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CHRISTIAN IN DBA A, D SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST.
VOL. 50—NO. 6. js3 00 HBAIU
A. RELIGIOUS AND rAMLLi rArlfiK,
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN ATLANTA, Gi
AT $3.00 PER ANNUM,
Invariably in Advance
J. J. TOON - , Proprietor.
r ■ ■■ r -" >CT
Let Jesus Wear the Crown.
I know whatever good is mine
To Jesus’ grace £ owe,
That long my steps His love divine
Has guarded here below.
His lengthened mercy I review,
Though chastened by His frown,
The glory all to Him is due—
Let Jesus wear the crown.
He led me to His mercy seat,
He met my soul in prayer,
And showed to me His bleeding feet
Pierced for my ransom there.
My spirit gives to love divine
The glory and renown;
No starry diadem be mine—
Let Jesus wear the crown.
Too oft I’ve wandered from my King,
To claim a royal seat;
Content am I to sit and sing
Crown less before his feet:
Content when I am called to lay |
My earthly armor down,
To take the lowest place, and say
Let Jesus wear the crown.
—Ocm fjregatiot alut. «
Family Visitation; Reminiscences.
In a late winiber of the Indjjx, there is a
short article, “ Visit the Unregenerate,” which
ix,ay not have attracted the attention ii de
serves. The author will allow me to give a
few illustrations of this practice, which, it is
feared, is not kept up by even ministers them
selves, as much as its importance demands.
It was the* almost universal habit of our
Georgia preachers of the olden time, to visit
all classes, not only in towns and villages,
but also in country places. Such visits were
generally short, and were strictly religious in
their character and objects.
Dr. A. Sherwood, now of Mo., accompa
nied by Lot Hearn, (founder of Hearn School,
at Cave Spring,) was passing to an appoint
ment in the lower part of Morgan county, in
the Spring of 1834. A Mr. W., a wealthy
farmer, lived near the roadside. Dr. S. said
to his companion, “ Suppose we call and join
sister W. in prayer for her husband.” (Mrs.
W. was a pious woman.) The proposition
was cordially assented to by the good dea
con, and they rode up. But the house was
full of company, and the circumstances seemed
so inauspicious, that Dr. S. concluded to pass
on without having accomplished his object.
On rising to leave, however, he said to Mrs.
W., “We called to join you in prayer for
your husband, but as you are engrossed with
your friends, we will pass on.” Mrs. W.
objected: “The presence of company would
make no difference. Some of them would
gladly join him in prayer; and then, she had
prayed alone for her husband till she was
almost entirely out of heart. Besides, her
grown son had just returned from College;
he was about to commence his worldly career
without religion, and his case also bore heav
ily on her heart. Brother Sherwood must
not go until he had made prayer.” Dr. S..
as some of your readers know, is a man or
few words. But they are generally “ like
apples of gold in pictures of silver.” A few
words were spoken, a short prayer offered,
and the preacher and deacon went on their
way. When the dinner hour arrived, Mr.
v», eauie in Iron, his fa.'iu. His wife quick
eye discerned trouble in her husband’s ex
pression. The guests were soon seated
around his hospitable table. After waiting
on them a few minutes, he excused himself
on the ground of being too unwell to eat,
and retired to his wife’s room. Os course,
she soon followed. She found him reading
the Bible —a very unusual thing with him.
-“ Husband, I know you are in trouble : what
is the matter?” “Matter enough! I’m a
lost sinner, and will soon be in perdition 1 ’
J ‘ No, husband, it is the Spirit of God calling
you to repentance. Oh, if you had been
here, and heard how brother Sherwood prayed
for you this morning!” It was ascertained,
that, at the same hour that prayer *Was being
offered for him, the Spirit began knocking at
the door of his heart. The writer was pres
ent when Mr. W. and son presented them
selves before the old Indian Creek church,
Morgan county, (now extinct,) for baptism
They were the lirst fruits of a great ingath
ering.
In the early history of the Central Associ
ation, Rev. T. 11. Wilkes was employed as
one of its missionaries. He had spent a year
or two at Mercer Institute, where he had im
proved both his literary and his theological
education, under Rev. B. M. Sanders. Upon
entering on his missionary labors in Newton
county, he invited the writer to come up and
induct him into his plan of neighborhood vis
Ration. He complied, and the first evening
was spent in a little meeting at a brother’s
house. Next day was employed in going
from house, to house, (taking them in order
and passing by none,) “warning every man,
and beseeching every man” to be reconciled
to God. The second evening was spent about
as the first, only the congregation had
greatly increased. The second day, our vis
its were renewed, and were to be kept up till
dinner, when I was to leave for home. It was
near m*>n, when, accompanied by Wilkes,
Solomon Graves and Judge Perry, a resi
dence was discovered a few hundred yards off
the main road. One of the brethren said,
“Brother C., 1 don’t know what to say about
calling on this family. None of them are
religious. The gentleman is thought to be a
Deist, or Universalist, or something of the
kind. In the last ten years, I have not known
him to attend any kind of religious meeting
but once, (which was a camp meeting,) where
he went, I think, from curiosity. I fear we
shall not be treated cordially.” It was con
cluded, however, that we should call, though
we had but a few minutes to spend. The
gentleman was found at his front gate, busily
engaged ; yet, when informed of the object
of our brief call, he made us welcome. His
family were soon in the parlor. I read a
portion of Scripture, interspersed with a few
remarks, and called on Wilkes to lead in
prayer. When we rose from our knees. I
noticed that our friend was so affected as to
be unable to conceal his emotion. As our
custom was, we sung a few verses of an appro
priate hymn, and rose to leave while in the
act of singing. When my hand was extend
ed to him in farewell, he wept like a child,
and with uncontrollable emotion, entreated us
to remain longer. When informed that we
could not do so, he said, “ I suppose I am re
garded in the neighborhood as an infidel, or
something worse. But lam not an infidel—
lar from it. I believe the Bible to be the
Word of God. Whenever I hear preaching,
it condemns me, and makes me miserable.
For this reason, I have not gone to meeting
for years. Yet lam far from being happy.
Though I have fled from my Maker, he has
not given me up. So soon as you stated the
object of your visit, I felt that you were sent
of God, and I was overwhelmed. What
shall I do? What shall I do?" Hastily
giving such counsel as we deemed expedient,
we went on our w ay rejoicing, only to renew
similar labors in other neighborhoods. In
less than a month Wilkes baptized him, and
his wife, and mother-in law, who all proved
worthy and faithful.
I might give many other illustrations of
the good effects of family visitations and per
sonal appeals to the impenitent. But let
these suffice for the present. If any of your
clerical readers have not hitherto engaged in
such work, let me exhort them to “ try the
Lord and prove Him ” in this way, and see
if they will not be blessed themselves, at
the same time that others, who have not
been reached otherwise, may be blessed
through their instrumentality. By such
means, I have seen whole neighborhoods
awakened to the most intense religios inter
est, where other means had been unavailing.
It is a delightful work, in which ministers
will find abundant encouragement and coop
eration from the more devout members of
their churches. It is one, also, in which pri
vate members may engage efficiently and
profitably. J. H. C.
Juvenile Depravity.
The Savannah News, in a recent issue,
makes a statement that should stir up every
Christian to imitate the great Exemplar, —
Christ, “in going about doing good.” That
journal states that, in the city of Savannah
“there are scores of little scamps, who seem
to have no father or mother to protect them,
who live as best they can, and who not un
frequently put in an appearance at the May
or's Court, and are sent up to jail a few days
in default of the payment of fines assessed
against them, in order to learn them to do
better in future. Some of these scamps, we
regret to say, are poor white boys who have
no one to care for them, and who have fallen
into idle and vicious habits that are leading
them into the penitentiary. Cannot some
thing be done for these little fellows, many
of whom are vicious from necessity more
than from a desire to do wrong ? The Chris
tian women of Savannah should form a re
formatory association for the a\ owed purpose
of saving this juvenile class from eternal de
struction. We feel satisfied that, were such
an organization established, its beneficial in
fluence would soon be felt. Many of these
boys, who now stand a fair change of being,
by and by, the very worst men in Savannah,
under proper care and attention might be
come ornaments to society and valuable citi
zens in our midst. The experiment has been
successfully tried elsewhere, and why not
here 1 ?
“On yesterday a little fellow named Cassidy
stood before the Mayor’s Court on a charge
of theft, scarcely a dozen years old, with no
one to love, no one to care for him. The
little fellow cried and sobbed as though his
heart would break. He had been in jail
once before, and when he told the Mayor
that “everybody was down on him,” we
could not help pitying him. To-night he lies
upon the floor of his cell in the county jail,
alone. No kind mother to kiss him a sweet
good night, no gentle sister to sympathize
with him, no friend of either sex to take him
by the hand and lead him from the paths of
degradation to those of usefulness. A mere
child, and incarcerated in a felon’s cell! God
help him and all like him, for they need help.
That very boy might be made an ornament
to society, but the Priest and Levite have
gone to the other side, and the Good Samar
itan ambles peacefully along the road, turn
ing neither to the right nor left.”
Houses of Refuge, work houses and jails,
practically harden offenders. It deters them
from mischief only as >ong as their confine
ment lasts. Crime should be surely and
speedily punished, but punishment rarely
affects reformation. Prevention is better
than cure. One fact is patent and indisputa
ble. If good seed be n t sown, and the soil
cultivated, bad seeds will germinate and grow
without cultivation. If Christians do not
educate these boys and girls, the devil will.
All over the State, there are hundreds of
orphans. They are devoid of parental care,
control or kindness. Left to the buffetings
of the world —“ no one to love or to caress”
—they become an easy prey to the spoiler.
It is our duty to provide for their education
aright. On the score of economy alone, it
will redound more to the national wealth to
bring the little ones up aright, than to leave
them to follow their own inclinations, and
provide jails and court houses to punish them
for following out those inclinations. The
vicious and depraved are so much dead weight
—inert capital. Their talents are used for
the depreciation of the capital stock. The
great harvest field of the church is among the
rising generation. The enemy of the soul
should not be allowed to sow tares, which he
will assuredly do, if Christians sleep!
The question arises, how to bring these or
phaned, outcast ones under the restraining
and enlightening influences of the gospel.
The answer is easily made. It is by the es
tablishment of “ Orphan Homes,” under the
auspices and control of the Christian Church.
A home —not a house of correction, a manual
labor school, or an asylum where apprentices
can be secured. The care, kindness and love
of home must surround them. Humanity
and Christianity appeal to us to take care of
“ God’s wards.” The fathers of many of
these orphans yielded up their lives in de
fence of the “ Lost Cause.” Far better than
“monumental marble or storied urn”—a
more practical and fitting memento to their
memory, will be the care and education of
their orphaned children. It is our solemn
duty to shield them, not only from want, but
from vice.
The Apostle James writes: “Let him
know that he which converteth the sinner
from the error of his way, shall save his sou!
from death, and shall hide a multitude of
sins.” Solomon says: “He that winneth souls
is wise.”
Need any argument to be made to Chris
tians in behalf of so great a work ? I thank
God that one denomination has made a noble
effort in this direction. Why should the
Baptists of Georgia not have an Orphans’
Home? Do they lack in humanity, Chris
tianity, or interest for the orphan ? We have
118,000 members in the State. An average
contribution of one dollar will raise sllß,
000. Why not, brother Shaver, put the ball
in motion at once, and open a list at the In
dex office for contributions for the establish
ment of an “Orphans’ Home,” under theaus
pices and contrql of the Baptist denomination ?
My means are limited, but 1 authorize you
to put me down for $25. What assurance
HAVE ANT OP US THAT OUR CHILDREN MAT NOT
BE OBJECTS FOR ITS BENEFITS, EVEN BEFORE
the “ Home ” can be put in operation ?
Wealth is fleeting, and death certain.
A Baptist.
“Close Communion,”— A Rhode Island
correspondent of the Watchman and Reflector
says : “ There is a Congregationalist pastor
in this State who gave the broad and catho
lie invitation to the Lord’s table ‘ to all who
loved the Lord Jesus Christ.’ An article
comes out in the Congregationalist on this
subject. The leading brethren of his church
wait upon him and inform him that such an
invitation will not do. The pastor replies in
two discourses from the pulpit the next Sab
bath. He defines his position, criticises the
article in the Congregationalist. The church
is about evenly divided as to numbers on the
question, but the strong men are against him.
They believe ‘ baptism prerequisite to the
communion.’ That is Baptist doctrine ex
actly”
FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9,1871.
“It is More Blessed to Give than to Re
ceive.”
This is the language of infinite wisdom,
and it contains a great truth, which is good
for all time and in all places. But, practi
cally, men too often show that they do
not believe the statement, although penned
by the hand of inspiration; and confirmed
by similar utterances upon the subject. The
same Great Authority says: “He that
hath pity upon the poor lendeth to the Lord ;
and that which he hath given will He pay
him again.” This passage contains a prom
ise to the pitiful and the liberal minded, when
they extend charity to the children of pov
erty and misfortune; and faith suggests that
every word of it will be literally fulfilled.
Worldly prudence may open her penetrating
eyes and put on the expressive countenance
of deep sagacity, shake her wise head and
utter, aside, her crushing Ahem ! but the
word of God will stand firm as a rock, when
human pride and self importance shall lie
low in the dust, and the wisdom which would
question the truth of the Almighty, shall be
scattered to the winds. Again, the book of
God says, “There is that scattereth and yet
increaseth, and there is that withholdeth more
than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty.” I
do not now remember ever to have seen a
man who ruined himself by giving,—by giv
ing scripturally —that is, to right objects, and
in the spirit which the Word of God re
quires.
On the contrary, some of the most pros
perous men whom I have ever known, were
those who gave to every cause which had any
merit, or which came within the scriptural
rule. But even granting that a man may
keep his purse thin by giving, will not his
soul prosper under the treatment? Let us
hear what God says upon this point: “The
liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that
watereth shall bp watered also himself.” But
when a man withholds what he should give,
the tendency is to poverty in its broadest
sense; poverty of purse, and leanness of soul.
God is the author of every good and perfect
gift, and is it unreasonable to suppose that
He will withhold His blessing from those
who enthrone the smallest and most despica
ble of all idols — self?
Indeed, can a worshipper of Mammon
please God ? and without pleasing Him, can
man expect His blessing? Irue, He bestows
worldly prosperity upon some men who dis
regard His claims, and whosetat nought His
counsels; but their riches will, in the end,
prove to be lusted and moth eaten, and will
eat their flesh as it were fire. “Truly they
heap up riches, and know not who shall gather
them.”
In my next I shall consider whether the
New Testament Scriptures sustain these views.
H. C. Hornady.
Persecution. —The New York Tablet, a
Romish journal, apologize for Papal perse
cution in this strain: “ When the rulers of
Europe were all Catholics —sometimes very
bad ones, however —the civil law condemned
to death murderers, blasphemers, rebels, and
destroyers of the pubiiqfpeace, who taught
and practiced doctrines diametrically opposed
to of the gospel; and the Church
sometimes did not, and often could not, suc
cessfully interpose the claims of mercy be
tween the rights of civil justice and the cul
prits. These scoundrels, or rebels, were
sometimes called AlHgenses, sometimes Wal
denses, sometimes Hussites, sometimes Wick
liffites, sometimes Anabaptists.” Give back
to Romanism its old power and Presbyterians,
Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, will find
themselves “ scoundrels, or rebels,” condemn
ed to death.
Redemption by Christ.
It is a glorious truth that He has wrought
out redemption for all who trust in Him. Is
it sufficient to receive this without expla
nation—without an intelligent view of its
meaning? Should not the inquirer be told
that the incarnation, life, sufferings and death
of Christ on the cross, were the process by
w’hich He wrought out redemption 1 Here,
then, we have other facts explanatory of the
great fact of redemption —facts without which
no intelligent view of redemption can be
gained.
The mode of a fact when revealed and un
derstood, becomes itself a fact and an object
of intelligent belief. Christ’s sufferings and
death are modes, or explanations in part, of
the great fact of redemption. So are they
facts to be received. In regard t,o the vital
doctrine of atonement, a most significant fact
is that it is a vindication of divine justice ; n
the pardon of sin. So has the Apostle taught
—so the church believed. It in Rom. iii:
25, 26, Paul does not teach that the propi
tiatory sacrifice of Christ declares God’s
righteousness, vindicates His justice in the
pardon of sin, it is not easy to see how it
could be taught. This fact is as clearly re
vealed as that the incarnation and death of
Christ are parts of His redemptive work.
If, as has been alleged, the atonement is
simply such a manifestation of God’s love as
furnishes an effective motive power in bring
ing sinners to repentance and faith in Christ,
then repentance and reform, not the atone
ment, are the ground of forgiveness. Then
we receive redemption, even the forgive
ness of sins, not through His blood, but
through our own repentance. If sinners
would have repented without the mission and
work of Christ, they would have been for
given just as certainly as now. On this
theory the influence of Christ’s sufferings and
death is simply moral, not governmental.
They act on the sinner to win him to Christ,
but are no declaration of God’s righteousness
in the remission of sins. How widely this
carries us from the whole tenor of Scripture
teaching, is most manifest. Even Jesus
Himself said, “ His blood was shed for many,
for the remission of sins." This is the pre
cise point on which the atonement acts.
Another objection to the theory here op
posed, is that it removes from the atonement
of Christ all that is peculiar to it. There is
nothing in it that is unique and special. The
life and labors of every good man are a man
ifestation of God’s love. The light they shed,
the works they perform, are adapted to lead
men to repentance. What a signal exhibi
tion of God’s love is made in the life of St.
Paul, his conversion, and forgiveness, and life
of toil to win and save souls! This display
of God’s love constituted a motive power to
lead to repentance, and multitudes were
brought into the Kingdom and saved. The
atonement of Christ, on this theory, differs
not, save in degree, from the atonement of
Paul. Christ being a higher order of exist
ence, gives to His manifestation of God’s
love, a more impressive significance, and to
His atonement a higher efficacy, but its na
ture is the same.
It is devoutly to be hoped that such a de
precative and degrading view of Christ’s
work, however popular or honored its advo
cates,' will not become general. The drift
and tendency of the times admonish all who
are set for the defence of the gospel, to a
frank and full confession of its essential truths
—to contend earnestly for the faith once de
livered to the saints. Revealed truth —the
glorious doctrines of the Bible, are the hope
of the world—the grand instrumentality for
its recovery to holiness and life. Let them
be held fast,—Dr. Thurston, in Cony,
Family Covenants.
In gathering the material for the history of
Westerly, R. 1., I have fallen upon the last
records of “ the Presbyterian or rather Con
gregational Church of Cf.rist,” planted in this
town in 1742, in which, arrfid other valuab.e
historical matter, are found what I have never
before seen or even read of, namely, family
or household covenants, which, being addi
tional to the church covenant, were yet so
sacred as to be offered publicly and transcribed
upon the church records. They were pre
sented by families and subscribed by all the
household, —father, moth children and the
domestics. No two of 't.em agree precisely
in phraseology and particulars, showing that
they were original in each case and suited to
the circumstances of the particular household;
yet they usually cover substantially the same
ground. I copy one as perhaps, a
sample of all: %->
''Dt.fefkh, 1750.
“ We whose names ar>i under written, do
this day covenant with G »and and one another,
depending upon God work it in us
both to will and to do <>fc*tis own good plea
sure, to put away all fifti : (.«ess both of flesh
and spirit, and * n t^ie ear
God. We promise jfajft’gllL !y to avoid all
evil communications wfil/i. port apt .rood man
ners, especially all filthy&sY/cieaa conversation
which is an awful sign litTb*- «od rotten
heart. We promise to testify against
it in others wherever w*s*nhail hear it, and re
solve by ye grace of GoffYd have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness but
rather reprove them, and that neither the fear
of man nor our own gu It nor any other im
pediment shall hinder ti e faithful discharge of
our duty.
“ And further, we premise to attend all the
duties of religion, particularly we will rever
ently attend ye God both in pub
lick and private, especially we will sanctify
God’s Sabbath and re' Jfenoe His sanctuary ;
we will read a portion f the Holy Scriptures
daily, and sing the praes of God, and pray
to Him, and teach and learn the Assemblie’s
Catechism, and in all filings behave as the
disciples of Jesus Chris? begging His presence
and help, depending fpon Him alone for
strength to perform these promises. Amen.”
(Signatuies of the n embers of the house
hold.)
These records are va cable as giving a view
of the household piety of past generations.
The life of a people fl* &s out from its fami
lies. These family covenants are a beautiful
feature in the history of our ancestors. — Rev.
F. Denison, in Watch. • ind Ref.
—: — 7i-
Passing iO%>r Jordan.
Hark 1 I bear the ha eternal,
Ringing on the fill? filer shore,
As I near those BWoßin waters,
With their deep at roar.
And my soul, though atained with sorrow,
Fading as the ligh’Af day,
Passes swiftly o’er Uvse waters,
To the city far »w«b
Souls have crossed befit re me, saintly,
To that laud of perfect rest,
And I hear them siog’ug faintly
In the mansion of the blest.
Just beyrnd the rivu lasheth
Jebu-Salem ot tay -od,
Where the white wave, rising, splasheth
On the shore by angels trod.
Stop I I see the toatau' nearing;
Seel the snow sAi! set,
And the oars A& fl- itiU idly,
And the is drift**
Call my father! Call mv mother I
Tell them that the boatman’s here;
And another, oh! another,
Unto whom my soul is dear.
Call them quick, for I am passing
Through the valley of the grave;
lain passing with the boatman
O’er the deep and sullen wave.
A Word to Educators.
Too frequently they stand upon their dig
nity and meet the students only in the class
rooms, and, even then, as pupils. Though
Christian men, to whom the work of direct
ing from two to six hundred youthful minds is
committed, they often fail to come into vital
connection with the students and are satisfied
by the faithful discharge of their official du
ties as teachers. No Christian man has a
right to live merely as an aid to the cultiva
tion of the intellect. If he is learned, has the
art of teaching, and the far higher art of in
fluencing minds, he is bound to use his talents
to induce men to follow Christ. We wish to
hold up to the consideration of our college
professors—may we not add, our theological
professors, the example of Prof. Tholuck, of
Halle, whose professional life has always been
directed and stimulated by the idea that his
work was not only to teach the intelligent but
to bring the students to Christ.
At the celebration in Halle of the fiftieth
anniversary of Prof. Tholuck’s commence
ment of his life work as a teacher, he made
an address, reported in the Independent , in
which he stated the rule which had governed
his professional career. His life had been
with the young, wherein like Apollos he had
watered, and like Paul had planted. Having
but one passion, the love for Christ, he has
been moved by an inner necessity to labor
for the salvation of his students. Referring
to this peculiar work of German professor,
he stpd in simple but most suggestive words:
“ Yes, that is tru 3 which they report as my
dictum: “ Rather with the licentiates Jthan
with the pastors; ra-her with the students :han
with the licentiates They call me truly, in
distinction from * q ‘a student
professorwho P' home among the
students, and nowh-re so much as there. Yes,
in the germinating seeds in these souls have I
found and do I find r ,iy pleasure—in thefl >wer
buds as they unfold leaf by leaf, and the
flower-bells as they, spring out of them, with
diverse fragrance and varying colors.”
His life, as a student-professor, has not
been one of unvarying enjoyment; dull, slow
minds failed to respond to his efforts; the
talented, the brilliant and the ambitious stu
dents once stood aloof from the “ Orthodox”
prrfessor ; but he learned in these trials the
lesson that we all should learn, —alas! that it
is so hard ! the love that seeks and follows ,
We give the following illustration of this love :
“ Then there was another brought near to my
heart by a godly mother. He soon fell among
companions, by whom he was led into the
broad and slippery way. Contrition and re
turn followed ; but then came another fall.
When he could be found at home at no other
time, I sought him more than once at six
o’clock in the morning. I visited him in
prison, that I might remind him of what he
well knew, but always forgot. A few days
after I uttered in the hour of my devotion that
the preacher would have a hard task, but for
the witness even in frivolous hearts, that says
i He is right.' The very next evening I re
ceived a note from him. ‘Yes, now 1 know
that God’s Word has a witness in the human
heart. I, too, have felt its working.’ And
he promised to abandon his associates, and
enter upon anew life. My words had brought
him to himself; but would he have strength
to stand fast? Four or five days after, late
in the evening, came a card from him : ‘ Tho
luck sighs, Tholuck prays; but we will have
our drunk out.' Yet this very man is now a
preacher in Berlin.
We wish this incident, so suggestive of
what can be accomplished by going out again
and again in the wilderness, seeking the lost
sheep until we find it, might stimulate every
college professor in the land to the personal
work of seeking the saltation of his pupils.
He may not have an easy task, but if he has
the love which seeks and follows, he will have
a joyous experience, when, as Tholuck says,
“The young men whom he seeks, emerging
from their long wanderings and awakeuing
from their long slumber, place themselves at
the feet of Jesus ! This, too, is labor; but it
brings with it an elevated enjoyment, like all
successful efforts, where every giving is at the
same time a receiving.”
It will be more honor to a college professor
than the fame received from editing a Greek
Poet, or from writing a work on metaphysics,
if, as the end of his professional course draws
nigh, he can respond to and sympathize with
the closing words ot Prof. Tholuck’s address :
“To you who have long stood near me 1
say this at what is perhaps the close of my
career. I hare preached and taught during
my life; and what I have done in this way is
known to the world. But all this I value less
than that I have been permitted, though in
weakness and imperfection, to exercise that
love which seeks and follows. This is a work
of which the world knows little, but of which
the Lord God knows much. And it is this
love which seeks and follows that l now wish
for you. The great and the learned may,
perhaps, value your words far less on this
account; but do not, therefore, neglect the
poor, the lowly and the weak. That is the
the watchword of Jesus Christ: ‘ Have ye
not read : our. of the mouth of babes and suck
lings hast thou perfected praise.’ Rest as
sured that this labor on a small scale, this
seeking and following the lost, will not be in
vain ; and that you, too, will some time be
able to say : Yes, among the happiest fruits
of my labors must I count that even among
the lowly, the neglected, the despised, among
the frivolous and worldly, by faithful seeking
and following, some have been won that will
finally praise Him whom we praise.”—Chris
tian Fra.
What is Conversion.
“In St. Dennis Hotel once, in Broadway,
New York, I was summoned to visit a sick
young man, who came from Charleston with
a widowed mether. 1 had known them there
—the mother, not the youth. They had been
at Saratoga, and had come back to New York,
and at this hotel the young man was lying to
die. His mother had sent for another clergy
man to visit him, and that clergyman said
that the poor young man was crazy ; and
when I asked that religious brother, ‘ What
did you do to him?’ he said:—
“‘Do? I tried to pacify him; I tried to
quiet him; I said, “We will not talk, but say
a little prayer,” and I left him in peace.’
“ His mother was not satisfied, and sent for
me. He lay before me, a splendid youth of
nineteen, his eyes like jets of the brilliancy of
a diamond.
“ ‘Doctor Tyng,’ said the young man, ‘ my
mother has always told me that I must be
converted—that 1 could not be saved except
I was converted. I arn not converted. Ho#
can 1 be converted? Can I be converted?
Oh! tell me—how, how can 1 be converted ?’
“ What man’s eyes who felt the worth of
the sould not flow with tears at the remem
brance of such a mother? A rich, cultivated
woman, who had taken her boy’s hand from
his birth, and said, ‘Julian, my dear son, you
must be converted,’ and now, sitting by his
couch, with all a mother's love, still pleading
and urging him to give himself to Jesus—still
telling him that he must be converted. How
many mothers in the city of New York are
doing this ?
“ I sat by the side of that youth and told
him the story of Jesus. I showed him the
simplicity of the Gospel-plan of salvation. I
bade him realize that his heavenly Father had
received and accepted him in Christ when
Christ willingly died to bear his load, and he
was to come in the simplest faith of a little
child, and rest himself gratefully, hopefully
upon it. We spent an hour in conversation
Twenty-four hours after I called again. Oh !
how changed that face !—it shone like an an
gel’s. He reached out his long, tapering,
trembling hand to me with the sweetest smile,
and said:—
“‘Oh! sir, I understand it! 1 understand
it! Love for Jesus is conversion ! Sir, all
night I was asking Jesus to let me love him—
to show me how to love him—and 1 feel to
day as if my whole soul was overflowing with
love to Jesus. Is that conversion?'
“‘ My dear J ulian, that is conversion.' And
all was well.”— Tyng.
Discipline for Covetousness. —A reader
wants to know if a church has the right to
excommunicate members who attend the
meetings regularly, but do not contribute
“as much as some think they ought to” for
the expenses of the church. A church could
not exclude a member, unless the conviction
was general that he did not do his part. But
of the right of the church to withdrtw its fel
lowship from a man who will not fulfill his
covenant vows, in helping to sustain worship,
there can be no doubt. Any person who is
mean enough to hear the gospel, one Sunday
after another, year in and year out, without
paying his part of the expenses incurred, is
too mean a person to have a home in any
church of Jesus Christ. He is afflicted with
“ covetousness” of a very malignant type,
and if “gospel labor” does not change his
course, the sooner he is out of the church the
better for him, the church, and the world. A
niggardly member, unceasingly fretting about
expenses, and never ready to do a just thing
in the matter of paying them, is the heaviest
load a church can attempt to carry.— Ex. and
Chron.
Unitarivnsm. —Unilarianism does not ad
vance rapidly, though much proclamation is
made of the growing popularity of Unitarian
seutimeiits by the journals of the denomina
tion. Only 35 churches have been organ
ized in thelast four years, a little over 8 per
year. The orthodox view of Christ, it
seems, is too deeply embedded in the needs
of the human soul and too clearly set
forth in the Scriptures, to allow of progress
on the part of a system which divests Him
of His divinity and disowns Him in His
atonement. In spite of their boastfulness,
Strauss, Renan, Furness, and the like, are not
carrying the religious element of society with
them.
' Unitarian Faith(?)— At a late meeting of
the Boston Radical Club, Col. T. W. Higgin
son said: “ Ouce at a Unitarian Conference,
Theodore Parker asked Rev. Dr. Dewey,
whether he believed in the miraculous birth of
Christ. Os course people listened for positive
affirmation, or stout denial; but the Reverend
Doctor blushed painfully, and said it really
wasn’t fair for Brother Parker to ask such a
question: his health had been poor, and he
hadn’t had the strength for cldse investiga
tion.”
Psalmody. —Wesley said : “ Let me make
the hymns, I care not who makes the creed.”
Aud Henry Ward Beecher : “ I count the
singing of hymns as being among the most
| eminent ways in which the soul can be
I brought into the conscious presence of Christ
| at its own sweet will.”
Wide Open.
Among all who have been attempting to
remove the Gospel landmarks, and force the
door to the Lord’s table, we think Rev. Mr.
Schermerhorn, Unitarian, Boston, has carried
off the palm. He has certainly made a Sam
son like effort, and carried away door, posts
and all, and has fairly stolen the march upon
his more timid and cautious coadjutors
What they would accomplish by a series of
attack, he brings about by a single blow. He
must be acknowledged the victor.
In a sermon Mr. S. preached in Boston the
first Sabbath in this month, he says: “Every
man or woman who takes a seat in this church,
and occupies it from Sabbath to Sabbath,
thereby confesses that he or she is a Christian;
this is our only ‘ Profession of Faith;’ no one
could be retained here who is, or does not
desire to be a Christian. So I say we have
no division, no bars, no back seats in this
congregation; we have no church members
as a select class, a coterie or inner circle; we
we have no such distinctions as, ‘ saints and
sinners,’ ‘Christians and reprobates and infi
dels ;’ we are all church members; we are all
Christians; we are all saints, or trying to be;
so that at the Lord’s table, as at any other
religious ordinance, we all have equal rights
and privileges.” He holds the communion
*rviee should be a congregational service,
lie says, “All, old and young, saintly and less
saintly, should come together to commune
with God and Christ and one another.”
Here is open communion in reality—not in
name and pretence, but in fact This is not
progress, it is reaching the goai by a jump and
a bound. It is a stride that Robert Hall, and
lessei lights never thought of attempting;
their chaiity and love of union never rose to
so high a mark. For boldness and frankness,
Mr. S. will receive due credit; whether he
will be quoted as authority, and be acknowl
edged as a leader by the advocates of open
communion, remains to be seen.— Zion s Ado.
Family Instruction.
Throughout the writings of the Apostles
the divine care for childhood is manifest, and
the same regard for the purity and affection
of the family. Parents and children are
repeatedly mentioned, and are specially in
structed in their relative duties. Among the
qualifications demanded in an officer of the
Christian church, particular stress is laid upon
the proper management of his own house.
All this has a special significance for us at
this time. The family is still a divine institu
tion, with vital relations which cannot be over
estimated to every interest of society. The
purity and intelligence of the household is
essential to the stability of free government
and to the maintenance of public virtue. The
best and most salutary influences of Chris
tianity can quicken and mould the community
only as they come forth illuminated and
strengthened from Christian homes. There
is an important sense in which the church and
the school may be regarded as simply the
auxiliaries of the parent in the guidance and
training of the family. And we are satisfied
that many of the gravest si cial difficulties
which now threaten us can only be removed
by a wiser appreciation and use of the re
sources which dwell at the domestic hearih.
Whether political reform can be effected and
rendered permanent; whether general and
high culture shall promote morality or invig
orate infidelity ; whether a ’philan
thropy or a mercenary selfishness shall rule
in our trade and commerce; whether needful
amusements and recreation are to be a bless
ing or a bane—these must be in no small
measure determined by the spirit and teach
ing which prevail in our homes. The child
is father to the man, and the child is mainly
what the mother makes it, not so much by
conscious words and actions, as by that per
petual and all enveloping atmosphere of in
fiuence which arises from all that enters into
daily life.— Cor. Nat. Bap.
Keep the Face and the Voice Clear.
I know a lady who, when quite young, was
crippled for life by a painful accident. Keen
suffering soon left its impress upon her coun
tenance. Her brow was contracted, her lips
compressed ; so that the first impression pro
duced upon a friend who came to see her,
was that of pain. Alter she had been ill six
months, she one day called for a glass, that
she might see herself. Her own words de
scribing the image reflected there, I still re
member: “ Such a wrinkled, frowning face
as confronted me, I hope never to see again,”
she said. “It was false, too; for it told only
of physical pain, without even a suggestion
of the love and mercy, human and divine,
which had helped me in my endurance,” For
months she struggled with her facial mus
cles, trying to restore peaceful harmony to
the disturbed and demoralized features. She
applied herself to this as to a work which
God had given her to do. She prayed as
well as labored for success; and she con
quered. In her efforts to master the outward
expression, she also gained in power of in
ward control, which increased her store of
fortitude.
If you have not thought of this before, a-k
for a glass, look at your face as you see it
there, and teli yourself honestly what is the
impression produced. If the expression is
peaceful and cheerful, in spite of palor and
wasting, be glad, and do not regret the ab
sence of more material points of beauty.
The soul has told its story upon its mirror,
aud all is well. But if instead of peace, you
see querulousness and discontent; if pain
even is imprinted too deeply, give yourself
no rest until you have in some degree re
moved their marks. Hold in modest reserve
the traces of what you endure; give place to
no such tell tales of what is only yours and
God’s to know. Let a meek acceptance of
your lot be in both heart and look. “We
must suffer ; but we need not grumble” any
more than wise Epictetus. A flag of dis
tress is also a sign of defeat of some sort.
Let us not hang it out to our own humilia
tiou and the grief of friends. A brave fight
against our disadvantages will surely bring a
partial victory at least.
The next troublesome charge is the voice,
which is almost more difficult of management
than the face. Whine and complaint always
belong more or less to pain; and, being
eager of outlet, often take us by surprise. In
seasons of access of suffering, not much can
be done with our tones, perhaps. If gentle"
ness is secured, we must rest content. But
when only the ordinary discomfort presses,
we may do better and give the cheerful greet
ing the grateful acknowledgement, in a voice
of bright heartiness.
Loss of -Moral Power. —Tne N. Y. Meth
odist, speaking of the Northern Methodist
church, says: “It must be confessed that our
church has been losing its moral power at a
rapid rate. In the days of persecution, it
could point triumphantly to its purity ; in
these days, when all men speak well of it, it
can only point to a Book Committee unable,
after fifteen months o*" exploration, to say
whether its great Publishing House has or
has not been defrauded by unfaithful ser
vants.”
Onjb’B Best Thing. —lt is the belief of
Emerson, that “ Every one can do his best
thing easiest.”
|s3 00 A YEAR.} WHOLE NO. 2526.
Leave All to Him.
Leave all to Him who knoweth all,
To whom there’s neither great nor small,
But one vast comprehending plan,
Thyself involved, ere worlds began.
Leave all to Him, He guideth all:
He bears the weakest when they call,
For none are mightier than those
Who on His uuseen arm repose.
He’ll scourge thee, when naught else will do,
snit make tr ee more than conqueror too;
Scourge thee, perhaps, against thy will,
Yet trust Him—He’s thy Father still.
Though friends mav turn to bitter foes,
Leave all to Him, He ever knows
When thou wouldst lean too much on these,
And seek, with them, thyself to please.
Leave all to Him—thy want, thy care,
That naineles grief that none may share;
That daily sum nt wearying toils
Which, vexes and thy peace despoils.
Leave all to Him, thea sweetly lie
Beneath His watchful, loving eye;
And say, tuldu I hy will in me;
In life, in death, eternally.
Christ and the Cross.
“Whoever, therefore, shall confess me before men,
him will I confess also belore my Father which is iu
heaven.’’—Matt, x: 35.
Show me the Christ—
I will cry to Him !
Show me the Christ
I will fly to Him 1
Show meAhe Ctirist —
1 will die tin Him,
And bless him forever and ever I
Hold up the Cross—
I will sing to itt
Hold up the Cross —
I will cling to itl
Hold up the Cross—
I will bring to it
Hosannahs forever and ever 1
— F. B. Gage.
Trusting God for a Sermon.
“It is fifty years, sir,” said John Wesley,
one day, to a friend, “ since I first preached
in this church, i remember it from a pecu
liar circumstance, which occurred at that
time. I carne without a sermon, and going
up the pulpit stairs t hesitated, and returned
into the vestry under much mental confix
sion and agitation. A. woman who was there
noticed that l was deeply agitated, and she
inquired :
“ ‘Pray, sir, what is the matter with you V
“ 1 replied, ‘I have not brought my ser
mon with me.'
“‘ls that all?—cannot you trust God for a
sermon ?’
“ The question had such an effect upon me,
that I ascended the pulpit and preached ex
tempore, wiih great freedom to myself and ac
ceptance to the people, and 1 have never since
taken a written sermon into the pulpit.”
Trusting in God for a sermon worked well
that time. Others might try the same plan
with advantage. Os course, we are not to
trust in God to do what only our laziness
hinders us front performing; but if vve ddi
gently study God’s word, and live pure and
pr yerful lives before Him, we shall not look
in vain for His blessing on us if wearecalled
to declare His truth.— Pacific Observer.
Small Giftß —lt is stated in a New York
paper, as the experience of the managers of
most of the private charitable institutions iu
that city, that about three per cent, of dona
tions received for the support of the same, is
in sums of one hundred dollars or upwards,
aud perhaps twice that amount in sums rang
ing from twenty dollars to twenty live ; but
that by far the greater part is in sums less
than rive dollars. This wot ly' another illus
tration of the fact that the church must rely
for its resouices not on the large gifts of the
few, but on the small gifts of the many. Any
system of collection in behalf of church ex
penses and church benefactions which will
secure the ten cent currency notes of the peo
ple, will put hundred dollar bills into the
treasury of the Lord.— Congregalionalist.
The Fruit of Discussion. —The Philadel
phia correspondent of the Examiner and
Chronicle writes : The excitement about the
“ Resolutions” passed by the Philadelphia
Association has subsided, as usual, leaving
the spoils in our hands. At the Ministerial
Conference, January 9th, the pastor of a good
church here, calling themselves “ The Church
of God,” reported that, after examining our
creed and order, and becoming acquainted
with the pastors and churches, he finds him
self in full sympathy with us; also that his
church —partly Presbyterian and partly Con
gregational—are in a transition state, and are
now likely to come over to us in a body. It
is a question of only a short time. He is
one ot the ablest and best of men.
Infant Baptism. —“ The Logic of Infant
Church membership,” in the Methodist Quar
terly Review , by the late Dr. Nadal, opposes
the notion, on the one hand, that children are
admitted to the Church on the basis of bap*»
tismal regeneration —a popish figment—and,
on the other, that of congenital regeneration—
the preposterous conceit of Hibbard and
Mercein. The editor says he inserts the ar
ticle “in cordial respect for the eminent char
acter of the lamented writer, and not from any
coincidence with its views.”
Romish Morals. —The Westminster 6a
xette. a Roman Catholic journal, recently
made the following acknowledgement: “The
neglected children of London, are chiefly our
children, and the lowest of every class, wheth
er thieves or drunkards, are Catholics, at least
in name We have shirked these facts long
enough; it is time that we should face them,
and not delude ourselves by the appearance
of progress.”
A Good Sion. —According to the statistics
of the Baptist Handbook, more than half the
pastors of Baptist churches in England iiave
held their positions for five years and up
ward, and nearly a third for ten years and
upward. Some have field them fifty years.
We hope there will be such an improvement
in the matter of pastoral support, as to se
cure something of this permanency of the
relation among «>ur churches at the South.
Christian or Heathen? —ln the Sunday
morning service of “ the Society of Religious
Rationalists,” Finsbury, Eug., (of which
“Rev.” M. D. Conway, an American Unita
rian, has charge,) “ passages from the wri
tings of Confucius and Emerson are given, as
well as from the Bible. The Vedas, the
Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata, the Vishnu
Parana are also introduced.”
New Jkrßry Baptists —ln 1830 there
were 55 Baptist churches in New Jersey, the
membership at that time being 3,967. The
average of ministerial salaries was $212.
Value of church property, about $150,000.
At present, the denomination owns two ami
a half millions of church property, pays an
average of $1,028 in salaries, bus 126 addi
tional churches, and six times the member
ship of 1830.
Gossip against Ministers.— Spurgeon, in
the Sword and 7 'rowel, says : “Asa speci
men of bare-faced lying, we remem her a per
son declaring in a public room that he sa
us slide down the rail of our pulpit at Park
street to illustrate backsliding, at a time w hen
the pulpit was in the wall, and no stairs
whatever existed. That very story has been
told of Loreriio Dow many years before.”