North Carolina Newspapers

! ! 4 ! i I t : i TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: (CASH t3t ADVANCE) One Copy, One Tear, $1.50. ' .W. GJ BURKHEAD, . Editor. NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS. All correspondents are h-ereby notified t hitt to insure the insertion of their com munications theyi must furnish us with their : oblig: Jule name and address, which-we ate to keep mtnct confidence. : Wrile- ,.(( Oil O ie side of the sheet. I , ' , The PUnt: w m.no wise; responsible for thfi viewp of its correspondents. Aildreis all commuuications to THE TOBACCO PLANT, II ! y Dcbham, x. c. I YKAlt'S KVE Little f Ireti-hcn, little Gretchen wanders. m anxi uown tire' street ; i TlicsiMNjr is on 1 her : yellow hair, the frost is at: her kit. j t I h 'The rows of long, dark houses without, look cold and damp. . ! Bv the struggling pf the moonbeam, hv the iujeKer 01 uie lamp, i i , .Tlie cloukis riile-fiist: as horses, the wind is friwn the north, I I . But iio; ne cares for Gretchen, and no one looketh forth. ,! -.'.'' Within those dark, damp houses are" raerrv lak es bright. And haiiij)v hearts are watching 'out the old I i vfar's latest night, ;! :;; ; .- With tht little 1kx of matches she' could not sell all dav, j . ! M' : i'hI thejthin, thiiij tattered naantle the wind way, i r railing, sliie shivers in tlie blows evervl She clingtth to the glkxtni i i "Y nuglv 'There ane parents I l.l lilrht in the ittingl snugly by the fire- room And i hidren with rave faccsi ace whispering oue another i )f presents for the niother. f ; j'.itt no J me talks new yearJFor father or for to Gretchen, and no one hears her sin-uk, No hreatli of little jwhisierse)iiies warnilv to cheek. No littlelarnis around her al nie ! that there i should Ik', With-sojnmch happiness on earth, so much of : niiserv Sure their ' of many hlessings should scatter I : blessings rotjinl, As- lailen txxiglis in i autumn fling their ripe '; 1 fiiiits to ithef ground. And tlie best love jnan can offer to the God of love, Ik' sure, Is kindnii-ss to Ins i Ills IMM.r, little onesl and bounty to ii J.-f ; Little Gretchen. little Gretchen coos'--.coldly' I ': oil her wav There's lo one looketh out atj her, tliero'S no iejjiu bids heii stav, Her honjie is cold rjiid desolate:; no smile, no- 1'mmI, no tire but ciiildren-clamorous for bread, .and an inl- -j ; patient sire, ij'" J . Si she f-its down in an angle where two great houses meet i lj - And slie curleth ujj .beneath; her, for warmth, her little teet : A'nd'sheilohkcth:on the cold Wall, and on the colder skv, And wonders it thj little stars are bright fires up on high. She heaifs a clock 1 strike slowly, up" in a far church tower, With su-h a sad arid solenuj tone, telling the ! . midnight lumr. j i I i - ' i - i t! 'Ml And she rememlertd her of tides her mother 1-.; used to tell, j j. ; -'. f. . -'.'." - . And ofitiie cmdle-sohgs she sang, wlieti sum , hijer's twilight fell; - ' . . -Cg,ofKl hien and oiT angels, 'and of the Iloly "j ' fliUd, jiiv ; ; ; ho wn,s cradled in a manger, when winter was mot wihl ; ; ! I Wh w5 poor, arid i cold, ai d hungry, and !. ' dtfsolate an(t lone;1 And she thouglit the song; had told he was ever with his own; And all the poor ind hungry and forsaken.' bnes'are hisj j " i j- , "IIw.gool of Him. to look on me in such a jilace as thi!'j ( 'j . . . A Colder it growsj and ieolder,; but she does not j fei-1 it now, j ! - :' ill" For the . Pressure at her heart, and the weight ti on her brow; ; j j- j lint slij struck one little match on the "wall ' so eold and biire, Ml . That sliej might lH.)k around her, ami see if He were there, "j ,j - "'W,. The single match j has kindled, -and by the . j : fight it threw ! j j: ; It seemed to little (gretchen the wall was rent ! . id two; ; i jfi -" j ; " -.-. And sliej could see ! folks seated at a table richly spread, j ! Mi With heaps of gotkdiy viands, red wine and pSeasant breiut : 11 1 i ' . . - j .'Mi . ! ' in ;i- -1 1 1 - She could smell the fcigrant siivor, she coiiId i hear wliat they. did say. Then all'jwas darkijess once again, the- match ! had burned pway.; jjjj She struck another j hastily, and ,iiaw she --j- ' seemed to see! j ! ! - Within the same warm chamber a glorious jt'iristnias trjee; II ; .'' The branches were jail laden 'with things that ; - ; children prize, j ) j . ' - liright gifts for boy and maiden, she saw them 'i with her eyes, j '- ! ji! . ' And she almost seemed to touch them, and ( to join the Welcome shout, , When darkness fell; around her, 'for.the little: - - i match w;ls out. Ml i Another yet another, she h;id trieil--tliey will riot light; j I Till all her little store she took, and struck with all hr 'might:' 1 AniL the whole miserable place was lighted with the glare, ' i ' And she dreamed, there stood a little child . before her in the;air. j I ! There W .Te blood-drops on pis forehead, a sj)ear-wouml in his. side, And cruel nail-priritsi in his feet, and in his hands spread wide M And he! looked upon her gently, and she felt that he had known 1 1 ; 5 Painr hunger, cold, and sorrow ay, .equal to her own. . 1 1 . i M i rl - -1 r " ' " I And hei pointed to the ladeij botird and to the ' Christmas 'tfee, i j I ' ; Then upj to the cbld sky, and said, "Will Gretchen come with me?" .,".'' iTlielpoo child felt her pulses fail, she felt L;. her eye-balls swim, : And a ringing sound was in her ears, like her .. : . dead mother's hymn:1 J -And she i folded both; her thin; white hands, ' and turned from that bright board, j And from the golden gifts, and said, "With thee, with tluje, O Ixirdf ; T1m chillv winter morning breaks up.in the r , dull skies J ; : ; I , On the city wrapt in vapor, on tlie spot where j Gretchen lies, p i J In her scfint and tattered garment, with her j biijck against 'the wall,! ".,', !ishe sitteth cold and rigitl, she answers to no j " call. : I; '.: "t" I ' ' ' , ' jThey have lifted her up fearfiilly, they shud j dered as they said, "! ; 1'Tt was; a bitter bitter night! the child is frozen dead." it. j The angels sang their greeting for one more j itedeem'd frohi sin ; M' (Men said 'Tt was a bitter night; would no one let her in?" 1 ' I And thevf shivered ks thev spoke of her, and sighed. They couid not see -j How much of happiness there was after that niiserv. ; j Maky-IIowItt. THE PROUD INVAI.II. Ir. Tiilnuijve's Sermon, Proaolietl Sunrtay 3Ioniingr, Ioc. Itli. f "'He was ;'- I lere a lo(er. ; i Kings 5:1 we havV a warrior sick, not or rheumatisms or mt with a disease1 . . . - 1 with pleurisies , -nsuiilptions, worse than all these ut togetlier. A red mafk has come out on the fore-; 1 '"-ad, .reeursor of complete disfig- "reinent and dissolution. I have 1 sf'iiiething awful ; to tell you. Gen.! -Viaman, the eopmander-in-chief of , :ll.the Syrian forces, has the leprosy; (it is oij his hands, on his face, on ' "is feet on his ientire person. ; The; leprosy ! Get out of the way of the ; postilence! If his breath strikes you - Von . 1 i M . i - a,"t i ieai man. The comman VAT YV M VUL'' AY. NO. 51. Lder-in-chief of all the forces of Syria ! And yet he would V change conditions with the hoy at his stirrup, or tlie hostler that blank ets his charger. Tlie news goes like wildfire through all the reali,and the people are sympathetic, and thev cry out: "Is it possible that our great; hero who shot Ahab, and around whom we came with such vociferations when he returned from victorious battle can it be possible that our grand and glorious Xaaman has the leprosy ?" Yes. Everybody has something he wishes he had not David, an .Ab salom to disgrace him ; Paul, a thorn to sting him ; Job, carbuncles to plague him ; Sampson, a Delilah to shear him ; Ahab, a Xabotli to deny him ; Hainan, a Mordecai to irritate him ; George Washington, childless ness to afflict him ; John Wesley, a termagant wife to pester.him ; Leah, j weaK eyes ; Jonn Alitton, blind eyes ; Charles Larnlj an insane sister fand yon, and you, and you, and you, something - which you never barg ained for, and would, like to get rid of The reason of this is, that God does not want this world TO UK TOO I5RICHT, otherwise, we would always want to stay and eat these fruits, and lie on these lounges, and shake hands in this pleasant society. AVe are only in tlie.vestibule of a grand temple. God does not want us to stay yn the doorstej , and therefore he sends aches and annoyances, and sorrows, and bereavements of all sorts to push us on and push us up toward riper fruits, and brighter society, anil more radiant prosperities. God is only whipping us ahead. The reason that Edward Payson and Robert IJall had more rapturous views of heaven than other people had was because, through their aches arid pains, God pushed them nearer up to.it. If God dashes out one of your pictures it is only to show you a brighter one. If lie sting your foot witfi gout, your brain -with neuralgia, your tongue with an inextinguishable thirst, 'it is only because He, is , preparing to sub stitute a better body than, you ever dreamed of, when the mortal shall put on immortality. is to push you on and push you up toward something grander and .better that God sends upon you, as He did up on General Naama, something you do not want. Seated in his Syrian mansion all the walls glittering with the shields w hich he had cap tured in battle; the corridors crowded with admiring visitors who just "wanted to see him once ; i-music and mirth and banqueting hiring all tlie mansinn, from tessalated floor to pictured ceiling Xaaman would have forgotten that there was any thing better, arid would have been glad to stay there ten thousand years. But, oh, how the shields dim, and how the visitors fly from the hall, and how the music drops dead from the string, and how; the gates of the mansion slam .shut w ith sepul chral bang, as you read the closing words of the eulogiiim : " He was a leper ! He wasa leper !'.' There was one person more sym pathetic with General Xaaman than any other person. Xaaman's wife walks the floor, wringing her hands and trying to think w hat she can do to alleviate her husband's suffering. All remedies have failed. The surgeon-general and the doctors of the royal staff have met, and they have shaken their heads, as i niueh as to say : " NO CUKE, XO CUKK." I think that the office-seekers had all folded up their recommendations and gone hpme. 'Probably most of the employes of the establishment had dropped their work, and were thinking of looking for some other situation. What shall now become of poor Xaaman's wife? She must have sympathy somewhere. In her despair she goes to a little Hebrew ' captive, a servant girl in her house, to whom she tells the whole story, as sometimes, when overborne with the sorrows of the world, and finding 'no sympathy anywhere else, you have gone out and tound in the sym pathy of some humble domestic Rosa" or Dinah or Bridget a help which the world could not give you. What a scene it was ! One of the grandest women in all Syria in cab inet council with a waiting maid over the declining health of the mighty general ! "1 know something," says the little ! captive maid, "I know something,' as she bounds to her bare feet. In the land from which I was stolen there is a certain prophet known by the name of Elisha, who can cure almost everything, and I shouldn't wonder if he could cure mv master. Send for him right awav." ''Oh, liush !?? you say. " If the highest medical talent in all the .land cannot cure that leper, there is no need of your listening to any talk of a servant girl." But do not scoff, do not sneer. The finger of that little captive maid is pointing IX THE RIGHT DIRECTION'. She might have said : . "This is a judg ment on vou for stealing me from my natiVe land. Didn't they snatch me off in the night, breaking my father's and mother's heart And many a time have I laid and cried all night because I was so homesick." Then flushing up into childish in dignation she might . have said : 'Good for them ; I'm glad Xaaman's got the leprosy ; I wish all the Syr ians tiad the" leprosy." No. For getting her own personal sorrows, she sympathizes with the suffering of her master, and recommends him to the famous Hebrew prophet. And how often it is that the finger of childhood has pointed grown per sons to the right directions. . O, Christian soul, how long is it since you eot rid of the leprosy of sin ? Vou sav : "Let me see. It must le five 'years now." Five years. Who was it that pointed you' to the Divine mm "HERE SHALL THE PRESS Physician? "Oh," you say, "it was my little Annie or Fred or Charley, who clambered up on my knees and looked in my face and asked me why I didn't become a Christian, and all the time stroking my cheeks so I couldn't get angry, insisted up on knowing why I didn't have fam ily prayers." There, are grandpa rents here who have been brought to Christ by their little grandchildren. There are many Christian mothers here who had ,their attention first called to Jesus by their little chil dren. How did you get rid of the leprosy of sin ? How- did you find your way to the Divine Physician? "Oh," you say, "iny child, my dying child, with wan and wasted finger pointed that way ! Oh, I shall never forget," you say, " that scene at the cradle and the crib that awful night! It was hard, hard, verv hard ; but if that little one on its dying bed hadn't pointed me to Christ, I don't think I ever would have got rid of my lep rosy." (Jo into the Sabbath school this afternoon,and you will find hun dreds of little fingers pointing in the same direction, TOWARD JESUS CHH1ST, and toward heaven. Years ago the astronomers calcu lated that '.there must be a world hanging at a certain point in the heavens, and a large prize was offered for some one who could discover that world. The telescopes from the great observatories w ere pointed in vain, but a girl at '-Nantucket, Mass., fashioned a telescope, and, looking through it, discovered that star, and won the prize and the admiration of all the astronomical world, that stood amazed at her genius. Arid so it is often the case that grown people cannot see "the light, while some little child beholds the star of par don, the star of hope, tlie star of con-: solation, the star of Bethlehem, the morning star of Jesus. "Xot many mighty men, not many wise men are called ; but God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty ; and base things, and things that are not, to bringto naught things that are." Oh, do not despise, the prattle of little children when they are speaking about God, and Christ, and heaven ! Vou see the way your child U pointing ; will you take that pointing or wait until, in the wrench of some awful be reavement, God shall lift that child to another world, and then it will beckon you upward? Will you take the pointing or will you wait tor the beckoning? Blessed be God that the little Hebrew captive pointed in the right direction ! Blessed be God for the saving ministry of Christian children ! No wonder the advice of this little Hebrew captive threw all Xaaman's mansion and Ben-hadad's palace into excitement. Good-by, Xaa man? With face scarified and rigid and inflamed by the pestilence, and aided by those who supported him on either side, he staggers out to the chariot. Hold fast the fiery coursers of the royal stable while the poor sick man lifts his swollen ftet and pain struck limbs into the vehicle. Bolster him up with the pillows and let him take a lingering look at his bright apartment, for perhaps the Hebrew captive may be mistaken, and the next time Xaaman comes to that place he may be a dead weight on the. shoulders of those who carry him an expired chieftain seeking sepulture amid the lamen tation's of an admiring nation. Good by, Xaaman! " Let the charioteer drive gently over the hills of Hermon, lest he jolt the invalid. Here goes the bravest man of all his day a CAPTIVE OF A HORRIBLE DISEASE. As the ambulance winds through the streets of Damascus the tears and prayers of the people go after the world-renowned invalid. Per haps you haj had an invalid go out from your house on a health ex cursion. You know how the neigh bors stood around and said: "Ah, he will never come back again alive!" Oh, it was a solemn mo ment, I tell you, when the invalid had departed, and you went into the room to make the bed and to remove the medicine vials from the shelf, and to throw open the shutters so that the fresh air might rush into the long-closed room ! , Good-by, Haaman ! There is only one cheer ful face looking at him, and that is the face of the little Hebrew captive, who is sure he will get cured and who is so glad she helped him. As the chariot winds out and the escort of mounted courtiers, and the mules, laden with sacks of gold and silver arid embroidered suits of apparel, went through the gates of Damascus and out on the long way, the hills of Xaphtali and Ephraim look down on the procession, and the retinue gties' right past the battle fields where Xaaman, in the days of his health, used to rally .his troops for fearful onset ; and then the procession stops and reclines a while in tlie groves of olives and oleander, and Gen. Xaa man so sick and so very , very sick ! How, the countrymen gaped as the procession passed! They had seen Xaaman go past like a whirl wind in days gone by, and had stood aghast at the clank of his war equipments ; but now they commis-. erate him. They say : "Poor man; he will never get home alive ! Poor man !" Gen. Xaaman. wakes from a restless sleep in the chariot, and he savs to the charioteer : "How long be'fore we sliall reach this Prophet Elisha?" ;The charioteer says to a waysider : "How far is it tb Eli sha's house?" He savs: "Two miles." "Two miles." Then they whip up the lathered and fagged out horses. The nvhole procession brightens up at the prospect of speedy arrival. They drive up to the door of the prophet. The char ioteers shout: "Whoa!" to the THE PEOPLE'S RIGHTS MAINTAIN, UNAWED BY INFLUENCE DURHAM, N. C, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, horses, and the tramping hoofs and grinding wheels cease shaking the earth. Come out, Elisha, come out, you have company ; the grandest com- j nanv that ever came to vour house : has come to it now. o stir lnsiue Elisha's house. The fact was, the J Lord had informed Elisha that the sick captain was coming and just how to treat him. Indeed, when you are sick and the Lord wants you to get well, He always tells the doc tot how to treat you ; and the reason we have SO MANY KUNGLIX'; DOCTORS is because they depend "upon their own strength and instructions and not on the Lord God, and that al ways makes malpractice. Come out, Elisha, and attend to your busi ness. Gen. Xaaman arid his retinae, waited, and waited, and waited. The fact was Xaaman had two diseases pride and leprosy ; the one was as hard to get rid of as the other. Elisha sits quietly in his house and does not go out. After a while,when he .thinks he has huriibled this proud man, he says to a servant : "Go Out and tell Gcri. Xaaman to bathe seven times in the River Jor dan, out yonder live miles, and lie will get entirely well." The message conies out. "What !" says the commander-in-chief of the Syrian forces, his eye kindling with an animation it had not known for weeks, and his swollen foot stamp ing on the bottom of the chariot, regardless of pain : "What"! Isn't he coming out to see me? Why, I thought certainly he would come and utter some cabalistic words over me or make some enigmatical passes over my wounds, i Why, I don't think he knows who 1 ; than they do before conversion'. Xow am. Isn't he. coming out? Why, j we are to them an intolerable jiuis when the Shunammite woman came ! ance because we tell' them to do to him he rushed out and cried : I things that go airainstithc grain : bu; 'Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with thy child ? And will he treat a poor unknown woman like that, and let me, a titled personage, sit here in my chariot and wait and wait ? I won't endure it any longer. Char ioteer, drive on ! Wash in the Jor dan! Ha! ha! The slimy Jordan the muddy Jordan the monoto nous .Jordan. I wouldn't be seen washing in such a river as that. Why, we watered our horses in a better river than that on our way here the beautiful river, the jasper paved river of Pharpar. Besides that, we have in our country another Damascen e ri ve r A ba na wit 1 i foliaged banks ami torrent ever swift and ever clear, under the flick ering shadows of sycamore and oleander. Are not Abana and Phar par, rivers of Damascus, better than all the rivers of Israel?" I suppose Xaaman felt very much as we should feel, if by way of med ical prescription, some one should tell us to go and wash in the Danube or the Rhine. We would answer : "Are not the Connecticut or the Hud son just as good ?"' Or, as an Eng lishman would feel if he were told, by way of medical prescription, he must go and wash in the Mississippi or St. Lawrence. He would cry out: "Are not the ThamesandShan non just as well ?" The fact was that haughty Haaman needed to learn what every Englishman and every American needs to learn that" . WHEN 001) TELLS VOU TO DO a thing, you must go and do it, whether you understand the reason or not. One thing is certain, unless haughty Xaaman does as Elisha commands he will die of his awful sickness. And unless you do as Christ commands you, you will be seized by . an everlasting wasting away. Obey and live ; disobey and die. Thrilling, over-arching, under girding, stupendous alternative ! Well, Gen. Xaaman could not stand the test. The charioteer gives a jerk to the right line until the bit snaps in the horse's mouth, and the whirr of the wheels and the flying of the dust show the indignation of the commander. "He turned away in a rage." So people now often get mad at religion. They vituperate against ministers, against churches, against Christian people. One would think from their irate behavior that God had been studying how to an noy and exasperate and demolish them. What has he been doing ? Only trying to cure their death-dealing leprosy. That is all. Yet they whip up their; horses, they dig in their spurs and they go away in a rage. So, after all, it seems that this health excursion of Gen. Xaaman is to be a dead failure. That little He brew captive might as well have not told him of the prophet.and this long , T, 0 i Vonr,o,, t taken. Poor, sick, dving Xaaman ! are vou going awav in high dudgeon, n,f ih,n vhnn von en mo and worse than when vou came? As his chariot halts a moment his servants clamber up in it and coax him to do as Elish said.a They say: "It's easy. If the prophet had toid you to walk for a mile on sharp spikes in' order to get rid of this aw ful disease you -would have done it. Tt is easv. Come, mv lord, just get down and wash in the Jordan. You take -a bath every day, anyhow, and in this climate it is so hot that it will do you. good. Do it on our account, and for the sake of the army you command, and for the sake of the nation that admires vou. Come, mv lord, iust trv this Jordanic bath."" "Well." he savs. "to nlease vou I will do as vou sav." The retinue drives to the brink of the Jordan. The 7 7 . . . horses paw and neih to fet into the stream themselves and cool their hot flanks. General Xaaman, assisted by his attendants, gets down out of the chariot and painfully comes to the brink of the river, and steps in until the water comes to the ankle, and goes on deeper until the water r comes to the girdle, and now stand ing so far down in the stream just a little inclination of the head will thoroughly immerse him. He bows once into the flood, and comes up ana snakes the water out of nostras and eyes ; and his attendants look at him and say : "Why, general, how much better you do look." And he bows a second time into the flood and comes up, and the wild stare is j gone out of his eyes.1 He bows the third time into the flood and conies up, and the shriveled flesh has got smooth again. He bows the fourth time into the flood and comes up, and the hair that had fallen out is restored in thick" locks again all over the brow. He bows the fifth time into the Hood and comes up, and the hoarseness has gone out of his throat. He bows the sixth time and comes up, and all the soreness and anguish have gone out of the limbs. "Why," he says, 'T am almost well, but I wilLmake a complete cure," and he bows the seventh time into the flood and he comes up, and not so much as a fester or scale or eruption as big as the head of a pin i$ to be seen on him. He steps out on the bank and says: "Is it possible ?" . And the at tendants look and sa' : "Is it pos'si hle ?'' And as, with the health of -an' athlete, he bounds back into the chariot and drives on there goes up from all his attendants a w(ihl "Huz za! huzza!" f course they go back to pav and ; THANK THE MAN OR ooD for his counsel, so fraught' with wis dom. When they lett the prophet's house they went oll'mad : fhey have come back glad. T ; People always thiitk better of a minister after thev ;uv converter soifie of us have a great many letters from those who tell usithat once they were angry at what : w e preached, but afterward gladly -received the gospel at our, hands,; They once called us fanatics or terrorists or ene mies ; now they call us friends. Yonder is a man I speak a literal fact who-said that he would never come into the church again. He said that two years ago. He said : "My family shall never come here again if such doctrines as that are preached.'' But became again, and his family came again. He is a Christian, his wife a - Christian, all his children Christians; the whole household Christian, land I shall dwell with them in the house of the Lord forever. Our undying coad jutors are. those who once heard the gospel and "went away in a rage." Now, my hearers, you notice that this Gen. Xaaman lid two things in order to get well. The first was, he got out of his' chariot. He might have staid there with his swollen feet on the stuffed ottoihan, seated on that embroidered --.cushion until his last gasp, he would' never have got any relief. He haVl to get dow n out of his chariot. And you have got to get down out of'the chariot of your pride if you ever become a Christian. You cannot drive up to the cross with a coach! and four and be saved among all the spangles. You seem to think that the LORD IS (iOIN'fi TO RE COMPLIMENTED i by your coming. Oh, no; you poor, miserable, scaly, leprqus sinner, get down out of that! We all come in the same haughty way. We expect to ride into the kingdom of God. Never until we get down on our knees will we find mercy. The Lord has unhorsed us, uncharioted us. Get down out of your pridj?. Get down out of your, selfrighteousness and your hypercritieism. ;Wc have all got to do that. That is the journey we have got to make on our knees. It is our infernal pride'tliat keeps us from getting rid of the leprosy of sin. Dear Lord, what have we to be proud of? Proud of i our scales? Proud of our uiicleanlyness ? Proud of this killing infection ? Bring us down at Thy. feet, weeping, pray ing, penitent, believing supplicants ! For sinners, Ixird, Thou earnest 1o bleed, And I'm a sinner vile, indeed; Lord, I believe Thy grace;is free, Oh, magnify that grace in; me ! But he had not only, to get down out of his chariot ; he had to wash. "Oh," you say, 'T am very careful of my ablutions. Every clay I plunge into a bright and beautiful bath." Ah, my hearers, there is a flood brighter than any other. It is the flood that breads from the granite of eternal hills. It is theiflood of par don, and peace, and life, and heaven. That flood started in Ithe tears of Christ and the sweat of Gethsemane, and rolled on, accumulating flood, until all earth and heaven could bathe in it. Zachariah balled it "the i fountain open for sin and unclean ; ,,-!,,. . ..,,., "7- f " in.lun' u ' 1 the fountain filled With blood. Your fathers and mothers WASHED AM. THEIR SINS and sorrows awav in that fountain Oh, mv hearers, "do voii not to-day I appropriate fitness of the appoint feel like wading into it ?iYade down j the President of .en. Cox to now into this glorious flood deeper, leeper, deeper Plunge once, twice, hriW. four times, five times, six thrice, tour times, nve times, six times, seven times. It 'will take as much as that to cure your soul. : Oh. wash, wash, wash, and lie clean ! I suppose that was a great time at Damascus when Gen. Xaaman got back. The charioteers did not have to drive slowlv anv longer lest thev ' iolt the invalid ; hut as the horses ! dashed through the streets of Damas- 1 1 i a a I cus 1 thinK tne people rusnea out to j hail back their chieftainl Xaaman's I wife hardlv recognized her husband; be was so wondertullv changed she had to look at him two or three times before she made out that it was her restored husband. And the little captive maid, she rushed out, clap- ping her hands and shouting: "Did he cure you? Did he cure you?'' A0 AND UNBRIIiED BY GAIN; 1886. Then music wokeup the palace and the tapestp- ot the windows was drawn away, that the multitude out-' side might mingle with the princelv mirth inside, and the feet went up and down in the dance,' and all the streets of Damascus that night echoed and re-echoed with the news, "Xaa man's cured ! Xaaman's cured !" But a gladder tune than that would be in all this place or where ever this sermon shall be read, if the soul should get cured of its leprosy. The swiftest white horse hitched' to the king's chariot would rush the loved ones before the throne would 111 LW LilV. UIV llllll V1L. Willi welcome the glad tidings. . Your i.;i,i,, ..-Tu ,..ui f,-.... must have become a Christian. Father, I think you have got rid of the leprosy." O Lord Sod of Elisha, have mercy on us ! Cigarette Manufacture Some Astonishing Figures. WoLtii Tolmcc-o .touniiil.J Thattliere is an enormous demand for, and -manufacture of, cigarettes, is apparent by the revenue returns, and manufacturers seemed to have conspired to make October memora ble for the amount of cigarettes en tered riir 'taxation, as tax was paid on 11)2,1 U7, UK). The magnitude of these figures is apparent when it is known that tlie highest amount here tofore entered in one month was lo-',-0-7,8(K, during September, 18G, and that the monthly average for 1 he fiscal vear of lNSo "S( was about IKMKXM.Xjo, and for the', fiscal vear ,,f 'INS-I-K), about. SS.iKKi.lKK). "The mount filtered for October, LSS2, was 12o,(',(;,(HM), or about GC,4."0, XX) less; than in October, 1SSC. And the most remarkable feature of die increase over September, 1.S-S0. is that Xew York City, which is the .jreat center of the industrv, contrib uted 20,(J(p0,K.Kj less in October than in-.September or in September it paid tax on about one-Half of all en tries, while in October it paid tax on less than ;() per. cent, of the total showing that unusual increase must have occurred in such centers as Durham,; Richmond. Baltimore . Lynchburg, and other pointsof lesser interest. By adding the - amounts of; Sep tember and October we have a pro duction of over o4-,2")( H X (cigarettes, or more than one-half of the total of the fiscal vear of l8N2-'8-r. more than :W per cent, of the total .of lXXri-'S-f, about 00 per cent, of the total of bSSI-'S"), and about 2(V per cent, of J the total of lSS-V-SC. If this rate of manufacture was kept up for a vear the total would be 2, 70.l K H M ( K )'. As it is, the total for the calendar vear. endins with December :lst. prom ises to be at least 1 ," X ).( H H ),( H H ), and possiblv may go as high as l,('(tX, U K ),( K x i. Who says the cigarette in dustry is not a great one and re markably 'rapid in its growth. A Political "Combine" in Ma. chusetts Wv Wish It Success. New.York IUtmI.I.I That is a neat little-. "combine" in the Bay State between Messrs. Long and "Cabot Lodge. Mr. Long is a young Blainyite, who has fixed his anxious eyel on Mr. Dawes' seat in the Senate. At the same time Mr. Cabot Longe. another v ung Blaineite, has bis tjyes set on Mr. Hoar's seat in the Senate, which will fall vacant two years hence. So Mr. Lodge is help ing Mr. Long into the Senate this year, and !Mr. Long will help Mr. Lodge into the Senate two years hence, The first step in the ''combine'' was, we suppose, the defeat of Mr. Rice. Senator Hoar's brother-in-law, for Congress last Xovember. The two young bosses showed their power there in rather an ugly way, for Mr. Rice is an excellent and useful mem ber. But the young Xapoleons prob ably reflected that it is not possible to make an omelette without break ing some eggs. What Mr Rice and the two gentle men nowrepresenting Massachusetts in the Senate, think of this "com bine" is not difficult to guess. But do they notice in it the tine Italian hand of Mr. James O. Blaine who, by the way, is setting up his pins also in some of the southern States in' Virginia", for instance, where an anti-Mahone Blaine "combine" is in full operation '? And Ho Would We. Western Svntmel. Last summer it w;as intimated that President Cleveland had a for eign mission in store for Gen. Cox i -ft I if he was defeated for renoniination to Congresrf on account of his Civil Service record. The friends of this gentleman are now discussing the the Turkish mission recently made acrant b)e resignation of Hon. S. S- Cox- The no would like to see this able .North Carolinian ap pointed to this mission. Mr. Pearson and County Govern ment. A&heville Advance In regard to the rumor that Mr. Pearson will lead an attack on the countv ETOvernment svstem, we will il 1 r5 1 ...it : .1 a ,.x x say mat. we eei auuionzeu 10 hiaie j that he will do no such thing. . If the law couid be so arranged as to allow : Buncombe and other counties in : Western Xorth Carolina to elect their j commissioners and magistrates, ' he would favor that plan, but he will never give his vote tb place the white ! people of Eastern Carolina under 1 negro rule again. than the little Hehrew captive would Ul11 u ?f aro 0 niamtainwMhe ,,w J ,H f notice the change in vour look and r ltires should be continued, j Xff "LCT the change in vour manner, and I r' grt'.at f,s are !e ol rav- lon ' inU' o r -e. would nut their'arms around your 1 aKanw'in the lub1 Uisme, they I Lx-Secretary Hamilton Fish is 1. i , uAf..i t lire not s, great as the evils of aceu- : enurelv recovered from ih nrtVt $1.50 PER ANNUM. The democratic Policy. fN'i'W York Star.' We do not think that our repub lican friends are in doubt anv longer alxnit the policy of the Deiiiocra'tic party. That policv is now-disclosed in the results of a year's administra tion, and in the recommendations which are made to Conirress in the President's message and in the departmental reports which accom pany it. The main features of the Democratic policy are these: First An economical administra tion of the government. , ot; taxes. , I n"1 A reduction .1 t ! AT 1- " purpose i unless the taxes are 111 .11'IIWIU , , ... " mulating and holdimrin the treasurv vast sums lor which the government has no use. If the money is spent it gets back into the hands of the people ; if it is hoarded, it takes out of circulation the very, life blood of industrv and com'nierce. Third A reduction of taxes by removing them from the necessaries of life and from the materials, used by our artisans rod manufacturers. Fourth A rehabilitation of the navy and a proper provision for the defense of the cities and har bors. Fifth A reform of the civil ser vice, so that the ordinary adminis tration' of the several departments of the government may be made independent of the mutations and fluctuations of politics, so that our political life may be defended against the corrupting and debasing effects of the spoils system. Sixth A repossession by the gov ernment of those public lands which have been seized without warrant lit law. Seventh An adjustment of the finances of the country upon the foundation of a bi metal ic currency, but without attempting to give a fic titious and abnormal value to either gold or silver. Eighth A recognition of the rights of labor in the old-fashioned Democratic way, by giving to it security and freedom ami protection against the greed of capital and againsfthe tyranny of great corpora tions, and by opening to it the markets of the world. These are the chief purposes of the Democratic government which the people chose two years ago; and to which they gave their approval at the elections of this vear. To the Friends of Orphans. Tlie coming of another Christmas, makes it necessary for me to again ask your aid in behalf of the Christ mas festivities for the Orphan Asy lum at Oxford, X. C. You will, I know, pardon me for expressing, the hope that the entire contributions required for this beau tiful custom of niaking orphaned children happy at Christmas will be made by citizens of Xorth Carolina. Heretofore most of the aid received bv me citnie from strangers in dis tant States. This should not be the case again, for we are as noble and generous as the 'people of any land" or section, and it should be both our pride and pleasure to see that the Christinas of our little orphans is made as bright ami happy as we would long to have made wen- we like them. The sweetest moments of life are those which come to us by reason of deeds well done, and from a realiza tion of having made the lives of others happier and blighter. Will you not, therefore, add that precious and peculiar joy which Hows only from orphaned children's smiles, to the bright and happy Christmas you anticipate, by giving something to aid me in this lalior of love? Send what vou feel willing to give to Dr. B. F. "Dixon, Oxford, X. C, and marked "For Christmas." Hopeful Iv vours, W. F. Beasi.kv. Let the Fanners Fverywhere Io Likewise. 1 ; ioliWxiro MesMrnjrer. The farmers of the county are cor dially, invited to attend the meeting ot the Wayne County Farmers' Club, at the the court house, next Satur day at 10 o'clock, when, w e presume, a permanent organization will be effected. It is an old but true adage, that "in union there is strength," and we believe that a union of our farmers for interchange of views up on -matters of agriculture will prove beneficial, and hence we hope-that the effort to organize a live Farmers' Club in our county will prove a suc cess. A farmers' club, however, can not be conducted successfully with out the earnest efforts of the farmers themselves, and therefore it is de sired that the second meeting of the club be largely attended by those who will take hold with the deter mination to make the organization a success. Not as Debatable as It Jliglit Be. , Wilmington Star. ! Xorth Carolina, one of the reliable i Democratic States of the South since j the overthrow of the carpet-baggers, j was mastered by the independents this year in the election of the legis lature, and it is now as debatable as Michigan. I'hila. Time The Time is not informed. The Democrats have a good majority in the Senate. The House also will probably be under Democratic con trol. Xorth Carolina elected its Ju diciary ticket by nearly 24,000 ma jority. It will go Democratic in 1888 if the right sort of Democrat is nom inated. McDonald, Hewitt, Hill, "Sunset" Cox or Carlisle could carry it by 20,000. The Time is counting the wrong chickens. 1.- L i ,1 .... K lllir I .1.1 . T 1 RATES FOR ADVERTISING: 1 inch, one insertion, $. .75 1 inch, one month -2 00" 1 inch, three months, C.. 3 00 1 inch, six months, 4 qq 1 inch, one year. . .1:1!! 6.00 column,' three months. ....."."!!!! 10 00 J column, six months, jso column, one year 30.00 k column, three tuotiths, ..".!!! 17:50 column, six months, . 30I0O column, one year 5500 I column, three months, !" 30. 00 1 column, six months, 55 00 1 Solunin, one year, H! 100.C0 1 column, one insertion, 6.( 0 2 columns, one insertion, ....!"!!!! 10.C0 Space to suit fiilvertisor .i,ar,.i ; oiwiu.iuvc wuunoore rates. 1'KOPLE TALKED ABOUT. Mayor O'Brien has I K en re-elected mayor of Boston, for a third term. t hief .Justice Waite is a great walker, and he sneers? at the Wash ington street cars. The-President has nominated Pres ton H. Leslie, of Kentuekv, to U governor of Montana. Kx-Senator Bruce (colored) owns a hue plantation in Mississippi and is wortli over ?UH),(NK. , Theate Charles Francis Adams li-ft littl., .,f 1.: 4 ....1.. 1 . .. .... ...in .pi m i-Mair. viiuieii :ii 4 .. - ' . I'u.ril ur?vr. of the paralytic shock of last -sum mer. -lohn Hoach, the builder of the "Dolphin." is said to have cancer in his throat similar to that of (ieneral Grant. General William (i. Harding, pro prietor of the noted Belle Meade, stock farm, died last Thursday, aged 7 years. . Sunset Cox is entitled to the salary of a foreign minister to Turkey and also that of Congressman since the date of Pulitzer's resignation. He will not draw the double salary. General Joger A. Pry or still wears his hair long, and still carries him selt like a soldier, but be is notice ably stouter and dresses less like a Virginian and more like a Broadway man. Miss Bel va Lock wood is said to owe 81.."(K) for unpaid taxes, and it is thought that her chances of being President are much damaged there- by. We must have a President who pays her4taxcs. Senator Mahone says that if the Virginia Republicans had been prop erly organized this year they would have carried every Congressional dis trict, and that in 1XXS they will car ry the State by 40,01)1) majority. Rev. Zachariah Gordon, father of Governor John B.Gordon, of Georgia, died at bis home in Alabama on the night of the iHh.inst. He was about ninety years of age, and for sixty years had been a baptist minister. Chief Just ice Carter, of the District of Columbia, is soon to retire, we see. ' It is the-place thus to be made va cant to w hich it is hoped Hon. 1). G. Fowle will be appointed. He is em inently well fitted to fill it and to adorn it. President Cleveland has just come into a fortune. J lis uncle, the late ' Joseph Xeal, left some property, of which the President will inherit about two hundred dollars. Xoth ing like having rich kin. if you are President. The Crescent Club,, the leading Democratic organization of Balti more, have formerly opened their political club house, and at the open ing had a banquet, at which Speaker Carlisle, Senator Blackburn and oth ers, responded to toasts. Congressman Reagan, of Texas, is', a candidate for the Tinted Suites Senate to succeed Mr. Maxey, and is " said to be second in tlie race in point of strength, only Mr. Maxey leading him. Fx-Gov. Ireland and Judge A. W. Terrell ace all candidates. The Court of Appeals, of Ixihdon rendered a decision in the case, of the appeal of James Gordon Bennett' from the award against him for 8iv 0O0 in favor of Cyrus W. Fields, for libel. The Court of appeals in its decision sets asidcMhc verdict of the lower court on tlie ground that Mr. Bennett is not a British subject and does not reside in Great Britain. The curt holds, therefore, that the sul stituted service in the case was ille gal. Mr. Field is condemned to pay the cost. Ex-Secretary of State Hamilton Fish aiJ wife celebrated their golden wedding hist Wednesday. Among the friends who called to wish them, many more years of happy married life were Mr. and Mrs. John Jay, Mr. and Mrs. Flliot Floyd-Jones, Mr. Fred Bronson, and Mr. J, I'ierpont Morgan, Mrs. Fish's sisters, Mrs. Benjamin and Mrs. .Griffin; her daughter, Mrs. Rogers, of Garrison ; Xicholas Sturveysant, and other members of the family were also present..! Steve Bryant, years of age, died from' "fright at the continued earthquake shocks at Beaufort, S. C, on December 14th. Bryant was in Augusta when Washington passed through this city in ) arid waited on the table at which the Father of his Country was feasted. The negro had counted the shocks since Aug. HI and predicted that the hundredth jar would be the summons for Judg ment Day. Beaufort experienced her ninetv-ninth iar, and the old man could not stand the suspense of j the expected one hundreth and ex pired m the paroxysms 01 ingni. The Florida, politicians say that Senator Jones lias not been seen in that State for over two years. Tlie Legislature which elects his succes sor will meet next April. It is hardly probable that Senator Jonea will be a candidate again. Those of his friends who keep track of his move ments sav that his mind must be affected. "Xo other conclusion can be reached when his ridiculous actions for the past year are taken into consideration. A member of the Michigan delegation when asked how Senator .Jones employed his time in Detroit, replied: "Oh, walk ing up and tlown by Miss Palm's house and making an ass of himself generally."