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CHRISTIAN INDEX AND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST.
VOL 50—NO. 15. 18 Mis lift
A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY PAPER,
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J. J. TOON, Proprietor.
Some One’* Servant Girl.
She stood there leaning wearily
Against the window frame;
Herfice was patient, sad and sweet,
Her garments coarse and plain;
Who is she? I asked a friend,
The red lips gave a curl—
« Really, I do not know her name.
She’s some one’s servant girl.”
Agaiu I saw her on the street
With burden trudge along;
Her face was sweet and patient still,
Amid the jostling throng;
Slowly, but cheerfully she moved,
Guarding with watchful care
A market basket much too large
For her slight hands to bear.
A man, Td.thought a gentleman,
Went pushing rudely by,
.Sleeping the basket from her bands,
But turning not his eye ;
For there was no necessity,
Amid that busy whirl,
For him to be a gentleman
To some one’s servant girl.
Ah! well it is that God above
Looks in upon the heart,
And never judges any one
By just the outer partj
For if the soul be pure and good,
He will not mind the rest,
Nor question what the garments were
lu which the form was dressed.
And, many a man and woman fair,
By fortune reared and fed,
Who will not mingle here below
With those who earn their bread,
When they have passed away from life
Beyond the gates of pearl,
Will meet before their Father’s throne,
With many a servant girl.
The Atonement.
In carefully reading the New Testament,
we find, as one of its most striking peculiar
ities that it gives wonderful prominence to
the “blood of Christ.” Whatever that is,
which is ever represented under its name, it
must be the most important thing spoken of
in the Holy Book. It is said that, “we are
redeemed by it;” have been “purchased by
it;” are “justified by it,” and “washed in
it.
It is evident, probably, to the most super
ficial reader of the Bible, that the reference
is not to the physical blood of Jesus. If His
body was a human body, then His blood was
human blood, and as such never could, in
itself, have had any peculiar value or power.
The Apostles, moreover, speak of the blood
of Christ long after His ascension into heav
en • long after Hts blood had been shed
the cross; when no such blood could really
exist, physically, as blood. 7he phrase,
“ blood of Christ,” must, therefore, have a
figurative meaning; and it is a matter of
great importance that we should know that
meaning* and the way such meaning was at
tached to the phrase. It is to be feared that
many persons may be so ignorant as to un
derstand the physical blood of Jesus by the
expression, “ blood of Christ,” and so unac
customed to think as never to have seen the
absurdity of such a notion. Others, and
probably the majority of Christian people,
use the words without attaching to them any
definite meaning. Their notions are purely
negative. The words do not refer to the
literal blood of Christ, they think, but what
they do refer to, they neither know nor care.
The greatest religious curse of our country
fnd our age is, indifference as it regards
Kristian knowledge, and the want of defi
ate notions. This is the reason why almost
any religious sect can gain disciples, as the
majority care nothing about the truth if they
can get what they call “good,” at a place of
worship; and this good amounts, too often,
to mere excitement. This is the reason why
there is so little religious stability among us,
and why families are divided among so many
different denominations, and why we are
frightened at a well written book which as
sails some of our preconceived dogmas.
If our young people were taught to think,
and by thinking, to find a definite meaning to
every Scriptural doctrine, we should have no
need to fear. A man who understands ex
actly the construction and uses of fire-arms,
may use them and do no harm, while, in the
hands of an ignorant person, they become
dangerous.
Let us endeavor to understand the figure
of Holy Writ mentioned in the New Testa
ment: “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son,
cleanseth from all sin.”
The phrase, “ the blood ... cleanses,” arose
from Jewish ritualism, and here we must go
for an explanation, and here is the difficulty.
We go to the scenes described in Scripture
with our knowledge, and fancy that those an
cient Jews who were groping in the dark for
truth, knew as much as we do. Had they
been as capable of spiritual comprehension
as we are, the Divine Being would never
have legislated for them about the colors of
curtains, the dimensions of robes, and the
way of washing. The whole Mosaic ritual
wa9 simply an accommodation to an age of
ignorance and materialism.
It has been customary from time immemo
rial,in the East, as it is now, for a person who
pays a visit to a friend or stranger, to intro
duce himself by offering a present, and the
present varies in value according to the sta
tion and circumstances of the person who
makes it. The affection of the offer was
often measured by the value of his gift.
It is not difficult to explain the origin of
this custom. At one period all the popula
tion of a district belonged to one family;
and what could be more natural than that the
children, in visiting their parents, should take
with them something to show their affection
and their filial feelings? The parents, also,
who knew the peculiar tastes of their chil
dren, would naturally take with them such
gifts as would gratify those tastes. In pro
cess of time, the family would become a clan,
and the head of the clan would be regarded
as a father. Hence arose the notion of pa
ternal government, which regards the ruling
monarch as the father of his subjects. This
was the most ancient form of government,
and is still the most general in the East.
Every subject, then, whether prince or peas
ant, took with him a present whenever he
visited the King. The present soon became
a token of Iriendship, and still is so regarded
in the East. When Jacob went to meet
Esau, he sent presents before him,as a pledge
of friendship, and the reception of these, on
the part of Esau, was regarded as proving
his kindly intentions. Jacob, later on, sent
to the governor of Egypt a present, for he
said to his sons, “.Carry down the man a
present, a little balm, and a little honey,
spices, myrrh, nuts and almonds.”
When the present was given, friendship
was established, because affection or good
feeling had been shown.
Man has always felt his need of a friend
beside his fellow man. He has ever felt that
none but God could satisfy the craving of his
nature, and from the beginning of Jewish
Ritualism, that God dwelt in a visible form
} n a glare of light—and shone between the
cherubim upon the lid of the box which con
tained the tables of the law. The Jew felt
89 others did in countries round about him,
that he must approach God as he would his
king—with a present. Sometimes the whole
of an animal was placed upon the altar, and
then taken away and eaten. Men’9 hearts
could not long be satisfied with this kind of
Present; but they had observed the blood.
he animal died when the blood was shed.
Life departed with the blood, and they, in
their ignorance, at once came to the conclu
sion that the blood was the life.
But what could be more precious than life?
Nothing. Life was everything; and the loss
of life was the loss of all. The blood was
the life, and therefore the blood was every
thing. Nothing could be of equal value ;
therefore, if the blood could be given as a
present to God, the offerer would thereby
give God the most valuable gift in his pos
session. As he approached his father, or
king, or friend, with a valuable gift, so he
approached God with a valuable gift of blood
—of life. The ancient Jew did not regard
this blood as a sign or symbol, as we speak
of it. He looked upon it as the veritable
means of introducing himself to God’s friend*
ship, or a proof of the existence of that
friendship, as he looked upon a present sent
to a father, king, or friend, according to the
custom then, and still observed in Eastern
countries.
By offering the blood—life—of a choice
animal to God, the Jewish worshipper meant
much more than his act in itself denoted : he
meant to offer the whole animal. After the
ceremony of offering a few drops of blood to
God, the whole animal wa9 regarded as God’s
property, and being God’s property, it was
regarded as being peculiarly sacred and holy.
This notion was not confined to Jewish wor
shippers; it existed everywhere where sac
rifices were offered, though they were offered
unto idols. Hence Paul speaks of those who
ate meat, portions of which had been offered
to idols, as feasting at the idol’s table, because
the whole animat was supposed to belong to
the idol, though only apart of it—it may be
only the blood of it-—had been so offered.
Another idea, or fact, came now into op
eration. If a man touched with his hand any
filthy object, he became himself filthy ; and
hence, in process of time, the pollution of a
part was regarded as a defilement of the
whole. Great prominence is given to this in
the Mosaic law, according to which a man
became unciean by touching a dead body, or
a diseased person, or a creeping thing.
From this, men reasoned thus: If a man
became unclean by' touching an unclean ob
ject, then will a man become clean by con
tact with the pure. This idea was embodied
in the Mosaic ritual, for an unclean house
was purified by the sprinkling upon it a few
drops of the purifying element.
They reasoned further: The most holy
thing was the greatest cleansing power, as
the most filthy object has the greatest power
of pollution. The most holy thing is that
which belongs to the most Holy Being—to
God. The blood of the sacrifice in itself
precious, because it is life ; is peculiarly holy,
because a part of it has been offered to God,
by which process it has become His proper
ty altogether. The mere touch of the holy
thing will impart holiness to the polluted,
and hence were objects, under the law, cere
monially purified by the sprinkling upon them
the sacred element—the blood of the sacri
fice. Paul says (Heb. ix : 19-22) that Moses
sprinkled the book of the law, etc., etc.,
with blood. He says that this sprinkling
with blood was intended to purify, “ for
almost all things by the law aro purged ’’ or
“cleansed' 1 with blood, “and without shed
ding of blood there is no remission;” i. e.,
according to the Mosaic ritual, nothing was
regarded as clean unless blood hid been
sprinkled upon it.
The statement that all things were cleansed
by blood, or that without blood there was no
ceremonial cleansing, is not to be taken ab
solutely in its most unlimited sense, but as
referring to a general custom, for the Apos
tle qualifies the first expression by the word
“almost,” —“almost all things by the law
are purged with blood,” and the same word
is, no doubt, intended to qualify the second
clause, and “ without the shedding of blood
there is no remission ” —no removal of pol
lution, no ceremonial cleansing. Besides, we
find in the law that a great variety of objects
were purified ceremonially by the sprinkling
of water; the purifying power of a few drops
of water arose from the same belief that, as
mere contact of one part of the body with
an unclean object rendered the whole body
unciean, so the contact of one part of the
body with pure water, because it was pure,
rendered the whole body olean. The purify
ing efficacy of water was, however, supposed
to be increased by a special act of consecra
tion, or by mixing with it that which be
longed to God, because it had been present
ed to Him, and thus made peculiarly holy.
Very interesting information on this point is
given in Numbers xix. Read. There can
be no doubt but that the Jews did regard, in
all ages, these ceremonials as the veritable
means of purification. They did believe that
there was real virtue in the water, the ashes,
and the blood. The Bible never says that
the most intelligent of them regarded such
things as typical. We, who have enjoyed
the teaching of the gospel, may find in them
typos, shadows, and illustrations; but the
great difficulty of the Jews, in the time of
our Lord, was to regard them merely as
symbols. As many Episcopalians believe
that there is saving efficacy inseparably con
nected with the consecrated water of baptism,
and as many a Roman Catholic believes that
in eating the consecrated wafer he is really
appropriating that which contains food for his
soul, so the J ews believed in the cleansing
power of the blood of the sacrifices. Their
belief that there was virtue in the blood, did
not impart virtue to it. They could not con
ceive of spiritual influence apart from some
material element, and the w’hole Mosaic ritual
was simply an accommodation to the ignor
ance and materialism of the Jew—of the hu
man race in a state of infancy, (it is not yet
lull grown); and the evil of modern ritualism
lie 9 in its tendency to bring inen back (alas !
they have not got very, very far away) to an
age of barbarism and imbecility ; in its go
ing down to the lowest types of mind and
remaining there; in its treating men under
the gospel as if they were but children under
the law, and in elevating modern self or
humanly-constituted priests into an equality
with inspired men, without their credentials:
and the popularity of modem ritualism is a
sad proof, but most convincing, of tho men
tal imbecility of the age in which we live;
for such a system would be scouted by every
man who had read the New Testament, unless
such man was mentally not far removed from
a state of idiocy.
From what has been said, it will be un
derstood (a) that the expression, “ blood of
Christ,” or “ blood of sprinkling,” is a figu
rative one; (b) that it is an accommodation
of a Jewish ritualistic notion to the truths of
the gospel; (c) that its meaning is to be de
rived solely from such notions; and, (and) that
its meaning is, that the blood of Christ de
notes the purifying, sanctifying element of
the gospel, arid that the speaking of it as the
“ blood of sprinkling,” is intended to fix our
minds upon its cleansing efficacy.
To cleans a man, according to the gospel,
is to remove from his nature all tendency to
sin, or make him holy. Sin is our curse, and
our Lord came into the world for its removal
FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1871.
—“ to take away the sin of the world,” by
taking away from the world all tendency to
evil. This is the work which our Saviour is
gradually doing in the gospel. Now, the
Bible represents this as being done by His
bloqd. “ The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin,” says John. So in many
other texts.
Man can only serve God as he becomes
sinless—this is produced by the blood of
Christ; not the physical blood, for, that be
ir.g material, could have been applied only to
some material object. (See Rom. v: 9; Heb.
xiii: 12; I Peter i: 19.)
You will perceive, by an examination of
the above texts, that the great work effected
for us by the blood of Jesus, is the purifica
tion of our hearts, the sanctification of our
souls, and the rendering of our nature sinless
that we may be fitted for the kingdom of
God. As the blood of the Mosaic sacrifices
was supposed to purify whatever it touched,
so does the blood of Jesus, in its spiritual
significance, cleanse from all sin. But what
is that spiritual significance? What is it that
is denoted by the blood of Jesus? It is the
moral power of His death. This is the saving,
because the sanctifying power of the gospel.
We are jM>t speculating or guessing in this
matter, for our Lord Himself has taught this
fact in words upon which an inspired Apostle
left his comment. Jesus said, “And J, if I
be lifted up from the earth, will draw all
men unto me;” and the Apostle adds, lest
we should fall into error, “ This he said, sig
nifying what death He should die ”—refer
ring to the fact that He should die upon the
cross. (Isa. xii: 32,33.) This peculiar death
would have, according to our Saviour’s teach
ing, peculiar moral, saving power. It would
be the means by which our Lord, by His
spiritual presence, would take hold of human
hearts and draw them to Himself, by making
them sinless. But how does the death of
Jesus act thus on human souls? That death
showed His love for us, for He died for us—
died to save us—because He loved us. That
death of Jesus is the most convincing and
crowning proof of the love of God for us;
and love engenders love—and nothing else
does. This love of God, so strikingly dis
played, engenders lovs In human hearts, and
a holy life cannot be produced in any other
way than of love to God; for if we love
God, we love what God is, and therefore love
holiness and truth. If we love God, we shall
ever wish to please Him, and nothing pleases
Him except what is sinless. In speaking,
then, of the blood of as redeeming,
justifying or cleansing us from sin, we are to
understand the moral power of His death
applied to our hearts by His spiritual pres
ence; the influence of the Spirit of God on
the hearts of men, in combination with the
sublimest exhibition of love—Divine love—
the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the
cross. This it i9 which conquers the enmity
of the soul, and brings the prodigal back,
because bis love of wandering is overcome
by the strength and tenderness of his Father’s
love. Galileo.
A Letter from Dr. Crawford.
Bro. Campbell: 1 have noticed your request
in the Index, and in compliance, I send this
letter to the “ Index man,” with instruction,
“ if not delivered in ten days,” to forward to
Rev Jesse H. Campbell, Thomasville, Ga.
You say that I am “getting old.” In all
vour vou nev*-r fnid a trjpr thing.
Yet there is one part ofme at least that has
not experienced the effect of age, and if you
could see a faithful photograph of my heart,
you would surely “recognize” it; for its affec
tions are as fresh, full and warm as “ in child
hood’s happy hour.”
I have indeed grown old, and this day week
(22nd) 1 celebrated my sixtieth anniversary
on a Kentucky dinner of fish, closing with the
favorite desert of the season—pancake and
molasses. But how mistaken are those who
consider age an evil! “ Length ot days is in
her right hand, and in her left hand riches and
honor.” “With long life will 1 satisfy him,
and show him my salvation.” Yet while God
promises length of days as a blessing, and
most men desire long life, there is with many
a feeling that old age is an evil and a pity for
old people. Now, I know of no reason for
such feeling, but the undeniable fact that old
age is nearer death than youth. But does that
make old age an evil ? If it is truth as well
as poetry, that
“Death ia the gate of endless joys,”
why should its nearness to the old make age
an evil ?
On a delicious May evening ten years ago,
as I was sitting in my verandah at Penfield,
my colleague and friend, H. H. TANARUS., came in.
After he was seated I said, “ I have just been
reflecting that I am now fifty years old, and
I would not be a day younger if I could. For
now, even if my life should be extended to
the Psalmist’s three-score and ten, I am safely
over two-thirds of the pilgrimage. If I should
die now, I would leave my children a name
which they could bear without reproach, and
an example which they might follow without
shame. And I have no fears that the good
Providence, which has hitherto protected me
amid dangers, sustained me in trials, and
saved me in temptations, will forsake me
till l enter the Blessed Life.”
Such was my feeling and such my trust
then. Since that pleasant evening, ten years
have elapsed. How slowly, yet how swiftly
have they passed! A decade, unsurpassed
in its momentous history by any equal period
since Christ died upon th,»e cross. In this
hemisphere, a territory of near a half million
of square miles, trampled by the iron heel of
war for four years, and six v millions of peo
ple smitten by the iron hand of despotism for
six years, and all in the name of fraternity ;
while on the other hemisphere, the oldest na
tion of Europe, of the proudest history in
the past, and which, for eighty years, has
done more for liberty than any other nation
of the continent, was in six months devas
tated and subjugated by the most thoroughly
organized despotism of the Old World. This
decade has brought me to sixty—a decade
full of wretchedness and woe in our national
affairs, yet how tempered, especially to me,
with mercies and blessings. And now that I
am a presbuteros in years as well as in office,
this bleak March day sitting by my comfort
able coal fire in Kentucky, 1 repeat to you
what, ten years ago, in the shades of a May
evening breathing the sweet odor of roses, I
said to Bro. Tucker : “ I would not be a day
younger if I could.”
Ten more milestones have been marked off
in my journey of life ; and ten stations nearer
to the City above. And if these ten years of
war, and blood, and cruelty,and tyranny have,
after all, by His grace, been years of so much
enjoyment here, what may we not hope in
the Blessed Hereafter? We have not lost,
but passed ten years of life here, and are so
much nearer that brighter, purer, richer, no
bler, sweeter, grander, holier, happier life in
the Great Beyond. These are feelings, hopes,
confidences common to you and me,and many
others whose forms and names come rn&hing
to my eyes and heart. Can that old age be
an evil which fills the mind and heart with
thoughts and emotions like these ?
But though age S9 no evil, sickness is; and
1 have been sick, and am not well yet. In
Deoember a cold and cough caught me. As
the winter advanced the cough became worse,
and I was confined Ao-the house all the month
of February. I an now better. Happily,
the spring has been milder than usual, and
the season is in advance of what
is common. Every pleasant day improves
my health. “Doc-ir’a truck,” as .the “be
loved physician,” E'• W. B. C., calls it, does
me no good. Instead of cod liver oil, I have
been and am still taking (for dinner) broiled
middling, (streak ok lean and streak of fat.)
Under this regimer, with pretty weather, I
am regaining strength rapidly, and my cough
does not trouble me at all when quiet, though
a little exercise ngs it on. It is nearly
four months since 1 preached, and I have
thought that perhaps my preaching days are
over. I recollect tfcat Dr. Olin, the greatest
man the ever produced in
this country, said that he had two-great strug
gles in this life. l.ie first was when he got
his own consent to jive up the world to be a
preacher for Christ, and the last when, in con
sequence of broken tealth, he could yield to
the Providence silenced him in the pul
pit. I had no such ala Is in entering the min
istry, for I glided it so insensibly that 1
was a preacher before I knew it. Nor,
if it is God’s wifijfx lence n?e, shall I have
any struggle in submitting. I have never
felt any anxiety or ueisasiness about a field of
labor, confident thatjif the Lord had work for
me to do, He me where it was to
be done. Under-thf-5 conviction I have lived
and labored. Wit-*! this conviction 1 shall
still labor, if caile ’ to labor, or be still if
called to be still. The Lord knoweth.
So, my dear brother, I have complied with
your request. My communication is ail
about myself: you will read it with no less
interest on that acc ent. If the “ Index men”
think it unsuitable s > their paper, they will
forward it to you.
who may read it, I beg leave to sign
it as their friend and brother in Christ
Jesus, N. M. Crawford.
March 29, lbTl.
Daily Work.
In ihe name es God advancing,
Sow thy se- "i at morning light,
Cheerily the f# ows turning,
Labor on vAh._a.ll thy might.
Look not to t«e f*r-off future,
Do the work which nearest lies;
Sow thon met before thou reapest,
Rest at last s labor’s prize.
Standing still is dangerous ever,
Toil is mer. } fur Christians now;
Let there be, evening cometh,
Honest sweft upon thy brow;
And the Master shall come, smiling,
When work stops at set of sun,
Saying, us Hep-iys thy wages,
“ Good and faithful man, well done 1 ”
—From the Ger/jian.
Recollections o. Greensboro’ Church.
—S
I wa9 much interested in the letter from
Greensboro’, and the rising prospects of the
Baptists. The chur rh was organized in June,
1821, by Jesse Mercer and the first pastor,
who served near twelve years. His manual
labor school, near F. tonton, in 1832, prevent
ed his serving longer. Among the constitu
ents were Vincent Sanford, of precious mem
ory, John West, Terrels et al. Not many
were baptized except colored persons till
1827-8, the great revival years: in the latter
year fifty are reprhed—that great revival in
which some 16,were baptized in the
Georgia, Ocmutg«j|J,an* Flint Assof iations.
If things that traiA ‘-ed on earth will be tho
subject of in heaven, surely*that
revival v, i-’Ht‘VßpWtr «ri.‘
old academy in iKjHMove in the East part of
the town, though the. Methodist brethren had
a house in the Western suburbs, which was
removed into tow A a year or so afterward.
Many precious meetings were held In that old
house. , Here, Judge Longstreet, who has
lately died in Mississippi, a pious and useful
man, President of several Colleges, was
brougnt to bow to the sceptre of King Jesus,
and asked our prayers. He was afterwards
baptized in Town creek, or our Jordan, just
North of the place, by Dr. Lovick Pierce.
In October, 1827, an incident occurred that
is worth relating. A young wife had recited
her experience some weeks before and was
received, but deferred her baptism in the
fond hope that her husband would go with
her. He had a little hope at times, was anx
ious about his soul,but was unworthy to be with
such a 9aint as he thought his wife to be. He
couldnotget his owti-consent to go with God’s
people in church relation ; he was not soundly
converted as real (Christians were ; so he lin
gered in despondency-. The night before the
Georgia Association,lß27, at Philip’s,Wilkes,
the pastor had an appointment in the old
academy. After preaching, two or three
were received, among them a daughter of
Vincent Sanford and the gentleman above
named; but his wife was siek in bed, having
taken thirty grains of calomel without any
other medicine. We used to administer hor
rid do9es in those days of bilious fever. The
pastor had some twenty miles to ride to the
Association ; so baptism was to be adminis
tered at sunrise. It was a cold morning, mid
dle of October. After baptizing a few, behold
the gentleman was seen leading his sick wife
to the brink of thf stream ! The pastor rather
hesitated, but the exclaimed, “ If she
has faith and loves Jesus it will not hurt
her.” The Association was reached by a
tiresome ride, and behold, at a night meeting,
husband and wife were in the company, hap
py in having discharged their duty. No fatal
effeots followed. Both are still living.
The Presbyterians and Baptists united in
building a frame house about
1830.
That aged “ rich ” man—rich in honor, for
he was many years President of the Georgia
Senate; rich in the, affections of all, as Bro.
Atkinson says—did not join the church till
years after. He was baptized at Shiloh by
Rev. J. Lumpkin,"fv-J many years useful in
that church. May he be ripe and ready
when the Master comes. His first wife had
long been a member there, and her example
and piety were no doubt instrumental in his
obedience to the truth. Will they not have
a happy meeting ?
If your readers are not already weary, 1
must give another incidest in Greene county.
In March, 1828, Monday, beginning of Supe
rior Court for the oounty, the same pastor
had appointments at several meeting houses,
among them at Betbeisda, twelve miles East
of the court house. No interest had been ex
cited here. After preaching he invited mourn
ers, and a few came up for prayers. Seeing
them before her, a lady member, some forty
years old, arose and exclaimed, “ Good Lord,
what shall I do? Here are my neighbor’s
children, but not es? of mine.” In haste, the
preacher said, “Go and bring them.” She
went aroun and gathered some of her younger
ones, but the elder would not come. By this
time the whole house was in tears ; for her
exhortation was more effectual than the ser
mon, Some 365 were baptized there during
the summer!
Other incidents in connection with that
great revival might be mentioned ; but I have
filled my sheet and tired your numerous pa
trons. Rev. Dr. Cummins, a learned man,
was pastor of the Presbyterian church, and
though his wife would go down to the stream
to witness the administration of the ordL
nance, it was never convenient for him to go.
First Pastor Greensboro’ Church.
Love asks faith, and faith asks firmness.
Rome’s Orphan.
I entered the South bound train at the
Nashville depot in Louisville, Ky., and went
into the sleeping car. In a section not far
from us were two, —one robed in black, with
a black hood—a female, a number, an as
sumed name, a nun, a devotee of Rome; the
other, a sweet, fair-faced girl, with dimpled
cheek, an eye of lustrous black, and rich,
luxuriant curls of chestnut hair. In her pink
dress and brown gaiters, her h*ir bound with
a band of blue, the little darling was indeed
a picture. How sweet her smile as she pass
ed with her waxen doll and the blue ribbons
around it! My heart yearned to the child,
and all the more because I foresaw in her, —
the child of four years,—the incipient devo
tee of Rome. At times I held out my hand
to her, and at last she came and sat on my
knee. I told her of mg little girL and the
canary birds we have, one green and the
other yellow, and of my little boys and their
pets, the Guinea pigs and the two young
dogs.
At last I had won her heart, and then she
told of her young sorrows, —how the snakes
would come and bite her face, and how the
bad man would come and tear her flesh, if she
did not cross herself. I told her that God
loved little children, and would not let the
snakes trouble his little child. And she ad
ded, “ I know how to keep them away : you
just cross yourself, you know, as you do at
mass, with holy water.” Rome had already
taught her Rome’s first lesson. The sense of
fear had been awakened; and the principle,
already imbedded in the child’s mind, was
this : “ Deliverance will cotne if you use the
sign of the cross, as with the holy water.”
Back of the holy water must be a priest to
make it holg. Back ol a holy priest must come
“ {he Church ” to make him holy. And thus
salvation is by the church and by the priest.
How unlike the word of God, “ Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved!”
Thus far, the work of Rome wa9 well done.
But the end was not yet. In a few hours the
orphaned child will have been carried where
the nun’s masters have taught her to carry it
beyond the cloister gate. From those
sweet, lustrous eyes will be withdrawn the
loved faces of loving kindred, and all the as
sociations in which God has made us to dwell.
Already the dark fate to which Catholicism
dooms the orphan has decreed for the child a
long, and lasting, and final farewell. Fare
well, ye curling ringlets ! Rome will soon
have shorn you from the fair brow where God
has placed you, and will have sold you to en
rich her coffers. Farewell, sweet eyes! that
never more now shall took into face of man,
unless it be ye shall be compelled to behold
him who, in his bloated priesthood, dares to
say that God has lied when He declares that
“ marriage is honorable in all,” traducing thus
the Merciful One. Farewell, sweet face!
My heart yearns over you. I long to see
you free from the shackles already on you;
to see you fulfil your mission given you of
God. 1 lift up my cry to God for you, sweet,
devoted one. Heaven yet save you and lead
you to trust, not in Rome, but'in the Lamb
of God. And may God, the Almighty— and
here I invoke the Avenger—may God the Al
mighty speedily bring His curse on this idol
atry and superstition that' drags its victims
down to an eternal hell! A. T. S.
The JSnglish Language.
The beginning of the 10th century may be
regarded as the period at which the structure
of our language \va9 fully formed. Since
that period, there ha 9 been a change in spell
ing; many words have been added, and style
has varied, but in its essential points, it was
then a!l*lhat it is now.
Borrowing its words from many nations,
we need not expect to find it free from irreg
ularities, and we need not be surprised if we
hear that the foreigner, in endeavoring to
master it, is severely tried and ready to de
spair.
But while there are disadvantages in some
respects, there are advantages in others.
Though the language is not as smooth as some
languages, yet all agree that it is by no means
destitute of strength, and in addition to this,
the stock of words is so comprehensive, that
whatever be the subject on which we speak
or write, we have all the assistance we could
desire for our work.
There is one fact connected with the Eng
lish language that is worthy of consideration.
It is this: The English language is more gen
erally spoken than any of the languages of
Europe. That it is spoken in countries un
der English government, is not surprising;
but in countries under other European gov
ernments, it is frequently the case‘hat a large
portion of the people speak English. In the
island of Java, which is under Dutch gov
ernment, more of the nativos speak English
than Dutch. There seems to be throughout
Asia, a preference for the English language,
and a disposition to use it. Rev. Howard
Malcom, D. D., who had travelled in the
East, and who had seen the demand for Eng
lish in India, in speaking on this subject, re
marks: “ When we consider the vast spread
of the British Empire in India, the diffusion
of the English language over the whole con
tinent of North America, and many of the
West India isles; the establishment of Bri
tish laws and language in all South Africa
and Australia, and the growing colonies on
the west coast of Africa, it is not unreasona
ble to anticipate the prevalence of our lan
guage, at no distant day, among millions in
all quarters of the globe.”
What this writer has remarked, in the
words just quoted, should suggest to our
minds an important thought. How necessa
ry that the lest moral sentiments, and a whole
some literature , go forth from England and
our own land ? Thus will the inhabitants of
distant nations, who have learned to speak or
to read our mother tongue, find it a blessing
and not a curse. B. W. Whilden.
Our Duty to the Imperilled.
Supremely selfish is he who, because his
own safety is secured by being in the life
boat, regards not the peril of those who, amid
the fragments of the wreck, are struggling in
the waves. Equally selfish are those who,
conscious of their own freedom from the dan
gers of intemperance, make no effort to save
those already engulfed, or those who, una
ware of the certain ruin before them, are be
ginning to sip the wine cup. Our duty is not
only to save ourselves, but to endeavor also
to save others.
In previous communications wo have brief
ly presented the misery and crime resulting
from the use of liquor, the present indiffer
ence of the public mind respecting the sub
ject, and suggested how intemperance may
be stayed. We would now urge upon every
reader, whatever may be his private or pub
lic position, however exteuded or limited his
influence, to do what he or she can in this
good work of staying ihe gigantic strides of
intemperance. Let each one ask, What is my
duty to the imperilled ?
ihe work is a practical one. If rightly
viewed, it comes home to the heart. Drop
into this dilapidated cottage just at hand and
read the woe. Listen to the little boy as he
gays, “ Mother, this bread is very hard. Why
don’t we have cake or nice things, as we used
to when we lived in the great house ? Oh,
that was such a pretty house, mamma,and such
a pleasant garden, all filled with flowers ! and
you made such sweet music with your fingers,
and pa would sing. Pa used to laugh then,
and tell me pretty stories, and take me on
his knee and say I was his own dear boy.
Mamma, what makes pa so sick, and look so
bad ? It makes me afraid when he stamps
on the floor, and Bays so loud, ‘ George, go
off to bed !’ Mamma, will he get well again,
and take me on his kuee again, and Meg me
a sweet song, and love me as he used to ?
Mamma, what makes you cry ? Did I. make
you cry ? It makes me sorry to see you so
sad and unhappy. Won’t you wipe away
your tears and smile again ?” “My son, oh.
my George, my child, your father is a drunk
ard/” Hard the heart that is unmoved in
view of such a picture as this. But emotion,
and feeling, and sympathetic expressions
alone will not avail to remedy the existing
evil, or prevent its rapid increase. Work
must be performed. Effort must be strenu
ously put forth. Those who realize and de
plore the present and prospective ruin of so
many bright and shining lights in society,
must stretch forth a helping hand to lead
back the erring, and to hold back the tempted.
The fact that intemperance ruins the soul
as well as the body, should excite every dis
ciple of Christ to diligent labor in this field.
If this consideration will not move the Chris
tian to serve in this cause, all other motives
will be urged in.vain. B. W. I.
A Short. Sermon on an Anti-Scriptural Text.
“ Charity begins at Home.' 1
I. Let us admit, for argument’s sake, that
it is true. What then ?
1. It is your belief. To prove your sin
cerity, you must put it into practice. “ Faith,
without works, is dead.” If you do not prac
tice the motto, how dare you plead it in ex
tenuaiion of your illiberality ? To make it
a valid reason for withholding aid from the
missionary cause, it must be embodied in
acts. We must be assured that your charity
has begun at home—that it has an existence.
It must be known that you are feeding the
hungry, clothing the naked, and preaching
(or having preached) the gospel to the poor,
in your vicinity. Are you doing this ? If
not, your plea is false before God and man,
and you are a self-convicted dissembler and
hypocrite. If you are thus engaged, we shall
not fear for your attachment to missions
abroad. You will not put in thi9 plea; you
already have the spirit of missions. You
have attained the bud, and will soon reach
the full flower of an expanded Christian be
nevolence. That love which lifts the fallen,
cheers the faint, heals the broken hearted with
in reach, is the same, in kind, as that which
bears a world of guilty sinners upon the af
fections, and weeps over the errors of the
race.
“Mighty things from small beginnings grow.”
2. We invite your attention the literal im
port of the text. “ Charity begins at home.”
Now, if it begins, it must make some pros
gress. In making this plea, therefore, you
are ever affirming that oharity has not had,
with you, a beginning; for if it had begun,
it would now be advanced somewhat. To
avoid this conclusion, you must be in the
very act of beginning to do good.
But, then, charity may end elsewhere than
at home. Your maxim does not confine it
there. It doe 9 not limit it at all. For, any
thing in it to the? contrary, charity might
“the Barcan desert pierce.” Why, then,do
you oppose it to that which it does not op
pose?
11. You use the saying as an argument
against missions, or, rather, as a shield to
protect yourself from every arrow let fly
from an agent’s quiver. We meet you on
your own grounj, deny the correctness of the
application, and make bold to demand the
Scripture warrant for it. Who are you to
“ make the Word of God of none effect
through your tradition?”
That we should love our own kindred and
people more than others, is natural and right.
That we are under strong obligations to give
them the gospel, is true. But we owe it,
likewise, to the Chinaman, the African, and
the Hindu, to proclaim the gospel to them.
The claims of our own countrymen are not
exclusive of every other. Other nations aro
not dogs that they should have only the
crumbs that falls from our table. The broad
commission of the ascending Lord bids us
bear to them the bread that cometh down
from heaven. The gospel was first preached
to Israel in fulfillment of promises made to
the fathers, and in furtherance of the divine
plan, which wa9, to begin with those to whom
pertained the adoption, and the glory, and
the covenants, etc. Paul’s conscience bore
him witness in the Holy Ghost, that he had
great heaviness and continual sorrow in his
heart, on account of his kinsmen according
to the flesh. But when he penned this re
cord of a heart earnestly desiring and pray
ing for the salvation of Israel, he was in a
distant heathen city, proclaiming “all the
words of this life” to those “ who sat in the
jegion and shadow of death-”
With a maxim of human invention, which,
we have shown, cannot serve your purpose,
even if it be true, you bar your heart against
the mute pleadings of a world lying under
the wrath of God; and this in the teeth of
express Scripture precept and example.
Your dictum would dishonor the Redeemer
and leave sinners to their fate.
To such absurd and shameful conclusions
does the ill-considered plea of a covetous spirit
lead us. S. P. 0.
West Point, Oa.
Leaves from an Agent’s Memorandum.
Have just finished a little tour from Nava
sota to Cold Springs, in Ban Jacinto county,
and back by Huntsville, to this place. Vis
ited Piantersville, in the lower part of this
(Grimes) county. Piantersville is a lovely
little village, situated on a sandy ridge, sur
rounded by a rich prairie country. Reminds
me so much of the dear home of my boy
hood, Newbern, Ala. Here Elder Dodson,
a pious young brother from Mississippi, is
pastor. He is sustained well by hischurohes.
Here brother James, of Virginia, has a mo9t
excellent academy. Next I came to Mont
gomery, the last earthly home of my dear
old pastor, the sainted Thomas Chilton. Met
Elder Harris, who labors very successfully
as missionary of the Union Association.
Then to Danville, and on Sunday, preached
at Gold Springs. Elder McJunkin, from
South-west Georgia, is pastor here. His
hands, too, are untied.
Here is the home of old brother J. W. D.
Creath, one of the apostles of Texas. It is,
rather, the home of his family. His home
is where mine is now—in the saddle. He
labors a9 missionary of the State Convention,
and most efficient work he does. 1 don’t be
lieve there is a Baptist fireside in the State
where he is unknown. He is laboring now
to build a church in San Antonio, the Gate
City of Texas, and ol Mexico, too. From
ail accounts, it is the most important point
for gospel work, in the State. An effort ha 9
been set on foot to obtain the cooperation of
the Domestio Mission Board in planting a
church there. Brother Creath is one of the
pioneer preachers sent out by the Domestio
Board, with Chandler, Graves, and others.
These Texas Baptists are “Board men.”
{$S 00 A TEAR, t WHOLE NO. 2535
They now reap a rich harvest of good from
the labors of the Boards in their behalf, when
their State was missionary ground. I believe
no man can visit Texas without thanking God
for the Board system.
Rejoicing in the that the breth
ren visited, will love the work of Christ in
heathen lands, I direct my way for thirty
miles through the piny woods to Huntsville.
Poor country, and about the only poor coun
try, of any extent, I have as yet seen. Hunts
ville was the last home of the great Houston.
He was a member of this church, and his
grave is in its cemetery. The State peniten
tiary is here. Crowded with convicts, most
ly negroes. This county is now groaning
under martial law—declared by a radical
Governor, because some three or four young
prisoners got away from the Sheriff. The
unoffending citizens have to pay an extra tax
of four thousand dollars, to support the mili
tia. 0 tempora, 0 mores ! Huntsville church
is without a pastor, Elder VM, W. Gw in
having lately resigned and gone* back East.
It is in a fine country and an interesting place.
On my way thence to Anderson, I preached
at two flourishing country churches —Ebene-
zer and Oakland. The latter is in deep
mourning. T. Henry Atkinson and his fath
er-in-law, William Walker, had just died—
both useful members. Their loss is deeply
lamented by the whole community. These
brethren came from Greensboro, Ala., where
the latter was familiarly known as “Uncle
Buck.” Elder J. H. Stribling is pastor of
the AnderSon and Navasota churches. De
votes all his time to the ministry. How
cheering to find so many churches with min
isters allowed to wait on their ministry.
Brother Stribling is said to be one of the
best in the State. God be praised for such
model men as Stribling. As might be ex
pected. his churches came up nobly to the
work of Foreign Missions. J. L. U.
Anderson, Texas, March 25 th, 1871.
Let the Heart of them Rejoice that Seek
the Lord.—l Chron. xvi: 10.
My God, I thank Thee, who hast made
The earth so bright,
So full of splendor and of joy,
Beauty and light;
So many glorious things are here,
Noble and rightl
I thank Thee more that all our joy
Is touched with pain;
That shadows fall on brightest boors,
That thi.rns remain j
So that earth’s bliss may be our guide,
And not our chain.
I thank Thee, Lord, that Thou hast kept
The best in store;
We have enough, but not too much
To hope for more;
A yearning for a deeper peaoe,
Not known before.
I thank Thee, Lord, that there fire souls,
Though amply blest,
Can never find, although they seek,
A perfect rest;
Nor ever shall, until thoy lean
On Jesus’ breast!
—Adelaide A, Proctor.
Judge Not.
Make no haste to despise
The proud of spirit; pride full often is
A a armor worn to shield from insolent eyes
Our human weaknesses!
Be slow to blame bis course,
Or name him coward, who distains to fight—
Courage may be a blind impelling force,
And wrong as well as right.
—Alice Cary.
Items.
An Abused Talent. —A Congregational
pastor said, not long since, to his flock;
“There are but few in our church who have
even a speaking acquaintance with all the
members of it. Who among us cultivates
acquaintances for Christ’s sake? Here is a
talent the Lord has given us to use for Him.
We have prostituted it to our questionable
plans for raising money, we have hidden it
in the napkin of selfishness, we have dressed
it up in the gewgaws of fashion and restrict
ed its exercise to our chosen circles, we h ive
frittered it away in the silly chit chat of the
evening party, we have mado it drunken in
the giddy whirl of the brainless dance, and
poisoned it with those grossest of modern
abominations, midnight suppers.”
Forever. —Forever ! A grain of sand is
a part of the earth, a drop of water is a part
of the ocean, but a thousand years is no part
of eternity.
The Theatre. —By an instinct which is
quick and unerring, the church and the thea
tre have recognized each other as antagonists.
They are not merely rivals, striving, each in
its way, to catch the popular ear, but they
are foes—made so by the fact that one is the
servant and representative of Christ, and the
other the friend and representative of the
world; the truth governing this and every
similar case being, that “the friendship of
the world is enmity with God.” All history
shows that the Church is right in its judg
ment, its own increase in spirituality and
power being signalled by a decline in the at
tractiveness of the theatre, and the theatre
regaining its hold upon the multitude just as
the spiritual tone of the Church is lowered.
—Presb.
Church Gotng. —Rev. E. Lathrop, D.D.,
quotes from one of the old record books ot
the Stamford, Conti., Baptist, church : October
8, 1797. Died, at Norwalk, Sybil White
head, aged 110 years —a member of this
church, baptized October 5,1788, in the 99th
year of her age. She lived at Norwalk,
where she kept school, and for years fre
quently came, on horseback, to Stamford, (a
distance of thirteen miles from her home,) to
attend public worship—coming on Saturdays
and returning on Mondays. The last time
she came to Stamford was in May, 1789, at
which time she was 109 years old. She then
walked nine miles, and also returned on foot.
“ Metaphysics.” —The following from an
article on “ the Finite and the Infinite,” in a
Chicago Quarterly, is an irfttance of meta
physics as defined by the blacksmith of Gla
mis—speech, the meaning of whioh is known
by neither the one who hears nor the one who
utters it: “What is present is, therefore,
Otherness in generator a universal Being
for Other, which, because it is a single Beiiig
for-Other, is more properly Being-for-Ono.
That is, the,Singleness of the determination
sublates the Otherness.”
Fear.— The Christian Leader—Universal
ist—admits that, if, as is alleged by the or
thodox, there is no place for fear in the Uni»
versalist theory, Universalism stands con
demned by human nature, and by every rule
of common prudence.
Silence. —George Elliot writes that “ Half
the sorrows of women would be averted if
they could repress the speech they know to
be useless; nay, the speech they have re
solved not to utter.”
A Reasonable Fear. —A twelve-year old
Swedish girl, who, after a fortnight’s trial,
left a house in Maine in which she was em
ployed as a domestic, said she liked the place
and the people, but dared not live with folks
who never prayed.
Hot and Cold. —Dr. Emmons was asked
who were Arminians. He said the Method
ists and Unitarians. Perceiving a dissimi
larity in the polity and spirit of these two
sects, I asked, “Is there really no difference
theologically V* He replied, “ J U9t the same
difference there is between a hot pudding and
a cold one.”