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TheGhristian'lndex
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Organ of the Baptist Denomination in
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For the Index.
TWO HURTFUL CUSTOMS.
BY H. \V. W.
The first of these is the cus
tom, among Baptists, of holding
an annual protracted meeting, at
the close of which, every one
who is expected to join the
church during that year is re
ceived. I am not prepared to
give any information as to when,
this custom started, nor am 1
ready to cry it down as a great
evil. Really it is a custom which
has done good, but il it hinders
good and could be replaced by
something which would do more
good, it can rightly be called a
hurtful custom. Its hurtfulness
exists chiefly in the way it edu
cates the young. One of the
c nnmonest ideas among young
peopie is that the Lord pays a
yearly visit to His churches, at
which time everybody who wants
to sail on the good old ship of
Zion must get ready and get on
board. Even at this time the
meeting must be making consid
erable headway, several “rous
ing" sermons must be preached
and several “penitents’’ must be
at the “altar," before they need
to expect this rare visit of the
Savior. It is then and only then
that He comes in’“convicting and
converting jiower,” and then is
the only time that any body cm "
“get religion,” and the rule, .is
that all the “mourners” who do
not “get through" must wait un
til next year.
It is proper that I should use
quotation marks as 1 have above,
for the terms marked are expres
sions which belong only to those
who believe in the custom under
discussion. These terms sug
gest some of the errors inculcat
ed by the custom with which
they are associated. There is a
long catalogue of them of which
these are samples winch are not
suitable to be used except, at
tiiese annual “revivals.” Were
the custom itself to cease, these
expressions would pass into dis
use and the erroneous ideas
which they convey would not be
so general. Frequently I have
heard young persons say, “I
think they will get me next time,’
meaning at the next annual meet
ing. Then members of the
church are continually asking
me, “When are you going to
have another revival? or, “W ho
are you going to get to hold your
meeting for you this year? The
literal meaning of such ex
pressions is that the church is
dead and it is about time to have
another short living spell, after
which it is expected soon to die
again and continue in this state
of quiet and rest for another
twelve months. They mean also
that nobody expects the regular
sermons of the pastor to be used
by the Lord for the conviction
and conversion of sinners. There
is in them also an insinuation
that the pastor is not the sort of
preacher to lead people to be
come Christians; that his office is
to hold thing- together as best
he can during the interim be
tween “revivals,” and for the
annual “big meeting” secure
some evangelist especially adap
ted to the work of saving souls,
who shall effect an ingathering
of souls and infuse enough life
into the resuscitated church to
keep it from becoming extinct
until he or one like him shall
come again. If before the-year
is out somebody should make a
profession of conversion, and at
tribute his change to the influ
enee of the pastor’s preaching, it
would be an occasion of great
surprise, if not alarm, to the
whole church.
This custom hinders people
from knowing that preaching is
God’s appointed way forth« sal
vation of sinners and that He can
use for this purpose the occas
ional sermons of a pastor as well
as the special efforts of an evan
gelist. Why should fifteen or
Twenty sermons preaced by some
professional evangelist tee more
effectual in the conversion of
TI CHRISTIAN INDEX.
sinners than the hundred or more
sermons as rich in gospel truth
and as earnestly delivered-as the
twenty? The only reason is that
tue effect of the hundred is hin
dered by the belief among the
people that the Lord is only
present from about the middle to
the close of a protracted meet
ing and not at any and every time
when His people meet to wor
ship. I protest that no one preach
er is capable of doing more for
the evangelization of a commun
ity than the five hundred or more
Christians who live there, and
the work ought to bedoneby the
five hundred. Soul-saving is a
work in which it is the duty as
well as the privilege of every
Christian to take part, and it is a
confession of a shameful neglect
of duty and a shifting of respon
sibility to bring in an evangelist
once a year to save the sinners
of a community. Why should
not a part of this work be done
every week, and let it be under
stood that al every service held
by the congregation conversions
are expected and an opportunity
given for persons to confess
Christ and unite with thechurch?
Among the many who wrote tri
butes of respect to the memory
of Dr. Broadus one said that this
prince among preachers did not
rely much on protracted efforts
for the increase of his church s
membership, but that every ser
mon of his was a special effort
for the conversion of sinners. Is
not this the right idea about
preaching? I wonder if there
are any preachers whose thought
after they have preached, is con
cerning the opinion which some
one in the audience may have
formed of his st r.non rather than
a hope that some one has been
saved by it. Oh! there is so little
of real comfort in hearing your
sermons praised when you can
find out no one who has been
saved by them or who has been
made a better Christian.
The idea of an occasional re
vival in a church is erroneous.
The new’ life in every converted
soul is continuous. The Savior
said, “The water that I will give
him will become in him a well of
w ater, springing up into eternal
life.” In every church there
should be constant growth, con
stant increase of piety and spir
ituality, perpetual life and activ
ity a Christian'and
.■urn a pi- i' h«r is heard to say:
“I greatly rSea
a good revival meeting.” Tn oth
er words, his religion is of the
periodical type and to be enjoyed
is dependent on a periodical ex
citement. Such a Christian is
mistaken about what he needs.
It is a clearer conception of the
nature of the new life and of the
Holy Spirit’s continuous pres
ence with every true child of
God.
The other custom about which
I thought to write is that of dis
couraging children in their de
sire to make a public confession
of Christ in baptism. Fortunate
ly this custom is losing ground
and bids fair to pass away in the
course of time. But it still holds
in many communities. Once 1
was denied the pleasure ol see
ing a “house-hold baptism” be
cause the youngest member of
the family, a girl of twelve
years, and the one who was the
brightest and happiest convert
of them all, was dissuaded from
joining the church w’ith the rest
on the ground that she was too
young and it would be better to
wait awhile. The child was deep
ly pained that she was not per
mitted to obey the Savior whom
she loved. Only a few months
ago I saw 7 ten or twelve boys and
girls whose ages were from eight
to thirteen with faces radiant
and hearts aglow with their first
love of the Savior kept from giv
ing expression to that love and
every one of them disappointed
and grieved by being dissuaded
from joining the church by the
good people who thought they
were performing a wise duty to
ward these little Christians. I
am familiar with the arguments
urged against children’s uniting
with the church, but I have not
space in which to notice them
except incidentally. Indeed they
are hardly worthy of any exten
sive notice. The old idea that a
child does not become personally
responsible to God until twelve
years of age is absurd. There is
many a soul lost at an earlier
age than that. I once knew an
intelligent child of a bar-keeper
who at the age of five years
would curse with bitter oaths
any one who might tease or in
sult him and who ridiculed his
playmates because they went to
Sunday-school. Now few per
sons will deny that the parents
of this boy were in a large meas
ure responsible for his sins, but
for them to be judged by God
would not give this boy a new
heart and a nature suitable fur
companionship w’ith the pure,
and that he knew his conduct to
be wicked and that he was there
fore personally responsible can
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 18115.
hardly be denied. In the same
town where this boy lived 1 knew
an exeeeedingly bright and hap
py Christian young lady who af
ter begging her mother for 12
months to permit it had united
with the church and was baptiz
ed before she was seven, ami no
body who knew her doubted that
she pursued the proper course.
Now to admit that this child was
a converted sinner, which she
claimed to be and was declared
to be by the church which re
ceived her, is to admit that she
had been a lost sinner up to the
time of her conversion; and such
admissions do not fall one whit
short of the truth. There are
many men living to-day who had
their first Christian experience
at a very tender age, and the
first part of that experience was
a sense of being lost followed by
a belief that their sins were for
given and they were saved. If
such experimental facts are
worth anything they show that
conversion takes place in many
cases in childhood, and as con
fession of Christ should follow
closely after conversion, it is
plain that it is wrong to oppose
children in their desire to unite
with tin? church. That such lit
tle Christians may turn back to
the world when they are grown
is a suggestion made by those
who are 1 hemselves children in
understanding as to the nature
of converting grace and need in
struction as much as those of
tender years. I have heard of a
pastor of whom it is said that he
never lets anybody join the
church if he can help it. That
is, he encourages no one to unite
with the church and recommends
that they all.make an experiment
of their religion and see whether
they are going to hold out or not
before they present themselves
for church membership. One re
sult of this teaching is that of
several grown up children in his
family only one is a professor ol
religion, one is an avowed infidel
and another recently was a party
to a shameful scandal which was
thoroughly aired in the daily pa
pers. There is never a sadder
mistake made by any parent or
pastor than to advise children to
wait until they are grown before
they make a public profession of
religion.
For the is hex. t
OUR FRENCH LETTER.
DR. a. T. SPALDING.
Dear Index:—After five days
in this city, our party is about to
take train for Italy. Paris is
much more beautiful than Lon
don. It possesses treasures of
art gathered from all the world,
and will be for all time, if it en
dures, the Mecca toward which
lovers of art w ill come. In the
Lou”re to-day we have looked
upon the masterpieces of human
genius.
Yesterday we visited Versail
les- that cost two hundred mil]
ions of dollars and saw the door
through which royalty fled —only
to be arrested and brought to the
block. Paris has covered over
with glories the site of her Bas
tite, and has made The Place de
la Concorde a thing of immortal
beauty but even there poor
Marie Antoinette, and Madame
Roland and Charlotte Corday
were beheaded by the guillotine.
The tomb of Napoleon which
we saw’ to-day is one of the most
splendid on earth, but despite
“the Napoleon craze” of the pa
pers and magazines, he was a
great butcher of men and a robber
of nations. I hope we may never
see his like again. As one pass
es from England where he finds
much honesty in dealings and
trade, he finds here on almost
every hand a settled, unbridled
purpose to fleece him in every
petty transaction. In making
this assertion I would except
the dealers in their large and
splendid stores. These have
dealt honorably with each and all
of our party. We arrived in
Paris Sunday morning at break
fast time. Our hotel being near
the church of the Madeleine, I
attended its service and wit
nessed splendid religious opera.
It was not Christianity, for
Christianity l as a Bible and wor
ships the Lord Jesus as the only
Savior of men. But despite its
lack of these things, the service
in song and procession was ex
ceedingly imposing and was wit
nessed and participated in by
thousands of people. Some day
I will try to give at length some
features of the service. They
can discount anything you ever
saw’ in the w r ay of constant col
lections through the whole serv
ice. We are now leaving for
Italy. Good-bye,
Paris, France., Aug. 1, ’95.
Rev. J. W. How’ard, of Colum
bus,has been aiding Pastor G. D.
Bunton in a protracted meeting
at Antioch church, Harris coun
ty-
For t he INdex.
What is Meant by “The Lord’s Day”
as Used in the New Testament.
BY P. S. WHITMAN, D. I).
Free and independentexpres
sion as to what the Scriptures
teach, appears to be characteris
tic of the writers for the Index.
1 take much interest in what has
lately been advanced relative to
the day for weekly worship.
And hence I want to say some
thing myself on that passage;
“I was in the spirit on the Lord's
day.” Rev. 1:10.
People who keep the first day
of the week instead of the
seventh, claim, I suppose, this
passage as precedent for such
use. Thus they make “Lord's
day" the Christian name, whilst
Sunday is the pagan name for
the first day of the week. But
my Alubama brother in the IN
dex (July 4th) says it doesnot
mean the first day of the week’,
but the day when the Lord will
come in judgment. This has set
me to thinking, and I must tell
how I come out. I think he is
right in the first part, namely :
what the expression does not
mean: but wrong in the second
part, namely: what the expres
sion does mean—wrong when he
makes the expression equivalent
to “the day of the Lord.” At
least my examination of the
original brings me to a conclu
sion different from his.
AU readers must be aware* of
the difference we make in the
use of the .two phrases, “the
Lord’s day," and “the day of the
Lord;" the first, our weekly day
of worship, the second, the day
when the Lord will conn* in judg*
ment —the one by no means
equivalent to the other- they
are not interchangeable phrases.
It is just so with the two Greek
phrases which they represent.
The latter we meet with first as
in 1 Cor. 5:5: “That the spirit
may be saved in the day of the
Lord.” Also, 1 Thes. 5:2, and
2 Peter 3: 10: “The day of the
Lord so comes us a thief in the
night.” In each of these cases
the original being heemera ku
riou, our phrase, day of the Lord,
gives the identical construction
of the Greek. Here, as in many
other instances, the .Emphatic
Diaglotte becomes fail ■: illiter-.
ate bv rendering this ~f i vase, 1
Thes 5:2, “Tin b.,v.”
But in the passage under our es
pecial consideration we find a
different phraseology. Instead
of its being heemera kuriou, two
nouns, one in the possessive
(genitive), it is a noun and an
adjective; that is, one of the
nouns, instead of being in the
genitive, is made an adjective,
thus, kuriakee heemera: heem
era, a day: kuriakee, pertaining
to the Lord, his worship and
service—hence his day—the
Lord’s day. Our two phrases,
“ the Lord's day” and “ the day
of the Lord,” according to the
sense we give them, represent,,
no doubt, the sense of the cor
responding Greek phrases, kuria
kee keemera and heemera kuriou.
Let it be remembered that the
former is what we find in Rev.
1:10, the scholarly sense being a
day devoted to the worship and
service of the Lord, whatever
day of the week or year it was.
Here W’e take occasion to ex
press our surprise that in the
Evangel and Sabbath Outlook of
March sth, 1H94, page 331, we
find the same view of this pas
sage in Revelations that our
brothei’ in the Index advocates.
We quote: “The term Lord's day
(Rev. 1:10), refers to the day of
Christ's coming in judgment
which is described in that book.
Here the writer quotes the pas
sage, “I was in the spirit on the
Lord's day," then adds in brack
ets thus: “| Greek, I was in the
spirit in the day of the Lord].”
Evidently the “Evangel" is
laboring under the* supposition
that the Greek phrase here is
the same as in 1 Cor. 5: 5,1 Thes.
5:2, and 2 Peter 3:10, where the
Greek construction, as we have
shown, is “day of the Lord.
But it is not that construction
here. It is the other phrase—
the noun with its adjective —a
day pertaining to, devoted to,
the Lord—his day, properly
called Lord's day—by no means
equivalent to, but in distinction
from the manifest import of the
other phrase, “the day of the
Lord.”
The phraseology here in Rev
elations is precisely the same as
ini Cor. 11:20, where we have
kuriakou deipnon. The old ver
sion and the new, Conybeare, and
even the Diaglotte, don t think
of making any change here,
calling it, as they all do, “Lord's
Supper.” Why should the Bible
Union have made a change, and
say “Supper of the Lord,” as if
the Greek text were deipnon
kuriou? Since it is not this,
namely, two nouns one in the
genitive, but rather a noun with
its adjective, we cannot think it
quite scholarly to make the ren-
dering just as we would if the
former construction prevailed.
The “ Revision ” of the Bible
Union put some things back as
they were in the old version. It
should have been done so here.
And now we come to a ques
tion of moment. Since the ex
pression, Lord's day, as found in
Rev. 1:10 does not mean “day of
the Lord," what does it mean?
We may say. first, it means just
what the original says, a day
pertaining to the Lord, ti day for
his service, a day over which he
has control. Now, what is obvi
ous to myself is this, that John
had kept in memory how Jesus
once said to the Pharisees. “The
Son of Man is Lord of the Sab
bath." Did not that make* the
Sabbath the Lord's day? Then,
too, could John forget the tri
umphal entry of Jesus so re
markably fulfilling the prophecy,
“Lo, the king cometh?" This
was on the Sabbath. And did
not this also virtually declare
him Lord of the Sabbath? What
else can we suppose than that
John had naturally come to speak
of the Sabbath according to
what it was as matter of fact
“the Lord’s day? ” If there is
not a particle of reason to sup
pose he was speaking of “the
day of the Lord,” neither is
there any reason to suppose he
meant any other day of the week
than the Sabbath. The presump
tion that he was only giving to
the Sabbath its Christian name
is so strong that we may well
take it as proof that if ever there
has been any change in the day
of .the week to be kept holy, it
could not have been made, or
h tve begun to be made, in th *
life time of the beloved apostle.
Thus the prevailing idea that the
phrase, “the Lord’s day,” as em
ployed in the New Testament
applies to the first day of the
week passes away like “Palm
Sunday ” into the realm of’ fic
tion.
For the Index.
EVENING TIME.
Growing old! Here and there
among the locks, are white hairs.
The step is not so light, the
tasks weary us more, and we are
less interested in the passing
pleasures of daily life.
Many, many of the true and
tried friends of our youthful days
are gone There are fa- more
of our loved ones on the other
shore than are lingering here.
Yes, we feel that the evening
time draweth nigh, but, for us,it
shall be light. The thought of
old age brings no terrors to our
trusting souls. It will be the
sweetest season of life. As the
tempest-tossed mariner nears
the shore, a balmy air fans his
cheek, there are not many waves
to hinder his progress, he catch
es a glimpse of the shining
lights, and his soul is filled with
a quiet and peace that brings
sweetness ami joy. As the days
go by and old age conies on,
there is less of the flashing,rest
less fire of youth, but more of
the steady flame of deep and
abiding hope and trust. The
motives that stir us are (Hirer
and less selfish. No longer are
we animated to exertion by rest
less desire for human praise.
Coming nearer and nearer to the
close of life and catching vision
of the radiant home of rest
with Jesus, we long to do one
simple duty, to scatter seeds of
divine truth here and there, to
tell others about our blessed
Savior and in his name and for
his sake, to do good unto all
men. The future is secure. No
doubt of it. There is for us a
home of rest and peace. It is the
purchase of his precious blood
shed for us. No, we feel no ter
rors as we approach the shore
of eternity. The glorious light
from the Son of Righteousness
brightens the evening sky of
life.
We long for the time when we
shall “cross over the river and
rest under the shade of the
trees.” We know that our Re
deemer liveth. We know he in
tercedes for us and through him
all needed grace will be ours.
Pain of the body reminds us of
the time when there shall be no
more pain. Sickness, weakness,
sorrow, distress- —all these are
soon to end. The bondage of
sin has an end at last in that
land where there is no sin.
Welcome, then the coming of
the evening time of life. A few
days more of waiting here and
all will be over. Angels will
waft us homeward. The river
of death behind us, the pearly
gates are opened, the new song
of the redeemed bursts upon us
and it is well with our souls.
“At evening time it shall be
light.” O. C. P.
War trace, Tenn.
Carrs. —Pastor Aquila Cham
blee has closed his meeting with
Island Greek church resulting in
19 by baptism. God be praised
for his great blessings.
For the Index.
The Sufferer and the Angel.
I ii n diirk mid lonely chiiinlH'i’
\ poor, hick girl whs lying,
All around was gloom mid Hiidnuss,
And sin*, in her imgulsli, was crying.
Away from h<*r home, for wevkh she had
suite red
With no one to love her. or toenr**
Whether her hours weredm k. or bright.—
No. not nlorn*, tor <-»<><! was l here.
In that she found sweetest comfort.
And often her lips moved In prny« r.
As she begged Him In H Is linns to tuke her.
That she miglii ilnd seat and pencethere.
; .i!:. on ihis pupticuinr morning.
Iler trials termed more than she could
benr.
Ami her st remn Ing eyes mid bleeding lull rt
Caused her feiilures, a troubled look to
wear.
All was sickin ss. suffering mid anguish.—
Not hlng but clouds could she see;—
Closing the weary, tearful eyes she gave
way
To moans mid t he bit terest agony.
Suddenly seeming togrow worseund worse,
she op«*ned her • yes in despair.
Ami looking up once more in her sorrow,
she beheld mi Angel standing there;
An Angel, wlih kind and anxious face.
Was hovering o’er the lone, sick bed,
Whispering words of comfort and cheer as
she ca res*ed the 11 red. aching head.
All through the day she lingered
Near “Our Fat hep's” sad. lonely child,
Bathing her burning head mid breast
And speaking in accents sweet mid mild.
Far into the (inlet evening she sat there,
lint the sick one was not restless now, —
Tender caresses had chased the lines
(»l suffering from the fevered brow.
With her arms across t he angel’s hip,
She lav l here, pa le and very ill.
But owing to that sweet, gentle presence.
She was now moth mi less and st ill.
Resting, did you say? Ah. yes, with
The angel's hand clasping her own,
She dropped into a quiet slumber.—
Only now at d then did <he move,or groan.
Morning came, ami wit h It. t he Angel,
'l'o cheer that sad. aching h« art.
And so sweet ly did she perform h(*r mission.
The sick one was unwilling, from her to
part.
Two. three days passed by. and now
The sufferer was much het ter. st ill
The angel came and h< r ministering spirit
With sunshine, the sjek-room did fill.
At hist. there ••mm a day when
The frail girl, to her friends, could go;
The sad. weary heart was lighter now.—
Her spirit frl< nd had made it so.
With loving ha nds i he angel prepared her.
Her Journey, to her dear ones, to make;
A dainty rest for the tired head she fixed,
and
All t’esp insibllity. on herself, he did take.
W hen, at last.t he weary t ravel h r was ready
The angel hovered o'erom-e more.
And. kissing hep a fond ••good-bye.”
Vanished through the open door.
But. i he sufferer 100 has gone, you see.
An now li< her happy home.
She st ill has \ ishms of a slender form.
And longs again for the Angel to come.
But she h i> ol her friends now. at home,
And the fair Angel God has left
To brighten other horn sand cheer other
hearts
By sorrow and mid anguish bereft.
(>h. Lllv . my sweet friend, with gentleheart
And a soul like unto mi archangel.
Have you not my secret guessed?
1 was Hie sick girl and ” Lily’' was the
angel. G. V.T.
For the Index.
Hoping Continually.
The Psalmist made a very
commendable resolution when he
said: “I will hope continually.”
This means that, notwithstand
ing the tenqitations to discour
agement which might throng
him, he would not allow them to
put out the eyes of his hopeful
spirit. It also means that he was
determined to succeed in serving
God, however dark and appalling
the situation was around him. It
required a great deal of rugged
will-power io d>» this. “It uas u o
child's play to hope continually,
under all the clouds which low
ered upon him, amid all the
fierce oppositions which crowded
against him. He does not say:
“It is my wish to hope continu
ally,” but he stoutly affirms: “I
will hope continually.” He just
gathered up, with all the firin’
ness he possessed, his will-pow
er and declared that he would
hope continually, it mattered not
what obstacle might be thrust
across his pathway, nor what
foe might beset him, nor what
physical or mental condition he
might get into. He would not
let circumstances and personal
conditions blunt his purpose to
keep on hoping in God, hoping
in the triumph of the truth and
hoping in the ultimate success of
God’s kingdom. Os course he
had his discouragements, but he
would not allow them to serious
ly affect the ground and root of
his hope. Stronger than all of
his discouragements was his
hope in God. Such a man is a
moral conqueror. He is a fit lea
der of others. He has a courage
which dares difficulties and wins
the greatest victories. A hope
less man is a moral coward. He
is necessarily a failure in almost
everything. Instead of leading
he has to be led. Instead of con
quering he is conquered. Instead
of being strong he is weak. We
need more Christians who are
continually hoping, who are hop
ing when everything looks dark
and dreary to the natural eye,
who are hoping when the finan
cial condition of the church is
weak and its numbers are lessen
ing. Such Christians are not
easily frightened. They are free
from doleful moods. They are
full of praise to God. They “sing
songs” in the night. They wear
cheerful faces. God can use
them to good advantage. Let
us all say: “I will hope continu
ally.” C. H. Wetherbe.
Woolsey.—Pastor I. G. Wool
sey has closed his excellent!
meeting with Harmony Grove
church, baptizing and receiving
one by letter. He received most
satisfactory aid from brethren
Lamar Sims and Frank Culpep
per, of Jonesboro. These young
brethren spoke and worked with
great zeal and acceptability to the
congregation. The church was
much revived.
Madison.—Bro. W. D. Win
burn closed his meeting at Gres
hamville baptizing four. Bro. A.
M. Marshall is conducting a meet
ing this week at Brownwood and
Bro. J. T. B. Anderson one with
Harmony church. J. E. C.
VOL. 75--NO. 33.
Books Donated Rev.S. Boykin, D.D
Dear Index: At *the recent
meeting of the Trustees of Mer
cer I ’Diversity, the following was
passed:
“Resolved, That the thanks of
this board be and hereby are
tendered to the Rev. Sami.el
Boykin. D. D., of Nashvil e,
Tenn., for the large and valuable
donation of book’s made by him
to the Library of our Univer
sity:
Rosolved, That the President
of the hoard publish the above
in the Christian Index, and
through the same chanel urge
others to follow the example of
our beloved brother in making
contributions from their libra
ries.
Also that he solicit donations
of pamphlets, minutes of asso
ciations, minutes of conventions
and such like matter.”
I take great pleasure in saying
that the large and valuable do
nation of Doctor Boykin was
from his private library with an
intimation that this contribution
might perhaps be suplementtd
through the provisions of his
Wilt when called above.
In the libraries of many of our
brethren are valuable book’s
which they have ceased to use—
we earnestly beg that they semi
these to Mercer. Many also
when called to the other woi ’d
will leave no children behind
them; a better disposit ion cannot
be made of their books than to
bequeath them to our beloved in
stitution.
As to pamphlets, minutes, c it
alogues and such like, these cm
be safely deposited in the Mer
cer library for future use. The
day is not distant when many of
our associations will follow the
example of the G orgia and t’. e
Hephzibah in publishing their
respective histories.
Presideni Gambrell at Macon,
Ga., will cheerfully take charge
of every thing directed to his
care. W. L. Kilpatrick.
Hephzibah, Ga.
Arabi. —In July B. D. Rags
dale D. D. held a successful In
stitute at Pinehurst church,
which revived the church and
at the close I baptized five.
At Sparks, assisted by Bro J.
T. Stanley, I held a weeks meet
ing, with I trust good results,
Last week aided by Bro. J, E.
Powell I had a meeting with my
own home church Arabi and bap
tized eight. Our young men rII
lead in prayer and we have elec
ted fifteen to go to Macon in
Sept.
Abbeville is one of the most
important places in this section.
The town is growing and a six
thousand dollar building has
been contracted for. The wes
tern colony so much talked of
will be near here and Abbeville
church will need to look after the
Baptists that come. Oh, that
our handsome house was fiinshed
that we might show to our new
comers that we are progressive
Baptists. I think it would be
well for the State and Home
Boards to look after this field.
The church is unable to pay
for more than one Sunday;
we must have two. Brethren
pray for us.
J. J. Hyman..
Madison.—The Central Asso
ciationwill hold its sixty-first an
nual session with Shiloh Church
at Tarrar on the Middle Georgia
and Atlantic R. R. on Tuesday
Aug. 27th. A hearty invitation
is extended to all representatives;
of denomination work,and breth -
ren of sister association to be:
with us. All coming by Rail
Road will please inform Bro.
Jno. W. Wagner Farrar, Ga.
The M. G. and A. R- R.
will sell round trip tickets at re
duced rates, each day of the ses
sion,
Jas. E. Chiles,
Clerk Central Asso.
Penfield. —Our meeting at
County Line church closed with
14 accessions by experience and.
three by letter and one by resto
ation. The brethren had just
completed their house of wor
ship, putting everything, about
the house and yard in order.
The Lord came and in His
spirit greatly refreshed us. We
had splendid help in Dr. H. D.
D. Straton who came purposely
to help me through my August
meetings. J. S. C.
Aonia —Our eight days meet
ing at Flint Hill church, McDuf
fie county,resulted in seven bap
tisms and four awaiting bap
tism. Our church passed a re
solution to take up regular col
lections monthly for missions.
Less than 50 members, mostly
tenants, on one days notice sent
Bro. Gibson $3. The money was
contributed first,then came God’s
blessings. Brethren begin your
protracted meetings by taking
up a collection for God’s work.
J. A. Shank.