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SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST, X ' THE CHRISTIAN HERALD,
or Alabama. w-' ‘ of Tennessee.
ESTABLISHED I 811.
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX.
BY JAS. P. HARRISON & CO.
Subscription, per year 82.60
Table of Contents.
First Page—Alabama Department: To My
Old Friends in Georgia; Suffering Not
Identical With Punishment; Extremes;
Ministerial Infirmities; The Religions
Press.
Second Page—Correspondence : College Edu
cation in Georgia.—Free Tuition —Rejoin-
der to Reply of “Trustee:” Virginia and
Georgia; Simple Dress; A Word of Correc
tion ; A Work of Grace; Jottings By The
Way ; Missionary Doctor ; Bible and
Prayer Union. The Missionary Depart
ment-
Third Page—Children’s Corner: Bible Ex
plorations; Questions ; Enigmas; Corres
pondence. The Sunday school: The Fea-t
of Tabernacles —Lesson for November 13,
1881.
Fourth Page—Editorials: To Save Life;
Glimpsesand Hints; Georgia Baptist News.
Fifth Page—Secular Editorials: The Spirit
In The Air; King Cotton—poetry—Chas.
W. Hubner; Literary Notes and Com
ments ; Confederate Bonds ; etc. Georgia
Nev s.
Sixth Page—The Household : Weeds—poet
ry ; etc; etc. November—poetry—(illus
trated). Obituaries.
Seventh Page—The Farmer’s Index: Farm
ft»Work for November; Cotton, Coal and
Timber —The King, Queen and Giant
Produc's of the South, and their Future
Promise —by D. D. T. Moore.
Eighth Page—Florida Department: Facts
and Figures; Home Mission Board ; Floris
e da Baptist Association; etc.
Alabama Department.
B amxTkiTh >X.
TO MY OLD FRIENDS IN GEORGIA.
Dear Brethren : —May I ask you,
as modestly as I may, for a little con
tribution to enable me to build, near
my residence in Alabama, a neat little
country chapel for a new Baptist
church, located in a neighborhood of
poor people who cannot do this for
themselves? I propose devoting a
large portion of my ministry to this
neighborhood the fragment of my life.
This is, I can fairly say, on my part, a
labor of love, for the community could
not pay a hundred dollars a year to
the best preacher in Alabama or Geor
gia. I only want enough money to
buy the material —we will do the bal
ance.' Please let me hear from you,
through Dr. Tucker, chief Editor of
The Index. S. Henderson.
SUFFERING NOT IDENTICAL
WITH PUNISHMENT.
It is written of “the Captain of our
salvation,” that he was “made perfect
through suffering.” As of all things
in the world we most instinctively re
coil from suffering, so it becomes the
highest test of integrity and purity.
A man that will go to the stake for
his principles does all that a mortal
can do to vindicate the reality and
sincerity of his convictions. He may
be wrong, but no man thinks of pro
nouncing him dishonest or insincere.
He has done that which leaves noth
ing undone to throw around his char
acter the lustre of the highest heroic
virtue. Life being the' most precious
boon properly connected with this
„ world, he who sacrifices this to a prin
ciple can furnish no higher testimony
of his integrity to what he believes to
be the truth.
Now, this is the ordeal our divine
Master passed through, and the ordeal
through which He has predestinated
His followers to pass. He was “made
perfect through suffering.” His dis
ciples, in their measure, are to experi
ence the purifying power of tribula
tion. When He passed the ordeal and
reached the crown, He received “a name
above every other name”—when they
pass the trial scene, they are to “ shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of the
Father.” Beyond His Gethsemane
and Calvary, He beheld “ the joy that
was set before Him,” the innumerable
white-vested throng on the mount of
God: beyond our Gethsemane and
Calvary, we see the crown and palms
which are to reward our sufferings and
labors. Beyond His crucifixion lay
the grandest achievements ever yet
recorded of Almightiness : beyond our
crucifixion —for are we not to be cru
cified to the world, and the world to
us?—lies the noblest career of “honor,
glory and immortality” which Omnip
otence can confer. It is no wonder
that an apostle, who tasted the bitter
ness of this cup as no other being ever
did, save only his Master, exclaimed,
“ I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory that shall be
revealed in us.”
Christian reader, do not be startled
or alarmed when dark providences
overwhelm you, “as though some
strange thing has happened to you.”
If the adored Redeemer set his heart
upon you to bring you to glory, the
fiercest trials that ever beset the path
way of a saint, will only polish you as
one of his jewels for a more brilliant
place in his crown. Only place your
hand in His, and you may venture
through floods and flames, and be in
finitely safer than the ungodly in their
greatest fancied security. Daniel in
the lion’s den was a thousand times
more secure than Belshazzar sur
rounded by brazen walls and trusty
legions of soldiers. The path of duty
can never be perilous so long as there
are any resources with Almightiness.
The very command to walk therein
implies the promi-e of security. The
Red Sea divides for the friends of God,
and becomes their pavilion of safety—
it closes in angry surges upon his ene
mies and becomes their winding sheet.
What is salvation to the righteous is
destruction to the wicked. How often
has this been verified in the history of
our race! Like the mystic cloud
that settled between the camp of
Israel and the camp of the Egyptians,
how often does the very providence
that throws a halo of light upon the
path of the just, envelope the ways of
the wicked with the blackness of dark
ness! “Behold, therefore, the good
ness and severity of God! ”
Suffering and punishment are not
synonymous. They may be the poles
asunder, both in their intent and re
sults. Job may have suffered the
equivalent of a hundred deaths dur
ing hie afflictions, while the vilest sin
ner may suffer but one, but that one
is the prelude to the death that never
dies. Earthly logic never makes so
sad a blunder as when it reasons «
posteriori, from suffering to crime—in
ferring right or wrong from simple
results. Even Milton made this blun
der when he inferred that the par
liamentarian party, in the civil war of
England, was right because it suc
ceeded. He himself lived long enough
to see all his reasoning set aside by
the “ Restoration.” Judged solely by
the amount of suffering endured,
Christianity appears to a disadvantage
when compared with the world. This
was the rock on which David himself
declares that his “ feet had well nigh
slipped.” The prosperity of the wicked
and the adversity of the righteous pre
sented a problem to his mind that
was solved only when he “went into
the sanctuary of God.” “Then,” said
he, “ understood I their end ; ” and as
he contemplated that dreadful end, it
drove him well nigh to the other ex
treme ; for he continues, “ surely thou
didst set them in slippery places.” As
if he had said, surely their very pros
perity has been their ruin! Inno
cence and uprightness were once cru
cified in the person of the Son of God
by the multitude; and pretty much
ever since this current of iniquity has
been running in the same direction.
Disaster, disappointment, suffering,
death, in its most terrific form, have
often been the heritage of men “of
whom the world was not worthy.” 0,
it is well for all such that a day of
retribution has been appointed some
where in the future, when “ the earth
shall disclose its blood, and no more
cover its slain,” and when the verdicts
of earthly courts, the Pilates and Her
ods of history, shall be reversed at the
great assize, and crushed and bleeding
innocence shall share the award of a
glorious benediction in the presence
of an assembled universe. The faith,
and hope, and patience, that wait for
that day may well “ count it all joy
when they fall into divers tempta
tions.” What are the last sacrifices
that human nature can make weighed
against that “ far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory,” reserved for
those who pass honorably through this
probationary scene! Eternity only
can express the amazing contrast.
At this season,various entertainments
to “help the church” are initiated and
much valuable time spent in prepara
tion,while untold weariness and vexation
accompany the wo>k from beginning
to ena. It would be a wonderful change
if those who want to help would give
themselves to earnest and prayerful
effort to convert souls.— Baptist Weekly.
One tenth part of the effort that it
takes to get up a fair or a festival, if it
were directed straight to the benefit
either of the souls or of the bodies of
men, would do ten times as much good,
and no harm.
ALANTA, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1881.
We are all very prone to extremes —
as the old maxim expresses it, “ in the
loft or in the cellar.” To-day some
object looms up before us, and we set
our hearts upon it, thinking that its
attainment will gratify us beyond
measure. To-morrow, it turns up a
“raw side,” and we turn from it in
disgust, persuading ourselves that of
all things else, it is least desirable.
Mercurial temperaments are much
given to extremes. Especially is this
true when joined to a vigorous fancy.
Easily impressed with anything that
possesses novelty, fancy supplies the
facts, and for the moment the party is
perfectly enthused in its prosecution.
One would suppose that he had just
struck his talent, and was on the eve
of realizing the grandest success of his
life. But alas, something occurs that
changes the whole aspect of things,
and the next time we see him, he can
scarcely command language sufficient
ly strong to e: press his loathing for
the thing that had awakened his aspi
rations. Os course such men never
succeed in any pursuit. When the
novelty subsides, their interest sub
sides. Just at the point where your
successful men begin to betray tho
industry, the energy essential to com
pass the end, they turn away in con
tempt from what they come to regard
as too grovelling a pursuit for them,
and straightway address themselves to
some other enterprise more worthy of
their talents. And thus through life
they are driven from one thing to an
other, from one ex.trgyie to another,
like the oscillations <A a pendulum. If
such a man should be a preacher, his
call to a new church is the grand de
sideratum which is to redeem his whole i
life by giving him a field of usefulness;
in which his success is to be unparal' ■
elled. Twelve months afterward, that
church, if we are to believe him, is of
all others he ever was connected with,
the hardest and most difficult to sup
ply, and he is impatient for another
call. If he turns his attention to a
farm, the first wave of adversity un
settles all his plans, and he concludes
that poverty only can come of that
business—he sells out, and puts up a
little store at some cross roads, spends
his little patrimony, and is eager for
something else. And the trouble is,
experieneeteaches such people nothing.
They are the readiest persons in the
world to receive counsel in word, and
the last to profit by it. One can make
any impression on such minds that he
chooses, but like writing in the sand,
the first puff of wind obliterates the
impression.
MINISTERIAL INFIRMITIES.
Os all the people in the world, min
isters ought to hold themselves sub
ject to the orders of the Master, and
yet it sometimes happens that of all
people they are most anxious and con
cerned about the very things the Mas
ter has undertaken to control; their
places of labor, their compensation,
their standing with the brethren and
with the world—indeed, all the things
that affect their history and destiny in
this world. Now, nothing is more
clearly revealed in the word of God
than that all such things are under
His direction. He holds these “candle
sticks,” as John calls them, in His
right hand. So long as he has any
use for any of His ministers in His
earthly vineyard/He will see to it that
they will be in the place, if they
will only, in sweet submission to his
authority, commit their ways to Him.
Inordinate care in this respect is
wrong in principle and results. What
can be more rebellious than to fret
and chafe under what we esteem to
be a hard lot ? What can be more
perilous and disastrous in results than
for our Lord to abandon us to our own
way ? In accepting his service, every
minister “ commits his ways unto the
Lord” with an unlimited trust. He
ingenuously and properly concedes
that his Master is wiser than he is,
and that “ all his steps are, ordered of
the Lord.” It is conceding but little
to Infinite wisdom to say that He who
bestows these gifts upon the churches
knows better than we do where to
place them so as td secure the largest
benefit from them. “ Should it be*
according to thy mind?” is a most
fearful enquiry. We have sometimes
thought that if our Redeemer should
say to some of these fretting, discon
tented servants of His, “Well, since
you are so restive under my direction,
I will turn you over to your own con-
EXTREMES.
trol, and allow you to direct your own
destiny,” it would be the most ter
rible calamity that could befall them.
’Alas, how many preachers have em
bittered the last years of their lives by
.giving away to those little piques and
disappointments, that ought to be
thrown into brackets, and dismissed
in five minutes after their occurrence.
How it would sweeten their last days
to obey the divine injunction—“ Cast
all your care upon Him, for He careth
for you.”
Another weakness we sometimes
see in ministers, even good men on
the whole, is a species of jealousy that
embitters their intercourse with each
other. We have often thought if a
man disposed to cherish this feeling
would pause and ask himself, “ What
is it in my brother that excites my
jealousy?” he would be inclined to
turn all his censures upon himself for
indulging such a passion. The very
qualities that he and all others most
admire, are the qualities that arouse
his envy. Do we put it too strongly
when we say, he hates his brother for
the very reason that he ought to love
- him? For, if he were conscious that
he possessed these qualities to the
same extent as his brother, there could
1 be no ground for jealousy. The very
passion is nothing more or less than
an inward consciousness of personal
inferiority. Hence it is, perhaps, the
most despicable feeling that ever dis
’ turbs the heart of a good man.
Brother, suppress the “ green-eyed
monster” the moment he shows his
horrid face. He comes for evil and
1 only evil—evil to you infinitely more
than evil to the worthy character of
1 whom you are envious. God has so
•» constituted moral excellence that no
3 weapon formed against it can prosper.
J The missiles aimed at a shining mark
j either fall harmless at its feet, or re
bound upon the party who flings them
with crushing power.
There are two things every minister
ought to learn in early life. After
committing his ways unto the Lord,
he should never thereafter distrust
divine wisdom in shaping his destiny.
Why place ourselves under the Mas
ter’s guidance, if we do not intend
meekly to submit to it? The other
thing is, to thank God for every gift
He bestows upon His churches that
surpasses us in the breadth, the pow
er, the effectiveness of its influence
for good. Where this sentiment is
cherished, no base passion will mar
our peace, or interrupt the harmony
of our intercourse with our brethren.
11 II
The Religious Press.
Baptism of the Bell. —The Dominion
church was crowded to overflowing last
evening to witness the ceremony of bless
ing the new magnificent bell that will
henceforth announce the religious ser
vice at that church. The ceremony,
which was to many present an unusual
occurrence, was performed by Rt. Rev.
Bishop McClosky, assisted by a number
of the clergy of the diocese. The cere
monial was truly impressive. The Rt.
Rev. Bishop caused the bell to be washed
with holy water in order to purify it and
separate it from secular and profane ves
sels. He then anointed it with the
sacred oils, during which the ceremony
was solemn and impressive. During
the exercises the choir rendered, in a
highly creditable manner, some choice
selections from the old mastere.—Courier-
Journal.
No living man can find a single prece
dent for such a ridiculous ceremony in
the Scriptures. It is a burlesque upon
the adorable life and work and teach
ing of the Son of God. So long as such
ceremonies as baptizing bells remain,
the Roman church shows itself to be
without the sphere of the spirit and
truth of the gospel. No one need won
der that Romanism is opposed to free
schools, for its spirit gravitates to bar
barism now, as it has always done.—
Apostolic Times.
And The Index has to say, that
there is quite as much Scripture for
baptizing bells as there is for sprink
ling infants, or for baptizing them
either.
“I have never felt it to be my duty to
try to make any person a proselyte to
my belief: my sole aim has been to bring
sinners to Christ.” This was the sober
utterance of an earnent working Baptist
a short time ago. Was it wise ?
To this question by a correspondent
of the Christian Visitor, we answer,
No. It is not wise for men to “shun
to declare all the counsel of Godand
those who do not shun it must some
times speak as Baptists, and ought to
speak then with a desire to make Bap
tists of others.
Dr. Curry, (not our Dr. Curry),
I in.the New York Methodist, assigns the
denominations their place and mis
sion after the following fashion :
The Presbyterians stand forth as lead
ers of religious thought—promoting per
sonal piety chiefly through the intellect;
and the Episcopalians, as the patrons of
ecclesiasticism in art and ritualistic cul
ture ; the Congregationalists (including
the Baptists) are simply unorganized
local religious communities, represent
ing the largest freedom and suffering its
perils and disadvantages; but the mis
sion of Methodism is distinctly and
eminently evangelistic, and if it shall
depart from this, or fail in respect to it,
then, like the salt without its savor, it
becomes good for nothing.
If the Baptists are “simply unor
ganized local religious communities,”
the fault lies in the departure of their
practice from their theory. According
to that theory, the apostles still live
—live in their writings—and are Bap
tists—as the principles and precedents
in these writings testify—and rule
Baptist churches—by the authority of
those writings. That is organization
enough for us; and it was enough for
the apostles, too, seeing they pro
vided and warranted no other.
Mr. 0. J. Hollister, for the last ten
years a resident of Salt Lake City,
sends a startling statement to the Boston
Christian Register, with regard the
Chief of the Mormon church :
This man can “pump” twenty thous
sand votes in Utah, to day, against your
or my one. He can likewise control by
one word the event of an election in
Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona, and, as I be
lieve, in Nevada. Very soon, he will be
able to rule Montana, Washington, Colo
rado, perhaps Oregon and even Califor
nia, in the same way.
The “inactivity” of our Government
toward the polygamy of Mormonism
has been anything but “masterly.” It
has enabled that iniquitous system
to “lengthen its cords and strengthen
its stakes,” and rendered the problem
of effectual dealing with it, every year,
a more difficult one.
It is close, personal work that tells.
Go speak to that young man. Do it pri
vately, when you are alone with him.
Ask him about his interest in Christ.
Remind him of his duty toward God.
He is your companion, of your own age
and tastes. Do not wait for the preacher
to do it. You are the most effectual
preacher. Ask him to become a Chris
tian ; to consecrate his young life and
talents to God. You will be astonished
to see how effectual is close work. Talk
to him alone,and he will not suspect you
of a purpose to glorify yourself. He
will believe that yon love him, and that
is half the battle. Go speak to the
young man.— Evang. Messenger.
In private life, every Christian
whether old or young, male or female,
should be a preacher of the gospel.
Those who do nothing for the gospel
give evidence that they are not likely
to receive anything from the gospel.
In nine cases out of ten parents who
send their sons to Europe to be educated
find cause to regret it. _ At least this is
according to our observation.— Ex.
And with this opinion The Index
heartily agrees. When the editor was
in Europe a few years ago with his
children, he could have educated them
at half the expense incurred at home;
but he brought them home to Georgia;
and he would prefer that they should
grow up without education at home,
rather than that they should go to any
part of the Continent of Europe to get
it. Strong language? Yes, very, but
not hasty ; it espresses our convictions
deliberately formed.
Female preachers in this country have
been found chiefly in the Universalist
denomination. Some of them have offi
ciated as pastors of churches for a time
and made a temporary sensation, which,
in most cases, has quite died out. Now,
the leading men of the denomination
are discussing the question whether the
admission of females to the pastorate
was not an unwise innovation. The indi
cations are that there will be no advance,
but a retreat to the older ways, and the
women again “keep silence” in their
churches. — Presbyterian.
We have heard of no female pastors
or preachers among Baptists, but in
some of the Northern Baptist churches
is is common for women to speak and
pray in public as freely as men. We
regret that this should be the case any
where, but are thankful that the heresy
has taken no root at the South.
It is eleven years since the Pope lost
what he calls hie “temporal power.”
There is a growing determination in
Italy that this power shall never pass
again into the hands of the Holy Father.
Nothing but a revolution in favor of des
potism throughout Europe would restore
the Pope to his lost monarchy.—Presby
terian.
Revolutions never go backwards;
the temporal power of the Pope has
gone, we doubt not, forever; his spirit-
VOL. 59—NO. 43.
ual power is as great as ever; whether
in the end, the latter will be
strengthened or weakened by the loss
of the former,is a question about which
the wisest men entertain different
opinions.
At the recent session of the Georgia
| Baptist Association which is the oldest,
) largest and strongest Association in
' the State, the following resolution was
adopted unanimously:
On motion of brother B. M. Callaway—
Resolved, That this Association unani
moualy approve and indorse the action
of the Board of Foreign Missions in with
drawing the appointment of brethren
Bell and Stout as missionaries, and that
the Clerk be instructed to furnish brother
H. A. Tupper, Corresponding Secretary,
with a copy of this resolution.
We should have been greatly aston
ished if the adoption of this resolution
had not been unanimous.
What advantage is it to be a citizen of
New York? Much every way—but
chiefly because that we may give to every
object of benevolence in the city and
country the whole land over!—liatc/t
Tower.
The same may be said of Atlanta.
Appeals to our benevolence from all
parts of the country for many miles
around, come to us almost every day,
and sometimes three or four times a
day. It is said that our contributions are
small; so they are, but they are many.
Small as they are. the help-seekers
compass us about like bees.
We have seldom seen so much
thought, and good thought too, in so
small a compass, as is found in the fol
lowing synopsis of a sermon preached
by Rev. P. S. Moxon at the Baptist
State Convention, recently held at
Portsmouth, Ohio:
His text was Matthew 16; 18. The
Christian church is the most vital and
vitalizing thing on the earth. This re
sults from its foundation, Christ. He is
that foundation —1. Historically. We
cannot account for it without him. It is
an efflux from him. He is its head and
its heart. 2. Doctrinally. He reveals
God in a manner adapted to the needs
of human reason and human hearts. He
also reveals more clearly sin. His resur
rection, the most stupendous fad in
human history, reveals the resurrection
of all, and gives new import to life. He
is the truth. 3. Ethically. In him doc
trines are resolved into life. His spirit
even more completely than his words is
the guide to duty. 4. He is the founda
tion of the spiritual and evangelical life
of the church. The ordinances set forth
him. The church lives upon him. It
is missionary because he is in it. It must
be such, or fail to justify its existence.
He is also the source of the church au
thority. We claim, as Baptists, to rep
resent certain great truths. This claim
we can justly make and vindicate only
as we maintain our fellowship with him.
And here is a fine little sermon, all
in a paragraph, from our Methodist
brother of Zion’s Herald, whom we
often invite to occupy The Index pul
pit, (in a small way), in these
columns.
When the love of Christ is born in a
human heart, selfishness is dethroned.
When that love reigns supremely, self
ishness dies. From that triumphant
love of Christ arises that unselfish love
of men, especially of the brethren, which
was such a marked characteristic of the
early Christians that the heathen were
wont to exclaim with astonishment,
“They love one another even before they
know each other 1” And it was on the
same principle that John made brother
ly love a test of regeneration, saying,
“We know we have passed from death
unto life because we love the brethren.”
When the modern church manifests this
brotherly love more fully, bolding it
forth shining like an electric light before
the eyes of the world, she will be in the
fullest sense the “light of the world” Is
not more disinterested, more visible,
brotherly love in the church one of the
greatest needs of the times?
Seven Bible Rules.—“ Hold fast that
which is good.” 1 These, v. 21
“Be not wise in your own conceit.”
Rom. xii. 16.
“Follow after the things which make
for peace.” Rom. xiv. 19.
“Be of one mind; live in peace.” 2
Cor. xiii. 11.
“Be ye kind to one another.” Eph.
iv. 32.
“Be not weary in well doing.” 2
These, iii. 13.
“Speak not evil one of another.” Janies
iv. 11.
Rules for Daily Life.—Say nothing
you would not like God to hear.
Do nothing you would not like God to
see.
Write nothing you would not like God
to read.
Go to no place where you would not
like God to find you.
Read no book of which you would not
like God to say, “Show it to me.”
Never spend your time in such away
that you would not like God to say,
“What art thou doing?”