Christian
Ad
vocate
o
ISobbitt & Gray 5 Publishers.
Published in the Interests of Methodism in ISTorth Carolina.
Per Annum, in Advance.
Vol. XXI.-N0. 16.
Raleigh, N. C, Wednesday, April 21, 1875.
Whole No. 1,054.
nLaU Jl. v Ji- L
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Selected yoctrji.
R.'linoa and Doctrine.
i;y .mux HAY.
lis stood b 'f ie 1 he Smheiliiit )
i Tb scowling lioiiii l M llilll.
; lie reck-'d not ui tin ; ir .i.-f 111 blame;
There was no le.ir. tiicr.- was ho b ime,
i i or on upon wlise d.izz yd eyes
I The wbok-world poii'. od its v.ist surprise.
i Tii" open be. iv. '11 f r too ueur, --
5 liis liisi d tj's 1 ii lit too sweet and cleir,
i To let him wast ! bis new-sained ken
! Un itie bate-clou led Li e oi men.
1
j lint still they n'lestioneJ, Wii.i art ihou?
I Wb u bii.-t thou beei.V H-u.il art thou now?
Thou art not be w..o yesterday
if.it bere and beeii b 'side tbri wuy ;
For be w is blind.
And I am he.
" Fjr I icai blind, hat nolo I ste.
He. told t!ie story o"er and o'er-
. h was bis l.ill heart's only loie:
A p.ojihet 011 ;!' S ilibaib-day
I iiad ;ouLh. d li;s sigbtless eyes v;lb clay,
And in ide him see wtio bad been blind.
1 Their woids pissed by ban like the wind
I Which rues and iivwls. but c .:i not slio.-k
' The liiii.dieii- ullu u;-iouted lock.
Their tbre is and lury all weut wide;
' I'hey CJ:i! i to; touch nis Hebrew pride.
I Their steels ai Jesus and Lis bund,
Nameless a:id homeless in the land,
Their boa-ls ol iL;ts and bis Lord,
All couid ul eu.trige bim by one word.
1 kti iw not what this nun may be,
jjiauer o.suii.-j but as lor me,
.. U-ie I'a.wi 1 k.iukv. iha I mil be
-- H no ulice was biia i. u-t uow 1 see.
They were all a ctors of renown,
The K-ivat nieu ot a famous town,
W'uU ilci u Liow.-. n r'iLkled. I road, and wi-c
L'eueuib ;u ir wide phylacteiies;
i'he wis loui ot he Li-twas theirs.
And houer clowned iheir silver hairs.
The auu li ey jneii and b ushed to scorn
us iiiiiem Urd. peoi, aid biilii'dy borr
ii.i he knew bettri lar than they
Vi hat c.ime to liiiii :LmI sabbaih- day;
Aad what the CLri.-t ha'i done lor bim
lie knew, i.nd nut the cauhedi im.
iiAiii'ut's Hagazixk ton May,
o m m u n i c a t c ti
For the Advocate.
I HEATEES SALVATION.
BY KEV. E. A. YATES.
I address myself to some further
elaboration of this subject, not be
cause controversy is pleasant, or a
supposed victory an element of re
joicing; but because the general inter
est awakened by the discussion has
led many to solicit niG, by letter and
otherwise, to develop and linish off a
theory, not which "avarice desires to
jbe true," but which they believe to be
clearly in accordance with God's
word.
In Dr. Closs' reply to Bro. Brooks
he uses the following strange lan
guage: '-Your theory is the affirmative
bf a proposition, viz: That the heath
en will be saved without a knowledge
Of the gospel. Mine is the negative
. of that proposition." See Dr. C.'s
la -it article but one.
Now, I cannot believe that Bro.
Brooks over wrote or affirmed any
Bivh strange, not to say nonsensical,
proposition I And I aji sure I never
did. If Dr. Closs maintains "the neg
stive" of such a proposition as that,
he is lighting a shadow and maintain
ikg an abstraction ! And no ambig
uity or sophistry shall prevent me
from drawing out the kingbolt from
the vehicle in which these good breth
ren have shipped their fundamental
error. Bro. Ilobey's thesis was, I
repeat, win the heatheu be saved with
0 it the preached gospel ! Not will
Vv.ij be isareil, but 01,1 itej. His log
ical mind has seen the fallacy of main
tkining the neyatire of this; and he
"grants" that they can bu saved.
' That's enough. That excludes Au
gTiritinianism, Hobbesisin and Calvin- j
igm ! And as to whether the heathen
will be saved wilt cultivate the Di
jne influence will live up to the
lght they have Wto can tell ? Scrip
ture certainlj does not commit itself
to the folly of stating it; and who has
eiimcient knowledge to determine
soch a question f Lst those who
niaintain "the negative" of such a
fruitless, shadowy proposition, study
tie characters of Plato, Socrates,
Seneca, and Cornelius, and then an-
-i
swer. Seneca was a heathen "who
"i
' never heard of the gospel, and yet he
Wrote thus. "Ye do not find felicity
it the veins of the earth, where we
rag for gold; nor in the bottom of the
sea, where we fish for pearls; but in a
pure and untaititod mind, which, if it
Wre not holy, were not fit to enter
tain the Deity." I quote this speci
Eua to show what kind of people are
incontinently consigned to hell !
I In this connection I quote from Dr.
Watson: '-Ve indeed know that all
l:athen are not equally vicious; nay,
tiat some virtuous heathens have been
fund in all ages; and some earnest
afcl anxious enquirers after truth; and
What these were, the rest might have
bleu likewise."' Ins. vol. 2 n.
vf f 1 1 ulso (luote from the words of Je-
S i i
Eis. lie was on His way to heal the
S&k servant of a Centurion u, heath-
cn. This heathen expressed wonder
ful faith in Divine power, and Jetus
said: "I Lave not found so great faith,
no, not in Israel. And I say unto
you, That many shall come from the
east and west, and shall sit down
with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
in the kingdom of heaven; but the
children of the kingdom shall be cast
out." Matt. 8 11. Now this heathen,
Christ teaches, -as.in a better state
than many of the children of the
kingdom, or those who had light and
revelation. "Many from the east and
west," yes. thank God, more of the
heathen will be saved than many will
aumit; but they "shall come," never
theless, and sit down in the home of
the good !
Yet my excellent and venerable
brother Closs maintains that all hea
then Kill be lost that millions upon
millions of immortal souls have been
placed by God where most of them
could never hear the gospel even if
the church did more than its duty,and
yet He will burn them in eternal
lire!
Again: Watson, quoting Wesley,
says: St. Paul "affirms that the Di
vine law had not perished wholly
horn among the heathen; that though
they had received no revealed law, yet
they had a law "written on their
hearts," and that "though they had
not the written law, they were capable
of doing all the things contained in
the law."-- Ins. Vol. 2 jj. 440.
And again: "The possible obedi
ence and possible justification of hea
thens who have no written revelation,
are points therefore distinctly affirmed
by the Apostle in his discussion in the
second chapter to'the ltomaus." Ins.
Vol. 2 p. 44G.
Again I quote Wesley the same
sermon from which Bro. Robey quo
t ,'s "Now God requireth of a heath
en to believe that 'God is;' that He
'is the rewarder of them that diligbnt
ly seekjHim;' and that he is to be
sought by glorifying Him as God, by
giving Him thanks for all things, and
by a careful practice of moral virtue,
of justice, mercy and truth towards
their fellow creatures." Sermon 1st.
"Bequireth" all this "of the heathen,"
for what ? Of course to save him !
But, Mr. Wesley, somebody in North
Carolina will charge ycu with Deism
and Legalism !
Une more passage from Dr. Clarke:
"It is through his influence alone, (the
Holy Spirit) that the Gentiles do the
thinys contained in His own law; and
it is not to be wondered at, that the
work is the same, both in the law and
in the heart, when it has proceeded
fi'om the same spirit. As he is no
respector of persons, all nations are
equally dear to him; and He has grant
ed, and will grant to them such dis
coveries of Himself as have been, and
will be, sufficient for their salvation."
Com. vol. 6 Bom. 2 13. But, Dr.
Clarke, in teaching that God can save
the heathen by discovering himself to
them otherwise than through the
gospel, are you not a Deist ?
Now, Dr. Closs intimates, with some
caution, that the theory of Bro. Brooks
and myself is not the doctrine of the
Methodist Church through her stand
ard authors. And the intimation will
be taken as an argument by a few who
think that age and infallibility are
synonymous terms. I mean no of
fence to Dr. Closs. He is honest but
mistaken. I have given the volume
and page of these standard authors,
and if space would permit, might have
quoted from all to the same effect.
Will Dr. Closs re-investigate this
point, and give us the volume and
page where Wesley, Watscn, Clarke,
or any other "standards" of the Meth
odisfc Church, teach contrary to what
I have quoted above ? We don't want
extracts that simply portray what are
called "the corruptions of heathen
nations," and which were written or
preached for a purpose wholly differ
ent from the subject under consider
ation. We subscribe to most of what
is said in such extracts; but they do
not touch this subject.
Moreover, Dr. Closs seems to sup
pose that he achieves a sublime vic
tory when he convicts Bro. Brooks of
J)eism and myself of Leyalism But
has he yet to learn that the Arminian
argument according to the above
quotations, necessarily makes this
precisely the ground of heathen sal -vation
? Heathen that are saved by
living in obedience to the 'law,' which
our standard authors say, is 4 written
upon their hearts" according to St
Paul's teaching, are of course Deists
or Legalists in that sense. But is it
not as plain as common sense can
make it, that the error and sin of De
ism and Legalism can only exist in a
gospel land where Christ is preached;
and that it cannot possibly exist in a
heathen land. The sin of Deism and
Legalism is the rejection of Jesus
Christ! The heathen do not reject
Christ; for they never heard of him !
Wesley, Watson and Clarke, as I have
quoted them above, teach, as they af
firm by Paul's authority, that the hea
then can be saved by living up to the
light they have, and obeying tho "law
.written upon their hearts." Is that
not "Legalism?'' Of course it is;
but not sinful because they do not
reject the Biblejmd Christ; which re
jection is'absolutely necessary to con.
stitute the sin of Legalism and De -ism.
And how plain it is, that a
Iheodicy is pitiful, not to say con
temptible, which does Dot embrace in
its sweep ot universal provisions of
grace, a variety in its unity of practi
cal processes, suited to the varied
wants of suffering humanity every
where and at all times ! Such a va
ried, unit plan is God's love through
the prism of the Atonement !
That the heathen can be saved, and
the presumptive probability that some
of them are saved, by living, as Dr.
Clarke says, according to the "discov
eeies which God has been pleased to
make of Himself to them," and in obe
dience to the late whicn St. Paul says
is "written upon their hearts," I think
I have abundantly proved, 1st. By
Scripture. 2nd. By the logic of the
subject, and 3d. By our standard au
thors. I must refer the reader to my
former articles.
Now, why send the gospel to the
heathen? The reasons for -it are
Scriptural and Philosophical.
1. The gospel ought to be sent to
the heathen, net because they are all
lost without it, but because they are
saved by it to a higher condition of
salvation. No one who understands
the subject doubts that there are de
grees of happiness in heaven that
men are to "receive the things done
in the body" and be rewarded to a
greater or less extent in proportion
as they have been abundant or other
wise in good works. "I go to pre
pare a place for you" is a sweeping,
grand truth. The place prepared for
a child or an idiot is not as broad and
high in its glorious provisions of
knowing, and doing, and seeing, and
singing, and shining, as the place pre
pared for the Christian Philosopher !
So the place prepared for a heathen
who has lived up to the light he has
had, is not such a place as that pre
pared for Dr. Closs or Bro. Brooks.
But by sending the heathen the gos
pel he can furnish the Saviour the
materials for a place high up in the
eternal home of the good. The Par
ables of the talents and the pounds, as
well as numerous other passages of
Scripture, teach this great truth.
And in this 2rocess of placing the
heathen where they are, and saving
some by a "law written on their
hearts," and others by a gospel sent
by the church, is seen the philosophy
of God's glorious sovereignty in pre
serving the inequalities ofptosition, so
as to evolve the highest Jiajiness from
the reciprocal relation of giving and
receiving good! Dr. Closs attempted
to ridicule this position; but wisely
abstained from an attempt to show its
fallacy. It is one thing to ridicule,
but quite another thing to reason.
Almost anybody can open shop on
the capital of ridicule; but it requires
an investment of a different kind of
metal to maintain or refute by solid
argument a clear and plain proposi
tion. 2. The gospel ought to be sent
to the heathen because, in addition to
saving the soul, ten thousand tempo
ral and eternal blessings follow in its
train. It is alone by the teachings of
Jesus that Woman is taken from the
wretched condition of a slave and
placed in her proper sphere. It was
reserved for the Son of Mary to teach
that woman, in her place of family and
social equality, constitutes the highest
human conservative power over virtue
and civilized life ! The electric tele
graph, propulsion by steam, the in
vention of the printing press, the tes
timony of science to the truth of
God's word, all sprang from a soil
warmed by the Sun of Righteousness,
and watered by the grace of the gos
pel. This is briefly an outline. Dr.
Closs thinks this is contemptible as a
consideration for the death of Christ.
So it would be, if this were all. But
this was only offered as a secondary
reason for sending the gospel to the
heathen.
3. The gospel ought to be sent to
the heathen, because of the beneficial
effect upon the heart of the sender.
Religion is love. Love sends the
heart out to do good to others. Ac
tive love is the practical philosophy
of the plan. "Come ye blessed of my
Father. " Why ? "Because I (or
mine) was hungry and you fed me
naked and you clothed me" Jesus.
But could not God have done all that?
Yes, but it would have deprived the
Christian's heart of the love-developing
process. The heavenly profit of
the act was not lodged in the food and
its receiver; but in the desire and ac
tive communication of the giver.
'Preach the gospel to the heathen,"
and "visit the widows and fatherless
in their affliction," are commands
which of course have different effects
objectively, that is, upon the objects
to be benefitted; but they are one and
the same command in its more im
portant subjective effect uj)on those
who confer the benefit. The com
mand is not given so much mainly to
get relief to the widows and orphans,
for God could carry that and does
carry it if we do not; nor to get ele
ments of salvation to the heathen, for
God will attend to that according to
St. Paul; but the command is given
that a developing process may be set
in operation in the Christian's heart,
transforming him into the "jmage of
Christ from glory to glory."
1. I object to Dr. Closs' theory that
all the heathen who have no knowl
edge of the gospel are damned,because
its tendency is to damage Missionary
collections. In a former article I used
this language: "It is an axiomatic
truth, that incentives and motives to
action, become inoperative and lose
force, in proportion as they are un
reasonable and out of harmony with
God's character. " Now tell a man that
God will damn all the heathen who
fail of receiving the gospel from the
church, and he will reply: "Very well:
that is unreasonable, for many will
die who cannot possibly be reached
by the church, and the few that the
churchjdoing its whole duty, will thus
save by sending the gospel, are, to the
great millions who are lost, as two
grains of sand are to the Ocean's
beach that winds around a world ! It
is therefore a useless expenditure of
money; and I will give my ten dollars
to the poor widow at my door." The
onfy answer to this would be, "One
squl is worth the world. " Very true:
but all men are not theologians, and
are unable to see that point. But, on
the other hand, tell men that the gos
pel saves the heathen to a higher sal -vation,
which is philosophical and rea
sonable that the untold blessings of
civilized life follow the gospel as the
flowers turn their blushing faces, and
the fruits their russet cheeks, to the
glorious suu that sending the gospel
develops the heart of the sender into
the image of Christ and the glory of
godliness; and this being reasonable
and in harmony with God's charac
ter, they are moved to give,if anything
will move them.
2. I object to the theory, because it
indirectly charges God with folly ! If
the theory be true, then it follows that
means have been dvisd by Infinite
Wisdom to ac;omplish a work, which
work could not possibly bo reached
by the means; unless all heathen peo
ple were a continuous, stereotyped
class of humanity standing the same
persons through the ages waiting un
til the church could get them the gos
pel. But millions of heathen are dy
ing daily, and what, therefore, be
come i of those who die necessarily
beyond human power to get the gos
pel to them ? If the church were to
do more than its duty take all it has
and go in a body to heathen lands,still,
millions would die without the gospel,
simply because it would be impossible
to reach but a small number, com
paratively ! If then, these that die
beyond human power to get the gos
pel to them, have no "discoveries of
God," as Dr. Clarke says have no
"law written upon their hearts" suf
ficient to save them no ray of God's
countenance through the prism of the
Atonement to light them to a better
world they must be unconditionally
lost ! Hence, there being millions of
heathen dying absolutely and neces
sarily beyond gospel reach, even if the
church had done in the past, and
were to do now, more than its ac
knowledged duty, it follows, that if
Dr. Closs' theory be true, the means
devised by God for saving the heath
en are manifestly inadequate
3. Lastly: I object to the theory,
that all the heathen without the
preached gospel are losL because its
teulancy is to make infiddsl Tell
men that God is good and just, and
that the Bible is His Revelation.
Then tell them that the Bible teaches
that God has created millions of hu
man beings without their consent,
placed them where lie knew they
would die before the gospel could jos
sibly reach them, and thus depriving
them of all means of escape, con
signs them forever to a hell of chains
and darkness and lire! And the in
evitable conclusion is, either that God
is not just, or the Bible is a falsehood!
For the Advocate.
Messrs Editoks: Thinking that you
would like to hear from Sampson, I pro
pose to give you a few stray thoughts.
In the first place, you will please per
mit me to say that I think the Advo
cate is the best religious newspaper
published in the State. As an ad
vertising medium its wide circulation
makes it equal to any aud superior to
many of our journals. Its reading
matter is so well selected and ar
ranged, that it is of paramount in
terest to every human being who has
the least concern for the soul's salva
tion; being a good educator of both
sexes, old and young. No family
should be wiihout it, the moral influ
ence of its reading matter has a great
tendency to elevate the mind and re
fine the manners. Instead of pox-ing
over trashy novels which poison the
mind and is a great degree corrupt the
manners of the young, why will they
not read tho Bible, Advocate and
other religious works, discarding all
books which contain immorality and
some vainly claiming morality? I
mention this because young people
are too often deluded and led astray
by the trashy novels which are, as it
were, deluging the land. Such a
course of reading has a decided ten
den?y to incapacitate the mind for
nobler pursuits, and trains it to erect
air castles as watchless and injurious
as any other vicious thoughts. A
crusade against this wilful waste of
time would, in my humble opinion, be
an enterprising and praiseworthy cause
for the religious to engage in. Let
the Bible become a guide. We should
read none but select works, golden
sheaves of knowledge, gathered from
the chaff and bound by the reaping
hand.
My humble domicile is within two
and a half miles of Goshen M. E.
Church which tradition says was first
founded by the Hon. Wm. R. King's
father, as far back as 1820; it was also
known as King's Meeting House
when it stood near the banks of Gosh
en Swamp, was afterwards moved to
the preserit site a great many years
prior to the war. Good, old, Uncle
Daughtry planned and under his
supervision a new Church was built
in which two hundred and forty mem
bers now assemble to worship. Un
der the superintendence of judicious
teachers, a flourishing Sunday School
has been in operation several years
doing a vast deal of good in various
ways. But near this monument of
Methodism a Catholic church rears its
lofty roof skyward; some unwary
Methodists have embraced the Romish
belief have vainly striven to convert
their quondam brethr en, boldly as
serting that Romanism is the only
true road to heaven; that Pope Pius
IX is infallibly their only hope of
absolution from sin, and that he is
the God of their fathers.
Father Theiner, the recently de
ceased archivist of the Vatican, in the
course of a correspondence which
found its way into the Cologne Ga -zette,
describes Pius IX as reading
over and over, with unspeakable
pleasure, a satire upon the doings at
tito Ecumenical Council, the Pontiff
holt ;ng both his sides for laughter
at its sallies. This, remarked Theiner,
is quite characteristic of the man and
paints him as he lives, moves, and has
his being. He is a rare phenomenon.
And this man is worshipped by peo
ple claiming to be the offspring of the
Anslo -American race! If the Catho
lics in this locality would read the
above paragraph, which is a sufficient
description of the man, and also suf-
ficent to sicken all meditative minds
with involuntary disgust, would it not
shake their faith in such a dangerous
religious (?) belief
The tornado of 20th March proved
quite destructive in some portions of
this county, but I believe nc one was
killed. A world largely represented
by self righteous people need not be
unduly astonished at any visitation
of a sin avenging God. Who knows
but this terrific storm was sent as a
warning and a reminder that God
reigns supreme and that he is only to
be loved feared and obeyed f If we try
to live as we wish to die all will be
well. The recent inclement weather
has retarded our farming operations,
but at the present writing the weather
is fine, pleasant and lovely. All na
ture is beginning to wear an aspect of
unsurpassing beauty; the blooming
of flowers and sweet carols of innu
merable birds; the continued hum
ming of insects and the lulling sounds
of little rivulets, besides the buds of
the trees are beginning to burst the
tie? which bind up their beauty and
will soon array the forest and fields in
the gorgeous habiliments of spring;
such is superlative loveliness! amii all
this sin is boldly stalking over the
land. May a merciful Providence
save us!
Farmers are at work right manfully
and hope their labors will be crowned
with success. Many wishes for the
success of the cause of Methodis m
and the Advocate.
C.
Tho "World for Christ.
BY BISHOP MARVIN.
I have boen gratified to see so much
sjace in our church papers of late
given to the cause of missions. The
situation is such as to cause actual
alarm, and justify all the earnestness
manifested by the secretaries and the
board. The beard has taken the pre
cautions, indeed, against actual in
solvency, but these precautions are
of a nature that, if the necessity con
tinues, must cast a blight upon our
mission-fields, and by the reaction
damage the spirit of the church at
home. Even the missions already es
tablished must be abandoned or re
duced to a mere cipher, unless our
revenues can be augmented.
I fear there is widespread misap
prehension of the facts as to the de
mands of our work. One of our most
intelligent members, one who takes
a real interest in missions, expressed
great surprise to me tho other day
that cur treasury should be at SO low
an ebb. Upon some conversation I
found that my friend had some infor
mation as to the amount of money
received by the board in the last year,
and also understood about the extent
of our operations in China and Mexico
and among the Indians. The amount
of money contributed Jseemed ample
for the amount of work done. Indeed
so it would be if these we,ve our only
fields. But in this case a large part
of the field was overlooked. It was
not understood that all the German
work, and all the new territory in the
illimitable West had to be supplied
from the resources of the foreign
board. The word foreign suggests
that the work in charge of the board
at Nashville is wholly among the hea
then. Not so . It embraces all the
new country where, if the church is
established at .all, it must be by mis
sionary labor.
Take a map of the United States;
look at that sweep of country that
lies west of the State of Missouri; it
is all new, and much of it very thinly
inhabited. Most of the inhabitants
are emigrants recently gore to a new
country; they have not had time to
accumulate property; they cannot
support preachers, especially as the
church is, as in all new countries,
unorganized; so that the little wealth
there is is difficult to reach for church
purposes. The gospel must be sent to
them from more favored regions,
where the church is already organized
and opulent. The board has never
had one fourth part tie amount of
money needed to supply men of this
field jalone if all foreign work had been
abandoned.
Tbe deliberations of the board at
its annual sessions, ever since the war,
have been, for tbe most part, painful
discussions of two questions: First,
which of these fields before us, white
to the harvest, shall be totally neglec
ted; and, secondly, how little can those
we determined to enter or maintain
ourselves in, do upon? How nearly
canwe approximate nothing and yet
keep the field? Instead of generous
questions of enlargement, looking to
the conquest of the world for Christ,
we have had to look each other in the
face and say: Which of these Mace
donian calls shall we refuse, and how
little must we do where we attempt
any response? Sometimes I can but
wish that every intelligent member
of the church might be on the board
of missions and get the near view of
the crying needs of the work which
wrould be brought to his eyes if he
were in that relation to it.
There is only here and there a mem
ber uf the church apparently alive to
this subject. Here and there a poor
woman devotes the chickens of one
hen to God and his cause. God will
greatly honor this painstaking love of
his poor, and if there were only one
tenth part of all the poor of the church
in this spirit it would swell the reve
nues of the board so as to set forward
the work and cause angels to rejoice.
But, alas! how few there are .
Indeed, so far is the membership of
of the church from being alive to the
demands of the cause that it may well
be considered doubtful if one in twen
ty of the preachers is so. M my of
them certainly are wanting in any
earnest sense of obligation.
It seems impossible that a man who
has himself been saved from hell and
sin, and who has heard the voice of
his Redeemer saying to him. "Go
into all the world and preach the gos
pel to every creature," should be in
different to the missionary efforts of
his church. Is it not cause of alarm
as to the salvation of a man himself
when he comes short of his highest
effort to contribute to the salvation of
others?
Enthusiasm for the conquest of the
world by Christ is a mark of the
genuine spirit of religion. How can
a man who loves and adores Christ be
unconcerned that, after the lapse of so
many ages, a large part of the world
is alien to him? Especially must the
minister of Christ be an enthusiast
for him. If an inspired indifference
to the triumph of the gospel comes to
mark the spirit of the very men call
ed to preach the gospel, death is al
ready at the heart of the church.
Can it be that there are pastors
among us who are content to go
through the official round of duties in
a perfunctory way and get their own
pay, and then go to Conference with -out
a blush, reporting a mere trifle
for missions? At the bar of God they
will blush. One-half the preachers on
fire with the spirit of devotion to
Christ would bring about a glorious
resolution in the church.
Let us wake out of sleep. The Son
of God must conquer the earth. He
will; but if we, as a grand division of
the army of conquest, fail or fall back
and become demoralized, we may
check the onward movement; and,
though we canuot bring final defeat,
another will take our crown.
Enthusiasm for Christl That is the
crying need of the church of our
church to -day-the spirit of Wesley,
the spirit of Paul, the spirit of the
Masterl
The World for Christl May this
become our watchword. 2'he World
for Christl Shame upon every lag
gard in the host! Do something Go
or if you cannot go, give. Go or send.
-JfushviUe Christian Advocate
"What is Believing?
BY HOKATrUS BONAIt, D. B.
'He that believeth is justified from
all things,' we repeated, . (Jowly and
fully, in the ears of an inquirer.
'Are not these the words of God?'
'Yes, but I am none the better for
them.'
'How is that?'
'I don't know.'
'Are the words true words?'
'Yes.'
'Did God mean just what he said
when using them?'
'Yes, certainly.'
'Are we to take the words in their
simple and ordinary sense?'
'Of course we are.'
'Are you doing so?'
'I hope I am.'
'Let us see; for, if you are, I don't
understand why you should still re
main burdened and troubled.'
'But what am I to do?'
'Do? Do the words mention doing?
'No; they sjeak of believing.'
'Anything else?'
'No; just believing.'
'If God had meant anything more,
would he not have said it ? Would he
not have used another word to prevent
mistakes? Did he not use the most
exact and suitable word?'
"Undoubtedly. But how does that
bear upon my case?'
'We shall see. But keep in mind
that God used the world believeth just
because he meant believeth, and did
not wish you to be mystified. He
used two words in this passage (Acts
xiii, 39,) -believe' and 'justify,' and he
used them both in their usual sense;
for if 'believe' does not mean believe,'
then 'justify, does not mean 'justify.'
'Am I, then, to take faith amibeliev
ing just in their usual meaning, as
when they are applied to the things
of man?'
'Of course; for God takes our com
mon words, and applies them to the
things of God, just that we may know
his meaning thoroughly. We think
that we must add something to them
when we use our common words in
connection with religious things;
whereas God wishes us just to under
stand, them always in their usual
sense.'
'Does believing, then, just mean
believing?'
'It does; and if you take it as mean
ing anything else you corrupt the
words of God, and prevent your get
ting the benefit of his gracious words,'
'Is my believing what a friend
writes to me the same as my believing
what God writes to me?'
'It is. And now let me apply this
to the passage referred to a little
while ago. You admit that God says:
'He that believeth is justified from all
things."
'Yes; it is written go.'
'But is it true?'
'It must be so.'
'Why?'
'Because God has said it.'
'Then you believe the statement on
the authority of God himself?'
'I do.'
'Well, he says: 'He that believeth
is justified,' and you say, 'I believe,
but I am not justified. Jfs that the
case:
'No exactly. What I say is: 'I be
lieve, but I am not sure whether I am
justified."
'But in as far as -God's statement
here is concerned, that comes to the
same thing; for he has said that he
that believeth is just fed. So that
you must either say, 'I don't belie ve
and therefore I am not justified,' or,
'I believe, and therefore I am justi
fied." 'Yes; I see that is the alternative.'
'Well, which are you to say? Are
you to consent to what God says, and
come to the conclusion at once, 'I be
lie ve, and therefore lam justified,' or
to contradict God, and say, 'I believe,
but I am not justified,' or, 'I believe,
but I don't know whether I am justi
fied or not?"
'I cannot but consent to what God
says. I dare not contradict him. I
dare not separarte what he has joined
together. It is God that says that 'he
that believeth is justified;' who am I
that I should say, 'I believe, but I am
not justified?"
Is not this, then, the loosing of
your bonds?'
'It is. On God's authority I am
assured that 'he who believeth is jus
tified.' I believe, and so I must come
to the sure conclusion that lam justi
fied.' 'Do not then, separate what God
has joined together believing and
being justified. Remember that the
believing man is the justified man.'
'Have feelings, then, nothing to do
with my justification?'
'Certainly not; else God would have
said: 'Being justified by feeling, we
have peace with God."
'Has regeneration nothing to do
with my justification'?'
'Not, certainly, in the sense of pro
curing it; else it would have been said:
'Boing justified by regeneration, we
have peace with God.'
see it In believing I am justi
and God uses the word believing
fed;
with
the common meaning which I as
a man
attacn to it every day in com-
mon
things.'
'Yes
such is the simplicity of God.
Such
is the simplicity of all his words.
espec
sially of those words on which
our
salvation hangs.'
A Solemn aad Serious Matter.
A Californian, named Aborns tub-
lished the following card in a San
Jose paper:
"notice.
All persons are hereby warned not
trust Marv E. Ahnrtia (m-a nn'fo
to
as she has left my bed and board
WithOUt lUSt C.rmSA fy nrnmuofinn
- v iwnuvuj
and I will not pay any bill contracted
"J "om ana alter this date.
John Ajboens.
San Jose, Feb. 6, 1875."
The wife's reply to this notification
so entirely unique that we give it
is
prominence. Such a calculation of
matrimonial slavery we have never
seen before and never expect to see
am; but as something original and
pathetic, in the way of connubial
mathematics, it deserves all the noto-
iety possible for the benefit of all
whom it may concern. Here is the
document:
'Why am I thus published to the
world? and what human beinir on
earth has the right to do it ?" Let na
look at the facts. I have been the
wife of John Aborns for about ten
years, and lived with him during the
whole of that time the prime of my
life. That makes 3,650 days. Dur
ing mat tune I have cooked about ten
thousand meal of victnal. iha
table as many times, and cleared it off
and washed the dishes. During the
ten years, I have spent between ten
ana nitteen thousand hours over a
hot cook stove, both in Summer and
inter. I have cleaned up and swept
the house for him over ten thousand
times. During those ten years I have
borne to him six children, five of them
now living, the youngest two and a
l. m
nan years old. Besides the pains and
accidents incident to childbirth (which
every mother knows,) what steps,
cares and troubles (to say nothing of
the sickness and anxious thoughts of
my children) it has cost me to bring
them up it is impossible for me to
say; every mother knows it better
than she can possibly tell it In ad
dition to that, I have made all their
clothing (besides my own,) and dur
ing that time I have also made cloth
ing and done sewing for others for
money, which went into the "com
munity" funds; that is, as I under
stand it, all the property made hv tha
husband and wife is community pro
perty, out in reality belons-s to the
husband, and it is called in law 'com
munity property," to take off the
sharp edge of injustice. More than
that during these ten years I have
milked, on an average, three cows
twice a day, which will make about
seven thousand milkings, besides tak
ing care of the milk and making but
ter from it. I have during the whole
of that time, attended to the poultry.
and often have assisted Mr. Aborns in
loading hay, sewing sacks, and even
cleaning out his stable. Now, I have
drawn the picture very mildly. I
have made allowances for my sick
nesses, when I have had help, some
thing after the way that a farmer
would hire a horse, if his own was
sick and unable to work. I had noth
ing when I went there, and nothing at
the end of those ten years of servitude.
x nad nved, it is true, and was very
moderately furnished with clothing.
ihis is all for my labor. What man
is there in the world that would do
the work I have done for the same
compensation? I make this statement,
not out of any feeling of revenge to
Hv Aborns, ior he has done only what
hundreds of others would haye dons.
In many respects he is a good man;
industrious, and, like hundreds yea
thousands of others, honest with
everybody except his own family. I
choose to live with him no longer; my
reasons are my own, And I say again,
what right has he to impair my credit
by publishing me? In the name of all
that is just I solemnly protest against
it Maby E. Abobns."
The bitterest thing, and no doubt
the most truthful, in the above protest
is the statement that the man was
"honest with everybody except his
own family." And that very lack
stamps him as a brute of the first
(muddy) water, whose published word
cannot discredit a wife so abundantly
able to answer his card.
I have no hesitation in attributing
a very large proportion of some of the
most painful and dangerous maladies
which come under my notice, as well
as those which every medical man has
to treat to the ordinary and daily use
of fermented drink taken in the quanti
ty which is conventionally deemed
moderate. Sir Henry Thompson.
Oxe may live as a conciueror nr a.
king or a magistrate; but he must die
a man. The bed of death brinw
every human being to his pure indi
viduality, to tho intense contemnlation
of that deepest and most solemn of all
relations between the creature and.
Creator. Webster.
'I