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HENRY H. TUCKER, Jffilitor.
WHOM IS IT EASIEST TO
PLEA SEI
Is there any one being in the uni
verse whom it is easier to please than
any other? Let ns make the search
ami see if there be such a one, ami if
we can find him. It is in vain to look
among the evil spirits of the lower
world ; nothing can please them , they
may, indeed, take what we call a fiend
ish delight in seeing us violate the law .
of God, but this is because they hate I
everything that is right, and because !
they hate God, and because they hate ■
us; in fact they are impersonations of ,
hatred ; they hate each other, and '
even hate themselves. We use the |
word delight to describe the gratifies- j
tion of their malice toward < everybody I
and towards everything that is good, I
simply from the poverty of language; |
we have no suitable terms in which to |
express the horrible experiences of ■
devils ; but it is manifest that such j
words as joy, pleasure, and delight, j
are used in reference to them in a
very qualified sense, to describe by a
kind of analogy, and a very poor anal
ogy, that which, in direct terms, is un
utterable. To please Satan and his
evil ones is impossible; what is called
their pleasure is inspired by hatred and
intensifies their torment, and what
gratifies it would lead to torment. If
we look for one who is easy to please,
we shall not look to the abodes of the
lost, for in that awful place there is no
pleasure nor anything that corres
ponds to it, and no complacency of
any kind whatever.
We shudder away from the fumes
of the pit and make our search in this,
our world above. Here the prospect
is better, but not satisfying. We begin
with the wicked, and find that in cer
tain particulars, we can sometimes
please them, but we sometimes fail;
and what pleases them one day will
not always please them the next, and
it is impossible to keep pace with their
varying moods; and moreover, it often
happens, that iq order to please them
we must violate the best principles of
our nature, and this sacrifice is hard
to make, and destroys our own peace;
so that if they are easily pleased by
such things, it is still hard for us to
do those things. We may gain the
end in view, but it costs more than it
is worth. In short, their nature is too
much akin to that of the evil one; the
element of sin is in the way, not so
greatly it is true, but it is in the way;
and whoever attempts to please an un
regenerate man through life, is t ngag
ed in a hopeless undertaking. Look
we then am mg the people of God.
Here the prospect brightens. These
have a new nature incorporated with
the old, and that ingrafted element at
least, is in accord with all that is true,
and lovely and good. That part of the
man which is new and born from above
is always the same, and the things
which give it pleasure are always as
certainable,a nd are always such as grat
ify in their performance,the highest and
best elements of our moral being.
They are easily pleased, and it is easy
to please them ; and when we fail, they
still exercise towards us that charity
which suffereth long and is kind. If
we seek in this world, for one whom it
is easy to please, let us look among
those who are ‘‘made partakers of the
divine nature.” But if there be one of
these who is purer and better than any
of the others, and if, in our search we |
should find him, wc should still discov- ;
er that sin is present with him; and i
sin is a foe to pleasure; he would dis- J
please us and we should displease him. '
The same principle which breaks I
friendship in the world below, mars it |
in the world above ; that which is hat
ing and hateful there, making all
black as night, is shaded off into far I
lighter complexion here, but the shade
exists. To find him whom’it is easiest :
to please we must search at farther re- ’
move from the place where no pleas
ure is.
Look we then to the sky, and there
are the angels loving and lovely, full
of grace and truth. Their life is a life
of joy ; their nature gravitates towards
pleasure, and pleasure gravitates to
wards them ; they have the eyes with
which to see that all things work to
gether for good to them that love God,
and consequently draw delight from
everything ; no sin is in their hearts
and that disturbing element which
breaks our peace is out of the way;
their tastes are unvarying for good,
hence we may always know what
pleases them, and when we do please
them, we are sure to be doing that
which, in itself is excellent, and which
harmonizes with all that is noble with
in us. The highest pleasun's are
those which come from the highest
sources. To sacrifice a hist in onler
to gratify an enlightened conscience,
is throwing away a bauble to seize a
priceless pearl. The joy of doing right
pays ten thousand fold for the trouble
of doing it. The angels are easily
pleased, and when one really desires to
do that which will please them, it is
easy to do it. We may well suppose,
too, that their sympathy and their
charity are commensurate with their
The Christian Index and South-western Baptist: Thursday, December 18,01879.
other graces,and that they look with len
ient eyes on the failures of one who is
entangled with the flesh, and who :
struggles to escape its allurements. ;
But after all they are finite; they are ■
only our fellow creatures; they are
free from sin, it is true, but there is a
limit to their joys and to their graces ;
they cannot always see the germ of de
sire from which effort springs, they
cannot fathom all the depths, they
cannot make all allowances.. Nor is
there any daysman between them and
us to shelter our evil doings from, view
and to plead in our behalf a perfect
righteousness. It would not be safe
to place the best of them in charge of
the human race. His forbearance
would soon be exhausted ; the restraints
of love would give way in time, before
bis rising wrath. He is not the being
whom we seek.
Look we then to the Throne itself.
There is God whose love is infinite ami
whose mercy endureth forever. A
sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre
of His kingdom, and He changes not.
We know what pleases Him. The
right is always His pleasure ami always
the object of His love. The at.gels
might not always know what the right
is; the Lord does. So we need never
doubt; it is not a matter of uncer
tainty whether or not He will be pleas
en ; the right always pleases Him ;
from eternity to eternity the tight is
His joy and delight. His delight is in
finite; when He is pleased, eternity
and the universe are filled with rap
ture. He who made us knows what
is in us; He sees that which is illus
trated by the grain of mustard seed,
j but which is too minute for angelic
i vision ; He understandeth our thought
afar off, and the first movement of the
heart towards Him, before it matures
into overt act, pleases him when none
others can see anything that is pleas
ing. He who saved us by His Son is
touched with the feeling of our infirm
ities as none other can be; His is an
infinite appreciation of the agony of
our struggle; His pity is like that of
a father in kind, but exceeds it in de
gree as far as the vastness of His na
ture exceeds the power of a human
heart; His tenderness is like that of a
mother, but in like manner and de
gree, exceeds it; we know something
of charity as we have seen it in its fee
ble displays by men, but what concep
tion have woof the charity which is
1 as broad as the nature of the Almighty
—charity infinite. Oh! let us fall
into the hands of God rather than into
I the h-.nds of men or of angels. Eure
-1 ka! We have found the object of our
search 1
The Being who, of all others in the
universe, is easiest to please, is He who
sits on its throne! Blessed art Thou
0 Lord God Almighty! Thou art our
Father; Thou art our friend: Thou
ai t our Saviour; Thou art our ever
lasting all! Whom have we in heaven
but Thee, and what is there upon
earth that we should desire besides
Thee? All others have some fault to
1 find with us. Thou and thou alone
I eanst accept us fully. Sinful’we arc,
but our sins are all hidden from Thy
sight, and will soon be washed away
in the blood of the everlasting cove
nant ; TJiou seest naught but the
I righteousness of Christ in us. Hast
! Thou put a yoke upon us? It is an
I easy yoke, we love towear it; it is
like the yoke of a mother's arms
around her babe. Hast Thou laid a
burden on us? It is an easy burden ;
we love to bear it. It is a burden that
.crushes out the evil that is in us; but
to our new and better nature, it is the
burden of wings, on which wc soar
above the world to bask in thy glorious
presence! None so fully pleased as
Thou, and for Jeans’ sake none so
easily.
LOST—SA VED.
Before a man is regenerated what
is his condition? He is in a state of
utter alienation from God; he is the
very embodiment of enmity against
God, and his mind is not subject to
the law of God, neither in deed can
be. Ro. 8: 7. Left to himself he
would forever remain in this condition.
He is dead in trespasses and in sins.
Eph. 2: 1. And while this expression
of the apostle is figurative, yet the
figure of deat/i must imply helplessness
—helplessness unqualified—helpless
ness alisolute. Nothing short of the
|H>wer of Almighty God can give life
to this moral corpse.
After he is regenerated what is his
I condition? He is quickened; that is,
;he is made alive. What kind of life is
this? It must ben iiic «hich L jii.
the opposite of the deadness which
preceded it. "The new man is created
in righteotisnens and true holiness.”
Eph. 4 : 24. He is in Christ and he
is created in Christ. Eph. 2: 10. “If
any man be in Christ he is a new
creature." II Cor. 5 : 17. The act of
creation is the prerogative of the
Almighty, and would seem to require
above all other things a forth-putting
of his omnipotence. The life spoken
of must conic from God, for it can
come from no other, and says the
Apostle, "You hath he quickened.”
Eph. 2:1. It is a life which is given,
and is always spoken of as eternal life.
Jno. 10: 28. And it is a lifo which is
“hid with Christ in God.” Col. 8: 3.
We may not know exactly what this
expression means; but as this life is
hidden it must be the object of great
care, and as it is hidden with Christ it
must be very precious, and as it is
hidden in God, it is in a safe place.
God gives the life-—it is eternal life, ;
and-God hides it-—hides it in himself. ■
The man was dead before, iyid is alive
now ; he was lost before and is redeemed
and saved now. What becomes of the ■
doctrine of falling from grace? It re
quires as much power to unefeate as to
create; can a man unereate himself? j
Will God uncreate him after he lifts >
given him alive to his .Son? Salvation '
is of the Lord, and therefore it cannot !
fail; if it were of man it would be sure
to fail. A proper view of human de
pravity and of the effect of the new
birth, would seem to be an effectual
antidote to the doctrine of falling
away.
A Perjured Jury.—Jse New York
Observer, speaking of a case of this -
kind that occurred recently in New !
York, says:
‘‘These tacts (that is. thejlicts involving ■
the guilt of the accused) werenot denied, but
w -re sworn toby the Commissioners them
selves, or by the man Byrne, or both. lb<
ease was ably ami faithfully tried by Distric
Attorney Phelps for the people, and the ver
dict of the the jury was, Not guilty.
"This test case demonstrates to our minds i
these tacts: 1. That the law is not regarded
by those who areset loadminister it. 2. Ti at |
there is no public sentimen»-*H sustain even |
so weak and imperfect a lamas we now have. ;
4, That it is impossible to make any efficient :
progress in the enforcement of law without ;
the moral, political and social inllm-nce of I
good citizens to sustain the hands of those j
who an- seeking to suppress the illegal abuse I
of the Excise system. ’
It seems that, in this case, it was
impossible to enforce the law even with
the influence of the good rri- izens ; and
from remarks 1 and 2, it seems that
there are many such cases. We regret
that such things occur iq New York,
or elsewhere; but we have no sneers
for the people of that city and State,
nor for the whole population north of
the Potomac, nor do we believe that
they are any worse than ourselves,
though we are sorry to say that they
do not appear to be at-aiHietter. We
sympathise with them in a common
misfortune. Some of our Southern
juries have disgraced themselves. It
is no rel’ef to us to know that Northern I
juries do the same thing, and are in
the habit of doing it; but we must
] think that it is unfair to try to make
| it appear as some of our religious j-urn- I
| als do, that “the South” is the only i
part of the country where justice is
mocked. There is sin enough every- '
where ; a man has not to go far from |
his own door to find it But there are J
some religious men who take special
I delight in trying to show that a neigh
boring community is more guilty than I
their own. We have never seen any I
good come of this ; and we have no;
fellowship with the spirit that prompts
it. And we shall stick To this, how
ever "puerile” it finay I
-•— —r
IS CHRISTIANITY J FAILURE?
The Rev. Dr. Rankin, pastor of the
Congregational church in Washing
ton, D. C., said in his thanksgiving
sermon :
“One of the most wonderful things in the j
history of this wit >le siibje.-t is the awful ;
silence of the Christian press, the Christian j
pulpit and the Christian churches in the |
South touching the outrages which are eon- i
lessedly committed there against humanity; j
against the image of Oof in man; against
the constitutional rights of man.”
W<- know of no Christian press nor
Christian pulpit, nor Christian church, I
in the South that does not condemn j
and denounce “outrage” of any kind. |
I'he morals of the New Testament are j
proclaimed as fully and as fearlessly |
and as faithfully in these Southern ;
States as in any part of the worltj, and |
we have no doubt that they are ptae- I
(iced as well here, to say the least, as
in the vicinity where Dr. Rankin lives I
That minister of the Gospel spoke of
the Christian press and the Christian
pulpit and of Christian churches of
all this vast territory, as being “awfully ■
silent” in view of frightful outrages
against God and man, clearly implying
that these various Christian pow
ers, by thousands upon thousands, give I
their sanction to these crimes. Was ■
there ever so foul a slander on the
Christian religion! Is it possible that
a Christian minister will publicly pro- I
claim from his pulpit that the power of'
Jesus and of his religion has sp utterly
come to naught? The slander on
ourselves we can bear, but the slander J
on our Lord fills us with a horror that ;
we cannot express. We have no rail
ing to return for railing. If we were i
contending with Satan we might follow
in the lead of the arch-angel and say,
"The Lord rebuke thee;” but as we
deal with a man for whom Christ died, i
we have only to say, The Lord forgive
thee'.
\ brother editor some seven '
hundred Inilet - Hvmi uerv, iiuw«u ß
statement tbatslhe Baptists of Georgia
are not as efficient now in proportion
to numbers as they were forty years
ago, accounts for the fact by saying,
"Perhaps you have too many Bap
tists.”
Exactly so! That is just what is
the matter. Now the question arises
how does it happen that we have “too
many Baptists?” We have been very
“suceessful”‘of late years. What is it
that we have succeeded in doing?
—The Washington Gazette says:
"Rev. M. H. Lane, of this place is very
frequently engaged in evangelistic
work in different parts of the country.
He has recently held a very successful
meeting in Gainesville. We learn
that he is urged to take a general
agency for the Georgia Baptist Female
College, and ho will probably do so.”
THE VALUE OF UNHISTORIC
LIVES.
It is a very suggestive remark of
I George Eliot, that:
“The growing good of the world is
; partly dependent on unhistoric acts;
: and that things are not so ill with you
! and me as they might have been, is
[ naif owing to the number who have
: lived faithfully a hidden life and rest
i in unvisited tombs.”
This is true ; and might have been
more strongly stated. We take it,
there is no doubt, that, in estimating
the sum-total of intellectual and moral
influences that surround us, like the
| atmosphere, we are exceedingly apt to
j confine our attention, to those, who—
; from one cause or another - have risen
; above the horizon of the world’s thought
I and so left a name behind them. We
I overlook, we lose sight of, the count
less number of those who have done
' their life-work well, and filled faithful
'ly even the lowliest lot. We record
i the names of the great thinker, or actor,
| the poet, the statesman, the general, the
artist, the inventor; but we pass over
I the forces that stood behind them and
. what they were. “It was my mother’s
; kiss that made me a painter,” said
j Benjamin West. But while he is eu
! iogized and exalted to the highest
! place, «/ie is remembered, only in her
i son’s tribute U> her love! And of what
I countless thousands is this true—even
with greater emphasis than in the case
of the great painter’s mother? They
have been silent factors in the highest
good of our race. They lived unnotic
ed lives. They sleep in unknown
graves. They were faithful in very little
things; and have left only influence
behind them.
Gray's Elegy in a Country Chur At
Yard suggests many thoughts like
these. What unknown heroes were
sleeping there—all the greater perhaps,
because they were willing to be un
known I What great minds uncon
scious of their greatness —what strong
hearts: what pure and rounded and
beautiful characters, were lying be
neath the sod! They lived ; they died.
And that is all the record. But is that
a//? What if
Knowledge to their eyes her ample page,
I Klcb with lhe spoils at time did ne'er unroll
Did nothing come of their lives?
| Were they all in vain? lite true and
I faithful, but unrecorded dead of every
j age and clime—are these nothing to
! us? Do we owe them nothing?
Perhaps an illustration will make
; i his as plain as we would like it to be :
In the transactions of the Academy
lof Science, Paris, 1838, we are told
■ that
“If the earth were dependent on the
i sun for its bikit, it would not get
j enough to maintain animal and vege
table life upon its surface. It re-
I suits from the researches of Pouißet,
that the stars furnish heat enough in
the course of the year to melt a crust of
j ice surrounding the globe, to the thick
' ness of seventy-five feet, almost as
j much as supplied by the sun.”
Now if this were even proximately
i true, what a strangely impressive fact
!it presents to us! Yet who, as he
; walks forth under the genial heat of
; the atmosphere, even so much as
| thinks of it? Ten thousand times ten
thousand stars—multiplied almost to
; infinity—are pouring their feeble
| rays of light and heat upon us; and
!we should perish without them. Yet
for che most part we are not aware of
their existence.
And is it not much the same with
>ur subject? In the firmament of
Human Life, are myriads of men and
women, as unknown to us to-day, as
‘ the stars are that lie beyond the reach
of our telescope. They have filled
their little spheres; they have done
their lowly work; They have lived
lives of faithfulness to God and His
truth—as far as they have known it.
And to an extent greater than we
think, they make up the character of
what we may call the moral atmos
\ phere around us.
The great names of history we know.
Their influence, at least in part, we
; can estimate. They are conspicuous
as the sun in the heavens; and we re
joice in their power for good. But,
l mingling with them—and no more
than the star-clouds in the heav
ens—are hosts of true and faithful
ones, whose lives History never re
cords ; whose names we never hear.
They were. They are ; for there is no
I break in the line of their descent.
And the aggregate of their silent in
' fluence for good, pervades unnumbered
' lives, and becomes a secret power for
I good—none the less effective, because
I it is secret!
And w« *4O the real nobilitvof their
Ines, in inc it....... . jut ui nic nurds
of Jesus—“ Whosoever will be chief
among you let him be your servant.”
| His great example illuminates those
! words; and henceforth true service is
the badge of real nobility.
Meanwhile, we rejoice that these
unknown lives are recorded in the
Book of God's remembrance; and will
be lifted up to their place of honor,
when "Many that are first shall be
last, and the last shall be first.”— The
Covenant.
Il EV. JOS. S. RAKER.
A few days ago, 1 stood by the un
marked grave of this great and good
man at Quitman, Ga. He was the
friend of my youth, and my co-labo
rer for many years, and I know that,
throughout a long lifetime, he main
tained an unblemished character. Few
men, in his day, exerted so general and
beneficial an influence in the State as
he. For years he was editor of The
Christian Index in which capacity he
did faithful and valuable service. Ev
ery means ought to be used to perpet
uate the memory of such a man. I
was gratified to learn that the Mercer
Association, at its late session, appoint
ed a Committee to have a plain mon
ument placed at his grave, so soon as
the necessary means can be obtained.
He left no relatives who are able to
perform this service. Being requested
by that Committee to aid in this work,
I hereby respectfully invite one dollar
contributions from brethren and friends
everywhere. A prominent member of
the Quitman church, Capt. G. R. Mc-
Call, furnished a coffin for the remains
of Dr. Baker, the price of which, in
that market, would have been more
than one hundred dollars. Will not
all who respect the worthy dead send
me one dollar, or more or less, for this
objects? If any prefer to send direct
to the Committee, they can address
Mrs. A. J. Rountree, Quitman, Ga. I
trust that all will act promptly in the
nutter, and thus provide for the erec
tion of a suitable monument to the
memory of a good man.
J. H. Campbell.
Columbus, Ga.
.rev. j. n. Hartwell.
MISSION TO THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA.
On the 14th of November, Rev. J.
Ji. Hartwell, with his family, took pas
sage from Atlanta, Georgia, by the
overland route fjr San Francisco. The
following letter just received announces
their safe arrival, and the cordial wel-
I come that greeted them by the Bap
lists of the chief Pacific city. No
thoughtful mind can fail to be impres
sed with the importance of this mission.
Die Board has appointed him, and our
brother has gone, with faith in God
and the churches, that God will bless
his labors, and that the churches will
pray for and support him.
Wm. H. Mclntosh,
Cor. Sect’y.
Marion, Ala.
Dear Brother Mclntosh : Notic
ing by the daily papers that our be
loved brother, Boardman Hartwell,
would arrive last night on the over
land train, I took the 3 p. m. train for
San Pablo, twenty miles distant, and
returned with him, giving him and his
a most hearty welcome, as did other
brethren before we reached the city.
1 have introduced Brother H. to my
pastor, Dr. Kalloeh, and the church
and Sunday-school. Our church will
be behind none in aiding him all in
our power. He made the prayer at
morning service, and also briefly ad
dressed our large Sunday-school.
Meeting our brother carries me back
to the ol«l Howard which was destroy
ed by fire. Before I was married,
Boardman occupied the room adjoin
ing mine. I was there when he was
converted, and was present at “the
pool” when he was baptized. We are
all glad he has come, and glad you
have sent him. I believe he will do
more for China in San Francisco than
can be done in China. We need hun
dreds like him here.
I wish, brother Mclntosh, you could
come and see us on this Pacific slope.
I sent yon a copy of the minutes of
the San Francisco Association.
Remember me to all the dear breth
ren in Alabama.
Yours truly,
J. A. Melcher.
I have also introduced brother H. to
Rev. Dr. Buckbee and others.
J. A. M. '
HOME MISSIONS.
The following is a comparative state
ment of receipts of the Home Mis
sion Board, 8. B. C. for years 1878,
1879, from Ist of May to Ist of De
cember :
ISTfI. 1878.
Alabama ... $ 737 ft! S 85
Georgia 1 555 03 1 853 51
Florida 27 42 68 46
Disllct of Columbia 3g 92
South Carolina 881 94 1 561 73
North Carolina 227 71 620 8- 1
Virginia 1 M> 88 1 >Bl 52
Maryland 289 48 337 0>
Kentucky 1 398 00 1 087 44
Tennessee 827 88 204 2i
Mississippi _..., 113 30 51 48
Louisiana 12 00 39 90
Arkansas 88 40 17 70
I‘exas 45 25 182 81
•Missouri 84 32 12 85
Illinois 8 00 1 25
Indian Territory 6 00
• 37 Oil 53 $7615*55
From U. pt Gov Indian
school claim collected... 2 .546 87
$lO 162 42
J. B. Lovelace, Treas.
It will be seen from the foregoing
statement that the receipts for current
ev'enses the presen' year, are in the
aggregate, slightly in advance of last
year’s for the same period. The amount
received from the Government is
not included in current expenses,
having been appropriated to the erec
tion of school buildings for the Creek
Indians.
Our liabilities are increased, and
will require a larger excess during the
next five months than this statement
shows, to take us safely through the
Conventional year. I earnestly beg
paaton and churches. Women’s Mis
sionary Societies and Sunday-schools,
to take collections regularly, however
small they seem to you, and forward
them to the Board. We need your in
dividual help—the perishing in our
own Southern country need it—Christ
needs it. Shall we ask for it in vain?
God forbid.
Wm. H. Mclntosh, Cor. Sec’y.
GEORGIA BAPTIST NEWS.
—The Hepzibah Baptist Association
will convene next year at Wadley Bap
tist church.
- Mr. James Merck and Misses
Roberts, Persons and Ora Guthrie were
recently baptized at the Baptist church
in Gainesville.
The Swainesboro Herald of the
9th inst. says that the new Baptist
church at Summertown was dedicated
last Sunday. The dedication sermon
was preached by Rev. Mr. Carswell.
—The West Point Press says:
"Much to the regret of this communi
ty, Rev. Dr. Roby has declined the call
of the Baptist church, his engagement
at Tuskegee taking precedence.”
Rev. Robert H. Harris, having re
signed the pastorate of the Bainbridge
church, Rev. Wm. B. Bennett, of Quit
man,was unanimously elected so serve
the church the coming year. It is
hoped and believed that Bro. Bennett
will accept the cad.
—The Macon Aid Society of the
South Macon Baptist church, will
give a supper on Friday evening at the
hall over the car-shed, for the benefit
of the church. [And in all gentleness,
tenderness and lovingness The Index
thinks that there is “a more excellent
way.”]
Speaking of Rev. J. W. Ellington,
the principal of Mercer High School,
Penfield, the AlcDuffie Journal says :
“No man who has ever lived in Thom
son for as many years as Mr. Elling
ton, has made more friends than he.
An earnest and zealous minister, and
a consistent Christian gentlemen, he
has won the love and respect of the
entire community. As a teacher, he
is thorough and faithful to his charge,
and stands at the head of that profess
ion ; and while his absence will be a
serious loss, a better selection could
not have been made for the position to
which he has been called, and we con
gratulate the Trustees and patrons of
Mercer in securing his valuable ser
vices.”
A correspondent of the Religious
Herald writes as follows of our breth
ren in Augusta: “The Baptists of
Augusta are a numerous and wide
awake people. They have ten churches,
four white and six colored, and the
latter are now preparing to establish
another. The Greene Street Baptist
church is succeeding well with Bro.
Landrum as pastor, while the Curtis
church, under the able ministry of Bro.
Strickland, is likewise making encour
ag ng progress. Its pastor has just
moved into the new and elegant parson
age erected within a few months, and
good enough for an apostle. The
fourth church, now without a pastor,
affords a fine field for one who knows
how to build up a church, and to live
on little while he is doing it. The
Baptist pastors here co-operate very
cordially, and seem to be strangers to
the petty jealousies sometimes found
among preachers.”
—The Americus Republican compli
ments the handsome appearance of the
Baptist house of worship in that city,
and its commodiousness. Os the pas
tor’s abilites, the editor, who attended
services at the church recently, says:
“Rev. Benj. W. Bussey made a very ap
propriate proemial to his sermon,
founded upon the text, ‘Bodily exercise
profiteth little, but godliness is profita
ble unto all things.” It was handled
well and impressively. This Rev. gentle
man has a happy address, abundant re
sources of illustrations from rich stores
garnered from science and general lit
erature, and over and above all these
is an accent of pious and righteous in
tent, which makes the preacher and
man acceptable to flock and people.
The singing by the choir was excel
lent, and to one whose ear is attuned
to sweet sounds, such sacred minstrel
sy leaves a pleasing and humanizing
influence.”
—From the North Georgian we take
the following communication, written
by a correspondent at Gillsville, De
cember 3 : "I wish to give your read
ers a short account of the meeting just
held with our church, which began on
last Friday, and continued three days,
and was one of the most pleasant that
I ever attended. It was held for the
purpose of organizing a new Associa
tion, which is to be know® as the Gills
ville Baptist Association. Elder E. S.
V. Briant was elected Moderator, and
brother H. M. Breaker, Clerk.
There was quite a strong and intelli
gent delegation from the different
churches represented, and the work
went on harmoniously, and a great
deal of good was, no doubt, accom
plished.
We had a glorious Sunday-school
mass meeting on Saturday night, and
it was adopted as a standing rule by
the body, to hold a Sunday-school
mass meeting annually, on Saturday
night, during the meeting of the As
sociation.
There were measures taken for the
organization of a Ladies’ Sunday
school Aid Society, and Miss E. M.
Garrison was elected President of this
work, and a contribution of $5.25 was
raised for the benefit of the society.
The collection for different purposes,
during the meeting, amounted to al out
S3O.
The next Association is to be held
with Harmony church, Banks county,
commencing on Saturday before the
fourth Sunday in October, 1880.