VOLUME 2, NUMBER 3. “Go ye into all the world arid preach the gospel to every creature.'’ RICHMOND, MARCH 15, 1850.'
Soutljcrn Baptist (donomtion.
Correspondence of llio Foreign Hoard.
.Communications relating to tlio genera] bu»i-
ness of tho foreign Mission Hoard, may bo ad¬
dressed, post paid, to
•lAsks H. Taylor, Cor. See.
: Richmond , Va.
Cdnimiiilldations enclosing doua.mr.s, or relat¬
ing to'the financial department, may bd addreis-
ed to Archibald Thomas, Treat.
Richmond, Va.
Vtt r the CommUeloa,
The Departing Missionary.
tYaiegrettha ucwi'llj of stoevlatlng.tlio following cllu-
•ton of n Mwi<N«e(nl to Hie mtalousry mu*-.
The missionary on the deck
Thai bears him lb far foreign lands,
Fiom his own loved ar.d lovely climo,
AVrapt in profoundcst mustngs stands.
TJic calm that followeth the storm
Is in his heart; and now Ms eye
Hack glinceth where his life bogan,
Forward into eternity.
The spot his infant heart called home,
In memory’s ocean calm and bright,
Springs up beforo his vision rapt,
Liko a green island of delight.
The murmur of the winds and waves,
That charmed the fair and sunny dreams
Of infancy, are in his car ;
Beside his forest-homo lie seems.
Still held in tlio delightful dream,
Ho turns to seek the cottage door,
And starts as with a rush comes back,
“That homo is thine, no, nevermore."
Liko quivering arrows pierce his heart.
Those 'patting agonies, again
The broken sob — the tiembling glance,
Quenched liko a star in gushing tain.
Adieu,
О
blessed ties of lifo,
The sweetest, purest, tendetest !
A mighty grief, a mighty joy,
Wrestle together in his breast.
A' mighty joy, a wondrous might,
Of self-devoting fervency,
Possessing all his yearning sou!,
“ For mo to livo is Christ,” saith he.
Tho' speed these sails hra distant way
From parents, brethren, country— off,
To him they seem as angel-wings
Bearing him to his Master's call.
E. A. L.
Wo are God's Stewards.
from
ИШЛ
1H0C01IT3 ON MISSIONS, we eitnct a
paragraph, to which tho attention of all our rcaderi Ij ear-
rcitly Invited, It contains a aonllmrnt of unutterable
Importance, and jet It h one, concerning which, thought la
iwldom exercised. Many do not rccognlio tho Divine Being
aa the l'ropvletor of all they
роями,
and of those who pro¬
fessedly admit the doctrine, how few act as If they believed
Itt Let all ponder well the following thoughts
Suppose a steward, agent nr clerk, in tho
management of your monoy, yout cstato or your
goods, devotes only a part to your benefit and
uses tho rest fur himself, how long would you
retain him in.yout employment? Let usboware,
then, that wo rob not God. Let us bo faithful
in his business, and fully occupy for him the
talents intrusted to us. God has an indisputable
right to everything in our possession ; to all our
strength, all our influence, every moment of our
time, and demands that everything bo held loose¬
ly by us, in pcifect obedience to him.
No less cngagcdiiess certainly can ho required
of God's stewards, than worldly mot exhibit ill
the pursuit of wealth and honor. Let ua, then,
look at their conduct and learn a leason. They
hearts arc set on their object, and entirely en¬
grossed irr it. They show i determination to
attain it, if it be within the compass of human
means. Kilter' a Merchants’ Exchange, and see
with what fixed application they study tho best
plans of conducting their business, They keep
their eyes and eats open, and their thoughts
active. Such', too, must he the wakefulness of
an agent, or they will not employ him. Notice
also the physician who aspires to eminence. He
tries the utmost of his skill. Look in, too, upon
the ambitious attorney. lie applies his mind
closely to his cause that lie may manage it in
the best possible way.
Now, I ask, shall not tlio samo intense and
active state of mind he requited of us; as God's
agents or stewards! Can wo bo faithful stew¬
ards, and not contrive, study, and devise the best
ways of using tlio talents that God has intrusted
to us, so that they may turn to the greatest ac¬
count in his service! Is not the glory of God
and tlio eternal salvation of our Tuined raco, an
object worthy of aa much engagednesa, as much
engrossment of soul and determination of pur¬
pose, as a little property which must soon be
wrapped in flames, or tlio flickering breath of
empty fame! Be assured, wo cannot satisfy our
Maker by offering a eluggish service, or by put¬
ting forth a little effort, and pretending that it is
the extent of our ability. We have shown what
we aro capable of doing, by our engagedness in
seeking wealth and honor. God has seen, an¬
gels have seen, and wo ourselves know, that our
ability is not small, when brought fully into ex?
crcisc. It is now too late to indulgo.the thought
of deceiving cither our, Maker or our, fellow-men
on this point. Wo can lay, claim to the charac¬
ter of faithful stewards, only as we emlark all
our powers in serving God, as.worldly, men do in
seeking riches, or a
Then, too, to be faithful, wo must be as enter¬
prising in the wotk that God has given us to do,
as worldly men aro in their affairs. By enterpris¬
ing, 1 mean, bold, adventurous, lesoluto to un¬
dertake. Worldly men exhibit enterprise in
their readiness to engage in large projects— in
digging canals, in laying railroads, and in send,
ing their ships around the globe. No port seems
too distant, no depth too deep, no height too
high, no difficulty too great, and no obstacle too
formidable. They scarcely shrink from any
business on account of its magnitudo, its atdu
ousness, or its hazard. A man is no longer
famous for circumnavigating the globe. To sail
round the world is a common trading voyage,
and ships now visit almost every port of the
whole catth. A business is no longer called
great, where merely thousands of dollars are ad
ventured ; but in groat undertakings, money is
counted by millions. Such is tho spirit of enter-
ptise in wotldly matters.
Now, I ask, are we not capable of as much
enterprise in using tho means ordained by Christ
for rescuing souls from eternal burnings, and
raising them to a seat at his right hand? Had
the same enterprise been requited of men in
some former century, they might have plead in¬
capacity . But it is too late now to plead incapa¬
city. Unless wo chooao to keep back from God
a very important talent, wo must put forth this
enterprise to its full extent in tho great work of
the wotld's conversion.
vyorVd'; and for which, all possible facilities in
tlie-'w'ay of means, instruments, and appliances
have been, and are still being, collected.
I^t' us look at' the sphere of operations open
to uv— let us survey the territory that is added
to our foreign empire— there is nearly ail Hin-
clobsta'ii, with its hundred and fifty millions of
iniiaVitaiits, nearly every portion of which, is
accessiblq to our Christian influence.* Then,
theiq are Burmali, Siam, Cochin China, all 'be-
grafting fo receive missionaries. Next come our
colflnles in Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
Van . Dciman's Land, and the Cape of Good
Ilopij. What a scope here for the energies and
influence of the church! What a sphere to oc-
cupy^and fill with our missionaries, our Bibles,
and our churches ! Let us dwell upon that most
marvelous and glorious achievement of modern
times; tlio opening into China by five doors,
which no power bin that of Omnipotence can
ever'closo; and through which, our religion may
pass to the teeming millions of that vast hive of
human beings. James.
An Earnest Religion.
1 now mention as an inducement to seek an
earnest religion, tlio ciicumstances of tlio age,
viewed in connection with tlio spread of Christ¬
ianity, and as beating upon the moral interests
of tho world. Tho church never was called to
a greater work than she is at this moment, nor
was the call uf providence upon her ever more
are jijt'eni upon their object. They rise early] loud, earnest, or unequivocal. There is no
роз
and sit tip late. Constant toil and vigorous ex- . . . . --1*
«-
ortion ftli.np the day, and on their beds at night
they meditate plins fur the nioiruw. Their
nihility of mistaking it, and there ought to he
neither hesitation, delay, nor negligence in obey¬
ing it. Thai work b tho conversion of tho
5 - For the CommlMlon.
The Cross.
• f*
Ever since man has lost the glory of his prim¬
itive sinlessness, strange infatuation! he has wor¬
shiped with a passionate idolatry-each in his pro¬
per self— that corrupted and degraded humanity.
It isttiio blessedness of the gospol that, while it
restores the spititual man to that image of God
wiiicl it lost in the first transgression, it at the
samo. time releases it. from that grievous bondage
of. self-idolatry and restores it to that child-like
simplicity of humility which was the character
of man
его
ho had erred. By this individual
change, the work of regeneration proceeds, and
musL-Ptccccd,. until by the renovation of the
whole moral world there is “ a now earth'.”’
The centre of this glorious system of regene¬
ration is the cross. That the incarnate Deity
should have “ pouted out his soul unto death ”
for the sake of his enemies, must ever remain an
inexpressible mystery of grace. Yet every
child of redemption, as ho emerges from the
darkness and bondage of his natural estate into
the glorious light and liberty of the sons of God,
from the core of his purified heart, thtoughout
all his new-horn soul, feels the living influence of
the spirit of the cross, and “comprehends with
all saints, what is the length, and breadth, and
height, and depth, and knows that lovo of Christ
which pas3eth knowledge," and of which the
death of tho cross was the only adequate ex¬
pression. Rejoicing to be free fiom the tyranny
of sin and self, he yields a glad accord, that
“forasmuch as Christ hath suffered for him in
the flesh, he is to arm himself likewise witli the
same mind that ho should no longer livo tlio rest
of his time, in tho flesh, to the lusts of men, but
to the will of God and in all tho triumph of
redeemed aspirations, exclaims, “God forbid
that 1 should glory, savo in tho cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom tho wotld is cruci¬
fied unto me, and l unto ihe world! ”
Thus, as Jesus, by the cross, was sanctified
to tlio work of tlio world's salvation, even so
is ho that believctli. He is filled with the
“spirit of Christ,” and as that blessed Saviour
even gave himself unio death for tho sake
of tho world, his follower also “counts it all
joy,” that lie is permitted to sacrifice himself in
the samo glorious cause. "Tho samo mind is
in him which was also in Christ Jesus,” and the
benevolence which formerly concentred in self
and whatsoever bore reference to self, is now so
expanded that, liko the lovo and mercy of Christ,
it embraces tho whole world. A consuming
seal for the glory of God. glows in bis heart,
and his prayers, his teats, his unceasing toils,
testify with what yearning earnestness he longs
to see the kingdoms of this world become the
kingdoms of God and of his Christ.
Will any venture to say, that not cvcty ono
who has found tho cross precious to bis 'soul'
hath this zeal! “If. any man have not the1
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.’’ That-
spirit which led the Lord of glory through
г
warfare !of tears, and toilsj and death, Is it a'SpIrii'
of slumber, a spirit- of selfisln indolence, a spirit'
that denies every thing to' the cause of 'God,;
save lliat which can bo spared -from its own. ease'
and gratification! 0 blessed- name ofiCliristU
1 blush to think what disgrace lias been heaped'
upon thee by the. selfish: sloth of many.of those
who profess, yea, how loudly, hoiv vehemently'
profess, that thy glory is deaf to 'them ! tAntd
, si; i I.'
'«
EJiAvi I»».-»
Trenton, Tenn., Dec. 20th,
.1810/
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it
For the Commlsiion. ., . \
The Anti-Mission Christian, No. I;1'
Tho heading of this article will probably ex-1
cite no great' degree of surpriso in tiifc mind 'of1
the reader. But suppose we had headed 'the'
article the Swearing Christian;
от
the Lying'
Christian, or toe Cheating Christiari, all1 would’
have been curious Id'ltnow'wKai the uiiier was
thinking about. Bat why may we not as well
speak of a cheating Christian as an anti-mission
Christian! To speak'of a cheating Christian is a
contradiction interns: A Christian is a follow¬
er of. Christ, an imitater of the Saviour; a man-
from whose character one can learn the' doctrines’
of his Great Master and Teacher. One who 1
cheats, lies Or steals, cannot possibly be' a christ-:
ian.- By this I mean, one whoso life is a con¬
tinued course of conduct of this character. Oc¬
casionally a true Christian may, for a period, be •
led away, and induced to do those things' of
which in his belter moments hcrepc'hts; and en¬
deavors not to do again. Bat a habitual liffr, at
habitual Cheat, or a habitual swearer; cannot1
possibly*
МПа
'ch ristiari; ^This’aiatbfflhn t reveryV
one will admit to be true.
But an anti-mission Christian— what is an
anti-mission Christian? He is a follower of
Chri3t who is opposed to Christ. For' was not
Christ the great Missionary! What is a mis¬
sionary! Ho is one sent to preach the gospel.
Christ says of himself, “ I came not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me." A
Christian opposed to Christ! Can such a being
exist! Is such a thing possible!
What is the object of missions! Is it not to
bring all tho wOtld to worship the one living ind
true God, and to acknowledge Christ as the
Saviour of the world. Can a Christian be op¬
posed to such an object as this! An anti-mission
Christian! Who is he? A man who is opposed
to the apostles. For if those who oppose mis¬
sions are not aware of the fact, the terms mis¬
sionary and apostle ate synonymous terms— the
one being derived from the Greek and the other
from the Latin. Were too apostles' bad men!
If so, oppose them. Wero their doctrines. false!
If so, reject them. But you surely must admit
that they wete Christians. Can you oppose
them and bear the name of Christian? To oppose
the missionary spirit is to oppose the spirit of tho
gospel. Whence do you derive the name of
Christian! What wero you but for the gospel?
Can you oppose its spread, and oppose its spirit,
and still bear tlio name of Christian! Ono
might as well speak of the Christian who hates
the Bible, who is opposed to God, as to speak of
an ami-mission Christian.
Tlie spirit of missions is tho spirit of the
Bible. It is not necessity to prove axioms.
V.Tat are missions doing! What do they pur¬
pose doing! They are sending the light of the
gospel to those who sit in darkness; they are
pointing the worshipers of falle gods tn the one
true Jehovah; they are pointing the way of
escape from eternal wrath to thousands of eon-
'П.Я..
inlonJ t .
«I
Ihn III Aaririn
demned sinners. They intend, by tho blessing
of God, to send the gospel lo “ every creature”
on lire face of the habitable globe, lo let the
most distant
раПз
nf tho world hear that it is
a truth that God eo loved tlio world that he gavo
Iris only begotten Son to die. Where is tho
man bearine the name nf Christian who is op¬
posed lo this? Opposed to the conversion nf
souls! opposed to, the .advancement of Christ’s
kingdom! T.
