Foreign Mission Journal, July 1885

FOREIGN MISSION JOURNAL; Published Monthly by tlio Foreign Mission Board of tlio Southern Baptist Convention. “all POWER IS GIVEN TJNTO me IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH. GO YE. THEREFORE, AND ТЕАОИ ALL NATIONS.” Vol. 16— New Series. RICHMOND, VA„ JULY, 1885. No. 12.— Whole No. 204. rrpt«r«.t tit til" roet-omce At rnchmoml, Va., 1 eeconU-clane mntfer.J Forhign Mission Journal. RATES PER ANNUM: I. For |mpors separately addressed, either to нате or to dlllemit postolllces : One copy . . . М..Я1 cte. Three topic* Ot t»l , or . Mttcts. . . . H, For tmckncee sent, to оно person, who shall be •If for their distribution i .29 ct". responsible for their Four eople* for fl. or Tvrenty-llve copies for *3. or тоги fit . 2» ci*. One Hundred cold*** for ilfl, or more at. ,lft cU 4?*Г1еп»0 remit by Draft, I'ostal Order, or in tered better, and notify us I’HOMITLY of any ( la address. Address. FOREIGN MISSION JOURNAL. Richmond, Va. FOREIGN MISSION BOARD OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION, I<oCATKD AT RICHMOND. VIRGINIA. FHB61DBNT— T. L. M. CURRY. V:c*-PHC61D*NT8 _ Joshua Levering, Md., 0 W. ТотШее. I,*., .T. I«. Hurrovr., Vb., S'. A. Halley, Fla., Theo. WMlIU-M, N. O.. W. II. Fell*. Ky„ J. J. 11. Hen- (roe. Alahnmn. П. S. Iiancan, Mo., II II. Carroll, TeiM. W. I,. Kllpatriclr, Oa„ Ohae. Manly, S. O., J. M. Seoter. Teon,. J. II. Searcy, Ark.. George Wbllflrld, Ml»».. W. F. AUklMon, w. Va. Oohriiu'ONDIho SBCBKTABV— II. A. TUl’l’ER. Та*А&ив*в—чГ. 0. WILLIAMS. Rscorpihp Sbcbbtabt— W. II. OWATIIMEY. ЛГО1Г0Н— JOSEPH F. COTTRELL. Полво or Mahaobbs.-J. Il.Wailoue. H. K. Elly- •on, W. E, Halcbrr, E. Wortham. W. 1). Thomae. H. H. Harrti, J. Pollard, Jr.. J. W. Jones, A. B. Hark*. J. B. Wlr.tor .1 B. Hution. О. H. Wln.ton. S. C. Otopton, W. W. Landrum, W. J. Shipman. ter All communications in reference to the business of this Hoard should be addressed to H. A. TumiR, Corresponding Secretary , Richmond, Va. A full statement of the interference with our work ut Saltillo has been laid before President Cleveland, and by him promptly transmitted to Hon. 11. R. Jackson, U. S. Minister at Mexico. We trust this " appeal to Casar " will secure speedy liberation from all illegal interruptions, and prove like Paul's under similar circumstances, “ for the progress of the gospel." THE DROUTH OF SUMMER. We do not refer to any want of rain for which, in some quarters, the corn, the cot¬ ton or llie cane may be suffering; nor to the subsidence of creeks and rivulets by which the scattered grist-mills have been reduced to running only an hour or two per day ; tlie drouth to which we wish to call at¬ tention, comes from a want of the raindrops which fall from Christian giving, a subsi¬ dence in the streams of benevolence, oil which our missionaries depend for their daily bread, l.ook over tlie receipts acknow¬ ledged in this issue, nominally over $6,ooo, but really, ns inspection will show, less than $2,000; sec how far they fall short of the ?7,ooo needed every month to support the faithful men and women who stand as our representatives in foreign lands. At Solomon’s Pools, south of Bethlehem, was an admirable arrangement for supplying Jerusalem and perhaps especially the Tem¬ ple, with pure, running water. The source is a bold spring, within a small cavern in the hill-country of Judah. From this a covered aqueduct or conduit pipe, laid according to the hydraulic engineering of ancient times, curves around the bare hills and tlie heads of the valleys with just enough fall to move the water to the holy city. But, for tlie first half mile, it descends much more rapidly, and here was a very simple automatic ar¬ rangement for regulating the supply. There are three large pools or ponds made by dams of solid masonry thrown across the ra- : along whiclt the conduit runs. At the i (for there are several of them close :r) the waters are gathered into a : basin with two outlets— tlie lower one i directly into the conduit, and whenever there is more water than this can carry, as generally happens in winter and spring, it rises to tlie upper outlet and through it flows into tlie pools. So on the other hand, in summer and autumn, when the springs are weaker, the water, which had been accumu¬ lated in the pools is turned as it may be need¬ ed into tlie conduit. Such a pool our treasury ought to be, fill¬ ing up in the rainy seasons, which for our Board are October and April, and so furnish¬ ing a steady supply for the long, dry months through which we are now passing. Butsuch unfortunately it is not this year, for the sim¬ ple reason that it did not fill last April. We sometimes fancy that church collectors and treasurers of Associations act ns reservoirs on a small scale. For while ninny contribu¬ tors send their money directly to tlie Cor¬ responding Secretary, others turn it over to agents or committees, If any sucli person lias even n small amount on hand we beg him to open the sluice gate, by getting a bank draft, or a money order, and let it come on promptly. “ Every little helps,” and as the Scotcli say : " Many a mickle makes a muckle.” But we apprehend that all the pools and reservoirs and pipes that have been con¬ structed between the springs of Christian liberality and the far away evangelists who offer the water of life to perishing heathen, do not just now contain enough for the daily supply. We must therefore labor and pray for the dews of heavenly grace to fall upon the springs themselves and cause them even in the drouth of summer to gush forth bright and clear and “ make glad tlie city of our God, tlie holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.” The need is urgent. We call upon pastors and collectors and Woman’s Missionary So¬ cieties to help in this time of special urgency to raise money, much or little, according to their ability, and send it on promptly. To one other class, fewer in numbers but greater in ability, we must also appeal. Are there not a thousand nien^in our land whom God has blessed with surplus .means laid up in store, men who could easily give from $ioo to $i,ooo, for the present need? Brethren are you not God's reservoirs filled up for such a time as this? You have arranged to take your family to a fashionable summer resort. Suppose now you select instead some more quiet ami cheaper place and give the difference to be expended amid the crowded masses of China or under the tor¬ rid sun of Africa. We warrant that the self- denial will be better for the health of botli body and soul, and we can surely guarantee that in the solemn review of your life, when time is fading and eternity opening, you shall not regret tlie choice. SAD TIDINGS. The saddest of all deaths is that of a young wife and mother, more heart-rending still when it occurs far away from home and friends, amid surroundings that cannot fur¬ nish comfort to the last hours. Nannie Winston, eldest daughter of the Rev. W. S. Bland, grew up in the quiet of a country home in Chesterfield county, Va. Under the genial influences of refined so¬ ciety, tlie best educational advantages, and the indwelling Spirit, she developed into one of the noblest Christian women whom it has ever been our privilege to know. About six years ago she gave her hand to Rev. W. J. David, and on the Sth of Decem¬ ber, 1S79, sailed with him for Lagos. Since that time it is not too much to say that her sympathy and help have more than doubled his ability as a workman for the Master. A little more than a year ago they took a few months of much needed rest and change of climate, especially for the sake of a sicj; child, whose cold form they had to commit with hot tears to the billows of the Atlantic. On the 5th of last January they started back, and after a stormy voyage, reached their destination in fifty-four days. Our readers will recall the bright letter in our last num ber in which she tells of "our joy at getting home again," of the hearty welcome, and of the prospects for building tlie new church. I.ast Sunday, ijune 21st, Prof. Chas. H. Winston, a material uncle of the deceased, received by cable from Liverpool five short words, which fell like clods upon a coffin lid— “Wife dead, am bringing children. — David.” The children are a sweet little girl of about four years and infant now nearly two months old. God pity the stricken ones. “ 'Tis sweet,” says the proverb, “sweet and honorable to die for one’s country." The man who, borne up by pride and patriotism, calmly meets death on the battle-field, is proclaimed a hero. Infinitely sweeter and immeasurably more noble is the end of a life devoted in purest Christian love to the salvation, of lost souls. Angelic choirs re¬ ceive the conqueror, and usher her in tri¬ umphal procession into the heavenly city. VACATION. , We expect to leave Richmond as soon as this paper goes to press, and not to return for six or eight weeks. The August number will, therefore, be issued without personal supervision by the editor, and such portions of the correspondence as involve any doubt¬ ful questions will probably be deferred Should any feel disposed to complain, we beg to remind them that a season of relief from routine work, a time of rest and re¬ freshment, will inure not more to our own benefit than to that of our readers. Our purpose is to spend the time at Mont eagle, Tenn., with a few days in Alabama, attending the State Convention, July 17-21. At both places we shall hope to make per¬ sonal acquaintance with many whose names are already on our books, and with not a few who will hereafter be regular subscri¬ bers. The circulation of the Journalhi each of the States named, while not so large as in some others, is really wider; that is to say, it is mailed to more different persons, to more post-offices. This gratifying fact we at¬ tribute largely to the persistent efforts of brethren Bailey and Senter and of Miss Hale. The Monteagle programme includes sum¬ mer schools from June 30 to August 11, in which our part will he to study the New Testament ; and a Sunday-school Normal Assembly from August 4th to 28th. In the latter we expect special profit from the lec¬ tures and discussions of August 14, 15 and 16, which are devoted to missions. Among the speakers for these days are Doctors Young, of Nashville; Bell, of St. Louis; and Snowden, of Indiana ; Hon. B. TV. Edwards, of South Carolina; Sau Ah-Brah, of India, and the celebrated Rev. Sam. Jones. These days, as indeed all the others, promise to be a feast of fat things. BOOKS RECEIVED. The American Baptist Publication Society has laid on our table the following hand¬ some volumes : Chaplain Smith and the Baptists; or, Life, Journals, Letters and Addresses of the Rev. Hezckiah Smith, D. D., of Haverhill, Mass., 1737-1805. By R. A. Guild, LL. D. 429 pp., 1 2mo., price, $2.00. Mildred Farroway'c Fortune; or, Money not Chief in Christian Work. Better than Gold, a Temperance Story. By Mattie Dyer Britts. 320 pp., price, fi.25. Flossie Thornton's Investment ; or, Bread on the Waters. By May F. McKean., 250 pp., price $1. The Atonement of Christ. By J. M. Pen¬ dleton, D. D. 173 pp. Price, 90 cents. A Story of Six Decades. By Dr. C. R. Blackali. 144 pp., price, $1. The first of these is a memoir of one of the prominent men in the stirring times of the Revolutionary war and succeeding years. The work is admirably done by the librarian of Brown University, and sheds floods of light on the history of Baptists in those days. The second is one of the most readable books of its kind that we have met with, and teaches very clearly as well as attrac¬ tively the lesson that no one can do good with money who doesn’t know how to do good without it. The third anti fourth in the list we have not found time to read, and therefore say only that they are beautifully gotten up, and, as wejudge from the sources, good books. The fifth needs no further commendation, than to say it is a discussion of the funda¬ mental doctrine of Christianity by one of the clearest thinkers and most forcible writers we have. Tlie last on the list is a well arranged, well-illustrated and superbly printed history of the American Baptist Publication So¬ ciety from its foundation to the present time. WHY ARE WE BAPTISTS? The following was hastily written by one of oer missionary teachers in Madero Institute for use in her Sunday-school class, com¬ posed of Mexican girls from fourteen to twenty years of age. By accident the notes were seen by other members of the mission, and were so highly prized that a copy was sought for publication, which the author re¬ luctantly gives, on consideration tiiat her name shall be withheld. We are baptized, 1. Because Christ him¬ self was baptized, thus setting us an exam¬ ple which we should follow— (Mat. ii! : 13.) 2. Because he commands us to be bap¬ tized— (Mat. xxix : 19.) We are baptized by immersion because we believe this mode of baptism to be clearly taught in the word of God, and that it is the only mode of baptism taught therein, 3, Learned men who have studied the New Testament in the original tell us that tlie Greek verb, to baptize, means to im¬ merse. 2. It is said of Christ when he was bap¬ tized by John (Mat. iii: 16) that lie "went up ” out of tlie water. He could not have gone up out of the water without first going down into it, and why should he have gone down into the water if not to be immersed in it? Here I think, immersion clearly taught. 3. Again, when Philip baptized the eunuch it is said that they " went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of tlio water the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip "—(Acts viii : 38-39.) . 4. In John iii: 23', it is said that John bap¬ tized in Enon because there was “ much water” there. Why should baptism require much water, if but little is to be used ? 5. We find (Rom. vi : 4, and Col. ii : 12) baptism compared to a burial and resur¬ rection. “ We are buried with Him by bap¬ tism unto death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of tlie Father, even so we also should walk in new¬ ness of life." How could this comparison be made to any other baptism but that by immersion ? Immersion or .burial in tlie water typifies our death and burial to sin, and coming up from tlie water our resurrec¬ tion to newness of life. The Bible, and that alone, is our guide with respect to the will of God. It seems to me that the passages cited above teach very clearly that baptism by immersion is the baptism taught by tlie scripturfcs, and ns we are told (Eph. iv : 5) that there is only one baptism, immersion must be the baptism commanded by our Lord. Hence we are Baptists. Saltillo, April , 18S5. Dr. Clough, returning from a tour of five weeks, reports the baptism of 310 Telugus,! with many more in villages he could not visit awaiting the ordinance.