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baptist fanner.
Os ■mW
v w Moiß M| uL
‘The entrance of Thy Word givetli light.’
A. 0. DAYTON, Editor.
JAS. N. ELLS, Secular Editor.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 1863.
EDITORIAL ARRANGEMENT.
Henceforth the religious and denomina
tional department of The Banner will be
under the control of Elder A. C. Dayton ;
and the secular, news, and literary depart-1
ments under that of Jas. N. Ells, as here-1
tofore. Brother Dayton’s articles will be
designated by his initials.
the sabbath-mail Iffort.
Shall re give it up ?
There were thousands of our brethren
and other good citizens who were last sum
mer deeply convinced that the violation of
the Sabbath bv the offirers of the Govern
ment, and in accordance with the require
mens of our national law, was one of our
natinonal sins, if not the chief of them all.
With this conviction they sent petitions to
Congress, and appealed to the Government
to right this grievous wrong. Among oth
ers, the Georgia Baptist Convention, when
it met at La Grange, appointed a committee
to memorialize the Government on their
behalf in regard to this subject. We have
no doubt that committee performed its
duty faithfully and well. But we have never
seen any report of what it did or what was
the result. If we do not forget, Elder
11. C. Uornady, the former able and labori
ous editor of this paper, was chairman of
the committee. Will he be kind enough
to tell us through The Banner whether any
memorial was sent up to Richmond, and if
so what become of it? There were, also,
other petitions sent to The Banner office to
be forwarded to Richmond. They were
s»nt, no doubt, but by whom? What be
come us them ? What action did Congress
take, or did it take none at all, in regard to
this sub] ct ? Our own position, as a wan
derer driven from place to place, prevented
us from seeing the papers regularly, at the
time the>e documents should have come
before the Government, and, hence, we are
without the knowledge we now a->k for—
though it may have been public last year.
For ourself, we do not feel like giving
up. If it was necessary last year to call
on ths Government to obey the law of God,
it is no less necessary this year. It we had
reason then to think that it was for this sin
in part or altogether that God sent this war
upon us, there is nothing to change that
opinion in tho present aspect of our national
affairs. Plea-u let us have all the light that
can be obtained, so we may try again.
A. C. D. .
FAST DAY.
The President has appointed the 21st)
day of August as a day of fasting, humili-;
atiun and pray er. I'herc has never been a
time since the commencement of our strug
gle when we hud greater necessity to call
upon God. The prospect before us was .
nev.-r so dark. Tnu fact that without God 1
We ca t J • nothing, was never so plainly
manifest. Let us call mightily ou HIM 1
who alone can bring deliverance. But alas ! j
with bow little confidence can we pray
while our great national sin continues to be
unrepented of and unforsaken I Twice has .
our Government deliberately declared tAaf
it wilt not o'>ey God’s fourth commandment.
Twice has our Congress deliberately refused
to repeal tbe law requiring our citizens in
certain cases to desecrate the holy Sabbath
And the people arc silent and give their
tacit c >nseut to the wicked deeds of tbeh I
representatives. For this sin God ha- I
brought us low. We ding to the sin ar.d
call ou G id. W>ll he hear us? For hi?
own people's sake he may. There are a
few who have yroUstof against the wicked- ’
Dea* of the Government iu regard to this 1
thing | G 'J may hear them for the rest, as
he would have beard ten men for Sodom.
Would that this fist-day could be used a»
an to make all the nation sec this,
its great sin. a. c. d.
Agent In Tcudcmw.
Elder William McNutt, of Cleveland, i»
an authorized agent of The Banner
Agent in sti»»l-»ippL
S. K. Whittix, of Louisville, Muw., is
thori<*d Agent to receive mb*cri|>
>c The Baptist Banner-
Elder A C Dayton—Bear Sir: I notice in the
lasi Baptist Banver a little article in which you take
r. upon yourself to accuse the great aud good Dr.
Vdam Clark of the grossest inconsistency and self
•ontradlc ion You represent him as being both
<»r and against slavery. About that Idon> t anow
o well, but lam sue you must be compelled to
iCknowledge hat you have misrepresented—[ was
ibout to say slandered— him in what you are pleased
o attribute to him on the subject of election and
jredcstination There was never any stronger or
nore consistent, aavoeate of our doctrines —I mean
Mose held by the Methodist , in common with sev
ral other tranches of the church ofChrit. than Dr.
Hark. If he. believed in election, it was conditional
•.lection. It he believed in predestination it was the
iredestlnation of believers to eternal life. Neither
. ou nor any one, I am persuaded, can lind in any ot
ds writings any thing Inconsistent with the deflni
ion of predestination as given in Dr. W itson’a
Theological Dictionary, which is as follows; “Pre
le- Ination Is God’s eternal purpose to save all that
ndy repent and unfcignedly Miere Me holy Gotspp--'
According to the Apostle Paul, “ whom he did
brekno <” as believers, “ them he also did predes
inate to be conformed to the image of bls Son.
Trusting, sir, that you did not wilfully Intend to
uisrepresent Dr. Clark, and that you will, therelore,
oe willing to confess your mistake.
I am, most respectfully, yours, &c.
M. P.
REMARKB.
Our friend M. P. is right, in one particu
lar, at least. We did not intend to misrep
resent Dr. Clark No one ever gains any
thing in an honest controversy by rnisrep
resenting the language, or undervaluing the
arguments of an opponent.
We do not know what Dr. Clark’s real
lopinions were, except so far as wecangath
|er them from the words which he employs
to express them. Ws think we understand
the meaning of words, and we give to our
readers those which led us to make the
’ remark we did last week—premising only
I that we copied them, last summer, from an
' edition of Clark’s Commentary in the house
'of a Methodist in Chc-i okee Georgia M. P.
or any one else can verify our quotations by
examining his Notes on Rom. 8 : 29.
i “For whom he did fjrek tow, dir.—To fore
know here signifies to design before or at
■ the first forming of the scheme to bestow
’ the favor and privilege of being God’s peo
ple upon any set of men. Chap. xi:2.—
' This is the foundation or first step of our
salvation, viz., the. purpose and grace of God
, i which was given in Christ before the world
began. 2 Tim., i:9. Then he Tneio <»r/utw-
' cd us, for in this sense the word to know is
(taken in a great variety of places, both in
1 the Old ar.d New Testament. And as he
■ j Avieta the Gentiles then, when the scheme
, I was laid and before any part of it was exe-
1 euted, consequently, in reference to the ex
I ecution of the plan he foreknew us. This is
the first step to our salvation, the end or
i finishing it is our conformity to the Son of
God in eternal glory.
“When God knew at the beginning of the
.'Gospel scheme, or when he intended to
I bestow on us the privilege of becoming his
. people, he then destinated or designed us to
1 ] be conformed to the image of his Son; and
as he or determined us to this
high honor and happiness, ne predestinated,
foreordained, or predetermined us to it.
1 ( “Thus we are to understand the foundation
and the finishing of the scheme of our salva
■ tier. The foundation is the foreknowledge
or gracious purpose of God. The finishing
is our being j >int heirs with Christ.
“That the which literally
signifies to know or to discern before hand,
and then to know so as to determine, sig
nifies to approve or love before, to be
well affected to, is not only evident from
yada in Hebrew, but also from the simple
word ginosko in the Greek, by which it is
translated, and to which the compound word
i frequently answers without any extension
of the meaning by means of the preposition,
1 as its use in the best Greek writers proves,
. and it is evident that the Apostle uses the
( word in the sense of loving, being gracious-
■ ly affected to, m Chap, XI: 2.”
The above arc the learned Doctor’s words,
as we copied them from the book. We
confess we were surprised to find them
there-—but we certainly did find them.—
' Now, will M. P., or any other Methodist
[ or Calv iuist, tell us what they mean, if they
Ido not mean what they say—that is, that
I the ekctiou of all who are saved originates
i m God’s purpose of grace given to them in
j Christ before the foundation of the world ;
I that God had them in mind at or before
i forming the plai ci salvation} that he then
them, and that his love then felt for
I them was that which led him to predstinate
or determine before hand that they should
1 he conformed to the image of his Son, and
* saved at last in his eternal glory. Is there
in it Ml a single intimation that it was God’s
■ foreknowledge that the;, would repent and
believe, which was rhe foundation of bis
loving favor 1 But enough for this time ; we
have more to say next week. c. D.
TUE CHILO’S INDEX
■■■
Cbrreck’on.—ln our brief notice of this
; paper, in The Banner of the Bth, the omis
sion by the printer of a few’ words entirely
I changed the eense of what we meant to say.
A’e publish it ag .in, as it was intended to
, read:
After the suspension of the Childrens
Friend, from the pressure of the war times,
the denomination was left for a while with-!
out any paper for the little ones. Fur
■♦ome time past, however, Bro. B- ykin has
been publishing one. We have read a
tew numbers of it, and from what we
have seen we think w ell of it; and by re
quest of the Editor w e intend to v r it e for
it a series of articles illustrating the
euce of genuine poetry ev ea lc a i ill]e :
child, and ahowlng how the ordinances of
the Church are manifest even to the little
ones, it they will let the Bible mean just
what it says. A . c>
THE RAP T1 S T BA. JX T NE R .
To our Religious Co temporaries
Our most excellent and Christian Presi
dent has very properly appointed a day of
genera! fasting, humiliation, and prayer.—
It should be humbly and devoutly observed
by every Christian. But is there not some
thing more needful than prayer ?
1. Is there not some great national sin
fur which God sends these national calami
ties which wie mourn?
2. Is it not true that ft national sin is
some violation of God’s law committed not
■ by individual citizens, but by the nation
itself as represented by its government ?
3. Would it not be a most grievous na
tional sin if our government should by its
law’s require a portion of its officers or citi
Izens to worship idols—to profane God’s
holy name—or to dishonor and curse their
parents, in open violation of the first and
second or third and fifth commandment of
the Decalogue?
4. Has our government any more right
to require of its officers or citizens to vio
late the fourth command than it has to re
quire the violation of any other of the ten?
5. Does not our government require by
( law, of thousands of its officials in the post
j office department, to violate the fourth
, commandment every week?
, 6. Is there any other particular in which
the official acts of our nation are in open
t rebellion against God ?
, 7. If not, is it not. manifest that this is
our great national sin ?
, 8. Can we reasonably expect God to de-
liver us from our troubles which he has
i sent upon us for this sin, while our govern
[Jment deliberately persists in refusing to
• change it» course ?
■ 9. Is it not possible,through the religious
’ press and such portions of the secular as are
I centrolied by religious men, to bring about
I such a state of public sentiment as w ill corn-1
• pel Congress to right this wrong in defer- 1
1 ence to the voice of the people, though it]
] I will not hear the voice of God ?
, j 10. Is it not our imperative duty, at once, j
- to begin and persistently to continue toagi
tate this subject till this end is accomplished?
' We submit ther-e questions, brethren of
, the Press, with aH that deference to your
: piety and sound judgment which your past
• history inspires. Wo venture not to dio
’ tate, but humbly to suggest what the pres
' ent circumstances of our beloved and un
happy country seem to us to demand.—
i Something must be done which has not
, been dune Will some of you suggest what;
it should be, if not what is here proposed ?
1 I ' A. C. D.
P. b. Will you nut, at least, copy these
r ! suggestions?
SiBBATa-SCHOOE BOOKS.
-
The inquiry is often made of late, What]
are we to do for Sabbath-school’ Looks?—
Our only answer is, must w’ait a little
while. The demand is now so great and
so urgent that some persons are willing to
publish and risk ssles at the necessarily in
i creased prices. Dayton’s Question Books
are in the binds of the publisher, brother
James N. Elk, who is perfecting arrange
s meats for the early publication of several
Books much needed in Sabbath-schools.—
i A little Catechism, for beginners, is in
course of preparation, which is intended to
be the best ever issued ; and a larger Cate
chism, for more advanced scholars, will be
prepared as soon as possible. This is in-;
tended to teach doctrines and duties, as well
as facts. With these, and a Hymn-Book,
which is also to be ready as soon as it can
be gotten out, the schools can go on with
out library hooks till the end of the war, if
’need be. a. c. d.
■
ELDER J R. GRAVES.
We learn that this distinguished and
much loved brother was at Magnolia, Miss,,
at the time of the surrender of Vicksburg,
and soon after that sad event went with his
family, and that of his father-in-law (Dr.
Sneider) to Texas, crossing the river at
Natchez. He Will find in Texas many de-’
voted friends, and wetrust may be enabled
to do much good. c. d.
Ceutrul Auoclat ou.
Meets at Macon, Ga ,on Friday, 21st ina>.
Lawrenceville AaaociaUon.
Meets with Liberty Church, ten miles
from Lawrenceville, on the Decatur road,
■<»O Saturday before the fourth Sabbath in'
■ August.
Bcbohoill Amocluilou.
Meets with Union church in Maoon coun
ty (three miles from Reynolds, on Colum
bus road), embracing third Sabbath in
September.
Mk&die Cherokee AMooia’km.
Meeting commences on Friday before the
fourth Sabbath in September, at Dalton.
Worth Georgia Association.
Convenes at Pleasant Valley, Murray i
county, Ga.,on Friday before tbe first Sab
bath in October.
Coosa Association.
i Meeting commences on Saturday before
the second Sabbath In October—at Poplar
> Springs, Chattooga county.
DURANT, Miss., Junk 26,1863. ]
Mr. James N. Ells— '
Editor of the Baptist Banner
I was pleased at the recepti ?n of your
journal, which you sent me at the instance,
doubtless, of brother Compere. lam much
pleased with the spirit and tone of The
Banner. I have, however, one serious ob
jection to it: the price is too low, by one
half. My reasons for this objection. are ]
numerous, some of which I will state.
1. At the present prices of living, cost ot
paper and labor, 1 am confident you cannot
sustain yourself and the paper at the rates
you charge. Hence I expect you to suspend
at an early day, and we will again be kfi
without a family monitor and guide—or,
2. If you do sustain the paper, you will
have to make so many shifts and turns, and
have to labor at “ tent-making ” so ardu
ously, that you cannot give that attention
to the editorial department necessary to
make it fresh, spicy, and savory of m'nd and
piety.
3. You need a first-class clerk, on whom
you can rely to keep the books in order and
respond to all business calls and letters, in
■ order that you may read and writeand think
and pray, none of which you can do well
if you have to clerk for the office.
4. You ought to be able to become a
partner of the Associated Press, and com
mand thereby all the Telegraph and other
advantages of that association, in order that
we ntay obtain as much news through your
paper as any other paper—and thereby we
who read your journal need not subscribe
for a secular paper in order to get the news.
This you cannot do at your present rates.
I could give other reasons, but these are
enough, and I know they are valid from long
and sad experience. lam now driving the
plow for a livelihood, and my hair is pre
maturely grey and heart unusually sad, on
account of debt contracted in trying to pub
lish a cheap newspaper for our beloved but
shortsighted denomination.
Raise your price to ten dollars per annum
at once, and let your editorial columns
show the improvement as a sequence.—
Drop half your subscribers, if they cannot
see the point; and my word for it that in
six months you will regain them and double.
Our people are distinguished for a good
, share of common sense, and in a short time
] they will be compelled by that monitor to
: lake a paper which commands the respect
jof the world. If you ha,v? to beg them to
subscribe and flatter them by a low price,
which will starve you and the paper too
they will desert you at the first flash ot
misfortune—or at the instance of the first
religious demagogue, who will propose a
cheaper paper in order to break you down.
I have seen this, felt it, and therefore know
it. Yes sir, you must raise your price.—
At the present rate of money and c»her
the old standard.
If my suggestions, derived from experi
ence, and which every man’s observation
(must approve, can induce you to take a
safe course, you can use them as seems to
> ou best.
Enclosed find 35, which will be cheerful
ly doubled for the sake cf securing a safe
newspaper for our people, and one that can
i live without begging.
Yours truly, J. T. FREEMAN.
With reference to the foregoing friendly
letter, penned by a gentleman who is a
stranger to us personally, we wish to say a
few words to him and to all the fJends of;
The Baptist Banner.
The letter w’as written before the an
nouncement of Dr. Dayton's connection
with us—which removes the necessity of
replying to the 3d suggestion of our cor-;
respondent. The principal ‘ thinking ’ and'
‘ writing ’ upon religious subjects will be
done by our experienced clerical brother;
and our own humble, but earnest efforts
will be devoted to the department assigned
l us.
‘ Four dollars a year ’ will not pay us,
at present prices of paper, press expenses,
etc., and we have therefore determined to
continue the publication of The Banner on
a full sheet, Its present size, and announce
the terms of subscription, from the first ot
September, at fve dollars per year. This
iis cheap, certainly— ten cents for each num
ber of The Baptist Banner.
If other brethren should concur in the
view expressed by our correspondent at
Mississippi, and see proper to follow bis
example, we shall thank them and duly
appreciate their kindness.
Rome and the Roman*.
It was our pleasure to spend last Sabbath
in Rome: partaking of a good breakfast at
the Etowah House, in presence of the dear
' one who has loved us from our birth; lis
tening to a pretty hymn sweetly sung by
the children of tbe*Baptist School; hearing
itwo most impressive sermons from the*
minister at tbe Presbyterian church, Rev. ;
Mr. Jones ; and enjoying the hospitalities ■
us those kind friend*—the families of breth I
ren Sbe*bley and McClung. ‘lt was good
to Le there.’ We missed Elder Gwii>—;
he is in Virginia, temporarily, preaching to j
the soldiers.
One thing noticed, which appeared ]
strange. The bridge spanning the Etowah
is guarded, and every white person who 1
crosses it is halted by the sentinel and re- i
’quired to exhibit bis ‘pass,’—while our.]
(‘ fellow-citizens of African descent* are per
mitted to cross and recross with perfect;
impunity, and no questions asked. Per-1
haps our Roman cotsmporaries can tell us
"why.
Two Hundred Dollars More.
We acknowledge the receipt, this week,
of two hundred dollars from Mr. 11. W.
R. Jackson, the patriotic compiler of the
new publication, ‘Women of the Second
American Revolution.’ It will be remem
bered that Mr. Jackson donates twenty-five
cents on each copy sold, towards the estab
lishing, in this vicinity, of a Free School for
I Soldiers' O r phans. Will not other citizens
i. make donations to this praiseworthy enter-
* prise? We have been requested to take
charge of this fund, and to ask our fellow
citizens to add to it. Will you not do it?
I Contributions made for this purpose to the
I secular editor of The Banner will be duly
• acknowledged.
1 Up to this date, Mr. Jackson haspaid in
I four hundred dollars and fifty cents. Will
our.people allow him to establish the school
i in our midst, alone ? We wait to see.
I
} Green-Backs and Yellow-Face*.
(• We feel constrained to call the attention
I of the proper authorities to an incident
which is reported to us as having occurred
1 a few days since :
’ It is alleged (by a white person) that a
t stranger stepped into Bob Yancey's barber-
• shop, and had his hair and whiskers dyed.
‘ On opening his pocket-bo<Jl! to pay the
bill for the dyeing operation, he displayed
a roll of United States ‘ green-backs,’—
. whereupon the negro barber informed him
i that his charge was thirty dollars, but if
‘ he would let him have ‘ them green backs,’
he ‘would call it twelve dollars/ The
. man then handed over that amount of the
preferred currency tu the copper colored
shaver of notes and faces, amd went on his
1 way.
’ We have no comment to make upon this
‘ business transaction,’ until the proper au
i thorities, for whose eye we make the state
ment, decline or neglect to act.
f r 1
Conscription.
> An order has been issued by General
Cooper, stating that all discharges for dis
' ability shall be held as conditional, depend
ent upon the disability, and valid only
during its continuance. If,on examination,
the disability is at any time found to have
ceased, the holders will be liable to con
scription, to serve the unexpired terms ot
their enlistments. This regulation applies
to substitutes, whether under or over the
. age of conscription.
The Tax Bill.
In the valuation of all taxable property,
including estimates of agricultural product?
' taxed in kind, the Confederate commission
er directs that the assessors shall be govern
ed by the current selling prices of the
articles or objects to be taxed, in the locality
where held, at the time which the assess
ment or valuation is required to be made.
Late, but Good.
A notice has been published, by com
, mand of the Secretary at War, that the
‘ passage of merchandize through the Con
federate lines from the United States, is
strictly prohibited. Hereafter, all goods
so introduced will be seized and retained.
Wba wanted the Spelling-books?
An order sent to us, this week, for half a
] dozen copies of Fleming’s revised Webster,
has been mislaid. The gentleman will
please give us his address once more, and
send another dollar; the retail price is one
dollar per copy.
The situation.
From the Intelligencer, we condense the
following items :
Over five weeks has elapsed since the
capture of Vicksburg and bAtcles of Gettys
burg, yet the enemy has made no attempt
to fvllow up his successes. The feet of his
remaining statu quo, is an acknowledgement
of his inability to advance, without a change
of his base; so that his late victories will
be barren of results.
In the mean time, our army is daily gain
ing in numbers and efficiency. Tne con
script law is being rapidly enforced, and
thousands in a short tune will be seut for
ward to swell the ranks of Johnston's,
Bragg’s, and Lee’s aimits.
Tne main body of Johnston’s army is
still lying at Murton, while our advance and
oavalry occupy the whole of the country
east of the Big Black river. The men are
all in good spirits, and under the command
of Lieut. Geo. Hardee ;are rapidly improv
ing in discipline, and under the old veteran
Johnston, will as soon as the proper time
arrives, strike a stunning blow io the enemy.
From Bragg’s army we have but htUc
* intelligence, no telegraphic communication
; being allowed from that point; we, how
i ever, learn that the troops are in a good
j position and confident of defeating Ruse-1
; crans whenever he chooses to give buttle.
Lee’s army has returned to nearly their
old position, and are eager fur the advance
‘of Grant, or Meade, w hichever of the two
commands the Yankee army In Virginia.
From Charleston, there is nothing of im
; portance. No serious demonstration has
yet been made, but active preparations are
j using made to repel the enemy whenever ‘
j he should advance.
Mobile and Savannah still hold out, and
i show undaunted fronts to the enemy.
’ Taking it as a whole, the situation Is as
: favorable as we could expect. The move
! meats and preparations now going on will
sood be completed, and we will be enabled
|to advance on the enemy from all points.
Conversation.
It would ba useful to consider the art of
conversation’ ns a means of improvement.
A considerable portion of our life is given
to conversation, which we abandon to chance
—yet there are few things from which
wisdom might draw more advantage.—
Here, doubtless, we should guard ourselves
against the exaggerations of method and
regularity. Conversation resists a rigorous
’ discipline. To turn it into a methodical
dialogue, would be to rob it of its natural
ness and truthfulness of expression v. hich
produces communion of mind and heart.—
But, without robbing it of this character,
we can make it useful. Without pedantry,
with modesty, even with gaiety, we can put
1 in circulation true thoughts and honorable
1 sentiments. Sincere good-will serves as an
1 easy passport. Everything may be thrown
into conversation, and everything may be
from it. It yields fiivorable occa
1 sions to draw close the tie •which unite us
t to others, and to discover the means of
i serving them.
Th< j talent of conversation is a great power
a in the actual state of society. Vanity and
. ambition have used it. Can we do nothing
for the interests of truth an.d virtue by
f means of it ? The liberal-minded and.
j generous can alone comprehend all the
. privileges of speech, and draw from it the
i means of moral conquests, for in order to
f captivate, they only need to be known ; in
’ showing themselves superior, they are so
> natural that, as they rise without effort, so
i they are contemplated without envy
I always simple and sincere, they enlighten
> and persuade by the force of their own
conviction, and by the ascendancy of the
( sentiments which inspire them ; we febl
. better their presence, lecauscweare per
. mitted to sympathize with them j they are
the altars where our hearts are kindled and
reanimated; they exercise an apos.tleship
upon earth, —the admiration which they
excite, and the affections which they receive,
being confounded with the worship of ex
cellence, and language frojri their mouths
becoming a celestial messenger who au
' nounces the blessings of virtue. The good
also supply, by the influence of their cha
f racter, the want of a talent fur conversation ;
wo listen more willingly to unpretend
. ing, whom we do not suspect of any artifice;
jand the desire of being useful has in itself
I a kind of eloquence.
Raids of Moreau nud'llfe Men.
A volume bearing the captivating title
of “ Raids and Romances of Morgan
and his Men,” has been laid on our table,
with a request that we write a brief notice
' of it fur publication. The book, it will be
remembered, has just been issued by the
enterprising house of Mr. S. IL Goetz J,
Mobile, Ala
The name of the author, no other than the
‘ accomplished Sallie Rochester Ford, whose
“ Grace Truman” and “ Mary Bunyan” have
i already charmed the world, at once disarm
1 ed the severe criticism suggested by the
general character of the tale. To our taste,
57 chapters in a narrative, comprising only
319 pages, were at least 30 too many ; and
for all the pleaaure enjoyed in the perusal
of the work, this objection still is entered.
The tale of the dreaded Morgan and his
brave guerrilla raid* is told by Mrs. F. in
a style interesting aild captivating. Hit
language, as a general rule, is choice, in
many cases vigorous, and in a few instances
sublime. The occasional dashes of reverie
and retrospect told of her hero Charley, are
worthy the p.en of our most admired of fe
male literati.
There is a coloring visible all through the
narrative peculiar to novelists. This uunat
uralising men and frets, in order to captl
ivate the reader, fs objectionable in a work
claiming to be a pleasingly written naira
tive of facts, and of this Mrs. F. is very
frequently guilty. It is our privilege to
know Morgan and many of his brave fol
lowers, and we could not refrain from an
occasional smile at the flattered picture fre
quently drawn of these very wa?u?aZ, and
err not in saying, common-place men. By
this we mean, men not much superior to the
majority of our citizens in appearance or
intellect. Fortune, it is true, has smiled
on them, and their dash and bravery chai
langes the admiration of the South. Yet
they were but little known before this
mighty revolution; and without even a
wish to detract a single iota from their
brilliant reputation, we may add, that thuu
sands unknown to tame have dune deeds as
gallant and as daring.
I The work, however, is worthy a careful
reading. The writer has judicieiuusly re
: lated historical facts with all the fascinating
interest of romance. The sprinkling of fic
tion can be easily detected and laid aside
without material detraction Trom the value |
‘of the work. A large per centum, howev.
■ er, may safel v be deducted from the author s
description of men, battles, and scenes.
o. c. o.
«
The Baptist Banner, Atlanta, 34 a year.