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THE BAI’TIHT BANNER. BY JAS. N. ELLS & CO. VOL. IV. ®lw gjiiwr, DEVOTED TO RELIGION AND LITERATURE, Is published every Saturday, at Atlanta, Georgia, at the subscription price of three dollars per year. JAMES N. ELLS & CO., Proprietors. Steam Press of Franklin Printing House—J. J. Toon & Co. MISCELLANY ~ THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. BY JANK T. H. CROSS. Manfully, hopefully, life we begin, Facing its trials, unheeding its din, Battling for right, and withstanding the wrong, Helping the weak, and opposing the strong, Greeting the Future, as one greets a friend, (Trusting, not bending as slaves used to bend,) Asking her gifts with undauntabie eye, Fearless of danger, and daring to die. Living for honor, and living for truth, Treating misfortune with tenderest ruth, Claiming no right that we will not allow, Bowing to Virtue alone, when we bow; Leaning to no man, but acting our part, Heavenward looking, with resolute heart — Thus consecrate we our lives unto thee, Beautiful Land of the fair and the free I The Enchanted IPot. A SCANDINAVIAN LEGEND. AS a fancy illustration of the way Prov idence sometimes take to protect the weak against the strong, the following sto ry has an interest beyond the imaginary scenes which it describes : There was once a baron who was a very hard and cruel man, quick to get and slow to spend; greedy of gain and loth to give; an oppressor of the poor and spoiler of the needy. On his property lived a poor wid ow with an only son, whom, little by little, he had reduced to the lowest depth of pov erty ; so that at last she was unable to pay the rent due for her poor hovel of a house; and although it was by his own extortion and injustice that she was reduced to such straits, he refused to wait a single day for his money, threatening to turn her and her son out of the house, and seize the misera ble remains of their furniture. The poor woman returned home and sent out her son to try and borrow some money from her friends; but one and all began to make ex cuses, for no one would help them for fear of the baron. So Ilolgar, for that was the name of the widow’s son, returned home quite out of heart. By and-by his path led him across a little stream of water; and when he approached the banks he saw a feeble, miserable-looking old man standing beside it, who, as soon as he saw Ilolgar, asked him to help him over—he was too weak to cross by himself. So Ilolgar took him by the hand, for he was a very good natured lad, and led him safely over the wet slippery stepping-stones; and then wishing him a kind good morning, was walk ing away, when the old man called after him to stop, and. said, “Do not go away until 1 have thanked you and paid you for your trouble.” “ I don’t want to be paid,” Holgar said ; “ I am not such a churl as to refuse to help a fellow creature in distress; so good-bye.” “ Nay,” said the old man, putting his hand in his sack and pulling out a three legged copper pot, “ but take that with you.” “I am very much obliged,” answered Holgar, “but the pot will be of no use;! for the truth is, we have nothing to boil in it.” “ Never mind you about that,” said the old man; “you just put it on the fire and;, see what will happen.” So Holgar took the pot, which was for all the world like any other copper pot, and ' went home to his mother and showed her what he had got, and told her how all their friends had refused to help them. But the mother kicked the pot away with her foot, and rocked herself backwards and forwards in her chair, lamenting the unkindness of their friends; and Holgar said: “Mother,! I shall do as the old man told me—l shall set the pot on the tire.” So he set it on; and no sooner did the pot feel the smoke and the flames curling about it, than it called out, “ 1 run ! 1 run !” ■ “Where do you run to?” asked the widow, suddenly stopping in her lamenta tions, and starting up; but the pot only cried, “ I run ! I run ■ ” “ Well, run, then ! ” quoth the woman. “ and fetch us some of the good soup, such as 1 saw on the baron's kitchen grate.” Searoely had she spoken when the pot flew out of the cottage door, and presently returned tilled with the most delicious soup. Oh, it smelt no nee! For a moment or two the mother and son stood quite amazed, but soon recovering their senses, they fell to and ate it up. . But Holgar said, “Let us see it it can bring us anything else but eatables; tor food is a good thing, but money is better.’ So ho put the pot on the tire again, and stirred the tire to make it burn bright ly, and as soon as ever the pot felt the flames, it called out as before, “ I run ! I run! * “ Run, then.” said Holgar, "and bring us the ten pounds we owe the baron. So the pot flew oil, and when it came back —there lay ten golden sovereigns in the bottom. A BEiSSMMM A.K® ATLANTA, GEORGIA, DECEMBER 6, 1862. “Itis a splendid p t,” said Ilolgar; and the next day he went and paid his debt to the baron. Every evening they ordered the pot to fetch what they needed —some- times food, sometimes money, the latter of which they saved in order to buy another cow. And where the pot got the things it brought them they did not know. Perhaps .it ran to the old man who gave it to Hol gar; but in truth the pot got them from the baron’s kitchen and the baron’s money box. Now, the baron, being a great miser, went every day to his money-box and counted his money, and sorely vexed and troubled was he when every day he found something wrong. There must be some one who has a false key, he thought; so the next night he hid himself behind the cur tain and watched. Presently he heard a low knocking, and peeping out, he saw the window open of its own accord, and a little copper pot on three legs come in. It knocked with its handle on the money-box, and the fid flew open, and the p<9t scraped into * itself some money, and jumped out of the window, and the lid and window shut of their own accord. “Well,” exclaimed the baron, “this beats Gaffer Clinch’s cat! ” But the next night the baron was on the watch again, and as the pot had collected the money it wanted, he laid hold of it by one of the legs, and thought that now the thief was caught. But lo and behold ! the pot was stronger than he was, and dragged him across the room up to the window, and had he not let go its leg, would surely have flown off with him. “O, well, just you wait, my good pot,” said the baron, ‘ you have got away this time; but you shall not make a goose of me again.” The next night, as soon as ever the |>ot had entered the room on its three copper legs, and scraped together the money, the baron, who was a stout, heavy man, clap ped himself down upon it, and bursting out laughing, said in a taunting tone, “ Now, my lad, let us see what you can do.” But the pot minded him no more than if he had been a feather, and, while the baron was i fain to hold tight on its sides, flew out of the window with him over field and mead ow, over stock and stone, and did not stop until it stood below the widow’s chimney piece. “ Why, what’s come to the pot?” cried the widow ; “ it has brought the baron.”— And she and hereon were terribly fright ed when they saw the lord of the manor sitting there amongst the ashes. As soon as the baron had recovered breath enough to speak, he exclaimed, “Oh, you wicked woman, I will have you and your son hung and burnt. So it is your pot that has been robbing me every day, and breaking open my money-box.” In vain the widow and Ilolgar protested they knew not where the pot got the things it brought them. There the baron sat, boiling with passion and refusing t j listen to a word. “ Hold him fast, Pot,” said Holgar, when he saw the baron trying to get up; “ifyou mean to revenge yourself in that manner, you shall sit there forever.” No sooner had he said it when the baron I found himself so tightly glued to the pot, that he could not, though he tried with all his strength, get free from it. He tugged 'and tugged until he and the pot both rolled over on the floor together, and Holgar and his mother stood by, laughing until their sides ached. When the baron found that all his strength was of no use, he stopped rolling about, and said, “ Let me go, good people, and 1 will not punish you at all.” “That will not do,” said Holgar; “I will ■ have the leases of my father’s former | I house, and you must supply me with hor-j ses, cows, and sheep, and all things neces-, sary for a farm.” “No! no!” roared the baron, writhing; ■and twisting himself about as he spoke— ‘ “ No! that I never will : 1 will die first.” | “Ah, well,” said Holgar. “never isalong I day. You may sit there and think about j it.” So he put on his hat, and went out of doors. But he had hardly been gone above a quarter of an hour, when his mother came running after him, and called him j back; and as soon as the baron saw him 1 he told him he would consent to all he ask j ed. Then Holgar sent for some of the neighbors, and put it all down upon a pa per, and made the baron sign it, and then told him he might get up and go home as soon as he pleased. So he arose and slunk home, quite ashamed of himself, grinding . his teeth for very anger, and vowing ven-, geance. However, he was so afraid of Ilolgar and his pot that he thought it best to keep his word, and let him and his 1 mother alone for the future. Perhaps, had . he known the truth, he might have behaved • less well ; for the very day that he fulfilled his contract, and put Ilolgar and his moth er in possession of the farm, the copper , pot, greatly to Holgar’s grief, disappeared. But no doubt he was better off without it, for odd wax s of getting things are general , ly wrong w ays, and the enchanted pot might ‘ not always have been so discreet as to have , taken only what just belonged to his mot h ' er, and so might in the end have brought them into sad trouble and disgrace. HIS BANNER OVER US IS LOVE. [Original.] MY HEART’S FAIRY TREE. BY JULIA PLEAS ANTS OURS WELL. . Oh! ’tis over! ’tls over! my trance of deep gloom ! And the sunshine is bursting once more in my room ; I have pined ’mid these hills,.where the pine branches wave, And I said they were lonely and sad as the grave. But that dream of my darkness is perished and past, As I gaze on the features I worship at last; Burst thou forth, oh, my heart! as these sweet feelings throng, And enchant the blue noon-tide and song' In my soul’s crystal depths there are, trembling to birth, Fairy branches, more fair than the forests of earth: ’Tis a pure silver tree, wh'ch the sorcerer’s skill Wakes to life with the wand of his own wayward will. And my heart, like the vase where that Fairy Tree grows, Is expanding with bliss till its brightness o’erflows; Till its gay silver leaves rustle forth In the breeze, And the numbers they sing have the cadence of these. Passages in the L.ife of an Old Georgia Preacher. NUMBER V. The Baptists, though regarded by many as “ unlearned and ignorant men,” have ever been leaders in every important edu cational movement in Georgia. The first periodical published in the State, “The Georgia Analytical Repository,” was orig inated and edited by Dr. Holcomb. In that paper he advocated the establishment of “ Mount Enon Academy,” one of the first, if not the very first, literary institu tions started in the State, before the State College at Athens was thought of. As early as 1804 he selecte%a site for that seminary, and petitioned the General As sembly for an act of incorporation, which was refused on the ground that, if the Baptists established a college, their influ ence might become dangerous to the reli gious liberties of the State. The applica tion was renewed, and a year or so after wards the seminary w'as incorporated.— Rev. Charles O. Scriven w'as its first Pres ident. It was in successful operation seve ral years, but was finally abandoned, for reasons unknown to the writer. I was personally acquainted with Josiah Penfield, (for whom the village of Penfield was named,) a deacon of the Church and a large dealer in jewelry in the city of Sa vannah. He died of consumption in 1828, and in his will he bequeathed to the Gene ral Association, as the Convention was then called, two thousand five hundred dol lars, for the purposes of ministerial edu cation, on .condition that the friends of this cause should raise an equal amount. This condition was promptly met, and from this small beginning Mercer University has grown to its present proportions. The writer was familiar with those early efforts, and with the men of those times, and was the youngest member of the first Board of that University. 1 remember with what earnestnees, and faith, and fervent prayer, the then “ fathers of our Israel ” entered upon and prosecuted that important enter prise. A few only of that faithful band now linger on the shores of time. 1 must be excused for mentioning some of these in this connection. Eternity alone can fully disclose the importance to posterity of the self-sacrificing labors of Stocks, Mallary and Dawson among the living, and of Mer cer, Saunders and Thornton among the dCHd. Stocks was the wise and prudent adviser; Mallary the indefatigable and suc cessful agent; Dawson the fearless and powerful advocate. The labors performed bj B. M. Saunders, in the eady history of this Institution, w’ere such as scarce any eth er man could have borne. And then he and others not only labored, but they gave, and that freely. The poor preachers of i those days, who so deeply felt the need of education, and whose salaries annually ! were only two or three hundred dollars, in i many instances gave the worth of a whole 1 year’s labor to the University. Leymen I emulated the example thus set by their j ministers, and an enthusiasm was excited on the subject throughout the whole State, ! It was in this way that Mercer University ' became so liberally endowed; and the Geor-j gia Convention was provided with such ample means for the improvement of her rising ministry. Among others who enjoyed the benefits of this school in its beginning, were Ever ingham, who died in lower Georgia; Hill, now of Texas; and Tryon, who preached with great acceptance in Alabama, and fell a victim to yellow fever in Galveston, Tex-, as. It has already done much towards the advancement of education in the Baptist denomination, and in the State at large, and its prospects are brightening every ’( year. The zeal of che Baptists in this cause, had the effect to rouse the M) Huxftsts and , Presbyterians to similar efforts, and they in turn established denominational colleges, which are both in a high state of prosperi ty. The Methodists, not content with pro viding a school for their »<>ns, with charac teristic zeal attempted to raise one for their . daughters also; and the Wesleyan Female College in Macon, the fust female college in the South, if not in the Union, sprang into being. Is it unphilosophieal t> maintain that a i fundamental principle of the Baptists, ‘‘soul liberty,” impels tljem to be earnest advocates for education ? If men are to enjoy this liberty, they must have intelli gence, so that they may not “use it for an occasion to the flesh.” My connection with the denomination, of near forty years’ standing, has satisfied me that no people on earth are more under the influence of prin ciple. Disturbances and divisions may sometimes arise among them; but the masses will finally fall back upon first prin ciples, and be as firm and united as ever. Harrison. [Abr The Baptief Banner.} Etiquette at Church. Sleeping, whispering and laughing at church are such gross violations of propri ety, that it can hardly be necessary to speak of them now ; but there are various ways in which disrepect can be shown the house of God, as well as the pastor, fevery Sabbath, and which no doubt is done thro’ thoughtlessness. Any one who doubts the truth of what I have to say, can hayy an opportunity to prove it any Sunday. When the hymns are given out, most persons open their books (as they should), and sit patiently and quietly till the singers approach the last line; then, as if exfferj encing great relief, the books are suddwly closed, and throughout the church you may hear them, one after another, dropped into the racks with a noise like the scattering of fire on a muster-field. If, during the services, any unusual sound is heard, it is remarkable how r quickly the attention of the most indifferent are arrested, how even the sleepers awaken from their slumbers, and all heads are turned in the direction of the disturbance, in the hope that somebidy had fainted, that somebody’s baby had fallen off the seat, or something has happened to break in upon the monot any. If the cause of the disturbance is not discoverable, the audience relapse into its former comfortable position, with a facility not at all flattering to *the speaker. The pronouncing of the benediction seems to be the signal for the ladies to ar-' range their cloaks in marching order ; while I the gentlemen seize their hats and rush out with as great precipitation as if the com-1 maud “ retreat ” bad MSAMwI fl unk tliC pul- ; pit. Then, to add life and variety to the occasion, you may hear numerous small sized boots making their exit with an ener gy and in a manner which leaves on your mind no doubt but their owners possess the true spirit of “Go-a-head.” Would it not be better to remain in silent reverence un til the last tone of the blessing of the speaker falls upon your ears, and even a few seconds after; then leave the church quietly and seriously—not like escaped prisoners or liberated school-boys. In some churches, (and I believe in most oth ers,) it is customary for the gentlemen to leave first, the ladies meekly waiting for the male portion of the procession to pass along. To this there is no particular ob jection, though it savors a little of Orien tal custom. In retiring from the sanctuary in this manner, one is reminded of the old ballad <»f Peter and Dobbin, “ His wife should follow, not lead, through life.” E. B. C. The Mother’s Mission. —Possibly the most important subject in the world. The Mother’s Mission ! how much depends upon • the understanding which a woman has ofj these words. As there is no love like a mother’s, so is there no power like hers. — From her breast the young immortal draws far more than the sweet food which strengthens his infantile frame. Looking) up from her lap ‘ into the blue heaven of her eye,’ every shaping influence falls sweet ; ly and ceaselessly upon his receptive and plastic soul. The few years which are! ! spent by a mother’s side undoubtedly fix, | the character and decide the destiny of ev ery heart, and of these years the earlier ; are most important. A Mother's Mission !\ llt is no less than, with unutterable solici-, tude, to be the minister of eternal life or ‘ death to the heart whose earliest drops were! I drawn from her own, and which smiled or j slept in later months upon her happy bo- som. All Good to the Christian. Every positive good belongs to the Christian. The gifts of God strewed so thickly around are to be used. The Chris-j ' tian has a higher enjoyment of these things! indeed than others, because he mingles thankfulness with them as gifts of God.— I He has a higher enjoyment of nature as the work of God. He makes nature the symbol and song, the expression of higher, more joyful emotions, than the mere man iof the. world knows. While others appre i ciate the poetry of the common sentiment of life, he rises to that which came from prophets and holy men, and expresses the deepest religious emotions of the soul.—. He has a purer and better enjoyment of so-1 cial life than others have. Then he throws over all the hues of immortality. To him the landscape here stands dressed in living green. The Christian heart is like a lake in the midst of mountains. Every pleas ant image of earth, and all the broad ex panse of heaven, lie mirrored in its sleep ‘ ing depth. The present and the temporal t ; not only are there, but the eternal; and 1 the light from heaven bathes the scene. TERMS —Three Dollars a-year. The Resurrection. The following beautiful thoughts will amply repay a perusal. Precious to the Christian at all times, they are doubly so now: “ There is not a departed joy, or hope, or expectation of the Christian, but will be re stored to him in the resurrection of his Lord. 1 mourn not so much over the body or person of my friend who is gone, as I mourn over the loves and hopes that have been blasted and withered by the same touch of death, and buried with him ; but the resurrection of the Lord teaches me that there is a day to dawn when there will be restored to me in heaven all that I have loved and lost, and not more eagerly will I clasp to my arms the forms of those who are dear, than I will lay to my heart these blessed memories which I thought had gone perhaps for ever, and which now have come bounding back to me. I care not what or how trivial they may be, they shall all come back. There will not be a treasure over which the jealous eye of the Lord will not watch, and which His careful hand will not restore to the arms and fixed possession of His followers. “ Nothing valuable, nothing dear to the Christian, is too trivial to be treasured by the Lord. Nothing good perishes; it is impossible. Out of the world’s wreck, all that is worth saving will be saved. Every corner of the creation will be searched, the sea shall give up the dead that are in it, and death and the grave shall give up the dead that are in them. The trivialities of life ! who does not know, though he may blush to have it said, that the dearest and most intimate affections of the heart are often called forth by objects so slight that we would not have another know it—the little things which we have laid away in a corner of our hearts, and upon which we doat so fondly Has not a parent’s foun tain of tears been broken up by the sight of a little stray shoe, which once impris oned a tiny foot that is since enshrouded in the grave ? Who does not confess this element of our nature—not of human weakness, but of human power? In the [great day of the resurrection there will be mighty act of conquering Death, remem bered to lay aside His shroud with care, and folded the napkin and put it away in a place by itself, will overlook nothing. The widow’s mite will be returned a thousand fold into her bosom as a mine of overflow, ing wealth. The cup of cold water given to a disciple will flow back a fountain of everlasting joy. Nothing, 1 care not whether it be a soft ringlet or the memory of a child’s smile, that has been cherished by a saint of the Lord, but will be sacred ly preserved, while the earth returns to chaos, and given back to him. “ Oh, then, what a glorious morn will the resurrection be ! Methinks 1 see the glad procession .coming up—a multitude, to which’the throng I behold to-night is but a drop in the vast ocean, whom no man can number ! 1 see them coming up in robes of white, with crowns of everlasting joy upon their heads, and palms of victory in their hands. I hear their shouts of glad ness as they cry, ‘ Victory ! worthy is the Lamb that hath redeemed us!’ Fathers and mothers grasp children long lost. — f Husbands and wives, separated many cen j turies, fall again into each other’s arms. I hear a voice which calls my own name ! I start as did Mary when Jesus uttered that word, ‘ Mary ! ’ That voice ! 1 had dream :ed of it all through my life, ever since my | boyhood. 1 know it; and the child is clasp led in the arms of its mother, who cries ■ out, ‘My son !’ and the child looks up and ! whispers ‘ Mother ! ’ in the old familiar [strain, and restsagain on the bosom that, i gave life. I behold these reunions; no one comes alone or empty handed, but all go up with arms full and laps laden with trea sures, w hich the grave and the sea had bu ried, but which now arC all restored for ever with the coming back of Jesus.” The of I’raycr. In his interview with the committee sent by the convention at Chicago, comprising “ Christians of all denominations,” to urge the abolition of slavery, President Lincoln said : “The rebel soldiers are praying with a great deal more earnestness, I fear, than our own troops, and expecting Gcfd to fa vor their side; for one of our soldiers, who had been taken prisoner, told Senator Wil son, a few days since, that he met with nothing so discouraging as the evident sin cerity of those he was among in their pray ers.” We would that this cause of discourage ment to our enemies were enhanced a thou sand fold. We would that all our army and all our people felt how truly, not mere valor, hut prayer is our strength. “ The j Lord reigneth; -let the earth rejoice.”— j“The Lord reigneth; let the people trem ble.” Combining the sentiment of these two passages—awe before Him to whom vengeance belongeth, with -glad trust in Him who delighteth to exercise mercy,— let our prayers ascend day and night, a ceaseless sacrifice, that an Almighty arm may succor us in our sore extremity, and the foe that breathes out threatening and slaughter be driven with signal discomfit ure from our borders. NO. 5.