Newspaper Page Text
4
HENHY H. TUCKER, Editor
PERSONAL.
Three years have elapsed since the
present editor took charge of The
Index. During that time, he has
written by a fair estimate, about six
hundred columns. Every word of all
this has doubtless been read by some,
and much of it has been read by
thousands. Many of the articles have
been reproduced by other papers and
thus laid before the eyes of multitudes.
What originated in the mind of the
writer has been presented to other
minds, we may say all over this conti
nent, and has certainly gone beyond
the seas, and even to the other side of
the world. From a private source we
learn, that one copy at least, of The
Index was passed from hand to hand
in Canton, China, and read and com
mented on,week after week, by English
speaking people there. What is written
is written ; and this record so volumin-
ous, the writer must account for, and for
everv word of it, before the bar of God.
The thousands who have read it, will be
the witnesses whether it has been a ben
efit or an injury to their souls. The
editor sinks under a sense of his respon
sibilities, and feels that he is wholly in
sufficient for such things. He crave,
the kind sympathies of his readers, am
begs that they will help him to bea
his burden, by remembering him a
the throne of grace Brethren! pra;
dor us.
UNSPEAKABLE WORDS.
Our brother Paul, the Apostle, went
•to heaven alive, and came back! A
most wonderful experience, truly. It
may be that another Apostle, our
•brother John, had the same experience,
• for he describes many things which
occurred in heaven ; he declares that
he saw and heard them. But these
things may have been, and we think
were, revealed to him in visions, as if
a. panorama had passed before him. As
we understand him, he does not claim
to have been in heaven. He says, “I,
John . . • was in the isle that is called
Patmos, .... I was in the Spirit on
the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a
great voice as ftf a trumpet;” and in
all that he has written there is nothing
to make it certain that he left the isle
of Patmos. A display of the heavenly
glories was certainly made before his
eyes ; he undoubtedly saw Jesus, and
received amazing disclosures from the
eternal world. Yet all the time he
may have been in the flesh, and on the
island in the JEgean sea, whither he
had been banished. The heavens may
have been unveiled to him, while yet
he remained on earth. The first word
of his book of prophecy is the word,
apokalypsis, which means an unveiling, (
though in our versions it is translated (
The revelation. But, in any case, we
are not under the necessity of believing
that the Apostle was personally pres
ent in heaven. The experience of John ■
may have been the same as that of
Stephen, who, being on earth, “looked
up steadfastly into heaven, and saw
the glory of God. and Jesus standing
on the right hand of God, and said,
“Behold, I see the heavens opened, and
the Son of Man standing on the right
hand of God.” Acts 7 55.
But as to our brother Paul, we know
that what he saw was not a mere vis
ion, not a mere scenic representation
of unpresent realities, not a mere sub
jective, though true, apprehension of
far distant facts ; we know that he, the
man himself, was actually “caught up
to the third heaven,” (2 Cor. 12-2) by
which expression is meant the very
heaven which is the heaven of God.
Whether brother Paul’s body accom
panied his soul, or whether his soul
was snatched away from his body, leav
ing it with its mere animal life behind,
the Apostle himself did not know ; but
his language seems to suggest the idea
that while he was not sure, he yet in
clined to the belief, that his soul and
body were both “caught up into Para
dise.” Be this as it may, it is certain
that the man who wrote the Epistles
to our brethren at Corinth, was alive
in the actual presence of the objective
realities of the heaven of God, and
that he actually returned to earth and
lived among us, and related the fact.
So far as we know or believe, he is the
only human being of whom this can
be said. Enoch and Elijah went to
heaven alive; the former never return
ed ; the latter returned once and was
seen on Mount Tabor by three men;
f Mat. 17) but his stay was brief, and he
spoke no word to either of the wit
nesses. Some died and were restored
to life. We may well suppose that
they were received into heaven ; but
i they were not there in the natural slate
in which Paul was, whose life had not
Jor a moment been suspended. He is
the solitary member of the human race
of whom it can be certainly affirmed
that he went alive to heaven, to heav
en itself, and afterwards came back to
remain. We are not informed that
any of those who died and return
ed to life, were conscious of any
thing that they witnessed in the spirit
world. So far as we know, that por
tion of their existence, was to them af
terwards, as if it had been a mere state
of syncope, of which they remembered
nothing. But Paul’s living conscious
ness was uninteirupted from first to
the CHRISTIAN INDEX AND SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1881 ;_
last. He saw and heard, he knew, and ,
he remembered. He stands alone.
We should naturally suppose that
on his return he would have had much
to say of the wonderful things that he
saw and heard. But not a syllable did
he utter. He declares that the words
which he he heard were ‘‘unspeakable
words which it is not law ful for a man
to utter." Why then was he trans
ported thither and back, if to commu
nicate the knowledge thus acquired
was both impossible and improper?
What was the object of ‘ this astound
ing miracle? So far as Paul was con
cerned, it may have been to give him
extraordinary strength for extraordi
nary duty. No such burden was ever
put on human shoulders as on his. He
received more help than any other
, man because he needed more. He had
been a blasphemer, and his hands were
with the blood of the saints, yet
he now claimed to be an Apostle. He
might well have doubted the genuine
ness of his call. But after he saw what
he did see, there was no longer room
for doubt that his calling was sure.
How thoroughly nerved he was for
the conflict that was before him! But
for this he might not have been fitted
for the work appointed him. True, the
phenomena on the occasion of his con
version might have satisfied him, and
doubtless did; but as responsibility
and duty accumulated he needed more
grace, and with this, his visit to the
celestial abode, must have supplied him.
Moreover, while the words which he
heard were such as it is not lawful
to utter, it may be that they gave him
a better understanding of things which
could be uttered. It was known to God
that he was to be the great expound
er of the doctrines of Jesus, and the
author of more than half the New Tes
tament. The deep things of God, which
he treats of as no other of the sacred
writers does, might not have been so
clear to his mind, but for what he learn
ed when he was caught up to Paradise.
While, then, we have not the full blaze
of the light which shone on him, we
may have its reflection in his writings.
If it does not reveal, it may yet illu
minate that which is revealed; and
but for this we might never have had
the clear conception of Divine truth
which we now have. Thus, the whole
race may be blest by the experience of
a solitary man, who was forbidden t<
utter a “word of what he saw and
heard. • t
We learn from the record that there
are words spoken in heaven, which can
not be translated into the language of ;
earth. There are truths so stupend
ous and so grand that no language can
convey them. We live in ignorance ; '
the known is as nothing; the unknown '
is vast as the infinite. A great sea oi
knowledge wide as space lies before us; 1
our vision extends but to its border;
we hear but its ripples; the thunder
of its roar may shake the universe, but
we are not so endowed as to hear it.
Paul saw’ and heard much, and doubt
less understood, but it struck him
dumb ; he could communicate nothing.
Oh! the glorious destiny that is
in reserve for the saints! It was but
a little while that Paul was in Paradise;
the people of God will live and reign
there forever. It was but little in com
parison that he learned during his
brief sojourn; God’s elect will have
eternity in which to make discoveries,
j doubtless far more in advance of Paul’s
than his are superior to ours in our
present state. These will throw back
. their light on what is now revealed, so
that we shall see it as it was never seen
by mortal eyes, and we shall discover
in the w’ord of God which we now have,
f grandeur and glory now hidden from
us. With the accumulation of sublime
knowledge, with the apprehension of
supremely glorious truth, our capaci
ties must expand until we shall be so
superior to our present selves, that no
language can describe our state, and
no figure illustrate it, and no concep
tion come in sight of it. With this in
tellectual growth there must come a
moral development, such that if we
could now see the holiness to which
we shall once attain, the sight would
be too much for us and we should faint
and die in view of our own glory. Is not
such a heaven worth dying for? And
what is more, is is not worth living lor?
What sacrifice is too great, if w’e but
make it in obedience to His command
ments? How easy to walk in the path
of duty, even if it be rugged and thorny,
when we see the heaven that lies at
the end! How insignificant are earth
ly trials in view of the recompense of
the reward!
If the words which Paul heard could
be uttered, it would still be unlawful
to utter them. There are somethings
which we ought not to know. M e are
under God’s tutelage; he knows what
is best for us, and gives us such knowl
t dge as is needful for us while we are
here. He keeps his own secrets,, and
it is as impious as it is vain for us to
pry into them. When he says “What
I do thou knowest not now,” let us be
satisfied ; and when he adds “ but thou
shalt know hereafter,” let us be
tilled with exulting hope and trium
phant faith, and burning love. God
made a confidant of Paul for a mo
ment; in due time he will make
confidants of us forever. Let us in
meekness and humility use the knowl
edge we have ; and when our turn shall
come to be “ caught up ’ to the Para
’ dise where Paul was taken, more will
be given, and yet more; and to our
bliss and glory there will be no end.
Halleluiah! Amen!
ASLEEP FOR SORROW.
It has often occasioned surprise that
the disciples should have gone to sleep
when our Lord was suffering the ago
nies of Gethsemane. Perhaps due at
tention has not been given to the
words in Luke 22 :45, where he declares
that ‘‘He found them sleeping for sor
row." But the question arises, how
does the sorrow account for the sleep?
Our knowledge of psychology is not suf
ficient to enable us to account for the
phenomena, but it is a well known fact
though not widely known, that while
deep sorrow often prevents sleep, a
still deeper sorrow will sometimes su
perinduce it. The fact last stated has
three times, at least, come within our
personal knowledge. W ithout giving a
reason, we can only say, that profound
grief seems sometimes to stun the soul
into insensibility. It may be a merci-
ful arrangement of Providence, to pre
vent grief from bringing insanity or
death. The sleeping disciples may
have thus been sheltered from what, if
they had witnessed, they conld not
; have borne. At any rate we know
from the language of Luke, that they
i slept, not because they were unsympa
thetic or indifferent, but for the very
opposite reason; they slept for very
I sorrow. The “beloved physician” of
eighteen hundred years ago, is the only
f one of the evangelists who gives the
6 reason of this irresistible drowsiness.
e His professional knowledge may have
1 suggested it. Mathew and Mark, who
were men of less culture and informa
tion, state the fact, but do not account
for it. John makes no record of the
event. It is interesting to observe,
that a fact, which even at this late day
is unknown to many, though well
known by a few, was familiar to one of
the writers of the New Testament, and
that to his mind the unusual sleep was
satisfactorily accounted for. . The
sleep was not a natural one;. it was
only the sleep of mental paralysis.
Was Luke mistaken? By no means;
the Holy Spirit would not have per
mitted him to write what was not true.
The reason given was the true reason ,
overwhelming grief sometimes stupefies
the soul, and it falls into a state of
torpor and finally into sleep. What
Luke states as a fact is a fact; they
slept for sorrow.
We shall not say that modern obser
vation corroborates the statement of
the evangelist; we prefer to say that
the evangelist corroborates modern ob
servation.
THE NEW VERSION ON BAPTISM..
According to the American Revisers i
of whom there were thirteen and of
whom only one was a Baptist, Mark 1,
4,7, 8, reads as follows: (the italics
are ours.) . .
“John came who baptized in the
wilderness and preached the baptism
of repentance unto remission' of sins.
And there went out unto him all the
country of Judea and all they of Jeru
salem, and they were baptized of him
in the river Jordan confessing their
sins. . . • And he preached, saying,
There cometh one after me, he that is
mightier than I I baptized
you in (margin “or with”) water but
he shall baptize you in (margin “or
with”) the Holy Spirit.”
But it is not hinted that the word
with can be substituted for the word
in, so far as relates to the expression
“in the river Jordan.”
According to both English and
American Revisers, Mark 1 :9 reads as
follows: (italics ours.)
“And it came to pass in those days
that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptized of John in the Jordan;
and straightway coming up out of the
■ water, he saw the heavens rent asun-
lk ' In this case the margin substitutes
the word into for the word in. The
passage thus amended (both English
and Americans agreeing) would read
thus: “Jesus. . . was baptized of John
into the Jordan.”
The revisers were forbidden by the
Canterbury rules to translate the Greek
word baptizo, but they were not forbid
den to translate the prepositions used
in connection with it, and the way in
which they have translated them shows
how they would have translated baptizo
had they been permitted to do so.
Our Lord was baptized “in the Jor
dan” according to the text, or “into the
Jordan” according to the marginal
reading, and afterwards, according to
the text, without any marginal refer
ence, he came up “out of the water.”
And thus the best scholarship of the
English-speaking world on both sides
of the Atlantic, has settled some ques
tions, which by inferior scholars have
long been debated.
A writer in the Western Methodist
quotes Rev. 19. 13, “And he was
clothed in a vesture dipped in blood,
and says, "bebamenon, here translated
dipped is in the Revised version ren
dered sprinkled with blood, which is no
doubt correct.” We have no idea
that our Methodist brother stated in
tentionally what is not true; but he
has evidently fallen into an error. The
word which the Revisers have trans
lated sprinkled is not bebamenon but
erantismenon; and if he had taken the
trouble to look at the foot-note, he
would have seen that the Revisers there
say “some ancient authorities read
dipped in." That is, some ancient
authorities have the word bebamenon;
and if this had been the text settled on
[by the Revisers, they would have
translated it dipped in, as King James
translators did.
If all the critical and exegetical
remarks of our Methodist friend are as
careless as this, there is no value to be
attached to anything that he has said.
GLIMPSES AND HINTS.
—The Baptist Sun announces the opening <■
of Shorter Female College, Rome, who a e
very satisfactory attendance, and with new
accessions nearly every day.
—A Baptist of Macon, Ga . whose wife is a
Methodist, recently sent SSO. to assist a J
young Methodist preacher of Oxford, Ala., j
who was reported as f ? T r “°“^ v ‘S
enable him to attend Vanderbilt University.
We dare say that he is “a good man, in the ]
old Scotch Presbyterian phrase God-ward ]
and man-ward;’’ and we shall expect
hear soon of some kindred act of Christian 1
“secular benefaction” wrought by him within
our denominational lines.
—Rev. Dr. Binney was eminently a logi
cal and argumentative preacher. A lady
who sat, when a little girl, under bis minis
try, during his pastorate at Augusta, Ga.,
said, recently, that she remembered nothing
of his sermons except the frequent recurrence
in them of the words, “Hence we perceive.
—“The present presiding Bishop of the
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United
States, is the one hundred and twentieth in
the direct line of succession from the Apostle
John ” Bishop Bedell, of Ohio, says it; and
he says also that “the fact is easily proved
by satisfactory evidence.” Baron Munchau
sen may well look to his laurels!
—A Primitive Methodist minister, at the
Ecumenical Conference, expressed the opim
ion that “Spurgeon would not have preached
’ the way of salvation so clearly, if he had not
learned that way in a little meeting-room
connected with the Primitive Methodise in
' Norfolk, where he was converted. Well.
> was not what Methodism taught him clan*
- fled by “Calvinism ? ’
t, —Did John Locke say too much for the
„ Bible, when he characterized it as having
J “God for its author, salvation for its end,
, and TBUTH WITHOUT ANY MIXTURE OF ERROR
i- for its matter?” The “new school on in-
I spiration would have us believe that he did,
, but we side with him.
-Rev C. M. Gordon, the zealous and effi
cient Baptist pastor at Okolona, Miss.,
who had been pastor at Natchez and Meridi
an, and President of the Female College at
the latter place, died, September 24th, from
the effect of burns caused by the explosion
of a lamp, which he attempted to extinguish
by blowing down the chimney. Ob.it he
had only blown across the top of the chim
ney-a sure method of extinguishing a lamp
without causing it to explode—his useful
life would not have come to so untimely and
painful an end!
—More than fifty persons were baptized at
Ter Apel, Holland, August 21st. Our people
in that country have formed a “Union, a
body answering to the Southern Baptist
Convention, and evangelistic work is prose
cuted with fresh vigor and wonderful sue
cess.
—The Strong River Baptist Association
must be “strong” in its sense of generosity,
gratitude and justice, as it requited a Mis
sissippi College student, who labored among
its churches during vacation, by sustaining
him at school for the next year.
—“The local preachers have made Meth'
odism,” is the claim urged by one of their
number in the Ecumenical Conference.
And what made the local preachers ?
—The Journal and Messenger, Cincinnati,
gives this version of the arrangement entered
into by Dr. Pope, of Houston, Texas, and
Dr. Morehouse, of New York : “For every
dollar paid into the treasury of the American
Baptist Home Mission Society by Texas
Baptists, two dollars shall be expended by
the Society in the support of missionaries in
that State.” We will not undertake to say
how far this arrangement involves a repu
diation of the Home Mission Board of the
Southern Baptist Convention and a secession
from it. Explanations, certainly, are m
order.
—The London Baptist, September 23d,
mentions the immersion of one candidate by
an Episcopal curate, and of two by an Epis
copal vicar. The leaven of truth works
slowly it may be, but surely.
—The Mexican Baptist Mission Society
was organized by some ladies of our church
at Monterey in 1874, and contributes the
. resent year S4OO toward the support of Rev.
T M Westrup, the missionary sent to that
church by the Home Mission Society, N. Y
—Ko, the Chinese preacher at Petriew,
Siam, baptizes by placing his hand on the
candidate’s head, and gently pressing him
under the water in a sitting posture. Dr_
Dean writes : “ This is here the posture of
cremating the dead, and thus a suitable
symbol of baptism.” Os course, the maxim
that “the mode of baptism is a thing of in
difference” applies here: if believers are
immersed it matters not how, where there is
no breach of “decency and order. ’
—Baptists are not without friends in other t
denominations. An Episcopalian, for ex ,
ample, says, in the Church Guardian: Our
Baptist neighbors rejected the baptism insti
tuted by Christ, and invented one of their i
own. I, for one, heartily hope and pray j
they will repent.” We thank him for his
pious solicitude, though what he prays for
really is, our apostasy from the truth.
—A writer in the Boston Zion's Herald 1
some time ago said that the demand for a
revision of the denominational theology of
Methodists has become quite general and
imperative. Watson’s “Institutes are to be
superseded by a fresh and modernized state
ment of that theology; and a “Compendium
of Christian Theology” by Dr. W. B. Pope,
of England, has been chosen, as the successor
of the Institutes,in the disciplinary course of
study for candidates for the ministry, by the
Northern Methodist bench of bishops
Sis to this is the more recent statement
r. Pope, in the Ecumenical Confer
euce, spoke of it as “a sacred and blessed
fact, that behind, around and beneath all
catechetical instruction, there is the specific
gift of the Holy Ghost to our children sealed
in their baptism.” Is this “modernized
Methodism? To us it has a medieval aspect.
—The “Campbellites,” who are credited
with 350,000 members in the United States,
gave last year to foreign missions $17,938,
an average of little more than five cents
each.
—While Romanists constitute only about
one seventh of the population of the State
of New York, they constitute three-fourths
ot the criminals in the penitentiaries of that
State This reminds us of the fact that
Bishop Cheverns, the first Romish bishop of
Boston, once opened his sermon, (according
to Hon. Josiah Quincy,) by saying, I anr
now addressing a congregation which has
more thieves in it than any other assembled
in this town.”
Tohn Hopkins, the founder of the UnL
versity at Baltimore, who left $9
his death, once said: Next to the hell of
being utterly bereft of money is the purga
tory of possessing a vast amount ot it.
Announcbment. —Bethel Association
will meet at Camilla on Tuesday, the
Bth of November. Brethren expecting
to attend will please notify immediately
the undersigned, or W. Watson Twitty.
Cordial invitation extended to our
brethren. John L. Underwood.
GEORGIA BAPTIST NEWS.
—Augusta News : Rev. W. T. Che
ney has returned from a summer at
the North, where he engaged in a
thorough course of study and elocu
tion. He returns improved in every
way, and after a unanimous re election,
will resume his ministerial charge of
Curtis’ Baptist church. He is welcom
ed home.
Rev. R. E. Murrow has been
chosen as pastor of Warren Chapel, in
East Macon, for the ensuing collegiate
year. He is a zealous young minister.
The congregation at the Forsyth
Baptist church has purchased a fine
new organ. A new choir has been or-
ganized.
—Warrenton Clipper: Rev. T. J.
Pilcher has resigned Pine Grove church,
and accepted a unanimous call to
Union church, near Thomson. He did
not accept the call to Sweetwater
church also near Thomson. We are
gratified to see our good friend and
brother so popular with the churches
wherever he goes. He is doing a good
. work.
Rev. T. J. Cumming has been re
called to Reedy Creek.
—Flint River Baptist Association,
which convened at Hollonville, Meri
wether county, on the 24th ult., was
well attended. The introductory ser
mon was preached by Dr. I. J. Wool
sey. Letters were read from forty-nine
churches, reporting two hundred and
seventy-nine baptisms. By acclama
tion, Rev. James Kimball was elected
Moderator, and Dr. M. E. Hooten,
Clerk. This Association supports a
native Indian preacher among the
Indians, and another work of the same
kind within the bounds of the Associa
tion. About S7OO in cash was sent
up and raised by the Association.
A large crowd was in attendance
at the Fairburn Baptist Association.
The pastor of the colored Baptist
church at Union Point, baptized un
last Sunday, forty-two candidates.
—Cuthbert Enterprise: The meeting
in the Baptist church, mentioned in
our last week’s issue, still continues.
Great interest is manifested on the
part of the congregation. Up to this
time twelve additions have been made
to the membership. The ordinance of
baptism was administered Monday
night in the presence of an overflowing
congregation.
Rev. E. R. Carswell, of Augusta, has
done the preaching for nearly two
weeks. We feel that we but express
the sentiments of all who have heard
him, that his sermons have been per
fect models in every particular. He
combines the logical with the experi
mental and emotional in the most har
monious proportion possible.
To the great regret of all the con
gregation, he returned to Augusta last
Monday. It is probable he will return
next Monday and resume his work
i here. In the meantime, the services
‘ will continue.
—Sandersville Herald: Rev. S- Lan- i
drum, D.D. of Macon returning from *
Bethlehem, preached an excellent and ,
highly appreciated sermon in the Bap- i
list church of this city on Sunday
night. The lifelong devotion of this !
eminent minister to his one work, the
preaching of the Gospel, the singular
blamelessness of his life, together with
the spirit of Christian heroism shown
amid the ravages of the pestilence nt
Memphis, have greatly endeared him
to Christians every where.
Rev. W. J. Mitchell writes from
Griffin, Ga., Oct. 9th,: In the last
Index, I notice the following extract
from the Columbus Times: “Dr.
Mitchell is well known by many in
this section who would regret very
much to know that he had permanently
retired from the ministry." (Italics
mine). I wish to say that it is not my
intention to retire even for a time, not
to say permanently, from the ministry.
As long as I live I expect to preach
the unsearchable riches of Christ, the
: Lord being my helper. I do not wish
any of my friends to feel for a moment
■ that my interest in the ministry of the
blessed God has in the very least abat-
1 ed. On the contrary, the glorious work
■ of preaching Jesus lays more deeply
f hold of my heart and conscience and
’ life as I grow in years. May it thus
t continue to my dying hour.
Columbus Times : Last Sunday i
afternoon the open air meeting was
held on Mott’s Green, as usual. The
congregation was good and the ser
vices most interesting. Few people
who do not attend these meetings
know anything about the vast amount
of good they are accomplishing. Every
Sunday, for the past four years, when
the weather would permit, these meet
ings have been held and good congre
gations have been accustomed to at
tend them. Thinking that it would
be interesting to many of our readers
to know something about the history
of the open air meeting, we called upon
Rev. Dr. J. H. Campbell and obtained
the following facts concerning not only
the meeting, but also his missionary
labors in this city:
Coming to the place about five years
ago to reside with his son, he found all
the churches supplied with pastors.
Casting about for something to do in
the cause of religion and humanity, he
was not long in finding a promising
field. There is a class of people in
nearly all of our cities who scarcely ever
attend church —many of them not at
all. To that class, Mr, Campbell de-
cided to direct his attention. Hold
ing prayer meetings in private houses,
his congregations soon increased to
such an extent as to render larger
quarters necessary. This was the ori
gin of the Open Air Meeting, a meet
ing pecular to Columbus. It has been
kept up regularly for four years, when
ever the weather would allow, which
of course, Jias much to do with the size
of the congregations. These, however,
are said to be larger than any other in
the city, and, though composed of a
mixed multitude, preserve as good or
der as can be found in any religious
assembly anywhere. What good has
been accomplished cannot, of course,
be decided in this world. Yet, it is
safe to assume that hundreds, who
greatly need the influence of the Gos
pel, are brought in contact with it on
Sabbath afternoons on Mott’s Green;
and there is ground for hope, that,with
many, it will prove to be the power of
God unto salvation.
But the open air meeting - is only a
part, and a very small part, of Dr. Camp
bell’s labors in this city. He holds
many prayer meetings, (some of them
where such meetings have never been
held before) ; visits the poor in sick
ness and want, and relieves their ne
cessities; distributes among them Bi
bles and tracts, and furnishes them
with thousands of religious papers,
second-hand clothing, etc., etc. In
cold weather he does all in his power
towards providing wood for the needy.
Last winter, he distributed one hun
dred and twenty cords among this
class. Only a day or two before that
memorable snow storm, he had suc
ceeded in getting ten car loads, which
were soon scattered throughout the
city, and much suffering thereby pre
vented and perhaps many lives saved.
After all, Mr. Campbell is aware
that he can accomplish but little in his
peculiar work without the earnest co
operation of our citizens. At his open
air meetings and through the press, he
is frequently pleading for this co-oper
ation. What he most desires is to see
the people generally enlisted in this
cause, as many of them are already.
His age and lack of means prevents
his doing much that he sees neces
sary. Though in his seventy-fifth
year, he walks from two to four miles
daily, and would do more if he were
able. He frequently enquires: “Who
will look after the poor and the out
casts when I am gone?”
—August News : Rev. J. A. Munday,
who has recently accepted a call to the
pastorate of Kollock street church, will
deliver in this city his famous lecture
on the “The Mistakes of Life as made
by that Man and Woman.”
—Ten thousand persons attended
the session of the Cabin Creek (color
ed) Association at Griffin.
MERCER UNIVERSITY.
Dr. Tucker, who has been the Chancellor
of two Universities in Georgia, and has’,
therefore, more experience in that line than
any man in the State, says: “Mercer Uni
versity is the best thing the Baptists of
Georgia have.” It certainly has a large place
in the thoughts and affections of the brethren
of the Associations with which I have met
this fall. There are two obstacles to a large
increase of students. 1. The short crops and
gloomy apprehensions in large sections of
the State. 2. The mistaken policy of the
Legislature in making the State University
a free school, so far as tuition is concerned.
Mistaken, because it degrades University
education, making it too cheap and comm, n
for proper appreciation; because it is wrong
in principle and damaging in practice; be
cause, in the opinion of legal gentlemen,
who were members of the last Constitutional
Convention, it is unconstitutional.
This action of the Legislature is a damag
ing blow at Mercer and Emory Colleges.
The Methodists and Baptists of the State de
serve better treatment by their legislators.
Os course these institutions will live and do
good in spite of the mischievous action of
the Legislature; but is it right to tax the
friends of these colleges to give a rival insti
tution the advantage in electioneering for
pupils? It is well known that our denomi
national colleges have too little endowment
to do more than they have been doing, viz :
to give to special classes tree tuition, such as
the sons of ministers.
After paying the necessary taxes to make
tuition free in the State schools, the Baptists
- X
could, by a little systematic action, make
tuition free in Mercer. There are about
fourteen hundred Missionary Baptist
churches in the State. Now, suppose one
thousand of them give ten dollars each per
annum, and the work is done: or, one dol
lar a member would endow the University,
so that it might move on upon the present
pian without an agent, or without an appeal
for a dollar. The Baptists of the State can
rise up and do the great work at once.
There are, I think, rich men in the State
who will, at no distant day, endow profes
sorships, and especially one in Theology,
and build a chapel, which will perpetuate
their names and generosity.
Let the brother who proposed to he one of
a hundred to five a thousand dollars to
cheapen education at Mercer, consent to be
one of twenty'.five who will give a thousand
dollars for a scholarship endowment. The
interest of each thousand dollars would pay
the tuition of one student perpetually, and
the founder of the scholarship might, during
his lifetime, designate the beneficiary.
We must have Christian education for our
sons, and ministerial education for those
whom God calls to the work, and whom the
churches approve. The fathers felt this and
founded Mercer University. It is richly en
dowed with their prayers. Let us be faith
ful to the inheritance left us by the fathers
of our denomination in Georgia!
Mercer University is centrally and beauti
fully located. The style of the students is
plain and economical; many of them are
ministerial students. The religious influence
of Christian teachers and Christian students
is most salutary. There is a daily twilight
prayer-meeting, sustained by the students
and open to the public. .
To mention the names of the Faculty is to
give assurance of the best instruction in the
class-room. The graduates testify to the
ability of the veterans, Drs. Sanford and
Willet; the scholarly, indefatigable Dr.
Brantly; the classic, cheerful Prof. Steed ;
and the accomplished and urbane President,
Dr. Battle. The members of the Faculty
always secure increased confidence and pat
ronage as they become better known per
sonally. Lawdrum.
October 3d, 1881.