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4 ©he (Khri&tian I'ndrx j. c. proprietor PAGANISM IN NEW ENGLAND. President William De Witt Hyde, f&ys in the June Forum, “New Eng land to-day is confronted with the danger that the country village will be the first to lapse from vital Chris tianity, that here the English word countryman will repeat the history of its Latin predecessor, and that rusticity will again become synony mous with' godlessness and supersti tion.” The facts given are taken chiefly from the State of Maine, while the conclusion embraces the whole of New England. Here is Mr. Hyde’s summary. “The combined statistics of 15 coun ties show that of 133,145 families, 67,842 are not attendants upon any church. A more serious consideration than than that of attendance is the char acter of the religious privileges af forded in the rural regions. There are no strong, vigorous churches in these communities, uniting the intel ligence, the resources, the society of an entire village and township in up lifting worship>, hearty good-fellow ship, dignified social life, and aggres sive Christian work.” The causes for this state of things he embraces under five heads. They may be summed up as fol lows: A theology which recognizes a far-distant God who takes little no tice of what is going on in this world, extreme individualism, and serinon ihg, instead of gospel preaching, and a desperate straining to be eloquent, by the preachers. Here is the remedy which Mr. Hyde proposes for the arrest of im pending paganism in New England: “'Die only hope lies in the possibility of the broader men in all the denom inations of a town coming together and, in entire disregard of existing denominational lines, forming them selves into the church of Christ in tho town, and calling a minister without reference to his denomina tional affiliation, solely as a leader of men In spiritual life and work.” “Broader men.” Indeed they must be very broad, broad enough to cover any shade of doctrinal differ ence, and church polity. Men who are broan enough for such a place could have no well settled principles, no strong convictions, no living faith, no burning zeal. Such men are not, and can not, be leaders in any thing. Men of clear cut princi ples, of strong convictions, of earnest faith, are men of zeal and enthu siasm. Such men are leader. They infuse their spirit into others, and kindle the tire of enthusiasm in the breasts of all who came under their influence. Such “broad men” as Mr. Hyde describes could be influenced to ac cept such work, lie says, “'Die in creased salary and the larger oppor portunity for usefulness the town the town church would afford would easily call the right man from the denominational churches.'' Hush money would silence their tongues and seal their lips about all doctrinal difference and practical du- I ties, even though pointed out plainly [ by a command of Christ. A figure- | head, a mere dummy, would, indeed, i be a fit person to have charge of ' such a mixed multitude. The writer once saw in Barnum's museum what the “great showman” ■ cklled a “Happy Family." It con sisted of cats and mice, of hawksand j chickens, of owls and sparraws, of , monkeys and parrots, of snakes and ' toads, and such like incongruous ele- I ments. As long as they were well fed the keeper was in sight they let each other alone, and peiirce reign ed. But take away their supplies, and remove the man with the whip, and the cats showed themselves to cats and pounced upon the mice. The hawks went for the chickens, owls for the sparrows, the snakes for the toads, and so on. So it will turn out with Mr- Hyde’s “church of Christ in the town,” composed of all sorts of in congruous clement. As long as there is enough rnonev to keep the poor preacher's mouth shut, and be gives his hearers “a very mild form of religion," there ■would be quiet. Take away these restraints, and denominational dy namite, touched off by the suppress ed heap of truth, would blow the concern to atoms. “They Laughed Him to Scorn.” —They thought they knew much better than he did. Many since have thought so. But they laugh best who laugh last. And Jesus soon showed them how unnecessary was their weeping. PULPIT THEMES. There is a wtde departure, in these days, from the character of the themes that engaged the minds of i Apostolic preachers. Paul, in his first letter to the Cor- I inthians, 1:22-23, says, “The Jews I require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolish ness; But unto those that are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” Again 2:2, he says, “I detrrmined not to know- anything among you, stive Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” In all his preaching at .Jerusalem, at Antiach, on bis mission tours in Asia Minor, in Greece and in Italy, Christ crucified, Christ the risen Saviour, Christ tlie ascended glorified, mediat or, Christ the judge of quick and dead, Christ in all his offices, in all the phases of his character in its re * lation to the salvation of .man, was the one theme that filled his mind, and moved his heart and loosed his i tongue to utter resistless logic, or burning eloquence. " No influence could divert him from this all-im portant, all-absorbing subject. Nei . thcr fear or favor of man could turn him from it. No questions of mere morality, no social questions, no civil or political questions, no matter how important to the temporal well-being I of'men, could take the place of Christ Jin his preaching. Doubtless, as a citizen, at all proper times and places, he made his influence felt against the wrong, and in favor of the right. But when it came to preaching, his only theme was Christ. He well knew that a true believer in Christ, a genuinely con verted man, a man born of God, re newed in the .Spirit of his mind, and an humble follower of Jesus, was not only prepared for the future life, but was better qualified for all the duties growing out of his relations in the present life. He well knew that if men were led to accept Christ, to obey his precepts, and to follow his example, that a cure would be found for all the evils that cursed them in all their social and civil re lations. Governments, laws, courts, and executive officers were needful to hold men in restraint, and to pro tect life and property. This was the business of the officers appointed for the purpose. His duty, as citizen, was to uphold them in the perform ance of their legitimate functions, but, as a preacher, his business was ••to preach Christ and him crucified.” In these days, many preachers al low themselves to be turned aside to questions, which, though they may : involve in certain senses, the welfare jof society, yet do not come within the scope of their duty as j preachers of the gospel. Their bus iness, and their only business, as 1 preachers, is to hold up Christ as the Saviour of sinners. Knowing the terror of the Lord, and constrained by tho love of Christ, their work ■ is, in Christ's stead, to per- i suade men to be reconciled to I ! God. That preacher who allows I anything else to take the place of I I Christ in his preaching, has lost sight ' I of the work whereunto he was called, I i lowers the dignity of his office, and ; throws away an opportunity to save : souls. In one of the 'General Meetings, ; an aged brother, who has been many wars in the service of God, in the ; i church and in Sabbath-school work, I desired information. Said he, are ■ we to put before a class in our Sun day-school a teacher who is not a ■ Baptist or one who does not believe j las we do'? He was of the opinion if ’ such was done he would not teach i our doctrines. If he did teach our doctrines he would not be faithful. He would not be true to his own church. Then it is important that we select teachers who believe as we do. In this connection it is proper to state in some cases there are union Sunday-schools. In other eases the school of one denomination is held in the forenoon and that of the other in the afternoon. It is best to have our schools taught by ‘ those who believe as we do, if there be only enough to make due class. The Harvest is Great hut the Reapers are few. —The field seems ever enlarging. Tho need of work tube done becomes the more einphat , ie, as more work is expended. And I the more laborers go out, the greater seems the necessity for an increase lof laborers. Where once one hun dred would have seemed an army, now tens of thousands seem too , few. THE CHRISTIAN INDEX: THURSDAY, JULY 28. 1892. LYNCHING. If, as the dictionaries say, this is the unlawful killing of a human be ing, usually done by an excited mob, *n haste and anger, then it is certain ly within the range of subjects dis cussed by the religious press, so we make no apology forbringing it be fore our readers at this time, for a lynching quite lately in Louisiana, one in Port Gervis, N. Y., two or more in Tennessee, two in Georgia and the frequent recurrence of these affairs in various parts of our coun try, go to show that the subject is a live one. We remark : 1. Lynching under any and all circumstances is harmful to the pub lic weal and is greatly to be deplor ed. Lynch law i. e., “taking the law into one’s own hands,” is lawlessness, the subversion of all law if it should become general in prac tice, is anarchy ;and beside anarchy, tyranny, autocracy, or any form of law enforced lawfully, is far prefera ble. For the time being, when Bates was rescued from Bedford county jail and hanged by angry, infuriated, lawless neighbors, anarchy ruled su preme. The Sheriff, tlie custodian of the prisoner and guardian of the law, was rudely put aside, the jail was broken, thus insulting the ma jority of the State and trampling all order and equitible rules of action under feet. 'More we see the law less feeling that was dominant, when some one said, “hang the fath er too,” who was in the jail charged with another crime, the crowd as sented, and were hastening to carry out the suggestion, when cooler heads with difficulty prevented it. We know that for one unmention able crime, lynching, by common consent, seems to be everywhere ac cepted as the thing to do, but for even this, it were better for the law to take its course, as it almost always would, for as catching conies before hanging, the rapist could and ought to be kept confined and given a speedy trial and executed. We dis criminate between the action of a mob and the vengeance taken by a husband, brother or father. No law would punish them for taking the life of the demon, but when once caught and imprisoned let the law take its course, by which we do not mean let the delays, the machinations of lawyers, the spiriting away of witnesses, the postponements, take their course. 2. Mob-violence is on the in crease. We have ten lynchings now, when we had one twenty years ago. We will net say that lynching is of daily occurrence in the United States but we are sure we do not exaggerate when we say we average one a week every week in the year. A dozen years ago, a man was lynched in Spartanburg, S. C., for killing a woman under most unjus tifiable circumstances, the country was greatly shocked, all the religious papers discussed, deplored and con demned the act. Now such killings are so common that to write “a lead er” on each one would become tire some and monotonous to the read ers. At first, this mode of punish ment was meted out mostly to black fiends for assaulting white women. Now, ‘tis resorted to for ordinary murder frequently; the moral sense is becoming debased and “served him right,” is often the only remark made when the lynching-bee is an nounced. In the case of Bates of Tcnneesee, he had murdered his wife, was in jail and there should have remained ‘till tried, condemned and hanged. 8. We believe that, in its last analysis, our criminal courts are blamable for this state of things, this incipient anarchy and its in crease. The delays of the law are almost interminable ; when a crimi nal is finally hanged ‘tis after the shock caused by his crime has passed away, when people have forgotten the circumstances and thus the mor al effect of the execution is lost. Tom Wolfolk was finally hanged, but what time elapsed between the seven-fold murder and the infliction of the penalty ! He murdered sev en persons, was it not almost seven years from the killing to the hanging? Had this wretch expiated his crime within a few months, tho moral influ ence would have been very much greater. We have heard it said fre quently, “No man can be hanged while he has money with which to fee attorneys” and we in part believe it. Certainly this must be all wrong, fearfully wrong, that a murderer may indefinitely postpone his own execution by paying his money, but the public, believe this and so in their wrath they make sure work and deal out death in the face of law. The public are losing confidence in the courts. In the case of Woolfolk and those delays and appeals, affirma tions and reaffirmations of sentences etc., etc., a show of statute-law may be brought forward, but it would be hard for attorneys and courts to con vince the outraged sense of the pub lic, that there was any justice in them. When the bank of Glasgow failed every official was convicted and put into the penetentiary, no banks have failed in Scotland since. The anarchists of Chicago were hanged in a body. No more “Hay market riots and murders have been had in Chicago, and if our courts would give prompt trial and speedy execution to criminals, we believe that lynching would be greatly aba ted and finally cease altogether. But ‘till the public confidence is re stored in courts, judges and juries, lynchings will go on, and must go on. 4. The great majority of these lynchings occur in the late slave holding states and the victims are generally black house burners, mur derers and rapists ; this of course is owing to the presence of our large negro population. It is charged that these lynchings indicate a low state of civilization ? We answer, No, and Yes. The negro has not attained much civilization, yet, his tastes are low and his instincts bru tal, occasionally fits of what some are pleased to call “emotional insanity” come over him, he commits demoni acal crimes for which he is prompt ly lynched. The w hite people of the South are not wanting in civilization, nor Chris tian character, we think they will compare favorably with any Anglo- Saxons in the world. But they have a high sense of honor and the highest regard for female charac ter, so they lynch the Wack rapist ; when the cause passes away or the courts mete out prompt punishment these things will change perhaps, and not before. ‘Tis easy, for onr Northern friends at their distance and with but few negroes among them, to read lect ures to us, but these lectures do no good, for we are sure that they mis apprehend the situation; under sim ilar circumstcnces they would do the same, »s has been occasionally shown by the actual facts. They have done a great deal for “the brother in black” and have great in fluence with bjm, let them use ail their influence, in word, speech, ser mon, school-book, newspaper, every way to elevate and Christianize the negro, to give him a moral uplift, above the commission of arson, as sassination, rape, this, we think is the most excellent way for them to help us to put down lynchings—we, as well as they, greatly deplore it and have never in any way given encour ment to it. EASY METHODS, One of the most discouraging ten dencies in the intellectual life of our times is tho popularity of short and easy methods. People imagine that a few weeks spent at a “summer school” is to make up for the neg lect of years, or to condense into one intense effort the work and the growth of years. Schools for our children are selected with reference to the time required to obtain a di ploma. The question asked most frequently about a student is “How long will it Like him to graduate?” Clubs are formed for reading and study, whose real object is to shift the labor of research and of indepen dent thinking upon others. And so on. In the multiplication of appliances for intellectual growth, there is the strangest neglect of intelletual exer tion withoutwhich,growth is impossi ble. There is a moral element, too, in all this, which is generally overlooked. The young man for example, who is willing to appear to be educated when he knows he is not, is schooling him self for further deception. The at tempt to appear familiar with a sub ject which we have only heard dis cussed in lectures, may come from a dishonest purpose to masquerade in il g ;|| 'b not our own, like the ass in the lion's skin, or it may show our utter misconception of the whole meaning and scope of the subject, like Madame De Staci, when she re quested Hegel to explain his system of metaphysics to her in a few words. Our plea, therefore, is for mental honesty, and mental thoroughness, which are at heart the same thing. Nothing can take the place of per sistent, pains-taking toil, in the ac quisition of knowledge, and nothing can sustain this toil but an honest purpose to know. Tho mind can grow only by what it assimilates, and it can strengthen itself only by its own exercise. You might as well at tempt to make the child a man by over-feeding as to produce intellect ual development by the intellectual dissipations which have become so common in “chautauquas,” “sum mer schools,” and the like. A stu dent may spend twelve hours on a problem in mathematics or a diffi cult passage in Greek with immeas urably greater profit to his mental powers than he could listen to half a dozen lectures on as many different subjects in the same length of time. The danger of this tendency is equally apparent in' the so-called study of the Scriptures. Think of the mighty men who knew only one book! The possibilities of achieve ment in the study of the English Bi ble have never yet been exhausted, and yet it has made giants. But it took both time and toil. The secret of Bunyan’s familiarity with the Bi ble and of his insight into its mean ing was twelve years of study in Bedford jail. Now, however, a young man spends two or three years at school, takes a turn at a Y. M. C. A. gathering for a few weeks, and is prepared to discount all that ever went before! There is no ed ucation in this skimming process. It is fatal to genuine scholarsliip and to sound morals. BE AT YOUR PLACE. Did you ever go into a great work shop where many machines were worked by many men? Did you ever go on board a ship where each sailor had to be at his place and do his work to make the ship safely ride the waves to the opposite shore? If so you can readily see how impor tent it is for everyone to be in his place and do his work. If you are a member of the church there is a place for you, during the preaching. You have work to do at the Sunday school. You are needed at the prayer-meeting. Your mite should swell the mission fund. Your sym pathy should lighten the burdens of thespoor. Your help should raise up the fallen. Your happiness and your success depends upon your being in your place and doing your part. Says the Herald : There are thousands of persons in places where they do not belong. The bird’s wing means air, the fish's fin means water, the horse’s hoof means solid ground; and what would happen if the bird tried the water, and the fish tried the air happens when men get out of their natural element. In my watch, the spring cannot exchange places with the wheels, nor the cogs with the pivots. “Stay where I put you!” cries the watchmaker, “ft you want to keep good time!” Now, the world is only a big watch that God wound up, and the seasons are the hands which tell how fast the time i$ going. “Stay where I put you!” says our great Creator. Or, if you prefer, human society is a ship. Some are to go ahead they are the prow. Some are to stay behind "and guide those who lead; they are the helm. Some are to be enthusiastic and carry the flag; they are the masts. Some are to do noth ing but act as a dead weight; they are shovelled in as ballast. Some are to fume and fret and blow; they are the valves. What is true of you as a church member applies in all the walks of life. Be at your place and do your part. Dr. J. G. Gibson was called on at Marietta to give the methods by which he had succeeded in building up the Sunday-school. He said get up a program, notify the superin tendents, pastors, and especially the latter. Push the program. If a speaker was absent, he notified some | one to Lake his place and be ready i when called for. Have the music selected and never have to wait for any part of the program. This gave life and interest. To build up an j interest here you must begin with the pulpit. Get the hearts of the people on fire with love for Christ. Let the people know that God puts them here to do something to glori fy him. Get the church members interested in the Lord Jesus Christ. Show them what they should do with the Gospel. How they should be np doing and working. He has called, ordained and predestined you to good works. Set them know that they are not to live like hogs—eat to live and live to eat. The hog can live this way but God has intended more for man. Wake up the sleep ing church members, and let them get to work for God. “Art Thou Come to Torment vs Before the Time?” —Jesus and his religion are alike an interference with the wicked. They cry out against his interference. It is some times a sight to rejoice over. When the good works of good people are deemed out of place. At the general meeting of one of associations recently, on the board was this question: “Shall we teach our distinctive doctrines in Sunday school?” The brother who opened the discussion was a visitor. Look ing at the board and then at the Moderator, he asked if we do not teach our distinctive doctrines in the Sabbath-school, whose doctrine shall we teach? Still inquisitive he said, shall we preach our distinctive doc trines in our pulpits? If we should, then why should not we teach them in our Sabbath schools? The broth' er considered, as did the audience, the query sufficiently discussed and the answer plain. The subject had prompted in the j mind of another good brother a ques i tion, and he propounded it as fol ■ lows: “If we do not teach our dis ' tinctive doctrines, who will teach , them?” He said he had nothing i further, but simply desired his ques’ | tion answered. A vote as to whether ! an answer should be given taken, . the body unanimously voted yes, we should teach our distinctive doc trines. Sunday School Evangelist, T. C- Boykin at the General Meeting of Noonday Association, at Marietta, opening the discussion of the ques tion, “How to secure the interest of church members in the Sunday School, said he wished he knew how to answer the question. One con clusion he had reached was that some church members would never become interested in the work of the Sabbath School. He thought there were unconverted members scattered through all the churches and these never became interested in any sort of work. One of the | saddest sights to him was to see a father and mother taking no interest in the Sunday School work. The best plan is to make the Sunday School so valuable that parents will love to come and take part. This can be done by pastors taking a lively interest, talking for the school and working for it, and urging its importance. Then a consecrated zealous superintendent can make the school so popular and pleasant and profitable as to compel attendance. Let pastor, superintendent and mem bers all unite and work continually. Rev. 11. Hatcher, discussing the question of “How to secure the in terest of church members in the work of the Sabbath-School thought not enough money was spent. Put your money in the Sunday school and its work, and your heart will go into it, A cheap school on a cheap plan by a cheap superintend ent, will never accomplssh anything. A live superintendent should meet his scholars as they come to school shake hands with them, take their names, learn their place of residence go to see each one. Such an inter est in the scholars would reciprocate an interest by .the pupils and the superintendent could thus induce them to come to school. 'Die Sun day-school should be put into the hands of one consecrated, zealous, active, man and let him run it. There is no use of trying to get some to attend the Sunday-school, and the best thing to do is to go on | and let them alone. Put money in i the work and push it by going out ; and compelling church member and children to come in. Dr. Henry McDonald, in a sermon to the children while considering the temptations that beset them in city life used some very strong language. | Ho said: “If I had the power as I have the will, there should never be a licensed saloon from North to South, from East to West in all this broad land of ours. He followed this declaration with a glowing pic ture of the young man coming from the country with ruddy peach-like cheeks and eyes as clear as the noon- j day sun. In a week the cheeks had changed and the bright eyes were bloodshotten. The boy had started down the road to ruin. Oh, what a picture. Rev. A. C. Dixon, before the Christian Endeavor convention gave utterance to this beautiful expression among other ■ good things. He said: “While New York and Brooklyn are separated by a river of water, they are united by a bridge of iron. The river is mobile and fluctuating; the bridge is stable and permanent. The river, with currents and com merce, is the symbol of unrest; the bridge, poised above it, is the symbol of peace. So with all evangelical christendom. Above the fluctuating issues that separate us, and the noisy questions that distract us, is the iron link of love for ‘Christ and the church,’ which binds us together in peaceful union.” What a man is This? Do the winds have ears, and can the waves hear? They obeyed him, when he spoke to them. What sublime ma jesty was here. He rebuked the winds and the waves, and they obey ed him as the wild tiger and lion obey the command of their mas ter. * “Many Publicans and Sinners Came to him.” —They came to the house and into the room where he was reclining at the meal. They re clined with him and ate with him. He also ate with them. It was all very singular. It would be so now. Preachers find it very hard nowa days to meet with the bad classes, or have the bad classes come into fellowship with them. “Judas Iscariot who Betrayed Him.” —Some terms of reproach nev er die. They are eternal. Foil nearly nineteen hundred years Ju das has been called “the betrayer” of the Lord Jesus. When 1900 cen turies shall have passed, he will still be known as the one who betrayed the son of God. Your life too is be ing written on eternal tablets. He Rose up and Followed Him; —lt was the best day’s work of hits life. Matthew would never have been heard of, if he had not. He is known now all over the Christian world, and men never tire of what he has to say about Jesus whom he followed. Some day he will tell us face to face all about it. • GENERAL. Death has pressed Wake Forest College, sorely, the past month, Hon. L. L. Polk, Hon. Reuben Mc- Brayer and Rev. R. R. Savage, three of the trustees, and Prof. E. G. Beck, all four have died since the com mencement in June. Rev. A. F. Hardy, pastor of High Lands Church, Va., died last week. Rev. D. M. Lennox has resigned the pastorate of Pocome. Church, Md., to take effect in September. Dr. B. 11. Carroll resigned tho presidency of the Texas Convention Board and our Georgian, C. D- Campbell, now of Cleburne, Texas, was elected president. Rev. W. C. Lattimore, San An tonio, Texas, has been elected a “general missionary” for the Texas Mission Board, and has entered up on his work. During the pastorate of Rev. E. E. King, First Church, San Antonio, Texas during two years and four months, 230 members have been added. Rev. W. C. Luther has tendered his resignation as pastor of the Cor sicana, Texas Church, and will take up the Sunday School work to which he has been recently called. Rev. E. T. Sanford has begun his pastoral work at Eureka, Cal. Rev. R. J. Willingham, pastor of the First Church at Memphis visited his sick father in Macon last week’ The Lord is blessing his active work at Memphis, as he has done at everv other place where our good brother haslabored for the Master. Bro. J. A. Brunson, has given up his appointment as missionary in Japan and a full statement is prom ised in the Foreign Mission Journal in August. The Florida Baptist Witness, refer ring to the selection of Bro. L. D.- Geiger, as pastor at Leesburg, Fla., thus speaks : “After a five year’s pastorate, it is certainly gratifying to him to know that he is still the decided choice of every member of his flock. Leesburg has always been a hard field for the Baptists, being a Methodist stronghold, but we are glad to note that our church in that city is now on a solid basis. Bro. Geiger is of our strongest preachers, and continues to grow in favor with all the people. He has just held a very successful meeting with Pastor Bean at Sumterville.” The Chicago University seems without a parallel. Dr. Henson wri ting to the Watchman, says ; “Our voracious young university, like the much abused octopus, is reach ing out in every direction after what it wants, and is gatheringin renown ed professors and university presi dents, many of whose names have been already published in your col umns. Among its latest and most valuable acquisitions is President Thomas C. Chamberlain, of the Uni versity of Wisconsin, who comes to take the chair ofGeology, and whose fame in that department is not only continental but cosmopolitan. We shall probably begin next fall with a faculty of 70 and a student’s roll of 1,500 —a launch unparrelleled, so far as we know, in the history of the world.”