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VOLUME XXXVIII. NO. 45.
Is This All T
Sometime-' I catch sweet glimpses of His face,
hut that is all.
Sometimes he looks on me, and seems to smile,
hut that is all.
Sometimes he speaks a parting word of peace,
hut that is all.
Sometimes I think 1 hear liis loving voice,
Upon me call.
And is this all he in- ant when thus he spoke,
•‘Come unto me?”
Js there no deeper, more enduring rest
In him for thee?”
Is there no steadier ligb. for thee in him?
Oh, come and see!
Nay, do not wrong him by thy heavy thoughts,
hut love his love.
Do thou full justiee to liis tenderness;
His mercy prove;
'l ake him for what he is; O, take him all
And look above!
Then iliol! thy tossing soul lind anchorage
And stead last peace;
Thy love shall rest on his, thy doubts
Forever .-easier
Thy heart shall find in him and in lrs grace
Its rest and bliss!
Christ and iris love shall be thy blessed all
For evermore!
Christ and liis light sli ill shine on all thy ways
For evermore!
Christ and his peace shall keep thy troubled
soul
For evermore!
—Sea York Advocate.
Contrihtiiins
The l.ord’s Prayer.
IST REV. W KNOX
Xl. The /oi trine of Furgiiruess. Continued.
Taking 1 lie two p, titii ip', ns famished
In Mitl l lit ev hi.(l Luke, together, wo are
ei it- inly tangLt ilmt in order to secure
the coiitiumil forgiveness of oor own
debts or sins, we must ‘'forgive onr debt
ors,” “tvery one that is indebted to ns.”
' This dots not conflict with the doctrine,
that veaieio look for forgiveness throngh
faith in our Lord Jesns Christ; for if we
iforgive any thing, it is “for Christ’s sake
flint we forgive it,” so that Christ is still
“all in all.” This, however, will become
more evident as we proceed.
We are instructed to pray to be for
given as, that is, in the manner or to the
extent in which, or to which, we forgive
otheis who have sinned against us. It is
not implied that God forgives in part.
.His f< rgivenees is entire or not at all. He
does not forgive sone sins and leave the
others unforgiveu. Hut it is meant, (but
in (liking for forgiveness, it is necessiry
for us to forgive, and to forgive thorough
lg, those who have committed effuses
against ns. To pray that our Father will
forgive us as we forgive others, when we
c'o not ourselves forgive others, or forgive
them only in part, is, in effect, to pray
that He will not forgive ns at all, or only
jvirtially, which is the seme as no forgive
ness; for the obvious purport of such a
).ra\er is to 1 o trei.fe<l in the same way wo
treit, others Or if we'take it. as iu Luke
that the fact of onr having forgiven is at
least n reason, why we ask for ?orgiv> liens,
the prayer when offered with an unforgiv
ing spirit, involves a falsehood—the gross
est of all hypocrisies,—an attempt to im
pose upon the great, omniscient Father
above! In either sense, therefore, we see
how absolutely essential it. is that we our
selves forgive aid forgive thoroughly,
"onr debtors,” "eveiy one that is indebt
ed to ns,” in eidi r tlint we nnty be fir
given.
Our blessed Lord did not, however,
,leave so important a principle to mere
implication; for He immediately proceed
edtosay: “For if ye forgive men their
trespasses, yonr Heavenly Father will
also forgive you; but if ye forgive not
men their trespasses, neither will yonr
Father forgive yonr trespasses.” An
other term is here introduced, trespasses,
Imt evidently implying the seme as debts
or sihs The term rendered trespasses
literally means, a falling a tray, by impli
cation from right or good. It is most fre
quently rendered in onr translation, ires
passes, though nearly as often offenses, —
and sometimes, fall, faults, and even sins.
Trespasses, therefore, in ifs ordinary ac
ceptation, does not express the full mean
ing of the original term, but only one.
and, it may be, the mildest phase of it
In the passage just quoted it certainly is
equivalent to debts or sins, for onr Loid
was referring to that portion of the pray
er, in which He had spoken of debt as the
similitude of sin.
The Saviour said, on another occasion,
"And when ye stand praying, forgive, if
ye have aught against any, that your
Father also which is in heaven may for
give your trespasses; lint if ye do not for
give, neither will yonr Father which is iu
heaven forgive your trespasses.” Iu entire
correspondence with this, au iuspired
Apostle said, ‘ Forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ’s seke hath for
given you.” And again: “Forgiving one
nnother, if any man have a qnanel against
auy, even as Christ forgave you, su also
do ye.”
As further illustrative of this important
teaching, I may well refer to the appliea
tion which onr Lord gave to one of His
parables, where a certain man baviug in
curred a debt of ten thousand taltnls, and
having nothing “wherewith to pay,” was
at his own earnest request forgiven; bnt
who finding one of his fellow seivants
owing him the comparatively trifling anm
‘Of one hundred pence, refused his earnest
solicitation to have compassion on him,
‘bnt commanded him to be sold, and his
wife and children, and payment to be
made; with whom bis lord being wroth
reasoned, saying, ‘‘O thon wicked ser
vant, I forgave thee all that debt, because
thou desiredst me—shouldst not thon also
have had compassion on thy fellow-ser
vant, even as I had pity on thee?” and
whom he commanded to be cast into pri
son until he should pay all the debt: “So,”
said the Saviour, in these heart-thrilling
words, “so likewise shall My Heavenly
Father do also nuto you, if ye from yonr
hearts, forgive not every ono his brother
their trespasses.”
The question very natnrally comes up
here: Under what circumstances are we to
forgive? or, Are we to forgive those who
sin against ue, or in any way injnre ns,
independently of the fact of their repent
ance or application for forgiveness,—or
are wo under obligation to forgive those
only who repent, of apply for forgiveness?
The resolution of this question depends
very much on what may be understood by
forgiveness. If it be understood to mean
the remission of any injury which might
justly be inflicted upon the offending per-
sou, or the readiness to do bim good, as
opportunity may occur, the answer must
at once be, Yes, it is our duty to forgive,
whether he repents or not. But if it be
construed to mean the taking him into
favor as a friend, or the maintaining with
bim the same intimate social relations as
though he had never thus sinned, the
question, I think, may be as unhesitating
ly answered,—No, we are not rcqnired
thus to forgive, without the manifestation
of repentance.
Let it be borne in mind, that the prin
ciples upon which God Himself acts, are,
in so far as they are applicable to ns, to
ok served by us. There is however, an
important distinction which most not be
overlooked. God in forgiving sits, acts
ts the moral Governor of the world, —
“the Judge of ail the earth.” Forgiveness
with Him is identical with ■pardon . In
His mere individual or personal relations,
if 1 may so express it, He does forgive—
forgive, in that He does not inflict at the
time the punishment eo richly deserved,
bnt bears with the offender, conferring
His favors upon him in some sort as
though he had not sinned, cansing His
snu to shiDe, and His rains to fall for his
benefit, giving him fruitful seasons and
bountiful harvests, lengthening out his
probation, extending to him the offers Of
pardon, and constantly plying him with
the means of grace and salvation. Bnt
in His office of Ruler or Judge, He par
dons r-nly in accordance with the princl
pli s which He has established in His gov
ernmental policy; nor dots He, in any
case, take into communion with Him as a
part of His family, any who do not re
pint and believe according to nis require
ments.
The question wonld seem now to be one
of easy solution. We are to setk to be
like our Father in heaven, “who makolh
His sun to shine on the evil and the good,
and who sendeth His rains npon the jnst
Hnd the unjust,." We are not to seek the
ii jury of those who have wronged ns, bnt
their good. We are to endeavor to be like
Ood also,who while Ho thns withholds the
curse, anil bestows the good, dees not
take into dose relation with Himself, as
His dear children, those who do not re
pent, and come to Him by failh in His
Son for pardon. So we, wbilo we are not
to return to these who seek onr ii jnry
“railing for railing, bnt, contrariwise,
blecsing,”—“blissing them that curtte ns.
doing good to them that hate ns, and
praying for them that despiteful)? nse ns
and perstente ns,” —are under no Obliga
tion to take tliem into onr intimacy and
friendship, n< r to inf reduce them into our
fi.mdo sns i qunis aid associates; for to do
so, would bo in some instances, to take
into cur bosom the impoisoned viper to
sting us to dentil, and to introduce to onr
fumiliis the titonrbid tiger to destroy
them.
Nur n aeoD, nor common souse, nor the
fiible, requires of us any such condact.
‘ Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother
trespass against, thee, rebnke him,” —if
need bo, though it does not. imply the do
iug him an injury, ortho withholding from
him a good,—“and if he repent, forgive
him.”
In what has been said, no reference was
had to the controversy carried on through
the columns of the Southern Christian Ad
rocale on the same aril ject. The notes
from which I wrote bad been prepared
before that discursion wan commenced
It may be proper, however, to notice in
this connection the prayer of the Saviour
in behalf of those who were subjecting
Him to an ignominious and cruel death, —
“Father, forgive them; for they know not
what they do." I readily concede that
onr Lord Himself forgave those for whom
He prayi and. It would indeed, be incon
gruous to suppose otherwise. It is con
ceded also, at least by me, that the prayer
was auswered—that they were forgiven in
so far at any rate, as it concerned the im
mediate consequences of the sin they were
then committing. It. must be granted
furthermore, that all Hie followers of every
age are under obligation to imitate His
blessed example iu this, as well ae other
things,—that indeed it constitutes a rule
nf action for them in all snch cases.
But who were they, we may well pause
to ii quire, for whom the Saviour thus
prayed,—and wlmt is the reason assigned
for it? They were those who were ignor
ant c.f what they were doing; and that
iguorauce is the reason given by Himself
why He asked for their forgiveness:—
Father, forgive them; for they know not
what they do.” Were there any among
them who acted contrary to the convic
tions of their better instiucted con
sciences, who weie acting contrary to the
clear light shining about them, and in
them, as was doubtless the case with some
of those wicked Pharisees, they were not
included in that particular prayer. With
the great mass, however, there was not
such knowledge. They thought at the
time, as Sanl of Tarsus thought after
wards, that they “ought to do many
things contray to Jesus of Nazareth,” —
and if they did not, like him, think they
"were doing Goa’s service,” they may at
least have supposed that they were doing
a good work to rid the world of such an
arrant impostor.
Now, iet any one take the qnestion home
to himself. If any man injures me, not
knowing what he is doing, not having in
his heart any feeling of deep malignity
towards me, only as be thinks me other
than I really am, —a wicked impostor, a
stirrer np of the people, ought I not to
forgive him? There esn be but one an
swer given to the question, when viewed
in the fight of onr holy Religion; and yet
the obligation does not extend to intimacy
of intercourse, or close companionship.
Nor does it follow from this instance, that
I am to extend tbe stme forgiveness to one
who in the deep malignancy of his heart,
and feelings of inveterate personal hatred,
knowingly and persistently eeeks my in
jury-
I have said nothing about the distinc
tion between forgiving a person, and for
giving his acts, because I know not how
to make it. Our Lord speaks indifferent
ly of forgiving trespasses, or forgiving
those who commit the trespass. The
simple view is this: persons are forgiven
their trespasses.
How often shall we forgive? Peter ask
ed the qnestion of One altogether qualified
to answer it; and added, "Until seven
times?” Peter thought, no doubt, that
he had given a large margin. Many there
PUBLISHED BT J. W. BURKE A COMPANY, FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
MACON, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1875.
are who snppose that once is too often.
Bnt Jesns said, —“I say not unto thee,
Till seven times,” —that is not My teach
ing at all, bnt “till seventy times seven,”
—that is an indefinite number of times, as
often as he tr*nsgresses and repents.
Hence, it is Raid, in another place, “And
if he (thy brother) trespass against thee
seven times in a day, and seven times in a
day tnrn to thee saving, I repent, then
shall forgive him.”
He who shows no mercy, deserves no
mercy. He who refuses to forgive, has
no right t.o expect forgiveness,—he has
no anthorily even to ask for it. Let it,
then, be remembered that we must for
give, if wo hope for forgiveness. Let
every one. therefore, pray nnderstandieg
ly when he prays,—‘ Onr Father, forgive
ns our debts, as we also forgive onr debt
ors," or— * Forgive ns onr sins; for we alto
forgive every one that is indebted to ns.”
Exclusive Apostolical Succes
sion—No. X.—Conclusion.
BT A DEACON.
“Avoid foolish questions and genealogies.”—
Titus iii : it.
I now conclude tnis condensed s;ries of
historical points, in controversy between
the high-chnrch propagandists of the nn
scriptural scheme of exclusive episcopal
succession and its opponents. Nothing
conld be more clearly and satisfactorily
established, than the mam and material
facts in this controversy, viz , that pres
byters are ti e highest existing Scriptural
ordered ministers in the Chimb of Christ,
by originul npi s’olio authority; ad that
bishops belong to that order, and ure no!
advanced out of it to a higher nod • xelu
sive order by ordination, us bishop ; but
receive whatever official power, grace, or
mystery, of Christ, they may have or dis
pense, by virtue, alone, of “the indelible
oharacter” of the presbyter cenf. rred by
“the layicg on the hands of the jr-sby
tery.”
The appropriation of the mini*' o! bishop
to the presiuing officer of the j rcsbytery,
created no new order in tho ministiy
Originally simply a presbyter, by Ids ele
vat ion to the chair of president he was
made simply primus inter pares, chief
among equals; so made by ecclesiast.acal
authority, and dignified only by the eon-
fldeqce and suffrages of his breti.r n of
the same proshy It riel (rder.
The claim, then, eo incessantly trumpet
ed by the high churchmeu of the Episco
pal denominations, that their bishops,
exclusively, are in the unbroken line of
succession from the apostles, is a huge
superstition, with which to catch unstable
souls, —a marvelous tradition, with which
to beguile the minds of the credulous!
But what mystical grace is bestowed by
the act of ordination, in itself? To say
that the Holy Ghost is given to the eub
ject by virtue inherent in the ceremony,
would be profanity. Nor lias ordination
ever heen exalted into a sacrament except
by the papists. There is no special “gift”
conveyel by “the imposition of bands”
out of the imposer- into the person or
thing const crated by their act. It is a
mere ceremony signifying a public and
authoritative election or appointment to
office, or to perform a function, er duty,
in a particular congregation or church.
All spiritual “gifts” and efficacy conferred
iu ordination, if any, as iu the sacraments,
must, depend for the communication on
tbo immediate presence of Christ, the
“Bishop of onr souls.” according to his
promise, the fulfillment of which always
depends on the faith and moral fitness of
the partaker or subject. The unfit ad
ministrator cannot charge the sac-aments
or ordinances of the Cornell with sacred
unction ir virtue, nor can be prevent or
distinct, for an instant, their sanctifying
and saving tffieaey from being conveyed
to the sonl of the true and humble be
liever, by the Holy Spirit. The saving
power of baptism—of which the use of
water is thoontward likeness, —and of the
shed blood of the Redeemer—of which
bread and wine are the visible memorial,
—do not depend on tinman Priest or
Bishop, thank God! “The Apostle and
High Priest of our profession, Christ
Jesus.” has not pnt the dispensation of
the blessings of bis covenant into any
man’s keeping. “Hf. is the head of the
body, the Church; who is the beginning,
the first born from the dead; that in alt
things lie might have the preeminence ”
(001. i: 18). “This is a great mystery:
bnt I speak concerning Christ and the
Church.” (Eph. v: 32). “ Grow up into
him in all things, which is the heael, even
Christ; from whom the whole body fitly
joined together and compacted by that which
every joint supplieth, according to tie
effectual working in the measure of every
part, maketh increase of the noor (the
Church) unto the edifying of itself in
love.” (Eph fi : 15, 1C).
Then the ceremony of ordination, by
itself, neither contains nor conveys any
spiritual power or grtca. The withdrawal
by church councils of the authority of
presbyters (elders) to orduin, elect or set
apart bishops to attend to certain duties
of the Church, was nothing more nor less
than a human error, as Jerome held—an
nnwise inteiference with apostolic order.
But it does not make void the ordination
of bishops by bishops alone', nor null tire
ordination of presbyters by presbyters and
biahops jointly; because such human
irregularities are matters of indifference.
Still, as to the two essential sacraments cf
the Church, Baptism and the Lord’s sup
per, the order of ruling elders in the
ministry, has full Scriptural authority and
unquestionable power,—by divine right, if
yon please,—to effectually administer them
throughout The Church. If elders are
competent, by virtue of their spiritual
baptism, calling by the Holy Spirit and
apostolicity, to administer the essential
sacraments of The Church; wherefore may
they not rightly and efficaciously peiform
the human ceremony of erdaining a broth
er bresbyter, and call him bishop, super
intendent, president, or moderator? The
greater includes the less.
It is plainly absurd to make the validity
of the ministry of a church depend on the
observance of a nonessential ecclesiastical
ordinance, and at the same time admit
that withont that the ministry have Scrip
tural warrant to administer the only sacra
ments which have any saving significancy
attached to their observance. ‘‘All pres
byters, by the confession of our opponents,
have power and authority to administer the
sacraments of baptism and the Lord's sup-
per, the greater: all presbyters, therefore*!
have power and authority to administer
ordination, the less. ” (Powell).
Before concluding, I will briefly notice
the practice of confirmation . While it is
unquestionable that this man-made rite, is
a miserable travesty on the “confirmation”
Rpoken of in Scriptnre; yet, as a hnman
device, suitable to the latitude given by
the Roman and high Episcopal churches
to the personal piety, or impiety, of num
bers first gathered into these folds, it may
be let pans with only an observation or
two.
Confirmation is not a saer ment. It
has been well said by Ravanel: “Popish
divines .... impionsly teach
firmstion is a certain perfecting and con
summating of baptism; as if those were
to be counted only half Christians who are
lliaptiz-d only, and not confirmed; whtre
''as tho n|X)stle t- stifles that we put. on
Christ in baptism. Calvin dees not mince
his words, bnt calls such Popish divines,
Apes of the apostles. Bishop Heber, in his
Life of Bishop Tajlor, |tbe great ex
ponnder of the high-church exclnsivism]
speaking of his work on confirmation,
says: ‘There is, indeed, a dangerous con
sequence attendant on both Taylor’s argu
ments, that, by Hunting the gift of the Holy
Ghost to confirmation, ho makes baptism,
taken by itself, op none effect; or, almost,
of no further < ffeet than as a decent and
ueci siary introduction lothat which would
be, on Ibis hypothesis, the main and dis
tinctive consignation [sign or seal] of a
Ghrktiau. Kmg Jurats I , at the Hamp
ton C' tirt (toijferei c-, declared his opin
ion, ‘ibat arguing a confirmation of bap
(ism, us if the sacra meet without it was of
no validity, i*. plainly blasphemous ’ Anil
Bishop Burnet grunts, that there is ‘no
express institution of it, neither by Christ
uor bis apostles; nor rule given to prac
tice it.’ Tu the Greek church confirma
tion never was confined to ibo bishops, but
always was, and is to the present day, ad
minister!<l by presbyters and bishops pro
mitcnoiitly,’’ (Powell). But it being mere
ly an ecclesiastical invention, and not a
sacrament or commandment of Christ or
his apostles, it makes no difference to
whom its administration has been confin
ed by the churches practising modern
confirmation. Nevertheless, if it. is not a
pernicious error, it certainly is a strange
custom, alien to the faith, anil ought to
be pnt out of those churches.
In these papers I have drawn freely
from the modest “Essay” of Rev Thomas
Powell, “on Apostolical Succession.”
Those who wish to draw from a full mine
of pure ore—an inexhaustible treasury of
history,facts,and unanswerable arguments
—on the whole range of the controversy
on that topic, will c insult his “Essay.”
I shall do myself and the reader a parting
ph shine, by closing these papers with an
other quotation from bim; trusting that
the reader wili ever keep among the treas
ures of memory “the strong consolation,”
contaii ed in the words or onr author; and
with the trusty wtapon be supplies, will
put to flight the errorista. Mr. Powell
says:
“Whatever evidence, moreover, there
is io auy Episcopal Church for an unin
terrupted tune of bishops from Peter, cr
any other apostle, there is the same evi
dence for an uninterrupted line of pres
byters from that very ap>ostle to the pre
sent day iu (viry other Protestant Chnfch
in the world. No man can properly or
Scriptural!? be a bishop, except he be first
aprtsliyttr. Every bishop, then, neces
sarily irt supposes a presbyter: where
there is no presbyter, there can be no
bishop, even on the principles of our op
ponents. Therefore, wherever there is an
uninterrupted series (A true bishops, there
is an uninterrupted senes of bresbyters also.
The Lutheran Church, the Reformed or
Calviiiistic churches of Germany, the re
formed French Chmeh, the Church of
Scotland, tbo Dissenters in general of
Gloat Britain and Ireland, and the Wes
leyan and Caivinistic Methodists, are all
governed by presbyters. These had an un
interrupted succession from other pres
byters. These in the Scotch Church, in
theLniheran Church, etc., had an unin
terrupted succession from the pr sbyters
(bishops) of the Romish Church: those of
the different Protestant churches in Eng
land, from the presbyters (bishops) of the
Church of England._ What these bishops
were, by ecclesiastical or human arrange
ment, us distinct from presbyters, or real
Scriptural bishops, adds NO validity to their
acts above presbyters. This we hate al
ready clearly proved. All they had of
real Scriptural authority urcse from any
claim they might have to be considered
as real Scriptural presbyters. All this
authority passed to the presbyters of the
above-mentioned churches by uninterrupt
ed succession in their ordination. The
human anthoiity of a bishop does not af
fect the question at all. If an uninter
rupted succession is worth anything, it is,
therefore, worth as much for presbyters
as for bishops. The. ministry, the ordi
nances, the administration of the sacra
ments, in all the above-mentioned church
es, therefore, are, even on this ground,
equally as Scriptural, valid, and apostolical,
as the ministry, etc , of any Episcopal
Church. But, if they have equal validity
and apostolicity from the argument of a
succession of prrsons, many of them have
reason to thank God, on their own behalf,
that they have much more evidence cf the
same thing from tbe personal piety of their
ministers, the doctrines they teach, the dis
cipline exercised over their members, the
unsecularized state of their churches, the
Scriptural character of their various ordi
nances, and, above all, in the conversion of
sinners unto God "
“Cliai-ity Begins at Home*”
What a pity the above phrase ever ob
tained currency in the world! Who can
tell how many dollars it has diverted from
the treasury of the Lord? Richard Wat
son calls it “a neat pocket-edition of sel
fishness.” Apply to a man for a contribu
tion to the foreign missionary cause, and
he puts you off with the remark, “Charity
begins at home.” Go to the same man iu
behalf of domestic missions, and you get
the same response,—“Charity begins at
home.” Ask for a contribution for the
support of his own pastor, and still he
cries, "Charity begins at home.” In each
case “heme” is narrowed down more and
more, nntil at last you discover that it is
synonymous with “self.”
I am sick and tired of hearing this old
i W'irn ont “saw.” Nearly every other per
on yon apply to for missionary money,
will haul it out on yon with a smack of
the lips and a roll of the eye, as if he had
given utterance to a very profound and
' riginal remark. I have even had them
i to preface it with the astounding intelli-
I gence that “ the Bible says charity begins”
Men who quote this “old saw” in justi
fication of their selfishness make a mistake
in two particulars. They assume, in the
hist place, that it is charity we ask of them.
T his is by no means corieet. A contribu
-1 urn to the cause of Christ is not charity.
It is not charity to give to missions, or to
bjhv support of the gospel at homo It is
"a matter of solemn obligation, of true and
just debt. It is bnt paying to the Master
a email part of what we justly owe him.
belong to him, onr lives, talents,
property, all. He requires ns as faithful
stewards to pay over evi r and anon a por
tion of hia property which he has kindly
•eft in onr possession. And where is the
'charity in contributing to the support of
the gospel? Who is the favored party,
the hardworking but poorly paid preach
er, or the illiberal man who enjoys tho
emit of his labors? Is it charity to pay
your ploughman? No more is it charity
'■n pay yonr preacher’s salary; though it
may be charity to preaoh for yon in view
of the pittance you begvndgingly give.
WheD, then, a man meets my appeal
for missionary funds with the stereotyped
phrase, “charity begins at home,” Isay
lo hint, “well my dear sir, let it stay at
home. lam not asking for charity now.
I come in the name of my Muster to claim
a part of hiß property in your possession.
s*o yon dare refuse to surrender it? It
so, beware lest he say unto thee, “Give
an account of thy stewardship, for thou
rnayest no longer be steward.” ’
mistake made by those who
use this phrase is this: they soem to as
nmo that they are charitable persons, and
that home objects are greatly dependent
upon their liberality. “Charity begins at
home, therefore, my funds must take this
direction,” What a mistaken idea! My
observation and experience teaches me
that these persons seldom or never contri
bute at all. They care no more for the
cause of Christ at home than they do for
the canso abroad. They will contribute
to neither the one nor the other. Their
“home” is self, and their charity is in
feediug self, and clothing self, and pan
dering to ail of the appetites of self.
“Charily begins at home” indeed!
Then I suppose it is charity to feed ones’
solf, and to clothe ones’ self, and to min
ister to all the wants of sell! It is charity
to provide for the wants of ones’ own
..mily! Charity ia never charity, nnti! it
gets beyond the region of borne, and the
tvtrlher removed it is ftom homo, the
greater charity is it. Neither can there
be any charity without self-sacrifico. That
charity that throws ont a few penco to the
starving poor from the bursting purse,
deserves not. the name.
“Charity begins at home,” indeed, in
deed! The charity of those who use this
phrase evidently docs, —and it stays there
too. I advise them to take it out and nir
it, or it may spoil! X.
Modal Baptism—]n Reply-- Bap
tist Close Com mu n ion examined.
Dear Editor: As cited in my first arti
cle, the Christian Index of October 11th
not only sought to correct matters of
opinion between my Baptist brethren and
myself, concerning modal Baptism, bnt,
as was perfectly natnral, assigned differ
ence of opinion and practice on this very
ground—modal Baptism—as their reason
for close communion; thus confessing, as
lie was in justice bound to do, that all
live in their Chnreh on the complacent
belief that they are the only Christian
denomination that in keeping thin ordi
nance of God according to law. For if it
conld be kept iu its spiritual use as a sim
ple Christian institute, withont any legal
formality that must be literally complied
with before any spiritual inter communi
cation can be allowed, modal baptism—by
which I mean in this isßiie commanded
immersion could never be made the
binge on which an open or a close commu
nion door must turn, Bnt right or wrong,
my Baptist brethren make it not only my
duty to be immersed in order to entitle
me to communion with them, but the
sine qua non in the grant is that my im
mersion must not only be by a Baptist
ministir, but into the Baptist Chnreh.
Such is the animus of this nrticle in justi
fication of Baptist close communion—
always leaving ns to understand that their
communion is open to ns all as fast as wo
fall into line with them. I wonder that
it never occurred to them that their whole
policy, when stripped of its vestment of
courtesy due to us as Christian citizens,
is utterly devoid of a single trace of
Christian brotherhood. Asa Church,
they have no relation to ns but that of
proselyters—they would not build us up,
as we are, if they could. Their only
work among us, as they will confess, as
they now look upon ns, must be disinte
gration and absorption.
The plea for close communion—which is
the universal belief that Baptism is indis
pensable to Church membership, and
Church membership to proper communion
—is plausible in as far as the close commu
nion Baptists are concerned—as they as
sume the prerogative of being aloDe the
administrators of a valid baptism, and
therefore the only baptized Church mem
bers, and must hold on to close commu
nion nntil its silent majesty of conscien
tious adherence to the law of baptism
shall bring ns all into tbe way of the
Lord. But in as far as it bases its jus
tice, on the fact that Pedo-baptists are
close commnnionists too—because they
give the sacrament only to those whom
they consider baptized Chnreh members
—it is utterly irrelevant. In our open
communion—open only to all members in
good standing in other Churclns we, ac
cording to St. Paul’s injunction, do not
judge of a brother, nor set any of them
at naught. We do not ssrumo the right
to determine the acceptability of another
man’s servant; to his own Master he stands
or falls And as to acceptable j ersonal
condition ; the ascertainment of it is re
ferred to seif examination—just where it
onght to be. Tbe right to judge others
is denied to all in Christian fraternity,
in that every Christian man and woman is
forbidden to let any one judge them—
that is, make a law of faith and moral
obligation for them, which is not, in their
judgment, so tanght in the word of God.
In my opinion, the usage of the Baptist
Church in their adherence to a com
pulsory compliance with their baptis
mal dogma, is not only an error, bnt an
actual evil; because it contravenes all the
special practical principles of Christian
toleration tanght the Church by St. Paul
in Romans xiv, and Ist Corinthians x.
In these he lays it down as an axiom, and
as an nltimatnmin personal conscientious
issues, that my liberty to judge of and
determine on the moral worth and neces
sity of outward forms cannot depend, for
Divine approval, npon my conforming to
another man’s conscieence. Aud in this
usurpation of conscious liberty, yon, my
dearly beloved brethren, are supremely
at fault. If, as I understand these Scrip
tures, I am at fnll liberty in being bap
tized into tho Church, to receive it either
by immersion or pouring; you have no
right under any circumstances to make
me conform to your conscientious belief
in reference to an outward act—as, for
instance, to your modal idea and belief
of baptism—than yon have to say I shall
knoel when yon pray, or go out of Church.
L. Pierce.
Tlic Offices of Christi
“ The grand offices of Christ are three:
prophetical, priestly, and kingly.” Each
one of these marks a distinct period of
man’s existence npon earth. The pro
phetical continued from the creation until
the incarnation of the Son of God. Christ
in the Old Testament Scriptures was em
phatically the Prophet of His people. He
breathed into their souls the spirit of
prophecy, and all thoir writings teem with
predictions of future events. From the
incarnation unto the present time He has
been more expressly the Priest of His
people; and what multiplied spiritual sac
rifices and offerings have characterized
this period ? But the time of the giving
up of liis priesthood approaches. He will
soon leave the Mediatorial Throne for the
Throne of Hit. Kingdom. Not as a pro
phet, to inspire, encourage, aud bring for
ward His people, conies lie now. Not as a
priest, to bear the burden and sins of His
chosen, aud to make continual interces
sion for them, comes He now. Not as the
despistd Galilean, nor the rejected Naza
rono, nor the Crucified One, comes He now.
But as a King—as the greatest of kings—
fall of grace, majesty and power, to rale
aud reign over nis people. O how joy
ful will that people be that adhered to
His cause whilst tho whole world derided
the despised Galilean! How exultant and
happy will be those disciples who have
followed their Master through evil as well
as good report, when He cometh to be
a.lmired in all them that believe ; when
He cometh to unfold to onr enraptnring
admiration, all tho bcanties aud endow
ments of liis immaculate human nature,
and the glories and perfections of His
Godhead! Oil, who cm stand the revela
tion of tho Divine and human natures of
onr Lord Jestis Christ as He discloses
Himself in each member of His once
bruised and mangled body? I very much
fear that the temple will qnake and
tremble, aud each living stone fall pros
trate under the shock of His coming to
reign. O Lord prepare Thy chosen to bear
such a weight of glory 1 C. M. C.
Missions as Educators;
The Church of God is essentially mis
sionary. It could not be otherwise, and
maintain its existence. The privilege ac
corded to it of carrying the bread of life
to the heathen world, is the privilege of
living. Iu the merciful economy of our
Heavenly Father wo derivo a three-fold
benefit from doing His will in this life.
We have first, the reward of an approving
conscience; secondly, the blessing of God
in doing; and thirdly, the mental, moral,
and spiritual development that inevitably
follows as the result of onr exercise. This
last is, in tbe highest and best sense edu
catory. It leads out all the best powers of
our being. Every requirement of God is
calculated to benefit, not God himself,not
those alone for whom we labor, but prin
cipally us. He adapts every requirement
of His Word to the interest and bast good
of him of whom the requirement is made.
Duty is the device of God for benefitting
tbe doer. God commands us to give of
our strength, ami time, and substance to
Qis cause, because He intends to save our
souls thereby.
Now it is ill this light that we are to re
gard the great mission work of the
Church, as a sweet and blessed privilege
accorded to us by onr Heavenly Father.
We ought to esteem it as a special mercy
that God has in these times opened np so
many opportunities to carry the Gospel
to the heathen world. It is because we
are iu special danger that He gives us
special means of grace. God proposes to
save ns from ourselves and our sins by
giving ns something to do. The only way
He lifts souls up out of their selfishness
is by giving the opportunities of sacrific
ing for some noble end. No man ever
yet developed a noble, geuerons, Chris
tian manhood, that did not in some way
bend over tbe weak and helpless.
It may, therefore, be a serious question
as to whether the Church does not stand
as much in need of the heathen world, as
the heathen world stands in need of the
Church. They will be lost without onr
help, to be sure, bnt is it not equally true
that we will be lest if we do not put forth
the effort and help them ? Selfishness is
corroding the very vitals of the Church,
paralyzing her energy and rnsting her
harp strings until they give forth no
praises to God. She must have some en
tn-prire adequate to her strength. It is
impossible to estimate what energies re
side in man until some work of emergen
cy is set before him that is calculated to
call them ont. Thus it is that occasions
develop men. Our war called out some
of the best generals that ever marched to
the field; developed the grand patriotism
and power of self-preservation that
iuhered in our national life. Let
missionary intelligence be thoroughly
diffused, Jet a perishing world be set
squarely before the Chnreh of God, and
iet her ear catch the dying groan, the cry
of distress, and energies and resonroes
will be developed in her, and results
achieved that will astonish the world.
How does it come, that in many of our
Churches the most interesting, lively, and
profitable service of the Sabbath day is
the Sunday school service ? It is because
the Sunday-schools are organized into
missionary societies, and this grand enter
prise of saving tbe world is set before
them and the privilege accorded to them
of acting a part in the achievement of
such a result. It is impossible for any
Church or Sunday school to take an ac
tive interest in the missionary work with
ont increasing her intelligence a hundred
fold, and g: owing iu every way purer.bet
ter and stronger. Tilt re are pupils in
Sunday-schools that can tell yon very
much about China and India, their histo
ry, climate, condition, manners and ens
toms; their arts and political institutions,
F. M. KENNEDY, D. D., Editor.
J. W RIJRKE Assistant Editor.
A. G, IIAYtxOOD, I>. !>., Editorial Correspondent.
and changes that are going on, that bnt
for the Snnday school missionary society,
would not know tho most common facts of
their geography. It pays intellectually
to make the missionary and his work a
earefnl study. It ripens the heart and
blesses the sonl to labor and pray and give,
to help him in his work.
If the Otinrch of God would come fully
np to herdnty and take hold of this mis
sionary work in right down, good, self
sacrificing earnest, it wonld silence every
infidel tongne, develop unwonted powers
that now lie dormant, and secure snob an
ontponring of the Holy Ghost and such n
general revival of religion as the world has
never yet witnessed.— Northern Christian
Advocate.
Beside the Well.
BT JOSEPHINE POLLARD.
Beside the well I stood, and drew
My pitelier full of sparkling dew,
In which 1 found a uiirror meet
Earth’s fairest pictures to repeat.
My heart was young—l knew no care,
But, oh, my Saviour was not there!
The precious drdflk with steady flow
Sauk in the thirsty soil below,
New life and moisture to impart,
While like a desert lay my heart
Unconscious of the sinful waste
Of bliss It had not learned to taste.
Beside the well I lingered still,
My empty pitcher to refl.l;
And still A wove my summer dreams
Beneath the sun’s declining beams,
Seeing no cloud upon the sky
That o’er me stretched its canopy.
There came an hour —a trial hour—
When Satan held me in his power
And bade my soul at once decide
Unto which king it was allied;
And I, in terror, sought delay
Uncertain whom 1 would obey.
Betide the well I stood again,
Seeking some solace for my pain,
And with my pitelier on the brink
I turned to give a stranger drink:
For service slight, oh, rich reward!
’Twas then and there I found my Lord!
No broken pitcher now I take
Uuto the well my thirst to slake;
And often as my lips have quatted
The waters sweet—Love’s healing draught,
My soul to life and health restored
Holds blessed converse with its Lord!
— Sunday-school Tunes.
Partlcularity in Prayer.
There is apt to be a cold, unmeaning
generalization in oar petitions ut the
throne of grace, as if there was no desire
uppermost in the soul, and no one want
more urgent than any other. If the ques
tion were asked of a number of persons,
by one who had all gifts at his command,
“Wuat will you have? Here are wealth,
and honors, and jewels, and lands, and
books”—all the answers made would not
be the same. So onr hearts’ experience
and our desires vary. One is pressed
sorely by pride, another by covetousness.
Or, the bisetment of one day differs from
that of another. One is thinking of some
recent sin, another of some negleoted op
portunity of noble service. How natural
that the prevailing thought should give
shape and urgency to prayer.
Thus it was when EtUba prayed for the
son of the Sbnnammite woman, and re
stored him, alive and well, to his mother.
There was great particularity in that pray
er—a wonderful concentration of the
power by which it prevails. The sym
pathy of the man of God for the weeping
parents repressed for the time every other
feeling, and he went to the mercy-seat
burdened with the one deßire. So when
Jesns pleaded with his Father on behalf
of his disciples, “I pray not that thou
shonld take them ont of the world, bnt
that thou shonldst keep them from the
evil,” he seemed to forget all else in the
fervor of his anxiety for that one end, and
the answer came in the bestowment of a
“hopeful patience” npon these diseiples,
by which they were fortified amid all their
trials, and in the gift of a vigilance that
disarmed temptation, and kept their names
unsullied.
A sermon of a Scotch preacher, John
Livingston, was the means of the conver
sion of five hundred persons in one day.
But the other fact to be mentioned in con
nection with this is that many Christians
had devoted the whole of the preceding
night to prayer for this very object.
John Newton, the friend of Cowper, and
the author, with that poet, of the "Olney
Hymns,” had a godly mother, whose
prayers on his behalf in the nursery he
remembered when, as slave dealer, he bad
become so debased in character as to be
despised and cast ont by the degraded
negro savages of Africa; and as he lay
upon the sands, seeking repose for the
night, the earnest prayers of the mother
were answered; and the profligate man
became an eminent preacher and writer,
whose works are valued by all the friends
of evangelical religion.
Rescued by prayer, earnest and special
—earnest because special—praper that
went up from the little room in London,
and brought the song of joy in the night
to the soul that had wandered so long and
so far from God, amid the sands of Africa I
Is there not in one example like this, even
if it stood alone, enconragement for those
who come burdened with ono desire; or
who, if they have more than one, still
come burdened, whenever they make their
requests known unto God.— Presbyterian
at Work.
Fervent Prayer.
The river that runs slow, and creeps by
the banks, and begs leave of every tuft
of grass to let it pass, is drawn into little
hollows, and spreads itself in smaller por
tions,and dies with diversion.; but when it
raps with vigoroasness and a full stream,
and breaks down every obstacle,making it
even as its own brow, it stays not to be
tempted with little avocations and to
creep into the sea, but pours through full
and useful channels. So is a man’s
prayer; if he moves upon the feet of an
abated appetite, it wanders into the soci
ety of every trifling accident and stays at
the feet of fancy and talks with every ob
ject it meets, and cannot arrive at heaven;
ont when it is carried upon the wings of
passion and strong desire, a swift motion
and a hungry appetite, it passes on
through all the intermediate regions of
clonds, and stays not nntil it dwells at the
foot of the throne, whero mercy sits, and
thence sends holy showers of refresh
ment.
Yourself.
You cannot find a more companionable
person than yourself, if proper attention
be paid to the individual. Yourself will
go with yon wherever yon like, and come
away when you please,—approve your
jokes, assent to your propositions, and, in
short, be in every way agreeable, if you
only learu and practice the trne art of be
ing on good terms with yourself. This,
however, is not so easy as some imagine,
who do not often tty the experiment.
Yonrself, when it catches you in company
with no other person, is apt to be a se
vere critic on your faults and foibles, and
when you are censured by yourself, it is
generally the severest and most intolerable
species of reproof. It is ou this account
that you are afraid of yonrself, and seek
any associates, no matter how inferior,
whose bold chat may keep yonrself from
playing the censor. Yourteif is likewise
a jealous friend. If neglected and
Blighted it becomes a bore, and to bo left,
even a short time, “ by yourself ” is then
regarded as a cruel penance, as many find
when yontb, health, or wealth have de
parted. How important is it then to
" know thyself,” to cultivate thyself, to
love thyself warmly but rationally. A
sensible self is tbe best of guides, for
few commit errors but in broad disregard
of its admonitions. It tugs continually
at tbe skirt of men to draw them from
their cherished vices. It holds np its
shadowy fingers in warning when yon go
WHOLE NUMBER 1960
astray, and it s rmonizas sharply on your
sins after they have been committed. Onr
nature is twofold, and its noblest part is
the self to which we refer It stands on
the alert to check the excess of the animal
impulses, and though it becomes weaker
in the fulfillment of its tasks by repeated
disappointments, it is rarely so enfeebled
as to be unable to rise np occasionally,
sheeted and pale, like Richard’s victims,
to overwhelm the offender with bitter re
proaches Study, therefore, to be on
good terms with yourself; it is happiness
to be truly pleasod with yourself.—Anon
ymous.
Miscellanea.
The American Bible Society is jr.-par
ing an edition of the Scriptures in agate
type, lGmo., with references, to be called
the Centennial Bible, aud for which it is
expected there will be a large demand.
Six kernels of corn were given for
planting to each of 252 ee'tolars in a Vir
ginia Sunday-school, last, Spring. The
Sunday school Companion reports that five
barrels of corn were returned as the re
sult of this operation, and sold for S2O,
i he money going into the misiionory fund.
The Baptists are about to try eamp
meetiogs. The New York Tribune, says :
“The Baptists, who held an open-air meet
ing on the Highlands of Martha’s Vine
yard, were so well pleased with the result
that they are making arrangements for the
permanent occupancy of the ground and
an annual service.”
The Presbytery of New Orleans, recent
ly in setsion, recorded its protest against
tho action of the last General Assembly
of the Presbyterian Church (South), in
favor of the Pan-Presbyterian Confedera
tion, “upon a bare technical majority,and
at the very heel of the seesion.” It char
acterized the whole movement as “un-
Presbyterian and unconstitutional.”
Darwin, in his Insectivorous Plants, un
comciously gives an accurate description
of the condition of all knowledge when
he says: “I have now given a brief reca
pitulation of the chief points observed by
me, with respect to tho structure, move
ments, constitution, and habits of Drosera
rolundifolia ; and we see how little has
been made ont in comparison with what
remains unexplained and unknown.”
TnE receipts of the American Board of
Missions for the year 1874 were, from
donations, $352,041.28; from legacies,
$83,007.70; for work in nominally Chris
tian lands. $34 331.22; making a total of
$460,470 26. Tuis year the receipts
stand, from donations, $340,084 86; from
legacies.Bo 702.38; for nominallyCuristian
lands. S2O 833.58; making a total of $466,-
620 82.
The New York Observer tells of $2,000,-
000 given unostentatiously to various
cbnrities within the past fifteen years, by
Chauncey Rose, of Terre Haute, Ind.
All classes and all objects come within the
range of his generosity. If a society
eeeks his aid, the question is not, 11 What
is the creed of your trustees ?” but “ Is
your society so managed that what I have
to give will accomplish as much good as
if put elsewhere ?”
At a session of the Christian Mission
ary Society of America, held in Louis
ville, Kentucky, on the 20th instant, a
report recommending the raising of a
fund to be known as the Centennial Fund,
and to amount to $5,000 000, was adopt
ed. The money thus raised will be used
for tbe advancement of the objects of the
Association, and the enlightenment and
Christianizing of negroes in Ameriea,
many of whom, the Society seems to
think, are in a depraved condition.
The Pope’s household at the Vatican
numbers 527 persons. The Pope, Cardi
nal Antoneifi, the major domo, grand al
moner,and other officers,number fourteen;
the Pope has one vali-t amt six servants ;
the police administration iucindes fifteen
persons; the Secretary of State’s De
partment numbers twenty-nine ; the se
cret printing office, eight ; the apostolic
ante-chamber has a dean, twenty-three
couriers, three servants, and three order
lies, and the Swiss Guard and the pontifi
cal number gendarmerie 200 men.
The Congregationalisl speaks about "the
Baptist translation ” of the New Testa
ment, to which the Examiner and Chroni
cle responds: “ We know none that has a
right to that designation, unless ic be
King Jame’s version, in which Baptists
have a common interest. The fact that a
given translation was made by a Baptist
does not authorize any one to assume
that the denomination is responsible for
it. We will not say that the number of
Ba'ptist Churches in which the Bible
Union version is introduced into the pul
pit is so small that they conld be counted
on one’s Sogers; but if it is true of one
in a hundred of them we are much mis
taken.”
At the Virginia State Sanday-school
Convention, which recently met at Rich
mond, October 17th and 18th were ap
pointed days of special prayer for Sab
bath-sohools, in accordance with the re
quest of the London Sunday school Union.
The statistics, stated to be incomplete, of
the State Sunday-schools for whites, were
given as follows : The Methodist Church
has 800 schools, 10,500 teachers, and 45,-
500 scholars ; the Baptists have 521
schools, 5 300 teachers, and 30,449 schol
ars ; the Presbyterians, 175 schools, 2,250
teachers, and 15,850 scholars ; the Epis
copalians, 130 schools, 1,541 teachers, and
9,871 scholars ; the Evangelical Luther
ans, 103 schools, 500 teachers, and 5,300
scholars.
At Puebla, Mexico, anew Methodist
Episcopal chapel, neat und convenient,
was dedicated a mouth ago. Rev. C. W.
Drees, the energetic pastor, preached in
the morning, and Rev. John W. Butler in
the evening. Mr. Drees writes: “All
passed off qnietly, although there had
been serious threats. The government,
famished us ample protection. * * *
That we have been able, without any dis
turbance, to open a Protestant chnreh
side by side with a R imish one, and that
in an ancient convent in the city of Pue
bla, is a great triumph—greater than you
can well appreciate. Many people exprei, a
their surprise at what we have been en
abled to accomplish. It is the Lord’s
doing, and marvelous in our eyes.”
Moody and Srokey, the revivalists,have
commenced their work, since returning
to their native country, with favorable re
sults. Mr, Sankey’s singing is inspiring,
and prepares the andience for Mr.
Moody’s methodical preaching. Mr,
Moody is not what can be called an elo
quent speaker, neither is he flowery or
brilliant; but what is bettor, be has the
cause at heart, and labors to advance the
interests of his Master, withont any effort
to dazzle his hearers with flashes of origi
nal or borrowed oratory or rhetoric—he
uses plain, common-sense language, and
figures that can be comprehended by all
—no strenuous efforts are made to display
a high state of culture. He preaches sal
vation, and entreats the Lora to bless his
efforts.
The following table, taken from an ex
change, shows how even the leading reli
gions jonrnals have suffered in the loss of
subscribers during the present year:
SUBSCRIBERS. DE
-1874. 1875. CREASE.
Presbyterian. 20,000 14,000 6,000 ...
Evangelist 14.000 18,700 1,300
Interior 13 280 11,500 1,780
Congregationalist 25,840 20,000 5,840
Advance 13,000 15,000 3 000
Mathodist 21,333 14,500 6,833
Northern O. Advocate. 14,600 10,000 4,600
Christian Union 118,824 78,338 40,501
Independent 42 000 35,000 7,000
New York Observer.... 26 900 26,000 900
Christian at Work 25,000 19,166 5,824
It is said that no less than seven hun
dred papers—religious and secular—have
been forced to suspend publication in
this conutry and Canada since January 1,
1874.