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Don’t Kill Time.
“ Spare a copper, sir; I’m starving,” saida
poor, half clad man to a gentleman who was
hastening homeward through the streets in
the great city one hitter cold night. “Spare
a copper, sir, and God will bless you.”
Struck with the fellow’s manner and ap
pearance, the gentleman replied :
“ You look as if you had seen better days.
If you will tell me candidly what has been
your greatest failing through life, I'll give
you enough money to pay your lodging.”
«I am afraid 1 could hardly do that,” the
beggar answered, with a mournful smile.
“ Try, man, try,” added the gentleman.
“ Here’s a shilling to sharpen your memory;
only be sure you speak the truth.”
The man pressed the coin tightly in his
hand, and after thinking for nearly a minute,
said:
“ To be honest with you, then,*l believe
my greatest fault has been in learning to
‘ kill time.’ When 1 was a youngster, I had
kind, loving parents, who let me do pretty
much as I liked ; so I became idle and cares
less, and never once thought of the change
which was in store for me. In the hope that
I should one day make my mark in the world,
I was sent to college; but there I wasted my
time in idle dreaming and expensive amuse
ments. If I had been a poor boy, with ne
cessity staring me in the face, I think I should
have done better. But somehow I fell into
the notion that life was to’be onecontinued holi
day. I gradually became fond of wine and
company. In a few years my parents both
died ; and you can guess the rest. I soon
wasted what little they left me; and now it
is too late to combat my old habits. Yes sir,
idleness ruined me.”
“ I believe your story,” replied the gentle
man ; “and when I get home, I will tell it to
my own boys as a warning. lam sorry for
you, indeed I am. But it is never too late to
reform. Come to my office to-morrow, and
let me try to inspire you with fresh courage.”
And giving the man another piece of money
and indicating where he could be found, he
hurried away.
“Never “kill time,” boys. He is your
best friend. Use him well. Don’t let him slip
through your fingers when you are young, as
t'ie begger did. The days of your boyhood are
the most precious you will ever see. The habits
you get into will stick to you like wax. If
they are goods ones, life will be a pleasure,
and, above all, a success —I mean a true suc
cess. You may not grow rich, but your life
will be a real succes, nevertheless.
If, on the contrary, you waste your early
years, live for fun only, trifle with your
opportunities, you will find after a while that
your life is a failure—yes, even if you should
be as rich as Croesus.
One of the saddest things is to meet a
man who has let golden opportunities go by
him, just entering the battle of life, yet en
tirely unfitted for his position. He is to be
pitied, and yet blamed. In this favored land
every one can learn to read and write, for
instance. But how often we meet young
men utterly unable to write a dozen lines
without making mistakes ! Be assured, my
young friends, it will be a source of shame
to you as men, if you do not pay attention to
education as boys.
The world is full of books to read. You
are surrounded with friends! and relatives. —
Be warned in time, and coin happiness and
honor in the future from the industry of
the present, and you will not have read this
in vain,
Russian Proverbs.
The Scotch and the Spaniards have hith
erto divided the credit of possessing the larg
est stock of proverbial wisdom; but were the
literature of Russia more widely known, she
might prove a formidable rival to the land of
the oatmeal or to that of oranges. We give
a few specimens, which, on account of their
pointed terseness, their quaint, homely vigor,
and dry, Sancho Panza satire, scarcely need
the aid of rhyme to recommend them. They
are, indeed, more fully than words can ex
press, the faithful mirror of the shrewd, sim
ple, dogged, humorous Russian mind, ever
veiling its natural keenness under a mask ot
habitual and impenetrable stolidity.
“ Every fox praises his own tail.”
“Gd after ttwo wolves and you will not
even catch one.”
“A good beginning is half the work.”
“ Trust in God but do not stumble your*
self.”
“ With God, even across the sea ; without
him, not even to the threshold.”
“A debt is adorned by payment.”
“ Roguery is the last of trades.”
“ Never take a crooked path while you can
find a straight one.”
“ Fear not the threats of the great, but
rather the tears of the poor.”
“Ask a pig to dinner, and he will put his
feet on the table.”
“ Disease comes in by hundredweights
and goes out by ounces.”
“ Every little frog is great in his own bog.”
“An old friend is worth two news ones.”
“ Be praised not for ancestors, but for your
virtues.”
“ When fish are rare, even a crab is a fish.”
“A father’s blessing cannot be drowned in
water, nor consumed by fire.”
“A mother’s prayer will draw up from
the depths of the sea.”
Leave it to the Doctors.
What? Leave what?
“ This matter of studying into the nature of
alcohol and it3 effects upon the system.”
Why should we? Does it concern them
any more than it does us? Do they suffer
from it any more than we do ?
“ Alcohol is a drug, and it is their business
to study into its nature and effects, add to
warn the people.”
Do you think so ? Well, they do not. It
is their business to cure sick people. If you
choose to take alcohol and make yourself
sick, and so bring them custom, do you sup
pose they will take any special measures to
prevent you doing so ? If they did, they
would act on different principles from most
other human beings, and we have yet to learn
that a medical diploma changes human nature,
Hear what they say about it themselves.
One doctor, after making a most able and
earnest appeal to a medical association against
the use of alcohol, was afterwards privately
rebuked by one of the members as “fighting
against the interest of the craft; for you
know,” said the reprover, “that alcohol brings
us more than half of our patients.”
Another doctor, recently addressing a
medical association on this subject, appealed,
in proof of his honesty and disinterestedness
of purpose, to the fact that recommending
people to banish from their use one of the
most prolifio sources of diseases was to him,
the doctor, a suicidal policy.
What then shall we say to men who blindly
attempt to throw their own responsibility in
this matter upon the shoulders of those
whose personal interest continually tempt
them at least to neglect it? We have quo
ted two doctors on the right side of the ques
tion. There are very few such. Open your
eves, and see how few doctors take any
prominent and efficient interest in the tem
perance work, and then you will see the
futility of leaving this foundation work to
them. No, we have no natural, moral or
business right to leave this matter to the doc
tors. It is our business, and if we do not
attend to it we can not expect them to do
bo. — Temperance Advocate.
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX AND SOOTH-WESTERN BAPTIST: ATLANTA, GA„ THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16,1871.
The First:Drop.
O fatal drop to our misguided youth !
The germ of poison in the fount of life I
Secret betrayer of all pristine truth!
Lurking creator of all future strife I
In that first drop what coming woes are born I
What tottering steps,,what trejnbling hands are
there!
0 bleeding hearts by drunken talons torn I
O souls of anguish, shrieking with despair!
Within that drop, what ruined fortunes lie!
What human wrecks strew all its mimic strand !
In that small what millions sink and die I
What hecatombs of dead float back to brad !
The murderer’s touch of fire, the assassin’s blade,
The suicidal plunge, the engulfing swell !
All woe, all crime, within that drop are laid,
To bear its victim to the depths of hell.
O youth beloved! beware thee that first drop.
In mercy to thy soul, quick dash it down !
Stop while thou canstl Thy God commands thee,
Stop !
For one poor drop sell not a heavenly crown.
Charles Wheeler Denison.
Sowing and Reaping.
A Christian gentleman was stayiug a few
days with a farmer, who, though a man of
sound sense and many amiable traits, was
a neglector of religion. He was an excellent
farmer, priding himself not a little on the fine
appearance and thorough culture of his farm,
and evidently was pleased with his guest, who
was a man of winning manners and extensive
information.
One day the gentleman walked out where
the farmer was scattering his seed broadcast
in the field.
“ What are you sowing, Mr. II ?” was
his pleasant inquiry.
“ Wheat,” was the answer.
“And what do you expect to reap from
it?”
“ Why, wheat, of course,” said the far
mer.
At the close of the day, as all were gathered
in the family circle, some little thing pro
voked the farmer—the husband, the lather,
and the head of the family—and at once he
flew into a violent passion, and forgetting, in
his excitement, the presence of his guest, he
swore most profanely.
The latter, who was sitting next to him, in a
low and serious tone said, “ And what are you
sowing now ?"
The farmer seemed startled. Anew light
at once flashed on him from the question of
the morning. “What!” he said in a sub
dued and thoughtful tone, “Jo you take such
serious views of life as that, such serious
views of every mood and word and action ?”
“Yes,” was the reply; “for every mood
helps to form the permanent temper; and for
every word we must give account; and every
act but aids to form a habit; and habits are
to the soul what the veins and arteries are to
the blood, the courses in which it moves, and
will move forever. By all these little things
we are forming character, and that character
will go with us to eternity, and according to
it will be our destiny forever.”— The Gospel
Messenger.
The Half-Way Place.
“John,” said the teacher, “ have you found
the beloved disciple’s place in Jesus’ bossom ?
Are you with him to-day?”
John’s eyes and glad srnile said even more
than his “ 1 hope so.”
“And Fred, how is it with you?”
“ 1 guess if there is any halfway place I’m
there,” said Fred, who had been halting some
time between Christ and the world.
“How long do you mean to stay there?”
“ I don’t know. 1 can’t get any farther.”
“Ah, you mistake. Where is the half-way
place? Where would it have been to the
prodical had he stopped there? Still along
wayfromhome. No father in sight. No home
near. No food. No clothes. No fatted calf.
No golden ring. The feast not made. He
never would have heard those precious words,
‘My son was lost and is found.’ He would
still have been lost. Half-way home would
have been no better than the far country.
But there is no half-way place. Half a Chris
tian is still a sinner. Haif-way to heaven is
nowhere near the pearly gates. Half-way to
Christ is still on Satan’s ground, for ‘ he that
is not with me is against me.’ Christ wan'B
your whole heart or none.
“ Do you like half-way friends ?”
“ No ; I despise them.”
“Do you suppose Christ wishes such
friends? Do not stop any longer where you
are. If the Lord be God, serve him; if
Baal, follow him.”
“The halfway if such there be, is
Satan’s favorite ground.”— S. S. Times.
**■ Two-Ten.”
Mr9. Laura Curtis Bullard tells a story of
the Baroness Coutts, who, when shopping in
Pari 3, was passed from one department to
another by the clerks al ways with the remark
“two-ten.” She was escorted from counter
to counter, and every where these cabalistic
words, “two-ten,” were repeated by one clerk
to another. Struck by the peculiarity of this
refrain, she asked the proprietor, as she left
the establishment, “Pray, what does two-ten
mean ? I noticed each clerk said it to the
other in your shop.” “O, it is nothing,” he
replied ; “merely a pass-word they are in the
habit of exchanging.” But Miss Coutts was
not satisfied with this explanation. So in the
evening, when the porter, a young boy,
brought home her purchases, after paying her
bill, she said, “My boy, would you like to
earn five francs?” Os course, he had no ob
jection. “ Teil me,” said the lady, “what
does ‘two-ten’ mean ; I will give you five
francs.” “Why, don’t you know, ma’am?”
said he, evidently amazed at her ignorance.
“It means keep your two eyes on her ten
fingers.” The mystery was solved at last.
All the clerks of the Trois Quartiers had
taken the richest woman in Great Britain for
a shop-lifter!
Character.
Many a man with the aids of dress,appears
on the streets to be in perfect health, and we
can never tell, until we have lived with him
at the same table, that his hair was another’s;
under the same roof, and sat with him
that one eye was of glass ; that one limb was of
cork, and that after every meal he was rack
ed with dyspetic pains; that for the first hour
or two every morning he was racked with the
cough of a eronic bronchitis, and never
knows what it is to enjoy a full night’s refresh
ing sleep.
So it is with the characters of men. We
may visit them and they may visit us; we
may be in the same church for years, and
transact much public business together, but it
is impossible to form any true estimate of a
man’s principles until we have had an oppor
tunity of trusting him and he-of trusting us.
The truth is no man can be assured that he is
an honest man until he has had an opportuni
ty of cheating his friend out of a thousand
dollars without being found out—and didn’t
do it. No wonder the Bible cautions us all
to “go softly,” and “ Let him that standeth
take heed lest he fall.”— Christian Weekly.
Good Habits.
Remember, boys, before you are twenty,
you must establish a'character that will serve
you all your life. As habits grow stronger
every year, and turning into anew path is
more and more difficult, therefore it is often
harder to unlearn than to learn ; and on this
account a famous flute player used to charge
double price to those pupils who had been
taught before by a poor master. Try and
reform a lazy, unthrifty, or drunken person,
and in most cases you fail; for the bad habit,
whatever it may be, has so wound itself into
the life, that it can not be uprooted. The best
habit is the habit of care in forming of good
habits.
The Sucred Tree.
Children let me tell you of a tree that once
grew in a wood. This tree grew where there
were other trees all around it. It was ar
oak. When the tiee was not larger than a
man’s arm, a large tree fell against and bruis
ed it. The bark came off on one side of the
little tree, but the bark on each side of the
skinned place giew over it, and in two or
three years the tree looked almost as well as
•if it had never been skinned. Many years
passed by, and in course of time, this oak
became a large tree, with long branches and
thick leaves. Many people looked at it and
were glad. The old tree looked as if it
might stand a thousand years. But one night
there came a great wind, and blew down
many trees in the forest. The oak wc have
been talking of fi ll too. It was torn, not up
by the roots, but broken off near the ground.
On examination it was found to be decayed
and hollow at the ground. It rotted just
where it had been bruised when a little sap
ling. Thus a little bruise destroyed a great
tree.
New, children, just what the bruise did to
the tree, sin will dotoyou. One little sin,
if let alone, will work at the heart of a child
till it destroys everything good in it.
You have already had your hearts bruised
by sin, but your hearts may be healed. A
bruised one cannot be healed so as to leave
no scar, but your hearts may be healed, nay
will be made new, if you give them to Jesus
Christ. Trust Him, children, and have your
hearts made whole.
How to Enow a Goose.
“ Mother! mother !” cried a young rook,
returning hurriedly from its first flight, “ I’m
so frightened ! I’ve sctyggsuch a sight!”
“ What sight, my son ?” asked the rook.
“ Oh, white creatures, screaming, and run
ning, and straining their uecks, and holding
their heads ever so high. See, mother, there
they go!”
“ Geese, my son, merely geese,” calmly re
plied the parent bird, looking over the com
mon.
“Through life, child, observe that when
you meet any one who makes a great lus9
about himself, and tries to lift his head higher
than the rest of the world, you may set him
down at once for a goose.”
The Snow-Prayer.
A little girl went out to play one day in
the fresh new snow, and when she came in
she 9aid :
“ Mamma, I couldn’t help praying when I
was out at play.”
“ What did you pray, my dear ?”
“I prayed the snow-prayei, mamma, that I
learned once in Sunday School: ‘Wash me,
and I shall be whiter than snow.’ ”
What a beauiiful prayer ! And here is a
sweet promise to go with it: “Though your
sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as
snow.”
And what can wash them white—clean from
every stain of sin? The Bible answers:
“ They have washed their robes, and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb.”—
Morning Light.
“Nothing But the Presence of Christ.”
A good old lady had lived in this changing
world almost a hundred years. She had
“ walked with God,” and he did not forsake
her. To her faithful daughter, who kindly
administered to all her wants, she would
sometimes speak : “ Sally, Sally ! And when
Sally would ask, “What do you want, mother ?
she would reply, “ Nothing in the world but
the presence of Christ.” Long had she hun
gered and thirsted after righteousness, and
now she is filled. The great desire of her
heart is granted. She tio more mourns for sin.
She has washed her robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb. She has
awakened in the lUwness ©flier Saviour, and
is “ satisfied.”— American Messenger.
Talking at Table.
Is it proper to talk at table ? By all means.
We are aware that some few consider it proper
to observe perfect silence while at tabale.—
We do not know how such a horrible custom
originated, yet we have a few times been a
guest at such tables, but hope never to be
again. The table is the very place to talk,
and the meal hours should be among the
pleasantest of the day. Don’t talk business
and discuss what work shall be done after
dinner, but give the time to social e’nar. This
should not prolong' the meal inconveniently,
but there should be enough of it to prevent
the common custom of rapid eating.
The Fashions.
“ Fashionable” dress and equipage are the
uniform of the army of“godofthis world,”
and “fashionable customs” are his tactics. Why
should Christians adopt them? See Rom. xii.
1,2, and 1 Johu ii: 15, 10. Many a soldier
of Christ has been infected with the ciothiDg,
or taken prisoner by the tactics, and millions
of the Lord s money have been taken from
his work by the devices of the enemy. How
long shall this course continue ? Shall Chris
tains still ask of Paris, or any other worldly
fashionable centre, instructions how long to
live ? American Messenger.
Watch.
“0 mother! I did want one of those big
oranges outside Dick’s shop window.”
“You did not touch one, I hope, Eddy,”
said his mother.
“1 did not, mother; but I had to watch
my hand hard not to let it grab,” replied
Eddy.
That’s right, my boy, watch.
Godliness Makes the Gray Hairs of
Age Beautiful. —“ The hoary head is a crown
of glory, if it be found in the way of right
eousness.” Age invests many things with
peculiar attractiveness. An aged oak, gnar
led, wide spreading, lichen-covered; an an
cient castle, weather-worn and storm swept,
moss grown and ivy clad—both are beautiful,
exceedingly ; but of all attractive pictures
old time can draw, no sight is so beautiful as
the silver locks and radient features of godly
and joyous old age —an aged sire, a venerable
mother seated in “the old arm-chair,” look
ing placidly back along the line of trodden
years, looking hopefully forward across the
bright borders of the Beulah-land, to catch a
glimpse of the jasper walls which belt the
city of the saints !— J. Jackson Wray.
Five Minutes in Heaven. —McCheyne
tells of a little boy who for years suffered
great pain. When asked by his minister
v hether he did not feel like murmuriug un
der the heavy hand of God, he replied, “ Ob!
sir, five minutes in heaven will repay me for
it all.” We were reminded of this by a boy’s
speaking of his trials and hardships. To be
a good, honest boy, one must “endure hard
ness as agood soldier.” But will not five
minutes in heaven with those saved through
your example, each one a star in your crown
of rejoicing, repay you for a life of toil in Ilis
service ?
Aberration of the Heart.— -The com
pass on board an iron vessel is very subject
to aberrations; yet, for all that, its evidence
desire to be true to the pole. True hearts
in this wicked world, and in this fleshly body,
are all too apt to swerve, but they still show
their inward and persistent tendency to point
toward heaven and God. On board iron
vessels it is a common thing to see a compass
placed aloft, to be as much away fiom the
cause of aberration as possible : a wise hipt
to us to elevate our affections and desires;
the nearer to God the less swayed by worldly
influences.
Seeking the Lost.
Sweeter, 0 Lord, than rest to Thee,
While seated by the well,
Was the blest work that led Thee there,
Os grace and peace to tell.
One thoughtless heart that never knew
The pul.se of life before,
There learned to love, was taught to sigh
For earthly joys no more.
Friend of the lost, 0 Lord, in thee
Samaria’s daughter there
Found One whom love had drawn to earth,
Her weight of guilt to bear.
Fair witners of Thy saving grace
In her, O Lord, we see;
The wandering soul by love subdued,
The sinner drawn to Thee.
Through all that sweet and blessed scene,
Dear Saviour, by the well,
More than enough the trembler finds,
Her guilty fears to quell.
There, in the blest repose of faith,
The soul delights to see
Not only one who fully loves,
But lone itself in Thee;
Not ope alone who feels for all,
But knows the wondreus art
Os meeting all the sympathies
Os every aching heart.
What Shall We Teach ?
One answer given this question by the
Sunday School Times will meet, we fear, a
dubious reception. Catechisms are out of
date with many people. But hear what is
said for them :
Every church ba9 a catechism, or its equiv
alent, containing, in a condensed f rm, a sum
mary of Christian faith as believed and pro
fessedby that church. It is the clear duty
of the fSxyrjch to see that its children are in
structed in the creed of the church as con
tained in its recognized standards. We
should not think it wise to undertake so for
midable a work as the Larger Catechism of
the Presbyterian Church. But the Shorter
Catechism of that church, and works of a cor
responding character, in other churches, are
within the compass of every- Sunday School.
Teachers and superintendents should make
this a definite aim, that every scholar should
become thoroughly master of the catechism
of the church to which the school belongs.
The ordinary way of doing this, and, in
our judgment, the best way, is to study the
catechism in connection with the other lesson.
When a school has two sessions, morning and
afternoon, * convenient plan is tc have the
Bibld lesson at one session, and the catechism
at the other. Two sessions, however, have
pretty much gone out of use. Schools with
one session, often set apart one Sunday in the
month for the catechism. This is better than
an entire omission of the ’study. But it has
its disadvantages. One Sunday out of four
makes a serious hole in the course of the
Bible lessons. More than that. It breaks
the continuity, and causes interruption and
confusion. The amount of Bible study to
be gone over is so large, and the time for do
ing it so limited, that we cannot afford to
take out one whole fourth of it, and to reduce
the value of the remaining three-fourths by
confusing interruptions. There is hardly any
scholar or class that cannot every week have
at least one question in the catechism in ad
dition to the regular Bible lesson. This we
believe tc be, on the whole, the best way for
the school as such to discharge this part of
its duty.
A Church Work.
If intemperance is soon to be rooted out
of our land, the church must do the work, as
God’s applied instrument of reform. How
can the church so well lay the foundations of
this grand reform as by enlisting the young
under her instruction and influence. If we
can save but few of the multi
tudes and falling, we ask,
why can we not save all our youth, by the
blessing of God on the proper efforts? Let
every Sabbath school teacher and every
Christian parent take a decided, earnest stand
on Inis question, and seek to enlist each boy
and girl as an active worker in the cause of
temperance.
If each would stand upon and work for the
following pledge, a great result would be
secured : “ I do pledge myself to God and to
my fellow-men, to oppose the manufacture,
sale, and use of intoxicating drinks as a bev
erage.”
The mission Associations.
W hat is an association for ? Especially a
Sunday School Teachers’ Association ?
For a number of years it has beeD custo
mary for Sunday school teachers to organ
ize themselves into associations for mutual
aid and eotrtisei, for promoting friendship and
co-operatiot!. snd;for carrying on united effort
in the extension of the Sunday School work,
fn many instances, the work of these associa
tions has been crowned with great success.
In others, the associations have languidly
dragged out a feeble existence. In others,
they have, after a brief and glittering exist
ence, dwindled and decayed, leaving hardly
more than the secretary’s minute-book as a
monument of their short lived usefulness.
The principal difficulty with Sunday School
Associations which have expired, has been
that they did not work. Organization, by
itself, is of little use. It is the skin of use
ful result, not even set up and stuffed, but
only inflated. The more pompous and high
sounding it is, the more easily it is pricked
ar.d rendered useless even to look upon. The
constitution may be gracefully worded, the
by-laws beautifully expressed, the officers
chosen from the most important people in the
and the meetings held with
great dignity. But, unless the result is to
help the teachers to a better understanding of
their real work, and to increase its efficiency,
the whole concern is but sounding brass and
tinkling oyjwjbal.
“ WoRK.”‘ i2 the talk for any association of
to-day that would maintain a vigorous ex
istence.
One excellent development of work is in
the form of monthly meetings. These meet
ings have taken anew shape in the last few
years. Formerly, they were nominally made
up of discussions by people who came, hardly
knowing what to discuss or how to discuss it.
These discussions mostly ran into vague gen
eralities, and were of no great profit. Some
times a uew topic, opened by a living man,
would stir q >jl lively interest which would
last or months. Sometimes the
meeting wb’jjdhe occupied with reports from
the various vbV.ools represented, which, when
there was anything to report, and the person
bearing the report had the gift of presenting
what he had to say in an interesting manner,
was profitable. Wly?n a stupid person, who
had nothing to say, wasted the time of the
meeting in saying nothing, thp effect was bad,
and calculated to make the people who were
present stay at home when subsequent meet
ings were held.
It was easy to see that this kind of meet
ing could not hope for a prolonged or happy
existence.
What next? The next improvement grew
out of the prevalence-of Institutes. The idea
of spending an evening a month in Bible
study, or in .Listening to speeches bearing on
the actual work of teaching and of managing
our Sabbath schools, was generally accepted
as a good one. Such meetings proved to be
very practicable, and in most quarters where
they have been tried, have been popular and
profitable. Comparatively few places have
tried them. We would like to hear of them
in every city, town and village, large or
small.
Perhaps these meetings are running too
much to speech making. In fact, in some
directions we know they are. We need
hints for study more than great eloquence;
practical drill on teaching rather than the
finest oratory of the most celebrated speakers.
We want gentlemen to take part in these
monthly exercises, not so much tor their dis
tinguished names, and consequent ability to
draw a crowd, as for their ability to instruct
the congregation in some branch of their
work. We want the people to go home from
these monthly meetings with a sense of actual
and practical gain, rather than with an im
pression that something great has been done
by the weighty somebody to whoso eloquent
oratory they have listened.
But beyond the holding of interesting and
profitable monthly meetings, the Sunday
School Associations have other work to do
fully as important. To refer to this we must
take another occasion.— S. S. Workman.
Where are the Inquirers ?
Almost always with a certain class of teach
ers. Let me show you the kind of teachers, as 1
lookedat itfortwenty twoyears very carefully.
They came from the same classes, individual,
after individual, and class after class of the
same teachers. I will show you where they
come from—teachers who make a business
of it, teachers who do not go over the lesson
given out last Sunday, because it a lessson, but
from teachers who have set their hearts
upon the salvation of their clashes.
Let me show you a young teacher of this
sort. lam surprised as lam walking out in
the afternoon, at seeing the library occupied.
1 look through the glass and see that teacher
kneeling, with nine little ones kneeling around
her. I find it is a regular thing ; they meet
weekly there for prayer. She is one of the
visiting teachers. She gets hold of the rnolh
ers, and brings them to the chapel, and the
little ones are converted to Christ.
Again, go up the North River with me.—
See a teacher on board the steamer. “ Where
are you going ?” “ i'o tnak’e a visit to friends
up the river.” “I did not know that you had
friends up there.” “ Yes.” And I find she is
going sixty miles to look after a scholar ten
years old, who had left her class; and she
found her there doing well. Sixty miles was
nothing to her. A soul was more in the bal
ance D* her than the world beside. She meets
her on the street before she get 9 to the house,
and the child casts herself into the teacher’s
arms. “Oh ! teacher, teacher ! it is so strange
that you should come. 1 was dying to Hud
some one to tell me what 1 was to do to be
saved.” That teacher looks upon the soul a»
of more value by far than mere matters of
taste. She is willing k> give hours of her
precious time to save their souls for Christ.
Sunday School Quackery.
“It may be well, also, to remember that
the science of Sunday school teaching is hardly
out of its infancy. Our country is large and
new, and &oeieiy is, to a great extent, crude,
and rudimental teaching is not without its
uses. Even the bluster and officiousness of
empiricism may, sometimes, arrest attention,
and lead thoughtful minds to study and inves
tigation. But it is quite time that those glo
ry-seeking, notoriety-loving hobbyists should
give place to earnest and thoughtful workers,
who shall seek the advancement of Sunday
schools rathen than their own.
“If Rev. Nabal Shallow chances to be a
Sunday school missionary, his place is evi
dently on the frontier, where the church and
the regular preacher have not yet gone,and
where the Sunday school is yet to be organ
ized, or if organized, is perchance officered
and taught by two or three godly women, or
manned with teachers who know little or no
thing, practically, of their duties.
“Wo happen to know a Sunday school
missionary who, not long since, followed a
so-called road, which was little more than
an Indian trail, forty miles intoHhe woods of
the Northwest. Here he found a dozen fam
ilies, with swarms of children, who welcomed
him as only the isolated backwoodsman can.
The entire settlement came out to hear a plain
Lyman preach. The Sunday school, embrac
ing old as well as young, was taken into a
private cabin, for the school house was not
yet built. The missionary ate his brown
bread and maple molasses, for this wa9 all
their most generous hospitality could offer.—
The pony endured a pitiless storm without
shelter, for there was no stable in the settle
ment, and would well-nigh have starved bnt
for the bag of oats with which the missionary
was provided. This same missionary has
dotted these new settlements all over with
log-cabin Sunday schools, and numerous re
vivals, hundreds of conversions, and numbers
of new churches, attest the value and efficiency
of the labors of a plain, earnest, uneducated
layman ainorg a people to whom he was
adapted.
“ We recall another who is a capital man
in the backwoods, but who sometimes ven
tures out of the back settlements to a conven
tion, or to a village church, and does not al
ways hold fast to the golden grace of silence
—a virtue, by the way, in which better men
are sometimes lacking. His efforts, we are
bound in all candor to admit, are always
creditable to himself or the Sunday school
cause. Now, while such meu often do most
excellent service on the frontier, where sym
pathy with the uncultured, enterprising set
tlers, and a willingness to share their rude
fare and meager hospitality, are better than
refined tastes or profound knowledge, they
will not do at all, for Rev. Dr. Silvertongue’s
pulpit. Nor would they be likely to shine
in Sunday schools institutes, where advanced
methods and the philosophy of teaching are
in order. But, on the other hand, we fear
that Dr. Silvertongue would not do for the
woods; and we doubt whether the men of
science and refined habits and culture could
quite make up their minds to live on brown
bread and molasses, or even corn-dodgers
and bacon, or to sleep in cabins of only one
room, with father, mother, and nine children,
to say nothing of dogs and vermin, even if
the societies could afford to pay the salaries
which such rnen readily command.
“ So, Mr. Editor, while admitting the Rev
Mr. Shallow’s deficiencies, pray do not be too
hard on him. Send him out among the peo
ple who are too hungry to be fastidious ; to
the numbers of destitute children who are
ready to welcome the Sunday school in its
crudest form; and if his heart is full of love
for Christ and the children, he may find a
field where even shallow culture shall not be
barren or unfruitful.” — J. B. Tyler , ta Nat.
Teacher.
Genteel Schools.
“ Every Sunday school ought to be a mis
sion Sunday school. I deprecate this dis
tinction between them. We are radically
wrong when wo build agente..l Sunday school
for our own children, and another for poor
children. The church whose carpets are too
nice, whose pews are too carefully covered,
whose architecture is too fine to admit God’s
poor, ought to be torn down and thrown into
the river. 1 do not know when 1 have had
myself so stirred down to the very bout-heels
as I was in Chicago, when I heard a member
of a wealthy church of my own denomina
tion, on Wabash-avenue, say that they could
not have this class of children taught in their
school, but that the mission-school was the
place for them. Like John, who fled from
the bath when the heretic Celsu9 entered,
saying, ‘I am afraid to remain, lest the bath
should fall in upon us both,’ so would Ibe
afraid to teach in such a Sunday school, lest the
roof should fall in judgment upon the gentility
that will not admit God’s poor. There will
be this punishment, which will be suffioient,
God knows: You will bring up children to
be genteel, useless, worthless kind of Chris
tians. They will not know anything of mission
labor, nor feel anything of the mission spirit.
Your children need with the
poor and the wretched more than anything
else. It is your'only way of making earnest,
energetic, missionary Christians of them, and
l would rather send iny children half a mile
further to a mission school than to any one
of these genteel schools close at hand.”—
Eggleston.
The “ Mutual Class.”
“Such a class gives digoity and character
to the school. Its members are better qual
ified than young pupils or young teachers to
manage and direct the societies, to look after
the library, to arrange for excursions, picnics,
and anniversaries, —all of which are a part of
the Sabbath School of the present day
The mutual class will have perhaps thirty or
forty members; and each one will be free
to express his or her thought, and each one
who is willing to do it may in turn take the
place of questioner or teacher. Let no one
be forced to do this. Let the understanding
be that it is a mutual interchange of views and
thoughts acquired by study of the lesson.—
There should always be a lesson to study,—
some subject of the Bible history or truth
commenced and systematically followed up.
.... It is astonishing how little most peo
ple know of the Striptures. Make proof of
this assertion by asking some Scripture ques
tion of your wife, sister, or husband, who is
sitting near you as you read this. .... It
is wonderful, too, how much may be learned
by the one weekly recitation and talk of such
a class.”
making it Clear.
I was very much struck last Sabbath, at
New Haven, with an incident which illus
trates this duty. I was about to visit a lad
who had formerly belonged to my school. I
called at a certain house to inquire where the
parents of the scholar lived. A German
came to the door. “ Where does Mr. So aud-
So live?”
“ 1 does not speak English very well. 1
does not speak very well, English,” was the
answer. So he came out and took a stick
and made a mark on the ground, and another
mark across that. “ Dat ish the sthreet,” —
then another mark, “ dat sthreet ish Taylor
sthreet. Take data sthreet; go to dish
square; dat ish not de place; don’t take
him. -Go dwo, dree, four square; dere.dat
ish de sthreet; take dat sthreet,” —making
marks ou the ground with his stick all the
while. It was perfectly plain and clear to
me. I said to him :
“ My friend, you ought to be a Sabbath
school teacher, and use the blackboard.”
So plain and clear should be the terms that
the teacher employs in pointiug the inquiring
soul to Christ.— Ralph Wells.
Art of Questioning.
Much of the success in instructing a class
depends on the manner of questioning. Teach
much by questions wisely put, for, First,
A question unveiU the soul. Second, No
thing can escape a question. Third, It re
veals a decision. Fourth , A question awak
ens curiosity, arouses the memory, and leads
out inquiringly into the unknown. The excel
lence of a teacher may bo known by the char
acter and adaptation of his questions. The
first opening questions of a lesson are very
important. — S. S. Monitor.
A Sensible View.
The Indiana Sunday school Convention, re
cently held, passed the following very proper
resolution, viz.: Resolved, That the Sunday
school is not the place in which merely to
have agood time, but rather in which to do
earnest service for Christ, and, therefore, we
should seek to systematize our work, and to
give a thorough training in gospel truth.
Teacher’s Visits. —The Teacher’s duty
to his class, in respect to social intercourse, is
first of all to believe in it. By means of it
he may gain an access to the minds of his
pupils which is never possible in the class
when all are together. Few persons, young
or old, will speak out all their minds in the
presence of others. To pass the claims of
personal religion, to find out the scholar’s
hinderances and temptations, to gain a knowl
edge of his good purposes and struggles, the
teacher will find it a necessity to see him
alone. For this purpose he will improve
those opportunities which he may find, or
make, in social intercourse; and not unfre
quently a single interview will deepen the
impressions of months. The teacher who
fails to supplement the instructions given to
the assembled class with faithfulness in pri
vate interviews, but half does his work.
Study the Text. —Studious preparation
of the lesson, by personal contact with the
sacred text, is imperative. Teachers, meet
ings, commentaries, institutes, and the like,
are crutches only, and should not be leaned
on too heavily. The truly successful teacher
is one who turns the lesson over and ovor in
his own mind, and thinks for himself, and
masters the lesson for himself. This kind of
study will make teachers clear and brilliant.
But love and prayer alone can make it warm
and effective. When pupils see that the
teacher is interested in them personally, and
that he tries to make his teaching the means
of leading them to Christ, th*y will listen
with deepest interest.
Character. —To a young man, Daniil
Webster once said: “You have health, and
you have character ; and remember that to
a healthy young American character is cap
ital, and capital enough.”
Bbell foundry,
Established in 1837.
Superior Bells for Churches,
Schools, etc ..of Pare Cop
per and Tin, fully war
ranted, and mounted with
our Latest Improved
Rotary Hansinp, the
best in use.
Illustrated Catalogue sent free.
VANDUZEN & TIFT; a
102 & 101 E. Second 8t„ Cincinnati,
, 2540- 90—50 t
THE STEWART COOK STOVE.
WITH DUMPING GRATE.
LATEST IMPROfELENT! BEST IN THE WORLD'.
HAXOPACTURBD BT
FULLER, WARREN & CO.,
TROY. N. Y.
The Stewart Stove, which has been in use for more
than a quarter of a century, and by its ecoooniy and
complete to the wants of the kitebuu.Jlms
maintained an acknowledged superiority over all other
stoves, is now introduced to the public with all the
modern conveniences of Front Draft, Ash Drawer
anti Dumping Grate. The Flues have also been
enlarged and improved, so as to ensure an excellent
Draft at all times, and still to retaiu in the Stove its
unrivalled economical features. No stove has ever yet
been made to do as much work with as little fuel as the
Stewart. The following brief summary is the result
of One Day’s Work, recently accomplished at Glo
versville, N - Y., with one Stewart Stove:
Baked 415 pounds of bread, half a bushel of po
tatoes, 5 apple pies. Roasted 73 pounds of beet.
Boiled 1 barrel of water; also, 17 gallons heated to
150 degrees. All this with one coal Jire, not a particle
ot coal being put into the stove after the fire was start*
ed in the moi-niog. Thoso in wantof Cook Stoves will
secure the most economy by procuring the best. The
Stewart Stoves are for sale in nearly every town and
citv throughout the United Stales.
FULLER, WARREN & CO.,
Exclusive Manufacturers,
Troy, N* Y.
j 5S State St., Chicago, 111.
Branchfllouses • Jgp River St., Cleveland, O.
The Warren Double Oven Cooking Range
the most perfect operating Range in the market, and
the Lawson Hot Air Furnaces, the very best for
heatlug Churches, Public Buildings, and Private Resi
dences, are also manufactured and for sale by
FULLER, WARREN A CO.
gay Descriptive Pamphlets furnished on application.
For sa.e in Atlanta by J. WARLICK,
13488 Peaohtree Street.
BUSINESS CARDS.
\ A. CONSTANTINE’S
Persian. Healing Soap.
Patbmtcd Marco 12, 1867.
FOR THE 10ILET, BATH AAD 'NURSER Y
This Soap has no equal. It preserves the complex
ion fair, the skiu soft, dexib e and healthy. It removes
all dandruff, preserves the hair soft and Bilky, and pre
vents it from falling off. It cores Pimples, all Diseases
of the Scalp and Skin, and is a GOOD SHAVING
SOAP. Agents wanted. Office, 43 Ann St., New York.
Ask any dealer for A. A. onstantine’s Soap,
2582—t
SHARP & FLOYD,
(SUCCESSORS TO GEO. SHARP, Jr.,)
WHITEHALL STREET, ATLANTA, GA.,
Manufacturing and Merchant Jewelers, Watch-
Makers, Silversmiths, and Eugravrn.
We Do First Class Work,
We sell only First Class Goods.
We sell the Diamond Spectacle.
We believe it to be the best in use.
We Keep the very Best of Workmen.
We have a large stock of Fine Jewelry.
We have the Latest Styles.
We have a large stock of Diamonds.
We are legitimate Diamond Dealers,
We have a large stock of Watches.
We sell at Small Profits.
We buy our goods for Cash.
We buy thorn very low.
We sell them low as the lowest.
We have more Solid Silver Ware manufac
tured than any Jeweller in Georgia.
We Engrave all our Ware free of charge.
We have a motto-Quick Sales, Small Profits.
We guarantee every article sold.
We guarantee all our work.
We make Gold, Silver and Bronse Medals.
We want to turnish every Fair In the State.
We can make Premiums for Fairs.
We kuow that we can m ike them at a less price than
any house iu Georgia.
We can make Premiums, then, as low as aav House
in the United States.
We cannot, shall not be excelled in Finish, Price or
Quality. •
We shall not be undersold.
Give us a fair trial. SHARP k FLOYD.
J 1543 6t>--25t
TMPORTANT NOTICE
-L TO
CONSUMERS OF DRY GOODS.
All Retail Orders amounting to S2O and Over Dnllvered
In any Part of the Country,
Free of Express Charges.
HAMILTON, EASTER & SONS,
OF BALTIMORE, MD.,
In order the better to meet the wants of their Retail
customers at a distance, have established a
SAMPLE BUIR/ELA/U,
and Will, upon application, promptly eend by mail hill
tines of Samples of the Neweet and moat Fashionable
Goods, of FRENCH, ENGLISH and DOMEBTIC MAN
UFACTURE, guaranteeing at all times to sell as low,
if not at less prices, than any house in the country.
Buying our Goods from the largest and moat calibra
ted manufacturers in different parts of Europe, and
importing the same by Steamers direct to Baltimore,
our stook is st all times promptly supplied with the
novelties of the London aud Puris markets.
As we buy and sell only for cash, and make no bad
debts, we are able and willing to sell our goods at from
Ten to Firr K KN Psa Csnt. Lisa Profit than if we gave
credit.
In sending for Samples, specify the Hud of goods de
sired. Wo keep the best grades of every class of goods,
from the lowest to the most costly.
Orders unaccompanied bu the cash, trill be tent 0, O. D.
PROMPT-PA YING WHOLESALE BUYERS are
invited to inspect the Stock in our Jobbing and Pack
age Department. Addtess
HAMILTON, EASTER k SONS,
197, 199, 201 and 203 West Baltimore Street,
2525—2575 Baltimore. Md.
THE MENEEIY BELL FOUNDRY.
(Established in 1826.)
. \aGo ijfj. ABELLS for Churches, Academies,
Factories, etc., of which more have
been made at this establishment than
ut 1411 , * lO other foundries in tbo
country combined. All bells war
ranted. An illustrated Catalogue
HBg sent free upon application to
E. A. k G. K. ME NEELY,
* 2546 -y* West Troy, N. Y.
QMITH, CHEATHAM & CO.,
(Successors to ELON G. SMITH k C 0.,)
PORK ZF-A-CIKIIBIRS,
PROVISION AND COMMISSION
MERCHANTS,
Corner Third and Sprnce streets,
ST. LOUIS, MO.
Solicit orders from the Trade for goods iu our linn.
2562-86-tH
TRAVELERS’ GUIDE.
WESTERN AND ATLANTIC RAILROAD CO
E. W. Coi.e, Superintendent, Atlanta.
Night Passenger Train — Outward.
Leave Atlanta 10.30 PM
Arrive at Chattanooga 6.10 A.M
Day Passenger T>ain—Outward.
Leave Atlanta G.OOA.M
Arrive at
Fast Lene to New York — Outward.
Leave Atlanta 2.43 P.M
Arrive ut Dalton 7.53 P.M
Night Passenger Train — lnward.
Leave Chattanooga ....5,20 P.M
Arrive at Atlanta 1.42 A.M
Day Passenger Train — lnward.
Leave Chattanooga 5 30 A.M
Arrive at Atlanta 2.20 P.M
Accommodation Train—lnward.
Leave Dalton 2.25 A.M
Arrive at Atlanta 0.10 A.M
GEORGIA RAILROAD.
S. K. John soy, Superintendent, Augusta.
Day Passnger Train.
Leave Augusta.. b.OO A.M
Leave Atlanta 7.10 A.M
Arrive at Augusta •••• 5.40 P.M
Arrive at Atlanta 620 P.M
Night Passenger and Mail Train.
Leave Augusta 8.15 P.M
Leave Atlanta 5 30 P.M
Arrive at Augusta 3.45 A.M
Arrive at Atlanta 6.40 A.M
ATnsns Branch Thin leaves Union Point daily,
Sunday excepted, at 1.15 P.M., arriving at Athens at
4.35 P.M. Leave Athens at 9.15 A.M., arriving at
Union Point 12.50 P.M. On Monday and Tuesday
nights, a train leaves Union Point at 2 20 A.M , arrives
at Athens 5.15 A.M.; leaves Athens, 8 P.M., arriving
at Union Point, 11' P.M.
Washington Bbanch.— Train leaves Washington
at 10 A.M., arrives at Barnett, 11.30 A.M.; leaves
Barnett 2.15 P.M., arriving at Washington at 4.10
PJI. On Monday and Tuesday nights, leaves Wash
ington at 10.20 P.M., arriving at Barnett, 12 at night.
Leaves Barnett, 1.50 A.M., arrives at Washington,
3 30 A.M.
Macon ant> Augusta Railboad.— Train leave*
Camak, 12.40 P.M., arriving at Milledgeville Junction
4.20 P.M.: leaves Junction at 6-.15 A.M, arriving at
Camak, 925 A.M. Connects Augusta with South
Carolina, Charlotte, Colombia and Augusta, aud
Augusta with Savannah Railroad.
ATLANTA AND WEST POINT RAILROAD.
L. P. Grant, Superintendent, Atlanta.
Day Pastenger Train— Outward.
Leave Atlanta 7.10 A.M
Arrive at West Point 11.40 A.M
Day Ptuttnger Train —lt ward.
Leave West Point 19.46 P.M
Arrive at Atlanta 0.00 P.M
Night Freight and Patttnger—Outward.
Leave Atlanta 7.00 P.M
Arrive at West Point 10 40 P.M
Night Freight and Paetengtr—lnward.
Leave West Poiui 3.00 A.M
Arrive at Atlanta 10.07 A M
NASnVILLE AND CHATTANOOGA RAILROAD
J. W. Thomas, Superintendent, Nashville.
Day Pattenger Train.
Leave Nashville 9.30 A.M
Arrive at Chattanooga 4.20 P.M
Leave Chattanooga 3.45 A M
Arrive at Nashville 1.30 P.M
~ Night Pattenger Train.
Leave Nashville 6.13 P.M
Arrive at Chattanooga 4.30 A.M
Leave Chattanooga 800 P.M
Arrive at Nashville. .5 00AM
Night trains run daily; day train* run daily, Son
days excepted.
Both trains connect nt Chattanooga for Rome, At
lanta, and all principal Southern cities.
Selina, Rome and Daltoa Railroad. ~i|
DAT PASSENGER TRAIH—NoRTR.
' Leave Selira. Kfco6 a.in
Arrive at. Rome £gg pj—
Arrive at Dulton 41:26 p,m
~ ... night passenger train—south.
Leave Dalton 8:10 p m
Arrive ut Rome 11:11 tun
Arrive at Selina .WM a.ia
ACCOMMODATION TRAIN.
Leave Rome 1 -th*.- %
Arrive at Kume ....%
The accommodation train rant from Romo to
dally, Sundays excepted. The through pasaexrerH
will b« run ou Sunday.