Newspaper Page Text
4
HENRY H. TUCKER. Kditor.
INTERCESSOR Y PRA YER.
On what principle of the divine pro
ceedure is it that intercessory prayer
is of any avail? Does the Almighty
bless one person at the mere request
of another? Ought not each one stand
on his own merits?
The answer to the last of these ques
tions will reach to the bottom of the
whole subject. So far as human beings
are concerned, each one does not stand
on his own merits. We have very lit
tle information as to other worlds and
other orders of beings, and if we had
more, it would not be of avail in the
present inquiry. For thin world and
for our order of beings Christ died;
and if we stand at all, we stand on his
merits. It is for Christ’s sake that any
are saved ; for Christ’s sake that any
are permitted to live. This is the
Lamb that was slain from the
foundation of the world, that is, from
eternity ; hence the principle of bless
ing one for the sake of another is co
eval with the divine conceptions of the
creation and existence of our race.
Whether this is right, expedient, or
wise, is not for us to inquire ; we have
simply to accept the /act that this con
dition is established by the Almighty.
It is a condition which will stand, and
all things are based on it, or squared
by it. Admitting that this is the
foundation-principle of all God’s deal
ings with us, philosophic difficulties in
the way of intercessory prayer disap
pear. The first question at the head
of this article is also answered; the
principle of the divine proceedure is
that God blesses some for the sake of
others. The second question is also
answered ; yes! God does bless one at
the mere request of another. Back of
all this lie the usual inquiries as to how
it is that God answers prayer of any
kind ; and these we hope to consider
on some future occasion. For the
present we regard simply the idea of
intercession. From what has been
said, it will be seen that intercessory
prayer, so far from being anomalous,
or unusual, or a thing which requires
peculiar investigation, is exactly in
keeping with God’s eternal purpose in
regard to our race, and falls in precisely
with the eternal fitness of things. If
intercessory prayer were of no avail,
that indeed would be a problem which
could not be solved.
We find, too, that the idea of inter
cession is in exact accord with ;he de
mands of our nature. One who is sub
ject to a higher power who-e favor he
seeks, desires others to intercede for
him ; those who see one in such con
dition are inclined to intercede for him ;
and the higher power cannot help be
ing influenced by such intercession.
Whatever position one be pl.aced in,
whether in that of a ruler, or of the
ruled, or of the outsider, he is in sym
pathy with the idea of intercession.
This is just what might be expected ;
for he who planned the condition on
which our race exists, has given us a
nature in harmony with it. Hence,
instead of being startled at the idea
that intercessory prayer is of avail, we ,
see and feel that it is part of the one
iiess of God’s purpose concerning this
world.
Innumerable examples of interces
sory prayer and of its efficacy are found
in the Scriptures. Perhaps the earliest
instance of it is in the case of .Job. The
Lord, in his rebuke of Eliphaz the
Tenianite, says : “My wrath is kindled j
against thee and against thy two 1
friends. . . . Therefore, take unto
you now seven bullocks and seven rams,
and go to my servant Job, and offer up
for yourselves a burnt offering, and my
servant Job shall pray for you; for
him will I accept; lest 1 deal with you
after your folly." Eliphaz and his two
friends did as they were commanded,
and the Lord also accepted Job—chap
ter 42:8-10. Here the prayer was
commanded; blessing was impliedly
promised in answer to it; and the
blessing came according to promise.
These three features constitute the his
tory of the whole transaction, and we
may thank God that we have so com
plete a record of it.
A more familiar instance is that of
Abraham, when he prayed for Sodom.
Gen. 18 :16-33. In this case, however,
the prayer was not commanded, the
blessing was not promised, and no
blessing came. Abraham seems to
have imposed a condition on the Al
mighty when he said, “If there be ten
righteous.” and the Almighty seems to
have taken him at his word. Perhaps if
there had been no t/s in the cade—if
Abraham with a mon* powerful faith
had asked God of his own mercy to
spare Sodom,it might have been spared.
Still, the whole narration shows the
respect that God has for the interces
sions of his jieople; for every one of
the several petitions that Abraham
offered was favorably received, and the
Ixjrd never ceased to answer graciously
until Abraham ceased to ask.
Various instances of the value of in-!
tcrcession are set forth in the life of
our Savior. The Syro-phtenician wo
man, though ignorant of its philoso
phy, obeying her instincts, persisted in
it under great discouragement; yet in I
The Christian Index and South-western Baptist: Thursday October 30, 1879.
the end she received her reward, for
Jesus said to her, “0 woman, great is
thy faith.be it unto thee even as thou
wilt; and her daughter was made whole
from that very hour.” Mat. 15:28.
The ruler also whose name was Jairus,
when he pleaded for his daughter,
pleaded not in vain, although she was
dead. Christ raised her, it is true, but
it was in answer to the prayer of an
other ; so if we be asked whether in
tercession has power, we can say, yes!
it has power to raise the dead. Mat.
9 :25. Another case is that of a cer
tain man whose son was a lunatic and
who besought Jesus in his behalf, and
his son was cured from that very hour.
Mat. 17 :18. Still another instance is
that of the centurion’s servant who was
sick and whom Jesus raised from sick
ness in answer to the centurion’s inter
cession. Was it the man Christ Jesus
who did all these things ? Yes, but it
was also the God ; for Jesus Christ is
the same yesterday, to-day and forever,
(Heb. 13:8) and if he listened to inter
cession then he will listen to it now.
Ah! but these were temporal blessings
only. So much the better for our ar
gument. He cares for us in our small
er and smallest concerns; he blesses us
in the little things, and a fortiori he
will bless us in those that are greater.
He is more ready to bestow spiritual
than temporal good ; (Lu. 11:13.) and
it is safe to say that the greater the
blessing we ask, the more ready he is to
bestow it. Simon, the sorcerer, though
in the. gall of bitterness and in the
bond of iniquity, obeying a natural
impulse, said to our brother Peter,
“Pray ye to the Lord for me that none
of these things which ye have spoken
come upon me.” Acts 8 :24. We do not
know but that Peter did pray for him
and that he was saved in answer to
Apostolic intercession. Our brother
Paul doubtless practised what he incul
cated, and in his first epistle to Timo
j thy (Ch. 2. v. 2) he says, “I exhort
therefore that . . . intercession
. . . be made for all men.”
The same principle of intercession
which holds good as to our race in time,
has been in force from eternity, and
will continue in force forever. Isaiah
speaking of Christ says, that he “made
intercession for the transgressors,” (Is.
53:12.) and we are assured in Heb.
7 :25.,that “heeverliveth to make inter
cession for us,” and also in Rom. 8 :26,
that “the Spirit itself maketh interces
sion for us with groanings that cannot
be uttered.”
In all these Scriptures we have high
commands, ami high examples, and
strong illustrations of the power of in
tercession ; and we see in them a strik
ing instance of the exact accord of
the divine word with the constitu
tion of our nature, for intercession is as
instinctive as it is scriptural.
In view of the whole subject, how
thankful we should be, that we have
the benefit of the intercession of the
saints, and how ready to adopt the
language of the Apostle when he said,
“Brethren pray for us.” 1 Thess. 5 :23.
The brethren do pray for us, and have
prayed for us, ami will pray for us, and
God will have respect unto their pray
ers, and in this we rejoice, yea, and we
will rejoice. “The golden vials full of
odors which are the prayers of saints,”
(Rev. 5 :8.) will never lose their fra
grance nor their power with God. The
odor is the emblem that they are pleas
ing to the Most High, and the golden
vial, precious and indestructible, is the
emblem of the high esteem in which
they are held, and our assurance that
they will be preserved forever. How
rich are we! Where is the end to our
wealth? Our inheritance is the an
swer of the Almighty to the prayers of
his people.
How ready, too, we should be to
pray continually for others. We may
confer benefactions greater than we
can conceive; we may pray more
wisely than we know , and the gift may
far exceed all that we can comprehend
for magnitude and richness. We may
die in poverty, and leave our loved
ones helpless as to human eyes, but
our prayers may entail on our children,
and on their children, a legacy more
priceless than the wealth of worlds.
Prayer for the straying may reclaim
them ; prayer for an enemy may save
his soul and make him a’friend, loving
ami loved forever. Poor we may be,
but we can draw on heaven for wealth
untold. Ignorant, and foolish, and
weak, we may be, but God’s promise is
not to wisdom, nor to learning, nor to
strength, but to the desire of a faithful
heart. The poorest and humblest may
be mighty with God, and therefoiethe
greatest may well say to the least,
Brother give me thy prayers; and the
least need not hesitate to come boldly
to the throne of grace and ask for the
grandest bestowals of mercy on indi
viduals, on communities, or on the
whole human race.
When we pray for ourselves, there
may lie something selfish in it; but
when we pray for others all is unsel
fish, all is disinterested, all is love, and
prayer from motive so pure, so Christ
like and so God-1 ike, would seem to be
of all others most likely to win the
favor of heaven ; and happy indeed are
we to offer a prayer which is above our
own suspicion.
—The Savannah News of last
Wednesday says: “Rev. 8. Landrum
preached a very beautiful anti impress
ive sermon at the First Bryan Baptist
church last night, at the ordination of
John Nisbet to the ministry. There I
was a very large congregation present.” |
THE LUMP OF FIGS.
In those days was Hezekiah, sick
unto death ; and Isaiah, the prophet,
the son of Amoz, came unto him, and
said unto him, Set thy house in order,
for thou shalt die and not live. Then
Hezekiah turned his face unto the
wall and prayed. . . . Then came
the word of the Lord to Isaiah saying,
Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith
the Lord, the God of David thy father.
I have heard thy prayer, I have seen
thy tears, behold I will add unto thy
days fifteen years. And Isaiah said,
Take a lump of figs; and they took
and laid it on the boil and he recovered.
This narration may be found in 2
Kings 20, and also in nearly the same
words in Is. 38.
We can apprehend the facts in the
case very readily, and perhaps this is
all we have anything to do with ; the
principles that underlie the facts are
probably beyond our reach. But after
all is not this always the case? When
we have reached the bottom facts in
any case, have we not reached the bot
tom of the subject, so far as to human
understanding it has a bottom? Why
should any of the phenomena of na
ture take place? We do not know
except that so is the will ofGod. Why
should any remedial agent, so-called,
be a remedy? Back of the first fact
we may find another, which we say is
the cause of it; and back of that we
may find another. But we must soon
stop, and the stopping place is always
at a fact. When we have reached the
final fact we can go no farther. The
whys and wherefores are secrets with
God.
Why should a lump of figs heal a
malignant ulcer? Perhaps because
there is some antiseptic quality in the
small seeds of the fig, which causes
them to neutralize the virus, while the
pulpy substance keeps the pint warm
and soft and moist, and thus allows
nature to heal the lesion. But why
should those seeds have this antiseptic
quality? Ah! that is the question,
j And why should the broken flesh gran
| ulate under certain conditions? That
: is another question.
We can do nothing bat accept facts.
It was never intended that we should
I know the reasons of them. All human
! knowledge is to an extent empirical;
and this must apply to our knowledge
of divine things no less than of others.
Why should the Almighty have sent
word to Hezekiah that he should
shortly die, when in the divine mind
the decree must have been fixed that
he should live for fifteen additional
years? Perhaps it would be well for
us in this ease to accept the facts, as
in the case of the figs,or oth/(' phenom
enon of nature, and let ®e 'reasons
take care of themselves. The modes
of divine proceedure, and the habitudes
of divine thought, are beyond our
comprehension. If they were describ
ed to us in literal terms, those terms
would, to our mir.ds, have no meaning
whatever. Under figures of speech
we get a faint conception of them. If
our intellectual’powers were sufficiently
expanded, we should be able te see the
wisdom, the truth and the right of
what was said and done; but in that
case, the language used would lie other
than human language. As it is, our
reason fails, and it is the province of
faith to step in and say to reason, Be
sure that the J udge of all the earth did
right.
But the point which chiefly interests
us is this : That the Almighty had
said, I will add unto thy days fifteen
years. Here was a divine decree; the
taking place of the thing decreed be
came at once the supremest necessity ;
if it had failed God’s word would have
failed, and God could not exist in false
hood. God said I will add to thy
days. He speaks of himself as the
cause and the sole cause of the prolon
gation of life ; of himself as a living
agent, who in person, would, by his
will and his power, accomplish the re
sult. Notwithstanding this, Isaiah
treated the disease as a physician
would treat it. He applied a remedy,
and it is not improbable that it was
under divine direction, that he selected
the remedy. It proved efficacious—
that is the Lord made it efficacious,
and Hezekiah recovered. Would he not
have recovered without the use of the
lump of figs? No. His recovery was
decreed, but it was not decreed that it
should lie brought about by miracle; it
was decreed that it should result from
the operation of ordinary laws, and it
was left to Isaiah, who seems to have
been the physician in the case as well
us the prophet, to use the means which
would bring those laws to bear. He
prescribed a lump of figs; possibly a
lump of strawberries, or of some other
fruit with small seeds, might have hud
the same effect.
The Apostle James tells us that the
prayer of faith shall save the
sick—that is that the Lord will save
them in answer to prayer, Jas. 5. 14.,
but at the same time he recommends
‘ anointing with oil.” This we take to
be a generic expression intended to
stand for all such remedial moans and
measures as experience or science may
have discovered. At any rate the
prayer and the remedy must go to
gether. Without the blessing of God
the remedy can do no good ; and the
prayer without the remedy would be
presumptuous, for it would be asking
God to do by miracle what might be
done without miracle, and he, though
omnipotent, never wastes his power,
but so economises it as never to work
by miracle when miracle is not needed.
We must never ask him to vary from
his principles.
But why could not Hezekiah have
been healed without the figs as well as
with them, if it was God himself who
did the work? and why is the anoint
ing with oil or other medicinal treat
ment necessary? Simply becuse so is
the will of God. Means and ends
are ordained together, and it is useless
for us, either in practice or in theory,
to try to separate them.
The kingdoms of this world are to
become the kingdoms of our Lord and
of his Christ. This is the decree,and it
must and will come to pass. The
Gospel is the lump of figs, and we are
the agents whose duty it is by special
appointment to apply it, and most
certainly will it accomplish the inten
ded result. But could not the Lord
save the world without these figs and
physicians? Let it suffice to say that
it is not his will to do so. It is his
will that we shall go into all the world
and preach the Gospel to every crea
ture. Ah! but if we do this, are we
not trespassing on the Lord’s work and
taking to ourselves the glory? Let us
answer this question by asking another.
Did Isaiah tresspass on the Lord’s
I work and take to himself the glory
J when he prescribed the lump of figs?
FLAGS, FLAGS, FLAGS.
The Independent (N. Y.) has re
ceived a letter from 8. A. Winsor of
Atlanta, Ga., which, as that respectable
journal declares, “fully bears out the
statements in our columns by Bishop
Haven about Georgia loyalty.” The
statement of Bishop Haven was in
these words, viz: “To-day no flag (of
the United .States) dare fly South of
I the Potomac, except over the national
| forts and national cemeteries;” and
this is the “statement” which The In
-1 dependent declares is “fully enough sus
tained” by the letter of S. A. Winsor,
of Atlanta. The said 8. A. W insor, if
he lives in Atlanta and is not blind,
knows as well as he knows that the
sun shines, that on all public days.
i flags of the United States are dis
[ played in this city in great profu
sion. Bishop Haven’s “statement”
which is “fully enough sustained”
was made, we presume, in a fourth
of July speech. On that very
day hundreds of United States flags
were flying in this city, and 8. A. Win
sor, who ‘fully enough sustains” the
Bishop’s “statement,” if he was in At
lanta, saw these flags floating to the
breeze in all directions ; yet, he “fully
enough sustains” the Bishop’s “state
ment.” A day or two ago, unless we are
greatly mistaken, we saw the Bishop
walking in our streets; we certainly
saw’ a man who resembled him ; we
are pretty sure it was the Bishop him
self. We have no doubt that he would
at this moment repeat his own “state
ment,” and that 8. A. Winsor would
“fully sustain” it, although at the mo
ment when we saw him, and also at
the moment while we write, and for
several days past, United States flags
in great numbers were and have been,
and are exhibited on our streets. They
fly from the house-tops and from the
windows ; the locomotives which run
right through the centre and most
thronged part of the city, every fifteen
minutes to the fair ground in the sub
urbs, are decorated with them fore
and aft, and on the sides, and on top ;
and numbers of them Hy from flag
staffs on the fair ground itself, which
is visited by thousands of people, and
from all parts of the State. Yet Bish
op Haven and 8. A. Winsor “fully sus
tain” the “statement” that “no such
flag dare fly south of the Potomac ex
cept over the national forts and ceme
teries.” Only yesterday we saw a man
loaded with small flags (of the United
States) —he had as many as he could
carry, and was hawking them through
the streets, and at the moment when
we saw him, he was negotiating for
the sale of one. If Bishop Haven and
8. A. Winsor had witnessed the same
transaction (as possibly they did) we
see no reason to doubt that they would
"fully sustain” the “statement” made
by the former and indorsed by the
latter, that “no flag of the United
State dare float south of the Poto
mac,” etc.
\\ e have no epithets nor descriptive
phrases to apply, for these will readily
suggest themselves to the reader, but
we confess our surprise that our res
pected friend of The Independent
should allow himself to be so imposed
upon.
We said on a former occasion, that
a huge flag was suspended across the
street in front of our office, and capital
has been made of the fact that one end
of the rope was not fastened to our
building. We saw the flag from our
office window as we sat in what is yclept
the “easy chair,” and did not know to
what house it was fastened. We have
since learned that one end of it was at
tached to the house' next door to us,
and the other end to a building across
the street, occupied jointly by United
States revenue officers and a’ popular
journal called “ The Sunny South." But
as 8. A. Winsor declares that this flag
was suspended across the street, we
should be pleased to know how he re
conciles this fact with the “statement”
“fully sustained” that no such flag
“dare fly,” etc. It seems by his own
declaration that this one at least did
dare to fly. At the same moment an
other was hung across the street from
the Kimball House,which is the largest
hotel in the city, and which was our
home at the time, and which is owned
by Southern men (Gen. Toombs is one
of them) and the proprietors of which
during the war were fighting “rebels.”
As to the conversation referred to
by The Independent, we knew nothing
of it, nor have we any control whatever
over the building in which we have
our office ; but we do not believe that
there would be any serious objection
on the part of anybody in the world to
the display of United States flags from
this building, unless it be this, that the
flag business of late days has run to
i excess, and has become somewhat ridic
ulous, and some of those who control
' this building may not be disposed to
take part in it.
8. A. Winsor, speaking of us, de
! dares that “if they and every other
1 Southern institution have their way,
: the flag would never float in their
breezes avain.” We beg to say that
| our opinions as expressed by ourselves,
j are much more to be depended on than
when expressed by S. A. Winsor; and
, now speaking for ourselves, and for all
! other Southern “institutions,” so far as
we know, there is no objection to’ the
display of the United States flags at
I every street corner, and at every cross
roads from Alaska to Mexico, and from
j ocean to ocean.
After what has been said, we submit
| to our candid friend of The Independent
' whether the “statement” of Bishop
■ Haven has been “fully enough sus
j tained.”
P. B.—We have just observed that
’in quoting from The Independent we
; have used the words “fully enough sus-
■ tained” instead of the words “fully
enough bears out,” which are the words
really used by that journal. The reader
j can make the necessary correction, if
; he thinks that the synonym which we
| inadvertently used, is inexact.
THE MUSICIANS.
Last week we had something to say
: about the music of Christian life, and
1 tried to show, among other things, that
■ the lives of all the good in this and
! other worlds, are blended into one
] grand harmonious concert in honor of
Him who is the author of life and the
giver of all good. Musing on the
same subject since, it has occurred to
: us that individual lives may be eom
i pared to different musical instruments,
j Some are noted for great compass and
j power; others are like them in charac
i ter, but just the opposite as to the
. qualities named. Thus some are like
I the grand piano of eight octaves;
i these are well developed Christians;
others are like a very small instrument
j of only five octaves ;these are they whose
j hearts are right but whose capacities
. are limited ; some are merely tlnichords
and of feeble tone, while others are
‘ trichords of great richness and fullness,
I the difference depending -on greater or
I less native force of character. Some
are like a huge organ of vast diapason,
' whose deep bass coming from an abyss
I jars not only the nerves, but the very
; walls with its whisper or with its very
j breath ; while anon it bursts on the
ear like rolling thunder set to music;
. now touching; now terrifying ; whose
lofty tenor pierces the very clouds;
whose varied melodies all together
seem multitudinous; whose chorus
' comes in with a crash, and whose
| sweetness ravishes while its volume
’ overwhelms us. These are the apos
tolic spirits whom God raises up once
* in centuries— preat men of great minds
and great hearts, and great attain
ments, and great grace. Some are
like tinkling triangles, sweet-toned it
is true, but small and unvaried. These
are God’s little ones, and there is a
place tor them to fill. Some are soft
and soothing as the flute; these are the
gentle and loving, whose subduing in
fluence tones down to mildness, the se
verity of harsher natures. Some are
like the violin, clear and fine and
sweet and strong, exhibiting great va
riety of power, exciting now almost to
laughter, and now almost to tears,
small perhaps in volume, but unlimit
ed in versatility ; these are the men of
genius whose hearts are touched by
’ grace. Some are like the fife, shrill
and ear-piercing, but so sharp set that
very few of them will supply the de
mand ; these are they who are very de
cided and very pronounced, in good
tune and sound in doctrine, but lack
ing in the minor graces, and in the
amenities of religious life. Some are
like trumpets whose clarion notes
sound always for battle; these are the
polemics; not many of them are needed.
! Some are like drums that add very lit
tle to the music, but largely increase
the noise; these are they who have
much zeal and little knowledge. We
have plenty of them. Some are like
the bones, remote alike from melody
and harmony, whose principal use
seems to lie to attract attention and
perhaps to keep the time. Men of one
idea who think of nothing but an ordi
nance or an ism, are the bone rattlers.
It is needful perhaps to have it few of
them. We have far too many. They
have so multiplied that sometimes all
the real music is drowned by their
clatter, and we hear nothing but the
bones. It requires very little skill,
taste or culture, to play on bones, and
perhaps that is the reason why we
have so many performers on that in
strument.
Musical instruments made of wood
or brass or any other earthly material,
must always remain the same ; they
can never improve, much less can
they change their nature. A jews
harpean never become an organ, nor
can a trombone become a guitar. But
immortal souls are capable of indefinite
development. Each may take on the
powers of all. He whose heart-music
is nothing but the rattling of dry
bones, has only to cultivate the graces
set forth in the holy Word, and melo
dies will flow from him that will be a
surprise to himself and to others; the
unichord may become a trichord ;search
the Scriptures and you will add an oc
tave ; fife and drum power may be re
tained for use when needed which is
seldom, while at the same time flute
and organ power may be superadded ;
all powers may be added, and all may
be increased, and all may be enriched;
we may go on from strength to
strength, from beauty to beauty, from
glory to glory. In the eternal world
doubtless we shall become capable of
the perfection of praise; but it would
be well for us while we are here to cul- ‘
tivate varied graces,and expand all our
powers that we may contribute a bet
ter share to the praise of our Maker.
Before our article on The Musicians
went to the printer, we had a little
talk about it with a friend ; and the
following question arose: Here is a
brother,so-called, who knows little and
seems to care less about the religion of
Jesus; he takes nopart in public service
except to sit listlessly until it is over;
his family shows none of the marks of
a Christian home; he does little or noth
ing to support the gospel at home, or
to send it abroad ;if he is benevolent
he shows very little of it by his works,
Still he claims to be a Christian and is
certainly a member of the chureh.
Now the question is, what kind of mu
sic does he make, and to what instru
ment could he be compared? Well,
it was decided that he is like a leathern
violin with hempen strings, and with
a tallow candle for a bow.
—Should the river despise the fountain or
glacier from which it was born, or the rose
speak contemptuously of the sun and the
shower under which it budded and blossom
ed into beauty, it would be just about as sen
sible as the course of some prominent men
who deem themselves too wise to believe the
Bible, and too good to need the religion of
Jesus Christ. Under the divine influences
of God's word and gospel their mental pow
ers have been trained and expanded, and
high moral restraints have been thrown
around them, causing them to differ from
those living in unevangelized counir es, and
yet they now want to destroy, and io have us
destroy, the very means of social elevation
and excellence and the only true source of
human progress and happiness.— Christian
Secretary.
Strange it is that some men who,
under the influence of the Christian
religion, have attained to a high stan
dard of morals, should employ their
energies in endeavoring to break down
that very religion to which they are
indebted for their own good character.
How does it happen? “The carnal
mind is enmity against God, for it is
not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be.” Rom. 8 :7.
Another Calamity.—The Monroe
Female College at Forsyth, Ga., was
burned to the ground on Saturday
morning last. The building was
worth $25,000, and was insured, as we
learn for only $4,000. While we de
plore the calmity we are happy to learn
that the Exercises of the Institution will
not be suspended. Arrangements have
already been made for the temporary
but comfortable accommodation of the
pupils, and it is understood that the
enterprising and public-spirited citi
zens of Forsyth and the adjoining
country will speedily replace the build
ing. The Institution is well supplied
with teaching talent, and we confident
ly recommend it to public patronage.
That is So.—ln a recent commun
ication from one of our local agents, he
says : “I find no difficulty in getting
Baptists to subscribe. What you need
is a good worker in every Baptist com
munity.” That is just what we want
—a good worker in every church. Now,
my dear brother, if there is no local
agent near you, will you do me the fa
vor to write and suggest some one who
will consent to act in this capacity for
The Christian Index. It is impossi
ble for me, much as I would like to do
so. to visit every community. lam
compelled, therefore, to appeal to
brethren, and my old friends,to aid me
in getting some efficient worker in each
locality, so that we can the more speed
ily increase the circulation of our de
nominational paper. Suppose The In
dex was read in every Baptist family,
and by a large proportion of the mem
bership of our churches, would not the
pastors be better supported, and all our
denominational enterprises much more
All that we talk
with say, that is so. Then let all make
an effort to extend the circulation of
the paper. Let me hear from you at
once. C- M- Irwin.
—Appalachee Association ln
the Minutes of this Association the
next session of this body, by a typo
graphical error caused by misreading
the manuscript, is stated to convene
“Thursday” before the third Sunday
in September, 1880. It should read
Tuesday.
Fourteen inundations have occurred
in the provinces of Almeria, Malaga
and Alicante, Spain. Damage to prop
erty by the floods is estimated at 30,-
000,000 francs. Two thousand houses
have been destroyed, and it is believed
that over two thousand persons have
perished.