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Christian Index and sodth-western baptist. *:*• . ' -•* « ' ' v *" t - ■* - .L. ..-At ... « VOL. 50—NO. 23. A Religious and Family Paper, PUBLISHED WEHELY IS ATLANTA, OA., AT „ , , Three' Dollars per Annum, Invariably in advance. twr: .. ■ ■ .■■■" y, , f . . J. J. TOON Proprietor Transverse and Parallel. My will, dear Lord„from Thine doth run Too oft a different way; ’Tis hard to s y, ‘'Thy will be done,” In every darkened day 1 My heart ((rows chill To see Thy will Turn all life’s gold to gray. My will is set to gather ftowent, Thine blights them in my hand, Mine reaches for life’s sunny hoars, Thine leads through shadow land/ And all my days (Jo on in ways I cannot understand. Vet more and more this truth doth shine From failure and from loss, The will that runs transverse to Thine Doth thereby make its cross; Thine upright will Cuts straight and still Through pride, and dream, and dross. But if in parallel to Thine My will doth meekly run, All things in hearen and earth are mine, My will is crossed by none: Thou art in me, And I in Thee— Thy will—and mine—are done I Churchman. The Introductory Sermon, Preached before the Southern Baptist Convention May Wth, 1871, in the Third Baptist Church, St. Louts, Mo., by Rev. Wm. Williams, V. D., of the Southern Baptist Thsological Seminary, Oreenville, S. 0. “And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord which he will shew to you to-day. And the Lord said unto Moms, Wherefore coniest thou unto me? Speak unto the chil dren of Israel that they go forward.”— Exodus xtv : 13, 15. The circumstances under which these words were uttered, are quite familiar to every Bi ble reader. The children of Israel had just been emancipated from a slavery in Egypt, of long continuance. This had been effected by repeated and unmistakable manifestations of God’s disapprobation of its longer contin uance, in the plagues sent upon the land. It is not surprising that it should have required these repeated and increasingly severe mani festations to bring Pharaoh to consent to their emancipation. He had not enslaved them. This wrosg had been done to them long be fore, —perhaps a century or two before his day. fie found them slaves. He never knew them in any other condition. They constituted a large and useful part of the population of his kingdom. They were very profitable as slaves, and would be very dan gerous, it was believed, in any locality, as freedmen. Considerations, therefore, both of great pecuniary loss on the one hand, and of serious danger to the kingdom on the other, by emancipation, would naturally make him strongly opposed to it. But God’s purposes are not to be thwarted either by man’s cu- pidity or fear. When these stand in the way of His plans, He can move them out of the way by more sensible and powerful appeals to them in the opposite direotion. The ter rific.storm of hail and mingled fire, destroys ing the cattle and all the grown up crops, followed by the locusts, darkening the ground by thjeir very multitude, and eating “ every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left ’’—thus threatening a national famine; and the thick darkness, “ even darkness that might be felt,” that rested upon the land for threedays, filling them with consternation, followed by the midnight cry of anguish through all the land, and the fear that they would “ all be dead men,” turned cupidity and fear into aotive advocates pf emancipation. Pharaoh and his people became eager to let the children of Israel go. They freely gave them the jewels of gold and silver, and the raiment which they asked, glad to furnish them with anything which would expedite their departure.- Thus pro vided, by the liberality of the people, with ■whatever wa9 required by their new condi tion, or necessary for their journey, they take their triumphant leave of Egypt. From their original point of departure, a few days’ journey northward; along the border of the desert and the shore of the Mediterranean, would have brought them to the promised land. But God’s ways tflre not our ways. A people just emancipated from the unfavora ble influences of slavery, and, consequently, strangers to feelings of self-reliance and self respect, and hence incapable of noble achieve ments, or of rightly using high position and privilege, must undergo years of preparatory training, and anew generation must spring up, that had never known Egypt or slavery, before they are fit subjects to be invested with dis tinguished national privileges. After prob ably three days’ journey, they encamp in Etham, on the border of the Arabian desert. Here, the Divine command, most surprising, no doubt, and incomprehensible, if they un derstood the situation, was given to them on the fourth day, to change their route from the direct course, and to turn southward, along the western shore of the Red Sea, and encamp in the plain between the sea and the moun tainous chain of Attakah. This movement was reported to Pharaoh, who was, doubtless, closely watching them by bis spies. He saw at once that they had committed, apparently, i a fatal blunder, by placing themselves in a position from whioh they could not possibly, by any human means, escape an attacking foe. Availing himself of the favorable op portunity thus furnished, and with the pur- pose eitner of destroying them as dreaded freed men, or of capturing and reducing them to slavery again, he pursues after them, “ with six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, with captains over every one of them.” “And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eves,” and lo ! to their utter dismay, the Egyptians were pursuing in their rear. “And they were sore afraid,” and in view of the peril that threatened, uttered vehement regrets that they had'ever left their condition of sjavery. It is easy for us, my brethren, to sit in judgment upon them, and to say, “ Oh, faithless and forgetful children of Israel 1 Had they no confidence ip God’s explicit prom ise to bring them out of the power of the Egyptians, and to lead them into the land of Canaan ? Had they so soon forgotten the mighty wonders He had already wrought in their behalf? And was there not, even its/ this extremity, the visible symbol of God’s presence with them, to guide and to protect? Faithless and weak-spirited children *of Is rael, to be thus afraid, and to utter such regrets, with God’s presence with them, and with His past wonderful deliverance of them !” But “ happy is that man that condemneth not not himself” in thus judging them. True, they ought not to have been afraid, and to have such regrets; for their fears were groundless, and their regrets unmanly. But to expert them to have acted otherwise, is to expect of them, under their peculir cir cumstances, a Christian attainment which is too seldom reached under the highest ilhi* mination and the most favorable circumstan ces. They had every earthly reason to be sore afraid. Even with every advantage of position, they could have been no match for the well-appointed and trained army of the powerful kingdom of Egypt. They were but. a confused holt of recently emancipated slaves, Without self-reliance, without military disci- j SS.OO A TEAR.! pline, and without the munitions* of war. But besides this, they were inextricably “ en tangled” and hemmed in by their position. In front and on either side were the deep wa ters of the sea, and the impassable cliffs ot the mountains, whilst in their rear was the large and thoroughly furnished army of Pha raoh, eager to avenge the extorted deed of emancipation. To all human appearance, nothing but unavoidable and wholesale de struction awaited them. In this crisis of im minent peril, and high over all the despairing cries of the panic-stricken multitude, is heard the order of their matchless chief—faithful among the faithless — “Stand still and see thk deliverance of the Lord.” Strange order, it would seem. How difficult for a panic-stricken multitude to obey ! And yet, what else could they do but to stand stilly. and if delivered at all, wait divine deliver ance. Some while after the issue of this order by Moses, comes the voice of their Divine Leader to him : “ Why criest thou unto me?” There is no occasion for your crying unto me. See you not the pillar of cloud in the advance ? There is no time for your crying unto me. See you not Phara oh’s chariots in the rear? “Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward.” “ Stand still and wait,” is the first wise and appropriate order—the only appropriate or der that human lips could have given, under the circumstances. Before their obedience of that, follows the divine order to “go for ward.” If it must have been difficult to obey the first, it must have seemed impossible to obey the second. Yet they did obey. Noble men, after all! Forward they went, though apparently to be drowned in the sea; but be*, fore they could lave their feet in its waters, the cleft waves parted before them, and safe on the other side they sang the triumphant song of deliverance. “ Now, all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.” Let us endeav or this evening, my brethren, to recall some of their familiar lessons of admonition and Instruction, and so to etir up our minds “ by way of remembrance.” ylt ought not to shake the Christian’s faith, nor alarm his confidence in God’s gra cious guidance, that he oonnot see, either at the time or subsequently, the great purpose God has in view in. any strange providence towards him. ft is the privilege and the duty of the child of God to seek to know the ends to be accomplished in all God’s dealings with him—a privilege too little improved, and a duty too much neglected. God must intend that His people shall know some of these ends at least; otherwise the most of His dealings could not be rightly improved by them. And the Christian who studies himself, and studies God’s dealings with him with atl humble, inquiring mind, will generally be able, if not at the time, yet afterward, to un-. derstand the teachings of providence in his own case, and to grow wiser and Detter by them. Yet it may happen, and not unfres quentlv, that God’s way with him, is a mys terious way. Neither at the time, nor sub sequently, can he see its design. Some im mediate ends accomplished by it he may see, but these are not sufficient to explain it, and sometimes, in fact, only the more becloud it. Its chief purpose was not immediate, but remote; and so remote that the connection between the providence and the design is veiled from human sight. He reaps in after time the accomplishment of the merciful de sign, yet never knows, in this world, to what sore, perplexing providence he is indebted for it. He can know this only in the other world. Very probably, among the discoveries that will first surprise and transport the Christian upon his immediate entrance into the other world, not the least will be the discovery, upon a retrospect of all his checkered life here, of the real connection between God’s providences and their ultimate designs, filling him with adoring gratitude, and enabling him joyously to say, from actual sight, what now he can only tremblingly say from faith— “ Just and true are all Thy ways, Thou King of jaints.” The design of that change of route, so incomprehensible, at the time, to the children of Israel, and whioh placed them in such imminent peril, is not seen merely nor mainly in its immediate results—the pun ishment of Pharaoh and the strengthening of their confidence in Jehovah. Long years afterward, and even when other generations had arisen, they reaped, in many an easy victory over opposing foes, its gracious re sults. “ I know,” said Rahab to the explorers, that the Lord hath given you the land, and “ that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For'we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt.” In the eyes of the neighboring nations it was their inau guration as a nation whose God is the Lord, and whose presence was leading them and fighting for them. 11. Those providenoes which seem at the time to be most adverse to God’s people, and to His own cause, will yet ultimately issue in the highest and most far-reaching good to both. Many such providences opcpr. The of auction is sometimes laid upon the devoted servant of God in the very midst of his greatest usefulness, and puts an end to all his active labors. The ship that is bearing “ a chosen vessel ” to preach the gospel in the metropolis of the greatest empire of the world, Is driven by a “ tempestuous wind,” and “ broken with the violence of the waves.” Another ship, bearing another “ chosen ves*. sel,” may go down in mid-oeean, and the devoted missionary find a resting place be neath its waters, instead of a field of labor among the heathen whom he had given up all to save. A whole people, in the providence of God, are brought from wealth to poverty, discouraged and crippled in all their efforts, and their best laid plans of usefulness almost brought to nought, at the very time when success and wider usefulness were opening before them. “All these things are aggingt me,” said the desponding, despairing 4 acob. so they could not but seem to his dim, imperfect view. Yet they were laden with mercy to him, and far-reaching blessings to his posterity. “ Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?” Yet, upon the other side, and in a wide and open place they raised the shout of deliverance, and three hundred years afterward did their enemies say, “ Woe unto us, for who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods that smote the Egyp tians.” Now, all things were written for our admonition. And shall we not, once for all, receive the admonition? Shall we, “upon whom the ends of the ages have come,” be always learning, over and over again, the familiar truth that we can see providence only in small sections? That the way, therefore, which is dark and crooked to us, is yet redly light and straight? That the darkness and crookedness are not in the way, but only in our limited vision? Ah! weak and unwor thy faith, if it.deserve the name of faith at all, that trusts God in the light, but doubts Him io the dark. God’s providence never moves backward, however, it may sometimes so seem to us. It spans ages, and looks far beyond the narrow horizon of our view, and the short limit of our lives, to generations yet unborn—reaching its own glorious pur FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY JUNE 8, 1871. poses by ways that often seem to us to lead in the opposite direction. IIL Another important truth suggested by the text, is, that R Christian is sometimes, in the providence of God, so situated that all he can do is to do nothing. He is not permit ted to contribute anything by active, aggress ive effort, to the onward movement of Chris tianity. The great Captain of his salvation has assigned him his position as a soldier of the cross, with the order to “ stand still.” At one of the great battles of recent times, the commander-in chief placed a portion of his then at a certain position on the field, with the simple order to stand there. Wave after wave of the shock of battle rolled against the faithful band as there they stood, doing noth ing but standing there. When their ranks had become fearfully thinned, a rider in rapid haste rushed into the presence of the com mander, to tell him that entire destruction awaited them if they stood there any longer. “ Tell them to stand there,” was the relent less order. “ You’ll find us there/' was the heroic reply. Look at'that Christian whom sore afflictions have laid aside from, or never permitted to engage in, the blessed activities of Christian work. He can do nothing but stand still and patiently endure. His ardent soul pants to be actively engaged as others are, or as he himself once was. Starid still, says God. And as the highest excellence of a soldier upon the field of battle, is not to be seen in obeying the command to “go for ward,” bnt in simply standing still in his place and seeing victory led by others—so the highest Christian excellence is not to be seen in the activities, even the perilous activ ities, of Christian work. Go into that hum ble dwelling, and see that widowed mother patiently toiling for her little ones, with a cheerful spirit, amid poverty and want, con tentedly struggling against the pressure of difficulties that seem about to ovet whelm, eating her scanty meal with a quiet, thankful heart that envies not the rich, the proud, or the gay; or go into that dirty hovel and see that neglected one enduring protracted suffer ing with a patient, uncomplaining spirit that says, “Oh, my Father, not my will, but .Thine be done ;” and you have nobier exhi bitions of Christian excellence and of high Christian heroism, than ever blazed around the martyr’s stake. God give us grace, not not only to obey the order to go forward, but what is often far more difficult, to obey the order to stand still. IV. But an important truth, more directly contained in the text, is, that the Christian’s way is sometimes so hedged by the provi dence of God, that he knows not what to do, nor which way to turn. In whatever direc tion be looks to find the path of duty, diffi culties, and apparently insurmountable ob stacles, present themselves. To sr forward seems impossible, and to go backward is to surrender. What shall he do? Indulge in discouraging complaints and peevish fault finding ? Not so do we read the lesson of the text. Let him stand still and wait the deliverance of the Lord. Let him closely watch the indications of Providence, seeking wisdom to interpret them aright, that he may ascertain the path of duty, and then let him go forward in it, whatever may seem to be the difficulties and discouragements in the way. These will disappear as he advances. Either they will be found to be imaginary, which is frequently the cas'e, or if real, they will be moved out of the way in due time. *‘The slothful man saittf there is a lion with out,” but there is no lion except in his own groundless apprehension. “ Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sep ulchre ?” said the disconsolate women on love’s sad errand. But when they reached the &ep ulchre, there was no stone to be rolled away. The difficulty had already been removed. We must, however, distinguish here, between the embarrassments and perplexities into which our self-sufficiency has brought us, and those into which the providence of God has brought us. Providence does not do everything that is done in the world. It sometimes permits us to have our own way, and to do some things in our own way, and they are always bunglingly done to our discomfiture. When we would direct our way, in reliance upon the resources of worldly wisdom apd carnal polioy, to the neglect of earnest prayer for divine guidance, and in forgetfulness of our. dependence, and then find ourselves, as sure ly we will, “entangled” in difficulties, we have no warrant to “ stand still and see the deliverance of the Lord.” Our duty, then, is, with all promptness, to retrace our steps, and to place ourselves in line with the pillar of cloud and of fire. But when the guidance of that pillar has put us into difficulties, it will surely lead us out, if we will prayerfully watch its indications, and faithfully follow them, when ascertained,however discouraging the prospect may be. The only practical difficulty in such case, is, the being sure, on the one hand, that it is the pillar, and not our mismanagement and folly, under the garb of human policy and wisdom, that has “ entan gled ” us, and on the other, that the indica tions of Providence point to this or that path of duty under the circumstances. Y et thi s> after all, is no great difficulty, if we apply to the resource which the Apostle James has taught us will be effectual in just such a case —“ If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, and it shall be given him.” Os all neglected duties, perhaps none is more neg lected by the people of God, than a watchful observation of His providence, and a prayer ful inquiry concerning its indications. V. “ Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward.” What! forward into still greater difficulties? Yes,forward in the same direction that had led them into their difficul ties, and which, it seemed, would lead them into greater. Whenever the discharge of what seems to be- clearly indicated duty, or the maintenance of enlightened convictions, brings us into trials and peril, the trying aud perilous consequence does not, of itself, furn ish any evidence of the iqpqrreetness of our course, or any reason to hesitate' in its main tenance. Yet how apt we are to fall into this very mistake. What, if the children of Is rael had said, “ Surely we have made a mis take in following the pillar; it is an erring guide,” and had hesitated to go on? “For ward,” said God. So multifarious and pow erful are Satan’s resources, so lamentably slow is the progress of religious toleration, not to say religious liberty, and so fierce and vindictive is sometimes the spirit of religious partyism, that the path of duty may some times lead through circumstances of great trouble and trial. The difficulties in the way may seem insurmountable. The enemies that hover on our path may be many and strong. It may sometimes happen that the opposition encountered is most painful to meet. The. father may be divided against the son and the son against the father; the moth er against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; and a man’s foes may be of hie own household. But between obedi ence to duty and personal comfort or safety, there can be no choice to the follower of Jesus. “Forward,” is the word of com mand ; and he who hesitates is unfaithful to his duty, and he who refuses is unfit for the kingdom of heaven. The subject and the occasion render not inappropriate some brief reference to the I origin and progress of our Convention. The time has not Come to write its history. Only twenty-six years have elapsed since its organ ization,’and almost all the-pt&mioent actors in its earliest operations, are still with us, in God’s kind providence. Yet we may profit ably, perhaps, briefly reviewvaome facts of its history. The Southern Baptist Convention was or ganized in the city of Augusts, Georgia, in the month of May, 1845. IT originated in a withdrawal of the Southern churches from union and cooperation with “the General Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States,” popularlf known as the Triennial Convention. Tnis body was organ ized in Philadelphia, May 21, 1814. It had at first but one object,—the prosecution of Foreign Missions. This work was confided to a Board of Commissioners styled, “ The Baptist Board of Foreign Missions in the United States,” and located, finally, at Bos ton. At the first Triennial session in 1817, the one object of the Convention was enlarged so as to embrace Domestic Missions, both ob jects being entrusted to the one Board, until an experience of several yearssbowed that it was wiser to confine the labors of thb Board to the one object of Foreign Do mestic Missions being withdrawn from the Convention and its Board, itrTsro,and thgire being a growing desire and demand for be nevolent effort in this direction —a natural result of the Foreign Mission work—“ the American Baptist Home Mission Society was organized in Philadelphia in 1832. If it seem desirable to any, on the Boore of econ omy, to merge our Foreign and Domestic Boards into one, let us profit the experi ence of our brethren in past years,-and hesi- tate to sacrifice efficiency to a mistaken econ omy. The Constitution of the Trierlnial Conven tion, as well as the history of its proceedings from the beginning, conferred on all the mem bers of the Baptist denomination in good standing, whether at the North or the South, eligibility to all appointments emanating from the Convention or the Board. Unmistakable indications, however, not necessary nor profit able to speak of particularly, prompted the Alabama Baptist State Convention, in 1844, to adopt a preamble and resolftions to be transmitted to the Board of FortignJMissions of the Triennial Convention, the second of the resolutions being as follows » “ That our duty at this crisis requires us to demand from the proper authorities in all thdse bodies to whose funds we have contribulK<Vor with whom we have in any way been connected, the distinct, explicit avowal tfyat‘ slaveholders are eligible, and entitled, equally with non slaveholders, to all the privileges and immu nities of their several unions; and especially to receive any agency, mission <ir other ap pointment which may run within s he scope of their operations or duties.” TV this the Board, in the course of their reply, frankly and explicitly said: “If any one should offer himself as a missionary, having slaves, and should insist on regaining them ss his prop erty, we could not appoint him.""One thing is certain; we can never be a p'trty to any ar-augenr it which would imply approbation of slavery.'® 1 When this reply was made known, the Board of the Va. Foreign Mission Society addressed a circular to tne Baptist churches of Virginia, communicah> l g this de cision of the Board of the TrientJifct Conven- tion, and containing, among otherwa resolu tion, “ th£< *his the present exigency, it is important that those brethren who are aggrieved by the recent decision of the Board in Boston, should hold a Convention, to confer on the be9t means of promoting the Foreign Mission cause, and other interests of the Baptist de nomination in the South;” and suggesting Augusta, Ga., as a suitable place for holditig such Convention, and Thursday before the second Lord’s day in May, 1845, as a suitable time. Both at the North and the South a separation seemed inevitable. At the North, it was desired by many, regretted by a few, and expected by all. Among the Northern churches, so prevalent was becoming the op position to Christian fellowship and coopera tion with Southern churches, that there would have been a disastrous rupture among them selves, if a separation of the Southern churches had not taken place, even without its being forced upon them by the infringe ment of their rights and the denial of their moral equality. Already, in 1843, there had been organized in Boston, a Fiee Mission So ciety in opposition to the Board of the Tri ennial Convention, and upon the expressed basts of non-co&peration with Southern church es. The Society was steadily gaining favor, and seriously crippling the resources, if not endangering the very existence of the Board of the Convention, as one that affiliated with Southern Christians. If there must be a rup ture, it was, very naturally, preferred by the North, that it should be between the North and the South, and not between themselves. The New York Baptist Register, for April 6, 1845, said: “What, then, but an increased division at the North can be looked for by further efforts to perpetuate the union ? A serious rupture in the North is seemingly in evitable, if it be longer insisted on, and com promises and accommodations are arranged to effect it. . . . Would it not be seemingly far better that if there be a division, it take place between the North and the South? Few of us, seriously considering the matter, even with strong sympathy for the South, can come to any other decision. For ourselves, we deplore the necessity of the division; but when things reach such a crisis as.they appear to have done, deplore it as we may, there is no prospect of peace or comfort in the con tinuance, and weakness rather than wisdom would yield to efforts to effect it. Is there any prospect of making our annual meetings any other than places of excitement ar.d de bate, if the union should longer be maintained ? We certainly cannot see a glram of hope, nor do we believe any one else can. If so, why is it not best that our Southern brethren take their position on one side of the line, and we take ours on the other, and engage its the various departments of benevolent effort with renewed zeal and increased liberality ? If this should he done, why may we not ex pect that both the North and the South will do much more than they have ever done be fore But if the subject of slavery were entirely out of the way, we are strongly in clined to the opinion that such division would be desirable on account of the immense ex tent of our country. The distance for dele- gates to travel is exceedingly burdensome and expensive; and the Executive Boards being located far to the North, leaves the South almost without a sense of responsibili ty, and tends to keep them in wetate of com parative indifference and inaction. Whereas, if they possessed a separate and distinct organ ization of the great interests within their own precincts, it would break up their leaning so much on the North as they have done, call out their resources and energies, make them better acquainted with their own ability, and train them to independence and efficiency l” These latter were wise words then, and they are wiser words now. Before the proposed Convention in Augus ta could meet to deliberate upen any course fur the future, a separation had virtually been made by the Home Mission Society, ftt its meeting in Providenoe, April, 1845. At that meeting Dr. Maginnis, of New York, pro posed the following preamble and resolu tions: “ Whereas, The American Baptist Home Mission Society is composed of con tributors residing in slaveholding and non slaveholding Sitates; and whereas , the Con stitution recognizes no distinction among the members of the Society as to eligibility to all the offices and appointments in the gift, both of the Society and of the Board 1 ; and where as, it has been found that the basis on which the Society was organized is one upon which all the members and friends of the Society are not now willing to act; therefore 1. Resolved, That in oor opinion it is ex pedient that the members now forming the Society, should hereafter act in separate or ganizations at the South and at the North, in promoting the objects which were originally contemplated by the Society. 2. Resolved, That a committee be appoint ed to report a plan by which theotject contem plated in the preceding resolution may be ac complished in the best way,.and at the earliest period of time, consistent with the preserva tion 6f the constitutional righ ts of all the mem bers, and with the least possible interruption of the missionary work of the Society.’’ This was adopted by a considerable ma jority, and in puijusnce of the second resolu tion a committee was appointed which report ed that “as the existing Society was planted in the North, has its Executive Board, and there received a Charterof Incorporation which it seems desirable to preserve, and as a sepa ration seems to many minds inevitable, owing to the strong views of churches and indi viduals against the appointment of slave holders to serve the Society, and as such views prevail principally at the North,” it was there fore recommended “that the existing organiza tion be retained by the Northern and other churches which may be willing to act together upon the basis of restriction against tbe ap pointment of slaveholders.” Tttis was adopt ed by an almost Ainanimous vote. Such, then, is the basis of the Home Mission Society. Os course, therefore, only those can consistently work with it and under its appointment, who recognize the scriptural propriety of such a restriction. The Board of the Triennial Convention hav ing, by if® decision, cut off Southern ministers from the privilege of preaching the gospel to the heathen by their appointment, if any should at any time feel called to do so, and the Home Mission Society having declared a separation from Southern Churches expedient, and hav ing made arrangements to effect it upon the avowed ground of an unwillingness to work together with them upon terms of Christian equality, it Was seen that there was but one course for the Southern Churches to pursue, if Southern Christians were to have the privilege of preaching the gospel to the heathen abroad and to the destitute at home. However pain ful a separation might be, and whatever might be its responsibility, it was felt that it rested not upon them. They were not making the separation. It wa9 forced upon them, and the deed and the responsibility rested upon others. Dr. Wayland, in a letter to Dr. Jeter, said: “You will separate, ot course; I contd notask otherwise. Your rights have been infringed. 1 will take the liberty of offering one or two suggestions. We have shown how Christians ought not to act; it remains for you to show us how they ought to act. Put away all vio lence, act with dignity and firmness, and the j»orld.wiM- approve ypur coarse ” ; ~ At the call of the Board of Managers of the Virginia Baptist Foreign Mission Society, there assembled in Augusta, May 8, 1845, three hundred and ten delegates from the States of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, and the District of Columbia. Ow ing to the short notice of the meeting of the Convention, other States were reported only by letter. Rev. Wm. B. Johnson, D.D., was chosen President. It was resolved, “that a committee o? two from each State represented in this meeting be appointed to prepare and report a preamble and resolution for the ac tion of the Convention.” The resolution re ported by that committee is as follows : “Resolved, That for peace and harmony, and in order to accomplish the greatest amount of good, and for the maintenance of those scriptural principles, on which the General Missionary Convention of the Baptist denom ination of the United States was originally formed, it is proper that this Convention at once proceed to organize a Society for the propagation of the gospel.” This was unanimously adopted, and the same committee, with some additions, was appointed to prepare a Constitution. The committee reported a Constitution, which, after some amendments, was adopted unan imously. In the Address of the Convention “to the brethren in the United States; to the congregations connected with the respective churches; and to all candid men,” it is said— “ The Constitution we adopt is precisely that of the original union ; that in connection with which, throughout his missionary life, Adoni ram Judson has lived, and under which Ann Judson and Boardman have died. We recede from it no single step. * * * We use the very terms, as we uphold the true spirit and great object of the General Convention of the Baptist denomination of the United States.” It would seem, then, from the reso lution above quoted, and from this extract from the Address of the Convention, that the Southern Baptist Convention, formed upon the Constitution of the Triennial Convention, and “for the maintenance of those scriptural principles” on which it “was originally form ed,” is the real and proper successor and con tinuator of that body, which, at a special meet ing held in New York, November 19, 1845, was “dissolved,” and the American Baptist Missionary Union, with an entirely new Con stitution and a different basis of membership, organized in its stead. At the meeting in Augusta, a Board of For eign Missions was appointed, to be located in Richmond, Va., and one for Domestic Mis sions, to be located in Marion, Ala. Before the adjournment of the Convention, it was re-! solved, “that with profound gratitude to the Great Head of the Church, this Convention recognizes the harmonious and unanimous ac tion to which it has arrived, and that we re-* gard the exhibition of the Christian spirit which has governed its deliberations as a pledge of the divine blessing in the origin and prosecution of this organization. The formation of a Convention by the South ern churches, holding its meetings within their bounds, with Boards for Foreign and Domes tic Missions located within their midst, had the effect, as was anticipated by the Baptist Register, to quicken their sense of responsi bility, and to develop their resources and eo* ergies to an extent which had not been done, and probably could not have been done, by a Convention generally meeting in a distant sec tion of the country, and by a Board located very far away from them. This is seen by a comparison of the contributions of thechurches to Domestic Missions for the first thirteen years of the Southern Baptist Convention with their contributions to the same cause for the ] thirteen years of their connection with the American Baptist Home Mission Society, The total sum contributed "by them to this Society from 183*2 to 1845, M is shown in the report of our Domestic Mission Board for 4859, was $38,656 in round numbers. The total sum contributed by them to the Board in Marion, from 1846 to 1859, was, in round numbers, $204,715, besid|s contributions to Indian Missions of $01,614, making a total of $266,356, against $38,656. As-examples of progress in individual States, the contributions of Virginia from 1832 to 1845, were $9,182. The contributions of the same State from 1846 to 1859, were $40,474- The contribu tions of Georgia from 1832 to 1845, were $9,529; from 1846 to 1859, $42,4'61. The contributions of Alabama from 1832 to 1845 were $493 ; from 1846 to 1859, $44,259. The meao3 are not at hand to make a similar com parison with reference to Foreign Missions; but it is probable that the progress was still greater in these Missions, for our ..churches have always contributed more liberally to this cause. Comparing the contributions of the last six years with {hose of the same pe riod immediately preceding the war, the re* suit shows that from 1855 to 1861 the contri butions to Domestic Missions were, evenly stated, $123,329; and from 1865 tq 1871, they were $152,302. This statement was not intended to show, in either period, the contri butions of the churches in full; those to In dian Missions, to Bible distribution, to'the Sunday-School Board, and to local societies hieing excluded, that\he comparison may be made with reference to Domostiu Missions proper, the means being more readily at band to make the comparison in that form. Com paring the contributions to Foreign Missions during the same two periods, it appears that from 1855 to 1861, the contributions evenly, stated, were $201,030, and from 1865 to 1871, $107,847. (The larger amount to Domestic than to Foreign Missions during the last six years Is accounted for by the increased de mand for work in the home department, ow ing to well understood circumstances —the Foreign Board, consequently, not pressing its work.) It is quite possible that these figures may not be precisely accurate, but they are very nearly so, and sufficiently so for a just comparison. The total sum in both depart ments, for the last six years, is $260,149, against $324,359 for the six years from 1855 ty 1861. This seems to be a great falling off. But is it more, nay, is it as much as might reasonably have been expected when w£ re member that the strength of our Southern churches is found, not in the towns and oities, but in the oduntry, and that the embarrass ments arising from 9udden emancipation and a consequently disorganized labor system, have fallen specially hard upon that portion of our people, if not in the actually greater dim inution of their ability to contribute than has befallen any other portion, yet certainly in greater perplexity and confusion, very natu rally diverting, for the time, their attention and interest from the object of our Conven tion. Is it not fair to sAy that, making due allowance for our circumstances, we have really done more, relatively, for the last six years than previously ? The annual reports of our Boards are showing a steady progress ; and as our people learn to adjust themselves, with equanimity, to the new position—which they are doing as rapidly as amazing misrule and plunder will permit—and as they rise from the pressure that is upon them, may we not fairly expect that, in no very distant years, more will bp done by them than has ever yet been doue for % the spread ’of the gospel and the enterprises both of moral and men tal culture which should enlist a Christian’s prauers and We have no real ground for discouragement, but much fjr en couragement and thankfulness. In the 750,- 000 Southern Baptists, excluding colored, we have a people liberal-minded and dispoSed to work, whenever the pastors througKout the land really awaken their attention to Zion's wants and to the world’s moral necessities. With these thousands of Christians there is yet weaith enough to overflow the treasury of the Lord, when we shall have learned how to call it forth. At home, we have a wide terri tory greatly needing and gladly receiving missionary and Sunday school work, whilst abroad, not only heathen lands, but the old countries of Europe, even Spain and Italy, the very centres of papal power and darkness, are offering inviting fields to our Foreign Board. True, indeed, we have labored, and do yet labor, under great difficulties. But there i9 no Red Sea before us. And if there were, with the Red Sea before them, God said to Israel, “Go forward .” Alas! for the faith that shrinks before difficulties, or the manli liness that cowers before obstacles and site down to repine, or is willing to lean on the strong arm of another at the sacrifice of its own independence and energies. In firm reliance upon Israel’s God, let us sustain our Convention by giving to each one of its Boards a hearty and undivided support. We are not able to divide our support. Our own or ganizations, if they are to be maintained with an efficiency worth maintaining at all, require our entire and exclusive sympathy and assistance. Only our own organizations can enlist, to any considerable extent, the co-operation and energies of the mass of our people. A divided sympathy and support will only, therefore, cause our Convention to languish; will bring discord into our own counsels, paralyze our own resources, and in jure iu the end the Lord’s work, without ac complishing, probably, the end which it may have had in view. The blessing of God has rested upon our labors in the past, and we may confidently expect it to rest upon them in the future, if we be true to Him and to ourselves. Beacons. A reputable member of a Baptist ohurch held a responsible position in an extensive busi ness concern. His wife was a zealous and ar dent woman, and prayed in the social meetings with fervor and devotion. The piety of both was unquestioned. In the eourse of time it began to be whispered about that Ac occasion ally ‘ifcipped the elbow.” In a few years, through intemperance, he lost his situation. Ere long his house and furniture were sold t-o pay his debts. Delirium tremens seized him and he died. During the husband’s sickness, the wife was constantly in liquor, and at the time of his decease, she was an inmate of the Asylum for the Insane. The pastor of a large church in the largest city in our country contracted the habit of oc casional drinking. He soon became occa sionally intoxicated. Ministerial brethren re* I rnonstrated with him, and urged him to break I the chains which were upon him. He de clared he could not do it even if he lost his soul. In the midst of his years he died from disease superinduced by-intoxicating liquor. Thousands of similar cases might "be found, if search were made. B. W. I. .'»■ 1 '.in'—. I '..11/ I. Thb of Catechization.— During a discussion of the subject of catechization at a recent conference meeting in Virginia, Rev. 8. Schaeffer, gave the following testimony to the blessed results of catechization : “I thank God for the blessings whioh he has conferred upon me through its use. 1 was not inclined to pay the greatest regard to religion when very young, but when my eider brothers and sis ters attended the catechetical classes of our paator, and 1 saw the tears of my pious mother whenl stayed away, I could no longer remain unconcerned. I attended the classes, and Got i blessed the instruction and prayer there of fered to the conversion of my soul. Should 11 not, therefore, believe in it V | $3.00 A YEAR. [ 5/f ,, God’s Love q ' It is written, upon your dsrk cloud, it breathes from the . lips of your'bleeding wounds, it is reflected in every fragment of your ruined treasure, it is pencilled upon every leaf of your blighted flower. Adversity may have impoverished you, calamity may have orushed you, sickness may have laid you low, but “God is love!” Let thy soul' calmly, submissively relit in God. flow sweet the music which then Will breathe from thy lips ia the midnight of grief! And who can bring you into this position ? The Holy Spirit alone can. It is his office to lead you to Jesus, to reveal to you Jesus, to exhibit to your eye the cross of Jesus, to pour into your hcjart the grace and love and sym pathy of Jesus, to bend your will and bow your heart-to the government of Jesus, an! thus bring you into the condition of one whose will in ail things is completely merged in God’s. “Ask mod receive.”-—Sou. Presb. Lutheran Testimony. An eminent Lutheran divine in Germany, wrote to a niece who was troubled on the matter of baptism, and the letter was oom municated to the. Religious Herald by her brother-inlaw: * ’ “They,” the Baptists, “do not strive fbr anything new whatever; but they only desire to reinstate the purity of the ancient Church. Therefore, they demand before baptism that faith whioh has been awakened through the preaohing of the gospel, and this faith is not created through the sacrament, but is by it proved and confirmed. They reject infant baptism, but not the baptism of children of the age at which we confirm them (14 years.) They agree in this with all the harbingers of the Reformation : Peter Bruis, Wald us, Wick liffe, and even Hues. Even Luther was at first inclined to reject infant baptism, but he was deterred by the cruelties of the Anabap tists, ( Wiedertaeufer.). He well felt the difficulty of justifying infant baptism, which becomes evident from a perusal of his * Large Catechism.* In the ‘Small Catechism’ he does not speak at all of infant baptism, but gives the true answer to question No. 2. What good does baptism do 1 ‘lt marks for giveness of sins, saves from death and the devil and gives salvation to all who believe, as written in the Word and promise of God.’ The same in question No. 3. Melancthon was still more unsteady at first. The most celebrated dogmatical professor of our times, Julius, Muller, of Halle, says: * When the or thodox, or rather,hyperorthodox Lutheran dog matics try to prove-a faith of sucklings, in or der to justify infant baptism, they do something about which we can positively entertain no serious thoughts.’ All the passages cited to prove infant baptism, do not treat of the same; some even disprove it. (1 leave out the passages qnoted here, and singly dis proved.) For this reason'do all honest, and soholarly searchers after truth acanowl edge that the Church had no trace of infant baptism for the first 150 years, but that it was a later introduction; that after about 200 years the celebrated Bishop Tertullian preached against the innovation, at Carthage, with great zeal; that Augustine is the first to defend the same, about 400; and that it became common through the punishments in flicted upon the rejecters of the doctrine by Jastiniah. Julius Muller, therefore, says /that those who reject it- are not heterodox. iThe same is said by Sohleiermacher, der and Twestin.” • The Diamond and Man. The diamond, though exceeding in value - more than a hundred thousand times its mass of gold, the most cherished treasure of kings and the mo9t brilliant ornament of their crown, is of all precious stones “ the meanest m its elements, the weakest in its structure, and the most perishable in its nature; a lump of coal that heat reduces to a cinder and dissi pates into that insalubrious gas, which as cends from the most putrid marsh;” its na tive bed is among rough valleys, barren rocks, and desolate regions. He who can take suoh elements, so valueless and perishable in them selves, and form them into a brilliant so daz zling, so precious and so enduring, can take such elements as those found in the nature of fallen man, an offcast in this world of pollu tion, and form them into a gem whioh shall be the brightest ornament of heaven, and a peculiar treasure of the King of kings, set in the very front of His crown, and worn on His heart. —Burr owes' Song of Solomon. WHOLE NO. 2543. What la a Gentleman l In the course of an address to the Leeds Young Men’s Christian Association, delivered lately by the Bishop of Manchester, his lord ship said: “ Some people think a gentleman means a man of independent fortune —a uian who has his clothes made in the height of fashion by the most expensive tailor, a man who keeps a large establishment, a man who fares sumptuously every day, a mati who need not work hard for his daily bread. None of these things make a gentleman —not one of them. ' Nor all of them together. I have known, when I had charge of country parish es, and when I was brought closer into con tact with working men than, from my changed position, lam brought now—l have known men of the roughest exterior, who had been accustomed all their lives to follow the plough and to look after horses, as thorough gentle men in heart as any nobleman that ever wore a ducal coronet. I mean I have .known them as unselfish, I have known them as truthful, I have known them ns tender, I have known them as kind, I have known them as sympa thizing; and all these qualities go to make what I understand by,the term * a gentleman. It is a noble privilege which has been sadly prostituted, joSd what I want to tell you is, that the ’humblest man in Leeds, who has the lowest wort: in life to do, may yet, if his heart be tender, and pure, and true, be, in the ’ntoat emphatic sense of the word, a gentle man.” An Honorable Aot.—A friend of mine, not himself a professed Christian, related to me the following: A gentleman in one of our seaport towns deals largely m fish. He is a prominent member of one of the Baptist churches in the town, and a liberal contribu tor to the cause. A few weeks since he went round to the several fishing firms to buy mackerel. He bought of the first firm he called on at a stipulated price, but in pur chasing of the other firms he was obliged to pay more. Calling afterwards on the firm of which he first purchased, for theirbill, he hand ed it back, saying: “You may add fifty cents per barrel to the amount; I paid that to the other firms, end I will pay the same to you. He was not legally bound to do this. Per haps he was not morally bound to do it. Yet who doubts that he is happier for having done it? And besides, may not that single act do more to commend the religion he pro fesses than would the most eloquent and ler vent exhortation T Novels. —A Christian lady, who died not Hong since, relinquished the habit of nove reading and said, “it is the sin which kee t » the soul out of heaven, wastes the time, ft if* ters the intellect.” This voice from the bor ders of eternity should be heeded by Christ liana of aH ages.