Newspapers / The Star of Zion … / July 7, 1898, edition 1 / Page 2
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WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE. A DELINEATION OF HIS CHARACTER. The late Hon. William E. Glad stone who recently passed away in England was a man of wonderful attainments, a scholar of magnifi cent abilities, whose loss to the world of letters in which he was an ornament will doubtless be most keenly felt. The speeches in the House of Commons touch ing his public and private life were tender] touching, loft}' and self sustained. There was a notable absence of that gross exaggeration, which on similar occasmns in this country turns our heroes and mag nates into archangels when in deed they were but fi ail and not seldom ordinary mortals. In the sermons one sees everywhere the unconscious classicality and chaste ness which result in t tie extraor dinary simplicity and common sense of our English friends. We all on this side the Atlantic doubt less have the greatest admiration of Mr. Gladstone as a man] a Christian, a scholar, a philanthro pist; but can we rate him very high as a statesman? Mr. Glad stone never seemed to see further than the end of his nos 3. A truly great man sees to th j end from the beginning. There was noth ing of the prophetic in the career of England’s ‘‘Grand Old Man.” vBY.’fcRUCE-GRr JNo eminent man in tne last gen eration has “wheeled about and turned about” as mich as Mr. Gladstone. The grea; virtue: of his changes is, that he was virtu ous and beneficent in those chang es; blit the glow and brilliancy of greatness is lost in the fact of fre quency of change and instability. We cannot name a single great political cause in the sixty years of his life—of his political and somewhat in his ecclesiastical life —but what Mr. Gladstone was at different times on both sides of it. He was constantly stumbling, now on the wrong side, anc. then after ward on the right side, and all be cause with his superb ibilities, his great and wide learningpjmd his most manifest goodness and piety, he could not see! 1 k iow no such enigma in history. In the year 1886 a political club at Washington, D. C., of which I was then an officer, passed a series of resolutions of sympathy with the Irish who under the leader ship of Charles Stewart Parnell and Mr. Gladstone were struggling for Home Rule. It was deemed advisable to draft a suitable letter to' be sent to each o:: these men with ^the resolutions, expressing the Rope that they wo old say some word which would shjw their ab horrence of the lynching evil in this country and their sympathy with “the under dog” in the strug gle for civil and political equality in the United States. These let ters were promptly forwarded and in due course of time were an swered. Mr. Parnell’s reply was mainly an acknowledgement with out comment. Mr. Gladstone’s reply ran as follows: 10 Downing St., Whitehall, ) 14 July, 1886. \ Gentlemen: I am d jsired by Mi*. Gladstone to convey to you his thanks for the letter you have been good enough to address to h m, expressing your sympathy with his efforts on be half of Ireland. With regal'd to the ot tier subject re ferred to in your letter Mr. Gladstone hopes that public opinio l in the United States will put down ary abuse of the nature of that to which you allude in general terms. I remain, gentlemen, Your obedient servant. J. M. CARMICHAEL. To the members of the Executive Com mittee, etc., etc. In the left hand corner of the diplomatic response Mr. Gladstone affixed his characteristic signature as if to say “them’s my senti ments.” It will he seen from the tone of this letter that the Hon. William Ewart Gladstone was especially endowed by nature and education for the great business of diploma cy, in which he was pre-eminently a past Grand Master. The son of a slave-holder he with difficulty overcame the prejudices to which he was born and which he ultimate ly lived to entirely outgrow. He was a great orator, but he was neither the equal or superior of John Bright. He was not a great statesman because he seemed to lack those elements of character which we most admire in a truly great statesman, consistency and stability of character. In America Mr. Gladstone would have been called a trimmer or a straddler in politics. I think it will be admit ted that upon most public ques tions he Was one or the other. He was most unquestionably a great scholar and his versatility andgen ious in the republic of letters has given him a place among scholars which few men have ever occu pied before, because few men have been so richly and wonderfully endowed with talents so various and remarkable as those which en title him to rank among the great leaders and thinkers who made the 19th century brilliant with the scintillations of their multiplied wisdom, genius and learning. No other century has produced such an array of scholarly and talented men as the present century now drawing to a close. Albany, N. Y. ZION’S JUBILEE. Program of Missionary and Educational Jubilee of the A. M. E. Zion Church, to be held at Ocean Grove Auditori um, Asbury Park, N. J., August 16th 1898. 10:30 A. M. BishopJ.W.Hood,D.D..LL.D.presiding. Opening Chorus... Mother Zion choir, Opening hymn. . Rev. W. T. Biddle,D.D. Scripture Lesson Rev. E. M. Stanton, D. D. Prayer.Bishop T. H. Lomax, D.D. Chorus by the choir. Sermon. Bishop Jehu Holliday. D. D Prayer.Bishop I. C. Clinton, D. D. Singing. Collection. Benediction. 2:80 P. M. Bishop J. B. Small, D. D., presiding. Opening chorus by choir. Scripture Lesson. Rev. M. R. Franklin, D. D Prayer.Rev. C. D. Hazel. Hymn. .Rev. J. C. Temple. Addresses. “Our Church Extension Work,” Rev. A. J. Warner, D.D “Our Missionary Work,” Bishop G. W. Clinton, A. M., D. D. “Our Educational Work,” Bishop C C Pettey, A. M., D. D. Collection. ! ' -. 7:30 P M. 11 Bishop A. Walters, D. D., presiding. (Special evangelistic services.) Hymn.Rev. J. H. White, D. D. Scripture lesson, Rev. W. H. Davenport, A. B Hymn.Bishop C. R. Harris, D. D Prayer.Rev. M. M. Edmonson. Ten-minute addresses by Miss Isabel la Horton, the girl preacher, Revs. J. S .Caldwell, J. C. Temple, J. B. Colbert and others. Bishop A. Walters, Chmn. of Com. Rev. W. H. Davenport, Secretary. GOD A DELIVERER. GOD DELIVERS THOSE WHO TRUST IN HIM. BY REV. C. H. SMITH. If it be so, our God whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace.—Daniel 3 : 17. The story of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, as recorded in the Scriptures, presents a charac ter of haughtiness and presump tion. After having ravished cities, conquered nations and sub dued kingdoms at the point of his sword with daring warriors, he set about to embellish his king dom, making it the grandest in beauty of its day, Thus he grew haughty. At the completion of this great capitol building t he king erected a golden image, appointed a day for its dedication and ordered the at tendance and obedience of all the officials of his kingdom to the service. This order came accom panied with a death penalty upon those who refused to obey the proclamation to attend with hom age the idolatrous assembly. I fancy that it was the king’s inten tion by this call to ascertain if per fect harmony reigned in his king dom and if all were in unbroken accord with him, and those who were not should die. Some men will pomp and popularize them selves at the expense of the happi ness and lives of their fellowmen. The edict was sealed, the day came, excellent music floated upon the bosom of the air to the delight of hundreds of worshippers; but there stood three who, with un swerving faith in God, bowed not ana neitner aia mey iear. it was observed that they obeyed not the command and the intelligence soon reached the king. Even in this busy world there is always some hypocrite or meddler watching the Christians to record their blunders and mistakes. < May God have mercy on them. Had they who reported Shadrs.ch, Meshach and Abednego been devotedly wor shipping they would not have seen these servants of the Most High God standing up for their blessed Creator. We also learn that there have been peepers into other peo ple’s business ever since the days of the ancient fathers, and there is not an instance recorded where permanent good was the result. On being told.of the inadverten cy of these three notable Hebrews the king was reminded of the de cree that had gone forth. The tale-bearers seemed to have been anxious for the prosecution of the law. Hypocrites, carnal-minded and heartless persons, are delighted at the downfall of a Christian. Take heed to your ways that you sin not. The k: ng brought these servants of God into question as to their disobedience, but they re plied: “We are not careful to answer thee in this matter our minds are settled upon the one thing—the power of God; our hearts are fixed upon God with confidence. Tha king of terror is ever bringing into question those who are professing Christians and unless your heart is entwined with the love of God this king will se duce you with his theory as he did Eve in the Garden of Eden. The presumptuous king Nebu chadnezzar repeated the introduc tory and informed the Hebrew Christians that if they refused to be obedient to the second warning and bowed not down to his golden god that they should be cast into the burning fiery furnace, but they answered in the language of the text: “If it be so, our God whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace.” The second. time the peals of har monious music, thrilled the many hearts, bu t each of these valiant Christians decided: u None of these things move me.” Those who have tasted of redeeming grace and have felt the power of the world to come “ count not their lives dear to them.” When this wicked king, who fancied himself to be a god, observed the loyalty of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego he ordered them to be thrust into the furnace of fire, but that God who lighted chaos with a word and sweetened the flowers with His divine breath caught the flames of the furnace in His own hand and delivered the loyal sons who had sworn their allegiance to the kingdom of God and walked about in the furnace with them. Our God will deliver those who trust in Him. He is able to de liver. When Israel saw no way to escape the cruel hands of Egypt God rolled up the sea like moun tains on either side and bade them pass through. When the Roman power had sealed and cemented the rocky tomb of the Son of God they contented themselves that they had conquered Christ and confused the plan of redemption, but He shook the earth and her strong pillars bent, the Roman’s, seals burst asunder and Jesus rose a conquering King. God is omnipotent. He is able and willing to deliver. “Ask of me and I’ll give thee the dessre of thine heart,” saith Christ. You who know your sins have been forgiven ?an bear testimony this morning that God is willing to de liver. Our God is benevolent, lrust Him and He will deliver you from hunger and want. He owns the world and can use the contents as He pleases. Stop murmuring. He fed Elijah in the days of famine, Israel in the wilderness, and He will feed you if you will serve and reverence Him. May God who gives the earth and seas their in-: crease increase our faith so that we will trust Him in light and in dark ness, in peace and in confusion, in plenty and in want. Mobile, Ala. ASLEEP IN JESUS. Joseph W. Simmons died June 4, 1898, with consumption in Tar boro, N. 0. He w£s a Christian. He was the youngest son of the late Jas. Edward Simmons. George Scott, oL.Chicago, the beloved brother of Prof. J. P. Scott, of Harrisburg, Pa., died June 18, 1898, after a protracted illness, in the full triumph of Christian faith. He leaves a moth er, brother and sister in Harris burg and a wife and children in Chicago.---Rev. J. H. McMullen, Harrisburg, Pa. Rev. Solomon Sterling, of the Palmetto Conference, died June 18, 1898, at his home near Blackstock and was buried from Presbyterian church on Sunday. His funeral was preached by Rev. B. F. Russell (Presbyterian) and myself. He was 90 years of age. He is at home in heaven.—Rev. M. C. M'cClellan, Blackstock, S. C. CHRISTIAN UNION, BY P. R. NICHOLS. By this we understand the bringing together in unity all the lovers of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Christianity is es sentially one as Christ its author is one. The nearer we come to Christ the nearer we come to each other and to unity. Much has been said and written about Church union, but Church union is not the thing we need and not the thing our Saviour prayed for when He said that they may all be one, etc.. Church unity may be good policy, in some cases; it might help or hinder Christian union, but it would not be Christian union. Proposals for Church union mean really, when thoroughly sifted,. “Come and join us.” In the na tore of things this could hardly be otherwise. Every denomination in its own estimation stands for a su preme idea; to be faithful to con victions and to demonstrate prin ciples is the glory of denomina tional work. How then can we ask men to stifle their convictions and renounce their principles \ And yet that is about what we do. when we ask them to join our Church and adopt our creed. The labor for Church unity is all wasted energy. ' Spiritual union is what our Lord prays for. Such union exists, between the Father aind the Son, indeed a oneness in the Father and in the Son. The aim of Chris tianity is to bring individual souls into true account with the Father and the Son and also into true ac count wTith one anoth(|r. It is evi dent that we have Christian union now, and but for ignorance and bigotry we should have more of it. I need not dwell here on the reasonableness of Christian union, because every child <t>f God feels that he is united to every other child of God by the strongest ties of Christian brotherhood, and be cause Christian union, however reasonable, is not based on any creed however excellent. You cannot reason a man into loving his brother nor cause him to do it by showing that his brother holds the same creed that he does, The true basis of Christian union is Christian character. The ground of Christ’s prayers for unity among Christians is found in that clause which says, “ That the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” Would a union of pol icy, a union of force, testify to One who said emphatically that “my kingdom is not of this world?” It shall not be so with you. “Call no man minster on earth for one is your Master even Christ, and all ye are brethren.” It ia easy to salute our brethren, easy to hurrah for our party, but we. need a unity that overleaps party bounds and overtakes mistaken creeds, etc. Let us hope that the time will soon come when the spirit of Christian unity will penetrate the barriers of denominational distinction and all Christians will love the brethren. “ One army of the living God, To Sis command we bow.” Rock Hill, 8. C. The sainted mother of Rev. H.. C. Harrison and wife of L. S. Gorangur died June 4, 1898, in, Hamlet, N. C. She ivas converted i 40 years ago and died in Christ,
The Star of Zion (Charlotte, N.C.)
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July 7, 1898, edition 1
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