North Carolina Newspapers

$2.00 PER ANNUM. THE ORGAN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE OF THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH. REiD, Editor ESTABLISHED 1855. RALEIGH, N. C8 WEDNESDAY, DEC. 17, 1890. VOL. XXXT., NO. 50. REV. F L POETRY. Thanksgiving Day. MORNING. Fioai happy homes throughout this land to-day, Glad songs arise to Heaven, from happy hearts that praise Thy holy name For blessings thou hast given. And I, amid the ruins of a home, By j and hope forsaken ; Again bowed down in Death's cold shadow, mourn The blessings thou hast taken. EVENING. The sunlight falls across the open grave What doth the preacher say ? fad gave and God hath taken His own way Bless'd be God's name, to-day. I'en so. F-r that dear life, I praise Thy name O. Lord, who gave him breath ! fe reliance, when thou hast made thy pur pose plain, I'll praise thee for his death ! D. J. reenboroy X. C , Xov. 27th, '90. COMMUNICATIONS. For the Advocate. The Catholics in 3Ioxico. BY REV. B. G. MAItSII. A BILL INTRODUCED IN THE MEXICAN GONG li ESS TO EXPEL ALL FOREIGN CATHOLIC PRIESTS FROM THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO. Below is a transla ion of a part of an eloquent speech delivered by Senor Juan A. Mateos, a few days ago in defense of the bill. It is well known that the orator is neither a Protestant nor a Catholic, but be longs to the Liberal Party which has done so much to free these peo ple from the tyranny and slavery of foreigners and the Romish Church. Tlie bill is expressed in these words : "T article ISii of the laics of Dec. lithy 1874, ii added the following : Art. I. All priests of che Catholic Church who are not Mexicans by birth according to Sec. I, Art. 30 of the Constitution, shall not reside in the territory of the Mexican Repub lic. Art. II. The public authorities of the localities, where said priests re side, shall fix the limit of time, which shall not exceed two months, for all priests, who are not Mexicans by birth, to abandon the Mexican Republic." In his defense upon the introduc tion of his bill the orator, Senor Juan A. Mateos, said : ""Before commencing, Senores, I wish to state to this honorable body that 1 shall not use this opportunity to rebuke the insults which the Catholic press has recently thrust up on me on the account of my discourse of Sept. 16th, when the State of Hidalgo unveiled the statue of Vil kgrau and Saint Vicente en elPaseo de la Reforma. I reply to their riiatrioe in si.ence; those unfortunate beings inspire in me sufficient com passion and sympathy, who in a struggle for life, sit guarding the penny boxes of the Virgin Guarde lupe in open robbery at the shrine of the Responsaries and Holy Mass, in order to receive the subvention with which the Archbishop of Mexi co pays the jugglers of the Catholic press. (Applause.) Senores diputados, I came under the command of a constitution which has glorified the rights of man, which has taken the true God from the columns of an altar to which the Friars had placed Him as a monster, separating Him from the Gothic Cript of a temple, in order to raise Him upon a pedestal before whom the generations of all forms of human adoration should bow; I cinae under the folds of a banner which has protected the oppressed, which has proclaimed the restitution of ancient rights lost in the annals .of hi story during the crude wander of civilization and progress which was called Christianity; in this savage and brutal inundation of Pries is which has taken the name of Catholism, is it that I enter upon this fight introducing this b'll be fore this tribunal, where I feel the radiant glory of our celebrated men who inaugurated and raised high the democratic sentiment of our country and the presence of whose shadows I feel in this assembly. Sirs, we have extended our hands to the old world; we have offered them the fertility of our fields, the gold of our mountains, the commerce of our lands; yes, we have offered them more than this, we have ex tended to them the right of citizen ship in order that they may be honored with the privilige of being members of this Congress. Men of good will have responded to our call. With great pleasure we see our shores along the Atlantic and Paci fic teaming every day with ships laden with products and men from distant lands; we see, too, all along our Northern frontier the rush of American commerce bringing to our cities and villages the exigences of industry and civilization. We are glad to see these foreigners owners ot our banks, our business of credit, the electric light, the telegraph, the rail roads, and, in fact, everything which indicates the culture and im provement of our nation. The fruits of foreign capital and labor are seen and felt all over our land from the burning zone of the South, where flourish the tender coffee plant and the gigantic cocoa tree, where the waving palms are fanned bv the warm breezes of our coasts, diffusing their fruits and flowers upon the altars of our homes, to the lofty heights ofSinantecatl, echoing to the roar of Niagara, and, amidst the confines of the horizon, reveal ing on a calm day the foam of the Pacific. With what pleasure, Sen ores, do you vote the funds propor tioned to these colonies, these mul titudes of bee-workers, to-day vil lages, to morrow towns, and in a short time great cities as those which have sprung up like magic in Sonora and along theGulf of Cortez. But amidst this joy and improve ment which would enable our na tion to realize the dreams of our forefathers, there is a black spot, Senores; the Romish priests. (Ap plause.) Everything which has crushed the liberal movement of Spain, the ' home of Castelar and Sagista; every thing which has cursed the land of Cabour and Crispi; every thing which has been driven from the bosom of France by Gambetta and Carnot, is condensed in one vast pestilential sea of licentiouness and vice, sweeping our land and finding shelter in the motley court of Man senor Labastido. (Loud applause.) The Italian priests who have served as actors in the Ecumenical Council of the absurd declaration of the infallibility of the Pope; the petty partizan warriors with their heads shaved for the first time dis seminating all over the world the proclamations of the Vatican; the French priests who drew from the Empress Eugenia in her confession the promise of a Mexican expedition; the whole Catholic clergy, all these mendicants, all these friars, all these jesuits, importing those very same ideas which still burn upon the al tars of Chailes VII. and are inscrib ed upon the tombs of the pontiffs, and which still survive upon the ban ner of the descendants ofjCharles X. by the hand of their missionaries, are carried all over the face of the Mexican territory upon the stand ards of the Propaganda Fide. Tired of their Catholicism in Spain, and exporting it with them, these frairs take free seats in the Transatlantic, and during their voyage, they satisfy their gluttony, devouring the delicious viands of the ships and taking a vast amount of the abominable wine of Valde-penas. They land at Vera Cruz, where the attendants of the Mitra await them. There they celebrate their first Mass and there they capture the first silver eagle which may be stored away in the confines of their pock ets, (Applause,) while for one dollar Leo XIII. holds a Pantificil Mass in St. Peters at Rome accompanied by the sweet songs of the eunuchs de la Sixtina. .(Applause.) They come to Mexico, they re ceive the apostplic benediction, and divide out among themselves the richest parishes and fattest offices of the Republic. Then commences the robbery of tithes, of charity, (?) of funerals, of marriage, of baptism; and something yet which is still worsethe saturnalia of the parish es, the corruption of loving wives in their confession, the loss of virtue in innocent maidens, and. still other vices, the darkest of which I would not dare to relate,lest I be converted, like Lot, into a pillar of salt. (Pro longed Applause.)" . . . . These same priests ring loud and long their bells during our national days of liberty, and is thought to be invulnerable because he carries the very same standards which Hidalga bire in the struggle for liberty; yet these same priests preach against our institutions, they protast in their churches against our Independence and spit upon our banner; and as a bird of prey they surrender themselves to the robbery of their parishes for the purpose of amassing a great fortune. According to the account of a Catholic priest one house in Spain gained in one year more than tico hundred thousand dollars as the fruits of the tears and desperation of our people. 'And of misery,' interrupted Eel. Senor Prieto Guillermo, as the orator closed his last sentence. (Prolong ed applause.)" At the close of his speech the orator was borne off the stand in the arms of his friends amid the shouts of applause. The speech is encour aging to Protestants, and alarming to Catholics. I hardly think the bill will pass, for its passage would cause war and blood; yet it will forever stand as a landmark in the political and religious history of Mexico. The wave of public sentiment which it has created and set in motion in this congress will result in increas ed liberties to the people and better protection to the Protestants; and more than this, it will, in some de gree, frighten the Romish priests and check their hordes of immi grants to this country. Protestantism is evidently gain ing ground in this country. It is impressing itself upon the officials of the government. They take cognizance of our enter prises and see that they are instru ments of blessings and not of death; they study our schools and iearn thdt we honor theio government and institutions" anu- Obey their laws; they compare our gospel of love and peace in Jesus Christ to the iron clad forms of Romanism, and they are beginning to see that the worship of images and the super stitions of ages do not form charac ter nor cleanse sinful hearts. God hasten the day when the hearts of these people will be opened and they may receive the gospel of Jesus Christ ! Monterey, Jtfexico, Nov. 2st '90. Facts About Dauciiig. The Baptist Record recently pub lished the following article : From time to time our opinion has been asked on the subject of danc ing. We prefer to state some facts touching the practice, and have every one to do his own thinking and reach his own conclusions: 1. It is a fact that the dancing mentioned approvingly iu the Bible was carried on by the sexes sepa rately, and generally, if not al ways, as a religious act. 2. It is a fact that modern dan cing, however well done, adds no worth to the character. 3. It is a fact that a trained mon key can excel the best taught lady or gentleman in the use of the heels. 4. It is a fact that it requires no intelligence nor virtue to dance well. 5. It is a fact that there is no more honor in dancing well than there is in jumping, walking, running, or wrestling well. 6. It is a fact that mixed dancing becomes extremely fascinating. 7. It is a fact that much valuable time is lost by this species of revel ling. 8. It is a fact that money is wast ed on dancing. 9. It is a fact that people who can not entertain themselves and each other in a rational way but must employ their heels for that purpose, are to be pitied. 10. It is a fact that young ladies permit familiarities in the ball room which public sentiment universally condemns as dangerous to purity. 11. It is a fact that many females have been ruined by attending dan ces. 12. It is a fact that the best of young men, even of those who dance, do not wish their sisters to attend balls, and they do not wish to marry dancing girls. 13. It is a fact that the whole spirit" and tendency of dancing is worldly. 14. It is a fact that no one was ever noted for piety and dancing. 15. It is a fact that when a pro fessor oE religion follows dancing his influence for good is lost. 16. It is a fact that no one ever dances to glorify God, but an apostle enjoins us to do everything to his honor. 17. It is a fact that the most ar deno advocates of dancing always change their views in the presence of death. All these facts are true beyond doubt, and can be proven. In the light of them it ought not to be difficult to any inquirer after the right way to come to a safe conclu sion. Reader, if you are a Christian and wish to decide the question, Shall I dance? with reference to your church growth, influence and happiness, you will never dance. It is a safe rule, says one, never to engage in anything upon which we cannot ask the divine blessing. Ap ply this simple rule to the dancing question and your feet will never be found in the slippery ways of the ball room. For the Advocate. Our Washiugton Letter. (From our Regular Correspondents There is a feeling of regret that the President, in his annual message to Congress, did not pay a little more attention to the question of moral reform in which thousands of the bsst m 3a and woaisu in the land are so deeply interested. I have read the message carefully,and the follow ing paragraphs contain everything he said on these important subjects: "At the last session I returned, without my approval, a bill entitled "An act to prohibit book making and pool selling in the District of Columbia," and stated my objec tion to be that it did not prohibit, t ooiiSii Liet licensed wnat it-purport ed to prohibit. An effort will be made, under existing laws, to sup press this evil, though it is not cer tain that they will be found ade quate." The parents of boys who are being ruined by this form of gambling are naturally wondering why Mr. Harrison did not ask for the enactment of a law fdr its sup pression about wnich there will ex ist no doubt, instead of saying that an 'effort will be made under exist ing laws," which will prove a stumbling block in the efforts to get such a bill through Congress, as it will be argued by the gamblers and their paid attorneys that there is no r.eed for a new law until all now on the Satute books have first been ap pealed to, knowing that each appeal will give them more time to prey up on gullible young men and boys. Mr. Harrison said of the lottery law: "The passage of the act to amend certain sections of the Revis ed Statutes relating to lotteries, ap proved Sept. 19th, 1890, has been re ceived with great and deserved p )p ular favor. The Post office Depart ment of Justice at "once entered up on the enforcement of the law with sympathetic vigor, and already the public mails have been largely freed from the fraudulent and de moralizing appeals and literature emanating from the lottery com panies." Of Mormonism he said : "The in creasing numbers and influence of the non-Mormon population in Utah are observed with satisfaction. The recent letter of Wilford Woodruff, president of the Mormon Church, in which he advised his people to "re frain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the laws of the land" has attracted wide attention, and it is hoped that its influence will be highly beneficial in restraining in fractions of the laws of the United States. But the fact should not be overlooked that the doctrine or be lief of the church that polygamous marriages are rightful and support ed by Divine revelation, remains unchanged. President Woodruff does not i enounce the doctrine, but refrains from teaching it, advises against the practice of it because the law is against it. Now, it is quite true that the law should not attempt to deal with the faith or belief of any one;but it is quite another thing, and the only safe thing, so to deal with the Territory of Utah as that those who believe polygamy to be rightful shall not have the power to make it lawful." No fault can be found with what the President says as far as he goes, but he does not go far enough for the ruler of what claims to be the most enlightened nation on earth; the nation which although not re cognizing God in its constitution, recognizes and reveres him in its courts and in its thousands of Chris tian homes. Surely the President of such a nation might have said something more in behalf of the great moral reforms so near and dear to the hearts of all Christians, and the fact that Mr. Harrison is a God - fearing ' Christian him self makes it all the more remarkable that he did not. Senator Manderson yesterday of fered a resolution which was adopt ed by the Senate, calling on the Secretary of War for information as to what, if any, steps have been taken for the disarmament of In dians on reservations in Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Just before the resolution was offer ed a petition was presented from citizens of Nebraska asking that the Sioux Indians be disarmed and that they be deprived of their horses and given oxen in lieu of them. It would appear to ordinary people that these Indians never should have been al lowed to acquire possession of rifles and ammunition. Then there would have been no necessity for disarm ing them; nor occasion for the alarm which now exists in their vicinity. A number of Good Templars went from here to Alexandria, Virginia, last night, to attend the opening of the annual session of the Grand Lodge of that. State, which among other important business, is to elect a delegate to the Supreme Lodge of the world which is to meet in Scot land next year. Rev. lr. Sunderland wants "The Daughter of the American Revolu tion," a recently formed society, to raise $50,000:Hin 25 cents donations for the purpose of purchasing a statue of George Washington to be presented to France in return for the statue of Lafayette which that country h is presented to us, and which is to be shortly erected in Washington. Washington, D. C. Is Infant Baptism Decliuing ? The fact that the Congregational denomination reports only 8,889 in fant baptisms for the past year, serves as an occasion for the Chris tian Inquirer (Baptist) to say that infant baptism is decaying. The Examiner and other Baptist papers have frequently said the same thing. It would not at all trouble us if the assertion were true; but we can not blind our eye-s to the fact that it is not true. It is a question easily settled; and we propose to drop in o statis tics in a friendly way in order to show what the real truth is. The differences in the returns of the Congregational denomi nation for infant baptisms of one year with another are not very great. While the number given this year is 8,839, the number given for last year was 8..32S, for the year before 11,960, and for the year be fore that 7,304. In 1884 the figures were 5,801. There has been a steady increase since 1880, with the excep tion of 1887, when the number was abnormally large. In that year there was also a much larger num ber of adult baptisms than usual. There has really been no falling off in any year since 1880, except from the unusual figures of 1837. So much for the Congregational de nomination. Now, let us take up some of the Presbyterian Churches. In the Northern Church, beginning with 1884, there has been a steady increase of infant baptisms. The figures for that year were 19,403; the figures for 1889, 24,566. This shows an absolute increase of nearly 5,000. The same figures also show a relative increase. For example, in 1884 infant baptisms were in the proportion of one to every thirty-one and six-tenths members. In 1889 the proportion was one to thirty and seven tenths members. The statistics of the United Presbyterian Church show a similar growth. In 1887 the pastors of that denomination baptized 4,316 infants; in 1889 they baptized 5,002, and in 1890, 4,528. This shows a falling off for one year only of near ly 400. In noae of the churches whose statistics we have examined do we find any evidence of an absolute de cline in infant baptisms. In the Re formed German church 13.743 in fants were baptized in 1888, and in 1889, 14,469. In the Reformed Dutch Church the number of baptisms ih 1887 was 4,669; in 18S8, 4,751; in 183$, 5,238. In the Methodist Episcopal Church there were 74.638 infant baptisms in 1887, 72 305 in 1888, and 74,015 in 1889. There is evidence of variation in these statistics froih year to year, but no proof of decline. The Methodist Episcopal Churchy South, baptized 32,633 infants ih 1887, 31.052 in 1888, and 34,733 ih 1889, and 34,733 in 1889. Theie is W evidence of decline here. The Evangelical Association, which is commonly considered a member of. the Methodist family of denomina tions, baptized 9,528 infants in 1888 and 9,936 in 1889. Here are statistics for some of the Pedobaptist denominations which report on the subject. There are a number of . such denominations which do not report such statistics; for examaple, the Lutheran body, where doubtless the ratio of infant baptism to membership is as large as it is the two Reformed bodies the German and the Dutch. There is also the Roman Catholic Church, which is careful to baptize all its infants. It would be idle to ay that there is any probable decline in the number of infant baptisms in the Roman Catholic Church, or in the various Lutheran bodies. Nor is it credible that there has been a decline in the Protestant Episcopal Church. There are a few cases in which the statistics of Roman Catholic dioces- es include the number of infant bap tisms. For example, in the arch diocese of New Orleans, which re turns a Catholic population of about 300,000, the number of infant bap tisms given for 1889 w.;s 14 274. This indicates a ratio of one to twenty one. It is curious to notice the differ ence in the ratio of infant baptisms to membership in different denomi nations. In the Congregational it is the lowest of all that we have ex amined, being only one to fifty-five communicants. The next lowest to ! the Congregational denomination is the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in which the ratio is one thirty-three and nine tenths. Ih the Presbyterian Church (Vorth ern) it is thirty-one and seven tenths; in the Methodist Episcopal Church, thirty and two-tenths; In the Reformed Dutch Church, seven teen; in the Evangelical Association (German Methodistie,) fourteen and six tenths; in the Reformed German Church, thirteen and nine tenths. It is easy, of course, to understand why it is that the German and Dutch Cnurches exhibit a much higher ratio than those churches of purely English or American origin. Infant baptism is made much more of by the Germans than by other bodies. The exceedingly low ratio of infant baptism to mem bership in the Congregational de nomination is hardly to be explain ed by imperfection of statistics, though nearly all denominational ata tistics will under-estimate the num ber of baptisms. A much moie valid explanation is found in the fact that there is a very small proportion of children born in New England, where marriages take place abnor mally late in life. Thus in Rhode Island and Connecticut the propor tion of baptism to membership (in cluding absentees) is about one to sixty; in Massachusetts, one to seventy-four; in Vermont, one to one hundred and nineteen; in New Hampshire, one to one hundred and thirty-two; and in Maine, one to one hundred and nioety-nine. New York Independent. Every church member ought to be a preacher of righteousness. Eternal life without deliverance from sin would be unending death. Disobedience to God is rebellion against our own best interests. We might all be rich if we would but learn to read God's handwriting. Man Is not damned for doing, but for being for being the enemy of God. Ram's Horn.