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fate ami fßapiiisi
Rev. D. E. BUTLEB, Managing]! Editor
Ediiob ai. Conthibctoes:
De .7. 8. LAWTON Atlanta, Georgia.
Brv. J. S. BAKER, !>,I) Quitman, Georgia.
Rev. S. G. IIILLYER, D.D Forsytb, Georgia.
Ret. T. G. JONES, D.D NaahTille, Tennessee.
In the dwelling of the Almighty can
come no footsteps of decay. Its day
will know no darkness —eternal splen
dors forbid the approach of night. Its
fountains will never fail; they are fresh
from the eternal throne. Its glory will
never wane, for there is the ever-present
God. Its harmonies will never cease;
exhaustless love supplies the song.
There must bo an unmixed satisfac
tion in growing old when one reflects
that it is gradually and surely bring
ing one nearer the joys of heaven, just
as minors, heirs to rich estates, may be
impatient and eager to reach their ma
jority and possess their wealth. And
then to know that ono is leaving be
hind one a life of truth and usefulness,
that has contributed, however humbly,
to human welfare, is a consolation that
must inevitably help the aged to be
calm and hopeful in view of approach
iDg death.
We must have our daily soul work
between ourselves and God, our secret
communion with Him,or we shall starve,
even though surrounded by plenty. Wo
must read our Bible, do our praying
and believing and weeping before the
Lord, conquer our own enemies in the
strength that Jesus gives, and grow in
grace and the knowledge of God, singly
and in his sight. Wo cannot be par
doned in masses, or saved in crowds.
Straight is the gate, each must find it and
enter it for himself alone. Let us be
ware, lest in seeking outward excite
ment, we forget and lose the blessed
ness of inward Christian life. Let us
walk with God!
We should accustom ourselves to
think of departed friends, not as being
lost, but as Laving gono before; for
in reality they are not dead, but aro
only sleeping, and will soon awako and
arise to everlasting life. Death to
them is a short and dreamless repose,
and a thousand years to them will be
“but as yesterday when it is past.”
Though we no longer behold them,
they are ours still—ours to love and
cherish till we all shall meet again.
Our departed friends aro gone before,
foot-sore and weary, we follow on,
and soon with them wo will slumber in
the dreamless grave. Many of the
good, tbe beautiful, and lovely, have
vanished from our view, but they still
have an existence, and wo can think of
them, dream of them, and love them
tho samo as if they wero here, or sep
arated from us but for awhile. Thoy
aro our jewels, cur heart’s treasures,
and they shall bo ours forever.
A Christian’s Greatest Grief is
not occasioned by tho number or mag
nitude of his past sins, but by the evi
dence offered in the daily operations of
his own the spirit of carnal
ity, which he brought with him into
tho world, still exists, and is daily
making efforts to recover the absolute
sway which he once exerted over his
moral affections, ere his scepter was
wrested from him by the spirit of
God.
The Christian mourns for his sins,
but while ho mourns ho rejoices in the
assurances of God’s Word, that with
him “thero is forgiveness ;” that “with
the Lord there is mercy, and with him
is plenteous redemption j” that the
blood of Christ “cleanseth from all
sin;” that he will in “no wise cast out
any that come to him ;” “that ho hath
borne our griefs, aud carried our sor
rows,” etc. He feels, therefore, that he
may safely cast the burden of his guilt
upon Him who is both able and willing
to bear that burden.
But the saino Scriptures which teach
these important, soul-cheering truths,
teach also that without holiness no one
shall see the Lord; that before one
can bo admitted to Heaven ho must be
“reconciled to the will of God by the
death of His son." Ho is conscious
that he lacks that perfect holiness, that
entire reconciliation of his will to the
will of God in all things, that is neces
sary to fit him for dwelling in the pres
ence of Him who requires us to bo holy
as He is holy. Then he can feelingly
say with a poet:
“My grief and burden long has been,
Because I cannot cease from sin."
Note—lt is not because of the recollections
of past Bins, but because of the motions of ain in
the flesh, alluded to by Paul in Rom. vii: 5,
18. _ lie deplores the incessant promptings of
a spirit of carnality to resist the Will of God.
As long as we continue in the flesh, we shall
hare need to watch and resist that spirit.
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX AND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST.
THE SAVIOIR’S GREAT COMMISSION.
The above is an old subject. It has been be
fore our people a long time. But so long as
it is unfulfilled, its binding obligation is Mill
upon us. 1 o convert the world to Christ is
the mission of his people. Our Baptist Zion
has its part to perform in this great work.
The organisation of the Southern Baptist Con
vention, with its boards at Richmond, and at
Marion, is a visible proof, that, to some extent,
we recognize our obligations and are trying to
fulfill them.
But our Boards, for some cause, are now en
cumbered with difficulties. The great ques
tion is, how can they be relieved ? How can
they be supplied with the means of carrying on
their mission work ?
The first step towards answering this ques
tion is, to ascertain the true cause of their pres
ent embarrassment. Some would answer, that
the hardness of the times is the cause. Well,
the times are hard. But we do not think this
is the true cause. We claim, in round num
bers, about 100,000 missionary Baptists in
Georgia. Suppose that each of these could be
induced to give five cents a month, it would
run up, in twelve months, to $60,000. But,
suppose we grant that one-half of these 100,000
are too poor to give anything. We still have
50,000. Suppose each of these could give live
cents a month—the aggregate would be $60,000
for Georgia’s contribution to our Boards.
Then, if each of the Southern States should
give in proportion to Georgia, we suppose the
whole amount would reach, perhaps, $200,000
per annum. With these figures before us, it is
simply unreasonable to refer the distress of
our Boards to the scarcity of money. We cer
tainly are safe in assuming that 50,000 Baptist
in Georgia are able to give five cents a month
to our Boards. We go further and say that
they are willing to give it. Then why have
they not done it ? There are several reasons.
One is, many have not had the wants of the
Boards explained to them. They take no re
ligious papers —they are living in the rural
districts. They seldom attend our Associa
tions and Conventions. Hence, though mis
sionary at heart, they are not aware of the
facts which would appeal to their liberality—
and, hence, they neglect to give even one dime
in the whole year.
There are others, however, who neglect their
duty, because they are not favorable to the
plans which have been adopted for carrying on
the work. Let us not Iks misunderstood.
Mission work is one thing, the method of
carrying it on is another thing. There are ex
cellent brethren who have the work at heart;
but who honestly think that our present sys
tem of Boards and agencies is not expedient.
Nevertheless, many noble brethren of this
class continue to contribute to these Boardsj
preferring to support a method which they do
not approve, rather than neglect a work which
they love. But many of this class have not
such magnanimity. Because they do not ap
prove the method t they denounce the work it
self. Thus it happens that thousands of our
brethren, some for one reason, some for anoth
er, tail to contribute one cent. Hence, the
burden of supporting the cause is devolved up
on only a fraction of our great denominatio
And it is just on account of this fact that the
plea ofhnrd times becomes valid and pertinent.
When a few have the money to raise they
must give, not dimes, but dollars, and fives,
and tens, and twenties, and hundreds. We
know that many have been in the habit of
giving according to these figures. Now when
financial distress has come, and reduced their
incomes, even below the reasonable wants of
their families, they must reduce their contribu
tions, they can still give, and they do give
something—but not enough to sustain our mis
sionary work. As to this particular class, it
may truly be said, that the hardness of the
limes has curtailed their contributions to our
Boards. While the country was prosperous
these brethren did carry on a respectable mis
sionary work. But now they are not able to
do it. Well, they ought never to have been
allowed to carry it on alone. Had our whole
people come up to the work with their nickels,
and dimes, our treasury would hardly have
felt the change in the finances of the country.
Since writing the above we have seen the ar
ticle of our correspondent on the question:
“Are our methods of collecting funds for be
nevolent purposes wrong ?” who proposes to
follow with additional views. Hoping that
the writer will give some light upon this im
portant question, we will wait for his views.
When he is through, if necessary, we may add
some suggestions of our own.
There is no surer soul-death, no
more inevitable paralyzing of worth
and force than self-exaltation and self
praise. The shadow of self blights
growth, maims power, cripples influ
ence. There are men in some aspects
almost great, in others, pitifully small,
because they will not stand out of
their own shadow. There are men
who have the ability and the will to
perform the most valiant service for
one and another great cause, who are
wise, brilliant, eloquent; who yet have
been of little or no worth to their fel
low-beings, simply because they are
willing to do nothing without securing
full credit for it, to rear no column in
tho temple of regenerated humanity,
unless they can inscribe their names on
it s capital.
An eccentric brother in Kentucky, is
reported to have said, recently: “Breth
ren this old Baptist chain has not a
single missing link. I can give it a
jerk and hear it jingle clear back to
the river Jordan."
HE CIS-T L'SDEBSTifD IT,
All our readers are not endowed with
sharp intellects. One of them acknowl
edges that he is so defective in the
power of penetration that he cannot
understand the “ wherefore” of many
things reported in the papers as hav
ing been done, said and sung, in refer
ence to the grand centennial movement,
that had aroused, from the sleep of
centuries, the minds of men, women
and children, in every department of
Christendom. As we do not possess
enough of the quality of a whetstone
to enable us to sharpen his intellectual
powers, we turn him over to out cen
tennial orators, and trust, in their
clemency, they will undertake to illu
mine his mind, and enable him to com
prehend the things which have, so far,
remained incomprehensible to him. To
aid them in their benevolent work,
we will state,briefly, some of the things
. which he says he cannot understand.
1. He cannot understand why greater
efforts are made to impress
with a sense of our obligation to God
for the civil and religious liberty we
enjoy, than with our obligation for the
liberty wherewith Christ has made us
free; unless they deem it a greater boon
to be freed from the tyrannic rule of civil
governments than from the dominion
of sin and satan, under which all in an
nnregenerate state were held, (and still
are), or believe that the world is more
in need of information on the ono sub
ject than on the other.
2. Ho cannot understand how, or
why it is, that the erection of colleges,
and the sustaining of learned profes
sors in them, should bo considered
more necessary to evince our gratitude
to God than the erection of houses of
worship, and the sending forth and
sustaining heralds of tho Cross to
preach that ever blessed Gospel that is
declared to be the “ power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth:
to tho Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
Rom. i: 16.
3. He cannot understand why so
many, and such cogent appeals aro
made to us for 'pecuniary contributions,
while but few and feeble are the ap
peals made—if, indeed, there be any—
to sanctify our hearts to the Lord, unless
they believe that gratitude to God is
more evidently evinced by pecuniary
contributions than by an entire conse
cration the heart, with all
t’ r , .o Him from whom all ouiHnfflPff
.ngs flow. He thinks if tho hearts of
professed Christians were wholly con
secrated to the Lord, thero would be no
need for tho prodigious efforts that are
being made to raise funds for the en
dowment of our colleges; as, in that
event, there would be ample funds pro
vided, without any special solicitation,
to enable us to carry on, successfully, all
our benevolent enterprises. He thinks
our centennial workers are —to use an
old simile —hitching the cart before the
horse.
Asa herald of news we report the
difficulties that have occurred to the
mind of one of the many thousands of
our readers. We hope no one will
hold The Index responsible for the
opinions expressed or implied in our
report of tho difficulties that agitate
the mind of our bewildered reader.
What reason have the young people
for withholding from the church the
service they can aud ought to render?
Why are they not free to act and la
bor in her work and mission ? With
them, her efficiency will be increased,
and her success accelerated. Without
them, her difficulties will be multiplied,
and their own well-being imperiled,
both in time and eternity. Let them
give to her, and so to God, the beauti
ful incense of their young, cheerful
and vigorous life.
Thb book of Revelation is not so
much an upward and forward vision, as
inward; through form to essence,
through manifest effect to hidden cause.
Seal by seal the roll opens inwardly.
None can fail to recognize the on
ward sweep of the book toward a tri
umph which, in cycle after cycle, deep
ens, until out of battle and storm, and
mystic clouds, the new Jerusalem
emerges in crystal beaqty.
The bed of death brings every hu
man being to his pure individuality, to
the intense contemplation of that deep
est and most solemn of all relations,
the relation between the creature and
his Creator.
Ejaculatory prayer is the short
dagger to use for defence against temp
tation, when we have no time to draw
the long sword of solemn prayer.
BRIEF NOTES.
—The Texas Baptist Herald refers to
our proposition, and the endorsement of
it by the Western Recorder, that each
church appoint a committee to see that
each member in it takes a religious pa
per, and adds, “Several pastors in Texas
have undertaken to put the Baptist
Heraldinto every family connected with
their churches.” Will not our Georgia
pastors enable us, at an early day, to
make a similar statement in reference
to them and The Index ?
—We do not deny the change of be
ing an old fogy; but we disclaim being
entitled to credit for the interesting ar
ticles that have recently appeared in
our columns over the signature “ Old
Fogy.” They who ascribe those ar
ticles to us rob a worthy brother of his
honest due. Let justice be done, etc.
—We question whether we do not
excel all other denominations in the
number of Smiths we have set to work
in the gospel ministry. According to
the Year Book for 1876, published by
the A. B. P. S. at Philadelphia, there
are in one State (New York) 24 Smiths
who have a “ Rev.” prefixed to their
names ; in three States, Missouri, Ken
tucky and Georgia, there are 14 in
each ; in the two Virginias combined,
the same number—l 4; in three States,
Illinois, Tennessee and Alabama, 9
each ; making in the States named an
aggregate of 107 Baptist ministers by
the name of Smith. There are in sev
eral other States a plurality of Smiths,
with a sprinkl'ng of Smithes and
Smythes, that we have neglected to in
clude in our reckoning. The Year
Book makes no distinction between
white and black Smiths—neither do we.
GEORGIA BAPTIST NEATS.
From Bro. D. G. I Janie 11, writing from
Walthourville, we learn of a protracted meet
ing held at Jones’ Creek, from the fourth Sab
bath through the union meeting on the fifth
Sabbath in January. Seven were baptized
during tbe meeting, most of whom had been
expected for some time. Brethren G. A.
Blount aud T. S. Linford assisted —the for
mer during the entire meeting and the latter
during the two closing days.
—The Augusta C'onstitiUionalist of the Bth
lost says:
The regular Sunday-school concert of the
First Ward Baptist church, on Sunday, was
an enjoyable affair. Judge W. R. Me Laws
made a most interesting address.
—The McDuffie Journal, alluding to a re
cent article entitled “Should a minister be
recompensed for his services, ’’says:
PmfS botice a very sensible article under the
abovej adirgin The Christian Index from
Rev.) ' .Hillman, of our county. The wri
ter, afiTr reciting the duties of a pastor to his
flock, defines the duties of the flock to the pas
tor, in which we fully concur. Ministers who
are appointed to lead in “ways that are holy”
should at all times be encompassed by as fa
vorable circumstances as possible, and never
be allowed to have pecuniary obligations ac
cumulate until those with whom they deal
suspect them of neglect or carelessness.
Their influence for good is not only impaired,
but their power of doing good, in consequence
of pecuniary embarrassment, is greatly lessen
ed.”
—The Alabama Baptist alludes to our greatly
esteemed co-laborers as follows :
Dr. J. S. Baker, a venerable father in Israel,
writes that though alive, he feels himself dy
ing a lingering death. He retains his mental
vigor, as his occasional articles to our paper
will testify. He has sent solutions of the
rhythmical puzzles published January 27.
How many others solved those puzzles ?
—Brother W. C. AVilkessends us the follow
ing gratifying news from his fine field of labor
in Gainesville; “The college opens with
nearly 80 pupils. We are occupying our new
church building. The congregation and Sab
bath-school continue to increase; additions
every conference; prayer meetings growing in
interest.”
—The Macon 1 degraph and Messenger says:
The Second Baptist church has been, for a
long time, seriously embarrassed by a burthen
of debt which pressed heavily upon it, and
which at the present juncture, promises to bear
more heavily unless some measure is adopted
which will liquidate it in a reasonable length
of time. This condition of affairs is fully ap
preciated by the congregation, and they are
easting about for some means of savin g their
place of worship. To assist in the accom
plishment of this end, the ladies of the con
gregation have organized a “Working Socie
ty,” and have set to work to assist in raising
the necessary means. They will approach the
public in various ways, and will accept any
contribution, no matter how small it may be.
In furtherance of this praiseworthy object,
the pupils of the Blind Asylum, through their
courteous Superintendent, Professor Williams,
have consented to give a concert on the 18th
instant, tor the benefit of this fund. A fine
sum will, doubtless, be realized.
—An excellent denominational work is under
prosperous headway in the suburbs of Atlanta.
A little faithful band, about five months ago
organized a church at Bellwood. The meetings
were first held in an old school house. The
Lord added to the membership, and they have
been enabled to build a comfortable house of
worship, which will seat 250.
They have also organized a Sabbath-school,
of which our worthy friend and brother, John
11. Phillips, is Superintendent, Scholars and
teachers number about sixty, and the school is
rapidly increasing. May the Lord’s blessing
be poured out abundantly upon this church
and Sunday-school, that it may grow and
prosper continually.
THE HUMAN WILL.
IY A.. J. BATTLE.
NO. VIII.
THE THEORY OP THE SELF—DETERMINING
POWER OP THE WILL.
Philosophers, who deny that the Will is
governed by motives, or causes, extraneous
to itself, maintain that it possesses a self-deter
mining energy, or the uncontrolled power to
originate its own volitions. This position is
held by some able metaphysicians, and by
the great body of Arminian Theologians.
Among the distinguished advocates of this the
ory are Cousin, in France, Tappan, of New
England, and Bledsoe, a Southern writer of
high reputation and superior ability.
Cousin ascribes to the Will an absolute and
undetermine# power to act as cause. “This
cause, in order to produce its effect, has need
of no other theatre and no other instrument
than itself. It produces it directly, without
anything intermediate, and without condition :
* * * being always able to do what it does
not do, and able not to do what it does.” Mr.
Tappan contends that all cause lies ultimately
in thee Will, a power which is self-moved.
Mr. Bledsoe denies that volition is the effect
of anything, whether motive or mind it is the
action of an independent agent, the Will:
“The mind puts forth its volitions without be
ing efficiently caused to do so, —without being
impelled by its own prior action, or by the
prior action of anything else. The conditions
or occasions of volition being supplied, the
minds itself acts in view thereof, without be
ing subject to the power or action of any cause
whatever.”
These views agree in making the Will ex
empt from the operation of any impelling
cause—an autonomy, or independent power,
with inherent capacity to do or refrain, at its
own uncontrolled option.
This theory is objectionable for the follow
ing reasons: First, it contradicts one of the
acknowledged intuitions of the mind, —a uni
versally recognized first principle of thought:
namely, the principle of causation. The law
of causation is, every event has a cause, or
every begun existence, or every occurring
phenomenon, is the effect of some preceding
energy, called a cause. An event or phenome
non without a cause is inconceivable by the
mind. And, therefore, philosophers have ev
er placed causality among the categories of
thought, the intuitive truths of .the mind —
truths that are self-evident, necessary and uni
versal. To say then that volition, an act of
the Will, can take place without a cause, is to
state what the conscious mind pronounces im
possible. When an act has been performed,
it is legitimate to ask why it was done? The
answer is, according to this theorv, the mind
so willed ?t. Why did the mind so will ?To
this there is no answer, and can he none, for
there is no law governing the Will —it
wills thus, or the opposite, without motive.
But this (joes not meet the demand of the en
quiring soul, which is ever curiously prying
into the spring of actions, and the cause of un
explained phenomena. This demand of uni
versal reason is seen in the child whose facul
ties are just unfolding, and in the untutored
savage, as truly as in the mature philosopher.
The little child sees a watch, observes the mo
tion of the wheels, hears the ticking of the little
machine, and instantly exclaims‘what makes
it do so?’ In this curiosity to know the cause,
he is on a level with the philosopher. Indeed
he is a philsopher, bent upon the discovery
of causes, and you leave him unsatisfied and
thirsting, until you have assigned a cause. It
is this yearning of the soul after a cause, which
givis so ready an entrance to the idea of a
God into the mind, and which, in the breast of
the ignorant, ascribes all strange and unex
plained occurrences to the direct agency of
God. The mind must rest in > lething, and
hence it seeks the simplest solution of the
mystery, in the Great First Cause. Now the
operation of the Will is no exception to the
rule, that the mind demands a cause of every
phenomenon. If I see a man do anything
whatever, the motive for which is not appa
rent, I cannot avoid the mental inquiry why
did he so? A man commits suicide. On ev
ery hand, from the youngest to the oldest, the
question springs up spontaneously, why (lid he
take his life ? The German press pronounced
Thommassen’s crime the natural outgrowth
of American civilization; and while Ameri
cans residing in Germany are indignant at
this aspersion, and while thoughtful minds are
asking for “a psychological cause,” the auto
nomists say, there is no cause; he willed it,
that is all. They ignore the avarice in his
“heart” —a thing which the Bible declares to
be “desperately wicked”—and would have us
believe that he contrived that infernal scheme,
without a motive. But the question of uni
versal reason, why ? will not down at the bid
ding of autonomists. Now, it does not avail
against this inexorable fact of our concious
ness and experience, to draw a distinc
tion between the relation of cause and effect,
and that of agent and action. If by this equivo
cal word, action, is meant the operation, or put
ting forth of power, then there must be a cause
for that operation. A machine may have
power to act, but its action is never self-pro
duced. The powers of nature act, but their ac
tion is always the effect of some antecedent en
ergy. If action signifies the product or result
of the operation of the power, it is palpably
caused by that operation. And in all such
cases, the question is ever coming up: Why ?
Why? Why?
We repeat then, that the hypothesis of the
self-determining power of the Will contradicts
one of the universally acknowledged maxims
of reason, that every event must have a cause.
Secondly, the theory under review is con
travened by ail analogy. Everything in the
material universe is admitted to be subject to
this relation of cause and effect. All action,
motion, existences and phenomena, occurring
in the physical creation, are produced by ante
rior power or force. And not only in nature,
but in mechanics, in civil society, in mind,
and in morals, we witness the operation of
causes, and can find no event without its cause,
either known or sought for. Even the advo
cates of the view under consideration admit,
that the understanding and the sensibility, with
the states and acts of each, are determined —
even necessitated. The Will alone is exempt
from the dominion of causality, and its acts
alone are self-caused. It is then, an anomaly in
a double sense, being the solitary exception to a
sweeping law, and exempt from the control of
all law. Is a theory unsupported by a single
analogy—nay, with which all analogy is at va
riance, —likely to be true ?
Thirdly, it is contrary to observed facts. In
the course of this discussion, we have adduced
a great variety of examples, demonstrative of
the principle, that men act in obedience to in
centives lying in the sphere of the sensibility.
In every case, it was clearly established that the
volition was prompted by feeling—such as ap
petite, self-love, pity, benevolence, ambition,
patriotism, fear, love, avarice, feeling of obliga
tion, desire to please God, etc. We have in
vestigated simple and common-place actions,
as well as rare and important deeds, and, in
each instance, we have traced the volition to a
determining emotion.
We have searched the range of conscious
experience, the sphere of observation, the re
cord of current events, the pages of history,
the volume of revelation, and have found the
Will ever acting in obedience to extraneous
incentive. There are cases which, at the first
glance, seem to point to the intellect —the
judgment—as the source of power over the
volition ; but the impelling cause or induce
ment to action is an intervening emotion, which
the test of scrutiny always discovers. Indif
ferent or trivial actions may often appear al
mostentirely motiveless; but in proportion [to
the feebleness or absence of inducements, is
also the feebleness and absence of the volunta
ry element. We maintain that the observed
facts and phenomena of the Will form a broad
basis of inductive demonstration, establishing
the truth of our theory, while not one action
has ever clearly appeared to be inspired by
the und jtermined Will.
Strange autonomy this, which in all histo -
ry has not performed a solitary indepen dent
exploit, but has forever submitted to the dic
tation of alien powers; which never exer
cises its vaunted prerogativejof sovereignty, but
pays unvarying tribute to foreign authority !
It is vain to say that the Will can do otherwise
than it does. It js vain to arrogate powers
that are never exercised. Nothing can be
more ridiculous than the claim of an individ
ual to kingly authority, who is, and ever has
been, a private citizen.
Advocates of the automons Will cannot es
tablish their hypothesis by induction. That
hypothesis assumes that the Will has power
to do otherwise than it does. In the very na
ture of tilings, it is impossible to prove this
from “the facts of nature,” because the .doc
trine asserts what is contrary to facts. To af
firm that the Will can do what it does not do,
is to affirm what can never be known to be
true —a purely conjectural and ideal concep
tion. Thus, we can never, by “dissecting,”
“anatomizing” or questioning nature, arrive
at the autonomy of the AVill. And, according
to Dr. Bledsoe, any other method is unscien
tific; “it anticipates, but does not interpret na
ture.” And, according to Bacon, “it is the
“parent of error, and the calamity of every
science.”
Induction, therefore, the argument from ob
served facts, is against the hypothesis of the self
determining power of the Will. We have, in
every volition, one condition uniformly pres
ent —an impulse of the sensibility —and this,
by the rule of inductive science, must be
the cause.
The free agency of man will next claim our
attention.
The religious newspaper aims not to
do, and if it did, could not do, the
work of the pulpit; but most powerful
ly does it assist and perpetuate that
work.
It cannot cast over multitudes the
spell of eloquence, which Truth lends
to the voice of the living preacher, but
it can give watchful culture to the seed
thoughts sown, and help to reap a more
bountiful harvest. There is an elo
quence of silence as well as of sound*
and, as in physical, so in the moral
world, the greatest results are wrought
out by the most silent forces. A frag
ment of truth taken into the soul
through the understanding, in a quiet,
reflective hour, as it leaps up frotp the
printed page, may be more potent for
good than we shall ever be able to
know.
“ Special Contributions.”—We desire to
call the attentiom of every reader of The In
dex to the Special Contribution depart
ment. In the columns devoted to this depart
ment will be found regular contributions from
the very ablest writers in our denomination,
on subjects of general or special interest. The
choice thoughts of our best minds, and the
fruit of the exegotical labors of onr most schol
arly brethren, in and out of the ministry, will
there be found, carefully prepared for the edi
fication of our readers, and for the promotion of
the cause of Christ’s truth and Christian ex
cellence. We will sparp neither labor nor ex
pense to keep this special department up to
the highest standard, and enriched with the
jewels of refined thought.
Satan knows if thou playest the
truant to-day, thou wilt go the more
loth to school to-morrow.