Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-19
MEMPHIS APPEAL
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1879.
"YELLOw-FEVER HOUNDS


We make room for the article under the
phis Baptist of this week. We give it in
full, every word of it. 1t is piece of special
pleading which Roman Catholic priests will
especially appreciate, since it admits all that
they have ever advanced to sustain their doc
trine of ceGbacy of the clergy. The Baptist
rests its argument defensive of the runaway
Protestant pastors upon the plea of natural
affection for wife and children, which with it
is above, and is superior to the affection the
pastor is supposed to have for Christ and the
church, and yet Christ, for the church sake,
commanded that those who were to serve at
its affairs should "forsake all and follow
Him." and promised that, 'He that loseth
his life for my sake shall find il" and also
that Everyone that hath forsaken houses or
brethren, or sisters, or father or mother,
or wife or children, or lands for my
names sake, shall receive an hundred
fold, and shall receive everlasting life. - This,
of course, is a severe test. But it has never
been modified, or, as we might say, repealed.
It is as much to-day a law of the church, a
law with "all who call themselves chris
tians," as it was when it was literally inter-
preted and obeyed in the early ages of the
church. The Roman Catholic church, the
largest body of protesting christians, enforces
it rigidly in the case of its clergy; and we
are happy to bear testimony to the fact that
many Protestant pastors, during the cpl
demic Of 1873, sustained by pious and de-
voted wives, proved that they, too, were pre-
pared to give up all in the service of Christ,
to die, if need be, giving the cup of water
even to the the poorest of his servants.
Ministers as such are volunteers. They are
not coerced, nor drafted-they are willing
soldiers Of the cross. They take all the vows
of their Office, of their own volition and will,
and chesrfully. They promise to be physi-
clans and healers of souls Sin all time { f
t-ibulation, in all time of our prosperity. and
in the hour of death, " as the Litany so plain
ly has it. They know that their duty is some
thing more than that of a mere preacher of
the word; that they are to take care of the
poor, provide for the orphans, comfort the
widows, and carry the strength of the gospel
to stricken and shattered households. They
know that the poor are to be minlstered to;
that all are to be relieved who are in ''neces-
sity and tribulation;" that all are to find rest
In the church who are weary and heavy
laden" They know that every hour of their
lives Is to be consecrated to the service of the
Master, and that there is not one word said
anywhere in the bible, CT in the ordination
ceremonies of any branch of the church,
about release from duty In times of "plague,
pestilence and famine" John Bunyan, of
whom the Baptist church is justly proud, and
Roger Williams, who braved the Indians
rather than submit to what his conscience
could not approve, both lived up to literal
Interpretation of those scriptures. They took
no thought for the morrow. They were not
commercial christians, who counted it great
gain to run away from their work. they
were plain men, to whom life on earth was
but the beginning of life eternal. They
were jealous and fearless. They were
in the world, but not of it. They
did not run newspapers for per-
sonal profit. They had no bust
ness ventures in which Christ and his church
were made unwilling partners, reaping no
profit. They were in earnest and had tut |
one object in view. So with the Wesleys |
and Whitfield, the founders of that sect
which in numbers is next to the Baptists in
this county. but in zeal and good works is
second to none. They followed Christ to the
last hours of their lives and lived in obedi-
ence to his commands, Drawing death an hum
dred times, and obloquy, hate, malice, every
form Of persecution that ignorance melted by
bigotry could invent. Had they lived in our
day they would have secuted the advice of
the Memphis Baptist. and have scorned
counsel that is SO cold-booded in its CONNER
Q al calculation, 81 sordidly selfish, and
which eliminates in the malicious, vindictlve
and spiteful Remuneration of those who fol-
lowed the example of Bunyan, Rogers. Wes-
ley and Whitfield, and Christ himself, as
''yellow-fever hounds"