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The Christian Index. BY JAS. P. HARRISON & CO. The Christian Index. Publication Rooms, 27 and 29 8. Broad. St. Through the courtesy of Hon. N. J. Hammond, M. C., we have received a public document containing papers re lating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, transmitted to Congress, with annual message of the President, December Ist, 1879. The Messenger says: The Baptists of Eatonton do not contemplate build ing a church for their use at present, but are agitating the subject of build ing at some future time, when matters would seem to guarantee such a step. We hope they will succeed in their enterprise. In San Francisco there are four hundred places where opium is sold, and each one of them receives an in come averaging seventy-five dollars a day from the outragous and injurious traffic. The opium habit is increasing all over the country, and it is an evil no less terrible than that of drunkenness. The English government will soon have another Ashantee war upon its hands. The natives are preparing for war along the Gold Coast, and, assisted by the deadly climate, will give the English a tough fight. England must hasten a crisis in the Transvaal diffi culty, in order to have troops available for the Gold Coast. The farmers’convention in St. Fran cisco, California, resolved to form a wheat growers’ association for Califor nia for mutual aid and protection against middlemen, the first meeting of which will be on April 14th. One of the projects of the proposed organiza tion is the establishment of an agency at Liverpool for freights and commis sions. The Christian Index and South ern Baptist comes to us this week with a new head, and this reminds us that we have often thought, while perusing the instructive and valuable matter con tained in its pages, that we should say something in commendation of this, one of the purest and best family jour nals in all the land. Not Baptists only, but all who appreciate an able and hon est paper, should secure its weekly vis its. As an editor, Dr. Tucker has no superior in the Union. Address Jas. P. Harrison <fc Co., Atlanta, Ga. — Mil ledgeville Union and Recorder. Dr. Engel, head of the Prussian Statistical Buteau, calculated fifteen years ago that it cost Germany over £ ICO to bring up a member of the lower classes to the age of 15. Dr.Fabri, in his work on colonization, places the cost at £ 150, every penny of which is spent before the citizen becomes a pro ducer instead of a consumer of wealth. He estimates the average net loss to Germany on every emigrant who leaves her shores at a hundred pounds sterling, and it is found that the average capital broughtoverbyeachGermanimmigrant who lands at New York is over £ 20. It is, therefore, a low estimate to reekon the net lost to Ireland, by every emi grant unnecessarily forced beyond the sea, at 100 pounds sterling. Hon. J. T. Henderson, the vigilant and efficient Commissioner of Agricul ture, has issued from his department two publications of great value to our agriculturists; one is “Results of Soil Tests of Commercial Fertilizers and Seeds for the year 1880, conducted under the direction of the Commis sioner of Agriculture of the State of Georgia, with comments on the results of the experiments,” —the other is a supplemental report, showing the yield of the leading crops of the State com pared to that of 1879, average yield per acre, etc., consolidated from the reports ' of crop correspondents, returned to the Department of Agriculture, December 15th, 1880. Also a short chapter on the “Habits and Management of Ger man Carp.” —Considerable surprise was mani fested at the favorable report agreed up on by the House Special Committee, on a bill to incorporate the “Inter-Oceanic Ship Railway Company,” of Captain Eads, and the recommendation of the Government guarantee asked for of interest on the company’s bonds.— Upon examination of the report, how ever, it is found that Government lia bility can hardly attach until the prac ticability of the enterprise is shown. For instance, until a vessel and load weighing together 2,000 tons shall have been carried safely both ways upon ten miles of the railway, the United States shall not be liable, and then for not more than three per cent, interest upon five millions of dollars. Further lia bility, to the same amount, attaches whenever the like success is achieved upon twenty miles of the railway, and so on to the extent of fifty millions. Capt. Eads says he can raise the capi tal without the guarantee, but more easily and more advantageously with it. He does not expect final action by 'Congress at this session. LITERAR Y NOTES AND COMMENTS —Lord Beaconsfield’s “Endymion” is said to have paid him about fifty cents a word. If the value of the work were to be computed by its weight (minus the au thor’s name) it would bring about fifty cents per pennyweight. —Mr. Henry O. Houghton, the well known publisher, worked in a print ing office when a boy, and began his collegiate course at Burlington Vt., with twelve cents in his pocket. He was S3OO in debt when he was gradu ated. So much for pluck and determina tion. As George Eliot says in her “Spanish Gipsy “Nay never falter. No great deed is done By lalterers who ask ter certainty. The greatest gift the hero leaves his race Is to have been a hero." —This is from the Connecticut Cour antoi March 9th, 1773 : “N. B. This day’s paper makes a despicable appear ance upon a half sheet (owing to the want of paper), but it is to be hoped those indebted will receive it gladly, and entertain it kindly, as their neg lect in making payment is the sole cause of its disgrace.” So, there were naughty people a hun dred years ago “who wftuldn’t pay the printer”—alas, for the romance of the “good old days”! —There is no truth in the rumor, current a short time since, that Lord Beaconsfield contemplates writing his own life. The residuum of truth is that, with the assistance of his faithful secretary, Lord Rowton, he has revised and placed in order the enormous and interesting papers that he accumula ted at Hughenden, and that when the time comes the inevitable biographer will find abundant material. —The London Religious Tract So ciety has circulated more than seven ty-seven and a half millions of books and tracts in 130 languages and dia lects. It requires $2,700 every week day to keep it going, but the receipts from sales are so large that it is able to devote all the money received from gifts and collections to grants of its publications. The sales last year also supplied $75,000 to be expended in gifts of books, etc. —lt is stated that Dr. S. F. Smith, author of “My Country, ’tis of Thee,” has been engaged to deliver the poem at the coming anniversary of the al umni of Brown University. Dr. Smith has quite dropped out of sight of late years. He was a member of that fa mous class of ’29 of Harvard, of which Dr. Holmes, who was also a member, has sung so often. The trouble is, there are too many Smith’s in the world. -Mr. Osgood, the Boston publisher,was asked at a dinner by Mr. Aldrich how ten per centum came to be hit upon as the remuneration for authors. Mr. Osgood replied gravely that it repre sented a happy compromise between the broad-minded liberality of pub lishers, and the greed and rapacity of authors. “Broad-minded liberality of publish ers” is good—very good; and the sar casm is heightened by the “replied gravely.” It is the most decorous and saturnine joke of the season. —Gustave Dore is working every night, and sometimes almost all night, on his illustrations of Shakespear’s plays. Some of the drawings are said to be extraordinarily powerful. He thinks that “Coriolanus” is the poet’s masterpiece. —ln an elaborate article in the New York Herald concerning the forthcom ing book of ex-President Jefferson Davis “The Rise and Fall of the Con federate Government,” the following comment is made on the chief points of the work: “The two most important points of the work—for after all the constitu tional argument, which will doubtless be fine, became res adjudicata after a certain fine morning at Appomattox— will be the discussion of the peace movements and the defense of the pol icy of the Davis administration as op posed to the Stephens, Brown and Toombs policy. The first is vastly the most important point. History is gradually settling upon the head of Mr. Davis the burden of a war pro tracted long after he was assured that success was impossible. It is said that Lee assured Mr. Davis, long before the conclusion of the war, that inevitable failure awaited the Confederate arms. It is even said that prior to the first visit of Mr. Blair to Mr. Davis, Gen. Lee had demonstrated to him the im probability of success, and that the in terview between Mr. Davis and Mr. Blair will show this. Mr. Davis sent out his commissioners, however, in structed to listen to nothing but the full recognition of the independence of the Confederate Government. The country, North and South, will look with interest to see how Mr. Davis can clear himself of the suspi cion that he prolonged for months a struggle that was known to be hope less, and that involved the useless sacri fice of a hundred thousand lives, when General Literature—Domestic and Foreign Intelligence—Secular Editorials. ATLANTA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1881. honorable terms of peace and reunion, as will be shown, were awaiting his ac ceptance. This discussion of the special policy of Mr. Davis, and the determ ined opposition of over half the states men who were leagued with him, the incompetent financial system of the Confederacy, the alleged lack of intel ligence in the Cabinet and Congress, which no valor in the field could com pensate, all these will demand some pertinent writing on Mr. Davis’ part, and will stir many an ugly feud.” 1 ABOUT THS BOERS. There are two sides to every ques tion, and such as are largely influenced by sympathy and mere opinion, are apt to be largely colored by our prejudices. The insurrection of the Boers in the Transvaal against British authority is an instance in kind. We are all prone to take sides with the weaker against the stronger, without inquiring very deeply into the real merits of thecause of the weaker party. But the strong have rights that should be respected as well as the weak, and both sides should be heard in the controversy, in order that justice may be done. At present there is a flood-tide of sympathy for the rebellious Boers in Africa; their bravery is extolled, the righteousness of their cause is strenu ously insisted upon, and the despotism and dishonesty of the British govern ment are enlarged upon with an en thusiasm aflame with indignation and unreasoning partisanship. That the Boers, a mixed race, and consequently a degenerated race, are not heroes and patriots of the Winkel ried or De Ruyter and Van Tromp sort, should be acknowledged, if judg ment instead of fancy were allowed to testify, and we could divest ourselves of the influence of that enchantment which distance lends to the view. Their cruelty to the natives, their aggressive and intolerant spirit, are the unamiable qualities which have been frequently dwelled upon by those familiar with their habits. Certainly the interests of humanity would not be subserved by any enlargement of their means to op press the weaker races in the midst of which they have pitched their tents. The “other side” to which we allude is well expressed by a contemporary in the following paragraph, with whose comment we, under the facts stated, must agree. “Freedom, according to the Boer interpretation,” says the Mo bile Register, “means liberty for them selves and slavery for all others, pro tection for their own rights and a de nial of the rights of all others. The first right they claim is the right to hold slaves, and to gain possession of their slaves in the most cruel manner —namely: by attacking the native tribes in their vicinity, slaughtering the adults and carrying off the children in captivity. They allow no liberty of any sort to those who disagree with them. Even Dr. Livingstone barely escaped with his life, and his house and books were destroyed by them, because he would not give assent to some of their doctrines. They have always de manded the right to encroach upon their neighbors, to seize their lands and cattle by force, and by such acts as these have kept the Zulus, and even the white settlers, in a constant state of irritation. “Their incessant inroads upon and quarrels with the natives around them, were calculated to embitter them against all the settlers in South Africa, and kept the English possessions in fear of being involved in a war with the natives the whole time. England, consequently, annexed the Transvaal, and it seems to us, upon the whole, better that it should remain under her authority.” The Camilla Dispatch contains the following notice —would it not be well for leading men in every county to imitate the example of the Mitchell county friends of temperance and mor ality? “On the night of the 18th inst., which is next Friday night, at the Baptist church of this place, Rev. J. L. Under wood will deliver a lecture on “Mitchell County and Whiskey.” All, both white and colored, are invited to attend. We beseech every one who has burning in his or her breast the least spark of love for Mitchell county and the cause of Christianity, to come onton that night and hear what Mr. Underwood has to say. To brave God and fear man, and history sustains the assertion from the earliest ages up to the present, has worked out the destruction, not only of small towns and communities, but of nations; and if we, regardless of the behests of a Supreme Ruler, continue by silence and inactivity to encourage evil, why should we expect anything but a lamentable state of affairs to exist among us, to say nothing of any destiny that may await us.” Rev. J. H. Corley, who accepted a call from the Baptist church at Blakely, will preach on the fourth Sab bath of each month and Saturday be fore. THE NEW HOSPITAL—ONE OF ATLANTA’S MOST BENEFI CENT ENTERPRISES. [Atlanta Post-Appeal] “We have been kindly furnished with the Charity Hospital circular, issued by the Executive Committee of the Ladies’ Hospital Association of Atlan ta. It very forcibly and truthfully sets forth the great need of such an institution in the city, the necessity for aid from abroad by reason of the impoverishment resulting from the war, and the inability of our people to meet the pressing emergency of raising the entire amount of money necessary to provide for the afflicted poor in our midst, both white and colored. “As one of the means for securing the necessary funds, the ladies of the city propose to hold a Fair at an early date, and the benevolent everywhere are appealed to for aid, the contribu tions to be cither in money, or samples of goods and articles from business men at the North, West, and elsewhere. The goods to be forwarded to any of our business merchants in the city, all of whom are warmly enlisted in this charity, and have indorsed the circu lar, and join in the appeal for aid in this good work. “Great confidence is felt that this ap peal will be liberally and promptly re sponded to by the philanthropic and more favored citizens of other sections, and that all who hold business with our merchants will be induced to help us, not only as an act of benevolence, but because of their sympathy with our rising and struggling city, devel oped by their personal acquaintance and business relations with our people. “We note with pleasure that the press of our city, and the ministers of every denomination, have also indorsed this movement, and heartily concur in the absolute necessity for the institution, and approve the method adopted by the Fair Association for raising the necessary means for its accomplish ment. “We are assured that our citizens of all classes are warmly interested in this enterprise, and are ready and anx ious to assist in the good work, and it is but a just compliment to our phi lanthropic friends abroad to suppose that they, too, will extend to it their sympathy and substantial support. Indeed, from what we can see and have heard, the Fair will be one of the grandest and most successful ever held in this city. “We see from the circular that the appeal is for anything, either in cash or goods. Any article will be thank fully received from a two cent toy up to a diamond or the largest manufac tured article. The articles thus con tributed will be disposed of at the Fair by the ladies in a manner that will ad vance the interests of the hospital as well as that of the donors. We wish the enterprise unbounded success, and hope that the ladies will have the pleasure of recording a large list of names upon their roll of benevolent friends.” We reproduce the above with pleas ure, and cordially indorse it. The ob ject of the proposed Fair is a noble one, and appeals strongly to the gener ous feelings of all. The Fair will open April 18, ample time being given to per fect the exhibition in all its details, and to secure contributions from as wide a scope of country as possible. We sug gest to our lady readers everywhere that they consult with one another, in every hamlet, village, town and city, and, in company, prepare any gift for the Fair they may agree upon, and forward the same to Mrs. J. J. Toon. President Hospital Fair Association, Atlanta, Ga. Anything from a cake to a cotton-press, a baby’s doll to a set of furniture, will be acceptable and highly appreciated. The Fair will be under excellent and reliable man agement, and will unquestionably do a vast amount of good in alleviating the want and suffering to be met with in our community. We call upon our generous and benevolent people to heed this appeal for assistance. The Columbus Enquirer-Sun gives the following synopsis of a recent very interesting discourse by Rev. A. B. Campbell, pastor of the First Baptist church of that city, on Education : In speaking of the good werks which commends religion to the respect and confidence of the world, he took occa sion to urge the importance of educa tional enterprises. He affirmed that no man of intelligence doubts the value of education. It gives the possessor an important advantage among men. He who questions the proposition proves himself too stupid to feel the force of an argument, and it would be a waste of labor to reason with him on the sub ject. A denomination engaging in this work encourages its own people to ed tftate their sons and daughters, and in other ways lend their sanction to en lightenment in preference to ignorance. Thus it happens that their sons are advanced to the highest positions of influence and authority, and their daughters move in the highest circles of refinement. By this means also the standard of pulpit intelligence and power is enhanced. One needs only te observe the facts continually coming before his eyes to be persuaded that an educated ministry is a mighty element of denominational prosperity. It is not merely our securing educa tion for our families, but our advocacy of it before the world, that inspires popular respect for our religion. Zeal in this cause is among the good works which, when men see it, will glorify God on account of his deed. It is for this effect on the minds of others that the text enjoins us to pursue good works “before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father,” etc. It has been said of Mercer University that it is “the right arm of the Baptist denomination in Georgiathis not merely because it sends out our sons equipped for a use ful career, but yet more because it pro claims to all men that we are ready to help improve and elevate humanity. If this be true we ought not to be slow to support that worthy institution with our patronage and our donations. Mr. Campbell also alluded to the power of the press in very compliment ary terms, and said the bayonet must fall beneath its influences. Chancellor Crosby of New York, while friendly to the cause of temper ance, is known to be an unbeliever in what is called the doctrine of total ab stinence. The people of Boston,knowing this,invited him to deliver a lecture,and he selected the subject of Temperance. As matter of course, he advocated his own views, and not those of other people; whereupon the righteous in dignation of the good Bostonians, and of nearly all the Northern religious press, was aroused, and many of those who are temperate in drinking because very intemperate in language, and spoke of Dr. Crosby in terms, by no means respectful, polite or kind. There is some disposition to boast of free speech and free thought in that part of our country, but let one say what is not popular, and while it is true that he will not be hanged by the neck un til dead, as the witches were, yet the present case seems to show that he will nevertheless be subjected to great indignities, and that his reputation will be ruined if it is possible for hard words to ruin it. We have nothing to say, at present, for or against the position taken by Dr. Crosby, but we must think, that he is inti tied to the respect which is due to a gentleman, to the confidence due to a Christian, and to the charity which is due to all. We were about to copy an article from Our valued exchange, The Interior, defending Dr. Crosby from some of the attacks that have been made on him, but we find that is as truculent, per haps, as those whom it justly censures, and hence we forbear. Since writing the above we have read an editiorial article on the same subject in the National Baptist. That able journal differs with Dr. Crosby, but dis cusses the subject with calmness, cour tesy and dignity. The Palatka, Fla., Herald says; The new and fast steamer Frederick de Bary arrived at our wharf on Thurs day afternoon. She made the trip from Jacksonville in four hours and a half. We gave a full notice of this el egant boat in our last issue. She is the finest painted boat on the river. The work inside and out is costly, and she has the advantage of all the mod ern improvements. Capt. Shaw, well it is not necessary to eulogise him ; we all know him as one of our very best nav igators, and withal a very clever gentle man, and her Purser Mr. Charley Fen wick, than whom none are more com petent or genial. Mr. W. B. Watson, the manager of the de Bary line was on board on his way to Enterprise. Mr. Watson has certainly shown com mendable zeal and good management in his position. Mr. Watson may be termed the Commodore of the St. Johns. The de Bary line is fortunate in the make-up of good steamers, and number one captains. There is Capt. Joe Smith, of the Rosa, Capt. Shaw, of the Fred, de Bary, Capt. Charley Brock, of the Florence, and Capt. Am azeen, of the Bird. Travelers will find these steamers comfortable, and in ev ery respect pleasant. The Germans, in their usual business like way, and without any eloquent speech-making, have started a society in Philadelphia for the purpose of or ganizing a colony on an extensive scale, as a field for German mechanics, trades men and farmers emigrating to the United States. They are already pro vided with the requisite capital. They propose to buy up a tract of land in some of the Southern States, and when that is accomplished they will have their agents in Germany to provide the requisite facilities, and to give all nec essary information to families desiring to occupy them. Now let our “Commissioner of Im migration” put himself in communica tion with this society, and endeavor to secure the proposed colony for Georgia. ESTABLISHED 1821. GEORGIA NEWS. --Many improvements are being made in Dawson. —Dawson's cotton receipts for this season will approximate 10,000 bales. —Georgia has had twenty-three new mail routes granted this session of Congress. —The Grand Lodge of the Knights of Honor in Georgia will meet in Savannah in annual session in April. —The colored Baptist Georgia Convention will meet in Thomasville on Thursday be fore the fourth Sunday in May. —Elsas, May & Co., contemplate starting a factory at Atlanta with a capacity of 10,000 spindles, and which will employ 000 hands. —The Altamaha river was higher a few days ago than it has been for a long time before. The water was over Ohoopee White Bluff several inches. —The Macon Telegraph and Messenger has passed into the hands of a stock compa ny, and will hereafter be controlled by the Telegraph and Messenger Publishing Com pany. —The State of Georgia keeps about a mil lion dollars in the treasury. AU the Janua ry interest and one thousand dollars of the State's debt was promptly paid at the end of the year. —lt is thought that over 100,000,000 feet of pitch pine timber and lumber wiU be shipped from Darien this year. A little over 85,000,000 feet was shipped last year from that port. —Tne Pullman sleeper, which formerly ran from New York to Jacksonville, Florida, via Charleston and the Charleston and Sa vannah Railroad, will now run from New York to Savannah, via Augusta and the Central Railroad. —The Vindicator says: ‘ That Meriwether is one of the best counties in the State is proved by the fact that the markets now en joying its benefits are most unwilling to be deprived of our patronage, while other cities and towns are assiduously courting our favor." —The Burke County Herald wants a rail road built from Waynesboro to the Savan nah river. It says such a road would tra verse thirty-five miles of good farming country at present without any great facili ties for transportation, and would add ma terially to the trade of that place. —The Chaplain of the Savannah Port So ciety reports that over twenty thousand sailors arrived at that port during the past year. These sailors leave again for every nation that requires the products of this State. From this we can form an idea of the growing independence of the chief sea port of Georgia. —Col. Charles C. Jones, Jr., will deliver an address in Augusta on the evening of the 17th of March, commemorative of the life and services of Sergeant William Jasper. The address will be under the auspices of the Hibernian Society, and the proceeds will be in aid of the monument to be erected in Sa vannah to the memory of Sergeant Jasper. —The decision of U. 8. Judge Woods has been rendered in the case of Tilley vs. the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway. He has refused the injunction asked for restraining the Railroad Commission of Georgia from enforcing its rates upon that road. An appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States lies from this decision, but the matter may be regarded as virtually set tled, and the constitutionality of the Rail way Commission law as finally sustained. —Col. A. Pope, General Passenger and Ticket Agent for the Associated Railways of Virginia and the Carolinas, has arranged a table of very liberal rates of fare for immi grants coming to South Carolina from New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, to every station on the following roads: Wilming ton, Columbia and Augusta, Charlotte, Col umnia and Augusta, Cheraw and Darling ton, Atlanta and Charlotte Air-Line, and the Northeastern Railroad. —A meeting has been held in Cedartown to take steps for the construction of the Ce dartown and Rome Railroad. It was esti mated that the cost of finishing the grade, the trestle-work and putting on ties, will be about $25,000. A committee was appointed to confer with the authorities of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia road, and with citizens of Rome, and ascertain what assistance they could render to the project, when properly under headway. —The Augusta Chronicle and Constitu tionalist says: “Rev. Dr. Curry’s pay as agent of the Peabody fund will be $5,000 per year and expenses. Dr. Curry is a man of very high endowments. As an orator he has few* superiors. In both the Federal and the Confederate Congresses he was prominent. As a preacher he is a light unto the Church; and as a college Professor and President he is a model. The South will take it very kindly that this man, whom it honors, has been given a high and responsible position by a body composed mainiy of Northern men.” . —Since the new passenger rate went into effect, Mr. Wrenn, General Passenger and Ticket Agent of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, has written to the passenger agents of the various lines with which his road acts, asking them either to reduce their rate to three cents per mile or pro rate the excess with his road. To many of these letters re plies have been received, some agreeing to the reduction, while others signify a willing ness to pro rate. So far as heard from, but one road declines to accede to Mr. Wrenn’s request. This, the Louisville and Nashville, still demands four cents per mile. —The Americus Reporter remarks : “At but small expense every farmer can have a fish pond that will furnish abundance of fish for home and plantation use. The rais ing of carp is no experiment. Their excel lence has been abundantly tested for many years in Europe, and the waters of the South ern States have shown a wonderful adapta tion for their culture. The government will be able to stock every pond, and we trust that the planters of Sumter and the adjoin ing counties will not be slow to appreciate the virtues of this fish, whose introduction is hailed with delight in every part of the country, and as a common food upon our table is destined to supplant in good measure the everlasting grease and hog meat.” —lt is the intention to work on the track of the Georgia railroad all the spring and summer. The steel rail is being distributed all along the line, and the work will be con tinued until the iron is laid and the road bed ballasted from beginning to end. Thegran ite is being got at Lithonia, where they have laid a track out to a little mountain, and have machinery in operation grinding up rock to put on the road-bed. When this work is completed the Georgia road will be one of the most substantial and smoothest roads in this country. The present admin istration is alive to its every interest, and in the course of time it will be one of the beet equipped and best paying roads in the Btate. Freight at this time is very heavy, and the passenger trains are crowded every day.