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CHRISTIAN INDEX AND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST. VOL 50—NO. 15. 18 Mis lift A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY PAPER, fUBLIBHIB WEEKLY IBT ATLANTA, OA AT $3.00 PER ANNUM, Invariably in Advance. 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.”