The Atlanta universalist. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1881-????, July 08, 1882, Image 3

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3 * DEATH OF MISS MAY R. COLE MAN. We were deeply pained to learn, while on our trip West, in June, of the sa# event indicated by our head line, which occur red on the 7th of June at the residence of her aunt, Mrs. Nancy Coleman, of Feas- terville, S. C. We had known May from her infancy up to the time of her death, a little more than eighteen years. Her father dying in the Confederate army, not far from, and we believe a little before her birth, left her in the hands of a good and affectionate mother, who reared her very tenderly till she was fifteen years of age, when her mother was taken away by death. Having been thus raised by a mo ther who very seldom left her own hearth stone, it was natural that Mary should be of a quiet and retiring disposition; and when left without a mother, it was also natural that she should become reserved ■* in her manner, which she did. This caused her young and inexperienced asso ciates to regard her as being of a rather cold temperament. But in this they mis judged her. She was possessed of warm affections, but cultivated a prudent and proper reserve for one situated as she was, not bestowing her affection where she was not sure there was an object worthy of it. She was.of a very studious dispo sition, and coveted a good education as an object of paramount desire and of prime iW£A5Y\ f «3-tiee. Could she have lived she would have proved an ornament to her sex and a blessing to the world. But it could not be. Death claimed her as his own, and her womanly form now sleeps in the grave, while her friends rejoice, amid their sorrow for their own loss, to believe that she is now a dweller in that lovely clime, the inhabitant of which shall not say, “ I am sick.” Mary was a member of the Universal- ist church at Feasterville, and as she was the first grown-up young person of our faith who has died in that community since the war, it is natural that her death should have created quite a void in our religious circle there. In view of the sur roundings, the writer of this, on the 4th Sunday in June volunteered a memorial service in our church there, in honor of our beloved departed young sister,who, in his affections, occupied almost the place of a daughter. May the memory of her vir tues stimulate her surviving friends to emulate her example. If so, she will not have lived and died in vain. YE SHALL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS. This declaration of Christ is just as applicable to systems of faith as to indi vidual character. Applied to the doc trine of endless torture it condemns that doctrine with an overthrow more signal and complete, if such a thing were possi ble, than that of the cities of the plain. Mr. Buckle, in his history of civiliza tion in England, exhibits‘some of the fruits of the teachings of the Scotch theologians in the seventeenth and eigh teenth centuries that would disgrace an average Hottentot. After giving an ac count of some of their doings, he adds: “As if this were not enough, they tried to extirpate another affection, even more sacred and more devoted still. They laid their rude and merciless hands on the holiest passion of which our nature is capable, the love of a mother for her son. Into that sanctuary they dared to intrude; into that they thrust their gaunt and un gentle forms. If a mother held opinions of which they disapproved, they did not scruple to invade her household, take away her children, and forbid her to hold communication with them. Or if, per chance her son had incurred their dis pleasure, they were not satisfied with forcible separation, but they labored to corrupt her heart, and harden it against her child, so that she might be privy to the act. In one of these cases mentioned in the records of the church of Glasgow, the Kirk-session of that town summoned before them a woman, merely because she had received into her house her own son, after the clergy had excommunicated him. So effectually did they work upon her mind, that they induced her to promise, not only that she would shut her door against the child, but that she would aid in bringing him to punishment. She had sinned in loving him; she had sinned, even, in giving him shelter ; but, says the record, “she promised not to do it again, and to tell the magistrates when he conies next to her.” So just and forcible are the comments of Mr. Buckle, on the above recorded transaction of those who perpetrated this outrage in the name of the religion of Christ, upon every principle of which it was a gross libel, that we prefer to give them, rather than the expressions of in dignant rebuke against such nefarious transactions in so holy a name, which spring up in our heart, and struggle for utterance. Here are his words: “ She promised not to do it again. She promised to forget him whom she had borne of her womb and sucked at her • breast. She promised to forget her boy who had oftentimes crept to her knees and had slept in her bosom, and whose tender frame she had watched over and nursed. All the dearest associations of the past, all that the most exquisite form of human affection can give or receive, all that delights the memory, all that brightens the prospect of life,all vanished, all passed away from the mind of this poor woman, at the bidding of her spiritual masters. Atone fell swoop all were gone. So potent were the arts of these men, that they persuaded the mother to conspire against her son, that she might deliver him up to them. They defiled her nature by purging it of its love. From that day hersoul was polluted. She was lost to herself as well as to her son. To hear of such things is enough to make one’s blood surge again, and raise a tempest in our inmost nature. But to have seen them, to have lived in the midst of them, and yet not to have re belled against them, is utterly inconceiv able, and proves in how complete a thral dom the Scotch were held, and how thoroughly their minds, as well as their bodies, were enslaved.” —Our church or “ meeting house” premises should be made attractive, so as to express an interest in them such as must be felt by all who appreciate their religious privileges. The expend iture of a little money, but especially the bestowal of a little care, would rescue many of the surrouudings from a melan choly with which time and neglect have invested them. About couutry places trees should not be wanting, and if the parishoners plant flowers and shrubbery about the doors and yards they will add greatly to the appearance of the sur rouudings. It is not too much to say that such care, besides the pleasure it would afford those interested in it, would produce results excellent enough to give it a place among the moans of grace. —There is abundant evidence that he who would do the most effective work in leading sinful men into a knowledge of the truth, must first thoroughly know the truth. This is not simply au intellectual process. The heart, asWell as the mind, must have experienced—that is, tried and proved-—what is meant by the saying, “ Thy word is truth.” Christian Advocate. —Luck is ever waiting for something to turn up. Labor, with keen eyes and strong will, will turn up something. Luck lies iu bed, and wishes the postman would bring him the news of a legacy. Labor turns out at six o’clock, and, with busy pen, or ringing hammer, lays the foundation of a competence. Luck whines. Labor whistles. Luck relies on chance ; Labor, on character.— Cobden. —Life becomes a work of art when it is all directed to one aim, all arranged according to a plan, and all thorougnly executed. Christianity alone can make life high art, because italoue fulfills these conditions. It gives high aim to all our activity, fills it with a noble spirit, and teaches us to execute it thoroughly and perfectly.—J. F. Clauke.