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Rev. H. C. Hob*’ . . ~
“J. M W -<adv, Atlanta, Ga.
« j p , ood, Newnan, Ga.
>t Baker, Thomasville, Ga.
i). P. Everett, Orange Hill, Fla.
“ N. M. Crawford, Penfield. Ga.
“ B. F. Tharp, Perry, Ga.
“ J. H. Campbell, State Evangelist.
“ A. E. Dickinson, Richiiiuiid, Va.
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‘The entrance of Thy W’ord givcth light.’
JAS. NATHAN ELLS, Editor.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA :
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1863.
Latitudinarianism.
One of the greatest obstacles with which
the Christian cause has to contend, in the
present century, is, that the public sentiment
is against all who combat for precision of
doctrine, or of church organization. And
this evil has been established under the
specious and seductive influence of the name
‘charity.’ Hence it has exercised an un
bounded popularity not only without, but
even within the church. Those without,
have based their professions of charity to
wards varieties of faith upon the fact that
many of the most noted thinkers have given
it as their opinion, that our belief is beyond
our control, and we are therefore in no
sense responsible for our religious faith.—
Those within, finding in every sect and
society of professing Christians men whose
labors have been acceptable and useful to
all sects, or who have had a brotherhood in
all spiritual christendom, have felt unwilling
to regard it as of much importance what
form of godliness might be adopted, so that
the power was evinced. These, truly, are
very different soils from which the same
plant should grow 7 —the one having the
likeness of that charity which hopeth all
things ; the other, of those men of corrupt
minds who are reprobate concerning the
faith.
Yet these differences of principles of
judgment are not apparent to casual observ
ers. All that they see is, that the philosophic
and the Christian are agreed in being indif
ferent to specialties of doctrine, or of church
relations, and that to both, those who con
tend earnestly for unity of doctrine or for
conformity of church are objects of derision
if not of contempt. Wherefore the world
—the thinking and those who have others
to think for them—and the Christian and
the scoffer are generally to be found com
bined hand in hand without noticing any
differences of motives between themselves
in advocating and upholding one of the
most dangerous, because one of the most
insidious and fatal fallacies that ever op
posed the truth as it is in Jesus.
But that which makes this unity of the
godly and the ungodly in upholding this
latitudinariauism most singular is, that it
originated with Christian teachers in an
effort to accommodate Christianity to the
prejudices of skeptics. ‘ The divisions us
Christians,’ thought they, ‘do incalculable
mischief. They supply infidels with the
most plausible topics of invective. They
harden the conscience of the irreligious, and
.weaken the hands of the good.’ Probably
this was an honest conviction, and the si
lencing of contentions for the conformity of
the church to the Scriptures, by such
reasons, may have been sought in good faith ;
but it is not in human ingenuity to produce
an expedient in favor of Christianity which
infidels may not wrest for invective, ortho
irreligious may not use to excuse indiffer
ence. And in the present instance we can
not call to mind one other of which the
infidel and irreligious make so much capital
as they do of the general consent to regard
as indifferent what dogmas may be held or
what church connection may be formed.
Now, it is by no means the least of the
evils growing out of this parent evil that it
engenders indifference towards religion.—
It was created to correct an excuse for in
difference which ran in this way : ‘ [ do not
know how to attend to religion. There are
so many, each professing to be the true one
and declaring that outside its pale there is
no salvation. Not knowing which to heed
for they are all equally positive and spe
cious, 1 am determined to give no heed to
any.' It creates an indifierentism running
in this way : ‘There are a great many re- :
ligions, each one unlike the other, and yet
one is as good as another. I think I shall *
VKB BAFSSSV BiaggS.
continue as I am—mine may be as good as
any.’ Now this is a fallacy. It is not true
that our religious opinions and adhesions
are matter of but small importance, which
involve no responsibility or confer no
distinction.
The Scriptures do not allow any such
supposition. They are imperative in their
demands of acceptance, jealous of the im
plicitness of their credit, and intolerant of
all other creeds or admixture of opinions.
When they demand faith, they say ‘ W ith
out. faith it is impossible to please God.’—
When they require trust in Christ, they
make its presence or its absence the very
pivot upon which the eternal state depends :
‘ He that believeth not shall be damned.’
So, too, when they present a duty it is in
the form of a mandate: ‘This is His com
mandment that we believe on the name of
His Son, Jesus Christ.’ Not, it is a privi’
lege to which He permits us, it is a blessing
by which He invites us, it is an advantage
to which He urges us —but it is a duty
which' He commands us to perform, and a
duty which if neglected leaves us in a state
of condemnation, for ‘ he that believeth not
is condemned already.’
Surely it cannot be pretended that any
room is left you for indifference here.—
If you believe not you will be damned.
It is not indifferent in whom or in what you
believe. You must believe in God, in His
Son whom He hath sent, and in the Gospel
which He has revealed. Neither is it in
different how you believe. ‘ With the heart
man believeth unto righteousness,’ and ‘lf
any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let
him be anathema, maranatha.’ Here then
is the whole of the Gospel—its facts, doc
trines, promises, duties, spirit and disposi
tions enjoined by the authority of God, and
disobedience threatened with death. Nor
can any one fearing God dare to pretend
that it is a matter of no importance, in
I volving no responsibility, and conferring no
( distinction in what manner or under what
spirit these injunctions are to be observed.
*
What is to become of the Poor ?
' This question Las puzzled more than one
1 mind, and troubled more than one heart,
during the cold season through which we
have just passed. It can not be denied that
there are many families in this country,
many of them wives and children of sol
diers, who, by the disorders of the times
and the high prices of provisions, are almost
reduced to starvation. These persons have
been accustomed to live by honest labor,
and they will suffer seriously before they
will submit to the humiliation of begging.
‘ Famine prices’ truly rule in this city, as
a reference to the current market reports
will show: Corn-meal $2,25 per bushel,
with an upward tendency ; beef thirty-five
and forty cents a pound (still rising) ; pork
seventy-five cents per pound, and lard about
the same ; while fire-wood, an indispensable
article at all times, is sold at from five to
ten dollars per load. With these extraor
dinary figures staring us in the face, may
we not be pardoned for asking ‘ What is to
become, of the poor ? ’
It is certain that they can not live without
assistance from some source, if matters re
main as at present —prices all on the ascend
ing scale. But what has been done to aid
the poor ? Both the State and Confederate
governments have done a great deal to
wards relieving the poor by furnishing them
1 work ; but as we shall probably have more
‘ than a month of cold weather yet, the little
1 stocks of provisions which
’ women can procure by all their exertions
will scarce be sufficient to preserve life un
til the genial warmth of summer shall have
; brought into the market a new supply of
food in the form of vegetables. In the
name of humanity and of our holy religion
we ask, what is to be done ?
Money is said to be plentiful in thiscom
munity. We have been told that the divi
-1 dends of some of our joint-stock companies
will reach as high as fifty per cent. We do
‘ not say there is any thing wrong in this.
' Traders are said to be making large profits
and this may be perfectly legitimate, but
these facts show that owing to the disorder
ed state of the country, many are growing
rich while others are verging towards starv
ation. What, then, is the duty of those
whom God has prospered ? Manifestly, to
help those who need.
There are many persons who could spare
a few hundred dollars to the Dorcas Society-
an association composed of devoted and
self-denying ladies who are doing all their
limited means will permit to aid the needy-
Who loves the poor well enough to do
something for them ? ‘He that giveth to
the poor lendeth to the Lord.’ The poor
may have no men of power to advocate their
claims, but the God of All hears their bitter j
cries when pinched with cold and hunger,
and there are many who not relieving
them may hear Him say in that great day
of judgment, ‘ Inasmuch as ye did it net to
these, ye did it not to me.’
Oh, dear reader, go and do something for
the poor! Seek out the Treasurer (or
some member) of the Dorcas Society and
make a contribution for them, before you
sleep. H. C. H.
The Governor’s Call to Patriots.—
Theattention of those holding military com
missions in the Georgia Militia is invited to
the ‘ call ’ of their Commander-in-Chief, to
be found in to day’* paper. A compliance
with this summons will, it is thought, add
nearly three thousand effective men to the
forces in Savannah, in time to assist in re
pelling the assaults of the enemy.
Important Order. —All male residents
of this county, between the ages of eighteen
and forty years, whether ‘ exempts ’ or not,
are required to present themselves at the
Enrolling-Oflice in this city, between the
ninth and fourteenth days of March, for
final examination.
The Dorcas Society’s monthly public
meeting will be held to-morrow evening in
the First Baptist Church, at the close of the
regular services. Read the stirring appeal
in behalf of the poor (in this number), and
then attend this meeting, ascertain the good
these ladies are accomplishing, and contrib
ute as much as you can towards the relief
of the destitute. You will feel better for it.
Church Conference. —Members of the
First Baptist Church in this city will bear
in mind the conference meeting at half-past
ten o’clock this morning.
The Child’s Index, for March, filled with
good things, equals any of the previous
editions. The articles by the editor, as
well as those by Mrs. DeGraffenreid, Mrs.
Mallary, Mrs. Boykin and ‘ Mattie,’ are
calculated to improve the youthful mind.
This juvenile monthly should be liberally
sustained by parents and teachers.
‘Dancing.’—We invite attention to a
' series of articles, entitled ‘ Conversations
about Dancing,’ the first instalment of
which will be found in the present issue.—
A careful perusal is asked at the hands of
those patrons of dancing-schools whose
names are to be found on records of church
membership, and who may entertain differ
ent views from those expressed by our
j venerable correspondent.
The Daily Confederate is the title of a
; new journal established in Macon, under
the control of Dr. Andrews, the veteran
■ editor—a pungent writer, and a gentleman
, of taste and enterprise—who, by the way>
always has his ‘ say,’ regardless of conse
quences. Price, ten dollars per year.
[Jt>r the Baptist Banner.]
THE BASIS OF SLAVERY.
■ Brother Editor : — This trite subject, I ap
. prehend, has not been exhausted. One ob
• jeetion, at least, has been raised, to which,
, I believe, no one has seen fit to reply.
A resume of several connected points
' may be premised. The fountain authority
for holding a race in subjection dates back
15. C. some 2350 years, —“ Cursed be Ca
> naan ; a servant of servants shall he be un
to his brethren.” “ Blessed be the Lord
God of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his ser-
■' vant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and
• he shall dwell in the tents of Shim ; and
- Canaan shall be his servant.” Gen. 9 : 25-
I 27. The reason of the curse may be illus
, trated by a later comment of equal author
ity—“ Cursed be he that setteth light by his
father or his mother : and all the people
1 shall say, Amen.” Josh. 27: 16. Analo
J gous cases of the transmission of the curse
. from parents to children are found in the re
r lations of every man to Adam, and of chil
’ dren generally to their progenitors, 'rhe
3 reason of entailment may, In part, be a
- more awful indication of God’s displeasure
b against marked offences, supplying an addi
f tional motive to refrain from sin.
s This primal authority has never been, for
mally at least, revoked. Like the announce
-1 ment, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by
man shall his blood be shed,” Gen. 9: 6,
- ■ it remains intact by any later statute.
J The curse, I apprehend, consists, notin
the servitude imposed and entailed, but in
the degradation which makes the servitude
The order of beings highest
■ jin the scale of creation are, go far as that
, relation goes, most blest. Happiness grows
out of contented occupancy of our position
in the scale of creation. Servitude is there
i fore the place of happiness for those who
. have been endowed servants.
Philosophy teaches the same great lesson
. ias Scripture upon this subject. Inferiority
> by constitution of nature, must ever gravi
tate towards inferiority of actual position.
j Jou cannot, by artificial means, make all
: men of the same race equal; much less can
| you make a separate race of inferiors the
|; equals of a superior race ; and the difficul
. ties of such an attempt will manifest them
selves in proportion to the distance between
the races. Ham has perpetually fallen into
■ subjection to Shem and Japheth wherever
’, they have come into contact. “ That which
• is crooked cannot be made straight, and that
i Wan ting cannot be numbered.” —
I V hat God has made impossible in the na
i ot things, should not be attempted. —
’’ hat he has necessitated he has ordained.
The curse appertains to a race depraved
in capabilities far below all other races, and
by a space far broader between them and
the next above them, than that which sepa
rates any superior divisions. Os this one
race, therefore, can slavery be predicated.
Accordingly, the descendants of Canaan ;
a one might be bought and sold into per- <
petual slavery, by the authority of Moses, i
I by bondmen and thy bondmaids, which
nou shalt have, shell be of the heathen that
are round about you ; ofthem shall ye buy ;
bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover, of
the children of the strangers that do sojourn :
among you, of them [shall ye buy, and of
their families that are with you, which they
begat in your land : and they shall be your
possession. And ye shall take them as an
inheritance for your children after you, to
inherit for a possession ; they shall be your
bondmen forever : but over your brethren
the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one
over another with rigor.” Lev. 25 : 44-46.
I say the descendants of Canaan alone ; cer
tainly this is the general fact; I am not
aware of any exception ; certainly if excep
tions be found, they must apply to those
who were identified with Canaanites in away
to make distinction impracticable.
Now, no such degradation as to make
slavery their appropriate, normal position,
attaches to any other race. Dislocation and
injustice would therefore be the consequence
of their practical subjugation to bondage.—
We must construe every word and every
providence of God in consistency with eve
ry other.
This last paragraph prepares us for the
introduction of the grand supposed Biblical
difficulty in the way of pro-slavery men. —
It is this: The teachings of the Old Testa
ment are obscure, and to be interpreted in
the light of the New. The spirit of the
New Testament is against the inherent cru
elties of slavery. And when it is alleged
that the New Testament endorses slavery
because it says nothing explicit against a
relation familiar to the times, that would
prove too much ; for the slavery of the times
was, in great part, white slavery. When
the Romans invaded the territory of neigh
boring peoples for purposes of conquest,
they were accustomed to sell obstinate de
fenders of their homes into slavery, irrespec
tive of race. In the terrible brevity of one
of their great Generals, when a besieged
city held out until it was necessary to em
ploy the battering-ram against its walls, —
“Caesar had them in the number of his ene
mies,” that is, put them to the sword, or
sold them into slavery.
But if we interpret the injunctions of the
New Testament in relation to the duties of
slaves, in consistency with the grant, the
. original grant, of authority to hold slaves,
• we must limit them by the original ordi
nance, as published in revelation and in
nature. A subsequent statute does not annul
a previous one, unless, and only so far as,
its terms necessarily conflict with the former.
• The terms of the New Testament ordinance
do not require us to ignore the limitations
of the original ordinance.
It may be suggested that the theory here
in propounded would justify the slave trade.
I suppose so. I see nothing in the slave
trade, technically so called, to distinguish
i it, simply as a trade, from the domestic
, trade, inter-state trade, or the same trade
between the different parts of the State.—
The privilege of trading in slaves, ifslavery
is right, is circumscribed only by the re
quirements of a Christian humanity. Nei
ther this nor any other trade must be car
ried on at the expense of humanity and pity.
The law' of God allows not the separation of
man and wife, so common among us. It
allows not the willful separation of parents
from children at a tender ago. Ido not
hesitate to express my abhorrence of these
practices, while raising no objection to a
trade conducted upon the principles of hu
manity and Christian morals. 1 have no
doubt that the [legislation of the country
will, rapidly as possible, conform to the
teachings of Holy Writ, on these and like
subjects, when we shall have done with fa
natics; and that the civilization of the age
will interpose a barrier to any abuses,
should the slave trade ever be legalized !
again. E. B. Teague.
La Grange, Feb. 23.
[/"or The, Bctpti t Banner.}
The ‘ Ladies’ Home.’
Mr. Editor : — Knowing that your paper
has a circulation among some of the most
’ intelligent and benevolent people in our
■ land, 1 take the liberty of addressing them
! through its columns in behalf of an fnstitu-
■ tution for Invalid Ladies, which is contem
plated being established in our city. Your
• able article on the subject, which I read
■ with pride and pleasure, presents very
' graphically its advantages, both physical
, and intellectual.
Some one may possibly object to a vigo- I
) rous prosecution of this enterprise just at I
i I this particular time, on account of our great
J national struggle. Another will assert, that j
t they are so engrossed in caring and provi-
L ding for the soldiers, as to preclude even i
3 the possibility of giving it a moment’s
i thought. But we are persuaded that, after
-a careful investigation of the facts, such
will vanish as mist before the
morning sun. An enterprise so philanthro-!
i pic cannot fail to elicit the hearty co-opera-!
ration of every lady who feels an interest
-I in the welfare of her sex. Further
. more, it is an element of civilization to ad
-1 vance humane as well as literary institutions,
i and this embraces both. All who have
e traveled extensively know the great bene
-! fits to be derived from an Institution of this
-Icharacter. In Europe, and in the larger
ii cities of America, they are not only consid
) ered respectable and genteel, but indispen
r sable.
i But, independent of all these considera
t tions, there is yet a higher, a more exalted
- view of the subject, one which every pious
- heart appreciates and aspires to—the active
- exercise of true Benevolence, and the heart
that feels its rays is the symbol of heaven.
1 True benevolence links humanity to Jesus,
1 and there can be no higher, holier mission,
1 than to seek to relieve the suffering and as-
- fljeted of earth. Benevolence, in the person
i of woman, is an angel ministry. Our coun
try is filled with so many good, wise and
great men, and so many noble, self-sacrifi
cing and pious women, we feel encouraged
in the belief that this benevolent enterprise
must and will succeed. It is a well-attested
fact that Atlanta is the very place for such
an Institution, and there are very many im
portant considerations upon which to base
such an assertion, prominent among which
is the indisputable fact that many of our
physicians have attained to a degree of emi
nence in their profession, both at home and
abroad, of which they' may justly be proud.
It may not be amiss to refer to the abuses
of the art, anterior to the civilization of
Greece, up to the present time. Paracel
sus has many imitators, even in the present
age, who arrogate to themselves the super
natural, and who boast of having a panacea
which will cure all disease's in an instant. —
Poor Paracelsus died with a bottle of his
immortal Catholicon in his pocket. If so
much error is mixed with Science, wlfat may
we not expect from a question upon which
every lady and gentleman has a right to
express her or his opinion ? A mind in
spired by high and noble sentiments, con
trolled neither by prejudice nor false ideas,
must decide favorably with regard to it. —
It is humiliating to a great man to feel that
he will lose his health and be forgotten,—
to feel that the scintillations of his genius
flashed and illumined with a meteoric glare,
instead of becoming a fixed star, diffusing
for ages a steady light. TEsculapius still
lives in the Science which he cleared of the
incongruities of empiricism, and gave it
order and perspicuity. Harvey still lives
on the reputation mainly of his discovery of
the circulation of the blood in the human
system, and a host of publicbenefactorsri.se
before us, with not a single leaf faded or
withered in their laurel wreaths.
With how much pride will our noble
Southern women behold, at some future
day, this Institution, which will ever stand
as a monument dedicated to her memory,
an ornament to speak her praise, a blessing
to her race, and a consecrated shrine, which
will receive the homage of all true admirers
of woman’s intellect and worth.
Estelle.
Atlanta, Ga.
[JYor the Baptist Banner.}
Ordination of Bro. Robert Baber.
In accordance with the call of the Mt.
Zion Baptist Church of Cobb County, Ga.,
a Council composed of Elders T. Burke and
J. M. Springer, met at the Meeting House
of said Church on Sabbath morning, 18th
of January, 1863, for the purpose of the
examination of Bro.. Robert Baber, a Licen
tiate of the said Church, with a view to or
dination to the Gospel Ministry. Council
organized by' the appointment of Elder T.
Burke Moderator, and Bro. J no. M. Edge
Clerk.
The examination being in every way sat
isfactory to the Council and Church, Bro.
Baber was then regularly ordained and set
apart to the Gospel Ministry, now
recommended to our denomination as such.
T. Burke, Mod.
Jno. M. Edge, Cl’k.
{Vor the Baptist Banner.]
A CONVERSATION
ABOUT
DANCING.
NO. 1.
“ Look here, uncle Arthur ! There is
something I want you to tell me.”
“ Perhaps 1 don’t know.”
“ Oh, yes you do. You know everything
about the Bible. Mother always says, when
I want to know anything, ‘ Ask your uncle
Arthur.’ ”
“ Well, what have you to ask uncle Ar
thur now'? ” said the old man, as he drew
the little girl closer to his side and put on
his spectacles to peep into the little Testa
ment she held in her hand.
“ 1 want to know all about these meats
j offer'ed to idols, and making my brother to
offend, and all that. Here it is, in the Bth
chapter of Ist Corinthians. Our teacher
told me to rea’d it, and tell her all about it
at the Sabbath-school to-morrow. I have
read it over twice, but, Uncle, I don’t know
wha*t it means. I wonder what made them
put such things in the Testament, unless it
was just to bother little girls like me.”
“ The Holy Spirit had nothing put in
there but for some important end. This
chapter teaches us a very useful lesson.—
But I suppose it was placed there more for
your mother’s sake than yours; at least she
needs the lesson just now more than you
do. If you will go and read it to her, 1
don’t think she will say another word about
: sending you to dancing-school. And if
your brother Thomas had read it, he would
I hardly have engaged in the dance, night be
’ fore last, at Colonel Jones’ party, though it
was ‘ just to make out the cotillon.”’
“Why, uncle Arthur! It don’t say a
single word about dancing. You don’t see
the right place. Here it is. It is all about
' meat and flesh, and idols, and ”
“Oh yes, 1 see the place and I read it
just as you do. But to me it talks a great
deal about dancing and other foolish and
worldly amusements. But stop a moment
—1 hear your mother coming. Wait till
she comes in, and then we shall not be in
terrupted.”
Mrs. Sinclair, the mother, was a splendid
woman, in the prime of her matronly beau
j ty, but much less proud of herself than of
her children. She was a professor of reli
gion, and a member of the Light-street
church in the city of 8., viry punctual in
her attendance on preaching, and liberal in
her contributions to all objects of Christian
’benevolence. In the judgment of charity,
she must be accounted a true Christian —
though in some things, of late, Uncle Ar
thur thought she had gone far out of the«
way. Her husband was a man of the world
, and much engaged in business. Their rela
tives and friends were mostly fashionable
i people, who felt that dancing, card playing
■ (when there was no betting), and the like
were innocent amusements, and that the
