The Sunday herald., 1881-03-13

The Rev Henry II Tucker, d. D., one of
the most eminent and learned Baptist diynes in the
south, has leen writing some editorials on "Chris-
tan Warfare, conflicts with Sin and Its allies.
Many of these editorials ably written hut the last
one, ''The sand Forts which copy below. Will
amuse not few of military readers. We give 1t
entire that the application Of the first pant 10 the
second may be understood. 1t is copied from the
Christian Inder of Atlanta, Ga, of which Rev. Dr.
Tucker is editor
1t of the discoveries OF the war between the
States, that the strongest Of all forts is the sand
fort. II was formerly the practice 10 build forts
with enormously thick walls of solid masonry: all
the appliances of modern engineering being brought
to bear, to lift the huge granite blocks of which
these walls We're built, into position Forts
struCted can certainly endure severe Siege and can
Withstand for time the shocks Of the heaviest ord
nance, But their fall is only a question of time.
Every shot that strikes The wall destroys part Of II,
and the loss of the part destroyed is irenarahe.
all that Necessary, is to persist n the infection of
these losses and the work Of destruction is complete
one siX-hundred pound shot OF shell striking the wall
might knock of half ton or half dozen tons OF
solid rock, and ii this process is continued long
enough the entire structure must be leNeled to the
ground Moreover, To build such forts requires a
vast expenditure ofmoney and labor and time, and
when DESTROYED they are DESTROYED completely, and
can never be rebuilt. The building of a sand fort
requires no ski and no great outlay OF any kind.
and such fort, when built is indestrnctiOle The
shot pnnges into the sand and bures ITSELF and the
channel which is forced for Itself is Instantly filed up
10y the sliding sand, and the fort is In exactly the
condition II was before the EhOt was hred.
Furious cannonade makes no difference; every
breach that Is made heals itself. and that too with
ont human aid or oversight. The laws of nature
come promptly 10 the rescue and never fail. shell
may explode i'll the very centre of the wall of sand,
but all the harm it can do If any, is momentary;
may throw few tons of sand up into the air, hut
quikely as grayitatlOn can do the work the sand
falls back, and the fort is again in thorough repair.
At first thought, any one would suppose that the
heavier and more compact, and more solid the
eral Of fort, the stronger II would be: and that
light and loose material as sand would AFFORD no pro-
lection at all. second thought might lead to a
different conclusion; and our experience has settled
the question that sand fort is impregnabe.
In the granite wall the strong adhesion of tn e
particles is the source Of it's weakness the grip of
these particles each other is such that the wall
becomes a unit, and whatever Injuries part of it
Injuries the whole. In the sand wall there is no
adhesiOn II is composed of millions OF units; these
units are small that they cannot be injured, and
II few thousands Of them were even destroyed or
blown away their loss would not he felt or 1t Were
they COuld easily be replaced with others: and part
of the wall is the least affected by the missile striking
another part. In the one case the weakness lies in
the strength; in the other case the strength lies In the
weakness.
Baptist churches taken singly, taken all to-
gether, are "A sand fort They are separate and in-
dependent bodies having no necessary connection
with each other II one be injured the others are
unhurt: If one be DESTROYED the others are intact
he only way 10 rid the world of them Is destroy
ftfry one. Even this would lie OF no avail. for If
The churches were dsbanded and broken up the
scattered members would soon together again,
and reform themselves into the same organization
as before If this process were repeated thousand
uines lhe result would always he the same as at first.
The only way to eXtngulsh them would be 10 put all the
members to death. Even this would he 4 iruitless
task, for so long people continue 10 read the New
Testament some of them will become Baptists, and
little Baptist churches Will spring up in spots ali
The world. If these again were destroyed others
would IN Ike manner spring up To take their places,
anu thus history would repeat ITSELF. Their weakness
Is III their strength. II they were consolidated into
one compact Organization, granite walled and ironed-
rlDDed, they would doubtless present very iOrInid
able appearance and men would applaud the massive
structure but some day the gates Of he'll might make
a breach which could not be repaired and speedily
lheh al would be ruined The ecclesiastical sand
fort rdiculed and despised by men, Is the only
which II Is impossible to destroy. Any other, no
matter how absolutely planned by human ingenuity,
or how strongly built by human hands resist attack
may be Oyertllr0wn fOr whatever man can build up
man can pull down. But when man encounters
nature he meets more than his match. Nature
stands by the sand fort with ever yglant eye and
ever ready hands, quick as lightning to repair damage
and by similar law churches dissOcated from each
other and bound together by no essential tie, can
never be oyertlrown.