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CHRISTIAN IINUK A aND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST.
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Abide with Ua.
“Abide with us: for it is toward evening, snd the
day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.”
Luke xxir: x 9.
Abide with us, dear B*viour,
We fe«l bo much alone,
And need Thy blessed presence
To cheer our transient home.
“ For we are straagers before tbee and sojourners, as
were ail our fathers ; our days on the earth are as a
shadow, and there is none abiding.” 1 Chron xxix, 15.
Abide with us, dear Savioar;
This world doth seem so drear,
With all its joys and pleasures.
We’re sad without thee here.
“ Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all gen
erations.” Psalm xc: 1.
Abide with us, dear Saviour,
Our hearts are sore opprest;
Temptaticn, sin on every side,
We look to Thee for rest.
“He shall call upon me, and I will answer Him ; I
will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and
honor him.” Psalm xci: 10.
Abide with us, dear Saviour,
Our dear, our only Friend:
The promised Way, the Truth, the Life,
Our Comfort to the end,
“ Jesus said unto him, 1 am the Way, and the Trnth,
aud the Life.” John xiv: 6.
Abide with us, dear Saviour;
Our heartg do long to know
More of Thy joy, moie of Thy grace,
While journeying here below.
“ For through Him we both have access by one Spirit
unto the Father.” Eph. ii: 18.
Abide with us—'t is even-tide—
Thou glorious Star so bright,
Thou Dayspring, Sun of Righteousness,
That lights the darkest night.
“ But uuto you that fear my name shall the Sun of
Righteousness arise with healing in His wings. ’ Mai.
iv. 2.
— M. H. Broun.
The American Bible Union.
1 know of no organization, outside of the
church of Christ, that has stronger claims
upon us, as Christians, patriots or philantro
pists, than has the one above named. It is
the only organization known to me, in the
wide world, whose sole object is the procur
ing and circulating of pure versions of the
word of God among the different nations of
the earth. This seems strange to me. Where
is the zeal of Christians? Wherein do they
display their wisdom? They whom our hea
venly Master appoints as “ stewards over
His household to give them their portion of
meat in due seasou,” are required to be wise
as well as fa.ilhfu.l. (See the Saviour’s words
in Matt, xxiv : 45, et al.)
Will you tell me of the numberless mis
sionary societies that have been formed, in
every Christian land, to aid the heralds of the
Cross in their endeavor to execute the com
mission of their Lord and Saviour,—“ Go ye
into all the world, teach all nations,” etc. ?
This is all right; but the missionary needs
himself a pure version of the word of God, out
of which to teach those among whom he
labors; and he needs many copies of the same
to place in the hands of those to whom he
preaches, that they may “ search the Scrip
tures” for themselves, as did the Bereans of
old, and assure themselves that what He
teaches is not the will of a carnal mortal, but
the will of an incarnate and uncreated God.
Even in the days of the apostles, some preach
ers perverted the word of God and taught
doctrines contrary to the doctrines of the gos
pel of Christ. Some —many do the same in
the present day. The lapse of time has not
lessened the infirmities of human nature.
Evil minded men still wrest the Scriptures to
their own evil purposes, and even good men
—the best of men—are liable to be led into
error, insensibly, through the bias of early
predjudice, early habits of thought, social con
nectious, denominational proclivities, etc.
The word of God alone is unerring.
Again, the missionary can only preach for
a limited time, to a limited number of peo
ple. The printed word of God may teach
the way of life eternal, while th<? preacher is
seeking, in the slumbers of the night, to re
fresh his exhausted physical frame; and, in
deed, long after his voice has been silenced
by death. It may make its way through the
tangled wilderness to remote regions, inac
cessible to the missionary, and teach, at the
same time, to thousands, in different places,
the evil of sin and the way of salvation
through Christ.
The circulation of pure versions of the
sacred Scriptures is as essential to ultimate
success in our endeavors to civilize and evan
gelme the world as is the employment of men
to proclaim it publicly. Missionaries sent to
the Spanish-speaking nations on our continent
have heretofore effected but little for the want
of a pure version of God’s word. The ver
sions in circulation in those nations sanction
more or less of the errors of the anti-Christian
church of Rome. Their circulation, therefore,
tends rather to counteract than aid the mis
sionary in his efforts to induce his hearers to
rely alone upon the merits of the Lord Jesus
for justification at toe bar of God.
This fact became so evident to some that
they abandoned in despair their missionary
labors. Oue of them—Rev. Frederick Crowe
returned to England and induced, by his
representations, a number of pious persons to
form a society for the purpose of procuring a
pure version of the New Testament in the
Spanish language. The society thus formed
applied to the American Bible Union to un
dertake the work. The members of the
Union, after a prayerful consideration of the
subject, felt it to be their duty to comply
with the request. These are the providential
circumstances to which 1 referred in a former
article, and which led to the publication of
the Union’s excellent version of the New Tes
tament in the Spanish language. It has been
commended by the learned and pious of every
denomination of Christians to whom it has
been submitted, as superior to anything of the
kind in the Spanish‘language. Indeed, it has
received a higher commendation than men
can bestow. The Eternal Spirit has set upon
it the seal of His approbation, by the won
derful blessing with which He has already
accompanied its circulation, both in Spain and
in Mexico.
To send out missionaries without furnish
ing them with an ample supply of the sacred
Scriptures for distribution, is to act most un
wisely. Could a master reasonably expect to
reap a rich harvest who sent his servants into
his field without furnishing them with ne
cessary implements? Would a sovereign
expect his armies to return victorious and
laden with the spoils of his enemies, if he sent
them fortli without furnishing them with the
most improved munitions of war? As well
send out an army with old flint lock muskets
to battle with one armed with needle-guns and
other improved implements of warfare, as
send out missionaries supplied only with old,
impure versions of God’s word, that bear
upon them the marks of anti Christ. These,
like a fowler’s rusty gun, often inflict as much
damage behind as before them. And yet,
how strange —how passing strange,Christians
contribute their thousands and tens of
thousands to sustain missionaries, while they
contribute only their climes and their dollars
—and some nothing at all—to send abroad
the pure word of God, which H« assures us
shall not return unto Him void, but shall ef
fect that for which it was sent forth.
Dear Christian reader, is this right ? In
doing so, do we honor our Lord and Saviour?
If reason and conscience answer in the nega
tive, I pray you sit down quickly and write
ma a note (like one recently received from
a dear brother at Jonesboro, Ga.) enclosing
a contribution to aid the A. B. U. in supply
ing the Mexicans and Chinese with faithful
translations of the word of God. ihe Amer
ican Bible Society cannotaid us in this work,
for they are restricted by one of their own
rules from aiding in the circulation of any but
the commonly received versions in any coun
try. Their owu colporteurs in Mexico de
clare the commonly received versions in that
country to be impure, and are asking us to
supply them with eopiea of our pure version.
Help us, ye men of God, ye lovers of Jesus,
ye patriots, ye philanthropists, and the Lord
will assuredly bless you lor it. (See Eph.
vi : 8.) More next time.
Jos. S. Baker.
Signs of the Times.
There is a growing love ot amusements
among the people. The dance, the theatre,
the circus, and other means of pleasurable
gratification of less note, are more than ever
popular. If this longing for amusement were
confined to the world, no Christian would
think strangely of it. But professed lovers
of Jesus are going with the world. Many of
the latter are willing to spend hundreds of
dollars on amusements where they would re
fuse to give dimes and quarters to the cause
*of Christ. No night or day is so inclement as
to keep them away from the ball room, thea
tre or circus. Few nights or days are pleas
ant enough to invite them to the places of
worship. This tendency of things is being
noticed by the men of no religion, and they
take occasion from it to scoff at holy things.
The criminals have no answers to give to
such scoffs. Self-condemned, they remain in
silence, and are likely, in a little time, to join
the army of scoffers themselves. Habitual
failure to stand up for Jesus leads one to unite
with those who stand up against Jesus. ‘ He
tnat is not for me is against ine.”
2. The habit of wasting time over demor
aliziug literature is growing on professed
Christians. Many professors of religion take
uo religious papers, read no religious books —
not even the Bible, but as a form —and yet
they waste —worse than waste —a great part
of their time in poring over corrupting sensa
tion stories. Such families are destitute of
spiritual light. The churches would do vastly
better without them. They are a reproach
to the cause-ot Jesus.
3. There is a growing tendency for un
chaste pictures, and that with the same class
already mentioned. The imagination is af
fected through the «ye. The more the eye
sees of the corrupting, the more vitiated be
comes the imagination, and when the latter is
wholly defiled, its possessor falls a victim to
the worst vices. Let auy one take the trou
ble to look at innumerable pictures offered
for sale in public collections, and he will see
many pieces thau no pure minded person
should allow himself to look at. In former
days these pictures hid themselves in dens of
wickedness. Now, they come into the light
of open day. They confront the traveller on
the train, in “ police records” and other peri
odicals. These pictures, thus coming into
the light, and being welcomed by many called
Christians, are at once the precursors and the
evidence of general demoralization.
It would be easy to enlarge on this general
subject, but enough, perhaps, has been said.
The thoughtless will not read even this much.
The/eie real Christians can do little or noth
ing to stay the mighty wave of sin that rises
every moment to overwhelm and destroy our
land. When a peopie are given to amuse
ments, corrupting literature, and an evil im
agination, whatever be their name, Christian
or Pagan, they are on the verge of destruc
tion.
Alabama Baptist Convention.
Well, brother, some time since we had a
conversation about Conventions, in which I
tried to show you that they were simply
“ Big Associations, —General Associations lor
the State.” You agreed that if “ I was not
mistaken in my understanding of them,
you would be ‘right in for them;’” for you
said that you could see the necessity for such
Associations. As I had no disposition to de
ceive you, I insisted that ycu should visit the
Convention at Opelika, and examine for
yourself; and, supposing that you have done
so, allow me to ask, how did you like it 1
Very much; I had uo idea that I would be
so well pleased as 1 was. I met a great many
brethren from various parts of the State that
I had sever seen before, and they received
me as if they were right glad to see me, and
I believe they were. I met Freeman, Ticbe
nor, Mclntosh, Battle, aud others of those
“ big fellows;” and I supposed they would
haidly notice a country Baptist, but I found
that I was entirely mistaken ; indeed, at first
I was “sorter shy of them,” but when they
began to talk, 1 found that they were Bap
tists, just like the rest of us, aud before I
knew it, I was in love with them. To tell
you the truth, I was pleased with the Con
vention, and am glad that 1 went. I supposed
that the President of the Couvention would
be a proud, stiff man ; but, O how I was
mistaken in that opinion. He was just any
thing else. I was pleased with him. Why,
he did not put on as many airs as the Mod
erator of our Association. In conclusion, I
found the Convention to be about what you
represented it to be; and am convinced that
we need just such a Convention, and that all
that is necessary to induce the brethren to
cooperate with it, is to get them to visit it
and become acquainted with its objects. If
this can be effected, they will begin to work
for the Convention; and then, according to
brother Boykin’s doctrine, they will learn to
love it.
Well, I am glad that you were so well
pleased.
lam glad too; but you promised to say
something in defence of Boards, of which I
have heard so many bad things.
Very well; I will begin by asking you a
question. Have you an Executive Commit
tee in your Association ?
O yes, of course we have. W'hy, we could
nut get along at all without our Executive
Committee. Certainly we have an Execu
tive Committee; and a good one it is. Let
me see. Why, last year we raised a fund to
put a missionary in the field in our Associa
tion, and as wo had no minister in our bounds
who could undertake the work, our Commit
tee had to open correspondence with brethren
abroad in order to get a missionary, and then
they had to attend to the settlement of his
salary, and we also owed something on the
salary of our missionary for last year; and
our Committee had that to attend to, and a
good many other matters—all of which they
attended to.
Well, my brother, that is all that a Board
is.
Is it possible ?
Yes, it is possible.
FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1870.
Well, well! How some folks do talk.
Why, 1 thought they were miserable things ;
and now they turn out to be but Executive
Committees. I know that our Association
cannot get along without an Executive Coni
mittee, and of course the Southern Baptist
Convention cannot get along without an Ex
ecutive Committee; but they have two
Boards, as you call them, to attend to mis
sions—one for the Home and one for the
Foreign Missions, and for the life of me I
cannot see the use of but one Board.
So far as that is concerned, 1 have nothing
to say. I suppose that the brethren in their
wisdom thought best to have two Boards, and
I have no controversy to introduce on that
subject until I shall become wiser in such
matters. All I wanted to discuss was, ought
we to have Boards or not?
Well, if that is ail, I am satisfied that we
cannot do without th«m at all; and if I shall
find thvm earnestly endeavoring to execute
the will of the Convention, 1 shall be right in
for them, for I want to see Baptists fully
awake to their whole duty ; which is to obey
the commands of our Great Captain. He
said, “Go ye into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature.” Let me say
to you, that 1 am not opposed to any effort
that our denomination can make to execute
that command, that is not in opposition to the
word of God.
As we part, I have odo request to make of
ji>u —it is this: since )ou have examined the
Baptist State Convention, as also the princi
ple of Boards, and are satisfied that they are
proper, spare no pains to remove prejudice
from the minds of brethren whenever you
meet them. This is all I charge you for my
trouble in the matter. J. P. Shaffer.
Livtville , Ala., Nov. 16, 1870.
These Fading Flowers.
It may not be so with others, but with me
the thought presses ever and anon upon me,
soon all the beauty and glory of earth must
mingle in the dust.
On the May-day I stand amid the drooping
treasures of flowering shrubs and roses. The
mind is gladdened at the scene, and the senses
are regaled with the wasting perfumes. But,
even there I remember the December, soon
to come, when these flowers shall be no
more, and the shoots that bear them will be
stiff with frost.
I see the expanded flowers of human beauty
and human excellence around me. Forms
of such symmetry aud intellects of such bril
liancy that the glory of angels might be sug
gested by their contemplation, come before
my vision. What is the effect? 1 cannot
forget that forms as fair, intellects as bright,
strength as perfect, and, withal, hearts as
warm, lie, and have lain in the silent dust
for a thousand years. And more, mayhap, a
part of the matter now entering into living
bloom before me, belonged, ages ago, to some
human face no less bright than this! Aud
where, long ere a esutury shall have melted
awuy, will be the rejoicing sons and daugh
ters of the Now ? Goue forever! Then •
look on the temples of the rich, and the per
fecting schemes of the enterprising, aud the
query thrusts itself in, Where are these tem
ples, the money that built them, and all these
vast undertakings soon to be? How soon
may th<* achiteveaieata of art, however giori
ous, be crumbled, like the temple of Jerusa
lem, into dust and fragments! How soon
mutt their authors be laid away in the silence
of the dust!
These contemplations teach me this lesson:
Not to set my heart on what passes away. I
must school mv heart to surrender now what
must so soon be dissolved before me. God
and Christians, and holiness and heaven, I
may love with perfect fervor, since they shall
remain forever. All else let me be ready to
resign at any moment. Scrap.
Baptist Looking-Glass—lll.
Sabbath Schools —Two THouains.
Recently visited a Sabbath school. Pleased
with two features.
The first; it was held as a separate service,
on Sabbath afternoon.
The second ; the hymns and tunes sung
were such as 'Aould be useful, and would be
used after the children ceased to be children by
becominy adults.
With regard to the first feature, we think
wherever it is practicable, a Sabbath school
ought not to be held just a few minutes in
advance of a church service, or a few min
utes after. VVo frequently expect more of
children than we do of adults. We clothe
children frequently less warmly than grown
people clothe themselves, and we. expect them
to keep warm ; and we allow them to expose
themselves to the weather to a greater extent
than grown people expose themselves, and
expect them not take cold.
And now, with reference to the ease under
consideration. We expect children, without
being fatigued, to spend an hour or more in
a Sabbath school, and then attend a service a
few minutes after, an hour to an hour
aud a half, or two hours in length.
Wo need not be surprised if they yawn
and sleep, or feel sleepy and take but little
interest in the latter service. Wherever
practicable, let the Sabbath school service be
the service appropriated to a particular part
ofi the day, as we usually express ourselves.
If teaohers and pupils meet for no other pur
pose than to look to the interests of the Sab
bath school, not fatigued with service just
before assembling, or not in view of one just
after breaking up, it seems to us, that,
other things being equal, more good may be
done than under the ordinary method. The
body and mind are more refreshed. There
is no danger, as is frequently the case, where
a church service immediately follows the
Sabbath school service, of being in the way
of the service. The exercises of Sabbath
schools that are held just before the services
of a church, are sometimes hurried through,
just at a point when they begin to be inter
esting, to make way for the services af a
church; audit is sometimes the case that,
where the exercises of the school are held in
the church edifice, they are protracted beyond
the hour for preaching, to the annoyance of
the minister who wishes to be punctual, and
to the inconvenience of the waiting congrega
tion. A Sabbath school service in the after
noon would, in some places, beat.ended with
a larger number of pupils than at another
time of day. In the Sabbath school that we
have reference to in this article, we saw three
little misses, who, we were told, are the chil
dren of a poor woman. These pupils are
deeply interested in their studies, and are
very promising. The domestic cares of the
mother, however, are such that it would be
impossible, we were told, for her to arrange
for these children to attend the school, if held
early on the morning of the Sabbath. The
wealthy have frequently complained of the
task they have in preparing their children in
the morning for the Sabbath school. If there
is no sacrifice of principle, where the plan we
recommend is practicable, we think if it will
increase the number of pupils in a school, it
is worthy ol consideration.
With regard to the second feature alluded
to, we would not have children be anything
else than children. Let a child occupy a
child’s place. That man that expects to find
“old heads on young shoulders,” acts unkind
ly towards children to expect it, and also
shows his ffrek of knowledge of the laws of
human nat .re. When children cease to be
children, t(jian, aud not before, may we expect
them toacias adults. “ When 1 was a child,’
(says Paul .I Cor. xiii: 11,) “I spake as a
child, I uni>rstood as a child, I thought as a
child; but When I became a man, I put away
childish things.”
There ar-»- two extremes with reference to
children. b- U e is to expect them to act as
adults, and"*he other is to forget that they
ever will be adults. It is just as necessary
that we beaMn mind the fact that children
will become then and women , as that children
are children* The gardener treats the tender
plant as a tender plant, but in all his treat
ment of it, he has an eye to its future growth ;
he has an eye to the position which it will,
by and by, i&cupy in the garden.
So, too, w;th our treatment of the young.
An ancient (Agesilaus, we think,)
being asked what boys should learn, replied,
those things jvhich would be of use to them
when they ejjeeame men. An answer, this,
based on cikimon sense. Wo have an eye
to the fcti,r*ffirowth and position ot children
in day scii v-i*.; we shouid also have an eye
to these in Sabbath schools.
We do m’s say that these things are alto
gether lost of in the Sabbath school music
of the preset., day; we think, however, that
there is too goeat a tendency t<> make use of
that kind of music which will be of no ad
vantage to tSrl child in adult life. In endeav
oring to make the Sabbath school music more
attractive to Aildien than our lathers made
it, we think we have lost sight of some
of that solidity which characterized the hymns
and music ot former days. We know il,
indeed. Then certainly can be no objee-.
tion to children of our Sabbath
schools some hymns and tunes that can be
used t»y them after they have grown up.
The children will thus be taught to unite with
others in their music of the church. We do
not ask that children's music should be en
tirely dispensed with in Sabbath schools, but
that other music should also be used. Tnis
last should be done and the other “ not left
undone.” Thus shall we treat children as
children, and a.so as on the way to manhood
aud womanhood-
A Correspondent of tiie Index.
“ I Know Thou Hast Gone.”
“ j know thou hast gone to the home of thy rest,
Then why.ahouW my soul be so sad!
1 know tbou hast £:>ne where the weary are blest,
Aud the mouruef looks up aud is glad !
Where Lore has p it off, in the land of its biitb,
The stain it hud fathered iu this,
And Hope, the sw- it singer that gladdened the earth,
Lies asleep on tb bosom of Bliss 1”
«i know thou hast gone where thy forehead is starred
With the beauty - at dwelt in thy soul,
Where the light of'-hy loveliness cannot be marred,
Nor thy heart be iung back from its goal;
I know thou hast drunk of the Lethe that flows
Through a land where they do not forget—
That sheds orer uiwpory ouly repose, ~
Aud takes from i| only regret ”
In thy far away dwelling, wherever it be,
I believe thou "hay visions ul mine.
And the lore that i.l-de a ! ! ihiogs us music to me,
I hare not yet learned to restra
in he hush of the-fighl, oh the waste of the sea.
Or alone wilh tWoreexe on the hill,
I hare ever a preseW -* that whispers of thee,
And my spirit and is still I”
« Mine eve m ist b*&v.rk, that ho L.n*r has been dim,
Are again it fiia/qfcte upo.i thine,
But my heart has rJVealmgs of thee and thy home,
In many a token aril sign :
I never look up witSjfa vow to the sky,
But a light like tHy beauty is there—
And I hear a loue .Avniur, like thine in reply,
Wheu I pour out Ay spirit iu prayer.”
And though like a nvourner who sits by u tomb,
1 am wrapped in * mantle of care,
Yet the gfiel of my bosom - oh, call it not gloom—
Is not the black grief of despair;
By sorrow revealed, as the stars are by night,
Far off a bright vision appears—
And Hope, like the rainbow, a creature of light,
Is born, like the rainbow, in tears.”
Old Fonts: Immersion.
In the course of our tour on behal/ of mis
sions we got to Fortrose in Rosshire, the an
cient scat of the Romish bishops ol Ross.
Close to the Baptist chapel there is the hoary
headed cathedral in ruins. As we conscien
tiously hate all cathedrals and abbeys, wheth
er entire or in ruins, for the same reason that
Andrew Fuller called one in Yorkshire “the
hoary scalp of an old sinner,’ —we should
not have called your attention to this one in
Fortrose but because ol one relic which it
has, not in ruins but entire, and interesting
to Baptists and valuable in the dipping con
troversy. li is a font huudreds ol years old,
much older than the Reformation, —it as old
as the, cathedral itself, which is very likely,
about six or seven hundred years oid. Three
of us measured it carefully, and found the
bowl two feet in diameter and one foot deep,
and the pedestal upwards of three feet high,
—the whole big enough for dipping the big
gest infant in the land. Here is a standing
witness against sprinkling, plainly proving
that it was framed for immersion, and conse
quently that immersion was the practice in
Scotland as well as in England before the
Reformation, when by degrees first pouring
then sprinkling came in. Another font as
large as this was found about the year 1811,
lying among the rubbish of the steeple of
the church of Inverkeithing near Dunfermline
in Fife. But not many exist in Scotland, the
most of them having been destroyed at the
Reformation as Romish rubbish. Very dif
ferent is it in Ergland, where they are found
in almost every edd paiish church and cathe
dral to this day-y Some tweuty years ago I
myself visited Elstow church, the bells of
which Johu Buriyan was so fond of ringing
when a boy. While I went to see both the
village and the church for Bunyan’s sake,
nothing interested me so much as the large
old font, equal in size to the one at Fortrose,
and which the wonderful Dreamer must often
have seen. And there it stands to this day,
as it must have stood for hundreds of years,
a monument of immersion in England before
the Reformation. To those who would wish
to learn about the old English fonts, without
going on a personal pilgrimage, we would
recommend a quarto volume entitled “Simp
son's Ancient Baptismal Fonts," in which are
given the names of three hundred and fifty three
fonts in England, and plates of forty more. The
average measurement of them all is the same
as the ones we saw at Fortrose and Elstow.
Simpson in his preface sa\s : “As immersion
was practiced in this church until the Re
formation, and perhaps occasionally later, as
will afterwards appear, all fonts up to that
period were made sufficiently large for ihe
purpose.” As every argument in defence of
the true Scripture bi»pt,ism is valuable, we
would suggest the desirableness of a standard
work, the result of personal pilgrimage, on
the ancient fonts of Britain and Europe, and
the still more ancient baptisteries yet exist
ing in Italy. While the old fonts prove im
mersion, the older baptisteries prove the im
mersion of adults, not to say believers.
What Dr. Conant has done for the classic
use of the word baptixo, some brother who
intends visiting Europe might do for the ar
gument from ancient font 9 and baptisteries.
If ever to be done, it must be by an Ameri
can brother. —Edinburgh Cor. of Nat. Bap.
“Children’s Sundat.” —Among the Uni
versalists “Children’s Sunday ” is becoming
an established institution. It is usually ap
pointed in May or June, and is made the oc
casion of the infant baptisms for the year.
Flowers and appropriate music abound.
Pot-Hooks and Hangers.
We are informed that Maine has a re
cent colony of Swedes. Following home
customs, the local pastor visits every house
hold in which there may be » child of fifteen
years, and ascertains whether the boy or girl
can read and write. If this be the case, the
child is at once admitted to the sacrament; if
otherwise, it. is put on probation until it has
acquired the requisite education.”
Why not? Did not Joseph go up to Je
rusalem with Joseph and Mary, at the age of
thirteen, to assume the relations of a Jewish
church member ; and does not that fact prove
that, at a certain prescribed age, all children
should assume the relations of Christian
church membership? If not, certain Pedo
baptist sermoniiers of our acquaintance are
at fault. If anything more than a prescribed
agn is to be required, and anything less than
believers’ baptism is to be accepted, as a pre
requisite for communion; what requirement
can be more appropriate and beautiful then
the ability to read and write? The child
who was rantized as the incipieut citizen of
a Christian State upon coining to such years
of discretion, and such knowledge ot his pot
hooks and hangers, as may measurably fit
him for the duties of citizenship, is, of course,
admitted to the sacrament. There is no non
seguilur here. The sacrament follows the
rantism just as naturally, just as easily as
may be. To be sure, there is nothing in the
New Testament about pot hook and hangers
us a prerequisite to'communion; but the
New Testament is equally deficient in clear
ness when it sots forth citizenship in a Chris
tian State as a va!>d ground for baptism. It
must be that the New Testament is at fault
The practice of Pedobaptist churches is, of
course, beyond criticism. The incidental
benefits of the Swedish practice, in creating
a demand for at least the rudiments of an
education, arc, in themselves, sufficient proof
that the practice which we chronicle is of
God. The whole argument may be put in a
nutshell. Thus:
Whatever tends to promote the culture of
his creatures, must be dear to a God of wis
dom and love. Admitting children to the
Lord’s supper as a reward for learning to
read and write, tends to promoto the culture
of God’s creatures.
Don't you see?—Ex. <k Chron.
Curiosities of Literature.
It seems almost incredible, that such a man
as Dugald Stewart, so eminent as a metaphy
sician, and a Scotch one at that, aud only so
little time ago, should absolutely deny the
reality of such a language as the Sanscrit,
writing a book to prove that what was put
forth as such, was made up by literary forgers !
But is it not about as hard to believe that in
this waning half of the 19th oentury a man
could arise with auy pretensions to scholar
ship, to deny that baplizo can be rendered by
any existing English word, and to manufac
ture one for the purpose — intuspose? Dr.
Dale is very courageous, certainly, iu view of
the unbroken testimony of ages, that buptito
means immerse.
The Captive.
It is a <v.elt known) fact that certain moun
tainous regions in modern Greece are infest
ed by desperate bands of robbers. They
profess to wage a ceaseless war against the
Turks, but they are only engaged in oppress
ing the weak. They have adopted a barbar
ous code of laws for their own (government,
and look upon the surrounding oountry as
their natural inheritance. They visit the un
protected. and plunder the helpless without
mercy. They often capture citizens, and if
a ransom is not paid for them on demand,
tin* unfortunate prisoners are cruelly tortured
and put to death.
A few years ago a peasant was captured
by th»-se brigands, and carried into one of the
mountainous strongholds. At the suggestion
~f the chief, he wrote a letter to his friends,
stating his perilous condition and the amount
that must be paid far his deliverance. They
were unable to raise the sum demanded, and
the unhappy man was left to perish.
After waiting a few days for the expected
ransom, the robbers assembled in council and
decided that the prisoner must die. Accord
ing to their customs, they drew lots as to
which one should perform the execution, and
it fell on the chief, who ever delighted in acts
of cruelty. He disregarded the entreaties of
the unfortunate, appointed a place, and com
pel led him to dig his own grave. lie stood
impatiently watching the helpless victim as
he toiled at his unpleasant task, and when the
work was done, he prepared to strike the fatal
blow.
“Mercy!” exclaimed the prisoner, “Jmer
cy ! have mercy !”
* “ Our law admits no mercy.”
“ Spare me,” pleaded the trembling captive,
“ 1 have a wife and children.”
“ Ransom or death!” exclaimed the chief.”
“Set me free,” continued the captive, in
agonizing tone, “and 1 will pay the sum de
manded.”
“ You are a beggar,” said the chief, delight
ed at the torture his words inflicted.
“I will work and raise the money.”
“ No, you must die,” said the unfeelmg
wretch, as he raised the knife to plunge it into
his vitals.
A voice suddenly arrested the uplifted
weapon, and a robber advanced, followed by
Salee, a well-known citizen, whom the pris
oner had long hated and considered his worst
enemy.
“ I have sacrificed my cattle,” said Salee,
addressing the peasant, “ and paid the ran
som. You have injured me without cause
when I was your best friend. Now you are
redeemed from death, and I only ask your
love in return.”
The prisoner was astonished at such an
unexpected favor. He begged Salee’s pardon
tor his numerous offences, and wept many
tears of gratitude.
A multitude now living in this world are
willing captives of Satan, and do not seem to
realize their wretched condition. They are
unable to escape from the hard task master,
and are digging their own graves. They
have insulted their best friend, and are ex
posed to eternal death. The ransom is paid,
but they must perish or accept it on the terms
of the gospel.
Prayer for Preachers.
A faithful brother once remarked : “ When
ever I go to the house of God praying for the
preacher, I always get a good sermon.”
There is much in this preparation of the
heart. The. sermons, doubtless, were mainly
prepared before the prayers were offered.
Some other hearers slept under the same ser
mons, while others criticised them severely.
What was the reason that to brother A. they
were a feast of fat things, while they did not
keep brother B. awake, and brother C. thought
them weak or unsound, and brother D. said
it“ was time we had anew minister?” The
whole secret was in brother A’s coming to the
house of God praying for the preacher. He
came seeking and desiring a blessing, which
the others did not.
The gospel is always relished by the spir
itually-minded ; but human hearts, like the
shallow ground of the parable, are not always
prepared for its healthful reception. How many
professing Christians habitually think of the
watchmen on Zion's walls, and pray for spe
cial grace that they may speak a word in sea
son, and that it may fall into soil prepared
for its reception ?
One of the greatest evils among Baptist
churches is the instability of the pastoral re
lation. We have now too many of tha evils,
without the benefit of the itinerating system.
Itching ears and exactings seem to possess the
people. From these grow short lived pastor
ates, inefficiency and alienations. So long as
the pastoral relation i8 sundered by whims
and tastes, the people will never get the
“ right kind of a man,” and pastors will more
randy find “ the right kind of a people.”
Let the people and the -preacher go up to
the house of God praying for the life giviug
power lo be imparted to all tha exorcises. So
pray ing, we shall find much to learn, much
to enjoy, and much to put our affections in a
lively exercise, from any one whom God, in
His providence, shall place over us.—Na
tional Baptist.
Learning to Extemporize.
Dr. Siorrs, of tho Church of the Pilgrims,
in Brooklyn, N. Y., not so widely popular as
Mr. Beecher, is beyond a doubt one of the
most remarkable men of his time. A thor
ough scholar, a man of elegant acquirements,
marvellously gifted in speech, he reaches a
class of minds different from those who hang
upon the lips of his neighbor. Just in thought,
copious in argument, and a master of the
graces of eloquence, he wins and charms, and,
what is far better, enriches his hearer.
We speak of him now to illustrate tho fact
that a man can change his habits in middle
life. For a long time after entering the min
istry, Dr. Storrs preached written discourses,
extemporizing only at the weekly prayer
meeting or lecture. With all his gifts, how
ever, he was not accomplishing the proper
pulpit work for one of his acquirements. In
deed, he was sometimes, we have been in
formed, only a little short of being wearis
some. We know nothing of his thoughts
about it. We know the fact, that he launch
ed out boldly in anew style of discourse.
He abandoned the use of notes, flung his
great wealthy mind out of a long-used har
ness, and to-day reaps the reward of having
an auditory such, both in intelligence and
numbers, as few preachers in all history ever
had. Not many men could do what he has
done. But many could do something parallel
to it. We heard Dr. Storrs extemporize at a
weekly lecture, twenty-three years ago. He
sweat, sawed the air, floundered like a man
overboard, and made out only a passable dis
course. To day he is among the princes of
pulpit orators. It is a hard road to travel,
but there are many ministers of gifts and cul
ture who might triple and quadruple their pul
pit power by a similar process. If a man has
tho nerve, middle-life, even, is not too late
for at least a partial change. lnterior.
Charily.
Spurgeou, on a recent occasion, said or
wrote that “ Charity is at all times beautiful
and Christ-like, and as between man and man,
Christian aud Christian, is to be maintained
at all times, aud none the less because of dif
fering opinions ; but charity towards a cor
rupt systetti is taisehood to truth, danger to
ourselves, injury to our fellow-men, and dis
honor to God.” Here is the whole thing in a
nut-shell. While we may have charity, and
personal and Christian fellowship with an
individual holding erroneous opinions, we
have no right to be charitable to a system of
religious error. And herein consists Baptist
“ exclusiveness” and “ intolerance,” of which
we hear so much. With the most open
hearted and Catholic charity to*ards all
Christ’s children, they decline to affiliate with
systems which are founded in error, and
which are opposed to gospel teachings.—
Standard.
“ Oh, That’s Business.”
We once heard of a man, a church mem
ber, who, when asked how he reconciled cer
tain questionable practices with his religious
profession, coolly replied, “ Ok, that's busi
ness !" With him religion and business were
two separate things. His religion was for
the church, for Sunday ; not at all for the
store and the weekday. He conducted his
religious affairs on one principle, and his mer
cantile on another. He undertook the im
possibility of serving God and mammon. It
is to be regretted that there are too many
who thus try to serve two masters ; who do
not see that Christianity is of universal ap
plication, extending to the whole life, to those
duties which we call secular, as well as to
those we denominate religious. With the
true Christian, every act is a religious act.
He serves God in his church relations, and in
his business connections. He carries his re
ligion wherever he goes. He buys and sella,
weighs and measures as a Christian man. He
preaches Christ every day in the. week. The
world’s people say of such a man, We believe
he is a true Christian —he does not say one
thing and practice another.
A professed Christian sometimes justifies
his deviations from Christian principle in his
business, on the ground that he is making
money for religious objects. Let him know
that God is better pleased with obedienoe than
sacrifice; that He abhors the offerings which
come from dishonesty and overreaching.—
Chris . Era.
It Wouldn’t Work.
Some thirty years ago, an excellent Baptist
minister, Rev. Mr. Wills, came from Eng
land to New York City. He brought with
him not only a good character and more than
ordinary preaching ability, but the opeu-com
munion principles of a pertain c'ass of Eng
lish Baptists. Whether this last fact com*
promised his prospects for a settlement we
cannot say, but it may have done so, for Mr.
Wills was too honest a man to conceal his
sontiments, or to creep into churches by sub
soil paths. Accordingly he conaulted with
brethreu in different churches —among whoaa
were several of his own countrymen —-who
were known to be of his persuasion, and it
was decided to form anew church on the
English plan, with Mr. Wills for pastor. The
now church hired a hall tor public services,
and, as Mr. Wills was an excellent preacher,
the prospect was for a time considered en
couraging. Certainly no obstacles were
thrown in their way. They had a clear field
before them. But, for some reason, the en
terprise languished, and it was not long be
fore the open-communion harps were hanged
upon the willows, and the voice of melody
was silent in the hall. That was the end of
au Open-communion church.
Infallibility : I^krhsy. — The Romish
Telegraph , Cincinnati, says, with regard to
the Dogma of his own personal infallibility
asprrclaimed by the Pope: “Thosethat refuse
to believe the doctrine after that event will
be heretics. They will be rebels against
God’s truth and authority, and as long as they
persist in their heresy, will bo cut off from
the Church of God on earth, and if they die in
that 9tate, will deserve the punishment that
God attaches to mortal sin. They will not
be, if they deny ‘an article of faith,' good
Catholics, for heresy is the worst and most
damnable of sins. ‘He that will not hear
the church, let him be to thee as a heathen
and a publican.’ ”
{sß 00 A VEAR.i WHOLE KO. 2518
Sunshine and Clouds.
Sorrow and gladness together go wending;
Evil and good come in quick interchange;
Pair and foul fortune forever are blending;
Sunshine and clouds hure the skies for their r.iugc;
Gold of earth’s day,
Is but spiendid clay—
▲lone heaven’s happiness lasteth for uye.
Everything here hath the germ of decay in it;
Every one findetb some grief in his breast;
And soon is the bosom, though jewels blase on it,
Fill’d full of sorrow and secret unrest;
Each has its own—
Known or unknown ;
Heaven from woe is exempted alone.
Sharp thorns guard the rose in which most thou do"
lightest,
And the deadlier the poison the fairer the flower;
The heart may be crushed while the cheek is the
brightest,
And fortune oft ohanges her tide in an hour;
’Mid many woes
The stream of life flows ;
Heaven aloue steadfast happiness knows.
0 then let my lot and my life be appointed,
Just as mv Lord and my God seetb meet;
Let the wicked go on still for evil unointed,
And the world hare its way till the end is com
plete;
Time’s tree will cast
Its leaves on the blast,
And heaven make everything right at the last.
—Mcholas Knigo, a Danish bishop, u'ko died in 1703.
Chastisement.
Rabia, sick upon her bed,
By two saints was visited.;
Holy Melek, Uassan wise,
Men of mark in Moslem eyes,
Melek said, “ Whose prayer is pure
Will God’s chastisements endure.”
Hassan, from the deeper sense
Os his own experience:
« He who loves his Master’s choice
Will in chastisement rejoice.”
Rabia saw a selfish will
Lingering in their maxims still:
• And replied: “ Oh, men of grace,
He who sees his Father’s face
Will not in his prayer recall,
That he is chastised at all.”
Amusements.
Professors of religion should abstain—
1. From whatever is positively forbidden
in the word of God.
2. From whatever is doubtful in its nature
—avoiding even the appearance of evil.
3. From whatever is found, in the general
experience of God’s people, to be injurious to
their spiritual interests, and to retard their
Christian growth and enjoyment.
4. From whatever, in the language of the
apostle, is not “ expedient'' — i. e., from what
ever, though lawful in itself, would prove an
occasion of evil to others.
5. From whatever serves to obliterate the
distinction between the Church and the world,
and to confound the professed followers of
Christ with those who are lovers of pleasure
more than lovers of God.
0. From whatever is forbidden or discoun
tenanced by the rules of the particular church
to which they are attached.
7. From whatever is judged to be wrong or
improper by the common Christian sentiment
of the world, or which they would regard it
as wrong or unseemly for Christians occupy
ing the highest position in the Church, or
bearing the mghest character for piety to en
gage »>• '
X Fearful Book.
The London Christian World notices a
Roman Catholic book, entitled, “Ilell Opened
to Christians,” characterizing it as “ the most
infernal book,—in every sense of that dread
ful word, —that ever we set ey es upon.” Some
extracts are given, but they are too painfully
revolting for reproduction here. We will
only quote from what is said concerning the
pictures in the book. They arc steel engra
vings.
“ We believe there is enough here to drive
many a sensitive nature mad. Diabolical are
the weapons Rome can use. No longer in
England, at least, can she torture bodies, but
she can rack the soul with torments exquisite.
All the pictures are alike in this, that, to make
them horribly impressive, the body of one
single miserable wretch is made to fill the
field of view, —and so attention is riveted on
one supreme and hopeless agony. Take the
last, to which is appended the motto, —“ My
sorrow is made perpetual, and my desperate
plague refuseth to be cured. Jer. 15: 18.’
The atmosphere is one flame. That atmos
phere, we know from other pictures, is haunt
ed by dragons, beasts, and fiends of the most
dreadful sort. The upper half of the body
fills the picture, the head bent over sideway
by a tremendous weight attached by chain to
an iron collar round the neck, the hands fet
tered to the wall of hell, a spear, dropping
with blood, is forced into the heart and out
again, an iron nail of gigantic size through the
face from cheek to cheek, the hair on end,
eyes madly glariug, and mouth wide open,
making the vault of the infernal prison rever
berate to the everlasting scream of the un
ending agony. We would not have a child
of ours look upon this picture for all the
world could give. It is no pleasure to us to
brand this felon of the literary world ; but
some of us need to awake again to the true
nature of that Popery with which so many in
our day are dallying. What its nature is his
tory proclaims, and its real character only
the ignorant of history can forget.”
Questions to Somebody.
“ Call again !” Why ? Don’t you owe
this bill? You do? Then why not pay it?
Do you say it is not convenient ? Then why
contract the debt? What right have you to
buy when you cannot pay ? Do you say you
can pay, but don’t like to spare the money ?
Isn’t your course, then, a little thievish?
What right have you to keep another man’s
or woman’s money in your pocket? Only a
seamstress, a washerwoman,and laborer,you
say ? Are you not mean, then, as well as
thievish? Because the creditor is poor or
weak, and afraid to push you, you carelessly
put him off, do you ? Are you a man, a wo
man, or worse than a heathen, which i Or
are you simply thoughtless? Is not the pre
sent a good time for repentance and amend
ment ?
“Political Pulpit”lllustration. —A cor
respondent of the Examiner and Chronicle
reports a recent sermon of Rev. J. S. Dick
erson, Boston, on Luke xv : 10. He says:
“ One illustration (of the event of repentance
and its joyful effect * in the presence of the
angels of God,’) would dwell long in a hear
er’s memory. It was an instance from the
speaker’s personal recollections, of a company
of repentant rebels gathered out of several
regiments of Confederate prisoners at Fort
Delaware during the war. The scene of the
oath taking was vividly drawn, the washing
of the soiled and tattered troop in the river
(apt emblem of baptism, though the preacher
did not turn aside to use it,) their rehabilita
tion in ‘ loyal blue,’ and finally th ejoy in the
presence of the army when they marched, to
the sound of music, on the parade ground, and
took their place in the ranks of the country’s
defenders.”
A Prophecy. —Dr. Prime predicts that
within the life of some now living, there will
be a union of all Evangelical Christians of
New York.