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The Christian Index. THE BjraS T, THE OHBBBU! # [ OF Tennessee. VOL. 55—Nc. 2. Table of Contents. > Wnwr Pag*.— Alabama Department : Be cord of State Events; Spirit of the Beligtour Press; Baptist News and Notes; General Denomina tional News; We Can Make Home Happy— Poetry: Ebemezer —Onoe -a-Month ; The Rainy Day-Poetry; Florida Baptist Conven tion ; etc. B*oovn Page.— History and Importance of Sab bath Schools —Elder W. L, Geiger. Third Page.—Seleot Miscellany : What Shall I do for a living?—Saturday Evening Post; Night in the Moon ; etc. Fourth Page. —Editorial: Manna for God’s People—Rev. S. G. Hillyer. The Bible in the Schools; Becond Baptist Church, Atlanta — Synopsis of Sermon by Rev. A. T. Spalding ; Georgia Baptist News ; Narrow Escap \; Rev. C. M. Irwin : A Recognized Fact.; Think—Rev. D. E. Butler. Macon Letter—Rev. S Boykin; etc. Fifth Page Tha Human Will—Rev. A. J. Battle ; A Curious Document—J. B Cheves, Secniar Department: Leah Mordecai, a novel. by Mrs. Belle Kendrick Abbott. People will Talk—Poetry. Georgia .News ; News of the Week—Foreign and Domestic; Grange Notes; etc. Sixth Page.— Cheap Transportation—Synopsis of Address Delivered before the Georgia Slate Grange, at its recent session in Atlanta, by Col. B. VV. F.-obol. Seventh Page.— Science and Agriculture : Work for the Mouth; Something Concerning tiie Fal lacy of the Idea that Bought Pork is Cheaper than that Raised at Home—Georgia Grange; etc. Eighth Pagk. —Communications : Female Uni versity—J. M. Robertson. Sunday-school De partment : Introductory; Review of 1875- Outlook for 1876; Recent Trip Through the Rohoboth, Friendship aud Bethel As lociations; Contributions—T. C. Boykin. Marriages Ad vertisements) INDEX AND BAPTIST. ALABAMA DEPARTMENT. There is a daily mail between Eutaw and Greensboro. At Perryvilie coin is selling at seventy-five cents per bushel. There are 111 prisoners in the Mobile jail, of whom 98 are negroes. There was a Christmas tree at the’Talladega Baptist church Christmas night. Daily prayer-meetings are being held in Selma. Rev. Mr. Gotland, Methodist, of Abbeville has joined the Baptist church. Rev Thompson died in Tuscaloosa coun v■■ ■ - The Court house at Ashland, with all the records of the county, was burned the 18th ult Rev. J. W. Walden has been installed in the pastorate of the Franklin street Presbyte rian church, Mobile. The Alabama Grand Lodge and Grand En campment of Odd Fellows will meet in Hunts ville, February 7th. The Primitive Pathway, the organ of the Primitive Baptists, has made its appearance. It is edited by Elder Henderson. The Sabbath-schools of Orion joined in thanksgiving exercises on the last Sabbath of the old year. Dr. Wm. Locke, a Methodist minister, has Joined the Baptists, and was baptized recently by brother L. W. Duke. White and black emissaries are busily at work in the State endeavoring to induce col ored men to emigrate to the West. Three years ago, the section of land where Cullman now stands, was sold for taxes at eighty cents, and now it is assessed at two hun dred and fifty thousand dollars. Before his final departure from Selma, Rev. M. S. Andrews was presented, by members of other churches and others not connected with his pastorial charge, with a beautiful gold headed cane. Rev. Parker Thompson, familiarly known a* “ Father Thompson,” did at his residence near Tuscaloosa on the 18th nit. He was an excellent man of God, and for many years in strumental in organizing churches in his part of the State. Marion was visited by quite a destructive wind and rain stofm on the night of the 28th ult. Houses were unroofed, trees uprooted and fencing blown down. There was but little per sonal injury done. A negro c >ild was killed, and several per-ons received slight bruises. The Eulaula Times says: There is, so far as we can learn no scarcity of labor in this immediate section. Indeed, many a field hand could be easily spared Iroin this region and leave it in all t he better condition. A tew, un der lalse promises made them by emigration agents from the West, are leaving, but their pnsence is not missed in the least. —The Church Journal says: “A sensation has been created by a Methodist ‘ Bishop,’ Dr. Haven. Our first acquain tance with him was on the occasion of his delivery, some years since, of a sermon on ‘ miscegenation’—i. e., the inter marriage of white people with negroes. He strongly advocated the measure, not only on physiological, but on' high moral and Metho distic grounds, and handled the discussion with a loving familiarity (physiology and all) which gave his hearers and readers the satis laction of feeling that he iiad thoroughly mas tered the subject. Spirit of the Religious Press, The Texas Christian Advocate says; A short time since the authorities of Toledo. Spain, closed a Protestant church and i xpelled a pastor and school master. Wherever Cathol icism is dominant, it is intolerant. The same policy would mark their history in this coun try if they held the reins of power. —Commenting on that part of the Presi dent’s Message which discusses religious and educational questions, the Evangelist says : It is not a good sign for the permanency of our Government, and the sufficiency of our Con stitution, when in presidential campaigns new theories are started, and new issues are made, affecting the whole character ,our national charter. For political and personal ends nov el schemes are proposed ; and these may be called shrewd moves on the political chess board, but tiie gam. is a hazardous one for the people—the stake is •( more importance than the players. For ..no transient object a radi cal change is propounded ; one candidate out bios :h other in his appeal to some popular im pulse, or some local interest. Who can tel] how far this may go, if it is encouraged V Ii might mad to vital changes, affecting the whole relation of the general Government to the right and vested interests of the State. * * * The proposal to forbid all “religious” teaching is a hazardous one. Who is to define what is, aud what is not, religious? How many per sons are there who wish to have all religion in every form excluded from popular education? If “religion” may beexcluded by the State, why not ‘ morals” also, for people differ nearly as much on moral theories as they do on religious theories. —The Golden Rale maintains that church “ sociables” are apt to be over formal, and that their object is nullified when held in a house of worship. The people who indulge in them feel awkward. The fault lies in the place. There is a place to laugh, as well as a time; and a church is not a place where a man loves to explode a rocket-like joke, or where a wag can tickle the company with the dryness of his drollery. As long as religion is preached as applicable only to a certain range of faculties, it will never elicit the hearty co-operation of the remaining faculties in man. Our experience has been that a sociable held in a public hall, or a pri vate house, is worth ten held in the rooms of the church. / • —Under tlyf • , ? “ minister’s wife,” the London Bap? . ne has the following bit of pleasant satire : “ The minister’s wife oygbt to be select ed/by a commit, Jeofthe church. She should be war anted never to have headache, or neuralgia ; she should have nerves of wire and sinews ol iron ; she should never be tired nor sleepy, and should be everybody’s cheerful, drudge; she should be cheerful intellectual, pious, and domesticated ; she should be able to keep her husband’s house, darn his stockings, make his shirts, cook his dinner, light his fire, and copy his sermons ; she should keep up the style of a lady on the wages of a day laborer, and be always at leisure for “ good works,” and ready to receive morning calls ; she should he secretary to the Band of Hope, the Dorcas So ciety, and Hume Mission ; she should conduct Bible classes and mothers meetings; she should make clothing for the poor and gruel for the sick; and, finally, she should be pleased with ererybody and everything, and never desire any reward beyond the satisfaction of having done her own duty and other people’s too. —On the topic of “ country ministers,” the Golden Rule gives the following fine touches of rhetoric : Many people make the great blunder of sup posing that our city pulpits monopolize the ministerial talent of the country, it is a very natural blunder for people to make; and yet it is a blunder, nevertheless. Every gie.it city has its great men in all professions. But where it has one great man, it has scores of small ones. To one who has served ministerially in country and city churches the error of the pop ular estimate is seen. We know of dozens of ministerial brothers serving in country church es, many of them in small, out of the way par ishes, who, judged either by the standard of scholarship, of zeal, or pulpit efficiency, are able to stand side by side with those who rep resent the highest average of talent in our city pulpits. Indeed, we do not hesitate to say that, in our opinion, taking them man for man, the preachers in the country churches, will out rank on an average the preachers of the cities. A man must be very strong in his originality ; he must be intensely personal in his character istics, in order to resist those influences in city life which are calculated to level him down ward, in the scale of personal power. In the country, a man can grow naturally. He furn ishes the standard of judgment to his par ish, in himself. His development is norma), and not artificial. His study of character can be more thorough, and his knowledge of life, while less varied, less complex, less full, per haps, can be more individualistic than it can be in the city. There is also a moral educa tion possible to the preacher in a country par ish, that js not possible to oDe who conducts a great, swiftly-working metropolitan organiza tion. He who can look out through his study window upon a wide landscape or a stretch of ocean, or who lives within sight of the solemn hills, who can retire at will from the noise of human activity into the sweet and suggestive quietude of nature, —has possibilities of spirit ual culture which are denied those who live amid the noise and rumble, and narrow pros pect of our city streets. Meadows and forests, and the solemn ocean shore, the quiet of night, and the peacefulness of undisturbed days, can teach one as neither books, nor statues of bronze, nor the sight of human faces can ever do. “ I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my strength.’' —The Beliyii/us Telescope, with farseeing ac curacy says : “Slang is not wit. Neither is the misspelling of words humor. And we may go even further, and say that the prevalent disposition to present everything, serious as well as trifling, in a ridiculous light, is also bad as a matter .f morals Yet there are many people whose sole cflyrt in writing and in con versation appears to be in the direction of what they consider ‘smartness.’ That eon- FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, JANUARY 13, 1876. stant trifling with the sad realities of human life ; with the serious work of human kind ; with the events of the day, and with the facts of history; witii the character of the living, and with the memory of the dead, is lowering the tone not only of literature, but of morals. The world itself is net a huge joke, however some people may so nflect to consider it.” —The Standard says . “ The organs of the English establishment are much troubled con cerning the liberal and Christian spirit of Dean Stanley. They hold to the old Pharisaical, pro acriptiv; policy of ‘ the church,’ while he is imbued more with the spirit of the present time. The English Churchman reproaches him with ‘ unfaithfulness,’for the reason that liein vited Dr. Moffktt to lecture in Westminster Ab bey. The Church Times declares that he has ‘once more degraded the venerable church which is so unfortunate as to be committed to his charge by making its have a lecture-room in which non-conformist ministers may deport themselves.’ It is thus that- these bigoted churchman are helping on disestablishment which is sure to come at no distant day.” —There is a deal of homely truth and weighty suggestion in the following dis quisition on “Breakdowns,” which we cut from the Christian Weekly : The world is full of people who, in virtue of all probabilities, ought to have been successes, and are failures. Fine talents, fine opportu nities, fine physique have done whatever was possible for them ; and yet they fritter away life playing shilly shally with their own good fortune and with the world’s expectations. Sometimes the reason lies on the surface ; it is perhaps idleness, drunkenness or too much pride to undertake the little items and details so essential in every effort; but just as often the cause is past our finding out. The man seems possessed with some spirit of contradic tion, or ruled by some creation from the dark places of sentimentality or conceit. He for sakes willingly, and with an assumption of su perior wisdom, the broad, straight road which all traditions and experience recommend, smiles incredulously at warnings of danger, and persists with a headlong passion rather than a strong will, in that infatuation destined to destroy him. The world is, in the main, a just world; and in making success the one thing forever good, it has perhaps given us as perfect a measure as would be generally available. For the quali tics that must be cultivated in order to gain success in life are mostly great qualities; and there is no higher proof of this than the fact— whether we like to say it broadly out or not — that to succeed in this world has come to be looked upon as one of the ultimate fruit* of t!** go. peh Wily not 7 -It tg die „u&cfeWT men who cultivate that patience which Button rays “is genius ;” that industry, sobriety, hon esty, economy, etc., that both the gospel and the world acknowledged to be “lovely and of good report.” It is the successful men who send out our missionaries, build churches, li braries, and hospitals, and give in every gen eration the push onward that the world waits for. —“Economy” is a subject for terrible earn est consideration in these times. As judicious an article on this theme as we have seen for a long time, is the following from the National Baptist: The hard times result largely from waste and loss. During our war, a million men were withdrawn from production, and became, consumers; and all the while were destroying* to their utmost. Since the war, we have sunk money in mines, and unproductive rail roads ; we have lived very extravagantly and wastefully. The remedy lies in wasting less and in earning more. Let us not be misun derstood. Do not, dear and honored reader, hasten to the kitchen and dismiss one of your servants; do not, in the name of pity, grind down your poor seamstress, and take into your own hands the work she is now doing ; and then, when she lias become an object of char ity, give her at the expense of her self-respect and her energy, what she would most gladly earn. But there are places where you can economise. Put an end to waste. Are you wasting gas, coal, wood, oil 7 If you have com pany, let your entertainment be modest. You can economize in your dress ; you can wear a cheaper silk, or a woolen. Look after your kitchen. The waste of an American family would support a French household. One of the secrets of the prosperity of the French is, that nothing is wasted. If a chicken, or a sheep, is killed, each fragment is economized. The chicken’s feet are made into soup. The water in which fish has been boiled is not thrown away, but is made into soup. In our markets, the heads of sheep are thrown away, or sold for two cents, to the bone boiler. We are ashamed of economy. The most difficult words for an American to pronounce are “I can’t afford it.” —Over the signature of brother J. M. Wood, we find the following in the Barnesville Ga zette.* On Christmas Eve, soon after dark, the mem bers and friends of the Baptist church began to make their appearance at the pastor’s house. Some of the ladies passed through to the din ing room and took charge of things generally, and placed upon the dining table various pres ents that were brought or sent in. After an agreeable social gathering of young and old, the pastor an! family were permitted to in spect the gifts of Santa Claus, and found that all the members of the family had been so kindly remembered, by the presentation of ar ticles good for food and raiment, as well as a few bills of “ magic worth,” the love of which is said to be the “root of all evil.” It is of priceless worth to a pastor to be thus remem bered by a people for whom he has labored tor eight consecutive years, and it was this feature of the surprise whicli gave it its greatest value. It is pleasant, too, to acknowledge some band some testimonials of regaid by esteemed triends who do not have connection with the Baptist church. May the Great and Good Oiiq bless {ill who thus remembered the preach er and family. —■" ' *? Starrs, Harrison & Cos. (Nureerv-men and Florists,) Paincsvllle, 0„ for their four cat alogues, which Will be sent free: No. 1 Fruit anil Ornamental Trees j No. 9. Choice Roses, tfreou-Houso Plants, etc ; No* X Sweet Ohesnut Circular ; No. 4. Wholesale list. Tho firm is an old and reliable one and offers extra induce ments. BAPTIST MEWS AND NOTES. A correspondent from Hot Springs, Ar kansas. says: “Although the climate is warm and genial, yet the Christian portion of tlm community appear to be cold and indiffer ent in the cause, and the Baptists are by no mesps an exception. lam surprised that our Ilotne Mission Society have not entered this field, for I believe that with a little effort a guxi. strong church could be established, " deb would, in a very short space of time become self-sustaining. The Baptists now have a feeble church here, but as I understand have no regular pastor. Is there not some earnest Baptist minister, whose heart is full of the love of Christ, who would rejoice in the biased work of building up a strong Baptist interest here ? Brother, where are you ? Let sucl an one write to our warm-hearted brother, E. G. Smith, banker, Hot Springs, wife will gladly respond to any such commu nist thin. I am not alone in the belief that the strangers who come here would contribute liberally to the support of a good, earnest min i4bs.” The Congregationalist mentions the fact that a certain community of Bulgarians arc greatly Stirred oh the subject of Baptism. It appears that a Baptist colporteur visited them, and in a short time they comprehended the idea of Scji}fiare baptism as anew revelation on the Buhjtct. The result was that all the Protes tants in that region save two or three united, and iin writing expressed their purpose of being re baptized in accordance with the Gos pel inode. —-The Second Baptist church of Richmond, Vs..during the pastorate of its present pastor, Rfc|| Dr. Bitting, has raised for beneficent pur potjes $50,000. |yi he Religious Herald, of the 6th inst., con taiiA a vigorously written letter from Bro. W. H. Davis, of Hepzibah, Ga., reviewing Rev. H: Woodsmall’s charges, that the white peo ple Of Georgia refuse to give their legal rights to colored people. Bro. D. denies the asser tion, and proveß the facts of his denial. l'he Baptists in Sweden are making fine progress. Churches and Sunday-schools are spripg.ng up throughout the land. At the cloi'9 d f 1874,225 churches, 141 pastors, and a m p pVsbip of 10,160, are reported. All of tin rif spite of persecutions on the part of the ft'lt Imph?’!? >gnd 'he Stale which re mind fts of the darkest days of the Inquisition. For instance, in 1856, a brother, who was la boring as a colporteur, was fined one hundred crowns for having read a chapter from the Bi ble publicly. Another brother was imprisoned for several weeks, and fed only on bread and water, for allowing the Bible to be read in his house. In the following year six brethren were, at different times, confined in the cell prison ot Christianstad. One of them, a blind colporteur, was confined in this prison eight days for having circulated religious books and tracts. When taken from the prison an iron chain was attached to one of his ankles. He was then taken to another station, where new irons were placed upon him. In this condi tion he was sent back to his home and com pelled to pay a considerable sum to the author ities for their trouble. Another colporteur was seized, severely bulleted, stripped of his clothing, sponged with cold water, had his hair cut close to his head, was dressed in a prisoners dress, and thrown into a cold, damp cell, on a cold winter day. The law, that all young young people, who have grown up with out being sprinkled and confirmed in the State church, cannot he legally married, is rigor ously enforced. Hence, those members ol Baptist churches, who have not been confirmed in the State church, are compelled to have re course to a form of marriage, which is consid ered illegal, as the State church clergy are not permitted by law to unite any except those who have been confirmed in the State church. Nor are Baptist clergymen allowed to bury, even the members of their own church, but recourse must be made to the Established Church. Some persons spend all their time in sur veying the difficulties before them. They look at them until tney grow as high as heaven, and seem to shut out the possibility of success. The way to deal with difficulties is to march right up to them and tear them down, and sweep them out of the way. When we get closer to them and take hold of them with our hands the mountains dwindle into atoms. —The reports from the Episcopal churches of the country show a falling of! from la-t year of more than 3,000 communicants, while the confirmations are over 4,000 less. There are sixty Bishops to 251,000 communicants, or a little over 4,000 to each Bishop, on an aver age. There are over 3,122 ministers, which would supply one to a congregation of about ninety. We heard it stated yesterday, says the Columbus Time?, on the authority of a gentleman who had taken the trouble to ascertain the facts, that the money value of the whisky received at the depots at this city during the year is at least equal to the money value of all the com received during the same period. And still people want to know some of he reasons for the “hard times.” General Denominational Dews, —The Young Men’s Christion Association of Brooklyn spent about $6,000 in the Moody and Bankey meetings. There is no numerical estimate of the conversions made, but the com mitteemen say that large additions are being made to the churches and to the Christian As sociation. -•-The Protestant church at Toledo, Spain, has been closed by the Catholic authorities, and the pastor and school-master expelled. —A. B. Searle, the Evangelist, is about to begin a series of meetings at Troy, N. Y. —A great revival is in progress in Harris burg, Pa., under the labors of Rev.E. P. Ham mond. Five hundred arose tor prayer in one evening. Over one thousand persons have thus far be- n converted. —The Board of Managers of the American Bible Society has deputed Rev. Luther H. Gu lick to superintend the work of Bible circula tion in Japan and China. He will go East im mediately, and enter upon his work. He will supervise the manufacture and distribution of the Holy Scriptures in languages understood by the hundreds of millions of people in those great empires. —The Reformed Episcopalians will soon issue a paper to be called the Appeal. It is to be published at Chicago, and edited by Dr. S. J. Fellows, assisted by Bishop Cummings. —A company of “ Yoke Fellows ” has been organized in St. Louis, for practical religious work. Their plan is to go forth, two by two, throughout the destitute portions of the city, visiting from house to house, and stributing tracts, holding prayer-meetings, and preach ing. —The select vestry of Richmond, England> decided sometime ago to build a Nonconform ist mortuary chapel in the new cemetery at that place. The chapel was recently dedica ted, and invitations were sent to the Vicar and his curates to attend the {service. They replied, acknowledging with courtesy the invitation, hut added : “It is, however, quite impossible that we can accept your invitation, since it is altogether contrary to the doctrine and discip 'ine of the Church of England that either her clergy or her faithful laity should attend a ser vice in a Dissenting chapel.” —Rev Henry Whin, the oldest Methodist clergyman in theTinited States, and probably the oldest clergyman in the world, died, on the 28th alt., at the residence of his grand daughter, on Staten Island, in the 101st year of his age HE CAN MAKE HOME HAPPY. Though we may not change the oottage For a mansion tall and graud, Or exchange a little grass plat For a boundless stretch of land— Yet there’s something brighter, clearer, Than the wealth we’d thus command. Though we have no means to purchase Costly pictures rich and rare— Thoi gh we have no silken hangings For the wails so cold aud bare— We can hang them o’er with garlands, For flowers bloom everywhere. We can always make home cheerful, if the right course we begin ; We can make its inmates happy, And their truest blessings win ; It will make the small room brighter, It will let the sunshine in. We can gather round the fireside, When the evening hours are long ; We can blend our hearts and voices In a happy, social song ; W e can guide some erring brother, Lead him from lhe path of wrong. We may fill our homes with music, And with sunshine brimming o’er, If against all dark intruders We will firmly close the door Yet, should evil shadows enter, We must love each other more. There are treasures for the lowly Which the grandest fail to find ; There is a chain of sweet affection Binding friends of kindred mind— We may reap the choicest blessing* From the poorest lot assigned. Leighton says, “ It is an argument of a candid, ingenious mind to delight in the good name and commendations of others ; to pass by their defects and take notice of their virtues; and to speak or hear willingly of the latter, for in this, indeed, you may be little less guilty than the evil speaker, in taking pleasure in evil, though you speak it not. FROM VIRGINIA. In a brief note from Lynchburg, dated December 15th, brother B. G, Munard furnishes the following pleasant information fiorn his field of labor: “Dr. Mclntosh, Cm responding Sec rotary of our Home Mission Board for tbc Southern Baptist Convention, paiu us a visit a few days since. He ini.de a fine impression— preached two uhle sermons, and took an active part in our revival meeting, to the edification and delight, of our people. He is a grand man, we all fell in love with him. Dur ing the meeting of nearly five weeks, we had forty.lour professions and some twenty-five additions ; eleven were bap tized, several others await baptism and others will join. J had four to join last Sabbath. God is gieatly blessing our churches in Virginia. More anon/’ lr Ihy merries wer ■ of the growth of thy Heaven'"' 17 ’ th ° U n " Blltwt |, P a,e voyage to WHOLE NO. 2802 THE RAINY DAY. The day is cold, and dark, and dreary ; It rains, and the wind is never weary ; The vine still clings to the mouldering wall. And at every gust the dead leaves faff And the day is dark and dreary. My life is cold, and dark and dreary ; It rains, and the wind is never weary; My thoughts will cling to the mouldering past. But the hopes of youth fall thick in tiie blast. And the day Is dark and dreary. Be still, sad heart, aud cease repining ; Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; Thy fate is the common fate of all; Into each life some rain must fall, Some dayß must be dark and dreary. —Long/Mew. For the Index and Baptist.) EBENKZER. A pastor of four weak churches sat in his study, near the close of the old year. Darkness had settled over the world without, and the chery lamp shone brightly around the room, yet a darkness deeper than the shades of night had enveloped his tnind. His churches, though they had prom ised him but little for the year’s labor, ■had none of them fully paid that little. The amount, though small to them when divided, was large to him when it must all be lost. He had been com pelled to incur some debts during the year, with the promise to pay in the winter. How should he ever be able to meet them, and how support those, who, the Lord had plated under his care ? Must he yield his convictions of duty, and divide his time between his churches and the school-room ? He longed to give himself wholly to the work of the ministry, but he must be honest and faithful to his family While his mind was troubled with thoughts like these, he ran over the work of the year just closing. At the beginning of the year he had refused the offer of a large school, in order that he might give himself wholly to study and preaching. During the year he had been instrumental in building up two new churches and destitute places, preaching at them ninety-nine sermons, besides holding protracted meetings at his own churches. Truly, thought he, the Lord has helped me. I have no time for the school room. Xf I live cby .. i.. i,.-..- must still keep to my si ' f m braid", yt to hath tfei' Ltt.J ale. the future, “I will *tn t # smaSidS^'- afraid.” I know that “He is abb to do exceeding abundantly above all that we are able to ask or think.” If it be His will that I “ make tents,” why, I will do it cheerfully. But I must be free to labor; my time must not be compromised. Now, at the close of the old year, as I remember the mercies of the past, and how the Lord has graceiously crowned with success the labors of the year, I would raise a stone of helping: “ Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” May we not joyfully sing, “Of God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come; Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home ” Once- A-Month. December 31, 1875. For the Index and Baptist.] FLORIDA BAPTIST CONVENTION. The Florida Baptist Convention will meet with the church in Gainesville, commencing Friday, February 11,1876. We hope to have some of our Georgia brethren with us at that time, and we here extend them a cordial invitation to come and see us. Onr esteemed brother, L. B. Fish, has been with us on two conventional occasions, and we are anxious to have him come again. Be sure and come my good brother Fish. Remember the time, Friday be fore the second Suuday in February; remember the plac : —Gainesville, Flor ida. J. H. Tomkies. Gainesville, Florida. Jan. 4, 1876. Forth* Index and Baptist.| flint kivkk .ndian missions. Brethren, the aggregate report of your missionaries —Benjamin Baker, Solomon Baker and Wilson Nail, for the quarter ending December 31, 1875, is as follows: Miles traveled, 1423; sermons, 116 ; churches and stations supplied, 11; prayer aud other meet mgs, 93; Sunday-schools, 3; number of pupils, 122; baptized, 7. Ibis report came the4th of January, and t heir salaries ordered to be sent iorward on the sth. Will the pastor °l ''ach cliur b, or some brother in .aeh church in the bounds of Flint ltuer Association, take a collection for our Mission during the winter and curly spring, and send the funds to C. F. Newton, Jr., Griffin, Ga. Please do not fail in this; some of the churches failed to pay in at our last session, and promised to send during the winter. .Remember this brethren. J. M. Wood, Chairman Executive Committee. As wtetls grow rankest in richest ground, a' (I fruits rip -st in hottest dim ties, so do sins grow (o llie greatest heights where the Gospel pun climb.i highest. —During the past year about 100,000 ner rir been addedi i,y ">