THE ORGAN, OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS-DEVOTED TO BIBLE RELIGION, EDUCATION, LITERATURE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. Volume 66. RALEIGH, N. C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY, 27, 1901. k Ntimbsr 34, THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING ; LET THE ' PEOPLE BRINd IT IN. . Hoped for, payed for, suffered for, voted for; heralded in clarion tones by oaf Governor and proclaimed as he en tered bis office ; -the era of good feeling, overdue five months and more, is not yet to eight. This editorial is written here in hope that something may he done to hasten its arrival. a The entire State seems to have been innoculattd with' the virus of the spirit which was endured as necessary in cam paigns of the past, ee pecially of recent years; but which we hoped to be immune of after last August. Even the Supreme Court has been the scene of slings and Blurt, which have only too well leflected the general state; and in very recent weeks the pent up feeling of the Justices have found utterance in public. We have uo reference whatever to the impeach ment proceedings, which are now in a stage where no one may wisely speak. Without going into the details, we may point out that with such a state of affairs in the highest region of the life of the Commonwealth, nothing very noble may reasonably be hoped for in the lower plane of ordinary politics. For Justices to fling at one another in decisions and public speeches is as unworthy as can be; and we make the statement without re gard to parties, since slur and innuendo from one side has been answered by slur and inueado from the other, while courts of other States have looked on with amazement. If it were simply a matter of denouncing a newspaper in pardon able defense of the Court, it would not be significant. That was merely an inci dent of the situation. Well informed citizans understand that the condition we refer to is far more grave, being the in tensification of relations that have ex isted between the Justices fjr months, relations utterly, unworthy of"a high court, -relations that may not include every one of the Justices, but in which, it is no secret, the two leading political parties are respectively represented. One hesitates to fancy what an Ashe or a Ruffin might do could he return to the cene of those labors thatrwere so high above politics and personalities, and see one Justice make a thrust at ano'her in manner just a little more restrained than ordinary partisans use in joint debate. Partisan rancor has indeed to a degree moderated in the body politic; but we can not say that the atmosphere is freer from denunciation and abuse of the most personal character. It is only too well known how defenceless our citizens have become against wanton insinuations and even open abuse and foul charges. We will not say more. In deprecating so unhappy a state of affairs this paper must beware lest it add fuel to the flames. Our conviction ia that thiseoit of work will injure our State sadly. Such abuse can not be heaped up and such hatred can not be engendered without serious in jury not only to its authors and the objects of their venom, but to our good old State. It is not simply a matter or individual safety, but of health in our Commonwealth. Her self respect can not survive everything. Her dignity and her fair name may not be carelessly han died. Rancor like this breeds the dis tempers which dwarf States and render their glory inglorious; dishonors citizen BnlP, destroys brotherhood, paralyses churches, and makes the ministry of no avail. " We had hoped that the little local feuds &at have divided churches and harassed ligious work in recent years would be wsipatad in the light of nobler actions the principals to the larger warfares. Bat so far there . is no such encouragement.- To ho sure, the abuse is not trictly partisan, but it is none the lesa Wtter and venomous; and the era of good feeling, for which many a minister has waited in fond hopes that it would rey store peace to his congregation, scema knoet hopelessly postponed. Bat it is ot hopeless ' 7 .'.I. Those -who have waited may wait no longer.' By this ti me they ought to be able to identify the sources of this bitterness, and perceive with what design it is kept up. It is no longer a political matter; it is far from a party matter. If it were simply this we would not fpeak. It has come to be an affair In waich those who love peace and dignity must say to those who would live by hate 'and, abuse that they must cease f 1 om their ways, or re ceive the disapproval of men who really love peace. Waiting may give place now to a more active attitude. We have a right to demand, in God's name and for the peace of His; churches and the pro gress of His cause, decency and the res toration of better feel.ng and more re spect for our State and its people. The Era of Good Feeling will not come, we must now realizs, until the authors of ill-feeling are taught the error of their way. We tbink it will be agreed that great forbearan e has been exercised. If the sowers of serpent' teeth will not stop, those who respect themselves and love their. State and her people and seek after peace must look about them for means to put an end to this hateful busi ness. On one hand is buHding now a senti ment which would make it hazardous for a citizen to protest against bitterness and hatred and passion, and the sad abuse of the glorious freedom of speech and of the press. On the other, then, must be built a sentiment that will suffocate in its strength and fulness the spirit of hate and the method ol abuse, and foster self respect, respect for one's State, and broad and brotherly fellowship of citizens one with another. Let us bring the Era of Good Feeling in. Obligation. BY JOHN J DOUGLASS. "I am debtor both to the Greeks and the baibarmns; both to the wise and the unwise." Romans 1. 14. Saul of Tarsus had been called marvel ously and unexpectedly into the heart of an important ministry. His conversion had not come of his own set king and through the slow process of reasoning. It had come suddenly, at midday, on the road to Damascus. It revealed to him. the startling truth that he was a servant, instead f a master. This fact clesrly outlined his future position and policy. In the most real sense it was to be one of servitude to the Master and to the worli-at-large. It is eminently true, therefore,, that the senee of obligation is the sign of spiritual life Ho who does not feel burning within his heart the freneeof obligation to his fellow man, may well question bis own conversion. Tee unconverted man never feels that it is his duty to minister to the spiritual wants of others; it would be unnatural tor him to be otherwise. Saul of Tarsus, holding the garment of them who stoned Stephen to his death, is a type of man unconscious of obligation. The Apostle Paul, willing to preach the unsearchable riches of the gospel to Greek and barbarian, wise and foolish, is the hrghest type of Cnristian mmhood, be cause we see him fully conscious of obli gation. And then, again, obligation is not con fined to class distinctions. In the estimation of the apostle, Chris tianity placed him under obligation to the uncouth and uncultured barbarian, as well as to the cuUured and refined Greek. His natural leaning to the best society was lost in the ardeat longing of his great heart for the conversion of univer sal humanity. If Christ could offer to suffer and die for the barbarian and the foolish in human life, he could afford to live and labor for it. He who strive to set up an aristocracy of obligation In the kingdom of the Master, ha grossly mis interpreted the spirit of Christianity and the 'language of its Founder, when He said" "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Wilson, NrC. ' t Baptist Polity Suited to Survive. , Let it be remembered that our Baptist polity Is exactly suited to survive the fiercett . persecution. A Baptist church is such a simple affair, that four or five people meeting in a cellar can fulfill all the required conditions. A pfreecution that would destroy all great ecclesiastical organizations, would simply tend the Baptists into hiding places, where they could still maintain the polity and fellow ship. Selected. ' What Constitutes a Baptist. BY P. 8. HENSON, D.D. Seeing that thereare denominations, there must needs be names' to distinguish them, but these names, like those that ae given to individuals, are often any thing but descriptive of character.- Let us hope that there is something more of the Episcopal Church than the episcopos, or bishop, and something more of : the Presbyterian Church than a tpresbytery, and something more of Methodism than a method, and something mere of Bap tists than a baptistery. There are a great many things that w,e rejoicingly hold in common with all evangelical believers.' Gratefully do we! recognize the fact that as the years go by, we are coming to see more clearly eye , to eye. Many of the things that were formerly distinctly Baptistic have ceased to be so, because, thanks to the persistent propagandiem of our Baptist fathers, the principles for which they 6tood so courageously, almost single-handed and alone, have now been, almost univerrally adopted by air the churches of Christendom. INFLUENCE OB" OUR PRINCIPLES, Take, for instance,1 the matter of soul liberty, the right of private judgment, and the absolute divorcement of church and State, Baptist have always tood for that, aid all Protestant Christians, at least in America, now stand for that; but they did not always do it, as witness the pains and penalties visited upon our Baptist fathers by the Pilgrim fathers in New England; and -by the Episcopalians in Virginia. The like is true of the mat ter of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, as a condition precedent to church member ship. It is indisputably true tbat in countries where pedobaptism has univer sally prevailed, whole communities and nationalities have been included in the church, and that without any pretense of a change of heart, orjany urgent insist ence upon its necessity. In lands where Baptist principles hre been actively propagated it has come-to pass that pedo baptist churches, almost without excep tion, have come to coincide with us in the position that a change of heart must be experienced before one is properly quali fied for citizenship ia God's Kingdom on earth or in heaven. It is in no spirit of vainglorious boast ing that we seem to claim the credit for the changed front of Christendom with respect to an if sue so fraught with far reaching consequences. In all ages we have held the ground which we now hold. Sometimes we have held it against great odds bu tnow we-might ily re j ice that Cristians of almost all denomina tions have come to stand beside us on it. As to the Word of God, a long time our position was peculiar. We contended that it was the only and all-sufficient rule of faith and practice. We denied the legitimacy of the authority of popes and priests and ecclesiastical councils, or the bin l.ng force of the traditions of "the fathers" properly called the fathers a3 being the progenitors of the most pesti lent breed of heresies that ever cursed the world. Other denominations do for the most part join in with w in echoing the re formation cry: "Tite Bible, the Bible only, the religion of Protestants," and yet we are constrained to say that they do not consistently and persistently ad here to thii sound principle. ; Their ablest and most scholarly men have been frank enough to concede the fact that the baptism of the early church was nothing other than immersion, and that there is not a trace in the New Tes tament of the baptism of any others than believers. And so they are obliged to fall back upon church authority and ecclesiastical tradition to furnish justifi- cation for the change of an rdinance of Christ's appointment. - - A CLEAR DISTINCTION. . svl ! When the papal church mutilates and perverts the ordinance of the Lord's Sup per, giving only a wafer to. the laity and reserving the cup for the priesthood, we, in common with all Protestants, do sol emnly charge that this mutilated thing is not the Lord's Supper at all; and when, on the other hand, our Protestant brothers substitute sprinkling or pouring for the beautifully symbolic ' and pro foundly significant baptismal burial which our Lord appointed, we cannot but deplore this departure from f New Testament order, and we should be lack ing in fidelity to our Lord and in love to our brethren if we did not lift our voice continually against it. If there be any one thing unequivocally clear from the Scriptures, it is that 'the baptism which Christ appointed is believer's baptism, and our contention is that if infant bap tism were universally practiced, and it ought to be if it be right at all, then be liever's baptism would be banished from the earth, and therefore we protest. Nay, more. We are assured that there are three that bear witness on earth the Spirit, the water, and the Blood; and these three agree in One. The witness or the Spirit is in the Word; of .the water, in baptism ; of the Blood, in the Supper. , Each of these, if rightly ust d, contains the whole gospel. "The , Word contains it expressly,: while the ordi nances silently declare it in symbolic language. In the Supper we enow the Lord's death His body. His blood, and our reception of Christ by faith, that He is incorporated into tur very being. In baptism we visibly represent His death and r burial and resurrection, and our death to sint and our resurrection to walk in newness of life. These are God's witnesses, and we have no more right to mutilate one than another. For the in tegrity of the Scriptures and the Inte grity of the ordinances we Baptists have al ways tried - to stand.-'" ;a:Tr::f40tl As to the terms of communion, we are not aware : that we hold aay views that are anywise different from those which prevail in most pedobaptist eimrches. We simply maintain that the regular, natural, scriptural order is, first, faith; secondly, a profession of that faith in baptism, and the presentation of one's self at the table of the Lord. ? THE RELATION OF THE ORDINANCES ! . Baptism- is a symbolic representation of the beginning of the new life, and is therefore properly administered but once.' The Supper is a symbolic representation of the sustenance of the new life after it has been begun, and Is therefore fre quently repeated. It Is palpably appa rent that the ordinance that symbolizes the birth" should, have precedence of the ordinance that symbolizes sustenance, and this was the order in the New Testa ment church. In this view we are quite" at one with the great' majority of pedo baptist churches. Both they and we are thoroughly agreed , that baptism 6hould precede communion. The difference be tween us lies in this; That they believe that almost any application of water may be accounted baptism, while we maintain that baptism i a burhvl.only, and that sprinkliDg is not a burial . at all. , There is not the slightest differ nee between us and others a to the qualifications for com munion, but simply as to what - is Scriptural baptism, and yet jost because we can not honestly concede that bap tism is anything other than a burial, with singular unfairness and unbrotnerliness we are perpetually charged with being "close communionists." Let us cease to, bandy epithets and betake ourselves to the study of the Scriptures. We deeply deplore the existence of denominational divisions, and we do not believe that the crowningtriumphfrChrBtianity be won until our Saviour's prayer is an swered, "That thoy all may be one; as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Theo, that they also may bo one in us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me." . : r'-f-:. rz-rns..hU-y But wo shall not come to see eye to eye by shutting our eyes and blinking at the truth. Not by the cowardly surrender of honert conviction shall we ever attain to tbe unity of the faith, and the knowl edge of the Son of God, bu by the sur render of prejudice and the abandonment of reliance upon human leadership, and a fearless and faitbfnl study of the Word of God. The Rams Horn; Chicago, III. Let Baptists Olve no Ground In the Fight for the Free Schools. I want to thank you for your editorial in behalf of the public schools. Continue to stand by the school. The politicians talk and make - promises for them, but when the Solons at Raleigh go to make appropriations, they rather give money to some other institution which gives the"m a stronger pull among their fellows. The Baptists must give no ground in this fight, for our people are mostly affected by the schools. t 1 There are too many appropriations by the Legislature; too many objects or calls for the State's money, unless there waa more wealth in the State. Every in stitution must, It seems, be kept on its feet by the State's money, and they con tinue to make . ntw objects fcr State bounty. " . , . "t -l ' The private pension bills are takirgthe money that ought to .go to the schools. Many of them are doubtless without merit. My idea of education is to edu cate all the people as far as we are able, and then let thote who can and have the inclination take all the extras they; can afford. Technical education is all right, but it fits a man to earn money, and it is safe for him to spend money for it. The reform school would not be needed if the Eublio schools were what they ought to e. ; , E. B. MILLSAPS. ' ry" r;';"'i:;"'t':'?:'':''' The pleasantest things in the wrld are feasant thoughts, and the greatest art n life is to have as many of them as pos sible. Ex. : On the Duty of Christian Giving. ' BY ELDER HENRY SHEETS. ' " ; Christian giving is a subject which is very much misunderstood. By some it is regarded as a burden and disagreeable Eart of Christian duty, These people ave yet to learn that it is a blessed privilege bestowed upon us by our Bav-. iour, who said: - "It is more blessed to give than to receive.'' . . , The Lord imposes no burdens upon His ' faithful followers, for His 'yoke is easy." All that is required of us is, ae a means of grace, v He could, had His wisdom so directed, have given the gospel to the world, through other agencies than call ing his people to goto heathen lands and preach Christ to tha people; but no, He would have saved men and women go to them, while the people at home give them needed support. Why this? Because we need the spiritual uplift that comes from such sacrifice,' if 'indeed we dare call it sacrifice. -, , , v God's cause can- and will go forward without mine or without our gifts, if we will not contribute; for His purposes can not fail ; but can we get on and have heaven's approbation without doing our duty! That the rich and well to do ought to too often people get an idea that poor people, and especially those who are very poor, ought to be excused from the duty of supporting the church and all phases of mission work. And often there Is a feeling . manifested : that a great favor has been granted to those members so excused." Who has a right to excuse members from this duty? Where is the Scripture exonerating any one from Christian beneficence! Paul, speaking by inspiration, said (I Cor. 16: 1, 2): "Now, concerning th? collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do we. Upon tbe first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store.'! In tho above he had "given older" that every one should con tribute.. None eeem to bo excust d. Dr. Gill, an eminent commentator, saysi "The persons who are to contrib ute are every one, of every ecx, age, state and condition, male and female, jtuig and old; servants; andl; masters, the meaner as well as the richerort.", When Jesus wa 8 watching; the gifts tha were being cast into the treasury, He said nothing of the large amounts given by the rich-He seemed to regard what they, had ? done as a matter of course; hut when the poor widow cast in her two mites, probably all that she had to live unon that dav. Jesus at once mis act oz worsmp, ana commenaea ana emphasized it by saying tbat she had done more than all the others who cast in large sums. If the very poorest and she seemed to be of tbat number were ever to be excused, this, it seems, would have; been the time. But instead, He showis that He was well pleased with the greatest self-denial on the part of the poorest of His follower?; and as if to teach tho?e who would, through mistaken kindness, rob the poor of the bleesednees of Christian giving, the Holy Spirit has recorded His approbation of ths act of hers. We fear that many Christians and churches are suffering spiritual dearth because of the neglect of tbis duty. : We can not hope for the largest meas ures of God's blessing while making lit tle or no sacrifice to Him. Then let all our churches endeavor during : this first year of the new century to secure a con tribution from every member for our mtaatnn vrnrb Aft Wftll fla ronpral fhiirch exrenee, - Lexingon, l$Q.ffi3S?ffr37:l Put It In Your Bible. Here is a handy table furnished by the Christian World, which it would be well to cutout and copy for reference in your Bible studies: . - - A dayjs journey was about itwenty three and one fifth miles A Sabbath day's journey was about an English mile. , A cubit was nearly 22 Inches. A hand's breadth is equal toZ inches. A finger's breadth is equal to about one inch. - " A shekel of silver was about 50 cents. A shekel of gold was $9. , A talent of silver was 153.30. A talent of gold was $13,809. A farthing was 3 cents. A piece of silver, or a penny, was 13 cents.- ' Amite was less than a quarter cf a cent. , An ephah, or bath, contained enn gallons and five pints. The Baptist Courier marks t characteristic of huraan ratui . ality with other people's r : promptness to confess other 1 are two virtues which "r, . , of the human race. ' ' rr 11 r

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