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CHRISTIAN INDEX AND ijOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST.
VOL. 48-NO. 82.
A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY fAPER,
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN ATLANTA, GA
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Trial And Faith.
Ever is my peril near ;
Ever cometh grace to cheer ;
Ever keenest toitures rend ;
Ever Jesus is my friend.
Ever sin enslaves, ensnares;
Ever Christ my burden bears;
Ever tread l sorrow’s way;
Ever, ever sing and pray.
Joyful, woful are my cries ;
Now 1 fall, and now I rise ;
Now I wrestle with unrest;
Now lean on the Saviour’s breast.
Thus I grief and gladness link,
And the mystic cup I drink,
(Sweet and bitter—bitter, sweet);
Strange and dread, life’s contrasts meet.
But, O Christ! the more I weep.
Send the more faith strong and deep;
Siu may tempt and sorrow wail— •
Never let them, Christ, prevail.
“Hymn* of Denmark,” translated by Gilbert Tait.
Flowers.
God might have made the earth bring forth
Enough for great and small—
The oak tree and the cedar tree,
Without a flower at all.
Be might have made enough, enough
For every want of ours
For luxury, medicine, and toil,
And yet have made no flowers.
Our outward life requires them not;
Then wherefore had they birth ?
To minister delight to man—
To bgautify the earth ;
To whisper hope, to comfort man,
Whene’er his faith is dim;
For whoso careth for 'Cue flowers,
Will care much more for him.
—Mary How it t.
A Walk with Jesus.
“And it came to pass that while they communed
together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and
went with them.”— Luke xxiv : 15.
The Sabbath was passed, and the Cap
ital of Judea—always a scene of busy
interest during the Passover had now a
new cause of excitement in the trial and
execution of Jesus of Nazareth. Two days
previously He had been crucified and bu
ried, a watch guarding the precincts of the
tomb to prevent the perpetration of any
fraud on the part of His adherents. And
yet, notwithstanding this precaution, this
morning vague rumors were rife of His res
urrection, and an earthquake, and a vision of
angels to those who were early at the sepul
chre. Can we marvel that the public mind
was yet more deeply stirred, even while refu
sing its credence to so strange, a story ? or
that the wondering disciples, themselves per
plexed and incredulous, should have awaited
with anxious suspense the issue of these un
paralleled developments?
As two of these stricken ones journeyed
from Jerusalem toward Emmaus, bewailing
their blighted hopes, yet, perhaps, endeavor
ing to solace each other with the peradventure
that after the singular events of the past few
days, nothing was impossible, and all might
not be lost, a stranger joined himselji&J them
and kindly enquired the cause of their sor
row. Touched by His sympathizing manner,
they unburdened their grief, recited the
mournful tragedy of Calvary, and confessed
their disappointed expectations of the re
demption of Israel. At first He reproached
them with their unbelief, and then, as never
before to the dim eye of faith, He unfolded
the glowing prophecies concerning the cruci
fied One, deducing from their own Scriptures
the necessity of His death in the plan of sal
vation. Thus discoursing, they reached the
village, and with faith strengthened and hope
confirmed, they constrained their companion
to enter into their house, and abide with
them; and as they partook of their evening
repast, “ He was known of them in breaking
of bread.”
A walk with Jesus ! Who would not prize
above all earthly blessings such Divine com
panionship ? An hour under the humble
roof of His disciples, sharing their poor hos
pitalities—is not this an honor to be coveted
beyond the greatest condescensions of rank
and royalty to their lowly estate ? Rank
such as was never possessed by the children
of men, —royalty befitting only the heir of the
throne of heaven, —are His, and “ the peace
of God which passeth all understanding ” is
His beuison upon those with whom His gra
cious presence abides. Nay, more: He
raises them to His own exalted dignity:
Himself the Elder Brother of humanity,
they become joint heirs with Him of the
glory yet to be revealed—“ heirs of God,
and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we
suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together.”
It is a remarkable fact in the history of our
Lord’s incarnation, that, although prior to
His crucifixion He “ went about doing good”
to all classes and conditions of mankind, irre
spective of personal character, yet subse
quently to His resurrection, His ministry
was confined to His immediate disciples.
During the forty days of His sojourn upon
the earth after He was raised from the dead,
although He frequently manifested Himself
to His followers, and upon one occasion to
over five hundred brethren at once, there is
no evidence that He ever revealed Himself
to any others—much less that He held con
verse with them as He had done previously
to their rejection of His claims to the Mes
siahship. So far as recorded, it was only for
the chosen few that His later mission was in
tended : Is it a perversion of the truth, thence
to infer that it is to such only that He comes
now in the Person of the Comforter?
Os the character of those with whom Jesus
walked on that memorable first day of the
week—the birth-day of immortality—we are
not left in doubt. We are informed that they
“were disciples. We are told, too, of the
character of their communications. “ They
talked together of all these things whieh had
happened'' Again: they were earnest-hearted
Christians. ‘They were sad, and depressed
on account of the apparent overthrow of their
hopes, and feared, lest the little band with
whom they were associated should be dis
persed, and become extinct through the igno
minious fate of their Leader. With faith
somewhat shaken, but with hearts still loyal
to their beloved Master, “ they communed
together” of His mysterious providence,
FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1869.
and as they “ reasoned, Jesus himself drew
near and went with them.”
It is thus that Jesus stil] meets with His
people— in acts of Christian communion. If
His professed followers but realized the great
truth, how much of the pride and worldly
policy which mar their social intercourse, and
alas ! Sometimes even invade the sanctuary,
would be prevented ! When is it that Zion
puts on her strength; and in her beautiful
garments “ looks forth as the morning, fair
as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as
an army with banners?” It is when we be
come so thoroughly imbued with the spirit
of Christ as to meet our brethren on a com
mon level, by the lonely wayside, or along
the crowded thoroughfare, to talk of the in
terests of His kingdom and the promotion of
His glory: it is then— only then, that we
may expect the companionship of Jesus in
our individual walk, and the communion of
the Holy Ghost in our collective capacity.
Th§n it is that the members of the body of
Christ—forgetful of self, of caste, of local
prejudices—of everything save the work of
the Lord in the conversion of sinners, the
lofty and the lowly laboring together for this
object, achieve their grandest triumph, and
the Church militant, united in the one faith
and animated by the one Spirit, becomes the
fittest type of the Church triumphant.
A walk with Jesus is necessarily a walk of
faith. The spark may be faint, almost invis
ible to human—nay, to our own—sight, but
its feeblest flickerings are discerned by the
All-seeing Eye, and fanned anew into a flame
of love and devotion. Like the two disci
ples of Emmaus, ‘ our eyes may be holden’
that we do not recognize Him; but if we
continue walking together in the faith of the
gospel and in Christian communion, He does
not disdain to walk beside us, expounding to
us the Scriptures to our comfort and edifica
tion. Oh! how often, when ‘our eyes are
opened’ to behold Him in His providences—
in the promises of His word—in the conso
lations of His Spirit—are we constrained to
exclaim in humble and adoring gratitude:
“ Did not our hearts burn within us as He
talked with us by the way ?”
A walk with Jesus does not terminate at our
homes, but His. “In my Father’s house are
many mansions: if it were not so, I would
have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you. And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again, and receive you unto
myself; that where I am, there ye may be
also.” Oh ! blessed assurance, that He who
has journeyed with us during the pilgrimage,
will not forsake us at its close—that those in
whom He makes His abode on earth, shall
abide with Him in heaven. “So shall we
ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort
one another with these words.”
“Knowing as we are known,
How shall we l'ove that word,
And oft repeat before <lie throne,
• Forever with the Lord.’ ”
AtmiENNE.
Virginia.
Letters on the Doctrines.
To T. H , Toomsboro, Oa.
Dear Brother: Your letter states that
you have recently united with the Baptist
church, and that you desire a statement of
some of the doctrines held by our denomina
tion. In complying with your request, 1 ask
that you will permit me to publish my views
in the Index ; because many in my pastorate,
and perhaps elsewhere, are desiring informa
tion on the same subjects.
The points raised in your letter may be re
duced to four, viz: 1. Is man a free agent?
2. Is man’s helplessness consistent with his
accountability to God ? 3. What is effectual
calling ? 4. What is the motive which moves
God in the election of His people ?
1. Is man a free agent?
(1.) God has not imposed any disabilities
on man. There is no Divine decree that
binds his will, or fetters his natural or moral
powers. God left him free in the exercise of
his will; he could obey or refuse obedience
as he chose. Indeed, he is challenged by his
Creator to the exercise of all the powers
with which he was endowed. “ Choose you
this day whom you will serve.” “Look unto
me all ye ends of the earth and be ye saved.”
“Repent , that your sins may be blotted out.”
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved.” In these, and similar pas
sages of Scripture, man is addressed as one
whom God has left free to act as he pleases,
and yet is tenderly urged to make the very
best use of his powers.
(2.) Notwithstanding the freedom with
which men were endowed by their Creator,
we do find disabilities about them which are
humiliating to contemplate. So far as we
can determine, there was no defect in their
mental, moral or spiritual vision, at their cre
ation. “In the image of God created He
him.” But now we see that, not only has
“ blindness in part happened unto Israel,” but
the dreadful contagion has spread also among
the Gentiles, until it may be said of all, both
“ Jew and Greek,” that they walk “in the
vanity of their minds, having the under
standing darkened, being alienated from the
life of God, through the ignorance that is in
them, because of the blindness of their
hearts.” Many intelligent persons live and
act as if there were no gospel, no accountabil
ity to God, no future life. It seems wonder
ful to us when we consider such characters.
Paul furnishes the solution of the mystery :
“If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that
are lost—in whom the god of this world hath
hath blinded the minds of them which be
lieve not.” If they are blind to the gospel,
how can they see it? Are the blind free to
see ? Are they able to do so ? No : For we
are further instructed on this subject by Paul,
that “The natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are fool
ishness unto him, neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.”
(3.) The will of man, originally able to
choose or refuse, seems utterly unable, as
now surrounded by opposing motives, to ex
ercise these powers. What was created to
rule now serves; the master has become the
slave; or else, so lost to all that is good and
true, that his rule is ruin and death. Peter
says, when we “wrought the will of the Gen
tiles, we walked in lasciviousness, lust3, ex
cess of wine, revellings, banquettings, and
abominable idolatries.” This “will of the
flesh” is the same now in the unregenerated,
and, under similar influences would produce
like results. Indeed, we have only to know
what is going on among us, to have fully
demonstrated to us the correctness of this in.
spired description of the natural will. A
believer sits at the feet of Christ, and with
adoring gratitude listens to His precious
words. What brought him there ? His own
will? No! He was “born not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God.” Jesus is surrounded by
His Apostles, who listen with devout atten
tion to his last instruction. Surely these
holy meu came to Him of their “own free
will.” They left all and followed Him. But
how came this about ? Through what power
are they here ? He tells us in this very con
versation ; “ Tehave not chosen me, but /have
chosen you.” Carrying out this same isea,
he who leaned upon His breast at the last
supper says : “We love Him, because he first
loved us.” Asa large substance whose spe
cific gravity is less than water, will, when
thrown into a stream, float downward with
the current, but never go contrary to it, so
the will, (not inert as the above substance,)
falls into the current of the natural affections
and dispositions, and while it may direct and
accelerate them in their course to death, it
never changes their downward progress, nor
brings them back to God and heaven. What
the Saviour said to the Pharisees may with
equal truthfulness be declared of all impeni
tent sinners: “Ye will not come to me that
ye might have life.” In the parable of the
marriage feast which the king gave to his son,
the same perverse state of the wilfis taught:
“He sent forth his servants to call them that
were bidden to the wedding; and they would
not come." So, also, in his pathetic lamenta
tion over Jerusalem sinners, Jesus states the
same sad fact: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
thou that killest the prophets, and stonest
them that are sent unto thee, how often
would I have gathered thy children together,
even as a hen gathereth her chickens under
her wings, and ye would not." The present
aversion of the will to holiness and the ac
tive service of God, was fully realized by
Paul when he said : “Work out your salva
tion with fear and trembling, for it is God
that worketh in you both to will and to do of
His good pleasure.”
Is it proper to call that free which is al
ways found subject to the sapie class of mo
tives, and moving in the same direction, and
•i. hich pursues u.vdevintirigly the CfotirSe of
evil and the way to death ? If this be free
dom, might slavery not be better? Free,but
using the liberty only to reject Christ and
salvation, and to choose “the pleasures of sin
for a season.”
(4.) But are there not yet remaining in man,
though fallen, some inherent powers by
which he can save himself? Are there no lat
ent moral energies, which, like Sampson in
his strength, can arise and shake off the fet
ters of natural weakness, and throw off every
weight of human depravity, and return as
some mighty hero, to the perfection of moral
and spiritual manhood ? Alas ! he has tarried
too long in the lap of his Delilah—he is now
shorn of his strength. If he should see dan
ger approaching and propose to put forth a
great effort to escape it, he experiences the
truth of the words of Jesus : “ Without me,
ye can do nothing." If one should boast, as
some in the vanity of their minds have done,
that they are able to come to the Giver of
life, and will do so at a “convenient season,”
let their error be corrected and their delusion
dissipated by Christ’s solemn admonition to
the Pharisees : “No man can come to me,
except the Father which hath sent me draw
him.” If it seem a humiliating confession to
acknowledge that his evil nature has mas
tered him, he should remember that one who
was caught up to the third heavens, and
heard unspeakable words, which it is not law
ful for man to utter,” said : “In me, that is
in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.”
“ That which is born of the flesh is flesh,’’
and the works of the flesh are not acceptable
to God, neither indeed can they be ; they are
these: “Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revellings and such like.” Should a nature
which produces no better evidences of moral
rectitude than this, ever boast of its freedom ?
Well did the Saviour say to Nicodemus:
“ Except ye be born again, ye cannot enter
into the kingdom of God.”
(5.) One step further in this inspired descrip
tion of man’s natural state, and I will leave
you, my brother, to your own conclusions.
John says: “By this we know that we have
passd from death unto life, because we love
the brethren.” Ciirist says : “He that hear
eth my word, and believeth on Him that
sent me, hath everlasting life 1 , and shall not
come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life.” Again : “ The hour is com
ing, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God; and they that hear
shall live.” Paul says: “You hath he quick
ened, who were dead in trespasses and in
sins.” The words dead and death In the above
Scriptures, are applied to man in an uncon
verted state. They mean something which is
peculiar to his condition; something opposed
to power, to vitality, to action. These words
are figurative; they describe the spiritual
helplessness of the - sinner. The literally
dead cannot restore themselves to life, nei
ther can the spiritually dead quicken their
souls. The dead have eyes, but they see not,
and ears but they hear not, &c.; and so, the
unregenerate have mental and moral powers,
but they are rendered ineffectual for salva
tion"*by the fatal effects of sin. “ The sinner
is dead, in as much as he does not feel, move,
or act spiritually ; he cannot, of himself, thus
feel, move or act: asef so completely is he
held and overcome 1«*-*the power of sin, that
no external force c»ifll|rouse him to spiritual
feeling, motion or acMon.” The living bear
the signs of life, th&jjLssd bear their own sad
emblems. How graphically is the deadness
of the unregenerate portrayed in Ezekiel’s
vision of the dry that observes
the indifference witUjTv hich intelligent and
moral men listen t< most solemn and
sublime truths of w yen—who that has
watched the vacant expression, the stupid
countenance or the restless impatience of cul
ture as well as of the common people, as
with tenderness and the servant of
Christ has presented the doctrines of the
Cross—has not uttered the mentai inqui
ry, “Son of man, cav these dry bones live?”
The breath of can give them
life. He who bid TJaz rus “come forth,”
must raise them fro* this spiritual death
Not until the voice oAtl*e Son of Man shall
pierce their dull obey “pass from
death unto life.”
If by free agency^^H'*<*:, il.:‘t man I rter
the ability follow mod,na
tions,” then he is a “fm e If, howev
er, it mean, that he hjpthe power, of himself,
to change and eontrol%A&se inclinations, and
in his own strength L/act contrai-y to them,
then let the sad failures'in the experiences of
all conscientious menlteacii them that in God
is their strength. *
Whether the helplessness above described
is consistent with min’s accountability to
God, will be better considered in my next
letter. Yours, £fc., E. W. W.
Afterward.
Darkness for a brief space;
While th’ earih i- dumb and cold,
The burdened of night
Doth her croi of sorrows hold, —
For a brief spar.-—the night,
“Afterward the light.
A little while, tAe germ
Must slumber'neath the ground.
Hiding its prophecies,
With chains if darkness bouud.
A little while—hour, /
the flower.
Patience, O, br iding bird, —
Sheltered beneath thy breast,
Folding their b Iden wings,
The sleeping i arblers rest.
Patience, 0, bird,
The wings co^e—“afterward.”
Dark on the mu ons falls
The night of vvir and wrong;
The truth lies f Mat and pale,
While error vaxeth strong.
For the presentt is the fight,
“Afterward”!-the right.
0 1 unborn, slaving souls,
Within the w4mb of time,
Ye hold the prophecies
Os a message .dl sublime ;
Ye slumber—fu. a span,
“Afterward”--the man.
We clasp our id ed an hour,
In passionate, embrace ;
We look, and r~ |v see,
The beautified ead face.
United _
"A iterwarcT^-iilway.
A Duty of Churches to Elch Other.
A good custom, as 1 suppose, used to ob
tain among some of our churches, which, I
believe, has fallen into desuetude. When a
person holding a letter, or understood to be a
Baptist, moved into the “bounds of a church,”
and remained there some time without con
necting himself with it,"enquiry, by authority
of that church, was made into the facts and
the cause of such neglect. Many were stim
ulated in this way to action, or declining,
without satisfactory ’reason, were reported to
the church whence they came. Os course, all
was done respectfully. Such fidelity was re
garded due to the comity obtaining between
“ sister churches.” It was supposed to con
tribute to good order, and to be but a just
recognition of the authority committed to
His churches by the Master.
If I mistake not, there is a demand for the
revival of the custom, if truly Scriptural.
I think large numbers, particularly iu our
cities, hold letters sometimes for years, prac
tically amenable to no church, and in deroga
tion of the respect due to those bodies, whose
prompt connection might greatly aid many a
weak body in need of aid and comfort from
every legitimate source.
I fear that the reverence due to church con
nection is fast disappearing that church
connection is coming to be regarded a matter
entirely voluntary, in the sense that it may
be assumed and laid aside at the pleasure of
parties, without the notice or intervention of
Christ’s institution. It certainly is a very
solemn thing to unite with a church or to
sever the union. Consequently, they greatly
mistake who think eh approbation or
censure a slight matter. The genius of a
Baptist church places jt on higher ground in
regard to these other organiza
tions. Its action in rfoeiving or excluding a
member, when the 18th of Matthew is re
garded, in letter and spirit, is so solemn that
inspiration has said, “ Whatsoever is loosed
upon earth, shall be loosed in heaven, and
whatsoever is bound on earth shall be bound
in heaven!”
I should be glad to be corrected by the
Editor of the Index, if mistaken in these
views, and to be sustained, if right; for I
really think the matter of great importance.
E. B. Teague.
We entirely concur in the views of brother
Teague. There is nothing in which the Baptist sys
tem of church government is more unsystematic,
than with respect to the point of which he treats
Some safeguard should be thrown around letters of
dismission, which, as far as possible, might prevent
the abusive withholding of these letters and the vir
tual suspension ot church membership for months
and even years. We think it expedient and proper
that these letters should be held valid only for a lim
ited period, specified on their face ; that when used,
according to their design, for the formation of new
church connections, notice of the fact should be offi
cially communicated to the churches which grant
them ; that where such notice is not received these
churches should institute enquiries, and ascertain the
facts of each case; and that action should be taken
in consonance with there facts—action assuming the
shape, as circumstances may warraut, of exhortation
to duty, of rebuke for dereliction, and, if need be, of
excommunication. As helpful to the same end, we
should rejoice to witness the revival of the old usage,
(in some sections,) which requiied churches, within
whose territory dismissed members were residing in
neglect of ecclesiastical ties and relations, to report
the delinquency to the dismissing churches. This is
due, we conceive, to the comity between different
bodies of baptized believers, i.'id obligatory as an act
of fidelity to the souls of ncg. y .it professors.—Ed
Benedictions of the Bible.
1. Peace be to thee.— Third John.
2. Grace be with thee.— First Timothy.
3. Grace be with you all. Amen. — Colos
sians, Titus and Hebrews.
4. The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy
spirit. Grace be with you. Amen. — Secbnd
Timothy.
5. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be
with vour spirit. Amen. — Phi >. Ant.
(5. Peace be with you all tWA* m Christ
Jesus. Amen.— First Peter.
7 . Grace be with all them that love our
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. —
Ephesians. \
8. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with.you. Amen.— First Corinthians, First
Thessalonians.
9. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God," and the communion of
the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.—
Second Corinthians. ,
These passages show that the apostles were
in the habit of pronouncing benedictions upon
the people. It is also evident that no precise,
unvarying form of words was employed —a
fact of value in the ritualistic controversies of
the times.
' ' Many. • y- X 1
**' Matiy who profess religion fail of being
truly converted to God. Mark the declara
tion of our Saviour : “And then will I pro
fess unto them I rtever knew you: depart
from.me ye that work iniquity.” Matt, vii:
23. Mark this language. He does not say,
Vpu have backslidden. But 1 nbver knew
voir. Then, ot course, they were never
converted. This class is very numerous.
“Many.” They make a high profession of
religion. They were deceived to the last.
The foolish virgins did not lose their oil, but
they did not take it. They bad the lamp—
the profession—but the grace they never had.
They, too, were not flagrant hypocrites, but
were self deceived. Think of it! Am I truly
converted to God?
The Two Sides.— lt was a most noble and
grand thing in the Apostle Paul—in that
greatest of men, St. Paul-—that lie was wil
ling to work with his own hand" -that he had
often no certain dwelling place -that he was
often in nakedness and p&verty—-but all I
say, is, that it said very.iittle indeed for the
church of Corinth, or Abe church of Ephesus,
or the church of Thessaloniea, that they al
lowed such a thing? It was a shame if they
knew it, and if had the means, which 1
do not know, of supporting him. It was al
most like a shamerto humanity that there
should be men in those cities calling them
selves Christians who should say —“ I had a
letter yesterday, telling me that the Apostle
Paul, that-'Paul the minister, is in great
want,” and . that these men should say—
“ What a beautiful instance of Christian sac
rifice: I won’t give a farthing.”— Macleod.
The Result of it. —A man of the world
stood upon a wharf, and saw a company of
missionaries sail for a heathen land. He be
held the son, the daughter the brother, the
sister, the friend, \rfth Christian self denial
and love for souls, give the parting hand ;
and he protested against it. “ These, said he,
spirits-and talents.
at home; and it is not right to send them
aWay.” Such wa's his judgement of the
case. But mark the rest. The scene which
he then saw wrought upon his mind, until he
was constrained to give himself to Christ.
He has lived already to educate, at his own
expense, more young men for the ministry
than sailed in that missionary company, and
in many other ways to do much for the cause
of Christ at home and abroad.— The. Sower.
■Reading vs. Preaching. —Dr. Nathaniel
Kendrick, of Hamilton, New York, and Ed
ward JBarber, then pastor at Union Village,
New York, one day listened to a sermon read
from manuscript, by a certain young man,
who, at the close of the service, called on the
pastor to pray. Barber prayed, and in the
prayer thanked God that they had been fa
vored with “good reading.” Afterwards,
Dr. Kendrick inquired, “ Brother Barber,
why did you pray so?” To which Barber
replied, “ Was it not true that we had good
reading? ft was nothing else.” And still
farther, said he, “ What honesty was there in
praying, that God would help him preach,
when all he needed was good legs to stand on,
and good eyes to read his essay ?”
Communion. —There are no arguments for
open communion which will not apply with
equal force against all church organization.
Communion is clearly a church ordinance,
and admission to the one necessarily involves
admission to the other. Pre-requisite to
church membership, both Baptist and Pedo
baptist have always considered baptism as
the initiatory rite. The effort to distinguish
the Lord’s supper as a Christian instead of a
church ordinance, would never have been
made but for the desire to shake off the odi
um of uncharitableness. Nor would com
munion without baptism ever have been
thought of, if infant baptism had not pre
vailed. Open coindiunion is simply an
attempt to remedy the consequences of error
by a compromise, and we, as Baptists, do not
feel disposed to take that responsibility.—
American Baptist.
Mother. —Rev. Henry Cooke, D.D., the
eminent Irish Presbyterian, owed much to his
mother. “ I received my first instructions in
theology at my mother’s side. The Shorter
Catechism was her text book. The Confes
sion of Faith was her Christian Institutes.
The Bible was her sole standard of appeal.
Her teachings, clear and decided, taught me
that man was naturally corrupt; that Divine
grace could alone quicken and renew ; that
the Spirit of God, reigning in the heart and in
the mind, was the sole source of right princi
ples and pure morality.”
Truth leads to Truth. — A Methodist
paper says : “ Strange as it may appear, we
find persons swallowing the doctrine of un
conditional election and reprobation, and the
exclusive usage of close communion, for the
sake, of immersion.” We commend this to
the attention of our Presbyterian neighbors.
Behold how, by preaching God’s truth on one
point, men are brought to receive other doc
trines which He has revealed !— Cent. Bap.
Unitariansm. —The Liberal Christian says
“At least nine tenths, we should say ninety
nine'one-hundredths of American Unitarians,
are firm believers in the final recovery of all
souls from error and evil to truth and vir
tue.”
Missionary Contributions. —In 1788 there
was nothing given for the evangelization of
the heathen; in 1808, $100,000; in 1828,
$1,000,000; in 1842, $2,000,000; and in
1868, $5,000,000.
God is Love. —ln one of his prayers, The
odore Parker said: “O! Thou who art our
Father—and our Mother too !”
A Definition. Henry Ward Beecher
says“ The elect are whosoever will, and
the non-elect are whosoever won't."
-J—L LJUJIM- J »
Past and Present.
I remember, I remember
The house where I was born;
The little window where the sun
Tlame peeping in at mom.
He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day ;
But now I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away.
I remember, I remember
, The roses, red and white,
The violets and lily-cups
Those flowers made of light !
* The lilacs, where the robin built,
And where my brother set
The laburnum on his birth-day—
The tree is living yet!
I remember, 1 remember
Where I used to swiDg,
A nd thought the air must rush as fresh
To swallows on the.wipg ;
My spirit flew in feathers then,
That is so heavy now;
Aud summer pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow.
I remember, 1 remember
The fir-trees, dark and high ;
I used to think their slender tops
Were close against the sky:
'lt was a childish ignorance,
But now tis little joy
To know I’m further off from heaven
Than when I was a boy.
T. Hood.
Sowing and Reaping.
Are we sowiog seeds,of kindness?
They shall blossonl^bright ere long
Are We sowing seeds of discord?
They shall ripen into wrong.
Are we sowing seeds of honor?
They shall bring forth golden grain.
Are we sowing seeds of falsehood ?
We shall yet reap bitter pain.
Whatso*er our sowing be,
Reaping, we its fruits must see.
We can never be too careful;
What the seed our hands shall sow;
Love from love is sure to ripen,
Hate from hate is sure to grow.
Seeds of good or ill we scatter
Heedlessly along our way;
But a glad or grievous fruitage
Waits us at the harvest day.
Whatsoe’er our sowing be,
Reaping, we its fruits must see.
Deferred Items.
BAPTIST.
Why a Baptist.— At the late meeting of
the Laqjiphire Bible Society, Spurgeon said:.
He became a Baptist not at all through any
one explaining to him the doctrine of be
lievers’ baptism, but simply through reading
flat good old-fashioned Baptist work, com
monly called the New Testament.
Hugh Stowell Brown. —The Congrega
tionalist, referring to the expected visit of
this popular Baptist minister, Liverpool, to
our countryy says : “To our taste, he is far
more impressive and attractive in the pulpit
than Mr. Spurgeon. He is a big, plain,
straight-forward man, who just stands up and
‘talks off* to his audience in an earnest, deep
ly interesting, persuasive, solemn and con
vincing way ; sometimes rising to something
that, to say the least, may, by an unwary
person, very easily be mistaken for elo
quence.”
A Word of Warning. —Franklin Associ
ation, N. Y., at its recent session, adopted
the following resolution : “That we earnest
ly enjoin it upon our members to avoid all
connection with gift enterprises, falsely so
called, and all otlg# swindling operations,
whether they have Wh-G headquarters in some
distant city or»in a church fair nearer home.”
Agajn.-o' Loose-Communion. • *Who,n Spur
geon, in a recent speech, said, “He was
a sectarian of sectarians; he was not a be
liever ir\, the modern Diaua of unity, which
some people cried up so mightily,” he was,
without designing it, cutting up by the roots
the loose communion, which a few erratic
Baptists, here and there, in this country,
would fain cover with his wings.
Pantheism. —Rev. W. Miall; of North
London, (whom the English correspondent ot
the Presbyterian styles “ a rara avis as a
Baptist Unitarian minister,”) at a recent
“ public devotional service ” of “ Free Chris
tianity,” declared that “they believed that
Christ was a symbolical name for collective
Immunity, which they understood to be God."
Divorce. —“The Baptist Convention of
Connecticut has petitioned the Legislature
that divorces be allowed only for adnitery and
wilful desertion, and that a second marriage
between the guilty party and the partner of
his guilt be forbidden, as the crime is often
committed, in order to secure a divorce.”
Do the Scriptures make wilful desertion a
valid ground of divorce? Is not the Conven
tion more loose than divine law in the prem
ises warrants?
Respectability. —The following from a
late speech of Spurgeon’s, is among his most
notable utterances: He cautioned the Bap
tists against growing to be respectable. Any
denomination which grew to be respectable
was very near its funeral sermon. They
must be willing to accept the poor as a great
boon, and look upon them as their strength.
They must be willing to do rough work.
The moment a man put on kid gloves, all the
power of his Christianity was pretty certain
to ooze out at his fingers’ ends.
Temperance. —The Jackson Baptist Asso
ciation, Mich., adopted the following, at its
recent session : “ Whereas , Intemperance leads
to profanity, to Sabbath breaking, to gam
bling, and to a long list of kindred evils,
whose end is eternal death ; and whereas the
evil has of late been fearfully on the increase
in our land, till, according to statistics, not
less than 100,000 fall annually into drunkards’
graves; therefore Resolved , That by our
voices, by our pens, by our prayers, by all
that in us lies, we will endeavor to stay the
onward march of this fell destroyer, and to
turn to the good of our fellow- men the $ 1,500,-
000,000 now spent in intoxicating drinks —a
sum which, judiciously expended, would put
a Bible in every home, and a church in every
village throughout our land.”
Babies. —“The programme of a three-days’
fair, by a Massachusetts Baptist church, to
aid in paying the cost of anew house of wor
ship, contained this item : On the afternoon
of Wednesday there will he an Exhibition of
Babies in one of*the ante rooms of the vestry.
Admission 15 cents.
Publication. — The Baptists of Boston and
New England have just raised ten thousand
dollars for the American Baptist Publication
Society to establish a depository for the So
ciety in Boston.”
• Germany. —“ The Baptists of Germany
have become impressed with the need of a
better educated class of men for preachers,
and are about to provide a training school
for this object, for which they would gladly
receive a gift of $25,000 from their Ameri
can friends.”
Free Seats. —Rev! J. D. Fulton, of Tre
mont Temple, Boston, says that the exclusive
free-seat system as tried there is not the best,
and recommends the u'nion of the two sys
tems, making half the free and renting
the rest.
PBESBYTEBIAN.
Baptism. —The Old School Presbyterian
statistics for the year ending last May, show
258,903 communicants —with 4,236 adult and
11,333 infant baptisms: about one infant
baptism for every 22 communicants. The
New School statistics show 172,560 commu
nicants, with 3,509 adult and 4,789 infant
baptisms —an average of about one infant
baptism for every 36 communicants.
WHOLE NO. 2452.
The Name op Jesus. A Presbyterian
missionary writes from Tung Chau, China:
The people hate the name of Jesus. They
j r have selected this name on the grave-stones
'of those who have died here, and defaced it;
and whenever sheet-tracts or hand-bills are
pasted up, they select this name and deface
it. They recognize it as the watchword of
the foreign religion, and feel already that
there is a sort of magic in it, and so fearing
they hate it. Nor are they altogether mis
taken in their hate; for this is ftie name that
is going to make their idols bow, and scatter
to the winds the hoary superstitions of their
ancestors.
Cumberland Presbyterians. —This de
nomination, which organized its- first Presby
tery in 1810, in Middle Tennessee, with three
ministers, has now 90 Presbyteries, 22 Syn
ods, over 100,000 members and 1,200 lpin
isters.
Culture. —According to the Methodist
Home Journal: “Thus far in the history of our
nation, Presbyterianism has done more than -
any other type of Christianity to grace the
halls of Congress, the bench, the bar, the
pulpit, with men of cultivated minds!”
MISCELLANEOUS.
The Sabbath. —During President Grant’s
sojourn at Cape May, he reviewed the Phila--
delphia Grey Reserves one Sabbath, amid
the roar of cannon. Our public men should
be held to account for Sabbath desecration.
Chicago. —Edna Dean Proctor regards the
people of Chicago as “really sublime in their'
energy, their courage, and their egotism.”
She thinks they might as well inscribe on
their banners the words of the old French
courtier : “ If the thing is possible, it is done
already. If it is impossible, it shall be
done.”
Ministerial Salaries. —The New York
Times says: “Most of the figures are lower
than the salaries of ordinary mechanics, and
the; congregations that pay them should frel
ashamed of their meanness. Lei the churches
offer their clergymen at least as much as 1-ae
ignorant hod-carrier gets, and the occasion of
complaint will cease at once. ‘ The laborer
is worthy of his hire.’ ”
Female Preacher. —A letter from Boston
mentions a series of reform lectures and ser
mons in that city, including one by William
Lloyd Garrison, and one by Rev. Miss Gib
son. “Miss Gibson was a kind of chaplain
to the First Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment
in the war. Her pay was at first withheld,
but finally by act of Congress it was granted
her”
Sudden Death. —“Rev. Grattan Guinness,
who, some years ago, made a pulpit sensa
tion in this country, dropped dead on-the
floor of his office at Drumcondra, Ireland, re
cently.”
“ Evangelical.” —The National Conven
tional of Young Men’s Christian Associations,
at its recent session, gave the following ex
planation of the sense in which this word is
appropriately used : “We hold those churches
to be Evangelical, which, maintaining the
Holy Scriptures to be the gjJ.y infallible rule
of, faith and practice, beliew in the Lord Je
sus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Fa
ther, King of kings and Lord of lords, in
whom dwelleth all the fulness of the God
head bodily, and who was made sin for us,
though knowing no sin, bearing our sins in
his own body on the tree, as the only name
under heaven, given among men, whereby we
must be saved from everlasting punisn
ment.”
Woman. —Dr. Samuel Gregory, in the
Boston Traveller, revives the proposition
made seventeen year? ago by Rev. Dr.
Dwight, missionary to Turkey, that Christian
women should be thoroughly instructed in
the science of medicine, and sent to foreign
fields as missionary physicians.
Pre-natal Murder. —The Independent,
New York, says, (we hope extravagantly) :
“One of the coroners of London recently said
that every thirtieth woman you meet in the
streets of London is a child-murderer. Prob
ably not less than that statement would be
the truth in New York, Boston, and Chicago,
And what is it all for? In many cases, it is
because the ladies cannot go to the opera so
often, and cannot see so much company, and
cannot be so pretty, if they are obliged to
take care of their own children.” A writer
in the Christian Era, Boston, also says:
“That child-murder is common in respectable
society, and by church members, is a fact too
plain and well known to be doubted.”
Secret Societies. —The late General Con
ference of United Brethren adopted a law
compelling members belonging to any secret
society, including temperance organizations
and the Grand Army of the Republic, either
to withdraw from it or the church. The
White River Conference has determined to
resist the law and to organize anew church
if necessary.
Dress. —“ Mrs. Henry B. Stanton has
come out in favor of the wearing of panta
loons by women. She declares her design to
be, to adopt masculine costume as a disguise
of sex.”
Presumption. —A resident of Newark, N.
J., has published a tract proposing that a day
shall be set apart by Christians of every de
nomination when prayer shall be offered that
at a certain day and hour the Lord will seta
sign in the heavens whereby infidels may
know that the Bible is the word of God.
Unpractical Education. —Froude, at his
recent installation as Rector of St. Andrew’s
College, Scotland, said that every mail from
the British colonies brought the outcry:
‘Send us no more of what you call educated
men; send us smiths, masons, carpenters,
day laborers; all of those will thrive, will
earn their eight, ten, or twelve shillings a
day ; but your educated man is a log on our
hands ; he loafs in uselessless till his means
are spent, he then turns billiard-marker, en
lists as a soldier, or starves.’ To this state
ment he added : “It hurts no intellect to be
able to make a door or hammer a horse-shoe ;
and if you can do either of these you have
nothing to fear from fortune.”
Very Little. —The leader of a reoent
oamp meeting in Ohio announced, “The
brother-in-law of President Grant will now
lead us-in prayer.”
The Worst Popery. —Newman Hall said
to his people, not long since, that “ there was
much ropery in the country, and they should
avoid it as much as they could, but the worst
Popery of all was to be found in the suppo
sition that the clergy were to do all the work
of the church, and of charitable and benevo
lent institutions.” There is not a little of
this Popery among .Baptists in many places .
The Holy Land. —The Jewish Rabbis,
who have been in council abroad, have disa
vowed, as part of their creed, the restoration
of Israel to the holy land.
Perverts. —Two Mormon elders, laboring
in Southern Virginia and North Carolina,
shipped recently 130 perverts from Norfolk,
via New York, for Utah.