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VOL. 59.
Table of Contents.
First Page—Alabama Department: The
First Fruits ; State News; The Religious
Press.
Second Page—Correspondence: Kingdom of
God and Churches of God—l. H. Goss;
The Lord’s Prayer and that of Jabez—H.
R. Bernard ; The State Convention ; Remi
niscences or Mercer, No. II; Sketches of
Foreign Countries—France. The Sunday-
School—Lesson for April 24, “Covetous
ness.” Missionary Department.
Third Page—Children’s Corner: Bible Ex
plorations ; Correspondence; A Little
Boy’s Letter to Jesus—poetry ; Dreaming
and Doing.
Fourth Page—Editorials: The Logarithmic
Promise; Queries; Facts and Figures;
Georgia Baptist News.
Fifth Page—Secular Editorials : News Para
graphs : The Trans Atlantic Tide; Jewett
G. DeVotie; Literary Notes and Com
ments; The Poet—poetry—Charles W.
Hubner; Georgia News.
Sixth Page—The Homehold: Tiue to His
Trust—poetry; Simplicity in Dress; “Don’t
Take My Crown,” etc. Obituaries.
Seventh Page—The Farmer’s Index: The
Weather and the Fruit; The Farmer’s
Policy ; English Sparrows, etc.
Eighth Page—Florida Department: Fancies,
Facts and Figures, ia Florida and Else
' where; Notes from the Field; Rev. Daniel
TJdwards; State Board Meetings—An
nouncements and Requests, etc.
Alabama Department.
BY SAMUEL HENDERSON.
THE FIRST FRUITS.
The first fruits of our increase are
generally understood to be the smallest
fraction of a bounty, the mere precur
sors of an abundant harvest. But in
God’s method of grace, this order of
things is reversed. The greatest gifts
precede all other gifts. “Now is Christ
risen from the dead and become the
first fruits of them that slept.” “Christ
the first fruits, afterward they that
are his at his coming.” Thinking
over this matter recently, we concluded
there was something in it worthy of
consideration.
Among many others, we quote two
passages which involve this thought in
all its fullness. “He that spared not
his own Son, but delivered him up for
us all, how much more will he with
him freely give us all things.” “If
when we were enemies, we were recon
ciled unto God by the death of his
Son; much more, being reconciled, we
shall be saved by his life.” The first
passage indicates that Christ is the
grandest gift Almightiness ever con
ferred upon man, and that having
"not spared his own Son,” no agency
or influence will ever be wanting to
make good that gift for all the purpos
es of the Divine giver. In addition to
this, the second passage shows, that the
regeneration of the soul, the “being
reconciled to God by the death of his
Son,” implies the forth-putting of. a’l
subsequent powers essential to its final
salvation. In both cases, the greater
includes the less, so that when the
greater has been achieved, it becomes
a guarantee that the less shall not be
wanting.
We suppose Isaiah refers remotely,
if not primarily, to the mission of
Christ to our world, in the well-known
words, “And I looked, and there was
none to help; and I wondered that
there was none to uphold; therefore
mine own arm brought salvation unto
me; and my fury, it upheld me.” It
is as if the great God, the Father of
all, would represent himself to us as
having his compassion stirred at the
sight of our wretchedness, as scanning
his resources in search of some remedy
for us, looking over the shining ranks
of angels, arch-angels, principalities,
and powers, and seeing no in
tercessor, none that could meet the
stern demands of justice, none that
could bear the mighty load of human
guilt, “wondered” what else to do,when
fixing his eye upon his only Son, the
dearest treasure of all, and pointing
Him to our world of sin and death,
bade him fly to our rescue, this Son
joyfully responding, “Lo, I come, in the
volume of the Book it is written of me,
I delight to do thy will, 0 God!” 0,
what matchless love, what condescend
ing grace! Let us say with due rever
ence and adoring wonder, Almightiness
itself could have done nothing more.
The Father has exhausted himself! It
is the last and highest effort of which
divine compassion itself is capable. To
look lor any thing greater is to look
SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST.
of Alabama.
for that which Omnipotence cannot
do; for has He not said, “What more
could I have done'fjr my vineyard
that I have not done!” He is “God
manifest in the flesh . . the full
ness of the Godhead dwelft in him
bodily ... in him are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
All the terms employed in Scripture to
indicate the priceless character of this
divine gift, are such as leave nothing
greater behind for the infinite Jehovah
to do. Now, the point of the Apostolic
argument is, that since divine philanth
ropy has bestowed the greatest, much
more will all subsiduary gifts be forth
coming to compass all the ends and
aims of the Father who “so loved us.”
It is the a fortiori method of reasoning,
reasoning, we mean, from the greater
to the less—the most conclusive form
in which logic can construct an argu
ment.
And then, to give additional emphasis to
the argument, the Apostle avers that
this greatest gift, Jesus Christ, has ex
hausted his powers on the problem
of redemption—powers which once
put forth can never be repeated. His
suffering and death are passed. The
fiery gulf between God and a rebellious
world has been bridged—the greatest
obstacle to the advent of mercy has
been overcome—justice has been ap
peased, and all the perfections of God
head unite in the offers of mercy to
every penitent believer. Sin unsheathed
the sword of divine justice against us
—that sword found its full indemnity
in the y r ecious blood of Christ, and
thus we have access to God through
his Son. And now the argument re
curs, will that unbounded love that con
ceived the plan, and made so costly a
sacrifice, stint itself in any of those
willing generosities, withhold any of
those powers, or influences, necessary
to crown that plan with success? Will
not the Father make good his covenant
with his Son, “He shall see of the tra
vail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.”
And then, in the individual salvation
of every believer, we all must know
that the very first act of divine grace
in our reconciliation with God is the
greatest—the greatest at least that can
occur in this our earthy pilgrimage.
Like the bones in the valley of vision,
God finds us “dead in trespasses and
in sinsand it takes the same power
that called a dead Lazarus back to life
to speak the life-giving word to souls
sepultured in sin and death. The
power that can do this, can do any
thing. The power that does this will
never allow the final issue of a work so
stupendous to be imperiled by any of
the possibilities of counter agencies
whether of men or devils. The Cap
tain of our salvation has undertaken
to lead many sons into glory, and the
Father has put “all power in heaven
and earth into his hands,” on purpose
that “He shall not fail nor be discour
aged, till he have set judgment in the
earth,” till “the isles shall wait for his
law,” nay, till all the purposes con
templated in his Mediatorial dispensa
tion shall have been answered. Now,
says our Apostle, “If when we were en
emies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of his Son, much more being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
If a death in trespasses and sins, the
most direful calamity that iniquity
can visit upon the human soul short
of perdition, interposed no impassable
barrier to divine grace in effecting our
salvation, much more,that barrier being
passed, is that salvation assured. The
omnipotence of grace that overcomes
that obstacle, will much more abound
in removing all others of less magni
tude. 80 that where sin abounds, grace
much more abounds.
Two things result from this argu
ment of the Apostle: 1. It assures suc
cess to the intercession work of our
Mediator. His humiliation, sufferings,
and death, are all past, the travail of
his soul is over, Gethesemane and Cal
vary no longer darken his pathway;
and now nothing remains but to plead
the compensation he paid down when
he “made his soul an offering for sin,”
and to intercede for all saints accord
ing to the will of God. If He “spared
not his own Son,” in that last expiring
agony, will he not hear him now that
he has passed that baptism of woe? “I
know,” says the adored Redeemer,
“that thou always hearest me.”
2. The argument of our Apostle
guarantees the salvation of every re-
THE FRANKLIN STEAM PRINTING HOUSE.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1881.
generated soul beyond all contingency.
Regeneration overcomes the greatest
obstacle—the less will more certainly
yield to all conquering grace. Christ
will not be twitted in that day by his
great adversary, that he “began to build
and was not able to finish.” A work
thus begun;—began by agencies the
most potent, the word and Spirit of
God—a work that overcomes at the
very commencement the greatest ob
stacles that ever can arise—will surely
be carried on till the day of Jesus
Christ. To use a military phrase often
occuring in Scripture, the citadel, the
heart, once stormed and subdued by
the forces of Immanuel, much more
will all the outposts be reduced to the
obedience of the faith. What comfort
in the assurance, “much more shall we
be saved by his life,” when once our
enmity is slain by his death.
Savannah and Memphis Railroad.
—This road was completed some two
or three years ago to Good Water, and
we understand the new proprietors
are arranging to put it through to
Childersburg this year, as most of the
grading has been long since done to
that point. Work will begin on it in
a week, so we hear. When this road
is completed we shall be greatly bene
fited. The nearest point from our
home, “Beech Grove,” to any railroad
at present is ten miles, the rockiest,
hilliest, rootiest, gulliest road in this or
any other county. And we have to
pass over it on an average of three or
four times every month. When the
new road is built Childersburg, we
shall'be in five or six miles of one of
its depots, and a capital road to travel
to it. So, reader, you see we are soon
likely to be “fixed up.” These terrible
jaunts over rough roads would try the
patience of better men than we are.
And moreover, the fatigue is sometimes
well nigh intolerable. The “coal beds”
of Alabama seem to be the objective
point aimed at by the proprietors of
the road, either in St. Clair or Jefferson
county, or both. It will be one of the
most important roads of the kind in
the South, connecting our Southern
seaport cities with inexhaustible coal
mines, to say nothing of iron, marble,
etc.
Selma has one large factory in suc
cessful operation. This factory has
127 looms, 4,584 spindles, and uses
annually about 1,500 bales of cotton,
purchased in Selma. The operatives
number 120, mostly women and chil
dren, taken from Selma and vicinity.
The products of this factory are sheet
ing, shirting and drilling, of which
some 2,000,000 yards are made annu
ally.
The Baccalaureate Sermon of the
University at Tuscaloosa, is to be
preached by the Rt. Rev. Samuel
Smith Harris, Bishop of Michigan. He
is well known in Alabama, where he
has taught school, practiced law and
preached.
—James Redpath, of the New York
Tribune, who has been recently in Ire
land, lectured in Selma, April 4th,
on “Boycotting” and other kindred
topics.
The True Reformers, a colored or
ganization of Evergreen, have purchas
ed a lot, and will erect thereon a two
story building for educational pur
poses.
The Profane Swearing Act, as amen
ded, includes persons who are suffi
ciently near a dwelling for the profane
1 inguage to be heard by the family.
The Methodists of the State will es
tablish a paper at Birmingham shortly.
Rev. A. S. Andrews, of Opelika, has
been appointed editor.
Many farmers apprehend damage to
corn planted previous to the frosts, and
the cotton in process of germinating
was also badly injured.
—Dr. S. A. Goodwin, of Union
Springs, is making an effort to raise
$2,000 with which to repair the Bap
tist church at that place.
Mr. A. Hubbard, of Prattville, has a
spelling book which has belonged to
his family since before the Revolutiona
ry war.
—At Ozark a man was fined $75 and
sent to jail, recently, for swearing in
the presence of ladies.
STATE NEWS.
considerable sickness in
Huntsville.
—An ice factory is in course of erec
tion in Birmingham.
The Wilcox Fair will commence
Thursday, November 1 st. *
Cattle are dying in DeKalb county
from an unknown disease.
T'hem are about sixty, prisoners in
the Montgomery county jail.
--Fig trees were killed in Perry coun
ty by the recent cold weather.
—The Baptist ladies in Tuskegee
raised sllO by their recent supper.
The- Clement attachment in Tus
cumbia is in successful operation.
A cotton-seed oil mill will, before
long, be established at Huntsville.
The Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows
will meet in Birmingham May 10th.
The Press Association will meet at
Blount Springs, instead of Tuscumbia.
—The late Legislature has made it a
misdemeanor to hunt or fish on Sun
day.
The road laws of the State are to be
codified and published in pamphlet
form.
• The citizens of Guntersville are dis
cussing the question of a railroad to
that place.
/--About three hundred mortgages have
been recorded in Lauderdale county
during the present year.
Columbia Enterprise has
qjWiged hands, having been purchased
byClessrs. Williams & Gilliam.
The Religious Press.
There is a warning in the following
which all parents should heed. In ad
dition to the instance given below, we
saw in the New York exchanges the
statement that a little girl of ten years
died of concussion of the brain, caused
by excessive jumping of the rope dur
ing recess at school:
“Dr. Peck, of the Surgical Institute, In
dianapolis, recently performed a surgical
operation on the reg of a young girl sent
there for treatment. The bones of both her
legs will have to be partially removed, and
the little sufferer will have to submit to
painful operations. The cause of her affecs
tion is from jumping the rope, a pastime en ■
gaged in generally by young girls, resulting
in necrosis or death of the bone. The doctor
stated to a reporter that similar cases were
constantly occurring from the same cause,
but more frequently resulting in necrosis of
the spine, and that not a month passes but
more or less cases of this character come to
the Institute for treatment. He says that
rope-jumping produces continuous concus
sions on the joints, which impinge upon the
bone, causing at the first stage periostitis,
and finally resulting in the death of the
bone. He thinks that parents and teachers
should be warned of this dangerous sport,
and eradicate it entirely from the play
grounds of children, as it is ruinous in its
effects, and is the prime cause of more crip
ples among the female portion of the com •
munity than probably any one cause. He
also ridded that, during the practice of his
profession, deaths had been occurring, com
ing under his observation, which were the
result of this pernicious pastime. In con
clusion he said: ‘I would warn children
against rope-jumping, and would advise
parents and teachers to prohibit it under all
circumstances.’ ”
When a man known to be guilty of crime
is turned loose upon society without pun
ishment, a blow is struck at the very foun
dation of order. We need judges now as
clear-headed as John Marshall and as brave
as Andrew Jackson.
We think you are on the wrong line
this time Bro. Christian Advocate. Our
judges are clear-headed enough and
honest enough, and brave enough. So
far as we know or believe, our judiciary
is all that could be desired. The chief
trouble is with the jurors who find
false verdicts in spite of the charge of
the Court. Who are these jurors?
They are our fellow citizens. These
should be taught what the duty of a ju
ror is; and above all they must be
taught the sanctity of an oath. When
this is done, not many criminals will
escape j ustice. Another trouble is with
the sheriffs who contrive to pack the
juries with bad men. The sheriff is a
more important officer in some respects
than the judge.
A very great part of the world s beet work
is done by small and insignificant means
and agencies. The history of benevolence
could not be written without giving a very
large place to the mites ana the pennies.
The following, from the Missionary Herald,
furnishes a subject for serious thought: It
is a suggestive fact that more than one*
.ourth part of the income of the Basle Mis
sion, which now sustains 115 missionaries in
India, Africa and China, and which has al-
1 THE CHRISTIAN HERALD,
{ of Tennessee.
ready gathered 13,245 church-members, is
derived from a system of penny collections.
There are now about 120 000 persons who
contribute a penny a week to this society,
these gifts amounting, in 1879 to over $53,-
000. These collections were begun in 1855,
and within the twenty-five years that, have
since elapsed, not less than $1,156 145 have
bee'', derived from this source. If giving at
this .-noderate rate will secure such sums,
how much could the Church of Christ ac
complish towa’ds the evangelization of the
world if all her members should give, not
their spare pennies merely, but such larger
sums as they might, in a spirit of earnest
and devoted self-sacrifice.
One of the great wants of our South
ern country is a small coin so small
that the poorest people could contrb
ute. If every Baptist in Georgia were
to contribute one cent every Sunday,
the amount raised would be more than
two thousand dollars per week, or con
siderably more than one hundred
thousand dollars per year.
What the orthodox churches have to fear
more than any thing else, is the presence
within them of ministers whose specialty is
secular themes, with just enough of religion
introduced to admit them into the pulpit,
while the great facts and doctrines of salva
tion are neglected almost entirely. It was
this kind of preaching that brought ruin
upon the churches now classed as Unitarian,
Liberal and unorthodox, and it will in time
reduce any church to the same level.
No good ever comes from introduc
ing politics or secular matters of any
kind into the pulpit. The old-fashioned
way of preaching Bible doctrines and
nothing else is the only way to secure
the blessing.
Roman Catholic Testimony.—We
copy the following from the Canadian
Baptist:
The late Archbishop Hughes of the Ro
njfjn Catholic Church in the course of a dis
cussion with Dr. Breckinridge of the Presby
terian Church, asked him where he got hia
authority to substitute sprinkling lor im
mersion. The Archbishop in doing this
knew that he was attacking the weakest
point in his opponent's creed. Os course the
Presbyterian jninister had no proper Scrip
tural answer to give. Roman Catholics do
not fail to remind Pedobaptists that in adop
ting sprinkling they are nut poor imitators
of themselves. They do this in a somewhat
cruel way in the following note on Matt. 3.9,
which we find in a Douay Bible, published
in New York, and containing notes by Hay
dock approved of by the late Pope:
“Baptized. The word baptism signifies
a washing, particularly when it is done by
immersion or by dipping, or plunging a
thing under water, which was formerly the
ordinary way of administering the sacra
ment of baptism. But the church, which
cannot change the least article of the Chris
tian faith, is notso tied up in matters of dis
cipline and ceremonies. Not only the Cath
olic Church, but also the pretended Re
formed Churches, have altered this primi
tive custom in giving the sacrament of bap
tism, and now allow of baptism by pouring
or sprinkling water upon the person bap
tized; nay, many of their ministers do it
nowadays by filliping a wet finger and
thumb over the child's head, or by shaking
a wet finger or two over the child, which it
is hard enough to call a baptizing in any
sense.”
Ah! Brethren of the Protestant Pe
dobaptist churches, you are in bad
company!
The London Christian World states that
Rev. Dr. John Cumming, once the most
popular preacher in that city, though in
good physical healtn, is in such a mental
condition as to be practically dead to the
world.
This fact is at once painful and ad
monitory. The present mental condi
tion of the Dr. is probably due in part
to that long absorption in the study of
unfulfilled prophecy, which led some
profane London willing to dub him
“Dr. Second Coming.” There is no
little danger to the mind when it aban
dons itself to the riding of a hobby.
It may serve to show how far the feeling
of reveience for sacred things has died out
among the masses of the Parisians when we
say that “The Funny Bible,” with “comic
illustrations,” is announced among the pub
lications there. Nothing can be more repul
sive than the thought of the Word of God
travestied, and so made a theme of mockery
by the giddy and profane.—The Presbyteri
an.
We all shrink, of course, from such
an abuse of the inspired volume. But
ig, “the Funny Bible” anything more
than an extreme development of the
spirit into which many church mem
bers and even ministers allow them
selves to be entrapped, when they point
a merry conceit on a jest by quoting
a passage or phrase of Scripture?
“Edvcatid too much” is an expression
that sounds like a contradiction. The im
mediate thought is that too much intelli
gence is impossible. And this is true, while
it is also true that there may be too much
of what we call education. There are per
sons who take advantage of schools to cul
tivate in themselves habits and dispositions
that unfit them for such work as they can
do, while it does not make them able to do
what they aspire to. The schools thus be-
NO. 15.
come their enemies, rather than their
friends.—United Presbyterian.
So we think. We should be the
last to depreciate the advantages of ed
ucation, but when it “cultivates hab
its and dispositions which unfit” peo
ple for the position in life which prov
idence has'assigned them, we must
think that it is an injury. It is better
to have less education and be good for
somethin'g, than to have more educa
tion, and be good for nothing, Is this
heresy? Well, it is a comfort to know
that we are in the good company of
our excellent brother, the “gentleman
from Pensylvania.”
The New Presbyterian Directory con
tains the following section, to which
there is nothing akin in the old:
“In the case of such as have been baptized
in infancy, and having reached years of dis
cretion, after making a credible profession of
saving faith in Christ have been received into
full communion by the Session, it is proper
that they, as well as adult persons received
by' baptism, should make a profession of
their faith in the presence of the congrega
tion. This public profession on the part of
those baptized in infancy may be made in
the same words with that made by adults at
their baptism.”
A correspondent of the Central Pres
byterian objects:
“The persons to whom the section refers
are already members of the church, and may
have been so for years. Why should it be
proper to require them to make the same
public profession that is required of those
who have no such relation to the church?
The unbaptized adult person is required to
make a public profession in order to comply
with the conditions for baptism. Until he
complies with those conditions he cannot be
baptized. But the baptized adult person has
long since complied with those conditions in
and through his parents He has been
taught from infancy that he is a member of
the church ; that solemn and weighty re
sponsibilities are resting upon him as such;
and that the church itself is under binding
obligations to pray for, instruct, and tender
ly watch over him. And now, in the race of
all this, that he is required, before going to
the Lord’s table, to stand side by side of one,
who has.no such connection like himself
with the church, and make word for word
the same profession, would have very much
the appearance, that his membership was
only in name,”
All this is a very good argument, we
think, in favor of the section. The
truth is that there is no “difference
between being members” after the fash
ion of unbaptized children “and being
nothingand if the section shows this,
so much the better. Let us have it by
all means.
The Baptist Courier says: "We also
hear that there once lived a gentleman
whose name was Adam;” and The
Index asks —
“When Adam delved and Eve span.
Where was then the gentleman?”
The revised New Testament is to appear on
the 17th of May. It is to be reported to the
Anglican Convocation and receive some kind
of an imprimatur. Then it will go out for
the inspection of the English-speaking Chris
tians of the world.
And when it comes we shall take it
on its merits without the slightest ref
erence to its imprimatur, or to the An
glican Convocation. It will pass for
what it is worth ; no more and no less.
We shall be greatly surprised if it is
not a decided improvement on our
present version. Still, whatever its
merits, many years must pass before it
will take the place of what we now
have. It is only a revision after all,
and not a translation. The time will
come, we hope, when the Christian
world will be willing to see every word
of God’s book translated into plain
English. At present, that willingness
does not exist.
A Protestant clergyman in Philadelphia,
Dr. Tiffany, has announced that during next
week he wi)'. hold simple services without
singing daily in the Aroh Street Methodist
Episcopal cbnrch, reading portions of the
Scripture descriptive of the scenes through
which the Savior was passing on the day
commehiorated. On Thursday he will oele
brate the institution of the Lord’s Supper.
It is a new departure for our Methodist
Iriends to observe Holy Week, and one which
they will have no cause to regret.—Catholic
Mirror.
Our Southern Methodists are made
of different stuff; but we have heard
Easter Sunday sermons from Baptists,
not in Georgia, however, nor near it
But three hundred years ago, a body of
Romish priests made a great tire in Earl
Street, London, and burned every copy of the
Bible that could be found, and then con
gratulated themselves that at last the Bible
was destroyed. To-day, on the very spot
where this fire was built, stands the great
building of the British and Foreign Bible
Society, where the Bible is printed in one
hundred and seventy-eight different lam
guages; and it may almost be said that an
additional copy comes from the press at
every tick of the clock.