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CHRISTIAN WJffiX AND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST.
VOL. 49-NO. 29.
A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY PAPER,
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN ATLANTA, GA
AT $3.00 PER ANNUM,
Invariably in Advance.
J. J. TOON", Proprietor.
The Cross.
To the Cross, O ! let me hasten,
Weak and weary, sick and sighing;
And my fainting vision fasten
On the Sacrifice there dying.
Cease, my burdened soul, from trying,
In thy strength to gain God’s blessing;
This, instead of satisfying,
Only proves the more distressing.
Vainly have I long been hoping,
That my prayers would make me better;
But am still in blindess groping,
Feeling still the galling fetter.
0 I my soul, 'tis by bblibvino,
Thou must gain thy long-sought healing;
Feel the Cross tby guilt relieving,
And to thee its peace revealing.
O! I fsel the Cross approaching,
Light into my dark soul stealiug:
And its od’rous breath perfuming,
And my wounded spirit healing.
Now I feel my guilt departing;
Peace, sweet peace my soul possessing,
And the Cross to me imparting
Its blood-fragrant, vital blessing.
0 I when Jesus we see bleeding;
On the cross Iminanual dying,
And His wounds for us all pleading,
God we see, us justifying.
Cross of Jesus I Cross of Jesus I
0 I the wonders of tby story 1
Into thee, 0, depth mysterious I
Heaven empties ali its glory.
At thy power all hell is shaking—
Earth with songs of praise abounding;
Into life the dead awaking:
Harps of heaven thy glory sounding.
To the Cross, 0, let me hasten:
To my soul its balm applying;
There, my eyes forever fasten ;
Living—seeing Jesus dying.
» W. H. J.
LiUtviUe, N. C., 1870.
Commencement Sunday at Mercer.
As no correspondent of the Index is known
to have been in Penfield on July 10th. some
account of the exercises of this opening day
of Commencement week will be proper.
The audience was about as large as usual,
and composed mainly of persons from the
neighboring country and from Greensboro.
The graduating class were seated on reserved
seats in front. The music of the choir, an
them, chant and hymns, was regarded as fully
equal to any of their former efforts. Presi
dent Tucker has, during his administration,
uniformly preached the Baccalaureate sermon,
taking occasion to weave into his sermon
much o( the address which is usually made to
the class on Commencement day. His pa
ternal advice, given in the quietude of the
Sabbath services, is much more impressive
than when delivered in the whirl and hubbub
of this the most exciting day of the week. It
requires great tact and originality to produce
something new and appropriate each year.
The Baccalaureates of some Presidents, whose
term ol office has extended over a decade or
more, have become proverbially tamo and
common-place. President Tucker has come
up each time to the highest expectations of
his warmest admirers, and no one fears that
his treasury of good things will be exhausted
by these annual exactions.
After reading the parable of the talents, in
Matt, xxv, the President announced as his
text, Lukexii : 48, ‘‘ Unto whomsoever much
is given,of him shall be much required,” from
which he deduced the subject, The Responsi
bilities of Educated Men.
That man's responsibilities are in propor
tion to his obligations is not proved by a
vote of the whole human family, but is one
of tlie clear and emphatic deliverances of our
consciousness. We are not responsible for
what we have not, but for what we have,
which is only another way of saying that we
are responsible in proportion to, what we have.
If responsible according to this measure, it
becomes us to pause in all solemnity and en
quire whit we have. Men’s gifts of reason,
thought, beauty, imagination, wealth and so
cial position are essentially the same, aud
differ only in degree ; for each item of which
they will be held accountable in the audit of
the last great day. But the text seems to be
addressed to those who have much. The
Faculty, students and friends of the Univer
sity, who have enjoyed the priceless gift of
mental and moral culture, belong to this class.
We have received much. Which of us would
accept brutal ignorance and savage helpless
ness in lieu of our present attainments, at any
price ? Let us consider, then, the peculiar
gifts and responsibilities of educated men.
In the first place, the educated man has in
creased power of self-development.
The difference between the man of forty
and the child of two years old, is a difference
of development. There is just as great dif
ference between two men—one educated and
one not. The uneducated man may improve
to a certain point, rather by extraneous in
ffuences than by the use of his own undevel
oped powers. He knows not how to use his
powers. Like a weak swimmer in a strong
pushing tide, he is at its mercy and borne
:along by it. But the educated man has ail
ithe tide in his favor. How great the differ
ence in the responsibilities of the two men!
How serious a thing to be an educated man !
Responsible not only for what he is, but for
what he might have been. At the last day it
may be asked of him : Have you become a
great philosopher? Why not? Where are
the five talents given you as capital ? Where
is the usury the Master has a right to de
mand ? Is it in that napkin you call your
diploma? With such auspicious surround
ings, increased intellectual power should give
increased moral power. Our educated men
should be our best men. If they have not
that profound humility which should charac
terize a man, who knows the littleness of hu
man things, then has their superior knowl
edge been perverted.
In the second place, the educated man has
increased power over the minds of others.
One who has fully met the obligations just
described will be a marked man in any com
munity. He may be poor, may be without
-public position, but his light can not be hid.
He will be respected, admired and honored
by all—by the wise because they are wise,
and by the foolish because they are awed in
his presence. The educated man, by this in
fluence, is his brother’s keeper. Thus to oue
is charged the account of huudreds, of thou
sands, of tens of thousands. It is a solemn
and awful thing to be an educated man. The
diploma of the graduate is covered over with
the engraved Latin, butJike a palimpsest, the
visible record overlays another not visible
at first, yet vastly the most important. Un
derneath the certificate of his proficiency, there
lie the hidden but solemn words: “Unto
whomsoever much is given, of him Bhall be
much required.”
Facts show that this influence is not over
stated. Among savage tribes, power is held
by those w’ho at least pretend to wisdom. In
half-civilized China, education is valued as
highly as among us, and all public offices are
accorded only to those who have passed their
great literary examinations. In civilized
Europe, the uneducated man has no more to
js3 00 1 YEAR.} PMNTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1870. Isßoo A YEAR. 1
do in shaping public policy than in effecting
the changes of the moon. Among us, who
train our children ? Who prepare our read
ing matter? Who make our laws ? Educated
men. The rabble who fill our legislative'halls
have no more to do in directing public policy
than the chairs on which they sit. Three ojr
four of their number do all the thinking for
them. A man may occupy the highest posi
tion in the government, but if not a man of
mind, he is a mere puppet in the hands of men
of superior parts. If the minds and character
of fifty men, who have shaped and directed
the destinies of this country, had been differ
ent, how different would have been that des
tiny ! It may be said that one has held the
highest executive office of whom it is said that
his wife taught him the alphabet. When on
the tailor’s bench, he had no influence. He
was not educated. It will not be said that he
is now uneducated. So when Franklin, Fara
day and Hugh Miller were a printer's boy, a
book-binder’s apprentice and a stone cutter,
they had no influence to shape the policy of
a country. But their great power came when
they had been educated. Whence came our
railroads, our locomotives, our steamships,
our telegraphs, our astronomy, even our
cooking, and our blacksmith’s bellows ? The
world has not always had them. Savages have
none of these things.
The influence of educated men cannot be
over-stated. The whole world, with its gov
ernments, laws, science, arts, literature, mor
als, habits and modes of life are in their hands.
A part of this power is ours, and at the last
dread day, we must face this account, item
by item, and in the aggregate.
The President then drew a vivid picture of
the rendition of accounts, at the last day, by
one who had been educated, but who had mis
improved his opportunities and rendered up
the single talents which he had kept hid in a
napkin ; and the educated man, who returned
his five talents, with five superadded as law
ful usury.
In conclusion, he reminded the class of their
solemn responsibility. They had received
five talents each. They should live for others.
The best teaching was received under Jesus.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wis
dom, and the knowledge of Jesus is the best
of sciences. Copy His example. May you
receive the weleome plaudit given to the faith
ful steward, and may you be permitted to
enter into the joy of your Lord.
The above hasty synopsis can give but a
faint idea of the sermon in its entirety. To
appreciate the force and power, the fullness
of illustration, and the fitness of expression,
one must have the words and the sounding
sentences and the nicely fitting paragraphs of
the sermon itself. Ernest.
“The Laborer is Worthy of His Hire.”—ll.
111. The Hire, and Who bhall Pay it.
1. The hire is food and raiment —enough
for the dependents of the laborer, and some
thing to bestow in answer to the many calls
of charity. For himself, the man of God—
the really consecrated man—expects no more
from his labor than aliment for the inner, and
clothing for the outer man. This much the
slave had, unless his employer was a monster.
(Remember the preacher is a hired slave—
doulos—and the people he serves, ths master.)
For his fqmily the preacher needs—why men
tion it?— necessaries, in one word. These
neeessarids are such as other families use,
and cost the preacher as much as they do
’others. Besides the provision for himself
and others, as mentioned, he needs to be ena
bled to entertain strangers, to help the poor,
and to aid the great cause of benevolence at
large, setting a pattern therein for his breth
ren. An officer needs more money than a
private, because he has more calls made upon
him, and because he ought to be an example
for the privates in many respects. Where
the privates should have power to beggar
their officers, and were to exercise it, those
offices would soon be despised and rejected.
It is so with preachers. Let them be worn
threadbare in purse, in family supplies and in
clothes, then they are left to perish. Who
does not have more respect for—take more
interest in—his fat horse than his lean one,
even though they are both alike his? Who
will attend to the barking of a cur, when he
is 1 too poor to stand on his feet? As little
will men heed the exhortations of a starved
out preacher.
2. Who are to pay the hire of the man of
God j Nobody believes that angels of light
are going to do it, for this reason, if for no
other: they have never been known to do it.
There is no positive evidence anywhere to be
found that they have ever been specially era
powered to perform such a task. Bad angels
are not to be depended on in this matter,
since the record fails to show that they have
ever offered to assist God’s servants in any
matter, or to the least extent. From the least
of them, or from the greatest, preachers have
no favors to hope for. What of men—those
who have no love for God, and consequently
none for His ministers—what will they do to
feed and clothe the herald of salvation ? . Ex
perience enables us to say if donations to the
ministry came only from that source, the days
of fine salaries for them have come to an end.
Another question: If God sends men to
preach—to do His work, what use is there in
being concerned about the support of His
agents, since He is abundantly able to do His
will with all things created? It is easy to
answer this question : God has supplied the
wants of His people by His direct power, or
miraculous agency, whenever He saw fit to
do so. But it is His pleasure to honor. His
people on earth with the privilege of feeding
His ministers, and otherwise caring for them
in His stead. God has virtually told His peo
ple again and again that this duty has been
entrusted to them. The Jewish priests of old
were fed and clothed by their brethren, and
as long as the people did their duty to the
priests, so long, I think the Old Testament
will show, prosperity was enjoyed in the land.
As the sons of Aaron were cast upon their
Jewish kindred for support, so are the true
ministers of Jesus now made dependent, under
God, on their lay brethren and sisters in the
churches. As the agents of the Lord, these
rnen come among the people. If they are
treated right, or otherwise, the Lord receives
that treatment as given to Himself in person!
Wheu a church promises to pay its faithful
servant and fails, it is the same as if the Mas
ter Himself had been defrauded.
What is money for in the hands of Chris
tians? Is it not God’s money still, every
farthing of it ? How should God’s money be
used by God’s servants ? Surely for God’s
glory. What so glorifies Him as the execu
tion of the last commission of Jesus? Every
farthing given to the support of a true man
in the pulpit is given to the advancement of
God’s highest glory on earth. The man giv
ing it should feel that he is granted a privilege
in the permission to give to such a cause,
second only to that of preaching the gospel.
Indeed, he is actually a “ fellow-helper of the
truth.” The man is preaching in the pulpit,
but his supporter has sent him there, and, in
an important sense, holds him up while
preaching. The preacher may win his hun
dreds to Jesus, but those who sent him to
preach, or enabled him to go, when the morn
ing of the resurrection dawns, will find that
the blessedness of having turned many to
righteousness is theirs, a3 well as his. Happy
AtfjL&ii'l Who vwftyld not have an interest
in Sbatfcer such as This ? Who would fail to
sows the seed belonging to another,
wherf'the harvest is to be like this?
now noticed that the preacher of
the gospel is a laborer, that he deserves his
reward, that his recompense is of a temporal,
.Qr rather a material, character, so far as men
cSybestow it on him, and lastly, that the peo
plßwiKGod are to reward His ministers, and
t*fli£kit Tor-Him, and out of the means, we
Sf £s*His stewards.
In conclusion, some earnest jwords must be
addressed to both ministers and churches.
1. If the doctrine of these articles be accord
ing to truth, it is plainly the duty of our min
istering brethren to insist, with all boldness,
on being supported while they preach. Many
Christians, we may reasonably suppose, have
never been shown out of the Scriptures, that
it is their sacred duty to God, and at the same
time, one of the most exalted privileges, to
help support the gospel ministry. That the
people have been so long left in the dark on
this subject is, to say the least, unfortunate
for those who preach. When the minister
loves his holy calling, surely he is not faithful
to his Master if he lets timidity prevent him
from pressing home on his brethren that truth
which will induce them to keep him in his
work, when, otherwise, he cannot go on.
When the preacher feels that he has tried to
be faithful, he has a perfect right to say to his
brethren, “I am worthy of my hire; in the
name of my Master, and yours, I demand it
at your hands, for He has it on deposit with
you for the support of His cause in this
place.
2. This paves the way for some closing
words to our churches. In the ancient time
the God of Israel, who has now become our
salvation, brought the charge of robbery
against his people. Let us read, (Mai. iii: 8,
9:) “ Will a man rob God? Yet ye have
robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we
robbed thee ? In tithes and offerings. Ye
are cursed with a curse : for ye have robbed
me, even this whole nation.” Those people
had withheld from God what merely
made them stewards over, aisfused it for
their own selfish purposes. A'part of the
tithes, as we know, went to the use of the
priests, since the priests had no way of living,
appointed in the law, but by the tithes and
offerings coming from the people at large.
It follows, then, as it seems to me, that whe©
the tithes were withheld, then the priests, be
ing reduced to distress, were driven to other
work, or else induced to transcend their or
ders in the appropriation of offerings not
legitimately theirs. It is easy to see that
many evils—evils constantly growing worse
—would spring out of this state of things.
Indeed, from what we shall presently quote
from the same prophet, it would seem that
all the ills which came upon Israel grew out
of their having robbed God in tithes and of
ferings. When they refused to give God His
own, it must have been from one of the four
following reasons, viz: carelessness, stub
bornness, unbelief, or covetousness; or sev
eral of these reasons may have operated in
conjunction. Either one taken alone was suf
ficient to stop the regular flow of supplies into
the treasury of the Lord, and s to derange
the order which had been diviTO^ I'establish
ed. Either one was sufficient to open the
hearts of the Jews to every species of sin.
When God was refused His own, then His
special people were suffered to fall under the
heels of foreign oppressors. This is a signifi
cant fact, full of instruction. When this hap
pened, then the priests ceased, as we are per
mitted to believe, almost wholly to offer
sacrifices for tiie people, and religious progress
was well nigh at an end. Here is another
lesson for such as have a mind to learn. But
we will proceed to notice what remedy Jeho
vah proposed to the Israelites in their distress.
(Vs. 10, 11, 12.) “ Bring ye all tithes into
the storehouse, that there may be meat in
mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith
the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the
windows of heaven, and pour you out a bless
ing, that there shall not be room enough to
receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer
for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the
fruits of your ground ; neither shall your vine
cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith
the Lord of hosts; and all nations shall call
you blessed ; for ye shall be, a delightsome
land, saith the Lord of hosts.” Can the Chris
tians of this land see their situation to be like
that of those to whom the above language was
addressed? When we were rich. God re
ceived but a few cents from us when He called
for thousands of money, llis ministers were
allowed not literally to starve, but many were
forced to work with their hands to feed their
children. The cause of missions, which is
God’s cause, was feebly aided. The Lord
grew angry at our conduct. He bore with
our robbery till forbearance had shown us
incorrigible; then the heavy judgments of
Heaven came down. On us they lay for long
and dreadful years. When they ended, or
partially subsided, it was found that the Lord
had descended in the mighty tumult and taken
from us what we had so long been withhold
ing from Him.
Now that we have begun to recuperate in
worldly things, I ask the solemn question of
every one, Are we honoring God’s drafts, or
are we robbing Him again? When He calls
on us to keep His ministers at work, are we
doing it? When He tells us to send the light
of life to ihe regions of heathenism, are we
doing it? When the Lord’s poor knock at
our doors for help, are we glad to help them
in the name of the Master? When pride or
vanity prompt to indulge in useless or over
expensive luxuries, do we meet those prompt
ings with the reply that we dare not use our
Lord’s money for such purposes? When
covetousness, leagued with distrust of God’s
promises, urges to the laying up of earthly
treasure, do we meet the suggestion with the
command of Je3us to lay up treasure in the
skies, and to do it by spending His money
here for Him ? If the tithes are not brought
into God’s treasury, the ministers of Jesus
will be among the first to feel the pressure.
They cantiot work as they should unless they
“give ” themselves to the work. This they
cannot do when their time is required to make
bread to feed their children. A half-hearted
is usually a half fed ministry, and the reverse.
Such a ministry will stereotype itself on the
people. Ministers and people will mutually
chill and formalize each other, till the death
gasp of true religion is brought on.
When true ministers have ceased to exist
among a people, the powers of darkness as
sume full control, aud the direst calamities
may be looked for. True ministers will cease
to be found—God will not send them—in this
land, when the people called Christians re
fuse to feed them out of God’s storehouse
under their charge.
Brethren, beloved, since we, and all we
have, are God’s, suppose we try the Holy
One of Israel by bringing up our stolen valua
bles that are His, putting them all in His
treasury, and see whether He will not pour
us out a blessing that there shall not be room
to contain.
Ocr Schools.— “ When God rains down
His grace upon a College,” says Rev. T. L.
Guvler, “He fills a cistern for the whole
land”
The Master’s Call.
Up and be dping! is brief,
And life is frail as the autumn leaf.
To God and thy better self be true,
Do with thywight what thou find’st to do.
Though the day is bright, and the sun is high,
# Ere long ’twill fade from the glowing sky.
While the erening shadows darkly fall,
There’s time for rest, it will come to all. t
The hafrest is white, and the field is wide,
Aud thou at-thy ease may’st not abide.
The reapers are few and far between,
And Death is abroad,-with his sickle keen.
•
O, think of the Master, worn and faint,
Whose meek lips uttered no complaint;
Who toiled for thee ’mid the noonday heat,
And sought no rest for His weary feet;
Os a Father’s wrath who drank’the wine,
And bore his cross to lighten thine.
Go forth and labor’ A crown awaits
The faithful serrant,at Heaven’s high gates.
>’t‘
For a death ot shame the Saviour died,
To open those goldefi portals wide,
That souls, redeemed from the toils of sin,
In His spotless robe? might enter in.
Work with thy might! ere the day of grace
Is spent, and the night steals on apace.
The Master has given His pledge divine;
Who winneth souls like the stars shall shine.
The Location of Mercer University.
Allow one who was a member of the Board
of Trustees a quarter of a century ago, to
say a few thingslo reference to the location
of Mercer University. A large proportion
of those who served with him then have been,
we believe, transferred to higher offices in a
world of spirits. The following initials will
indicate the. names of some of those who
have been thus promoted : B. M. S., C. D. M.,
V. R. T-., W. KUS., A. J , J. H., J. E. D.,
I. L. 8., und perhaps others. Though now
laid aside by pbYerty, disease and the infirm
ities of age, I still feel an unabated interest
ia the prosperity of Mercer University.
The general sentiment of the denomina
tion would, undoubtedly, be in favor of loca
ting our College at Atlanta, were it not that
the Presbyterians have decided on removing
their’s to that city. Two inquiries naturally
suggest thomselves :
1. Does Atlanta afford advantages superior
to those offered by any other location in the
State ?
"2. Will the location of a Pedobaptist Col
lege at At(/mta militate against the interests
of a Baptist Co-k*gg located in the same city ?
I trust the Committee on whom will de
volve the duty to select a location for our
College, will consider these questions ma
turely, divest themselves of all sectional and
personal bias, and seek to be guided in their
final decision bji ; the Spirit of Infinite Wis
dom, and by a s/acere regard to the glory of
God, and the best interests of all future gen
erations. I trust they will not deem it offi
cious in me, to lay bes »re them some of the
reasons which vvN’mo me to answer the for
mer of the* twi; Questions proposed in the
affirmative, and tab latter in the negative.
I. As to thiNi&lierior advantages of Atlan
ta —1. It is dMfcd to ‘be—if it is not al
ready—the larged Inland city, not only in our
State, but in the entire South. 2. There is
no point whence so many railroads radiate,
in so many different directions. 3. None
equally accessible to citizens in every section
of the State. 4. A College located there
will become more generally known to the pub
lic than if located elsewhere, as Atlanta is
not only the seat of Government, but a place
of general rendezvous' for foreigners seeking
a location in our State, scientific men making
tours of observation, and for parties bound
for the mountains, in pursuit of pleasure or
health. 5. The fact of its being the seat of
Government will be likely to attract students
to it, and, if we have no College there, some
students of Baptist parentage or proclivities
will be likely to enter the Presbyterian Col
lege. 6. The same fact will afford students
an opportunity to form the acquaintance of
officials, and other public men, which may
prove of incalculable advantage to them in
after life. 7. The Baptist influence in At
lanta—which would, of course, be exerted in
its favor—is greater than in any other town
or city in our State. 8. Its proximity to the
mountains would enable the professor or stu
dent, whose impaired health might render a
few days of relaxation necessary, to enjoy
the same in a pure and salubrious atmosphere,
at but little expense.
11. Will the location of a Pedobaptist Col
lege in Atlanta operate to the prejudice of a
Baptist one there? I think nrt. The Fac
ulty of Mercer University will compare fa
uorably with the Faculty of any other Col
lege, in or out of the State. Nor is there
any cause to apprehend that the graduating
classes of Mercer University, or any other of
its classes, will ever suffer by a comparison
with those of any other College that may be
located at Atlanta.
Competition, it is said, is the life of trade.
It is equally true thatan honorable rivalry in
literary pursuits, is favorable to a high de
gree of intellectual culture. New life is
often infused into a dull and sluggish horse,
by Pitching a spirited one at his side. Now
men —the most cultivated men—are but anr
mals after all their acquisitions of scholastic
lore. They have animal instincts or propen
sities, as well as the horse, the mule, the ass,
or the ox. The history of the High Schools
of LaGrange, if \vritten, would prove clearly
the benefit of competition in institutions of
learning. Our brethren, Otis Smith and Mil
ton Bacon, had to compete with Pedobaptist
schools, yet no schools were more prospered
in their day, than theirs. I might add, per
haps, no town was ever more benefited by a
competition between Baptist and Pedobaptist
schools, than the town of LaGrange.
The physician or the lawyer, who is con
scious of a professional inferiority to others,
in selecting a location will seek for some dark
corner, where he will be likely to meet with
little or no competition. On the contrary,
one who is conscious of his own ability, will
prefer to locate where he will have to com
pete with men of the highest orderof talents;
tor there, he infers very rationally, his tal
ents will be most likely to be duly apprecia
ted, and his professional services suitably re
warded.
If our brethren on the Locating Commit
tee doubt our ability to compete successfully
with our Presbyterian friends, in conducting
a College, let them, by all means, avoid loca
ting our University in Atlanta. Let them
seek a location where there will be no danger
of their ever having to encounter such com
petition. But if they believe we are as compe
tent as others to conduct a College creditably,
and believe, also, that Atlanta has the advan
tages I have ascribed to it, 1 see not how they
can avoid deciding to locate the College with
in her bounds. So obvious are the superior
advantages of Atlanta, that, I fear, if we fail
to locate our institution there, a carping world
will take it for granted that, in matters of
literature, we are inferior to others, and know
the fact so well that we fear to subject our
abilities to the test of competition.
If we fail to locate in Atlanta, then, 1. The
world will conclude as just stated. 2. Many
of the children of Baptists will be sent to the
Presbyterian College, and there be indoctrin
ated in the dogmas of Presbyterianism. The
rules of their Synod, unless they have been
changed of late years, require their profess
ors to teach the principles of the Presbyteri
an church. Baptists make no such require
ment of their professors. No student of Pe
dobaptist parentage or proclivities, who has
been connected with our College, has ever
charged any member of the Faculty with
seeking to infuse Baptis, principles into his
mind. My subject is not exhausted, but pru
dence forbids my adding more at present.
J. S. Baker.
Female Education—ll.
Almost a dozen years ago, Rev. Dr. Man
ly, Sr., (now deceased,) preached, in one, the
Commencement sermon of two institutions —
one male, the other female—each of which
has taken its place in the foremost rank of
our Southern Colleges, and they themselves
linked inseparably in interest, locality and re
ligion—in which he had occasion to remark
that “ women are«ot dead weights on socie
ty;” also, that “ wherever greatness was
found in man, there was one thing very evi
dent—that there was a gernrpinjtheknother.”
Both thoughts made a deep impression upon
my mind. Never before having my mind
directedetowards that point of thought, it set
me thinking, and I have been thinking ever
since, sometimes half forced to join with the
views of the wise divine; then, again, to
question their correctness altogether. His text,
was most appropriate. Ps. cxliv : 12; “ That
our sons may be as plants grown up in their
youth, that our daughters may be as corner
stones polished after the similitude of a pal
ace.”
They may not be dead weights ; but in the
present state of society, or, rather, regard
for tueir education, I think it would be diffi
cult to trace likeness in the figure. A stone
to be polishea, is first subjected to the chizel
and mall of the cutter, then to a series of
rough attritions, then to the polishing process,
having to pass through the hands of several
distinct kinds of preparation before it is ready
for ornament. Then, even after it is given
over from the contractor’s hands, it must be
daily washed, rubbed and dusted, in order to
preserve its fine, smooth, crystal surface.
Indeed, there is no stone, no metal that will
admit of a polish so high that it will not
tarnish by neglect. Gold, the king metal,
will not.
If, then, women “ may be as corner stcmes
polished,” provide the way for them to be
so. Instead of keeping these delicate, help
less creatures as if you had a lease of your
life to be their guardians, give them an op
portunity to be self-reliant, self-supporting.
If you neglect this now, the time may soon,
and very soon, come when your daughter,
your wife,,or your sister will be instructed
by other and rougher hands than your own—
the hands of adverse fate.
You say, there is nothing for her. to do ;
all places .are now filled by our sons. Make
rodm for her. Push your boys out to some
manual labor, and make her your accountant,
your S' crotary, your amanuensis-; let h«r be
your assistant in &urgery, yj physjj,c, in jaw,
in merchandize, in school, hi agriculture, in
mechanics, in surveying—anything that, will
draw out that inner being of hers to enno
bling and exalting ambition. Do you fear to
do this? You brave public opinion for your
own success in life ; why not for the future
welfare and happiness of a child who, with
out it, is likely to become a dependent upon
the cold charities of the world. A higher
consideration than this should move you thus
to act, which is giving her an opportunity of
improving the talent wiih which God has en
trusted her. If she is to be the glory of man,
make her a shining glory; then she,and he,and
you, and all will be exalted thereby. As she
now is, how many husbands stoop to confess
that their wives are their glory? Are they
not ashamed of them? Congenial perhaps when
wedded—both equally accomplished in edu
cation ; but since, his progress has been on
ward, and hers backward, and he no longer
finds her the gilded being of years ago.
It has been but a few short years since it
was admitted the mind of woman possessed
the capacity of grasping and “grappling with”
the sciences. vVithin my own memory, it
was regarded incapable of taking in the intri
cacies of mathematics. Child as I was, I be
held with interest the tightly drawn tension
or muscles of parents and teachers’ faces in
watching the progress of the experiment, how
they by degrees relaxed, until they were set
at liberty in a smile of triumph.
If such be true in one instance, may it not
prove equally successful in many others, un
til the difficulty is finally discovered not to
lie in the orgauism, but in local hindrances to
its exercise? 1 think we have ample reason
to so regard it, if we will but take the trouble
to scan history for examples, where, by for
tuitous circumstances, it has been compelled
to act. Miriam—what is more sublime than
her song? Deboiah, Esther, Semiramis,
Zenobia, Cornelia, Elizabeth, Madame de
Roland, Hannah Moore, Mrs. Sigourney—
who will dispute the claims of these to the
highest encomiums of native talents and im
proved opportunities ?
Along side with education, teach her she
has something to live for, which is not to
dance, to dress, to gossip, to flirt, to be ad
mired, to be entertained, to crochet, to em
broider, to lounge, to sleep; but something
real, active, noble. She cannot enjoy the
luxury of self respect until she has that with
in her she knows to be worthy ot it. This
obtained, then she will very soon have the
respect of others. Who, with any conscious
pride, feels flattered by shining with a bor
rowed light? Is it not humiliating depen
dence to be the reflector of another’s ideas,
thoughts and opinions? What other office
do many wives, daughters and sisters perform,
but this ?
Giris must be taught to think. We of the
South have lived long enough to know that
wealth, arid friends, and good fortune are as
precarious as life itself. There is no assurance
the goods o/ to-day will be ours to morrow.
While 1 am writing, intelligence of a great
conflagration in Constantinople is flashed
across the cable. The loss, so far, is estirna
ted to be seven thousand buildings, two hun
dred and fifty lives, and twenty-five millions
pounds sterling in property, which, in our
currency, would be one hundred and twenty
five million dollars! Think of it! There,
strangers to want yesterday, are to day more
wretched than the most miserable rag-picker
ever was; for, added to her utter destitution,
is pride, a delicacy of feeling, a sense of her
degradation the latter never felt, just what
thousands of our countrymen have, and are
now laboring under.
Girls, if you are told it is unladylike to
think, don’t believe it. You are told, also,
when young, happy, hopeful, buoyant, pos
sessing friends and wealth, that you possess a
certain peculiar property called, angelic. Don’t
believe that either, though I do think young
girls are the loveliest objects on earth; for
when adversity comes, the angel’s wings are
clipped. Be not backward in asking explanation
of that which you cannot understand. Do not
be put off with the rebuke, “ Pshaw, you are
nothing but a girl!” The reason I urge this up
on you, you can see everywhere around you.
You will find it in the poor house, the work-
shop, the cotton factories, the corn-fields, the
kitchen, washroom, school-room; you will
see it jn the care-worn face, in the wrecked
body, the consumptive glare, of those who
but a short time since, were pampered in the
softest luxury. Do it, not as a duty merely,
but as an obligation you owe to God, and
your fellow creatures and yourself.
At this particular juncture, the South is
greatly in want of oood teachers. Formerly
New England supplied her, but now she looks
to herself to meet this demand. In this as
in other branches of social, as well as natural
interests, she suffers from the dearth. It
would probably be safe to say, without cast
ing any reflection—l am a teacher—that there
is not one in a hundred, nay more, five hun
dred, of those who are filling this responsi
ble position, who are in the remotest degree
actually fitted to discharge its duties. In
most instances, it is done from necessity, and
of course reluctantly. In other cases, the
.intention is good ; but deficiences innumera
ble in other respects. I repeat it, good teach
ers we want, and if the South does not suppfy
herself, she will waive her prejudices produced
by the war, and throw open her doors once
again to the North ; she will draw upon Eng
land, Germany, France, for it is an impera
tive, personal, national necessity. Hold the
position while you have it; for when once
lost, it is not easily retaken. The field is
wide, and is broadening. Keep your foothold.
Let nothing deter you from engaging in the
work with all the powers within you. It is
a glorious work. If you feel that it degrades
you in the eyes of your leisure loving, em
broidery-working sisters, then you are not fit
for the place. If you cannot look beyond the
reward of the present moment, you had bet
ter turn your attention to gadding, gossipping,
prying, street parading and the like, for it
takes strong resolution, a brave heart, and a
cheerful spirit to teach properly the young
young idea how to shoot.
Teaching is an avocation full of anxiety and
turmoil. She who undertakes it must not
expect to repose on downy pillows; but it is
one womar! has proved herself equal to. It was
a blessed boon to her when the mooted ques
tion, can she teach, was decided in her favor.
Can she teach? Yes; she can do mure. She
can control, she can administer, she can pre
side in this capacity, and to day her schools
are the first in the land. She has but “to
carry the war into Africa” to get the instruc
tion of youth almost entirely within her own
hands; not that it is desirable or politic that
this should be so, but that she may by greater
exertion render her capabilities equal to the
demand.
VV herever she is recognized as efficient, she
is even now held in the highest esteem. Her
services are valued, and her talents apprecia
ted, though not receiving as yet —this, it is
hoped, will be remedied —salaries equal to
those of professors doing the same labor. In
the public schools North and West, she gets
from a thousand to fifteen hundred and two
thousand as principal, and in some instances
qp high as four thousand dollars. Certainly
.this is a new era. ,
All that is done in woman’s education—
that is, the intellectual—resolves itseffi into
the culture of the reason and imagination,
and not feeling exclusively, as many contend.
These two combined in proper proportion,
determine, in a great measure, the power of
the mind, to develop them in symmetrical
proportions; that is, push the one and re
strain the other, is a delicate task, but when
accomplished, as it is sometimes, it is hoped,
then it is we have the finest specimen of fe
male intellectual superiorly.
Thus equipped for life, will not society do
its part, and bring her out? Will not her
parents relax the hold of protection and let her
go whither her genius may lead her? In the
right direction —have no fears, if you all have
discharged your partin bringing proper moral,
religious, as well as intellectual influences, to
bear.
Parents, not heartlessly, but over-kindly,
keep daughters from general success. No
one more than myself, is a greater advocate
of care and protection of girls, as exercised by
fathers and mothers, but beyond a certain
point it ceases to be a virtue. Girls must be
trusted as boys are. The watchful eye of
parental love cannot ever be upon them. If
this were possible, it would sometimes be
tricked, as it often is, in the very heart of
home. This continued care, extended some
times until the daughter has perhaps passed
a half-century in training lines, works no good
to a child beyond a certain age.
Then, my young friends, from this day
forth 1 trust you will not concentrate the
whole essence and substance of your being
into one word wife ; but like the chaste, the
beautiful, the loving Ruth, will be found
gleaning in the field of barley, if need be —
but I hope it will be one of thought, pursu
ing one object —the best you can, whether as
helpmeet or maiden, and in the latter day
you will come bearing your sheaves, and the
Lord of the harvest will call you blessed.
God help you so to do! Clementia.
Mercer University.
An up country brother, the other day, inti
mated that if Mercer University was located
at Macon, the Baptists would probably start
another interest higher up. But will they?
I think not, and for the following reasons:
Ist. There was great unanimity in the de
cision to remove; and even the few opposed
to removal pledged their personal influence
to harmonize the parties. From the known
standing of those brethren, it is believed that
they can do it. Every reason opposed to re
moval was considered and discussed in the
spirit of Christian candor, and it was decided
to remove without knowing to what place.
There should be equal fairness in deciding as
to the place ; and then every one will be sat
isfied to work tor the interests of the Institu
tion, wherever it may be.
2d. While no other argument can be urged
properly against Macon except its health, ex
amination into the facts will convince any one
that such objection will not hold; Macon is
one of the most healthy cities of the South.
Let facts, by which alone such questions are
determined, be submitted to the gentlemen
having the matter to decide, and I am satis
fied that they will agree that no city has
greater claim to be considered healthy. It is
situated on half-way ground between the dis
eases of the mountains and miasma of the low
country. The climate is most excellent in
winter and spring. In summer the exercises
will be suspended, and those who wish can go
higher up the country. From the middle of
July to Ist October there need be—and, ac
cording to the preseut arrangement, will be—
no college exercises. That will give ample
time for recreation to those who need it.
According to present rates of travel, a student
could, in that time, almost go round the world
—could spend two mcnth* in the mountains
of Colorado or the Yo Semite.
3rd. It is said the Faculty are opposed to
Macon. Probably some of them are. As
fine a looking specimen of manhood as the
Faculty can show, was brought up in Macon;
and I suppose he will not object to it on ac
count of health. But if any of them are so
delicate that they cannot stand the climate of
Middle Georgia, of course they can be re*
lieved. In deciding questions of this sort, our
motto should be “measures and not men.
WHOLE NO. 2499.
But lam satisfied that the Faculty will ae
quiesce, if it is decided to locate at Maoon.
4th. To build up an opposition College is
not an easy matter. It will cost those up
country brethren more money and time than
they have to spare.
3d. Every man cannot have it at his own
door. Baptists are independent thinkers, and
lam glad they are. That independence
will unite them in every good cause; and
then conscious independence makes them the
more steadily influenced in the right direc
tion. Knowing, therefore, that there can be
but one location for the University, and that
every man cannot have the Institution near
him, when it is decided in favor of any place,
in my judgment, they will all agree. They
have stood up to the Institution in a remnrka- •
ble manner in Penfield, with all its discour
agements and disadvantages.
6th. We must take the best offer made to
us, all things considered; and if that is by
Macon, fidelity to the interests of the denomi
nation and to posterity demands that we shall
accept it. it, brother editor, I have
no personaPinterest in this thing; but I long
to see the denomination ahead in education,
as in other tilings. We can build up the best
Institution in Georgia; we can complete our
University; we can raise half a million dollars
tor these purposes : we can, because we have
the men, the talent, the money. Now, all 1
aim at, in this communication, is to prevent
deciding beforehand, before all the facts arc
brought out to the committee, where the In
stitution shall be located. Bsta.
The Bible.
Study it carefully,
Think of it prayerfully.
Deep in thy heart let its pure precepts dwell!
Slight uot its history,
Ponder its mystery,
None can e’er prize it too fondly or well.
Accept the glad tidings,
The warnirffcsoind eludings,
Found in this volume of' heuveoly lore;
With faith that’s unfailing,
And love all prevailing,
Trust in its promise oif life evermore.
With femiit devotion,
And thankful emotion,
Hear the blest welcome, respond to its call!
Life’s purest oblation,
The heart’s adoration.
Give to the Saviour, who died for us all.
May this message of love,
From the Triune above,
To all nations and kindred be given,
Till the ransomed shall raise,
Joyous anthems of praise—
Halleluyah ! on earth and in heaven.
Duplicity.
A letter from Chicago, in the Christian Reg
ister, says: One of the most prominent
Evangelical clergymen of this city was lately
called on by one of his flock, when the follow
ing conversation took place : “ Doctor, I have
coine to ask*leave to withdraw ' from your
church communion.” “ And why so, pray?”
“Simply, because I find it impossible any
longer to subscribe to the creed. I don’t be*
lieve in such and such articles” (naming over
several.) “Ah !is that all 1 Well, 1 don’t
believe in them myself.” “You surprise me!
Why, then, we must both leave the church.”
“ By no means, —we must both remain, and
bring the church to whore we stand.”
This is monstrous; but Dr. Howard Mal
coin has found a parallel for it among Bap
tists : for, in the Watchman <£ Reflector, he
says: " The pastor of a largo city church,
well known to me, said to a friend of mino
that the reason why lie did not openly avow
his open communion sentiments was beoause
he could propagate them more effectually in
the parlor than in public.” The Dr. well
adds: “ Terrible is the responsibility oi breth
ren who use their official influence in this
dastardly manner.to bring about a split in
our ranks. Our Home and Foreign Mis
sions, our Publication Society, our churches
will be split into sections ; our energies will
be expended in contentions, our sweet fellow
ship changed into rivalries. The village that
can hardly sustain its feeble Baptist church
will require two, and the whole denomination
become paralyzed. And all for what? To
invite Pedobaptists to a supposed privilege
which they do not want, and will not use.”
Baptist Fidelity. —Henry Ward Beecher,
at the meeting of the American Congrega
tional Union, this year, in Brooklyn, said :
Among the churches whose rejd flag,—red
with the blood of Calvary,—has never been
lowered or trailed in the dnst of defection;
who, while the Congregational churches suf
fered eclipse, while Presbyterianism in Eng
land suffered eclipse,stood firm, testifying to
the truth as it is in Jesus, —none deserves
more love and more gratitude than the Bap
tist churches of America. In that church the
faith of our fathers has never' received a
shock, nor been moved. Faithful in the field,
enterprising, and for the last quarter of a cen
tury with growing enterprise toward educa
tion, and now affording some of the very
ripest scholars in Biblical literature which t,he
world knows, and thousands of ministers that
are second to none in zeal and in success.
Fraternity. — The Disciples of Christ
(“ Campbellites”) of Ohio, at their late State
Convention, adopted “with hearty unanimity
and without debate,” a motion to appoint a
committee to bear fraternal greetings to the,
Baptists of the State at their Cenveniti-ui in
Columbus next October. But do not doctri
nal questions of vital character divide thte two
parties, and forbid fraternity?
Baptism. —Last year, the Episcopal Con
vention of Georgia adopted a rule requiring
lay delegates to be “ baptized persons.” Ac
cording to a writer in the Church Calendar :
“This was too little for most of the clergy
and some of the parishes, but too much fur
the laity generally. The eff >rt (this year) to
substitute ‘communicants’ for ‘ baptized per-,
sons’ failed from non concurrence of the two
Orders, and the motion to strike-out ‘ bap -
tized persons’ failed for the same reason.”
Satan’s Credentials. —A man rich in
Christian experience, and whose words were
always weighed words of wisdom, once re
marked that, “in his view, oputi profanity
was not stronger proof of an unconverted
heart than a desire to have just religion
enough to escape perdition and no more.”
“ Liberty.” —Certain Independent congre
gations organized in Norway, the last few
years, in their recently adopted Articles of
Faith, say: “Inasmuch as the Bible has not
given any specific command, at what time bap
tism should be administered, —therefore wo
believe in liberty of baptism,”— i.e., to bap
tize, or not baptize, their children.
The Mystery Explained.
The late Dr. Proudfit, of New York, a
short time before his death, referring to that
wonderful passage in Second Corinthians —
“ For we know that if our house of this talv
ernacle were dissolved, we have a building of
God, an house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens, etc.”—exclaimed, as if he had
just looked within the veil, “/ understand it
now." He could say no more, and passed
into the glorious reality. Similar has beeu
the dying experience of other Christians;
and who shall say that aU that supreme mow
menfc the curtain may not have lifted to their
vision, so that in an instant the dim and anx
ious guesses of a lifetime were exchanged for
perfect know.ledinfect bliM?