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THE ORGAN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS-DEVOTED TO BIBLE RELIGION, EDUCATION, LITERATURE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE, " ' ' ...I M . Ig I II 'I. I " - , RALEIGH, N. C., WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 17, 1892. Volume 87. Number 38, . PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNE8DAY. ; OFFICE i , US (op stairsl Fayette Street, Raleigh, N. C. TEHM8 OF 8CBSCRIPTI0K: ... annl ATlA tMT. . I 2.00 1.00 80.00 nut copy, sue Eoontni . Clnta of ten (copy tra to sendr) Anonymous oommunlcatlona "wjllalway find SU WftJ vO cna warn muulbv, . nuqiuuui. In tending letters of business, It is absolutely neo- tmtlj toat you give jvur puwuuice ouurow in luu. Tut date on the label of your paper Indicates ben your subscription expires, and also serves as receipt for your money. ' Obituaries, sixty words lone, are inserted free of eatrge. When they exceed this length, one cent fnr each word xnusc ds paw in aavance. VThen writing to have your paper changed, plei uts the postomce at wnica you receive tne paper, u well as the one to which you wish it changed. " Remittances must be sent by Registered Letter, Putoffloe Order, Foetal Note, Express or Draft, pty able to the order of the Publisher. Do not send tamps. Sketches of Pioneer Baptist Preachers in North Carolina. 8T JOHN W. MOOBK, 8TATE HI8TORLAN. Mkmoib V -Biv. Lkmubl Bdukitt. . CHAPTER FIVE. i -J The treatment of historical subjects is largely subject to the same rules of treatment that regulate a painting illustrative of some event in the past. Thus we find the artist gives prominence of place in his grouping md tne nignest signts to tne enter actors in the scene be depicts." On the same principle in our reproduction of tne Baptist past in North Carolina, we must eive Lemuel Bur kitt ail the. space and position his unequ tiled services merited. ; uptakes more space to tell the story ofjsrach a life because it was so much more frequent and abiding in its in flaeoce for good. He had brethren, no doubt, who were as zealous and faithful as he, but the measure bf bis deeds and achievements to far surpassed them all" that Comparisons would be simply odious, . I Indeed with the single exception of the great work of enlist tag Baptist support ii the cause of Foreign Missions and Education, he had left nothing to be added, to the completeness of his work as a reformer. Nor was he to withhold his aid from those other svps for higher useful ness and consecration in the individuals and churches. , He was to - align himself along side of Martin Rosi, when that great preach er introduced bis first memorable resolutions Into the session of the Kehukee Association held in 1808. whereby they were exhorted to pat themselves on the same level as bad been lately witnessed among the Bxptist people of Kettering in England Dr JCkrey had gone on his way to seek the lost mil lions of British India, and Andrew Fuller was left to lead his people into a proper sup port of the. new apostle to the Gentiles. American Baptists bad manifested great in terest in the salvation of their Indian neigh bore, bat that they owed any duty to hea then nations beyond the seas had never sutr- Eted itself to their minds. It required t such leaders as Hons and Burkitt to Qg on so great proposals. Of course the old conservatives were there in force to pro test against the Lord's work, simply because they and their fathers had not found it their duty to help in the conversion of the heathen millions. But with two such champions of missions to thunder forth the defence of the work they had embraced, the smaller na tures were either abashed or so silence J, that a proper circular was framed and sent out to the churches urging them to go for ward in the work of the Lord. ; i It was remarked at the conclusion of the 8t chapter that Mr. Burkitt came back from his recent nanici nation in the creat 1 . fevivatin the West in 1801 as one who bad oeen freshly inspired and magnified in his office as God's ambassador to perishing men. Never before had hfe voice such wondrotre Power on ' 1 stAninir multitndcs. It seemed that some wonderful sniritiirtl magnetism flowed ont frnm - hla nornn arid nrnstratpd the hardest hearted and most unbelieving of -uuws. -. vast crowas were in tumuu 01 a , drying emotion as the great preacher waxed eyer more impressive and rresistless in his pictures of the terrors awaitinirthe unrepent ant death-bed. With enal force, btit in'ihe ost meltiffg appeals, the safety and beati tude of those Who trust in Chr st's atonement, was presented as tho; wise alternative. ? Hi ""st meeting With bis Baptist people otf his wturn was attbe Kehnkeei Assodation.held jnat year with the church at Great Swamp n Gates county. ; In a fcermon he' told of the WOtldAM nf flnA'm m km hart wlt.rtABOPd in the West. 3; How' in eight months more than six thnnnnd nhlahAf hfAn mn Verted. nd how the work was still widening and "eepening-as It extended over the settle nienta of the hew States." The euVct was profound in its. immediate and consequent vaults upon the people attending the ses sion. r r , Great revival a at nnnn rtAtran in the snr- ..KUQdinO olinwiliiia ! any) ta nATt Vail' turn wonsand additions to the membership of the congregations were reported to the As ociation. ' As a specimen ot-the deep on ern which had taken possession of the peo ple's minds in relation to the salvation of their oula,-ahort and exceedingly modest account from the pen of Mr. Burkitt him self is herewith given. Says he ; "At a Union Meeting atParker's (Meher rin) Meeting House in August. 1808, it was supposed there were four thousand people. The weather proved very rainy on Sunday. There was a stage ereOted in the meeting house yard, and at about half after eleven o'clock Elder Burkitt ascended the stage to preacn, and it was expected from the ap pearance of the clouds it. would rain every moment, and before he was done preaching it am p. xet notwithstanding,, the numer ous congregation still kept together.' and al though evtry effort was used to shun the rain by u nbrellas, carriages, bhnkets etc. yet we believe one thousand people were ex posed to the rain without any' shelter ; and some crying, some convulsed on the ground. Some begging the ministers to pray for them ; and they composedly stood and received the railing shower without ever heme dis persed." iim was in an trutn a severe test upon Mr. " Burkitt Y powers in holding the atten tion of his congregation Very rare have been the instances of such unusual influence over a mixed multitude. It proves conclu sively that he was injeed a . great orator.. Yet those who heard him preach said that bin voice was.far from being strong and so norous. He was of medium height, well formed and active in his movements. So much was he loved and trusted by people of all creeds that in the state Convention called to meet in Hillsboro in 1788 to consider the nroorietv of adoDtinc the new Federal Con stitution, he with no solicitation on bis part was chosen along with Mai Samuel Harrell as a delegate to reDresent Hertford county, He bad been so uniform in his support of the American cause and so firm in bis adhe sion to the more democratic views of Mr. jenerson ana nis supporters, tnat it was safely left to his discretion to determine for bis constituents as to what should be done in the premises. . . With increasing years beginning to warn him of failing strength, Lemuel Burkitt, after his reuirn from the revival in the West, only redoubled his previous zeal and labors for the Lord. Though not yet an old man so far as the lapse of years is concerned, he was yet sensibly feeling the results of cease less labor. The night was close at band when a long rest would be his. He who giveth his beloved sleep had one more great work for the faithful servant, and then nae Moses on Pisgah, all the weary load of toil and responsibility-would forever be lost in the peace of God. The famous query touch ing the duty of the Baptist churches then constituting the Kehukee Association as to Foreign Mission bad developed in the en suing years plain proofs of a wan: of unity and homogeuiety as between the congrega tions east and west of Roanoke river. While the ascendency of Messrs. Burkitt and Mar tin Ross was too great for open opposition to a scheme of love they both so warmly ad vocated, yet there were such delays iu ac tion and such cold commendation from most of the churches lately returned from their temporary revolt, that the two great preach ers, along with Hon. George Outlaw of Ber tie, were convinced that if the Albemarle Baptist churches ever expected much chris tian growth and development, then it was time to. sever all entangling ties with the torpid and lifeless crowd that only hung as an incubus ou their best efforts to advance thf c iuse of the Lord and his people. Moving on this line, petitions were sent up from the Albemale churches to the Ke hukee Association as it met in session' at Meherrin in 1805 Then and there the great body, since known as the Chowan Associa tion, bad its origin. It was in the next year that the first session was held, and from tlat day t this the mighty results on the one hand wrought by the new body, and the schism, slow decay and total non-effective ness of thei other, show how wise and timely was the movement, if Burkitt and Ross had been gifted with such length of years as Me thusaleh, and the leavening power of the Chowan churches had still in the clear vis ion of old by sheer force of higher zeal and iaiin aeps inis peupiw ircmi" iuo rumrnuu downfall of 1827, it would have been accom plished at great cost. Not only would many a noble step taken in reaching a higher plane of usefulness been checked and re tarded by the crowd who could see nothing good beyond what was practiced h their fathers, but the wear and tear of souls thus chained to a body of death would have real ized something of the A pestle's torture whn he cried out in hla anguish as to who should deliver him from such tribulation. There is no curse greater to anv christian sect than churches which are so lifeless and avaricious, i that they '.were ever found aa- stumbling blocks in the way of others who are anxious to give themselves and their, means to ; the Lord's cause. The human heart is never so cunning and remorseless as, wben framing excuses for withholding.any bestowal of its hoarded treasure ? Men who are apparently godly in other respects, find their shibboleth on such an occasion. With; all their signs, groans and loud prayersln public, they find it impossible to part with that accursed gold that has stolen their souis irom ineaiasier, Kldnr Burkitt bad planted a new church at Potecasi,' but It was not organized until the year after bis death. He saw the Ch6wan ARsnRintion move off on'that noble and illus trious career which, under God's providence; has resulted ' in', so many bleMings to the Rantista nf the whole State. ' He served as its Cleric for tne iwo yean n wui oou w his people, but his Jong service in the stme capacity in the ld -Kehukee mad hia soul still yearn ft r the presence and companion ship of many that he loved veryjjenderly. It was thus that he missed no sestoii of the venerable mother of so many Associations. The greetings were as warm as .of old, and on Sunday the great crowds of people lis tened with a strange awe and delight to a preacher they bad long thought the greatest in the world, and yet here he was aflame with a strange light in his eyes, and his voice thrilled with a burden it never bore before. Overflowing with the greatness of the issues at Ftake and the shortness of his time in this world, be would descend with streaming eyes from the pulpit, and, falling on his knees, he would beseech his hearers t be reconciled to God. 4 T ' The premonition of coming death" was one of the Btrungebt incidents in the life of this extraordinary man He was but fifty-seven years old and apparently in health, but the inner voice was repeating ever and anon, ''Labor while it is -yet day, for the night .cometh wherein no mau can labor.". The event abundantly justified the correctness of these mysVHous premonitions. - He, was preaching in July, 1807, when in the midst of -hi discourse he was seized by an ague. The end Bure-enough had come at last They bore him iu much love and tender ness to his humble home and were soon to bear him to his grave. Like Charles II., he never rallied from the fatal effects of those awful chills that slew so many thousands before the world and the doctors had learned the value of quinine. i . , ; Thus passed from the. theatre ojf his use fulness a most richly aud variously gifted man. In thirty years he had managed to bring about larger and more lasting im prove ments in the eastern Baptist people than all . his predecessors bad been able to accomplish in the century preceding. - He was not one of those men who was great on a Single line of human excellence. He was noimore elo- 3uent or successful in the pulpit than he was eep and accurate in his theological stores. With a strong bias to practical fancies, he could yet make as deep and subtle an analy-. sis of any chain of reasoning as if the im passioned images of .his vision never led to snob rapturous flights in his oritory. His greatest usefulness after all were the per sonal magnetism and tact that enabled hi in to win all hearts and then keep them in spite of the fact that he was I so often bronght in temporary antagonism witn sucn friends as he pressed on his way as a re former df abuses. It was seen and known that though only the Clerk of the Associa tion, yet it was Lemuel Burkitt's will and schemes that were the rule of all the great christian body. Yet no one ever resented or denounced this powerful control exercised by a subordinate officer. It was accepted as a matter of coure and the reformer was thus left to go on his way rejoicing. But these and all things else earthly were be come things of the past when the Rev. Aa ron Spivey as the preacher Of the funeral sermon, and his sorrowing brethren far and near, gathered to bury his rema-ns out of human fright. " A great man and a prince in Israel'' bad fallen in his armor. He had served long and nobly, and in dying had left not his like in all the land so abundantly blessed by his life and labors." Pub. by request of Elizabeth City Bap. Church. The Birthday Ball BY REV. CHAS A. . THOMAS. And the daughter of the said Herod iaa came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them tbat sat with him, the ktag said unto the damsel. Ask cf me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. Mark 6. 22. - It was the spring of the year 29 when Herod sent out invitations to the best socie ty of his province to attend his birthday ball. As the night of festivities approaches, Herodias, the unlawful wife ot Herod, is quietly scheming vengeance on John the Baptist for his scathing denunciation of her illegal union. The night arrives. Behold the scene 1 - The hall is decorated In spTen- dor. The table is laden with a sumptuous feast. The fashionable society with elegant costumes grace tbe occasion with their pres ence. Tbet feast until satisfied. They drink until intoxicated. They call for the dance. , Hired : dancers appear and go through the ; movements of that day. But that is not an. mere appears upon tne floor another figure a priucess breaking through the standards or propriety ana dancing before their lustful eyes in gar-r ments which, com omea witn ner move ments, worked Upon the hearts of the guests with unsrjeakable effect? - This ball was to that day and place what, the average ball is to this and gives me" the occasion' to discuss the modern dance and its influence upon the isctm'iaDM'baMQM T believe It to be one of the greatest social evils. I believ it is immoral., and -must, warn my people againat it. But let me say that I do not brand e Very one who dances as immoral or unrefined. I believe there are numbers of women of refinement who dance. ' They are innocent of-anything like' impurity, but they are. drawn into it by a society whose first thought is self-indulgence, and whose Influence Ts against spiritual religion." I am not discussing the dancers, but the dance : hot the dance as it was or might be; but as ' L OBJECXIONB ANSWXRXD. ; ; (1) l There la no more harm to dance than to g08sip.V Admit it, but it proves notb ing vxrtainJyjiotlhat. dancing Ja innocent lor you are comparing dancing with a harm ful thing. Gossip . is very siDful, and it dancing is no better it also is sinful on your own ground. But when you offer tbisob jection you are not paying yourself a great compliment, for you are making the admis sion that you can t converse without gossip. or else you can : only pass the time either with a sinful use of the tongue or feet. , It seems to me that the objection condemns rather than justifies. - (2) "The Bible says there is a time to dance." , It also say in the same chapter a time to kill." Now, suppose upon that authority you get up a 44 killing ball'' The Bible also says "a time to plant;" and isn't it remarkable that the people who do the most of the dancing do the least of the planting! , ; ' - (3) ' But David and Miriam danced." Yes, David danced, but before whom! & fashionable belief .The Book says, ' before the Lord." Miriam also danced, but not in the embrace of a d ude. There are several facts about the Bible dance which shonld.be mentioned., (a) It was a' religious -act.. ' Is the modern dauce religious! -(b) rracticed on great and joyful occasions. - In certain places the great occasion for a dance is the presence of fiddlers, (c) It was usually per formed in the day. Now it is done in the night, (d) The sexes were separated. Now they are very closely united, (e) Those who perverted the dance were deemed wick ed, and were nnnished. Job 21 : w--r'-f . (4) "But dancing in the abstract Is not wrong." Did you ever see anybody dance in the abstract I All that I have ever seen or beard of has been in the concrete, (5) "If I never do anything worse than dancing, simply keeping time with my feet to music, I'll get along very well. Here againjls bad logic. No sensible person holds that there is any harm in keeping time to music. Many persons do that in church. " Keeping time to mnsic is not all that is in the modern dance. This 1 will now try to show.- ' - - II. EVIL8 CONSIDERED -1 1 have engaged in the dance. . The Tues day night before I gave my heart to Christ I danced nearly all night. 1 I have ofl sev eral nublic occasions since seen the dance. and 1 am f ally convinced that it is evil in everv narticular. ) iWl) It is detrimental to health. ' Tbe heat ed room, atmosphere heavily freighted with impurities, the passing out of tneseinto eoia halls and porticos, the late hours, exciting movements.' all tend to undermine the health." The continued exercise is exhaust ing and unfits for the duties of the next day. All these, combined with the undress of the costumes, have a tendency to produce pneu monia an i consumption and other diseases. (2) It is detrimental to mind. The dan cers asva rule are the novel-readers of" a community. How much time they waste upon extravagant dress to the neglect of the mind.' Bead the newspaper accounts of the last ball, and it is a rehash of fine dress.' It takes but little brains to dance. Moakeys can beat men at it. There is no exchange of ideas in the dance, but a great deal of emotion and magnetism. The action of the trustees ef the North Carolina University indicates clearly what they think about the matter, and shows clearly that the dance takes the mind from its best interests. Dis tinguished scholars have gone to the com mencements to deliver addresses, and only a few of the students heard them. Atten tion was called to it, and it was found that they danced all night on. Tuesday and Wed nesday. An order, was passed that dancing should stop at one. o'clock on those nights. The next year the order was disregarded and the dance : continued until three a. m. The visiting committee then recommended to forbid dancing on those nights." This was carried by a .vote of twenty to five. President Winston spoke in favor of the re port. Now the ball occurs after the session closes.' - . -: .- ' A correspondent of tbe Rlchpiond VU jwci, writing from White Sulphur Springs in 1887, say8r "Time was not very long ago when non dancers were considered eo- clal bankrupts, but such i not the case now. A young lady can be a belle and n n enter a ball-room, for it becomes more! and more apparent that the best men that is, the most agreeable, intellectual, substantial men do not dance; and: a cultured girl need have no fear of being a wall flower' even when the german is jn progress.'? i The Christian Inquirer of New York, a year or bo back, had similar statements con cerning summer resorts; and asks the ques-: tion, " Is the common sense of the world going to join the church in . regarding the dance as, at best, a trivial and nnSatTsfaC'. .tory recreatiohi!!.S;:t i,: i$ ; (t) It iff detrimental to morala. " (a) Dan cing violates tbe " beet 'standards of social conduct, and thus touches good morals. If I were to draw a- picture of a man tnApfch man in the act of waltzing on a blackboard,' or were to call up a wife or sister and give art object lessen, it' would Bhock; every per son in this bouse, I saw children dancing to musio last summer, and the position of the children vras altogether different from tbat of tbe young men and women. The combination of music and bodily motion among the children gave them pleasure, and seemed innocent and helpful when done in moderation, But as the age advances lit passes from a form of exercise exercise is no longer enough to an act of familiarity which would be tolerated nowhere else in social life. - If a man was to look through a .pajtotjmdaw-.andaeAWaj alone with a man m the attitude of the waltz, there would be a divorce suit or mar; der. Think of it I -A man with but an hour's acquaintance with a. woman, putting one hand around her body and with the other clasping tightly her hand, and with limb to limb, body to body, head to shoul der and the dress exposing arms and bast of the woman, they whirl to the strains of -enrapturing music. I emphatically declare that such an amusement,,, as thus violates the high and noble 'standards of good socie ty, ia immoral, 'and ; tbe patronage of the "best society1? nor the recognition of any church, can give ,it respectability. : How ever pure and innocent the women may be who engage in the dance," familiarity allow ed tends to immorality and stimulates ; to excess. (b) The dance opi ns the avenues to unholy desires - Men do net dance to gether. Women, do' not dance together, who ever heard of an old bachelors ballf Who ever attended an old maid's dance 1 Why not bave these t Every man' knows why. Marriage usually put an end to dan cing. ".- Very rarely married women dance except when' unhappily married. Almost every' circumstance connected with the dance points - to passion. , Oail' Hamilton ays,' ''.The thing in its very nature ia an cleaa and cannot be washed. The very pose of the parties suggest impurity." Did yen ever listen to the conversation of the boys1 after: a dance! (Now! "'boys?' I'm rgoingto tell on you V ; Listen: V She dances op to a fellow alright.n . 'I wouldn't give cent to dance with Miss-. She is as coI(T'ai a : post." That means " passion and nothing less.' ' Have yon ever seen tbe beginning of a ball f The boys bring tbe girls, and when they get to the door the girls go to their room and . lay off, their wraps. V Tbe boys . go io-4he 1 hay stacks' and "lay off their wraps,n to be used between sets.- Ask any physician if the modern dance can exist without stimulating to unholy desires, " aad if he says yes, he is either a fool or a liar; a . fool because he does not know -physical science, or he loves to dance and lies to con ceal his sin." Dr. Vincent quotes a minis--ter of large experience as saying that any intelligent and honest physician will tell you it sets the passions on fire. Prof, Wil- kerson says, "Ana shall 1 not cry shame upon a Usage that, under cover of respecta bility, regularly titillates and tantalizes an animal appetite aa , insatiable , as hunger, more cruet than revenge! , I charge that here, and not elsewhere, in the anatomy of that elusive fascination wbieh -belong so peculiarly to tbe dance, the scal pel is laid upon ihe'quiveririg secret of life. Passion passion transformed if you please never so much, subsisting in no matter bow many finely contrasted degrees of sensuality passion, and nothing else, is the. true basis of the popularity of the dance. V - Byron is a competent witness I can give only one extract : " Round all the ccaiflnes of tbe j ielded wafst. The strangest hand may wander undisplaced; - : "3 r -; ;:tr:.rt" - f-- m -: . l::.m Thus alt and each, in movement swift or slow The genial ontact gently undergo; Till some might marvel, with tbe modest Turfc, If nothing follows all this palming work f True, honest Mirsai : Y u may trust my rhyme, " Something does follow, at a fitter time; . -' ; The breast thus publicly resigned to man, ' -In private may ret-ist him -if it can." , . , , (c) Ruinous to christian influence. The world has no middle ground for the chris tian. When a christian dances the report goes abroad, "Miss Piety danced," but nothing is said abmt "Air. Worldly." , A christian woman, once said " there waa no ' harm in the danced' and in the net breath declared that " tbe dance kept her children from the church.ft e The befct and most in telligent christians take a stand against the dance. The Catbolio Bishop of Quebec 8aid, "The round dance is a particular kind of dance possessed 1 of the h devil." , The Bishop of the United States In 1888 said it was y revolting to every feeling of delicacy and propriety, ; and .is frought with the greAtestdanger:talmoral8rJ? Bishop Hop kins of the Episcopal church said, " Dancing " is chargeable with waste of time; hinder- ance to useful study; the indulgence of dis play and vanity: and tends to the excite- ment oi tne passions." uisnop xaeaae, oi the v same ' church,' said, " It is in" itself wrnnffi imnroner and of bad effect' Bishon Coxei of (Western NewjYork, same Church, savs. "The modern dance-rwaltz, german, or whatever else' they call it is immoral" Adam Clarke, of the 31 E. church, said, "I know it td be evil s and . that only." Bishop. Pierce, of ;tbe M. IS. cburch, eaid it was "the silliest amusement that rational beings ever enaraired in." Dr. Cuyler. of the Pres- bytjeVian fchti,'says? "The whole trend et the' promiscuous' dance' is1 againsr' taoraj lihrlty -andf Ytpttitaility.! i Dr;. Pklmtf,, cf the same church, said the dance " will open wide the noon gates pi immorality.': Uod s word is against tne dance, uai. 9: 19-21:1 'Peter 4: 1-8." There ia hardy a doubt bdt that the word 'revelling " corre sponds to the modern dance. " Love, net the world.' . " Be separate.',' . " Be not con formed," &c. Similar counsel from Ood'u word is against the dance. What should I o our attitude to tbe dance as a church f 1 believe that after due warning, connprl, c -treaty, if members still persist, they f ' 1 be -excluded from membership, i: ; ' have reason to thank God that we ;.: from dancing church members. I r c 00NTIOTID' TO TE3 T
The Biblical Recorder (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 17, 1892, edition 1
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