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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.