USA > Virginia > City of Staunton > City of Staunton > The First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, Virginia > Part 27
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The baby Erskine soon engaged in Sunday School work and was the main attraction. He had his discouragements however; one boy would stay away and was eaten up by a crocodile, but the poor mother was quickly consoled by the present of a remnant of bright calico; the calico was very bright and the boy was a bad boy anyhow.
Erskine's next success was in a sewing class; he would go down under a palm tree and when the scholars gathered, his mother would bring out the needles and thread. She had received from this country a bolt of factory cloth, five cents a yard; and she taught them to make dresses for themselves, two yards each with a little pink around the neck; the only trouble being that the young ladies were so modest that it took them some time to get accustomed to so much finery.
To make a favorable impression, upon the people in that country it is necessary to either fight them or feast them. So the missionaries
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bought a cow, made it into soup, filled all their buckets and bath tubs and sent out invitations far and wide. It was a grand occasion and at the close the chiefs all came and acknowledged that, for once, they and their dogs had had enough.
Erskine's influence was not confined to those of low degree. He was invited to the English military station, six miles distant, queens from Darfur and Rordofan came to see the "white child." Lords and ladies, pashas and beys, tied up their Nile boats in front of the house and enjoyed a taste of American waffles and wafers. Millionaire Hunt who wants to raise cotton in the Soudan offered to put new roofs on all the mission buildings. Rothchild, of Paris, and his son, hunting in the neighborhood, were glad to rest there. And they all left some- thing from their stores. It seems to be a Staunton First Church pound party out there all the time.
Baby Erskine has had no reason to complain of the hardships of missionary life. He had for a time a namesake of the sister of Moses to keep off the scorpions and now a namesake of the mother of Jesus takes care of him, when there is no princess to dandle him in her arms. He is now three years old and has learned three languages, the English, the Arabic and the Shulla and can translate from one to another. He was invited to tea at the palace in Khartum and the Sindar would have been delighted to play a game of tennis with his mother. if he was not obliged just at that time to oversee the irrigation of several hundred square miles of desert; and the general thought of the people is that if such a babe should be brought all the way from far off America to make them good surely they ought to be good.
It was supposed that if Baby Erskine was taken to the center of Africa, he would never be heard of again; but how famous he has become! His picture appeared in the child's paper of the American Mission in Egypt, was transferred to the child's paper of the United Presbyterian Church, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and was the only pic- ture of the annual report of the board of missions to the General Assem- bly of that Church. Let us pray that the little missionary may not be exalted above measure. I am sorry to say that he already gives signs of this, and recently when walking in the great city of Cairo, he stepped so high that some one asked, "Who is that great man?" and some one answered, "Why, that is Pasha Erskine, son of the princess of Georgia, who comes from the great City of Staunton." (You know the people of that country are very fond of talking big).
You can never begin too young in doing good. There is a sense in which Egypt can now be called a Christian country. Fifty years ago only armed parties could visit the Soudan, now the savages have learned that Christian government is friendly and honest, and the un-
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armed missionary with his wife and child, can travel for two thousand miles, from one end of the land to the other, in perfect safety. It has been discovered in that land that Christianity teaches better morals than Mohammedanism, and that is more merciful to women and children. The word of God is there, and every inhabitant can get ac- cess to it.
CLOSING SERMON, BY REV. W. W. MOORE, D. D.
Micah VI: 8. "What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God ?"
In the rotunda of the Congressional Library at Washington stand eight colossal and stately statues which represent Commerce, History, Art, Philosophy, Poetry, Law, Science and Religion, each accompanied by a choice extract from some masterpiece of literature descriptive of that particular sphere of thought or endeavor. Above the noble figure which represents Religion, and which grasps in her right hand her illuminating torch, is inscribed this lofty sentiment from the prophecy of Micah which I have selected for our text this evening. It is the culmination of the glory of the National Library. There, high above all the deeds that men have done, and all the books that men have written, runs this immortal line from the Book which God has written, "What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with thy God." True watchword of all real progress. True climax of all human glory. It is the fitting crown of all that beauty and strength and truth. It will stand as long as the great building stands, proclaiming to the nation that which makes in- dividuals great and peoples enduring ; nay, it will stand for millions of years after the Congressional Library has crumbled to dust, as long as the Universe of God shall endure that truth will stand, proclaiming its sublime evangel of morality, benevolence and piety, and urging these commonplace virtues which are behind all real greatness, as cause is behind effect, and ranking faith in God and righteousness of life above material gain and temporal prosperity and intellectual achievements. It is a good thing, my brethren, and a thing for which thoughtful men may feel thankful, to have the paramount importance of Religion among all human interest thus conspicuously recognized and recorded in the noblest building ever erected by a great people ; for it is a thing which prosperous nations are prone to forget.
If you have ever approached one of the old Cathedral towns of Europe from a distance, if, for instance, you have ever come down the Rhine on the steamer towards Cologne, or traveled through the long levels of Eastern England towards Lincoln, you will recall how
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completely the Cathedral dominates the City. "The first object you catch sight of as you approach is the spire tapering into the sky, or the huge towers holding possession of the center of the landscape, majesti- cally beautiful, imposing by mere size among the large forms of nature herself. As you go nearer, the vastness of the building impresses you more and more, the puny dwellings of the citizens creep at its feet, the pinnacles are glittering in the tints of the sunset, when down below among the streets and lanes the twilight is darkening. And even now, when the towns are thrice their ancient size, and the houses have stretched upward from two stories to five, when the great chimneys are vomiting their smoke among the clouds, and the temples of modern industry, the workshops and factories spread their long fronts before the eye, the Cathedral is still the governing form in the picture, the one object which possesses the imagination and refuses to be eclipsed." This pre-eminence of the house of God among the houses of men is but the medieval symbol and expression of the dominance and supereminence of religion among all other human interests. If that be its proper place, then it is of the utmost import- ance to know what religion is.
What do the Scriptures principally teach? The Scriptures princi- pally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. Accordingly the two great outstanding doctrines of the Bible are the spirituality of God and the spirituality of Religion, and the two great corruptions to which all religion is exposed are Idol- latry and Formalism. The tendency to substitute images in the place of God, and rites in the place of righteousness. The necessity of some forms of worship for creatures of sense makes such a substitution pos- sible, the overestimate of such forms makes it certain. God met Israel's need of some outward forms of worship by ordaining the Levitical ritual ; but in doing so He was careful to guard against the abuse of these forms, and an exaggerated estimate of their value. When He gave them the Tabernacle, with its symbolic expression of the terms and forms of their communion with Him, He gave them also the Moral Law with its requirement in the first table of a spiritual worship of God alone without images, and with its requirement in the second table of righteousness in all the relations existing between man and man. When in the time of David the ark was brought up to Jerusalem, and the ritual of divine worship was established anew, the two Psalms written on that occasion, the fifteenth and twenty-fourth, both taught the futility of ritual without righteousness. "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle; who shall dwell in thy Holy hill? He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart."
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But, notwithstanding all these precautions, the theory of rites versus righteousness prevailed in Israel. Religion degenerated into religiosity. The people contented themselves with the punctilious observance of the forms of worship, the ablutions, the sacrifices, the festivals, while their lives were full of wickedness. The priests themselves in many cases yielded to and encouraged this divorce of morality from religion. It was one of the great works of the pro- phetic order to protest against this gross misconception of religion, to insist upon the inseparable union of true religion and true morality, and to assert the supremacy of the moral and spirituals above the literal and ceremonial elements of religion. Listen to them one after another. Samuel: "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams." Jehovah says through Hosea: "I desired mercy and not sacrifice." Through Amos he says: "I hate your feast days. Though ye offer me burnt offerings I will not accept them. But let justice run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream." To the same effect also he speaks through Isaiah (I: 13-17) and Ezekiel (XVIII: 5-9) and in like manner through the Psalmists (LI: 16-17) and the wise men (Prov. XV: 8; XXI: 3). So here Micah represents an inquirer as saying, "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God?" So in the New Tes- tament, Christ's warnings are largely against the ceremonial nar- rowness of the Pharisees and the ostentatious religionism which ignored justice and mercy. The apostle Paul says: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service." No more dead sacrifices. Religion is the surrender of the will and the life to God.
The world can never overestimate its debt to that great prophetic order which was crowned in Christ and is continued as to this particu- lar function in all true ministers of His Gospel till the end of time. If you would estimate aright the value of the Christian ministry and of the work which they have done among you for the last hundred years in this community and through this church, then do not forget that, at least as to this function, they are the continuators of that great order
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of the prophets. They are called not to merely ritual acts but to teach and instruct, to hold before the people a worthy conception of religion and a lofty ideal of life.
I repeat it is a good thing to have the prophetic conception of religion as against the priestly exalted before the view of our people in our national library; and it might have been done with even more emphasis and effect.
What then is it that God requires of men above all else? To acquire learning? To attain renown? To accumulate wealth? To multiply and observe the outward forms of religion? Nay, "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God?"
I. God requires us to do justly. That means to do right, to observe the second table of the law, to refrain from injuring others by word or deed in their persons, honor, estates or good name, to be kind, chaste, honest and truthful. Ruskin says, "Do justice to your brother (you can do that, whether you love him or not) and you will come to love him. But do injustice to him because you don't love him, and you will come to hate him." For, it is not enough to do right. It is not enough to be strong. Steel is strong, but it is also cold and hard. Warmth and tenderness are needed. And so we come to the next requirement.
II. Love mercy. Mercy is compassion, forebearance, forgive- ness, love, helpfulness. It is the doing of acts of kindness willingly, cheerfully and without expectation of recompense. It is life thinking, toiling, suffering for others. And it is this that sweetens and enriches the nature and makes it attractive. Jesus Christ did justly. No false or impure word ever crossed His lips, no unkind or dishonest act ever stained His life, no evil thought or purpose ever found lodgment in His heart. But this moral supremacy is not the whole secret of His power. It is His mercy that makes Him the irresisti- ble magnet of men.
But not yet is our definition of religion complete. We are to do justly and to love mercy, we are to obey our consciences and love our neighbors, we are to be true to ourselves and to our fellow men, but is that all? Does religion look only outward, on the plane of a common humanity? Nay, it looks also upward. More fundamental than obedience to our conscience and mercy to our fellow men is faith in God. Do justly, love mercy, and
III. Walk humbly with thy God. To walk with God is to have Him for our companion, to trust Him and love Him. In short it is what the New Testament writers call Faith. Justice and Mercy in
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God's sense are impossible without this. The ancient doge of Venice was right when he built St. Mark's Cathedral and the Palace of Justice side by side. Religion and morality are inseparable. One is the root, the other is the fruit. In a recent controversy with Mr. Gladstone the late Prof. Huxley expressed great admiration for this noble definition of religion by Micah, and yet it is evident that he took no account of the last and greatest element in that definition, faith in God. "While he admits that religion has done much to elevate human conduct, he thinks that human conduct may now be safely trusted to go on by itself in moral evolution without any further interference of the idea of God at all. Is that what you think? Does the ship go on when the fires in the engine room are put out? No more will human conduct go on when the noble impulse of personal relationship to God is quenched. When the fires in the engine room are put out, the ship swings hither and thither in the trough of the sea, and it is drifted by the tide or it founders in the tempest; and human conduct founders when the soul of man is bereft of God." The individual exceptions which may be cited of men who have con- tinued to live correctly after throwing over their faith in God are only apparent. They are only what Mr. Balfour has called spiritual para- sites who live upon the enormous mass all about us of religious feel- ing and religious conviction. But the parasite dies when the larger growth from which it has drawn its life is destroyed. The Christian faith is the life breath of morality and philanthropy. This is no merely professional and ministerial view. James Russell Lowell, in an address following a noted infidel, said: "When the microscopic search of skepticism, which has hunted the heavens and sounded the seas to disprove the existence of a Creator, has turned its attention to human society and has found a place on this planet ten miles square where a decent man can live in decency, comfort and security, supporting and educating his children unspoiled and unpolluted; a place where age is reverenced, infancy protected, manhood respected, womanhood honored, and human life held in due regard; when skeptics can find such a place ten miles square on this globe, where the Gospel of Christ has not gone and cleared the way, and laid the foundations, and made decency and security possible, it will then be in order for the skeptical literati to move thither and there ventilate their views. But so long as these very men are dependent upon the religion they discard for every privilege they enjoy, they may well hesitate a little before they seek to rob the Christain of his hope and humanity of its Saviour, who alone has given to man that hope of life eternal which makes life tolerable and society possible, and robs death of its terrors and the grave of its gloom."
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The prophets insisted upon a religion which regulated conduct as distinguished from a mere religion of forms, but they were as far as possible from teaching that conduct could be effectually regulated apart from faith in God.
Therefore, my brethern, as you have here for a hundred years steadily proclaimed this religion of justice and kindliness grounded in humble faith in God, and as you have thus, along with other Christian organizations of this community, contributed to its growth that which is after all of the most importance and value, so hold on your way for the future, calling men to the practice of justice and the love of mercy by pointing their individual faith to the Holy and Merciful God, with- out whose favor no individual or community can prosper.
MRS. WILLIAM ELLIOTT BAKER (GUEST OF HONOR AT THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION), BY MRS. WILLIAM C. MARSHALL
No history of the First Presbyterian Church, of Staunton, would be complete without some account of Mrs. William E. Baker, the wife of the beloved pastor, who for a quarter of a century served it so ac- ceptably.
Evelyn King Baker is the daughter of the late Barrington King and of his wife, Catherine King, and was born at South Hampton, Liberty County, Georgia. When a young child, her father, with sev- eral other gentlemen from the low country, formed a colony and moved . from their plantations to Roswell, Georgia, where they built Colo- nial homes, the most beautiful of which is Barrington Hall, built by Mr. King. This lovely home is the only one that is still in the hands of the family who built it, it being the present home of Mrs. Baker. When a girl of fifteen, Mrs. Baker was sent to a small school in Guil- ford, Connecticut, where she was educated.
She was the only daughter in a family of seven brothers and was the companion and idol of them all. Her early girlhood gave promise of the lovely woman into which she developed, and the influence of her pious parents and their Christian home, fitted her for the place she so ably filled as a pastor's wife.
She married Mr. Baker when quite young and went with him to Sacramento, California. This was in the days when one had to go by water to the Isthmus of Panama, and thence up the Pacific to California. They lived there about a year, during which time Mr. Baker's minis- terial work was that of a Missionary, as California was then an un- developed state.
They returned to her old home at Roswell, Ga., and from there came to Staunton when their first child, Kate, was an infant.
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Mrs. Baker came with her husband to Staunton in 1857 and during the full period their life in this Church she was ever the true pastor's wife. In church work she was a leading spirit, and a constant inspiration. In cases of sickness she lovingly administered and all who ยท came under these ministrations give testimony of her comfort and help.
To the poor and needy she always extended a helpful hand and her tender sympathy for every sufferer was heartfelt and sincere. Her broad hospitality was of the truest and best, and her greeting to strangers made each one feel welcome either in her church or home. In her home her devotion and affection were constancy itself.
All the children in the congregation loved her dearly and the old and infirm were especially tenderly cared for by her.
Mrs. Baker is possessed of graces that give her prominence any- where, and her strong personality and gracious manner win for her the love and honor of all.
She now lives in the old home at Roswell, Georgia, and is happy in having with her her daughter, Kate and family, Mrs. Carolus Simp- son, who live with her there. This dear home is often filled with her children and grandchildren, and all the dear friends are there accorded the warm welcome they always received at her hands at the Manse in Staunton.
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CHAPTER XVII
A SERMON PREACHED BY THE PASTOR, REV. A. M. FRASER, D. D., SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1904, AS A CONCLU- SION OF THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
"Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Before Ephraim, and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up thy strength, and come and save us.
Turn us again, O God, and, cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved."-Ps. LXXX : 1, 2, 3.
T HE explanation of this beautiful but peculiar lan- guage is found in the description which Moses gives us of the order of arrangement of the Israelites in their company in the wilderness. Whenever Israel broke camp and set forth upon a journey, the spectacle was interesting and imposing in the highest degree.
While they were in camp, "the tabernacle of the con- gregation" was set in the center of the host. One-third of the space within the tabernacle was partitioned off by costly curtains, to be reserved as the holiest spot among all the religious places of Israel. Within that holy of holies, there was complete darkness, and there was but one object of furniture, "the ark of the covenant." The ark was built of the costliest wood and overlaid with gold. Covering the ark was the golden mercy seat, out of the ends of which rose the golden cherubim which over- shadowed it. The special dwelling place of God in Israel was the mercy seat between the cherubim. Only one man could enter that holy of holies except on the extraordinary occasions, to which I will presently allude. That man who
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was permitted to enter was the High Priest. He could enter but once a year and then he must approach with the blood and smoking incense of atonement in his hands.
Immediately around the Tabernacle was encamped the tribe of Levi. That tribe had been separated from the twelve tribes and set apart exclusively to religious duties. They were not subject to military duty and they had no inheritance of lands among the other tribes. When that tribe was withdrawn from the twelve, there were only eleven left, and in order to restore the comple- ment of twelve tribes, the tribe of Joseph was divided into two. Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and these two sons were made co-ordinate in rank with the sons of Jacob, and their descendants were tribes of equal rank with the other tribes. These twelve tribes were arranged in the camp around the tabernacle in the form of a Greek cross, or St. George's cross. We may describe the figure as a square cross, that is, a cross whose two beams are of equal size and cross each other at right angles in the middle, bringing the whole cross within the perimeter of a square. In order to effect this arrange- ment the twelve tribes were divided into four groups of three each. To the east of the tabernacle were the tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun called for convenience by the name of the leading tribe, "The host of Judah." On the south were the tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Gad, called, "The host of Reuben." On the west were the three tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin, and Manasseh, called, "The host of Ephraim," and sometimes, "The host of Joseph," because Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph, and Benjamin being the younger brother of Joseph, it was proper to include him in Joseph's household. On the north were the tribes of Dan, Asher and Naphthali, known as, "The host of Dan."
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