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Offlsar's Dues, or Our Duty to Civil Got-.
, 7 . eminent ' . ' s
4 " by'rev. j.'r. "JONES. '
-i , " - ' , --.' , u 'j m " t: i
" ' Render, therefore, unto Qtesar the things which
are Caesar's." Matt 82: 21.
This text, which is a part of the reply of
Jesus to a question propounded by the Phar
isees, with which they hoped, hut did not
succeed, to " entangle him in his talk,"sug-!
gests the-subject that I want to consider.!
Csosar in this passage represents civil gov
ernment. 1 Let us notice the fact, . . v
L THAT WE ARE UNDER OBLIGATION TO CIVIL;
GOVERNMENT.
.This is true because of the benefits we de
rive irom, it. f Its object is to protect our;
rights our lives, property and liberty, and
to help us inJ many ways. ' But for its pro-,
tection there would be for us no security, ;
no peace, no happiness. ' We retire at night
to rest and sleep without f fear; or 'even i
thought of being molested and harmed dur
ing the night, because the government has
placed around our homes a strong and ever
watchful guard, y Our Bleep is sweet and re--freshing;
because we fear no danger. At
every corner of our possessions, it has sta,
tioned a sentinel who says to the would be
intruder: 'Thus far shalt thou come and
no further and he dares not approach!
nearer for fear; of arrest and punishment!
We have rights that are natural and sacred!
that are protected. . It says to him who at- ;
these rights, "Hands ofl.w And so about
them is set a hedge that cannot be crossed
without punishment to the offender. ; For!
these ana other benefits the government has
claims upon us, that we as citizens must
satisfy or be untrue. r , , ,
' 1 il. WHAT ARE THESE CLAIM8 f , . . ' j
i;' Obedience. It would hardly seem neces-!
sary to stop at this point, but there seem o
be some loose notions in regard to obeying
laws held, even by people who are consid-j
ered clever citizens, liuch, for instance, as;
this t l'The law ia ft bad one; I was opposed
to its being enacted, and did what I could,
against it, and, therefore, I do not eel un
der obligation to keep iL'iWjth feelings of
' this sort, some can, with easy consciences,
run illicit distilleries, or deal in unstamped
tobacco, or violate otiier laws. . Whether the
laws are what we would have them be or
not, so long as they do not interfere with
" conscience ;in : religious matters,l we are;
.bound by considerations of the best interest ;
' of the country, and the? fact that such obe-j
dience is enjoined in the Scripturesv to obey;
' them. For the general welfare of the coun-j
try, obedience to a bad law is better than its
violation.,, Paul in his letter to the chris
tians in Rome says i"Let every soul be sub
ject unto the higher powers: for there is no
power but of God : the powers that be are
ordained of God. . Whosoever, therefore, re
sisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of
God; and they that resist shall, receive to
themselves damnation." (Rom.' 13 : 1, 2.) ;
rln. he av8 1 "Therefore, ve must needs
be subject, not only for wrath; but for con
science' sake.? (Verse 5.) In his letter to
Titus, he writes: "Put them in mind to be
subject to principalities and powers to obey
magistrates,1 to be ready to every good ;
work.", (Titus S 1.) The Apostle Peter, in
his first letter, exhorts the brethren as fol
lows ; "Submit yourselves to every ordi
nance of man for the Lord's sake : whether
It be to the king as supreme, or unto gov
ernors, as unto them that are sent by him.,
(1 Peter 2: 18, 14.) In view, of this instruc-
tion, I cannot see how any reasonable per
son, especially a christian, can be otherwise;
than entirely submissive. From $bese Scrip-
tures we learn that law is to W obeyed, not
, only because it is best for the country, nut
on the gTound that government is an ordi
nance of God, and that it is to be obeyed
not only from ; fear of punishment, but for
conscience sake.' , To violate law, then,-Is
not only to sin against government, ; but
against God, and - to do violence to con
science, i Personal objection to law does not
give the right to violate itfcf Laws are made
by our representatives and are our laws, and
whether they suit out: own notions exactly
or not, to be good and worthy citizens we'
must obey them. Let us all, then, in respect
of obedience, be faithful and true to jCeesar. j
, . 2, iTonpf .,Peterfhip i , his, letter, to chris-t
tlana, exhorts, hem $0 jf. honor the king.?'
That for us means to honor the government.!
This must be done if for no other reason than
that it is an ordinance of God. To dishonor!
it is o dishonor God. All conduct, there-j
fore, that; reflects "upon, the honor of., our;
government should be, rebuked by all good,
citizens. Iam sorry to see that lynching is;
becoming more and more common in ourj
country, and that encouragement is given to
it by some4 of our respectable newspapers.
V Lynch law!!, is a most palpable; reflection;
upon, our government, ana in a high degree:
dishonoring to it, and, when carried to its'
jodcali.reaults.woulddestrby all, law; and
praer and bring anarchy , and ruin. vv j
;vThe same is true of, "mob law,! . No man;
nor band of men has the .right, under any:
circumstances where there is law, to take;
the . law into their own hands .and take the:
life ofla feliowcitizenrvjl know that now
and then a crime is committed that; seems;
to justify lynching, but it does not. C And!
whatever ; 6ome men may think of 'such a
Sroceeding, I believe that in the eyes of;
od it is murder. We have laws to reach;
all crimed and j astyre value security and!
good order, and; respect the laws of God, we
must let these laws take their course, find:
bring offenders to justice and to punishment, i
Public sentiment, instead of winking at such
a crime in any way, should crush it .down
and out ' of existence if . possible. No good
citizen should ever utter a word that can be
interpreted as favoring it. , '. fJ :'C; 'i
, There are other ways of dishonoring gov-;
ernment that might be mentioned, but I will i
not do it now. I have said this much on the
crime of . lynching because, its toleration is
such a black spot on our civilization. .",
8. Financial support. No government can .
be administered without expense. , Men who ;
give their time and labor, to it must be paid i
for their services, v Naviei muit be kept op, :
public buildings erected and kept in repair, j
public schools supported where there are
any, and also other public enterprises ; and
all pf these things are to be supported put of
the public treasuries. Now the money that
goes into these treasuries must come, from ;
the people, and it is the duty of every cid
zen except such as, are exempVto.pay his
proportional part into the treasuries. When
the government is economically adminis
tered, the benefit we get from it fully com-
Ensates us for its cost. .To dodge the tax- -ter
and collector, and in this wavj get out
of paying taxes, or to fail to render a full;
account of our taxable property for taxation
may be considered a sharp trick, but it is
cheating the government out of its just dues,
treating our fellow citizens; with injustice,;
sinning against God, and wronging our souls.
Cheating is cheating whether an individual
or a government is the victim rWe are to
'pay tribute to whom tribute is due, cos-'
torn, to whom custom.'' (Rom. 13: 7 ) Gov-'
ernment should be economically adminis j
tered, 'and no more money than is actually j
necessary to so run it ought to be required :
of the people. ,, An extravagant disposition;
of public funds is unjust to the taxpayers, !
ana when disposed of for party purposes, it
is a shame, a disgrace, a crime, and a sufll- ;
cient reason to put the party so using it to.
the blush. . But when an amount necessary ,
to run the government properly is palled for,
we ought not to mind paying our part c7 it.
jfodeed, to be honest, we must dolt. ,v ' . ;
; i i D To make the government the best posty
ble. If God has ordained that civil govern
ment shall exist, it is man's duty to, render
it as pure and efficient as possible. . He has
not ordained any particular form, but that
best suited to the people to be governed ac
cords with; his will. . Now the, only way to
make 'bur government pure and efficient is:
to fill its offices with men qualified in heart
as well as in head. I want to see the time
when our affairs of State ahall be intrusted
to only good men, men honest and true,
Jarge-hearted and brave, men who lose sight
of party and self interest in their concern
for, the welfare of their conntry when in
trusted as public officers with its Interests.
Now I hear somebody say, Yptt will never
see that day." Well, it may be that I shall
not; but for such a day we ought to work.
No man who is full of sectional or par
tisan feeling is fit to make laws, ,nori& he
fit to execute them, and no such mettrare
worthy of being brought to the front in po
litical affairs, tii'.
v At this time when political excitement is
so great, and party feeling ; or prejudice ; is
coming to the , surface, there- is danger of
being more Interested in jthe iuccess. of
party than in the welfare of the country.
We want good : laws, but we cannot depend
upon bad men to make them. . We want
these faithfully executed, but we cannot de
pend upon bad men to do it Good men
make good laws, s and gbod laws honestly
executed make good government and happy
people. " When the righteous are in an?
thority, the people rejoice but when the
wicked beareth rule, , the people mourn,!'
(Prov. 29: 2.) :i So let us act wisely 4n .the
exercise of our suffrage, and try to select
only good men to be our law-makers and
rulers. Now and then you will come across
a person who says he has quit voting.' Politics
have become so corrupt, and times get no bet
ter whether one party or another js in pow
er, and so he has become disgusted with the
whole thing and quit. Now that is not wise
or right, ft is true, If we are christians, our
"citizenship is in heaven"but so long as
we live in this world' and In this country,
we are American citizens, too; and as bene-
ficiaries' of the American government, we
are under the most binding obligation to be
faithful and true to it in every particular,
and nowhere do we have, a, better bpportu-
.... 'A .4 A. a ll tl.A
nity to correctjia errors inan as .tne, pons.
Yes, let us in every proper way use our best
efforts to make the government the best pos
sible and thus discharge Our duty as citizens
and christian citizens. If there is corruption
in the government, let Us try to get it ou( f
; 5. Our prayers. In his first letter to, Tim
othy, Paul said,' I exhort,' therefore, that
first of 'all,' supplications."1 prayers; interces
sions; and giving of thanks, be made for all
men; for kings, and, for all that are : in au
thority; that we may lead a quiet and peace
able life in all godliness and honesty." (1
Tim. 2: 1, 2.) For all the officers of our
government from the lowest to the highest
it is our duty to pray, and .frequently pas
tors should, in their public prayers in church,
lead the congregations in Buch praters. The
responsibilities on many of them are heavy, :
their duties laborious, and to some of them
.temptations Jto do wrong, are great and not
easily resisted. Let us pray for their health,"
their lives, and that they may be able to re-
sist every temptation to evil, and be divinely
guided in the; discharge of duty.swcir
; j Yes, we a?e indebted to Cflesar : let us ren
der unto him . the things which are his, and
thus be true and faithful citizens; and may
God help us so to do.t'-?? )iK:'A
Letter from 'EevV, G. P. Bostick,
v r- jtroi Batieyyt have read in the RE- !
OOBDEB of March 80th Bro. 'Durham's ac-i
count of our resignation to the Foreign Mis
sion Board and his reasons (?) for the step.
Will you kindly allpw; me a statement re
garding the whole .matte in your paper,
including my reasons for the course I have
pursued. ' V''-'-
:, Bro. Durham says that a meeting was held
in Shelby, March 25tb, $ot consider my prop
osition. Bro. Sproles, the Secretary of that
meeting, gave me the names of twenty -three
churches out of thirty composing the Asso
ciation, as represented in said meeting. On
the copy of the resolutions sent me, he said,
"This settles thamattef.'! , " ' V .
This led me to some study as to whether
that meeting was representative or not. I
see that the meeting only ? recommended to
the churches. Thelocal churches, to which
I addressed my appeallhave an aggregate
membership of more than four thousand. I
think the meeting in Shelby could not have
had more than- four hundred in perhaps
not so many, . But perhaps it was a dele-.
gated meeting, and so really represented the
churches. ; Thirteeni however,f.out of the
twenty-three - churches, said to be repre
sented, hold regular monthly meetings, ac
cording to the minutes of the Association,
only for the first or fourth Sundays in each
month and Saturday before." The "Shelby
meeting was held on Friday before the fourth
Sunday in March, and my appeal to the in
dividual local churches of tne Association
reached Shelby on Thursday before the first
Sunday In March. S that all these thirteen
Churches could not have ordered any action at
& regular meeting, and there were seven other
churches that were not even claimed to be
represented. , But perhaps the pastors and
brethren felt at liberty to act for these
churches, but does that certainly settle the
?uestion for them t It does seem to me that
or me to appeal to the local churches is
more in accordance with the New Testament
idea as understood by Baptists than was the
action of "the few brethren" in Shelby.- I
ask Baptists to judge for themselves. It
seems to me at this distance that there was
some unwillingness to allow the subject to
come before the local churches. It , also
seems to me that matters were hurried in
order to have Bro. Durham In the meeting;
at any rate, that no member of that meeting
has the right to accuse me of acting hastily
in the matter, I decided a year ago to take
this step ere long; and 1 took ! the step after
most earnest, candid prayerful considera
tion of the question for six montbs. My
father, S. E. Bostick, knows that, I wrote
him last October my intention to resign and
depend directly Upon the churches. Bro.
Bell also knows that I gave intimation to
him nearly a year ago of the same intention.
Now the action of the Shelby meeting was
just twenty-one days after my letter reached
Shelby, and it must be first printed and dis
tributed to widely separated churches. ? ?
?4- Whose :fuon.th-WU.inost..hastyt I
want just here to say, too, that my action
was not the result of the Board's resolu
tions, but only hastened, by them. The idea
has been put forth that I resigned' because
of these resolutions. f, This is utterly untrue.
I decided to reslgn before I wrote the article
that gave rise to the resolutions. ' ; : .'. -:
Bro. Durham siys in regard to the resig
nation : "Bro. Bostick went to China three
years ago, and was; from the beginning of
his work there, as it seems, under the .in
fluence of the erratic tDrI Crawford Dr.
Crawford for about six years has not been
connected with ! our Board,? ' , In this lan-
Sage is contained two erroneous statements:
it, that I have from mf arrivkl here been
under the influence of Dr, Crawford; second,
that Dr. Crawford for six years has not been
connected with our Board. As to mistake
first, I desire to say that I reached Tung
chow, July 18th, 1889, and Dr. Crawford
reached America about the sametime, and I
bever saw him till he returned July 8th, 1890:
and had no communication' whatever with
him; except a short note left In Yokohama in
which he did not mention mission methods.
Mistake second. I do not know why Bro, D.
said this,' but I know thatit Is! not correct,
because (1) ihe same mail that brought Bra
D.'s accusation brought also a letter from
Dr. Tapper to Dr. Crawford, informing him
that his name was dropped because of a
tract " Churches to the Front,? which he
had recently written and : circulated ; (2) ; I
am now treasurer of the - missions and find
in the, books that regular appropriations for
salary and , wprk i were made by the Board
for Drv Or up to end of 18b3, He did resign
Ms ; salary and responsibility fori regular
.work early in 1889,. but he has since dene
much regular preaching, which has.been re
ported to the Board; (3) he has been chair
man in our mission meetings most of the
time since he returned in '1890. '4iMrt yi'ti
I desire now to say that I and . the other
Jbung . missionaries coming here recently
ave come with an idea that Dr. Crawford
was about half crazy; and I believe that all
of them; would unite with me in saying that
this aged servant of God is badly misunder
stood and grossly misrepresented at home.
With me this idea that he . was . wrong was
strengthened by a remark made to me by an
officer of the Board the; day I was received
to the effect that Dr. C. was not in harmony
with our work, but that by special effort I
could get along with him. All this made us
glad that we were to get to housekeeping
before ho returned. 'This Ve had arranged
to do early in June, 1890, but a few days
before that, God called my dear wife up to
her home on high, and so I was left by this
providence in the home of the Crawfords for
another year and a half. 1 I was; surprised to
find that I could get along so easily with
binu ,f This erroneous, idea about Dr. ; C
seems to be in the atmospbere at home, and
somebody is responsible for it I do not be
lieve that the simple i proclamation of his
views would give Buch aa idea. I wish to
say that coming in contact with him, strong
ly, prejudiced against him as I was, and hav
ing lived with him for a year and a half,
gives me 1 a right to an opinion about the
nun. t Certainly it does seem that I should
be as well qualified to speak: as those who
have never seen him, or. at most only for a
few days, and yet who speak so strongly
against him. He will soon go up to heaven
to await the coming of those who have said
so many harsh things about him.' I do feel
that if many others could have lived with
him for a time they would have been saved
from many unkind and I think untrue words
about him, ,
; Bro. D. says: Bro; Bostick's resignation
is only the culmination of a number of un
fortunate circumstances for which the Board
in Richmond and the churches of the King's
Mountain Association' were in no way re
sponsible and over which they had no con
trol" I: do not certainly know exactly
what he means by '"unfortunate circum
stances," bnt I suppose he means the death
of my wife and , tne consequent separation
from my. only darling child. , If, that be his
meaning, then l am just finding out that
God's children are to look upon the dealings
of a loving Father as " unfortunate circum
stances.!' ; My creed is different from that
Those were days of deep sorrow, and yet I
know that I realized the precious presence
of the Holy Spirit as I never did before. If
I know anything, I do know that in those
days I was drawn nearer , to God, and that
those , "unfortunate ; circumstances !' ; did
turn out to my spiritual good; - It all made
me more anxious to know and do God's will.
My days of purest joy have been my days of
keenest: sorrow.- Now, if my resignation
"is the result of all these. circumstances,!'
then I shall be'all the more assured of God's
guidance in it all, and thank God for the
circumstances, i' ' 4 i . '.eZ
: Has he any arguments against my posi
tion ? Then why not use them ! I know it
is much easier to cry an individual down as
"erratic,1' "crank,!' and thus cover up his
cause, than to meet with arguments his ar
guments; but I hava not found such the
most Christ-Uke'nor the best logic ' Let us
come to this question with arguments, and
not thrust off the discussion by a few words
like crank," ", hasty action," 7" soured,"
&c. If my statements in "circular letter"
are wrong; who is willing to prove them in
correct t If they are false; somebody can
show them to be so surely.
Now, I desire briefly to give the develop
ments that have led up to oar resignation.
My sainted wife and I heard Dr. Y. J. Allen
of Shanghai lecture at length in Durham in
1888, concerning his school work in Shang
hai. We agreed heartily that his work was
not our idea of mission work. The Recor
der stated substantially our ideas the next
day 1 after he lectured in Raleigh. ' We
reached Japan to find that much of mission
work consisted in that like his free schools
run in style, with, the graduates often em
ployed to do religious work to save them to
the churches. ' This made ours, to many pe
culiar' views, stronger. In Shanghai we
saw much to further confirm, us; and we
lived in Tungchow by the side of one of the
best Bchools in China and could see for our
selves. Mrs. B. wrote over, the; nom de
plume "The Modem Paul" an article for
the Recorder,' showing ow;; disgusting to
her were some of the methods pursued. - As
my views developed, I wrote them to the
Board and to individuals, v ;The usual reply
from the Board was to the effect that these
matters were none of my business, and in
dividuals would say that these are matters
for the Board: So it went on till about a
year ago; ah officer of the Board wrote me
a very strong and earnest letter exhorting
me toithroWjOfluDr; Crawford's influence,
and making accusations against him which
he failed utterly to substantiate.,. He said
Dr. C. went on attacking the Board in j !
lie and private and yet, continued to hold a
position under and draw a salary from it.
It was this last sentence that caused me to
decide 1 to sever my i, connection from V. 3
Board. .Why f ; ; Because I failed to c ,1
proof of any of the attacks alleged a?;air: t
Dr. C.;1 unless to express views dillertnt
from those held by the Board be considered
an attack. The officer in his. reply to or
reply failed still to give any proof of such
attacks except his own declaration. I did
find recorded in printed document what I
think might be construed as attacks on Dr.
C.-V. Here, then, was my situation : .I must
cease to be connected with the Bosrd or de-.
cide never to advocate any views" d i fferent
from theirs; or else do so at theiok of be
ing accused , of making attacks .and still
taking salary from them.' : .. k:,':J -
My views of mission policy had then be
come strong, convictions principles which
I felt I must advocate. . Hence my decision"
and resulting action, f jlhad not yet tvritttn
the drttcle ichich gave rise to the Board's res
oluUons. Deciding to resign led me of course
to think what I should do to continue my
God-given work. ; My, mind fell upon the
Slan for churches, or groups of churches, to
0 their own work. I I believed such to be
Scriptural, and hence practicable. This plan
I wrote to the , Board, asking them to turn
their attention to bringing such relation be
tween churches and missionaries. The officer
towhom .it was sent, I suppose, failed to
present it to the Board. He replied. "I do
.not .think your plan will work." I wrote
this to the . Board now about nine months
ago. Thus my views have developed. " I
believed, therefore haye I spoken" and acted.
Discuss the question and do not slap at me. .
XdJ am curious to see how the people are to
account for Bro. D. W. Herring's views, so
similar to mine and with which I am in
heartiest sympathy, especially since he has
neither lost his wife; nor been compelled to
eparate from his only child nor lived with
Dr. Crawford. He lives five hundred miles
from us, and communication is seldom.
;,.' I ask .my brethren to read carefully my
statements, and then judge if my resigna
tion is the result of "a number of. unfortunate-circumstances
" , I earnest' Jc&ire to
be and do right , ,
I should not have said the words about
Dr, Crawford I have, but for the fact that
he was made responsible for my sins (?). I
know his name in this letter so frequently
will not give it strength with the people,
but I am for truth and justice before succesg.
i ; I stand ever ready to turn from any error
when convinced that I am wrong, but slaps
and cuts and utter disregard for arguments
are by no means convincing to me, except as
they convince me of - the weakness of the
cause of my opponents. . :
Praying God's blessings upon all and that
we may ever seek and find right paths,
. - I am yours in Christ,
. . ' " t - - G. P. Bostick.
Chefoo, China, May 16, 1893. .
V ' Please Keep Before the People,
Resolutions of thb Centennial Committee
v - or the Socthibh Baptist Convention.
;.', Adopted June &Jd and 23d, 18(CJ.
t'i. - .
Resolved, That-it is the sense of this Com
mittee that the words " Permanent Centen
nial Fund of $250,000," as . U'sed in our last
report to the Southern Baptist Convention,
were not intended to designate an endow
ment fund the interest of which only Ehall
be used, but a fund for "Bible translation,
chapel building, a church edifice fund, and
other permanent work," If, therefore, any
donor of a special sum shall see fit to direct
that his gift be invested and only the inter
est be expended, his wishes must be sacredly
observed, but without such specific direc
tions these gifts will be turned over to the
Board for the benefit of their work, and the
Boards will be authorized and expected to
expend, the said funds, as occasion may re
quire, in work of a permanent character
connected with their missionary operations.
, : Resolved, That this Centennial Committee
Respectfully recommend to the Boards to 1. 3
all proper methods, by circulars, by instruc
tion to their agents, and by use of their own
publications and the denominational papers
generally, to make clear to all our brethren
that Centennial contributions may be cit' -for
the support and enlargement cf t'
present work oftheBoardsorfort1''
permanent work at the option cf t ..
and that it is understood that only then r
tributlons specifically designated for th 1
ter fund will be put to the credit cf 1
fund. 1 -
, ; , , , . ,
, - Resolved, That the represent
Committee be hereby instruct 2 1, i , '
Ing the interests and claims cf t' (
nial, to emphasize the Idea cf c 1
rations as well as; tha rai; '1 a
permanent work, and to j tri .
uplift our peoplo to a 1:: ' - ; '
for Christ and giving sj: t :
"promotion of Lis cauea.
-,f Richmond, Va.
Kec ir
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t' :
eye
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ive, a--1
lie tl
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