I*OST£t,V-
Tfroukl seem a siJfllcient answer that ] infanc3’-, constituting near'.y half tin
sin has inflicted many eviJs, not alone 1 race, and idiocy, together with luiia-
For the FnEE-iVihi/
‘•BLESSED ARE THEY WHO LOKO
FOR HOME, FOR THEY SHAtE
BE HOME.’^
BY REV A. H. lillAiiirtj'Il'? A.
"Blessed arc they, wim long for home
viirist lias propareil r. hearenly rest.
No one df timm shall be linoleet.
Ere long each one shall reach his
homo.
Hearing his Saviours call to come, •
He”ll enter into heaven above,
"Where all within is peace and love.
Distressing cares they’ve laid aside,
With all their worldly toils beside,
This fleeting earth they bid adieu.
When glorious mansions fisc in View.
YlieyVe left d World of sinful WoeSj
Escaped a host of hostile foeS)
Have triumphed in redeeming gface.
When they beheld their Saviours
face.
Now they are with the Sorts of light,
Forever in Jehovah’s sight,
Forever done with ever3’ task,
Forever in God's presence bask.
Then Let them rest in Jesus’ arms,
They need not feur the least alarms,
I>eath has no power to display,
Death is the gate to endless day.
upon such infants, idiots, &c.j but, no
less, Upon those who live to age and
have a probation the longest and best
possible, evils which probation any
where G'irtnOt compensate, evils, suffer
ed largely for no fault of those who
suffered them. Whatever considera
tions will harmonize the esistcnce of
tics the antideliivians, most of the
heathen if not all, and, we "conclude,
a large majority of all in civilized and
Christian lauds? The number of the
confirmed is comparatively small. Dr.
Dorncr says, Nay, even within the
church there are periods and circles
wliere the gospel (acceptance or rej“c-
pos^
probation wlicre ligiit
and sought a more fruitful field among
1 ;to :he soul wilii no more
the idol-worshiping Hindoos.
clc. , '
' '1 here.
Still it appears that the soul of Ak-
-
bar was not at rest. Did lie feel iiitui-
TI' '
Fi; FOR BREAD AND
t!velV' that in Christianit3', if he .could
''’It"'
LkVEllIM A STONE.
but find it, was the Irnlh for wliicli he
—
lomz d'? He sent again .to Goa, earn-
i;;'.. V. G. I'.AMSKY.
cs'.iy a-king for teachers, and that tho3''
should prop:''e for . his use a true
Iu n.-
:' ■' {>ait of the sixteenth
trauslatio i of the liistory of Christ. He
m-’
’’ortugiiese estabTahed
•L'tM,..: U. '■ ad for . . mid b.-
devising the scheme, rhe atoning sac
rifice of the Son, and the sanctifying
power of the Holy Spirit are .promi
nent throughout the sacred word. We
neednot, therefore, be'furious to pen
etrate tlie mystery of the divine exis
tence. It is ours to avail ourclves of
the provision made to save this dark,
fallen world.
Especio'lly should we- commit our-
j I t,. Ives to (he teaching ; 'danc of
PROBATION AFTER DEATH.
Bl* nkr. O. E. BAKER.
Few subjects are more prolific of
tjuftsuons than that of probable pioba-
lioii after death. Its ads’oo.ates claim
Biitedeluvians, and heathens, any and
a'l cltvsses who have died, or are yet
to die, without having had a suflicienf
probation in the p»'esent life. Let lec
turers, professors, commentators teach,
but rtiay not pupils ask questions? We
would ask.—
1. What is the necessity of a future
probation for infants or any others,
dying before becoming aceonntable?
Dr. Dorner says: ‘-Morover those
dying in childhood have not been able
to decide personally for Cliristianiiy.
Jesus seeks the lost. The lost are to
be sought also in the kingdom of the
dead.” Prof. Smyth says: “I can
trust God to provide for such (idiots,
infants, antediluvians, some heathen,
and children born app.arently to no
moral chance) some special ..pportuiii-
ty for repentance, in Hades, beiore
the final judgment,” It looks very
much as though tlie old theory of in
fant complicity in the sin and guilt of
the federal head had prompted to this
hypotlmtical probation, perhaps as a
compromise between such old theory
' ‘ ‘' and that now more currently held, that
moral character and conditions depend
upon antecedent moral volition. The
feeling now is verv prevalent and
strong that it would be unjust for
God to cast off the r' fb-. ?es not per-
respop-'i' '- the.reruro in
rr(ie involv'd i I the sin and
giiiltot progenitor'^, ti'ey should Inv
a probation a.)d chance for rcforn.atloQ
So it is claimed. But, if It would be
unjust for such to bp cast .away with
out a "probation—without tl.eir own
action, how is it just that now, already
without having had probation, they
are held in a condition needing regen
eration in order t > being saved,-need
ing opportunity for repentance? Tliese
old and new theories lack harmony
and fire very like pieces of old and
new cloth pu. together in a good way
to hide an ugly rent. G’ondonm.ation
being cast awa3’, comes ot sin. and
sin, of rnoral action by a moral
responsible being, none of which can
be predicteil of infants, idiots, .and oth
ers of like cliaractcr. The legitimate
conclusion is, tliat deceased infants,
idiots. &c., will need no probation as
a condition to well-being.
If any would assign these classes such
future probation on the grojund that
they siiould not be denied in the ad-
vantages of probation, whatever they
m.ay be, for no fault of their own, it
"z. But T^-hat is a ; tobation? Fr'if.
Smylli after attributing to Mr. Cook
the belief that at death, infants pass
from indecision to decision, says: “
There is a.first moral choice—a proba
tion—the other side of death. But
there is mere decision, or the libertj'
of decision, a probation proper? Do
not saints and angels exerciae moral
decision in every act of obedience?
Is not their obedience, free, willing
happy? Are they therefore in a
state of probation? Whatever less or
other than such freedom of saints
and angels probation may be,
trtauifestly. persons m:i3’. as the augels
and soint', put forth acts of^noral de
cision, and may be morally good and
happy under other than conditions of
probation. W hy may not infants,
therefore dying without the guilt of
sin, enter at once-upon the freedom
and blessedness, in a degree of tlie
angels aud saints without previous pro
bation.
May not probation consist of a con
dition. of free, willing happy obedience
under trial, test, for purposes of dis-
ripliiie aud its advantages? Not sim
ply a condition to moral action aud its
re.sulls, but a special conation looking
to special added advantages to the | the present, M
as that which^ii n'ally is, Vrol. SmyJi
after accepting those only from a pro-
liution .'ifter death who shall have had
a decisive probation here, was asked,
What you mean by decisive proba
tion. "The answer was,” “ One
that ends in Augustine’s sense of real
freedera in a real determination beyond
moral probability of recall. Such on-
I3' end their probation at or before
death, all others to have further chance
Again, when asked how he would' es
timate, as to further probation, a siu-
ner wlio had lived a life of gross wick
edness, cursing God, the professor re
plied I would not feel myself warrant
ed to pronounce judgement on such a
man !
Taking these utterances as indicat
ing the scope of the future probation,
It is clear it awaits most of our race,
the present probatiou being well nigh
a failure. Now what is the probabiUt3’
that such continued probation would
result in any considerable gain to the
number of Anally saved? (1) There
as here, the iWtives to good must not
be sucessive, but moderate leaving
men to act chiefly for the reasons for
which the go^d should be choseu. The
conclusion is that the fulufe would not
afford advantages much above those of
I’hayer say.s: -ihere
soii.all}'
any
iue government over moral beings. It
would follow of course, that infants,
and others, going cut of this life with
out a probation, are losers, more or
less, of such special, added advantag
es,—but this involves no injustice iu
God’s treatment of them, more than
his suffering other evils which follow
in the wake of sin, and it iuvo’vcs no
hazard to the ultimate well-being of
such subjects.
The heathen are named along with
infants, idiots, and others as subjects
'of future probation. Well, we con-
I elude, that all persons dying without
I intelligence snilicieiit for arriving at
: moral action and clmracter, will class
' iu the case of infants. It is not clai
med that all lieatlien will be so classed
Man.v of them have light enough from
intuition nature, luuiire, tradition, and
the spirit of God to be accountable, to
acquire moral clnivacter good or bad.
It u ill liardiy be denied that many
among tlicni are self constituted, actu
al sinners. But what is a sinner?
Munifeatl3’-, one who volnntarially does
what he knows he ought not to do, or
leaves undone wlaat he knows ougiit to
be done,—one or both. Sin is no
mere propensity, no acciilent no mis-
ic' e but .admit of right action instead
and of reformation after the wrong lias
b.- done. H.,t is n ; tliis a ^•xate of
pi(. .ation? Is not this a sullicient pro-
l)ai on? It is so far sulficient as that
such siniuT is self-coiKk-mned condem
ned of God's law, and of universal
right judgment. S * far sufficient as
that were he to live on earth forever
with^uch character, he would be for
ever condemned, without any injustice
How otherwise would it be, if removed
to another place, in which character
and and its conditions would be very
much as in the present life?
Here wo are met by another signifi
cant feature of the future probation
theory : that probation is not to be
terminated by any arbitrary event-
by death or any
God, by fixity of character, by becom
ing so positively good, or bad, as that
no change of character will take place
All persons not arriving at this perma
nency before death, it is claimed, will
continue in probation in the future
state, until such a general coj-summa-
cliu obdurate soul witu any more clear
ness in the future than now. (2) Adsl
to the foregoing that the noii-confirmed
good, ill the said future probation,
ma3’reverse their decisions and become
bad. Men may fall, as well as rise,
in such a probation. (3) Add to
these what would seem probable, as
matter of natural selection, and of.
good order, that those, of the intennu
diate probationuiy state, the best of
them even, will not be in the place of
the fully saved, will not enjoy their as
sociations, that tiie3% will, however re
tain infidelity their native and contract
ed weakness and depravity aud sin,
pos.sibly which as in tlie past, will con
tiiiue to hazard the question of their
well being, and who would pri>phecy
future gains on a ver3’ large scale? (4)
Oli'seL wli^itevei- gams, by such probii-
lion, witii tlie leavlul denioializatiuii;
ibtt !ni.neiise dilierences on the wr,.ng
side w liieli w ould inevitably l enuk
from uiiiV':i>al Ueliel llial, to all time,
aller death aud beloi'o, laon may le-
lorui 11 will. It is a case made out
tliat, wlieiiever, and wherever kindred
theories have been lauglit and accept
ed, nieii have been simtieii with mor
al blight. All ihii ge Cv)iia!der“d, it i.-
by :it) moans certain nor prob'iblo iliai
t'XLeiision 01 proballnu Ik'^uiiJ the
pre^ioiil tile woukl on tiie w! 1.
coas. I. ctan. and from that
point tlm '.itiiolic religit'ii spread so
rap.idiy u.r, it seemed for a while as
if India v.jjs about to exchange Brah
manism ,01' Romanism. The Emper
or Akbar. “the greatest and the best
of the grea; 'Moguls,” became idissaV-
isfied wi;,i‘J.slamism, and liearing of
the relig' •- . of the strangers, he sent
messengers to Goa, asking that Chris
tian teacbors might be sent to Dehi, the
royal city, ami that they might bring
with tboin complete copies of their ho
ly books.
It h: ‘ 1. nsal for aMohammedan to
confess 'i.ip.bt8 of his faitli tliat this
record is reenved with some increduli
ty. It is said Akbar but amused him
self. But why should we doubt that
this gr at soul may have been dissat
isfied "••’tkhis cold and empty relig
ion? he fouii.'l iu his creed the great
C"utral '.ruti' tliat there is 01113’' one
God, to who 0 all homage is due; but
to this God in his greatness and glory,
he was .diown no medium of access.
How cf.’.ikl he be satisfied, lacking "the
way” 01 appriaching that Christ alone
reveals? ishimism is a religion with
out mcr.cy. 't offers neither redemp
tion nor sanciifleation, and this man
may have felt the common need of
evr/y i."iinaa .loul for pardon and sal-
vr.Goi', ''.V '' reason to doubt
Lua ' >.i'..c.lcm prince leii
the pro - ig need of a faith that wouid
not 01:'y sixtisl'y his reason, but give
res*.? ' ji.'-ace to his soul; therefore
for the professed Christian
; aud like the Ro’iian centuri-
ricn, !i.’ was ready’' to hear "all things
liiat V ..rc. commanded them of God.”
i a ;’' .L;wGr to his appeal, three Ro-
r.iish ; .csts were sent to him. They'
cari'ic.' with them richly ornamented
images of Mary, ana of saints. They
had \ stmentd, and crosses, candles
and ■ • and with great ceremony
and p'-.'np tliey entered the presence
of the 'Muperor.
M'.’ informed that Akbar receiv
ed tl' ill with great courtesy, but we
tion.
Here we grow inquisitive.
Bill, it IS ceiLaiiily true that pmba j da
lion can lei ininaie only by li.'iily of ; th.
clnii acier, each man ending Ins own i tin
pi'obaiiun to his Ikmig'? (1) Supfi-i-
sing Lli.il all ihiig' cuii.sidered, more
ot onr race would be tinally saved by
limiung prubation lo tdie pi'esent lito,
Uiereby awake..ing men’s fears, arres
ting their ailen'.iun, energizing the
church, and iiiLensifyihg all the aieaus
ot grace, would it in such case, be uii»
iikc God to do so? —to do w'liat on
tlie whole would be for the largest
good? hat might seem to be in
justice to inviduwls niiglil be the wis -
............ : pyggjijiy .vlien the public ;
other intervention ot . /o.
Weal IS taken 1 to aocouut. (2j lias
not tdv-d ended Luc lives, and proba
bly Lt.e pi'obation ot wicked men ag
ain and again wilbiii ihe history of
h.is ohiircii and providence? Dr, are
we to interpret Ids desLrue.ioii ot the
Old Worki. ol Sodom and Gomorrah,
ot Jerusalem, and of individiiais,. as
Would the sons of Ed, Ananias and tiapphin
Ills, bill as lueiciful iner
not such a pro'oatioa take in well nigh j not as juclg
all dying in uikil removals to better coi-ailious, 01
the whole human race-
l
have . o afthentic record of their •in
to".. . Jesuit priests reported that
he biv ■ -'d down to their images and
kir ii ' dieir holy books, but this^ it is
i:ni ; to believe. Idolatry is the
siu 0.'.' all sins, most odious in the
si.'tl.t of n Moslem, and the failure of
tli.n: ■nis-ion is circumstancial evi-
deiioi. rh...’.. from the first, he was re
pelled by these things. He Jiad beg
ged lor the bread of lif? and the water
of sal- at.'on, and tlmy mocked him
with a pompous idolatry, .and unsatis
fying red corraiit theolgy. He was
aoii. in as well ho might and de-
1 . ' ( il- • ‘■•-•V cii-.-i’d dj.-.. -."s their
r.-; ..s wit.I !h i J'.'h; : -.e-
'.it-.'-i In cl'.'.:-.- cMs'L.c.-s’nsis
.i:s. with all their learning,
lify’, and their sopliistry, wen-
w: ’ The Moulvies were their
equ. • in logic, and they convicted
them be liicir own Scriptures of idola-
tr . -..nial did not avail them. There
wv;' u'ir own teachings, aud their
0''There were their invoca-
ti' c ; ''lii'-t.®, their worslnp of Mary,
thi-Iv pro-it.r.ations before pictures and
ini:.„cH. The subterfuge that they did
not 'v.-n-.h’p the images was rejeeted.
Tj..-. .. : ible force of the second -com-
m.an l.'..on' of the Decalonge, in which
Liie semblance of idol -worship is
p t ri .ii^ed, was urged against them,—
“ 11 ou abait not bow down to them nor
wi).' h'p them.” They could not de-
fern li cin.=''dves. and the great Akbar,
difi:’y.-iintcd perhaps in .the fondest
hop; of his life, turned ‘Sadly away
fr-v ; them. They were permitted to
r. .i.vii., and for twelve years -t-hey la-
l,»r d 'll vain. They could not con-
:i '.kslem to idolatry. At the end
of le.-j years they returned to Go.a,
claimed io be Divine, liad taught.
Never lias the church liadagrander op
portunity, and it these professed teach
es of ChristianHy had given to this
man the Word of God, it does not ap
pear improbable that tye house of Ta
merlane, the proudest dynasty tliat
has ever reigned, might have been won
to Christ, and the destiny of all India
might liave been changed.
The book that these Jesuits prepar
ed and presented to this inquiring
prince, declaring that it was compiled
from the Prophets and the Holy Gos
pels, has been preseved, and we are
i.ot surpri.ed at its effect. Instead of
a true liistory of Christ, it abounds in
fables of Mary and the apostles, and
whatever of truth it contains is veiled
and colored by Romanism. Akb.ar
read, and knowing no other Gosj'el, no
other Christianity than was there re
vealed, he turned from it in despair, be
lieving that the religion of the Son of
Gbd, instead of being the light and
salvation of the world, was only a veil
ed idolatry, offensive in the ^ sight of
the Eternal.
From this time a revulsion set in.
Islamisni is an iconoclastic faith. The
descendants of Ak-bar ranked Ci.ris-
tilnity will; p.'ig-i-ism, hr.lh to be
eqna.h'rootc'l out. The iSiiali Ji'ii.vn,
lei Moonr.. .b'a.-K-'. iho ' iiris-
tian name. The Portiigiic-so haii set
tled in large rtnailoi's at Ilooghly, near
wjiere Calcutta how stands. The Gov
ernor of Bengal reeeiveil from Shah
Jehan the laconic conimaud: “Expel
th,o&c idolaters from my dominion.*’
It was done. The Christian comi.nii-
nit3’ was almost entirely annihilated.
Two thousand men, women aud chil
dren who h.ad taken refuge in a ship
were blown up, choosing to die rather
tlian to surrender to the Moguls. Eive
hundred children were taken piisoners.
Tlio boys were circumcised ‘ and the
girls were divided among the harems
of the nobles. Hie pictures were
all destroyed by the express command
of the Empress. Bev. Dr, Butler says :
"Such wrongs did Ivoinanismdo Chris
tianity in India, and the name of our
God and .Saviour was blasphemed
among .the heathen through its ib.oia-
tries. Empress Moomtaj wouhl not
forget, oven in death, her enmit3' to
Christianity, and secured tliat it should
be expressed on her very tomb, where
it remains to this day and will remain
as long as the wonderful Taj Mahal
exists.” On the.towb, facing the en
trance, where all may see it as they
approach, are these words : “Defend
us from the tribe of Kafirs”—the word
Kafirs being a terra of bitter contempt
I'or tlie l'i’.:-siian Idomloi'S ,
Tlio Empire of the i^loy'\I-i,
vi ith all pride, its wealth an-' glory 1ms
disappeared from India. Tamerlane
and Akbar are names that ho longer
move the world. All that remains of
the great Shah Johan, and the peerless
Moomtaj-i-Mahal molders in silence in
the magnificent mausoleum, tlie Taj
Mahal, whose matciiless beaut3' and fa
bulous cost commemorate tiicir love
and their ambition. But the Christ
whom, in their mistaken bigotry, they
hated is extending his dominion.
Tlioir tomb is now in the custody of
the "tribe” whoso coming they depre
cated. He whose right it is shall pos
sess that land. India, so long op
pressed, shall find shelter under liis
throne and Ilis truth shall make her
free.
ti'i'iion wj live. Gu ti
parture fruin the-wurld Jesr’’ told his
disciples that he would send the Com
forter to guide them into all the trutlu
He it is who applies divine' truth to
the hearts-of men, eulighten.s and rec
tifies the conscience, produces convic
tion in the minds of the impenitent,
renews and sactifies the ynilding.
heart.
Under the Gospel the Holy Spirit is
the gra'rd agent in the work of redemp-
Lion and salvation. He uses various
instrumentalities— among those to
whom Christ has not been preached, he
uses the light of nature, the works of
creation, reason and conscience, so
that even the heathen who reject this
light influence are without excuse. la
Christian nations he ^mplo3'S the sa
cred word, the labors 'of missionaries
and teachers of every class. Thus he
ennvinees the w'-orld of sin, righteous
ness and judgment. Nor is he limited
to means, for he has direct access to
the mind and heart. The Holy Spirit
qualifies those who dispense the truth,
aud renders their work effectual- Here
his agenc}' is indispensable. No nat
ural gifts or attainments are suflicient-
No’eloquence of speecli, no powc” of
rlictoric or logic, no perse .',al inf.nancc
will .'.iiffice lo win tbu stubborn heart
th.-.' S-''-ioi''" I'l a T'’'esena-- nf the
i-b'p, >piiit. I'l ‘ .w:
spiritual growth, to intercede with ns
in our prayers, to strengthen our faith
and sanctify all our energies to labor
successfully for God. Without him
we are nothing, and onr labor fruit
less; but with him we are mighty.
It is then of the highest importance
that we know and feel our dependence
on him. Mr. Spurgeon well says;
"Souls arc not saved by systems, but
'by the Spirit. Organizations ’without
the hol3’' Gliost are mills without
'^vind, or water, or steam power.
Methods and arrangements without
grace are pipes ironi a dry conduit,
lamps without oil, banks without cap
ital. Even the most scriptual forms
of church governmont and eff..rt arc
clouds without rain till the power from
on high be ^ven.^’
Much revival effort is lost because it
is not made in the Spirit. Sermons,
exhortations, prayers, are itieffectnal
for the same reason. People wonder
at these failures, but there is no mys
tery. Let the power of the divine
Spirit descend, then every word, every
prayer, every appeal will be impres
sive. Then sinners will feel that Chris
tians aud ministers are in earnest,
believing and realizing the truth they
utter. A single discourse, a'•faltering
prayer, a 5,cn‘.cnce or'w rl v. illsom-i:
li' .'.in- ‘' r'lll r.a entire r.” "r ■ r.nd.sp»>'l
I'oii'.ici.' ■ 1 ■ many he^'.:. i. An'..! thia
’''I'.h gift IS not for a tew oiil}', it is
for all. He is ready to imbue every
heart, and furnish tliem for the great
worlc.
WORK OF THE SITRIT.
The Scriptures never present the
doctriuce of tlie trinit3’ as atheor3', but
always in connection with human re-
I dcmptioii. The love of tlie Father in
DEfkN STANLY ON BAPTISM,
The following summary is given by
tlie Christian Commonwealth as the
views ot tlm late Dean Stanly on the
subject of baptism:
1. Immersion was wisely selected
not only because it was a most delign
ttul, ordinarytaiid salutary observance
but because it was signifi.-antly exn-
ressivG of llie design of baptism. .
2. The word which Ciirist used to
express baptism is literally trsuslated
immersion.
8. Christ iiimselt" was Immersed in
Jordon.
■f. The apostles unifoimally prac
ticed immersion.
Rubsciubf. for the free war. e.vp-
TIST only ^1,50 a year.