Newspaper Page Text
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(jHirifirtiart gitdrx
J. C. McMICHAEL,: : Proprietor.
I. R. BRANHAM, D. D., Editor.
YOUR PLACE. YOUR WORK.
Do you fisk whose place, whose
work ? The answer is, your place,
your work, fellow Christian.
Every converted person has a place
and a work. The place and work
are of the same kind for each one.
Let us see if we cannot learn where
the place is and what the work is.
One of the most striking miracles
wrought by the Saviour w ill help us
if we will study it attentively.
Having heard of the cruel and
bloody murder of John the Baptist,
He went into a desert place apart.
Whatever may have been His reason,
for desiring to exclude himself, the
people had become so interested in his
preaching that they followed Ilin, on
. foot, out of the cities.
Late in the evening, the disciples
proposed to send the multitude away,
that they might go into the villages
and buy food for themselves. But
Jesus would not send them away
hungry, nor keep them longer with
nothing to eat. He said to His dis
ciples, “Give ye. them to eat.” Upon
inquiry it, was found that there was a
lad present, who had five loaves and
two small fishes. This was indeed a
very scant supply for live thousand
men, besides women and children.
Jesus ordered the loaves and fishes to
be brought to Him. Commanding
the multitude to sit down upon the
grass, He looked up to Heaven, and
blessed, and brake, and gave the
loaves and fishes to His disciples, and
His disciples to the multitude.
They all did eat and were filled,
and of the fragments loft, there were
gathered up tilled twelve baskets, one
for each disciple.
1. Your place is between Christ
and tho multitude. 'That was the
place occupied by the disciples with
reference, to Him and the hungry
throng about Him.
It is the place of ministers or ser
vants. It is the place, w'here’you can
watch his movements and hear his
• commands. It is the place where
you can have access to the multitude,
behold their needs, and be ready to
supplies as you receive them
from hu Jir FT TSB
2. Your work is to give the bread
of life to those who arc hungry, and
who without it must die. The dis
ciples had been fed upon that bread
themselves. Their spiritual life was
continually sustained by fresh sup
plies. Thus fed and kept alive they
were taught, not to sit down iu sel
fish, satisfied idleness while others
v ere starving, but to bear the bread
of life toothers.
Ab it was made the duty of the
immediate disciples of Christ to fill
this place and do this work, so like
wise, we stand between Christ and a
perishing world with the gospel, com
mitted to our hands, and it is our
w ork to dispense it freely to those
who have it not.
Mark you well, that Jesus did not
send the multitude away that they
might buy food for themselves. If
they had gone through that desert
place, faint and weary as they were,
even if they had had money to buy
food, they might have died by the
w ayside before finding anyone who
had it to sell. It was made the im
mediate duty of the disciples to pro
vide the hungry people with food.
The positive and pointed command
of Jesus was, “Give ye them to eat.”
There was no plea of poverty. True,
there was an expression of doubt
among some of them, that the scanty
supply found would bo sufficient for
Buch a multitude.
But their prompt obedience soon
dispelled the doubt, and revealed the
fact that his mighty power would
supply all their need and the need of
the multitude. So we are command
ed to go into all the world, bearing
the bread of life to its perishing mil
lions.
His wonder-working hand will
multiply the food so that every hun
gry soul may be fed to satisfaction
and at the same time leave abundance
for you. Our business is to obey his
command, trust his promise, ami leave
the balance with him.
Do not forget, brother, that your
place is between the living Christ and
a dying world. He has given you
this bread of life and commands you
to give it to others. You arc not to
send them away to buy it for them
selves, but having freely received,
you are freely to give. Are you in
your place? Are you doing your
work ? Are none starving and dying
because yon are neither in your place
nor doing your work t
Mr. Editor.—What did God mean
by saying “six days shalt thou labor
and do all thy work.”
One of our church members claims
the above command as an excuse for
not, attending church meetings on Sat
urday. He says that God commands
hhnHo work six days in each week.—
Cor.
'1 he editor thinks that God meant
just what He said.
First, that men should devote six
days to labor.
Second, that during those six days
they were to do all the work apper
taining to their seculas business.
By “six days,” God meant to in
clude the usual hours of daylight al
lotted to work. Men grow hungry,
tired and sleepy. They must, there
fore, give some of the hours to eat
ing, resting and sleeping. God cer
tainly did not mean that a man w as to
work incessantly’ tho whole twenty,
four hours, according to our division
of the day’.
It simply means that one must
have some regular work, honest and
useful, by which he is to provide for
his physical necessities, and that he is
to devote himself to it, during the
customary work hours, for six days in
the week. ,
“The seventh day is the Sabbath
of the Lord thy' God.”
<>n that day be must cease from
his own work, and must see that all
he controls, man and beast, do the
same.
How the Sabbath may be rightly
employed, any man who really de
sires to know can readily find out by
studying the teachings of Christ, and
the practice of his inspired apostles
as laid down in the New’ Testament.
As to the Saturday church -confer
ence, the editor has this to say.
There is no record in the New
Testament of a regular Saturday
church conference, or of a law given
by Christ, or by his apostles compell
ing a church member to attend such
a meeting, or of excluding one from
the fellowship of tho churcjt for not
attending it. Such meetings are gen
erally of a business nature, and,
therefore, the attendance upon them
is optional. True, there is nothing
wrong in holding such a meeting on
Saturday’, and while there is no spe
cific law commanding it, if a majority
of a church decides to hold a confer
ence on that day, every member whose
private djtes no* prevent,
should rcsptrVtie WTMi Os bis church
and go. Still, absence from such a
meeting ou that day affords no ground
for dealing or exclusion.
These are merely the opinions of
the editor. He would add that a
church member who continuously
and persistently absents himself from
the business meetings of his church,
no matter when held, and manifests
indifference to its interests gives very
strong proof that he neglects his clos
et, his Bible, and his religious duties
generally.
A Sunday Conference might meet
the case of the brother who is so
scrupulous about obeying the com
mand to work six days. His strict
construction of its ifteauing and care
fulness to observe it, would give him
a chance to apply the rule to the
next command, which says, “Remem
ber the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”
He might object to a church con
ference on that day on the ground
that it was a “business meeting,” and
refuse to attend though it is the
Lord's business. If so, it would prove
that he really did not want to go at
all, and that he was just dodging his
duty.
THE SECULAR PRESS AND SOCIAL
SOANDAL.
The spreading of social scandal by
the daily press, before a community
is a growing evil. It is excused up
on the ground of gathering news for
die people. The disgusting details
of corrupt intrigues between men and
women, both married and unmarried,
and the minute descriptions of atro
cious deeds as too often given in the
secular papers, are doing much to de
bauch public morals. They inject
evil thoughts into the minds of the
people, excite lewd desire*, and stim
ulate to wicked actions. The private
letters of illicit lovers, the exposure
of the acts of abandoned men and un
faithful women, such as have of late
appeared in some daily papers, arc
not news, but unmitigated filth.
Those that gather such stuff, and
spread it out before the public are
like vultures that beak and claw a
stinking carcass which lies festering
upon the common.
If they like to stick their handsand
noses into the. rotton mass and bear
away the filth of such transactions,
they have no right to smear it over
a whole community and to disgust its
moral sense with the offensive mat
ter. It is said that public rumor is
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX: THURSDAY APRIL 21. 1892.
public property. This may be true.
But the private home is not public
property. Neither is the grief that
breaks the heart, nor the shame that
covers the face from sight. Yet, so
called “newsgatherers” boldly enter
private homes, call for heads of fam
ilies, or for those involved in scandal,
and persistently demand interviews
with those, who would fain keep
themselves and their private troubles
veiled from public view.
All this under the plea of gather
ing “news,” when the real object is to
make a sensational report of the tears
and sobs and shrieks of broken-heart
ed fathers and mothers, of ruined
wives and daughters, of desperate
husbands and enraged brothers.
It is time this audacious, brazen,
heartless business was stopped.
The homes of the land must be
locked against such comers. The
pulpits of the churches must speak
out against them. The religious
press, the clean secular press, must
vigorously use their pensagainst them,
while the pure and virtuous of every
community who regard the sanctity
of their family circles must sternly
refuse to allow the papers that bear
such deadly poison to enter their
doors.
SCHOOL DISCIPLINE.
The lot of many teachers in these
days is a hard one.
The State has taken almost all the
responsibility of the education of
children out of the bauds of parents.
The removal of this responsibility has
diminished the care of the parent in
the matter of home training. While
it is not a necessary result, yet it is a
fact too plain to be denied by any ob
servant person, that the exercise, of
parental authority, is sadly wanting.
Children are not controlled at home.
The reins of restraint are very long,
and very lax, and are held with very
weak hands.
This vastly increases the difficulty
of the teacher in the maintainance of
discipline in the school-room. Any
thing like strictness is oftencr than
otherwise, met with resistance, or
outright rebellion upon the part of
the pupil. If it becomes necessary to
inflict corporeal punishment, the
teacher must prepare himself for a
conflict with the offender, or with tho
parent or with the School Board.
If the mark of a switch is left up
on tho back of a child, the charge of
unreasonable punishment, or cruel
treatment, is laid at the door of the
teacher ; the father and mother be
come enraged, abuse him, the school-
Board is called in to investigate the
case, and not unfreqnently, the mat
ter ends by tho arrest of tho teacher,
and bis arraignment before the court
upon a charge of criminal assault.
All these things take place within the
knowledge of the pupil. The daily
papers catch up the story, and in
glaring, sensational head-lines spread
it before the children of the whole
community. Tho public mind is
prejudiced against the teacher, and
his authority in the school-room is
practically destroyed.
The result is, that restlessness un
der authority at home, aud resistance
of discipline in the school-room are
rapidly producing outlaw’s, and mul
tiplying candidates for the chaingang.
Oh, for tho good old days when
the teacher* stood in tho place of
the parent; when the parent kept
his child in restraint at home; when
the parent co-operated with the teach
er iu his discipline in the school
room ; w hen, the teacher was sup
posed to bo endowed with a moderate
amount of judgment, and prudence,
and when, the bearers of tales from
the school-room were silenced. Then,
the authority of tho teacher was re
spected and uphekPj then, eases of
disobedience and open rebellion rare
ly occurred. Then, children were
taught obedience, self-denial at home,
and the weight of authority was felt
in the school-room, and quiet, law
abiding citizens w ere the product of
such training.
VISITORS.
Rev. A. J. Beck, Pastor of the
Baptist church at Eatonton, Ga., gave
us a call ou his way home from La-
Grange.
He left some good Dews about the
old town, the place where the editor
first opened his eyes upon the world,
aud where his life-work was begun,
and about the church of which he has
charge.
The church at Eatonton has, for
eighty years, worshipped in the Old
Union House, the property of the
town. A good lot, centrally’ located,
has recently beeu purchased, on
which, .it is hoped, a house of their
ow u will soon be erected.
A comfortable pastor’s bornq is al
ready on the same lot The Indmx
congratulates Bro. Beck and the
the brethren at Eatonton on this
move. The editor hopes to live to
see the house built, aha to be present
when it is dedicated.
Hurry up, brethren, “the time is
short.”
* *
Bro. W. H. Robert is spending
some time in Atlanta among his old
friends and kindred.
Years ago, he was an active work
er among Atlanta Baptists. Though
well advanced in years, he retains
much of the vigor of earlier days.
His home is at Centerville, Miss., and
he is engaged at present, as the
Young People’s Evangelist.
Wc wish him a happy sojourn
among his 'former friends and breth
ren, and many days of useful work
among the young.
* *
*
Rev. C. M. Irw in, made us a pleas
ant visit also. He has held a warm
place in our heart for more than for
ty years. Though advancing close
to the other shore, though voice is
feeble and vigor is waning, yet his
spirit is strong and youthful, and. he
delights in preaching the gospel, and
in the service of the Master.
He is enjoying the company of his
children, grandchildren aud great
grandchildren, all of whom are, at
present, iu Atlanta.
Bro. Irw in w ill remain in the city
until after the Southern Baptist Con
vention. . -
TROUBLE AT MERGER.
This is the way it occurred.
Prof. O'Kelly- wsnt to the Conven
tion at LaGrangv. The regular reci
tations of the Sophomore Class in
Greek were suspended during his ab
sence. The faculty assigned the class
recitations in Mathematics instead to
he heard by Prof. Ryals during the
absence of Prof. O’Kelly. Twenty
eight members of the class believed
that the faculty had no right to im
pose the substitute upon them, and
refused to attend the recitations in
Mathematics.
Seven members of the Greek Class
refused to join the combination and
did the duty assigned.
'The twenty-eight were suspended
for a week, at first, and a statement
was sent them from the faculty to the
effect that if they would make a suit
able apology in writing, the punish
ment would be revoked. They re
fused and the suspension was then
prolonged* end of the ses-
sion.
Negotiations are pending for a set
tlement, and it is hoped that one sat
isfactory to all concerned will be
speedily effected.
The Index sincerely trusts that it
may be so for the good of the stu
dents and for the honor of the Uni
versity.
A MISSTATEMENT.
The Atlanta Journal and the Eve
ning Herald of late dates contained a
statement to the effect that Brother
Norcross had, from his pulpit, on
Sunday 10th inst., endorsed the open
ing of the Cyclorama on Sunday af
ternoons, and condemned the veto of
Mayor Hemphill.
He requests us to say that there is
not the slightest ground for such a
statement. On the contrary, ho is
opposed to the opening of the show
on .Sunday.
Mr. Win. S. Lilly speaking of the
popular notion of education, in his
work entitled “Shibboleths,” makes
the following remarks on the absence
of the “moral clement,” and of the
failure of mere knowlcgc, literary,
scientific, or aesthetic, as a remedy for
transforming individual or national
character:
“In the popular conception of Ed
ucation, this moral element, this dis
cipline of the will, has no place. I
have described that conception as be
ing “the instruction in many cases
wholly or chiefly directed to the at
tainment, of what Mr. Goschcn calls
“saleable knowledge.” And what is
most singular, from such instruction
ethical results are confidently expect
ed. Ignorance is held to be the root
of all evil. Knowledge—literary,
scientific, apathetic—is exhibited as a
universal remedy or panacea, as a
quickening, regenerating, organizing
power able to transform individual or
national character. All which ap
pears to me gross and irrational sup
erstition. It passes my wit to under
stand how moral improvement is to
be tho outcome of merely intellectu
al Culture, of knowledge, however
wide and exact, of arts or literature
or physics. How can such knowl
edge affect character? It cannot
convert the will from bad to good ...
It leaves you ethically where it
found you. So far as your moral be
ing is concerned, you return from
your sublime expedition just 'what
you were when you set out upon it.
[Such knowledge] may turn
crime into different channels and
render it less easy to detect; it may
make a man inorc decent, but it does
not change his natural propensities
nor bis proneness to gratify them at
the expense of others. Physical
science, literature, art, may refine the
judgment and elevate the taste. But
here their power ends. The utmost
they cando is to administer to an en
lightened selfishness. Knowledge of
them is fresh power, and nothing
else. Its practical effect is to make
the good man more powerful for good,
the bad man more powerful for evil.
And that is all it does or can do.”
To fit boysand girls for “business”
is the uppermost idea pervading
all our systems of education. The
ability to “make money,” is the prin
ciple object to lie accomplished. The
religious element in the character of
the young is almost entirely neg
lected. The result is that the train
ing the State gives to the children in
its public, free schools produces one
sided characters. The intellectual
side is developed while the religious
side is left in the hands of the Devil.
On this point Mr. Lilly writes with
much truth and force. He says:
“But how can the State teach vir
tue, temperance, modesty, sobriety,
parsimony [frugality], justice? How
can it supply that moral element
which is the most vital part of edu
cation ? Is there, as a matter of fact,
any other instrument of ethical cul
ture possible for the mass of man
kind except religion? As I have
said in a previous chapter, I admit,
or rather I strenuously maintain, that
the fundamental doctrines of morali
ty arc independent of all religious
systems. They are necessary and
eternal thrutlis of reason. But so
viewed they are merely intellectual.
They arc diagrams. In order to vivi
fy them, there, needs emotion; there
needs enthusiasm; there needs celes
tial fire. I am not here consider
ing education as it affects men's pros
pects and destines beyond the grave.
I am viewing it from tho standpoint
of this life only. And so viewed, I
say that religion is a sort of center of
gravity of human knowledge. It is
the greatest source of moral authori
ty in this world, because it is, accord
ing] to Kant’s admirable definition,
‘the representation to ourselves of
the moral law as the w ill of God.’
Can morality work upon the world at
large without such a representation ?
Can we banish the vision of the Cre
ator, Witness, and Judge of men
from our schoolrooms and not enfee
ble, yes, emasculate the whole of the
teaching given there ?”
Continuing on the foregoing, The
Ensign well says:
“A momentous problem before us
at this hour is the demand for some
protection against the strong secular
and material spirit and motive in
very much that comes to us in the
name of education. The only cure
is in Christianity, and we must find
some way to till ot«r Intellectual and
industrial and commercial and pro
fessional culture with the light and
life ami sweetness of the teaching of
Jesus Christ.”
'Die only way “to fill our intcllec
ual and industrial and commercial
and professional culture with the
light and life aud sweetness of the
teaching of Jesus,” is to remove the
ban of silence from the tongues and
lips of our teachers, put the Bible
into their hands, and into the hands
of their pupils, and leave them free
to teach religion. This can be done
without hinderance or -'embarrass
ment only iu our denominational
schools. The state cannot do it; it
dare not if it could. Though a Ro
man Catholic Mr. Lilly has spoken
the truth on this subject.—En.
The following poem was found in
the Ensign of March 34th. Speak
ing of it that paper says;
“Hero is au exquisite gem, writ
ten years ago, by some unknown
author, radiant with scientific truth,
delicate sensibility and Christian as
piration. It is called “The Petrified
Fern,” of which the poet sings:
In a valley, centuries ago.
Grew a little fern lent.green and slender,—
Veiuing delicate, and fibres tender.—
Waving, when the wind crept don n so low ;
Rushes tall, aud moss, aud grass grew round
it.
Playful sunbeams darted in and found it.
Hut no foot of man e’er trod that way;
Earth was young and keeping holiday.
Monster fishes swam the silent, main,
Stately forests waved their giant branches,
Mountains hurled their snowy avakiuelu s,
Mammoth creatures stalked across the plain;
Nature reveled iu gr:>ud mysteries.
But the little fern was not of these,
Did not number with the hills aud trees;
Only grew and waved, its sweet, wild way,—
No oue came to note it, day by day.
Earth, one time, nut ou a frolic mood.
Heaved the rocks, and changed the (mighty
motion
Os the deep, strong currents nt the ocean.
Moved the plain, aud shook the haughty
wood,
Crushed the little fern, in soft moist clav,
( overed It, and bid it safe away.
On, the long, long centuries since that day!
Oh. the agony! Oh. life’s bitter ertst!
Mince that useless little fern was lost!
Useless? Ixist.' There came a thoughtful
man.
Searching Nature.s secrets, far and deep ;
i'twui a fissure in a rocky steen
He withdrew a stone, o’er which there ran
Fairy iiencllltigs, a attaint, design,
Velnings, leafage, fibres dear and tine,
And the fern's life lay in every line !
80, I think, God hides some souls away
Hweetly to surprise us, the last day.
Three thoughts suggested by this
beautiful pdbiu.
First, God’s care over His creau
tures, protecting and preserving
them. The little fern packed be
tween the solid rocks, hidden from
the sunlight, out of reach of the hand
of men, was not beyond the gaze of
God’s all-seeing eye nor beyond the
grasp of His omnipotent hand.
“Known unto God are all his works.”
So his eye is upon Ins most obscure,
unseen, and unknown child, aud his
hand outstretched for his preserva-
tion and protection. He is safe, and
some day will be brought forth into
the light, and his hidden beauty _ will
be revealed.
Second, The pressure of the rocks
on the little fern left its outline
perfectly printed. It remained un
changed for ages.
So there is pressure upon us from
those around us who are touching us
every day. Our character and our
influence are leaving their impressions
upon them. Those impressions are
indestructible, and though time may
bury them out of sight, the upheav
als of the last day will bring them to
light as plain and as perfect as they
were the day they were made.
Third, There is, as Joseph Cook
has truly said, “A final permanence
of moral character.”
The character with which we die
wid be ours forever. There was no
change in the picture of the fern
through all the ages it "lay embedded
in the rocks. So with character.
Death forever fixes it. Condition de
pends on character. ’ The character
fixed forever, the condition remains
fixed forever.
Brother, are you just such as you
would like to appear when the rev
elations of the last day bring hidden
things into the light of day ?—Ep.
REV. E. E, FOLK.
The Index editor got a glimpse of
Bro. Folk, editor of the Baptist and
Reflector, at LaGrange, in the
church, on 'Thursday morning, but
much regrets not haying an oppor
tunity to grasp hjs hand and to talk
a little of former days.
Wc were compelled to leave the
church on Thursday before the morn
ing session closed. In the afternoon
duty called us us back to Atlanta.
We hope to meet you Bro. Folk,
on tho fith of May in Atlanta, and
that our old much loved friend, your
father, will come with you.
Then we shall claim a share of
your time and company.
MISSION NOTES.
Rev. E. F. Tatum, Shanghai, Chi
na, gives us some lessons in Foreign
Mission Journal teaching us how the
one hundred new missionaries may
be supported. We shall do well to
study them.—Ed.
“Sending out missionaries by the
hundred is a new subject to us.
What can wc learn from those by
whom
i
. Take the China Inland Mission.
This mission receives workers by the
hundred, and they are supported.
How ?
1. This mission seems to be in fa
vor with God and men. Many pro
miscous contributions are continually
flowing in for the support of its
workers. We are pretty well ac
quainted with the kind of work, ex
cept that ours does uot flow. Wc
have to appeal for what we get.
2. A church undertakes the sup
port of a certain missionary. Sup
pose the church fails to come up with
the support, what then ? Does the
missionary look to the general fund ?
No, he keeps looking to his church.
He waits till the help can and does
come. I know of one missionary
from the Southern Baptist Conven
tion whose support is to come from
an individual church. I know of one
church from which five of the China
Inland missionaries derive their sup
port. This thought is growing among
our pastors and churches, and we
look for “greater things” iu the near
future.
2. The support of many comes
about in this way: Here is an indi
vidual who desires to go to China as
a missionary. A Christian brother,
kinsman or friend, says: “Go, I will
see that you lack no good thing.” And
thus the individual comes to the mis
sion, as it were, with a check tilled
out, signed and pinned on his back.
That good man who holds the rope
at home may go to his reward ; but
he who said: “Lo, lam with you to
the end of the world” never dies.
4. Quite a number partially sup
port themselves. When they give
themselves to the work, they give
their substance. Prudence ’ might
suggest that they save their own
earnings for “hard times” or a rainy
day,” but they do not know that they
are to live to see those times or that
day, but they do know that there is
great present need.
5. There are more than two score
in the mission who come at their own
charges. Not doing business in Chi
na, and thus making a support, but,
as stewards of the Lord, they simply
make this use of what He has en
trusted to them.
Did you know that wc had one of
this class in our mission at Canton ?
Let us hope that she is an earnest of
many more who shall follow. In our
thought and teaching do wc not put
it this way? Some are called to go,
and you “who have means” arc called
to support them. Tho poor man who
happens to have means is shut out of
tire mission field. Wo think these
are able to stay at home. We think
they must stay nt home to help sup
port those who have been sent. Un
der this teaching, some whom the
Ixird calls to the field may be • com
promising with Him and their own
conscience at twenty-five dollars per
year. To such let mo say, “Take
I courage. If the Lord calls you to
j sell all and come to China, hear him.
I His grace is able to make you a hap- (
py man in doing so. The brethren
have no right to hold you back.”
; Here is another suggestion on the
- same line.
A missionary in China says that
t any church society of sixty members
each giving two cents per week,
could preach yearly, through a na
tive preacher, to fifty thousand per
s sons. He knows of five societies who
t have adopted the plan, and working
r together provide a floating chapel
and dispensary, a Christian doctor,
and two native preachers; and dur
' ing last November and December
r they preached in one hundred vil
i lages, and gave medical aid to more
- than one thousand persons. Here is
, an opportunity for doing good that
brings one very near to the work.—
Foreign Missionary Journal.
> In One Lifetime.—At.a mission
i ary meeting recently, the venerable
j Rev. Edmund Worth, of Kennebunk,
Me., stated that he well remembered
' hearing Adonirain Judson preach
• while he was still a student at An-
■ do ver. It seems almost incredible
( that the great development of mod
ern missions lias occurred within the
space of a single lifetime, and yet
1 such is the fact. When Judson was
at Andover, although William Carey
i and his companions had been eigh
teen years at Seramporc, and the
Moravians ami several English so
cieties had small missions in a uum
. ber of heathen countries, the real
growth of the modern missionary
■ movement had not begun. There
■ were probably less than fifty mis
sionaries and only a few hundred
converts in all tlib missions in the
world. Now there are more than
7,000 missionaries and more than
700,000 converts. Sometimes itseems
i as if the progress of the missionary
work is slow; but if one lifetime has
seen such amazing results from the
feeble beginning, what will be tho
growth in eighty years from the
' present mighty movement?
It is indeed wonderful to think of
the work actually accomplished in
missions in a man’s lifetime. And
. when we remember that in this time
nearly all the foundation work of
missions had to be done, and has
been done, we look forward to the
next century of missions with hope
and cheer. Croakers may croak aud
critics criticise, but the Lord’s work
moves on. Blessed are they that
have a part in it.—Foreign Mission
ary Journal.
- - - -
A Contrast.—A brother in Vir- .
ginia writes us as follows:
“One brother, of modeaate means,
in the collection on Sunday for For
eign Fissions, gave five dollars as a
■ to.Goii,ia
TJlTTAUccond little girl. Ono thinks ”'**
’ of the contrast between the heathen ’
estimation of feminine character aud
the Christian.”
A very suggestive contrast this
fact presents. In most heathen
lands the birth of a daughter is an
occasion rather of sorrow than joy,
the little stranger being looked upon
as a burden and a nuisance. And in
not a few instances such are exposed .
to die or are even murdered outright.
It is estimated that not less than,2o,-
000 girl babies are killed or exposed
to die in China every year. How
different it is where he reigns who
< was “born of woman.” The children
and women of Christian lands owe a
deep debt of gratitude to him. Nor
less do the men, whose homes are
blessed by the uplifted lives of Chris
tian wives and the brightened lives of
the little ones.—Foreign Missionary
Journal.
A Friend of Missions.—Rev. G.
W. Hervey, in his excellent “Story
of Baptist Missions,” tells this inci
dent : “One day, as I was searching
in our old family graveyard for cer
tain dates, I passed the marble slab
which had been placed at the head of
my grandmother’s grave. I had not
visited it since I was a wild and
thoughtless boy, and remembered not
a word of the epitaph that had been
cut into it. 1 saw that it so inclined
to one edge that part of the inscrip
tion was buried beneath the sod. I
seized a hoe that was lying near and
began to hack away the turf. After
a little digging, I brought to light
the letter A, and then the word
FRIEND; next OF. Now mv curi
osity was fairly awakened and I eag
erly asked myself, A friend of whom
or what! Presently I exhumed the
word MISSIONSTruIy a noble *
epitaph.
As we have thought, since his
death, of Dr. Basjl Manly, the ques
tion has several tunes arisen—What
more appropriate words could be in
scribed on his tomb, among others,
than these: “A FRIEND OF MIS
SIONS ?” And that means a friend
of God and man; for missions pro
mote, on the one hand, tho glorv of
God, and on the other, tho highest
welfare of men.—Foreign Missionary
Journal.
Reader, would you like to have
• that Epitaph on your tomb ? Are
you a friend of Missions?
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