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To Rev. Lansing Burrows, D.D
On the completion of the thirtieth year of pas
tor..! life.
From out the gulf of future things,
The years in ordered sequence >ise,
Not steps are theirs, they tiy with wings,
And bear man on them, till he dies,
Yet carries he, through all their flight,
The years, ingatht red, of the Right,
The service rendered to the Right.
Three times ten years of good and ill,
Or wreathed with smiles, or bathed in tears,
Ha- e sped since what lives, potent still,
The vow to which were pledged these years;
That vow, most meek yet most sublime,
■' hieh owns no birth from things of Time,
Whose fruit outlives the death of Time.
Brother, we bail you, thus far borne
Through chance and change of earthly life,
By Him, whose colors you have W’orn
With steadfast zeal, in labors rife,
And pray that coming years may add
But richer fruits, but joys more glad,—
Joys which the present Christ makes glad.
To yours, as you may He appear,—
Sole vision of the pure in heart
Thai she, your strength and solacb here,
May in your wealth of work have part;
Sweet prelude to blest songs above,
To Him who saves us by H.s love,—
Who saving us, most shows His love.
David Shaver.
Augusta, Ga., Dec. 2,1896.
The Science of Living With Men.
The great writers of all ages
have held themselves well away
from any formal discussion of the
art of right living and the science
of a skillful carriage of one’s sac
ulties. Government, war and el
oquence have indeed received full
scientific statement, and I hose
arts ca]Jed_ music and sculpture
have obtained abundant hterary
treatment. But, for some reason,
no philosopher has ever attempt
ed a formal treatise teaching rhe
youth how to carry his faculties
so as to avoid injuring his fellows,
and secure for them peace, happi
ness and success. Nevertheless,
the art of handling marble is
nothing compared to the art of
handling men.
Nor is there any science or any
productive industry whatsoever
that is at all comparable to the
sciepce of just, smooth and kindly
living. For the business of life is
not the use and control of winds
and rivers; it is not the acquisi
tion of skill in calling out the se
cret energies contained in the soil
or concealed in the sky. The bu
siness of life is the mastery of the
art of living smoothly and justly
with one’s fellows, and the acqui
sition of skill in calling out the
best qualities of those about us.
Indeed, the home and the market
do but furnish practice-grounds
for developing expertness in car
rying one’s faculties. Sir Arthur
Helps first .coined the expression,
“the art of right living,” and so
ciety can never be sufficiently
grateful to this distinguished
scholar for reminding us that
when every other art has been se
cured, every other science achiev
ed, there still remains for mastery
the finest of all the fine parts, the
science of a right carriage of one’s
faculties ’midst all the duties and
relations of home and school, of
store and street.
Searching, out for some reason
why scientists have discussed
friendship, reform, or patriotism,
but have passed by the science of
right living, we shall find the ade
quate explanation in the fact that
this is the largest subject that can
possibly be handled. It concerns
the right carriage* of the whole
man, the handling of the body
and the maintenance of perfect
health; the control of the temper
ament, with its special talent or
weakness; the use of reason, its
development and culture; the con
trol of judgment, with the correc
tion of its aberrations; it involves
such a management of the emo
tions as men have over winds and
rivers; it concerns conscience and
conversation, friendship and com
merce, and all the elements, affec
tional and social, civic and moral.
For man stands, as it were, in
the center of many concentric cir
cles. About himself, as a center,
sweeps the home circle; his im
mediate neighborhood relations
describe a wider circle; his busi
ness career describes one larger
still; then comes his relation to
the community in general, while
beyond the horizon is a circle of
influence that includes the world
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX.
at large. When the tiny spider,
standing at the center of its wide
stretching and intricate web, wov
en for destruction, chances to
touch any thread of the web, im
mediately that thread vibrates to
the uttermost extremity. And
man stands at the center of a
vast web of wide-reaching in
fluence, woven not for blighting,
but for blessing, and every one of
these out running lines, whether
related to friends near by or to
citizens afar off. thrills and vi
brates with secret influences; and
there is no creature in God’s uni
verse so taxed as man. having a
thousand dangers to avoid, and
fulfilling ten thousand duties.
He who would adequately discuss
the science of right living must
propose a method that will enable
man to carry his faculties ’midst
all the conditions of poverty or
riches, of sickness or health, of
the friendship of men or their en
mity.
Discerning the largeness of this
theme, many question whether
right living can be reduced to a
science, and, if so, whether it can
ever be acquired as an art. We
kiiow that there is a science of
government, a science of wealth,
a science of war, and mastery in
each department seem possible.
Moreover, long practice has lent
men skill in the arts. Even Paga
nini was born under the necessity
of obtaining excellence in his art
through practice. Titian also was
a tireless student in color, and
Macaulay himself toiled hard over
his alphabet. Printers tell us
that practice expells stiffness
from the fingers and makes type
setting an automatic process.
Daniel Webster was counted the
greatest orator of his time; but
there never lived a man who drill
ed himself in solitude more scrup
ulously, and his excellence, he
says, was the fruit of long study.
Henry Clay had a great reputa
tion as a speaker; but when the
youth had for years practiced ex
temporaneous speech in the corn
fields of Kentucky, he went on to
train himself in language, in
thought, in posture, in gesture,
until his hand could yield the
scepter, or beckon in sweet per
suasion, until his eye could
look upon his enemies and
pierce them, or beam up
on his friends and call down upon
+Lym all ,<he fruits aj£l
success. Nor has there been one
great artist, one great poet, one
great inventor, one great mer
chant, nor one great man in any
department of life whose suprem
acy does not, when examined,
stand forth as the fruit of long
study and careful training. Men
are born with hands, but without
skill for using them. Men are born
with feet and faculties, but only
by practice do their steps run
swiftlyalong those beautiful path
ways called literature or law or
statesmanship. Man’s success in
mastering other sciences encour
ages within us the belief that it
is possible for men to master the
science of getting on smoothly
and justly with their fellowmen.
In importance this knowledge ex
ceeds every other knowledge
whatsoever. To know what armor
to put on against to-morrow's con
flicts; how to attain the ends of
commerce and ambition by using
men as instruments; how to be
used by men, and how to use men,
not by injuring them, not by
cheating them, not by marring or
neglecting them; but how through
men to advance both one’s self
and one’s fellows—this is life’s
task. For skill in getting on with
men is the test of perfect man
hood.
No other knowledge is com
parable to this. It is something
to know how to sail a vast ship;
it is important to understand the
working of a Corless engine; man
does well to aspire to the mastery
of iron and wood, and the use of
cotton and wool; most praise
worthy the ambition to master ar
guments and ideas; but it is a
thousand times more important
to understand men. To be able
to analyze the underlying mo
tives; to attain skill in rebuking
the’ worst impulses in men, and
skill in calling forth their best
qualities; to distinguish between
selfishness and sincerity; to allay
strife and promote peace; to main
tain equanimity midst all the
swirl of passion; to meet those
who storm with perfect calm; to
meet scowling men with firm gen
tleness; to meet the harshness of
pride with a modest bearing; to be
self-sufficing midst all the up
heaval and selfishness of life —
this is to be a follower of
Christ, and he is the only gen
tleman our world has even seen.
Oh, for some university for
teaching the art of right liv
ing! Oh, for some college
teaching the science of attaining
the personal ends of life without
marring one’s ideals! For life
has only one fine art —the art of
getting along smoothly with our
selves and our fellows. —A Man s
Value to Society—Hillis.
Fi r (be Index.
Reminiscences of Georgia Baptists.
BY S. G. HILLYER, D D.
No. 23.
DEACON OLIVER STEVENS AND
HIS SON. REV. EDWARD STEV
ENS, D.D.
Mr. Oliver Stevens was a native
of Connecticut. He came to
Georgia when quite a young man,
and settled in Liberty county, and
became a citizen of Sunbury. He
was a Presbyterian,but, like many
others, he was led to investigate
the Scriptures on the subject of
baptism, and soon discovered that
they distinctly teach that be
lievers only are the proper sub
jects of baptism, and that immer
sion is its only Scriptural mode.
He, therefore became a Baptist,
and when 1 first knew him he was
a deacon of the Sunbury church.
His wife was a daughter of Dea
con Peter Winn, also of Liberty
county. She was indeed a “help
meet” for just such a man as was
her husband. They were united,
not only by the ties of conjugal
affection, but also by the bonds of
Christian fellowship. In their
house the family altar was a fix
ture; and, morning and evening,
there were brought to it offerings
of prayer and praise that sent up
to heaven the incense of the wor
ship which is “in spirit and in
truth.” Their children were as
“olive plants around their table,”
yielding, for both parents, a full
supply of the pure oil of filial re
spect and love. I never knew a
happier family. It was a beauti
ful illustration of the Scripture
which says: “Godliness is profit
able for all things, having the
promise of the life that now is,
and of that which is to come.”
Such was the happy family of
which deacon Oliver Stevens was
the honored head and father. Let
us now consider him as
A CHURCH MEMBER.
He was the leading deacon in
the church. This office he filled
with patient fidelity, and with
great wisdom. He had the confi
dence of the entire church, includ
ing (perhaps several hundred) the
colored members, who regarded
him as a true friend and a safe ad
viser. In addition to his service
as deacon, he was also the leader
in the singing in the prayer-meet
*<igS niiu in p-wLlii'worship. And
then he was also the superintend
ent of the Sunday-school. This
important interest he managed
with the same perseverance and
prudence that distinguished him
in his deaconship. You behold in
brother Stevens a model church
member whose light shone with
unflickering steadiness along all
the lines of religious duty and of
church work.
AS A CITIZEN.
As a citizen brother Stevens
was about as useful a man as he
was as a church member. He was
not rich, but he had enough to
support his family, and to give to
his children a good education, and
to train them in such culture and
refinement as would qualify them
for the amenities of social life.
But his good will extended be
yond his own household. He was
everybody’s friend, and every
body loved him, for he was ever
ready to do an act of kindness to
any one who needed it. He was
not only a model church member,
but a model man in every relation
of life.
My words may seem to be exag
erated; but they fail to express,
adequately my appreciation of the
beautiful character of deacon Oli
ver Stevens.
I never knew a more complete
ly rounded character. Its domi
nating element was faith in God;
but, in obedience to an inspired
precept, he added to bis faith the
golden chain of Christian graces—
virtue, knowledge, temperance,
patience, godliness, brotherly
kindness and love. And because
these graces were in him, he was
“neither barren nor unfruitful in
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ.”
But to whom belongs the glory
of such a character? Not to the
man himself. Brother Stevens
would not have claimed it. No,
the glory of such a character be
longs to the indwelling Christ.
It is his light that shines in the
good man’s life. Brother Stevens
let that light so shine in his own
life that all men could see it and
glorify the God who gave it—the
Christ that dwells within him.
HIS SON, REV. EDWARD A. STEV-
ENS, D D.
If I had space, I would be glad
to notice all of brother Stevens’
children, as far at least as I have
knowledge of their subsequent
history. Several of them were
my personal friends, and most
highly appreciated by me. But I
have space to mention only the
one whose name is given alcove.
I had the pleasure of meeting
brother Edward A. Stevens in
Sunbury, in 1832. He was then
about eighten years of age, and at
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. JANUARY 14. 1897.
that time he was a student of
Brown University. He had
come home to spend his vacation.
He was then a devoted Christian,
and was looking forward to the
ministry. It required but a little
time for me to learn to love him.
His earnest, pure, spiritual relig
ion won me at once; 1 delighted
in his society, and we became, I
have reason to think, mutual
friends. He was four years my
junior in his life, but many years
my senior in the depth of his pie
ty’. The indwelling Christ was
already brightly shining in his
young manhood. This is no word
painting. I speak what 1 believ
ed then, and what. I believe now.
Sweet is the memory which I have
cherished of that young brother.
But his vacation closed, and he
once more bade farewell to his
earthly friends, that he might go
tol’rovidence and complete his ed
ucation. This he did; and then
entered the Theological Seminary
at Newton Centre, where he took
a full course of instruction that
he might be qualified for the great
work to which he had consecrated
his life.
When he had finished his
course, he again returned to Geor
gia for a few months. It was in
1837. 1 was at that time living
with my mother in the old home
stead near Athens, Ga., and I was
then serving the Baptist church
of that place as its pastor. 1 had
learned somehow that brother E.
A. Stevens was in Georgia, and
was expecting to visit Athens. 1
did not know when to look for
him. There was only the begin
ning of railroads then. He had
to come by a mail-coach, or by
private conveyance.
But one day I received from the
postoffice a letter post marked
Boston, directed to Mr. E. A.
Stevens, care of Mr. S. G. llillyer,
Athens, Ga. I knew then my
friend was coming, and could not
be far away. Sure enough, per
haps the next day, he came, and
was a guest at our house. We
gave him a cordial welcome; and
I gave him, what he no doubt val -
ued above all else, just then, the
letter in my care—it was from his
a Ilia need bride, as he soon inform
ed me.
He spent several days with us,
and becameacqvJ®|ed with many
families of as well as
. ■• iv
will that
in 1837, the MisWmry Baptists of
the whole United States were
working together under the Trien
nial Convention for missions; and
the foreign board, of which our
own Dr. Jesse Mercer was presi
dent, was located in Boston.
Brother Stevens, having been ac
cepted by the board, preferred to
be ordained in his native State.
Accordingly arrangements were
made to have him ordained at the
meeting of the Convention which
met that year (1837), during the
first week in May, at Ruckers
ville, Elbert county. He had timed
his visit to Athens in harmony
with this arrangement. He
therefore left us in time to meet
his engagement at Ruckersville,
where he, a Georgia Baptist, was
ordained to preach the Gospel to
the heathen in Burma. The fol
lowing autumn was the time fixed
for his departure.
Consider again why he made all
was leaving. He was leaving one
of the happiest homes on this
globe. He was leaving his father
and mother; his brothers and sis
ters, in whose loving affection he
had lived. Then he was renounc
ing all the comforts of an advanc
ed civilization,and all the possible
emoluments and honors that
might await him in his native
land.
Consided again why he made all
these sacrifices. Was he foolish
to do it? Was he throwing away
his young life? Reader, I wish
you could have heard him answer
these questions himself. It was
my privilege to learn his reason
for what so many would call an
act of folly. We sat together one
pleasant afternoon, and we were
talking of his mission. He knew
what he was leaving. He knew
the dreadful exchanges that he
was making; but none of these
things moved him. His eye beam
ed with tenderness, and his face
was perfectly, yet seriously tran
quil. It was the love of Jesus
that was moving him to go. With
love in his heart he was fortified
against every assault of the
tempter. Presently he said in
substance, in a low, gentle voice,
“O, brother llillyer, I am so hap
py! It is sweet to work for Je
sus.” And a pleasant smile light
ed up his features.
Reader, when you are asked for
missionary money, think of this
young man, and let his zeal for
Christ quicken your liberality.
I cannot tell the story of his life
in Burma. It must suffice to say
that he gave the whole of it to his
mission. His labors were abund
antly useful, as long as he lived;
and as a faithful soldier he died
at his post; and has, no doubt, re
ceived his crown of victory from
the hand of the King whom he
served.
563 S. Pryor St., Atlanta.
For the Index.
Enoch and Noah Compared; Or Was
Noah a Drunkard ?
BY P. S. WHITMAN, D D.
Bad as the world is, there have
been at all times persons of re
markable virtue, and more or less
commended by their fellowmen;
been men and women commended
by God; and whose commendation
has been marked by miraculous
testimony. What a record we
have of Enoch. According to the
reference of Jude the world had
become very wicked; yet Enoch
persevered, preaching righteous
ness, and there could have been
no lack in his practice, for the di
vine record is that “he walked
with God, after he begat Methu
selah three hundred years, and
begat sons and daughters; and all
the days of Enoch were three
hundred and sixty-five years.”
What additional commendation
as the record ends, “And Enoch
walked with God, and he was not;
for God took him.” His approba
tion, we see, was most decidedly
of God. What an admonition to
tin* world is here, wherein is seen
difference in God’s estimation be
tween Enoch and the rest of man
kind. This deliniation of
Enoch's character and the man
ner of God's approbation, are so
remarkable (hat we can hardly
expect any mortal ever to shine
in fairer light.
We make this reference to
Enoch byway of introduction to
the character of Noah. With the
physical improvement of the race
immediately subsequent to the
time of Enoch, the world became
more wicked than ever—so wick
ed that God said, “I will destroy
man whom I have created from
the face of the earth.” “But No
ah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord.” Hear further: “Noah was
a just man, and perfect in his
generation,and Noah walked with
God.” Now a writer of eminence
makes Enoch’s commendation su
perior to this, because it is said,
“Enoch walked with God after he
begat Methuselah three hundred
years.” Here, it is proper to say,
we do not know but Enoch walk
ed with Goa mure than three
hundred years. Tor he may have
walked with God before he begat
Methuselah, as well as after. Ami
as for Noah, we don’t know but he
walked with God six hundred
years. The Scripture already
quoted, seems to present this
walking with God as the general
character of his life. It is said of
Enoch that he walked with God
three hundred years; but it does
not diminish his high rank in
goodness to suppose it was
equalled or even surpassed, by
that of Noah. Men had become, in
the time of Noah, altogether more
violent and desperate in wicked
ness. His conflict with sin must
have been sharper and more trou
blesome than that of Enoch's; and
we must remember it was nearly
three times as long; and if, in
commendation of his life, it is
said Noah was a just man and
perfect in his generation, with the
most significent item added, “and
Noah walked with God,” we think
Noah’s exaltation is presented
as no less wonderful than Enoch’s.
But Enoch’s distinctive emi
nence shines in the record, “He
was not, for God took him.” And
this is not said of Noah. But
God’s regard for him was shown
in another way. When we think of
God’s bringing on the flood, over
whelming the earth with water,
and yet the ark with Noah and his
family riding secure on the uni
versal abyss—him and his family
alone saved to start the human
race anew —all this, it seems to us,
is making Noah more distinguish
ed by God than as if it could be
said of him as of Enoch, “He was
not, for God took him!”
We come now to a point where
in Noah is supposed to suffer vast
ly in comparison with Enoch.
The latter, it is said, is one of the
few men whose record in Scrip
ture is all on the credit side. The
language descriptive of him is al
together the language of encomi
um. “He stands charged with
no fault.” Now if all this were
equally true of Noah, it would
make his excellence more remark
able than Enoch’s; for the life of
Noah was nigh six hundred years
longer than that of Enoch —the
people had become more abandon
ed to lust and violence than in
the days of Enoch,making his con
flict with vice more formidable
and trying. Moreover his history
is given with ten times the mi
nuteness that characterizes that
of Enoch, so that if follies or
wrongs there were, they would be
altogether more apt to
come to the surface. All
this makes it more wonderful
that, as in the case of Enoch,there
is absolutely no flaw in his char
acter as presented by the pen of
inspiration. Some moralizers, it
is true, are fond of allusions to
the time when Noah lay overcome
with stupor and uncovered in his
tent. But who does not know
that the' divine pen is here record
ing the sin of Ham, and that it is
farthest possible from the intima
tion of wrong on the part of No
ah? It is human pens and human
tongues that here, with no parti
cle of Scripture warrant, write
and talk of Noah's sin, whereas
the sacred narrative dwells alone
on the sin of Ham, ami its conse
quences. It is because the
Lord is God and not man
that he is found complaining
of Jesus for breaking the
Sabbath, or of Noah when, by ex
perience, he first learned the stu
pefying nature of the beverage
which his new vineyard had
brought into use. If any one sup
poses that Enoch's three hundred
year walk with God means no in
advertence, like taking a wrong
path and getting lost, or doing
nothing which his judges in this
nineteenth century after Christ
might construe to his disadvan
tage. he is as much mistaken as
any Pharisee that has ever passed
judgment upon Christian morals.
We may have a certain degree
of forbearance with teachers and
expositors who may be quite too
fond of detecting flaws in the best
characters; but when a preacher,
taking occasion to dilate on the
sins of good men, makes the fling
which we sometimes hear, “There
was Noah the drunkard,” or “No
ah who disgraced himself and
brought a curse upon his family
by getting beastly drunk,” we can
hardly - express our resentment,
for he has no more right to speak
in this way of Noah than he has
to stab his best neighbor to the
heart. What is fact in the case?
Somebody was to learn by ex
perience that if guided by thirst
or taste alone, he might drink so
much of the new beverage as to
make him intensely drowsy, or re
duce him to utter stupefaction.
Noah's case is plainly regarded,
such is the tenor of the narrative,
as an affair not necessarily involv
ing blame any more than when a
child, overdrinking of milk, falls
into a deep slumber. Noah was
no more a sinner than the man
who first learned that caution is
needed lest, when suffering with
heat, or thirst, one drink of cold
water to excess. The life 1 of No
ah. which was continued three
hundred years after this experi
ence, offers no reasonable chance
for us to suppose anything else
than that he used the experience
of that occasion for the benefit
of his family. Nay, it is but fair
to infer that his descendants at
the very start, in repeopling the
earth received due caution from
Noah against all kinds of excess
ive indulgence. We may go fur
ther and safely conclude that, if
before he died that preache’’ of
righteousness found that there
was no such thing as using the
beverage in moderation, or Keep
ing it from poisonous adultera
tions, he may have become quite
radical in his admonition, and
have ended his days a preacher of
total abstinence.
In our day it is against a man’s
character to get drunk even once.
It supposes a voluntary mingling
with bad company, deliberately
going where poisonous intoxi
cants are kept, and this amid
warnings of danger and ruin all
around him —a state of things
which did not exist in relation to
Noah. But even in our day if it
is only once in his life that a per
son gets drunk, is it to be expect
ed that thousands of years after
lie must be stigmatized as a
drunkard? If we seek a man most
to be relied on for temperance, it
may be Ihe.inan of whom it is
said, “He got drunk once, but
never again.”
It is only common virtue to put
a favorable construction upon a
man's conduct when the circum
stances in the case will permit.
But in the case of Noah, the cir
cumstances demand it.
For tha Index.
Education Demanded.
BY M. L. LAWSON.
The system of popular educa
tion in tiiis country has become an
established fact, and the exten
sive provisions for it in all the
States show how generally and
thoroughly it is appreciated. The
ideal of the higher education de
manded by the present age is a
scheme of study, which, while it
represents the present state of
knowledge and affords a varied
cultivation and a harmonious dis
cipline, shall at the same time
best prepare for the responsible
work of life. It is a significant
fact that the prevailing higher
culture is without foundation.
Let it be remembered that it costs
just as much effort to learn a use
less fact as a useful one.
With the growing perception of
the relation between human
thought and human life, it will be
seen that by far the most price-
VOL 77-NO. 2.
less of all things is mental power.
Then our curriculum must be so
framed and supplied with such
sciences as will conform to the
true logical order of subjects on
one hand, and equally conform to
the order of unfolding the mental
faculties on the other, thus reach
ing an integral discipline through
living and applicable knowledge.
Thought is ever advancing, and
it is only through varied expe
riences that man is civilized.
While this is the case on one
hand, on the other we find that it
is the nature of institutions to fix
the mental states of particular
times, and then arises a tendency
to conflict between living ideas
ami external arrangements which
are designated to express and em
body them. Thought refuses to
be stationary; institutions refuse
to change, and disorder is the con
sequence. Then we ought always
to begin in the right place and at
the proper time to discipline the
minds. The proper view to take
is to see the future for the rising
generations, and then spare
neither time nor money preparing
(hem for their work. We ap
pend below some questions the
next generation will have to bat
tle with, such as monarchy, State
church, limits of legislation, pau
per-class, intemperance, interna
tional ethics, and many others,
which inoculate and interfuse
into the great total of practical
inquiry which challenge the intel
lect of our times.
Excuses are many and varied
for the neglect of education, but,
believe me, they are all false and
pernicious.
You do not expect the husband
man, at the end of the summer, to
call up a harvest from the soil he
had never tilled.
The future voters, office-holders,
law-makers, law-educators and
preachers are to-day intrusted to
us for instruction. How shall we
dispose of them? We must be
discreet. “Whatsoever a man
sows, that shall he also reap.”
Judging from the crop we are now
harvesting, the sowing might have
been somewhat improved. How
intolerable must be the life of a
boy or girl who has to eke out an
existence, disappointed and dis
contented, all because you failed
to do a father’s or mother’s part!
Whether you or I shall see it,
the race is destined to an indefi
nite increase in the 1 number of
good men: is destined to a tran
scendent privilege, and that to a
common leadership, which shall
unite the most hostile. The day
is drawing near, but will not
dawn
“Till the war-drum throbs no longer,
and the battle flags are furled,
In the parliament of man, the federa
tion of the world.”
Now, may I beseech you to al
lign yourselves with the earnest
and devoted teachers of Mercer
University, who have espoused a
cause which stands next to the
highest in which men are permit
ted to engage.
Again, I suppose it is an honor
to be an American citizen,
with the emblem of liberty and
union, the richest treasure of the
greatest government on earth
waving above you; but these men
(teachers of Mercer) are more
than this, they are godly men,
and their citizenship is beyond.
With these facts before you,
you cannot fail to see the great
importance of associating our ho
ly religion with the cause of edu
cation.
December 12, 1896.
Fragments.
•A pastor is a success, when,
under God, he builds his church
of sound material, and so trains
it that its work can and will go
on without him.
Better far the earnest, conver
sationalist style in preaching than
any attempt at eloquence. Can
there be anything more pitiable
than a little man in the pulpit
letting off “curls” borrowed from
novelists and calling the perform
ance preaching?
Death covers nothing from
God, nor does his wrath against
sin, because the sinner’s body
turns to dust, diminish.
Even professed disbelievers in
the existence of a hell are apt to
believe there should be a hell
for some of their acquaintances.
Few would disclaim a desire
for heaven, but many forget that
there can be no heaven for such
as are not spiritually prepared
for it —and that none who have
not the Lord Jesus Christ can
have that spiritual preparation.
Great was Nebuchadnezzar on
earth, but who believes him more
happy in eternity than the mean
est of his slaves? How vain and
empty a thing, then, is human
greatness, if, like a garment, it
has to be laid aside forever when
death makes his call?
Is there anything in which
Satan is more absorbed than in
driving from men the question
“Where shall we spend eternity?”
W. M. D.
White Plains, Ga. j