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THE REV. DR. BOYD AND THE
SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH OF
ST. LOUIS.
Editor of Christian Index : In my
judgment, you did good service in the cause
of truth when you penned those strictures
which appeared in your columns a few weeks
ago, animadverting upon the outrages—l can
use no milder term—perpetrated by the
Bev. Dr. Boyd, as pastor of the Second Bap
tist church of St. Louis, and which have
since obtained so wide spread and ignomini
ous a notoriety. I see by a recent number
of the Boston Watchman, that the St. Louis
Baptist Association has “put out the Second
church.” This, I confess, is to me somewhat
re-assuring, as showing that there are yet to
be found Baptist organizations that cannot
be got to compound, on whatever terms, for
false teaching and erroneous practice, or to
give their sanction to any of those expedients
by which diplomacy too often succeeds in
circumventing justice. Especially is this a
matter of ihaakfulness and congratulation,
when the often der is possessed of as much
wealth and self-consciousness as the Second
Baptist church of St. Louis.
But here the Watchman raises an issue as
to the righteousness of this act of the Asso
ciation. “Wedo not admit,” it says, "the
right of a minister or church to do what Dr.
Boyd has done, but where does the responsi
bility of the church come in ? . . . Before
the church was disfellowshipped (sic) it were
well if some wrongful act or omission of the
church in this matter had been made to aj>-
pear.”
Nothing, it seems to me, could exceed the
fatuity of this remark. It assumes that while
the Watchman, at the distance of a thousand
miles, was sufficiently cognizant of all the
facts of the case to narrate them with precis
ion and in detail, those on the spot, and im
mediately concerned in the matter, were
ignorant of them, and at the same time had
|>erpetrated the atrocity of coming to a grave
judicial decision, while utterly lacking that
knowledge of the facts, by which alone their
judgment could be guided to a legitimate
conclusion. Happily, however, despite this
quibble of the Watchman, there are, so far
as 1 know, no conflicting opinions about the
facts; the whole proceeding is as well and
widely known as the sentiment condemning
it is universal and unanimous. The IPal<A
man’s version of it has nothing in it, so far
as I remember, that at all clashes with your
own; and not only so, but it further promul
gates a sort of ex-cathedra judgment, mildly
inculcating both church and pastor in a
common offence of some kind or other,
though it forbears to characterize it other
wise than in the most general terms. "Let
it not lie imagined,” it says, “that our views
of the Association’s action arise from appro
bation of these acts of the church and pastor,
or from want of sympathy with the brethren
in St. Louis who have been grieved by
them."
Os course, then, the Watchman had al
ready determined, in its own judicial mind,
“where it was that the resi>onsibility of the
church came in." Then why seek to eon
fuse and complicate matters by pro,>ounding
so useless an interrogatory ?
The truth Is, that the Association had no
discretionary power, whatever, in the mat
ter. Hnd it acted otherwise, it would aim
ply have belied its own character and pro
fession as a Baptist body. The pastor ot
the Second church bad invited, to the com
munion table, a gentleman, whom, by no
stretch of charity, an orthodox believer could
regard as a Christian, seeing that he denied
both the divinity of Christ and the vicarious
character of his sacrifice. Subsequently this
same pastor of the Second church “entered
into an arrangement,” as he expressly tells
us, “for a joined meeting" with the Jews in
the latter’s synagogue, “and I did think, it
was right,” he proceeds to say, "to lay aside
everything on that occasion, everything that
would be objectionable to either side, not
that by that act I would lay aside my faith
in Jesus Christ, or the mention of his name,
but simply this, that when 1 invite anybody
to come into my house,l will not insult them?’
Accordingly, in this amiable and accommo
dating mood, he deliberately and on pur|>oee
excluded “Christ” and his "cross” from the
hymns to be sung and the prayers to be of
fered. He was determined that for once
there should be a truce to old traditionary
enmities, and that the harmony of “that oc
casion” should not be marred by the inop
portune obtrusion of even the simplest ver
bal utterance that could bear an interpreta
tion suggestive of‘‘the offence of the cross.”
Now, if tbe design of Dr. Boyd had been
to give, in the most emphatic form he could
devise, apractical repudition on the part of
himself and his church, of the doctrine of
the divinity,the atonement, and the Messiah
ship of Jesus, he certainly could have hit on
no other exiiedient that would so effectually
have served his purpose.
Robert Hale *s a zealous advocate of
free communion between those who recog
nized one another as members of the btxiy
of Christ. But no Unitarian would ever
have dreamed of seeking communion with a
church over which Hall presided. He has
left on record his protest, not against Unita
rianism merely, but against the very name.
For himself, he refused to call them anything
but "Sociniaus,” alleging that the assump
tion of the term "Unitarian" was tantamount
to charging that the orthodox faith did vio
lence to the conception of the divine unity.
Baptist open-communion practice in Eng
land furnishes no precedent for Dr. Boyds
procedure ; he has gone far ahead of his
transatlantic models.
Now, that which alone gives interest and
significaney to this proceeding of Dr. Boyd's
is the fact that he was all the while acting
as the organ and executive minister of a
Baptist church. Whatever there is of evil
theiefore in these unprecedented acts, the
latter is fully as much implicated in it as Dr.
Boyd himself, and until it purges itself of
all complicity in these doings of its pastor
it will be regarded, not as an aecessorv,mere
ly, but as a principal, in the transaction. In
the mean time, tbe church, equally with its
jiastor, must be held both to have denied
Christ, and betrayed him to his enemies.
But just here comes a statement clear and
implicit, made by the Watchman, which,
from a less exceptional source would, I con
fess, have staggered my belief. The B'ci/cA
man says that "the venerable seuior editor
of tt e Reliyiow Herald" advised the >Seeoud
church, as a defense against “these acts of the
church and pastor" to "reaffirm and republish
their articles of faith.” lines either Dr. Jeter
orthe Second Baptist Church of St. Louis need
to be reminded that it is p< wsible to “hold
the truth in unrighteousness!” Why, there
is not a felon in die penitentiary who
is not as sound in his ethics as the Second
Baptist church of St. Louis is in its oonfes
sion of faith ; but it has never occurred to
The Christian Index and South-western Baptist: Thursday, November 13, 1879.
this fraternity to publish their moral code
as a defense of their innocence, or as a guar
antee of their personal integrity. And for
a church that is confessedly implicated in a
most revolting enormity, to suppose that sis
ter churches will accept their creed as a
pledge of their rectitude in the past, or as a
security for their good conduct in the future,
betokens an estimate of human gullibility a
little too much in advance of what facts
would seem to justify.
To exaggerate the enormity of such pro
ceedings as these of this St. Louis church, or
the deadly mischief with which they are
fraught, is simply impossible,and it is es
pecially incumbent upon us as Baptists,
neither to abet them nor give our counte
nance to the men that do.
Philemon.
BAPTISM BY UNBAPTIZED BAP
TISTS
The case of Dr. Weaver’s re-bap
tism, has awakened a great deal of in
quiry on many points, some of which
are of great importance. Some criti -
cise Dr. Boyce for baptizing him with
out consulting the church. Some in
quire "what will be the status of those
whom Dr. W. baptized before he was
baptized by Dr. Boyce, etc., etc.
As to the criticism on Dr. Boyce’s
account, there ought to be no discus
sion, yet some contend that it does not,
yet, secure valid baptism to Dr. W.
Whence arises this difficulty? Have
we a solitary instance in the Scripture
of a church authorizing a minister to
baptize a candidate? We have only
one, where any consultation is had
with the brethren present, if indeed,
that be one, and that is in the case of
Cornelius. The fact is, the Apostles
and Evangelists baptized on their own
responsibility, and among Baptists to
day,the question decided by the church
is not, “shall the candidate be baptiz
ed,” but "shall we receive him in the
fellowship after he is baptized”. This
practice of taking the vote of the
church has become so common, that it
has almost established a rule not pre
scribed,or oven intimated, in the Scrip
ture. The question of fellowship is
one to be determined by the church.
The injunction to baptize is given to
the minister. His authority is not de
rived from the church, but from Christ,
The control, therefore, which the
church exercises in the premises is
merely incidental to the question of
fellowship. We must not permit a
venerable tradition to subvert the
teachings of the Apostles. Now Dr.
Boyce derives his authority to baptize
from God’s Spirit. That authority has
been solemnly recognized, in the di
vinely appointed way by his ordina
tion. The question of fellowship in
Dr. Weaver’s case did not enter into
the matter at all, hence, there was
nothing for Dr. Boyce to consult the
chuvch about.
A far more serious questions has
arisen on the inquiry "what is the
status of those whom Dr. Weaver bap
tized, while he had only his Method
ist immersion to induct him into his
church membership? Have they been
baptized? Elder, J. B. L., in the Texas
Baptist Herald, answers that they
have, because they were baptized un
der authority of the church. That Dr.
Weaver was a Baptist preacher de
facto, if not de jure.
This position of J. B. L., is,' it seems
to me, extremely dangerous. If the
church has the right to authorize one
baptized by a Methodist to administer
baptism, it must be either because
alien immerson is valid, or because
the church has authority to alter the
Apostle’s order, and authorize one who
had not been baptized to administer
the ordinance. To accept of alien
immersion is to do the very same
thing, i. e. to authorize an unbaptized
man to administer baptism. Hence,
those whom Dr. Weaver baptized un
der his alien immersion, stand on ex
actly the same ground that he did.
"But,” it is contended, "the church au
thorized it.” Well, but who author
ized the church? When it can be suc
cessfully shown that the church had
the right to alter the Apostle’s order,
in respect to the administration of an
ordinance, then it must be admitted
that the same authority can change
the ordinance itself. If so, the same
authority can alter and amend the
form of chu/ch government. Then
Baptista are wrong,and Romanism,and
the Protestant churches that come out
of Rome, are right. That view yields
the entire ground to our opi>onents.
If we could find Apostle’s authority
for recognizing alien immersion, we
would have to accept them. If we
could find like authority for the accept
ing of immersion performed by unbap
tized,or unordained ministers,we would
have to accept that, too. We do find
a number of cases, where no church
authorized the baptism, and they are
given for our instruction by God’s
Spirit, through the inspired Word.
Hence,by Apostolic examples, we learn
that the right to baptize is bestowed
upon baptized men, who have been
ordained by the imposition of hands,
and we fail to find that authority lodg
ed in the church. The rights confer
red by ordination were never conferee!
by the Apostles upon any but bap
tized men, hence the attempt of a
church to do so, is an usurpation, and
is null and void throughout.
J. L. D. Hillyer.
St. Elmo, Travis, Co-, Texas, Octo
ber 24th, 1879.
It is our duty to be happy, because
happiness lies in contentment with all
the Divine will concerning us.—Be
thune.
SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK IN THE
PAST.
In your paper of last week, reference
was made to a Sunday-school estab
lished by the Rev. Dr. Malcom during
his first pastorate, my impression is it
was in the year 1820. It was my
privilege to be present the day that
school was organized and to have my
name registered as a scholar. I was
then too young to read with any flu
ency, but I remained in it as a scholar
until I had learned and recited nearly
the whole of the New Testament—when
I was promoted, at an early age, to the
office of a teacher. There were tickets
given to the scholars for their recita
tions, each one containing a verse of
Scripture. These tickets were blue
and red. Every six verses of Scripture
recited perfectly, entitled the scholar
to a blue ticket—six blue tickets could
be exchanged for a red one, two red
ones were worth one cent. When we
had a sufficient number of them, the
officers of the school accepted them
from us as currency in exchange for
Testaments and Hymn-books. For
myself my first purchase was a hymn
book, “Rippon’s Selection,” for which
I gave 150 red tickets. It had my
name written in it, and “Reward of
merit,” from the Sunday-school, signed
Howard Malcom, in bis beautiful
bold, free handwriting. I never ceased
to value the book, and particularly
this autograph page, and grieved over
it more than its intrinsic worth de
manded, when it was lost during the
war, with many another household
treasure more valuable but not more
valued. The first Mrs. Malcom was,
for a part of the time, my teacher.
Born to wealth, and raised in the lap
of luxury, she came to us radiant with
the first flush of her w’ifehood. Her
grace, and beauty, and culture, and
glowing piety, and efforts to emulate
her husband’s zeal in his work, made
her the cynosure of all eyes. To me,
she seemed almost divine, and her
praise when 1 would recite hundreds of
verses at a time, as I in common with
other scholars frequently did, was
worth more to me than the tickets she
gave me.
However, much Sunday-school ef
fort may have advanced in some di
rections since the olden time, as far as
studying the Scriptures is concerned,
they have, in my judgment, retrograd
ed. “There is no royal road to learn
ing,” either the Bible or anything else.
There is no knowledge comparable to
Bible knowledge. Surely it is far
better to store the mind with it, not in
the form of questions and answers, but
in its own rich verbiage, so touching,
so pathetic, so rich in illustrations, so
forcible in its precepts, so sublimejn
its promises and prophecies. VATiat
vivid pen-portraits of the life of Christ
do we find in the Gospels! Our
hearts are touched with the simple
story of His toilsome, weary wander
ings that He might preach the Gospel
in the regions beyond—His sorrowing,
homeless life —His admission, made
when worn and spent with His inces
sant labors, not in the spirit of mur
muring, but oh! what unutterable sad
ness, that He had not where to lay His
head. We realize the anguish of his
soul, as He stood among His enemies
with not a friend on earth who dared
to sympathize with Him, or utter one
word of comfort. Even the disciples
who had been His chosen companions,
had turned away from Him. He had
been betrayed by one, by one denied,
by all forsaken. Nor was He allowed
divine support in that fearful hour, but |
in order tp make the sacrifice complete, I
it was necessary that He should suffer I
the hiding of His Father’s face. Nor
does the interest of this Holy Book
cease with the records of our dear Re
deemer’s life and death. Every page
Is replete with interest. The Acts of
the Apostles who received their teach
ings from the Saviour’s very lips; the
stores of instruction and of promise
massed in the Epistles, from the sub
lime declaration of Paul, "There is
therefore now no condemnation to
them that are in Christ Jesus,” aye!
and before it, down to the very verge
of the Apocalyptic vision, whose graph
ic pictures of the New Jerusalem, with
its georgeous magnificence, fill one’s
soul with transport. The knowledge
laid away in memory is an inalienable
possession, but if it were possible to
part with it, the wealth of the world
would not buy from me the knowledge
of the Bible which I acquired in the
Sunday-school. It has been my joy
in many an hour when prostrated with
suffering. It has given me comfort in
the silent watches of the night when
sleep has fled my pillow. It has sus
tained me in sore trials, and often
times I have felt that the promises
most opposite to my case were the
very ones which presented themselves
—collated in memory in away which
they could not otherwise have been
but by diligent search, and in hours
of wakeful nervousness, the repeating
of chapters and I’sahns has soothed
me to quiet slumber. It is incorporat
ed into my being, and ever present
with me, and when my last hours
come, I trust the Holy Spirit will so ap
ply its gracious words of consolation,
that the dark waters of the Jordan
may lie made brilliant with their
blessed light. 8. J. H.
At a late conference of Mormon
apostles at Salt Lake, the leaders were
very defiant, and resolved to live up to
their principles, despite the govern
ment.
THAT QUESTIONABLE BAP
TISM.
Editor Index : May I say a few
words through your columns in reply
to brother Wm. G. Horsley? lam not
fearful that “brother Robertson” is not
able to take care of himself, but I sim
ply wish to say a few words to brother
H., showing why some of us cannot
endorse the act of Drs. Boyce and
Weaver.
In the first place, the ordinances
belong to the church of Christ, and
cannot be alienated therefrom. Being
“the pillar and ground of the truth,”
the church must hold the elements of
truth under her control. To make the
church responsible for the truth, and
then to take away the power to main
tain that truth, would certainly be
wrong. "But,” say some, “does she
not transfer the right, or authority, to
administer the ordinances to the min
ister in his ordination?” Not on his
individual responsibility. If so, why
should persons come before the church,
tell to the church their experience, and
be voted by the church as fit subjects
for baptism, if the minister received
that authority in his ordination? All
the authority that the minister receives
relative to the ordinances is to admin
ister them to such persons and on such
occasion as the church may deem
proper. If Dr. Weaver had presented
himself before any orderly Baptist
church and had told his experience,”
had stated the grounds of his faith in
Christ, and that he wished Dr. Boyce
to baptize him, I presume no one
would have objected, and then, there
never would have been any question
raised as to the correctness of his bap
tism. As it is, many, very many, are
not satisfied; nor is it reasonable to
suppose that men so eminent lor both
piety and learning will long remain
satisfied with an act so unsatisfactory
to so many sensible brethren. Besides,
such a course will, ere long, have a
damaging effect upon an institution
dear to thousands of Baptist hearts,
and dearer to none than to Dr. B.
Again, brother Horsley thinks, (and
so do many others,) that brother
Robertson can find a precedent in the
eighth chapter of Acts. Brother 11.,
no doubt, refers to Philip and the
Ethiopean eunuch. But before that
chapter can afford a precedent, Drs.
B. and W. must declare to us that “the
angel of the Lord spake unto” them
as “unto Philip, saying arise, and go,”
and do this which they did ; and “the
Spirit" must say to them “go and do
this,” before it can be claimed as an
analogous case to that of Philip and
the eunuch. But these brethren will
not claim the immediate urging of
“tbe angel of the Lord,” nor of “the
Spirit." As well might they claim the I
example of Paul and say to our Pedo-I
baptist friends on the subject of bap-1
tism: “O full of all subtilty and all
mischief, thou child of the devil,
thou enemy of all righteousness,
wilt thou not cease to pervert the
right ways of the Lord.” If one
of these examples be taken as a
precedent the other must, because
both stand on the same argument.
They are both found in the Acts of
the Apostles, both were immediately
moved by the same Spirit to one spe
cial act. But who would tolerate such
language from a Baptist minister to
any opposer of gospel truths? Would
brother Horsley use such severe re
bukes to his Pedobaptist brethren?
Until he can, he should not claim
Philip as a precedent.
Again he says : “What shall be done
with baptisms by ministers in the
army during the war?” I suppose
that about all has already been done
that will be done, if not, brother H.
can answer that question about as weil
as any one else. I suppose that when
a church sends out missionaries, it
sends them forth with church authori
ty, however many or few there may
be; that is, they go as an organized
and recognized church, empowered to
perform all the rites and ceremonies
belonging to a Gospel church. If this
be so, missionaries to the army were
not exceptions, and churches so cloth
ing and sending them would not repu
diate their acts in baptism. Thete is
a wrong way of doing even a right
thing. If there be two ways, one an
uncertainly right, and the other a cer
tainly right way, it is surely wise to
take the certainly right way. Adam
and Eve never could make a dress of
fig leaves hide their sinfulness.
W. M. Howell.
A POOR OLD BAPTIST PREACH \
ER ROBBED.
Dear Index : After traveling around
and visiting seven Associations, re
ceiving, through the kindness and lib
erality of my brethren, one hundred
and twenty dollars, I was robbed, un
der the following circumstances, at
Macon, Georgia: Getting on the Cen
tral Railroad at No. 16, the car com
pletely packed, on Wednesday the 80th
inst., I obtained a seat on a trunk in
the baggage car. Designing to get off
at Macon, and to get on the train for
Atlanta. As I picked up my satchel,
an apparently nice and friendly young
man asked me for my satchel,and seem
ed very solicitous to get me off safely.
He aided me to get on the other car,
and after being seated, and when he,
had gone, I felt for my pocket-book,
which I had carefully pinned to my
vest, and to my great astonishment, it
was gone, with two ten dollar bills,
four fives and nine one dollar bills. I
was careful to feel for my
every minute* and
before he took
thankful to God thatT wsTnot in
: jured,and saved my clothes and satch
- el. I have the best end of the purse,a
! clear conscience, while he has a guilty
, conscience. May the good Lord pity
j him. Brother H. H. Tucker will
I greatly oblige me by publishing the
: above, with the addition of such re
, marks as the circumstances may sug-
I gest. James Barron.
Newnan, Ga., Oct. 30th, 1879.
WOMANS MISSION WORK.
Mrs. Stainback Wilson, President Central
Committee, Atlanta, Ga.:
"Dear Sister : We have read in a
recent issue of The Index, a letter from
you, stating that your Committee had
met, and sent up your petitions for an
increase of the spirit of missions. We
will add one more remittance for Miss
Lula Whilden’s school in China, with
the prayer that the hearts of women
throughout this State and others, will
respond to the call, and do all in their
power to spread the Gospel, till its
glorious influence will be felt through
out this sin-cursed world.
“Go on, dear sisters, in your glorious
work for the cause of Christ. Though
so discouraged at times as to almost
give up, we believe God will yet enable
you by his grace to be the means of
bringing many souls into the fold.
Eternity will reveal the good you have
performed. Oh! may all women who
profess to follow the Savior, let their
light shine till each feeble ray shall
pierce the gloom of sin, not only on
our own shores, but stop not till it
penetrates through the darkness of
heathen lands.
“We live in the country, where it is
very inconvenient to attend the house
of God often, and where there is no
Woman’s Mission Society, and very
little material for forming one ; yet we
do not wish to sit still and do nothing;
w'e will try to help you promote the
cause of Christ by our prayers for your
success, and send a •ontribution when
1 we can.
“We think you will do much good in
helping Miss Whilden in her school;
we believe she is working from the
motive of pure love to Christ. Being
personally acquainted with her, we
know her to be an earnest, humble
Christian. For several months we
were with her, at the female college,
Greenville, S. C. Never have we seen
one more devoted to the work of Jesus.
Storm and rain did not keep her from
the house of God; we have known her,
when breakfast was later than usual,
to go to Sabbath-school without it;
when not studying, she. was engaged
in visiting the sick, reading and pray
ing with them. We hope those who
know her in this State, and South Car
olina (her native State,) will send con
tributions to your Committee, to aid
her in her glorious work.
"We close with the promise to help
you again when we can, and get others
to do likewise. Mrs. Jane A. Tnorn
ton, 50 cents; Mrs. M. A. Bates, 50
cents ; Miss Lizzie Barrett, 50 cents.”
Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Ga.
We trust every Society in the State
will respond by the first of November,
when the remittances for the second
quarter will be due our Central Com
mittee. We will not send them to the
Boards until the 15th of the month, in
order to give all time to send the funds
they may have on hand. Address as
above, or Mrs. A. C. Kiddoo,
Cor. Sec’y Central Committee,
Atlanta, Ga.
MINISTERIAL CONSECRA TION.
Sabbath afternoon, having laid my
babe down for a nap, the other chil
dren being from home, I was alone, as
minister’s wives often are. I seated my
self with the Index, hoping, as I open
ed it,that I would find something com
forting and cheering to me, something
that would help me to be a better wo
man. I had been looking at it a few
piinutes, when my eye fell upon a
short piece with the above caption,and
it was indeed a comfort to me to know
that some good man who had thought
of that subject for years, was of the
opinion that a minister who labored
with his own hands, to supplement a
small salary for the support of his
family, was as truly a consecrated min
ister, and had as much right to expect
a compensation for his services to his
churches as other ministers, who live on
larger salaries and are not compelled
to labor for the support of their fami
lies. I know some ministers who,
some weeks work five days and preach
two; other weeks they work three
days, travel two days, and preach two
days. None but God knows what
these ministers endure; there is not
only neglect of home affairs, wear and
tear of travel, leaving home so long
and often, but the pang of knowing
what their wives endure and bear.
These, I think, are the ministers that I
are truly devoted to the cause of Christ, j
Fortunate, indeed, is the minister who
lias a wife who can and will bear cheer
fully, all that falls to her lot to bear. I
am no better than other women and
fall very, very far short of being as
good a woman as I ought to be, or as 1
would like to be, but how often have I
borne things that were very trying to
mind and body, of which my good hus
knew nothing! I felt that to tell him
of my troubles would only worry and
confuse his mind, and unfit him for
his ministerial duties.
If it is the “love of money” that
puts such men in the ministry and
keeps them there, they do and bear a
great deal for a very littte. Very few,
I think, would suffer and bear all these
things if the love of Christ were not
the controlling motive. Ruth.
GENERAL MEETING.
There will be a general meeting in
. the third district of the Appalachee
Association held in the Bethlehem
Baptist church, Morgan county, Ga.,
commencing Friday before the fifth
Lord’s day in November, 1879. Intro
ductory sermon to be preached by
Elder J. F. Edens, at 11 o’clock a. m.
Elder J. A. Harris, alternate.
The following are subjects for discus
sion :
1. Can a pastor serve more than two
churches and perform the duties re
quired? J. Frazer, G. C. Selman,
Elders J. A. Harris and T. J. Swanson.
2. What are the duties of churches
to their pastors? J. E. Nunnally, D.
W. Jackson, H. Jennings, Elder J. W.
Butts and A. H. Jackson.
3. How may the piety of church
members be best promoted? Elder H.
R. Bernard, H. C. Fears, W. H. Co
croft, D. W. Locklin, Elder W. Dening
ton and J. Jennings.
4. If feet-washing is a command of
our Lord and Master to his followers,
when and where should it be observed?
Elders J. J. Wallace, J. F. Edens and
W. B. Crawford, James Middlebrooks
and J. T. Wellborn.
The brethren whose names are an
nexed to these subjects are earnestly
i requested to attend.
F. W. Prior,
W. A. Brooks,
Committee.
REV. MH. LANE.
Rev. M. H. Lane, an ordained min
ister, and member of the Washington
Baptist church, has been laboring the
past few months as an Evangelist and
co-laborer with the pastors of the Edge
field, Nashville, and other Baptist
churches of Tennessee, and Elim, Rome
and Dalton churches of this State. By
i the blessing of God attending these
' services, the results have been such as
to indicate that in God’s providence
these seem to be the - especial spheres
to which he has called him to labor.
Brother Lane having thereby been
very much encouraged, and desiring to
labor in these directions for the pres
ent, and in view of the results in those
places, we hereby cheerfully recom
mend him as an Evangelist and helper
to pastors in protracted meetings to
j sister churches iq our own and neigh-
I boring States.
Resolved, That the above extract
I from the minutes of the Washington
' Baptist church, in called conference
j Sunday, November 2d, 1879, be sent to
! The Christian Index with a request
! to publish. W. M. Sims,
Clerk pro tern.
Among the important matter that
! will be brought before Congress this
! winter is a proposition to enlarge the
i jurisdiction of the Court of Claims
I with a view of disposing of the cotton
funds held in trust by the Government.
I They are of two classes, one known as
' the “Captured and Abandoned Prop
erty Fund,” amounting to about $12,-
; 000,000 unrestored, and the other the
: proceeds of cotton captured and sold
| after the war, amounting to about
$5,000,000.
In one of the Congregational
churches of Chicago, recently, a Chi
| narnau delivered an address on the
! subject of missionary work among his
brethren in America and at home. He
! suggested that if the Christians built
hospitals and schools for the heathen,
j where they could be cured when sick,
and taught when well the rudiments
of English education, it would be very
I easy to win them to Christianity at
! the same time.
A Baltimore company has found a
! copper bonanza in the mines at Ore
i Knob, Ashe county, North Carolina,
where 700 men are employed, and
| about $300,000 are annually disbursed
;to the inhabitants for fuel, etc. A cor
respondent of the Baltimore American
. says six additional furnaces are to be
erected, and a railroad is being built
to connect the mines with Greensboro.
The monthly product of pure copper
is 150,000 pounds.
During the recent celebration at
Yorktown, V.rginia, an Englishman,
present, who was afflicted with the
national habit of growling at every
thing, took a deliberate view of the
situation and surroundings of the place
and then remarked: “I can well un
derstand now why Lord Cornwallis
surrendered Yorktown. If I owned
such a place’,l would give it up myself.”
A great deal of English capital is
being invested in this country. In
vestments pay better here tßan in the
old country, and agrarian troubles are
not as frequent. English farmers are,
also turning their faces hitherward.
Several thousand are on the way to
Texas.
The export demand for cotton goods
is so active just at present, that several
leading New England manufacturing
corporations are running a large part
of their machinery on export orders.