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CHRISTIAN INDEX AND ijOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST. VOL. 48-NO. 82. A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY fAPER, PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN ATLANTA, GA TERMS.—CIubs of Four, ($3.00 each) per annum...sl2.oo Clubs of Three, ($3.33 each) per annum... 10.00 Clubs of Two, (3.50 each) per annum 7.00 Single Subscriber 4.00 J. J. TOON, Proprietor. 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.