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About Christian index and South-western Baptist. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1866-1871 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 1871)
CHRISTIAN MJM aW V )i, 50 -NO. 2. \ ICKMOIOUB AND FAMILY PAPER, • J HurStlED WEEKLY IN ATLANTA, QA AT $3.00 EEB, ANNUM, , Invariably in Advance. I . ,T. 'X'OON', Proprietor. Life and I. Life is the child’s frail wreath, And Ia drop'#F dew Upon its fading beauty. In the breath Os the still night air came I forth to view ; Hut with the reddening morn I silently return To/holy realms unseen, Where death had never been, Whore He hath his abode, Who is my God! Life is the wind-snapp’d bough, And Ia little bird ; My mother-land a fairer, calmer clime, Whose olive-groves no storm has ever stirred ; Beyond the evening star, A little bird that came froir. far, Alighting in my untried flight Upon this tree of night. Yet ere another sun His race shall have begun, I shall have passed from sight. To realms of truer light, TheSfe twilight skies above. To be with Him I love, My God, my God. Life is the mountain lake, And Ia drifting cloud,' Or a cloud’s broken shadow on the wave, One of the silent multitude that crowd, With ever-varying pace, Across the water’s face 1 Soon must I pass from earth, To the calm azure of my better birth, My sky of holy blisß; With Him in love and peace 7 To have my long abode, Who is my God! Life is the tossing ark, And I the wandering dove, liesting to-day mid clouds and waters dark, To-morrow to my peaceful olive-grove Returning in glad haste, Across time’s billowy waste. For evermore to rest Upon the faithful breast Os Him who is my King. My Christ and God 1 Life is the changing deep, And Ia little wave, Rising a momenl, and then passing down Amid my fellows, to a peaceful grave; For this is not my rest, Tt is not here I cuu be blest. Far from this sea of strife, With Christ is hid my life, With Christ my glorious Lord, My Kiug and God! Life is a well-strung lyre, And Ia wandering note, Struck from its cunning chords, and left alone A moment in the quivering air to float; Then, without echo, die, And upward from this earthly jarring fly, To form a truer note above, Iu the great song of joy and love, The never-ending, never-jarring song Os the immortal throng; Sung to the praise of Him Who is at once its leader and its theme, My Christ, my King, my God 1 Iforatins Bonar. Symmetrical Culture—No. I. Everybody praises education. However widely men may differ on other topics, they seem to be at one on this. The Atlantic Monthly and tho Southern Review, the New York Tribune and the Land We Love, U. S. Grant and R. E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, may all be ranked as advo cates of culture. But notwithstanding this, universal admiration, it may well be feared that we are too apt to content ourselves with a vague idea of the thing which we admire. Iviu -oliuii is worshipped at a distance. When Moses was about to ascend the mount to meet Jehovah and talk with Him, the people professed great reveretice for the Lord, and said that they were too devoutly impressed with Jehovah’s majesty to come near the mount. They stayed afar off. But whilst Moses is engaged in the wondrous transaction with God, and the muttering thun ders and lurid lightnings are giving their tes timony to the solemnity of the scene, these awe struck worshippers have forgotten Jeho vah, and have substituted for Him a pitiful golden calf, around which they are dancing and shouting in their besotted folly. It is not our object now to present the readers with any vague eulogies upon educa tion, but to examine it, criticise it, look it full in the face, and see what it really is. It may be, that, like too many other modern beau ties, it will fail to stand the test of an honest stare in broad daylight; but if so, we may still have the consolation of knowing that, though the fictitious beauty vanishes, an hon est, homely, natural face is left. Boccalini, we believe, in his “ Advertise ments from Parnassus,” says that Zoilus once presented Apollo with a caustic criticism of an excellent book. Apollo asked him for the beauties of the work. The critic said that he had been attending only to the errors. Whereupon Apollo gave him a sack of un winnowed wheat, and bade him pick out the chaff for his reward. Now, upon the whole, we are disposed to think that this was a very poor joke, alto gether unworthy of a fiod. It showed that lie could not appreciate criticism. But then, to tell the truth, we have never entertained any very high opinion of Apollo, at best. A person of his position should have had more sense than to allow a rattle-brained boy to assume the reins of the chariot of the sun, drive it pell-mell over Africa, and so near the earth, too, as to singe the hair and slacken the faces of the natives, thus making the negroes, and causing us of the 19th cen tury such a world of trouble. It is just pos bible, however, that, in these strictures, we are too severe; for we may be indebted to this wild driving for the seminal idea of the velocipede ! Our object in these papers is to present • some reflections on the general subject which .constitutes our title. In performing this task, vwe shall be obliged to play the critic. We do not consider it necessary to crave the in dulgence of any sensible reader on this score, nor yet to state, by way of apology, that the writer is not a person of symmetrical culture; for the reader has little discernment, if he Hoes not know that a man who does not pos sess symmetrical culture may feel the need of it, and may, after a fashion, point out that need to others. During Dr. Sam. Johnson’s time, a poem appeared in England, and created quite a sensation. But it so happened, that a par ticular passage of the poem was obscure, and some puzzled readers asked Goldsmith to ex plain it. He failed to make it intelligible, and seemed not to understand it himself. They then took it to Dr. Johnson, under whose lucid criticism it became perfectly plain, and proved to be an exquisite poetical gem. “Dr. Johnson,”-said one of them, “you wrote this poem.” “Oh no,” said the Doctor, “ f could not have written it for my life.” “ Then who did ?” “ Goldsmith.” il But Goldsmith did not know the meaning of this passage.” “ No,” said Johnson, “it was not his business to know. It was mine.” “ What do you mean, Doctor?” “ 1 mean, that he is a poet, and 1 am a critic.” One of the greatest obstacles to symmetri cal culture is, I—Prejudice. The world is full of this. Honest candor in the statement of one’s own views, and a rea sonable willingness to concede to an opponent all that he may fairly claim, are exceedingly rare. Moderation sometimes seems to be a lost virtue. Bold, baseless assertion is made to do duty for argument, and hereditary {s3 00 A YEAR. I crotchets are dignified with the title of “ es sential principles.” Prejudice is a lazy vice. To investigate a subject, weigh the evidence, look narrowly at all sides, and make up an intelligent opinion, is a world of trouble. It is so much easier and cleaner work just to decide without investigation; and that this is very-commonly done, is attested by the fre quency with which we hear what “ all history proves”—and that from men who have never read anything beyond “ Peter Parley’s His tory of the United States,” and not much of that; by the wholesale denunciation of the “ Catholics” which we often hear in our reli gious gatherings, which denunciations com monly emanate from men who do not know that such a man as Fenelon ever lived ; and last, though not least, by the wildest interpre tations of difficult passages of Scripture, ut tered most confidently by men who do not even know that such passages are at all diffi cult, and who thus rush boldly in where an gels fear to tread. That a question has two sides, and some times a great many more, is a statement which even many educated men never fully accept; and yet it can be doubted by no man wl.b has ever examined the questions, “What is light?” and, “ Who was Junius?” Prejudice prevents progress. It caused the ablest expounders of Moses to quarrel with Christ, and to contend that His very miracles proved His collusion with Satan. Their quarrel with Him was, that He did not fulfil their preconceived notions of the Messiah— that He was not kingly enough. He was too quiet. The bruised reed He did not break, and the smoking flax He did not quench. They could not see the force of this poetry, which was also prophecy. They were look ing for a revolutionary radical, and had no use for the calm conservative. Under the old dispensation, the pillar of cloud was a fair type of the dim and misty medium through which the Jews viewed their relations to God. It did not please God to drive away this cloud by a sudden whirl wind, but to dispel it gradually by the calm, noiseless shining of the Sun of Righteousness. The prejudice of the Jews prevented them from seeking this. Hence they rejected Jesus. About the year 1798, William Murdock invented gas-light. During that year it was used to light some of the offices of the Soho foundry, which had been completed by Messrs. Boulton, Watt & Sons in 1790, and christened “in the name of Vulcan and all the gods of fire and water.” In 1,852, at the Peace of Amiens, the front was illuminated! with gas. In 1809, Mr. Murdock was exam ined by a Parliamentary committee, when a member asked, “ Do you mean to tell us that it will be possible to have a light without a wick?" “Yes, 1 do indeed,” said Mr. Mur dock. “ Ah, my friend,” said the legislator, “you are trying to prove too much.” Tb - ’ is about a fair specimen of the fate of tnc men who have introduced new light into this prejudiced world. Columbus was no exception. Prejudice said that the world was a square, flat plain, with each corner resting on the back of a huge elephant; each elephant standing on the back of a gigantic tortoise, and each tortoise standing on—prejudice did not know what! We may wonder that prejudice did not go further, and make a story at least as long as the juvenile fair* *•? “The H.-vj-v Jr.ok Built;” but we must remember that preju dice is lazy, and not ingenious, and that such revolutionary madcaps as talked about the world’s turning around every day, were enough to run honest folks crazy. Columbus, therefore, deserved rough handling. He was a revolutionist, if not a rebel. Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood, and lost his medical practice. People said the man was run mad ; for he said that their blood actually ran through their veins. We may get some idea of theppo r er of prejudice by noticing the opinions of some ancient sages concerning the sun. Anaxi mander, born 610 B. C., thought the sun was a chariot filled with fire, which escaped through a circular aperture. Anaxagoras, the instructor of Pericles, born 500 B. 0., regard ed it, according to Plutarch, as “an inflamed stone,” or, according to Diogenes Laertius, as “ a hot iron.” It is tolerably evident that he did not exactly know what it was. Zeno, the founder of the Stoics, believed it to be a fire larger than the earth. Lucretius, the. bril liant poet of the Epicureans, thought the sun was about as big as a pewter plate, and that the moon was about the same size. Such were the ideas which prejudice had formed in the minds of some of the wisest of the ancients concerning a luminary seventy million times as large as the moon, one mil lion four hundred thousand times as large as the earth, and which in one year draws up water enough from the earth to make a lake twenty-four thousand miles long, three thou sand miles wide, and sixteen feet deep ! If we would not be the slaves of prejudice, we must seek symmetrical culture. It was the one-sidedness of the development of these an cient philosophers which made such views possible. J. C. Hiden. Wilmington , N. C. Baptist Professors. An article, recently published in the Ex aminer and Chronicle, has attracted my atten tion. The editor is attempting to apologize for the folly of the Board of Trustees in a Northern College, manifested in their election of Pedobaptists to professorships in the Insti tution. He attempts to ridicule those Bap tists who believe that Baptist schools should be directed and controlled by Baptists. He fails to reach the real point of difficulty. No Pedobaptist institution in the land will employ a Baptist professor. Nor can Bap tists obtain situations in institutions not pro fessedly Pedobaptist, when they have the con trolling influence. And it not unfrequently happens that in State institutions where Pe dobaptists have only a minority influence, they understand so well how to use this, that they exclude Baptists even from these. Now, if Baptist Colleges give the preference to their Pedobaptist friends, what chance has the poor Baptist professor, should he leave his position, of obtaining another place? This point is worthy of attention. While it is true that no inducements of a worldly char acter should be held out to lead men to be come Baptists, it is equally true that a pro per regard to the wishes of the members of Baptist churches should be paid by those who have the management of their funds. The fact that a man is a Baptist often pre vents him from obtaining positions which he is well qualified to fill. Take the college re ferred to. Are there not in the State of New York two good men qualified to fill the pro fessorships founded by Baptists, with the ex pectation that Baptists should fill them ? Ought not these brethren now to be employ ed in that College? Has not this Baptist Board of Trustees really shut out two valua ble Baptists from their proper place in the institution, and given their work to other men? Are they not substantially saying to their Baptist brethren, “ We will aid our Pe dobaptist friends in excluding you from posi tions of influence. We will say to the young men under our influence, it is a matter of in difference which church you join. Go where fancy leads you.” FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLAj There are many who say, “ The Baptists are an ignorant people, and have not in their midst men qualified to'fill positions of infiu fluence.” Does not the Board of Trustees of a Baptist College which appoints Pedobap tist professors lend its influence to the spread of this opinion ? Will not men quickly say, “If you had the right sort of men among yourselves, you would not call upon others to aid you ?” T. Adventist Materialistic Literature. “A Sermon on Hell” and “The Key of Truth;” by William Sheldon; Buchanan, Michigan. Pub lished by the W. A. C. P. Association. The above named documents, with others of like character, came to me yesterday, by mail. Ido not propose to review them for mally, but simply to state some of the au thor’s conclusions, as well as his premises, to show that there is no connection between the former and latter, and also that the reader may note with me the progress in Material istic literature and theology. These are the days of progress, and the heretics of modern times are trying hard to keep pace with the progress of the age; but, unfortunately for them, Divinity is net a progressive science, and every time they touch the Bible to make it conform to their newly-invented heresies, they only leave on it the stain from their unwashed hands ! Tertullian says: “ What ever is first, is true; whatever is more recent, is spurious and this is a rule, the observ ance of which woujd save us from all the heresies and sects of modern times. But, to pursue this idea, would lead me too far from my present design. Destruction, says the author, is the nature of the punishment to be inflicted on the sin ner. This is one of his conclusions, and when he comes to define what he means by destruction, it is utter extinction of being. He argues that the literal fire of the last day will consume the sinner, soul and body, so that he will cease to exist. . His words are, “ this punishment, which is destruction, is everlasting. Not everlastiug in process of infliction, for then it would not be destruc tion; but everlasting in its consequences.” (Sermon, p. 9.) In his argument against the existence of a “ present hell,” he thus hallu cinates on p. 4: “If the doctrine of the present existence of a hell were true, some sinners would suffer centuries longer than others who commit a greater amount of crime: for instance, the man of few sins, who died a thousand years ago, must suffer a thousand years longer than the man of many sins, who dies to-day.” Does not every re flecting man see that his objection to a pres ent hell applies with all its force to his own theory? According to his own doctrine, de struction by the literal fire of the last day awaits the finally impenitent, so that “ the man of few sins,” and the man of “ many sins,” suffer the same penalty ; for doubtless, if literal fire destroys the one, it w'U also destroy the other. When he is reviewing the Bible doctrine of punishment, his bowels yearn for the man of few sins, lest he should suffer as much as the man of many sins; but when he comes to define his own heresy, he allows b£>fch to be destroyed alike. The legs of the lame are not equal. The Bible teaches that the finally impeni tent will suffer forever; but they will not all suffer in the same degree; for the who knows not ms master s will, and com mits things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes, while he who knows his master’s will, and transgresses, shall be beat en with many stripes. (Luke xii: 47, 48.) Some will receive greater damnation than others. (Matt, xxiii: 14.) It will be more tolerable for some than for others. (Matt, xi: 21—24.) This is the Bible doctrine, which gives “the man of few sins” an ad vantage over “ the man of many sins;” but the heresy of Materialism gives him no such advantage, but leaves them both alike to be consumed, soul and body, by literal fire. On page 10 of the sermon, our 'author laughs derisively at the popular belief among Christians, concerning a present hell, and says: “ literal fire would make rather awk ward work in feeding upon invisible, intangi ble ghosts.” This passage furnishes stronger proof than Mr. Sheldon ever produced be fore, that his favorite dogma concerning the end of the world is true, tor just before that awful period, “ scoffers shall arise.” He makes himself ridiculous by his efforts to ridicule the truth of Scripture about a pres ent hell; and not only so, but he brings his own theory into the same ridicule. Remem ber that his theory is that literal fire will burn up the wicked in the last day, so as to destroy them; this, according to him, is the penalty for sin; yet, on page 11 of his ser mon, he says : “ The truth is, the entire man sins, and the entire man reaps the penalty. Man’s soul never outlives the body.” Then, according to his own theory, the soul of man is consumed by literal fire, an idea for which he laughs at Christians! Again, on page 10, he says: “ The wicked are to be cast into Gehenna, both soul and body.” Now, by substituting ghost for soul, as he does while laughing at us, we might quote the author against himself, “ literal fire would make rather awkward work in feeding upon invisi ble ghosts;” for the “ inner man ”or soul is as “ invisible, intangible,” while in the body, as it is while absent from the body. The only way for the author to escape his own ridiculous and idiotic laugh, is to stulti fy himself by teaching that the soul of man is material, corporeal, visible, tangible and destructible; which he endeavors to do on the same page. “ The truth is,” he says, “in the primary sense of the term, man is a soul." The “ primary sense ” ought to be the true sense, and then it would follow that a soul is visible and tangible, because man has these properties! The use of the indefi nite article a, instead of the, is very becoming in the author, because his sermon is the most indefinite urticle of the kind I ever saw or read. The way he undertakes to prove his posi tion, illustrates what I have said at the out set, that whenever these Materialists touch the Bible, they do so with unwashed hands, and the only result is, that they leave upon its fair pjges the print of their foul fingers. Why are they afraid to let the Bible speak in its own language, without their interlinear or parenthetical gabble? There is not a sin gle quotation from Scripture in what he calls his “Key to Truth,” (which ought to be thrown away because it will only lock, but never open,) where ne does not try to befog the reader’s mind, or to incline it to his own heresy by the unnecessary use of parenthe ses, brackets, Italics, and srmtll and large cap itals. This might be pardonable in his own composition, but to be perpetually using them in his quotations from God’s word, ar gues both irreverence, and a weak cause, that is in great need of every possible help to keep it from sinking. Take the following on page 11, where he tries to quote Geu. ii; 7 : “ The Lord God formed man (of what mate rial?) of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils [not an immortal soul, but] the breath of life, and MAN [not the breath] BECAME a living SOUL.” The above is just as it appears in his “ Key,” and for what purpose? To try to prove by the Bible what it no where teaches, and what the wildest In dian on the continent knows to be false—that the soul of man '|j| ■ The Rh .* nut a serious rnPra treats this suiijee ' ■, he tiiii k- he can.; Jfj to rialists, and he “ e J | 15 of his sermon Y able, a rich man but is used to begg.'U Joes not - ■ " ,-f to represent son: H mean hell, but is '■ 1 « f else!!” And all £§g explain what this hie labor, hoc 'lf i is upon them, an J .JHj the tip of their h’Jffi of this author's er’ Ba\ four s:i) s, “ ti; he save there \v:AB • f here was a pom -a \ s there as the >a\ four sav s. <JH -| e\ es iii hell," but \W' | 4 and will not bo ife so - | f; f • WliV did he not - { «| ihe !!i oh is i , a t lallgtl:. iiiiov aaa\ as ~ is jfll ■■ | lies li. ’JB -Mat ■ 1 : i !i- to | J 1 1 |f J ;.L A- a 'i J the ’ A ;fo . s " -i.ee j J i r in it ! Ur. •.;!•. 1 ilcjff y ' <" ! ' ids*' pi * fk.'i ’ * ij :In g*B.- ’ r P ' f ■ ■ ; sinus aii' Hi !■ ’.n^Hg In i! simply place! > Reductio ad Au't’KDUM.— he brings our vic^ B into ridicule following method;*page 10 of the “Key:” “ Modern reflection upon God’s past dealings wfof men, while it claims that the soul is the only intelligent part of man, and the body \ mere organ though which the soul plays its { ranks. For instance: in the Mosaic disperi{>.tion, the man who picked up sticks on the Sunbath must be stoned to death. Here, (ac ; rding to modern theolo gy,) the wicked sou} stood behind the curtain, and made a tool of the innocent body, with which to commit s .>. Then God commands the innocent body ! • be stoned to death, and let the wicked soul escape the penalty.” I ask, does what he if" Is modern theology allow the soul to The author knew that this was a misreprf .entation. In trying to ridicule our view- he stultifies himself. I suppose, according to his very ancient theolo gy, he would have v< Me wicked soul" stoned to death for picking up sticks, and allow the “ innocent body ” iko escape. He seems to require that the .guilty party should suffer, and, according to theory, it was the soul that was caught injf'ie very act of picking up sticks! JM I no pato to quote any more of this senseless twakJfo. It is not too much to sny that, if we r e 8 science, this >33i7nif& v antr'BJS/ ert Tfuttv ‘wouTd'af ford ample testimony that Mr. Sheldon had studied ’t well, and that he had graduated with the highest honors. He has taken some of his theology from Whately, but none of his logic. All his, ridicule of Bible truth, — like the Promethean fire, —is stolen; not like it, however, from heaven, for it smells too much of brimstone. All his balderdash and ribaldry may be found in the infidel works of an age gone by. Yet, the cheap productions of these “Adventist's,” as they call them selves, are sent out by all our mails, and are polluting our e the plagues of Egypt. Those who the Bible their study (and, alas! we hav* so many of that class) are liable to be caught in the ineshes of the nets which they spread to catch the simple. It is the duty of all Christians to counteract these efforts by t ie dissemination of Bible truth, by every avUlable means. 11. F. Buckner. To-Day. Oh, linger, swvet To-day, And hasten not. away: Let kindly eyes still shine, The same C a friends be mine, The joys -<%hich, being thine, .Shall pass with thee away: Oh lea re them, kind To-day. Oh hasten, drear To-day! Oh hasten fast,away: For thou arid tears hast brought, And hours with sorrow fraught, Fair hopes that came to naught: Take, take them all away, And linger not, To-day. Ob, infinite To day, That shalt not pass away! Out of the shadowy night Into thy heavenly light, Under Hut watchful sight, We fafj would haste away, And oall earth Yesterday! — Lippincott's Magazln*. A Curious Pamphlet. Rev. A. B. Cabai>iss(fcas just received from China, a pamphlet containing much that is’in teresting to all Christians. It is a transla tion from rhe Chinee, entitled, “ Death Blow to Corrupt Dogmalcs : A Plain Statement of Facts.” The parp jhlet has been widely circu lated in Tung Chow, in the Shantung province, and in many parts of China. The book is directed against the Roman Catholics, but the author considers the Protestants and Catholics the sam&, and accuses Protestant missionaries of lying in attempting to show that they are unlike. The masses of the people in China, class all Europeans together, and their religion;as one. Practically, and in the intention of Yhe author, the book is an attack on Christianity, and the Christian na tions at large. The author appeals to the people to rise against foreigners and extermi nate them. The book is circulated among the people by men occupying the highest posi tions in society, and was evidently written by an author of first-class abilities, who had extensive facilities for consulting public doc uments, and for ransacking all that has been written in China, against foreigners and against Christianity The book is regarded by the as having an important political feelings of educated Chinese against Chris tians arid Christianity- The book is filled with the most ridiculous and malicious state ments respecting eligion and religious peo ple. Some of the objections made by Celsus, in the olden time, and Tom Paine, in more re cent days, are here repeated ; showing that human nature is the same everywhere. The people arwinformed that foreigners need the eyes of Chinese in order to extract with them silver from lead. For this pur pose, only thejjeyes of Chinese will answer. The author states that, among tho “ foreign ers it is a common thing for a wife to drive away hei husband and takd another. Women are regarded as superior, men, as inferior. Many of their ! Jbgdomßjjl|9 governed by queens.” “.When friends meet, they inquire about each other’s wives/put never about parents.” When a person enters this reli- reach the gospel to every creature/’ and then labors to perform the loving task. In His sovereign mercy, our Saviour is pleased to encourage our weak hearts, often> times, by ‘establishing the work of our hands upon us.’ He makes known the power of his gospel, and effects great moral reform among those who worship idols. Dr. F. Mason makes the following pertinent remarks: “It has been written that ‘perhaps previ ous to the year 1800,though the seed of God’s word had been sown in many places, hardly a soul was known to be converted to Christ, or but very few, as a result of mis sionary effort.’ In the year 1799, the year I was born, Dr. Carey took up his pbode at Serampore, and this may be dateu the commencement of Indian Missions. In tue same year Dr. Vanderkemp reached the Cape of Good Hope, and began missions in Africa. Now look on the mission maps, and see all the churches and stations in Africa, and India, and Burmah, and Siam, and China, and Japan, in Turkey, in Asia Minor, in Armenia, and in Persia; aud consider that they are the work of the church within the life-time of one man! History shows no such extensive L»i' out * s tii itii tv J ill O»*C tion since the days of Paul. More than a thousand evangelical mission aries are in the heathen field; more than ten thousand native preachers hf*ve been raised up through their instrumentality ; the Bible has been translated into more than one hun dred languages, and the native church mem bers are counted by hundreds of thousands. Egypt, Turkey, China and Burmah are opened; they were all closed within my remembrance. God has opened their iron-clad doors as they were never opened before, and is beckoning Christians to enter. Near by where stood Judson’s lion cage, in which he was confined and treated like a wild beast, is now building a Christian church, at the expense of the king of Burmah, who has already built a parsonage and a Christian school house; and he sends some of his sons and nephews to the school, notwithstanding ‘all the boys receive Christian instruction daily, and take home with them ths New Testament in Burmese.’ Compared with the days when ‘Jesus Christ men’ stole stealth ily through the streets of Ava, no greater outward change has occurred during the cen tury.” This brief summary does not include the encouraging aspects of the work in many other portions of the world; but here is enough. Who, that loves our adorable Re deemer, and is in sympathy with his race, is willing to stand idly by and see the good work go forward without him ? Are there any of the children of Zion who will not pray and give for the more rapid advance ment of the world’s evangelization ? E. W. W. How Desire Controls Opinion and Belief. We are surprised, frequently, to see how little evidence controls the opinions of men, especially when this accords with their wishes. Perhaps, this is more palpable in party poli tics than in anything else. A man is nomi nated for office, and his party go for him, knowing he has suitable qualifications, only because he is one of them. He is put for ward because it is said he will secure the votes of the dram-shop loungers, gamblers, rowdies, etc., etc., though he is ignorant and profane. It is thought he will be very useful on the day of election, and most excellent in manipulating the votes while they are being counted.* The Jews desired to implicate Jesus and put Him to death ; hence they secured false witnesses, who testified that He had declared He could rebuild the temple in three days. This was sufficient, though He had spoken only of His own resurrection, and had no allusion to God’s house. So they suborned men to testify against Stephen, the proto martyr. The Catholics, adhere to the Vulgate, be cause they desire to inculcate the language and spirit of that version, though their schol ars know that it abounds with errors. The statements of historians are frequently to be questioned, owing to this bias, that warps men’s minds. The writer selects from docu ments what he regards as authority, specially when it suits the opihions previously ex pressed. I see a Federal officer has corrected seven errors in regard to one battle in the South, as written, I think, by Mr. Abbott. Most ecclesiastical historians represent the dominant party as the true church, —inform us what they believed and accomplished, while the minority, the true followers of the Saviour, are ignored or named as horrible heretics. The American Bible Society, probably, was controlled by desire when they ordered that all translations aided by them should conform to King James’ version. What slender proof sometimes controls the faith of Calvinists and Arminians. Like a cunning lawyer, they will remember only * It is said that after the election of Jefferson, about 1801, John Adams, the prior incumbent, had run off from the Capital with 200,000 silver dollars in his breeches pockets. “And I believe it,” observed a good Democrat. > < volume. So was ; * 't • MB* that received a Bible as a | \ presenting proof for infant bap subject to every ordinance of man Lord’s sake.” I Pet. ii: 13. If it clung only to infidelity, we might hope for relief, but as it is, we must make allowances in regaid to all productions and sentiments of the best of our race. Philos. The Index and Baptist. For ten years I have labored incessantly in the ministry. I have watched church members closely, and, without a doubt, I have come to the following conclusions : Ist. Members who subscribe for the Index, are the most regular in their attendance, upon their church meetings. 2nd. They are the most liberal in their support of the gospel. 3rd. In the past ten years I have not seen the first member turned out that takes and reads the Index and Baptist. Pastors, is it not, then, to your interest to encourage the circulation of the Index in your churches? At least, so thinks Abner. Preparation for the Pew. We hear a great deal about preparation for the pulpit—a most important theme, as all must admit; we propose to say a few words on m subject eouallv important but strangely neglected—that is, preparation for the pew. Much fault is sometimes found with the pulpit because it does not more deeply inter est the occupants of the pews. While we do not regard the pulpit as beyoud criticism, and are ready to admit its points of weakness, we must also keep before our readers the fact that the hearers have some responsibility to share with the speaker. It is not right to throw the whole burden of the church service on the preacher. Many go to church as they would go to a lecture or concert. Having paid their money, they have no other care save to get their money’s worth. The man in the pulpit is a performer; tho men in the pews are .spectators or auditors. There is no sympathy between them. They pay pew rent; he receives a salary. Now, let him so conduct the service as to keep them awake and attentive. If he succeed in this he is con sidered popular and attractive ; if he fail, he must take the consequences of his failure; sleepy hearers, slim congregation, and change of parish. We protest against throwing such a burden as this on the pulpit. Men of real talent have before now utterly failed, because, from the start, they have felt the pressure of a list less audience —an audience assembled, not to be instructed, but to be interested. We ad mit the impossibility of instructing a congre gation which is not interested ; but what we object to is requiring a preacher to do a work for the people which they ought to do for themselves. We speak now especially of the religious part of a congregation when we say that they ought to be interested in the ser vice of God’3 house before they go there, and • not to go with the weight of worldly care on their hearts, expecting the preacher to throw it off before he begins his sermon. Asa rule, ministers are not men of such magic eloquence that they can do this; and we think this fact an evidence that the Head of the Church did not intend them to do it. If this had been the design of Christ in calling them to the ministry, He would have given all of them this power, whereas but few possess it. Now and then we find a man of rare gifts who will interest the most listless audience, like the celebrated Scottish preacher of whom it is said that you could not go to sleep while he preached, but one might easily pick your pocket. While a few men of unusually strong na tures can compel the attention of their audi ence, there are many men of genuine talent and piety who must have the sympathy and interest of their hearers in order to succeed. If the religious portion of the congregation are interested, as they ought to be, from the commencement of the service, the preacher will feel the power of this fact, and it wiil not be long before even the careless of the con gregation will give heed to the sermon. One of the best means of preparation for the pew is to be found in meditation and prayer before going to church. We all of us carry too much of the world with us to God’s house. How can any ordinary preacher suc ceed when the majority of hia congregation come to church burdened in this manner, and look to him to cast the burden off, as though he were a Titan who could go among the pews and lift the mountain load from every heart. Ministerial Liberality. —A writer in the Methodist estimates that the ministers of the Northern Methodist Church, in 1869, besides their cash contributions, gave an average of nearly S3O each in the shape of “ uncollected salaries,” while the average of the contribu tions of the members was but 73 cents. Who shall estimate the offerings of Southern Bap tist ministers to the cause, year by year, in the double shape of inadequate salaries and salaries unpaid ? Suffering, yet Toiling. —One of Baxter’s greatest works, the Methodus Theologies Chris fiance—System of Christian Theology—was written, he says, “ at Totteridge, in a trouble some, smoky, suffocating room, in the midst of daily pains of sciatica and many worse.” of those who side of piety, not a few neglect the latter. The one ought they to do, yet not to leave the other undone. The time and opportunity for the higher Christian life will come by-aud-by; for the present it is well to attend to the lower, and see that righteousness and truth have their perfect work in everyday dealings, man with man. A tight fist and a holy heart do not usually go together. Religion should hold her own, not only in the prayer-meeting, but over ihe counter. — Congregationalist. Funerals. —It is quite common at funerals in the country for the mourners to take their farewell look at the deceased in a public man tier. There have seemed to the writer two important objections to this practice. In the first place, it often occasions long and unne cessary delay. In many instances it is hard for friends to tear themselves away, and they unconsciously linger by the remains of the departed, till others become weary and impa tient. A better way would be to take the last look before the funeral service. It must be taken sometime, and it might as well be then as later. And thus it might be leisurely done, and no one would be discommoded. In the second place, it is unsuitable that so affecting a parting should be in the presence of the multitude. The feelings on such occa sions are usually tender, and the proper place to give indulgence to them is in private, alone, or in the presence of those who, like ourselves, are bereaved. There we may freely indulge the “ luxury of tears,” undis turbing and undisturbed. The Christian must Work. —lie who works has a better conscience than he who does not. No amount of supposed religion can give a lazy man a good conscience. Re ligion and laziness are contraries. They can not fully co-exist. One must dwarf or exter minate the other. But the Christian should especially work. His law is, “ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” Some pretend to work while they are really idle. They are shams. The Christian can not be a sham in anything. If he is a sham at all, he is a sham Christian ; that is, none at all. “ With thy might" 1 ' is Ilis law, and an awful argument follows; “ for there is no work,nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest.” The ces sation of “ work” is as much an attribute of death as is the cessation of thought, and as much so of moral death as of natural. “He that will not work neither shall he eat,” is as true of spiritual as of temporal bread. God will no more feed a lazy soul with grace than with corn. Feed my Lambs. —ln the Syriac Peshito version of the New Testament, written in very nearly the vernacular tongue of Jesus and the Apostles, as translated by Dr. Mur dock, the response of our Lord to Peter’s declaration of love, at the memorable inter view by the Sea of Galilee after His resur rection, is made to bear a very suggestive and affecting signification, “ Feed my lambs for me .” These words may mean, Stand in my place toward these children of my church ; cherish them and nourish them as I would if in the flesh upon the earth ; or they may mean, Instruct and nurture them in view of the service they are hereafter to render me. John’s Baptism. —Strange scene—to which no revival on this or the other side the At lantic has ever seen the like—Jordan’s banks and Jordan itself full of eager multitudes— all the Holy hand thorp, and crowds from outside it. What an era it must have been in the “ religious world” of that land ! How old conservative Scribes and Pharisees must have shaken their heads, and called out upon the times! How many decorums must have been violated, when wise old gray beards sub mitted to be taught by this wild rustic, and dainty daughters of Israel passed through the waters under his hands weeping tears of peni tence !—Dean Alford. Unitarian Policy. —President Kirkland, of Harvard University, when asked by one of the graduate students what would be the most effectual mode of introducing Unitarian ism among the orthodox churches, counselled the young man not to mention the subject controversially at all, but in his preaching and praying, to make no reference to the media torship of Christ. By this means, people would become accustomed to religious ser vices in which no mention would be made of the mediatorial works of the Saviour, and would gradually be prepared for a bolder profession of unbelief. Fashion.— The Free Methodists, at their late Conference in New York, adopted resolu tions against Christian women adorning them selves with “ useless fripperies and vanities, such as trimmings, laces, braids, embroider ies, strips of velvet, and other nonsensical gewgaws.” If they can emancipate the sis terhood from the demands of fashion in this regard, they may well call themselves the Freest of the Free. A Gentle Hint. —“They appear to love the doctrines of the gospel,” said a y oung clergyman, in a familiar conversation with his reverend instructor, President Dwight, twenty two years ago. “And do they love the duties of it also?” asked the President, with a significancy that has not been forgot-, ten.
