The Christian index. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1892-current, July 02, 1896, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

ESTABLISHED 1821. yhe Christian Index Publiibel Every Thursday By BEL,L & VAN N?>S Address Christian Index. Atlanta, Ga. Organ of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia Subscription Price: One copy, one year 12.00 One copy, six months ... I.o* About Our Advertisers.— We propose hereafter to very carefully Investigate our advertisers. We shall exercise every care to allow only reliable parties to use our col ■nuts. Obituaries—One hundred words free of charge. For each extra word, one cent per word, cash with copy. To Correspondents—Do not use abbrevi ations: be extra careful In writing proper names; write with Ink. on one side of paper. Do not write copy Intended for the editor and business Items on same sheet. Leave off personalities, condense. Business.—Write all names, and post Offices distinctly. In ordering a change give the old as well as the new address. The date of label Indicates the time your subscription expires. If you do not wish It continued, or der it stopped a week before. We consider each subscriber permanent until he orders Ms paper discontinued. When you order it stopped pay up to date. Remittances by registered letter, money order, postal note For tbe Inpex. David. King* ot Judah —2 Sam 2:1 11. BY S. G. HILLYER. At the close of December last, just six months ago, we suspend ed the story of David, and curing the first and second quarters of 1896, we have been considering the story of Jesus. In the pres ent lesson we return to the Old Testament, and resume the story of David. David had taken refuge in Zik lag, a city of the Pnilistines,from the persecutions of Saul. In the meantime, the Philistines were making ready again to invade the land of Israel. When the host was marshalled and about to march,David offered to join them with his own followers; but the chiefs of the Philistines declined his assistance, fearing lest in the heat of battle he would turn against them in favor of his own people. This we learn from 1 Sam., 29th chapter. David,there fore, returned to Ziklag and pa tiently awaited the issue of tl e coming battle. It was fought at , oilboa. Saul and his three sons, incluoing Jonathan, were slain, and the forces of Israel were de feated and scattered. This brings us to the present lesson. When David heard all the facts of the defeat of the Is raelites, and of the death of Saul and three of his sons,he inquired of the Lord what he should do. Though David was a mighty man of valor and a skillful military leader, yet he would not, if he could help it, take a step without divine guidance amidst the con fusion of things that then sur rounded him. He committed his way unto the Lord and he was directed to go up to Hebron, a city of Judah. Upon his arrival in Hebron,the men of Judah met him there and anointed him to be their king, and he reigned in Hebron seven years. You may remember that when David was only a lad,Samuel the prophet, under the [instructions of the Almighty, had gone to Bethlehem and there called Da vid from the sheep-fold and an ointed him with holy oil as the man who should succeed Saul in the kingdom of Israel. But he was then a mere boy Long years of discipline, of trial, of exile, and of privation, stretched out between that day T in Beth lehem and'the day when he was actually anointed king by the men of Judah at Hebron. But thrc ugh all the vicissitudes of his eventful life God took care of him. It is delightful to see the evidence afforded by the experience of David that there is a providence “that shapes our ends, rough hew thi m as we may/’ We may not be always conscious, as David was, that God is guiding our steps along the journey of life; but afterwards, when the sceneshave passed,and we look back upon them, we of ten discover that what we consid ered reverses and disappoint ments have somehow cr other worked for our good. Oh, how happy we would be, if we could in all cases trust in God! We are told by the Apostle, “Be anxious for nothing; but by prayer and supplication make known your requests unto God; and the peace of God, which passeth all under standing, shall keep your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.” The words of the Apostle place the Christian far in advance, in point of privilege, even of David —the man after God’s own heart —for he had not the light of the gospel in his day: and yet he did trust in his great Jehovah with a faith far more profound than many Christians do in their di vine Redeemer. Again, the words of the Apos tle indicate that we may pray for anything we please to ask for THE CHRISTLAN INDEX. z | ■IFTION. P(E Y(*B.--..*2.00. I • TO STERS, 1.00. I provided it be souk. ;ing lawful for us to have. The/e is no other limit to the range of our suppli cations but this. Ask for what you please; but then commit the case with unwavering faith to the better judgment of your Heavenly Father. The reason why I love to linger upon the faith of David is be cause it is a brilliant and striking ing proof that God is in fact the hero of the Bible. It is he, not Adam and Eve, that shed glory over the garden of Eden; it was he, not Noah and the ark, that gave its significance to the deluge. Here I strike a line of examples that might be followed down to the book of Revelation. And in ev ery one of them the most august and exalted actor is God. Hu man agencies, in the mighty dramas of the Scriptures, w*ere but instrumentalities to bring about the foreordained results. And if God is the hero of the B ble, is he not “a fortiori” the hero of the whole world? “O ye of little faith!” Is he not,to day, just as truly ruling the nations by his providence as he was in the days of Moses, of Gideon, or of David? To believe this is in deed our safest refuge from the crushing despondencies of “pes simism.” It was David’s faith in God that has invested his character with such surpassing interest. In studying his life we shall see his faith more and more devil oped. But let us look at another ele ment of that noble character. Saul had waged an unrelenting war against David. But when this tierce enemy had fallen in battle, and three of his sons had perished, David did not exult over their death. He paid hon ors to the memory of the fallen. This magnanimity was not af fected. Before Saul died, while he was in the plenitude of his power, and while he was pursu ing David for the purpose of de stroying him, David twice had his enemy in his power; but he would nQt lift his hand against the “Lord’s anointed.” Such for bearance gives evidence of his sincerity when he wept over the fall of Saul and of Jonathan. Succeeding lessons will show us mqre and mqje of character. It is true that he was not a perfect man. None knew this better than himself. And none have ever bewailed their errors in tones of deeper peni tence and sorrow than oid David. We shall tied in studying this great character both protit and comfort —profit, because we shall learn much of the ways ol God in dealing with the weaknesses o.f his people who, in spite of all their faults, cling to him with humble and abiding faith. Then, we shall find comfort, because Dav.d stands forth as a great ex ample of ex peri mental religion. He shows us what religion can do wi h a human life full of im perfections. And his experiences have been reproduced in every true child of God down to our own day. Hence, it brings to us great comfort to know that the God of David is also our God. Let us then give all diligence to study the story of David in connection with our Sunday school lessons. For the Index. A Timely Discussion. BY .1. B. GAMBRELL, D D. It has been quite a time since such a discussion arose among us as that now’j-aging concern- Dr. Whitsitt’s Alleged new dis coveries in Baptist history. All sorts of things are going into print, and evidently’most of the pruning knives have a very rough edge on them. Brother Editors, I am for the discussion, smooth and nice, if it can.be that way, but for the dis cussion any way. Baptists must express themselves, and Baptists believe in martyrs. I do. Really I would like to be one myself, if it would not hurt. President Whitsitt would make a lovely martyr to a historical fad, fancy or fact, which ever it turns out to be. But it is possible that he can serve the Lord better in an other way. I incline to think so. It is not my purpose to enter into the merits of the question at all. but rather to submit a few remarks on the different phases of the controversy as it has been developed up to date. In the first place, Dr. Whitsitt was acting within his rights and within the rules of propriety when he gave his views to the world. Ido not agree at all with one of our papers that he was bound to represent the current views of Baptists on points in history. He was bound to do no such thing. If he chose to write at all, he was bound to write the truth as he saw it. To hold that the heads of our institutions of learning must run with current opinion on matters, not doctrinal, is to lay down a law’ tiat will take every man with any real manhood in him out of educa tional leadership in the denomi nation and till every presidential chair with small educational dem agogues. It will stop all real progress and reduce us to a dull, low, flat level of mediocrity. Far better have mistakes, even bad breaks, than the dry rot of intellectual servility to indeter ininate popular notions. The discussion will bring out a vast deal of historical informa tion lying dust-covered in the British Museum and elsew’here. This will be good for us. As a rule men do not rub up their guns and keep them in order in times of peace. The net result will be a decided gain to the de nomination of historical knowl edge of a reliable sort. It took a man in Dr. Whitsitt’s place to bring this about. In the end the denomination will be sweeter, and more judi cious, and every way better fitted to deal with other questions. We are bound to have discussion right often to keep the denomi nation in good case. The way to make ground work easy is to plow it often, and that is the W’ay to make it bring good crops, too. We are afraid of the very thing that will help us, just as sinners are afraid of the grace that tears them all to pieces pre paratory to making them all new and better. But one orother w’rites that the Pedoes are going around saying, “O, yes, the President of your Theological Seminary has knocked the bottom out of the Baptist denomination.” Poor simpletons, what a blessing that they are now awake and giving us the opportunity to inform them that the New Testament is the bottom of the Baptist de nomination. It is a rare oppor tunity for doing some missionary work along the lines of the fun damentals. I have been yearn ing, like “Uncle Jimmy to hear some “squar” Baptist talk, and to eat some honey out of the rock Christ Jesus, upon which every Baptist church in the world is built. Our opportunity has come. I am always glad when Pedobap fists attack Baptists. Whenever that happens you had just as well go to cleaning out the bap tizing places. There is too much peace in this country, consider ing the amount of sin and heresy in it. Dr. Whitsitt, notwithstanding his rare mastery of English, has been guilty of a marked infe licity of expression. When he says that the Baptists of England •were not in the practice of im mersion prior to 1641, he does not mean to imply that there were ever Baptists who did not immerse. I know’ he does not. And yet he is so understood, and bis infelicitous language squints that way. I am not very much of a historian; but I. have long known that certain dissenting bodies in England came to the Baptist position by stages. They abandoned the English Church, became independents, but prac ticed infant baptism. Some abandoned infant baptism later, but practiced sprinkling and pouring. Later, some of these came into the pract.ce of immer sion, and from henceforward were Baptists. This is the truth, and this is what Dr. Whitsitt means, I dare say. The great Dr. Carson came to us by stages. In the early history of the Seminary a terrific war was made on it, because Dr. Williams be lieved in tne validity of alien immersions. It was demand ed that he -be dismissed. It was not done. I was then as I km now, an anti-alien immersion ist, a landmarker of the old school; but I took the position then, that as the articles of faith were the expression of the Bap tist faith, we could not enforce a narrower vjgw, if, as a people, we are to hold together and build up anything w’orthy of our num bersandopportunities. In twen ty-five years I have seen no rea son to revise that judgment. The principle applies in the case before us. Within the limits of the articles of faith, there must be toleration. It is a perpetual grief to me, and of course a de nominational calamity, that all the brethren do not see things as I do; but we live in an imperfect world, and it has occurred to me that I am not here to have my way all the time. We will come out of this dis cussion wiser all round. It would not surprise me if Dr. Whitsitt learns a thing or two. Unless there is an amount of folly un thinkable among us, we will set tle the historical points accord ing to the facts, allowing every man to have his own opinion about the facts, and then, as a great brotherhood, we will go on building up Zion on the founda tion of the apostles and proph ets, Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Cornerstone. ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. JULY 2, 1896. In the meantime, while we are working on toward this good conclusion, we must beware of the brother who rises up and says, “Just watch me tear it in two.” He is not the man to follow just now. We will go on deliberately and get to the end in good repair. Brother Editors, these are my sentiments. Could you find place for them in The Index ? Baptists and the Saloon BY J. H. GAMBRELL. No. 2. Let the reader turn to the last issue of the Index and read again the second recommenda tion the Georgia Baptist Con ven tion makes to the Baptist voters of the State. It is i very impor tant matter to the Baptists and the entire Slate. This recommenda’ a n has to do with the ballot box. and suggests the kind of tickets Baptists, at least, ought to pqt ia Tnesug gestion is witbgofereii *e to the way to i the saloon m results. BapW^voti'’s. in the main, will vote some vmy and for some body. The Convention has for years been passing reso lutions anathematizing the sa loon, and the Baptists have been going to the ballot box and vot ing against • these resolutions. So that the representatives of the Baptists of Georgia in their religious bodies have stood against the saloon, while the representatives of these same Baptists in the legislature have stood for the saloon. What has been the result of this anomaly? 1. It has secured for the Bap tists the contempt and derision of the saloon man and his allied evil doers. It has led the sa loon forces to the conclusion that Cnristian men are a set of vam peming, pharisaic, and, so far as the saloon is concerned, harmless fustians. Again and again, have the saloon men said, “We care nothing about your church reso lutions, so long as you vote for the man we wte for. Why need they care, pray let some one tell ? 2. It has gi with po litical aspiratiiflß'ro understand that they dig their political graves the day they determine to stand in elections for the de struction of the saloon. The very day that aspiring men de cide to stand as the representa tives of the Convention’s resolu tions, the saloon forces wi ite Ich abod across their political fore heads, and Baptists will not only stand.by and see it done, but help do it. So that no man who is ambitious for political prefer ment, fails to see that it will be fatal to him to espouse a cause, whose enemies will fight him to the death, and whose professed friends will not only not help him but join forces, at the ballot box, with those who seek, for selfish purposes, his political destruc tion. 3. It has, in some measure, given birth to that pernicious heresy that a policy or business may be politically right, tho' morally and religiously radically wrong. Baptist fathers, not a few, are teaching this hurtful, hateful doctrine to their boys by their conduct. They vote in re ligious assemblies that the sa loon is “the sum of all villian ies,” “a sin against God and a crime against humanity,” then go to the ballot box and vote for men and measures to maintain the saloon. For this reason alone there are saloons in Georgia to day. To remove this reason and thereby abolish the saloon, is the high object sought by the Convention in suggesting how and for whom Baptists ought to vote in the approaching elec tion for members of the legisla ture. It teaches the unholy les son that the thing to be consid ered in voting is, not what is right, honest and just, but what will bring success now. It exalts sin in State and nation and brands as an intruder every righteous impulse in the voter’s heart. It teaches that tjae voter may, with impunity, and ought to, assault righteousness with his ballot. It teaches that to go with the multitude to do evil is man's duty, and that it proves his patriotism. It teaches that God may be defied by voters, and the people prosper as the result. It teaches that men may be “saints at church and devils in politics.” Suppose that every Baptist voter in Georgia were to give it out that, for hims< If, he will do exactly what the Convention ijecommends, what would be the results? These: 1. The next legislature would be under the absolute control of those who represent the Enemies of the saloon. Who doubts that, acting as the balance of power, the Baptists alone can determine the complexion of the Georgia legislature on the saloon ques tion? If it were known to day, that not a saloon advocate in all Georgia could get a Baptist vote, and that every Baptist vote would go for the men who hate the saloon, there is not a sensible liquor dealer in the State who would not at once arrange to go out of the business, or leave the State. That is true beyond ques tion. 2. Every Baptist would clear his skirts of the blood of those who go to destruction through drink. There would come to every Baptist heart, home and church such a Hood tide of satis fying blessing as they have nev er known. A mighty quickstep would be given to educational and missionary enterprises. Tbe dark clouds of dissipation and wretchedness, that hang over thousands of hearts and homes, would be lifted, by Godly hands, in noble deeds, and show their silvery lining. 3. It would deplete the human caravan, bathed in the tears of 1 v;do ies,that is hourly moving on to the jail, the penitentiary, the gallows, and a fiery destiny. The policeman would put away his “billy” as a relic of rum’s red reign, and give his attention to productive industry. The prison-keeper would wait in vain for human monsters to fill his emptied dungeons. The hang man would rejoice that his voca tion is gone, and that he would hear no more the s ckening thud of human beings, dropping from the gallows into eternity. Beyond dispute, those who vote for saloon advocates to make laws are responsible for the results of the saloon. Neither the legislator nor saloon-keeper is more responsible than the vot er who made the legislator. The Convention spoke wisely. Bap tist voters ought not to make themselves responsible for the saloon for the sake of party or anything else. Let righteous ness be exalted at the ballot box. Greensboro, Ga. The-Baptint Outlook : The action of the Methodist General Confer ence by which members of that denomination are permitted to be immersed who have become dissatisfied with their *preVious sprinkling or affusion,is very nat urally being commented on as ind i cating the growth of the sentiment in favor of baptism among Meth odists. In fact it was stated on the floor of the Conference that members of the church had gone over into the Baptist ranks in numbers which to us seemed sur prising ly large. And consent was obtained to the amendment of the Book of Discipline, because evidently something had to be done to prevent continued defec tion. The Baptist position as to the ordinance is unquestionably winning its way with reverent minded Christ ans more and more, so evidently in harmony is it with the teaching of the New Testament, and so appropriate as the symbol of the facts of the gospel history and of Christian experience. It also has upon its side the scholarship of the world. Every indication of this we are, of course, glad to note, and hope for the speedy coming of the day when the great evangelical de nominations shall be agreed in their practice in regard to the New Testament rite. But when we pause to consider the motives which prompted the Conference to amend their discipline as indi cated above, we acknowledge some sense of pain. It was not amended in the spirit of loyalty to truth, but merely to hold a portion of the membership of the church w’ithin its pale; it shows that the Conference shut its eyes to the fact that it authorizes its ministers to disavow as baptism what they had previously admin istered as such to the same indi vidual; it continues to ignore the minister's own responsibility un der the commission of the Lord for the administration of the rite. These things we regret as indi eating that policy rather than loyalty will sometimes control the action of so noble a body of Christian men as those who con stituted the Cleveland Confer ence. But it will not always be so. And how happy the day shall be when loyalty to Christ shall control us all. Rev. J. H. Wray, of Milledge ville, delivered a fine discourse in the hall of the academy Sun day morning. His text was, “Despise not tbe day of small things,” and he handled it in a way highly creditable to himself and very profitable to his hearers. His sermon Sunday night is said to have been even better than the discourse of the morn ing. The Ishmaelite is requested to state that this earnest and elo quent preacher will return to Sparta, in July, to conduct a se ries of meetings in the Baptist church. — Sparta Inhmatlite. Narrow but Not Hard. J A My Master,they bnve wronged Thwnnd Thy love! Th» y only told me I should find the path A Via Dolorosa all the wav’, Narrow indeed it Is! . . . » Oh, why Should they misrepresent Thy words, ami make “Narrow ’ synonymous with “very hard"? For Thou, Dlvlnest Wisdom, Thou hast said Thy ways are ways of pleasantness, and all Thy paths are peace; nod that the pain of him Who wears t hy pet feet robe of righteousness Isas the light that shlneth more and more I nto the perfect day. And Thou hast given An olden promise, rarely quoted now, Because it is too bright for our weak faith: “If they obey and »erv e him,they shall spend Days in prosperity, and they shall spend Their years In pleasure.” —F. K. Havekgal. Loss Through Unoffered Prayers Since it is clear, from the au thority of God's Word and from the lessons of God's providence, that positive good comes in re sponseio specific prayer, it must be eq'ually clear that the lack of such prayer causes the lack of such good. Prayer being a rec ognized force in the economy of the universe, the results which pivot on the exercise of that force are necessarily missing if the force be not exercised Loss through unoffered prayers is as truly a fact as is gain through prayers proffered. To many it seems as if simple non doing could not be, in itself or in its consequences, as grievous a wrong as the commission of a sin o’ positive performance yet we are taught in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and the New, that not to do a plain duty is as offensive to God, and is as sure to merit condemnation and punishing, as the doing of that which ought not to be done. One of the fiercest maledictions under the Old Covenant is re corded against a people who were simply inactive when they ought to ha ve taken part in a pending contest. It is in the song of Deborah, after the battle of Israel with the Canaanites at Megiddo. Rehearsing the de tails of that contest , and praising those who were faithful, she cried out against the recreant non doers: “Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; Because they came not to the help of the Lord, To the help of the Lord against the mighty.” It was, again, the lips of the luf’hig Jesus ul’nt taught—-the wickedness and guilt of non do ing, and foretold the terrible doom of thbse who did nothing more reprehensible than to do nothing. It was the man who simply kept his one pound wrap ped in a napkin, instead of put ting it at interest or using it in trade, who was called the “wick ed servant,” and from whom his treasure was taken away. It was the man who merely failed to invest his talent at re munerative rates who was de nounced as “wicked and sloth ful,” and was to be stripped his possessions, and cast, as an ‘unprofitable servant,” into outer darkness, where there “shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” In the inspired description of the day of final account, the fearful doom pronounced by the Judge of all the earth against the lost is not based on the fact of their evil doing, but on their evil non doing. “Inasmuch as ye did it not,” therefore “depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels.” Can there be any loss greater than the loss of one's very self for all eternity which results from simple non-doing when one ought to have done? This thought suggests the irreparable loss through unoffered prayers, in face of the fact that faith-filled prayers are a force in God’s providential plan, and that God’s children are commanded to prof fer them. In the whple realm of nature, loss through non action is quite as real and positive, and may, in deed, be quite as ruinous, as loss through actual wrong doing. A man, by not reaping, not sowing, not plowing, may as truly lose a harvest as by setting fire to his standing grain; and neither drought nor frost, neither mildew nor locusts, can more surely be a cause of famine, among those dependent on the crop, than could be a simple neglect of pro cesses which would in God's providence secure first the blade, then the ear, and after that the full corn in the ear. A man’s family can be as truly shelterless through his failure to build a house, or to buy or rent one, as by his turning them out of their home, and blowing up their dwelling with a charge of dyna mite. To fail to take needful food or drink, or to secure fresh air in a room filled with stifling gas, may be a means of as sure death to a man as a pistol or a razor em ployed for self-destruction. As with one's self, so with one's fel lows. Simply to fail to reach out a hand to a. drowning child, when within reach of VOL. 76--NO. 27 the river bank, or to speak a word of warning to a blind man on the edge of a precipice, or to hold back a deaf one from step ping before a coming train, may bring on one’s soul the blood of the man lost as truly as if he were deliberately murdered. Neglecting to provide needed shelter, or food, or clothing, for a child, may cause its death. Neglecting to give it wise coun sel or ample protection may re sult in that child’s going astray to its ruin. Failing to pray for and with one’s child day by day may be as culpable neglect as failing to give it material suste nance and ministry. Whatever is to be gained by prayer for one's self or for others may be utterly lost if that prayer be held back A man in mature life, who had for years stood well in the church and the community, was arrested for forgery, and charged with various acts of embezzle ment. His aged mother visited him in the jail. As she entered his cell, she fell on his neck in an outburst of tears. She had no word of reproach for him, but she reproached herself most bit terly. “My poor boy!”, she cried out; “this is all my fault. I haven't been praying for you as I ought to. W hile you were a child I prayed for you constant ly; and so all along, until I saw you in the church, active in Christ’s service. Then I thought you safe, and I only thanked God for you in my prayers. Now you have been led astray, while I was neglecting to pray for you. Poor boy! poor boy! your old mother is to blame for it all.” Whatever may be thought of that mother’s division of respon sibility in the case of herself and her son, it is evident that she had a sense of loss through un offered prayers; and who saall say that if that mother’s prayers for the gracious upholding of her son had been ceaseless and full of faith, he might not have had his feet kept from falling. If a mother’s prayers are potent for good, their lack may be a veritable loss. And there are other prayers than those of a mother that have power with God, and that cannot be neglect ed without loss. ~He.Trht) fails us-pi-wr-••juon'lvudfs protection as he sleeps, or for God’s guidance as he wakes, omits to take a precaution for his safety that is as important as it is real. Why should he think he is not likely to have a result ant positive loss from that omis sion? If he does not pray for special wisdom and grace as he attempts to write or to speak, to teach or to pray, for the benefit of others, can he hope that his word will show the gain that it could have through such prayer? Can he hope that there will be no actual loss from his neglect? Blessings that are promised in response to faith tilled prayer cannot be expected if faith filled prayer is not offered. Loss stands over against gain in the neglect of the duty and privilege of prayer. Heaven is the magazine wherein Gai puts Both good and evil; prayer's the key that shuts .. And opens this great treasure; tis a key Whose wards are Faith, and Hope, and Charity. Would’st thou prevent a judgment due to sin ? Turn but the key, and thou may's! lock it in. Or would’st thou have a blessing fall upon thee? Open the door, and it will shower on thee.” To fail of using wisely the key of prayer is to fail of guarding against the dreaded outflow of evl, and to fail of securing the desirable outflow of good. There are those who are near us, and those whom we hold dear, who are suffering to day from lack of blessings that would have been theirs had we done our duty in the proffer of faith-tilled prayers in their behalf. We our selves are losers in spiritual life and power through our failure to be instant and earnest in gaining blessings that are promised only in response to fitting and timely prayer. God forgive us for our lack and our loss! Let us pray! —Prayer-. Its Nature and Scope.— Trumbull. The protracted services which have been in progress at the Bap tist church at this place, con ducted by Rev. J. M. Kelly, as sisted by Rev. J. M. Waller, of Montezuma, closed Monday night after having done much good for the advancement of the Master’s cause, and three accessions.— Vi’enbu Progress. Rev. H. L. Crumbley is warm ing up to the work and is now preaching some splendid gospel sermons to the people of Blakely at the Baptist church. As a re sult the interest of the congrega tions is increasing at every meet ing.— Early County News.