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Till- BAPTIST li\Wlli.
BY DAYTON, ELLS & CO.
VOLUME V.
®he ganntr,
DEVOTED TO RELIGION AND LITERATURE,
la published every Saturday, at Atlanta, Georgia, at the
subscription price of five dollars per year.
DAYTON, ELLS & CO.,
« Proprietors.
A. C. DAYTON. JAS. N. ELLS! 8. D. NILES
[M>r the BaptUt Banner. [
ADA MAYFIELD.
BY A LADY.
CHAPTER 111.
i* rJ I t Mass Lewis, you sick ? Dey’s all
±1 at breakfast. 1 made shore you
was out in the field, ’cause I didn’t see you
in there as 1 came to make up your room.
“ No, Hannah, I am not sick ; but I don’t
feel very well. I will get up directly.”
“ I’ll go’long den, and clean up Marscer’s
room, den come back to dis one.”
Lewis rose slowly and languidly, as she
left the room. lie had sent his uncle word,
when summoned to breakfast by Jake, that
he didn’t wish any, hud begged to be ex
cused. The truth was, he had slept but lit
tle the preceding night, and felt depressed
— no t sleeping, but not caring to rise. He
found none of the family in die dining-room, I
but Ada, washing up the cups. At her ur- 1
gent request he satdown and drank a cup of
coffee and* ate a small piece of waffle which
his sister hfll left warm for him. He re
mained looking at her till all was cleared
off, the cloth removed, and the table put to
one side ; then, as Hannah began to flourish
her broom, he arose and walked into the
field.”
Ned and Charles had gone early to school > I
their teacher was preparing fir a famous
examination and exhibition at night on the!
Fourth of July. An examination at acoun-j
try school is always an important affair ; ,
not only the teacher and pupils, i double I
their efforts, but the parents become excited I
from hearing it so often discussed by their ,
hopeful offspring. New dressing, out-and-j
out, must be prepared for this especial occa
xioii; and each fond mother, in fitting it up,
prides herielf upon the handsome appear
anee her children will make on that day.
Lach parent confident!) expects his or her
child to gain the applause of the spectators ;
and to make it doubly sure, tha children are
stimulated to increased diligence in study,
and constant attendance at recitation. Many
a man who lias stood high in the estimation
of his countrymen can look back to the
time when his boyish heart swelled with
proud anticipation of the display he intend
ed to make before the assembled lords and
ladies of the land, on ouo of these eventful
Jays. Many a lady who has graced the
most refined circles of society can remem
ber when it was her highesUambition to be
at the head of her class in some little brown
schoolhouse in the woods; and when, for
weeks before an examination, the dress and
adorning* her mother was preparing for
her divided her attention with her lessons.
How many young heartshave fluttered and
throbbed on such a day, with intense ex
citement! —aye, and older ones, too ; for it
is imposible for parents to ba calm when
their ehilden are interested, and the heart
of each one almost ceases its pulsations as
their offspring, from the tall, manly youth
to the little white-headed a-b c d arian sue*
uessively makes his debut.
Mr. Mayfield had gone to the town of I
B t about seven miles from his resi-l
deuce, and bought Ned, and Charles each
one, a new suit expressly for the occasion.!
Part of it had to be made, and every even
ing, during the past week they had tea zed
sister Ada to know’ when she was going to
commence it. She had entirely removed
their anxiety this morning, while fixing their
dinner basket, by telling them she was go
ing t*» cut it out immediately after break
fast, and with Lucy and Maria's assis
tance, she would finish in two or three
days.
Lew is had gone to the field, according to
his daily custom; but the interest which he
had begun to take in agriculture seemed to
have vanished (his morning. He found
the hand* about finishing a piece of work,
and the* required his close attention for an
hour or two, as he ordered the desired
change in their work ; but he gave his di
rections medianiea’ly, waited till he saw
them fairly started in another place, and re
turned to the house, taking the pasture in
his way , to see if all was right there. Here,
a smexovs ah® sassim
hj> found his uncle riding around, examining
every thing with a scrutinizing eye. Merely
say ing,“you nave preceded me, sir, ’ he was
passing directly on, when, his uncle in
quired —“ Have you been to the field,
Siewis ?”
“ Yes, sir. The hands have finished near
the gin-house, and J moved them’, to the
east side of the field near the creek ; they
are working so well that I left them for a
while.”
“ Very well, As lam riding, I will go
around the fence, and if necessary, have it
repaired ; then, thi* evening, 1 want to go
with me and take a hunt for the brindle
cow ; Hannah tells me she has not been
home to milking since last Saturday morn
ing.”
“ Yes, sir ;” and they separated. A little
farther on Lewis came upon uncle Jupe, a
privileged old servant, just coming out of a
patch of corn—his own especial patch—
with several ears in his hands.
“ Ah’ Uncle Jupe, arc you going to give
us corn for dinner ? You are earlier than
your neighbors, are you not ?” ’
“Yes, sah. I was ’tarmined dis year,
wid de blessing of de Lord, dat Mars should
' hab de earliest wegitables an’ corn ob eny
'bo Jy roun’; an’ I said dat long ’fore de cole
weder was gome, Miss Ada would hab lots
o’ salut for her table, an’ dis is de fust
early corn eny one’s had—*kase I axed yis
terday at meetin’ an’, nobody hain got none
ripe yit.”
“But what has the Lo-d to do with your
garden and corn patch, uncD Jupe? You
(don’t think He troubles .ibo ich things,
I do you ?’’
“ Lor’ bless you,Marste'. on i you kn (
1 He sends de rain an’ de sunshine jest as it
pleases Him? An’ what good would
( all our work do widout dat? You know,
j Mars Lewis, we might work eber so hard,
I an’ if dere’s too much rain, de crop’s ruined,
j an’ if dere’s too little, its de same ting.—
I Now, it pleased de Lord dis year to send
jest ’nuff, an’ ebery ting is grp win’ mighty
putty. Don’t de Book say sonneting ’bout
! prayin’ to de Lord, an’ He will send de early
! an’ de latter rain ?”
“ I believe so ; but I don’t know much
■ about it.”
; “Hi ! Massa, don’t dey larn dat Book at
Je ’varsity whar you bin? I don’t know
whar Miss Ady got her edication; but she
( knows all about it. It’s jest so wid ebery
i ting we do, Massa—'les de Lord bless our
labor it’s all in vain ; an’ sometimes I tink
j dat’s de way wid heap o’ folksdat’fesses to
be Christians-—dey ’pends too much on der
I own work, an’ don't ax de Lord to show
’em what to do, and bless der work, an’ so
1 dey blings fort no fruit, an’ may be, arter
all, de Lord will not. own ’em for His chil
,! lun. But I must git dis corn to de kitchen,
or Jake will not hab time to cook it for din
ner.”
Here was ibis question thrust upon Lewis
again. Didn’t he study that Book at col
lege ? Certainly, in a measure. He bad
attended worship in the college every morn
ing—read the Scriptures—attended church
regularly every Sabbath, where the Scrip
' tures were faithfully expounded ;.but he had
merely heard the words, without trying to
discover the meaning, or making any appli.
cation of it. But he had resolved heuce
; forth to live a religious life—to be a Chris
' tian—to arise from 'bis death of sin, and
i lead a new life. He Uul spent part of the
preceding night, aim ail of the morning in
arranging his plan of operations. He had
finally concluded that ho would read the
Bible, keep the Sabbath holy, leave <>ff his
sms, and walk ns nearly as possible in con
formity with the teaching of Scripture.—
j Alas for poor fallen nature, he had resolv
ed to do it in him own strength, not doubt
ing that he do whatever he willed. He
did not reflect that he could not change his
heart; and it did not enter into his medita
tions that this change was necessary before
he could live a Christian lite. He had a con
fused recollection nt some passages of Scrip
ture, which he applied to his own ease, viz :
Work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling.” “ Y-e see, then, bow that by
works a man i* justified.” “If ye walk in
my statutes, and keep my commandments
and do them, then will I give you rain in
due season," Ac. ; and he had become tol
erably cheerful in the belief of the security
of his method ; but these last words ut un
,de Jupe put to flight his confidence. He;
ATLANTA, GA., SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1863.
HIS BANNER OVER US IS LOVE.
— w —__
stood for some time in the shade of the
tree where the old man had left him, feeling
very much like the schoolboy who has
worked to the end of i long and difficult
problem in mathematics to find the whole
had gone wrong, just by one little miscal
culation in tke beginning. “ Suppose,”
thought he, “the Lord does not bless my
efforts—suppose he does not receive me,
after all; for, as sole Ruler of the universe,
it is in His power to reject whom He
pleases. Yet I know some Christians—
uncle and Ada, for instance—who seem as
certain of their acceptance as if they were
already in Paradise. 1 wonder how they can
feel so secure? They must certainly know
they will be saved at last, or they could not
be so happy. I wonder how it is? I see
no prospect for me but to live in doubt and
fear till the last momentand a deep sigh
proved how heavy his hearj felt. Nearing
the house, he herrd Ada’s voice sounding
loud and clear above the clattering of her
machine, as she sang at her work. “Ah !
how can she sing so merrily when she must
see I am so miserable?” was his ungenerous
thought; “ Lucy sympathizes with me, at
Aeast, for she is quiet.” The truth was,l
Lucy was too seriously impressed to feel
like enjoyment, of any kind ; the intensity of
her feelings k'ept her qu.ot. Ada was hap
■py —happy ’ n Ihe consciousness of being in
I the right, and that she was impiL-ting hap- (
piness to those around her, by her la
bors «f love; therefore she sang. When
Lewis walked in she stopped the machine
and turned from it.
“ Don’t let me interrupt your work,” said
Ihe throwing himself on the lounge, “ 1 just
c le in to rest a moment or two.”
i • It's no interruption* I have some work
(here that I cannot do on the machine, and
, am glad to have your company. You have
, ‘ had quite a warm walk ; sit with us till you
, get rested.”
She talked in a cheerful strain for some
f time, eliciting only short and random re
plies from him, while Lucy scarcely spoke
; a word. Finally Ada ceased talking alto
' gether, thinking, perhaps, he was too tired
to talk.
After the lapsefof several minutes silence,
Hattie want up to him and, climbing
L his knee, inquired in a concerned .tone —
' “ Brother, are you sick ?”
;. “ No. honey ; why do you ask ?”
r i “Because you look so—so —dark.”
“Ah! I am tanning, I presume. This
; hbt sun is enough to tan an Indian. But
> jump down, honey; I must go and see
’ what the hands are doing now. I fear I
r shall never fill uncle Mark’s idea of a !ar-
> iner.”
It was quite a coming down for one of
■ the exquiaites of the junior class in B
, college to be out in the woods on a hotsum-
r mer evening, looking for the brindle cow,
and a year ago, he would have disdained to
« think of such a thing; he would scarcely
- have condescended to know that she must
I, come up regularly for milking. But, thanks
(to his uncle’s judicious advice, he had got
i ; ten over such dandified notions, and went
out with as good a will as if he had been
I always accustomed to such. Besides it
> j formed part of his self-regenerating plan to
obey his uncle ; and if it had been eVer so re
pugnant to him he would have gone. He set
■ himself steadily to work out bis own salva
I tion, and in pursuance of his plan, was as
r rigid in the discharge of his duty, and in
i j the observance bf forms, as a Pharisee. He
I. read the Bible night and' morning, joined
‘(the family in worship, and oven said over
I with great solemnity a form of prayer, sol-*
jacing himself with the idea that he was do
ing all a mortal could to save his soul. He
■ was doing mart than a mortal thould— he 1
was trusting in his own works for salva-
iltion. lie read Paul’s epistles with a great
i j deal of interest. The style of this l>oid and
defender of the truth was particu
larly attractive to one of such an iuder-en
dent mind, so apt to think and judge for
himself upon all subjects. Really, the Bi
(ble, thought he, taken a* .* whole, wa* a
I literary gem, and he wondered why it was
not tnorf; thoroughly taught in all our in
stitutions. He admired, espi.cialiy, Paul’s
rigid control of himself, his carefulness to
abstain from all appearance of evil, and to
live in strict eonfoimity with the teachings,
of the -Divine lawgiver ; but Be entirely
overlooked the fact that Paul did not trust
;to any of these for salvation, but utterly j
disclaimed his unworthiness, and declared
his inability to do anything meritorious of
himself. That though when a Pharisee, he
was rigid in his observance of the Jaw, yet
he was only a sinner, a chief among sinners,
till, subdued by the grace of God, he fell
completely humbled at the feet of Jesus,
gave himself up entirely to God, and in
quired what He would have him to do. His
usual good sense in judging of matters and
things seemed to have deserted him in this
case. Had any one asked him couid a crim
inal under sentence of death do any thing to
merit a revocation of the sentence, he would
have been offended at the implied charge of
weak judgment. No; he had violatea the
law ; his life was demanded as an atone
ment for his crimes, and if he were par
doned at all, it must be alone through the
mercy of the law—a free gift from the au
thority which he had offended. Now, he
knew that he, as well as every sinner, was
under sentence of death, that he was already
condemned in the sight of God for his
guilty violation of His law, yet, contrary to
his own common sense, and the plain teach
ing of Scripture, he was working, vainly
endeavoring to do something which would
bring God under obligation to revoke the
sentence. Alas! he found it a laborious task,
that brought no comfort. His heart grew
heavier with each day’s burden.
Sabbath morning there was no preaching;
for the Baptists about Shady Grove thought
themselves able to have preaching only two
Sabbaths in the month (a common error
with country churches) ; but their Sabbath
school met regularly, and Mr. Mayfield and
Ada always went, and took the younger
children. Lewis had hitherto declined ac
companying them on alternate Sabbaths,
and had gone off to other.churches where
the usual services and prom iscuous congre
gations proved better assistants in passing
off the time than the usual routine, of Sab
bath school lessons and the company of a
few teachers. This morning, however, after
assisting his sisters, Charlie, and Philip
into the carriage, he astonished them by
announcing his intention to accompany
them, adding as an excuse, (as if one were
needed,) “ I think I had better go with you,
Ada; for I perceive Ned thinks it is hard
for uncle Mark to insist ou his going when
he suffers me to doas I please about it.” But
I the real truth was, ha thought this a very
■ meritorious act, and one which would go far
1 in the way of obtaining salvation.
■ “I am glad you have come to this deter
mination, Lewis,” sard Ada. “You liave
- great influence over Ned, and tor his sake,
as well as your own, 1 am glad to have you
with us.”
f Ned dtove. his|uncle’s buggy, and Lewis
rode after them, a solitary, silent outrider,
his gloomy thoughts and heavy heart casting
> a shadow over the beautiful scenery through
which they passed. ,
“ I hope our services ' w ill not prove te
dious to you,” said Ada to him, as they
passed from the carriage to the door.
The children and teachers were surprised
at his appearance ; for none but those con
nected with the school ever went except on
church days. The superintendent, though
; momentarily surprised, advanced, shook
■ 1 hands with him, and invited him to take a
J seat with the Bible class, where he could
3 easily hear the principal part of the exer
' cises. Manv truths were uttered that day
] which w ould have led him far in bi* search
4 after the right way, had not bis heart been
I shielded with such a thick panoply of sulf
regeneration, that they failed to make any
Mfopression. Weeks after they recurred to
him with such force and distinctness that
he wondered how he could have been so
deaf.
Mr. Mayfield sat the whole afternoon
with Ada, assisting her in teaching the
younger ones, and reading and conversing
with all of them, expecting Lewis every
moment to enter and renew the subject of
last Sunday evening’* conversation. But he
retired to his room after dinner, and zeal-
■ ously read the Bible and religious works,
I though, in his heart but ac
i knvwleifoe it a wearisome task. He had
j i'ito appreciation of real literary
to yield all the homage of his ;n
--t tellect to the beauties and excellencies of
, the Bible, but his heart remained untouched.
[to be contincbd ]
| Terms of TIIE BAPTIST BAN NEB—
■ Five dollars per year.
TERMS — Five Dollars a-year.
THE COLUMN.
Tsie Way the Ladies Work iu Atla«-
la, Cieorgia.
The Ladies of Atlanta are doing their
whole duty to the gallant sick and wounded
defenders of the country. Committees are
appointed fur a particular daily work in the
hospitals, which work is so arranged that
everything goes on smoothly and regularly
without clashing, and of course proves an
immense benefit to the sick and tothe’Coun
try. There is a committee of daily visitors
to each hospital, a committee appointed to
stay at each hospital daily ; a committee ap
pointed to prep:xre food for the wounded
daily arriving ; and a committee to cook for
the car shed-—where, we presume, convales
cents and the slightly wounded are placed,
in order to have more room in the regular
hospitals. This shows the right spirit, and
reflects the highest honor bn the noble wo
men of Atlanta. “Verily they shall have
their reward.” Cannot the ladies through
out the South emulate their example ?
We take the foregoing from the Jackson
Mississippian of the 23d instant. The com
pliment here bestowed upon the ladies of
our city is well deserved. From the com
commencement of this revolution till now,
they have labored and toiled, night and day,
in season and out of season, to the sacrifice
of their .own comfortsand, interests, to re
lieve vtii- sufferings, and further the cause
of the Confederate States.
Items for the Ladles.
We commend the following to the se
rious considerations of our fair readers. It
conveys some wholesome truths in a pleas
ant way :
One who knows a thing or two remarks
that girls are unwise when they suppose
decorations make the man, and are carried
away with a fine coat, a stiff collar, a forci
ble smile, and a dozen polite bows. Search
the heart, and if you find nothing but rub
bish there, don’t fall -in love with a popinjay,
or a decorated automaton. Such a fellow
soon becomes a dead weight upon the poor
vzife’s hands, and will not turn a finger to
raise the wind to buy the child a frock. You
don’t want these apologies for husbands,
do you girls ?
In Russia, the young ladies who are can
didates for- matrimony range themselves
along the sidewalks in lines, decked out in
fine dresses and jewels, and their beaux pass
along and make a sort of military review
of them previous to choosing partners. In
this country the custom does not differ ma
terially. Those belles who squeeze them
selves tightest, wear the lightest bustle, the
richest silks, and look the sickliest, are the
most taking candidates for matrimony. The
poor fellow who gets one of these pretty
play things soon wishes himself—-you know
where! Give us the sound and plump,
healthy las«, rot your butterfly of fashion,
for a wife. Such girls (not the butterflies)
always make the best mothers,and have the
' smartest and fattest children.
j The New Fashion in England--* Wo
men as Smokers.
► lhe custom of smoking by women has
’ lately been introduced la England, and ac
cording to the Court Journal, is likely to
“become very prevalent.” The authority
says:
Fashion holds such a tyrannic sway over
society tha&ue need never be surprised at
1 seeing the most astounding change in man
• ners, customs, and dress brought about
i through its magic influence. High waists
t low waists, no waists at all,chimney bonnets’
powdered hair, disheveled hair, rouge’,
patches, enamel, hoops, fardingales, crino
-1 line, high heeled boots,sandals, high dresses
dccoltetleeis dresses, have all had their day •
we have lived to see the day when duellists’
and four battle men no longer exist and
when every man, high and low, rich and
poor, old and young, indulge in the Ger
man and Dutch luxuries of the short pipe
and mild Havana. But a more startling
change is likely to “come over the spirit of
our dream ladies belonging to la creme de
la creme of society cigar
rettes. We could mention the names of
many of England’s aristocratic daughters
who indulge in mild Lataka. A clever eo
ternporary has alluded to “fast matrons •”
let us hope that unmarried ladies will be
slow to follow the example of those who
would introduce the noxious weed into fe
male sofiety. If Bnlgrave ladies sealftheir
lips such pleasant contact bv such a
custom, let the outer circles hold aloof, and
believe that there is augh?celestial and’god
like in entering such unfragrant clouds.
Kcvital liews.
MILLEDGEVILLE, Gs., Nov. 2.3, 1563.
Dear Banner The Lord has blessed
His people here with a refreshing from His
presence. Yesterday 1 baptized ► ven,
which rnakt-s twenty in all—sixteen wanes
and four blacks— recently baptized. And
still the good work goes on, though the
meetings have closed. Bless the Lord !
S. E. BROOKS.
NUMBER 3.