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The Psalmist said, “ When thou with rebukes (lost
correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beaut}
to consume away like a moth ; surely every man it
vanity.” To reply against (rod, and to kick agains;
his purposes, the saints learn by sore experience, is ti
their discomfort, and the utter overthrow of theii
vain hopes and expectations. What, shall worms oi
the dust reply against their Creator? Shall dust and
Vanity dispute with the Almighty ?
4 ‘ Shall the vile race of flesh and blood
Contend with their Creator God!
Shall mortal worms presume to be
More holy, wise, or just than he?
Behold he puts liis trust in none
Os all the spirits round his throne ;
Their natures when compared with his,
Are neither holy, just, nor wise.
But how much meaner things are they
Who spring from dust and dwell in clay ;
Touched by the finger of his wrath,
We faint and perish like the moth.
From night to day, from day to night,
We die by thousands in his sight;
Buried in dust whole nations lie,
Like a forgotten vanity.
Almighty power, to thee we bow; 9
How frail are we, how glorious thou !
No more the sons of earth shall dare,
With an eternal God compare.”
When the saints only have a supcificial view of
things as they present themselves externally and out
wardly relative to the salvation of sinners, and the
prosperity of the Zion of God. and view the church of
Christ surrounded by numerous enemies, they are
often dishearteimd and dismayed like as the servant
of Elisha was when lie saw the city surrounded by a
.host of the enemy with horses and chariots, he ex
claimed “ Alas, my master ! how shall we do ?”
Elisha answered, Fear not, for they that be with us
are more than thev that be with them.” When the
•/
Lord opened the eyes of the young man agreeable to
Elisha’s prayer, lie saw the mountain full of horses
and chariots of lire round about Elisha. 2 Kings vi.
15—17. When the Lord’s dear children have a fait h’s
view of the mountain of the Lord’s house, full of bur
ies and chariots of fire, their disheartened and dis
mayed feelings vanish* for now they see and feel that
God is with his people, and a present help in time of
trouble. The saints can unite and sing,
“ The God we worship now,
Will guide us till we die
Will be our God while sere below,
And ours above the skv.” P.
FEET WASHING.
* ----- -
As the subject of the duty of observing the wash
ing of ear'll other's feet has been brought before mu
re tders, and some have expressed their views relative
in it, we desire that it may be fully and freely dis
cussed, if it can be done in the spirit of brotherly
kindness. But if a hitter censorious spirit must con
vert every discussion into a personal quarrel, it is
beyond our comprehension how anv benefit can re
sult from those who fear the Lord speaking often one
to another. But iho New Testament is clear on tin’s
point. While we are expressly told by our Lord that
offences must come among his people, yet a woe is
pronuneed against that man by whom the offense
coroeth. Hence the Apostle might well warn his
brethren at Corinth, who ha ! become carnal. “ Let
him that thinkefh lie standeth, take lieed lest lie
falll Cur. x. 12.
80UTH Elt N BAPTIST MESSENGER.
IMG O El J/T S,
For N 01. 10, No. G, from March 2. to March 20.
GEORGIA - Jacob Young, $5 00; D. C. Jackson,
2 25; J. A. Maddox, 1 00; j. Herring, 1 00 ; C. D.
Smith 1 ; J II White Esq., 1; J L Pickard 2 ; Elder
Prior Lewis 1,50 ; Elder W W Carroll 1 ; Elder J
W Walker 1 ; l)r N M Stamford 2 ; G 11 Hopkins 2;
Mrs E Cox 2; I B Found 1,50: R Buckner 1,50;
K G Grogan 1; G Barker 1,50; G W Bright i 50;
f M McLeroy 3 ; Win Pattern 2; W Willingham 1;
Eider A Belcher sls ; S I laymans 1 ; J McKenriey
I ; W F E Ogburn 3,50; Joseph Beard 1; Elder G
W Maleom 2: Thus V Miller 1,50: J M Ilaralson
1,20: Elder C Caldwell 2 : Elder I) W Patman 3 ;
VVm A Henderson 2,50: B Piersons 1 ; J M Wil
liams 1: Robert S Foster l ; W 11 Awtrey 1 : N
Bussey Sr. 2 ; Elder James J Davis 2 ; J Young 2
79 45
ALA—James Slmnr.au 1,50; E F Daniel
1.30; W Coleman 1; G J Pruett 1 ; Elder
W M McClendon 1,30; Samuel Smith 1; Mrs
Sarah Buckner 1 : Elder W M Mitchell 1 ;
Wm F 1 vary 1 ; Win J Ponneey 2: II J Hal
le v 1; M MeGintv 2,50; N B Jenkins 2.
17 GO
IND—D Burch 3 ; J Skeeters 20 cents, 3 20
FLA- -Mrs X Clanton (to Aug. 15, 18G0,)
3; J S Russell 3,25;,J Evers 1. G 25
A RK—M Hartley 1 ; Elder D B Almand2;
II Williams 1. 4 00
MISS—W H Moody 4; G C Walters 1; S
Canterbervy 1 ; M M Taukersley 2. $ 00
PA—.l P Shitz 1. * 100
l.<A—J W Norris 3 ; Jesse Sandlin (June 15,
1861.) 2,50. 2 50
MO—J Bridges 1 ; G W Peyton 1. 2 00
-TEXAS—M Bateman 1. 100
N. C—L P Wayne 30 cts. 30
TEXN—ElderWm S Doughety 5, 5 00
OHlO—David Gander 2. * 2 00
Total 133 30
M I SCELLANY.
Patrick Henry.
Three Baptist preachers were brought to trial in
or about 1775, for preaching. The indictment
brought against them was, “ For preaching the gos
pel of the Sm of God,” contrary to the statute in
that case provided, and therefore disturbers of the
peace. The Clerk was reading the indictment, in a
slow and formal manner, and ha pronounced the
crime with emphasis, “ For preaching the gospel of
the Son of God,” when a plain-dressed man dis
mounted from his horse, entered the court house, and
took his seat within the bar. lie was known to the
court and lawyers, but a stranger to the mass of spec
tators who had gathered on that occasion. This was
Patrick Henry, who, on hearing of this prosecution,
had rode some fifty or sixty miles from his residence
in Il.anover county, to volunteer his services in the
defence of the prisoners. He listened to the fur
ther reading of the indictment with marked atten
tion, the first sentence of which that had caught his
car. was, “Fur preaching the gospel of the Son of
God.”
W hen the indictment had been read, and the pros
ecuting attorney bad submitted a few remarks, Pat
rick Henry arose,.stretched out his hand, and receiv
ed the paper, and'then addressed the court:
“ May it please your worships, I think I heard
road by the prosecutor, as I entered this house, the
paper I now hold in my hand. If I have rightly un
derstood, the King’s attorney of this colony, has
framed an indictment for the purpose of arraigning
and punishing, by imprisonment, three inoffensive
1 the bar of this court, for a crime
great magnitude—as disturbers of the peace. May
it please the court wliat did I hear ? Did I hear il
distinctly, or was it a mistake of my own ? Did I
hear an expression, as if a crime, that these men
whom your worships are about to try for a misde
meanor are charged with—what ? and continuing in
a 1 .w, solemn, heavy tone, “For preaching the gos
pel of the Son of God !” Pausing, amidst the most
profound silence, and breathless astonishment of hig
hearers, he slowly waved the paper three times
around his head, then lifting up his hands and eyes
to heaven, with extraordinary and impressive energy,
he exclaimed* “Great God!” The exclamation —th&
action—the burst of feeling from the audience —were
all overpowering. Mr. Henry resumed :
“ May it please your worships: In a day like this,
when truth is about to burst her fetters —when man
kind is about to be raised to claim their natural and
inalienable rights—when the yoke of oppression
which has reached the wilderness of America, and
the unnatural alliance of ecclesiastical and civil pow
er is about to be dissevered—at such a period—when
liberty—liberty of conscience, is about to awake from
her slumbering*, and inquire into the reason of such
charges as 1 find exhibited here in this indictment 1”
Another fearful pause, while the speaker alternately
cast his sharp, piercing eyes on the court and the
prisoners, and resumed :
“If I am hot deceived, according the contents cf
this paper I now hold in my hand, these men are
accused of ‘ preaching the gospel of the Son of God/
‘Great God !’ ” Another long pause, during which
he again waved the indictment over his head, when
a deeper impression was made on the auditory, Re
suming his speech :
“ May it please your worships, There are period*
in the history of man when corruption and depravity
have so long debased the human character, that man
sinks under the weight of the oppressor’s hand, and
becomes his servile —his abject eiave; he licks the
hand that smites him; he bows in passive obedience
to the mandates #f the despot; and in this state of
servility lie receives his fetters of perpetual bondage.
But may it please your worships, such a day ha#
passed away ! From the period w hen our fathers lefi
the land of their nativity for settlement in ths
American wilds, for Liberty —for civil and religious
liberty—for liberty of conscience—to worship their
Creator according to their conceptions of Heaven’s
revealed will; from the moment they placed their
feet on the American continent, and in the deepest
embedded forests sought an asylum from persecution
and tyranny —from that moment despotism was
crushed ; her fetters of darkness were broken, and
Heaven decreed that man should be free—free to
worship God according to the Bible. Were it not f< r
this in vain have been made the efforts and sacrifh es
of the colonists ; in vain were all their sufferings and
bloodshed to subjugate :his new world, if wo, their
offspring, must still be oppressed and persecuted.—
But, may it please your worships, permit me to in
quire once more—for what are these men about to be
tried ? This paper says* ‘ For preaching the g: .‘pel
of the Son of God/ Great God ! For preaching it;o
Savior to Adam’s fallen race!”
After another pause, in ter.es of thunder, ho in*
quired, “ What laws have they violated ?” Then for
the third time, in a slow, dignified manner, he lifted
his eyes to heaven, and waved the indictment around
[ns head. The court and the audience were now
wrought up to the most intense pitch of excitement.
The face of the prosecuting attorney was pale and
ghastly, and he appeared unconscious that 1 is whole
frame was agitated with alarm ; and the judge, in a
tre nub us voice, put an end tothe scene, now b corui) g
extremely painful, by the authoritative c< lnmm o,
“Sheriff, discharge those men!”— Belcher’s 75li
j’ious Denominations ,
47