Newspaper Page Text
THE’ CHRISTIAN INDEX.
VOL. 59.
Table of Contents.
First Page—Alabama Department: Specula
tive and Practical Questions; Visit to At
lanta ; Consistency ; “Be Courteous;’’ The
Religious Press.
Second Page—Correspondence : Monthly
Peace Notes ; What is the Object of Chris
tian Worship; From Eufaula Ala.; An
other Minister Provided For; In Memori
am—Charles C. Green ; The Sunday
school :—The Birth of Jesus—Lesson for
January 23d ; Receipts of Mission Board—
J. H. DeVotie.
Third Page—Children’s Corner: Bible Ex
plorations ; Enigmas; Correspondence;
What the Choir Sang—poetry ; January.
Fourth Page—Editorials : The Unseen Bat
tle-field; A False Balance; The Census
Again; Misdirected Charity ; A Church in
a Lawsuit; Bible Revision; Sunday-school
Lesson —Dr. Tucker.
Fifth Page—Secular Editorials: New Year’s
Gift; News Paragraphs; Literary Notes
and Comments; “Does Insurance Insure?’’
Georgia News.
Sixth Page—The Household: Turning Over
the New Leaf—poetry; Our Charity ; Night
Life of <oung Men ; The Family Putse ;
The Art of Talking. Obituaries; Tributes
of Respect.
Seventh Page— The Farmer’s Index ; Farm
Work ; A Little Arithmetic; The Recent
Snow Storm.
Eighth Page—Florida Department: Sayings
and Doings ; Florida Baptist State Con
vention ; A New Departure; Miscellane
ous liems; North St. John's River Asso
ciation ; Florida’s Garden Spot, etc.
Alabama Department.
BY HAMITFJ, HENDERBON.
SPECULA TIVE AND PRACTICAL
QUESTIONS.
The “origin of evil” is an old dock
eted question, on which the logic of
ages has been expended, with no ap
preciable results. Two score years ago,
we remember to have heard it discussed
in religious circles with as much earn
estness as the hundred and one authors
have discussed the question, “Who is
Junius?” About that time we hap
pened to read a tolerably lengthy ex
tract from Augustine on the subject.
In the "reductio ad abiurdum” process
of reasoning, it is the most masterly
piece of argumentation we have ever
seen. To us, at least, it foreclosed that
discussion for the balance of our life.
After prosecuting the investigation as
far as logic dare to venture into the
. “secret things of God,” he closes about
in these words: “To seek to find out
the first evil thought in the first angel
that fell, is as absurd as to attempt to
see darkness or hear silence.” There
we allowed the curtain to drop on that
question, and to this day we have never
attempted to look behind its mystic
folds. There we adjourned that, with
all similar questions, to some remote
cycle in eternity, where the redeemed
may prosecute their enquiries under
happier auspices. The Bible has re
vealed all that it is essential for us to
know in regard to moral evil. We
know that, so far as this world is con
cerned, sin is well nigh coeval with
our race. We know that it poisoned
the fountain-head of human life. We
know that the fatal virus has descended
through all generations, and that upon
every soul of our fallen humanity the
plague spot is indelibly fixed. We
know that upon each and every one of
us it has entailed a double death, na
tural and spiritual, and that, left to its
own sad tendency, it will result in
eternal death. To press our enquiries
farther than this —to aspire to find out
what nature it was that sin first vitiated
before its entrance into this world—is
as bootless a task as an attempt to as
certain whether the inhabitants of the
moon, if inhabitants it has, have fallen
and been redeemed by Christ. How
prone we are to strive after that which we
can never attain, and if attained would
be of no practical advantage to us.
How hard it is for us to learn that there
are mysteries in the divine economy,
which, as we assay to approach them,
recede back behind the eternal throne,
and bury themselves in the pavilion
of Godhead! How often must we be
reminded that “secret things belong to
God,” and only “things revealed belong
to us and our children 1”
But, reader, theie is a question con
nected with this subject that is practi
cal—a question which ought to awaken
our profoundest solicitude—a question
on which our eternal destiny hangs.
How are we to be rid of sin? What
and where is the remedy for this body
and soul destroying evil? “What must
I do to be saved” from its damning
power? These and the like questions
may be answered to some adequate
purpose. When a man suddenly finds
himself aroused at the hour of midnight
by the cry of fire, and hears the crack
ling flames devouring his house, he is
not apt to raise the question as to
how his dwelling was set on fire—
whether by accident or design. That
question is adjourned until he can save
himself, his loved ones, and such con
tents of his burning house as he can.
These things accomplished, he may
look into these back questions. And
so, when we find ourselves in “captivi
ty to the law of sin and death,” men
aced every hour with the flames of per
dition, we are ten thousand times more
SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST. )
of Alabama. J
interested as to how we are to escape
the divine wrath, than as to how we
were originally involved in the danger
that surrounds us. Like Lot escaping
from Sodom, we have no time to look
back to gratify the most agonizing cu
riosity. It is a question of life or death
with us, and to fritter away our time
on curious questions is the worst of
madness. To change the metaphor:
Suppose a South American traveler
finds himself suddenly within the folds
of a serpent; if he has any imple
ment of defense by which he can cut
the folds of his deadly enemy, he would
instantly use it, and after relieving
himself, he might then philosophize as
he chose as to how the wily serpent
eluded his sight until he fell within its
grasp, and as to its wonderful powers
in contracting its muscles upon its
victim. Ungodly sinner, you are in
the coils of that “old serpent, the devil
and Satan.” Pause not, we beseech
you to enquire how you came within
his deathly grasp. Cry mightily to
Him who can “destroy him that has
the power of death, that is, the devil,
and deliver you” who are now subject
to his bondage.
Many years ago, one of these specu
lative minds, a gentleman of some cul
ture and high position in society, ad
dressed the substance of the following
question to us: “Could not the fall of
man have been prevented by his Maker,
either by arresting him in the act of
transgression or by removing the
temptation?” That God could have
done this, so far as a mere question of
power is concerned, no sane man will
doubt. That he did not see proper to
do so, we all know. He could have
made us as He made the “elect angels,”
impervious to all temptations; or he
could have made us brutes instead of
rational beings. But He did neither.
For the least of all reasons, because it
pleased Him,, He chose to subject us to
the hazards of disobedience to secure
the honors of a voluntary service, the
very highest and noblest form of obe
dience of which angels or men are ca
pable. That we did not stand the test
to which He subjected us, is no fault
of the Lawgiver, nor does it detract
aught from the wisdom, goodness and
justice of His plan. That He “saw the
end from the beginning,” detracts
nothing from our guilt and shame.
That in his knowledge of the coming
disaster, even “before the foundation
of the world,” He provided a remedy
for it in the gift of his Son, is the crown
ing act of His wisdom, power and good
ness. That those who slight and con
temn this matchleap grace are guilty
of the last act of abandoned depravity
which fits them for destruction, is a
truth which they will acknowledge in
an eternity of remorse.
Another question has often been
asked—has been asked us—to this
effect: “Knowing that man would fall,
why did God admonish him?” While
we w’ould not lightly treat any question
an honest enquirer would make on any
subject embraced in God’s word, we
must say that the very terms of this
question imply an arraignment of Je
hovah before the bar of human reason.
Why not shift the party addressed in
this question and give it a more practi
cal turn? Why not ask, “Since man
was so earnestly warned and admon
ished by hjs Creator, why did he blindly
rush upon his doom, pluck and eat the
forbidden fruit, thus bringing ‘death
into the ■world,and allourwoe?’” How
impious the effort to transfer the guilt
of that transaction from the creature to
the Creator,or even to divide that guilt!
And then, to give a still more practical
turn to the subject, let it be asked, as
we are involved in “the great transgres
sion,” why is it that we are so in love
with those very sins, for which we
would fain, in our madness, throw the
blame upon God, or even upon Adam,
that the appeals of Calvary cannot lure
us from them? Every act of trans
gression we commit is but an endorse
ment of what our federal head did—is
only saying that we would have done
as he did had our positions been
changed. It will better become us to
recriminate upon Adam, when we re
pudiate his act, and by a course of sin
less obedience show how he ought to
have acted. Till then, we had better
keep our censures for ourselves.
But whatever may be said of the
origin of sin, there are two things of
which it furnished the occasion on
which the devout heart may dwell with
holy joy.
Ist. It furnished the opportunity for
the Divine Being to manifest the fullest
and most glorious display of all his di
vine perfections. But for sin, the dis
closure of these perfections must, in
the nature 6f things, have been partial.
But our disobedience presented just
that contingency on which God re
vealed himself to Moses as “The Lord,
the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long suffering and abundant in good
ness and truth; keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity, trans
gression and sin, and that will by no
means spare the guilty.” As the re-
THE FRANKLIN STEAM PRINTING HOUSE.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1881.
vealed will of God makes “sin exceed
ing sinful,” so that very sin makes
grace still more gracious!
2d. The introduction of sin furnished
the occasion for the covenant of re
demption. No sooner had the devil
succeeded in his designs upon man
than war was instantly declared be
tween heaven and earth, or rather be
tween the seed of the woman and the
seed of the serpent: “I will put enmity
between thy seed and her seed,” etc.
The devil has selected this earth a« the
theatre on which to measure arms with
Jehovah —the challenge has been ac
cepted, and the conflict has been rag
ing for nearly six thousand years. That
it will end in the total and overwhelm
ing discomfiture of all the powers of
darkness, no Christian can doubt. That
it will give to heaven a sweeter song
than angels ever chanted, is assured in
the anthem peal of the blood-washed
throng!
VISIT TO ATLANTA.
Having some business in the “Gate
City” some few weeks ago, we made a
hasty visit to it, touching Rome as we
passed, had a pleasant interview with
our old friends, Captain Ledbetter and
family, and with the gifted pastor
of the Baptist church, Rev. A. G.
Nunnally, whom we “interviewed” un
til a late hour, and next day arrived at
our destination a little after 12 o’clock,
where we found our worthy chief, Dr.
Tucker, awaiting us at the depot, and
who escorted us to the “Franklin Publ
ishing House,” and thence to his own
hospitable home, where he claimed us
as his guest during our sojourn in the
city. It is enough to say that we had
every attention from his family and
himself that ingenuous friendship and'
Christian affection could inspire. Those
happy hours spent within his domestic
circle, the many topics of interest dis
cussed, the alternate drift from grave
to gay, all sustained by an under
ground of the matured piety of our ge
nial friend, are all now among our
heart-treasures.
After attending to our business, we
took a general stroll through the
“Franklin Publishing House,” and we
must say, even at the risk of offending
the modesty of its managing proprie
tor, brother James P. Harrison, that
we know of nothing equal to it in all
these Southern States. The amount
of work done in this vast establish
ment, the reader can scarcely imagine.
Six large “power presses,” besides some
for jobs, folding machinery, stitching,
binding, etc., etc., with a force to man
age every department efficiently, and
all moving on with quiet energy, is a
sight worth seeing. The “imprima
tur” of the “Franklin Publishing
House” has come to be a guarantee of
accuracy, neatness, and superb finish
unsurpassed bv any similar establish
ment. In addition to the State print
ing of Georgia, the most of the printing
for the vast number of railroads that
diverge from Atlanta is done at this
office, besides ar. amount of job-work
from miscellaneous sources that would
itself be creditable to any other estab
lishment.
Let us add that we spent several
pleasant social hours at the house of
our brother, James P. Harrison, with
himself and family, Dr. Lawton and
lady, and our old friend and brother,
C. M. Irwin and lady. Nor must we
forget to say that we dodged in on
our old Tuskegee friend, A. G. How
ard, tobacco merchant, and indulged
in a pleasant tete-a-tete with him.
When enjoying such occasions, we are
often made to ask, why we do not all
take time to be happy?
CONSISTENCY.
There is nothing on which men pride
themselves more than on their sup
posed consistency. Often the plainest
principle and the most obvious duty
have been sacrificed to maintain it.
For instance, here is a man who, in
early life, commits himself on some
religious question publicly, with a full
conviction that be is right. We will
suppose him to be honest, earnest,
sincere. But in process of time, he
discovers that he did not know every
thing connected with that question at
the time that he commited himself to
it—that there is something to be said
on the opposite side—nay, in the pro
secution of his inquiries, he finds some
great truth lying right across his track,
or some important duty in clear anta
gonism to his cherished convictions.
What is to be done ? If he preserves
his consistency he must sacrifice a
distinctly apprehended truth—if he
accepts the truth, and acts upon it,
he sacrifices Iris consistency. Judg
ment and conscience point to the one,
pride and prejudice lean to the other.
We have known struggles of this kind
to go on for years, sometimes settled
the one way and sometimes the other.
When truth triumphs, the man is
happy beyond expression in the con
sciousness that to be right is better
than to be consistent. When supposed
consistence triumphs, or rather, when
pride and prejudice stifle the voice of
judgment and conscience, the victory
is a defeat, and the man inflicts a
wound upon his soul that will fester
till the day of his death. “If,” said
a worthy man to a minister of the
gospel not a dozen years ago in his
last illness, after a connection of forty
years with a Pedobaptist church, “if
I had followed my convictions, and
connected myself with the Baptist
church, I should have lived and died
a happier man!” We doubt not that
this is the experience of thousands.
It requires some heroism for a man to
break through the embarrassments
that gather around him during the
first few years of his religious life.
Never does the truth appear so power
ful as when it overcomes those bar
riers, and sets its subject free from his
flic ted bondage. For of all the
obstacles it ever encounters, that is the
iiFbst formidable which has neither
eyes to see its divine beauty, nor ears
to hear its authoritative voice. In
such cases, the conquest is made, so
to express it, by storm. Tryth some
times enters the soul, as old Bunyan
shows in his “Holy War,” like a con
quering army enters a city after bat
tering down its defences, with flying
banners anil shoots of victory. Thus
it conquered Paul, and myriads of
others since his day. Happy they who
are overcome by its most invincible
weapons; but still happier they who
yield to its gentler monitions, its “still
small voice.”
Now, reader, is it not better for you
to be right than to be what you call
consistent? Have you any precon
ceived opinions you would not sacrifice
to God’s eternal truth ? Is it not safer
to weigh your creed by the Bible than
the Bible by your creed? The alter
native is, with every unregenerate soul,
between being consistently lost, and
inconsistently saved, using those terms
as the world uses them. Which will
you choose?
"BE COURTEOUS."
There is no-trait of Christian or min
isterial character that goes further in
enl-rging a man’s usefulness—his piety
conceded —than the observance of the
command, “Be courteous.” We are as
much bound to cultivate this habit as
any other. No amount of talents,of good
ness of heart, as it is called, of wealth or
of social position, can compensate for
the lack of it. It is a kind of finishing
polish to the whole Christian charac
ter. We have known ministers of
moderate abilities in other respects,
whose influence surpassed that of other
preachers, greatly their superiors in the
pulpit, on account of those cheerful,
kindly .winning manners which marked
their intercourse in every circle. They
possessed the power of putting even
the most common-place truths in away
so charming as to enlist the attention
of the most intelligent and cultivated
portion of their hearers. Everything
they said seemed to take with every
body.
Then, on the other hand, we have
known ministers whose talents were
really of a high order, and whose piety
nobody questioned, whose rough, un
couth, not to say overbearing habits,
greatly diminished their influence and
well-nigh remanded then to the shades
of private life. Nothing is beneath a'
minister’s attention that will promote
his influence for good. He cannot dis
regard with impunity those numerous
little amenities which give to social life
its sweetest attractions. The Christian,
it has been said, “is the highest style of
man.” And of all Christians in the
world, the minister ought to be the best
type. Whatever is lovely in piety;
whatever is refined and elevated in cul
ture ; whatever is tender in sympathy;
whatever is liberal and forbearing in
charity ; whatever is charming and cap
tivating in the social affections, ought
to be incarnated in the man, who, by
the very responsibilities of his office, is
the embodiment of the cause he has
consecrated his life to promote. It is
just as easy to conciliate by kindness
as to alienate by bhintncss—to speak
pleasantly as to speak gruffly. In the
few words that pass between him and
his neighbor as they casually meet on
the highway, he may lure him to the
sanctuary, where the gospel may be
made the power of God unto his salva
tion, or send him beyond his influence
forever! Think what the wise man
says: “Words fitly spoken are like ap
ples of gold in pictures of silver.”
“Speaking the truth in love” is the way
to give it its full force and effect. Shall
we quote a homely saying we hoard
the old preachers say more than forty
years ago?: “You can catch .more flies
with a spoonful of honey than a quart
of vinegar.” We have known a few
ministers (and thank God they have
been few) who seejned to be making
the experiment as to how much un
couthness and gruffness could comport
with their profession. We have known
many (and 0! that there were more of
THE CHRISTIAN HERALD,
OF T s’n Ness eE .
them) who were striving io show how
much courtesy, gentleness, meekness,
indeed, “whatsoever things are lovely,”
their piety could produce.
The Religious Press.
And here is the pithiest way of put
ting it that we have seen yet:
Let newspapers that publish the literature
of the brothel look to such places for their
patronage.—Christian Advocate.
And this means that when you find
your newspaper full of scandal, such as
will fill your minds with things that
are unclean, you ought to discontinue
it.
The faith that staggers at the promise be
cause the answer to prayer is delayed is not
true faith. True faith waits upon God while
it trusts in him. The delay in many cases
is part of the answer.—Christian Advocate.
Yes, He who knows what to give,
knows when to give it. The Lord’s
time is the best time. We might as
well dictate what he should do, as to
dictate when he shall do. Wait on the
Lord; wait, I say, on the Lord.
It costs but little to make a child glad; it
costs but little to secure the grateful remem
brance of a child; but if it cost a hundred
fold more than it,does, it would be a profit
able investment. It pays well to have a
monument erected to ourselves in a child's
memory and affections. And this we may
have bv a little thoughtfulness and atten
tion. —Zion's Heiald.
Now, to our taste this is one of the
sweetest paragraphs we have read in a
long time. If we cannot bless little
children as our Savior did, we can at
least make them happy. Then why
not do it? We should remember that
they are children, and indulge them as
far as we can consistently with what is
right and with their own welfare. Keep
them in the right way by tender coun
sel and admonition, if possible, and if
not, then by severer means ; but on the
other hand, sympathise with their
childish feelings, and afford them every
enjoyment that is lawful. A soured
child is apt to make a soured man.
Make the little ones glad, and make
them happy, and, growing up thus un
der the influence of love, they will
themselves become loving and lovely,
and the happy effect will be felt by
generations yet to come. Making one
child happy is making his children
happy, and theirs, and theirs. How
fruitful is one little seed!
“There is no doubt that much of the bad
living of the day comes from wrong think
ing. When men get an idea that it doesn’t
matter much what they believe, the step is
an easy one to the conclusion that it doesn’t
matter much what one does.”—Christian at
Work.
And this is the essence of our lec
ture which appeared in the last issue
of The Index.
The Banner Church.—We suspect that, so
far, the Banner Church in the matter of ex
tending the circulation of the largest Baptist
paper in the world, is the Milton church,
which with 100 members sends the names of
40 subscribers. This is truly wonderful for
a people burned out of houses and of meet
ing-house; it tells of life and enterprise that
ensure prosperity. Such a people deserve
to be helped to get on their legs.—National
Baptist.
Glad are we to know that there is
one such Baptist church in the world ;
we doubt if there is another. One
hundred members and forty subscrib
ers to their denominational paper, and
that too from a little church whose
house of worship was recently destroy
ed by fire! Suppose every church in
Georgia would do just half as well for
The Index, what a paper we should
have! And how the paper would help
to build up the churches! And how
it would help to support the pastors!
And what an impulse would be given
to our missionary and other benevo
lent operations! A great lever power
is The Index ; why do not the Baptists
of the State use it more freely? Can’t
afford it? How docs the grand little
church at Milton afford it? Nor are
these noble Baptists made poorer by
it? Nay; they are made richer—rich
er in this woild’s goods, and vastly
richer in the only true riches. Now,
brother Pastor! if you desire to do a
good thing for yourself and for your
church, try to do as much for The In
dex as the Milton church in Pennsyl
vania does for the National Baptist.
We congratulate that excellent journal
on the fact above stated, and wish it
many more such blessed conquests.
The Long and the Short oe It.—ls Inger
soil is right, he is only an animal, and when
lie dies that will be the end of him. But if
lie is wrong, he will go to hell.—St. I.ouis
Presbyterian.
This is a blunt way of putting it, but
wo do not know that it can be improv
ed upon, unless we add the words “un
less he exercises repantance toward
God, and faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ.” There is hope even for In
gersoll. Sinners vile as he have been
saved. We commend him to the pray
ers of the people of God, all over the
world; and wo ourselves will make
him the subject of special prayer. Can
we set limits to the grace of God?
Lord be merciful to poor Ingersoll for
our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, Amen!
The problem of the South will be solved
when Northern capitalists, instead of carry
ing the cotton, iron, etc., away from cheap
labor and fuel, manufacture it on the spet.—
Tribune.
This will solve some problems, but
not all. But let the capitalists come;
they will be welcome and so will be
anybody else who will come on any le
gitimate errand.
t At a Baptist conference recently
held in California the following reso
lution was adopted:
Retolved, That while we had nothing to
do with the coming of the Chinese to the
Pacific coast, and hold ourselves in no way,
responsible for what has come to pass in the
Providence of God, we hold that we are un
der obligation to the Chinese in our commu
nities to give them the Gospel of the grace
of God, and utter our regret that the Baptist
denomination in California has no depart
ment of Chinese evangelization in its state
work; it being an exception in this respect
to all evangelical denominations in Cali
fornia. We express the hope, however, that
this exception will not be long recorded
against our denomination in this state. At
the same time, we rejoice at the excellent
Chinese work done in the Baptist churches
in Oakland, East Oakland, and San Diego,
and also at the recent organization of a Cni
nese Baptist church, under the efficient la
bors f our beloved brother, Rev. J. B. Hart
well, D 1)., Missionary of the Board of the
Southern Baptist Convention, to the Chi
nese in San Francisc ■, and deem it but just
to our Christian sense to utter these words of
appreciation.
We felt sure that we were making
a good investment of money and labor
when we sent brother Hartwell to Cali
fornia, and are glad to learn that our
expectations are realized.
In the National Baptist we find the
following which we commend to the
notice of any and all who would like
to have light work and good pay :
Rev. R. W. B. Elliott, Missionary Bishop
of Western Texas, made a speech in the *
Episcopal Convention at New York, which
had some telling “points”:
1 received a letter not very long ago from
a young man, saying to me, “Have you got
any encouraging missionary work in West
ern Texas?" I wrote back to that man that
since the days of the apostles to this hour
there never bad been any difficulty in get
ting men to do encouraging work of any
sort; what we wanted was men who were
willing to look the discouraging variety in
the face. What does “encouraging work'*
mean? Why, that some other man has been
there, and that the Holy Ghost had made
him a centre for his operations, and radia
ting from him the Spirit has developed this
work, and that some other man who has not
been made the centre of any such influence
wants to get his place. Now, 1 say, breth
ren, that when you come across such a sweet
young man as that, don’t say to him, “Go
West, young man!” Give him a dear, little
parish, with a sweet little rectory, and let
the ladies make slippers for him. Ah, that
is not the spirit that is equal to the tearing
down of strongholds. Such men as that are
not Malakoff-takers. They will never come
up against the fortresses of darkness, and I
never will tell any man that I have got an
easy place for him. I say, “If you want an
easy place, come and make it.’’
FIRE! CALAMITY!! RUIN!!!
At day break Sunday morning, the 2nd
January, the roofs of houses and the whole
face of the earth being covered with snow
six or eight inches deep, the Baptist Banner
office was discovered on fire, and in one
hour’s time the building, three presses, two
large composing stones, type and all the ma
chinery and fixtures were consumed or ren
dered worthless. The books, consisting of
four ledgers, one for each year of the Ban
ner’s existence, mailing books, for the past
year, and memoranda of job work and ad
vertising, shared the common destruction,
The tiles of letters and my private library of
books, all were consumed by the devouring
flame! The Banner had 2300 subscribers,
and about 625 postoffices on the books. The
bulk of these offices are in Georgia, but some
in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina,
Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas,
1 exas, Louisiana and Alabama. There are
due on thejbooks several thousand dollars,
and I can see no better way to reach our
subscribers than to ask exchanges and
brethren of the press in Georgia to publish
this card. Will all our brethren and friends
who are in arrears please send in their dues
immediately, and thus enable us to meet
demands incurred in furnishing them a reli
gious paper, aud also enable us to resume
the publication of the Banner as soon as pos
sible. The Banner has been endorsed by
and adopted as the organ of quite a number
of Associations representing many thou
sands of Baptists, especially in all Northeast
Georgia. The whole private lo;S is not only
crushing to me and Major Blackstock, my
partner in business, but unless brethren who
owe us and others come to the rescue, so as
to enable us to resume, it will prove acalam
ity to denominational enterprises aud well
being of th- usands of Baptists.
Will the press of the Blate please prompt
ly insert this card? Will the Banner ex
changes do the same, and continue tbe ex
changes for a month till the question of re
sumption is decided?
Will post masters, to whom this is sent,
please post at their office doors?
J. M. Wood.
Cumming, Ga., Jan. 3,1881.
In view of the above announcement
we can only say that we sincerely
sympathise with our brethren in their
great loss, and that we cheerfully com
ply with the requests which they have
made. As the Banner has lost its
subscription books it of course does
not know who its subscribers are nor
the state of their accounts. We hope
that every one of its subscribers will at
once forward his name and address,
taking pains to write the name and
joit office address legibly. And now
if we can do anything more to aid our
unfortunate brethren, they have only
to command us.
NO. 2.
