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destruction of the flesh.” The
bishop and deacons of the con
gregation may have a variety of
methods for doing their official
duty; but these officers must be
properly chosen by the churches,
ordained by the laying on of
hands of the presbytery, and
subordinate to the disciplining
authority of Christ’s independent
and governing ecdesia. I may
have various ways of praying
and preaching the Gospel, but I
must pray in spirit and in truth
and I must declare only what
God has written in the terms and
spirit and scope of his revela
tions I may have a variety of
methods as to minissionnry oper
ations; but I must send the Gos
pel to “every creature” in “all
the world.”
Most of the older and leading
denominations of to day are flex
ible in doctrine and inflexible in
governmental methods—the re
verse of the New Testament and
of the Baptists. Methodism is
loose and flexible in the great
doctrinal principles and prac
tices of Christianity; but its gov
eminent is despotic and inflexi
ble in its methods of operation.
Presbyterianism is inflexible in
both its doctrinal system and in
the methods of its governmental
system. Episcopalianism is doc
trinally high church, low church
and broad guage, represented
under the caricature of attitudi- •
narianism, platitudinarianisrr and
latitudinarianism; but in its
methods of governmental opera
tion it is inflexible and unchange
able. Catholicism is inflexibly
ritualistic throughout its whole
mode of government, which isde
spotic and invariable; but in the
mere belief of its people regard
ing the great doctrines of the Bi
ble, Catholics have varied largely
since the days of Augustine; and
it makes but little difference
what Catholics doctrinally hold
to, so they submit to the sacra
ments and other inflexible modes
of Catholic worship and service.
Everything depends upon the
sacrament, the priest and the
church for salvation; and the
boast is that Rome never changes
in her peculiar dogmas and prac
tices. The Bible, indeed, is of
little consequence to the Roman
Catholic; and the doctrines and
commandments of men have con
stituted, with them, the doctrines
and commandments of God.
Mary is put before Christ in the
realm of the invisible; and in the
realm of the visible the Pope is
all and in all through the sacra
ment, the priest and the church.
Some of the newer and minor
denominations lay claim to Bible
doctrines and practices inflexible
and unchangeable in the perfect
following of God’s Word, or a
“thus saith the Lord” for every
thing; but my observation is that
most, if not all, of the new sects,
simply play upon one string in
theology' and practice as they
please. Campbellism, which
has much of the New Tes
tament form of things without
the spirit thereof, simply plays
upon the baptismal remission
string, and its whole system of
very flexible theology is sum med
up in ‘'water." The Seventh Day
Adventists make the old Jewish
Sabbath, or its observance, the
sum and substance of its theol
ogy, and one is led to believe
that he’ll be damned if he does
not observe the seventh instead
of the first day of the week for
the Sabbath. The Second Ad
ventists reduce all theology and
practice to the belief in the
second coming of Christ, and one
is led to think if he doesn’t agree
with these people on that line,
he is lost. The holiness peo
ple reduce everything in re
ligion, in theology and practice,
to the “second blessing,” and
many of them hold that you are
lost without it. So of Christian
science, theosophy, spiritualism,
and all that brood of heresy hags
that stab Christ, in the name of
Christ, with a one-ideaed religion
and false at that. These new
things are all claiming the whole
big Bible in all its parts, and
that they are inflexibly true to
tie doctrine and practice of
Christ; but they have but one
hobby on which they ride, which
is a heresy; and so far as the
Word of God in general is con
cerned, its doctrines and prac
tices, they believe and do as they
please. They are flexible in
everything but a right idea, and
they are inflexible in that which
is both unscriptural and imprac
teal.
The Baptists simply hold to
the New Testament idea of in
flexibility in doctrines, principles
and set practices, and of flexi
bility in the mode of doing what
God has commanded us. Bap
tists are conservative in doctrine,
liberal in spirit and radical in
practice or methods of work, and
we are neither mossbacks, who
think the way you do a thing is
as important as the reason for
doing it; nor liberalists, who claim
the freedom of doing as we
please in doctrine and practice;
nor are we fanatics, who are radi
cal in the change of principles and
fixed practices as well as in the
methods of operation. Baptists
insist upon a “thus saith the
Lord” for what they do, or be
lieve; but for the how they do in
things revealed and in duties
prescribed, they find that God
has left them to the guidance of
his Spirit, within fixed principles
and practices, according to sanc
tified common sense. For in
stance, Christ commanded us to
baptiz j, which means dip or im
merse; but the particular mode
of immersion is not prescribed.
We may dip face foremost, back
ward, or sideward, and symbol
ize a burial and resurrection; but
we do not dare to administer this
ordinance under different forms,
as of sprinkling or pouring, and
call these different modes of
baptism. Just as well say that
sprinkling as a mode of baptism
is a mode of immersion. So of
the Lord's Supper, church gov
ernment, praying, preaching, of
fical administration, church as
semblage, sending the Gospel to
the heathen, and all the forms of
benevolence, education and mis
sions. Wo stick to the w/iat of
revelation and follow the how of
revelation according to the dic
tates of the Spirit and judgment
and circumstances and conditions.
The word Baptist is the synonym
for fixed principles and progres
sive methods
In the great developments of
progress, God made us provision
for methods which would meet
every emergency or new move
ment of providence. Baptists
have been foremost in advocat
ing religious liberty, in project
ing the great work of Foreign
Missions, in the introduction of
the Sunday school and the like;
but as the Word of God did not
reveal these future events and
movements of his Providence, he
left the churches to adapt them
selves to such movements by the
best methods which the Holy
Spirit might suggest to sanctified
judgment; and hence our associ
ations, conventions, boards, so
cieties, schools, colleges and
other organized and co operative
methods of extending God’s work
on limited and general scales,
not literally prescribed in the Bi
ble.
For the Index.
The Best Evidence.
by o. c P.
Many Christians seem to think
it is a great and sad misfortune
not to have doubts. But doubt
is surely most dishonoring to
God. If I have known a man for
twenty years and, yet, 1 say 1
doubt him, would it not be most
discredible to him? Yet there
are many Christians who profess
to have known God for five, ten,
fifteen, twenty years and, yet
still they reflect directly on h's
veracity by doubting him Doubt
cuts the very sinews of exertion.
Faith is the life spring of true
zeal for Christ. The weakling
in faith is lifeless in service. Do
you suppose the early Christian
martyrs could have labored
through dire persecution and, at
last, have gone rejoicing to the
stake had they not had humble
assurance of their acceptance
with God? No, they were confi
dent that “these light afflictions
which are but for a moment shall
work out for us a far more ex
ceeding and eternal weight of
glory.” Could they have lifted
their voices in songs of joyful
praise, while the flames were
leaping around them, had they
not been fully assured that
“the sufferings of this pres
ent time are not worthy
to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in
us.” The earnest assurance of
acceptance with God through
faith in Christ sustains and com
forts the heart of the believer in
time of trial. “All things work
together for good to them that
love God.” Humble assurance
nerves the believer to earnest
toil for his Master. You cannot
lead others to the fountain of life
until you have yourself tasted its
sweetness. No Christian is tit
for service who is filled with
doubts. Here is a drowning man.
My desire is to save him. Can I
do so, pray tell me, unless my
own footing is sure? If I feel the
sand giving away under my own
feet, can I be of any service in
helping the sinking friend? No,
I must get on the solid rock my
self and then I can be of service
to others. I must know by expe
rience the way of life or I can’t
direct others. The best argu
ment you can use in the service
of Christ is: “I know he is able
and willing to save you, because
I know he has saved me.”
Sweetwater, Tenn.
The extra stitch in the way of
adornment betokens love and
esteem. The mother beautifies
the garment with the additional
stitches which taste and judg
ment suggest, out of loving re
gard for her child. So the ap
preciative Christian adorns his
work for Christ with the finest
possible execution, out of devo
tion to his redeeming Lord. The
“King in his beauty” accepts
love’s finishing touches at their
fullest value.
A saloon keeper, recently con
verted at Centerville, Ind., during
a revival meeting at that place,
emptied all his stock of liquors
into the street, and burned his li
cense to sell intoxicants. A con
version like this means some
thing. No real conversion can
mean less
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX: THURSDAY OCTOBER 8. 1896
Dr. Whitsitt vs. History.
BY w. A. JARRELL, D.D., AUTHOR OF
A BAITIST HISTORY.
Whatever we may think of Dr. Whit
gift's course, hie honored position culls
for a respectful review of his late book
The Index's editorial statement of the
arguments and the position of the book
renden a statement of them here unnec
essary.
THE QUESTION STATED.
It is mt only whether the English
Baptists practiced immersion before and
upto 1611. but it is whether the Ana
baptists (the Baptists) of Holland and
of the adjacent sections of Germany
were immersionists, virtually says Dr.
Whitsitt. p. 35. Yea, worse; for Dr.
Whitsitt says: “In fact, few Anabap
tists anywhere were immersioniats.’’
* * * * “Pouring and sprinkling
were current almost everywhere, and
they were accordingly adopted without
scruple ” The same remark applies to
the Anabaptists, who insisted upon the
baptism of believers only, rarely made
any contention about the mode, and al
most always practiced pouring or
sprinkling, p. 35. Again, says the doc
tor, “Few Anabaptists of any country
were immersionists. * * * none of
the Anabaptists of England in the six
teenth and first half of the seventeenth
centuries were immersionista ” p 48.
He thinks “there were immersing Ana
baptists in Silesia, Lithuania and Pome
rania.’’ p. 40.
IMPORTANCE OF THE QUESTION.
Inasmuch as but little or nothing is
known of Baptists in the three countries
the doctor mentions as imwersionists,
and as these are not the recognized an
cestors of the Baptists of to day, this is
equivalent to placing Baptists in the his
torical category of modern sects To
this statement the words of the lament
ed Dr. Boyce are applied: “Historians
who have pretended to write the history
of the church have either ignored the
presence of those of our faith, or classed
them among fanatics and heretics; or,
if forced to acknowledge the prevalence
of our principles and practice among
the early churches, have adopted such
false theories as to church power, and
the development and growth of the truth
and principles of Scripture, that by all,
save their most discerning readers, our
pretensions as to an early origin and
continuous existence have been reject
ed ” Boyce’s Inaugural Address, deliv
ered at the completion of the first session
as Theological Professor in the Furman
University. Dr. Broadus says the ideas
of this address entered into the constitu
tion and chiefly determined the peculi
arities of the Southern Baptist Theologi
cal Seminary. Or as the lamented Pro
fessor of Church History in Rochester
Theological Seminary, the superior of
any as a Baptist historian, said: “We
cannot accept a place in the catalogue
of sects or broken schismatical frag
ments of God’s church.’’ Madison Ave
nue Lectures, p. 314.
Christ said: “Upon this rock I will
build my church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it.” Matt. 16:18.
"Unto him be glory in the church, by
Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world
without end.” Eph. 3:21. If the gates
of hell have not prevailed against the
church; if God’s glory is in the true
church ‘‘throughout all ages,’as sprink
ling and pouring make a false church,to
say the question before us is of no Scrip
tural or fundamental importance is,in es
Get, to say it matters not whether Christ's
promise is here true or false.
would repel, with indignation,
against your wife’s character, are
we to lightly regard the grave charge
against the blessed Bride of Christ, that
she became an ecclesiastical harlot, de
nying her husband by accepting in the
place of the memorial of Ins death and
resurrection a sprinkling and a pour
ing ceremony, symbolizing his work as
a mere touch or sprinkling of suffer
ing?
If immersion was “lost,” and unbap
tized non church members began it
anew, as Dr. Whitsitt teaches, then the
Baptist doctrine, that only the church
is the custodian of the ordinances, must
be abandoned and alien baptism be
henceforth accepted by all our churches.
In effect Dr. Whitsitt boldly’ accepts
this; for he says—speaking of the fabled
“restorers” of immersion and of Baptist
churches—" The men who performed
this great service deserve to be held in
everlasting remembrance. They res
cued from destruction, at least in the
English-speaking world, one of the
most significant and solemn ordinances
of the apostolic age. They preserved to
succeeding ages a knowledge of the
baptism of Jesus Christ Let
us endeavor to imitate their virtues and
follow them as they followed Christ.
. • . . They restored an ancient
landmark.” p. 146.
If, as Dr- Whitsitt here teaches non
baptized, non-church members have,
without any direct commission from
heaven, done all this, surely they can
do so now. If Baptist churches of to
day thus begin, let them forever cease
to throw up to other sects that they are
the creatures of a modern reformation of
the “Mother of Harlots” —the Romish
church Because Dr. Whitsitt’s so
called discovery puts Baptists in as
ridiculous a position as themselves, they
are having a jubilee over it. Convince
me that Dr. Whitsitt’s position is sus
tained by the Bible and history,. and, to
say the least, I will not hesitate to
change from one denomination to an
other at my convenience.
THE BURDEN OF PROOF.
Says an eminent logician, Whately:
"There is a presumption in favor of
every existing institution No one is
called on (though he may find it advis
able) to defend an existing institution,
till some argument is adduced against
it.” See also Greenleaf on Evidence,
vol. 1, p. 46, 47. This being the case
and immersion being found existing
among Baptists in modern times, the
presumption is so strong that it has ex
isted since the apostolic age, that deny
ing it, the burden of proof lies on Dr.
Whitsitt. Truth and logic, therefore,
require of Dr. Whitsitt’s reviewers only
that they show that he has not proved
his startling and revolutionary’ position.
Yet Dr. Whitsitt’s opponents, knowing
their side is invulnerable, do not hesi
tate to also prove it to be the Bible and
historical position. This series will,
therefore, offer as well as refute argu
ments.
DR. WHITSITT’S AUTHORITIES.
Dexter, Sheffer and “Jessey Church
Records" are Dr. Whitsitt’s main an
ihorities. With only the few docu
ments he originally quotes from the
British Museum and a few other au
thors, he would not make out so much
as the shadow of an argument. To the
historian there is nothing new in his
book. The book is ‘ Scheffer,” “Jessey
Records ’ and “Dexter;” “Dexter,” "Jes
sey Records” and ‘ Scheffer.” From Dex
ter he makes about fifty quotations and
refers to the “Jessey Church Records,”
as one of his main authorities, about
twenty times.
As to bitterness, unfairness, and scur
rility against Baptists, I can think of
no one more like him than the notorious
Brownlow, and no book that is more
like his John Smith se Baptist book than
Brownlow's vs. Graves Thus W. W.
Everts,ex Professor of Chu ich History in
the Chicago Baptist Theological Semi
inary, at the time Dexter's book ap
peared, in a review of it, said: " I can
not confide in him even when bringing
a contribution to Baptist history. Why
not? One reason is the evident relish
with which he reviews and dilates upon,
to the extent of_jive pages, the vulgar
calumny that iff English Baptists of
the seventeenth century baptized men
and women together naked, in face of
the authorized confession of faith pub
lished in 1644, which is careful to state
that the ordinance must be performed
“so as convenient garments be both up
on the administrator and subjects, with
all modesty;” in face of the direct dis
avowal of 8. Richardson, replying to
Featly, who printed the libel: “We an
swer, we abhor it, and deny that any of
us ever did so, and challenge him to
proveit against us if he can;” in the
face of the equally positive denial of H.
Haggar, who says: “I believe I have
baptized and been at the baptism of
many hundreds, if not thousands, and
never eaw any baptized naked in my
life, neither is it allowed nor approved
amongst any that I know of;’’ in the
face of such testimony on the part of
witnesses, Dr. Dexter accepts second
hand repoit, and concludes that “Mr
Baxter was quite right in concluding
that some baptized naked, and some
not.” In proof of his opinion he quotes
scurrilous and licentious stories, unfit
for print. I know of no man in our de
nomination who has wade more original
research in foreign libraries than his
Dr. W. W. Everts, and who is, there
fore, better qualified than he is to esti
mate Dexter. Dr. Everts farther
weighs this great (?) authority of Dr.
Whitsitt: "Another reason why I can
not confide in his conclusions is because
he confesses, as 11 nli r tand the follow
ing words, to the suppression of testi
mony opposed to his views.”
“ We come down to a period within
about four jears of the date of the first
English Baptist confession without find
ing any proof of the existence of immer
sion in England. We have testimony
which would bear interpretation in its
favor, were that made necessary by
other considerations, but which is
equally compliant with a different
theory, should that be established."
Dr. Everts well says of one of Dr.
Whitsitt’s main authorities, that he was
both scurrilous and dishonest on the
subject upon which Dr. Whitsitt so
much quotes hiui. Dexter fills several
pages of his book with so-called proof
that the Baptist baptized naked From
Dexter he can prove this slander as well
as hecan the one that they restored im
mersion; he and his citations are as re
liable in theone case as in the other Bj’
comparing some of Dexter's quotations
with the originals both Drs. T. T Eaton
and J.T. Christian have clearly demon
strated that in several cares where Dr
Whitritt has relied on him. he has
shamefully changed the word of the
authors
As to Scheffer, M uller and other Men
nonite authors, they are not noted for
historical research or scholarship, their
honesty is not their reputation. Says a
great historian (Mosheim): “ Many cir
cunistances persuade me that the decla
rations and representations of things
given by the mldern Mennouites are
not always worthy of credit.” Mos
helm’s Eccl. Hist. Cent. 16, sec. 3,
note to “1.” Pray, when did these Men
nonite authors become so reformed
that Dr. Wffihjitt can overthrow the
records
that
As to the “Jessey Church Records,”
what are they Y Nothing but the rec
ords of a pedobaptist church declaring
that immersion tiad not been practiced
in England before 16-10. No one has
any means of knowing whether Bare
bone, Jessey or Blunt wrote the state
ment, or who did write the statement
on which Dr. Whitsitt parades with so
much confidence. As Dr. Whitsitt has
so much to say as to the qualifications
of other witnesses, had he known any
thing of who wrote the “Jessey Church
Records,” whether the Jessey church
was in the habit, >wheu assembled, ot
submitting its record for adoption, how
gladly he would have dwelt on its being
thus adopted Moreover, as churches
have often errel in their minutes, who
can vouch for the correctness of the
Jessey Church Records ? What pedo
baptist church of our own time, with
our superior means of knowing, knows
of even the existence of all the Baptist
churches in its own county,much less of
their baptisms and other acts ? Yet,
notwithstanding that the legal qualifi
cation of a witness is his ability, oppor
tunity and honesty to testify, on the
“Jessey Church Records ” the histor
ical -character of the blessed Bride of
Christ is besmirched.
Having examined the character of Dr.
Whitsitt’s witnesses, in my next I will
examine their testimony and the use he
makes of it.
Hot Springs, Arkansas.
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.
Tne 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.
Political Economy’ for High Schools
and Colleges. By Robert Ellis Thomp
son. A M., S. T. D., President of the
Central High School, Philadelphia,
pp. 108, 12mo. Ginn & Co., Boston,
The Evolution of Modern Capi
talism. A Study of Machine Pro
duction. By John A. Hobson, M. A.
“The Contemporary Science Series.”
388 pp , 16mo. Chas. Scribner's Sons,
New York.
Trusts,or Industrial Combinations and
Coalitions in the United States. By
Ernest Von Halle. 336 pp., 16mo.
Macmillan & Co., London and New
York.
Economics. An account of the Rela
tions between Private Property and
Public Welfare, By Arthur Twining
Hadley. Professor of Economics in Yale
University and Some Time Labor Com
missioner for the State of Connecti
cut. 484 pp., 12mo. G. P. Putnam’s
Sons, New York.
The growing demand that public
High Schools shall properly fit yoiing
men for high grade Colleges is forcing
the different iation of the High School
course. The “classical” course leads
up directly to the College entrance ex
aminations in Latin. Greek. Mathemat
ics. English, History and Geography,
and French or German, and postpones
other studies until the student shall
have the advantage of the better equip
ments of the College, and of maturer
years. On the other hand the “En
glish’’ course, for those who will go no
further than the end of the High School,
and for the many who will drop out be
fore completing it, must be as broad as
is in anywise reasonable. The political
scientists have successfully urged the
introduction of “Civics" into the early
part of the “English” course in order
that as many young Americans as pos
eible may have the advantage of it; and
they are now mooting the question of
introducing Political Economy.
Professor Simon N. Patten, of the
University of Pennsylvania, and others,
contend that the problems of Political
Economy are studied by methods most
analogous to those employed by every
body about everyday affaire; and that
therefore the study of it is doubly prac
tical: for the information to be gained,
and still more for the mental training
to be derived from >it. Some have ad
mitted that it ought to be taught, but
recommend teaching it incidentally to
other subjects and by lectures. But
this position is weak. A good text book
is a great help to a good teacher, and a
bad teacher ought to be put at some
work where he can be “productive,” as
Mill would express it
Professor Thompson’s book has been
prepared expressly for High Schools by
a teacher of long experience with both
College and High School classes. The
scope is ample; probably not too full.
The style is simple and attractive; and
the subject is developed by a process
that is at times logical and at others
historical. The author is one of the few
professors of Political Economy who
are protectionists, and he has a chapter
on ‘ Free Trade and Protection” written
from his standpoint The cotton farmer
may object to having such doctrine
tanght'hisson;but the skilled mechanic
will not; and as the farmer and the
mechanic are near neighbors now, and
patronize the same school, in Alabama
if not in Georgia, this feature will not
prove an insuperable objection.
The next two books mentioned are
of an entirely different class They
will repay close study, but not a super
ficial reading. They treat, perhaps
the most serious of modern industrial
problems.
We all say that the world is progress
ing rapidly, we say it and we realize
it in respect of somethings. We hive
adapted ourselves to rapid transit and
instantaneous communication over long
distances. But it is not so easy to real
ize the changes in every direction or to
adapt ourselves to them, and the results
are often Serious Compare rhe cobbler
—type of the old time industry—inak
ing a product with little capital in
leather and tools and much labor by
hand, with the modern shoemaker who
makes the sixty sixth part of a shoe on a
machine, both the machine and the
shoe sixty five sixty sixths complete
being furnished; and behold the aniaz
ing evolution of modern capitalism!
Some economic changes have outrun
social amt legal adjustment, thereby
giving rise to hardships on the road of
progress that must be ameliorated, and
show’ing us that the power that nnves
the world forward mu t be carefully
regulated and directed in its course
Like the power in the locomotive, it is
so useful when the engineer regulates
and applies it; but when uncontrolled,
its very power enables it to destroy life
and property ruthlessly. Remembering
these things, we are ready to appreciate
the purpose of the books before us.
Mr. Hobson compares “The Structure
of Industry before Machinery” with
“The Structure of Modern Industry.”
In other chapters he treats “The For
mation of Monopolies in Capita'; ” The
Powers of the Trust;’’the
Jfcmeetion between “ Machinery and
Industrial Depression” and “Women in
Modern Industry,” in which he is more
pessimistic than Prof. Hadley; “Ma
chinery and Demand for Labor;” “Ma
chinery and the (Quality of Labor;”
“The Economy of High Wages;” ‘ Some
Effects of Modern Industry upon the
Workers as Consumers;” "Machinery
and the Modern Town;” “Civilization
and Industrial Development.” Von
Halle's book, while good and suggestive
so far as it goes, is.hardly satisfactory
as a treatise on “Industrial Combina
tions.” It presumes acquaintance with
the general facts and sums up the re
suits of study and experience
There are two classes of people who
should read these books: First, every
body who has a taste for some solid
reading interspersed with the light,
and desires to be well informed on the
matters of the day. Secondly, every
public officer, especially higher State
officers, legislators and judges The
course of rapid development in capital,
as in other things, brings forth many
cases of suffering which must be re
lieved. and many dangerous possibilities
which must be carefully guarded. In
dustrialists who own the power of
modern capital must be expected to use
it. and to use it more or less regardless
of “public policy.” Our political offi
cers must protect us. They cannot do
so, they cannot spare the good and pre
vent the bad, unless they are well in
formed as to the nature of the forces
and conditions they are dealing with.
True we are told in these days that the
farmers knew more about finance than
anybody else; and by parity of reason
ing they would know more about the
problems of modern industrialism. But
the farmers ih unselves and everybody
else of “hard” sense knows it is a dema
gogical lie. The specialists are not
wicked and designing men. Let us put
some confidence in what they say.
The last book, Prof. Hadley’s “Eco
nomics,” is for everybody of mature
years and sober mind to read. It is
suited for and will be used as a College
text book. It is admirably suited for
popular reading also. In no book that
I know of are the views so true to
modern conditions, the analyses so keen,
the identification of cause and effect so
certain and unerring.
His distinction between public and
private wealth is new to text-books on
Economics and wonderfully helpful
“Wealth in the public sense consists of
all means of enjoyment, whether they
have a commercial value or not. . . .
But it is customary to confine the term
capital to wealth which is actually used
for producing more wealth.” “Wealth
in its private sense, better designated as
property, consists of rights to portions
of the public wealth But
here again it is not customary to apply
the term capital to a man’s whole prop
erty, but to confine it to that part which
he uses as a means of acquiring more
property.”
Hear this, on value: “The price of an
article or service, in the ordinary com
mercial sense, is the amount of money
which is paid, asked, or offered for it.
The value of an article or service is the
amount of money which may be proper
ly paid, asked or offered for it. A the
ory of price puts us in a position to ex
plain the transactions of commercial
life. A theory of value undertakes to
pass judgment upon their advisability
or their morality. Value being essen
tially an ethical term, we may have as
many different theories of value as
there are different views of business
ethics. But these views fall under two
main heads : the commercial or com
petitive theory, which bases value upon
what the buyer is willing and able to
offer for an article; and the socialistic
theory, which bases it upon what the
article has cost the seller in the way of
toil and sacrifice. When we have
grasped thia ethical character of the
controversy between the cimmercial
and socialistic theories, we seize more
clearly upon the points which are es
sential to the adjudication of that con
troversy. ”
And this on speculation: "A large
speculative element is involved tn trade
of every kind. . . . Those who hold
the socialistic theory of value regard
trade as a dangerous occupation, which
affords almost irresistible temptations
to dishonesty In medieval
times . . the attempt to buy an arti
cle when it was cheap, with a view to
selling it when it became dear, was
visited with the severest penalties. But
those who hold the commercial theory
of value believe . . that the work of
the trader, in acquiring goods when
they are cheap, and parting with them
when they are dear, results in an in
crease of their utility to the public.
. . . This is the effect of legitimate
speculation anticipating movements
of supply and de nand and takiug fair
risks. Unfortunately there is a mass of
speculation which is not legitimate—
which is pure gambling or something
worse In mauy cases it has
assumed the proportions of public evil
. . . The difference between legit
imate speculation and gambling lies
neither in the subject matter nor in the
form of the transaction, but in its in
tent and purpose. Legitimate specula
tion involves anticipation of the needs
of the market and a power to assume
risks in making contracts to meet these
needs. A failure to fulfill either of
these requirements makes the operation
an undesirable one for the public to
tolerate ” To encourage speculation
and at the same time to discourage
gambling, Prof. Hadley recommends
stricter enforcement of the laws of con
spiracy and the requirement ‘ that the
speculator should actually take the
risks he pretends to take
There is no more serious danger to the
present commercial system than that
which arises from the easy-going toler
ance of abases like these. As long as
this state of mind continues, no law to
check the abuse of speculation can be
made effective. With a reform in pub
lie sentiment, little or no law would be
needed.”
His treatment of the “combination of
capital" grows out of long observation
aud study which have confirmed the
main points made some ten years ago in
his ' Railroads and Railroad Transpor
tation ”
He devotes two long chapters, on
“Money" and “Credit,” to the discus
sion of monetary problems. “The popu
lar discussions of the silver question
from each side,’ he says, "contain so
mauy overstatements and even mistakes
of fact that they are generally of little
use." In con rast his own statements
are dispasiionate and his grasp of the
subject firm and strong. Tne condi
tions and their causes and their effects
are exposed to tne light. He is plainly
a gold mono-metallist and he foresees a
notable increase in the stock of gold.
“In point of fact,” he says, “the scarci
ty of gold so severely felt in recent
years, is adjusting itself by an increase
in supply If this process
continues the present very low price
level can be only temporary.” In the
discussion of this subject, as of other
controversial points, a prominent char
acteristic of the book appears. Both
sides are presented with equal fairness
and succinctness. The Dimetallist's
“serious arguments” are carefully
enumerated and so given as to exhibit
their real strength.
“To these charges,” he says in pre
senting the other side, “the mono
metallist replies, in the first place, by
denying most of the allegations of the
bimetallist concerning the amount of
appreciation of gold ” But how can
men argue when each denies his oppo
nent’s allegations and it is an institution
that more profit is wanted and less
argument. How can people be educated
by deductions from challenged premi
ses? Yet that is what people are doing
this who:e country over at this very
time. Is it intellect or is it sentiment
that responds to these appeals? Mr.
Harvey's “Coin" made a very great im
pression by its plausibility of statement
and its pointed caricatures. Its oppo
nents sought to cope with it by imitating
its suavity and simulated plainness It
is truly refreshing to read an author,
far enough removed from politic! to be
dispassionate, enough of a scientist to
attack a problem without prejudice,
discerning enough to set it forth truly.
Frederick W. Moore.
Work Among the Lowest Autralian
Savages.
Those first months at Mapoon were
times that in very truth try men's souls.
At night they would hear the contin
uous howling of the treacherous sav
ages, who, only two months before their
arrival, had killed and eaten two white
men at that very spot. But the two
missionaries went bravely to work. Al
tho’ they knew not a word of the Papuan
language, they at once began holding
services, hoping to impress the natives
in some way, and seeking by the aid of
the broken English which a few of the
natives spoke, and by the words they
gradually picked up, to tell the blessed
story of the Savior who died to redeem
these degraded, half animal savages
from their living death. Schools for
young and old were likewise immedi
ately started right on the open ground,
and amid incredible difficulties bravely
kept up. Mrs. Ward, who did the
teaching, describes one gathering thus;
“There were about eighty women and
girls Bitting in a semicircle, most of
them quite without clothing. Such a
spectacle! Many of them full of sores,
and, oh, so repulsive!” No wonder the
brave young woman’s heart sank within
her, and a longing for home came over
her! But, such is the power of the Lord
Jesus Christ, in time he gave it to her
to love 'these poor black women. How
touching to see her write home less than
a year after that, “Jesus seems to be
nearer and dearer to us now than he
ever did before! ”
Thus the work went on. How it all
came about only the Lord can tell; but
in a year's time the missionaries had so
won the confidence of these savages that
they could go in and out among them
with practically perfect safety. Ward
often went into their camps, separated
them in their fights, stopped their
abominable dances, and thus gradually
secured a wonderful control over the na
tives. They learned that the mission
aries were their friends and would pro
feet them against the abuse of the pearl
fishers. These latter found that the in
fluence of the missionaries was hinder
ing them in their immoral practices,
and so they tried to induce the natives
to move their camps beyond the sphere
of the missionaries’ influence. But
Ward followed them and literally spent
whole nights in their camps, by his per
sonal presence thus preventing evil,
though surrounded by enemies, black
and white.
The results of less than four years' la
bor have been wonderful. No converts
have been baptized as yet, but the re
generating influence of the mission has
been felt for miles around. Four years
ago no unarmed vessel dared to put into
Port Musgrave, owing to the reputation
of the Batavia River blacks for savagery
Naked Pills
\ are fit only, for naked sav- ?
i" ages. Clothes are the marks '>
/ of civilization—in pills as well
'! as people. A good coat does /
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' than good clothes make a good
' man. But as sure as you’d j’
' J look on a clothesless man as a b
/ mad one, you may look on a q
b coatless pill as a bad one. ?
? After fifty years of test no J
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and cannibalism. Now they come
there to make repairs. About two years
ago a party of shipwrecked sailors were
rescued from cannibal blacks, fed and
erred for and led through miles of jun
gle to Mapoon, by the mission Papuans
without the knowledge of the mission
aries until they arrived there. The
blacks protect themselves from out
rages by claiming that they belong to
the missionaries, and have rescued some
of their women from the pearl fishers by
the threat, "Missionary catch you ’
The blacks have been taught hymns,
and now even on the pearl fishers’
sloops the name of Jesus is sometimes
heard in the hymns the black fellows
sing while at work.
On the other hand, the missionaries
have stopped the high handed proceed
ings against the natives en masse when
they have committed crimes, and have
insisted upon punishment being restrict
ed to the gnilty parties. All this has
been accomplished with no other white
men settled nearer than Governor
D uglas on Thursday Island, one
hundred and fifty miles away, and
reachable only by ship. Even
in the interior, when the mis
sionaries approach the wild .blacks,
and they hear the words “Mapoon,”
“missionary,” they leave their spears
behind them and come out of the bush
to the missionaries for a friendly pala
ver. Witness the power of love!—Mis
sionary Itevi-w
Is it true that the Lord com
mands all Christians to evangel
ize the world ? The Archbishop
of Canterbury says, “The first
duty of a Christian is to make
other people Christians, and the
first duty of a Christian church
is to make other Christian
churches, until the whole world
is covered with them/’ Surely
mission work at home and abroad
is placed upon the mind, heart
and conscience of every Chris
tian.
A teacher asked a ..cl ss to
write an essay on “The Result of
Laziness,” and one of the bright
but lazy boys in the class handed
in as his composition a blank
sheet of paper.
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