Home and Foreign Journal, August 1856

• of I «о. I ,4 4 '«I III 'П In «4 ill Hi 4 3 liJ 4 'll III 4 1 '3 ■4 •of VOLUME VI. lHCHAlOND, AUGUST;] 1856. NUMEIt 2. да PUBLISHED BY THE ВОЛШ) SOUTHERN ШлГГВТ CONVENTION. OF domestic missions. ,„0^- An’UST- ^ ^wioitUL WlinESl'OM’EXCK. Jefferson Cm-, Missouri, ) J June lOtii, ISSli. \ Xetessir)' absence from the Mission at Marion prevents me from select-; ‘uci. missionary matter for my depart- Ltof the Joiirnaf as incoming letters 1 reports would in all probability fur- ...h- hence, during mv peregrination", my „Jen will please accept such items ol information as localities and events may .«prlv. And as 1 would not on any ac- at’hare any one el.-c considered icqxm- ■iilc for my incoherent scribbling. I shall r-ciiew the editorial " We,” and append j oan proner name. This by way of (Sinlmm. . Towards the la‘t of May, at the begin- of the wheat harvest and the delight- iu! season of strawberries and flowers, I elt my plea-ant home, a" I had often done reuously, for a long journey to the South tVe-t. Starting has always been a gre- „„a. trial to me, but when the first him- , .red n.iles has been passed, a few thou.’ .amis thereunto added, was not a matter j < very serious inconvenience. So has it ; Men during this journey thus far. Lynchburg, in good old Virginia, was j ny first stopping place. The you.ig gen- 1 Ceman whom I met at I.a Orange, Geo., 1 hJ who was my very agreeable traveling companion, kept with me till we reached that city under the mountains. U’e met j igain after that in Richmond. What has . once become of him I cannot say, but as • he is a minist-r, and the son of one of rrrSnih’S'T.Korile ministeis,' 1" liofnr hd will meet with kind friends, and in due ^ tuna return to Alabama, where he proper- - ly belongs. i Ш Central .hmialion was in session j cn our arrival — Dr. Jeter in the chair. — ! Erolber Jeter is a good presiding officer — 1 understands parliamentary u«age— decides promptly и ilhout consulting any one— is ; mpartiil and courteous to the speakers I addressing him— is generally correct in i his views of order, from which, when ace announced, he does not recede, un- i ■ess overruled by the Association. This , r'-cntial qinlification of a President or j Moderator— namely, to stand by his dcci- ; KM-if it has not been hastily taken — ; 111 there are obvious reasons for believin ''.wrong. In other words, the presiding- (dicer, if any body, should have, to use a common phrase, я mind op his oun. I suppose that the General Association of Virginia has the abh-t IJaptist ministry of •a? state in the South. I do not say that tiereare not some ministers in some of ‘Ae Baptist Associations in the South, who arc as able, as to talent and education, as nl of the Baptist ministry in the 11 Old Dominion;" but, considering them as a *k*’i Virginia has the able.-t ministry in tM baptist denomination in the South.— Much is expected from her young men, °ow coming before the public. Several of ,“мс I havj heard, and have been led to bale them men of very respectable tal- «Is, but the public must wait fur the fu¬ ture developments before it can place them 11 'ta first rank. In the present day a )c"ug man's fame is too often based on mere adventitious circumstances: that is, te 11 llle !t'ii of rich parents, or has irjlu- rffiu/ connexions, or he has by a few me- “encci/icrnious made a Javorabk impres- t1'°n s* son'C public meeting, or the sisters '-"irk llim 1 paragon in the pulpit, 1 cau- °a young men against these influences t> feed vanity. They may rely on it, that natations thus cheaply obtained arc cv- t-UMcent as ihQ dew-drops of the morning. , Vhe influence of the General Associa- 'ljn on the citizens of Lynchburg must fcc(n vtfy good. The business was ,nciJcled with much harmony. The b'u.hing was frequent and excellent. — . c delegation was very large. The wca- I,-Cr *JS eharnung. In fact there was a combination of congenial circumstances that made that, to me, one of the most de¬ lightful religious assemblies it was ever my privilege to attend. But, while I thus express my pleasure in rctro-pccting the doings of that Asso¬ ciation, I must tl.-o make a eiilicism on what I regarded as a slight fault. It и this— the brethren of Richmond do loo much of the business. They do ino-t of the speech-making, and, in fact, are near¬ ly the entire Association. True, they do it very well— perhaps better than others could— hut what 1 wish to suggest is this: Other brethren ought to be brought out.— Important Associations in different parts of the Slate ought, through their delegates, to be brought prominently before the pub¬ lic. Their numbers, icspectability, benev¬ olence, and efficiency entitle them to re¬ gard, both in the pulpit and on the plat¬ form. However, the brethren treated me so kindly, that I ought, perhaps, not even to have expressed the above criticism. I was a little startled at the earnestness and energy with which three doctors and a sec¬ retary’ combatted my views with regard to a cert.-in "Commission," and began to feel that my "case" was hopeless, but when I reflected that they were naturally solicitous for a measure of their own orig¬ inating, I could not much blame them, and, of course, took it all in good part. The Association did better the past year for the Domestic Board at Marion than over before, but did not do as well in pro¬ portion to what she и giving to other ob¬ jects as she doubtless hereafter will. She has, however, my most hearty thanks for what she lias done, I might properly here say a word in relation to the DOMESTIC HOARD AT PETERSBURG. The Association ’does all its “business now through Boards. The Board of Mis¬ sions whose duty it will he to aid in sup¬ porting the Domestic Mission enterpri-e at, Marion, Ala., has been removed to Pe¬ tersburg. From my knowledge of the pastors and members of the churches in that city, I feel sure that the Board is lo¬ cated among true friends of the Home En¬ terprise, and that the funJs to the treasu¬ ry at Marion will thereby be increased.— On Sunday the Association adjourned, and straight 1 found myself in RICHMOND. My time was spent with Dr Jeter and my old friend, Bro. A. Thomas. I found many kind friends of all the churches — The Herald Office is 'till a place of resort for Baptist visiting the city. And there is the veteran Sands, with his Herald, al¬ ways ready to give both sides of a ques¬ tion in controversy— but be sure you are ri-’lil in your statements or he may have ^correct you. The Herald is one of the most independent and fair papers in the land. It has never pursued a on c tided policy to please any one. I honor the Herald for that. The TRUTH needs no other line of conduct than that adopted by the Herald editor. Next I tarried a few days at WASHINGTON CITV. How different the aspect of persons and things when Congress is in session from what they are during its recess! Now the hotels" arc literally crowded with ma«s- cs of living forms. Pennsylvania Avenue is thronged from the Capitol to the White House. Chariots and omnibuses are thun¬ dering in the streets, while tramp, tramp is heard perpetually on the side-vvalks.- Stores and shops look smilingly out of the windows, and the flutter of ribands and the rustic of silks show that their wooing smiles have not been in vain. Time and space would not allow an extended notice of Washington and its attractions, so I shall avoid attempting any. Here I met the «The Secretary alluded to was R*»; Tustin. Secretary of the Southern Bapti» l ub- lioiition Society, who bil l nothing to do wn starting the cbm, vis-ion. Neither of the Sec¬ retaries of the H'janl of foreign Missions was present during the discussion. «• M'Intosiies," Chilly and his brother, Daniel Newman. They make two of a delegation from the Creek Nation, which wash’d nviled to Washington to negotiate { & important Treaty. Both these brethre i?are minis¬ ters and missionaries of :,! ip Domestic Mission Board to the Creek* (alien— their own people. They are imp riant and, in several respects, interestin'» men. They have much influence among he Indians of their nation. Chilly is a! lilt fifty-two years of age— a man of straw; good sense and a kind heart. D. N. isnbout thirty- eight, remarkably intelligcnEmd fluent in English speech. Ho is, a') course, the principal speaker on publi jjoccasions. — These brethren are pious add speak with delight of the good work.jiut God lias wrought for the poor 11 Red.Jian.” They estimate the number of Biptists in the Creek Nation at fifteen hundred— more than I had supposed. Theyspcak raj-tu- rou-ly of Bro. Buckner, ai- which there needs be no marvel, as Bro. B. was the instrument of their conversion. Theie are three other preachers injthe McIntosh family besides these two, and Bro. B. was instrumental in bringing them all into the Baptist Church. I have ri^t time to say more of these good brethren at present, but hope their request to seV-d more mis¬ sionaries among the Indiana may be spee¬ dily granted. V From Washington I left, ’tie Baltimore, Pittsburg, Indianapolis and^St. Louis for liie West— Kansas ! Many friends said : "You must not go; it щ not safe,” but compel' a visit, My time in our Indian schools there if it can po-sibly be made. ST. LOUIS / . was very biief. Only thtre -a' fetv hours. Saw Uslick, Teasdaie, Ilolseman, atid'ttfd' (jtTiei'tMe'lttfJB-or'fho'Thurcliea, in passing. Do not know how religious matters are flourishing there, or whether they arc flourishing at all. St. Louis Is destined to be the great city of the ll'cil. I left on the cars by the PACIFIC RAILROAD for Jefferson City, where I am now pen¬ ning these lines. This railroad runs for many miles ou the margin of the Missouri river— through a rocky and exceedingly rough country. To make a railroad thro' such a country in the side of and under mountains, was, and is still to bo, a great achievement. I have one objection to the road : the iron is too light. For sucli a road the iron should be of the heaviest kind. But I leave this question to this company and their engineers. This morn¬ ing I took a walk about the city on the hills— JEFFERSON CITV. ' The first object for observation was llu State Capitol. It is a neat, but rather small edifice. For convenience, I sup¬ pose that but few public buildings of tim same dimensions can compare with it. In the ba'cmcnt on either side, are the Stale offices, and in the story above the Senate Chamber and that of the Hou-e of Representatives. One hundred and .sixty- six steps from the street carry one up to the lop, from which he may look far up the Missouri river, and over the entire city with its surrounding hills. S. II. Hill, Esq., an Englishman, was the archi¬ tect, and was the same man who designed the State University buildings of Missou¬ ri, and the State House at Harrisburg, Pa. The Capitol of Missouri is beautifully lo¬ cated on the banks of the river-an ob¬ ject of admiration to traveller.-- -but for ma-ivc grandeur and beauty of architec¬ tural taste and finish, it does not even ap¬ proximate to the Capitol at Nashville, Tenn. I spent an hour with Bro. Hollis, the pastor of the Baptist church here, and his companion. With them I walked to the BAPTIST MEETING-HOUSE. Alas! Alas! The same, blunder has been committed as in many other places, and a blunder for which the Baptists are without a rival. Пе house is almost out of low t Why will not the Baptists build | their worship-hou«cs where congregations | can find them, and where the people lice j I do not believe that the cause can ever succeed in that place. My advice would ' be sell it as soon as practicable and build ' a house in the town— near the hotels. — ' The church is small and must so continue till pains have been taken to provide a convenient and comfortable liousC of wor¬ ship. Will not the Baptist who arc mem¬ bers of the Legislature see to this. Jef¬ ferson City ought to have a first rale Bap- list Church edifice. To-night I am to leave for KANSAS, whore I hope to find things less unpropi- tious than tim secular papers represent. — Our schools tliere.are in danger. My bu¬ siness there is to settle up all old claims, and to place the schools on a more certain foundation for future usefulness. The political troubles, however, may disar- ' range, if not oirrthrown, all our plans, ! and if Kansas should in the end become 1 a free Slate, deprive us of that field alto- | getlier. Yet we must work while we may I and hope for the best. The Creeks, Scm- ; inoles, Choctaws and Cherokees will re- ! ceivc us with open arm", and if we should i be driven out of Kansas, \.c n.ust | strengthen our forces in those places j where slavery is no objcclion to our pos- ! setting the land, nor any difficulty in the j way of our success. I As I do i.ot expect to be in Marion be¬ fore the first of September, I will lake tins j occasion to make a few remarks fur sub- | sequent action. First, concerning the DOMESTIC DEPARTMENT. I I hope by the time I return to tire South I that the treasury will have been so far re- ; plcnished as to enable the Board to make their usual appointments. The prospect brigMCiTT^Srifl'lf liberal hearts and open hands will but continue to remember us, i our expectations will be realized. Second- | ly, in .relation to MONEYS RECEIVED. 1 cannot acknowledge receipts till in the October number of the Journal, as copy j must go to Richmond a month in advance, and Г can have no access to the books till September. Thirdly, in relation to or.n DEBTS. These debts, to the best of my know- lodge, will all have been paid by the time this number of the Journal shall appear. Fouilhly, in relation to the appointment of more mi-sionarics TO TIIE INDIANS. Two applications, have recently been made, backed by good recommendations, and the brethren will be appointed as soon as the condition of the treasury will au¬ thorize such a step. Here, for the pres¬ ent, I bid an affection adieu to my readers. JOSEPH WALKER, Cor. Secrc'nry. cause which once had but a name to live has become predominant. Baptists have led so long tint now they are expected to take the lead in every good woik. Brother Atkinson lias accomplished great good by the circulation of religious books, and this Society will find in him a most efficient Agent, both for distribution and collection. May the God of tlje harvest bless them abundantly, and giye as many more such pastors and Deacons as wo found at Ham¬ ilton to help us in our work. A. C. D. BIBLE BOARD. NASHVILLE AUGUST, 1850. The Harris County Bible Society, Georgia. During my brief visit to Georgia,. I was in Hamilton, the county scat of Harris Co. Here I found our good brother At kinson, whom I had long known as an in¬ telligent and working Christian Minister. He and the people of his charge gave me a hcartv welcome; and with great unan ‘unity of feeling and purpose, bis congrega tion proceeded to form a Bible Society which they propose to extend so far that it shall embrace all lb- churclirs in the county, and provide first for the supply of tiie large destitution that is known to exist within its bounds, and then help to supply the world. Oar brethren then know no such word as fail. We have seen them io other works of love laboring on amidst difficulties and discouragements which would have diiheartcncdalmost any others, but still, hopefully and sedulously, they have gone on and now arc beginning to see the fruits of their toils. Uur Baptist Tito Alabama Conveutiou. Wc met this body of earnest-hearted Baptists at Layfryctlc, Chambers Co., about the middle of April. The proceed¬ ings of tiie Convention will probably be made known to our brethren in due time by others. We wish merely to express our gratification at the result of (be Bible work as reported at the meeting of the State Baptist Bibio Society. The aggre¬ gate reported to the Bible Board at Nash¬ ville is over fee thousand dollars. The Alabama Baptist Bible Society is organ¬ ised upon tiie plan, proposed for general adoption by our Board. The State is not yet- fully organised. Not half the associ¬ ations yet have associational societies, and few of the chuiclics lave congrega¬ tional societies; but the work increases every year: And this year Alabama re¬ ports to us a larger sum than all the olhicr stales combined. This may not be, how¬ ever, because she lias done so much more, but because she lias, like a true auxiliary, reported all she has done. What other states may have done we have no means of knowing. We fear they have, all of them pul together, done less Ilian this one Bible Society. But, whether little or much lias been, contiibuted and expended, Uie^, have been careful to report but little to us. From the ninety thousand Baptists of Vir¬ ginia, our Treasurer's report shows only thirteen dollars. From tim groat slate of North Carolina, ho has received only about eight dollars, and that was on an old sub. scription. Kentucky has sent us only fifty-five, Missouri nothing; Louisianni only three, and several other Souther States but very small amounts. Alabama lias felt it important to supply her home destitution first. But in doing this, she does it as our auxiliary. She knows that to supply the destitute in Ala¬ bama is just as properly our work as to supply the destitute in China. Wo have endeavored to assist her in Alabama, as she has helped us in supplying other lands. Wc are working together for the great world— wide object of giving tiie printed Word to every one in every land who needs it and is likely to be bcncfittcd by its possession. If she finds such at home, wc arc thankful that the is willing not merely to raise the necessary funds, hut herself tu superintend their distribu¬ tion. She does us thus a double kindness ; and doubly she lias our thanks. We arc more than willing to trust the brethren who contribute their funds in this cause- to use them at the discretion of their own Stale Society, but we think that justice tq us, justice to themselves, and justice to the cause demands that Southern Baptists should do their Bible work through their own Bible Board, and report through us the work that they have done. In this— Alabama sets a noble example. Л. C. D. The Late Anniversary of the Bi¬ llie Board, at Augusta Ga. It will be remembered by our Brethren that the Foreign Mission Board, the South¬ ern Publication Society and the Bible Board proposed to hold each its Anniver¬ sary at Augusta about the first of May in connection with the Convention for Theo¬ logical Education. It was thought by those concerned that the Convention would continue about three days. The eveujng of the 1st day was allotted to the Publica¬ tion Society, of the second to the Foreign Board acd of the third to the Bible Board.