The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-13

A paper read before the adjourned session of the Alabama Baptist Stafr Convention at Montgomery. Ala, Nov. 27. 1908, by Rev. L. O. Dawson. or Tuscaloosa
 The Lord said, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" If we have freedom in propor- tion to the truth we hold, and if fiber ty in it's truest sense be the proof oi truth in the heart, then Baptists hold more truth than any other set of people on earth. for there are none so free as they. Other folks may be as free as they want to be. but they are not free Some have more liberty than others, but they are not free
 There are many who say that Bap- lists have too much liberty, that they abuse it or misuse 1t. or exaggerate it at the expense of the principle or co-operation. With the truth or falsi- ty of those opinions I am not at ali concerned at this time. The point make Is that even when he is in jail as he often has been, genuine Sap tist is the freest mortal on earth. This, of course, gives room for many eccentricities, and ijiosyncracies. ana often times to very many inconveni- encies. but nevertheless, it Is to the soul that has once tasted 1t. price less boon, and we submit to all it's drawbacks that we may enjoy the bIes' sing.
 pr. Gamble, our Texas philosopher, says the difference between q Metno- dist fool and . Baptist fool lies in the fact that a Methodist fool is a fool with . string tied to him, while Bap- tIse fool is a fool at large. The one can be hauled In when occasion re- quires and ordinary decercy seems to demand 1t. but the other-well. we just have to turn him out in a wide space and let him charge around till he Is out of breath. He sometimes proves to have good wind He holds out. or 1t seems to us that he holds out. a long time. We soon weary of him, or his antics and the trouble he is mak- ing. We wish for q string on that particular one anyhow but not even 70 rid the churches of that nuisance would we surrender one Jot or title of our liberty. The truth. or something else. has made us free. We believe the something else had nothing 70 do with it, for 1t Is the nature of something else to enslRve. But all of that is aside from my purpose. I simply call attention to a mere fact-we are the freest people on earth.
 But with every man a law unto him. self is there any room left for com mon aims and united action? Ap- parently mo-" actually ''yes"-for while no visible cords nave tied, inner bonds stronger than steel have bound Baptists together People with a com mon Lord, common love, common hopes, fears, dangers, work and suf- fering could not stay apart if they were to try. The formation of groups was inevitable. They would have come together somehow even if the Lord had never founded His church and churches.
 Souls Fourth of Ju1y.
 And even so, the churches were like unto the units composing them. Each one was free and Independent of any and all others. Essentially so, for no body composed of freemen could have laws suited to souls that were partial ly free. The souls Fourth of July was the day when the rending of the vail gave 1t direct access to the altar or God, and this act setting the souls Of men at liberty. foreshadowed and fore ordained the freedom of the groups into they would be associated as the ages passed by. Each church was destined to be complete and entire lacking nothing. Packed on to no other thing. there is no hook or ring in all its machinery to which any other thing can be attached.