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Many good and strong things were said in be half of MISSIONS During the Session of the Southern Baptist Convention. Subscribe to and read the Christian Index, if you would keep informed. ESTABLISHED 1821. ©tie Christian Index Published Every Thursday at STH S. Broad Street, Atlanta. Ga. j. c. McMichael, proprietor. Organ of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia. __ Subscription Price : One copy, one year $ 2.00 One copy, six months 1-00 One 6opy ( three months 50 Obituaries.—One hundred words free of charge. For each extra word, ono cent per word, cash with copy. To COBititsroNDKNTS.—Do not use abrovia tions; lx' extra careful in writ ing proper names; write with ink, on one side of paper; Do not write copy intended for the editor and busi ness items on same sheet. Leave off personal ities; condense. Business.—Write all names, and post offices distinctly. In ordering a change give the' old as well as the now address. The date of label indicates the time your subscription expires. If you do not wish it continued, order it stoo ped a week before. We consider each sub scriber permanent, until lie orders his paper discontinued. When you order it stopped pay up to date. . Remittances by check preferred; or regis tered letter, money order, postal note. Can there be an acceptable prayei; to God which does not involve the provision, expressly or by implica tion, “thy will be done”? There are people who think that their attendance upon a preacher’s ministry is a compliment to him, and their withdrawal of such patronage a disaster to him. After all our multiplied organi zations and appliances, we have con stant need for the divine guidance and help in church work. “Unless the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it”. He is indeed a happy pastor who can strike the “golden mean” be twixt pulpit preparation and pasto ral duties. It is not unlikely* that much of the demand for pastoral vis iting has no really religious fuonda tion. The readiness with which unbeliev ers pick up qew and absurd beliefs about religion proves that their diffi culty is not ont of belief so much as it is of morals. He who earnestly desires to do the will of God “shall know of thq doctrine”. finely says r “The rnosi comprehensive end of life is, the pos session of the noblest personality.” This is higher than wealth, or pow er, or enjoyment; and it is attained only by “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father.” It is no business of the churches to furnish amusement for young peo ple nor for any other people. Reli gion is not a funny thing, nor is it the chief aim in life be be amused. People who are full of the joy of ' salvation do not need worldly dissi pations. There is no sound reason why a Christian man should set up one I standard of piety for himself and an other for his pastor. A deacon or other member of a church who tolerates dancing and card parties in his house can show no good reason for these things which his pastor can not also show. The power of an ideal to stimulate our effort is proportionate to its prac ticability and the desirableness of what it represents. When our Lord said “Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect”, he gave an ideal toward which we may make real forgivness, and which ever increases in power as we w’ork toward it. In this centennial of missions it is surely appropriate for every Chris tian to make a special thank-offering for the purpose of sending the gospel to the ends of the earth. And that offering ought to be so large as to involve some real self-denial. If it be that, rich and poor alike will give much more than they have ever done before. We hear a deal about the evils of ambition and greed from time to time, and without doubt both may become inordinate and result in evil. But is it not probable that the num ber of those who waste their lives in “inglorious ease”, even in our own complex civilization, is far greater than that of those who are wrecked upon the shoals of covetousness and ambition? The joy of salvation is assential to the best work for our Lord. The happy, joyous Christian life is a liv ing commentary upon the truth and power of the gospel. So the Psalm ist prayed Restore unto mo the joy of thy salvation; then shall I teach transgressors thy ways aud sinners flic (tljristian shall be converted unto thee. “And the apostle Paul wrote the Philippi ans, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say. rejoice. The N orthern Presbyterian Church the past year did not ignore the ordinance of baptism. The offi cial statistics, show that during the year ending April 30th more infants were baptized into that church than adults. The adults baptised were 20.859. and the infants 25.762. The figures also show that nearly this number have been baptised every year during the past, six years, the lowest number any year during that time being 23.469. What an exceedingly boastful thing the so-called higher criticism is, to bo sure! In this it is in marked contrast with good learning which is always modest. These critics as sume certain limitations for God and then proceed to try the current and well-established interpretations of scripture, as well as the whole matter its authority and genuineness, by their own canons. This they are at liberty to do if they wish, but they ought in all conscience to cease call ing it “scientific”. A young lady, at Asbury Park, N. J., the other day, appeared on the streets, in a ball-room dress.” She was arrested by order of a mag istrate, who sharply rebuked her for the immodesty of her attire. Now, w T e are profoundly aware that mas culine ineptness on all questions of feminine apparel is too obvious for denial and too inveterate for cure. But we are willing to risk a fresh exposure of it in the present case, in order to say : Alas for this young lady if she could gain her own con sent to wear in a ball-room any dress which worn elsewhere would justify a charge of immodesty against her ! Alas for her ; aud for all others of her like ; and for the ball-rooms where the wearing of such dresses escapes reproof I “T’-.o f’.iJzsLS-ger Exiles in 'Geor gia” furnish Rev. Jno. F. Hurst, I). D., materials for an interesting arti cle in the August “Harpers.” We gather from it that among the Bap tist families in Effingham county to day, the Rohus, Dashers, Waldhaurs, Wisenbakers and Bergsteiners are descendants from these exiles. This is an honorable lineage, the more es pecially as it remounts to the Wal denses. How many other Baptist families in that portion of the state share it? We should be glad of any facts -with regard to the histori cal relations between the Salzsbur gers aud our Baptist fathers. A household or neighborhood tradition may linger here and there on the verge of extinction, and we should take no little pleasure in putting it on record in our columns before it sinks irrecoverably into the vortex of “dumb forgetfulness.” Who of our brethren can or will gratify these wishes ? One of the literary papers of New York imputes “bigotry” to Rev. Ar thur Ritchie, an Episcopal priest in that city, because he will not open his church choir to Jewish singers. We wmuld think the charge just, if the exclusion rested on the simple fact of Hebrew blood in the veins without regard to personal religious faith. But its real ground is the far deeper and more momentous fact that the mind and heart have not been purged from the old He brew unbelief and blasphemy. This puts up, as it seems to us, a barrier that ought to be unsurmountable. How can the love that adores Christ as Divine and trusts Christ as Re deeming, give over the service of public song which, in ideal, is always and only that love’s worship of this Redeeming, Divine Christ, to men and women blinded and hardened in spirit by the Christ-renouncing, Christ-crucifying creed of their fath ers! To our judgment, such a course would savor of impiety and mockery ; so obviously too, that no one could have conceived the idea of its permissibility but for the gen eral prevalence of looseness concern ing the relation of the choir to the spirituality of the church. There ought to be an intelligent Christian belief and a sound Chris tian experience among the qualities demanded for admission into any choir that is to be itself accepted as Christian and to render Christian worship. ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. AUGUST 18, 1892. The Index is not a political paper and very rarely deals with purely political questions. The Index is interested in good goverment and honest legislation. Now while men are being selected for office, from the Presidency down partyisan feel ing should not take place of principle. Give us men of principle in all the walks of life. Give us especially men of principle, .in our rulers and law-makers. The Senate by a vote of 28 to 26 refused to allow the sale of liquor on the grounds, at the Worlds Fair. This is supposed to be the honest vote of that body. The management of the fail' having been offered $600,000 for the privilege of dealing out liquor on the grounds, obtained a second vote, which revers ed the decision, and declared that as, important and dignified body as the Senate does not always vote from principle. Give us men of principle as rulers and law-makers. It is the opinion of the world that Ministers of the Gospel only pay at tention to calls by churches where a better field and larger salary is of fered. This is not always the case by a great deal. We have known several cases, where larger salaries were offered and the call rejected. The question of money was not the ruling consideration. It was the de sire in the heart to best serve the Lord. Rev. T. B. Meyer, of London is one of such examples. It is really refreshing to read his words. He decided to accept the call to the pas torate of Christs church, recently va cated by Rev. Newman Hall, D. D. and has bidden farewell to Regent Park. Read these words, see in them the spirit that is not prompted by salary or worldly glory. He says: “I have often questioned whether I was acting consistently with my deepest principles, to be officiating as the minister of an influential and successful church, drawing a larsje salary, and surrounded by every sign of success, and welcomed in all parts I's pie count*,’-w a eudwr, whilst the great masses of the people were living in sin and need in the more densely-populated districts of London. An opportunity is now presented me of fulfilling a long cherished purpose, and 1 want to engage in it with the feeling that you freely give me up to it, and yield me your sympathy and your prayers.” ASKED AND ANSWERED. C. E. W. DOBBS, D. D. Who are the “Stundists,” and why are they persecuted in Russia? l. s. F. The “Stundists” are Russian Christians who protest against the established church of that empire. That church is the “Orthodox Orien tial or Greek church.” More than three-fourths of the entire popula tion belong to it. The Russian law declares that “all people living in Russia may worship God according to the laws and faith of their ances tors.” At the same time it is or dained: “No Christian can change his religion for any other than the Russian church, nor can a non- Christian embrace any other form of Christianity, and any apostacy from the state church is punished by sev ere penalties,” These quotations are from an article prepared for the Schaff-llerzog Encyclopedia by a gentleman who was a priest in the Russian church, and may be consid ered authortative. Another article in the same work prepared by Dr. P. J. Popoff, whose very name is suggestive of prejudice, says that “the sect of the Stundists is of recent origin, it became known only in 1860. The Stundists strive to get rid of the authority both of the State and the Church. They hold that every body is free to understood the Bible in his or her way. So far they have come to those conclusions, —the priestly hierarchy is invalid, there is no sense in the adoration of the cross and holy images, of the seven sacraments only baptism and com munion are to be retained.” "With the exception of the doubtless false charge of civil anarchy, their position will receive the general endorsement of Protestants everywhere. In a recent article in Harper’s Magazine, Mr. Poultney Bigelow gives some very interesting facts concerning these Russian “heretics.” Accord ing to him and others the name Stundists is derived from the Ger man stunde, an hour, referring to the length of the usual service of the sects. This seems rather fanci ful, but may be true. As to the character of these persecuted Chris tians, Mr. Bigelow has a very favora ble word: “Twenty years ago there w’ere known to be about 1,000 Stundists in all Russia. To-day there are probably 250,000, although it is im possible to bo certain on such a point. The bulk of them are scatter ed between the Black Sea and Poland; though their puritan doc trine finds an echo in every province of the empire. They are a vital Christian force, and are doing vast ly more to revolutionize Russia than the nihilists. They are spreading popular education amongst the class that needs it most, ami are starting inquiry in the minds of the people whose fathers never questioned the divinity of the Czar.Thc Russian gov ernment could afford to ignore these people for many years, especially as the police reported them as uniform ly industrious, honest, sober and prompt in the payment of taxes. The Church, however,had to protect itself, for Stundists held one doctrine that could never bo forgiven-donial of Or thodoxy. The government is fighting the Stundists aud Skoptzi with the same well-worn weapons of old fash ioned persecution, and no one who knows Russia need bo surprised that Protestantism is making eqormous strides in consequence. While on this subject it may be in teresting to refer to a recent book by Rev. Ur. Harmann Dalton of Berlin. For more than a geueration he has lived in Russia as pastor of the leading reformed church in St. Petersburg, and in his oflicial capacity and by his many journeys has with his own eyes seen and with his own ears heard that whereof he speaks. His description of the spir itual condition of the Russian Ortho dox church is a sad one. One of the surprises of the book is the statistics given of the religious Dissenters, the “Rascol” or Schism, a they are ofli usifllly Urn rvl. «N»u» that fully fourteen or fifteen million Christian subjects in European Rus sia are Nonconformists, so that nearly one-third of the empire are oppo nents of the State Church. The “Stundists,” the best and most evan gelical of the native Dissenters, he places at two million. These figures are in advance of those furnished by Zoeckler and other statisticians ; but Dalton has had access to the best of sources. These figures make it plain why the authorities of State and Church so bitterly persecute Dissen ters at present. The Russians are beginning to think, and the attempt to seal the Empire hermetically to progressive thought from within and and without is proving a dismal, or rather a fortunate, failure. Here is an anonymous postal card, on which is scrawled this question: “Why did Christ choose Judas as ono of his disciples if he knew he was a bad man and a thief?” Though it is against the rule to answer in quiries from anonymous correspon dents, we will in this instance over look the rule. The answer is as short as easy. “We don’t know.” In fact, a good many brethren are given to asking questions about which wo suppose the angels of heaven know little or nothing. They are mere questions of curiosity and spec ulation, w hich have no relation to our duty to God or man. An Alabama subscriber writes to ask “what proportion of the world is Christian?” There are no positively reliable statistics at hand, but Whit aker’s Church Almanac gives the fol lowing figures: THE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD. Buddhists 483,000,000, Christians 371,000,000, Hindoos 139,000,000 Mohammedans 103,500,000, Jews 8,- 000,000, Fetichism (aboriginal tribes of Africa and America) 189,000,000, Population under Roman Catholic governments 180,787,905, Popula tion under Greek Church govern ment, 96,101,891, Population under Protestant government, 408,569,612. In 1700 the numbers respectively were 90,000,000, 83,000,000 and 32,- 000,000. • Will you please urge preachers to speak more distinctly. Ask them to stop loud declamation and sing-song, and just talk to us. I frequently miss the moaning of what our pas tor says simply because ho rants and tears. a sufferer. The dear brother has our profound sympathy. But what can the Index do? The preachers who need the above rebuke are probably not num bered among our subscribers and nothing we could say w r ould reach them. But seriously our brother has called attention to what is of great importance. All preaching should be done as effectively as possible, and every minister should conscien tiously strive to acquire a natural and good delivery. Just here our eye falls on this paragraph which is too good to be lost: It is rather unpleasant says the Boston Transcript, to hear a public speaker remark, “My friends, ur, I wish to say a few words—ur, on this occasion—ur.” But then it should be remembered that to ur is hu man. In your issue of 14th July under the caption “Asked and Answered,” there appears this question: “What proof have we that the apostles were ever baptized?” In addition to the one then given allow us to suggest another, viz., “Christ before entering upon His ministry submitted to bap tism, hence, it being a qualification for a Gospel minister, He would not have commissioned anyone to preach who lacked it. j. s. freeman. Certainly, but the trouble is that your argument assumes baptism as the necessary qualification for a gos pel minister, which is not admitted by the gentleman propounding the inquiry answered in this column. Written for The Index. OMNIBUS LETTER. It is an easy thing to make prom ises but not always easy to fulfill them. I have realized this in the one made you this Spring, I thought then I would have furnished you a news letter from Florida, long before this. Daily papers and telegraphs take all the starch out of a man’s good intentions very often, and spoil a good letter in the mind, so quickly it almost makes one’s head swim. .This ha Ikh i liift V-R.J- lor the last three mbnths. Our rainy season is delaying its appearance in portions of our State, giving us some very warm days. Occasional showers refresh every thing and keep us in good spirits, but a regular season of summer rains would change the thermometer and make the air cool and balmy as the mountain breezes of the North. Our nights, however warm the days may be, are delightful, giving re freshing slumber to weary toiler, or the lounging drone. The orange trees are thrifty and the crops of fruit promises a hand some return to the owners next fall. The March freeze and the drought which followed has reduced the crop of the State to about one-half of what it was last year. I have trav eled over a large portion of the or ange growing section, making inqui ries of those who ought to be inform ed in their section, and the estimate I have been able to make is as above stated. The vegetable crop in many sec tions was almost an entire failure in consequence of the late cold and drought in the Spring. Some more favored portions did well, and the growers received handsome returns for their labor. The religious condition of the State is fair. I gather this from my observation, and reports in our State paper. My estimate, however, is more largely based upon the finan cial reports of the Corresponding Secretary to our State Board of Missions. Notwithstanding the fi nancial depression existing through out the State, there has been no de cline in the mission collections of our churches. Some ofthem are ex ceeding their gifts of other years. I can say, the mission work of the State is in a healthy condition. We have several pastorless churches, looking around for pastors, Lake City, Palatka, DeLand, and Arcadia, want indershepherds. The Ocala church has done a wise thing in calling Rev. L. D. Geiger, of Lees burg, to its pastorate. Bro. Geiger is one of our strongest men, and is steadily growing in pulpit power. If he accepts the call to Ocala, the Leesburg church will bo bereaved. They lose the best pastor they have ever had, and his place will be hard to fill. The Orlanda church extended a hearty aud unanimous call to Rev. M. D. Early, of Memphis, Tenn., and are in suspense as to his acceptance. We hope to receive a favorable re sponse, for he and his noble wife are needed in Florida. The Citra church has called a Kentucky brother, whose name' I have forgotten. He will enter upon his pastorate the first of Octobei' next. These contri butions to the Floridra ministry will strengthen our force very greatly. We have suffered heavy loss in the death of 1 lev. Paul Willis, which occurred on the 2nd of July. His name is familiar to the readers of the Index. Bro. Willis was one of our rising ministers. A good preach er and laborious pastor, he was emi nently successful in building up his churches, both numerically and spir itually. lie fell a victim to La Grippe in the very meridian of life. Our W’hole State is bereft by his removal. The DeLand church as well as the State has suffered loss in the remov al to another State, of its recent pas tor, Rev. John McKinney. He did a noble work at DeLand, and though in the State but a few years, he had won a warm place in the hearts of all, by his active zeal in all our State work. Wo could illy spare him. The Centennial work is enlisting the sympathies of our brethren, and is proving a fine educator of our churches in missions. We are en deavoring to enlist all bur pastors, and where we have succeeded in this, there will be but little difficulty in enlisting the churches. More at another time. N. A. Bailey. Orlando, Fla., Aug. 4, 1892. PEN-DROPPINGS. BY. 1.. L. V. It is never very easy for the Chris tian to live up to the standard pres cribed irf the New Testament. Even with those in whom evil tendencies are weakest, it required no slight ef fort of will, to keep thought, tongue and hand all in. such subjection that the outer life will appear correct. There are temperaments which make good living -exceedingly viitliculu Then! are timtes tod) when the diffi culties in the way of practicing the truth, justice and moderation which deserve to be ranked as lead ing Christian virtues are exception ally great. We of this country are just entering upon one such period now. Years of Presidential election always subject the patience, forbear ance and benevolence of motives of Christians to the severest tests. When great interests are said to be at stake, strong passions are likely to be excited and many fail to confine their enthusiasm within the bounds of moderation. . Intemperate words are apt to be uttered at unguarded moments, and severe criticisms made which leave sores long after the oc casions that called them forth have passed. When men gather in large crowds they are very likely to do and say that m their moments of coolness they condemn, and which they afterwards deeply regret, some times, however they do not repent; but having committed themselves to some erroneous position, they persist in maintaining it and are carried on farther and farther in the way of wrong. Many persons, we suspect, who once decently moral, get far away from righteousness may date the beginning of their downfall from the time of their engaging ardently in politics. Some having enlisted themselves in a party, in their desire to win, yield their assent to schemes of treachery and corruption and are gradually drawn on into courses, from the baseness of which they would at first have shrank with hor ror. Those who do not participate so actively may still be injured in their morals, if they become very much interested in the campaign stories that are set afloat, they will be led to criticise with unjust sever ity the words and actions of those who have reached conclusions dif ferent from theirs, and to judge harshly of their motives. In this country it has become much the fashion for those interested in poli itics to bring the charge of corrup tion against their opponents. Many simple-minded people really believe that the representative men who have been selected to look after public af fairs hold themselves for sale and are bought up by wealthy corpora tions. It has a very demoralizing effect for one to entertain such sus picions. It becomes ton-fold more difficult for us to keep in the path way of right when we are satisfied that the other way is the more profit- Brother Minister, Working Layman, Zealous Sister, Wo are striving to make Index the best of its kind. Help us by securing a new subscriber. VOL. 69.-NO. 33‘ able and popular. The disposition to distrust everybody’s avowels grows especially strong in years when a great many candidates are before the people, and becomes a great hindrance to good Christian living. Written for the Christian Index. RELIGION AND POLITICS. To-day has ended one of the bit terest political contests that Alabama has known for years. Families have been divided, communities have been rent by contentions and churches have been torn by unholy political strife. As we have looked over the field we could but exclaim, what a pity! what a pity! It may be laid down as a truism that religion should always go into politics; but politics never into re ligion. Religious principles ought to .control politics, so as to purify and cleanse. A lie should be re garded none the less a lie because it is in politics; a false report should bo regarded as disreputable in a pol itical canvass as in anything else. Tricks and misrepresentations should be scorned in politics as they are in social life. Truth, honor and inte grity should be insisted upon in pol itics as they are demanded in busi ness. We have no right to do wrong-that good may result. Os such persons Paul says their “con demnation is just,” Rom., 3:8. - j Religion should go into politics to lead men to respect the rights of others. My neighbor has the sama right to his opinions that I have to mine. If I attempt to take away from him his right to those opinions! however erroneous they may seem to me, I am trying to rob him of a God given right. Liberty of conscience is a right so sacred, that martyrs have died in its defense. Don’t condemn and anath amatize your brother because he can’t see as you do. God has not made you his judge. This religion sh /uld l>e c..rrii-a imo politics. < But if we tring politics into rej ligion, we are uniting church and* state, most unholy alliance. Because a man is not of my party, therefore, I will not recognize him as my brother in the church is carrying out the same principles that deluged Europe with blood through so many ages and finally culminated in the establishment of the Roman Cath olic Inquisition. A Baptist church in a neighboring county called for the resignation of their pastor be cause he said he should vote for a candidate that a majority of the church was opposed to. What a long departure that church has made from Baptist grounds! An old Methodist minister of thia (Bullock) county, was by his neigh bors threatened with social and re ligious ostracism, if he pledged him self to support the candidates on the other side. The same spirit would imprison and put to death those of the opposite opinion and faith. Carry your religion into your pol itics but beware of carrying politics into your religion. T. IL Stout. Midway, Ala., Aug., 1, 1892. In some Sunday-schools, classes have been allowed to select their teachers. The question has been asked of the Baptist Teacher if thia should be the privilige of classes in our Sunday-schools and the answer is given by comparison. But does the principle of choice prevail in publia school teaching? Suppose each depart ment of a public school should make own selection of teachers,and resolve to go out in a body if their demands were not complied with; on what grounds could they maintain their case? And what succes could be prop erly expected in such case? There may be, and doubtless are, good rea • sons for consulting a class under some circumtances with regard to one who is proposed for teacher; but as a custom, it certainly would no bo wise or expedient to do so. The superintendent should have such full knowledge of his school that he wilj be able to judge almost unerringly what sort of person would meet the requiretnentsof any given class. Then by a suitable introduction, the per son appointed should be inducted without any if “you please”about it. It is practically a question as to. who shall manage the school, th< superintendent or the pupils,and the question can have but one right answer. Beecham’s Pills for a bad Livery