of false reports to further sinister aims.
Take a third cause. Adventurers have swarmed
Southward, since the war. In not a few cases,
their enterprise has been greater than their ca
pacity. They have lacked that power of adapta
tion to society in unfamiliar forms, which would
have protected them from personal unpopularity,
and that insight into the laws, that foresight of
the fluctuations, of trade, which would have
secured financial success for them. They have
failed therefore, —failed simply for want of what
Locke styles “ large, sound, roundabout common
sense." Returning to the North, they have been
unwilling that their own incompetency should
be recognized as the ground of this failure. They
have shifted the burden to the shoulders of the
Southern people ; representing that their schemes
came to nought because of our hostility to “loyal”
men and “Yankees”—a hostility ‘disregarding
the rights and even shedding the blood of new
comers among us, and of those who sympathize
with them in politics.’ Out of this fountain,
what streams of calumny may not have flowed
into the columns of Northern papers?
There is yet another cause. An unwise dispo
sition has been indulged, in a few communities and
on rare occasions, to play upon the groundless
fears of sojourners from the North. An “orig
inal Union man,” whose “ loyalty,” during the
war, cost him a term of imprisonment in Fort
Bartow, informed us, recently, that he had known
persons of this class “ whistled away.” They
have “beat a hasty retreat” from our section,
simply because a number of boys stationed them
selves, one by one, at intervals, along their accus
tomed paths, and whistled as they went by! On
reaching their native States, they have not been
slow to announce through the press, how they
escaped with life “by the skin of their teeth! ”
We cannot quote this statement without saying
that the pranks of which it speaks deserve sharp
reprehension. They may be local sport, but they
are national mischief. They may divert a group
of youngsters, but they damage the common
wealth and the country. Os the grave harm
which may flow from them, we may, perhaps, ac
cept the recent reports of an “attempt to assas
sinate Rev. J. Spilman ” as a striking instance;
for the local paper gives that interpretation—we
hope, justly—of the incidents which have made
so great a noise through the land. But let that
be as it may : surely older and wiser heads need
no such admonition, to impress them with the
obligation and necessity of arresting these ill
advised, hazardous, and therefore most weak, ex
periments upon the weaknesses of others.
Still more decided condemnation should rest on
the last of the causes which invite notice from our
pen. We refer to representations made to us by
a gentleman elected, as a “ Republican,” to high
office in the State. He tells us that, in some
neighborhoods, there have been, at times, bands
of (irresponsible) “ Regulators,” formed “ not
for political ends, but for the punishment of
theft and depredation.” If this information is
correct, it is easy to see, since the offenders are
mostly colored persons, and since these colored
persons are mostly of one party in politics, how
naturally the impression goes abroad that, not
their vices, but their votes occasion the pains and
penalties inflicted on them, and what is intended
for the arrest of crime comes to be regarded as
an outrage provoked by their exercise of the right
of free political action. The sufferers would
readily suggest this explanation as a cloak for their
misdeeds; and sectional or party prejudice would
as readily lend an ear to it. Nor would the small
number of communities where such things have ta- i
ken place and the rare intervals at which they have
occurred even there, prevent the most sweeping
generalizations. Speaking frankly, as we have
done throughout this article, we must pronounce
such expedients for the protection of property
extremely unwise and culpable. “ The remedy
is worse than the disease.” It were a hundred
times better that*the possessions of a community
should melt hopelessly away under the hand of
the p;o vler, than that men should usurp the pre
rogatives of law, without the choice of their fel
low-citizens, the sanctions of an oath, and the
sense of responsibility to public sentiment; and
should, in the discharge of functions assumed
without authority, over-ride those safeguards of
justice which give the accused the benefit of open
trial, demand that sentence shall come only from
lips with no bias of personal interest in the issue,
determine the nature of the testimony which may
rightfully bring conviction, and prescribe and
limit the punishment of particular offences. We
doubt whether such deeds are done anywhere in
Georgia under the present more settled state of
things; but if they are, we would lift a voice
against them, “and cry aloud, and spare not.”
Every consideration of policy and principle clam
ors for the repression of so grievous an error—of
a warfare against crime which is itself a crime.
The length of this article warns us to close it.
But we must say a word or two, in relation to
the alleged impunity of the political assassina
tions charged against our people. Os course,
whatever shows the.likelihood that the great bulk
of such reports rest on no foundation of fact,
helps to shear this aspect of the question of the
huge proportions with which our enemies would
invest it. The cases with any air of probability
about them become too few to justify the suppo
sition that the escape of the offenders from pun
ishment betrays a general hostility on the part of
our people toward “ loyal ” politicians. Too
often, alas, in all sections, the shedding of blood
goes “ unwhipt of justice.” We remember to
have seen recently, in that excellent monthly, the
Galaxy, the statistics of murder in the city of
New York for a series of years—from which it
appeared that in one-fourth of the instances, the
perpetrators of the crime were never even dis
covered. In many other instances, doubtless,
they were shielded from punishment by flight, by
technicalities of law, by false witness, etc. Now,
if such things may be in New York, notwith
standing the thorough organization of its police
under “King Kennedy,” and its freedom from
the revolutions which have, at times, suspended
or largely paralyzed the functions of the civil
authorities at t ie South—is it matter of surprise,
that they should happen among the scattered
population and amid the convulsions of our State,
in the very few cases of assassination which may
be presumptively attributed more or less directly
to political causes? Let those decide, who seek
to obey the Divine mandate, —“Judge not, that
ye be not judged.”
Our Zion—in Our Exchanges, etc.
Georgia.
Within the last two or three weeks, seven
young ladies have been baptized by the pastor of
our church at Athens. Most of these baptisms
took place in the baptistery, recently constructed
in the house of worship, and before large audi
ences, many of whom never before witnessed a
baptism. There are others, it is hoped, who will
soon profess their faith, and be baptized.—Four
members of the Second Baptist church, Atlanta,
have subscribed nearly $5,000 toward the en
largement and improvement of the house of wor
ship. $5,000 more are required; and, we sup
pose, will be forth coming, of eourse.
Alabama.
Antioch Baptist church, Butler county, pub
lishes in the Memphis Baptist, resolutions rela
ting to “certain slanderous reports derogatory to
the character of the pastor, Rev. T. G. Lang.”
Having carefully enquired into them, the church
says: “While we regret the absence of that pru
dent caution and forethought that should always
mark the conduct of a Christian minister, yet we
fail to detect any criminal intention on his part.
Under all the circumstances, we dismiss the mat
ter, as requiring no further investigation. We
still retain the utmost regard for brother Lang’s
integrity as a gentleman, a Christian, and a min
ister.”—Rev. M. T. Sumner, of Marion, was quite
ill for some days, on his recent visit to Richmond,
but is now convalescent.—A private note to us
from Eufaula says: “Our new church enterprise
bids fair to be a splendid success. The lot is
bought and paid for, and we are waiting for plans
from our architect to go to work.”
Arkansas.
Rev. E. N. Chenault, of Columbia county, has
recently aided in the ordination of two colored
Baptist ministers, and in connection with Rev.
Peter Edwards (a colored preacher) aided in re
cognizing a colored Baptist church at Magnolia,
of twenty-two members, one being an ordained
preacher.—The First Baptist church, Little Rock,
with the approval of an Advisory Council, has
excommunicated Rev. N. P. Moore, for “leaving
the city as he did, with debts against him unpaid,
borrowing money under false pretences, and
taking away with him a valuable trunk (which
had been left in his care by Stevenson,) and
leaving his own, an old one of little value, in its
place.”
Kentucky.
A Baptist church was constituted, June 12th,
at Greenville, Muhlenburg county. —Rev. J. S.
Gatton has been called to the care of our church
at Elizabethtown.
North Carolina.
Wake. Forest College, at its recent Commence
ment, conferred the title, D.D., on Rev. Matthew
Tyson Yates, our missionary at Shanghai, China.
—The Baptist State Sunday School Convention,
held at Raleigh, June 11th, was largely attended
and highly interesting.—The Biblical Recorder
states, that Rev. A D. Phillips, our missionary in
Africa, was born in Moore county, N. C. “In
early life his father moved to Miss., where he
joined the Baptist church and was baptized the
day he was eighteen years old, by Rev. W. C.
Thomas- He lived with his father sometime af
terward ; then taught school for a year or two,
went to some of the high schools, and then to
Mercer University, Ga. While there he was en
gaged by the Columbus Association of Ga., to go
out as their Missionary. That led to a corres
pondence with the Foreign Mission Board at
Richmond, Ya. In 1854: he was appointed by
that Board a missionary to Africa. He was then
kept travelling for the Board nearly twelve
months, and sailed from New York in October,
1855. Just before he sailed, he was married to a
lady in Ga, who accompanied him to Africa, but
who died soon after their arrival at the station in
Ijaye.”—Rev. J. Blackwood died at Cleaveland
Mineral Springs, June Bth.
VIKOINIA.
The First African Baptist church, Richmond
baptized during the past year 500 persons, and
has now a membership of 4,588 persons. The
Second African Baptist church of that city has
raised over SB,OOO toward rebuilding its house of
worship.—Rev. C. C. Chaplin raised $3,500 for
the enlargement and improvement of his house of
worship, Danville, and the work has been done.
Our Sunday school in Fredericksburg has as many
scholars as all the other Sunday schools in the city
combined.—Rev. T. G. Jones, D.D.,*has accepted
the pastoral charge of Freemason street church,
Norfolk.
Indian Mission.
In a recent private note to us, Rev. J. H.
Stockton says: I have, <to-day, a letter from
brother Murrow, the Rehohoth Missionary to the
Indians, which breathes the spirit of encourage
ment for the Indian work. He lately saw brother
Wm. Eu-fa-10, the preacher alluded to in
your columns a week or two since, who is
abounding in labors ofrfrtve with the people of
his tribe; and tells me that brother Eu-fa-lo is im
pressed to build a house for worship in his neigh
borhood. Now, if you know’ of any brother (or
sister) who feels that we are debtors to the poor
Indian, and wants to puj a log in the house, ac
cept it from him. You know they will not want
an extravagant house. 4 should suppose SIOO
will put then: up a house every way suitable.
Misapprehensions.
In the Examiner and Chronicle of the 3rd
of J une, is an article on “ The Present Per
plexities,” indicating the same misapprehen
sion of the action of the Southern Baptist
Convention, at Macon, in reference to preach
ing the gospel to the colored people, as ap
pears in a communication from “A Georgia
Baptist,” in the Index of June 10t,h. It is
to be hoped that the readers of the Examiner
as well as A Georgia Baptist, may see your
editorial reference subject, in the Index
of June 10th, in the “perplexities”
and “forward movement” are distinctly de
fined. A candid ebmsideratiou of your ex
planation will certain# correct the misappre
hension, and leave n* just ground for com
plaint. at the action >f the Convention. A
forward movement, so far as increased zeal
in laboring f<>r the religious instruction of the
colored people is concerned, is certainly to be
anticipated,—just as a forward movement in
every department of'Christian effort is to be
expected as the result of the late Convention ;
but such a movement, by organizing new
Boards or introducing radical changes in our
methods ot labor, is plainly out of the ques
tion at present, and it is doubtful whether
such “prognss” will ever be desirable. It
will be well for us if we do not allow these
misapprehensions of what we are doing to
diminish our zeal in laboring for the colored
people, or to prejudice us unduly against the
efforts of others in this same field. May God
give us grace to act evermore as in His sight,
and so as to secure His approval! The
condemnation of othfrs will then be a trifling
matter.
I may be permitted to state, in this con
nection, that during the past few months I
have taken part, with other brethren, in the
constitution of*two colored churches and the
ordination of two colored deacons, besides
knowing of the ordination of a colored min
ister and the baptism of a number of colored
people by white ministers, —all in this neigh
borhood. And then* is scarcely a minister in
our w hole Association who is not laboring all
the time, more or less specially, for their reli
gious welfare. The oldest minister in our
Association, our venerable brother J. P.
Thompson, who has been preaching with
great acceptance ana success for more than
fifty years, has been devoting the ripeness of
his experience to the special benefit of a col
ored church within a dozen miles of this
place, and but a short time since had more
than forty persons to baptize. His failing
strength interfering with the regularity of his
attendance on their services, he has requested
them to procure another to serve them ; and,
ot their own accord and suggestion, they
have called as th*?i|p>astor one of our latest
but most useful ministers, an ex-Confederate
officer. #
There are some very sad, and'even start
ling facts, that I might detail, illustrating the
spread of superstition and erroneous teach
ings among the negroes in this country; and
such is the opposition of their leaders, male
and female, to any true enlightenment, that I
fear that they are inaccessible to any influ
ences we can bring to bear directly upon them.
They appear to me So be ripening rapidly as
an easy harvest lor Rumish emissaries.
Surely any righi-minded man, who can help
to resist this tendency, will be welcomed
among us. There is a large enough field in
which to labor, without interfering with the
efforts of any of our people who are already
at work. Will this be born., in mind 1
C. M.
Tuslca'.oosa, Ala.
Tlie “Eufaula Fair.”
1 have been waiting for some more prac
ticed pen to give you and your readers an
account of this model fair. It was certainly
worthy of favorable mention, and I am un
willing for it to go unnoticed. I frankly con
fess that, heretofore, 1 have been rather op
posed to fairs, because I looked upon them
as opposed to true piety and sound morality.
Many fairs, to say the. least, are very doubt
ful auxiliaries to the church and the cause of
religion. For if a young man may, at the
solicitation of some good efficient brother or
pious working sister, take “chances” at a
Church Fair, why not in a so-called “Scien
tific and Art Association ?” And if* in a
gambling concern, v. here all the chances are
against him, why not in a game of poker,
where the chances are equal and where his
skill and practice may avail him something?
When we consider the loud and earnest re
monstance of the pulpit against gambling,
and see how this hydra-headed monster still
walketh in darkness and wasteth at noonday,
is it not passing strange that it should be
clothed in the robes of religion and employed
in the service of the church? Surely the
heart is deceitful above all things, or profess
ing Christians could never be seduced into
such inconsistencies. Besides this, I have
been opposed to fairs on the score of econo
my, as costing more than was realized from
them. But my opposition has been over
come. I confess myself conquered, and by
the “Eufaula Fair.” And, Mj. Editor, just
between you and me, not to go any farther,
if there be any fair by whom it is an honor
for a man to be conquered, it is the fair of
Eufaula. And, to tell the truth, this is not
the first time I have had to strike my colors
and confess myself their captive.
The object of the Eufaula Fair was io raise
funds for building a parsonage in connection
with our new church enterprise which, unde’-
the efficient management of our energetic
pastor, M. B. Whart n, is succeeding admi
rably. The ladies have taken the parsonage
under their especial charge, and you may be
assured that ther will soon be a beautiful and
well-arranged home for the Hapri-t pastor of
the Bluff City. What has already been done
is a sure pledge of success, for it u as not only
well done, but done quickly. The Fair was
not only a model ol its kind, but it was a
most gratifying success. It was conducted
with energy, and skill, and taste, and at the
same time with the utmost regard for Chris
tian propriety : nolle of those disgraceful ap
pliances, such as raffles, “grab bags,” chances,
nothing to shock the most delicate religious
sensibilities. And, then, the tastefulness with
which the tables were gotten up, and the
beautiful arrangement of the “Ait Grotto,”
could not fail to be a good lesson in aesthetic
culture. It was also a most splendid and de
lightful social gathering. And in addition to
all this, such was the financial ability dis
played that, while all felt they had value re
ceived for the money expended, there was
realized from the enterprise, over one thou
sand dollars —a good round sum for these
times of monetary pressure.
It is to be hoped that the pleasure and
profit derived from this will encourage the
ladies to give us a similar entertainment, and
for the same worthy object, in the fall, when
there will be more money in circulation, and
then, Mr. Editor, we will send you a ticket,
and when you come and see for yourself you
will find that “ the half has not been told
you,” though enough for the present.
A Fair man.
Eufaula, Ala., June 14, ’69.
Notes of Travel Northward.
Will your readers read the scribblings of
a wandering Baptist 1 ? If you think so, let
them have without extra charge, the follow
ing synopsis of some ot the things I have
seen and heard among the Baptists since 1
left my little home under Kennesaw :
At Louisville, Ky, I found the Kentucky
Baptist Association in session, and although
a stranger, in a strange land, I felt a kind of
hankering to look in upon these brethren, and
soon found my way to the Walnut Street
church, where I found a large and respectable
body of Baptist preachers; and, as usual, found
them making speeches, and the subject of
their speeches—'“how to secure from the
churches the requisite money to sustain the
mission cause.” (Fruitful theme for fruitless
speeches.) If every Baptist was a reader of
your paper, 1 would tell them how to sustain
missions easy. Well, I will tell the secret to
those who do read it, and they can tell others.
Here it is: Let every member of the church,
whether boy or girl, man or woman, be called
on, personally, by a finance committee, at
least every three months, to pay something
into the mission fund. This will pay all the
present expense of missions and ini tease the
number of workers a thousand fold. But 1
have digressed. I was only present a few
minutes at this Kentucky meeting, until I
saw the pleasant and manly face of brother
Boyce, and recognized our much loved Craw
ford ; and then, as 1 looked about me, I saw
brethren Poindexter, Taylor, of Va., brother
Goss, (of Georgia memory,) and began to
feel at home. Brother A. T. Spalding Pas
tor, Walnut Street church, did me the honor
to announce my name, and I was welcomed
by the Moderator. Afterwards was most
generously entertained in the family of
brother Hamilton. These Kentucky Baptists
are doing a good work, and in some respects
ahead of Georgia. But 1 will not now under
take to tell all that they are doing. I will
merely add, that in Louisville they have some
good Sunday school workers, and I passed a
happy Sabbath. The next Sabbath l was
with our brethren of the Seventh Baptist
church, Baltimore. Went to brother Fuller
Crane’s Sunday school, where they have good
singing, a zealous Superintendent, a large
school, and a good place for a worker, but
no place for idlers. At eleven o’clock Dr.
Fuller preached a good sermon upon the sub
ject of “Christ’s consciousness of his divin
ity.” The Doctor insisted with clearness
that the abiding innate consciousness which
Christ felt and constantly announced, was in
the highest sense, a proof of his “Godhood”
In the afternoon, by the kindness of brother
Hiram Wood, I was permitted to attend a
mission Sunday school under his care, where
I had much enjoyment, and at night heard
brother Taylor preach, and brother Phillips
speak on the subject of the African mission.
By the bye, this last named brother is a
Georgian, and, in my opinion, well adapted
fur his work. May God bless him and his
mission.
The next Sabbath found me in the “Nut
meg” State, sitting under the ministry of the
facetious and intellectual Dr. Phelps, of the
Wooster Street Baptist church, New Haven.
This man is a decided Baptist in his preach
ing, and in his practice administers the ordi
nance of baptism with great solemnity and
gentleness, and I felt as they came up out of
the water, the Spirit of God was present with
his approving sanction to the act as adminis
tered by Doctor Phelps on the evening I was
at his church. The Elm city, (as I wrote you
twelve months since,) has only one Baptist
church, but the members are now engaged in
the work of putting up another house of
worship ; so, then, the Baptists are addiug
house to house, and, I hope, are extending
the Redeemer’s kingdom.
My next presence among the Baptists at
worship wasat the church where Dr. Thomas
Armitage is pastor. This is the brother who
was recently at Macon, and to whom brother
W.F. Broaddus said, after hearing him preach,
“Brother Armitage, I will give you the hand
of fellowship, even if you do say doos for
does.” The meeting that I now write about
was the occasion of recognition of anew
church just formed, called Plymouth church.
A sermon, good and sound, was preached by
a brother 1 did not know*, Afterwards Dr.
Armitage delivered the charge which he be
gan by saying, that so much had been said
as to principles and doctrines, that it needed
not that he should do more than address him
self to some of the simple every-day duties
and difficulties of a church. There is so
much of this part of his charge that I think
applicable to every church, that I want to tell
you as much as I recollect.
His first item of exhortation to the church
was “be certain to adapt your church ar
rangements, your building, your organiza
tion, and all your equipments to the circum
stances of the field where your work is to be
done. Be neither too high nor too low, too
rich or too poor, for those who are around
you. Seek not to have a church for Fifth Ave
nue, nor for the Battery, (1 give the idea,
not the words,) neither for Boston or Charles
ton, but make it a point to have a church just
suited for the particular place where your
church duties are to be performed and your
church relations diffused.
Watch your finances : don’t do your money
work at loose ends. Have a first rate busi
ness man for a treasurer, and require him to
keep books as accurately for God’s church as
he does his own bank account. Let {ill your
business matters be attended to with the ut
most promptness and even strictness.
Keep your temper down. 1 won’t say
don’t quarrel; for to tell Baptists not to quar
rel is all stuff; they will quarrel. I know
you will do this, but then I urge you to doit
in a good spirit; don’t let your temper get
too high. Let kindness and a yielding spirit
of conciliation toward those who disagree
with you be prominent in all your quarrels,
and then but little harm will follow.
“ Once more I exhort you, —keep every
member of your church at work. Find out
what each can do, and put him at it. Some
times, it is thought, some are so crooked and
gnarly, so cross and eccentric, that you can
find no work for them. Why, 1 went into
the navy yard a short time since, and saw
there five or six crooked, elbow-shaped sticks
fil l of .knots, and very ugly; so much so,
that I What in the world will you do
with these? Do with them ? said the Super
intendent: put them right in the foremost
part of the ship, to cut the water. So, my
brethren, if you have any crooked slicks in
your church, put them right in the front
ranks of the hardest work, and make them
cut through.” .
“Lastly, my brethren, don’t run your
church on conscience, but run it on common
sense and Bible truth. Many very many
churches' are split to pieces on conscience.
One man backs himself up in his own partic
ular views and vows—he won't move an
inch, and says here 1 stand; I am conscien
tiously bound not to move. Another goes to
the opposite extreme of the same subject, and
like a mule, persistently refuses to go for
ward, and says he is bound by conscience.
I wouldn’t give a snap of the finger, (here the
Doctor did snap his fingers,) for any in m’s
conscience that was not a conscience taught
by common sense, and the Bible. Why, our
Catholic friends near us eat a little wafer and
drink a swallow of wine, and vow it is the
real, identical body and blood of Jesus, and
this they do conscientiously. Our Jewish
neighbors at the synagogue read from the
Old Testament devoutly, and discard all the
New Testament with the Saviour it offers,
and this they do for conscience sake. John
Chinaman over in San Francisco builds a pa
goda, puts in it an idol, and falls down to
worship it for conscience sake. Our Metho
dist brother over the way takes a little water
and sprinkles it upon the head of an uncon
scious babe, and calls it baptism conscientiously.
Brethren, don’t run your church on con
science. I met an English brother who told
of a church (that l inquired about) that had
divided on conscientious differences until it
split seven times, and now consists of a man
and his wife and sorvaut.
I conclude : Brethren, let your pastor alone.
Don’t be constantly suggesting to him what
to do, and when to do it. He knows what
he can do, and can do it better without being
told how or when. Let him alone, and let
him do his work his own way, and when he
can’t do it right, ask him to resign. Remem
ber, too, to let his family alone. Don’t both
er your pastor’s wife with suggestions. You
have no more right to manage her affairs
than the affairs of any other woman. You
have not called her to the care of your
church, and if you are determined to have
her do any of the pastoral work, vote her a
salary.”
Thus I have given you an outline of the
Doctor’s charge to the Plymouth church, and
1 most heartily endorse it. W. L. M.
New York, June 13, 1669.
A Minister's Library.
There is in my care a small library, gath
ered by an educated young pastor of the
South, who was early and suddenly re.ooved
by death. His widow and little children
need funds, and the husband and father’s
books are offered at less than half their value.
The cataloge contains over four hundred vol
umes of just such books as a young minister
who loves study would like to have: Books
on Evidences of Christianity, Systematic
Theology, Commentaries, Histories, Greek,
Latin and Hebrew text-books, and lexicons,
etc., etc. 1 hope this notice may be the
means of benefitting the widow of a deceased
brother, and at the same time enabling some
minister to secure books which he needs, at
a very low price. The books are boxed, and
can be shipped at once. I should be glad to
communicate more particularly with any
brother wishing to purchase.
S. Landrum, Savannah, Ga.
Tidings from Heplizibali.
On Friday before the fourth Sabbath in
May last, the General Meeting of the 3rd
district of the Hephzibah Association con
vened in the spacious elm pel of the Ilephzi
bah High School. Besides the delegation
from the immediate churches of the district,
there were a number of brethren present
from other districts, and from adjoining coun
ties. We noticed amoDg the visitors, breth
ren Dr. S. B. Powell, of Burke, Cason, Nor
ris, and Smith, of Warren, and Rev. Jona
than Huff, of Columbia. The latter is the
last of our old ministers, and is the only link
that laps us back to the times of Pol hi! I, Kay,
Kilpatrick and others of the past generation.
Father Huff was especially invited by the
resident ministers of Biolhersville, as they
desired to see his venerable form once more,
and were anxious that their children should
see and hear the good old man, who, for
more than fifty years, has proclaimed the
gospel within our bounds, and who has bap
tized many of their parents and grand-parents.
Father Huff is 89 years of age, but enjoys a
remarkable exemption from the usual infirm
ities of that period of life. He received,
some eight or ten years ago, an accidental in
jury on the head, which, for a time, seemed
to threaten his intellectual faculties; but
from this he appears to have entirely recov
ered. He preached a plain, practical ser
mon, on Saturday, and lectured the Sabbath
school on Sunday morning, 9£ o’clock. There
were a number of interesting objects and
subjects presented to the consideration of the
meeting and of the community ; but the ob
ject dearest of all—that which seemed to
attract most of the affectionate regard of all,
old and young, saint and sinner, was the
presence of our aged and beloved father—
Rev. Jonathan Huff. He was sent for twen
ty miles, and retained for a week, that we
might listen to his paternal counsel, and re
ceive his parting benediction. We and our
children will never forget his visit. Father
Huff, at the request of the pastor of the
Hephzibah church, acted as Moderator.
A committee of two ministers .nd three
laymen were appointed to report, on Satur
day evening, as to the best means to be em
ployed, by which the present numerical and
spiritual decline in our churches might be
remedied. The following is the substance of
the report: Your Committee recommend
that your ministers, and especially, that your
pastors shall adopt the plan so generally
practiced by the ministers of the past gener
ation, always, when visiting, especially on
Sabbath, the families of the r charges, of
praying witn them, and conversing, when
practicable, with the individual members of
such families, on the subject of personal reli
gion ; that Sabbath schools and prayer meet
ings be encouraged; that the ministry culti
vate a deep sense of their entire dependence
upon the influences ot the Holy Spirit; that
the undue and avaricious love of the world
be discouraged ; that family and secret prayer,
now so fearfully neglected, be earnestly in
sisted upon; that our entire people be urged
by all means to take the Index and Baptist,
and such other religious literature as may
conduce to their moral and intellectual eleva
tion, and enlightenment of their wives and
children; that the criminal neglect of the
Bible be presented in its true colors to the
membership and the world ; that a more thor
ough, yet affectionate system of discipline, be
exercised by the churches over the fraternity ;
that the roll of the membership be called
quarterly, and that as each name is read out,
the Clerk, or Senior Deacon, shall say whether
or not the character of the individual whose
name is called, is or is not liable to church
censure; and, finally, that we cultivate a more
firm reliance upon the promises of God, and
a more lively faith in the blessed Redeemer.
The members of the General Meeting, as
well as a great number of visiting friends
and brethren, were very much gratified at
the exercises in reading and declamation, in
termingled with vocal and instrumental music,
which were dispensed on Friday evening as a
part of the regular exercises of the school at
this place. The llephzibah High School is
located at Brothersvilie, Richmond county,
Ga., 13 miles South west of Augusta, and is
the pet lamb of the Ht-phzibah Associate>n.
Under the care of Rev. W. L. Kilpatrick a id
Rev. W. 11. Da vis as co principals, and num
bering nearly 100 pupils, this school stands
unsurpassed in advantages, f.»r tie- moral and
intellectual training of the young of t.uth
sexes. In addition to its uneivSl• • lit.- my
drill, there is held on ev.-ry Nabba'li m ruing
in the commodious chapel .>1 m. 1 stitution,
a Sabbath school of some 7d or 80 pupils,
under the direction of compel nt teachers.
One of the mo->t interesting feature s os the
Sabbath exercises, is the r•• itation of the
Bible clais, composed of about 25 young
men and young ladies, representatives of the
best and most intelligent citizens of the
county.
When wn remember that there are, all
over our beloved South, a number of Justitu
tions with like design and similar appliances,
we can but rejoice in the proud hope of the
future. With preaching and Sabbath school
every Sabbath, to endorse the influence of
such men as Kilpatrick and Davis during the
week, we may, even amid the gloom of the
present, “thank God and take courage.”
We neglected to say that, on Saturday
night Rev. L. F. MeNorrel preached a warm
and stirring sermon, and that, on Sabbath,
Rev. W. 11. Davis delivered a sermon which,
for its depth of thought, correctness of anal
ysis, and beauty of diction, will not be fur
gotten by this community for years to come.
Random.
Kentucky News,
It may perhaps be an item of interest to
some of your readers, that brother J. Pike
Powers, recently of Greenville Theological
Seminary, and a member of the church at
this place, was ordained on the 10th inst.
The services were somewhat different from
what they usually have been in this section.
Generally, the examination of the candidate
is very brief, and occurs at the same time
with the ordination services. On this occa
sion the candidate was examined Wednesday
evening, and the ordination was on the fol
lowing morning. For two hours the whole
range of Christian doctrine passed in review,
enabling the council really to ascertain the
fitness of him they were about to set apart,
and exhibiting to the congregation an epitome
of our views. The ordination, on Thursday
morning, wms peculiarly tender and solemn.
Brother A. W. Chambliss, of Maysville, re
cently from the South, preached tiie sermon.
His son, recently of Aberdeen, Miss., and
who is visiting Kentucky, made the
Brother J. W. Brown, of Miilersburg, in the
central part of the State, delivered the charge,
and brother C. Keyes presented the Bible. It
was with weeping eyes that that hand of
welcome was extended at the close. Brother
Powers has been appointed to a missionary
field under the Board of this, the Bracken
Association, and enters immediately upon his
labors.
The name of brother Chambliss will be
recognized by many of your readers, no
doubt; 1 having frequently been asked about
him on my recent visit among you. The
sermon here in de a fine impression, and Dr.
Chambliss has been well received in Mays
villc. 11 is congregations are large, and his
church propose remodelling their house of
worship. They are looking forward to bright
prospects there. J. M. Bent.
Augusta, Ky., June 14 th, 1869.
Bethel Church, Muscogee County, Georgia.
As you have solicited news from the
churches, I will give you a short statement of
the work of the Lord at Bethel, Muscogee
county, Georgia. 1 have but little dis
position to appear before the public in the
papers; yet it is right, I suppose, to let the
Lord’s people know, through our loved Chris
tian Index and Baptist, of the work of the
Lord in our respective fields of labor.
The good Lord is blessing me and my peo
ple, with whom I have labored so long, at
Bethel. I have baptized from two to three
at every regular meeting, for the colored peo
ple, for the last three months. I baptized
three last Sabbath, and received two others,
whose baptism stands over. I preach one
Sabbath in each month to the colored, and
two to the whites; but on their day they as
semble in large numbers. They are atten
tive to the word preached, and treat me with
great respect, and Christian kindness. My
heart and soul have been much blessed while
preaching to the colored people. They are
still connected with the whites in their church
relations, but hold their meetings separately.
Much was said at our late Convention at
Macon, respecting our duty, religiously, to
the colored people, in our dear Southern
land. If we, as Baptist Christians, would
meet our obligations to them, let eveiy pas
tor, where he can, give them a separate ser
vice. Meet them kindly, preach to them
Je*us, the way of life; talk to them about
Jesus, and instruct them in reference to all
the great duties of life. Let them see that
you love their souls, and want them to do
well in this life, and that which is to come,
and they will hear you, when you go to them
in God’s name. Duty is ours: results belong
to God. Let us not forget that the gospel of
Christ is the power of God. Social equality
is not involved in the great idea of saving
their souls. It is outside of the Bible to talk
or think of social equality between the two
races. , C. C. Willis.
Columbus , Ga.. June 9th, 1869.
Ministers autl Deacons’ Meeting.
The second meeting of the ministers, dea
cons and Sabbath school workers of the Bethel
Association, was appointed to take place at
Benevolence, Randolph county, Ga., on Fri
day before the fifth Sabbath in May. A few
of us met at Benevolence on Saturday morn
ing. No previous appointment for preaching
having been made, Elder W. M. Howell
kindly consented to preach the opening ser
mon. Brother 11. recently moved to out
county from Florida. He is a good man,
and we gladly welcome him into our midst.
He gave us a very appropriate sermon, from
the words: “Then they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another, and the Lord
hearkeNed, and heard it, and a book of re
membrance was written before Him fur them
that feared the Lord, and that thought upon
His name.” Mai. iii: 16.
After an intermission of about two hours,
we reassembled at the church, and organized
by electing brother Howell us Chairman, and
brother 11. Hartsfield as Secretary.
The most of the afternoon was taken up in
hearing from the churches in detail, and in
prayer. The exercises were exceedingly
interesting. Brethre'. lamented the cold con-
dition of themselves and their churches, and
a deep and tender feeling seemed to pervade
the congregation. A colored brother, Rev.
Green McArthur, who was present, being
called upon to slate tlie condition of the
churches to which lie was preaching, replied
in some very pertinent reinaiks. I wish all
who are prejudiced against laboring for the
salvation of the blacks could have been pres
ent and heard him. He begged the brethren
to come out to their meetings and assist them.
Tie acknowledged that the whites were supe
rior to themselves, intellectually. He said
the blacks needed the assistance and the coun
sel of their white brethren. Ail were pleased
with his modesty and humility.
The next meeting was appointed to be held
at Blakely, on Friday before the fifth Sabbath
in August. At night your correspondent
tried to preach from the words: “What
meanest thou, O sleeper?” Jonah i: 6.
Several present'd tin- nselves for prayer.
Sabbath m ailing brother Muse, of Cuth
bert, joined us. Brother Howell preached
on regenmali .ii, at 11 am., from John iii: 8:
“The wind bloweth where it listeth,” etc.
Dm points presented were: 1, The spiritual
iiy ui hristianity, and, 2, The evidence of
ti a: spirituality seen in the effects produced.
L was a happy effort. The congregation was
large, and very attentive. Many were deep
ly moved, and a goodly number presented
themselves on the anxious seats. May the
Holy Spirit bring them all to Jesus. As
brother How ell and I are teaching, we had to
leave very soon in the afternoon to get home,
in order to meet our schools Monday morning.
I’he prospects for an interesting meeting were
very good. We left our dear brother Muse
with them. 1 have nut heard from the meet
ing since we left. May the Lord sandfly the
occasion to the upbuilding of His cause, the
revival of the church, and the conversion of
sinners. May the time soon eome win u al(
Ills ministers shall be released from secu
lar business to devote themselves entirely to
their Master’s service. T. FI. Stout.
Lumpkin, June lit A, 1869.
