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ESTABLISHED 1821.
®he ®hviatian littlex
Published Evfly Thursday at 16 East Mitchel
Street, Atlanta. Ga.
j. c. McMichael, profribtor.
Organ of the Baptist Denomination in
Georgia.
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red letter, money order, postal note,
The papers credit a Philadelphia min
ister with undertaking to give “God’s
View of the Worlds Fair. We do not see
why am an should regard himself as hav
ing need enough for the pulpit over to
enter it, when he can put his hour in it
to such an unwarranted and frivolous
use Better had it iieen for him and bet
ter for his hearers, had he given thought
to “God's Views of the Pulpit,” audused
it accordingly.
As often as the sons of Job held feasts
in their houses, Job offered sacrifices in
their behalf, lest they should have “dis
missed God from their hearts” in the
season of pleasure. “Thus did Job con
tinually.” Continual care for the spirit
ual welfare of their children is the duty
of godly parents. No apparent failure
of previous efforts, no tokens of persis
tence in ways of danger to the soul,
should discourage and prevent it.
The Father in the Parable of the Two
Sons, who represents God, says to the
elder, obedient son, “All that is mine, is
thine.” Christians are recognized by
the Eternal Father as co-proprictors with
himself of all things—in the sense that
if it be necessary, all things will be em
ployed for their best welfare. This is a
high privilege, but even this fades into
comparative insignificance when placed
side by side with the truth that God
himself is theirs—theirs to care forthem
and to keep them—theirs to be a God
in their behalf as truly as in his own.
According to tlio “Evangel and Sab
bath Outlook,” “High license is the
Saloon-keeper’s gilt paint upon the win
dows of the guilty mind, to keep con
science from seeing out, or God from
seeing in.” The “Literary Digest”
quotes the testimony borne against it
by two of the ecclesiastical gatherings
for the year. The Northern Presbyte
rian General Assembly said: “It has
been weighed in the balance and found
wanting, the proofs of its utter furtih.y
are ample;” and the General Conference
of the Plymouth Brethren: “High license
laws are utterly at variance with the
divine methods of treating crime.’,
It was of the Lord that the sleep of
Ahasuerus fled from him, on a night the
hoiceof which was also of the Lord. It
was of the Lord that to while away the
weary hours, the king caused the State
records to be read in his hearing. It was of
the Lord that the reading of these records
included the account of the conspiracy
against the king's life brought to light
by Mordecai. He thus caused honor to
be done to the man who with his race
had been doomed to slaughter by malice
and envy—the first step toward turning
that unrighteous doom aside. Oh, the
wonders of Providence whose little
things decide the greatest; which out of
nn hour's insomnia may bring the salva
tion of a people!
Says the Boston “Christian Register”
(Unitarian.)“lt seems never to have occur
red to many good men that their form
of belief is as obnoxious to the Pagan as
any Pagan belief can be to the Chris
tian.” And it seems never to have oc
curred to many critics of good men, that
to denounce certain points of their belief
because they are obnoxious (that is,
offensive to men), may be to oppose
what is Christian and true, and to op
pose it in the very spirit of Paganism.
The carnal enmity of London, or Boston,
or New York, may voice the carnal en
mity of Pekin, or Calcutta, or Benares,
unconscious all the w hile for whom it
speaks on this side of the globe, or who
speaks for it on the other. The unpopu
larities of a belief may be among the
clearest signs and seals and credentials
of its truth. Where is the truth which
men have never hated, and do not bale
now, and may not hate to the end?
In a Georgia City, the Ladies’ Mission
ary Society of one of the Christian
churhes—not a Baptist church, we are
happy to say—announces to be given un
der its auspices a “Missionary Tea.” Re
freshments are promised, and among the
other sources of amusement, a novelty
which will be as much enjoyed by the
old as well as the young a |most fascina
ting, game called “Thu Devil Among the
Tailors.” Just what principle of the
Missionary cause or just what feature of
Missionary work is to be illustrated by
this game we do not know. Nor do
we know just why the
task of illustration should have been en
trusted in especialy, to “the Devil,” or
to the devil “among the tailors,” in es
pecial. Anb wo are altogether willing to
remain in ignorance on these points.
When will the current cease to flow in
the direction of an alliance between
Christian enterprises and worldly amuse
ments? It is for the worldly amusements
alone and not nt all for the Chris
tian enterprises, that botli the young and
the old are educated by these things.
When will the church cease to shut her
eyes to a truth which no open eye can
fail to see?
The mutt in Michigan who has read
the scriptures through one hundred and
thirty times, need not be as one of the
newspapers rather flippantly suggests a
proof reader for a Bible Publication
House. It is quite possible that this
thing should bo done under a sense of
duty or through an impulse of pleasure,
and not as a matter of business. In fact
the first or the second method of account
Ing for It is more natural and morereason
able than the last. Why should not con
science impressed withthedivinu origin of
the Book, feeling that the Author of our
being and the Arbiter of our destiny
speaks to us from its pages, take its sta
tion, attentive, awed, at his feet, day by
day aud hour by hour to hearken while
’THE CHRISTIAN INDEX
Supreme Law gives utterance to itself?
Why should not the heart, kindling to the
sacred beauties of the Book, recognizing
on its pages whatever can enable aspira
tion aud purify desire and thrill affection
come to this fountain of delights w’ith an
eagerness as frequent as |the most fre
quent opportunity, to quaff with unslak
ed thirst and quaff again, and yet again
while Supreme Love pours all its sweet
ness forth! Oh no; there is no lack of mo
tive for (such a course—and of motive
that merits sympathetic, respectful, ac
knowledgement- The ground of excep
tion to it lies in the fact that yielding to
the motive to that extent is unwise; be
cause substituting reading by rote in lieu
of study it defeats the hope of best ac
quaintance with the Book and because
ones time too entirely engrossed by
the reading there ensues interference
with occasions and acts of service which
form a purpose vital to the gift of the
Book.
These are blunders indeed: and not tri
vial ones either: but yet no infrequent or
irregular Bible reader can well afford to
visit them with his “smile of superiori
ty-”
COUNTRY PREACHERS-
W. L. KILPATRICK D. D.
Under the name of Country-
Preachers, we include all those
who are accustomed to preach to the
churches in the small towns and vil
lages, as well as those who labor
more especially with the churches
in the country proper.
These preachers are not prominent
before the world, nor even before
their own denomination. Except in
the minutes of their district Associa
tions, their names scarcely ever ap
pear in print. In our conventions,
both Slate and General, their faces
are rarely ever seen, and still more
rarely are their voices heard. Even
‘the vendor of patent medicines, in
his efforts to create confidence in
his worthless nostrums* feels no dis
position to draw them from their
seclusion, —happily leaving this class
of preachers no sins to answer for,
on this line, in the great day of ac
counts.
All of these things, not empha
sizing the latter, cause Country
Preachers to have an humble con
ception of themselves; and beyond
that, cause them to have an humble
conception of the work in which
they are engaged. Indeed, they
are disposed to feel that they are of
no force in forming public sentiment
at large, and of no force in shaping
the greater interests of their de
nomination.
That they should place an humble
estimate upon themselves may be
all in view of the fact that, as
a rule, they are not versed in the
literature of the day, nor have en
joyed the advantages of the higher
schools of learning ; but as to their
estimate of the work in which they
are engaged, that is altogether a dif
ferent thing ; —we do not hesitate to
say that the work of no class of
preachers is more important than
theirs. And as to the part which
they take in forming public senti
ment, none occupy a more respon
sible position;—we mean to say,
that directly or indirectly, the influ
ence of Country Preachers is felt
more than the influence of any other
preachers both as to public morals
and theological instruction.
This declaration will appear very
wild to some; by others it will be
regarded as but the out-cropping of
the vanity of a writer who himself is
nothing more than a country
preacher. Yet we beg that careful
consideration be given to the facts
which shall be presented, and we do
not fear but that the conclusions will
take care of themsslves.
In the earlier days of our country
as in all countries, the towns were
small, and much the larger part of
the population was found in the
rural districts. In process of time
the proportion between the town
and the country population changed;
and year by year the change became
more apparent.
The town, or city, population in
creased rapidly,—increased much
more rapidly than the country pop
ulation. This increase is not by
natural generation, but because of
the continual flow of the population
from the country into the city.
Hence all of our larger towns con
tain a very large percentage of coun
try born and country reared people;
especially is this true of those peo
ple who are reaching towards mid
dle age.
Many of our city merchants who
are now counting their assets by the
tens of thousands, in their boyhood,
cared fur their fathers pigs, and daily
drove their mothers calves to the
pasture,—many of the city lawyers
who are swaying juries by thier
impassioned eloquence, in earlier
life addressed themselves to an ob
stinatejplow mule in language equal
ly emphatic though perhaps what
less moving effect; —many of the
learned doctors of divinity who are
lucidly presenting Bible truths be
fore a refined city congregation had
the foundation of their own theolog
ical education laid, as, in early life,
they listened to a country preacher
expound the teachings of God’s
word, unpervertedjby learned soph
istries.
Lest we be charged with drawing
upon our imagination for facts, we
beg to say, that not long since while
in one of the largest cities of our
State, by the actual recording and
counting of names as given to us by
an officer of a prominent church of
that city, it was ascertained that
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. AUGUST 3-1893.
about eighty per cent of those who
were recognized as pillars of the re
spective churches in that city were
from the country;—had been
brought up under a country ministry
had become acquainted with the cus
tom of the denomination, in the
Saturday conferences of country
churches.
Again, availing ourselves of the
assistance of a resident friend, and
selecting at random a business square
of that city,—confining ourselves
to those who were American born—
we found that fully seventy-five
percent of the merchants were from
the country, some coming to the city
when in their teens, others after
reaching mature years. We found
the same to be true with reference
to the leading business men gener
ally, in whatever vocation they were
engaged.
Wo found likewise that about
ninety percent of the ministers who
occupied the pulpits of the various
denominations in the city, omitting
the Catholics—were also from the
country, and entered the ministry
before they came to live in the city.
Surprised at these developments
and anxious to learn more we di
rected our attention to investigations
in another line; and, with the cata
logues of the various educational
Institutions of the state before us,
both male and female, it was abun
dantly apparent that the literary
training of the rising generation was
chiefly in the hands of teachers reared
in the country, and religiously im
pressed by country preachers.
Again we found that, with scarcely
an exception, the Courts of Justice
in the state, both the Circuit Courts
and the Supreme Court, were presi
ded over by country reared men.
We procured a list of those, who
represented our state in the national
halls of legislation, and found the
facts strictly in accord with those
that appertained to our courts.
Feeling disposed to push our in
vestigation just a little further, we
consulted White’s Historical Collec
tions tor information in regard to the
governors of Georgia,—supplement
ing this information by some derived
from other sources, George M.
Troup was the first governor born
after Georgia had become a state,
the date of his birth being 1780, so
we began our record with him. As
we read the sketch given of each
governor in propeporder, we made a
minute of the facts on a strip of pa
per. For the purpose of accuracy
we simply copy that strip of paper
as it lay before us at the conclusion
of the reading:
“George M. Troup—lß23—coun
try boy. John Forsyth—lß27
country boy. George R. Gilmer—
1829—country boy. Wilson Lump
kin—lß3l—country boy. William
Schley—lßßs—city boy. Charles
McDonald—lßß9—co untry boy.
George W. Crawford—lß43—coun
try boy. George W. Towns—lß47
—country boy. Howell Cobb—lßsl
•—country boy. Herschel V. John
son—lßs3—country boy. Joseph
E. Brown—lßs7—country boy.
Charles J. Jenkins—lß6s—country
boy. James M. Smith—lß72
country boy. Alfred IL Colquit—
1876—country boy, Alexander 11.
Step hen s—lßß2—c ountryboy.
Henry McDaniel—lßß4—coun try
boy. John B. Gordon—lßß6—conn
boy. William J. Northern—lß9o
boy.”
As a matter of course, we assume
that those who continue to reside in
the country districts are brought
more under the influence of their
own preachers than that of any others
and in giving those subjected to the
influence of the Country Preachers,
they are simply to be added to those
who have left the country for the
city, as recited above.
If the above statements be correct,
and we presume that none will call
them in question,—if it be true that,
in addition to those who still remain
in the country, a large part of the
city population above twenty one
years of age are from the country;—
that a large part of the business men
of the cities are from the co ntry;—
that a large part of the leaders in
our city churches are from the coun
try ;—that a large part of our school
teachers , and nearly all of our ju
rists and statesmen are from the
country;—and that the pulpit in
structions, which all of these parties
received while in their youth,—in
the formative period of their lives,
were from the Country Preachers,
were we not correct in saying that,
directly or indirectly the influence of
Country Preachers, is felt more than
that of any other preachers, both as to
public morals and theological instruc
tions.
Brethren, Country Preachers,
though unseen and unknown by the
world at large, ours is an important
work, —ours is fountain-head work,
lot us bo true and faithful to
our responsibilities.
Another grand score has been made
In the history of the higher education
oil women. No fewer than ten have
passed the examination for tlie mathe
matical tripos at the English University
of Cambridge. Two are wranglers and
the others hold rank with the Senior
Optimes. The success of those women
have served to call public attention again
to the refusal by the British Universities
to admit women to the degrees earned
by them.
THE SUNDAY QUESTION-CON
CLUDED.
BY HON. WILLIAM L. SCRUGGS.
Some of the early English Pro*
testants were curiously inconsistent
on the so called “Sabbath question.”
In the Episcopalian Liturgy, all
words of the decalogue were omitted
by which it had been addressed to
the Jews; aud yet the response after
the fourth Commandment was,
“Lord have mercy upon us, and help
us to keep this law.” That is, they
invested the old Jewish Sabbath
with all the sanctity in which it had
been held by the Pharisee sect;
while at the same time, they pro
fessed to obey the precepts and to
folllow the example of Him whom
the Pharisees regarded as a Sabbath
breaker.
Other English Protestants, while
seeking to avoid this incongruity,
fell into a blunder little less redicu
lous by transferring the command
ment with respect to the Jewish
Sabbath or seventh day, to Sunday
or the first day of the week. They
openly ' disregarded and profaned
the Sabbath in violation of the
fourth Commandment which they
professed to obey, while they set
apart Sunday as a day of self-denial
and torture.
In 1633, Charles I. gave great of
fense to this class of reformers by
his very impolitic action in reviving
an old decree of his father, which
authorized and encouraged certain
questionable amusements and past
times on Sunday. He even went so
far as to require clergymen to pub
fish this decree in their churches;
and this foolish procedure devel
oped the celebrated “Sabbatarian
controversy” of ecclesiastical history,
the outgrowth of which was much
silly legislation on the subject.
Prior to the statute of 1676, any
act done on Sunday was of the
same legal obligation as if perform
ed on any other day. Parliament
sat on that day, an during the reign
of Edward I; (in 1278 and 1305),
three statutes were actually made
on Sunday. Even the first of the
restraining laws on the subject made
no distinction between Sunday and
other holy days- Thus, by the stat
ute 28 Edward 111., it was provi
ded that, “Shewing of wools’’ (by
merchants aud traders) “was pro
hibited on all feast days including
Sundays.” This iyas the law for
nearly a whole century, “.'hen, in
1448, it uas enacted (stAL 27. Henry
Vl.,l“that all manner of fairs and
markets in the principal feasts (As
cension, Corpus Christe, All Saints
Day etc.) and on Sundays and Good
Fridays,” should be closed. How
ever, in recognition of the fact that
there had not been any previous re
striction, the statute recited that “the
king, of his specicl grace, hath grant
ed to merchants the power which
they had of old time to sell pro
vision on Sunday.”
The old statute of 4. Edward IV.,
enacted in 1464, can hardly be held
an exception, since it seems to have
been occasioned by some special ir
ritation arising from the dishonesty
of leather dressers and shoemakers;
for, after sundry Btringeht provisions
applicable to them especially, it is
provided that, “No person * * *
upon Sunday or on the feasts of Na
tivity or Ascension or Corpus Christe
shall sell any shoes, huseaus or ga
lociies etc.” This statute was re
pealed in 1522, but re-enacted in
part in 1604.
The act of 1552, entitled “An act
for keeping holy-daysand feasting
days”(s. £6. Edward IV) contained
a preamble which is an instructive
example of the pains taken by all
Christian denominations of that
day to deny that Sunday pos
sessed, of itself, any sacred
ness or higher claim to observ
ance than of mere convenience for
religious meditation and worship.
The preamble runs thus: “For as
much as at all times men be not so
mindful to laud and praise God as
their bounden duty doth require:
therefore to call men to remembrance
of their duty and help their infirm
ity, it hath been wholesomely
provided that there should be some
certain times and days appointed
wherein the Christian should cease
from all kinds of labors; • * •
neither is it to be thought that there
is any certain time or definite num
ber of days prescribed in Holy
Scripture, but that the appointment
both of time and also number of the
days, is left by the authority of God’s
word to the liberty of Christ’s church
(i. e. to Christian believers) to be
determined and assigned orderly in
every country, by the discretion of
the rulers and ministers thereof, as
they shall judge most expedient for
the true setting forth of God’s glory
and the edification of their people :
be it therefore enacted ” etc. The
statute then mentions Sundays, the
Feast of Circumcision 'and some
twenty-two other days of the year,
as proper days for observance and
divine worship. It contains the pro
viso however that, “It shall be law
ful to every husbandman, laborer,
fisherman etc., upon the holy-daya
aforesaid, in harvest, or at any other
time of the year when necessity
shall require, to labor, ride, fish, or
do any kind of work, at their free
wills and pleasure.”
It is curious to note that this Pro-
testant law was repealed the next
year by the Roman Catholic govern
ment of Mary, but restored in 1604,
under James I. Another curious
thing about the law is, its striking
similarity to the celebrated decree of
Constantine, in 321, which says, “Let
all judges and people of the towns
rest, and all the various trades be
suspended, on the venerable day of
the Sun; ” but let “all those who live
in the country, freely and without
fault, attend to the cultivation of
their fields, lest, with the loss of
favorable opportunity, the commodi
ties offered by Divine Providence
should be destroyed.”
The celebrated statute of I Eliza
beth, chapter 2, so often cited by
Sabbatarians,merely required attend
ance upon public worship “on Sun
day and other days ordained and
used to be kept as holy days,” upon
pain of “church censure and a fine
of twelve pence,” leaving the people
to otherwise spend the day as they
chose.
The stateute of 1 Car. 1., Cap 1„
enacted in 1625, merely provided
that there should be “no meetings,
assemblies, or concourse of people
out of their own (respective) parishes
on the Lord’s day, for (tbe purpose
of) any sports or pastimes whatso
ever; nor any bear baiting, bull bait
ing, interludes, common plays, or
other unlawful exercises or past
times used by any persons within
their own parishes.” But, according
to Blackstone (in his Commentaries
on the English law,) this statute did
not prohibit, but rather impliedly
allowed any innocent recreation or
amusement to the people within their
own respective parishes, even on the
Lord’s day, after divine service was
over.
The law of 1676, already referred
to, generally known as the “Lord’s
day Act.” (29 Car IL, Cap 7) merely
prohibits, in general terms, “all work,
labor and business on Sunday, except
work of necessity and charity”; and
this, with same minor modifactions,
forms the basis of all our Sunday
laws now extant in the United
States. There were subsequent ex
ceptions made in favor of hackney
coachmen, fishwomen and chairmen,
in 1694, 1699; and in 1710, there
was an amendment prohibiting bird
hunting and shooting on Sunday and
other holy days. But, aside from
these amendments, the law remained
unaltered until English legislation
ceased to have atiy force in this
country.
In the United States,where, by the
peculiarities of our federal Constitu
tion, all mere police regulations
are left to the constituent common
wealths or “states,” we are happily
free from government intervention
in matter of religious forms. Still,
there is quite enough in onr national
legislation to indicate that Sunday
is regarded as a day set apart for
rest, religious meditation, and inno
cent recreation. Thus by the statute
of 16 March 1802, the secretary of
war is directed so to arrange the
course of studies at the National
Military Academy that “the cadets
shall not be required to pursue their
studies on Sunday.” And, by the
Act July 1864, a similar injunction
is laid upon the secretary of the
navy with respect to the students at
the Naval Academy at Anapalos,
And, again, by the acts 20 July 1868,
and U March 1871, “no malt, corn,
grain, or other material shall be
mashed, nor any mash, wort or beer
brewed or made, nor any still used
on Sunday,” on penalty of a fine of
one thousand dollars.
From this brief and necessarily im
perfect outline of the origin and
history of the Sunday question, con
tained in this and the two preceding
articles, I think it must be manifest
to every candid reader that neither
in the teachings nor example of
Christ and his Apostles, nor in the
writings of the church Fathers, nor
in the legislation of the mother
country through which we derive our
Christian civilization, is there any
warrant for the attempt to invest
the first day of the week with that
Pharisaical reverence and supersti
tious awe which would make it a
day to be generally dreaded and
secretly hated, rather than a conven
ient and joyous occasion for intelli
gent religious worship and innocent
recreation.
LESSONS FROM THE DEW.
REV. J. C. WINGO.
The highest office the things of
nature possess is to furnish God with
symbols for his truth. All nature is
a parable. He, who made man after
the imago of God, made earth after
the pattern of Heaven. Milton puts
it into the mouth of Raphael to say :
“What if earth
Be but the shallow of Heaven, and tilings
therein ... , ,
Each to the other like, more than on earth it
thought.”
No natural object, however, sim
ple or common, is without its teach
ing mission, and only those, who
shut their eyes, can fail to find, “ser
mons in stones, books in running
brooks,” and a lesson worth loaming
in every created thing. The prim
rose by the river’s brink is more than
“a yellow primrose” to the lover of
nature and Ute worshiper of God.
Each tiny flower, fashioned by Ilia
hands, and perfumed by His breath,
is my teacher. Even the dew-drop
is to me one variety of God’s dia
monds. What more pleasing and
refreshing spectacle than one of our
Texas prairies clothed with grass, in
terwoven with figures of flowers,
and begemmed and ashimmer with
dew-drops ? What does the lit
tle sparkling sphere of purified wa
ter teach me ?
(1) That if I would be pure I
must first bo lifted up.
From bog and fen, and swamp
and mud-puddle, and flowing stream,
and stagnant pond and pool, the
great sun lifts up the particles that
cohering in the upper regions, take
the form God decrees for them,
and descend cleansed, and radiant
upon “the place beneath.” Before
their purification, or rather along
with their purification, comes the up
lifting. They could not lift them
selves up. This uplifting power
comes from above. I have no power
to lift myself up. Like the dew-drop
I can only be pure and clean,
sphered and shining because the
great sun—The Sun of Righteous
ness—draws me towards himself.
My earth-place may be the foulest
fen, the most malarial marsh any
where in the social world, but He
who was uplifted to draw all men
unto himself can lift me up and
make me full-orbed and pure.
The soul that fills the sphere
God designed for it must aspire to
heaven, must be drawn towards
God.
2. Then too, must come the night,
the black night before the dew-drop
can be perfected. Those only can
sympathize with humanity in its
sorrows, and sufferings who them
selves have gone through the night,
tbe cold dark night. The dew-drop
is a product of the night, as well as
of the day. So beauty of character
calmness of faith, perfect sphericity
and purity of soul, come as the re
sults of uplifting by the Sun of
Righteousness, and the operation of
disciplinary processes many of which
are comparable to the cold dark
night.
Blessed be God ! for all His deal
ings with his own.
Bryan Tex.
THE MIND OF CHRIST.
BY REV. B. H. CRUMPTON.
The Apostle, in Philipians, 2nd
chapter, sth verse, says : “Let this
mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus:” and I would say
amen! How nearly it would re
store the world to Eden glory! It
can be possessed, in kind, if not in
degree.
The context indicates clearly, as
one, (audit primary) feature of the
Christly mind, humility. “But
made himself of no reputation, and
took upon him the form of a serv
ant, and was made in the likeness
of men.” Humbleness of mind was
taught in the gospels, and illustra
ted in the life of the teacher. The
most beautiful and superhuman act
of our Savior was the girding him
self with a towel and bowing at,
and bathing the feet of his disciples.
The beauty did not consist in the
service rendered, which is surely the
primal object or lesson of this won
derful transaction, (David served
his generation in royalty and re
nown) but in the self-originated
and nurtured condescension. It
was so violative of all social ethics,
the outgrowth of pride, that He
was rebuked by Peter. Service is
noble, but humiliating, spontaneous
service is sublime ; beyond natural
comprehension. “What 1 do, thou
knowest not now &c.” Humility
is the only soil in which pride refu
ses to grow : it is not only an exo
tice, but one which refuses to root
itself in the soil. Pride is the vul
nerable avenue to the human heart,
and makes it available to every Sa
tanic shaft. Adam and Eve and all
their descendants, in a state of na
ture, were, and are, afflicted with
it, and hence, the fall. Christ did
not possess it because lowliness
marked His career, from the cradle
to the grave. When tempted, lie
did not yield : humility was the im
pregnable fortress from whose in
accessible heights He hurled the ar
rows of Divine truth against Satan
and downed him on every field
“It is written,” is the mighty defen
sive and offensive weapon by which
Christians are to subdue Satan and
the flesh, and win the world to
Christ. This mind alone, can en
able us to appropriate the exorta
tion : “Let each esteem other bet
ter than himself,” and thus avoid
those selfish and partizan wrangles
that mar the churchs’s beauty, aud
shear it of its strength.
Consecration was evidently seen
in Jesus. Every wish, purpose, and
effort of His life was to please the
Father and do the work assigned
Him, without any questioning.
‘To fulfill all righteousness” was
His inaugural address. The same
context declares that, “He became
obedient unto death, even the death
of the cross.” By this cross the
apostle says, ‘he was crucified to
the world and the world to him.”
No man can, without this spirit or
mind which was so manifestly in
Christ, ‘present his body and his
spirit to God, a living sacrifice k &c.’
VOL. 70—NO. 30.
Our bodies, ‘the temples of the Holy
Ghost,’ can never visit places, form
associations and submit to lustful
indulgences, which would bring the
blush to the cheek of the saint, un
der the domination of profound
spirituality. “I have meat to eat
that ye know not of.” O how deep
and gushing the fountains of love
and life when the spiritual mind
daily and hourly drinks 1 Giving
to such a soul is verily worship ;
not substance alone, but very self.
Condition with such a soul is not
brought into the account, “Poor,
yet making many rich.” “Prisons
would palaces prove, if Jesus would
dwell with me there.” Ah ! time
worn soldiers of the cross, homeless
and shelterless pilgrim below, and
criticised servant of the master, try
ing to execute the work assigned
you, tap this fountain of consolation,
and a blessed contentment, beyond
description, will fill your heart.
Again : Mercy and forgiveness
were ingredients of the Christly
mind. “Forgive and ye shall be
forgiven.” was the doctrine taught;
and:“Father, forgive them, they
know not what they do,” was the
prayer of the cross-tried Savior of
mankind for His executioners and
vilifiers, while in the very agonies
of dissolution. The world, as to
the compass of his mercy, and the
vileness of murder as to the depth
of it, are enough to encourage an
oversight of many wrongs done us,
and forgiveness of even intended
insults, rendered perhaps under im
pulse or misapprehension, which
cherished in the memory would
kindle a fire of unrest and revenge
in the bosom which would be al
most an embryo hell. Such a spir
it and mind would encourage long
ings in our souls for the unconvert
ed, and our benevolence would
reach the heathen nations around
us. We can look on the fields,
white to the harvest, and with a
Christlike mind, pray and labor for
the extension of the good news. Oh,
for more of the spirit of mercy for
the unfortunate, who are “without
hope and without God in the
world!”
Lord ever give us the mind
which was in Christ Jesus.
Brewton, Ala,
AT THE SICK BED-
Many people—Christian people—*
when visiting at the bedside of the
sick, do not understand the art of so
| visiting as to be specially servicea
ble to the ill ones. Os course, they
desire to do the sick ones all the
good they can, while with them, and
would not, for any consideration,
barm them; and yet, often uncon
sciously, they do either harm them,
or fail to help them, just because
they lack the requisite wisdom and
proper tact. That Christian who
would make his visit at the bedside
of a sick brother or sister most help
ful, needs a wise and prudent type
of piety. Two Christians once called
to see a sick man, who had been a
patient sufferer a long time. One
of them asked the ill man, “Are you
not almost worn out?” He replied,
“No, I shall never wear out. I have
suffered more already than I should
to die a half a dozen times
And now I will tell you what I want.
I want both of you to pray with me
and be short. Let both prayers be
no longer than is ofteu made at once.
And I want you to do it first. Many
come in and stay until I am tired of
conversation and then, when I am
too tired to enjoy it, they propose
prayer. And they pray for many
things that do not especially concern
me, and so lengthy that I am all
beat out. Now, if you pray first,
you will talk better, you will bo less
likely to be interrupted and I shall
enjoy the prayer. And I had ra
ther lose all the rest. I wish the
practice of putting off prayer to the
last thing, when the sick are visited,
was forever done away.” There is
a largo amount of common sense in
these words and they ought to be
universally acted upon. It is true
that it is sometimes very difficult for
the Christian visitor at a sickbed to
suggest immediately upon entering
the room, that he might offer prayer.
In fact, a stranger ought to not be
the first to make such a suggestion.
It would seem that the sick one
should be the first, in perhaps almost
all cases, to intimate the desirability
of having prayer offered, if offered
at all. But the idea of having prayer
at the beginning of the call is a good
one, and both the prayer and visit
should always be very short, in order
to be most profitable.
C. H. Wetherbe.
There arc fortv nresldentlal post
offices in Georg a. The total reo “iptsfrom
them for the year juoi emu .1 is *<507,544.
99. Tlio total amouno paid in salaries to
postmasters in Georgia the past year
foots up $68,900. By increase in salaries
tlio amount to lie paid during the ensu
ing year is $70,500.
By Mexican cable it is stated that Po'
licarpo Bonilla intends that hostilities
shall soon be resumed in Honduras. Ho
has recovered from the wounds received
during the recent revolution and is said
to bo anxious to renew the fight.
The government of Argentina has
adopted measures for cutting down ex
penses. Several warships have been
taken out of commission, sailors dischar
ged and the pay of officers reduced to
one half the usual salaries.