Newspaper Page Text
The Christian Index,
THE SOUTH-WESTBBIT BAPTIST, THE CHRISTIAN HERALD'
of Alabama. of Tennessee.
VOL. 55—NO. 22.
Table of Contents.
First Page. —Alabama Department: Reoord of
State Events; Baptist Anniversaries; Spirit of
the Religious Press; Three Little Waifs—Poet
ry; Baptist News and Notes; General Denomi
national News.
Second Page.— Our Correspondents: Romanism
in Georgia—The Origin of the Mystery of In
iquity—T. B. Cooper; M. S. Carlile; An Admir
able Letter—E. W. Warren; Family Religion—
No I—Wm. C. Wilkes. Notes or Travel: A
Visit to Texas—Mrs. Ella Hinkle.
Third Page.— Our Pulpit: The Bible—A Dis
course Delivered by Rev. T. G. Skinner, D. D.,
at the Annual Meeting of the Macon Bible So
ciety, May 21,1876.
Fourth Page— Editorial: Raising Church Funds
—Rev. S. G. Hillyer. Vague Ideas—Rev. J. 8.
Baker. Sunday at the Centennial; “’Open Com
munion: Queries and Answers; Georgia Baptist
News: The Southern Baptist Convention—Rev.
D. E. Butler. Personal: etc.
Fifth Page.— Seculiar Editorials: Battle on the
Will: Virginia Female Schools; Mercer Univer
sity; The Service of Song; Millard Seals; Buf
falo Lithia Springs; Signs in the East; Litera
ry Gossip: Georgia News; Foreign andDomest
ic News; etc.
Sixth Page.— The Sunday School: The Apostles
Before the Council—Lesson for Sunday, June
11th; The Way to Cultivate an Interest in Giv
ing to Our Sunday-Schools; etc. Select Mis
cellanj: The Simplicity and Plainness of the
Scriptures; Artificial Coal Establishments; etc.
Seventh Page. —Agricultural Department: Agri
culture by Steam—New York Sun; Corn; Arte
ficial Clouds of Smoke Protection Against
Frost; A Fine Dairy; Co-operative Stores; Rice
Culture; Oats; Making Preparations; etc.
Eight Page.—Our Correspondents: State Com
mittee of Missions—How it was Appointed—
Some Objections to the Plan—J. H. Campbell.
Obituaries. Advertisements.
INDEX AND BAPTIST.
ALABAMA DEPARTMENT.
A series of union meetings are being held at
Montevallo.
Many fruitful revivals are in progress
throughout the State.
Rev. M. S. Andrews has been quite sick at
Auburn.
Apple and pear trees are dying in Sumter
county.
Work is progressing on the Talladega Bap
tist church.
The Methodists of Talladega are holding a
series of meetings.
Cullman claims a population of eight hun
dred.
There were twenty-six convictions at the last
term of the Calhoun Circuit Court.
A splendid vein of coal has been struck near
Trussville, fifteen miles east of Birmingham,
on the Alabama and Chattanooga railroad.
Near Talladega, a nail factory will soon go
into operation that will turn out five hundred
kegs per day.
A man named Hargrove was shot and fatal
ly wounded at Munford the 27th ult„ by a des
parado named Smith. *•
A post-office has been established at the
Garden Store, called Garden, Pickens county.
John K. Spence is postmaster.
Lebannon, Collinsville, Brandon’s Station,
and Fort Payne will be voted for as county
site of DeKalb.
Rev. Dr. Teague, after a seven years pastor
ate of the Baptist church in Selma, left on
Tuesday for his plantation near Wilsonville,
where he will reside in the future.
On Wednesday, June 28tb, an inter-State
base ball match between picked players of Al
abama and Mississippi, will be played at De
mopolis.
Major Walthall, of Mobile, was elected ora
tor for the next meeting of the Alabama Press
Convention which recently met in Montgome
ry■ t
The Alabama Press Association have elected
the following officers: —President, J. F. Grant;
Vice Presidents, A. Snodgrass, J. M. Macon,
W. Brewer, W. M. Meeks, and J. B. Stanley ;
Corresponding Secretary, B. H. Screws; Recor
ding Secretary, D. W. Mclver; Treasurer, F.
M. Grace.
The Baptist State Convention will meet in
Montgomery, Thursday, July 13th, prox. In
an address published in the Baptist brother
John Haralson, President of the Convention,
says:
I appeal to our lay brethren and friends
throughout the State to attend our next meet
ing.
Until within the last two years, theConvm
tions since the war have been composed most
largely of ministering brethren. Their zeal in
behalf of our denominational enterprises have
been greater than ours. They desire and re
quire our co-operation. They need the energy
and the business tact and management of the
lay brethren in all our religious convocations.
Let it be remembered that our Convention
is no ecclesiastical judicature, composed of a
priestly representation ; that the ministers ol
our church have never claimed for themselves
such distinction and prerogation. Ministers
and laymen are alike eqoal in the privileges of
the assemblies of the church. Don’t be deter
red from coming, because you imagine there
will be nothing for you to do. Each of you
will have as much to do and as much respon
sibility for what is done or omitted, as any
other representative; and, as for my part, 1
very much desire that the young men and the
truest men amongst the laity, may give greater
earnestness than ever before to the ministry,
that they are willing to share with them the du
ties, responsibilities, and labors of our common
cause. Come, and we promise you much to
injoy, and as much work as you will like to
do.
BAPTIST ANNIVERSARIES.
The meeting of the American Baptist Mission
ary Union, at Buffalo, was very interesting.
Rev. Barnas Sears. D.D., of Staunton, Va., was
the President.
The annual report of the Home Department
showed the total receipts of the Union for
the fiscal year ending March 31, applicable to the
work in hand, to be $245,997.23. The total lia
bilities for the missionary year, on the foreign
field, ending September 30,1876, are $223,176.68.
This leaves a balance of $22,820.55, applicable
to the deficiency of the last year, reducing it to
$30,136.17. This total of receipts is $4,026.69*in
excess of the total of last year. In addition to
the above receipts for the work in hand, several
sums have been received to be funded, the in
terest only to be used for the purposes of the
Union; also several quite large donations, on
which interest is to be paid during the lives of
the donors, these sums amounting in all to
$12,680.80. This makes the gross receipts of
the treasury $258,678.03.
The report of the Foreign Department states
that the debt of the Union is considerably re
duced, though larger than the Executive Com
mittee contemplated at the beginning of the
year. It strenuously urges reinforcemnt of the
missions, and recognizes prayer as the great
call of the hour—prayer for the churches, for
missionaries and for missions, that they may be
received in the apostolic spirit, and brought
back to the apostolic methods.
On the second day the delegation from the
Southern Baptißt Convention was received, and
iuvited to take seats in the pulpit. The dle
gates are as follows : Rev. E. T. Winkler, D.D..
of Alabama; Rov. W. Howard, of Texas; Prof*
11. M. McDonald, of Kentucky; Prof. J. A.
Broadus, of South Carolina.
The President made an excellent welcoming
address, and spoke at some length of the work
accomplished in the South by the delegates
present.
At the conclusion of his address, remarks
were made by Rev. Dr, Winkler, Rev. W. How
ard, Prof. McDonald and Prof. Broadus. The
addresses were full of fraternal feeling, and the
applause was frequent.
Strong resolutions were adopted againßt Sab
bath desecration at the Centennial.
American Baptist Publication Society.
The fifty second anniversary of the American
Baptist Publication Society developed, in its re
ports, its excellent condition and valuable in
fluence, The report of the Board announced
the completion of the magnifioent new building,
which has been erected for the purposes of this
Society.
The total cost of the ground, building and fur
niture is $258,586.68, all of which is either paid
or provided lt.r in reliable
The total receipts of the Society from all
sources for the year ending March Ist, 1876, are
$564,063.06. Of this, $73,699.42 were received
in the Benevolent Department, leaving $490,-
363.63 as the amount received in the business.
But this sum embraces $180,203.57 given espee
ially for the building, so that the ordinary busi
ness receipts of the year amount to $310,101.06.
Eighteen new publications have been added to
our list the past year, of which fifty-seven thous
and threo hundred copies have been printed.
Of former publications there have been printed
'luring the past yearone hundred and fifty-two
thousand six hundred copies of books, and one
hundred and eighty-three thousand five hundred
copies of tracts.
The Rev. G. C. Lorimer. D.D., of Boston, of
fered the following preamble and resolution,
which were adopted by a unanimous vote ;
Whereas, The Southern Baptist Convention
appointed delegates to attend these National
Anniversaries as bearers of fraternal greetings,
be it
Resolved, That reciprocating, as we do, their
brotherly spirit, and appreciating their work
and the Master’s cause, we appoint five brethren
to be bearers of our fraternal regards to the
Southern Baptißt Convention in New Orleans in
1877.
The Chair subsequently appointed the follow
ing delegates; Itev,. George C- Lorimer, Mass.,
Rev. R. 8. MacArthur, N. Y., Rev. H. F. Colby,
Ohio, and C. R. Blackall, M. D., HI.
The Rev. E. M. Brawley, of South Carolina,
made a very interesting speech on ‘ 'Sunday-schools
as the great and immediate necessity of the
Freedmen.” The preachers among the freed
men are, as a rule, ignorant and incompetent.
They teach much error, and we are losing the
young and cultured people. The peculiar dan-,
gers that beset the freedmen were vividly de
scribed. Sunday-schools for the children, and
Bible schools for the older people and the minis
try, are the only remedy for these dangers.
Dr. J. A. Broadus followed, and in support of
the subject he presented I. Reasons on the dark
side —(a) Because so little is as yet done for their
enlightenment by the public schools; (b) So little
by the pastors; (c) So little by the parents; (and)
Because they have so little of a restraining and
elevating public opinion among themßelves.
11. Reasons on the bright side—(a) The colored
children rapidly learn the elementary truths of
religion, (b) There is ground for hoping that
white Christians at the South will hereafter be
less reluctant to aid in teaching them, (c) The
Sunday-school children and the oolored teachers
will give support to the more intelligent minis
ters—they will help each other in the conflict be
tween enlightenment and ignorance, (and) To
begin with the young is the only way of trans
forming a whole rcople, and it is a way which, if
diligently pursued, must have great success; but
such transformation requires time, and calls for
patience.
The Hpeakerexplainedsomeof the fundamental
and grave difficulties pertaining to the work of
public schools in the South. He also insisted
that there may be much real piety where preacher
and people are ignorant—and in general, that we
must carefully avoid extremes as to both the dark
and the bright side of the freedmen question.
Woman’s Missionary Societies.
The annual meeting of the Baptist Woman’s
Missionary Societies of the East and West showed
refreshing results.
FRANKLIN PRINTING ROUSE, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, JUNE 8. 1876.
Mrs. J. O. Brayman.Bocording Secretary of the
Society of the West , reported that “ one hundred
circles and a large number of mission bands have
been reported during the year. The increase in the
number of children’s hands is more marked than
among the circles for adults, and their receipts in
some cases are surprisingly large,” also that “the
receipts for the year are $13,431.80. Of this,
$2,000 were raised especially for building pur
poses. Unusually largo appropriations have been
made this year to build and furnish school houses
and dormitories. Two new missionaries have
been sent out during the year, and another ap
pointed, who left soon after the annual meeting,
making eight in the foreign field. Mrs. Alvali
Hovey, for tho Society of the East, reported
twenty missionaries, thirty-two schools with 1,400
scholars, and $23,000 raised last year. There are
220,000 female members of the Baptist churches
in the States in which the Society operates.
Interesting addresses were delivered by returned
missionaries present. Among them were Mrs.
Bailey, Mrs. Stevens and Mrs. Watson, of the
HiuTnah Mission, Mrs. Jewett, of the Teloogoo
Mission, and Mrs. Ashmore, of the Chinese Mis
sion. The .meeting was large and every way in
teresting and hopeful.
The Educational Commission.
Tho reports of this denominational agency were
interesting and instructive. The Examiner and
Chronicle gives a synopsis of the remarks made
by the leading speakers, as follows;
" The Rev. J. A. Broadus, D.D., of South Car
olina. was the first speaker of the evening. He
said that in this Centennial work all Baptists.
North and South, are a unit. This movement
had suggested to him many points of similarity
between the American nation and the Baptist de
nomination. Both have suffered because they are
new. and conscious of not being rooted in an hon
ored and historic past. No body can be stable
without a history. This Centennial movement
will supply this want, and show us that we have
a history. Our nation has grown rapidly during
the century past, yet the Baptist denomination
has grown six or seven times as fast. As we re
call what our fathers suffered to establish lib
erty, lot us recall the sufferings of our Baptist
fathers in the causo of religions liberty—recall
them not boastfully, hut ” with malice toward
none, with charity to all.” But excited emotions
that lead to no action are hurtful. If we do
nothing we shall only ho the worse for this move
ment. Tho speaker closed with a vigorous appeal
for the endowment of our educational institutions.
The Rev. J. B. Simmons, D.D.. then addressed
themeeting. Hospokeof tho similar efforts recent
ly put forth by the Methodist and Presbyterian
denominations to endow their educational institu
tions. He said that the Presbyterians had raised
$5,000,000. But there were some abatement of
these figures. Much that was given waH not in
the way of commemoration, hut of mere ordinary
giving. How’ did they raise so large a sum ?
They number less than a third as much as the
Baptists. The secret was that they all worked.
They resolved to do it. and they did it. Subscrip
tion papers were presented to every member of
every church, lovingly, courageously, faithfully,
and in many cases repeatedly. We must follow
their ejiunpli). The facts of this educational
movement mus* be laid before all. . M will not
give, of conri , but all should have's chance.*
The address > as an exceedingly practical one.
abounding in incidents that had come under the
speaker’s observation, and fruitful of suggestions
as to methods of work.
The Rev. T. W. Goodspoed. of Chicago, spoke
of the Centennial movement in the West. They
are not beginning there with the dollar roll. The
speaker feared that the dollar roll would be hut a
delusion and a snare if it were permitted to pre
vent larger gifts. It would be better to begin
with the thousand dollar rolls, and to close up
the last month with a dollar subscription.
Rev. D. W. Gwinn, D.D., and the First
Baptist Church of Montoomehy, Alaba
ma.—The committee appointed by the First
Baptist church at Montgomery, Alabama, made
the following report:
Whereas, In the Providence of an All-wise
God, our much beloved pastor, Dr. D. W.
Gwin, has seen proper to tender to this church
his resignation as pastor, in consequence of a
call from the First Baptist church of Atlanta,
Georgia, and this church lias exhausied its
sincere efforts, without avail, to induce him to
withdraw said resignation ; and
Whereas, Brother Gwin, by his Godly walk,
pastoral cire and faithful discharge of all duties
devolving upon him, as minister, friend and
citizen, has built up this church and congrega
tion, ami thus endeared himself to its mem
bers, and the community generally, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That while we regard his removal
from our midst as a severe affliction, and an
almost irreparable loss, to this church and
community, ttiischurch accepts his resignation
with reluctance and sorrow.
Resolved, That we sever our connection with
him in respect and love beyond expression,
and pray God’s blessings upon him and his
family in his future field of labor, and com
mend them heartily to the care and love of the
people of his charge.
K. H. Molton,
C. B. Ferrell,
George W. Thomas,
H. A. Howard,
T. L. Jones,
Committee.
On motion it was resolved that the report be
received and adopted, entered on the minutes,
and a copy be forwarded to brother Gwin, and
that a copy be furnished to each ot the city
papers, the Alabama Baptist and The Chris
tian Index for publication.
In the Democratic State Convention sixty
two out of Bixty-five counties were represented.
Four hundred delegates were present. Gov.
G. S. Houston has been renominated tor •Gov
ernor, R. K. Boyd for Secretary of State, and
Daniel Crawford for Treasurer. They are the
present incumbents.
The Spencerites nominated J. S. Clark, of
Morgan, for Governor; T. T. AUington, o
Lauderdale, for Secretary of State; B. Mf
Long, of Walker, for Treasurer ; G. P. Plow
man, of Talladega, for Auditor ; R. P. Heflin,
of Randolph, for Attorney General; and P. J.
Glover, of Marengo, for superintendent of pub
lic instructions.
—The plate collections of the Metropolitan
Baptist church in San Frauci-co for the Sun
day eveni.igs of six months, amounted to over
$2,000, aside from the payment of regular’sub
scriptions.
Spirit of the Religious Press,
—The Enquirer makes the following compar
ison between the reciprocal duties of pew and
pulpit:
If the pew be not as punctual as the pulpit —
if there be steps heard in the aisle from the
earliest whisper of the organ to the announce
ment of the text, and the sound of opening
doors keep time with the foot-fall of every
new addition dC the audience —there is dis
turbance of the quiet, not only of the mimster,
but of every devout breast that is turned to
wards him. All are conscious of the interrup
tion ; and one of the number who has most
need to becalm tnd collected, must eminently
suffer. Every i ew-comer must affect to some
extent, his concentration of mind. In his ef
forts for the right discharge of his sacred du
ies, everv footstep can but disturb his atten
tion The effect will be different in propor
tion to temperament; one will be affected more
than another; but to all it must be more or less
a disturbance. It may be thought to he
enougli to be in time lor the chief part of the
service, and particularly for the sermon ; hut
if, on the part of the pew, we make bold to
claim for prayer and praise and importance
not second to that of the discourse, the pulpit
will not gainsay the assertion. It will concur
in the argument that supplication and psalmo
dy, chapter and chant, heighten the value and
deepen the emphasis of the word of exhorta
tion. They promote that receptive frame and
attitude of mind which the preacher seeks to
possess in the pew. The services which he
conducts does not consist of unconnected parts;
it is a compacted unity. From the first sylla
ble to the last what passes is complete. Every
word of morning and evening service has its
meaning and intention, and we should deny
ourselves no portion of either. We should
study the harmony or the whole, and make its
quiet a common enjoyment. It is a lyric piece,
whose music should flow unbroken to the end,
and when the last word of the benediction has
fallen with its sweet influence on our ears, let
us rest for a moment in hallowed silence, that
the thoughts and teelings awakened and kin
dled within us may sink deep into our hearts,
and remain with as through the whole. We
should neither he slow to come nor in haste to
go.
—Concerning the kind of preaching needed
now-a-days, and what is called “the old-fashion
ed Gospel,” the Appeal remarks:
Much is said now-a-days about the preaching
needed for the times. There is great force in
the idea that the Gospel must he presented so
as to meet the demands of the age. John Fos
ter very ably showed that it ought to be preach
ed so that the prejudices of educated men should
not be needlessly aroused. God has taught us
the lesson of adapiedness in Nature, in Provi
dence, and in the giving of the Sacred Word
Our blessed Lord has emphasized the same
’ ruth in sending silt men to preach his Gospel
' fiili ytiffereifi ;u’ f%; 7’ilmrmes. The apostle
Paul ever recojtjifeed i.s
his varied audiences. Bui it is the one <7 'pel
that is to be preached —the truth in Christ
Jesus, who is the same yesterday, to-day and
forever. All have sinned, and come short of
the glory of God. The most highly cultured
must be saved “through the life whicli regener
ates, through the death which redeems,” us well
as the most unlettered peasant. There is but
one door into the sheepfold. Devious may be
the ways ot approach, but through it all must
enter.
The polished platitudes of a Blair will not
answer for the short, sharp, decisive summons
of John the Baptist, “Repent, for the kingdom
of Heaven is at hand.” The “ponderous poly
syllables” of stereotyped forms rolling from
lips trained to accent, modulation and empha
sis, supplemented by a little dainty essay on
Literature, Art, or Eihics, will not answer lor
the grand, cardinal truth of Paul, “The king
dom ot God is not meat and drink, but right
eousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
We must not have Plato for Christ in our pul
pit teachings ; philosophy for salvation; mor
ality for regeneration ; sentimentality for sor
row for sin ; a soliloquy with self for prayer ;
evolution for the revolution of the new birth.
—There are some very wholesome truths,
worthy of the earnest consideration of all men,
in the following allusion to sores in social life,
by the Watchman:
The confession of Thomas Piper has given
a shock to the public mind greater than that
which followed the atrocities of Pomeroy. It
seems incredible that such a monster can live
in ourday, surrounded by the refining influences
of Christian civilization. The humanitarian
ism of Boston has not inspired him with no
ble views of life, or with kind feelings towards
his race. Nor has the training of a Christian
family, or the nurture of a Christian church,
developed his moral instincts, by awakening a
sense of duty, or inciting to the fear or the love
of God. No Pagan could be more brutal or
more callous. The world shuddered at the
barbarities of Hindoo sepoys, a few years ago,
in the revolt of India against British rule; but
the deliberate crimes of Piper and Pomeroy
disclose a darker page in human history.
The Calvinist needs no other proof that hu
man depravity is not cured by modern culture;
or that the strong doctrines of the Bible need
to be proclaimed to-day, as in the apostolic age.
And all good citizens may well tremble at the
moral perils of that false sentiment which ex
alts criminals into objects of pity, instead of
treating them as subjects for punishment. If
crime is the accident of physical organization,
instead of the choice of a depraved will, crime
ceases to be guilt, and the penalities of the law
outrage ju-tice- The theories of religion and
morals current among modern reformers are
undermining social order, and invoking social
ruin. The immunity of Pomeroy has provok
ed Piper to deeds of blood, and one shudders
to think that scores of similar ruffians may be
growing up among our families and churches,
cherishing in secret those thoughts of crime
which will take shape in fiendish wrongsagainst
innocent and unsuspecting victims. If the
public peace is to be prefer veil, and the public
conscience educated, the mawkish sympathy
for criminals must give place to a stern hatred
of crime, aud a purpose to avenge it by swift
punishment.
—The Baptists of England have raised lor
all purposes an approxima’e sum of £700,000
or $3,500,000 Of this amount, £200,000, or
$1,450,000, have been contributed for strictly
denominational objects of benevolence.
For the Index and Baptist.
THREE LITTLE WAIFS.
Once along the stony roadside
A velvet heart’s-ease opened wide
Its brilliant petals. There it grew
Bent sweetly ’neath the heavenly blue
That arched above it. Nor seem’d to know
Its downy cheeks were all aglow
With the richest, softest beauty.
This its mission, this its duty.
To blossom with its gentlest grace,
Questioning not the lowly place
That gave it birth. Travelers weary,
Toiling o’er the highway dreary,
Saw its face so bright and cheery,
Walked softly by and seem’d refresh’d,
Though whence it came they never guess’d.
And wondered how it blossom’d there
Amid the stones so bleak and bare.
A sorrow-stricken passer-by
Took heart again, and look’d on high
To God whose love and tender care
Nourish’d the lonely flower there.
In a woodland, green and mossy.
Ere the spring’s young, shining, glossy
Leaves opened themselves to the sun,
A little fern her work begun
On the trunk of a maple old.
You could ne’er for your life have told
How the little fern so green and bright,
With not another fern in sight,
Clin b’d up where tho branches parted wide.
Found a bunch of moss its roots to hide,
And grew and grew and multiplied
Till children ferns stood round her side.
Some of the ferns aud moss, one day.
Were cut with care from the tree away,
And sent to grow in a window where
They had the gentle, loving care
Of a poor lame girl, whose wistful eyes
Found something new in this little prize.
It breathed such tales to her eager ears
Of woods she had longed to see for years.
It talked of mossy, pebbly streams
That, rippled thro’ her waking dreams;
Of summer skies, and flowers wild,
W ondrous things to this prisoned child.
She loved and watched the tender thing,
Aud found new joy in wondering.
A rough uncultivated pair,
Four children their parental share,
Lived : n a cottage bare aud rude;
A simple backwoods life pursued.
Three childreu like their parents were,
’Like in feature, habit, manner.
The fourth a fair and timid child
Shrank back from her companions wild,
Seemed like one born to other fare,
Some nobler, greater, richer share.
Incredulity upon them smil’d
And called her the “lost,” the “stolen child.”
God, gracious in his gifts, had given
Eyes shaded soft with blue of heaven,
Dreamy, yet so quickly waking
With thought’s fight upon them breaking.
Clustered iaHlies. parted here aud there
As with the weight of tears. In her hair
Tints of sun aud gold lay resting
Like a crown her head investing
With soft glory. Gentle were her ways
And pure and sweet her fair young face.
They called her strange, and ran away
These other three to their rough play.
She, to silent rambles in the wood
Happy in some gentle, musing mood.
The parents couid not make accord
Where nature’s strings hung in discord,
Nor knew they of the magic art
To wake the music in her heart.
But harsh and rough they ever seemed
To this fair child who only dreamed
Of heiJity, love andbyuipatby, .
Whiw.t iioirt longed for them vearningly.
So, like some poor, mmiated bird ' i
By otlior birds alwayH pursued,
Flew trembling to the woodland shade
Where nature taught her as she strayed
Sweet lessons, nor could nature find
A better soil than this pure mind..
Thus grew Dora. Year after year
A little knowledge here aud there
She garnered up. Like flower wild
’Mong weeds she grew, and undefiled
Bloomed into maid’hood. Her fertile mind
Grew rich in fancy uncoufined
And on a bright propitious dawn
A Poet to the world was born.
In many lives, unseen by eyes,
God hides away some sweet surprise.
Lila.
Vine Cottage, 1876.
BtIMTST NEWS AND NOTES.
—The First (colored) Richmond Baptist
church has two thousand and seven hundred
members; the Gilfield has one thousand and
seven hundred, and the Third about three hun
dred.
—The Lynchburg, Va., Star says : “Rev.
■Dr. Montgomery preached last night, by
special request, on “The Devil.” A large con
gregation was present and paid the profoundest
attention to the simple yet sublime arguments
advanced by the Doctor. The personality of
the devil will not, we think, be doubted by any
one who heard the sermon.”
—The Western Avenue Baptist Church in
Chicago recently adopted the following by a
rising vote:
Resolved, That this church and congregation
communicate to Gen. Jos. R. Hawley, Presi
dent of the Centennial Commission, our hear
ty thanks for the firmness with which he has
withstood the attempts to open the Centennial
Exposition on the Lord’s day ; that we assure
him, and those who stand with him, of our
sympathy, and pledge them our prayers that
they may as firmly adhere to the decision al
ready made.
—The Annual meeting of the Baptist Mis
sionary Society of England, was an occasion
made noticeable especially by the retirement
of Dr. E. B. Underhill from the Secretaryship
he has so long, so ably, and with such general
acceptableness filled. He has, however, accep
ted the office of Honorary Secretary, in which
capacity his advice and assistance will sti 1 be
available to the Committee. The year was in
most respects one of prosperity. The tone ot
the report was grateful and hopeful. A defi
ciency of £4,602.75 in the treasury is the only
drawback to the auspiciousness of the occasion.
The annual exhibit of the Baptist Missiona
ry Union shows for the fiscal year : Total re
ceipts from all sources, $245,997.72; expendi
tures, $223,176.68; leaving balance in favor of
Treasury, $22,820.55.
—The Biblical Recorder says:
A brother suggests that the Seminary at
Greenville is running the Southern Baptist
Convention. Dr Boyce, he says, was President
and took pains to put Greenville men on every
committee. We suppose it was without de
sign. But if Greenville can not only furnish
us our theology, hut also run the machinery of
of the denomination, why need other people
complain ?
WHOLE NO. 28022.
General Denominational News.
—Miss Thursby is to receive $3,000 per an
num for singing in the Brooklyn Tabernacle,
with carriage and other items of cost in addi
tion. This is said to be the largest salary paid
to any choir singer in the country.
—Seven missionary societies have establish
ed Missions in Egypt, Abysinia and Algeria.
Mrs. O. W. Merril has been appointed
chap.ain and teacher at the lowa penitentiary.
This is anew field for woman’s powers.
—Prof. Max Muller wrote from India to Dr.
Normon McLeod ; “From what I know of the
Hindus, they seem to me riper for Christianity
than any nation that ever accepted the Gospel.”
The Alliance News says over a thousand
churches in Great Britain use unfermented
wiue at the Sacrament. The late Christian
Temperance Convention at Boston unanimous
ly adopted a resolution to the same effect.
Miss Baxter, cf Dundee, has given the
London Society SI,OOO toward the purchase of
a suitable building at Amoy, China, for the
training of native teachers and school-masters.
The Chinese have great respect for learning,
and in view of the intelligence of the educated
classes, the London Society is aiming to give
the native ministers a better education than
has hitherto been done.
—The financial losses of the Wesleyan
University at Middletown, Connecticut, are in
a fair way to be made up. Of the fund of
$500,000 which its friends desire to raise, the
sum of SIIO,OOO has been given within the past
two weeks.
—The dedication of the new English Church
at Constantinople, has been indefinitely post
poned, at the request of the British Ambassa
dor. who had consulted the Minister of Police
on the possible consequences of the ceremony.
A young Hindoo, by name Talypala
Feeraragava Row, is expected at Harvard
College, coming under the patronage of Dr.
Bellow’s church. He will receive a collegiate
education and return to India as a Unitarian
missionary.
—Cardinal Cullen has issued a prstoral in
which he says: “The world is now filled with
alarming rumors of war, and there is danger
that the millions of armed men who are so
heaven a burden on the nations of Europe will
be soon engaged in deadly strife and the earth
purpled with torrents of human blood. The
iniquities which abound in the world, the blas
phemies, the licentiousness qnd general cor
ruption whiph prevail, and the recklessness
wilh which religion is pnbliclv assailed and
the authority if the Creator ignored, hive us
reason to fear tines# and oilier scy’irges,**
—The debt of the Presbyterian Board of
Foreign Missions, which was.s9o,ooo a month
ago, was reduced before the close of the finan
cial year, to $34,000, more than $50,000 com
ing in in ten days. One gentleman called at
the treasury and said that he had made a lega
cy of SIO,OOO to the Board, but he thought it
best to be his own executor, and he paid the
money.
—ln 1776 the Catholics were one in a hun
dred of the population ; to-day they are one in
five. In the defade between 1850 and 1860,
while Protestant church propertv increased
125 per cent. Catholic church property in
creased 186 per cent. In 1840 the church
property of the Catholic church was worth
$9,000,000, the Baptists, $11,000,000, the
Presbyterian, $14,000,000, and the Methodist,
$14,000,000. In 1870 the Catholic church
was worth $60,000,000 ; the Baptist, $39,000,-
000; the Presbyterian, $47,000,000, and the
Methodist, $69,000,000.
—The newspapers of Rome Reem to have
been vehemently stirred up by the opening of
the new American church of St. Paul in so
conspicuous a quarter near the Royal Palace.
There are very different opinions among Ro
man editors upon the subject. Thus, while
Osservatore speaks of the “reverend charlatan”
who preached in the new edifice on the primi
tive Christian church, and the Voce della Verita
marked it out as destined to be turned into a
shop, the Liberia , the liberal national organ,
sees in the new building the working of two
principles that are of vital importance to the
new age and the rising nation —the right of
private judgment, and the participation of the
laity in the government of the church itself.
—The seeming prosperity of the wicked is
thus alluded to by the Christian in the World :
How often does it happen in the history of
these wilful sinners of the flesh, that, after a
while all these things seem to smile upon
them and prosper them according to their
heart’s content. Are they mad for gold 7 —gold
seems to roll in upon them. Are they mad for
pleasure ? —their Beductive arts are successful,
and victims come ready to their lure. Are
they mad for drink ? —those around them cease
to strive with them, and give them upas hope
less. Shame, too, abandons them. It is very
wonderful to see how often, if a man is bent on
an end, God gives it to him, and it becomes his
curse. God does not curse us; he leaves ns to
ourselves, that is curse enough ; and from that
curse what arm can save us i We will have it,
and we shall have it. We leap through all
the barriers which He has raised around us,
though they be rings of blazing fire we will go
through them and indulge our desires; and in
a moment He sweeps them all out of our path ;
perhaps roses spring up to beguile where flames
so lately flamed to wain. Saul is a most
frightful example of this truth
—Rev. J. B. Saxton has undertaken the Dol
lar Roll work for California College.