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ients are et c uraging to unworthy roe. Fight the
good figtit, there is, L have no doubt, a crown of
glory laid iip for you, and not for you only, but for
all those who look and long for His coming; you
ane looking.youi Lord will .come and not tarry, lie
will not disappoint.yout hope, lie is faithful. May
lie grant w hile you are waiting all your appointed
time until your change come, that you may have
patience and resignation to the divine will in ail
things, lie has been with you iri youth and in tlse
s rength is weakness lie will upln Id, when the
tye grows .dim lie is your light, when your
prime -of life, he will not now foisake when your
gfct-ps are Jtotteiing, lean upon Ills Almighty arm.
lie will hold \<wu Jip. A woman may forget-her
sucking child. He never forgets Ills. No good
thing will H>- withhold from you.
You speak of the great comfort mine afforded
you, the L ‘ld he praised for it, if 1 have given a
cup of cohi water to a disciple in the name of a
disciple, I have not lost my re waul. I hope that
this very haM\ and inconsiderate letter, tor 1 hail
no idea when 1 commenced what. 1 should write,
and I have written rapidly what came to my mind,
may be sane! fL-d to yoUr comfort. I have i.o ob
jection to your sending back my other letter, inas
tnu -h as you give me the privilege of (Uibjishing
yours, as all to whom I have showed yours are <le
sirous to see it in print. I send you a stamp, send
it to me, and I will have both published together.
I shad take the liberty of publishing your poetry
i.i the la*’ lener.
Sister Davis is a member t f our church, and we
had the plt-asuie of her chrrslian company last we* k.
I read her your*. Ido not feet Wolthy lior com
petent to communicate with you, arid l am sear
s and that m\ lot g letteis tax Von too much, but shall
at all tunes lake a pleasure to answer yours. May
God hlesswii.h all s-pui ual bjessipgs in heavenly
places in Uni is* J sus. Husband sends love.
YoUr Veiy in wort hi £v.s'e>,
E. A. MONTGOMERY.
Sister N. Dutton.
i—>
Polo, Oglb, C>., Ll, Aug 26. 1860.
Dear Brethren Beebe & Plkjngt.on :—My’
Messenger ha* c* uae ve*y regular up to the 16 h
N all except the 12>h and 13th Numbers. —
Tuo-e two liave, some how, tailed to reach me,
probably owing to the carelessness of some ot the
Post Musters.
I see i the 14 h No., you have, at tire request
of bn>. Miichell, of Ala., republished a letter from
bro. Holloway L. Power, of T* xa, which appear-,
cl in tie Signs, No. 12, on the su j dot Feet
Washing. Tuat was light. 1 agree fully with
bio. Moo,loll in saying, that sulject has been
inves’igated wilh much calmness and brotherly
love through the Messenger, and lias, I hope been
profitable and -eddy ing t. all, w ithout engendeiing
u. jdeasant feeing* li any. 1 am always glad to
read ilie comiuunicaii*>ns ot my hretlueii when
they manifest noihiig but a d*sire to know and
understand ihe iru'h to the mutual liaiiimtiy and
edification of the body of Christ.” And that we
may have aH the hght we ran get on the subject,
from tie various breihr n who have written. I
Would be pleased to Lave you republish in the^
SOUTHERN BAPTIST MESSENGER.
Messenger, the reply of bro. James P. Howe l !, of
Mich., to bro. Power, which appears in the 14th
No. of the Signs. I fully agree with bro. Howell,
and I will say with bro. Mitchell, that “ I hope the
brethren generally will give it a careful reading.”
V\ it h love to all the saints, and a fervent desire
for their mutual upbuilding in the faith and prac
tice of the gospel of the Son of God, 1 subscribe
myself youii in the valley of Aehor.
CLEMENT WEST.
Sparta, Mich., July 2, 1860.
Dear Brother Beebe: —Having to write you
on business, and as tiie Signs of the Times of
June loth having come to hand, and having read
the first piece written bv bro. Power carefully over
and over, and as lie says, “ The above is submit
ted to the consideration of the household of faith,”
I, having a high regard for him, as a writer
and brother, leviewed his aiguments, and examin
ed the “ Holy Sciip!ures,” and compared them to
gether, and must .say that I cannot see that har
mony between his reasons or conclusions
which l have discovered in his other letteis in the
Stgns. Ali ! how true is that saying. “ Great
men aie Hot always wise.” J"b xxxii. 9. With
the best of jVelmgs toward bro. Power, I will look
over bis piece, and “ will not set down aught in
malice?*-’ He says, “and that it (feet washing)
followed immediately after the Lord’s Supper, is to
say the least, b’gl ly probable if not absolutely
certain.” All liis reasoning is based upon this
pa>!d:g ; if it should be wrong, then all his con
elusions are wrong. If it is right, then he upsets
Matt xxvt. 30, aud Mark xiv. 26. who represent
that atVer” “ supper” they sung a “ hymn and went
out into the Mount of Olives;” hut he would
make him s’ay there long enough after he had
endvd his slipper to do and say all that is men
tioned in John xiii. 4, to lhe end of the chapter, all
that is tecoided in the xtv.. xv., xvi. and xvti. chap
ters. Ac cording to John xxi. 25. a reading-man,
as I take him to be, knows that but a small pait
of what Jesus ‘‘‘-said and did” is recorded ; and,
therefore, must Lave taken a long time to have
washed ills disciples* feet, talked to them, and
prayed to his Father, as recorded in those five
chapters ot John.
If we take the ground that John never mentions
i lie “ Lord’s Slipper,” nor even hints at it, nor the
Passovei Slipper, but p esses over the time between
being in the house of S moti the leper, to what is
sdd hi chap, xviii. 1, then all will harmonize.—
Again, he makes John contradict Matt. xxvi. 14—
16, and Mark xiv. 10, 11. Ilow ? If we make
the supper m John xiii. 2, to he the “ Lords Sup
per,” Judas never thought of betraying his Mas
ter, until after his last supper, and did not go to
the II gh Priest to do it until some time after the
supper- ( ee John iii. 26—30;) whereas, Matt,
xxvi. 2, aud M tik xvi. 1, represent that Judas went
** twi days before the Passover and made a bar
gain with the Hgh Priests to betray Christ.—
Again. John xiii. 1. says, “Now, before the feast
of the Passover,” and could not mean at or af.er,
wlien lie says ** before therefore, those who prac
tice feel washing “as a church ordinance,” should
do as the Savior did, and not “immediately af
ter,” test they should be wise above what is written.
Pduf’ref&ns to the Passover feast in 1 Cor. v. 8,
when be says, “Therefore let us keep the feast,
not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of
malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened
bread of sincerity and. truth.” Is (his command
to be obeyed literally or figuratively ? If figura
tively, why did the Aposlle of the Gentiles say,
“Let us keep the feast?” The feast of the Pass
over could not ba kept only by families, and in an
assembled capacity. See Deut. xvi. 5, 6.
What lie says about the “eighth or last day of
the Passover, was equally a holy convocation with
the first day of the feast,” &c,; although according
to Josephus, it is contrary to the Bible.* See Deut.
xvi. 7,8; Exodus xii. 15, 16, 19.
What he says on Page 90, 1. Col. “that John,
in the very close,” <fcc., “on reviewing their wit
ting and finding no recorded testimony,” to the
close of the sentence, to me destroys the idea of
the inspiration of the Scriptures. See J -hn xvi.
13 —ls. In quoting the last clause of John xiii.
8, he has twice used the preposition “iii,” when it
is “ with rr.e.” There is certainly a a fterence be*
tween having a part in a man, and having a part,
will) a man.
My idea an*l wish is that all writers in the Signs
would, in quoting Seiipture, always q mte it pre
cisely as it stands in our version; yet after they
have cited the passage, they may make any te
maiks about how it should he. I can fully j >in
with brothel P.wer and say, “ 1 think my heart’s
desiie and prayer to God is, for the peace, union
and prosperity of Z on. May her watchmen see
eye to eye, and ail her imitates be of one heart
and one mind.”
Ys, let inv voice cease-—let mv tongue cleave
to the roof of my mouth—let my pen he broken
to smash, and my right arm polish, before I will
know ii glv, do or say anything to bring division
among biethien. Yet faithfulness becomes the
house oi Gud. Yuurs to seive, Ji ;.
JAMES P. HOWELL.
— in
Revival.
Randolph Cos. Ala., S j pt. 5, 1860.
Dear Bkeiiiken Editors: —For the first time
l take up my pen to write )ou a few hues to let
v* u know that l receive the Messenger regular,
! and am much pleased with the UocliUie it advo
cates. 1 have lived out my three score years and
lien, and do not feel adequate ur woithy to wiite
‘for the instiuction, or tveu for the comfort of the
! saints. Yet it may be c nufoiTMig to tnein to hear
I that the Lord is manifesting his mighty power and
i goodness in bringing sinueis to the know ledge of
• the truth. At our July meeting when the door of
I the chuich whs opened, it appeared like the Lird
| was hi our midst ; there ca ne nine forwa-d, and
J gave a ielation of the work of gr iceiu their souls, .
1 3 and were r*ce vedjnio the fellowship of Lire church.
I- At our August meeting, w*e received tLveii by ex
p lienee, aud one on confession id filth. So the
Lord has d.ne, and is still doing great thiigs for
us, whereof we aie glad, Lne chinches hi this
sec ion ate generally in a prosperous state. Now
as 1 have wrote more than 1 expected, 1 will close
by subscribing m)s*-lf,
YolU’S iu the bonds of Christian i.fDct on.
JOHN WHITAKER.
139