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4 TheGfiristian Index TJ P van" NESS, I EuITOKS ’ ABOUI HEREDIIY. The law of heredity is one of the facts of our time. It has been greatly modified in its state ment of late years. We find it not to be so all inclusive either in its power over us or the extent of its influence on our whole being. At the same time it is a factor in our destiny unmistakable and of no little power. Our ancestors influence us. We reap the fruit of other lives, not only in outward surroundings but in our inward impulse's and inclinations. There are, however, certain modifying limitations to the law of liereil it.y- One is that heredity’ does not determine the result of our lives, but simply helps to determine amid what tests that result must be achieved. Whether we shall fight, with good health or be hand icapjH’d with weakness; whether we shall meet the world ami its worldliness with a nature that is inclined to its indulgences, or with one that tends toward the unseen ami the spiritual; whether we shall meet the inevitable temptations of the flesh and the devil with veins in which passion and appetite run riot, or with the steady pulses of an inborn love for. the pure and noble; all this may be the work of heredita ry laws. But whether we shall win the fight, resist the worldli ness ami keep ourselves clean will depend on other laws. Some will have greater difficulties, some less, but the issue is alike in the soul itself. Heredity, we repeal may give the tests ami temptations of a lite, it does not determine the results of a life. Once more, heredity dm's not make us the same as our ances tors, only to resemble them. New souls have' new tendencies. It is impossible 1 to add up all the qual ities eif preceding ancestors and mathematically determine the* ne'W soul descending from these ancestors. Each semi is a new semi and with distinct qualities for good or bad. Abraham Lin coin is a gordian knot for the theorists on heredity. Many of his traits can lie traced natuarlly to his ancestry, but his essential qualities of groatness belonged to him ami have not even come* down tee his descendants. Neither for good nor evil dare we believe the past will be reproduced in us. We are like* those* others whose 1 life l histories are 1 already made 1 , but we* are* new creatures ami will have new lives. We must reckon on our own selves whether for ne'W hopes of good or fear e»f evil. Nor is even heredity invincible. Wr need not run a given road be cause' our tendency is that way. In fact we 1 can set ourselves to go against our tendencies if they take us not in the* right road. Above* all let us always remem ber that the* grace* of God can overcome any tendency. Chris tianity stands feu* a supe'rnatiiral redemption. It teaches that re generation is a new creation. In this new creation Goel can leave emt. limit, or perpetuate the inherited tendencies of the* past. IL* give's new strength with which to tight ami the* more than hu man power of the* Holy Spirit wit h which to overcome and erad icate. Grant to tin* law of hered ity all that its most materialistic advocates claims for it ami tin* grace of our Genl can change* it all. The* question of the* freedom of the* will may perplex philoso phers, it need not Christians. Re deemed by the* blood, we* are* free to Le what Christ wants us to be*. That is true* liberty. THE ATLANTA MEETINGS. The past week has been one of great interest to the Baptists of Atlanta. With possibly one excep tion the Baptist churches have all been open during the week. In many signs of religious interest have been manifested. In others the unusual circumstances under which the week was observed have served to show where* special weakness and need were to be found. Either has been a bless ing. At noon each day a congre gation from all the churches has assembled in the First Baptist church to hear from the* work at various points ami to pray’ to gether. This meeting has devel oped in interest daily. For this week services will be* held at four of the* churches. At these places the congregations of the churches nearby’ are expected to assemble. Just what results will come it is hard to pre dict. but great good can alone* re sult. The noonday meeting will be continued daily. It is sin cerely’ desired that any visitors to the city’ will join in this noonday meeting. At the conclusion of this week new plans w ill be* made* according as the Holy Spirit di rects through the work attempt ed. At the last the two central churches, the First and Second, will be reached, and all the Bap fists of the city will concentrate there. The movement promises to be a I great unitier of Baptist interests. The Atlanta Baptists are realiz ing their oneness and that the concerns of others are their own concerns. This is a matter of great and growing interest. It promises far greater usefulness on the part of our denomination to this great city. In addition ! this movement has emphasized i th<* med for revival ami the ini I parlance of religion. Everywhere i the common life has been quick ened ami a new sense of need has been awakened. We trust that the churches out side of Atlanta will join in prayer for those engaged in this work. As the great tides of business bring tin* country boys and girls to our great cities, 1 he slate of re ligion in these city churches be comes a matter of much concern. W ho know s how soon one of thesc churches may be I he home of your own child, and in its life that child's be shaped. II is of very vital interest to the whole State that the Baptist churches of At lanta be revived and made to sis* the power of the Lord. Shall we not lie one in interest, if we can not in labors? W'e call attention to the review in our department “Among the Books,” of Dr. Christian’s “Did They Dip?” It will be there seen that certain statements are call cd in question. This controversy has now’ settled back on the accu racy of certain documents and the authenticity of various citations. To most of us these are matters impossible of proof We are not in a position to judge accurately of the weight to be given to diff erent writers, or to verify (he quo tations made. It seems that we cannot implicitly depend on the statements made by either side. 'There has been too much contro versy and too little care. We venture to suggest that all that is presented be accepted only as probable and that implicit reli ance be withheld from any evi dence until it has been tested and sifted. The experts will keep on chasing each other up and at last we may get the actual data on which Io work. W’e suggest that both sides will do well to be very modest and moderate in their claims. It is the duly of | those who have been prominent j in the discussion to carry on the investigation. They owe it also to the public to give their dis coveries as they are made and to examine each others’ contentions. After a while we shall get where those of us who have to rely on others for historical investigation can judge of the force of facts, be cause the facts are agreed on 'Then much will depend on in ference from these facts. In the meantime we trust neither party will think of themselves mon* highly than they ought to think, but soberly. As for the present let us go on believing there were, or were not. Baptists in England prior io 1041, according to our best judgments or our confidence in various histories, and all to gether make the fact evident that then* are some sure enough Bap tists in this present day. W'e have still one Lord, one faith, one baptism, even if Kill is left blank in our histories. W’e do not feel like expressing any dog matic view on the subject, and we do not know of any one else who has 1 he right to. Our Nashville correspondent elsewhere reports the most inter esting fact that the Sunday School Board at Nashville has just purchased a building for use as its headquarters and business offices. Under the new arrange ments all the work save that of printing is now done directly un der the Board's own employees. This necessitates larger quarters for storage and clerk room. It seems that like all the wonderful business arrangements of the Board, the building is to be pur chasml without calling on the de nomination for money or in any way seriously crippling the mis sionary work of the Board. Sub rentals of rooms to Secretary Holt and Editor Folk will make the trade one of advantage over renting. If the Board comes to Wilmington with an increased business, a vigorous Bible work under way. and in a house of its own. it will satisfy even those ar dent friends who wanted the con vent ion last year to buy it a printing outfit. We honestly be lieve even those who have op posed the Board will be glad. If we are going to have the Board, it is best for all of us that it be prosperous. Atlanta is to have the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Russell IL Con well on Friday night. He gives the second lecture in the newly or ganized Lyceum Course. M e re gret that the claims of the special evangelistic meetings will keep us from hearing him. Dr Conwell is a most remarkable man, as well as an unusually brilliant speaker. He has built up what is now the largest Baptist church congrega tion in this country, from very small beginnings. He is a tireless worker, and he preaches and speaks with an energy that makes one wonder how he keeps up so vigorously. THE CHRISTIAN INDEX: THURSDAY. JANUARY 21, 1897. The Watchman says: Did you ever notice how much more I easily the persons who are blessed j with a cushion of tissue over their ribs take the small worries of life? ' 1 in- plump man or woman is seldom ill-natured. They beam kindness and good-will from every line of their nioonliko faces. Hut your lean, angu lar-bodied person is almost certain to have "nerves.” He is disturbed at ' trifles, he easily loses his temper, and I acquires only by stern self-restraint the serenity that is native to the other. It may be replied that our well-favored friends are so because they are con stitutionally even-tempered, and that 1 we are reversing cause and effect when we attribute to plumpness of body an influence upon the soul. On the contrary, it Is maintained that an i easy-going disposition helps its pos i sessor to assimilate nutrition. We al l ways believed this until we observed that a certain irascible friend with ! his increase in weight has lost much of his irritability, and that he bids fair, as lie becomes stouter and stout er, to belie all that has been said about his bad temper. His example seems to show that one way to exor cise the irritable and nervous and worried disposition of some people is just to fatten them. The editor may have gone far ther and claimed even more for adipose tissue s than he does in the extract quoted Some years ago we heaiil that Col. Towers, who had been for many years superintend ent of the North Georgia Peniten tial-v, had remarked that it was his observation that very few fat men were ever found in peniten tiaries. Meeting him shortly after wards, we inquired as to the cor rectness of our information. He s;iid that his observation had ex tended over a long number of years and it was as reported. He had seen very few fat men in pen itentiaries. Herein may be found a suggestion for a reform, extend ing not only to the exorcising of irritability find nervousness, but to the diminishing of crime. Who will start a society to be known as S. P. C. F. Society, for the pre vention of crime by the cultivation of fat? We have already expressed gratification at Georgia’s record as to foreign mission contribu tions. It is an added gratifica tion to find Georgia at the head of the list for home missions, and as having tin increase over last year’s contribution. We feel more grat ification that this is true at this time of the year than we will if it shall still be so at the end. It in dicates a great growth in system atic, regular and timely gifts. Gifts during this early part of the year fire of added value, because so much needed. We trust the good record may be maintained, and hist year’s amounts fill ex ceeded. It will not surprise us if it so happens, for systematic giv ing inevitably results in increased giving. We are thankful that as a state we have had a large meas ure of prosperity and have thus been enabled to do so well. It is always a pleasure to see mi'll who have held high public station throwing their influence actively into religious work. Mr. Wanamaker has for years taught a large Bible class in Philadel phia. Even while a Cabinet offi cer he spent his Sunday mornings with his class. If we are not mis informed Mr. Hoke Smith is now superintendent of one of the Pres byterian Sunday-schools in the city. This is an honorable work, :md it is to the credit of Mr. Smith that he is so esteemed by his brethren as to be placed in this new’ office. Ex-Gov. Northen may be found every Sunday morning teaching his Bible class at the First Baptist Church There are a good many of our public men who cannot aspire to such places as these. Might it not be a good test for us? After a man’s term is over would he be fit for a Sunday-school place? That kind of public men would be to our advantage. Probably most of the pastors have received from brother A. J. Diaz the circular letter concern ing his Cuban White Cross So ciety. His object is to procure medicine and hospital supplies to be forwarded to Cuba for use in the Insurgent hospitals. This is one kind of filibustering that we can all safely and conscientiously take part in. Dr. Diaz seems con fident of his ability to get these supplies to those for whom they are intended. We presume there is no doubt of his success in this line. Dr. Diaz holds no official connection with the Home Board at present, and we presume his temporary connection with the Publication Society has also been given up. We do not blame him for working for Cuba. If the in surgents win he will be a power on the* Island. We are sure all good people re gret the serious charges made against some of our judges before the Legislature. The investiga tion will probably not result in impeachment, but it indicates a bad state of affairs. We trust somebody will keep after these derelict judges and any others with a good sharp stick. The in vestigation will not be fruitless, but will undoubtedly quicken the pulses of our judiciary, and lead them to more exemplary living, i They ought to be above the possi bility of any such charges. | It is now definitely stated that i the Southern Baptist Editors’ As sociation will meet in Tampa about March Kith. It would cer tainly be a good thing if all these editors could get together under the balmy skies of Florida. The experiment of thus meeting apart by themselves where it is neces sary to be on terms of brotherly love, has never been attempted. It will certainly be interesting and instructive, but we fear it will be too much for the nerves of some of us. Whether the new reform spelling as practiced in Texas will be advocated we have not been informed. It has al ways been easy to get the Texas papers to differ about almost any thing, but hitherto-they have agreed about Texas and spelling. Now they sjwll differently, and before long they will even differ about Texas. We hope, however, to get to Tampa and to love the brethren despite their vagaries in spelling, monism and IG4I. A good many people probably read the Manufacturers’ Record, of Baltimore, Md. Many others ought to read it. We notice that they are to issue a special supple ment in the interest of the region traversed by Hie Seaboard Air Line. This will, of course, in clude Atlanta. Recently the Sea board Air Line decided to estab lish experimental farms every ten miles along its road. Similar ef forts to attract settlers are being put forth by the Southern road, and by various colonization com parties. In this work the Manu facturers’ Record has been most prominent. It is edited and con trolled by two Baptist brothers, one of whom, Mr. Richard 11, Ed monds, has been prominent among young people workers, and is a trustee of the Louisville Semi nary. With this issue is completed the first year of the present man agement. We, at this time, leave the reflections proper to such a time to our readers. We will save our own comments until the first issue in February, when we hope to surprise our friends with some marked improvements. One of our correspondents, in another State, recently expressed his ap preciation of the Christian Index as a useful paper. We trust to make it more and more so. But we will save,our words and our plans for the coming issue, when, in our new form, we shall greet our readers. Ayith all the new ness, howeveAt will be the same old Christian Dr. J. after in Atlanta, has gone lo Florida. He found change from Nashville to Amanta beneficial. He will go on tO’Southern Florida where he expects to spend two or three months. We hope he will meet with the recovery he hopes for and that it will equip him for renewed service. It w ill be a great loss to the Nash ville brethren to lose him for even this short time. Os course no one supposes that Dr. G. A. Nunnally’s name was not found among the contribu tors. because he was not invited, or did not want to be there. The truth is, he was so busy he could not do what he had hoped to do. Dr. Nunnally has done marvels at LaGrange. He did wonderful thinks at Mercer. His heart is with the boys even while he la bors to build up his school for girls. Mercer, so Dr. J. D. Chapman informs us. has now 235 students. This includes forty ministerial students. We are glad to see this increase in attendance. If Mercer can just be crowded full with stu dents, the endowment work will be easier. Plenty of boys, and a high character of work, will be the strongest argument. We received the other day from an engraving firm in New "York, two highly colored “certificates,” one of baptism and the other of marriage, with the request that we call attention to them in the Index As we unrolled the one for baptism, some very interest ing pictures and Scripture texts met our eye. At the top was a picture of Jesus standing about ankle-deep in a river, and John (we presume the figures were in tended for those two), standing on the bank, pouring some water from a shell, on the Lord’s head - Under it was the text: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Mark 16:16. At the bot tom was a baby-sprinkling scene, and a text supposed to be appro priate to the same. It was: “He put his hand upon them and blessed them.” Mark 10:16. This, we saw at once, was just as good a proof text as the engraver could possibly find in the Bible for an infant sprinkling. Even if it had no application to the matter in hand, we were impressed by his smartness in not quoting: “Suffer the little children to come unto me,” for the picture showed that the poor little thing could not come—it had been brought. Noth ing brings out the folly of infant baptism more clearly than a pic ture —unless it be the thing itself. yohat the £3aptit t (Editor 0 gay. . *vz\z\x*zxz*zxx* o<* Journal and Messenger: For exam ple (and we might cite many others), he says that he accepts Dr. Whitsitt's challenge to name any three individ uals in England, and prove that they were “dipped” before 1641. Os course he is going to prove It; but when he has done all he can, he yet fails of the proof. The names cited are William Kiflin, Hanserd Knollys and John Canne. Take Hanserd Knollys as an example of his demonstration. He cites McClintock and Strong's (Meth odist) Encyclopedia as saying that "A few years before (1635), though un known to Williams (Roger), a Baptist preacher of England, Hanserd Knollys had settled in New Hampshire and taken charge of a church in Dover; but he resigned in 1639 and went back to England.” And Dr. Christian thinks that this view is sustained by Mather’s Magnalis, which says that "there were some godly Anabaptists (in New Eng land), as namely Mr. Hanserd Knollys (whom one of his adversaries called ‘absurd Knowle’s’), of Dover, who afterwards moved back to London.” Rut these passages do not prove either that Mr. Knollys was a Baptist when in this country, or that he was bap tized when in this country, or that he was baptized before 1641. Now it so happens that the late Rev. Dr. J. New ton Brown,one of the most industrious scholars among American Baptists, made a special study of Hanserd Knollys, and in 1858 wrote for the Christian Review (Baptist Quarterly) an article entitled "Hanserd Knollys in America.” From that article that published in the Baptist Encyclopedia was largely taken. Dr. Brown says that Knollys “arrived in Boston in 1638.” He had been ordained a min ister of the Church of England, but had become known as a dissenter, a Puritan. Dr. Brown says: “Were it certain that Hanserd Knollys was a decided Baptist at this time, it might be maintained with some reason that he was the first Baptist minister in America. But it is not certain. He is called an Anabaptist by Mather and Belknap; but they give no proof of it, and Winthrop, who knew him better, and writes at the moment, does not mention it, as he would have been apt to do, if it were a fact. This makes it probable that when he gathered the First Church in Dover, Mr. Knollys was not yet a Baptist. I have found no certain account when, where, or by whom he was baptized; but there is some evidence to prove that he be came a Baptist while pastor of the church in Dover. . . We have now seen that Hanserd Knollys was the founder of an American Congrega tional Church —the third in New Hampshire —in the fall of 1638. . . The arrival of Mr. Thomas Larkham at Dover, in 1640, changed the peaceful current of affairs and put the charac ter of Mr. Knollys to a severe proof.” And then Dr. Brown shows how Lark ham undermined Knollys and took his place. “Larkham and his adherents raised a riot early in April, 1641, and according to Governor Winthrop, laid violent hands on Mr. Knollys.” It seems, from all this, that Mr. Knollys came to this country in 1638 and that he was here as late as April, 1641; that he was pastor of a Congregation al church, which allowed Mr. Lark ham to undermine him and take his place; that there Is not a word said about his having been baptized either before his coming here, or while he was here. If he had been baptized be fore coming, it would hardly have been to his credit that he concealed the fact from those who were not in sympathy with Baptist doctrines, and became pastor of a church which was not Baptist. If he was baptized in this country, while pastor at Dover, by whom was the rite administered? Was there another Baptist minister there who performed the service? or did he baptize himself? or did some layman baptize him in secret, so that no one ever found it out? These ques tions must be answered, before Dr. Christian’s claim as to Hanserd Knol lys can be accepted. No doubt Mr. Knollys was an Anabaptist in senti ment, and strove to convince his brethren of the Congregational church that the baptism of infants was con trary to the teachings of Scripture, and for this reason he was written a own now a Baptist, and now an Anabaptist. But is does not follow that he had been himself baptized, previously to his return to England in 1641. It is well known that, after his return, he affiliated with the Baptists and was prominent in their counsels until nearly the end of the century, dying in 1691. Baptist and Reflector: Many of them are Missionary Baptists like the Jew had religion. A Jew was con verted and joined the churcu. An other Jew met a mutual friend and said to him: “Rosenheim has got re ligion.” “Vere has he got it?” asked the other one. "Got it in his heart.” “Well, I pet you five tollars dat if Rosenheim has got religion, he has got it in his vise’s name.” He had everything else in his wife’s name, and his friend supposed that he must have religion in her name, too. If a good many of these Baptists have got the missionary spirit at all, they have evidently got it in somebody else’s name. They would not perhaps op pose your giving to missions. They are not anti-Missionary Baptists. Oh no! They are not Hardshells, and don’t you insult them by calling them so. But somehow they never made a personal application of the missionary •spirit to their own hearts arid con sciences and pocketbooks. What they need is a realization of their personal duty along this line. To give them this, we believe, they should have pa tient, loving instruction, both in the teachings of the Bible upon the sub ject and also as to what is being done in the cause of missions. They should also have an opportunity to give regu larly and systematically to the work. The Religious Herald: It was a Frenchman, we believe, who quite se riously maintained that there was somewhere in space an undiscovered and unchartered territory, whither all lost objects went. We are some times inclined to agree with this theory. How else can one account for those mysterious disappearances which refuse to account for themselves? The hard-worked editor knows perfectly well that a few minutes ago a manu script in a well-known hand was just before him. Now it has vanished. Re membering that nearly all contributors are likely to be sensitive about the fate of their contributions, and feeling amiably anxious to please the writer of the missing letter' he begins a vig orous search. First of all, he wonders if, through sheer force of habit, he has unwittingly committed it to the waste-basket. The capacious depths of this editorial convenience are faith fully. but vainly searched. Manu script boxes and drawers are emptied of their contents. This process brings to light many other articles which had disappeared, but the particular one in question is not among them. Where has it gone? Where, indeed, if not to the Frenchman’s unchartered laud? Western Recorder: Then no preach er is without faults. If discerning faults in a minister proved him to be "the wrong man for the place,” then all our pulpits are occupied by wrong men. Many of the faults of pastors would be remedied, or at least greatly relieved, by loving sympathy and co operation. Since no man is perfect, the church should seek to supply, as far as possible, what is lacking in the pastor, so as to prevent harm or loss from his defect. Then they can do good work on him. If he’be not what is called in Kentucky “a good mixer,” let the brethren “mix” a good deal themselves, so that no one will feel neglected. Let them "mix” with the preacher, so that he will acquire the art by feeling their influence and see ing their example. If he be despond ent—which, of course, he ought never to be —let them be hopeful. If he be a little heavy in the pulpit, let them give him bright and pithy books to read and study, while they talk up and make the most of what good things he does say. Let them special ly guard against saying what would hinder people's desiring to hear him, or prevent their profiting by what he says. We have known some cases where pastors of meagre abilities have done far better work because of their receiving proper help from the mem bers, than others where they were very gifted men, but lacked such co operation. The Standard: But it is with the younger generation that the future of denominational papers rests. The young man just starting in business for himself, the young farmer toiling fourteen hours a day to make a living for his family and pay off his mort gage, the young clerk working on a small salary, the young woman teach ing school, the young mother who never rests and never has leisure un less for an hour or two on Sunday— these are the people who are to decide whether their religion can live and thrive on the culture provided in the weekly edition of some city secular' paper, the patent medicine almanacs, and the Sunday-school quarterly. It is quite true, in one sense, that the highest and deepest culture may be obtained from the English Bible alone, which is in every Christian ■home; but every family in which the Bible is regularly and reverently studied will soon feel the need of some periodical which shall help them to understand better the words and the truths of which they read, and to in form them of the progress of the king dom among men. The Examiner: Now, what is a Gospel sermon? Briefly, it is the proclamation of “the good news of the kingdom.” The coming of Jesus into the world to save sinners, his sacrifi cial death, his glorious resurrection, the broad and blessed invitation to all mankind to accept him as Savior and Lord, the simple yet profound condi tions of salvation —all these, and more, are included in the “good news” that is to be preached in all the world. The method of proclaiming these pre cious truths is not, perhaps, so im portant as that they should be clearly and forcibly presented. But it has long been our conviction that by far the most effective method is that of “opening the Scriptures” to the heart and understanding of the people. We have seen a simple layman, a business man, with no pretensions to learning or eloquence, hold a class of three or four hundred men and women spell bound for an hour while he expounded a passage of God’s Word. An ordinary sermon, constructed after the most ap proved "skeleton,” would have wear ied them in thirty minutes. Why this difference? The Biblical Recorder: To-day in our churches there are hundreds whose spiritual history is that of the back slider. They are not useful, they are unhappy, unsatisfied. Their short comings before God are no greater than those of the other class except in one respect, namely, they fail to rise up swiftly and come back to God at every fall. Instead they fall and do not at tempt to rise. This is, indeed, their greatest shortcoming, far greater than the temptation that lead to it. They do not know God as their happier brethren do; they still fear him, but have forgotten his power to pardon and restore and to make stronger. If such Christians would only take fresh hope, and turn back to God with great er dependence upon the Holy Spirit, how much richer our world would be for their usefulness and their hap piness! It is hard, perhaps harder than it was to give up to Christ at first; but it is the only path to that sweet joy, which is the Christian's by right, and without which the Christian life is troublesome and empty of bless ing. Word and Way: Some people refer to the Spirit of Jesus Christ when they mean a kind of jelly fish senti mentalism which misrepresents the Spirit of our Lord. We are told that he once looked upon the multitude with anger and with a whip drove out the money changers from the temple. Paul, on one occasion, exclaimed, "Thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all truth, how long wilt thou con tinue to pervert the way of the Lord?” The man who will sell the interests of his constituents in order to have their good will; who will shun to declare the whole counsel in order to evade the censure of the enemies of truth, is the insinuating foe of those who hear him, and not the friend. Even that charity of which the apostle speaks in the 13th chapter of Ist Corinthians does not nullify the words, "rejoice not in iniquity but rejoice in the truth.” To have the Spirit of Jesus is to love the truth of God and stand up for it even though it leads to the cross of Calvary and to the death of shame. The Central Baptist: Are we mis taken, or is there really a difference? One man rejoices that he is on the Lord’s side, while another with equal sincerity and enthusiam declares that the Lord is on his side. When a man goes into his closet with his decisions in his pocket, he is going to ask the Lord to take sides with him; when another enters his closet to seek di vine guidance he asks that he may be put in harmony with God’s will. The Master recognized how difficult it would be for his disciples to pray as they ought, and therefore he gave minute instructions and an outline of form for the proper performance of this most difficult and important of Christian duties. The Baptist Courier: Some of the brethren seem to be very much afraid that theological dogmas will be power less if they, the dogmas, are deprived of their claws. They will grasp noth ing and hold nothing. Such brethren deprecate a clawless dogma, forgetting that dogmas as at present elaborated did not exist at first, and that both dogma and claws are evolutions of hu man thinking. Let us remember that real Christianity has a strong, vitaliz ing grip, but no claws. (Seorfiia gJaptiei FIELD NOTES. Bad colds, influenza and la grippe, are the order of the day. Prof. J. G. Cline is principal of the town scaool at Byron. Sixty pupils are enrolled, with the prospect of one hundred. Rev. J. H. Cline, of Barnesville, is sojourning at Byron, and teaching a fine school three miles out in the country. There are fifty-two on the roll of this school. Pastor W. L. Cutts, of Oglethorpe, Ga., will serve the church at Byron this year. He is greatly beloved by all his flock. At Byron, brother and sister N. H. Baskin gave us their usual hearty an nual welcome. It was good to be there, and we enjoyed it. At Fort Valley we had the pleasure of spending a few moments with Pas tor G. W. Gardner, and attending the midweek prayer-meeting, and meeting the favored few. We found sister Gardner down with la grippe; may she soon recover. Pastor Gardner starts out in the new year under favorable auspices. Brother W. H. Norton still resides at Fort Valley. He has two vacant Sabbaths, which he would like to fill. It is said that Dr. John A. Broadus said of Norton, when at the Seminary, that he was a born preacher. Sister Norton’s health, we are sorry to say, has improved but very little; she is a patient, sweet-spirited Christian wom an. May the Lord restore her to her wonted health right soon. At Talbotton we found Pastor L. W. Parrott much improved in health from last summer. It pains us to state that sister Parrott has been in bed two weeks with la grippe. May she soon recover. Pastor Parrott will preach to the same churches again this year. Brother S. B. Baldwin, the postmaster at Talbotton, will be our Index agent there, as the most of our subscribers at that office are in the country. At Butler, Ga., brother and sister M. T. Chapman showed us much kind ness, for which we are grateful. Brother Ad. J. Moncrief, of Macon, will serve the Butler church again this year. The brethren and sisters have recently reseated their meeting-house and paid for the same. Prof. A. S. Dix continues president of the Butler Male and Female College for 1897 and 1898. The school has one hundred and twenty-three on the roll, with an average attendance of eighty five. At Reynolds, Ga., we found Pastor J. J. Farmer and his dear family pleasantly ensconced in their nice new six-room cottage, not a parsonage of the church, but their own home. Brother Farmer’s health has much improved since coming back to Geor gia; he is serving only six churches. Sister Farmer started late Thursday evening to Kissimmee City, Fla., to spend a month or two with her brothers there. We wish her a pleas ant trip. Brother Farmer promised us a monthly budget of news for the Index, from his corner of the vine yard. At Perry, Ga., we found Pastor T. J. Brock and his dear wifd*T>br.h in bed with la grippe. May the Lord raise them to wanted health soon. The brethren and sisters at Perry are charmed with their new pastor and his charming wife. We wish for church and pastor a happy and pros perous union. The church at Marshallville is still without a pastor. May the Lord bring the brethren together in perfect har mony and concord and send them the right man for the church. So be it; amen. We have entered but few homes, during the past week, that we have not found some one sick-a-bed with la grippe. The fact is, we are sick with it ourselves; it has greatly hin dered us in our work every way. After a lingering illness of about two months, sister A. M. Duggan, wife of Prof. A. M. Duggan, of New Ebe nezer College, Cochran, Ga., passed in to the great beyond. She was a lov ing wife and a sweet spirited Chris tian woman. We weep with brother Duggan in his great sorrow. Sister Thomas Walker, wife of Pas tor Thomas Walker, of Hollock Street church, Augusta, Ga, has gone beyond the stars. She was a good, old-fash ion mother, a good helpmeet to her husband as a minister, and a noble house-wife. We spent many happy hours in her home as her guest. God bless brother Walker and the chil dren; their grief is ours also. Dear Cousins of the Corner: Your Uncle Jimmie wants you to make the “Corner” the best and most readable part of the Index for ’97. If you do this, you will have to give your read ers a better variety of subjects; you must not write the same thing over and over, but think of something new every time. Leave out the wastebasket subject altogether; the“Corner”is open to one and all, and the dear old basket is about done-up by this time; see! When there are two cousins in the same family both should not write at the same time and about the same things. Don’t write too often; about once a month, or once in two months is enough, unless you have something entirely new. Don’t ape one another, that is, write the same things some others wrote, see? Continued next week. Oh that every preacher who tries to preach, could feel in his heart that this sermon of mine, preached right now, is perhaps the only chance some of my hearers will ever have to hear the Gospel, which is God’s only pre destinated medicine of salvation to lost sinners. If the preachers did feel that way, there would be enough of real Gospel in all their sermons for God to use that Gospel sermon as his medicine for saving any or all the sin ners in that congregation. Try it, brother preacher. Thank the Lord, that so many of our Baptist preachers in Georgia are going back in their preaching to God’s plan of salvation, by grace, through the truth, and the belief of the truth. Let every one of us preachers go back to God’s way. Now that we have entered upon the new year, let every one of us who names the name of Jesus, depart from all our evil ways. Let us all carefully read and study the New Testament through once more this year. We can’t afford not to do it. Let us stop and begin right now. If we have left off secret prayer, let us begin it again never to quit any more. If we do not have family worship, let us begin