The Biblical Recorder.
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us fun stairs) Fayette rille Street. Raleigh. N. C.
man Is 'color of title Even the deed of
administrator is 'color of title.' But the
possession mast not only be tinder color of
title it mast also be under known and visi
ble lines and bounds. We all understand
what this means. - -
'; It is not necessary that the nW and
bounds shall be actually set out in the paper,
for if the paper, relied on as color of title,
reier to tne land as such and such a' tract
An Appeal to the Venden of Intoxicating
i Liquors. ,
That honorable and high-minded men are
engaged in the liquor traffic, cannot be de
nied. And furthermore, that many engaged
in this calling see and feel the evils of it.
cannot be denied. They cannot be blind to
tor and statesman. We should pursue such spondingly enlarge all other departments of
a course with regard to any given evil, as if our missionary work." This, however, is
pursued by all would lead to its extinction. permanent enlargement. It was never de-
18 sometimes said by the seller of liquor, signed to make a special effort to raise
! ? n?t Be imot except in connection enough money to send out these mission
ries and then fail to sustain them. ,. What is
wun otner merchandise, and n order to
make it more salable." What is the differ
ence between the bar-keeper who sells one
. k Train or BvBSORrmoif:
Ooeop7, onayear.. .......... I 2.00
On copy, six months . . . .......... . . , . ... ., . 1.00
Clabs of ten (copy extra to sender) ........... 20.00
til mf?i. eMmPj; Mun
, . wuuvia v guvu uavii UfJ
known this is sufficient. -, Ajrain. the person
the evil effects of ardent spirits uron many I thousand dollars worth nf arAtmt unMta and
of their customers. Thev must spa that I th merchant whn th tom. omnnnf
' Anonymous (wmmunleathos will always find
iheir way to the wast basket. No exception. '.
In sending letters of business, it Is absolutely neo
tmarj that you give your poetoffloe address in full.
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itamps,
Talki About Law No. 12.
BY JUDGE B, W. WINSTON.
TBK STATUTE Of
LIMITATIONS
TO UNO.
AS APPLICABLE
Possession is ? eleven points in law,"
wisely spoke Colley Cibbef. At least so it
often proves in many an action to recover
real estate. ... -
What is its meaning f Why simply that
the man in possession of land is entitled to
hold and possess it until the plaintiff show a
good title not only against him, but also
against the whole world. , '
. The theory of our law is that the State
owns all that land; and so, ordinarily, when
an action is brought to recover land the
party bringing the action must show that
, the State has parted with its title.
- In passing, we may remark, that this is
the reason that authorizes the State through
Z its sovereign representatives, the General
i Assembly, to grant the power to certain
? agencies to condemn private lands even
against the will of the owner. This is called
t the State's right of Eminent Domain. In
other words, when the State grants any of
its land, and all lands In this State are held
under a grant actually made, or presumed
. to have been made, by the State, it is with
' the reservation that at any time the State
may resume its ownership, If necessary for
i the public eood. by makin? lust
tion.
When a railroad is chartered it is given
the right to condemn land for its right of
wav. That is to say, the State delegates its
right of eminent domain, and the company
exercises this right of sovereignty.
, . Time plays a very important part In build
ing up and upholding titles to land. Some
one has sagely said that time, which is con
stantly destroying and removing evidence in
all othercases;i3 silently strengthening the
chain of his title; who is in possession.
We will not stop to consider the ways of
. showing title but of the State, as it is of
little general interest; suffice it to say, how
ever, that time will deprive even the State
of its title. For example, if one be in the
possession of land under known and visible
boundaries, for thirty years, having no deed
at all, not when the State can dispossess
him, and If he have a deed fof ;the same
land; and hold the land ODenlv. aontinn-
ously,? hostilely and exclusively for twenty
oneyears the State is barred. . !
, The courts do not look with disfavor upon
the plea of the statute of limitations as ap
plicable to land; and so it does not like the
same plea when applied to other cases.
For, by the word "limitations," in this con
nection, is meant, "simply the time which
ia prescribed by the authority of law during
which a title may be acquired to property
by virtue of a simple adverse possession and
' enjoyment,"
H this State, when a person in possession
of real estate, shall have been possessed of
the same nnder known and ' visible lines
and boundaries exclusively and, adversely,
and under colorable title for seven years, he
has acquired such title, to the land as , to
perpetually bar the claim of all nersons.
nnless they labor under the disabilities of
which we spoke in our last talk; J
This is a most useful provision of our law,"
and cures the defects in many a deed. Let
ns consider the language of the statute.' In
the first place, will observe that the person
niU8t,be in the actual occupancy of the land ;
of course the occupancy of a tenant or an
agent would serve equally well. Next, that
he must occupy the land under a deed or pa
per which is "color of title." Now, what
is this "color of title!" The Supreme Court
of the United States Bay, "The courts have
concurred, it is believed, without an excep
tion, in defining 'color of title' to be that
which in appearance is title, but which in
validity is no title " ; For examole. a deed.'
not registered, is not valid deed, still it
constitutes color of title, and is sufficient for
uo man m adverse possession ef land to
build his title upon. So also a deed not un?
derseal is imperfect as a deed, but it Is
color of title. So the deed of an Infant is
color of .title. or .the deed of ,an insane
in possession must claim the land as his
own; that is to say, he must put the real
owner, if there be one, on guard, and by
acts and conduct must notify him that his
title is called into question. Or, as the
books have it, he must "keep his flag flying."
His possession, hence, must be open, hos
tile, and continuous. Our courts have said
tnat building a shed, quarrying a rock and
cutting wood to burn lime on the premises,
uninterrupted for seven years, made the
holding adverse.' But to feed hogs occa
sionally on the land did. not. Nor did the
occasional 1 cutting of timber and quar
rying stone. We will, at once, see that,
if a tenant is iivpossession of our land, no
matter how long he stays, his holding is not
adverse. The statute says that even if the
tenant get a deed to the land from some
other person, it is not colorable title) and
will not avail him unless he stay in posses
sion twenty years after his rental expires.
So if two are tenants in common of a
tract of land, the one being in the actual
possession and the other not, and the one in
possession collect and appropriate all the
rents and manage the whole land as his own
and claims it as his land, still his holding is
not adverse to his co-tenant; certainly not
until twenty years have tmssed.
Finally the period of such possession must
be the seven continuous years preceding the
action. But if the combined possession of
several successive owners' make out the sev
enfcontinuous years under color it will suf
fice. -; :'
8uch possession as we have just described
will not only bar another of his right to re
cover the land against us, but it will also
actually build up a title, not otherwise good,
in us. ' . ..
Indeed, such title is available for the
plaintiff in an action. He cannot be in pos
session when he sues, but he might build up
such title by v previous adverse possession.
We have many defective titles in our State
at the present, and it behooves us all to look
carefully to our title deeds, which are our
muniments of title, otherwi e the number
will increase. - ,
Certain rules in purchasing land ought to
be strictly adhered to :
1. The title ought to be searched and ex
amined by a competent attorney and ab
stracts made to accompany the deed.
2. The deed itself should have apt words
of conveyance, and should be in proper
1 3. If purchasing land from a married wo
man, do not fail to pay the purchase money
to her in person, and to have her privy ex
amination properly taken. In deafiner with
a married woman, unless she be a " mighty "
good woman, be on your guard, for the law
permits her to divide with you like the
white man did with the Indian, when they
came to set apart to each his share of the
game, consisting of a turkey and a turkey
buzzard. . .;;
1 4. And mainly, no deed to a town lot
should pass without inserting its dimensions
in feet and inches and erecting natural ob
jects to mark the corners; nor to a farm
until a survey is 'made and the lines are
marked and the corners well established.
In Germany I have read that all deeds to
land are made directly by the government.
When a man wishes to sell his land he yields
up his title deeds to the government, and
the government executes a new deed to the
Sroposea purcnaser. xney rarely nave a
efective title in Germany. We cannot do
this, and should not, but we can at least
Connection with tan thnnannri dollars wavTi
the worst Of evils. Thev must also be awarn I of other eondu f Th f nf iha eama
that the more readily spirits are obtained, magnitude in both cases. Besides, may not
the more they are drunk; ?. Increased facili- the liquors kept by the latter for sale, when
ties for promoting an eMl make the danger too freely imbibed, induce his'customera to
greater. To shield a man from temptation, make purchases which they otherwise would
you must remove the tempter. Our popula- not and which a sober and cool judgment
vw uuiuig iud .mm mac were exceedingly I wuuiu conaemni
tem aerate. Liouor was not to be had. Acrnin.
if the vender of ardent spirits be a professor
ui rwugion, ms example gives a sanction to
intemperance. The ram-drinker presumes
that the rum-selling professor regards his
; ' TM rum teller often plead in justification
ofliU avocation that ht has a family to tup
fort. . So have others so have the men
whose families are injured bv his traffic
Almost any practice may be justified upo
business as consistent with his profession, J this plea, which is, that we may do evil that
learn a lesson therefrom.
A Preoious Habit
My mother's habit was every day, imme
diately after breakfast, to withdraw for an
hour to her own room, and to spend that
hour in reading the Bible, in meditation and
prayer. , From that hour, as from a pure
fountain, she drew the strength and sweet-7
ness which enabled her to fulfill all her du
ties and to remain unruffled by all the wor
ries and pettishnesses which are so Often the
intolerable trial of narrow neighborhoods.'
A I think of her i life, and of all it had to
bear, I see the absolute triumph of christian
frace in the lovely ideal of a christian lady.;
never saw her temper disturbed; I never
heard her speak one word of aneer. or
calumny, or of idle gossip; I never observed
in her any sign of a single sentiment unbe
coming to a soul . which had drunk of the
river of the water of life, and which had fed
upon manna in the barren wildernSss. The
world is the better for the passage of such
souls across its surface.' They may seemio
be as much forgotten s the drops of rain
which ' fall into the barren sea, but each
drop adds to the' volume of refreshful and
purifying waters. ; !'The , healing of the
world is in its nameless saints. A. single
star seems nothing, but a thousand scatter
ed stars break' up the' night, and make it
beautiful. "Archdeacon Farrar. ' :
;,, f -,.- i ,, i..JXf; .'-I
; -f i' m, , ': ri . v
Serve God by. doing common actions In a
heavenlyiBpMk$pttr17;, , , t , ;
uiuerwise ne wouia aoanaon it. tie reasons
thusr If it is right for him to sell strong
drink, it is right for me . to buy it. If be
sells it-as a beverage,' I can buy it as such.
If it is right to sella pint for such a pur
pose, it is right to sell a gallon, and there'
fore I may purchase any quantity. ; , .
Th runueUer, exposes himself to tempta
tion. DaUy handling the article, is he not
in danger! The writer knew a tavern-keeper
who conducted business for twenty years
apparently as a sober man, but at last he be
came a sot Then there is his society. What
benefit can he derive from profanity, the ob-'
scene lests and the blasphemy of the drunk
en and the profligate who visit his store!
Again, he is exposed 'to the temptation of
wismng ms saies 91 liquor to increase, since
it is to his pecuniary profit Can that call
ing be right which induces one to promote
the injury, and not the welfare, of his
neighbor! , ... .
1'he liquor seller expose $ others to tempta
tion. It may be the youth whom be employs
to deal out the article, It is idle to say he
does not compel him. He employs him for
that purpose. If one hires another to com
mit murder, is he less guilty than the other
who imbrues his hand in a fellowman's
blOOd! v
, Again, his own children and his neighbor's
children are exposed to temptation. It may
be said be can keep his children home, but
will he do it! and that his neighbors can do
the same, but will they ? :i w
Will not the son of some drunken father,
just staggering home from his counter, be
sent hither with the bottle to be filled f But
is not the effort on the part of 4 the liquor
seller to keep his own children home an ad
mission that there is something wrong about
the traffic!- ' y .
Ths rum seller cannot be ignorant of the
evil he is doing, and therefore cannot be in
nocent. Though well dressed and respecta
ble young men, who patronize his bar, may
not leave intoxicated, but then the liquor
seller perceives in them an increasing fond
ness for spirituous liquors and that they are
no longer moderate drinkers. He. is well
aware that there i a strong probability that
some, if not all, of these men will sadly
abuse the use of ardent spirits. 4 He does hot
know but that the drunken husband and
father, when he . reaches home, may most
brutally beat his wife and children or kill
his neighbor. He is fully aware that his
traffic makes the widow's and the orphan's
tears to flow, the wife's and the; mother's
heart to beat with sad forebodings. He sees
perhaps the squalid poverty, wretchedness
and misery that result from his calling.' He
knows that he pursues his occupation for
gain. , He but illustrates and proves that the
love of money is the root of all evil.
' The rum seller cannot be an adoocate of
temperance. ma lips are closed. ' Why sell
it if he declaims against the evil ! How can
he persuade his customers not to drink since
he keeps it for their accommodation ! . His
influence is all on the side of intemperance.
It is to his interest to sell all the liquor he
can, for the more he sells the greater are his
profits. Promoted bv self-interest, the dan
ger is that he may become a foe of temper
ance and antagonize all efforts to promote it
in his community. He may boast that he
keeps an orderly house and complies - with
the law, but still the very respectability and
attractiveness of his place of business makes
it bat a greater snare to the genteel and re
spectable people in his vicinity. ' ' : '
The rum-seller, however, has some apolo
gies to make in justification or in palliation
of his course. Let us see what the,, most
important of them are :'
(1) He pleads that his calling is a lawful
one, for he has license from the State to en
gage in his traffic. His code of morals does
not rise higher than human law.fi Idolatry
was legalized in the . days of the Apostle
Paul, but in exhorting the Rome church to
be law-abiding he did not co'mlland its
members'to be idolaters. ) PubRc brothels in
France are licensed .by the government f
and gambling houses and lotteries in some
countries ; but no christian should have any-'
thing to do with them. It is not to be pre '
sumed that legislators would . prohibit the
traffio in ardent spirits. :--i-7y
f The rum-seller may plead that if hs -does
not sell liquor, others u?iUf and so ' the evil
wUl not be discontinued. Row this is flimsy.
and the argument amounts to this i that be-;
cause others chose to do wrong, I may as
well do it. If others lie and steal, it is no
reason I should. Our motto should be : Let
others do as they may, as for ourselves, we
wui ao right. ? "i wonld rather , be right
good may come, or that the end justifies the
means, men men ana roooerv mav ba le
gitimate business, since many who engage
in them might -plead they had families to
support, and were therefore bound to do
given to send them out must be repeated
year after year, of course, and while this is
an important part of the Centennial move
ment, which our Committee have ever kept
in mind and ever sought to forward, they
have seught to obey the positive instruc
tions of the Convention which ordered us to
push "with all positive vigor? the raising of
this $250,000, "leaving to the several Boards
to press the enlargement of the regular con
tributions.", See S. B. C. Minutes for 1892,
pp. 15 and 42.
; Brethren who know better than the Con
vention how this matter ought to be man
aged, should have given the Convention the
benefit of their wisdom in Atlanta. Having
kept silent then, when they should have
spoken, , they should "forever after hold
their peace." , . s ;
; It is very important ' that the Centennial
Committee and the Boards act with the ut
most harmony, and it is gratifying to know
that such has been the case. The President
what they did.- The keeper of a public of the Foreign Board and thtf Corresponding
brothel might present the same plea.
: In the days of persecution when spies
were employed by governments to ferret out
and arrest christians that they might be tried
and punished, those encased in such busi
ness might have pleaded in justification that
they had families to support - But does not
such a plea betray a distrust of God's provi
dence I ,. AY: yi A' "AjAA"'- "M
Is it not a reflection upon his wisdom and
goodness that he has placed us in a position
where we are driven to employ unlawful or
Suestionable means to support our families?
e who feeds the fowls of the air and
clothes the lilies of the field has promised to
feed and clothe us though we be of little
faith. ' David said, "I have never seen the
righteous forsaken nor his seed begging
bread." And again, 4They that wait upon
the Lord shall not want any good thing."
What would be thought of a christian mar
tyr when brought to the stake, and the al
ternative of worshiping idols or of losing his
life should be presented to him, if he should
choose the former on the ground that he had
a family to support I
ABut;all who. are engaged in the liquor
traffic cannot make this flimsy excuse in justi
fication of a business which their consciences
often condemn, for they have no families.
Stalwart youne men with none but them
selves to support are often seen behind 'the
bar dealing out the fiery liquid. These men
have the same legitimate and honorable
means of securing a livelihood that their
fellows have. The mechanic arts, agricul
ture, mercantile pursuits, commerce and the
professions are open to them as toothers.
Shall we make our living out of the tears,
groans and blood of our fellow-beings! -
Finally, it is urged that good and honora
ble men have been engaged in the liquor
iramo. tiei wis oe granted, yet it is equally
true that they were ignorant of the evil they
were doing. Abraham, Jacob ' and others
were good men, yet they were polygamists.
Luther, Calvin, Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer
and Cotton Matther were good men, and yet
wey were persecutors. me time was when
good men were engaged in the opium and
the slave trade. Yet such practices cannot
be tolerated nor adopted by good men at
this day. The time wasjwhen ministers of
the gospel drank freely and some to excess,
and yet were tolerated and respected, but
such is not the case now. , . A--'
In pursuing a different course, the clergy
of to day pass no censure upon their prede
cessors, but merely live up to the light they
have. Moreover, cood .and honorable men
engaged in the traffio of ardent spirits, when
convinced of the evil, abandoned it Go ye
j j. 1:1 . --I. , , . M ' . . .
auu uu ii&ewise. . . t K. VV,
Farnham, Va. s , '
Secretary of the Home Board are members
or tne Committee; and ho one need fear
there will be the slightest friction. Indeed,
those churches which have given most to
this special fund, have also greatly increased
their subscriptions for the regular work.
Several of them have singly assumed, in
whole or in part, the support of a new mis
sionary. And it must be borne in mind
that the raisirg of this special fund for per
manent work will considerably enlarge the
regular woric Tnere are single fields where
our Boards pay enough for rent to support
another missionary. This fund will provide
permanent quarters for these missions, and
the large amount of rent thus saved can be
used to support new missionaries.
f It goes without saying that a special fund
must be raised by a special effort - It is
equally obvious that while a special effort is
Dcingmaae m a given enuren for one ob
ject other objects cannot be corresponding- -ly
urged. . It is plain also that the special
object should be provided for as quickly as
practicable in order to get it out of the way
of the regular work.
Dr. W. D. Powell has been greatly blessed
so far in the work of raising this special
fund. He has also secured the sending of
several new missionaries to the foreign field.
If the time allowed him to visit all the
churches the amount would be easily se
cured; but the shortness of the time and the
greatness of the field render it imperative
that the friends f the Centennial movement ,
stir themselves. So far four States have
taken their place in line as having provided
forseenring their respective apportionments,
viz., Maryland, Kentucky, Alabama and
South Carolina. What these States have
done, the others can as easily do. To suc
ceed in this special effort to which , the de
nomination is so thoroughly committed, will
be a grand ach ie vemen t s lunula tin s our i n-
terests of every soft and giving the world a
new respect for Southern Baptists. . To fail
would be mortifying, humiliating and dis
couraging, and would effectually prevent the
undertaking of any great and noble enter
prise for many years to come. If ever we
are to do our best ia not this Centennial
year the time! What sort of an occasion
will ever arouse us, if we are careless ijowf -
; TUe admirable addresses of the Centen
nial meeting in Louisville have been issued,
by direction of the committee, m a neat
pamphlet lit is worthy of a Mde circula
tion and it will do good, wherever Jt goes.
All the profits of sales go directly to the "
Centennial Fund for permanent Work The
price per copy is twenty-five cents postage
piu, wuu vuti aauai discount 10 me iraae.
Thi
The Centennial Fund for Permanent Wort
hey can he hadSthrough the State chairman
or through the undersigned. - ... .
T. T. EATON,
Chairman Cen. Coin. S B. C:
Louisville, Ky. A . '
" Editor Biblical Recorder: At the session
of the Southern Baptist Convention in At
lanta last May it was unanimously decided
to raise a special fund of 1250,000 to be
equally ; divided between the Home and
Foreign Boards, to be used for permanent
work, such as chapel building, Bible trans
lation, eto., as distinguished from the regu
lar work of supporting missionaries. It was
also unanimously voted "that the securing
of; this fund be pushed with all possible
vigor." Not a dissenting voice was raised.
vA committee was appointed to apportion
this amount among the States,- as follow:
Joseph Shackleford, A. B. Miller, S. ?M.
Yeatman, N. A. Bailey, J. G. Gibson, W, 8.
By land, Joshua Levering; J. W, Bozeman,
w. U. Kothwell, N, B. Bronghton, J. A.
Speight, J. Li Vass, d H. . Jones, B. ,H.
Carroll and A. E. Owen. Every State and
the District of Columbia bad representation
on this committee, which did its work, and
its report was unanimously adopted by the
Convention. Moreover, all the StaU bodies.
so far as the Centennial Committee know,
have endorsed the actidn of the Convention.
Not an objection was offered, and not a dis
senting opinion expressed. - It is difficult to
see how Southern Baptists could be more
thoroughly committed to anything than they
are committed to the raising of this fund. '
It was never contemplated that raising
this special fond should hinder the enlarge
ment of the regular work, The Convention
decided to try to "send a hundred new mis-
A Pure Home.
' There is nothing on earth for which one
ought to be more thankful than for having
been brought up in the atmosphere of a pure
home, v It may be deficient in material com
forts, and utterly lacking in graceful amen
ities that lend a charm to human life; but it
has in it the forces on which great charac-
ters are nurtured, une or our best friends
a man as sturdy as a forest oak once said
to me t ' ,, . , j
- Vlwas the son of poor parents, and from
my youth up was inured to self denial and
hardship; but I do not remember ever to
have heard a word from the lip3 of eitLcr
my father or my mother that was Dot ti
chaste as the driven snow "
Better such a recollection as that, t! r.a en
inheritance of millions of money. Ccr.trcl
nresbyierians'---'':":
No one can ask honestly or Lr ; f :-? t ,
he delivered from temptation unl i J A
himself honestly and firmly dt4 ; ' '
do the best he can to keep ou t c I i t . '
f W'- fAi';,,,, '
Search thine own heart. Wfcr.t i '
In others, in thyself may la.
All dust is frail, all fie 'i i .3 v
Be thou the true caa tl : i
than President," said a great American ora-1 slonaries to the foreign field and to corre-, I . Trust in Gel and