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186 Jja&ex ml gaptiist J.J. TOPS, .■■■ Proprietor. Bev. D. SHAVER, D.D., Editor. THUHSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 18G9. Secular Use of the Lord’s House. Our sympathies go heartily with those who maintain that a house set apart for the worship of God should, on no occasion, be used for pur poses merely secular. There can be no holiness in brick and mortar, indeed; but they may be clothed with holy associations, ns with a vesture, and this is well. Doubtless, grave evils take root and ripen under the extreme of superstitious ven eration for localities and edifices ; but the tenden cy of the times is not at all in that direction. The currents of thought flow, rather, toward the worse extreme of profune disregard for those sanctities of place which stand a3 outworks to sanctity of spirit. It is wise to avoid whatever may help forward this dismantling of the house of the Lord —this inclination to account it “com mon and unclean.” We should use it for no pur pose which may hinder or abate its power to re call only the Being who is worshipped, and the truth which is proclaimed there. We should not give it a divided voice, speaking now of this life, uow of the life above nature and beyond earth and tune. Let it lie apart from the temporal, and awe and attract us as the vestibule of eternity. A recent public speaker mentioned a distin guished Georgian, who never passed a church without taking off his hat and walking by bare headed 1 Better even thin than the light, trifling, irreverent spirit, which looks on the church with no thought of the God whom it declares as the Avenger of sin, or of the Christ whom it offers as the Saviour of sinners. Creeds. Many influences conspire, in tho present age, to multiply the opponents of creeds. There is, first, the “Liberal” school -the great body of Rationalists, not snfficu-ntly “advanced” as yet to reject all revelation in name. Thinkers of this class differ widely. Some go to the extreme of. maintaining that no teaching is authoritatively Christian beyond “ the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.” Others, like Frederick W. Robertson, content themselves with holding that “ the Infinite is most truly felt when least named,” and that “ God is approached more nearly in that which is indefinite than in that which is definite and distinct—is felt in awe, and wonder, and wor ship, rather than in clear conceptions.” But, whatever diversities part them, they all concur in wresting from the church the heritage of a faith that is dogmatic (in the better sense of the word ) True; they often tender us, in exchange, an un belief that is dogmatic (in the worst sense.) Their denials are as express, positive and intolerant as the affirmations of Orthodoxy have ever been. In spite of this inconsistency, however, they war against creeds as “a set of formal expressions which satisfy with husks the cravings of the in tellect, and shut up the soul.” Again, there is what has been aptly called “the Broad Evangelical school”—that wing of the Orthodox which avoids “ all discriminating statements of Scripture doctrine.” Very few of this class may be willing to eoncede, with Presi dent Fairchild, of Oherlin, that “ the Trinity, the Person of Christ and the Atonement are open questions.” But while they accept these points as settled by the authority of inspiration, they put them, whether from the pulpit or the press, only in “a loose, indefinite, undogmatic style,” which draws no sharp or clear line of distinction between truth and error. This is done on the plea—now that Christ and His apostles aimed less to teach dogma than to awaken spiritual life —now that peace among the people of God must foster a higher type of piety than strict theologi cal statements and the controversy to which they must lead can secure—now that the merging of different sects in some form of organic unity, a thing impossible without compromise on points of belief which have heretofore separated denomi nations, is necessary to the fulfillment of the promise and the prayer of our Lord, Jesus Christ. In this way, creeds sit more and more lightly on the consciences of men; become a kind of “ Point No Point” to the theologian; and make haste, with many, to be thrust aside. From all quarters of the religious world, there fore, are marshalled advocates of Latitudinarian* ism; and Rationalists and “Evangelicals” unite their forces against “ the form of sound icords," which Paul accounted a necessary embodiment of the vital spirit oi truth. This isoneof thedriftsof theage in the wrong direction—and one which Bap tists need to oppose with steadfast front. In ad dition to the grand motive to fidelity, based on the fact that only “the truth as it is in Jesus" car. make men free from the law of sin and death, and that this truth is so far a unit as to allow the excision of no part without detriment and peril to the whole, they may well be admonished by the example of “ the Reformation " originated, partly in their own ranks, years ago, by “A. Campbell and others.” That movement professed to renounce creeds; but it betrays more and more, the truth that the renunciation was rather in form than inspirit; it gives increasing proof that such a renunciation cannot be carried out in good faith, and that the effort to carry it out works mischief and disaster. We quoted, some weeks since, the proposition of‘‘Eider” Jacob Creath, that what William Ballentine, B. W. Stone and A. Campbell had written on “ the subject of the ‘pastorate,’ or of Scriptural episcopacy,” should he published in a volume which might be “ authoritative with the brethren—a text-book and a standard work:” a proposition accompanied with the pledge, on his part, to “practice what these men wrote !” Quite recently, the American Christian Mis sionary Society, in session at Louisville, Ky., adopted “ a plan for raising money and spreading the Gospel,” which was deemed “scriptural and practical." That plan sets out with the affirma tion : “As a b isis fur any acceptable and ejffi dent. system of co-operation, there must be as sumed some well-defined and generally accepted facts and principles." This affirmation introdu ces nine propositions, more or less doctrinal, which our “Old School” or “Primitive” breth ren, in their zeal against missions, would pro nounce—we think, justly—a creed. “The Bible alone,” then, (to borrow the style of the “Re formers,”) is not sufficient as a basis of co-opera tion : and, since every church is a co-operative society, why should it not, equally with the gath ering at Louisville, frame a creed to itself, under the euphemism of “ well-defined and generally accepted facts and principles?” One would think that among a people who es chew cieeds, it might be held, without offence, that bishops, or elders, are ministers of the gospel, and, as such, officers in the kingdom of Christ. But a writer among the “Reformers” has found to his cost that this impression is erroneous. The avowal of that opinion, on his part, has subjected him to intolerant censure as “ restless,” and *i unsound,” etc. He denounces the effort to in timidate and silence him by these charges, as an ‘enthroning among them of the creed spirit in its worst formand proceeds to utter language, which, as stating the upshot of the boasted expe riment to dispens* with creeds, deserves to be THE CHRISTIAN INDEX AND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST: ATLANTA, GA„ THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1869. printed in letters of gold. He says: "An un written creed may be just as proscriptive and tyrannizing as a written one , while it is not near so safe a guide.” There is nothing, surely, in such developments, which should persuade Bap tists to strike hands with the “ Liberal ” and “Broad Evangelical” schools, in the warfare against definite, dogmatic belief—simply that “every sort of doctrine may be proclaimed by all sorts of preachers, under their banners and with their sanction.” No ; for what may hinder but that, in this case, doctrine shall lose, first, its clear outline, then, its symmetrical proportions, next, successive members of its body, and, last of all, its true life ? “Religion connot survive without a creed,” says Garbett: “the religious sentiment, deprived of its natural foundation in dogma, loses its defi nite shape, evaporates and dies.” Construed so as to embrace as well an unwritten as a written creed, this language is true. And what but a written creed can preserve the unwritten, for masses, and through ages f A View Wrongly Ascribed to as. In the Memphis Baptist , we find a document purporting to be “a preamble and resolutions” adopted by “the church of Christ at Mount Zion," Talbot county ; Rev. John S. Searcy pastor. Ac cording to that document, the opinion “had ap peared in the Christian Index, of Georgia, that there is no regular succession of the ordinance from John the Baptist to the present day,” and the church ‘feit it a duty to express its decided disapproval of this opinion.’ If the statement made by our brethren of Mt. Zion church refers to the editorial columns of this paper, they do us injustice, (of course, without designing it.) The opinion of which they disap prove has never been expressed by us. Let us briefly restate our position on this matter of his tory. We have but a single remark to make. Meta phors and symbols address the same faculties of mind,-“the pictorial,” as Dr. MeCosh styles them. Symbols are metaphors in action : metaphors are symbols in word. Now, if Pedobaptist writers “when setting forth the atonement and its appli cation, by faith and the grace of the Holy Ghost,” make “free use” of immersion as a metaphor, and “would be sorry” to part wiih it, —if, in this they not only bear testimony that it is legitimate, but show that the human intellect and heart glide naturally into it, and spontaneously answer to its power of impression,—why should it be thought a thing incredible, that God, setting forth the same truths by symbol, should Himself have re course to immersion ? Why r should that which is right and proper in word , become improper and wrong in act t Why should the fact that the ordi nance of baptism is, or is not, on the tapis, have power to make immersion now fit and striking, now meaningless and unmeet, as a vehicle for the imparting or impressing of truth ? We have held that ‘the task of “tracing up our principles and our churches to the apostolic age,” through bodies of men more or less decisively Baptistic, may be accomplished, though with dif ficulty.’ We have held that, notwithstanding this difficulty, ‘the existence of Baptists in all the centuries since the aposties, may be made out, at least presumptively' — i. e., so made out as to throw the logical burden of proof on those who deny it. And then, as to the particular point in volved in the statement of the “preamble,” we have said : “Whether an unbroken baptismal succession has been maintained irom the apostles down to the present time? is a question which there is no adequate historical proof to settle, the one way or the other. No adequate historical proof exists that it, has, and no adequate historical proof that it has not." This is our opinion; and if our brethren of Mt. Zion church think it wrong, we hope they will not content themselves with simply ‘disap proving,’ but will correct it. Just let them ad duce “the adequate historical proof’ of unbroken baptismal succession, which has not yet come in to our possession ; arid we will accept it at their hands with gladness 1 There are others who will be as much profited as ourselves, and who will as gratefully recognize it. Witness, for example, the following language from the first number of the Baptist Sentinel, by Rev. A. S. Worrell, who will be acknowledged as belonging to the “most straitest” class of Baptists, but who goes so far as to pronounce the proof we call for, “manifest ly,” and “from its very nature, impossible.” Ex amining the question, “What is valid baptism ?” he says: “Whether the Baptists can prove a succession of the ordinance back to apostolic times is not the point in discussion; nor, indeed, is it a question wßich admits of absolute historical proof, one way or the other. We frankly confess that we cannot prove from history that there has been such a succession ; nor, on the other hand, can either we or our enemies prove that such succes sion does not exist. In either case the proof is impossible from its very nature. The demand that we must prove a regular succession of bap tisms, would require a definite history of the great mass of baptisms administered within the last eighteen centuries—just such accounts as are not made by any church at the present day, and such too, so fir as we know, as have never been made, except incidentally.” As an act of justice to us, we hope that the Baptist will admit into its columns this correc tion of the erroneous statement which it has pub lished with regard to our position. “Metaphors from Immersion.” “I have just listened to a discourse on the mode of baptism, in which the preacher called attention to an incorrect expression in a familiar hymn. He was illustrating the typical ‘cleansing’ under the Jewish ritual, and showing that it was done by ‘sprinkling,’ the idea being carried on still in the New Testament. Example: ,‘Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.’ He said, no man is dipped into the blood of Christ; but it is called ‘the blood of sprink ling.’ Then he took occasion to refer to that ex cellent hvmn— There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel’s veins; And siuuers, plunged beneath that flood. Lose all their guilty stains. He questioned the propriety or pertinency of the expression, and suggested this form— There is a fountain— ysa, a flood— Drawn from Immanuel’s veins; And sinners, sprinkled with that blood. Lose all ihe.r guilty Stains. I think the criticism to the point, and the correc tion a good one.” So writes Rev. G. W. Horn to the Nashville Christian Advocate. The Advocate responds: “We should be sorry to see the hymn altered, and especially in the style proposed. . . . Zech anah (xni. 1) suggests the metaphor. There is no reference whatever to baptism, and our poets, who do not consider immersion essential to bap tism, but prefer allusion, as the more scriptural mode, feel perfectly at liberty to employ, espe cially in poetry, metaphors drawn from immer sion, where the ordinance of baptism is not on the tapis. Thus C. Wesley : Cast all your sins into the deep, And wash th’ Eihiop white. Again—alluding to the smitten rock: By faith I to the fountain fly, Opened for all mankind and me, etc. Again : It runs divinely clear, A fountain deep and wide, etc. And John Wesley : By faith I plunge me in this sea, etc. Again : P.unged in the Godhead’s deepest sea, eto. C. Wesley again : And plunge me, every whit made whole, In all the depths of love divine.” Dress. “ It looks badly for the Sunday school,” says a writer in one of the papers, “ when the chil dren come well-dressed.” He means—that, un- j der these circumstances, the school seem3 to be a failure, as respects its special mission among the children who are too poor to dress well. Whether he is right or wrong in this view, j there is certainly a point beyond which to be j well-dressed looks badly for a church. When j the members complain that they are too poor to I take a religious newspaper, to contribute to mis- : sions at home and abroad, or to accord a liberal salary, with prompt payment, to the pastor,—is j it not unseemly that, when assembled for worship, they should present an array, which strikes vis itors from the more prosperous section of the country, as betraying a marked and unusual de votion to “style” and fashion! We hear that such cases have been—or cases somewhat akin to this: and if we can get the ear of any parties to so surprising an inconsistency, we desire to ask, —Is costly raiment really more than the sup port and diffusion of the Gospel ? Will you see it in that light, when the body lies in its grave clothes, and the soul stands naked under the eye of God ? Reviews and Notices. Thb Office and Work of the Christian Ministry. By (Rev.) Janies >l. Hoppin, (D.D.,) Professor of Homiletics and Pastoral Theology in Yale College. New York : Sheldon & Cos. Pp. 620. Wo renew our commendation of this work. Prof. Hoppin holds that the present is a transi tion period, in which the power of the pulpit is obscared, because preaching is passing through new phases and modifications. Much that was ex trinsic and conventional, and which was adapted to the peculiarities of a former age, disappears— to be replaced by that which is no less conven tional and extrinsic, hut which is necessary as a means of adaptation to the peculiarities of our own. Amid this change, however, there are cer tain essential principles of preaching which do not vary, and which are always true, for “the church must light its candle at tho old lamp;” and it has been the aim of the author to state these principles, rather than to express pri vate thoughts and opinions. He has executed ‘this task in an admirable manner, in the first half of the volume; and the student for the ministry will find here a well-digested series of clear, judi cious and suggestive counsels; with which he can not wisely dispense whether in the study ox the pulpit. Tiie second half of the volume is devo ted to pastoral obligations and functions—a point which has been, perhaps, too much neglected heretofore in Theological Seminaries, but which is every way worthy of the careful and minute treatment our a.uthor gives it. What he has writ ten is well fitted to aid in securing “ those strong, hardy, cross-bearing, cheerful, hopeful, wise, lov ing and single-minded pastors, who are willing to labor among the poor as well as among the rich and the educated, who are willing to go anywhere and to do anything which is required for the highest good of man—such pastors, in fine, as Christ will bless as the spiritual guides of His people into a nobler life in Him.” There are traces, here and there, of the v.ews which distinguish Congregationalists from Bap tists ; but, bating these, we give the work our hearty endorsement. Conservative Views. The Government of the United States : What is it? Comprising a Correspondence with Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, eliciting Views touching the Mature and Character of the Goveru mentof iheUnited States, the Impolicy of Secession, the Evils of Disunion and the Means ot Restoration. By J. A. Stewart. Atlanta: Trade supplied by Ptiilhps & Crew. Pp. 92. Price, 50 cents. The title page sufficiently explains the charac. ter of this work. It lies in the political sphere, and therefore outside of ours. The Baptist Sentinel. Published monthly in Lexing ton, Ky. By A. S. Worrell, Editor and Proprietor. Terms, #2 50 per annum. The first number of this periodical has come to hand, and gives indication of the vigor essen tial to usefulness and the variety essential to in terest. With sufficient patronage, it will do a good work in our churches. Our Zion—in Our Exchanges, etc. Georgia. Rev. A. T. Holmes, D.D., who has recently re moved from Decatur to our city, we are pleased to find in the enjoyment of excellent health. The Dr. has rendered good service to our caiue in past times; and, if we mistake not, there are years of useful labor in him yet. We should be glad to know that his capabilities of effective work were called into full exercise by the churches.—Rev. Dr. Dixon, we learn, accepts the call to the pas toral care of the Greene street church, Augusta.— Mrs. Bettie M. Zimmerman, a Baptist lady of At lanta, is among “the living female waiters of the South,” mentioned in Ida Raymond’s new work with that title. Alabama. The circular and appeal of Rev. J. Albert Hill, in relation to the Alabama Baptist Orphans’ Home, will be read, we hope, with a spirit of sympathy and “a mind to work.”—Rev. G. E. Brewer has been on a visit to Atlanta, and occu pied the pulpit of the Second Baptist church, (Dr. Brantly’s,) Sabbath night. lie proposes to relinquish pastoral relations, and give himself wholly to tho work of an Evangelist. Kentucky. Rev. J. S. Coleman, D.D., thinks that anew organization is wanting among the Baptists of the State; namely, one to provide for the wives and children of deceased ministers. —Boiling Springs church has had 20 baptisms ; the church at Elk ton, 16, (one of them a “Campbellite,” re im mersed ;) New Hope, Casey county, 19 ; New Sa lem, Hardin county, 14.—An interesting work of grace is in progress among the Sunday school scholars of Walnut Street church, Louisville ; Rev. Dr. Spalding pastor. —T. J. Maynard was ordained to the ministry at Sonora church, Har din county, Nov. 13th ; sermon by Rev. G. H. Hicks. As he was a convert from Methodism, the questions on Bible doctrine were close and point ed, but answered in a very satisfactory way.— At Union church, Harrison county, Nov. sth, J. N. Barbee was ordained to the ministry.—Sever al pesons were severely injured and one killed outright, by the giving way of the floor of the Second African Baptist church, Lexington, Sun day evening, Nov. 21st. Louisiana. “The church at Alto, Richland Parish, has been wonderfully revived, believers have been strengthened, mourners happily converted, and sinners much concerned about the salvation of their souls. Forty-three persons attached them selves to the Providence church, 81 by expe rience and baptism.”—The Louisiana Association, which met with the Bayou Rouge church, put in the field a colporteur, supplied with our own books. —The Sabine Association, meeting with the Annacoco church, raised funds to sustain a missionary within its bounds. —Rev. J. L. Blitcb, formerly of Macon, recently of Dalton, is in this State ; and has expressed a willingness to locate in the region around Mt. Lebanon, if a suitable field of labor is offered him. Maryland. Rev. J. W. M. Williams, D.D., of the First church, Baltimore, has baptized every Sabbath, since entering the re-fitted house of worship. Missouri. Within a little more than two years, the Bap tists of the State have organized 44 Sunday School Conventions.—Rev. P. S. Henson, D.D., formerly of Virginia, now of Philadelphia, has been called to the pastoral care of our Third church, St. Louis.—Slagle Creek church, Polk county, has received 22 by baptism ; New Salem church, Lincoln county, 10; Huntingdale church, Henry county, 14; Mound Prairie church, La fayette county, 16. North Carolina,. Every Association east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but one, is co operating with the State Mission Board>-The Biblical Recorder, Raleigh, has now a larger number of subscribers than at any former period. We congratulate it.— The last number of ffie Recorder contains chap ter xxxvii, of “A Pastor’s Courtships;” a novel from the pen, {as we are informed,) of Rev. Jos. Walker, once editor of the Index. Texas. Rev. Jacob Zeigler has been appointed by Re hoboth Association, -a missionary within it 6 bounds.—Carey Creek church has had 16 bap tisms. Tennessee. A A meeting at Jonesboro resulted in 12 addi tions to the church.—The East Tennessee Bap tist, the new paper at Knoxville, Rev. D. M. Breaker editor, reports its prospects as “brighten ing daily.”—Puncheon- Camp church, of the Northern had a meeting, with 14 conversions; and Mt Lebanon, Blount county, one with 16 ; Mt. Pleasant, one with 18 baptisms. Virginia. At Shockoe church, Pittsylvania county, 22 have been baptized; 10 at Republican Grove, “the fruits of a Methodist meeting ;” 35 at West ern Branch ; 20 at BtiSVerdum ; 13 at Alleghany, Montgomery county.—“ Southland Writers,” the new work of Ida Raymond, on the “Living Fe male Writers of the South,” gives a niche to Miss Sue C. Hooper, a Baptist lady of Richmond. Our readers have enjoyed the occasional privilege of effusions from her pen, both with and without her literary pseudonym, “Adrienne.” She has never been a professional -author, but we are glad to learn that her best productions are soon to be is sued ns a volume. We bespeak the patronage of our readers for it. W est Virginia. At Broad Run church, Greenbrier county, 22 have been baptized.—A Baptist church was or ganized, Oct. 30th, at Charleston, Kanawha coun ty, the capital of the State ; membership 12, and likely to be doubled before Spring. This nucleus is the fruit of labors by Rev. P. Murray, a young man.—Baptists are said to comprise about one third of the entire population of the State. This estimate must include more than the actual com municants.—Mt. Zion church, in the Kanawha Valley, has had 43 accessions, the fruit of a re cent meeting; Zoar church 21.—There have been 32 baptisms at Big Sandy church, Kanawha coun ty. —Rev. S. L. Weeks began preaching at Clay Court house about a-year ago, when there were only 3 Baptists there; has since baptized 15; and will organize a church in the spring.—A new church has been organized at Wicher’s Creek, an out-station of Slaughter’s Creek church. A Few Requests of Georgia Baptists. Dear Brethren: As Agent of our Domes tic Mission Board, 1 ask your special atten tion to a few reasonable requests: 1. Will the Clerk each Association, please send me a copy of the minutes fur this year? I want one of in the State. 2. I request &\\ .persons, or Churches, or Associations, contrfbuting to our Domestic Mission Board, to do so through me, or at least, let me receipt for them, whether the funds are sent to me or not. This will not decrease the amount at all, and will enable me to report to every Association, the amount contributed by each Church or person in it; and I will do so in time for the amount to appear in your next minutes. Let every minute show what has been done by the As sociation during the year. The money may be sent to meat Albany, Ga.,or to Marion, Ala., as most convenient, but stating that I have receipted for it. 3. Will brethren accept my heartfelt thanks for kind words, acts and cordial invitations to visit them and their Churches ? My heart has been encouraged. Brethren, sisters, friends, accept my gratitude. 4. Brethren, pray for me, for our mission aries and Boards. Since I have been in Geor gia my health has not been better than it has been since l have been in the Agency, and I do feel that it is in answer to the prayers of my brethren. But, my dear brothers and sisters, do pray that I may be a better man. Spirituality is as necessary as health, to my successfully doiug all the work of an Agent and Evangelist. 5. Lastly, I ask every reader of this to send me a New Year’s present or gift for our cause, or for either of our Boards, if you want to divide a thank-offering to the Lord, as the year closes. Would He not be pleased to ac cept it ? Has He not been good to you 1 Or if you have suffered afflictions and losses, might they not have been worse? Are’you not in much better condition than others? Pray over it; don’t lay down the paper and dismiss my request from your mind, till you think of the past year prayerfully, and then if you nave any amount to offer, or feel like you ought to close the year with a sacrifice, send it to me in a letter—name the object or person, if you desire, that its for, and if you have a kind, encouraging word, wr'te it. Oh ! I want a thousand such keepsakes from pas tors and families, deeeons, old men and wo men, young men and women, boys and girls, from, all who love JVsus, or wish FI is cause well. Reader, respett my requests, this one in partiuiar, if you feel like you owe it to the dear Saviour and His Gospel. Wm. N. Chaudoin. P.S.—Just as I was closing my last requested. bearer handed me a note from my dear, woi thy co-laborer, Rev. W. H. Cooper, which I opened and read as fellows: “ Bio. C. I have just received the sad news of sister Saliie’s death, at Palmyra, this morning, at 4 o’clock. Pray for me, for her mother, for her husband, who has hardly yet received the sad intelli gence. Omy brother, to lose so dear a sis ter, is hard. Yours in sorrow.” But not “ so hard” as if it had been either of the other sisters, for Sallie was a Christian—is now in heaven—taken from “the evil to come.” Now reader, if you live till you see this if your wife lives, your sister, your parents, your child, ought you not to express your gratitude by a “New Year’s Gift,” to our suffering, working missionaries—the brethren of our Saviour? W. N. C. A Good Work. We have recently closed a meeting of sev eral days’ duration, at Smyrna church, the result of which was, thirteen were added to the church by baptism. This church had been in a very cold condition for two years; but at this meeting she became fully aroused to a sense of her duty. I never witnessed a more gratifying manifestation of the Holy Spirit in all my life. The church was per fectly alive to the work of the Lord. “ Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Our beloved pastor, W. A. Overton, did his whole duty in the Master’s cause, laboring faithfully, both day and night, and wgs greatly assisted by brother N. M. Jones, “ but to God be all the praise.” A Subscriber. Greensboro, Ga., Nov. 39, 1869. The General Association of South-Eastern Alabama. This body, composed of the District Asso ciations in this part of the State, held its first regular session with the Eufaula Church, be ginning Saturday, the 20th instant. The In troductory sermon was preached by Rev. P. M. Callaway, and the Missionary sermon, (a masterly effort,) by Rev. W. M. Davis, of Blakely. You may set brother Davis down as one of the best preachers in Georgia— head and shoulders taller than many whose reputations are head and shoulders higher than his. Rev. P. M. Callaway was re-elected Moderator, and Rev. J. S. Paullin, Clerk. The interest of the meeting was no little en hanced by the presence of Rev. Dr. Teas dale, Corresponding Secretary of the Sunday School Board of the S. B. C., Rev. A. D. Philips, our Missionary, Rev. M. J. Well born, of Columbus, and Rev. A. R. Calla way, of LaGrange. The reports on Sabbath Schools, Missions and Education, elicited much able discussion, and some effective ac tion. The contributions sent up for Missions amounted to about $2,000. The Executive Committee of the Association was instructed to appoint an able and efficient Missionary to labor in the destitute portions of South-Eas tern Alabama, with a salary sufficient to en able him to devote his whole time to the work. Dr. Teasdale preached at our church Sabbath night, and at the conclusion of his sermon raised a collection of SIOO to secure the stereotype plates of one of his books. The exercises of the Association were deeply interesting, and a fine impression was made on our community. The body holds its next session with the Baptist Church in Newton, Dale county. M. B. W. Eufaula, Ala., Nov. 26, 1869. An account by another correspondent says: The report on Missions was called for and read; after which, addresses were delivered by Rev. M. J. Wellborn, Rev. M. B. Wharton, Rev. A. D. Philips, Rev. J. C. R. Lockhart, who told of the destitution in their bounds. A conversation arose about the direction of money sent up, some not favoring the sup plying of their destitution through the Boards of the S. B. 0. John Gill Shorter give a very able exposition of the object of the Gen eral Association of South East Alabama. An explanation was made by YV. W. Battle, about the monies paid to the Domestic and Foreign Mission Boards at the Eufaula As sociation. All explanations seemed satisfac tory and the report was adopted. The Orphans’ Home, Ala. Taking encouragement from your remarks at the late Alabama Convention, 1 hope it may suit you to give our circular an inser tion in your columns, and a call of attention from your potent pen, to our noble and much needed enterprise. What is it we propose to do? Not only to rescue the loved ones of our fallen brethren from the haunts of want, ignorance, vice and consequent misery ; not only to act the part of a kind foster mother, “ bringing them up in the nurture and admoni tion of the Lord,” but also to teach them all that is great, noble and useful, pertaining, to their sojourn in life, thereby converting them into the very best possible material lor the future development and prosperity of our own great Alabama; which noble work we propose to perpetuate, even to the end of time. Great as is this enterprise, yet how easy of accomplishment, by each doing but a little. Suppose we confine it alone to Bap tists in this reckoning, and average it at one dollar to each in the State, and the Home for Orphans goes up. Can this be withheld ? Banished, forever, be the thought. Can we forget that we must meet those fallen ones and their children at God’s Bar? Though a ptfbr advocate for parlies, I feel inclined, in this instance, to risk it, and call upon all moth ers, wives, sisters and daughters, to get up one grand Alabama Storm Party, for the ben efit of orphans, and let us put them up a home, as by storm. And now a request to Clerks of Associations throughout our State. Will each of you please send me a minute of your respective bodies to Selma, Ala, care of Ab ner Williams. May God help us all do our duty. Amen. J. Albert Hill. Selma, Ala., Nov. 25 th, 1869. Stoue Mountain Association. Several churches have failed to get their Minutes, and for their information I will state that I sent the Minutes fur the churches on each side of the Georgia Railroad, between Social Circle and Atlanta, to the Agent of the nearest depot to the several churches, about the 15th of’ October. The brethren perhaps can get their Minutes by calling on the Agents. Ttiose for the churches above Atlanta, were sent to the store of brother A. K. Seago. Permit me, brethren, while on this subject, to call your attention to another. I refer to the resolution passed at the last session, in reference to the delegates at the first meeting of their churches, endeavoring to raise five dollars or more, to aid in sustaining the young ministering brethren in pursuing their course of studies at Penfield. But four churches have as yet responded : Stone Moun tain, Social Circle, Covington and Salem. Come, brethren, let us hear from you. Clerk. New Year’s Gift for the Sunday School Board, S. B. C. The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention is desirous of gathering the neglected millions of the children and youth of the South into well-conducted Sab bath Schools; supplying them with the Word of God and a suitable religious literature; antidoting the pernicious influence of Infidel ity, Romanism, Ritualism, Formalism and Pedobaptism, in their plastic minds, and planting in their youthful hearts the seeds of entire truth. But to enable the Board to un dertake this great work, the requisite means niu-t be furnished. Sunday school colpor teurs must be sent amongst the destitute; the New Testament, at least, must be given to them ; and in many instances, if not in all, the circulation of a good Sunday school pa per, together with religious tracts and books, will greatly conduce to the buccess of the work. All these cost money. And yet we respectluily submit that there is no agency in our churches, capable of exerting so great a moral power, that is attended with so little expense. Think of the tens of thousands of earnest workers all over our Southern land, who spend several hours every week in teach irig, visiting and otherwise seeking to interest and profit their respective Sunday school classes. And all this is done “ without money and without price.” The results of these voluntary, self-sacrificing toils are, as we all know, most salutary. How large a proportion of the accessions to our churches come from our Sunday schools! How many of our ministers received their first serious impressions, and their earliest theological training, in the Sabbath school! But, as the utility of well conducted Sunday schools is now pretty generally understood and admit ted, we do not deem it necessary to urge fur ther attention to that particular. What we desire especially is to enlist the sympathy of our brethren and sisters in behalf of the des titute and neglected millions of the dear chil dren and youth in our midst. Their implor ing hands are held out to us as they plead for the Bread of Life. We must furnish this moral aliment, or they will perish forever. No others can do this work so well as our selves. Indeed, we may say no others can dp it at all, in the present condition of affairs throughout the South. Shall we, then, re spond to their imploring cry ? To meet these exigencies, and to place the Sunday School Board of the S. B. Conven- tion in a position that w II enable it to enter at once on this important work, with the means of greatly enlarging its operations, we earnestly entreat the pastors to bring this subject before their respective churches, and solicit a New Year’s gift for our Board. Brethren, you know that our Board has been hitherto almost entirely overlooked in the annual benefactions of our churches. We have not come before them as suppliants for their assistance. We now feel that the high est welfare of our country, and the salvation of the millions of children and youth in our midst, who are, under God, so soon to deter mine their eternal destiny, demand this at our hands. If we can but induce our breth ren to make us a New Year’s gift, which shall be equal to ten cents for every Baptist mem ber in the Southern States, it will furnish us a capital at once by which we may enter upon a system of Sunday school work, whose hap py and abundant results our imagination is unable to portray. Please send your contributions directly to S. C. Rogers, Esq., Depositary Agent, 361 Main street, Memphis, Tenn. Dear brethren, if it be ever so little, help us some, and help us now. Thus. C. Teasdale, Cor. Sec. S. S. Board, S. B. C. Alabama Baptist Orphans’ Home. It is known that during the late war, efforts were made to establish a Baptist Orphan Asy lum for the State of Alabama, especially for the children of deceased soldiers, resulting in the accumulation of funds sufficient to begin the work, and that a place was purchased for this purpose. The disastrous termination of the war before the titles to the property could be perfected, and the consequent worthless ness of the currency, combined with the em barrassments incident to the fatal close, of the contest, suspended this laudable enterprise. But in the hearts of many of its friends it was not abandoned, and it is now proposed to re vive and carry out the purpose originating in the conviction that such an Asylum lor the destitute youth of the land was needed. The want of such an institution is more apparent uow, than when the efforts to establish one were inaugurated. What was then desired is now imperatively demanded. At a recent meeting of the Corporators of the Alabama Baptist Orphans’ Home Asso ciation, under the Charter granted by the Leg islature, a Board of Directors was appointed with instructions to renew the work. The Board consists of Rev. I. T. Tichenor, D.D., President; Rev. Andrew Jay, Ist Vice Pres ident; Gen. L. W. Lawler, 2nd Vice Presi dent; Rev. Samuel Henderson, Secretary; Abner Williams,Treasurer ; Rev. T. C. Boy kin, Rev. J. J. D. Renfroe, Rev. A. J. Wal drop. The Board of Directors have appointed Rev. J. Albert Ilill, General Agent, to collect funds, and to represent the interests of the Association, as will be seen by the certificate appended, and he is hereby commended to the benevolent and pious, to whom we earn estly appeal in behalf of the helpless orphans of our State, and especially ot those whose natural protectors have fallen in our defence. Had they secured the ends for which we strug gled, we should have shared the inheritance won by their valor.and their blood. Involved in a commom disaster by failure, justice, human ity, and Christian charity alike plead that their offrpsing may be rescued from the suffering and vice to which poverty and triendlessnesss expose them. It is our purpose in proposing this enterprise to give the children the very best training within our power, in all useful departments of life, and although managed alone by Baptists, it will be alike open to the patronage of all. Two very suitable sites have been offered as a donation for its loca tion, the ope near Montevallo, the other East of Eiyton, on the Alabama and Chatta nooga line of Road. The Agent proposes to keep a record of all contributions and con tributors, w hich may constitute an interesting document for future reference. Oh, that God may give to the people “ A mind to work. This is to certify that Rev. J. A. Hill has been appointed General Agent by the Board of the Orphans’ Home Association of the Baptists of Alabama, for the purpose of col lecting funds to build a Home for the desti tute orphans of this State. I. T. Tichenor, President. Samuel Henderson, Secretary. Arkansas Baptist State Convention. This body met with the church at Helena, November 11th, and closed, the 14th, after a very harmonious session. It was one of the most important meetings since the war, and it is to be hoped that a brighter day is dawn ing upon the Baptists of Arkansas. The Convention w as called to order by the former President, Elder W. M. Lea, who, although published in some of our denomina tional papers, as having been excommunica ted, by the First Baptist Church, at Little Rock, his guilt, as 1 learn, has by no means been satisfactorily proved, and the conse quence is, he still lives in the confidence of the Baptists of the State. Very few believe that his exclusion was justifiable, and it is due him to state, that he came to the Conven tion as a delegate .from his Association. Al ter the preliminary exercises, the Convention was organized by electing Elders W. D. Mayfield, President, (Elder Lea declining re election,) and J. B. Searcy, Secretary and Treasurer. The delegation from the differ ent Associations was small, there being but four represented in the Convention, out of eighteen in the State. This is to be attribu ted, chiefly, to the great lack of transporta tion in the State, and the low water in the rivers, at this season of the year. The most important measures inaugurated at this session of the Convention, were the provision for the appointment of three State Evangelists, which the report on Missions recommended, whose principal work should be to build up the waste places, by preaching and organizing churches ; and an Educational Board, which is to provide for the education, both literary and theological, of young men, called to the work of the gospel ministry ; also a Ministers’ Institute, during the session of which, in connection with the Convention, a series of lectures are to be delivered, by paid lecturers from other States, that is to say, their expenses are to be paid, Th's, in connection with the missionary work is to be the work of the Convention. What we want in Arkansas is the concentra tion of our scattered forces, and a large ac cession to the ranks of the ministry, of intel ligent, educated, working men ; and I believe from present indications, if they are willing to come, not expecting ton much, they can be supported. Some have already come, others are still corning and finding fields. How many more will come? There are several important fields that ought to be occupied right now. 1 have said that our great need is concentration, and 1 believe it is the opin ion of the brethren that nothing can more ef fectually bring us together than the holding of our Institute once a year, where brethren, who have not the means, or if they have, are too old to go elsewhere, can receive instruc tion in the various departments of theology, from the lectures delivered. May God grant us success in these glorious enterprises ! Arrangements were entered into with the Editor of the (Memphis) Baptist, who was present at the meeting, for the use of one page of his paper for Arkansas matter. No Arkansas editor was appointed, but all who can, are to write, and the disposal of the matter to bo left discretionary w ith the editor in charge. The Convention sermon was preached on the Sabbath, by Dr. Graves, who selected a9 his theme, —the Church—its obligations and prerogatives. The sermon was delivered with the speaker’s accustomed ability. The meeting passed off pleasantly and profitably, and all seemed to feel “it was good to be there,” and left for their homes with the solemn conviction that our cause in Arkansas, with God’s help, is going to pros per. The next session of the Convention will be held with the church at Arkadelphia, Thursday before the 2nd Sabbath in Novem ber, 1870. K. Thanksgiving at Crozer. I suppose that a lew lines now and then, from the Crozer Theological Seminary, would not fail to be interesting to you and to your readers. The object of this prosperous, and now rapidly growing School of the Prophets, is to furnish facilities for instruction for pious young men of every section of our country. And although this is but the second session of the Seminary, the fond hopes of the lib eral-hearted founders of the school have not been in vain. The present session brings young men from North, South, East and West. A noble band of brethren, and near ly every one from a different part of this broad land, have met here for the purpose of studying for the gospel ministry. The founders and supporters of this school are not satisfied with providing only for the actual necessities of the students who are here upon their bounty, but they also take great pleasure in providing for their comfort. Could you have been here to-day, you would have had abundant proof of this. Thanksgiving dinner was given by Mrs. S. A. Crozer, and after we had all partaken to the full satisfac tion of the inner man, Dr. Weston, our Pres ident, led off in a very happy speech, in which he furnished us, notwithstanding the fulness of the occasion, a bountiful repast for the mental man also. Dr. Castle was then called upon, who, in his pleasant manner of address,/ gave full proof that he occupied an enviable position as a speaker on such occasions. Speeches were made by the other members of the Faculty, and by Dr. J. M. Peridleton, of Upland Baptist church, and by Mr. Wil liam Buckncjl, who will be remembered as having given 125,000 to the Seminary for the purchase of a library. Thus passed away a happy day to the students at the Crozer. And now, as l haye given you an account of our thanksgiving, I hope it will be no harm for me to ask, in behalf of the students here, to be remembered in the prayers of all Christians who may road this, that we may all have the blessing of God in our prepara tion for His service. Georgia Student. CroMir Thtologiccil Seminary, Thai ksgiving, 1839. Chapel Hill High School. Pursuant to previous appointment, the Board of Trustees appointed to diieet the interest of Chapel Ilill High School met this day, for the purpose of effecting a permanent organi zation. On motion, Rev. G. R. Moor was called to the chair, and M. Edwards requested to act as Secretary, for the purpose of organ ization. The Trustees then proceeded to or ganize permanently, by the election of the following officers, viz: Rev. G. R. Moore, President; J. W. Wingo, Vice President; Maj. Z. A. Rice, Treasurer; M. Edwards, Secretary. The Board being Unis organized, a Course of study, plan of instruction, rates of tuition and general rules and regulations were sub mitted by M. Edwards, which, afar being duly considered and freely disou-std, were unanimously adopted, entire. Rev. G. R. Moor, was unanimously elected Principal of the school for the ensuing year, with author ity to employ such assistance as the interest of the school might warrant. The Trustees decided to put the school edifice under pro cess of construction, as soon as practicable, appointed Messrs. Maj. Z. A. Rice, Capt. E. R. Whitley, Wrn. M. Allen, J. Hatchett and Jas. Selrnan, a Building Committee, to superintend the erection of the edifice. Also appointed Messrs. J. Hatchett, Wm. M. Allen, Maj. Z. A. Rice, E. A. Morris and E. H. Camp, to have arranged a house, temporarily, for school purposes, until the school edi fice is completed. Resolved , That the proceedings of this meet ing be published in the Index and Baptist and Constitution, of Atlanta. On motion, adjourned. Rev. GR. Moor, Chair'n. M. Edwards, Secr'y. Chapil IM, GaOct. 3 0th, 1869. Items. Weeklv Communion. —Spurgeon, in a late sermon, said that he had “ broken bread ” on the first day of every week for twelve years, and the ordinance had never lost its freshness to him yet. Scotland. —There are five Baptist churches in Edinbu r gh and four in Glasgow. Those in Glasgow are, all but one, without pastors, and are feeble bodies. One of the churches of Edinburgh is an old, numerous and vigor ous church, with two pastors, both men doing an aggressive work. The others, with one exception, are also vigorous churches. Infant Immerbion. —Dr. Howard Malcorn saw- a priest immerse an infant in the Cathe dral at Milan, and anxious to know why it occurred, he sought an interview and asked the priest how infant immersion came to bo practiced in the Papal church, —to which ho replied, “All this portion of Europe has bap tized exclusively by immersion since the Apostolic age.” Communion.— The Philadelphia Presbyte rian says: “ We have no special desire to go to a Baptist table.” Wo did not need to be told it. We have known for years that this is true of ninety-nine-hundredths or those who have most to say about and against our strict communion. “Tiie Children’s Sabbath.” —“Rev. Dr. Wisner, of Lockport, has in his church w hat, ho calls the Children’s Sabbath. That is, on the morning of the Sabbath after the com munion, he preaches upon infant baptism, the duties of parents to their baptized children, the promises to those who fulfill those duties, and similar topics. At this time, also, chil dren are presented for baptism.” Now, would not Baptists be upbraided with “mak ing 100 much of a mere external rite,” if they should devote a Sabbath monthly, where where they have weekly services, to thojbaptism of believers and cognate themes ? Are there not many cases in which they might well copy Dr. Wisner’s example—giving to the Divine institution the time he gives to a human in vention ? Unconverted Membership. —The South ern Christian Advocate says, of the recent ad ditionstothe membershipof its church: “Some have joined the church, as seekers of pardon— not yet fully satisfied that they have received ‘ the adoption of sonship.’ They ought not to be allowed to remain in this condition. They should be looked after, encouraged to persevere, and admonished, instructed and prayed with, until they receive the full assu ranee of purdon.” Have Southern Methodists then, by abolishing probationary membership, simply provided for admitting mere “Beck ers,” who make no profession of regeneration, into full communion, without trial or delay? And is not this a step backwaid as regards church purity ? A Blunder. —A Methodist minister of East Cambridge, Mass., having some converts to immerse, made a curious mistake. On the appointed Sunday afternoon tor the rite, a large concourse repaired to the Charles River to witness it. But lo ! the tide was low. Tin Rev. pastor had consulted an almanac, and taken the time of the tides at New York in stead of Boston. He could not very well immerse in the mud, so the congregation ad journed to a later hour, when the tides run in.