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on the ground aud every rod became a ser
pent. But Aaron's serpent swallowed the ser
pents of the necromancers. When Aaron
picked up his serpent, lo, it was a rod again !
He stretched this rod of authority over the
waters of the Nile and instantly all the water
in Egypt became blood ! It was the first
plague. Jannes and Jambres, the chief of
Egyptian magicians, held forth their rods, and
water became blood.
Aaron stretched forth his rod again and this
time frogs swarmed from every waterside until
the land \yas reeking with the pest of loath
some frogs. It was the second plague. Jannes
and Jambres also brought up frogs; though I
suspect that was not ditticult. Ilad they shown
real power they should have used their wands
to make the vile pests disappear. This, of
course, they could not do, and were evidently
too shrewd to attempt.
The third plague came upon Egypt when
Aaron smote the dust and liee swarmed
throughout all the land on man and beast, an
affliction worse than frogs. When Jannes and
Jambres attempted to duplicate this plague
they failed utterly, and attempted to discredit
Aaron no more.
He entered the lobby of the hotel, a youth of
twenty, clad in a long gown of soiled silk. A
reticule like the ordinary shopping bag of a
fine lady swung from his wrist; ah, but its
contents would have been the envy and de
light of a typical American boy. Such a va
riety of articles as that small bag contained!
The head of a tiny white rabbit peeped from
it. The magician walked about the lobby be
hind the Americans clucking as one calls
chickens and stroking the little rabbit's head
affectionately.
"It is Jannes," I cried in real delight, for I
love a magician. The classic shell-game, the
flower that blossoms before you as you gaze,
the yards and yards of ribbon and the live
duck that are pulled from the hat-band of an
embarrassed spectator hold for me an unfail
ing fascination that brings joy to my heart as
in the days of youth.
Jannes had no need of a stage. lie kneeled
on the marble floor of the lobby. He, too, had
the shell-game and the growing tlower. He,
too, tossed a coin into the air, and later plucked
it from the shoe top of an innocent spectator.
He asked for a silver piece. I found a franc,
closed my hand upon it, held it tight, deter
mined to emulate Moses and Aaron and outwit
this son of Jannes. He covered my fist with
his silk handkerchief and covered the fist of a
friend with another little silk handkerchief;
he invoked the aid of the white rabbit, beat a
tiny drum, whisked off both handkerchiefs,
and, lo; I was holding tenaciously a bit of tin
the size of a franc, and though neither I nor
my friend had opened our clenched fists, he
held my silver franc securely in his hand.
Jannes next produced a card with three
black spades upon it. He rubbed his thum
across the card and two spades disappeared,
leaving an ace.
"Jannes," I cried, "with that trick you
could easily win every cut-glass vase for which
our ladies spend countless hours over tables
of auction bridge. With that trick you could
outwit tBe shrewdest gamblers of Saratoga, At
lantic City or the resorts of the South. Ah,
Jannes, why so poor with the open sesame of
such potential wealth on the stub of your dirty
thumb f"
Let none of the fine ladies nor expert gam
blers be disturbed, however, for we left Jannes
securely anchored in the submerging poverty
of Cairo.
Next evening another arrived in much the
same manner. He had served, he said, with
the British in India. As an interesting pre
lude he hammered a six-inch spike into his
head through one nostril. It did not seem to
interfere with the functions of his brain.
"Lo, Jambres is here," I cried with enthu
siasm. He borrowed a cigarette, broke it into
two equal parts. Lit both and smoked them
a moment. Without touching his mouth with
his hands he gave a great gulp and bolted the
burning cigarctte stumps. Jambres then laid
his head back, as one gargles for sore throat,
and the smoke rolled out of his opened mouth
as from the miniature smoke-stack of a loco
motive, puff by puff. He gave a hectic cough,
caught one of the lighted cigarctte stumps,
still burning, between his teeth, smoked it,
spat it out, coughed again, produced the sec
ond half, also burning, smoked that and spat
it out, his hands all the while held behind li is
back.
"Jambres," I exclaimed, "you are a marvel.
With you I could tour America and sell more
bottles of Smith's Cancer Cure or Jones' Kill
um or Curum than the laboratories could man
ufacture. With you, Jambres, I could put on
a side show that would make Kingling pale
into insignificance, llere as a mark of my ad
miration and esteem is the silver franc I res
cued only yester e'en with great difficulty
from the tenacious grasp of your unknown
brother Jannes."
"MINISTERS FROM CONCORD CONGRE
GATION."
By Rev. T. M. Stevenson.
In the history of Concord Church, in Iredell
County, N. C., published by the late Dr. S. AV.
Stevenson, of Mooresville, N. C., in 3913, a
chapter headed as above appears, and so re
markable and inspiring is that chapter, I am
offering it that all may read:
"The ministers of the gospel who were from
this congregation are as follows:
Rev. Hugh Wilson, D. D., who went to Texas ;
Rev. L. P. Wilson, Jr., who went to Virginia;
Rev. William Franklin Watts, whose grave is
in Concord Cemetery. Franklin Church in
Rowan County was named Franklin in memory
of him. Rev. Alburtis L. Watts, who labored
in Steel Creek congregation and is bnried in
Steel Creek Cemetery, Mecklenburg County,
North Carolina; Rev. Stanhope King, who
went West and joined the Baptists; Rev. Jarvix
B. King, who died from cholera at Selma,
Alabama; Rev. Thomas T. Scott, who went
West, joined the Episcopalians, was made
bishop and died in New York City, July, 1867 ;
Rev. Samuel H. Stevenson, who died in Illinois;
Rev. James Calvin Stewart, of the Methodist
Church in California, was president of the
University of California, and waR murdered
by highwaymen in Louisiana in 1866; Rev.
L. L. Stewart and Rev. S. Curtis Stewart, who
went to the Northern Presbyterian Church at
the end of the Civil War; Rev. Winslow Watts,
who was pastor of Prospect and Back Creek
Church, Rowan County, North Carolina; llev.
James C. Alexander, who was pastor of Buf
falo and Bethel Church, Guilford County,
North Carolina; Rev. I/ewis Shcrrill, who went
West and died; Rev. E. Shcrrill, who went to
Mississippi ; Rev. Pincknoy Summers, who
joined the Methodist Church and went to Ten
nessee; Rev. Smith Campbell, who joined the
Methodist Church and went to Georgia; Rev.
J. Rufus Masters, of the Baptist Church in
Texas; Rev. W. R. McLelland, who was pastor
of Bethany, Tabor, Bethesda and Troutman
churches and who died while attending a meet
ing of the Southern General Assembly in 1906;
Rev. Jamies Ewin Summers; Rev. John A*
Harris, who is organizing mission churches in
Mitchell and Yancey counties in the mountains
of North Carolina ; Rev. L. W. Morrison, of the
Methodist Church, California."
To this list should be added Rev. T. M.
Stevenson and very properly, I believe, Mrs.
Mattie Ingold Tate, a daughter of tlio church
and long a mcdical missionary in Korea.
It will be seen from the above that Concord
Church during the 147 years of her existence
(Concord was set off from Fourth Creek, now
Statesville First in 1775) has given to the
world twenty-two ministers and one medical
missionary, or approximately one for every
six years of her life.
liarnesville, Ga.
OVERWORKING THE WILLING HORSE.
By Rev. C. F. Allen.
Although young in the ministry, and there,
fore speaking with all deference to those of
my brethren who have borne the "heat and
the stress of the day," one thing has come to
my notice in more than one instance, and I
am writing on the matter as 1 see it, that is,
the overloading of some of the willing mem
bers of Presbytery and Synod, and even the
General Assembly, with offices and committee
positions. In the college which I had the privi
lege of attending, they have a point system;
each office counting so many points, and a
strict limit is put upon the number of points
each man can have; which remedies just such
situations. But in the Church courts a few
men are on committee after committee, and
overloaded with this and that work, while
others just as willing to help are unable to
do so. By so crowding some men, though they
be very capable, it hinders their efficiency in
the performance of the duties given them. I
know of several cases of this kind, in which
good men are being "done to death," simply
because they seem willing. Is this exactly
fair to the work and to them? We all know
that too many "irons in the fire" does not
make for efficiency. It seems to me that these
good| brethren could give more time to their
work if only given a part of the burden to bear
and others were used to help out.
While in the Seminary I saw cases in which
candidates were given little or no attention
by their Presbyteries, simply because some
good brother was given the Chairmanship of
the Christian Education Committee, who, be
sides being the pastor of a large church, was
on half a dozen committees. I heard one such
say that he had so many things to look after
that he could not give justice to any of them
I think this situation can be remedied for the
best interests of the work and the men con
cerned by a more equitable distribution of the
work, and not overloading some. I overheard
a prominent minister say at Presbytery,
"Brother so and so is working himself into a
collapse, simply because Presbytery, seeing that
he is willing and hating not to respond when
called upon, has given him three men's work,
while some excellent men have nothing much
to do, and need the experience." There are
good elders who attend Presbj'tery, yet are not
used when they would make fine workers
These ought to be utilized. If a Presbytery
or higher court does not work in the new ma
terial, tbey are going to find themselves "in a
hole," when these brethren they overload eith
er collapse or^o elsewhere. Why should not a
Presbytery or Synod use all the material it
has in its membership, and not overburden a
few? May these words of mine be the means
of setting some to thinking along this line,
then I will feel myself amply repaid for ex
pressing my opinioa.
Oxford, Ga.