tortf,splntbntrt.
FROM OUR EAST TENNESSEE COR
RESPONDENT,
Revival in the Church of Rev. John O. Smith,
E. D.. Thishington—Revivals in East Ten
ne.sste: at Xew Market, Spring Place„
Forest Mil, Concord, and Jacksboro—
Many Returned Soldiers' among the Con
verts-14pectant Churches-- Schools and.
Colleges—An Address Worth Searing.
MARYVILLE, E. TENN., Nov. 28, 1865.
Mn. EDITOR :—I neglected to mention,
in my last letter, an interesting meeting
I attended in Rev. Dr. Smith's Church,
Washington City. It was a protracted
prayer-meeting. The pastor believed
that sqme in his congregation were ready
to press into the kingdom, if the Church
would only give them welcome, and
Christians were invited to come together
and pray and labor for this object. The
meeting was well sustained night after
night. Almost every evening some rose
to ask Christians to pray for them. On
communion Sabbath, a number were re
ceived on profession of faith ; and as
Christians had a mind to work, and the
pastor had faith to toil on, the meetings
continued. Rev. Mr. Wiswell, of Wil
mington, has been aiding, and preaches
with great acceptance and power. How
many other churches might be revived,
if they only bad faith to plead for the
blessing
REVIVALS IN EAST TENNESSEE.
A glorious work of grace is in pro
gress in tl* Church of Bro. Grilles at
New Market. It was at this place that
Dr. Kendall met with us in Synod and
talked to us of Home Missions. It was
here that he preached to us one of his
strong Gospel sermons, full of unction
and power. There are over sixty in
quirers, and many are rejoicing in hope.
Rev. R. P. Wells and Rev. Wm. Lyle
have assisted at the meeting. You have
already reported the result of the meet
ing in the Spring Place Church, near
Knoxville, under the charge of Rev. E.
N. Sawtell.
Rev. T. J. Lamar, whom you met at
the General Assembly, has just closed a
revival meeting atvolForest Hill, near
Maryville. On Sabbath last we had
communion, and received fifteen persons
on profession of faith and one by letter.
Sortie eight or ten others hope they have
passed from death unto life during the
meeting. Rev. Dr. Heacock, of Buffalo,
was with us, and took a deep interest in
the progress of the work. He preached
thirteen sermons to the people, who kept
coming night and day to hear the word.
The Doctor's labors were much appreci
ated and greatly blessed. A protracted
meeting will commence to-night in Clover
Hill Church, six miles from Maryville,
and we hope for good results.
The Cumberland Presbyterians are'
bolding a revival meeting at Concord,
sixteen miles from Knoxville ; and many
souls are being born into the kingdom.
I attended a Baptist revival one even
ing last week at Jacksboro, Campbell
County. Twelve men—three-fourths of
whom had been Union soldiers, and
about twenty women, came forward for
prayer. A number had been converted,
and the work was progressing with
great power.
Surely we have reason to thank God
for what he is doing, and to work all
the more faithfully in His vineyard. The
public mind is pervaded with the idea
that there is to be a general and wide
spread revival of religion throughout the
land. A million and a half of men un
der arms, exposed to fatigue, sickness
and death almost every hour for years,
have made many promises, if God would
spare them till the close of the war, that
they would improve the first opportunity
they had to consecrate themselves to his
service, and hence they throng the altars,
and swell the number of those who seek
and find salvation. It is a grand time
to test the power of the Gospel of Christ,
and to advance to new victories for the
glory of the Master.
EXPECTANT CHURCHES
Some of our vacant churches have
been supplied with the ministry of the
word. Rev.. P. J. H. Myers is laboring
at Dandridge ; Rev. J. Griffes at New
Market; Rev. W. W.,Thorpe at Athens,
and Rev. R. P. Wells at Knoxville, and
they are each doing a good work. But
Jonesboro and Rogersville, and Timber
Ridge, and Harrison, and Liberty Hill,
and Russelville, and many other places
are waiting hopefully to have Dr. Ken
dall send them men to break unto them
the bread of life. We need a man at
Tazewell, and one should be stationed
also at Jacksboro and Clinton. Three
are needed at once for the vacant
churches in this county. Meanwhile
the Sabbath-schools are preparing the
way for precious ingatherings by and by.
SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES
No part of the South had more school
houses before the war than East Ten
nessee, and, under the impulse of a new
era, schools and academies are reviving
with vigor and hope. Mr. Payne, a
graduate of Yale College, has charge of
the academy at Knoxville, and already
he has sixty pupils. Two hundred effi
cient educators from the North could
find remunerative employment this win
ter, if they were on the ground. I have
been applied to for at least half the
number, and many school-houses are
vacant because the teachers are not to
be had. A gentleman and his wife
might build up a good school at Jacks
boro, Campbell County. A commodious
academy is ready to receive them. If
a minister, he would be all the more ac
ceptable. The Arne may be said of
Clinton, Anderson County. A gentle
THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1865.
man of Clinton told me, if I could send
them a good teacher, he would ensure
him a large and self-sustaining school.
Can you not send some Christian educa
tors to these places?
Colleges are not rallying so . rapidly as
the local schools and academies. Emory
and Henry College, Southwestern Vir
ginia, is opened under Methodist auspi
ces, but its rebel complexion does not
snit our loyal lgethodists of Tennessee.
The Cumberland Presbyterian College
is revived. The Baptists, too intent on
numbers, like the Episcopal Convention,
have ignored the guilt of treason in
many places, (though in others they are
true and genuine), and their colleges
will revive slowly. Maryville College,
under the care of the Synod of Tennes
see, was utterly broken down by the
war. Its president went neck and heels
into the rebellion, and the funds are
scattered and the library gone to the
four winds. The Synod, however, has
determined to set the institution in mo
tion again, and some time between this
and next summer its doors will be open
for the reception of students. It could
gather more pupils than ever before, if the
teachers and funlls were at command.
ADDRESS 01' REV. DR. HEACOOR
Dr. Heacock delivered an address to
the Young Men's Christian Association,
at Knoxville, on his way home. It was
free, outspoken, and manly. The trim
mers may not have approved all he said,
but those who love true Wndependence,
and who wish to have a conscience void
of offense •toward God and toward men,
thank him for it. Five years ago and
he would have been mobbed for such an
address, but now even the " poor whites"
have found out there is a God in Israel,
and we all do well to tremble before Him.
Yours very truly, SAMUEL SAWYER.
LETTER FROM CHINA.
Ftra Ciuw, August 15, 1865
In previous letters I have given brief
sketches of the Mohamedans, Nestorians,
and Jews in China. To complete the
series, I will now speak of the Romish
and Christian missions, making use, in
describing the former, of the admirable
narratives in the " Middle Kingdom,"
and closing with some remarks perti
nent to the subject.
THE ROMISH MISSIONS
The thirteenth century is the first
grand epoch of these missions, and the
name of John De Monte Corvino the
only one of note. Pope Nicholas IV.
first sent him to Tartary in 1288 whence
he made his way into China in 1292,
and soon found sturdy opponents in the
Nestorians. Clement V. made him
archbishop in 1307, and sent out to him
seven assistant bishops.
The second epoch is 1581, when
Ricci established liithself at Canton, to
1736. This Ricci was most indefatiga
ble in his efforts, and was very highly
esteemed by the Chinese for his scien
tific learning. In 1601 he went to Pe
kin, and was soon joined by other Jes
uits. He died in 1610. Many Domi
nicans and Franciscans, during this pe
riod, flocked to the Celestial Empire, and
soon, by their zealous efforts, Romanism
flourished under the broad shadow of
imperial favor. It is said that in Ricci's
time, a noble lady, named Candida, was
converted to the faith, and showed her
sincerity by erecting, at her own ex
pense, thirty-nine churches in different
provinces, building dwellings for priests,
and printing one hundred and thirty
books prepared by the fathers. Many
names of note appear in this epoch.
John Adam Schaal, a German Jesuit, in
168 ranked among the magnates of the
empire, and was appointed President of
the Astronomical Board by Shinchi, the
first of the Manchu emperors. This
Schaal had the title and authority of a
mandarin of the first grade, with the
distinctive badge of a crane on the
breast. By his influence fourteen other
missionaries were introduced, among
whom was the celebrated Verbiest.
But a period of persecution succeeded
this sunshine during Kanghi's minority.
The four regents, provoked, doubtless,
by the Jesuitical proclivities for politi
cal intermeddling, threw Schaal and
others into prison, heaping on them
chains, scorn, and cruelty. Schaal died
of age and infirmity in 1669, when the
illustrious Kanghi dismissed the regents
and recalled Terbiest and his colleagues.
And now succeeded the golden era of
Romanism. The haughty Verbiest
carried matters with a high hand. He
pointed out errors in the calendar, which
covered his Chinese adversaries with
shame and caused them to be imprisoned.
Made President of the Astronomical
Board, he threw out the intercalary
month which had been erroneously in
serted irithe calendar, though it had al
ready been published throughout the
empire with high official sanction. The
exasperated Council begged him to spare
their reputation. His reply was, "It is
not in my power to make the heavens
agree with your calendar ; the useless
month must be taken out." He might
have made the needed correction in the
following year, but he could not omit
the opportunity to humble his political
enemies. Kanghi advanced the Jesuits
to the highest honors, showed them more
favor than his own officers, and in 1692
published his celebrated edict, declar
ing that " the Christian religion is good,
and on no account to be hindered." In
1700 the Jesuits, by their medical skill,
cured him "of a dangerous malady, and
thus greatly enhanced their prestige. In
1703 they had one hundred churches
and one hundred thousand converts in
Kiangsi, Kiangsu, and Nganhui. And
these were Rome's palmy days in China.
Soon the scene again shifts, ftr early
in the eighteenth century commenced
those fierce contests between the Jesuits
on the one hand, and the Dominicans and
Franciscans on the other. These charged
those with extreme laxness in doctrine,
with making little difference tetween
themselves and the heathen, neglecting
religion for politics, and maintaining that
the heathen rites to sages and deceased
ancestors were merely civil rites, and
therefore unobjectionable. After Kan
ghi's death, A. D. 1723, Romanists were
expelled from Pekin on the charge of
political ambition, and strictly forbidden
to propagate their religion. Slice that,
and at least up to the time of the recent
treaties with western nations, they have
worked mostly by stealth, under the dis
guise of the native costume. They pro
bably number half a million of coverts,
though the Lazarist Hue estimates them
as high as eight hundred thousand.
Their funds from Europe in i t 1846
amounted to only $59,000. I Fuh
Chau they have a church with a
lcom
munion (as some assert) of se en or
eight hundred converts. This f] tuber,
if correct, will doubtless embrace 'coun
try adherents, with a large repress ation
from the boat population. The have
also a Female Foundling Asyhipa, and
Cathedral near the foreign hongs and
residences on the south bank of the
Min.
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS.
The history of these is better - nown
to your readers, and I will be brief! The
first Protestant missionary to the hinese
was ffr. Morrison, who arrived at Macao
in September, 1807, and at once pro
ceeded to Canton. During many pears
he and his successors from England and
/ 3
America labored under much disco rage
ment. The Chinese governmet was
jealous and suspicious. The Ma eror
t,sd his advisers, who had read car frilly
tfie-chapter of Chinese history on Jesuit
i
ism were unable to conceive the 4 i ngle
purpose, and strictly moral and religious
aims of pure Christianity. Hence their
obstructive policy, diversified fro t year
to year by cunning arts of dipl macy
and tergiversations almost namel ss in
western dialects. This policy was
sweeping, infineticing alike commercial
and missionary. o perations. But the
English and rre ch successes in various
sieges and pitched battles have impressed
both rulers and ruled with the necessity
of concession in dealing with the West.
And the decisive results of these mili
tary 'conflicts, to wit: The treaties of
Nanking, Tientsin and Peking, with
many concurrent agencies of a providen
tial and moral character, have at length
secured something like toleration of
western ideas. The irrepressible leaven
of civilization and Christianity now en
ergizes in the stagnant mass of effete
customs, crude politics and shapeless
systems of religion, as it did not only a
few brief years ago. It is doubtful
whether the present rulers of China-oa
tertain even the glimmer of a hope that
this inrolling tide of physical and moral
power will ever be stayed in its course,
and as for the people, they will acquiesce
in whatever does not interfere with their
material prosperity.
ENCOURAGEMENTS
Such a state of things, accepted as an.
irremediable fact, yields at once a firm
and broad foundation on which to con
struct plans of all sorts for the good of
this great -• people. Science and art,
philosophy and religion, embodied 'in
schools, colleges, churches, asylums, with
all their well-tested machinery of action
and development, will now have free
scope. Or, if impeded at all, they will
merely exhibit, for the moment, difficulties
usually met in all comprehensive schemes
for the good of men. The years of a
single generation, as we may reasonably
expect, will witness marvelous changes
of a reformatory character in this vast
empire.
In the meanwhile, we have something
to stay our faith and hopes upon. We
have the immutable word of God. We
have His answers to prayer. And we
have some fruits aedordant with the
word and prayer. The recent statistics
will bear repetition, and will be more
likely to make an .impression on the
minds of your readers, if the gist of
them is compressed into a few brief
lines-108 stations, 95 , ordained mis
sionaries, 57 churohes, 2576 baptisms,
2028 living' converts, 148 preachers and
catechists, 63 schools, 1043 pupils.
Fear not, neither despond, dear breth
ren of the churches. Our glorious
Christianity, as the Saviour taught and
exemplified it, is destined to a splendid
triumph in.the land of Sinim. Though
hostile to all sin, it stands aloof from the
mere politics of the land. It never
screens itself from public notice. It de
sires only to be seen and known in all
its unadulterated simplicity and high
claimp to the obedience of the heart. It
is, indeed, naturally subversive of many
of . the fundamental regulations of the
empire, such as the worship of Emper
ors, sages and ancestors, and will work
a mighty revolution in these antiquated
principles of " law and order." Bulilet
us never forget that Christianity is
truth, that it carries with it its own light,
and that 'a Divine energy, even the ener
gy of the Holy Spirit, prepares its way
to the consciences of men. Our religion
is infallibly destined to secure, sooner or
later, the enlightened favor, or sufferance
at least, of Chinese rulers. It will be
their highest interest to grant this, and
to grant it without reservation, as the
rulers of Austria and Italy have done.
But our grand safeguard is the favor ,of
God. This, at least, is sure, for it is
promised to His own Son in the interest
of His Body, the Church. Judaism,
Mohammedanism, and heaven-defying
Romanism are all to disappear before
the light of the word and the Spirit.
Confucianism, too, with Tauism, Bud
dhism, and all other false systems of
ethics and religion, which enslave the
consciences of this great people, will
melt away before the advancing glory.
Is it not time for the Chapch to awake•
to the magnitude and solemn claims of
her work in these broad provinces ?
DEATH OF REV. WILLISTON JONES.
Many Christian hearts will grieve to
learn that Rev. Williston Jones, lately
stationed at Rolla, Missouri, by our
Presbyterian Home Mission Committee,
departed this life on Monday, the 20th of
November, after an illness of two weeks.
Mr. Jones commenced his labors in
Rolla, last May, and has been very dili
gent and earnest in prosecuting them, in
that very needy field. The Church ex
isting there is of recent organization, and
contains but a small number of members.
They have as yet no church edifice, but
worship in the Court House. A large
number of Freedmen and refugees have
been gathered at Rolla, by the events of
the war ; and 'among them, as well as
the more permanent residents, Mr. Jones
has diligently and faithfully labored. A
few weeks since, the Presbytery of St.
Louis held its stated meeting at Rolla,
and by the aid of some members of that
body, evening meetings were continued
about two weeks, while visitation of
families and personal conversation were
prosecuted in the day-time. These
efforts seemed to be so far blessed as to
produce considerable awakening of atten
tion to religion in the community, and
were the means of leading a few persons
to avow themselves on the side of Christ.
Mr. Jones was very earnestly engaged
in these labors, and touchingly grateful
for the assilitance of his brethren. His
health seemed poor at the time, and be
fore the close of the meetings he was
prostrated upon the bed from which he
never rose. His disease was typhoid
fever, and during its progress his mind
was much clouded with delirium. It
was, however, habitually occupied with
thoughts pertaining to his ministerial
work, and the interests and exposure of
immortal souls. His very last words
were an expression of earnest desire
that sinners might be brought to Christ.
He leaves a widow and two daughters
to mourn his loss. They and the little
flock so much needing his shepherd-care,
will doubtless have *the prayerful sym
pathy of your Christian readers. May
the Lord of the harvest send into this
needy State many as devoted laborers as
brother Jones. ' H. A. N.
LOOK TO JESUS.
[Without doubt, the writer of this article, a
ruling elder in one of our churches, has car
ried his views of self-examination to an erro
neous and unscriptural extreme, but the general
truth and practical good sense of the article
entitle it to a place in our columns.]
There are a vast number of Christians
who have some how picked, up the idea
that a course of rigid and frequent self
examination is necessary to their spiritual
life and progress, and is a duty that
must on no account be neglected. They
are continually trying to look into their
own hearts, (I say trying because I do
not suppose that any mortal eye did ever
really see into that foul den of horrors,
which God has mercifully hidden from
every view but his own), and if they
find, as they always will, that their hearts
are in a very has' way, they mourn over
the fact and make themselves very un
happy. Now if such an one would only
jump to the conclusion that he is just as
wicked as the good Lord will let him
be, and that if God. would let him be
any worse, he would be just so much
worse, it seems to me that he would
have arrived at the truth, and the neces
sity for further investljgation would be
avoided. Being satisfied on that point
he might then discover that he had been
to a great deal of useless trouble, which
the word of God never required of him.
Tired of looking at himself, he would
seek a more cheerful object and " look
to Jesus."
Look to Jesus.! This is the grand
panacea for a cold and troublesome
heart. Never mind your heart. Look to
Jesus and forget all about it. Yon have
been undertaking a work that the Holy
Spirit has appropriated to himself. No
wonder you are discouraged. Self-ex
amination is often a device of Satan for
putting the Christian back just where he
was'before his conversion.;; T i k:en up
with his own heart, his own, feeling his
own unworthiness, and from W con
dition be only escaped whero. *3, forgot
himself entirely in the contemplation of
his Saviour. The less a Christian thinks
about himself, the better ; he will have
the more time for the work to which
.God has appointed him. While our
thoughts rest on the Saviour, it is safe to
presume that,he does not forget us, but
will care for our eternal interests far
more effectually than we can ouselves:
Speak to that brother who has been
" overtaken in a fault." Ask him how
it happened. He will tell you that he
was strongly tempted, that he fought hard
against his besetting sin, but the temp
tation was too much for him and he fell.
Poor man ! Why did he make such a
desperate fight, when he had a strong
tower of refuge to which he might flee ?
All the ; hosts of God were at his call.
Jesus was ready4to fight and win the
battle for him. But no ; he trusted in
his own strength, fought the battle on
his own account and endured this dis
graceful defeat. The sins of Christians
generally occur when they are watching
and striving against them. But who
ever heard a backslidden Christian say,
." I fell into this sin while contemplating
the character of Christ ?" The very
idea shows its own absurdity. Such a
case never occurred. While we are
"looking to Jesus" we may safely forget
ourselves, our hearts, faults, follies, be
setting sins, and all. They will not
trouble us until we leave the Saviour
and look after them. ...Nature teaches us
that we cannot "look into our own
hearts" physically. Our eyes cannot
turn inward ; our ears hear nothing of
our interior economy ; feeling lies on the
surface ; all the senses turn outward.
The secrets of our physical systems a re
hermetically sealed from us. The Chris
tian who tries to look into himself spir
itually, is not wiser than the man who
tries to look into himself physically.
Had Bunyan's Pilgrim held up a look
ing glass before him as he traveled, he
would have hidden the Celestial City
and occupied its place with the city of
Destruction, and " the things that are be
hind." The Israelites bitten by the
serpents were only healed by looking
away from themselves. Look 'to Jesus.
The longer and more earnestly we look,
the plainer we can, see him, and the,
nearer he comes to us. While looking
to him, we are in a " perfect way." No
besetting sins assail us, no temptations
overcome us, no duties are neglected,
and nothing is forgotten that we ought
to have remembered, for "Thou shalt
keep him in.perfect peace whose mind
is stayed on Thee." ' A. J. H.
PIN ELAND, N. J.
C. C. B
MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND :-I do
not suppose that you and our young
Baptist brother will gather many new
and important truths in a field of con
troversy thoroughly gleaned for two
centuries. Certainly I have no disposi
tion to trouble you with a condensation of
the standard writers on the subject and
mode of baptiSin, which your disciplined
mind can so much more readily prepare
from their works in your library ; unless
you prefer the summaries in Hill, Dick,
or the other theologians. If I mistake
not, our young Baptist brother's investi
gations of the Greek have also been
aided by Carson, Campbell, etc. ; and,
indeed, I have yet to hear the first
original argument in this frequently
bandied controversy.
I should, therefore, have declined any
lengthened communication on the sub
iect, had not the principle upon which
you both proceed in your discussion
demanded notice, namely, the rubrical
authority of the Bible. Your friend
asserts, and you concede, that the Bible
contains a complete directory for the
worship of the Church, presented either
in precepts or examples, which it is our
duty to ascertain and exemplify, without
addition, diminution, or alteration. He
demands, in Jewish phrase, a ,‘ Thus
saith the Lord" for every ordinance,
both as to matter and form. His quo
tations of certain injunctions of Moses
to the Hebrews, and of the sanction of
the sacredness of the prophecy of the
Apocalypse are, let us hope, intended
for rhetorical impression ; certainly-not
for proof of the position to any Biblical
student. But they are interesting as
showing the fundamentally Judaical cha
racter of Baptist Sacramentarianism, and
as a great development thereof, since
the time when my Baptist Sabbath
school Superintendent would not receive
proof texts from the Old Testament.
Now if is always well to examine
principles carefully, and not to attempt
to defend, or act upon dogmas, which
we do not believe. " I believed, there
fore, have I spoken," is a good Scripture
example of honesty, which, if exactly
followed, would save the Church a great
deal of argument. Of course, a man's
belief of a principle does not make it a
truth, but his disbelief of it, does make
it to him a falsehood. Happy is he
who condemneth not himself in the thing
which he alloweth ; for we are all in the
habit of persuading ourselves and trying
to .persuade others of the truth and
authority of principles we do not believe.
But I must acknowledge myself a little
surprised at the influence of assertions,
even though reiterated by many puritan
polemics, in inducing a mind so dis
criminating as yours, to
.accept a princi
ple so contrary to the practice of all
Christian Churches.
The common belief of all the Protes
tant churches, as infallibly declared by
their practice, is, that ceremonies of
worship have no moral character in
themselves, are intended for the edifica
tion of the Church, and depend for their
acceptance with God on the moral
character of the worshipper, and for
their use to nian on their adaptation to
his capacity and wants. They have
accordingly been frequeutly'altered by
the Church, and may be altered again,
when the changed manners and customs
of society make such• changes necessary.
However we may regard the rubrical
authority of Leviticus upon the Hebrews,
no one who knows anything of the
difference between law and Gospel, letter
and spirit, will, for a moment, expect to
extract a rubric from the gospels or epis
tles. So that if Tischendorf should dis
cover in Mount Athos a manuscript pur
porting to be the Liturgy St. Lebbeus
the Apostle, containing a particular
account of the mode ,of the public worship
in the Apostolic Church at, Jernsalem,
A. D. 35, with the liturgy, the order. of
the sacraments, and rubrical directions
to the officiating clergy, your intelligent
ministerial brother would not hesitate a
moment.to pronounce it apocryphal, even
though it prescribed baptism by huger-
A GOSPEL RUBRIC.
sion. But why this recoil from the idea
of a complete Gospel rubric ? Is it not
from the deep underlying conviction in
our minds that Gospel religion is not
rubrical and liturgical, but spiritual ?
that Gospel worship is not imitative but
expressive ? That even the apostolical
rubric of. Jerusalem might be exceedingly
unedifying to the Church in Philadelphia?
And that uniformity of worship accord
ing to a prescribed form, is a Levitical,
not an evangelical idea ?
It is not, however, my present design
to vindicate, but simply to assert the
practice of the churches. Have not all
the modern churches rejected a num
ber of divine institutions as unsuita
ble to our western civilization ? Have
we not all modified others to our notions
of propriety ? Have we not all invented
ordinances for which there is neither
precept nor example in Scripture ? If
these things are undeniable, have we not
removed the whole question of worship
from the high position of an unchangea
ble morality to the broad field of a chari
table expediency ? From the rigid uni
formity of a one temple,
ritual to the elas
tic conformity in all things, to all men,
which accommodated the various tastes
and prejudices of Jew, G ree k , R oman
'and Saxon ? But having practically
asserted this secondary character of all
forms of worship, can we afterwards
single out some one rite and say : " This
ordinance is fundamental, like faith in
Christ, both in matter and form, and un
less you worship in this rite according
to my rubric yon must be excommuni
cated ?"
Both you and our young Baptist
brother, I rejoice to believe, have received
the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and
worship God in spirit and in truth ; and
I am sure neither would venture to say
that his brother's worship was impious,
and abhorred by his Heavenly Father,
even in the rite in whose celebration you
differ. Your hearts will not allow any
such exclusive divine authority for 'any
peculiar form of worship as would brand
all others as idolatrous. In my next, I
shall show by an enumeration of our
alterations of Scripture ordinances, that
your Christian instincts are sustained by
the practice of all the churches of Christ.
There is not a church in Christendom
which accepts the Bible alone as the
directory of its worship, not excepting
that of your Baptist brother. We do
not believe in a Gospel Rubric.
SHERMAN'S TORCH VS. GRANT'S
SWORD.
Chaplain French, of the Freedmen's
.Bureau, has recently made a tour, under
protection of a military escort, through the
interior and southwestern part of Georgia,
to explain to the planters and freedmen
their new relations and new duties growing
out of the same, both to themselves and
the Government. He addressed nearly
fifty thousand freedmen, and several
thousand planters assembled in large mass
meetings in the open air. While he found
a goodly number of the citizens cordially
acquiescing in the triumph of the Union,
very many only accepted the new order of
things from stern necessity. He found
bad feelings toward Sherman's army, on
account of its destructive march through
their State. He spoke to a large assem
blage of citizens from the steps of the
Capitol at Milledgeville, Governor Johnson
being present, and about three thousand
freedmen also. The following is an extract
from his speech :
" I have crossed and recrossed the track
of fire that marks the pathway of Sherman
and his brave men through your State. I
have observed, with feelings of sadness
and sympathy for the sufferers, the black
ened walls, which are all that is left of your
once beautiful homes of luxury and com
fort. I have seen your desolated fields,
and I have heard everywhere sore com
plaints, particularly of your women, against
what seemed to you only acts of wantonness
and cruelty. To all these complaints I
have but one answer : God's mercy under
' lieth all. The Government, and the people
generally, had reached a point where victory
was sure to come. It was only a question
of time. The only question resting with
weight on Grant's mind and heart, was
how, with the least loss of life, shall the
victory come ? Two ways were manifest,
either of which would bring the long-prayed
for hour of peace. That brave warrior,
whose heart seemed always equitempered
with justice and mercy, could make a track
of blood, slaughtering your brave, beloved
husbands, sons, and brothers by thousands,
who, of course, in their fall, would bring
down many of our heroic men ; or, Sherman,
followed by his brave boys, could thrust in
the torch, and make a track of fire through
the country which, though it would be
hard on your families, would nevertheless
spare life, and yet so cripple your forces as
to insure victory and the end of the war.
Your and our ever merciful heavenly Father
so overruled that Grant should stay the
sword and spare life, while Sherman should
thrust in the torch, and let your beautiful
homes reduced to ashes, and your broad
fields laid waste, be the cost to you of the
final.' triumph of our henceforth common,
and more than ever-to-be loved and respect
ed Government. Victory his come at last.
Your brave and beloved ones have been
spared to you, and they will now soon raise
up again from their ashes your beautiful
homes and restore your wasted fields. You
had cheerfully given, for sacrifice it need
be, your choicest treasures, your friends,
for the war. While you seem to have re
served your homes and fields, God, wiser
and kinder than you were even to your
selves, has restored your soldier friends,
and taken for sacrifice your lesser treasures.
Should you not, then, withhold your cen
sure of men, and pour forth your gratitude
in ceaseless praise to God ? He - hath made
your defeat a greater blessing than your
success could have been. Wait patiently
on him a little while, and-he will vindicate
his mercy before you and the . wliole world."
—Washington Chronic/e.