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2 OUR MISSISSIPPI LETTER. BY B. It. WOMACK. Rev. P. I. Lipsey has resigned the care of the church at V icksburg. His successor has not yet been se cured. Rev. A. J. Miller of Abhor deen, has been called to.the care of the church at Greenville, I learn. Rev. R. W. Merril, of Valence Street Church, New Orleans, has been called to the care of the church at Carrollton, this state, and has en tered upon bis labors there. Rev* H. F. Sproles is working heroically to get his house at Jackson under cover before cold weather sets in. Ho gets aid from the churches throughout the state. The J' irst Church, Meridian, J. W. Bozeman pastor, will soon enter its new house. They lost their old house by lire last June. Rev. L. N. Brock has re signed the care of the churches at Sardis and Batesville, and will prob ably accept the work at Kosciusko, this state. Clinton is the site of two great colleges, viz: Mississippi Col lege, male, and Hillman College, fe male. Dr. Hillman is a Brown Uni versity man. Ho came South after graduation, located at Clinton, this state, began his life work of teaching forty years Ago, and has not lost a year of time, nor changed his loca tion. He has been a tower of strength and wall of defence for Baptist education in Mississippi for forty years. He saved Mississippi College twice, was President of it for a long time, and has built up a fine female college, erected good buildings, ornamented the grounds, educated hundreds of Southern girls’ and. aims to give his school, Hillman College clear of debt, in good work ing order to the Baptist State Con vention. Dr. Walter Ilillmitn is a strong and wise man. His wife, Mbs. Adofia Hillman, is truly a woman. Thsy have given their busy and industrious lives, and riOtv propose to givfc the results of thbir labors, to the Baptists of Mississippi, They have no Children; they have prospered ; tbqy have been diligent in business ; they have economized, forty years, all for the Baptiste of Mississippi. Sirs. Hillman is Presi dent of tho Woman's Central Com mittee for •Mississippi, and came near being chosen President of the Woman’s Missionary iJnion for rill the Southern Stites, She Would have tilled' the office with dignity and grace, rttid would have discharg ed the duticri of thO office with effi oietrey and dispatch. shc was bohn to work and lead. Near two hun dred students have matriculated at Mississippi College, about forty of these are young ministers. IBJTINO. Editing is a business, it is an art. To edit, is frdnr e., out, ahd dare, t 6 give; and means, to give out. But imteh work must bo ddno before the thing edited can bo given out. Idb not refer to editing bhoks, bnt to newspapers. Tho book edi tor has much to do ; the newspaper editor has more to do. Editing a paper comprises tho whole work of getting out a paper. Every part oi an editor’s work is important. The editor must be wise above othox ftien, in bis way. He mnst se lect matter frdm other papers. Ho must select some and reject some from the mass of matter that conies into tho office from correspondents. The matter -which ly? selects, must be edited, and placed in its own de* partinont. A newspaper is like n large houafc, and tho editor is the house-keeper. Ho appoints bin de partments, selects and edits the mat ter and Arranges it in its various de partments. Thon, in many instan ces, the editor must be proof-reader. As such, he must soo that the print er does not make any one say what he did not say, and that the contrib utors say something, and that they say it in a proper way. And what a work this editing originril manu scripts and proof-reading is, no one but the editor knows, or C;ln know. Few people Can spall well. It is amazing. How is it, and why is it, that men who have lioen through tho schools can not, or will not learn to sjxdl ? Is it because our lan guage is so difficult, or because our schools are inefficient, or because our people will not try to spell ? There must bo some cause for an evil so prevalent as the editor knows this to be. Here is a letter just now re ceived from a popular D. D., which says something about an imposiblo tilling! Another says he is compel ed to do a certain thing. Then, why does not every ofte who writes anything learn the difference be tween lose and loose? Legion istho name of the words that are misspell ed, and legion is the name of those Who misspell them. But, no matter who writes for the paper, nor how h<j writes it, the proof-reader gets all the blame for poor paragraphing, wrong spelling, bad grammar, or other defect that maybe in the arti cle after it is printed. The great work of the editor, of course, is to write. He must write- He must know what to write, and what not to wrjte. He must know nearly everything, and answer all questions. iv>me editors write mqre for their papers than others do • some write much, some little. Some write little, but edit well; others write much and do not edit so well. In some papers, the arrangement of the departments and of the matter for each department, is faultless. This latter is the mechanics of the editor’s work, unless he has a Fore man who knows how it ought to be. But, see what I have done, Mr. Editor.* All 1 intended, when I be gan this about editing, was to com pliment you and congratulate your many readers on the great amount and the groat variety of editorial matter you manage to get into the dear old Index every issue. Fortu nate snbscibors 1 REPEATING SERMONS. In a recent issue, you say the Homiletic Review knows a few min isters who refuse to repeat a sermon on any occasion, even in a strange pulpit. You think those ministers aro making a mistake, and suggest that no sermon is as good as it ought to be, until it has been repeated sev eral times. Why, sir, may qne not read a good book but once? If he may, then, may not one hear a good seripon twice ? Then, is a good book written just for one man, or just for one community, must nobody else read it ? Why is a sermon that is good for one congregation, not good for another similar congrega tion? Why, sir, must we have a new gospel for every community ? A minister ought to make the Very best sermons he can ; he ought to do his best on every sermon. No matter what the congregation be, do yous best, do your best. Many an old Sermon ought to bo re-written > re-built. On examination, it may be found*that the interpretation of the text wkis erroneous, the analysis in accurate, the skeleton faulty, the dis cussififi hot good. Work it over; do the best you can with it, and it becomes practically a new sermon, and, doubtless, it is stronger and bet ter every way. Spurgeon did not have tithe to repeat or reconstruct his discourse; but few of us hate time not to reconstruct a number of our discourses. If a sermon is good, then it may bo preached again and again; if it is not good, it ought to bo retvrought and made good. A good brother, some time ago, com mitted all his sermons to the flames, and said lie could make better ones. Would it not have been better to use the work of former years with the view to improve upon it ? Al bert Barnes, the great commentator, burned his discourses; but not till he was beyond his three score years and ten, and had retired fiom all active work. His life was at an end; ho could make no more sermons; he was soon to leave the world, and thought his sermons would do no good after he was gone. For that reason ho destroyed them; but I look upon it us a mistake for a minister in mid life to destroy his sermons, unless there be some special reason for such act ROOTS AND FRUITS. William Arnot says:—Doctrine and good works aro roots and fruits.” In this great Centennial movement this trite expression may be wisely remembered, and that worker will do most for the cause of missions who is careful to indoctrinate the people as he goes. The doctrine of missions is not well understood among the masses. Constantly one can hear men who ought to know more, talking about the probability of the success of missions in this or that difficult field. Os the literature that I have been able to procure there is much of the history of mis sions and much also of the history of missionary bodies together with some very splendid exhortations to mission work. But there is evidently a lack in presenting the fundamen tal doctrine that gives rise to mis ; sions. In Dr. Ellis’ magnificat speech “the moral basis of missions,’’ there is excellent matter on this line. Lot there be more of it. Put mis sions in the light of every revealed truth in the whole of God’s sacred ■word and you will find a harmony. That host of peoplp who tAlk as if they regird missions as a latter day development of enthusiasm must be lead back into the light of the cross as it interprets every step of THE CHRISTIAN INDEX s THURSDAY. DECEMBER 1. 1892. the Son of God toward the lost of all the earth. It is quite true that the basis of missions is the love of God; but not an impulse that many of us call love. While we appeal to our fellow Christians to save the world for their love of the world we are losing time from a more needed work in forming in them a love for the world. Christians ordinarily have not yet learned to love the world. While you speak to them in burning zeal about the fetters of jdolatry and sin, they are quickened into a little flash of kindly feeling that vanishes when they reach the open air. Let the mission literature and Centennial speeches go down into the deeper elements of Christian life. And if these are wanting cre ate them so that when we arc done this centennial year a conscience will have been formed on the subject of missions that shall be transmitted to coming generations. There are hundreds of baptists that do not believe that' missions are compatible with the doctrine of elec tion. Why might not there be a complete and powerful campaign document that would place the eter nal certainty of successful mission work on the unbounded faith we have in the truth of that grand old doctrine ? What is true of this doc trine is true of every fundamental principle held by baptists. The sovereign purpose of God, the Atone ment, the effectual calling, the pres ervation of the saints, and indeed all of them point unerringly to missions as the only sublime purpose of Chris tianity. As also do the ordinances. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are next to meaningless if you deprive them of world wide significance. I do not begin to believe that the Centennial will be a failure but one thing cannot be mis-read and that, that our people are doing the work of Christ from impulse and not from principle, else, why should the Cen tennial affect the regular work of the Boards. Some of us understood that every Centennial gift was to be a separate offering from our regular work and extra of that which we were already doing. Now it turns out that we are going wild over the Centennial and running the Board’s into Bank to meet the present needs. This comes from our lack of edu cation keeping pace with enthusiasm. Frujts without roots, One might think this is all right, we get the fruit. But it will always be found Mint fruits without roots are untrust worthy. The roots will remain and bring forth fruit again while the fruits without roots will perish. There is a hopeful reflection, that the Centennial campaign however conducted will bo in a greater or less degree educative and thus will grow roots for future hope. Bap tists generally *laiow more about missions, by far, than they have over known before and many of them connect the jnission work with the doctrine of God’s word as thjey have never before done. And when God’s word and missions stand before the baptist heart in their true relation there will be an awakening that will astonish the world. Baptists would dig down every bank of every river in the world before they would give pp baptism, they will take the Lord’s Supper as they believe they should under the frown and contumely of mankind; and when missions come upon them as these other things have done they will knock at the door of nations with a vehemence akin to violence. They will lay seigo at etery man’s heart on the face of the earth. The Son of God alone will stop them, at His Comiqg. F. C. McConnell. INFANT BAPTISM. A worthy Pcdobaptist minister had the following pathetic experience as related in his own words: “One day I was walking in the country. As I was passing a neat farm house, the door opened and a woman came out and hailed mo. She was the fanner’s wife,a tidy German whom I had met at a country wedding. Com ing toward the gate, she said, ‘Pees you dor minister?’ I confessed that I was. Then she anxiously nsked ‘Does yon paptize p.apies? I aeknowl. edged that I was in the habit of doing so. Then she came to business at once, ‘Veil, den, I vants you to come right in and paptize my dreo lectio vuns.’ I told her how glad I would be to comply with her request were it proper to do so. I then care fully explained the nature of the ceremony, that it was a covenant be tween the parents of tho child and the church, in which they together gave the children to Godgmd agreed to train them up ip Aio nurture and admonition of the Lord;whero it was , necessary tlmt the ordinance should be observed in the presence of the church, and that at least one of the parents should be a member of the church.l invited her to bring her chil dren to our meeting in the village, to unite with the church and have her little ones baptized. “Ah, no!” she cried, “it pees along vay to der town,und ve got no team; it pees along dime before ve can come to der town, und may pe der poor leetle tings die rait no paptism, und den dey berish shoost like der peast of der field; day got no soul, no immordality, no edernal life, ’cause dey not paptized!” It was a cry of anguish. All her mother heart seemed compressed in to her poor broken words. Iler voice was tremulous with emotion, and ev ery syllable drenched in tears. She was terribly in earnest, and regard ed the baptism of her children as a matter of the highest moment, in volving their eternal destiny. I had read about such distorted views of baptism,but they had seemed so exaggerated and impossible that I had regarded them rather as the wild vagaries of theorists than as the act ual conviction of men and women in real life. But here was an earnest mother pleading for baptism to save her own dear babes from death eter nal! I was amazed, shocked. Was ever any Pagan superstition worse than that! I tried to convince her that she greatly overestimated baptism; that it had no saving virtue,that her chil dren would not bo lost, even if they should die without it. But the train ing and prejudices of a lifetime were not to be overcome in an hour. At length in very desperation I cried out, Do you really think I can give your children immortality and eternal life by putting a little water on them? Her answer came swift and strong and utterly confounding, ‘To pe sure yon can; and if you can’t vot’s der good of it?” Y ears after when that preacher had come into a holier peace with his own heart he confessed: “Her bold, incisive and rigidly logical question ‘Vot’s der good of it?—would pop up everywhere, like some irrepressi-,’ bio imp, meeting me at every turn grinning at me from every nook and cranny, mocking at mo in all possible ways, ever growing more urgent, more imperious. “Vot’s dor jood of it?’sure enough Who can ten? What of blessing has it ever conferred on the church, the world or the family? How has it ever benefited one of its unconscious sub jects? It has done evil enough, and the evil is evident enough; but what good has infant baptism over done? Ask history; and she will point to the darkest of many bloodstained pages and toll you that those are the records of its deeds. It brought the worl d into the church unregenerate,godless impenitent. It introduced into the church men who invented the Papa cy, contrived its machinery, fostered its corruptions and developed its fearful power. It is the mother and conservator of every state church. Infant baptism and persecution were inseparable for more than thirteen hundred years. The evil it has done is written in letters of blood on al most every page of the history of christendom, and on myriads of wronged human hearts; but the good it has done is written—where? who can tell? Go through the world and search it out. Find it, if you can, and then publish it totho ends of the earth.” J. J. Taylok- Mobile, Ala. What a t heological seminary was in the the plains and mountains of Arabia! And what marvelous preach ers it has sent out-Moses" Ellijah Paul! “For to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness, both of the things wherein thou hast seen me and of things wherein I will appear unto thee.” (Acts xxvi. 17) Yes, a minister and|a witness of those things seen and heard and felt by himself, not those things learned from his .teachers, or dug out of his library, It is just for such ministers as this that the world is calling to-day, and will always call.—J. F. Clyße ih Standard. Sweden, by staistical exhibit, is shewn to bo throughly Protestant. Out of a population of 4,774,409 on ly 810 arc Roman Catholics, or 10 out of every 100,000; and next to it in this respect is Norway, which is under the same sovereign, and has only 612 Roman Catholics out of 1- 818,853 inhabitants, or 3 7 but of every 100,000. In both of those countries the mass of tho population adhere to the Lutheran Church.— Lutheran Standard. The Young Reaper. B. GRIFFITH, D. D., Editor. This favorite paper for the intermediate advanced is now in its thirty-eighth year, and the circulation of 275,000 COPIES per month is abundant proof that it meets the demand for an entertaining and instructive, First-class Sunday-school taper. FOR GENERAL DISTRIBUTION in the school, it is believed that it has no superior in the entire range of Sunday-school literature. Such WELL-KNOWN WRITRES for children as Mrs. Sophie Bronson Titterington, Sirs. Kate Neely Festetits, Mrs, Slattie D. Britts, Sirs. Laura Day ton Eakin, Sir. J. MacDonald Oxley, and a host of others, are constant contributors. Its MECHANICAL EXECUTION is in all respects excellent, leaving nothing to be desired. The Young Reaper is issued both monthly and semi-monthly, at the low rates of 10 and 20 cents a copy respec tively, in clubs of live copies or more. AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLCATION SOCIETY. PHILADELPHIA : 1420 Chestnut Street; BOSTON: 250 Washington Street: ST, LOI IS: 1100 Olive Street; NEW YORK: Times Building; ATLANTA: CCG Whitehall Street; CHICAGO : 122 Wabash Avenue; DALLAS, Tex.: 245 Main Street. ©lie t z- y rzzvzzzZz y y y« yy y yyyy yy THE APOSTOLIO COUNCIL. Lesson for Sunday Dec. 11th, 1892. Scripture Lesson: ActsJs: 12-29. Motto Text.—“ Through tho grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” V. 11. INTRODUCTION.! At the close of their first Missiona ry journey Paul and Barnabas re turned to Antioch. “And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he ho had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. And there they abode long time with the disciples.” Chapter 14, Vs. 27, 28. While they are here a now difficul ty arises which threatens great evil to the cause. It is not so much an entirely new difficulty as a new out break of forces that have existed all along. It concerns the admission of tho Gentiles to the privileges of the Gospel. Tho prejudice of the Jews against the Gentiles is deep-seated and obstinate. It was not an easy matter for them to apprehend at all that a Gentile might become a Chris tian, and to admit to them without their first becoming Jews was more than they could stahd. The lessons from tho conversion of Cornelius were some how aside. This case was considered exceptional. Tho question now comes squarely to tho front as a leading issue. It was the question of the hour and involved principles of the utmost importance to all ages. A council is called with the church at Jerusalem. The matter is ear nestly considered. Our lesson re lates that momentous occasion. Be careful to note how tho matter was was brought up and related in the first part of tht chapter. There were evidently some speeches made in the discussion to which no distinct reference is made. Some account is given of what was said by Peter, Barnabas, Paul and James. There is a fitness in our having tho words of these brethren reported, as seen from their general relation to the wy>rk that had been done, as also from the fact that they were under the guidance and inspira tion of the Holy Spirit. Peter was associated with thp conversion of dornclius. Paul and Barnabas had been on a mission to tho Gentiles, James, who was a “brother es our Lord” seems to have boon of the Jerusalem church. EXPOSITION. The question before the council is, Shall Gentles be admitted as Chris tians without first being circumcised becoming Jews? Then had been a general discussion. Vs. 7. Then Peter gives his testimony and argu ment. Vs. 7-11. Our lesson begins with I. Some furtherTestimonx and Argument. Vs. 12-18.—The testi mony of Barnabas and Paul is based upon God’s providential workings with them. They had been sent out upon their work under tho direction of the Holy Spirit. As they preach ed miracle's and wonders were wrought upon some who heard them. These miracles wore confessedly by tho power of God, none could deny it, nnd tho only meaning of thiA must be that God approved the work they had done. This was strong testimony. Tho reality of the miracles was apparent. That they were of God could not bo dcnjpd. The meaning of them is not to be misunderstood. Thon follows the closing speech by James. Peter’s testimony had boon based on special revelations, that of Barnabas and Paul on God's providential workings, and now 'James bases hrs mainly on prophecy. ~ r-rw On the International \ d Sunday School Lessons ■ Their authors succeed in drawing from the ■ I WpJJ? scriptural narrative just those doctrinal, eel- g B ¥B* ucational, and spiritual lessons that first in- E Id 'lf e terest the scholar in, and then convince him ■ k. of the grand truths of the Bible. I ' • Sunday School Superintendents J ’ are cordially invited to send for free sped- MB » "" * > men CO p^ s o y different grades, ' | illAlll LOi ICC and by personal comparison, satisfy them- WjttLlal • selves of their merits. Mention this paper. iwmr-wr- w A.WHde&Co.,2S Bromfield St..Boston,Mass. For gale by F. J. Paxon, Atlanta, Ga, SSELSY’SHARO RUBBER TRUSSES retain the moetdiflicnit forma of lilS-'JBMIA. or with W Acomfort and eafuty, tberoby completing a radical rare ut nli durable Q erei CY A CO.Jcaars Impervious to ia<il»tare, may be u«ed io bathingj and • Jr perftctlr to tho form of body, ar* worn without incoaveniebco by WO wakWTE- . youngfwl child, mutt dalieate lady, ar the labcriug man, avoiaimrail aow, Cr-/*. aw-rrnty. pndded unplraaautocu, L,*»iat, Cwol, Cleanly, an ! always, reliable. The correct and tkiiiiul a>c« baniral MMimentoc ITEKLMIA OR RUPTOUB A hPta'lALTl. F.JTHi RIN PKBMOX OK B Y 25 VBAaa ftBVBMIfCBB Pruft S. D. (irobt, b. Hayct W r . H. Paprotst. BR J'AGmja (s' Morton and Sur (h S. JiriAM Mud /favy. Our “ot flhiDtwrc and Price Liat,” with fliuatrationa and dirt-ctiont for tnaih 1, " I. » WHKiLEY A < 0.. W <€outh 11th Street, PUILAPAJ Simeon is but the Jewish form of Simon, tho original name of Peter, and the one by which he was best known at Jerusalem. So James first endorses tho speech of Peter. In support of his position he quotes from Amos 9: 11,12, wherein he sees a prediction of certain judgments 'coming.upon Isreal, and afterward restoration and prosperity. Then it shall be that Gentles shall seek and find blessing. So it is the conclusion of James that tho salvation of the Gentiles was one of the purposes which was with God from the begin ning. So at tho conclusion of his speech there is from James, 11. A Solution of the Qoestion Proposed and Adopted. Vs. 19-29. The first and main point of the de cision is that no cerertionial restric tidns shall be laid upon the Jews. Without circumcision or any Jewish rite they enter upon all the privileges of the Gospel. But while for the Gentiles all ceremonial qualifications are set aside, certain moral qualifica tions are speedily emphasized. These letter are of Cqual and perpetual obligation upon all as taught in the law of Moses. The moral offences pointed out arc common among the Gentiles and especially ofi'ensive to the Jewish Christians. So in the in terest of harmony these things must be strongly condemned. The solution proposed by James is approved by all tho council and church, and is embodied in a letter to be sent by certain messengers to the churcbs at Antioch, in Syria and Cilicia. In connection with tho de decision they communicate, they gra ciously asknowledge Paul and Bar’ bas as “beloved brethren,” and ex press appreciation of the labors that have been performed with such hazardous risks. Tliese two faithful missionaries must have greatly en joyed the results of this conference with the assurances of|sympathy from their brethren. long like songs in the night after so much bitter con flict. SUGGESTIONS. There is one principal, one lesson here which is of the utmost import ance, which should by no means be obscured. What is the real basis of salvation ? Be circumcised and be saved? No. Observe rites and cere monies and be saved? No. Be bap tized and bo saved? No. Do the the works of the law and be saved ? No. Circumcisjon and faith, or Bap tism and faith, or do the best you can and believe? None of these. Faith in ChAist. This is all. “By grace ate ye saved through faith; and that not yourselves; it is the Gift of God” Eph. 2: 8. “Know ing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even wo have believed in Jesus Christ,that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, afid .not by the works of tho law: for by the works of the law shall no tlofch bo justified.” Gal. 2:16. See also Gal. 3:11 ; Rom. 8:20; 11: 6. Tit. 8: 5 ; 2 Tim. 1: 9, etc. This principle id at the basis of all true religion in the world. Te- its establishment and maintenance Paul gave the strength of his life. 1 It Was the vital principle with Luther in the Reformation. ’Tis the principle of the age. Let us grasp it strong ly and hold it fast unto the end. LETTER IN REPLY TO ONE ASKING ABOUT THE POISE. Lost Creek, Ala. Your latter of December Bth ter hand. Thanks to the Poise, I am now able to do work as a traveling , Methodist preacher. It gives|me pleasure to be able to say that but for the Poise I have every reason to believe that I should havadoeena dead man today. 1 know mCfa advertise all kinds of nostrums and hudMg everybody that deals with thenq'Shd Ido not wonder at your being a “Doubting Thomas.” I was one of the band until a fair trial of the Pois converted me. My brother used it in his family, and would not be without it for any consideration. Last summer I cured with it, in three months, a case of neuralgia of the stomach of ten yeafa standing. lam fully satisfied that a fair trial will convine you of the worth of the Poise. A short time ago my brother used it in a case of scarlet fever on one of his children, soon relieving her, and by using it on the others kept them from having it. lam a well and a strong man today after three doctoos failed to give me relief. Any other information I can give I will gladly do so, und if you get a Poise would like to know the results after a fair trial. Yours, most respectfully, W. K. Simpson, Former Sec. Y. M. C. A., Birming ham Ala. —J ■ The Maryland Union Association which cotrdßponds to State Conven tions, held its 57th session last week with the 7th church, Baltimore. The announcement was made that of the 825,000 expected of Md., 820,000 was in sight. THE BEST Remedy for colds, coughs, and the common disorders of the throat and lungs, Ayer’s. Cherry Pectoral is uni versally recommended by the profes sion. It breaks up the phlegm, soothes inflammation, allays painful symptoms, and Induces repose. In bronchitis and pneumonia, it affords speedy relief, and is unrivaled as a prompt and effective Emergency Medicine in croup, sore throat, and the sudden pulmonary diseases to which young children are so liable. “ Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral has had a wonderful effect »n curing my brother's children of a severe and dangerous cold. It. was tvuly astonishing how speedily they found relief, nnd were cured, after taking this preparation.’’—Miss Annette N. Moen, Fountain, Minn. AYER’S Cherry Pectoral Prepared by Dr. .1. C. Ayer Sc Co., Lowell, Mm* Promptto act.suretocure mi— — >«■— hi ma i>»nJ b<•ulbwclL Vi- atu.IHVI