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CHRISTIAN INDEX AND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST.
VOL. 48-NO. 47.
A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY PAPER,
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN ATLANTA, QA
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“And They also which Pierced Him.”
Not I, my Lord, not I!
How cou and I pierce, with oruel dart
Os angry thought, of hard and haughty cry
Os pride, that broken heart I
Say not 'twaa I.
How could I these poor eyes
Uplift to that thorn-crowned brow,
If, with most keen and sad surprise,
A look should say, “ ’Twas thou f”
Could'l arise
From pang like that, and straight
Reach out, toar-blind with shame, and cling
To that dear, wounded Hand, and wait
The healing it can bring,
To hear, “ Too late,”
Fall sadly down to me,
From lips once smitten dumb with pain f
“ Too late I Earth’s sorrowing ones to thee,
How long hare called in vain,
And wearily,
“ With hurt unhealed, their feet
Still tread the toilsome way, wherein
No cooling brook, nor blossom sweet,
Nor summer’s bird is seen,
The heart to greet.
“ To win thy thought to those
Whose gardens no glad flowers bear,
I gently broke one clinging rose
From thino, so full, so fair,
But one white rose !
“Thy bosom filled with woel
No room for any sorer heart
To lean and hide its tears, ah, no!
Thou, sullen, sat’st apart,
And wouldst not know
“ The voice that tenderly ,
Breathed ever at thy sido, ’Tis I,
Sweet soul 1 Do but rise up to seo !
’Tis thy Lord’s hand doth lie,
In love, on thee!
“Then didst thou pierce me. Then
Still closer press the cruel crown
Upon my brow, and wound again
The hand thou dasbedst down
In thy wild pain.”
’Twas I, my Lord; too late
I weep 1 ' But when I trembling come,
And timid, touch the shining gate,
And one sweet Presence—one—
KnceliDg, I wait;
There let these eyes on Thine
But rest, while tears wash white and free
From every hurt and crimson line,
The hand that saveth me!
My Jesus, mine!
—Annie B. C. Keene.
I Slimmed not to declare the whole Counsel
of God.
Some parts of the truth are more conge
nial to us, or more popular with our hearers.
These we are in danger of presenting, to the
exclusion of others. Not so did Paul. lie
shunned not to declare the whole counsel ol
God; and held back nothing that was profit
able.
Truth, only partially presented, may amount
to error and falsehood. A traveller, met by
a highwayman, by coolness and adroitness,
rescues himself by shooting tho robber down.
Two, who testify to the homicide—either be
cause they are accomplices, or because they
witnessed only a part of the transaction—may
depose only that they saw the prisoner at the
bar draw a pistol and shoot the victim down ;
and he, who is justified by the law both of
God and man, suffers the fate of a murderer.
So with the truth as it is in Jesus. Preached
out of its proportions it may be pernicious;
and out of its connections and relations, it
may be falsehood. Let Christ’s humanity be
exhibited without its union with His divini
ty, and our Saviour, under our ministrations,
will become a mere man—useful to us per
haps as an example, but utterly incompetent
to work out for us a perfect righteousness:
Insist upon His divinity, and deny its myste
rious union with humanity, and we utterly
reject llis vicarious obedience for us; since
divinity cannot be a substitute for us, and
cannot suffer in our stead. God’s sovereign
ty taught without man’s free-agenoy and ac
countability, may throw upon the Holy Sove
reign the responsibility of human crimes,
and lull the sinner into a state of unconcern
waiting until God shall take the initiative in
his salvation: Human duty taught not in
conjunction with divine purpose and divine
agency, may puff men up in a conceit of their
ability; and effect a pretended salvation of
works. Divine grace insisted upon to the
exclusion of human obligation and obedience,
may abrogate God’s law as a rule of life;
and encourage men—under the plea that they
are not under the law but under grace—to
continue in their sin that grace may abound.
Doctrines taught, and experience and prac
tice neglected, may make men speculative,
perhaps polemic Christians: Experience and
practice insisted upon to the neglect of the
great foundation principles of doctrine, and
men will be destitute of the stamina of the
gospel, ready to be tossed about by every
wind of doctrine. The promises and the
privileges of the gospel insisted upon to the
total neglect of the duties, may fire the heart
with gratitude and joy, but will seldom lead
to self denial, to cross-bearing and to sturdy
and persistent labor in the vineyard of the
Lord. The moral and the spiritual pro
claimed to the ignoring of the positive insti
tutions of God’s house, and the church will
come to nothing; and God’s impressive sym
bols, designed to preach Jesus to the eye,
will be entirely discarded. Let the ordinan
ces be taken out of their places and their
proportions, and we degenerate into the su
perstition and folly of sacramental and ritu
alistic salvation. But we need not multiply
examples.
As God’s ministers, we should preach the
truth; as far as possible, the whole truth;
and, invariably, nothing but the truth. If
not on our guard, we may preach ourselves
and not Christ Jesus, the Lord ; we may tes
tify about science and art and thus speak in
the words which man’s wisdom teacheth; we
may speak on sensational themes, and cater
to the public prejudices; we may even de
grade ourselves by dabbling in politics, and
converting the sanctuary into a club house,
and the pulpit into the platform of the hust
ings. In any of these cases, how pitiable will
be the spectacle ! Rather let Paul’s profes
sion be invariably our rule, “1 am deter
mined not to know anything among you save
Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
P. H. Mell.
Church Order.
’ I propose, in a series of brief articles, a
resume of Church Order—a definition' and
distinction of the offices, constituents, and au
tho;ity of the church and churches of Jesus
Christ. The method of discussion will be to
adduce in illustration of each topic the Scrip
tures supposed to bear upon it, and to offer
a common sense interpretation of each as it
arises.
Elaborate treatises, of great merit already
indeed exist, but they are not in the reach of
all your readers, aud the subject, if I mistake
not, calls for abundant attention.
Views upon one topic, at least, will be pre
sented which are not commonly accepted by
our denomination. Upon this and all other
topics the severest criticism is invoked,*if in
vdeed this discussion rise into a plane elevated
enough to deserve the notice of adepts in
theology. “Let the righteous smite me, it
shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me,
FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1869.
it shall be an excellent oil, that shall not
break my head.” Accustomed to tread, for
the most part, in the steps of my seniors and
superiors, I shall for once ignore supposed
authority, and unfettered, give my opinions
fearlessly. Scheme: I. Elders. 1. Apos
tles. 2. Evangelists. 3. Pastors or Bishops.
If. Other Ministers. 1. Deacons. 2. Dea
conesses. 3. Temporary Servants. 111.
Church. 1. Churches. 2. Councils. The
terms capitalized, designate genera, those
italicised, species. Species embrace all the
attributes of the genera to which they be
long, with several additional, marking a dis
tinction between them. These distinctive
peculiarities define the species. My readers
will excuse this little touch of science, and
receive assurance that technicalities shall be
avoided as much as possible, and the simplest
methods employed, so as to embarrass no
one.
With a prayer, that this humble offering
may contribute to evolve truth and bring it
out into salience, so as to be recognized by
the discipleship at large, I address myself in
the next number to the ascertainment of the
true idea of the Christian Eldership, and ot
the rest of the constituents of the church,
in order. E. B. Teague.
The Index : Power of the Press.
I was induced by brother Abram Harman,
of Savannah, to subscribe for the “ Columbian
Star,” in the year 1832, before I became a
church member. I was influenced mainly, if
not entirely, by a wish to send it to my ven
erated and long since sainted father, by whose
door a stage passed frequently at that time.
Finding that he was already a subscriber, I
regretted having paid my money for the pa
per, and resolved to stop it at the end of the
subscription term. I neglected to do this, in
time, and so had to pay for it another term,
but; determined not to be guilty of such an
other oversight. Before that term passed I
learned to love it, and from that time until
now I have taken and read, it through all its
changes and under all its names. To me it has
been better at times, but always good, f am
conscious of having derived from it much in
struction and comfort during the past thirty
seven years; and how much influence it has
had of which 1 am not conscious, eternity
must develop.
In 1834-5 I preached (in my thoughts and
feelings I mean) while I ploughed, split rails,
and made fences ; but I feared awfully, at
times, to open my mouth in the work, lest it
should be said to me, “who hath required this
at your hand ?” or, “what hast thou to do to
declare my statutes'?” The question of duty
on the subject was painfully troublesome. 1
had not the remarkable evidences of a call to
the ministry which I had heard of in the cases
of others. No remarkable dreams, visions,
or voices, were vouchsafed to me. No trees
fell before or behind me to stop or to urge
me on, only as I felled them with my own
axe; and but for the assistance I found in
frequent communications which appeared in
the paper at that time, on tho evidences of a
call to the ministry, and the affectionate en
couragement of brother Isaao Smith, of
Washington Association, I know not what I
should have done. It seems to me, as I think
of it now, that without the assistance of the
Christian Index, I might never have entered
the gospel field. Possibly, ’twould have been
b»|. zr if I had not, f have be- nos any
U#e ; or shall be hereafter, it is attributable,
in no small degree, under God, to the Index.
It lias seemed to me remarkable, that the
subject of a call to the ministry should have
been so frequently discussed in the paper at
that time, and scarcely ever since. I want your
“Memorial Record.” D. G. Daniell.
How It Is.
This is a stirring age, and the servants of
the Redeemer may be in danger of giving
undue prominence to the active duties of life,
to the neglect of prayerful meditation. I
would not, for a moment, object to activity
and z>al in the prosecution of our religious
enterprises; but I would, i*' possible, guard
against carrying too much of a secular spirit
into our work. We cannot, it is true, hope
for success in turning men from darkness to
light unless we labor earnestly with that end
in view; but then we are not to take it for
granted that satisfactory results will follow
because we have been diligent in the use of
means. Our efforts will really amount to
nothing unless we have the blessing of God
upon them. The work which the Saviour
has placed before His servants is specific, and
yet it is quite sufficient to fill their hands and
absorb their means.
The great work of the church, as given in
the commission, is “to preach the gospel to
evory creature,”—to evangelize the world.
Now, mark, it is to preach, or cry the gospel
—to proclaim it in the most public manner,
so that all may hear it. The field to be oc
cupied is the world, and we need have no
fear of going beyond our territorial limits.
Every nation, and every creature of every
nation, must hear the word of salvation; and
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is re
sponsible for the work of sending it to them.
“ Go ye into all the world,” is ringing in our
ears like an alarm-bell, and yet how small
the number of those who have obeyed its
solemn call! We have seminaries for the
education of young ministers, and when they
come forth “ thoroughly furnished ” for their
work, do we find them crowding the decks of
outward bound vessels, going in search of
these “other sheep which are not of this
fold?” Whatever may be found true in the
future, such has not been the fact in the past;
but our young Timothies seek city pastorates
aud exhibit their missionary zeal at our anni
versaries, in pleading earnestly for the heat hen,
stretching forth hands neatly enveloped in
kid gloves of the latest patterns and most
approved colors, besides exhibiting other per
sonal decorations, equal in value to a mis
sionary’s outfit, and some of them even wear
ing gold rings which would buy the whole of
John the Baptist’s wardrobe, not excepting
the girdle of skin about his loins.
But what can we expect more of the Tim
othies when we attend to the example of our
modern Pauls and Peters, the leaders of our
sacramental hosts? True, they talk and
write about sacrifices for the sake of the gos
pel, but who of us are making any? Who
of our great lights curtail the expenses of
their tables aud wardrobes because “the whole
world lieth in the arms of the wicked one?”
Certainly we do not intend to be insincere in
our talking and writing in behalf of missions,
but is not that the appearance which we pre
sent to others?
Are there not men and money enough in
our Baptist Zion to send the gospel into all
the world ? Might not the gospel be preached
to the whole world in twelve months, if all
our means could be made available ? Why,
then, is it not done? The answer given by
our Boards in every number of the Macedo
nian and Record and the Home and Foreign
Journal, is, “ we have neither the men nor
the means.” Now let us, one and all, come
to the bar of conscience and answer the ques
tion, “ Why have not the Boards the men
aftd the means?” When we do this the fol
lowing must be the answer: “Because lam
not willing to make the sacrifices which obedi
ence to the commission requires. 1 and my
family must move in a certain circle, and to
support the style required we must have
money, and although my jnoome appears
large, it is pretty much absorbed in meeting
contingent expenses.”
Wo will suppose our blessed Saviour vis
iting one of the pastors of our wealthy and
fashionable churches, tapping at his study
doer with the inquiry, “ What doest thou
here, Elijah 1 ?” "He finds the pastor seated in
a cushioned arm-chair, wrapped in a neat
study-gown, a jaunty' little study-cap on his
intellectual head, his feet encased in a neat
pair of embroidered slippers and a pure Ha
vanna cigar in his mouth. “ Doing!” replies
the astonished pastor; “ obe.ying the commis
sion, of course, and what with the sacrifices I
have to make and the trials to which I am
continually subjected, a hard time I have of
it, to be sure.” Os course the Saviour passes
on, and leaves the pastor to his self-sacrificing
work and his fragrant Havana.
He next taps at the counting-room door ot
one of our Baptist merchant princes, with
the double inquiry, “ What doest thou and
what hast thou here?” “ What am I doing ?
Laboring night and day to make money
enough to support my family and keep up
our church. To the question what have I
here ? I answer that my taxable property is
only two or three hundred thousand dollars,
and when you consider what an expensive
family I have, and the very large amounts I
give to the cause of benevolence, you can
well imagine that I have a hard time of it;
but you will please retire now, as our firm is
to meet directly to consider the propriety of
building a marble store room on Main street.”
“One or two more questions, if you please,”
says the visitor, “ before I retire, and then I
will leave you to resume your labors. First,
How much owest thou unto my Lord? and,
secondly, How much dost thou give to His
cause?” “Owe! Really you must be a
stranger in these parts; for it is well known
that 1 never go into debt. No, sir; l pay as
I go, so I do not oive anything to any one.
To your second question, I beg leave to say
that I think it a great privilege to give, and I
do give liberally. In the first place, my
family will have a choice pew at church, and
I have to pay two hundred and fifty dollars
for that, and theu I have to start our sub
scription to missions, and that costs me
fifty dollars more. I will say, however, that
if our firm decides to build on Main street,
1 shall have to cut down my subscription to
missions another year.”
Reader, what do you suppose Jesus thinks
of the two representative men at whose doors
He has been tapping? Occasional.
Are we Missionaries ?
We are called missionaries. What does
missionary mean? Favoring missions; i.
spreading the gospel. It was assumed in
contradistinction to anti-missionary, or oppo
sition to missions. What do we give to pub
lish the gospel? The churches usually,
through this section, contribute nothing—
unusually, they contribute from 81 to 820
por annum. A church sending up 820, we
say, does comparatively well. Let us see.
This same church, according a moderate esti
mate, will spend in one year:
For Whiskey, S2OO
Tobacco 300
Superfluous dressing 500
Support of dogs. 300
Carnal contingents 100
Total $1,400
Thus is consumed upon the lusts of this
missionary!?) church 81,400, and the pitiful
sum of 820 given for missions! Are we
missionaries? Let us extend the test. The
W. Missionary Baptist Association, composed
of 43 churches and a membership of 4,300,
sent up for missions, in 1869, 8414. Upon a
low estimate, the same membership wastes
in one year:
For Whiskey $ 8,000
Tobacco.. 12,000
Superfluous dressing. 20,000
Support of dogs 12,000
Unnecessary contingents 4,000
Total $56,000
An Association o f Christians, “ bought ”
Christians, and bought with “ blood,” and
that “ precious,” expending foolishly 856,000,
and giving 8400 to send the Word of Life to
perishing heathen ! Alas ! are we missiona
ries? Our money is lavished upon our lusts,
while but a pittance is given to spread the
“glad tidings of great joy.” We are prodi
gal in numerous expenditures, but niggardly
in giving to Him who loved us ftnd gave
Himself for us! “O Lord, we have sinned,
and to us belongeth confusion of face.” “Be
merciful to us and bless us, and cause Thy
face to shine upon us ; that Thy way be known
upon earth, and Thy saving health among all
nations.” J. H. H.
“ The Wrong Man Fired Into.”
We are pleased to learn that the S. C.
Advocate disclaims the authorship of the ar
ticle on the Baptism of the Eunuch, which
we recently reviewed, and that “it was only
a waif which he picked up somewhere with
out knowing where it originated, and inserted,
unfortunately for his pacifio character, with
out credit.” “Not proposing to enter on a
controversy with T. B. Cooper, or any body
else, on non-essential questions,” he says
neither yea nor nay to any of our strictures,
but simply noting that we “did not undertake
to show that Philip and the eunuch were not
both immersed because they both went into
the water,” and averring that “he is satisfied
with such a water baptism as typifies the
Pentecostal baptism of the Spirit, which was
‘poured out’ and ‘shed forth’ upon the people
‘till they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,’ ”
he “turns us over to whomsoever” we “may
find, who has time to squander upon ‘meats
and drinks,’ forgetting that the kingdom of
God is righteousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Ghost.”
We did not really think it necessary to
prove that Philip and the eunuch were not
both immersed, from the fact that Luke says
Philip immersed the eunuch after they went
down into the water. If th q Advocate has never
seen these two Scriptural acts [going into the
water and then immersing ) beautifully and
impressively illustrated, he can even now
witness them by going a few steps from his
office, where Bishop Warren first goes down
into the water with the willing and happy be
liever in Jesus, and then immerses him into
the name of the Holy Trinity.
Perhaps we would not be surprised that
he is satisfied with a “water baptism that
‘typifies’ the Pentecostal baptism of-the Spirit,
which was poured out and shed forth till they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost,” if we
could find only a little Scriptural authority
for such a baptism, or by any means derive
it from the meaning of the word (baptizo,)
but we fail do this, even by “an excruciating
torture of the language.” We find, indeed,
where the Holy Spirit is figuratively said to
be “poured out,” but know of no instance
were He was sprinkled upon any one, or
where water was either poured or sprinkled
upon any person, as a type of the poured out
or sprinkled Holy Spirit. We want light
from the Advocate just here.
The description of the Pentecostal baptism
is in the following words, by Luke : “And
suddenly there came a souud from heaven,
as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all
the house where they were sitting—and they
were all filled with the Hol v Ghost.” Since
the house was filled and they were filled, it
looks to us very much like an “immersioti**
of “the people.” But, says the Advocate, the
Holy Ghost was poured out and the water
must be poured out. Very well, let that be
as it may, “the people” ifyre and must be
immersed. For so they were baptized (im
mersed) by the Holy Gho9t, and in the Holy
Ghost, and, if you pleasg, with the Holy
Ghost. Let us interpret the following verse,
Acts 1 : 5, prophetic of the Pentecostal bap
tism : “For John truly baptized (baptizo)
with (en) water, but ye shall be baptized (bap
tizo) with (en) the Holy Ghost, not many days
hence.” 1. John truly immersed (baptizo) in
(en) water, but ye shall be immersed (baptizo)
in (en) the Holy Ghost. 2, John truly pour
ed (ekkeo) in or with (en) water, but ye shall
be poured (ekkeo) in or with (en) the Holy
Ghost. 3. John truly sprinkled (raino) in or
with (en) water, but ye wall be sprinkled
(raino) in or with (en) the Holy Ghost, not
many days hence. Now, dear reader, observe
that we not only destroy the sense, almost to
irreverence, by using the tisprds poured and
sprinkled for baptized, ’ u-i *Bt e.compelled to
substitute other word? fffckeu and raino)
which are never
stance, in the Bible to denctfe the act of bap
tism. Pouring and sprinkling are then out
of the question. We cannot make them an
swer, even by “the most excruciating torture
of language.”
The Advocate “has no time to squander
upon non-essential questions and meats and
drinks.” Our Saviour, when He insisted on
being baptized by John, said : “Suffer it to
be so now, for thus it becomtlh tis to fulfill all
righteousness.” He also said : “He that be
lieveth and is baptized shall be saved.” Pe
ter said : “Repent and be baptized every one
of you.” If these Scriptures mean anything,
and baptism is immersion, as the word plainly
shows, what will be the (.ite of those who
substitute in its place sprinkling and pour
ing ? And of those who say it is nought—
a meat, a drink, a non-essential ?
T. B. Cooper.
Gonyers, Ga., Nou. 17, 1369.
It Ends iu Light.
And His banner over me was lore.— Song of Solomon iu 4.
I say to thee, do thou repeat
To the first man thou mayest meet
In lane, highway, or open street—
Thai he, and we, and all men move
Under a canopy of lore,
As broad as the blue sky abore;
That doubt and trouble, fear and pain,
And anguish, all are shadows rain ;
That death itself shall not remain;
That weary deserts we nr-y tread,
A dreary labyrinth we may thread,
Through dark ways undq)ground be led ;
Yet if we will our guide'>bey,
Tho dreariest path, the darkest way,
Shall issue out in hearer.ly day.
One thing further,inilke him know —
That to beliere these things are so,
This firm faith nerer to forego—
Despite of all which seems at strife
With blessing, all with curses rife—
That this is blessing, this is life.
— E. C. Trsnch.
A Question.
If a man obey God, doe* he not do well ?
“Six days shult thou labor and do all thy
work,” is the command : ari-.'! a
man work six days I isobeying Him; and
if we have .a two days’ a four days’
meeting, a protracted meeting, or any week
day meeting, are we not violating that com
mand ? Did not Paul labor in the week,
obeying that command, and preach on the
Lord’s day ? Jle thus protracted a meeting
at Corinth for “a year and six month ;” and
Luke, in one modest sentence reports the re
sults : “And many of the Corinthians, hear
ing, believed, and were baptized.” Ido not
say that no circumstances will justify week
day meetings; but I think it deferential to
Jehovah that He should create the circum
stances. The great sin of well-meaning peo
ple is the unbidden practice of adding to
God’s instrumentalities for saving men. If
the “Bible is a sufficient rule of faith and
practice,” let us stick to it, ar.d remain at Je
rusalem ; but if not, let us add tradition to
it, and go on to Rome. H. E. T.
Mercer University.
As the question of the removal of Mercer
University is still before the denomination, I
propose to offer a few suggestions upon the
subject. There is a question lying back of
removal, the answer to which may aid in the
settlement of that “vexed question.”
Firsts then, is a Baptist University in
Georgia desirable ? lam aware that there
are some Baptists who will give a negative
answer to this question ; but 1 think it may
bo safely assumed, that nine tenths of the de
nomination will, in their seeret min 3, answer
it affirmatively. Moreover, I think the latter
answer the correct one, and I shall offer two
reasons.for the opinion.
1. Our denomination, in Georgia, has been
very greatly benefitted already by Mercer
University. We are, iq great measure, in
debted to it for an enlightened ministry. The
writer i3 not an old man, and yet he can re
member when educated men in the Baptist
pulpit constituted the exceptions and not the
rule. Outside of the cities, when Mercer
was founded, Baptist churches were supplied
with preachers of strong native sense, but of
very little learning ; and hence a great many
important places were left uuoccupied by our
denomination, for the want of suitable men
to hold them. Now, however, our ministry
will compare favorably, in point of learning,
with that of any other denomination, thanks
to the founders and supporters of Mercer
University. The graduates of this institu
tion are filling our most important pulpits,
and are found competing successfully with the
graduates of similar places of learning, in the
various professions and avocations of life.
But the influence of Mercer does not stop at
this point, but extends throughout the whole
membership of our churches. Many of them
have been wholly or partially educated at
the University, or in schools taught by her
graduates, so that it is difficult to say where
her influence is not felt. The good accom
plished in the past, by Mercer, justifies the
wisdom of our Baptist fathers in establishing
and endowing it; and, doubtless, this is the
verdict of a very large majority of the de
nomination.
2. But the University is a greater necessity
now than when it first entered upon its career
of usefulness. The Baptists have not reach
ed their present position of influence and re
spectability without having to give battle in
defence of their peculiar doctrines and prac
tices ; and it is highly probable that the con
flict in the future will be much sharper and
sterner than in the past. Religious progress
necessarily evokes a war of ideas, and in our
conflicts with the friends and supporters of
error, we shall need, not only a trained and
enlightened ministry, but an educated mem
bership also—men who will sustain the min
istry in their aggressions upon the strongholds
of error. Where shall this training be giv
en ? Can we expect it from institutions whol
ly or partially under the supervision of the
adherents and advocates of error ? Can it
be obtained in institutions controlled and
wielded by the very men most inimical to
our principles and practices ? In the not very
remote future, the whole responsibility of
maintaining the truth as it is in Jesus may
rest upon Baptists—the responsibility of
maintaining it against superstitions which
have grown grey by reason of age. We be
lieve that Romanists are in the grossest error,
and that there is danger from their aggres
sions in more senses than one ; and yet when
we shall come in conflict with the champions
of this venerable hierarchy we shall have to
meet men who will possess all the advantages
which the most perfect training can confer;
and to battle with them successfully we shall
need ministers of great learning, and of the
most enlightened and invincible courage. But
if we are to have such men then we must train
them, under circumstances which will insure
not only their thorough education, but their
fidelity to the views which we entertain in re
gard to doctrine and practice. If these views
are correct, then we reach the inevitable con
clusion that we need and must have a Baptist
University in the State.
Now, if we need and must have a Baptist
University in Georgia, the removal of Mer
cer ceases to be a question of expediency, and
becomes one of existence. It is no longer a
matter of choice as to locations, but between
fracing a University, or none at all. The fact
is admitted on all hands, that Mercer is on
the decline, that it is gradually wasting away,
and that its existence is seriously threatened.
Its past success cannot stop this slow but cer
tain decay, but we are called upon to find a
remedy now, which shall be effective. If a
man, ouee healthy and robust, falls ill, and is
wasting away at the rate of four pounds per
week, the fatal termination of his disease is
only a question of time, unless a remedy can
be found ; and if the physicians, having the
ease in charge, should announce that the only
remedy is to remove the patient to some
other locality, would not his friends at once
favor the step? Would they not make haste
to tear him away from the scenes of his hap
py childhood, and of his bright young man
hood, and all the hallowed associations of the
past ? Yes, for what are these, when the pa
tient is no more ?
What, then, are the facts in regard to Mer
cer University ? It has fallen ill, and in spite
of all lhat ean be done, it slowly but certain
ly declines, until anxiety is depicted upon the
countenances of all who reverence it as their
Alma Mater. We have there a Faculty of
unquestioned ability—men of great learning
and sound practical sense—-men who have
the confidence of the denomination ; we have
att endowment fund amounting to more than
one hundred thousand dollars; we have a
white membership numbering at least sixty
thousand—one thirtieth of whom have sons
to educate, and who are being educated; and
were all these youths in our University we
would be able to number fifteen hundred stu
dents ; and yet, with all these decided advan
tages, the institution is slowly decaying, and
at t!ie present rate of decline, will, in a few
years, be numbered with the things that were.
Here is the plain and unvarnished statement
of facts; and now what is to be done ? What
is the remedy? What do the doctors (the
Trustees and Faculty) advise ? They tell us,
after the most careful diagnosis, that removal
from its present location is the remedy, and
their words and looks betray the truth that
they regard it as the only remedy. Nor are
they alone in this opinion, but the thought
ful ir.tJ-obseTv ing all over tho State are grad
ually coming to the same conclusion. If the
University must be removed in order to insure
its recovery, will any of its friends say “No;
let it die. where it is, and be buried amid the
scenes of its former labors?” Certainly, its
enemies could desire no more than this; but
will its friends, with all the facts before them,
advise such a course ? Will those who love
it, such as our venerable and beloved brother
Stocks, clinging to the pleasant associations
of the past, prefer its death to its removal?
Surely, surely not; but they will say as God
did to Abraham, “ Get thee out from this
land, and from thy people, to a land which I
will show thee.”
It may be objected, that I have presented
an extreme view of the condition of the ques
tion, but “facts” are said to be “stubborn
things.” Fairplat.
Layard’s Confirmations of Scripture.
After ail the attention that has been given
to Layard’s discoveries among the ruins of
Nineveh, we doubt whether the public mind
is fully aware of the nature and extent of the
confirmation which they bring to the truth of
Scriptu-e. It may be useful hero to set out
in the briefest form a specimen of some of
the general results of those discoveries.
They show, in conformity with the tenor
of Scripture, that the earliest ages were not,
as many think, barbarous ages; but that the
race of men, originally enlightened from a
divine source, had, at first, a high degree of
knowledge, which they gradually lost through
their defection to idolatry. It has been dem
onstrated by these excavations, not only that
a high state of the arts existed in Nineveh a
thousand years before Christ, but also, that
in the earliest ages of that city, dating but a
few centuries from the flood, their sculptures
were the best. In this remarkable result
the Egyptian and Syrian antiquities also
agree.
It is also proved, contrary to the general
impression, that idolatry was introduced when
men had better knowledge of the true God
than afterwards prevailed ; that it did not
grow up as a religion of nature, by the inef
fectual attempts of men to find the true God.
But it was introduced as an expedient of men
in order to obscure what knowledge of God
they possessed, because they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge. This is shown
in s the fact that the earliest representations of
God found in these sculptures are the best,
and immeasurably exceed everything of the
kind existing in after ages; especially in their
approach to the true idea of God. So that
idolatry came in, not for want of light, but
by an abuse of light. Men, knowing God,
became vain in their imaginations, and their
foolish hearts were darkened.
The Scripture accounts of the great an*
tiquity of Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire
agree with these records dug out of the ruins
of Nineveh. The Scriptures date the build
ing of the city not long after the flood ; and
by the fact that the same marble materials
have been used in successive structures, and
that ancient buildings have been placed on
the ruins of those still more ancient, and
other unmistakable indications, the conclusion
is made clear, that the city had all the an
tiquity which the Scriptures ascribe to it.
These monuments also bear upon them the
records of the fulfillment of prophecy. Na
hum prophesied that the city would be plun
dered of all its treasures, so that none would
be left. Layard has found, in all his exca
vations, nothing in the form of gold and sil
ver; a fact which is remarkable, if the city
had not been plundered before it was burnt.
The prophet foretold that the invaders w’ould
obtain easy access to some portions of the
city, and that w herever the inhabitants should
resort to the strongholds, these should be
burnt. Now the ruins show just this result
—that some parts of the city were destroyed
by fire, and others escaped.
But a more striking confirmation is found
in the fact, that inscriptions on the ruins of
one of the palaces give the records of the
military career of Sennacherib, with just such
a series of conquests, and just such a boast
ing of them, as the Scriptures ascribe to him.
For instance, the Bible tells us that Heze
kiah rebelled against tho King of Assyria;
that in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s
reign, Sennacherib came up against all the
fenced cities of Judah, and took from Heze
kiah three hundred talents of silver and thir
ty of gold. Now compare this with the his
torical inscription on Sennacherib’s palace:
“Because Hezekiah, King of Judah, did not
submit to my yoke, 1 took and plundered
forty-six of his strong fenced cities, and in
numerable smaller towns, but I left him Je
rusalem, his capital oity ; and because Heze
kiah still refused to pay homage, I attacked
and carried off the whole population which
dwelt around Jerusalem, with thirty talents
of gold and eight hundred talents of silver.”
This agrees with the Bible account, except in
respect to the quantity of silver. As to this,
the one account may describe what was deliv
ered by Hezekiah, and the other the whole
product of his plunder.
One chamber of Sennacherib’s palace pre
sents, in sculptures and inscriptions, the siege
of the Jewish city of Lachish. The King is
sculptured in royal pomp, oil his throne, and
over his head is the inscription ; “ Sennache
rib, the mighty King, King of the country of.
Assyria, sitting on the throne of'judgment
before the city of Lachish ; 1 give permission
for its slaughter.” In the Scriptures, the de
struction of the city of Lachish is represent
ed to have been his most difficult work ; and,
of course, it was a victory on which he would
most plume himself, as these sculptures show
that he did.
Another coincidence appears in this, that
in the historical sculptures there are marks
of a sudden and final interruption of the
work, such as would naturally follow from a
violent death of the king, as is described in
the Bible.
In the ruins of Babylon there is no sculp
tured marble. The city was built, all of
brick. Yet the bricks often have characters
stamped upon them. In one instance a huge
palace is formed of bricks thus stamped, and
the same eharacteis repeated, one above an
other; and these characters exhibit the name
of “ Nebuchadnezzar.” The prominent char
acteristic of Nebuchadnezzar was his pride —
such as was revealed in that speech : “ Is not
this great Babylon that 1 have built by the
might of my power, and for the honor of my
majesty ?” Now these ruins of the palace,
in every brick of them, give just tlte echo of
that boasting speech. Thus, after so many
centuries, God has brought forth, from the
ruins of the cities, voices in response, to what
the inspired penmen had recorded so many
centuries before.
Elevation of Cluirch Piety.
The Conference of German Baptist Church
es, Canada, at it-; late session, adopted the
following paper:
It is our conviction that the church of Christ
is, aooording to the Word of God, a sanctua
ry which must not be defiled. It is not a
human, but a Divine institution. In the Now
Testament it is denominated “a Temple,”
“the body of Jesus Christ,” etc., and there
fore he that defiies the sanctuary of God will
not go unpunished. Every sin against the
church is a sin against the body of Christ,
which is made up of the members of the
chuich. Hence, to elevate the,church we deem
it indispensable —
1. That we as ministers acknowledge it to
be our duty publicly and privately to in
struct our members in regard to the nature,
the design and the dignity of the church, and
endeavor to have all the resolves and en
gagements of the church most carefully ob
served.
2. It is the most sacred duty of every
member to be present if possible, at every
meeting for business or edification. Resolu
tions should be passed only after earnestly
imploring the aid of the Holy Spirit, and
then they should be deemed binding on every
member.- In case of the exercise of disci
pline, it should be inflicted with the deepest
sorrow, and its justice solemnly acknowledged
by every member, and then the excluded
should be treated according to the Word of
God. (2 Thess. iii: 14, 15—“ Note that
man, and have no company with him, that he
may be ashamed. Yet count, hitn not as an
enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”)
3. It is the most sacred duty of every
member to strive by a holy walk and con
versation to be an ornament to the church.
Particularly should the older members be an
example to the younger by their godly walk,
their ?eal in the cause of God, their love,
, their self-denial and their willingness to make
‘sacrifices for the church. Too often the in
fluence of the older members in the church
acts like a corrupt leaven, spoiling all around.
4. We have learned by sad experience that
nothing is more injurious to a church than a
wrong use of the tongue. We should there
fore particularly guard against talebearers
and slanderers, who, Hke owls, do their de
structive work in the dark. No member
should entertain any report received from
another member respecting a third person,
but should at once call his attention to Matt,
xviii: 15-18. The church will be holy only
when we keep holy the commands of God.
5. We know by experience that if a thing
costs nothing it is lightly esteemed. Hence
every, church should teach its members from
the beginning not only to enjoy the blessings
®f God’s house, but also to help bear its bur
dens. The proverb holds good here—“ Just
as the twig is bent the tree’s inclined.”
Ministerial Concentration.
Plutarch remarks, “There was in the
whole city of Athens but one street in which
Pericles was ever seen; the street which led
to the market-place and the forum. He de
clined all invitations to banquets and all gay
assemblies and company ; during the whole
period of his administration he never dined
at the table of a friend !” Said one to a Roths
child, “ I hope your children are not too fond
of money and business. I am sure you
would not wish that!” “I am sure that I
should wish that” said the great banker;
“ I wish them to give mind, soul, heart and
body to business; that is the way to be hap
py ! It requires a great deal of boldness and
a great deal of caution to make a fortune,
and when you have got it it requires ten times
as much wit to keep it. If 1 were to listen
to all the projects proposed to me, I should
ruin myself very soon.” “ Stick to one busi
ness, young man, stick to your brewery,”
said he to young Buxton, “and you will bo
the great brewer of London. Be brewer,
and banker, and merchant, and manufacturer,
and you will soon be bankrupt.” These are
maxims from the business world. Jf the
world demands such concentration in its vo
taries, how much more the business of God 1
Exclusive should be the devotion of the min
isters of Christ. Give thyself wholly to this
great and glorious calling, mind, soul, body
and strength. Thus you will become a work
man that needt th not to be ashamed, rightly
dispensing the word of life—“giving to saint
and sinner their portion in due season.”
Excessive Distinction. The Spanish
Duke of Ossuna, who is a pretty rapid pen
man, has so many titles that it takes him fif
teen minutes to write his name in full.
WHOLE NO. 2467
That Rock is Christ.
My hope is built on nothing loss
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid rock, 1 stand,
All other ground is sinkiog sand.
When darkness veils His loving faoe,
I rest on His unohanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking Baud.
His oath, His covenant, and blood,
Support me in the sinking flood ;
When every earthly prop gives way.
He then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand,
All other ground is sinking sar.d.
When I shall launch to worlds unseen,
0 may I then be found in Him,
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ, the solid reck, I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
— Etta.
Improper Baptism.
A writer iu the South-Western Presbyterian
gives some leaves from a pastor’s portfolio,
and relates the following as an improper ap
lication for baptism, which was declined:
“Upon an occasion the writer was sent for
in the middle of the night to administer bap
tfsm lb a gentlem.ri supposed to be near h's
end. It, was a severe and prolonged attack
of typhoid fever, accompanied by the stupor
and deliriousness so characteristic of that dis
ease. The ministering friends were of anoth
er church, which attaches more importance
to a ritualistic observance of the sacraments
than is common amongst Presbyterians. As
soon as I entered the chamber and perceived
the condition of the patient, 1 pronounced
that 1 was incompetent for the ordinance. He
lay in a heavy lethargy, from which, when
aroused, the incoherent utterances betrayed
the entire derangement of all the intellectual
faculties. A few words of explanation satis
fied the parties who were not unreasonable,
that, consistently with our views of what was
implied in the baptism of adults, he was
wholly incapable of making that profession
of pelsonal faith in Christ, upon which the
administration of the ordinances was based.
In the good providence of God the sufferer
survived his disease, and upon his recovery
solemnly assured the writer that he had no
recollection of having asked for baptism as
reported, and that he could not recall any re
ligious emotions of any kind at that period
of his sickness. He further expressed his
thanks that the request had been declined, as
lie should always have been tormented with
doubts of its validity, if baptism had been
administered, saying, with emphasis, ‘Why,
sir, it would have been the same thing' as
though you had baptized a log.’”
Now the point of this whole matter must
be, that the want of faith in the subject made
him very unfit for the ordinance. That is
correct and Scriptural; faith is an indispen
sable prerequisite. But if this is true with
reference to men and women, why is it not
just as true with regard to children ? Isthere
any New Testament precept or example--
which teaches, that while faith is required for
adults, it may be dispensed with in the case
of children ? We pause for a reply. —Jour
nal and Messenger.
Death to the Christian.
An Alpine hunter, ascending Mont Blanc,
m passing over the JMer do Glace, lost his
hold and slipped into one of those frightful
crevasses by which the sea of ice is deft to
its foundation. By catching himself in his
swift descent against the points of rocks and
projecting spurs of ice, he broke his fall, so
that he reached the bottom alive, but only to
face death in a more terrible form. On eith
er hand the icy walls rose up to heaven, above
which he saw' only a strip of blue sky. At
his feet trickled a little stream, formed from
the slowly melting glacier. There was but
one possible chance of escape—to follow this
rivulet, which might lead to some unknown
crevice or passage. In silence and terror he
picked his way down the mountain side, till
his farther advance was stopped by a giant
cliff that rose up before him, while the river
rolled darkly below. lie heard the roaring
of the waters which seemed to wait for him.
What should he do? Death was beside him
and behind him—and, he might fear, before
him. There w r as no time for reflection or de
lay. He paused but an instant, and plunged
into the stream. One minute of breathless
suspense—a sense of darkness and coldness,
and yet of swift motion, as if he were glid
ing through the shades below, and then a
light began to glimmer faintly in the waters,
and the next instant he was amid the green
fields, and the showers and the summer sun
shine of the vale of Chamouny.
So it is when believers die. They come
to the bank of the river, and it is cold and
dark. Nature shrinks from the fatal plunge.
Yet one chilling moment, and all fear is left
behind, and the Christian is amid the fields
of the paradise of God.
Neglect of Infant Baptism.
The neglect of this rite, in any denomina
tion, is proportioned to the practical influence
over it of the fundamental principle of Prot
estantism, —viz.: the sufficiency and sole au
thority of the Bible in Christian faith and
practice. The statist ios of this neglect would
we believe, present an ascending series from
Popery through the English, the Lutheran,
the Presbyterian and the Congregational
churches. And in the Presbyterian church,
infant baptisms diminish in proportion as the
influence of the Standards decreases and that
of the Scriptures increases,—the Old School
baptizing one infant to twenty-three members,
while the New School baptizes only one to
thirty six ; or, to put it in a still more stri
king light, the adult baptisms to infant bap
tisms in the former body are as thirty-seven
to a hundred, while in the latter they are as
seventy-three, or proportionately nearly dou
ble. Yet, even among Old School Presby
terians, the ratio of infant baptisms to mem
bership is only about one-third it ought nor
mally to be. Among Congregationalists the
disuse is practically the rule, the observance
the exception ; and the question has been fitly
raised among them whether they ought to be
regarded as a Pedobaptist denomination.
Undeserved Distinction.— A witty French
man says that, “a French Major is a man
who has three decorations. The third is giv
en him because lie had two, the second be
cause he had one, and the first because he had
none.”
Funeral Sermons. —Wo are told of a
French cure, that to save the reputation of
his seigneur, who had been broken olive on
the wheel for robbery and murder, he prayed
thus: “ We pray thee, O Lord, for the soul
of , seigneur of this parish, who has
lately died ot his wounds at Paris.” There
are one or more seigneurs in almost every
parish, a lawyer, a doctor, a colonel, or a
selectman, who, whatever his character in
life, must be glorified at death. We have
known persons of the worst reputation, who
in their life time were discarded by even
their relatives, to be candidates for funeral
honors.
The Little. —“ The sublime,” said Lan
dor, “is in a grain of dust.”