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CHRISTIAN INTEND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST. VOL, 50—NO. 13. !$3 00 A YEAR.! A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY PAPER. PUBLISHED WEEKLY IE ATLANTA, GA AT $3.00 PER ANNUM, Invariably in. Advance. JT. J. TOON - . Proprietor. 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.”