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CHRISTIAN IINUK A aND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST. / )L. 49—NO. 48. {s3 00 1 YBAIU \ tIELKUOUS AND FAMILY PAPER, ,-> T J LUSHED WEEKLY IN ATLANTA, OA AT $3.00 PER ANNUM, Invariably in Advance. f. J. TOON, Proprietor. 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.