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CHRISTIAN INTEND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST.
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Within and Without.
’Tis all within and not without
The world we make our own,
And silent hope and trembling doubt
Are monarcbs to the throne;
While joy and sorrow, grief and pain
Within, alternate, rise and reign,
And light and shadow each must win ;
'Tis all within—’tis all within.
The dew-drop hunga upon the flower,
And sunshine bathes the ea.th
With vivifying life and power,
As at creation’s birth.
But sun and dew-drop vaimy gleam,
Their beauty is a weary dream ;
Our hearts are not what they have been,
’Tis all within—’tis all within.
While blossoms deck the spring bough
And trembling leaves essay
In thrilling accents soft and low,
With Nature’s voice to piay,
The dawning sweetness of the year
Is dimmed with every falling tear
So cold, when youth has passed away,
’Tis all within—our night or day.
And seasons glide with flowery tread
In hyacinths or gold ;
They scatter incense o’er our dead,
They woo us to the fold.
But every living voice is mute,
The heavenly harp, the forest lute,
' The strain unheard, the hand unseen ;
’Tis all within—’tis all within.
But make thy spirit bright with love,
And k.ndle hope’s pure tire;
Draw down the sunbeam from above,
To plead thy soul’s desire.
Let mem’ry in her golden cup
Bright, deathless relics treasure up,
Then though the earth be dark or green,
’Tis all within—’tis all within.
The waves may toss thy fragile bark,
And the winds may sigh in vain.
It is not cold —it is not dark.
Where living sunbeams reign.
Far over all the Hand Divine
Shall guide that weary heart o t thine—
And every tear some joy shall win,
At last within—at peace within.
—Louisa Pierson.
Who is Right—the Missionary or the Anti-
Missionary?—No. IV.
Jonathan. —You will please proceed, Bro.
R , and give your reasons for your benevo
lent efforts, as you call them. 1 shall expect
you to show that they accord with the spirit
and teachings of the gospel, and the example
of the apostles, or abandon them.
Robert. —I feel safe in pledging myself to
accede to your terms, and will ask, if you
will cooperate in these missionary efforts,
should 1 sustain them as you require?
J. —l am not prepared to make that pledge.
1 am sure you will fail, and my reasons are
the following: 1. You cannot find the word
missionary in the Bible. 2. You can show
no command for such efforts, and no example
where a church or combination of Christians
sent out men from home to preach the gospel
to the heathen, and supported them while in
that work. 3. Your mission efforts have been
a failure. 4. Those who go are more fre
quently influenced by the money yon offer
them, than the good they expect to do. 5.
God will, in His own good time and way, call
and save llis people without your interfer
ence. Holding these views, 1 can but be op
posed to your agents, Boards, Crnveutions,
with all the other agencies you have called
into existence.
R. —ls I can reply to your positions as
plainly as you have stated them, 1 shali have
; r 1 muaii. Either you or 1 have read our
Bibles to little purpose. I shall not under
take to show that the word “ missionary ” is
in the Bible until you can show that the word
“ Primitive,” in which you pride yourself so
much, is there. You will find the one as soon
as you will the other. You have no proper
conception of what a sanction from the Bible
should be required. For faith and practice
the Bible is the only infallible guide. You
believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. Should
you fail to grant the demand of the Unitarian,
and show the word “Trinity” in the Bible,
would the truth of that doctrine be in the
least affected ?
/. Not at all. I presume the word
“Trinity” has been adopted as the most ex
pressive of what the Scriptures teach in ref
erence to the Divine persons. I admit the
justice of your position. It will be satisfac
tory if you show that the Bible sanctions
those efforts which the world calls “ mission
ary.”
U. —The word missionaay, according to
Webster, means “one sent to propagate re
ligion.” Then, one sent to preach the gospel
is a missionary. Are any such persons spo
ken of in the Bible? Os John the Baptist it
is said, “ Behold, I send my messenger before
thy face, which shall prepare thy way before
thee.” John, then, was a missionary. He
was the firso preacher of the gospel dispensa
tion. Christ says of Himself, “ I came not to
do mine own will, but the will of Him that
sent me.” “As my Father has sent me, so
do 1 send you.” “ God sent His Son into the
world.” A multitude of such passages show
that the Father sent the Son into the world
to preach the gospel. Christ, then, was a
missionary. Os His aposMes, Christ says, “ I
send you as sheep among wolves.” “Go ye
into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature.” These, then, were all mis
sionaries, because they were sent to preach
the gospel. Even you, professing to be call
ed and sent of God to preach, are a mission
ary. How do you like the title?
J. — I endorse all that. I hold that, any one
feeling it to be his duty to go, like Paul, “far
heuce to the Gentiles,” has the right to do
so. I would bid him God speed. But I deny
to any church or Association the right to take
up a man and send him to any specified field,
at the same time pledging him a support. 1
declare non-fellowship against all such. Such
is your practice. 1 defy you to sustain it
from the Bible.
It. —Put on your spectacles and read Acts
11th chapter and especially the 22nd verse,
“ Then tidings of these things came unto the
church, which was at Jerusalem: and they
sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far
as Antioch, who, when he came and saw the
grace of God, was glad.” This looks very
much like Barnabas was a missionary, sent
by the church at Jerusalem to preach to the
Gentiles in Antioch and the adjacent regions.
Now, turn to the 13th chapter of Acts, which
reads, “ while certain prophets and teachers,
members of the church at Antioch, were fast
ing and praying, the Holy Spirit said, Sep
arate me Barnabas and Saul for the work
whereunto I have called them. And when
they had fasted and prayed, and laid hands
upon them, they sent them away.” What
will you do with that passage ? You had not
read it, certainly, when you defied me to pro
duce an example of a church sending out mis
sionaries. The church at Jerusalem, com
posed mainly of Jews, and the church at An-*
tioch,the first among the Gentiles, are here
reported as sending out men to the great mis
sion work. Some believe that Barnabas
and Saul were set apart and sent, not by the
church, but by the teachers and prophets. If
so, we have an example of a company of men,
or Association, if you please, making such
appointments. These prophets and teachers,
however, were members of Antioch, and, no
* doubt, had her endorsement. But to make
efforts to spread the gospel is an individual
duty, and may be made without church au
thority and independently of the church. The
example of the first church among the Jews,
and also the first among the Gentiles, sus
tains our practice.
J. But nothing is said of the support of
these men.
R. —The point now before us is, Whether
a church or an Association of Christians may
send men to preach to the heathen. These
are cases in point.
J. —Grant it; but who supported them ?
You bave no authority for all these efforts to
collect and disburse money in the support of
missionaries. I have admitted that a man
may go and preach, but let him do like Paul,
—support himself by his own effort.
R. —l am glad you grant that much, —you
may have reason to grant more. These men
lived partly by their own effort, but mainly
by the contributions of others.
J. I demand the proof for that last asser
tion.
R .—We have no report from the church at
Antioch, and hence we know nothing of what
she did ; but we have a report, and some re
ceipts from Paul to other churches, from
wtiich we may determine their course of ac
tion.
J. —Receipts for salary from Paul ? Who
ever read of such in the Bible ?
R. —Paul, when a prisoner at Rome, hav
ing been indicted for preaching the gospel,
and transferred to that city for trial, writes to
thechurch at Philippi,and says,(Phil, iv: 18 ):
“ 1 have all and abound. 1 am full, having
received of Epaphroditus the things which
were sent from you.” Is not that a receipt?
J. —lt says nothing about money.
R. What was sent supplied Paul’s wants,
which is all that could be asked. Philippi
was many miles from Rome, and Epaphrodi
tus could have carried but little flour, meat
and potatoes. It would have been easier to
have taken currency, a bill of exchange or a
check upon the bank of Rome. This is not
all. He compliments this church, (vs. 15,
10) : “ Know also that when I departed from
Macedonia, no church communicated with me
as concerning giving and receiving, but ye
only. For even in Thessaloniea, ye sent once
and* again unto my necessities.” This care
for him filled his heart with joy, (v. 10.)
Here are not less than four receipts for con
tributions made by this church ; —one while
at Rome, a prisoner, one when he left Mace
donia, and two while he was preaching at
Thessaloniea. If all the churches were as lib
eral, we can see how these missionaries lived.
But all were not so liberal. Some, perhaps,
thoughtlikeyou do, —that missionaries should
support themselves. Paul rebukes this
spirit.
J. —Where do you find that? It has es
caped my notice.
R. —Like many other things which mili
tate against your position. Read 2 Cor. ii:
8, 9. Paul says: “ 1 robbed other churches,
taking wages of them to do you service. And
when I was with you and wanted, I was
chargeable to no man ; for that which was
lacking to me, the brethren which came from
Macedonia supplied ; and in all things I have
kept myself from being burdensome to you,
and so 1 will keep myself.” Here is another
acknowledgment of contributions from other
churches, while the passage has very much
the appearance of a rebuke, and the Corin
thians so regarded it. The Bth and 9th chap
ters of this Epistle are devoted to urging the
church to aid the poor Christians in Jerusa
lem, commending to their notice the example
of the Macedonian churches. But I must call
your attention to the third Epistle of John.
J. —I am glad you refor to that passage.
I like such preachers as are there described,
—men who go out on their own responsi
bility, and who do not wait to be supported
by others.
R. — Let us see. These men, influenced by
love for Jesus, (v. 7,) went to preach to the
Gentiles, from whom they received nothing.
Gaius contributed to their support, which the
apcstle commends. John writes to the
church to receive and aid such, and by so do
ing, become “ fellow helpers to the truth.”
This is all that missionaries do. Men
sent out, who feel it their duty to go, as were
Paul and Barnabas, whom we support by in
dividual contributions, sent through our
churches, or Associations and Conventions,
to them while in their field of labor. Do we
not pattern after the apostles and primitive
Christians? look at your course as
illustrated by this passage. When John
wrote to the church to aid these missionaries,
Diotrephes, “ who loved to have the
eminence,” refused to hear him, but said hard,
“ malicious ” things against the apostle, (v.
10.) This man rejected the missionaries him
self, and assumed to forbid others doing so;
and whoever dared disregard his will, he ex
pelled from the church. Did you ever see or
hear of any one being rejected for advocating
the claims and contributing to the support of
missionaries? You see that your sentiments
had their advocates long before your day.
Non-fellowshipping resolutions are no new
thing. But the apostle, while he commends
the course of Gaius for his benevolence, con
demns that of Diotrephes as “ evil,” and not
to be followed. And as your course is in a
direct line of succession, the apostolic injunc
tion not to follow it as evil, is now binding.
J. —Your interpretation looks plausible,
but’it must be wrong. I will consider it.
The fact that your efforts have proved an ex
pensive failure, shows that you are wrong.
R. — ls no success had followed at all, the
contributors would have been benefitted in
the enlargement of their benevolent feelings;
a grace necessary to the perfection of Chris
tian character. But since the inauguration
of Christian missions, in the beginning of the
17th century, heaven has been peopled by
hundreds of thousands of souls, saved through
their instrumentality.
J. —ln the 17th century ! Who does not
know that these mission efforts began about
thirty years ago, when so many of our
churches split upon the question ?
R. —lt was then when your opposition be
gan —when, like Diotrephes, you expelled
missionaries, closed your churches and passed
non-fellowshipping resolutions. But the spirit
of missions is essentially the spirit of the
gospel, which developed itself in the lives and
acts of the apostles and early Christians.
When the dark ages came on, and genuine
Christianity had to hide away in mountain
caves and remote regions, this spirit was sup
pressed. But in the 17th century it came
forth from its hiding places, and since then
has sought to execute the Master’s will in
giving the “ gospel to every creature.” We
are the recipients of its blessings. Our fore
fathers were idolators —worshippers of the
sun; after which our Sunday was named.
But for this mission spirit, which has given
us the truth, we would have followed in their
footsteps. The old and new world, together
with the isles of the sea, have been the fields
of its operations, and the myriads which have
left those shores for glory, and those other
myriads who are “ waiting at the river,”
would deny the charge of failure. Such a
charge results either from an ignorance of re
sults, or from too high an estimate of the
means expended in this mission work.
J. —You will not have so many applica
tions from young men to become missionaries;
FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, MARCH 30,1871.
now that our people have become bankrupt,
and cannot offer such inducements.
R. —The inducements will be the same as
formerly,—a life of sacrifice, and labor, and
suffering, with but a meagre support. 1 sup
pose you think the inducement has been the
money which the missionary receives. I re
gret to see that you suspect the motives of
our people. If a young man desires to study
the truth before he begins fully to preach it,
you say he is proud and ambitious If a
wealthy brother or sister gives a few thous
and dollars to endow an institution of learn
ing, you say they wish to leave a great name
when they are dead. If a man is willing to
leave home, friends, country —all things dear,
to spend his life in pointing sinners to the
Lamb of God, you say he ia influenced by
the love of money. You have no conception
of the piety and capacities of those men.
Many of them possess the first order of intel
lect, and would succeed in any position.
Such an impeachment of their motives is un
worthy a moment’s notice, and a reproach to
the heart of its author.
J —But are you not doing God’s work ?
Will He not save His elect?
R. —As He could produce a bountiful har
vest of corn, without our aid, so He could
convert the world without any agencies. But
He has seen fit to ordain that to make a crop,
we must work. So He has, in His wisdom,
determined to make us workers together with
himself in the world’s conversion. He there
fore prays, (Jno. xvii,) for those who shall
believe on “ Thee,” the Father, “ through
their word.” It is a glorious privilege, in
which an angel would rejoice, to cooperate
with God in giving the world a knowledge of
Jesus.
J. —l do not like your Boards and Conven
tions ; they are not found in the Bible.
R. —Just as much so as your Associations
and committees. They are but agencies for
the development and concentration of Chris
tian benevolence. They need no command
nor example to authorize them, if they do
not violate any Christian principle. I have
thus given you the command and example for
sending out and supporting missionaries, and
have shown you that opposition to such ef
forts are “ evil.” Hereafter, I hope to see
you renouncing your opposition to Christian
missions, and, like an obedient man of God,
using all laudable means for giving the gospel
to the world. G. R. M.
To the Baptists of Georgia.
Dear Brethren: The time for the meeting
of the Georgia Baptist Convention is ap
proaching, and it is proper that we should be
preparing our contributions for the various
benevolent objects which we are trying to
sustain. Our missionary work is confided to
the two Boards organized by the Southern
Baptist Convention, the Foreign and Domes
tic ; while the Sunday school work is entrust
ed to the Sunday School Board, located at
Memphis. All these objects of benevolence
should be remembered in making our contri
butions for the cause of the blessed Saviour;
for we are commanded to be ready to every
good word and work. But the great interest
of the Georgia Baptist Convention is Mercer
University, an Institution that has done more
towards giving us influence and usefulness, as
a denomination, than all other enterprises of
the kind in the State. This Institution has
directly and indirectly furnished our denomi
nation with an enlightened ministry ; and,
through the influence which educated minis
ters have been able to exert, the liberality of
the churches has been promoted, and our
missionary work has been increased contin
ually, notwithstanding the devastations of a
cruel and destructive war through which we
have passed within the last decade. Indeed,
Mercer University is a perennial fountain
from which streams of sanctified influence are
flowing in every direction through the land ;
and whoever aids in swelling these outgush
ings of enlightened religious power, is, to the
extent of his investment, doing as much as
can be done, in any way, to promote the
cause of Christ and of humanity. Perhaps I
would not be going too far, if 1 should say
that more good can be done in this way than
can fre done in any other direction with the
same amount of money. Give us an enlight
ened ministry and an educated member
ship, and then we shall see every interest of
the Redeemer’s kingdom in a flourishing con
dition. Ignorance is the bane of every good
work, while knowledge and enlightenment are
the friends of religious progress and Chris
tian evangelization. Every dollar which has
been given to Mercer University has been re
turned to the denomination directly and indi
rectly, increased a hundred fold ; and this
must continue to be the case to the end
of all things.
Now, brethren, if you would make such an
investment of your money as will return to
you and the world the greatest possible in
crease, here is your opportunity. Either
carry, or send up to the Convention at Car
tersville, in April, a contribution for Mercer
University according as the Lord has prosper
ed you, and then continue to do so until the
University shall have been fully endowed,
and you will have set upon foot an instru
mentality for good which will bear precious
fruit long after you are gore to your final re
ward.
Brethren, remember Mercer University,
and the Lord will bles3 your liberality and
your efforts. 11. C. llohn ady, A. M. U.
A Pledge Redeemed.
In a former number of this paper, (issue
of March 2,) I promised to assign some rea
sons for believing it to be inexpedient to dis
solve our Southern missionary organizations,
and confide to Northern Boards all the labor
and responsibility of conducting our mission
ary operations, either at home or abroad. I
shall now proceed to fulfil that promise.
1. It is inexpedient to do anything that
would lessen our feeling of responsibility, (as
'* stewards of the manifold grace of God,”) to
Christ, the church, and a world of perishing
sinners. That a dissolution of our Southern
Boards would tend to impair our sense of ob
ligation and diminish our feeling of respon
sibility, it appears to me, no one duly ac
quainted with human nature can for a mo
ment doubt. We may be told it should not
produce such an effect. That I freely admit;
but the question is not what should be, but
what would be the effect? We must take
the church and the world as they are, and
adapt our acts to the state of things that actu
ally exists, and not to a state of things that
should, but does not exist. Conversion does
not exempt one from the frailties of human
nature. These frailties are not confined to
Southern Christians. The acts of Christians
at the North, as well as at the South, furnish
abundant reason for believing that 1 am justi
fiable in objecting, as above, the effect that
would follow a dissolution of our Southern
organizations.
2. An impaired sense of our obligations
and responsibilities, (such as I contend would
follow a dissolution of our Boards,) would
result in a great diminution of the amount of
funds contributed in the South for missionary
purposes. The contributions of Christians,
where their ability remains the same, will
ever accord with their sense of their obliga
tions to the cause of Christ. Others, false
professors and persons of the world, will al-
low their sectional predjudices to cooperate
with their native covetousness, and restrain
them from contributing to Northern Boards.
But facts supercede the neoessity for argu
ments on this poise It is a fact, attested by
the annual reports of missionary operations,
North and South, tiiat the aggregate amount
contributed in the Louth for Home and For
eign Missions, after our Southern Baptist
Convention got intrf ?uccessful operation, far
exceeded the amount contributed prior to our
separation from the Northern Boards. If my
memory is not greatly at fault, the State of
f Georgia alone contributed, one year, more
for Foreign Missions than the whole South
had previously giver, in any one year, for
the same object.
3. Brethren in th South are better ao«
quainted with the Stale of things in the South,
—with its wants, with the character of the
men most likely to It- useful and acceptable
in the South, than our Northern brethren can
be. They are, therefore, most competent lo
direct the missionary Operations of the South.
In days past, the Hon|j Mission Board of the
North sent among ujfefome brethren good
and true to the cause o\ Jhrisfc, whom we cor
dially received and devoted to honor ; but
they also sent among t% Northern hirelings,
who evinced that thfjf sought their own
worldly ad vancement,-*-not that of the cause
of Christ. To justify s»ieh a sweeping asser
tion, I will narrate a few facts of which I have
had personal knowledge. Fact 1. An agent
of the Board visited a church in Virginia.
Its pastor introduced hir.' to his people and
encouraged them to contribute liberally. His
visit occurred at a time when some members
of the church were laboring to induce their
pastor to submit to a reduction of his salary
from SI,OOO per annum Jo SBOO. He had
told them he knew, from his past experience,
that he could not live honestly on less than
the amount they had hitherto been giving,
and that, if they reducedJii3 salary, he should
be compelled to leave them. The agent took
part with the disaffected; told them he had
a family of (I think) five "hildren and a wife,
but he could support them on SSOO. This
was considered a bid for the pastorate. The
church, however, did not accept it, but re
tained their pastor and continued his salary
undiminished. Fact 2. A thoroughly edu
cated brother reoeived a i appointment as a
missionary in Texas, and was authorized to
collect funds on his way for the Board. He
lingered for weeks in Georgia, looking out for
an eligible location as pas or, or as principal
of a high school, or as a professor in some
College, subsisting all the time on funds col
lected for the Board. He finally succeeded
in obtaining a location as principal of a high
school, and relinquished hw commission as
missionary. At my first interview with him
in Georgia, he candidly his wish to
obtain an eligible location in our State, and
fully satisfied mo that he was acting under
the impulse of purely mo 'oenary motives.
Fact 3. One sent to Missis ippi, while liber
ally sustained by brethren i.> that State, did
not scruple, in his letters to the papers at the
North, to traduce the character of those who
were sustaining him. A similar case occur
red in South Carolina; but 1 need not report
other cases. The readers of this paper have
not forgotten the infamous falsehood recently
asserted by one of their missionaries in Au
gusta, that colored person , and Baptist
preaehers among them, were «hot down with
impunity daily in the Sou:'; rtt Fact 4. Some
of their missionaries epn
daughters of rich planters, a»Y ss soon as they
got their portion of slaves, sold them, return
ing North, and became Abolitionists. I will
not say that all such were mercenaries, but
this I will say : Their conduct caused the pu
rity of their motives to be suspected, and
appearances were decidedly against them.
Fact 5. In some cases in wJbjoh_the Home
(N. Y.) Board has appointed Southern men
as missionaries in the South, they have se
lected men who were more disposed to affili
ate with Pedobaptists and wealthy worldlings
than with their brethren, who believe that
the gospel of Christ imposes restrictions on
our communing with even those whom, in
the exercise of charity, we accredit as Chris
tians. Such conduct may not be objection
able to our Northern Boards, or other breth
ren at the North, but it certainly is objec
tionable to Southern Baptists generally, and
is, therefore, to impair their use
fulness among us, however talented or pious
they may be. The probability, therefore, is,
that a Southern Board would hesitate to ap
point such as an agent or a missionary. Os
course all such brethren (as above described)
would favor the merging ol our Boards in
Boards at the North, that are indifferent to
the sentiments entertained on the subject of
communion by those whom they appoint to
office.
4. I confidently and conscientiously be
lieve that the abolition of our Southern
Boards, so far from hastening the day when
we (Baptists) shall all see eye to eye, and be
perfectly joined together in one heart and one
mind —an event for which we all should de
voutly pray—will tend greatly to retard it.
Before that day can shed its blessed light
around us and upon us, there are existing
predjudices to be overcome, and past memo
ries to be obliterated. The agitation of the
subject of a re-union with Northern Boards,
at the present juncture of affairs, will tend
rather to nourish the prejudices we all de
plore, and to keep unearthed before our eyes
the painful memories of the past that we
w'ould fain have buried out ol our sight. It
is a fact that, after our separation from
Northern Boards, and the perfecting of our
arrangements for managing;, our own affairs
in our own way, there was much less of strife
and bitter altercation between brethren North
and South than had existedyears before,
and the animosities that ha<sbeen engendered
by their past contentions had well nigh died
out. Let us not revive them by engaging in
a contention about our Boards. Such a con
tention is “ a root of bitterness” that must be
cast away, if we would preserve the “ unity
of the Spirit in the bonds of peace.” The
surer and better way to cement in one
the hearts of brethren North and South, it
appears to me, is to lay upon the table all
questions calculated to keep alive sectional
feelings. Let individuals hold Christian in
tercourse with each other, and cherish Chris
tian affection for each other. Let our North
ern and Southern Boards, instead ol encroach
ing upon the rights and privileges of each
other, correspond and coopeaate with each
other; and let the Missionary Union of the
North and the Southern Baptist Convention
appoint and receive, at their annual meet
ings, representatives from each other. If the
Union of the North declines to recognize of
ficially, as a co-ordinate body, our Southern
Convention, our Southern brethren will con
clude that brethren of the North desire us to
unite with them, not a9 their equals socially
and morally, but as their hewers of wood and
drawers of water—their slaves to till the field
for them and replenish their treasury.
I have much more 1 wish to say on the sub
ject of a Union with Northern Boards, but I
have already occupied more space in the col
umns of our paper than is probably expedi
ent. I will, however, venture to add one re
mark for the benefit of “ R.,” whose article
elicited this, and my former one on the same
subject. The action of the late Florida Bap-
tist Convention, declaring itself auxiliary to
the Home Mission Board of N. Y., which
had offered to spend, it would seem, S4OO
more in Florida than our Southern Board,
affords no ground to fear that any other State
in the South will be put up to “ the highest
bidder,” or, if thus put up, will be “ knocked
off” to a Northern Board. To relive “ R.,”
and others, of their fears on this subject, I
deem it my duty to state, —though I shall
probably thereby incur the displeasure of
personal and highly respected friends,—that
the Convention was composed, as I am in
formed, of only ten or twelve brethren, and
that three of that number, (including the
moderator,) —the most learned, aged and in
fluential members in the body,—were and
are sustained, in whole or in part, by the N.
Y. Board. There were others in the body
who had not resided long enough in the
State, or travelled sufficiently through it, to
acquaint themselves with the views and feel
ings of Florida Baptists generally. I merely
stat e facts. 1 impugn the motives of no one
—neither state nor insinuate anything to the
prejudice of any one; and I shall very much
regret it, if any one takes offence at what 1
have written. May the blessing of Heaven
ever rest upon them, and the Spirit of the
Most High direct them in all their labors of
love. J. S. B.
Without and Within.
Without the veil,
Dread doubts and fears assail.
The world sweeps on its way.
Turning night into day.
And day into night again,
In ceaseless revelry.
t Without—o’er all
Death presses like a pall,
Chilling the youthful beait,
Bidding sweet Hope depart,
As if beyond this world
Were no eternity.
Without -the wail
. Os souls lost in the gale,'
Striving through toil and pain
Eternal rest to gain,
Yet shri..king back when Time
Points to the happy shore.
And all earth’s bitterness
Os anguish and distress ;
Ambition’s godless gleam
And Folly’s idle dream—
These are without the veil,
And darkness ever more.
Within—where none
May enter save alone;
Where, with uplifted bands,
The trembling suppliant stands
Before the awful throne.
Where God Himself doth dwell.
Within—a calm
Nor earth nor hell can harm,
The loving heart doth rest
Upon the Saviour’s breast,
Looking through Him unto
The Light Ineffable.
—Putnam’s Magazine.
Important Correction.
In a recent issue of the Religious Herald,
brother Dickinson says : “ Dr. Gwathmey,
President of the Virginia Board, informed
Dr. Teasdale of the plan then under consid
eration, of uniting with the Philadelphia
Publication Society in the appointment of a
Sunday school missionary, to labor among
the colored people of this State. Dr. Teas
dale said that he was in favor of it, and would
like to see a similar arrangement made in
every State in the South.” Dr. Poindexter,
in his letter in your last issue, quotes the
foregoing from the Herald. Now, my brother,
.oermrt me to say that, if 1 was so under
Kuod, 1 groetwv miaunJerSiodid. Either
I did not comprehend the import of what Dr.
Gwathmey said to me, or he did not compre
hend the import of my remarks to him.
Something was said about the necessity or
desirableness of efforts being made to evan
gelize the colored people of the South. I
expressed the earnest hope that such efforts
might be made in every State of the South.
But it is well known, (as the Report of the
Sunday School Board to the S. B. Conven
tion at Louisville most clearly expresses it,)
that I have all along believed, and I do now
sincerely believe, that the Boards of the
Southern Baptist Convention are the proper
organs through which this work should be
done. If “ the Philadelphia Publication So
ciety,” or any other Northern organization,
has a surplus of funds which it wishes to de
vote to the evangelization of the colored peo
ple of the South, let those funds be placed in
the hands of the respective Boards of the
Southern Baptist Convention, who know
these people better, and understand their
wants more fully, than those living abroad
can be expected to do, and I am satisfied that
a treater amount of good to the colored peo
ple themselves would be the result, and an
unseemly interference with our territory and
work, on the part of Northern Societies,
would thereby be avoided.
Tnos. C. Teasdale, Cor. Sec.
Columbus, ffa., March 17, 1871.
Dr. Samuel Johnson, Literateur, Moralist
and Christian.
There are some names that never cease to
excite interest. Such are Bacon, Milton,
Goldsmith, and Johnson. Every fresh anec
dote exhumed, whets our appetite anew. The
eye is instantly arrested, when, amid the
mosaic of a newspaper even, it falls upon
the well-known characters, so often associated
with morceaux of exquisite viands.
No man, having tasted old wine, straight
way desireth new, for he sayeth the old is
better. From Poe, and Bryant, and Tenny
son, we turn away to the names grouped
around Shakespeare, and Addison, and John
son. We bless the garrulous muse of poor
Boswell, and exclaim with Macaulay, that
Eclipse is foremost, and the rest nowhere.
We find the inspiration that made the biog
rapher great, in the unequalled theme.
Goldsmith is, perhaps, more read than
Johnson. But Johnson will enjoy resurrec
tion after resurrection, when Goldsmith is
forgotten. We are astonished, when having
disused ourselves, for a time, to the great
moralist, we happen upon his manly preface
to his great dictionary, or dip into his lives
of the Poets, or meet a stray paragraph from
his Rambler, or listen again to the resound
ing periods of hisßasselas. Gen. Cheatham
once said, that Joseph E. Johnson was the
greatest man into whose presence he had ever
been. We have all been conscious of the
impression of greatness, even when puzzled
to ascertain in what exactly it consisted. So
of the writings of Johnson; independent of
the purity, precision, and force of the Eng
lish, we feel as if other men were pigmies
beside him. lie was a grand impersonation
of greatness to be felt, not transiently, but
forever.
His well-earned title, ‘the great moralist,
is not due to any elaborate analysis of the
basis of morals. We do not even recall any
such attempt. Nor to the hhppy application
of ascertained principles. But, mainly, at
least, to the fervent and determined spirit in
which convictions are uttered. His powerful
relish of the beautiful, the true, and the good,
overbears us, and we yield unresistingly.
Such have been our thoughts upon glanc
ing again over Boswell’s volumes, which we
never owned before, having long looked at
them wistfully on the well-filled shelves of
the bookseller, having sometimes, “ with a
lowering of pride,” borrowed them frpm a
friend, as too poor ourselves to own such a
treasure.
Wie feel inclined while writing, to refer to
the religious faith of the great critic and
talker. The religious sentiment seems to
have been strong through his whole life, at
least, from the time when “ Law’s Serious
Call’ was “ too much for him.” He was, in
deed, a Churchman and a dogmatist, without
ever having addressed his great and indepen
dent understanding to a close study of the
Word of God. Had the independence of
investigation natural to him been turned in
this direction, he could, if any man, have
overturned the puling reverence for human
authority characteristic of the times.
He was afraid to die, until his last hours.
Why, and whence this fear? Was it not all
due to confused notions of the great “pro
pitiation ?” In some way, he knew that
Jesus is the Saviour, but not how. In other
words, he had not listened to the Apostle’s
exhortation, “ Therefore, leaving the ele
ments of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on
unto perfection.” John Wesley was, we
opine, in a similar case. The subject of “ un
recongnized regeneration” for many years,
he began fully to rejoice when enlightened by
the Moravian brother, on justification by
faith. So Paul converted on the way to Da
mascus, felt the scales fall from his eyes,
when more fully instructed by Ananias.
We seem to find thousands in the same
darkness, with whom Christ is not a perfect
Saviour, on whom they have not cast all their
cares, making Him the all sufficient one.
These little ones, it is to be feared, are too
often discouraged, while our churches are
filled up with sanguine, self confident people
whose piety passes away as the early dew,
or the vanishing mist. Conversion is turn
ing about, not necessarily joy and comfort,
Many only see men as trees walking, whose
figure is to be clearly defined by fresh acces
sions of light and knowledge. Let us not
reject these little ones whom Christ has re
ceived. I have never, in twenty-five years
pastoral experience, had any trouble with
more than one person, who was very diffident,
but at the same time strongly drawn to
wards the Christian fold. “By this ye know
that ye are passed from death unto life, be
cause ye love the brethren.” The first emo
tions of the new-born soul are those of love
—he would be Christ’s if he might, but does
not yet know that he may.
E. B. Teaoi t e.
Elsie Lee.
This little book has been before the public
for some time, and has received some favor
able notices from the press. But, indulging
the hope that 1 may do a good service by in
ducing some one to read it, who has not, and
who might not otherwise enjoy that privilege,
I beg permission to add my testimony to its
value. It is written for young children.
The gifted writer—Mrs. Jeannie Mallary—
seems to have at least two distinct objects in
view—viz., To promote a growth in grace, or
personal holiness, and the positive exercise of
a lively zeal for'Christ and for souls. The
letters of “Grandpa,” and the young life of
Elsie, are well calculated to accomplish this
double purpose. The religious trials and tri
umphs of the young heroine, are thrilling and
affecting, and yet they are not over-wrought,
but perfectly natural. The narrative is so
entertaining that the reader regrets the neces
sity which, for the time, deprives him of the
pleasure of a continued perusal to the end ;
nor is he then content — it was too short. The
'■itfttience oi this br 6'k "must be good. It
will warn the careless, instruct the ignorant,
stir up the indolent, and encourage the pious.
The facile pen of the authoress of Horace
Wilde and Elsie Lee, should not be idle. It
will continue to bless the church and the
world. E. W. W.
How Shall Intemperance be stayed?
The power is with God, but the use of ap
propriate means is with us.
Three classes of persons are to be opera
ted upon —the decidedly Intemperate, the
Occasional Drinker, the Total Abstainer.
Could the latter class be confirmed in their
present position, intemperance would cease
on the death of its present victims. Were
occasional drinkers to drink no more, the
eradication of the evil would be very much
hastened. Evperience teaches that but few
confirmed drunkards have been reformed.
And of these few the majority, perhaps, have
ceased from their cups only as their hearts
have been regenerated by the power of the
Holy Spirit.
To eradicate the evil, some would invoke
the civil power to prohibit the sale of spirits
uous liquor. This remedy is, however, but
partial and temporary. The appetite for
drink, and the cupidity of the rum-seller,
will devise means for avoiding the law.
Witness the “striped pig” expedient, and
the giving of liquor in return for a pecunia
ry or other gift. Something more radical
than prohibiting the sale, is needed. Efforts
must be made to lessen, and eventually de
stroy the demand. This is the work to be
done.
To accomplish this work, the strictly tem
perate should at once pledge themselves to
“ touch not, taste not,” the beverage that in
toxicates. Having fortified themselves, they
should seek to instruct and enlighten others,
and influence them to take a decided stand
for total abstinence. Every possible means
should be used to induce those who indulge
occasionally, to cease at once their dallying
with the tempting draught. It has been said
that, “ drinking occasionally as surely leads
to intemperance, as courting leads to mar
riage.” The habit once formed, becomos a
second nature, and the victim is almost hope
lessly enslaved. Decision of character and
an unusual power of self-control may, in some
instances, serve to put off the evil day, but
ruin will ensue eventually. The habit of
drinking once formed, weakens the character,
subverts decision, and destroys self-respedl.
And this point reached, further resistance is
usually in vain. The current becomes too
strong, and the miserable victim is borne
along to perdition. This is the early history
of every habitual drunkard.
A decided public opinion should be formed
in favor of total abstinence. This may be a
laborious tedious undertaking; but not more
so than in the case of other reforms. A
fixed determination to accomplish it, and a
persistent use of appropriate means, will se
cure the desired end. Let no one be ashamed
to be known on all occasions, as a total ab
stinence man or woman. Let pastors make
this a part of their ministerial work, and
wisely wield the influence they possess, to
promote this cause. The potent influence of
the pulpit has been too long withheld from
this work. The religious and secular press,
so influentialjin moulding aud controlling pub
lic opinion on other subjects, should gird for
the work, and keep the theme constantly be
fore the public mind. A portion of each
issue should be set apart for this topic, as
space is devoted to agriculture, books, etc.
• Every.church should see that no counten
ance is given to intemperance among its
members. And especially should active
measures be adopted to root out the practice
of dealing in the accursed thing by those
who profess godliness. As God’s Word de
clares that no drunkard shall inherit the king
dom of heaven, the work of preventing
drunkenness is the work of saving souls from,
Is3 00 A YEAR.} WHOLE NO. 2533.
hell. And as drunkenness is a soul-destroy
ing sin, no exception, in its favor, should be
made by those who are called strive
against all sin. B. W. I.
Wait and See.
When my boy with eager questions.
Asking how, and where, and when,
Taxes all my store of wisdom,
Asking o’er and o’er again,
Questions oft to which the answers
Give to others still the key,
I said to teach him patience,
“ Wait, my little ooy, and see.”
And the words 1 taught my darling, 1
Taught to me a lesson sweet;
Once when all the world seemed darkened
And the storm about me beat,
In “ the children’s room ” I beard him,
With a child’s sweet mimicry,
To the baby-brother’s questions
Saying wisely, “Wait and seel”
Like an angel’s tender ohiding
Came the darling’s words to me,
Though my Father's ways were hidden,
Bidding me still wait and see.
Wbat are we but restless children
Brer asking what shall bes
And the Father, in His wisdom,
Gently bids us “ wait and see.”
Communion,
I once asked a Congregational minister,
Would you invite me to the oommunion in
your church if you did not believe that my
immersion was valid baptism? He said,
“ No.” And yet you regard mo as a Chris
tian? “ Yes, a baptized Christian.” But I
cannot regard your sprinkling as valid bap
tism. I look on you a9 an unbaptized. Can
I, then, invite you ? Shall I do what you
would not do? And certainly you do not
wish me to invite you as an unbaptized per
son. “Oh,” said he, “ I don’t object to your
requiring baptism as a qualification for the
communion; I object to your view that im
mersion only is baptism. 1 think you ought
to regard me as baptized.” Just so; you
want mo to recognize sprinkling as valid bap
tism. You want me to invite you to the
Lord’s table, and thereby say that you have
been scripturally baptized. And shall I say
what Ido not believe? lam willing to do
all that 1 can consistently, to show my Chris
tian regard for you, but when you ask me to
do it by recognizing sprinkling as obedience
to Christ’s command, 1 must respectfully de
cline. The Bible requires me to exercise
only that charity “ which rejoiceth in the
truth.” No law of charity requires me to
say what Ido not believe. “ But you ought
to believe differently,” rejoins my brother.
Yes, I know you think so, and iu my opinion
you ought to think differently. Let us, then,
discuss the question of baptism, for the dif
ference between us does not pertain to com
munion at all.— Chris. Sec.
Items.
Denominational Honor. —Every person
seeking membership in our churches knows
what are their distinctive peculiarities; and
he subscribes to them in becoming a member.
If he afterwards changes his views, on cer
tain of these distinctive beliefs and practices,
the only course for him to pursue, in the line
of Christian manliness, is silently to conform
to those beliefs and practices, waiving ex
pression of his dissent, or to state frankly to
the church wherein he dissents from his
brethren, and seek a spiritual homo more
congenial to him. But for him to fret over
infringements of his right to violate the very
conditions on which he became the member
«fa church, is something so utteily U nrea
sonable that it would be hard to find any
thing more so.— Ex. & Chron.
Church Communion. — Rev. F. Meyriek,
Trinity College, Cambridge, says, on Acts
ii; 41,42: “Here we have indirectly exhibit
ed the conditions of church communion.
They are (1) Baptism, baptism implying on
the part of the recipient repentance and faith ;
(2) Apostolic Doctrine; (3) Fellowship with
the Apostles; (4) the Lord’s Supper; (5)
Public Worship. Every requisite of church
membership is here enumerated, not only for
Apostolic days, but for future ages.”
Church Sittings. —Rev. Mr. Knight, pas
tor of the Congregational church, Salem,
Oregon, said, in a recent sermon, that “ the
bick seats and the poorest ones should be
reserved for the irregular and late comers,
be they rich or poor.”
Afternoon Hearers. —“l know what
makes you so sleepy,” said an eccentric New
Hampshire minister once to his hearers; “I
have to preach to about two bushels of baked
beans every Sunday afternoon !”
Results of One Revival. —The N. Y.
Observer says that it has been estimated that
50,000 souls have been converted, as the di
rect and remote result of a revival in Yale
College during the time of Dr. Dwight.
How to Convince.— Said Thoreau, “If
you would convince a man that he does wrong,
do right.”
Want of a Pastor. — l know of a church
in the West that numbered, at the close of
its last pastorate, over four hundred mem
bers. They were without regular pastoral
labor for about a year, and at the end of that
time forty persons, old and young, members
and not members, would have been a good
congregation on the Sabbath. They had
preaching nearly all the time.
Cari-tleism. —Carlyle, after emptying his
quiver of more satirical arrows than any
brother essayist, coolly says: “Sarcasm I
now see to be, in general, the language of the
devil; for which reason l have long since as
good as renounced it.”
Trust. —Frederick William 111, of Prus
sia, had no brilliant qualities; but in the
school of deep humiliation and affliction he
had learned to depend upon God, and chose
for the motto of his life, “ My time is unrest,
my hope in God.”
The Difference. —Reputation is what
men and women think of us. Character is
what God and angels know of us.
Baptists. —Some one once said to Dr.
Wayland, “You Baptists do not gain the
highest class, nor yet the lowest.” “ Exactly
so,” was the answer; “we surrender to you
the head and tail of the ox, and are content
with the body.”
The Press. —Rev. Albert Barnes says:
“ No clergyman, old or young, has ever fully
appreciated the power of the press as an aux
iliary in the main work of his life; few, if
any, have availed themselves of the aid of
the press in their good work as they might
have done; more have been too willing to
leave this important engine, so mighty for
truth or error, in others’ hands.”
Not Abusing One’s Grand mother.— The
Pittsburg Christian Advocate, Methodist,
says: “ The Church of Rome is a true Church,
and its baptisms and ordinations are valid.
An opposite theory would bring upon us
consequences from which any thoughtful
mind may well start back.”
Mere Reformation. —To attempt to mor
tify sin by outward reformation, is “alto
gether as incongruous as if a man should lay
a plaster upon his clothes to cure a wound in
his body.”— Hopkins.
The Voice. —As an illustration of the ef
fect of Spurgeon’s voice, it is said that on
one occasion two persons in the congregation
were converted simply by hearing him read
the hymn, “ Jesus, lover of my soul.”