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ESTABLISHED 121. TheChristian'lndex Published Every Thursday, Cor. Ivy Street and Edgewood Avenue. j. c. McMichael. (Estatb.i Organ of the Baptist Ih nomination in Georgia. Subscription Prick: One copy, one year l-.-W One copy, six months LOO Obituaries.—One hundred words free of oharge. For each extra word, one cent per word, cash with copy. To Corrkspon PKNTS.— Ho not use abrevl ■tlons; be extra careful in writing proper names; write with Ink. on one side of paper. Do not write copy Intended for the editor and business Items on same sheet. Leave of! personalities, condense. Business.—Write all names, and post offices distinctly. In ordering a change give the old us well as the new address. The date of label indicates the time your subscription expires. If you do not wish It continued, or der it stopped a week before. We consider each subscriber permanent until he orders his paper discontinued. When you order it •topped pay up to date. Remittances by registered letter, money order, postal note. Important Notice Brother J. C. McMichael gave the best years of his life to build ing up the Index, and in collat eral lines of work for the church and humanity. In the prime of his life, the Master ca’led him up higher just when he was about to reap some financial reward for his labors on the paper. He left a widow and four bright sons. Over the home in which they live, there hangs a debt. Will not every reader who is indebted to the Index remit the amount due at once by money order or other wise? Please do this. It will be a timely act. For the Index Cairo and Egypt Your correspondent has had the privilege of spending about one week in Egypt, most of which was spent in Cairo. We arrived in this country at Port Said, which is at the north end of the Suez canal. This is a beautiful little city and is con stantly becoming more and more important. While it isinthe East yet it is largely European in its appearance. The canal is a great thoroughfare and many vessels pass through it annually and brings an immense revenue into the treasury of those who own it. A vessel with 3,0(>0 tons is charged $6,000 for passing through, and vessels of 6,000 and 8,000 tons are required to pay SB,OOO. At first this would seem to be an awful toll, but when we consider the fact tl at this canal saves more than 5,000 miles sailing these prie s will not appear to be exoi bitant. The cars from Port Said to Cair go by Ismailga, a flourishing town on the cana. about (io miles from the coast. At this latter place you take lunch and then proceed to Cairo, which is the capital of Egypt. After leaving Ismailga, you see some desert, just enough to let you know what a desert is. But you soon notice a canal along which there is a stretch of con tinuous green. This is a canal that runs from the Nile to Port Said. So by the use of its wa ters portions of the desert are not only made to bloom, but, Port Said is supplied with sweet water from the river. The R. R. ’ runs through the land of Goshen, which is one of the n ost fertile and desirable sections of the count ry that could be found in any land. But the chief thing that interests you there is, that this section was the country giv en to Jacob and his sons when they went down into Egypt. You feel that you are on historic ground, but your attention here is not called to any ruins of cities which were built by the children of Israel in those da} s. That they built much there can be no doubt, but the touch of time has j emt ved all traces of their work, and perhaps several feet of rich soil covers all that remains of foundations which they laid. An illustration of this may be found in Heliopolis, for all the visible remains that mark the site of that great city, is an abo lish of real granite, much of which is now buried in the ground. Cairo is situated on the out skirts of Goshen, in a beautiful plain on the east of the Nile. It is a beautiful city, much of it being not only modern, but Euro pean in its architecture and pop ulation. Os course the city has its oriential parts and here you will find the most excellent ba zaars and most beautiful hand work to be found in the world. A tour through these bazaars is a scene never to be forgotten, for both people and things are strikingly ini eresting. You will not be here long until you will decide that among the native element something is sad ly wanting. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ they need, for while many of them seem to be relig ious, yet it is the religion of Mo hamet they have. This is a fear- THE CHRISTIAN INDEX. I SUBSCRIPTION, Pm YiAW.---.t2.00. | \ . I TO MINISTERS, 1.00. J ful and i'Tided system as is shown in Gie moral condition of the people. Among the natives he re, no such thing as society, as we have it, is known. Yen never see men and women asso ciate together, and the former gather round the caffe and spend large portions of the night. Po lygamy is not only tolerated but largely practiced. A man is al lowed to have as many wives as he can buy. Women are regard ed as property ano sell from $125 up to a much higher price, the maiden always bringing more than the widow, or divorced wo man. When the women come on the street they are closely vailed and it might be certain death to one if she should be teen by her husband to speak to another man. The woman here is a slave and does any amount of hard work, while the husband will while his time away on the streets. There are three kinds of burden bearers [here in the East. The one is the won an and the others are tie donkey and camel, the last perhaps, being the most highly regarded of the thn e. This is Moslemism and there is no possible chance to Change it as long as this present government exists. All the mis sionaries in Christendom could do nothing with this people un til the sword conies and pulls down this awfnl government that was established by the sword. “ How long, oh, Lord, how long?” But things are better here in Cairo than in any other other Eastern city which we have visited. If you will know the reason go with me on a 20 min utes walk to thecitadel, and look at the great English cannon that points constantly down toward the city, and you are in posses sion of the secret. It is said that life is as sacred and safe here, as in any city in Europe. These English cannons are great regu lators. On Friday, the Moslem Sunday, we witnessed the dance of the howlirg Dervishes It was the most nonsensical mes mery one could listen to, and the actions of the worshippers ap peared to be very foolish. They would sway their bodies back and forth with much violence, and if they had not been trail ed to such exertion, would have fallendown in exhaustion. No Christian man could witness this foolish ritual without having his sympathies greatly enlisted, and earnestly praying to the Lord to send his spirit to free them from this slavery and sin They have some sacred spots here. Near Heliopolis which is only an hour ai d a half from Caii o—is a spring, and near it a sycamore tree We are told by our guide, that Mary washed the Savior's shirt in this spring and wrung it out by the roots of this very tree. Therefore the tree can never die and that green fruit pulled from its branches will not decay. He affirms that this is the identical tree, and there can be no mistake about it. The truth isthetree is quite old hav ing been planted 225 years ago. In the Coplic church, in old Cairo is a grotto, in which it is said, Mary stayed three months with the child Jesus. Os course we visited this cave and looked into this honored cave. But one of the chief ob jects of interest here is the pyra mids, which are on the highest side of the Nile 5 or 6miles away. There are several pyramids here, but only two worthy of any men tion. The one is Cheops and the other Che ph ren, the forcer be ing much the larger >of the two. You have heard and read much of this pyramid, but it may be doubted as to whether you have a right conception of its magni tude. It is square and each side 750 long. Its sides slope at an angle of about 51 degrees, and the apex is 450 feet from the base. It is no light matter to as cend it, as the blocks of stone to climb are about three feet thick. But you will never get up with out three or four Arab attend ants and perhaps more. Two will have you by your hands, one will be pushing, another will be along with a bottle of water for you, and then another cne or two to help in case of emergency, and before you get far up all of them will be clamoring for oak shish. When you start down they will tie a rope around you to keep you from falling. Then when you get down you will be fiercely beset on every hand, un til you will lose all patience and be sorry you ever heard of a pyramid. We often hear the pyramids alluded to as if there were something very mysterious about them. Such is not the case, for they were erected by their -builders for tombs for themselves The rocks with which these were built, were brought, doubtless, from the Makallaim mountains which lie just east of Cairo. At some fu- ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. DECEMBER 12, 1805. ture time I may speak of the Sphinx and its tempi- . G. H. ('ARTER. For the 1 ndhx. From China. The events of the last fifteen months have disclosed a startling need of the gospel in this old empire of China. The incapaci ty, the weakness, the ignorance, the cowardice, the selfishness, the corruption of the ruling classes went hand in hand with the misconception, suspicion and villainous slanders of t he people all during the war with Japan. These have been succeeded since the war by deeds against the missionaries that have made China notorious in all the world. With regard to the riots and the Ku Cheng massacre it is im portant to bear in mind that they were not directed against mis sionary work, but against all foreigners. There is a very large number of Chinese who would feel that they had earned the everlasting blessing of their an cestors if they could see the last European packing his trunks and taking his leave of the Ce lestial Empire. One of their most highly educated men said only a few days ago, “What a pity we ever opened China to commerce with other nations. All our woe begins from that date.” The truth is this foreign commerce, while bringing many blessings has convinced a superciliously proud nation of their • hopeless inferiority in science, in art, in religion and has raised their bar barous instincts. Pride dies hard. It is to be hoped that they will grow becomingly meek like the caged bird which after try ing its wings on the wires in vain at last submits gracefully to its imprisonment. The gifts of God are without repentance. He has given his children wisdom and the heathen rage. We here in North China are a long way from the seismic cen tre. The waves of shock were distinctly felt here, but no harm was done. We are as undisturb ed now as ever. We felt the war more, but the riots less than our brethren in oilier parts. 1 have recently made a trip to our Pingtu station to attend mis sion meeting. The work there is going on very nicely. Pastor Sears has frequent baptisms at Saling. I know of no missionary who has more thoroughly the hearts of his people than Sears has. The medical woik mder Dr. Randle is making great strides forward. He and Mrs. Randle were simply busy from morning till night, so much so that it was almost impossible for them to get time to attend the mission meeting. Men, women and children with every kind of disease were constantly throng ing the yard where the doctor received them. So much relief of suffering reminded me of him “who went about doing good.” I pray God to send us another medical man. We need a man here at Hwanghien very much. It seems to us that it would be good mission economy. Looking after the health of the other mis sionaries is of great importance. The influence of that kind of work is very marked and very good. Again as a member of the great family of man I should like to bless this region by giving them a knowledge of that science that reduces so much suffering of the raco. Then let us look to the Lord of the harvest to send us a man of this kind. Dr. Ran dle is not only a physician, but is a preacher also. The day we were in Pingtu he organized a church in the city, the older church at Saling being eight miles away. We have had much blessing in our Hwanghien work this year. Bro. Stephens will organize a church six miles away next Sun day. The work there has been very encouraging this year. We have had at this station sixteen baptisms this year and two now awaiting the ordinance. The visits of the Index are en joyed more and more. Please receive congratulations from the far off land of China on your very marked improvement of the pa per. Yours in the work, C. W. Pruitt. Hwanghien. P. O. Chefoo. Oct. 25, 1895. We are m receipt of a letter from Bro. A. J. Julian, of Wool ley’s Ford, Ga., telling us of the destruction of Liberty church house by fire. This loss will fall very heavy upon the brethren from the fact that they have just finished paying out a good round sum of money for repairs. Bro. Julian says: “Our people are too poor to rebuild without aid.” Bro. Julian is very anxious to re build at once and will give as lib erally as he is able. Here is an excellent chance to do good. Rev. George f Barnwell is the pastor. Send help to A. J. Julian, Wool ley’s Ford, Ga. For the Indkx- Movements in Brazil. AMNISTIA is a word much in vogue in the Latin Republics, and of late has been greatly in use, especially so inßrazil. Since the establishment of the Repub lie more than once or twice have the political wrong-does claimed the benefits of this sublime act of clemency and pardon on the part of those in power, but, as all good things, there has been a great deal of abuse. To forgive, to pardon is sweet! But who should be forgiven and pardoned but the man who has repented of his error and folly! Here it is the contrary. Men possessing war-ships, powder, guns, etc., etc., combine against the government, destroy quiet people’s property, do mischief of all kind and are at last con quered and put down. What should be done to such a lot? Do you not think that a good pun ishment would have done them good? Well, the Brazilian gov ernment does not think so. It gives to them a full Amnistia— a full pardon. No all the revaltonos are return ing, ready to do more mischisf than before! * * * Politics. —Since the congress decreed a full pardon to all re volters, the political horizon seems to have become clearer and the hopes of men for the Brazilian Republic are more san guine. However, all is not right yet; all is not sure yet; and if Prudente de Morals is not care ful before the end of his term he may yet have much trouble. Here are some notes picked from the papers. Judge for yourself: “In Maceio, capital of the state of Alagoas, there were serious disturbances on the 22nd inst., caused by fights between police men and soldiers. It is stated that one policeman and one sol dier was killed and several wounded.” “A telegram of the 22nd inst. from the State of Pasa asserts that the English have occupied Brazilian territory on the border of British Guiana ever since 1882.’ “In the State of Sergipe the situation has become simply in tolerable. An Arac&ju telegram of the 25th says that ,18 persons had been arrested in'Kavangeiras (capital) for walking in the street after Bp. m. Some were beaten and others were abused by hav ing cords put on their necks. In Pernambuco the Governor, a positivist, tries to carry out Augusts Comte’s doctrines of dictatorship and is doing mis chief to all that oppose him. In Bahia there are now two Governors, each proving the other wrong. In San Pauls a strong mon archal party has been formed. And so on! The Brazilian Re public is not sure yet! * * * Jesuits.—But the Jesuits ar - not quiet. Never before haw they been working so hard in Brazil. They are trying their utmost to make this Republic another Ecuador. They are opening free schools in every little place; papers within the last year have quadrupled in number; bishops are being cre ated for each State. Here in Campos we had none; but as the cause of Jesus has been moving forward, they have sent the bishop here. Monks and Nuns are filling the streets of every little place, and the cause or Christ is finding more underhand opposition than ever before. The greatest enemy Brazil has to-day is the Jesuit. They are plodding and working and toil ing, and if the Lord will not in terfere soon, terrible results may be expected. Pray for Brazil! * * « Our Lord’s Kingdom. ln spite of this, the cause of Jesus is gaining ground daily in this land. There is progress all along the line. Not to speak of any other field, on this one alone 105 candidateshave been buried with Christ by baptism since January 1895. In J une two new churches were organized and on the 15th inst. I hope (D. V.) to organize anoth er church in a place called Santa Barbara, a three hours’ ride from Campos. We are going forward, Praise the Lord. * * * Our Church. Besides buy ing the lot, the Lord has enabled us to buy also eight dozen new chairs. Now we are working ar ranging money to build. Area der of your excellent paper, Mr. Thomas Hyland, Architect, read ing about our need of a chapel, has offered to send us the plans gratuitously and we have al ready sent to him the items ne cessary to make his plan. On the 24th of March, 1896, we ex pect (D. V.) to celebrate our fifth anniversary and we are praying to the Almighty to enable us to begin building on that day. Brethren, who will help? Five thousand dollars are needed! Who will help the Board to send it? * * * God bless you all. Do not for get to pray for the Campos Mis sion and for your missionary. Solomon L. Ginsburg. P. S.—l forgot to toll you how much I appreciate rour “ (lon/h I Arrown." They give pleasure and instruction and are very helpful to missionaries abroad who can get very little oppor tunities for reading and study ing. God bless the editor of the “Christian Index." S.L.G. For the Indkx. The Art of Judging; a Sermon BY E. V. BALDY. I believe there is an art in hearing a discourse. Some peo ple seem to possess this art in a remarkable degree, being able to hear with such interest and at tention and a memory so accurate that they can recall and repeat the substance of the entire dis course. Others do not seem to possess this art. They seem not to be able to discern the sequence of ideas, or cannot follow a [logi cal train of thought, or find it impossible to concentrate their mind and attention to an entire sermon. The art of hearing is a noble art and should be culti vated by all. I believe there is also such a thing as the art of judging a ser mon. We often hear the phrase, “ the art of criticism," asapplied to one’s competency to criticiz ing a painting, a poem, a musical composition or other work of art. Is there not also the art of criti cism as applied to judging a ser mon? Indeed I think this is one of the fine arts, and a somewhat rare accomplishment . There are innumerable tyros, but few artists. I do not find much in Scripture about the duty of passing judg ment on a sermon. I find a great deal about the duty and respon sibility of hearing, but not much about judging a sermon. Ido not know that we are absolutely honor bound to express judg ment on a Sermon. , We find in the Scriptures such expressions as “Judge not, lest ye be judged” and “With what judgmen. ye judge ye shall be judged.” We read about God's judgment, i-nd the Judgment Day, but really nothing ai all clear about jueg ing sermons, unless it be in such passages as, “Prove all things, hold fast that which is good,” and others where we are taught to guard against error and all false doctrine. But people will judge. Every one seems to claim the privilege and assumes to know the art of judging. And yet this is an ex ceedingly solemn matter, and a person takes upon himself a serious responsibility when he assumes to freely criticise a ser mon. To pass hasty adverse criticism on your pastor's ser mon is a solemn responsibility For just in proportion to your standing and influence, you rob impair his usefulness and may him of his reputation and influ ence as a preacher in your midst. Take from the painter his can vass, he can get another; take away his paint and his brush, these may be replaced; but strike off his ami and he cannot paint. The preacher's reputation and influence is the right arm of his power. “The purest treasure mortal times af ford Is spotless reputation; that away Men are but gilded foam, or painted elay." “Who steals my purse steals trash * * * * * But he who filches from me my good name Rohs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed.” But people will judge. The preacher is a standing target for criticism. Let us lay dowm an axiom. No person has the moral right uo pass judgment on a sermon un less he is sure he is competent to judge. When then is a person competent to judge? 1. When he has a right spirit. When he is fair, impartial, prayerful, sympathetic and real ly solicitous for the welfare of souls. He must have no preju dice or ill feeling toward the preacher or the gospel he preach es. 2. When he has a right stan dard of excellence. 3. When he has given a faith ful hearing. There is here only one ques tion which needs to be further discussed. That is: What con stitutes A TRUE AND RIGHT STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE? For if a hearer have a right spirit and give a faithful hearing to the discourse, he may still be a very incompetentDjudge of a ser mon if he has not a right stan- dard of excellence. And in this connection it will be found con venient and helpful to our pur pose to employ THE PROCESS OF ELIMINATION. Many things usually consid ered essent’al to a good sermon, on closer investigation of the nature and aim of preaching v ill be found not to be an essential element to genuine excellence. In teaching our idea of the true standard of excellence we may eliminate, every element that is not absolutely essential. How ever desirable certain qualities may be, if they be not indispen sably necessary we will lei them pass. 1. Orator} not essential. All must agree that eloquence is a great gain, and the pulpit orator should be deeply grateful to God for any natural gifts in this line. But, as a matter of fact, great orators are comparatively rare, and all pulpits cannot be fur nished with orators, for the very simple reason that the supply is not equal to the demand. While there is undoubtedly more of elo quence and oratory to be found in the ministry than in any of the learned professions, still only a few preachers are gifted ora tors. 2. Scholarship not essential. The preacher by all means must be a student. And especially must he be a diligent student of God's Word. But it is a fortun ate thing indeed, that the perish ing millions of souls do not have to wait till all preachers are learned scholars before they can receive the gospel. Our Lord in choosing his first preachers did not call “many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble,” 1 Cor. 1:26; but many men of ordinary ability and very limited literary attain ments have been most efficient preachers of the Word of God. 3. Elocution not essential. A good voice, clear enunciation, and correct emphasis and gest ures free from awkwardness and mannerisms are things which every public speaker, and preach ers especially, should cultivate. Still there are very many most useful preachers who from some physical defect or else lack of training and attention to these things, are wholly wanting in the arts of elocution. 4. Excitement not essential. Some people depreciate a sermon unless it abounds in storm and tempest of excitement. God's servant should be deeply in ear nest, but why should he rave and rant? One of the most sensible and complimentry criticisms of a pastor's sermon was once made by the colored sexton of the church: “Boss, I likes your way of preaching- 1 understands it all, and I feels it all, but it don’t hurt my head so. I never could stan dis here hydrophoby PREACHING.” 5. Obscurity not essential. Some people value a sermon for its obscurity. They say: “So deep.” “So profound.” “So grand.” And all because it was a mass of matter they could not understand. But of what real good is such a sermon unless it be to make the common herd stand in awe of their preacher and think him such a tower of learning and.such a mighty think er. “ Richard Baxter confesses that he deliberately preached over the heads of his people once a year, for the purpose of keep ing them humble, and showing them what their minister could do every Sunday of the year if he chose.” Stalker, The Preach er and hin Modein, p. 251, foot note. But truth, however grand, is worth nothing unless compre hended. “Sublimity always is simple. . Both in sermon and song, And a child can seize on its meaning.” Longfellow. 6. Pathetic anecdotes not es sential. Many hearers judge of a sermon by its power to make them cry. This may be a great snare. Illustration and pathos are powerful aids to the presen tation of truth, but are also often employed in the presentation of gross error. Ingersol is a prince in the realm of pathos. 7. Preacher's popularity not essential. Many take it for granted that the utterances of a popular man must be of great merit. But the truth is, many of the most popular preachers give forth much that is chaff, if not worse than chaff, while men of great convictions and great aims and great boldness in the truth make many enemies and become very unpopular for the time. 8. Originality not essential. Originality of thought is very at tractive, but there is really not room for much originality of thought. The gospel is an old, old story, and if earnestly pre sented, is ever new and charm ing. But the gospel may be ob scured by the preacher’s strain ing effort to impress the people VOL. 75--NO. that he is possessed of rare ori gir ality of ideas. 9 Length. Sermons are not to be judged by their length. Some praise a sermon because it is so short. If brevity be the standard of excellence, the time may come when five minutes dis courses will be considered the test of genius. The truth is,, many short sermons are very poor because too long. Long sermons areoftentimes very poor indeed, and yet very many of the greatest sermons have required, at least an hour for delivery. The length of a sermon seems to me to have little to do with its excellence. While many dis courses should be limited to thirty minutes, great themes and spec* ial occasions oftentimes justify twice that much time We give the lawyer plenty of time to present his cause if he is doing nothing more than pleading a case of petty larceny. Let ns give God’s ambassador time to present his message. We may now ask: What is the true standard of excellence? The true standard of excellence will be found in the affirmative ans wer to five questions: 1. Was it true? Nothing 'ut the truth can be good in a ser mon 2. Was it Scriptural? For everything that is true may not be Scriptural. A moral lecture may contain truth and yet not be a sermon,so of scientific, literary, social and political addresses. The sermon must be the treat ment of a Scriptural theme from a Scriptural standpoint. The gospel is the center and sub stance of every true sermon. 3. Was it easy to hear and understand? If the preacher’s plan and structure and delivery were such as to aid the hearer in hearing, this is a strong point in favor of the sermon. 4. Was it timely? Even good sermons may be untimely, not being adapted to the occasion. But most gospel themes are al ways timely. 5. Was it forcible? Was there that indescribable something which made the sermon take hold of the conscience and the heart? If so, that must have been spir itual power, without which no sermon is complete. If the hearer may say the ser mon was true, Scriptural, easy to hear and understand, was timely and forcible, then that was a good sermon. Bowling Green, Ky. Scattering Thoughts. by u. 11. H. After abandoning the world and declaring for Christ, the young Christian has yet another very critical and no less impor tant stage to pass. To become accustomed to his new life, so much so that 'he may love the many duties involved in his first step. Exercise in performing Christian duties is needed to de vek p the muscles of faith, love and charity. As it were, the young Christian must enter train ing in order to become a true, healthy, Christian athlete The desire to go forward in the per formance of religious duties- is very seldom found in the young believer himseli. It must be gen erated in him by his fellow CTt s tians. The soil is fertile and on>l>y az sower is needed to produes- a harvest which would almost in variably result in a good active Christian worker. The babe needs good substantial .nourish ment to become heilthy and rosy. Many a poor babe iaidirfst grows puny and sickly, freq;<umt ly becoming worthless simply from a lack of proper stinrafegits and nourishment which mind be administered by elder Christianas . This is a very important pontAnm every Christian's life and is too often overlooked. You o kite’s - Christians —watch the young brother, assess him duties which) tend to create interest; call ons him to pray at the evening prayer meetings, speak a pleas ant word of encouragement while passing on the street, till his life with charitable duties and the young Christians of our fair land will become better models for their fellows and be a pride to their churches. Would it seem reasonable for Christ when, he found his hundredth sheep to let it grow weak from hunger and neglect? He would rather take pains to nurse it, give it nour ishment and stimulants. “Go and do thou likewise ” to the new born Christian. Rev. J. J. Bennett, principal of Hearn School, Cave Springs,. Ga., has accepted the call to the pastorate of Rockmart, Taylors ville, and Raccoon Creek Church es. His people and congregation are delighted with his preaching. He is a very promising yonag preacher. S. E. Smith, Rockmart, Ga.