Newspaper Page Text
T he Christian Index.
Vol. 5- -No. 15.
Table of Contents.
First Page.—Alabama Department: Amuse
ments—lnnocent and Vicious; Southern
Baptist Convention—a Vital Question;
Growth in Grace; Rev. Dr. Renfroe; The
Religious Press.
Second Page.—Correspondence: The Duty of
Giving—A Layman; The Relation of Pas
tors to Epidemics; Whither are We drift
ing—W. H. Jordan; Visit to Savannah—
M. B. Wharton; Woman’s Work —Mrs. A.
C. Kiddoo; Resolutions Decatur Church.
Third Page.—The Household: The Golden
Side—Poetry; Teach Your Boys; Bibles in
Church; The Richest Woman; Boys Make
Men—Poetry; Let it Dry; etc. Obituaries.
Fourth Page.—Editorial: Christian Idola;
try; The Woman-Race, With a Moral;
The Exode.with our Experience of Kxodes-
The American Bible Society; A Bad Show
ing ; Georgia Baptist News.
Fifth Page.—Secular Editorials: Georgia
Baptist Historical Society; Infants and
Baptism; John Keely’s Grand Opening;
Notes on New Books; Literary Notes and
Commenfs: Southern Baptist Convention;
Kind Words.
Sixth Page.—Childrens’ Comer : Churn
Slowly; “Don't want to say my Prayers;’’
Children Doing Good; Origin of Carpets;
Harry’s Secret; etc.
Seventh Page.— Farmer’s Index : Farm
Work; Borrowed Notes.
Eighth Page.—Florida Department; Week
ly News and Laconics, etc.
Alabama Department.
BY SAMUEL HENDERSON.
AMUSEMENTS—INNOCENT AND
VICIOUS. NO. 3.
It has been truthfully said that no
man ever entered into any circle of
society and came out the same man.
He enters it for the double purpose of
imparting and receiving such impres
sions of mind and heart as the social
compact implies. For we are all so
constituted as to be always giving out
and receiving these impressions. We
are, all of us, to-day just what those
influences have made us which set in
with the very dawn of our intellect.
When we enter any society, we do it
with the implied pledge that we will
contribute and conform to the Objects
sought to be accomplished. If these
are virtuous —if they elevate and purify
the mind and heart —if they equip us
for a higher and holier missym of life—
it becomes both a fluty and a pleasure
to seek all such associations. If, on
the other hand, they debase the affec
tions, and enervate the mind and body,
then by how much any one desires to
make of human life anything worthy
of the priceless boon, by so much will
he scorn all affiliations with evil.
Before proceding with particular
Cftseg —such as theatre entertainments,
circuses, race-tracks, etc., we propose
answering a question often propounded
by the managers of these amusements.
It is this: What business has the reli
gious press, and the pulpit as well, to
be interfering with the popular amuse
ments of the day ? They very com
plaisantly tell us that they do not ob
trude their advices upon us, and why
should we seek to be interfering with
them ? This very specious plea is quite
adapted to mislead the unwary, and
imposes upon us a very delicate task—
the task of animadverting upon such
popular entertainments. It interposes
a kind of prejudice in the hearts of the
very persons we seek to address. So
that we are put in the alternative of an
unfortunate lawyer who makes an ex
cellent speech before the court and
jury, but by leaving out a vital point,
loses his case. Let us see, then, wheth
er we are meddling with what does not
concern us in these articles —whether
we have such an interest in the young
people of our country, (for it is espe
cially this class that we address,) as to
justify the kindly interference of Chris
tian philanthropy in such matters.
1. Let us remind you, young reader,
that your education is going on every
day of your life—your habits are form
ing under some influence all the time.
“Nulla dies sine linea"— not a day
passes without some line being traced
upon your inind and heart. If you do
not permit your parents, your minis
ters, your wisest and best friends in the
domestic, religious and social relations
of life, to advise and instruct you, you
will be advised and instructed by others.
If those habits which shape our history
and destiny are not formed under the
tuition of the wise and prudent, they
will be formed under the tuition of the
foolish and profligate. Every day fixes
more indelibly some habit for life,
either for weal or woe. “ The fact of
to-day becomes the precedent of to
morrow.” What is difficult now, wheth
er virtuous or vicious, will, by repeti
tion, become easy hereafter. Thus a
habit of good, or a habit of evil, gathers
strength by every succeeding act of in
dulgence. No man’s education is fin
ished until the last conscious act is per
formed that opens the door of heaven
or the gate of perdition to his departing
soul.
2. Let it be considered whether that por
tion of the community whose anxieties
for the present improvement, the future
usefulness, and eUwnal happiness of the
young, is not infinitely more entitled to
their Confidence than are the anxieties
SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST.
of Alabama.
of those who would decoy them from
the paths of uprightness into the way
of transgressors. Suppose we raise the
question, as it has been often done be
fore, Who are these men who are so
concerned for the morals of our coun
try as to form companies, stroll over
the land, set up their standards, and
call upon our children to come and be
instructed by them as to their duties to
their parents, their country and their
God ? Who are these theatrical troupes,
these circus-riders and clowns, these
professional horse-jockies, these keepers
of gambling and drinking saloons ?
Who are these men and women, too,
whose antics upon the stage are so
wonderfully fraught with morality ?
Who are they 1 Are they related to
us in any of the relationships of life,
by either consanguinity or interest T
Do they build our collegesand schools?
Do they share with us the burdens of
society? Do they visit our sick, and
alleviate the wants of our poor? Are
they interested in any thing that con
cerns the prosperity of our several com
munities? Do they sit upon our juries,
work our roads, and build our meeting
houses ? No! They are worse than
blanks —they are chancres upon socie
ty. Who is it, then, we ask with ten
fold emphasis, that bear all those bur
dens of our social, religious and civil
institutions —that absolutely produce
all the material wealth of the country?
Young men! young women! they are
your fathers and mothers, your brothers,
your guardians, your best friends—they
are those to whom, under God, you are
indebted for what you are —who have
educated, or are educating and training
you for the mission of life —who have
given you your present social position
—whose hearts leap for joy as they be
hold you rising in moral dignity in the
country, or sink with sadness when
you fall. Yes, you are ours —our sons
and daughters, our brothers and sisters,
our jewels—bone of our bone, and flesh
of our flesh! You sit at our tables,
share our sympathies and attentions in
sickness—on you we bestow the full
wealth of our affections, and you are to
lay us away in our graves when we die,
and take our places! Are we meddlers,
then, when we seek to preserve you
from.being “the prey ni the mighty?”
Are we going beyond our sphere when,
in the name of our God, our country
and humanity, we “ lift up a standard
when the enemy comes in like a flood?”
We remember, several years ago,
while pastor of a church in one of our
larger towns, there came a gang of these
strolling vagabonds into the town, and
paraded the streets with their music, by
which we know not how many horses
hitched to vehicles took fright, ran
away, tearing buggies, carriages, etc.,
to pieces, and really endangering the
lives of many of our best people; yet
nothing was said of it. The cavalcade
moved on as though nothing was oc
curring, really enjoying the sport. If
we, who had been living there for years,
had dragged such a nuisance through
the streets, and caused such mischief,
we should have been fortunate to es
cape with whole bones. And yet these
floating mountebanks can come into
our very midst, swear and swagger
through our streets as if town and
country belonged to them; and if we
question their authority to corrupt our
youth, they turn upon us, and very in
dignantly ask why we seek to meddle
with their affairs, and bid us mind our
own business! We are minding our
business when we protest against such
corruptions of public morals. We are
in the line of duty when we warn pa
rents not to pay out their money to
corrupt their children. We are dis
charging a solemn trust when we urge
Christian people not to pay these vaga
bonds to go to perdition and carry as
many of the youth of the country with
them as they can.
We are aware that others have gone
over this ground, perhaps more effec
tively than we. We only seek to put
the case as impressively as we can, us
ing such considerations as we think
pertinent, regardless as to what others
have or have not said. Ten times had
we rather be effective than to be original.
Let us “ think on these things.”
SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVEN
TION—A VITAL QUESTION.
One of the most important demands
upon the wisdom of our Southern Bap
tist Convention, soon to meet in Atlan
ta, is to establish some vital connection
between its Boards and the denomina
tion at large. Until this is done, these
Boards will drawl out a meagre exis
tence, and finally collapse, and we
might as well face the stubborn fact
first us last. The objections to the old
system of agencies arc so widespread
that, whether well or ill-founded, they
have ceased to be effective. That some
system of agencies is demanded, nay,
is essential, no one can doubt. Pre
cisely what that system is, we are not
prepared to say. About the year 1858,
or ’59, the late Dr. C. D. Mallory, of
Georgia, notorious for his good sense
and piety, threw out a suggestion that
Atlanta, Georgia, Thursday, April 17, 1879.
was taken up by some of our papers,
the old South- Western Baptist especially,
of which we were then the editor, and
operated beyond all precedent in its re
sults. It was this : That the ministry
of each Association form themselves
into a missionary band, divide the ter
ritory to be visited as convenience
might suggest, and canvass all the
churches during some particular month
when they could most easily spare the
time, say May or June, and hold mis
sionary meetings, discuss the mission
question in its various aspects, both
from the pulpit and the platform, and
thus keep it before our people as de
manding their constant, thoughtful and
prayerful attention. This plan pursued
vigorously, gave to the subject a degree
of importance which was irresistible.
It enlisted the hearty co-operation of
our ministers and churches throughout
the country. It relieved pastors in
particular localities of all that delicacy
which too many of them feel in pre
senting the claims of our Boards to
their churches. It created a simul
taneous enthusiasm and liberality
which will enable our Boards to meet
promptly all their obligations. Whether
our present ministry has the piety, in
dustry, the self-sacrificing spirit of that
day to operate this, or any other plan,
remains to be seen. For, lying back of
all plans, all fnere agencies, is the prin
cipal fact that our churches, the great
body of them at 1 least, are practically
dead to this whole subject, and might
just as well have no existence so far as
missions are concerned. We need a re
vival of the missionary spirit. A new
generation has grown up in ourchurches
that needs to be educated in the mat
ter of contributing to the cause. In
deed, the whole denomination, minis
ters and members, need to be re-edu
cated. We have ministers, not a few,
who even attend our conventions, who
no more think of preaching to their
churches on missions, or proposing to
take up collections for this cause, than
if no such thing existed ; and yet they
will pray and irroan more vociferously
over the “ poor heathen ” than our Jud
son or Carey did. We are fully per
suaded that if the facts could be sifted
to their last analysis, our ministers are
more responsible for the present condi
tion of otir Boards than anyother cause.
They have ceased to preach and talk
on the subject, and our churches, by
consequence, have ceased to contribute.
They have allowed the cares, troubles,
anxieties, w r e may say, too, the pinch
ing poverty, of these times, to crush out
the missionary spirit from their hearts,
and what is not in the heart will
never seek utterance from the lips.
Oh, if they could be persuaded that in
working for the Master in this respect,,
they would be working for them
selves—in replenishing others they
would l»e replenished themselves—in
inspiring a liberal spirit in their
churches they would themselves be the
beneficiaries of that spirit—in sustain
ing missions, at home and abroad, the
refluent tide would fertilize their own
fields—all this, it would seem, even to
mention no higher and holier jmotive,
would enlist their hearts and tongues
in the “ good old cause.” But when to
all this we add the imperative claims
of the Master, and the claims of a
ruined race, it would seem to leave us
no alternative. Doubt it who may, our
ministers are the connecting link bet ween
our Boards and the denomination.
Can the Southern Baptist Conven
tion reach the great body of our
preachers? Can any appeal, however
fervid and thrilling, stir their hearts into
anything like zeal in the missionary
enterprise ? These questions we leave
to be answered by others. As a general
thing, we meet on these occasions—re
ports are read by our secretaries, and
referred to appropriate committees —
these committees report—On these re
ports no little of fine rhetoric is explo
ded in the way of fine speeches, thought
out and prepared beforehand —a suc
cession of resolutions are passed cover
ing the ground of each report —a mo
mentary enthusiasm is inspired that
we persuade ourselves is going to work
wonders—the whole programme is ex
ecuted with the artistic skill of a regu
lar drama—and there the whole thing
ends. The inspiration of the hour is
dissipated when the scene disappears.
Excuse us, reader, for putting the ques
tion in a quaint way— Can anything
be done that will stay done/ Can the
high enthusiasm awakened on such oc
casions be made to survive the hour
that inspired it ? It is easy enough for
a few kindred spirits to got together,
and, by a kind of social attrition, stim
ulate each other to high resolves; but
when we leave these inspiring circles,
qnd encounter the paralyzing mass of
insensibility that meets us in our indi
vidual every-day life, it requires some
faith and zeal to survive the shock—
it demands both prayer and courage to
maintain a cause through such a crisis.
The fact is—and O for a seraphic pen
to write it!— the time has come when an
aggressive movement must be made by
the Convention in all its work, as a mat
ter of self-preservation I Its very exis-
tence depends upon an humble yet bold
assertion of its moral power. It must
show that it means business—business
for the Master —business for the souls
of men—as one essential condition of
future success.
grojfthTFngracjs.
Dipping into an old volume, we have
had about thirty years, the other day,
entitled “ The First Fruits, in a Series
of Letters, by Henry Holcombe, D.D.,
Pastor of the First Baptist Church in
Philadelphia,” a sort of autobiography
of that great and good man, we encoun
tered the following quite apposite illus
tration as to the growth in grace of
Christians of like ages : “ It should be
observed, that among Christians of the
same ages, there are as great differences,
arising from a variety of causes, as are
produced betwixt men, by pure and
insalubrious atmospheres, poisonous
and wholesome provisions, plenty and
famine, health and disease. It is ob
vious that he who would enjoy vigor
and prosperity in his soul, must pay
unremitted attention to it. He must
shun all frothy and frivolous books,
scenes and communications, as care
fully as he does pestilential vapors; and
seek and improve their excellent oppo
sites with persevering solicitude.”
Christian reader! ponder this short
extract. Realize it, that what “pesti
lential vapors” and poisons are to your
body, evil communications, whether in
your companionships or books, are to
your souls. Perhaps forty years ago,
you and a beloved friend professed re
ligion together, and were baptized on
the same day. He has “gone on to
perfection,” until he has reached “ the
stature of a man in Christ.” You are
standing just where you did, perhaps,
when you put on Christ!. Why this?
Alas! the malaria oi sin has dwarfed
your growth, and you are a “ babe in
Christ” at forty! Up and be doing—
you have no time to lose!
RE V. DR. RENFROE.
We are deeply concerned to hear of
the ill health of Rev. J. J. D. Renfroe,
D. D., whose name has been familiar
to all the readers of the Alabama Bap
tist, and to the people of our State at
VQTte? that of one among the ablest
and most fearless defenders of the vital
principles cherished by our Denomina
tion. Although Dr. Renfroe has al
ready performed an important part in
our history, and achieved a reputation
of which any man might be justly
proud, we trust that the days of his
usefulness are far from being ended.
We extend to him our fraternal sym
pathy, and shah be glad to hear that
he has resumed- his place ere long in
the sacred desk.— Alabama Baptist.
Encouragement.—lt always affords
a pastor encouragement to see his
brethren manifest an increase of zeal
in church work. We were greatly de
lighted on the occasion of our last visit to
our charge at Childersburg, to see the
spirit and energy with which our Sab
bath-school there has been organized
for the coming year. The attendance
is fifty per cent, in advance of any pe
riod in the past, and a fine spirit per
vades the whole school.
The Religious Press.
—Zion’s Advocate (Bap., Maine)
has this to say of Mr. J. Hyatt Smith,
who pretends to be a Baptist minister
and who nevertheless actually sprink
led a dying man and called it baptism :
As to Mr. Smith, we infer that he is about
to leave the denomination. It is possible,
however, that he may claim that the case re
ferred was an “exceptions!" one, and that
he is still a Baptist. Well, there are Bap
tists and Baptists, but such a Baptist belongs
to a class of which we have had no repre
sentative before on this side of the sea.
No, we have had none exactly
such before, but only a few weeks ago
we had a case quite as bad, indeed
worse if possible. The dying man we
suppose did make some sort of profes
sion of faith, and Mr. Smith pretended
to administer one of the ordinances to
him. But Dr. Boyd did actually ad
minister the other ordinance to a man
who does not believe in Jesus Christ
at all! Our Northern Baptist exchan
ges are quite severe on Mr. Smith,
though they are gentle and forbearing
to the last degree with Dr. Boyd, and
are satisfied with describing his act as
a mistake. Why this difference? By
the way wo are amused to see that the
Christian Secretary (Bnp., Conn.) is
publishing a statement and defence of
Baptist principles by Dr. Boyd!! It
pears to us that Baptist champions
must lie scarce in that neighborhood.
We suggest that it would add to the
interest of the publication if it were
accompanied with annotations by Mr.
J. Hyatt Smith.
—We often get gixid things from the
Sunday-School Times (I’hila.) and ore
now indebted to It for the following;
Not all seeds sown spring up, and the
sower doesn't expect they will: but he ex
pects a harvest, and gets it. Instead of be-
THE CHRISTIAN HERALD,
of Tennbssee
ing discouraged because everv seed doesn't
take root, he makes a more liberal allow
ance. The word of God is incorruptible
seed. We scatter it in varied forms. Some
times it is a psalm, sometimes a bit of histo
ry, sometimes a precept, sometimes a proph
ecy. Many of these seeds lake no root
But one word of God may prove the princi
ple of regeneration to one who has heard
multitudes of sermons, and has read the
whole Bible, yet has remained unchanged.
We never know beforehand which that sav
ing word is to be. Thirty years ago aRo
man Catholic school-teacher in Ireland took
up a Bible, and his eye fell on these words,
“For theie is one God, and one Meditator
between God and men. the man Christ Je
sus.’’ He thought within himself, “What a
foolish thing it is, then, to offer ten prayers
to Mary for every one to Christ.” Long
ago he came to this country. For years he
attended no place of public worship. But
within a few months he has accepted the
evangelical faith in the midst of great oppo
sition, and shows a deep and tender loyalty
to Christ as his Redeemer. He says that
that text has been in his mind for thirty
years. “In the morning sow thv seed, and in
the evening withhold not thine’hand "
—And now conies the Western Meth
odict (Memphis) with the following :
In the Church there are, alas, some—per
haps we should say many—who are idlers,
who do nothing. Besides these, there are
two classes of members, viz: 1. Those who
do, or strive to do, their part, but np more —
a valuable, useful class; and 2. Those who
do, or strive to do, all they can, without ref
erence to “their part”—who work away con
stantly just as though all depended upon
them Brother: To which of these
classes do you belong?
And The Index would like to say to
each Baptist pastor, “Brother! How
many are there in your church who
do nothing ? And ought you not either
to see that they do something or that
their connexion with the church is
dissolved?” We furnish merely the
question, not the answer.
—Here are three good things all at
once from the Christian Advocate
(Methodist, Nashville,)
No. 1. Must it always be so, that when the
tide of good feeling between the once aliens
ted sections of this republic is flowing freely
and happily, some hot-blooded or selfish
souled man who has access to the public ear,
will break in with an expression of sectional
prejudice that will be caught up and repeat
ed ten thousand times as a proof that the pas
sions of the dark days still survive ? It is sad
to think how much bad feeling one low-class
politician or ecclesiastical demagogue can
stir up. This paragraph is meant not for
any one locality in particular, but for all.
No. 2 is intended for Methodist
readers, But we think it is quite as ap
plicable to Baptist readers and perhaps
more so:
Where are the fifty thousand new mem
bers added to the Church last year? How
many of them were genuine converts? What
promise do they now give of fidelity to their
vows and of service to the cause of Christ ?
How many of them will be found in the
statistics of the coming year ? These are sol
emn questions, not only for each one of the
fifty thousand, but for every pastor. The
wisdom that wins souls not only gets them
into the Church, but holds them.
No. 3 comes in now very appropri
ately as follows:
The most telling rebuke to the sinful
world is a holy Church. To keep the
Church pure by a wholesome and godly dis
cipline will be infinitely more effectual in
repressing the evils that infest society, than
the most energetic crusades against particu
lar forms of vice.
Experience seems to show that “en
ergetic crusades against particular
forms of vice,” have accomplished
much less than was expected of them.
They have done some good, doubtless;
but have they done no harm? They
are apt to fill men’s minds with one
idea to the exclusion of others quite
as valuable and important, or more so;
and this results sometimes in what
seems to us to be a kind of insanity.
He who becomes at once an extremist
and a hobby-rider is not likely to do
much good in any direction. The
best way of doing good that we have
ever discovered is to go on in the old
fashioned way, practiced by our fa
thers, of preaching the Gospel in its
fulness. Specialists succeed well, doubt
les, in Law and Medicine, but not in
Divinity.
—The Christian Union (Beecher’s
paper)says:
The recent discovery of the body of a mur
dered girl in a trunk at Lynn, brought to
light the terribly significant fact, that over
six hundred women, some married, some sin
gle, are recently missing from their homes,
within a not very large geographical prov
ince, of which Boston may be regarded as
the center. Most of them were believed by
their friends to have given themselves up
to a life of shame.
Can this be true? Is it possible?
How could there be such a state of
things without more having been said
alxjut it? We cannot believe it, and will
not without further evidence. We are
not so ready to catch up tales discred
itable to our neighbors, ns some of our
neighbors are. But if it is anything
near the truth, or anything like the
truth, if it comes within five hundred
And fifty out of six hundred, of being
true, then all we have to say is, that as
badly demoralized as we are at the
South, there is nothing here which be
gins to compare with the horrible state
of society described by Mr. Beecher.
HOW IT APPEARS TO A CHINAMAN.
A correspondent of the N. Y. Inde
pendent, wishing to know how the Chi
nese regard the recent shameful act of
Whole No. 2365.
the U. S. Congress in attempting to vio
late our treaty obligations to China,
had a conversation with one of that
people, the intense interest of which
justifies us in copying it for the beuefit
of our readers. The Chinaman shows
that he is as well-informed as he is as
tute, and that though a “heathen,” his
ideas of justice and propriety are on a
higher plane than those of our Chris
tian (?) law-makers. If he were in the
United States Senate, quite likely he
would be found to be equal in intellect
and superior in culture and morals to
many who are now members of that
body. But here is the conversation :
I fought out a highly educated Chinese,
the other day, and begged him to present his
side of the case, which he did in a somewhat
protracted conversation and to the following
effect: He first of all declared himself sensi
tive that his nation should have been selected
for this open insult before all the world.
China was made an exception to what was
otherwise a universal rule, and to be a Chi
naman was rendered an opprobrium. And
this was done at the very time when China
had an embassy resident at the national cap
ital, by the solicitation and reception of which
the American people had recognized the civ
ilization of the Chinese, and their right to
equality of treatment with other nations
similarly recognized. What wonld any other
nation of the .civilized world say to the in
troduction into Congress of a similar bill re
specting its inhabitants ? “And what touches
me to the quick,” said my Chinese friend, “is
that the youngest nation of the world offers
this insult to the oldest. The United States
are but one century eld, and have just
emerged from a war that came near being
fatal. No one can say where another centu
ry will find them and whether their peculiar
institutions will endure. But my nation is
three thousand years old, and has proved its
capacity to perpetuate its institutions through
ages. It would be more becoming in your
people to wait until they had the advantage
and guaranty of a little more antiquity, ere
they put such an affront on my nation.” He
was also incensed at the discourtesy of our
government in legislating upon what is the
subject of a solemn treaty, from which neither
party can recede without preceding respect
ful diplomatic action. When England is
involved, a resolution is introduced (as in
the matter of the fisheries) to give her notice
of a purpose to put an end to a treaty ar
rangement; but China, with an embassy
actually in Washington, within reach any
day of the President and the State Depart
ment, is dealt with (in face of an existing
treaty, and with no invitation to revise it) by
a direct blow in the face, in the shape of an
insulting act of Congress.
My friend was also stirred by the inconsis
tency of our government. Said he : “When
your commissioner proposed a mutual treaty
of intercourse, he laid down a doctrine which
China had never accepted, viz: that every
man bad a natural right to change his home,
and go to any part of the world he pleased.
My government took fifteen months to con
sider that new and startling doctrine, and
then reluctantly assented, and made a treaty
which should allow Americans to go freely
to China, and Chinese to go as freely to
America. We did not ask the intercourse ;
it was sought by you. We had the numbers
(one-third of the population of the globe) and
the internal resources which made us inde
pendent of other nations and disposed us to
keep within ourselves. You insisted that
we should come forth, and mingle freely
with the world. And, now that we accept
your own principle and come forth, you rude
ly seek to thrust us back. We send hun
dreds of young men to be educated in your
schools in New England, at our own expense,
and furnish laborers io build your Pacific
railroads, and to develop that vast western
region, in its mines, its agriculture, and its
manufactures; and you turn against us, as if
we were a hostile nation. You say that only
fifteen Chinese shall come at one time in a
vessel. That would have compelled an em
bassy to come in three different steamers I
Did ever a nation so no back on its own pro
fessed principles I" The pretense, he claimed,
was also flimsy, as the statistics show that
during the last year more Chinese have left
America than have arrived here.
My Chinese friend was indignant at the
charges made against his people, as the ex
cuse for such action. “They say we are
ignorant, when in many respects we are a
nation ol scholars, and when our masses will
compare favorably with the hordes of Irish
who have emptied themselves upon your
shorts. Yet in San Francisco they will not
allow our children to go tothe public schools,
they provide no separate schools, and then
they tax our property. They call us heathen.
But we believe in one supreme God ; and if
we use images and pictures and burn incense
and candles in our worship, the same is done
in Roman Catholic chuiches all through
your land. We not only pay taxes, but we
furnish no paupers. They say we do not
bring our wives and come to stay and to be
come citizens, like other immigrants; yet
they declare, in the next breath, that they do
not want us to settle down in America, and
they actually do all they cantodrive us back.”
Finally, this clear-eyed Chinaman wanted us
to consider that the Emperor of China has
the power here represented by Congress; and
he inquired what we should have said had
the Emperor, without consulting us, suddenly
altered inqiortant provisions of the treaty,
and also what complaint we could justly
make if, after the proposed action has been
adopted by Congress, the Emperor should by
an edict annul the treaty and direct Ameri
cans to leave China, or should deny to them
the privileges which are accorded to more
friendly nations. It is a matter of congratu
lation that the President has refused to sanc
tion such a retrograde and discourteous act.
The following is from the Gadsden
Times: The Press Association of Ala
bama will convene in our city in May.
Our citizens must not forget to have all
things in order and style to entertain
our guests. Let us do our whole duty
for the respect we have for our guests,
and the love we have for the good name
df OUr city. We hope our citizens will
take this matter in hand immediately
and be up in time.