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CHRISTIAN SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST. YOL. 50—NO. 44 A Religious and Family Paper, PUBLISHED WEEKLY I* ATLANTA, OA., AT Three Dollars per Annum, Invariably in advance. J. J. TOON, Proprietor “ How is the Strong Staff broken, and the Beautiful Bod!’ ’ “ Dr. N. M. Crawford is dead !” Such was the startling announcement which reached our quiet little city yesterday and sent a painful feeling of bereavement to many hearts. \Y hen the great leveller prostrated the familiar form of Nathaniel Macon Craw ford, he struck a shining mark ; for then a great and good man fell in Israel. There fell the ripe scholar, the able divine, the honest man, and, more than all, the hum ble, devout and child-like Christian. He was a man of the noblest principles, of the purest morality, of the simplest faith, and of the broadest charity. The writer has had very considerable opportunities for observing and knowing men, and he can truly say, that he never mot a finer, more completely developed character than N. M. Crawford. Although possessed of strong passions, he had so completely subjected them to the obedi ence of Christ, that a stranger might sup pose he never felt the force of a powerful impulse, and that he was free from many of the temptations which beset men of warmer tempei’aments and more ardent natures. But no man, perhaps, ever lived who had a warmer heart and stronger sympa thies than the subject of this brief notice. His benevolence was like a majestic river, —broad, placid, and refreshing in its course, and his liberality was bounded only by his ability. For the distressed he always had a heart to feel and a hand to help; and when the secrets of all men shall be revealed, then many a deed of charity performed by N. M. Crawford, and known only to God and the beneficiary, shall receive meet reward. He accepted, as one article of his creed, that “No man livetli unto himself;” and therefore, whenever good was to be done, or evil to be put dotvn, he was always to be found. But he is gone now : the eye that beam ed with Heaven’s own truth, is closed for ever ; the face where candor had fixed her abode, is marred by the ashen hue of death ; and the clod rests upon that manly bosom in which once beat as true and no ble a heart as was ever covered by the blazonry of star and garter. He has gone to join that great caravan of the mighty dead who now “ rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.” Y€s, my brother, a whole denomination bereaved, stand with tearful eyes and chastened hearts to receive the news of thy departure ; but in our sorrow we will say: ■ “ Eropier, thou art gone to rest; Thy toils ana cares are o’er; And sorrow, puiu aud suffering now Shall ne’er distress thee more. Brother, thou art gone to rest; Thy sins are all torgiven; And saints in light have welcomed theo To share the bliss of heaven.” Brother, peace to thy ashes ! Peace to thy soul! H. C. H. Lessons from Creation—No. 11. Another lesson to be learnad from the Mosaic account of the creation is that of Unquestioning Faith. The Bible is not a systematic treatise on theology. If it were, it would probably begin with a labored argument to prove the existence of a God. The Bible at tempts no such proof. It assumes a God to begin with. The very first sentence introduces Jehovah at work. If a man denies the existence of a God, the Bible calls him a fool, and refuses to argue the point. The fact is, that, in this whole matter, argument is, at best, unsatisfactory, unless we use it for other purposes than for that of direct proof. The argument from de sign itself, though it has had such modern advocates as Paley and McCosh, is any thing but satisfactory, unless it be used as indirect proof. Mathematical science itself, rigidly deductive as it is, frequently needs indirect proof. The reductio ad absurdum is a common method of proof in plain geometry. If our natural theologians would only use the argument from design for what it is worth, and not insist upon it as a method of direct proof, we should probably find less difficulty in meeting the scientific objections of some modem investigators. If we were seeking for direct proof of the of a God as is assumed in the Bible, we should greatly prefer to look in the direction of metaphysics, than in that of physics, we should feel more confidence in accepting the argument of Descartes, obscure as it may seem, than in committing ourselves to what is com monly called the argument from design. Descartes built upon an acknowledgment of human ignorance ; and, sceptical as he may seem to be, committed liimself to a theory, which was in reality ‘the highest development of faith. There is a bold humility and a decisive caution about this man, which we cannot but contrast with the flippant assumption of knowledge, which forms the chief feature of much of our modern theological speculation. In fact, modern cosmogony has advanced to such a pitch of self-sufficient complacency, that our chief wonder is that some of our great scientific men don’t illustrate their theories, and, at the same time, astonish the natives of this vulgar earth, by making half-a-dozen worlds some flue morning, by way of getting an appetite for .breakfast. Great artists, however, commonly employ some artisan to perform the mechanical part of their work ; and the trouble would be, that these theories of word-making are so very sublimated and etherial, that no artisan under heaven could possibly un dertake what was to be done. We hear a good deal about reasoning from “ nature up to nature’s God ;” but when this has been done at all, it has been almost exclusively confined to those who have, in one way or another, been enlight ened by revelation. The tendency has been decidedly the other way—namely, to reason down through nature into blind in fidelity, or else to refuse to reason at all, {53,00 A YEAS.} and to,deify nature herself. A greater reasoner than Thomas Hobbes probably never lived; and yet he called his death “ a leap in the dark." Indeed, he was in the dark all his life. Hume was a man of splendid powers; and yet how dark was his life, and how much darker still his death! Voltaire’s genius has rarely been excelled for versatility; yet the man was befogged all his days, and died miserably. We cannot even accept the time-honored proverb, “An undevout astronomer is mad.” If a man looks at nature with the eye of faith, he sees a grand mirror re flecting the attributes of God; but if he looks upon nature with the eye of unbe lief, he finds her reflecting his own wild fancies, or else refusing to throw back any image. Newton having first consulted reverently the oracles of God, peered into the heavens. He was hnmble, child-like, truth-loving ; and he saw and told to the world more mysteries than it was able to receive. He gathered shells on the beach of the great sea of truth, as he humbly said; but the glory of those shells is that “ Wherever they go they will sing of the sea”— they will be representative —and thus they will give momentum to true progress. La place had no faith ; and “ rising to the heavens on the wings of Newton’s faith, he turned his back upon the sun, and came back to earth in the darkness ot his own atheistic shadow.” To accept God’s account of creation re quires faith —humble, child-like trust. The very first sentence in the Bible tests this. It is well to sound the key-note at the beginning. We can thus start right. At the creation, the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. At the birth of Jesus, the an gelic choir took up the notes of the an them. God’s people, the church militant, have ever since been singing it as a great battle song; and when the fight is done, and we lay our armor down, the song ol triumph—the song of Moses and the Lamb —shall celebrate the victory as faith gives place to sight, and grace to glory. Let us, then, be faithful to God; let us hope now, that we may enjoy then ; let us be lieve now, that we may see then. Now, we see through a glass, darkly ; hut then we shall see face to face. It doth not yet ap pear what we shall be ; but we knoiv that when He 6hall appear, wo shall he like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. J. C. lIIDEN. Wilmington, N. C. The Presence of God Worth Dying For. Lord, ’iis an infinite delight To see Thy holy face, To dwell whole ages in Thy sight, And feel Thy vital rays. This Gabriel knows ; and sings Thy name With rapture on Bis tongue; Moses, the saint, enjoys the same, Aud heaven repeats the song. While the bright nation sounds Thy praise From each eternal hill, Bweet odors of exhaling grace The happy region fill. Thy love, a sea without a shore, Spreads life aud joy abroad ; Oj’tis a heaven'worth dying foi To see a smiling God ! Show me Thy face, and I’ll away From all inferior things; Speak, Lord, and here I quit my clay, And stretch my airy wings. Sweet was the jouruev to the sky, The wondrous prophet tried: ‘‘Climb up the mount,” says God “and die The prophet climbed and died. Softly his fainting head he lay Upon his Maker’s breast, His Maker kissed his soul away, And laid his flesh to rest. In God’s own arms he left the breath That God’s own Spirit gave; His was the noblest road tadeuth, - And his the sweetest grave. — Dr. Watts. Answer to “ A Call from Zion,” or, Ministe rial Support. In the Index and Baptist of October sth, Bro. Jos. S. Baker advertises for a pastor for some church, perhaps in S. W. Georgia. He desires a pious, discreet, intelligent young minister, without a fam ily, willing to devote his whole time to the work, and offers him 0400 for his ser vices. He calls the attention of the brethren of Greenville and Richmond to this flattering inducement. To us, this sounds like high sights and low figures, and we would suggest to the brother, that if he would look nearer home, he would be more apt to find ministers of 0400 ability, than in Greenville and Richmond. To state our position, and make known the object of this article, we join issue with Bro. 8., and confess to belong to that class of ministers who believe in re warding men according to their works, and as men cannot work without ability, we believe in rewarding ability. As this ' n heavenly rule, we feel that it is not very sinful to practice the same on earth. We hope, therefore, the brethren of Greenville and Richmond have taught their pupils to properly appreciate their abilities, and to take care that they do not throw their pearls before swine. We simply mean just this : that any Baptist church that says 0400 is a sufficient re ward for the time and services of a pious, discreet, intelligent Greenville graduate, is too much lacking, either in piety, dis cretion, or intelligence, to be behefitted much if they really had the pastor their human pride makes them desire. If we know our own hearts, we are not disposed to make grave charges without cause, but if language means anything, we cannot regard Bro. Baker’s “Call from Zion ’’’ in any other light than an insult to a large and highly respected portion of the ministry, and calculated to do great injury to the cause of Ghrist. He concludes his “call” with the fol lowing wholly unnecessary and offensive appendage: “As to those who demand a salary proportionate to what they con ceive to be their ability, or equal to what they could make at the bar, or in a Pro fessor’s or President’s chair, in some High School or College, or what would be needful to support a wife and a dozen little responsibilities at some future day, I am unwilling to aid in introducing any such to the aforesaid or any other church of Christ, I would rather see them ac cepting an office of some of our theifing carpet-bag rulers, than filling the office of pastor in the church of Christ.” Is Bro. Baker candid in the above ? If so, then be it known to all ministers of the gospel who demand a salary for preaching, equal to what they can make at another employment, that Bro. Baker publicly proclaims he had rather see you FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1871. attached to a clan of thieves than the church of Christ! If you are thieves, it is high time that you either stop your roguery, or else drop the sacred profes sion you claim, and ally yourselves to the clan of thieves to which he thinks you more properly belong. But, if you are not guilty of this most infamous ox all crimes, it is high time yoif were defending yourselves like honest men, and stopping the mouths of your accusers. To say the least of it, it is high time that Baptist ministers and Baptist churches generally understood, and were agreed upon the truth, whatever it may be, in regard to this vexed question of “ministerial sup port,” and having learned the truth, let them, with unanimity, practice that truth. We are glad to see the question is being noticed to some extent in our own Index and Baptist, and we do hope others will come in, and the subject never again be permitted to rest till the truth is found, and so clearly and definitely set forth that no enlightened Christian will deny it. With the hope of being able to suggest some points for inquiry, we would respect fully ask a place for the following ques tions, designed especially for the consid eration of Bro. Baker, and any others who may entertain his opinions. To begin at the root of the matter, we would ask, first, has God commanded His ministers to go forth into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and yet denied them the right either to demand or receive any compensation whatever for their time and services ? If it be admitted that it is a Bible truth, that “ the Lord hath ordained that they which preach the gospel shall live of the gospel,” has the Lord also definitely de cided how much, and just how little, is a living in each particular minister’s case ? And has the Lord also limited this “ liv ing” to mean neither more nor less than a present, personal sufficiency of food and clothing ? If so, has not the Lord limit ed the “ living ” of every private Chris tian to the same ? If it be admitted that the Lord has not decided definitely as to what a living is, to whom does the right of deciding belong—to the minister, or to the church ? This is the first question we wish to decide: Has a minister of the gospel any right, the least right, natural or otherwise, to use the grace and intellect that God has given him, in judging of his own necessi ties and setting an estimate upon the val ue of his time and services, or has God delegated this right exclusively to the superior judgment and grace of the mem bers of the church or churches which he may be called to serve? It will be ad mitted by all, that the minister naturally has this right, and if it cannot be shown where God has ever taken it away, or delegated it to the church, he still has it. But if God has taken it away and given it to the church, then Bro. Baker, being a minister, should not claim the right of deciding that a salary of 0400 ought to be saificienl to sustain a siiigle man. If it be granted that a minister of the gospel naturally has some right to use his judgment, as above-mentioned, has he not as much right, an equal right, as good a right, according to the laws of both God and man, to exercise this privilege while engaged in the ministry, as he would have if engaged in other pursuits, or as any private church member has to set an esti mate upon the value of his time and ser vices while engaged in any of the ordina ry vocations or business transactions of life ? If God the Father, Jesus Christ, any of the apostles, the laws of men or common sense, has made a difference, please mention where, how, wbv or when ? If it be granted that the minister pos sesses the right of judging for himself, to an extent equal to that possessed by pri vate church members, is there any Scrip ture, or any good reason outside of Scrip ture, why duty would forbid the exercise of this right on the part es the minister, and yet permit it in the case of a private member ? We know of no reason, for if it be contended that, though the minister naturally has the right to judge for him self, yet it is the duty of the church to exercise this right for him, lest he be tempted to estimate the value of his ser vices too highly, and thereby accumulate more filthy lucre than really needs, and thus become contaminated, would it not be eaually as reasonable and necessary for the minister to pay the church for her kindness in thus guarding him from sin, by, in turn, exercising the right of judg ing of the necessities of all his members, and estimate the value of their time and services ? We might thus have a pure church as well as a pure ministry, and all know the former is equally as desirable as the latter. But the church will never consent for the rule to work both ways, and a rule that will not work both ways is said not to be a good one; therefore, we conclude that each had better exercise his own natural right, and not interfere with the right of the other. v We come now to the consideration of the point which Bro. Baker regards a9 equivalent to robbery. If a minister of the gospel has a right to demand any sal ary at all, for his time and services in preaching the gospel, why has he not a right, and why is it not his duty, to de mand a salary proportionate to what he conceives to be hjs ability, or equal to what he could make at the bar, teaching, or any other profession ? Is it because the work Rone by the minister is less val uable to those for whom it is done than the same amount of work done by a teach er is to his pupils, or by a lawyer to his client? Or is it because it takes less time, labor and expense to educate a min ister for fiis work, than is required in an other profession? Or is it because it requires less time and labor to prepare and preach profitable sermons, than is required to preach at the bar, or to teach school successfully ? Or is it because, as sodn hs a man begins to preach the gos pel, his temporal wants and necessities immediately become less than when he is engaged in other pursuits? Or is it be cause God has promised to administer to the temporal necessities of preachers in some miraculous way, in which He has not promised to assist lay members ? Or is it because, God knowing His ministers to be a class of men more dishonest or prodigal than all others, and, therefore, being wholly unfit to be trusted with one surplus dollar, He forbids that anything whatever should come into their hands, outside of a scanty, present, personal supply, while private members He can safely trust, often with a large surplus, seeing they always make the most char itable and godly use of it ? Or is it be cause churches generally are less able to pay a salary proportionate" to their pas tor’s ability, than he is to do without it ? Or is it because, outside of and far above all human reason, justice, iaw and expe rience, God has, for purposes known only to Himself, and which cannot be under stood by men, decreed, and left upon re cord a command that His ministers shall not receive for their time and services in preaching the gospel, one single farthing more than is absolutely essential for the preservation of their and that they have no right to demand even this much, or anything at all; but that they shall be thrown entirely jfoon the tender mercies of the churches winch they are bound to serve at the peril of their souls ? If such be the expressed will of God, we are anxious to know whAre it may be found. Allow us to present the subject in a somewhat different light. Mr. A. is a private member of a Baptist ,ehurch, and this year he has produced 100 bales of cotton on his farm, which we will say are worth 08,000, but 01,000 will supply, not only his own personal necessities, but the wants of his whole family. Shall he, therefore, dispose of his cotton for 01,000, and thus make a gratuitous present of 07,000 to an already wealthy buyer ? Oh, no, says Bro. Baker; let him sell it for the full market value, supply the neces sary wants of his family, keep a little pocket change, perhaps, and appropriate the remainder to charitable or gospel pur poses. Very well, be it so; we will not quarrel here. Again, Mr. B. is a private member of a Baptist church, and is also a very eminent his busi ness capacity, as such, will command a salary of 05,000, but 01,000 will support his family. Shall he, therefore, under rate his ability and receive only 01,000, thus giving other men, without any dis crimination, four-fifths of his labor ? Oh, no, says Bro. Baker again; let him re ceive the full value of his labor, supply his necessary wants, and appropriate his surplus just as did the farmer. Be it so. No quarrel here, either. Once more. Mr. C. is a very eminent minister of the gospel, but his business capacity as a teacher or lawyer would command a sala ry of from two to three thousand dollars, but he prefers to preach the gospel, and as he is a single man, 0400 will support him. Shall he, therefore, for the crime of desiring to preach, receive only 0400 for his services ? Bro. Baker says 0400 only; but what does common sense say ? Does the Word of God here contradict common sense ? Does Cod deny the minister of the gospel the privilege and pleasure of contributing charitable and gospel institutions of {he* world by compelling him to bestow all the surplus of his ability at random, or just as oth ers may dictate, whether deserved or un deserved, and wholly contrary to every principle of justice and the anxious de sires of»the minister’s own heart ? Think on these things. Bro. Baker, it seems, would take ad vantage of the inexperience of the pious, discreet, intelligent young swain whom he would gladly introduce to this weak, de clining church, —by the way, we wonder if “ poor pay ” did not help to bring about this weak, declining condition ?—he would encourage him with the hope, that should he ever become so impious, indis creet and foolish as to encumber himself with a wife and a lot of little responsi bilities, God will provide ways and means for their sustenance. We would ask the good brother what other ways and means God is accustomed to provide for the sus tenance of little responsibilities in our day, outside of the hard-earned and scan ty salary of the minister himself? Is there a lucky brook Cherith flowing hard by this weak little church, to the banks of which heavenly ravens are accustomed to bring supplies to the little hungry, earthly ravens ? If so, young ravens of Greenville and Richmond, fly to this safe retreat, and God speed you in your jour ney. But as for us, Bro. B. has set us forth in such a light that we dare not claim to belong to the raven stock of fowls, and therefore feel constrained, till this question is settled, to subscribe our selves, Hawks. Waste of Time and Money. I am well aware of my ineompetency to do this subject justice, and.;t>herefore make the following remarks, in hope of bring ing the subject before the Baptists for their consideration, and for the employ ment of their best pens. We can see, evidently— 1. A waste of time and money in Sun day school celebrations and picnics. At these celebrations there is too little preach ing and too much pride, pomp and vain 4ressing. In reading the Scriptures, we learn that every one should strive to excel in teaching, learning and doing good. The apostles, (who were doubtless our exam ple,) were careful to give their whole time to the administration of the word. I read in a Baptist Sunday school paper, of a Christmas celebration. The church house had very fine, flowery arrangements, and 1q ! in came Santa Claus with many things for the children. To feed the hungry and clothe the popr and naked ? No. We will have a few quotations : “ More than once was the cart sent to the forest for ‘cedars.’” “When the children began to gather in, there was seen standing in front of the pulpit a beautiful bower all festooned with ‘ living green,’ and there were the stands covered with beautiful presents.” “M. spoke a poem about Santa Claus, and 'as he concluded, Santa Claus came walking down the aisle, with a great basket on his arm filled with a choioe oolleotion of his nice things for the children. He was wrapped up in his huge furs and sprinkled over with ‘ the snows of winter,’ and his great coarse beard, as it hung down to his breast, was frosted ovei till it looked as if he had lain out in an ice forest a thousand years ” (Kind Words, 1, 1871.) Such woiks as this, we contend, are wrongs and adverse to the tenor and teachings of the Bible. It is given np by all scholars that no one knows what day of the year Christ was born, and our Christmas is of Roman Catholic origin. As to Santa Claus, he is of no noble birth, and not worthy of the notice of a Protestant, m?ch less a Baptist. “Ye observe days and weeks, and months and years. lam afraid of you.” But some will say, “ We must have something to please and interest the chil dren.” Now, in answer to this, we would say, that such works as that above de scribed are unbecoming in a church house, and not compatible with the injunction : “Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nur ture and admonition of the Lord." 2. There is also waste of time and money in having too many Baptist Con ventions. Here we wish to be understood as including Associations and all Conven tions, both North and South, and not op posing Conventions altogether, but too many. In the whole scope of the Acts of the Apostles, we find but one Convention. Acts xv: 1—32. There, the query was fully discussed by able men, and but one short letter written. There were no three or four days spent in talking about mon ey, Sunday school reports, etc. There were not 040 paid to a clerk and about 075 for the printing of minutes. What is the use in repeating, year after year, these same reports, at such an expense of time and money ? Have we no papers and pastors to teach these things unto the churches ? We are not opposed to Asso ciations, but we want the time to be most ly spent in preaching, in which the whole counsel of God should be declared, the whole ground of controversy discussed, including baptism, communion, predesti nation, ecclesiastical democracy, etc. A statement of the names of the messengers, correspondents and visiting elders, about one page stating the destitution in the bounds of the Associations, with a statis tical table, is about all that need to be put into the minutes of an Association. And this might be simply published in a peri odical. We are fully persuaded that the Bible, ministers, “teachers” and editors, should be our teachers. Every preacher should take a paper, for there he finds the counsel of many. While we are in favor of our District Associations, when con ducted in the manner described above, thinking that they would he sufficient, it can be seen that we oppose all State, na tional, semi-national, and Sunday School Conventions, and district meetings. If one Association is not able to employ a missionary, surely it can unite with an other or with even a third, and employ a missionary without having a Convention. I would suggest that this be done by means of the Executive Committee, etc., without the waste of time and money to hold a Convention, pay a clerk thirty or forty dollars, and nearly twice that amount for printing minutes, etc. Now, if we want to have more meetings of a. general character than are herein suggested, let them be meetings to preach the everlasting gospel of the blessed Son of God—to defend the truth, and contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. H. Stevenson. Whitewater, Ala., Oct. 22, 1871. Watchman, What of the Night? “ What of the night ?” It dark and darker grows ; The very heavens above seem black with woes. By mighty winds the gathering clouds are hurled, In awful conflict, round our fallen world. “What of the night?” The careless ones are lying In slumber deep, and know not they are dying. I sound the trumpet in their ears in vain, Fettered and sunk in darkness they remain. “What of the night?” The saints their watch are keeping, But every eye is dim and swollen with weeping; And every heart is sad—and oft they sigh, “ When will the morning star appear on high?” And carefully they trim the feeble light Within their lamps, to guide them through the night. But oh ! it wavereth much through doubts and fears, And oft is wall-nigh quenched by floods of tears. “ What of the night?” Each to the other say, “When shall we see the dawn of endless day. Our spirits tremble: can it be the Lord Will proye at last unfaithful to His word ?” “ What of the night?” Hush! on the breeze is borne A still small voice to comfort those who mourn : “Though yet I tarry, dry the tearful eye— Lift up your heads, redemption draweth nigh, “Quickly I come. Oh! droop not thus forlorn : Look up and smile—joy cometh with the morn. Quickly I come to banish all your fears, And God’s own hand shall wipe away your tears.” And then I heard the voice of earnest prayer; Sweetly it sounded on the midnight air: “Even so, Lord Jesus, come and chase our gloom : The night is dark—oh ! take thy children home.” Christian Treasury. Our Larger-Liberty Friends. It may be too bad to reveal a secret, but one cannot always forego the pleas ure of it, especially when it is known to half a hundred people or so. Somebody has conceived the idea of taking the Bap tist denomination by storm on the com munion question—of making the stoutest old-fashioned Baptist quail before a forth coming disclosure of disaffection with the logical communion we now have. The disclosure, when it comes, will of course be noised abroad. But the making ready for it—that’s the secret. A printed “ Plea for larger liberty at the Communion Table,” is being quietly circulated among the churches, as we happen to know, to be returned, -with names appended, to certain centres, from some one of which, when the list is suffi ciently formidable, the stunning call is to be made upon Baptist churches to surren der—or die ! • Isn’t the alternative somewhat dreadful to think of? But if it is not quite too late, we would modestly suggest that the leaders in this movement might reconsider their work without damage tt> their con sistency, and make a yet more thorough job of it besides. Suppose the title of their secret circular be changed so as to read, “A Plea for larger liberty in the ordinance of Baptism ?” Give to every church the right of dispensing with bap tism altogether, when deemed best, and of administering it in any form the can didate prefers. Nothing could he “ lar ger” than the “liberty” thus to be gained at “ the communion table.” Then to think how logically consistent, and free from the slightest taint of “exclusive ness,” such a table would be l *■■■■■ •« Some of our English “Baptist” church es have attained to this larger communion table liberty. Persons can be members of them with or without baptism, or with anything they choose to call baptism. Nothing could be freer than their com munion, and the beauty of it is that their baptism is as free as their communion. Their unrestricted communion has its ripe fruit in equally unrestricted baptism. We do not see why our American Baptist reformers should not go to the root of the thing, and make a strike for “ larger lib erty in the matter of baptism.”— Ex. $ Chron. A Word for Humble Toilers. The world is to be converted to Christ by earnest men, rather than by great men; those whose motive power is in the heart, rather than the head. In the com pany of workers are not only those who occupy high places, as men estimate them, but those who are willing to take any place, if only the Master may be honored. And these are themselves most worthy of honor. For it seems to me that not those who walk as watchmen on the completed wall of Zion, seen, known, and respected by their fellows, are most deserving of our praise, but those who toil at the foun dations, laying deep and strong the basis of the future edifice —themselves unknown, save as their works shall proclaim them. Oh! these men and women who are con tent to work and pray in mission schools, or in remote neighborhoods, asking no thanks, expecting no reward beyond the consciousness that they are faithful and their Saviour’s smile. What bands of angels gather round these true disciples, and what celestial cheer and comfort do they bring to them! They shall have their crown at last. Yet there is a re ward richer than the crown of gold. Sal vation may be borne by them to the souls of the dying, and those souls shall be come the gems in those glorious crowns. Scores, perhaps hundreds, of young work ers may be brought by them to assist in rearing the grand superstructure, of which they are laying the foundation, and the rising walls shall be the enduring and splendid monuments of their wisdom and devotion. It is a blessed privilege to labor when God can so gloriously multi ply the fruits of our toil. It is an occa sion for thanks that we are counted wor thy to be spent, where our offering of service shall be attended by such far reaching results. Let every teacher be aware of the real dignity of his calling, and allow the brilliance of the future, with its possible blessings, to throw back its light upon any seasons of present difficul ty, or unrecompensed self-denial. He may teach a mind that is ignorant, he may glorify his Lord, he may establish a power that shall continue to do all this in ever-increasing ratio, when he shall he resting in his grave. — Rev. Jas. Reis. The Prayer Meeting. We understand that the four nouns in Acts ii: 42 represent four apostolic insti tutions, which are to be perpetual in all Christian churches. First in the list stands the teaching. Apostolic teaching is indispensable to the perpetuation of the Christian church. It lies at the very foundation of all intelligent worship, it is not accidental, but essential. It is one of the main pillars of the Christian sys tem. «It was designed to be perpetual, be cause the office of Christian teacher was instituted by Divine authority, and abides permanently in the church. The apostolic teaching, therefore, holds the rank of an abiding institution in all Christian churches. Churches in which it is want ing, forfeit all claim to be called Chris tian ; for “ teaching" is named in the great commission as an implied condition to the promise, “ Lo, I am with you al way.” In modern Christianity, the ex ponent of the primeval apostolic institu tion is the pulpit. It abides and is recog nized as an institution. “ The breaking of the loaf” undoubted ly stands for the Lord’s supper. This is universally recognized as a Christian in stitution. Scripturally and historically it belongs in the church, and holds in modern Christianity its primeval rank. The interpretation which is now usually given to the last noun in the series,, viz., “prayers,” seems vague and unsatisfac tory. It takes no account of the article which is elaborately repeated before each noun of the series. Dean Alford, in his revised English Testament, attempts to remedy this de fect in the common version by repeating the pronoun “ their” before each of the substantives except the first. His attempt to express the article is commendable, be cause its repetition shows it to be em phatic. His translation, however, is de fective, because we might understand from it that the converts “ continued steadfast in their prayers,” i. e., to repeat the apos tles’ prayers; hut the use of a liturgy be longs to a latter date of the church’s his tory. There may be no English word which exactly corresponds to the Greek one here employed. This word is fre quently used in the Septuagint and in the New Testament to denote both individual prayer and also a collective petition in which several worshippers unite. From the latter usage it came at length to de note the place where several devout per sons assembled for prayer. At all events, the idea of place became prominent in its meaning. In Acts xvi: 16, “ the verb implies,” says Dean Alford, that Paul and Silas “ habitually resorted to this place of prayer." Our idea may he briefly expressed by the following 'translation of the passage: “It came to pass, as we were proceeding to the prayer meeting, a certain bondmaid who had a spirit of di vination met us,” The manuscripts and editors here insert the article. There was an assembling of several persons at the same time 'and place for the purpose of prayer. Such an assembly is in mod ern phrase a prayer meeting. The arti cle is used to designate it as a definite and well-known institution. In Acts xv: 13, there is undeniably un allusion to place. Bqt the translation “ where was wont to be a place of prayer,” i3 inade quate. If this had been the entire mean ing, we should have had the imperfect of the verb hupxrcho or ien, and not enomi zeto, which is always used in the New Tes tament of human habits and transactions, but not properly of a place. Let us look at tfie facts. One Sabbath day Paul and Silas went forth out of the gate of Phil ippi, beside a river. There certain wo men had assembled manifestly for prayer; for this was the custom. With them Paul and Silas sat down. To those thus assem- | s3.o# A YEAfi.} bled they discoursed. In this instance the essential elements of a prayer meeting are apparent. Several women met together at the same time and in the same place for prayer. ,Qur term for such a transaction is prayer meeting. Let us translate ac cordingly, “where was want to be a prayer meeting.” The article may be omitted, because it refers to a Jewish and not to the Christian institution. In Acts iii: 1, the common rendering ignores the article. It can be translated thus . “ And Peter and John were going up together into the temple at the hour of the prayer meeting, being the ninth hour.” Acts i: 14 is susceptible of the rendering: “These all with one accord were regular attend ants on the prayer meeting .” We may un derstand the same Greek word in Acts ii: 4, with the article, to denote the same idea as is developed above. In other words, the department of prayer is spoken of as co-ordinate with the didactic department indicated by the words “ the ministry of the word.” The passages which we have j' st noted include all the instances in the Acts where the word occurs, except two. In those two the possessive pronoun is added. They are therefore entirely dis similar. If the interpretations above given are justifiable, the conclusion follows that a Christian prayer meeting is an apostolic institution to which the pentecostal con verts steadfastly devoted themselves. We do not say that our word prayer meeting is always the equivalent of the Greek word with the article. It is not easy to find terms which are exactly commensurate; but the Greek word certainly often de notes prayer in concert; and the persis tent use of the article with it in the above passages designates prayer as a definite and recognized Christian institution. If fur ther argument were necessary to show that the prayer meeting holds the rank of an abiding institution in the church, wo might p;'int to its authorization by Christ himself.— Rev. J. C. Wightman, in Bap tist Quarterly. The Ancient Bing. A man who wished to buy a handsome ring went into a jeweller’s at Paris and desired to see some. The jeweller showed him a very ancient gold ring, remarkably fine, and curious on this account, that on the inside of it were two lion’s claws. The buyer, while looking at the others, was playing with this ; at last he purchased another and went away. But he had scarcely reached home when first his hand, then his side, then his whole body became numb and without feeling, as if he had had a stroke of the palsy; and it grew worse and worse, till the physician, who came in haste, thought him dying. “ You must somehow have taken poison,” he said. The sick man protested that he had not. At length, some one remembered this ring, and it was then discovered to be what used to be called a death ring, and which was often employed in those wicked Italian States three or four hujaApd years ago. If n marrhated desired to murder him, ho would present him with one of them. In the inside was a drop of deadly poison, and a very small hole, out of which it would not make its way except it was squeezed. When the'poor man was wearing it, the murderer would come out and shake his hand violently, the lion’s claw would give his finger a little scratch, and in a few hours he was a dead man. Now, see why I told you this story. For four hundred years this ring has kept its poison, and at the end of that time it was strong enough almost to kill the man who had unintentionally scratched his finger with the claw ; for he was only saved by great skill on the part of the physician, and by the strongest medicines. I thought, when I read that short story, how like this poison was to sin. You may commit a sin now, and for the present forget it; and perhaps ten or twelve years hence the wound you then, so to speak, gave your self may break out again, and that more dangerously than ever. And the greatest danger of all is, lest the thoughts of sins we have committed, and the pleasure we had in committing them, should come back upon us in the hour of death.— Dr. J. M. Neale. I Think I See the Point. A Baptist Sunday School missionary had addressed the Baptist church at Friendship, Calhoun county, Arkansas, advocating the or ganization of a Baptist Sunday School. Next day, the missionary was accosted by a Meth odist brother, thus: “ Mr. TANARUS., I understand you, last evening, to be in favor of a Baptist Sunday School." “ Yes,” replied the missionary, “that is the kind of a Sunday school I advocate, because Baptists teach all that is taught by other de nominations that is scriptural; and they also teach some scriptural doctrines which other denominations do not teach.” “ Well,” said the Methodist brother, “ I am opposed to denominational schools. I believe in unton schools. I donot think the minds of children ought to be biased in favor of any particular denomination. Just teach them the doctrines of the Bible, and leave them to decide for themselves what branch of the church they will join.” The missionary replied: “ I think I see the point. You Pedo-bap tist all teach and require that your children shall be baptized and made members of the church in infancy, before they are able or have the opportunity, to decide for themselves what branch of the church they will join; * you would, if possible, build the walls so high and bar the doors so strong, that they could never get out. And while you take this course in respect to your children, you would have Baptists neglect their children altogeth er, in respect to those doctrines which are held by Baptists only, hoping thereby to get some of them into your branches. If Baptists don’t teach their children, who will V’—Mace donian. Fashion. —It is Herbert Spencer, I be lieve, who says that fashionable life, “in stead of being life, conducted in the most rational manner, is life regulated by spend thrifts and idlers, milliners and tailors, dandies and silly women.” Reason cries out against all this. “ Choose thy clothes with thino own eyes, not another’s,” was the sensible advice of William Penn. But if we must copy, let us imitate the highest, not the lowest arts; the raiment worn by the real superiors of our kind, not the most frivolous and insane. Reason bids us consider Beriously whether w r e are really willing that persons of questionable standing, and of obviously vulgar judg ment, should regulate the way in whick we dress. WHOLE NO. 2564.