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Christianity enobles the race. It is
affirmed that “Christian Romo could
count more heroines” in the first three
centuries “than Pagan Rome could count
heroes” in the seven centuries before.
Sometimes a sermon is what the preach
er puts into the text, and then it is a poor,
cold, dead thing. Sometimes the ser
mon is what the text puts into the
preacher, and then it is a thing rich and
glowing and alive.
Fishermen have been wont to attach
ieces of bright cloth to their nets, in
order to allure the fish. How many
worldly charms of evil, its semblanee of
joy, its promises of delight, are but
pieces of bright cloth on Satan’s net for
souls!
The Lord looks at the hand in which
lies what we give him; but ho looks also
at the other hand in which what wo keep
[back for self lies. His judgement is ac
cording to this sight of his eyes. He
fjudges neither hand except in view of
What ho sees in both.
J How sin unnerves the soul and smites
fit through and through with terror, when
|God arises “to execute the vengeanfee” of
this law against it! He said of the Jews
[when subjected to judgement: “The
hound of a driven leaf shall chase them,
land they shall flee as one fleeth from the
teword,” Lev. 26:36. “’Tis conscience
jthat makes cowards of us all.”
\ God is the lover of man that he may
,be the loved of man. He gives his love
[to us, that we may give our love to him.
nf God is willing to have our love, itmust
jbe too great and high a thing to be given
to the world and the things of the world,
hf in the condescensions of his grace he
xan reckon our love as worthy of him, he
alone is, he alone can bo, worthy of it,
< A man’s “second nature” is apt to be
(the nature of those whom he loves; his
Jove is an avenue along which their ex
icellencies or their faults come to him,
the former making him better, the latter
worse. It is a serious thing for good or
for evil to love character, and thus par
, take of it. When we give love we are in
effect saying, “We accept your likeness,
-we are willing to grow into what you are.”
Oh, let our love, our highest, deepest,
strongest love bo given to Christ, that
we may be like him, more and more like
him as the years wear on.
> In outward forms, God gives and takes
raway acceptance at his own pleasure.
YThe peace-offering, eaten on the first or
(second day, was a thing well-pleasing in
/his sight and his favor shone on it. But,
Veaten on the third day, he branded it as
tan abomination and cast out the eater for
a time from the circle of his worshipers,
'Lev. 19:5-8. As God regulated the meat
.then why should he not regulate the
water now, and fix its use in his ordi
nance to one exclusive form? He is no
less a Soverign to us than to the Jews,
and we trifle with him when we trifle
with his enactments, and as he rebuked
this in the Jews so may he rebuke it in
us.
“Talk about Lynch law!” says the “In
terior,” of Chicago, “I tell you, men and
brethren, that there are cases where
Lynch law is the acme of divine justice.”
We are sorry that so able and conserva
tive a Presbyterian journal should en
dorse,as “divino”in effect, adisorder and
a lawlessness which at the best avenges
murder with murder. But if the endorse
ment is to hold good at all, why not give
the benefit of it to Southern mobs, when
to shield womanly purity from assault,
they smite with pitiless, red hands the
hardened perpetrators of nameless
crimes? May not divine justice find its
acme as well in our section as in any
other?
Dr. Talmage says that he does not read
much of the Bible at a time, because his
mind is arrested now by a single sen
tence. and now by a single phrase, which
thrills him with sudden, fresh, inexhaus
tible interest. This is all right—in its
measure. But fragmentary reading may
lead to fragmentary thinking. There
should be times and frequent times
when one does read much, to preserve
his own recognition of the general scope
and logical relations of different doctrines
and different portions of Scripture. Per
haps. the verdict of the Christian world
at large would be that this recognition is
precisely the point on which Dr. Talmage
is most at fault Does his method of
Bible-reading in any degree account for
it?
Forty years ago, Herbert Spencer held
that “private property rights in land
as morally invalid.” and that “the aggre
gate of men forming the community are
the supreme owners of the land.” But
he has since reversed this opinion and
now holds that in practice “individual
ownership subject to State suzerainty
should be maintained.” Henry George,
referring to this subject in a recent work,
blames Spencer because, while suppress
ing his early views in England he know
ingly allowed them to circulate in Amer
ca and received an income from their
sale. It is a not unedifying spectacle,
this impeachment of the moral honesty
of the author of the “Data of Ethics.”
a work which denies the Christian idea
of obligation and subverts the Christian
foundation of duty, offering in stead an
infidel and atheistic philosophy of con
science. Has the medicine of the physi
cian failed to heal himself, and shall we
trust it and try it ?
1 fen, ...
GOD’S PROMISES’
The vicissitudes of every life are
numerous and great. Indeed, from
the cradle to the grave, man’s life is
one successive change.
But in no life were these more
marked than in David’s, the sweet
singer of Israel. He, while quietly
pursuing the shepherd’s calling, was
selected over his brothers, and
anointed by Samuel to fill a high
office, and perform heroic deeds.
With this new world floating before
him, by a strange providence he was
invited to the Royal Palace, whose
halls he was expected to fill with
those melodies for which he bad be
come noted, and which, it was hoped,
would have the effect of dispelling
the demons that occasionally seized
the King. Wiuning the hand of the
young Princess, and by God’s help
winning signal victories on the bat
tle field, causing the people to sing:
“Saul hath slain his thousands, and
David his tens of thousands,” he in
curred the Royal displeasure, and
from that time, for years, was a wan
derer.
With a hand-full of men at his
command, his only safety was found
by hiding in the narrow pathways,
dark, deep ravines, unfrequented
caves of the dense mountains which
lie south of Jerusalem. Though
anointed with holy oil by God’s own
Prophet, there seemed to be no pos
sible chance of his ever emerging
from the cloud which hung about
him. Under the circumstances for
him to hope to be great in Israel, ap
peared rather to be the dream of a
madman than the waking thoughts
of a cool head. It not only looked
to be certain that his youthful aspi
rations would be blighted, but the
prospect was good for him to die an
exile, unattended and unsung.
No wonder he said, I almost lost
heart and gave up. How could ho
feel otherwise? His prospects were
anything else but bright. Why did
he not bow his head and say: “God
has forsaken me, therefore life is not
worth the living,” or “into the
world’s dizzy whirl of pleasure I will
plunge full length. I will eat, drink
and be merry: for to-morrow I may
die.”
This he did not do, but with pur
pqpe inflexible, he put forth every
effort to preserve his life, and amid
it all, was true to God. He must
have been upheld, how and by what?
Let him answer: “I had fainted un
less I had believed to see the good
ness of the Lord in the land of the
living.” God had promised good,
concerning Israel, and David felt
from certain events, that he in some
way was connected with the plan
which was to bring this about. So
faith in God’s promise strengthened
him, prevented him from turning
back or falling by the wayside, and
upheld him through all his misfor
tunes, till glory crowned his head,
and victory proudly perched upon
his banners. It was faith, faith in a
promise. A promise however, not
simply made by Samuel, but a prom
ise made by the Lord of heaven and
earth, through Samuel.
Eminating from God he was as
sured that however unlikely the
prospect, however formidable the
opposition, his future was as certain
and as bright as the promise of God
was true and luminous with light-
And it was. History has declared it.
But from the time the shadows be
gun to fall athwart his pathway,
many years elapsed before ho stood
in the noon-tide of his prosperity.
During these years, much patience
had to be exercised. The exact
time when God would fulfill his
promise was unknown. To labor
and to wait was all that he could do.
Remember just here, that patience,
as well as perseverance, is the off
spring of faith. Without murmur
ing, he walked in the light which
God furnished, never complaining
that more was not given. Having
committed himself into God’s hands,
he abided God’s time. Willing al
ways to go as fast as God directed,
but auxious never to go faster.
As we, my dear readers, journey
along life’s pathway, many things
occur, calculated to discourage us.
From fears, at wickedness within,
and fightings without, at times wo
are almost overwhelmed. We grow
faint, we see the wicked flourishing
as the green bay tree. Upon their
hearts, cares apparently rest with
only a feather’s weight. From n s
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. APRIL 20,1893.
God seems to be a great way off.
Around us, his light does not shine
as brightly as in other days. Out of
such reveries, we awake ourselves,
and like an infant in the night cry
ing for the light, and with no lan
guage but a cry, we, in the dark
ness reach out the hand and cry to
God for help. He hears. He al
ways does. But how? Simply by
directing our attention to his promi
ses. These are to the spiritual world
what the sun, moon and stars are to
the physical universe. These all
cluster about Jesus Christ, the center
of our spiritual system. Each prom
ise has a beauty and glory peculiar
to itself, and is designed to meet a
specific need, which our Saviour saw
would arise in life’s conflict. Some
as they appear to us, are small like
the seven stars, while, thank the
Lord, others beam upon us with the
mellow light of the bright and morn
ing star, while still others flood our
pathway with the brighter light of
the sun’s dazzling rays.
Let us therefore frequently be
found perusing the book which God
has given us, that we may gather
from its rich mines the golden prom
ises which he imbeded there. Then,
hang them about your neck, hide
them away in the secret chambers of
your heart, on memory’s page write
them in letters of living light.
Other things you may forget, but
these, never. Other things may
fade from memory’s page but let
these as fadeless as the sun, shine on
your pathway in life, and I assure
you that when your eyes grow dim,
and this world’s light from you re
cedes, through the winding labarynth
of the valley and the shadow of
death, these will light you to glory
and to God.
COMMENDABLE FICTION.
UY REV. E.B ENJ. ANDREWS, BROWN
UNIVERSITY.
Religious teachers are often un
certain what attitude to take as to
the propriety of reading fiction. The
great majority of tne cheap novels
now on sale contain little which is
of value either intellectually or mor
ally. Many of them are of positively
evil tendency. This is so true that
a minister is compeled to condemn
all novels as evil, and try to dissaude
every one whom we can influence
from reading any prose fiiotion at all.
To the writer this seems injudicious.
There is fiction and fiction.
“Prove all things,” even novels, and
“hold fast that which is good.”
Among the novels now popular are
some which every one who will read
them must admit to be morally ele
vating and helpful, as well as most
instructive mentally.
Those by George Ebers are of this
class. They belong to the highest
order of historical novels. Their
primary aim is not moral or religious,
but educational. They are meant to
elucidate important epochs of histo
ry. But the author, aware that for
nineteen centuries, Christianity has
been the greatest fact pertaining to
man’s life, bases most of his stories
upon epochs of Christian history,
thus making them torches, as it were,
to throw light upon the evolving life
of the church. Eber’s story entitled
The Emperor [referring to Hadrian]
is really the best picture extrant of
the Christian life and manners pre
valent in the first half of the second
century. No person can read it
without receiving a new impulse to
his faith. It would be an eminently
proper volune for a Sunday-school
library, vastly more healthy and in
vigorating than half the books which
are written with a directly religious
purpose.
Another writer has become promi
nent more recently than Ebers, his
works being therefore not so well
known, of whom I can speak even
more highly. I mean the English
moralist, Hall Caine. Caine’s novels
are extraordinarily powerful as nov
els; indeed I should rank him among
the formost living weavers of fiction.
Yet what has interested me in them
most is not their consummate art as
stories, but their intense, and even
fervent religiousness. Caine seems
to make no effort to impart to them
this cast: it is perfectly simple and
natural. The author writes like a
man fully aware of being in the Nine
teenth Century, amid all the revela
‘lations of history, science, and criti
cism, without, however, having at all
lost the sense of reverence for the
unseen and the past. His “Scapegoat”
involves a masterly study in compar
ative religion, whorein it impressive,
ly appears how superior, even now,
old-fashioned Judaism is to Moham
medanism, and how much better
Christianity is than either. II i s
‘‘Deemster” is a wonderful portrayal
of character, good and bad,exhibiting
how the Christ-spirit and the world
spirit often get foqthold within one
and [the same family, producing a
saint and a devil out of one flesh and
blood; and how good may lurk in
the deep places of pn unsuccessful
life, baffled and overborne, but at last
purifying the spirit and subdueing
even the flesh.
Doubtless even novels like these
should not form the entire substance
of a young persons reading; but, en
joyed in due proportion to mental
activity and diversion of other kinds,
they cannot but have a most happy
effect. The love of romance is at
bottom nothing but our God-given
interest in Life and Providence. It
ought, therefore, not to be snubbed,
as if it were intrinsically bad; but
chastened, disciplined, and used.
Providence, R. I. April 3, 1893.
A WORDFROmArq. STRICKLAND.
The first religious paper I ever
read was my mother’s Christian
Index ; that was in 185—well, no
matter when. The last religious
paper that I have ever read is the
Christian Index, the same dear old
paper. I have just finished the issue
of the 6th inst.; rapid transit that, to
be printed in Atlanta on the 6th inst.
and bo in Madison, Fla., 400 miles
away, at 11:30 a. m. the next day,
but it is so nevertheless. You are a
“Nancy Hanks.” Going back to my
early days with the Index, I find
one writer in this week’s issue, and
only one, who wrote forty years ago.
It is needless for me to say I refer to
Dr. S. G. Hillyer, our dear, venera
ble, patriarchal father; and w’ith
what virile power, perspicacity and
comprehension ho writes; may he
live long to enrich us with his arti
cles on the strong meat of God’s
Word. Some things and some men
grow better with age.
I greatly enjoyed Bro. McCon.
nell’s article, the reading of it was a
comfort to a good woman up in
Georgia, whom Dr. Broadus calls the
pastor’s best [and wisest adviser; it
has encouraged me down here, too.
Thank him for us, and tell him not
to allow his pen to rust.
It does seem to me that the Index
gets better ; is it because the writer
is a little home-sick, or is it that
‘‘Distance lends enchantment to the view
And clothes the mountain with the azure
hue? ”
or is it that the paper actually im
proves. I think it is the latter—God
speed ye in your upward climb—ad
astram.
I find myself domiciled for the
present, (my family have not come
yet) in the family of my senior dea
con, Hon. bam B. Thomas, who for
two score years has been a pillar, not
a sleeper, in this church. Ho is a
native of Georgia, having migrated
from Thomasville with his young
wife. He and she are at this mo
ment taking their supper, i. e., mental
pabulum, from the Index. They
say they have read the paper so
long and love it so well, that noth
ing can ever take its place with
them.
Bro. T. was once a wealthy planter
and merchant, now he busies him
self with a heard of Jerseys and a
truck-garden. This scribe is at the
head of the fountain as concerns
butter, milk, clabber, etc, not to men
tion “gamy” lake trout, bream and
pearch.
I find myself, not a spiritual poly
gamist, as the sainted Dr. Burrows
was wont to say, but a sipritual
bigamist, having two churches, Madi
son and Live Oak. They are in con
tiguous counties, at the court house
of each county. To the former I
preach on the second and fourth
Sundays, to the latter on the first
and third. My home will be here,
as a commodious parsonage is being
finished, doubtless a better one than
any of the apostles or patriarchs ever
lived in; it has four rooms below
stairs and three above, with two hall
ways and two verandahs, artesian
water in the house and all hard-by
the meeting-house. A prophet’s
chamber will be fitted up into which
the Index Editor, proprietor and
field-man are invited. It is not a
Paradise, but it will be “Edenio” if
Ficlds-notos-man will honor it with
a visit.
Accepting this church I become a
factor in a
singular coincidence.
I am the third pastor in regular
succession from Georgia. . First, Bro.
Paul Hornaday came and his short,
sweet pastorate is tenderly remem
bered : he went up higher, from cross
to crown, from labor to everlasting
refreshment. Following him, came
Bro. J. L. D. Hillyer; he projected
and built partly the parsonage, and
all over it, outside and inside, may
be seen his quaint, singular ideas,
amounting almost to freaks in archi
tecture. Verily Bro. Hillyer left
his marks and those marks “came to
stay! ”
He had a pastorate, not all of it a
bed of roses, some of it rather thorny,
but I have yet to find man or woman
who does not put a premium on his
piety and concientious adheerence to
what he deemed right. He now re
joices in being the pastor at Key
West, the largest city in Florida.
The prayers of his brethren follow
him there.
And .after the church has been
shut up for six months, I come to
undertake to shepherd the flock: if I
can find them. I said to a lady, dis
cussing this Georgia trio of pastors,
“The third tip is out.” “No,” she re
plied, “The third time brings the
charm.” So mote it be.
I have not taken my bearings yet,
and can say but little of the church
as a church, but I see a noble, reso
lute band of women at work in
church and Sunday-schools, I see an
old, conscervative town, beautiful for
situation ; bright, sparlking lakes in,
and all around it, and a cultured re
fined community, reminding one at
once of the good people of Middle
Georgia or South Carolina. I never
saw a prettier location for a town.
Live Oak, near “The Old Suwan
nee River,” is a
RAILROAD CENTRE.
and growing town, here we have a
small membership, but devoted,
liberal, solid. >
r /
When I asked them for a Centen.
nial offering, on the first Sunday I
preached to them, they gave me
about one dollar for each member
on their church-book. If all Florida
Baptists will do so well, Bro. Powell
will get $20,000 instead of 3,000.
If all the Baptists m our Southern
Baptist Convention will do that well,
how much would be raised. But
enough. Pardon the length of this.
I hear frequent enquiries about the
Index.
Wm. Henry Strickland.
Madison, Fla.. April 17, 1893.
FROMTHEAeMINARY.
Our beloved old Georgia, presents
a solid front at the Seminary this
year with thirteen or fourteen prom
ising sons.
Atlanta leads, in sending the larg.
est number, of any one place in the
State; having a representation of
five: brethren E. P. Jones, M. A.
Jones, and Howard Jones from the
Ist Church, and W. T. McGarity, and
the writer from the 2nd. The other
sections of the state have a represen.
tation of about eight or nine, making
as stated a total of thirteen or four
teen. While their number is quite
creditable it is not as good as we
might do—as wo ought to do next
year, ’93 and ’94. We ought to send
up twenty-five next year, and it can
be done if the brethren in the minis
try, in the several Associations
throughout the state will encourage
those brethren whom they know
ought to study here to come.
Dr. Broadus is beyond the shadow
of a doubt, the greatest living teacher
of Homiletics and New Testament
History.
If a brother can’t take the full
course, why even a sojourn of six, or
even three months would trebly pay
him for the time, labor, and expense
of such a trip. It is simply astound
ing and altogether incalculable, to
the baptists of the south and south
west, is the great and lasting work
which Dr. Broadus is doing for the
rising ministry and for the rising
generation, in tightening up doctrin
al weaknesses; in breaking down
subtle and hurtful views of scriptural
teaching. Ho possesses probably as
no other Divinity instructor of the
times, the kcend, clear cut discern
ment of moral characteristics, of hurt
ful tendencies in the lives and work
of ministers of the gospel, and in the
conduct of Christians in general.
And what is of greater value to the
world and to baptists in particular,
he possesses and exercises the power
of counteracting these evils. No
minister of the gospel, certainly no
baptist minister, can afford to miss
spending at least a few months under
the teaching of such an instructor.
Why it’s worth the trip to come
to the Seminary and make the ac.
quaintance of Drs. Broadus, Kerfoot,
Sampey, Whitsitt, Dargain, and Prof.
Robertson" A more able, proficient,
painstaking, tender-hearted sympa
thetic corps of Divinity Instructors
cannot be found anywhere. They
love all the Students, and all the
Students love them.
The Seminary has reached the
point at which it is, and will continue
to be a potent factor in sustaining
and conserving American liberty, as
well as baptist principles—the great
bulwark which stands as a “Stone
Wall” across the pathway of catholic
slavery, and papal idolatry. Como
brethren, all who can and get the
benefits of the Seminary and lets
show those who’ve given so gener
ously of their means towards estab
lishing the Seminary that we heartily
appreciate what they have done for
our denomination, our country, for
the world, and for their Lord and
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Fraternally, etc.,
Edward H. Walker.
THE DOMINION OF THE SAINTS.
BY 8. G. HILLYER.
Continued from April 6th.
“He that overcometh, and keepeth
my works unto the end, to him will
I give power over the nations; and
he shall rule them with a rod of
iron; as the vessels of a potter shall
they be broken to shivers; even as I
received of my Father. And I will
give him the Morning star” Rev. 2:-
‘26. 27 .28.
It was shown, in a previous paper,
how Jesus began, at Jarusalem, to
give to his'people power over man
kind: and thus to set up, ih the earth
the Dominion of the Saints.
Under the great compassion they
were commanded to go into all the
world and to preach the gospel
with the assurance that he would be
“with them to the ends of the world’’
In this assurance lies the secret of
their power. He is the real and om
nipotent, though invisible leader of
his people; while they are the visi
ble “rod of his strength,” sent fourth
‘•out of Zion” to accomplish his pur.
pose. We have already seen their
grand achievments on the day of
Pentecost. From that day to the
present time, the influence of the
Saints has been a power in the
earth.
To form a proper conception of
this power, we must consider the
opposition it had to encounter. The
Gentile world was wholly given up
to idolatry. The number of their
Gods could be counted by thou
sands. Their temples exceeded in
grandeur the palaces of kings.
They were adorned with the noblest
achievments of art in the paintings
and in sculpture. Their legends
were celebrated in poetry and in
song. Their religious festivals were
replete with all that could excite the
imagination, please the taste, and
gratify the desires of the flesh. Be
sides the Divinities worshiped in
their temple, every family had its
household God’s. Then over all
presided thousands of cunning priests
who played upon the superstition of
the masses, that they might live and
fatten upon the offerings which were
brought to the shrines. Such a sys
tem of idolatry, we may well sup
pose, was deeply rooted in the af
fections of the people.
And, no doubt, they loved their
religion all the more because it im
posed almost no restraint upon the
vile propensities of human nature.
Under its sway the world was sunk
to the lowest depths of immorality
and vice. There were, indeed, here
and there a few wise and gifted
men who saw and deplored the mor
al evils which surrounded them.
And some of them did try to teach
their countrymen better things, and
some really taught nobly and wisely:
and, no doubt, they accomplished
some good in this direction. But
their teachings were unsupported by
a “thus saieth the Lord.” Hence the
Philosophers failed to reach the con
science, and thus to awaken a sense
of moral obligation; and therefore
the masses of men continued to lie
in their deep degradation.
Moreover, idolatry was the relig-
Brother Minister,
Working Layman,
Zealous Sister
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VOL. 70-NO. 16.
ion of the Empire, and the
rulers protected it in all its deversi
fied forms, throughout their vast do
main. So" soon, therefore, as it be
came known that the Christians re
nounced the religion of the State, —
would in no case offer incense to an
idol, not even to the Statue of Cae
sar, —they were exposed to the most
fearful and bloody persecutions.
Such was the opposition which the
Christians had to encounter when
they first assailed the pagan world
with the proclamation of the Gospel.
Looking at the case from a human
stand point, we should conclude that
their undertaking was, to the last
degree, wild an d desperate. They
were few in number, without the
learning of the schools, of humble
rank, without wealth, and recognized
as an off-shoot from the Jews, —a race
at that time, universally despised*
Yet with all their weakness, and in
the face of such odds against them
as above described, they went forth
to the mighty work of pulling down
the powers of paganism, and build
ing upon their ruins the kingdom of
Christ.
And what was their method ?
Only this: They told the people the
story of Jesus, of the cross, and of
the resurrection, together with all
that he taught, and all that he prom,
ised. In a word, they simply
preached the GospeL This was all
they did. And, strange to say, wher.
ever the Gospel was preached, there
were those who believed it. I know
human nature is very credulous, and
people often take up with new and
|trange simply because they
are new or strange. But mark, men
seldom or never believe a new doc
trine, without evidence, when the ac
ceptance of it, is to cost them per
haps a heavy sacrifice. In such a
case, men demand evidence, —and
better evidence than the words of a
stranger from another country, and
of another race. Now the Gospel
made no compromise with the; incli
.•nations or preferences of those whom
it addressed. It told then?ptainly
that if they accepted its teachings
they must turn their backs upon the
traditions of their fathers, they must
renounce all the forms of idolatry,
they must live a new and better life,
and endure, if need be, ostricism
from home and kindred as the effect
of their faith. Nay, it required them
to believe even at the cost of their
own lives. Yet in the face of these
solemn conditions the saints told
their story and thousands believed
and joyfully met all its demands, and
some even unto death.
It was not long after Pentecost,
before groups of Christians were
gathered into churches in many prov
inces of Rome’s vast empire. And
only a few centuries later, the gor
geous mythologies of Greece and
Romo and Egypt had faded away,
before “the light of the knowledge
of (the only true) God in the face of
Jesus Christ.” Then those magnifi
cent temples began to crumble into
ruins. Their, priests were scattered,
their shrines were forsaken, and their
tripods, with their ambiguous oracles,
were dumb. It was as if temples
and altars, priests and priestesses
had been struck with “a rod of iron’’
and “broken to shivers as a potter’s
vessel.”
Now, by whom was this mighty
change accomplished? Every can
did reader of history must admit
that the Christians were the visible
agents in this great work. Somehow,
they did exert great power over the
nations, and they did so, in the face
of the most fearful opposition. Their
success verifies the truth of the Sav
ior’s promise, and at the same time,
explains its meaning.
The power of the saints has never
passed away. Wherever they have
wandered in their migrations over
this wide earth, they have impressed
their faith and their principles more
or less upon those around them.
They have been like leaven in the
meal. The slow, but certain process
of assimilation has been going on,
more or less actively, through the
ages. The work is not accomplished,
but progress,—very great progress
has been made. True, sin abounds
in all its forms, but it has become
disreputable. Even the splendor of
courts, or the rank of princes can no
longer shield unen or women from
the odium of wrong-doing. Chris,
tian morality is felt far beyond th<
limits of the dhurchos. Its influence
is recognized all along the walks