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Brnttlnwli lianncv & (fhmiltee Sagfef. JESSE M. WOOD, ) Editor. J 11. C. HORNADY. Americus, Ga. T. DOYAL, Griffin, Ga. t , J. J. D. RENFROE, Talladega. Ala. f korrespondeng hditws D. P. EVERETT, Florida. ) JOS. S. BAKER, Fla. Traveling Correspondent. BLVXER & BAPTIST. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. Weekly, (fifty Nos.,) per annum, invariably in adxance, $2.00 All communications pertaining to the Paper ■ &nd Office, should be directed to the “ Banner sfc Baptist,” Rome, Geoj all private correspon- ' deuce directed to JESSE M. WOOD. Those forwarding names of subscribers or re mittances, should always write the name of Post Office, County, and State, in full. Money due the Office, may be sent by mail at our risk—always mail it in presence of a friend, (other than the P. M.,) or procure a friend to •nail it for you—never register. Contributors should write only on one side of each leaf, and number the pages, 1,2, 3, &c. The Editor will be responsible only ffir his own articles. ADVERTISING SCIIEDULE. 11 Jfo. |2 jtfo. |3 jfo. ;G Mb. '9 Mo. 12Jfo. I square $ 2 50j$5 00 :« 7 O()|$ 8“00j si2 00 sl4 00 2 SQ’KS I 500 7 50; 10 00 12 00; 18 00 22 00 3 Sq’ks i 700 10 00 12 001 16 00 24 00 30 00 4 sq’ks 900 12 00' 15 00 1 20 00 30 (X) 36 00 .5 sq’kS I 11 00: 14 00: 17 001 34 00 34 (X) 42 00 6 sq’bs I 12 501 16 00 19 00 28 00 38 00 46 00 7 SQ’RS I 14 (X) 17 50l 21 00 32 (Ml 42 (X) 50 00 8 sq’rs I 15 00 19 00; 22 00 35 00 45 00 54 00 9 SQ’KS ' 16 00 20 (X) 23 00 38 00 48 00 57 00 1 lOsq’bs | 17 00 21 00! 24 00 40 00 50 00, 60 00 A Square, is the space occupied by ten lines , of Minion type. One Square, one insertion, §1.50; and SI.OO for each subsequent insertion. Professional and Business Cards, not ex seeding five lines, $5 per annum; each addition al line sl. Special Notices, fifteen cents per line, for 1 the first insertion ; ten cents per line for each ( subsequent insertion. School Advertisements.—Our charges for School advertisements will be the same as for others, when not paid in advance. When paid in advance we will deduct Twenty five cents in the Dollar from our regular charges. . Cash for Advertisements considm-ed due, and collectable, at one half the, time contracted for insertion. Yearly advertisements, due and pay able quarterly. JESSE M. WOOD, JOHN 11. RICE. Proprietors. SHORT SERMON—No. 33. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of th • ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of tlic scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord ; and in his law doth he meditate day And he shall be . like a tree planted by the rivers of water, tW bringeth forth his fruit in his season ; : his leaf also shall not wither; and whatso ever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away . Therefore the un godly shall not stand in the. judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way ot the , righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. BIBLE. (' (I .11 MU N 11’ 1TI(I A. For the Banner A Baptist. Brother Editor: 1 closed my last article whilst speaking of Christ, the refiner and purifier. In the : renovation and purification of the heart of man from sin, Christ is then as a refiner’s tire, and man as the crucible; and as the crucible plunged into the tire, is enveloped and overwhelmed by the lire, so man is en veloped in, or overwhelmed by the Holy- Spirit. lienee, it is evident, that pouringand sprinkling are out of the question, because the type must correspond with the anti type, they must agree. Ho" can a little water, poured on the head, or a little water sprinkled in the face of a person, symbolize the operation of the Holy Spirit, in his converting and renovating influence, which is to be after the same manner of a refiner of silver ? There is no semblance. 1 will now take up my next affirmation, which is that believers alone are pro|>er subjects of Christian Baptism. I‘edo-Bap tists themselves admit that believers are proper subjects of Christian baptism; but contend that infants are also. To prove that infants are proper subjects of christian bap tism, the I’edo-Baptists take a circuitous route. They go to the family of Abraham. and contend that the Christian Church "as organized in it, and that it has existed in an unbroken link from that time to the present, and also that children were by a law of God, made members of the Ybia humic Church; therefore, they are entitled to membership in the Christian Church. On this the Methodists are an anomale.— They contend that children are entitled to Church membership, and that they are proper subjects of baptism. because they are entitled to Church membership, ami yet will not receive them into their Church at the time of baptising them; but defer it 10 their riper years, and at the same time, they all will, as one man, tell you that bapt 'in is the initiatory lite into the Chur. h. They have as yet failed t show that the Church, under the law disp nsa tian, and the Church under the G. <pcl are the same; there are no v isible marks of sameness or identity. It w-'uld m t avail them any thing, could they prove identity, (which they cannot do) because children wore not inducted into the Church of Go<.i, under the Jewish economy or law dispen sation. This may be thought a very bold assertion by those not informed. There' * net one passage of Scripture from the first of Genesis to the last of Revelations, au thorising children to be inducted into the Church of Goo or Christ, by means vs circumcision or baptism. What, not one ! N ?. not even one, Asraham was required tv circmm ,: >c himself. "And he that is eight davs old, shall be circumcised among you, every man’> child in vour generations.''dec. "He • * • that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be eir- : cumcised: and my covenant shall be in ; your flesh for an everlasting covenant.” ’ That this ordinance pertains to their na- : tionality, is clear both from their whole history, and the Bible. “And J will estab lish my covenant between me and thee, ! and thy seed after thee, in their genera- I tions, for an everlasting covenant; to be a ! God unto thee, and thy seed after thee. j And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession,/’ Here God says, “I will establish my covenant between me , and thee, and thy seed’after thee, in their - generations for an everlasting covenant.” i When God instituted circumcision, he uses ‘ similar language, “Aly covenant shall be in ’ your flesh for an everlasting covenant.” — The Jews were recognized as the people of. God; not spiritually, but nationally. The people of England and America are called a Christian people, though not all ; Christians. In fact, but tew compari’tivelv, 1 1 '!. I have as yet enlisted under the banner of Prince Emanuel. “He came unto his own i (nation,) and his own (people) received j him not. But as many as received him, to ' them gave he, power to become the sons of: God.” This quotation is sufficient to estab-1 lish the fact, that the Jews wore not all God’s people spiritually : had they been, they would have been his sons. It is, how ever, affirmed to the contrary, that is, that as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. Had the Jews been the sons of God, at the time of Christ's advent, or in other words, had they been converted and born of God. His spiritual children, such as are entitled to be members of the. kingdom of God upon earth: that kingdom embleinised by the little stone, hewn out of a mountain with out hands; that kingdom spoken of to Ni codemus, except a man be born again, he ! cannotsee; he would have given them power . to have continued the sons of God. How ' could he give, them power to become the ' sons of God, when they were already the , sons ot'God? The language used by the Lord, as stated by John, express future I time. It' the Jews had been the sons of God at that time, the Scripture would have ' read, as many as received him, to them ! cave Ik' pDwer to Crstitbme the sons of < foil. I Some one who would be critic, will no I doubt say, that 1 have no right to dictate 1 how the Scripture should read. Ido not dictate how the Scripture should read ; but • affirm, that the Scriptures read according to tin* facts. Hence, it the Jews had been ■ the sons of God, at the time Christ camo, the Scriptures would have said tl,e\ were, and not, that they were to become the sons of God at some future time. Whoever says that the .lews were the sons of God, spiritually, such as can wor ship Him acceptably, will find it a very ; difficult matter to give a proper solution ot the following Scriptures: “Ye serpents, vc generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell. ) e are of your lath er, the Devil,” Ac. Christ was complain ed of, because lie ate with publicans and sinners. Repentance and nmission of.sins were preached by the Prophets and Apost les. Can it be supposed i’>r one moment that they were members of the Church ; the identical Church, the Christian Church? - If so. the conduct o! the Apostles on the ’ <ia\ of Pentecost, were unaccountable in adding so many to the Church. What ? an Apostle adding Church members to the same, or identical Church! Such a position is too gross and absurd t> admit of argu ment. It is contended that circuuu ision was an initiatory rite into the Church, during the Jcwi u economy. It is not so stated in the whole lids of the Bible; it is a state ment without authority, an assumption without proof <>r evidence. If circumcision was an initiatory rite into the Church, then everv one of the .lews. men. women, and children, were in the dtmeh ; yet Cmusi said to the Jews, "Except ye repent, ye '! all all likewise perish" ; t- Nic. d mi s, a Jewish Rai•’■>!. "Ye mast born au r a:n,’' showing clear!) that they must repent, and be born again, before they would be tit meet for the Master's use. "A;..- the un cirvumeised man child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not cireumcis-. I, that s ui shall be cut ofl from his people; he hath !>:■ ken my covenant.'' He is i: to be cut efffiom the Church, but from l:i> people.—the people to whom Christ came, and to whom as many as believed on h’s name gave lie them power b,eome the s.- of Gel. Circumcision was evi-1 er.tly a rat' nal mirk, by which a Jew was to kept sc par.ite and distinct from all other r,:'.ti >ns and peoples. I:\irv-ame'.-', n was a d.-or in i’ the Jewish Churcli. a.td r. t a national mark, by which they were to be kept se parate and distinct from all other nat: ms an 1 peoples, then the entire nation belong ed t the Church ; in which ease the lan guage ot'Christ is •ami.. table—"Ye ser pents, ye generation <! v spous, how can re c«eai»e the damnation of hell ? Ye are of your Father, the Devil." Ac. To understat'd circumcision as a nation al mark, by which the Jews were to !■. kept separate and distil: t. from all oth - nations and peor ’es, it is easy to un i --- stand the language of Christ: and als.i why it is that the Jews have kept thetr-selves ' ROME, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1860. separate, and still remain separate and dis tinct from all other peoples. Altjiough the Jews were dispersed, and scattered among all the nations of the earth, eighteen hundred years ago, yet, re markable to say, they have not amalgam ated and mixed with the people, but have remained separate and distinct from all other tribes and peoples, and still practice circumcision. This ought to satisfy any unprejudiced mind, that baptism did not take the place of circumcision. There are neither commands, nor examples, in the New Testament, authorizing the baptism of infants. “Commands, or plain and certain examples, in the New 'J\*<tament, relative to the baptism of infatfts. I do not find.”— Prof. Stuart. The Pedo-Baptists present a gross in consistency, in relation to the Church of Christ, and the ordinances thereof. They all, as with one mind, quote the Roman Catholic writers, as the Fathers of the Church of Christ: ami in the same breath admit, that the Roman Catholic Church is anti-ehristiam In times passed, consistency was thought to be a jewel, but now a-days it seems to. be rather rubbish, ami to be avoided, or the Pedo-Baptist writers would not quote Roman Catholic authorities, to prove the practice of the Catholic Church, and, at the same time, not only admit, but contend that it is anti-Christian. 11. F. M. (to be continued.) CHINA MISSION. We give the following Circular, from I. J. Roberts, Missionary to China, a place in the Banner, for two special reasons.— Ist. It contains interesting information in regard to the China'Missions. 2nd. It con tains an appeal to those who pledged to help him, some of whom are readers to the Banner. “Thanks be unto God for his unspeak able gift.'’ And thanks be unto God for the opening ot China, where missionaries : are now permitted, by treaty stipulations, I to “Travel in al! sreurity in the interior of the Empire for the purpose of extending Christianity among the Chinese;” nor shall I such "in any case lie interfered with or molested," whether native or foreigner, w hile "placably teaching and practicing the principles of Christianity.’’ These treaty stipulations have been ratified this year, and grant all that the Missionary could ask from the Government, They have also been tested ill the .;gh'■ --sdiood of Canton by actual experiment. It has long been thought that Canton people in the country were fierce and dangerous; but we have proven the contrary by traveling in the in terior for missi< i ary purposes far beyond any previous year. In March last, antici ! pating the ratification of our treaty, I com menced, in company with Rev. C. W. Gail lard, another Baptist missionary, making preaching tours into the country. e made i two of four days each, four of three days each, ami 21 of one day. < hir two farthest trips extended to Yoimg i gah, in the District of Sim-tek. about ->0 to ■l(> miles out. To test fully the practicabili ty of making such jaunts w ith impunity in i the vicinity of Canton, we visited all the places where foreigners in former years liad boon maltreated, as Ft:t-san, Wang chuk kee. and Cheng-shek ; these places re i ceived us with al! kindness as if old aequain tanees. And as we went, we preached in ; every place, from town to town, and from village to village no man forbidding us ; generally in the open air, frequently at th * door of some temple, and not uncommonly in their ancestral halls. Our object was soon understood, hence the people were or derly and attentive generally, never treat ed us rudely or unkind. ' hir confidence ripened into assurance that wo were as sc cure from insult or injury while preaching to them, as we would be in our native land under like circumstances. Their country where we traveled was beautiful, level, rich, well watered and fertile. The people were generail) living happily together in villages, with an artificial fish pond before their door, which added much to their con venience fi>r washing, raising ducks and children. "Blessed is the people whos ’f old is the Lord." The) seemed to need noth ing but the change from idolatry to Chris tianity, to make them the most happy, content, and prosperous people : and their country where we traveled a very para dise. I never saw such a country in my na tive land: <0 well watered, so well culti vated. and a living made with so much ease. But v n y heart did pit) their idolatry ! "O their end. their wretched end. Thy sanctuary taught me so . On slippery r■> ks, I see them '’ar-.1. And fiery billows roll below ' IVe tried to “point them to ‘he Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." 0 that h may take away their sins, and save their tils. FINANCIAL REPORT. IC, 1859 Tn '".n'is «n hand. Received in China during the year. 184 (XI b.>rrvwed from other funds,. 449 42 Credit by Current account for self, 7 s •• •• •• familv 433 80 ' $-42 58 AxwkM* 3t*r, 1859. Leaving rne now debt ? for current Exptuses ?44? *• BIBLE FUND REPORT. Janwrg IsT, 1559. To fund' on hand,.. $6-19 14 Credit, by Scriptures. 37.. W vies. 255.(i00 pages sl3-8 04 ZXnv , 1859. Funds rrmatnin; on hand ....... 510 45 TRACT FUND REPORT. JVurrA, 1859. To an appropriation by the American > .. JtOO 00 Credit, by Tn„t'. 4/sX I <. .t ies. 44,>8X' pages,.... sl7 95 Credit by discount en exchange, .10 00 £k'.v-;ier 3irf, 1559. Funds remaining cn hand ..72 05 “HIS BANNER OVER” US IS “LOVE” ■ I CHURCH REPORT. From war, death and; dispersion only one member remained, besides the pastor, jof the old stock before 1 the war; but on the 17th of February, 1859, just 24 years from the day the missiou:S - y resolved upon | ■ coming to China, one mafi came in and in- ' quired earnestly—“whattmust I do to be ; saved ?” He was pointej to the Lamb of God, and soon after bapt&d, His wife fol -1 lowed, and was the firstfr uman ever im i mersed in Canton ; and fhence a brief re vival seemed to spring uji.arriong the Bap tist fraternity in particular- until the three Baptist Missionaries heip —Messrs. Gail lard, Graves and baptized 23 converts since then, : H>“9g whom were five women ! H.-, - The niHnhcr » f ? i y ]>y were 10, including two' wohien, added to the one native and one foreigner, making ! twelve, four excluded, leaving eight now in fellowship. Preaching.— During the year, in connec tion with those, that were with R., we have preached 535 times, to 49,438 hearers. Books. — Have made 5 Scripture Tracts, and translated a medical work into Chinese. And printed or purchased 41,800 copies, 330,200 pages, including both Scriptures and Tracts, w hich have been chiefly dis tributed. And to cap the climax of my labors, finding myself getting deeply in debt, and having no other alternative, like the. Apostle —“These hands have minister ! cd unto my necessities,”iand to the sup : port of my family during the last six months. But thank the Lord, my spirits have been cheerful and health general ly good during the year, anil J have labor ed for the good cause, as well as our own support, as much as circumstances would permit. And now, the Lord helping, 1 hope to persevere unto the end of my pilgrim age in doing what I can for China ; and re joice in what my eyes see and the oppor . tunities 1 now enjoy, which other mission aries have doubtless desired to see, but died without the sight. The three commissioners who negotiated the treaty of Ticn-sing, “offered of their ■ own record,” Mr. Reed tells us, “to con- i cede to missionaries access to all parts of the country.’ lienee let tnejoin with bish op Boone, of Shanghai, in saying—“ Chri stians have not had such a cal to labor in any country since the days of the Apostles. . May they have wisdom to mderstand their duty, and grace to perform it.” In general, the Canton missions now num- j her 16 foreign missionaries; 11 native; preachers: 58 native rnem'ners: 36 receiv- ! eel iii 1559, 16 of whom are.fi niales ; four exclusions; II chapels; 2 hospitals; six schools—l 47 male and 36ii male pupils; and 4 physicians. The wjiole number of missionaries to China, ginc i Dr. Morrison, in 11 ” -of whom there remains'll. “By these native chtr. lies have been or ; gaiiized at the several ports and various out stations; the number of members in ; them probably exceeds a thousand, ami ; many have died in the faith, ami in the ! confident hope ofeterna! life. A wide spread spirit of inquiry has been awakened, and the number of eonveiTons is every year increasing. There is e'>ry encouragement 1 to increased effort. Eveiy thing concurs to produce the conviction that a great work of divine grace is ere long to be witnessed in this land.” Hence allow the humble Missionary earnestly to bespeak thepfayers and con tributions of God's people every where, especially'among the Baptists, in this be- ■ half. Ami more espccialit would he urge with the utmost vehemenct upon our min- ; istry, the duty of self-dedhition and devo tion to this great mission work in China.— ; Come, brethren, come yeiip to “the help j ot the Lord against the Eighty,” and ye ; shall not lose your reward. And he would f,.ether say personally that he feels greatly ' . the responsibility of his Hat ion and the , need of <L>d’s Hol) Spirit :o assist him in ' his work: that he is highli honored, hav ing been appointed by Hint "ho sees the . end from the beginning, long before; . hand, to prepare in unticipMion of such a ! time as this; ami that, thoish he has had pioneering difficulties of extraordinary I magnitude and character, figltings without j and fears within, yes the L(rd having de l livored him out of them all, he secs now ; , that they only tend to magpily the grace of God, and add to his crows of rejoicing; | 1 ami hence h • fee's inclined tqjoin the groat ; j rejoicing multitude of heaven ami earth in saving—“ Blessing, honor, gl<y and power be unto Him that sitteth upin the throne. : and unto the Lamb for ever »mi ever.” ! Canton, China, Dec. 31st 1859. I. J. ROBERTS. P.S.—lntending .'. m this date, Jan. Ist, 1 >6O. to close . acc r begin anew. ( leaving th-> things tl.a* are behind, to ! press forward to a higher nark: I will say only this once more, in reference to the “Oriental A Chinese \dwxate,” got up by I. J. R.. ";:on in the Unitrii States in 1555. ’h it if any i f the subscribers did not get the paper regularly, it w:is not his fault. ; He did every thing that an honest man eotibl do—raised the money and paid the 1 entire charges f r one year, before he left f>r China: and he hopes his brother editor did his fluty also; therefore any failure 'T short coming realized, you will phase charge to the post off.-- and forgive. Kev. 1. J. Roberts, care of . Messrs. R -Cl A- €• •-. Cr.ctor., China. To the Trustees and Subscxiben to Rev. I. J. Robert", in 1855. Dear brethren and sisters: I thought mv : last 1i ir ss to you s'- -mid he my k,! t - cir..?m.> , /nc’s seem to demand this one n/ re. That was poorly printed, and. per haps. r. t entirely leg,e. You will sec, from my annual report, that while I have ' had 1.. tt - tceess during 1359 thr... u=ual,l have m >re labor, not only in the mission work, but also for the support of mvself 11. Still ASLi thflt my in- ar.s have c-me short leaving me in debt *449.42 : And, m rewer, 1 ha-.. hist r«e:vvd a moving appeal from mv faradv. Nirs. Ro, yts. and a Christian friend in her ochalt. ,/or A* which. 1 think, must move every « .' scribers heart, in "hi-ch remains en; I'viar. mputhv, or any sense ot the moral ol I'g resting up-.n p.-emfrs and p’- ige. Arter giving a sad narrative nfher homeless evr. iit; andg-imgfrom place to p'.scc in '••arch of i horn-, in the cold win- ter thne, with our two dear little ones; and when she had gone for “protection to her own relation—uncle—“was bidden to go from there!” she says, “It is best to get us a home here. It is absolutely necessary j that we have a home here, since ii is out of j the question to think of boarding with chil di en ; for, in the first place, it is a very dif ficult matter to get boarding with children. Then you cannot train children as. you wish when thrown in contact with such,an assem blage as you often meet with; and the amount of evil contracted, in such cases, is incalculable. You have mentioned several persons here whom you desire me to con- i suit—it is their unanimous voice that 1 ; ought to have a home in which td raise my I children. Mrs. J. E. 1. !who, you | know, has voluntarily written which you.night r..j,u i, *>r man of sound sense, and has ever been one of my kindest friends. She remarks that i having a home, I could live on much loss than is required to board; and once having | possession of a house of my own, ready furnished, I could live on much less than §400; as it is, it will be a very limited sup port.” Her friend, Mrs. Y , remarks:— “ Nothing but the present and future wel fare. of your helpless children, has caused me to speak. 1 wish to say to you that it is more than important for your little fam ily to have some permanent home. Your wife and children came to my liouse two years ago; since that time 1 have had an eye to their comfort as much as I could. I have known the great inconvenience and expense of their present wav of living.— Board is very high. Your children have hail three severe spells of siekniis'e from be ing turned out of house! The, change, and disagreeable weather caused sickness. There is economy, as well as a great comfort in having a permanent home ; nor does the ad vantage stop there. 1 our children are now at an age that their education piotild be thought of. If your family was permanent ly settled in Georgetown, there would be no difficulty, then, in the way of.their get ting an education. 1 would like t-o sec your son have the advantages of a good school. He is smart, but cannot obtain such while so unsettled. I feel very much for you, be ing so far distant from your children. I know that nothing but the love, of the cause of the Saviour could support vo;|i. I hope you ma v be com!', r tod. that j.iu:- labors; may be blessed, so that you may feel that ’ you are compensated for the sacrifice you make. May the Lord bios and sustain you lin all things.”—J. E. Y. 1 os. dear sister, .lane, this is one of the greatest "s 'crifices” and trials of my life, about which I have sited many tears. But “the love of Christ constraincth us,"—constraineth me —“like the mileh-kine. whose calves were shut up, that went along the. highway lowing as they went.” to go along the highwav of duty though weeping as I go. "He that loveth . son or daughter more than me, is not wor ; thy of me.” I owe everything to Christ ; 1 i he snatched me as a brand from the gates of ; Hell, and cleansed me from all sin by his I own blood. Read the American Baptist Publication Society’s Tract, No. 162, enti- i tied, "The Troubled Conscience, and the Peace-Speaking Blood of Christ.” and you ■ will learn what he has done for me, and al so whence the tno/t’re power of my mission ary effort. Dear brethren and sisters : Can you do less than sympathize with the case as above described, at least, to the extent of your unpaid pledges ? Do not you who are par ents, "ho are husbands and wives, “feel I very much for us?” Your bowels of com passion are surely not withered and dried , up und'H- the congenial influences of gospel : privileges. Then let them flow ‘out in the payment of your unpaid pledges, and that j will greatly help to alleviate a mother’s ! cares, to wipe away a father’s tears, and to . solace, comfort and educate their Jittle ones. ' In relation to money,Mrs. R. says“it is the want of promptness which has occasion- ■ed my trouble.” 1 have done all I could to supply her with promptness. 1 have writ- . ti n again and again tomy trustees and sub ; scribers who had pledged us help, I have ' prayed, I have begged, I have labored with my own hands, aud yet you see that my . family is homeless and 1 am getting in debt. And now 1 come to you, brethren, not as a matter of present consideration; but as a matter of promise and moral obligation!— What claims have we on God |k>f mercy i and salvation, except his promise? And i I canyon expect God to fulfil his promise in j saving you, if you break your promise in ‘ not paying your pledge? This is a very ; serious matter. Jesus says —“Verily, I say | unto you. inasmuch as ye did it not to one ; : of the least of these, ye did it not to me.” j It was optio’.a! with you whether you would ; ; make the pledge originally, but when once j made, it would certainly a loose kind of ] ■ ■■■■■liity that would allow you ijiot to pay 1 it. or try, according to the tenor of the pledge ! You made the pledge—the prom ise to me in sincerity, intending to pay i what von promised, did you not? You were not trifling with my feelings, your own eonsiience, and God, were you? Then why , ! should you break your promise for so small ; a gain. You know that we have to appear before the judgment-scat of Christ; some ot you are alreadv gone: and do you think that it ; will add to the joys of that meeting to with hold more than is meet and not to pay your pledie ? Ar.d lest it be on rny account you ; have w ithheld your pledge and quieted your conscience thus far, I will now pledge you that whatever you p:y in shall be appro priated to the use •( ny family—their sup port. the purchase of their home, ana the education of <e:r ch ldren, and not to my self at all ; I "id struggle oh for myself. Then come, ..rethren, bow "ith a little cheerfulness and liberality do pay up. I claim vour pledge. t -.s a debt of honor, as a . debt of conscience, and as a .debt to God, j o.me of his servants whbjhas left all I to follow Christ. You will not regret it ' ten vears hence, if you err in this case. ~.. thren and sisters, please err on the safe side, and that is certainly to pay your pledge. In doing this you can lose noth ing but the money, and we hope that will not be lost: but,'in notpaying, you violate a,. ; - a:sapp":nt the rrussion- . .. nr the displeasure ofGod ; ana I think, like Adam, should be ashamed to see cither God or the missionary in Para- • disc. And it may be the means not only I of the present support and comtcrt of my i flimilv, but of educating my son and mak- j ing him a humble minister, by the grace of Christ, to the heathen, to fill his father’s place when you and I both shall have met above. I have promised Mrs. Roberts, and I will not break my promise, that your pledges shall be applied, when paid, in buy ing her a house and home! Then, if you have any sympathy with such a case as hers, and I think you cannot but have, please pay them up and let her have a home of her own, at Georgetown, Kentucky, where Ide sign educating our children. In closing our correspondence, for I de sign this to be the last of the kind, I beg ' my friends to accept my grateful thanks for | all they have done for me hitherto, either j when I was there or since, and especially i those who have paid up their pledges; and I those who have not, please lay me under "Kc further oc fifing so .fully ; and those who have riot .Tnffimrrrfntcnd tbyf please take this advice: Be cautious about pledging, for you make yourself an offender, j a transgressor in the sight of God, to pledge and not pay, and should look for his chas tening rod. Note.—Let all contributions or pledges on this behalf, be sent to Maj. F. C. McCalla, Georgetown, Ky., as formerly directed.— Each one knows the amount remaining yet unpaid of his own pledge. Please send it forward. Lastly.— ln taking a final and affection ate leave, dear brethren and sisters, allow me to fill up my sheet with a brief retros pect of the past, from 1834 to 1860—twen ty-six years! In 1834 the writer was an humble country Baptist preacher, settling on a farm near Raymond, Mississippi, where he had bought 1000 acres of land, and was improving it with his own hands, ; expecting intending, and desiring to make j it his permanent home for life. But the Lord designed otherwise; deeply impress ed his mind, and called him, in the spring of that year, to the Foreign Mission work. Until the 17th of February, 1835, he was pondering the subject, making up his mind • and choosing his field of destination. On j that day he was 33 years of age, and he sol emnly resolved, the Lord helping him, and opening the way, to go to China as a mis- ' sionary, and spend and be spent in that na tion, while life and health should last. He ( spent the residue of that year in traveling : in Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, more than a thousand miles, at ‘ his own expense, in way of stirring up the Churches to the Foreign Mission work,and making preparations to leave for China.— in the sth of April, 1836, he started to- China, trusting in God, without any con nexion as dependence for support, with Board or Society ; and not exceeding §IOO with him! AVith the assistance of Rev. AV m. C. Buck and others, he. created a small society at Louisville, Ky., on the way, in May following, which concurred in his ap pointment from .foove bi<! him God I speed ; so he went on his way rejoicing.— I He arrived in China, at Maecao, where he ' now writes this, on the Ist day of May, j i 1837 : pioneered the gospel into Hongkong 1 in 1842. whore he baptized his first Chinese ! convert that year, and into Canton where he preached the gospel publicly and distrib- : nted religious books in 1844. He taught , ■ Hung Sow-chuen the Christian religion in ! i 1847, who became Tae-peng Wang in 1850, or the following year; this came to the wri- j ter’s knowledge in 1852, with the protnis- ( ing tendencies of Tae-peng Wang’s revolu- i tion, to destroy idols, introduce the Scrip- 1 tures and inculcate the Christian religion; i which greatly animated the missionary’s ’ spirits, raised his hopes and expectations to ( something like what he now realizes—a free < and full liberty to preach the gospel in Chi- < na to the utmost extent of his abili ies.— ( “Behold, what God hath wrought!” Won- ' drousfact! that 400.000,000 of the human ( family in China, have now become accessi ble, to whom the gospel may be preached f freely, to the utmost abilities of all Christ- < endoin ! “ No more, my God, I boas, no more, 1 “ Os all the duties I have done; < “ I quit the hopes I held before, i ( " And trust the merits of thy Son.” ; ( I. J. R. . Mara.o, China, Jan. 1 1th, 1860. ] , ——♦ '; [From the Western Recorder.] i ] WEEKLY MEETINGS. ' No. 4. 1 Dear brethren and sisters, 1 did not have time last week to tell you all abouf the ! ' weekly meeting for the study of the, scrip- r tures. I desired to suggest a plan for such meetings. Pardon me, Ido not mean *to ; dictate. lam no pope and have no aspira tions to such a position. lam but as one of you—as one. of the weakest and humb lest. Ido not even advise. But as a broth er loving the same Lord—anxiriiis I _liks'j-0.u,.. for his honor and the advancement of his cause like you, desiring, if we have been wrong, to get back to the old paths, and walk in the way of his appointment. I ■ seek to set aside —out of your way—the j real obstacle which prevent your return to j the weekly meetings of those who’ met on | ' the first day of every week. One difficulty, and the chief one, is the . , want of a minister. I grant that it is desir able to have the presence of a minister, but ; . this is not essential. A church is a church j, —without a pastor though, she is not fully , ; equipped for service. But she can meet either for business or to study the word of I ( God. And if God. in his providence, has , left such a scarcity of preachers that the ' churches cannot all have one at every time . when he has made it the duty for the i churches to assemble, then this is a strong ■ indication that the church is to make use of such “helps’’ as she has. If she can’t; . have a pastor, let her have an evangelist, I. that is, a traveling preacher. If she can’t , . have this, let her ha ve a teacher, or, rather, i . teachers. Wc read that the apostolic I ■ churches had “Pastors, evangelists, and ; teachers.” Now will you pardon me if I suggest to you a plan to learn from “teachers,’’ or to 1 ; instruct the ignorant, you yourselves be i ing teachers? Yet this is not exactly what I 1 meant to say. Here is my thought. — The ancient churches had teachers. We have every reason to believe they met some-; times, if not frequently, without regular ! preaching. We read of but few sermons, i : and of many meetings. Well, suppose you have preaching next Lord’s day—your ; preacher can not come again for a month— i out you can come; suppose you ask him to j TERMS $2. ( ALWAYS IN ADVANCE say that all the members of the church are requested to meet there next Sabbath at the usual time, and bring their children with them, as it is designed to set on foot some way by which you can all go on with the study of God’s word, and engage in his worship, even though your minister is ob liged to be absent. if he is a true servant he will heed your request and give the notice, and if he thinks as I do, and as I have no doubt most of the ministering brethren do, he will greatly re joice, and say something to urge the thing along. Well, next Sabbath has come. Your wife had expected to meet a friend at the Presbyterian place of worship, bat she will not mind the disappointment much. You had yourself a word you wished to say to a gentleman in that congregation, but you recollect it was hardly proffer to do it on the Sabbath, and you yield, The young people had expected to'have a nice visit over there, if you took them, or a fine romp at home, and, it may be, a little sport down at the creek, or over at the next plantation if you left them as you often have done. But even they, at your request, will saddle up, and off you all go together. There you are, men, women, and children. M 7 ill you have some deacon or other member to whom you can say, Brother, call to order -and let us see what can be done, or you can do this yourself. It won’t hurt you, even though you never speak in public. You or he takes the chair; and for want of a better name, I will call you moderator.— And now, Mr. Moderator, what is to be done? Can’t you say—Brethren, the word of God gives no countenance to monthly meeting as the constant habit and practice of Christ’s churches, and we desire to meet weekly for the worship of God. Let us sing such or such a hymn. Y'ou read it and they sing. Brother L., will you lead us in prayer. The prayer is finished, and while they sing another hymn, you get your thoughts col lected for a little speech something like this. Brethren and sisters, we have no preach ing to-day, but we can learn something without it, I don’t know but we may bo able to make, this, with God’s blessing just as good a meeting as we ever had. And I propose, that we proceed to arrange our selves into different classes, as teachers and learners. The first churches, as we learn from Paul, had teachers, and. of course,, they had learners. I would like, for my self, to be a learner; but 1 am willing to be any thing and do any thing, so that I may obey the word of the Lord. Shall we not, as a church, appoint us some teach ers, and those who cannot teach engage as scholars with these our children, and see how much we can learn of the true mean ing of the word of God. A on should have had a consultation with, your pastor and most reliable brethren and sisters before hand, so as to know who were able and willing to teach, and these, on being nominated and elected, would be come your teachers. The children bad bet ter, perhaps, go into the classes of some of these, the grown people into others. If any one is too wise to learn, let him teach, aud thus you will all find a place. But now you should not have come un prepared. Y’ou will need not merely teach ers, but “helps,” and these you can procure in the shape of Testaments or Bibles, and Question Books. You can, as moderator, give the lesson. It should be of but a few verses. These should be read and talked over the first time of such a meeting, but afterwards given out the week before and committed to memory. The moderator, after all the classes are formed, may go to those who have not joined any and make another. Thus you turn your church and congre gation three Sabbaths in a month into a congregation or church Bible class, or Sab bath school, or whatever you choose to call it. But you assemble together to worship God, and to study his holy word. If you do not have a preacher, you have the word, of Goe, which is better than a preacher: and you can so manage such a meeting by procuring the proper helps and the judi cious use of them. By taking a little pains to study during the week, as every Christian ought to do, you can so manage as to make these among the most profita ble of all your meetings. Y'ou can learn more from God in this way than you have been used to learning from your preacher. Try it my brethren. Will you not try it just for six months, or for a single year? But if you can’t do this meet any way, and have a season of prayer and singing. “Do not forsake the assembling of your selves together as the manner of some is.” It is the. Lord who says this, and not your weak and fallible brother, A. C. DAYTON. Folly of Pride.—Take some quiet sober moment of life, and add together the two ideas of pride and man. Behold him, crea ture of a span, stalking through infinite space in all the grandeur of littleness. Perched on a speck of the Universe, every wind of Heaven strikes into his blood the coldness of death ; his soul floats from his body like melody from the string; day arid night, like dust on the wheel, he is rolled along the heavens, through a labyr inth of worlds, and all the creations of God arc fl irning above and beneath. E this a creature to make for himself a crown of glory, to deny his own flesh, to mock his fellow, sprung from that dust to which both return ? Does the proud man not err? Does he not suffer? Does he not die? AV hen he reasons, is he not often stopped by difficulties ? When he tets, is he free from pain ? When he dies, can he escape the common grave? Pride is not the heri taee of man ; humanity should dwell with frailty, and atone for ignorance, error and imperfection.— Sidney Smith., WISDOM AND MONEY. Few men have readier excuse for their homage than the Grecian sage, who being asked why philosophers always ran after rich men, while rich men never courted philosophers, replied, “because the latter know they want money, while the former haven’t sense enough to know they want wisdom,” prevents a person from be ing natural and cosy, sc much as an extreme jmdety to appear so VOL. 1. NO. 33.