Newspaper Page Text
CHRISTIAN INlffif aMi SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST.
• * »■
• VOL 48-NO. 33.
A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY PAPER,
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN ATLANTA, GA
TERMS.—CIub# 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.
Give.
•See the rivers flowing
Downwards to the sea,
Pouring all their treasure
Bountiful and free;
Yel to help their giving,
Hidden spiings arise;
Or, if need be, showers
Feed them from the skies.
Watch the princely flowers
Their rich fragrance spread,
Load the air with perfumes.
From their beauty shed ;
Yet their lavish spending
Leaves them not in death,
With fresh life replenished
By their mother earth.
Give thy heart’s best treasures,
From fair Nature learn ;
Give thy lofe —and ask not,
Wait not a return ;
And the more thou speudest
From thy little store,
With a double bounty
God will give thee more.
— Proctor.
Bought with a Price.
I know the price that Jesus paid,
I know the portion on Him'laid;
His body broken on the tree,
His soul, like wine, poured out for me.
And can I call myself my own ?
Each blood-bought pow’r is His alone,
He was the pries, tqe smitten Lamb,
And I the sucred purchase am.
Till heart shall fail, and eye grow dim,
I’ll think, I’ll speak, I’ll live for Him ;
Too happy, if before His throne,
He shall confess me, then, His own.
His own, redeemed from death and sin! •
' His o wn, the jasper walls within !
His own, the endless ages through ; ,
A trophy, but a victor too !
— J. E. RanJcin, in Cong.
Recollections of My Brother.
As l have seen but a short notice of my
deceased brother, Rev. R. H. Taliaferro, I
hope I shall be pardoned for a contribution
to his memory.
He was born in Surry county, North Car
olitta, March 27th, 1801; died in Jackson
county, AJabama, June 11th, 1869.
He was converted and baptized under the
ministry of Rev. Oiiphanl, pastor of
Fisher’s river JBaptist church, in his 20th
year. His cross was great. Then, in that
section, it was thought that religion belonged
to age and infirmity, and he, being young,
was greatly persecuted. At home he received
no encouragement, except from his mother, a
quiet aud pious member of the Methodist
connection. When he was satisfied that God
had converted his soul, he approached the
sick bed of his mother, and asked herAdwiae
as to what denomination he should
which she replied ; “ Join the Baptists, my
son; your father is a Baptist in sentiment,
and it may have some influence on him. I
wish I was able, 1 would be baptized with
you.” She died without being able to carry
out her pious wish ; but her son tarried not,
and followed the Master.
He lived a quiet member in North Caro
lina for a few years, and removed to Roane
county, East Tennessee, in 1824 or 1825.
Soon after his removal, anew church was
organized, called Prospect, in which organi
zation he participated, and became an active
member. An elder brother, C. Taliaferro,
was baptized into the fellowship of this
church, soon after its organization, became a
preacher, and died, much lamented, in 1856.
The two brothers commenced holding prayer
meetings in the territory of the newly-consti
tuted church ; exhortation and preaching soon
followed such gatherings. Constrained by
the love of Christ for souls, they were in the
ministry without intending at first to embark
in so great a work ; but when in, they never
looked back. In their labors and lives they
were united, and in their deaths they were
divided but for a few years. I cherish their
memories, for under their earliest efforts my
father, 62 years of age, and his youngest son,
were converted.
My brother was iif “ labors abundant.”
The narrow limitsof Prospectchurchcould not
contain him. He was fail of the missionary
spirit, and sounded out the word of the Lord
in every valley and mountain gorge in East
Tennessee, the Lord adding to the churches
wherever he went. Nor did he forget the
section that gave him natural and spiritual
birth, in North Carolina his labors were
greatly blessed. Middle Tennessee and North
Alabama heard his stirring voice,, besides
frequent visits to other sections, too tedious
to name. He was unselfish in his labors.
He embarked in the ministry poor; never
asked individual, church nor Board for assist
ance; never hinted that he needed help; car-
ried with him no begging nor appealing looks,
but always looked happy and cheerful. “ Wy
wife, Betsie, is my Board,” he would good
humoredly say to those who wished to know
how he could support his family 'and perform
such continuous labors. And to “Betsie’s”
praise, be it written, she supported her labo
rious missionary handsomely, made no ap
peals for help, and her finances were never
deranged. She survives her missionary, and
is now managing a good competency.
A large and inviting field opening to his
watchful eye, in North Alabama, he removed
to New Market, in Madison county, about
the year 1845, exercising his active ministry
in that place, and in the surrounding country,
till he made his final earthly removal to Point
Rock creek, Jackson county, Alabama, about
the year 1850. Here he comfortably settled
himself, and curtailed his labors to a narrow
compass, adjusting territory to age. From
this field he was taken to his rest and reward.
Not even a summary of his labors and
successes can be given. He kept no journal.
He believed a journal was kept on high, and
he cared not for earthly records. Few men
of modern times have baptized more persons,
built up more feeble churches, and organized
more new ones, than R. H. Taliaferro; and
eternity alone will reveal the number of souls
converted under his evangelical ministry.
His gifts. He “ coveted earnestly the best
gifts,” in order to do the greatest good. He
selected exhortatiou as the best gift that the
ascended and glorified Master had given, and
in this he excelled. He never cared to preach
FRANKLIN PRINTING UK)USE, ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1869.
a sermon in the usual way. Any minister
might take the pfilpit and preach, so that he
might “ follotV fa. exhortation.” He often
remarked, “almost"any one can preach, but
few' can exhort.” Those who have heard him
exercise his “gift,” will never forget the re
sults.
In doctrinal and expository preaching, he
never excelled. These would have dFamped
his genius, and crippled his gift of exhorta
tion. Nor did his mind belong to- the doc
trinal or expository cast. He had no taste
for, nor sympathy with, dogmatic theology.
“ Repent, siuner! right now,” was the bur
den of his messages. These appeals were
urged with deep sympathy, a clear, ringing
voice, accompanied with “strong crying and
tears,” and it told upon the unconverted.
His education was quite limited. If he
spoke a grammatical sentence he was not
aware of it, yet no one could criticise him.
When he ascended the pulpit, the"critic would
say, “ there is a fine-looking man ; he has an
honest, earnest look; he loves souls; he
makes no pretensions to learning; I will
spare him and hear him.”*
He was not a pastor. Ofnhishe wa§. fully
aware, and' would Accept the position only
till‘it could be filled. His peaceful nature
could not brook the difficulties which qgcar
in the pastoral life. He was an evangelist,
and knew it. In his own language: “lam a
recruiting officer; others may drrtl and com
mand the soldiers.” The thousands be has
recruited tor others to drill and command,
eternity will report.
Ilis powers of endurance were great. God
had given His recruiting officer a constitution
adapted to his work. He could hold a pro
tracted meeting for weeks, preach, exhort,
pray and sing, night and day, and seemingly,
never tire.
He was a man of peace. His intercourse
with all men was pleasant. He was a good
judge of men, and had the will, as well as the
capacity, to adjust himself to them, to do
them good. With rich aiid poor he was at
home, making all classes easy. Like a patri
arch he presided over his family, making
them and all visitors happy.
God blessed him with plenty. He had a
good living when he died, much time as he
had spent in the ministry. His home was
one of the theatres of the late alternate
ly overrun by contending All he
had was preserved in a remarkable manner.
He died, like a patriarch, surrounded by all
his descendants, in the midst of the bounties
of Providence. table was free
to all; nor were the poor nfjjlected by one
a heart, and with suWwmeans. -a
I labored >vith, nor hjtdkl seen
since 1847. AbouVaadUbth he dfed,
he proposed that we East,
Tennessee, the last week in July, arts
together for a while, in the field of our early
ministry. Arrangements were made, but
alas! we never met. He has gone, and lam
left. I feel sad and lonely. My two preach
ing brothers are gone, and I remain on my
watch-tower till my Master relieves me,
“ The time is short.” H. E. Taliaferro.
Tuskegee , Ala., Aug. 13th. ’69.
Letters on the Doctrines.
To T. 11 ......., Esq., Toomsboro, Ga.
Dear Brother : In the present letter 1 am
under promise to consider the question : “ Is
man’s disability consistent with his account
ability to God ?”
The law of God is given to man as a rule
of moral action. Obedience to it includes all
his powers, and at all times. “Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength .” “ Cursed is every
one that continueth not in all things written
in the Book of the Law to do them.”
What are “ the things witten in the Book
of the Law,” to the violation of which a curse
is annexed ? We might take up the Decalogue,
and by careful study, obtain a correct knowl
edge of the spirit of these commandments as
they set forth our duties to God, ar.d to man.
We are saved this labor, however, by the
Great Teacher, who gave, in the hearing of
His Apostles an epitome of the whole law.
He concentrates all the meaning of both
tables into two verses, Mark 12: 30, 31 :
“ Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind, and with ail thy strength . . .Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” He
adds, “ On these two commandments hang all
the law and the prophets.” The law of God,
then, is the law of love. “He that dwelleth
in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
An apostle expresses it briefly when he says :
“ Love is the fulfilling of the law.” The
young man who went running to Jesus and
asked : “ Good Master, what shall I do to in
herit eternal life,” possessed no just under
standing of the commandments, when he said,
“all these have 1 observed from my youth up;”
for when the Saviour applied the true test,
he was found to be totally deficient in the
great principle and motive to obedience.
Let us not indulge inadequate or mistaken
views as to the universality and strictness of
this law. It is every where binding, over all
the powers of all men, at all times, under all
circumstances, and for all the period of exis
tence. On this subject Dr. Dwight says:
“ Thou shalt devote, with supreme affection,
all thy powers to the service of the Lord thy
God, throughout the continuance of thy being;
and thou shalt do unto others, who are included
under the word neighbor, that is all intelligent
creatures, whatsoever thou wouldst that they,
in the like circumstances, should do unto thee ;
and this also thou shalt do throughout the con
tinuance of thy being. The peculiar perfection
of the obedience here required, is the univer
sality of it. No other law requires the abso
lute consecration of all our powers to the
observence of its precepts, or extends its de
mands to every moment of our existence.”
Now, has man the ability to keep this law?
Can he love God with all his heart ? Can he
love his neighbor as hirnself ? “ The carnal”
(that is the unconverted) “mind is enmity
against God, it is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be." This is a bold
declaration, made by the apostle Paul. Many
may question its correctness; if so, then let
the one who has kept the law, “ cast the first
stone.” But if no such appear, let au appeal
to our sad failures teach us that, “ there is not
a just man on earth that, doeth good, and sin
neth not.” “ AU have sinned and come short
of the glory of God.” Os all who have vio
lated the law of love to God and man, must
we conclude there was not one who conscien
tiously made the effort to obey in all points?
That all were so perverted j n their moral feel
ings and dispositions, that no single one has
been found to put forth the best powers of his
nature to fill up the measure of this just de
mand ? If so, then let no one heuceforth
deny universal and total depravity. But if
one can be found who kept the law, then one
has lived who needed no Saviour ; and having
gone to heaven upon his own obedience, has
proved Peter to have been mistaken when he
said of Christ, “ There is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we
-must be saved.”
Should any accuse the law of opposing
human salvation by frustrating the Divine
purposes of mercy, I have only to repeat the
reply of Paul to a supposed objector: “Is the
I.'W then against the promises of God ? God
forbid ; for if there had been a law given
which could have given life, verily righteous
ness should have been by the law. But the
Scripture hath included all under sin, that the
promise by faith of Jesus Christ, might be
given to them that believe.”
That this holy law demands obedience need
not be argued; for to deny this, would be to
deny that there is a law ; for that is. no law
which leaves to the subject the right to obey
or disobey at discretion. “ The soul that
sinneth it shall die.” “Sin is the transgres
sion of the law." Then he who violates this
law incurs its fearful penalty, “Cursed is every
one that coutinueth not in all things written
in the Book of the Law to do them The
law reqnires perfect obedience, but without
affording the ability to meet its own require-'
ments. It does more, it points out the reasons
of this weakness without giving aid in their
removal. “For when we were in the flesh, the
motions of sin, which were bythelaw, did work
in our members to bring forth fruit unto
death for without the law sic was dead
.... The commandment which was ordained
unto life, I found to be unto death.” Not
withstanding all this, “The law is holy, and
the commandment holy, and just, and good.”
This “’holy commandment,” requires nothing
of man but what is right and best. “ The law
of the Lord is perfect .... The command
ments of the. Lord are pure .... They are
mo# to be desired than gold, yea, than much
litre gold.” Here is a good and holy law,
given by the Divine Sovereign to his subjects,
which they have neither the ability nor the
will to obey. They "would not if they could,
and they could not if they would ; and yet
this law says, in words of inexorable author
ity, “ The soul that sinneth it shall die.' 1
It is said the Roman Emperor, Caligula,
placed his laws so high that his subjects could
not read them; they were therefore forced to
remain in ignorance of them; and yet he was
cruel enough to inflict on them the severest
punishments for the violation of these un
known statues. He loved blood, and sought
every excuse for murdering his people. But
here is One “whose mercy endureth forever,”
whose law is quite above the moral ability
of his subjects, and yet who inflicts on the
impenitent violators a penalty infinitly worse
than mere temporal death. Caligula placed
his law beyond the roach of his
Man has placed himself belojv the law of
God. The Roman law was mirposety ob
scured by the- emperor; the Urvine law was
placed in the hand and before the eyes of
man as.a>mirror in which he might see his
rmjserfection. The Roman emperor gave a
of action, that he might obtain an excuse
JtaHtegtroying tRe people.' God has given
as a school master to brixigOns to
Christ.” The former manifested the
latter, wisdom, justice and goodness.
Man ought to love God with all his heart;
it is right he should do so ; he owes it to his
Maker, Preserver and Benefactor. If it be
right for him thus to love, it is also right that
he should be required thus to love ; but a re
quirement amounts to a nullity if unaccom
panied by a forfeiture or penalty. If because,
“ they did not like to retain God in their
knowledge, God gave them over to a repro
bate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient,” and thus their hearts became
full of hate instead of love; and because they
are evil it becomes impossible for them to
love that which is supremely good ; must the
law on this account be repealed, or its penalty
revoked? Must this self imposed inability ex
empt him from duty? If he be required to
love his neighbor as himself; to look upon the
whole family of man as one common brother
hood ; to watch with tender sympathy the in
terests, and labor as opportunity may offer,
to promote the happiness of others ; and yet
his heart is so selfish that he uniformly says
to the needy who asks alms at his hands,
“ Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled,
but gives them not those things that are need
ful for the body ;” and from long indulged
selfishness, he is really a stranger to that ele
vated philanthropy,and those kindly emotions
which move us to obey this law, shall he on
these accounts be excused ? Shall the law be
pronounced severe, because it condemns the
guilty ? But you ask me, “suppose a man
does the very best he can all the time to keep
the law, and then fail, is he accountable for
that failure?” Let me also ask a question ;
What was the cause of the failure ? Was the
cause in himself, or in the law ? Did the law
require more than was necessary, more than
was right? Or was he morally disqualified
to obey a righteous law ? You may reply,
he found a law in his members that when he
would do good, evil was present with him, so
that he could not do the things he would.
Then if this moral disability attaches toman,
and he cannot rid himself of it, ought he to
be held responsible for not doing those things
which he was unable to do ? I will ask
another question. Is this disability “ from
heaven or of men ?” If from heaven, then
man is not accountable for it, but if of
man, he is. Man’s weakness is a fact. Some
one is accountable for it, for it is a great evil.
But God is not its author, for all he made,
“ was very good.” We are forced then to
accept the inspired account of it, and look
upon man as the guilty author. “By one
ma?i sin entered into the world, and death
by sin, and so death has passed upon all men
for that all have sinned.” Adam sinned, and
thereby lost his ability to keep the law; after
ward he “ begat a son in his own likeness,
after his image,” who inherited the fallen
nature and adopted the wayward practices of
that father : so that now we may all be said
to be “ a sinful nation, a people laden with
iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that are
corrupters.” Now, if from my sinful father
I inherit the disposition to sin, ought 1 to be
held responsible for the consequences of this
sad inheritance ? ‘By all means. 1 do not
inherit condemnation for his sins—“ Those
who turn back to the iniquities of their
fathers, shall not escape.” By turning back
and adopting their sins, they become ours—
wife indulge our evil dispositions, we are
guilty.” “ But we inherit Cur disabilities.”
True, but men are not condemned for their
inability to keep the law, but for the indul
gence of an indisposition to do so. “ The
soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
In many instances the children of drunkards
inherit their father’s fondness for ardent spir
its; and although they may grow up moral,
sober men, yet sometimes in after years they
yield to this appetite, and follow the bad ex
ample of their fathers, whom perhaps they
saw laid in a drunkard’s grave. Are these
sons exempt from guilt because they inherited
a taste for strong drink ? Suppose a man
should indulge his desire for intoxicating
liquors until he becomes a confirmed drunk
ard ; he is then unable to reform ; abstinence
would soon tevYpinate his existence; he
has stimulating drinks into
his-very being; jthey are the vital element;
take them from* him and he dies at once.
Does his inability to reform justify his drunk
enness, or exempt him from accountability
to God and mans for his great wickedness ?
Further, support, in a fit of delirium, this
drunken man takls the life of his child? He
is crazy, he does hot know what he i9 doing,
he thinks it is a demon he is slaying. Is he
not as guilty before God and man, as if he
had been sober. gHe is mentally unable to
decide any ques||»n of right and wrong, or
even to restraintymself from the murderous
deed; but is thi|i inability any excuse what
ever for his sins'? j May we not conclude that
a disability when|self-imposed, increases the
guilt of the disobedience which it necessitates ?
Then we must conclude that “as many
as are of the W'orKs of the law are under the
curse.” This is “ ministration of con
demnation,” not cjf justification or salvation,
for, “by the deedk of the law, no flesh shall
be justified in His Light.”
Shall I, my bro4ier, leave the subject here,
shall guilty, helphXs man be left to perish in
his sin ? Is his hopeless, cannot salva
tion reach him ? but not through the
law, only through L “Bv thgjaw
is the knowledge • ■ the gospel is the
knowledge of The law is given to
discover sin, the ifospe: to reveal saltation
through the Son <|i God. The law is die
dreary rock. The soul of man is the Andro
meda chained to the rock ; Satan is the mon
ster ready to devo. r ; the gospel is the Per
seus which by the ’-word of the Spirit, slays
the monster’s power, breaks the legal chain,
and sets the soul at liberty,” which is at once
espoused by Jesus.
“ What the law could not do in that it was
weak through the fwh, God sending His own
Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,
condemned sin in the flesh ; that the righteous
ness of the law might be fulfilled in us.”
“ Christ is the enq of the law for righteous
ness to every one believeth.”
“There is therefore now, no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. For we
who were Jar off made nigh by His blood.
He is our Peace, who fiath made both one, and
hath broken down the middle wall of parti
tion between us. Having abolished in His flesh
the enmity, even th*. law of commandments
.... that He mightßeconcile both unto God,
in one body by tlia cross, having slain the
enmity thereby.”
As our completeness in Christ, our exemp
tion from the condemnation of the law, our
privileges and blessings as under grace, be
come the sweet experiences of the hearts,
can we not, from the overflowing gratitude of
our adoring spirits, say, “ O ! the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge ot
God! How unsearchable are his judgments,
and His ways past lauding out! ”
Yours most truly, E. W. W.
Harvest Home;
CHAPTER 11.
“ Oh! not in the outward world atone.
May ihe beautilul brTio the soul made known,
In its own far depth*, in its inner life—
Silent and pure—is,|ts spirit rife.”
It was ChristmasA merry party of
ejhUdren were asscmO J at Mrs. Montmarie’s
house in the -
The gentleman hitaself was an admirable
specimen of our early French settlers, whose
gay disposition, warm heart and polished
manners made them such welcome additions
to every social circle. He was dignified and
stately in person, with a frank, kindly ex
pression on his fine features, and now and
then a merry twinkle in his eye, as he fur
thered the plan of some mischievous young
ster. The other inmates of his dwelling con
sisted of his wife, their four children—Emile,
Clara, Helen and Hartly—Frederick and
Christine Errendorf, th“ children of a nephew,
and Lucy Lorrimer. Emile, a noble-looking
boy of twelve, was the eldest, Clara ten, and
the twins, Helen and Hartly, eight.
The sitting room was abandoned to the
children, and every table and sofa strewed
with flowers.
“ Come and see my new pony, papa’s pre
sent to me,” called Emile from the win
dow, pointing, at the same time, to a beauti
ful little animal a servant was leading round
to the stables. Helen and Christine dropped
the ribbon they were tying round Dolly’s
waist, Hartly’s gothic church came tumbling
down in a moment, and all rushed to the win
dow. Fred. Errendorf, a clumsy boy of
about Emile’s age, in his eagerness to get a
sight of the pony, gave Lucy a jostle which
disturbed her balance, and down she fell to
the floor. Emile hastened to help her up,
and Hartly, his face crimson with anger,
clenched his tiny fist—“ You’re a bad boy,
Fred. Errendorf I I’ll make mamma send
you home this minute.” And off he started,
out of the room before Clara could prevent.
He met his mother just outside the door,
coming to see what the loud tones meant.
“ Mother, I want you to send Fred. Erren
dorf home.” “Why, my son; what is the
matter?” she asked, with a look of surprise
at his flushed face and eager tones. “He
pushed Lucy down!” “Not intentionally.”
Then entering the sitting room—“ What is
the matter here, Clara?” “ Nothing but
Hartly’s temper, mamma. Fred, brushed
rather too roughly past Lucy, and she fell
over, but there is no harm dorffe/ “Are you
hurt, my child,” said Mrs. Montmarie, bend
ing over Lucy’s low stool. “No, ma’am,”
was the quick reply, turning her head away.
“ It was an accident I am sure, Fred,” said
the lady, noticing his look of sullen pride.
“Os course it was ; I couldn’t mean to push
a girl down, especijlly a lame one.” (Lucy
winced as if a pin stuck her.) “ There;
shake hands with Hartly ; he’s a hot headed
little champion,” and bidding them keep the
peace, on Christmas day at least, Mrs. Mont
marie left them again to their sports. Clara,
to restore Fred’s good humor, proposed a
game of dominoes to him and Emile. Helen
and Christine resumed the interesting dis
cussion whether a doll’s sash should be tied
behind or before. Hartly seemed bent on
consoling Lucy. A large tear was stealing
down her cheek ; he put his rosy face close
down to her dark lucks and whispered : “Are
you hurt, Lucy ?” “ No, but I wish 1 had
two strong feet.” “Sister Clara read.to me,
this morning, about a lame man our Saviour
cured. lam going to ask Him to*cure you.’’
Lucy smiled at this bright idea, then said
thoughtfully, “ Mamma says if I learn to
bear it, it may be better than being cured ;”
and as if the remembrance inspired the ac
tion, she wiped the tear away and turned to
admire the new doll, much to Helen’s grati
fleation, who felt mortified at Lucy’s indiffer
ence to its glossy curls, and eyes that could
open and shut. Its charms fully eugrossed
the trio until dinner-time, while Hartly
watched the progress of the young, lady’s
toilet-with almost equal interest* No pleas
ure was complete to Helen without his sym
pathy, and all Hartly’s childish troubles w'fere
carried first to hii} twin-sister. Mrs. Mont
rnarie was careful to encourage this feeling,
knowing how beneficial an influence they
might exert upon each other through life by
its means. After dinner the boys went out
to see the pouy, which they had been disap-
pointed in doing, after it had so innocently
caused Lucy’s tall, and the girls gathered in
an eager group round Mrs. Montmarie, in her
room. She had undertaken to dramatize
Beauty and the Beast, for them to act in the
evening, and there was no end to the consul
tations, suggestions and alterations, as the
arrangements were discussed. Mrs. Mont
marie listened patiently to them all, amused,
and often surprised at their quick perception
of the different parts, and the characteristic
traits displayed in the discussion.
(To be Continued.)
What Can be Bone l
I see, by perusing your paper, that some
of your correspondents are beC'-ming deeply
interested in the cause of Temperance, and
de-ire that something may be done to hinder
the progress of intemperance. A sister
writes:
“Will the Christian Index call the atten
tion of the Baptists in Georgia to the estab
lishment of Total Abstinence Societies for
the safety of our childreu ? Our sons are be
ing destroyed by the example of those whose
uames are enrolled on the church books.’’
It is true that a great many of the mem
bers of our church profess to know God, but
in works they deny him. Surrounded by
such, it is a irom mr >*mL u ’ lrain * U P ,°T
children in' thy- way yhey aftntQd go.. Thty
"uVe enemies to God and, tivAhtnr
. Now the question is, “What can be done
to arrest these evil "influences which are
going out from the churches, and' destroying
our sons and daughters, *and spreading vice
and immorality in the land? Something must
be*done.
For many years past we have been having
temperance mass meetings, total abstinence
societies, and the order of the Sons ol Tem
perance, dzc., &c. ; aud these all seemed to do
well for a time, but failed to accomplish the
work intended. Our Associations have
passed resolution after resolution condemning
intemperance, and recommending the churches
to use their influence againsjxit. But after
all these efforts on the pa> d “ the friends ot
temperance, the ’'Slivered. 5 continued to
move onward, reflation and dis
tress in the world, and it is stiU increasing
with fearful rapidity. Multitudes of the ris
ing generation are becoming drunkards.
Why have we failed in our efforts to sus
tain the cause of temperance, and stay the
evil tide of intemperance? There certainly
must be a cause for the failure. It is evident
that we did not commence our work at the
proper point. We have been operating too
far from the centre of influence —the church
of God—and, therefore, our labors and influ
ence, to a great degree, have been lost. In
ordec that sweet and pleasant waters flow
down the vallies, the fountains must be made
jiure and sweet. In order to have good fruit
we must make the tree good. We may
pluck off the bitter fruit and cast it away,
but when the tree blooms and bears again
it will be the same kind of bitter fruit.
So, we must make the churches good, pure
and holy. Let them cease to be habitations
and hiding places for drunkards, dram drink
ers, gamblers, dancers and players, where
they are encouraged, led and nourished.
Then their influence will be glorious, and
move onward like the waves of the sea. If
the’ resolutions whioh have been passed by
our Associations had been first introduced,’
and adopted by the churches, and then recom
mended to the Associations for their adop
tion, long since intemperance would have
ceased in our land.
Associations may pass resolutions a thous
and times —temperance societies may make
every effort possible to promote the cause of
temperance; but if the churches refuse to act,
and to purify themselves from the stains of in
temperance, no permanent good will be ac
complished. If the cause of temperance pre
vails, it must be encouraged and sustained by
the church of Christ. The churches must
become temperance societies.
Let every church pass a resolution saying,
“ No person can become a member of this
church, or remain a member of it, who in
dulges in the use of intoxicating drinks as a
beverage, or supplies others with such drinks,
directly or indirectly , to be used as a bever
age. 2. No person can become a member
of this church or remain a member of it who
engages in the play or the dance.”
Let such rules as these be adopted by each
church, and strictly adhered to, and intem
perance would soon cease. Then peace
would sit on every hill and blessings flow in
every rill. Then the church would appear
“fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terri
ble as an army with banners,” and vast mul
titudes would be saved from the world ot
woe.
Fvery one who drinks intoxicating drinks
as a beverage, and every one who engages in
sinful amusements should be excluded from
the church. lam sure that this position can
be sustained by the word of God.
J. M. D. C.
Tennessee.
Sufferings of Christ.
The subject of the sufferings of that myste
rious and two-foid Being called Son of J/tmand
Son of God, has had attention paid to it
recently in your excellent paper; and though
it may have been ably discussed, 1 apprehend
not exhaustively so. 1 send you, therefore,
an extract in point from that very evangeli
cal work, “Fountain of Life,” by Rev. John
Flavel, published more than two hundred
years ago, which, to my rnind, is so clear and
comprehensive that it must be conclusive.
For if, as he says, the two natures of the
God-Man so ran into each other, and were so
fused together that the humanijy could not
suffer without the divinity participating in
that suffering, it follows, as a necessity, that
when the Man, the sen of Mary* was ihirsty,
the eternal Logos, the second person in the
triune God was thirsty ; and that when the
humanity of the one was hungry—weary —
exhausted of his strength— slept —the Divin
ity, united to the humanity, though it was
hypo statically as the school-men say, was
huugry, weary, exhausted of his strength,
and worst of all, slept. 1 repeat it: If the
Divinity and the humanity of the God Man,
Christ Jesus, were so mixed end so fused to
gether in His person that the one could not
suffer without the other participating in that
suffering, it follows that the Divinity is liable
to fall into any or all the above named states
and conditions of imperfect human nature,
which, to ray mind, is an impossibility, if not
ap absurdity. But here is the extract:
The two natures being thus united in the
person of the Mediator, by virtue thereof,
the properties of each nature are attributed
to and do truly agree in the whole pewon ; so
that it is proper to say, the Lord of
was crucified, Ist Cor. 2:8; and the blood
of God redeemed the church, Acts 20 :28;
that Christ was both in heaven and on earth
at the same time, John 8:13. Yet we do not
believe that one nature doth transfuse or im-
part its properties to the other, or that it is
proper to say the Divine nature suffered, bled
or died; or the human is omniscient', omnip
otent, omnipresent; but that properties of
both natures are so ascribed to the person,
that it is proper to affirm any of them of
him in the concrete, though not in the ab
stract. The right understanding of this
would greatly assist in teaching the true
sense of the afore named and many other
dark passages in the Scriptures.” Again.
“Hence follows, as another excellent fruit of
this union, the concourse and co operation of
each nature in his mediatorial works ; for in
them he acts according to both natures : the
human nature doing what is human, namely,
suffering, sweating, bleeding, dying; and his
Divine nature stamping all these with infinite
value; and so both sweetly concur unto one
glorious work and design of mediation.
Let all Christians rightly inform their
minds of this truth, of so great moment in
religion, and hold it fast against all subtle
adversaries that would wrest it from them.
The learned Hooker observes, that ihe divid
ing of Christ's person, which is but one, and
the confounding of His futures, which are
two, has been the occasion of those errors
which have so greatly disturbed ihe peace of
the church.
The Ariaiis deity, levelling Him
with oilier created beings. The ApoUinaTi
fans nlaimed His hunrUnjty. The Sabellians
affirmed that the Father and Holy 'Ghost*
were'.incarnated as well as the Si#n; aod
-were forced upon that absurdity by another
error; hamely, the defying fcfie three distinct
persons in the Godhead,'and alfirming'they
were lut three names. The Egitychians
confounded both natures in Christ, denying
any distinction of them. The Seleuffiaris
affirmed that He unclofhed Himself of His
humanity when He ascended, and has no
human body in heaven. The Nestorians so
rent the two names of Christ asunder, as to
make two distinct persons of them.
But ye beloved, have not so learned Christ.
Ye know he is l,True and very God ; 2, True
and very Man; 3, That these two natures
make but one person, being united insepara
bly ; 4, That they are not-confounded or
swallowed up in one another, but remain
still distinct in the person of Christ.
Hold ye the sound words which cannot be
condemned. Great things hang upon all these
truths. O suffer not a stone to be loosened
out of the foundation.”
W. B. Stephens.
Muscogee county, Ga.
“Our Daily Bread.*’
A beggar boy stopped at a rich man’s door— n
“I am houseless, and friendless, and faint, and poor,
Said the beggar boy, as the tear-drop rolled
Down his thin cheek blanched with want and cold.
“ Ohl give me a crumb from your board to-day,
To help the beggar-boy on his way.”
“Not a crust, not a crumb,” the rich man said,
“ Be off and work for your daily bread!”
The rich man went to the parish church,
His face grew grave as he trod the porch ;
And the thronging poor, the untaught mass,
Drew back to let the rich rcmmpass.
The service began, the chorai hymn
Arose and swelled through the long aisles dim ;.
Thee the rich man knelt, and the words he said
Were—“ Give us this day our daily bread!”
Affection.
Talk not of wasted affection; affection never was
wasted; «
If it enrich not ‘he heart of another, its waters, return
ing
Buck, to ihei’r springs, like the rain, shall fill tjiem full
ot refreshment; f. ... i
That which the fountain sends forth returns again to
the fountain.
Patience, accomplish thy labor, accomplish thy work of
affection!
Sorrow and silence are strong, and patient endurance
is godlike.
Therefore accomplish thy labor of love, till the heart is
made godlike;
Purified, strengthened, perfected, aDd made more wor
thy of heaven!
— Longfellow.
Deferred Items.
BAPTIST.
Converts from Romanism. —The Baptist
Tidings, giving an account of the labors of a
converted Romanist, says : “This makes the
fifth Baptist church organized from converted
Roman Catholics by the labors of Mr. Dra
roches since he came to Detroit, twelve years
ago—two in Michigan, two in Ohio, and one
in Canada.” m
The Freedmen. —The Board of the Amer
ican Baptist Home Mission Society is asking
$>70,000 from the churches, for the education
of colored preachers in the schools of the
South. We hope it will receive that sum,
and more.
Calvinism. —The Second Baptist church,
Philadelphia, “ has always had a high Cal
vinistic tone, and some of its older members
have been accustomed to regard the most of
the Baptist churches in the city as hardly as
sound in the faith as they might be. How
ever, God has blessed that church at different
times with gracious revivals, and during the
last winter and spring a season of refreshing
was enjoyed and more than sixty gathered in.”
Muller. —Life-of-trust Muller neitherowns
the Baptists of England, or elsewhere, as his
brethren, nor do they acknowledge him or
his institutions as theirs. He separated from
them in 1832, as a Second Adventist.
Open Communion. —The Christian Era, in
a notice of a letter written from London by
Mr. C. A. Richardson, managing editor of
the Congregationalist, says: Os the practice
of open communion- he does not give a very
favorable account. “The communion,” he
remarks, “is administered in the ‘lecture
room’ every Sabbath at the close of the
morning service. Mr. Spurgeon is an open
communionist, and the invitation *as to
‘members of Christian churches.” Only
about 300 persons were present. Ten dea
cons officiated, and there was a seeming haste
about the entire service, which was completed
in twenty minutes.” Mr. Spurgeon has some
2,500 members in his church, open commun
ion at that, and yet it seems that only 300
persons, outs and ins, attend the sapper.
PBESBYTERIAN.
Woman’s Rights. —Tli a Biblical Repertory
says : “ If angels, in attempting to change the
sphere of their activity, became demons, we
shudder to think what women will become if
the present effort should be successful. Fallen
angels aie invisible, inaudible, and intangible.
This, unhappily, will not be the case with
transmuted women. When the change takes
place, men will have to pray to be transfer
red to another planet.”
Against Revivals. The Examiner &
Chronicle says: Two Presbyteries in Canada
have pronounced revivals contrary to the
Confession of Fhith. It is true, we suppose,
that the Confession and Catechisms nowhere
recognize conversion as a condition of church
membership, and means to bring about con
versions are not provided for or recognized in
those “ standards.”
Giving.— -The Old School General Assem
bly enjoined the session of each church “to
set in operation some plan by which the indi
viduals of each congregation shall all be duly
reached, and opportunity given to every per
son to contribute to the Lord’s treasury ; and
further, to provide that the children of the
Sabbath schools be duly instructed In the
duty and privilege of systematic giving to
God’s cause, and opportunity be afforded
them to contribute regularly.”
WHOLE NO. 2458
Restricted Infant Baptism. —The South
ern Presbyterian General Assembly, at its
reoent session, Mobile, decided: “Itis an in
fraction. of our standards for one of our min
isters' to baptize the infant child of a parent,
or the ward of a guardian standing in loco
parentis, who has not professed personal faith
in Christ, but who was baptized in infancy.’’
LUTHEBAN.
Prayer Meetings. —A Pennsylvania Lu
theran miuister was recently put op trial be
fore his District Conference. His chief offence
lay in the fact that he had hiding pro
tracted and prayer meeting/
CONGREGATIONAL.
A Novelty.- —A Congregational ohurch, in
Eastern Massachusetts, not long since, deoided
that the withholding of assent from certain
points of doctrine, should not be a barrier to
church membership, but should vacate the
right to vote in it!
Unitabjanism. —The English letter of the
Christian Register (Unitarian) says: Save
the Evangelical Magazine and Christian Wit
ness, all the periodicals of English Congrega
tionalism are in the hands of men who, if
not altogether Unitarian, sympathize to a
very large extent therewith.
Temperance. —The following resolutions
w»re adopted reoent ly- by th-*.old South
church, Wo#detter,'Mastf.‘: That a Christian
church cannot reasonably expect God’s bless
ing while it ignores the temperance cause:
That the manufacture, sale, or use of ale,
strong# beer, lager beer, cider, wines,
or intoxicating liquors of- any kind, as a bev
erage, is unchristian, and cannot fail to bring
reproach to our Zioiv
EPISCOPAL.
Trench, as a Speaker. —“ Keynote.” in
the Examiner dt Chronicle , gives the follow
ing aocount of Archbishop Trench, as heard
in the debate on the Irish Disestablishment
Bill, in the English House of Lords: Here
is a man we will be glad to see and hear, but
will never want to hear again. His delivery
is absolutely horrible. The Lords leave one
by one, or put their heads togeiher for a chat.
The galleries snicker. For an hour the great
J)r. Trench sing-songs on. It all sounds like
a burlesque on the universal pulpit intonation
of the English Church. The Archbishop,
like the inebriate, would admirably answer
the purpose of an “ example.”
High Chttrchism. —According to Zion’s
Herald, an Episcopal minister in Newfound
land kindly offers to re-marry sli whom Wes
leyan ministers shall “ have joined together,”
and to baptize infants that “ unauthorized
ipersous” have sprinkled.
“Papists without the P.”—A stained
glass window recently erected in an English
ritualistic church represents Peter with a
cardinal's scarlet cloak, a double croSs, and a
Pope’s tiara.
New Exegesis. —At the Maryland Diooe- •
sail Convention, it was said, with the appa
rent sympathy of a considerable number of
High Churchmen, that when the Scriptures
speak of Christians as kings and priests unto
God, we are to understand by kings, bishops
—and by priests, the clergy of “ the church !”
METHODIST.
Invocation of Saints. — At the recent
Methpdist National Camp-Meeting, -during %
season of great interest, while the congrega
tion sang with fervor a familiar hymn, Rev.
J. S. Inskip, with both hands raised, “ in
voked the spirits of Wesley, Fletcher, and
all the redeemed in heaven, to help them ac
cept the truth in all its length and breadth.”
That will do very well for a kind of Pinch
beck Romanism.
Subterfuge. —Certain Northern Methodist
bishops, several months since, made proposi
tions to the Southern Methodist bishops, look
ing toward an ultimate union of the two
bodies—which propositions were, from the
necessity of the case, declined. The Zion's
Herald , the organ of Northern Methodism at
Boston, says: “The object of this advance of
our bishops was probably to give our minis
ters in that section an advantage in prosecu
ting their work, showing larger catholicity
on our part than on theirs.” i If this is true,
what disgraceful hypoorisy !
ROMANIST.
Pious Politics. Father Stanislaus, a
French monk, ascribes the Irish Disestab
lishment Bill, altogether to the influence of
the Virgin Mary on Mr. Gladstone!
Marriage. —The Catholic priest at Macki
nac, declares that a marriage by a Justice of
the Peace is no marriage at all; that parties
so married are guilty of adultery, and that
he will not allow them to come inside, of his
church. He said to his congregation: “I
will put them out with the dogs, where they
belong.” And again : “A marriage outside
of the church of Rome is spurious, and such
parties are living in open adultery.”
“ Liberal ” Romanism. —Father Hyacinth,
of Paris, not long since said, amidst “ thun
ders of applause :” “ There are three religions
in this world, the Jewish, the Catholic, and
the Protestant, and all three are equal in the
eyes of God.”
UNITARIAN.
No Mediator.— One of the most intelli
gent, cultivated and serious disciples of Uni
tarianism, said recently : “As for myself, 1
need no Mediator between me and God. I
have nothing to do with Him which I am not
willing to do with Him face to faoe.”
Doctrinal Laxity. A speaker at the
American Unitarian Association said : “ We
have buried the dead carcass ot theology,
and mean to leave not even a head stone
to mark its grave, and hejicefouth the sum
and substance of our creed, our ritual and
our catechism are ‘to go about doing good.”*
That is—he will have the effect without the
cause: he removes the foundation, and will
go on building the house nevertheless.
Progress (?) —The new President of Har
vard University has signalized the beginning
of bis administration by abolishing morning
prayers.
r BPIEITUALIST.
Low Morals.— William B. Potter, M.D.,
who claims to be a Spiritualist of the orderly
type, says : “ Rapping, table-tipping, writing,
personating, healing, trance, speaking, seeing,
hearing, and business mediums, are generally
‘a low class of people ,’ often the very dregs
of society, and are generally controlled by a
low, tricky, deceptive class of-spirits, whose
companionship and magnetism tend to drag
their mediums down to a still lower plane.”
No wonder he says also: “ Where you find
the most Spiritualism, there you will find the
most individualism, which tends tdfUnitari*
anism, UniversalLsui, scepticism, infidelity,
domestic discord, divorces, fr.ee-love, Bloom
i>rism, Vegetarianism, Fourierism, and Radi
calism of every kind, good, bad and indiffer
ent.” ■ •
Immorality.—, The Religio Philosophical
Journal, a Spiritualist authority, says: “In
licentipusness we find *n out-cropping of the
God-element in man. It seems somewhat
difficult to attain the end desired, and to toake
plain to all that vice may be virtue, and dis
cord, harmony. •) We do say, however, that
virtue is one condition, vice another, both
equally commendable in the sight of God.’