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The Norcross Advance. PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY SIMMONS, VINCENT & CO. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One copy, one year ...... $2.00 Five copies “ “ S&SO Ten “ « “ ...... $15.00 —ADVERTISING RATES:— Space 1 w 2 wtl in 2 m. 6m, 12 tn 1 inch $10(1 slsols 250 $ 4 50156 00l $lO 00 2 “ 150 2 501 450 7 25110 00 18 00 3 “ 200 3 00! 500 9 00|15 00j 2200 4 “ 250 350 550 11 OOi 18 00 27 00 K col. 3 4)0 425 650 14 001 25 00 35 00 « 550 800 12 50 25 00 40 001 50 00 1 “ 10 00 15 00 15 00 22 <W 62 00; 100 00 Advertisements less than one-iourth of a column to be charged for by the square —for first insertion $1 00 and for each sub sequent insertion 50 cents. Special con tracts ct n be made where short advertise ments are inserted for a longer period than thr e months. One inch snail consti tute a s< lave. Marriage notices and obituaries, er cetding six lines, will be charged for as adverti entente. Personal or abusive communications Will not be inserted at any price. Communications of general or local in terest, under a genuine signature, are respectlully solicited from any source. SIMMONS, VINCENT & CO., Publishers. A THOUGHT. BY FATHER RYAN. The summer rose the sun has flushed With crimson glory, may be sweet— ’Tis sweeter when the leaves are crushed Beneath the winds and tempest feet. The rose that waves upon its tree, In life, sheds perfume all around— More sweet the perfume floats to me - Os roses trampled on the ground. The wavering rose, with every bieath Scents, carelessly, the summer air— The wounded rose bleeds forth in death A sweetness far more rich and rare. It is a truth beyond our ken, And yet a truth that all may read, It is with roses as with men; The sweetest hearts are those tliat bleed. The flower which Bethlehem saw bloom, Out of a heart all full of grace, Dave never forth its full perfume Until the cross became its base. THE MERRY HEART. ’’Tis well to have a merry heart, However short we stay; There's wisdom in a merry heart, Whate’er the world may say; Philosophy may lift its bead, And find out many a flaw ; But give me the philosopher That’s happy with a straw. If life but brings us happiucs-, It brings us, we are told, What’s hard to buy, though rich ones try, With all their heaps of gold; Then laugh away, let others say Whate’er they will of mirth; Who laughs the most may truly boast He’s got the wealth of earth. There's beauty in a merry heart, A moral beauty to >, It shows the heart’s an ho cst heart, That’s paid each man his due, And lent his share of what’s to spare, Despite of wisdom’s fears, And make the checks less sorrow speak, The eye we< p fewer tears. The sun may Mi road itself in cloud, The tempest's wrath begin, It finds a spark to cheer the dark, Its sunlight Is within; Then laugh away, let others say Whate’er they will of mirth ; Who laughs the most may truly boast He’s gut the wealth of earth. Partridges hi Illinois are tame enough to eal from the hand—when properly cooked. A shrewd old Yankee said lie didn’t believe there was any downright cure for laataess tn any man ; “but,” ho added, I’ve known a second wife to hurry it some,” “Gaol Gracious!” exclaimed a grieved chan, as he braced himself against a |x>st in front of a saloon on Washington’s birth dt\y, “can it be possible that that great and good m m Is dead ?” A compositor out west the other day, tamed out an account of a wedding head ed, “Making of Sauer Kraut,” when it should have been “Marriage of Gen Gantz;” when the editor saw the article he burst a patent swear-guage. Truth.-- Speaking truth Is like writing fair, and comes only by practice; it is less a matter of will than of habit; and I doubt If any occasion can be trival which permits the practice and formation of such a habit*—Ruskin. WI II ' ~~~~ I .OVE.—If we once truly love, we love forever. There is no lime in real affections as far is this life is concerned—it has no existence—or, it is an eternity, nothing saved the proved worthies neaa of the ob ject of cur regard can rend the bonds of affect i< n. Homk.—Home is not a naiueiwi a form, nor a routine. It is a spirit, a presence, a priftci]dc. Matrrial a and method will not, and cannot, make It It fttetete it. h muat get light and sweetness from those who inhabit It, from flowers and sun shine, from the aympalhelic natures, which, in tlieir exerviae of sv m pat by can lay aside the tynany of the broom and thr awful duty of endhts* scribbling. What Hora Dio.—lt stole on its pinions of «aow to the bed ot disease; and the sufferer's frown became a smile -t!<e em blem of peace and endurance. It went to the hottM of mmuuing -and from of sorrow there came sweet and cheerful stmgs. It hdd it* hand on the arm of the poor, which was Stretched fort i to the command of unholy impulses ami saved him from diagrwee and ruin. No hope my good broth er! Hare it. Rock it <ui y<u aide,— Wrestle with it, let it not depart; but hope will lead you <»«r it* mountains a< d aMstain thee amid its bilker*. Part with a|l besrdks, but keep th} h-'j'?. Illi: NORCROSS ADVANCE. BY SIMMONS* VINCENT & CO. A LECTURE. DELIVERED AT NORCROSS, GA., ON SABBATH, OCTOBER 26, 1873. —BY JAMES P. SIMMONS, ON — THE DIVINITY AND HUMANITY OF JESUS CHRIST. The question to which attention is now invited is, whether Christ had a human soul ? To answer which it is necessary to inquire into both, his divine and human natures. It is not con tended, so far as I am aware, that he possessed two souls — one di vine and the other human. If he did, were they both taken up to heaven ? and will those who are so fortunate as to get there, see two Christs—one divine and the other human?. Or will the only Christ seen there be but a human soul, which was born of the Virgin Mother with his body —a soul which had no existence before ? These questions meet us right at the threshold of the argument, and should be kept steadily in mind during its continuance. It is my present purpose to prove that the soul of Jesus Christ was a pre-existent Spirit, and not a mere human soul,or Spirit; and that what is said of his humanity, in the Bible, applies alone to his body (which was in every material particular just like ours), and to his condition while occupying his earthly tenement. The Bible furnishes more full, clear and conclusive evidence in support of this proposition than any other book I have read. But, as it seems that some people are unwilling to believe anything, on the authority of that Old Book alone, and require the corrobora ting testimony of a great man, or men, before yielding their assent, I will first give the opinions of a few such men : Dr. (Jill, who has hitherto been considered good authority, at least by Baptists, in his comment on Jude 9th, says: “ Yet Michael the Archangel. By whom is meant, not a created angel, but an incre ated one, the Lord Jesus Christ, as appears from his name, Michael, which signifies who is as God; and who is as God, or like unto Him, but the Son of God, who is equal with God? and from his character a ehangel, or prince of angels; for Christ is the head ol all J rmcipality and power, and from what is elsewhere said of Michael, as that ho is the great Prince, and on the side of the peo ple of God, and to have angels under him and at his command, Dan. 10:21, and 12:1, Rev. 10:7. So Philo, the Jew, calls the most ancient JFortf, first born of God, the archangel.’’ Dr. Adam Clarke, on the same scripture, say : “ Yet Michael the. Archangel t of this personage many things arc spoken in the Jewish writings.’’ * * * So that it seems as if they considered Michael in some sort as those do Christ, who hold the eternal Son Ship of his divine nature.’’ To this view Dr. Clarke offers no ob jection. but further on says: “J/7- chael is the Archangel, find head of all the angelic orders, the devil, great dragon, or Satan, is head of all the diabolical orders.” etc. He then gives the original word, and a translation of it, and adds: “ Hence by this personage, in the Apocalypse, many understand the Lord Jesus.” Air. Benson, on John 17:5, ar gues that Christ pre-existed, and quotes approvingly, .Macknight, who says : “ Besides it should bo remembered that this is not the only passage which speaks of Christ's pre-existence, for the Evangelist John (chap 1:1) rep resents him as existing from all eternity, and making all things. Ami (chap 8.55) ,l C sus himself tells us that he existed before Abraham. And Paul affirms (Phil. 2:6) that before Jesus took the form of a servant, he wa> in the form of God?’ Mathew Henry, in his commen taries on Genesis, says: “The originrl won! which is translated Lord, and printed in small captial letters, in our Bible, is Jehovah. and Jehovah is the great and in communicable name of God, which denotes His having His being of Himself. 1 ' lie also says that the word “ Elohim?' means “a God Of-‘tear, ‘and “Jehovah Elohim*' means “<z God of power and per fection. ” It should be observed also, that in our Bible the word Lord, or Lord. God, when printed in small capital letters, means Jehovah, or God the Father, and the word God, when printed in small Ro man letters, usually, if not always, means God the Son. The term angel of the Lord, also means, the angel ol Jehovah—the Son Jesus Christ. “Angel of the Lord, or the an gel of Jehovah; a title as is sup posed of Jesus Christ, in his ap pearances to the Patriarchs and others, in the Old Testament.” '"The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire, but the same angel called to him out of the bush, and said, I am the God of thy fathers,the God ofAbraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob,” etc. Rel. Enc. “The Jews held this Word, or angel of the Lord, to be the fu ture Messiah, as appears from the writings of their older Rabbins, so that he appears as the Jehovah of all three dispensations, and yet is invariably described as a sepe rate person from the unseen Je hovah, who sends him.” Watson in lb. Smith and Baruum, in their Comprehensive Bible Dictionary, published in 1869, says: “The Rabbinical traditions about Mi chael are very numerous. Many (Luihur, Hengsteugberg, Dr. W. L. Alexander, Prof. Douglass, etc.) maintain that Michael—the Messiah, or Lord Jesus Christ.” Prof. Douglass (in same) com pares the answers of Michael in Jude 9 with those of Christ in Matt. 4 :4, 7,10, and remarks that the opposition of Michael and the devil here “is without a parallel in Scripture, if Michael be a cre ated angel; whereas it is very common opposition indeed if Mi chael be Christ.” Having offered sufficient human evidence, as it is hoped, to prepare the mind to receive with respect .it least, the words of inspiration, 1 now venture to quote a few pas - ’ of •'Scrips nre, to «u.i : ■> t > uiiLmalToh that the Spirit which animated the body of Jesus Christ existed before his fleshly body was born, and would have existed, as before and since, if that body had never existed ; and that his was not a human soul, or spirit. It will not be expected that in one lecture on a subject of this magni tude, all the Scriptures will be cited which bear upon it. I cannot now quote one text in ten of them, but must content myself with call ing attention to a few only of the prophecies as to the Messiah, and then to a few of tho leading pas sages from the New Testament writers. Malachi, tho last of the Old Tes tament j>rophets,says: (3:1) “Be hold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way be fore me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in, be hold, he shall come, sail h the Loi d -of hosts.” And again (4:5) “Behold,! will send you Ely ah the prophet be fore the coming of the great and tlreadful day of, the Lord.” Bee 1 Isa. 40 : 3, John 1 23, Matt. 17 : 10. Now I understand that it was “ the angel of the Lord” (Christ himself),speaking to the prophet— tliat John the Baptist was the “messenger” he was to send —that • by “ the Lord whom ye seek,’’ he 1 meant liiiuself, and by the words j “shall sudd<a\ly come to his tem i pie,” that he. a Spirit, should sud -1 denly come to enter and occupy i the body (“temple”), to be pre ' pared for his use, while he should , Übernacle in the flesh. See 2 Pet. 1 :13. H. Was that a divine or human soul! Our Saviour informed his I disciples that tho prophecy as to the return of Elijah the prophet, as the forerunner of Messiah, was tuitilled in the person of John the Baptist. See Matt. 11: 9to 14,17: 10 to 13, Mark 9:11 to 13. and Luke 1; 17. I understand, also, that the ’ Spirit -known as the Word, angel ■ of the Lord, Michael, etc., entered j and dwelt in tile body prepared ; for him. just as the human spirit of Elijah, the Prophet of Old, en tered and lived again on earth in ! tho body known as John the Bap- ■ list. Christ said; “ Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay ‘ gown that 1 might take it NORCROSS, GA., WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12. 1873. again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” John 10:17,18. He did lay his-life down (his Soul left his body),for three days, and then took it up again—re-en tered his body. Does this look like his soul was human ? That he was no more than a good man? In John 8 : 14, be said to certain Pharisees, “Iknow whence I came and whither I go,.but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.” And in 23, “Ye are from beneath, I am from ’bove; ye are of this world, I iim not of this world.” (Benson remarks, on this same verse, il Lam from above" — “I am from heiven, and sdiall quickly return thither.”) And again, in 29, Christ says: “And he that sent me is svith hath not left for Ido always those thinrs fehaX please him.” And, in 3& he says: “I speak that which I-jjave seen with my Father, and ye,do that which ye have seen with your father.” And in verse 44 he s,aid: “Ye are of your father the .devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” And in 58, “Before Aabrahani was I am.” These quotations prove clearly that Christ came from some other place Jian this—that he was sent here—that Jehovali is, in some sense, his Father, and Satan ours, and that Christ was in existence before the time o#jAbraham. Then was his flk.hilriian Soul, created with and in his pody, or was it a pre-existe>it Spirit ?. If he is to be but one answer can be n to this ques tion, and I believejlikn. Now let us nolife some of his titles and works.,, He is called “ the Angel of the ; Lord”—“ Mes senger of the Mi chael—the Archangel—Messiah— The Word—Son of God—and last ly, Jesus Christ. These are not the terms applied to those posses sed of human sonls. Os his works —jja John 1:1, we read: “In the was the IVnr l l, and the iVUITWIIri God and the Word was Ged.” (Mean ing that the Word was the Son of God.) 3. “All things were made by him,” ect. (That is, this world and all things herein ) 14, “And the Word was made flesh (to oc cupy a body of flesh, or to dwell in the flesh, as elsewhere expressed), and dwelt among us, (and we be held his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of tho Father), full of grace and truth.” Hebrews 1:1 to 4, reads thus: “God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the pi ophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express idi age of his person, and upholding all things by the Word of his power; when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down On the right hand of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheri tance obtained a more excellent name than they.” “ Made the worlds ” —“image of his person,” etc. Hence we learn that the Word—the Son —was in the beginning with God---that by this Word, the Father made all things—And that the same Word, lived in the flesh as we do—That he was flic brightness of the Fath er's glory, and “the express image of his person" that when he had made atonement for our sins he sat down on the rigid hand of the Father on high. If all this be so, the Soul, or Spirit- of Chnsi could not have been human, but must have been divine— divine. “To talk about the hu manity Os Christ, in* a Ipiritnal sense, is at once idle and irrever ent.” War in Heaven, page 295. If tho confession »f faith of any leading branch of the Christian Church adopts, or favors the theo ry that the Soul of our blessed Redeemer was humin. I am not aware of it. Be this however, as it may with others, the articles of faith adopt ed by the Baptist Church, (to which I belong.) contains in such heresy. Our fourth art.de read" thus: “ Os the ir ry of Si’r iti<>u. That the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace, through theme diatiorial office of the Son of God, who took upon him * nature yet without «in.” etc. Here we have in substance, Phil 2 : 6,7, 8, “who being in the form of God, thought it not rob bery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,and took upon him the form of a ser vant, and was made in the like ness of men ; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Note the agreement—“being in the /bryn of God-—"- '■'dook upon him the form of a servant—” “and ' was made in the likeness of men.” ! He changed h s form from what it had been, to that of men. Now, was it his spiritual nature, or his | habitation—his personal nature ; and appearance that he changed? The answer is easy, he laid aside, for the time, his spiritual body and “ took upoii iiim o,ur niUure”—• a jfliyncal body like ours, “yet without sin,” as expressed in that article of faith and by St. Paul. If his soul had been human as ours, he too would have been a sinner; for of such are all men. It is the soul, not the body that sins. His spirit being eternal, as well as pure and hoi ', he was free from sin, while here in the form of a nnn, as well as before and since. The devil tried to tempt him to sin, as he does men, but utterly failed, “Get thee be hind me Satan,” replied the Son of God ; but we who are but poor fallen human souls, are led cap tive by the devil at his will. To free us from such captivity was the kind oflke. of our Savior. Is it not ungrateful, ii reverent, im pious to say that one who proved himself a God, by his works, per form das our mediator,Re J com el and only hope for salvavation pos sessed but a human sou) ? If that were true, lie would have been but a good man. Attention is invited, in this con nection, to John 17: It does seem to me, tliat a careful reading of that chapter alone, could not fail to satisfy any one who believes in the Bible and really desires to ..know the tradh, as to Hie prtuixLs.- tence ol Can st —his purely oivine nature, and of the personal rela tions existing between the Fa . (her an 1 S >n, as well as of each to our fallen race. John 17:1, “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said : Father the hour is come; glorify thytSon, that thy Son also may glorify thee.” 4, “1 have glorified them on the earth ; 1 have finished the work which thou g ivest me to do, 5. Ami now, () Father, glorify thou me wit Ii thine own self, with the glory which Z had with thee before the world was." 11; “Holy Father, keep through thine own name, ! those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are." ISj “As thou hast sent me into the world,’ even so have I also sent them info tho world,” (What are we to understand as referred to and inlended here? The Father sent the Son from heaven here, where did the Son send us from, into this world?) 22, “And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given them ; that they may be one, even as we arc one.” 23; “I in them and thou in me, that they m ty be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast s-'nt me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.” Then tho Father has, at some time, loved us as he loved his only Son. When was that ? We are gravely told that it was before either our spirits, or our bodies were brought into being *. It is proposed, in conclusion to not ice, very briefly a class of texts which are relied upon by those who insist that the sou! of Christ was human, and descended from ; his parent-, (as well as that the souls of men descend from theirs; I as held by the same school of: theorists). “And the Lord appeared unto I Abraham, and said, unto thy seed will 1 give this land,” Gen. 12: 7. i and 35: 11.12; “And God said unto I him (Jacob), I am God Almighty; i be fruitful and multiply: a nation i and a company ol nations shall be •>i thee, and Kings shall come , of thy loins. And the land which i I gave Abraham and Isaac.to lhee ! I will give it. and to thy as- ! tor thee will I give the land.” . And air tin :“The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; of the fruit of thy body will I sit upon my throne.” I’s. 132: 11. The Onlv argument proposud. to VOL. I.—NO- 20 show that the terms '‘'■seed” — “out of thy loins”—“tho fruit of thy body” etc., refers to the bodies and not souls to the eternal Spirit, is to quote what the apos tles said of them. Os King David St. Peter said : “Therefore being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, t at of the fruit of his loins, ac cording to the flesh, he would raise up Uhiist to sit upon his throne.” ‘ Acts, 2: 30 ; St. Paul says : “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, which was made of the SEED OF DAVID ACCORDING TO THE flesh.' Rom. 1: 3.* Paul con'd not have used the words, “which was made of the seed of I’avki,” as applicable to the Soul of Christ, by whom the world was made, as he elsewhei"? said himself. But I must close. ‘-What shall we then say that Abraham, our Father, as per taining to the flesh, hftth found.” Rom. 4: 1. “Foy 1 could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsm n according to the flesh.” Rom. 9:3. Those wbo wish to know the truth of this vital qn stion are commended to “Search the Scriptures. ” They are all on one side of this, and all kindred subjects of dis putation. And from such search, lam sat isfied that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and that he was the son of man—and yet, that there was no mixture of the di vine and hum tn natures in him, but that his So: 1 was purely divine, and his body was strictly human. HEATING SICK ROOMS. Where the entire dwelling is heated by a furnace, or by steam, it will piobably be unnecessary to have other means of warm ing the sick-room; but the fire-plac ■ should be a ways open, and kept ready for a wood or a coil fire whenever the patient shall express a desire for one. The, fiie plae.es are excellent ventillating flues even without a fire, but are nearly perfect when supplied with a wood fire, the brisk blaze of which creates a strong ascending cur rent, and continually carries off the ever accumulating exhalations of the sick-i om. If the e is no fire place, a window open ed a s'lort distance from the bottom, in th? room in which the patient is lying, and one let down from the top in the other large room, with the doors opened between the two, will form an effectual draught during any but the warm days . f summer, and will not be too strong for the most deli cate patient, who is protected from the d - rejet daught by the higu head-board of the In cold wcath r the window opened from I the bottom wi 1 often be found sufficient. On th? very cold days we may trust to an entire change of air several times each day, effected by raising all the windows for a few moments at a time, during which the patient must be thoroughly protected by ■ extra blankets, and a shawl about the head. If stoves aie the only means of heating the apartments, a “perpetual burner” (coal) may b iusid in one room to keep both at an even temperature during day and night; but the sleeping room should be provided with a wood stove, the brisk blaze in this answering to some extent the purpose of a fire in an open lire place. Many lives have been cut short by exag g rated notions in regard to frosh air. Air must be pure, but it sh uld be warm. To effect, there should be, <iay and night, a i Steady b it g ntle heat in the room of an invalid, accompanied by an equally steady and g.-ntle current of fresh air.—Scribnei’s Magazine. Man proposes, but woman very often re jects him. “The power behind the throne”—the i foot that kicks you down stairs. The grand essentials to happines are ; something to do, something to love and something to hope for. # j It is said that a little son of a minister in | this city a few weeks ago. interrupted the i sermon of his father by asking, “Pa ain’t : you done putty soon !” Virtu? produces beauty, vice deformity. I Virtue prolongs life, vice hastens death.! It s moral cleanliness which is next to 1 go lliness, not a washed and perfumed ! skin. Turn rtter a new leaf! Ah those new j leaves! If half of them were turned that i are talked about, what a gigantic volume j w uld they form in the life of every one of ■ us. A California man tied one end of a lariat i around his waist and lassoed a cow * ith the other. He thought he bad the cow, | but at the end of the first half mile he i Ixgan to suspect the cow had him. “Do?b your arm pain yon asked a lady > of a g -ntleman who in a mixed assembly, I had thrown his arm across tne back of her ! chair and touched her neck. “No, Miss, , it don t; rut why do you ask t “I noticed that it was out of its place, sir, that’s all.” ■ The arm was removed. A worthy old lady offers the follow ing advice to girls : “wiaawver a fel'ow - pops the question, don’t blush and stare at ' your foot. Just throw your arms around his neck, look him full in the face, and common -e talking about the furniture.” Ferguraon says he always gets mad when i he goes along a street about nine o’lcock at sight, and passing a shaded porch where a young man is bidding his beloved a good night; bears the girl exclaim in a L u>! whisp r. “Oh, stop, you W&BK OF EVERY DESCRIPTION Promptly and Neatly Executed at THE ADVANCE JOB OFFICE, At Reasonable Prices. GIVE US A CALL. PROSPECTUS. T II E NORCROSS ADVANCE —AND— CHRISTIAN UNION, PUBLISHED EVERY WKDNDSDAY At Norcross, Georgia, I BY SIMMONS, VINCENT & CO. —. o — TER MS: One copy one year $ 2 00 One copy six months ] 00 One copy three months 50 I o clubs of five one year,......... 8 50 To clubs of ten one year 15 00 To Ministers of the gospel half price. b THE ADVANCE Is designed to promote al) the great interests of our readers especially, and ot our country and race generally. To do that we promise to give them each week the most important news, both Foreign and Domestic ; the Market Re ports and Atlanta Prices Current ; the Legal Sales of Gwinnett and a few other counties,etc., and such Literary,Scientific, Sel'tglou s^-eading matter as we may from time to time think most interesting and profitable. In Politics the ADVAXt E will be independent; but it will not be partisan, nor do injustice to any party, 01 indi vidual, knowingly. And. as we lion cstly believe, that the first and chief care of all Christians should be to defend our holy religion against the wiles of Satan— his hosts and tneir arms, we will dimdmrge this sacred duty, as best we can, under the guidance of Him who is able to direct and keep us in the way of truth. We will also studiously avoid giving cause of otlense to any professed Christian on account of difference of opinion, and will not, through this medium, attempt to build up any one branch of the Church more than others, nor to injure any one ot them. OUR PLATFORM. We believe that there is a per sonal God—who created and over rules all things—that Jesus Christ is His Son and our Savior, and that (he Holy Ghost is His messenger and our instructor. That the Bible was written by inspiration of God —is true—and the only safe foundation for Christian faith and practice. That the soul is immortal—that there will be a resurrection of the dead and final judgment, and that the punishment of the unre deemed will be eternal. And will insist, that all who agree in these fundamental propo sitions,and seek salvation through Christ, constitute his Church, and should all unite and co-operate with Him, and each other, in the sacred work of redemption, as an affectionate family of brothers and sisters. James P. Simmons, I. U. Vincent, John Ri.ats,