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The Christian Index. Vol. 57 —No 44. Tabla of Contents. First Page.—Alabama Department: Dignity of the Christian Ministry; “Decay of the Foreign Mission Spirit”—“Returned Mis sionaries;" Religions Press. Second Page—Correspondence: Rev. Dr. Boyd and the Second Baptist Church, St. Louis—Philemon; Baptism by Unbaptized Baptists—J. L. D. Hillyer; Sunday-School work in the Past—S. J. H.; That Ques tionable Baptism—W. M. Howell; Wo man’s Mission Work ; Ministerial Conse cration—Ruth ; General Meeting; Rev. M. H. Lane. Third Page.—Childrens’Corner : The Glory That’s Up in the Sky—poetry; “Little Scotch Granite;” God's Flowers; A Short Sermon—poetry; Little Tangles; An Un conscious Sermon. Fourth Page.—Editorials: The Philadelphia Association With Reflections on its Work and Ours ; The St. Louis Affair; Revival of Skepticism; Georgia Baptist News; Rev. W. D. Atkinson, etc. Fifth Page.—Bethel Association; Secular Editorials: News Paragraphs; Notes on New Books; Georgia News, etc. Sixth Page.—Resolutions; Obituaries; New Advertisements. Seventh Page.—The Sunday-School: Lesson for November 30, 1879—The Message to the Churches. Eighth Page.—Florida Department: Still Among the Associations; Revival and Other Notes ; Read This ; Rheo-Type En gravings ; Biographical Sketches of Baptist Ministers; Special Notices, etc. Alabama Department. BY SAMUEL HENDERSON. DIGNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. "I magnify mine office.” —Rom. 11:13 If we were about to preach a sermon from this text, we should analyze it somewhat after this manner: Ist. We should show what the Apostle did not do—he did not “magnify” himself— he sunk the man in the office. 2dly. What he did do—he “magnified his office,” —he honored his calling, the work to which he was appointed. We should then show in what the dignity of his office consisted : First, in the authority that appointed it, the Triune God. Secondly, in the purpose it seeks to accomplish, the salvation of the world. Thirdly, in the rewards with which Christ has connected it. "Are not ye our crown of rejoicing in the presence of the Lord Jesus!” Fourthly—but we are not writing a sermon, and shall proceed to jot down a few thoughts mohfc appropriate to our present purpose. To magnify, in its primary sense, is to enlarge anything beyond its due proportions for the sake of effect; but certainly Paul did not, could not moan this: for what being, human or angelic, can augment the grandeur of an office to which it would be impious to com pare the greatest emperor that ever swayed a sceptre? But it means, also, to extol, to honor, to praise, as when the Psalmist says, “O, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” It is in this sense we understand the phrase. The Apos tle honored his calling. He sought by a life of godliness, of supreme devo tion to “one thing,” of sacrifice, labor, suffering, and a martyr’s death in the end, to show that the sacred office was infinitely worthy of all that mortal agency could be, do, and suffer in exe cuting its divine behests. To show himself “worthy of this high calling,” was the all-animating motive that blazed before him with the distinct ness of the sun in the heavens. How sublime are his words in Acts 20 :24, where he puts the whole case in a sin gle sentence! Referring to the part that the Holy Ghost witnessed that in every city bonds and afflictions await ed him, he says: “None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto me, so that I might finish my course with joy. and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” He felt that it was the high est honor to which human nature, en nobled and purified by divine grace, could aspire, to be a “laborer together with God,” in the grand work of sav ing souls. How, then, and in what respect, may a minister now be said to magni fy his’ office? We answer, First, by the time and labor, the thoughtful and prayerful care with which he prepares himself for his work. To rush into a work so vast in the range of its duties, so crushing in the magnitude of its re sponsibilities, without preparation, is little short of downright presumption. In proportion as earthly callings in volve the exercise of high capacities, do men who aspire to fill them pre pare themselves for them by a proper course of training. And by how much this calling is above all others, by so much is it more important that he who aspires to fill it shall “study to show himself approved,” etc. But this is too obvious to need further illustra tion. We therefore proceed to say, Secondly, that a minister will al ways magnify his office who is more concerned as to how he shall preach than where he shall preach. It is not unlawful, we suppose, for ministers to desire certain fields of usefulness, but such desire should always be in sub servience to the will of the Master. SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST. of Alabama. “He that holdeth the seven stars [ministers] in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks,” [churches] has the right to dispose of these “stars” among these “candlesticks” as He chooses. And to bow in sweet sub mission to His will is a true sign of “a good minister of Jesus Christ.” The minister who comes to betray in ordinate concern for particular places, rather than how he shall fulfil his ministry, lowers the dignity of his call ing, and greatly diminishes his useful ness. Honor, in the kingdom of Christ, comes to those who do not seek it—it grows upon a man when he is least conscious of it. And this leads us to say, Thirdly, That that minister magni fies his calling who is more concerned about the honor of Christ than his own honor. That a preacher should seek to edify his brethren is a most solemn duty; that his brethren should pru dently manifest their appreciation of his services is his due. But when the “praise of men” rather- than the “praise of God” becomes the controlling mo tive of his ministrations, the office is lost in the man, and he sinks to the level of mere worldly policy. He loses his grasp upon the great heart of the people. Os all men in the world a preacher should place himself under “the power of the world to come.” He should exemplify to his brethren what it is to "endure as seeing Him that is invisible,” to “look, not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen,” to live habitually under the all-controlling motives which Heaven only can sup ply. To accomplish this, a man must live, and move, and have his being, in a spiritual atmosphere. He must de mean himself like Bunyan’s Pilgrims did at “Vanity Fair;” he must show his indifference to mere earthly gew gaw’s, and his absorbing concern for the “true riches.” This, this was the “crown of righteousness” that was ever in the eye of Paul. To secure this, he welcomed persecution, bonds, and im prisonments, and contempla.ed with prophetic precision-, and with a sub lime faith, that on-coming calamity that was soon to consign him to a martyr’s daJhi.- Finally, your minister that aspires to fulfil the dignity of his calling, will seek the spiritual good of his people, rather than his own temporal interests. In other words, he will find his high est reward in the spiritual prosperity of his charge. “I have no greater joy,” says John, “than to hear that my children walk in the truth.” A min ister who is worthy of the name can never be satisfied, however large his salary, and however promptly paid, when he sees and feels his “labor is in vain in the Lord.” In his deeper con sciousness, there is a feeling of unrest, an aching void, which no earthly re ward can supply. Think of such a man as Paul, or Peter, or John, calcu lating the value of dollars and cents on the one side, and the Cause of Christ, the value of souls, on the other! The very thought is revolting to the Chris tian heart. And is it less revolting now than then?—Ye ministers of the Lord, ye "ambassadors for Christ,” see to it, that ye “magnify your office,” and thus secure in “that day” the com mendation of your final Judge, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” “DECA F OF THE FOREIGN MIS SION SPIRIT" “RETURNED MISSIONARIES.” There appeared an article in our de partment of this paper last May, about the time the Southern Baptist Conven tion assembled in Atlanta, on the "De cay of the Foreign Mission Spirit” in our churches. In accounting for this decay, we alleged among other causes, one which we thought had no little in fluence on that subject. Never did we write an article with a more honest and earnest desire to promote the cause of .missions. Several allusions were made to it during the Conven tion in the speeches of brethren, in a rather deprecatory spirit, which we allowed to pass unnoticed, for the rea son that we had no desire to be the means of agitating certain phased of the question that might be unpleasant and perhaps unprofitable, lieing con tent to allow our brethren to grapple with some pretty stubbon facts we had referred to. But The Index of Octo ber 30, contains Such an elaborate re view of our unpretending article, from the pen of our highly esteemed and honored brother, Rev. R. H. Graves, our missionary at Canton, China, that we must say a few words in response. And, first, we hasten to relieve the mind of our dear brother Graves, and perhaps others as well, by saying, that if we were now to write that article, we should modify, or likely leave out so much of the last paragraph as inti mates that “the Foreign Mission Board was not organized to afford facilities for men to make excursions to foreign lands at the expense of the denorriina* Atlanta, Georgia, Thursday, November 13, 1879. tion.” All we meant by the expression was, that the early and frequent re turns of some of their appointees had that seeming, and that such a policy must be changed, or the Board would be obnoxious to such an objection. We regret that any such expression was used, as it seems to grieve so worthy a man, a man for whom our respect borders on veneration. We trust. this will be accepted us our amende honorable, so far as this inti mation is concerned. Secondly, as to our reference to the policy of our Presbyterian brethren, as requiring their appointees to foreign fields to remain fifteen years in the ser vice, we only say that we derived our information from a source we thought authentic. But be this as it may, the point we aimed to establish was, that the foreign mission enterprise, as con ducted by the Presbyterian denomina tion, had a degree of stability in it which we might well imitate. But let that pass. Thirdly, as to our suggestion that “it is time that some of our missionaries should die at their posts,” we only say, it was quoted from an aged minister who stands as high in the denomina tion all over this continent as he does in stature; and if we were to give his name, it would effectually silence that battery; but this we will not do, pre ferring to receive its fire in our own person. It is one of those under tones which is felt over a broad sur face, and which one hesitates to ex press. But we felt that somebody ought to say it, even at the risk of inflicting a momentary irritation; and as we had no “axes to grind,” and as we had done some little service at least in promot ing the interest of our Foreign Mis sion Board, we thought we could as as well afford to say it as any body else. We judge no brother for aban doning the foreign field and coming back home. For aught we know, every one of these brethren who have return ed have good and sufficient cause for their course. We only stated the fact as giving an air of instability to our policy which was and is diminishing the influence and the receipts of the Board. This, this is “the head and front of onr offending; it hath rffthinx more.” And all that as good, wise, and influential a man as brother Graves deservedly is, has said in his commu nication, has failed to convince us that we did wrong in giving utterance to that fact. Os course he knows—all men know—that we could not, and did not refer to him, or to others, who by “patient continuance in welldoing,” have showed most triumphantly that no “fitful impulse” animated them, when they consecrated themselves to this grand work. Neither our first ar ticle, nor is this, the “expression of a temporary irritation.” For what should irritate us? No; it was written in sad ness—it was written to bring out a fair and candid statement of the case, so that those who have the control of this great enterprise might so shape their future course as to make it invulner able, if not to captious, at least to honest criticism. And we hope our beloved and trusted brethren of the Foreign Board will aim to do, and will do this. When it comes to this, that the “million and a half” of Baptists that are reported to be represented in the Southern Baptist Convention, do not contribute an amount to its Boards, (for we say nothing of what they are doing through their State and local organizations,) more than equal to one nickel each, we thought it time to raise the question as to why this decay in the missionary spirit? We did not aim to exhaust the question in the ar ticle brother Graves reviews, but to offer one reason for this decay. Other reasons, as our readers know, were given in subsequent issues of the paper. We can scarcely regret having writ ten an article, the angularities of which, if our brother will have it ho, have call ed out so able, so kindly, and so potent a paper, bearing the name of our cher ished missionary to China, whose des ignation to the work we witnessed in Baltimore, in 1853, and gladly join him in the hope that “this discussion will be of benefit to the cause which wo all love.” For indeed, after all, there is no substantial difference be tween us, as our brother says, “it seems to me that the rules which experience and common sense have taught gov ernments might justly bo applied to the mission service, viz: furloughs sufficiently frequent to secure the ut most efficiency, and the requirements of the service to override family con siderations.” He could not have ex pressed our view of the question more tersely. But if a furloughed soldier never returns to his post, what then? To conclude: it is because we are here, and brother Graves is in China— it is because we are in the thick of the fight to maintain the integrity of our Boards—that we do assume to know some things that ho cannot know. Hence his “On to Richmond” allusion falls harmless at our feet. The mis sile, though winged from the very heart of philanthropy, found no “joints in the harness.” The Religious Press. The editor of the Baptist Record, hav ing read the “statement” of the dele gates from the Second church of St. Louis to the General Association, thus expresses himself: After reading this, one feels like asking why all this was not said long ago. We have all been wishing to hear something of this sort. We have been anxious to hear that the church repudiated these infractions of the faith by her pastor. The denomina tion had a right to demand that the church speak directly to those grave doings. Some said they were exceptional, and might be passed as such. We wanted to know what the church held with respect to them. At last we have an avowal of repudiation. But it was only at last. We do not wish to irri tate a wound, but it is timely to say that to our mind, the Second church has been en tirely 100 much on her dignity. Too much dignity has been the ruin of many a man, as well as the destruction of many a noble cause. Things now seem in a fairway of a proper and lasting settlement. But it would be re freshing to hear from Dr. Boyd about now. Does he repudiate his own act ? If he does he should say so like an honest man. If he does not, the Second church ought to do one thing more —repudiate him. Until one or the other of these things is done, the church will not be entirely washed of the open communion stain. We hope for the best. We do not wish to close without saying that the position of the Second church has been trying. How trying, possibly, out siders can little feel. The good men in the church who have been laboring to right the noble ship have needed help and sympathy. We give both. And while we give the last freely, we could not fail to insist that the denomination had a right to hear a flat re pudiation of Dr. Boyd’s acts. We are glad we hava it. It is good for all. likjnk again, brother Record. You say : "At last wo have an avowal of re pudiation. But it was only at last.” We fully agree with you in the senti ment, and think that if the disavowal had come at first, it would have come with excellent grace. But has it come at last? Has it come at all? Not from the church. That body, we are grieved and distressed to say, is silent. We agree with you, too, that if Dr. B. does not repudiate his own act, and if the church should still retain him, either as a pastor or as a member, it ought not to be regarded as a Baptist church. Our prayer to God for Dr. Boyd is that he may have light and grace, and help from on high to do that which is right. He has needlessly given a world of trouble to his brethren. By two or three foolish acts he has done more harm in a moment, as it were, than will be compensated for by years of good service. If he really thinks that he has done no wrong, he is clearly not of us, and it would be well for him and us that his connex ion with us be dissolved. On the other hand, if he sees his wrong, he ought to say so, and thus do what he can to heal the cruel wounds he has made. On the same subject the New York Independent has the following, which it is well to copy, because it shows how the matter looks to outsiders : The Second Biptist church, of St. Louis, after being expelled from the local Associa tion, has got itself admitted into the State Association, and is, for aught we see, rectus in curia. The church presented an accepts-I ble form of application, in which it declared | that if it had done any wrong, it was sorry, 1 and retracted its action. That was all, The Independent is mistaken, how-; ever, in supposing that the church has even gone so far as to say if. The church has said nothing. It is humiliating to bo compelled to be lieve that in many localities about one-third of the voters are practically in the market at every election, and yet if the articles of “Freeman” in the New York Independent are trustworthy, as they seem to be, there is reason to fear it. So says the Morning Star, and so say we. The localities referred to by Freeman are nil north of us, and ho seetns to know whereof he affirms. VVc receive a great many lectures from that quarter on “the purity of the ballot box.” A few examples would do us more good than all the lectures; and the missionaries who have been sent here to instruct us in such matters, would perhaps do well to return home, where it would seem that their labors are quite as much needed, to say the least. As matter of fact, there is every where more or less of dishonesty in elections; there always has been, and until the blessed millenium comes, there always will be. The remedy is THE CHRISTIAN HERALD, of Tennessee. not for one section to abuse another, nor for different sections to debate the question as to which is most corrupt and wicked; but for all good people everywhere to preach- righteousness “beginning at Jerusalem.” We agree with the following "clip” from the Biblical Recorder, and are of the opinion that a great many first class deacons and exhorters have been spoiled by making fifth-rate preachers of them: Many good exhorters and deacons have been spoiled by putting them into the minis try. They were useful as private members, they worked well and did much good, but when once they have been ordained, they don’t seem to be willing to do the work tor which they are specially fitted, and so soon as they are set apart to the work of the min istry, they cease to be of much service to the cause of the Master. We must not forget that there is urgent need of earnest, active, enterprising and tal ented laymen in the churches, and it by no means follows that God has called a man to preach because he is zealous, or even because he can exhort with fluency and power. Not a few laymen ot the churches ate as effective in developing the graces of the membership as the pastors themselves, and there is scarcely a greater want among us at present than men of this class. Somebody has collected several very curi ous facts about the cost of books in early times, and in the light of them who shall say that books nowadays are not cheap? The King of Northumberland in C9O gave for a history of lhe world 800 acres of land, and a Countess of Anjou, date not stated, once gave 200 sheep and a large parcel of furs for a volume of homilies, and 120 crowns for a single book of Livy I In 1720, a Latin Bible was valued at $l5O, and this was a time when two arches of London bridge was built for less than $l5O. A laborer in those days had wages so small that the earnings of fif teen years would have been necessary to buy the Bible, and the Bible being in Latin, he could not have read it after all.— lnterior. Yes; and at that time a paper like The Index would have been considered cheap at five hundred dollars a year. The people of this day do not appre ciate their privileges. Just think of a preacher coming to your very door once a week for a whole year, with all sorts of nice little sermons, and pleasant talks, and instructive lectures, together with the religious news of half a continent, and with the ideas of the Lent thinkers on current topics; and all this for two or three dollars; I or say for the retail price of fifty pounds of flour, or two or three bushels of corn, or twenty-five pounds of cotton, or about ten spring chickens, or a couple of turkeys, or twelve or fifteen dozen eggs. Very pleasant is this from the Luth eran Standard : The four thousand whom our Lord so miraculously fed in the wilderness, beheld a wonderful manifestation of his fatherly love and almighty power. However, they were not permitted this blessed privilege until they had followed Jesus far away from the abode of men, and earthly means of help were no longer to be found. Just so it is with the sinner. Before he oan rejo.ee in the depths of God’s love for him, and realize the greatness of divine power in his behalf, he must be led by grace far out in the wilderness of i.uniility and lowliness, where all earthly means fail, and : all human effort is vain and futile. God first deprives us of everything we have, that we may be willing to take all things from him. While prosperity blesses us we are very apt to trust in self. The Lord must make us poor in spirit and in , body, too, very ofen before we will accept the true riches which he offers freely to all. The Holy Spirit must teach us our sinful news, onr utter depravity, our helpless pov i rty, before he can lead us to look to Christ in fai.h for the riches of forgiveness and , peace. He first, by his gracious influence, leads us to long and sigh for comfort, to hunger and thirst for spiritual nourishment, and then we behold about us the bread of life in never failing abundance. —The Albany News of last Thursday i gives the following interesting synopsis i of lhe sermons, and addresses on the preceding Sabbath: “The announce ment that distinguished ministers of the Baptist Association, then in ses sion, would occupy the pulpits of the Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches, called out a full number of church-goers on last Sabbath—a bright and beautiful day. “At the Baptist church, in the fore-I noon, Rev. M. B. Wharton, taking the place of Dr. DeVotie, who was too unwell to fulfil his appointment, preached a plain, earnest, practical, sermon on Missions. Much of the dis course was devoted to interesting sta tistics, showing the work already done and yet to be accomplished. He re viewed the vast field of missionary labor, and, while regretting the comparatively small amount of work done, yet felt I encouraged to hope and pray for the future, and strongly urged the duty I and necessity of earnest effort in that direction. "Dr. A. J. Battle occupied the pulpit at night, preaching from the text, ‘Verily I say unto you that there be some of them that stand hero, which shall not taste of death till they have seen the kingdom of God come in power.’ He analyzed the constituent elements of a great kingdom—a great sovereign, a great people, and a great Whole No. 2394 territory. Christ is the Sovereign of the Kingdom of God ; the vast army of Christians its subjects, the whole earth its territory. The Kingdom of God on earth is temporary ; its subjects imper fect in their present condition; but after this world comes the everlasting Kingdom, where all the subjects shall be perfected in the righteousness and glory of God. We should make this temporary kingdom—this probationary state—but a prelude, a stepping-stone to that upper and better’ Kingdom, where the Lord of Hosts reigneth. “In the afternoon there was a Sun day-school mass-meeting. The house was filled to its capacity, and a most interesting time was had. Rev. T. C. Boykin led the services, and delivered an address. Governor Colquitt, who was in the city, was present, and ad dressed the meeting. The speeches were interspersed with singing, and the occasion was both pleasant and instruc tive. “The text of Dr. S. G. Hillyer, who filled the pulpit of the Methodist church during the morning hour, was taken from St. John xiv: 1: ‘Let not your heart be troubled ; ye believe in God, believe also in me.’ The venerable speaker said that the great object of life—its labor, thought and endeavor— is to avoid trouble. The Stoics of old, believing in an absolute Fate, sought to avoid the sting of misfortune by a cold, haughty pride that mocked at sentiment, scoffed at sympathy, laughed at humanity. The Epicurians, trust ing in blind, insensible Chance, sought escape from trouble by seeking pleas ure, making it the end and aim of life—thinking its chief object to be the pursuit of happiness. But the Christian religion otters surcease from trouble through trust in God. Faith in God is the great panacea for all human troubles. Through Faith, Christ was enabled to bear the great agony of Gethsemane, and say: ‘Not my will, but Thine be done.’ By Faith men are enabled to bear the burdens of life anti the Hings of adversity. In this it offers a far better escape than the phi losophy of the Stoics; it consoles and helps and strengthens. And like the Epicurian philosophy, it says: ‘Seek happiness.” Not sensual, wicked grati fication, that soon pall on the taste, wear out the body and degrade the soul; but seek the highest and truest happi ness,which is found only in the sublime but humble life of the follower of Jesus of Nazareth ; which comes only through faith in God, through trust in Christ. The sermon was a beautiful one—fer j vent, strong, simple, fraught with the inspiration of a sincere purpose, and a glad, glorious experience. It was earn est, practical, Scriptural, and w'ent straight to many a heart, carrying com- I fort and conviction. “Rev. J. H. Corley preached at the Methodist church at night, from Psalm xxxiv: 3 : ‘O, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.’ I The first duty enjoined was to magnify the Lord by our thought. We should cultivate a habit of thought on the per- I sections and glories of God; should I make this habit a part of our life and daily existence. We cannot make God greater by our thought; so the lens does not - make the object beneath it greater, but causes it to appear more 1 perfect unto our sight. So a habit of thought upon God brings nearer to us and into clearer light the glories of his being. We should magnify the Lord in our lives, in our action, in our ex ample. We should magnify him in our family, by teaching and by practice, by family worship and by religious domes tic duties. They are prany and most important, and afford abundant oppor tunity for working to the honor and ! glory of <rod. Finally, we should mag -1 nify God in the church, by worshipping him aright—earnestly, zealously, spir itually ; by consistent lives and shin ingexamples. The sermon was listened to with profound attention, and was greatly enjoyed by all who heard it. At the Presbyterian church, Sunday morning, Rev. A. J. Battle preached a most powerful and practical discourse I upon the subject of frailties of human nature, illustrating by the three seives through which God sifts mankind, sep arating the chaff from the wheat, etc. The Doctor dwelt forcibly upon the degeneracy of the times, the trials and temptations which, for the last twenty years have battled against the Christian church in this land, corruption in high places, and the use of public office for private gain, etc. It is not often our people have the opportunity of listen ing to a sermon of such positive, prac tical and forcible bearing as was this effort of Dr. Battle. “Rev. D. E. Butler preached at night on the text, ‘Satan desires to have thee, that he may sift thee as wheat,’ and elaborated the subject in a most thoughtful and earnest manner, show ing how Satan is ever tempting man kind ; how erring human nature is; how prone to self-trust, and how apt to fall. The sermon was pronounced a fine effort.”