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preach was conditioned upon his
promising not to allude to mis
sions in his discourse. He re
fused to make the promise and
the committee remained him.
Sabbath morning the committee
came again, and failing still to
secure the promise demanded,
finally yielded to the pressure
and appointed him to preach,
but charged him to say nothing
about missions.
Well, he preached and those
now living who knew my father,
understand full well to what ex
tent he obeyed the orders of this
committee. Before the services
were over excited brethren were
exchanging angry glances, or
else were gathered together in
groups denouncing the impru
dent preacher. At the close of
the sermon those outside parties,
at whose solicitation the appoint
ment had been made, came for
ward and proffered their services
to protect him from peisonal
violence. He thanked them, but
intimated that he had no serious
apprehensions, as he had
preached nothing butthe gospel,
and that their feelings would
change so soon as they had time
to retlect a little.
One more reminiscence in con
nection with this meeting and
then I close. This I received
from the lips of my mother.
When she accompanied my father
into the house she left her first
born in the carriage with old
Fanny, the colored nurse. Dur
ing the excited proceedings,
which resulted in the summary
expulsion of Dr. Brantly from the
house, there was loud talking,
angry wordsand stamping of the
feet. Upon the return of my
mother to the carriage, old Fanny
inquired as to the noise—asked
what the people had been quar
reling about, and if they had
been fighting. When my mother
explained to her the cause of the
disturbance, old Fanny lifted
her hands in astonishment, say
ing. “Mistis, it surely can’t be
so. Why 1 thought every one of
God’s children wanted everybody
in the whole world to hear about
our blessed Jesus.” Old Fannie
could neither read nor write, nor
was she by any means considered
bright, but she was a Christian
and had a Christian’s heart in her
ebony bosom.
On last Sabbath as I stood on
the sight of the old church in
front of the present building,
gazing upon the same trees and
rocks which were there in 1822,
I could scarcely control my feel
ings. My thoughts were on the
past. Stanford and Gray were
gone, brother Greene and his big
stick were gone, Brantly was
gone, old Fannie was gone, and
my dear father and mother, who
so often recited these things to
their children, were gone too.
Missions still live and the gospel
is still spreading.
Hephzibah, Ga.
Baptist Position Stated and Con
trasted—Sole Authority of God’s
Word
BY G. A. LOFTON, D. D.
Everybody, with little excep
tion, believes in God. Most peo
pie claim to believe in the Bible.
All Christians pretend to regard
it as authority upon all questions
of morality and religion. As the
sole rule of faith and practice
among Christians, however,
there are very few Christians
who really hold to the dogma,
except in theory. Among all the
older or historic denominations
I know much of, the Baptists are
the only people who have main
tained this fundamental position.
The Bible alone as the Book of
Protestants was the great maxim
of Chillingworth; but while Pro
testants in general have asserted
this maxim, they have not made
the Bible the sole rule of faith
and practice in all matters of re
ligion.
Upon this point the Baptists
believe that the Bible is plenarily
inspired as the word of God; and
hence, whatever difference in de
gree as to the value of certain
parts of the Bible, we maintain
that in whole as in every part it
is the truth of God. There may
be some difficulty among us as to
plenary, verbal inspiration, touch
ing the mode of expression; but
we all agree that even in verbal
inspiration the effect is plenary,
since the Bible, whatever its form
of expression, is the truth, the
whole truth and nothing but the
truth of God. As to the theory
of inspiration, Baptists hold that
it is neither natural, partial nor
mechanical, but that it is super
natural, plenary and dynamical,
having a human as well as a di
vine element in it. Whatever
the different forms of revelation,
or modes of inspiration, the
prophet or the apostle, or other
writers, declared God's truth
under the guide of the Holy
Spirit; and although revelation
is marked with the peculiarities
of the genius, temperament and
culture of its writers, it is never
theless inspired of God.
Believing in the plenary inspi
ration of the Bible in every part,
it is impossible for Baptists to
escape the fact that God’s book
is the sole rule of faith and prac
tice in all matters of morality
and religion. We hold that no
doctrine or practice which de
mands our faith as the law of
God,binding upon the conscience,
can be set up among men for
which there is not an express,
“Thus saith the Lord” for verba
tim et literatim. All law, whether
human or divine, must be writ
ten in express terms —in terms
expressed in the primary and not
figurative or secondary use of
language and there is no such
thing as law by inference, what
ever may be inferred as the
meaning of law in the express ion
of its terms. Hence, Baptists are
strict or literal constructionists
of God’s word as law binding
upon the conscience in all mat
ters of faithand practice. Herein
we are absolutely conservative
in the maintainance of doctrine
and practice as inflexible and un
changeable, and in order to the
construction of our articles of be
lief, we adhere to the rigid rule
of putting every article in the
order of its relation to other ar
ticles, in the terms of the Bible.
Otherwise an article, a confes
sion of faith, is of no value or
validity among Baptists.
Now this is not the practice of
other denominations, especially
pedobaptist denominations. First
among the number, the Roman
Gatholics deny the authority of
the Bible as a rule of faith and
practice among Christians, ex
cept in so far as the Bible is in
terpreted and sanctioned as au
thority by the church; and, in ad
dition to the Bible, tradition is
made of equal authority with
God’s word. All authority and
power from God, in spiritual
matters, has been delegated to
the church of Rome; and the ex
cathedra decision of popes, the
decrees of councils, the tradition
of the church, are of equal inspi
ration with God’s word. In fact
Rome claims the right to add to
or take from the word of God, as
his infallible holiness and the
councils of the church may de
cidejnall matters of “discipline”;
and hence the form of baptism,
for instance, has been changed
from immersion to sprinkling,
and the cup of the eucharist has
been denied to the laity. So of
a thousand other innovations of
this mother of abominations.
Granting thedogmaof papal vice
gerency and infallibility, what
else might not be expected in the
claim to interpret God’s word, or
alter the form of its revelation,
to suit the most monstrous usur
pation of divine authority, the
devil could conceive in theory
and practice. Grant the premises
of Rome and where is the end to
innovation upon divine truth;
and then, worse than all, with
such a grant, the Bible becomes
absolutely powerless as an argu
ment against any heresy or crime
Rome may commit. The only
power which Baptists can wield
against Rome is an open Bible;
but even then the Baptists must
assert and prove the world’s only
safe dogma that the Bible is the
sole rule of faith and practice
among Christians.
Other denominations, I mean
Protestants, make no claim to
vicegerency and infalibility in the
interpretation of the Bible to suit
their creeds; but they establish
creeds and confessions upon
the Bible, by a lot of inferences
which render it, after all, not a
rule of faith and practice among
Christians. They find the church,
the eeclesia, of Jesus Christ, for
instance, the same under differ
ent dispensations—away back
with Adam and Noah, but espe
cially under the covenants of God
with Abraham, Moses and David,
and in order to consistency with
their theory, they find baptism
coming in the place of circum
cision. Hence the dogma of in
fant baptism, and hence all the
features of the old Mosaic or
Legal System stamped upon the
purely Christian dispensation.
All this by inference from false
promises, without a single enact
ing clause in the law of Christ,
w hether by precept or practice,
for the position. Not only so,
but upon equally groundless
premises, and by w’ay of equally
fallacious inferences,the mode of
baptism and the forms of church
government are established con
trary to the plainest teachings of
the New Testament. The sub
terfuge of convenience and policy
discovers that immersion could
not have been the mode of bap
tism; and, moreover, the New
Testament haves no definite
form of church government.
Hence your sprinkling and pour
ing for baptism—your despotic
form of church government—
your Apostolic succession and
the whole scheme of the devil,
who overthrew the democratic
supremacy of the churches and
put the clergy over the laity in
the immediate succeeding cen
turies after Christ and his
apostles. So of a thousand other
and minor theories and divisions
among God’s people, which con
tinue to multiply.
It all comes from inference
which liberally and recklessly
construes God’s word to suit
every new theory that originates
in the brain of the innovator and
the usurper. The maxim that in
matters of faith and practice
God's word must be strictly con
strued as the law of Christ bind
ing upon conscience, is ignored;
and when that maxim is lost
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX: THURSDAY, AUGUST 6. 1896.
sight of, then chaos reigns and
innovation becomes i ife. Hence
Presbyterianism and Prelacy
and Independency—yea, Metho
dism and every other conglomer
ate or composite or unique form
of church government, ceremo
nial practice,and doctrinal belief,
from the most absolute ritualism
down to the most freedomistic
rationalism. Those denomina
tions, like Campbellism, Adven
tism and the like, which claim to
follow Gid’s word in the very
sterility of literalism, have only
the form without the spirit of the
letter in many particulars; and
in every instance of a new de
nomination, it will be found that
some vital part of God’s word
has been ignored or misconstrued
in order to straddle or go between
the position of other denomina
tion, for effect upon the masses |
Finally the great and multi
farious difficulty in the way of
Christianity and Christian union
is the dogma of MY STANDARD.
Nine people out of ten have a
standard of their own; and the
New Testament is construed to
fit each man’s standard. Thou
sands of Christians who believe
in Christ for salvation, only
recognize him as a priest. As
teacher and king he has no power
over them; and preference,preju
dice and policy, construct their
own system of belief and govern
ment in all else but salvation.
Educational bias, associational
influences, the effect of pride and
policy, keep thousands from see
ing a whole gospel, or if they see
it, from adopting the whole truth.
They bracket what militates
against their notions and inter
ests; and it is no wonder that so
many fail to see the Baptist posi
tion, which maintains a whole and
unmutilated gospel. “All the
counsel of God”—aye, there is
the difficulty! Herein lies the
difference in position as between
Baptists and the millions who,
for various reasons, construct a
standard of their own.
It is the Bible alone, as the
sole rule of faith and practice,
which makes the Baptist. He is
not the product of human tradi
tions, creeds and systems He
has no human head or founder
for his system; and therefore the
contrast upon this point between
him and all other people. Joe
Smith, Alexander Campbell,
Swedenborg, Wesley, Calvin,
Luther, Henry the Eighth, the
Popes—all these have left their
peculiar mark, their individual
stamps upon their system and
their followers. They formu
lated different and conflicting
creeds and organizations of their
own,adding to or taking from the
Bible, as they perhaps did notin
tend; but, with all their good,
upon "each system thus origi
nated, you can see the image and
superscription of the father and
founder. In contrast the Baptists
and Baptist churches have no
mark on their foreheads and on
their hands except the sign and
seal of the New Testament and
its author. We call no man mas
ter, father, or head; and hence
we have no man’s seal upon our
brow. For this reason we not
only differ, by contrast, from all
other people, but in our individ
uality differ from each other, and
we have no likeness in general
except in Christ and in New
Testament principles and prac
tices. You can only tell a Bap
tist by his gospel vernacular
and spirit. He wears no robes
or uniform to distinguish him
from other men, and he has no
characteristic tones or manners,
or brogue, by which to particu
larize his sect. He knows no
other book butthe Bible, or if he
does know any other book, he
puts the Bible on top of it. He
speaks only as of the oracles of
God,if a true Baptist, and if true,
he walks and talks and works in
the simplicity and zeal of his
Master. He is a democrat pure
and simple, and you cannot tell
him from other people except
by his doctrine, his spirit and his
life. There is nobody else on
earth like a Baptist, and he alone
belongs to the sect everywhere
spoken against—that is, if he is
faithful to his convictions and
honest to declare them.
The Unity and Diversity in Chris
tianity.
BY .1. H. HALL, D.D.
Extremes afflict us. It is now
ultra conservatism,and now ultra
liberalism. Popular thought,
like the pendulum, rebounds.
These extremes appear in the
form of abuses. They are the
tendencies to centralize and unify
on the one hand, and to decen
tralize and diversify on the
other. They are conservatism
in extreme uniformity, and lib
eralism in extreme diversity.
They appear in the two extreme
forms of human government—
the one in the unity of Despot
ism, the other in the licentious
ness of Anarchism. They even
show themselves in the most
ancient pursuit of man—agri
culture. Here they appear in
the concentration of interest
upon the production of a single
commodity—cotton—or, on the
other hand, the dissipation of
energies in diverse speculations
upon products. Worst of all,
these extremes appear in ’relig-
ion. They give us the central
ized hierarchy on the one hand,
then the churchless Salvationists
on the other. Among Baptists,
the same tendencies may affect
ecclesiastical life and activity.
In the past was there not among
us a tendency to a monopoly of
labor—a restriction of religious
work to the pulpit and prayer
meeting, to preachers and ex
horters ? The pews were then
exempted. In the present is
there not a swing of the pendu
lum to the opposite extreme,
giving us a communistic spirit,
and a useless multiplicity of ma
chinery ? The tendency now is
to the dissipation of church
energy in diverse organizations.
Whereas in the past, all teaching
was heaped upon the preacher’s
lips, now there is danger of ex
tending the oracles of God to the
flippant lips of boys and g’rls.
The modern swing in popular
izing Christianity has led to a
virtual | amendment of Paul’s
words upon ordination, so that
they should read: “ If a man,” or
woman “desire the office of a
bishop, etc.”
With these tendencies to ex
tremes in mind to guard us, we
invite the reader to some brief
studies in Christianity—in its
Unity and Diversity. In the one
view, we will see immutable
forms, in the other varying apti
tudes. Christianity has its Unity
back of its Diversity. It has its
unchangeable nature underneath
its manifold life. It is uniform,
and it is variform. Let us first
see it in its Unity—in its un
changeable Life, Principles and
Order-, then in its Diversity—in
its various gifts and activities,
appearing in adaptations and
ministrations to the world’s
needs.
THE UNITY IN CHRISTIANITY.
This is taught in the Script
ures. Different views are there
given of this Unity. The work
wrought in the “everlasting cov
enant,” as given by Jeremiah, is,
“ I will give them one heart.”
God’s people of old had, back of
all apparent differences, “ one
heart.” In his sacrificial prayer
to the Father for his people, our
Lord said: “That they may be
one, even as we are one.” As
the Father and Son are one, so
are the redeemed in spirit one.
In his letter to the church at
Corinth, Paul says; “ Now, there
are diversities of gifts, but the
same Spirit. And there are dif
ferences of -administrations, but
the same Lord. And there are
diversities of operations, but it
is the same God which worketh
all in all.” (1 Cor. 12:4-6 ) Back
of the visible workings of Chris
tianity—back of its “gifts,” its
“administraffcns,” its “opera
tions” was the one Spirit, one
Lord, one God. In “the same
Spirit” we have the divine Au
thor and Administrator of Chris
tianity. And in him it has its
Unity. He is its Center—its
pulsing Heart. From him issues
its one universal Life, Mind,
Purpose. He originates, per
vades and animates it. He is its
indwelling, life-giving Soul.
We may consider this Unity in
Christianity under three condi
tions.
UNITY IN LIFE.
Christianity is one in its life.
It has a distinct and distin
guished life—separate and above
all known orders of life. It is
above the animal, above the ra
tional, above the angelic—high
above them all. It is spiritual
life. It is found only in the
saints, the children of God, “the
household of faith.” This life is
the same in all the redeemed—it
has a universal unity in the “one
heart” of Christendom. How
ever great and wide the differ
ences in the views and practices
of Christians, they are all at one
in the gracious life implanted in
the soul. Several things may
be said of this life to bring out
its unity.
It-is one in origin. How does
it come ? Is it inherited, ac
quired or worked out ? Neither.
It is born life. “ Except a man
be born from above he cannot see
the kingdom of God.” There is
no other genesis of any life,
natural or spiritual. All life in
a sense is born —not made. Life
cannot be made. We make ma
chinery, implements of toil—
make the plough to turn the soil,
but germination makes the corn
and cotton life. Work can only
give form, spirit gives life. Our
Lord made a great distinction
between two orders of life when
he said: “ That which is born of
the flesh is flesh: and that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
But how much greater is the dis
tinction between the mere work
of any sort of religious mechan
ics, and the heavenly birth of the
soul ? How important it is that we
emphasize the tremendous fact
that Christians are not made,
molded, wrought out, but born.
Generation gives life—regenera
tion gives new, spiritual life.
Again, this life has unity in its
Author. The Spirit gives it. He
alone creates the soul anew.
Paul states Christian experience
in the words: “For God who
commanded the light to shine out
of darkness, hath shined into
our nearts, to give the light of
the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Here regeneration is compared
to the creation of life and order
out of the material chaos. The
record of that work is: “And the
earth was without form and void;
and darkness was upon the face
of the deep. And the Spirit of
God moved upon the face of the
waters. And God said, Let there
be light, and there was light ”
Here the Spirit was the agent in
the material transformation.
Likewise is he the life-giving
agent in the spiritual transfer
mation. He broods over the
chaos of the dead soul, bringing
it to a new life. Yes. “It is the
Spirit that quickeneth.” When
ever the Scriptures speak of the
Father or Son as giving life
they mean through the Spirit.
As it is “ the same Spirit ” who
gives life to all the redeemed,
the life must be the same. As
proceeding from one Author, it
must be one life. As he
“abides” in all believers, his life
is their life. Hence, it is said
that they “live in the Spirit.”
Still, again, Christian life is
one in its nature. Two character
istics classify all rational life—
benevolence and malevolence.
In the one we have love, in the
other we have hate. The spirit
of love is the spirit of Christian
life. It determines and distin
guishes the children of God.
‘ We know that we have passed
from death unto life, because we
fore the brethren. He that lov
eth not his brother abideth in
death.” It attests their high and
heavenly birth: “Every one that
loveth is born of God and know
eth God. He that loveth not
knoweth not God; fur God is
love.” The old, dead nature is
“enmity”—the new, live nature
is love. Hence a universal fact
of Christian experience is a re
version of heart in the confes
sion, “ I now love the things
I used to hate.” As this life of
love comes in “the new heart
and new spirit” given in conver
sion, it belongs to a’l the saved.
In love is the unity of Christian
life. Herein all redeemed hearts
are unified.
the
Any publication mentioned in this de
partment may be obtained of the
American Baptist Publication So
ciety, 93 Whitehall St., Atlanta, Ga.
When prices are named they include
postage.
The Editors of the Christian Index
desire to make this column of service
to their readers. They will gladly
answer, or have answered, any ques
tions regarding books. If you desire
books for certain lines of reading, or
desire to find out the worth or pub
lisher of any book, write to them.
Adonuram Judson Gordon. By his
son, ’Ernest B Gordon. Fleming H.
Revell, New York and Chicago. Price
♦1.50.
This is a delightful biography. The
son shows that he is worthy of his sire
both in the loving appreciation of his
beautiful character and the ability dis
played in writing such a charming bi
ography.
Dr. Got dan became so well known in
his later days that all will be familiar
with certain aspects of his life. He is
associated with the pre millennial view
of Christ’s second coming, divine heal
ing in certain of its phases, the higher
life, and especially with the modern re
vival of emphasis on the work of the
Holy Spirit. All of these ideas find full
explanation in these pages. Dr. Gordon
displayed while holding these doctrines
that so easily run into exaggerations,
that wonderful balance and restraint
that is exhibited in his Ministry of the
Spirit. We read this at one time with
special reference to a sanctification ex
citement, and it was marvellous how
Dr. Gordon stopped always on the edge
of fanaticism. He held to the truth,
loved it, followed it, but stopped when
revealed truth stopped. This seems to
have been a trait of his character.
Dr. Gordon deserves the greatest
praise as a church organizer and leader.
The Clarendon Street church of Boston
is one of the great churches of our
country. Devout, liberal consecrated,
it is a model in many ways. It was not
so when he began. Fifteen years were
required to complete the renovation of
its methods and ways. Dr. Gordon d’d
not tear down. He waited for the ren
ovation of the Holy Spirit. He en
deavored to lead his people upward and
weed out the objectionable elements.
At the last, grace reigned. Many a
pastor will catch new strength from
this example. Dr. Gordon worked
years before his ideal was ever approxi
mated.
The father of Dr. Gordon was named
Calvin, and was a lay theologian of
the most intense type. It is significant
of the era in which Dr. Gordon was to
live that his doctrinal father gave him
a missionary name. It was well be
stowed. His heart always went out to
missions and missionaries. From his
residence in Boston he early became a
member of the Executive Committee of
the Missionary Union. His interest
broadened in 1884 when the Congo Mis
sion of Dr Guinness was offered to the
Union and accepted. Dr. Gordon took
the field when it seemed as if the
churches would fail to sustain it, and
stemmed the tide. In his last years he
was chairman of the Executive Com
mittee of the Union. To this he gave
his best labors. Every year it was his
place to urge the cause he loved on the
brethren at the anniversary meetings.
With growing power he gave a mighty
impulse by these addresses.
Naturally his life filled with labors as
the years went by. He was closely and
intimately identified with the North
field work, and in Mr. Moody's absence
frequently took charge. With Dr.
Pierson be made a missionary tour of
Scotland. He was in constant demand
for addresses and travelled many thou
sands of miles. Impressed with the
need of more recruits for missionary
service and the availibility of those un
trained by college and seminary, he
established a Missionary Training
School, For this he asked no aid, but
after the mannner of Muller with his
orphanage, relied on faith. The work
abundantly justified itself, although
bitterly opposed.
College students came in for his love
He had the rare tact of working among
them and loved to do it. At Brown, of
which he was a graduate and a trustee,
he was well known. At Princeton he
conducted great revival meetings At
Northfield he was thecenterof attrac
tion.
Back of all this varied theological at
mosphere and these busy labors was a
character of unusual liveliness and en
joying likeableness. He overflowed
with humor. It sparkles and breaks
forth in the most unexpected places.
Among the beauties of this book are
the extracts fnm family letters. Hie
was a heart full of home, wife and
children.
Surely a benediction rests on hie
name. In this biography we are caught
by sparkling humor and a happy heart
that makes our lives the sweeter. We
are faced with truths the most profound
and far reaching, that invite to study
and thought. We are aroused by an
activity world wide, yet patient and
considerate while untiring, that urges
us to harder labor. We are introduced
to a personality strong in the faith that
is in Jesus. Such a biography is of
surpassing value.
Scribners Magazine. August.
Chas. Scribner’s Sons, New York.
Price 25 cts. |3.00 a year.
This is a fiction number. For the
special occasion it has a cover prepared
It is the most beautiful specimen of
such work we have ever seen. We find
ourselves turning back repeatedly to
see the beauty of color and form To
any one interested in art it is more than
worth the magazine’s price. The con
tents however, need no apology Short
stories of excellence form the bulk, but
there are other valuable artie'e®. One
of these is '•O.d-Time Flower Gardens.'
which is full of quaint pictures of the
gardens. All the departments
are up to the usual standard.
They tell this story of the late Thom
as Binney: On one occasion Mr. Binney
was traveling in a stage-coach in com
pany with a noisy talker, who persisted
in thrusting upon his fellow passengers
the fact that he did not believe in the
Bible. In particular he was severe on
the writer who had alleged that Joshua
commanded the sun to stand still and
loik on while he exterminated the
heathen Mr Binney had been meas
uring up his companion, and at this
point he spoke out. “Did you ever read
the future explanation of that miracle
in the book of Zerubbabel ?” he inquired.
“Yes, I did,” snapped the learned infi
del, “and that doesn’t throw any light
upon it either.” A general roar of
laughter which followed this confession
of ignorance ended the controversy and
bottled up the infidel.
This growing discontent which
we encounter so much in this
world, is ruinous to a woman’s
health,her body and her soul. No
woman has a right to be discon
tented when those whom she
loves are with her and in good
health. That fact alone should
make her content. If women
A 19th CENTURY
MIRACLE.
A Newspaper Man Relates a Mar
vellous Story.
An'lnteresting Chapter in His Own Life-Some,
We Hope, May Profit by Reading Same.
From the Herald, Columbia, Tenn.
Manry County is one of the richest and
biggest anti best counties in Tennessee. It
wou'd be an exaggeration to say that any
one man knew every other man in this
county, but it may safely be said that few, if
any, can come nearer to it than .Mr. Joe M.
Foster, whose home is at Carter’s Creek, and
who is now connected with the Herald. In
the interest of the Herald he has visited
nearly every home in the county. Upon
“ state ” occasions—that is, the Herald'e an
nual pie-nic reunion he is the “Master of
Ceremonies.” There are few men better
known, few lietter liked, none more trusted,
and what he says the Herald, unconditionally
and unequivocally, will vouch for.
To see him now in perfect health and
energy, one would not think that two and
a half years ago he was a bed-ridden
invalid, a physical wreck, whose family
physician, loved ones at home and friends
all thought was s<K»n to be called hence.
But such is the case, and not only he but his
family and a hundred friends will testify to
it.
It was a peculiar affliction he had, ami his
cure was marvellous, his recovery a nine
teenth century miracle. And that others
may enjoy the blessings of the wonderful
medicine which beyond the peradventure of
a doubt—under God’s blessing—saving his
life, Mr. Foster—not desiring publicity but I
with the hope of doing good—has con- !
gented to tell of his sickness and his cure.
It was in the fall of 1892 he was taken ill.
He was a farmer then, ami had spent the day
exposed to the weather and working in the
field, and for five hours was in the mud, in a
stooping position. In a few days thereafter
he had a peculiar feeling in his feet and I
hands; they became numb and felt as is l
asleep. ,
But, perhaps, it would be better to let Mr. '
Foster tell his own experience, and this is
what he says: I
“ Following the numbness of my feet and
hands, that numbness spread until my whole |
body was paralyzed. I had a dreadful con- ■
striction around my body, and as I grew I
worse this extended up, cutting off my
breathing; it finally got within a few inches
of mv throat and it was with difficulty that I
I breathed at all. At irregular intervals I
had lightning pains throughout my entire
body and limbs, and for at least five months
I was perfectly helpless, and a man servant
was kept in my room day and night to turn
me in bed and wait upon me.
“ In the earlier part of my illness my feet
felt as if I was walking bare-footed on a stiff!
carpet. Soon I could not walk at all in the i
dark, and could not even stand alone with
mv eves shut. I rapidly grew worse, and
soon inv limbs refused to carry me. Finally
I lost my sense of feeling or touch, and
could not tell when my feet were acainst
each other, but felt all the while as if they !
were being pulled apart.
“In the beginning I had called in my
family physician, a very successful practi-!
tioner. He put me on a treatment, with in- |
st ructions to keep very quiet. But I contin
ued to grow worse, and in about six weeks he
told me, candidly and honestly, that he had
done his best, that he had also advised with
some of Columbia’s leading physicians, giv
ing them my symptoms, but that he could
do nothing for tne and it was useless for him
to trv any further. He and the physicians
with whom he advised pronounced my dis
ease locomotor ataxia, and incurable.
“ He told my friends they could try any-I
thing they wished, and then I began trying
everything that was suggested. I tried dif
ferent kinds of electricity—belt pads, shock
ing machines and eleetropoise, with number
less kinds of medicines, both internally and
externally, but all to no effect, until, about
April Ist, 1893, a cousin, Mr. A. N. Aiken, |
Woman’s Writes!
Believe in Woman's Writes? ;
Os course we do. \V ho could „
’ help it when women write such ’
! convincing words as these:
’ “ For seven years I suffered '
i with scrofula. I had a good ’
; physician. Every means of ”
> cure was tried in vain. At last "
[ I was told to try Ayer’s Sarsa- «
• parilia, which entirely cured
■ me after using seven bottles.” s
i> —Mrs. John A. Gentle, Fort ;
! Fairfield, Me., Jan. 26, 1896. -i
J Ayer’s Sarsaparilla
..cures..
only knew what a happiness they
have of their own making, for
themselves and for others, by be
ing satisfied! Don’t be restless
and fretful of your condition in
life. Be satisfied with the place
allotted you in life,however mod
est or however small. Make the
best of things, and things will do
their best for you. Believe that
with his all seeing wisdom, the
good God has put you where you
will be of the most use to him and
his children. To find fault with
your position is to disbelieve in
him, and this you surely do not
do. Learn not only to say, but
to be truthful in saying, “I have
learned,in whatsoever state I am,
therewith to be contented.”
We all, in turn, must face our
forlorn hours of bereavement.
For us, sooner or later,our house
must oe lett unto us desolate.
But * * * these natural sor
rows are, and are meant to be,
full of blessedness; the light of
God shining upon them trans
mutes them into heavenly gold.
The wounds which God makes,
God heals. The tire which kin
dles the grains of frankincense
upon his altar, at the same time
brings out their fragrancy. All
that he sends, if borne submis
sively, becomes rich in mercy.
Upon the troubled soul which
seeks him his consolations in
crease “with the gentleness of a
sea which caresses the shore it
covers.”— Canon Farrar.
! of Columbia (who is now clerk and Master
of the Chancery Court of this county), re-
I commended Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills for
1 Pale People.
“I begun using them as per directions for
! locomotor ataxia, and in about one week
> some of my friends tl..,i<s,>. I was better;
| but it was two weeks before the improve
-1 ment was plain to all and satisfactory to my
self. Then, however, I knerr the pills were
doing their grand and glorious work, and
I kept taking them until I could hobble
about on crutches.
“It was suggested to me then that nature
’ would do the rest, and I left of!' the pills.
I In about ten days I saw that I was going
down hill again; I promptly renewed the
pills, and again I began to improve. A
second time 1 tried to leave the battle to a
| good constitution, hut found it still too
weak so 1 commenced on the pills again
and kept taking them until I was well.
“I was in my fifty-first year when I was
taken sick. It is now about two years since
I I discarded stick and crutch and found my
legs strong enough to carry me. lam en
joying splendid health, weigh more and look
better than for years, and attribute my
1 health and my recovery and life to the
magic of Pink Pills for Pale People, under
I theblessing of God.
“I have recommended these pills to a
number of people, and many I know have
been cured by them. I wish in my heart
that every person on earth who is suffering
as I was could get them and would try them.
“To those who know me, I hope it is not
necessary for me to add that I make this
statement of my own free will, without
! money and without price. But if there are
any who are inclined to doubt, I will refer
j them to Dr. J. H. Hill, J. M. Hunter, R.
jD. Lockridge, Joe Terwell Anderson Nic
hols, S. B. and G. W. Nichols, all of Carter’s
I Creek. Maury County, Tenn., or if they will
call upon me I will give them the names of a
hundred witnesses of as good men and women
as the sun ever shone upon.
‘‘Hoping some poor suffer er may read and
believe and be raised from a bed of pain, I
am Very respectfully,
Joe M. Foster,
Careof the Jfrra/d, Columbia, Tennessee.”
Dr. .Williams’ Pink Pills for Pale Peo
ple are an unfailing remedy for all dis
eases arising from a poor and'watery condi
tion of the blood, such as pale and sal
low complexion, general muscular weakness,
loss of appetite, depression of spirits, lack of
ambition, anaemia, chlorosis or green sick
ness, palpitation of the heart shortness of
breath on slight exertion, coldness of hands
or feet, swelling of the feet and limbs, pain
in the back, nervous headache, dizziness,
loss of memory, feebleness of will, ringing in
the ears, early decay, all forms of female
weakness, leucorrhcea, tardy or irregular
periods, suppression of menses, hysteria,
paralysis, locomotor ataxia, rheumatism,
sciatica, all diseases depending on vitiated
humors in the blood, causing scrofula,
swelled glands fever sores, rickets, hip-joint
diseases, hunchback, acquired deformities,
decayed bones, chronic erysipelas, catarrh,
consumption of the bowels and lungs, ana
also for invigorating the blood and system
when broken down bv overwork, worry, dis
ease, excesses and indiscretions of living, re
covery from acute diseases, such as fevers,
etc., loss of vital powers, spermatorrhoea,
early decay, premature old age. They act
directly on the blood, supplying to the blood
its life-giving qualities by assisting it to
absorb oxygen, that great supporter of all
organic life. Pink Pills are sold by all deal
ers, or will be sent post paid on receipt of
price, ’SO cents a box or six boxes for $2.50,
by addressing Dr. Williams’ Medicine Co,
Schenectady, N. Y.