The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1872-02-07
FoR THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
CIRCULAR.
PRESBYTERIAN Comm. OF PUBLICATION.
RICHMOND VA. Faln.uarv ! 1879

The time for the annual collection for Publica
ton is at hand, and it becomes the duty of the
by order Of the General Assembly,
to call the attention Of the Church to the pressing
claims Of this important interest 1t is to be hoped
that the collections for this cause, on the first Sab
bath in March, or the first convenient Sabbath
will be adequate to the work entrusted
to the Executive Committee Of Publication, so that
it may 90 forward with increased energy and eff.
cheney By order of the last Assembly, the con
trbutions to this cause are to be divided into three
classes viz:
|. The Endowment Fund of which $l6,51l
still remains to be raised.
2. The Missionary or Benevolent Fund, which
is used in distributing books, tracts and papers,
among destitute churches and communities.
g. The Committee is also authorized to receive
funds for the stereOtyping- and publishing Of any
special book of approved character which the do.
nors may wish to be issued.
The Assembly also ordered that all funds re-
ceived should be credited to the missionary fund,
unless they are specially designated as intended
for the endowment fund, or for some other special
purpose. A very few words about each Of these
points is all that is needed.
l. AS to the Endowment Fund. The General
Assembly, at Macon, resolved that $50 600 should
be raised for this purpose So far, of this amount
only $33, 4S9 have been secured. The other con
tributions have been used in distributing books,
tracts papers, ETC., throughout our entire bounds
The Committee has been restricted in Its work,
and is embarrassed at every step for the want OF
more capital. 1t has required great vigilance and
hard labor to preserve intact what we have OBJ
tanned; bat it is entirely inadequate to the work
which lies before U.s. Not only is the call lncessant
for Sabbath School books and helps, such as the
increasing interest liz ne Sabbath School cause
makes neediul, but the demand is constant Tor the
publication of works in vindlcation OF our Own
Church. its doctrines, poity and position, and set
ting forth it's necessities and methods There are
books in existence on all these subjects, 1T may be;
but they do not meet the case. Every age OF the
world has its own necessities, aud every ChuTch
has special mission to fulfill otherwise it has no
lawful reason for its own separate organization and
independent existence. The very fact of our sep
arate ecclesiastical organization is enough to show
the need of UNCONVENTIONAL literature Hence
we are constantly importuned for publications to
meet these special UNCONVENTIONAL wants. But
unless our capital be much increased this becomes
an impossibility. Indeed, without the requisite
capital it will be next to impossible to hold our
own. That we have thus far succeeded in manag-
ing our finances so as to pay our way and preserve
the whole of the capital intact, has been a cause
of astonishment to business men. None OF the
great publishing societies of this country ever did
this before. Nor can we much longer do it with
out an increase of the funds needed to keep the
work going.
q From the very beginning this Committee
has given much attention to the missionary and
benevolent work committed to it by the General
Assembly. During the last six years, it is mat.
ter of devout thanksgiving that it has been able to
scatter its publications over our country, to aid
feeble churches and Sabbath Schools etc., to the
amount of about $25 600. Among its benevolent
IL. e IL not
echism in the Chocaw language, and the Choctaw
Spelling Book and Primer, for the use of the
Choctaw mission; and we have now in hand the
Choctaw Hymn Book, which has been delayed by
the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient supply OF
ChOctaw characters.
g. One of the most feasible ways of helping this
Committee is to give money to aid it in the publ
cation of special works. If any individual or any
church desires the publication of any special book
or tract of a suitable character, this is meth
cd of securing the result and Of advancing the
work given to this Committee. Funds are now
greatly needed to bring out the 81 and 4th vols. Of
Dr. Thornwell's Works.
. The General Assembly instructed the Commit
tee to present before the churches the actual
posture Of the endowment, and the amounts need
ed to be raised in order to complete the fund
We, therefore, append full tabular statement,
giving the required information.
One or two of our Presbyteries took up collec-
tons for the endowment, and paid up in full the
balance necessary to make up that fund, according
to statement issued by This Committee two years
ago, in which the balance only was aprortioned
among the churches. If our brethren in those
Presbyteries feel that the interests of the Church
require that no further collections should be raised
by them for that particular object, then it is re
spectfully recommended in every such case that
the collection be taken for the benevolent and mis-
sionary fund of the Committee. The demand on
it is great and increasing, and for want Of ability
We have been compelled to deny aid to our mis-
sionary brethren in South America, which we
should gladly extend. Let this fund be increased
ever so much, there is need for it all. Where ouI
publications have gone, they have done great good
in establishing Sabbath Schools promoting re-
vivals of religion, confirming brethren in the faith
and in every way advancing the interests Of oul
beloved Zion, and leading souls to Christ Let
this blessed work go forward with increased lib
crafty, efficiency and zeal.
In the tabular statement no account is taken OIL
the need of money to fulfill our commission Of be
nevolencc and love in making donations to the
destitute. Its to be hoped that every church and
every Presbytery will not only contribute its full
proportion to the endowment, but will add to that
amount liberal sum for cur missionary work
Unless this is done the Committee will be greatly
stratened in its purposes and efforts OF benevo
lence; while there is not member Of our whole
denomination who would not love to see its work
greatly enlarged.
BY order Of the Committee,
u THOMPSON BAIRD,
Secretary Of Publication.
The first column shows the equitable proportion
of each Presbyery of the original sum $50, 000
rated according to the number of communicates
2. Two-ffths of the whole amount of money re-
ceived by the Committee has been used in its mis-
sionary and benevolent work. etc. Hence, the
amount to which every Presbytery is entitled to be