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4 HF.NRY H. TUCKER, Kdltor A LINGUISTIC BLESSING. Bless God for the English language! There are few things for which we have more cause to be grateful than for this glorious heritage from our fathers. Whatever its defects may be, there is no language like it. For exactness and for fulness, for terseness, clearness, beauty and force, it has no equal. What can not be expressed in English cannot be expressed at all. Its very resonance is expressive; as occasion may require now soft and musical, now murmuring and monotonous, now harsh and terri fic. It warbles like a canary, it coos like a dove, it screams like an eagle, it roars like a lion, it bellows like a bull of Baslian. In delicate sentiment it sighs like the zephyr; in rousing ap peal its crash is like that of an ocean billow on a great rock. In its pettish moods it jerks out though' with a snap ; in dallianee it has languishes like a lover; in devotion, its whisper is likJ that of a huge organ which jars the walls and chills the blood; its sublimar peals are like thunder set to music. What a blessing to have the go<pel preached to us in a language of such capabilities! The utterances of other tongues throw but a feeble ray on truth: English flashes like a Drum mond-light. The grand doctrines of the New Testament find grand expres sions in a tongue which it took the hu man race more than five thousand years to produce, and which is the grandest thing it ever did produce. The gospel in English and the gospel, in French are the same in substance, but not the same in effect upon the human under standing or on human feeling. All peoples speak a language which is the product of their own genius, combined with the force of surround ing circumstances. Our ancestors, equal to any in genius, were aided by circumstances peculiarly adapted to develop a tongue of power. Two mighty streams with their tributaries rushed together, and now in one vol ume roll in in majesty together. It drained a continent; the icy re gions of Northern Europe, the milder zone of the Mediterranean shores, and the regions of the Euxine and the Caspian were all laid under tribute. There has never been such a combina tion of intellectual forces, such a result of genius, not added to genius, but of genius multiplied by genius. In the strife of tongues the weaker elements of all disappeared, and in the survival of the fittest, we have none but the immortal words that hold their own by the right of conquest. Admit all that can be said against our tongue,—it can afford to make admissions—and after all, it has no rival. Admit that it has no grammar, and that it is em pirical and arbitrary; yet there is a higher law, indefinable perhaps by us, from whose operation springs its ver satility, its beauty and its force. The grammar-bound languages are like the waters of a canal, which flow tame ly between walls built by the engineer; but English meanders wantonly like a brook, or dashes from crag to crag like a mountain torrent, or plunges head long like Niagara, or gehtly winding in vast curves rolls on like a flood. Law controls it, as it does everything; but not the mere law of linguistic me chanism. Men unaided could never have produced it; the providence of God brought elements together from which it is the resultant. The sun never sets on its domain ; on the sea it is supreme, the islands one by one surrender; it has captured continents, Occident and orient; and is extending its sceptre over the world. No tongue ever spoken by man has done so much to remedy the disaster at Babel. What a future lies before it! What will it not have accomplished in a few more centuries! It is the young est of the civilized languages—the ba- by-language; it is but just out of its cradle, but with what energy it has as serted itself! How it has outstripped the spoken tongues that wereo'd when it was born! What calamity more appaling could befal the English-speaking people, than to be deprived of their language, and be forced to adopt in its stead the speech of rude barbarians! What could we do with a wretched vocabula ry of a few hundred gutturals? To say nothing of the language of science, admitting that we could do without such words as angle, arc, circle, degree, sine, and co sine, abstract, concrete, affinity,objective, subjective, analysis,per ception, genus and species, and others of like character, how could we live without the language of the affections, without such words as meekness, gen tleness, goodness, forgiveness, forbear ance, patience, purity, generosity, love f What would become of our prayers if we had no such words as grace, mercy, holiness f Above all howcould we endure life with no word answering to the word God J How hard it must be to convey to the heathen mind, either the senti ment of the Gospel, or its doctrines or its morals, when their language affords no medium of communication. If forced ourselves to speak such a lan guage, oar minds, in a few generations, would shrink to its wretched dimen- THE CHRISTIAN INDEX AND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST: THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 1881. sions, and we should degenerate into savages. On th? other hand what more sub lime benefaction could be conferred on a miserable barbaric race, than to cut out its foul and contemptible tongue, and to substitute in its place for all time, the copious, expressive language of Webster and Worcester, in which Bunyan wrote, and Shakespeare, and Milton, and Macaulay, and in which our Bible is written! Just this bene faction has been conferred by the prov dence of God on six milliomi of the rudest tribes on the Western coast of Africa. Tme, they were transported across the seas, but they came to a healthier clime. They were not de prived of liberty, for liberty they never had. They merely changed masters, taking civilized for uncivilized. And now they have become joint-heirs with us of the English language, with all its wealth, and beauty and refinement, and developing power; joint-heirs too of all the treasures, priceless and matchless, embodied in its literature. Even if they had been reduced to bondage for this purpose, would they not have received infinitely more in the blessing, than the price they paid 4or it? It was tl.e wrath of man that enslaved them in the first place; it was the cupidity of New England that brought them to our shores, and it fell to the lot of their late masters, to give them the English language, and with it, (God be praised), the religion of Jesus! Let no one be alarmed ; we are not makingan argument in favor of slavery, we are simply gazing at a gigantic fact. Whatever may have been the right or the wrong of slavery, whatever may have been the merit or the demerit of any who were connected with it—di rectly or otherwise —the fact is that those who would have been jabbering the gibberish of savages in Africa with its belittling and soul-destroying influ ence, are the inheritors of the grandest language ever spoken by human be ings, with all that that implies. On one occasion, a man who had been a life-long opponent of slavery, when addressing an American audi ence, spoke of some of the blessings which God had developed out of the great evil, and he was received with storms of indignation. It-would have been well for that maddened audience to remember that touching passage in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis, where the same argument was used with melting power, when Joseph said to his brethren, ‘‘Now, therefore, be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life; and God did send me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliv erance ; so, now, it was not you that sent me hither, but God.” The gentle Joseph, great as he was gentle, mag nanimous as he was tender, looked not at the occasion of his bondage, but at the outcome of it. After all, it was only to save life that he was sent, and the sore bondage of a whole people was the consequence of it; but here a na tion has been regenerated, transformed from brutal savages into civilized, christianized, English-speaking men. Admit the whole catalogue of horrors, real or unreal, that have been alleged, admit that they were ten times worse than they are said to have been, and it still remains true, that God is able to bring good out of evil, and to make the wrath of man to praise him. Thurlow Weed makes it a point to read all of Dickens’ works through every year, and has read them through some twenty or thirty times. What a reproof this fact conveys to professed Christians, who do not read the Scriptures through regularly, though these are so much less in bulk, so much grander in matter —the only word of God to man—the charter of salvation —the key to the kingdom of heaven? Suppose the churches should institute a strict search into this matter, and ex clude from their membership all per sons who are not habitual Bible read ers ; would they not gain, and gain greatly by losing them? Have you changed your place of residence recently? Or, are you about to change it? Then, remember, as the United Presbyterian tells us, that “a man who moves into a new neighbor hoot! is going there as a missionary: he is to carry the Gospel with him.” You realize, when ministers make these changes, that God sends them to wit ness for him in new pulpits. Do not forget in your case that God is simply sending you to witness for him at new firesides. Your commission is as true, as solemn and as impossible of escape as theirs. “Every disciple must be a discipler." The distinguished German geogra phers, Herren Behm and Wagner, in the recent edition of their work, give Africa a population of 205,679,000. Now, as the instruments for the diffu sion of the gospel among this mighty host must be drawn largely from the colored race in our country, the impor tance of communicating to this race the double light of education and a pure Christian faith, assumes propor tions which no mind can fully grasp. Let us hope that Baptists North and South are awaking to a sense of their obligation and their opportunity in thia matter. DEATH 01 THE CZAR. On Bunday afternoon, the 18th day of March, Alexander 11., Emperor of Russia, was assassinated intone of the streets of St. Petersburg. He was rid ing in a closed carriage, accompanied by the Grand Duke Michael, and with a small escort, when some one in the crowd threw a bomb, which exploded near the carriage, and destroyed the back part of it, but failed to injure its occu pants. These stepped out, when imme diately, another bomb was thrown by another person, the first assailant hav ing been already arrested. The second bomb exploded at the Czar's feet, shat tering both his legs, and almost tearing one from his body. He died in one hour and a half, having uttered only one word after he was struck —the name of the Czarowitz. f Os course, the news was borne on the wings of lightning to all parts of the civilized world. Governmental authori ties in all countries have sent the usual messages of condolence. On the other hand, public meetings have been held by those who sympathize with the Ni hilists, and resolutions have been passed expressive of gratification at the death of a despot. The new Czar, Alexander 111, son of the late Emperor, became immediately the Autocrat of all the Russias. For this reason, it has been said that the Nihilists made a blunder; they in tended to rid the country of a tyrant, and succeeded ouly in killing a man. The truth is, they killed a man, and gave a blow to despotism. The reign of Alexander II has been comparatively mild, and has been marked by several liberal features. Only a few years ago he emancipated twenty-five million serfs, and thus made freemen of that number of slaves. In fact, he stands out prominently as by far the best of all the Romanoffs, and was really a benefactor to his people. Still, the gov ernment was autocratic and arbitrary; the spirit of modern times had reached not the masses, it is true, but enough of the people to make them a great power, and they became restive and bent on change. They perhaps bad no malice against the man, but they were determined to be rid of the Czar. Have they succeeded? Not yet. The new administration may take the hint, and so relax its rigid rule as to satisfy the people. If so, the “Czar” is disposed of; if not, we may look for another assassination, or for some form of revolution. The end may, or may not be, long coming; but it is only a question of time. Free government will eventually be established, and it ought to be. The malcontents are de termined, and their determination will spread to the masses as light and knowledge increase. An intelligent people cannot be held by arbitrary rule. The men who threw these bombs knew that they forfeited their lives, and yet walked to certain deaj£. If the second bomb had not accomplished its object, doubtless a third would have been thrown, and a fourth, and a fifth. The Emperor’s time had come. Can the course of the assassins be justified? We have never been able to frame an argument which justifies the killing of any human being, except un der the mandate of law. The right of revolution seems to be almost univer sally admitted, and, at any rate, it is sure, on certain occasions, to be put in practice, but to our mind, the argu ment, which sustains it has never been convincing. Moral science must be strained very hard to afford such an argument, and it is needless to say that the spirit of the New Testament is wholly on the other side. Yet, this spirit must be the rule of a Christian's life. With a good man, the settlement of this question is more a matter of theory than of practice. Such things generally settle themselves, or rather,are settled by the Providence of God. The Lord casts down the wicked with the hand of the wicked, and makes transgressors the antidotes of each other. We have no sympathy with despotism, and none with murder; but our confidence is firm, that God will make the wrath of : man to praise him, and that, when his purposes are accomplished, the remain- ' der of wrath he will restrain. The new Czar is thirty-six years old, and was married about fifteen years ago, to Maria Dagmar, daughter of the King of Denmark, and sister to the Princess of Wales, who is destined to be the Queen Consort of England. The sister of the present Czar is wife of a younger brother of the Prince of Wales. Thus the future King of England and the present Czar are by marriage doubly related. Morals and Mathematics.—Math ematics is a measure of nothing but quantity, and consequently is not ap plicable to questions of morals; still sometimes it may throw a side-light on the moral condition of a people, and afford some service in making an estimate of that condition. The sta tistical tables, which show the number of crimes in proportion to population, illustrate what we mean. We have recently amused ourselves with a little calculation based on the following facts. The area of Atlanta is comprised within a circle, whare circumference (disregarding fractions) may be stated at nine miles. There are twelve po licemen on duty at a time, and these I suffice to keep as good order probably as can be found in almost any city. Now suppose these twelve policemen to be distributed over this surface so as to be equidistant from each other, what area would each one have to guard, and what would be the distance of each man from his neighbor? The circle above mentioned contains 7.06 square miles; hence, each police man has to patrol 7-12 of a square mile, (leaving off the .06), a space equiva lent to a square having 1844 yards for each side. To walk around this square he must travel a little more than three miles, and if each were to stand in the centre of his square, he would be 1344 yards from his nearest neighbors. If any one thinks that he can divide this circle into squares, so as to give to each policeman in practice what we have given him in theory, he is wel come to try. We merely wish to show, that our people are generally law-abiding, and that a very small police force is all that is necessary to keep them quiet and orderly. The same conclusion may be reached in a different way. The population of Atlanta by the late census, is something less than 35,000; but this is more technical than real, for it includes only those within the corporate limits. Our last city Direc tory shows a population of in cluding the immediate suburbs, all whose inhabitants are practically citi zens of Atlanta. Twelve policemen suffice for the whole; that is, one police man for every 3.622 inhabitants. We may say in round numbers, that it takes very little more than the four thousandth part of a policeman to keep each one of us in order. A friend writes us that in his neigh borhood certain Methodist ministers have declared that it was impossible for John to have immersed any one in the river Jordan, as the water was only eighteen inches deep; and to refute this we are requested to give a des cription of the river Jordan. We beg to be excused ; but suggest to our friend that he would do well to refer the min isters who have made this statement to Bishop Pierce, who, we are sure will, in the first place, give them proper in formation as to the facts in the case, and will then, in his affectionate but forcible way, reprove them for stating as a fact that which they ought to have known is not a fact. The erring min isters themselves are weak brethren, and must be borne with, by their intel ligent hearers, patiently. Those who “mind the things of the Spirit” find occasion of profound grief in the low standard of Christian char acter nowadays. If any of our readers are slightly affected by it, we ask them to weigh thoughtfully the opinion of the Christian Statesman, that “the out look over the evangelical churches of America to-day is more painful than at any time during the last fifty years.” Is this true? Does Dr. R. G. Strong overstate the matter, when he speaks of “the total lack of the power of vital godliness in the lives of most professing Christians?” But the subject should not be left in this indefinite form; w T e should make personal application of it. There can be no general delinquency except as the aggregate of individual delinquencies. Let each, then, lift the standard higher in his own life: this is the direct and the only path to collec tive improvement. The Vicar of Rochdale, England, said,not long ago: “When I am dead, when some of you are dead, others may live to see the day when Unitarian ism will be the acknowledged religion of the country.” If this evil prophecy is to obtain fulfilment, we count those the happier who shall die before that day comes, and shall not see it. But the prophecy can not be fulfilled. The doubts of which it is born are traitors to the power of the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. The deity of Christ was never so W’idely, intelligently and unal terably recognized as now. Carlyle once said : “At bottom this is the wish and prayer of all human hearts—Give me a leader;” and beyond every prece dent of-past times, the noblest spirits of the age are crying for the leader ship of Christ as “God manifest in the flesh.” - -One of the oldest subscribers and most ardent friends of The Christian Index is our venerable brother James Roberts, of Dalton, Ga. In a recent letter, renewing his subscription, and directing The Index to be sent to a dear relative at his expense, he says: “I do not wish her to be without it, as I sometimes get one paper that I would not be without for two dollars.” The i handwriting is remarkably clear and I firm, although he says: "I will close my long letter by telling you that if I live to see the 26th day of this month (March) I will be 85 years old. I transact all my own business and do all my own writing." Many thanks to our beloved and venerable friend and brother. Barnsville Gazette: Rev. J. H. Weav er tendered his resignation of the pas torate of. Sardis Baptist church, on Bunday the 6th instant. His resig nation was accepted, and on the follow ing Tuesday Mr. Weaver left Barnesville for the up-country. He has many friends here who regret his departure and wish him health and prosperity wherever he may go. —The annual Sunday-school con vention of the Stone Mountain Baptist Association will meet in Atlanta on the Ist of April. Some months ago, perhaps a year or more, there was a great jubilation among the religious papers when the Supreme Court of the United States decided that the law against polygamy passed some eighteen years ago, is con stitutional. The Index did not join in the jubilation, but declared, 1, that the law could not be enforced. 2. That it ought not to be. The facts now show that in our first proposition we were correct. The law is an utter fail ure. The Mormons laugh at it, defy it, and trample on it. It does not op erate even as a check to the evil, and is, as though it were not. The truth of our second proposition would be just as paipable, if the law were actually enforced. The amount of wretchedness and misery entailed by it. on thousands of innocent children, would be incal culable. We repeat now what we said then, the law ought to be repealed, and another ought to be passed which would work injustice to none, and which it would be practicable to en force ; and then it ought to be enforced. Speaking on this subject the New York Independent says: “We believe that the true remedy consists in dispossessing the population of Utah of the right of self-government, as a political organization, and in pla cing the entire government of the ter ritory in the hands of a commission, civil or millitary, to be appointed by the President, with the advice and con sent of the Senate, which commission should be regulated by careful provis ions of law, and charged with the duty of prosecuting and punishing all poly gamous offenders against the law, and at the same time sustained by a force (military, if necessary) sufficient to carry the law into effect against all opposition. “We are aware that this is a very sharp and incisive mode of doing the work, and would not reccommend it if milder methods contained any promise of cure. We, however, see no prospect of exterminating polygamy so long as Mormons bear rule in Utah. Society must be reconstructed there to the very foundation, and this cannot be done by any forces that exist in the territory itself. The Government of the United States must lay its strong hand upon that territory, and ordain the destruction of polygamy at all hazards, and use the means that will accomplish the result.” This is sharp and incisive certainly; but we may come to it at last, but the vigorous enforcement of a well framed law ought to be tried before we re sort to such extreme measures. We have never yet had a good law on the subject. GEORGIA BAPTIST NEWS. The Philadelphia Baptist church, Tatnall county, are building a new house of worship. The Louisville Nows and Farmer says: Mr. Boykin, Sunday-school Evan gelist for the Baptist denomination of Georgia is doing a good work. He seems peculiarly fitted for this extreme ly important position. He lectured here on Sabbath night last to a good congregation among which there were many parents and children. May the Lord bless his work wherever he may go- Griffin News: The Trustees of the Peabody Educational Fund have pre sented to Eev. Dr. J. H. DeVotie, of this city, a Peabody medal, in appreci ation of his deep interest in the cause of public education, and in recognition of his influence in inaugurating Public Schools in Columbus, Ga. The testimonial is a large, heavy bronze medalion, very handsome. Upon one side is the following inscription : Upon the first circle, “Education—A Debt due from the Present to Future Generations.” Just under that, “The Trustees of the Peabody Educational Fund.” On the open face, in the centre, “Presented to Dr. J. H. DeVotie, first President of the Public School of Col umbus, Georgia. Elected March 12, 1867.” Under that “Proverbs 8, 11.” Upon the obverse side is a medalion bust of George Peabody, surrounded by the inscription, “George Peabody, born 18th Feb. 1795; died Ist Nov. 1869.” The medal thus conferred is quite a distinguished honor for our esteemed fellow-citizen, but richly merited. The editor of the Sandersville Her ald says: We had the pleasure of wor shipping with the Baptist church at Davisboro, on last Sabbath. We have rarely, if ever, seen a congregation and membership, that seemed to cherish a higher regard or more sincere affection for a pastor, than is cherished by this excellent church, and intelligent con gregation,for their honored and beloved pastor, and that the able Christian minister, Rev. W. L. Kilpatrick. His amiable presence will of itself do much toward drawing out a good congrega tion. Rev. T. C. Boykin, the inde fatigable and efficient Sunday-school agent, lectured the school and preached to the gratification and edification of the people. We have recently learned that on the first Sunday in December last our brother E. Culpeper was ordained to the work of the Gospel ministry by a presbytery consisting of brethren E. S. Harris and J. H. Cline on the call of Friendship church, Oakland, of which church brother Culpeper was a licent ian and a member. A sermon, the subject of which was “Obedience better than Sacrifice,” was preached by Bro. Cline, who also made the ordaining prayer. The examination of the can didate, on his Christian experience, call to the ministry and views of Chris tian doctrine, was made by Bro. Harris and was highly satisfactory. Bro. Harris also delivered the charge to the church and to the candidate. Dr. Carson’s Essay •. —A card from the Author.—A brother whom I re gard as “Primus inter pares, writes me: “You do not attempt to explain how in any event, or in any way, God can ordain in His purpose and bring to passby His providence, the wicked actions of wicked men without Himself being responsible.” Certainly not. God responsible? To whom? This I think would trans cend the proper limitof human reason ing. But I have attempted to show, both from Scripture and reason: 1. That God does govern all mem Have I succeeded or failed? 2. 1 have attempted to give a com plete list of possible definitions of free agency. If there be another, please give it. 3. I have attempted to show that whichever of these we adopt, God’s government over us not only does not exclude it, but necessarily includes it. I beg any one who may honor the book with a criticism, to observe just what I have attempted. If those points are established, is it not a recon ciliation of what is known as Calvin ism and Arminiaoism. Allendale, S. Or, W. B. Carson. SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVEN TION COLUMBUS, MISS, MAT STB, 1881. All who expect to attend the con vention are earnestly requested to for ward their names and post-office address to the Committee at once. The citizens of Columbus will open their hearts and homes to our guests on that occasion, but it will be impos sible to avoid confusion and consequent discomfort unless all comply with these requests. Do not embarrass the Committee by sending word to your friends here that you are coming to their homes; write us that you desire to be assigned to such friends and we will comply with your wishes if possible. Those who wish to stop at hotels and prefer to pay at a reduced rate, will be accommodated on conferring with the Committee; no reduction can be had except through this channel. Cards of assignment and replies to applica tions will be sent out about April 15th. Application has been made for Ex cursion Rates by rail etc. to Columbus. Full particulars will be given through the press as soon as possible. Address : H. W. Battle, Box 51, Columbus, Miss. Children’s Day.—Mr. V. T. Barn well, Chorister of the Georgia State Sunday School Association, has issued a sixteen page pamphlet containing programme, music, and responsive readings for the celebration of “Chil dren’s Day,” May 7th, 1881—author ized and adopted by the Executive Committee of the Association. Coun ty Sunday School Associations, as well asrindividual Schools, Superintendents, and Choristers, are requested to obtain a full supply at once, in order that am ple time be allowed for rehearsal and other preparations for the Celebration. Remit by postal order or registered letter, $1 50 per hundred copies; 32 cents extra per hundred if to be sent by mail. Address the book stores, or V. T. Barnwell, Atlanta, Ga. GEORGIA BAPTIST CONVENTION. Delegates and visitors, who will an tend the Convention to be held it- Athens, commencing the 21st of April next, are respectfully requested to noti fy the Committee of Arrangements, or Rev. C. D. Campbell, at an early day, and give their post-office address. J. S. Hamilton; Asa M. Jackson; J. M. Herrington; W. B. Jackson; 8. C. Dobbs; Williams Rutherford, Com mittee. —The United Presbyterian (Pitts burgh ) says: They have old-fashion ed notions about decency at Atlanta, Georgia, apparently. Recently the head of a band of strolling players was arrested and fined one hundred dollars for “using vulgar language and sing ing indecent songs.” It would be well if the magistrates in Northern cities imitated this example. —Prof. C. H. Toy,a former Profes sor in the Southern Baptist Theologi cal Seminary, and the author of the notes on the International Lessons which occasioned so much comment as they appeared in the 8. S. Times two years ago, has been called to the professorship of Hebrew in Harvard College. “I can but wish that every Baptist family in the land would take and read The Christian Index, the most wel come visitor to my family. My father took it as long as he lived, and I look upon a bound volume of The Colum bian Star, as one of the most sacred relics left in his library. As old as it is, I look upon it as a compendium of valuable religious thought.”— Extract from a letter from Bro. W. B. Gilbert, Horn’s Cross Roads, Miller county, Ga.